she was sent to the winter olympics in 2014 and said lauer began harassing her there. she showed allegedly nbc text messages and photos including one that reportedly left the network no option but to fire him. in a statement, lauer said to the people i have hurt, i am truly sorry and writing this, i realize the depth of the damage and disappointment i have left behind at home and nbc. some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. sandra, those two words were also used by al franken during his apology earlier this week. sandra: interesting similarity. rick, thank you. now to capitol hill, where even more women accusing senator al franken of sexual misconduct. an army veteran telling cnn franken grabbed her breast while they posed for a photo during a uso tour in kuwait in 2003. and a former elected official
was in shock and did not say anything to the senator in that moment. i should also note that a part of her story and a reason why she says this news has been so difficult for her to see lately about senator franken is because she was the victim of sexual assault in the military as well, just some weeks before she had that first meeting with senator franken. we did get a statement from senator franken s spokesperson late last night and this what is it says, senator franken made clear this week he takes thousands of photos and has met tens of thousands of people and has never intentionally engaged in this kind of conduct. he remains fully committed to cooperating with the ethics investigation. just for your context, john, this is the fifth woman who has come out to say that senator franken touched them inappropriately and the second one to say this conduct took place while on a uso tour. i have reached out to senator schumer s office and no response from his office yet. john? m.j., we
attorney has been alluding to of course the amount of pressure and personal toll that is taking on the congressman which of course is over 80 years old. but, like we said, the 88-year-old congressman wants to stay where he is and keep his job on capitol hill and so does senator franken, but we know this fifth women has come forward accusing the senator of inappropriate touching. this too was on the uso tour, army veteran says the senator groped her during a photo op. the attorney says he doesn t believe franken has been treated the same way. let s be clear, no allegation is alike or the same, but should there be a zero tolerance when it comes to members of congress? yes, i think senate have to decide, do you decide, if there are credible allegations, at least one in senator frank ken
accusing him of inappropriate touching. cnn s m.j. lee live on capitol hill with this story. m.j.? well, john, this woman s name is stephanie kemplin. she is a 41-year-old army veteran and she says that she first met senator franken when she was deployed overseas in kuwait in 2003 when she was there on a uso tour to visit american troops and here is how she described the inappropriate touching that took place during this photo op. she said when he put his arm around me he groped my right breast and kept his hand all the way over on my breast and i remember thinking is he going to move his hand? was it an accident? was he going to move his hand? the touching she says lasted at least five seconds and she at some point shifted her body so his hand was no longer directly on her breast and as you can see in the photo senator franken s hand appears to be on her side. she also says she felt embarrassed, felt ashamed and
democratic senator al franken facing his first interviews and on camera for the first time since apologizing for groeping radio host during a uso tour. here s what al franken is saying now. have you ever placed a hand on some woman s butt? you know, i i can t say that that hasn t happened. i take thousands and thousands of pictures. we, sometimes in crowded and y chaotic situations. i can t say i haven t done that, and i i am very sorry if these women experienced that, and i have to say that i have to be a lot more sensitive and a lot more a lot more careful in these, when i take a picture. when i meet someone, and i m going to make sure that this