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Donald J. Trump, who is rarely at a loss for words, admitted “I don’t know what’s going on” when confronted by Ben Carson’s surge past him in early-voting Iowa, where Mr. Trump had led the Republican presidential field for months. Mr. Trump has derided Mr. Carson for lacking the vigor and fortitude to be president, but voters here are drawn to the retired neurosurgeon’s low-pitched manner. “That smile and his soft voice makes people very comforted,” said Miriam Greenfield, a farmer in Jewell, Iowa.

Ben Carson has edged out fellow GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump in a new national poll, taking the top spot from the real estate mogul for the first time in months. Carson is supported by 26 percent of GOP primary voters, followed by Trump at 22 percent, according to the CBS News/New York Times poll released early Tuesday. All other candidates follow in the single digits, with Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) at 8 percent and businesswoman Carly Fiorina and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 7 percent each. The poll represents growing momentum for Carson, who surpassed Trump in several...

Ben Carson’s Violent History Ended As A Seventh Day Adventist – Do Gun Control Beliefs Make Him Fake? In a new interview, Ben Carson’s violent history has come to light based upon the admissions of the 2016 GOP candidate. The retired neurosurgeon was once well known for separating conjoined twins, but when he was a teen he used those same hands for violence, including assault and stabbings. Carson says those days are well behind him, but the source for this amazing change in the teenage Carson goes back to his beliefs as a Seventh Day Adventist Christian. But some say...

Defending himself against charges he lacks the energy to serve in the White House, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson shared some anecdotes from his rough-and-tumble youth. “I am soft-spoken,” Carson told NBC’s "Meet the Press" in an interview broadcast Sunday morning. “I do have a tendency to be relaxed. I wasn’t always like that. There was a time when I was, you know, very volatile. But, you know, I changed.” “As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks and bricks and baseball bats and hammers,” the retired neurosurgeon said. “And of course, many people know the story when...

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson, in defending against criticisms of his relaxed demeanor on the campaign trail, opened up about his past "volatile" behavior during an interview that aired Sunday. "I have plenty of energy. But, you know, I am soft-spoken. I do have a tendency to be relaxed. I wasn't always like that. There was a time when I was, you know, very volatile," Carson told NBC News. "But, you know, I changed." The retired neurosurgeon went on to explain that "as a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers." He...

Ben Carson says he's soft-spoken now -- but he hasn't always been so calm. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers. And, of course, many people know the story when I was 14 and I tried to stab someone," Carson said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "You know, fortunately, you know, my life has been changed," he added. "And I'm a very different person now." Carson's comments came after Donald Trump, his leading opponent for the Republican presidential nomination, said at a rally in Miami on Friday that Carson has...

FERGUSON • Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson says he probably wouldn’t have used deadly force against Michael Brown, the teenager whose fatal shooting by police Officer Darren Wilson sparked a national debate on race and the role of police. Carson gave an interview to the Post-Dispatch on Friday afternoon after visiting Ferguson. When asked if he would have shot Brown if he were in Wilson’s shoes, Carson said: “It’s hard to say. I probably, knowing who he was, I probably just would have arrested him.” Carson said he would have waited for backup before having the altercation. A Justice Department...

LOS ANGELES - Jack Elam, a character actor and favorite Western villain who menaced good-guy cowboys with his crazy grin, wild eyes and remorseless gunslinging in films such as "Rawhide" and "Wichita," has died, a family friend said Tuesday. Elam, who had been in declining health in recent years, died Monday afternoon at his home in Ashland, Ore., of unspecified illness, according to longtime friend Al Hassan. Most biographies list the actor as 86 years old, but Hassan said he was actually 84, having lied about his age as a youngster to get work. "He was cantankerous in a great...