Now as opposition grows here in louisiana some state lawmakers have pushed to do the same. Ifill those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by ive been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. The ones getting involved, staying engaged. They are not afraid to question the path theyre on. Because the one question they never want to ask is, how did i end up here . I started schwab with those people. People who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. When i was pregnant, i got more advice than i knew what to do with. What i needed was information i could trust, on how to take care of me and my baby. United healthcare has a Simple Program that helps moms stay on track with their doctors and get care and guidance they can use before and after the baby is born. Simple is what i need right now. Thats health in numbers, united healthcare. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions and. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff shelling ripped into the eastern ukrainian city of slaviansk for a second day, in fighting between Government Forces and prorussian rebels. Mortar fire left a trail of destruction throughout the city, damaging several buildings. It also left many people pleading for a peaceful resolution. This will never end. They will end the shooting only when they wipe us from the face of the planet, when nothing remains here but a flat space. Only then the war will be finished. Woodruff just yesterday, newly installed president Petro Poroshenko announced the start of negotiations involving his government, russia and European Security monitors. Ifill in iraq, a double bombing tore through kurdish political offices, in a string of attacks that killed at least 40 people. It came a day after similar bombings on sunday. Todays took place in the town of tuz khormato, about 130 miles north of baghdad. Local officials said a suicide bomber drove a truck filled with explosives to a checkpoint. A second truck blew up as people ran to the scene. Woodruff in syria, president Bashar Alassad granted a wideranging amnesty today. He reduced jail terms for many crimes and canceled some altogether, but it was unclear just how many prisoners would be freed. Assad has issued several amnesties since the uprising against him began in 2011. Todays announcement came less than a week after his re election. Ifill police in brazil fought today with subway workers who walked off the job, just as a flood of tourists begin arriving for the world cup. It was the latest sign of trouble in the runup to the most popular sporting event on the planet. Dan rivers of independent Television News filed this report. As brazil prepares to welcome the world three days before kick off, this was the scene in sao paulo. Riot police fired tear gas at striking metro workers whose walkout has brought brazils largest city to a standstill at the worst possible time. But there arent just problems here. In rio, the smoldering threat of Gang Violence is just one challenge. We found this burning car on the main road from the airport in one of the citys toughest neighborhoods. It was set ablaze by feuding dealers. The army gave us exclusive access to the sprawling slum known as marre. Flack jackets are advisable here. Today soldiers were shot at by gang members in this area. 2,400 troops are deployed here to quell Gang Violence. Fear and football on streets few outsiders would dare to walk along. But its not just Gang Violence thats threatening to disrupt the world cup. Theres been months of protest and unrest at the amount of money being spent on the event. What should be a sporting celebration, has become deeply controversial. Some are preparing to party. But is this country really ready for the giants of the football world and half a million fans. They certainly love the beautiful game like nowhere else. But can they do it justice as hosts . Ifill ready or not, the competition begins thursday, when brazil plays croatia in the opening match. Ifill on wall street today, the Dow Jones Industrial average gained more than 18 points to close at 16,943, another new record. The nasdaq rose more than 14 points to close at 4,336. And the sandp 500 added the better part of two points to finish at 1,951, also a record. Woodruff still to come on the newshour new details reveal the scope of the problems plaguing the veterans administration; the taliban strikes a major airport in pakistan; a fight in louisiana over education standards; president obamas push to ease the burden of student loans; and from breaking bad to l. B. J. We talk with now tony award winner, Bryan Cranston. The white house condemned a deadly attack overnight by the pakistani tab ban at their countrys busiest airport, the report is the groups assault and fighting with Government Forces left dozens dead. Just before midnight, clouds of smoke rose above the international airport. And there was gunfire too. It was clear that something had gone terribly wrong in karachi. Fiery scenes were captured by the countrys tireless news channels. Heavily harmed insurgents from the Pakistan Taliban had stormed the airport. According to their spokesman, they wanted to hijack a plane, and seek revenge for the death of their leader in a drone strike. It was a well planned attack. The militants dressed as airport security, evading checkpoints on the perimeter. Then fought their way into terminal one. Officials said they approached a number of aircraft as well. Its a cowardly act by the terrorists, said this police chief. Karachi hosts pakistans biggest and busiest airport. 43,000 people pass through the main passenger hub everyday. Yet the militants targeted a different part of the facility. They infiltrated via a Side Entrance here. Then a van dropped them off terminal one. Its now used for cargo and v. I. P. s. As the gun battle raged, the authorities evacuated the airport and canceled incoming flights. But that wasnt all. Troops had to get passengers off a number of aircraft that were sitting on the tarmac. Saim rivi was one of them. He used twitter to express himself, cursing, then adding they fire rocket launchers, may god protect the country and passengers on board as well as on the floor. A few minutes later, he tweeted, were going to be off loaded soon, commandos are on the plane. Long live the Pakistan Army. The battle for Jinnah International was over by sunrise. Military officials said theyd killed the insurgents, ten in all, another 16 had also lost their lives. A long convoy took their bodies away. Local residents looked on in alarm. The firing was so intense, i thought war had broken out between india and pakistan, said this man. The authorities were quick to congratulate themselves. Captured weapons were displayed for all to see, including several suicide vests, packed with explosives. We did a tremendous job, said this regional cabinet minister. But the attack highlights the fragile sense of security here. The sprawling city of karachi has long been used by militants as a place to hide and organize. And a recent attempt by the government to negotiate with them has failed. Officials said the airport would soon reopen. But few will feel completely secure. Pakistan faces a brazen foe prepared to fight to the death. Woodruff the official death told climbed to 29 killed including the ten attackers. For more on the siege and how it fits into the larger picture in pakistan, we turn to two who studied that country for a long time. Christine fair, assistant professor at georgetown university. Her latest book, fighting to the end the Pakistan Armys way of war. And shuja nawaz is director of the Southeast Asia center at the Atlantic Council and his latest book is crossed swords pakistan, its army, and the wars within. And we welcome you both back to the program. Shuja nawaz, to you, first, what does this attack say about the strength of the taliban in that country . I think they have the government on the back foot. They have the advantage that they can pick any target and it can be a soft or hard target, and this certainly was a spectacular target. We dont know if they actually planned to go to the terminal where they ended up or whether it was a mistake on their part or whether it was the strength of the second burst that they attacked which turned them to the right instead of theto the left. This could have been much worse had they ended up in the International Terminal where there were planes loaded with passengers. Woodruff christine fair, how do you read this . What does it say about the taliban . I think it really says pakistan as a country has simply failed to understand this problem strategically and to deal with it. For years, we have been having these discussions on your show and pakistans problem is as it has been, it wants part of these militants to be retained as strategic assets that they can deploy to kill people in afghanistan, usually our afghan and other allies as well as indians. The problem is that the very organizations that the i. S. I. Have spawned to do its bidding woodruff i. S. I. Being the Intelligence Agency of pakistan, is the elements of those groups have formed the Pakistan Taliban. What i find interesting about the immediate discourse in pakistan is they dont want to talk about this. They want to talk about the militants being foreigners or indians and theyre trying to everything take to avoid a real discussion in pakistan about this being a blowup of pakistans own policy. Woodruff but you were telling us this afternoon is this wasnt an attack this wasnt clearly well executed because they ended up all killed. How well organized did they seem . Shuja nawaz, you said they didnt get to the destination they were headed for. What does it say about them . They werent extremely well prepared. The equipment they had there were reports they were also carrying injections to assist cowaglation of the blood if they were wounded. Three were hind, one past the deadline the army said was free, and afterward were discovered so fighting continued beyond the midday deadline. So they were well equipped. This is not first. This is major the Second Attack in karachi they launched successfully. The attack in 2011 was also a successful attack. The government cant take this lightly. I agree with christine that the need to have a teor strategy and woodruff the government. The government to stop looking at good and bad taliban. There are networks, al quaida as well as other taliban that are active and karachi have 5 million, so it provides a petri dish for terrorism. Woodruff for americans trying to follow this, there are more groups than people can keep track of. When it comes to the essential Pakistan Taliban and the government, how do you see them as they face one another, which one has the upper hand right now . I kind of think of these groups as a kaleidoscope in different flux. Give it a twist, you get one picture, give it another twist, you get another. The pakistan are different than the afghan taliban. The Pakistan Taliban is really a misnomer. It doesnt have the command and control. Its current punitive leader is actually absconding in afghanistan. He hasnt really been heard from in quite some time, so it doesnt have this coherns. Part of the Pakistan Taliban are very much dead dieted overturning the state. Some can be turned to fight against us and our allies in afghanistan, and this is the problem with the pakistan government. There is the strategy of the civilian by alsharif. He is scared to death of these groups and they can kill him whenever they want and he knows. This another problem, some of the parties that vote for him have sympathies, so hes constrained. The army has its own strategy which is to flip them and send them to afghanistan, big difference between what the government wants to do. Woodruff several different threads to follow. But shuja nawaz, that rehines minds us what the president was doing is trying to negotiate with the taliban. Where does that stand . They launched a new internal National Security policy this year and after that launched talks with the taliban that sputtered on and off. There isnt a very clear definition of the aim for those talks. Theyre also focused on the Federally Administered Tribal Area which borders afghanistan where, as i mentioned earlier, karachi remains a hot bed of violence and pin jab ends up as a hot bed of violence. They have groups inside and outside the country. They need a much clearer definition of what theyre aiming for in these talks if theyre going to succeed. I dont think they can succeed. Theres also a division between the military and civilians. Is military remained mum on the talks and exercised a veto of sorts. Woodruff to pick up on that, christine, you were talking about the split between the military and the civilians. To, from my point of view, i have been more than a critic of these talks. Whats interesting is they always have the same playbook. The militants always come out on top. Pakistan civilian leaders the timing is coincidenting that it overlapped with the afghanistan elections. That tells you more about what the Pakistan Army wanted than anything else because the Pakistan Armys idea of negotiating is kill indians, afghans and americans. The civilians are willing to make concessions but the problem is the taliban have been clear that they dont want to negotiate within the frame of pakistans constitution and that puts sharif in a bind. Pactionys for better or worse, theyre committed to the talks being within the constitution. So theres a lot of different in opinions about what should be the best way forward dealing with them. Well leave there and thank you both. Christine fair and shuja nawaz. Thank you. Thank you. Ifill the Veterans AffairsDepartment Today released a new audit documenting widespread delayed patient care. Its based on a nationwide review of 731 of its hospitals and outpatient clinics. According to the internal report, 57,000 veterans have been waiting 90 days or more for their first medical appointment. 64,000 others appear to have fallen through the cracks, after enrolling with the agency and requesting medical care. And in another major finding, thirteen percent of schedulers said their supervisors had asked them to falsify appointment schedules to make the wait times appear shorter. The audit also found that a 14 day target for scheduling appointments was not attainable, and encouraged schedulers to joining me to discuss the report are dr. Sam foote, whose complaints about wait times and bookkeeping in phoenix led to an investigation in that areas v. A. System. He was a v. A. Doctor for 24 years. And ralph ibson, National Policy director of the Wounded Warrior project, which provides services to veterans. He previously served as the v. A. s Deputy Assistant general counsel. Dr. Foote, how dire is this . How widespread . Are you surprised at what you saw in this report . I think i was surprised so many great individuals game forward, gs4s through 6s being interyiewd viewed by gs14s and 15s. At least one or more employee had guts enough to say yes they were gaming the system on desired dates on return patients and 70 of systems had one or more braves employees that said they were finding ways around the electronic waiting list. Ifill are you surprised . Not surprised it was happening but pleasantly surprised that many people spoke up in that situation. Ifill professor . Was surprise bid the gravity and scope of the problems and agree with dr. Foote that it took courage for these men and women to come forward and share those findings. Ifill is this one of these things that happens that everyone knew it was happening . That everyone understood there was a problem but it hadnt happened . That no one had just said anything about it . Covered it up . I think we have been well aware theres been a misalignment between patient need for care and the available staffing to provide that care. Again, i dont think we realized how widespread i have to nor the extent to which the system was being gamed. Ifill i want to talk to you about the numbers because theyre amazing. 64,000 people were enrolled in the program but not seen, not served over the last decade, in addition to the numbers we were talking about before, and yet, a lot of these veterans actually worse, 96 . Was it just that the 4 was so egregious . No. We were doing pretty well until about 2010 and then the demand just ramped up and rather than own up to the problem, the v. A. Decided to cover it because theres no incentive for washington to get good numbers. If phoenix turns in good numbers and susan bowers is happy as division 18 director and everybody gets their bonuses and she turns in good numbers to washington when they ask, everybody says everything is great. So never was an incentive. It was cheaper, easier and quick tore fix the numbers than the problem. Ifill when you firsted raise these problems, dr. Foote, how was it received . Well, you know, i think the san diego guys when it came out were shocked and appalled but they basically did nothing and from my standpoint the v. A. Covered it up. Im sing of hearing how phoenix was confused handling the waiting list, clerks were confused about the the desire dates, confused about how to make appointments. One of the things that the study addressed is people were not confused. They were being pressured to falsify dateta. They didnt have provider slots to put them in an