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American Morning
'Morning Buzz'
Aired January 18, 2002 - 07:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of other news to get to this morning, all about Enron. All Enron all the time, at least on the first issue of the Morning Buzz. We've got a lot of stuff here.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: An interesting piece that I actually was surprised was buried in the "Daily News," which is one of the New York papers here, suggesting that Vice President Cheney actually tried to help Enron collect a $64 million debt from an opposition leader in India, Sonya Ghandi (ph). There are apparently two e-mails that indicate the president was also going to bring up the subject with her, but that idea was scrapped before they met.
And the "Daily News," I guess, got its hands on documents now that have been released by the Freedom of Information Act.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. And we should point out the White House pointing out that it did not do any special favors, or right now saying it did not do any special favors. I mean the question is, you know, how much did the U.S. really get involved in trying to help out Enron overseas? I mean the U.S. government routinely helps out corporations overseas, trying to improve their businesses.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
ANDERSON: So I think it remains to be seen.
ZAHN: But you've got...
CAFFERTY: This is less than a smoking gun but it's, you know, a little more indication than we've had so far that there was some sort of inquiry made on behalf of Enron by the administration.
ZAHN: But the charge so far basically alleges that the Bush administration's energy policy was changed by the involvement of Enron officials...
CAFFERTY: Right. Right.
COOPER: And also the...
ZAHN: ... and that's what Congressman Waxman is...
ANDERSON: And then the story this morning paints a picture of Dick Cheney as kind of a debt collector, like this international debt collector, which is not, it's not the most...
CAFFERTY: The other thing is why is the White House refusing to release information about those energy policy meetings? I mean it creates the impression, whether it's true or not, that they're trying to hide something. But they're not going to release the information. Now, whether, they may just believe in the idea of executive privilege. But that isn't what it smells like. It says well, we're not going to tell you what went on in those meetings. Well, we want to know. What do you have to hide? You know, that kind of an idea.
ZAHN: And meanwhile the White House, of course, is slamming these investigations as a waste of taxpayers' money.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
ZAHN: They say that you're not going to find any direct link between Enron and any official policy.
CAFFERTY: Right.
ZAHN: A direct effect it had on official policy in the Bush White House.
ANDERSON: Another Enron story today. Harvey Pitt, the head of the SEC, is suggesting possibly that out, there should be an outside agency to regulate the accounting rules.
CAFFERTY: The posture...
ZAHN: That should come as no surprise, should it?
CAFFERTY: I love the posture...
ZAHN: Hello.
CAFFERTY: Right. The first thing that happens is we find out that the guy at Andersen ordered the shredding of documents so he gets fired, right, Duncan.
ZAHN: Right. Right.
CAFFERTY: Andersen fires Duncan. Now, Enron has fired Andersen and the posturing is amazing. I mean, you want to tell me these guys didn't all know what was going on?
ANDERSON: Yes, but...
CAFFERTY: We had Ken Lay selling stock, according to the wires, or according to the "New York Times," selling shares of his own stock within days of getting that letter warning of a potential accounting scandals. He unloaded $2 million worth of his own shares, didn't report the sale of the stock at the same time that he was telling everybody that the company was going great guns and he was very optimistic.
He had already been told about the potential accounting scandal and on November the 15th, he listed three or four properties that he personally owns in Aspen, Colorado, put them on the market to the tune of $15 million, two houses and a lot.
ZAHN: What was the date of that?
CAFFERTY: November the 15th. November the 12th.
ZAHN: So that was, once again?
CAFFERTY: Right before Enron filed for bankruptcy.
ZAHN: Before.
CAFFERTY: But after it posted a third quarter loss of over a billion dollars.
ANDERSON: But you guys...
CAFFERTY: I mean come on.
ANDERSON: A viewer, Tom, wrote me an e-mail pointing out that on eBay right now you can buy an Enron code of ethics book. The opening bid was $7. The current bid is now $225. Or is that...
ZAHN: Is it true this is unsealed?
ANDERSON: It's now $300. There's an Enron Corporation ask why fanny pack, an Enron money clip. You can also get an authentic -- this is the best one -- an authentic Enron retirement coffee mug, a white ceramic coffee mug with blue and black writing. It reads, "Who decides where to invest your money? Only you." And on the reverse, "Enron retirement planning, tools and information for your future. Enron Corp."
ZAHN: Is it true the ethics book is sealed in plastic?
ANDERSON: It's not sealed but...
ZAHN: It has not been opened?
ANDERSON: ... it apparently doesn't look like it's been ready very closely.
CAFFERTY: It's unbelievable.
ANDERSON: Tom, so we want to thank you for that e-mail. It was a great idea.
If anyone else out there has something you'd like to contribute to the Morning Buzz, we would love to hear from you. You can e-mail us here. Our address is am@cnn.com. We'll be checking our e-mail through the morning. I'm actually checking the e-mail right now. I have the e-mail on. So, actually I'm responding. So thanks very much.
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