>> production assistance for "inside washington" was provided by allbritton communications and politico, reporting on the legislative, executive, and political arena. >> i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. >> this week on "inside washington," president obama gives the green light to same- sex marriage. >> marriage itself is the relationship between a man and a woman. >> the tea party claims and other income and, richard lugar. >> who wants toee the senate take a more conservative track? >> even high school is not off

limits. >> no question i did some stupid things in high school and half by hurt anyone by virtue of that, i am very solid and apologize for it. -- very sorry and apologize for it. >> voters across europe for a political tsunami. >> money flows like water. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> as we all know, vice president joe biden has acquired a reputation as a person who is afflicted with foot-in-mouth disease. on last sunday's "meet the press," he said gay marriage is just fine with him. >> i am comfortable with the

fact that menarry men, women pairing women -- marrying women, are entitled to the same rights. >> that caused a major flap among chattering classes, and by midweek, in an interview with robert roberts of abc, the president suggested he jumped the gun. >> it was in spirit. >> one supporter said "the president and vice president played as." what are the odds that this was calculated, mark? >> i don't think so. i really do think this was not one with the president appeared to be leading forcefully from conviction.

it was a hurried up, available to robin roberts of abc, who deserves credit for forcing the president to talk about this subject. >> colby? >> president had to say something to it is hand was forced not only by a vice president biden, by secretary of education arne duncan he did the best he could under the circumstances. he was going to do it anyway. >> evan? >> it is could see a politician say something they believe in. i think believes in the marriage but for it come after -- i think that they call them joebombs in the white house, for maladroit moments. >> nina? >> it is a risky step. on one hand, it will energize

his base and provide added money from the gay community, and the democrats were very worried about having enough cash for the presidential election with the super pacs. republicans seem uncomfortable about it, too. nody isuiteure how this is going to play out. i give the president some credit for taking a risk with the position. it is not at all clear what and fit in the long run. >> hollywood was waiting with open arms and open checkbooks this began. john boehner, the house speaker thomas s. it is time to shift the debate to the economy. >> i believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman did the president and democrats can talk about this all thewant the american people are focused on our economy and are asking the question, where are the jobs? >> think he has a point?

>> that is where you want to run the campaign if you are john gingrich this is -- if you are john boehner. this is, to underline nina's point, dynamite politically. think about the change from when bill clinton was present it. a 7% of americans were in favor -- of same-sex favor 27% at -- americans were in favor of same- sex marriage. a sea change in a short time. but 31 consecutive the states have voted on it and voted it down. in iowa, 2009, the supreme court unanimously ilegalize same-sex marriage. the very next year, three supreme court justices were ousted. that is the first time that has happened in iowa in 50 years. it is an explosive issue. >> how many people will go to

the polling place and say, " obama is for gay marriage, i am against him"? >> it feeds a general perception of obama as dictating, particularly with angry whites, who are swing voters and a lot of these states. >> if you look at the polls, it is young people who are driving this ovehelmgly. young people don't vote as much. a lot of these laws that have passed banning gay marriage have passed in the primary time and not in the general election on, i don't know how it will play out. it is very complicated. >> it does affect older voters. >> older voters, perhaps a significant amount of african-

american voters. will it affect barack obama in november? the likelihood is no. i don't think so over the long haul. it is is probably better that he took the position now than waiting later in the year. he will have a chance to respond to this. the question is where does the country stand on this issue. question of rights at the ballot box or through the courts? i think it is through the courts. >> this raises the profile of the issue of same-sex marriage in 2012, no dot about that. second, it highlights and spotlights the differences between barack obama and mitt romney. >> ok, very clear. richard lugar has won respect from both sides of the aisle. this week, indiana republicans sent him packing. >> i did not know he was a prisoner.

i did not know him, but i voted against obama. >> i cannot resist this -- in this we'west virginia primary, keith russell judd got 42% of the vote. he is a prisoner at the beaumont federal correctional institute in texas. how significant is this? it sounds funny, but if you were running the obama campaign, would you be worried? >> yes. any time an incumbent, was unchallenged within his own party for nomination, or her own party,ets 20%, that is a cause for concern. 32% is an alarm. a 31% is a statement. the governor of west virginia, a democrat, and the united

states senator john mentioned will not reveal for whom they voted -- joe manchin will not reveal for whom they voted in the primary. >> wesvirginia vere the barack obama. hillary clinton -- west region and never did love barack obama. hillary clinton buried him. >> lyndon johnson had a similar experience -- >> look what happened to him. >> that indicated he was going to be in trouble. south carolina, the race last year, an unknown individual with a criminal record also won the democratic nomination and got votes from people who knew nothing abt him. >> the democratic party is a big tent party. >> that prison in texas has

some of the worst of the worst also. >> there are a lot of angry voters out there bank, if they are voting for cons. >> angry republican voters told lugar take a hike. >> the lugar election, which you could see coming about a month and half ago, is real evidence of such polarization that mr. mourdock said, "the problem with lugar is that he voted across party lines start this in my view, that is not the way to run the country, but it is winning more and more. it gives the democrats an opening in indiana. i'm not sure, big it is, because indiana as basically a republican state. >> lugar brought this on himself, with all due respect.

he is well-respected in washington, the problem is people back home thought he had gone washington. he did not have a primary residence in indiana -- >> he had a farm -- >> that is not pass as far as going back and stay in touch and with people in indiana. i have family in indiana and they knew little about him other than heat lives and washington. >> he is 80 years old. >> what e you, ageist? >> oh, oh. >> easy for him to say. this is the tea party victory, no mistake about it. mourdock is different in the sense that he has been twice elected state treasurer. he is not a nobody. but it does fortified the position of the tea party, which is that the biggest liability against dick lugar was that

bara obama had praised him as a senator he could work with. >> kiss of death. grover norquist victory, too. >> the republican vote, anything-but-tax -- >> let me ask about mitt romney in high-school kid he says he does not remember -- they roughed up a kid when they sends to looked different. >> kids are cru. i am sure that all of us did something we regret. kids are cruel, and this is something cruel he did. it does not necessarily define you for life. the question is whether anything like that comes up from later in life. >> he had a good response. he faced up to it and said he is sorry for it. i think he will be able to say that his life is in pretty

since.ary cent >> maybe he just did not care, it did not mean one thing to him one way or the other. i want to say something about theea party and mitt romney. judson phillips was asked if he was going to vote for romney and said, "i will go into the voting booth and i will have a large bottle of pepco the small in one hand and a barf bag in the other." thus spoke the tea party about mitt romney. >> republicans are hoping to get the senate. what is t -- does the lugar ss d joe donnelly had declared for the united states senate and was considered an underdog, certainly against lugar. now that race has become

competitive. he has gotten crossover votes in the past, moderate democrat. i would say you have to take a good look at him. >> 50-50 at this point? >> i was a 50-50, and it is do, because it was considered that republicans would take over the senate. they are at a disadvantage in maine. angus kign, former governor, is favored in he would likely caucus with the democrats. >> massachusetts? >> the massachusetts race is going to be one of the marquee races. >> elizabeth warren and scott brown. >> elizabeth warren has shown incredible ability to raise money. >> scott brown tried to make an issue of for climbed to be -- >> 1/32 cherokee blood.

>> she has been able to demonstrate that she has not use that as suggested to get jobs and her past. she is never declared herself to be an indian and ordered to be get a job. >> the top chief of the cherokee nation is 1/32 charity, and as is elizabeth will -- 1/32 cherokee, as is allowed of warren. >> that is not going to swing massachusetts, the cherokee nation. she better be talking about the differences between the two -- >> she has got to rocky marciano was. >> this will be a very close election day. >> the arts are a republican house and democratic senate -- oddsre 4repuican house and

democratic senate, just as tax mageddon arrives. >> what are the odds of a republican house? any chance the democrats will make inroads? >> they will take it over. republicans voted for a budget taking with cuts in defense and would instead but all gove -- all the burden on the most poor and vulnerable in society. ma hashe statistics. >> they brooks the agreement from last august for the grand compromise, which would trigger a compromise solution going for it, triggering cuts in defense and social programs. they took all the cuts at. -- out. a single mother cannot qualify for is for its stance on lesser

savings were down to less than 2000 all -- could n quafy r fo stamps unless her sittings were down to less than $2,000. >> where is the political capital? >> they are playing to their base. this is strictly playing to the base rate note tax cuts -- keep the tax cuts -- >> bush tax cuts. don't raise tes. >> this is what the election is going to be about. rectn isheh country going to move? this is the same thing day bank and from overseas in france and other european countries. >> the only way out of compromise, which nobody has shown -- >> let me dissent from nina. there is a shot of the democrats winning bowsprit an

increasing possibility. >> the new and improved underwear bomber. >> they keep developing new ways of killing innocent people. its a mind of why we have to remain vigilant at home and abroad. >> secretary of state hillary clinton. subject, the new underwear bomb. they i tried to develop more sophisticated bombs to get through airport detection devices. what we know about the double agent. they used to call them secret agents for a reason. >> they as opposed to remain silent but i don't think this is good news. we need all the double agents we can get. this will disrupt the lines of intelligence. >> i think that is the most troubling thing about it, that they were able to do this and it was apparently done principally

under the auspices of the brits, who usually keep a secret, and with help from us and the saudis. if i got in this story, what i've run with it? absolutely, because you figure anybody else woulhave had it. buit i troubling. >> good question, at what point does the press have a responsibility to sit on this, colby? you worked in that field. >> on both sides. they have a right to ask the press not to do it and the press has a right to make front-page headlines with it the significance of this story is that we are still trying to come up with the new devices for to bypass screening. the good news is the corporation with allies. this was a saudi involved.

they have a rather good intelligence service in that part of the world. >> some of leaks might have misinformation. >> the fbi is getting a lot better at this stuff and they used to be. >> i don't think there's any argument with that. perhaps it is winds adel, but the surveillance lawerha -- it is coincidental, but the surveillance laws are up for renewal. it is not going to hurt the cause of the renewal. >> you cynic, you. >> i am not a cynic, i am putting together pieces of the crossword puzzle. not crossword puzzle, jigsaw puzzle. >> some of intelligence over the past few years has sorry recor d. the past five yea, its record of being able to kill

people -- don't know how else to put it -- has been pretty good. >> we've not been able to tell the big bomb maker in yemen. >> every time the drones go out there and strike, there is a group al qaeda working there. >> and it widens the number of civilians were angry and furious and alienated. not a free be by any means. >> drones scamming because they will be used against us some day. two-way street. >> not taking away from the intelligence service. as an inrument of war, it is not consequence-free. >> not that sophisticated anymore, don't have to be big. >> we have had a lot of collateral damage in the last two wars. ow if we will ever

get to the point where we can eliminate that unfortunate consequence. >> austerity -- it is not playing well in europe. ask sarkozy. actors dressed as a high priestess is lealighting there really torch. the rest of the news is lousy. >> lousy, and comparable to what we went through in the 1980's. they have the same problems, got to it in some of the same way. industrialized countries of the clout toahave the make austerity if they have to pick it cannot happen this way.

>> evan, france has a new president, who led the socialist party for years. see for usr agnst ? >>he will kick the can down the road. he is the master of western democracies twho don't solve problems. when is the row going to collapse? where is france swung to be on that? -- where his friends going to be on that? we are watching a car wreck in slow-motion. >> what will it do to us, nina? >> if it collapses, it will hurt us severely and it could result in a, not being reelected. -- in obama not being reelected. you have to moderate austerity with some idea of how people live. >> europe and the united

states, present company excluded, ory& 100% for austeri. austerity has been found to be politically unsustainable in every election in europe, left or rightó the prescription that has led to growing unemployment and social dislocation. that would be the lesson for this country. what the republicans did in the house this week was absolutely stupid as far as their survival as a party. >> before we go, nina, our condolences on the passing of your father, a virtuoso violinist. he was 101. talk to us about him. >> his death was as extraordinary as his life. he made his debut when he was 11 years old he went on to be with the great violinists of his

time. he premiered works of dozens of contemporary musicians. at one point he got caught onto the stage by benny goodman to jam with the band. in the last week of his life, when his kidneys collapse, word went out that he was dying, and his students, former students from all over the country, started showing up aour house, driving through the night to get there. we had to dissuade a kid from poland from getting on a plane. all he wanted to do was play. he could conduct with his eyes closed in the bedroom, slowing the pace, speeding it up, clapping like this. [laughter] at one point, there was a young woman playing the violin, and she cannot hear what he was whispering. "what?" she put her earto visits and he said, "that d, it was flat."

[laughter] >> let's give him the last word. see you next week. ♪