>> uh-huh. >> the book is giant of the senate. >> al franken giant of the senate. >> al franken. and thank you very much for joining us tonight. is lawrence, isn't it? and you know how many tweets i got fore the show saying it's lawrence, right? it's intern night tonight. working on my feet all day gave me pain here. in my knees. so i stepped on this machine and got my number, which matched my dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic inserts. so i get immediate relief from my foot pain. my knee pain. find a machine at drscholls.com. >>> remember when you were care free, when life was fun? now everything feels like chore. especially being forced to take piuresith losers who have no interest -- it doesn't have to anymore. with lexapope. it's an antidepressant specifically formulated for people who are the pope. (burke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. even a coupe soup. [woman] so beautiful. [man] beautiful just like you. [woman] oh, why thank you. [burke] and we covered it, november sixth, two-thousand-nine. talk to farmers. we know a thin

>> uh-huh. >> the book is giant of the senate. >> al franken giant of the senate. >> al franken. you very much for joining us tonight. it is lawrence, isn't it? and you know how many tweets i got before the show saying it's lawrence, right? it's intern night tonight. we, the entertainment-loving people, want all our rooms to be tv rooms. because those are the best rooms. because they have tvs in them. and, when we're not in those rooms, we want our shows to go with us. anywhere? you got that right, kid show thing. get a directv all-included package for 4 rooms. only $25 a month, price guaranteed for 2 years. available for at&t unlimited plus customers. hey, bud. you need some help? no, i'm good. come on, moe. i have to go. (vo) we always trusted our subaru impreza would be there for him someday. ok. that's it. (vo) we just didn't think someday would come so fast. see ya later, moe. (vo) introducing the subaru impreza. the longest-lasting vehicle in its class. more than a car, it's a subaru. >>> remember when you were care free, when life was fun? now everything feels like chore.

senator franken. mr. franken: thank you, madam champlete welcome back to the committee, secretary pery. i don't envy your position. counsel to be a defense or someone charged with murder and you seem to be saying, i know he's guilty but i'm going o give him a robust defense. so. you're doing a great job. [laughter] a few days ago, former c.e.o. of lockheed martin and bill gates, released a report about the importance of federal investment in energy research and development. the group recommends vastly increased funding for arpa-e. from 3ds00 million to $1 billion per year -- $300 million to $1 billion per year. and increasing federal investment for advanced energy to 2ds.5 billion a year for energy research proposed in your budget. the president's budget is frankly anti-innovation. it does the exact opposite of what the american energy innovation council recommends. it absolutely guts private investment in research, including slashing energy research programs by $3.1 billion and cutting renewable energy a

we're going to be joined by al franken, the minnesota senator, the author of a new book, al franken, giant of the senate. the other big stories of the day. president trump pulls america out of the paris climate agreement. he says he represents pittsburgh, not paris. how bold. well, tonight, reaction from the mayor of pittsburgh. he's blasting trump for getting out of the landmark climate deal himself. and what we heard today from the president in the rose garden was dark and deeply cynical. it may have been trump's darkest speech since the inaugural. and the "hardball" roundtable will be here to dissect it all. finally let me finish tonight with trump watch. this is "hardball," where the action is. hey. hi. hi. you guys going to the company picnic this weekend? picnics are delightful. oh, wish we could. but we're stuck here catching up on claims. but we just compared historical claims to coverages. but we have those new audits. my natural language api can help us score those by noon. great. see you guys there. we would not miss it. watson, you gotta learn how to take a hint. i love t

and then the title, of course, al franken, giant of the senate by al franken. >> yeah. >> point out i'mr one new york times best-selling author and you have the perfect cover for the perfect book. and by the way, i tell the reader that the reader should judge for him or herself after reading the book whether i am, in fact, a giant of the senate. >> another nod to modesty on your part. >> that's the way i look at it, certainly. i sometimes in satire, you use irony. >> ah! i'm noting that. >> it's -- i was going to leave with you that. >> and no relation with the iron range? that's iron with a y at the end? >> exactly. >> ok. >> couldn't have said it better myself. >> senatorial franken, thank you. appreciate it very much. >> thank you. >> and that is our broadcast for friday night. good night from new york. we look for you monday night. >>> russia investigation widens. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. donald trump has vladimir putin colluding with him, at least in terms of their rhetoric. both men have denied the scandal over hacking is anything

"al franken, giant of the senate" is available now. senator al franken, everybody.s and applause ) i guess i was born with a crayon in my hand. i decided to see if there was a way for design to play a... ...positive role in what was going on in the world. there's a jacket that's reflective for visibility... ...a sleeping bag jacket, jackets that turn into tents. i usually do my fashion sketches on the computer. i love drawing on the screen. there's no lag time at all. it feels just like my markers. with fashion, you can dress people and help people. it's really cool to see your work come to life. [ male announcer ] cats will do anything for the irresistible taste of temptations treats. what are you doing? oh, here, check this out. ♪ [ meows ] temptations. cats can't resist. >> trevor: that's our show for tonight, ladies and gentlemen. now, just a moment, real quick. this is a week that had its highs and lows and today is not the funnest day in the world but earlier in the week there was a fun thing trump did and we like messing around at the show. today we'll make t

>> senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign an i did not have communications with the russians. >> i think if i'm understanding your question correctly around proficiency, i would also corelate it to competent tensee and mastery so that you, each student is measured according to the advancement that they are making in each subject area. >> well, that's growth, that's not proficiency. so in other words, the growth they're making isn't growth, the proficiency is-- an arbitrary standard. >> if they reached a level, the proficiency f they reached a like third grade level for reading, et cetera. >> i'm talking about the debate between proficiency and growth, what your thoughts are on that. governor. >> senator. >> thank you so much for coming into my office. did you enjoy meeting me? >> i hope you were as much fun on that dyes as were you on your-- dias, as were you on your couch. >> well. >> may i rephrase that, sir. >> please, please, please. oh my lord. >> rose: there

the book one more time, "al franken: giant of the senate" by al franken. thank you for joining us.ee you next time. ♪ alisa: i'm alisa parenti from washington, and you are watching "bloomberg technology." let's start with a check of your "first word news." several world leaders are reacting to president trump's decision to withdraw the u.s. from the paris climate accord. the european commissioner on climate action said "the world can continue to count on europe as a climate leader." belgium's prime minister charles michel called the decision "a brutal act." germany's foreign minister says the u.s. harms itself and the world by withdrawing. house speaker paul ryan commended president trump and called the paris accord simply a raw deal for america. the earliest of the u.s. can

the book one more time, "al franken: giant of the senate" by al franken. thank you for joining us.ee you next time. ♪ ♪ betty: president trump pulling out of the paris accord. he says the climate deal is unfair to the u.s. and penalizes american workers. yvonne: political and business figures are shocked, elon musk with two u.s. roles. china and the e.u. say they are picking up the fight. betty: gunfire at a manila casino. please do not know if it is a terror attack or a robbery. yvonne: australia calls on

we are up against how franken. who is funnier? >> some tough competition. so sorry. >> i like how franken. >> a lot of people watch a booktv. >> it will be good. >> the cheating culture -- the new beginning. >> i saw you. who knew that somebody -- >> in the hospital, had a stroke or something, watching tv -- >> he recovered. >> going in for another surgery. straight out -- it is a real deal. you are in chicago, had no idea you were in chicago. my great-grandparents met, he was a chef and they moved up from milwaukee, he died in the great flu epidemic, my great-grandmother remarried down the street -- and she died so my grandmother was really excited, different panelists but doing all this genealogy, i found a picture taken in the 30s where -- the swing -- went with him on a florida tour with him and i see this picture, it is 6 minute walk from my apartment. i walked by there all the time. every time i walk by. and -- >> i will see you on monday, university club. >> are you signing as well? >> i haven't thought of that. it might be available. i might as well

"al franken, giant of the senate" is available now. senator al franken, everybody.cheers and applause ) >> trevor: that's our show for tonight, ladies and gentlemen. now, just a moment, real quick. this is a week that had its highs and lows and today is not the funnest day in the world but earlier in the week there was a fun thing trump did and we like messing around at the show. today we'll make the zen a little special. so here it is, your moment of zen. ♪ ♪ >> teacher, if all african names have a meaning, what does my name mean? >> "covfefe." i don't know. >> but "covfefe" is such a stupid name. all the other kids laugh at me. >> one boy, alone in the world. ( chanting "covfefe" ) >> not knowing who he was. >> we will find out what your name means, when the time is right. >> and then, one day, everything changed. >> this morning, confusion over a tweet after president trump posted at 12:06 a.m., despite the constant negative press followed by the word "covfefe." >> "covfefe," "covfefe," none of us really know how to say this. >> asked about the tweet, white house

let me play what senator franken asked. here he is. >> cnn has just published a story and i'm telling you this about a new story that's just been published, so i'm not expecting you to know whether or not it's true or not but cnn just published a story alleging that the intelligence community provided documents to the president-elect last week that included information that "russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about mr. trump. these documents also allegedly fear "there was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between trump surrogates and intermediaries for the russian government. now, again, i am telling you this is just coming out. so -- you know. but if it's true, it's obviously extremely serious, and if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the trump campaign communicated with the russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? >> senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a surrogate at a

. >> why senator al franken franken prefers the serious side of politics.nd later, google, facebook, twitter, used as platforms for terrorist propaganda. >> it is somewhat of a macwhack. for democrats in congress, the summary of the trump administration's legislative agenda could read -- well, there is no policy. life in the minority leaves them without much power to yield. they have a limited toolkit, resistance, obstruction, messaging. senator al franken, democrat from minnesota, is a practice to voice of opposition. he has written a new book called "al franken: giant of the senate."it's nice to have you with us. talk to me about the coconversations that democrats e having privately. we have had a couple of people stepped forward and use the words "impeachment." is that what democrats are talking about in all seriousness? >> what we are talking about in all seriousness is we have a special prosecutor, bob mueller, who everyone has confidence in. this is serious enough that you really go to what happened. what are the facts? we are confident in the process

. ♪ ♪ >>> please welcome senator al franken to this program.tering politics he was an award writing comedy writer. you can now read about his unlikely journey into politics in his new memoir, al franken giant of the senate. i love that. he joins us live from new york. good to have you on the program. >> great to be here. thanks for loving that. >> let me start with this. you were an entertainer before you got into politics. it's not lost on me that donald trump was an entertainer of sorts before he got into politics. you have made the transition to being taken seriously. can donald trump do that? >> i don't know. you know, we took different approaches. i thought that i had to sort of prove something because i had not served in public office before and i made it a point to read as much as i could and learn about policy and he seems to have taken the opposite approach saying things like no one knew that health care was complicat complicated until i just realized it. so it's a completely different approach. won. he's president. i mean, so i guess

let me turn to senator franken. senator franken: thank you. first set of, my questions was about tribal affairs. of i have heard a great deal concern from tribal leaders about the role that james kazen at the department of interior is playing. during his time at the department of interior, during the bush administration, he earned a reputation for his obligation is -- opposition to putting lands in trust. and now i'm hurrying -- hearing of land decisions made at the previous secretary level will now be made by mr. kazen. hasve heard that mr. kazen delegated a great deal of decisions that are within the secretary's purview. what is the scope of mr. kazen at the department? does it include putting land in the trust? to date, i doe: not have my deputy. of all the senate-confirm and it -- individuals, i do not have my deputy. i have about 70 appointments, 20 or so senate confirmed come and to date, i have no senate confirms. i have magnificent candidates, but they are not in the office . mr. kazen is my acting deputy at the money. it comes from hi

i replied quote, i replied to senator franken this way, quote, senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign, and i didn't have communications with the russians and i'm unable to comment on it, close quote. that was the context in which i was asked the question, and in that context, my answer was a fair and correct response to the charge as i understood it. >> ryan, senator franken's put out a statement saying he doesn't buy the attorney general's explanation. >> just look at the language of the question. franken asked him about intermediaries for the russian government which is exactly what the russian ambassador is, and surrogates for the trump campaign which is exactly what jeff sessions is. even by his own explanation of the context of that question, i don't quite understand what attorney general sessions is getting at. the question was about exactly the kind of contacts that we now know he had. now, he may think they were just innocent contacts, his contacts with the russian ambassador were about issues t

he'd be writing the same kinds of letters that senator franken and i wrote.e want are some answers. >> do you suggest -- are you suggesting in any way that he did anything improper in these meetings with russian officials? >> i'm suggesting that he didn't tell us the truth when he was under oath and i want to know why. if it was simply a lapse of memory that's one thing. if there's something going on at these meetings that he wants to hide, that's another thing. >> we have a cascading list of trump people who are meeting with russians, including somebody who has access to all the russian spies in the united states during the campaign. more and more information comes out that russia wants to influence our campaign. now we see the president of the united states willing to restore just about everything to russia. i expect the next step is to remove sanctions against russia. what is there about russia that has such control over this administration? >> let's turn to the investigation into national security adviser michael flynn who lost his job for not being hones

i replied, quote, to senator franken this way, quote, senator franken, i'm not aware of any of thosectivities. i have been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign and i did not -- didn't have -- did not have communications with the russians and i'm unable to comment on it, close quote. that was the context in which i was asked the question and in that context my answer was a fair and correct response to the charge as i understood it. i was responding to this allegation that we had met surrogates had been meeting with the russians on a regular basis. simply did not occur to me to go further than the context that i may have had with russians in routine situations as i had had many routine situation -- meetings with other foreign officials. so please hear me now. and it was only in march after my confirmation hearing that a reporter asked my spokesperson whether i had ever met with any russian officials. this was a first time that question had squarely been posed to me. on the same day, we provided that reporter with the information related to the meeting that i and my staff h

i watched him lie to al franken. i'm not exactly sure if we can expect him to tell the truth this time around. i was very interested in his answer towards that being that he was steal -- still in senatorial role when he met with these russian officials. it will show that he used the campaign funds to pay for that trip. i'm really curious to what his answer will be. if he's going to try to play up the senatorial role in the meetings he was found to have had. host: you mentioned senator sessions testimony in that confirmation hearing in job. one of the key moments from that hearing. >> cnn has just published a story -- alleging that the intelligence community provided documents to the president-elect last week that included information that quote, russian operatives claimed to have compromising permanent and financial information about mr. trump. these documents also allegedly say, there was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between trump surrogates and intermediaries for the russian government.

: oh, you thought franken's question was rambling.i remind you that this is the guy you work for. >> that speech was hot for about two or three hours after the speech was made, because they came up with other things, having to do with other people, that they shouldn't have been able to do and they shouldn't have done. but they did it. and you know exactly what i'm talking about. [ laughter ] >> seth: no. no one knows what you are talking about. if sessions thought franken's question was rambling then he must just blackout whenever he talks to trump. [ light laughter ] so sessions was forced to formally recuse himself from the russia investigation. but then last week, comey added to the intrigue when he testified that there was another undisclosed reason why sessions had to recuse himself that he couldn't discuss publicly. and soon after that testimony we found out what it was. >> we're learning now that in closed session this afternoon, the fired fbi director james comey told senators that the reason he didn't want to discuss the atto

>> senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities. had been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and i didn't- have not communications with the russians. >> i did not have communication with the russians. that part of jeff sessions' answer turned out to be untrue. he was later reveal today have had multiple communications with the russians. >> you played a key role in where jeff sessions stands now and why he's of such interest to the senate. let's listen to what attorney general sessions said about you in the hearing today. >> senator franken asked me a rambling question after some six hours of testimony that included dramatic new allegations that the united states intelligence community, the u.s. intelligence community had advised president elect trump "that there was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between trump's surrogates and intermediary for the trump surrogate". >> i don't think it was rambling. it was a pretty direct question as if those allegations are true, what would you do, meaning

senator franken. >> thank you, madam chair. welcome back to the committee. secretary perry, i don't envy your position. you seem to be a defense counsel for someone charged with murder and you seem to be saying i know he's guilty, but i'm going to give him a robust defense. so you're doing a great job. >> [ inaudible ]. >> two days ago, the american innovation counsel, a group of ten current and retired corporate leaders, including norman augustine, former ceo of lockheed martin and bill gates released a report about the importance of federal investment in energy search and development. the group recommends vastly increased funding for arpa-e, from 300 million to a billion dollars a year and increasing federal investment for advanced energy innovation to two and a half times the total amount for the energy research proposed in your budget. secretary perry, the paparaz -- president's budget is anti-innovation and does the exact opposite of what the innovation council recommends and it absolutely guts private investment and research including slashing energy a

senator franken. senator franken: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. blanco, in my state of minnesota, former minneapolis police chief ken dolen used to say crime victims are far less likely to dial 911 if they know that the police officer who responds to that call is going to check their papers. and statistics bear this out. a 2013 study from the university of illinois found that 44% of latinos report they are less likely to call the police even when they are the victim of a crime because they believe that officers will use the interaction as an opportunity to check their immigration status. 45% say they're less likely to volunteer information about crimes they've witnessed. and this here isn't confined to immigrants. 28% of latinos born in the united states say they are less likely to call the police when they are the victim of a crime because they fear police will ask them about their status or the status of people they know. now, that study was conducted before the 2016 campaign, a campaign in which then-candidate trump made scapegoating immigrants

>> senator al franken on the russian interference on the presidential election.now had it seems to make the temptation to fire the man leading the investigation even greater. how confident is senator franken in robert mueller to investigate the possible collusion between russian government and the trump campaign. >> i'm very confident in him. i think he has the independence he needs unless the president does something like fire him. in which, and i don't think that is a, a tenable option for the president. but you never know. >> there's a nominee to replace james comey at the fbi. it seems to me it is an important position and we haven't had hearings. . it seems there is an insurance members will want to get from him during that process. >> well, yes. we do want him. we have on the judiciary committee oversight on the committee. we would like to get the attorney general to appear before us again. again, we have oversight over the justice department, the attorney general is the head of that. and if he is appointing a new head of the fbi, we want to be having a hea

i believe that's the report that senator franken hit me with when i was testifying. and it i think has been pretty substantially discredited. but you would know more than i. what was said would suggest i participated in the continuing communications with russians as a surrogate is absolutely false. >> mr. sessions, there's been all this talk about conversations and that you had some conversations with the russians. senators up here who are on either foreign relations, intelligence, or armed services, conversations with officers of other governments or ambassadors or what have you are everyday

and when i see senator franken, i will tell him we are working hard on this. thanks again. >> secretary perry, you have been very good. i hadn't thought that we would keep you. i apologize for the late start. as it gets warming here in washington, d.c., you need to know this alaska girl longs for the arctic. and i keep thinking about arctic, arctic, all the the time. what are we doing here in congress and in the legislation. and i take that leadership role. we discussed at the confirmation hearing and prior to that this is a focus of mine. and i don't see much in the budget here that will help us build out that energy or that arctic energy vision. so i would like to know if there is something special in here that you want to point my attention to, i am happy to look at it. it is something that i would like to sit down with you and your team. i know your team is skinny right now. we are going to help you with that. but really want to try to make shoo you a sure that there is an understanding that in the department of energy we think you can play a key role in s

. >> reporter: today democratic senators al franken and patrick leahy released three letters in which they asked the fbi to investigate whether sessions lied to senators about previous meetings between sessions and kislyak, writing, quote, we are concerned about attorney general session lack of candor to the committee and his failure thus far to accept responsibility for testimony that could be construed as perjury. the department of justice responded saying the facts haven't changed. the senator did not have any private or signed conversations with any russian officials at the may flour hotel. former campaign carter page who the president recently tweeted would blow the democrats case away with his testimony was asked about his meetings with keesly yack. >> he was around for several days and -- i don't like talking about confidential information. every one that was in that meeting had agreed that it's off the record and we're not going to disclose that. >> reporter: but the president tweeted today that the big story is about the unmasking and surveillance of people and house intellig

we have now obtained three letters from senators leahy and senator franken.of them have been writing, it turns out, since march to the fbi asking for an investigation into any contacts between attorney general jeff sessions and members of his staff with russian officials, including, of course, sergey kislyak, the russian ambassador here in washington. again, they began writing, apparently on march 20th, asking the fbi to investigate this. and part of their concern was in their letters they say that sessions false testimony when he was going through his confirmation hearing. you'll remember he said that he didn't have any communications with russians in response to a question from senator franken. and at the time, the "washington post" had just published a story back in march saying that sessions had had multiple meetings with kislyak, including in his sent office and at the rnc. now it turns out these two senators have been pursuing this, trying to get the fbi to at least tell them whether or not they're investigating this. they wrote comey gone april 28th, a

franken even claims that in a secret santa drawing in the u.s.ow senators refused cruz. >> i've had people pick out cruz' name and then drop it on the floor. i have actually had that happen. >> as for cruz, he seems to be taking it in stride, calling franken obnoxious and insulting, but claiming he's just trying to get liberals to buy books. if that's the plan, it does seem to be working. franken's book is currently climbing the best-seller list. >>> thank you for spending your sunday morning with us. you can catch me here every sunday and weekdays on "the lead" every weekend. and go to cnn.com/sotu for news. "fareed zakaria" is next. ere brs replacing chemotherapy with immunotherapy. where we can now attack the causes of disease, not just the symptoms. where medicines once produced for all, are now designed to fit you. today 140,000 biopharmaceutical researchers go bodly to discover treatments and cures unimaginable ten years ago... ...and are on the verge of more tomorrow. manait's a series of is nsmart choices. and when you replace one meal or

this is "meet the press" senator frek franken franken, you say fish. >> well, some fish are smellierers. okay, are you happy? >> a lot of people are putting you on a 2020 presidential list and probably is flattering, have it crossed your mind at all? >> first of all, it is definitely flattering. i it crossed my mind to the extent and no, i don't want to do that. the voters are not going to judge you because you used to be on "saturday night live." >> one thing that's annoying is well, you know you were both in entertainment. he was in a reality show. a cannon ball is an entertainment. i have not used that -- on another show. >> i appreciate that. >> i want some original material. i will just under score everything that's new. look. i think he's devalued the presidency. i think that people go like gee now can be president. >> is that a problem? >> i think it is the sad state of affairs that we have a president who -- look, this whole idea of i am going to testify under oath 100%. well, you can take it to the bank, can you? >> what does it say to our culture that people don't care anym

>> senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities.a time or two in that campaign and i did not have communications with the russians. and i'm unable to comment on it. >> all right. sessions amended his testimony in march saying he did, in fact, meet with sergey kislyak twice. now the lingering question is, can this all be construed as perjury? i want to bring in our legal guys to discuss this. avery friedman, civil rights attorney and law professor in cleveland and richard herman a criminal defense attorney and law professor from las vegas. good to see you, gentlemen. >> good to see you, fredricka. >> avery, let me begin with you, what is the likelihood that this, indeed, could be considered perjury if yet again, there is another meeting that sessions had, didn't disclose it, and it's being discovered now? >> well, it depends on the third meeting. number one, you need someone under oath, you have jeff sessions under oath in january in front of the senate for confirmation purposes and we saw the questions by senator franken, there were

. >> coming up on "fox news morning" senator al franken says thanks but no thanks to appear on a popular show. >> and reach as i milestone at roland gar is. >> as we head to break a live look across the region. time 4:50. temperature 66. back in a vo: delivering cleaner, reliable energy... creating jobs for our veterans... helping those in need save money on their energy bills. it takes 16,000 dominion energy employees doing the job. and now, dominion energy is investing $15 billion to build and upgrade our electric and natural gas infrastructure... creating jobs now and for the future. across virginia, we're building an economy that works for everyone and dominion energy is helping power the companies that power our economy. >> it's 4:52. testimony resumes this morning in norristown, pennsylvania, at the sex assault trial of comedian bill cosby facing count of aggravated indecent assault over an encounter with a temple employee twelve years ago. she alleged cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her. he says the contact was consensual. >> former mma fighter war machine is sentenced to lif

minnesota senator al franken's new memoir., much more. >> woodruff: president trump's first overseas trip included meetings last week at nato and european union headquarters in brussels, and with other g-7 nations in sicily. germany is a key member of all three bodies, and in the aftermath of those meetings, chancellor angela merkel sounded notes of concern about president trump's stance on some key issues. chief among them: climate change and the paris agreement. to discuss this and other matters, i spoke a short time ago with germany's ambassador to the united states, peter wittig. >> woodruff: ambassador peter witig, thank you for joining us. >> a pleasure to be here. >> let me start with the terrible incident this morning in kabul, afghanistan. this is a normally considered safe area, diplomatic area. but the german embassy was among the many places affected. you had a german citizen with was injured, others who work at the embassy, one died, another severely injured. does this give your government pause, does it give you

al franken, the author of "al franken giant of the senate." thank you very much.t do you know about what is in this current health care bill? >> i don't know anything really. i think it's based on the house bill, which is horrible, mean said a wiseman many are you referring to the president of the united states? >> no, i'm referring to someone who quoted him. >> got it. the president did say it was great when he had a celebration in the rose garden for the house passing it. >> he likes to be on both sides of things. >> evidently. evidently. >> senator, sean spir said, why should the democrats b involved in this -- they have said repeatedly they don't want to be involved in anything that is a repeal of obama care, why would republicans bother talking to them. that was his argument. >> when we took up the affordable care act. we had scores and scores of hearings, 130 amendments out of the health committee. this should be a bipartisan effort. but again, most republicans don't know what's in this bill. they have kept this un believably secret. this is one sixth of the

a year. >> senator al franken -- >> and this just hurts people. this just hurts people. it's mean, to quote -- >> president trump -- >> it is quoting -- i was going to say the quote a wise person, but that was a person who quoted from. >> senator al franken, thank you so much. the date and location are set, president trump has scheduled his first reelection fundraiser. and guess where he's holding it? that's right, one of his hotels. >>> facebook founder and ceo mark zuckerberg, why he thinks social media should help people come together instead of dividing them over politics which is what happens on my feed on facebook. i don't know about yours. stick around. where are we? about to see progressive's new home quote explorer. where you can compare multiple quote options online and choose what's right for you. woah. flo and jamie here to see hqx. flo and jamie request entry. slovakia. triceratops. tapioca. racquetball. staccato. me llamo jamie. pumpernickel. pudding. employee: hey, guys! home quote explorer. it's home insurance made easy. password was "hey guys." it's home

i replied to senator franken this way: "senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign, and i did not have communications with the russians, and i'm unable to comment on that." that was the context in which i was asked the question, and in that context, my answer was a fair and correct response to the charge as i understand it. i was responding to this allegation that surrogates had been meeting with the russians on a regular basis. it did not occur to me go-to-go further than the context of the question and the list any conversations i may have had with russians in routine situations as i had many routine situation -- meetings with other foreign officials. so please hear me now, and it was only in march, after my confirmation hearing, that a reporter asked my spokesperson whether i had ever met with any russian official. this was the first time that question had scarily been posed to me. on the same day, we provided that reporter with the information related to the meeting that i and my staff had held in my

senator sessions somewhat angrily responded that he was saying in context to the question senator franken asked, he was responding accurately. and republicans were very strong in defending their former colleague. people like tom cotton and john cornyn and others where standing up for jeff sessions. so did jim risch of idaho. it didn't advance the ball that much on the investigation. the big takeaway was jeff sessions saying i'm an honest guy and i didn't collude with the russians. i have to add, though, that jeff sessions had not been accused of colluding with the russians, there had just been questions raised about his contacts. >> indeed. john, thank you, john harwood in washington. >>> still ahead tonight, opec promised to hold its production cuts. but that appears to be easier . >>> one health insurer is doing what most others are not. it's planning a broad expansion of its obamacare offerings next year. centene plans to sell plans in three additional states, kansas, missouri, and nevada. it will expand in six states where it already sells plans. aetna and other companies have largely

comedian-turned-senator al franken will talk more about his tell-all. there he is.ack to "squawk box." that was me but it's really for you, joe. >> getting the reaction shot. >> reaction shot to the senator joining us. >> welcome back. we'll look at the futures again quickly. they're up after that adp number, up 18 on the dow, up 13 on the nasdaq, up just under 4 on the s&p. >> joining us on the is he, senator al franken has a new book out, "al franken, giant of the senator," toss about the transition from funny man to statesman and taubes about how things have changed on the hill since he was elected in 2008. good morning. >> good morning. >> we have about a million things to talk to you about. >> i can't handle a million. >> you do have this book out. we'll start with the book. >> yeah. >> i'm curious now that we now have another celebrity, if you will, in office, what was the transition like from being, as we said just now a funny man to a senator? >> part of the reason i wrote this book was to talk about that. the question i get asked probably the most by people

. >> rose: senator al franken, a democrat from minnesota, is rediscovering his sense of humor. questioning of trump administration officials have also given the public glimpses of his comedy roots. he is out with a new book. it is called "al franken, giant of the senate." >> they're not acting like people who have nothing to hide. and so when you ask me, "do i have any evidence?" i think there are all kinds of circumstantial evidence. we have a special prosecutor. we have to follow the fact where's they go, and he will determine whether there is evidence of, you know, whether cooperation. but it's hard to believe that jared kushner goes-- has this meeting with kislyak in the trump tower and forgets that he had it. >> rose: and even michael flynn was there. >> and michael flynn was there. and that he doesn't report it when he's filing his disclosure -- >> security thing. >> yeah, security clearance. you don't forget that. so-- and it's sort of hard to believe that he's talking about setting up a communications within the russians' communication system, hidden from our own intell