Miami Attorney Disagrees With Justice Department on Schedule Date, Castro Furious About Elian's Interview
FRANK SESNO, CNN ANCHOR: We begin with the case of six-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez. Answer to the question, does he stay, or does go appears to be drawing near. In response to a deadline expiring this hour from the Justice Department, the child's Miami relatives signaled today they're prepared to speed the appeals process. CNN's Susan Candiotti is outside the family's house in Miami and joins me with the latest -- Susan.</s>SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In fact, we are expecting a news conference momentarily from attorneys representing the Florida relatives of Elian Gonzalez. Now, we seem to be at an impasse here -- this is the latest information we have -- and that's because, while the attorneys have filed a motion with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to say that they will agree to an expedited briefing schedule, the attorneys are now asking the court to set the schedule. And they are not officially agreeing, apparently, to the dates currently set forth in an ultimatum provided by the Justice Department and dates that, frankly, attorneys earlier said that they would be able to adhere to. One of the attorneys told me just moments ago, quote, "we cannot in good conscience agree to something we cannot make. We cannot represent to the court that we can effectively represent our client when we can't." In contacting the Justice Department just a little while ago, a spokesperson for the U.S. Justice Department has said that they have not yet seen the response, not yet heard from the attorneys as yet. They had to put all of this in writing to the Justice Department by noontime. And they say they're going to study that response. And until they do, they will have no official comment. However, sources familiar with the case say that they find it curious that the attorneys are now hesitant to reach out and put specific dates for a briefing schedule in writing, when they have in the past. Here's one of the attorneys -- what one of them had to say about this last night.</s>LINDA OSBERG-BRAUN, ATTORNEY FOR MIAMI RELATIVES: We have no objection at all to an expedited appeal. We only propose have an extra weekend on the front end and two days on the back end of the reply brief. And that is reasonable, and we are willing and ready to move heaven and earth to work as diligently as humanly possible to prepare the best appeal that Elian can have.</s>CANDIOTTI: Now, the question is: If the Justice Department is not satisfied with the response in writing from the attorneys, will they revoke Elian Gonzalez's temporary parole status by Thursday? That is what the government said it would do. We are now waiting to hear exactly what the attorneys have to say and what the Justice Department is going to do next. Susan Candiotti, CNN, reporting live in Miami.</s>SESNO: And we'll bring you that news conference live, as soon as it happens. You heard some of the noise there in Miami, outside the family's home, where Elian Gonzalez is staying. Well in Cuba, as well, Fidel Castro has been ratchetting up the rhetoric there surrounding the case. CNN's Havana bureau chief, Lucia Newman, joins me now with more on that. Hello, Lucia.</s>LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: Hello, Frank. Well, the Cuban government is being very upbeat. It believes that, ultimately, this whole appeals process will be over in, what President Fidel Castro says, around three weeks. And he also says he's absolutely confident that the court will uphold the INS decision to return little Elian Gonzalez to his father and back here to Cuba. But in a 90-minute address, which was televised live here in Cuba, President Fidel Castro also warned that the child's Miami relatives and some members of the exile community in the United States were now desperate. He said this was now a very dangerous moment, And he warned that these people might try to kidnap the child, or even take him to another country to prevent the boy from being returned to Cuba. Then, President Castro went even further with allegations against some members of the exile community.</s>FIDEL CASTRO, PRESIDENT OF CUBA (through translator): It is a sign of desperation, which is dangerous, truly dangerous. They are capable of killing the boy before returning him safe and sound to his country.</s>NEWMAN: Now, President Castro believes that these people will try anything to keep the boy in the United States. And he has appealed to U.S. authorities to intervene and to safeguard the boy's safety, he says. At the same time, the president was furious about an interview that was given with the child to a U.S. television network. He called it a repulsive manipulation, or "a repulsive attempt to manipulate U.S. public opinion." The child's father has made no public comment yet. But sources close to the father say that he was also very upset about the interview. He says he is the only legal guardian of the child, the only one who has the legal authority to authorize such an interview, and that he has not given his consent. This is Lucia Newman reporting live from Havana. Search CNN.com CNNSI.com CNNmoney.com The Web