These are the top news stories under discussion in The Reid Report newsroom:
School Stabbing Spree: 20 Hurt in Pittsburgh-Area Attack – “As many as 20 students were hurt when a classmate went on a stabbing rampage through the classrooms and halls of a high school outside Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning, authorities said.” [NBCNews.com]
Major Breakthrough In Finding Malaysia Airlines MH370 – “In a major break in a race against time, searchers for MH370 have detected two new electronic pings — both received in the last 24 hours — from what they hope is the missing Boeing 777-200’s black box flight data recorders.” [Forbes.com]
Ft. Hood prepares for Obama at memorial after shooting – “Security tightened around Ft. Hood as soldiers and their families prepared to host President Obama and other dignitaries Wednesday for a memorial honoring those killed last week when one of their own opened fire on fellow troops.” [Los Angeles Times]
National champ U-Conn.’s Napier says he goes to bed starving – “Monday night, as the Connecticut Huskies won their first championship title under the direction of coach Kevin Ollie, criticism of the U-Conn. program was still swirling. The Huskies’ star guard, Shabazz Napier, told reporters that sometimes he goes to bed ‘starving’ because he can’t afford food. Napier was named most outstanding player after leading his team to the national title.” [The Washington Post]
Sliver of Medicare Doctors Get Big Share of Payouts – “A tiny fraction of the 880,000 doctors and other health care providers who take Medicare accounted for nearly a quarter of the roughly $77 billion paid out to them under the federal program, receiving millions of dollars each in some cases in a single year, according to the most detailed data ever released in Medicare’s nearly 50-year history.” [The New York Times]
Boehner Still Ignoring House GOP Caucus On Benghazi – “Having spent millions of dollars and countless hours investigating the Obama administration’s nefarious role covering up its alleged mishandling of the Benghazi attacks, the Republicans haven’t come up with anything to implicate the White House in some kind of Watergate-like scandal.” [Think Progress]
The next two days for Lois Lerner and the IRS targeting saga – “House Republicans are taking action on multiple fronts this week against former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner, pursuing criminal charges against her for alleged violations that include contempt of Congress and leaks of confidential taxpayer information.” [The Washington Post]
Russia to meet EU and US for talks over Ukraine crisis – “The Ukrainian authorities have said they will end the occupation of administrative buildings by pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country, either by negotiations or force, within 48 hours, as four-way talks between Russia, Ukraine, the US and EU were announced for next week in an attempt to defuse the tense situation.” [The Guardian]
Marine shot dead at Camp Lejeune gate; likely an accident, officials say – “The shooting death of a Camp Lejeune gate guard by a fellow Marine Tuesday evening was likely the result of a negligent discharge, according to an official at Headquarters Marine Corps, though the incident remains under investigation.” [Marine Corps Times]
KC police link some of the 13 recent shootings on area highways and roadways – “Kansas City police have developed information that links some of the 13 recent shootings on area highways and roadways, they said Tuesday.” [The Kansas City Star]
Civil Rights and Immigration Reform: Do they Belong Together? – “Mayor Julian Castro, a Democrat, and former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, did Tuesday what has escaped the U.S. House for about a year – they had a bipartisan discussion about immigration reform.” [NBC News Latino]
Alexis Stodghill