the f.d.a. are the same laws that we're operating under today, and at one time, they were fittinging and appropriate, but the worlt has changed a lot. >> lehrer: and fema administrator, craig fugate, updates emergency preparations as hurricane earl approaches the east coast. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i want to be the first to cure cancer. >> people don't really understand why things work. >> i want to be that person that finds out why. >> innovative young minds taking on tomorrow's toughest challenges. chevron. bnsf railway. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: the u.s. moved into what is planned as its final military phase in iraq today after ending its combat role. wshour correspondent kwame holman begins our coverage. >> rep

salmon put in an application with the f.d.a. more than ten years ago and they contend that their product is identical in every way to wild and conventionally farmed salmon but a lot of scientists and consumer groups are telling the f.d.a. to slow down before they make a massive experiment of the entire u.s. population well joining me from iowa to discuss it is jeffrey smith author of seeds of deception as well as genetic roulette the documented health risks of genetically engineered foods thanks so much for joining me and now tell me this you've written books about this we already genetically modified grains and vegetables but do you think that this is getting more press more critique because this time it's actually an animal that we're talking about. yes many surveys in the united states show that consumers here are much more concerned about genetically modifying animals than they are about crops and so this is actually getting lots of headlines what people aren't seeing however is that the f.d.a. has really stacked the deck in

. >> couric: at an f.d.a.ng today, seafood was the main course-- genetically engineered salmon, that is. critics call it frankenfish, but the f.d.a. says it's safe to eat. what the agency is about to decide now is whether to approve it for sale. as wyatt andrews reports, it would be the first genetic altered animal allowed on store shelves and it could open the door for others. >> reporter: the salmon would grow twice as fast as normal but taste the same and cost much less. the question is, should we eat it? >> it's very scary because what are they putting in this stuff and what is going to be the side effects? >> reporter: the industry invented this salmon by taking a single gene from an eel-like fish call the ocean palp which grows year round and spliced it into a farm-raised salmon to keep the growth hormones on overdrive expert after expert told the f.d.a. panel that that genetic change did not change the salmon itself. that the flesh and nutritional content no different from normal salmon, just as the com

well, that's f.d.a.-- except one, catfish, that's u.s.d.a. and that u.s.d.a.l on a carton of eggs doesn't mean they're safe, it means they've been checked for size and shape. the result-- contaminated spinach from california, peanuts from georgia, and last month, eggs from iowa that sickened more than 1,600 people. >> multiple agencies really just pointing fingers at each other rather than actually providing consumer protections. >> reporter: here's how that protection failed in iowa. the f.d.a. was supposed to inspect the henhouses but never did. 50 feet away, the u.s.d.a. inspected the packing facility everyday but was not allowed inside the henhouse where outside investigators later discovered an eight-foot pile of manure. the u.s.d.a. refused to speak to us on camera but in a statement said: this incident exemplifies the critical need to make improvements in the food safety system. a bill to overhaul the food safety system has been held up by partisan bickering in the senate for over a year. >> how does that make any sense? >> reporter: only adding to alme

but the f.d.a.argaret hamburg, declined to talk with us on camera about any aspect of stem cell quackery. many experts believe that the f.d.a. is outmatched. >> larry goldstein: patients need to beware. >> pelley: larry goldstein, a prominent stem cell biologist, and researcher doug sipp, are with the international society for stem cell research, an organization of the world's leading stem cell scientists. sipp is tracking bogus stem cell clinics all around the world. how have these operations grown, say, in the last five years or so? >> doug sipp: i would say the growth has been explosive. i've been tracking it closely for the past three years, and i've been able to come up with more than 200 clinics that are offering some version of stem cells for some type of medical condition for which there is no really good evidence that the stems would be either safe or effective. >> pelley: well, are all of these clinics frauds? >> sipp: on one end of the spectrum, you have people who are doing, essentially,

an f.d.a. advisory panel has rejected another highly touted diet drug. this time, dr. jon lapook reports, it's lorcaserin. >> reporter: before voting it down 9-5, the f.d.a. committee heard concerns that lorcaserin may damage the heart, cause psychiatric problems, and even promote tumor growth. yesterday, the committee split on whether the diet drug meridia should stay on the market. evidence showed an increased risk of heart attacks and stroke. meridia is one of only two prescription drugs approved for the long-term treatment of obesity. according to dr. louis aronne, a weight-loss expert who advised the makers of meridia, two drugs is not enough. >> you can try to lose weight from a diet and get demoralized and gain so much weight you need surgery and that makes no sense. we need more medical options. >> reporter: the other problem with both these drugs they're only moderately effective in helping lose weight. >> couric: i know there hasn't been an obesity drug approved in 10 years. is there something problematic about the weight loss drugs. >> reporter: yes you're s

it comes ahead of a f.d.a. review panel tomorrow to consider its obesity treatment. the stock has been on quite a ride since early july, when it partnered with a japanese drug maker even before the f.d.a.'s decision on its weight loss medicine. shares plummeted 40%. documents indicate the f.d.a. may focus on the long-term safety of its drug and its effectiveness. the two others hoping to get a weight loss drug on the market-- orexigen and vivus-- each dropped, as well. orexigen's goes before the advisory panel in january. vivus's treatment was initially rejected in july. and that's tonight's "market focus." >> susie: boeing could feel some turbulence tomorrow from the world trade organization. it's expected to rule that huge subsidies paid to boeing from nasa and the pentagon since the early 1990s are illegal. the international trade group has made seven similar rulings on tax breaks given to boeing. the panel is expected to do it again in a 1,500 page report released tomorrow. the timing is crucial. boeing and airbus are competing for a deal worth up to $50 billion

. >> suarez: betty ann bowser updates the johnson and johnson story as company executives and the f.d.a. come under fire on capitol hill for a string of recalls, real and phantom, this year. >> brown: and we visit a project in pittsburgh that offers foreign writers whose lives are endangered, a new start, and the chance to write freely. >> i think i'm writing social issues, but in burma, social issues are political issues.

is one of carelessness, deficiencies and untruthfulness. >> reporter: f.d.a.eputy commissioner dr. joshua sharfstein acknowledged today they were aware of the repurchasing of motrin as early as april 2009, but didn't ask the company to recall the motrin until july. dr. joshua sharfstein told the >> this communication did not dr. joshua sharfstein told the committee his agency did not initially know how contractors were hired to pose as regular >> reporter: but he said the f.d.a. should have pushed the company for a call. >> from this point, it took until july for fda to tell the company that a recall should be conducted. >> reporter: some members argue that congress needs to give the fda authority to mandate recalls but there is little prospect of that happening anytime soon. >> brown: finally tonight, a safe haven for writers in danger. >> brown: you don't hear burmese too much in pittsburgh and certainly not burmese poetry. but on a recent night, the writer khet mar read a poem about seeking shelter in this city, after being persecuted in her native country.

. >> suarez: betty ann bowser updates the johnson and johnson story as company executives and the f.d.a. come under fire on capitol hill for a string of recalls, real and phantom, this year. >> brown: and we visit a project in pittsburgh that offers foreign writers whose lives are endangered, a new start, and the chance to write freely. >> i think i'm writing social issues, but in burma, social issues are political issues. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> this is the engine that connects abundant grain from the american heartland to haran's best selling whole wheat, while keeping 60 billion pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere every year. bnsf, the engine that connects us. and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station

the company and the f.d.a. claim it is safe to eat. critics say the fish could cause unknown allergic reaction and potentially damage the wild salmon population. and now, we have assistant director of the consumer group "food and water watch." good to see you. >>guest: thank you. >>shepard: when you talk about altering, people say tell me more. some fear it could get into the wild salmon population. >>guest: we hear how it will be contained by the company but the plan for the salmon is to grow them in panama and send the fish here for us to eat and the f.d.a. is doing a terrible job on food imports and they to not have a way to check if they are raised in a containd way. so we need to look at all the possible impacts if this could hurt wild populations if there is an accident. >>shepard: are the fish eggs supposed to be female and then all eggs are sterile? that is the information the government gives us. >>guest: we read the documents and they say 5 percent may not be sterile and when you talk millions and millions and millions of the

do you know the history of the f.d.a.? how it started? progressives brought it to us.has a lot to do with coca-cola. when coca-cola was, it was the first soft drank made in 1886. coca stands for cocaine. before cocaine was illegal, coke removed it from the drink. that's 1904, they took all the cocaine out. the first test of the federal -- the pure drug and food law was to -- that was the first f.d.a. was to go after coca-cola. they seized the shipment of coca-cola and charged that it was adulterated and misbranded. the title said coca, referred to that in the name. so said had to be removed. they said it has been removed. replaced it with caffeine. they won't to court on this and they lost. they said it's false advertising, because it doesn't have cocaine in it. well, you didn't want cocaine in it. but it's false advertising. when that didn't work, they went after caffeine and argued that caffeine was nature's poison and should also be removed. eventually, the case made it all the way to the supreme court, which ruled in favor, and i don't know how much longer we can d

and the f.d.a. will have the f.d.a. you know right the most to allow our b.t.h. into the american food system and our children's milk which as you know has been causing breast development children little girls as small etc this is a remarkable thing like dance and the people behind the destruction of the food chain that when you think about a logically they themselves that they're committing suicide along with homicide because any wipe out the food chain nobody survives so if this is a real mentality of a. of an extremist mentality is a month settles almost an extremist. mentality of suicide gardeners it would seem that way but as you know bill gates is. general now and i believe the have just created the biggest seed bank or seen crawled over all time. there are story millions and millions and millions of seats just think erick's well yes of course bill gates who made his entire fortune as a predatory monopolist twice convicted on intellectual property law he and monsanto are two peas in a pod the fact that he's using his billions to help another predatory monop

but abbott says the f.d.a. does not consider the suspected cans a serious health threat. abbott believes the recall will cost the company around $100 million in lost sales for the third quarter. >> tom: the senate budget committee voted to approve jacob "jack" lew as the obama administration's white house budget director. even though lew presided over surpluses during the clinton administration, getting the job won't be a slam dunk. he still must be approved by the full senate. late today, louisiana senator mary landrieu said she'll block his nomination unless the ban on deepwater drilling is lifted. that moratorium was put in place after the b.p. oil spill. euquuñ?ñ? >> susie: twitter plans to offer a new tool that will show users how their tweets are spreading in real time. it will also show how influential their twitter contacts really are. that's great news for businesses, marketers, and tonight's commentator. here's alfred edmond, jr., editor-in-chief at blackenterprise.com. >> i was 21 when i decided i wanted a career in media. i've never felt beholden to defining m

the f.d.a. sent letters to five companies today saying, because e-cigarettes are marketed as tools to help people quit smoking, they should be regulated as drugs. the f.d.a. wants the companies to prove e-cigarettes are safe, and whether those devices are effective in helping people stop smoking. so far, no comment from the companies. bupupututuuuuuu? >> susie: political analysts are predicting a divided congress after the november elections. that could be a good thing-- tonight's commentator explains why washington thrives on gridlock. he's todd buchholz, author of "lasting lessons from the corner office." >> what's more boring than a bunch of pundits bemoaning the lack of bipartisanship in washington.? guess what? our founding fathers designed washington for gridlock. checks and balances, vetoes, annual elections. it's all about gridlock. even the streets in washington guarantee it. you can't drive from the white house to the capitol without getting stuck in traffic behind taxis, pedi-cabs,

the f.d.a. doesn't have the authority to keep u with the modern expansion and marketing and production. this bill will fix that. th bipartisan bill called the f.d.a. food safety modernization act would improve the system while minimizing regulatory burden. it gives the f.d.a. mandatory recall authority of contaminated food. it sets up a system for f.d.a. to keep up with food so we can find out where the contaminated food came from and to stop it quickly from getting to the grocery stores. it assures that food is safe without overburdening farmers with new regulations. it makes no changes to the current oor gantic -- organic program run by the department of agriculture. nothing could be needed more in these waning days before the election to help our constituents. nothing could be less controversial than keeping them out of harm's way. so let's move this commonsense bill and pass it. that's why we're here, is to do things to help the american people, and this would do it. and i would also add, mr

. >> smith: this month the f.d.a. will decide the fate of the controversial diet pill meridia, america's second-most popular prescription diet drug. today the "new england journal of medicine" weighed in with a editorial calling it to be pulled from the market after a new study showed an increased risk in heart attacks in some patients. dr. jon lapook takes a closer look. >> reporter: the unusually critical editorial came as a result of the largest long-term study of meridia. almost 10,000 overweight or obese people with cardiovascular disease or diabetes were followed for three and a half years. the group taking meridia lost on average about nine pounds but had a 16% higher risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. the drug company abbott told cbs news there's already a label warning the drug should not be used in patients with known cardiovascular disease. but the editors of the new england journal wrote that since meridia has a worrisome cardiovascular risk profile, it's difficult to discern a credible rationale

today's f.d.a. advisory committee hearing pitted consumer and environmental advocates warning of potential dangers to the health of humans and wild fish against promoters like the c.e.o. of the massachusetts company aquabounty, which is seeking the approval. >> whether to require the genetically modified salmon to be labeled as such, for our own debate we turn to val giddings a biotechnology development to government and companies. former vice president to the biotechnology industry organization which is advocating aprafl. he has also advised aquabounty in the past, on unrelated matters. and michael hansen, senior scientist at consumers union, the publisher of "consumer reports." both men attended today's f.d.a. advisory hearing outside washington. he welcome to you both. we'll just pick up the debate where it left off. mr. giddings let me begin with you. why does this company and the industry want to genetically modify fish, particularly salmon? >> well, it provides a predictable and safe way of im