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American Morning

The Search for Chandra: Condit Speaks With FBI, D.C. Police

Aired July 27, 2001 - 11:01   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We start in Washington, D.C., where they negotiated the ground rules for days. Last night, Congressman Gary Condit finally sat down to talk with Washington police and the FBI once again.

Our national correspondent Bob Franken is on the story of missing intern Chandra Levy yet again -- Bob, hello.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

And now we have confirmation. This is a news release that was just put out by the Washington Metropolitan Police Department. The department can confirm, it says, that last night members of the Metropolitan Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation met with Congressman Condit and his attorney. And, of course, it's to discuss the Chandra Levy investigation, the release goes on. It also says that the actual meeting lasted less than an hour.

Now, that contradicts a little bit information from sources earlier who said that it took two hours and it's quiet easy to see that the discrepancy is how long it was that Congressman Condit was gone from the Capitol.

He left a session of the Agriculture Committee, where we have seen him so many times the last several days. There was a break that occurred in the meeting of the Agriculture Committee. Congressman Condit left. He went out of the Capitol through the normal underground garage, went over to the office of his attorney, Abbe Lowell, where the meeting was conducted. You can see that the congressman was there at the Agriculture Committee meeting and you can see that the meeting was breaking up and that's when Condit left and he went to his attorney's office to be interviewed by not just the FBI profiler and the FBI agents, but also by Washington, D.C. police investigators, at least one.

And the purpose of that, we're told, was to ask some specific questions, particularly ones to try and reconcile some gaps in the time line provided of his activities on May 1. the main purpose of the meeting, however, was to allow the FBI profiler to see if Congressman Condit could give any insights into the mind set of Chandra Levy considering the fact that he's told investigators he did have a romantic relationship with her, some insights into the way she was thinking in the hope that that might influence their search and that they might be able to find Chandra Levy if, in fact, he's able to provide any idea about the psychology that might have caused her to leave if, in fact, that would be the happy outcome that she is out there still alive -- Daryn?

KAGAN: Bob, more than three months later it doesn't look like there are any more clues as to what happened or where Chandra Levy went or what might have happened to her and yet on the obstruction of justice side, it seems like more and more pieces of that puzzle seem to be coming together, possible obstruction.

FRANKEN: Well, actually, this is just, it's a possibility. Obstruction of justice is one of the explanations for a variety of occurrences. Investigators say it is quite secondary, but yes, they are interviewing staff members to see if there was any inappropriate, illegal way that information that might have aided this investigation was covered up.

Of course, there was the matter of the watch case that Congressman Condit and his aide, Mike Dayton, took to Alexandria with other stuff, by the way -- they were running other errands -- and put into a garbage bag, did that, in fact, can make obstruction of justice.

What about the "USA Today" article saying that Mike Dayton, chief of staff, had tried to influence the woman who says that she had had a romantic relationship with Congressman Condit, to, asking her to not talk to police about it? Those are the kinds of questions they're exploring, but it is not the primary focus, Daryn.

KAGAN: Bob Franken in Washington, Bob, thank you.

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