>> the decision finally came and it was instantly cheered by hundreds of people at san francisco city hall. nearly five years ago, californians voted to ban gay marriage. today the supreme court steps in and gay marriage will once again be allowed. the high court dismissed the case and leaves in place a lower court's ruling that stated that prop 8 was unconstitutional. but wedding bells won't be ringing soon. the ninth circuit court of appeals will wait 25 days to clear the way for gay marriages to begin again. the justices struck down doma the federal defense of marriage act. we have live team coverage from the bay area to washington, d.c. and that's where we will begin with nbc bay area's cheryl hurd. >> reporter: some people stood

in line up to 20 hours to get a seat inside the u.s. supreme court. anticipation was high but in the end not everyone was happy. >> how you doing? >> reporter: there were long lines waiting to secure the coveted seats inside the supreme court to hear today's ruling. once the few got in, the justices ruled doma unconstitutional. >> i applaud their efforts to take something that is discriminatory off the books. >> reporter: prop 8 was also invalidated and decided on a 5-4 vote. in the prop 8 case the justices ruled the defendants didn't have proper standing to argue on behalf of the ban and the defendants were defending prop 8 because the california officials refused to. >> thank the justices for letting us get married in california but it has to go nationwide. >> we look forward to using the word married and husband.

those words do matter. they are important. >> reporter: those who fought to defend the idea that marriage is between a man and a woman says that the fight is it no over yet and that the ruling is a narrow one. >> the plaintiffs can get a marriage license but no one else was a party to the lawsuit. unless something is struck down by an appellate court decision it is the law of the state. >> reporter: the attorney general disagrees with that statement. that legal battle will likely wind up in court. >> we are out here taking a few deep breaths and enjoying the sweet smell of equality. >> reporter: same-sex marriage is leaving in 12 states and wards. california would be the 13th state. reporting live from washington, d.c. i'm cheryl hurd, nbc bay area news. from the steps of the

supreme court, cheryl hurd has been reported live for us. the road to the supreme court started in 2004 when then mayor of san francisco gavin kn newsom ordered the marriages to begin in san francisco. now he is a central figure in this debate. monte frances has been at city hall all day. >> reporter: there was a sense of jubilation here when the rulings were announced. and that is no surprise since this is where the fight over gay marriage in california began almost a decade ago. applause and emotion erupted as the crowd of hundreds learned that the supreme court had struck down the defense of marriage act or doma. that was followed by several minutes of anticipation before the prop 8 ruling was announced

clearing the way for seam sex marriages to resume in california. minutes later walking arm with ed lee and gavin newsom, phyllis joined the celebration. she was the first person to be married by the this san francisco mayor, gavin newsom in 2004. >> i think we had a lot of progress and we have to continue. >> relief. and just overwhelming joy. >> it's a long time coming. so it just feels like it's about time. so it's really good. i feel really happy about it. >> reporter: the man credited with sparking the fight over gay marriage in california, gavin newsom says it's hardly the last step in bringing marriage equality to the rest of the country. >> i hope our example shows that

change can take place. >> reporter: for now same-sex couples are happy with what they consider a triumph. >> growing up you were told that the government doesn't recognize that you are equal or have equal rights as everybody else. so this decision really overturns that. and i'm hoping that all the kids watching today are going to recognize that, hey, i am the same as everybody else. >> reporter: and san francisco archbishop, a big supporter of prop 8 reacted to the rulings saying that he is very worried about the future of this country. and by the way we didn't see any prop 8 supporters at the rally here at city hall. monte frances, nbc bay area news. >> a historic day at san francisco city hall. new tonight at 6:00 more than 50 bay area religious leaders gathered to celebrate and support marriage equality in

california. faith leaders are looking forward to performing ceremonies for same-sex couples who are waiting to make lifelong commit armaments to each other. but the catholic church called it a tragic day for marriage in our country but it's a representative for catholics for marriage equality says that not everyone agrees with the leadership. the mormon church was represented as well. >> as a gay mormon i have worked with a lot of straight mormons who have come out as allies outside the church. and there is as much of a stigma being a straight ally. not everyone is happy with today's decision. damian trujillo has been

tracking the response who were supporting the ban on gay marriage. >> reporter: proponents of prop 8 say their legal challenges are not over. this protest was in san diego this morning. the opponents of same-sex marriage say they are disappointed with the ruling but vow to continue their cause. another group gathered in sacramento. the groups say there is hope for them since the supreme court did not rule that prop 8 is unconstitutional. they called it a punt and say they will receive the ball and take to court anyone who goes against the vote of the people. >> if the governor orders the issuance of marriage licenses there will be a litigation to stop that because the will of the 7 million californians who voted for proposition 8 deserves to be vindicated until we have a clear ruling from the highest court. >> when we don't have a government of the people, that is disenfranchisement of the

voters. and it is actually destroying the republic. >> the supporters of prop 8 want to see if it only involves the two couples who took the case to the high court. the fight, they say, continues. happening now, the night is young and the celebrations around the state are just beginning. today's ruling -- after today's rulings. wet hollywood, san francisco and san jose are among the big ones. marianne favro is in the south bay for us this evening. >> reporter: about 200 people are gathered right here in front of san jose city hall. many are members of marriage equality silicon valley. we saw a lot of hugs and high fives and cheering and a lot of

folks are driving by and honking in their support of that decision. you can see a lot of rainbow flags flying here tonight. now this county says that they are absolutely prepared to start performing same-sex marriages as soon as they get the green light. santa clara county supervisor ken yager has not worn this robe in five years. he performed the first same-sex marriages in the county. >> it was electrifying to be a part of it. >> reporter: he is the first openly game supervisor and fought for gay rights in the south bay more than 30 years. he says that today's u.s. supreme court decision was a major victory. >> you ask any older gay person that they thought the day would come that we could get married and it just seemed like an impossibility like going to mars was more likely to happen than gay people get married. but we have seen in such a short

span that this is happen and that gays and lesbians are getting the rights they deserves. >> reporter: once the county gets the green light this is where gay couples will come to get their licenses. the county is preparing for a surge in requests. instead of three windows available there are now 27. >> we have been preparing for five years. and so i have a lot of staff who are trained to help us out and perform ceremonies and issue licenses as well. >> for couples in a rush starting july 1st there is an express marriage ceremony. you can get married right at the clerk's window. and the county wants to open this remodeled chapel next month. the supervisor would be happy to put his robe back on again and be the marriage commissioner who helps more same sex couples say i do. many of the supporters out here today say they feel that the

u.s. supreme court decision moves them one step closer to seeing marriage equality throughout the entire nation. reporting live in san jose, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. our flash survey tonight. is this the end of the same-sex marriage fight here in california? you can vote by texting or calling us at 408-300-9222. you can text 1 for yes or text 2 for no. you can tweet us @nbcbayarea. i'm stan brock. the supreme court found that same-sex couples should receive federal benefits. also coming up we'll take you live out to the castro where a rally in support of today's

same-sex marriage rulings is about to get underway. >> in the emergency room after a suicide attempt. that can't be the right decision. >> a member of california's air national guard was served termination papers hours after an attempted suicide. we investigate how and why it happened. and clearing skies around the bay area and rising temperatures outside right now. we see numbers in the mid-80s. this time tomorrow we could see mid-90s as temperatures climb closer to 100 degrees. your full forecast is straight ahead when we come back.

it feels good to have love triumph over ignorance. >> continuing our prop 8 coverage now the supreme court's decision is basically final but supporters of prop 8 have one

legal maneuver left, a chance to petition the high court to hear the case again. >> no, this is not an appeal. it is a petition, a request to the court saying, please rehear the case because we didn't get to raise certain points that we think would make a difference. those petitions are frequently made but almost always denied. >> reporter: prop 8 supporters have 25 days to make that request. if it's denied, gay marriages in california will likely resume in late july. but there is still confusion, specifically, federal benefits for same-sex couples. >> the supreme court has said if you are married in your state, then you get all the federal benefits under doma. but they don't say what is your state. is it the state where you are married or where you now reside? what happens if one state recognizes the marriages and

another does not? >> reporter: it appears that the tides are shifting when it comes to states allowing same-sex marriages. >> 13 states and 93 million people. it has momentum. >> reporter: so does lieutenant governor gavin newsom who first approved gay marriage in san francisco nearly a decade ago. >> he has been at the forefront of the issue for more than a decade. he is the real thing and people don't forget. not just who is there now, but who was there back when and gavin newsom has been looking for a position and clout as lieutenant governor now has something to run with. the supreme court also struck down doma today, the defense of marriage act. gay couples will have the same benefits as straight couples. but what if you move to a state that doesn't recognize gay marriage do you get those

benefits? >> that's an interesting question. there are same-sex couples in silicon valley who may be transferred to texas or colorado for work what happens to their federal benefits if they move? the answer is we don't know. the courts didn't take on that question. here's the 1996 defense of marriage act passed by the 104th congress. there are two parts of interest here. the definition of marriage and spouse that was overruled today. it now must include same-sex couples but there is section 2 that reserves certain powers to the states that says no state shall be required to give effect to any public act, record or proceeding of any other state respecting a relationship between persons between the same sex treated as a marriage under other states. states don't have to respect each other's marriage laws and

that part of doma is intact. but it refers to state laws. but what about federal laws and federal benefits? >> i think it's unresolved. it may be agency by agency. because different federal agencies are going to be responsible to enforcing different laws. >> reporter: agency by agency. so that means the irs could extend the tax benefits in all states but the social security administration easily award benefits in a different fashion. the truth is we don't know what federal benefits will be transferrable because the court didn't address it and the government hasn't figured it out yet. it's one of the many questions for the coming days and weeks. the landmark rulings prompted responses from several politicians on both sides of the aisle. i sat down with nancy pelosi.

>> it means a lot. it's about dignity and respect. it's about our country. and it's not just about lgbt community although it focuses on them but it's about the character of america. >> you can see our discussion on friday night. our coverage continues online of the decision on prop 8. you can find more raw video and reaction. check out our website, www.nbcbayarea.com. let's bring in rob mayeda with our changing forecast for the weekend. >> first the humidity slowly starting to come down and temperatures rising to near 90 in morgan hill. santa cruz as well. downtown san jose and the weather watcher steve with 89

degrees. and 70s san francisco to oakland. there will be enough of a sea breeze to keep san francisco and oakland on the mild side. but in the north bay you will see the 90s tomorrow. warm in the north bay and east bay. you can see the 80s in areas in orange. humidity levels should be 20% or lower in the hills. the humidity and light rain has brought down fire danger slightly here to start the week. but we will see a different story next week as we see less of this. the sea breeze reaching into fairfield and livermore. now we are watching the weather to the south. the giants and the dodgers first pitch should be in the upper 70s. but hot temperatures in the valleys in l.a. too. they will see numbers above 100 degrees. passes of low clouds on the coast tomorrow morning. you may find fog in san

francisco. in the afternoon you will see clearing skies. the temperatures tonight, 50s and low 60s to start and as we head to lunchtime tomorrow look at the numbers in the 90s. fairfield to napa. as we fast forward to tomorrow around 3:00 that area in purple and pink inland those are 100 degree temperatures in antioch and fairfield and tri-valley, san jose friday in the 90s. this weekend these numbers will be getting close to 100 degrees inland but downtown san jose. a full look at the forecast in the seven-day forecast coming up in the next half hour. still ahead, a new look at the progress for the bart extension to san jose. rescuers try to save a woman

trapped on a bay area cliff. we're back in two minutes.

our nbc chopper capturing this dramatic cliff rescue in san francisco. the fire department was called to the north end of the beach just after noon today. a woman was stuck on a cliff but ultimately pulled to safety. new tonight at 6:00 police in gilroy are asking for your help tracking down a hit and run driver. an elderly man was seriously injured late friday night on first street not far from rucker elementary school. the 63-year-old man was found unconscious in the roadway and is in the hospital. the vehicle was a white four door compact car with damage to the front end or windshield. bring your patience today. hundreds of thousands of drivers

could be crowding the roads in ex-week. the warning comes hours after bart workers voted to authorize a strike. the contract expires on sunday. the strike could happen monday morning. that strike would create gridlock across the bay area. the agency isser urging employers to let their employees telecommute. 400,000 passengers use bart every weekday. there could be a 60-day cooling off period but bart is asking the governor not to do that. that cooling off period would only delay a strike pushing it into september one of bart's busiest months. the bart extension to san jose is ahead of schedule. leaders took a tour of the project today. nishltly bart planned to have trains rolling by 2018. now it could be up and running by 2017. the new tracks will ultimately continue from fremont's warm

springs station and end up at san jose station. phase two brings the trains to downtown san jose and that will take several more years to complete. still ahead at 6:00, a major development in a murder investigation involving an nfl star. also in her own words, paula deen's tearful interview on the today show. what she is saying as more companies distance themselves from her. i'm terry mcsweeney here in the castro district. and our flash survey tonight, is this the end of the same-sex marriage fight in california? vote by texting or calling us. text 1 for yes or 2 for no or tweet us @nbcbayarea.

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least 25 days meaning late july, the marriages can begin. >> but the celebrations have begun and one of the biggest is in san francisco's castro district. >> thousands of people gathering for what is called a rally, a party and a parade. really in the last 60 minutes it has grown from a few hundred people to as you can see a few thousand people and in the next hour or two it could grow to several thousand people. terry mcsweeney is in the middle of the party. this could be one of the most notable rallies. >> reporter: it brings back memories of the halloween festivities out here. everything is back on the table. behind me you can see -- maybe you can see how many thousands of people are here and they are streaming in. a lot of barricades. the entrance ways are narrow. it