one thing that senator claire mccaskill is proposing, making sure that commanders can not throw out court martial convictions. if someone is convicted of raping a fellow officer, the commander can throw out the conviction. look at how that changes and how the defense authorisation bill moves through the senate. the senate treading water, not coming to agreement. >> that's libby casey reporting. let's bring in brian louis, a former navy petty officer and one of a few male sexual assault victims that have come forward. kirsten gillibrand, did you support her amendment or the one defeated, to take this out of the chain of command - why? >> it's simple. you heard several proponents saying they want commanders to be involved in it. i say they've been way too involved, to the point they have become part of the problem. and they are the ones that have been retaliating and in some cases perpetrating the crimes. so we need to take that problem and fix it. which means taking it outside the chain of command. >> if the number is correct - 30,000 unwanted sexual assaults - how is it possible to solve

one from kirsten gillibrand, and one from claire mccaskill. both have bipart stan support, filibuster. >> amy iering, the producer of "the invisible war" joins u and from san francisco, ceristine pelosi. the chair. women's party. >> why is it divisive to remove the charges from the military and put in an independent arena? >> the conduct of the rapist - let's me clear where the decision is coming from. people are committing crimes, we have to do something about it. kirsten gillibrand's amendment is the one that would put merc on a par with allies, including great britain, australia and israel saying for felony crimes and nonmilitary, put it in the hands of what we americans would consider to be a police department's internal affairs bureau and let the commanders continue the good for discipline, knowing that the crime will be prosecuted by specialists in the field of sexual assault. >> on the other hand claire mccaskill's plan gives the decision to prosecute within the chain of command but adds a review board. is that enough? >> no, it's not.

the pentagon has pushed back mass pushed back and are supporting effort by claire mccaski mccaskill. one thing that senator claire mccaskill is proposing - making sure the commanders can no longer throw out court-martial convictions. if someone is convicted of raping a fellow officers, the commander can throw out the conviction. look for that to change. we'll watch to see how the authorisation bill moves. treading water, not coming to many agreements. >> al jazeera's libby casey reporting from washington. the republican congressman that pleaded guilty to drug charges. henry trey raydull brought cocaine from an undercover officer. he was sentenced to one year's probation. he'll donate his salary to charity whilst undergoing counselling. >> the philippines government looks for ways to help the 4 million people left homeless by typhoon haiyan. how volunteers are reaching out to the youngest survivors. the troubled health care website eroding support for barack obama and his party. how tea party candidates are looking to use that to their advantage. >>> funerals were held wednesday in le

considering the armed services chairman, carl levin and claire mccaskill are pushing their plan, how do you think this plays out? >> i don't think it's going to pass. she's going to need 60 votes. even if she does get 60 votes, getting that through a house senate conference committee is extremely grim. given the opposition from a lot of the defense hawks, from the pentagon to her proposal, there probably will be some changes to how the military prosecutes

claire mccaskill was in favor of that and said so.im talent didn't want to talk about it. >> you're going to have to cast a vote in two weeks on whether or not we raise the minimum wage in missouri. will you vote yes or whether you vote no? >> i have not taken a position on the minimum wage ballot issue. >> wrong answer, it turns out. once election day rolled around, that minimum wage initiative was approved -- look at that -- 76 to 24%. raising the minimum wage passed in missouri by that 52-point margin and claire mccaskill beat the incumbent republican senator from her state. same thing happened in 2006 in montana. the minimum wage was on the ballot there in '06, they loved it, approved the minimum wage rise by 46 points. on the same ballot, the incumbent republican senator, conrad burns, who had voted repeatedly against raising the minimum wage, and who was wishy-washy about it at the state level, his democratic challenger jon tester was for the rise in the minimum wage. he was for it bluntly and unapologetically. the minimum wage

claire mccaskill wants -- and the majority of the military, certainly the pentagon, wants to keep it in the chain of command because they say it's the commander who really has to look after the good order and discipline in their ranks. nerd, they want to know what's -- in other words, they want to know what's going on. a good example, one of the victims said, look, it's like the commander has to decide between the brother and sister in the family, is the brother more senior, does he trust the brother more? does he know the guy who is fully decorated and been in battle and maybe the victim, he doesn't know as well. so gillibrand's amendment really goes to the heart of that and she's getting a lot of support. she needs 60 votes, of course. they think she has around 53 public support at this point, a few more who aren't public but still think it's a huge uphill battle to get this passed. >> the senate couldn't get the defense authorization bill done. what are the chances for passage at all? >> i think probably in a couple weeks when they come back maybe it will go to the floor again. i

she started by thanking senator claire mccaskill who's pushing her own amendment. although we disagree on my amendment, i want to remind all our colleagues that the defense authorization has been made stronger in innumerable ways by senator mccaskill's work, advocacy and dedication. i also will be supporting her amendment today because i think the provisions in that amendment will add even more positive changes to the command climate and will help victims feel like they have a stronger voice. >> still not clear exactly when there will be a vote on that amendment, but -- or on the bill but we do expect it this week. that's going to wrap up this hour of "jansing & co." thomas roberts is up next. >>> the agenda next hour, president obama and president bill clinton coming face to face for the first time since the former president threw a big monkey wrench into the debate over the aca with his keep your health care plan statement. that was the start of the massive pr nightmare for the white house. and we are just moments now from when president obama will award bill cli

. -- claire mccaskill are doing today this year's defense authorization bill already makes 26 reforms and how cases are handled but must maintain the chain of command. >> we are creating more problems and we will be solving if we make the change as advocated by senator joe brand -- gillibrand. if they win the vote, she and the organization will get more resources. thanks. it appears that the senator has the public support as well for her legislation. of americans59% support taking sexual assault cases outside the military chain of command. that had a 3.5 margin of error. >> the state inspector general's office it -- announced it is investigating the hours leading up to a fight that led to a senator stabbed. it is the medical care his son needed that did not receive -- ist i he did not receive that receiving scrutiny. >> no word yet to whether senator deeds will be released from the medical center but his condition has improved significantly. late today, the virginia state police reporting that sheriff's deputies in bath county did report to the deeds home on monday for a non-emergency

senator claire mccaskill has an alternative plan that would ban military xhaners from overturning juryone convicted of sexual assault be dishonorably discharged or dismissed from the military. that is some what different. what is your sense of why the senators aren't together on this? >> actually most of the senators, women senators are together. 19 out of 20 women senators, support gi llebrand's bill, not claire mccaskill's. make that clear. women understand the effects of sexual assault and need to take, adjudication of crimes outside chain of command. we don't want to report the crimes to our boss under any circumstances con flkt of interest, uncomfortable, even the best of circumstances don't want to report a sex crime to someone who oversees youen capacities. we want to give our military, service members, access to the same impartial system of justice that they defend for us. they give their lives to sacrifice so i can go to court, get unbiased jury to try my sex crime cases why can't we offer them that? it's just -- it's something so obvious. >> kirby, i really truly cannot imagi

also senator claire mccaskill will be here.ry happy that i'm getting a new leg and surgery to make my bones be much better. i don't have to have pain in my leg anymore when i'm walking. >> "morning joe" highlights an incredible organization, the tleb globe and he wial medical relie. we'll show you some of the stories next. for anyone, anywhere. if you look at a khan academy video, they cover everything from basic arithmetic to calculus, trigonometry, finance. you can really just get what you need at your own pace. and so, bank of america came and reached out to us and said, "we are really interested in making sure that everyone really understands personal finance." we're like, "well, we're already doing that." and so it was kind of a perfect match. life with crohn's disease ois a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps come back? what if the plane gets delayed? what if i can't hide my symptoms? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of

by christian jill a brand of new york and another senator kirsten gillibrand of new york and claire mccaskill. it is about how military justice matters are handled, with the military brass generally opposing the idea of undercutting or changing the protocol regarding change of command. a timeline for the defense authorization bill? between the sexual assault issue and the other issues that might come up, oversight of the intelligence programs and this issue with potentially upping sanctions against air and -- iran, it is not clear yet because these amendments take time to process. we have not talked about any of the normal disagreements about combat systems and ships and readiness and actual nuts and bolts military issues. the idea originally was to get some real off of the senate floor before thanksgiving in time for the thanksgiving break. that is becoming increasingly unlikely the cause of the number of issues that seem to be piling up. kerryfinally, secretary was on capitol hill to talk about relations with iran. have you heard of a plan to move forward with new sanctions against iran or

claire mccaskill coming out of that meeting to be with us. stay with us, andrea mitchell, on msnbc. ase or ulcerative colitis is a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps end our night before it even starts? what if i eat the wrong thing? what if? what if i suddenly have to go? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisadvocates.com to connect with a patient advocate from abbvie for one-to-one support and education. who gets the allstate safe driving bonus check. rock beats scissors! [ chuckles ] wife beats rock. and with two checks a year, everyone wins. [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call 866-906-8500 now. [ dennis ] zach really loves his new camera. problem is...this isn't zach. it's a friend of a friend who was at zach's party and stole his camera. but zach's got it covered... w

. >> now senator claire mccaskill of missouri says this is a big problem and has proposed a couple ofteps. she doesn't however want to take it out of the chain of commanding. >> just like there is not agreement among all of the women in this chamber, there is not agreement among all of the victims. there is not agreement among all of the veterans or commanders. although most women commanders have acknowledged that even though this sounds simple, it is much more complicated, and we will be creating more problems than we will be solving if we make the change advocated by senator gillibrand. >> her proposals include making it a crime to retaliate against the victims of sexual assault and take away the power of commanders to dismiss a court-martial conviction. senator gillibrand and many of her supporters say we agree be senator mccaskill's ideas, but we want to go further. >> libby do we have any idea what side the pentagon is taking in this matter? >> yes, we do. they want to keep it in the chain of come -- command. and the white house is staying quiet in terms of this, that's why some

. >> gene, you've been and around this system for much of your adult life, and senator claire mccaskill of missouri says if you look at the evidence there is just not enough evidence to conclude that what is broken about the system is the involvement of a person's own supervisors, that that there is a problem, but that's not where it is. >> well, respect i have to disagree with senator mccaskill. she was very nice to me, invited me to visit with her. i met with her early in the process, i had quite a cordial meeting, but what i never understood about the position that she and other senators have espoused is why they as former prosecutors don't believe that the prosecution decision, the decision of who should be tried by court-martial, shouldn't be made by lawyers. in our society prosecutorial decisions are made by attorneys who have to go through three years of law school, and they've taken the bar, and this is what you want for the official who makes a decision to take a case into court. i don't understand why any form of prosecutor wouldn't be strongly in favor of senator gillibrand's

i introduce this with senator claire mccaskill who is here with us today and this includes the list of protected communications that can be investigated by the dod inspector general and mrs. expanded whistleblower protection that will help to ensure that service members are able to report sexual assault without facing retaliation. these are a few of the provisions addressing us in the spell. senator murray is focused on the victim's right in treating them with the respect that they deserve. our country is fortunate that we have so many selfless men and women who volunteer to serve our country and when they raise their hands to serve, we take on the responsibility to provide the means to accomplish this to ensure that they don't have to worry about what is going on behind the front line. sexual assault betrays that responsibility and our servicemen and women experience this at a military sales to prevent and we owe them the basic decency of justice. i look forward to working with my colleagues so we can protect our service members once and for all. thank you and i yield the floor. >> th

missouri democrat claire mccaskill agrees. >> we let commanders off the hook, we have never solved a problem in the military without holding the commanders accountable. >> reporter: the senate is expected to vote on this amendment by the end of the month, along with a series of other reforms, including, scott, making it a crime to retaliate against victims of sexual assault in the military when they come forward. >> pelley: nancy cordes at the capitol. thank you, nancy. late today, president obama apologized for one of the biggest emerging problems with the affordable care act. more than three million americans have been told that they will lose their health insurance plans, even though the president has repeated for years that americans who liked their plans could keep them. here's what he said to nbc. >> i am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they've got from me. we've got to work hard to make sure they know we hear them, and that we're going to do everything we can to deal with folks who find themselves in a tough position as a consequenc

it brings claire mccaskill and kirsten gillibrand, it brings senator graham and myself. it's just a very bipartisan reform, and there are already several reforms in this bill that we're very proud of, and senator mikulski is organizing us tomorrow to talk about those reforms. this is one more that we can add. and in closing my remarks tonight, i want to take on the issue of the gillibrand amendment, number 2099. i am so very proud to stand here in support of kirsten gillibrand's amendment, and with a very bipartisan group of colleagues. colleagues that perhaps don't agree on much. when i'm on the same side with ted cruz, that's something, right? when kirsten gillibrand is on the same side as rand paul, that's quite something. and it goes on and on down the line. we have senator grassley's support. by the way, 17 of the 20 women support the gillibrand amendment. i hope that's a message. that is the right way to go. and i'm going to explain it. now, my involvement in this is deep and long. 20 years ago, we were all outraged to learn that nearly 100 women and men had been s

they're not backing the proposal by senator jil gillibrand, but instead one proposed by claire mccaskill. >> this is not agreement even among commanders. although most women commanders have acknowledged even though this sounds seductively simple it is much more complicated, and we will create more troubles than we will be solving if we make the change that advocated by senator gillibrand. >> senator mccas mccaskills' proposal makes it illegal to retaliate against someone who brings accusation of sexual assault. right now if someone is convicted a commander can turn that over, pretty incredible. the question s whether things will go any further than that. >> libby, the pentagon has to implement whatever congress decides, what is their position? in they're not supporting the gillibrand amendment, many members of the senators in the armed service committee said it can be dealt with keeping with the command structure. right now with 50 senators on board, she would need 60 to get passed the full senate. >> thank you very much. we continue to watch arlington national system with the motorcade

they're supporting senator claire mccaskill, missouri, and senator mccaskill would create more layers of checks and balances and would do one curb thing. she would take away a commander's ability to dismiss a court-martial conviction. right now a commander can do that even if someone is convicted of raping someone, but that could change. they said it has to stay in house, and that is one way to follow through on these cases. a crucial difference in senators, and they're talking about it today. we've heard from survivors of sexual assault. it's been an intense discussion one here on capitol hill, one that has a lot of people talking about this issue of sexual assault in the military. a recent report that came out from the pentagon itself showed 26,000 cases of unwanted sexual contact last year. of 3,000 cases of sexual assaults only 300 were prosecutorred. >> whoa, libby, appreciate it. libby casey for us on capitol hill. >>> people in the midwest are spending another day sifting through what was once their homes. after a rash of tornadoes tore through the heartland on sunday. the stor

i want to thank for their extraordinary advocacy senator claire mccaskill of missouri, senator kirsten gillibrand of washington and patty murray of and many, many others. they have put into the pending bill many effective and necessary reforms. i supported them and i appreciate chairman levin and ranking member senator inhofe for including 26 reforms in the underlying defense authorization bill. i want to highlight one reform in particular that i played a small part in, the special victims counsels. i want to highlight this reform because victims need and deserve someone in their corner helping them through what is probably one of the toughest moments of their lives. in testimony earlier this year in the defense authorization committee which i chair, the head of the air force talked about how effective this pilot program of special victims counsels has been. the bill that is pending before us would expand their services and my subcommittee's appropriation mark, spending mark ensures that it will be fully funded. the bill's other reforms are equally powerful, improving prevention, holdi

senator claire mccaskill said yesterday and the armed services committee approved that plan.e said that's like the fox guarding the hen house. >> i think we'll get them, martha. this is a growing debate all around this country because we want to make sure that men and women who serve our military have a justice system deserving of their sacrifice. they are literally giving their lives for our values, for our country. and they shouldn't have a justice system that is rife with bias and unfairness. >> that recent pentagon report show 20,000 incidents of sexual assault. 33% increase. >>> the meningitis outbreak at princeton university is so bad, school trustees will decide whether or not to distribute a drug, a vaccine, not yet used in the the u.s. it's only approved in australia and europe. but the cdc has gotten special permission to import it. >>> rutgers athletics dealing with yet another case of a coach accused of bullying a player. the student said his offensive coordinator dave cohen cursed at him and threatened him in front of other students. the student involved left the

the other one has been read by -- led by senator claire mccaskill of missouri.it is over whether the chain of command should be removed from consideration in terms of how these cases and other military justice matters are handled. the military brass often opposes the idea of undercutting or changing the protocol regarding the chain of command. >> is there a timeline yet for the defense authorization bill? >> between the sexual assault issue and what is going on with the other issue that may come up, including the oversight of the intelligence program and this issue with potentially lifting sanctions against iran, it is not clear yet. these amendments often take time to process. we have not even talked about any of the normal disagreements about combat systems and ships and readiness an actual nuts and bolts military issues. the idea would be that the bill is on the senate floor before thanksgiving, in time for the thanksgiving break. that is becoming increasingly unlikely. there are a number of issues that seem to be piling up. -- secretary of state senator kerr

. >> and why isn't she, senator claire mccaskill? but i'm not exactly sure. it puzzles us.e said she would rather see -- she is skeptical of military prosecutors as she is of military commanders, and she would rather keep the system as is. we say, the system as is is not working. we have got to look at trying something different. >> i want to go to another clip from the film of the marine barracks in washington, d.c., just one mile from the capital. ,> when you report something you better be prepared for the repercussions. >> if a man gets accused of rape, it is a setup up. the woman is lying. i could choose to report it, but if they found what i was saying wasn't to be truthful, then i would be reduced in rank. >> you could lose your rate, lose rank, lose your school if you follow false report. so do you want to follow report? >>ven with the rape kit and everything, and my friend catching him, they still don't believe me. >> i reported it to different times to my squad leader. and he told me there's nothing he could do about it because he didn't have any proof. >> they act

claire mccaskill has opposed this. she's got the military.he's got jack reid and others on the armed services committee strongly against the joint chiefs obviously. they believe that breaking the chain of command creates problems and you have to keep this inside the military. tell me all of your reasons why you think they're wrong. >> well, i think they're wrong because that's exactly how the system has operated for the last 40 years, and it hasn't been working. i would be the first one to want to keep it in the chain of command. i have no dog in this race. i'm just a citizen who's done investigations and studied this issue carefully. unfortunately, the solution, the way that the system is working right now is not prosecuting these serial predators. so we have to affect a change. and there's no threat to taking it outside the chain of command. in fact, 37 crimes will still be within the chain of command. anything having to do with mission readiness and mission control will all still be within the commander's purview. we're just asking for cri

republicans thought for sure they'd get claire mccaskill's seat, but then todd akin. republicans could have won in indiana, had they not picked the guy who said, god sometimes wants you to get pregnant from your rapist. so the republicans, you know, they turfed out the republican incumbent or they defeated the kind of reasonable known quantity republican who might have a chance to win. and instead they picked the pure guy. and in case after case after case, they thereby lost the seat. that is how this pattern generally works. but the pattern doesn't always work that way. there are a few exceptions. there are a few cases where turfing out the normal guy in favor of the hair-on-fire guy didn't result in a republican loss, it resulted in the hair-on-fire guy going to washington. that is how we got to ted cruz. ted cruz was the hair-on-fire guy. he was the tea party primary challenger to a guy whose hair was slightly less on fire. but it was texas, so even after picking the truly whacky guy in the primary, the republicans were still able to win the general election in tex

. >> reporter: on the other side senator claire mccaskill. adamant commanders stay involved. >> i believe these reforms will hold the chain of command more accountable and force them to be part of the solution. >> reporter: and the pentagon favors the mccaskill plan. it's an uphill battle for gillibrand, still short of the 60 votes she needs. for "this week," jeff zeleny, abc news, capitol hill. >> back now with senator gillibrand. you heard in jeff zeleny's report, you're shy of those 60 votes. >> i think we'll get them, martha, this is a growing debate all around this country because we want to make sure that the men and women who serve our military have a justice system deserving of their sacrifices. they're literally giving their lives for our values and our country. they need justice and that's what we're trying to do. >> one of the things that you told your hometown paper, i think it was in today's paper, was that you would consider taking parts of the legislation out for other serious crimes, murder and theft, are you going to do that

. >> reporter: but in a sharply divided senate, missouri democrat claire mccaskill warned that taking immediate commanders out of the loop actually gives victims less protection. >> now use common sense. you're back in your unit; you have been assaulted, which way are you going to have more protection? if a group of colonels half a continent away are looking at the facts of the case or if your commander has signed off? of course if your commander has signed off, because that sends a message to the unit, we're getting to the bottom of this. >> reporter: mccaskill wants to keep prosecution decisions with commanders, but limit their ability to overturn convictions in such cases. and, there would be civilian review of decisions not to prosecute. >> it strengthens the role of the prosecutor because it provides another layer of review. it increases accountability of commanders making this evaluation on their forms and adding that other layer of review. >> reporter: the push for congressional action was fueled by a pentagon survey that estimated 26,000 service members experienced unwanted se

there's a battle now happening in the united states senate from kirsten gill grand and claire mccaskillbout what exactly should legislation look like. should they take prosecutions outside of the chain of command. you put yourself on the side of kirsten gillibrand on this issue. i want to read you this, "under kirsten's scenario, those cases would not go forward. the new regime of lawyers would have all the power around these prosecutions. they would also be the last word. the missouri democrat said she had to make the case undecided lawmakers voting for our reform doesn't make you anti-woman. do you think that people that don't support the kirsten gillibrand legislation are anti-woman? that is a fair characterization? that is a bad split for the democratic party? >> i'm actually going to take your question just one step b k back. it's important for everyone to understand wherever they fall on this issue, it's not just a woman's issue. there are more men assaulted than women. this is not men versus women or anti-women this is sexual violent crimes occurring today in our military that ne

and people like claire mccaskill, red-state democrats who are saying wait a second, this is like a re-run of 2010 when they had to go back and run on the affordable care act which had not been politically sold. so democrats are demanding that the white house do something politically to fix this so that people can keep the plan, but i guess where the rubber meets the road is when people are allowed to keep these plans for more time and then they try to use them and can't or can't get emergency care or they get dropped and all of the bad outcomes that everybody talks about when you have poor insurance happen, will they turn around and blame obama care? >> most likely. >> you just told the narrative right there. for the aca, obama care and what they really tell us because he says the encouraging number is the 975,000 who were determined eligible for marketplace enrollment, but they haven't chosen a plan. so we're in the early throws of a rollout, glitchy.gov which is the website. >> that's good. >> you like that? >> it's really health care.gov. >> you can buy and #that. >> they've got the pr