welcome back to legal view. i m ashleigh banfield. on this thanksgiving day, we all have something to be thankful, don t we? perhaps these people on this screen, american men and women serving in the armed forces to the tune of about 40,000 of them in afghanistan. the ones you are seeing in the video are getting a hot thanksgiving meal today. until a few days ago, they thought this might actually be their last thanksgiving in this country, where americans have been fighting and dying in a war that s lasted more than a decade. but the agreement to bring them home may have hit a bit of a snag. barbara starr has this report. happy thanksgiving! reporter: it s the 12th thanksgiving in afghanistan for u.s. troops. this is brian shenk stationed in northern afghanistan. i would like to give a shout out
senator gillibrand is introducing legislation so in sex assault case where is there may be jail time, the decision to prosecute is taken away from commanders and given to military attorneys. many feel prosecutors from outside the unit will be more vigorous. we believe enough is enough. it s time to change the system that s been held over since george washington. it s simply not working for the men and women serving. reporter: defense secretary chuck hagel is warning this could become a national security crisis as the president said, what happenses if this becomes so bad american familieses do not want their children, especially their daughters, to join the u.s. military? that s the fear they are looking at down the road as they try to deal with the criminal behavior? john, christine? they have to clean it up. barbara, thanks.
to prosecute is taken away from commanders and given to military attorneys. many feel prosecutors from outside the unit will be more vigorous. we believe enough is enough. it s time to change the system that s been held over since george washington. it s simply not working for the men and women serving. reporter: 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 are acknowledging they just are not sure what to do to solve the problem. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. thanks to barbara. the search is on for seven people still missing after those devastating tornadoes touched down in texas. the national weather service says at least 16 tornadoes touched down. people aren t being allowed back to survey the damage now.
undermines integrity. these issues of sexual assault and rape are undermining the military. we should be able to offer a safe environment for the men and women serving. they risk everything, even their lives, they should not be asked to be subjugated to violence and rape by their colleagues. senator kirsten jillen brarnd, thank you for your efforts. president obama is expected to hold a news conference at any moment. we ll bring it to you live when it gks.
and you can imagine all of the reasons why. so we have to do better by the men and women serving. and assure them that they will be serving and not be attacked by their colleagues, and not be subject to this kind of treatment. we have the best and the brightest serving in our military. we have the greatest military in the world. and we ask everything of them, to even die for their country. we should not be asking them to be subject to sexual assault and rape. it has been fascinating to watch this subject mushroom over time, get bigger and bigger. it felt at certain moments like, okay, that s maybe the end of it. but and by the way, i certainly have the feeling that tell me if this is true. that without women like you on the armed services committee, this would not be the issue it is now in the united states senate. well, i agree with you. a number of the men and women on the armed services committee, claire mccaskill, dick blumenthal, everyone is focused very intently on this i