Were teenagers, one as young as 14. Sarah sanders would not say whether President Trump believes the allegations, and she dodged questions about accusations of Sexual Harassment and assault against President Trump himself. On the democratic side, both parties on capitol hill are calling for a full Ethics Committee investigation. Avenues anchor Leann Tweeden of kabc radio in los angeles, shared her story alleging al franken kissed and groped her without her consent. She says private citizen franken wrote a exit, which involved their characters kissing one another, and he pressured her to rehearse that alone backstage. He forcibly kissed her. And then later franken posed in this photo where he can be seen seeming to grope tweeden while she was asleep. He was elected to the u. S. Senate two years later. She chose the lead as the place to be her First National television interview. Tell us about this rehearsal incident. Its 2006, youre preparing for a uso show. Were you in afghanistan, iraq, where were you . The first show was in kuwait, we started in kuwait, and then moved on to iraq and ended up in afghanistan. The first was in kuwait, we were backstage, sort of the backstage area in kuwait as a makeshift backstage area, which is their jim, which is behind the stage that they built there. And we had a cordoned off area, up against the gym wall, which is a mirrored area, they have that for us, so we can see everything changes back there. And al just wanted to rehearse, and hes like, lets go over our lines and lets do we really should rehearse the kiss, that was the first time i had heard that part of it, why do we we dont need to rehearse the kiss, i sort of blew him off, no, we really need to rehearse the kiss. Come on, al, this is not saturday night live, this is were just going to do it live on stage, its no big deal. And he just persisted. He said, again, lets rehearse the scene, and, you know, i was trying to make light of the situation, because i started feeling uncomfortable. I was like, what is he gets at here. And i was trying to be funny, i said, okay, al, you lean right, ill lean right and well be fine, you know . And hes like, you know, actors really need to they need to rehearse. Im thinking, im not an actress, al, im a host, im a tv host. I dont act, thats a whole other thing people do. He goes, no we really need to do this. The persistent and making me feel uncomfortable, i finally said, lets rehearse the damn scene, okay . And the whole time in my mind im thinking, its like bob hope, youre going to come in for the kiss, im the girl and im just going to turn my head or i would cover his mouth and it would be funny, right . Were doing this to entertain the troops, its like a schtick. He comes in, and at the last second he puts his hand on the back of my neck and comes in so fast, and he just sort of its like that there was no finesse to it at all, lets put it that way. He mashes his mouth to his lips and, you know, it was wet and he puts his tongue in my mouth, my reaction, it was sort of a i pushed his chest away with my hands. Im like, if you ever do that to me again, i was so angry, i was in disbelief really. And i just sort of my hands to this day, i talk about it, my hand clinches into a fist, because i think my initial reaction is that i wanted to hit him. Thats what i feel. And i still feel that to this day, i think. And i just looked at him, i said, dont you ever do that to me again, i wont be so nice about it the next time. And i walked out. And i just walked out, my mind was reeling, and im thinking, i have to find a bathroom, i wanted to rinse my mouth out. I say im not an actress, let me tell you, in five minutes, theyre introducing us to go on stage to do our very first show and i think i was the best actress in the world, i had to be out and be like al franken, ladies and gentlemen, and pretend we were the best of friends and do the whole show standing right next to him. I know youve said you spent much of the rest of the tour being as professional as possible on stage acting the part while also avoiding him as much as possible backstage. Was there ever any acknowledgement by him that had had happened, any sort of attempt to talk about it or apologize or anything . No, absolutely not. No, and ill tell you this, there were little petty things that went on little comments here and there. Passive aggressiveness, we would do autograph sessions after the show. You put on a show, and afterwards, the troops can come. You have autograph sheets, they put out long tables and you sit next to each other and sign autographs. Dallas cowboy cheerleaders, very popular. People come and line up sometimes ill be honest with you. There would be no one in al frankens line. People line up you stand in one line and get one autograph for a night. One time if i sat next to him, we would be sat next to each other. I would sort of have my back to him like this. I see the picture moving. Trying not to Pay Attention to it, and i look down and i see it kind of move back toward my pile, and theres my picture and al franken has drawn the devil horns on my face, and the goutee and the devil tail and the pitchfork. Thats what im dealing with. Its the Little Things like that, it ends up its like, all of that in totality, right . People who are watching might not have seen your press conference. You received a cd of pictures from the photographer, and this was there, this was obviously taken when you were sleeping. What was your reaction, you didnt find it funny. I dont know anybody over the age of 9 that may find it fungny, what did you think . I was angry, because in my mind he was doing that to now its his parting gift. Shes going to see that, after were all gone, and thats like i got you. You know. Had a had a, thats going to be the last thing she sees, and i got the last laugh. Directly related to the kiss . Yes, of course. Oh, youre the devil, ha ha. I mean, its just its be littling, humiliating, is that ever funny . I wasnt his friend. Is that funny if its your daughter, your wife, your mom . He came out with the apology and hes appalled by it now. You know, its ive been angry about it for over 10 years and its a you know, i dont know. Ive held it inside. My circle of friends and my husband have known how i felt about it for so long. I wanted to come out with it 10 years ago, and it wasnt the right time. And i dont want anything. I if he did this to somebody else or somebody else has been sexually assaulted, maybe somebody else can come out in realtime, they find strength in numbers. People are coming out now. Congressman jackie speer came on our radio show, and she told about her story, her chief of staff, when she was a congressional aide did the same thing. When i heard her talk about that, she said, he pinned me up against the wall, put his hands on my face, kissed me and stuck his tongue in my mouth. I went, that was al franken, he did that to me. You were triggered in a way. I said, thats a sign. Thats going to make me talk. Maybe if al franken did this to somebody else or somebody else has a story, and they see me talking about it, i was nervous to talk about it. I still have a knot in my stomach. This season the like, oh, yeah, im going to do it and feel great about it. Its difficult to do. It is hard. Of course it is tell me why. I dont doubt you at all, tell me why its hard. Its why do you think there are people that havent talked there are still a lot of people that havent told their stories. In the case of roy moore, there are people coming out about it. Its embarrassing, its humiliating. There are still people ive looked on twitter, still blaming me for it. You look at the picture, im asleep and somehow its my fault really . Al franken has come out and apologized and said, that was in poor taste. I thought it was funny, its still my fault. Thats why women dont come out. The only thing i can say to you is dont read twitter for the next week. Oh, right, i know. Youre going to find people who are against Cancer Patients on twitter. You keep talking about al franken, senator frankens apology. He put out one statement and then a second one. I want to get your reaction the first thing i want to do is apologize to leann, everyone who was a part of that tour, to everyone who has worked for me. And to everyone who counts on me to be an ally and supporter and champion of women. Its what i want to say. If a its the only thing you care to hear, im sorry. I respect women, i dont respect men who dont. The fact that my own actions have given people a reason to doubt that im ashamed. Men who respect women, have been forced to take a good hard look at our actions, and think about how those actions have affected women. I didnt remember the rehearsal for the exit as leann does, i understand why we need to listen to and believe womens experiences. Im asking an ethics investigation be undertaken. What people think of me in light of this is far less important than what people think of women who continue to come forward to tell their stories that deserve to be heard and believed. I have let them down and am committed to making it up to them thats most of it. What do you think of that, do you accept his apology . I do. The one that came out this morning, i accepted that one too. It was very short and brief, my initial reaction was, it sounded like a staffer put that out hastily it could have been the truth to get it out quickly, it went viral and it was everywhere. That one did seem heartfelt. I honestly do believe him much i wasnt waiting for an apology for him i gladly accept, and i thank you. Do you want him to call you . Sure. I mean, look, my husband and i saw him at a uso metro gala and i was very cold to him. He found me in a room and said hello leeann i said hi, al. My husband said hi al and turned and walked away from him. He didnt get it then and didnt apologize to me then. In he didnt say im sorry for anything i did, and it took this for the apology, whatever. Im glad that he that second apology i think maybe he had some time to digest it and think about it. I believe him. Perhaps it is heartfelt. Men and there are men victims who have come out. And this whole Harvey Weinstein era thats come out. People need to take a look at the culture thats been happening since men and women have walked the earth many and i hope its changing, and i hope it will change, its going to take all of us. Not only what happens behind closed doors, a lot of this abuse and harassment happens in front of other people. When other people let it happen and dont speak up to say something, and say, look, thats not okay its going to continue. Was anybody there when no, it was justus two. What do you think of the fact that everyone in the senate is calling for a snatd ethics investigation. Franken himself called for it. When it came off that more than 15 million had been paid off in settlements to women for Sexual Harassment and other charges by congress, there was a lot of question about, should congress be in charge of investigating Something Else. I dont know if you saw jackie speer a Rube Goldberg design that only could have been assigned by somebody who was trying to dislodge women from making the complaints. Is it enough for senators or should there be Something Else . I think there should be, if anybody is going to be investigated, im not talking about this case in particular it should always be an independent investigation. You cant expect the thats never going to be a fair investigation, i would think an outside investigation or an outside party thats unbiased and not part of that affiliation, is always going to be called for, theyre always going to protect themselves, that 15 million payout thats like having these ndas, thats how you protect. When you can pay off, and say, im going to pay you for your silence, maybe i abused you, sexually harassed you, raped you, if im going to pay you the money and you stay silent, they can continue the type of behavior. And congress, theyre paying them off with taxpayer money. Im sure that 15 million didnt come out of their personal pocket, right . How do we not know names . How do we not know what happened . Names need to be named. The money needs to come out of their own personal checkbooks. This is wrong, when names start being named i think there was call on capitol hill yesterday if we start knowing names, maybe this behavior will start changing. Are you willing to testify before the senate Ethics Committee . I would be, sure. Yes. Okay . If they ask me to. Do you think that senator franken should step down from his job or if he fails to be expelled from the senate for his colleagues . Im not asking for that. Thats not why i came out with my story. Im not asking for him to step down as senator, thats not my if somebody else calls for that, thats not what im asking. In your heart, do you have any feeling . It sounds like youve nursed this understandably with a lot of resentment, again, completely understandably for 11 years. Do you want him punished . What is the or do you just want to be acknowledged as a human being and apologized too in. Yeah, i think thats it, the latter, i think i just wanted him to apologize to me for that, and say he was sorry i think that second statement he came out with. And the acknowledge of saying it was wrong. And the heartfelt gathering his staff and saying, it was wrong, i think Everybody Needs to take a good hard look. He came from a place of honesty there. Thats what change is going to be driven from. Not from the victims coming out and talking about it, i think its going to come from the people who maybe do the abusing who dont realize theyre doing the abusing, because its so a part of the culture. And its been so a part of when you can do this and look at a camera and laugh, and think that thats okay, and you can get away with it, and you know youre being photographed and you know youre doing it to a woman, and you think that thats impunity, and think you can get away with it, and its funny, thats whats wrong with the culture, if we can have the people doing the abusing change, thats where thats when the change is going to occur. Weve all been watching the changes in the society when it comes to this issue of Sexual Assault and harassment in the last year i guess, i mean, slowly and now quickly, bill cosby, roger ailes, bill oreilly, mark halpern, Harvey Weinstein, james tobac, brett radnor. Are there any of the women who came forward in any of those cases who inspired you . I think right now, youre probably inspiring a lot of people. Are there any women who came before you who inspired you to come forward today . I dont think specifically. I think its more of a as a whole just for me, i say congresswoman jackie spears when she came on our show a few weeks ago, she told the story. And it was almost verbatim what happened to me. She happens to be a congresswoman and its political and al franken is a senator, it sounded like my words, you know what i mean . I think thats why it was a trigger point for me and it inspired me to come forward. All of those women, were just standing on the backs of those women, you know . It just is it takes courage and strength and i only pulled strength in them, look, this morning right before i faulked about it on our radio show, i was terrified. I told my husband, before i came to do your show, there was a moment this morning, i tried to go out and go to the bathroom, there were tv cameras in the hallway, i had no idea what it was going to turn into, i thought maybe a camera was going to show up and then all of a sudden the hallway was flocked. I was like, i need to go to the bathroom, right at that moment, my husband texted me, how are you holding up. I locked myself in the bathroom for a minute and i wanted to start crying it was an overwhelming emotion. I even had lauren, one of the girls that came out about Harvey Weinstein, whos a friend of ours, and ive known her for a long time. She texted me last night, she knew i was going to talk about it this morning, she said, youre going to feel better i havent gotten to that point yet. I have that knot in my stomach. I dont feel like yea it feels great, i still feel kind of sick about it. Its not a feel good thing, i feel embarrassed about it, its you dont need me to say this, but you did nothing to be embarrassed about i know you know that intellectually. But theres nothing you did you should be embarrassed about. How are you holding up, you have a loving husband, a support network there, are you doing okay . I just want to go home i have a 2yearold and a 4yearold and i just want to hug my babies and my husband, thats all. Ive been up since 2 00 in the morning, california time. I havent eaten anything, i have like cotton mouth, i feel like my teeth are sticking to my gums, im okay, im holding up its just been nonstop, thats all. The world youre making for your children, for your 2yearold and 4yearold, you realize you are making it better for them. I dont know the gentders of your children, but it doesnt matter. I have a boy and a girl. Both of them need to be impacted by this, right . Not just the girl. You know, you always i dont want to be cliche, but you try to leave the world a better place for your kids sorry. I didnt think i was going to do that. You want to leave. You want to leave the world a better place. You try to you want to set examples, and you want the bed to be better for your kids, you want to leave it better than what you had it ive had so many of my girlfriends text me, my phone died twice already today because people have been texting and calling, theyre like, stay strong, youre doing something that is going to make the world better for your daughter. Maybe i am. I didnt look at it that way. But maybe i am, and if i am okay. Ill take it. You are. Of course you are. Its not just for your daughter, youre doing it for your son too, right . You dont want him to grow up and either misbehave or you know, have women friends or family members who are affected that way. Because obviously what youre doing is making the world a better place, youre bringing awareness in a very public and i know you dont feel it, very brave way. You said something earlier that surprised me. You didnt know how much this was going to how big a deal this was going to be, you didnt know it was going to be such a huge story of interest to so many people. Why . I knew it would be a story because it deals with senator franken. I didnt know know it would be like this. I guess its like trying to describe the grand canyon to somebody, and then seeing it with your own eyes, i guess maybe its just a little bit different in perspective, but i just its been a whirlwind, nonstop. The flood of phone calls and emails, and messages and text messages, an