A lot of what The Post did was to focus on the second and third waves but also the role of these big pharmaceutical distributors. And we started just the two of us-and we’re going to talk about this more later-but this expanded into a massive investigation involving like 60 people on the newsroom led by Jeff Leen and David Fallis, and it became "The Opioid Files." And so, Scott and I started to do some stories about fentanyl. And then the Chinese, Chinese drug dealers, exploited that market by selling, importing-exporting fentanyl, which was cheaper and more potent. People addicted to them turned to heroin. And in fact, the fentanyl epidemic was the third wave of what started with prescription pills. And we compared notes and quickly realized that these two epidemics, fentanyl and prescription pills, were connected. And I asked him about this, because he was covering the prescription opioid epidemic. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.And so, I went and talked to my old friend Scott Higham. Inside the courtroom, it will seem a lot hotter. Highs of 71 are expected in Houston today. Maybe there's someone in Houston who doesn't know an Enron employee with a ruined pension, or doesn't care that the Astros now play in Minute Maid and not Enron Park, or didn't catch the change of the sign outside the 50-story building on Smith Street. PESCA: Today, in a Houston courtroom, they'll choose 12 people who swear to be open minded enough to judge Lay and Skilling fairly. If not, you may want to start, because it's going to be a long time before we trust you again. Unidentified Man: If so, that would explain a lot. I would like to know if you are on crack? Unidentified Man (Former Enron employee): All Right. By August of 2001, he had abruptly resigned, leaving the grumbles of employees and shareholders all to Ken Lay. PESCA: Skilling's heart was not in it for much longer, though. At least when the Titanic went down, the lights were on. You know what the difference is between the state of California and the Titanic? PESCA: And here's how Skilling dispatched with talk that Enron not only profited from the 2001 California energy crisis, but by pushing for deregulation may have helped prompt it. And there's this competition that the news magazines have, where if one says something good, the other one has to come and find something bad.
SKILLING: The entire reason that this analysis was done by Fortune magazine is because Business Week had a favorable article about Enron the week before. But by 2001, the tiniest of questions were being raised, first in a Fortune magazine article. PESCA: It all came true Enron did make so much money that it rose to Number Seven on the Fortune 500. SKILLING: If we do that, we could add a kazillion dollars to the bottom line. JEFFREY SKILLING (Former CEO, Enron): We're going to move from mark to market accounting to something I call HFV, Hypothetical Future Value accounting. The tape, like all of these clips, was included in a documentary Enron, the Smartest Guys in the Room. PESCA: Years before, in a videotaped going away present for a top Enron official, Skilling appeared in a skit, joking about using even more fanciful accounting methods than were already employed. KENNETH LAY (Former Enron Chairman): Alan, it is with our sincere thanks and admiration, we're pleased, and indeed honored, to award you the Enron Prize for Distinguished Public Service. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan certainly was flattered to be even associated with the company in the form of a prize handed out by Ken Lay. Maybe Enron's Chair, Ken Lay, and its CEO Jeffrey Skilling, just knew something the rest of us didn't. But judging by the Arthur Anderson edited books, hard to knock. That phrase, a new high, could describe almost everything about the mood of the company, which once supplied energy, but now seemed to get rich over the idea of energy through ventures, which were hard to fathom. It closed that day at $90.56, a new high. Enron stock was almost keeping up with the weather. Downtown, it felt hotter, especially over on Smith Street, where in the cool, windowed tower that was Enron headquarters, there was a celebration going on. Here now, NPR's Mike Pesca, with the help of some audiotape, recaps how Enron came to this.Īugust 23, 2000, the temperatures at Hobby Airport in Houston was in the high 90's, and there was no sign of cooling off.
#ENRON THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM TRANSCRIPT DOCUMENTARY TRIAL#
The trial could last months, and may be as complicated as Enron's accounting techniques. Both are charged with fraud, conspiracy, and lying to investigators. In Houston, jury selection is underway today for the trial of former Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.