tina for that amazing story. >>> barack obama will go down in history as the don't act, don't tell. as our athee na jones explains, some were hoping to hear more out of the president. >> the president spoke tonight before a crowd of merely 3,000 people for the human rights campaign's annual national dinner. he spoke about some of the steps his administration has taken like repealing don't ask, don't tell and passing a hate crimes prevention act. one thing many wanted to hear which is to hear the president come out strongly and publicly and confirm support of guy marriage. he didn't do that tonight. we didn't really expect him to. we have heard the president say his position on guy marriage is evolving. but tonight he did speak about his efforts to continue to push for the repeal of the defensive marriage act. this is what he had to say. >> i vowed to keep up the fight against the so called defense of marriage act. there's a bill to repeal this discriminatory law in congress and i want to see that passed but until we reach that day, my administration is no longer defending. don't mind the courts i believe

jones most likely to succeed. and there's something about this picture of cain -- >> hold it up, tina. right over here. where is this? >> morehouse college when he was a student. and there's something about the sort of strut of cain in that picture. the aspiration, the desire to get ahead, the kind of very american sort of iconic moment of this -- these two people trying to get ahead in america from the ground up that i do think is enormously appealing. and although, of course, his 9-9-9 was taken apart by everyone on the platform, he does have a great appeal. i could see a romney/cain ticket, actually. i think they might be incredible as a ticket. >> cain has optimism down. he's had this cheery optimism. >> you and i have talked about this. if herman cain were a democrat -- >> oh, gosh. >> the pieces that would be written about his story the way they were written about barack obama's story. he came from the segregated south, his mother was a maid, his father that janitor, and a driver for coca-cola executive. first to go to the college, worked for the united states navy, served on the board of the kan