CNN Undercard Republican Debate: Live Coverage

The debate over how the U.S. negotiates with terrorists who have taken hostages has been a really sore point with the Obama administration, and Huckabee just got that question. This Lawrence Wright piece in The New Yorker covers in depth (very in depth, it’s about 20k words!) the struggle behind the scenes by various families to save their children — all of them died — by trying to semi-circumvent the U.S. policy on negotiating with terrorists.

Bowe Bergdhal, who is charged with deserting his post and is facing a court-martial, is also the subject of the new season of record-shattering podcast Serial. Now some analysts are questioning whether the rollout of the podcast will affect his military court case.

Dan McLaughlin pointed out on Twitter that Graham is the only candidate in this undercard debate to win an election since 2002. That, of course, is a sign of their political stagnation. Let me just add that Graham won just 56 percent in the 2014 South Carolina Republican primary for Senate, which is quite weak for an incumbent senator.