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CNN Live Today
Where is the Clone?
Aired January 22, 2003 - 11:27 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A Clonaid executive is making an appearance in a Florida court this hour, and he's doing it by way of telephone.
Our John Zarrella is watching the proceedings today. We presume he's doing that in person. He joins us now from Fort Lauderdale -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Leon, I'm here in person.
I'll tell you, I've covered some pretty bizarre stories over the years, and this one's got to rank right up there. Our viewers were probably recall back a couple days after Christmas. Clonaid, which is joined at the hip to the Raelians, a religious sect, announced here in Broward County that Baby Eve had been born not in the United States, somewhere overseas, but to a U.S. couple, the first cloned baby.
Because that announcement came in Broward County, a local attorney here decided that he would go to Broward County Court, and that's where we are today and petition the court to appoint a guardian for the child we don't really know exists, and he wants the court to answer the questions of jurisdiction, does the court have jurisdiction?
Right now, the proceedings have just finished up some procedural issues. We are looking there at a lot of -- that is Barry Siegel, Bernard Siegel, who is the Miami attorney who is petitioning the court to set up a guardian for the child and to offend out the child's whereabouts. The folks representing Clonaid, the attorneys representing Clonaid say they have no idea where the child is. They don't know if the child exists, and a vice president, Thomas Kenzig (ph) is on the phone listening in from Las Vegas, and he, too, says he doesn't know if the child exists, and the judge is saying, well, I have a tough one here. What am I going to do I've got to decide jurisdiction, whether I have jurisdiction in a case where we don't even know if there's a child, if the child exists.
Members of the Florida Department of Children and Families are there. Members of the state attorney's office are there. A lot of high interest in this case, and it's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out. Don't know if the judge will issue a ruling on his jurisdiction in the case, or if what he will ask Clonaid to do about proving the existence and whereabouts of Baby Eve.
So that's where we stand right now. This court proceeding has just begun, and the judge did ask Bernard Siegel right off the bat, the attorney that we're seeing now, do you have any information, can you tell me that Baby Eve is anywhere in this world? Those were the judge's words, and Bernard Siegel said, well, you know, not really, your honor. All I can say is that Clonaid insists Baby Eve does exist, so we're going based on that. So that's where we are, a very bizarre court hearing today in Broward county -- Leon.
HARRIS: The lunacy continues. We'll get back to you later on then.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 22, 2003 - 11:27 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A Clonaid executive is making an appearance in a Florida court this hour, and he's doing it by way of telephone.
Our John Zarrella is watching the proceedings today. We presume he's doing that in person. He joins us now from Fort Lauderdale -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Leon, I'm here in person.
I'll tell you, I've covered some pretty bizarre stories over the years, and this one's got to rank right up there. Our viewers were probably recall back a couple days after Christmas. Clonaid, which is joined at the hip to the Raelians, a religious sect, announced here in Broward County that Baby Eve had been born not in the United States, somewhere overseas, but to a U.S. couple, the first cloned baby.
Because that announcement came in Broward County, a local attorney here decided that he would go to Broward County Court, and that's where we are today and petition the court to appoint a guardian for the child we don't really know exists, and he wants the court to answer the questions of jurisdiction, does the court have jurisdiction?
Right now, the proceedings have just finished up some procedural issues. We are looking there at a lot of -- that is Barry Siegel, Bernard Siegel, who is the Miami attorney who is petitioning the court to set up a guardian for the child and to offend out the child's whereabouts. The folks representing Clonaid, the attorneys representing Clonaid say they have no idea where the child is. They don't know if the child exists, and a vice president, Thomas Kenzig (ph) is on the phone listening in from Las Vegas, and he, too, says he doesn't know if the child exists, and the judge is saying, well, I have a tough one here. What am I going to do I've got to decide jurisdiction, whether I have jurisdiction in a case where we don't even know if there's a child, if the child exists.
Members of the Florida Department of Children and Families are there. Members of the state attorney's office are there. A lot of high interest in this case, and it's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out. Don't know if the judge will issue a ruling on his jurisdiction in the case, or if what he will ask Clonaid to do about proving the existence and whereabouts of Baby Eve.
So that's where we stand right now. This court proceeding has just begun, and the judge did ask Bernard Siegel right off the bat, the attorney that we're seeing now, do you have any information, can you tell me that Baby Eve is anywhere in this world? Those were the judge's words, and Bernard Siegel said, well, you know, not really, your honor. All I can say is that Clonaid insists Baby Eve does exist, so we're going based on that. So that's where we are, a very bizarre court hearing today in Broward county -- Leon.
HARRIS: The lunacy continues. We'll get back to you later on then.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
