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American Morning
Taliban Kingpin Charged in Massive Drug Conspiracy; 'Paging Dr. Gupta'
Aired April 26, 2005 - 08:30 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, we're looking at the damage done to digits by gadgets. Sanjay gives us a report today on something called "blackberry thumb." This is a blackberry. You can e-mail, make phone calls.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I am so fast on that thing, not to brag.
HEMMER: We can't live without it. So we'll get to Sanjay in a couple of minutes on this.
First, to the headlines, and Carol Costello again with that.
O'BRIEN: Hey, Carol, good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you. Angry words this morning from the Italian journalist injured by American gunfire in Baghdad. The Pentagon released its findings on Monday, clearing all U.S. troops of any wrongdoing in the incident. Giuliana Sgrena, who had been held hostage in Iraq, was injured last month just minutes after her release. The man who helped rescue her, a top Italian security agent, was killed. American troops maintain they fired warning shots that were ignored.
COSTELLO: The mob taking a hit. FBI agents say they've arrested 14 suspected members of organized crime in a major sweep in Illinois, Florida and Arizona. The group is suspected to have taken part in at least 18 murders and other crimes. The indicted include Frank "Goombah" Saladino (ph) and Joey "The Clown" Lombardo. Lombardo is still at-large.
Governor Jeb Bush is poised to sign Florida's so-called "shoot first, ask questions later" gun bill. The measure would allow Florida gun owners to, quote, "meet force with force if they fear for their lives." The National Rifle Association is planning to take similar bills to statehouses across the country.
More witnesses set to testify in the penalty trial of Hassan Akbar. The U.S. Arm Sergeant was found guilty Thursday of killing two fellow soldiers in Kuwait two years ago before the war in Iraq. Akbar's lawyers admit he carried out the attack, but say he was mentally unable at the time. He could get the death penalty.
And a firsthand account from a cross-country who broke her leg in the Colorado Rockies and was found eight days later. Fifty-five-year- old Charles Horton was rescued Monday, suffering from minor frost bite, hypothermia and dehydration. He is recovering, and expected to hold a news conference later today. A sheriff says good gear and a will to live helped Horton survive. You know, he breaks his leg, he was freezing, he dragged himself 200 yards, took him like 10 hours, and then he waited for rescuers.
HEMMER: We need to talk to him.
COSTELLO: We need to hear that news conference coming your way.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: This morning, the story of a notorious Afghan drug lord, a merchant of poison, says U.S. law enforcement officials. Well, now the Taliban kingpin is behind bars in the United States. He is charged in a massive drug conspiracy.
More now from CNN's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Authorities say he's one of the world's biggest heroin traffickers. Haji Bashir Noorzai arrested Saturday after flying into New York's JFK Airport.
JOHN GILBRIDE, DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY: His organization is responsible for sending kilos of heroin not only to the United States, but to many other countries as well. Hundreds of kilos of heroin.
FEYERICK: An amount carrying an estimated $50 million price tag on the street. The feds won't say why the drug kingpin came to the United States or who he may have been traveling with.
What they do say is that for nearly 15 years, Noorzai and his associates worked with the Taliban, giving them weapons and soldiers. And in exchange, the Taliban turned a blind eye to the Afghan drug lord's opium crops, heroin labs, and transport routes.
DAVID KELLEY, U.S. ATTORNEY: On one occasion in 1997, it is alleged that Taliban authorities in Afghanistan seized a truckload of morphine base that belonged to the Noorzai organization. It didn't take very long, however, for Mullah Mohammed Omar to have the drugs returned to Noorzai with Omar's personal apologies.
FEYERICK: Taliban leader Mullah Omar was an ally of Osama bin Laden. Omar and the Taliban were kicked out of Afghanistan by the U.S.-led invasion in retaliation for the 9/11 attacks.
GILBRIDE: That regime can no longer rely on his money, resources, or influence.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors wouldn't talk about possible al Qaeda ties. But in the past, U.S. officials have accused Noorzai of smuggling heroin to al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan.
Noorzai appeared before a federal judge in Manhattan. He entered no plea to drug conspiracy charges against him. (on camera): Noorzai faces up to 10 years to life in prison if convicted. It's too soon to tell what kind of an impact his arrest will have on Afghanistan's overall heroin trade, a trade that makes abruptly half the country's economy.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Noorzai is scheduled to be back in court tomorrow.
HEMMER: Around 25 minutes now before the hour. Paging Dr. Gupta this morning about a new kind of job hazard. It's like carpal tunnel for the thumb.
And as Sanjay reports today, many people who overuse their hand- held devices are now feeling the pain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You've seen them, busy professionals walking through airports and office hallways, seemingly mesmerized by their handheld devices. Fifty-four-year-old Bette Keltner's handheld of choice was the blackberry, until she developed what she calls a blackberry thumb.
BETTE KELTNER, BLACKBERRY TENDINITIS SUFFERER: Blackberry thumb seems to be one of those things that is not officially a diagnosis, but is a reality. But what a limit in life it is if you can't use your thumbs.
GUPTA (on camera): According to the manufacturer, more than three million people will be using one of these by year's end. And I'll tell you this, people here at CNN are so addicted to them, they jokingly refer to them as "crackberries." As more people use them for work, for e-mail, for text messaging, Internet, even video games, greater attention is being focused on possible injuries due to an overworked thumb.
DR. KEITH RASKIN, HAND SURGEON, NYU MEDICAL CENTER: Just as the keyboard and the personal computer led to a lot of concern over repetitive stress of typing, this is the next wave of concern with the use of the thumb on a hand-held device.
GUPTA: In fact, the condition is tendinitis, or inflammation of the tendons. Dr. Keith Raskin, a hand surgeon at NYU Medical Center says that young people are protected, because they have more fluid in their joints, whereas those with a history of arthritis or tendinitis in their body, as well as the elderly, are more prone to the ache in the thumbs. The thumb, with one fewer joint than the rest of the fingers, s is more sensitive to stress than the other three-jointed fingers.
HASKIN: I usually find that if the patient was to just reduce the workload or reduce the repetitive nature of this condition, their symptoms will resolve. GUPTA: As for Bette, four weeks of occupational therapy, pain killers, acupuncture, acupressure and magnets gave her a little bit of relief, but it was only quitting cold turkey that took the pain away. While Bette has had to shut her blackberry off, as for me, and millions of other users, we are showing no signs of problems, and happily clicking away.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: And if you want to see how pervasive this technology is today, just the folks who work around this area today, for us on this show, this is how many devices we picked up in the last 15 minutes -- cellphones, and blackberries and trios, and all kinds of devices here, pager, that all will come under that same category that Sanjay's talking about, what, the thumb.
O'BRIEN: And you have to imagine, I mean, for younger people -- like, we're all relatively old people. But you know, for younger people who are doing this since they're 11 years old, I think about the medical implications could down the road, they'll start to see.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Oftentimes when my blackberry is sitting next to, like, a TV monitor, do you hear the radio waves go through the TV? I'm wondering...
O'BRIEN: I don't care. I love it anyway.
HEMMER: I think the next story for Sanjay to do is what do these radiowaves do to us over a period of five to 10 years, and no one knows, because we're like the first generation ever to experience something like this.
O'BRIEN: I love it anyway.
HEMMER: With four kids, you got to use it, too.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely, I live on mine.
HEMMER: Gets you through.
By the way, the maker of blackberry said in a statement earlier today that they say that any device's overuse is subject to...
O'BRIEN: They don't believe in blackberry thumb at all. No such thing, they say.
HEMMER: Probably right about that. They say adjust your routine if you're having problems with it. So that from the makers.
Still ahead this morning, President Bush is putting pressure on the Saudis to pump more oil. But would that do anything to lower gas prices? Andy's got a reality check for us, up next. HEMMER: Also, the fifth anniversary for Oprah Winfrey's magazine, "O." We'll look at the secrets of that success with Oprah's best friend and editor-at-large. Gayle King is in our studio in a minute.
O'BRIEN: But first this question, what was the subject of the first Oprah Winfrey show? Was it, A, finding the perfect job? B, marrying the perfect person? Or, C, raising good kids? The answer right after our break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Before the break, we asked what was the subject of the first "Oprah Winfrey Show"? The answer is B. The first show was titled "How to Marry the Man or Woman of Your Choice," and that aired on September 9th, 1986.
It's been five years since Oprah Winfrey launched "O," the Oprah magazine. Its success in that has been over-the-top. And the magazine is celebrating the latest milestone with a special issue in May.
Gayle King is "O"'s editor-at-large, joining us this morning. Nice to see you.
GAYLE KING, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "O," OPRAH MAGAZINE: Hello, Soledad. Good to see you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. Has it been a fast five years or a slow five years?
KING: No, it has really been a fast five years.
O'BRIEN: Whizzed by.
KING: You know, you have kids in the house. You know, five years sometimes can seem really short or really fast. This has been really fast. Maybe because it's been so much fun. You know, they say time flies when you're having fun.
O'BRIEN: Well, you know, at the Matrix Awards, Oprah said -- I'm paraphrasing badly -- but she said something very funny about how when she came into the business, she's like, "Let's just make it longer. I mean, who needs advertisers anyway."
KING: No, I know, it's true.
O'BRIEN: Meaning, you had a lot -- you both had a lot to learn.
KING: Listen -- no, we joke about this because as you know, my background is TV, too. And we called ourselves Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder in what we knew about what magazines. We didn't even know TOC, which is table of contents, people. We didn't know the basics. But you know, our thinking was we both know a good story and she had been approached by Hearst with this great idea about, you know, bringing Oprah to the written word, which was very appealing for her. So here we are.
O'BRIEN: TOC, table of contents.
KING: Table of contents.
O'BRIEN: Now, there was a big hullabaloo about Table of Contents, of course, because Oprah didn't want them to be the first -- wanted them to be the first thing in the magazine.
KING: Gosh, you remember that. Good girl!
O'BRIEN: I remember that. There was a list of things, in fact, that were never going to work. First of all, you can't put Oprah on the cover every single time. You can't have, you know, the advertisers come first and then the table of contents after that.
KING: That's right. And that really -- I wouldn't say big battle, because once she said you know, I would rather it this way...
O'BRIEN: It was a battle.
KING: ... Hearst was really OK about it. Heart was really, I have to say, really all right about it. But traditionally in magazines, as you know, you see ads, ads, ads and then TOC. But she said, I want this to be reader-friendly. I really want to do something, I want to make it convenient for the reader. So it's always the second page in the magazine. Always.
O'BRIEN: Is it the same people who watch the show, the same people who are picking up the magazine, or do you know if it's a different audience?
KING: It's a different type of audience, but we also have a lot of show viewers. For instance, the average age of the show is younger than the woman who reads the magazine. But I mean, there certainly is a lot of overlap.
O'BRIEN: Can I ask you about some of the covers?
KING: Yes.
O'BRIEN: The first one, June 2000. Take a look at this cover and then tell me what you remember about the cover.
KING: You know, it's so funny, because looking at it back then we thought great! But looking at it now, especially when you compare it to the one that's on the stands, she does look, dare I say, matronly, almost frumpy.
O'BRIEN: King of low-key.
KING: Kind of low-key. I mean, look at the hair, the makeup, the clothes. There's no energy or life to that cover that we look at now. But back then, we thought it was great. Also notice, there's very few cover lines, because that's how Oprah started. "I don't want many cover lines, I only want one or two because I don't want it cluttered up." And fast forward to year number five, you can tell we've grown, Soledad. You know, it's like when you know better, you do better, as Maya Angelou says.
O'BRIEN: 2001, June.
KING: I think we're doing better.
O'BRIEN: 2001, June, the hat. She writes in the magazine, this issue, she's like, "I love hats. I love hats."
KING: She does. She does love hats.
O'BRIEN: She's got a picture of the staff, people wearing hats.
KING: Listen, Oprah is -- listen, she has a closet at her house devoted just to hats. And Amy Gross (ph), the editor-in-chief, really did not want Oprah in a hat, because she said it takes away.
O'BRIEN: Hats don't sell.
KING: Hats do not sell, not to say this one didn't. So we was wrong, we was wrong.
O'BRIEN: No more hats.
KING: Nope, no more hats. We did it twice and then we go OK, we get it, Amy, it doesn't work.
O'BRIEN: I was told the cover where she's got an "I Love New York" t-shirt on...
KING: Yes!
O'BRIEN: ... was not her favorite cover. Why not? This one, I mean...
KING: Well, OK, all right, that was September. That was our September issue a year later. And the thing -- after 9/11. And we went through a lot of time and expense to really do that outside, and then it comes and people said, boy, why did you put her standing in front of a backdrop? So -- because we were really outside on the rooftop of the building.
O'BRIEN: You might as well have been in the studio. Everybody thinks it's a studio anyway.
KING: It's true. It's true. But no, she wasn't happy -- she wasn't happy with that cover.
O'BRIEN: Let's take a look at this issue, which we've already shown, but let's show it. The most recent one.
KING: Oh, I love this.
O'BRIEN: Glammy dress, over-the-top, looking fabulous. KING: Specially designed just for her. Notice the big five? You get it? It's our fifth anniversary. Now, that dress was specially designed for her by Narciso Rodriguez and it's just sort of -- you know, she looks super-glam. When you compare that cover to the other cover, my how we've grown and how we've changed.
O'BRIEN: What's going to change in the next five years, when we have you back talking about the tenth?
KING: Well, I like to think, you know, it's constant evolution. What I like is people -- somebody actually said this to me, that after I read your magazine, I always feel better about myself and I want to go out and do something for myself, but for somebody else, too. It's not self-help, our magazine. It really is about happiness and saying you're OK right where you are.
O'BRIEN: Gayle King, nice to see you, as always.
KING: Nice to see you, too.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for coming back to talk to us. We sure appreciate it.
KING: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, President Bush seeks oil relief from his Saudi friends , but would boosting oil production really bring down gas prices? Andy's "Minding Your Business." That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: OK, welcome back.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush pressing the Saudi prince for more crude. But will it help lower gas prices? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."
Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Jack.
There was a three-hour meeting between President Bush and Crown Prince Abdullah yesterday at the ranch in Crawford.
Can we hold hands during this segment?
CAFFERTY: No, Andy, Absolutely not. And I have no oil for you either.
SERWER: You know what I'm talking about?
CAFFERTY: Yes, I do. It makes me uncomfortable. Why does it bother me to see that picture?
SERWER: Well, it's a Saudi custom, a Saudi sign of friendship for men to hold hands like that. And President Bush and the crown prince were holding hands. It was deferential, I guess, for the president to do that. It does look a little different. I don't see the president and Dick Cheney holding hands. I don't see President Bush and Condoleezza Rice holding hands.
CAFFERTY: Does this mean he's softening his position on gay marriage?
SERWER: No, it absolutely does not.
Let's talk a little bit about this. So the Saudis pump about 10 million barrels of oil per day. They say they're going to pump about 12.5 million in 2009, up to 15 million. We use about 20 million barrels a day of oil here in the United States, just to give you an idea. And the president was really not trying to get them to bump up production over the short-term. He was really looking to do this over the long-term. And so we shall see. They say they're going to be able to do 15 million barrels of oil a day out there at some point in the near future. I kind of doubt it.
CAFFERTY: If Osama bin Laden has got a TV in the cave he's living in over there and he saw those pictures, he had to be banging his head off his stone wall in his brick house.
SERWER: He might be making a poster out of that shot.
Also, Crown Prince Abdullah took some time out to go visit a local hamburger joint, a little coffee shop, called the coffee station. Here he is. This is a photog moment.
And we did some research here. You can see he purchased several items, the crown prince did, and he bought, as it turns out -- saying hi to well-wishers. He bought a bag of Funyuns. And we actually have a bag of Funyuns right here on the set, enjoyed by Saudi princes everywhere, as well as a Snicker's bar. I don't know if that's very good publicity for these two companies.
CAFFERTY: What you are Funyuns?
SERWER: I've never had one.
CAFFERTY: I know about Snickers.
HEMMER: They're fried onion rings.
O'BRIEN: They're friend onions.
SERWER: Try one. Do you want one?
CAFFERTY: No.
SERWER: All right, enjoyed by Saudi princes everywhere.
CAFFERTY: You guys eat them.
SERWER: And anyway, so that's what we got there. And the Snickers here, I'm not sure whether this is king-sized or prince- sized. OK, I'm really with it today.
Quick talk about the markets here. A little chat. Yesterday, the markets up nicely. This morning, though, futures are down because of chip sales, not Funyun chips, semiconductor sales apparently weak. So we shall see what. We shall see. And I'm glad you guys are enjoying those snacks.
HEMMER: You know what it says on here, it says "onion-flavored rings." These are not onion rings; these are onion-flavored ring.
SERWER: I don't think that bothered the crown prince.
HEMMER: Made in Riyadh.
SERWER: Are they? Well, they're enjoyed by Saudi princes everywhere.
CAFFERTY: It's time for "The Cafferty File."
SERWER: Yes, move on.
CAFFERTY: The Supreme Court said Monday that it's going to decide whether the government can seize your Social Security benefits if you're a former college student who has not paid his student loans. Billions of dollars at stake, $3.6 billion in unpaid student loans that are 10 years delinquent. The current law is confusing. One law says Education Department officials should aggressively collect money from those who default on government-backed student loans. But a second law says the government should not take Social Security benefits to repay debts more than 10 years old. So the Supreme Court's going to sort it all out.
It's called third-party editing. Companies with names like Clean Flicks, Family Flicks and Clean Films by original DVDs and then edit out the nudity, sex, violence and curse words, then they resell them as so-called family-friendly versions. Trouble is, these movies are being hacked up without permission from the screenwriters, the producers, the directors or the actors. Congress passed a bill last week called the family entertainment and copyright act, which specifically protects these third-party editing companies from being sued. And the president is expected to sign it.
Are you listening, George Orwell?
For $18, you can smell Jesus. This is a candle called "His Essence." It's developed by a couple in South Dakota. His essence is created using a formula spelled out in the Bible. Psalm 45 says that when Christ returns, the scent on his garments will be myrrh, aloe and cassia. By combining those ingredients, the candle produce as flowery cinnamon aroma. Karen Toserude (ph) says she created this candle because people cannot see or touch Jesus. But by smelling him, you can, quote, "have a really new dimension to one's experience with Jesus."
SERWER: Scent of Jesus, is that what they call it?
HEMMER: You on the mailing list there, Jack?
SERWER: Do they have a cologne version?
HEMMER: You're going to go to hell doing stuff like that.
SERWER: I just wanted to know. I really want to know. You're one to talk. You're right there with me.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
SERWER: Come on, the weather's fine.
HEMMER: In a moment here, one of the stars of "Growing Up Gotti" joins us. Would you believe that before the show started, 13-year-old Frankie weighed 255 pounds. He'll tell us how he went from fatty Gotti to hottie Gotti, his words.
Back in a moment here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, looking for answers in Georgia. What happened to two toddlers who were found dead in an algae-covered pond. That's story's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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 April 26, 2005 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, we're looking at the damage done to digits by gadgets. Sanjay gives us a report today on something called "blackberry thumb." This is a blackberry. You can e-mail, make phone calls.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I am so fast on that thing, not to brag.
HEMMER: We can't live without it. So we'll get to Sanjay in a couple of minutes on this.
First, to the headlines, and Carol Costello again with that.
O'BRIEN: Hey, Carol, good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you. Angry words this morning from the Italian journalist injured by American gunfire in Baghdad. The Pentagon released its findings on Monday, clearing all U.S. troops of any wrongdoing in the incident. Giuliana Sgrena, who had been held hostage in Iraq, was injured last month just minutes after her release. The man who helped rescue her, a top Italian security agent, was killed. American troops maintain they fired warning shots that were ignored.
COSTELLO: The mob taking a hit. FBI agents say they've arrested 14 suspected members of organized crime in a major sweep in Illinois, Florida and Arizona. The group is suspected to have taken part in at least 18 murders and other crimes. The indicted include Frank "Goombah" Saladino (ph) and Joey "The Clown" Lombardo. Lombardo is still at-large.
Governor Jeb Bush is poised to sign Florida's so-called "shoot first, ask questions later" gun bill. The measure would allow Florida gun owners to, quote, "meet force with force if they fear for their lives." The National Rifle Association is planning to take similar bills to statehouses across the country.
More witnesses set to testify in the penalty trial of Hassan Akbar. The U.S. Arm Sergeant was found guilty Thursday of killing two fellow soldiers in Kuwait two years ago before the war in Iraq. Akbar's lawyers admit he carried out the attack, but say he was mentally unable at the time. He could get the death penalty.
And a firsthand account from a cross-country who broke her leg in the Colorado Rockies and was found eight days later. Fifty-five-year- old Charles Horton was rescued Monday, suffering from minor frost bite, hypothermia and dehydration. He is recovering, and expected to hold a news conference later today. A sheriff says good gear and a will to live helped Horton survive. You know, he breaks his leg, he was freezing, he dragged himself 200 yards, took him like 10 hours, and then he waited for rescuers.
HEMMER: We need to talk to him.
COSTELLO: We need to hear that news conference coming your way.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: This morning, the story of a notorious Afghan drug lord, a merchant of poison, says U.S. law enforcement officials. Well, now the Taliban kingpin is behind bars in the United States. He is charged in a massive drug conspiracy.
More now from CNN's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Authorities say he's one of the world's biggest heroin traffickers. Haji Bashir Noorzai arrested Saturday after flying into New York's JFK Airport.
JOHN GILBRIDE, DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY: His organization is responsible for sending kilos of heroin not only to the United States, but to many other countries as well. Hundreds of kilos of heroin.
FEYERICK: An amount carrying an estimated $50 million price tag on the street. The feds won't say why the drug kingpin came to the United States or who he may have been traveling with.
What they do say is that for nearly 15 years, Noorzai and his associates worked with the Taliban, giving them weapons and soldiers. And in exchange, the Taliban turned a blind eye to the Afghan drug lord's opium crops, heroin labs, and transport routes.
DAVID KELLEY, U.S. ATTORNEY: On one occasion in 1997, it is alleged that Taliban authorities in Afghanistan seized a truckload of morphine base that belonged to the Noorzai organization. It didn't take very long, however, for Mullah Mohammed Omar to have the drugs returned to Noorzai with Omar's personal apologies.
FEYERICK: Taliban leader Mullah Omar was an ally of Osama bin Laden. Omar and the Taliban were kicked out of Afghanistan by the U.S.-led invasion in retaliation for the 9/11 attacks.
GILBRIDE: That regime can no longer rely on his money, resources, or influence.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors wouldn't talk about possible al Qaeda ties. But in the past, U.S. officials have accused Noorzai of smuggling heroin to al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan.
Noorzai appeared before a federal judge in Manhattan. He entered no plea to drug conspiracy charges against him. (on camera): Noorzai faces up to 10 years to life in prison if convicted. It's too soon to tell what kind of an impact his arrest will have on Afghanistan's overall heroin trade, a trade that makes abruptly half the country's economy.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Noorzai is scheduled to be back in court tomorrow.
HEMMER: Around 25 minutes now before the hour. Paging Dr. Gupta this morning about a new kind of job hazard. It's like carpal tunnel for the thumb.
And as Sanjay reports today, many people who overuse their hand- held devices are now feeling the pain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You've seen them, busy professionals walking through airports and office hallways, seemingly mesmerized by their handheld devices. Fifty-four-year-old Bette Keltner's handheld of choice was the blackberry, until she developed what she calls a blackberry thumb.
BETTE KELTNER, BLACKBERRY TENDINITIS SUFFERER: Blackberry thumb seems to be one of those things that is not officially a diagnosis, but is a reality. But what a limit in life it is if you can't use your thumbs.
GUPTA (on camera): According to the manufacturer, more than three million people will be using one of these by year's end. And I'll tell you this, people here at CNN are so addicted to them, they jokingly refer to them as "crackberries." As more people use them for work, for e-mail, for text messaging, Internet, even video games, greater attention is being focused on possible injuries due to an overworked thumb.
DR. KEITH RASKIN, HAND SURGEON, NYU MEDICAL CENTER: Just as the keyboard and the personal computer led to a lot of concern over repetitive stress of typing, this is the next wave of concern with the use of the thumb on a hand-held device.
GUPTA: In fact, the condition is tendinitis, or inflammation of the tendons. Dr. Keith Raskin, a hand surgeon at NYU Medical Center says that young people are protected, because they have more fluid in their joints, whereas those with a history of arthritis or tendinitis in their body, as well as the elderly, are more prone to the ache in the thumbs. The thumb, with one fewer joint than the rest of the fingers, s is more sensitive to stress than the other three-jointed fingers.
HASKIN: I usually find that if the patient was to just reduce the workload or reduce the repetitive nature of this condition, their symptoms will resolve. GUPTA: As for Bette, four weeks of occupational therapy, pain killers, acupuncture, acupressure and magnets gave her a little bit of relief, but it was only quitting cold turkey that took the pain away. While Bette has had to shut her blackberry off, as for me, and millions of other users, we are showing no signs of problems, and happily clicking away.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: And if you want to see how pervasive this technology is today, just the folks who work around this area today, for us on this show, this is how many devices we picked up in the last 15 minutes -- cellphones, and blackberries and trios, and all kinds of devices here, pager, that all will come under that same category that Sanjay's talking about, what, the thumb.
O'BRIEN: And you have to imagine, I mean, for younger people -- like, we're all relatively old people. But you know, for younger people who are doing this since they're 11 years old, I think about the medical implications could down the road, they'll start to see.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Oftentimes when my blackberry is sitting next to, like, a TV monitor, do you hear the radio waves go through the TV? I'm wondering...
O'BRIEN: I don't care. I love it anyway.
HEMMER: I think the next story for Sanjay to do is what do these radiowaves do to us over a period of five to 10 years, and no one knows, because we're like the first generation ever to experience something like this.
O'BRIEN: I love it anyway.
HEMMER: With four kids, you got to use it, too.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely, I live on mine.
HEMMER: Gets you through.
By the way, the maker of blackberry said in a statement earlier today that they say that any device's overuse is subject to...
O'BRIEN: They don't believe in blackberry thumb at all. No such thing, they say.
HEMMER: Probably right about that. They say adjust your routine if you're having problems with it. So that from the makers.
Still ahead this morning, President Bush is putting pressure on the Saudis to pump more oil. But would that do anything to lower gas prices? Andy's got a reality check for us, up next. HEMMER: Also, the fifth anniversary for Oprah Winfrey's magazine, "O." We'll look at the secrets of that success with Oprah's best friend and editor-at-large. Gayle King is in our studio in a minute.
O'BRIEN: But first this question, what was the subject of the first Oprah Winfrey show? Was it, A, finding the perfect job? B, marrying the perfect person? Or, C, raising good kids? The answer right after our break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Before the break, we asked what was the subject of the first "Oprah Winfrey Show"? The answer is B. The first show was titled "How to Marry the Man or Woman of Your Choice," and that aired on September 9th, 1986.
It's been five years since Oprah Winfrey launched "O," the Oprah magazine. Its success in that has been over-the-top. And the magazine is celebrating the latest milestone with a special issue in May.
Gayle King is "O"'s editor-at-large, joining us this morning. Nice to see you.
GAYLE KING, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "O," OPRAH MAGAZINE: Hello, Soledad. Good to see you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. Has it been a fast five years or a slow five years?
KING: No, it has really been a fast five years.
O'BRIEN: Whizzed by.
KING: You know, you have kids in the house. You know, five years sometimes can seem really short or really fast. This has been really fast. Maybe because it's been so much fun. You know, they say time flies when you're having fun.
O'BRIEN: Well, you know, at the Matrix Awards, Oprah said -- I'm paraphrasing badly -- but she said something very funny about how when she came into the business, she's like, "Let's just make it longer. I mean, who needs advertisers anyway."
KING: No, I know, it's true.
O'BRIEN: Meaning, you had a lot -- you both had a lot to learn.
KING: Listen -- no, we joke about this because as you know, my background is TV, too. And we called ourselves Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder in what we knew about what magazines. We didn't even know TOC, which is table of contents, people. We didn't know the basics. But you know, our thinking was we both know a good story and she had been approached by Hearst with this great idea about, you know, bringing Oprah to the written word, which was very appealing for her. So here we are.
O'BRIEN: TOC, table of contents.
KING: Table of contents.
O'BRIEN: Now, there was a big hullabaloo about Table of Contents, of course, because Oprah didn't want them to be the first -- wanted them to be the first thing in the magazine.
KING: Gosh, you remember that. Good girl!
O'BRIEN: I remember that. There was a list of things, in fact, that were never going to work. First of all, you can't put Oprah on the cover every single time. You can't have, you know, the advertisers come first and then the table of contents after that.
KING: That's right. And that really -- I wouldn't say big battle, because once she said you know, I would rather it this way...
O'BRIEN: It was a battle.
KING: ... Hearst was really OK about it. Heart was really, I have to say, really all right about it. But traditionally in magazines, as you know, you see ads, ads, ads and then TOC. But she said, I want this to be reader-friendly. I really want to do something, I want to make it convenient for the reader. So it's always the second page in the magazine. Always.
O'BRIEN: Is it the same people who watch the show, the same people who are picking up the magazine, or do you know if it's a different audience?
KING: It's a different type of audience, but we also have a lot of show viewers. For instance, the average age of the show is younger than the woman who reads the magazine. But I mean, there certainly is a lot of overlap.
O'BRIEN: Can I ask you about some of the covers?
KING: Yes.
O'BRIEN: The first one, June 2000. Take a look at this cover and then tell me what you remember about the cover.
KING: You know, it's so funny, because looking at it back then we thought great! But looking at it now, especially when you compare it to the one that's on the stands, she does look, dare I say, matronly, almost frumpy.
O'BRIEN: King of low-key.
KING: Kind of low-key. I mean, look at the hair, the makeup, the clothes. There's no energy or life to that cover that we look at now. But back then, we thought it was great. Also notice, there's very few cover lines, because that's how Oprah started. "I don't want many cover lines, I only want one or two because I don't want it cluttered up." And fast forward to year number five, you can tell we've grown, Soledad. You know, it's like when you know better, you do better, as Maya Angelou says.
O'BRIEN: 2001, June.
KING: I think we're doing better.
O'BRIEN: 2001, June, the hat. She writes in the magazine, this issue, she's like, "I love hats. I love hats."
KING: She does. She does love hats.
O'BRIEN: She's got a picture of the staff, people wearing hats.
KING: Listen, Oprah is -- listen, she has a closet at her house devoted just to hats. And Amy Gross (ph), the editor-in-chief, really did not want Oprah in a hat, because she said it takes away.
O'BRIEN: Hats don't sell.
KING: Hats do not sell, not to say this one didn't. So we was wrong, we was wrong.
O'BRIEN: No more hats.
KING: Nope, no more hats. We did it twice and then we go OK, we get it, Amy, it doesn't work.
O'BRIEN: I was told the cover where she's got an "I Love New York" t-shirt on...
KING: Yes!
O'BRIEN: ... was not her favorite cover. Why not? This one, I mean...
KING: Well, OK, all right, that was September. That was our September issue a year later. And the thing -- after 9/11. And we went through a lot of time and expense to really do that outside, and then it comes and people said, boy, why did you put her standing in front of a backdrop? So -- because we were really outside on the rooftop of the building.
O'BRIEN: You might as well have been in the studio. Everybody thinks it's a studio anyway.
KING: It's true. It's true. But no, she wasn't happy -- she wasn't happy with that cover.
O'BRIEN: Let's take a look at this issue, which we've already shown, but let's show it. The most recent one.
KING: Oh, I love this.
O'BRIEN: Glammy dress, over-the-top, looking fabulous. KING: Specially designed just for her. Notice the big five? You get it? It's our fifth anniversary. Now, that dress was specially designed for her by Narciso Rodriguez and it's just sort of -- you know, she looks super-glam. When you compare that cover to the other cover, my how we've grown and how we've changed.
O'BRIEN: What's going to change in the next five years, when we have you back talking about the tenth?
KING: Well, I like to think, you know, it's constant evolution. What I like is people -- somebody actually said this to me, that after I read your magazine, I always feel better about myself and I want to go out and do something for myself, but for somebody else, too. It's not self-help, our magazine. It really is about happiness and saying you're OK right where you are.
O'BRIEN: Gayle King, nice to see you, as always.
KING: Nice to see you, too.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for coming back to talk to us. We sure appreciate it.
KING: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, President Bush seeks oil relief from his Saudi friends , but would boosting oil production really bring down gas prices? Andy's "Minding Your Business." That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: OK, welcome back.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush pressing the Saudi prince for more crude. But will it help lower gas prices? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."
Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Jack.
There was a three-hour meeting between President Bush and Crown Prince Abdullah yesterday at the ranch in Crawford.
Can we hold hands during this segment?
CAFFERTY: No, Andy, Absolutely not. And I have no oil for you either.
SERWER: You know what I'm talking about?
CAFFERTY: Yes, I do. It makes me uncomfortable. Why does it bother me to see that picture?
SERWER: Well, it's a Saudi custom, a Saudi sign of friendship for men to hold hands like that. And President Bush and the crown prince were holding hands. It was deferential, I guess, for the president to do that. It does look a little different. I don't see the president and Dick Cheney holding hands. I don't see President Bush and Condoleezza Rice holding hands.
CAFFERTY: Does this mean he's softening his position on gay marriage?
SERWER: No, it absolutely does not.
Let's talk a little bit about this. So the Saudis pump about 10 million barrels of oil per day. They say they're going to pump about 12.5 million in 2009, up to 15 million. We use about 20 million barrels a day of oil here in the United States, just to give you an idea. And the president was really not trying to get them to bump up production over the short-term. He was really looking to do this over the long-term. And so we shall see. They say they're going to be able to do 15 million barrels of oil a day out there at some point in the near future. I kind of doubt it.
CAFFERTY: If Osama bin Laden has got a TV in the cave he's living in over there and he saw those pictures, he had to be banging his head off his stone wall in his brick house.
SERWER: He might be making a poster out of that shot.
Also, Crown Prince Abdullah took some time out to go visit a local hamburger joint, a little coffee shop, called the coffee station. Here he is. This is a photog moment.
And we did some research here. You can see he purchased several items, the crown prince did, and he bought, as it turns out -- saying hi to well-wishers. He bought a bag of Funyuns. And we actually have a bag of Funyuns right here on the set, enjoyed by Saudi princes everywhere, as well as a Snicker's bar. I don't know if that's very good publicity for these two companies.
CAFFERTY: What you are Funyuns?
SERWER: I've never had one.
CAFFERTY: I know about Snickers.
HEMMER: They're fried onion rings.
O'BRIEN: They're friend onions.
SERWER: Try one. Do you want one?
CAFFERTY: No.
SERWER: All right, enjoyed by Saudi princes everywhere.
CAFFERTY: You guys eat them.
SERWER: And anyway, so that's what we got there. And the Snickers here, I'm not sure whether this is king-sized or prince- sized. OK, I'm really with it today.
Quick talk about the markets here. A little chat. Yesterday, the markets up nicely. This morning, though, futures are down because of chip sales, not Funyun chips, semiconductor sales apparently weak. So we shall see what. We shall see. And I'm glad you guys are enjoying those snacks.
HEMMER: You know what it says on here, it says "onion-flavored rings." These are not onion rings; these are onion-flavored ring.
SERWER: I don't think that bothered the crown prince.
HEMMER: Made in Riyadh.
SERWER: Are they? Well, they're enjoyed by Saudi princes everywhere.
CAFFERTY: It's time for "The Cafferty File."
SERWER: Yes, move on.
CAFFERTY: The Supreme Court said Monday that it's going to decide whether the government can seize your Social Security benefits if you're a former college student who has not paid his student loans. Billions of dollars at stake, $3.6 billion in unpaid student loans that are 10 years delinquent. The current law is confusing. One law says Education Department officials should aggressively collect money from those who default on government-backed student loans. But a second law says the government should not take Social Security benefits to repay debts more than 10 years old. So the Supreme Court's going to sort it all out.
It's called third-party editing. Companies with names like Clean Flicks, Family Flicks and Clean Films by original DVDs and then edit out the nudity, sex, violence and curse words, then they resell them as so-called family-friendly versions. Trouble is, these movies are being hacked up without permission from the screenwriters, the producers, the directors or the actors. Congress passed a bill last week called the family entertainment and copyright act, which specifically protects these third-party editing companies from being sued. And the president is expected to sign it.
Are you listening, George Orwell?
For $18, you can smell Jesus. This is a candle called "His Essence." It's developed by a couple in South Dakota. His essence is created using a formula spelled out in the Bible. Psalm 45 says that when Christ returns, the scent on his garments will be myrrh, aloe and cassia. By combining those ingredients, the candle produce as flowery cinnamon aroma. Karen Toserude (ph) says she created this candle because people cannot see or touch Jesus. But by smelling him, you can, quote, "have a really new dimension to one's experience with Jesus."
SERWER: Scent of Jesus, is that what they call it?
HEMMER: You on the mailing list there, Jack?
SERWER: Do they have a cologne version?
HEMMER: You're going to go to hell doing stuff like that.
SERWER: I just wanted to know. I really want to know. You're one to talk. You're right there with me.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
SERWER: Come on, the weather's fine.
HEMMER: In a moment here, one of the stars of "Growing Up Gotti" joins us. Would you believe that before the show started, 13-year-old Frankie weighed 255 pounds. He'll tell us how he went from fatty Gotti to hottie Gotti, his words.
Back in a moment here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, looking for answers in Georgia. What happened to two toddlers who were found dead in an algae-covered pond. That's story's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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