>> paul, you've probably been involved in a lot of these kind of back room deals. what does it look like? is it contentious? is it, you know -- what's it like? >> actually, these are all fairly pleasant people, to tell you have the truth. senator lieberman, senator collins actually get along very well. harry reid is a mild-mannered guy, and i have heard, i happen to know this, that the president has personally weighed in on this. he has put some of his own credibility on the line. he's called senator collins, senator snowe who has not been part of the discussion so far. his political aides have also dispatched organizing for america, the president's political arm, to maine to try to organize support at this. so maybe liberals mad about him about taxes should be happy he's stepping up for equality in the military. >> i think it's a roll of the dice right now, i really do. really, in is an issue that is one that the public has weighed in on, and they are sending conflicting messages. they're in favor of it on the one hand, but they are differential to the military leaders, the ones who are the service lead evers on the other, and the service leaders split