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American Morning

Iraqi Baby to Get a Chance at Life in Georgia; Strange Victory for David Letterman

Aired December 28, 2005 - 08:30   ET

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

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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is rare to talk about Iraq and not talk about bombings or deadly attacks, but this is one of those times. Our Arwa Damon has the exclusive story of some combat-hardened soldiers who saw a baby in trouble and vowed to give her a chance at life.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another risky night mission for these soldiers of the Georgia National Guard in the deadly Abu Ghraib streets. Tonight, not in pursuit of insurgents, but returning to a home to try to save a life. Three-month old Noor has a severe form of spina bifida. Iraqi doctors had predicted she'd be dead by now, but she has clung onto life.

Soldiers first met her searching the house, and were unable to forget her.

MICHAEL SONEN, SERGEANT, GEORGIA NATIONAL GUARD: We, as a group, collectively decided this is going to be our project. And if this is the only contribution that we have to defeating the war on terrorism, this is going to be it.

DAMON: We are not showing her family's faces. They fear retaliation by insurgents for seeking American help. But they also know this is the only chance to save Noor's life.

SONEN: We've had some time to spend with the family, and they're very, very appreciative of the opportunity that they have to try to save the life of their daughter. And it does great things for us as soldiers and as Americans.

DAMON: Upset by the commotion in the middle of the night, too young to realize what is happening, Noor cries out. Accompanied by her father and grandmother, she begins the first step in her long journey towards a chance at life.

Her protectors alert. Despite their mission, these are still dangerous roads. Now back safely on a U.S. military base, Noor receives the first of many examinations. In a few days, if the visas come through, she should be on her way to Atlanta for life-saving surgery. And for these soldiers attached to the 10th Mountain Division, battling in the dangerous streets of Abu Ghraib, this is their way of getting through, concentrating on one baby's life, a necessary distraction to survive their war in Iraq.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

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COSTELLO: One of the U.S. troops spearheading the effort to get the baby, Baby Noor, to the U.S., is Lieutenant Jeff Morgan of the Georgia National Guard. He joins us on the phone. His good friend Debbie Stone is in Atlanta. Also there is Dr. Roger Hudgins, the chief of neurosurgery at the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. He will perform the surgery once the child gets here to the United States.

Let's start with Lieutenant Morgan. One of your compatriots said that this little girl is part of the fight on terrorism. Can you explain that?

LT. JEFF MORGAN, GEORGIA NATIONAL GUARD: Yes, certainly I sure can. You know, our soldiers are here for the mission of locating the insurgency and arresting them and eliminating the enemy. We are also here to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, to show them that we are a (INAUDIBLE), just people, not only by helping them establish a constitution, but helping them with their problems that maybe they cannot handle. And this little girl just kind of epitomizes the efforts of us to do that.

COSTELLO: What was it, Lieutenant, about this little girl, when you saw her, that stirred your heart so much that an incredible risk to you, the family, that you decided to rescue this girl and try to get her some help?

MORGAN: Well, I saw this child as the first born child of the young mother and father, and really all I could think of was my five children back at home and my young daughter. And I knew if I had the opportunity whatsoever to save my daughter's life, I would do everything possible. And so my heart just kind of went out to this baby and these parents who were, you know, living in poverty and had no means to help their own baby. I thought maybe we could do that for him.

COSTELLO: See, now, and another interesting part of this story, Lieutenant, is the parents can't show their faces because they feel they would be in danger if others in Iraq knew the Americans were helping them out.

MORGAN; Yes, that's absolutely right. We did a lot of things to protect the identity of these people. We visited when we could, which was usually in the middle of the night, as covertly as possible. Because the insurgents in Iraq like to find people that we're trying to help sometimes and either terrorize them or sometimes worse.

COSTELLO: Debbie Stone is Lieutenant Jeff Morgan's good friend. She's sort of helping things move along here in the United States. Debbie, tell us about this visa problem and when this child might make her way to the United States.

DEBBIE STONE, FRIEND OF LT. JEFF MORGAN: Well, Senator Chambliss' office has been very helpful in speaking with the embassy. And we have got some paperwork that the embassy needed and we have passed that on. We're still waiting for passports. That's really what has been the hang-up at this point.

I heard last night, or during the middle of the night, from Captain Fornieau (ph) that the grandmother does have a passport. We're still waiting for a passport for another family member at this point in order for all of the paperwork to kind of get together.

COSTELLO: And it's like -- I know that must be frustrating because Doctor Hudgins, isn't time of the essence here?

DR. ROGER HUDGINS, CHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE ATLANTA: It is. We need to move on, we need to get the back closed. The concern here is meningitis. If the baby gets an infection on the back, that infection can spread to the coverings all over the brain and the baby may die. So time is of the essence.

COSTELLO: So when the baby arrives here and undergoes surgery for spina bifida, can the baby be totally cured and live a normal, healthy life?

HUDGINS: That's a difficult question, because each child with spina bifida is different. And I have not examined this child. Our hope and expectation, though, is that we can get the child through the surgery and save the life and then we can work on the quality of life.

COSTELLO: One more question for Lieutenant Jeff Morgan. Tell me what this means to you.

MORGAN: Oh, wow. What this means to me really is that, number one, a child, any child, deserves the help if it's available. And number two, really, it means that this a new way of establishing relations with the Iraqi people. This puts the Iraqi people in touch with people in my home state of Georgia, and it also gives the people in Georgia some exposure to Iraqi people, which -- you know, I've met a lot of very have good Iraqi people here.

These people have been open to us and honest with us. It's a very small portion of the people over here that are negative towards the Americans, you know. We've done so many positive things over here, this just gives Charlie Company -- by the way, the courageous men of Charlie Company -- it gives them a focal point outside of the normal day-to-day routine of trying to catch the insurgency. It gives them something even more positive to focus, and whenever they leave Iraq, they know they have done their job plus.

COSTELLO: Well, we'll cross our fingers and toes and keep following this story. Thank you.

Lieutenant Jeff Morgan, Debbie Stone and neurosurgeon Robert Hudgins of Children's Health Care of Atlanta. Which by the way, doctor, you're doing the surgery for free. So thanks to all of you, and we'll continue to follow this story.

It if you want to help, you can. Just log on to www.lifeover.org, or you can send donations to Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church 4283 Chapel Hill Road, Douglasville, Georgia. The zip code 30135.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You know, in case you missed that, we'll bring it up on the screen a little later. I don't think a lot of people have their pen and paper ready. So we'll get that for you in a little bit.

Four children from Iraq happy to be out of a New York hospital today after surgery to save their lives. We've been checking in on these kids since they arrived almost two weeks ago. The three boys and a girl, ages six to 11, all here for operations to fix potentially fatal heart defects. Their travel paid for by the Gift of Life International Organization. The surgery courtesy of the Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx.

The kids and their fathers are in the U.S. for another few weeks. And Soledad is spending some time with the families throughout their stay. We will take you behind the scenes as the kids recover and prepare to return home. We wish them all happiness and health through all of this.

Coming up, yet another sign that the housing bubble may be bursting. Geez, I hate saying that one, too! First, the recession, now this? Geez! give me something good, folks! What it means for homeowners, next "Minding Your Business."

COSTELLO: Plus, the latest on that restraining order against David Letterman. Can a New Mexico woman prove he used code words on TV to harass her?

O'BRIEN: Like Oprah.

COSTELLO: That's very strange.

O'BRIEN: We just said it. I think we said the code word, Oprah. We're in trouble.

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COSTELLO: We'll tell you more, on AMERICAN MORNING, just ahead.

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O'BRIEN: OK, countdown to the countdown time. The Big Apple shining things up for the New Year's Eve bash. Workers putting together that thousand-pound crystal ball that drops at midnight Saturday night Times Square. Thousands expected to be there as 2005 expires. And good riddance, I might add.

And in case you would rather have a root canal than stand in Times Square in the cold with a hundred thousand strangers, you can watch from your barcalounger. CNN's Anderson Cooper will deal with the elements so you don't have to. He'll be live in Times Square.

On the bill, the Godfather of the Soul, James Brown, he'll be feeling good. John Mayer, Harry Connick Jr. and more. It's an eclectic group, you might say. So tune in beginning 11:00 Eastern, Saturday night for the big New Year's celebration.

And if you live in another time zone, it kind of gives you a preview of what lies ahead for you. So it would be like 8:00 on the -- so you can have like two opportunities to kiss people you don't know.

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COSTELLO: In a New Mexico courtroom, a very strange victory for a celebrity who is no stranger to strange goings on. We're talking about late night host David Letterman.

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COLLEEN NESTLER, LETTERMAN ACCUSER: He has intentions with me. He has plans, I should say. Plans is a better word than intentions. And I want nothing to do with this individual.

COSTELLO: To hear Colleen Nester call it, talk show host David Letterman has stalked her for years, using his late night show to communicate with hand gestures, eye expression and code words.

DAVID LETTERMAN: Please welcome Oprah Winfrey!

COSTELLO: In an unusual court filing, the New Mexico woman claimed words like "Oprah" conveyed Letterman's desire to marry her and train her to be his cohost.

Earlier this month, the New Mexico judge hit Letterman with a temporary restraining order, ordering him to stay away from the apparent stranger. Letterman's lawyers said, hold on, the suit has no merit, and Letterman must protect his reputation.

Nestler admitted she could not prove her allegations. So on Tuesday, the judge reversed himself, and threw out the restraining order.

Nestler's initial complaint came with a six-page typed letter, accusing Letterman of mental cruelty, and asking the judge quote, "Think of me, and release me from his mental harassment and hammering.

After losing the court's protection against Letterman," Nestler said, "he has access to me. He could actually come from me or send people. He has many accomplices... I know this sounds crazy. I was crazy to have listened to him in the beginning."

This is just the latest in a series of strange incidents involving the late-night legend. Margaret Ray (ph), you might remember, was arrested for routinely trespassing on Letterman's Connecticut property before she committed suicide. And earlier this year, a man who used to work on Letterman's Montana ranch was charged with plotting to kidnap Letterman's son.

As for this current case, while the restraining order was no laughing matter, Letterman just couldn't resist.

LETTERMAN: By the way, that wasn't a joke. It was a coded message.

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COSTELLO: And I'm going to be his new co-host since he said that.

Besides contending that that...

O'BRIEN: Oh, is that the message you heard?

COSTELLO: That is the message I heard from that, just like Miss Nestler. Anyway...

O'BRIEN: I thought I heard John was dead. No, that's the Beatles backwards.

COSTELLO: Yes, that's the Beatles. Yes, that's a whole 'nother story.

O'BRIEN: That's a different thing, yes.

COSTELLO: Besides contending that Nestler's case has no merit, Letterman's lawyers argue the New Mexico court has no jurisdiction over Letterman and that's because his main residence is in Connecticut.

O'BRIEN: Yes, apparently it's Paul is dead. Everybody is correcting me. It was just a joke, guys. It wasn't necessarily -- anyway. It's amazing, the Beatles fans are there in my ear in a big way! It's amazing! I've got Beatles in my ears!

All right, coming up, three brothers who say their father taught them right from wrong. And they have a story to tell to prove that is so. They turned him in after he was linked to a series of bank robberies. We'll ask them what that's like as the father faces sentencing, coming up. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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COSTELLO: Be sure to check out our Web site, CNN.com, for the latest on this morning's top stories, including, of course, the wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma. Hopefully, the weather will be -- well, actually, the winds might die down, so they can dump some water from the air on these fires, at least in Oklahoma. We'll get to the forecast in just a minute.

Also at CNN.com, the most popular stories, including Canada blaming the United States for gun violence. They had a terrible shooting at a shopping mall where a 15-year-old girl was gunned down and some other bystanders were injured. They're blaming the United States because illegal guns from the U.S. coming into Canada and getting into the wrong hands.

O'BRIEN: Well, no, let's put it in context, though. The murder rate in Toronto has doubled this year. There's a whole, you know, crime spree underway.

COSTELLO: But still, for the city -- for a city the size of Toronto, only 78 people have been killed. But to them...

O'BRIEN: Right, out of three million. But that's -- for Canada, that's a lot of violence.

COSTELLO: Yes. And if you're about to head out the door for work or school, you can stay in touch with CNN and AMERICAN MORNING by logging on to CNN.com and our pipeline video service. You can catch live commercial-free news updates. It's all there at CNN.com/pipeline.

O'BRIEN: Now, we were -- we gave you an address a little while ago about Baby Noor. It's quite a story, actually. I want to give you that address to you one more time to help out this little girl. The organization is called -- well, you can logon to www.lifeover.org.

Or you can spend donations by this means -- this is the address we gave you a little while ago. It is the Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church. The address is 4283 Chapel Hill Road in Douglasville, Georgia. And that zip code is 30135.

COSTELLO: Yes, they're trying to get this little baby with spina bifida over here to the United States from Iraq so that she can be cured, so that doctors can repair her spine for free and, hopefully, that's only a couple of days away now.

O'BRIEN: Hopefully folks will help out. I'm sure they will. We have generous, generous viewers. Coming up, some of the top medical breakthroughs of 2005, including the first-ever bionic arm controlled by an amputees' thoughts. That is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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