Ben Carson on TODAY Show: Welcoming Syrian refugees 'exposes us to danger' 
 
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 GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson tells TODAY's Matt Lauer that allowing the United States to welcome tens of thousands of Syrian refugees would not help resolve the crisis but only put the nation in jeopardy. 
 
 "Bringing them into this country does not solve the problem, and it exposes us to danger," Carson said during an interview Tuesday. 
 
 Carson last week visited Jordan to tour Syrian refugee camps in an effort to bolster his foreign affairs credentials, something he has been criticized for lacking. 
 
 Carson called the camps "really quite nice" and suggested they should serve as a long-term solution. On TODAY, he called the Jordanians "very generous people" who have set up camps and hospitals "that work very well" but just lack to the resources to support the efforts. 
 
 "Why don't we take advantage of things that are already in place, before we start trying to come up with other things," he said. 
 
 When reminded that refugee camps aren't places where settlers can build their future, Carson said that most of the refugees he met with want to return back home to Syria. But they also suggested ways that foreign nations can help outside of opening their borders. 
 
 "What can nations like the United States do? They can support the efforts of places like Jordan and other places that might offer them a safe place to inhabit until such time as they can return home," he said. 
 
 Carson also addressed his recent slide down polls in Iowa, which will hold the nation's first presidential caucus on Feb. 1. 
 
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 "Poll numbers will go up and down. It's a marathon, not a sprint," he told Lauer. 
 
 Carson said voters are still evaluating where each candidate stands on issues and how views fit "their impression of what they need." 
 
 "I think there is plenty of time to make the appropriate arguments," he said. 
 
 Carson has been courting the Christian conservative vote for months in Iowa, where he once led the polls. His standings have taken a hit recently, and the retired neurosurgeon finds himself in third place in numerous polls, behind Donald Trump and either Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio. 
 
 Some conservative pundits have noted that Carson's slip has coincided with an increase in world events, including the growth of the Syrian refugee crisis and the deadly attacks in Paris. 
 
 Follow TODAY.com writer Eun Kyung Kim on Twitter. ||||| Ben Carson, who is facing increasing scrutiny over his grasp of foreign policy, is traveling to Jordan on Friday to visit Syrian refugees, in order to gain an understanding of the pressing issue and to polish his candidacy. 
 
 “I find when you have firsthand knowledge of things as opposed to secondhand, it makes a much stronger impression,” Mr. Carson said in an interview before his departure, planned for late Thanksgiving Day on a charter aircraft. 
 
 In a surprise visit, he plans to go to the Azraq refugee camp in northern Jordan, where he will visit a clinic and a hospital. He is bringing soccer balls and Beanie Babies to distribute to children. 
 
 Mr. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, was leading in some state and national polls before the Paris terror attacks, but his support has dropped with national security concerns looming larger in the Republican nominating race. In Iowa in particular, Donald J. Trump, who called for a registry of Muslims in America, has taken the lead in polls, and Senator Ted Cruz, who has harshly criticized President Obama over the rise of the Islamic State, has jumped into second place.
– Ben Carson will try to prove he has a handle on foreign affairs during a surprise visit with Syrian refugees in Jordan on Friday. "I find when you have firsthand knowledge of things as opposed to secondhand, it makes a much stronger impression," Carson told the New York Times before setting off for the UN refugee camp in Azraq on Thursday. NBC News also confirmed the trip. "I want to hear some of their stories, I want to hear from some of the officials what their perspective is," he said. "All of that is extraordinarily useful in terms of formulating an opinion of how to actually solve the problem." He added he'll be handing out soccer balls and Beanie Babies as he visits a clinic, hospital, women's and girls' center, and an "adolescent-friendly space." He's expected to return to the US on Sunday. Since the Paris terror attacks, Carson's poll numbers have been dropping, especially in Iowa where he was once leading. One Quinnipiac University poll shows him down 10 points since October, perhaps due to concerns about his grasp on foreign policy. Asked if voters felt he wasn't the right person to lead when terrorism fears are high, Carson said, "I would agree with that assessment," but "that's why it's a good thing it's a marathon, not a sprint. As time goes on they will begin to listen more carefully to what I'm saying." Carson recently drew heat for explaining that he opposes accepting Syrian refugees into the US because the result could be "a rabid dog running around in your neighborhood." He also seemed baffled when asked to name the countries he would call to form an anti-Islamic State coalition.