USA: MONICA LEWINSKY AUDIO TAPES RELEASED (3)

(17 Nov 1998) English/Nat
We've seen her on T-V, in the papers and magazines for months -- and now we are getting to hear Monica Lewinsky's voice for the first time.
The House Judiciary Committee of the U-S Congress has released the audio tapes of the phone conversations Linda Tripp secretly recorded with the former White House intern.
During their conversations, Lewinsky comes through sometimes as earnest and matter-of-fact.
Other times, she sounds coy as she talks about her relationship with the man she calls "The Creep" - U-S President Bill Clinton.
When the 37 tapes recording 22 hours of phone conversations were released, it quickly turned into a battle between journalists.
U-S networks rushed to put on excerpts of her taped conversations with Linda Tripp.
Americans now are hearing the voice of a sometimes emotional Lewinsky, confiding in and being consoled by Linda Tripp.
Lewinsky takes a similar line to the one Clinton has used when challenged by Tripp over whether she and the president had sex.
UPSOUND: (English)
(Lewinsky) "We didn't have sex Linda."
(Tripp) "Well, what do you call it?"
(Lewinsky) "We fooled around. We didn't have sex."
(Tripp) "I don't know. I think if you get to orgasm that's having sex."
(Lewinsky) "No, it's not."
(Tripp) "Yes, it is."
(Lewinsky) "No, it's not. Having sex is having intercourse."
SUPER CAPTION: Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp
At times Lewinsky sounds girlish and playful, for instance when she talks of making fun of the president.
UPSOUND: (English)
Lewinsky: "We were getting off, and I'm like, 'I love you butthead.' I called him butthead."
Tripp: "You didn't?"
Lewinsky: "I did."
Tripp: "And what did he say."
Lewinsky: "Nothing, he just kind of hung up, or I hung up. I was like, 'Oh my God, what the hell just came out of my mouth?'"
Tripp: "Butthead."
Lewinsky: "Butthead."
SUPER CAPTION: Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp
But in one tape, she starts to sob uncontrollably as she talks about the pressure she's been under.
UPSOUND: (English)
(Lewinsky) "I can't take it anymore."
(Tripp) "I know I know."
(Lewinsky) "I just can't. I just can't."
(Tripp) "Oh my God."
(Lewinsky) "It's just too...it's too much for one person."
SUPER CAPTION: Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp
Perhaps the only U-S residence apparently not listening to the tapes is the White House.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Listen, you know, everybody knows what's on these tapes. I think everybody has seen all of the information they're going to see on this story. My guess is that most people around the country won't be paying much attention, but the people who are obsessed with this story, this will just be a day in heaven for them."
SUPER CAPTION: Joe Lockhart, White House Press Secretary
For many, it was the first chance to hear what Lewinsky sounds like.
But it almost certainly won't be the last.
American network A-B-C News has announced that Ms. Lewinsky has agreed to a television interview with Barbara Walters.
And she has signed a book deal with British biographer Andrew Morton, the man who told the world about the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
Tripp and Lewinsky also talk about the dress, said to be stained with the president's semen, which Lewinsky eventually handed over to investigators.
UPSOUND: (English)
(Tripp) "Put it in a baggy, put it in ziplock bag and pack it in with your treasures for what I care. I mean whatever, put it in one of your little antiques."
(Lewinsky) "What for though?"
(Tripp) "I don't know Monica. I just have this nagging feeling in the back of my head."
(Lewinsky) "What if I didn't have it?"

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