the act of female genital mutilation is something more than 100 million women and girls have endured. >> this week's cnn hero refused to accept the fate. it's now illegal in the homeland of kenia. still persists in some rural areas. but this woman is challenging that tradition. >> i avoided the ceremony. most of the girls are mutilated when they are 12. i really liked going to school. i knew that once i got to it, i will be married off and my dream of becoming a teacher will end. i had to face my dad and say i will only go through the testing if you let me go back to school. it was then the morning, using a very old rusty knife, with no

anesthesia. i can never forget that day. eventually, i was the first girl in my community to go to college in the u.s.. i came back to my village to set a school for girls so they too can go to college. when girls start at our school, they are very shy. over time, we see them change. they are doing very well. the most exciting thing, our work is about empowering the girls. these girls can say no to being cut. they can dream of becoming lawyers, teachers, doctors, and we see my daughter do better than my son. i came back for girls in my community don't have to negotiate like i did to accept their dreams. that's why i wake up every

morning. >> what a great smile. how inspiring. on monday, soledad will have a sitdown interview with facebook coo sheryl sandberg. >> cnn newsroom with carol costello starts now. happening now in the newsroom -- a gay marriage stunner. >> i'm announced today a change of heart. >> staunch ohio conservative rob portman, a dramatic reversal, backing same-sex marriage after his own son comes out. >> i now believe people ought to have the right to get married. >> politics getting very personal. also, knife fight. >> the small pocket knife is not going to result in a catastrophic failure of an aircraft. >> the tsa chief outspoken and

outfront. we'll talk to one tsa agent. >> a really smart smartphone. the new samsung galaxy. we're here at radio city music hall for the launch. >> the headline? this thing can track your eye movements on its screen. and march madness, star wars style. >> welcome. this is madness! >> darth vader, hans solo, c 3 p on, g o, get out your brackets. who is your fave? here live in the cnn newsroom. and good morning to you. happy friday. i'm carol costello. we begin with a cnn exclusive on a change of heart. a stunning change in position.

conservative senator rob portman says he's dropping his hardline opposition to same-sex marriage because one of his own sons gay. a deeply personal decision by a very public standard bearer of the republican party. portman, you may remember, was front-runner to be mitt romney's running mate and campaigned tirelessly for him, even after being passed over. he shares his story exclusively with dana bash. >> i'm announcing today a change of heart on an issue that a lot of people feel strongly about. it has to do with gay couples' opportunity to marry. i've come to the conclusion for me, personally, i think this is something that we should allow people to do, to get married, to have the joy and the stability of marriage that i have had for over 26 years. i want all three of my kids to have it, including our son who is gay. >> that unexpected revelation came from portman's 21-year-old son, will, two years ago. >> my son came to jane, my wife

and i, and told us that he was gay. and that it was not a choice, and that, you know, he -- that's just part of who he is, and he has been that way ever since he can remember. >> reporter: what was your reaction when he told you? >> love, support, 110%. >> reporter: surprise? >> surprise, yeah. >> reporter: you had no idea? >> no idea. yeah. and, you know, again that launched a process of rethinking the issue. >> reporter: until now, all of this was secret to most, but not everyone. you were vetted to be a vice presidential candidate. did you tell mitt romney your son was gay? >> yeah, of course. >> reporter: how did he react? >> i told mitt romney everything. that process is intrusive would be one way to put it. but, no, i told him everything. >> reporter: you think that was a deal breaker? >> no, i really don't. >> reporter: how can you be sure? >> well, because, you know, he

told me. >> reporter: portman was never outspoken on gay marriage, but consistently voted against it. supporting a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, defense of marriage act and a bill prohibiting gay couples in washington, dc from adopting children. what do you say to a gay constituent in ohio who says i'm so glad he's changed his position, but why did it take him learning he has a gay son? why didn't he as my representative care about my rights before that? >> well, i would say that, you know i've had a change of heart based on a personal experience. that's certainly true. i'm on the budget committee, finance committee for a reason. those have always been my primary issues and focus. so now it's different. i -- i hadn't expected to be in this position. but i do think, having spent a lot of time thinking about it and working through this issue

personally, that, you know, this is -- this is where i am for reasons that are consistent with my political philosophy. including family values, including being a conservative to believes the family is a building block of society. i'm comfortable there now. >> a senate might look at this and say he's a politician, why is he doing this now, when he found out two years ago. >> two things. one, i'm comfortable with the position. and it took me a while to, you know, rethink things and get to this position. >> reporter: the second reason? the supreme court which will soon hear a pair of gay marriage cases and portman expect thad to generate some questions about his position. >> i thought it was the right time to let know folks know where i stand so there is no confusion, so i would be clear about it. >> dana bash joins us om washington. dana, will portman turn this personal decision into a political one? >> well, obviously, he is a

politician, so everything he does is political. i asked him if he will become an activist, not just speak out and say he's changing his position, but really push colleagues, get out there like others, ken mehlman, for example, the former rnc chair, is openly gay now, he is very, very active. senator portman said probably not. he said that he's made his position known, but he still wants to focus on the issues that brought him into public service, which is -- they are economic issues, that really is his expertise and focus. that will stay the same. >> i understand his son tweeted about in this morning. what did he tweet? >> he says he's very proud of his father. a pretty simple, pretty straight forward tweet that he sent out and, you know, very clear. you see it. i'm especially proud of my dad today. very clear from talking to senator portman, who i'm not sure if you can tell, he was very uncomfortable doing this interview, not because he didn't want to talk about his son.

he was clearly saying he's very proud of his son as well, but his sensibilities don't lend themselves to that. carol, you're from ohio. you know the midwestern sensibilities, especially conservatives, they don't like to talk about personal issues like this in such a public way. >> a great interview. dana bash, thank you so much. more rough waters for carnival cruiselines, a third carnival cruiseship has technical difficulties. the carnival "legend," having trouble with the propulsion system. cut out a stop and limping back to tampa, florida. carnival says all safety and hotel functions are working normally. the carnival "dream" lost power while in st. maarten. passengers tell us that toilets overflowed. carnival is flying 4,000 passengers on that ship back to florida. first passengers due to arrive this afternoon. not everyone is getting home

quickly. greg stark on the carnival "dream" in st. maarten. good morning, greg. >> caller: good morning. >> you don't sound happy. what are conditions like right now? >> caller: actually, conditions are pretty good right now. they -- they have been trying to cater to the situation. last night, they actually flew in a singer last night to do a concert. it was john secada came on board and did a concert for everybody on here. so the conditions are pretty good as of now. they are coordinating to get everybody out today and tomorrow i believe. not everybody has flight times as of yet. >> how about you? >> caller: i don't have a flight time as of yet. so i assume it will probably be tomorrow. but they are doing the first groups this morning.

and seems like it was pretty organized from what i was able to tell. >> that's pretty good. will you ever take another carnival cruise? >> caller: probably not any time in the near future, if ever. especially with -- definitely not with my two kids. >> i hear them in the background. probably a little bored by now. thank you so much for talking with us this morning. also this morning, new hope for a break through on the deadly consulate attack in libya. four americans, including the u.s. ambassador to libya, were killed when gunmen attacked the compound in benghazi. little progress in the investigation until now. sources tell cnn libya has obtained this man and even allowed the fbi to question him face to face. senior international correspondent nick robertson in london. tell us about this man and the investigation. >> the man in question is faraj

al-shibli picked up in the last few days in libya. he was recently returning from a trip to pakistan this is a man who has a long history of jihadist connections, within a fighting group, the libyan islamicighting group who tried to overthrow gadhafi in the '90s. put many cohorts in touch with al qaeda. and it's believed he has connections to al qaeda in yemen, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and possibly as well in pakistan. so this is something who we don't know his involvement. we don't know if al qaeda was involved in the attack on the consulate. we do know there are a lot of questions and a lot more details to come out. >> nic robertson, reporting live this morning. >> also today, some of the

biggest stars of the republican party will speak at cpac. paul ryan will speak, wayne la pierre and later today, rick santorum will take the stage. mitt romney will speak later this afternoon. cpac, the largest gop gathering of its kind and the opportunity to refine the party's message. al cardenis joins us, from national harbor, maryland, chair of the american conservative union. welcome, al. >> just a mithank you, carol. great to have cnn. >> glad are you speaking with us this morning. some conservatives have talked about being more inclusive and yet gay republican groups like go proud aren't included in cpac. rob portman and dick cheney have come out in support of same-sex marriage. will the gop change position? will cpac ever change position and allow gay republicans to sit

at the table? >> look, there are a few ground rules here at cpac. one, we discuss all of our serious subjects with civility. we love and respect each other, and we have had two panels yesterday, almost back to back. we had a panel post hosted by our friends involving advocates of the gay meaning movement and another panel arguing in favor of tradition aal marriage. >> were there gay people included in the panel discussions? >> of course. the executive director of go proud was in that panel. here at cpac, ample conversations on the issue. there is a good, common denominator, including our unity on fiscal issues. allowing those who have different views on social issues

to participate. and a few different issues on foreign policy. look, cpac is a great ground for discussion. we want 55% of the people who are here, your hon under the age want them fully informed and want to draw their own conclusions of what their beliefs are. that's what this is all about. >> were people attending cpac respective to a change in thinking about gay americans in the country? if you look at the polls and quinnipiac put out the latest one. only 25% of americans believe they should be. >> each individual has to make up their own mind on the subject. the issue played out fairly. most people here are god loving american who's love their fellow man and women regardless of sexual preferences. some are strong advocates of the traditional marriage that they firmly believe in, based on

their spiritual and religious believes. there are three types of people here. the second type are those who feel that way, but think that the other folks should have an an accident wall seat at the table and then there are folks who are very strong advocates, aggressive advocates for gay marriage. but there are a lot of issues involving the gay community other than marriage. >> that's true. very true. will we one day see at cpac, maybe next time around, a gay speaker speaking in a prominent place and time to talk to the crowd there? >> absolutely. we -- you know, that has happened in the past as well. we had gay advocates, gay speakers in the past, gay advocates at the panel. listen, we don't invite people to the podium or exexclude them based obsession you'll preference. we have a set of values, those set of values explained at the conference through various speakers.

we don't exclude anyone from participati participating. we invite anyone regardless of their sexual preference to participate. there are a lot of gay activists here. >> they did have a prominent role on stage. didn't have a prominent speaking role and a lot of people who had prominent speaking roles were actually anti gay marriage. not supportive of the gay community. >> wait a minute. people are people. we don't -- you know, we don't select people on that basis. we select people based to their contributions to the country. there isn't a conservative gay senator, member of congress, that i couldn't invited. a gay governor that adheres to conservative values we could invite. if there were, we would probably consider that. you can't say that the sexual preference ought to be the guiding light as to who gets up on the podium and speaks to the audience. the factors that guide who speaks to the audience are those who speak to the conservative

movement. >> al cardenas, thank you for being with us this morning. chair of the national conservative movement. >> thanks, carol. opening bell less than 20 minutes away. the dow will shoot for 11 straight days of gains, after a close of yesterday, the dow up nearly 84 points. alison kosik at the american stock exchange. good morning. >> yes, please. i'll have another. talking about the dow going for number 11. we've been talking about the dow going for these levels for over a week now. let's focus on the s & p 500. the focus of today, the 1663 number, the magic number everybody is watching for. 1665. if the s & p hits the 1665 level, the first time since october 2007. that is a record-breaking level for the s & p 500, and this is a bigger deal than even the dow. you look at the s & p 500, a broader index.

makes up 500 stocks rather than the dow's 30. most of the mutual funds on stalk the s & p 500. that will be the focus today, less on the dow, and we'll look at another record breaker, the s & p is front and center today. >> alison kosik from the new york stock exchange. samsung at it again. coming up, telecommunications giant pulls out all the stops to show off its newest flag ship phone this phone. >> you can control it by using your eyes only. no hands involved. we'll be back.

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it felt more like broadway than a board room. it was all about a phone, but not just any phone. the samsung galaxy s 4. you can control your phone without even touching it. all you have to do is use your eyes. zane asher in new york this is an unbelievable feature. >> yeah, carol, absolutely unbelievable.

this device is really aiming to impress. you can pause a video you are watching simply by looking away from it. if you stare at the phone, you can scroll up and down, it also tracks hand movements as well. scroll through photos without touching the phone, and you can answer calls by waving your hanover the phone. which might be dangerous. the real wow factor came from the camera taking a picture of a loved one outside, and a stranger walks by, you can take

that person out. and if you take a picture, you can actually be in the picture using a front facing and a rear facing camera. they came up with the crazy ideas by asking the public. >> it's hard to describe them, it's hard to imagine the good things we described in the presentation tonight. for us, we spent a lot of time trying to dream up what we think we can do with the technology available, and as we described in some of the scenarios tonight, we try to think about what people are doing with their devices and incorporate the technology into the scenarios. >> sort of trying to figure out what people want before people are necessarily even know what they want, which is something apple is known to do. the s 4 features very impressive. but are they impressive enough to take down the iphone 5? that's the big question. >> i don't know. the eye movement thing and you don't have to touch your screen as much, which doesn't it doesn't get dirty as much i suppose. really a cool idea.

i guess the biggest question, how much does it cost? >> well, you know, that's what will be out in april, in terms of price, they are being very secretive. they say it's up to carriers, but assume it won't be that different from the s 3, around $200, so we shall see. >> zane asher, thank you so much. we appreciate it. that's one cool phone. just ahead, a day after the chief of tsa, a former air marshal weighs in on allowing small knifes airplane cabins. [ male announcer ] if you stash tissues

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the tsa doubles down on its controversial decision to allow small knifes back in airplane cabins. the chief defending the decision on capitol hill. >> the small pocket knife won't result in the catastrophic of an aircraft. an improvised exslowive device will. and searching for the items that won't blow up an aircraft will. we are joined by jerrell joiner. >> good morning. >> thank you for being here. the head of the air marshal union say the policy is "insa "insane." what do you think? >> i agree with that. 100%. >> why? >> i mean i think that you are now allowing something that we once considered to be dangerous

back on the airplane. it just doesn't make sense. >> mr. pistole says we've confiscated hundreds of these pocket knifes. he can't think of one unstance where someone was put on danger on a plane because they had a small pocket knife. >> i would agree with that. why would we change that? we should keep that record at 100%. we don't want to have any. it doesn't cause catastrophic failure to an aircraft and i could agree with that. just like an ied it takes people to operate that. and we will enable the people who want to do us harm have a pocket knife. it doesn't make sense. >> if someone pulled a pocket knife on a plane, i suspect passengers would fight back. a bomb not so much. you can't fight back against something you can't see. how allowing knifes on board will endanger passengers more than bombs? >> well, i'm not going to say it

will endanger passengers more than bombs, but the key word, it's still dangerous. you don't want to put any type of danger on an airplane. it doesn't make sense. as an air marshal, we're focused on watching people. behavior and activity. now you have to probably sit with someone who is going to play a pocket knife, clean their fingernails, cut paper. that will cause a distraction. >> you think mr. pistole will resin his decision? >> the rest of law enforcement community throughout america. no one wants to ride on an airplane and know that the person in the seat next to you will have a pocket knife. i hope congress will put the needed pressure to hip so he can make a change in his decision. >> i know the bill introduced

already. we'll see what happens. thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you so much for having me. >> the talkback question of the day. should the tsa walk back its policy on knifes. facebo facebook.com/carolcnn. or tweet me @carolcnn. we're back in a minute. looking for a litter with natural ingredients that helps neutralize odors. discover tidy cats pure nature. uniquely formulated with cedar, pine, and corn.

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good morning. happy friday. thank you for joining us. i'm carol costello. stories we're watching in the newsroom, 31 minutes past the news hour. opening bell rings on wall street, many wonder if the dow will see the 11th straight day of record gains. a search crew finds cars in a new orleans waterway, but none are the honda accord missing to a new orleans teacher, terrilynn monnette last seen on march 2nd. sonar equipment will be brought in to do a more thorough search. the washington post reporting a federal grand jury is investigating menendez' role regarding the business dealings of one of his donors. menendez declined to say he knew of the probe, but tells the post he has acted appropriately at all times. president obama, travels to chicago today, where he is expected to detail a plan, a funding research into clean energy. the plan would set aside 2

billion a year for public and private research. that money would come from federal oil and gas leases. congressional republicans are expected to oppose the plan. red box expanding its service to include video streaming. the movie rental service known for its red kiosks will join netflix and hullu by offering videos online. it will offer streaming along with traditional kiosk rentals. political buzz, rapid fire look at best political topics of the day. three topics, 30 seconds on the clock. playing with us today, john avalon and ron christie, former assistant to george w. bush. welcome to both of you. >> good morning, carol. >> good morning. glad you are here. first up, a funny thing happened on the first day of the annual conservative gathering known as

cpac. senators rand paul and marco rubio outlining very different plans. >> the gop of old has grown stale and moss covered. we don't need a new idea. we have an idea called america and it still works. >> okay. so rubio and paul butting a different public face on a seemingly growing tensions within the republican party. politicians, pundits and supporters try to figure out a way forward after the bruising 2012 election. our question? can republicans ever again speak with one voice? ron. >> well, i don't think any party, carol, speaks with one voice. the democrats have a wide variety of issues and concerns, so do the republican party. one thing clear by the republican party today, we are firm in our commitment to reduce the size of government. balance the budget and have a strong national defense. i think there is always going to be differences of opinion on certain social issues so what

happens with the two senators or two rising stars yesterday, doesn't surprise me at all. >> john. >> look there is a simmering gop civil war going on. one of the great stories on our time. there are fundamental differences, even on issues of security when it comes to rand paul. healthy debate is good for the republican party and the lib tarron wing is in there right now. they have to figure out how to connect to the millennial generation and rand paul has a lot of momentum in that direction. >> up next, senator rob portman, republican, making a reversal on the issue of same-sex marriage. >> for me, personally, i think this is something that we should allow people to do to get married and to have the joy and the stability of marriage that i have had for over 26 years. >> in a cnn exclusive, the republican senator from ohio who voted for defense of marriage act and similar legislation,

reached the decision after learning his 21-year-old son is gay. but a recent poll shows portman's party doesn't agree with him. 23% of republicans support same-sex marriage compared to 50% of independents and 65% of democrats. is rob portman putting his political future at risk? >> it's a stand of conscious and he should be commended. they are becoming liberals on issues that affect them personally. we're in the midst of a gay civil rights movement and a republican senator changing his mind on this issue, sends a strong natural to other leading republicans in advance of a supreme court case. this is an issue, not simply partisan, a generational divide, trying to evolve as a country. a positive step forward as a country. >> ron. >> well, in full disclosure, rob portman is my closest political mentor. i commend him for honesty and

courage. what he did in this particular instance, he put himself as a dad first and politician second and made the determination what was best for his son will l and for his family. the political future i think is very strong. a bright future and a player to rereckoned with in the united states senate and one that conservative republicans with cork with. >> i'll ask another question. rob portman came out, said i will support same-sex marriage, spoke out against it time and time again. so that he's such a conservative republican, coming out, saying my son is gay, i've changed my mind, thought a lot about this. will he change republican minds according to that poll, only 23% of republicans say same-sex marriage should be? >> i think it's more of a question of conscience than political persuasion. republicans need to evaluate what they believe. their god, their faith, their

underopini underpinnings are. this is a determination made as a dad, rather than a politician. others will have to search their conscience and see which way they feel. i support him very much. >> buzzer beater, 20 seconds on the clock. vice president biden, reality star? the white house launching being biden, an audio series that will follow the vice president around washington and beyond as he shares his experience "in candid, behind the scenes snapshots." as the vice president once said this is a big well, you know the rest. basically what he does, pictures come up and vice president joe biden kind of describes what's happening in the picture. that's what this is all about. so the question, what do you want to know most about being biden, john? >> i want to know how much overlap there is between the onion caricature of joe biden and the real joe biden and whether he's running for president in '16. but this is actually a perfect fit for joe biden.

he's become this cult figure. it's fascinating. >> ron. >> i'm with john on this one. to be a fly on the wall to see what the vice president of the united states is up to. the gift that keeps on giving. the fact that he's one heartbeat away from the presidency, i want to see what he's doing. >> for completely different reasons. >> exactly. >> very different reasons. >> john avlon, ron crhristie, thank you for playing. >> always a pleasure. >> we're back in a minute. ♪ ♪

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all right. i want to take you out to cpac just a minute. we have an influential conservative gathering in maryland. lots of speakers like donald trump, sarah palin, rand paul. most recently to speak with mitch mcconnell. he interesting comments about the democratic ticket in 2016. let's listen. >> don't tell me democrats are the party of the future when their presidential ticket for 2016 is shaping up to look like a rerun of the golden girls. we have rand paul, marco rubio,

and a slew of bright, young energetic governors ready to take america into the future. and the other guys? they got hillary and joe biden. >> of course, mitch mcconnell will run for his senate seat and he would be ten years. basically by eliminating obama care. let's listen. >> i'm so happy to be here. we all need a break from the mess in washington. i just got to say, it's nice to be in a room full of conservatives for a change.

thank you. it is time to take stock to catch up with friends in a plan for the future. a am grateful for the chance to speak with you and thanks for this opportunity. you know, this has been a really big week. we have white smoke from the vatican, and we got a budget from the senate. they call their budget a foundation for growth. restoring the promise of american opportunity. wow. i feel like saluting already. but when you read it, you find that the vatican's not the only place blowing smoke this week. they -- you see, the democrats call their budget a balanceded approach. the thing is, they never balance

the budget, ever. in fact, they call for another trillion dollar plus tax hike on top of even more spending. if we did nothing, meaning not pass the budget, the government would save money. look, we take the opposite approach. i am proud of our budget. it has changed the conversation. today, we're not talking about cliffs or ceilings or sequesters. we're talking about solutions. and that's how it should be. our budget expands opportunity by growingeconomy. it strengthens the safety net by retooling, and restores government by ending cronyism. >> all right. we'll step away from congressman paul ryan, obviously he explain the audience at cpac. we'll continue to monitor

congressman ryan's comments and bring you more as they come in. we'll take a quick break. back with more. gy. departure. hertz gold plus rewards also offers ereturn-- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. some people will do anything to help eliminate litter box odor. ♪ discover tidy cats pure nature. clumping litter with natural cedar, pine, and corn.

jpmorgan chase lost $6 billion dos of shoddy trades by its chief investment office. it's part of a damming new report from known as the london whale. the senate released the report

after the nine-month investigation. here's what they found. jpmorgan ignored that. they are blaming the regulators are missing warning signs. they said the senior management acted in good faith and never had any intent to mislead anyone. and like ceo jamie dimon. he's had close ties to the white house and wall street likes him, too. an 11-year-old girl wins her fight to get back on the football field. "the bleacher report" has the story. what's next?

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play football with her male teammates. jarod greenberg joins us with the "the bleacher report." hi. >> hey, carol, she's an 11-year-old ballplayer. all girls who take to the gridiron owe thanks. nearly 110,000 people signed the online petition. and the archbishop of philadelphia responded by reversing a ruling to ban girls from football. last year, she slipped through the cracks. playing with the boys since she was 5, plow says she'll be ready for the fall. look at the city of brotherly love. a little change of heart. keep your head up. that's what the nfl is telling its players as the league tloox implement another safety measure. this time the new guidelines are focused on the new ballplayers. a running back to receiver may not officially lower his helmet. many times the rules apply to

the defensive side oftentimes giving advantage to the offense. this new policy could level the playing field and of course help limit concussions. the owners vote next week. buzzer beater thursday. we hit the jackpot. brandon paul, they made their parents proud. paul in the white illinois jersey for the win. you betcha. paul. sends illinois to the win over minnesota. a tough blow for the golden gophers who may now not make the ncaa tournament up next for the illini, the big ten quarters against the number three team in the country, indiana. like filling out march madness bracket but you're not much of a basketball fan you're more into the sci-fi? no worries the creators "star wars" has it covered. lucas films will launch their own bracket-style tournament next week. fans will be able to vote each day on the matchups from both sides of the bracket. the light side and, of course,

the dark side. i'm really watching here. the one that features r2d2 against han solo. carol, i'm going to stick to the real bracket. then again, those who don't know much about basketball are the ones who usually do the best in the bracket. maybe i should apply that therapy and take part in the lucas films bracket. >> you never watched "star wars" in your whole life, are you? >> not a day. i was wrapped in the sports world. >> i'm putting my money on darth vader. >> i am not your father. is that the right one? >> see, you know that. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" after a break. you canr without a reservation... and without a line. now that's a fast car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. with new lean cuisine salad additions.

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happening now in the "newsroom." the first passengers from the carnival cruise ship "dream" expected back in orlando. and breaking overnight, another carnival cruise ship having some troubles. also, a cnn exclusive. a change of heart for conservative senator rob portman. he now supports same-sex marriage. >> for me, personally, i think this is something we should allow people to do. to get marry and have the joy and stability of marriage that i've had for over 26 years.

plus, a fighter jet chases a u.s. drone. it knows where you're looking. the new samsung galaxy smartphone. it lets you scroll without even touching it. you're live in the cnn newsroom. good morning. happy friday. thank you so much for joining me. i'm carol costello. we are 30 minutes into the trading day on wall street. the dow retrading from its record run. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. the dow might be lower but the s&p could hit a record, right? >> not so much. the bulls overall, it looks like they've run out of steam at least for the moment. hey, the day's still young. the market has plenty of time to turn around. we've got a whole day. what's weighing on the stocks for the moment, consumer sentiment for march. how they feel about the

finances, the business climate. that's weighing on stocks today. we will continue to watch to see if the dow will hit yet another record. its 11th in a row. the s&p 500 that's in focus in as well because that's within striking distance of its all-time high as well at 1565. that's the magic number, moving farther and farther away. a caribbean cruise nightmare ending for more than 2100 carnival passengers. the cruise ship "the dream" became a nightmare when lost power. passengers telling some the toilets stopped working briefly and started to yo flofr. carnival will fly passengers back to the united states. the first flights expected to arrive later this afternoon. last hour, passenger greg stark told me the crew was working really hard to take care of everybody. >> they've been, you know, trying to cater to the situation. last night, you know, they

actually flew a singer last night to do a concert. it was john secada came on board to do a concert here. so the condition, pretty good. they are coordinating to get everybody out today and tomorrow, i believe. not everybody has flight times as of yet. >> this is not carnival's only headache. last night the carnival "legend" started having problems with its propulsion ship. that ship is skipping its final port and limping its way back to flap. carnival says all working normally on board that ship, though. to a cnn exclusive. a change in heart. a stunning change in position. conservative rob portman said he's dropping his hard dine proposition to same-sex marriage because one of his sons is gay. it's a deeply personal position by a very public standard-bearer

of the republican party. portman, you might remember was a front-runner to be mitt romney's running mate. he campaigned tirelessly for romney even after being passed over. portman shared his story exclusively with dana bash. >> i'm announcing today, a change of heart, on an issue that a lot of people feel strongly about. it has to do with gay couples' opportunity to marry. i've come to the conclusion for me, personally, i think this is something we should allow people to do. to get married that they have the joy and stability of marriage that i've had for over 26 years. i want all three our kids to have it including our son who is gay. >> that unexpected revelation came from portman's 21-year-old son will two years ago. >> my son came to jane, my wife and i, and told us that he was gay and it was not a choice. you know, that's just part of who he is. and he'd been that way ever

since he could remember. >> what was your recollection wh reaction when he told you? >> love, party. 110%. >> surprise? >> surprise, yeah. >> had you no idea. >> no idea. yeah. again that launched a process of rethinking the issue. >> until now, all this was secret to most, but not everyone. >> you were vetted to be a vice presidential candidate. did you tell mitt romney that your son was gay? >> yeah, of course. >> how did he react? >> i told mitt romney everything. that process is intrusive would be one way to put it. but, yeah, i told him everything. >> do you think that was a deal-breaker? >> no, no, i really don't. >> how can you be sure? >> well, because, you know, they told me. >> reporter: portman was never outspoken on gay marriage but he consistently voted against it. supporting a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, the defense of marriage act and

a bill prohibiting gay couples in washington, d.c. from adopting children. >> what do you say to a gay constituent in ohio who says i'm so glad that he's changed his position. why did it take him learning he has a gay son? why didn't he as my representative care about my rights before that? >> well, i would say i've had a change of heart based on a personal experience. that's certainly true. i'm on the budget committee, i'm on the finance committee for a reason. those have already been my primary issues and my focus. so, now you it's different. you know, i hadn't expected to be in this position. but i do think, you know, having spent a lot of time thinking about it and working through his issue personally that, you know, this is where i am for reasons that are consistent with my political philosophy. including family values, including being a conservative

who believes the family is a building block of society. so i'm comfortable there now. >> you know, a cynic might look at this and say he's a politician. why is he doing this now when he found out two years ago? >> well, two things. one is, i'm comfortable will the position. and it took me a while to, you know, rethink thinks and get to this position. >> reporter: the second reason, the supreme court which soon hear a pair of gay marriage cases and portman expected that to generate some questions about his position. >> and i thought it was the right time to let folks know where i stand so there was no confusion so i'd be clear about it. >> dana now joins us from washington. dana, does portman's change of heart now mean he'll now fight for same-sex marriage? is that what he means? >> i don't think so. in fact, i asked that question point blank, carol. he said he hasn't thought through it entirely, but his initial plan is to stick to the issues that brought him into

public service which are economic issues. he calls himself an economic wonk or dork. and he doesn't think he'll suddenly become an activist on social issues, particularly this issue, even though he is very publicly changing the dialogue, at least for the new future. >> i do wonder about his son. might his son play a role? >> you know, he said that his son is very comfortable with it. he's very open about it and he's going to obviously, he's 21. he's going to let his son decide what course he takes but, you know, maybe a little bit of an indication could be very simple but powerful tweet that his son sent out today, his son will saying especially proud of my dad today. he also by the way linked in his tweet to an op ed that senator portman also wrote to explain to his constituents in the columbus dispatch to tell them about this. also his ith. there are a lost conservative

commission information the state of ohio who elected him who are not going to be happy with this decision. check our top stories now, authorities are investigating an incident that injured at least two people in miami. workers were getting a stage ready for a concert when the fire department says part of that stage collapsed and injured four people. but a spokeswoman for the show said it was an l.e.d. screen that fell. and only two people were injured. we'll continue to follow this story as it develops. president obama travels to chicago today, where he's expected to detail a funding plan for clean energy. officials say the plan would set aside $2 billion a year for public and private research. that money would come from federal and oil gas leases. congressional republicans are expected to oppose the plan. >> new jersey senator robert menendez continues to be under intense scrutiny-p "washington post" reports a federal grand jury is investigating the deal.

men then sez said he knew of the probe but tells them he's actually appropriately taultsz. >> and we're learning more about a tense moment between the united states and iran this week when an iranian fighter jet was chasing after a u.s. drone over the persian gulf. cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr has been following the story. good morning. >> good morning to you, carol. intense moments indeed. and the u.s. said it will continue to conduct the spy missions. the unmanned predator was flying over the persian gulf earlier this week when the iranian military spotted it. iran scrambled a fighter jet, it pursued the drone to within 16 miles after a verbal warning from one of the two manned u.s. fighter jets escorting the drone, the iranian are aircraft peeled off. no shots were fired in the

incident that occurred in what u.s. officials say was international airspace. but it could have gotten much more serious. drones are now routinely escorted by armed fighters. a senior pentagon official tells cnn we are fully prepared to defend our aircraft. it comes as the top u.s. military commander for the region is even more blunt. >> i've requested and received additional forces in the gulf by the decision of the secretary of defense to ensure that we are ready to reassure our friends that we mean business and temper the iranians' design. >> the incident publicizes something the white house would rather not talk about. iranian efforts to stop pentagon and cia spying. in december 2011, iran displayed to the world a cia drone captured after crashing inside iran. president obama, due to visit israel, said all options are on the table if iran decides to proceed with the decision to

build a nuclear bomb. >> we think that it would take over a year or so for iran to actually develop a nuclear weapon. but obviously, we don't want to cut it too close. >> if you want to think about just how tense things might be in this region, carol. let's go back a minute. what is happening now is u.s.-manned fighter jets are escorting these unmanned drones on these spy missions. and it's worth remembering, they call it international airspace, but it's over some of the most dense areas of the world, the strait of hormuz shipping lanes. take a look, this man drives into a home depot. and a stop sign and a store swing set. dale avari was arrested. he admitted he had been drinking

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it is 15 minutes past the hour. pope francis meets with the cardinals telling them they should use their age and experience to pass on wisdom to young people. the pope spoke about interest to people nationwide. a somber story out of sioux falls. two men jumped in the sioux river to pull out a 6-year-old boy who had fallen in. the boy was out of the icy water. the search for the two men has turned to a rescue mission to a recovery mission. several players were asked about their sexual orientation at last month's scouting combine. officials said it's already looking into the mission and will be discussed next week in phoenix. to new orleans, where boats failed to take up any trace of a young missing teacher.

the search for terrilynn monnette. bring us up to date, nick. >> it was a very solemn mood at that prayer vigil, carol. the family is struggling they have no idea what happened to terrily terrilynn. organizers were passing out these fliers and buttons, at least in the area where she went missing, carol, these buttons are everything. a lot of people are talking about this case locally. >> did anyone see anything? do police have any hard clues at all? >> surveillance cameras caught terrilynn talking to a man outside of a parking lot parlay's. the same camera caught her leaving at 4:00 a.m. we have various conflicting information. the bar manager told me yesterday that terrilynn could have been in the car sleeping as long as an hour before she was

seen speeding off through that bank parking lot. and making a right on a road towards her way home. but that's all sort of what's all been caught on camera. police have told us they had no new leads and they had have no idea what happened to terrilynn monnette. search and rescue teams, qua equisearch, that independent team from texas are bringing in more sophisticated equipment to look into the waterways as well. also, state police and u.s. customs provided helicopters to the search teams here so they're doing aerial searches. also worth mentioning at the prayer vigil, i spoke to the organizer, he himself went up in a private plane to conduct his own search. police have no idea, no leads. >> nick valencia, reporting live, thanks. up next, "talk back" question today. should the tsa rescind its new

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now, for today's "talk back" question. here it is, should the tsa rescind its policy on knives? the fight on knives has reached deeper pitch. tsa chief john pistole vigorously defending his idea to allow knives on planes. >> it is the judgment of many

security experts worldwide that a small pocket knife is simply not going to result in the catastrophic failure of an aircraft. in searching for these items which will not blow up on aircraft and keep us from focusing on an ied. >> not one has ever posed a threat in the meantime, the head of the air marshals' union calls the whole decision to allow knives insane. a former air marshal agrees. >> just like an ied, it takes people to operate that. now, we want to enable the people that wants to do us harm with a pocket knife. it doesn't make sense. but the keyword is still dangerous. >> air marshals, flight attendants and even some airlines are demanding the tasa reverse its decision. as with congresswoman sheila jackson with her dramatic knife

chart. >> you need to stop this now. these cause bleeding. these cause injury, these cause a terrible atragedy. and i don't want to take to the next length, it could possible cause someone to lose their life. >> it could. still, airline passengers are loathe to be victim these days. pull a pocket knife on a plane and you might be taken down by like this guy. fellow passengers duct taped him to a seat. if there was a bomb on board no amount of duct tape could stop that. "talk back" for you, should the tsa rescind its policy on knives, facebook.com slash carol cnn or tweet me. a brooklyn neighborhood take to the streets protesting the death of a teenage boy gunned down by police. [ male announce] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms.

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good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us this morning. and happy friday. checking our top stories just about 30 minutes past the hour. this afternoon, the first passengers will arrive back in the united states after their caribbean cruise became a nightmare. the carnival "dream" lost power wednesday in port in st. martin. now carnival is chartering flights back to the united states. jpmorgan chase gets strong criticism from u.s. senators. lawmakers are wrapping up an investigation into the bank's nearly $6 billion in lost and shoddy trades. the senate panel's report says jpmorgan chase ignored the risk and dodged oversight. the bank denies it was trying to mislead anyone. a new york woman faces

federal gun charges in connection with the shooting of four volunteer firefighters last christmas eve. police say dawn wynn bought two guns for her neighbor william spangler jr. spangler is accused of shooting the men at his home. and firefighters, two of them died, two are hurt. spangler was a felon and unable to buy guns. authorities say he killed himself. she faces a maximum of 30 years in prison if convicted on all charges. a brooklyn neighborhood is outraged after the shooting death of a 16-year-old boy by police. authorities say kimani gray drew a weapon at two plain clothes officers saturday night. but a witness claims the teenager was not armed. mary snow has more for you. >> reporter: by day, a calm scene at this makeshift memorial marking the spot where 16-year-old kimani gray was shot and killed by police saturday night. by night, this scene turns

violent. wednesday, protesters lashed out at police. the nypd said 46 people were arrested and one officer was injured. it was the second night things turned ugly. on monday, teens vandalized two local stores. community leaders blame outsiders for inciting violence. >> there are people, well-intentioned as they may be, that are coming into the community and capitalizing on a terrible situation. and making it worse. >> reporter: there are calls in this community for an independent investigation into grey's death. >> i'm still waiting for him to come home. and today, i'm asking for justice. and i'm asking why, why was kimani murdered and slaughtered? >> reporter: the nypd says the teen who they believe was a gang member pointed a gun at two plain clothes officers. they fired and gray was killed. the medical examiner determined gray was shot seven times

including two shots to the back of his body. it's unclear the order of the shots. police provided a photo of a gun they retrieve ted scene. many in this community aggressi. >> i have to know the job that the police are doing, but, you know, take care of us. i'm saying for the community, take care for police. >> as a parent, i can tell you the thought of losing a child is just every parent's worst nightmare. so our hearts all have to go out to the family of this young man. so far, all indications are that the young man had a gun. and i can promise you that we will conduct a full and fair investigation. >> in an effort to ease tensions here, some leaders in this neighborhood are calling on both

the police and members of the community to stop commenting on this investigation until they know exactly what happened. mary snow, cnn, new york. coming up, our "talk back" question, should the tsa rescind its new policy on knives? your responses next. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site.

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time now to talk back. republican senator rob portman

reversing his position on same-sex marriage saying he's now in favor of the issue. in the past, the ohio conservative has voted for the defense of marriage act and similar legislation. but in a cnn exclusive, portman revealed the personal reason that inspired his new kind of thinking. >> my son came to jane, my wife and i, told us that he was gay. and that it was not a choice. and that, you know, he -- that's just part of who he is. he'd been that way ever since he could remember. and that launched an interesting process for me which was rethinking my position. i've come to the conclusion that for me, personally, i think this is something that we should allow people to do, to get married and to have the joy and the stability of marriage that i've had for over 26 years. i want all three of my kids to have it, including our son who is gay. >> he's talking about his 21-year-old son will.

that changed his heart may put portman at odds, though, with some members of his own party, of course, his own district. to a quinnipiac poll, 65% of democrats, two-thirds. newt gingrich reacted to portman change of heart this way. >> i'm not going to second guess rob portman. he's a personal friend. i think when you have someone in your immediate family who comes in you say i believe in my principles so much, i'm kicking you out. you can say i still believe in my principle but i love you. or you can say gee, i love you so much, i'm changes my principles. rob picked the third path. that's his prerogative. i think historically in the long run, marriage will be between a man and woman. that's been its definition for a thousand years and i don't think

politicians will change that. >> joining me now cnn contributor and democratic strat quake maria del donna. and anna navarro. welcome to you both. >> good morning. >> anna, is newt gingrich right no politician will ever change the position of marriage? >> no, i think he's not right. i disagree with you on this. i know rob portman. he's a friend of mine. i'm very respective what he's done. i respect him for putting his son above all. i think he has not changed his principles. rob portman also stands for principles of being a father. of being a loving husband, of being a family man. as republicans, we stand for that. we stand for family unity. we stand for smaller government. we stand for not telling people who they should marry, what they should do, having government dictate private lives. >> anna, i think 23% of

republicans believe in same-sex marriage. and you're at cpac right now, this conservative gathering of influential politicians. is there talk of legalizing same-sex marriage there today? >> no, i'm not going to tell you it's one of the hot topics going on at cpac. there was a panel yesterday on this. and it was packed. but it's not been one of the priority topics talked about and discussed here. well, listen, carol, it doesn't matter there's 23%. the country is shifting. the attitudes are shifting and we've got to let that shift happen naturally. some people are going to shift faster than others. it was only ten days ago that president bill clinton shifted publicly on this after having been the man, the president who signed doma who said i shifted and i'm asking the supreme court to overturn this law. some people are never going to

shift. but certainly, when it becomes so personal, when it's your child. look, carol, for me, i have many gay friends. i can't look them in the eye and tell them they're entitled to less rights than i am. i can only imagine what it means to have your son come to you or your daughter come to you. you can't look at that child of yours and say you have less right than my other children. you have less rights than i do. you are less entitled to happiness and joy and stability and love because you're gay. you can't say that. so we must respect, i think, and pport rob portman as a father first. and it's very consistent with republican values of family first. >> and maria, rob portman comes from a very conservative district. he wrote an op-ed in the local newspaper explaining his change of heart. and do you think voters will understand? >> well, i think it's going to take rob portman to continue to voice where he is on this. and i absolutely applaud that he has arrived at this position

because it absolutely is where this country is going. i think it's now going to depend on rob and frankly people like anna who is absolutely being a leader on this. and hopefully pushing their party to make sure they do evolve to where this country is going. because the fact of the matter is, carol, again, i applaud rob portman for doing this. but not everody is going to have a daughter or a son that is going to come to them with this. not everybody is going to have a brother or a sister. so it's going to take leaders like rob and everybody else in the republican party who is understanding the shift, and understanding that it actually does go with republican values to not tell people what to do and who they should love. and it also goes with the constitution. we all have the right to the pursuit of happiness under the wall. the berlin wall that was facing marriage quality is now crumbling. and it's up to people like rob portman for this not to be the

last word, but to continue to push people in his party. and, yes, voters in his district to make sure they understand this is where the country is going. >> part of me, though, thinks if rob portman hadn't a gay son, that he wouldn't have changed his mind. and that empathy is lacking. and like, how can you convince people to have empathy for someone they simply do not understand? >> well, and that's where i think it's going to take leaders like rob portman for really things to change. and people like anna navarro, too, i'm proud of her and everybody else in the republican party who has stood up. there's a whole slew of republican leaders who understand this is the way to go. i think the more that they talk about this, carol, the more that others will understand. others that don't have a brother or a sister or a son or a daughter, because you're right, not everybody is going to be in that situation. which is why it's going to take to explaining that this is about humanity. this is about understanding that

our gay lesbian brothers and sisters have absolutely the same rights as men and women who can marry to enjoy those rights and have committed relationships. and to be able to have children and adopt children, so that is where society is going to take us and that is what it says under the constitution. >> anna, i just want you to have the last word because you were so emotional in expressing your opinion about this. as a republican, you are taking a controversial stand. >> i don't see that at all, carol. and i also don't think it's anybody's job, not rob portman's, not anybody's, to convince voters of anything on this. i think it's a very personal journey for people. and i think we have to allow people to have that personal journey. look, because somebody is for traditional marriage and does not support gay marriage, that doesn't make them a bigot. that's what marco rubio said here yesterday and that's absolutely true. now, because i do support gay marriage and because rob portman does support gay rights that didn't make him less of a person

of faith, less of a republican. so, if we are aspiring to build a big tent republican party, there has got to be room for everybody. and we have got to let this evolution happen at its own and natural pace. for everybody. it took barack obama -- it took president obama years to evolve on this as well. so let's be patient. and let's give people their time to come up with their own decisions. make their own plans. make their own principles known. it's a personal decision, a personal choice. >> thanks so much for the conversation this morning. >> thanks so much, carol. hands-free phones are not new but samsung's if you galaxy s iv is no ordinary phone. you can control the thing with your eyes. so we find out, is this the next step in all mobile phones? director's voice: here we go. from the top. and action for over 75 years people have saved money with gecko so.... director's voice: cut it! ...what...what did i say? gecko? i said gecko? aw...

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redbox is expanding its service to include video streaming. the movie rental service known for its red kiosks will join threat flix and hulu by offering movies online. that includes streams along with traditional kiosk rentals. you might not thing without

touching the screen. wow. cristina warren is mashable senior tech analyst. to me, this is incredible. what's it like for you? >> it's very cool. i had a chance to play with the device a few times yesterday. it uses facial recognition. it can pick up where your finger on the phone. where you're looking at it to scroll. and it's very cool stuff. >> and you can just wave your hand over the screen without touching it to like scroll through stuff. >> right, to scroll through stuff. and certain apps if you want to go to another web page to do a call. you can do that with waving your hand. like xbox kinect.

>> it's just really cool. this giving apple a who really watch out other android manufacture s, hgc, lgs. samsung has come out of the box with a galaxy s 4. it's going to be the best android phone on the market. if you're making another android phone, i'd be worried. >> what about the iphone, apple's stock has been plummeting as you know. so they're going to have to come up with this great new device that everyone instantly loves. what does apple have to do with its iphone to beat out samsung? >> i think they need to continue to improve their software. they can't have another issue where the maps launch and people aren't able to get to where they want to be.

samsung has flashy features but the important thing with all of this, how well is it executed? and how well can people use it. and that's one of apple's big strengths is that their products are easy to use and they usually work as advertised. i think whatever apple does next, they just need to make sure that it works as advertised and it's potentially going to be as flashy as what samsung showed off last night. >> i think that's great advice. cristina warren, senior tech analyst for mashup. are you ready for march madness? selection sunday just days away. you can test your bracket skills against mine or cnn archers in the official nyaa march madness bracket challenge game. go to cnn.com/brackets to see if you can pick the ncaa bracket better than me. and i don't think so. we'll be right back. that may be worth looking into. in a clinical trial versus lipitor, crestor got more high-risk patients' bad cholesterol

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♪ the election of pope francis has special meaning to a growing segment of catholics in the united states. and this american journey report, tom foreman looks at the rise of the church's latino members. >> reporter: the appearance of the spanish-speaking pope from across the atlantic electrified the crowd in italy and lit up u.s. shores, too. >> it was just full of joy. and happy, very happy. >> as we say in latin america,

viva el papa! >> reporter: over the past few decades, american catholic churches like this one in d.c. have undergone a profoupnouncfo transformation. the numbers have been soaring, they now account for 1 in 3 catholics here. >> and it's a number that will continue to rise because latino catholics tend to be younger as catholics as a whole. fully one half of all catholics under the age of 40 today are hispanics. >> reporter: while many white catholics have been slipping away from the church amid sexual abuse scandals debates over abortion rights and the role of women hispanic arrivals have more than made up for the losses. so much so that catholics still comprise about a quarter of the country, just as they have for decades. mind you, that shift in demographics has dramatically changed the religious map once of mid-eastern and northwestern

faith, catholicism is growing fast in the south and west. the new pope has a ready audience coast to coast in this country. >> so the fact that he can speak our language is very significant. i think he can get the message to us more effectively. >> reporter: and what they share may maybe more than spanish is the language of change. tom foreman, cnn, washington. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do

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