CNN Undercard Republican Debate: Live Coverage

Life expectancy in Syria has fallen 20 years since the start of fighting, from a robust 74 years just three years ago. This photo speaks to the level of desperation on the ground — giving context to the reason people are fleeing.

The vast majority of Republican governors — but not Democratic ones — agree with Santorum and Pataki that the U.S. shouldn’t accept refugees from Syria under the current refugee-vetting system.

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.