captioning sponsored by wnet >> on this edition for saturday, september 20, dozens of turkish00s are freed. another huge security breach. why can't retears do a better job stopping hackers? and in our signature segment, colorado's great pot experiment. >> products come in all kind of forms-- prerolled joints, pot-laced brownies, hard candies and chocolate bars. marijuana-infused beverages and massage oils. >> sreenivasan: next on pbs "newshour" weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by:

corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support is provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios in lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. diswhref good evening. thanks for joining us. 49 turkish hostages who were held captive by isis militant for more than three months were welcomed home today by overjoyed relatives and friend. they'd be seized from the turbic consulate in the northern iraqi city of mosul which had been overrun by the militant. detailed of the freed hostages' cappities are vague but one set free was quoted as saying the group had been moved eight times and added, "we had toughidize, very bad days."

analyst believe freeing of the hostages, among them children, diplomatics and turkish special forces, might pave the way for turkey to take a more active role in the military campaign organized by the united states against yi. in baghdad, thousand rallied to protest american involvement in the war against yi. the sunni extremist group. the shiite protesters held banners saying, "no for america, no for occupation." al-sadr's loyalist battled american troops after the u.s.-led invasion in iraq in 2003. now turning to ukraine, the government and pro-russian separatists signed a deal today meant to reinforce the shaky cease-fire that went into effect two weeks ago. under terms of the deal, both sides will remove heavy artillery and missile launchers from the front lines, pull back foreign fighters and create a buffer zone. russia signed the agreement as well. despite agreement, there were new explosions todayed in the

provincial capital of donetsk. more than 2500 people have been killed in the conflict this year. word tonight that the united states has curbed spying on friendly governments in western europe. this, according to an associated press story, that quotes current and former american officials. under the stand-down order, the ap says case officers are forbidden from so-called unilateral operations, such as meeting with sources they have recruited within allied governments. american spying in western europe came to light in classified documents leaked by former n.s.a. contractor edward snowden. back in this country, there is yet another vehicle recall. chrysler is recalling almost 189,000 2011 jeep grand cherokees and dodge dorangos. they might stall or fail to stop because of a fuel pump problem. dealers will make the repairs for free tarting october 24. huge wildfires continue to burn in california. one of them about 60 miles east of sacramento, has destroyed nearly 120 square miles of

timber and vegetation. it spread again overnight and is only 10% contaped. an estimated 5,000 firefighters battling the blaze, which authorities say was deliberately set. a man being held on arson charges pleaded not guilty. the manhunt is continuing in northeastern pennsylvania for eric frein, a survivalist wanted in connection with the killing of one state trooper and the wounding of another a week agod from. last night, authority ordered residents of two townships to remain in their homes after gunfire was heard. federal and state authorities continue to scour the heavily wooded area for frooen. the secret service is investigating how an intruder briefly got inside the white house last night. this video shows the texas man, 42-year-old omar gonzalez, racing across the white house lawn after he scaled the fence surrounding the building. he eventually made it inside before he was tackled by security and apprehended. the incident occurred a short time after the president and his two daughters had left for camp david. the first lady had traveled there earlier.

gonzales reportedly was unarmed. and the actress and singer polybergen has died. during a career that spanned some 60 years, bergen starred in the movies including the original "cape fear," on broadway, and on television. she briefly had her own musical variety show, and was a regular on the game show "to tell the truth." decades later, she appeared on the "sobrainos" and "desperate housewives. the. she founded a beaut product company. she said it was very difficult at first because, "everybody considered me just another bubble-headed actress." polybergen was 84. turning now to yet another major security breach at one of america's largest retailers, this time at home depot. what went wrong and why can't hackers be stopped. for more we're joined by michael riley a reporter with bloomberg. what happened at home depot? >> it wasn't that different than

what happened at target. basically the hackers got into the network and were able to use home depot's own system to put malware on the system. when you went into home depot and swiped the card, they were stealing the card almost as quickly as home depot was getting it. >> sreenivasan: after seeing what happened to target-- this is a company with 80 billion in revenue, 2,000-plus stores in the u.s., didn't they learn from it? >> yeah, that's the thing. it's one thing to be target and watch this happen in a relatively new kind of attack. it's another thing to be home depot, watch target get taken down, lot of them lose 40 million credit cards, not elsewhere, or not learn nuf to act act quickly so it doesn't happen to you. home depot didn't seem to take the steps, quickly enough, anyway. in one case they bought an encryption system to encrypt the data from the remster, but they didn't install it until six, seven days ago. >> sreenivasan: compare this to the rest of the world. we don't hear about these things happening in europe and asia as much.

>> europe and asia, just about any advanced economy used a credit card with the chip in it. it doesn't make it harder to steal the data. it makes it harder to make money from the data. what the chip in the card does, the way the ecosystem works, you steal the credit cards, sell them to people, they create a fake card ginto best buy, buy a giant tv-- whatever it is-- but it's much harder to create a fake card if it has a chip in it. anything with a chip in it makes it harder for thieves to make money off the data. >> sreenivasan: this is also in a climate where the consumers are getting a bit fed up, just saying where did my credit card get used and then what was that store that got hacked and how do i keep track of all this? >> it's one hack after the next and i think-- i mean, i think one of the things we saw in target it was christmas season hack, and customers stopped going to the stores now i don't know if that's going to happen to home depot. it may be they handled it differently. it may be that it's just a different kind of customer. but i think generally, retail

brands are taking hits because they're not protecting stiewrms' data. it's something you walk into a store, you buy something, you expect the store to protect your data. that clearly isn't happening. >> sreenivasan: this also seems to be we are in a different point in the evolution of how we transact business. >> right. >> sreenivasan: credit cards came around saying it's so much more secure than walk around with big wads of cash and now the cards seem to be getting replaced by our fonz with n.f.c., or other technology, maybe the apple pay thing. how quickly is the u.s. moving towards kind digital currencies or putting the chips in the cards? >> so next year basically the u.s. is scheduled to start to catch up with the rest of the world and transition to basically a chip system in their credit cards. the banks and the retailers have gotten together and said, look, we're going to set october of next year, 2015, as a deadline where liability will shift to whichever side of the equation doesn't allow the chip

transaction. so it's retailers don't have the readers in their stores that can read the chips, and they get hacked, the liability is on them. if banks don't put the chips in their cards and the retailer gets hacked, the lisability on them. it's going to create a lot of incentive to shift over. and that could explain what's going on now. this of there seems to be kind of a feeding frenzy. you're seeing a lot of retail hacks. it may be they see this as their last opportunity before the transition takes place. >> sreenivasan: and you have people victims of the identity theft which is the worst case. >> credit card numbers are not the only data these guys are stealing. in the case of target, for example, they took a lot of personal data as well-- names, addresses-- a the lot of things these retailers store up. target was really good at targeting specific kind of salz and merchandising ads to their customers but all that is biesd a huge amount of data that they collect from their customers as they move around the stores, as they swipe their cards, as they send them stuff, and all of that is in their databases.

the hackers, if even they can't get the card, can steal that. >> sreenivasan: michael riley of bloomberg, thanks so much. >> you bet. >> sreenivasan: and now to our signature segment. tonight, colorado's great pot experiment. the sale of cannabis for recreational use has been legal there for nine months now, leading to the creation of thousands of jobs and generating millions in tax revenue every month. but some coloradans see signs of trouble. they worry that the legalization of the drug has not eliminated the underground market for it, especially in minority communities. newshour special correspondent rick karr reports from denver. >> reporter: marijuana grower and retailer andy williams can barely keep up with the demand for his product these days. he says he can't imagine a more exciting and lucrative industry to be in right now. but the buzz is all coming from capitalism. he doesn't even like cannabis.

>> i tried every few years just to prove to myself i still don't like it. you know, it just affects me very poorly. >> reporter: when he started his business a few years ago, williams could only sell medical marijuana. that put him in position to be one of the first to sell recreational cannabis when it became legal this year. business has been so good that williams is about to hire three dozen new employees and ramp up production in a new state-of-the art factory. >> it's manufacturing is what it is, as far as i'm concerned. you are manufacturing marijuana. this is an industrial manufacturing plant that grows marijuana. >> reporter: stores like these can now sell up to an ounce of marijuana to customers who are 21 and over. the products come in all kinds of forms: cannabis buds from a range of varieties bred to treat particular ailments, provide a mellow buzz or deliver a powerful rush. pre-rolled joints, pot-laced

brownies, hard candy and chocolate bars, marijuana infused beverages and massage oil. consumers spend tens of millions of dollars a month on those products, but williams is sure there's a lot more money to be made in his business. >> you know, i did this so that my family can be set up for their rest of their lives. right now, i already know of some blue chip companies that are on the... on the start line. they're going to come and buy people up, and, quite honestly, i want to be one of those guys. >> reporter: one of the benefits attached to legalization was that it would eliminate the black market, but that market is still thriving, according to a 39-year-old marijuana grower who asked us to call him john doe and to conceal his identity because he sells on the underground market. the illegal trade is doing especially well in black and latino communities, and he says it works the same way it did when pot was illegal. >> you have that one guy, that guy that shines, that's the robin hood of the neighborhood. this man supplies a little ghetto area. simple as that.

breaks his own pound into little ounces and helps everybody in his community, so they can afford it with him. that's how it's happened. >> reporter: yeah. and that's how it happened before, too. >> yeah. yeah. nothing's changed. >> reporter: john doe says low- income buyers turn to the black market because prices are higher at legal retail stores. there's conflicting information, but an ounce of pot on the black market can cost as little as $180. at the store andy williams owns, you have to pay around $240 for an ounce. that's partly because the price includes a 15% excise tax, a 10% marijuana tax, the state sales tax and denver's marijuana sales tax. >> the taxes are an overreach and excessive. and it's a regressive tax, and it impacts the poor most. >> reporter: larisa bolivar was involved in the fight to make marijuana legal for medical purposes. she uses it herself to treat stress. she campaigned for legalization, but she doesn't like how it's working out.

she believes all those taxes guarantee a black market. but taxes have been beneficial, according to mason tvert, who also campaigned for legalization and helped draft the state's regulations. in the first seven months, those taxes have generated $24 million in revenue. a chunk of that is slated for public school construction. besides, he says, the legal market offers some things that consumers find more important than the lowest price. >> variety, convenience, safety- - that's what drives every product in the entire world. you know, that's what's going to drive this market. if someone is lower income or a higher income, chances are they're going to go to a store and purchase it because it'll be safe. it'll be convenient. there'll be variety. these are what drive people's decisions. >> reporter: how has that worked out so far? i mean, is the black market gone? is the black market going away? >> i think it's absurd for

anyone to assume that we can eliminate a black market that grew over 80-plus years within the course of eight, nine months, but we've seen this industry take a huge bite out of the underground market. >> reporter: to enter the legal marijuana industry, you have to be a colorado resident in good legal standing. you also need the capital to get licensed, and that can cost tens of thousands of dollars. >> it's classist. the regulations support those that have access to wealth. and middle and lower classes don't have access to wealth. i can't just go and ask my dad, "hey, can i have $20,000 for licensing and application fees," you know? and then, "can i get a million dollars to get a property?" >> reporter: to start the legal recreational marijuana business, an entrepreneur needs a lot of capital to fund an indoor grow facility, hire employees who'll cultivate the product, install security systems, all while complying with state regulations. tvert acknowledges the expenses limit the abilities of

minorities to enter the industry. >> this is a symptom of race relations and economic justice in our nation. this is not exclusive to marijuana. you know, right now, people in lower income areas or communities of color are facing discrimination and bearing the brunt of social policies across the board, not just for marijuana. >> reporter: but tvert says since legalization there have been fewer arrests of minorities for marijuana possession. >> people of color were being disproportionately impacted when it came to marijuana possession, and now, whether you're white, whether you're black, whether you're a latino, you are no longer going to be booked and convicted and treated like a criminal the rest of your life simply for possessing marijuana. >> reporter: but for anyone who was caught and convicted of a drug-related felony before legalization, state law makes it virtually impossible to join the industry now that marijuana is legal.

john doe says that keeps a lot of people working on the black market. >> there's a lot of people that have broken the law that are great entrepreneurs, work very hard, have good work ethics, family values, good communication skills. i mean, i definitely believe that they should be given a chance. the rules and regulations should allow a good grower that's been in trouble to do this. they're not hurting anybody. they're not out there, you know, stealing and robbing. most of these people probably got caught up trying to make a living, trying to make money. >> reporter: the counter- argument, though, is it also shows that they are willing to break the law because it was illegal. so, maybe if we give them a license and they open up a grow facility licensed, maybe they won't pay the taxes. >> they're more prone to breaking laws. well, you know, they say that about many people, but you have to see their track record. >> reporter: john doe says his family has been growing marijuana for many generations in latin america. he believes the legal industry should benefit from his

experience and passion for the plant. >> it's the end result is this little flower that's growing up and all full of joy. when this comes out, that's when you say, "okay, i am proud of my work." >> reporter: legalization in colorado is still a work in progress, but the state is a pioneer. and as other states consider legalization, they'll be watching to see how colorado does. >> sreenivasan: about behind the scenes and see more of the operation at one of colorado's largest pot dispensary. visit newshour.pbs.org. nfl commissioner roger goodell once again fell on his sword late yesterday afternoon when he told reporters his response to the ray rice incident had been inadequate. in the meantime, the league is coming under increasing pressure from advertisers to crack down among criminal behaviors among its players. for more we are joined by kevin

clark, a sports reporter with the "wall street journal." a friday's afternoon press conference that often gets buried in the news cycle. what was the most newsed worthy thing, they created another commission? >> the most newsworthy thick was they had no news. he had the crisis management playbook, a committee ready to form, launched an investigation previously and hid behind that saying i can't answer specific questions. there's an investigation going on. he came out with not a lot of specifics. he was prepared to say the right things about it start with me, and i'm to blame. but he didn't have anything real and tangible that people can point to is & say here's what he's doing to address these problems. >> sreenivasan: at the same time, there was a pretty significant report from espn, dealing with how the baltimore ravens organization knew about what happened inside that elevator hours after it happened and how they obfuscated the investigation even by the nfl. >> yeah, what this does is it takes the scandal and broadens it to levels we didn't imagine. you know, initially, this was a ray race/roger goodell scandal.

now it involves an nfl club. it involves an owner, dick cast, president of the ravens apparently had conversations with lawyers that came off pretty poorly in the story. you have three entities, the league office on park avenue, the baltimore ravens and ray rice. they're all looking quite bad right now and it will be amazing to see the fallout because it looks like a league-wide scandal at this point. >> sreenivasan: speaking of the fallout, where is the momentum among sponsors who have an influence on what happens to not just these specific incident but the nfl in general? >> as we speak right now, the nfl doesn't have much to worry about. there are kind of rock-solid deals with these sponsors. they can't get 17 million random eyeballs. they can't ipvest it in basketball or hockey because the viewers are not there. they're going to wait until the last second. did goodell order a cover-up, did they see the new video.

they're probably going to wait for the results of the investigation, see if goodell had tangible, awful things he did and then pull it. i don't feel like they're going to pull it just because of social media pressure or whether it's hurting their brand to be associated with it because that's short term. these deals are six, seven-year als worth over $1 well in a lot of cases. they're going to wait and see. >> sreenivasan: a lot of owners, especially the two helping with the investigation, have profited handsomely under the goodell years. >> yeah, it's a $9 billion-a-year business. franchise values are an all-time high. one thing that helped goodell was last week, the buffalo bills, a midtier market, midtier team sold for $1.4 billion. if you don't have one of the marquee teams you're saying whatever happens i'm going to get $1.4, $1.5 billion out of the deal. they like wronger goodell. do they think he's worth $44 million-- his most recent salary-- i don't know. but they don't want to find out. they don't want to experiment

and find out he was the glue that was holding it all together. they're going to take a "wait and see "approach like the advertisers. so much is at stake. they're not going to do it based on social media or experiment pressures. >> sreenivasan: is there evidence that merchandise sales are declining at stadium stadius because of this? >> no and the most recent sunday ratings were stagnant or up from last year. the sunday night game last week was up 8% from the year before. there really is no evidence it's hurting the league on the field. look, fantasy football and office pools and getting together with your friends-- those are the reasons people like football and she those haven't been affected throughout this whole thing. >> sreenivasan: kevin clark, reporter from the "wall street journal" who covers football. thanks so much. join us onair and online tomorrow. we'll report from hung hungary where a if far-right party is gaining ground by promising to crack down on crime by roam as or gypsies. >> there were so many policemen

you couldn't move. they just kept saying, "out, out." >> this is pbs newshour weekend, saturday. >> sreenivasan: by a two-to-one margin, americans disapprove of the way the n.f.l. has handled domestic violence incidents involving its players. this, according to a poll conducted by nbc news and marist college. earlier this week, the newshour's student reporting labs team asked high school students for their reactions to the ray rice incident and others like it. they also asked if professional athletes should be considered role models. >> when i saw that video of ray rice, i, actually... somebody sent me the video, and i watched it. and i... i think the right word was, like, appalled. >> my reaction when i saw ray rice lay his hands on his fianceée, it was shocking. >> being an athlete, we look up to these guys. and unfortunately the role they play, it puts a huge target on them to be good role models, you

know, not only on and off the field. kind of makes you wonder, are these guys that are being put in the spotlight worth being looked up to? >> no matter who you are, i think any type of violence, anything that a regular person should do, you should also get punished. no matter if you're the president of the united states, if you're a quarterback for the n.f.l., if you're a kid like us, there are consequences to whatever you do. >> unfortunately, society gives the impression that athletes do need to be role models. however, this does become tricky for athletes because they need to learn how to balance their personal life from their sports life. >> professional athletes definitely have an obligation to act as role models. if you are playing on every sunday on national television and people watch you, then they will begin to look up to you. and whether you like it or not, you have to act like a role model. >> at the end of the day, they're not the ones who interact with your children. it's you, it's teachers, it's everyone else. so, sort of putting the blame on the public figures, maybe people should look at themselves first.

>> sreenivasan: some more news before we leave you tonight. an estimated 60,000 syrian kurds have fled across the border into turkey during the past 24 hours as isis militants advance on a strategic syrian town. meanwhile, kurdish fighters from iraq and turkey are reportedly moving into syria to take the militants on. and one of the 49 turkish hostages freed today after more than three months in captivity said his isis captors made the group watch beheading videos to try to intimidate them. thanks for joining us. i'm hari sreenivasan. have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

>> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support is provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> ho! >> coming up next on "voces," the story of loreta velazquez, confederate soldier turned union spy. loreta is one of an estimated 1,000 women who secretly soldiered during the american civil war. [gunshot] her story is shrouded in mystery. who was she? why did she fight? and what made her so dangerous she has been erased for over a century? >> funding for this program was provided by these funders. and by the corporation for pu