see your cadillac dealer for this attractive offer. backed by the peace of mind that only comes from cadillac premium care maintenance. the season s best sales event. from cadillac. taking a look at top stories now, president obama signed the don t ask, don t tell repeal just over two hours ago now, but implementing the change to allow gays to serve openly in the
just over 90 minute s time, president obama is scheduled to sign the repeal of don t ask, don t tell. the military s ban on openly gay soldiers. and after that, he ll be heading to hawaii to join his wife and kids for a little r & r. ed henry is already there and paid a visit to pearl harbor where he found two gay veterans who say they ve been waiting a long time for this day to come. reporter: we came here to gauge reaction to the president s historic signing of the repeal of don t ask, don t tell. and we found two gay veterans living in this state saying there are gay veterans all around the world, maybe even some entombed in the wreckage of the uss arizona behind me. they served in the u.s. military long before don t ask, don t tell. back then, gay people were simply banned from serving, and jeff who was in the air force and not open about his sexuality says it was like being hunted. when i was in the military in
for jeff and dale. thought it d come sooner, but it s here now. we re happy. it s very pleasing to live long enough to see it. reporter: i came here to pearl harbor expecting to see more people opposed to the repeal. we spoke to veterans and non-veterans of all ages and they largely said this was a long time coming and would ve happened sooner except for politics. john, carol? times have changed. president obama s scheduled to sign that repeal of don t ask, don t tell at 9:15 eastern this morning. so many people are expected to witness the signing, they had to rent out an auditorium to accommodate them. a big signing day for the president. we ll bring you that live here on cnn. although decision day in the senate. a health care bill meant to provide free medical treatment to 9/11 rescue workers. may come up for a senate vote later on today. coming up next, the personal stories behind all of this political wrangling. what happened to our firefighter here rows? heroes?
passed, it will be another huge win. is the obama mojo back? spiderman producers insist the show will go on after an on-stage accident could have been fatal very easily. where does the broadway megamusical go from here? and astronaut kady coleman is finally onboard the space station this week. as you know we ve been tracking her mission for months. we re going to talk to cady live from space in this hour. looking forward to that. after a november shellacking, turning out to be a december to remember for president obama. you re looking at a live picture of capitol hill. it ll be a busy place later on this morning. after lawmakers passed a spending bill to keep the government running through early march. here s what to watch for today. at 9:50 eastern, the president is going to sign the don t ask, don t tell repeal act into law.
the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty than without it. reporter: after a year of negotiations, president and russian president dmitry it took perseverance but we never gave up. reporter: it requires both countries to reduce nuke warheads 30%, from 2200 to 1550 each. cut long-range missiles and heavy bombers by 50%. and establish monitoring and verification for these weapons. some republicans expressed reservations that the preamble to the treaty could restrict evf a le i really am concerned that the russians are going to make conditions that allow us never to develop missile defense. i m not making this up. reporter: nuclear disarmament with russia is one of president obama s top priorities. some americans criticize the president for not being as supportive of the 9/11 health care bill for first responders. mr. president, please step up to the mound for those who worked on the pile. reporter: the senate is expected to vote on that bill after the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. brad wheelis, abc n