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American Morning

Police Still Getting Tips About Chandra Levy

Aired August 08, 2001 - 08:00   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: But first, we want to get to 100 days and counting since Chandra Levy went missing. Police in Washington are still getting tips about the government intern. They are not hearing any so-called street talk about a crime being committed. So the police think that's a good sign.

National correspondent Bob Franken talked at length with Assistant Police Chief Terrance Gainer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN,CNN CORRESPONDNET: Let's start with Congressman Gary Condit. Some of the criticism is that there has been too much focus on Congressman Condit. Your response.

TERRANCE GAINER, D.C. ASSISTANT POLICE CHIEF: That ought to be a criticism of the media, not of the police. And while I respect the look they had, that's not the only thing we were doing, but that was the only thing being publicized.

FRANKEN: Can you elaborate on that? What have you been doing?

GAINER: Well, a lot of those things. From the beginning of this, we employed traditional investigative resources, assigned detectives to this, ran checks on her financial information, issued subpoenas and gotten a lot of documentation on telephone records, banking records, computer records, have searched high and low, followed up on scores of tips, interviewed hundreds of people. But actually, not much of that was of anybody's interest unless it was perceived to be connected to the congressman.

FRANKEN: Well, speaking of that, there are those who say that on the other side of it that you hadn't pressed Condit early enough to tell all that he knew.

GAINER: I just don't think that's valid. People's expectations of this are probably unreasonable and based on half-hour TV shows. The police have no more right to grab someone by the nape of the neck and try to get them to do something than any other illegal conduct that people accuse the police of.

What we did is handle him the same way with the same respect, the same amount of deference we would any citizen, whether you are perceived to be the lowest on the totem pole or the highest. FRANKEN: Now, the criticism extends - the police department extends beyond Congressman Condit. It extends to a wide-spread belief that you reacted too slowly - slowly, for instance, enough that the surveillance tapes at the apartment building were lost.

GAINER: But see, those things are based on misinformation. The surveillance tapes weren't available to us, because we weren't notified by the parents that she was missing until several days after she was gone. Then again, there are so many things in this case where it has either been rumor, innuendo or misinformation, and regretfully we are not in the position to try to counter every theory that's out there or explain everything of the million things we have done on the case.

FRANKEN: In fact, another criticism - speaking of that - is that you have been far too available to the media, and then as a result, compromised the investigation. Your thoughts.

GAINER: I should get up and leave then. I am damned if I do and damned if I don't. What we have tried to do in this is at least put some context on this.

FRANKEN: Along the lines of you reacted too slowly - the criticism. Is the complaint that you failed early on to conduct as thorough a search as you might have, and as a result, lost the advantage of time - search of the congressman's apartment, search of the wooded areas and the like. What is your response to that?

GAINER: Well, Bob, what you are doing is analyzing 100 days after this case what went on in the first day. And all of us have a lot more information today than we did on day three, four, five and six. And if I used recto specto (ph) scope all of the time, I would probably do some things different. But because someone may have had a relationship, doesn't mean you can kick the door down and go in and search. That's not America.

FRANKEN: Well, if you had recto specto (ph) scope - to use your terminology - are there things, in retrospect if you were second- guessing yourself, that you might have done differently?

GAINER: There is hardly a day goes by that I don't wish I could replay it and do something a little bit more thoughtfully. I don't think there has been critical things in this case that we haven't done that would change the outcome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: And, Colleen, the police say that with all of the media coverage, there are still things that the public doesn't know about the investigation. But what everybody does know that it's been 100 days since Chandra Levy disappeared. And police admit they have no idea whatsoever where she is - Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: CNN's Bob Franken, thanks.

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