effective immediately, the resignation of trent franks. he had said, as you mentioned that, that it would not be until the end of january before he would be stepping down. he now says that his wife has been admitted to hospital, so it makes sense to bring that forward. but this follows allegations by a former staff member that trent franks offered her $5 million in order to act as the star of his mother of his child. she said that he made repeated questions along those lines and they were all denied by this particular staff member, but she felt increasingly uncomfortable, she said. mr franks admitted ina uncomfortable, she said. mr franks admitted in a statement yesterday that he and his wife had been suffering fertility issues and he said he may have been insensitive in the way he talked about with members of staff. but it is not the only allegation of its kind. another former staff member of trent franks has come forward to say she was also asked to be be sorry to get mother of his child. these allegations went to the house speaker's off

then the trent franks mystery is solved. >> i'm going to make a statement. >> new reporting that the congressman offered an aide $5 million to carry his child. >>> plus, what we are learning from the mueller team, including an fbi warning about a russian contact and the plot to stop mueller is growing. >> what would it take to get rid of a special counsel? >> all in, starts right now. >>> good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes. at the end of a week in which no fewer than three members of congress, as of now, have resigned over sexual harassment and unwanted touching. the president of the united states, who faces multiple accusations is working to get someone elected that faces sexual misconduct allegations, including with an under age girl. pensacola, florida is less than 20 miles from the border of alabama. the event isn't designed to explicit roy moore ahead of the election, it's clear what is going on here. a moore campaign official told nbc news they were actively encouraging supporters to attend the trump rally. they told them to vote roy moore. they have been accused, by m

the house ethics committee has an investigating subcommittee of trent franks on sexual harassment. let me ask you since this is breaking news and you guys weren't prepared for it, but there were some rumblings earlier in the day, he will resign what are your thoughts? >> absolutely this is something we heard around the last couple of hours this was possible and the takeaway again here is that sexual harassment is not a partisan issue. it happens in both parties and both parties have to take steps to properly address it. unfortunately it's used like a political football and we're see ing that happen especially with al franken who resigned after the tax cut vote and after by the way this picture of him which in my opinion is one of the most disturbing of all of the allegations to be made against al franken. that picture has been out for weeks and it's used too often like a political football and leaders in both parties whether republicans like trent frank or democrats need to take the appropriate steps. >> charles: in fact real quick katrina i guess the argument is if al franken came

let's start with congressman trent franks. david, he reportedly asked staffers -- he and his wife were struggling with fertility issues. he reportedly asked a couple of staffers if they would consider surragacy for he and his wife. that is different. we need to have boundaries in the workplace. women, as you can imagine, felt uncomfortable and didn't know how it would affect their jobs. >> it's a conversation we have been having for tkbg aids. it is just a question of whether people are paying attention. when you have a congressman in his office broaching that kind of subject, i don't know what you would be thinking. a young woman in your office, you think is going to be comfortable with that conversation, in that environment. paul ryan said it was essentially an open on and shut case and the congressman was willing to bow out and didn't want to go through any more public disclosure of all of this. i think when it comes to he members of congress now it will be part of the path. that they would bow out more quietly and graceful

trent franks, one of the most conservative members of congress. called president barack obama an enemy of humanity. that is an ask too far for apparently reasons. the congressman is now on his way out. what we are facing is there will be a lot more of these. not just historically for john conyers and al franken and now trent franks. but accusations against blake farenthold. and this slush fund to pay off accusers by taxpayers. >> blake farenthold's was to the tune of $80,000. he said he will pay it back. >> there's going to be more here. it is affecting all industries, but congress in particular in accelerated ways. >> there is a moral discussion here we are having across the board. but there is a political reality on brownstein. this seems like a chess game where parties are sacrificing paupbs, in some cases not just pawns but knights to get to the king or queen. and they just sacrificed one of their better pieces to get to something higher. the question, will they get there? >> john is right. this is obviously a much bigger cultural moment in wh

i think trent franks is one of those people. he essential little resigned before the story came out. when i reamed the statement from his office saying why he was resigning, there was this topic of surrogacy. you really didn't understand and then the next day you see this drip, drip of stuff about the $5 million and possibly wanting to naturally impregnant nate a woman. there's this idea that paul ryan knew about this information and said you have to go. that points that andrea made about onier -- younger women. i was waiting for the press conference to start when jill brand treatment twoo tweeted that yam franken had to resign. it was like 10 minutes and almost every democratic senator said i'm not going to wait for chuck schumer. i'm going to tweet out on this that was remarkable to me. >> that's what matters, is the presence of women in positions of leadership. only 6.4% of the c.e.o.'s of the forchunal 500 companies today are women. here we were and it's still really a family culture at the top of the corporate boardroom, hi

she has a medical condition that's called trent franks. it's her husband. >> and a sense, yesterday was all of a sudden out of nowhere, trent franks says, i'm resigning because i had discussions of surrogacies and then kind of like, well, gets a little weird but not resignation worthy and paul ryan released a statement, we got this information and i asked him to resign. this puts it in a different light. >> it does. trert i interesting, though. right away, my friends, cover the christian right, he is conservative christian. in vitro fertilization is wrong, in vitro semination also a wrong. the danger of created fertilized eggs that then get destroyed. people were like, this is probably what he was getting at. right way. last night. riding home from here i had a friend who said that. who covers -- >> today a long statement explaining a long, taj chortuou statement, pro-life -- >> didn't destroy embryos? right. raising the question about that surrogacy. whatever. i won't go there. how they came up with a biblically acceptable way of doing th

al franken, trent franks says he'll resign at the end of january. the latest on all of that when we come back. they appear out of nowhere. my secret visitors. appearing next to me in plain sight. hallucinations and delusions. these are the unknown parts of living with parkinson's disease. what stories they tell. but for my ears only. what plots they unfold. but only in my mind. over 50% of people with parkinson's will experience hallucinations or delusions during the course of their disease. and these can worsen over time, making things even more challenging. but there are advances that have led to treatment options that can help. if someone you love has parkinson's and is experiencing hallucinations or delusions, talk to your parkinson's specialist. because there's more to parkinson's. my visitors should be the ones i want to see. learn more at moretoparkinsons.com >>> tonight two lawmakers have announced their resignations from congress amid sexual harassment allegations. one senator, one congressman, one democrat, one republican. this evening, tr

. >> trent franks announced he is resigning. the statement came after the ethics committee said it would investigate sexual harassment against franks. i've recently learned they're reviewing an inquiry with about a suggestion i had with female subordinates. i deeply regret my discussion of this in the work place caused distress. >> last night the house ethics panel announced pro progress in the investigation of blake that aren holt. now, one of the farenthold's republican colleagues calling on him to resign. he settled a law institute wis x taxpayer money. >> joining us for the very first time washington examiner editorial director. good morning. welcome to the program. nice to see you bright and early on this morning. let's talk about this reckoning on capitol hill with these men who are resigning or are accused. three resigning or retiring. al franken, blake farenthold accused here. the scuttlebutt incise side washington is we could be hearing more complaints against other sitting members of congress. what do you make of this

and late this evening arizona congressman trent franks resignation over harassing his female staffers. marina maracco is live on the hill tonight with the latest. >>reporter: these resignation announcements come with within hours of each one and the latest one, congressman for arizona, treng franks stepping they will determine if he engaged in anything that constitutes sexual harassment in a statement that he issued tonight franks acknowledged that he made staffers uncomfortable and that

they're not even listing trent franks as gone yet. but he's gone. at some point congress will get around to adding the name trent franks to this list of vacancies. it was a very sudden departure. when we left the story last week, congressman frankds had just confessed to my discussion of surrogacy with two previous female subordinates. surrogacy as in someone to carry a baby for the congressman and his wife. trent franks made a vague self-exonerating statement about him seeking surrogacy for him and his wife and some of his staffers and even though he said he'd done nothing wrong he nevertheless announced he would be quitting. he'd leave congress at the end of next month on january 31st, 2018. that's where we left it. but congressman franks did not make it anywhere near the end of january. the very next day, after his self-exonerating statement and his announcement that he would eventually leave, the next day on friday the associated press reported new details of his discussion of surrogacy with his former staffers. one former aide telling the a.p.

yet another lawmaker, this time republican congressman trent franks of arizona stepping down as the house ethics committee launches a probe into possible sexual harassment. it is happening just hours after al franken announced his resignation. there's always john conyers stepping down in recent days. and roy moore with accusers in a special election five days away. republican blake farenthold called it a reckoning, and it's hard to argue. it raises the question, a reckoning for whom. in his resignation speech today, senator al franken called attention to what he seems to see as a double standard. >> i'm leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the oval office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the senate with the full support of his party. >> he's talking obviously about president trump and candidate moore. senator franken spoke today after at least 32 democratic senators called for his departure and whatever you think of the senator's contrition or lack of it or any of the facts of the complaints against him, he

s statement. >>> trent franks anouning he is resigning. what he talked about that made two female staffers feel uncomfortable. what republicans do about roy moore. let's go out front. good evening, i'm kate bolduan in for

this most recent one, gop quong man trent franks stepping down. the house ethics committee announced it will investigate the l term republican to determine if he engaged in anything that constitutes sexual harassment. now, in a statement that he issued tonight, franks acknowledges he made staffers uncomfortable and that he discussed fertility issues and sewer casey with two female staffers, franks goes onto say, quote, i have absolutely never physically intimidated, coursed or had or attempted to have any of my congressional staff. however, i do want to take full and personal responsibility for the ways i have broached the topic that unbeknownsted to me made certain individuals uncomfortable. earlier today democratic senatorial franken took to the senate floor announcing he, too, will be re signing in the coming weeks. multiple women have accused him of sexual misconduct from before until after he was voted into the senate. the most recent accusations coming yesterday when a woman said he tried to forcibly kiss her back in twieks and during his re

representative trent franks as stepped down over sexual harassment allegations. he is the third member of congress to resign in three days in addition to representative john conyers and senator al franken. the developments come amid a growing movement to crack down on harassment by powerful men as the nation's political and cultural divisions widen. for more perspective on this, we turn now to a veteran journalist whose career has spanned for man five decades. dan rather has interviewed numerous presidents and reported on watershed moments in u.s. history, from the civil rights movement to the vietnam war and 9/11. now the 86-year-old former cbs anchor has built a new audience online. he has millions of fans on social media. rather also has a new book out titled "what unites us, a collection of essays on

house forced out john conyers and trent franks. texas republican joe barton also won't seek reelection after a nude photo of him surfaced online in november.

this is a bolt from the blue about congressman trent franks. we don't know much about the allegations against him other than the way he is characterizing it in his self-exonerating statement. but at the end of the self-exonerating statement, congressman franks announces that he's quitting and resigning from congress effective january 31st. i imagine we'll get more detail what led to the sudden and dramatic resignation tonight from, again, this long-term highly visible, conservative, pro-trump member of congress. if we get that further detail about congressman franks over the course of the hour, i'll stop what i'm doing and give it to you then. but this is tonight a shock resignation from republican congressman trent franks. and then, we got further word from the ethics committee about the result of their month's long investigation into devin nunes. he's chairman of the intelligence committee in the house. at the start of their investigation into the russia matter, chairman nunes was the star of his own mellow dramatic poorly-cast action movie w

tell us the details behind trent franks' resignation. anthony: trent franks says he is resigning effective immediately. last night he said it would have -- happened after january and votes in congress. he says the reason was his wife was hospitalized. since then, we have seen multiple reports that he offered some of his staffers $5 million to be a surrogate parent to his child, that he may have implied that they were going to be parenting the old-fashioned way. it is an ongoing controversy, and it has generated a lot of attention, as you might imagine. rajini: any response from him? anthony: no response beside the statement that was saying he was doing it because his wife is ill. rajini: this comes after a week of resignations over the issue of sexual harassment, although al franken and john conyers both denied the claims against them. is there a sea change in congress in the way these are being handled? anthony: they are talking about reform, but you have to remember how congress and the congressional offices are run. they are like litt

the associated press is reporting republican congressman trent franks of arizona is resigning. there is no official reaction tonight from frank's office but there have been calls for the eight term congressman to step down follo inappropriate behavior. franks gained notoriety for comparing abortion to slavery and the holocaust. >>> more breaking news on the hill. the house passed a temporary funding bill to avoid a government shutdown this weekend. the continuing resolution would keep the government running through december 22nd. the plan is just to buy more time for unfinished negotiations including the budget, chip, which is the children's health program and also federal aid to puerto rico. the senate must also pass a temporary funding bill to avoid the shutdown. >> ♪ >> more than 300 lauer enforcement agents and officers executed a takedown. 28 people were arrested for selling drugs while armed or other firearm related crimes. the bureau of alcohol tobacco firearms and explosives aren't the fbi launched operation tin panda in the spring. fox5's tisha lewis joins us live fr

ed, let's start with the developments on trent franks. >> he was one of the first tea party members in the house of representatives. he is somebody who's coming out tonight saying he and his wife had problems with fertility. they wanted to have a child command is basically acknowledging that may be a couple of his female staff members were asked to be a surrogate mom. that's backfiring on him tonight. putting out in his statement, "due to my familiarity and experience with the process of surrogacy, i clearly became insensitive as to how the discussion of such an intensely personal topic might affect others. i recently learned that the ethics committee is reviewing inquiry regarding my discussion of surrogacy with two previous female subordinates, making each feel uncomfortable. i deeply regret that my discussion of this option and process in the workplace caused distress." the other interesting angle is that speaker paul ryan is being very aggressive tonight and suggesting that he force this resignation and that a few days ago this was practiced with -- brought his attention he acted q

womenunimaginable what have suffered under trent franks. i think this is only the tip of the iceberg. we are going to see the stories come out, i think, every week. now. amy: we're seeing women come out in these red cloaks from "hand made still" that was made into a tv series. you could not help think about handmaids tale" when hearing what had just taken place with trent franks. >> i just got to present the left them acachievement award to margararet atwood and we were bh remarking on the fact that now everything she has written is coming true to life. it is unimaginable. amy: can you talk about roy moore and his significance when it comes to both sexual assault, acknowledging stories, and what his record is on reproductive rights? we talked d about doug jones in his support for abortion. >> that is the other disturbing thing about roy moore, even if you put aside his own past and his sexual assault past, his posisions on womomen, on gay people, i'm pretty much any group that has been under attack but is administration, that has been roy m

womenunimaginable what have suffered under trent franks. i think this is only the tip of the iceberg. we are going to see the stories come out, i think, every week. now. amy: we're seeing women come out in these red cloaks from "hand made still" that was made into a tv series. you could not help think about handmaids tale" when hearing what had just taken place with trent franks. >> i just got to present the left them achievement award to margaret atwood and we were both remarking on the fact that now everything she has written is coming true to life. it is unimaginable. amy: can you talk about roy moore and his significance when it comes to both sexual assault, acknowledging stories, and what his record is on reproductive rights? we talked about doug jones in his support for abortion. >> that is the other disturbing thing about roy moore, even if you put aside his own past and his sexual assault past, his positions on women, on gay people, i'm pretty much any group that has been under attack but is administration, that has been roy moore's

republican congressman trent franks of arizona. he's going to lea we're getting some more in sit on this. this is a new one. franks says he never intimidated , coursed or intimidated anyone on his of is it a. he claims the dispute came about incur sewer casey. how the discussion of such an intensely personal topic might affect others and he regrets his discussion with two staffers who said the whole thing made them feel uncomfortable. al franken said he's leaving after half a dozen women accused him of misconduct. franken made it clear he didn't think he should have to leave his job. he gave a very define the speech on the senate floor. he basically said sorry, not sorry. i of all people many aware that there i some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a man who has brag ged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the oval office and a man who has repeatedly prayed on young girls campaigns for the senate with a full support of his party . but this desilings is not about me. it's about the people of minnesota. and i

they are add the name trent franks to this list of vacancies. it was a very sad departure. when we left the story last week, congressman franks confessed to my discussion of sure sure ga see. a vague self-exxonerating statement about he said he did nothing wrong he would be quitting. he would leave congress on january 31st, 2018. that's where we left it. congressman prafranks did not m it anywhere near the end of january. the next day after his self-exonerating statement and announcement he could leave, the next day on friday, the associate the press reported details of his discussion of surrogate surrogate. the congressman repeatedly pressed her to carry his child, at one point offering her $5 million. the congressman at least four times asked if she would be willing to act as a surrogate in exchange for money. he said the conversations took place in private, sometimes in his car and she repeatedly told him she was not interested. during my time there was i asked a few times to look over a contract to carry his child and if i would conceive his child, i would be given $5 m

get out of there. >> lou: trent franks announced he is resigning and your thoughts? >> my thoughts on that, he basically asked two of his women staffers if they would be surigate for his chimed. that is two of the women made the complaint. i don't know what and going with with thesifies? it is a beginning of a process and midterm election and get rid of half of these guys and that's not a bad thing. >> lou: gn going to be rid of a few of them before the election. it is astonishing to me and what we are watching on capitol hill and first time, i truly feel like the house of representative has found its tempo, its direction and doing terrific work. today, watching congressman jim jordan and others grill christopher ray,ment director of the fbi, it was compelling first of all and very clear that the fbi, the department of justice and robert mueller are all so politically corrupt and compromised it is it breathtaking. >> there is no reason why jeff sessions can't clear it up. >> lou: he hasn't don a thing. nthen he ought to go to alabama and let someone else do it. it is

. >>> trent franks anouning he is resigning. what he talked about that made two female staffers feel uncomfortable. what republicans do about roy moore. let's go out front. good evening, i'm kate bolduan in for erin burnett. breaki breaking news, cnn reporting about the meeting at trump tower. there were multiple e-mails following up on the june 2016 meeting from the british publicist. trump jr. said he did not follow up on the controversial meeting, but now we are learning someone did. rob goldstone, the publicist that arranged the meeting sent a follow up to trump's inner circle. in one e-mail dated june 14, 2016, five days after the trump tower meeting, he forwarded a cnn story on russia's hacking to the client, russian pop star. trump's son-in-law, jared kushner and paul manafort describing the news in the e-mail as'rely weird. they said dnc hacking was not brought up at the meeting, which brings us to a central question, once again. what exactly was discussed at that trump tower meeting. trump jr. said after being promised

this time it's arizona republican congressman trent frank. and it comes hours after al franken was forced to resign. doug luzader has more on the rapid developments. >> reporter: arizona congressman trent frank is resigning and what may set his case apart from the others is the sheer speed at which it happened. he's been in congress for almost 15 years. a career that came to a crashing end when he announced he was resigning next year. he's been accused of discussing pregnancy and surrogate issues. it's not clear what factors came into play. house speaker paul ryan wasted little time asking him to step down. >> i will be resigning as a member of the united states senate. >> the minnesota senator al franken announced he was leaving after eight women came forward complaining of inappropriate behavior. and he denied many of the allegations and took a shot at the president in the process. >> there's some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the oval office. >> the house

arizona republican congressman trent franks says he is leaving his job. he discussed surrogate motherhood with female staffers. >>> hours before the deadline congress narrowly avoiding a government shutdown for now. the house and senate voted in favor of a temporary fix that keeps federal agencies up and running until december it 22nd >>> bart says it's trying to go green by reducingist carbon footprint. the board of directors just renewed two purchase agreements. bart says its system will be 90% powered by renewable energy by 2021. >>> slow ride take it easy. 27 minutes commute across the san mateo bridge how the of hayward into foster city. your ride along the eastshore freeway in the red 33 minutes out of hercules it over the maze. and your ride into san francisco an additional 32 minutes. >>> the view of ocean beach in advance of sunrise there's the vaca camera. temperatures ahead of sunrise cooler. 30s and 40s in the area. "spare the air" day through sunday. >> thank you for watching. have a good weekend. >>> good morning to our viewers in the west.

trent franks resigns his seat a little earlier than he had planned. >> live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, we want to welcome viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell. >> i'm natalie allen. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. >>> ordinarily a president endorsing a senate candidate from his own party is expected. but donald trump is no ordinary president, and roy moore no ordinary senate hopeful. on friday president trump endorsed moore, and that's despite the candidate facing sexual misconduct accusations from several women. >> the endorsement is one that many in the republican party have refused to make and have, in fact, called for moore to quit the race. caitlyn collins was at the rally where mr. trump announced that he was all in for roy moore, and she has this report. >> reporter: although the white house has said repeatedly that president trump would not come to alabama and campaign for roy moore ahead of that senate election on tuesday that is highly contested, he did the next best thing when he came to a campaign-style rally in pensacola, florid

the latest one trent franks. the congress member who after allegations that he offered a former aide $5 million for s surrogates. >>> and look at the flames in california. burning out of control. this could get worse today. we'll tell you why. alright, i brought in high protein to help get us moving. ...and help you feel more strength and energy in just two weeks! i'll take that. -yeeeeeah! ensure high protein. with 16 grams of protein and 4 grams of sugar. ensure. always be you. from our family to yours... may all your wishes come true this holiday season. of dry eye.of us suffer from the gritty and frustrating symptoms we need theratears®. theratears® is more than just eye drops. it's eye therapy. dry eye symptoms are caused by a salt imbalance. theratears® unique electrolyte formula, quickly restores the natural balance. so your eyes will thank you. more than eye drops, dry eye therapy. theratears®. that goes beyond assuming beingredients are safe...ood to knowing they are. going beyond expectations... bec

also, arizona g-o-p congressman trent franks announced, he'll step aside. he faced an ethics investigation. he says he never tried to have sexual contact with any member of his staff. congrssman franks with two previous female subordinates about surrogate pregnancy made them feel uncomfortable. still ahead - a community coming together overnight. the new details after a student opens fire at a new mexico high school. a mother lashing out in court - her message to the man accused of murdering her son. eileen live tease as you head out the door - here's a look at your on the go.. traffic watch 7 go travel times. what if we could keep more amof what we earn?d. trillions of dollars going back to taxpayers. who could possibly be against that? well, the national debt is $20 trillion. as we keep adding to it, guess who pays the bill? him. and her. and her. congress, we should grow the economy. not the debt. ♪ $1that's like a big yummy hug.? so hug it up! hug more. hug large. hug medium? hug that. live it a hug life with $1.99 medium or larger hot chocolate. amer

. >> reporter: arizona republican congressman trent franks moved up the timetable on his resignation. making it effective tonight. his wife was admited to the hospital last night with an on-going ailment. yesterday franks disclosed he would resign next month. at the same time a former franks aide tells the associated press today the congressman pressured her to carry his child offering her $5 million to act as a surrogate. more details are coming out tonight on all of this. pope francis wants to change one of the lines in the lord's prayer. it includes a plea to god to lead us not into temptation. the pope said that suggests god leads people to sin. a better transalation is do not let us fall into temptation which the catholic church in france adopted. >> ♪ >> bret: in whatever happened to? the controversy over planned parenthood's use of tissue from aborted fetuses. there is an investigation. >> what sort of confrontation? >> it was a series of 2015 undercover videos purporting to show planned parenthood workers selling fetal parts for profit. that outraged the pro-life movement. >

he today congressman trent franks announced that he was stepping down. your reaction to this breaking news? >> well, i mean, it's sad and it's troubling. look, you know, i know trent. he's a very nice guy. he's always been great to me. i'm not privy to all of the details that have come out. obviously his statement speaks for itself. speaker ryan's statement speaks for itself and he's resigning. it is troubling and sad and something i would never have thought would have come up, but he's taken -- he's stepping down. >> generally it's not an issue that comes up. congressman scott taylor, republican of virginia. thank you so much. always good to talk to you, sir. >> always a pleasure. >> lots to talk about, including the oiptics of president trump holding a rally just over the alabama/florida state line. is anyone convince he's not campaigning for roy moore? our panel is walking out. stay with us. you can whip up a dessert.ball. just use pam baking spray. (sfx: spraying) made with real flour. plus, the superior non-stick you love. (sfx: mixing) check you ou

trent franks is a member of the freedom caucus from arizona. one of the more conservative members of the conference. been here since 2002. at some points he's contemplated running for the senate. thought about it in 2012. again, we'll see what the details of this turn out to be, but potentially another member of congress stepping down. >> by the way, i think a lot of folks were expecting after given what happened yesterday with senate democrats and al franken, there would be increased calls among house republicans for blake farenthold to resign. have there been among republicans and where's the speaker on this today? >> reporter: so, chuck, so far where i know the speaker to be and i've been going back and forth with his office or farenthold over the course of the last week they feel the office of ethics recommended the ethics committee not do anything with this sexual harassment case and the suggestion that he should turn the taxpayer money, as he has pledged to do, should essentially make this case closed. now, the speaker himself, i tried to

arizona's trent franks has been in congress for almost 15 years. a career that came to a crashing end when he announced he was resigning. he's been accused of discussing pregnancy and surrogacy issues with his staff. he became insensitive as to how the discussion of such an intensely personal topic might affect others. house speaker paul ryan wasted little time asking franks to step down. >> i will be resigning as a member of the united states senate. >> reporter: minnesota senator al franken announced he was leaving after eight women came forward. he denied many of the allegations and took a shot at the president. >> there's some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the oval office. >> reporter: the house ethics committee is wrapping up its investigation into texas republican congressman blake -- an $84,000 payout. he says he's confident it will be resolved. and next week we find out whether roy moore will be joining the senate. if he wins the special election, gop sena

. >>> we're learning a lot more about what forced arizona congressman trent franks to resign amid a house ethics committee probe. he made two female staffers feel uncomfortable after discussing his interest in finding a surrogate mother. he and his wife used a surrogate for the birth of their twints. his resignation is the third one announced this week. we'll learn more about when senator al franken says he's stepping down. >>> roy moore, he's going to hold a campaign-style rally a short drive from alabama. the president will be in pensacola today, about 28 miles from the border. moore has been accused of having inappropriate sexual relations with several women, including some under the age of 18. moore is facing off against doug jones in this tight race and coming up >>> we are two months away from the start of the winter olympics in south korea. there are big concerns about the athletes' safety. in an interview, u.n. ambassador nikki haley suggested that u.s. participation was still up in the air. >>> there's an open question. it's always about how do we protect the u.s. citizens in the

trent franks announced last night he was stepping down after democratic senator, al franken caved to pressure from his party and he plans to leave congress within weeks. franken took a shot at president trump and roy moore. >> and then the sexual misconduct scandals rock congress. pensacola, about as close as you can humanly get to the state of alabama where there's a key senate race happening right now and the president has given his full support to roy moore, despite the fact that roy moore has been accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl. that election now, just four days away. >>> joining us now, our cnn political analysts. great to see both of you. jonathan mar jonathan martin, let's start with al franken. it surprised many, he didn't admit guilt and he thought some of his apologies, his efforts to reach out and be compassionate gave the false impression that he agreed that he had done something wrong and he was sort of setting the record straight there. >> yeah, whathe's clearly unhape is being forced out. this is not something he decided to do two days ago, he was forced to qu

congressman trent franks the latest to announce he is leaving his post. former fox news anchor gretchen carlson was on capitol hill this week supporting legislation to help victims. she, of course, became an activist after she sued fox news and roger ailes for sexual harassment. john and i asked her what needs to change. >> so franken may be gone, conyers resigned from the house of representatives, yet on the republican side, the republican party just backed roy moore officially in the alabama senate race. the president still backs him and, of course, the president has his own accusers, it does beg the question is there a partisan divide here, gretchen, on how people are being treated and these cases are being treated. >> i think it's pretty obvious the answer to that is yes. what i've said since my story broke 17 months ago sexual harassment is apolitical and that it's compilely disingenuous to believe some groups of women and not believe others. that's what we're seeing play out right now. i believe america is in this political divide, unfortunately, an