right now on andrea mitchell reports, is this decision time for don't ask, don't tell? the key vote in the senate an hour from now. as of now, supporters do not have the votes. republicans are accusing democrats of grandstanding. >> they want to use this week for a political exercise. they want to weigh this bill down with controversy and a transparent attempt to show their special interest groups they haven't forgotten about them ahead of the election. just ahead, new york senator kirsten gillibrand and her new bff, lady gaga. >> doesn't it seem to you that we should send home the prejudice, the straight soldier who hates the gay soldier? >> fired up and ready to go? not quite. president obama hears from voters who express their fears over the economy and outline the problem s democrats are facing

this november. with us this hour, tim kaine. and will president ahmadinejad take manhattan? iran's president on the world stage. plus, nine americans die in a helicopter crash in southern afghanistan today. with us this hour, state department spokesman p.j. crowley. good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in new york. majority leader harry reid has only one hour to convince at least one republican to vote with democrats to try to repeal don't ask, don't tell. the controversial measure was attached to the defense authorization bill, now in the senate, and has republicans accusing democrats of playing politics. >> i think it's the right thing to do, i think it's only fair, i think we should welcome the service of these individuals who are willing and capable of serving their country. but i cannot vote to proceed to

this bill under a situation that is going to shut down the debate and preclude republican amendments. that, too, is not fair. >> nbc's luke russert joins us live from capitol hill. time is running ouflt we're talking about the end of the session really. is susan collins from maine, a republican who supports this, really going to let it go down because of this procedural fight? is that where we are right now? >> reporter: it it looks like that's the case. all indications are from sources from both sides, they're telling me that they don't believe the democrats will be able to muster the 60 votes to break the filibuster to allow the debate to go forward on the defense reauthorization bill. that being said, if it goes down today, it can definitely be brought back up after the election. a lot of what the republicans are worried about within this bill, andrea are, is not the repeal of don't ask, don't tell, but the fact that harry reid will not allow an open amendment process. it's essentially limiting the amounts of amendments.

that has angered mitch mcconnell, the republican majority leader, as well as what you just saw there, susan collins of maine as well as olympia snowe, another moderate democrats hoped would jump on here to repeal don't ask, don't tell. because of the parliamentary procedures and debate about them, the don't ask, don't tell measure is not allowed to go forward, doesn't mean it's completely done by any means, though. >> what about bringing it up again in a lame duck session? is that the last hope for people really trying to get this done now, this year, despite reservations reservations? >> reporter: that's certainly a possibility. there's one thing we've heard from a democrat, specifically jim webb of virginia, which is the military is conducting its own internal study of what the effects of don't ask, don't tell will have on soldiers in the field as well as the different branches of service within the barracks and whatnot. a lot of republicans want to see the findings and results of that study. after that study is then confirmed and the results are presented, then make up an

opinion about don't ask, don't tell. the votes are there, everyone for the most part will tell you, folks are hesitant to go right now. they want the process to play out completely. >> luke russert, on top of everything from the hill, in about an hour, we'll have the key showdown, the vote. thanks so much. >> reporter: indeed. still ahead, new york senator kirsten gillibrand will join us and she has joined forces with lady gaga, of all people, never thought i'd say that, pushing the repeal of don't ask, tell. iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad is at the united nations today blaming capitalism for the world's problems. nbc news tehran bureau chief, my friend and colleague joins me now. good to have you here. >> thanks, andrea. >> ahmadinejad meeting with reporters and anchors today, playing sort of the pr moves in new york, going to the united nations, his big speech to the u.n. will be thursday. it's hard to judge yet what he's saying, but one thing in particular we know that shane

bauer and josh fattal are still in prison. what he's saying is he has no control over the judiciary. what's really emerged from our interviews last week, from your contacts there, from what we're seeing in new york, is more divisions than ever in this regime. >> absolutely. it was highlighted today at the news conference, that he acknowledged today he isn't in charge of the judiciary. he's almost separated himself from them, maybe trying to appeal to some of the people out in the streets of iran after the election. some say it's a little too little, too late. but he is trying to soften his image domestically in iran, trying to separate himself from very hard-line decisions that have been made, which we've never seen before. >> that on the domestic policy, yet at the same time on nuclear issues, on the things that really are front and center here at the world stage with the united nations this week, no give at all, no compromise. >> i don't think there will be any give. he's towing the government line there and he has to do that. there's never been any compromise on the nuclear issue and i don't think we're going to see any on that either.

>> on top of it all, thank you very much. >> thank you. and a sad day in afghanistan. nine americans dying today in a helicopter crash in southern afghan mountains. the deadliest chopper crash in four years. nbc's john yang is live in kabul. john, do we know yet whether we're talking about an accident or whether this was actually, as the taliban claiming responsibility, which you know better than i they do all the time, for something that happened where there might have been a shoot-down? what do we think happened? >> reporter: well, the military, andrea, is saying there was no shoot-down. they say there was no evidence of any hostile fire before this helicopter went down. it went down about 4:00 this morning local time, late monday night walk time in zabul province in the southeastern part of afghanistan. this is a taliban stronghold, the taliban control s much of te territory on the ground, also where coalition fors have been ral ping up their efforts to try

to drive the taliban out. as you say being the taliban did claim responsibility, the military saying debbing it, saying there was no hostile fire. this now makes this year, 2010, even more than three months to go, the deadliest year for coalition forces in this nine-year-old war, 529 dead, 351 of them americans, also a record. andr andrea? >> a terrible toll. john yang, thanks so much. so iran, afghanistan, and now iraq. six months after iraq held its elections, still no government. now reports that the united states and iran are actually on the same side supporting efforts by the malaki government to create a broader shiite coalition. what's going on there? former u.s. ambassador to iraq christopher hill just retired last month after 33 years of foreign service and is now the dean at the university of denver's school of foreign

policy. thanks so much for joining us. ambassador, what do you think is going on with these endless negotiations in iraq? are we finally getting to the point where the malaki government is going to create a new government? >> they are -- what we have been trying to do is work on what -- >> sorry about the audio problems. >> and help the iraqis get to that -- >> ambassador, let me just apologize because i had a little trouble hearing you and i think our viewers did as well. let's ask you again about where you think the process is with the malaki government trying to create a coalition. his chief rival still resisting. do you think they're getting to the point of agreement after six

months? >> well, it's hard to say, but what i can tell you is, at the end of the day, there will be a shia prime minister and that shia prime minister will represent shia-led coalition are, and malaki fits that description. but there are a lot of people who are distrustful of him and hence the need to have some kind of power sharing agreement. that's what he's been working on, and i know they've been working rather assiduously on this in the last couple of months. so let's see if they can finally get it done. >> is it clear yet what role iran is playing? we're talking about the shiites and obviously they have the connections there. what role is iran now playing on all of this political process? >> well, first of all, iran plays basically two main roles in iraq. one, they try to help these various insurgent groups, these various, you know, armed

militia-type groups. that's one area where iran plays a very na ferris, malevolent role. second area is in the politics. the iranians have always taken the view they want to see all the shia together and somehow sort of keep the sunnis off to the side. and i think it represents sort of national interest that iraq is not allowed to go back to the sunnis. what will eventually happen, however, is there will be a government that represents sunni, shia and kurds. it will be very much mixed. so the iranian want to see it as shia as possible and i think the iraqis and frankly us, we would like to see it as balanced as possible. >> in neighboring afghanistan, obviously this is a place where the administration is going to have a review in december of how the war is going. do you think it's possible that point for the president to keep on his time line, have a review in december and the beginnings of withdrawal, based on conditions on the ground as they say, do you think there really

is an exit strategy from afghanistan as well as iraq? >> well, i think, from all i know about the administration, the issue of beginning the troop withdrawal has been very much a part of the issue of putting in troops in the first place. so i think the time lines can be met and obviously this december review is really going to be quite critical to this process. but, yes, i think it can be done. >> christopher hill, former ambassador to iraq, thank you very much. joining us from denver. coming up here next -- democrats facing voter anger on the economy. is it time to retool their message? democratic national chairman tim kaine joining us. plus, will meg witman's record-shattering spending spree deliver votes? you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. today, there will be 15,920 accidents.

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democrats across the country are facing voter anger and frustration. the president experienced that firsthand at a cnbc town hall yesterday in washington. let's watch. >> i'm one of your middle class americans, and quite frankly i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted of defending you, dwi defending your administration, defending the mantle of change i voted for and deeply disappointed with where we are right now. >> times are tough for everybody right now so i understand your frustration. my goal here is not to it try to convince you that everything is where it needs to be. it's not. that's why i ran for president. but what i am saying is that we're moving in the right direction. >> tim kaine is chairman of the democratic national committee. thanks for joining us. let's talk about that interview, velma hart, the one who asked that question, she said

afterward she's 100% supportive of the president, but you can see the anger, the frustration. a woman like that may not even vote. that's the kind of voter you need to get your base energized again. there doesn't seem to be a logical bumper sticker to inspire that. >> well, you know, here's what we're seeing, andrea. a couple of weeks ago a gallup poll came out to show that democrats on the generic congressional ballot were behind by ten, folks said that's the biggest gap they had seen. the next week we were even and now the poll yesterday said we were ahead. american voters are not happy with where the xmi right now, but they don't just think that's a democratic problem or republican problem. it's an american problem and one we have to solve. i think the choice now the primary season is now over, each party has their list of candidates and their strategy going forward. and the choice between the democratic direction, which is turned a shrinking economy into a growing one i think is going to be more attractive than a

strategy going back to the policies that put us into this last decade. >> governor, what do you do about the democratic members of congress running against nancy pelosi, the democratic party? we have chet edwards. let's take a quick look at the commercial because that tells the story. >> when president obama and nancy pelosi pressured chet edwards, chet stood up to them and voted no against their trillion-dollar health care bill and no to cap and trade. >> the facts. joe donnelly is indiana's most independent congressman. joe opposed president bush's attempts to privatize social security and voted against nancy pelosi's energy tax on hoosier families. but jackie what lorecy blindly follows the party lines. >> joe donnelly, chet edwards, you've got a growing number of democrats who are saying, you know, i'm not one of them. i'm not like nancy pelosi. what do you do with that? >> well, you know, there's a reason my hair is graying a

little faster than it used to. i'll tell you, the good news is i travel all the time and i'm with democrats everywhere who go out and talk with pride about the accomplishments of this congress. you know, women entitled to equal pay for equal work, health insurance reform bill that's protecting kids. >> you've come across a democrat -- you've found a democrat that brags about health care? >> i am at campaign events with gubernatorial candidates and members of congress all the time who are talking about it as positives. though the instances of candidates running ads distancing themselves, there are those. look, i respect people running ads that they think are responsive to their own concerns and concerns of folks in their districts. i do think, though, if you're running with a "d" after your name, be proud of it, be a happy warrior. celebrate the fact that the american auto industry is now hiring workers again and democrats did it with virtually no help from republicans. and i could give you 10 or 15 just like that that anybody could run on in any corner of

this country and be proud of it. i think that's what all democrats should do. >> it was very striking when arlen speblarl specter was on the tarmac, the president coming to philadelphia to campaign for joe sestak. when reporters asked arlen specter, who of course was defeated by sestak in the primary how he thought sestak was doing in the campaign, he said, pointedly, i'm late for the squash court? >> well, look, as you know -- and i've been on with you a lot -- these -- it's a tough climate. but we are seeing the races close as we thought we would and we're also seeing as the republicans complete their primary season, they have a full-blown civil war going on in the party that is producing opportunities for us. there are races we are going to win in november that six months ago we were quite certain we were going to lose. the wins an the losses, they'll net out as they net out, but we'll win races because of what the republican party is dog. but we've got a lot of work to

do over the next six weeks. we've got a good plan. we're investing heavily in the candidates and the field structure that enabled us to do well in '08. i'm upbeat and determined and the folks who work around me every day are the same way as i am. >> is joe sestak going to beat pat toomey? you have races where with you thought you would with win and now you're behind. sestak is certainly one of them. >> that is definitely a race where we've got to do better. the president was in philadelphia yesterday, both doing a couple of different events and is going to be back in pennsylvania more. pennsylvania maerpts big to us, one of the states where we are most invested. we've got more work to do there in that race, but joe sestak, great military year, great service in congress are. he's shown he doesn't mind a tough battle and he's shown he can do what it takes to come out on top. we think the contrast between him and pat toomey, the guy who thinks the right way to solve our problems is to give more money to the largest corporations, i just don't think that's a message that pennsylvania yans are going to

embrace. >> i wasn't there last night, but the president did it a shout-out to joe sestak, but he wasn't in the room any longer. he didn't bother to show up at his own fund-raiser? >> he was there. i don't know what other events he had. you are in the last six weeks of the campaign. joe sestak was definitely there and was glad to be part of the event. >> don't ask, don't tell on the floor of the senate. what do you vai to senators on this key issue? this could be the last chance for the this to come up before the election. >> i think it is an absolutely critical vote. there are a number of republicans who have been on theed record on behalf of repeal of don't ask, don't tell. if they as a party go lockstep against it this time, even going against positions that they profess to believe, we'll know that it's about obstructing the president rather than doing what's right for the country. this is a very important vote. >> party chairman tim kaine, thank you, governor. coming up --

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meg whitman's money trail to win the governorship in california is now spanning the country. get this, she has spent more on private planes alone than her opponent jerry brown has spent on his entire campaign. politico andy barr joins us. those private planes are expensive. does this have any impact in terms of the downside? is it all upside for her that she spends, spends, she's all over tv? how does he compete with that? >> the downside is you have all these stories but she's able to kind of trump that with the spending. it's $60 million alone just on radio tv ads that she's spent so far. that's going back to analysis looking at her campaign disclosures in july.

they've yet to release the recent ones. it's expected she will spend up you to 150 million of her own money. so far she spent 100 million of her own. we're just going to see these numbers increase. it's really just kind of unbelievable stats coming out of california. >> is there a different climate about this, given the economy and all? i mean, we've seen corzine, other very wealthy people manage to -- mike bloomberg -- without any repercussions really at the polls. in this climate, is there some risk there that people will react against all of the spending? >> i mean, jerry brown is certainly hoping so. whenever you talk to any of his staffers, they frequently point out how much she's spending. democrats always highlight that. so far, though there hasn't been a harsh backlack. she's spending hundreds of millions. she's outpacing browns by exponential numbers but she's

running even with brown. so it hasn't been enough for her that she has a 10 or 15 or very serious lead there. but it's enough take her from somebody who had almost no political i.d. a year or two ago to being a serious contender to be the governor of california. >> what about the national party? are the democrats doing anything in terms of real dollars for jerry brown? >> the dga has been very active. they went in early there. they're still spending on behalf of brown. also, brown's campaign not spending a whole heck of a lot, but there are numerous groups in california, some bringing unions together, some bringing democratic groups together, california is very kind of lenient in a lot of -- on that kind of thing that are supporting brown. they're not matching her fund raising. but when you use jerry brown's funds plus kind of the big pot of democratic money in california, they're coming close to matching at least in part

what meg whitman has been able to do. >> what about what she's spending compared to carly fiorina, the other republican on that ticket, how does that relate? is fiorina spending this kind of big bucks? >> she's spending but not in the same way. the big question is how much of a big check she's going to write herself. she doesn't have as much money as whitman, but whitman was dropping $10 million checks it seemed like every quarter going back to a year before the primary. so early on she was committed to self-financing this race. we haven't seen that same commitment yet from carly fiorina. >> thank you so much, andy barr from politico. still ahead right here -- the battle to repeal don't ask, don't tell. new york senator kirsten gillibrand joining us. plus, the standoff with iran as president ahmadinejad gets ready to address the world stage, we'll check in with p.j. crowley. this is "andrea mciff elle

reports" only on msnbc.

topping the news, gains are small on wall street as traders await the latest news from ben bernanke and his colleagues on ways to try to speed up a slow economic recovery. federal reserve members are holding their final federal open markets meeting today before the midterm elections. exterminators and entomologists are holding the first bedbug summit in chicago today. never thought i'd say that. to change ideas on ending the growing infestation. pest control work hes are showing freezing and heat techniques they feel work best against the bugs. yuck. and twitter users talking about bugs were thrown for a digital loop after hackers started sending them to third-party web sites. as election day nears, many voters are telling pollsters

they like none of the above. democrats like jason outmeyer snubbing washington and working the local angle in hopes of reelection. >> too many people in congress just vote the party lines. >> but jason altmire is not like that. jason is independent. no doubt about it. >> he voted against health care. >> when jason opposed the wall street bailout. >> he's not afraid to stand up to the president. >> and nancy pelosi. >> talk about party spirit. managing editor of, i was talking to tim kaine, he was saying, well, there are some examples like this. altmire is an scamp of it, right? >> tim kaine rightly so, the chairman of the democratic party, what else is he going to say? he has said people would be crazy to 41 the democratic party and the accomplishments, but it's clear that's exactly what haes hooping in a lot of these places, altmire, edwards in texas. >> chris, may i interrupt you for a moment? we're going to the white house,

the east room. there's a ceremony, the posthumous awarding of the medal of honor. let's watch the president. >> for serving above and beyond the call of duty. today we present the medal of honor to an american who displayed such gallantry more than four decades ago. chief master sergeant richard l. et etchburger. this medal reflects the gratitude of an entire nation so we are also joined by vice president biden and members of congress, including congressman earl pomeroy and from chief etchberger's home state of pennsylvania, congressman tim holden. we are joined by leaders from across my administration including secretary of veterans affairs rick shin seccy, secretary of defense robert gates, vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and

leaders from across our armed services, including air force secretary michael donnelly and chief of staff general norton schwartz. i want to acknowledge a group of americans who understand the valor we recognize today because they displayed it it themselves, members of the medal of honor society. most of all, we welcome dick etchberger's friends and family, especially his brother robert and dick's three sons steve, richard, and cory. for the etchberger family, this is a day more than 40 years in the making. corey was just 9 years old, but he can still remember that winter in 1968 when he, his brothers and his mom were escorted to the pentagon. the war in vietnam was still

raging. dick etchberger had given his life earlier that year. now his family was being welcome by the air force chief of staff in a small, private ceremony, dick was recognized with the highest honor that the air force can give, the air force cross. these three sons were told that their dad was a hero, that he had died while saving his fellow airmen, but they weren't told much else. their father's work was classified, and for years that's all they really knew. then, nearly two decades later, the phone rang. it was the air force, and their father's mission was finally being declassified. that's when they learned the truth, that their father had given his life not in vietnam but in neighboring laes.

dick etchberger was a radar technician, hand-picked for a secret assignment. he served at the summit of one of the tallest mountains in laos, more than a mile high. they manned a tiny radar station guiding american pilots in the air campaign against north vietnam. dick and his crew believed that they could help turn the tide of the war, perhaps even end it. that's why north vietnamese forces were determined to shut it down. they sent their planes to straight the americans as they worked. they moved in their troops and eventually dick and his team could look through their binoculars and see that their mountain was surrounded by thousands of north vietnamese troops. dick and his crew at that point had a decision to make. ask to be evacuated or continue

the mission for another day. they believed that no one could possibly scale the mountain's steep cliffs and they believed in their work so they stayed. they continued their mission. there were 19 americans on the mountain that evening. when their shift was over, dick and his four men moved down to a small rocky ledge on a safer side of the mountain. and then, during the night, the enemy attacked. somehow fighters scaled the cliffs and overran the summit. down the side of the mountain, dick and his men were now trapped on that ledge. the enemy lobbed down grenade after grenade hour after hour. dick and his men would grab those grenades and throw them back or kick them into the valley below, but the grenades kept coming. one airman was killed and then

another. a third airman was wounded. then another. eventually dick was the only man standing. as a technician, he had no formal combat training. in fact, he had only recently been issued a rifle. but dick etchberger was the very definition of an ncl, a leader determined to take care of his men. when the enemy started moving down the rocks, dick fought them off. when it looked like the ledge would be overrun, he called for air strikes. within yards of his own position, shaking the mountain and clearing the way for a rescue. and in the morning light, an american helicopter came into view. richard etchberg eer lived the airman's creed, to never leave an airman behind, to never falter, to never fail. so, as the helicopter hovered above and lowered its sling,

dick loaded his wounded men one by one, each time exposing himself to enemy fire. and when another airman suddenly rushed forward after eluding the enemy all night, dick loaded him, too. and, finally, himself. they had made it it off the mountain. that's when it happened. the helicopter began to peel away, a burst of gunfire erupted below. dick was wounded, and by the time they landed at the nearest base, he was gone. of those 19 men on the mountain that night, only 7 made it out alive. three of them owed their lives to the actions of dick etch beggar. today we're honored to be joined by one of them, mr. john daniel. of the few who knew of dick's actions, there was a belief that

as valor warranted our nation's highest military honor, but his mission had been a secret and that's how it it ststayed for t many years. when their father's mission was finally declassified, these three sons learned something else. it it turned out that their mother had known about dick's work all along but she had been sworn to secrecy and she kept that promise to her husband and her country all those years, not even telling her on sons. so today is also a contribute to katherine etchberger in a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices that our military spouses make on behalf of our nation. now, this story might have ended there, with a family finally knowing the truth, and for another two decades it did. but today also marks another chapter in a larger story of our nation finally honoring that

generation of vietnam veterans who served with dedication and courage but all too often were shunned when they came home, which was a disgrace that must never happen again. a few years ago an airman who never even knew dick etchberger read about his heroism and felt he deserved something more. so he wrote his congressman who made it his mission to get this done. today we thank that airman, retired master sergeant robert dilly and that congressman, earl pomeroy who along with congressman holden made this day possible. sadly, dick's wife katherine did not live to see this moment, but today steve and richard and corey, today your nation finally acknowledges and fully honors your father's bravery. because, even though it has been

42 years, it's never too late to do the right thing. and it's never late to pay contribute to our vietnam veterans and their families. in recent year s dick's stories have been known and air force bases have honored him with streets and buildings in his name. and at the base where he trained so long ago in barksdale in louisiana, there's a granite monument with an empty space next to his name, and that space can finally be etched with the words "medal of honor." but the greatest memorial of all to dick etchberger is the spirit that we feel here today, the love that inspired him to serve, love for his country and love for his family. and the most eloquent expression of that devotion are the words he wrote himself to a friend back home just months before he gave his life to our nation --

i hate to be away from home, he wrote from that small base above the clouds, but i believe in the job. he said, it is the most challenging job i'll ever have in my life. then he added, i love it. our nation endures because there are patriots like chief master sergeant richard etchberger and our troops who are serving as we speak who love this nation and defend it. their legacy lives on because their families and fellow citizens preserve it. and as americans we remain worthy of their example only so long as we honor it, not merely with the medals that we present but by remaining true you to th values and freedoms for which they fight. so please join me in welcoming

steve, richard, and corey for the reading of the citation. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress march 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of the congress the medal of honor to

chief master sergeant richard l. etchberger, united states air force, for conspicuous gallantry at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. chief master sergeant richard l. etchberger distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism march 11, 1968, in the country of laos while assigned to ground radar superintendent detachment 11043rdor radio vac waigs squadron. on that day, he was mooning a top-secret position when the base was overrun by an enemy ground force. receiving sustained and withering heavy artillery attacks directly upon his unit's position, chief etchberger's entire crew lay dead or severely wounded. despite having received little or no combat training, chief etchberger single-handedly held off the enemy with an m-16 while simultaneously directing air strikes into the area and

calling for air rescue. because of his fierce defense and heroic and selfless actions he was able to deny the enemy access to his position and save the lives of his remaining crew. with the arrival of the rescue aircraft, chief etchberger, without hesitation repeatedly and deliberately risked his own life exposing himself to heavy enemy fire in order to place three surviving wounded comrades into rescue slings hanging from the hovering helicopter waiting to airlift them to safety. with his remaining crew safely aboard, chief etchberger finally climbed into the evacuation sling himself, only to be fatally wounded by enemy ground fire as he was being raised into the aircraft. chief etchberger's bravery and determination in the face of persistent enemy fire and overwhelming odds are in keeping with with the highest standards of performance and traditions of military service. chief etchberger's gallantry, self-sacrifice and profound concern for his fellowmen at

risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty reflect the highest credit upon himself and the united states air force. >> airman killed in laos in 1968, secret shared by his widow, not even with the children. richard etchberger becoming the newest member of an elite group of heroic americans, winner of the congresstional medal of honor, the military's highest

honor. now back to chris alys. this puts everything we talk about in context. >> moving story. >> exactly. so from the sublime to the ridiculous, back to politics. >> that's why you're the host, that smooth transition. >> i was really struck by something in your story in "the washington post" today. fred yang talking about how this year 2010 is not really 1994. this is not analogous to what happened to the republicans. why not? >> there's a number of things. the thing fred is talking about that i think is most important, 1994 remember republicans had been out of power for 40 years. so the people who were voting had no real sense of them. they have a sense of them now and that sense is negative. remember, former republican member of congress told me recently, we just got fired in 2006 and 2008. the american people know what they would be getting with republicans in charge of the

112th congress starting in 112th congress starting in 2011. they don't necessarily like it. the question is do they like it less than they like the idea of democratic controlled house senate and white house. that's the give and take of the last 42 days of this election. >> chris cillizza, we're talking about the lesser of two evils or none of the above. it's a real hold your nose election so far. >> absolutely. >> there's still some time. 43 days. senator mitch mcconnell now accusing democrats of weighing down the defense appropriations bill with controversial measures to curry voters. with us now, kristin gillibrand. it's great to see you. thanks for standing by. we had a very important and moving ceremony at the white house with the medal of honor. but i wanted to talk to you about don't ask, don't tell. obviously we're talking about military service from men and women who are excluded from

being open about their service. they've been as supporters pointed out, fighting heroicly for generations. what is the outlook? you don't have the votes? >> we are literally saying to men and women who want nothing but to serve this country and give their lives to this country that they can't based on who they love. i can't think of a more immoral, destructive policy for the u.s. government to support in this we want to repeal the policy. we've been working over a year and a half to get to this vote. i'm not optimistic we will pass it on the first vote and override the filibuster. i do think it will happen this year. we have to keep fighting for it. >> this is what john mccain that had to say. obviously, john mchcain had previously said that he would follow the joint chiefs, he would follow the military. now they haven't completed their study or survey, but we've heard

from admiral mullen. we've heard from secretary gates. this is what john mccain had to say in this debate. >> it's a blatant message of disrespect to our men and women of uniform if congress is unwilling to wait to hear what the force has to say on this important matter before pushing ahead with a controversial political vote less than two months before an election. >> i disagree with senator mccain for at least two reasons. first, we've heard from the military. we've had hearings with many members of the military, including admiral mullen, the chairman of the joint chief of staffs testifying it undermines the whole integrity of the armed services. he's talked to commanders from other militaries that have repealed similar policies and that he had every confidence our armed services member could implement the policy without any undermining of morale. this is something we've debated with military leaders for a very

long time. also to mccain's argument. is this report that is due in december has nothing to do with whether we should repeal the policy. what the report is about is how to repeal the policy. it is our obligation as senators and members of congress to repeal a law that we put in place. so it's not their obligation to repeal the law. we must repeal it. their report goes solely to how to implement, and their advice and guidance. and all the vote is about today is to basically say that they may move forward with implementing their recommendations. >> senator gillibrand, thank you very much. you and lady gaga on the same side of a debate. who knew? thanks for being with us. here in new york, iran's president is in new york today saying he has no control of bringing the two americans out of iranian prison. despite p.j. crowley asking him to bring shane bauer and josh fattal with him on his plane.

not easy getting across town. thank you very much. a lot of disappointment. what do you make of the fact that he says he has no control over the release of the two men. >> working around his jew dish rare, iran has demonstrated they have the capability to free sarah shourd. unfortunately, they're drawing some hostage exchange element to this. there's no equivalence between the three hikers who wandered across an unmarked border and iranian citizens in custody or prison in the united states because they violated a national law or armed sanctions. we don't want to connect the two in any way. this is a -- these are cases that can be resolved. sarah shourd's case has been resolved. we would hope iran would do the same for josh fattal and shane b bauer. >> what are we going to hear

from the administration, the president, the major speech on thursday? what is the overture right now from secretary of state to president of iran, if any? >> we're studying ahmadinejad's speech again today. he says talks might happen. it's not just the united states, the national community on nuclear issues, he can engage. >> but not one on one. >> we have to work up to this. iran had to demonstrate it is prepared to engage constructively. if it is, we'll respond. but he can't just say we're willing to talk. if he wants to talk, he can call katherine ashton and set it up. >> pj crowley. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> that does it for us. tomorrow on the show, homeland security secretary, janet napolitano and senator joe

lieberman. my colleague tamron hall is up next. >> hey, andrea. we are waiting on a big volt to take place on the senate floor. we could be one step closer to ending the military's don't ask, don't tell policy with a vote expected in the hour. we're going to take you to capitol hill live. we'll hear from the founder of the gay and lesbian veterans group about the policy. also, the daughter of a police chief is laid to rest as her accused killer is arraigned on charges connected to her murder at the same time. new details on what the accused murder said in court just today. [ engine revving ] [ male announcer ] the u.s. government may soon require brake override technology on all new cars and trucks. at nissan, we think this is a good idea. so we did it... ...six years ago. [ wind howling ]

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