Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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world lead
Jazir Cantonment, Kurdish-controlled Syria (CNN) - The blindfolded prisoners are brought into the dank gray room, one by one, and begin to tell us their stories.
We're in a prison run by Kurdish militants here in northern Syria. The Kurds won't allow us to see the cells where the prisoners are being held. Their prisoners, they say, are members of ISIS.
When the first detainee sits down, I ask the guard to please remove his blindfold. He blinks in the bright light and clearly looks surprised to see a foreigner sitting in front of him.
The second prisoner who arrives trembled with fear when he was brought in. I introduce myself to each detainee as an American journalist.
"You don't have to talk if you don't feel comfortable," I add. Each man speaks, though some cast darting glances at the prison guards who watch each interview.
world lead
(CNN) – Top officials agree to meet with student protesters who are demonstrating for democracy.
CNN's Ivan Watson reports from the streets of Hong Kong.
world lead
Hong Kong (CNN) - Today is a holiday in Hong Kong, but pro-democracy protesters aren't taking any time off.
They are demanding that China give them more say over their elected officials, and have now issued an ultimatum to their current - Beijing-approved - chief executive.
world lead
(CNN) - Tens of thousands of protesters have been braving powerful rainstorms and an onslaught of tear gas and pepper spray as they enter day four of massive demonstrations in Hong Kong.
world lead
Faysh Khabur, Iraq (CNN) - In an exodus of almost biblical proportions, thousands trudge across a river to escape killers belonging to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
Entire families carry nothing but the clothes on their backs. Some are barefoot.
Jamal Jamir, a 23-year-old university student from Sinjar, told CNN his family fled to the barren and windswept Mount Sinjar more than a week ago after ISIS captured their town. The group, which calls itself the Islamic State, has been on a rampage, killing members of various minorities, including Yazidis.