ptioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. the newshour tonight: trade disputes loom large as president trump and other world leaders head to the g-7 summit. then, one on one with former president bill clinton-- we discuss james comey and the #metoo movement. >> i was afraid that you know she would be frozen in the public mind for the rest of her life and what happened. and i didn't want that for her. >> woodruff: and, an unlikely tech hub: bitcoin miners descend on one city in upstate new york to take advantage of cheap electricity rates, but energy caps are causing locals to pay more. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and fincial literacy in the 21st century. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals.

>> 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 everything is set for his summit next week with north korea's leader kim jong un. the president met today with japan's prime minister shinzo abe. he said the summit with kim will be "more than a photo op," but ded that doesn't mean he'll spend hours studying for it. >> i don't think i have to prepare very much. it's about attitude. it's about willingness to get things done. i think i've been prepared for this summit for a long time, ase has the side. i think they've been preparing for a long time also so this isn't a question of

preparation, it's a question of whether or not phaple want it to en. >> woodruff: the president also said he'll walk away if theor summit in singdoes not go well. but if it does, he said,ine would "cer" invite kim to visit the united states. today's meeting came before the u.s., japan and other "group of 7" nations gather in quebec, canada, this weekend. we'll have a pview of th meeting, after the news summary. in afghanistan, president ashraf ghani announced a week-long cease-fire with the taliban. it coincides with the holiday marking the end of the islamic holy month of ramadan. it alsfollows a string of attacks by taliban and islamic state militants. y the cease-fire applies o the taliban. in iraq's capital, baghdad, at least 18 people died overnight, when a weapons depot exploded inside a shiite mosque. the blast also wounded 38 people. iraqi officials launched an investigation into illegal stockpiling of weapons by shiite

militias. meanwhile, iraqi officials launched a recount in last month's election amid complaints of rampant fraud.to efense ministers rolled out new military plans today to deter russian aggreson. defense ministers from the alliance met in brussels and agreed to a system of rapid-fire reinforcements across europe. it's to be ready by 2020. meanwhile, during a call-in show in moscow, russian president vladimir putin argued his country is no threat to th west. ( translated ): we must defend our interests and do it consequently. not in a rude manner, but still defend our interests in economy, in security. we did it and do will continue g it. but we always look for a compromise, we aim at having a compromi. >> woodruff: putin said the u.s. and its allies must come to realize that sanctions on russia are ineffective and harmful to all. the u.s. commerce department is lifting a ban on letti chinese

telecom giant zte buy american parts. the ban was imposed for violating sanctions on iran and north korea, and it threatened to put the company out of business. instead, zte will have to pay a $1 billion fine and hire u.s. compliance officers. there's word that suicide rates rose in nearly every state in thnation between 1999 and 2016. the centers for disease control and prevention reports 25 states saw increases of more than 30%. as a group, middle-aged adults had the largest percenta increase. suicide is the nation's 10th leading cause of death, with 4 siar000 in 2016. nearly 200 congral democrats asked a federal judge today to hear their prwsuit againsident trump. they say he's violating the constitution's emolumeause when his businesses accept paynts and benefits om foreign nations.

at issue today was whether the s have the legnding to file the suit. and, wall street had an up and down day.e w jones industrial average gained 95 points to close at 25,241. but the nasdaq fell 54 points, and the s&p 500 slipped two. still to come on the newshour: ahead of the g-7 summmit, the u.s. faces harsh criticism from its allies over trade. former president bill clinton speaks candidly about monica lewinsky. one on one wit c.i.a. director, john brennan, and much more. >> woodruff: tomorrow, president trump joins leaders of other wealthy nations in canada at the group of seven meeting, outside quebec city. but mr. trump's recent moves on trafsde and tarave

mansformed a normally-staid affair, intoting of allies divided and wary of the united states. yamiche alcindor iin quebec, ahead of the g-7 summit. >> he's the number one celebrity in japan. ap alcindor: president trump talked golf with janese prime minister abe in the oval office. but, diplomatic pleasantrias could hardlythe widening rift between the u.s. and its closesstallies. the ontentious topic: new u.s. tariffs that threaten to spark trade war. >> we're working hard to reduce our trade imlance, which is very substantial. i will tell you, over the years it has been an extraornarily weak trade policy. >> alcindor: meanwhile, canada's prime minister justin trudeau hosted fnch president emanuel macron ahead of tomorrow's meeting. trudeau had tough words for mr. ump: >> ( translated ): his unacceptable actions are hurting his own citizens. it is american jobs which will be lost because of the actions of the united states and its administration. >> alcindor: the president has railed against trade agreementsr

even with a's closest allies, accusing the e.u., canada and japan of taking advantage of the u.s. >> they charge five times what we charge for taris. and i believe in the word 'reciprocal,' you're going to charge five times, we're going to charge five times. >> alcindor: president trump m announced lastth that the e.u., canada and japan would face new tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum. the e.u. quickly countered with its own list of tariffsri on an steel and food products. the president'economic adviser rry kudlow has insisted the gaps with g-7 members aren't to. wide to brid >> iegard this as much like family quarrel. i'm always the optimist. e it can be worked out. >> alcindor: james stavridis is a former nato supreme allied commander, a now is dean of e fletcher school at tufts university. a expects a rocky meeting. >> i cannot think ime where we have walked into

negotiations without a common sense of how to go forward, it a shocking departure. >> alcindo the escalating ade battle is only one front where president trump has split with longtime allies: he pulled out of the iran nuclear deal last month, and decided to exith paris climate accord last year. macron warned that president trump's course change was damaging alliances and the credibility of the u.s. >> ( translated ): if they continue towards a form of isolationism, brutal hegemony, of distancing themselves from theiown history, from their own values, from the role they play in international organizations where they are leaders, by deciding to remove themselves, that will be bad for the united states of america. >> alcindor: stavridis said vital american relationships are under enormous pressure. >> increasingly there is a gap between the united states and the rest of our allies in the g-7. it iover iran. it's over climate. it's over terrorists. it'sver a sense of whether o

not america wants to engage in the world or not. those distctions are widening, noclosing, and that is tly, greatly to be feare >> alcindor: with those differences looming, it's unclear if the g-7 members can even agr on a joint communique by the summit's end saturday. judy? >> woodruff: so you were at the site of the media center for mit.rters covering the su you're in quebec. let me ask you, the people you talked to, how do they think the president's trade actions will affect the g7 as a group? >> american officials i've talked to who are used t dealing with these kinds of summons says the g7 isc ing historic and shocking shift. they say there's a leadership vacuum. the united states used to play a big role on multi-lateral agreements.is president trumacking away from that. they're now saying the g7 might not play the same role that it'n plwhich is really to be a

guidance for free trade all over the world. >> woodruff: so, yamiche, with so maisnyagreements, how contention do the people you talked to think the summit will be? these conversations are likely going to be very tough. people are likely going to be arguing. the leaders of canada and france have already come out. they're going to try to push president trump to reverse the controversial tariffs on stel and aluminum. the meeting in queb think there are going to be arguments. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor,to preparing cover the summit that gets underway tomorrow. thanks, yamiche. >> thanks, judy. >> woodruff: former president bill clinton and bt selling author james patterson have teamed up to write a political

thriller, "the president is missing" about a presidentwa slippingfrom his secret service detail to save the country from a possiblcyber attack. tonight, in the first of two parts, we begin our conversation on the subject of former f.b.i. director james comey. there are several credible news reports today tht -- what's xting to come out in the ne day or so istn inerim report department of justice from the inspector general being very critical of james comey as f.b.i. director, that he took steps he shouldn't have taken in inveigating secretary clinton's e-mails. when i interviewed your wife, secretary clinton, last fall,s she said jaomey was the proximate cause of her defeat because of theway h handled that investigation. do you agree? >> oh, absoluty. i mean, agree for factual reasons. i was there looking at the results coming in, and you could

see -- i mean, 11 days before the election, when he had not told us that he was investigating whether president putin was trying to interfere on behalf o trump, and we now know he talked to one of the major newspapers who knew it also out of running a story on that, we knew tht from him, when he had done that for him to violate for thco time in an election cycle decades of bipartisan policy and dropping that email thing, it was, like, a 5-point drop overnight. ing likeer seen any it. so, no, i don't think there's any question about it. i think what it's going to be, instead a 2.8ace, it would have been somewhere between 2 and 3 more points,and the electoral college would have flipped. that's what i think would have happened. >> woodruff: another subject you have been asked about a lot this week, the #metoo movement,

began with revelations around harvey weinstein, the hollywood producer. was a good friend of yours and mrs. clinton's. he gave a lot of moneyto your campaigns, i guess he also contributed to your defense effort during the impeachment period. there were so manyacusations by women against him, you nevere had anse, never heard anything or saw anything about that that gave you -- >> i didn't. you know what -- and -- it's funny, i think -- i've thoughtt abis a lot -- but every time we were together, i believe, over those years was either at charity event or a political event, if he wase, alr when his family was around. he was, over this period, married twice, and his family was there, and, so, i didn't know. one ever said anything to me. >> woodruff: sensitive

questions. >> and where was the media -- mean, charlie rose, did anybody know about charlie? i don't know. and also, to me, in terms of just media being the kind investigators they should be, people have beetalking about e casting couch in hollywood for 40, 50 years, whaver the heck it is. no investigations. why does it take this to all ofo a sudden ge to me, what should have been done 30 years ago. the #metoo happened a long time ago, a long time ago. >> woodruff: sensitive question,president clinton. your clappings are monica lewinsky, you -- yourip relationith monica lewinsky you said your impeachment was wrong and said you left office $16 million in debt. >> that was the least of it. e price i paid mostly was the pain i caused to my wife and daughter and feeling terrible about the exposure she had and the way i let me staff down, the

caulnet. it was a but i had to live with this h. i always prided myself on treating people right and trying to help lift people up, and i've spent thlast however many years it's been since i have been gone trying to model that andke a tdifference and living wh what happened, yeah. >> woodruff: you paid a price. do you thinky ms. lewinid a higher price, a harder price? >> oh, i don't know. i thiqunk she paiite a price. the price that i used to worry about all the time for her, and i was glad to see when she wentc back tol and made another career, had a television show, gave a really compelling ted talk, you know, didther things, is that i was afraid that, you know, she would be frozen in theublic mind for

the rest of her life and what haened, and i didn't wat that for her. i think she's tried to ild a bigger, different, broader life, and i hope she has. >> woodruff: i assume you ink that what happened with you was more serious than what ppened with senator -- former senator al franken. he was driven from office, from the u.s. senat so norms have changed. do you think that's a good thing? >> well, i it's a good thing, yes. i think it's a good thing that we should all have hig standards. i think the norms have really changed in temsrf what you can do to somebody against their will, how much you can crrwd thpace, make them miserable at work. you don't have to physically assault somebodyma toke them, you know, uncomfortable at work or at home or in their other -- just walking aoun that, i think, is good.

i think that -- i will be honest, the franken cae, for me, was a difficult case, a hard case. there may be things i don't know, but i -- maybe i'm just an old-fashioned person, but it seemed to me that there were 29 women on "saturday night live" that put out a statement for him, that the first and most fantastic story was called, i believe, into question. too late to wde into now. i mean, i think it's a grievous thing to take away from the people a decision they have made, especially when there was an election coming up again, but it's done now, and i think that all of us should just be focusing on how to do better and how to go forward. >> woodruff: and we'll have cre of my conversation with author james partisan tomorrow

when they talk about the book and why they decidedo work together. >> woodruff: during a long intelligence career, john liennan was a man of few p words. yet as nick schifrin reports, these days, he has increasingly found his voice, especially asit ertains to president trump.if >> sn: john brennan joined c.i.a. in 1980. he was deputy executive director in the george w. bush administration and director in the obama administration. nce stepping down in january, 2017, he has become an outspoken critic of president trump. and john brennan joins me now. ank you very much for being here. >> hi, nick. the singapore summit is just refew days away, and t was a lot of rhetorical back and forth in 2017, but at this point, north korea claims that it wantd nuclearize and has frozen its nuclear missile test. so is that ag sin the present

strategy is working? >> i think it's a sign the tensions have come down, thankfully and i think it's important a diplomatic process be underway. i'm not pleased mr. trump decided to go to a summit with little preparation. even today in the ovl office he said it didn't need much preparation. this is a highly complex matter. it was very difficuth iran that didn't have a nuclear program. with north korea i thimunk it's more difficult because you're not talking about just pausing butsm ditling their program. as secretary pompeo said have them thoroughly, irrevokably and verifiably stop a nuclear program, that's going to be tough to do. >> the obama administration criticized all hs predecessors th koreaolving the nor problem. under the obama policy, his policy was patience, and while you were patient north korea wan building enhancing its nuclear program.

do you belve patience was a failure? >> it didn't result in north korea not awaring ar nucl capability. looking back over the last 20 years, i think administrations have tried their best t prevent north korea from acquiring that capability. it w a very long march north koreans were on and now they have a nuclear weans capability. so i think it's appropriate the trump administration deal with thisirectly, but this is a very difficult challenge. it has been a challenge for the last two decades. there has not been a military solution at all to this challenge because north korea, not just because of its nuclear ands ballistic msile capability, but it has so muchen coonal artillery that is within range of seoul, the most densely populated city in the world, that even if we were able to take out all it'ns nuclear ballistic missile capability, they could rain down on seoul.

we have troops in south koreath ane would be a lot of people killed by nor artillery. >> do you acknowledge the problem has gotten worse in the last few years a president trump points out? >> i think kim jong un defied a loft his early critics, and i will say thdid not havat much respect for him early on, but i think he has been quite masterful in terms of how he has been able to move this program forward, accelerate it during the trump ministration. >> as well as during the obama administration. >> absolutely. i think he escalated in order to deescalate. escalate in order to plateau with a nucle capability. i think his strategy is to see toat he can get out of the summit anee what the united states, south korea and china are going to relax the pressure on him and allow him to retain this nuclear capability r, i think, years to come. >> you were, of course, the head of the country's best-known intelligence service, and you'vc

ccused the president of not only lyiy,ng routin intentionally refueling divisions and degrading institutions but,io wrote on march 17 on twitter e when the full extent of your vinality, moral turpitude and corruption ycomes known you will taur place in the dust pinf history. ere are some who are a little uncomfortable with your criticism. the pele who say you are partisan, don't they have a >> i'm not a republican or a democrat and i have been roundly condemned by republica and democrats over the years and i call it like i see it. on that mach 17th tweet, this was the day that donald did almost a victory and gloating dance when andy mccape the former deputy director of f.b.i. was fired, basically 36 hours before he wat to re. mr. trump is a demagogue because

he has preyed upon the fearsd concerns of the american people, some very legitimate kerns, but he routinely lies, desieves and misrepresee facts and reality, so, yes, i speak out rather forcefully, but i am a private citizen now, and tse are abnormal times, and some people think it's abnormal for the former director of ci.a., just like the former director of f.b.i. and director of intelligence jim joamy and j clapy to speak out as well, but this is an abnormal president. i think people who have experience and responsible to speak truth to the american people to call mr. trump out when hesieves the american public and indeed the world. >> do you worry your critisms play into the president's fears that intelligence services are out to get himn ad gin gina has, now c.i.a. director, do you believe your criticisms might make her job harder? >> i don't think. i think -- i don't think

mr. trump and thers rel on my public commentary. heees threats from lawnchts judiciary, public commentary and the media because they tier ones that can expose hi falsehoods. the fact i'm speaking out. i think i'm lending my voi to the legions of people who believe mr. trump is realt realn abberation and he is deceiving the american public and is going to have negative consequences for national security. >> yodo you think the russians have something on mr. trump personally? >> they may, but i was very surprised at how fawning his attitude was toward mr. putin, that he would speak with suchai di toward our allies, toward senato, even of his own party, but, yet, he speaks, you know, so aost lovingly about

mr. putin and was so reluctant to call him ou to include for the attempts to undermine our election you say you don't know. do you think it's appropriate for the former c.i.a. director to speculate? >> i think it was appropriate for me to answer the question and say i don't kn, which i said. i said they may have. i don't know.th >> do yok it's okay for you to speculate, given how much you know and given how peopled see you what you know, certainly what you have access to in the past? >> i think i've come to learn lot since my departure from the government in januaryin017, inclwhat's out in the press, and i am increasingly concngned about all the thi that the russians clearly did during the election that i was unaware of in terms of percina and media and other things. so i don't know what the ayssians might have on individuals whoave been associated with the campaign, but i'm going to speak out, and if people want to criticize me, that's fine, but i must tell you so many people who stop me or

sendg notes are saying tha you for speaking out because i'm giving voice to those who don't have the same opportunity io. >> director john brennan, thank you very much. >> thanks, nick. >> woodruff: on capitol hill today, a tense morning of infighti, as house republicans threatened to go above leadership's head and force a vote on immigrion reform. lisa desjardins has been at the capitol and has the details.>> esjardins: today at the capitol, a high-stakes, closed- door fight among republicans, over immigration, and especially so-called "dreamers," hundreds of thousands of people brought here illegally as children. ho>> we have top-graduate want to do great things for this country. >> give me a bill thoesn't have amnesty. i'll bet i can support i >> desjardins: all this because moderates like california's jeff denham and florida's carlo curbelo have rebelled against g.o.p. leaders to try to force action on the issue.

they have launched something called a "discharge petition" to force immigration votes. if a majority of the house signs on, it would trigger floor action. with the help of democrats, the petition is close to having enough names. there is some urgency, thanks t, house ruoderates have just two windows to act on the petition, in the next few days,r n july. today' was an attempt by leaders to find an interoal g.o.p. cose. if they don't, speaker paul ryan knows his moderates oin with democrats to pass something else. >> the best we can do isba cally make sure that we exhaust the possibilities of coming togher as a house republican conference to bring a bill to the floor that everyone can support. >> desjardins: today the conservative fedom caucus has signaled it may be willing to move and make a deal, it's

>> i think what you will see is leadership wtake all the input from different members, points of vi, and boil that wn into a legislative framework in the coming days. >> desjardins: what's the potential deal look like?ho severae republicans told newshour there is agreement on some legal status for dreamers, but disagreement on whether they should get an automatic path to citizenship. an idea being floated now: end the visa lottery, where individuals around the world win the chance at citizenship, and use those spots for dreame who meet certain criteria. for dreamers and all who care about immigration, it is a key moment, and possibly the last ment for action this year. >> woodruff: and lisa joins me now. lisa, you were telling us there is more on the table as part of these negotiations. tell us about tha there is. in the house republican conference they're fobbing about family migration and seems conservatives are moving toward be middle. freedom caucus daat said they would consider status for family members for dreamers but

more requirements and there is expectation this would have more money for the border wall but could be over 1013 years >> woodruff: what happens next? >> there is a deadline the moderates have set. by next tuesday if they don't get a deal they like, they say they will pull a trigger on a vote of their own and go in with democrats. so tuesday is the date to. wat once that happens, we will move to the senate. it is hard to predict how senate will react to some things. some versions will appe more there, some versions not. i think this is a critical last attempt at any kind of immigration deal in the next few days. many moderates are under pressure because the districts are a hiring minority population these tas. >> woodruff: clearlthe republican leadership not wanting members of their own caucus to work with democrats. >> that's correct. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins, thank you very much. >> pleasure.

o woodruff: if you've been following the ribitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, you also probably have heard quite a bit about the meteoric, but what you may not have heard is about the incredible amount of energy computers need to pursue bitcoin and other currencies ithe first place. at demand, in turn, is affecting the prices of .electricity in some plac and that's where our economics correspondent, paul solman, comes in to help expin these connections, part of our weekly series, "making sense." >> reporter: bucolic plattsburgh, new york, 20 miles from the canadian border. it sure doesn't look like ground zero for gold rush. but in this mall alone, cryptocurrency prosptors have installed thousands of ming machines--small computers that gobble energy-- just find new cryptocoins, in a vacated space behind the family dollar store. and it's all because plattsburgh hes dirt cheap electric rates.

the invasion hasocals up in arms. >> these guys that are mining bitcoins are riding into town, taking advantage of the situation. >> reporter: and the situation, it turns out: plattsburgh is the klondike of new york. that's because the cost of mining is all in the cost of energy. as mayor colin read says... s plattsburgh has some of the lowest energy cost the world. >> reporter: that's because this is hydroelectric land, where dams power mills like this one last century. these days, electricity rates in plattsburgh are barely a third of the nat courtesy of a long-term deal for cheap electricity from niagara falls.bu there's a catch. plattsburgh has a monthly megawatt limit. exceed it, and they have to pay much higher rates on the open market. >> so, if we go over the quota,u we can all of en see a huge spike in our electric rates in the winter. it very raly happened, but it's happening on a regular basis since the bitcoin operators came to town. ? reporter: how much high >> 30%, 40% higher.

>> reporr: and that proved a real budget-buster for the residents of chilly plattsburgh. >> they're used to paying, you know, $100 a month in the mi tle of winter e care of all their electricity and heating needs. to the point where most people in our city, the vast majority, heat with electricity, bause it's very inexpensive. ha reporter: and then there are local companies wh relied on cheap energy. >> our electric bills changed overnight. >> reporter: here at the company you mean? >> yeah, a good 20 to 30% increase in the electricill. >> reporter: tom reckny of mold- pte plastics, where 500 workers churn out 11 milliducts every day. >> caps, closures, jars. and more recently using child resistant caps for the cannabis market. >> reporter: but margins are thin. they mold-rite's electric bill jumpey 22,000 in march. plattsburgh was driven over its e nthly quota, says reckny,

because miners wbbling energy. >> more than twice what we 'rnsume. the impact that thhaving is extraordinary, for sure. >> reporter: a simple hadeo explainsthey use the power for. >> miners use special software to solve math problems and are issued a certain number of bitcoins in exchange. >> reporter: the software runs on superfast, super power-hungry computers, explains m.i.t.'s neha narula. >> they're trying lots of different random numbers to see which one is a solution to the puzzle.co and the firsuter that figures out the right random number that's a solution to the puzzle publishes its answer and gets bitcoin in return for the answer. >> reporter: the mayor has a few right in his office. >> they're just cranway doing tens of millions, hundreds of millions of calcutions a second. and then hooked to all kinds of other machines around the world, and they're all sharing in the profits in trying to find the next cryptocurrency solution. >> reporter: to find the solution, o d then add it te

so-called blockchain, a running record of all transaesions. that tore power. this machine of read's ia just stack of graphics cards, like those used for gaming. it's mining for other cryptocurrencies. and this machine? >> this here is an actual st-te- -art bitcoin machine. >> reporter: the energy use of all these machines is immense. >> this miner here will use as h much power as se does in a month. >> reporter: 19-year-old plattsburgh native ryan brienza deferred college to run zafra out of the defunct imperial wallpaper mill. he hosts 200 machines from clients all over the country. >> it's going to cost you more to plug it in incaew york city, fornia, or boston, than to host with us. >> reporter: just to plug it in. >> what you're ping for power there is more expensive than what our hosting rate is. >> reporter: moreover, brienza's clients don't have to copeith the machine noise and the heat. that's about as long as i can

hold my hand there. and then it starts to burn. >> sometimes when i wash my nds, sometimes i use tha dry them off. >> reporter: brienza's operation is a drain on plattsburgh's cheap energy. but it's dwarfed by coinmint, a puerto-rico-based operation, which first set up shop around the corner from brienza and then in this strip mall. no signs. just open doors and immense fans to vent the heat. thousands of machines inside suck up about 10% of the whole city's electricity. worldwide, the energy footprint of bitcoin alone is expected to double by year's end, devouring an incredible .5% or more of the world's electricity, as much as all of austria.te the ial impact on global warming is profound. but the allure to miners of cheap energy outposts like iceland, washington state, and small, unassuming plattsburgh is understandable.

>> the cheaper the power is, the more profitable that you can be. reporter: how much is a gven miner making at the moment? >> on avere i think mine are yielding like $150 a month, per miner. >> reporter: per mining machine, that is. and, argues david bowman, plattsburgh gets something outhi oftoo. >> there's not a lot of opportunities here. they have really hard time retaining young people. >> reporter: bitcoin mining is a reason to stay. >> get some investment in here in the tech sector. bring, hopefully retain young people that are interest- because really it's a young people's game. >> reporter: but mayor read,ho is also an economist, says the benefits to plattsburgh are indiscernible. >> our city gets, really, nothing out of it. the industry, typically, leases space, so we're not receiving any property taxes from them. and they employ very, very few people. >> reporter: so is plattsburgh- bred miner ryan brienza feeling the heat? does anybody give you a hard time about this? >> i do know some old teachers and stuff who complain that i

made their electric bill go up. (laughs) >> reporter: but it wasn't just his teachers. >> we shouldn't be burdened with is on our backs. >> reporter: in march, residents stormed a city council meeting to complain. soon after, the council voted to ban all new mining operations for 18 months. >> we've got a substantial investment in this stuff. >> reporter: electrical engineeb grenza is ryan's father and business partner.ri the mora mothballed the new switchgears he'd helped l at the old mill to hos more mining machines. how much do these things cost a piece? >> several hundred thousand dollars. >> reporter: who's investment? yours, or...? >> the landlord. >> reporter: so he's not very happy with the moratorium? >> i'm not either. >> reporter: they're not giving up that easily, though. >> we've just be looking for other places that we can put an operation in, and we have been pursuing that. >> reporter: places that don't have a moratorium. >> mm-hmm.we now a bunch of locations where there's cheap power. >> reporter: while hoping the ban here will be lifted. the brienzas have come up with a seductive alternative: recycle

the at from the computers. >> so this is that solution i was talking about with the city. >> reporter: the brienzas have concocted a box to house 108 machines, on building rooftops, say, to vent and recycle the heat free of charge. >> a greenhouse, a pool, a spa, a community center, something along those lines. >> reporr: mayor read, the economist, finds the idea downright intriguing. >> imagine a hot house tomato indoor growing facility, that's heated by abundant excess heatco from a b operation. >> reporter: so, plattsburgh, new york, could become the mode ficient bitcoin mining? >> exactly, that's my goal, to figure out a way to turn this liability into a huge asset for us, and communities all around the worl >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, this is ecics correspondent paul solman in plattsburgh, new york.

>> woodruff: next tonight, feeding a hunger, and stokingti the ap, for reading in african schools and libraries. fred de sam lazaro has thisrt re it's the latest in his series, "agents for change." >> pretty much what we do is get books donated from schoo, d braries, people in their homes who like to hoarbooks like myself. >> reporter: it's a typical saturday morning and selena haftr is training in a new s of volunteers on how to choose which materis are suitable to send overseas. about six million books are devered to this football field-sized warehouse in atlanta every year. dozens of volunteers come in to sort through the piles. and eventually some three to four million make it out of here, destined for libraries and schools across africa. the organization is, aptly,

called "books for africa" and over the last 30 years it has sent more than 41 million books, donated by schools, libraries and textbook companies, to 53s. different co it all began when a minnesota bookseller named tom warth, on vacation in africa, happened to visit a liary, says the group's executive director pat plonski. >> he saw this library that had no books in it. as he says, it had a building, card catalogs, a librarian but virtually no books. he came back home to minneta, met with some of his book partners, sent a few books and that was 41 million books ago. >> reporter: today, schools and libraries send books for africa a wish list. they agree to pay for the shipping, on ocean-going ships in bulk containers to minimize costs. we visited the white dove school in rwanda, a private school for economically disadvantaged girls, which received a crate of books for its library three

years ago. students here said the variety of books have made them enthusiastic readers. >> i wasn't truly interested in reading. e t when i came here to white dove, i got to loks and read them. >> reading has developed my vocabulary because before i arted reading, i was not good at speaking english. >> reporter: of course not all books that are donated are culturally appropriate to send to africa. >> no self-help, no travel guides, no anorican history. anta, easter bunny or halloween. >> reporter: warehouse manager jeremy bostwick says the organization has learnedseo become morctive over the years. >> they may ask us to remove anything that has to do with magic. also, we've been asked not to include computerooks that say" for dummies." there's something lost in translation there.

>> reporter: so what is popular? >> we've probably proliferatedo danielle steelery corner of the african continent. >> reporter: the fact that the books are so american appealed to some of the young rwandans we interviewed. >> the more you get to reathe books of america, the more you get to discover what america ise yoto know the culture, the thstory of america. >> reporter: but os said they wished there were more books about africa. >> those i girl in an american high school while the african books talk about situations that happen in africa and you relate to it ikre. >> reporter: you'dto see more of that? >> yes. >> we are seeking to provide more books in local languages and it books. i think books in local languages are best provided locally, butbo we as for africa exist becausthe ideal does not exist. >> reporter: in the meantime, books for africa has begunwi experimenting sending

donated e-readers and digital books to africa. eventually that technology could exponentially increae number of publications sent overseas.ws for the pbs ur, i'm fred de sam lazaro in atlanta, georgia. >> woodruff: fred's reporting is a partrship with the under-told stories project at the university of st. thomas in miesota. and we'll be back shortly with a brief but spectacular take from e man behind the populared talks. but first, take a moment to hear from your locapbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps kikp programs lours on the air. >> woodruff: for those stations staying with us, think about all the flash cards, worksheets, and omsson plans used in class each day. increasingly, teachers are going online to find those resource and sell their own ideas.

but some worry about the unintended consequences. special correspondent kavitha cardoza, with our partner "education week," traveled to rural alabama and brings us this encore report. orter: jennifer white is showing me around her hometown, oneonta. >> in 2010, my husband lost hise job, and i nto earn some extra cash. de reporter: so in addition her job as a kinarten teacher, white started to tutor kids after school. but with three children of herll own, two stin diapers, moneygh was still ti es it was probably one of the most difficult tf my life. >> reporter: that led to a third job on weekends. >> this is the gas swotion where i rked. there's nothing quite as surreal as selling alcohol to former students. >> rep she heard about teachers who were making extra money, writing and selling lesson plans online. there are a number of websites where teachers canhare or sell their work.

white started browsing through them. >> it kind of planted d little seed, e more i thought about it, the more i thought "well, maybe i could do this!" >> reporter: the largest of these online sites iteachers pay teachers, or t.p.t. adam freed is the c.e.o. of the company. teachers pay teachers is a marketplace where teachers come together to buy, sell and share original educational materials. today, two-thirds of teachers in the u.s. are active members of our platform. this is an activity on life cycles. >> you have been assigned to put insects in the proper sections of the local zoo. >> it's so much more engaging to get to the video this way, by doing something yourself. >> reporter: the average t.p.t. lesson plls for $5, and the company takes a cut of 20% or 45%. >> we're proud to announce that this past year, t.p.t. paid out more than $100 million to teacher authors across the country. >> reporter: some have even become millionaires, including a kindergarten teacher from

florida, an elementary school teacher from california, and an english teacher from louisiana. these online marketplaces are becoming more and more popular. but, there are alsconcerns. some legal experts say, if aed teacher createational materials, those materials legally belong to the school strict. some educators worry about quality. and, there are those whoon queshat this means for the teaching profession, which traditionally has shared these materials for free. bob farrace is with the national association of secondary school principals. he worries this trend could discourage teachers from working together. >> i think it's not unreasonable to say that once you put a price tag on that collaboration, you begin to close people out of that market. we want these ideas to flow very freely among everyone, not just teachers who might be willing or inclined to pay for that collaboration. >> reporter: jennifer white worked on weekends to develop her first product, called "let's make a pilgrim."

the lesson sells for $4.50. it includes patterns and pictures of the finished product. the first quarter, she was excited when she made $300 from sales. then, a popular blogger shared her lesson. >> and that next quarter, i think i sold $14,000 in that three month span. and it was life-changing! bo reporter: white now has 100 different products online. "let's make an elf," "let's make a snowthn." i sense e here! >> there was. that was the year of "let's f ke!" >> reporter: one oe most helpful parts of t.p.t., white sach, is that teachers rate other's lesson plans. so i see you've got 44,600 votes. >> yes. >> reporter: and you've got the urhighest score, which is stars. >> yes, and the votes are basically like ratings. >> reporter: but katy swalwell, a professor at iowa state university, says teachers choosing a lesson plan based on

what's popular can be a problem, because teachers may focus on what's "cute and catchy" rather than on content that's high quality. for example, she and colleagues studied a popular lesson plan, "the wedding of q and u." it teaches kindergartners a simple concept, how the letter "u" follows the letter "q." thousands of classrooms have ck weddings, complete with elaborate invites, decorations and vows.ot >> a lf teachers are taking hours and hours to teach this fairly simple literacy concept. they're also teaching it as a rule that any good scrabble player we know that q and u don't always go together >> reporter: swalwell says the vows between tco kindergarten le are even more troubling-- the girls' vows were often pretty sexist. that they have to suppe boys going out with other

letts, that that's what they need to do, that's what their job in the relationship is. they also talk about h the boys' letter is what gave them a voice, otherwise they couldn't make a sound in the world. >> reporter: she says teachers need to be far more critical about lesson plans they create and buy. >> some kids might find it fun. but it isn't ever just about fun, there are always social lessons that are being taught underneath. >> reporter: jennifer white tries to make the lessons applicable for teachers across the country, and she sees only an upside. for starters, she no longer worries about money. >> i could give up my job at the gas station and tutoring, and yuld spend more time with family. >> reporter: the whites have been able to save for retirement, and go on vacations. she's also made teacher friendsd arhe world. best of all, white says, she's been able to give back to her students. wow! it's shacolorful! >> you.

actually, a lot of it was paid for through my sales. >> reporter: the tables and books, all the learning materials, toys and posters-- in my classroom, we're family. when they need something, if they need crayons, i need glue or they need a backpack ore they need ing, anything, i can get it for them. i'm giving back to the people who have gotten me where i am today. >> reporter: f the pbs newshour and "education week," i'm kavitha cardoza in oneonta, alabama. >> woodruff: next, another installment of our weekly series brief but spectacular where we tonight, chris anderson, the owner of "ted" and "ted talks," the non-profit media organization which posts talks e line for free, under the >> the process of man speaking to others, is, has deeply biological roots. we've evolved these techniques

over hundreds of thousands of years, perhaps gathered around campfires, of looking at someone, seeing every micro expression, hearing the tone ofc their and being able to judge, is this person genuine, or are they bull ( bleep ) me? the single most importanthing to do if you have to give an important talk in a limitedod pef time, get rid of 90% of what you think you want to talk about. pick the one thing that is most important to you, and make it the through line of your talk.so people memorize their talk, every word, and there's a trapng in dhat because if you sound like you're reciting, that takes away the authenticity acerally. the dice between an actor erting and an actor really owning the charaou really have to know a talk so well that it's in you and you can, focus n why it matters, what i means. the meaning that you want to communicate to that person, and to that person, and to that person. a lifetime of work, condensed over a few hundred hours of

prep, into 12, 13, 14, 18, minutes. a key question to ask before you give a talk is, why are you doing this? many speakers come thinking this is my opportunity, i've got this agenda, i want to promote these people. the audience sees through that in the moment. think that you're bringing a gift, and focus the whole talk on that. every story you tell is in service of that idea, of that gift. the first time i went to ted, 1998, i had no idea what i was coming into.is why am ining to an architect, followed by a software guy, made no sense to me at all, but, by day three, it started to connect. can actually learn from someone outside of your field you can learn context you can be stimulated and in your mind, five things come together, and can explode in a way thatou actuallyn't happen in anyone else's mind, because this ow ideas are born. there is a moment where you havg

to efrom your trench, come up, above, 10,000 feet, inok at the ampattern that is out there of how things connect. context matters, you can't reallynderstand something deeply without knowing how it connects to something else, which means that persuading experts in a field to share their knowledge accessibly with the rest of us, that's a huge gift to all of us. my name is chris anderson, and this is my brief, but spectacular take on wer of ideas. >> woodruff: you can watch additionalrief but spectacular episodes on our website, pbs.org/newshour/brief.he onewshour online right now, the investigation into russian attempts to influence the 2016 election has grown dramatically in size and scope, and we have a new timeline to help you make sense of it.

it covers decades of activity, and comes from months of work.th and more is on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and ramesh pannuru. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see u soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> knowledge, it's where innovation begins. it's what leads us to discovery and motivates us to succeed. it's why we ask the tough questions and what leads us to the answers. at leidos, we're stae ing behind thrking to improve the world's health, safety, and efficiency. leidos. >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin.

>> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions tn your pbs statom viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc d captio media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

(people talking) ♪ >> this is very delicious. (laughter) is >> nigella: a ta more than a piece of furniture, just as food is more than mere fuel. when i moved into my first home many years ago, before i did anything else, i bought a table-- and not just to eat at, but to live around. chin-chin, amici. oasting) >> nigella: at my table, when i'm winding down at the end of a long day... they're ready for me, and i'ready for them. ...celebrating friendship at weekend feasts, or making meries with family. (laughter) ...the food i eat is vibrant and varied, but always relaxed. old favorites... so far, so good.