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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Ramsey Critical of Media in Levy Case

Aired July 05, 2001 - 20:00   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.
KATE SNOW, GUEST HOST: Tonight, as the wife of Congressman Gary Condit talks with authorities in connection with a missing intern, Washington's police chief criticizes the focus on Condit's romantic life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CHARLES RAMSEY, METROPOLITAN D.C. POLICE: We are not the sex police here. We are trying to investigate a missing person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: The president names a new director for a troubled FBI.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The FBI has a great tradition that Mr. Mueller must now affirm and some important challenges he must confront.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: The enemy at the gate. Wolf Blitzer strolls past the White House with one of the president's biggest critics, Democratic strategist James Carville.

And a caution for mothers who've had a C-section and want to have another baby.

Good evening. I'm Kate Snow, reporting tonight from Capitol Hill. Wolf Blitzer is off.

There are new developments in the case of missing intern Chandra Levy. As his wife speaks with police, Congressman Gary Condit, through his lawyer, speaks out and lashes out at the media. And that's our top story.

CNN national correspondent Bob Franken is following the story, and joins us now from our Washington bureau -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been another day of the effort by Congressman Gary Condit to evade the media, and he was quite successful, as he was able to secretly leave Modesto, California, where so many reporters are camped out, and tend to a very important matter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Washington, D.C. detectives and FBI agents investigating the disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levy have interviewed the wife of Congressman Gary Condit. After days of negotiation, Carolyn Condit's interview took place in a suburban Washington FBI office, not at the Condit's Ceres, California, home.

But amid repeated charges Congressman Condit had a romantic relationship with Levy, investigators wanted to explore the claim that Mrs. Condit was at the congressman's Washington apartment when Chandra Levy disappeared nine weeks ago.

RAMSEY: We will speak with anyone that we need to speak with. And if we need to, you know, fly someplace, or if they need to come see us, whatever the situation is, is what we'll do.

FRANKEN: While the official search for Chandra Levy continues, CNN has learned the private investigators hired by the Levy family have turned over information they've gathered to authorities, including a videotape they believe shows Levy on April 29, the day before she was reportedly last seen. Sources say the video, obtained from a security camera at this 7-11 just outside Washington, apparently shows Levy purchasing some items and engaging in friendly conversation with the clerk about her plans.

ALAN LAPHAM, 7-11 EMPLOYEE: She purchased a couple of soft drinks and some cakes. That's all she -- that's all she purchased. But on her way out, I had a short conversation with her about her taking her flight to California.

FRANKEN: Police say they have interviewed about 100 people, including those who claim to have had their own romantic relationship with Congressman Condit, like flight attendant Anne Marie Smith.

Meanwhile, the man leading the D.C. police investigation complains the media's preoccupation with Condit's private life has been a huge distraction.

RAMSEY: We are not the sex police here. We are trying to investigate a missing person.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: In a written statement, Condit's attorney Abbe Lowell complained about the media's seemingly unbounded effort to expose highly personal and private Condit family matters. He's called on all of us in the press to have a "renewed focus," as he put it, on finding Chandra Levy -- Kate.

SNOW: Bob, what are investigators saying today about the possibility that Chandra Levy may have committing suicide? Are they moving away from that as a possibility?

FRANKEN: They are moving away from that, simply because they have been unable to find the body, to put it very bluntly. And as the police chief said on the program this morning, he said that "if you've killed yourself, you're not able to bury yourself."

SNOW: Bob Franken, thanks so much.

President Bush today named federal prosecutor Robert Mueller as the next director of the problem-plagued FBI. We get more from CNN Justice correspondent Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's been the only horse in the race for weeks, but administration sources say President Bush took extra time to be sure Robert Mueller had the necessary stature to head the FBI.

BUSH: Bob Mueller's term in office will last longer than my own. And the next 10 years will bring new forms of crime, new threats of terror from beyond our borders and within them.

ARENA: While not a household name, Mueller has directed some high-profile investigations, including the Pan Am 103 bombing while he headed the Justice Department's criminal division during the fist Bush administration. He was named to his current post as U.S. attorney in San Francisco by former President Clinton.

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE: The FBI is the foremost law enforcement agency in the world. I look forward to the confirmation process.

ARENA: Mueller's nomination must be approved by the Senate, and he enjoys bipartisan support. But one longtime FBI critic did express some caution.

SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: I want to know whether Mr. Mueller has got the authority to move ahead, to challenge the management culture, that he is going to have the backing of the White House to do it.

ARENA: In the wake of a series of problems, including the mishandling of documents in the Timothy McVeigh case and the espionage charges brought against veteran FBI agent Robert Hanssen, the Bureau is under intense scrutiny.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY), CHAIRMAN, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: They've become so big and have so many responsibilities, with terrorism, with drugs, with spying, that I think they've lost a little bit of their edge in management.

ARENA: Former colleagues say Mueller is well-equipped to deal with the challenge.

WILLIAM WELD, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: One thing about Bob Mueller is he's full-speed-ahead. He's a real Marine, and he is not going to trim or shade any decision that he would make because of a political consideration. ARENA (on camera): FBI sources describe Mueller as, quote, "a known quantity," someone they're comfortable working with. But they point out, unlike Louis Freeh, Mueller is not a former agent, and that means he'll have an uphill battle in terms of gaining their complete trust.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Joining us now to talk more about the FBI nomination and other issues facing the president, CNN senior White House correspondent John King. John, the White House seems to be fairly confident that he will, that Mueller will get confirmation from the Senate, a Senate now controlled by Democrats. Why so confident?

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Very confident because he has fans among the Democrats. Senator Barbara Boxer of California -- a big supporter of Bob Mueller. The Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy of Vermont indicating today he expects Mr. Mueller to go through the White House, expecting this will be a relatively good confirmation process for Mr. Mueller, although they do expect tough questions, as Kelli Arena pointed out in her package, about the FBI.

Not about Mr. Mueller, but about the agency and as to whether this man, Mr. Mueller, has the president's support in changing an agency criticized for the handling of the McVeigh case, criticized for the Hanssen spy case. Those subjects will dominate the confirmation hearings in the view of the White House.

SNOW: John, switching gears now to Okinawa, Japan. It seems Pentagon officials may be close to releasing to Japanese officials a man who is accused -- an air man who is accused of raping a Japanese woman there. What is the latest on that, and what do we know about the behind-the-scenes politics?

KING: Kate, we are told indeed by senior administration officials just moments ago here that Ambassador Howard Baker just in Japan, just recently confirmed and sworn in, will meet with Japanese officials tomorrow and indeed announce an agreement to turn over that U.S. serviceman to Japanese authority, this agreement reached after many hours of diplomatic negotiations between the United States and Japan and after, we're told, some arm-wrestling, if you will, between the State Department and the Pentagon.

The president deferred to those two agencies to handle all this, although we are told he's been kept up to speed throughout the day and the past few days, actually, by his National Security Advisers Condoleeza Rice.

SNOW: Also in Asia, President Bush took a step toward increasing pressure on China today, a phone call to Chinese President Jiang Zemin. What do we know about that phone call?

KING: We know in that phone call Mr. Bush asked for both governments to take steps to help build constructive bilateral relations. Now, that doesn't sound like much, but the president also mentioned the case of those four academics, U.S.-based academics, being held on what the State Department believes are trumped-up espionage charges.

China announced just today that the trials for two of those have begun. U.S. officials not happy with that. On the one hand, they believe these two are innocent, on the other hand they believe that they will be convicted in China, but then the Chinese officials will take advantage of a piece of Chinese law that would allow them to expel them. U.S. officials suddenly optimistic: the last piece of that EP-3 surveillance plane made it back to the United States today.

U.S. officials voicing some optimism that by the time President Bush travels to Beijing and Shanghai in the fall, all of these cases involving the academics will be over with, and just to check on the state of relations, Secretary of State Colin Powell will stop in Beijing during a quick trip to Asia in a little over two weeks.

SNOW: Senior White House correspondent John King. Thanks, John.

Economic challenges also on the president's plate, U.S. companies trying to remain profitable cut jobs last month at more than seven times the pace from one year ago. Almost 125,000 jobs were cut in June, compare that to a little more than 17,000 in June of last year.

On Wall Street, profit warnings sent stocks lower. The Dow sank 91 points to 10,479. The Nasdaq fell 60 points, to 2,080.

He's now on the outside looking in, and he doesn't like what he sees. Former Clinton aide James Carville looks at the Bush White House with Wolf Blitzer.

And a new study with a warning for c-section mothers expecting another child.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: Welcome back. He says he's managed more political campaigns than anyone in history. Known for helping underdogs become winners, he helped Bill Clinton into the White House in 1992 and became a Clinton adviser. His wife, Mary Matalin, is an adviser to President Bush, which doesn't stop him from criticizing the president at every turn.

Democratic strategist James Carville recently took a walk with Wolf Blitzer near his own stomping grounds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: James, let's talk about these first six months of the year, the president been office for more than five months.

JAMES CARVILLE, POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Right. BLITZER: His No. 1 priority, getting the tax cuts. He got that through. His second top priority, education, working with Senator Kennedy. He's about to get that through. By most indications, he seems to be doing fairly well in his top priorities.

(LAUGHTER)

CARVILLE: Well, if you say "most indications." Unless you want to know what the American people think of this administration or what other problems they have. Look, I think his priority on the tax cut has already busted the country. We are busto. The guy comes, it's a $5.6 trillion surplus. He says it's already gone. It's done.

BLITZER: That's because the economy is not in great shape and it's not bringing in any revenue.

CARVILLE: No, it's because...

BLITZER: Tax cut hasn't even taken any effect yet.

CARVILLE: I know, but already, Mr. Lindsey who, by the way, the chief economic adviser, who got out of the stock market in 1994 because he was convinced it was going down -- which ought to give you some sense of his economic expertise -- has already admitted that we're out of money. And -- he's already had to clarify himself, to say that he really didn't mean that they're going to go into Medicare trust fund.

Of course they're going to try to go into Medicare trust fund. They can't wait to get their hands on Medicare trust fund. It is the only way that they can fund their priorities. And America is going to understand that. These guys busted the nation. They ain't in office for six months and the whole national stack is gone.

BLITZER: I don't think that's fair.

CARVILLE: Well, why isn't it fair?

BLITZER: Because the economy is not generating the kind of revenue that they were hoping it would generate.

CARVILLE: The tax cut is going to cost 2 billion -- it's going to cost 2 billion over the period that we're going to bring in. We only had a $2.1 billion surplus on the other thing. So they've done it. These guys came in and blew the national stack.

BLITZER: Do you remember exactly eight years ago now...

CARVILLE: Right.

BLITZER: When Bill Clinton, your good friend, the president of the United States, his job approval rating in June, July of 1993, do you remember what it was?

CARVILLE: Forty-six percent is what the paper said this morning.

BLITZER: "New York Times" poll had him at 37 percent.

CARVILLE: OK, fine.

BLITZER: Remember they brought David Gergen in, because they needed what they used to call some adult supervision?

CARVILLE: Right.

BLITZER: Did he come back -- did he get reelected?

CARVILLE: Again, he is the most popular president. He had the highest approval ratings of any president in the history of polling over an eight-year term.

BLITZER: At this point he was in trouble.

CARVILLE: There's a big difference. What President Clinton did in 1993 is sent in economic forces, which took a $270 billion yearly deficit, and turned it into a 10-year surplus.

BLITZER: By increasing taxes.

CARVILLE: And cutting spending. What this crowd has come in and done with -- quote -- adults have done this, they have blown the national stack. Do you understand, America? We're el busto.

Because these guys came in and they wanted to give the money to their campaign contributors. And so what we've got is, is we've got no money for Social Security, we've got no money for defense, we've got no money for military pay raises. And somebody better think of what to do, because the genius economic adviser to the president has just come and said what we need to do is go to the Medicare trust fund.

BLITZER: Remember, keep some perspective. The surplus this year, instead of being 275 billion, they're now projecting maybe 200 billion. So there's still going to be a significant surplus.

CARVILLE: Over the 10-year period, they're already talking about raiding the Medicare trust fund. They are taking 40 percent of this tax cut, they're doing away with the estate tax, and in return for that, they're going to raid the Medicare trust fund. And I hope that the Democrats stand tough.

BLITZER: You know Bill Clinton. Is he itching to get a little bit more back into politics? It's in his blood, as you know.

CARVILLE: Of course it is. I think he probably rattles around on the phone, talks to people and everything. I think he's having a pretty good time. Look, you live in a democracy, it's kind of part of -- you know, there's a cycle. You get two terms. That's a lot of time.

BLITZER: And look ahead -- we don't have a lot of time, but look ahead. 2004, Al Gore. Is he going to come back? CARVILLE: It's going to be -- you know, he can. People -- he's got a distinguished record and a distinguished career, but he won't be able to do it by running the same kind of campaign he ran in 2000. He'll have to show that he -- who knows? I mean, we all believe in redemption. And if he wants to, I think Democrats will look seriously at him. But we've got a whole crop of a lot of good candidates out there.

BLITZER: Who do you like?

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: Who's your candidate?

CARVILLE: The one that gets the nomination.

BLITZER: Anyone asking you for some help?

CARVILLE: Not really. I mean, I see a lot of these folks who are running and I always like to talk to them. You know, look, any political consultant is always willing to, you know, rattle his mouth and give advice to anybody. But we've got a pretty good crop there.

I think the real secret here is going to be to these Republicans that have painted themselves in a pretty tough corner here. And I think that we've just got to keep putting our stuff up there, if it's the Patients' Bill of Rights, let's see what comes up next, and let's see how they react to this. I think they're finding out something that we found out very early in our administration. It's a hard job being president.

(LAUGHTER)

CARVILLE: What goes on in there is not easy work, and you know, from stem cell to signing the Patients' Bill of Rights to what to do about how to come up with this extra money they're going to need to what to do about Social Security, it's not easy. And I think that, if anything, the real problem this administration has, I think they're finding out this job wasn't quite as easy as they originally thought.

We did the same -- it was the same thing for us, too, so it's nothing new.

BLITZER: I think you'll agree. The president and the vice president have at least one adviser you love very much?

CARVILLE: They've got one great adviser, that's my wife over there. They have some good people. I'm not one of these people that say -- I think they just made a -- I think this tax cut is the worst policy decision that's been made in this country in the last 50 years. And I think that what's happened is, as a result of this, by going for something this sweeping and this much in favor in the top taxpayers, that they've painted themselves in a corner and they're going to have great difficulty getting out of.

BLITZER: James Carville, next time you'll tell us how you really feel.

CARVILLE: There you go.

BLITZER: Thanks.

CARVILLE: Thank you, Wolf. Appreciate it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: What if the company that made your prescription drug put information about you on the Internet? Well, it's happened. We'll tell you which company and which drug are at the center of a privacy controversy tonight.

And women who've had a C-section get a warning for their next delivery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: Welcome back. In other top stories tonight, the United Nations Middle East envoy says the United States has failed in its efforts to get Israelis and Palestinians to observe a "quick cooling down" period. Terje Larsen says a third party should step in to move Israelis and Palestinians forward. Secretary of State Colin Powell last week won agreement for a week-long period of calm, but while the Palestinians say that period is now over, the Israelis say it hasn't begun.

Drugmaker Eli Lilly says human error is at fault for the release over the Internet of more than 600 e-mail addresses of people on Prozac. Hundreds had taken advantage of an automated e-mail reminder to take the antidepressant. A message last week announcing the end of the service also included the e-mail addresses of all the subscribers. The Federal Trade Commission is being asked to investigate.

In Connecticut, the Historical Society unfurls a piece of the past linked to the death of a president. This flag, put on display today, is said to have decorated Abraham Lincoln's box at the Ford Theater the night he was killed. Several prominent Civil War experts have verified that it was hanging on a pole to the left of the president that fateful night in 1865.

A big setback for Jennifer Capriati. Her grand slam run ended today in the Wimbledon semifinals with a three-set loss to Belgian Justine Henin. Capriati won the Australian and French Opens earlier this year. Henin will take on defending Wimbledon champ, Venus Williams, for the women's title, after Williams beat Lindsay Davenport in three sets today.

On the "Leading Edge" tonight, several health stories to update. CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from CNN center in Atlanta.

Dr. Gupta -- good evening. Let's begin with the latest on a new study that raises some concern for women who have had a C-section. What is the major finding of that study? DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they studied 20,000 women, Kate, and they found that 91 of them had uterine ruptures after their first birth was a caesarean section, during their second birth. An interesting finding was that it was three times more likely to have a uterine rupture if it was delivered vaginally the second time compared to a cesarean section, and 15 times more likely to have a uterine rupture if you actually had labor induced, with medication such as prostaglandin.

So the major finding was that there could be a higher incidence of this complication of uterine rupture if the vaginal delivery was carried out after a previous cesarean section.

SNOW: So briefly, what's the bottom line, here? Should you or should you not go ahead with a vaginal birth if you've had a C- section?

GUPTA: Well, we've certainly seen the trends change over time. Right now the doctors are saying it really is dependent on the individual pregnancy and on the risk factors associated with that patient. But what's important, if you're going to have a vaginal delivery after a previous cesarean section, certainly have it done in a hospital that can perform a C-section quickly and safely if it becomes necessary.

SNOW: Moving to a different story now, Dr. Gupta, the man in Kentucky who received an artificial heart. We've been following him for a few days now. What is his condition? What's the latest?

GUPTA: Well, he was resting comfortably one day after the seven- hour operation, and he was actually up talking to his family, even took a few sips. He did need to go back on the ventilator, though, late last night, and that's not -- wasn't entirely hard to predict.

He was certainly weak from his operation and from his significant other medical illnesses. He does have diabetes and problems with his kidneys, so not entirely unexpected. But he's back on the ventilator, awake, actually nodding his head in response to questions, and interactive at this time.

SNOW: Incredible. What does this mean, Dr. Gupta, to the future of this kind of science? Do we have any idea whether we could all be walking around one day and potentially could receive an artificial heart? Is that in the future?

GUPTA: Well, I think the makers of this particular heart would think so. Certainly, there are about 100,000 people a year or so that have failing hearts, and only about 2,000 donors, heart donors for transplantation purposes. So if this heart works, it's effective, safe, it's something that people could have great access. It costs about $75,000 for the implant itself, and certainly, the cost would have to be something that would be addressed at a later time as well. But I think that's what the makers are thinking, Kate.

SNOW: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

SNOW: Just ahead, we'll open our WOLF BLITZER REPORTS mailbag. Some of you were none too happy with last night's interview of Senator John McCain. I'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: Welcome back. Time now to open up our mailbag. Many of you reacted to Wolf Blitzer's interview last night of Senator John McCain. John from Seattle, Washington, writes this: "Rather than asking if Senator McCain will ever leave the Republican Party, you should have asked if the Republican Party left John McCain."

Doug from Colorado adds this: "Who loves who more ...the establishment media or John McCain?"

On the Chandra Levy investigation, Susan from Ohio writes: "I feel deeply for the parents of all the other women who have disappeared in the D.C. area. I'm sure it's heart wrenching to see the D.C. police spend a disproportionate amount of hours on her case because she's white and from an affluent family."

You can e-mail us at wolf@cnn.com, or you can go to the WOLF BLITZER REPORTS Web site, that's cnn.com/wolf.

That's all the time we have for tonight. The fashion legacy of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is the topic on "LARRY KING LIVE" at the top of the next hour. Up next though, Greta Van Susteren. She's standing by to tell us what she has -- Greta?

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST, "THE POINT": Kate, we have a special interview tonight with David Smith. You may recall that about six years ago, his then-wife Susan Smith murdered their two children, and he joins us to tell us what it's been like for the last six years -- Kate.

SNOW: And some chilling parallels between that case and the recent Yates case in Texas.

VAN SUSTEREN: Absolutely. In fact, he has some comments about what Russell Yates is going through, or at least what he thinks he may be going through. So it's a very interesting interview with a very chilling topic.

SNOW: OK, thanks, Greta. Tomorrow night: Two of America's top private investigators give their take on how to find missing intern Chandra Levy. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Kate Snow on Capitol Hill.

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