for example, ohio republican and republican from ohio rob portman. >> conservative republican senator rob portman, who has opposed gay marriage in the past, stunned washington by saying he now favors it. his reason, his son had told him he was gay. >> stephen: he changed his mind because he has a gay son which is not just wrong but it's undemocratic. because his other two children are straight. what happened to majority rule? [laughter] [cheers and applause] portman's just the latest victim of the long gay con. here's how the scam works. first, a gay person decides to get born into a conservative family, gains their trust by letting them love and raise them, and then 21 short years later-- boom!-- they spring the gay trap. [laughter] that's what happened to dick cheney. his daughter mary changed his mind about gay marriage by tugging on his heartstrings. now, thankfully, some republicans are holding fast, like georgia senator and noise bill cosby makes when he gets out of a chair saxby chambliss. [laughter] when asked whether rob portman's flip flop had changed his mind, chambliss rep

senate to take that position. >> jon: bravo rob portman. i assume senator portman thought long and hard about this and realized it's purely on the principle of the issue he needs to stand up for fairness and equal quit. >> he changed his change of heart. he said it began two years ago ago when his college aged son told his family that he is gay. >> jon: that would do it, too. i never realized a human being could actually be gay until my wife and i accidentally made one. not all his republicans are so easily swayed. >> senator sax by chambliss is reaffirming his opposition to gay marriage he said "i'm not gay. i'm not going to marry one." >> jon: i didn't realize you could soanl support it if you were going to marry who you are like. i wish him luck finding a (bleep) to marry. >> another big voice endorsed gay marriage. former secretary of state hillary clinton. >> jon: hillary clinton. didn't she do that 20 years ago? is there any else you are in favor of you are stul mulling over. hillary clinton as changed her mind. albanians should be all

i think for rob portman -- >> he's the leader? >> i think he in many ways changed a lot of minds for the democrats. it's been fascinating. there are three democrats. >> do you have to be a -- does your kid have to be gay for you to come out for gay marriage if you're republican? >> apparently. >> this is all politics is local. let's get back to the election. you guys have to write a party platform in 2016. will it, again, be anti-gay? >> i have no idea. >> when are they going to stop doing it? >> the people who write the platform are not necessarily the people who vote. that's a small group and they -- >> you are running the platform. >> they run the platform. >> this is like the cafeteria catholic. he ignores anything on the platform he doesn't like. >> the republicans have been ignoring their platform for years. >> suppose you're giving the republican convention acceptance speech. chris christie, rand paul, whoever gets the nomination next time. rubio probably. who knows. will you make a case against gay marriage in that speech?

rob portman apparently has. >> senator rob portman already there on the issue of same sex marriage, congressmansalmon thinks rob portman is more evolved than he, himself is on the issue. congressman salmon is trying to work this out for himself. he and his wife have been leaders in the anti-gay rights movement in arizona. in congress, matt salmon voted to ban gay people from adopting children, above and beyond the typical anti-gay conservative stuff. republicans broadly are still trying to work out what their party stands for with regard to gay rights. this weekend, it was dualing sunday shows at the same time. former chairman of the republican party and junior republican senator from arizona saying both at the same time that it is inevitable a republican presidential candidate will support jamz, that's what jeff flake said, while gillespie said it is impossible the republican party will ever support same-sex marriage. so they're working on it, working it out. the republican party is a mess on the issue. mess is okay. we may reasonably expect they will settle in on being divided on this a long

meanwhile in a reversal of the rob portman effect, arizona congressman ma'am salmon said the fact that his son is gay does not change his view of same-sex marriage. >> i don't support the gay marriage. i'm just not there as far as believing in my heart that we should change 2000 years of social policy in favor of a redefinition of the family. >> herein lies the conundrum for the republican party. as the leadership tries to change brand for purposes of politics, it's running up against the unchanged values of members and constituents, while the rnc autopsy report called on republicans to be more welcoming and inclusive regarding the rights and treatment of gay americans, there are many republicans like those i've talked about who are unwilling to reconsider their views, even when those views are politically toxic. in iowa, 16 republican state lawmakers are threatening to defund a community college for holding an anti-bullying event. because it's for lgbt youth said we can't give taxpayer dollars to people or groups who pervert the bible and teach our youp to engage in dangerous behavior

speaking -- of rob portman rob portman, of course i don't blame him for this but his conversion, if youl, was triggered by the fact, this evolution by the fact that his son came out to him as a young gay man with a partner and rob portman started thinking about this and said i can't deny my son this opportunity. to be with the one he loves for the rest of his life. that's not true of all republicans, is it? as we discovered yesterday and you reported. >> well, right after the portman came out for marriage. we went to cpac and we asked a couple of republicans, how would you react if your son came out? and a couple of them said we would still oppose it. we asked some of the attendants at cpac. they said certainly we would oppose it. now we have a case in point where you have the son of a republican congressman representative matt salmon from arizona, came out as gay. and matt salmon is still against marriage equality which means he's against marriage equality for his son who is gay. it may not have sunk in yet. that may be the problem. here, he said in an interview that it doesn't mean th

>> i think the republican party, if rob portman that came out, you have another senator today.ountry to look at, to think about and i think it's very much a family issue, very much a kitchen table issue. that's where this is going to be, generated from. you have different states that are looking at this. and i think that it's just not helpful to try to make this a hyper-political issue. that's really why i wrote this piece. because i think to the agree we try to do that and try to score political points on it, i think that it downgrades the discussion. and i think it makes it more difficult for people to talk to each other. if ever there was an issue that people need to talk to others about. to have conversations about, it would be something of this nature. >> if you believe it is a civil rights issue, if someone believes that, it's a question of morality. it's not a question of politics. so to remain silent and not take a stand is to really defy a moral imperative. >> so two weeks ago hillary clinton was on the wrong side of the definitive civil rights issue of all time? i fin

rob portman apparently has. fully portman's choice to protect his son from hatred and bigotry would convince others to follow. southsouth carolina has gone from political after thought to must attend parties. and it looks like the winners have already crossed the finish line. now they go out to cheer the out of shape runners on. follow the black slimy road. making lemonade out of the keystone lemon. it's tuesday night in "the war room," and we'll be right back. current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? (vo) later tonight current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> michael: let's head to the political front where

the question for rob portman, is he going to sign on to that bill? how far will he go with his new position? john boehner is supporting the defense of marriage act. >> john boehner and eric cantor and jeff blake saying over the weekend. >> less than 10 years after george bush got re-elected. >> when we come back buzz feed and sports. >> "the bill press show." going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. [ music ] >> this is "the bill press show," live on your radio and current current tv. >> bill: here we go 33 minutes after the hour now on monday the 1st day of april. >> that's april fool's day, you remember. we are coming to you live from our nation's capitol. it is the

. >> and most are democrats, although rob portman, because his son is gay, has changed his opinion. liza mikulski says her views are evolving. hashe president himself said his views evolved. i would not be so ironic using the word when applying it to republicans. aboute thing i would say the supreme court is i hope they learned the lessons of roe versus wade. ruth later ginsberg said that that decision stymied -- ruth bair ginsberg said that decision got in the way of a political process and took it out of a political arena. it gave a lot of people the sense that they had been robbed of the opportunity of being involved in the process and that is why 40 years later you have marches. i hope they understand that to do this, as you showed with the pupil, with opinion changing so rapidly -- with the pew poll, with opinion changing so rapidly, the best thing the allow this to is change with the expression of popular will. even if they end up on the wrong side, they had a legitimate shot and a decision has legitimacy in and of itself. >> for the record, north dakota this week enacted the

we've recently seen it with rob portman.hat is the power that we've seen in the momentum, the tremendous momentum in social change we're seeing right now. and bill, do you think you're enjoying to see that power? are we are we going to see dominos fall? >> this is what i hope happens, chris. he described himself as a young black man who came out -- what i hope will happen with a lot of young black athletes. number one, there are so many political issues that we really

we've recently seen it with rob portman.hat is the power that we've seen in the momentum, the tremendous momentum in social change we're seeing right now. and bill, do you think you're enjoying to see that power? are we are we going to see dominos fall? >> this is what i hope happens, chris. he described himself as a young black man who came out -- what i hope will happen with a lot of young black athletes. number one, there are so many political issues that we really need their voices, all right. we really need gun control, mass incarceration. hopefully they'll become empowered by seeing this. >> not just on this issue, but the courage to come out on this issue. that's interesting. thank you all. that is all in for this evening. the rachel maddow show begins right now. >> when i came out, i went back and met with my friends who i played club basketball with in high school to tell them and see if they were okay with it. and my cocaptain, her reaction to it was, well, did you ever like me? and i said, no, no, man, you're not

the main defenders of the abrams funding are ohio senator rob portman and congressman jim jordan of lima, ohio, which is also where the only plant that manufactures the tank is located. meanwhile, the government is paying down the nation's debt for the first time since the financial crisis. because the government is spending less, the treasury will pay off 35 billion dollars' debt in its 3rd quarter - the first debt payment since 2007. however, the government expects to borrow $223 billion in the fourth quarter. it's been six months since superstorm sandy ripped across the east coast. this week, new jersey governor chris christie said the garden state will spend $1.8 billion in federal grants on storm rebuilding and recovery. christie notes the state is doing a "heck of a lot better than it was 6 months ago," but that thousands of people are still without their homes. meanwhile, projects are beginning in may to restore boardwalks and build a dune system on the jersey coastline. christie says the state will be better prepared for storm conditions in the future. the mayor of charlotte, nor

rob portman's approval dropped 18 points in ohio over the last six months. in nevada, republican, dean heller has seen a smaller drop, shedding significant support among the state's key independent voters. kelly ayotte's numbers go from a net positive to now a negative. a majority of voters support expanded background checks in each of the five states ranging from 60% in alaska to 75% in the state of new hampshire. >>> meanwhile, quinnipiac polling shows that pennsylvania voters gave pat toomey hi highest marks ever >>> senator ted cruz who threatened to filibuster the gun bill is openly mocking members of his party. he broke tradition by publicly discussing what went on behind closed doors when fellow republicans criticized him forgiving democrats ammunition to portray the gop as obstructionists. cruz hit back. >>> we have had probably five or six lunches with a bunch of republican senators standing up and looking at rand and mike and me and yelling at us at the top of their lungs, really upset. they said, look, why did you do this? as a result of what you

senator rob portman dropped 18 points in ohio over the last six months.nd in nevada, republican dean heller has seen a smaller drop, although he's shedding significant support among the key independent voters. so last week, we showed you senator kelly ayotte's numbers in new hampshire go from a net positive in october to a net negative now. >> and the majority of voters support expanded background checks in each of these five states ranging from 60% in alaska to 75% in new hampshire. and you saw this quinnipiac poll, it works the other way. you have on the other side, pat toomey was in charge of this bill along with joe manchin. a lot of people said, oh, gee, this is going to hurt him -- no, he's registered his highest approval ratings ever since he's been the united states senator. >> what do we make of all of this. >> well, wants to jump in here. this is obvious stuff. and we've said it's pretty obvious stuff. and there's no doubt some are going to be hurt a lot more than others, but right now jeff flake is in a freefall, kelly ayotte is in a freefall.

in recent weeks probably republicans like rob portman have come out in support of marriage equality some pundits have suggested the party might be beginning to might begin to real value addition on. so-called family values but the latest comments are just a reminder that many republicans have their views of gay americans and it's very very old lady. well it looks like the n.r.a. is on the run in connecticut despite a desperate last minute bid to defeat sweeping new gun laws in connecticut a desperate bid that actually included robo calling residents of newtown with pro-gun messages the n.r.a. watch today as democratic governor dannel malloy signed the strongest new gun controls in the nation into law at a signing ceremony today governor malloy said simply quote we have come together in a way that relatively few places in our nation have demonstrated an ability to do and quote very few places including the united states congress that is where one by one gun control advocates have seen crucially important life saving measures taken off the table first it was the assault weapons ban that it

[applause] and, of course, our special guest, senator rob portman. he's a member of both the senate finance and budget committees. [applause] senator, how are you? >> good to have you, thank you. the senator's on a pretty tight schedule, get him out of here around 9:00 today, so we're going to move as fast as we can. i want to thank all of you for coming out on d.c.'s one day of spring. you get 90 degrees tomorrow, so enjoy it while it lasts. [laughter] this is immigration week in washington to a degree. i want to get to the debt and the deficit and the economy after we ask a quick question of the senator, and that is what do you think the prospects are for getting an immigration deal done? there are some impediments that seem to have popped up right now, you know, a lot of nitty-gritty arguing on the details of this legislation. are we going to get immigration reform through the senate and through the house and signed into law this year? >> i think it'll get through the senate. i know there were a lot of stories this morning about the fact that ther

it yesterday illinois senator mark kirk claim out for his support of same sex marriage and joins rob portman as the only two republican senators to come out in favor of marriage equality senator lisa murkowski now the republican side her position is evolving on this so is there anything to read into this is the republican party. realizing that this is a losing issue and kind of coming around to the fact i don't like what someone says their positions evolving like i think you should have a position like like my position is developing it's coming out in ten weeks and then i think that it's the way it's a way they can jump out of a you know so defend a flip flop in the case of mark kirk it's very clear he's got he's under a lot of pressure and on politics to come to to come out in favor of gay marriage. definitely among his constituency there's really little option for him if you want to continue old elective office at least in illinois so when and when people assess this and say well mark kirk he's on the leading edge of republicans they're all going to be spilling over into this i don't think

you've got republicans now or rob portman, movement on immigration, movement by republicans on gun control and what they are trying to do is change their image but they don't quite know how to do it. >> but melissa, what happened to the autopsy? they just did the autopsy and here they are less than 30 days later at the big rnc meeting and they've forgotten all of the lessons of the autopsy? >> i think part of the problem is it was about style and not substance. >> right. >> so interestingly enough, if we look at senator rand's speech and try to take it seriously, what it tells us is that when policy changed, voters, particularly black voters, changed along with that policy change. they supported the party that supported their interest and when that party no longer supported their interest, they supported a new party. the story isn't, go back and tell me who you used to be. it's about change or policies. if you in fact went to outreach, that's not a style question. it's a substance question. it's about whether they are prepared to govern for all people, not just for a narrow slice, not just

but not if you're sherrod brown or rob portman or jim jordan or congressman sandy levin they're keeping plant going even when the army insists they have enough tanks and they want to spend that money elsewhere. did i mention that the tanks are being worked on in their states. representative jordan told npr i quote, look, the plant is in the fourth congressional district but if it was not in the best interest of the national defense you would not see me supporting it like we do but it's not and yet we are. i'm pleased to be joined by heather h erlberg. welcome to view. >> great to be with you. >> john: thank you. i find this mind boggling. given that america has spent billions of dollars in afghanistan, why is the c.i.a. giving karzai millions under the table, and what do you think these not so secret millions are supposed to buy? >> well, you cast your mind back ten years ago right after the u.s. went through afghanistan and identified karzai as the best hope to bring afghanistan society together. i think the most charitable interruption you can put on it is it starts with karzai giving

rob portman apparently has. cenk: let me turn to the "young turks" here. child is gay and you're not in favor of gay marriage, does that make you a bad person? >> off the bat just in and of itself it doesn't make you a bad person and in a bizarre way i'm going to be nice off the bat and i sort of empathize with the guy because he's had a set of beliefs and now he's known for a couple of years so it's time to get along. you can feel it when he's saying it that he wants to evolve but still feels that he has all these political reasons that he can't. cenk: of course, you're right dave, of course it's political reason. >> does that make him bad? it's getting to that tipping point where yeah, it's just going to be bad. >> i think he's going to feel like a bad guy. this guy he's going to get there, probably he's going to get there. cenk: when the polls change in his district. >> will it be too late, cause so much pain to his son and his family who have strong feelings about this. later, this guy is going to feel like the worst guy. >> i feel strange that we're t

in just over an hour, rob portman. the discussion will include the political budget and the decision to support a same-6 marriage. president obama's pick to be senate energy committee will testify. that starts at 10:00 eastern. , we will in a moment be live at the u.s. naval academy in annapolis, md., looking at the history of the academy. we will be joined by a naval academy attended andrew miller. -- michael miller. then joined by andrew phillips. after that, unable academy graduate, john mccain.

lisa murkowski in alaska, ohio senator rob portman, jeff flake. i mean, these are just a few that are down. flake, down 32% after the "no" vote on background check. murkowski down 16 points. i mean, when you stand against people, people stand against you, i think sometimes they forget they are elected by the people not selected by the big money guys and the lobbyists. >> you do have a kind of split that you're seeing what the bulk of people, voters say that they support and kind of what small activists in the party will come back and bash you at election time. the beauty of his vote here is that he's got a six-year term to serve and he's betting that people will cool off about this before they go to the polls and vote for him again whereas the nra does not forget and they come back and bite you come election time. that's the kind of calculus these politicians are having to go through. >> isn't it true, governor, if there are groups on the other side forming some of which formed when you were chairman of the party and others are forming, and i know

we had rob portman, perhaps susan collins who seems to be thinking about this as well.hat's reflective of the direction the country is going. they're not thinking of marriage as a religious issue, but a civil issue. under the eyes of the law, the argument that people are making, everyone should have a right to be married under the law. but religion, you can do your own thing. >> this is a demographic certainty. when you look at things, for instance, that 72% of hispanics voted democrat. we now see 33% of people who have changed their mind on same sex marriage, this is no longer -- and i think what o'reilly is hinting at is that guys, this is basically a business decision at this point. it's not even up for discussion. if we ever want to -- >> i want to take a shower after watching all those guys. >> let me finish. >> that it is not up for discussion if a republican ever wants to get elected in a general election again. they have to move off the social issues. that is a polling situation. >> how do you get there, talking about the wing of the party that is more libertari

do you think that the changing attitudes of senator rob portman and people are doing behind-the-sceneshe sentiment where they need to recognize this is a fait accompli. >> the republicans are out of step with the majority of americans. >> when we see these reports in michigan, there are these reports that the state's rnc committeemen compared homosexuality to alcoholism. are thoiss like that big voice of concern like someone reince preibus is looking at. that he might be afraid to go up against. this type of language is unnecessary and this is not the type of way that we are going to attract a younger demographic is by alienating people. >> the republican party ultimately has to make a choice. does it want to repudiate voices of discrimination and intolerance and policies. not just the image what do you stand for? do you stand for freedom or that kind of oppressive offensive discrimination that made you more and more out of touch with our own young people leapt alone with the majority. >> delaware is the latest state to move forward with its governor proposing a marriage equality bill.

true if the republican establishment consisted of exactly one person, the mild mannered senator rob portmanme a convert to marriage equality after discovering two years ago that his son is gay. of course, bill kristol actually is part of the republican establishment, and the republican establishment continues to agree with him that marriage equality is an abomination they will not abide. >> i know what our principles are, i know our party believes marriage is between one man and one woman. >> republicans are so adamant about refusing to rewrite their positions on marriage equality that having a gay son does not lead to a portman-liken lightenment for some of them. here is republican congressman matt salmon, the proud father of a gay son. >> i don't support the gay marriage. my son is by far one of the most important people in my life. i love him more than i can say. i'm just not there as far as believing in my heart that we should change 2,000 years of social policy in favor of redefinition of the family. i'm not there. >> not there. congressman salmon who is a mormon apparently has no prob

. >> so, chip, that's in contrast to senator rob portman coming out for marriage equality because of his own son, who recently came out to him within the last two years. that was representative matt l salmon saying it makes no effect on his decision. he doesn't feel his politics reflect a change. >> it's interesting, i watched that press conference and went backline. could you just see how much he struggled with it. i think for a lot of people this is as much a religious issue, a biblical issue as it is a civil law issue. i think as you kind of go through this debate, i think there's more and more people on the republican side and democrat side that feel comfortable with some sort of civil union. they don't want people who love each other not to be able to see each other in the hospital. they understand that and want to try and fix that but changing the definition that's been like that for 2,000 years or more and more of a religious and moral issue for some people is going to be a lot harder sell as we move forward in this discussion. >> but should the government then get out of the

this ahead of the supreme court arguments on prop 8 and the defense of marriage act, rob portman was the first sitting senator to voice support after he learned his son, will, is gay. he was followed by mark kirk and dozens of democrats had a chase to avoid being the last on the democratic side. the supreme court arguments put a spotlight on the issue as polling showed a shift on major during the obama pedestrian. why is this announcement a dig deal? they were ahead of the durve and the civil rights movement has been a different story. professional sports have lagged behind where the country is as a whole. the celtics coach doc rivers compared him to jackie robinson who broke the color barrier. many did react positively to the announcement or said it's just not that big of a deal. there a couple of colleagues. >> this is the support that they play. changing the thing if you are hetero or homosexual. >> collins's announcement was coordinated. they were rolling out statements and joe kennedy and his roommate at stanford. he wrote i'm proud to stand with him today and call him a friend.

rob portman used his own personal family as the reason, the catalyst as to why he wants to be in support of marriage equality. what are the politics behind the likelihood of the senators in the gop considering the change to support marriage equality? >> well, the democrats, the four that you put up, that's a regional each. that's simply they are looking at their states and their re-elections, if you will, and it's a chance to bridge too far for them, per se, and the makeup of their electorate. but for the republicans, i think you have more of a national issue going on here, which is the court is changing and it is changing rapidly. these two democrats that came out today, very red states and, guess what, they are now for marriage equality. that's a huge leap. murkowski is certainly someone that i think they are looking at. they are evolving on this issue. don't forget how she got re-elected. she was primaried by a tea party buy and s guy and she said you know what, i'm going to run as an independent and she won huge. the state of alaska has a very big libertarian streak running through i

mark kirk of illinois and rob portman of ohio who has a gay son.publican from arizona also has a gay son and says he does not support same sex marriage. he told cnn's anderson cooper that they still have a good relationship. >> no matter what our differences in opinion are, we just have to love and support each other. and since then our relationship has really grown stronger. and i've watched as if my dad has just really been a huge supporter of me. and, yes, he doesn't support gay marriage, but that's no reason that i shouldn't love him or just accept him for who he is. >> do you hope he changes his position? >> i do. i hope that he changes his position. for me i hope to get married some day. and so i hope that i have that support. >> sol mon also sticking to "old views." >>> for today's faces of faith we're talking about how former pope benedict is becoming the face of condoms. actually, his face is made of condoms in this controversial two-sided portrait by artist nicki johnson. it's inspired by comments benedict made in 2009 when he said aids i

so why judge rob portman. >> caller: i think part of being a leader is taking a position on somethingg to look at that -- then it was really brave of the senate to vote against background checks because 90-something-percent of the american people want them. >> sure, if that's what the case is. >> stephanie: well, that's my point. it wasn't brave. it was cowardly. >> caller: but the hardest thing for a politician is to stand up to something you have an opinion on. at least you respect the person that stays consistent. >> stephanie: yes, but i think there is a difference in flip flopping and true evolution. anyway, i'm -- all i'm saying is the senate vote right? and thank god for these polls. i'm looking at a new ppp poll showing -- senator kelly ayotte dropped 15 points. but others have all dropped in varying degrees of hot water with voters which is because -- you know why because god is watching them. ♪ god is watching us ♪ >> this bill a an overreach that will punish our citizens. sorry oppose and vote foreclosure on this bill. ♪ god is watching us ♪ >> we're trying to take it to th

rob portman, republican from ohio.lanta brave the obvious, marco rubio is point man for republicans on immigration reform. this is a hugely sensitive issue in the republican party. rubio is taking the lead on that and he's all over the place on conservative radio trying to, you know, trying to calm their fears. he were then to take on guns the theory would be now he has a real problem especially as it relates to the 2016 ambitions. when you look apartment lindsey graham, graham is one of the perfect pettily endangered republican challengers. up in 2014. maybe he is doing immigration. graham had this line that i think summed it up. i will paraphrase it. lindsey graham profiled the "new york times" and talked a little bit how he strays from the republican reservation but will pick his spots to really go after the administration like on chuck haguel and benghazi. he said basically for me, whenever you are attacking the president, whenever you are attacking obama, it is good politics. he is very mindful, i think, of the ba

republican ohio senator rob portman announced his support last month. kirk who had a debilitating stroke last year released this statement on his blog. when i climbed the capital steps in january, i promised myself i would return to the senate with an open mind and greater respect for others. same sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. our time on this earth is limited. i know that better than most. life comes down to who you love and who loves you back. government has no place in the middle. democratic senator tom carper of delaware also endorsed marriage equality today. >>> coming up, what happens when a man can't pay a debt he owes in afghanistan? his child, his daughter, is taken as payment. the story did not end tragically, thanks to a woman in afghanistan who will join me live from kabul coming up. [ male announcer ] how can power consumption in china, impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global e

we had senator kirk, republican senator from illinois, joining senator rob portman as the two republican senators now supporting gay marriage. senator kirk, i thought, released a very moving statement saying in part, our time on this part is limited. i know that better than most. life comes down to who you love and who loves you back. government has no place in the middle. do you think that these are two sort of isolated incidents, kirk and portman? or do you think we're going to see more and more republican elected officials coming out in support of gay marriage? >> crystal, the change in the republican party has been much slower than the democratic party. i look at the totality of the seed change. outside of the iraq war when you had democrats trying to trip over themselves from 2005 to 2007. they were saying, my vote against iraq war, in favor of it was incorrect. i'm trying to change on that. this issue of gay marriage has been the most remarkable issue where people have changed. have evolved in a very short am of time. that's an amazing thing that you often don't see in politics. it

there has been a parallel on another issue recently when we had senator rob portman who did a completeon gay marriage and gay rights because his son said dad, i'm gay. so when you have a personal connection or the american people will be exposed to the hideous photographs of those poor children, i think it would change things. >> yeah. i think having a personal connection obviously would make a difference. senator portman had a difficult set of circumstances, then he came out in my opinion on the right side of the equation. but i feel a little outgunned here. i know that's a bad expression. but i'm here in chicago, dangerous chicago, everybody's there with you. i will tell you that the 90% thing, you know, it's a republican form of democracy that protects us from running off and doing things that 50%, 60%, 80 p% of the american peop want us to do. i agree with that point. i want to go back, the very first time i appeared on your show, i said this is the solution and we need to find the solution. i'm glad you've now come to my point of view. >> but steven, on the point raised by deb fro

senator kirk announced his support following ohio's, actually rob portman. kirk said in a statement "same sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. our time on this earth is limited. i know that better than most." he's been unhealthy. "life comes down to who you love and who loves you back." he said government has no place in the middle. that is so well said. three more democratic senators announced their support for marriage equality. kay hagan of north carolina, tom carper of delaware, and pennsylvania's bob casey who called me about it yesterday. it's a big deal for him. and we'll be right back. >>> welcome back to "hardball." president obama won a resounding victory over mitt romney last november ushering in a second term with a promise was always there to tackle the issues important to the country. lately i keep feeling his absence. i mean the president's absence. i don't see him demanding debate over the gun issue, don't see him on the front pages or leading the evening news. is this strategic on his part? does he believe his all-out support