some people know the sackler name, but the sacklers themselves are rarely interviewed.hey never give interviews and are rarely seen in public. almost nobody in the world understands the major sources of their fortune is oxycontin. one reason is the sacklers never put their name on the company, never put their name on their product. there's a reason i wanted to do the piece. more than 200,000 people have died from prescription drugs since oxycontin was released in 1996. we have an accountability crisis, also. we tend to think of big social problems like drug epidemic as a product of these large, impersonal forces that are hard to understand. there is some truth to that, but he can distract from a lot of social actions come from individuals. nermeen: how did you come to learn of the sacklers involvement? it is interesting. i had read quite a bit about purdue pharma, which manufactured oxycontin which in 2007 had to plead guilty to criminal charges for what was called criminally misbranding prescription drugs. they had to pay a huge fine and three other top executives went

countless deaths from people who got hope on oxy and then oh deed on harder drugs like heroin the sackler family is worth fourteen billion dollars and they've plastered their name all over our institutions so between the cokes and the sackler is there's hardly a museum university hospital or theater without their call over it. it's like a nation fell asleep at a frat party and woke up with just a drawing on our forehead. so here's the story in ninety nine he produced started work on a pill containing oxy kowtowed a chemical similar to morphine and was not perdue the chicken people. does that would be weird you know cause for all your opium based are conic and chicken wing glitz so purdue pharma puts out oxy cold tone and although it was fifty percent stronger than morphine many doctors believe that wrongly that it was substantially less powerful this was good for purdue because it made doctors last frightened to prescribe it so this was this is literally big pharma going doctors are confused about or do product and some people are dying. who i could fortune but that's not enough greed in

it's not just purdue and the sackler who caused this crisis there are lawsuits in many states right now against the distributors who knowingly passed out opioids like like they were putting cops at a nursing home you know targeting poor and struggling communities so why wasn't the federal government on top of this well sixty minutes talked to former d.a. administrator and whistleblower joe rana's e.c. and he said some important stuff while they walk down the middle of the street first resist. plans do this interview meet me in the center of east capitol story will act like that's normal place for two guys in thousand dollars suits to make dramatic and most sense. any way i read it sees he did indeed reveal some awful truth about the pharmaceutical industry these were kids slinging crack on the corner these were professionals who were doing it. they were just drug dealers in lab coats that's true at all pharmacists are there drug dealers in lab yes. sure there are pharmaceuticals i'm not saying there aren't put but one guy's crack cocaine is another guy's oxy cotton or your marijuana is

their name all over our institutions so between the cokes and the sackler is there's hardly a museum university hospital or theater without their call over it. it's like a nation fell asleep at a frat party and woke up with just a drawing on our forehead. so here's the story in ninety nine he produced started work on a pill containing oxy kowtowed a chemical similar to morphine and was not perdue the chicken p. . people because that would be weird you know cause guys for all your opium based on conic and chicken wing glitz so purdue pharma puts out oxy cold tone and although it was fifty percent stronger than morphine many doctors believe that wrongly that it was substantially less powerful this was good for purdue because it made doctors last frightened to prescribe it so this was this is literally big pharma going doctors are confused about our new product and some people are dying. why could fortune. but that's not enough greed in order to increase the number of doctors prescribing it the company's rebranded pain relief as a sacred right or universal narcotic in title meant availa

the freer and sackler galleries is reopening after being closed down for two years. >>> and we know a lot of folks will be experiencing the brand new wharf on d.c. southwest waterfront for the first time this weekend. number of events happening there over the next few days. you might want to check them out tomorrow. more music and entertainment throughout the day there. d.c.'s popular '90 white ford broncos is headlining and on sunday there's a blessing of the wharf in the afternoon featuring a performance by the howard gospel choir and fireworks at sunset. >> which now it sounds like the chances of getting the fireworks in are really, really good. the more the day goes on -- if i can get my words out, the better the weather will be. >> not a bad day tomorrow. definitely better on monday. if the fireworks tomorrow night are anything like that last night, they were really good. down there for the foo fighters concert. that was awesome. i got to go to the bar and watch the rest of the nationals game. >> yea, no. >> take a look outside. show you what's happening. the clouds out there, th

on harder drugs like heroin the sackler family is worth fourteen billion dollars and they've plastered their name all over our institutions so we're doing the cokes and the sac lers there's hardly a museum university hospital or theater without their call over it. it's like a nation fell asleep enough.

the sackler from -- the sackler family owning purdue pharma. it was created in the 1990's and you can read that on the new yorker.com. david from missouri, good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to tell people that a category of people out here are being forgotten. that's the ones that have a chronic pain for many years. these are from accidents or disease or whatever is the cost. they have gone through every aspect of going to different doctors with tests or whatever. them to thing left for survive in this world is opiates. myself for on the about 35 years. for me, oxycontin is a godsend. i have never gone to the street for drugs ever. why this parttand of the people is being forgotten, the ones that have of problems with this. the problem is the illegal use of drugs. we are being put in the same category as those. it does not make any sense to me. we get thrown under the bus because of the other people that did not handle it right. that was david's take on it. let's go to howard in california, good morning. caller: good morning. how are

the freer and sackler galleries are reopening after being closed for the past two years. >> worth therip. >> boy, it is. >>> there's a new twist in the grade tampering investigation in prince george's county schools. news 4 discovered a tool designed to help wasn't getting to the right people. find out what happened next after our bureau chief got involved. >> reporter: at the pump, there's a good chance a surveillance camera is watching you. how closely are you watching what's going on around you? up next, a story that drives home the importance o did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back? say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet that's up to 16 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. say hello to faster downloads with internet speeds up to 250 megabits per second. get fast internet and add phone and tv now for only $24.90 more per month. our lowest price ever on this offer. but only for a limited time. call today. comcast business. built for business. ...is not just

. >>> if you're making plans for the weekend, check out the reopening of the freer and the sackler galleriesthe ill luis palomino -- illumine asia. it is projected outside on the facade. that projection will run till saturday night at 8:00. isn't that cool? the galleries reopening this weekend after being closed for two years foreign vegass. >> wonder what that >> it will be cool no matter how you see it. >> that's awesome. >> that's great. >> well, you know, there are thousands of gonzaga college high school alumni in our area. you can't swing across this town without hitting one. we even have some working here at news 4. one is being honored for the path he laid in creating a diverse student body. news 4's david culver went back to his alma mater to meet gabe smith, gonzaga's first african-american graduate. >> reporter: the church known as saint al's seemed the best setting for our conversation with gabe smith. after all it was a desire to be a jesuits priest that brought him here in 1950. >> i asked if i could become a jesuits. he said sure. he was telling me i would need a good latin ba

to see our full interview about the sacklers, the secretive family that made billions off the opioid crisis, go to democracynow.org. "the washington post" is reporting the establishment republican party has declared open warfare on president trump's former chief strategist steven bannon. bannon is the head of the whichght breitbart news, has been described as a haven for white nationalists. he is also the leading figure in the insurgent of the far right of the republican party. the establishment wing of the republicans, led by senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, have now formed a super pac called the senate leadership fund ahead of the 2018 congressional elections, with the aim of specifically attacking and discrediting bannon. in more news from capitol hill, senate chaplain barry black indirectly called upon more lawmakers to speak out against president trump during his prayer before the senate morning session on wednesday. >> lord, we praise you for ,thically congruent lawmakers who in their innermost beings, are true and honest. give us more senators who are needle toty as the

investigate and hold accountable the members of the family and the tremendous wealth of the thaty, the sacklery has a long history of developing and marketing connected with purdue pharmaceutical, these opioids, and even valuing. they were geniuses at pushing that stuff into the public. they have billions of dollars as a family, not to mention the wealth of the pharmaceuticals to set up and be accountable, and remediate thend suffering that is now -- not to mention the dollar caused that has taken hold of things. guest: it is a good point. there is a lot of work that is going to be done in terms of prescribing, using opiates for disposing of them, and the development of these, given opiates. i think you will see a lot of work being done because we have seen exponential rise in addiction. with thetaken hold beginnings of opiates. i would underscore illness here. we have got to see it as an illness otherwise we will not conquer this growing epidemic that is impacting all demographics of american life. host: michelle is next. she is in minnesota. republican line. caller: good morning. i was wonde