carnival's ships. a rare and dramatic change of heart, staunchly conservative senator rob portman changes his hard-line stance on gay marriage and revealing a deep family secret in a cnn tv exclusive. stopped cold. cops pull a risky move to put an end to a wild high-speed car chase. >> oh, wow. >> welcome back to "early start." good morning, everybody, i'm alina cho. >> i'm christine romans. it's friday, march 15th. the ids of march are upon us. a political drama in 44 b.c., of course. >> you know what that is in my household? five days after my birthday. >> oh, happy birthday. a little happier than what happened in 44 b.c. new this morning a whole lot of things going on today, get you caught up to speed at the end of the week. a lot of new problems for carnival cruise lines. the cruise liner "ledge end" limping home now. propulsion problems forcing it to skip a scheduled stop in the caymans. two days ago power problems crippled the carnival liner "dream" in st. maartens.