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Us to where we are today and the end of franken s somewhat difficult career in the senate. let s not forget when he came here in 2009 was the recount decision that was made. he was the 60th senator, and democrats went on to pass the affordable care act, president obama s landmark achievement. because they had that 60th vote in the senate, he won by 312 votes. he spent the first years of his career with his head down, not being funny in public, not talking to reporters. that had started to change in the last year or so with his new book. but now, of course, he is swept up into what really is, as tom sa said, a very dramatic sea change which is being felt here in the marble halls of the capitol as intensely as it is everywhere else in america. it should not go without noting that he played a very ....
Involved in. it is an opportunity for the country to kind of come together at a time when more than any other time in my lifetime people are saying, are we going to be okay? it s up to us, quite honestly. andrea. thank you for that. and all of our women colleagues make everything worthwhile. thank you very much, tom brokaw. senator franken, as you know, has just announced he will resign at the end of this year. more on this breaking news straight ahead. stay with us. for your heart. ....
These allegations while the president of the united states stands with very serious allegations against him of a similar nature, as does a republican candidate for a senate seat in alabama who may very well win. so you see this angst and this incredible depression of senator franken having to take this step at the behest of his colleagues, but also trying to push this very important conversation we re having forward even as he hangs it up and leaves the floor for the last time. at least the last time speak. he will be staying until the end of the year, as he said. garrett, i want to play that moment in an emotional, very carefully crafted speech by senator franken. he was a writer and an entertainer before he was a politician, having first been elected by a recount that took eight months. the margin was 312 votes that ended up being decided by the state supreme court. but this is what he said in ....
Over 30 of his colleagues were asking him to resign, led by the new york senator, the women in a coordinated effort yesterday morning. garrett? reporter: that s right. he s a professional communicator, andrea. he spent his life in front of a camera, and al franken couldn t hide how devastating this moment was for him, to have to give up this seat. as you said, from the face of so much pressure from his own colleagues. when he opened his speech, the first thing he said was when this conversation we re having nationally now about sexual harrassment and about how men behave began, he was excited to be part of it, and then horrified when the conversation became about him. so this was, in one sense, a deeply personal speech, a goodbye, an apology to his own staff and to the people in minnesota who believed in him, but it was also very much a political speech. he said, in the middle of it, it s not without irony that he is stepping down in the face of ....
Clearly they were not. i was struck by this one because there was quite a rush, if you will, by having the senator resign so they didn t have the burden of trying to defend him going forward. but at the same time there were people who were making accusations against him who did not come forward and identify themselves, and we don t even know what their objections were. it does not mean that al franken wasn t guilty of abusing his place, especially with the first woman who came forward with whom he was on a ufo tour. and there was that very damning picture that we saw. but i do think that the senate and the institutions of governance and those of us in this business as well have to agree to a kind of caudification of what is objectionable and how people should be held responsible for it. when you stop and think about it, as he raised with the senator moore case, the senator candidate moore case in alabama, ....