captioning sponeored by hour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight:fo a th guilty plea in the mueller investigation, as a clearer picture emerges of russia's attempts to deceive americans and sow divisions. sen, donald trump jr. kicks off a tour in india l luxury apartments, but a planned speech sparks questions over mixing business with politics. and, while the debate over climate change plays out in the political sphere, a look at how science classrooms in idaho are feeling the heat. >> when a legislative body decides to recommend against science content, we undergo a great risk in denying our children really important information that they will need. >> woodruff: all that and more,

on tonight's pbs newr. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that aches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. babbel's 10-15 minute lessonsai are ble as an app, or online. more information on babbel.com. >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> 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. >> woodruff: president trump says he's calling for solutions to school shootings, amid new demands for action on guns. he announced today that 's asking for regulations to ban devices like the bump stocks used in last october las vegas massacre. the president spoke at an awardt ceremony at the house, nearly a week after the school shooting in parkland, florida, that left 17 people dead. >> we must move past cliches and tired debates, and focus on evidence-based solutions and security measures, that actually work a that make it easier for men and women of law enforcement to protect our children and protect our safety. >> woodruff: mr. trump also said

that he is meetingith survivors and local officials this week to discuss schoolsa fety.me while, some 100 parkland students are making a 400-mile bus trip to the state capitol in tallahassee.l they willobby lawmakers tomorrow for new gun laws.lo but today, theda state house voted not to consider a ban on assault rifles, as several parkland survivors looked on. in the day's other newcial counsel robert mueller has obtained another guilty plea in his probe of russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. attorney alex van der zwaan appeared in federal court in washgton. he admitted to lying a contacts with formerrump mpaign official rick gates. gates was indicted last year on money laundering and other charges. meanwhile, president trump charged again that president obama was not nearly tough enough on russia. the long-running war in syria flared on two fronts today, and the pace of killing escalated to levels not seen in five years.

p.j. tia has our report. >> reporter: rebel-held suburbs outside damascus echoed today with the sounds ofovernment air strikes and shelling, and would-be rescuers. civil defense workers, known as white helmets, raced to pull survivors to safety amidhe assault. towns across eastern ghouta have come und intense bombardment by president bashar al-assad's forces for weeks. the attacks spiked sunday, and war monitors say 250 people have been killed since then. hundreds more have been hurt. o the governmeffensive drew condemnation today from the opposition's chief negotiator to the u.n.'s stalled peace talks. he spoke in brussels. >> what is happening in ghouta is a war crime. alveinternational red lines been crossed by the regime, but yet there's no accountability. >> reporter: meanwhile, a new, northern front has opened in the

country's seven-year civil war, in the kurdish region of afrin. turkey has been attackg u.s.-backed kurdish fighters known as the y.p.g. the turks say they're linked to milint groups inside turkey. today, despite turkish warnings, syrian state tv showed pro-assad forces rolling into afrin to support the kurds. but in ankara, turkish president recep tayyip erdogan announced that turkish guns had dren them off. >> ( translated ): wn artillery fire was carried out by turkish military, they had to turn back. and is case is now closed fo now. >> reporter: erdogan also said he'd asked russian president vladimir putin, an ally of assad, to intervene. instead, russian foreign minister sergei lavrov said the situation can only be resolved through direct talks between ankara and damascus. american officials strongly oppose the turkish offensive against the kurds. the u.s. has been training andar ng kurdish militia fighters seainst the islamic state group.

u.s. troops are about 70 miles east of afrin, near manbij, and the turks haveen thre to move in that direction. wcretary of state rex tillerson held intensive talh erdogan in ankara last week, in a bid to ease tensions. for the pbs newshour, i'm p.j. tobia. >> woodruff: in iran, more than 300 sufi muslims haaf been arrester overnight clashes that killed five police officers. police said they were attacked as sufis rallied in tehran, demanding the releas detainees. sufi officials denied it.fi the emphasize mystical experiences over traditionalic muslim pra. they have been perseby iran's shiite regime. back in this country, the department of health and han services proposed letting insurers sell limited health plans that do not comply with obamacare's mandates. they would offer lower-cost coverage with fewer be for up to 12 months.

and, comnies could deny people with pre-existing conditions or charge higher premiums. the proposal is open for public comment for 60 days. an outside legal review is out on npr's ouster last year of michael oreskes as top news executive, for alleged sexual harassment. it finds there were questions about his behavior even before he was hired, and repeatedlyis duringenure. and separately , tavis smiley is suing pbs for breach of contract, after being fired last december, for alleged sexu misconduct. pbs says the suit is "meritss." the chancellor of the d.c. public school system is stepping d a little more than a year on the job. the "washington posthad ported that antwan wilson bypassed a lottery system, so that his daughter could tansfer to high school.

the d.c. schools are already embroiled inle scandal for dly inflating graduation rates. on wall street today, the market's winning streak snapped after walmart reported weak online sales and sub-par earnings. that sent the dow jones industrial average down 254 points, to close at 24,964. the nasdaq fell five points, and the s&p 500 slipped 16. and, at the winter olympics in south korea, a big day for canada. ice dancers tessa viue and scott moir won their third career gold medal with a record point total. american siblings maia and alex shibutani took home the bronze. and the u.s. men's hockey team beat slovakia five to one, to get into the quarterfinals. still to come on the newshour:ri ths russian bots pose in the u.s. today. ornald trump jr.'s trip to india under scrutiny fixing business and politics.li

how and when cmate change should be taught in schools. and, much more. >> woodruff: white house press secretary saraers took questions from the press corps this afternoon for the first time in a week. she was asked about russian election interference, school safety measures, and white house ssenior aide jared kushne security clearance. c russia, sanders doubled down on the white houim that president trump has been tougher on russia than his predecessors. >> the president has been extremely tough on russia. he helped push through $700 billion to help rebuild our military i can assure you, russia is not excited about that. he has helped port energy to eastern europe. i can assure you, russia is not excited about that.

he has put in, and upheld, sanctions that the obama administration put in place; he's upheld those. he has closed three diplomatic properties that were russia's, here in the united states. he has taken a number of actions against russia and put pressure on them.m he's helped e ukrainians. there are a number of places that obama was too weak and refused to take and put pressure on russia, where this esident has. >> woodruff: our white house correspondent, yamiche alcindor has been tracking all of this. yamiche, we heard sarah sanders mention sanctions. she said the president has upheld what was there under the previous administration, but there were also sanctions that congress passed against russia last year.wh e do those stand? >> well, sarah sanders made the point that there is still a process ongoing, and this white house needs time to impose those sanctions, but when i asked white house officials about them, they they had already been compliant with the law and they're doing all they're supposed to do. that comes as a bipartisan frustration. chuck schumer and peter king, a

republican and a democrat, have put together and said theya this president to impose these sanctions, and that comes, of urse, as sarah sanders is making the point that president trump always believed that russiaeddled in our election, and that's simply not true. eatedlysident has re questioned russia's role in the elections. >> woodruff: let's ask -- let me ask you about the school shooting. the white house is saying today mothis is what, how manths, four or five months after the gaughter of those people in las vegas, with tuns using the so-called bump stocks. the white house is now saying that the president will go along with some sort of provision to ban bump stocks. his the delay and how does t affect the whole gun debate? >> the delay is becse the white house is starting to think through what it was going to do. but the white housefeeling pressured in particular the president is feeling pressured from all these mass shootings and these students speaking up. he over the weekend threw hisbe suppornd a bill that would force states to further go

through the ckground check stem and actually be come palestine with it. but then he's also ta unilateral steps with bump stocks. there had been a federal review that has not been resu'olved. seeing a president trying to look like he's doing somethg, but these huge changes. this isn't changing whether or not you can get an ar-15 at 17 or 19. there are still a lot of things he could be doing differently.oo >>uff: we're continuing to watch that every day. finally and quickly, yam the president's son-in-law, jared bernstein, a lot of discuss about the fact that he still has only an interim security clearance. she was asked about that. w does that affect the work he does in the white house? >> it does not affect it at all. he has top-secret security clearance that will continue. present trump can take that away from him, but there is no sign that he's going to do that. >> woodruff: well, again, an issue that keeps coming up. yamiche alcindor, thank you.

>> woodruff: special counsel robert mueller's recent indictment of 13 rusan individuals again confirms russia's attempts to interfere in the 2016 u.s. electionug ththe use of social media. but intelligence officials stress that russia's attempts did noend back then. today, u.s. attorney general jeff sessionannounced the creation of a cyber task force that will look into ways to t this sort of activity foreign governments and interests. to walk us through what we know about moscow's interference and what we may expect in the comins mois nina jankowicz. she is a writer and analyst who focuses on russian disinformation campaigns. she was recently a fellow at the

woodrow wilson international center for scholars. nina jankowicz, welcome to the program. i want the quickly read something from last weekend's indictment from the mueller team. it states that the defendants posing as u.s. persons and creating false.s.rsonas operated social media pages andu designed to attract u.s. audiences, and they used stolen identities to post on organization-controlled social media accounts. so what exactly are they saying these russians did? >> well, there's a lot of things we're alleging the internet research agency did. the main thinis they poseds american citizens to amplify and spread con tetd that is divisive in our society in order to in some cases pump up the trump campaign, break down the clion campaign, or deflect the vote, suppress voter turnout, especially among mority groups, in order to create more chaos within our politicalst . >> woodruff: and how technically did they do that? how did they carry this out? >> so facebook cals these false

amplifiers. they're not precisely bot accounts, because bots are computationally controlled. >> woodruff: remind us what bots are? >> it's an account that may look like a real person but often tweets or posts more frequently than a real person would tweet, d it's controlled by a computer program. what the internet research agency or the troll factory did, these were accounts tt really looked like american citizens. they behaved like american citizens. and in the indictment, it even says one of the folks who was indicted wrote to family member and said, the americans arebe buying thiause they were so legitimate in the types of criticisms that people were levying of politics at that time. >> woodruff: so pretty sophisticated stuff. >> absolutely, and long term. we thought this was going on since 2014. it was a widespread operation and pretty well funded. this is alleged that over $1

million a month wa spent on this operation. >> woodruff: before indictments came out, there was testimony on the hill by the heads of every intelligence, ma tr intelligence agency e country. they all said to a person that these kis of efforts bye russians are continuing now and y'ree is concern that the going to affect this year's mid-term election. what are they doing now are they doing the same things that the mueller team identified?ha they changed their m.o. in any way? >> i think they're doing the exact same things. this is a tactic that they have practiced over more than a decade in central and eastern europe, in countries like estonia and ukraine certainly anthen we saw it more recently in the u.k. and germany, and what they're doing is just amplifying divisive rhetoric in order to create more chaos ad distrust in the system. ultimately, you know, a lot of people talk about cking of the elections or hacking of voter rolls. we don't have any evidence of that happening yet, but what i'r most ed about going into

the 2018 mid-terms is that supression -- voter turnout will be suppressed because people will distrust thestem, distrusting that their vote mearlts. that's the most ngerous thing end the most different -- difficult thing toerse. >> woodruff: italy is now another country concerned about ruian interference in its es. >> absolutely. >> woodruff: so we hear about what the russians want to do is sow discord and division. what is their goal here actually? >> the goal is to discredit western democracy as we know it, which then gives russia a bette seat at the bargaining table. 25 years ago there was a soviet union and the united states, the two superpowers in the world. the intervening 25 years, we haven't talked a lot about russia, and now for the first time in 25 years, russia is on our lynzi every day. i'm sure there hasn't been a d that you haven't covered it here on this show. and that's exactly what vladimir putin wants. it's exactly what russia wants.

return to a great power status. >> woodruff: so now we have todo talk about hos this get thwarted? we know the white house was announcing cyber task foce today, but clearly much more has to be done. >> absolutely. this is not only oobtd cybersecurity. i often advocate for a whle government approach, meaning not only do we need to make clear to russia that this behavior is unacptable and clear to oter actors who might do it, because there are plenty of others drawing from russia's playbook, but we need to educate our citizenry. we need the talk aboutedia literacy so people have an understanding of how our system works. right now wthave no updated our media literacy curriculum since the 80s, and there a many, many groups doing great work in relation to this, but we need an investment int on behalf of the government and certainly on behalf of social well, whichies, have a near ubiquitous access to every american's life. >> woodruff: which ianother enormous set of questions out there about the role of these

sothal media companies, wh it's tbitter, facebook, the rest of them. but in the short term, is there anything that individual americans can do? what should they be on the lookout for, beb careful aout? is there anyof sort tools they can equip themselves with? >> there are a lot of great fact-checking sites online that i would encourage people to check out, but youhan do tese sorts of things in 30 seconds yourself. if somethingeems spurious or unlikely to do, you this a quick search for a quote and see if comes up anywhere else online and be very, very wary. they're very cler about the types of impersonations they do. there was a "guaardian" site tht used a turkish i instead of anis eni in its web address. look for things like that. an talk to people of difrent backgrounds. get into civil discussions. break your filter bubble. that's the best thing we can do to return to civil discourse and protect our democracy in this country. woodruff: a lot of common sense. >> absolutely.uf

>> woo nina jankowicz, thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: donald trump jr. landed in india today to begin what will be a weeklong trip across the country. lisa desjardins reports on some ethical questions raised by his visit. >> reporter: judy, thet' presidson says this trip is strictly business. he says he's there to promotell and seondominium units at four different trump-branded luxury properties-- sales that the president will profit from. but ethics experts say they're concerned donald trumps also mixing business with state affairs. he iset to deliver a foreign policy speech atnd of this week, an event that indian prime minister narendra modi is likely to attend. sumit ganguly is a political science professor at indiana university-bloomington.

i want to started, you just returned from india. can you take us through the role of trump business in india, where it fits and then also the politics of a trip like this. >> right. to begin with, these are massive investments and extremely high-end investments in real estate. ome of the largest indian developers of retate are working with trump in developing these properties in four major metropolitan areas, includih in the towne i grew up in, calcutta, with a population of 14 million people. there is now a segment of india's population with a very substantial disposable income, which likes glitzy, luxy, high-end properties, which are also closed properties where you're spared from the squalor of india, and they have these nice, sequeered envonments. and what better than to have the

name of the prentsif the united states emblazoned across thatroperty. >> reporter: so these are high-profile, high-interest deals in india, also raising eyebrows are some ads we saw, full-page ads we saw in indian newspapers showing donald trump, jr.,, full page, and then this quote saying, "trump is here, are you invited?" can you take us through the ethics here? they're seldong con but there they're also advertising access. are they selling access? is that how this is interpreted in india? >> they're not selling access correctly, but it raises question, if the president's name is on this property, if hiw son is hng these properties and then giving a foreign policy address, it sort of comingles business and at the same time politics. and of course, te enire

apparatus of the united statess government thaesent in india is going to be facilitating his visit. so it sort of raises questions about certain lines being blurred. where does a simple propertlo deent end, and where do sort of the president's persol interests, particularly financial interests, become implicated. >> reporter: donald trump, jr., though, is a private businessman. he says he's already voluntarily said no new deals as long as my father is president, but should he be forced to limit himself because s name, which he makes money off of, is also the president's nam if you follow me. >> i certainly do, but the issue is not simply a matter that these deals were already under way, but the fctas that why is a private citizen, is he giving a foreign policy speech where the prime minister of india may be present.

and also when one of the developers hapens to be a critical member of the party currently in power, it is blurring certain lines, which i think really should be keptqu e separate. >> reporter: the title of that address as advertised by the organization is "reshaping indoe pacific ties." that's an active title, even muscular. we reached out to the trump administration, and they did not get back to us. but is that usual for ass busin, something like, that and would indians interpret what he says as representing s. policy? >> they could certainly construe th as an orsement of american policy or a statement of american policy given that it's coming fr the president's son, who though he has no sort of formal role in government, s nevertheless been seen in

critical places in the white house. and consequently, again, we are talking about sort of faili to keep certain lines very, very clear. one is a purely buiness enterprise, and another isti refl american foreign policy interests. >> reporter: the state department has said he's there as a private citizen. sumit ganguly, thank you very much. >> my pleasure entirely. thank you. >> woodruff: stay wi coming up on the newshour: harnessing the sun's energy in d the sahaert. u.s. victories and disappointments in the olympic games. plus, a novel about an americana dream and ma torn apart by a wrongful imprisonment.

the politically charged battle over climate change is increasingly spreading to the classroom.ss at, how and whether to teach it-- including the scientific consensus about the role of human activity. it is a debate playing out in states adopting new science standards, including in idaho, where a key vote could come this week. special correspondent lisa stark, of our partner, "education week," reports from boise, for our weekly t, "making the grade." >> what is clay? >> the earth! >> reporter: these boise secondr aders are playing an unusual game of tag. >> on your marks, set, go! te>> reporter: they're preing ht.be sunl once they reach earth, they turn into heat. some bounce back. others are tagged and trapped by students masquerading as greenhse gases. >> look at all my greenhouse gases! >> look at that, a right. >> reporter: the idea to help

students understand global warming. >> the earth is actually warming up. >> so the more greenhouse gases we add, what happens to the earth?ts >> it otter. >> it gets hotter. >> reporter: what is climate change? what did you learn about thatou when you weride playing tag? >> it's when people put more carbon dioxide in the air and it makes it warmer. >> reporter: boise state university professor jennifer pierce offers this lesson on climate change to elementary school classes. >> i think it's my obligation as a scientist and as an educator and as a parent to teach our kids about how the greenhouseor effect, how humans and fossil fuels have contributed to the warming of our planet, and what we can do about it. >> reporter: pierce crafted ngthese lessons after beco alarmed when idaho's republican- vedominated legislature moto soften proposed state science standards to play down the role of humans in climate change. well, the legislature seems to

think that, you know, yo bneed to preseh sides of the issue. that you need to be even-handed. >> there aren't two sides of the issue. the global warming is happening, and humans are the cause. thers not another side of th issue. >> we'd like to call the house education committee to order. >> reporter: the fight over new idaho ience standards for grades kindergarten through 12 has now dragged on for three years. you are on the committee that drafted these stanrds, and redrafted these standards and redrafted these standards. >> yes.t >> reporter: ws the problem? melyssa ferro, an award-winning idaho science acher, believes lawmakers have tried to dismantle the group's hard work for political showmanship. >> i think the big concern he is that people think we're trying to sneak something by them, or trying to indoctrinateo the childridaho, and do concepts that go against the moral or religious beliefs of the citins. t i would argue that the science is sound in these standards.te >> repor last year, lawmakers temporarily approved

the standards, but removed five sections on climate change, including one that emphasized," the major role that human rativities play in causing the rise in global temres." lawmakers asked for a rewrite. representative ryan kirby supported that, sayidents were being force fed one-sided arguments. >> they just said, "man has x, y, z impact on the environment," or, "these things are bad," versus saying,hey, students, do some research, let's talk doout the good things and the bad things that mao the environment." the public has overwhelmingly disagreed. science education should not be a political issue. >> not some watered-down censoredersion. >> i ask that we not only keep the standards, but that we appreciate and acct all they have to offer. >> reporter: that did not sway the idaho house education committee, which thimonth voted again, this time deleting one science standard that linked air pollution with fossil fuels, and scraping pages and pages of

content that backed up every area of science instruction, including global warming. >> the motion passes. >> reporter: representative scott syme led the charge, saying he was deleting sections that didn't allow students to do their own scientific discovery. >> when you have conclusions in standards, it stifles inquiry.oi what we're to see if we're going to be developing scientists, kids who can thinkhe on own and come to their conclusion. >> reporter: syme refused repeat requests for an interview, but told a newspape"" i don't care if students come up with a conclusion t ft the earth t, as long as it's their conclusion, not something that's told to them." lithe debate over teachingte change is hardly limited to idaho. there have been a number of states, as they have been revising their science standards, where this has also become a hot button issue. new mexico's attempt last fall to weaken climate change instruction generated protests

and fierce backlash. >> the children, the future of new mexico, deserve better. >> reporter: ultimately, the state department of education backed down. recent attempts, in at least nine states, to block, repeal or modify state science standards, partly because of e treatment of climate change, have largely failed. all this comes during a government administration skeptical about global warming. the u.s. will withdraw from the paris climate accord.n >>e case of climate change, of course, there's been a concerted effort to deny the scienc >> reporter: david evans is the eaecutive director of the national scienceers association. >> when a legislative body decides to recommend against science content that's been well vetted by the science community red the education community, i

think we undergo a risk in denying our children really important information that they will need. each of these is a type of resource. see if you can decide if it's renewablor nonrenewable. >> reporter: the boise school district isn't waiting for the state to act. there's local control of education in iho, and this district is teaching climate science. >> i know thatevlobal warming, if it's not caused by humans, it's happening, our earth is warming up slowly. >> i don't generally think of climate change, global warming, like, "i could chae that, i could do that." i feel like that's something that everyone would have to come to, not just one pson. >> reporter: science teacher nathan dean says in more rural, conservative parts of idaho, global warming will only be taught if it's required by the state.

>> reporter: dean bristles at what's been happening in the state legislature. >> we really want the studen e to protect oironment, to protect our planet, but we want them thinking, not being spoon-fed. >> i'm making a tractor. >> reporter: back in the b >> reportek in that second grade boise classroom, students have moved on, figuring out solutions to global warming. >> like, if you want to go to the zoo, you don't n drive-- you can ride your bike there. >> it's basically a coolg vest, so whenever it's toopuot, you can on the cooling vest. >> reporter: so far, though,at there's no indn anyone is cooling off in idaho.

it's now up to the senate education committee to decide whether to go along with their house colleagues, or leave the science standards intact. the vote is expected as early as this week. for the pbs newsho and "education week," i'm lisa stark in boiseidaho. >> woodruff: next, we turn to morocco, home to the largest solar energy plant in the world. day, the planet earth meets over 80% of its energy needs with either coal, oil or gas. but, as climate science and breakthrough technology disrupt the energy sector, morocco is taking advantage of an abundant natural resource-- unobstructed sunlight-- to power part of thna north africaon. special correspondent monicall izar looks at a giant,

$9 billion project, as part ofin our onseries, "peril and promise," on the challenge of climate change >> reporter: glimmering in the sahara desert, a firits- kind solar energy plant. noor, which means light in arabic, is so vast, it can be seen from space. from the air, it's an ocean of reflective mirrors; but on the ground, as we drive into noor, sunglasses are mandatoryth protection froblinding rays. pp i like it; it's a great project, great otunity. >> reporter: 28-year-old mustapha ibarritane is part of the team of local engineers working for the project. noor is owned by the state of morocco, and built by spanish company sener. the project is based in ouarzazate, a tiny tourist town at the edge of the desert. >> in morocco, we don't have petrol, we don't have gas. to be independent, to have our own energy, we have chosen to

e clean energy, because of the climate change challenge. >> reporter: morocco does haveig su, about 3,000 hours of sun every year. and, harnessing that light is an evolutionary leap for the country. >> right now, it's the most popular solar project in the world. i'm proud to be partis project. >> reporter: noor uses c.s.p., c centrated solar power. hencave mirrors direct the sun to a middle tube t an oil solution. the mirrors rotate as the sun moves, like sunflowers.at the fluid, which reaches 750 degrees fahrenheit, produces steam to power a turne. the king of morocco is making a huge bet on clean energy. and the goal is that rewables will power half of this country by 2040. within this strategy, noor, the solar plant, is the flagship project. the north africanation says it wants to be the saudi arabia of solar energy, tapping its vast "solar reserve." morocco's king inaugurated noor,

and flipped the plants' "on" switch in february of 2016. >> this was a huge, brave decision at the time. when they took it, 2009 to '10, everybs laughing. it was a very expensive. it was a very brave decision. >> reporter: back in 2003, the think tank, club of ro, came up with an ambitious project called desertec. the idea: harness solar and wind energy across the sahara to power all of europe. >> desertec set the guidelines on how to produce renewable energy in the desert to supply electricity to europe and cover european energy demand. >> reporter: francisco stepo is president emeritus of the club of rome in the u.s. n other organizations are implementing the desertec thncept. >> reporter: stepoe noor plant in morocco, and another plant under development in nisia, are pilots of thert de idea. the plan originally had ambitions to open soergy farms across the sahara, bg the arab sprrisings of 2011

and terrorist attacks on gas facilities in algeria forced them to scale back. >> geopolitical instability has always been the main obstacle for the implementation of these kind of projects. >> renewable energy continues to be the fastest growing segment of the energy space. >> reporter: sarah ladislaw is a senior fellow at the center fort rategic and international studies. she says there is economic risk to any new large infrastructure technology. >> the downside with any project that is groundbreaking is that you are going to experience cost, or logistical or technological or market-based hurdles that you might not have expected. the upside is that once you've ilne it, then we know more about the costs and the y, for those costs to decline over a period of time. s reporter: c.s.p.'s crit say it isn't cost effective. noor'srice tag was $9 billion. long-term, it could recover the

investment if the technology doesn't become outdated too quickly. before the government of morocco started building the noor plant in the town of ouarzate, the ea was best known as a tourist stop, with breathtaking sights,t anown miniature version of hollywood. "game of thronan," "gladiator" eaawrence of arabia" were all filmed in the the classic "casablanca" actuallyinted at why concentrated solar power technology is a challenge to implement in morocco. c.s.p. requires vast amounts of water.he >>aters? >> what waters? we're in the desert? >> i was misinformed. >> reporter: engineer mohsine ait ali showed us this manade lake that was built just so noor could operate. he said the reservoir addresses the plant's watedemands. >> ( translated ): the solar

complex uses about six million cubic feet each year, and that is only about 1% of the storage capacity of the lake. >> it's distributed, the water,o to all the plasite. >> reporter: the engineers are unst excited to talk about the next phase, stilr construction: noor 3. >> this is the tower. after the construction, it will be the highest building in africa, at 246 meters. >> reporter: the tower looms3. over noo it will incorporate a newer technology, where flat mirrors bounce the sun's rays to the tip of the tower. >> so he around 7,000 mirrors. >> reporter: wow. the solar energy is stored in molten salts, which means theep plant can aking electricity for seven hours after sunset. when it's finished lats year, noor will provide electricity to over twmillion people. it h generated high

expectations for morocco and the future of solar power. for the pbs newshour, i'm monica villamizar in ouarzaza morocco. >> woodruff: the past few days have been rougher for the american team at the winter games in pyeongcng. some of the bigger names heading into these olympics have not won as many medals as hoped. but as william brangham checks in with an update fromouth korea, the olympics are still providing their share of memorable moments in skill, drama and grace. >> brangham: i spoke earlier with christine brennan of "usa today," who's also a sports commentator for cnn. she's in pyeongchang. and i began by asking about somd of the st performances in figure skating over the last week, including the ice dancest competition ight. o when you think of figure skating, it's onthe most

dramatic locations for the game, and this is no different. rtainly ice dance had all kinds of thrills and chills and falls and spills. the canadians actually won their fifth olymc meda that's most olympic medals ever won in figure skaeyng. e had team competitions and individual ice dance, as well. they go all the wa back the vancouver winning gold in 2010 in tir ohm country. now they came back again. it's a terrific story, stayinga together i sport that people often split up, fircoach, change partners. these two have been togethe since they were kids. so a great victory. the u.s., the twins, great result for them andheir perseverance. but the other u.s. ice dancers both fell, and really you rarely see falling in ice dance. you almost can't believe this, that this is happening i ice dance, especially with the country that's the deepest and strongest in ice dance, ich is

the united states. >> brangham: let's talk about tonight. it's a big night for women's figure skating. >> women's figure skating is the crown jewel of the olympic games. n't expect a u.s. medal. the three americans, possibly a bronze, but it looks like russia at the top. e russians have not won adu inal medal yet in figure skating, which they usually own. they had a team sil nr, buto individual medals in the other three events. i think there will be some young names and young face, especially with the russians. there's a 15-year-old, an 18-year-old, they're really the class of the field at this point. so don't expect a u.. medal. i think that's the story of these games in many way, not i ju figure skating, but the u.s. performance here. ing of that, spe there have been a number of competitions where the u.s. has

isme up short. what do you thinoing on there? is this a function of the other countries being a lot stronger than we anticipated? >> the u.s. ol cmpmmittee would love the answer the that question. there have been olympics in the. past where th. has not done well at all. it's interesting, because in 1968, the u.s. won one gold medal at the games in france. the most amazing gold medal the u.s. has won, peggy fleming with her figure skating gold in '6850 years ag and even going back the lake a play sydney, home olympics, s only gold medals, five by eric heiden and his tremendous speedskating performance. then theost famous olymp gold med i will of all for the united states in the winter game, and that's the miacle on ice in 1980. so there have been other olympics where the u.s. has not had this incredible medal haul, but going back the vancouver a few years ago, well over to 30 medals. this one is different s you'ing some athletes who are well-known, people like von

hartmann, makayla schifrin not having the performances we expected, although schifrin does have a gold. lindsey vonn is going for a big one in the downhill.a i think t's part of the problem. but i think it's the reality of the winter sports te and the world. the united states is good, but often not great. and thas certainly not satisfying to a lot of americans who are used to winning, sports fans who want tonly see victory, but i also think there is something enticg about seeing it in this platform, seeing the world come together, the greatt and lgest peacetime gathering of the world, and i think that can be something in and of itselthat you don't have to say, okay, the u.s. is not going to win gold, silver or bronze, i don't want to watch, i don't know that amerans feel that way. >> brangham: as we speak, norway is leading every other country. >> well, forway is having the games of its life. i harkin all the way back to 1994 and the lillehammer

olympics, and norway put on such a push there to have a great game, and its i ski jumping and the cross country skiing and son many other t they are so good at. p.ey were great then. then they had a d i think you can see now how muce they put nation's effort back into winning. and this is no surnaprise. had a great games in vancouver. eassia had a great games in sochi just fourrs ago, although we found out about the massive state-sponsored doping that changes our picture and r image of what those games were for russia. and so norway, the fact that they ebb and flow, and now a they're bain. it's terrifickic to see. and the exuberance of the norwegian, you run into themnd they are so proud and happy, and it makes you smile. >> brangham: finally, thereth have beeee different allegations of doping in the current olympics, one most notably against a russian curler who because of that nation's prior doping scandal was havingp to ce under a neutral flag.

>> yeah, absolutely. it's almost hard to believe that russia, nobody as o.a.r. here, olympic athletes from russia, here we are, allegations ofng doand lo and behold, it's an olympic athlete from russia, in curling less. you almost can't make this stuff up. they're on double secret probatarn here. theyy got into the olympic games. it's individual ath no flag, no russian flag. no russian anthem. an then the doping allegation we hear auut is a rssian athlete. it's just unlecred there has been a lot of talk in the international olympic gmmittee did say they allow the russian flag into the closing ceremony. the idea being russia behaved, russia played by the i.o.c. rules. now as aou reward,l get to have your flag come into the closing ceremony. rd i think there's great doubt now about whethssia will be allowedment o.a.r. will be allowed to have their flag

because the i.o.c. frankly almost cannot do tt after these allegations. >> brangham: all right. christine brennan of "usa today," thank you very much. >> thanks very much. >> woodruff: now, jerey brown discovers the next item on the "newshour bookshelf;" author tayari jones talks about her latest work. >> brown: two people come together, get married, and see their lives torn apart when the husband is falsely accus of a crime. the new novel explores love and tremeage in ex circumstances against the larger background of race and incarceration. it's called "an american marriage." author tayari jones joins me now. >> thank you. >> brown: is it correct that began with you thinking about

mass incarceration? >> i was doing mas incarceration. i did so much research. i learned so maniny distu things, but i'm not aneth nothing ferment i'm not aci ogist. i'm a novelist, and i had nothing to show for my time. the ddline was ticking for the presentation. and i had not written one fictional word. but i went tatlanta tvisit my mother, and we went to the mall, and while i was at the mall, i overheard a couple arguing, and i heard the woman say, "roy, you know you would not have waited on me for seven years. " with that mye imaginationnt wild with imagining this conflict between these two people.ou >> brown: so created your fictional roy, the character, and celestial, his wife, who gets sent off to prison. and then it bemes what happens, how do people behave under stress, what do two people owe each other. >> how do yo bance your desires and your

responsibilities. celestial is about 25 when he's arrested. they have only been married 18 months. her daddy is still paying for the wedding when he is tak away. can we really expect her to basically live her life for him? how could you ask that of her, but then there is a feeling like, how could she not: andhi that i is the conflict of the story. >> brown: you wrote this with alternating voices through letters they sent to each other, but this was tove the two voices of the marriage? >> the lertters for e because i'm a letter writer in real life. i write five or six letters a week. >> brown: actual let centers. >> yes. nobody writes me back. it's terrible, but i love the idea of with him in prison the letters, bause it's literal small canvas. it's all they have to try to be husband and wife. you can see how it's a losing battle. but i did want both their voices, because with him being in prison and her being in thein world, theabit two

different worlds. neither of them is able to tell theull stry. >> brown: there is a heartbreaking moment in the exchange of letters where thep stress of sonment is so profound, and he writes to her,e ontence, "dear celestial, i am innocent," and she wris back and says, "dear roy, i am >> yes, because it's true. she is innocent. s innocence feels more elevated because he is jailed for a crime he din't commit, but she also as his wife is being jailed for a crime she didn't commit eithee and really have to figure out will tey remain maried while he's in prison, and if they do, what duds that mean to be married to someone you can not touch. >> brown: race is a constant along with inceration, but also the questioning of growing up in a kind of well-to-do black atlanta. and i read that this isour own upbringing.

what were you trying to bring out? >> well, i do think tdhat moern southern lr black people is really underrepresented. people think of the south as short-hand for black misery, but i grew up in atlanta where there is this really roust black middle class, where dei nea doctor and my god mother was reluctant to sent me to th doctor because the doctor had not gone to morehouse co the doctor had gone to harvard. she said, well, this will b okay for your cold. so atlanta is a black oasis, but celestial and roy i think forget about the circumstances in the rest of the world, the rest of the country, and they visit his family in the small town where he'srom, and he is a celestial father says, the r wroace at the wrong time. >> brown: but your clearly wanted to p the african american sort of at the front of the story. >> yes, i mean, that's really

the question of progress, what is your sponsibility to the collective, what is your responsibility as an individual, e,w is this amplified by ra is it fair? so these are the hard, very modern questions. i thk it's a very modern moment for a black character to have towh wondeher or not the problems of one are the problems of all. irkts i have to ask you, the title, "an american marriage," that's a big titgle, riht? that sort of ups the stakes. >> i was reluctant the take it for two reasons. for one, i had never really thought of myself as american without saying black american or african american. i told my editor that i felt rriagen american sounded like a novel about white people in connecticut. and he said, connecticut is a very small ste, why would you think what happens in that small state was somehow more representative of america than what happens in atlanta, one of

the largest cities in the country? so i had th really think it over. then he asked me another question. he said:l f you feeat this title does not represent your work, i will support you in changing it. but if you're afraid of stepping into the world of big ideas, if you're afraid that your novel cannot support the weight of the ouaim of an american story, i really implore o rethink it. i said to him, i'll tell youow tomo and then i just thought about it, and i decided to be brave.>> rown: you did, and you stepped into a big idea. >> yes. >> brown: the title is an american marriage.ri taones, thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. >> woodruff: and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, andl we'le you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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elyse: tonight on history detectives: mysteries from america's beginnings. this is erout the sale of anoth human being. it really makes your blood run cold. is this the music for "the star-spangled banner"? [ playing "the star-spgled banner" ] gwendolyn: x marks the spot. amazing. elvis costello: ♪ watchin' the detectives ♪ i get so angry when the teardrops start ♪ n' ♪ but he cabe wounded 'cause he's got no heart ♪ ♪ watchin' the detectives e ♪ it's just l watchin' the detectives ♪ s funding for tonight' presentation of history detecves was provided by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station