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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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politics lead
Fmr. Obama aide slams president’s comments on NSA
A former special advisor to President Barack Obama and co-host of CNN's "Crossfire" Van Jones criticized the president's recent statements about the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance programs.
"We don't have a domestic spying program," Obama said on "The Tonight Show" Tuesday. "What we do have are some mechanisms where we can track a phone number or an email address that we know is connected to some sort of terrorist threat."
Jones said that the president's policies suggest otherwise.
"Everybody knows I love this president, but this is ridiculous," said Jones. "We do have a spying program, and we need to figure out how to balance these out."
Jones also criticized the Obama administration's treatment of whistleblowers.
"You are prosecuting more whistleblowers than every American president combined," said Jones. "You can't yuck it up and say, well, whistleblowers come on out and we'll treat you right."
Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney also stepped out Tuesday, warning his party against defunding Obamacare through attachments to the upcoming spending bill, at risk of adding to the likelihood of a federal government shutdown.
The former Republican presidential candidate's advice may not be welcome to all Republicans, said S.E. Cupp, co-host of CNN's "Crossfire." Cupp praised Romney's business background and suggested sending him to help Detroit, but questioned his political advice given his unsuccessful presidential campaigns.
"I don't think he's proven himself to be a particularly adept political strategist, so warning Republicans about the optics of the messaging, I don't know that he's sort of the best advisor," said Cupp.
"Crossfire" debuts September 16th on CNN.
national lead
First on CNN: Issa expands IRS investigation
Washington (CNN) - House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa demanded Wednesday that the Federal Election Commission turn over records of more than five years of communications with the Internal Revenue Service - a move that significantly expands the California Republican's ongoing probe of alleged federal targeting of conservative groups.
In a letter to FEC Chairman Ellen Weintraub - a Democrat - Issa cited CNN reporting on Monday that raises "the prospect of inappropriate coordination between the IRS and the FEC about tax-exempt entities."
national lead
State Department: U.S.-Russia relations a 'roller coaster' at times
President Barack Obama canceled a visit to Moscow next month for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an administration official told CNN on Wednesday.
Before the announcement, Obama was on "The Tonight Show" and discussed U.S.-Russia relations, saying, "There have been times where they slip back into Cold War thinking and a Cold War mentality. And what I consistently say to them and what I say to President Putin is, that's the past."
"Our relationship with Russia has been a roller coaster ride at times," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in an interview on "The Lead with Jake Tapper."
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pop lead
Scientist slams Discovery's Shark Week' fake documentary
The Discovery Channel has come a long way since the early days, where the highlights were things like migration patterns of the whooping crane, and the amorous activities of the dung beetle.
Discovery is right in the middle of "Shark week," which is always a smash.
But this year, the channel kicked things off by hoodwinking its viewers, in a grand tradition that dates back to at least 1938, when Orson Welles convinced radio listeners that Mars was attacking Earth.
Nearly 5 million people tuned in to the Discovery Channel Sunday night to watch "Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives," the story of a giant, extinct shark that, as the story goes, may still lurk far beneath the waves.
"There's a blend of fact and fiction, but the overall narrative is absolutely false, there's absolutely no doubt at all in the scientific community that megalodons have been extinct for a long time now," said David Shiffman, shark biologist at the University of Miami. "Perpetuating misinformation otherwise does a disservice to Discovery's reputation, and to their viewers."
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national lead
Widow of elite firefighter killed in Arizona blaze fights for benefits
It has been over a month since 19 families lost their loved ones in a wildfire, when an elite group of firefighters known as Hotshots were killed by a blaze in Arizona.
Now, one of the victims' widows is speaking out, saying the city is denying her the lifetime benefits she needs to raise her four children.
Since her husband died, "it's [been] a roller coaster," said Juliann Ashcraft, 29-year-old widow of firefighter Andrew Ashcraft.
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