should be able to get married. truly historic and potentially watershed moment as president obama comes out, formally, publicly, enthusiastically in support of gay marriage and with the election less than six months away the political implications are enormous. we ll look at all of the potential fallout. reactions from both sides of this issue pouring in right now into the situation room. we will hear what influential groups and individuals are saying about the president s new position on gay marriage. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. captions by vitac www.vitac.com we re following the breaking news this hour. president obama announcing his support for same-sex marriage, a move with potentially huge political and social implications. listen to what he told abc news in a white house interview just a little while ago. over the course of several years, as i talk to friends and family and neighbors, when i think about members of my own staff who are i
speaking out on controversial pardons, former mississippi governor, haley barbour defends his position to pardon 200 people. a convicted murderer who says he deserves to be free. it is almost there. two ships just off the coast of nome, alaska to bring precious fuel. we have been keeping an eye on a rescue operation taking place off the western coast of italy this morning. here is the emergency. a crowded cruise ship that is tipped over on its side. there are 4,000 passengers and crew on board. we are hearing as many as 70 people are still missing. a journalist is at the port where survivors are being taken. good morning. have you spoken to any passengers? caller: yes, they all describe a familiar scene. they just finished eating dinner. the ship s electricity went off and felt a shutter as the ship ran on to the sandbar causing a huge gaping hole in the hull of the ship. right now, the ship is on its side, about 90 degrees resting on a bed of rocks and shallow water. you
needed. only two candidates, mitt romney and ron paul met virginia s ballot requirements. well, a russian nuclear submarine catching fire. a local official says it happened while the vessel was in dock for repairs at a ship yard on russia s northwest coast near the border with finland. authorities saying nobody was hurt. no radiation leaked out. a defense ministry spokesperson says workers had already unloaded all the weapons from the suband had shut down the reactor on board. he says the fire started on wooden scaffolding, then spread to the vessel s outer hall. we re told that submarine normally carries 16 nuclear tipped missiles. wow. well, at least 17 people have been killed as a massive fire destroys warehouses and now we are learning 75 homes. our top story as we go around the world in 80 seconds. burma, authorities saying the fire began in a warehouse
last minute campaigning ahead of tuesday s caucus. gregg: this would appear to be a court date to set a court date on an expedited hearing. we ll see what happens today. peter doocy, live in washington. peter, thanks very much. some context now. the state of begin i can t considered the most strict when it comes to ballot requirements. candidates, as peter mentioned, must show support across the entire state with at least 10,000 signatures but 400 in each of the state s 11 congressional districts. apart from virginia there are other difficult states. indiana, illinois, pennsylvania but they require a whole lot less ballot signatures. patti ann? patti ann: brand new polls show americans of all political stripes believe several of the republican presidential contenders have idealogical views closest to their own. the top three are jon huntsman, mitt romney and ron paul. michele bachmann furtherest away among republicans and president obama rating lower than any of the reprbl
paul were the only major gop candy dates to meet virginia s tough ballot requirements. pete williams joining me live now from washington. pete, good afternoon. he s challenging two aspects of virginia law that regulate the process here, the first one, and i think the focus of hisรง lawsuit is, in order to get on the ballot you have to have signatures on a petition. those who circulate the petitions must be eligible to vote there. that means candidates can t bring in volunteers from out of state to circulate their petitions. perry says it isn t fair that in the last republican primary in virginia 120 republicans voted and the state requires 10,000 signatures. that s too many. so that is the basis of his lawsuit. he argues it s unconstitutional restriction of his free association rights. his first amendment free speech