[cheering and applause] >> the discussion about the women's movement and remarks by california congresswoman, maxine waters. tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> next, a discussion about the center of his reaction to the campaign of alabama republican senate nominee, roy moore. washington journal this is about 30 minutes. >> we want to welcome to" our table, bridget bowman, politics reporter and she talks about sexual harassment in congress. begin with senator al franken accused yesterday off acting according to this woman he initially said he did not remember that way and he then later had a link to your statement apologizing it to this woman and those that work with him and those from the tour et cetera. what happens now? >> guest: senator franken indicated that he is willing to work the ethics committee on an investigation. then a majority leader mitchee mcconnell senate majority chuck

schumer both calling for an accident under an ethics investigation that makes this investigation extremely likely. how it would probably work as a committee would conduct an investigation into the allegations and hold a hearing and then come out with a recommendation for senator whether the expulsion or something else. as these investigations can take a while talking with the former chief counsel for the senate ethics committee earlier this week about roy moore he said sometimes investigations can take months to years and it's more of a public case it could take weeks to months so it's not sure what the timeline would be here but it could take a while one and they do investigate things that happen when they were not in the senate. >> yes, that leaves the senate open for investigation way more to the senate so the man i talked to rob walker, former chief counsel, said they bless this question opent in the past and he referred to it in

2008 a decision regarding former senator [inaudible] is the ethics committee said theysa wee not going to continue looking into allegations that he solicited prostitutes but it did say that it could not even though these allegations took place before he became aon senar so they have the option to investigate the charges one image and write more. would and was talking about an ethics investigation into him if he were to be elected by alabama on december 12th 2 mitch mcconnell indicated an event that that would be m the ethics committee would move forward and there were some questions as to whether it would vote immediately to expel him if he came to the senate but as a former chief counsel mentionedch that could open them up to legal challenge so they go through the normal process that could lead to expulsion of and lead to stave off any legal challenge there is one what else are republicans in washington

thinking about doing about roy moore mitch mcconnell has been very clear that he does not think he should be on the ticket and that he should step down to what can they do about it. >> guest: there's not much they can do at this point with for not stepping down and with the alabama party thing yesterday that they were standing behind roy moore and they did have the option of disqualifying him as their nominee so votes for him would not count and they decided they are not going to do that but let the album and the voters decide. we doal know that he is associad with the national party and were scrambling after "the washington post" story published last week trying to find a way from coming to the senate whether that be moving the date of the special election, having senator strange resign early but without the cooperation of k iv or in the past and that makes that difficult one what about luther strange was been floated that he

would step down earlier which would trigger special elections? >> guest: that was what they were looking into that senator strange intends to serve out his term and k iv threw cold water on that option. she told that even if you were to do that that the election still take place december 12 what is the political, potential political fallout from republicans in washington trying to control what happens in alabama? >> guest: this has allowed roy moore to take a very similar position during the republican primary where he is making mitch mcconnell's number one enemy and saying in press conferences and calling on mcconnell to s step down and accusing them of trying to steal the election from the alabamians and it's interesting to see the same playbook coming out again and it was effective during the primaries so we'll see how effective it is again in the general. >> what are republicans on

capital saying about mr. trump not publicly speaking to himself, through spokesperson, they give statements but he himself out and put her not for cameras, not for roy moore exhibitionscu. >> guest: it is interesting. i'm sure it's acknowledge that the president wouldti help themf he would be more forceful in his remarks so, i mean, it's an interesting dynamic here where the president is very popular in alabama doesn't want to alienate his base will also support more so that certainly would help them. we know mcconnell has spoken with him about this but right now it looks like the president has taken the position that the alabama voters will decide that decision will be made on december 12. barbara, in texas, republican, good morning to you slippery good morning. three it is ifmo everyone is condemning this roy moore before

he's even been tried or anything. they are coming up accusations for 40 years ago. forty years ago. i mean, it's like were condemning him before he's even been proven that he's done anything. it's another play on the democratic playbook just like they tried before. they're trying to get another seat so they can get their democrat in there. that's all it is. >> barbara, what about -- >> they never even tried. >> what about the republicans that believe women have come forward and ones of them saying she was 14 years old? >> they are afraid to say this is still america and you are still innocent into proven guilty. it's not the other way around. they are afraid to say what is right. what is rightwh is were still innocent until proven guilty and the president trump is doing the right thing by keeping his shot

out of all of this until the facts come out and you know for sure what is going on. there is a lot of tricky things going on these days saw this uranium one, secret underhanded stuff and all the stuff that hillary was planning during the elections and democrats can go deep andan go low. >> bridget, do you -- to her point this has not been proven so are there any investigations right now looking into the allegations by these women. >> certainly, a lot of reporters are looking to it locally as well. there was another outlet that came out with the number of women who made accusations and on congress i don't think they're looking into it anywhere on capitol hill. interesting to her point that was something i heard from a bunch of alabama republicans questioning the timing of this and why has of these allegations, before the we doubt on them.

>> today think it comes from democrats or republicans. >> the moore campaign hasco started to say both. seems like the part of the strategy to bring mcconnell into it so they're saying the established republicans are teaming up the democrats to try to push this forward. >> hattie in houston, texas. democrat. >> yes, ma'am. this is hattie. i heard the other lady and it seems like she is discriminating against the from the republicans. republicans get away with everything butca the democrats always want to say is not so and [inaudible] trump can speak about what he did is wrong and he was always with women and everything and you heard us talking about women but when he

speaks out with this man but if had it been a democrat he was spoken out. this man is the -- he needs to the beach for that too. these women that we talk about and these poor kids crying. these kids can't even speak out. when i was a child i was beaten by my stepdad and i was scared to speak out. it was a long time before he tells me the wrong way and i could say it. >> hattie mentions the president has spoken about al franken but we haven't heard talk about raymore. >> that is right. that's been an interesting contrast from getting too much reaction from capitol hill about that specific trait he made about senator franken but that is certainly an interesting dynamic in contrast. >> ron and linda tennessee, republican.

>> yes, i'd like to make a comment about the sexual harassment. a couple of colors ago with the lady and she hit the nail on the head. wake up, america. you are innocent until proven guilty. all this lane going on against mr. moore, bring proof, and then do something about it. to make accusations and tear up and down is wrong. totally wrong. why didn't mr. trump, our president, say something about mr. moore? bringbr proof and i'm sure, if they bring the proof, mr. trump will be against them. >> ron, is there proof in the african case? >> ma'am, from what i've seen on your show, yes.

there is a problem. >> okay. what is the proof in that case versus the roy moore accusation? >> if i'm not mistaken, they have a picture of him standing over this lady with his hands. okay. well, that doesn't look good and that's a reason to start investigating and find out whether or not he's guilty or not. >> and so -- >> but until they have an investigation all this tearing his character down and accusing him, bring the proof and let's get it into court and fix it. >> so should president trump said anything on it or about senator franken? >> if he saw what i seen i think he is right to say something. >> is there enough to startre an investigation into roy moore?

>> just on hearsay? i haven't seen anything that proves that he did yet. just someone getting on there and saying yes he did this to me. prove it. >> what about the number of women claiming it. >> how do we know that this ain't financed by someone bad. >> bridget, when we talk about the distrust port washington and for the parties and politics and that color is not alone in thinking that this is politics. >> that's a really interesting point. it certainly seems as if all of these cases and accusations don't do much to help congress approval rating d either. it certainly in alabama you see a backlash to national looking into ways to try to keep more under the off the ballot or coming to the senate and they

see it as you are in dc and don't mess with us in alabama so you do see this broader distrust that you mention. >> rachel in texas, independent. >> yes, they are trying to make it into a democrat republican thing and we really need to know if he did this or not and a lot of people said they wouldn't move next door to have they had daughters and grew up in a small town and there was a man that lived right next to us and he exposed himself and i was only eight years old and for my age and everything they said let it gory and he wound up working asa janitor in a school and raped a young girl and half the people in town where he's from, raymore, remembers hearing about stories this man going around trying to pick up young girls in town in a mall and these people come forward and they voted for

him and they didn't know this is a they voted for and these were stories told years ago and now they're saying it couldn't be it's only because of the election and they are just trying to keep from getting elected and these things were told years ago and people need to open up their eyes. there are women out there that are scared to death that some child predator will kidnap the kid and god knows they will do to them and then you have these people that are willing to vote for something so far against and i just don't understand it. >> okay, rachel. bridget, the dynamic here of that color talking about if this was true and if these allegations are true against would come toe the senatee and represent the state of alabama and what are you hearing about the standard

for senators or members of congress representing and holding up a political office. >> certainly republicans in the senate say that more should not the senate and should not be representing the republican party and they say he does not belong there andel that he does not meet thatme standard of serving in the senate so couple senators do acknowledge there's not much they canan do at this point to keep him off the ballot keep coming here if you selected. they can't not see him there is a provision in the n only way ty could not see him immediately as if he didn't meet the constitutional requirements after being seated which means the minimum age for being a senator he was duly elected and it looks like he will have to be seated if he is elected. >> and in tennessee can. >> i would like to say that the postke in washington found out

about raymore and ms. spears has told us there are president members of the house of representatives or congress who have been taken advantage of women. i wonder if will find out about them and expose the democrats and the report can have charges that accusations made against them and then i wonder if anyone is looking at mr. jones who is running against mr. moore and everyone should be suspect. noty just one. >> will take your point. she is referring to congressman jack is purely is just fine at a hearing on sexual assault on capitol hill and he talked about there are two current -- she didn't mention names but there's a democrat and she said to have she's heard stories of them

pressing women. >> that's the unique thing about capitol hill is that there haven't been a lot of names yet in contrast to the scandals in hollywood et cetera and so i there is more to come and we have reporters looking into this issue on capitol hill and most major media outlets to sweat only seems like a matter of time and there will be more to come out about this. >> more stories about claims that have been made and the role calls to the website this morning you have this headline congress compliant walks settlement payout the highest in tens, years. this office handles the complaints they said that uss thanyers paid out more 900,000 and the most recent fiscal year and the settled claims on the highest ten years. what do you know about the last year in these claims. >> office of compliance in that organization reference there also oversees other much later periods not just congress so important to keep in mind they are also looking at government

come to the office government publishing office and they also deal with workplace disputes, harassment disputes and all of that and they do issue i believe ave biannual report and recommendation r so they have requested i believe an additional staff member to look into sexual harassment claims but members of congress are also trying to change the process of how this works to make it easier for people who are accusing or alleging sexual harassment to be able to go to the system. >> and what is the process now? >> is a bit convoluted. techies here in the house and ministration hearing has a flowchart of it and it was pretty extensive and she was arguing that it benefits the member of congress or the staff member who is being accused that there wasn't a lot of transparency or there wasn't a goodut route for someone who had been harassed and they are trying different bills areff now trying to change it so we'll have to watch and see how it and

up. >> our viewers if you miss that hearing and you're interested in what congressman spears had to say go to c-span .org to find out. democrat in michigan. >> good morning. listen, the things that is so irritating about this whole thing is the democrat versus republican thing when it happens it happens and it is bad. it doesn't matterpo what party they are on. the only thing that is even a possibility of the difference is a serial person who does it and one who's made a mistake like they say about franken but i will say one thing if franken was a republican and more was a democrat i would still think the same about both of them. i didn't like franken was he was a canadian writer and that is nothing to do with it but i

think it needs to look at the job at hand and it needs the general character of the person who has done it and it should be an independent study by congress like they will do the investigation in the only thing about what i really dislike and find discussing is when someone hides behind christianity. he says he is a question so therefore he could not have done this and that is such a bunch of bull and it needs to be the person and what is happened and go from there. cut this republican democrat stuff outem of it. >> sherry andn indianola, iowa, and. >> i wanted to say that i am so freaking tired of them and the people saying bring proof. when someone has been i would say when they have been violated they carry that with them for years and years and there is no counseling and no nothing to

show you how to let it go as some of these men have said. these men have not been through this think that it's no big deal to us. it is. i believe that these women who aree claiming this and have carried it for 40 years and the reason they have not said anything is because they are intimidated. they have been taught that men have the upper hand and this goes back for years and years and as i said on 64 years old and i have been violated and it has never gone away -- >> sherry, i didn't mean to cut you off but i'm wondering about capitol hill. congressman spears speaking out and what is leadership doing on both sides about sexual harassment on capitol hill.

>> sure, speakers paul ryan has made training mandatory for all members. that will be mandatory and was not mandatory prior to this and it will be interesting in terms of the broader environment of people called it aa staff survy back in july of four and ten women, staffer surveyed thought harassment was a problem on capitol hill. one in six women thought they personally experience some version of sexual harassment soe the pervasive. we will have to see how it changes and now that lawmakers are paying attention. >> rhode island, gary, independent. >> good morning. just have one question that hasn't been up to date on everything going on to pray more but i'm wondering has he denied being told to stay away from the mall? >> he has. picking up paid is touting a former mall employee who says morer is not banned from the mal

but again knowing washington post by the number of people and number of formal workers saying he was so he has denied all wrongdoing in any of these allegations and continues to do so. there are sears employees according to "the washington post" and other say that they warned young women to stay away others say he was banned from the mall. >> yes, diane, hartford, connecticut, public and. >> good morning. thank you. i have a question with regard to the timing. i first have to say i am not a fan of mr. moore or mr. bennett. i think they are very polarizing with purple party andzi i'm sory that he won the primary but i don't think it will help the republicans. however, my question is sexual

allegations are very damning and they are very disturbing. i question the timing of this. as mr. m moore has said, he's bn vetted so many times are so many positions and i know that at one time people are coming out now because they find there is strength in numbers. but there were people coming out a long time before he was put on the ballot and it seems i just question thehe timing. if it came out while there were names on thehe ballot there's nothing more to be done why didn't they come out and expose him after the primaries or even after when he was running or before his name got on the ballot. i question and i'm very suspicious of the democrats. i wonder today go to the democrats and say something and

they said no, wait until his name is on the ballot that that way there's nothing that can be done. i've learned from watching your station that once the reasons are on the ballot there's nothing that can be done. >> let's talk about that. >> to that point that is something i mentioned before thata i heard from republican questioning the timing ofub thi. again, it isto too late to remoe his name from the ballot and if there was a desire to do so these allegations came out after that window had already closed. that is a good point that the timing to make sure that his name is on about the matter what even if he withdrew, his name would still be there. what is what are is talking about next or have they admitted that there's not a lot of options here smart. >> there were some who noted there's not much you can do without him stepping aside and

senator mcconnell said they're looking at a bunch of options including a write in candidate right now it is not clear. would be and there's also a concern that a ride in candidate would split the vote causing democrat to win and he be the first democrat to win in two decades. >> born in montgomery, independent. >> i have three points. you are very beautiful. my second point would be that as a guy i am disgusted in the way we treat our women as a gender. i do believe we hold women back a lot and there is a lot of harassment going on the needs. a lot of men need to stand up and take our wives, our daughters, our daughters in general better. i'm from alabama and i don't know too much about roy moore but i do believe he is guilty. you know what stanford park because of the allegations and all the women. they told him to stay with them all but it's an old fact that

the whole political system needs to go, republican, democrats, they're a liar and roy moore is a liar and jeff sessions is a liar and we need to get rid of the whole politics all of them and startst over. >> helen,ta democrat in marylan. >> good morning. i just want to say this guy from alabama that [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] >> helen, i'll leave it there. here are the polls in alabama righter now?

had of december 12 special election. you can hear from our s viewers some believe these accusations and some do not. >> the polls have been all over the place of the allegation came out last week. some show a recent poll from fox news in several parts ahead of more and if you look at the average of all of those they are essentially tied which is remarkable given how begins alabama is but it's important to remember this is a special election in the middle of december and the turn out to be very low or it can be hard to predict who will show up so right now the polls are. mary and it's maybe how the allegations are seeking out is not sure what that means for election day. >> a lot of attention focused on alabama added that. bridget, reporter with the rollcall. we appeared. >> thank you. >> c-span's washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up saturday morning, chuck of the senate on budget

priority discusses tax money. ronald truman formal enforcement attorney at the consumer forstmann. wrote about the bureau's future. in a spotlight on magazine segment people picture esquire writer christopher and his recent piece investigating the family kind of forgotten profits from opioid crisis. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal live at seven eastern saturday morning to join the discussion. >> next, a hearing on the president's authority to order the use of nuclear weapons. the senate foreign relations committee testimony on the procedures currently in place and legislation that would require congressional approval to use the. this is two hours, ten minutes. [inaudible conversations]