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CNN Live At Daybreak
New Details Emerge in Chandra Levy Case
Aired July 06, 2001 - 07:01 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: The search for Chandra Levy goes into its third month. And we are learning new details about the missing intern and her state of mind. Here are the latest developments in the story.
Today's "Washington Post" has an interview with Levy's aunt, who says her niece confided that she was having a secret affair with Congressman Gary Condit. Yesterday, police interviewed the congressman's wife, Carolyn Condit, who was in town when Chandra Levy disappeared.
And investigators for the Levy family have turned over a security videotape to police showing Levy at a Washington area 7-11 before she disappeared.
CNN's national correspondent Bob Franken joins us from Washington to fill out this story -- Good morning Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
And overnight, CNN has spoken with Linda Zamsky, who is an aunt of Chandra Levy. And she confirms a "Washington Post" account in which she alleges that Chandra Levy told her she was having an affair with Congressman Gary Condit.
To remember now, Chandra Levy is the 24-year-old former Washington intern who disappeared a little over nine weeks ago. There have been no traces of her since. The entire investigation has been caught up in the allegations that she was having a romantic relationship with Congressman Gary Condit.
Linda Zamsky, in her conversations with "The Post", which she confirmed for CNN, described a secretive relationship, one which Chandra Levy said included gifts of chocolate and a bracelet and weekends at his apartment.
And according to "The Post", Zamsky says: "I asked, 'How did you get in touch with him, if it's so secretive, this relationship?' Zamsky recalled. And she said, 'Well' -- and this is when she came and accidentally said his name to me -- she would dial a number. It would play music and she would leave a message. She said, 'I would also call the office and they would answer Gary Condit.' And that's how his name came out. And she goes, 'Oops,' she says, 'You didn't hear that.' And I said, 'No.' And, of course, I did, Zamsky said. I made real light of it. I kind of dummied up because I wanted her to feel comfortable."
Again, all of this has been confirmed for CNN -- that account has been confirmed by Linda Zamsky, who is Chandra Levy's aunt.
Now, D.C. police say they have done about 100 interviews in this case, including Condit and those close to him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Washington, D.C. detectives and FBI agents investigating the disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levy have interviewed the wife of Congressman Gary Condit. After days of negotiation, Carolyn Condit's interview took place in a suburban Washington FBI office, not at the Condit's Ceres, California, home.
But amid repeated charges Congressman Condit had a romantic relationship with Levy, investigators wanted to explore the claim that Mrs. Condit was at the congressman's Washington apartment when Chandra Levy disappeared nine weeks ago.
CHARLES RAMSEY, D.C. POLICE CHIEF: We will speak with anyone that we need to speak with. And if we need to, you know, fly someplace, or if they need to come see us, whatever the situation is, is what we'll do.
FRANKEN: When Congressman Condit canceled all July 4 parade appearances in his California district, one of the explanations from his chief of staff was that he had another commitment that might become public later in the week.
A Condit source now confirms that the trip to Washington with Mrs. Condit for her interview was that other commitment. And while the official search for Chandra Levy continues, CNN has learned the private investigators hired by the Levy family have turned over information they've gathered to authorities, including a videotape they believe shows Levy on April 29, the day before she was reportedly last seen.
Sources say the video, obtained from a security camera at this 7- 11 just outside Washington, apparently shows Levy purchasing some items and engaging in friendly conversation with the clerk about her plans.
ALAN LAPHAM, 7-11 EMPLOYEE: She purchased a couple of soft drinks and some cakes. That's all she -- that's all she purchased. But on her way out, I had a short conversation with her about her taking her flight to California.
FRANKEN: Police say they have interviewed about 100 people, including those who claim to have had their own romantic relationship with Congressman Condit, like flight attendant Anne Marie Smith and people like Vince Flammini, who may have knowledge of the alleged relationships.
Flammini was Condit's driver for 10 years until he was fired nine months ago. He says he saw Condit and Smith together. So the FBI interviewed him.
VINCE FLAMMINI, CONDIT DRIVER: They asked me, "What do you think happened to Chandra? Did Gary kill her?" I said, "No, Gary wouldn't kill her, I said, "not in a million years," I says. But he would drive her to the brink of making her think that he loved her so much that she couldn't handle it.
FRANKEN: The FBI would not provide any details about the interview.
Meanwhile, the man leading the D.C. police investigation complains the media's preoccupation with Condit's private life has been a huge distraction.
RAMSEY: We're not the sex police here. We're trying to investigate a missing person.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: And, finally, the attorney for Congressman Condit, Abbe Lowell, has put out a statement. And he confirms the Carolyn Condit interview. But he also complains about the media coverage and the -- quote -- "unbounded effort to expose highly personal and private Condit family matters." And he says that the focus should be on the search for Chandra Levy -- an unsuccessful search now for over nine weeks -- Carol.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Bob Franken.
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