Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Gary Condit Telling His Side of the Chandra Levy Story

Aired August 23, 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.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Tonight, Gary Condit speaks out. In a mass mailing to constituents, the congressman admits he's made mistakes, while denying he had anything to do with the disappearance of Chandra Levy, but that scripted message is the easy part. Now comes the media grilling with tough questions from a TV network, a local TV station and national magazines. Can the congressman win back his supporters, his credibility?

We'll go live to Condit's home turf. And I'll speak with the local Democratic leader, Sandra Lucas, a strong supporter, and with one of his harshest critics, Republican congressman Scott McInnis of Colorado.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SCOTT MCINNIS (R), COLORADO: I'd come up here and Gary by his neck and say, "Tell me what you know."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: As Gary Condit speaks out, we'll also look at the history of the big comeback interview. Is that the way to put a scandal to rest?

Good evening, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight from Washington.

Two hours from now, the nation will have a chance to hear directly from embattled Congressman Gary Condit. His 30-minute sit- down interview with ABC's Connie Chung was taped earlier today. Under the theory the best defense is a strong offense, Condit is clearly going on the offensive. He mailed all constituents a letter, suggesting among other things, that missing Washington intern Chandra Levy may have been the victim of a serial killer.

This is what he says, "I pray that she has not met the same fate as the other young women who have disappeared from the same neighborhood." And that's our focus tonight, Gary Condit speaks out.

Her interview with Gary Condit has not yet aired, but a short while ago, Connie Chung released some details. Condit says he had a close relationship with Chandra Levy for about five months. He says he was not in love with her, but liked her very much. He says they never exchanged a cross word. Under repeated questioning, he refused to say whether he had a sexual relationship with her. His bottom line, he has no idea what happened to Chandra Levy.

To find out more what Condit is saying, how he's saying it, and what folks are saying about it, let's go live to CNN national correspondent Bob Franken in Condit country in Modesto, California. Bob?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Wolf, we're outside Gary Condit's office. But for Condit, this was hardly a day at the office. When he left his home this morning, he was heading to a secret location, a little bit of a convoy. His handlers hoped that it would be a secret location, that it was not in fact surrounded by media, turning into a circus was their fear, as he conducted his interviews.

Well, media found out about it, found out that Condit was going to the Walnut Ranch, Walnut Grove of a friend, Paul Warda, who is somebody who has been a supporter of Condit's, both financially and politically since just about the beginning of Condit's career. There, Condit did his interview with ABC News' Connie Chung, an interview with the local station also. There were interviews on tap with two local newspapers. He also had done an interview with "Vanity Fair" magazine, that in addition to "People" magazine on Wednesday. And of course "Newsweek" is scheduled for tomorrow.

In addition, there was the letter that was timed to arrive at the constituents' homes before all of this on television tonight. In that letter, he said the following. "Before speaking with the media, I wanted to write to you. I have known some many of you for a long time. You know me to be hardworking, committed to our issues and dedicated from my community and my family. I hope you also will understand that I am not perfect and have made my share of mistakes."

That, the only concession to the controversy that has swirled around the reports of his relationship with Chandra Levy, the missing intern, a relationship, an affair that he confirmed, according to police sources, in his third interview with investigators trying to find Chandra Levy.

Now among those who received the letter was Susan Levy, well the parents of Chandra Levy, Susan and Robert Levy. It showed up at their post office this morning. Mrs. Levy took a quick look at it and then she decided to go into the house. She is already made it clear that she will be among those watching the televised interview with Congressman Condit.

Now there is already reaction coming from some of the Condit constituents, not just to describe what it is that they want to hear from the interview, but also their reactions to the letter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The letter was very vague and there was no -- actually, I was looking for an apology. There wasn't an apology in the letter. So it was very vague. And I think people will disappointed when they get it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's in a very difficult spot, because as we saw with Clinton and Lewinsky, he's in a position where we all know that he has to have a certain amount of discretion to protect his career and his relationship with his family. So we have to, kind of, be able, I think in a -- skeptical of anything he'll say.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: The media strategy, of course, in effect as Condit realizes and his advisers realize, he is in a spot. His political career in many estimations is in jeopardy. He's trying to recover the kind of political power that he had, that always meant easy re- elections -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Bob Franken in Modesto. Once again, thank you very much.

So is the Condit strategy the right approach? Will this public campaign restore his good name?

Joining me now from Grand Junction, Colorado is Republican Congressman Scott McInnis. In his last appearance on this program, he was sharply critical of his colleague, and later called for an Ethics Committee investigation. And from Modesto, California, I'm joined by Sandra Lucas, a Condit supporter who chairs the Stanislaus County Democrat Committee. She'll be joining us shortly.

Let's begin with Congressman McInnis. And so far congressman, based on what you've heard, the letter that he released today, what's your reaction? Is he going far enough?

REP. SCOTT MCINNIS (R), COLORADO: Well, Mr. Blitzer, let me tell you this, I used to be a police officer. And I can tell you that when we would go to the scene of a terrible accident, where somebody left the scene of the accident before aid was rendered, and then at some point in the future, showed back up with their attorney, that didn't exactly, you know, that didn't really make him look like a martyr in my opinion.

So I think the attempt here is the public relations effort. And granted, he should do what he can, but I don't want the people just think all of a sudden that the sympathy should shift to him, instead of staying with the Levy family, which is exactly where it should be. There's a horrible tragedy that's been suffered.

And frankly, in my opinion, somebody left the scene of the accident without rendering aid. And now they're showing up and trying to come across as kind of a martyr. I just, I don't buy it.

BLITZER: Sandra Lucas, you've been a strong Congressman Condit for all of these years, including these past several months. Based on what we've heard so far from Connie Chung when she was on ABC Evening News earlier tonight, so far, he still seems to be somewhat stonewalling, not answering the questions about the nature of his relationship with Chandra Levy?

SANDRA LUCAS, STANISLAUS COUNTY DEMOCRATIC LEADER: I didn't see that interview. So I really don't know what Connie Chung has said. BLITZER: She said that despite repeated questioning, he refused to say whether or not he had a, for example, a sexual relationship with the 24-year-old former intern.

LUCAS: OK. If he admitted to having a relationship with her, I'm not sure that he needed to admit having a sexual relationship. That really denigrates this missing 24-year-old woman. I don't think that, if I -- you know, if it was my daughter, I wouldn't want the whole world talking about her sexual relationship.

BLITZER: What about that point, Congressman McInnis? His refusing to discuss the nature of the -- precise nature of the relationship?

MCINNIS: Well, the lady that just spoke, let me tell you, it was Condit's public relations person that about a month ago spoke very strongly about the sex life of Chandra Levy. She later retracted that, I guess.

But look, the issue here, in my opinion, is the institution. And that rises above party politics. And we -- you know, I think the congressman, with all due respect, he was a friend, but he's brought discredit to the institution. And so I think people are understandably going to be very skeptical of what he has to say if he says it. I'm not sure he said. I don't think he's going to say it tonight.

BLITZER: Sandra Lucas, he has a huge hurdle to overcome in this interview that's going to air in less than two hours, doesn't he?

LUCAS: Yes, he does. But you know, I think we have to see this as a continuum. The letter was the beginning, this interview and so forth. But he does have to convince his constituents, number one, that he had nothing to do with her disappearance. So I believe the majority of the constituents feel that he doesn't have anything to do with her disappearance.

But he also has to come across as being honest and answering the questions that are asked to him. And he also needs to, you know, let his constituents know about the misinformation that also has been put out there, and clarify that situation.

BLITZER: Well, Congressman McInnis, in the letter that he released to his 200,000 constituents earlier today, among other things, he writes this. And I'll put it up on the screen.

He says, "Despite my best attempts to help the police find Chandra, some in the media have criticized me for remaining silent. I have not been silent with those in charge of finding Chandra. I have answered every single question asked by the police and F.B.I." Is that not fair on his part to speak to the law enforcement authorities, as opposed to the news media, which he will do later tonight, obviously?

MCINNIS: Oh, sure. I think that's fair. But maybe he ought to grant the request of the Levy family and talk with their private investigators. And maybe he ought to submit to a lie detector test by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

He's refused to do both of those. Both of those people, the FBI and obviously Chandra Levy's parents and their investigators are trying to find this girl. I don't call partial cooperation -- I don't think he should receive all kinds of applause for this. He has not fully cooperated. And I'm ask -- I hope he does. I hope Gary does. I hope they find Chandra and we can go on.

But in the meantime, I don't think you're going to see that kind of cooperation. And I think those questions should be asked. Lie detector, private investigators with the Levy family. I think he ought to visit with those people. They want to find Chandra.

BLITZER: Sandra Lucas, why not do those two steps and submit to an FBI lie detector test, not one organized by his own attorney. And why not go ahead and cooperate with the investigators who are hired by the Levy family attorney?

LUCAS: Well, first of all, the Levys have threatened a civil lawsuit. Billy Martin has said that. So to sit down with their investigators, when they're threatening a lawsuit, quite frankly, there wouldn't be a defense attorney in the world that would tell him to do that.

He passed the lie detector test and answered the important questions about whether he had anything to do with the disappearance of Chandra Levy.

MCINNIS: Wolf, let me say something.

BLITZER: All right.

MCINNIS: That's not -- if we ask the lady right there to tell us what questions were on that lie detector test, my bet is, with all due respect, she could not answer that. It was made clear, I think...

LUCAS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they released what the questions were.

MCINNIS: Well, look, nobody questions the credibility, I think, of a professional law enforcement like the FBI or another agency, giving that kind of examination. Look, does he want to find her or doesn't he? We have people that are in car accident. They know they're going to have civil liability, but we still expect them to render aid and help people. We should expect no less than from a United States congressman.

BLITZER: And on that...

MCINNIS: That's the standard. Those are high standards.

LUCAS: Well, and the Washington, D.C. police said on July 30 that he was not a suspect. They had focused entirely too much on him as the only suspect. And you know, I think that there is a lot of other avenues that were not checked out.

MCINNIS: Well, if he's not a suspect, why doesn't he cooperate? If he's not a suspect, why doesn't he do those two steps?

LUCAS: And we don't know what he has or has not done. I mean, you're buying into everything the media has...

MCINNIS: Well, you're right. That's exactly right. And there's one person that can clarify it through these steps and that's the congressman that you're standing up and supporting right now.

BLITZER: Sandra Lucas, let me just break in and point to another excerpt from the letter that he sent to his constituents today. He said this. And I'll put it up again on the screen.

He said, "I'm sorry that the pain the Levy family and Chandra's friends are feeling has grown worse with each passing day." A lot of people have commented during the course of today, that certainly does not sound like an apology to the Levy family?

LUCAS: Well, it's not "I am sorry." That is true. But he's sharing his pain. And I again, I think you need to see this letter...

MCINNIS: Sharing his pain?

LUCAS: ... as the continuum. Sharing his feelings about their pain. Yes.

MCINNIS: OK. That's better.

LUCAS: I mean, but he didn't say, "I am sorry."

BLITZER: Which a lot of people he think he should have apologized formally to the Levy family for not telling them the truth right away during that first telephone conversation they had.

LUCAS: Well, and you know, that's one of the issues I understand, that he is going to be clarifying over the next several days, on what he did and did not tell the Levy family.

BLITZER: Congressman McInnis...

LUCAS: So far, you know, unfortunately, because he hasn't spoken until now, we really don't know what has or hasn't been said because it's really been one sided or the media. And that's -- I mean, quite frankly, the congressman should've spoken earlier in my viewpoint. But I think we need to let him tell his story before we criticize

(AUDIO GAP)

BLITZER: Welcome back. The televised comeback. It's become an American tradition. And as Gary Condit speaks out, he's joining a long line of other scandal subjects who have chosen to public with a big interview.

CNN's Anne McDermott reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANNE MCDERMOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gary Condit is one big "get." The interview TV types kill for. The greatest "get" of all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS: ...that oral sex is not a sexual relationship? That you call it what?

MONICA LEWINSKY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE INTERN: Messing around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCDERMOTT: Barbara Walters is the mother of all good "gets." She's had competition in recent years. Like Diane Sawyer, who once got Michael Jackson and then wife Lisa Marie Presley to confess that yes, they actually slept together.

LISA MARIE PRESLEY: Yes, yes, yes.

MCDERMOTT: Such interviews make ratings zoom, while providing the Condits of the world with confessionals.

JOE SALTZMAN, MEDIA ANALYST: They hope that this will create a new image for them in the public mind. And sometimes it works.

MCDERMOTT: It worked for Hugh Grant. Remember his meeting with the prostitute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, NBC'S "THE TONIGHT SHOW")

JAY LENO, HOST: Let me start with question No. 1. What the hell were you thinking?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCDERMOTT: That interview worked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's still a star.

MCDERMOTT: And it worked for this couple from Arkansas, who went on "60 Minutes" in 1992 to answer questions about the husband's alleged affairs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CBS "60 MINUTES")

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: You know, I'm not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCDERMOTT: OK, Tammy Wynette didn't like it, but they went to the White House. And so did this man, who may have invented the whole genre of televised comebacks in the '50s with his famous checker speech. RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I come before you tonight as a candidate for the vice presidency and as man whose honesty and integrity have been questioned.

MCDERMOTT: "Nightline" would later question the honesty and integrity of PTL ministers Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, then at the center of a financial scandal. And sure enough, Tammy admitted to the sin of shopping.

TAMMY FAYE BAKKER: And I enjoy shopping. It's kind of a hobby to help my nerves.

MCDERMOTT: You call that a confession? Evangelist Jimmy Swaggart showed the Baker how it's done.

JIMMY SWAGGART, EVANGELIST: I have sinned against You, my Lord.

MCDERMOTT: O.J. Simpson wasn't admitting to any sinning at all with BET's Ed Gordon this "get."

O.J. SIMPSON, FORMER PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYER: I'm as innocent as anyone else out there.

MCDERMOTT: That's what the Ramseys were saying when CNN got them, just days after the death of Jon Benet.

PATSY RAMSEY, JONBENET RAMSEY'S MOTHER: We have to find out who did this.

MCDERMOTT: We're all still waiting. But you never wait too long for the next great "get." Shortly after Connie said she got Gary, Walters piped up and said she's got Carey [Mariah].

Anne McDermott, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Millionaire wanna-bes swamp a New York City suburb. We're show you how lotto fever is being remedied in one community. And later, he took liberties with the Statue of Liberty and wound up under arrest. That and more when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Another story is making news. An update on a story we told you about last night. A Connecticut town will get some relief from Powerball fever. The state lottery has granted Greenwich permission to suspect ticket sales tomorrow. The town is swamped by Powerball players from out of state, eager to try their luck at the growing jackpot, expected now to reach as much as $300 million because no one won last night's drawing.

Most tourists huff and puff their way to the top of the Statue of Liberty. This stunt man from France used a parasail powered by a motor to get there. He says he wanted to bungee jump off the monument, but his parachute got caught on the torch, stranding him there. The National Park and New York police pulled him to safety and then immediately arrested him.

Tonight on the "leading edge," remember when President John F. Kennedy promised to get us to the moon? Well, now you can hear his rationale in his own words. Newly released recordings reveal the President's heated discussion with a top Nasa official about the mission. Nasa wanted to focus on exploring the moon, but without actually landing there. During that Cold War era, Kennedy however had one goal, to beat the Soviet Union in landing a man on the moon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN F. KENNEDY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do think we ought to get it, you know, really clear that the policy on these issues be top priority program of the agency and one of the two (UNINTELLIGIBLE), top priority of the United States government. I think that's the position we ought to take. Now this may not seem (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but at least we ought to be (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it. Otherwise, we shouldn't be sending it to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) because I'm not that interested in space.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The John F. Kennedy library released the 1962 recordings.

Up next, I'll open our mailbag. Lots of reaction to the Powerball lottery drawing last night. No single winner again and the pot grows, but one of you says there were many winners. I'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Time now to open our mailbag. Strong feelings about our special coverage last night of the pros and cons of the Powerball lottery.

Mark, from Louisiana writes this, "Lotteries are voluntary taxations. The more people who play, the lower my taxes will be. So the real winners are people like me who do not play."

And Ian from San Francisco, "People will gamble illegally if they are unable to do so legally. It is much better to have the funds used for projects to benefit society, instead of going into the pockets of organized crime."

Remember, I want to hear from you. Please e-mail me at Wolf@cnn.com. Or go to our Web site www.cnn.com/wolf.

That's all the time we have tonight. Please stay with CNN throughout the night. Much more on the Condit interview. Coming up on "LARRY KING LIVE" at the top of the hour, Larry will conduct the first interview with "Vanity Fair's" Judy Bachrach. She interviewed Condit yesterday and has exclusive information on how he's publicly addressing the Chandra Levy controversy.

And after tonight's Condit interview on ABC, CNN will have a special report at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "THE POINT" begins right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com