Journalist Matt Taibbi was on Democracy Now today promoting his new book The Divide, and Amy Goodman asked him which of the last two presidents has been harder on corporate crime:

Goodman: Who was tougher on corporate America, President Obama or President Bush?

Taibbi: Oh, Bush, hands down. And this is an important point to make, because if you go back to the early 2000s, think about all these high-profile cases: Adelphia, Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Arthur Andersen. All of these companies were swept up by the Bush Justice Department. And what's interesting about this is that you can see a progression. If you go back to the savings and loan crisis in the late '80s... we put about 800 people in jail during — in the aftermath of that crisis. You fast forward 10 or 15 years to the accounting scandals, like Enron and Adelphia and Tyco, we went after the heads of some of those companies. It wasn't as vigorous as the S&L prosecutions, but we at least did it. At least George Bush recognized the symbolic importance of showing ordinary Americans that justice is blind, right?

Fast forward again to the next big crisis, and how many people have we got — have we actually put in jail? Zero... nobody went to jail, so that we're now in a place where we don't even recognize the importance of keeping up appearances when it comes to making things look equal.

Watch below, starting about 49 minutes in. (H/T Talking Points Memo) --Ryan Cooper

Wells Fargo is opening an independent investigation into the company's retail banking practices, following the revelation that employees trying to meet sales targets opened as many as 2 million phony accounts for customers without their knowledge, the firm announced Tuesday.

During the investigation, Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf will not receive a salary and will forfeit equity awards valued at around $41 million. Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of retail banking, has also left Wells Fargo, and will not receive a severance package. The firm says it has fired 5,300 people, mostly low-level employees, in connection with the fraudulent practices, and has paid a $190 million fine. It also will eliminate sales goals in retail banking on Jan. 1, 2017. Catherine Garcia

On Tuesday, Syrian government troops and allies attempting to take over the rebel-held side of Aleppo stepped up their ground attacks in the Old City.

The move comes after the collapse of a ceasefire, backed by the United States, after just one week, and the U.S. says it's proof Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will do anything to defeat the opposition, ignoring the peace process. Over the past week, hundreds of people in Aleppo have been killed in bombings, including 12 members of two families on Tuesday. It's thought that more than 250,000 people live in the besieged part of Aleppo, with only 30 doctors remaining to take care of the hundreds of people wounded daily.

Before the civil war began nearly six years ago, Aleppo was the biggest city in Syria. The army has control of the western zone, and soldiers and militia fighters supporting Assad told Reuters they are starting to move in armored vehicles and tanks for more attacks against rebels. Catherine Garcia

The first baby has been born using technology that allows for the combination of DNA from three different people, CBS News reports. The procedure, which is illegal in the United States, was performed by a team led by Dr. John Zhang of the New Hope Fertility Center in New York at a facility in Mexico; the baby boy is now six months old.

The mother carried a genetic mutation for Leigh syndrome, a neurological disorder that is often fatal within a few years. Two of the mother's children had died from the syndrome, and she'd had four miscarriages. The new baby has so far been healthy and showed no signs of the disease thanks to the "revolutionary" technique, which "involved removing some of the mother's DNA from an egg, and leaving the disease-causing DNA behind," The Associated Press reports. "The healthy DNA was slipped into a donor's egg, which was then fertilized. As a result, the baby inherited DNA from both parents and the egg donor."

“This is the very first time at least in human reproduction that the offspring are produced with three parties — one sperm and different parts of two eggs ... So this is very revolutionary,” Zhang told CBS News. And while the procedure might not be allowed in the United States, Zhang insisted, "To save lives is the ethical thing to do." Jeva Lange

The mission to make humans "a multiplanetary species" just got a little bit closer to becoming a reality. Elon Musk's SpaceX program published a video Tuesday describing how the proposed Interplanetary Transport System would actually work — and it involves 28,730,000 pounds of thrust for lift-off, the support of a refueling pod, and winged solar panels to provide additional power to the ITS:

Musk is delivering a presentation on colonizing and building a city on Mars at the International Astronautical Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico (you can follow continual updates at The Verge, here). And for those dreaming of future travels to a terraformed Red Planet, you're in luck — the planet makes an unnaturally blue-and-green appearance at the end of the video.

Musk also said Tuesday that he believes in the future the cost of travel to Mars will be as inexpensive as buying a house. SpaceX plans to send its first ship of humans to the planet as early as 2024. Jeva Lange

Mother Earth isn't the only one suffering from rising levels of air pollution. A new report by the World Health Organization out Tuesday revealed that in 2014, 92 percent of the world's population was living with levels of air pollution that exceeded what WHO considers to be safe.

In particular, WHO is concerned about higher concentrations of pollution particles that are smaller than 2.5 micrometers, as these particles are tiny enough to "be inhaled, travel into the lungs, and enter the bloodstream," The Washington Post reported. "People think of air pollution as a respiratory disease," said Carlos Dora, head of WHO's air pollution team. "And in fact, it's heart disease, strokes and cardiovascular. Because there's very small particles that go into the blood. ... The damage air pollution does to the vessels is similar to the damage that cholesterol or high blood pressure do."

In 2012, an estimated 7.3 million people died from air pollution, produced both inside the home and outdoors. The problem is particularly acute in "low- and middle-income countries," which WHO reported accounted for 88 percent of the 3 million premature deaths caused by outdoor air pollution in 2012.

Still, wealthier countries certainly aren't in the clear. In Europe, cities including Paris and London failed to meet air quality standards, and in America, both Los Angeles and Manhattan fell short. Becca Stanek

While Monday night's first presidential debate had record-breaking viewership in the U.S., it also caught the attention of invested parties abroad. Russia state-sponsored media reportedly liked what they were seeing, but it was hardly the same scene in Mexico City:

"You want to go to Mexico or some other country? Good luck," Donald Trump told U.S. manufacturing companies during Monday night's presidential debate against Hillary Clinton.

Thousands of miles away, the 200 people packed into Pinche Gringo, a Texas-style barbecue restaurant in Mexico City, broke into cheers and clinked their glasses frothed with beer.

It was just one of Trump's six references to Mexico last night, and a signal to drink for U.S. expats watching in Mexico.

The patio, filled with wooden tables, a bar pouring draft beers, and a kitchen designed to look like an Airstream trailer, was packed with Democrats and Hillary Clinton supporters who would raise their glasses and yell Salud! every time Trump mentioned "Mexico." Predictably, there weren't any/many Trump fans in the bar — or anywhere else in Mexico, for that matter. [Fusion]

Up to a million American citizens live in Mexico; the event at Pinche Gringo, organized by Democrats Abroad, also helped expats register to vote. "Trump is having a huge effect. His comments have really helped gin up interest," Doug Hall, an American citizen who now lives in Mexico, told Fusion. "There is a lot of momentum this year. We are registering a lot of people." Jeva Lange

Senate Democrats blocked a proposed government spending bill Tuesday, downing the proposal with a 55-45 vote that threatens to shut down the government if an agreement is not reached by the Oct. 1 deadline. The resolution, backed by Republican leadership, would have funded the government through Dec. 9 but was rejected on the grounds that it did not give aid to Flint, Michigan, but did provide for flood victims in Louisiana, Maryland, and West Virginia. Democrats have said they don't oppose the flood aid, but that it should not be included in the funding bill unless aid also goes toward Flint's ongoing water crisis.

"Why do you feel you have to punish people in Louisiana ... for Flint when there's a pathway forward on Flint through the WRDA bill?" Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said, naming a bill the Senate approved to give Flint $220 million for water infrastructure. The House version of the WRDA bill — fully named the Water Resources Development Act — did not include the provision for aid to Flint, however, meaning the two chambers would need to re-negotiate it after returning from the election hiatus.

"The Republicans are essentially saying, 'The disasters in our states are more important than the disasters in your state,'" Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said. "It is unfair, and it is wrong.” Jeva Lange