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American Morning
Left Behind?
Aired June 19, 2003 - 09:36 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: An American woman in Saudi Arabia is facing a heartbreaking choice. If she leaves the country, she must leave her two Saudi-born children behind. Debra Dornier, her daughter, Sarah Sabbat (ph), is holed up with her kids in the American consulate. And Debbie Dornier is here with us this morning.
Good morning. Thanks for joining us.
DEBRA DORNIER, DAUGHTER CAN'T LEAVE SAUDI ARABIA: Good morning. Thank you.
KAGAN: Give us a little background to lead us up to this point. 1985, your daughter is 6 years old. How does she end up in Saudi Arabia?
DORNIER: Under a custody agreement, her father took her home and refused to return her.
KAGAN: And so for all those years, you haven't...
DORNIER: Eighteen years.
KAGAN: You've had no contact with your daughter?
DORNIER: Initially, I had some contact, because he was trying to say something that would turn me against my daughter. And then in the year 2000, she found information on my mother on the Internet, because a family relative had assisted her in getting some details. And she called my mother and left a message, "Grandma, this is Sarah. Can I still call you grandma?"
KAGAN: How many years was that having heard from her.
DORNIER: Fifteen. Well, 14, 15, yes.
KAGAN: In the meantime, she grew up obviously in Saudi Arabia. She was married. She's had two children. She now wants to come to the U.S. She's holed up in the U.S. consulate in Jedda. How did she get to that point?
DORNIER: How did she get to the consulate?
KAGAN: Yes.
DORNIER: When she first started talking to me, she tried to get her husband to help her to come and visit me. All efforts failed. Initially, he was talking like he might -- he's zigzagging going back and forth. Finally, at one point, she realized that he was never going to let me see her, and so she realized that she had to come home. She wanted to come home all these years, but she was afraid because of her children to try. And so, May 16th, we began the -- the actual -- we're going to try to get there. Her son got chicken pox, postponed. Her daughter got chicken pox. Sunday was the first or second day that her daughter wasn't contagious anymore. She convinced her husband to take her to see her grandparents who lived 15 minutes away from the consulate, and the next morning, she took her children and walked over to the consulate and she got herself in.
KAGAN: Her situation, since she was born in California, if she wants to, is she allowed to come back. She's of age.
DORNIER: They're saying that she can come back.
KAGAN: But not with her children.
DORNIER: They're Saudi-born children and the Saudi government does not allow it.
KAGAN: They're saying that if she takes the kids, it's kidnapping, and that the kids have to have their father's permission, and he refuses to give it, and the Americans are talking as if they are not Americans, even though they're half American.
And actually, the recent development that just happened a few minutes ago is that Margaret Scobee (ph), the DCM who is in charge while ambassador Jordan is here on vacation, wrote up a paper that -- it's the weekend there.
KAGAN: Right.
DORNIER: And she was given 10 minutes' notice. I found out about 6:30 this morning that the Saudi minister, foreign minister officials, were coming to her room.
KAGAN: Inside the consulate.
DORNIER: The consulate officials escorted them in. Two women who had been talking to her, telling her the only option is to leave her kids back, and they came in with a woman from Riyadh whom she doesn't know the name, or she doesn't remember the name. The six of them came into her room. We tried to reach her. They hung up on us, and the result was that they said, we need to help you understand your problem, we can't force you, but here's your option, but there was only one option. And by the time they walked out of that room, they had her signature on a paper saying that she wouldn't be able to take her kids and she wouldn't be able to have custody, and she could get on a flight. And she said, mama, when they walked out that door, I knew I had done the wrong thing. I'm so upset. Her kids are sitting there with her. The men have gone off to go to the foreign mission to get the prince's signature and get the paper stamped, but the paper was written by our head counselor embassy official in Riyadh.
KAGAN: So you're feeling like the U.S. officials sold out your daughter is what you're saying? DORNIER: Yes. In this country if somebody had any problem and they didn't have representation, we would all be outraged. This 23- year-old girl had six people, none of whom were on her side, in her room. She's been held up since Sunday. I don't know if any of us wouldn't have capitulated.
KAGAN: So what is her status right now?
DORNIER: She is so depressed. She's so upset. She's looking at her children. She says, momma, I can't let these children stay here, and I don't know what to do. I told her I'm going to tell the American people, something has got to be done.
KAGAN: At this point, could she even go back to her husband. That's not an option either, is it?
DORNIER: She walked out of the door, she's dead. Her father told me the day I found out that she was not coming back, he said if you ever try to get her back, I'll kill her rather than let her ever come back to you, and he's made it clear over the years that she was not to have contact with me.
So before I said she walked to the consulate, but that walk was taking her life in her hands, and she's been saying since day one, I cannot walk out of that door, I am dead if I walk out of that door. She's been telling these counselors this.
KAGAN: I don't mean to interrupt, and I realize it's very emotional as her mother. I was just wondering, it seems like such a desperate situation right now and indeed it is. But one miracle has happened in your life. So many years went by. You never thought you would get that phone call. Just tell us what is was like to get that first phone call from your daughter.
DORNIER: And our men have died for us to be free, and this is just the kind of thing we died for, so we could be free, so Sarah could be free and her children could come home. This is why our boys fight for us.
KAGAN: And a mother fights on.
DORNIER: And our women, too.
Thank you.
KAGAN: Let's not forget the women.
DORNIER: That's right.
KAGAN: Debbie Dornier, thank you so much. We'll continue to follow your story. Appreciate it.
DORNIER: Thank you so much.
KAGAN: Thank you. Good luck with you and your daughter.
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 June 19, 2003 - 09:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: An American woman in Saudi Arabia is facing a heartbreaking choice. If she leaves the country, she must leave her two Saudi-born children behind. Debra Dornier, her daughter, Sarah Sabbat (ph), is holed up with her kids in the American consulate. And Debbie Dornier is here with us this morning.
Good morning. Thanks for joining us.
DEBRA DORNIER, DAUGHTER CAN'T LEAVE SAUDI ARABIA: Good morning. Thank you.
KAGAN: Give us a little background to lead us up to this point. 1985, your daughter is 6 years old. How does she end up in Saudi Arabia?
DORNIER: Under a custody agreement, her father took her home and refused to return her.
KAGAN: And so for all those years, you haven't...
DORNIER: Eighteen years.
KAGAN: You've had no contact with your daughter?
DORNIER: Initially, I had some contact, because he was trying to say something that would turn me against my daughter. And then in the year 2000, she found information on my mother on the Internet, because a family relative had assisted her in getting some details. And she called my mother and left a message, "Grandma, this is Sarah. Can I still call you grandma?"
KAGAN: How many years was that having heard from her.
DORNIER: Fifteen. Well, 14, 15, yes.
KAGAN: In the meantime, she grew up obviously in Saudi Arabia. She was married. She's had two children. She now wants to come to the U.S. She's holed up in the U.S. consulate in Jedda. How did she get to that point?
DORNIER: How did she get to the consulate?
KAGAN: Yes.
DORNIER: When she first started talking to me, she tried to get her husband to help her to come and visit me. All efforts failed. Initially, he was talking like he might -- he's zigzagging going back and forth. Finally, at one point, she realized that he was never going to let me see her, and so she realized that she had to come home. She wanted to come home all these years, but she was afraid because of her children to try. And so, May 16th, we began the -- the actual -- we're going to try to get there. Her son got chicken pox, postponed. Her daughter got chicken pox. Sunday was the first or second day that her daughter wasn't contagious anymore. She convinced her husband to take her to see her grandparents who lived 15 minutes away from the consulate, and the next morning, she took her children and walked over to the consulate and she got herself in.
KAGAN: Her situation, since she was born in California, if she wants to, is she allowed to come back. She's of age.
DORNIER: They're saying that she can come back.
KAGAN: But not with her children.
DORNIER: They're Saudi-born children and the Saudi government does not allow it.
KAGAN: They're saying that if she takes the kids, it's kidnapping, and that the kids have to have their father's permission, and he refuses to give it, and the Americans are talking as if they are not Americans, even though they're half American.
And actually, the recent development that just happened a few minutes ago is that Margaret Scobee (ph), the DCM who is in charge while ambassador Jordan is here on vacation, wrote up a paper that -- it's the weekend there.
KAGAN: Right.
DORNIER: And she was given 10 minutes' notice. I found out about 6:30 this morning that the Saudi minister, foreign minister officials, were coming to her room.
KAGAN: Inside the consulate.
DORNIER: The consulate officials escorted them in. Two women who had been talking to her, telling her the only option is to leave her kids back, and they came in with a woman from Riyadh whom she doesn't know the name, or she doesn't remember the name. The six of them came into her room. We tried to reach her. They hung up on us, and the result was that they said, we need to help you understand your problem, we can't force you, but here's your option, but there was only one option. And by the time they walked out of that room, they had her signature on a paper saying that she wouldn't be able to take her kids and she wouldn't be able to have custody, and she could get on a flight. And she said, mama, when they walked out that door, I knew I had done the wrong thing. I'm so upset. Her kids are sitting there with her. The men have gone off to go to the foreign mission to get the prince's signature and get the paper stamped, but the paper was written by our head counselor embassy official in Riyadh.
KAGAN: So you're feeling like the U.S. officials sold out your daughter is what you're saying? DORNIER: Yes. In this country if somebody had any problem and they didn't have representation, we would all be outraged. This 23- year-old girl had six people, none of whom were on her side, in her room. She's been held up since Sunday. I don't know if any of us wouldn't have capitulated.
KAGAN: So what is her status right now?
DORNIER: She is so depressed. She's so upset. She's looking at her children. She says, momma, I can't let these children stay here, and I don't know what to do. I told her I'm going to tell the American people, something has got to be done.
KAGAN: At this point, could she even go back to her husband. That's not an option either, is it?
DORNIER: She walked out of the door, she's dead. Her father told me the day I found out that she was not coming back, he said if you ever try to get her back, I'll kill her rather than let her ever come back to you, and he's made it clear over the years that she was not to have contact with me.
So before I said she walked to the consulate, but that walk was taking her life in her hands, and she's been saying since day one, I cannot walk out of that door, I am dead if I walk out of that door. She's been telling these counselors this.
KAGAN: I don't mean to interrupt, and I realize it's very emotional as her mother. I was just wondering, it seems like such a desperate situation right now and indeed it is. But one miracle has happened in your life. So many years went by. You never thought you would get that phone call. Just tell us what is was like to get that first phone call from your daughter.
DORNIER: And our men have died for us to be free, and this is just the kind of thing we died for, so we could be free, so Sarah could be free and her children could come home. This is why our boys fight for us.
KAGAN: And a mother fights on.
DORNIER: And our women, too.
Thank you.
KAGAN: Let's not forget the women.
DORNIER: That's right.
KAGAN: Debbie Dornier, thank you so much. We'll continue to follow your story. Appreciate it.
DORNIER: Thank you so much.
KAGAN: Thank you. Good luck with you and your daughter.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
