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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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world lead
Iraq crisis: ISIS advances on Baquba as U.S. moves firepower to region
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) - As Islamic militants continue their murderous advance across Iraq, they have a new target in their sights: the city of Baquba, less than 40 miles north of Baghdad.
Gun battles erupted in the city, only a 45-minute drive from the capital, on Tuesday as fighters and Iraqi government forces clashed.
Civilians are fleeing violence there and elsewhere in Iraq even as the United States bolsters its manpower in the region while it mulls what action to take.
world lead
What's next in Iraq?
(CNN) – A report issued by the Center of American Progress Tuesday says the U.S. should prepare for measures including "possible air strikes." The think tank is known for its close relationship with the White House.
Is this an indication of the direction the administration is heading?
Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass, author of "War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars" joins CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" to discuss.
politics lead
Hillary Clinton in 1975: A young lawyer, defending in a rape case
(CNN) – Many believe Hillary Clinton's current tour is less about selling books, than selling a potential candidate.
Since the media blitz began, Americans have seen many different sides of Clinton.
Most recently, the conservative site the Washington Free Beacon uncovered audio recordings of Clinton from the early 1980s, including one clip of Clinton discussing a 1975 legal case in which she was the defense attorney for a man charged with raping a 12-year-old girl.
"He took a lie detector test. I had him take a polygraph, which he passed. Which forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs," Clinton is heard saying on the tape.
FULL POST
national lead
Twin tornadoes tear through Nebraska town; 2 dead
Pilger, Nebraska (CNN) - Becky Hauf had always been told her little town of Pilger, Nebraska, would never see a tornado. Too close to the Elkhorn River, the folklore went.
Instead, Pilger got two. At the same time.
The rare twin tornadoes that spun through on Monday night wiped out the town's business district, obliterated its fire station and ground 40 or 50 homes into rubble, Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger said.
As much as three-fourths of the town of 350 is gone, Unger said. Two people died during the storm - one a 5-year-old. The second death - a traffic accident - was probably weather-related, Unger said.
politics lead
In Hillary Clinton's media blitz to push 'Hard Choices,' every word counts
(CNN) – It's been a high profile week for Hillary Clinton. Some have called it the unofficial start to her unofficial campaign.
During the media blitz for her book "Hard Choices" that question, the hard choice about 2016, was artfully dodged.
But for a woman many expect will run for president, every answer, every word is put under a microscope.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour reports.
