we're doing it with gays and lesbians today. we somehow put out of our mind the fact that we're discriminating against another human being by characterizing them as somehow not like us. not equal to us. not fully human. not a full citizen. and that's what is so pernicious about this campaign. >> moyers: this is the first time that state laws banning gay marriage have been challenged in a federal court. no matter who wins, no matter how the judge in san francisco comes down, it's likely this will be appealed all the way to the supreme court, right? >> yes. >> yes. >> moyers: so, if you go to the supreme court, ted, you're going to run smack up against some of your best friends. i mean, as you know, when you mentioned that 2003 case, when the court outlawed texas laws against sodomy, justice scalia issued a strong, some say virulent, dissent. and he said that this decision effectively decrees the end of all morals legislation, and would lead to sanctioning same sex marriages. he went on to accuse his colleagues on the court of ali

over -- it's very true that many of the gay and lesbian groups that exist are very new organizations. some of them just a few years old. and they have often been very isolated from other groups in civil society, even other human rights organizations, but we do see a growing trend where human rights organizations, globally and also on the regional level in africa, are becoming more engaged with gay and lesbian rights issues. in the example of u began dark one of the really positive things that we've seeng$ is th emergence of a local coalition, not just of gay and lesbian groups but women's organizations, human rights organizations that are working together on a local level to oppose this really terrible piece of legislation this's currently being considered. >> okay, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. >>> if it's february and you love the movies, that can only mean only one thing, you are undoubtedly glued to the television for the annual cavalcade of awards shows. and today, the biggest of them all, the oscars announced their nominations for the best of the best. but t

we have gay and lesbian soldiers serving. they served in the past and they're going to serve in the future and they are going to serve in a very valiant way but the primary purpose of the armed forces is to prepare for and prevail in combat should the need arise. military life is fundamentally different from civilian life in that military society is characterized by its own laws, rules, customs and traditions including restrictions on personal behavior that would not be acceptable in civilian society. examples include alcohol use, adultery, feminization and body art. if we change this rule of don't ask don't tell what do we do with these other issues? the armed forces must maintain personnel policies that exclude persons whose presence in the armed forces would create an unacceptable risk to the armed forces high standards of moral, order and discipline and unit cohesion. presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would likely create an unacceptable risk to thos

what would it be like if gays and lesbians were allowed to show public displays of affection on base. it will change the culture. >> as a practical matter, what happens if congress, if they do repeal the law, fewer separations? >> secretary gates spoke to this. he said we're no longer going to have third parties come forward and be allowed to out gays and lesbians in the military. since 1994, 13,000 servicemen and woman have been forced to leave under don't ask don't tell. 80% were those that came forward on their own. the secretary is trying to address the remaining 20%. it's trying to get at the main intent. if you're a gay or lesbian military person and you don't want to serve, you don't have to, but we don't want a climate where people are persecuted, witch hunts going on searching for gays and lesbians and forced them out. gwen: they stopped enforcing them for quite some time. >> at the peak in 2001, it was 1,273. eight years later and two wars later, we're down to 428 in 2009. >> a year. gwen: a year. >> why does it take a law, if it was originally a presidential policy? >> don'

now, of course, lesbians on the other hand, i'm generalizing massively here. [laughter] it's only when you generalize massively that you get interesting stuff. you know, in some ways, you know, you know the joke. the joke is that what does a lesbian bring on the second date? it is a u-haul. what is the gay man bring on the second date? what second date? [laughter] i think if you look at anybody with any understanding of males and women looking at gay culture and lesbian culture they would find anything to be surprised about. it just so happens in the last generation once the restrictions and decriminalization and the persecution of a people is released and when there was a general sexual liberation in the entire country, straight and gay, '60's and '70's, when all that repression similar burst out gay men had freedom and no social institutions. 300,000 of them died. i have lived with the virus now for 16 years that has denied me the ability to have citizenship, that has terrified me. i have lost friends. i've lost my closest friend. i watched him die in his mo

we have to hold them responsible because they are throwing gay and lesbian children in that river andy are drowning. >> do you think, bishop robinson, that the american prayer hour will become an annual event? do you think that it's possible that politicians could be drawn away from the national prayer breakfast? do you think the family, the fellowship, the organization that supports it, is -- has gotten itself in deep enough water here that people may start to pull away from them at that event? >> i think it's a possibility. we need to be careful with whom we associate, and i think the family has used the national prayer breakfast as a way of acquiring a sort of patina of respectability and credibility. and so perhaps in another year maybe we ought to offer an alternative event so that our congressional people and even the president himself will need to think long and hard about whether they want to lend the credibility of their presence to such a group. >> bishop gene robinson, thank you so much for joining us tonight. i really appreciate you making time for us. thank you. >> you're

but all gays and lesbians want to serve openly. they want to be honest about their service to their country. and as admiral mullen said today, it comes down to integrity. and every service member counts, gay or straight. >> let me go to peter. what is the argument against -- in terms of actual performance in the barracks, in life, in the military? what gets in the way of military discipline in a crack unit? your view. performing as soldiers. >> military life is unlike civilian life. soldiers are put in positions of forced intimacy all the time. they shower together, sleep together in the barracks. and it's simply unfair to put soldiers in a position of forced cohabitation with those who may be viewing them as a sexual object. that is a formula guaranteed to lead to greater sexual tensions, sexual harassment and even sexual assault. >> my dad was in the military, my brother was in the military. everybody i know who has ever been in the military says there are gay people in the military. they're known to be gay. you say we will have

and that's just not going to happen in uganda when coming out can subject you to beatings, lesbiansre almost routinely raped in order to cure them of their homosexuality, and horrific things are happening there and so this really can't just happen from the grass roots. we must use our leverage and i'm so glad that secretary clinton and president obama today took this opportunity to highlight this. >> you're satisfied with the way that they addressed it and you think that this is, you think it'll make a difference in terms of what happens in uganda? >> i think it does make a difference. you know, there's an old saying that the church is pretty good at pulling drowning people out of a river. you know, we're good at the charity thing. but what we need to do is to walk back upstream and figure out who's throwing them in in the first place. and i think president clinton -- president obama and secretary clinton today made the first in those efforts. for us to begin to identify these religious groups who -- it's horrifying to me -- but in the name of god are going over and stoking the fire

are gays and lesbians current cubly serving in our military? >> yes. >> and isn't the current foundation of the policy that we welcome their service. >> that is true, yes. >> are you aware of any moral issues or disciplinary problems surrounding the current service of gay and lesbian members, americans as members of the military. >> certainly not broadly. >> now, here is my -- i think what you are embarking upon is important, and i think it is welcomed, but here is my problemch. we have established that we have gays and lesbian americans serving in the military and think are not causing disciplinary or moral problems and we welcome the service, so the issue is not whether or not gay and lesbian military personnel are serving in the military, but it is whether or not we talk about it. so how are you going to get their input in this survey? >> actually, i mean my take on that is -- well, hang on a second. i think that we would have to look very carefully at how we would do that specifically. >> and that is the point i would like to leave you with

are gays and lesbians current cubly serving in our military? >> yes. >> and isn't the current foundation of the policy that we welcome their service. >> that is true, yes. >> are you aware of any moral issues or disciplinary problems surrounding the current service of gay and lesbian members, americans as members of the military. >> certainly not broadly. >> now, here is my -- i think what you are embarking upon is important, and i think it is welcomed, but here is my problemch. we have established that we have gays and lesbian americans serving in the military and think are not causing disciplinary or moral problems and we welcome the service, so the issue is not whether or not gay and lesbian military personnel are serving in the military, but it is whether or not we talk about it. so how are you going to get their input in this survey? >> actually, i mean my take on that is -- well, hang on a second. i think that we would have to look very carefully at how we would do that specifically. >> and that is the point i would like to leave you with

members today are between 18 and 34, and they have no trouble, no problems serving with gays and lesbians every day. >> reporter: for now, secretary gates would like to loosen up on enforcement, to permit more gays to remain in the military while don't ask-don't tell is still the law. jim miklazewski, nbc news, the pentagon. >>> we turn our focus now to haiti. first off, an update tonight on the relief effort now three weeks after the earthquake. there are signs that the food distribution effort is slowly improving, but also new signs of desperation in the face of so much great need. as "the new york times" puts it tonight, paper coupons that can be redeemed for 55 pounds of rice have become more valuable these days than money in haiti and counterfeiters are printing up fake coupons. a government official tells nbc news tonight tens of thousands of people are now getting paid every day to clean up the huge piles of debris, and that organized tent cities with large waterproof tents are starting to take place of sheets held up with sticks across the countryside. >>> now we move to the lates

." >> allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. >> reporter: and 25 years later, heeding a certain call, "we are the world" returns. ♪ there's a choice we're making... ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs from cbs news world headquarters in new york, this is the "cbs evening news" with katie couric. >> couric: good evening, everyone. we're beginning with late-breaking news. a new warning about a possible terror threat against the united states. intelligence officials told congress today an attempted attack by al qaeda can be expected in the next three to six months. chip reid is at the white house tonight and, chip, this is unnerving news. >> reporter: it certainly is, katie, it was chilling testimony from the nation's top intelligence and law enforcement officials. >> my greatest concern, and what keeps me awake at night, is that al qaeda and its terrorist allies and affiliates could very well attack the united states. >> reporter: an attempted attack they said, is not a long-term possibility but a near-term certainty. >> what is the likelihood of another t

and a gay man or lesbian woman doo not look differently. you don't know where they are right now.opening the military to gays is going to be similar. they're going to not open the entire military. i think they'll try not to do it in combat arms because they're worried -- worried about camaraderie issues and things like that. and so, i think that that is really their plan to do it in phases, maybe a few occupations at a time, not unlike what they didçó with women. i don't think they'll do like they did with minorities. when they opened the military to minorities they segregated them into units and it was an all black unit andÑi there was question of would they ever work with a white unit, it was a difficult questions i don't think they'll face here now. i think it'll be more like women where you let them in a few occupations at a time. the question is, what do you do with gays or lesbians in a combat unit and still closetted because they can't come out or face discharge? that's what they face and when they're talking about maybe we need to be more lenient with the discharge policy

you can serve in the military if you are gay and lesbian now. "don't ask, don't tell" is just a policy that allows people who are gay and lesbian to serve in the military without making it an issue but if you get into the other statistics of the hundreds of out of the people of around the country who are serving in the military, you are going to have a far more repression -- repercussions regarding people leaving military who find that offensive, and another statistic that says that over 10% of the current population in the military will take voluntary retirement. i think what you will have is nothing but a reduced military service of gay and lesbian people serving in the military. you are disrupting an organization that already has a policy in place, it is working. and it never was an issue before. again, i served six years side by side with gay and lesbian people who were very professional, conducted their jobs in the manner in which they were trained and nobody ever made it an issue. when they left the ship they went to their gay bars, straig

should gays and lesbians serve openly in the military? >>> a grim drama about soldiers in iraq that wasn't done at the box office. could the intense reality of the hurt locker beat "avatar" on oscar night. and how teenagers learn about sex may determine whether they have s what a controversial new study claims about the just say no approach. >>> i just want to say hello to you. welcome. i'm christi paul. defense secretary robert gates is launching a process that should allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. but not any time soon. here are live pictures as he testifies before a senate committee right now. he's outlining his plans for ending the current don't ask, don't tell policy. the pentagon review could take more than a year. in the meantime, gates intends to revise the rules on discharging gay service members, he'll place a heavier burden of proof on a commander that wants to force someone out of the arms services. don't ask, don't tell, making its come back, of course, also in conversations since president obama men

the lesbians at smith college protest better than you do.bians at smith college protest better than you do. all right? bring it. yeah, yao is my energy. jeff, guess what, you just made an enemy out of me, buddy. yeah, you, yeah, you, you made an enemy out of me. thanks a lot. >> smith college, guy wouldn't last three minutes at smith cloth. wouldn't even find his shirt. joining us now. david weigel, reporter for "the washington independent." >> wish you were here. >> crazy seems to be in the divisions of the extremes. we'll start with the law and order party, honoring the guy who needs to get his parole officer's permission to attend. >> some people have started that they didn't like nixon until watergate. there's an element of if you survive a battering from the -- establishment that makes you a better conservative. in james o'keeffe's defense, he's in the same position legally that a lot of people are when they have done something and the lawyers are waiting for a trial. so he's -- he was, actually, joined by another guy who participated i

gays and lesbians were still fighting to save their jobs. all over the country.it -- you have a culture where gays and lesbians are for lack of a better word, more accepted. we went through the will and grace years that sort of made, you know, gays and lesbians fun and friendly and nonthreatening and all of that. >> i was never threatened for the record. i want to make that clear. >> willie has always been down with the gays. >> totally. >> but it's been sort of a lightning-fast move to acceptance for the gay community. there's no way around it. but there are still these two meddlesome issues. have you g you have gays in the military and the so-called defense of marriage act. once those two are done away with, the gay community will reach major milestones, but it will take time. >> maybe washington playing catchup with pop culture. >> and american life. >> we have to get to your piece on the daily beast about andrew young. john edwards' former body man. who gave a full account, a spilling of the beans about what happened with this baby, with rielle hunter. >> i d

." >> also, a conference on the gay and lesbian communities political agenda. after that, a discussion of jobs and the economy. sunday on "washington journal," american action forum president on his role in launching a new think tank.

gays and lesbians do not look any different, so it is difficult to see where they are.ccupations at a time. what do you do with those days and lesbians who are in combat operations at this time? those are the kinds of things that they face, maybe making the discharge policy more lenient. never ask, never tell. host: members of the committee are certain to ask about troops in iraq and afghanistan. here is what admiral mullen had to say. >> become that in iraq will be drawn down to six brigades. all will be a bit withdrawn by december 2011. in afghanistan, a key focus is a competent afghan national security force. our request makes that ever while the -- a reality. host: rick maze? guest: this is what they promised. we would have combat troops out of iraq by then. host: how do they define what a combat troop is, what a combat troops' mission is? if someone is walking around with a loaded weapon, somebody shoots at him first, he is ready to shoot back, defend his comrades? is that not a combat mission? guest: if you think about the definition more simply, are you part of a

on capitol hill and next hour they're expected to outline the first steps to integrate gays and lesbians into the u.s. military. here's pentagon correspondent barbara starr. >> reporter: the president made his intentions clear. >> this year i will work with congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. >> reporter: but the stone-faced joint chiefs of staff didn't react to the sensitive matter. we now know more about what they are thinking. a senior pentagon official tells cnn the chiefs are expected to support the president, but they will tell him to what extent they believe allowing gays to openly serve will hurt morale and readiness of the force. the official says of the chiefs, all they want is a little bit of time to come up with their ideas on how to implement a change in the law, if it's approved by congress. as a first step, defense secretary robert gates is expected to call for no longer discharging people who are outed by others. other the last 12 years, nearly 11,000 people have be

. >> it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thingo do. no matter how i look at this issue, i cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. for me, personally, it comes down to integrity. theirs as individuals and ours as an institution. >> during the state of the union address, the president announced he will work with congress this year to repeal the law known as don't ask, don't tell. he subsequently directed the department of defense to begin the preparations necessary for a repeal of the current law and policy. i fully support the president's decision. >> today the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen and bob gates expressed support for repealing don't ask don't tell. john mccain is on record saying that's what he would need to hear to change the policy, that's not how john mccain reacted at today's hearing. at all. in fact, he sort of blew a gasket. >> i'm deeply disappointed in you

. >> allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. >> she was a p.o.w. taken captive in iraq. her ordeal is revealed next on "larry king live." >> larry: we begin with breaking news. dr. conrad murray expects to surrender to los angeles authorities as early as tomorrow on charges relating to the death of michael jackson. that, according to his lawyer. with us, ted roll rollins. ted, what's the story? has he been indicted? >> not yet. he's here in los angeles. his lawyer from houston is here in los angeles. and according to the spokesperson representing the law firm representing murray, they're expecting that he'll surrender within the next 24 to 48 hours. but up until about an hour and a half ago, they hadn't heard anything specific as to when or where. what they're trying to do is make sure he's not hauled off in handcuffs. they want a surrender and away from the media. tough to do in los angeles. >> what charge, jim? >> my guess is it would be involuntary manslaughter. you have a situation where michael jackson was under the doctor's care and propofol

. >> coming up next on c-span, the national gay and lesbian task force hold a conference.aeli and palestinian journalists gathered in jerusalem to h)cuss the!reace process. >> tomorrow on "news makers," financial industry regulations. "newsmakers, " tomorrow at tepee -- 10:00 p.m.. . guest: it is a wonderful way to humanize and personalize the past. to take even this and movements that otherwise might seem impossibly remote. there is something universal about the fact that we're all going to one day be on our deathbed. we are all going to face growing old. we all have to wrestle with questions of immortality and mortality. i mean, those are some of the themes that run through all of this. but it is also, frankly, and entertaining book. there are a lot of stories and anecdotes and order directly from the publisher at public affairs.com. >> earlier this week. the national gay and lesbian task force held a meeting. we will hear remarks from the director. this portion is about 35 this portion is about 35 minutes. >> we love you. >> i love you too. when together, as kate said,

listen. >> speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. no matter how i look at this issue, i cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. >> the service members' legal defense network says more than 13,000 people have been discharged because of don't ask, don't tell. the policy, of course, began back with former president bill clinton, who back then had actually asked his inner circle to vote for or against it in private meetings. senior political analyst, david gergen, who at the time was an adviser to clinton was in the room when the votes were cast. david joins us now for an "360" insider briefing. that must have been a fascinating moment. the president was, what, basically polling his inner cycle? >> yes, he was, anderson. president clinton, as a candidate, said he would like to end the prohibition against gays in the military. it wasn't an issue, really, in the

later, the national today and lesbian task forceÑi -- the national gay and lesbian task force.ilm was the focus of recent meeting. he is sunday night on c-span's "q&a." >> last month, israeli and palestinian journalist gather to talk about the conflict in the middle east. we will hear about defining the two-state solution. the event was hosted by the mideast press club and is about one hour and 20 minutes. >> greetings, shalom, and welcome to this very special session. i am the president and ceo of the media alliance, a nonprofit american news agency. it is wonderful that each and every one of you here, despite how difficult it was this morning to get into. i am proud to open this session of the mideast press club. please turn off your cell phones and i want to take a moment to acknowledge our board members here today. many are sick, as you can hear from my voice, unfortunately. >> i also want to thank our distinguished guests who will be addressing us today and offer them my very special thanks. i also want to thank the impressive array of editors that are here today. it is ab

. >> allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military would be the right thing to do. >>. >>> we begin with breaking news. dr. conrad murray seizure renders the los angeles authorities as early as tomorrow on charges relating to the death of michael jackson. that according to his lawyer. with us ted rowland, chief correspondent, and author of a terrific new book, "the last day of my life." ted, what's the story? has he been indicted? >> no, not yet. he's here in long angeles, his lawyer is here from los angeles, and the people representing murray, they're expecting he'll surrender within the next 24 to 48 hours. up to about an hour and a half ago, they hadn't heard anything specific as to when and where. they want to make sure he's not hauled off in handcuffs. they want to surrender. they don't want the media. tough to do in los angeles. >> larry: what's the charge? >> my guess is involuntary manslaughter. you know propofil was adminstered, and you know this is the last doctor to have been treating michael jackson, and you probably have a gross negligence charge and involunt

litary could transform its attitudes toward gays and lesbians. >> with me now, sam rogers, communications director at the international which has been studying opinion within the military. and that is a key pole that is being done servicemen and women in afghanistan and iraq. whether you finding? >> what was interesting was that support was divided. less than a third is supporting the policy of allowing gays in the military and support -- slightly more than a third opposing it. when we broke up the sample betweenhose who had experience with a homosexual in the unit and as he did not, the majority who did not have experienced thought it would have a negative impact. then we looked at those who had experience with a homosexual in yet. the majority said it had no input -- no impact. >> you asked members of the military whether they felt comfortable with says. what did they say? >> the vast majority, three in four, said they felt perfectly comfortable around them as sexual. >> and yet there is on minority you feel uncomfortable. so what you think about president obama saying he wants to repea

relationship with a woman that i actually -- absolutely adored and loved and discovered that she was a lesbian was leaving me for another woman. i put myself in this situation reading the book. how would i have handled that? and here you are to this day, he is gone, and you still love this man. >> oh, yeah, but the thing is that one cannot forget that i was not the only person that suffered. sometimes i think that robert, it was more painful for robert. you know, of course it was freeing for him to be able to express his deeper nature, and i am sure that was -- he blossomed because of it, but believe me, he suffered as much as i did. it was not a simple thing. and we were also quite young. again, because we had such a deep commune as artists and people that helped each other if all this human beings, we were able to surmount it. if we had not had that, we had -- we would have totally gone our separate ways. tavis: in the book to talk about how you and robert founder confidence, and there was a beautiful phrase i have been holding onto since i discovered it, and it is that each of us has to dig

. >> it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. i cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. >> reporter: admiral mullin's statement ran into stiff opposition from republican senators. >> person whose demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would very likely create an unacceptable risk to those high standards of morale. >> reporter: senator john mccain said the day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says we ought to change the policy, we ought to consider seriously changing it p-today said something quite different. >> at this moment, immense hardship for our armed services, we should not be seeking to overturn the don't ask, don't tell policy. >> reporter: defense secretary robert gates also supports reviewing don't ask, don't tell but wants at least a year to review several issue, including benefits for gay partner, base housing and morale. at today's hea

. >>> the pentagon is looking into how it might end its don't ask, don't tell policy on gays and lesbians in the military. secretary of defense robert gates told a senate committee he is launching a year-long study. joint chiefs chairman admiral mike mullen said it is time to end the policy. that didn't sit well with several republican senators. >> i cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. >> at this moment of immense hardship for our armed services, we should not be seeking to overturn the don't ask, don't tell policy. >> congress would need to approve the repeal and that is not expected to happen soon. for now the pentagon plans to ease up on enforcing the policy. >>> seven months after michael jackson's death, prosecutors in los angeles are set to file charges against the superstar's physician. dr. conrad murray is expected to be charged with involuntary manslaughter. he could possibly surrender to police as early as today. legal experts say the probable

. >> it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. i cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. >> reporter: admiral mullen's statement ran into stiff opposition from republican senators. >> persons who demonstrate an propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would very likely create an unacceptable risk to those high standards of morale. >> reporter: senator john mccain who just a few years ago said, the day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says we ought to change the policy, we ought to consider seriously changing it, said something quite different. >> at this moment, immense hardship for our armed services, we should not be seeking to overturn the don't ask, don't tell policy. >> reporter: defense secretary robert gates also supports repealing don't ask, don't tell. but wants at least a year to review several issues, including benefits for gay partners. base housing. and

. >> speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. >> and a look at the first national tea party convention. will this citizens' movement have legs? >> what you think happens to the tea party? >> i don't think the tea party knows what will happen to the tea party. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> for the record, unemployment dropped to below 10% last month to 9.7%. the nation still lost 20,000 jobs, however. i hate to talk about numbers, but how do you talk about the budget without talking about numbers? the gap between what the government will take in in revenue and what it will spend will reach $1.56 trillion, a lot of red ink. next year's deficit will force the federal government to borrow 33 cents of every dollar it spends. in time-honored fashion, as ronald reagan did before him, the president is blaming the previous administration. >> 10 years ago we had a budget surplus of more than $200 billion, with projected surpluses stretching towards the hori

. >> now, part of a recent conference of the national gay and lesbian task force. we'll hear from executive director, rea carey, about her group's political agenda. this is a of half-hour. >> i love you too. >> oh, we're here, a year ago, when we came together, as kay said, we were digesting a couple of high-profile losses, but at the same time, we were filled with hope, our minds filled with possibility and promise. our sweat, votes, money and worked had helped elect a new president and a more pro-lgtb congress and finally, it seems, we might, we might start building a solid floor of legal equality from which we could reach the sky of freedom. the bush-cheney years were behind us. change was coming. and it was no longer a question of if, but when. and for those of us who have been fighting for so long, and that's every one of us in this room, and millions who are not with us today, when was sounding pretty good. we believed and why shouldn't we, he said, i'm running for president, to build an america that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all. a pro

we are standing up for gays and lesbians who deserve to be treated as full human beings.are also making it clear to countries at leaders and that these are priorities of the united states. every time i travel, i raised the plight of girls and women and make it clear that we expect to see changes. i recently called a president who i have known through the prayer breakfast and expressed the strongest concerned about a law being considered in the parliament of you ghana -- in the parliament of uganda. we are committed not only to reaching out and speaking up about the perversion of religion, and particularly, the use of it to promote and justify terrorism. but also seeking to find common ground. we are working with muslim nations to come up with an appropriate way of demonstrating criticism of religious intolerance without stepping over into the area of freedom of religion or non religion an expression. so there is much to be done, and there is a lot of challenging opportunities for each of us as we leave this prayer breakfast , prayer58th prayer breakfast. in 1975, my husba

. >> speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. no matter how i look at this issue, i cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. >> a strong voice against the repeal in today's hearing. the republican senator, john mccain. >>> chris lawrence met with the troops on this issue. chris, what did you find out? >> reporter: the same kind of disagreement we saw with admiral mullen and john mccain. a lot of difference of opinion on this issue. we talked to not only members of the military, but also people who wanted to join the service, but were kept out by don't ask/don't tell. coming out of columbia medical school, robert cavanaugh wanted to be an officer -- >> all right. unfortunately, chris, we have a little technical problem there. we're going to try to fix that package that you prepared, but let's talk a bit about what's going on. give us a sense of what the pro

we may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree it's unconscionable to aur get lesbians orgays because of who they are, or as hillary mentioned, like they do in other countries. prayer can buck us up when we are down and keep us calm in a storm, while prayer can stiffen our spines to sir mount an obstacle, and i am sure you i am praying a lot these days, but prayer can touch our hearts with humility and fill us with a spirit that brotherhood, and it can remind us each of us are children of an awesome and loving god. through faith but not through faith alone we can unite people to serve the common good. that's why my office of faith-based and neighborhood partnerships have been working so hard since i announced it last year. we slashed red tape and built effective partnerships, from spear heading cooperation abroad. through that office we turned the faith-based initiative around and find a common ground among people with all beliefs, allowing them to make an impact and focus on what matters most. it's the spirit of civility that we are called up to take part in today, and th

. >> gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders are in the military now. people know about it. stuff already happens. it's not going to change. >> do you find that people through the process of elimination figure you are gay? >> i've been aware of people who knew that i was gay and never really felt like i was threatened. i never felt like i had to keep watching over my shoulder for, you know, the witch hunters to come after me with their torches and pitchforks. >> i would say everybody in my group where i work, they all know that i'm gay. if i can be open with them, i would be able to trust them more and they know they could trust me because i trust them with something so important. >> would you all come out right away if don't ask, don't tell was lifted? >> i wouldn't go out to everybody saying, hey, i'm gay. but, you know, the people that were important to me, if they're important to me, they'll know. >> i'm not going to hang a rainbow flag in my office, but i'm definitely having a coming out party. >> all three are pleased and surprised that the president mentioned repeelin

and he hit it right on the head that this is an integrity issue and that gays and lesbians are alreadytinue to serve in the military and during two wars it makes no sense to tick fib out. >> still you now work for the service members legal defense network. why? >> well when you have an opportunity to decide what do you do next? and since i was affected by don't ask, don't tell, i thought it's time to get rid of this horrible law. i thought it was bad in 1993 and we're still kicking out at least one person every single day under don't ask, don't tell and so i thought what is the bt way to get it repealed. and we provide free legal services to military officials affected by don't ask, don't tell. >> and have to end it there. but if gays can openly served in the military and this was repealed, would we see any difference in the military? >> we would be stronger and not losing qualified people. >> u.s. staff sergeant affected personally by don't ask, don't tell. we appreciate your time today. >> thank yo >>> 8:37 on this wednesday morning. d.c. is revising it's unemployment rate. the quest

now he says gays and lesbians should be allowed to live openly.terday he said attitudes and circumstances have changed since that law was put into place. >>> we have new video of what's believed to be an active volcano erupting under water. this was near the japanese isle afternooned and of iwo jima yesterday. get this, the eruption could result in the creation of a completely new island. cool. ♪ ♪ >>> 35 minutes past the hour. thursday's connected to friday, but each as we get close to the week ep, the weather will get rougher for a lot of our viewers. same weather pattern we've been stuck in, and it's an el nino pattern and a lot of rain and snow for the mid atlantic over the last couple of weeks. this weather brought to you by cheerios. big low pressure center just off the shore from houston and galveston and that moves inward later today. once it gets in toward alabama it will continue to produce heavy rain and stretches into the atlantic over the weekend and give you a lot of snow. how much snow? still up in the air a little bit and i want to

including especially the chance to say this -- >> it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. no matter how i look at this issue, i cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. >> that would be the leadership of the military coming to you and saying, senator, we ought to -- no matter how you look at this issue, we ought to change it. once the questioning began, senator mccain angry that the military had not consulted him first. >> fortunately it is an act of congress, and it requires the agreement of congress in order to repeal it. and so your statement, obviously is one that is clearly biassed, without the view of congress being taken into consideration. >> sweet and divine. let's turn to lawrence core, senior secretary of defense under ronald reagan. thank you for your time tonight, sir. >> nice to be with you. >> is changing don't ask don't tell something we ought to be giving serious consideration to

we are not prohibiting people who are that orientation that is homosexual or lesbian. we are not prohibiting them from serving. we are just saying that we do not talk about the fact that's what don't ask and we don't ask. so, i think again, he i talk to men and women in the military, they say it's not broke, it's not broken so we don't need to fix it. again, i will be very interested in hearing the views of our military leaders, particularly our marine corp as well as army, air force as to what they think that this policy needs -- whether it needs to be changed or not. my view now is, that it is working. and we are in two wars. we need to have an assessment of the combat effectiveness and morale of our military, if that effect would be if we change the policy. >> greta: personal view, secretary gates speaking on behalf of the president. in the event that after a full study, i think secretary gates called for a study, let's say six months or a year down the road they conclude from the military leaders in theater who are fighting these wars say we can get away -- do away

they're describing gay men, lesbians, blacks.hat was hanging in the air martial's field office in orlando. >> thank you very much. critically important subject. >>> it's loud, it's influential, and now the tea party movement is holding its first national convention. we're going there live. stand by, mary snow is on the scene. >>> president obama hammering home a new message, but is it making a difference? >> hello, everybody! ts credit for being the most fuel efficient car company in america, well, then how do you explain all this? chevy malibu, cobalt, silverado, and the all-new equinox. compare them to anyone. may the best car win. like i couldn't catch my breath. i couldn't believe i was actually having a heart attack. i remember being at the hospital, thinking about my wife. i should have done more to take care of myself. now i'm exercising, watching my diet, and i trust my heart to lipitor. (announcer) unlike some other cholesterol lowering medications, lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and c

government and the ban on lesbians and gays serving in the u.s. military.st wrapped up their testimony a short while ago. we're going to show you some of their opening comments while we wait for the house to come in. >> the president is going to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell." he'll begin the preparations for repeal of the current policy. i fully support the president's decision. the question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change but how we must -- how we best prepare it for -- for it. we received our orders from the commander in chief and we are moving out accordingly. the ultimate decision rests with you, the congress. i am reminded of the fact that unlike the last time this was considered by the congress more than 15 years ago our military is engaged in two wars that have put troops and their families under considerable stress and strain. i am mindful, as well, that attitudes toward homo sexuality may have changed considerably, both in society generally and in the military over the intervening years. to ensure that the de

. >> surely we can agree it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are whether it's here in the united states or, as hillary mentioned, more extremely in odious laws being proposed most recently in uganda. >> now why the uganda mention. this week a government watchdog group asked president obama to skip the breakfast saying the group behind the fellowship is the family is intolerant and secretive, they support a ugandan law that seeks to punish homosexuality with death, something one member publicly denied. >>> state farm dropping 125,000 customers who live in the worst hurricane zone. it follows a failure to win a 40% rate increase from state regulators. letters are going to go out to homeowners this week. the cancellation goes into effect weeks after the peak of the 2010 hurricane season. >>> people are wondering if the waters off the shores of florida are safe after a surfer was killed in a rare shark attack. take a look at this video from yesterday. a school of sharks was spotted. the lifeguard says a victim was kite board surfing in stuart florida when he was su

. >> the allegation of discrimination of gay men, of lesbians, of minorities is so widespread that congressow is demanding an immediate investigation. the air marshals, themselves, say they are dedicated to carrying out this mission. they just say the management is getting in the way of it. don? >> thank you, drew. very interesting story. >>> coming up we'll have the second part of drew's report in just a little bit. that's fun ! you didn't say i could have a real one. well, you didn't ask. even kids know when it's wrong to hold out on somebody. why don't banks ? we're ally, a new bank that alerts you when your money could be working harder and earning more. it's just the right thing to do. reliable, high-quality vehicles has been our first priority. ♪ in recent days, our company hasn't been living up to the standards that you've come to expect from us or that we expect from ourselves. that's why 172,000 toyota and dealership employees are dedicated to making things right we have a fix for our recalls. we stopped production so we could focus on our customers' cars first. and technicians are

. >> we're standing up for gays or lesbians who deserve to be treated as full human beings, and we areng it clear to countries and leaders that these are priorities of the united states. i recently called the president, whom i have known through the prayer breakfast, and expressed the strongest concerns about a law being considered in the pair lament of uganda. >> let's bring in jeff charlotte, contributing editor of harper's magazine and author of the book, the family, the secret fundamentalism at the heart of american power. we talked about this with you more than two years ago and did stories about the family and about the c street house and the prayer breakfast and now we see finally some attention at the national level. what do you think is being accomplished here? >> i think what happened today was tremendous, and i should clarify the prayer breakfast is sponsored by the fellowship. the ugandans who support this bill, but the american oppose it. they gave the platform to hillary and obama to take a strong stance against it. it may be a little too late, the bill is moving towards

president obama addressed that and said it was unconscionable to target gays and lesbians in the united states and criticized uganda's recent stance against gays. >>> breaking news from capitol hill where the house has just approved a record $1.9 trillion increase for the government's so-called debt ceiling. if it's approved by the president, the legislation would raise the total debt ceiling to $4.2 trillion and also a part of this debate today, the vote on whether to begin the pay go, which the president talked so much about. this could clear the way for the bill to be sent to the president. we'll talk about that as well. in just a few hours at 5:00 p.m. eastern specifically, republican senator elect scott brown will be officially sworn in. after massachusetts governor certified the election this morning to make him the newest u.s. senator. vice president joe biden will be on hand for the ceremony. nbc's kelly o'donnell on capitol hill. kelly, it was supposed to happen around february 11th. word came down that scott brown did not want to miss out on a few upcoming votes. >> reporter: