c-span.org. you have a front row seat to every minute of both conventions on c-span. all beginning on monday july 18. now i look at someone who might be on the vice presidential shortlist. franken.l we recently sat down with a minnesota democrat to talk about his life and career in both politics and comedy. it looked back then at new jersey governor chris christie keynote address at the 2012 republican convention. we begin with insight about these and other essential running mates from reporters covering the 2016 rates for politico. -- race for politico. politicos us from removing -- newsroom. as a look at running mates, let's begin with urgent senator tim kaine.

he will be campaigning with her this week in northern virginia. where does that put his potential candidacy as a running mate? >> he is definitely one of the finalists for hillary clinton just as he was eight years ago for senator barack obama. had cane on the shortlist. he from a swing state. a former governor. a current senator. former head of the democratic party. he takes an awful lot of boxes or hillary clinton. this is one of several public auditions he has been doing. she campaigned with senator warren. a chance to see what her report with them is on the trail and also a chance to have fresh energy behind the scene. >> downside to the candidacy? >> his record. not problems but he's not the most solidly liberal kennedy. -- candidate. the progressive base, not a big fan of helicopter. voters excited about sanders and worn are not the people who will

go pick up posters and get excited for tim kaine. >> another variable, the role that bill clinton would play in a potential legal and in presidency. is that a factor that you think the former first lady is taking into account? >> she is chiefly looking at a few factors. thus you think this person could serve as president? if you cannot serve as president -- the second factor would be if this person helps or hurts her against donald trump. everything else follows those two things. due to help her? -- do they help her? tim kaine has checked both of those boxes and some people think he is the front runner at this point. >> bill clinton selected al gore. you had to seven politicians neighboring states. two southern politicians

from neighboring states. >> when you think of surprise candidates, typically from candidates who are not ahead in the polls. in 2008n mccain did with sarah palin. that is not all the case with hillary clinton. she has a shortlist. it has been narrowed. born, she campaigned with. ren, she campaigned with and have energy. but they don't agree with everything. she is among the finalists. another finalist is sherrod brown, senator from ohio. the worries that the governor of ohio, his seat could go to republicans. the republican governor would pick sherrod brown's replacement.

of potentially losing a senate seat, let alone in a key state like ohio makes him a tough pick. >> that also a factor for booker?cory the governor of new jersey's republican chris christie. >> that is also effective for elizabeth warren. democrats are looking for ways around this rules. time resignation in such a way that potentially massachusetts could pick a republican -- replacement with a special election. similar issues in new jersey. the refractors for her are are the people able to help her on the ticket and could they serve as president. there are other candidates. tom koufax, undeserving member of president obama's candidate -- cabinet. there are others as well.

labor secretary under obama, tom perez.she's been a great deal of time huddled with some of her closest aides here in washington dc talking with them going through this list and try to narrow it down. she is widely excited to announce her pick right after the republican convention. she has a great adventure. trump will pick first. >> earlier this month we sat down with senator alberta. his name has been mentioned. so has his colleague, minnesota senator. what are their chances? >> a little slimmer. one thing people talk about how franken, his path as a person who could go on stage and mocked and make fun of donald trump and has been some success really clinton and her surrogates of making fun of him. and getting under his skin. cumbrous bonds when they do

this. -- trump responds when they do this. there's is probably no better on hillary clinton's potential long list, and i don't think al franken is on the shortlist, for anyone on the long list to make fun of donald trump. >> when do you think she will make it public? >> the most likely time is the morning after the republican convention. the republicans will wrap up on june 21 -- july 21 and then she 21 and then she will make that announcement friday morning to purcell some democratic energy >> and then give herself some energy going into the democratic convention. >> thinking. and we sat down with senator african. as -- al franken. did you ever imagine starting out and comedy, writing a book, talk radio and then the u.s.

senate? >> that was the plan all along. no. it happened in an odd way. it made sense for me. it was convincing people in minnesota. i had done a lot of political and satire with other people. always come up a young age, been very interested in policy and my parents had us watch the news while we ate dinner. it was particularly important. when they would put fire hoses on black them as traitors, my tv intod point to the

just lessons. a very bigustice was lesson at the beginning. my dad had been a republican. my dad was born in 1908. he voted for nixon. he voted for johnson and 64. >> you spend most of your childhood in minnesota. >> moved to minnesota when i was four. bed while he moved to albert lea, minnesota. a little time. i spent two years. dieddad's dad when he was acting. my other grandpa had a factory.

old, myas four years lea was aand albert small community and family moved after the fact, moved to the twin cities. the suburbs. when i figured out when i was older that it was odd, but it was odd that we went to albert lee. to openndfather wanted and they in the midwest railroad went through albert lee. it did the factory fail fail? -- fail? it went through properly but did not stop.

-- albert lee but did not stop. want to minneapolis. we, -- >> what were your parents like? was, she wanted to be an actress. dad.she met my talented.ry funny and little high strung. and when she decided to get married, she gave up her act. us to be, to do

well in school. she encouraged me to be funny. she was my audience were a wild. -- for a while. when i went to school, i would make mom laugh. dad, very sweet, smart guy. he did not graduate high school but he would have made a great doctor. nurturing and healing guide. -- guy. everybody loved him. school read like in high -- what were you like in high school? >> i was doing comedy. i was good at science and math. were smalland i kids.

and 57, when the soviets sent up sputnik, everyone was freaked out. not only did they have nuclear weapons, but they were ahead of us in space. to ournts marched us in living room and sat us down and said you guys are going to his -- study math and science so we can beat the soviets. i thought that was a lot of rusher to put on the six-year-old -- and pressure to put on a six-year-old. we were good at math and science and we were obedient sons. my other went to m.i.t.. -- brother went to m.i.t.. schoolent to a very good and graduated as a comedian. harvard?nt to

why? >> for some reason, he got my brother was the first in the family to go to college, we let my brother dictate all the education decisions. he went to m.i.t.. we are all nerds. alan?called you >> i was alan until i was al. i can't remember what happened. >> you met your wife in college? daughter was six years old, she got a first grade assignment from her teacher which was right how your parents bed. wrote how your parents met. my daughter asked me. , a freshmanmixer mixer which was a dance.

and i saw your mom across the room and she was with some other girls and she was clearly getting ready to leave. and i like the way she was taking charge so i went and asked her to dance. we danced. i bought her ginger ale and i escorted her back to hurt dormant after for a date. my daughter wrote it up as my dance,ed my mom to offered her a drink and took her home. this was made into a book at the school. a collection of the kids stories. they called us and said do you want us? it was like the first thing she would had written. my wife said to take it.

share,uld to [indiscernible] >> fascinated by, from commencement speakers. know, money and success aren't important. these are all commencement speakers who are very rich and important. [laughter] the book is a complete satire of that.

reader, unless they deliberately trying to misunderstand, which the minnesota republican party had a clearly, theree is one where i think of all the mistakes you will make, it is all under the dr. seuss mantra. housekeeper to deliver the commencement. i've been asked to deliver the commencement address at harvard. i got up there and it turns out i wasn't. it was for hartford community college. i'm disappointed. wasced down to hartford and giggling condescending --

scathingly condescending. the minnesota republican party produced that as if i had actually given that. but i told him that i thought i was speaking a harvard but i was disappointed. disappointed when i knew i was the nextto air-conditioner repairman. in the senate i have been the biggest chip in for community colleges. we have a skills gap and they are a great place to develop skills for very sophisticated and advanced stuff we're doing including manufacturing and i.t. and nursing and health care. >> a more serious subject, you wrote that the bush administration successfully implemented a change with regard to iraq to destroy american

credibility around the world and goodwill. a decade later, i'm still paying the price? -- are we still paying the price? >> yes. and the way we conducted. , so much waste, fraud and abuse. contracted that allowed the country to fall apart. showed that we did not wee any intention of once conquered the place of protecting people. peoples the message to in iraq that we did not care about them. we disbanded the iraqi , all these sunni, many of whom are nicest have said --

isis, have said get out of here. you're fired. we did so many stupid things so we are still paying for it and pay the price. i think we are much more respected now after 7.5 years of when bush we were left. but we are still paying the price. when you hear donald trump sang make america great again, what is your reaction? >> my reaction is that we are a great country. we are an indispensable country. one of the things about been goator is that you get to back and forth between your you getd washington and to see all the great stuff in your state and you can't do that without understanding that your

state is great. and america is great. we are the leading country in the world in so many different ways. in some ways not. and i think we can do a lot better in terms of making sure that kids have world-class education, early childhood talkative these are, -- childcare. we have some and families with a single parents and in other countries it is easier to be a parent, let alone ethical parent because -- a single parent because there is quality day care for kids. to have ait easier middle-class life in other countries. we do some things from it is a well the united states. i want to commencement and

in minnesota that was stunning. 3-4 hours. for what a great commencement. of -- around turkey producers. it produces or turkey than any other county in minnesota. this town with the graduating , from a rough estimate, 250 tips. i would say about 60% white, 5% latino, 15% somalia. these kids love each other. the reason i was there was to introduce the class speaker. this be good they chose.

mind whenn a page of she was a junior in high school. to principal recommended her got interviewed with my office. about a current we spoke -- the valedictorian was a latina. they love each other. when i introduced her she got an unbelievable applause and after kids,d for speech, these when the things, to have a great course andnd a great every year -- chorus and every year they play a song and it was the most stirring moment. every moment was amazing. it was great.

great as the be as people we represent. >> you talk about people pages. outside of family, who influenced you the most? >> hmmm. outside my family. teachers taught me how to think and think critically. i think that political figures, , influenced by bob andrzej -- and ray. we were extremely influenced by them. i don't know how many of your viewers will know them. classified briefing yesterday and this will be a

very odd connection, we had a classified briefing and i can tell you, it was with the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint truce -- chiefs and cia and state department people. question thata had been raised and the knockdown by all four of them thoroughly. in slightlyed again context and they knocked it down again. thoroughly and i just raised my hand and asked major bob way, and they looked at me like i was the stupidest person. my colleagues knew i was joking. i was just repeating this thing they had knocked down a couple

times and spent a lot of time knocking down. influencing. benefits make sense. -- i don't know if this makes sense. obviously people i worked with. writer.ey, a another person has been an influence on me. a lot of people i work with professionally. paul was an enormous influence on the approach i take here in the senate. he was a minnesota senator, a friend of mine.

he had a couple sings. -- sayings. we can all do better. i grew up in a two bedroom, one bathroom house. i considered myself the luckiest kid in the world. at the like i could do anything. i think paul is right. figureetter when we better. politics is not about how her winning, it is about improving people's lives. mondale. >> that was the day i was sworn in. a picture from looking up at him, he's looking down at me and basically saying, can i do this?

that's what i got out of the picture. those words were not spoken. .hat's my caption >> look back at the 2008 at what you were done by 250 votes. a recount and you win by over 300 votes. you?was that like for >> it was not fun. we had, it was an odd election night. we picked up so many senate seats and took up the white house and elected the first african-american president that remember watching him at grant park with hundred 50,000 people cheer. i knew this would happen but actually seen it happen was amazing.

happier?nt, limoneira -- why am i not happier? oh yeah, i'm tired. -- tied. now. to this recount went to court and that took forever. like six months. the supremeally court ruled. years, would eight you think has been your single biggest a congressman so far -- accomplishment so far? >> it is hard to say. aca that wasn the important.