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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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national lead
Neighbor photographs Boston bombing suspects' shootout with police
One of the biggest mysteries in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation is what exactly happened when police first caught up with the suspects late Thursday night when a gun battle broke out on Laurel Street, in Watertown, Massachusetts. For Tamerlan Tsarnaev, it would be his final stand; the 26-year-old died later that night.
New images are filling in some of the blanks thanks to a neighbor who suddenly found his home in the line of fire.
When Andrew Kitzenberg's normally tranquil street erupted, the 26-year-old began taking pictures and live tweeting the gun battle as the Tsarnaev brothers were allegedly pinned down by police.
"I could see the two shooters behind the SUV shooting on, down Laurel Street," said Kitzenberg, who immediately ran upstairs to his bedroom on the third floor, jumped on his bed, laid on his stomach, and tried to stay below the window.
"I got my camera right up against the window and the glass, continuing to take photos of the shooters and what was happening right in front of my bedroom window," Kitzenberg said.
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national lead
Boston reclaims Boylston Street, shop workers get ready to re-open
Boston is slowly inching back to normal today, as business owners - some who witnessed incredible horrors - reclaimed their shops and cleaned the streets. The Lenox Hotel has served as something of a command post for investigators at the crime scene.
"We've had guests with badges and guns, which is not customarily our normal guest," said managing director Dan Donahue. The Lenox opened its doors for the first time late Tuesday afternoon, after being closed since the Boston Marathon bombing attack last Monday.
"We're a 113-year-old hotel, it was the first time we didn't have guests on Monday night, it was surreal," said Donahue.
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national lead
Amputee veterans encourage Boston victims
Veterans who lost their limbs fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are back home offering hope to victims of the Boston Marathon attack.
Celeste Corcoran and her 18-year-old daughter Sydney were at the Boston Marathon to cheer on Celeste's sister, who was running the race for the first time. They were waiting by the finish line when the bombs that would change their lives forever exploded.
Celeste lost both of her legs, her daughter was wounded by shrapnel.
"I can't do anything right now," said Celeste, with tears in her eyes.
Double amputee Marine veteran Gabe Ramirez responded to her concern with quiet reassurance.
"Now yes, but I'm telling you with all my heart that you are going to be more independent than you already were," Ramirez said.
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politics lead
Boston bombing suspect: Congress has questions for the FBI
Tensions on Capitol Hill have been flaring since the Boston bombings. In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano defended the department's travel warning system, saying the DHS was aware when Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev traveled to Russia in 2012.
"The system pinged when he was leaving the United States," said Napolitano. But since the case against Tsarnaev had been closed in 2011, that ping did not raise any red flags.
"When you have a ping like that, or an alert like that, [then] immediately the FBI should have been notified about it," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
"If we are going to win this war on terrorism, we've got to have complete cooperation among all the departments that are involved in the war against terrorism," added Grassley.
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national lead
Boston attack: Putting a price on misery
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino announced Tuesday that "The One Fund" - an organization to support victims of the Boston Marathon bombing attack - had already raised $20 million. Donations have been pouring in from across the country. Lawyer Kenneth Feinberg was appointed as the administrator of the fund. Feinberg was also the administrator for the 9/11 victims fund.
Former DHS official and CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem worked with Feinberg restituting people affected by the BP oil spill.
It is "one of the toughest jobs, said Kayyem. "What we're asking him to do is to put a number sign, a dollar sign on misery."
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