Week In The News: Wisconsin Primary, Panama Papers, Goodbye Merle Haggard

Sanders and Cruz win big. The Panama Papers’ global punch. A $15 minimum wage in New York. Our weekly roundtable goes behind the headlines.

The Sanders and Cruz surge in Wisconsin this week. But can they take New York? Cruz is carrying his “New York values” jab. Hillary Clinton’s on home turf and punching. Bernie’s punching, hard. And Bill Clinton, too. It’s a rumble. We’ve got the PanamaPpapers, and hidden billions. The Pope talking gently on love and marriage. America’s Pfizer will not be an Irish company. And the great Merle Haggard is gone. This hour On Point, our weekly new roundtable goes behind the headlines.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Sam Sanders, political reporter for NPR News. (@samsanders)

Louise Story, investigative reporter for the New York Times. (@louisestory)

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst. (@JackBeattyNPR)

NPR News: Hillary Clinton Courts Working Class Voters In New York — "To get a sense of the tension in the Democratic race for president right now, we're going to New York. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have been campaigning all across the state this week. The Democratic primary is April 19. Clinton is working hard to get the attention of blue-collar workers, a group that's been listening closely to Bernie Sanders."

New York Times: U.S. Plans to Require Banks to Identify Owners of Shell Companies -- "The United States government is close to issuing a rule that will for the first time require banks and other financial institutions to find out the identities of people hidden behind shell companies. The rule is meant to close a major loophole in the American banking system that enables the sorts of secretive financial maneuvers that were thrust into the spotlight this week with the leak of millions of documents from a law firm in Panama."

CNN: What Merle Haggard knew about America — "Merle Haggard's songs stretched half a century but each of them was timeless, and there has been no more ripe a time for them as now. Here in 2016, we see a political landscape fueled by working-class anger and middle-class frustration. We hear rhetoric about struggling and lashing out, getting violent and tamping down. And, the pundits tell us, we're taking our anger to the voting box."