. >>> new york senator kirsten gillibrand will introduce legislation today to change the way the military with sexual assaults cases. the action comes as yet another serviceman in a accused of sexual assault. the case involves a sergeant at to ft. hood who is supposed to prevent these assaults. >> reporter: there are nearly 8,000 women staked at ft. hood. the army's criminal investigation is centered on a sergeant who was a sexual assault prevention and response card fator there. we've learned the sergeant allegedly had a relationship with a subordinate female soldier that involved prostitution. he allegedly approached two other female soldiers to do the same. they refused. the sergeant has been spned from all duties and could be charged this week. last week, police in virginia arrested another man, air force leiutenant colonel jeff krusinski for allegedly groping a woman in a parking lot. he was in charge of the air force's sexual assault prevention unit. defense secretary chuck hagel had this to say. >> sexual assault is a despicable crime and one of the most serious challenges facing t

joining us now, senator kirsten gillibrand, democrat from new york, who's introducing legislation aimed at fixing the dysfunction behind the military's sexual assault epidemic. senator gillibrand, thank you very much for being here. >> my privilege. >> so, i want to talk about this legislation, but first i want your reaction to the news we've just gotten. for the second time in two weeks, a member of the military charged with preventing sexual assault is accused of it himself. >> it's incomprehensible. it's something that is so outrageous, and it just continues a long line of stories that shows that this is something the military does not have a good understanding of how corrosive and how undermining it is to good order and discipline. in fact, we really have to change the whole structure of how these cases are actually reported, who decides whether they go to trial, so victims have a hope of receiving justice. >> senator, the legislation you're about to introduce, explain to me how it fixes the problem, because the problem to someone who's on the outside looking at this, it looks as mu

new york's kirsten gillibrand will join me. and in the rewrite tonight, the family most affected by the boston marathon bombings, the richard family, in their own words. look what mommy is having. mommy's having a french fry. yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle. would absolutely not have taken a zip line in the jungle. i'm really glad that girl stayed at home. vo: expedia helps 30 million travelers a month find what they're looking for. one traveler at a time. >>> as predicted here first and repeatedly, a new poll in massachusetts shows congressman ed markey with a significant lead over his republican opponent, suffolk university poll puts him at 52% with gomez at 35%. mark key also has a 52% favorable rating with voters. the special election set for june 25th. >>> up next, a "last word" exclusive. senator kirsten gillibrand on what changing military rules can do to ensure military sexual assaults in the mi

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joining me now is senator kirsten gillibrand of new york who is introducing legislation tomorrow thatmilitary moves forward with sexual assault prosecutions. senator, thanks for joining us. >> pleasure to be on, jake. >> we have another case here, the second case in two weeks of a military officer in charge of preventing sexual assaults being investigated for sexual misconduct. you have said that calling this disturbing would be a gross under statement. so don't under state it. how would you describe it? >> it's an enormous problem. it is outrageous, to be honest, that men who are being charged with preventing sexual assault to running these prevention programs, teaching men and women who are serving in the military, are actually committing the same offense or alleged to have committed the same offense. it's disgraceful. we have to do much better by the men and women who serve in our military. we have the greatest military in the world. we have men and women who will sacrifice everything. we should not be asking them to endure this kind of treatment. >> senator, you've held hearings,

you are cosponsoring this bill and senator kirsten gillibrand is with us today, as well. leon panetta elevated the level of investigation for the most serious sexual assault allegations where local unit commanders will be forced to report allegations of rape, forced sodomy and to a court-martial authority. did that initiative fail and is that why your bill needs to be passed? >> our bill is essential. and i think the best way to explain it to your viewers is this. we've got a 90% problem and a 1% problem. the 1% problem is that 1% af f to trial are overturned by some commander who wasn't even at the trial. and that's 1% of cases. and everyone, i think, agreed we're going to fix that. but here is the situation. the 90% of cases that never get filed, it's simple to understand why. people are fearful. because right now, the commander, whether it's the immediate commander or the high up dmand commander has the power to on the stop the case from proceeding even if the prosecutors say we've got an air tight case. so what we say is this. sure, you can go to your commander and re

. >> reporter: that drew outrage from democratic senator kirsten gillibrand. >> we're talking about violent crime committed by aggressors who are targeting them specifically. this is a violent act not a date gone badly. >> reporter: but victims like sarah plumber find it difficult to report sexual assaults to their commanders. she says she was raped as a young marine but that her claims were dismissed. >> having someone within your direct chain of command handling your case just doesn't make sense. it's like your brother raping you and having your dad decide the case. >> reporter: as for lieutenant colonel krusinski, the air force revealed today that he had just finished his sexual assault victim training only days before he was arrested on charges of sexual assault. >> unbelievable turn of events. jim miklaszewski on duty for us at the pentagon tonight. jim, thanks. >>> lawyers for james holmes the accused aurora, colorado, movie theater gunman said in a filing that their client wants to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. 12 were killed, 70 wounded. during a midnight screening of the

. >> reporter: norris spoke at a press conference at which senator kirsten gillibrand pushed legislation that would allow victims to bypass their commanders. >> if you're ever going to change the culture you're going to need to see cases that are investigated, brought to trial and convictions. >> reporter: how do you make that happen? >> allow them to report directly to a military lawyer, a trained prosecutor, someone who understands sexual assaults and is the one who will do the investigation and then decide whether or not to bring it to trial. >> reporter: it's no longer about raising awareness so sexual assaults in the military. now, scott, it's about lowering the boom. >> pelley: david, thanks very much. american troops are training afghans to take over the fighting. how's that going? we'll show you next. we'll show you next. ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts worki

. >>> senator kirsten gillibrand proposing a new bill that would lighten the load for student borrowers. interest rates for most federal student loans are set at 6% or higher. the new legislation would allow students and graduates to refinance, fixing that rate at about 4%. >>> the dreamliner is taking off today for the first time since january, when the entire fleet was grounded for battery problems. united airlines, the only u.s. operator of the boeing 787, will fly the high-tech jet from houston to chicago. the faa approved boeing's plans to fix the problem last month. >>> your bottle of sunscreen this summer will have a new label. that's because the fda is out with new rules, banning terms like water-proof. it's requiring sunscreen to filter ultraviolet a and b rays. but consumer watchdog groups say many brands carry labeling that's misleading and potentially dangerous. >>> it didn't quite go where no man has gone before. but it did make it to the top of the weekend box office. "star trek: into the darkness" debuted in the number one spot, with $70.6 million. still, though, it fell

as you know, senator kirsten gillibrand has a bill that would essentially knock that out. sexual assault would not have to go through a chain of command. here's what defense secretary chuck hagel had to say. take a listen. >> we're looking at everything, and we are listening to victims carefully, closely. we're not taking anything off the table. and we want to understand all this best. >> karen, you also watched that news conference with secretary hagel and general dempsey. what was your impression? >> you know, i heard the rigtç things from both men, particularly, you know, given that they were talking act the fact that this is clearly a cultural problem and that it's something that they want to make sure that they handle in a systemic way. i thought it was -- that clip right there, i was pleased to hear him say they are talking to the victims to really try to understand -- he goes on to say from the beginning to when it's reported all the way through to how it's handled. that's what we need. i think what kirsten's bill does, senator gillibrand's bill does says, take it o

new york democrat kirsten gillibrand says it's time to change how military justice is administered. and women in the military operate in close proximity and under the strict control of their commanders. currently, those commanders have sole authority to decide whether a sexual assault case is prosecuted and the power to reverse a conviction afterward. but commanders can be show favoritism and bias when handling sexual assault in their ranks, says gillibrand. her proposal would remove commanders from the judicial process anytime a subordinate is charged with any serious crime. instead the decision whether to prosecute would be made by professional investigators and lawyers. >> today, we are standing strong and united to take this issue head on, with new legislation that removes decision-making from the chain of command and gives that discretion to experienced trial counsel with prosecutorial experience, where it belongs. this is the only way we can provide unbiased justice that our victims need. >> reporter: former airman first class jessica hinves was an f-15 mechanic. she recently

. >> whether it's hillary clinton or amy klobuchar or kirsten gillibrand or any of the women thinking about running for president, if you can unite women behind that candidacy, it's almost unstoppable. >> okay. let's look at it. i like to visualize these things. we're on television. we're in iowa, probably this network, msnbc, one of the others, democratic party in this case, they'll probably hold a big debate, say, in 2013. i'm sorry, 2015. >> yes. >> it may be early in 2015. you'll have a row of people there. i don't know -- i don't think al sharpton is running again. i don't know anybody else running again. it will probably be martin o'malley, governor of maryland. it may be the -- do you think the vice president -- this is where it gets interesting. if secretary clinton runs, do you think the vice president will take her on, or step aside and say, no, her time has come? >> i think we can't visualize that stage until we know what she's doing. i think just about everybody, male and female in the democratic party is waiting to see what happens. >> are you pushing her to run? >> we wo

. >> this bill you're cosponsoring with senator kirsten gillibrand of new york, i understand you're proposing that sexual assault cases be, essentially, taken out of the chain of command in the way they are adjudicated. what would that mean in practical terms? >> well, let me just make it very simple for folks, every year in the military there are about 25,000, 26,000 events, cases where people have been assaulted, sexually assaulted. out of that, only 3,000 a year report this, and out of that, there are only 300 convictions. this is a nightmare. literally, you have thousands and thousands of felons walking around the military, perhaps they get out, they are walking around our streets, they've never paid a price for their crime. so what we want to do is make sure that a woman or a man, 50% of these are men, okay, can either go to a commander, someone in the chain of command and report it. we change the laws so that that commander must report it to the military police, to the prosecution, or they can go to the victims assistance we have set up under leon panetta, this victim assistance organiz

senator kirsten gillibrand is introducing legislation so in sex assault cases, where there may be jailion to prosecute is taken away from commanders and given to military attorneys. many feel prosecutors from outside a unit will be more vigorous. >> we believe enough is enough. it's time to change this system that has been held over since george washington that is simply not working today for the men and women who are serving. >> defense secretary chuck hagel ordered the retraining of key personnel involved in sexual assault prevention programs. but with a number of cases of sexual assaults and rapes on the rise in the military, key commanders aring a only inning they acknowledging they do not know what to do to solve the problem. >> the two personnel being investigated, there is a third as well we are learning about. this could be the tip of the iceberg. the defense department is estimating more than 26,000 cases of unwanted sexual contact among troops last year. that is a huge jump, by the way, 19,300 in 2010. over a 30% jump. i want to bring in a former prosecutor who knows about th

his remarks guinness and lawmakers, including new york senator kirsten gillibrand, introduced legislation to strip military commanders of the ability to prosecute sexual assault, instead placing decisions about whether to try such cases in the hands of independent military prosecutors. according to last week's pentagon report, the conviction rate for sexual assault in the military was less than 1% in the last fiscal year. senator gillibrand cited the report's estimate report of 26,000 service members were assaulted last year. >> congress would be derelict in its duties of oversight if we shrug our shoulders and did nothing, did nothing for these 26,000 sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers. when a person in charge of preventing sexual assault in the ranks is himself arrested on charges of alleged sexual assault, clearly, we have a strategy in place that is not working. >> president obama's picks to lead the epa and never to permit both included -- inched closer to confirmation thursday. a senate panel voted with no republican support to advance gina mccarthy's epa no

morning the air force chief of staff general mark welch struck sparks with new york senator kirsten gillibrand suggesting it not always a commander's fault if victims don't come forward. >> the things that cause people to not report are primarily really not chain of command. it's -- i don't want my family to know. i don't want my spouse to know or my boyfriend or girlfriend to know. i'm embarrassed that i'm in this situation. it's the self-blame that comes with the crime. that is overridingly on surveys over the years the most reasons victims don't report. i don't think it's any different in the military. prosecution rates in the air force for this crime -- >> i think it's very different in the military. i think you're precisely wrong about that. everything is abt chainof command. >> suarez: the president said the military has to pokes then usually increase its efforts to address the problem and chuck hagel announced he's issuing new orders to change the culture in the ranks. >> today everyone. in this department at every level of command will work together everyday to establish an environment

. >> kirsten gillibrand, thanks for joining us. we'll let you get back to work. >> thank you. >>> still ahead, chris christie dropping a bombshell on the media. he's undergone secret weight loss surgery. what does it mean for his re-election campaign and fast forward to 2016 and those prospects? we'll take a look. >>> and mark sanford's bid for political redemption despite the scandal and being ditched at one time by his own party. can he pull off this comeback against the sister of steven kolber bare? with the spark cash card from capital one... boris earns unlimited rewards for his small business. can i get the smith contract, please? thank you. that's three new paper shredders. [ boris ] put 'em on my spark card. [ garth ] boris' small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase every day. great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. read back the chicken's testimony, please. "buk, buk, bukka!" [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose 2% cash back or double miles on ever

a bi-partisan group of senators led by new york democrat kirsten gillibrand introduced legislation this week removing commanders from deciding whether to prosecute any serious crime, including sexual assault. >> today we're standing on a united front to take on these this issues on with new legislation that will fundamentally remove the decision making from the chain of command and gives that discretions to an experienced military prosecutor where it belongs. too often, these brave men and >> warner: in two recent, high- profile cases, air force generals threw out convictions of sexual misconduct. today joint chiefs chairman dempsey said that a decade of war may have undermined accountability on sexual assault. >> you might argue that we've become a little too forgiving because you know if a perpetrator shows up at a court marshal with a rack of ribbons and has four deployments and a purple heart. there is certainly a risk that we might be a little too forgiving of that particular crime. >> warner: but he appeared to push back against the gillebrand proposal, saying: >> in our system we

new york democrat kirsten gillibrand: >> today we're standing on a united front to take on these thisues on with new legislation that will fundamentally remove the decision making from the chain of command and gives that descretions to an experienced military prosecutor where it bengs. >> holman: the pentagon estimated last week there were some 26,000 cases of unwanted sexual contact last year. most went unreported. and this week, there were allegations of sexual misconduct against an army sergeant whose job was to prevent such crimes. the u.s. house has voted to repeal the president's health care reform law again. it was the 37th time the republican-led house has moved to kill the law since its passage in 2010. as before, the tally was almost entirely down party lines. the democratic-controlled senate is expected to ignore the bill. the senate today confirmed ernest moniz as the next secretary of energy. he's a nuclear physicist and a former energy under-secretary during the clinton administration. meanwhile, senate committees approved the nominations of gina mccarthy to head the env

that was new york senator kirsten gillibrand expressing her exasperation that the person in charge ofsaults for the air force was charged with sexual battery, himself. this week a pentagon report shined a harsh light on the problem of sexual assault in the military. it said that in 2012, an estimated 26,000 members of the military were sexually assaulted. up about 35% from a year before. and the across the board spending cuts known as sequester will hurt the very programs designed to help these sexual assault victims. in a series called "the unkindest cut" we've been looking at how these sequester cuts hurt real people and real programs. today, we look at cuts to programs for sexual assault victims in both the military and civilian worlds. in the military, army secretary john mchugh and army chief of staff general ray odierno told in a written statement, sequestration and associated civilian furloughs are likely to degrade aspects of our s.h.a.r.p. program. which hinders our ability to provide resolution for victims. joining me, the "washington post's" nia malik a henderson. this is w

senator kirsten gillibrand and congresswoman cathy mcmorris rodgers. >> probably the best piece of adviceomen trying to juggle career and family, is you really have to learn to be forgiving of your own self. when you have a lot of balls in the air, this is what i tell women, inevitably, one or two are going to fall. and you can't beat yourself up about it. >> there's some days that i think, okay. i have this figured out. and the next day, it's all falling apart. it's good to be able to talk with other working moms on capitol hill, that can understand and relate to you and give you those words of encouragement. >> i want more women in government. members of congress. even though we shouldn't have to be the bears of the issues, we passionately are because we see it. we see the challenge every day. >> women have made great strides in congress, it still and has been historically such a male-dominated place. so, what do you -- in very practical sense, what do you see day-to-day? >> a male member who has young children, typically their children live with their spouse in their home district duri

about sexual harassment and kirsten gillibrand because i harass her every time i open my mouth. girlfriend and i will have her. >> bill: we have a race to the finish line on that one here. you got some competition. >> john: well, once president elizabeth warren gets in, i'll probably be harassing her just as much, too. >> bill: of course, you're in new york. you have an advantage. >> john: indeed, i do. she's proven to be such a great choice to have replaced senator clinton. in the v.a. system, it is worse because one in five women and one in 500 men screen positive for sexual trauma. ptsd related to sexual trauma. last year, 334 veterans per month filed for disability benefits related to military sexual trauma. almost a third were men. >> bill: wow. it is just absolutely -- shocking and unbelievable. that this thing has gotten so out of hand. i want to switch here -- topics a little bit. because you and i that's what we do for a living. we cover a lot of stuff. i never thought -- you probably had the same feeling that we would ever agree with ted cruz on anything. but i do want

kirsten gillibrand wants victims to go straight to military prosecutors instead of going up the chain of command. for a new graduating class, there may soon be new rules on sexual assault in the military. the president has called for the national security council to closely monitor the military's renewed efforts to review sexual misconduct. defense secretary chuck hagel now holds weekly meetings on the topic and plans to echo the president's remarks this morning at his commencement speech at west point this morning. >> chip reid in washington. thank you, chip. >>> now to that brutal attack that killed a british soldier on the streets of london this week. it turns out the knife-wielding suspect was known to london's security. good morning, anthony. >> how they are able to slip the net is just one question facing british intelligence services today. now there's an astonishing claim that agents actually tried to recruit one of the men six months ago. >> we must fight them. >> reporter: long before he showed up with blood-soaked hands moments after the murder, intelligents agents had thei

kirsten gillibrand of new york is trying to change that.by the pentagon and defense secretary chuck hagel. an army veteran himself. despite the assurance yesterday that they will do everything needed to fix the program. joining us is a retired marine captain. you helped to draft the very legislation introduced by the senator on thursday. we are back fwen. are you stunned by how rapidly this is happening? >> i'm relieved. so are thousands of veteran who is shared their stories with us. the difference is the media is covering what happened for dekids and decades. folks who call our office have not only just recently been abused, harassed, assaulted, raped, we're getting calls from women and men assaulted back in vietnam, as far back as world war ii. it's devastating. the difference now is so many women are serving in the last ten years of war. is the media has taken an interest in women serving and dying. the military requires extra oversight by the media and extra oversight by the government. that's why this is happening. >> and you make the

kirsten gillibrand is the senator from new york and serves on the armed serces committee. good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> you can't blame people for shaking their heads at this. every couple of weeks there's another headline involving sexual assault or sexual harassment within the military. do you think the military in this case isimply a microcosm of society in general? or is there something deep within the culture of the military that turns it into a breeding ground for things like this? >> well, matt, i think you're right that these allegations coming to light over and over and over again continue to undermine or confidence that the military can address these problems. what we need is better transparency and accountability and victims to know that justice is possible. and that's why so many of us on a bipartisan basis are advocating when a victim is assaulted or raped, she should be able to report those crimes directly to a military prosecutor and not have to tell her boss. >> i understand that. >> the chain of command. >> that's dealing with something af

senator kirsten gillibrand is presenting legislation that the decision to prosecute is given to militaryoutside a unit will be more vigorous. >> we believe enough is enough. time to change the system that has been held over since george washington. that is simply not working today for the men and women who are serving. >> reporter: and defense secretary chuck hagel warns if this problem of sex crimes in the military isn't solved it could get to the point where parent and young people simply will not want to join the military. >> big problem, reaching a crisis level in washington. barbara starr at the pentagon, thank you so much. >> ahead on "starting point," a hatchet wielding hitchhiker, who found internet fame now accused of murder. >>> and abercrombie & fitch's ceo responds to the man who is rebranding the company by giving clothes to the poor. >>> what are the odds you will win more than half a billion dollar jackpot? we'll tell you. you're watching "starting point." peyou've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived w

a new interview this morning, white house senior adviser dan pfeiffer responded to senator kirsten gillibrandthat works better. >> joining me, democratic congresswoman gwen moore, herself a survivor of sexual assault. on thursday when you heard the president, he was speaking powerfully about military rape. but from what you just heard from dan pfeiffer, does it give you confidence in big changes? >> i can tell you when you look at the mission of the military and military culture, which is about aggression and about war, it shouldn't surprise us at all that sexual assault would surface as a huge issue they need to look at. do i think that they would revisit earlier statements to not take this out of the chain of command. we need to look at whether the chain of command can deal with the multitude issues that arise out of sexual assault. we have training issues given women's prize in the military, the repeal of don't ask/don't tell. as the executive director of the women's network said, we're not going to train our way out of this issue. we do have to look at taking it out of the military chain

of activity right now in congress, specifically a couple of weeks ago we talked to senator kirsten gillibrandputting other -- have other members of the military investigate these charges. but you heard president obama at the navaldemyoday very strong, very forceful remarks. >> jake tapper, in addition to that, what else do you have cooking for "the le" today? >> we'll be talking about that bridge incident in washington state. we'll be talking about cyberattacks. we have a visit with gary sunise, very active with veterans. we'll be talking about a very serious veterans issue on this memorial day weekend. and then, of course, we'll be taking a look at one of our favorite shows is returning, "arrested development" comes back. >> yes. >> it was canceled in 2007, returns this weekend on netflix. and then, of course, we'll talk about the investigation into the fox news reporter by the department of justice with our round table including ryan liza of the new yorker who has been breaking story after story on this issue. we're looking forward to that. you're doing great work in oklahoma. i hope the pe