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American Morning

Condit Plans to Run for Reelection

Aired August 14, 2001 - 11:31   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Congressman Gary Condit's political future remains a bit uncertain right now as the Chandra Levy investigation drags on. Let's check in now with our national correspondent Bob Franken, who has more this morning on Condit's political plans.

Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.

And it does drag on. It drags on really to nowhere. It's now 106 days since Chandra Levy disappeared and police are virtually no closer than they were the day she disappear, and that is in spite of all the searches they've conducted, all the searches of the woodlands around Washington, the search of Congressman Condit's apartment, which he authorized police to do back in July.

Of course, he has been such a central figure in this investigation, at least the coverage of it, because of the romantic relationship he finally acknowledged to investigators, according to police sources, that he had with the disappeared 24-year-old former Washington intern. But now Congress is on a break and that means that Congressman Condit has escape the furor of Washington for his Congressional district, where it's still quite frenetic out there. The media out there have all continued to try and get as close to the congressman as they can.

The congressman is staying out of sight, for the most part, making his plans on how he's going to address the public on this matter, and making plans, as we heard from his chief of staff Mike Lynch last night on Wolf Blitzer's program, making plans for his political future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS": Will Congressman Condit seek reelection?

MIKE LYNCH, CONDIT CHIEF OF STAFF: That -- earlier on, long before this issue, he decided to seek reelection and those plans have not changed.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FRANKEN: Now, the major newspaper in the congressman's district, "The Modesto Bee" has supported Congressman Condit throughout his political career, but in an editorial on Sunday, in which the paper said the congressman should resign. It went on to say that if he did not, it could not envision that it would be supporting him in the next election run -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, Bob, one reason why that newspaper came out and said that sentence -- it says so in the editorial, is that they believe that Congressman Condit impeded the police operation and the investigation by not being as helpful as he could have been. What does his chief of staff have to say about how helpful the Congressman had been?

FRANKEN: Well, his chief of staff sort of hewed to the line that his staff has said all along, and that is that the congressman has been helpful, that he believes that the congressman has done everything that the police have needed. Of course, the police have suggested that perhaps he might have been more forthcoming about the relationship with Chandra Levy a little bit earlier in the investigation.

HARRIS: All right. Bob Franken in Washington, thanks much. We'll talk with you later on.

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