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American Morning

Updates on Lewinsky Era Figures

Aired March 01, 2002 - 08:13   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn now to a chapter from the last presidency. Just last night, in an exclusive interview, former White House intern Monica Lewinsky went on the record. She told CNN's Larry King about her initial attraction to Former President Bill Clinton, and how she got swept away by the ensuing scandal that led to the president's impeachment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONICA LEWINSKY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE INTERN: I was a 22-year-old foolish kid. And I think I -- there was this charismatic, powerful man who -- who was standing there showing interest in me, and I was attracted to him and I think I was swept up, you know, with the -- with the power of the presidency. And later, found myself swept away by the government as a result of it. And here I am.

LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: A victim, in a sense. I mean, you're a figure of the 20th century.

LEWINSKY: I don't want to use the word victim, but I think that all of the details of what happened, that's the culmination of it.

KING: Right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Well, of course, that scandal made media stars out of some people we haven't heard from about -- or heard from for years. Whatever happened to them? Well, CNN's Senior Political Correspondent, Candy Crowley, joins us now from Washington. Good to see you again, too, Candy.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Paula -- good to see you.

ZAHN: Before we move on, Candy, to the players here, any guestimate as to how this documentary might play in Washington and how her latest comments about the former president might play?

CROWLEY: You know, I think it's going to play the way the actual event did. I think there will be those who will say, "What in the world are we obsessed with this for?" There will be those who will think it's no big deal and those who will say, you know, "Why is she still out there? Why hasn't she gone away and, you know, done something quiet?" So, I'm not sure that anything has changed about how people felt about that whole series of events.

ZAHN: All right. Let's move on to the players that resulted as the -- in the fallout of all of this. Linda Tripp, where is she now?

CROWLEY: Linda Tripp is in Middleburg, Virginia -- a sleepy little hunt country. She's renting a place down there. The home that you always saw her walk out of during the sort of intense heat of her TV stardom is now up for sale -- $275,000, if anyone is looking for a four bedroom colonial in northern Virginia. She was faced with foreclosure in December, but her lawyer has said that she was able to make the back payments. So now that house is up for sale and she has moved to -- a little further south, to Middleburg, Virginia.

ZAHN: All right. And Paula Jones, of course, had accused Mr. Clinton of sexual harassment. Of course, then we later saw her photographed in -- she became a key player in this whole investigation. What is she up to?

CROWLEY: Well, married. Got married in Little Rock, Arkansas. She got married at a place called Villa Marie (ph), which, in fact, is used as the exterior for the fictional home of TV's "Designing Women." She appeared in "Penthouse," I think, in December of 2000.

What I loved in researching this was that an inmate in Texas sued -- sued "Penthouse," complaining that there was -- the photos of Paula Jones were not sufficiently revealing. He sued for $500,000. It was dismissed by a judge, you'll be happy to know. This was around Christmas time when the suit was dismissed, and I wrote down the judge's ruling. "'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the prison, inmates were planning their new porno mission." He concluded with, "Life has its disappointments, some come out of the blue. But that doesn't mean a prisoner should sue."

So Ms. Jones, I should say, also, like Linda Tripp, had cosmetic surgery, which seems to be de rigeur these days. So they were ahead of their time.

ZAHN: In some corners. All right.

Let's move on to Betty Currie, the much talked about -- and in some views, much maligned personal secretary to President Clinton. Where is she.

CROWLEY: A loyal personal secretary -- she is retired, still living in the Washington area with her husband, as far as we know. Now a little known fact about Betty Currie, she made a bond at the White House with Socks the cat. And Socks has moved in with Ms. Currie. We were told as of last year there had been no visitors from Socks's former owners. But that Betty Currie walks Socks on a leash now. All the things you didn't know.

ZAHN: Real quick, denim Bob Bennett, the attorney, of course, who so fiercely protected the president?

CROWLEY: Absolutely. And he's got his work cut out for him, still. He's now a lawyer for Enron. ZAHN: Oh boy. He likes to take on challenges, doesn't he Candy?

CROWLEY: Absolutely. Those high profile cases.

ZAHN: All right. Thank you very much, Candy Crowley, for taking us through those maze of characters. Have a good weekend.

CROWLEY: Sure, you too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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