[Monica Lewinsky, Former White House Intern:] Sixteen years ago, fresh out of college, a 22-year-old intern in the White House, and more than averagely, romantic, I fell in love with my boss, in a 22-year-old sort of way, it happened. But my boss was the president of the United States. That probably happens less often.
[Camerota:] That was Monica Lewinsky. Opening up to an audience in Philadelphia about her relationship with President Bill Clinton, and the humiliation that she experienced when it went public, calling herself, patient zero of online harassment. Lewinsky said her new mission in life is to end cyberbullying. Lewinsky's speech coming on the same day she joined Twitter. So, here to talk about all of that are CNN political analyst and editor in chief of "The Daily Beast," John Avlon, and his better half, Margaret Hoover, CNN political commentator and Republican consultant. Fascinating to see Monica Lewinsky back and being sort of reflective, and that tone that she's using. Margaret, what do you think?
[Margaret Hoover, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think that Monica Lewinsky, like all Americans or all people deserves a second act in American life. This is a woman who as we all know was really banished and shamed and she spoke so eloquently and incredibly in a raw way, in a vulnerable way. And I have, I frankly garnered such a huge amount of respect for her, for her courage, for her journey, and think that we in the media should, we're ready to move on. We don't want to relive the Clinton legacy. We don't want let's let her be a spokesperson for cyberbullying. She's an authority on this and she could be an incredible voice in this debate. And I really put of respect for her and her process this is a real person who really suffered. She even spoke so candidly, she almost died.
[Camerota:] She considered suicide. She talked about how she was feeling suicidal. In fact, let's listen to her talk about her public humiliation in the past years.
[Lewinsky:] I was patient zero. The first person to have their reputation completely destroyed worldwide via the Internet. When I ask myself, how best to describe how the last 16 years has felt, I always come back to that word: shame my own personal shame, shame that befell my family, and shame that befell my country, our country.
[Cuomo:] John Avlon, fact: Monica Lewinsky paid a much bigger price for the affair than President Clinton. Fact or fiction?
[John Avlon, The Daily Beast:] Absolutely fact.
[Cuomo:] Why? Sexism? Good PR?
[Avlon:] No, you know, when you have the bully pulpit, people have to seen new context. If he would have been a manager at a sporting goods store, he would have been fired on day one. But when you have constitutionally protect office
[Cuomo:] They tried to, they impeached him.
[Avlon:] But they can't, right, you know, unilaterally. But I do think the speech was so thoughtful and funny at times. And she took the risk of intimacy, which great speeches have to do. And it reminds us 16 years after that constitutional crisis, that celebrity-driven scandal, the human collateral damage in that political witch hunt.
[Cuomo:] Witch hunt? How is it a witch hunt?
[Avlon:] Well, it was a politically motivated investigation to delegitimize a duly elected president of an opposition party. And whoever was caught in the crossfire was considered collateral damage. And there was an element of shaming, of humiliation, of cyberbullying, as she said. And she was patient zero to some extent. Now, she survived, the president survived. He emerged with you know, left office with 60 percent approval ratings, and 15, 20 years later, you're able to see her in a deeper context that I think compels compassion. And that's what we should try to do a better job remembering in the first part.
[Camerota:] I don't know that she survived, I mean, she survived literally.
[Avlon:] But she's alive, yes.
[Camerota:] She's alive. But, I mean, her life has been a shadow of what it could have been, and she's talked about that. She didn't get jobs, she didn't have relationships, all because she was so shamed. But you know, I don't want to blame the victim here and I believe that she now after all that, because of the fallout, she was the victim.
[Avlon:] The president as well as the media and the investigators.
[Camerota:] Of the cyberbullying, not of her action. But basically, shouldn't she have spoken out sooner? It is so poignant, it is so relatable. Maybe she shouldn't have waited 16 years to talk about it.
[Hoover:] I am really very cautious about criticizing anybody who's been a victim to this extent. She was the first one, the only one that we've seen to be a cyberbullying victim to this extent. So, I think everybody has their own process, everyone has their own journey. Let's let her be a spokesperson for this. Let's let her speak out, and let's let her create a new identity for herself in the public eye that we can all respect and talk to and listen.
[Cuomo:] Didn't really happen, even after the "Vanity Fair" article, there is stink on her about this. And, I think -
[Hoover:] Only because we perpetuate it by saying things like that, Chris.
[Cuomo:] No, but I'm saying that the media won't leave her alone. She came out with "Vanity Fair," she wrote a very intelligent piece about it, right? Mocked right away, she should shut up. She should go away. If it happened today, if the sitting president, you know, we don't wish this on anybody on either side it, but do you think that there would have been this kind of reflexive ignoring of any kind of feminism, of any kind of gender balance, and just putting it all on her like happened then.
[Avlon:] Yes, I - look. I mean, that was unprecedented in American history, right? I mean, we were all coming to grips with something in real-time that we never had to confront in real-time before.
[Cuomo:] We'd had presidents who had stepped out before.
[Avlon:] Absolutely, we'd absolutely had, but we'd never confronted it in real-time with evidence, and here's a country that has a tradition going back to, you know, the scarlet a and our puritan roots. So, this was a really tough, real-time confrontation with ourselves and our own hypocrisy. She got caught in the middle of it. Now, we're wiser now and I think the challenge is for us to then, when we see these scandals unfold in real-time, try to remember the human beings beneath them, as well as just that the pile on, and the spin, and the judgement.
[Camerota:] And, you know, because she is now speaking out, and I think that this was my point, is that people respond differently.
[Avlon:] Sure.
[Camerota:] So then there is sympathy, once you hear somebody in their own words, then there is sympathy. She joined Twitter, as we said, last night at I think 9:00 p.m. She tweeted -
[Cuomo:] That was a risky move.
[Camerota:] But, she tweeted this, and this is good news, I think. She tweeted #gratitude, #overwhelmed, #thank you.
[Cuomo:] She has 14,000 followers or so, but I'm just saying. If she wants to get the message out about cyberbullying, she's in the right place, being on Twitter. But I just hope she's ready to deal with what can happen there.
[Hoover:] I think that clearly she is. She's taken her time, she's been amazingly thoughtful. I, you know, I want to hear more from her, and I really, I applaud her. I think she is a woman of real courage.
[Cuomo:] Yes.
[Hoover:] And to put herself out there all over again, I mean, this is somebody that I want to hear more from and to allow her to create a new identity for herself so people can learn from her experience.
[Camerota:] Margaret Hoover, John Avlon, thanks so much. We want to know what you think about it. You can find us all on Twitter, too. Be part of the conversation. Also, quick programming note. Tonight Jake Tapper moderates the Florida governor's debate. The state's current governor, Rick Scott, and the former governor, Charlie Crist, go head to head 7:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN. Let's hope they both have fans.
[Cuomo:] So, Oscar de la Renta, he dressed first ladies, leading ladies, ladies who lunch. Pretty much anybody who wanted to be somebody needed to be seen in Oscar de la Renta at some point. This morning, we will remember the fashion designer, Mr. Oscar de la Renta. He died at the age of 82. We'll have a look back at his life and pioneering style. A man of true class that went well beyond fashion. Stay with us.