, we will look at 2018 politics and the senate hearing. The president s authority and calling with the desk calling for the use of Nuclear Weapons. Al franken, and some calling for his rigid resignation. Call in on 202 7488000, that is the line for democrats. 202 7488001 four republicans. Ndependents, 202 7488002 we also have a line for minnesota residents, 202 7488003. Good sunday morning, thank you for being with us. We want to begin with the very latest involving senator al franken, and this is a story from usa today. When it comes to al franken and the assault allegations, congress appears united. Congress may be gridlocked when it comes to policy battles but the condemnation of lawmakers of senator al franken harassing a tv host and sportscaster was incredibly swift. So was the minnesota democrats apology. By the end of the day the accuser already accepting his apology. A National Conversation about Sexual Harassment is ricocheting from hollywood where movie producer Harvey Weinstein stands accused of harassment and rape to the halls of congress. Senator al franken is the first to be accused of harassment. Notably, no lawmakers on thursday chose to defend the accused along party lines. Coverednk this was pretty extensively during the campaign. We addressed it then. The American People spoke very loud and clear when they elected this president. How is this different . In one case specifically, senator franken has admitted wrongdoing and the president has not. Host on our Facebook Page, a lot of you weighing in as well. Join us for the conversation at facebook. Com cspan. Joseph green wrote the following i want to ask the following the people of this christian nation, where is your forgiveness of others when they do something stupid at apologize for it . Katie said, i am a woman who has been sexually assaulted. Finally, from jamie, everyone is distracted from this while trump was accused 17 times, calling this a joke. Lets get to your phone calls. We have a line settled side for those of you who live in minnesota. Should al franken resign his seat . That number is [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2017] 202 7488003. I do not thinkr that he should resign because if you are going to do the same on al franken, then you got to look at the president. One thing, he did apologize, the man apologized. Here we have a president , donald trump never apologized and admitted to grabbing womens genitals and everything else. If you are going to do it to al franken, you are going to be fair. I do not care what Political Party you are in or whatever, but as a man, these people need to understand as a man and the character of men, we have him and roy moore have not apologized. You know what, steve, i have been trying to call. Let me tell you something, those people like that, roy moore, they have been doing this for centuries, ever since the south has been here. Groping women, and women of prominence, a family who got a prominent name or a person, a respectable person, at least seven times. They have been doing this to women. They did it to all kind of people. You know what, those other women who sit and side with them, you know what they used to call those women . Even if they know they are credible, they called them white trash. They have been doing this for years, man, in the southern towns. The seven people, southern people, America Needs to stop being naive. Host thank you very much. We will go to mark on the republican line in zachary, louisiana. Should al franken resign . Caller i dont think so. Unless more women come out and it is evidence, not just accusations, but actual evidence, i do not think you can make him resign over this. But i think this is something that is going on. People calling in like the gentleman earlier. Am from louisiana edwards was a democrat and he was accused of stuff like that. It is everywhere. Do not be so foolish. It is everywhere, in hollywood, a new york, everywhere. Look at congress. They have these women who are being sexually assaulted and these peoples names are not even put out there. Why is that . I do not understand that. If you want to protect women, why would you hide these people . I do not know why everything has to be so partisan. Everything we do, either by the media or people calling in. I do not see a partisan thing here. You should not do this to women, and if there is evidence you did, more evidence with al franken that this is a common theme with him, then he should go. As of now, i do not think so. Host mark on the republican line from the louisiana, thank you for the call. A lot of tweets, this is from chris not only should he resign but he should be banned from ever running for office again. You can send your tweet at cspan wj. Some longn loath before this allegation. He is the pit them academy of hypocrisy. Comparison to the criminal behavior of roy moore and at real donald trump. A lot of comments, this one from mona saying, if roy moore is expected to drop out than al franken should resign and bill clinton should be crossed prosecuted. Hell, no, the which was lying about her desk him. Him. Your comments on our Facebook Page at facebook. Com cspan. Ireland from minneapolis, good morning, this is your home state senator. Frankeni love senator and no, i do not think he should resign. I do not think in what he did. If something is wrong here when we state that he needs to go to the Ethics Committee, even though he apologized and the lady accepted his apology. When we have a president that enough, andfair what about the Ethics Committee for him . What about the women that accused him, that society at the time refused to believe, the majority of society refused to believe these women . I think it is hypocritical for people to ask for senator franken to resign, or for him to go through an Ethics Committee when we do not have the same standard for the president. It is really terrible. Host carolyn, thanks for minneapolis. Our friend bill with a tweet how about a compromise, how franken resigns, President Trump resigns, and roy moore drops out of the race. Chris murphy says i have seen senator frankens accuser on the playboy cover grabbing the obama of robin williams. Mark crump said absolutely not. Dont compare what franken did to that of moore and trump. Go,adline franken should reads in part that horrifying photo of franken will confront feminists every time they decry trump of grabbing women by the genitals. It is not worth it. The question is not about what is fair to franken but what is fair to the rest of us. Frankensurn departure from the senate, but i think he should go and the government should appoint a woman in his place. The message to men in power about sexual degradation has to be clear we will replace you. Stacy is joining us, independent line, from mclean, virginia. Caller good morning. No, i do not think al franken should resign. That is ludicrous. You are comparing a child predator, a man who preys on children, and you have to realize in the state of alabama, you can date girls as young as 16 years old. Moore to his own admittance, he said he would ask the mother if he could have permission to date the daughter. There are some women who will pimp out your children for a man or for money. The gop is known for defending pedophiles. Look what they did to dennis hatcher. They went to court, they wrote letters to him they went on tv defending him, and after the judge called him a serial predator, a serial child molester, now the gop want to ask like they are holier than thou act like they are holier than thou. Hiringout in cleveland male prostitutes for 800 dollars an hour that you dont want to play pay a living wage to people for 15 an hour or 10 an hour or 12 an hour . Shame on you. When you point a finger at someone, Three Fingers are pointing back at you. They are mad at al franken exposing Jeff Sessions for the liar he is and yes, im going to call him a liar. Worse, he is a religious liar and i compare them to satan because it is awful they hide behind the church and religion and commit crimes against people and god. It is blasphemy. Do not resign, al franken. Hold your head high because you are man enough to admit you were wrong. I get jokes. You are a committee and. Sometimes things hit and sometimes they missed. I have been sexually harassed my whole life. My father made sure that stacy knew taekwondo before she went out. Anybody touches me, you better know how to fight. Know how to go toe to toe, blow for blow, because im trained to defend myself. Why i think al franken should resign . No, do not resign. You are more of a man than the president was to admit when he was wrong. It takes a real man to apologize and admit that he was wrong. Kudos to you, al franken. Keep fighting for america. America needs right now. We are under a coup. Host stacy from mclean, virginia. , caffe Facebook Page says his actions were sophomoric and stupid but not harassment. He had no power over her. They were equal. She was a willing purchase been. If she had said no to the rehearsal kiss nothing wouldve happened to discipline to turn in any way. J moore says out franken elected under shady circumstances, voting irregularities were proven but a long and hanging chad style fight was avoided as republicans conceded the senate seat. Jan why would the Ethics Committee something he apologized for an happened before he was a u. S. Senator . Helen joining us on the democratic line from ohio. Caller hi, i am from michigan. Host michigan. Caller good morning. Hello, cspan. No, i dont think al franken should resign. And we have a bigger problem of justice, this issue youd we have got to go back for a long time now, where women have been pretty much portrayed as sex objects. Like going to hooters. All these women getting boob implants. Butt we have got to get out of the stigma of women having to be so gorgeous and beautiful like sex objects. I am not blaming this on the women at all. The fact of the matter is that you go back years ago, it is just that way, the may the treatingere always women. That is why they are coming out of the closet saying, as happened to me and i never said anything about it because it really hurt my feelings. Who is going to care . This is what happens. This is the stuff that happened back then. I dont think so. What trump has done and what that other character done, he is a child molester and i do not care for that. I love that lady from virginia. That man is using god, and i call that using gods name in vain, because when you do the things that you do and say you are a christian, you believe in god, that is definitely using gods name in vain. Host there is some news on Senate Roy Moore and his senate candidate. Another opinion piece from the im agton post feminist, i study rape culture, and i do not want all franken to resign. Resigning frome his position as the only possible consequence or one that is best for american women. Campaignt me too demonstrated how normalized unwanted kissing and groping are in our culture. Donald trump was caught on tape crudely admitting to both of those transgressions and we made him president. It would feel good momentarily to see franken resign and the democratic governor of minnesota appoint a senator who has not harmed women. If i believed for one second that franken is the only that, but iid am betting there will be more. A book on feminism and the peace available at Washington Post. Com. Rob on at new york city on the democrats line. Caller good morning, thank you for cspan. Mitch mcconnell says he believed the dozen or so accusers of roy moore. Many of those were minors, minor children at the time. I am sure that Mitch Mcconnell also believes the dozen or so accusers of mr. Trump. I know that most of us believe the accusers of President Trump. Al franken forced a kiss, and awkward kiss. She described, a slimy, wet just on a beautiful woman. Kiss on a beautiful woman. Most guys i know who have made a play for a beautiful woman have at some point or other not always been smooth, and in one context or another, forced a play the play that they made for the woman fail. The photo was absolutely juvenile, and i do not know why you are even discussing this topic. I am assuming that you chose this topic this morning. Itk this is really a is almost uncalled for at this point for you to be taking time on cspan. I think it reveals your republican leanings. I remember how depressed your face was the night and i like you the night obama was elected the first time. You sat there and you were just, you couldnt even show any teeth , you were so upset about it. This is a nonissue at this point with franken. Host we chose the question, and we chose the question because there are a number of Opinion Pieces saying he should resign or should not resign. It is certainly part of the thetical dialogue, president weighing in, so why is it not a legitimate question . Caller at this point, with what is going on in our political world, for you to bring this up and make this a subject of conversation over a forced kiss, and awkward, forced kiss and a juvenile photo is really a waste of our time. Pose there we wrong to question with regard to roy moore as we did on two separate occasions this week . Caller roy moore is a different story. You are talking about a man who preyed on teenage, underage, minor children. Host rob from new york. We will go next to garner in decatur, georgia. Caller i think al franken should not resign unless roy moore steps out and donald trump steps down. And another thing, i read a story a couple days ago where Republican Congress spent 70 million on bill clintons sex life, 70 million for bill clintons sex life. Well, that is a lot of money. Thank you. Host this is an editorial from the birmingham news and a number of different newspapers in alabama. Our view that alabama voters must reject roy moore and endorse doug jones for u. S. Senate. This is a turning point for women in alabama, a chance for them to make their voices heard from a state that has been silencing them for too long. Accusations against roy moore have been shocking. Horrifying but not shocking. Although roy moore has denied the accusations of these women, his own platform is hostile to so many alabamians. Republicanans establishment has chosen to stand behind him, belittling the brave woman women who have come forward against him. Unlike the National Party, that alabama republican establishment has chosen to stand by him that saying alabama voters must enjoys endorse doug jones. Next is paul, joining us from pennsylvania, democrats line. Good morning. Caller good morning. I have not really tuned in to washington journal for a long time because the past few years there was so much hate. Democrats hate republicans, republicans cannot stand the democrats. This is such an example of a false equivalency. On one hand, you have an admitted predator like trump who said, i grab women by the and then you have a child molester and al franken, i am embarrassed for what he did. It was juvenile and stupid but he did not expose himself, he did not touch any private parts in the picture. It was obviously staged. His fingertips were barely touching the flight jacket. He was not trying to cop a feel. He thought it was funny and it was stupid, it wasnt funny. It was a mistake. As far as grabbing a kiss, it was unwanted, i am embarrassed. It was stupid. He should not have done that. And you compare that to the things on the other side, where children are being molested, the president brags about grabbing women . Not watchy i do anymore. In the beginning of our country, whoever ran for president , the person who got the most votes was president. Whoever came in second was Vice President. Maybe we should go back to that, because there are founders who feared this would happen if there were parties. We cannot get anything done. We should do away with this party system. Whoever gets the most votes is president. Whoever gets the secondmost, Vice President. It would Work Together. Good luck. God bless. ,ost paul from pennsylvania and a reminder, we have a line set aside for those who live in minnesota, 202 7488003. Let me go back to this editorial with regard to roy moore at al. Com and also for the birmingham news and the newspaper in mobile, alabama. What is disqualifying is the conduct of roy moore against women and children. It was disqualifying for his party leaders, the senior senator, and should be disqualifying for his state party. By the various misdeeds, miscalculations, and mistakes of its voters and leaders, alabama has left itself with few options. Alabamians must show themselves to be people of principle, reject roy moore and all that he stands for. There is only one candidate left in this race who has proven worthy of the task of representing alabama, doug jones. On the republican line, from berkeley springs, west virginia. Caller what i would like to talk about is the socalled Ethics Committee in congress. It is a joke. I was watching a tv program last night and they were saying Something Like 600 cases had been brought before the Ethics Committee. No one was punished. I know a few republicans resigned when they were caught doing something, but as far as congress punishing, that is not going to happen because they are just too much incorruption. Each one has something on the other, so they are not going to go that far as to punish them. I remember bill clinton. And you have a man on abc right anchor, andop during bill clintons fiasco he was out taking up dirt on the women that were accusing bill clinton of wrongdoing. The democrats circle the wagons. Most republicans will say, get out of there. Host harley from west virginia. Of the miamiwo book festival and we are covering it live on cspan two as part of our 48 hours of books at booktv. One of the speakers, al franken is canceled. Al franken was accused of Sexual Harassment and has canceled his miami appearance. The book is called al franken, giant of the senate. His cancellation was for later today. You