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CNN Live At Daybreak

Gary Condit Prepares to Speak Out

Aired August 23, 2001 - 07:00   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.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin with the letter -- the letter that Congressman Gary Condit is sending to his constituents to explain his behavior and presumably to garner some support.

CNN has obtained a copy of it. It was given to our affiliate KOVR. Someone walked it into that station, gave the copy to people there. Now, we have it here as well.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Timed before his first nationwide network interview tonight in prime-time television. We have the letter right here. It is quite long, but we are going to read it to you in its entirety right now.

It says: "Dear Friends and Neighbors: Chandra Levy has been missing for nearly four months. I am sorry that the pain the Levy family and Chandra's friends are feeling has grown worse with each passing day.

When Chandra's dad called me to tell me she was missing, he asked for my help. I contacted the police to see if a reward fund would help her -- would help find her. They said it would, so I helped start one.

Since that day and every day since, I have cooperated and worked with law enforcement to find Chandra. I invited the police to my apartment. I asked the FBI to help.

Despite my best attempts to help the police find Chandra, some in the media have criticized me for remaining silent.

I have not been silent with those in charge of finding Chandra.

I have answered every single question asked by the police and FBI. When tabloids turned the tragedy of Chandra's disappearance into a spectacle and rumors were reported as facts, I decided that I would not discuss my private life in the media.

Some suggest that not talking with the media could mean I had something to do with Chandra's disappearance. I did not. I pray that she has not met the same fate as the other young women who have disappeared from the same neighborhood.

I will be interviewed on television and hopefully I will be able to answer questions that help people understand. It is not something I look forward to. But things have gone on long enough.

Before speaking to the media, I wanted to write to you. I have known so many of you for a long time. You know me to be hard working, committed to our issues and dedicated to my community and my family. I hope you also will understand that I am not perfect and have made my share of mistakes.

For 30 years as a local Mayor, County Supervisor, State Assemblyman and Congressman, thousands of people have come to me with their personal problems.

A son in trouble, a mother in a nursing home, a job that was lost, a farm going broke, a mortgage that couldn't be paid.

And each time, people trusted that I would treat their problems with care.

I hope our relationship is strong enough to endure all of this.

For now, I want my work in Congress to improve our communities. Please know that you can still bring me your concerns and your problems.

Thank you for the kindness you have shown Carolyn and my family.

Sincerely, Gary Condit" -- three pages long.

MCEDWARDS: All right. Now, CNN's Bob Franken has been looking into this letter all morning for us and joins us now.

Bob, what more do you know?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's 4:00 in the morning here, so getting any of Condit's advisers out of bed has been difficult. They don't have the letter in front of them, but I have spoken to an adviser, who was very closely involved in the writing of the letter. He would not, in fact, confirm that this was the actual wording, although he made it clear it was.

Here is what he did say: "This sounds very similar" -- I am quoting from him now -- "to the one that we put out. These are the themes." He is acknowledging that this is precisely where Gary Condit was hoping to go with this letter.

We have been told that the letter that has been drafted for a considerable period of time was the subject of quite a bit of debate within the Condit camp. There were advisers who believed that Condit should go further in apologizing for his conduct. Of course, as we reported many times, law enforcement sources tell us that he did, in fact, have an affair with Chandra Levy, the missing intern.

But the language, as you can see, is very careful. It reads, "I hope you will also understand that I am not perfect and have made my share of mistakes." Again, consistent, according to the adviser, who was involved in the writing of the letter -- consistent, "very similar," as he said, to the one that Congressman Condit put out -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: No outright apology as you mentioned, Bob, but clearly playing up his 30 years of public service in that area.

FRANKEN: And, of course, the one thing that we have been aware of is that the advisers have repeatedly said that Condit, even in the face of all of this controversy, is going to be running for Congress again. And there is a hint of that in the next to the last paragraph that was just read, "For now, I want my work in Congress to improve our communities." "For now," of course, being an interesting terminology.

Again, he is saying that he is in Congress. Now, he contends that he is going to stay in Congress. But, of course, it leaves open the possibility that he could make the decision down the road not to stay in Congress.

MCEDWARDS: CNN's Bob Franken, thanks very much -- Carol.

LIN: Right now, let's go to CNN's senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, to talk about this letter, and what it might mean, and what Gary Condit is really trying to say.

Bill, you know, again, doesn't admit outright to an affair with Chandra Levy -- no outright apology. And it even says that Chandra Levy's father called him for help.

What do you make of the tone of the letter?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The tone of the letter is that he has been fully cooperative. He said, I have not been silent with the authorities investigating this matter. He says, he was silent with the press, because he thought the tabloid press were feeding rumors and speculations. He is trying to portray himself here as the victim of the press.

Two most important things: That he claims he was fully cooperative, a claim that may be disputed by the Levy family and others. And second of all, he makes no apologies -- doesn't acknowledge any kind of affair -- doesn't talk really very much about his personal life, except as Bob Franken just said, to acknowledge that, "I am not perfect, and I have made my share of mistakes."

LIN: Yes, and he clearly blames the media. I mean, one particular excerpt here, he says, "Some suggest that not talking with the media could mean I had something to do with Chandra's disappearance." And he flat out says, "I did not."

Is this enough to clear in people's mind what his role may or may not be in her disappearance?

SCHNEIDER: Well, he will be questioned about a lot of the details here, particularly about the assertion that he has been fully cooperative from the start.

Essentially, what he is saying is, he has provided constituency service to a family with a missing child. His relationship with Chandra is not acknowledged. It isn't even discussed. But what's important here is that Chandra Levy is at the center of this letter, not his own personal life.

The very first two words in the letter are, "Chandra Levy." Chandra Levy has been missing for more than more -- for nearly four months. So he is making it all about her, which is a very smart idea and trying to deflect any attention from his personal life, which he doesn't really talk very much about.

LIN: Ah. So what does this portend for what we might hear tonight from him?

SCHNEIDER: Well, he is going to be asked -- if not by Connie Chung, then by other interviewers, because he has several interviews scheduled -- whether or not he has been fully cooperative with the police. Why has it taken several weeks, I think a couple of months, to acknowledge that he had a personal relationship -- an intimate relationship with Chandra Levy, if in fact he does ever acknowledge that publicly. We are only told that that was reported from sources close to the police department.

Has he been fully cooperative? Because the Levys and their family supporters have charged that he has not been. And other questions about his behavior, like why he is reported to have tried to get one of his girlfriends to sign an affidavit that was false.

There are a lot of questions here that he really doesn't address.

LIN: Well, you are a skilled interviewer. You know, you have talked to many of these professional politicians before. You are sitting down for this interview, and you know that the first question sets the tone for what we can expect for the next 30 minutes.

How would you open up this interview? What question would you ask?

SCHNEIDER: What question would I ask? Why have you been -- you are charged with not being fully cooperative with the police and with the authorities investigating this matter. Can you tell us that you have been fully cooperative? Did you cooperate from the very beginning? And if you didn't, why not?

LIN: That's right. All right. Well, another quote from this letter: "I hope our relationship is strong enough to endure all of this. For now, I want my work in Congress to improve our communities." It sure does not sound like he is planning on resigning.

SCHNEIDER: No. And, in fact, he is relying on a relationship that most House members rely on to get reelected as they regularly do term after term after term. A personal relationship with his constituents: that his how House members, more than any other politician in this country, House members survive. They send mail. They are available to their constituents. They have fairly small districts. They visit all of the time. They have town halls. They are at every wedding and funeral and bar mitzvah in their district. They have a personal relationship with their constituents that goes beyond politics.

And he is talking about -- I mean, look at the intimacy of that statement, "I hope our relationship is strong enough to endure all of this." That's almost an intimate assertion.

LIN: What do you know about Condit's constituents and the people who voted for him? Are these people likely to buy into this? Are they accepting of this?

SCHNEIDER: I am not sure they will be -- I think they will be suspicious of it, but he does have a strong, personal relationship, like most members of Congress, who have been there a long time. They call his district "Condit Country." I think they are willing to give him, initially at least, the benefit of the doubt. But he has a lot of explaining to do.

LIN: And do you think he is asking them to feel sorry for him? You know, when he talks about tonight's interview, he says he is going to be interviewed on television, and hopefully he'll be able to answer the questions. But that, you know, he is not going to enjoy it. And that the only reason why he is coming out now is because -- quote -- he says, "things have gone on long enough," which is really only the reference to why now that he is coming out.

SCHNEIDER: Yes, that's right. Things have gone on long enough. Look, there is a tragedy at the center of this -- a missing woman -- a woman with whom he appears to have had a personal relationship. Four months to most people is way past long enough.

What he is trying to portray himself as is a victim of the media. He is saying that the tabloids got hold of this. They reported unfounded rumors and speculation. And that's why he hasn't talked out, because he didn't want to become part of that press frenzy. But now, of course, he feels as if he has to say something. It has gone on long enough.

But he is portraying himself as a victim of the media, and essentially saying to his constituents, it's us -- you and me against them -- the media.

LIN: Right. But what about the House Ethics Committee? Is there anything here for them to mine?

SCHNEIDER: Well, they are -- what they have to look into is did he break the law? Did he do anything deliberately unethical? And one of the central issues there is first of all, did he obstruct justice in any way? That's a legal question. And second of all, did he attempt to get someone to lie under oath -- to sign a false affidavit?

Those are serious breaches of the law, if not of ethics. And the Ethics Committee will look into both of those. He doesn't address those in this letter.

LIN: All right. Bill, do you think he's going to address it tonight then?

SCHNEIDER: I think he may very well be asked to address those things in either the interview on national television or one of the other interviews with the local press or local television.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much, Bill Schneider, for helping us read a little deeper into this letter -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: And, Carol, you helped us find out what Bill Schneider's first question would be if he were doing the interview with Congressman Gary Condit that will be broadcast tonight. Lots of people around the country are wondering that same thing -- wondering what they would do if they had the chance to sit down and ask the question that people want to know.

And CNN's Jason Carroll is up in New York City right now checking the pulse there -- Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Colleen.

And to say that this is a story that a lot of folks are interested in would be a gross understatement, wouldn't it?

I want you to take a look at some of our morning papers here. You can see "crime" on the cover -- not unusual, but also here, take a look at the "New York Post" -- a picture of a happy couple -- that is Gary Condit and his wife. And the interview in "People" magazine that will be hitting newsstands tomorrow.

As you said, we wanted to take the pulse of some of the people here in New York City to get their opinions about what they think they would ask Gary Condit if they were conducting the interview tonight.

Let's start with you, sir. Give us your name?

JAMES, NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT: My name is James.

CARROLL: Good morning to you, James. What would you ask Gary Condit if you were conducting the interview tonight instead of Connie Chung?

JAMES: Well, I think really why hasn't he been forthcoming until now? Assuming he is going to be forthcoming and not to ask questions with long answers and so forth. But when she asks him. And I'd like to find out whether or not he has been involved in the investigation, and therefore his silence, or whether or not he has something to hide.

CARROLL: Are you surprised that he finally agreed to break his silence and talk to the public about what happened?

JAMES: Yes, actually I am. It seems to me that if he could have remained silent, he would have. So I guess we'll see. You know, we'll see what he has to say.

CARROLL: All right. Thanks very much for joining us this morning. Have a good day at work.

Let's move over to Solomon here. He is a construction worker in New York City.

Now, we were talking a little earlier. You really don't care all that much about this story, do you?

SOLOMON, NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT: Not really, no.

CARROLL: Tell me why.

SOLOMON: We live in the midst of a perverse and adulterous generation that really doesn't care much about God and truth, but is fixated on the things of the world and the flesh. And that's what we've got here. We've got a corrupt politician committing adultery with, you know, a woman that knew that he was married, you know. And these are the consequences that we get.

CARROLL: Well, I was talking actually to my parents about this last night, and we were discussing why this story -- people seem to be so fascinated with this story. And I came to the conclusion it's because it involves things -- it's a mystery. It involves power, it involves sex, a lot of things that people happen to be interested in.

SOLOMON: Yes. All of those things. I mean, people are fixated on those things. I guess they would look at other people that are committing adultery and are, you know, in the midst of sin, and they can feel better about themselves.

CARROLL: Is there anything you would like to ask Gary Condit if you were conducting the interview tonight?

SOLOMON: I guess he just needs to really repent of his sins and ask God for forgiveness.

CARROLL: All right. Thank you.

SOLOMON: And that's the only thing that I would tell him.

CARROLL: All right. Thanks very much -- appreciate that again, Solomon.

Again, we're going to be out here all morning long, Colleen, just getting the pulse of the people and trying to find out what they think about this whole Gary Condit issue.

Again, that interview will be airing tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time on "PrimeTime Thursday" -- Colleen, back to you.

MCEDWARDS: Thanks very much, Jason, and we'll be back to you as well -- appreciate it -- Carol.

LIN: That's right. We did get a copy of a letter that Gary Condit wrote his constituents. It was walked into our CNN affiliate in Sacramento -- KOVR. And you will be hearing about it throughout the hour -- more excerpts and more analysis.

MCEDWARDS: And just the beginning of an important day for Congressman Gary Condit, the Levy family as well, because, of course, he does have that television interview later tonight.

And right here on CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK, we want to ask you what you would ask. "It's Your Turn" here on CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK. What would you ask Gary Condit? Send us your e-mails, and we'll get them on the air a little bit later. Send them to CarolandColleen@cnn.com. Do include your name and hometown if you would, please.

Also tonight, 11:00 p.m. on CNN, a special report, "Condit Speaks: The Reaction." Be sure to tune in for that.

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