captioningponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodr f: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, money moves-- the federal reserve cuts interest rates. s wetep back to look at how this effects the broader economy. then, secretary of state pompeo calls attacks on saudi arabia an "act of war." what is next? iew and how will aational security advisor shape the u.s. response? plus, in a pinch-- how warming waters in the atlantic ocean are hurting lobsters. >> i's a lot like a bathtub where if you turn down the cold urn off the warm tap you get a really, really hot bath. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour."

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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: the federal reserve has cut shor interest rates by a quarter point, for the second time in three months. but the central bank held back today from promising any further money moves this year. fed chairman jerome powell said it all depends on where the economy seems to be headed. >> what we think we're facing here is a siation which can be addressed and should be addressed with moderate adjustments to the federal funds rate. as i mentioned, we are watchinga fully to see whether that is the case. if in fact the economy weakens more, then we're prepared to be aggressive a we'll do so if it turns out to be appropriate.

>> woodruff: presint trump took to twitter to criticize the fed, and powell, for not approving a larger rate cut. he said: "no guts, no sense, no, vision." we'll take a closer look at the fed's moves, right after the news summary. the president today tapped robert o'brien to be national secuty adviser, his fourth, to date. o'brien had been special envoy jor hostage negotiations. mr. trump remove bolton as national security adviser, last week, over policy disputes. saudi arabia says it has mounting evidence that iran was behind weekend attacks on key oil falities. saudi officials today displayed remnants of drones and a cruise missile. they said thweapons were iranian-made, but iran again denied any role. u.s. secretary of state pompeo arrived in saudi arabia today.ai hethe attacks were an "act of war."

we'll talkbout all of this, and the naming of the new national security adviser, later in the program. the government of israel was in political limbo todaer two main parties deadlocked in tuday's elections. neither likud nor the blue and white party won enou seats for a majoty in parliament. former defense minister avigdor lieberman leads a smaller party that could become the kingmaker. he underscored his position today. >> ( translated ): the conclusion is clear. all that we have said during the election campaign is coming true. there is only one option-- a national unity government, a gl, liberoad government. and we will indeed say again, we will not join any other option. >> woodruff: prime minister n benjamanyahu, of likud, insisted today that he will still try to form a ruling coalitioanyway. the european parliament has approved another extension to the brexit deadline, but, with conditions.

it would have to be used to prevent a no-deal british departure from the european union, or to allow for new elections or even a new referendum on brexit. isbritish prime minister b johnson has insisted on leaving the e.u. by the current deadline, octobe31, with or without a deal.e esident of the philippines, rodrigo duterte, ib offerinties of nearly $20,000, for hundreds of convicted criminals. they include killers and rapists, mistakea y freed under od-behavior program. duterte said today they are wanted dead alive, but he prefers them dead. the justice minister said later that he should not be taken literally. i bermuda, schools, transportion and government offices closed today with hurricane "humberto" bearing down. the storm is on track to pas north of the island tonight, with stained winds of 120

miles an hour. meanwhile, the remnants of tropical storm "imelda" were dumping up to 18 inches of rain in southeastern texas and parts of louisiana.t presidump has confirmed that his administration is revoking california's powecato set its owmileage standards. he argued today thatove will lead to cheaper, safer cars.s but, californitorney general, javier becerra, said it will actually mean more pollutn, and he vowed to file suit. >> our communities are screaming for help to address the climate crisis. unlike the tmp administration, we don't run scared. and so whether it is climate change or an administration recalcitrant in taking on its responsibilities, we're prepared to lead, we'll prepareo fight, we'll do what we must. >> woodruff: we'll hear from california's governor gavin newsom later in the program. abortions in the united states have reached the lowest level

since 1973, when thewhrocedure was zed nationwide. a research group, the guttmacher institute, says there were 862,000 ortions in 2017, down from at 1.6 million, back in 1990. the institute says the decline is due mainly to fer pregnancies and greater access theirth control und affordable care act. an on wall s plunged, then rebounded as the federal reserve gave mixed signals about future interest rate cuts.e w jones industrial average gained 36 points to close at 27,147. the nasdaq fell 8 points, and the s&p 500 added one. still to come on the newshour: what the federal reserve cuttine inst rates means for your wallet. secretary attacks on saudi arabia an "act of war." the governor of califoia takes on climate change anthe gig

economy, plus much mor >> wdruff: the federal reserve cut interest rates for t second time in seven weeks today. let's take a look at some of the latest thinking behind this cut, the reaction to it, and the role the fed plays; and more specifically the role economists play, in the economic fortunes and stability of the country. the rrent chairman of the federal reserve jerome powell may not be an ecisomist, but he he exception. nearly all his pdecessors since the 1970'save been. and the influence the profession wields in key areas ofmerican life has grown dramatically in that time. binyamin appelbaum writes on business and economics for the "new york times" editorial page, he is the author of "thef economists' hour," which tracks

the rise of a number of prominent economists. mr. applebaum, welcome back to the "newsho f". >> thank yr having me. >> woodruff: today the federal reserve voted to cut the federth funds rate by a quarter of a point. what was the reason they gave r doing this? >> jerome powll the fed's chairman sd they're worried about the impact of uncertainty around global trade, that it is discbobulating the economy, caing concern, making corporations hesitate before investing and weighing on ec >> woodruff: and why do you think it wasn't more of a rate cut than it was, than a quarter of a point? >> it takes a lot for the fed t move more than a quarter a point. a move more than that sa it's an emergency, we need to do something rely big. powell saw it to project a message of cam. he sd we think this is aap opriate and sufficient measure. >> woodruff: the vote of the fed board was 7-3.

it's somewhat unusual to see that kind of a divisioniv. how unusual is it? >> it is, and not just dissent but dissent on both sides. one member of the board said we ehould be doing more and two saying we shouldoing less. you're seeing sigcani decisions inside the fed about how to handle the situation. it's causing debate inside the institution. >> woodruff: we reported earlier president trump uhappy they didn't cut rates anymore. is there a way to read how much this pressure, plic pressure from the president, how much of an effect it's having on these fed ard mebers? >> i think that the job of running the fed is not easy, even if the predent is sitting quietly. you face huge questions about the economy and it's future course, a lot of u be certainty, but this additional pressure is clearly causing issues for the fed. it's putting i under a spotlight. it threatens its indtsendence, it t under pressure to justify its actions to congress

and the nation,t makes a difficult job that much harder. >> woodruff: but even setting that aside, is thndere any f consensus out there about whether the fed is getting the ?conomy right or not >> no, just as there are divisions inside the fed, there are divisions outside the fed. there's this broad right now, both about where the economy is headed and about how much the fed can to help. if your problem is trade uncertainty, if businesses are hesitating because they don't know what's going to happen in ,egotiations with chi lowering interest rates by a quarter point may not really affect whether or not th make investments and that may not help the economy. >> woodruff: well, let's use this as a ance to seg to your new book which i mentioned just a minute ago, "the economists' hour," the title is "false profit, free markets and the fracture of society " iny whic lay out the consequences of giving a lot of power to economists spread through government through the last few decad who put a lot of stock in the belief that free markets e the answer to

everything. explain photo us for a minute, binyamin applebaum, what was that theory all about? how did they goverboard and what do you believe the consuences have been. >> my book is the stry of a revolution that began in the late '60s and early '70s where economists started playing a much larger role in shang public policy, and specifically in urging that the government shfld step back from acts management of economic conditions, stop regulating airlines, the financial sector, cut back on taxation and let markets sort things out. and the ree conseque that has been a tremendous triesrise in inequality. the government stopped intervening to prevent inequality, it stopped vieng inequality as a public policy problem, and as a consequence we've ended up with a lot more inequflity. >> woo and you're saying this was the result of an influence of a number ofom ent economists who worked in different places in the federal government? >> that's right. so as they start to influenceli -makers, they come in in the early '60s and '70s and

basically say to poicy-makers, listen, the focus should be ousn growth and if you're trying to deal with inequality, it will come at the expense of growth.ed so instead ofstributing, what you want to do is get out to have the way, let businesses concentrate and prosper, reduce taxation, reduce regulation, and the effect of not trying to prevent inequality isnd up with a lot more of it. >> woodruff: so what are you saying has to be done now t redress where we have been and what's happened? >> well, i think our probleis inequality. it has proved to be bad for both people who are suffering from a lack of opportunity and for the economy as a whole because i prevents them from contributing as much as they could, and, therefore, the answer is to do something we haven't done in more than a generation which is to make reducing inequality a specific focus of public policy, to be asking of our public policies are they leveling the playing field, they giving americans a chance. one easy example of this is universal pre-kindergarten, an area in which w knoif you're

investing and allowing children r get into the classroom, you improve throspects in life, that's the kind of policy that we need. >> woodruff: and we're hearingth , aren't we, from some of the democratic candidates for president, i mean, they're talking about policies to attacn uality, including things like universal kindergarten but other ideas as well. >> i think the period in which the ideas of economists and specifically emphasis on markets is us was dominant came to an end in 2008 wth the financial cry sis and since then we have been in a period of reapprisele. one view embodied by the president is to do away with the technocrats and emphasize crawl up in your turtle shellti alism. another approach is to take a more progressive substance to inecall, we're hearing that from the democratic cadidates. >> wdruff: is it your sen that the country has turned the corner, that the idea of free markets, capitism above all else is truly behind us when ito comes conomic thinking, or there is still a battle underway

about this? >> i think the's a groenng cos that we need something different, but i think we are in a period again as we were in the 1930s and 1970s where it's notcoclear whames next, where there's a profound debate about hoe we move into txt thing, what types of restraints should we pla on markets, what role government should play in the market and society and i thinkre thisdential election will be substantially about those questions. >> woodruff: you're saying we're having those debates right now? >> yes, indeed. >> woodruff: binyamin applebaum, his new book is "the economists' hour." we thank you for talking to us about that and a what the fed did today. >> thanks for having me. >> woodruff: as we reported, secretary of state mikpompeo arrived in the kingdom of saudi arabia today. he once again blamed iran for attacks on saudi oil facilities

over the weekend, saying they have the "fingerprints of the ayatollah." meanwhile, iranian president nirouhani said saudi arabia shod see the attack as a warning to end the war in yemen. our yamiche alcindor has the latest. >> alcindor: today in riyadh, the saudi case against iran was on full display. defense minister turki al-maliki showcased pieces of missiles and drones. he said they were from last weekend's attacks on critical oil facilities. he also played surveillance video that purportedly showed a drone flying in from the north. he spoke in english, overlayed with arabic trslation. >> the attack was launched from the north and was unquestionably sponsored by iran. >> alcindor: houthi rebels in yen, south of saudi arabia and thigned with iran, insist launched the attacks. the defense minister dismiss. that claim stopped short of directly accusing iran, but said the evidence points to tehran's lamic revolutionary guar corps.

>> it's not coming from yen, the hohi militia and the proxy are just following the order of the i.r.g.c. >> alcindor: iran has repeatedly denied any involvement. and today, anvadviser to irania presidssan rouhani tweeted that saudi arabia "knows nothing." rouhani also met with his cabinet, and blamed the u.s. withdrawal from the 2015 iran nuclear deal for mounting tensions in the region. >> we did not start breaking deals. th did not start cutting relations. ose who have tak a step back should better take a ste forward. >> alcindor: meanwhile, secretary of state mike pompeo flew to saudi arabia to meet with saudi crown prince mohammad bin salman. he told reporters he sees the attack as an "act war." back in the u.s., president trump tweeted that he plans toub antially increase sanctions" on iran. ti also announced that chief hostage neor robert o'brien will become his national security adviser-- the fourth in three years.

o'brien replaces longtime washington hawk john bolton, who was fired last week. and despite the escalating tensions, trump, appearing with o'brien in california today, still sounded cautious about using military force. >> how did going into the middle east go, how did going into iraq go? we have disagreements on that. it's easy to start. >> alcindor: to unpack where we gorom here i'm joined by robert malley. he was a top middle east advisor to president oba president of the international crisis group. and danielle pletka, she's senior vice president of foreign and defee policy at the american enterprise institute and a professor at georgetown university's sool of foreign service. thanks so much to both of you for being here. rob, saudi arabia preseed debris they say is from iran. what do you make of that and what should e u.s. do? how should they respond is this. >> first of all, you know, whether it was iran directly or one of iran's allies, i think it's hard to imagine that iran didn't have a role in this,

right, iean, this is crisis that has been brewing for some time. many of us predicted iran would react almost in this way, not exactly, but ildn wou take steps if it was prevented from selling its oil with is a result of the sanctions u.s. posed on iran, then it would try to hinder the export of oil of some gulf.rica's allies in t so we know this is about iran and you ask about how we get out of it. let's start about how we got into this. people wernot talking about iran attacking oil fields, threatening naval activity in the region, violating the nuclear deal, no one was talking about that up untpril ident trump walked away from the nuclear deal, imposed sanctions on iran in the nme of moderatingran's behavior. so we're seeing a policy designed purportedly moderate iran's behavior in the region and as many feared has produce exactly the opposite. so let's start from why where we are today then talk about where

do get out of it. >> reporter: wha iran have to gain from a strike like this because of the tensions we're seei in the region, how dining that's going to play p o? >> i t aink robed a good question, how do we get here. thnotion iran somehow wasn't a malign actor in the region during the obama-signed iran deal andvi presly just doesn't stand up to scrutiny. it's true they wer aentacking saudi oilfields, but they were arming the houthis and aencouraging them tottack saudi arabia directly. half a millecn people have died in syria at iran and the assad regime and russia's hands, that was all happening at the same time. eo while iran has, perhaps, directed its slightly differently to more directly from iraonnian territoro saudi arabia, you know, they're not exactly innocents here. >> reporter: what do you tnk they haveto gain by a strike

like this. >> that's a very inresting question and all of this is a little bit of pop psychology thinking what are their motivations because they're denyg inl volvement. i think what the iranians are trying to do is split the gulf arabs off from the united states. what they perceive right now is that the gulf has aligned itself withta the united tes against iran. they want to make them question. th was that the right thing to do? shouldn't u really have a relationship with us? shouldn't you be helping us undercut the united ates? because donald trump is going to talk big, but he's not going to be there for you when you need him and, in fact, that's whata donald trump done. makeporter: what d do y of that, rob. >> first of all, i agree with a lot of what danielle said and i certainly wouldtt dep eastern as a benign actor in the region.it we dealtthem in the obama administration. it's not as if we consider them to be benign. the question i'm raising is, as

bad a situation as wre in today where we may be on the ecipice of war, where president trump may decide to retaliate, we could be in a spiral, an escalating spiral which would produce exactly the result that president trump said he wanted to avoid which is to go to war with iran or the it's not everything was perfect before and is terrible now. things have bot gotten much worse on the two issues the adenistration told us they going to work to improve, ira gnash nature and the nuclear deal whh they said was a terrible deal. we have iran mor provocative in the region to the point of perhaps provoking a regional war aand second of walking away from a nuclear deal so they would be less constrained thn under the deal. why would iran have done this? i think tey're sending a message to the gulf countries, we could attack you, and they ow the gulf countries can't retaliate because they don't have the means to do so and, second of all, theay're exposing

the fact that the u.s. is not going to come to their defense, i could see that argument. the other thi they're going to do is sending the message'r thnot passive recipients of economic pressure which they consider as economic war. er fai they consider this just another means of war which is strangulatg their economy. they will react and there will be a price to pay, they won't be the only ones paying a price, saudi abia, the u.s. and others will. if you want this to stop, there's a way back but it means taking our interest into account. >> reporter: how likely ahead of the 2020 elections it is that you think president trump will be wanting to get into a conflict with irn, given the tensions that might create? >> i don't think he does want a conflict with iran. that seems absolutely manifest. he's made very clear there have been two instances, one where a u.s. drone was shot dow n and now a direct attack on saudi arabia. people shouldn't misperceive this and think of this as just an attack on saudi arabia, they

should this of this on the attackf the energy security, the curtinuity of energy supply for the world, something that the united states has always, under democrats and republicans, said was sacrosanct. the president has, in both cases, chosen not to respond in, let's say, in similar way.a henot chosen to strike iran. so i don't think that we are spiraling towards war. tryingk the president is to innocent the iranians sit down with him. the problem is, of urse, this is not proving at least at this moment to be a terriblye effectrategy and it is not deterring the iranians from their malign activities in syria, in yemen, in udi arabia, in iraq -- we could go on here. >> reporter: we only have out a mine left. president trump named his fourth national security advisorrt robrine. ro-- robert o'brien.

robert, what d do you make of te shakeup? >> it's a bit hard to follow. ehe new national curity advisor doesn't to be one to really push his own agenda, so i president trump wants to infriewns whatever policy president trump wants influence, on that dae may have found the right person, who knows. certainly different than the style of john bolton. john bolton was in favor of escalation with iran, so maybe it's fine that weill be heading in a different direction. >> reporter: danielle, what do you make of it? >> i know robert o'brien, he is a decent man, a good lawyer, he's a conservative man, i think of him as a hawk. he's not as bold and brazen as john bolton, but as we've seen with all of the national security adsors, we've all seen this movie before, and i suspect that ybody who is in that position is just going to be in a difficult place.ha a lot of respect for

robert o'brien for the taking tt very, very hard job. >> reporter: lots to discuss. thank you so much for joining us robert malley and danielle pletka. >> thank you. s >> woodrufy with us, coming up on the newshour: turning up the heat-- how warming waters in thntic ocean hurts lobsters.bs and why a ain of sand costs more than you think. president trump oke again with acesident obama and former presiden goingseveral decades.if he announced cnia and other states will no longer be allowed to set their own fuel mileage and emissions standards. the states were given latitude to do so back in the senties after the clean air bill was passed. but president trump has been trying to revoke much tougher mileage standards approved

dung the obama years. california and several of the automakers had worked out an agreement to stick to tougher standards voluntily. i spoke with california governor gavin newsom, a democrat, earlier this afternoon governor newsom, thank you very much for joining us. first of all, what is your reaction to the trump administration's announcement? >> two reactions -- on, it's predictable -- this has been rumored now for almost threeye s and obviously disappointed because the consequences, if he prevails, would be catastrophic, not only for the health our planet, the health of the american ecomy will be impacted if he's successful. >> woodruff: the president says, hosver, that ther going to be very little difference in emissions between the u.s. standard, t new u.s. standard and the california standard. what about that? >> every independent analysis of t's just nonsense, and i would encourage the

president to actually do a little research on his own proposal. they're trying to hold the miles per gallon standards roughly to about 37 miles versus roughly 50 miles if the obama erau rles go into effect. you don't need to be a scientist to assess the impact of taiipe emissions, green house gas emissions, but nor do you have to be an eonomist to determine the billions ofolars wasted in oil consumption that would be unnecessarily consumed if he's successful c this ollback. >> woodruff: another argument the president is making, he tweeted today hi's doing in order to produce less executive cars for the consumer and cars that are substantially safer. what about that? >> that's just nonsense. it's the height se irony, isn'te it, wn the middle of an oil crisis in the middle east, anil-dependent nation that we

remain and here we are trying to exercise autonomy and independence by reducing oil consumption and allowing nsumers to keep more in their pocket. the question i think is an interesting one but i think this is a more important, impactful point. you had four major automobile manufacturers that rejected that argument that, voluntarily, on the basis th own determination, the basis of what's in the best interest of their country and bottom line, they wanted to move forwd with the california standards, they voluntarily agreed no matterh what trump administration prevailed that they would to continue to support the obama era rules with a few tweaks that california was wling to advance. >> woodruff: one other thing on this, governor, the president also tweeted today that, in doing this, in keeping the federal standard, he said it's going to lead to more production, it's going to lead to more cars being built, many more jobs cread, presumably because to have the cost and the safety that mentioned. >> again, jusnonsense.

you have companies on their own, ford leading the effort with honda and vw, bmw, who says that's nonsense, becau they voluntarily agreed to california costandards because they ize where the rest to have the world, china, india and japani are ng.e they're moving away from the internal combungs engine d moving away from where the customer is going, as g.m. and toyota where they're going, making commitments and plans to ssiono more zerro em vehicles regardless of what the trump administration is doing, but what they did is extraordiny. they can't lay claim to supporting free enterprise when they have an rust against these companies, threatened the c.e. the company and threatening those who did not join california. you can't make this up. it's 2019, and you have the president of the united states attacking thniprivate sector and telling them what's in their

best interests as opposed to them determining their bes interest which also happens to be the best interest of mother nature and low carbon green growth. >> woodruff: governor, a different subject, e california legislature passed legislation last wk to helple peho work as independent contractors, uber and lyft drivers, for example, to help them be entitled to minimum wage, overtime pay and bensef but, right away, a number of large employers including uber, small employers, religious leaders, win ae-make small business owners say this will hurt them significantly, rt their profitable, they say it will hurt their ability to stay in business. e you prepared to negotiate some changes in this law to accommodate their concerns?ou >> oneago i signed thatt legislation. i cited i srted 23 small businesses that have created over 700 jobs the wine industry among others, so i know a thing or two about freeo

enterprise and the impact of the law. dyno mex made a number of exemptio into your question. we're always willing to negotiate and i made that clear at the bill signingith a letter attached to that bill that said i want to continuto negotiate with these companies but we have to recognize we're going from a three-class to a two-class ciety and the commensurate benefits that we take for granted, workers' comp, insurae, healthcare, they're backlost and as a consequence people are more fearful and frightful about their fate and future, so this is a major landmark law that could have a i profoupact in helping rebalance things. at the same time, we do have to recognat tech genie is out of the bottle and we have new platforms thprat alsovide bexibility for the workforce that also have considered and we'll continue to engage in these negotiations. >> woodruff: governor gave gavin

newsom of california, thank you so mu.ch >>oodruff: speaking of climater change, xt story looks at the impact it's already having, specifically in the gulf of maine. the region is known for lobsters in those waters. last week, we told you about the unexpected fallout of tariffs the lobster business. tonight, miles o'brien explores what the warming of the oceans means fothese crustaceans, the industry, and the larger ecosystem. it is part our series on the "leading edge" of science. and our contribution to glovering climate now," a global collaboration of more than00 news outlets to enhance coverage of the climate story. f >> reporter:or maine lobsterman steve train, the hard work aboard the "wild irish rose" begins dark and earlys

about 150 to 200 days a year. >> i fish year round. this boat can't go witut me on it. if i don work, my helper doesn't work, there's no paycheck. >> reporter:e's been setting his traps about four miles northeast of portland for 30 years. fewer competitors here. >> i'd just come out he and get away, you catch a little less butou are all along you dn't have a problem. >> reporter: in the gulf of maine, which spans from cape cod to nova scotia, lobster fishg has been anything but a problem for decades. in fact, warmer water caused by climate change hus spurr an h epic re. estimated lobster abundance in the gulf rose more than 500% between 1985 and 2014. meanwhile, in southern new edengland, abundance decre8% from 1994 through 2014. almost aomplete collapse.

scientists say this too is the d sult of rising ocean temperatures cau climate change. >> we've sort of averaged ally rm years. >> reporter: that's andrew pershing gulf of maine research institute. >> rhode island noreally inhospitable for lobsters. 's sort of sft the optimum temperature now. it sort of locked in on the coast of maine and then maine as a really great lobster habitat has boomed. >> reporter: so, maine is in the sweet spot at least for now? >> right now, yeah, and en the question is how much longer is that going to contue. >> reporter: like all cold blooded animals, lobsters are highly temperature sensitive. and the gulf of maine has warmed ster than 99% of the world's oceans. warmer atmoseric temperatures heat up the water directlybut they also disrupt a crucial ocean current commonly called the atlantic "conveyor belt," it sends warm water north-- the lfstream-- and cold water

south-- the labrador current. as the glaciers in greenland melt, more fresh water flows into the north atlantic slowing down the labrador current allowing more warm water into the gulf. and that is why the water temperatures are rising so much faster here. >> it's a lot like a bathtub where if you turn down the cold tap, turn off the warm tap you get a really, really hot bath. it's really an extraordinary change that's happened really quickly in this region and so, now we're trying to watch how the system responds. we're trying to figure out what does it mean for us and how we make decisions about the ocean. >> reporter:uch is at stake. the american lobster is the most valuable single species fisher u in the.s. and canada. 80% of the u.s. catch ends up in maine, where lobsters loom larger than life. so the state is investing in some serious science to better understand the life and times on homarus americ.

jes wall biologist with the mne department of marine resources.> here are still questions about how they grow, where they move, how they reproduce, howin theyeach other in the environment. we're still working on a lot of that, but that's why it makes it an amazing thing to study, is because there are really endless questions. >> reporter: she is focused on lobsters in the early stages of their lives. a mother like this one can produce 10,000 eggs a year that she nurtures under her tail. once they hatch, the larvae mova toward the s. finding them in the wild is like looking for needle in a haystack. so, even though a mom can produce 10,000 of these guys, still hard to find them? >> still hard to find them. the currents take them everywhere. able to swim, they are really looking for the perfect environmental conditions ich to grow and settle to become those juveniles.,

ere's just a million factors that they take where they go and how likely we are find them on a given day. >> reporter: only about one in 10,000 will live long enough to reach harvestable size, and possibly your dinner table. the diet of an adult lobster is no secre >> so, lobsters are carnivores. ey feed really on other animals and they're horribly cannibalistic. so, theyat also their brothers and sters pretty regularly. >> reporter: but david fields is more interested in what lobsters eat when they are tiny. he ia senior research scientist at the bigelow laboratory for ocean sences. he spends a lot of time analyzing what is in the guts of lobster larvae. >> when you open up the slurry inside of a gut, it's a little bit difficult sometimes to identify who's in there. they're eating really small animals that digest and mix up pretty quickly. so, opening them up and poking rough there is a good first step and it's a traditional method.

thsecond way is to pull a tmple out of that and look at the d.n.a. and mat d.n.a. inside there to the d.n.a. of organismthat are out in the wild. >> reporter: a primeuspect in anis hunt is a tiny crusta called calanus finmarchicus. they are a key link in the food chain in cold water ecosystems; a staple for everything from herring to endangered right whales calanus are also very sensitive to rising temperatures. that might explain the mystery at fisheries ecologist and zoologist rick wahle is trying to sort through. he leads the university of l maine's annualster settlement survey. in recent years, he and his teae have found manr juvenile bsters on the seafloor. it could be the first indication a polation decline is underway. >> the other thing that people are thinking about is just the warming was tually expanded the acceptable habitat for the juveniles down into some deeperm

waters whe be couldn't have survived before. and so, you might just be sort of stretching that population over a larger area. >> reporter: researchers hope all their efforts will result in better models that can lead to improved fishery management. as it is, maine lotrtermen are exrdinarily good at self policing their industry. they toss back small ones and the big ones. females with eggs get special theatment-- their tails are notched-- marking as "off limits." >> that lobster can't be retained.av we hto throw it back. she doesn't have eggs now, she probly did at one point, and even she didn't it doesn't matter, we can't keep her >> reporter: all of th helps, but nbstermen like steve trai can't help but wonder if the big boom is now past its peak? >> we're not getting what we used to. and it's notikusit's off 10%., you knit's off 30%, 40%, our dailies were off but they were late. they hit later than they used

tod so, we've habig change and this year is more like a long time ago, justtoot what we used everyone seems to be crying as much as i am. >> reporter: for now, the models predict over the nexhe30 years in tulf of maine there will be a steady decline of lobsters to pre boom levels. after that, 's up in the air, and up to how much carbon we keep putting into it. if thearming continues unabated, the lobsters will move on, and so will a way ofife. for the pbs newshour, i'm miles o'brien in portland, maine. >> woodruff: another growingre environmental is closer % shore: sand mining. it accounts for all mineral extrlltion. much more than all fossil fuels

combined. and that comes at a heavy cost. speciacorrespondent fred de sam lazaro traveled to cambodia where sand mining has become a g business andhere it threatens peoples' way of life. >> reporter: from commerce to fishing... transport... and rice production, the mighty mekong river is the lifeblood of southeast asia. but today, one of the biggest businesses on the river in cambodia is dredging it for sand to make concreteeeding one of the biggest industries in the developing world: develos ent. nowhere mand for sand been greater than in asia. across this sprawling continent, tens of millions of miles of new roads have been built connecting hundreds of millions of new homes. construction has driven the large economies like china and india and the smaller ones like cambodia whose cities like phnom penh have joined the building binge.

skyscrapers, malls and apartments crowd the skyline, s much of it investment from china-fueling an economy that's grown at a healthy 7.5% each year since 2005.mo rath yos of the government ministry overseeing mineral e.sources says sand mining plays an important rol s ( translated ): td mining industry in cambodia provides economic benefits to cambodia both directly and indirectly. it deepens the river and makes transportation easier. it also provides material and land for construction. and it contributes to the national revenue. >> sand is actually a very finite resource, and people don't realize it. >> reporter: people often associate sand with vast deser like the sahara, but boston university biologist les kaufman says inland sand is too fineno grained ansuited to maked igncrete. >> so there's thisncentive

to mine it out of water, out of freshwater or the ocean. >> reporter: aside from constrtion, glass and electronics, sand has found other us on a massive scale in recent years: in the america to to fracture rocks for sil and gas; iapore to make-- well, more singapore. the tiny prosperous ty state has expanded its landmass about 25% in recent years. a lot of the sand for that cam from cambodia. it prompted concern about environmental damage and accusations of corruption. >> ( translated ): the volume of imports recorded in singapore shows a different figurerom exports recorded in cambodia, so you can see this is a big issue, a lack of transparency. >> reporter: exports of sand t singapore, which came from cambodia's coast, were banned in 20, but environmentalist vannak hun, who's spent time in prison for his activism, says sand mining along the mekong has continueat a rord pace.

it's not just the skyline ofpe phno that's being transformed, he says, buthe very surface of what was known as a city of lakes. despite loud protests, pnom b penhgest lake, bok keung, was filled in with sand from the mekong, to create more land forn construc ha was the largest of 12 lakes and wetlands tha disappeared from the city. >> ( translated most affected community are people who live along the river. when there is collapse, when people lose their land, lose t their housre's no compensation. >> reporter: htook us just outside phnom penh to see what tsakhappens in sand mining'se. >> ( translated ): we woke up at one in the morningnd we found that it had all collapsed into the river. >> reporter: mom mut is having concrete pilings builto save what's left of her home-after part of it disappeared. >> ( translated ): only four months after sand dredging started, we noticed the land was different, it kind of changed.

>> reporter: she showed us paperwork from the dredging company promising compensation if her pperty was damaged. two years on, she's received nothing and isn't optimistic that will change. >> ( translated ): i hope to prevent the rest of my house from collapsing. >> reporter: it's cost h $22,000, she says, more than five years worth of savings. and there's a chance it won't save her home. a neighbor just a mile away built a similar underpinning only to see the rear of her home collapse >> ( translated ): i was just walk slippery and i fell and then i broke my arm and also lost one of my eyes. >> reporter: it's a story repeated downriver near dredging platforms, including those in vietnam, where sand mining has also taken off. cambodia's government insists that dredging companies are approved to operate only in limid and defined areas and after an environmental impact

assessment >> ( translated ): riverbank erosion has taken place for millions of years since the formation of the earth. so in the area that has then, riverbank erost's a natural factor, a natural condition. we only allow the sand dredgin in the shallow areas. >> reporter: and the minerals ministry's monyrath says people in affected areas have recourse. >> ( translated e have a 24 hour hotline that operates seven ays a week. villagers who ling the river, they can make a call to file a complaint for any irregularity that they have seen. >> reporter: villagers we spoke to saw a different reality have you called any of the authorities? >> ( translated ): i cannot read, i cannot write. i don't know how to do it and also the village chief doesn't even come to see what is happening to the house. >> reporter: there's another threat that could han wider consequences: prices for fish are inching up. >> ( translated ): the fisherman tell me it's harder to catch

fish now in the river.do t know why. >> reporter: how much has the price gone up? >> ( translated ): it's increased about 25% since last year. >> reporter: several reasons could account for rising markeh, prices for fut biologist alufman, who studies severf critical mekong species, says fish stocks are declining. he blames the combination of sand dredgg and dams, built to meet soaring demand for power. they've wiped out spawning areas.>> eople don't realize when they are removing the sand they're taking food off plates.f that's the tradeoff, it's no usually reckoned in. >> reporter: but he says for many who live along the mekong and most major asian rivers, ani day of rec seems much closer at hand. for the pbs newshour, this is fred de sam lazaro in phnom penh, cambodia.

>> woodruff: a seventh person has died from lung illness related to vaping. california health officials reported that a 40-year-old man died this weekend. the state is launching an ad campaign to warn against thes dangd risks of vaping.of and other statescond cities are emplating bans on some e- icgarettes. federal health ols have said individuals should stop vaping until more is known. vaping and the use of e- cigarettes, of course, tas soared amons in the past few years. our studenreporting labs around the country asked teens for their response to the news and the warnings. we received hundreds of responses. here's a sampling of what we

heard. >> i don't think people are onally thinking about vaping. it's just kind oof those things that they get addicted to, and they don't really care what others have to say. >>atf your friends are vapin a party and stuff like that, you're not going to say no. >> a lot of people i know do tovape and they're startin stop because of this epidemic. >> a lot of people are just paranoid right now. sey're wondering who's next. you know, i'm prete a lot of them are throwing theirs out right now. >> i mean, even on like snapchat, ere's viral videos of people, you know, destroying their, their vapes and stuff like that. >> i also know of a kid myself that goes to our neighboring high school that actually had a seizure and passed out from vang. and so it kind of hise to home because it's like your own people that you know that are in danger of this. >> i'm deathly morning i'm going to wake up and they're not going to be here. >> i know there's even likent paout there that will buy their kids these products because they don't realize h severe that this like can lead to you being in the hoofital. >> moshe time when people buy vapes they buy it from their

friends rather than actual outlets. >> i think that these retail stores are also selling to underage kids illegad getting away with it. they're not rding or anything. >> there's people you know, they call them plugs. so you just go to your plug and you're lo e, oh, i want a pen ou i want a you know, can you get it for me, as well as with weed. it's basically the same thinge. just nicot >> you have a choice whether to use something or not. you can't blame another person for your own selfish desires. >> juul could make their products less appealing to younger audiences, but it's our decision to buy them. >> i did something unhealthy for so long, and now it's hurting me. that's crazy. >> i'm very scared of getting sick from it getting hospitalized. so, i think, at least in my friend group, most of us just want to like cut it out completely and just stop.

>> woodrf: our student reportinlabs are a great resource-- last week we got aem number ols for big sky high school in missoula, montana. students wrote in to sing the praises of a beloved teacher, mark moe. he shows the newshour's newser summary day in his class. he has announced he will retire on friday, but his students are not happy. they will miss him dearly and the reporting lab there sent in theithoughts. >> mr. moe taught me many important things but the most important is to think about the bier picture. >> mr. moe taught me how to come into class and smile every day. >> mr. moe taught me that you need toreally keep up date with current events and it's an important part of society ando you neednow what's happening in the world so you

can make informed dec mions. moe has taught me so much the past years that i've had him. he's taught me lthe vas of ard work -- oooh -- dedication, and to be able love yourself and have the confidence when no one else does for you. mr. moe is sucan amazing teacher and i'll miss you so much, mr. moe. we were. >> we were so sad to hear you will be retiring this friday. we want you to know how much we all really appreciated your almost 30 years at big sky high school. in order to show you, weht tho who better to say it than judy. >> woodruff: wow.e, so mark let us at the "newshour", all of us, add our thanks to you for being such a dedicated teacher. some of your students told us that if i asked you to keep working, you would, but, of course, this is a big decision, it's yours. you know how they feel, you knoo how muchave touched the lives of these young people. whatever you do, and please let us know wha is, we at the

"newshour" want to wisyou well. congratulations and thankfor sharing the "newshour" with your students. on the newshour online right now, one of the most well- regarded science publishers in the world correctea study today that incorrectly claimed smartphones are causing millennials to grow horns. we explore how the study was flawed, and why it's so hard to changeublic misperceptions. that's our web site,or pbnewshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbsyo newshour, thanand see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular believes that wireless plans should reflect the amount of talk, text and data that you us we offer a variety of no- contract wireless plans for people w use their phone a little, a lot, or anything in

between. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation fora public broing. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ll so you don't think c will have to resort to the

so-called nuclear option? >> i'm hopeful that he doesn't. are you questioning whether there is a movement of people in teis country who are whi nationalists. >> what i'm saying is i haven't seen it. >> how much a dent is rengyc making. >> the way we recycle plastic at the moment is part of the oblem. >> the western government accused of waging a new type of war with a new kwad of, soldi hackers. ecaptioning sponsy newshour productions, llc captioneacby mediss group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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