dialogue, if you will, and i m not quite sure how we launch into it. well, i think the first steps already are being taken on the heel in that there are legislations to avoid some of the agreements thavt have been made, the confidentiality agreements, and the process where the victims were victimized in congress where they had to go through a waiting period and couldn t complain. that is all going to be a thing of the past. if it doesn t take three years for the senate ethics committee to slowly plod its way toward a conclusion, that would also be a very good thing. the senate and house ethics committee. kasie, before we leave the conversation, i want to give you a chance to sum up what you re feeling and seeing and learning around you up there. reporter: well, andrea, i think, you know, you did a very nice job of capturing, i think, the push and pull for the democratic women who, as you pointed out, were the judge and jury here for senator franken.
time to know what happens there. it does, at least potentially, create another opportunity for republicans to pick up a senate seat next year. ruth? democrats already have a kind of daunting landscape ahead of them in the senate. need a lot of money if they re going to make that landscape a little more favorable to them. look at senator franken s first race, and you mentioned, andrea, how it took eight months to get that race resolved. this is a purple state, and keeping that seat in democratic hands even in a midterm election that might go against republicans generally is in no way a lock. lou ann tweeden, who is abc radio in l.a. has been on a radio show saying she never called for his resignation, that she accepted his apology, she didn t want him to resign. he apologized a bunch of times. she accepted that. he made an honest mistake. people are human, people make mistakes. i thought, if i came forward at
with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. and good day. i am andrea mitchell in washington. minnesota senator al franken just yielding the floor and yielding to overwhelming pressure from his fellow democrats after announcing he is resigning from the senate effective the end of this year, three weeks from now. joining me now is msnbc s gator haake on capitol hill, tom brokaw, jeremy peters, political reporter of the new york times and michael steele, former senior adviser to jeb bush, and house speaker and editor of the national post. first, garrett, to you. an emotional speech he came to reluctanting, admittedly after hours and hours with his wife frannie overnight having been told by chuck schumer there was no way out.
emotional day for him. and as i know you have been doing reporting on this as well, as i have been talking to people speaking with franken, this was a very difficult decision for him to come to with his family. he walked into the capitol today hand in hand with his wife frannie. they ve been together quite a long time through all of franken s ups and downs as a comedian. many of those he had to apologize for or try to re-explain when he did try to enter public life as a senator. i think there had been a sense in the last year that he had successfully made the transition from comic who had said and made inappropriate jokes in the past to a politician, and for many years here on the hill, he would not engage with national reporters, he didn t crack jokes in public, and that had started to change. he put out a new book, he had started to be funny in public again, and then a couple of weeks ago, this came out and clearly has ended his career
lieutenant governor, is going to be appointed governor by the governor mike dayton who is a democrat. what you re seeing now, of course, is the crowd of photographers around al franken, smiling with his wife frannie, and surrounded by aides and also, of course, a crush of reporters as he leaves. and he will be involved and will be able to vote and he ll be back on the floor because he will be voting. but jeremy, once she s appointed, we understand, maybe as a caretaker and there will be a special election in 2018. that s exactly right. now, let s not forget, donald trump only lost minnesota by a few thousand votes. it was very close. so is this going to be a toss-up race? i think it s too early to say democrats clearly have an advantage, especially in a year, 2018. but it s too unpredictable of a