Laura Ling Names Baby Girl After Bill Clinton

Laura Ling told CBS News Chief Legal Correspondent Jan Crawford on CBSNews.com's "Washington Unplugged" last Friday that while imprisoned in North Korea she remembered thinking that she would never be able start a family.

But last night, nearly a year removed from her capture, Ling and her husband, Iain Clayton, celebrated the birth of their first child. And according to People Magazine, as a tribute to former president Bill Clinton and his work in getting the journalist freed, the couple named the baby girl Li Jefferson Clayton. Jefferson is Bill Clinton's middle name.

According to People, the baby's first name is a tribute to Ling's sister Lisa, who first reached out to Mr. Clinton.

Laura Ling said on "Washington Unplugged" that she and her family are forever indebted to Mr. Clinton, who flew to North Korea and met with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to negotiate a release.

"My family and I refer to him as our rescuer-in-chief," she said. "We are so grateful because it was an unpredictable mission into this very secretive society."

She told People that, "He has checked in on me several times to see how I'm doing, has been so concerned and caring. He's such a wonderful human being."

Ling and fellow journalist Euna Lee were captured by North Korean soldiers while filming a documentary along the China/North Korea border in March of 2009. The two were imprisoned and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in a North Korean prison camp, before being pardoned and eventually released following the visit by Mr. Clinton.

Watch the full "Washington Unplugged" interview with Laura Ling below: