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CNN Live At Daybreak

Flight Attendant Alleges Condit Affair Cover-Up

Aired July 03, 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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We've got some late-breaking developments in the case of the missing Washington intern.

Bob Franken is standing by on Capitol Hill with the latest on that -- Bob -- or, actually, at the bureau.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In any case, what we discuss now is an interview by Anne Marie Smith. Anne Marie Smith is a flight attendant who lives in Seattle who has been reported to claim that she had a romantic relationship with Congressman Gary Condit. Condit, of course, has been linked romantically to the intern -- the former intern Chandra Levy who has disappeared for about nine weeks now.

Condit has denied a relationship with Chandra Levy. His office has never denied -- gone to the point of denying a relationship with Anne Marie Smith. Well, Anne Marie Smith did an interview with the Fox News Channel yesterday in which she confirmed to the reporter that she had a relationship with Congressman Condit, but further went on to say that a representative with Condit urged her to sign a sworn affidavit saying that she did not have a romantic relationship with Condit and that Condit himself urged her to do so.

She said in the interview that obviously Mr. Condit knew it was false. I'm reading now from the transcript of the interview: "Obviously, Mr. Condit knew it was false and he was asking me to sign it. And I personally could never have signed it or would never have signed it. And he was urging me to sign it. He said: 'You don't want anything. This could be potentially embarrassing for the both of us.'" She went on during the Fox New Channel interview to say that Condit told her she did not have to talk to the FBI.

Now, we've been seeking a confirmation -- some sort of comment from the Condit camp for the last 12 hours or so. His attorney in Washington, Abbe Lowell, said it is not something he's involved in; we should talk to Condit's attorney in San Francisco, Joe Cotchett, who he expected to put out a written statement.

Cotchett has been unavailable for comment. There has been no comment from Condit's office. None of his normal spokespeople have been willing to talk about this. Nobody has been willing to say that it is untrue that Condit had a relationship with the flight attendant.

Of course, all of this is offshoot -- an off shoot of the investigation into Chandra Levy. Chandra Levy has been missing, as I mentioned, for about nine weeks. What has caused the intense interest in all of this is the allegation -- the repeated allegation that Condit in fact had a romantic relationship with Chandra Levy, an allegation that Condit's office has repeatedly denied. But there has been no denial, no comment in the case of the flight attendant Anne Marie Smith -- Carol.

LIN: Bob, then what sort of conclusions, if any, do you draw from the fact that authorities are now planning on interviewing Condit's wife in California?

FRANKEN: Well, that's a bit of separate part of the investigation. Authorities say what they are trying to do is follow up every possible lead, every possibility as they search for Chandra Levy.

That is why they interviewed Anne Marie Smith, who, we're told, said to the FBI pretty much what she said in this interview with the Fox News Channel. And, also, now that it has become known that Mrs. Condit was in Washington -- Carolyn Condit in Washington at the same time that Chandra Levy disappeared, authorities say they want to talk with her. That interview is still being rearranged. It has not occurred yet.

LIN: All right, so why did this woman come forward on a very private matter and go on television to that particular network and make this statement?

FRANKEN: Well, it depends on who you have the discussion with. I have been talking with her attorney over the past several days. Her attorney had said that she was, in fact, agreeing that there had been a romantic relationship with Gary Condit. She claims, according to her attorney, that the "Star" magazine, one of the tabloids, got this information not from her, but from roommate who sold it to "Star," and that she now decided that she would come forward and do the interview.

LIN: More to come. Thank you very much, Bob Franken reporting in from the bureau in Washington.

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