Investigating Ben Carson's Violent Past
BERMAN: This morning, who is or who was the real Ben Carson? It's a key piece of Ben Carson's story that he has discussed many, many times over the years. The calm quiet we see today only came after a tumultuous and troubled past. His books and speeches are filled with references of having a pathological temper. Listen.</s>DR. BEN CARSON, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & RETIRED NEUROSURGEON: And I picked up a large rock, hurled it at his face, broke his glasses. I would go after people with rocks and bricks and baseball bat and hammers. I had a large camping knife and I tried to stab him in the abdomen. Fortunately, under his clothing, he had on a large metal belt buckle. The knife blade struck with such force that it broke.</s>BOLDUAN: Now, this is important, because Ben Carson is running, in part, on this biography, his story, and his spiritual redemption from a violent past.</s>BERMAN: CNN national political reporter, Maeve Reston, went to his hometown of Detroit to look into this narrative. Maeve, what did you find?</s>MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: My colleague, Scott Glover, and I actually set out to find the victims of these attacks that Dr. Carson has described, just as sort of part of the normal vetting process that you would do for any presidential candidate. We wanted to know if those temper issues did actually end at that moment. What we found, going through year books, talking to neighborhood friends, talking to people, was we couldn't find anybody who recalled these incidents ever happening. Now, remember, we're talking about Carson beating people with bricks and bats. So you would assume that these kinds of incidents would have gotten around. But we are still looking for the people that he's identified as having attacked. He only uses first names. Jerry, a kid he hit over the head with a lock. And Bob, who was in the stabbing incident. But the neighbors we talked to said that person who would do those things was unrecognizable to them. I think we have some sound from them to listen to.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was shocked. I was surprised. Because he was, you know, quiet and kind.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was really surprised when I read he tried to stab someone. Like, what?</s>UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Does it fit with a guy you knew, that kind of activity?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said, you hid it from us all those years. And he said he was just too embarrassed to even talk about it. I was surprised at some of the things he said. But, you know, he said that honestly, and I believed everything he told me.</s>RESTON: So it's really important to remember here that, you know, the 10 people we talked to on the record, a lot of them were skeptical. They couldn't recall any of these incidents. But nobody challenged his stories directly or said they thought he was a liar. They just found it very curious that they had never heard about these incidents at the time that they happened. So, really, it just raises a lot questions about that piece of his life, and the way he's telling the stories on the campaign trail as he connects with evangelical voters.</s>BERMAN: It'll be interesting to see. Maybe someone will come forward who does have some memory of --</s>RESTON: Right, we're looking for them.</s>BERMAN: Again, it's ironic in a way that there's a story involved with people not remembering what a bad guy or violent guy a presidential candidate was. Usually, you would think you want to cover up the opposite here. But it matters because it's part of his narrative, right?</s>RESTON: Absolutely. The evangelical voters have powered his surge to the top of the field. What's so important is God intervened, he says, at age 14, right after the stabbing incident. He prayed in the bathroom for three hours. He says that after that moment, he never had a violent outburst again. So that's what we're trying to confirm and figure out as we think about someone who wants to be president in the Oval Office, you know, at the nuclear controls.</s>BOLDUAN: Maeve Reston, thank you.</s>RESTON: Thank you.</s>BERMAN: Coming up, a new biography out where former President George H.W. Bush has remarkable criticism for the administration of his son. Stay with us.