Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by part of the corporationst small ship line offering seven day cruises to three cities in cuba, exploring the culture, cuisine and historic sites. More at family. Org. Lincoln financial, committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. And with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. The polls have closed in newe york state and as expected its a big night for donald trump. The front runner will win a commanding victory over texas senator ted cruz and Ohio Governor john kasich. Hes hoping his win is big enough to sweep the delegates at stake. On the democratic side theres no projection at yet. T Hillary Clinton was hoping for a big win over Bernie Sanders for 291 democratic delegates. Both trump and clinton have suffered a string of de feats recently so the candidates kept at it today even as new yorkers turned out to have their say. Reporter who are you voting for . Easy decision sreenivasan donald trump casting his New York Primary ballot this morning in midtown manhattan a few blocks from his namesake tower. But the republican frontrunner also had to address the churning within his political team. Including new roles for veteran political operatives brought in as advisors and the resignation of a top aide, in reaction he acknowledged the shakeup during a phone interview this morning with fox news. When you bring other people in, i could see some peopleme their feelings get a little bit hurt. Frankly, you know, were in a position where id like to see if we can close it out. Sreenivasan meanwhile,w trumps closest rival texas senator ted cruz turned his attention to next weeks contests with a stop in philadelphia this evening. So, too, with john kasich. Hes in maryland tonight, after an earlier stop in pittsburgh. The two democratic contenders started their days in new york state. Hillary clinton voted in the town she now calls home chappaqua. Later, she made a quick trip to washington to court labor. And heres my promise to you. If im fortunate enough to become your president , organized labor will always have a champion in the white house. Sreenivasan her rival Bernie Sanders began with a morning stroll near new york citys times square. This afternoon, he made his pivot to pennsylvania, stopping in erie. Let us see pennsylvania have the largest voter turnout of the history of their primaries. And lets see the great state of pennsylvania lead this country into the political revolution. Sreenivasan pennsylvania figures to be the keystone of next tuesdays contests, with 71 republican delegates and 210 on the democratic side. Well take a detailed look atoo todays New York Primary and what lies ahead later in the program. Woodruff in the days other news, a twoman taliban raid shook the heart of afghanistan capital city, killing 28 people and wounding hundreds more. The combined bombing and gun battle raised new questions about the governments ability to secure the country. Well look at the talibans strength in afghanistan, right after the news summary. Sreenivasan hundreds of International Rescue workers fanned out in ecuador today, looking for earthquake victims. The weekend disaster killed att least 433 people. Soldiers and volunteers joined those digging through the rubble on the countrys pacific coast. The military also dispenseden food, water and other supplies to survivors. Woodruff another strong aftershock rattled southern japan, and the death toll rose to 45 in last weeks twin quakes. Meanwhile, a key airport re opened, allowing the first passengers and relief goods toli land. Most outbound passenger flights are still canceled. Sreenivasan in cuba, raul castro and the countrys old guard will keep top positions in the Ruling Communist Party despite calls for reform. The government announced today that castro at 84 will stay on as Party First Secretary and cubas president. 89yearold fidel castro also made a rare appearance at the party congress. Woodruff president obama left for a trip to saudi arabia today, at a time of tension between the two nations. The saudis have criticized the nuclear deal with iran. And in a recent interview, mr. Ie obama said the sunni kingdom needs to share the middle east with shiite iran. He departed today after trying to clarify his meaning, in an interview with pbss charlieha rose saudi arabia and the gulf states generally have to bey guarded against iran. They have to be in a position where they can defend themselven against iranian mischief in the region. But that in the end, iran is a large country in the region. And that a proxy war between saudi arabia and iran is in nobodys interest. Woodruff the trip also comes as Congress Considers letting families of september 11 victim1 sue the saudi government over any role it played in the attack. The white house opposes the senate bill, but senior members of both parties voiced support s for it today. Texas republican john cornyn is the main sponsor now the president seems to want to use the leverage of the 9 11 families in order to some how mollify or cure that rift that the president has created himself as result of Iranian Nuclear deal. I think thats entirelynt inappropriate. And as i tried to point out, we actually need to deter people from facilitating and financing terrorist attacks on our own soil. Woodruff both Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell and House Speaker paul ryan said today they still need to revieww the bill. The saudis have threatened to pull billions of dollars from the u. S. Economy if it becomes law. Sreenivasan major parts of houston were still under water today, after widespread floodinn thats killed six people so far. School was canceled again in the nations fourth largest city, and hundreds of people were in shelters. Emergency teams worked around the clock to evacuate homes flooded by the deluge. More than a foot of rain fell monday, and a Flash Flood Watch remained in effect. Woodruff the nations Largest Health insurer will puln out of insurance exchanges in most states by next year. United health said today its losing too much money on the system, established under the president s Affordable Care act. The company covers just under 800,000 people in exchanges across 34 states about 6 ofbo the total. Sreenivasan intel has announced its cutting 12,000 jobs worldwide about 11 of its workforce. The computer chip maker says it needs to cut costs as sales of p. C. S decline. And on wall street the Dow Jones Industrial average gained 49 points to close at 18,053. The nasdaq fell 19 points and the s p 500 rose six. Woodruff still to come on the newshour special envoy brett mcgurk on the decision to send more troops to iraq, how new yorks primary could shift the momentum in the president ial race, schools across the u. S grappling with leadtainted water, and much more. Woodruff we return to our top story, the upsurge in talibandriven violence in afghanistan, nearly 15 years into the american involvement there. Smoke over the kabul skyline signaled the capital was under attack. translated it was a big blast, dust covered all the area, i wasnt able to see what was happening. Later i saw lot of damage. La woodruff one insurgent blew up a truck bomb outside a Security Agency that protects top officials. A second attacker ran into the compound, and started shooting. translated after the car bomb exploded, a suicide bombera was trying to enter the building, he came under fire from inside the building as well as from Police Forces who were outside, who did not give him the chance to enter. He was killed. Woodruff the attack caused extensive damage just a few hundred yards from the president ial palace. Meanwhile, fighting continued in the northern part of the country, where Government Forces around kunduz have battled this week to repel a taliban assault. Last year, the militants captured the city and held it for three days before Afghan Forces backed by u. S. Air a strikes drove them out. But afghanistans chief executive Abdullah Abdullah said kunduz and kabul show the talibans latest spring offensive has failed. translated they were defeated all over the country after they carried out their attacks and have suffered lots of causalities. So by carrying this Suicide Attack they wanted to take revenge. Woodruff still, by most reckoning, the taliban is at its strongest in years likely a a concern for president obama, when he reversed course last fall, and announced the u. S. Will keep 10,000 troops in afghanistan through this year drawing down to 5,500 in 2017. For more on todays attack in kabul, and what it says about the over all security situation in afghanistan, we turn to seth jones, director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the rand corporation. Hes written extensively about afghanistan, and in 2011 was a special advisor to u. S. Special Operation Forces there. Seth jones, welcome back to the program. So what does this attack today in kabul say about the taliban . B is it stronger than its been, or, as Abdullah Abdullah says, is what its doing failing . Well, judy, i think what it shows is the taliban does have the ability to conduct attacks in most any part of the country, and they actually said this in their twitter feeds today and in their internet announcements after the attack of the purpose of doing this. At the same time, its probably also worth noting that the taliban does not control urban terrain like isis does in iraq, for example. They dont control kabul. They dont control any major provincial capitals. So these kind of urban attacks are done more for psychologicaly operations rather than criminal of territory. Woodruff whats the distinction . You say they dont control urbaa areas, but theyre able to pull off something like, this almost 30 people killed, hundreds badly hurt. What it shows, they do control a fair amount of rural terrain. They also have cell structures that operate in cities. So while the government controls most of the urban terrain and cities like kabul, the taliban does have an ability to push in resources and conduct attacks. And it certainly has an effect on the population there, which believes the government cant secure it at all times. Woodruff and so that psychological effect, why isnt that the same or almost the sam as having actual control . Well, its different because the taliban does a lot. It administers justice in areas that it controls, it taxes the local population. It has a political structure, almost a political state apparatus in areas that it controls. It does not have that in cities like kabul. What it has is really a military and intelligence infrastructure, but it wants the political architecture to go with that. So this is part of a longerterm campaign. Woodruff what does this say, send seth jones, about w the standing of Afghan Security forces, which we know the u. S. Has been trying to build up for years now . Look, there are plenty of t challenges with the afghanfg National Security forces. The higherend forces that responded to this today, the intelligence forces, the afghan commandos, some of the higherend army forces are pretty good, but the general state of the police and a lot of the army are mixed quality. I think the problem were seeing is theyre not very proactive in pushing out against the talibani in rural areas. And so the fight is now comingfi to them in the cities. Woodruff how do you assess what the u. S. Is doing . We know the president decided to keep american troops in afghanistan longer, but what is. What role is the posture. Is u. S. Postureu playing right now in this battle between afghans. The Afghan Government and the taliban . Well, first of all, the u. S. President has said that the number of troops that will continue to come down through january of 2017. So now were roughly 10,000. He said theyre going to go down to about 5,5. 5,500. Hes also restricted the ability of the government to conduct strikes against the taliban unless there are good examples of those forces conducting attacks against americans. So the u. S. Has limited its ability to impact this except in response to these kinds of attacks. Woodruff well, we are continuing to watch this story, seth jones. We thank you for joining us. Fo thanks, judy. Woodruff now, to another major American Military campaign against isis. Yesterday, secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that some 200 more american troops would soon go to iraq, pushing the american strength there to over 4,000. The u. S. Will also send apachee fastattack helicopters, which will help protect the iraqi army as it begins its advance on the isisheld city of mosul. The u. S. Also announced more than 400 million in aid to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern iraq. For more on all this and the wider war against isis, im joined by president obamas special envoy to the Coalition Fighting isis, brett mcgurk. K. Welcome back to the program. Thank you. Woodruff and why is the president sending these additional u. S. Advisers . Well, the president instructed our team about four our five months ago to do all we can to accelerate the campaign. It took a while, judy to, getju particularly the iraqi forces if place to be able to stand up, maneuver, conduct offensive operations. Were now seeing some success. They liberated ramadi just last week. They liberated a really critical strategic town just to the west of ramadi in the center of the euphrates valley. Its been a stronghold of isil. They liberated that last week. What were now in a position to do with the Iraqi Security forces is apply pressure on ice until multiple fronts, the euphrates valley, from operations will continue, and now beginning up toward mosul. So this is a package thats within in development for somede time, and we think it will give the iraqis some unique capabilities as it moves on mosul. Mostle is a little different than ramadi. Logistically the iraqis have the travel a it will further than theyre used to, so well be helping with logistics, sustainment, and when they come into combat, well be ready to support them with apache helicopters and other enablers. Woodruff but sending u. S. Forces or u. S. Advisers closer to the front line, is this an acknowledgment the Iraqi Military is really not able toe do the job alone . No, its really. You have to look at the topography of thv battlefield. In ramadi, for example, when ramadi fell, the president ordered a detachment of u. S. Special forces to an air base sandwiched right in between ramadi and fallujah. Its only 25 kilometers or so from the front line. Mosul, we have to be with the iraqis in their headquarters, and their headquarters as they move toward mosul will change. They will be kind of mobile. So well be with the iraqi commanders, advising and assisting what theyre doing, which is very similar to what we did in anbar province. But in anbar where we had two facility, its a little more stationary. Were on base. Were advising and assisting. In mosul it will be a little more dynamic. We want to make sure our best advisers are with the headquarters, with the iraqi commanders as theyre planning and conducting their operations. Woodruff is it fair the call this Mission Creep . No, its the exact same mission in mosul that weve been doing in anbar province. Were moving into that phase in mosul now. Its the same mission. The only difference is apaches helicopters. We were prepared to use apache helicopters. The president authorized it for ramadi, but given the situation, given the fact the iraqis were having an awful lot of success and given the urban environment, we determined that it really wasnt needed, but in mosul, its a complex terrain. Its the citadel. C theyre well defended there. We think apaches can make a difference. We discussed this with the iraqi government. Everything we do in iraq with ii with the consent of the iraqi t government. This is something the Prime Minister wanted. We found a formula we think will be effective. Woodruff let me ask you about some criticism were hearing from the other side. The newshour spoke today with retired army colonel david army. He told us he thinks these steps represent insufficient resources in the first place by the administration and poor execution. Poor execution by the Administration Working with the iraqis. I worked with david petraeusw in those days, too. Its a different time now. Were in the fighting a war. The iraqis are fighting a war. Were in the middle of liberating all of anbar province. Again, we liberated ramadi. That was done with iraqis. Were moving west up the you euphrates valley. This is critical because it opens up an expressway from ramadi to haditha. Haditha has been under siege for almost two years. Were now in a position to break that siege. Were having an awful lot of success. Its a Different Campaign than it was in 2007 2008. You know, americans are not doing the fighting. We are advising. Were assisting. Were providing devastating air support and special operations. You know, there are things we dont talk about much. We have special operations and special forces in northern iraq. Theyre very effective against the leadership of dash. And so, you know, theyre doing a great job. Everything we do, again, judy, is with the consent of the iraqi government. This is not a situation in which we