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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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money lead
Who owns 'Happy Birthday'?
Most people have been singing "Happy Birthday" since they were kids. But if you've done so publicly, you could owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in copyright infringement fees.
The song was written more than 120 years ago by Mildred and Patty Hill. Warner Music Group eventually bought the company that owned the rights, and since then, it has been collecting fees.
But now there's a lawsuit that could change that, a documentary company filed a lawsuit on Thursday to have the song returned to the public domain.
Everyone from babes to bombshells has sung the song - Marylin Monroe famously sang her rendition to President John F. Kennedy.
But if it is sung at too public of an event, and without permission, it could cost singers $150,000. That would be € 112,630 for those who once dared to sing to former Pope Benedict.
That six-figure sum is the cost for the unauthorized use of those 16 little words, according to Warner/Chappell music, which claims it owns the rights to "Happy Birthday."
FULL POST
pop lead
The Lead Read: 'Dad is Fat'
HED: The Lead Read: 'Dad is Fat'
CNN "The Lead" highlights new books for summer vacation reading.
The title of comedian Jim Gaffigan's book "Dad is Fat" isn't a joke he wrote. It was a gift from his son, Jack.
"The first sentence that he wrote was, ‘Dad is fat.’ And then I put him up for adoption," joked Jim Gaffigan.
Gaffigan said he wrote the book to honor his five kids, and to let other dads know that he does not a have a clue what he's doing either.
"When you have five, people are like, how about stopping, you know? Are you creating your own nationality? Is there going to be a country called Gaffghanistan? What are you doing?" said Gaffigan.
FULL POST
politics lead
Analysis: Jeb Bush fertile comment gets 'a pass'
Speaking to a group of religious conservatives this morning, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush made a comment about immigrants that left the crowd a little squeamish.
"Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families, and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population," Bush said.
"I'm going to give Jeb Bush a pass here," said CNN contributor and democratic strategist Maria Cardona. "If you look at Webster's dictionary, the third definition of fertility is birth rate of a population, and that is what he meant."
There are indeed 87.8 births per 1,000 women among immigrant mothers, compared to 58.9 births per 1,000 women among U.S.-born mothers, according to 2011 data from the National Center for Health Statistics.
FULL POST
world lead
Actress Frieda Pinto lends a voice to disadvantaged girls
Her breakout role was as a girl fighting to survive on the streets of Mumbai in the 2008 smash "Slumdog Millionaire."
Now actress and activist Freida Pinto is using her celebrity to tell the stories of young women across the globe n the new CNN documentary "Girl Rising."
This film follows nine girls in nine different countries, all struggling for education and empowerment.
Pinto joins renowned writers and actresses like Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett who help tell those girls' stories.
FULL POST
politics lead
Is Clinton setting stage for 2016?
Hillary Clinton might not be talking 2016 in Chicago this week, but then she doesn't have to. Because she knows everyone else will, they just can't help themselves, especially with the constant diet of crumb-like-clues that keep falling.
The former Secretary of State is co-hosting the Clinton Global Initiative conference with her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
On Friday, she launched a new initiative that could go over big with one highly coveted group of voters.
Check out CNN "The Lead's" Erin McPike report from Chicago in the video above.
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