Here are the top news stories under discussion in The Reid Report newsroom:
One Execution Botched, Oklahoma Delays the Next - "What was supposed to be the first of two executions here on Tuesday night was halted when the prisoner, Clayton D. Lockett, began to writhe and gasp after he had already been declared unconscious and called out 'oh, man,' according to witnesses." [The New York Times]
Mom of boy who stowed-away in plane to run away to her says she hadn't seen him in 8 years - "The mother of a boy who stowed-away in a plane’s wheel well last week says her son wanted to see her but his father wouldn’t let him contact her. She says she hasn’t seen her children since 2006, when her ex-husband took them to California." [New York Daily News]
Syria misses self-imposed deadline for destroying chemical arms - "Syria appeared to have missed a self-imposed deadline to get rid of all its chemical weapons by April 27, as the United Nations announced that more than 92 percent of the arsenal had been shipped out of the country or destroyed." [Reuters]
Paul Ryan to meet with Congressional Black Caucus after race flap - "Congressman Paul Ryan will meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday to clear the air after comments he made about how the culture of 'inner cities' helps explain persistent poverty." [msnbc.com]
Clippers happy to move forward - "Rochelle Sterling, the estranged wife of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, attended the Clippers' 113-103 win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night after asking Doc Rivers whether he would be fine with her attending." [ESPN.com]
Nigeria girls' abduction: Protest march in Abuja - "Demonstrators are to march through the Nigerian capital Abuja to press for the release of more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by militants two weeks ago." [BBC News]
Kerry’s nine-month quest for Middle East peace ends in failure - "Nine months after it began, the Obama administration’s marquee diplomatic effort to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians ended Tuesday with neither a whimper nor much of a bang." [The Washington Post]
Minimum Wage Raise to Return in Senate After Likely Loss - "U.S. Senate Democrats are pledging to hold more votes before November’s election on raising the federal minimum wage, conceding they probably won’t have enough support to move the measure forward today." [Bloomberg Businessweek]
Death toll from storms hits 36; Florida battles flooding - "Severe flooding in the panhandle of Florida was blamed for the death of a Pensacola woman Wednesday, raising to 36 the death toll from a series of violent storms accompanied by heavy rains rolling through parts of the Midwest, South and East since Sunday." [USA Today]
The House GOP Immigration Walk-Back - "House Speaker John Boehner doesn't seem to be pushing his members to pass an immigration reform bill, despite earlier signals to the contrary" [Time.com]
5 kids killed by fungus on hospital bed sheets - "Five children who died at New Orleans' Children's Hospital five years ago were killed by a fungus from their bed sheets, the hospital confirmed this week." [11 Atlanta]
Election day bomb in Iraq kills two women on their way to polls - "Two roadside bombs went off in a northern Iraqi town on Wednesday morning, killing two women walking to a polling station to cast ballots and wounding five soldiers as the country holds key nationwide elections." [Reuters via Haaretz]
NERD JOY! THE “STAR WARS” CAST IS ANNOUNCED - "This week, news circulated that Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford had all been spotted in London, reigniting the long-ago-basically-confirmed rumors that the big three would be appearing in the latest installment of 'Star Wars' which is due in December, 2015, and which begins filming there soon. " [New Yorker Blog]