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.
LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: Tonight, exclusive, Gary Condit's daughter, Cadee. She quit her government job after her boss criticized her embattled dad, and now she speaks out in his defense. For the first time, Cadee Condit is next, on LARRY KING LIVE.
KING: Good evening. You learn something new everyday. This is Cadee Condit's first major appearance on television ever. It's a great pleasure to have her here, and we learn that she worked for CNN as an intern in Washington, in the: when?
CADEE CONDIT: Summer of '96, I believe.
KING: In what group did you work?
CONDIT: Financial News. For Kelly Arena.
KING: Wow. Was it a summer?
CONDIT: It was a summer internship. I learned a lot. I learned a lot. I learned that I didn't want to go into media.
KING: Really?
CONDIT: I did.
KING: Did you think about being in media first?
CONDIT: I did. And that summer, I think, wiped that out. It was a great experience and I learned a lot, but...
KING: Did you stay with your dad?
CONDIT: I did.
KING: Did he encourage you to take that job with CNN?
CONDIT: He encouraged me to do anything that would help me find out what I wanted to be when I grow up, so he was always very supportive.
KING: And that decision now is what now that, now that you're out, I'll talk about it working...
CONDIT: Now that I'm unemployed. KING: What do you want to do now that you're unemployed?
CONDIT: I don't know. I'm not sure. You have any ideas?
KING: Well, you're a natural for this business.
CONDIT: Well, thank you. I appreciate that.
KING: Maybe you'll reinterest in it.
CONDIT: Maybe.
KING: How's, how's all this been for you?
CONDIT: This has been horrible. I mean, it's just absolutely the worst thing to watch your mom and dad be demonized by the press. It's just been absolutely horrible.
KING: Do you put any blame on your dad?
CONDIT: No, I don't.
KING: None at all?
CONDIT: No. Not at all.
KING: well, how about those, well, even your brother said maybe he should have come forward sooner. I mean, that's an opinion that he should have come out sooner and discussed this sooner. What are your thoughts?
CONDIT: Well, this wasn't a popularity contest, or a mission to save Gary Condit's career. This was about finding Chandra Levy. And he went to the appropriate people. He got the law enforcement involved. He got the FBI involved. So, by him holding a press conference, no, I don't think that would have changed things?
KING: Do you think an interview might have changed things?
CONDIT: Well, it didn't.
KING: But a sit-down interview earlier might have changed things.
CONDIT: Well, you know the press would have said if he would have done that, that he was taking the focus away from Chandra and her family. You know, it would have played the total opposite way. He didn't want, he wanted people to focus on finding Chandra Levy. And he did everything he could to do that. Met with the law enforcement, started a reward fund.
KING: All right, but before we get into the whole story, you quit the governor's office?
CONDIT: Yes. KING: And when your brother was on this show, he said there's no honor in kicking someone when they're down, reacting to what the governor had said. When did you make that decision, of course, you left here that day -- you didn't say anything to us: and then the next day. When did you make it, was it on the plane going home?
CONDIT: No. It was right when we saw the governor on TV.
KING: Oh, so you knew that day?
CONDIT: We knew that day.
KING: Were you very disappointed?
CONDIT: I was disappointed, but not shocked.
KING: Because?
CONDIT: Well, I've worked for the governor for nearly three years, and I know that he doesn't have very many friends that don't help him, either politically or financially, and I guess he felt the congressman couldn't help him politically anymore.
KING: You mean he was your standard for who could help him?
CONDIT: Pretty much.
KING: Yeah, but you did what for him?
CONDIT: I, the last thing I did for him, I worked in his executive office. I did a lot of VIP stuff, worked right outside of his office.
KING: So, you saw him every day?
CONDIT: Yes.
KING: Did your father get you that job?
CONDIT: No. He didn't get me that job. You know, I started out in the governor's office in the mail room.
KING: He got you that job?
CONDIT: He introduced me to the governor and the governor offered me the job. But I went from the mail room to the press office to the advance office, and then the governor moved me into his private office.
KING: Is it true that after this, the governor did call you? After he got your resignation...
CONDIT: Yes, he did.
KING: And what did he say?
CONDIT: He said that Chad and I were welcome to come and work for him anytime.
KING: And what did you say?
CONDIT: That he didn't need to make the statement that he had made.
KING: Did he defend the statement?
CONDIT: He said, a few things. I'm not going to get into the phone call. That wouldn't be fair to him, but he defended the statement to a certain point.
KING: So you were not disappointed nor surprised?
CONDIT: Right.
KING: Because of your knowledge of the governor?
CONDIT: Right.
KING: Have a lot of people jumped off the ship?
CONDIT: Oh, I think there's just a bandwagon to bash Gary Condit when he's down. You know, I don't understand why the governor and Mr. Gephardt are so interested in my dad coming forward about intimate details of his relationships. You know, he was forthcoming with law enforcement, and that was the most important thing.
KING: But as we discussed with your brother, and your brother is here today, by the way, and so is your grandfather. Wonderful man, Reverend Adrian.
CONDIT: Yes.
KING: As we discussed that day, by not letting it go, in today's real world, that wasn't, I mean, today's real world, if something breaks, you have to come out and talk about it.
CONDIT: That may be your world, because you're part of the press, but it's certainly not -- you know, Gary did what he thought was the best thing. He cooperated with law enforcement. Like I said, this wasn't a popularity contest he was trying to win, or save his career. He was trying to help find Chandra Levy. That's what his focus was.
KING: So where, Cadee, did it go wrong for him? The press didn't plan this as a coup. They don't dislike your father, most people, your father was a low-key, hard-working congressman.
CONDIT: Absolutely.
KING: Not widely shown...
CONDIT: But they didn't give into the press. And that's probably what went wrong for him.
KING: How did you feel toward him?
CONDIT: Toward my dad?
KING: Yeah.
CONDIT: Like I've always felt.
KING: Which is?
CONDIT: I'm very proud of my dad. I think he's handled himself as a gentleman throughout this. Very proud. His principles haven't changed when the pressures gotten harder and harder, the media has just hounded him, and his principles have not changed, and I respect that.
KING: When you first learned of all this, were you curious about Chandra?
CONDIT: Curious?
KING: Who was this? What was the involvement? As a daughter.
CONDIT: As a daughter, we sat down as a family and talked about it. And discussed it, and I'm OK with my dad. My dad and I have been good friends and we're going to remain that way. I was totally OK with that. With the twenty four year old thing, you know, people have said that we're close in age, I'm a grown woman, and anyone close to my age came make decisions for herself.
KING: So, if Chandra made those decisions, she made those decision, but you don't blame your father, if there was an involvement, you don't blame your father?
CONDIT: No, my dad had nothing to do with the disappearance of Chandra Levy. I don't blame him for anything.
KING: Even if there was an involvement?
CONDIT: Right, no. I'm OK with my dad. We've discussed this.
KING: A lot of, this is daddy-daughter day, huh? You're very close to him?
CONDIT: Very much so.
KING: Back with more of Cadee Condit on this edition of LARRY KING LIVE. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We're back with Cadee Condit, her first appearance ever. By the way, why the decisions to come forward now?
CONDIT: Well, it's my turn to tell it to the King.
KING: But, your brother came on. His staff came on, etcetera. Is this, is this something, maybe Cadee, that should have happened sooner?
CONDIT: I know you want me to agree with you on this.
KING: No, no, because your brother did. No, he offered the purse-
CONDIT: I'm not going to agree with you. I don't, I think we did, we're new to this. I mean we've never dealt with anything like this. We did what we thought was the best thing as a family. And the reason I'm here tonight is because people have made my dad out to be this demon. He's the most loving, caring, compassionate man I know. Any who calls my dad a murderer, I'm going to come on your show and defend him.
KING: So, when you saw the interview with Connie Chung, how did you feel?
CONDIT: I...
KING: What were you feeling?
CONDIT: I thought she was horrible. I really did. She didn't give Gary a chance to, for anyone to see who Gary Condit really is and to learn more about Chandra Levy, she didn't give him the chance. She was stuck on the sex question. She asked it eleven times in a thirty minute interview. When you start in your interview with the second question being, did you murder Chandra Levy, she couldn't have expected a very good interview from him.
KING: Do you think he could have done better?
CONDIT: Under the circumstances, no. I think he did well with the format. I mean, it was a tough interview. It was very tough. I was proud of him for not walking off the set.
KING: Marina Ein has left the PR team, and that got a lot of attention last week. Did you know her?
CONDIT: I have not met her.
KING: Talked to her?
CONDIT: I've talked to her, maybe once or twice.
KING: Were you surprised that she left?
CONDIT: You know, I wasn't in on the conversation on that, so I don't know very much about that.
KING: How much was the family involved in the total planning of this thing. Who the lawyers were? You know, the total involvement. Was this family decisions along the way?
CONDIT: A little bit here and there. Yeah. We definitely had family discussions about what's going on.
KING: I mean, did anyone say, Gary, speak out sooner?
CONDIT: I'm not going to tell you our dinner conversations.
KING: OK, but...
CONDIT: A few people in the family probably would have liked to seen him speak sooner.
KING: How has your mom done?
CONDIT: She is an amazing woman.
KING: Because this is very embarrassing for her.
CONDIT: I don't know about embarrassing, but it's been a tragedy. There's a missing girl, and...
KING: We're going to give that number out in a minute, we keep...
CONDIT: I hope you have the 1-800 number. So, there's a missing girls and someone's getting away with it, someone's out there getting away with this.
KING: Obviously.
CONDIT: And the press has just demonized him, like I said, they've made us out to be these mean, horrible people. And I have the most wonderful parents that would never harm anyone, so this has been a difficult time for both mom and dad.
KING: But when something breaks like this, a wife is going to be disturbed, it's in public, it's an embarrassment, but you're not married, but you can imagine what that must be like for her, and how she held up under it.
CONDIT: She's strong. She's doing a great job. She loves my dad very much, and he loves her.
KING: And if anything, she forgave.
CONDIT: If anything, she's standing right by him, yes.
KING: And do you give:that's an awful lot of credit to a person, to be able to do that in the face of what has become public humil -- your dad has been...
CONDIT: Humiliated.
KING: Humiliated. What's it been like for you? I know you've said terrible. But what's it like for you in daily living. You've had to quit your job over this. People know you, they recognize you., do they? What's it like?
CONDIT: The worst part for me is that: to watch my mom and dad go through this. The basics in life have been taken away from them. You can't walk outside the front yard because it's covered with press. He can't go in his backyard because they're helicopters over our house. He gets threat e-mail. We all get threat e-mail because of this. It's been tough. It's hard to watch someone that you love go through this. That's the hardest thing for me.
KING: Do you have any kind of social life?
CONDIT: I do.. I have some really good friends.
KING: Do you date?
CONDIT: I'm not here to talk about my personal life.
KING: No, I mean, what I'm trying to get, I'm don't care who you're dating, is are you able to construct any kind of normal being? A fellow calls for you, you go out to dinner, nobody looks at you from another table, he doesn't ask you?
CONDIT: I'm pretty low-key about things I do now.
KING: So it's changed you?
CONDIT: Uh-huh.
KING: And the blame you give is to us, the group us, I don't mean me individually, the media.
CONDIT: The media. The tabloids. The tabloids have been horrible. Absolutely horrible.
KING: What's it like when you see one of those headlines, one reporting last week that your mother got violent and threw everything around the house...
(LAUGHTER)
KING: ... in the supermarket? And people see them, and whether they buy them or not, they walk out at the check-out counter. You see them?
CONDIT: I do.
KING: What do you make of that?
CONDIT: It's horrible. But one morning Gary and I were having a cup of coffee and he was going to give me a heads-up to one of the tabloids. He said, Cad, I just want to give you a heads-up that they're going to come out with some awful stuff tomorrow. And I said, what are they going to say? And he said, well, they're going to say that I'm into that M and M, or M and S stuff. I didn't know to laugh or cry, I just said, dad, I think they mean S&M. You know, it's just knowing the people they're talking about and reading it, it's just, it can really upset you.
KING: So, your mother doesn't have a violent temper, and didn't throw things. CONDIT: My mom can calm me with her voice or with her touch. There's nothing violent about Carolyn Condit. She's the loving, caring, wonderful woman.
KING: Both you and your brother call your dad by his first name. You always done that?
CONDIT: Always. Always.
KING: There are people that...
CONDIT: People think it's strange.
KING: It's not uncommon, though, I've seen it before. So you grew up that way?
CONDIT: I grew up that way.
KING: He was Gary when you were 6 years old?
CONDIT: Gary or dad. He'll answer to either.
KING: We'll be right back with more of Cadee Condit on this edition of LARRY KING LIVE. Anne Heche tomorrow night. The phone number, if you have any information about Chandra Levy, is 800-860- 6552. 800-860-6552. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We're back with Cadee Condit. Again, with all the story swirling around, so, I want to understand something. As a daughter, and I have a daughter, a little older than you. There's nothing like a daughter. They're daddy people. You never said to yourself, "What did my father and Chandra have together?" You never asked yourself that?
CONDIT: No.
KING: Because? I mean you had no curiosity over that? Which is what everyone asked you. Everyone in the country has put this on your dad because of what they presume to be -- and based on leaks from the police, a relationship between your father and this young intern.
CONDIT: Well see the most important thing, Mr. King, is my dad didn't hurt anyone. He had nothing to do with it.
KING: So otherwise, your father...
CONDIT: Yes, because that was the most important thing that people out there, you know, saying my dad's suspicious, or he did something wrong, he did nothing wrong. Any curiosity that I may have had I asked, I went straight to the source, and I asked him.
KING: OK, and that satisfied to your satisfaction?
CONDIT: Absolutely. KING: And it's none of our business.
CONDIT: No, it's none of anyone else's business except our family and law enforcement.
KING: If you were watching this, and it's hard to do this. And we'll step back, and this was someone else, Congressman Jones, and this were going on. And Congressman Jones didn't come forward, talk to the police, and didn't come forward. Wouldn't you say to your mind "I wonder why Congressman Jones?"
CONDIT: I hope not.
KING: You hope you wouldn't, but you might not?
CONDIT: I don't know. Now I wouldn't, and I can only go on how I feel right now. And I hope I would never question somebody like that.
KING: And when you don't, and unfortunately or fortunately -- in the nature of the day -- when you don't, you allow the other side, if there is another side, to keep pressing forward, right? They're going to keep running the stories, so you keep taking the hit.
CONDIT: I guess you can take a hit, yeah.
KING: So you've taken the hit?
CONDIT: We've taken -- oh, my family has taken many hits.
KING: Chosen to take many hits.
CONDIT: I know you think that my dad should have come out sooner, and held a press conference.
KING: No, or an interview or something, yeah. I think when you're under fire, today, maybe fifteen years ago, not today.
CONDIT: Well, the press isn't the church.
KING: No.
CONDIT: It's not.
KING: It's not a courtroom either.
CONDIT: And it's no courtroom. And the way my dad decided to do things was still with the law enforcement. That's the most important thing.
KING: So as long as he answered their questions to their satisfaction.
CONDIT: Right.
KING: That's all he had to do. Except, in truth, look at what's happened to him.
CONDIT: I know if we would have listened to political consultants, or you know, people that were trying to advise him so his career could be safe, sure we could have gone out and done this press conference or an interview. That's not what we were concerned about.
KING: So his only concern in this was the safety of a friend who was missing.
CONDIT: Yes. That's still his concern.
KING: And when he talked to you about it that was his concern?
CONDIT: Absolutely.
KING: And it is still his concern? Do you, your brother said he would vote against your father running for reelection. He's seen too much of politics. What would your vote be?
CONDIT: I'm torn. As his constituent, I would hate to see his style of politics go. He has an open door policy.
KING: Hands on.
CONDIT: Hands on. You know, my mom has got the phone numbers in the phone book. Anybody can call at any time with a problem. Hold sidewalk chats, people can come to his office without an appointment, and I love that. And I think that if he didn't run that that'd be a loss for the Valley. But as a daughter, no. He and my Mom deserve so much better than this, especially after 30 years of strong public service.
KING: So, it's 50/50?
CONDIT: 50/50, I'll stand by him, whatever he decides to do.
KING: You know what would happen if he does run, whoever runs against him, that's going to be the issue, and the story's going to stay alive, right. So you know, that you are going to have to live with this a lot longer if he does run. Just stand by whatever he does.
CONDIT: Absolutely.
KING: So your input is, I don't know. As a daughter, you mean the slings and arrows have been enough?
CONDIT: It's been pretty tough, yes.
KING: How do you think your mom would feel?
CONDIT: You would have to ask her that.
KING: Do you think she'd want him to run?
CONDIT: Probably not. KING: Because she was a very active wife of a congressman, right.
CONDIT: Absolutely.
KING: As we -- as the staff explained, they called her as much as they called him, right?
CONDIT: She was great.
KING: By the way, was she ill with anything?
CONDIT: She had encephalitis as a child, and there's some adult side effects of that which are headaches. And a few years back it was really bad. And we've dealt with that, and it's under control. But she's, I mean people have said she doesn't have fun, they try to get into her...
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Trying to get a little bit of pictures? And you've brought a lot of pictures, which we're showing throughout the show. We thank you for bringing them.
CONDIT: You're welcome.
KING: Encephalitis is a killer, isn't it? was a killer when I was...
CONDIT: She survived it.
KING: Because a high rate of death from it, encephalitis.
CONDIT: She had it as a little girl, so now she still has some side effects of it, but she's had pain, but it's under control. It's nothing like it was a couple of years ago. She's very active, she's very active.
KING: We'll be right back with Cadee Condit. I give her the best quote I can give her: Cadee Condit, daughter. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We're back with Cadee Condit. This is her first appearance. We thank her for being with us.
When the stewardess appeared, how did that make you feel?
CONDIT: Anne Marie Smith has zero to do with the Chandra Levy. Dick Robinson has zero to do with Chandra Levy.
KING: Jim Robinson. You and your brother both keep calling him Dick...
(LAUGHTER) ... for some reason, unless that has meaning there, if that's her lawyer, Jim Robinson. But she came forward, and it got attention. Yes, she had zero to do with Chandra Levy, but she didn't lend to the character issue. And character was one of the things the press was looking at, right?
But how did you feel when you saw her?
CONDIT: I put her and Mr. Robinson, and Vince Flammini all in the same pathetic group. Someone who's going to take advantage of a tragedy for publicity. I felt it was wrong, and she had nothing to do with the case.
KING: She said that it was her two friends that outed her to a tabloid, that only caused her to come forward, or she'd have never spoken. You didn't believe her?
CONDIT: Probably not.
KING: But you feel no bad feelings that what she said was true about the relationship?
CONDIT: Mr. King, I have no problems with my father.
KING: Yes, you made that clear.
CONDIT: Yes.
KING: So you're not hurt when something like that...
CONDIT: No, I'm not hurt. Gary Condit has done nothing to hurt anyone.
KING: Were you angry?
CONDIT: No.
KING: What -- so when you saw her what did you say to yourself?
CONDIT: What does she have to do with Chandra Levy, and finding Chandra Levy? Nothing.
KING: So then you were mad at people who put her on?
CONDIT: I wasn't mad at you for having, you know, that she was on your show. I can't believe she actually got air time. But it doesn't matter, the press because they, you know, had Anne Marie Smith on the show.
KING: And all the other stories too, they keep breaking some hinted at, some rumored, et cetera. How do you as a daughter bear-up with that?
CONDIT: What stories are you talking about?
KING: You know, there's all those stories, there's a million... CONDIT: There's so many stories.
KING: ... stories about your father, and they all regard women. And that, that rolls off you?
CONDIT: Well, it pretty much rolls off of me, but I'm ashamed of a man or a woman that would sell stories, true or not true, to tabloids. In the time of a crisis. So more than anything, I'm ashamed that a woman would go sell a story to a tabloid.
KING: How is your father doing? We got no indication of that in the Connie Chung interview as to how he's doing?
CONDIT: He's OK. I mean he's OK. It's tough. I don't know how he's held in there for the last four months. It's been the most difficult thing in our life.
KING: Your brother said it showed on him.
CONDIT: Yeah, oh, unbelievable.
KING: Do you see a different guy?
CONDIT: Totally different guy. He's heartbroken.
KING: Lines coming where they weren't there before?
CONDIT: Uh-hum. And I'm really sad that my kids might not get to meet the Gary Condit that raised me.
KING: How do you mean?
CONDIT: You know, I don't know if we'll ever get the twinkle back.
KING: Oh, really?
CONDIT: It's just unbelievable how much this has changed him.
KING: Yeah, that's -- there was a twinkle?
CONDIT: That's right.
KING: But this is something new to us, we didn't see this.
CONDIT: My dad loves life. He loves to go to my nephew, his grandkids' little league games. He loves to work out in the back yard, your regular stuff, and that's just been sucked out of him. And he can't go to little league games anymore because he'd be followed.
KING: Are you worried about him now this week in Washington?
CONDIT: Oh, yes, I pray for him every day. I am worried about him, but he'll make it through. He's tough.
|