if it ever goes anywhere. a watchdog group has filed a complaint with the federal elections commission over checks o donnell wrote months after her 2008 campaign ended. the camp has not responded to our calls this morning, but she said very confidently that the accusations will be dismissed as frivolous. time for our political ticker this morning. a senate showdown on don t ask, don t tell. today s the day that lawmakers are scheduled to vote on a bill that includes the repeal of the provision. and our senior editor is live in washington. and mark, good morning, a lot of focus on maine this morning as they talk about don t ask, don t tell. there sure is, kiran, sure is, john. look, too close to call. that s what our dana bash and ted barrett are reporting this morning. democrats were hoping to try to get maine s two senators to join them to help break a republican filibuster. in fact, lady gaga, the pop star went up to maine yesterday to do a rally to try to put some
any vote. so that is the argument she is making. other people who might tend to support the repeal are making the same argument. that s why going into this vote is too close to call, john. republicans are accusing democrats playing politics by holding this so close to the election. do they have a point? it was a bit of a surprise when harry reid returned from summer recess and announced they were trying to take up this defense bill. other democratic leaders he and others actually argue that the reason why he said that is because it is a must-pass piece of unfinished congressional business. but i ve got to tell you, privately, even some democrats will tell you that they realize there are a lot of constituencies who voted for democrats in 2008 who are really frustrated with inaction on their issues. and the gay community is definitely one of them. the president made a campaign promise to repeal don t ask, don t tell back in 2008. so there is an element here of democrats scrambling
don t tell will be front and center in the senate later today. we ll bring in dana bash live in washington. do you ever think you d be talking about the repeal of don t ask, don t tell and bringing in lady gaga? you can t make this stuff up, that s for sure. what s interesting about this day-to-day, it is going to be dramatic. it is too close to tell right now. nothing in the senate is ever straightforward. what we re talking about here is simply a vote to begin debate on a defense bill that includes the authority you talked about. the authority to repeal don t ask, don t tell after a year-long military review is complete and after military leaders okay it. republicans are trying to block that defense bill from the senate floor. they argue among other things that democrats have set up a process that would make it hard for them to change or amend the bill. so that s why democrats think they are about one or two votes shy of overcoming the gop filibuster. the reason why gay rights
republicans are trying to block the bill from coming to the senate floor for several reasons. the one we hear the most is that the senate majority leader harry reid has set up a process that s unfair to gop senators because it limits their ability to offer amendments or change the bill. and that s why maine republican susan collins who supports repealing don t ask, don t tell, suggests she s leaning wards blocking the bill. other republicans, john, they don t believe that congress should be acting at all until the pentagon is finished with its policy review. and that is the reason that means other republican senator olympia snowe, that s why she says she s likely to vote no, as well. i ll read you her statement. she said the question is whether we should be voting on this issue before we have the benefit of comprehensive of the comprehensive review that president obama s secretary of defense ordered in march. to secure the input of our men and women in uniform during this time of war
right? what was the criticism of this piece? yeah. what exactly was it you said that cbs lara logan who is a war correspondent. her argument was that, in fact, he had people out in the field of battle who are exhausted or tired, risking their lives so they may have said some maybe colorful quotes. the fact of the matter is they were in paris. i m sorry? they were in paris. they were in paris getting drunk. right. i don t so is she suggesting that they censor i just don t get it. help us understand. i hate to sound like tom hanks in big. i don t get it. i don t get it. what are you supposed to do, protect your sources some. i think your concern is right. i think most people are siding with hastings on this. ironically, military pushed back and said a lot of what he wrote was off the record. how do they community that?