First thoughts: Prague-ress msnbc.com
&Nbsp; From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Prague-ress: A little after 6:30 am ET, President Obama and Russia’s Dmitri Medvedev signed their arms-control treaty in Prague. “While the new START treaty is an important step forward, it is just one step on a longer journey,” Obama said after the signing. “As I said last year in Prague, this treaty will set the stage for further cuts.” As one of us reported on “TODAY” this morning, the treaty limits deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550 total for each country, a cut of 30% from the last treaty in 2002. Also, long-range nuclear weapons are limited to 700 for each country. Combined, the U.S. and Russia account for 90% of the world's nuclear weapons, with seven other countries accounting for the other 10%. Experts say this treaty will only be a success if it leads to the Russians agreeing to even more cuts. And as we wrote yesterday, the White House needs 67 votes in the Senate to ratify the treaty. This isn't a done deal by any stretch; some Senate Republicans have indicated privately that the debate over this treaty could be a proxy for a debate about the president's overall nuclear weapon policy.
