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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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world lead
New James Cameron series paints dire picture of what's to come if climate change is ignored
(CNN) – Filmmaker James Cameron has been a titan of the box office for decades. So when he decided he wanted to create a series about climate change, it was only fitting that he would inject it with all the drama and suspense of one of his signature blockbusters.
Cameron says the project – "Years of Living Dangerously" – was not an easy sell to Hollywood, but just as he has tackled so many other productions, he lined up enough talent – including Matt Damon, Jessica Alba, Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama – to try to bring the compelling story of climate change to the screen.
"People have so many worries with the economy the way it is, they just don't want to think about this," Cameron said.
"It takes people you can relate to, that you feel familiar with because you've seen them your whole lives, maybe, telling you that this is something you've got to pay attention to," Cameron says in an interview with CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper."
FULL POST
buried lead
Former firefighter rescues pets in disasters
Philadelphia (CNN) - Hazel Donnelly was taking her husband to the doctor when they got a call that their apartment building was on fire.
Her first thought was about her 17-year-old cat, Kramer.
"I don't have children on my own, so my cat is like my child. I became hysterical," said Donnelly, 50. "What if (he) didn't make it?"
world lead
Analyst: If Malaysia had followed protocol, we wouldn't be looking for Flight 370 today
(CNN) – Air traffic controllers assumed that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had turned back from Malaysia because of mechanical trouble, according to Reuters.
If that is true, they did not follow proper protocol, and if they had, "we wouldn't even be talking about this today," says CNN aviation analyst and pilot Miles O'Brien discuss.
"There was a narrow window there to stop this whole thing from happening," said O'Brien.
For more analysis from O'Brien, alongside former Navy oceanographer Van Gurley, and CNN safety analyst and author of "Why Planes Crash" David Soucie, click on the video above.
world lead
What can the U.S. Navy bring to Flight 370 search?
(CNN) – The U.S. Navy has provided two underwater assets to the search for Flight 370, the Towed Pinger Locator and the Bluefin-21. But what else could the U.S. provide in the underwater search if asked?
U.S. Navy deputy director for salvage and diving Mike Dean joins CNN to discuss.
politics lead
Feds: Dem. Calif. pol Leland Yee schemed to trade arms for campaign cash
San Francisco (CNN) - Leland Yee needed cash.
First, the ambitious California state senator had to fund his 2011 race for mayor of San Francisco. When he came in fifth, he was stuck with $70,000 in campaign debt that he had to retire before he could mount his next run, for secretary of state - a costly statewide venture.
And that's how prosecutors say Yee ended up sitting across from an undercover federal agent in a coffee shop in early March, brokering what he was told was a $2 million arms deal that would include the purchase of shoulder-fired missiles from Islamic rebels in the Philippines.
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