issue today. as it plays beat the clock. the repeal of don t ask, don t tell, how will the military deal with the changes coming, and how long will it take? a wintry mess. what happens when is a roadway turns into an ice rink? there it is there and some unlucky drivers found out themselves. date night. prince william and his bride to be captured for the first time since they made their big announcement. i m not the only one who feels like that the video that could can be too hot for one station to handle is now bumped off a website. i m alex witt. welcome to msnbc sunday. a look right now the an capitol hill where the senate will meet again one day after voting to repeal don t ask, don t tell. today they will debate an arms treaty with russia to reduce stockpiles of nuclear warheads known as the s.t.a.r.t. treaty.
expired. without a new one soon, we will not have the ability to inspect russian facilities that s part of this new agreement. we need ratification now before the end of the year, alex. what did the president have to say about don t ask, don t tell? the president put out a statement yesterday as it wound its way through the senate ta reof don t ask, don t tell that bans guys from openly serving in the military. he says it is time to close this chapter in our history and when it finally passed as it gained momentum, that surprise of 63 senators voting in favor, including eight republicans. the press secretary here robert gibbs put out a statement that the president will sign it as soon as he gets ahold of it on his desk in the west wing. mike viqueira, we ll see you again next hour. members of the military are speaking out about the vote. this morningcy spoke with a former west point ca dead who resigned over don t ask, don t tell. she says the argument that the repeal will resu
fare. enjoy. we invite all of you to watch football night in america. it gets under way at 7:00 eastern followed by sunday night football when the packers take on the patriots in massachusetts all there for you on nbc. a historic vote on don t ask, don t tell makes it legal for gay and lesbian americans to be openly in the military and the second big political win for president obama at the 11th hour of this session of congress. the dadt repeal comes on the heels of the president signing into law the mass sib tax policy he helped negotiate. we have a congressional reporter from politico. good to see you. so repealing don t ask, don t tell was a major campaign promise. how big a win is for the president? very big. this is something that the democratic base pushed for a long time. it s something that comes on the heels of the tax cut deal that disappointed so many liberals. getting this is it something he
good morning to the two of you. we ll go ladies first. put this vote into the historical contempt. what does it mean for congress, for the military all of it? it s a huge step forward for america and for our basic civil rights and human rights. i mean, i think admiral mullen and secretary gates were very eloquent on this in terms of what this means for our national character and our dignity. the idea that we would ask people to have to lie about who they are in order to be our country, there s something inconsistent with our own values. i was in the clinton administration when don t ask, don t tell first was put in place. while i understood the politics, i have to say it sort of hurt meet you know, hurt my heart that we weren t quite at the place where we could making this a reality. so i feel very fortunate to be alive to see it happen. how about you, ron? your take on the repeals place in history? how do you see it? i think first and foremost, we need to make sure men and
we have an estimated 65,000 gay analyst byian and service members serving today in theater in afghanistan and iraq. and they re not taking away from unit cohesion but enhancing it. but so i think that the opposite is going to happen. the military will improve as a result of repeal. president obama is expected to sign that bill this week. more than 13,000 service members have been discharged under don t ask, don t tell. the policy will not disappear right away. first up, the defense department is expected to train and educate all forces on the new policy, and adjust procedures and facilities as necessary. defense secretary gates says this could take up to a year to get done. once the defense department is done it, secretary gates, mike mullen and the president have to certify that the military is indeedeady for this new policy to be plepted. the repeal will take effect 60 days after that certification. there is some time to come till