The Battle for Baby Veronica; Impact Your World
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: If you don't love this song, you don't love any song.</s>MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, my. Oh, my.</s>CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY, Tuesday, August 13th. I'm Chris Cuomo.</s>KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. We're here with news anchor Michaela Pereira.</s>PEREIRA: Good morning, everyone.</s>BOLDUAN: Coming up this half hour, the fight for baby Veronica. The adoption case taking a dramatic turn now. The biological father arrested for defying a court order to return the girl to her adoptive parents. We're going to have an update on that case coming up.</s>CUOMO: Plus, we're going to introduce you to the Park Avenue doctor, there he is, offering free eye surgery for dates. But here is the other issue, he just might be the pickiest guy around. He's joining us after he gets done with whatever he's doing there.</s>BOLDUAN: He's going to show his picture.</s>CUOMO: Is that what he was going to do? Thank you very much. Let's head to Michaela for the five things you need to know for your new day.</s>PEREIRA: All right. Happening right now at number one, clashes breaking out in Egypt this morning between supporters of ousted President Morsy and his opponents. Police are reportedly firing tear gas into the crowds in Cairo. Hannah Anderson back with her family in California and now mourning the death of her brother and mother. Investigators say suspect James DiMaggio fired at least one shot before he was killed by an FBI tactical agent in Idaho. Arraignment today for two men accused of trying to obstruct the Boston Marathon bombing investigation and assisting Boston bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev. The Israeli government agreeing to release 26 Palestinian prisoners. This is part of a deal that sets the stage for direct Israeli/Palestinian peace talks starting tomorrow. And at number five, Anthony Weiner and his Democratic rivals facing off tonight in the first New York City mayoral debate. Less than a month to go until the primary, Weiner has slipped to fourth place in the polls. We will update those five things you need to know throughout the day. So please go to newdaycnn.com for the very latest. Guys.</s>BOLDUAN: All right, Michaela, thanks so much. Let's get to the heartbreaking case now of baby Veronica. An adoption battle that's lasted for nearly four years. It's not over yet. It's taking some new turns this morning. Zoraida Sambolin is here with the latest developments. It's such a sad story. It's hard no matter how you slice it.</s>ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I totally agree with that. It's a very sad story. The adoptive parents of the three-year-old Native American girl are demanding her biological father return the child to them. It's been ordered by the Supreme Court and it should have happened last week.</s>MELANIE COPOBIANCO, VERONICA'S ADOPTIVE MOTHER: We ask, what are you waiting for? With every passing hour, we fear more and more for her safety and wellbeing.</s>SAMBOLIN (voice-over): Matt and Melanie Copobianco say what happens to their daughter amounts to kidnapping.</s>MELANIE COPOBIANCO: We prayed the courts would do the right thing, and they did. Now we pray that those who are holding Veronica will do the right thing.</s>SAMBOLIN: It all started when the couple adopted now tree-year-old Veronica back in 2009. They raised her for two years before a court forced them to return her to her biological father, Dusten Brown.</s>DUSTEN BROWN, VERONICA'S BIOLOGICAL FATHER: She's doing great. She's a wild kid and very excited. Full of energy.</s>SAMBOLIN: Brown had initially waived his parental rights during the adoption proceeding, but later changed his mind and filed suit using a little-known federal law that protects Native American children from being separated from their parents. Brown is part Cherokee.</s>BROWN: She don't quite understand it. She has seen pictures of them with her. She goes, well, I know that's me, but who are they? I mean, I just tell her, those are some people that love you, too.</s>SAMBOLIN: The case went all the way up to the Supreme Court, who in June ruled in favor of the Copobianco family. Justice said the federal law does not apply in this case since Brown waived his parental rights. Brown was ordered last week to appear at a court hearing to start the process of returning Veronica to the home of the Copobiancos, but he was charged with failing to show up. He turned himself into police on Monday.</s>BROWN: I'm willing to go to jail for my daughter. This is my family and I'll protect them. And I mean if it takes me going to jail for it, so be it.</s>SAMBOLIN: The Copobiancos say they understand how Brown feels, but they urge him to do the right thing and return Veronica.</s>MATT COPOBIANCO, VERONICA'S ADOPTIVE FATHER: We know better than anybody how it feels to have to hand over a child. And, you know, we understand their pain. We understand what they're going through. And we know they care about her. We know they love her. One way or another, she's going to come home.</s>SAMBOLIN: Dusten Brown was freed on $10,000 bond. His wife, Robin, says Veronica is safe at an undisclosed location. She is with her grandparents. This is a tragedy, right? This little girl spent two years with the Copobiancos and now 18 months with her biological father. The way you look at this, it's kind of a no-win situation, right?</s>BOLDUAN: It is no-win.</s>SAMBOLIN: Yet the little girl is stuck in the middle and the Supreme Court handed down their decision. This case was litigated already.</s>BOLDUAN: Right. The -- I mean it's gone the extent it's going to go, it appears, in terms of a legal avenue. And we were talking while we were watching this piece, there has to be a way for these two sets of parents to work it out amongst themselves and think about this little girl because right now they're tearing -- they're tearing her apart.</s>SAMBOLIN: I've watched the Copobiancos as they've given several interviews and really it seems like they are willing to do that, let's figure this out for the sake of this little girl maybe how we can all be involved, right? And at the end of the day, the little girl transitions a little easier now as well because this little girl's gone through this already twice.</s>PEREIRA: Well, can I just say, I'm an adoptee and I know that it's later in life that these questions about where you come from come up so vividly.</s>SAMBOLIN: Yes.</s>PEREIRA: They have to handle it right now because otherwise she's always going to feel that she was cheated out of one or both of the families. I mean it's so important.</s>BOLDUAN: And it's happened so publicly too.</s>PEREIRA: Yes.</s>SAMBOLIN: And she has video to go back and watch, right, to see how this was all handled very early on.</s>BOLDUAN: Yes, unfortunately.</s>CUOMO: Right.</s>BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, Zoraida.</s>SAMBOLIN: Oh, my pleasure. Thank you.</s>PEREIRA: What a story.</s>CUOMO: The key is to put the kid first.</s>BOLDUAN: Exactly. Yes.</s>SAMBOLIN: Oh, yes.</s>CUOMO: And that's what always gets lost in litigation. When people start fighting, they forget about what's supposed to matter and what's supposed to matter most. Zoraida, appreciate it very much.</s>BOLDUAN: Thank you.</s>SAMBOLIN: You're welcome.</s>CUOMO: All right, moving on now. Country music star Kellie Pickler is currently on tour, performing in front of fans, but it's entertaining our troops that really touches her heart. This granddaughter of a retired Marine impacts her world through song.</s>KELLIE PICKLER, SINGER: Hey, there, I'm Kellie Pickler. I come from a military family. I've always had a great deal of respect for our service men and women. I work a lot with the USO. I love working with them. And we've been able to go and do so many tours overseas. Where are my girls at? All right! To be in a position where you can take a little piece of home to your service men and women, I mean, why would you not do that? Because they need to know that we have their back because they have ours. It's the right thing to do, and that's why I do it. The USO, they've been doing this for over 60 years. You cannot compare those shows to any other shows that you do. I wish I could just donate my whole time to just doing those tours, because I'd do it in a heartbeat. I love it. Join the movement. Impact your world and you can be a part of something really special.</s>BOLDUAN: Impact your world. All right. Coming up next on NEW DAY, Park Avenue plastic surgeon looking for love. He says if you hook him up, he'll fix you up. Problem is, he's pretty picky. We've got a lot to talk about with this doctor. He's joining us live.