♪ did you ask the attorney general forhe authority to appear? >> we did not, your honor. and i would -- >> you thought you were not appearing for the people, i assume. >> your honor, we're appearing on behalf of the county, the county clerk who have direct responsibility, responsibilities to issue mriage licenses. >> the court's fight over california's same sex marriage ban turned into a sparring match. sponsors of proposition 8 argued the three-judge federal appeals court saying they have legal finding to challenge the lower court ruling the ban is unconstitutional.

here before the 9th circuits court of appeals, protestors are kept things lively. terry? >> all morni long you had the no on eight people of this side of 7th street and the yes on 8 on that side. but a short time ago all the no went to watch the spreading leaving the yes on 8 to run the show on street level. in the courtroom the argumts are on the way. >> you don't know the answers? >> i don't know the answer but i don't thk the case turns on that. >> it doesn't matter whetr it turns on it. when you ask a question and you don't know e answer, say so. >> outside the federal courthouse on 7th and mission, a different sound ♪ >> before today's proceedings, a rally against proposition 8 with all four plaintiffs. >> we're upholding a decision based in truth that prop 8 is

unconstutional. until we get to watch ted and david defend that position here. >> on the other side of the street, the other side of t issue. >> the bible said god created man and woman. that's the wa god creed the -- >> did boyce, the man who came out on the wrong end of t electi battle believes he'll come out on the right side of this battle. >> this is a constitutional question. no vote can take away fundamental rights. >> the real losers could be the voters in california and the democratic process. >> california's debated this more months. millions were spent and they understood the arguments and the nature of what was happening and voted colctive voices on an important decision and put it in a constitution. that's not something we ju toss out. >> there's so much disagreement in the street and courtroom but one thing that both sides agree on that this is not the end of

the road for this issue. terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> terry, than very much. for some legal analys we're joined by dean johnson. i was struck by the judges and their hostility. >> the questn of the morning is who, if anybody, gets to speak for the people of the state of califoia. and all three justices are peppering both sides with question the proponents, there asking elizabeth vargas is a deputy clerk in imperial county. does she have the authority to speak for the people and the attorney general and the governor don't. on the other hand, if the attorney general's not her who does speak for the peoe? who will speak for those voters who supported proposition 8. >> why did they seem so harsh, abrasive? with this issue. e wrestling it's a difficult issue. there's cases going either way. there's no definitive case that

presents exactly this situatio that anybody can point to. in fact, charles cooper, the lead counsel for proposition 8 said, judge, i think this case today we're arguing is the case that'soing to make this law. >> the could do it narrowly or nationwi. so many ways to rule on this. >> o of the reasons the judges are so interested in this standing issue is it's a good way to exercise judicial restraint since we don't have the state officials before us who can talk definitivy about state poly, perhaps this is not the case where we decide this he cultural issue. >> when do y think that decision will come dow and when that decision comes down, does it automatically go into effect? >> i think the decision will come down in a couple months. it won't go into effect probably unless and until the indicate is resolved i by the supreme court. the st on same sex marriage will stay in effect until this

case is finally resolved. >> i think one of the judges were saying why are you in federal court? why don't you keep this in state court? >> there's an issue of state law here. if california would confer standing on the proponents of prop 8 under their law why shouldn't we? and maybe we should ask the california supreme court. what is california law? and if they could certify a question, they could aner that and proceed from there. >> both sides say if they lose they will appeal. so what's the next step? >> the next step would be for the losing side to request on bar appeal which is the entire 9th circuit court of appeals and the losing side would take it to we think the supreme court where we believe he would be accepted. >> everything doesn't happen quickly. it seems to move at a snail's

pace. >> believe me, this is moving rapidly r a federal appeal of this magnitude but relately speaking it's going to take a couple years which seems like a long time. >> dean, thanks very much. >> by the way we are streaming proposition 8 proceedings live on our website with our attoey here dean johnson. abc 7 news also with eric thomas hosting that. hope you'll join him for that. >> in other news toy alameda county authorities are investigating a suspicus package in castrvalley. that was found near the quality auto parts store at somerset at the 2800 block of castro boulevard. authorities closed down the streets and evacuated several buildings. we're trng to get more information and will bring it to you as soon as we get it. >> in oakland police a investigating the death of a four-mon-old baby as a homicide. authorities say the baby had been suffocated early yesterday morning and then revived with chp at a home on 6th avenue.

the infant later died after being taken to a children's hospital for trtment. police aren't sayi if anyone has been arrested in connection with the child's death. >> t man charged with sexually assaulting a two-year-old girl is back in court this morning. eugene ramos is expected to enter a plea in alameda county superior court for charges last week in a union city doar store. ramos assaulted the toddler after she wandered off from the family. the grdmother's screams alerted other shoppers. two men blocked ramos's exit and held him until police arrived. ramos is a registered sex offender and prior convictio for assaulting a seven-year-old hayward girl in 2003. >> three people admitting holding captive and torturing a teen for years. the boy's legal guardian was sentenced this morning after pleading guilty to more than a dozen felonies. the 16-year-d boy escaped fm

the coupls tracy home and ran to a nearby fitness club with open bleeding wounds and a chain padlocked to his ankle. he had been beaten,tarved and burned. a fourth person was found guilty last month. anthony wader faces life in prison. >> a bt police officer is recoveri in the hospital this morning after his car was hit during a late-night chase in hayward. it all unfolded arou midnight when alameda county sheriff deputies tried to make a traffic stop. the suspect rammed a deputies car and hit a bart police officers car who happened to be drivinthrough the intersection. the officer is now in the hospital with non-life-threatening injues. the 23-ye-old suspect is in icu with head injuries. he was on parole. >> oakland's police department is shrinking so fast it doesn't have enough officers to cover some patrols and many investigative units have been stripped to the bones. the san francisco chronicle reports some 80 officers were

laid off in june because of budget cuts. 21 more officers have retired. 12 other left for other police departments and five have simply quit. that leaves the depament with only 670 officers. the chief estimates that 925 are needed to get the job done. this afternoon governor schwarzenegger will provide details of his plano deal with the state's $6 billion budget deficit. this morning the governor called an emergency special session to deal with california latest budget deficit. he says lawmakers need to tackle the problem now, not when governor elect jerry brown takes office next month. the governor's expected to propose more layoffs and deep cuts to education. now, at noon, 28 newly electe members of the state assembly and senators with reeleed lawmers will take the oath of offi. >> president obama says congress needs to reach an agreement over extending bush tax cuts to prevent taxes from increasin on the middle class. on capitol hl lawmakers are working on a deal that also

would incle restoring benefs to those who have been out of work for a long period of time. john hendron has the latest from washington. >> some democrats think the white house just blinked. >> tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals have led us into this recession, cost us 15 million jobs, have utterly failed. >> it looks like a break in the impasse over tax cuts but is it a compromise. democrats wanted a catch cut just for the middle class. that failed in the senate. >> the motion is not agreed to. >> under agreement in the works, republicans would get what they want: t cuts extended for everne for two years forcing the president to break a key campaign had promise. >> we don't want no tax increases or no bite. that may be poor grammar but it's great economics. >> unemployment benefitsor one year. >> if you don't force fast action, what you'll end up doing, just kickin' the cab down the road and the only thing

though jobless americans get is a really kicked can. >> a tax credit proposed for those earning under $75,000 a year. a deal the white house has negotiated with largely with the republicans. >> more conversations in the last two weeks than the last two years. >> man democrats aren't happy about that, some likely to vote against it. extending all the tax cuts would cost $350 billion in two years. unemployment wouldcost $40 billion for another year. that's about half the size of the presidt's stimulus package. john hendron, abc news, washington. >> still ahead, an original member of the monday night football broadcast team has died >> a look back at the life and achievements of don meredith. >> how can you help the famils of the u.c. berkley hikers still in prison in iran in ♪ [ female announcer ] withable's bundle choices, there's not much to see. with at&t u-verse tv, you can record up to fo shows at once on single dvr.

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>> former nfl quarterback and original monday night football analyst don meredith has died. he played nine years mostly for the dallas cowboys making the jump to the broadcast system in 1970. he helped make abc monday night football a star thanks to his whit and folksy call. his call, turn out the lights, the night is over. he spent time as an actor and products spokesman. he died of a brain hemorrhage yesterday. he w 72. >> tonight in san francisco,

several authors will take part in a fund-raiser who help free the u.c. berkeley hikers still imprisoned in iran. shane bauer and josh fattal and sarah shourd were arrested lst year. she was released in september for health reasons. the oakld tribune report their families are in need of financial help because of legal fees, travel expenses and other needs. family members lost or quit their jobs as they dedicate the themselves to fighting for the freedom of their loved ones. >> you can put your umbrellas away for the day. keep them handy though, right? >> turned the lights off on the rain for a while. could be ace quickly as wednesday. snow from the sierra, too. and tae stra shower is possible. why that cloud there may drop one of those showers. >> ahead, a lawsuit agnst wal-mart that began in the bay area heads to the supreme court now. >> we'll tell you abou the

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♪ the supreme court has agreedto consider whether a class action discrimition lawsuit agnst wal-mart can go

forward. it's the biggest employment discrimination lawsuit in u.s. history. the suit claims wal-mart paid female employs less than men. it began in 2001 with an east bay woman who worked as a greeter at the pittsburg wal-mart. it could include back pay to 1.5 million current or former wal-martemployees. they are appeali a ruling that said the class action lawsuit could go to trial. wal-mart executives issued a statement saying they look forward to the consideration of the appeal. >> facebook.com is redesigning the profile pages of its 500 million plus subscribers to make it more of a reflex of real lives. they say that the changes are meant to make it easier for users to tell their story, who they are, where they work and who the important people are in their lives. the challenges include a

bio section that shows not only who you are but where you live. most recent pictures that your friends have tagged you in. >> what has been dubbed the largest tidal wetland restorationffort on the west coast. excavators began digging and the levee broke spilling water agait the dry pond once used for commercial salt harvesting. it will provide habitat for fish and birds and ultimately species such as the endangered saltmarsh harvest mouse. >> history in the makin >> look at that snow behind mike. >> beautiful! >> nice if we could get that first snowfall report. we know we'r doing better than average with althe snow we've had. up to 9 feet. let's take a better look. zoom in from heavenly valley and show you how it's usual during the week.

slopes kind of quiet. hence should go there during the weekend. this weekend a great weekend because you won't have a snowstorm to deal with. let's bring it home and show you how we have vertical develoents in some of these clou. may get just enough moisture that they drop a sprinkle or two during the afternoon hours. mostly dry. live doppler 7 hd, maybe a little radar return around saint mary's, other next to mill valley. that's about it. the wet weather, the better variety or the bigger radar returns in central valley and even those starting to shrink as are the snowstorms up in the sierra. a pretty bright day. temperatures haven't moved much since this morning. the monterey bay and inland low to mid-50s until you get to monterey and about 57 degrees. partly cloudy, dry and mild today. it will be cooler toght with patchy fog forming, especily in the north bay valleys. wet again wednesday and thursday. that's when you need to get that

umbrella back out of wherever you put it now to dry. we're looking at the clouds the sunshine, the temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s today. even more sunshine and warmer weather around the monter bay, uppe50s to low 60s and low 60s as you head inland. around the state today, all these showers are already starting to dissipate. mostly cloudy condions around chico, 62. 62 sacramento. 43 tahoe. more sunshine and mid to upper 60s l.a., san diego and palm springs. back home tonight, the thick fog up in the north bay valle. that's where it's most prevalent. low to mid-40s so the coolest weather there mid to upper 40s for the rest of us. fog can form anywhere tonight. falling of high pressure developing right here and that is what is bringing us the drier and quter weather. it's going to be a quick push of dry weather. that next system you can see was lurking right behind it. 5:00 tonight you can see pretty much quiet conditions.

tomorrow morning going to be a quiet commute. no need to worry about water or slick streets. by the afternoon hours tomorrow you see the high clouds rolling. that's how you know storms ar on the way. the mornincommutould be wet up in the north bay while the rest of us are dry but anticipating the rain to slight ride down the bay from north to south. heaviest rain moving out of the south bay by 5:00. showers wednesday night into thursday morning. they start to taper thursday into the evening hours. 7-day forecast, these storms mainly coming in from the west instead of the northwest whe they would grab cold air from alaska and that's why temperatures even wednesday will be the upper 50s to near 60 degrees. low to mid-60s for friday, saturday and sunday and looks dry this weeke. >> don't mind a little rain if it's mild. not cold rain. >> a little cold over the weekend. >> this is much better. >> appreciate it. coming up next, just in time for the models.

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>> today on oprah at 4:00, th secret behind michael jackson's new album. emergency landing after a dog bites two people mid flight. wind turbines in the altamont pass bot bird and energy friendly. those stories and more at 5:00. >> hi-tech giant google is now

in the e-book business. the mpany opened its long-awaited internet bookstore today, a direct challenge to amazon.com and the kindle. google will dra on the printed books that will scan into its computers the past six years. and books recently released by some 4,000 publishers. millio more out of print titles will likely appear in the store once legal disputes are settled. >> we are streaming those hearings on proposition 8 live at the 9th circuit court of appeals. eric thomas with our legal analyst dean johnson. you want to tune in for that. >> that's it for us today. than for joining us. >> "who wants to be a millionaire" coming up next. bye-bye.