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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
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pop lead
U.S. agency tries and fails to infiltrate Cuba's hip hop scene
(CNN) – In the famous words of rapper Eminem, if you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted, would you capture it, or just let it slip?
Well, if you are the U.S. Agency for International Development, and that opportunity was infiltrating the Cuban hip hop scene, the answer is let it slip – or more like let it fumble.
FULL POST
national lead
Report recommends new flight tracking
(CNN) – It's been nine months since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and its 239 passengers and crew members disappeared without a trace.
Now, the International Air Transport Association is trying to make sure that never happens again, releasing its safety proposal for airline carriers Wednesday, including four dimensional tracking which reports the plane location every 15 minutes, and is accurate to within at least one nautical mile.
The group – which has 250 airline members – also suggests updating communication protocols and equipment, but some airlines are pushing back on the proposal, especially its 12 month timeline.
CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien weighs in in the video above.
politics lead
Senator: Tough decision to release report given risk of retaliation
With the release of the CIA torture report, many Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee say that report itself is flawed - that the Democrat's biases make it impossible to produce an objective report.
Senator Marco Rubio, along with others, question the timing, saying the release causes danger to American men and women serving abroad, as well as our alliances. Many critics also say this is just about embarrassing the Bush administration.
Democratic Senator Angus King speaks to Jake Tapper on the release of the report.
pop lead
Why is Mark Wahlberg petitioning for a pardon?
(CNN) – Before he just played one in the movies, Mark Wahlberg was a criminal in real life. In 1988, when he was 16 years old, he assaulted two men while high on drugs and alcohol.
He beat one so badly, the victim was left blinded in one eye, according to ABC News.
The sentencing memorandum notes Wahlberg also made racial slurs during and after the attack. After pleading guilty, Wahlberg served 45 days for the crime.
Now 43 and a father of four, the successful rapper-turned-actor-turned-media mogul says he is a different man, and is asking for an official pardon for his past crime.
FULL POST
politics lead
What is GOP looking for in 2016?
(CNN) – When it comes to the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, a few big names might come to mind: Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Rand Paul.
How about Ben Carson?
Carson, the non-politician, former Fox News commentator, is on everyone's radar after two new CNN/ORC polls placed the conservative neurosurgeon second as Republicans' 2016 nominee choice.
The first poll shows Carson running behind only Mitt Romney, a man who still contends he is not running for president. And while Carson was only at 10 per cent – to Romney's 20 – he still came in ahead of all those other big names.
So let's take Romney out of the mix, he says he's not running anyway, and Carson comes in second again, this time to Jeb Bush, trailing the former Florida governor by only three percentage points.
Yes, it is early and these poll numbers will change a lot in coming months, but how seriously are Republican officials taking Carson?
The National Review's Jim Geraghty, Media Matters's Karen Finney, and CNN's Brianna Keilar discuss.
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