clinton told cnn about alan gross and u.s./cuban relations. unfortunately, because of the breaking news on president obama's decision on same-sex marriage, we will not be able to bring you the interview. we will have that tomorrow in "the situation room." until then, thanks very much for joining us. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." the news continues next on cnn. good evening. i'm john king. tonight, president obama uses an oval office interview to endorse same-sex marriage ending a personal revolution and putting the cultural wars front and center in 2012. indiana voters decide to retire richard lugar. we will talk to the man who stunned him by being too open to working with democrats. tonight's truth is last night's biggest lesson, the 2012 political climate and state by state looks a lot different than when president obama won back in 2008.

we begin tonight with new details about president obama's personal evolution on a potent political issue, same-sex marriage. >> i have just concluded that for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. >> with that in that oval office vint with abc news, the president officially switched his position. in 2008, he ran as i acandidate who opposed same-sex marriage. cnn is told he is ready to support it and green light those that want to add language to the 2012 campaign platform. >> why the switch? >> i had hesitated on gay marriage in part because i thought civil unions would be sufficient. that that was something that would give people hospital visitation rights and other elements that we take for

granted. and, i was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, the word marriage was something that o evokes very powerful traditions and religious beliefs. over the course of several years, as i talked to friends and family and neighbors, when i this i about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed, mon og must relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when i think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailers who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained even now that don't ask, don't tell us gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage. >> the president at length

explaining his change of heart. the political fall. how the president and his divided political team decided to change his position and how they decided to announce it now? jessica yellin is working her sources. jess, says the white house was always the plan. >> reporter: it is interesting. depends on who you talk to. several senior administration officials emphasized to me that the president always planned to come out in support of same-sex marriage prior to the democratic convention. it was once vice president biden made those remarks on sunday that it sort of forced his hand and made them decide to do it today, this week, as opposed to at another time. but, you know, another senior administration official tells me that, in fact, there was division within the white house this week about whether he should come out in favor of same-sex marriage at all. the reason i find that plausible, is because i know there are democratic officials who were very worried about the fact that some in the party were pushing for a plank at the convention in support of gay

marriage and the president hadn't supported gay marriage. if the president was always planning to come out in support of gay marriage, that wouldn't have been an issue. in any case, the one thing i can tell you, is all officials emphasized that the president in his heart believed in gay marriage, supported same-sex marriage. it was a question of whether he should come out in favor of it before the election or not. now, that decision has been made. >> it is front and center. how do they expect it to play politically? >> they say they haven't played it out fully and they are not sure. they are convinced that people who were planning to vote for the president were not those that opposed gay marriage to begin with. they do not believe they will lose votes because of this. it is not going to be a corner stone of the campaign. he is not pushing legislation. he believes this is a state's rights issue. he has made it a personal issue. he has emphasized it was his wife and children who helped him come to this. young voters support it. they were quite clear, as well,

that they believe mitt romney has a, quote, more extreme position than the president. mitt romney has come out in support of an amendment to the constitution supporting banning gay marriage. in other words, warning to the romney campaign. if they want to challenge the president on this issue, they will face a lot of attacks from the obama campaign coming right back at them. >> the white house team's position from day one. it is a fascinating question. this gallup data goes back to 1976. 27%, 1 in 4, supported same-sex marriage. that's back then. look now. have to. those are national numbers. we picked presidents, state by state, because of the electoral college. that's the big question. how might this decision impact what we know is a very close race for president? this is the map for 2008. blue states won by president obama. red states won by the republican nominee, senator john mccain.

here is what some people say. not this issue alone. this is going to be a bit of an exaggeration. this could impact the president in states he carried like iowa, indiana, ohio, like virginia and north carolina. some say even among latino voters, turnout is down a little bit. conservative democrats in the state of florida. look at those states. this is a bit of a hypothetical. a slight exaggeration to see how it plays out. let's switch to the electoral map and go to those states. this is what happened in 2008. if you take iowa out, indiana and ohio out, remember, the president has issues this these states already, the same-sex marriage debate would be a complicating factor in the debate. virginia and north carolina, evangelical voters and conservative african-americans could go away. florida. some say pennsylvania. others say michigan and wisconsin. let me focus on these. if you take these states out of play for the president, same-sex marriage wouldn't be the only

issue. if you take those states out and if mitt romney were able to turn them all red, mitt romney is the next president of the united states. again. i am not saying this one issue will change those states from blue to red. in a close presidential election, when you are playing on the margins, there are some that think it could, could be an impact. that's just a half dozen states i showed you there. we will watch how this plays in the weeks ahead. if you look at this down the line, working class voters, they narrowly oppose same-sex marriage, working class white voters, as do older voters. they narrowly oppose same-sex marriage. so do rural voters. they oppose it by a much wider margin. it tends to hurt the president where he has issues. on the flip side, suburban voters narrowly favor it. suburban voters are critical in close presidential.

urban voters back same-sex marriage by a wide margin. it depends on where you are looking. let's talk it over with gloria borger. to be clear up front, we don't know. the president thinks it helps with young voters and suburban voters. they are very important. sort of a generational issue. we know those where he already struggles, white, working class voters, rural voters, older voters. >> evangelical voters. catholics. >> that's the flip side. for evangelical voters that have a doubt about mitt romney, a reason to be for it. when you talk to people at the white house as jessica was saying, they say, look, it could come down either way. one thing i was looking at, where do women voters come out on this. women voters approve of same-sex marriage 56%. men, 42%. women are more approving. state by state that you just

pointed out on the electoral map, there are places that it could really hurt president obama. take the state of iowa. mitt romney had a very difficult time with evangelical voters, very conservative voters in the state of iowa. this could rally them around mitt romney and against president obama. >> president bush used it before. the polling suggests more voters have come in terms of favoring it, or at least not opposing it. i will show you a national map with the same-sex marriage debate. 28 states have constitutional provisions defining marriages between a man and woman. ten by law, statutory provisions. in five states, there are no statutory or constitutional provisions at all. seven states allow same-sex marriages and three more have the laws that have yet to take effect. the polling shows a bear majority support. wlfr it is on the ballot, 28

states. when this is on the ballot, the bans win. >> when it is on the ballot, same-sex marriage goes away. it has only been approved, by the way, six state legislatures and also the district of columbia. there is an awful long way to go. this is an issue because of proposition eight in california that could eventually wind its way to the supreme court. so it would be another one of those issues before the supreme court. like health care. and immigration, which president obama has already stated his position on. >> here is the question. why is it when president obama changes his position, it is an evolution. when governor romney changes his, it is a flip-flop. >> funny you should ask that. that's exactly what mitt romney was saying today. it is very clear, the obama campaign is going to go after mitt romney as somebody who has no core and is a flip-flopper.

today, mitt romney flung it right back to him. this is a president who took a very different position in 2008 when he ran to the presidency. now, he sees public opinion shifting and, guess what, he has changed his view? both of these men have had opinions on this issue that have evolved. except they have evolved in completely different directions, john. >> we will have much more including what gloria was just talking about, mitt romney's own evolution on same-sex marriage. republican senate nominee, richard murdoch, who knocked off six-term incumbent, senator richard lugar. [ woman ] oh, my gosh -- it's so good! [ kristal ] we're just taking a sample of all our different items in our festival of shrimp so we can describe them to our customers. [ male announcer ] red lobster's festival of shrimp starts now! for just $12.99, pair any two of 9 exciting shrimp creations like new barbeque glazed shrimp or crab stuffed shrimp. the crab-stuffed shrimp are awesome! [ woman ] very creamy. that's a keeper! [ woman ] shrimp skewer. [ woman #2 ] sweet, smoky.

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children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. >> republican senator lugar wag elected back when jimmy carter won the white house. his concession speech was polite. in a statement released by his campaign shortly after, it was anything but, calling out his now formal rival, and the republican nominee, mr. murdoch. what he has promised is

reflexive votes for rejectionist orthodoxy and reactions for the other party. he will achieve little as a legislator unless he modifies his approach. he will help delay solutions beyond the capacity of partisan majorities to achieve. mr. murdoch joins us. are you so rigid in your ideology that you will refuse compromise and keep the country from solving its problems? >> he is certainly right on one point. i will not compromise on my principles. there is a lot of discussion about bipartisanship. when the term is usually invoked, it is about having republicans join democrats to get something done. one of the things we have spoken of a great deal is my desire to help build a republican party into the majority so that the word bipartisanship means maybe some democrats will come my way. >> in the meantime, we have divided leadership. maybe we will have a republican president and republican senate.

if you were here today, i know you believe the deficit is a big crisis facing the country, correct? >> i absolutely do. >> if there was a deal that had $3 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax increases and the math said it is wa a credible deal to reduce the deficit, could you vote for that if it was the only way to get enough democrats to support it and get a president to sign it? >> i have said many times we need to make sure we are not continuing to raise the debt without serious reductions. if the bill is crafted in such a way we can get the deficit narrowing and we are not going to be significantly adding to the debt, that would have to be considered. the big issue is whether we will have people that stand on their principles. the modern definition of by party tan ship is the democrats saying, let's spend $10 billion and the republicans saying let's

spend $5 billion we don't have and instead, they compromise and spend $7.5 billion they are out of control. we have a government out of control. it has to be realed back in. >> your definition of bipartisanship, is it only whether democrats are willing to come your way or if they are willing to come your way, you are willing to give up a piece to give up the agreement? >> sure. if it is not about the principle, there is an important part of negotiating to get things done. we have this unusual time in our history where the republican party, the leaders of that party and the democratic party are so polarized, they have two totally different goals. one is to reduce government. one is to make government bigger. when those are the principles, it makes the negotiations meaningless. one side wants the opposite of the other. it will be very difficult environment for several years to come. >> you won the election and you were speaking of your supporters. you spoke not only of the race in indiana and the conditions

facing the country but you took a global view. let's listen. >> france elected a socialist. there are those in the administration and left side of the party that were cheering that. we north going to stand for that in indiana. >> i just want to follow up on that point there. france did just elect a socialist president. you are connecting that to what the democrats might want. are you saying the president is a socialist? >> i am not saying that but i am certainly saying that there is a sense that we seem to be moving in this direction of the western european government. that's what hoosiers are opposed to. we believe in free markets, not massive stimulus programs and bailouts. that's the difference between the republican and democratic party. it's why i think the republican party offers the best hope to get our economy going again.

for all of their populism and modernism and what they seem to be offering in europe. how well are they doing right now? their recovery is at a much slower rate than ours. >> the president surprised a lot of people by carrying your state in 2008. most believe it would be very difficult already. how will his announcement today that he personally supports same-sex marriage, how will that impact the state of indiana in the presidential race? >> i heard your analysis before. i think the comments made are exactly right. he can forget about winning indiana for a lot of reasons. that will just be one more. >> richard mourdoch is the republican who just knocked off richard lugar. reaction from some of president obama's supporters. next, the fbi adds a murder and kidnapping suspect to the ten most-wanted list and there is a big reward. that we were o.

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welcome back. kate bolduan with the latest news you need to know now. >> hello, everyone. a mississippi man-made the fbi's ten most wanted list today. a $175,000 record for adam mayes. a picture of him right there. he and his wife, who is actually in custody, are charged with kidnapping a tennessee woman and her three daughters, then killing the mother and the oldest girl. mayes is on the run possibly with the two younger girls if

they are still alive. witnesses at the john edwards trial today included his one time communication's adviser, jennifer palmieri who was close to elizabeth. she recounted elizabeth's concern that there wouldn't be a man around that loved her and the meeting of the affair with the campaign worker. hundreds of people protested outside of bank of america's corporate headquarters. most were linked to the group called the 99% power coalition pushing back against the bank's foreclosure processes. five people were arrested. the group has also held similar protests outside shareholders meetings for wells fargo and g.e. nasa, predicting another massive solar storm heading our way much the giant sun spots you are seeing here are more than 60,000 miles wide and appeared this

weekend. they are likely to ignite huge flares from the sun's surface and bombard earth with tiny particles. sounds a little scary. solar storms can disrupt power and knock out your gps system. hopefully, that will be the only extent of your damage. i can look at these pictures forever. >> it is always the nasa photos. it is really beautiful to see. >> you don't use gps, anyway? >> oh, yes. >> i am going to leave the great driver thing right there. in a moment, we will turn to this hour's big breaking story, president obama's decision to support same-sex marriage. we will watch and listen to his personal evolution on this issue. >> the truth about last night's election results. the voters sent an important message to democrats and republicans.

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this half hour, president obama says he supports same-sex marriage. hear his voice. your job is not safe. the truth about why this election year is loose looking so different. michele bachmann, now eligible to run for office 4,000 miles away. what she says about possibly running on a swiss ticket. back to tonight's breaking news. president obama says he now supports same-sex marriage. the president says his position on this issue has evolved.

here is a look at that evolution. starting back in 2004, when he was a u.s. senate candidate at home in illinois. i'm sorry, we don't have that sound for you. let's continue our conversation with pastor john walker in charlotte, north carolina, a supporter of the president. mike senorelli, a voice for gay voices and chris chairman, a president of gop proud. i want to talk to you, pastor. someone who supports this president but does not support same-sex marriage. am i right there ? >> here. the president talked about his christian faith and what he called the golden rule. >> when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is not only christ sacrificing himself on our

behalf but it is also the golden rule, treat others the way you would want to be treated. >> pastor, what does the bible tell you on this issue? >> well, i believe that marriage is between -- god ordained between a man and a woman. the marriage is to plenty to -- the marriage is ordained of god so that we are to be fruitful and multiply and that is the purpose for marriage. i have a problem with the whole notion of marriage between a man and a man or a woman and a woman. >> so if a member of your congregation came to you and said, i supported president obama last time, i was proud to be part of making history but this bothers me, i disagree with him on this issue, if that voter said, it is enough for me to stay home or not to support him, what would you say?

>> i would encourage them to continue to support the president, as i will. there are things that my wife and i don't agree with but doesn't mean we are going to divorce. i believe he is entitled to his opinion. i certainly appreciate the struggle and the evolution that he has been involved with. but i still stand with the president 100%. >> mike, you had been very critical of the president in the past for not coming this far. what does today mean to you? as you answer, the point i was making earlier was the president didn't just announce his change of heart here. he did it sitting in the white house with the seal of the united states and the american flag over his shoulder. >> i this i tnk the president r is comfortable with this decision i think he has been comfortable with the issue of marriage equality for a long time. the people in his administration support it. i think you can see somebody who really is confident in his decision. he has gotten a lot of pressure, certainly, from activists and a

lot of the media asking him the questions. i think they realize that he couldn't go further without fully evolving, without articulating his evolution. it really was going to become something that would be a drumbeat, a political problem. i think that he realized as well this is something that is very powerful for him to actual use to distinguish himself from mitt romney. certainly, a contrast. show himself as a leader, somebody who is not indecisive, somebody who stands up and says, this is what i believe in. that's a great president. >> chris baron, as a gay conservative, you appreciate the president doing this. do you question a lot of people asking if you are going to evolve, mr. president, why did you wait six months before an election? it makes it more of an issue you, the day after north carolina voted. >> let's be honest. what the president did was the right thing. it is a good first step. if this had been a purely political process for this president from the very beginning of his life in elected office.

in 1996, he said he was for same-sex marriage when he thought it was a political winner. in 2004, he said he was against it. in 2008, he was against it when he thinks it was a political winner. now, he thinks it is a political winner to be for it. >> you don't think it is from the heart? >> it is from the heart, the heart has changed an awful lot over the last 12 years. >> we tried to bring the president in his own words. >> what i believe in my faith is that a man and a woman, when they get married, are performing something before god. it is not simply the two persons who are meeting. but that doesn't mean that that necessarily translates into a position on public policy or with respect to civil unions. what it does mean is that we have a set of traditions in place that i think need to be

preserved. >> i believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. and i am not in favor of gay marriage. >> my feelings about this are constantly evolving. i struggle with this. at this point, what i've said is that my baseline is a strong civil union that provides them the protections and the legal rights that married couples have. >> i think what you are seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the american people that gays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, sisters, children, cousins, friends, co-workers and that they have to be treated like every other american. at a certain point, i have just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i

think same-sex couples should be able to get married. >> that's the president's evolution right there in his own words. governor romney has evolveden o the issue of gay rights. some would argue in the other direction. here is what he said back in 1994 when he was running against ted kennedy. i told the leader of the gay republicans, i am with you on this stuff. i'll be better than ted kennedy. in 1992, he demonstrated a flyer that said, wish you a great pride weekend. all citizens deserve equal rights regardless of sexual preference. here is governor romney speaking today, after the president made his decision. >> i do not favor marriage between people of the same gender and i don't favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name. my view is that domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights and the like are appropriate but that the others are not.

>> the question is, you have the two views of the other candidates. pastor, i want to go back to you. the president just barely carried your state. young african-american turnout. depressed republican turnout, because they were mad at george w. bush and didn't love john mccain. is this issue enough to swing north carolina back to the republicans? >> i pray not. i believe that many of us favor much of what the president has stood for. he has done a wonderful job, as far as i am concerned, for our state, in light of the circumstances that he inherited. i don't believe this particular issue will cause many to turn from him. >> mike, you have watched how this has played out. if you -- the polling has certainly shifted, 27% back in 1996 to 50% now, say they support same-sex marriage. when the anti-gay marriage, the bans shall the constitution puts it on the ballot, they tend to win. how do you see this playing out in november? >> what you just showed was an

evolution of the american people. that's where the president is right there in the mainstream of america. that shift from 2004, every one of those moves he made is what the american people did, to now the majority of americans supporting marriage equality. mitt romney moved in the direction to a tiny portion of the republican party, the republican base. that's an amazing thing to watch with both of them. with regard to the ballot measures across the country, when you split the issue off from a candidate, you have people obviously voting sometimes in ways that as the pastor was describing might reflect their religious views. also, as pastor described, when you have people voting on this issue along with all of the other issues they are voting for in an election, it is not an important issue anymore. there are so many important things like the economy that people are voting on and this will not be a deal breaker for

those already voting for the president. >> in a very close election, chris, intensity will matter. i know you disagree with them on many issues. when you hear evangelicals say, this decision by the president will motivate them to get out to vote. will it? >> i think this is a political winner for the president. i think he probably should have gone further. for folks whose number one issue is marriage equality, the only candidate that's been 100% is governor gary johnson. obama has a problem with his base. that's why he has come out for marriage. >> everybody who is strongly against same-sex marriage is already with governor romney and governor romney's position quite honestly are outside of the mainstream. >> chris barron, mike, thank you. >> why the 2010 tea party may not be over and what that means for incumbents, perhaps including the president. to mak, and more durable.

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so about last night, three different states voted, north carolina, west virginia, and indiana. with both presidential nominations all but settled, it is easy to dismiss the results. here is tonight's truth, there is a message. voters seemed much more in sync with the 2010 mood in the electorate than the 2008. when i tweeted something to that effect last night, some of you were quick to call me an idiot.

you weren't the first. i have been at this for 27 years. i am a firm believer there are lessons every time people vote. so what did we learn in indiana, the state president carried back in 2008. senator dick lugar's defeat is proof many conservatives aren't fans of compromise. it goes beyond senator lugar. it means all incumbents should take notice. >> there is something deeper there. there is something that is deep that has been going on in the country. look at 2008, 2010. there is massive incumbent dissatisfaction not just around the country but around the world. we are seeing that and we saw it in indiana last night. >> president obama carried north carolina. last night, the anti-same-sex marriage amendment passed. 29% decided to vote no choice

for president does it mean anything? >> it does. does it mean a lot? no. i think anything that is perceived to be sending a message of any kind is the kind of thing that's going to do a little bit better in this environment. i think that's probably what was partly at work. >> mr. carlville's point there. voters looking to send a message aren't usually kind to incumbents. that doesn't mean that last night's mood will carry over to november. again, we learn every time people vote. what we learned last night was more proof that 2012 as a presidential year is very different than 2008. here tonight to talk truth, national journal editorial director, ron brown stein, republican consultant, alex cos stealth lan knows and donna brazile. you guys are just that and the diva. seriously, a lot of people just want to say, you know, primaries, it didn't matter. it is just about dick lugar.

my golden rule is that every time people vote, we learn. what did you learn? >> well, first of all, that the tea party is very active in the republican party. they punished him for not only being in the senate too long but not having a formal residence in the state of indiana. they also punished him for working with democrats on many important issues, issues that impacted the state of indiana. it is a sad day when you have to punish people simply because they try to get along and do what's right for the country. >> a lot of people are asking that question. is the middle disappearing? olympia snowe retires and says, forget about it. you can't get along with people. it is good and evil. it is not negotiation. listen to mr. mourdoch. listen to how he defines compromise. >> sure, if it is not about the principal, i understand, there is an important point of negotiating to get things done. on those principles, the real issue is, we have this unusual

time in our history where the republican party, the leaders of that party, the leaders of the democratic party, are so polarized, they have two totally different goals. one is to reduce government. one is to make government bigger. when those are the principles, it makes those negotiations meaningless. >> he went on to say that he hopes to get to a point where the definition of compromise is when the democrats give into the republicans. >> not a bad definition from my point of view. i think he has an important point, though. this is a big general election, not a small one. we are choosing different directions for the country. since we are talking north carolina, duke and chapel hill may have a lot in common. they are not going to meet at center court and say, let's compromise and work this out. why? they all want the same thing. are we going to have a top-down government that is going to try to grow from washington? democrat point of view or do we have a bottom up type of

government? that's the choice. it is resolved by victory and compromise. >> no question the parts are as far apart in this election as they have been at least since 1980 and main since 1964. the parties are deeply divided. we are going to be talking very much about a 50/50 nation in all likelihood. the presidential race will likely be decided by a narrower margin than 2008. the senate, someone is going to have 50, 51 or 52 seats. in that environment, basically arguing that we have ir reconcilable differences, the two parties are moving fundamentally apart. the country is basically not giving them leverage to impose on the others. >> if you are president obama, do you just say, dick lugar ran a bad race, been there too long, tea party. that's a whole republican

dysfunction story. do you say to her point, there is something deeper. as an incumbent, i better learn a lesson. >> voter turnout was even low. when we saw that lopsided victory, democrats don't want to overthrow the government. they want to make sure the middle class can succeed in this economy. he wants to smile at something. he knows something is true. look, big government conservatism is dead. that's what they are unhappy with. triple down is dead. we have to grow this economy from the middle up, not the top down. >> this is not left/right. it is up/down. the country is moving into the future, not the past. it is trying to evolve to a more responsive government. >> a quick time-out. erin brunette out front. what's ahead? >> i was very interested in that

conversation. we are going to be joined by barney frank, the first openly member of congress is going to talk about what he this is of what the president said and the time he chose to say it. we talked to a double agent. this man we speak to is, he is -- you are going to have to see shadow and his voice is distorted because she's still worried for his life. he's a double agent who protected the u.s. against some terrorist attacks and he's going to be our guest exclusively tonight. >> i love spy stories. we'll see you in a couple of minutes. when we come back, we'll continue our political discussion but it's like the british version of the state of the union with way better accessories, like a crown. queen elizabeth lays out her government's goals. michele bachmann could run for office in switzerland. we'll explain next. great shot.

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yeah! noooo. yeah! finding you the perfect place is all we do. welcome to hotels.com let's get back to tonight's breaking political news. the president of the united states in an interview with abc news today says he now supports same-sex marriage. it's been an evolution, in his words. he said he wrestled with this for years in part because of how he personally was taught to define marriage. >> i was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, the word "marriage" was something that evokes very powerful traditions, religious beliefs and so forth. >> to continue the conversation

with ron, and donna. at the white house they say he was always going to do this. if they were always going to do this, why have they been working for months on the people who want to chamber of commerce the democratic party platform, saying please don't do that. >> i don't know anything about the background and i don't know how long he has discussed this. all i do know is that this was the right thing to do. i believe that the president will be not only rewarded by democrats, independents, young people and others, because this is about history. dr. king said that the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice. this was a historic day for justice and equality for all people. >> a historic point was made by the new york mayor, michael bloomberg, alex. he said any time a president has gone out and embraced a major change in civil rights, that that change has eventually happened. maybe not the next day or the next week but once the president gives it a stamp of the approval. and this president did it in the oval office. smart move? >> well, i think it's the right move. whether it was the smart move or

not, i think -- i admire him, frankly, for doing it. although it does have some political benefit, it will come at a cost. i think the obama team believes this is a base election. he wants to shrink the middle. he needs the intense tee to get out the vote. but i think it comes at a cost in states like north carolina and ohio where he's going to keep evangelical blacks, he's never going to get republicans. but reagan democrats, guys who have their names on their shirts and go to work every day, he's going to lose a few of those. >> i think this is an historic moment in the evolution of democratic coalition. gay marriage has been an issue and democrats have been reluctant to move forward for fear of losing the most conservative components. those voters are largely gone. this i think is a tacit admission that the obama administration and the road to victory is by mobilizing the new coalition, young people,

socially educated liberated whites. >> a demographic bet on a different democratic party. >> the colorado strategy. >> you're talking about losses and minuses in terms of the polls and the people will vote or not vote for him. but we're not talking about the people whose lives are impacted by these decisions. i think this is a moment when people feel this is an opportunity for them to be who they are, to express their freedom, equal justice under the law. that's what it's about. >> in public opinion, there's -- >> i would say this for the republican party. it's hard for the republican party to be the party that's against big government when we put big government in the business of love. at some point it's going to be republicans i think are going to have to understand if we keep telling the country that one of the world's biggest problems is there is too much love in the world, it's going to cost us with the next generation. >> that's why i love you, alex. >> kate bolduan has the latest news you need to know. more headlines.

a roadside bomb exploded dangerously close to a u.n. convoy transporting the monitoring team in syria today. the u.n. secretary general says no observers were killed but ten syrian soldiers were wounded. he said there's no evidence to prove that the convoy was targeted, but the explosion demonstrates the volatile and dangerous situation in the country. and lots of pomp and even a little substance in london today. queen elizabeth, who's been on the throne for 60 years, made her annual address to parliament. she laid out the british government's plans for the next year. they include banking reform, reducing the deficit and keeping iran from developing nuclear weapons. and it looks like art may be the new gold standard. mark rothcoe's 1961 painting sold for a record-breaking $87 million in an auction yesterday. the entire post-war art auction raised almost $400 million. art buyers are on a roll. just last week "the scream" sold

for $120 million. pretty impressive. some sad news that we must tell you for the red sox nation. the voice that announced the lineups at fenway park has fallen silent. carl bean, the public address announcer for the team died in a single car crash this afternoon. he was 59 years old. i'm sure you know that voice very well, john. >> i heard that voice sunday at fenway park. i was there with my day. it's a very sad day, sad day, sad day. it takes us 4,000 miles away to switzerland. former presidential candidate, michele bachmann, now holds sit s&pship the citizenship there and sheekds r -- she could run for office there. >> you could technically run for office in switzerland now too. would you consider that? >> really! well, as you can see, there's a lot of competition behind me that i would have to runai