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Live From Washington and California: Latest on Levy Investigation

Aired May 23, 2002 - 20:00   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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Stay right there because in just seconds we're going to be live from Jerusalem. There has been another suicide bombing attack in Israel, this time in Tel Aviv and thanks to the work of a security guard, it probably saved some lives there. We're going to have his story live from Jerusalem.

Also we're going to be live in Washington, as well as California with the latest on the Chandra Levy investigation, and live from Milwaukee, the story of an archbishop and why it is he's so anxious to retire with new allegations of sexual abuse.

Stay right there.

ANNOUNCER: One search is over, another has just begun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not going to be easy, it's not going to be quick, but we will not stop until we find out what happened to Chandra Levy.

ANNOUNCER: We'll go live to Washington and California for the latest on the Levy investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Given the climate in today's world, where the church must regain its credibility, the situation would be an added and continuing distraction from that goal.

ANNOUNCER: A new casualty in the church sex abuse scandal, we'll go live to Wisconsin where Milwaukee's archbishop resigned.

Target White House; was the hijacked airliner that crashed into Pennsylvania on September 11th headed for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? We'll go live to Washington.

CNN's LIVE FROM Washington, California and other date lines around the globe. Now, here's CNN's Carol Lin.

LIN: Fast acting Israeli security guards have prevented a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv tonight. Police say a security guard opened fire on a suicide bomber trying to enter a nightclub. The attacker then set off the bomb.

CNN's Martin Savidge joins us live from Jerusalem with the very latest there. Marty, it sounds like the security guard may have saved a lot of lives.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that's very true Carol. In fact, authorities here are referring to this as a miracle, the fact that the security guard may have prevented a greater tragic than what already what took place. Let me explain to you what details we have at this particular point.

It was a nightclub in southern Tel Aviv located on Kibutz Galot Street (ph) and just a short while ago, apparently a man inside a vehicle, unclear at this particular hour whether this was a suicide bomber inside a vehicle or a man driving a car bomb, but for whatever reason of the device, the man was apparently making his way toward the nightclub. This is the beginning of the weekend. It would have been very crowded inside that particular building.

The security guard and there are many of them located outside of many entertaining establishments, became suspicious. He saw the vehicle coming on, he opened fire. Apparently there was an explosion that resulted. It's not clear whether it was the result of the gunfire or whether it was because of a detonation inside of the vehicle. It did not, though, go off inside of the nightclub. We are told that three people have been injured, actually only one person has been wounded. Two other people are being treated for shock.

Now, this falls on the heels of other events that took place in Tel Aviv. Say this morning, there was a report of a bomb that was placed underneath a fuel truck that pulled inside one of the major fuel depots located just outside of Tel Aviv. It went off, there was an explosion, but again, nobody was hurt and the fire was quickly quelled. It was seen again as a disaster that was averted. And then of course it was just 24 hours ago when you had the suicide bombing attack in Ryshon (ph) that killed two Israelis and wounded dozens of others. It has been a very busy day, a fearful day in Israel, but tonight they call it a miracle, the fact that more people weren't injured, only one person minor, two other people in shock -- Carol.

LIN: Marty, it's been reported that Israel, either the police or the army have been able to stop as many as at least one suicide bomb attack a day, that is what they're claiming there. Do you know yet what the response will be by the Israeli government, the closure still exists around the West Bank and Gaza?

SAVIDGE: No we haven't heard, and obviously this is all going to compound when they have one attack after another attack. The people that we saw, let's say out in Ryshon (ph) were very aggravated. They were obviously angry about what took place there, and yet there appears to be a sense of control on the part of the Israeli government, not a broad retaliation as far as the military, but instead they have been launching sort of what are called pinpoint raids to try to arrest Palestinian suspects.

It is believed that is the way it is going to continue. And obviously there is a great deal of intense international pressure being applied to Israel not to go to broad military measures. Right now they're holding the course -- Carol?

LIN: Some evidence of a restraint. Thank you very much, Martin Savidge reporting live from Jerusalem.

Well back here in the United States, police spent much of today back in Washington's Rock Creek Park looking for anything that might help solve the mystery of Chandra Levy's death. A man walking his dog discovered her remains in the park yesterday and dental records confirmed it was the 24-year old intern. Investigators don't know if there's enough DNA evidence to offer strong clues on where she died or even how she died.

CNN's Rusty Dornin is going to join us very soon. She is at the home of the Levys in Modesto, California. Buy first we want to go to CNN national correspondent Bob Franken who's live from Rock Creek Park. Bob, the investigation continues at the site where the body was found.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's evidence that it has spread. This police tape was only down beyond the cameras and the bus this morning. But now they've decided to expand the search a little bit further. Police late this afternoon put this crime scene tape up, although this is not officially a crime scene. Rock Creek Park is right next to us. They're looking, of course, for more human remains that might have been spread.

They're looking for other evidence, which might contribute to this case. They brought in police recruits, people from the academy. You'll remember last year the recruits fanned out to search the entire park area without success, but this time they were using them to search the Rock Creek area, a more precise area, looking for whatever they could find. It was a search that went on all day here.

Of course there's continued analysis in the laboratory, but there's also some interest in the death of Chandra Levy, when it occurred and where it occurred. And also another man who is involved is possible, somebody who might be, somebody of particular interest to investigators.

It turns out that this man was convicted for two assaults, attempted assault with a knife on this particular area - this particular area of Rock Creek Park, and more importantly the assaults happened in May, that's when Chandra Levy disappeared, and in July.

Neither of the assaults was successful. He was convicted. He is now serving a 10-year sentence in a prison in North Carolina. But officials say they have particular interest in this, and the park police, who were involved in this case, have turned information, as they told us, over to the D.C. police.

SGT. SCOTT FEAR, U.S. PARK POLICE: We had those two cases, we convicted - we got the conviction on the subject, we turned that information over to Metropolitan Police Department, and I know they're going to look into everything as thoroughly as possible.

FRANKEN: As a matter of fact, before the discovery of Chandra Levy's remains, the police had already talked to him, but now given all these - quote - "coincidences", they're making plans to talk to him again. As for the other principal figure in this case, Congressman Gary Condit, he has had very little to say publicly, as we know, just one written statement, but a source close to him says that Condit is hoping that the discovery of the remains here and the clues that may turn up will - quote -- "exonerate" him.

He's concerned however, that with the passage of time there might not be the kind of evidence that would clear him, at least clear him in a way that the public would believe and the police would believe he had nothing to do with the disappearance -- Carol?

LIN: So Bob, what's the soonest that they're going to be able to get some DNA results back to even know what evidence they have from that scene?

FRANKEN: Well the DNA evidence takes a while to accumulate. It is not a very fast process. It's not just a matter of DNA evidence, it's a matter of finding other things that might be tied to this, and also talking to people like this person I described just a moment ago, his name by the way is Ingmar Guandique, talking to him seeing if he can shed any light on this. According to the police, the first time he talked to them, he did not say -- indicate in any way that he had any knowledge of the Chandra Levy matter, but obviously there's renewed interest in him.

LIN: All right, very interesting. Thank you very much, Bob Franken reporting live from Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.

Well obviously the Levy family is devastated. For the last year, and even up to the hours which the body was found, the family had hoped there was a chance that Chandra Levy would still be alive somewhere. CNN's Rusty Dornin is in Modesto. She spent the day out in the neighborhood where Chandra Levy grew up. Rusty, I understand that you've just heard from the family spokesperson. What does she have to say?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Carol, we've just gotten word that the memorial service has been set. It'll take place on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. at a place called Modesto Center Plaza. It's actually an outdoor venue here. It seats about 2,500 people. They, of course, wanted to wait until after the Memorial Day weekend.

Meantime, all day long here, family, friends, neighbors, there's been a steady stream of people bearing gifts of food and flowers, and sometimes just words of condolence. Also the family spokesperson did tell us that it's been another tough day for the Levys.

JUDY SMITH, LEVY FAMILY SPOKESPERSON: It's very difficult for them. It's a struggle. They are certainly in a grieving process, and just trying to take it minute by minute.

DORNIN: Now, we spoke with a close family friend who did visit them today and said that, you know, as you would expect when people walk in the door, they become very - the family becomes very emotional. There are a lot of tears. There are a lot of remembrances of that person's experiences with Chandra, and then after that, regaining their composure, they seem to be gaining strength. These visitors said that they seem very resolute and very angry about what happened and they just want to find out what did happen to Chandra -- Carol?

LIN: Rusty, the Levy family had conducted its own investigation over the last year, hiring a high-profile attorney Billy Martin. Are they going to be contributing to this investigation now by the D.C. police into the murder?

DORNIN: I had trouble hearing your question, but I do know that they want some answers. They want further investigation. They want -- they still would like to have Congressman Condit talk to their own private investigators. They just want to press forward and have it officially declared a homicide investigation.

LIN: There you go. All right, Rusty Dornin, live in Modesto, thank you very much.

Moving on now, a Catholic archbishop in Wisconsin is asking the Vatican to accelerate his resignation from his post. The request by Wendell Weakland (ph) follows reports that he sexually assaulted a former grad student from Marquette University (ph).

CNN's Jeff Flock is live in Milwaukee where there are also reports that the archbishop agreed to pay a settlement with his accuser. Jeff, is that true?

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Carol, that is what is gaining the most attraction here and perhaps has most Milwaukee Catholics most upset. I come to you from outside the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, it is a flagship church of the Milwaukee Catholic archdiocese, some 685,000 Catholics here, and it is an archdiocese tonight that is in shock because of those allegations that you mentioned, sexual allegations of a sexual assault against the man who has been the archbishop here for more than a quarter century.

His name is Rembert Weakland, perhaps you know him as one of the most articulate and also one of the most liberal Catholic Church leaders in an increasingly conservative American Catholic Church hierarchy. The allegation is that 20 years ago he sexually assaulted a man, who was then 33 years old himself. So let's be clear, we don't have an allegation of child sex abuse, and we have very old allegations, 20-year-old allegations. Nonetheless, there are these damning revelations, that is that the church apparently paid the man some $450,000 in what a lot of people here are calling hush money, that is money to keep the story quiet.

Now, the man is, as we said, was 33 years old at the time. His name is Paul Marcoux and he tells reporters that apparently Archbishop Weakland, in his words, date raped him at the time. There's also a letter in which Weakland refers to paying Marcoux some $14,000 of his own money. And again, there is that allegation about the large settlement from the archdiocese itself. Now today Weakland issued a statement, not in public himself, but a statement in which he did not deny the settlement or the payment, but he did defend himself.

JERRY TOPCZEWSKI, MILWAUKEE ARCHDIOCESE SPOKESMAN: I have never abused anyone. I have not seen Paul Marcoux for more than 20 years. When I first met him here in Milwaukee he was a man in his early 30s. Paul Marcoux has made a reference to a settlement agreement between us, because I accept the agreement's confidentiality provision, I will make no comment about its contents.

However, because I have financial responsibility for the well being of this archdiocese, I want to let the people of the archdiocese know that through my 25 years as bishop, I have handed over to the archdiocese money obtained by my lectures and writings together with other honoraria. Cumulatively, those monies far exceed any settlement amount.

FLOCK: Carol, I can tell you that justification is not going over too big with Milwaukee Catholics here tonight. And one final note, that is that Weakland has already submitted his resignation, not because of this but because he's already 75, and by church law that's what he's got to do. So it's already on the Pope's desk. That's the latest here, back to you.

LIN: All right, thank you very much. Jeff Flock, live from Milwaukee. All right, we are going to go live from the war on terror coming up, so stay right there.

ANNOUNCER: Next, destination White House? A captured al Qaeda leader says that's where one of the hijacked planes was headed. We'll go live to Washington for the latest developments in the war on terror. Plus, a scary scenario ...

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Millions of people would die in the event that there were -- was a nuclear exchange between those two countries.

ANNOUNCER: The U.S. tries to avert war between two nuclear powers. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: For the latest on the war on terror including reports from the front lines in Afghanistan, the homefront here in the U.S., interactive maps and photo galleries, head to cnn.com, the AOL keyword is CNN.

LIN: And now chilling details are out about what was planned by terrorists for September 11th with a revelation that the White House was on the target list. Also word that an accused shoe bomber sent details of his attack plan to his mother through e-mail.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve is in Washington (UNITELLIGIBLE) with that and more on terrorist investigation. So Jeanne, it sounds like Richard Reid was e-mailing his mother?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was. The document, which is a prosecution document, brings Richard Reid, his moves and his motives all into much sharper focus. It reveals that in interviews after his arrest, Reid told investigators that he was motivated to strike a U.S. target after the U.S. bombing of the Taliban in Afghanistan. In those same interviews, according to that document, he further claimed to have chosen to attack an airplane because he believed an airplane attack, especially during the holiday season, would cause the American public to lose confidence in airline security and stop traveling, leading to a substantial loss of revenue, which would in turn hurt the American economy. We also get to read the alleged shoe bombers own words -- the document quotes from those e-mails you mentioned, e-mails Reid sent to his mother just two days before the attempted attack on flight 63.

He says what he's doing is part of the ongoing war between Islam and disbelief and says you can see that I didn't do this act out of ignorance, nor did I do just because I want to die, but rather because I see it as a duty upon me to help remove the oppressive American forces from the Muslim land and that this is the only way for us to do so, as we do not have other means to fight them.

The document also verifies what has been reported, that investigators did find a hair and a palm print in the shoe bomb that did not belong to Reid meaning that someone was working with him, we just don't know who that was. Meanwhile, on another front, FBI Robert Mueller has just opened an internal investigation into complaints about how FBI headquarters handled the investigation after the arrest of Zacarias Moussaoui.

This, after a letter about a dozen pages long was sent this week to Mueller and to key members of congress by the chief legal adviser of the FBI's Minneapolis field office Colleen Rowley (ph). It's being described as a whistle blower communication by congressional sources. At this point no one is divulging the specifics of the letter, but one congressional source says Rowley makes it clear that FBI headquarters has been misrepresenting what Minneapolis was telling Washington.

We do know that after Moussaoui's arrest FBI agents in Minnesota asked for permission to seek a warrant to search his computer. FBI headquarters responded that there was not enough evidence; one senator is calling what happened unbelievable -- Carol.

LIN: Jeanne, you also have news about an al Qaeda point man and where flight 93 was actually headed on September 11th.

MERSERVE: That's right Carol. Apparently the White House was the target of the terrorists on flight 93, that's according to Abu Zubaydah, he's the senior al Qaeda official now being held by the U.S. You'll remember that flight took off from Newark and was over Ohio when it turned its coordinates, appeared to put it on route to Washington, D.C., but the passengers are believed to have forced a struggle with the hijackers and the plane went down, as we know, in a field in Pennsylvania.

Though U.S. Officials have been very skeptical of information Zubaydah has given them, one official says they tend to believe him on this. He was, I should mention, also the source of the information that led to recent concern about a possible terrorist attack in New York City - Carol.

LIN: All right, lots to tell us tonight. Thank you very much. Jeanne Meserve reporting live from Washington.

And now the vague warnings of new potential attacks on New York has led to a change. Officials have canceled a June 2nd birthday bash for the landmark Brooklyn Bridge. The celebration would have marked the bridge's 119th birthday. Officials say the party will be rescheduled, though.

And during his European tour today, President Bush told German lawmakers that America and Europe need each other to fight a global war against terror. The president also talked about the danger he says Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein still poses. Mr. Bush then traveled to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin. They'll sign a treaty tomorrow to reduce strategic nuclear warheads.

The angry stand off between two nuclear neighbors, India and Pakistan tone down their fighting words, but the Kashmir region remains a powder keg, the latest on the dispute when we return.

(BREAK)

LIN: The talk between India and Pakistan is a little less tough today, but there's still tension over the disputed Kashmir region. India's prime minister toned down what he said yesterday, saying today he hopes that Pakistan would act to end the 12 years of disputes raging between the rivals.

The dispute is over Kashmir, and where the border between the two countries actually is. A statement from Pakistan yesterday said terrorist activity would not be allowed on its territory. The United States is trying to reduce the tension between India And Pakistan. Secretary of state Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice have talked to officials in both countries. Now in a discussion with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he's also sending a message of restraint to both sides.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

RUMSFELD: Millions of people would die in the event that there were -- was a nuclear exchange between those two countries. Water supplies would be damaged, agriculture would be damaged, their economies would both go into the tank. Neighboring countries would be adversely effected. We have troops, hundreds of troops, in Pakistan, as you - as you know.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST: And Afghanistan.

RUMSFELD: And Afghanistan, and of course, depending on which way wind was blowing and what kind of bursts were used with the nuclear exchange, it would be a perfectly, terrible, terrible thing for that part of the world, indeed for the entire world.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

LIN: And live from Capitol Hill, the shift of power. The Jim Jeffords story is coming up, and Jonathan Karl joins us live with a preview. Hi, Jonathan. JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Carol, well the Jeffords story was a personal and a political drama, the likes of which Washington had never before seen. Now one year later with a series of exclusive interviews and exclusive behind the scenes video, you'll have the full story of the decision that rocked America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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