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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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politics lead
Ryan: 'Not closing my options' on 2016
(CNN) – Conservative Wisconsin GOP Rep. Paul Ryan isn't shutting any doors to 2016.
"I'm not closing my options," the 2012 vice Republican presidential nominee told CNN Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper in an interview appearing on "The Lead" Thursday. "But I'm just not focusing on that right now.”
politics lead
Pelosi to Democrats on budget deal: 'Embrace the suck'
By CNN chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper, Sherisse Pham, and Dana Davidsen
(CNN) – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told her caucus in a meeting Wednesday to "embrace the suck" over a bipartisan budget deal reached earlier this week that the House is set to vote on Thursday evening.
The phrase sums up well how her party feels about the deal, Pelosi told CNN Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper.
"It's not just the legislation, it's the whole process," she said in an interview on "The Lead," pointing to negotiators’ failure to include an extension of unemployment benefits.
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politics lead
Rep. Yoho 'can't support' House proposal
Tea party-backed Rep. Ted Yoho, (R) Florida, said he does not support a House deal that would reopen the government through December 15 and extend the nation's ability to borrow through February 7.
“Taking out the things that we originally wanted in there, no I can’t support that bill at this time,” Yoho told CNN’s Jake Tapper. Earlier Tuesday, a provision that would have suspended a tax on medical devices for two years was dropped from the proposal.
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national lead
Families, victims' attorney: Fort Hood shooting should be labeled act of terrorism
Major Nidal Hassan wanted to plead guilty right off the bat. The justice system in a military he turned against got in the way but Friday, a jury finally convicted the Army psychiatrist on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder in the November 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood.
Hasan targeted soldiers who were set to deploy to Afghanistan. Hasan represented himself in the case and did not mount a defense at all after the prosecution called nearly 90 witnesses and presented hundreds of pieces of evidence.
His standby attorney tried to bail half-way through the trial, saying it was morally wrong to represent someone who’s essentially on a suicide mission.
In fact, Hasan started the trial by telling the jury, “I am the shooter.”
Ft. Hood victims' attorney Reed Rubinstein said his clients were “ pleased” by the verdict, though “it’s certainly not the end to their search for justice."
"It’s the end of the beginning.”
Joshua Gadlin, the husband of Amber Gadlin who was shot in the attack and testified against Hasan during the trial, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the verdict brings a lot of closure to 13 families who lost loved ones. Gadlin said this attack should be labeled as an “act of terrorism" - A distinction, Rubinstein said, is significant to the families, as they would get Purple Hearts and other benefits.
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sports lead
Report: NFL pushed ESPN to quit film project
Reports surfaced Thursday that the National Football League put pressure on ESPN to drop a previously planned investigative documentary about head injuries in football.
“League of Denial” comes out in October but PBS Frontline, producers of the documentary, released a preview earlier this month containing testimony that the NFL knew the lasting damage done when players sustain head injuries during the NFL but failed to act.
James Andrew Miller, author of the book “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN” who broke the story in the New York Times, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the documentary could prove to be a significant factor in the head injuries in football discussion.
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