Here are the top stories under discussion in The Reid Report newsroom right now:
Amid weekend violence, 6 children shot Sunday night – “A South Side shooting left four girls and a boy hurt, and on the Northwest Side a 15-year-old girl was shot while riding in a vehicle as shootings across the city Sunday night added to the toll of a violent holiday weekend.” [Chicago Tribune]
Boston Marathon 2014: Five runners prepare for the race of their lives – “After a year that many runners, spectators and community members spent recovering from last year’s horrific bombing, the Boston Marathon is back.” [The Guardian]
Ukraine Conflict Becomes Hostage Crisis as Separatists Take Prisoners – “According to Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, the leader of the separatists in Slavyansk, his forces have detained numerous people the separatists suspect of being provocateurs or agents of the central government in Kiev.” [Time.com]
Snowden’s Camp: Staged Putin Q&A Was a Screw-Up – “NSA leaker Edward Snowden instantly regretted asking Russian President Vladimir Putin a softball question on live television about the Kremlin’s mass surveillance effort, two sources close to the leaker tell The Daily Beast.” [The Daily Beast]
Nevada range war: Western states move to take over federal land – “Like a mustang tied to a fence post, many westerners for years have resisted Uncle Sam’s control of land they say more properly belongs to states or counties – or to nobody at all except the ranchers, miners, and loggers who work the land for its natural resources.” [Christian Science Monitor]
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter dead at 76 – “Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, the former boxer imprisoned nearly 20 years for three murders before the convictions were overturned, has died at his home in Toronto.” [The Toronto Star]
Scalia Suggests Students ‘Revolt’ If Taxes Get Too High – “Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told law students that they should consider a ‘revolt’ if taxes become too high.” [The Huffington Post]
Former Justice Stevens: Supreme Court Justices Should Consider Politics in Retirement Decisions – “Mr. Stevens, who was appointed by former Republican President Gerald Ford in 1975 and retired in 2010, declined to say whether he thought Justice Ginsburg should retire. He added, though, that she asked for his advice after he announced his retirement.” [The Wall Street Journal]
Stowaway survives flight from San Jose to Maui in jet’s wheel well – “A 16-year-old boy survived a harrowing trip halfway across the Pacific Ocean on Sunday after climbing into the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines jet flying from San Jose to Maui, emerging unharmed despite freezing temperatures and a lack of oxygen on a flight that reached an altitude of 38,000 feet, an FBI official said.” [Los Angeles Times]
Michelle Obama’s planned attendance at Kansas high school graduation sparks criticism – “A Kansas high school commencement featuring first lady Michelle Obama has sparked criticism, with students and parents complaining that space might be limited and politics might be in full view on a day meant to honor students, according to a news report.” [The Washington Post]
Keystone XL Delay Could Give Boost To Obama’s Political Base – “The latest delay to a final decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline will reinforce a White House strategy to energize President Barack Obama’s liberal-leaning base before fall elections in which Democrats risk losing control of the U.S. Senate.” [POLITICO]
GOP consultants: Christie’s 2016 prospects are on ‘life support’ – “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie swears ‘there’s no baggage here’ when it comes to a possible 2016 presidential run. But almost three-and-a-half months since ‘Bridgegate’ broke into public view, Republican analysts and strategists are seeing it differently.” [msnbc.com]
Alexis Stodghill