kate. >> mike viqueira with the president this evening. thank you. much more on all these topics tomorrow on "meet the press." white house senior adviser valerie jarrett will be david gregory's exclusive guest. >>> still ahead as "nightly news" continues on this christmas day, with so many flying this weekend, an early look at what could be a game changer in getting planes on and off the ground more quickly. >>> and later, the joy that comes with making a difference, one stitch at a time. >>> just as holiday travelers begin contemplating the challenges of getting back home, the faa is touting a revolutionary system it says will overhaul air traffic control across america, making the nation's air space safer. it is already being tested. nbc's tom costello has a preview. >> reporter: it is one of the heaviest helicopter traffic zones in the country. 5,000 to 9,000 flights each day, carrying 10,000 workers to and from the 3,800 oil and gas rigs in the gulf of mexico. for decades, once the choppers flew 50 miles out to sea, they were out of radar range.

nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house tonight with more. mike? >> reporter: it's less than two months from that shef-described electoral shellacking. but in recent days, the president has had some unexpected success with help from some unlikely political allies. after he campaigned on a pledge to do away with "don't ask, don't tell," supporters of repeal, many of them core democratic voters, had grown frustrated with the president, accusing him of dragging his feet. today in a statement, mr. obama welcomed the breakthrough, saying it's time to close this chapter in our history. >> here we go. >> reporter: passage comes a day after another obama victory, the signing of a tax package negotiated with republicans. and mr. obama's winning streak might not be over. in his weekly address, the president pushed for one more big vote before the holidays, ratifying the s.t.a.r.t. arms reduction treaty with russia. >> it's time to show the same spirit of common purpose on our security that we showed this week on our economy. >> reporter: many republicans are

as to what that means for your bottom line, let's turn to nbc's mike viqueira following all of this at the white house. >> reporter: now hope tonight that the president, republicans and congressional democrats can come together and agree in time for all americans to avoid a tax hike at the end of this month. today signs from both sides that a deal on taxes is taking shape. >> bottom line on the extension of the tax rates, unemployment benefits being extended, you see a compromise here in short order. >> i think the american people expect us to work together to make sure their taxes don't go up and we're working on that package. >> reporter: aides say president obama is willing to go along extending lower rates for all americans, including top earners, couples making more than 2 fw$250,000, $200,000 for singles. >> we don't want no tax increases on nobody. that may be poor grammar but great economics. >> reporter: but under the deem deal, extension for the top earn hes would only be temporary. aides say the president would insist that unemployment insurance that expired last week for so

mike viqueira, thanks so much. joining us for more on today's senate vote is cnbc chief washington correspondent john harwood. good morning. >> good morning, amy. >> let's begin with the big news story in washington, of course, "don't ask, don't tell." if it's repealed, obviously this will be an historic moment. but perhaps even more importantly, does this show that republicans and democrats can compromise and can actually work together? >> absolutely. and we saw that on the tax cut deal. i think the white house is hoping that that is a credibility-building event with the american people, and also with republicans. you had a difficult deal struck, and republicans held their members, and you got a significant chunk of democrats on "don't ask, don't tell," this is a case where you're only going to get a minority of republicans, a small minority, supporting this. but it does appear, as joe lieberman suggested in mike viqueira's piece, that they do have enough to get over the bar. and when you think about how difficult

nbc's mike viqueira is live at the white house with more. good morning, mike. >> good morning, willie. the president got back to the white house as dawn broke over washington this morning. there is a rare saturday session talking about extending those bush-era tax cuts. the fight goes on. they're going to be taking up a version of a democratic wish list in the senate today, lim limiting those tax cuts or the extension of tax cuts to middle-class taxpayers. those making under $250,000 a year. and then another vote, under $1 million a year. the problem is they're not expected to get the 60 votes they need. meanwhile, behind closed doors, a parallel track of negotiations, treasury secretary tim geithner joined by top republicans and democrats in the house and the senate, trying to work out a deal on that, on s.t.a.r.t., extending unemployment benefits. they say some 2 million people stand to lose their benefits if congress doesn't act soon, and meanwhile, the unemployment numbers from yesterday, more bad news for the president, kicking up to 9.

mike viqueira is at the white house. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester, unexpected help from republicans, receipt peel of don't ask, don't tell passed with plenty of room to spare it is a second straight success for the president who is now pressing for passage of another top priority before christmas. for backers of repeal, it was a solemn day 17 years in the making. >> no, sir dib look at those graves and say move this one because we just found out that soldier died in battle was gay? >> reporter: all but given up on just a week ago, the effort gained unexpected momentum as the saturday session wore on. >> when we are talking about worrying about having two wars and terrorism at every front, we need to know that all of our best and brightest, how many are not serving today because of this policy? >> reporter: opponents, led by john mccain, said changing the policy in the middle of two wars would harm morale. >> today is a very sad day. commandant of the united states marine corps says when your life hangs