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Morning News

Elian Gonzalez Case: Miami Family Renews Offer for Father-Son Reunion Without Custody Transfer

Aired April 20, 2000 - 10:04 a.m. ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: An appeals court ruling handed down yesterday assures that Elian Gonzalez will stay in the U.S. for now, but it underlines the uncertainty of whether he'll be removed from the Miami home where he has stayed for almost five months now.

That's where we find our Susan Candiotti, in the Miami neighborhood of Little Havana.

Susan, good morning, once again.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. A much different feeling out here at the house where 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez has been living compared to 24 hours ago now that a federal appeals court in Atlanta has ordered the 6-year-old to stay in the U.S. until all his appeals are exhausted.

The act of defiance by Elian's great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez against an INS directive to surrender the boy has so far not caused any consequences to these Miami relatives. And they have other reason to celebrate. A court has now ordered Elian must stay in the U.S. until his appeals are heard, and leaves open the question that the boy might not be too young after all to apply for political asylum.

For those reasons, crowds here remain jubilant and hopeful that U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno will not forcefully remove Elian from this home.

Attorneys for the family feeling emboldened by the court ruling are repeating an offer to meet with Elian's father along with his son, but not to transfer custody.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE GARCIA-PEDROSA, MIAMI RELATIVES' ATTORNEY: His door is open, his home is open. He wants to have the family meet there. But if that's not acceptable to Juan Miguel -- and let's not try to score debaters' points on this issue -- let's bring this family together, almost any place -- obviously we're not going to go to the Cuban Interests Section -- almost anyplace, any time, the sooner the better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Attorney Jose Garcia-Pedrosa also says that the reason no transfer of custody can take place while those appeals are being heard is because he says there are allegations of abuse against the father -- allegations that Attorney General Janet Reno have said are without substance.

Also, this family talks about mediation, but the attorney for Juan Miguel Gonzalez, Elian's father, says mediation is not an option, he said. He says these relatives have a moral obligation as well as a legal one to surrender the boy.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, reporting live in Miami.

KAGAN: Susan, thank you.

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