for tonight's conversations in the great minds i'm joined by jeffrey smith jeffrey is a leading consumer advocate in the fight against the use of genetically modified foods he's council leaders on every continent influence some of the first state laws in the united states regulating the use of g.m.o. those genetically modified organisms jeffrey has been described as the leading world expert in the understanding and communication of the health issues surrounding genetically modified foods is the author of numerous critically acclaimed books on genetically modified foods including genetic roulette documented health risks of genetically engineered foods jeffrey joins me now in the studio you're welcome thank you thanks for joining us back in the eighty's when the g m o's were first coming out there there were no laws there were no regulations and monsanto actually went to the i believe it was the bush administration it's true it was the reagan administration ok and so we'd like you to regulate us what was this all about what have you see months and it has not been a very popular company for

are you astounded yet if not watch the rest of my conversation with jeffrey smith on the web conversations of the great minds are calm but the point is sixty percent of the food in our grocery stores is now genetically modified and considering everything jeffrey smith was sane people are increasingly wondering if it's more than just a coincidence that the proliferation of g.m.o. foods has occurred in line with an explosion in cases of breast cancer autism gluten allergies and a series of other diseases the don't see in other nations taking a hardline stance against g.m.o. those we may be quite literally poisoning ourselves the declaration of independence declares that all of us have the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness well life depends on food food that doesn't kills or make us sick so out of that we all have a right to know what's in our food and whether it's natural or not this battle is being fought in california right now a huge amounts of corporate cash being used to block your right to know what's in your food we may win that battle and we may not but in the long r

for the man who will not go away i'm overred by jeffrey smith, former missouri state senator and professor of politics in the new school thank thank you for coming. >> thank you for having me. >> eliot: now you know tod akin. >> i never served with him but i do know him. >> eliot: tell us about him. what do we make of this guy? >> he's a born again christian. and thinks christianity and very strong beliefs shape his world-view and his political ideology as well. >> eliot: you wrote an article posted before he made the former decision not to get out and the headline was 11 reasons why akin wouldn't quit and then you revised it and said didn't quit. number 11, i don't mean to make light of anyone's religious beliefs, but you say here, god told him to run and it may take god to go out. does he really believe that's relevant to him. >> he's a true believer. when he was in the missouri house of representatives and subsequently in the u.s. house of representatives he had a few pet issues that he's focused on, strong anti-abortion activist. very much opposed to any kind of gaming and gambling and

expert jeffrey smith and we're going to begin tonight with the conversation tom had with neil barofsky just a few days ago on thursday the federal reserve sold off its last remaining shares in troubled insurance giant. you might remember in two thousand and eight to bring down the entire economy so was bailed out with one hundred eighty two billion dollars in taxpayer money as part of the tarp program well today fed officials are calling the move a huge success saying taxpayers earn nearly eighteen billion dollars off the rescue but it's an irresponsible bank or insurance giant benchmark of success neil barofsky would say no and in this conversation he explained why tarp was alternately a failure that did nothing to address the ongoing housing crisis and nothing to put an end to too big to fail on wall street so here it is tom's conversations with great minds with neil barofsky. joining me tonight for a special edition of conversations of the great minds is neil barofsky ill is the former special united states treasury department inspector general charged with overseeing the seven hund

. >> woodruff: we'll be joined tonight by our jeffrey brown on the convention floor. >> ifill: as well as pollster andy kohut and historians michael beschloss and richard norton smith. >> woodruff: and with us in the skybox again tonight for insight and analysis are newshour regulars mark shields and david brooks. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. 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. >> woodruff: as the republican national convention draws to a close, the centerpiece of tonight's agenda is the appearance by the candidate himself. the delegates, the campaign officials and mitt romney spent the day getting ready. jeffrey brown begins our coverage. >> brown: at the "tampa bay times" forum this morning, a d