A.M. Links: Hostage Seige in Sydney, Cheney Rejects Senate Torture Report, Jeb Bush Eyes 2016 White House Race

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  Credit: takomabibelot / Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND

  A hostage situation is currently unfolding in Sydney, Austria, where an armed gunman is holding an unknown number of people in a cafe. At one point, several hostages were "seen pressing a black flag with Arabic text against the cafe's windows."

• Appearing yesterday on Meet the Press, former Vice President Dick Cheney defended the CIA against the charges leveled against it in the Senate Torture Report. "I'd do it again in a minute," Cheney said of his own role in helping to craft U.S. policy towards detainees suspected of terrorism.

• "In final spending bill, salty food and belching cows are winners."

• The news that Jeb Bush is writing a new e-book has sparked a fresh round of speculation that the former Florida governor will be running for president in 2016.

• Liberal hero Elizabeth Warren repeatedly told NPR that she is not running for president.

• The Cleveland Police Union is demanding an apology from the Cleveland Browns after wide receiver Andrew Hawkins warmed up on the football field before a recent game wearing a t-shirt protesting the police killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. "We have great respect for the Cleveland Police Department and the work that they do to protect and serve our city," the Browns responded in a statement. "We also respect our players' rights to project their support and bring awareness to issues that are important to them if done so in a responsible manner."

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