we see what the guy thinks. he s backing off and he s apologizing but we know where he s coming from. he thinks people are being brainwashed when every day gay kids are being taunted across our country. they re being taunted. there s been four kids that have committed suicide in the last couple weeks because they ve been pushed, discriminated because they were gay. congressman, don t ask, don t tell. the judge s ruling yesterday, what do you think, congressional response should be after the election when they come back in a lame-duck session? should the congress address don t ask, don t tell. the justice department 60 days to do something about it although they re not obligated legally do it. could this finally be the last ruling on don t ask, don t tell. this should be heads up on our military. work with our legislature on the process of any of the don t ask, don t tell law because if we don t end it legislatively it ll be done through the constitution. what about the 14,000 peo
12 1/2 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. in just a few hours, the senate is scheduled to vote on whether to go forward with a bill that would authorize the pentagon to allow don t ask, don t tell to be repealed. well, someone who s lending her voice to the cause, lady gaga. she headlined a rally yesterday in portland, maine, in hopes of pressuring the state s two republican senators to help get onboard to get it repealed. i m here because they inspire me. i m here because i believe in them. i m here because don t ask, don t tell is wrong. it s unjust. and fundamentally, it is against all we stand for as americans. the glasses were a nice touch as she was giving that speech. as we mentioned, don t ask,
serve openly in the military. i m here because they inspire me. i m here because i believe in them. i m here because don t ask, don t tell is wrong. it s unjust. and fundamentally, it is against all that we stand for as americans. so don t ask, don t tell is going to be front and center on capitol hill today. so let s bring in our senior congressional correspondent dana bash. she s live in washington for us. dana, put a pair of glasses on you, and you and lady gaga might not look so different. you know what, of all of the outfit she wears, glasses are probably the safest for me, john. there you go. this vote that lady gaga and other hollywood celebrities and gay rights lobbyists are working so hard on is simply a vote to start a debate.
well, one of the things she told us why do you take the words of a liberal group? but that group says it is nonpartisan. it says it s just been in the middle of investigating charlie rangel. and that group claims it investigates democrats and republicans thoroughly when they re doing stuff they shouldn t be doing. i m glad you had a chance to catch up with her. gary, thanks for joining us this morning. the o donnell campaign did say they re confident these accusations will be dismissed as frivolous. and this story will be developing all day. so for more on all of the day s political stories, head to cnnpolitics.com. the senate is set for an important test vote today on efforts to repeal don t ask, don t tell. pop star lady gaga is doing her part. she headed a rally in portland, maine, yesterday to urge the state republicans, both of them republican, to support her repeal and let gays and lesbians
activists had been targeting susan collins is because she supports repealing don t ask, don t tell, but she released a statement to cnn last night suggesting that the process needs to be changed or she ll vote with her party. i ll read the statement. she said, let me be clear, the don t ask, don t tell law should be changed. she went on to say, it s simply not fair. but she said it is disappointing, however, that instead of allowing a full and open debate on the defense authorization bill the majority leader intends to shut republicans out of the debate, kiran. it s yet again as you said not easy. it means to support this, it s tied up with so much other exactly. very, very important and not that controversial issues as it relates to defense spending. so what happens next if this should fail? you know, regardless of what happens in congress, the pentagon review, which is ongoing right now is due. the report is due in december the issue, though, is for don t ask, don t tell to