the search intensifies for a man wanted for killing a teenager and her mother, disappearing with two of her daughters. we have an fbi agent leading the man hunt outfront tonight. let's go. outfront 1, breaking news. america's biggest bank hosting an emergency call as its stock falls. why? jpmorgan is facing significant losses and says it took more risks than it should have. the losses to this point, the company says, to the tune of $3 billion. here's some of the things the ceo jamie diamond just said moments ago on the call. he said the trades were, quote, flawed, complex, poorly reviewed, poorly executed and poorly monitored. these were egregious mistakes and self-inflicted. just because we were stupid doesn't mean anyone else was. there were many errors, sloppiness and bad judgment. now, this adds to what the company released in a filing

today, which is amazing. quote, this portfolio has proven to be riskier, more volatile and less effective as an economic hedge than the firm previously believed. the portfolio in question, a portfolio of synthetic credit securities. i'll get to that in a moment. but this is bigger than jpmorgan. the "wall street journal" wrote about a secretive unit in jpmorgan that makes massive trades in things like synthetic credit securities and what are these? trades that bet on which way oil prices will go or interest rates or greek debt or anything like that. mortgages. remember that what caused? the star of the jpmorgan trading unit is a guy named bruno ixil. he's nicknamed the london whale because his influence on global markets is so massive. so if he gets a bet wrong, the whole bank could be at risk. yes. post the 2008 financial crisis when american taxpayers poured about $250 billion into our biggest banks to save them from bets on top of bets on top of

bets. that's with things like names people can't understand like synthetic credit securities. those are still alive and thriving. now, jpmorgan paid its t.a.r.p. money back. its ceo jamie diamond is known for being a straight shooter and he's embarrassed tonight. the bottom line from him, quote, this trading violates the diamond principle. but jamie diamond usually refers to jpmorgan's balance sheet as a fortress so how could this happen? are america's banks still running wild? john avlon joins us, robert reich and james bianco. great to have all of you with us. are you surprised? >> i am surprised because jamie diamond and jpmorgan chase have made such an issue out of the fact that they say we don't need more bank regulation. they have dragged their feet, they have criticized the fed and others publicly for trying to

regulate derivatives. they have said that we don't want to invoke a rule, we certainly don't want to resurrect anything close to the glass-stegel act. in other words, jpmorgan chase and its head, jamie diamond, have said we are purer than pure, we don't need regulation. and then comes this. >> and jim bichltanco, this too lot of people by surprise. you have an emergency conference call and your stock falls 6%. i mean this is not good. >> no, it's not good. it was somewhat out of the blue in that, yeah, we knew that these banks were taking big risks but there wasn't any real big move in the credit markets, in the corporate bond markets where they say they have the losses. more disturbing than that is the positions that they have are so large, they can't get rid of most of it so they're going to sit there exposed. if the market moves against them, these losses are going to grow. the best they can tell us is they have a lot of smart people working on it and trying to

figure out what to do with humpty dumpty right now. >> the best they could say is just trust me, i know i messed up. just trust me. that's it? >> that's all we have right now. there's no one else that we can trust. we've got to hope that the market doesn't move against them. if credit deteriorates and if the markets turn south, these losses are going to get a lot bigger in a hurry. >> bob, would the dodd-frank legislation that obviously presidential candidate mitt romney says he would get rid of that is still controversial to some, would that have stopped this? do we even know whether the reform on the table that's still being fought by the banks would have addressed it? >> erin, the reforms that are being fought by the banks, including notably jpmorgan chase, would have addressed it, but the reforms as they are emerging are so full of holes, so full of loopholes like swiss cheese. as a result of what the lawyers and lobbyists for jpmorgan chase and others have done. that the current rule, for

example, probably would not have stopped this. this is exactly the kind of behavior that got wall street and the rest of the economy in such trouble just five years ago. nobody has learned anything. for jpmorgan chase and jamie diamond to say, oops, sorry, we made a terrible mistake after what has occurred on wall street is really a kind of arrogance, it seems to me. what they ought to be saying right now is now we recognize we need regulation. >> john, is this going to be a wake-up call. three and a half years after $250 billion go into these banks, dodd-frank passed. lines are still not filled in. we still don't know what the regulations are. some of them are probably worthwhile, some of them not. >> how many more wake-up calls are we going to need to get. this validates the frustration people feel. deep down in these banks there are still people dancing to that music that got us into trouble

in the first place. as bob just said, the lessons haven't been learned. so folks saying they want to resist regulation, it just hurts their credibility going forward because that music is still being played, credit default swaps are still being moved around and ultimately it's that old problem. even though this is one of the more responsible banks by reputation, it's the old problem of privatizing profits that have people rightfully frustrated. >> thanks to all three of you. thanks. please let us know what you all think on twitter tonight. house republicans twiried t we feel out of those automatic spending cuts but it's all a waste of time. and the father of a soldier being held by the taliban says politics are being put before his son's life. will president obama negotiate with the taliban? that is the fundamental question tonight. and will president obama's endorsement of gay marriage deal a winning hand to mitt romney? that's next. [ kate ] most women may not be properly absorbing

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offset the mandatory cuts that are coming to defense spending at the end of the year. there's about $500 billion of those coming our way and they're going to happen if congress cannot agree on $1.2 trillion in overall cuts. that's the magic number from the super committee. they had to cut $1.2 trillion or else. they said, well, we can't do it so at the end of next year we'll get 600 from domestic spending and 600 from defense. republicans are trying to find a way to not get those defense cuts. today nobody agreed. democrats said the republicans bill was not going anywhere, it was dead on arrival in the senate. the cuts are to social programs like medicaid, food stamps, health care. now, the congressional budget office looked at it, said about 1.8 million people would be affected by the food stamp program cuts alone and democrats not going for it. >> the challenging times we live in force us to make difficult choices about our priorities. the reconciliation bill before us today is an example of

choosing the wrong priorities. >> all right. so the democrats, well, look, they don't want the defense cuts either, but they would solve the problem another way. they would raise more money. they would end oil and gas subsidies and increase taxes on the wealthy, which of course the republicans say nope. >> we're leading. the president, no plan to fix this. the senate, no budget since 2009. and our friends on the other side of the aisle, tax increases, spending increases, no spending cuts. >> so here's the problem with this whole situation, which is putting out bills that you know the other side isn't even going to take a look at for even a second puts you in a position where the clock keeps ticking. it keeps ticking and ticking and at the end of the year we're going to hit what everyone, ceos, economists, entrepreneurs tell me is truly a fiscal clip. the super committee as you know utterly failed at its task of cutting $1.2 trillion. that means that money is going to be cut.

who's the winner tonight? who's the one person who really called this out like it is? that would be the defense secretary. ironically the guy you'd think would be fighting to say, that's right, whatever you need to do to save my $600 billion. no, that's not what he's doing. here's leon panetta today. >> by taking these funds from the poor, middle class americans, homeowners and other vulnerable parts of our american constituencies, the guaranteed results will be confrontation, gridlock and a greater likelihood of sequester. >> of course what he's saying there is is a greater likelihood of $600 billion coming out of his defense budget. i think leon panetta nailed it. more confrontation and more gridlock doesn't leave u.s. taxpayers in a good place or anyone in the country. outfront tonight, congressman rob whitman. congressman whitman, i just want

to ask you, you voted for the super committee, that they would exist and they had this job of cutting $1.2 trillion. >> yes. >> they failed. so $600 billion of defense cuts are sitting out there and you're voting against those cuts but you agreed on them before by voting on the super committee so why are you going back on the original vote. >> my original vote was for the super committee to do its job and that was to cut the $1.2 trillion out of spending and i truly believed they would stand up and do their duty. short of that, it's up to us to act to make sure those cuts in defense don't go into place. we cannot balance this budget on the backs of our men and women in uniform. again, i go back to believing that that obligation that would have been lived up to by folks on both sides of the aisle on that super committee. >> leon panetta, the guy who really doesn't want you to cut his budget, thinks what happened today was a bad idea. doing something that's going to cut social programs, you don't get a single democrat to vote for it, you know it will fail so

the clock keeps getting closer and closer to his cuts, this isn't the way to go about it. >> well, i think that it is. it is for the house to make sure that we put our ideas out there to begin this discussion about how do we fix this $500 billion in reductions that we know will be catastrophic to our military. we gra with secretary panetta on that. the issue today is pretty simple. how do we make sure we look at those other areas of spending and make those areas efficient. we cannot balance the budget just by continuing to go to defense. you know, defense is 25% of spending, yet this proposal and the lack of action by the super committee puts 50% of those cuts into defense. what we're looking at is making the other areas of spending more efficient. folks that today are eligible for food stamps will still be eligible tomorrow and the day after and the day after. this is looking to make those systems more efficient and to make sure that we rein them in to be manageable.

>> so you dispute the cbo which said 1.8 million americans would lose food stamps as a result of your bill? >> i do. i think that if you look at this, the eligibility standards do not change. what we're looking at is to make sure we pick up efficiencies with the expenditure of those making sure that people that are eligible truly are eligible and making sure that we have the standard necessary to make sure that there's not waste, fraud and abuse in that program. >> and asking for things like social security is a whole other thing. five of your top six are northrop, boeing, lockheed, saic. was your vote influenced by that? >> no, it wasn't. it was influenced by what's best for this nation. we have a constitutional ability to defend this nation. that is absolutely critical. i want to make sure we're doing the right job there. we owe it to our men and women who defend this nation to make sure that we support them. to do anything less is absolutely unconshould know al. that's my number one effort to

make sure that happens. i represent a district that has a large number of military personnel and veterans. i want to make sure we're helping them to defend this nation, making sure we're supporting them and their families. today they're doing a fantastically difficult job. they are in harm's way. we owe it to them to make sure they have the resources necessary going forward. >> i think it's important to emphasize there are people on both sides of the aisle that want to avoid these defense cuts. but the frustration is you said you wanted to begin this discussion. we began this discussion a long time ago. the super committee failed at doing it. congress, it's just so frustrating to see each side come up with a bill they know 100% of the people on the other side of the aisle vote for. how is that progress? how is that discussion? >> we want to make sure our ideas are out there. we would urge the president and the senate to put their ideas out there. ike that's part of this process. >> we keep doing that. at the end of the day people say i will not allow a tax cut or i will not allow a cut to social

spending. you can't -- nobody moves. >> but we want to make sure that the other side puts ideas out there too. it's very easy to say i don't like your ideas. let's make sure there's an exchange of those ideas. i haven't heard a plan from the president or from the senate to say what do we do to counter the lack of action by the super committee. >> they said they'd raise taxes on the wealthy and some in your own party have said that they were open to revenue increases to some in this country who happen to be the wealthiest paying more money. would you be? >> i want to make sure that we're there helping our job creators. especially during this time in our economy, tax increases are not the right way to go. you heard the president say he didn't believe that tax increases were the right way to go. i'm concerned to make sure that today we're doing everything we can to help our small businesses, to help them through some very difficult times. if you go there and you increase taxes, i think it's going to be counter. if you look at many economists out there, they say taking those dollars out of that stream of dollars that go to the private sector is not where we need to

go these days. we need to make sure washington lives within its means. >> okay. thank you very much, representative whitman. appreciate your taking the time. john is here with me. we were upset at the banks a few moments ago, now you can be upset at congress. >> yeah. that was a great example of why congress has a lower approval rating than criminals. i looked at representative whitman's website when he was campaigni campaigning. he said at some point some tough decisions have to be made and i'm ready for this challenge. no, he's not. taking the tough decisions means taking cuts in defense spending as well as social spending or embracing a grand bargain. >> which would get -- neither one of them like the sequestration. that was the whole point. it's so nasty that you do a deal. >> how many times do we have to learn that all or nothing is not going to happen in a divided congress. you can close loopholes and lower rates and raise revenue but you need entitlement reform and spending cuts. if you campaign on fiscal campaign responsibility you have

to be serious about it. but not in the industry that represented me or my donors represent. >> we are rooting for a grand bargain here on this show. ahead outfront, vice president joe biden gets thrown under the bus for his comments on gay marriage. and a father calls for the swap of prisoners in gitmo. gitmo prisoners for the return of his son, a soldier being held captive by the taliban.

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so today freddie mac said mortgage rates hit an all-time low. rates fell by 0.01% so not a lot, but they fell to 3.83%. i mean that's for a 30-year fixed mortgage. that is stunning. so you could save a lot at these levels, assuming you could refi. if your home is worth $100,000, at these rates you'd save $46 a month and that is a lot, but $16,000 over the life of a mortgage is serious money. here's the problem. the catch is those rates are hard to come by. in a speech today, fed chairman ben bernanke said residential mortgage lending has been particularly sluggish. tight lending standards and terms remain especially evident. it may prevent lending to credit

worthy borrowers so banks make it a lot harder to get a mortgage. you need a higher credit score and need most likely a 20% down payment and then you have to pay the fees, which brings me to our number tonight. $2,035. that's the average closing cost last year on a $100,000 mortgage. that's according to the math at bankrate.com. it's a very high number and it's only going to go higher because of all the regulation. talk about wanting to have more regulation but this is a flip side to it. it will make fees go up on mortgages. our second story outfront tonight, secret negotiations under way between the u.s. and the taliban for a prisoner swap to exchange the only american prisoner of war in afghanistan in exchange for five gitmo prisoners. the potential deal was revealed not by the united states government but by the parents of the captured american soldier. he has been held nearly three years by the taliban. his parents haven't heard from him in over a year but they're speaking out because they're frustrated the talks have

stalled and upset because they haven't heard from the president. chris lawrence has been following this story. chris, has the pentagon confirmed the swap and the parents' version of the tale? >> reporter: publicly, erin, no. but our sources are telling us this is part of the deal that was on the table. a lot of reporters have actually known about these negotiations for months, but they weren't reporting it because they didn't want to jeopardize any potential negotiations. now that the parents themselves have gone public, you're getting sort of a peek behind the curtain at this covert diplomacy. one official tells us the way the swap might have worked is that the u.s. would not have released, say, all five of these taliban prisoners from guantanamo at once but they may release two. and then if the taliban release mo berkdahl then maybe they would work out an arrangement to transfer the other three to a third country like qatar. of course now that deal has sort

of fallen apart because the negotiations have stalled, but pentagon officials say they still are paramount in thinking of getting him back home. >> if you go to the centcom command center, their conference room, there's about a four-by-six foot poster of bo burgdahl to remain them that he remains missing in action. >> reporter: the chairman says he's actually hosted the parents in his office to give them regular briefings. erin. >> thank you very much, chris. an amazing story. we'll see whether that swap happens. up next, where the killer is hiding. two young girls that he kidnapped, are they still alive? the fbi agent in charge of the multi-state manhunt outfront next. and a new development in the john edwards' case. have a good . i love you, ok. bye, mom. [ female announcer ] sam's mom is muddling through her allergies. what can she do?

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welcome back to the second half of "outfront." we start the second half of the show with stories we care about where we focus on our own reporting from the front lines. america's biggest bank, jpmorgan chase, forced late today to hold an after-market conference call, an emergency call, to explain why it's facing up to $3 billion in losses due to bad trades. ceo jamie diamond described the trades as flawed, complex, poorly reviewed, poorly executed and poorly monitored. the portfolio was theoretically

designed to hedge risks. jpmorgan shares are taking a hit after hours and there is concern about how this could happen at this country's biggest bank after the financial crisis of 2008. the prosecution rested its case today in the john edwards trial. he's accused of course of using campaign funds to hide an extramarital affair. prosecutors closed the case by showing records detailing the money spent to hide the existence of his mistress, rielle hunter. our joe johns was there and he says that when prosecutors announced their final witness, close friends and advisers, edwards was seen turning to his lawyers and saying "that's their case?" the defense team is expected to ask the judge to dismiss the case, arguing that the government didn't prove it. the institute for science and international security has new satellite images saying what they say is activity at a suspected iranian nuclear site. we wanted to show you the photo. so look carefully. this was taken on march 4th of this year. it shows that site, we've talked

a lot about it. it's a key area of focus for the international atomic agency. now we'll show you this one taken a month later on april 9th. you can see there's a big change. it shows streams of water coming out of the building, objects lined up outside. the images suggest that iran might be trying to wash the inside of the building. the group says other images don't show similar activity at the site so whatever was going on when this was taken is likely not a regular occurrence. there's a crucial about what it means because in two weeks we'll have the next round of talks between iran and the countries of the west over its program. it's been 288 days since america lost its top credit rating. what are we doing to get it back? well, you head us earlier in the show. congress is really not helping today, frankly really putting us in a bad spot. initial jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 367,000, below that key level of 400,000, which

indicates job growth in america. the manhunt for a mississippi killer and kidnapper believed to be on the run with two young girls. the fbi has added adam mayes to its ten most wanted list. there's a $175,000 reward on his head. they're searching the forests of northern mississippi, which is close to where the bodies of joann bain and her oldest daughter were found. authorities are hoping the 8-year-old daughter and 12-year-old daughter are still alive. the fugitive's wife and forth have both been arrested as accomplices. mayes was a family friend who disappeared about two weeks ago. he told relatives he believed he was the father of the two younger girls. the fbi special agent in charge of the search joins us from downtown mississippi tonight. thank you very much, sir. really appreciate your taking the time. do you think that mayes and the two girls are still alive? >> well, certainly that is our

hope, that the girls are still alive. we continue our efforts in this area. we've obviously made mayes one of our fbi's top ten most wanted. that significantly increased the number of leads that we have to cover. we're covering a significant number of leads in this area. >> and do you think that someone is helping him? i mean what is your sense of where he could be with a manhunt of this scale in progress? >> well, we're here because this is the last place that he was seen. he has family and friends here. and there's a very large geographic area that we're searching. this is a very forested area. there are many cabins and structures and so forth in this area, and we have to clear all of these structures. we have to understand whether or not anyone is there, have they been there, are there people that may have seen something. so it's quite an undertaking just based on the geography of this area. >> i know we were just talking

about how at least it appears from our understanding that mr. mayes thought he was the father of the two younger children. that he's now with. what is the relationship between mayes and the bain family? what have you been able to figure out? >> well, there was a close relationship. there are a lot of different stories, so to speak, that have been put out with their relationship, internally with their family and friends and so forth. but our focus here is really about where these girls are. and to make sure that they're safe and to recover them. so the focus here is on locating them. >> and $175,000 for an fbi ten most wanted, is that one of the highest, you know, bounties, i guess? how does that scale relative to others in this country that are on that list that you're looking for? >> well, i can't put it as far

as how does this scale, but it does include an amount from the united states marshal service, also the tennessee bureau of investigation and it's my understanding the governor's office in tennessee. so there are additional dollars on top of the dollars that are a part of the fbi's most wanted list reward. >> we talk about how this has been two weeks since this began. i mean at what point do you say it's been a certain period of time and just in terms of your historical ratio of finding people, it's unlikely that you'll find them? >> well, our number one thing is to make sure that we've left no stone unturned. again, the geography here is such that there's a lot of work to be done to cover all of the ground. we have specialty teams here from the state of mississippi. we have law enforcement from all throughout this area that know this territory. and we're all working collectively. we have over a dozen agencies that are here working this matter. so with the geography, we have

an extended timeline to clear these areas. again, with the number of cabins here, there are hundreds of cab ens in the area that we're looking so it's going to take a while -- >> how many people are looking? >> i wouldn't give you a number, but we have a significant number of folks, investigators and officers and so forth that are a part of this. >> before we go, joann ba in, her husband was not harmed, i understand. do you -- where is he? is he a part of this? >> well, he's certainly being kept apprised of the developments in this investigation. it's obviously a very, very tragic situation. >> all right, well thank you very much, sir. appreciate you taking the time. of course leading the fbi manhunt for mr. mayes and those two young children. outfront next, vice president joe biden thrown under

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we're back with tonight's outer circle where we reach out to our sources around the world and we begin in syria tonight. a double suicide attack in

damascus. two cars targeted a syrian government intelligence agency building and this is the worst attack that we have known about in syria since fighting began more than a year ago. arwa damon is in beirut following the story and i asked her who could be behind the attack. >> reporter: well, erin, there's been no claim of responsibility just yet, but the el nusra front, which is actually a homegrown militant organization calling for violent jihad against the syrian government has claimed responsibility for similar attacks that took place in damascus and olepo since this year began. of course the underlying concern is that the chaotic situation in syria is ideal ground for extremist al qaeda-style groups to thrive and grow. and that is becoming a greater concern the longer this uprising drags on, erin. >> thanks to arwa. now we go to egypt where the

country's first televised debate took place between the two leading presidential candidates. it's two weeks before the election and polls show the former arab league secretary has a comfortable lead. ben wedeman is in cairo and i asked him whether this changed egyptians' point of view. >> reporter: erin, it was a grueling three-hour debate with only brief breaks. it was the first-ever presidential debate in a land where dictatorship is indeed as old as the pyramids themselves. the two candidates were the former secretary general of the arab league and former egyptian foreign minister facing off against islamist independent. now, the sparks did not fly, but they talked about everything. education, housing, law and order, the economy, and in a very uncharacteristic thing for what was once a dictatorship, they also talked about their

personal, financial and health records. the whole thing was mesmerizing for egyptians. one young man i spoke to saying watching them was like breathing freedom, hearing these two on television speaking their minds. erin. >> thanks to ben wedeman. now to something a little bit lighter in britain. tv viewers in scotland were surprised by -- i don't know what he was thinking. a new weatherman during a bbc news broadcast, prince charles. he was visiting the studio in glasgow to celebrate its 60th anniversary and he said, hey, you know what, i'm going to deliver the weather. max foster is in london. i asked him how prince charles' turn as the weatherman was received. >> reporter: well, erin, it is quite an extraordinary piece of footage, isn't it? and it's being played over and over on the tv networks here in the u.k. essentially what happened was prince charles was visiting g glasgow in scotland and took in some tv studios on the way and

was asked whether he wanted to do a weather bulletin and to everyone's surprise, he said yes. i think he did quite a good job as well but don't let me be the judge. the rather high-brow newspaper here in the u.k., "the telegraph" has a television reviewer and he said this of charles' performance. charles was an undoubted hit, engaging, a natural in front of the camera. his cold front melted to produce a warm wave of affection across the u.k. but you be your own judge, erin. >> well, yeah. you know what, i have to say for all of you out there, check it out because you know what he said? the first thing he said? who the hell wrote this? i'm sorry, i got people on set here. arounds anderson cooper is up next on "ac 360." i enjoyed the prince charles bit today. >> it was quite something. never thought i would see that actually. >> yeah. >> tonight on the program we are covering a lot of stuff. one day after the president's historic comments in support of

same-sex marriage, we're taking a closer look at mitt romney's own views on the issue and particular statements that he made nearly 20 years ago when he talked about establishing, quote, full equality for america's gays and lesbians. what did he mean then by full equality and what does he believe now? also more on a story we covered extensively, the growing push to shut down the adult services section on backpage.com. critics say it's a haven for child predators and sex traffickers. we'll speak to the attorney who says shutting it down would only make it hard tore track down the bad deviguys. those stories and the ridiculist. joe biden apologizes to president obama for coming out in support of gay marriage over the weekend. who wrote that? okay. our jessica yellin reports the two met in the oval office where biden apologized to the president for putting him in a tough position. the president admitted his vp forced his hand on the timing of the announcement.

>> he probably got out a little bit over his skis, but out of generosity of spirit. >> so you're not upset with anybody? >> would i have preferred to have done this in my own way, in my own terms, without, i think, there being a lot of notice to everybody? sure. >> the campaign has reason to be anxious about this issue. take a look at cnn's loelectora map. the blue states are safe for the president. no matter what, going to go for him. the red states for romney. and the yellow states, that's what's going to determine this election. of the yellow states that you see there, 12 have banned gay marriage and most of those were done through a ballot initiative, meaning voters directly approved the ban. in fact 10 of the 12 were done that way. let's just say all those states were turned off by the president's support for gay marriage and they all went red. well, as you can see, mitt romney would win that election.

john avlon is here, michelle goldberg also with us and kevin madden, adviser to mitt romney. kevin madden, do you look at that electoral map and think that the gay marriage issue could hand you ten states? >> well, i think there are a number of voters there that are older in population, a little bit more cultural conservative, particularly in some of those states where there's going to be turnout models that are dependent upon some of those culturally conservative areas in those states. if their main motivator for voting for president is cultural issues, they will find a candidate in governor romney that is aligned with them on those particular issues. and they don't line up with where president obama is. but i still think that the main motivator here for voters that are right now unpersuaded and haven't made up their mind is still going to be the economy. >> michelle, i know you also think that that map will not move on gay marriage. >> there's two things. first of all, i don't think that anybody who cares that much

about opposition to gay marriage, that it would drive their vote was going to vote for obama anyway. the other part of that is in a way it works in his favor that those folks already have their anti-gay initiatives. one reason why these were so effective for george w. bush in 2004 is that they drove turnout. >> they put them on the ballot. >> right. they put them on the ballot and allowed the churches to become add junts of the republican party. i remember in ohio they were doing the voter registration and doing the get out to vote stuff. i certainly think that this is going to galvanize some social conservatives but won't play the same organizing role that it played in 2004. >> it's interesting, bring together social conservatives. >> the margin of victory was very small. >> in plart, states like north carolina and virginia the president wonnor rowley last time. north carolina approving a ban on gay marriage. so it indicates how this

particular profile in courage by the president could have real consequences and kevin just acknowledged there are turnout models this could turn an advantage to mitt romney but by taking a statement of prescription pull the president will have wind in his sails. >> it is interesting the country's changed on this issue. ten years ago we were talking about this yesterday there is no president in the united states that would have indicated it was on the table for men and men being together and women and women being together. but now here we are. do you have a fear you are on the wrong side of this in the next six months? >> that is where the political calculation comes out. the charge here for the campaign is to go out and talk about what governor romney believes. on this issue whether or not we should define marriage between a men and a women he lines up with those who agree with him on that

issue. the voters that are -- this is something that is an animating issue for them. on this particular issue we happen to be with folks it may be a little bit more of a motivator on election day. >> but romney does not want to talk about social problems. they want to focus on the economy. the more time spent on the religious right the more they alienate the suburban swing voters. >> this could be a wedge issue for obama and this puts romney on the defensive. he doesn't just oppose gay marriage. he opposes civil unions. >> just like jon huntman. >> george w. bush opposes sivlt unions if they provide the same rights as marriage. the questions that needs to be asked which rights do the

couples need to be denied. >> do you have to get the answers to those questions? >> this is something that liberals want to frame the argument as what you are against. governor romney believes marriage is between a man and a woman. he answers that question clearly. that is the interesting thing about the issue. both campaigns agree we have a clear contrast. going back to john's point this will be a campaign that is framed around the big issue of the economy. the voters who have not made up their mind about barack obama and mitt romney the economy and the performance of the economy will be the number one issue. >> kevin i am sure you don't want to talk about this "the washington post" report today. they put out a report saying that when mitt romney was a senior at a prep school he was the leader of an assault on a gay student.

mitt romney cut his hair with scissors as other kids held him down. he was asked about it today and he said i don't -- he said he didn't recall it. he said in high school i did dumb things. we didn't have social media and camera phones and things like that. but is it an ugly story. >> i have known governor romney now for a very long time. he is a kind and considerate man. particularly as a parent he made sure he teachines those values his children and grandchildren. his point is this is something he doesn't recall. while he may have been a prankster in high school in no way did he do anything in a mean spirited way. that was a heart felt point and he did apologize for anyone that would have been offended. this is a long time ago.

50 years is a long time. and i think that this is not going to define him. what defines him is how he acts today. >> does this story have staying power? >> we have all done dumb things in high school. but not all of us held kids down and cut off their hair. but granted we have all done dumb things growing up and people should be defined on their present, not the sins of their past always. >> thanks to all three of you. appreciate it. you just heard prince william deliver the weather cast for the bbc. you be the judge. next. so, ah, your seat good?

got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok? just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. mmm-hmm. and just leave your phone in your purse. i don't want you texting, all right? daddy...ok! ok, here you go. be careful. thanks dad. call me -- but not while you're driving. ♪ [ dad ] we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru. ♪

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so we teased you with this prince charles reading the weather thing and couldn't resist. prince charles is one of those people you always see but don't often hear. and you wonder what their personality is really like or if they have one. he put those questions to rest but you be the judge. here's his performance reading the weather. >> the rain of course will be heaviest over the borders and around edinburgh where it could lead to difficult conditions on the roads. in the west it will be wetter and patchier. there will be snow for the higher ground of the highlands

and the potential for a few flurries who the hell wrote this script? as the afternoon goes on. >> who the hell wrote this script. the guy had courage. i can't blame him for not wanting snow to be falling. he wants his spring flowers. nice to see the guy has personality. let us know what you think of course as always on twitter. thanks for watching. see you tomorrow same place, same time tomorrow night. same time tomorrow night. "ac360" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we begin with strong words from a politician in full support of gays and lesbians. i'm not talking about president obama. we're talking about mitt romney who said he quoted full equalitity for, quo