Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Chandra Levy's Aunt Disputes Gary Condit's Account of His Relationship With the Missing Intern

Aired July 06, 2001 - 20:00   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.
KATE SNOW, GUEST HOST: Tonight: jewelry, chocolates and private weekends. Chandra Levy's aunt provides details of a secret relationship Levy said she had with Congressman Gary Condit. The former Washington intern has been missing for more than nine weeks. We'll speak with two well-known private investigators about where the trail may be leading.

Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen saves his life, pleading guilty to spy charges. He promises to tell the U.S. government what he told Moscow.

And flight attendants say air rage could lead to an air disaster. They want the airlines and the government to do something.

Good evening. I'm Kate Snow in Washington. Wolf Blitzer is off.

There's a new account today suggesting Washington intern Chandra Levy and her California Congressman Gary Condit were more than just "good friends," as the congressman has long insisted. It's drawn a fresh response from the congressman, and that's our top story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Can you...

LINDA ZAMSKY, CHANDRA LEVY'S AUNT: No, I can't talk about it.

QUESTION: None of that?

ZAMSKY: No, OK?

QUESTION: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: Levy's aunt, Linda Zamsky, didn't want to talk on camera, but in a 16-page written statement Zamsky detailed what she called "an intimate and secret relationship" between Levy and Condit. Based on conversations with her niece, Zamsky said Condit gave Levy a gold bracelet and Godiva chocolates. She described how Levy and the congressman would steal away for weekends in his apartment and sneak out for a bite. Quoting Linda Zamsky now: "I said, 'Well, how do you go out if it's such a secret?' And she said they would take a taxi, she would come out the door, grab the taxi, and then he would come out, baseball cap, jacket, kind of a little incognito, and he would get in the cab with her."

Zamsky said the Levy family is frustrated and outraged that Condit has, quote, "mischaracterized his relationship with Levy." Zamsky says, quote: "We believe that Representative Condit's lack of candor is hindering efforts to find Chandra. We call on him to do what he would want others to do if one of his children were missing, to give a complete account of his relationship with Chandra."

CNN national correspondent Bob Franken has been tracking this story and has been in touch with Condit's office. He's standing by live in our Washington bureau with the congressman's response -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's instructive, Kate, to point out that this is actually a response from the public relations person that Congressman Condit has hired. Both sides now have PR representatives who are presenting their cases.

Marina Ein is the public relations spokesman who in fact put out the statement in response to what you just described. What it says is, quote: "What Congressman Condit and anyone else can do is to tell the authorities who are looking for her what they know that can be helpful. Congressman and Mrs. Condit have done so on a number of occasions. Their complete willingness to do this with police investigators should not be confused with their decision not to fuel an already out of control media frenzy."

And I would point out, Kate, that this has been a recurring theme of late that the questions about the personal life are irrelevant, that this is just nothing more than the media feeding frenzy that some many people really have learned to dislike.

SNOW: Bob, on the other side of this, a lot of strongly worded statements today from the aunt of Chandra Levy. Why did she decide to go public?

FRANKEN: Well, there is a coordinated public relations campaign on the other side. It is very clear -- in fact, I can tell you that people on that side say that the parents of Chandra Levy are outraged at the relationship, they want it out. They have decided that they will do whatever it takes to get out what they believe to have been that romantic relationship that the two had, Congressman Condit and their daughter Chandra Levy, that the congressman has repeatedly denied.

SNOW: Quickly, Bob, Zamsky also talked today about the last communication that she had from her niece. She talked about a phone mail, a voice mail message that she received. Tell us a little bit about that.

FRANKEN: Very briefly, the message, which was delivered on April 29, the day before Chandra Levy was last seen -- Chandra Levy said in a very happy voice she had "big news." Now, the investigators are very interested in what that big news was, and if it possibly could have been something that contributed to her disappearance.

SNOW: CNN national correspondent Bob Franken, thank you.

Congressman Gary Condit has tried hard to keep out of the spotlight, but he faces intense public scrutiny and growing political pressure. More now from our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gary Condit, a man who knows missing intern Chandra Levy. Gary Condit, husband. Gary Condit, politician. You are looking at a man whose life has collided with itself, exploding into political, personal and legal ramifications.

JIM COLE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: From a legal standpoint, the communication is solely between he and his lawyer and the authorities, the police and the FBI, and that's where it should be from a legal standpoint.

CROWLEY: But Condit's public silence, understandable personally, advisable legally, is disastrous politically.

ROBIN COHN, "THE P.R. CRISIS BIBLE": I am sure when has was running for office that he didn't run away from cameras or the press. So he does know better.

CROWLEY: The California congressman is a living, breathing example of a person getting smashed between a rock and a hard place. Talk publicly and increase the risk of legal liability; don't talk, and you look like you've got something to hide.

COLE: A whole another problem that you have when you are a member of Congress and have a situation like this is the public relations end. Sometimes the two don't mix well together.

CROWLEY: Beyond the legal, there is the personal. Condit has a wife and adult children he wants to protect from being sucked into the vortex of this mystery. He has said in written statements there was no romantic relationship, but absent anything else, Condit leaves the public arena to others, the latest from Chandra's aunt who says her niece told her the relationship was intimate.

It is in his best interests to stay quiet. It is in the best interests of the Levy family to keep the story alive.

BO DIETL, FORMER NEW YORK POLICE DETECTIVE: With her picture being all over the place, maybe someone can remember seeing her that day with somebody to get some more evidence.

CROWLEY (on camera): So tough and precarious is Condit's current position that any number of Democratic PR operatives have turned down requests to join his office staff. Instead, the congressman has now turned to an outside corporate PR firm.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: We'll have more on the Chandra Levy investigation later in our program. But first, in other news: veteran FBI Agent Robert Hanssen today avoided a possible death penalty by owning up to charges that he spied for Moscow. We get the story now from CNN Justice correspondent Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Looking thinner and calmer than before, Robert Hanssen pled guilty to espionage, part of a deal under which he'll spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole.

LARRY THOMPSON, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: The decision to forego the death penalty in this case was a difficult one. In reaching this decision, we determined that the interest of the United States would be best served by pursuing a course that would enable our government to fully assess the magnitude and scope of Hanssen's espionage activities.

ARENA: Hanssen, one of the most damaging spies in U.S. history, will be debriefed and polygraphed by the government over the next six months. Officials want details to determine the extent of the harm he caused to U.S. intelligence and to possibly ferret out other moles. Hanssen has already met with investigators twice.

RANDY BELLOWS, ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: We would not have entered into this plea agreement unless we and the intelligence community concluded that Mr. Hanssen -- the proffer sessions were complete and truthful and forthright.

ARENA: Also part of the agreement, Hanssen's wife Bonnie will receive a portion of her husband's government pension. She will get just under $40,000 a year. Prosecutors say she has fully cooperated since her husband's arrest.

BELLOWS: Based on the evidence the government had acquired, Mrs. Hanssen did not have culpability that would result in her prosecution.

ARENA: The government will also allow Hanssen's family to keep its home and vehicles. But any possessions or accounts linked directly to the $1.4 million Hanssen was paid for selling U.S. secrets will be forfeited.

KEN MELSON, U.S. ATTORNEY: He also forfeits any benefit he might receive in the future from publicity associated with this matter.

ARENA: Hanssen's lawyers say he has expressed remorse for his actions, which include revealing U.S. nuclear response plans and identifying Soviet double agents. PLATO CACHERIS, HANSSEN ATTORNEY: He very much wanted to make amends, that's a big reason for this disposition today, and he wanted to tell his former agency what he had done and how he had done it.

ARENA (on camera): Hanssen will not be sentenced until January 11, which gives the government some time to make sure that he's cooperating as promised.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: After intensive legal and diplomatic discussions, the United States today handed over to Japanese authorities an Air Force sergeant accused of raping a woman on Okinawa last week. A top U.S. official says he believes the hand-over was made soon enough to prevent the situation on the island from getting, quote, "out of control." Crimes committed by U.S. personnel in recent years have sparked protests and demands for a U.S. withdrawal.

Back in the U.S., the nation's jobless rate edged higher in June, as businesses cut 114,000 jobs. The Labor Department says unemployment reached 4.5 percent last month, up a .1 percent from May. That information, combined with another round of quarterly earnings warnings, sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 227 points, to 10,252. The Nasdaq composite index was off almost 76 points, at 2,004.

The president is celebrating his 55th birthday at the Bush family retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine. He played a round of golf with the previous President Bush and discussed the Balkans situation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called with birthday wishes. The president's daughters missed the family reunion, but phoned in their own birthday greetings from Texas.

It was a day 19-year-old Jenna Bush might like to forget. She was fined $600 and lost her driver's license for 30 days. She was also ordered to perform community service and attend alcohol awareness classes. Jenna pleaded "no contest" to underage drinking and trying to use someone else's I.D. to buy alcohol. She did not attend the back-to-back Austin, Texas, hearings, stemming from two recent incidents. Her twin sister, Barbara, last month pleaded "no contest" to underage possession of alcohol.

One's a former D.C. homicide commander turned defense lawyer, one is a private eye, who's worked with some very public figures. I'll ask attorney Louis Hennessy and investigator Anthony Pellicano about the search for Chandra Levy.

And flight attendants are angry about air rage. Do belligerent passengers endanger all passengers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: Welcome back. How do you go about looking for a missing person? To help us learn more about the search for Chandra Levy I'm joined by Louis Hennessy the former police homicide commander here in Washington. And from Los Angeles private investigator Anthony Pellicano who's client list some top corporations and also some top stars. Mr. Pellicano, let me start with you. You have a missing person, she has been missing for quite a while. Where do you begin?

ANTHONY PELLICANO, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: First of all, you have to gather all the information you possibly can about that individual. And you have to totally get -- the family would have to totally wave all rights of privacy. You'd have to find out each and every aspect of that person's life before they were missing.

SNOW: You focus on the apartment, then, or where do you look for the first clues?

PELLICANO: Every bit of detail from phone records to associations, credit card information, every single aspect of this young lady's life to try to determine what was going on in her life during the period of time just before she disappeared.

SNOW: Mr. Hennessy, do you think that's what the D.C. police are doing here?

LOUIS HENNESSY, ATTORNEY: Yes I would think so. I would think what was important is to establish what her state of mind was and what her itinerary was at that particular time, who she was associating with and where she may have been going on that particular evening.

SNOW: Mr. Pellicano, yesterday the D.C. police chief, Washington police chief Charles Ramsey, said we are not the sex police here, meaning they should not have to investigate every allegation involving Mr. Condit, Congressman Condit and possible relationships with women. Do you look at those relationships if you were investigating this case?

PELLICANO: Well, looking at it from a missing person's aspect, no. Looking at it along other lines, yes. But you have to understand that I believe that this Congressman, through whoever his spokespersons are, need to cooperate with law enforcement 1000 percent in giving them every inch of information that he possibly can that may assist them in their investigation.

SNOW: And just to be fair, Congressman Condit said very explicitly in a statement late today that he is cooperating with authorities and that he has told authorities everything he knows. Mr. Hennessy, in "The Washington Post" today as we have already reported, Chandra Levy's aunt made a lot of statements.

She later released a 16 page statement. She said at one point about the relationship between Chandra Levy and Representative Condit, she said. "Representative Condit was emphatic that it had to remain a secret. If anybody found out about this relationship it was done, over, kaput." That's according to Linda Zamsky, Chandra Levy's aunt.

How does that bear on this investigation, or does it?

HENNESSY: Well, I don't think it bears dramatically on the investigation. I don't think it's unusual for someone who may have been involved in a relationship or an extramarital affair to try to keep that quiet. And if it did become public knowledge, particularly for a public person, that they would want to end it immediately.

SNOW: Mr. Pellicano, Chandra Levy has been missing nine weeks now. Is there any hope that she's still out there somewhere? Is there anyway of guessing?

PELLICANO: There's no way of guessing without having all the information. But I'll tell you this, it is more likely that something has happened to her or that she has done something to herself than that she is alive at this point.

SNOW: What then, Mr. Hennessy, are the most important clues that you are you looking for? Where would you be headed at this point?

HENNESSY: Well, there at a distinct disadvantage because they don't have a body. Not only do they not have a body, they don't even know whether or not they have a crime.

SNOW: It's not even a technically a homicide, yet. It is a missing persons case.

HENNESSY: It is, but I'm sure that the D.C. police have a very advanced and progressive homicide squad. I'm sure that they have gone through the steps of collecting evidence and processing her apartment and other potential as it may have been a murder so that in the event it turns into a murder, they can use this evidence in court at a later time.

SNOW: At what point does it become a homicide and could they be holding back on making that change in determination because of all the media attention?

HENNESSY: I believe that they would have a hard time classifying this case as a homicide now for a number of reasons. They have absolutely no evidence that there was any foul play other than the fact that she is missing. We have had cases in D.C. where people have been prosecuted without a body being found, but there was concrete evidence that in fact a murder had occurred, because somebody provided information. That's not available here.

SNOW: Mr. Pellicano, on both sides of this both sides have hired, at least in some point in all of this, private investigators. Why do that? What does a private investigator do or what can a private investigator do that the police maybe can't do?

PELLICANO: Well, there are things we can do that the police can't do. But as far as this investigation is concerned, if all the parties, in other words, all investigators, and all law enforcement work together, perhaps they can solve this matter. But you have to understand that this is still a missing person's case at this point. So, the police are limited as to what they can do.

SNOW: Mr. Hennessy, let me ask you, here locally, in Washington there are 141 missing persons right now. Why -- it is right to be paying so much attention to one missing person?

HENNESSY: Well I think we should be paying this much attention to every missing person. If it was your child that was missing you would want this type of attention paid to it. And I think it would be a step in the right direction if the police department and the authorities were to respond to every missing person case this way.

SNOW: Mr. Pellicano, you heard earlier about the phone message that Chandra Levy had left for her aunt in which she had big news. Does that mean anything? Can you follow-up on those kind of clues?

PELLICANO: Well, yes. I would like to hear the tape recording to determine what her -- the cadence of speech was, what her mannerism was. but more than that, the thing that interests me is that her suitcases were packed, according to the news reports that is, her suitcases were packed and her credit cards and driver's license were in her apartment and her apartment was locked.

That meant that someone had to leave and lock the door and left the apartment in that state. It is obvious to me that something has happened to this young lady. And that needs to be the focus, to find out what. And you really have to delve into what happened during those last two weeks, the two weeks before her disappearance. You really have to know what was going on from toll records, credit card records, cell records, conversations with friends, conversations with relatives.

Every single aspect of this young lady's life unfortunately has to be opened now.

SNOW: Anthony Pellicano in Los Angeles thank you so much. Mr. Louis Hennessy, here in Washington, thank you as well.

SNOW: Just because you have a ticket to fly, that doesn't mean you have a ticket to yell. I'll have the latest on efforts to calm down airline passengers. And a relative of Elvis Presley is gunned down in Tupelo, Mississippi. That story and more, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: The FAA, the airlines, and the federal government get a failing grade from flight attendants when it comes to dealing with air rage.

These are twin sisters, apparently out of control on an overseas flight in April. The association of flight attendants was in Washington demanding that more be done to stop dangerous passenger behavior.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICIA FRIEND, ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: We would like to see a major public education campaign about the consequences of engaging in this kind of behavior. And that would include posters and notices all through the airport including bars and restaurants that are serving alcohol, in addition to on the ticket wallets in the boarding areas so that people understand that there's a penalty associated with this kind of behavior in flight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: Flight attendants say air rage incidents can result in emergency landings, cockpit break-ins and injury to crew and passengers.

In Tampa, Florida, the gunman involved in the shooting of a policewoman took his own life after a four-hour standoff. It started late this morning when authorities responded to a bank robbery. Witnesses say a man shot the officer during a foot chase. Another officer was wounded. Authorities say the suspect then killed himself while surrounded inside an apartment.

A cousin of Elvis Presley is being called a hero after he died today during a shoot-out in Mississippi. Authorities say Lee County Sheriff Harold Ray Presley pushed the deputy out of the way during a gun battle with a suspect and was shot several times. Presley returned fire, killing the suspect.

Environmental activist Robert Kennedy Junior has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for demonstrating on the Puerto Rican Island of Vieques. He was among dozens of protesters arrested last month for trying to disrupt U.S. Navy bombing exercise on that island.

Tonight on the "Leading Edge," the Pentagon will try again to make its national missile defense system work. In about a week, it will conduct a 4th test of the problem-plagued ballistic missile system. In the last three attempts only one dummy warhead was intercepted in space.

Already tired of pesky mosquitoes ruining your backyard barbecue? Scientists have come up with a high-tech way to zap those annoying critters. It's a mosquito magnet that mimics what the insects loves most, human sweat and heat. The inventors say the device can trap mosquitoes within an area as large as three-quarters of an acre.

It's turning into a banner year for Genetically engineered crops. For instance, more than 68 percent of soybeans grown this year will be genetically engineered. That's up from 54 percent a year ago. That exceeds the levels the government predicted for this year.

Just ahead, we'll open our WOLF BLITZER REPORTS Mailbag. Our interview last night with colorful Democratic strategist James Carville must have struck a nerve. One of you even calls him a hate monger. I'll explain, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: Welcome back. Time now to open our mailbag which is full of reaction to Wolf Blitzer's interview last night with Democratic strategist James Carville. The mail made one thing very clear: You either love him or you hate him. Here's an example: David from Nebraska writes this, "James Carville is the most partisan have monger in the business. He rants and raves at a thousand mile a minute as a technique to avoid meaningful dialogue." Myrl from California adds this: "Why do you give James Carville air time? Who cares what he thinks?"

But Carville has his supporters. Carol from Arizona says, "I'm a Republican but I enjoy James. I admire his grit and determination to speak his mind and tell it honestly."

And Virginia from Florida writes, "Love James Carville. Nobody like him. In fact, no one comes close."

Remember, you can e-mail us at Wolf@cnn.com or go to our Web site at CNN.com/Wolf.

And stay with CNN throughout the night. The mayor of Modesto, California, the hometown of Congressman Gary Condit and Chandra Levy, the missing intern, joins Larry King at the top of the hour. Up next, thought, Greta Van Susteren. She's standing by to tell us what she's got -- Greta.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST, CNN'S "THE POINT": Kate, big mystery here in Washington about what Congressman Gary Condit told the flight attendant. Did he tell her to lie about their relationship? We'll get the details from her lawyer, Jim Robinson, next. Plus we are going to find a little bit about interns in Washington, D.C. Did you know there are 20,000 during the summer here in Washington? Two interns will join us to tell us about the programs -- Kate.

SNOW: Thanks, Greta. Wolf Blitzer returns here on Monday night. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Kate Snow in Washington. "THE POINT WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN" begins right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com