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CNN Live At Daybreak

Condit Speaks: How Will the Public React?

Aired August 24, 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.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to have all of the coverage of that interview with Connie Chung -- Congressman Gary Condit sitting down for a half-hour interview on prime-time network television last night. You caught it.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN ANCHOR: Exactly. Probably more than we want to hear about it.

Also the interview that he gave in his local district to one of the local stations there as well -- some local perspective too.

MCEDWARDS: Yes, that's right. And we're going to show you a little bit of that interview right now to a CNN affiliate in Sacramento -- let's have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. GARY CONDIT (D), CALIFORNIA: I have been married 34 years. I have not been a perfect man. I have made mistakes. But out of respect for my family, and out of a specific request from the Levy families, I am not going to share the details of my relationship with Chandra.

JODI HERNANDEZ, KOVR REPORTER: OK.

CONDIT: And do you know what? People understand that. They understand that we are entitled to a little bit of privacy here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: Now, that's just a little snippet of that interview. We're actually going to show you much more of it in about ten minutes for now, so stay with us for that.

But first, since those televisions interviews, there are fresh comments this morning from Congressman Gary Condit, and we want to bring those to you now.

The latest edition of "People" magazine is on newsstands today -- its cover story: "An Interview with Condit." I'm going to show you a New York newsstand right now, where the magazine is to go on sale. I think we've got it; perhaps we don't. In the article, Condit describes Levy as very nice, very smart, very interested in politics, very interested in her career.

And on the police investigation into Levy's disappearance, Condit says: "I have done everything they have asked me to do. I have answered every question that law enforcement asked me in every interview. I answered every question truthfully. I had nothing to do with the disappearance of Chandra Levy."

Well, we are going to go back to New York live in nine minutes for reaction to Condit's comments there -- Jeff.

FLOCK: In his ABC interview, Condit faced the two biggest questions about his relationship with Chandra Levy.

Here now is CNN's national correspondent, Bob Franken, to tell us what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the start, Gary Condit quickly got to make his most important point, claiming he had nothing to do with the disappearance of Chandra Levy.

CONNIE CHUNG, ABC REPORTER: Did you kill Chandra Levy?

CONDIT: I did not.

FRANKEN: A blunt question and a clear answer. But three times, the California congressman used vague language when answering that other blunt question: Did he have a sexual relationship with Chandra Levy?

CONDIT: I have been married 34 years. I have not been a perfect man. I have made mistakes in my life, but out of respect for my family, and out of a specific request by the Levy family, it's best that I not get into the details of the relationship.

FRANKEN: A specific request from the Levy family? Sources say Condit was referring to televised comments from the Levys' attorney, Billy Martin.

BILLY MARTIN, LEVY FAMILY ATTORNEY: They don't really want to hear anything about the relationship. They don't want to know how he felt about Chandra, and they don't want to know how Chandra felt about him.

FRANKEN: Chandra Levy's parents watched the interview with Condit, according to a friend, on the edge of their seats and were described as very upset. They have repeatedly charged that Condit lied to them.

SUSAN LEVY, CHANDRA'S MOTHER: So I point blankly asked him if he was having an affair. And, you know, matter of factly, he said, no.

CONDIT: I never lied to Mrs. Levy at all. I'm sorry that she misunderstood the conversations. FRANKEN: Repeatedly Congressman Condit insisted, "I answered every question law enforcement asked me." But police sources say it took four interviews to get every bit of information they needed from Condit; three for him to admit an affair with the former intern.

On ABC's "Nightline," Condit's attorney gave his version of interviews one and two.

ABBE LOWELL, GARY CONDIT'S ATTORNEY: They got to the $64,000 question about the relationship. The congressman asked them what was the relevance of getting deeper than he had already stated? And if they could show them that, he would answer it. They never followed up.

On the second interview, where I did attend, I am the one who said to the detectives, you should assume for this purpose that he has whatever the relationship you have already heard it.

FRANKEN: Nevertheless, following the television interview with Condit, Washington, D.C. Assistant Police Chief Terrance Gainer told CNN he felt Condit -- quote: "parsed his words. His answers to police were similar to the ones he gave Connie Chung. She pulled teeth; so did we."

In a letter sent to voters in his congressional district, Condit wrote that he hoped that in the media interviews -- quote -- "I will be able to answer questions that help people understand."

(on camera): The debate has already begun about just how clearly he answered the questions.

Bob Franken, CNN, Modesto, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: Well, among the people closely watching that interview were residents of Gary Condit's congressional district.

Two people from that district join us now from Modesto, California. Nick Bavaro is a Republican activist, and Yvonne Allen is a Condit support.

Thank you both for getting up so early. I know it's early there today. We appreciate you being here.

Nick, could I start with you? Just give me your reaction to what you heard last night.

NICK BAVARO, REPUBLICAN ACTIVIST: Well, first of all, let me just say that in the beginning, I defended Gary Condit. I was probably one of the very few Republicans who did.

My reaction last night is that I heard no apology. I heard no confession. I heard -- saw no remorse. He denied his relationship with the stewardess. He didn't tell the truth about his relationship with Ms. Levy. Quite honestly, I am very disturbed and disappointed in Gary Condit. This is not the same Gary Condit that I knew eight months ago, six months ago, who is a very popular congressman.

Quite frankly, I can't say the words that's on my mind, because I don't want it bleeped out. But this guy needs to be defeated. He needs to go. He needs to get off the streets. He is in total denial, and I just really feel bad for the situation. But more so, I really resent the fact that he couldn't tell the truth. He couldn't look you in the eye and tell you, yes, I had an affair with Ms. Levy. Here is the situation. He had to hide behind other issues that were totally irrelevant.

MCEDWARDS: All right.

BAVARO: Even yesterday, who was his day of the media, he had to hide out. He didn't even come out and talk to you guys about the situation. Everything is controlled by Gary Condit, and it's wrong.

MCEDWARDS: Yvonne Allen, you are a Condit supporter. I suspect you see things differently.

YVONNE ALLEN, CONDIT SUPPORTER: Well, I do. I felt that he was forthcoming last night. He answered the questions that were relevant. I thought he kept his composure. The interviewer was at times combative, and I thought pried into his private life, which Gary Condit has always tried to keep just that -- private. He is a private person.

MCEDWARDS: Well, and he said that. He said that three times by my count in the Connie Chung interview saying that people will understand. He said, hey, look, people understand I deserve some privacy here.

And, Nick, what good would it have done to go any deeper, in your mind, into the details of that relationship, how it made him feel, the impact it had on his family?

BAVARO: Well, first of all, a public official does not have a private life. OK? If he worked at a hardware store driving a forklift and doing the shenanigans he is doing, I guess that he would have a private life. He projects himself as a man that's happily married, family values, and yet, that what's he projects here in this district. In Washington, D.C., he is a serial adulterer, according to what we hear, and many of us are really turning against him...

MCEDWARDS: Well, Yvonne...

BAVARO: ... and are very angry.

MCEDWARDS: ... Yvonne, is that...

BAVARO: He was not forthright.

MCEDWARDS: Nick, I just want to get Yvonne in here one more time.

BAVARO: Sure. MCEDWARDS: Yvonne, does that matter? Does it matter what the public perception is of his personal life in terms of what kind of a job he does for your district?

ALLEN: We did not send Gary Condit to Washington to be our spiritual mentor. We sent him there to work on behalf of his constituents, and he has done that. He has done that for years. And he has done it well.

MCEDWARDS: All right. We've got to leave it there. Yvonne Allen, Nick Bavaro, thanks very much for your time this morning -- appreciate it.

BAVARO: Thank you.

FLOCK: OK. Now, we want to know what you think. Send us those e-mails. I guess you got that e-mail address that you can send to.

MCEDWARDS: Yes, that's right. It's carolandcolleen@cnn.com -- carolandcolleen being all one word. Just tell us what you think of the interview, and if you would include your name and your hometown as well

(CROSSTALK)

FLOCK: And Carol is going to let me open her e-mail this morning?

MCEDWARDS: She is indeed. You are going to have full access now that you are here, Jeff.

FLOCK: Thanks.

MCEDWARDS: Send them along if you will.

All right. Well, in Condit Country, constituents heard even more words from their congressman. Condit spoke with local Sacramento TV station KOVR, a CNN affiliate. And in this interview, Congrit -- Condit, rather, was grilled by reporter Jodi Hernandez about his relationship with Chandra Levy.

Let's look at a portion of that interview now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CONDIT: I have been married 34 years. I have not been a perfect man. I have made mistakes. But out of respect for my family, and out of a specific request from the Levy families, I am not going to share the details of my relationship with Chandra.

HERNANDEZ: OK.

CONDIT: And do you know what? People understand that. They understand that we are entitled to a little bit of privacy here. And the Levys are entitled to a little bit of privacy here as well. So my constituents understand that. HERNANDEZ: Congressman, did you have anything to do with the disappearance?

CONDIT: No. I had not one thing -- I would never have harmed Chandra. I was fond of Chandra.

HERNANDEZ: Chandra Levy's mother, Susan Levy, says that -- told us that early on, she had a conversation with you and asked you point blank if you were having -- if you had had an affair with her daughter, Chandra. She says that you said no. Is that, in fact, true? And

(CROSSTALK)

CONDIT: Well, I had several conversations with Dr. and Mrs. Levy during that week when he contacted me about the disappearance and he was concerned about the Metropolitan Police Department not acting quickly enough. There were a lot of things said, but I never lied to Mrs. Levy about anything. I mean, anything that she asked me, I tried to answer forthright. So I am sorry if she was misled or there was a misunderstanding. But I never lied to Mrs. Levy about any of the questions.

I mean, you've got to understand -- I mean, they were pretty -- pretty distraught. They had a lot of anxiety. They made a lot of comments. And my job was to try to console them and do what I could do to be helpful with law enforcement. And I did that.

HERNANDEZ: OK. So you are saying you did not lie to them?

(CROSSTALK)

CONDIT: No, I did not. No, I did not lie to Mrs. Levy. I tried to be forthright and tried to be consoling and do all the things they wanted me to do when you have this kind of tragedy.

HERNANDEZ: Did they ask you -- do you recall them asking you if you...

CONDIT: I don't recall them asking me if I had, but they did mention several names, and I'm not going to go into those names. But I listened. I did more listening and reassuring to them than anything else.

HERNANDEZ: Congressman, what would you like to say to the Levys? They are quite upset. Their daughter is still missing.

CONDIT: Sure. Well, my heart, you know, goes out to the Levys. I don't think I could describe what they are feeling or what they're going through, I mean the pain and anguish that they are going through. I don't think anyone would know that unless you had a missing child. So it's real difficult for me to know exactly what they are feeling.

But I have kids, and if one of them was missing, I would say and do everything I could do to try to get them back. But where it gets a little bit unfair, I think, is when Dr. and Mrs. Levy make allegations that I might have had something to do with the disappearance. Or when they say I am withholding information that might be helpful. I think that's unfair, it's not correct.

And when they say they are suspicious, I don't know why they would be suspicious of me. I like Chandra. She was my friend. I was very fond of her. Next to them and the family members, I am the next guy in line that would like to see her back.

HERNANDEZ: I am sure you have heard Chandra's aunt, Linda Zamsky, say she heard from Chandra right before she disappeared as well -- probably a few days after it sounds like you did. Chandra called her, and said she had some big news. Do you know what the big news was?

CONDIT: No, I have no idea what that big news was.

HERNANDEZ: Do you know if Chandra was pregnant?

CONDIT: I have no indication that she would have been pregnant -- no reason to think that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: All right. Also in that KOVR interview, Condit says that he would announce within the next several months whether or not he is going to run for reelection.

And staying with our top story right now: reaction to the Gary Condit interview, we are joined by someone, who watched Congressman Condit very carefully.

Kendall Coffey is a former federal prosecutor. He joins us from Miami.

Mr. Coffey, yesterday when we talked, I asked you how you would advice a client going into this. And your answer to me was, first of all, don't do it. Now that you've actually seen it, do you still think it was a bad idea?

KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Yes, it was a bad idea. Only time will tell whether he has restored his political credibility, but the sense one got from that standpoint is he has been accused of stonewalling before, and he was seen probably by most as continuing a good bit of that stonewalling again.

MCEDWARDS: Can I just...

COFFEY: I...

MCEDWARDS: ... touch on the credibility issue with you first. He doesn't admit to an affair, but it's clearly implied. Did that go far enough in terms of restoring that credibility issue?

COFFEY: Well, perhaps for members of the public, no. I think from a standpoint of prosecutors and investigators who are looking at this, I don't think they were as troubled by that. Their focus was elsewhere. The quality of his explanations on some of the very difficult and awkward allegations that are being made, they too were examining his credibility, the extent to which they thought he testified fully and frankly and truthfully.

MCEDWARDS: And what did you see there? Did he get himself in any trouble?

COFFEY: Well, the first order of business is not to admit to any wrongdoing. In that sense, he did just fine.

But in most other regards, I think he did not serve his cause well. For example, with respect to Ann Marie Smith, he threw down the gauntlet. He said either he is a liar or she is a liar.

MCEDWARDS: And she is the flight attendant who alleged that he asked her to sign an affidavit saying they never had a relationship.

COFFEY: Yes. And by going on the air and laying out what his explanation is, it's either going to be believed or not. And if, in fact, prosecutors and investigators believe her side of it, and if they feel that she can corroborate some of the elements of what she is saying, that's a bad thing for Condit.

MCEDWARDS: And, you know, the Levys' lawyer was on television last night. He has got a road map now quoting right from this transcript. Lawyers, police, everybody sought this road map. And you say that's kind of dangerous.

COFFEY: Well, it is dangerous. Let's take another example -- the watch box that was discarded. Condit has now said that that was just a coincidence. He happened to be cleaning out his office shortly before police authorities were investigating his apartment.

Now, most investigators aren't big believers in coincidences, and they will come back and break that apart, bit by bit. Was that office cleaning day in Condit's office? Had anyone seen that watch box there before? And they will break it apart, and now he has given them a road map -- something to work with.

MCEDWARDS: Do you think it really matters to them, though? I mean, police have said all along he is not a suspect. He is not the central figure in this case.

COFFEY: Well, I think that continues to be the case. But police are looking at something else, and that's the issue of obstruction. Obstruction is a broad concept. It means different things to different people, and prosecutors usually take a very wide view of what can be obstruction. So in that sense, there is more TNT in his mine field than there was 24 hours ago.

MCEDWARDS: And, Kendall Coffey -- understood. Thanks very much for your time this morning -- appreciate it.

COFFEY: Thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.