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CNN Live At Daybreak

The Search for Chandra: Condit's Apartment Searched

Aired July 11, 2001 - 08:01   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: A police search of Congressman Gary Condit's apartment 10 weeks after intern Chandra Levy disappeared -- the latest from CNN national correspondent Bob Franken, who has been covering this story from the very beginning -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, of course, Congressman Condit, Carol, has been linked romantically with Chandra Levy, the 24-year-old former Washington intern, something he has now acknowledged to police. He did that Friday night, according to investigative sources.

Things have returned to normal on the street where Gary Condit lives in Washington. We can show you a live picture of the apartment building this morning in the Adams Morgan section of Washington -- well, maybe we won't show you a live picture.

But what we can show you is the scene overnight. There it is. There is the apartment building this morning.

But overnight at that apartment building, there was a beehive of activity, of course. About 11:30 in the evening Eastern time, detectives showed up, the evidence team that had been assigned by the Washington, D.C. Police Department to thoroughly search the apartment. And thoroughly search they did.

The detectives were in there for about 3 1/2 hours. They brought chemicals like Luminol, which is one that, combined with ultraviolet light, can detect blood. They were looking for signs of a struggle. As you can see, when they departed about 2:30 in the morning, they were carrying bags of material that could be construed as evidence, evidence from this search, which came, as you pointed out, 10 weeks after the disappearance of Chandra Levy.

Now, the Chandra Levy investigation is also looking to come up with a lie-detector test for Congressman Condit. The police department is saying that, in fact, it wants to give a polygraph test. And the reason that it is now seeking one is because the apartment search, a lie-detector test and the DNA test have all been information that Condit's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the police might be able to get. The lie-detector test is something that, as a matter of fact, they are negotiating right now. At the police department this morning, they are discussing the next strategies.

As for what they found in the apartment, we got no answer to that specifically from the police chief, Charles Ramsey, when he was interviewed on CNN just a short while ago. But he did tell us what they were looking for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES RAMSEY, D.C. POLICE CHIEF: Well, you look for everything. You look for -- and when I say signs of foul play, all those things kind of add up to what we would call foul play: signs of a struggle, other types of evidence -- blood, skin or tissue -- things of that nature that could point to something happening that was unusual. And that might all point toward foul play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: The police continue to say that Congressman Condit is not a suspect. As I pointed out, next on their agenda is negotiating with Condit's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, to see if they can do a lie- detector test. There are many things to negotiate. The police would like to use the FBI expert, but the police -- Condit's attorney would probably want to use a private investigator, a private polygraph expert.

Now, as for Congressman Condit, he returned to the capital yesterday. Congress has been off for a week. He returned to a capital and colleagues who are going to be quite upset hearing him talk, because he had told them repeatedly that there was no romantic relationship with Chandra Levy. But now he has to face the members, many of whom are quite irate.

He also has to face reporters and camera crews that are chasing him throughout the capital. And the other colleagues have to try and get down to business, knowing -- knowing that, in fact, everybody's attention right now is on Congressman Condit and on the Chandra Levy case. That is where most of the public attention is these days.

And there is also going to be attention to Anne Marie Smith in Washington today: attention from the U.S. attorney's office. Anne Marie Smith is the flight attendant who told interviewers that she too had a romantic relationship with Congressman Condit and that the congressman asked her to sign a false sworn statement saying that she did not. That has caught the attention of investigators.

The U.S. attorney here in D.C. is going to be talking to her today and see if there is any evidence of illegalities that can be added to this investigation.

The investigation, of course, is into the disappearance of Chandra Levy. It has been 10 weeks. And police still don't know where she is -- Carol.

LIN: All right, thank you very much, Bob Franken -- a pretty comprehensive report there.

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