Ben Carson in CBS "Face the Nation" interviews during 2015

On Abortion: Need civil discussion between pro-life and pro-choice

CARSON: There is no question that hateful rhetoric, no matter which side it comes from, is something that is detrimental to our society. Our strength in this country has traditionally been in our unity and we are allowing all kinds of circumstances to divide us and make us hateful toward each other. When you have outside forces, global Islamic radical jihadists who want to destroy us, why would we be doing that to ourselves? We at some point have got to become more mature. No question the hateful rhetoric exacerbates the situation, and we should be doing all we can to engage an intelligence, civil discussion about our differences.

Q: Should those who oppose abortion rights tone down their rhetoric?

CARSON: I think both sides should tone down their rhetoric and engage in civil discussion.

On Foreign Policy: Focus on funding refugee camps; not bringing refugees to US

CARSON: I was very impressed by the humanitarian effort of the Jordanians. I had an opportunity to talk with many Syrians, asking them what is their main desire? And it is to be repatriated. The international community is spending more time on bringing refugees here, rather than supporting a facility that is already in place that the refugees find perfectly fine when adequately funded.

Q: Your assessment visiting there is that Jordan could take all the refugees; it's just a matter of getting more financial resources?

CARSON: Jordan could take a lot more of the refugees. I don't see any reason why some of the other nations in the area shouldn't also be asked to do it, so that you don't have to go through a big cultural change with them. In terms of money, there's about a $3 billion annual shortfall for the Jordanian refugee camps. If we bring 10,000 or 25,000 of them to the United States, that's not solving a problem.

On Drugs: Addiction results from weakened values

CARSON: Well, there are all kinds of addictions. Usually addictions occur in people who are vulnerable, who are lacking something in their lives. And so we have to really start asking ourselves, what have we taken out of our lives in America? What are some of those values and principles that allowed us to ascend the latter of success so rapidly to the very pinnacle of the world? And now let me specifically talk about a type of addiction that's going on that is very alarming, heroin addictions, because there is a transportation of heroin through our southern borders that is unimaginable. This is not a good thing for us. We need to not give up on this war on drugs and certainly not to facilitate it.

On Budget & Economy: Raise debt ceiling, but ensure you won't have to do it again

CARSON: If I were in charge right now, I would not cause us to default on that. But what I would say is, this is the last time that's happening. And we would tie the raising of that debt limit to some very significant actions, so that we're not here again next year, because, as you know, this is something that happens year after year. We always get right up to the deadline. Now it's do or die, and you're forced to do it. And that's a stupid way to run the government.

On Gun Control: 2nd amendment critical in guarding against tyranny

CARSON: Well, what I'm talking about is the reason that we have a Second Amendment in there. It's there for the reasons that I stated in the book, specifically, in case of an invasion by a foreign power, the people will be able to aid the military, and also, if we have a time when we have the wrong people in office and they want to dominate the people, the people will be able to defend themselves.

Q: In the book, it suggests, though, that there is a present threat that guns would be confiscated from American citizens?

CARSON: No. Many of the things that are in the Constitution are to help to prevent horrible things from happening. So they're in place to make sure that the people maintain their liberties, and that the government remains constrained.