USA: CLINTON DENIES HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH MONICA LEWINSKY UPDATE

(26 Jan 1998) English/Nat U-S President Bill Clinton has emphatically denied having an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky or ever asking anyone to lie. Backed by his wife - the First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore on Monday - he refused to take questions on the issue and insisted he had to 'get back to work'. But a new opinion poll in the U-S showed that the scandal is beginning to affect the popularity rating of Clinton. Clinton made a last-minute appearance at the White House on Monday at a child care event which was to be headlined by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore. Clinton first talked about child care and then raised the subject of the alleged affair with former intern Monica Lewinsky. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Now, I have to go back to work on my State of the Union speech - and I worked on it until pretty late last night. But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time, never. These allegations are false, and I need to go back to work for the American people. Thank you." SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, U-S President It seems clear that Clinton is trying to give the appearance that he is conducting business as usual - despite the international interest in the allegations of an affair. His next scheduled public appearance is at Tuesday's 'State of the Union' address - when he will outline his legislative agenda to both Houses of the U-S Congress. His staff are currently consulting with congressional leaders to try to determine what type of reception Clinton is likely to receive. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...