Bankrupt: Enron's Endless Possibilities

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A year ago, Enron was America's seventh largest company, but in less than a year, stock prices fell from more than 90 dollars to under one dollar, market capitalization from 60 billion dollars to less than one billion. The White House has offered no assistance even though the energy company and CEO Kenneth Lay were the biggest contributors to President Bush's campaigns. Enron now faces at least four federal investigations and dozens of lawsuits. We look at the largest bankruptcy in US history and the fallout from its demise with a former Enron government relations manager, the research director of an organization that monitors money in Texas politics, and John Emshwiller who broke the Enron story for The Wall Street Journal. Newsmaker: The Fall of Kandahar and Retreat to Pakistan - As the last of the Taliban are surrendering in Kandahar, warlords have begun jockeying for position in Afghanistan's new provisional government. Scott Baldouf, of The Christian Science Monitor, says that efforts are now focused on securing the city and seeking out Mullah Omar and his cabinet. He also describes the mood from his base in Quetta, Pakistan, just across the Afghan border. Reporter's Notebook: 60th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor - Sixty years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt declared December 7 "a day that will live in infamy." John Dower is one of America's distinguished historians, a professor at MIT and author who has written about Japan after the war. He's just returned from a conference at Pearl Harbor where one of the most memorable moments was a reconciliation between octogenarian Japanese and American servicemen.
A year ago, Enron was America's seventh largest company, but in less than a year, stock prices fell from more than 90 dollars to under one dollar, market capitalization from 60 billion dollars to less than one billion. The White House has offered no assistance even though the energy company and CEO Kenneth Lay were the biggest contributors to President Bush's campaigns. Enron now faces at least four federal investigations and dozens of lawsuits. We look at the largest bankruptcy in US history and the fallout from its demise with a former Enron government relations manager, the research director of an organization that monitors money in Texas politics, and John Emshwiller who broke the Enron story for The Wall Street Journal.
  • Newsmaker: The Fall of Kandahar and Retreat to Pakistan - As the last of the Taliban are surrendering in Kandahar, warlords have begun jockeying for position in Afghanistan's new provisional government. Scott Baldouf, of The Christian Science Monitor, says that efforts are now focused on securing the city and seeking out Mullah Omar and his cabinet. He also describes the mood from his base in Quetta, Pakistan, just across the Afghan border.
  • Reporter's Notebook: 60th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor - Sixty years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt declared December 7 "a day that will live in infamy." John Dower is one of America's distinguished historians, a professor at MIT and author who has written about Japan after the war. He's just returned from a conference at Pearl Harbor where one of the most memorable moments was a reconciliation between octogenarian Japanese and American servicemen.

The Christian Science Monitor

California Public Employees Retirement System

Competitive Enterprise Institute

Enron

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Texans for Public Justice

The Transformation of Enron 1986-2000

US Securities and Exchange Commission

The Wall Street Journal

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney