marry saying he arrived at the decision after what he calls an evolution. >> over the course of several years, as i talked to friends and family and neighbors, when i think about members of my own staff who are incredibly committed in mon og mus relationships, same sex relationships, who are raising kids together, at a certain point i've just concluded that for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same sex couples should be able to get married. jon: speculation over whether the president would change his position started right after similar comments by vice president biden on sunday. the president suggesting that forced his hand a bit. >> i had already made a decision that we were going to probably take this position before the election, and before the convention. it probably got out a little bit -- out of generosity of spirit. >> you're not upset with snib. >> 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, of course. but all is well that ends well. jon: well tonight the president attends a sold-out, record setting fund-raiser at actor george clooney's los angeles mansion. hollywood is, of course, home to some of the most high profile supporters of same sex marriage. this development, likely, will rally that part of the democratic base and bring in lots of money. but what other political consequences might it have come november? let's talk to a.b. stoddard about it, associate editor of the hill, she has a new column on the president's stance on gay marriage. a.b., you think that he was sort of dragged into this by joe biden. >> well, he admitted that he was. at least in terms of the timing. i think the president had a long, public evolution on this topic, it was clear to all those in the activist community that he had actually decided he was supportive of same sex marriage, but that he was waiting for some perfect moment. he admits in this interview he was going to do this before the convention, he was going roll it out in his way, but it was an evolution that had ended and he had already made a decision and the fact that his vice president spoke too soon forced him to come out quickly, and in the intervening days, as they tried to cover up what -- or sort of change the perception of what vice president biden had said, they looked silly and it was costing the president, becoming a question of his character and he looked like a coward and he was forced to come out early and i thought he missed an opportunity to lead and bungled the entire issue, considering that on the policy matter itself he had already made his decision. jon: let me read back to you your own quote, just because i enjoyed the line you used here in your article. you write, obama's water treading wimp out on the highly charged issue was making him be cynical, cowardly as his adversaries describe him. you're not saying he came to this as a rock solid matter of principle. >> well, if he did, then he was hiding it, and i think the matter is not that the president supports same sex marriage. it's that he was not being completely honest about his opinion, that he was changing over a long period of time in which people on both sides of the issue questioned because creditil and reasonable it was, to say that although you continue to oppose any effort to ban same sex marriage, you still can't support it. that evolution seemed too long and it didn't seem genuine and people started to question whether or not he was hiding the truth until after the election. so it's not really so much the merits of the policy itself so much as the way in which he came his announcement. it might be from a core conviction but he probably made that decision a while ago and wasn't being truthful about how he felt. jon: but was it politically smart? when you take a look at the states that have already voted to ban gay marriage, states that are very pivotal in this upcoming election and we have a map of seven of then, it was just over the weekend that north carolina voted against may gairnlg -- ghairnlg and that's where his convention is going to be, also colorado, nevada, iowa, missouri, ohio, florida. florida, elderly voters are solidly against gay marriage, and the president needs these states if he wants to win reelection. >> that is true, and i'm sure that is why he was waiting and trying to find a perfect way to do this, if he was going to do it at all. he has probably kissed north carolina goodbye, he won there last time by fewer than 14,000 votes, he registered 300,000 new african-american voters in that state last time to eek out that very slight win. they could be disappointed by the economy and those among them who are very religious and more culturally conservative and oppose gay marriage could decide to stay home and sit out the election. it could cost him in swing states for sure, and that is probably why he made the political decision to remain quiet, but his polices were the most progay rights polices ever passed by any president, he had had a record that was indicating that he was himself a believer in the legality of same sex marriage. he was just refusing to say so. and again, i'm not arguing the policy, i understand the politicses -- politics were dangerous but he had trapped himself into a good corner and he was going to try to galvanize the gay community into helping him across the finish line and i guess he was going to announce it before august but it was a difficult high wire act for them and that's why it was difficult this week. jon onand the vice president helped drag him across that finish line. a.b. stoddard, thank you. >> thank you. jenna: as you can imagine, the political fallout from the president's announcement reached capitol hill very quickly, with very different reactions. at one point it got heated between a couple of lawmakers on a related issue. rick has the details from the newsroom with more. >> reporter: good morning. the house armed services committee, burning the midnight oil to craft a pentagon funding measure, but that same committee also approved two amendments. one would ban the performance of same sex marriage ceremonies on military installations, another proposal would create a conscious clause, allowing military chaplains to opt out of same sex marriages, and that sparked a fiery back and forth between california democrat loretta sanchez and georgia republican austen scott. sanchez asking a hypothetical question, would the amendment protect the beliefs of service members who interpret the bible literally and think that gays should be killed. scott fired back and said the bible does not say that, and that's when sanchez read directly from the stripture. take a listen: >> if you read leviticus 2013, you will see in there the issue of they are to be put to death. if a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable, they are to be put to death. >> ms. sanchez, that is the old testament. >> it's the bible. >> it is the old testament. >> it's the bible. >> reclaiming my tile and yielding it back. thank you. >> reporter: the leading republican in the house of representatives also weighing in on the president's announcement. here is house speaker john boehner, speaking with our colleague, gerri willis. >> well, i think he made his position pretty clear. i've always believed that marriage was between a man and a woman. but republicans here, on capitol hill, are focused in on the economy. the american people are still asking the question, where are the jobs, and our focus is going to continue to be on the economy, like it has been for the last year and a half. >> reporter: and the presumptive republican presidential nominee mitt romney reacting from the campaign trail: >> i do not favor marriage between people of the same gender and i don't favor civil unions if they're identical to marriage other than by name. my view is that domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights and the like are appropriate, but that the others are not. reporter a sampling of some of the reaction, with less than six months to go before election day. you can be sure the issue is going to get more attention as the race for the white house intensifies. jenna, back to you. jenna: who knows, maybe more bible study! you never know what's going on in the halls of congress. rick, thank you. as we told you at the top of the show, the president is the first sitting president to support the right of gay couples to marry, but what can the president actually do to help push that agenda or change the policy? the options at this time are relatively limited, especially since the president doesn't have the power to legalize it. there are some things, though, he can do. for example, he can push for legislation to amend or repeal the defense of marriage act. he can use the bully pulpit to encourage states to legalize same sex marriage, and push for a constitutional amendment to recognize same sex marriage. as it stands now these are the states that allow same sex marriage. thirty states have banned it. washington state and maryland both passed laws, though, that have yet to go into effect. so that's the state of today, and we're going to move now to more on the race for the white house. jon: that's the big political development, that presidential announcement, but there are other developments in the race for the white house as well, as governor mitt romney, fresh off his trip to the key swing state of colorado spends the day in neighboring nebraska. historically, it's a red state, but its unique system of awarding electrical votes may not make it a sure thing for the gop this time around chief washington correspondent james rosen is follow thank story live in our -- live from our washington bureau. >> reporter: then-senator barack obama lost nebraska by more than 15 percentage points back in 2008 but he was still able to claim one of the corn husker state's five electoral votes, that's because nebraska was system of awarding electoral roats is proportional, omaha falls in the second congressional district where governor romney will be campaigning and fundraising today and that district could help determine who wins the lion's share of those five votes, stumping in oklahoma city, the presumptive gop nominee for the most part tread lightly on the president's much balancey hood announcement on gay marriage and instead sought to return the focus to mr. obama's weakest point, the economy. >> i think the president is just being guided by things that have been spoken about by liberals for years and years and years and have been proved not to work, and you -- and you go through them piece by piece. the idea of raising taxes on small birks it doesn't help. it hurts jobs. >> president obama, for his part, is heading west today. he left joint base andrews before 10:00 a.m., embarking on a swing through seattle, washington, where he will rally supporters at the paramount theert and then to los angeles, as jon just noted a short while ago, for a $14 million fundraising event at the home of anac ar-- actor named george cloon yevment here's our brilliant segue. when in love, george clooney, you can expect the obama campaign to stress women's issue. a gallup poll finds women to be consistently more reliable supporters of him. in april the poll found 44 percent of women approved of obama's performance but 50 percent of women did. being professional journalistis we know not to ask jenna her opinion. jenna: wi say it goes furl circle, by the way. it proves that men also love george clooney. jon joond how do women feel about george clooney dumping all those girlfriends? gen jen we don't have time now, james! we don't have time. jon: good report on that! thank you james. we have new information in that honor endous duck boat crash on delaware river that killed two tourists. this video is shocking. we have a settlement now reached in the wrongful death case. you'll see that full video coming up. jon: also new recommendations on how to fight jee -- obesity in america. a report says changes need to take place across the board. what should the government do, if anything? we'll debate that. jenna: these french fries look good. plus a car that drives itself. what do you think? jon: i wouldn't relax next to it, that's for sure. jenna: a closer look at a new set of wheels that steer themselves. ♪ [ male announcer ] want your weeds to hit the road? hit 'em, with roundup extended control. one application kills weeds, and stops new ones for up to four months. roundup extended control. jenna: welcome back. everyone. new information on a settlement reached in a duck boat crash that twiled killed two hungarian students. those students families will split $15 million. they were killed when this happened a tugboat guided barge slammed into the duck boat in philadelphia. the video shows you how violent that was. there were 18 surviving passengers. those 18 surviving passengers will share two million dollars in the deal. the settlement was approved by a judge just days into that wrongful death trial. jon: a live look at the dow now after weekly jobless claims take a slight dip. the labor department reporting applications for unemployment benefits topping, dropping i should say, by a thousand. over in spain stocks are rebounding. investors there reacting postively to the news that the country will nationalize its fourth largest bank. greg burke is following this story. he is streaming live from rome for us. fred? >> reporter: john, that's right. spain is not greece. you're talking about the forth largest bank in the country and the fourth largest country in the eurozone. when center right came into power after cries mass they knew the honeymoon would not be long if it were there at all. to shore up the bank being sector and calm markets keeping banks from collapsing in the country. really the government has taken over one of the country's largest banks known as banca. you see why the government wanted to move in before customers got too nervous. this bank has more than $40 billion worth of risky assets. so there were certainly a lot of fears that things could get worse. spain's problems are many. we were there just last week looking at unemployment. one out of four people without a job. many of those problems and certainly that in the banking sector are related to the real estate boom. there are so many bad loans out there, so many banks have billions of dollars in risky assets all related to the real estate boom and bust that came in 2008. you see especially in southern spain but really throughout the country, just areas, huge areas, even neighborhoods of houses that can't be sold and can't be rented either. that is major. now, finally, jon, one piece of good news the socialist have backed center right on this so there is unity. the initial reaction from the markets has been good. so the government may not have a honeymoon. they haven't had a lot of good news, at least today a little sigh of relief. jon? jon: in this country the dow up 30 points right now. greg burke live from rome. thank you. jenna: race for the white house one of the dramatic election battles this year. the balance of power is up for grabs in congress. our next guest says it might be so close in the senate the vice president next term may have to cast tie-breaking votes. what do you think about that? larry sabato here with his crystal ball next. i love to eat. i love hanging out with my friends. i have a great fit with my dentures. i love kiwis. i've always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. super poligrip free -- it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. super poligrip free made the kiwi an enjoyable experience. 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ >> reporter: rick folbaum in the newsroom a clarification to a story we brought you other day on pet food recall. centers for disease control and prevention asking for recall of several brands of dry dog food from a gadsden, south carolina plant after a suspected salmonella outbreak. some brands are from the diamond pet food plant. we reported that the food was contaminated with mold. that is not the case. the issue with mold at that plant was 2005. federal officials say several people have been sickened recently but none of them are workers at that plant and they are also no reports of any animals getting sick but you can find more details and all the information you need on our website at foxnews.co foxnews.com/happening now. jenna: get ready for suspense and drama this election season. we're not just talking about the race for the white house of course. we have a little taste of what might look like in going into the congressional race this is week when veteran indiana senator richard lugar lost the republican primary. he was thought to be a shoo-in for re-election at one time. now democrats may have a shot at his seat. that along with some other very big races in battleground states could shift the balance of power in the senate. right now democrats are in control there. 51 to the gop's 47 seats. it is not quite as competitive on the house side. the republicans have majority there. they have control there. 242 seats to the democrats, 192. our next guest says you have to keep close eye on both of these races. larry sabato, director of center for politics at university of virginia. you deliver every week with your crystal ball. this conclusion caught my attention when it comes to the senate. you say might be so close when it comes to the senate next year a tie-breaking vote may be necessary by whoever the vice president might be. why do you think that could happen? >> well, when you look at the races, jenna, and you look at them one by one and you also judge the races on basis of which presidential candidate will carry that state, it is easy to see how might, might end up as 50-50. we still give slight edge to republicans to control the senate but we wouldn't be shocked, wouldn't be surprised if it ended up the way it did after the 2000 election when vice president cheney broke ties in the senate for five months before senator jeffords from vermont switched sides an converted from republican to democratic. jenna: what was effect of that, having vice president as a tiebreaker? >> well obviously they tried to avoid tie votes whenever possible and there weren't many of them. that was also a bit of a honeymoon period for new president george w. bush. that was before 9/11 of course. he was working on his education package and other things. so i don't think the effect was dramatic but i think we're much more divided now. we're much more polarized and if that happened in the senate you would really see the polarization become even more prominent. jenna: something you're also seeing in the house. republicans have the majority if you take a look at races that, they would still have the majority according to your calculations just wouldn't be quite as big. so again, going back to the effect, larry, does that mean anticipating more gridlock in congress if that's possible? >> well it depends who wins the presidential election. if president obama wins, i