military. last night on air during our show the resist to changes necessary to crack down on sexual predators in the armed forces is not a partisan difference between democrats and republicans but rather an institutional fight between congress and the pentagon and the president called today s meeting, it appears, to try and play the role of mediator. still there is the question of how difficult will it be to get this done politically. a question a former marine corps veteran and now executive director of service women s action network tried to action for us on last night s show. we re dealing with habit and tradition. it is military deference has become almost like a physical habit. right? where we assume that military leadership always knows best when it comes to issues in the military. it absolutely does not know best. there should be no politician, democrat or republican, who even hesitates to support this kind of legislation. joining me tonight, spencer ackerman, senior wired
then a pentagon report showed 26,000 military members were sexually assaulted last year. hours before a meeting at a white house, a group of bipartisan lawmakers voted to remove sexual assault cases from the military s chain of command. it has been change this system that s been held over since george washington that is simply not working today for men and women who are serving. when any single victim of sexual assault is forced to salute her attacker clearly our system is broken. today s meeting between president obama, defense secretary chuck hagel and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff martin dempsey was designed to convey the message we re doing everything we can regarding sexual assault in the military. last night on air during our show the resist to changes
crews not have characterized previously. what you don t see is a commensurate rise in reported sexual assault incidences and you definitely do not see a commensurate rise in sexual assault convictions. that s a situation where the pentagon now starts to feel that they really do still face and enormous trust deficit. we ll stay on this. spencer ackerman, thanks for your great work tonight. appreciate it. if there s anything that could cause businesses to make improvements to safety standards, you would think it is and accident that killed more than 1,100 people. but several major american companies, ones that you know, won t sign on to the new standards. i m going to tell you who they are next. with the new staples rewards program
spencer, i want to ask you first how is the pentagon just from a simple pr perspective with the latest news out today, how are they handling this internally? are they panicked about this? are they aware will is a story building here, that they are really going to have to get out ahead of? exceptionally panicked, chris. this is way beyond what even after lieutenant colonel krosinski pentagon officials thought would be a couple-dayer to. they come out with another report on sexual assault. chuck hagel comes out and says he expects the chain of command all throughout different services to make some institutional changes and it is gone. but clearly this had is cresting. the idea that all of a sudden there is a third official, a third now 2nd officer, third official in charge in some way of sexual assault and prevention in the military arrested on
spencer, i want to ask you first how is the pentagon just from a simple pr perspective with the latest news out today, how are they handling this internally? are they panicked about this? are they aware will is a story building here, that they are really going to have to get out ahead of? exceptionally panicked, chris. this is way beyond what even after lieutenant colonel krosinski pentagon officials thought would be a couple-dayer to. they come out with another report on sexual assault. chuck hagel comes out and says he expects the chain of command all throughout different services to make some institutional changes and it is gone. but clearly this had is cresting. the idea that all of a sudden there is a third official, a third now 2nd officer, third official in charge in some way of sexual assault and prevention in the military arrested on