martha raddatz reports. >> reporter: it was the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. the highest-ranking military officer in the nation. who said what no one in his position has ever said before. >> 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'

they want time for the ranks to absorb what this means but martha raddatz said it was a dramatic day on capitol hill. martha. >>. >> reporter: it was diane. this will be dramatic debated for years to come but what we heard on capitol hill today was truly historic. it was the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, highest ranking military officer in the nation, who said today, what no one in his position has ever said before. >> 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

here's martha raddatz. >> reporter: camp keating. sitting exposed on a valley floor was a hellish place before, even before october's deadly attack. this is what u.s. soldiers from b-troop faced day after day. >> take pot shots at us. i mean, nothing special. they're just trying to [ bleep ] with your life. >> reporter: we know that commande made key decisions that left these soldiers even more you havulnerable. today's record says critical intelligence and reconnaissance assets, meaning drones, were moved elsewhere in afghanistan. on october 3rd, that left 80 u.s. soldiers alone, facing more than 300 enemy forces in a ferocious assault with inadequate protection. >> it was hundreds of thousands of small arms rounds, machine gun fire and just constant incoming. >> rpg landed right close to me, blew me back. i took some small shrapnel to my shins. >> reporter: within minutes, eight soldiers were dead or dying, and nearly two dozen wounded. >> it was basically inside that aid station a blood bath. >> reporter: among the dea 21-year-old

martha raddatz, abc news, washington. >>> federal investigators say the crash of a commuter plane near buffalo renews concerns about pilot fatigue and training. ntsbnvestigators say the pilot failed to notice the plane's speed was dropping dangerously low, then he performed the wrong maneuver. they say the copilot had had little rest before starting the flight. last year's crash killed everyone on board and one person on the ground. >>> there could be fresh outrage directed at financial giant aig later today. the company is set to pay out $100 million in new bonuses to employees of its financial products division. that is the unit who's risky bets helped sink the company, leading to $180 billion government bailout. aig agreed to reduce the bonus amount by $20 million in an effort to appease critics. >>> michael jackson's doctor could face criminal charges in the singer's death as soon as today. dr. conrad murray's lawyers say he is in los angeles this morning and is prepared to turn himself in. prosecutors are close to charging murray with involuntary manslaughter for his recklessness.