ad info

 
CNN.comTranscripts
 
Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 

TOP STORIES

Bush signs order opening 'faith-based' charity office for business

Rescues continue 4 days after devastating India earthquake

DaimlerChrysler employees join rapidly swelling ranks of laid-off U.S. workers

Disney's GO.com is a goner

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

TECHNOLOGY

ENTERTAINMENT

 
TRAVEL

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


Morning News

Elian Gonzalez Case: Government-Appointed Doctor Believes Boy in Danger, Urges Removal From Miami Home

Aired April 18, 2000 - 9:01 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We begin now with a new twist in the Elian Gonzalez custody battle. While both sides anxiously await an appeals court ruling, a government-appointed doctor says the 6-year- old boy is in a state of imminent danger. He also says Elian should be removed from the home of his relatives immediately.

For more in Miami, here's CNN's Mark Potter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the fight over Elian continued, federal officials released a letter from Dr. Irwin Redlener, a pediatrician who has been advising the government. He urged the boy be removed from his Miami relatives because, in his words, Elian was being "horrendously exploited," and was "in a state of imminent danger to his physical and emotional well-being, in a home Dr. Redlener described as "psychologically abusive."

A family spokesman noted Redlener has never even met the boy and said, "tell him to come and analyze Elian here."

Meanwhile, as the appeals court prepared it's ruling, Miami and Washington were on hold. Elian still played in the yard of his great- uncle's home in Little Havana even though the INS revoked Lazaro Gonzalez's custody of the boy. Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, continued his vigil in Bethesda, Maryland, awaiting word on when he and his son might be reunited.

All eyes now are on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta where the judges are weighing a number of arguments. The lawyers for the Miami relatives want a court order demanding Elian stay in the U.S. through the appeals process. They say any transfer of Elian to his father should be done slowly, with the help of psychologists and perhaps mediation from the court.

They wrote: "The government should not be allowed to inflict further trauma upon a boy who has already suffered enough pain and suffering to last him a whole lifetime and beyond."

The government, though, wants a quick transfer of Elian and is asking the court to consider ordering Lazaro Gonzalez to give the boy to his father. The Justice Department argues, "there is no basis in law to prevent the reunion of a father and son at the behest of a mere distant relative and of whose care Elian was only temporarily placed under federal law."

(on camera): Sources say, as long as the court ruling does not prohibit a transfer of Elian to his father, the Justice Department is prepared now to come get the boy in Miami because patience is running out.

Mark Potter, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

 Search   


Back to the top  © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.