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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Clint Van Zandt

Aired June 16, 2002 - 07:53   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: "CNN PRESENTS: THE HUNT FOR ERIC RUDOLPH" at 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Eastern time. Joining me now from Washington is Clint Van Zandt, 25 year FBI special agent, now retired. Clint is a veteran profiler and hostage negotiator. Good to see you, Clint.

CLINT VAN ZANDT, FMR. FBI NEGOTIATOR: Hi, good to be here with you.

PHILLIPS: All right, so you think he's still alive. Tell me why?

VAN ZANDT: Yeah, I think he's still alive. As your program just showed, he's had years. He thought about this. He's had a long time to prepare phony IDs, new locations to hide, to develop a support system. And the things that he did, the bombings of gay bars, abortion clinics, you know, there's this kind of counter culture spin. There were people that were very supportive of the positions that he took, who would help him, you know, who would get him -- take him out of the area, take him to a new state. I mean, this is the type of guy who could be, you know, sitting on the beach in Argentina in former Nazis watching us on TV right now.

PHILLIPS: Would he strike again?

VAN ZANDT: I don't think so. You know, I think he made the statement that he wanted to. And I think there's this myth that should he be alive, he would want to continue. And that myth is you can't catch me. And so, to strike again, that would give the authorities a new area to center on. I think this guy would rather have the myth last forever. And he'd grow to be an old man and just keep looking at the wanted posters and realize he's changed his appearance so much, that people are never going to be able to identify him.

PHILLIPS: And also believing that he's a hero. Well, how do you keep this search -- I mean, how intense is the search now? I mean, a lot of time has gone on. What's the point of the investigation right now? Where are we?

VAN ZANDT: Yeah, the challenge is to find out if he's still alive. You know, is he at the bottom of a cave somewhere? Did a bear eat him in the woods, something like that? Or is he out and about? If we take the premise that he's out and about, because the guys who searched the woods, these are good, you know, FBI agents, state troopers, sheriff's officers who have a lot of experience in the woods and the jungle. They didn't come up with him. I can't imagine after four or five years he's sitting at the bottom of their cave, his batteries have run out for his radio. You know, he doesn't know that George W. is president.

You know, I don't see the guy living like this. So I...

PHILLIPS: Is he smart enough to know how to survive?

VAN ZANDT: Yes, oh yes.

PHILLIPS: Without being caught?

VAN ZANDT: Yes, this guy's a survivalist. He spent years studying this. He also, thought, Kyra, I think he developed a phony ID. He would have had documents to support who he was. The challenge for the authorities now is this ongoing, very cold fugitive. If, you know, if you want to get away in this country, you get a phony ID. You move to a new area of the country or the world, and you never make contact with anyone that you knew in your former life. If you can do that, and if you never get arrested so you're fingerprinted, you can develop a new life. You can drop out and grow to be an old man.

PHILLIPS: Former FBI negotiator Clint Van Zandt. Thanks, Clint.

VAN ZANDT: Thank you.

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