speaker, congress blake farenthold said he won't run for re-election next year. do you think he should step down now? >> i had a couple of conversations with blake farenthold yesterday, i think he is making the right decision to retire. these -- this are now stories very disconcerting. unacceptable behavior is a alleged and think he's made the right decision that he's leaving congress and that is reflected on the conversations we had. >> just to follow up on mr. farenthold, after he had settled his lawsuit, he brought in a continue -- this is reported an outside and helped find him that outside investigator. i'm wondering do you know how much taxpayer money -- >> this is the first i've even heard that. >> do you think thaticide be made public? >> he's under ethics investigation right now. so i would refer you to susan brooks about the nature of that investigation. and what the ethics committee typically does is they don't report where they are but he's under an ethics investigation right now as he should be. >> members of congress have slept in their offices. you

brought up blake farenthold most republicans have donald the question about republican congressman blakettled a sexual harassment claim against him for $84,000. she's on the record on camera talking about this. congresswoman mia love took a stand last night, listen to what she said. >> i think that he should voluntarily resign. i believe we hold -- we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard. where he may not feel his behavior was inappropriate somebody did, obviously, people felt uncomfortable. >> she took a stand. many others, most others have not. why not when it comes to blake farenthold? >> i have to say that it's a mystery to me why speaker ryan hasn't put pressure on blake farenthold to step down. the primary in that race is rapidly approaching. it's on monday and blake farenthold is essentially still in congress holds that seat because paul ryan has allowed him to do so. i think the mood on capitol hill is essentially members of both parties bracing themselves for more of these accusations coming and more resignations but the democratic party and speaker pelosi and leader chuc

they were going to be hearing more about this and, yes, another one has come out, congressman blake farenthold has said that the harassment claims brought against him by a former communications director are false, nevertheless he said he year. now, accusations from former staffers include sexually graphic jokes and comments. farenthold is suspected of using taxpayer funds to settle a 2014 harassment lawsuit. he's accused of berating aides and creating a hostile work environment. >> i allowed the personal stress of the job to manifest itself in angry out outbursts. >> i think he's made the right decision that he's going to be leaving congress. >> reporter: the house ethics committee will begin investigating claims against farenthold. misconduct accusations the senator's resignation has not yet been set. also this week you may recall three women who went public during the campaign with accusations of sexual misconduct on the part of donald trump, one more time and there is now a growing group of congress women who would like there to be a house oversight investigation. live on capitol hill, i'm

blake farenthold of texas, a settlement after allegations she made. should he step down? >> again, i think the standard has been set already. mr. conyers exited. and i think the same should apply to farenthold. >> let me ask you about the russian investigation. you came through with a bit of news saying a whistle-blower has come forward saying during the inauguration speech of president trump michael flynn, the incoming national security adviser, sent a text to a former business colleague saying the russian sanctions would be ripped up immediately. my question to you, aside from whatever legalities, is there anything necessarily illegal about an incoming policy adviser saying that a policy will change? is there anything necessarily illegal about that? >> well, i think the better question is did he -- was he in violation of any rules and regulations? one is very clear. there is a rule that says if you come into the government and you consult with a firm you can't be doing business for a year with that firm. clearly he was working with the firm, the ones trying to rip the sa

i want to quickly about blake farenthold, the decision to finish his term, is that going to damage the win? >> of course. my question is paul ryan, where are you speaker of the house? this guy just admitted he was too incompetent to run his congressional office and he behaved like some kind of out of control frat boy. so that means he's qualified to remain a member of congress? that's insane. and so i think that blake farenthold should absolutely step down just like others did because his behavior was completely unacceptable as well. and even in blake, his congressional office, you actually had a male staffer come out and corroborate some of the stories of the female staffers and tell stories of his own he was the recipient of sexually inappropriate comments coming from the congressman which is different case in a lot of these other instances where you have a male colleague admitting it was inappropriate. >> stick around. i think the me too movement is great, but i also think that men need to -- i think we should start a we too movement. because it shouldn't be about just women saying

now we know there will be an ethics investigation of this man, republican texas congressman blake farenthold. it was recently reported that $80,000 of taxpayer money was paid out to settle a sexual harassment claim from one of his staffers. it's been interesting this week, on the republican side while democrats have been twisting themselves into knots over those members of congress, there are almost no calls for blake farenthold's resignation or any consequences for him, despite the non-disputed revolutions that there was a taxpayer-funded settlement for allegations in his office and announced they will start an investigation into blake farenthold over that matter. speaker of the house paul ryan referred to the committee an allegation concerning arizona conservative republican congressman trent franks. now, trent franks has been in congress for, i think, 14 years. he's one of the more visible members. he's an anti abortion activist, more broadly social conservative. big supporter of president trump. upon hearing that his case had been referred to the ethics committee by the speaker, congress

so i think that blake farenthold should absolutely step down just like others did, because his behaviorly unacceptable as well. and even -- in his congressional office, you actually had a male staffer come out and corroborate some of the stories of the female staffers and tell stories of his own, he was the recipient of sexually inappropriate comments coming from the congressman, which is a different case than a lot of these other instances where you have a male colleague admitting this guy was inappropriate. >> stick around, i want to talk about that, i think the #metoo movement is great, but as we say, men should start a #wetoo movement. it shouldn't just be about women saying this happened to me. it should be a we too moment, sometimes we're like cave men, we don't get it. we're going to talk about that, next. and what the me too movement, has it -- some people are worried it's going to go too far, right, i'm trying to say this sensitively, people won't hire women, these incidents are not going to be believed. we're going to have that conversation when we come back. i am totally blin

and he needs to go now. >> blake farenthold who tried to split the baby in the sense. you don't think he'll be able to make it through the year? >> oh, forget about it. all this garbage about how the pressures of the job really, i cry for you. you wanted this job. what kind of pressures is he talking about. i served in office for 40 years. if he's going to crack up over pressure, he should leave tomorrow, you know? he's got to go. >> what situation in your assessment having served in the united states senate for 20 years watching them, the end of the year's bearing down on him and doug jones and they haven't produced legislation, it's all rushing towards this conclusion, what do you think of where the republicans are at right now? >> they are just in a lose-lose like they were in alabama. if they lose this tax bill, which i pray god for the american people and middle class and poor people and sick people that hope they lose this, they lose. if it passes, it's such a terrible bill. they lose. and their biggest problem is they decided not to work with democrats. how dumb

would blake farenthold be an exception? >> in a business where someone had a serious misdeed and there was a -- there was credible evidence. right now there is an ethics investigation going on, on blake farenthold, you know, i've never been shy about providing leadership and i would provide leadership in those cases. i publicly asked roy moore to step aside, and, know, i won't be shy to ask our folks where their allegations that are serious that come forward to step aside. so -- >> blake farenthold -- we shouldn't assume he has guaranteed nccc support yet until this ethics investigation is done? >> until the facts come out. that's correct. >> let me ask you about open primaries. are -- you have a lot of interest groups that want to mess around in primaries. is the nrcc going to try to pick candidates in primaries? are you always going to stay out, or do you have a hard and fast rule? >> the ncrr has a policy of staying out of open seat primaries. there are a lot of people around town that get involved in open seed primaries

blake farenthold not stepping down immediately, and why wouldn't he feel pressured by his coworkers top down? i guess the allegations piling up don't hold for him? >> reporter: it's pretty clear that farenthold himself has really doubled down, and, i think, refused to go along with some of the public demands and potentially private ones. the speaker is saying publicly that he believes this is the right decision, that he's going to retire is the correct move here. that is not necessarily in line with what we've seen in some other cases where there has been questions about misconduct. the speaker obviously called on john conyers to step down immediately. conyers was also somebody who had settled with women who had made complaints against him. now those settlements were made using a different pile of money, although it was still taxpayer money. but it does seem in this case there may be differences in how these are being handled. farenthold insists he did nothing wrong and that these complaints are false, and his office is not the way that is alleged by the staffer lauren green which is t

blake farenthold says he won't run for reelection after allegations of sexual harassment.e the cemetery. the efforts to preserve an historical burial site in our area. >>> and headaches on the highway. people are upset over those sky high tolls on i-66. find out the outrageous amount it hit this week. fox5 news morning starts right now. >> ♪ >> this is fox5 news morning. >> good morning to you. thank you for >> it is friday december 15th. >> we're talking about our weather, talking about our roads and the weather really going to be an issue today. mike thomas what's the headline. >> yeah, snow is possible later on this afternoon and unfortunately could time out with your afternoon to evening commute. we're especially concerned with drivers in maryland today. we'll talk about timing and when the winter weather advisory goes into effect in just a minute. hey erin from right now volume increasing on our majors. we have a water main break in northwest as well. newton street near 22nd and you know with those cold temperatures we could be dealing with slick conditions. the lates

blake farenthold will not seek re-election and a disclosure that 84,000 was used to settle a case against him. his term ends in january, 2019. paul ryan talked about that decision and other topics during his weekly briefing at the capitol. speaker officer taxpayers will see more money in their paychecks. the i.r.s. is taking steps to prepare new withholding tails for 2018 based upon this legislation. this tax cut will mean less of a paycheck going to washington and more to the hard working person who earned it. this is real relief. his is what this accomplishes. this is to rebill our military and this bill helps do that. the house passed a fully funded extension to protect the nine million children. that bill is h.r. 3922, the championing healthy kids act. unfortunately, an overwhelming majority of house democrats voted against that extension of chip funding. care for children in need should go beyond party lines. i hope both parties will come to together to extend the chip funding now. questions. reporter: congressman blake fearntholet said he will not run for re-election, do you think h

house republican blake farenthold of texas says that he will remain in office. however, he says he will not stand for re-election. house speaker paul ryan said today that's the right move. >> look, i had a couple conversations with blake farenthold yesterday. i think he's making the right decision to retire. these are new stories that are very disconcerting, unacceptable behavior has been alleged in those stories and i think he's made the right decision that he's going to be leaving congress. >> msnbc's garrett haake is on capitol hill with this story. walk us through how we got here, sir, and what, if anything, is the congressman from texas saying about it now? >> sure, craig, for farenthold, this started in 2015 with a complaint against him about sexual harassment that went through the ethics process. farenthold settled it for more than $80,000. at the time it mostly went away. he spoke about this in a facebook video today, take a listen. >> you know, there's no special prosecutor on capitol hill, but the closest thing to a special prosecutor is the office of

>> i had a couple conversations with blake farenthold, he's making the right decision to retire.stories very disconcerting, unacceptable behavior alleged in the stories and made the right decision he will be leaving congress. that reflects on the conversations we had. rachel? >> just to follow-up on mr. farenthold. after he settled his lawsuit he brought in after there were continued complaints, this has been reported, an outside investigator to see if there was sexual harassment going on in the office. the office of compliance actually recommended and helped find him that outside investigator. i'm wondering do you know how much taxpayer money was used for that? >> this is the first i've heard that. i don't -- >> do you think it thshould be made public? >> i haven't heard of this before. he was under an ethics investigation right now. i would refer you to susan brooks about the nature. what they do is they don't report on where they are but he is under an ethics committee investigation as he should be. >> thank you. for a long time, gone on for decades, members of congress have s

let's listen into paul ryan now talking about his conversations with representative blake farenthold. [ inaudible question ] >> yeah, i don't -- this is the first i've even heard that, so i don't -- i've never even heard this before. he is under ethics committee investigation right now. and so i would refer you to susan brooks about the nature of that ethics committee investigation. what the ethics committee typically does is they don't report where they are, but he is under an ethics committee investigation right now as he should be. chad? [ inaudible question ] more of a convenience thing, but yeah. >> in this climate of sexual harassment, should members of congress be allowed to sleep in their offices considering this climate is this a time -- >> i don't -- i -- yeah, i don't see the point. we sleep in our offices because we work until about midnight and we get up early in the morning. it actually is a convenience factor. we don't see our staffs. i never see my staff when i return back to my office. it's simply a factor of convenience. and that to me makes sense to me. i live in wi

republican blake farenthold called it a reckoning, and it's hard to argue. it raises the question, a reckoning for whom. in his resignation speech today, senator al franken called attention to what he seems to see as a double standard. >> i'm leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the oval office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the senate with the full support of his party. >> he's talking obviously about president trump and candidate moore. senator franken spoke today after at least 32 democratic senators called for his departure and whatever you think of the senator's contrition or lack of it or any of the facts of the complaints against him, he raises a point we'll be talking about tonight, which carry as fair share of weight, giving the upcoming alabama election. are republicans turning a blind eye to their potential senate colleague and the president of the united states? today, white house press secretary sarah sanders said the voters have already decided about the presid

he still has the blake farenthold problem and it's going to continue to be a problem until blake farenthold leaves under his own steam. i'm sure that's what ryan wants. ryan demonstrated i'm in the game too. see you democrats have a congressman. he says she knew about his allegations. he raised money and backed my reelection. >> it is my fault you are still here so i get to stay. >> shannon: creep caucus, do they have an official twitter account? >> shannon: we will get t-shirts made. >> shannon: i want to know who is in it. minnesota governor mark dayton says he will make an announcement about frank interest placement within a few days. what if he doesn't resign? this person's name is going to be out there. who is in the running, more on that in a few minutes. the divide in washington, not the one we witness every day, new developments tonight concerning allegations of anti-trump influence inside the fbi and the justice department. james rosen drives us tonight with an exclusive investigation. >> good evening. until wednesday morning when fox news started making inquiries about him, bruce

republican blake farenthold called reckoning, hard to argue. but reckoning for whom? in resignation speech which critics say didn't admit wrongdoing, called attention to what he seems to call a double standard. >> i'm leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the oval office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the senate with the full support of his party. >> talking obviously about president trump and candidate moore. senator franken spoke after at least 32 democratic senators called for his departure. whatever you think of his contrition or lack of it and complaints against him, raises a point that carries a fair share of weight. are republicans turning a blind eye to their potential senate colleague and president of the united states? white house press secretary said the voters have decided about the president. although polling is low. >> seen senators call for franken's and connier's resignation, does risk losing. endorsing roy moore? backed by rnc as well. >> i've addressed this in depth.

al franken, blake farenthold accused here. the scuttlebutt incise side washington is we could be hearing more complaints against other sitting members of congress. what do you make of this trend? and specifically, franken, was that the democrats trying to regain sort of the moral authority in this conversation? >> certainly the democrats are trying to make sure there's a big distinction between themselves and the republicans on this issue. they fought the last two or three elections using the slogan war on women. thee want to make sure they're in the right position on this issue. but it was very interesting to watch senatorial franken's speech speech, which it was not contrite. it was fairly defiant and he seemed -- his attitude seems to have changed over the course of the past week. and i'm just wondering whether he's waiting out to see what happens in the election in alabama and to see if it roy moore is elected by voters there and takes the republican seat, because then, the focus will be on him and on the gop and the ethic

as i said, where we see blake farenthold standing firm in his case. so, you know, there may still be more coming out on all this. where i would look for the next steps is i would like to see how women in the republican party change their view, and if they're willing to change their view. i say that because as one of my "boston globe" colleagues points out, it was white women who made one of the deciding factors in donald trump being elected president despite the "access hollywood" tape. in fact white women in alabama are strongly, a strong majority, for roy moore. so we may see here that it is actually women who may make a difference in bringing men who are accused, sexual predators, against whom there are many, many allegations, not just one, and very credible ones, you know, are they going to change their mind? because why should the party leaders be holding people accountable if the voters from their party are not holding those same men accountable? >> important point to end on. strong stuff. terrible topic tonight. gang, thank you so much to jonat

another house member who is being looked at by the house ethics committee is blake farenthold dating back to 2014. they were able to settle as she received $84,000 from a fund set up with taxpayer money. so far there has not been a call for him to resign, but the question is whether that is about to change. as you alluded to what this week as shown, there is less and less appetite and tolerance for this behavior on capitol hill. >> no question. who knew you had to add what do you do when your boss asks you to carry his children to the happened book on capitol hill. joining me now from minneapolis is the senior senator from min. amy was on the senate floor yesterday as her colleague and friend al franken announced his resignation. thank you very much for joining me. you did not call for senator franken to resign, but you did speak to him privately. tell me about the conversation. >> i did and i talked to him about the fact that you had reached the situation with the mounting allegations and the fact that there was an ethics investigation going on. new allegations had surfaced and that

blake farenthold and ruben quien. do you think they should resign?i want to say about farenthold. he was exonerated 6-0. his plaintiff had no case. by the outside ethics counsel. >> why did he settle? >> let me switch gears to hastings. >> this it is relevant. >> jack, let's talk about the other two. >> diane, i'm going to. in the case of hastings, it was settled without his knowledge. in the case of blake farenthold, he has offered to repay the money. he is not allowed to do that. i don't know if he knew or did not know if the case was settled. ha hastings accuser is republican. the fact it was settled without hastings knowing about it. >> somebody's political party shouldn't matter. that is for both sides. >> that is right. maria, i want to hear what you have to say. >> jack, jack, i think it is my turn to talk. everything jack has said, he is grabbing at straws. he understands the republican party is in a bad place on this. >> paul ryan did not call john conyers an icon. >> if roy moore wins -- if roy moore wins, the republicans will have to welco

liz: "politico" reporting republican texas congressman blake farenthold used $84,000 of your money toa sexual harrassment claim brought by his former communications director lauren green. here is the accusation. lauren green claims she was told farenthold had sexual fantasies, this is graphic, i hate to say it, wet dreams about her. that is in the complaint. as the house ethics committee demanding the office of compliance promptly hand over all records, all of the records about sexual harassment claims against members of congress, the house, rather, the house, and their staff as well as any taxpayer payouts. back with me, patrice lee onuwuka and eric ship per. what do you make of this breaking story? >> here is my feeling about this. if you do conduct outside the bounds of your position you need to be personally liable. the taxpayers should not foot the bill for the fact that you are conducting a treasure chest of blunders or you're horribly incompetent in the ability to control yourself and be disciplined this is pathetic. it is what angers taxpayers. it is what inflames so many peop

reporter: congressman blake farenthold is not seeking re-election. a second person came out said the congressman repeatedly harassed her while she was a lobbyist. does that change your . rspective at all ms. pelosi: in terms of farenthold we are talking about news reports of abuse and harassment in his office. these accounts from former staffers are shocking and unacceptable and must be shocking and congressman farenthold should resign. reporter: democrats are united as health care. what is different this time around, why do you think the party failed to bring down the tax bill? ms. pelosi: we stand united and still continue that fight. we don't have the votes to take it down and some of the republicans see the light. and people are speaking out especially since they added the repeal of the mandate -- affordable care act, individual mandate. that has energized the base further. but this is who they are and what they came to do. tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the middle class, at the expense of health and well-being of the american people and

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blake farenthold of tks.owie: an actress peddles false news about roy moore to the "washington post" and gets busted. howie: matt lauer is the face of nbc news and has been a franchise player for two decades. >> this is the last great battle and one side or the other is going down here. >> the great story for anybody willing to write by the or explain the is the vast right-wing conspiracy. how very they looked stunned as they reported the news that nbc fired their colleague for sexual misconduct. >> how do you reconcile your love for someone with the revelation they have behaved badly. >> we are all trying to process it. you know. deal with it. along with you folks as well. howie: some past "today show" skits looking creepy in retrospect. >> drink it in, ladies. >> again, matt, really? >> get it while it lasts. howie: "variety" reported that matt lauer gave a woman a sex toy and scolded herd when she did not respond. >> our sources say several employees at the "today show" knew. howie: joining us now from new

ethics committee announcing they launched an investigation into another republican congressman blake farenthold. >> i was told if i pursued this that my clear on capitol hill would be over. i just felt it was extremely important that i stand up for myself. >> reporter: green sued farenthold in 2014. it was revealed that farenthold used $84,000 in taxpayer money to settle the lawsuits. >> we're using tax payer dollars to settle these cases? >> reporter: farenthold said he didn't do anything wrong and he plans to pay back the money. senator al franken announcing his resignation in a defiant and unapologetic speech on the senate floor. >> some of the allegations against me are simply not true. others i remember very differently. >> reporter: denying allegations that he made inappropriate sexual advances to at least six women for criticizing what he sees as a double standard. >> i of all people am aware there is some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the many oval office and the man who has repeatedly preyed on young

. >> congressional leaders have ordered an investigation into blake farenthold whose case has capturedfter it was revealed he settled a lawsuit with a former aide for sex harassment and taxpayers foot the bill for it and other harassment settlements. prince george's county democrat anthony brown was chosen to lead the investigation. brown will serve as democratic head of an ethics committee subpanel that will handle the farenthold case. the congressman tells he'll have three colleagues join him in the investigation and will use staff attorneys from the u.s. house ethics committee. we have learned they met today to discuss the probe which remains confidential until a report is released at its conclusion. >> it is important that we investigate them, we do it thoroughly, and we do it with an eye towards making sure that congress, whether it's a member's office, whether it's a committee office, whether it's the halls of congress, are free of sexual harassment and that it's a safe workplace where we value everyone's contributions. >> the man under investigation, texas congressman blake fare

blake farenthold announcing will pay back money he used to settle a case. >> i didn't do anything wrong but don't want the taxpayers on the hook for this. >> we have people with extraordinary power who tend to not believe that normal rules apply to them. >> ask about another topic on the hill. few days from potential government shutdown. where do things stand on that? >> reporter: government funding runs out friday night at midnight and both sides are staying in corners into absolute last minute. waiting until thursday to try to cut a deal with donald trump. with hot button issues like immigration in the mix, set stage for major standoff, heightened tensions and possibility of a government shutdown. >> kasie hunt at capitol, thank you. >>> just one week auto until alabama special election. reversing itself and restoring funding for roy moore, which it pulled after accused of sexual misconduct with teen girls. opponent doug jones got contribution from moore critic who tweeted out picture of check with message country over party. jones launched most blistering attack yesterday saying moor

one standard for all lawmakers to ensure whether john conyers or blake farenthold we call for step down. and taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill for settling these charges. >> about the point, farenthold, settlements public money was used and so far only one gop lawmaker has called for resignation. this is the issue in high relief. >> and people talk about #metoo as revolution. it's totally one-sided revolution limited to democrats and liberal leaning industries. not because they have more sexual harassment but people in those industries are capable of being shamed. constituencies there believe that sexual harassment is a big problem. there is hypocrisy, a nominal commitment to gender equality that can be used to get people to live up to purported ideals. republican party. they don't believe in women's equality and wouldn't say. >> some do. >> some say they do. >> you have to respect women. >> do you think there's a connection in terms of this being politically channelled. saw the partisan sides lock into place today in high relief fashion. does that carry forward as something ess

call on fellow democrat senator al franken to resign condemning president trump, roy moore and blake farenthold moment of reckoning and the silence from republicans is deafening. it is long past time for joining democrats in holding members of their own party accountable. welcome to you both. howard, i want to look at this new article out in the hill and it cites some democrats being critical. could she be doubling down in reaction to that with these tweets or on do you think she just woke up and said i'm going to pull a donald trump and just start tweeting? >> i've actually had some extensive conversations about this with a lot of people because obviously i'm a very big fan of bill clinton. but i think she did the right thing and she had no choice. kirsten gillibrand made her mark by taking on the chairman of her own committee, carl levin, who as a new senator over the issue of sexual abuse in the military. she was the one who could not be silent about this, she said what she had to say, she did the right thing to be consistent with herself. >> okay. and i agree, she has been very consistent o

> vernally abusive, sexually demeaning, just some of how a former senior aide to congressman blake farentholdibes what it was like to work for him. he says he was bullied so badly, he had to treat medical treatment and psychological counseling. he says it was so severe, he vomited every day. >> we cannot repeat some of the comments acontributed to fahrenthold, but another former colleague, elizabeth peace, confirms ricola's account. fahrenthold denies making demeaning comments but admits using vulg yart in jest. there are allegations made by a former aide who received a $84,000 settlement from a public fund, taxpayer money. the congressman has denied wrongdoing. >>> a state representative from kentucky accused of molesting a teenage girl found dead in what the coroner calls a probable suicide. the body of 57-year-old dan johnson found near a bridge with a single gunshot wound to his head. in a since-deleted facebook post, johnson denied molesting a female member of his church when she was 17, writing "i cannot handle it any longer, but heaven is my home." >>> state leaders from both parties h

. ♪ >>> house sfeeker paul ryan said today that blake farenthold is making the right decision not toowing allegations of sexual misconduct and creating a toxic work environment. told cnn that the texas lawmaker verbally abused staffers and used sexually demeaning language in the office. farenthold is already under a separate ethics committee investigation. how did he come to this decision? was it circumstances or his hand forced here? >> first of all the new allegations are quite disturbing. this is a former staffer to the congressman who said that he was subjected to verbal abuse and sexually demeaning comments. just two quick examples that were probably most egregious. he says as he was leaving for the aids wedding, he made a joke about receiving oral sex from his then fiancee. the second example is that the aid said, the congressman regularly referred to aids as a profanity that we're using shorthand, as f tard. now this is a comment that a lot of one other aid actually said that the congressman repeatedly made and, you know, as a part of this in doing our reporting, we reach out

there have been new allegations against blake farenthold. do you think of the members who have not yet resigned should resign? you have been up there a long time, what have you noticed? is this a big problem on capitol hill? >> well, it's a problem. each case has to be decided on its own. but i think they're really has to be a new day here. i think it's coming. areink the people who responsibly speaking out are doing a credit to themselves in this institution. it's not only this institution, it's lots of others. there is a new day coming, we should all hope. host: what do you mean by a new day? guest: i mean i think everyone needs to look at what our practices have been, as well as our policies. everyone has to understand that if we really believe in equality , that means harassment has to stop. because in many respects it is the opposite of equality. that is true in certain's -- in terms of sexual harassment and and other forms. but when it comes to sexual harassment, it's a new day. to -- >> can speak you speak to the other congressman? gu

the ethics committee announced it will re-open its 2015 investigation into texas congressman blake farentholdn light of new information. the previous investigation ended when farenthold used $84,000 in taxpayer money to reach a settlement. also thursday senator al franken announced his resignation. at least 8 women have accused franken of unwanted groping or kissing. >> some of the allegations against me are simply not true. others i remember very differently. >> reporter: republican senator john thune told "cbs this morning," he hopes this is the beginning of change. >> what happened yesterday is unfortunate in the senate but i think on capitol hill the discussion that we're having right now is long overdue. >> yes! >> and i think what it points out is that action is needed. >> reporter: he added alabama republican roy moore is likely to face an ethics investigation of his own if he wins next week's senate race. weijia jang, cbs news, capitol hill. >> six women have accused moore of pursuing them romantically when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. the youngest accuser was 14. >>> so

on the house side, as well, you have congressman blake farenthold who is dealing with some allegationsown of past sexual misconduct against a former employee, and not all republicans are calling for his resignation at this time. democrats really hoping with this episode with senator al franken to strike a very solid, stark contrast with the republican party, use this as a political moment . >> jeff, this is a -- i think you said it. this is a big moment for the party as they want to claim the moral high ground here. i wonder how much decision was gone into about the words and not just saying i'm resigning, but the words and what the tone is of what al franken is about to say. if he said i'm resigning because you are making me, that's not a message that the democrats will want to carry forward. >> i would be surprised if he did that. >> here we go. >> a couple months ago, i felt that we had entered an important moment in the history of this country. we were finally beginning to listen to women about the ways in which men's actions affected them. the moment was long overdue. i was excite

republican congressman blake farenthold is facing a house ethics investigation overall -- over allegationsching an agreement with taxpayer dollars. and he said he's paying the money back. he is relieved the ethics committee is looking into it. and he said once the facts are released i'm confident this matter will once and for all be settled and resolved. barbara comstock and others have called on farenthold to resign. >> and we welcome back our panel. let's start with you on this, if we can, adrian, is there a double standard here for the republicans and the democrats? >> well, i don't know there is a double standard. ly say if there is any sort of text book way if you will in terms of how to handle graciously being called out for sexual harassment, it is the wayal franken handled it. he stepped down because he was a distraction and he would continue to be a distraction. but look, i mean ultimately, here is the bottom line, if you've ever sexually harassed or sexually assaulted someone, don't run for congress and expect the news is coming out and your time is coming. so we expect more out

we, of course, subsequently learned that this case was related to congressman blake farenthold of texasformer aide. now just to be emphatic about this, this is taxpayer dollars gone towards the settlements. this is a fund that was set up through the ooc for the specific case of settling these kinds of cases. just a couple of important caveats on just how much we don't know still. we don't know when these settlements were made. we don't know who these settlements involved. whether it was a lawmaker or a staffer. and this information only pertains to the house. so we don't have comparable information coming out of the senate yet. also these are not just representative of the totality of the kinds of sexual harassment cases that can be and have been brought up on capitol hill because not everyone necessarily reports these complaints through the ooc and not all of them are necessarily settled. it's possible that a staffer, for example, will lodge a complaint through the ooc, perhaps against a member, and then they decide to pull their case or not go through with their case through the ooc.

and one other lawmaker is coming under scrutiny congressman blake farenthold a republican of texas. the house ethnics committee is looking into allegations he sexually harassed a former staffer and potentially retaliated against her for complaining. diane and kenneth, this is something that two of his colleagues are already called on him to resign for. >> we'll keep following this one. >>> newly released e-mails in the russia investigation are raising questions about donald trump jr.'s recent testimony, specifically about a meeting in trump tower with a russian lawyer during the campaign. he previously denied there was any follow-up to that meeting but abc news has learned e-mails from the publicist who set it up suggest there was some sort of follow-up. sources say trump junior told a house committee he did not recall the e-mails which were not directly sent to him. >>> congressman and civil rights icon john lewis canceled his appearance at the civil rights museum because president trump is attending. in a letter he and fellow congressmen wrote president trump's attendance and his

. >>> congressman blake farenthold announced he won't face re-election in light of new accusations.publican denied wrongdoing in the case of a former aide who claimed that she was sexually harassed, but he apologized for the way he's acted in his congressional office. >> i allowed the personal stress of the job to manifest itself in angry outbursts and too often a failure to treat people with respect that they deserved. that was wrong. >> farenthold's decision comes as they reopened the investigation into the former aide's allegation. >>> new york's "newsday" says a long island woman is accused of laundering money to support isis. the pakistani/u.s. born citizen frauded the banks. she wired money overseas to help isis. authorities also say she tried to leave the u.s. and travel to syria to join isis. >>> california's orange county "register" reports procter & gamble and kellogg have dropped their support. larry nassar plead guilty. more than 140 gymnasts and young athletes included u.s. olympians have accused nassar of sexual assault. gymnastic officials are accused of creating a cu

stepped up investigation of congressman blake farenthold.s alleges but settled case. last night congressman hastings didn't know about 220-dollar payout in taxpayer money to settle sexual harassment lawsuit against him. will carl broke the story, a federal employee accused hastings of making sexual advances and threatening job. reactions to all the cases have been swift. >> there's no place for sexual harassment in our society especially in congress, period. >> this is not about politics, i just -- this is the last thing it's about. in fact, this isn't about politics, this is about america and that's about our country as well. >> it's also bipartisan. the accused come from both sides of the aisle, eric. eric: all right, caroline, thanks so much. arthel. arthel: eric, an appeals court decides the fate of a man convicted to murder after controversial confession, what the judges rule, that's coming up. fallout from sexual misconduct on capitol hill continues this week. democratic senator al franken announced he'll be resigning. >> i think he di

ethics committee -- describing with blake farenthold, could you have the same distribution of john conjures? >> reporter: i think that's right. the cases are pretty analogous. the money settled from his office. in this case, office of compliance, which i had never heard of until all of this started and i think a lot of women on capitol hill hasn't heard of it either, clearly a lot of reforms focused on that process. i do expect the speaker, as you rightly point out, will come under more pressure about this. >> absolutely. kasie hunt, breaking news. another day, another member of congress. thank you very much. >>> bring in tonight's panel. democratic pollster and "washington post" columnist and the "atlantic" representative is with us. often i'm afraid of looking at my news alerts sometimes pup don't know who in hollywood or who in politics. only the sports world has been left out this -- for now. jennifer rubin? >> listen, those women senators did the democrat party and a country a huge service. because the democrats do have a different stance right now. they can rid their houses of congres

who might elect rome or to the house senate next week, they are going to turn to him, point blake farentholdand say, you guys, it's your turn. >> martha: essentially, al franken is being sacrificed for the war on women sequel, number two, the better edition. we all remember the democratic convention and we think back to those times, it is amazing what has happened since then. if they want to launch site and they want to point fingers at roy moore and farenthold and say, why didn't you guys clean house? that's a powerful argument. >> it is a very powerful argument. if roy moore wins this election insurance up, the brit hume term is, they turned him into a hood ornament. they will turn him into the face of the republican party, they will say, that is what these guys are like. it's donald trump and its roy moore enters this kind of treatment for women and it is this, #metoo, da, da just to look at how helpful it is for democrats to finally be done with the clintons, getting away with and finishing up with the clintons has been such -- is going to be -- >> martha: cathartic, yet. >> they have be

this time republican representative blake farenthold of texas and that new report out from politico raisinghe future of house speaker paul ryan. he says he is definitely sticking around. >> thank you very much, everybody. appreciate it. >> a head shake from paul ryan. his office says it's pure speculation that he is going anywhere. but our next guest may not be so sure. he's the author of that politico piece. tim alberta. on capitol hill, nbc's garrett haake. garrett, i want to start with you on this marco rubio tax vote situation because it seems to me the question is not why would marco rubio now come out publicly and say he wants more funding for this child tax credit because why wouldn't he try to maximize some leverage at this moment. the question is will he really, next week if the vote comes to the floor, have the political guts to vote no? >> well, hallie, if past is prologue, the answer is probably no. marco rubio and mike lee put up an amendment to do exactly this. raise the corporate tax rate a little above 20% and use the money to add to the child tax credit. they put up an amen

and representative blake farenthold is under investigation for using taxpayer money to settle a lawsuit from a former aide. >> plus, the real identity of the buyer behind leonardo's iconic salvatore mundi. the record $450 million price. >> and the first black woman to command the corps of cadets at west point. simone askew as part of our new series. >> we begin today with a look at eye opener, your world in 90 seconds. >> surrounding this whole area. >> panicked, people are scared. >> rage right now with the wind gusts. >> new wildfires explode across southern california. >> this has been a long week and we're not done yet. >> a major snowstorm is making its way from the south up to new england. >> the hardest i've seen it snow here in texas. >> outrage across much of the middle east over president trump's recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital. >> two students and a gunman dead after a shooting at a high school in northwestern new mexico. no one else was hurt. >> republican congressman trent franks stepping down as a house ethics committee launches a probe into possible sexual ha