In New Hampshire, Bush speaks Spanish, empathizes with Syrian refugees

BEDFORD, N.H. — Responding to a question from a tearful Syrian-American, who asked the 2016 GOP presidential candidate about his stance on the Syrian refugee crisis, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday that "it's important to be on the side of people seeking freedom." The woman, who questioned Bush at a New Hampshire town meeting, said that she had for years been supporting 14 family members in Syria who had recently fled to Turkey.

Bush was empathetic, tying the woman's story to his own family as he explained that his daughter-in-law is an Iraqi Christian. Christians have been targeted in the Middle East by terrorist groups such as the Islamic State. Millions of people have fled Syria as a brutal civil war rages across the country. More than 100,000 civilians reportedly have been killed in the fighting.