Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said he would require background checks on all Syrian migrants and war refugees before allowing them into the United States.

Carson, a retired pediatric neurosurgeon, told NPR's Scott Simon that terrorists could be hiding among the hundreds of thousands of desperate refugees currently flooding Europe. The Obama administration has said it will resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees in the U.S. over the next year.

"We have to recognize that this is a splendid opportunity for the global jihadists to infiltrate those numbers with members of their own organization," Carson said. "So we would have to have in place a very excellent screening mechanism. Until we had such a mechanism in place, we should not be bringing anybody in."

If such a screening system were in place, he said, "I would admit people that we need, people that can boost our economy based on their skills and what they bring in, and I don't know what that number is."

New polls this week show Carson running a strong second among registered Republicans for their party's presidential nomination; some show him ahead of Democrat Hillary Clinton in a potential national contest for president.

In his interview with Simon, Carson spoke more about refugees, as well as health care, religion in campaigns and his recent tour of Ferguson, Mo.



Interview Highlights

On what he learned from the people of Ferguson

I came away with the idea that respect is the really the solution. We need to teach young people to respect authority, particularly respect the law. And we need to teach the law to respect the people. One lady was telling about a situation where there were 100 police officers on the block with armored vehicles, and she came out and asked one of the officers what was going on and he said, "Oh, nothing. Go back in the house." You know, that's not showing respect to people.

On his health care proposal

It would be vastly different [from Obamacare]. I would use health savings accounts, paid for with the very same dollars that pay for traditional health care with. It would give people enormous flexibility to shift money within their family. So that'll take care of three-quarters of the American population. It doesn't take care of the indigents. But how do we take care of them now? Medicaid. We can craft something that works very well. I know a lot of people in Washington would say, "Well, indigent people can't manage a health savings account. They're too stupid." But they're not too stupid. Somebody has a diabetic foot ulcer, they learn very quickly not to go to the emergency room where it costs five times more to take care of it. They go to the clinic. It's a whole other level of savings which we are not achieving right now ...

On whether being a surgeon prepared him to be president

Not in and of itself, but I think planning, utilizing a lot of resources, a lot of other people, to do complex things — even things that have never been done before — certainly helps ... I think it's a fallacy that only people in elected office can come up with solutions to solve our problems. I just think there's a different paradigm.



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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. Dr. Ben Carson is on the rise. New polls this week show him running a strong second among registered Republicans for their party's presidential nomination. And a couple of polls show the retired pediatric neurosurgeon ahead of Hillary Clinton in any potential national contest for president. Dr. Ben Carson joins us. Thanks very much for being with us.

BEN CARSON: Oh, my pleasure.

SIMON: You toured Ferguson, Mo., on Friday, held a press conference and were obviously deeply moved by meeting with people there who felt they weren't respected by police. What did you learn?

CARSON: Well, you know, I came away with the idea that respect is really the solution. We need to teach young people to respect authority - particularly, respect the law. But we need to teach the law to respect the people. You know, one lady was telling about a situation where there were a hundred police officers on the block with armored vehicles. And she came out and asked one of the officers what was going on. And he said, oh, nothing. Go back in the house. You know, that's not showing respect to people. But, by the same token, law officials put their lives on the line every single day for us, and I think we also owe them a degree of respect.

SIMON: Question of the week - how many Syrian refugees would you admit to the United States if you were president now?

CARSON: Well, we have to recognize that this is a splendid opportunity for the global jihadists to infiltrate those numbers with members of their own organization. So we would have to have in place a very excellent screening mechanism. Until we have such a mechanism in place, we should not be bringing anybody in.

SIMON: Wouldn't a lot of innocent people be left to die?

CARSON: You know, my point - not being that I don't want to be compassionate. I would love to bring everybody here and just take care of everybody. It would be wonderful. But the fact of the matter is, we can't do it.

SIMON: Well, which leads me to restate the question. And I'll grant it as a premise you can get a rigorous checking program in place - how many Syrian refugees would you admit if you were president?

CARSON: I would admit people that we need - people that can boost our economy based on their skills and what they bring in. And I don't know what that number is.

SIMON: Dr. Carson, do you believe that every U.S. citizen is entitled to quality medical care, regardless of their employment or income?

CARSON: Yes, and that's why I've proposed a system that I've been placing forth.

SIMON: Well, tell us how that would be different than the Affordable Care Act.

CARSON: It would be vastly different. I would use health savings accounts - pay for it with the very same dollars that we pay for traditional health care with. It would give people enormous flexibility to shift money within their family. Some take care of three-quarters of the American population. It doesn't take care of the indigents. But how do we take care of them now? Medicaid. We can craft something that works very well, and I know a lot of people in Washington would say, well, you know, indigent people can't manage their health savings account. They're too stupid. But they're not too stupid. Somebody has a diabetic foot ulcer, they learn very quickly not to go the emergency room where it costs five times more to take care of it. They go to the clinic, a whole other level of saving, which we are not achieving right now. But also, we are teaching these individuals to be responsible instead of being dependent on somebody else.

SIMON: Donald Trump - and you knew we couldn't do an interview without bringing his name into this...

CARSON: (Laughter) Of course not.

SIMON: He said this week you were, quote, "perhaps an OK doctor," which sounds a little snarky. But I've seen the whole exchange and it did seem to me you had questioned his religious faith. Do you really want to make a candidate's religious faith a campaign issue?

CARSON: No, I actually don't. You know, I've already stated that that was not the intention. I was really talking more about what motivates me.

SIMON: I don't mind stipulating that you were more than an OK doctor.

CARSON: (Laughter) Well, you know, I agree that I'm an OK doctor. And I feel very blessed to have been involved with some of the most complex surgical procedures in the history of the world.

SIMON: Does that prepare you to be president of the United States?

CARSON: Not in and of itself. But I think planning, utilizing a lot of resources and a lot of other people to do complex things - and even things that have never been done before - certainly helps. You know, sitting on corporate boards, learning how business works efficiently, all of these things give you a lot of skill sets. And I think it's a fallacy that only people in elected office can come up with solutions that solve our problems. I just think maybe there's a different paradigm.

SIMON: Dr. Ben Carson, thanks very much for being with us.

CARSON: Always a pleasure. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.