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CNN Live At Daybreak

Search Continues for Missing Washington Intern

Aired June 18, 2001 - 08:38   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.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Where is Chandra Levy? The mystery deepens. The government intern has been missing now for more than a month. And now, her parents say that phone records show she repeatedly called the pager of Congressman Gary Condit of California, and her mother tells Margaret Carlson of "Time" magazine that she's not satisfied with the way Washington, D.C., police are investigating Chandra Levy's disappearance.

Well, "Time" Washington correspondent Viveca Novak joins us for this edition of "Just In Time." Viveca, tell us what this is about, the phone records, the calls to pager. Explain that.

VIVECA NOVAK, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, in late May, Susan Levy, Chandra's mother, got ahold -- because they pay the cell phone bills for Chandra, they had the records of the numbers she called. And she called a number that had been called about 20 times on the previous billing statement and got a pager number, heard the soft music, punched in her return number and the call that came back to her was Congressman Gary Condit.

MCEDWARDS: Any details of what was said in the conversation?

NOVAK: It was brief. I was awkward. I don't really know what was said, but not very much. I mean, Susan Levy has suspected a relationship between the congressman and her daughter, but as she says, she doesn't really care what kind of relationship it was. She just wants to know what happened to her daughter.

MCEDWARDS: The congressman, for the record, has denied this, and said friendship it's just a friendship, right? That's still status quo?

NOVAK: Well, he has denied various things without really denying them. He has -- you know, he has denied that he told police that Chandra spent the night in apartment, but he doesn't deny that she spent the night in his apartment. So, we're not really sure -- part of the problem is he's not really coming out and talking, and that is -- you know, his fairly friendly hometown paper, "The Modesto Bee," has called for him to step forward. Lots of people are asking him to step forward and tell what he knows about the last time he saw Chandra.

MCEDWARDS: And Viveca, on the allegations by her parents that police aren't doing enough, what can you tell us about that? I mean, has his apartment been searched? Has he been questioned? What's known about what police have done vis-a-vis the congressman?

NOVAK: Well, it's our understanding he has talked to police once. We don't know, there may have been more occasions, but it's our understanding it's only been once. His apartment has not been searched to our knowledge. He has been treated -- I think the problem the Levys are having is that they feel though he's been treated with kid gloves because he is a high-ranking public official.

They feel as though, given that there are no suspects really in this case, everybody should be treated pretty equally who had contact with Chandra, and you know they should have searched his apartment, should have searched his car, should have done these things.

MCEDWARDS: But, I mean, it's fine for the parents to say that and to ask for that, but would it be normal for police to go search a congressman's apartment if there's nothing to link him to the disappearance of the girl?

NOVAK: Well, I guess we don't really know what they have and what they don't have. It wouldn't be necessarily normal if they have absolutely nothing else, no. But considering the cell phone calls, the number of phone calls, you would think that he would have been questioned more than once.

MCEDWARDS: All right, Viveca Novak, thanks very much, our "Just in Time" segment today. Appreciate it.

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