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Afghan Drug Kingpin Arrested; Bush Discusses Oil Prices with Saudi Crown Prince; Train Crash in Japan Kills Dozens
Aired April 25, 2005 - 13:00 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: A man on America's most wanted drug kingpin's list with alleged ties to the Taliban now under arrest on charges of heroin trafficking. We've got more on the charges in a "CNN Security Watch."
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: High gas prices. Can President Bush get Saudi Arabia's crown prince to do something to give U.S. drivers a break? We're live from the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
O'BRIEN: A crash test. A mid-size car proved it's more than tough enough in a new round of smashups.
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
The war on terror and the war on drugs with one arrest. The Bush administration claims a huge victory in both.
A suspect described as the most notorious Afghan drug lord, one who allegedly forged an unholy alliance with the Taliban, thus endangering the national security, foreign policy and the economy of the United State, is in U.S. custody.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick has details now from New York. What do we know, Deb?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, drug agents call Bashir Noorzai the Pablo Escobar of Asia. That's how big they say this player was.
They were waiting for the alleged kingpin to make a mistake. On Saturday that's just what happened. Sources tell CNN that Noorzai flew into New York's JFK Airport, where he was quickly taken into custody.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KELLEY, U.S. ATTORNEY: Noorzai and other heroin traffickers threatened to poison the increasing number of people throughout many countries, including the United States, who use heroin. We are committed to identifying, targeting, disrupting, prosecuting and eradicating all of these merchants of poison, addiction, and of corruption, who are nothing more than blood-sucking parasites to good people here and abroad. (END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Federal prosecutors are charging Noorzai with drug conspiracy. They say that over the last 15 years he led an international heroin trafficking ring, that he smuggled drugs from Afghanistan to Pakistan and then on to western countries like the United States. And we're talking some tens of millions of dollars worth.
Prosecutors say that the suspected kingpin was protected by the Taliban. They turned a blind eye to his heroin trafficking roots, as well as to the poppy labs where he processed the poppy into heroin, and in exchange he gave the Taliban weapons. The Taliban, of course, being the same organization that at one point protected Osama bin Laden.
Now as for Noorzai, he is here in New York. He is expected to appear before a federal judge some time this afternoon, where he will make a first appearance -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Do we know any numbers, Deb, of how much of that heroin actually came from Afghanistan to the United States?
FEYERICK: Well, prosecutors put a round number of about $50 million worth and according to a report by the International Relations Committee, they say that he was smuggling more than 4,000 pounds of heroin out of Afghanistan every eight weeks. We don't know exactly how much of that wound up here in the United States, but prosecutors believe it was a substantial amount.
PHILLIPS: All right. Deb Feyerick, thank you very much. In just a few minutes we're going to talk more about the drugs and terror connection with Eric Margolis, author of "War at the Top of the World." That's at half past this hour on LIVE FROM.
O'BRIEN: Airports get the air time but millions of Americans ride the rails every day, especially in the northeast, and anti-terror measures are on track for them as well.
That was Michael Chertoff's message today in his first visit as homeland security secretary to New York's Grand Central Terminal. Said almost $40 million in federally funded rail security upgrades are in place, and they're paying dividends.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: There is tremendous security here. We have detectors that are focused on potential biological hazards, on chemical hazards. We saw the canine unit, which is the dogs, that go out and do explosive sniffing. We do a tremendous job. There is a presence, a security presence in and around the terminal and the trains. So we've certainly done a great deal to make the rails safe for New Yorkers and safe for people who are visiting New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP) O'BRIEN: CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage and news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.
Global security and the sky-high price of oil are on the president's radar for the second visit of the Saudi crown prince to the southwest wing in Texas. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is nearby, has a live report for us -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, it was just moments ago that we saw President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, of course, the president greeting his guest at the Crawford ranch, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.
As you know, this is his second time at the Crawford ranch. That is the first time any world leader has gotten a second invite, certainly underscoring the importance of their relationship, as well as the relationship between our countries.
President Bush taking a couple of questions, essentially saying that, yes, U.S. gas prices, soaring gas prices, are going to be at the top of his agenda. He is going to ask Abdullah, essentially, whether or not he is producing at his country's capacity, doing everything that he can to assist the United States in making sure that those prices don't rise any higher. He's going to make the case that ultimately those high prices will hurt the international economy.
President Bush, just moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Talking about energy and the crown prince understands that it's very important for there to be a -- make sure that the prices are reasonable. High oil price will damage markets, and he knows that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The president also actually voluntarily talked about the energy bill. This has really been a problem for the administration. It is the bill that has languished in Congress for the last four years.
And what this means essentially, senior administration officials telling us that this whole issue about the raising gas prices has become a political liability for this president. He is trying to push forth any type of plan that he thinks will work, but even the president recently saying that he cannot wave a magic wand to make these prices go down. But he certainly hopes that by meeting with the crown prince, making this an issue, that he's at least showing Americans that he is trying to address the problem -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux near Crawford, thank you very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. The -- the kind of videotape that caught our attention earlier in the day. We've got a little bit of an update.
This the lone bear who was found caught up in this tree. This is tape turned around from just a little while ago. And we are being told now -- this is courtesy of WABC, this videotape. And we're told they lowered him down, gave him some sort of tranquilizer and attached the ropes and helped him down from this area. It's just off of Bordentown Avenue in New Jersey. It's Central Jersey, where this happened.
He was first spotted, actually, in an area of town, and then this bear made its way past an elementary school, which is what alerted folks. They got a little worried. And animal control was on the site and took the animal down way shot to sedate him.
Now, animal control says that they're going to take the bear up to north Jersey or somewhere else where he can roam free. So the bear is safe. He's been brought down safely, the poor guy. They're going to take him back to an area where he can roam free and finally relax a little bit.
No doubt, a tenseful (ph) day for the bear in New Jersey -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: It looks a little "unbearable" the way he's coming down there.
PHILLIPS: A hairy situation.
O'BRIEN: Better than the trampoline technique which we have witnessed in the past, but good to see the bear from Bayone is now safe and sound.
All right. Time for us to take a break. How do you top that one? Pretty much downhill from there, folks.
A commuter disaster, a train derails. Hundreds of rescuers on the scene in Tokyo. We'll have the latest on the search there, just ahead.
And was it a driver's lucky day? Her car crashes, runs off the road, so far doesn't sound very lucky. But it lands on the train tracks. What happened next, troopers call a miracle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light what so proudly -- sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: OK. No one ever said the lyrics were easy. And she was better than Roseanne Barr. But not by much. A singer's worst nightmare. And wait, it gets worse. But we're not going to show that, but it does get worse.
The story of the anthem, amnesia and the fall from grace a little later on LIVE FROM.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: No, this is not an illusion, I promise. It is snow, and lots of it, more than a month into spring! A freak snowstorm dumped as much as 16 inches of snow in parts of Michigan this weekend. That storm knocked out power and forced the cancellation of two Major League Baseball games. More snow fell across the Midwest and the Appalachians.
What's the weather like today? Let's check in with Rob Marciano.
(WEATHER REPORT)
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O'BRIEN: Horrific pictures today from Japan. These photos shot by reporter for Japan's NHK Network, who was onboard a commuter train that crashed during rush hour.
At least 57 killed, more than 440 reported injured, some seriously. It's the country's worst train accident in more than 40 years. Now investigators are trying to figure out how it happened, of course.
CNN's Atika Shubert with more from Tokyo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It happened at 9:20 a.m. Osaka time, just after the morning rush hour. A commuter train jumped the tracks and plowed into a nearby apartment building. Survivors scrambled to get out of the wreckage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They step on brakes. There was a cloud of dust and then two crash sounds.
SHUBERT: The first car of the train slid into a parking area. The second was jerked sideways and rammed against the building, wrapping the car around its corner. Rescue workers had to cut away portions of the train to free passengers.
Investigators are looking for the cause. One possibility, excessive speed. Railway officials say the train would have had to be moving at more than 133 kilometers per hour to derail. The train's exact speed is not known, but survivors say the train was traveling too fast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The train was late and I thought it was going faster than usual, and I was a bit worried because the train had overrun the station. Then there was a big crashing sound. SHUBERT: Investigators are also scrutinizing the automatic braking system, one of the oldest in Japan. Another possibility, officials say, is that something was on the tracks, obstructing the train's path, and causing it to jump the tracks. There are no answers yet.
Bowing in deep apology, West Japan Rail, the company running the train, held several news conferences, expressing their condolences and promising to find out what happened.
(on camera) Japan has one of the most complex railway systems in the world. Until now, it had a good safety record. In order to keep that reputation, investigators will have to quickly find out exactly what caused the accident and how to prevent it in the future.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: In the fight for Iraq, insurgents are finding new targets. Near Kirkuk today an attack on a key oil artery. No injuries were reported in this blast, but the bombing took out oil pumps used for domestic supplies.
Two Iraqi policemen were wounded in that separate attack when insurgents opened fire on a convoy of oil tanker trucks. Three rebels were arrested during a one-hour gun battle over that convoy.
First pictures now of the aftermath of a double blast on Sunday near a Shiite mosque and busy market in Baghdad. Today Iraqi officials say that at least 24 Iraqis died and dozens were wounded. A spokesperson at the Iraqi prime minister's office denounces the blast as cowardly acts of desperate terrorists, adding that innocent Iraqis are paying the price.
Well, the sentencing phase is now underway for Army Sergeant Hassan Akbar. A military jury at Fort Bragg found Akbar guilty of premeditated and attempted murder in a grenade and rifle attack on his comrades in the early days of the Iraq war. Two officers in the 101st Airborne were killed in the nighttime attack on their tents at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. Fourteen other officers wounded. Akbar could face the death penalty. The Army has not carried out an execution since 1961.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM, G.M. puts the brakes on more than two million cars and trucks. Find out why they're being recalled.
Later on LIVE FROM, sex offender's suicide. A Florida man apparently kills himself after this sign appears outside his home. We'll talk with a former sex offender about it.
Top ranked tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, they're joining us live on fashion, tennis and getting pumped. (END VIDEO CLIP)
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O'BRIEN: Well, a state trooper is calling it miraculous. A woman driving near Columbia, South Carolina, Ballentine, to be exact for you, yesterday suffered not one but two brushes with death and lived to tell about it.
Tamara King from our CNN affiliate WIS has the remarkable story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAMARA KING, WIS REPORTER (voice-over): Before sunrise, a car is struck by a train going about 45 miles an hour. The train hits the small car with such force it pushes the vehicle the length of three football fields before coming to a stop. The driver, trapped inside the whole time.
LANCE CORPORAL BRYAN MCDOUGAL, SOUTH CAROLINA HIGHWAY PATROL: Our troopers on the scene advised that she was conscience and talking.
KING: Lance Corporal Bryan McDougal says the driver was 37-year- old Lana Hudspeth. Amazingly, she survived the collision with the train, but even more amazing is how she ended up on the tracks.
(on camera) Officers say the car came down from off the road, falling nearly 30 feet onto the railroad tracks, and it sat here over two hours unnoticed.
MCDOUGAL: Evidently, there was no one who witnessed this crash, and the vehicle was not visible from the roadway for passersby.
KING (voice-over): Emergency crews pulled Hudspeth from her wrecked car, then airlifted her to Palmetto Health Richland. Officers couldn't believe that Hudspeth lived to tell what happened.
MCDOUGAL: The amount of force in that crash is unbelievable. And for someone, in the information I have at this time, to have survived -- to have survived, it is miraculous, I should say. Because it was a violent collision.
KING: You could still see several things lying around that had fallen out of Hudspeth's car when it fell. Car parts, magazines and CDs lined the railway tracks. Troopers still don't know what caused Hudspeth to lose control of her car.
In Ballentine, Tamara King, WIS News-10.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That's something. There's no official word on Hudspeth's condition. We can't tell you about it. We would if we could. Her family says, however, she is alive and holding her own -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Listen up, G.M. truck and SUV owners. There's a big recall coming down the pike. Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with that W story.
Susan, Miles not happy. He's got two G.M. trucks.
(STOCK REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Saigon, April 24, 1975. The scene was chaotic, and thousands of civilians were trying to flee as communists troops from the north were closing in. Hundreds of people escaped with the help of an American named Al Topping.
CNN's Elaine Quijano sat down with Topping on the anniversary to reminisce about that fateful day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thirty years ago, as communists drew closer to consolidating their grip on South Vietnam, and thousands were trying to escape uncertain fates, American Al Topping made a life-altering decision.
AL TOPPING, ADOPTED PAN AM EMPLOYEES: How often does one in a lifetime -- is placed in a situation where you're going to make decisions that involve life and death? And that's what that was.
QUIJANO: His life then, in April of 1975, had led him to Saigon in South Vietnam, where he was serving as director of operations for Pan Am Airlines. He was working with adoption agencies, helping get children out of the country, but he knew the 61 Vietnamese employees of his company also need help.
TOPPING: I decided, "Let's try and adopt the employees." So I had our personnel person go down to the ministry.
QUIJANO: Yet, as the North Vietnamese army advanced on Saigon, the task mushroomed. Hundreds of family members also wanted out.
TOPPING: I said, "Get all the paperwork that we need to adopt our employees and their families." And this is for me a shot in the dark, you know?
Lo and behold, he came back with a stack of documents. I started signing them. I signed everything. It's all Vietnamese. I didn't know what I was signing, just signed everything, took it back, and we got it approved.
QUIJANO: Getting the overloaded plane airborne was dramatized by Hollywood.
JAMES EARL JONES, ACTOR: The plane's got to be able to fly, Darren. I mean, get off the ground. QUIJANO: On April 24, 1975, a 747 carrying 463 people, most of them babies, took off, headed for the Philippines. Topping sat in the jump seat of the cockpit, the last commercial flight out of South Vietnam.
TOPPING: As we finally climbed out and crossed the coastline, out over the South China Sea, I looked out the window, and I saw the American ships down below. And at that point, I was breathing easier.
QUIJANO: He still feels kinship with anyone who escaped in those dark days. Decades later, Topping doesn't credit himself with a successful mission.
TOPPING: I think God was on our side.
QUIJANO: Elaine Quijano, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now in the news, as the search resumes for two toddlers missing in Warrenton, Georgia, authorities say they have no reason to suspect foul play. Nicole and Jonah Payne were reported missing on Saturday by their mother. Investigators say they have interviewed several people and administered more than one polygraph exam in the case.
It's a Neverland nail-biter. Well, Michael Jackson's ex-wife will she take the stand this week as a witness for the prosecution? The fact that Debbie Rowe is battling the pop star for custody of their two children could make her testimony even more explosive. Prosecutor Tom Sneddon says he plans to rest the state's case this week.
In New York, no such thing as a free lunch, or in this case a free dinner. Martha Stewart attended an event in Manhattan last week. Federal probation officials now confirm that she's under scrutiny for possible probation violation. As part of her criminal conviction, Stewart remains at her house arrest and is only permitted to leave home for work or other preapproved reasons.
Following the lead of Charles and Camilla, a London tabloid says that Elton John and his longtime partner David Furnish (ph) are planning a civil ceremony in Windsor, England, later this year or early next year. As of December 5th, gay couples in Britain may take advantage of civil partnerships, which offer the same tax breaks available to married couples.
(MUSIC)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you for that little Elton John moment there, Scotty. Appreciate it.
It sounds as outrageous as it does chilling. The leader of a white supremacist group in the U.S. wants to partner up with one of the most notorious terrorist groups of all-time, Al Qaeda.
CNN's Rick Sanchez talks with the man who'd like to see that happen, and it's something you'll see only on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): August Kreis is a white supremacist and the leader of a group known as the Aryan Nation, not someone you think would be making common cause with the Islamic terrorists who attacked the U.S. on 9/11.
AUGUST KREIS, ARYAN NATION: You say they're terrorists; I say they're freedom fighters. And I want to instill the same Jihadic feeling that -- in our people's heart, in the Aryan race, that they have for their father, who they Allah.
SANCHEZ: Kreis is trying to build this unholy alliance between Al Qaeda and the Aryan Nation, from, of all places, Florida.
(on camera): I want to show you something that's ironic about this particular story in relation to the state of Florida. This is Palm Beach County Airport, one of the place where's Mohammed Atta, the supposed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, came to try and learn to fly one of these planes.
And now we're in the orange groves of central Florida. This is where Aryan has now set up shop. And there's more. This is where Aryan Nation's leader is now thanking Al Qaeda and praising those very same hijackers that we just told you about.
You want Americans to appreciate the efforts of the very people who attacked us within 9/11.
KREIS: I don't believe that they were the ones that attacked us. And even if they did, even if you say they did, I don't care. I don't care. We have no say in this country now. We Aryan, the Aryan race, has no say anymore in a country that our forefathers fought and died for.
SANCHEZ: From its compound in Idaho, Aryan Nation used to be one of the most feared extremist groups. Its ideology is violently anti- Semetic mat anti-government. It calls the government "ZOG," which stands for Zionists Occupation Government.
(on camera): What is August Kreis and the Aryan's nations main goal?
KREIS: The end goal would be a white United States, the whole country, white only.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Which would seem to rule out any sympathy with Arabs or Muslims. So then what connects them? Simply put, a hatred of Jews and the U.S. government.
Aryan Nation's followers have held marches, been convicted of robbing banks, even of shooting children at a Jewish community center in Los Angeles.
But then a civil suit stripped the organization of its headquarters, and its founder, Richard Butler, died.
In steps August Kreis, first from Pennsylvania.
(on camera): In Pennsylvania, there were some officials, one of which called you a village idiot.
KREIS: Well, I don't really care what titles or tags they want to put on me. You know I'm no idiot. You might think I'm radical to the extreme, but you know I'm no idiot.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Christ, who says he lives on a military disability pension, recently moved to Sebring (ph), Florida where he's been trying to rebuild Aryan Nation by promoting an alliance with the likes of Al Qaeda, especially over the Internet. However, he didn't want us to visit his house, fearing trouble from his neighbors, so he met us at a local park.
(on camera): How many people do you think out there in America agree with your ideology?
KREIS: I have no idea. I have no idea.
SANCHEZ: Give me a guess.
KREIS: I have no idea! How could I have -- I don't want -- if they believe in my philosophy, I don't even really want them to call me or contact me.
SANCHEZ: Why?
KREIS: Puts -- why?
SANCHEZ: Why?
KREIS: Because I don't want them identified. What do you think lone wolf-ism is all about?
SANCHEZ: So this is how it's going work if from now on?
KREIS: This is the way it's going to work from now on.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Lone wolf-ism is the idea that terrorists can act on their own or in small cells, as in the case of Timothy McVeigh when he bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City 10 years ago.
The idea of an alliance between neo-Nazis and Islamic extremists is actually not at all new. It dates back to contacts between Hitler, the Third Reich, and the Muslim Brotherhood, the very genesis of Al Qaeda itself.
We contacted FBI officials, who tell us they're trying to keep an eye out for neo-Nazis trying to make contact with jihadis. But they so far, they've not seen any evidence of it. Those who monitor hate groups call it a dangerous proposition. MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: The notion of radical Islamists from abroad actually getting together with American neo- Nazis, I think is an absolutely frightening one. It's just that so far we really have no evidence at all to suggest that this is any kind of real collaboration.
SANCHEZ: It's not clear if August Kreis' alliance exists anywhere other than in his own mind and on the Internet, but he's hoping someone, somewhere in Al Qaeda is listening.
Rick Sanchez, CNN, Sebring, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Still ahead on LIVE FROM this hour...
(SINGING)
PHILLIPS: Oh, if you thought that was bad, well, the night got even worse for that young performer, but you'll have to wait and see what happens. We're not going to show you. You've got to wait. We keep exploiting the poor woman. Maybe we should just make the call not to show it at all.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely not. If you stay tuned, will you see the denouement to this story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: A big heroin kingpin with apparent links to the poppy fields of Afghanistan is behind bars today. Federal law enforcers say Haji Bashir Noorzai rode herd over a drug-running operation that shipped at least $50 million worth of heroin into the U.S. Afghanistan has a long corrupt, violent history of poppy production, and while the cache crop was largely eradicated during the Taliban regime, it's back, and back with a vengeance. So what should the U.S. be doing about all this? Eric Margolis wrote book "War at the Top of the World." He joins us from Toronto with some insights on this. Eric, good to have you back on the program.
ERIC MARGOLIS, AUTHOR, "WAR AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD": Nice to be back.
O'BRIEN: Put it back in perspective -- how alive and well are the poppy fields in Afghanistan right now?
MARGOLIS: Well, unfortunately, Afghanistan is now the world's leading producer's of poppies, from which heroin is made, and production's actually up in Afghanistan. The U.N. estimates that Afghanistan now accounts for 91 percent of world supply of heroin. This is terribly bad news, because in the past five years ago or more, we could have somewhat ignored this, from a remote place.
Now that we've occupied Afghanistan and have set up a government there and are virtually its protector, this problem how now become our problem, and the war on drugs collided head-on with the war on terrorism, so far as the war -- the last one's losing.
O'BRIEN: How did that happen, though? With a U.S. invasion of the country, granted, not a lot of boots on the ground all over the country, but nevertheless, the U.S. taking responsibility for security there. Is this one of those unintended consequences of a country that is more secure? People have the ability to plant poppies and grow them?
MARGOLIS: Well, absolutely. The cities are more secure, but the countryside is still under the control of local warlords and private chieftains, and it's there that the opium is being grown, and unfortunately, whereas Taliban had eradicated about 90 percent of the opium trade, the new regime in Afghanistan, or its backers, I should say, the Northern Alliance, the (INAUDIBLE) of the Afghan Communist Party, have been up to their ears in the heroin trade. They've been encouraging it. So unfortunately, we're somewhat in bed with these people, and it's very hard to eliminate production of opium. It's the only cash crop in Afghanistan. If they don't have it, they're going to starve.
O'BRIEN: Well, cash is king, and the way to stop farmers from growing poppies is to offer them just that, a bunch of dead presidents. If the U.S. doing enough of that?
MARGOLIS: No, we're not. We do have a program underway of $300 million to give the -- to get them to get rid of their poppies, but it's not enough. And I was trying to estimate how much it would cost, and it's probably upwards of $2 billion, maybe more, a year.
O'BRIEN: That sounds like a lot of money, but put it in perspective for us. Will you?
MARGOLIS: Well, the war is costing us about $1.5 billion a month in Afghanistan, and so this is -- it's a large amount, but in context of this, it's not.
O'BRIEN: All right. Now, the guy that, whose arrest was announced today, Noorzai, the U.S. Justice Department announcing apparent links there potentially to Osama bin Laden, potentially to the remnants of the Taliban. What do you make of that? Does that make sense to you, based on what you know what goes on on the ground there in Afghanistan?
MARGOLIS: Well it is possible, particularly the remnants of Taliban, because opium is a currency in Afghanistan, the way it was in Indochina, too. So -- and all the local people there are involved, and all of the many government figures there are involved.
But it doesn't really sound right, because Taliban was violently against the drug trade, executed drug dealers, and Al Qaeda was also violently against the use of drugs and Bin Laden threatened to execute any drug dealers caught. So they might be desperate, they might need the money, but it's not really their philosophy to deal with drug money.
O'BRIEN: All right, so the U.S. then is caught between a rock and hard place. They want to keep Karzai in power. Karzai owes allegiance to the northern front there, and they, of course, are partly funded by this poppy production. Where do you go from there? How do you sort your way through that one?
MARGOLIS: It's a very delicate operation, because if you ban poppy farming or cut it down drastically, the Afghans who are supporting Karzai now will turn against him in anger, and so will the warlords, and they'll lose their power, but you can't let these people keep on exporting all of this -- the poppy production. So we have to do something. It's as if we took over Colombia and then turned a blind eye to the cocaine production there. It can't happen. Something has to be done, but nobody wants to face the problem right now.
O'BRIEN: Eric Margolis, joining us from Toronto, author of the book "War at the Top of the World," an expert on matters in Afghanistan. Thanks for your insights. Appreciate it -- Kyra.
MARGOLIS: My pleasure.
PHILLIPS: Well, they're two of the greatest tennis players to ever walked court. Miles and I are going to try and convince them to play some doubles. I don't know if they'll say yes or not? What do you think, Miles?
O'BRIEN: I'm out. I am so out.
PHILLIPS: Venus Williams joining us live -- are you out? Come on, we can get slaughtered. We'll be right back.
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PHILLIPS: How did you know?
All right, they're a powerful pair on the court, us you know. We all watch them, and they're an inspiration to millions and millions of people. And for that tennis champs Venus and Serena Williams are being honored tonight at the Annual Trumpet Awards here in Atlanta. The Trumpet Awards were creating by Turner Broadcasting, a division of CNN, parent AOL-Time Warner.
Venus joins us to talk about the honors, tennis and life after the game. Great to have you with us.
VENUS WILLIAMS, PRO TENNIS PLAYER: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: So I mentioned I found some, you know, fun pictures, and you said, uh oh, is it going to be the hair from the '80s? Are you going bring it back, Kyra?
WILLIAMS: Yes, yes. I try not to remember those bad days. I've moved on to better times, I think.
PHILLIPS: But you have to admit, this is what we call the beaming beads and braces picture. OK?
WILLIAMS: OK. OK.
PHILLIPS: All right. This is like our all-time favorite Venus.
WILLIAMS: Oh, God.
PHILLIPS: Does this continue to haunt you?
WILLIAMS: It does. People always asking about the beads and I tell them, you know, that was so last millennium.
PHILLIPS: It's so out now?
WILLIAMS: Yes!
PHILLIPS: Well, you two have turned into quite the fashion divas. Your sister with this line of clothing, right? We've watched you at the MTV Awards and the Miami fashion show and wow. Look at you there. You're all grown up now, young lady!
WILLIAMS: Oh, Serena looks so cute, too. I'm so proud of her.
PHILLIPS: Well, how's that going? I mean, there's obviously life after tennis. Tell me what you guys are doing and what you're getting involved with off the court?
WILLIAMS: I think one of our biggest fears, and not just for us first, but for our parents first, was that we would play tennis for all of our lives and then not be able to have explored ourselves and know what life was really about and know has we wanted after tennis. And that could be a scary place. So our parents kind of guided us to make sure that we found out what we liked.
PHILLIPS: Well, I got to ask you a question. I had the opportunity to play golf with somebody that used to be a very good tennis player and he said to me, I'm so afraid about being forgotten. Does that ever go through your mind? Wow, we've played so much tennis, we've done so well, we've won so many awards, everybody's talked about us, we've had so many great deals. Do you ever sit back and think, wow, I don't want to be forgotten?
WILLIAMS: No, my biggest fear is being spoiled. I don't want to be spoiled. I don't want to be a diva, I don't want to have to be at the end of my career and then come face-to-face with reality of the things that weren't really important that I would have thought were important, like fame and money and those kinds of things. So that's what I make sure never to do is that, don't become a diva.
PHILLIPS: So how do you do that? How do you not become a diva? How do you stay grounded?
WILLIAMS: I have sisters, Serena, my mom, my dad, who are ready to hit me upside the head.
PHILLIPS: If you dare do anything diva-ish?
WILLIAMS: Exactly, exactly. PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about, I don't know, besides the game, keeping your head on straight, trying not to get caught up in all the fame and fortune. What do you do just to the relax, just to have fun? No doubt everywhere you go, you're probably swamped by millions of people, but I mean, just how to you find your center? How do you relax?
WILLIAMS: Well, one of the most important things for me is my religious beliefs. I really believe that I've had so many blessings and it's the only way that I've stayed grounded and sane in between all the madness. And other than that, I love music. I play the guitar and bass and I want to learn to play keyboards, but...
PHILLIPS: Really?
WILLIAMS: It's hard to travel with keyboards, so yes. That's what I do. I love music. So other than that, I have an interior design company called V-Star Interiors. And sometimes I work freelance for Anerus (ph), Serena's fashion design company. And we also actually wrote a book for kids, just recently that came out.
PHILLIPS: And what's that book about?
WILLIAMS: It's called "Serving From the Hip" and basically it's experiences and kind of giving kids the opportunity to build ways to deal with problems, because kids have lots of problems and it's not like they're just going to stop all of a sudden when you reach adulthood. They're just going to keep coming. So giving them ways to deal with it in a constructive manner. So my favorite chapter that I read every day is number six, "Don't Rush A Crush."
PHILLIPS: Don't -- as in?
WILLIAMS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: A crush as in falling in love?
WILLIAMS: Yes, a crush isn't love, though.
PHILLIPS: That is true. It's infatuation, right?
WILLIAMS: It's infatuation.
PHILLIPS: Big difference. Have we found love?
WILLIAMS: Well, in all the wrong places!
PHILLIPS: You know what, I'm sure I could probably hook you up with plenty of people in this newsroom that find you extremely smart and beautiful...
WILLIAMS: OK, we'll talk after.
PHILLIPS: OK, good, I promise you. Do you want to find love, do you want get married? WILLIAMS: I'm 24 and I'm not ready. I know I can't reform right not right now. I've got my career, I've got my business. I've got so much going on that I'm kind of -- I feel like I'm married to tennis right now and I just can't have another marriage. It would be two- timing, wouldn't it?
PHILLIPS: Yes, it would. You know what, at 24, trust me, you're going to change a lot within the next ten years. You know what, you take your time.
WILLIAMS: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: You let yourself be courted -- no pun intended -- by the men.
WILLIAMS: By the ball!
PHILLIPS: Exactly. Hopefully you'll come and give us a few lessons. I'm so glad you could be with us. I hope you have fun tonight. The Trumpet Awards, it's a great thing. I hope I get a chance to go. We'll follow the love life, we'll follow the tennis and the new CD coming out, maybe?
WILLIAMS: I don't know. I don't know.
PHILLIPS: OK, all right. Miles plays a mean drums. So you just let us know if you need some help.
WILLIAMS: OK.
PHILLIPS: He tries desperately.
O'BRIEN: No.
PHILLIPS: Venus Williams, thank you.
O'BRIEN: I'm good at beating it, though, if you know what I mean. All right, see you girls. All right.
PHILLIPS: Take it away.
O'BRIEN: All right, a dream opportunity to sing the national anthem ended in disaster for one woman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so gladly -- sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: OK. No one ever said they were easy lyrics. Caroline Marcil started singing "The Star-Spangled Banner," exhibition hockey game, oh, and then, she came back out with the words in her hand and, you know, never wear high heels on the ice, folks, OK? High heels on the ice are out. Serena, never, never. PHILLIPS: Venus does not wear heels on the court.
O'BRIEN: Never.
PHILLIPS: I just want to make that clear.
O'BRIEN: Marcil got a chance to redeem herself by performing on ABC's "Good Morning America" over the weekend. Of course, she botched that, too. Anyway.
PHILLIPS: Poor thing. Oh.
O'BRIEN: I don't -- she may not be American.
PHILLIPS: Oh.
O'BRIEN: She's Canadian. So, that's understandable.
PHILLIPS: Yes, that's true.
O'BRIEN: She could do "God Save the Queen" and all that stuff. All right. Let's press on. Coming up in the second hour of LIVE FROM, it looks like the issues of filibusters is about to come to a head in the Senate. Before it does, it's become an issue in America's churches. Is that the best place for a political battle? We'll debate it on our next hour.
PHILLIPS: First, though, his genuine love of baseball and playing the game brought him back to the ballpark again and again and again. As part of CNN's anniversary series "Then and Now," we take a look back at Cal Ripken, Jr., and see where he is today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Cal Ripken, Jr.!
PHILLIPS (voice-over): He's baseball's iron man. A player's player whose work ethic and energy made him a perennial fan favorite.
CROWD: Cal, we live you! We love Cal Ripken!
PHILLIPS: Cal Ripken, Jr., was born into a baseball family and stayed true to the family business throughout his 20-year career with the Baltimore Orioles. Ripken was a great player, earning league MVP honors, but he is best known for the streak. Ripken played 2,632 consecutive Major League Baseball games, breaking Lou Gehrig's record. The streak ended in 1998, and Ripken retired from baseball three years later.
CAL RIPKEN, JR., BALTIMORE ORIOLES: It's been a great run, a fabulous career.
PHILLIPS: Now 44, Ripken lives in Maryland with his wife Kelly and their two children. Baseball's iron man and his brother Billy have a baseball talk show on XM Satellite Radio. RIPKEN: I really enjoy actually promoting and talking about the game and really trying to push that and get a few more back stops built up around the country, as well.
PHILLIPS: Ripken also owns a Minor League team, the Aberdeen Ironbirds and he's established the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, providing baseball programs to underprivileged kids.
RIPKEN: If I am remembered, I hope it's because by living my dream, I was able to make a difference.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired April 25, 2005 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: A man on America's most wanted drug kingpin's list with alleged ties to the Taliban now under arrest on charges of heroin trafficking. We've got more on the charges in a "CNN Security Watch."
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: High gas prices. Can President Bush get Saudi Arabia's crown prince to do something to give U.S. drivers a break? We're live from the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
O'BRIEN: A crash test. A mid-size car proved it's more than tough enough in a new round of smashups.
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
The war on terror and the war on drugs with one arrest. The Bush administration claims a huge victory in both.
A suspect described as the most notorious Afghan drug lord, one who allegedly forged an unholy alliance with the Taliban, thus endangering the national security, foreign policy and the economy of the United State, is in U.S. custody.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick has details now from New York. What do we know, Deb?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, drug agents call Bashir Noorzai the Pablo Escobar of Asia. That's how big they say this player was.
They were waiting for the alleged kingpin to make a mistake. On Saturday that's just what happened. Sources tell CNN that Noorzai flew into New York's JFK Airport, where he was quickly taken into custody.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KELLEY, U.S. ATTORNEY: Noorzai and other heroin traffickers threatened to poison the increasing number of people throughout many countries, including the United States, who use heroin. We are committed to identifying, targeting, disrupting, prosecuting and eradicating all of these merchants of poison, addiction, and of corruption, who are nothing more than blood-sucking parasites to good people here and abroad. (END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Federal prosecutors are charging Noorzai with drug conspiracy. They say that over the last 15 years he led an international heroin trafficking ring, that he smuggled drugs from Afghanistan to Pakistan and then on to western countries like the United States. And we're talking some tens of millions of dollars worth.
Prosecutors say that the suspected kingpin was protected by the Taliban. They turned a blind eye to his heroin trafficking roots, as well as to the poppy labs where he processed the poppy into heroin, and in exchange he gave the Taliban weapons. The Taliban, of course, being the same organization that at one point protected Osama bin Laden.
Now as for Noorzai, he is here in New York. He is expected to appear before a federal judge some time this afternoon, where he will make a first appearance -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Do we know any numbers, Deb, of how much of that heroin actually came from Afghanistan to the United States?
FEYERICK: Well, prosecutors put a round number of about $50 million worth and according to a report by the International Relations Committee, they say that he was smuggling more than 4,000 pounds of heroin out of Afghanistan every eight weeks. We don't know exactly how much of that wound up here in the United States, but prosecutors believe it was a substantial amount.
PHILLIPS: All right. Deb Feyerick, thank you very much. In just a few minutes we're going to talk more about the drugs and terror connection with Eric Margolis, author of "War at the Top of the World." That's at half past this hour on LIVE FROM.
O'BRIEN: Airports get the air time but millions of Americans ride the rails every day, especially in the northeast, and anti-terror measures are on track for them as well.
That was Michael Chertoff's message today in his first visit as homeland security secretary to New York's Grand Central Terminal. Said almost $40 million in federally funded rail security upgrades are in place, and they're paying dividends.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: There is tremendous security here. We have detectors that are focused on potential biological hazards, on chemical hazards. We saw the canine unit, which is the dogs, that go out and do explosive sniffing. We do a tremendous job. There is a presence, a security presence in and around the terminal and the trains. So we've certainly done a great deal to make the rails safe for New Yorkers and safe for people who are visiting New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP) O'BRIEN: CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage and news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.
Global security and the sky-high price of oil are on the president's radar for the second visit of the Saudi crown prince to the southwest wing in Texas. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is nearby, has a live report for us -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, it was just moments ago that we saw President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, of course, the president greeting his guest at the Crawford ranch, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.
As you know, this is his second time at the Crawford ranch. That is the first time any world leader has gotten a second invite, certainly underscoring the importance of their relationship, as well as the relationship between our countries.
President Bush taking a couple of questions, essentially saying that, yes, U.S. gas prices, soaring gas prices, are going to be at the top of his agenda. He is going to ask Abdullah, essentially, whether or not he is producing at his country's capacity, doing everything that he can to assist the United States in making sure that those prices don't rise any higher. He's going to make the case that ultimately those high prices will hurt the international economy.
President Bush, just moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Talking about energy and the crown prince understands that it's very important for there to be a -- make sure that the prices are reasonable. High oil price will damage markets, and he knows that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The president also actually voluntarily talked about the energy bill. This has really been a problem for the administration. It is the bill that has languished in Congress for the last four years.
And what this means essentially, senior administration officials telling us that this whole issue about the raising gas prices has become a political liability for this president. He is trying to push forth any type of plan that he thinks will work, but even the president recently saying that he cannot wave a magic wand to make these prices go down. But he certainly hopes that by meeting with the crown prince, making this an issue, that he's at least showing Americans that he is trying to address the problem -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux near Crawford, thank you very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. The -- the kind of videotape that caught our attention earlier in the day. We've got a little bit of an update.
This the lone bear who was found caught up in this tree. This is tape turned around from just a little while ago. And we are being told now -- this is courtesy of WABC, this videotape. And we're told they lowered him down, gave him some sort of tranquilizer and attached the ropes and helped him down from this area. It's just off of Bordentown Avenue in New Jersey. It's Central Jersey, where this happened.
He was first spotted, actually, in an area of town, and then this bear made its way past an elementary school, which is what alerted folks. They got a little worried. And animal control was on the site and took the animal down way shot to sedate him.
Now, animal control says that they're going to take the bear up to north Jersey or somewhere else where he can roam free. So the bear is safe. He's been brought down safely, the poor guy. They're going to take him back to an area where he can roam free and finally relax a little bit.
No doubt, a tenseful (ph) day for the bear in New Jersey -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: It looks a little "unbearable" the way he's coming down there.
PHILLIPS: A hairy situation.
O'BRIEN: Better than the trampoline technique which we have witnessed in the past, but good to see the bear from Bayone is now safe and sound.
All right. Time for us to take a break. How do you top that one? Pretty much downhill from there, folks.
A commuter disaster, a train derails. Hundreds of rescuers on the scene in Tokyo. We'll have the latest on the search there, just ahead.
And was it a driver's lucky day? Her car crashes, runs off the road, so far doesn't sound very lucky. But it lands on the train tracks. What happened next, troopers call a miracle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light what so proudly -- sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: OK. No one ever said the lyrics were easy. And she was better than Roseanne Barr. But not by much. A singer's worst nightmare. And wait, it gets worse. But we're not going to show that, but it does get worse.
The story of the anthem, amnesia and the fall from grace a little later on LIVE FROM.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: No, this is not an illusion, I promise. It is snow, and lots of it, more than a month into spring! A freak snowstorm dumped as much as 16 inches of snow in parts of Michigan this weekend. That storm knocked out power and forced the cancellation of two Major League Baseball games. More snow fell across the Midwest and the Appalachians.
What's the weather like today? Let's check in with Rob Marciano.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Horrific pictures today from Japan. These photos shot by reporter for Japan's NHK Network, who was onboard a commuter train that crashed during rush hour.
At least 57 killed, more than 440 reported injured, some seriously. It's the country's worst train accident in more than 40 years. Now investigators are trying to figure out how it happened, of course.
CNN's Atika Shubert with more from Tokyo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It happened at 9:20 a.m. Osaka time, just after the morning rush hour. A commuter train jumped the tracks and plowed into a nearby apartment building. Survivors scrambled to get out of the wreckage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They step on brakes. There was a cloud of dust and then two crash sounds.
SHUBERT: The first car of the train slid into a parking area. The second was jerked sideways and rammed against the building, wrapping the car around its corner. Rescue workers had to cut away portions of the train to free passengers.
Investigators are looking for the cause. One possibility, excessive speed. Railway officials say the train would have had to be moving at more than 133 kilometers per hour to derail. The train's exact speed is not known, but survivors say the train was traveling too fast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The train was late and I thought it was going faster than usual, and I was a bit worried because the train had overrun the station. Then there was a big crashing sound. SHUBERT: Investigators are also scrutinizing the automatic braking system, one of the oldest in Japan. Another possibility, officials say, is that something was on the tracks, obstructing the train's path, and causing it to jump the tracks. There are no answers yet.
Bowing in deep apology, West Japan Rail, the company running the train, held several news conferences, expressing their condolences and promising to find out what happened.
(on camera) Japan has one of the most complex railway systems in the world. Until now, it had a good safety record. In order to keep that reputation, investigators will have to quickly find out exactly what caused the accident and how to prevent it in the future.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: In the fight for Iraq, insurgents are finding new targets. Near Kirkuk today an attack on a key oil artery. No injuries were reported in this blast, but the bombing took out oil pumps used for domestic supplies.
Two Iraqi policemen were wounded in that separate attack when insurgents opened fire on a convoy of oil tanker trucks. Three rebels were arrested during a one-hour gun battle over that convoy.
First pictures now of the aftermath of a double blast on Sunday near a Shiite mosque and busy market in Baghdad. Today Iraqi officials say that at least 24 Iraqis died and dozens were wounded. A spokesperson at the Iraqi prime minister's office denounces the blast as cowardly acts of desperate terrorists, adding that innocent Iraqis are paying the price.
Well, the sentencing phase is now underway for Army Sergeant Hassan Akbar. A military jury at Fort Bragg found Akbar guilty of premeditated and attempted murder in a grenade and rifle attack on his comrades in the early days of the Iraq war. Two officers in the 101st Airborne were killed in the nighttime attack on their tents at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. Fourteen other officers wounded. Akbar could face the death penalty. The Army has not carried out an execution since 1961.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM, G.M. puts the brakes on more than two million cars and trucks. Find out why they're being recalled.
Later on LIVE FROM, sex offender's suicide. A Florida man apparently kills himself after this sign appears outside his home. We'll talk with a former sex offender about it.
Top ranked tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, they're joining us live on fashion, tennis and getting pumped. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Well, a state trooper is calling it miraculous. A woman driving near Columbia, South Carolina, Ballentine, to be exact for you, yesterday suffered not one but two brushes with death and lived to tell about it.
Tamara King from our CNN affiliate WIS has the remarkable story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAMARA KING, WIS REPORTER (voice-over): Before sunrise, a car is struck by a train going about 45 miles an hour. The train hits the small car with such force it pushes the vehicle the length of three football fields before coming to a stop. The driver, trapped inside the whole time.
LANCE CORPORAL BRYAN MCDOUGAL, SOUTH CAROLINA HIGHWAY PATROL: Our troopers on the scene advised that she was conscience and talking.
KING: Lance Corporal Bryan McDougal says the driver was 37-year- old Lana Hudspeth. Amazingly, she survived the collision with the train, but even more amazing is how she ended up on the tracks.
(on camera) Officers say the car came down from off the road, falling nearly 30 feet onto the railroad tracks, and it sat here over two hours unnoticed.
MCDOUGAL: Evidently, there was no one who witnessed this crash, and the vehicle was not visible from the roadway for passersby.
KING (voice-over): Emergency crews pulled Hudspeth from her wrecked car, then airlifted her to Palmetto Health Richland. Officers couldn't believe that Hudspeth lived to tell what happened.
MCDOUGAL: The amount of force in that crash is unbelievable. And for someone, in the information I have at this time, to have survived -- to have survived, it is miraculous, I should say. Because it was a violent collision.
KING: You could still see several things lying around that had fallen out of Hudspeth's car when it fell. Car parts, magazines and CDs lined the railway tracks. Troopers still don't know what caused Hudspeth to lose control of her car.
In Ballentine, Tamara King, WIS News-10.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That's something. There's no official word on Hudspeth's condition. We can't tell you about it. We would if we could. Her family says, however, she is alive and holding her own -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Listen up, G.M. truck and SUV owners. There's a big recall coming down the pike. Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with that W story.
Susan, Miles not happy. He's got two G.M. trucks.
(STOCK REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Saigon, April 24, 1975. The scene was chaotic, and thousands of civilians were trying to flee as communists troops from the north were closing in. Hundreds of people escaped with the help of an American named Al Topping.
CNN's Elaine Quijano sat down with Topping on the anniversary to reminisce about that fateful day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thirty years ago, as communists drew closer to consolidating their grip on South Vietnam, and thousands were trying to escape uncertain fates, American Al Topping made a life-altering decision.
AL TOPPING, ADOPTED PAN AM EMPLOYEES: How often does one in a lifetime -- is placed in a situation where you're going to make decisions that involve life and death? And that's what that was.
QUIJANO: His life then, in April of 1975, had led him to Saigon in South Vietnam, where he was serving as director of operations for Pan Am Airlines. He was working with adoption agencies, helping get children out of the country, but he knew the 61 Vietnamese employees of his company also need help.
TOPPING: I decided, "Let's try and adopt the employees." So I had our personnel person go down to the ministry.
QUIJANO: Yet, as the North Vietnamese army advanced on Saigon, the task mushroomed. Hundreds of family members also wanted out.
TOPPING: I said, "Get all the paperwork that we need to adopt our employees and their families." And this is for me a shot in the dark, you know?
Lo and behold, he came back with a stack of documents. I started signing them. I signed everything. It's all Vietnamese. I didn't know what I was signing, just signed everything, took it back, and we got it approved.
QUIJANO: Getting the overloaded plane airborne was dramatized by Hollywood.
JAMES EARL JONES, ACTOR: The plane's got to be able to fly, Darren. I mean, get off the ground. QUIJANO: On April 24, 1975, a 747 carrying 463 people, most of them babies, took off, headed for the Philippines. Topping sat in the jump seat of the cockpit, the last commercial flight out of South Vietnam.
TOPPING: As we finally climbed out and crossed the coastline, out over the South China Sea, I looked out the window, and I saw the American ships down below. And at that point, I was breathing easier.
QUIJANO: He still feels kinship with anyone who escaped in those dark days. Decades later, Topping doesn't credit himself with a successful mission.
TOPPING: I think God was on our side.
QUIJANO: Elaine Quijano, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now in the news, as the search resumes for two toddlers missing in Warrenton, Georgia, authorities say they have no reason to suspect foul play. Nicole and Jonah Payne were reported missing on Saturday by their mother. Investigators say they have interviewed several people and administered more than one polygraph exam in the case.
It's a Neverland nail-biter. Well, Michael Jackson's ex-wife will she take the stand this week as a witness for the prosecution? The fact that Debbie Rowe is battling the pop star for custody of their two children could make her testimony even more explosive. Prosecutor Tom Sneddon says he plans to rest the state's case this week.
In New York, no such thing as a free lunch, or in this case a free dinner. Martha Stewart attended an event in Manhattan last week. Federal probation officials now confirm that she's under scrutiny for possible probation violation. As part of her criminal conviction, Stewart remains at her house arrest and is only permitted to leave home for work or other preapproved reasons.
Following the lead of Charles and Camilla, a London tabloid says that Elton John and his longtime partner David Furnish (ph) are planning a civil ceremony in Windsor, England, later this year or early next year. As of December 5th, gay couples in Britain may take advantage of civil partnerships, which offer the same tax breaks available to married couples.
(MUSIC)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you for that little Elton John moment there, Scotty. Appreciate it.
It sounds as outrageous as it does chilling. The leader of a white supremacist group in the U.S. wants to partner up with one of the most notorious terrorist groups of all-time, Al Qaeda.
CNN's Rick Sanchez talks with the man who'd like to see that happen, and it's something you'll see only on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): August Kreis is a white supremacist and the leader of a group known as the Aryan Nation, not someone you think would be making common cause with the Islamic terrorists who attacked the U.S. on 9/11.
AUGUST KREIS, ARYAN NATION: You say they're terrorists; I say they're freedom fighters. And I want to instill the same Jihadic feeling that -- in our people's heart, in the Aryan race, that they have for their father, who they Allah.
SANCHEZ: Kreis is trying to build this unholy alliance between Al Qaeda and the Aryan Nation, from, of all places, Florida.
(on camera): I want to show you something that's ironic about this particular story in relation to the state of Florida. This is Palm Beach County Airport, one of the place where's Mohammed Atta, the supposed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, came to try and learn to fly one of these planes.
And now we're in the orange groves of central Florida. This is where Aryan has now set up shop. And there's more. This is where Aryan Nation's leader is now thanking Al Qaeda and praising those very same hijackers that we just told you about.
You want Americans to appreciate the efforts of the very people who attacked us within 9/11.
KREIS: I don't believe that they were the ones that attacked us. And even if they did, even if you say they did, I don't care. I don't care. We have no say in this country now. We Aryan, the Aryan race, has no say anymore in a country that our forefathers fought and died for.
SANCHEZ: From its compound in Idaho, Aryan Nation used to be one of the most feared extremist groups. Its ideology is violently anti- Semetic mat anti-government. It calls the government "ZOG," which stands for Zionists Occupation Government.
(on camera): What is August Kreis and the Aryan's nations main goal?
KREIS: The end goal would be a white United States, the whole country, white only.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Which would seem to rule out any sympathy with Arabs or Muslims. So then what connects them? Simply put, a hatred of Jews and the U.S. government.
Aryan Nation's followers have held marches, been convicted of robbing banks, even of shooting children at a Jewish community center in Los Angeles.
But then a civil suit stripped the organization of its headquarters, and its founder, Richard Butler, died.
In steps August Kreis, first from Pennsylvania.
(on camera): In Pennsylvania, there were some officials, one of which called you a village idiot.
KREIS: Well, I don't really care what titles or tags they want to put on me. You know I'm no idiot. You might think I'm radical to the extreme, but you know I'm no idiot.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Christ, who says he lives on a military disability pension, recently moved to Sebring (ph), Florida where he's been trying to rebuild Aryan Nation by promoting an alliance with the likes of Al Qaeda, especially over the Internet. However, he didn't want us to visit his house, fearing trouble from his neighbors, so he met us at a local park.
(on camera): How many people do you think out there in America agree with your ideology?
KREIS: I have no idea. I have no idea.
SANCHEZ: Give me a guess.
KREIS: I have no idea! How could I have -- I don't want -- if they believe in my philosophy, I don't even really want them to call me or contact me.
SANCHEZ: Why?
KREIS: Puts -- why?
SANCHEZ: Why?
KREIS: Because I don't want them identified. What do you think lone wolf-ism is all about?
SANCHEZ: So this is how it's going work if from now on?
KREIS: This is the way it's going to work from now on.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Lone wolf-ism is the idea that terrorists can act on their own or in small cells, as in the case of Timothy McVeigh when he bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City 10 years ago.
The idea of an alliance between neo-Nazis and Islamic extremists is actually not at all new. It dates back to contacts between Hitler, the Third Reich, and the Muslim Brotherhood, the very genesis of Al Qaeda itself.
We contacted FBI officials, who tell us they're trying to keep an eye out for neo-Nazis trying to make contact with jihadis. But they so far, they've not seen any evidence of it. Those who monitor hate groups call it a dangerous proposition. MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: The notion of radical Islamists from abroad actually getting together with American neo- Nazis, I think is an absolutely frightening one. It's just that so far we really have no evidence at all to suggest that this is any kind of real collaboration.
SANCHEZ: It's not clear if August Kreis' alliance exists anywhere other than in his own mind and on the Internet, but he's hoping someone, somewhere in Al Qaeda is listening.
Rick Sanchez, CNN, Sebring, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Still ahead on LIVE FROM this hour...
(SINGING)
PHILLIPS: Oh, if you thought that was bad, well, the night got even worse for that young performer, but you'll have to wait and see what happens. We're not going to show you. You've got to wait. We keep exploiting the poor woman. Maybe we should just make the call not to show it at all.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely not. If you stay tuned, will you see the denouement to this story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: A big heroin kingpin with apparent links to the poppy fields of Afghanistan is behind bars today. Federal law enforcers say Haji Bashir Noorzai rode herd over a drug-running operation that shipped at least $50 million worth of heroin into the U.S. Afghanistan has a long corrupt, violent history of poppy production, and while the cache crop was largely eradicated during the Taliban regime, it's back, and back with a vengeance. So what should the U.S. be doing about all this? Eric Margolis wrote book "War at the Top of the World." He joins us from Toronto with some insights on this. Eric, good to have you back on the program.
ERIC MARGOLIS, AUTHOR, "WAR AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD": Nice to be back.
O'BRIEN: Put it back in perspective -- how alive and well are the poppy fields in Afghanistan right now?
MARGOLIS: Well, unfortunately, Afghanistan is now the world's leading producer's of poppies, from which heroin is made, and production's actually up in Afghanistan. The U.N. estimates that Afghanistan now accounts for 91 percent of world supply of heroin. This is terribly bad news, because in the past five years ago or more, we could have somewhat ignored this, from a remote place.
Now that we've occupied Afghanistan and have set up a government there and are virtually its protector, this problem how now become our problem, and the war on drugs collided head-on with the war on terrorism, so far as the war -- the last one's losing.
O'BRIEN: How did that happen, though? With a U.S. invasion of the country, granted, not a lot of boots on the ground all over the country, but nevertheless, the U.S. taking responsibility for security there. Is this one of those unintended consequences of a country that is more secure? People have the ability to plant poppies and grow them?
MARGOLIS: Well, absolutely. The cities are more secure, but the countryside is still under the control of local warlords and private chieftains, and it's there that the opium is being grown, and unfortunately, whereas Taliban had eradicated about 90 percent of the opium trade, the new regime in Afghanistan, or its backers, I should say, the Northern Alliance, the (INAUDIBLE) of the Afghan Communist Party, have been up to their ears in the heroin trade. They've been encouraging it. So unfortunately, we're somewhat in bed with these people, and it's very hard to eliminate production of opium. It's the only cash crop in Afghanistan. If they don't have it, they're going to starve.
O'BRIEN: Well, cash is king, and the way to stop farmers from growing poppies is to offer them just that, a bunch of dead presidents. If the U.S. doing enough of that?
MARGOLIS: No, we're not. We do have a program underway of $300 million to give the -- to get them to get rid of their poppies, but it's not enough. And I was trying to estimate how much it would cost, and it's probably upwards of $2 billion, maybe more, a year.
O'BRIEN: That sounds like a lot of money, but put it in perspective for us. Will you?
MARGOLIS: Well, the war is costing us about $1.5 billion a month in Afghanistan, and so this is -- it's a large amount, but in context of this, it's not.
O'BRIEN: All right. Now, the guy that, whose arrest was announced today, Noorzai, the U.S. Justice Department announcing apparent links there potentially to Osama bin Laden, potentially to the remnants of the Taliban. What do you make of that? Does that make sense to you, based on what you know what goes on on the ground there in Afghanistan?
MARGOLIS: Well it is possible, particularly the remnants of Taliban, because opium is a currency in Afghanistan, the way it was in Indochina, too. So -- and all the local people there are involved, and all of the many government figures there are involved.
But it doesn't really sound right, because Taliban was violently against the drug trade, executed drug dealers, and Al Qaeda was also violently against the use of drugs and Bin Laden threatened to execute any drug dealers caught. So they might be desperate, they might need the money, but it's not really their philosophy to deal with drug money.
O'BRIEN: All right, so the U.S. then is caught between a rock and hard place. They want to keep Karzai in power. Karzai owes allegiance to the northern front there, and they, of course, are partly funded by this poppy production. Where do you go from there? How do you sort your way through that one?
MARGOLIS: It's a very delicate operation, because if you ban poppy farming or cut it down drastically, the Afghans who are supporting Karzai now will turn against him in anger, and so will the warlords, and they'll lose their power, but you can't let these people keep on exporting all of this -- the poppy production. So we have to do something. It's as if we took over Colombia and then turned a blind eye to the cocaine production there. It can't happen. Something has to be done, but nobody wants to face the problem right now.
O'BRIEN: Eric Margolis, joining us from Toronto, author of the book "War at the Top of the World," an expert on matters in Afghanistan. Thanks for your insights. Appreciate it -- Kyra.
MARGOLIS: My pleasure.
PHILLIPS: Well, they're two of the greatest tennis players to ever walked court. Miles and I are going to try and convince them to play some doubles. I don't know if they'll say yes or not? What do you think, Miles?
O'BRIEN: I'm out. I am so out.
PHILLIPS: Venus Williams joining us live -- are you out? Come on, we can get slaughtered. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: How did you know?
All right, they're a powerful pair on the court, us you know. We all watch them, and they're an inspiration to millions and millions of people. And for that tennis champs Venus and Serena Williams are being honored tonight at the Annual Trumpet Awards here in Atlanta. The Trumpet Awards were creating by Turner Broadcasting, a division of CNN, parent AOL-Time Warner.
Venus joins us to talk about the honors, tennis and life after the game. Great to have you with us.
VENUS WILLIAMS, PRO TENNIS PLAYER: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: So I mentioned I found some, you know, fun pictures, and you said, uh oh, is it going to be the hair from the '80s? Are you going bring it back, Kyra?
WILLIAMS: Yes, yes. I try not to remember those bad days. I've moved on to better times, I think.
PHILLIPS: But you have to admit, this is what we call the beaming beads and braces picture. OK?
WILLIAMS: OK. OK.
PHILLIPS: All right. This is like our all-time favorite Venus.
WILLIAMS: Oh, God.
PHILLIPS: Does this continue to haunt you?
WILLIAMS: It does. People always asking about the beads and I tell them, you know, that was so last millennium.
PHILLIPS: It's so out now?
WILLIAMS: Yes!
PHILLIPS: Well, you two have turned into quite the fashion divas. Your sister with this line of clothing, right? We've watched you at the MTV Awards and the Miami fashion show and wow. Look at you there. You're all grown up now, young lady!
WILLIAMS: Oh, Serena looks so cute, too. I'm so proud of her.
PHILLIPS: Well, how's that going? I mean, there's obviously life after tennis. Tell me what you guys are doing and what you're getting involved with off the court?
WILLIAMS: I think one of our biggest fears, and not just for us first, but for our parents first, was that we would play tennis for all of our lives and then not be able to have explored ourselves and know what life was really about and know has we wanted after tennis. And that could be a scary place. So our parents kind of guided us to make sure that we found out what we liked.
PHILLIPS: Well, I got to ask you a question. I had the opportunity to play golf with somebody that used to be a very good tennis player and he said to me, I'm so afraid about being forgotten. Does that ever go through your mind? Wow, we've played so much tennis, we've done so well, we've won so many awards, everybody's talked about us, we've had so many great deals. Do you ever sit back and think, wow, I don't want to be forgotten?
WILLIAMS: No, my biggest fear is being spoiled. I don't want to be spoiled. I don't want to be a diva, I don't want to have to be at the end of my career and then come face-to-face with reality of the things that weren't really important that I would have thought were important, like fame and money and those kinds of things. So that's what I make sure never to do is that, don't become a diva.
PHILLIPS: So how do you do that? How do you not become a diva? How do you stay grounded?
WILLIAMS: I have sisters, Serena, my mom, my dad, who are ready to hit me upside the head.
PHILLIPS: If you dare do anything diva-ish?
WILLIAMS: Exactly, exactly. PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about, I don't know, besides the game, keeping your head on straight, trying not to get caught up in all the fame and fortune. What do you do just to the relax, just to have fun? No doubt everywhere you go, you're probably swamped by millions of people, but I mean, just how to you find your center? How do you relax?
WILLIAMS: Well, one of the most important things for me is my religious beliefs. I really believe that I've had so many blessings and it's the only way that I've stayed grounded and sane in between all the madness. And other than that, I love music. I play the guitar and bass and I want to learn to play keyboards, but...
PHILLIPS: Really?
WILLIAMS: It's hard to travel with keyboards, so yes. That's what I do. I love music. So other than that, I have an interior design company called V-Star Interiors. And sometimes I work freelance for Anerus (ph), Serena's fashion design company. And we also actually wrote a book for kids, just recently that came out.
PHILLIPS: And what's that book about?
WILLIAMS: It's called "Serving From the Hip" and basically it's experiences and kind of giving kids the opportunity to build ways to deal with problems, because kids have lots of problems and it's not like they're just going to stop all of a sudden when you reach adulthood. They're just going to keep coming. So giving them ways to deal with it in a constructive manner. So my favorite chapter that I read every day is number six, "Don't Rush A Crush."
PHILLIPS: Don't -- as in?
WILLIAMS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: A crush as in falling in love?
WILLIAMS: Yes, a crush isn't love, though.
PHILLIPS: That is true. It's infatuation, right?
WILLIAMS: It's infatuation.
PHILLIPS: Big difference. Have we found love?
WILLIAMS: Well, in all the wrong places!
PHILLIPS: You know what, I'm sure I could probably hook you up with plenty of people in this newsroom that find you extremely smart and beautiful...
WILLIAMS: OK, we'll talk after.
PHILLIPS: OK, good, I promise you. Do you want to find love, do you want get married? WILLIAMS: I'm 24 and I'm not ready. I know I can't reform right not right now. I've got my career, I've got my business. I've got so much going on that I'm kind of -- I feel like I'm married to tennis right now and I just can't have another marriage. It would be two- timing, wouldn't it?
PHILLIPS: Yes, it would. You know what, at 24, trust me, you're going to change a lot within the next ten years. You know what, you take your time.
WILLIAMS: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: You let yourself be courted -- no pun intended -- by the men.
WILLIAMS: By the ball!
PHILLIPS: Exactly. Hopefully you'll come and give us a few lessons. I'm so glad you could be with us. I hope you have fun tonight. The Trumpet Awards, it's a great thing. I hope I get a chance to go. We'll follow the love life, we'll follow the tennis and the new CD coming out, maybe?
WILLIAMS: I don't know. I don't know.
PHILLIPS: OK, all right. Miles plays a mean drums. So you just let us know if you need some help.
WILLIAMS: OK.
PHILLIPS: He tries desperately.
O'BRIEN: No.
PHILLIPS: Venus Williams, thank you.
O'BRIEN: I'm good at beating it, though, if you know what I mean. All right, see you girls. All right.
PHILLIPS: Take it away.
O'BRIEN: All right, a dream opportunity to sing the national anthem ended in disaster for one woman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so gladly -- sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: OK. No one ever said they were easy lyrics. Caroline Marcil started singing "The Star-Spangled Banner," exhibition hockey game, oh, and then, she came back out with the words in her hand and, you know, never wear high heels on the ice, folks, OK? High heels on the ice are out. Serena, never, never. PHILLIPS: Venus does not wear heels on the court.
O'BRIEN: Never.
PHILLIPS: I just want to make that clear.
O'BRIEN: Marcil got a chance to redeem herself by performing on ABC's "Good Morning America" over the weekend. Of course, she botched that, too. Anyway.
PHILLIPS: Poor thing. Oh.
O'BRIEN: I don't -- she may not be American.
PHILLIPS: Oh.
O'BRIEN: She's Canadian. So, that's understandable.
PHILLIPS: Yes, that's true.
O'BRIEN: She could do "God Save the Queen" and all that stuff. All right. Let's press on. Coming up in the second hour of LIVE FROM, it looks like the issues of filibusters is about to come to a head in the Senate. Before it does, it's become an issue in America's churches. Is that the best place for a political battle? We'll debate it on our next hour.
PHILLIPS: First, though, his genuine love of baseball and playing the game brought him back to the ballpark again and again and again. As part of CNN's anniversary series "Then and Now," we take a look back at Cal Ripken, Jr., and see where he is today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Cal Ripken, Jr.!
PHILLIPS (voice-over): He's baseball's iron man. A player's player whose work ethic and energy made him a perennial fan favorite.
CROWD: Cal, we live you! We love Cal Ripken!
PHILLIPS: Cal Ripken, Jr., was born into a baseball family and stayed true to the family business throughout his 20-year career with the Baltimore Orioles. Ripken was a great player, earning league MVP honors, but he is best known for the streak. Ripken played 2,632 consecutive Major League Baseball games, breaking Lou Gehrig's record. The streak ended in 1998, and Ripken retired from baseball three years later.
CAL RIPKEN, JR., BALTIMORE ORIOLES: It's been a great run, a fabulous career.
PHILLIPS: Now 44, Ripken lives in Maryland with his wife Kelly and their two children. Baseball's iron man and his brother Billy have a baseball talk show on XM Satellite Radio. RIPKEN: I really enjoy actually promoting and talking about the game and really trying to push that and get a few more back stops built up around the country, as well.
PHILLIPS: Ripken also owns a Minor League team, the Aberdeen Ironbirds and he's established the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, providing baseball programs to underprivileged kids.
RIPKEN: If I am remembered, I hope it's because by living my dream, I was able to make a difference.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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