A Hole in the Safety Net? / Conflict Minerals / Foreclosure Scandal / Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

NEED TO KNOW for Friday, October 22nd on PBS at 8:30 p.m. (check local listings). Episode #125. To find out about developing stories, visit www.pbs.org/needtoknow.  Need to Know is a production of Creative News Group for WNET.ORG. Viewers can visit www.pbs.org/needtoknow for updates on these stories and more. Note: Stories are subject to change due to breaking news.

A HOLE IN THE SAFETY NET?- As unemployment has grown in America, so too has something else--business for firms that help employers process, and in many cases challenge, unemployment claims. Need to Know Financial correspondent, Stacey Tisdale examines these third party administrators, as they're known, and discovers that many of the newly jobless, who expect to get by on unemployment benefits for a while, are in for a rude awakening.

CONFLICT MINERALS- Following up on our report about the mass rapes that occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo this summer, Need To Know examines the issue of minerals that help fund the rebels who committed the assaults, and what we as consumers can do to avoid inadvertently contributing to the conflict.

FORECLOSURE SCANDAL- On the "Watch List" segment this week, Need to Know's Jon Meacham discusses the latest revelations in the home foreclosure fraud scandal with Michael Hudson, author of "The Monster: How a Gang of Predatory Lenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America -- and Spawned a Global Crisis."

BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON- Need to Know anchor and Andrew Jackson biographer Jon Meacham interviews writer/director Alex Timbers and leading man Benjamin Walker of the new Broadway musical "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" about the show's contemporary political relevance.