Afghan Drug Kingpin Arrested; Bush Discusses Oil Prices with Saudi Crown Prince
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."</s>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.</s>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.</s>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?</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>PHILLIPS: Do we know any numbers, Deb, of how much of that heroin actually came from Afghanistan to the United States?</s>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.</s>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</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux near Crawford, thank you very much -- Kyra.</s>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.</s>O'BRIEN: It looks a little "unbearable" the way he's coming down there.</s>PHILLIPS: A hairy situation.</s>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.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light what so proudly -- sorry.</s>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</s>LIVE FROM. ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.