Replies

Ben Carson did a respectable job on CNN yesterday.

CARSON: My reaction is that he [Morell] has also involved with the secretary of state during the Benghazi thing. And he was not critical of her in a situation where we had those Navy SEALs on top of that compound firing away, helping their colleagues escape. And I know in the back of their mind, they were saying, help is on the way, because we've always supported our troops. We've always supported our staff. We left them. We said it's too dangerous. What precedent does that set? What does that tell our military people in the future? You get in a scrape, you're on your own? That's not a good message. That's somebody who I think would not be a fit commander-in-chief.
BLITZER: So you are saying Hillary Clinton would not be a fit commander-in-chief. But you are raising questions now about Mike Morell, a career professional, rose through the ranks in the intelligence community. You are suggesting what, that he's partisan, that he's not responsible?
CARSON: That he supports -- yeah, he supported her throughout that whole endeavor. If he was truly someone who was concerned about America, about our defense and about our image, I think he would not have participated in that.
BLITZER: He had two CIA contractors who were killed in that Benghazi operation, terrorist attack. I assume he's very, very intimately involved if all that of that. And all of the congressional reviews, basically, did not condemn if at all, as far as I know.
CARSON: Well, whether they condemned him or not, he was a part of it [Behghazi], Wolf. You can't get him out of it. He was in it. He knew what was going on. He knew -- I mean, this is really quite, quite clear. So why was he not concerned about that if he's so concerned about the defense of our nation?
BLITZER: I am sure he is very concerned.
ISIS also right now in this article very concerned about Donald Trump and his relationship with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. Listen to what he writes, among other things, about that, he says, "In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin has recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation."
Now, those are very -- that's a very powerful accusation.
CARSON: Yeah, but, Wolf, there's going to be all kind of accusations flying from both sides, things that aren't accurate and things that again are trying to make this about Hillary Clinton, about Donald Trump. It's not about them. And I think a lot of the American people recognize that. That's why you are seeing some of these large enthusiastic crowds, even though there are a lot of people telling them things to the contrary. They see hope. They want a future for their children. They want economic freedom. They don't like the fact that we are going on $20 trillion deficit. They don't believe people who say the economy is humming along beautifully because they have eyes and ears. They can see for themselves that it's not.

CNN Wold Blitzer - August 5, 2016