Good morning, im martha raddatz, we begin with 2016. Its your voice, your vote and some astonishing numbers in our brandnew abc News Washington post poll, revealing just how tight the race is between the two frontrunners. Take a look in a Hillary Clinton donald trump matchup, clinton is in front. But statistically theyre essentially even. Clinton with 46 . Trump with 43 . And perhaps just as striking, a stunning gender gap for both candidates. Trump winning men by 15 points. Clinton up by 21 points among women. Meanwhile, a key question this morning, with a critical gop debate just three days away, can donald trump keep his frontrunner status or is someone else ready to steal the spotlight . It wont be rick perry who friday became the first to drop out, but it could be dr. Ben carson, another outsider, now surging in the polls, and taking new shots at trump. Dr. Carson will join us shortly. First the latest from abcs jon karl. Reporter reporter republicans will no doubt pay tribute to the gipper when they assemble at the reagans library for this weeks debate. Thou shalt not speak ill of any republican. Donald trump on Carly Fiorina in Rolling Stone magazine. Look at that face, would anyone vote for that . And the backlash. Maybe im getting under his skin a little bit because im climbing in the polls. Reporter bobby jindal languishing at the back of the pack, threw the book at trump. Trump is a nar sissist. And even ben carson a close second to trump got into the act. Questioning trumps commitment to god. And thats a very big part of who i am, humility and fear of the lord. I dont get that impression with him. Reporter trump went nuclear on carson. Calling him boring. And even questioning the renowned the Brain Surgeons medical records. Hes overrated as a doctor. Reporter one republican did try embracing trump this week, ted cruz inviting the donald to the rally against the Iran Nuclear Deal in d. C. But cruz told us the real reason why did you have donald trump in this rally in. Well, its not complicated. Number one, i like donald. Number two, everywhere donald brings he brings 100 cameras with him. Reporter and on friday, he made his latenight debut as a candidate. Its not big, its huge reporter how huge . Once again, it will be donald trump at center stage. For this week, jonathan karl, abc news, washington. Now, the man gaining on donald trump in the polls, dr. Ben carson joins us from South Carolina, good morning, dr. Carson, did you ever expect to be in this position, Bernie Sanders another outsider readily admits hes been stunned by his own climb, what do you make of the numbers. Well, i know, i find that people, once they have an opportunity to hear what i have to say and get an explanation of it, frequently agree and you know, part of the problem is, we live in a sound bite society and people will take one phrase or two praises and then they try to portray the person as that. Who has no other ability to think of any other aspects. Which of course is not true. When i get in present of people and they have a chance to hear something in depth polls in iowa show that you actually like you better, think youre honesty and trustworthy, but donald trump is still beating you, what are they missing . Time. You know, its a marathon its not a sprint. And thats why we have this elongated process, i think it will serve us well in the end. How can you convince a voter who is now supporting donald trump, this brash, outspoken, irreverent man, somebody who seems to say anything and get away with it, how do you the softspoken and reverent candidate, convince those voters, those Trump Supporters that you are a better candidate . Well, not specifically going after Trump Supporters, you know, im going after everybody in america. Because, you know, we live in very perilous times, our country is in grave danger and if we dont begin to change our direction and change our attitude, i think we may not survive into the future and we have to look out for the future of our children and grandchildren. So im not specifically targeting my remarks at any one person but rather at the situation that we find ourselves in. Well, dr. Carson, there were a lot of stories this week about something you said about Donald Trumps faith, let me play what you said. By humility and the fear of the lord, our richest honor in life. And thats a very big part of who i am. Humility and the fear of the lord. I dont get that impression with him. Maybe im wrong. But i dont get that impression. Donald trump said that was an attack. Your reaction . It wasnt meant as an attack and it was certainly spun that way by the media, because they enjoy creating a fight. They love to have a gladiator scene. And, you know, it wasnt my intention. Im certainly not going to allow it to become my intention subsequently. Regardless of how anyone reacts to it. Listen to what trump said about you just yesterday in iowa. I dont think ben has the energy, ben is a nice man but when youre negotiating against china, we need people that are really smart that have tremendous dealmaking skills and that have great, great energy. That doesnt bother you at all . No, it doesnt bother me, because i recognize that i have plenty of energy. You know, operating on people for 10, 12, sometimes greater than 20 hours at a time. Making critical decisions after many hours of intense work. But, dr. Carson unexpected situations come up. You dont have to be loud to be energetic. You actually apologized to mr. Trump about your comments about his faith. Part of being president is to use the bully pulpit to lobby congress, challenge opponents, can you do that . I dont think i would have any trouble at all doing that. But when you do something thats inappropriate, i think its appropriate to apologize for it. Why do you believe you, a neurosurgeon and youre certainly a talented neurosurgeon are the one who should be president of the most powerful country on earth and the commander in chief . Well, neurosurgeon is not the only thing that i am. Although, i will tell you that it requires quite a lot of knowledge to become a neurosurgeon and youre not going have mavery many dumb peoe become neurosurgeons. I have spent decades in the business world. Dr. Carson, let me ask you this, how would you handle the refugee crisis right now . I would recognize that bringing in people from the middle east right now carries extra danger. And we have to be extra cautious. You know, we need to tighten it up and be very careful, because we cannot put our people at risk because were trying to be politically correct. Thanks very much, dr. Carson, lets turn now to the democrats. That race tightening. Hillary clinton down to 37 , Bernie Sanders, now, at 27 and joe biden at 20 . Even though hes not a candidate. But hes now offering his most personal reflections yet on his emotional struggle over whether to run. Heres abcs cecilia vega. Reporter whether he or wont he . This morning its the question every democrat is asking, even joe biden may not have the answer. The Vice President sure looked like a candidate in the running this week, hugging babies, kissing seniors. But then came his appearance on the late show with stephen colbert. Biden began emotional talking about his son beau who died of brain cancer in may. He had this enormous sense of empathy. I know im sounding like a father it sounds like you love him, sir. Oh, geez, i reporter that grief could be the very thing that keeps him from entering the race. I dont think any man or woman should run for president unless they can look at the folks out there and say, i promise you, you have my whole heart, my whole soul, my energy, i would be lying if i said that i knew i was there. Reporter the woman who is running for president sliding in the polls, now shes trying a different tactic, is this the new spontaneous Hillary Clinton . From dancing on ellen. To this the apology for using that private email address and home server. That was a mistake. Im sorry about that. Reporter it came during an interview with abcs david muir a day after she said she had nothing to apologize for. Im apologized it has raised all of these questions. I do take responsibility for making what was clearly not the best decision. And cecilia and jon karl are here now, welcome to the both of you. Jon, i want to go back to joe biden, i dont think weve ever seen an interview so emotional, so raw, from someone contemplating a run for president. What does that tell you when you look at that interview . Well, what it tell you, nobody knows what joed biden is going to do. A mistake to watch that interview and to think that hes not going to run. Biden and his cloest advisers see a clear path to running. They think he can win, theyre seriously looking at this. He is not made his mind up. Hes anguishing through this decision in a very public way. Cecilia, you have been on the campaign trail with Hillary Clinton. This interview comes the same week where you say Hillary Clinton is trying to be more authentic, we saw that in the interview with david muir. As some democrats are looking for a plan b. Can she compete in authenticity against what we saw with joe biden . Shes certainly trying. The biggest threat to this may be Hillary Clinton herself. Were seeing the shift in Hillary Clinton. You saw her dancing on ellen we heard talking about her mother more. The reality is, though, you go back to that poll that came out recently that said the first words that come to mind for many voters when they hear the words Hillary Clinton, liar, dishonest. She has a real problem. Jon, i want to go back to Vice President biden again, if he makes a decision to run, how does he make that transition to say, okay, im grieving but im ready. I think you have seen flashes of this. You saw him at that labor day parade running down the street, hugging babies, kissing grand mothers. I mean, this is his best chance in his life to be elected president. He can pull this off, you know, i got to tell you, when he was up in new york for 9 11, somebody mentioned beau and he said, its been 103 days since hes died, hes literally counting the days since his son died. Remarkable. Cecilia, if he gets in, what does Hillary Clinton campaign do . They have expecting this. Youre seeing this shift now. Theyre clearly nervous. Biden, if he does run, has a huge road ahead of him. Hillary clinton already has 78 people in iowa alone. If biden gets in tomorrow, it will be a tough race. Let alone october 13th before the democratic debate. Lot of people wondering if he could pull this off if he decides to jump in. Coming up, much more on all of the 2016 drama, plus new warnings over that refugee exodus, could isis operatives sneak into the u. S. . And on the nfls opening weekend, the big changes that could be coming to football to make the sport safer. 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Add new Business Services with at t and get up to 500 in total savings. We nmy wife just hit a deer. Sorry upset deer bleats it was a mistake. Look at our car. It has clearly suffered a lot more damage. Yes. How did you learn how to drive . Guys. upset deer bleats guys. Guys small claims court. We gotcha. This guys 5 stars. Why dontcha all come in . Excellent perfect maybe we could all go together. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, check yelp first. We know just the place. Next, our exclusive interview with the man leading the charge in americas war against isis. Pubut to get from theand yoold way to the new,d. Youll need the right it infrastructure. From a partner who knows how to make your enterprise more agile, borderless and secure. Hp helps business move on all the possibilities of today. And stay ready for everything that is still to come. Back now with that refugee exodus, with so many still pouring in, germany saying this morning, its nearing its limit. Plus, that new controversy, could isis infiltrate the refugees entering the west, well take that question on after the latest from abcs terry moran. Reporter the gate to europe is about to close. And the tensions are rising. Hungary has announced it will seal their border this coming tuesday. No more walking down those tracks across the border. Refugees caught in hungary will be arrested and prosecuted. Men, women and children. A very different atmosphere. An amazing scene saturday a soccer match in munich, players walking out hand in hand with both a german child and a refugee child and 75,000 fans cheered. One syrian family made it to munich saturday. And we know them well. The family and their four children, 10 months old, they made it. We just got to munich and were very happy, he said. We met them in turkey three weeks ago, sleeping in a park preparing for their dangerous journey. Then, their harrowing crossing to greece. The childrens faces evened in fear. Day after day, they headed toward the hope of a new life. But hungary was bad, very bad, they were herded into a camp for a week. They put you in prison, yes he said. Their food ration, one roll of bread per day. Phil thy conditions, cold, dark cells. We walked with them into austria and now they have reached their promised land. There are thousands of families just like muhammads on the move. Countries like europe cant agree among themselves on how or even if to take them in. Talk of quotas. Lottery. People keep coming. Martha . Thanks, terry. That refugee crisis sparked in part by civil war in syria and the terror group isis, the Coalition Effort against isis is now a year old, so the u. S. Winning the war . We took that question to retired general john allen. But i started off asking him what responsibility the u. S. Bears to help those refugees . My prayers with all of them they find security wherever their travels will take them. I also, by virtue of the job i have today, recognize that we have a responsibility, we have shoulder to deal with the root cause causes the crisis in the middle east, whether its the Syrian Civil War or the emergence of this organization that we call isil or d. A. S. H. Its not going to be easy or fast. But are we, today, at a place where you thought we would be . Where we were a year ago today, i wasnt sure how it was going to unfold. It wasnt clear to me that iraq would survive this. In the intervening months, we have seen remarkable progress in many respects. We have seen the emergence of a capable leader and a partner in baghdad, without a political resolution of this conflict, whatever we do military, will not solve this crisis. We have seen a Coalition Come into existence in the intervening months, a coalition that has worked really hard to stem the flow of foreign fighters. Impede the finances of d. A. S. H. And yet, mosul is still controlled by isis. Fluj ya. Youre correct. Were not done. But we have real successes. Tikirit was taken back. In syria, that place can banni, brave defenders supported by the coalition, ultimately held the city. They pushed d. A. S. H. Well off lets talk about kabani, it remains december late, many of those refugees including that 3yearold boy, his brother and mother were from kabani. They cant go back. Create the humanitarian conditions where they can go back, rebuild the city. That process is under way. Syria is never going to be solved militarily. Syria has to have a transfer from assad. There hasnt been a political solution and its getting worse for the people who live there, its getting worse for the refugees. And were working very hard to try to have that political solution. Reporter in the meantime, the white house is announcing that the u. S. Will take in 10,000 syrian refugees, but the chairman of the Homeland Security committee says, isis could embed with those refugees, creating a jihadi pipeline. They call it a National Security threat, do you agree in. I think we should watch it, we should be conscious of the potential that d. A. S. H. Might intend to imbed that population. But i have tremendous confidence in the work that has been and is being done by the director with the fbi and with secretary johnson, secretary of Homeland Security, the attorney general and the department of justice, they have done tremendous work in protecting us domestically. And as i have watched their efforts unfold and as we would see the potential for infill traitors to in these refugee colonies, i have confidence theyll work hard. Is it a potential National Security threat . I think its a threat. We need to understand the totality of it before we can brand it a National Security threat. Clearly something we should be thinking about. Our thanks to general allen, so, lets bring in congressman Michael Mccaul the chairman of the Homeland Security committee. Good morning, chairman mccaul. I want to ask you right away, you have talked about the National Security threat, how do you balance these urgent humanita