News Wrap: Supreme Court hears McDonnell corruption appeal

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Good evening. I'm Judy Woodruff.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

And I'm Hari Sreenivasan.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

On the "NewsHour"s tonight: Front-runners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton win big in yesterday's delegate-rich primaries, pushing the two closer to their party's nomination — what this means for the rest of the candidates in the race.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

Also ahead this Wednesday:

DONALD TRUMP (R), Republican Presidential Candidate: We will always save lives, and indeed humanity itself. But to play that role, we must make America strong again.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

In an issue-focused moment of Donald Trump's campaign, the self-presumed eventual nominee makes a crucial foreign policy speech, outlining his views on the United States' role in the world.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

And a writer follows the case of a grisly rape and murder to find out if it could have been avoided.

ELI SANDERS, Author, "While the City Slept": You can see how relatively little potentially it might have cost to steer him or forcefully nudge him in a different direction much earlier on.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."

(BREAK)

HARI SREENIVASAN:

In the day's other news: The U.S. Supreme Court lent a seemingly sympathetic ear to former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. He faces two years in prison for accepting thousands of dollars in gifts and loans from a businessman. But in today's arguments, both liberal and conservative justices suggested the federal bribery law is overbroad. A decision could come in June.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced today to 15 months in federal prison for paying hush money to cover up sexual abuse. The Illinois Republican admitted that he abused at least one teenager as a wrestling coach in high school. He told a federal court in Chicago: "What I did was wrong and I regret it."

We will hear about Hastert's day in court later in the program.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

The fight over federal funding to control the Zika virus will likely go unresolved before next week's congressional recess. The White House asked for $1.9 billion back in February. But House Speaker Paul Ryan suggested today that may be more than necessary.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), Speaker of the House: The administration has a bit of a track record of over-requesting what they need. So we will sit down with the appropriators to figure out the best way forward, to make sure that we're good stewards of the taxpayers' money and to make sure that we have what we need to combat and stay ahead of the Zika virus issue.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

At the White House, Press Secretary Josh Earnest fired back, saying the delay is putting the country at risk.

JOSH EARNEST, White House Press Secretary:

You had the director of the National Institutes of Health and a high-ranking official from the Centers for Disease Control stand at this podium about three weeks ago and say they didn't have the resources that they needed that should be used to fully prepare for the onset of the Zika virus.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

Zika has been linked to a rare birth defect, and is spreading rapidly through the Americas.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

For a second day, a severe weather system menaced a large swathe of the nation. The threat of tornadoes waned, but Kansas City suffered significant flooding early today. And winds of 60 miles an hour tore through the greater Houston area, blowing trees onto houses. So far, one death is blamed on the storms.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

In the Middle East, Israeli security forces killed a Palestinian woman and her teenage brother, the latest in a wave of violent incidents. It happened at a security checkpoint between the West Bank and Jerusalem. Police said they fired after the woman pulled a knife on an officer. They said they found knives on the boy's body as well.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The only surviving suspect in November's terrorist attacks in Paris was extradited to France today. Salah Abdeslam is the alleged logistical planner of the assault that left 130 people dead. He was taken to a Paris court after an early-morning transfer from Brussels, and his lawyer said he plans to cooperate.

FRANK BERTON, Salah Abdeslam’s Attorney (through interpreter):

He gave a spontaneous statement to the investigating judge, and he insisted he would explain himself later. The judge put him under formal investigation on charges of murder, complicity of murder with a terrorist organization, holding weapons and explosives, and kidnapping.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Abdeslam was captured in Brussels last month.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

Back in this country, it's being called the biggest gang crackdown ever in New York City. In pre-dawn raids, federal agents and police arrested scores of suspects. They said two rival gangs have terrorized housing projects in the Bronx. In all, 120 people are being charged.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The latest nation's report card shows high school seniors are losing ground. The U.S. Department of Education reports that average math scores dropped last year for the first time since assessments began in 1992. Reading scores were flat, but they have dropped five points since 1992. As a result, only 37 percent of all seniors were judged college-ready in math and reading.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

The Federal Reserve today left short-term interest rates unchanged for now. In a statement, policy-makers said there's been solid job growth, but economic activity appears to be slowing. As a result, the Fed decided to hold off on a further hike until June at the earliest.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Wall Street took the Fed's news in stride. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 51 points to close at 18041. The Nasdaq fell 25 points, as Apple slumped 6 percent, and the S&P 500 added three.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

Still to come on the "NewsHour": is it game over for Ted Cruz and John Kasich?; Donald Trump calls for a hard line on negotiations abroad; former House Speaker Dennis Hastert sentenced in a hush money scandal; and much more.