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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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world lead
Obama visiting Asia with Ukraine teetering
(CNN) – A busload of 13 people, most of them military observers from Europe, were taken hostage by pro-Russia militants in an eastern Ukraine city held by separatists on Friday, according to Ukraine’s interior ministry.
This show of violence is an ominous sign that the situation inside that country is spinning out of control.
President Barack Obama again warned Russia of imminent consequences, but he did so at a time when much of his attention is taken up by his trip through Asia.
national lead
Newtown mom: 'Every day is a day without Dylan'
(CNN) - As the nation solemnly marks tomorrow as the one year anniversary of the Newtown shooting, Gabby Giffords’ organization "Americans for Responsible Solutions" released a video Friday asking for action on gun violence. Giffords has teamed up with one of the mothers who lost a child at Sandy Hook Elementary, Nicole Hockley, who lost her six-year old son Dylan. They have created a lesson plan to talk about Newtown and other national tragedies with students.
Nicole Hockley spoke about her role in the project with CNN's Jake Tapper.
buried lead
Pastor's wife: I fear he'll die in Iran
The United States had Iran at the negotiating table but didn’t secure the release of Saeed Abedini, the American pastor held captive in Iran.
Now activists like Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice, are questioning whether the administration left Abedini behind.
“We had the ultimate negotiating capability,” Sekulow said. “The Iranian sanctions that the United States government put on the Iranians have been significant enough that it brought the Iranians to the table, and we blinked. The United States blinked, and that’s the tragedy in all this.”
Naghmeh Abedini, the pastor's wife, fears her husband will die in Iran.
“In this prison he’s with murderers on death row; we’re worried about his health,” she said. “He will not survive the eight years if he doesn’t get out of there immediately.”
national lead
Rep. Peter King: Moderate Republicans 'have to be willing to say no'
Rep. Peter King, R-New York, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that moderate Republicans in Congress need speak out more in future fights over legislation and that his caucus can’t allow “30 to 35 Ted Cruz Republicans dominate the House.”
King also detailed a bizarre moment on the House floor during the vote to pass the bill to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling.
national lead
Was the shutdown about Obamacare?
Some Republicans say the government shutdown wasn't entirely about Obamacare. Rep. Scott Garrett, R-New Jersey, offers his perspective.
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