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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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national lead
Federal prosecutor will look into Kendrick Johnson case
Macon, Georgia (CNN) - Nearly 10 months after their son died, the parents of Kendrick Johnson are finally getting what they've been asking for: another investigation into the teen's mysterious death in the gym of Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia.
Michael Moore, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, said Thursday that federal authorities will investigate the circumstances behind the death of Johnson, whose bloody body was found inside a rolled-up gym mat on January 11.
Johnson's family suspects the 17-year-old was murdered and that someone has tried to cover up evidence in the case.
national lead
Under fire for low wages, Wal-Mart touts veterans program, investment in U.S.-made products
Amid criticism surrounding its worker pay, Wal-Mart is touting veterans programs, investment in U.S.-made products, and a wave of employee promotions.
The retail giant has come under fire recently, accused of paying low wages. One Democratic lawmaker criticized Wal-Mart's executives as "welfare kings" last week, citing the store's average full-time hourly wage of $12.83, or roughly $26,000 a year.
"Our pay is in the top half of what retail offers, what our industry offers," Wal-Mart CEO Bill Simon said Thursday in an interview with CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper."
FULL POST
politics lead
Roundtable: Sen. Ted Cruz's dad said what?
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's dad, Pastor Rafael Cruz, is a staple of the tea party favorite's stump speech. As a Cuban immigrant, he is also the senator's own personal symbol of the "American dream".
But what do you do when your dad says things like this:
"We need to send Barack Obama back to Chicago. I'd like to send him back to Kenya, back to Indonesia," the elder Cruz said in September 2012, in a video recently published by Mother Jones.
FULL POST
national lead
Food stamp cuts start Friday
More than 47 million Americans rely on food stamps just to get by. But starting Friday, they will notice a good chunk of their benefits have been wiped out, just as the holiday season rolls in.
It's partly because of a vote Congress took three years ago, which reversed a temporary increase in benefits that was put in place at the height of the recession.
FULL POST
world lead
Sen. Menendez: Obama administration has no Syria strategy
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee criticized the Obama administration at a hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, calling the administration's reluctance to fully back Syrian rebels an “embarrassment.”
"Today's hearing left me bewildered that this government does not have a strategy as to Syria," Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, said in an interview with CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper."
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