on this edition for sunday, october 20. we'll examine the significance of the tentative $13 billion penalty that the nation's largest bank will pay. in our signature segment, hawaii residents taking on companies developing genetically modified seeds. they claim the pesticides used are making them sick. and more than 100 years after his death, mark twain revealed. next on pbs news hour weekend. >> pbs news hour weekend is made possible by louis b. and louise

hirchfeld coman, george b. hail, the wallach family, the cheryl and phillip millstein family, rosalind p. walter, pacific islanders and communications. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customize joint and individual insurance products. that's why we're your retirement company. brought to you by the corporation of public broadcasting and for contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tish wpb studios in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> good evening. thanks for joining us. we begin tonight with a closer look at the tentative deal reached yesterday between the justice department and jp morgan chase. the agreement would require chase, the nation's largest bank, to pay a record $13 billion penalty.

it stems from allegations that chase knowingly sold mortgages to people. it was between direct talks of jamie diamond, the chief executive officer. we're joined with the reporter from bloomberg news, has been following the chase story for some time. beside the $13 billion number, why is this so significant? >> we're seeing kind of a sea change right now for wall street and its relationship with washington. the obama administration has gotten nothing but criticism for not going after banks hard enough for the financial crisis, and now what you're seeing is a little bit of catch-up. some analysts think that because banks are healthier now, they're better positioned to absorb these losses. that's why you're seeing the administration kick up pressure on them. you're also seeing, for jp

morgan, this resolved a number of investigations, but this resolved about five different investigations against jp morgan, one of which was an actual lawsuit from the federal housing finance agency. that was for losses that fannie and freddie incurred on bad loans that they bought from jp morgan, from bear stearns, from washington mutual that they bought from those two entities during the crisis. so you're seeing a very dramatic and very tough stance in washington against bankers in general. >> so part of that is defined as $4 billion released for consumers. what's that mean? >> we're not quite sure how that's going to be structured yet. what we do know for sure -- well, what we're trying to figure out, really, actually, is how it affects bondholders. because the people who lost money on these investigations are the bondholders. but it doesn't look as good if the u.s. government gets money back for billionaires like bill

gross at pemco. so what we believe they've done is they've structured some sort of mortgage release, maybe principal reduction, maybe interest rate reduction. it doesn't hurt the bank as much when they structure it that way so the bank can give more money towards that because it's tax deductible. it also, i don't believe, has to recognize all those costs up front. and so that's what we're trying to figure out. >> so one of the distinctions inside this is that chase is not immune from criminal investigation. >> no. >> why that clarification, and is that going to have an impact for investors on monday? >> it may have an impact for investors, not likely necessarily immediately on monday. you may see the stock move a little bit, but the impact would be later on if the justice department decides to go forward with some sort of deferred prosecution agreement. chase is already under a deferred prosecution agreement for activities in selling bonds in alabama, two municipalities

there. so their municipal bond sales practices have already come under criminal scrutiny and they're already under an agreement there. this would be another similar type of investigation with the same kinds of ramifications, also executives might be at risk as well. >> speaking of executives, jamie diamond has been kind of a polarizing figure. on the one hand, chase has had 70% stock growth since the financial crash in 2008. on the other hand, it's just penalty after penalty after penalty. >> it is. jp morgan has gotten credit from investors -- large investors and its board of directors for being a good manager, for making good money. they made a record 4.2 billion. they're one of the most profitable banks in the world. there's no disputing that, however, there is penalty after penalty after penalty. these aren't things the government made up, these are

things the company actually did wr wrong, in some cases admitting wrongdoing. they manipulated some markets in california, they admitted to mistakes in the london whale loss last year. they're under investigation for their hiring practices in asia. they're a whole host of things and the company is trying to hitten the internal controls, but what some people have thought is maybe they weren't in as much scrutiny before because they're so well managed, and now this is just the federal government catching up to all of that. >> dawn kopecki in bloomberg. thank you so much. >> thank you. they aired their differences in what turned out to be the failed strategy of trying to roll back the affordable care act by shutting down the federal government. senator ted cruz, who led the campaign to try to undo the law, left open the possibility that he would try the same tactic again. will you rule out pushing to the brink of other shutdown by saying you would block funding

for government unless obama care is defunded? would you do that again? >> i would do anything, and i will continue to do anything i can, to stop the train wreck that is obama care. >> two other prominent republicans, former florida governor jeb bush and senator john mccain also rid kuld ticul president's legislation. they pointed out difficulties signing up for the health care under the government's website. >> have a little bit of self-restraint. it might actually be a politically better approach to see the massive dysfunction. but we don't even hear about that because we've stepped on that message. >> we the republicans like it keep up with that fight, but we have to later-shot it, rather than hitting some vehicles but we were released. they were set forth after prison

officials. they will now check back with judges to confirm early releases before setting prisoners free. a major bribery scandal is unfolding in the navy. the "washington post" reported that two high-level navy officers have been arrested. federal prosecutors allege that a defense contractor, based in singapo singapore, provided cash, luxury hotel rooms and prostitutes and maybe personnel in exchange for classified business that led to money from the firm. that word today from the arab league. secretary of state to meet with syrian opposition groups. in syria there was another bombing at a security check point, the second in two days. a suicide bomber blew himself up

in a truck. most of the victims were civilians even though military personnel were the targets. in australia, they're struggling to destroy wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes. more than 6 fires are burning. wind is like toll increase in the coming days. 15,000 people have signed a petition circulated urging candy manufacturers to stop using artificial dyes. some studies show a likeness between consumption of the dyes. some use natural colorings in products sold there, even though they sell the same products in this country with artificial

now to our signature segment. it may surprise you to learn that almost 90% of all corn grown in the united states has been genetically modified. industry officials say that ensures higher yields and protects crops from drought and infestation. but this requires a great deal of testing, and that means pesticides are applied frequently. it's all led to an ongoing dispute in hawaii where the gentle climate allows for planting much of the year. many people there say that's making them sick, and this past week, activists won their major victory against the battle of the seed companies. megan thompson reports. >> reporter: the hawaiian island of kauai is known as the garden isle luring hundreds of thousands of tourists to its lush northern shores. fewer make it to the dry side, where farmers have lived for

generations and where farming has always been a way of life. today these bio companies have been making different foods. the prevailing winds here blow out of the northeast and residents here say when those winds blow, they bring dust and pesticides from these fields down to their homes. and some believe that's making their children sick. >> in 2007, i gave birth to my son. and within a day, we realized he was seizing and we found that his brain had hemorrhaged and he lost the whole entire right frontal lobe. >> six-year-old lacona dickinson still has seizures, according to his mother. after consulting with a blood specialist, she wornds if his

whole prasz didn't live here the whole time while i'm prouding. sdplz you don't know for sure what the cause was of your son's illness. >> no, and that scares me. and i can't know because they're not disclosing anything to us. >> a battle has erupted over the seed farms. more than 150 residents has sued pioneer. though pioneer declined to comment on the litigation, the families concluded that dust and pesticides permeate their homes. thousands of others on the island demonstrated. and pack county council hearings in support of, imposing new rules around the growers. it forms buffer sides and force them to tell what pesticides

they're using, how many. zs there is strong an he can. one pediatrician wrote in an e-mail that he had observed for less epidemiological status would be needed. >> tell us what you're spraying, what you're growing, and then let us the fantasy. he got involved. they took her next to the field emergency room, complaining about dizziness and nausea. >> this is serious stuff that deserves our attention and deserves to be dealt with now. >> the seed companies and their employees can't enforce to fight the bill. >> i want people to know that we

are good people and we do the right spring. >> and that, repeeling their form. they said other requirements could threaten their operations and the hundreds of jobs they day the c-company. we all lived as a community, you know. >> close to 20% of the island's usable farmland they have. seeds are a big gis in the state is 2$249 million a year, more than triple the other commodity, sugar. mark works for sargenta and works for the trade group which represents sargenta, dow and pioneer, a subsidiary of dupont.

we're here 365 crops a year, and we only do something 10 to 12 to develop, we can do it here in three to four years. >> he has sent. -- today almost the of the corn growing in the united states, the technology has brought in economic benefit of more than $24 billion to. you can see there is a taj to her r too. exact line it's call. you can see there's no ear damage at all to this area. it's beautiful.

>> own though the seed compan s companies. that includes the application of several called. chemicals regulated by the epa can only be handled by experienced people. >> we were very careful in how we apply the pesticides. we measure wind direction, wind speed. it's not of any advantage for us to have things drift out anywhere. zaz. some information on what's being spread as started. but the seed companies, who spent millions of dollars in research and development, shared more on the specifics. >> on an annual basis, are any of you willing to disclose that amount? i'll take the silence as a no.

>> the people in our community here have been asking for a few years to know what pesticides are being sprayed by the seed companies here. how much, not. the recent is not but as far as competitiveness, far discloer of. the in gred yents you're using that i might not be using, we each have a competitive. probably the first people in the community that would get sick would be our workers. and there's no indication of that. >> phillipson also points to a recent study by the hawaii department of health, showing cancer is no higher in kauai

than other parts of the state. other tests showing water tests to be safe. but they are accused of not following spraying guidelines close enough. the attorney in the pioneer lawsuit says this video they shot shows pesticides blowing off a field near town. even though the pesticides are the same ones used by farmers in the midwest, for example, critics point out they're being applied during more months of the year here. >> how can you tell me i don't have a right to know what they're spraying? >> that's why some residents, including local doctors like rich godding, believes for services are needed. >> we want to be very careful, and i think some of them are afraid to say anything, because they're afraid of seeing, therefore, this is happening. i'm not saying that. i don't know any and we have some problems. can we find out more about what they're skprag can we look the

health problems we have in the community. >> even though that bill requiring the seed companies to create buffer zones and disclose their spraying was passed this week, at least one seed company says it's exploring. it could be time before all these residents get the information they're looking for. who were the big 5 and what wroel did they. it how's.now to an brnt. the 700-panl book is filled with authors and letters and thoughts that he described as the eighth wonder of the world. joining me now is jeff griffin.

he is the book's associate letter? >> it was in 2010. it was a best seller, and how one viewer wrote, strange. repeal the second there is revelation of his early life and wrote about making his mark on literature and society and more talk about his concerns of the moment in 1906-07 when he was writing it. >> you guys have been plowing through these documents literally for decades. >> that's right, so i don't know if the discoveries are new to us. i think a lot will be new to general readers. a lot of general readers probably don't realize, for example, that mark twain's was a life lived on the grand scale. but he spint spend his whole tom

with to with. it's very absorbing. >> when you discovered some of the material in volume 2, what made you go, wow, i didn't know that? >> i was fascinated with his depth of understanding technologies. there is a lot of that in volume 2, special especially, i think. he was the first one to put a private home in his home the first time. you see those fab. he was fascinated by the machine that can pipe music into homes rather than wi-fi.

>> if you're not aware already that he's a committed anti imperialist, then that will come as a surprise. there is a good deal of that, his education against the bell congo, and his feelings about you in the phillipines. >> so twain shares his thoughts about politicians, and we were just on the brink of a government shutdown. what would he say about politics and politics today? he died in 1910, so why is it his memoirs have only been published in recent years. >> parts of this memoir have been published before. parts of them were published in 1906-07 despite clements' statements in the book about keeping it back for 100 years. other parts of it has been. this is the first time the full

week has recovered without editorializing. >> edward griffin, thank you for joining us. >> this is pbs news hour weekend sunday. finally, another in a series of reports about the mistreatment of animals. tonight fishermen off the coast of peru harpooning dolphins and using them as bait to catch sharks. >> a peruvian fishing boat headed into deep waters to hunt for shark. especially blue shark. it's auld dangerous, winter oceans. . they have permission to use the shark bait. when the harpoon strikes home,

it doesn't kill the dolphin. as the fishermen reel it into the boat, it's still alive and still in pain. finally they haul it onto the deck with a spike. >> in peru, nowadays we have the world's biggest illegal wild life slaughter on the stations going on. now we have the pictures. we can see it and we can prove to people this is happening with thousands of dolphins per year getting killed. >> he estimates 3,000 dolphins a year are killed. other experts say more. this meat is not for human consumption but to provide fishermen with cheap bait to attract sharks to their fishing lines. we showed these pictures to conservation experts who say killing dolphins like this was inhumane and unnecessary. >> you can use fish guts, all sorts of things, to bait your hook. you don't need to use an incredible animal like adults. it's an awful waste.

the talk about a highly intelligent, social feel animal. join us tomorrow on the news hour on air and on line. same-sex weddings begin in new jersey for the first time, and we'll update where gay marriage stands in other states. yesterday on facebook i shared an image of fall from my neighborhood and asked you to do the same. here's a look at some of your contributio contributions. thanks for watching.

pbc news hour weekend is made possible by joyce b. hail, the wallach family in memory of miriam and ivan d. wallach, rod lind p. wa -- roz lind walters. designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're 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.

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