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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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pop lead
Bob Dylan investigated, suspected of inciting hatred with Croatia remark
Paris (CNN) - Bob Dylan is being investigated on suspicion of inciting hatred in Paris over comments he made in Rolling Stone magazine, French prosecutors said Tuesday.
An organization representing Croatians in France pressed charges against Dylan for allegedly comparing the conflict between Croatians and Serbs to the Nazis' persecution of Jews in an interview last year for the French edition of Rolling Stone.
"If you got a slave master or Klan in your blood, blacks can sense that. That stuff lingers to this day. Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood," the influential singer-songwriter was quoted as saying.
money lead
Economist on why Black Friday is turning into 'Red Friday'
Cyber Monday sales hit record highs this year. At least one online shopping research group says sales were up nearly 20 percent. Meanwhile, despite the fact that many big box retailers opened stores earlier than last year, Black Friday spending dipped 13 percent.
One reason for the disparity is that Cyber Monday deals are getting better, says Diane Swonk, chief economist and senior managing director of Mezero Financial.
"We're seeing much more of the kinds of promotions you saw in stores on Black Friday, which I think has become 'Red Friday,' because they sell almost at a loss now," said Swonk.
"We call it Cyber Monday because people used to come into work because they had faster internet service," said Swonk. "Now people have it on smartphones, tablets, they get access to the internet almost anywhere."
Online shoppers are also enticed with free shipping, pretty much standard this holiday season, and short-term sales.
"It really is a sign of people seeking out the best deals as well," said Swonk.
For more of our interview with economist Diane Swonk, watch the video above.
world lead
Fmr. Ambassador to South Korea on reported North Korea purges: Kim Jung Un wants to show country who is in charge
(CNN) - It's "very likely" that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful uncle, Jang Sung-taek, has been removed from his top-level position in government, two South Korean lawmakers said Tuesday, citing a briefing from their county's intelligence service.
And two close allies of Jang have been publicly executed, one of the South Korean lawmakers said at a news conference.
"Jang Sung-taek has not been seen now for a couple of months, maybe more when it comes to actually standing next to Kim Jong Un," said former Ambassador to South Korea Christopher Hill, who currently serves as dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.
CNN has not been able to independently confirm the report. But while the trustworthiness of South Korean intelligence on North Korea "varies," Hill says in this case it has "a greater probability of being true."
FULL POST
national lead
Sources: Train engineer said he was 'in a daze' before crash
(CNN) - Results from alcohol breath tests for the train engineer of the New York commuter train that derailed Sunday morning were negative, and both the brake and signal systems in the deadly Metro-North accident appeared to be working, National Transportation Safety Board representatives said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, while two law enforcement sources told CNN that engineer William Rockefeller reported being in a "daze" before the crash.
politics lead
Roundtable: What's in a name? Reselling Obamacare, aka the Affordable Care Act
The first rule of re-branding Obamacare? You do not talk about "Obamacare." The White House launched a three-week rebranding campaign on the public's perception of the Affordable Care Act.
"Jim, there's not an insurance policy called obamacare. I think it's important to your viewers to understand that they are purchasing private insurance," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told CNN's Jim Acosta Tuesday.
Still, the president didn't shy away from the term today when he was defending the law, saying, "That seems to be the only alternative Obamacare's critics have, 'Let's just go back to the status quo,' because they sure haven't presented an alternative."
Editor of The Weekly Standard Bill Kristol, former U.S. Senator of Arkansas Blanche Lincoln, and Washington bureau chief for USA Today Susan Page discuss.
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