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American Morning
Minding Your Business: Spinning Enron
Aired January 16, 2004 - 07:16 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Federal prosecutors worked out a deal to get cooperation from former Enron executive, Andrew Fastow, but Andy Serwer is hearing that the company's one-time chairman might not go so quietly.
Obviously, this week they got the Fastows. Ken Lay, though, is he next?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes. Well, it could very well be. Of course, Wednesday was the plea bargain between the Fastows and prosecutors, and already we are seeing some spinning from Ken Lay.
And yesterday in Houston, his lawyers gave a version of where they think things stand. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL RAMSEY, KEN LAY'S ATTORNEY: He, abetted by a group of his friends, had been taking money to the tune of tens of millions of dollars from a company to whom he owed his allegiance. It's a betrayal of trust that is tragic in its proportions, and it's personally felt, I'm sure, not just by Mr. Lay, but by every shareholder in Enron.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERWER: That's former Enron's CEO Ken Lay's lawyer, Michael Ramsey.
Interesting, Andy Fastow said that he committed this malfeasance with members of Enron's senior management, pointing the finger there. And I think what's interesting about Ken Lay is that if he isn't guilty of any infractions, then he sort of has the Richard Nixon problem in that he was negligent that he didn't know. So, a very difficult position for him to be in, I would think.
COLLINS: Yes, I would think so, too. Now, speaking of scandals, MCI reportedly is laying off tons of workers.
SERWER: That's right. "The Washington Post" is reporting this morning that MCI Worldcom will be laying off an additional 1,700 workers. This adds to the 22,000 that have already lost their jobs. The company went into bankruptcy in July of '02, and actually, Heidi, it's looking like it's going to be coming out of bankruptcy over the next couple of weeks -- 55,000 people still work at that big company.
COLLINS: Wow! A big company indeed. SERWER: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business," thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired January 16, 2004 - 07:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Federal prosecutors worked out a deal to get cooperation from former Enron executive, Andrew Fastow, but Andy Serwer is hearing that the company's one-time chairman might not go so quietly.
Obviously, this week they got the Fastows. Ken Lay, though, is he next?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes. Well, it could very well be. Of course, Wednesday was the plea bargain between the Fastows and prosecutors, and already we are seeing some spinning from Ken Lay.
And yesterday in Houston, his lawyers gave a version of where they think things stand. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL RAMSEY, KEN LAY'S ATTORNEY: He, abetted by a group of his friends, had been taking money to the tune of tens of millions of dollars from a company to whom he owed his allegiance. It's a betrayal of trust that is tragic in its proportions, and it's personally felt, I'm sure, not just by Mr. Lay, but by every shareholder in Enron.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERWER: That's former Enron's CEO Ken Lay's lawyer, Michael Ramsey.
Interesting, Andy Fastow said that he committed this malfeasance with members of Enron's senior management, pointing the finger there. And I think what's interesting about Ken Lay is that if he isn't guilty of any infractions, then he sort of has the Richard Nixon problem in that he was negligent that he didn't know. So, a very difficult position for him to be in, I would think.
COLLINS: Yes, I would think so, too. Now, speaking of scandals, MCI reportedly is laying off tons of workers.
SERWER: That's right. "The Washington Post" is reporting this morning that MCI Worldcom will be laying off an additional 1,700 workers. This adds to the 22,000 that have already lost their jobs. The company went into bankruptcy in July of '02, and actually, Heidi, it's looking like it's going to be coming out of bankruptcy over the next couple of weeks -- 55,000 people still work at that big company.
COLLINS: Wow! A big company indeed. SERWER: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business," thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
