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CNN Live Sunday

Congressman Condit's Attorney Speaks to the Media

Aired July 08, 2001 - 16:00   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.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Today, Congressman Gary Condit may be trying to ease the after shocks from new revelations this weekend. Washington police sources tell CNN that Condit has admitted relationship with missing intern Chandra Levy went beyond friendship. Condit himself is not talking to the media, but his lawyer is, and CNN's national correspondent Bob Franken is joining us with the latest -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, there are two possibilities here, Donna, either that Gary Condit, the Democratic congressman from California, now that he has admitted, according to the police sources, during a police interview on Friday night that he indeed did have a romantic relationship with Chandra Levy, that ends the massive amount of speculation that has so obscured the actual beginning -- the need for this case and it's an effort to find Chandra Levy, the former Washington intern who has been missing now for nine and a half weeks.

They still do not know where she is. They do not whether the Condit interview is going to produce any new information that could help them find her, but according to his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, who made the rounds of some of the Sunday talk shows today, Condit was absolutely cooperative this time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBE LOWELL, CONGRESSMAN CONDIT'S LAWYER: He has given them every shred of information to help them try to find her, and what he has said to them and what they have said back is just not something that we are sharing with the public or the media for a couple of reasons. One of which: this is an ongoing case, this woman has not been found, and we could inadvertently make things harder to find her by giving public disclosure of bits and pieces of information that only the police have the right to know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Now, the fact of the matter is, the police say that they really are puzzled about where Chandra Levy could be, what could have happened to her. One of the things that we're expecting this week, they will be taking the so-called cadaver dogs to landfills in the area, quite frankly hoping -- hoping that they do not find any evidence that would suggest that Chandra Levy was the victim of foul play. That's just one of the possibilities, and the search is going to go on. Congressman Condit has now done three interviews. This time, he did not refuse any questions, including the one that police sources told us about where he acknowledged, contrary to his public denials, that he did have a romantic relationship with Chandra Levy -- Donna.

KELLEY: All right, Bob Franken in our Washington bureau, thank you.

And Gary Condit is free to go about repairing his political career, and that career depends on the support of his constituents. CNN's national correspondent Martin Savidge is in Modesto, California, that's part of Gary Condit's congressional district -- Marty.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Many people in this district that are part and are interested in the outcome of all of this, but there are two people in particular that are constituents, and they are the parents of Chandra Levy. They had not been seen publicly. They have not issued any statement in light of the events and the revelations of the last 24 hours.

We talked to the family, or at least called the home yesterday. They were not there. We made overtures for them to speak, they didn't wish to speak at that time, they have not changed their opinion today. And it's really not that difficult to understand, because of the revelations, the admission of the affair coming from sources in Washington, D.C. does not answer the question that they want to know, and that is: where is their daughter, what condition is she in now.

So, the family is not speaking at this particular point. But there is no question that the allegations of an intimate relationship between the congressman and Chandra Levy is something that powered this story, drove this story, kept her image and kept her name in front of the public eye and may have helped efforts to try to find her.

Roy Black is a defense attorney from Miami, and he says it has worked very well so far, but the end result hasn't been reached. Here what he said on CNN's "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY BLACK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Now, the Levy family has handled this very well. The reason they keep pushing this angle is that it keeps it in the news media and makes it much more likely to find their daughter. If this was just a simple missing person's case, you can imagine where this would be in the files of the D.C. police.

But by focusing on Representative Condit and then on whether or not he's having an affair and whether he's had multiple affairs, this of course gets everybody's interest, it keeps this investigation going, it keeps it on television -- and this is their best chance of finding their daughter.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SAVIDGE: As for the people of Modesto, the constituents here in the 18th congressional district, there is lot of soul-searching that is going on today. There were two editorials that were written in the "Modesto Bee" that were highly critical of the continued silence of Congressman Condit, and there is a feeling here, that notion that was put out there by the attorney for the congressman, Abbe Lowell saying that you have a private life and you have a public life -- that is not going over well here.

They believe you have a life, and you live that life as best you can, you say what you mean and mean what you say. Honesty and integrity count for a lot here. And they also point out that it was the congressman himself who ran his office very personally. He made it his personal job to go out there and find out the need of his constituents. He would set up card tables in front of store fronts so he that he would be assessable, so he could talk to them.

Now they find it deeply troubling that that congressman has not spoken to them in nearly 10 weeks. They have a lot of questions they would like to ask, and they are deeply troubled over the fact that that personal relationship apparently seems to be one way -- the feelings of the people of Modesto -- Donna.

KELLEY: Martin Savidge there in Modesto, thank you.

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