♪ same sex marriage supporters and oppones are still waiting at san francisco city hall for the judge's decision on whether to allow gay marriages to go forward. many lined up earliero get their licenses just in case. >> cros continue to gath at san francisco ty hall and they are waiting for that judge's decision. he has not issued it but did say that he would have it issued before noon today so we are still waiting. we begin our coverage today wi terry mcsweeney at safrancisco city hall. terry? >> the are dozens of people on the steps of the san francisco

cityall right now and they have been there for hours waiting for judge walker's ruling. take a look at the people out there. yes on 8, no on 8. their signs make it very clear which is which. those in favor of similar sex marriage and those who believe marriage is between one man and one welcome. he's already ruledhat prop 8 approved by california voter is unconstitutional but hs got two decisions today. one, would he lift the stay which would mean same sex marriages could go forward? and, two, is he going to delay the imette s the i am platation. mayor wsom out here this morning. >> they vote on this issue and now everything -- all that stuff is thrown out and one man decides for the state.

thisind of authority is scary. >> i'm incredibly optimistic and hopeful. but whatever happens today, that optimi doesn't go away. that hopefulness doesn't go away. thank you, guys, for all your faith and your devotion and constant and your incredible work. it's paying incredible dividends. you're changing lives around the world and people are watching you so thank you. >> i n't know if that audio really does it justice. that was ace roar of support from those in fair of same sex marriage. mayor newsom suggesting there that maybe not today but at some point it's going to be same sex marriage is going to be legalized in california and he believes throughout the united states. right now we don't know exactly what's going to happen today. judge walker's ruling stl not coming across joj as we're anticipating. the window is from 9:00 this morning until noon. less than an hour to go before we will know exactly where he comes down on this issue.

live at city hall, terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> let's turn to legal analyst dean johnson by phone to talk a little more. thanks for joining us. if the stay is in fact lifted, does that mean gay marriages will resume right awa necessarily? >> not necearily. in fact, probably not. the proponents of prop 8 have asked the judge if h does lift the stay to give them approximatelseven days to try to appeal that ruling. during that seven-d period, the proposed to op 8 would go head and go to the 9th circuit court of appeals and if they're not successful there possibly to the supreme court's circuit justice for the 9th circuit, anthony kennedy. >> what is the standard that's needed for the judge? give us a litt lesson on this. >> it's a triad of factors. in oer to get the stay put back in place the proponents of prop 8 would have to show

they're likely to be successful on their appeal, that is they're likely to win the appeal that they wou suffer some irreparable harm and the stay is in public interest. that they have arguments on all three points. >> the fact this appeal could end up with justice kennedy, what could that tell us in terms of a clue towards how prop 8 will ultimately be resolved supreme court? >> assuming judge walker lifts the stay and gives the parties about seven days to appeal, the next week may well be a preview of the entire case. the issues are very similar and the players are very similar. we'll get an idea how the 9th circuit is leaning on this case and we may get an idea how anthony kennedy who will probab have the swing vote how the supreme court is leaning and these how it could all come out. >> one of the arguments by the same sex marriage people was they wanted to protect marriage as though having same sex

marriageould cause harm to heterosexual marriage. >> these the argument they've always made and it's characteristic because there are argumentshat they state the principle. but they're ve vague on the specifics. they've never been able to tell us precisely how allowing same sex marriage would harm opposite sex marriage. and, in fact, there was testimony in the trial from a harvard professor who said, you know, i live in massachusetts. we've had the longest experience of any state with same sex marriage and, in fact, it seems to have enhanced marriage because massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the nation. >> i'm sure we'll be talking with you later today on c 7 news at 5:00 and 6:00. thanks for standing by with you right now. >> my pleasure. >> continuing our coverage from city hall, officials are bracing for a flood of new marriage license applications. theresa? >> they sure are. i've bn inside speaking with city hall staff about the offices of t clerk as well as the recorde

they have all their staff on standby. they're just waiting to get word whether the stay will be lifted. i spoke outside on the plaza with one couple who arrived at 4:30 this morning. theyay this is a moment they've been waiting five yes for. take a look at some of the lines inside the city hall. once it opened this morning, the lines moved fairly quickly at the cle's office. that's where you get your application. there were somcouples who started filling out the marriage applications in line to try and be prepared and if judge walker lifts the stay. the city officials estimate about 100 marriages can be performed daily. the very first couple told me they filled out their application online last night. they went out and bought rings and now clearly it's the waiting game. >> we're very hopeful that it's going to happen. the stay will be lifted. if it doesn't, we won't be devastated. we figure it will eventually happen but it's a matter of time. >> i'm just very happy to have found the right guy. >> m too. >> means a lot. we have a few friends

gathered, family's ready to be notified via text and facebook.com and et cetera. we're dressed for it. >> i've been saying al morning i've been waiting my entire life. and she's the love of my life. she's my everything. i'm ready. >> and some of these couples tell me they've already been living together in the vein of traditnal marriage vows, being supportive for each other. they say they're waiting for this moment. they say to wait is better than not to be able to marry at all. many are a bit perplexed why judge walker is taking his time from 9:00 to noon. they were hoping it would be earlier. we'll get a addition shortly. we talked to county clerk offices who say they are on standby and ready t issue marriage licenses ithat stay is lifted. theresa garcia, abc 7 news. >> theresa, than very much. again, feder judge vaughan walker's ruling is expected by noon. we'll have live coverage of that decision asoon as it comes down and we'll let you know if

it happens during this newscast. >> we have other news. salmonella may not be so bad for your health. we'll explain st ahead. >> first the critical vote in congress today aimeat making our borders safer. >> and is he really a hero? new questions are raised about what (speaking in intertional language) and he sd unto them

go ye into all of the rld and preach the gospel preach the gospe ♪ every creature inhe world. (applause)

immigration and customs officials. they would help symptom the flow of illegal immigrants and drug crossing the mexico border. funds would be used to expand the use of unmanned surveillance drones. >> stocks down for the third straight day today. this has been fuelled by news that unemployment claims rose last week to their highest level in six months. analysts had actually expected that number to drop. sills sco systems fell short of their he can expectations. the stock is down nearly 10%. other silin valley tech stocks have fallen as a result. and jurors have reached agreement on only two of the 24 counts against former illinois governor ron blagojevich. they're deadlocked on the other counts, the rest they haven't

gotten through yet during the first 12 days of deliberations. the judge will tell jurors to go back and deliberate some more. blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to accusations that he tried to sell president obama's old senate sea >> new accusations this morning against a jetblue fight attendant who cursed out a passenger, then slid dwn an emergency chute. the "wall stre journal" reports another passenger on that flit says steven slater is t one who instigated the confrontation. the school teacher says when the woman in front of her asked slater where her bag was showed she blurted out an expletive. he looked disturbed before that opening overhead bins and slamming them shut. another paenger said slater was used for her when she asked for a wipe to clean up a spilled coffee. his ex-wife. >> i find that hard to believe.

steven is san absolutely consummate flight attendant. he is a professiona he always has been. he's thrown a number of years and was born to fly. >> jetblue officials are not corporating with the investigion. a charge the company denies. >> check this picture from south beach -- i'm sorry, emeryville. what we're looking at, possibly some shado, bright spots on the buildings in downtown san francisco. >> could that be sun? >> could it be! it's almost here where the warming trend. we'll talk about how that's going to affect the weekend and there's a day game at at&t park. the forecast for that, too. >> a fire rescue caught on video. the scared kitten that owes a very big thank you to firefighters in the south bay. >> why you want to be extra careful when you grill your chicken this smer.

♪ poor baby! >> some firefighters in santa cruz are being credited for going above and beyond the call of duty. they were called to an apartment complex on blackburn street yesterday where the kitten you heard from was stuck in a drain. the crew pried off the grate only to find the scaredy cat was

stuck between two drains. they rigged up a hose to nudge the kitty out to safety. >> there he is! oh! >> got him! >> you want to hand him to me? yea! >> oh, thk you! >> hi! >> oh, my god! >> the cutest thing, right. >> adorable, scared to death though. >> well, live have i says she's going to keep the little kitten. they're going to take home some of the other th found under a bush to an animal hospital on mission street where they shld be available for adoption. who wouldn't wa them after seeing this. >> i bet that made everybody's day. now we just need a little sunshine. >> where's that? >> let's open the weather window and see. there it is. south beach looking to at&t. you can see the shadows developing as the sun is starting to break out over this part of the bay. it's mostly sunny over at the airpt and the flight arrival delays are starting to wane

which is some good news for folks expecting friends in on flights to san francisco. let's take a look at another picture and show you how compressed the marine layer is coming as we see sutro power sticking above. we should see some sunine just about everhere exempt the coast today. let'talk temperatures. we are seeing warmer weaer. look at that. 62 santa rosa. we were stuck in the 50s the last couple days. san francisco, oakland, san rafael and napa. the warming trends moving into antioch, 73. yesterday we talked about it would be the east bay valleys the first to fee that warming trend. 60 watsonlle, the sunshine gilroy. monterey bay and salinas mid to upper 50s. not nearly as chilly as yesterday. cloudy tonht but not as damp as this morning. that's the high pressure starting to move in. warmest weather, it arrives in the entire bay area sunday into monday. never quite makes it to the

coast. san franciscup 2 degrees san jose 4, oakland 5, redwood city 7 and concord jumps from 7 yesterday to about 81 today. all these temperatures are still well below average. you can see the slow starting to pull away and with it it's going to drag this colder air and jet stream that's been funneling that cold air into our neighborhoods. jet stream starti to pull away. this high pressure will take over and that's what's going to bring us the warmer weather. today upper 70s danville, dubl. east bay shore cooler. mid to upper 60s richmond, hercules. south aneast of that low to mid-70s. that's where we start, 76 san jose. about 79 los gatos. on the peninsula low to mid-70s until you get to millbrae, 68. the coast cool, upper 50s for you. downtown south san francisco and sausalito low to mid-60s it is northbound thr the valleys

of the nor bay, you hit the mid-s. around the monterey bay talking about mid to upper 60s with cloudy conditions. that cool air even reached into sacramento this morning. 82. tahoe about 74. palm springs 101. the baseball forecast, the 44th game in the series and the final one with the cubs. developing 12:45. we'll end at 62 degrees. if not careful, u can get sun burned at at&t. look to the east once again fors warmest weatheromorrow and then saturday. look at sunday, monday and tuesday, low to mid-90s inland. upper 70s arounds the bay if you don't like the heat, head to the coast. low 60s. >> summer will be back. >> local big wave surfers are trying to take control of the maf vic surf contest. they think the contest has become too commercial and his control of the company. maverick search adventure incorporated.

jeff clark sued the company after they dropped him from the three-member board. that suit has since been blocked. they want to get control of the permit and stage a toned down, more community-friendly surf event. >> salmonella poisoning may be danger ris but scientist discovered a benefit. salmonel can actually spark an immune response alerting the body toill cancer cells. they worked on mice and human cancer cells. scientists hope they'll be able to use this research to develop a new drug that can one day help the body fight cancer and poultry is the leading culprit in food poisoning outbreak. the centers for disease control and prevenon says chicken and other poultry accounted for 17% of the outbreaks are reported by the government. beef and leaf think vegetables were close behind. theyere done based on reports from 48 states and puerto rico in 2007. >> the south bay rose garden named america's best rose garden

today. the san joseunicipal rose garden beat 130 other public gardens across the country. that award is going to be given out by a nonprofit association of rose growers. park staff worked to reste the garden ever since it was placed on probatn because it had fallen in such disrepair. fallen in such disrepair. >> i spend three hours on my homework -- or at least that's what my mom thinks. with high speed internet fr at&t, i get my homewk done fast, leing me time to download movies and music and ch with my friends. mom: how's your studying? 's coming along! [ female announcer ] work faster, play more withur fastest internet speed ever...

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"meg whitman sayshe'll run california like her company..." seen this attack on meg whitman? who are these people? they'rthe unions and special interests behind jerry brn. they want jerry brown because, he wot "rock the boat," in sacramento. he'll be the same as he ever s. high taxes. lost jobs. big pensions for state employees. the special interests have chosen tir governor. how about you? we all know haiti was hit by a devastati earthquake. tens of thousands of haitis have died, and that number is rising. we don't have timto sit around and talk about at we can do to help. you can help by donating today.

today on oprah at 4:00, the woman who lost 530 pounds. then on abc 7 news at 5:00, a wordf warning for those who enjoy those veggie lovers salad. the recent behind the company's latest recall. reminder federal judge vaughan walker's ruling on the same sex marrge stay is expected any moment, by noon, and we'll have live coverage of that decision as soon as is comes down and brin you a full report later today at 5:00. >> so mucgoing on but it is thursday sometime totart thinking about the weekend. we've got so much going on. from pirates to circus big-tops. >> don sancz. >> dramatic and passionate. david with 100 years of spanish guitar. saturday night, fine arts museum. legends of comedy conversations continue with robert morse and

shellie burrman sunday afternoon at usf. ♪ >> award-winning chine theater is electrifying. for the afternoon. 500 world class equestrians, a benefit for blind and visually impaired people at the menlo circus club. ♪ >> gilbert and sullivan, the pirates of penzance in mountai view. ringli brothers barnum an bailey circus with a new show at oracle arena showcasing what san francisco does best. a celebration of food, wine and spirits innion square. ♪ >> frank ambrosia, help is on the way, the aids benefit with carol channing and more sunday at hertz theater graffiti artists go off the walls on the canvas on hope

street. outside land has bands and food on multistages it weekend at the golden gate park. in san jose great jazz. the annual jazz festival, don sanchez, abc 7 news. >> all right. well, that's going to do it for us for now. >> that's right. but we're standing by for the decision on the prop 8 stay. judge walker will issue it before noo so within the half hour. >> that'right. so we will continue to stay here for you to bring that decisio the moment it happens. >> all right. meantime we leave you with a