so behold, today, justice ruth bader ginsburg punching well above her weight. now, the first voice you will hear is the voice of paul now, the first voice you will hear is the voice of paul clement who is the conservative attorney making the case for the anti-gay rights side. but then listen for justice ginsburg. >> no state loses any benefits by recognizing sam sex marriage. things stay the same. what they don't do is open up a class of beneficiaries under their state law that get additional benefits. but things stay the same. >> they're not a question of additional benefits. they touch every aspect of life. your partner is sick. social security. i mean, it's pervasive. it's not as though there's this little federal sphere and it's only a tax question. it's, as justice kennedy said, 1,100 statutes, and it affects every area of life. and so you're really diminishing what the state has said is marriage. you're saying, no, state, there are two kinds of marriages. the full marriage, and then a sort of skim milk marriage. >> standing five feet tall from brooklyn, n

and my friend who hung without are ruth bader ginsberg yesterday.hat radio is, three hours of pulling stuff directly out of your ass. >> absolutely. [♪ magic wand ♪] >> stephanie: the obamacare ruling, and that's what he writes in "daily beast," remember the obamacare debacle they read too much into it and got it wrong. >> that's right. >> stephanie: not since karl rove's election night implosion. they ruled obama -- oh they didn't? on the supreme court super bowl everybody wants to know what happens. judges are allowed to change their vote before the vote is released to the public and they often do. gay marriage is a similar type of issue hotly controversial and one that may shape a justice's legacy. but he says oral argument in the supreme court has be as misleading as the sorer issest's mirage. one need only ask supreme court expert jeffery tuben. she said -- do you remember this. this was a train wreck for the obama administration. >> someone on twitter said see what jeffery tuben said and it will be the opposite. >> he's going to lose in a land

tonight's cocktail moment is in honor of ruth bader ginsberg, easiest cream drink in the world to makedy who likes this drink, it is likely -- if you don't know if anybody likes this drink in your world, the person in your world who is most likely to like this drink is your mother. but your mother is right. equal parts cream. and creme de cacao. it comes in dark and light. the difference between dark and light is the color. other than that, they're the same thing. but in this case it looks nicer if you use the dark version. this is kind of a nice brand. but you take what you can get, it's not like we have supermarkets full of this stuff. what gives it its name, brandy alexander, the brandy. and because the bar car here at the show is getting a little thin, we only had cognac around, oh, darn. so cognac. as you can see, equal parts. it is easy. don't need a measuring vessel of any specificity. shake it and strain it into a cocktail glass. some people make it with two parts cream to one part each of the liquors. but you don't need to. so this is no skim milk drink. i think america is abo

i'm interested in ruth bader ginsburg. maybe not imposed one national view from the court on roe v wade. we may see a decision that in essence, that has a 6-3, 7-2, that says leave it up to the states. in fact, we could see an 8-1. >> interesting, jim, the president isn't willing to go quite that far. i sat down with him two weeks ago. he said that gay marriage is a guarantee by the constitution, basically that he can't imagine circumstances in a state where a ban could be upheld, but still not going quite that far. >> well, look, i think he's been clear on his position. the country has had a discussion led by him on his evolution. i agree with terry, the country has moved dramatically on this in ten years. 37% support it ten years ago. now, 58%. including 18 -- 81% of the young people. people look at young voters on this and contraception. i think they're completely out of touch. the president has laid out arguments, the president has said very clearly, we do not favor discrimination, that's why we have come out against p

ruth bader ginsburg said doma waters down traditional marriage but used a very different phrase.ake a listen. >> and it affects every area of life. and so you are really diminishing what the state has said is marriage. you're saying, state, there are two kinds of marriage, the full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> chip, i'm sure you read the transcripts, i'm sure you heard the oral arguments. it looks and sounds like the high court is going to strike done doma. no? >> it certainly is a real possibility, something nobody would have even thought possible two years ago may be possible. what ends up happening is this may end up going to the states and they may have to deal with it state by state. at the federal level, i don't think they have the stomach to take it on. >> karen, snoop dog. >> are you giving me a rap question? >> no, but chip, i know he doesn't know snoop dog. >> whoa, whoa, whoa. >> right before the show we get this note that snoop dog has come out. but politico has a list of those who have not come out and endorsed equality, there they are right

liberal justice ruth bader ginsburg complained doma created two marriages. the full marriage and then the skim milk marriage. >> swing justice anthony kennedy said doma intrudes on states who choose to recognize gay marriage. the defensing lawyer argued it helps the u.s. military keep couples from refusing transfers that allow gay marriage. attorney general eric holder enforced drk oma. he sent no lawyer to defend it today. >> i'm wondering if we're living in this new world where the attorney general can simply decide it's unconstitutional. >> after the argument edie was optimistic. zbr i felt very respected. and i think it's going to be good. >> and as a lesbian, she feels liberated. >> i'm talking to you freely. i would have been hiding in a closet ten years ago. >> a ruling in the doma case comes in a few months. >> most court watches are predicting with anthony kennedy, the swing justice, voting that doma is likely to be declared unconstitutional. miswindsor may get her money back. i'm steve handlesman, nbc bay area news. >> coming up on nightly news, mo

ruth bader ginsburg said before she got on the court that the court decision on roe v wade prevented social opinion from reaching this place on its own. let it happen organically and we will not have demonstrations in half a century as we do in the abortion case. >> charles is so right. you do not want to short circuit things. as we did on the voting rights act. i respect the point he's making. let me add this. as a constitutional expert, clint eastwood was elected mayor of carmel, california. and wyoming was the first state to ratify women's suffrage, so let's hear it for wyoming. >> contrary to what everybody is saying, there are equal rights. your withholding those rights if you refuse to allow same-sex couples to marry. i would like to see it established by the supreme court across the country. i think it is a principal just like brown versus board of education. it is unconstitutional to discriminate against same-sex couples. >> that is the hard thing. at this point, states have not articulated our region and -- a reason to deny marriage to same- sex couples. they use the reason

supreme court justice rut bader ginsburg. here's a look at what's coming up later on "today." in an exclusive, ann curry speaks with one wall street's former top female executives about her sacrifices and regrets. and can napping at work really make you more productive? one office is putting snooze rooms to the test. now, keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm richard lui along with dylan dreyer who you can catch on the "today" show this weekend. thanks for watching "early today." have a great weekend. . . >>> i put them anywhere i could find. anyone that wants to hear what's going on in our neighborhood >>> neighbors taking action after a san jose teacher is arrested for possessing child pornography. the new twist in the story. >>> new developments in the death of a san jose biker, what police are saying happened in the moments before he disappeared last september. >>> finally coming to an end. what's happening in the case against a former sf crime lab tech accused of stealing evidence >>> we take it outside live over san francisco. t

tonight's cocktail moment is in honor of ruth bader ginsberg, easiest cream drink to make.randy alexander. if you know anybody that likes this drink, if you don't know if anybody likes this drink in your world, the person likely to like it is your mother, but your mother is right. equal parts cream. and cream decacao. it comes in dark and light. the difference is the color. other than that, they're the same. it looks nicer if you use the dark version. you take what you can get, it is not like we have supermarkets full of this stuff. what gives it its name, brandy alexander, the brandy. and because the bar car here at the show is getting a little thin, we only had cc

here is ruse bader ginsburg. >> there are two kinds of marriage, the full marriage, and then this sort of...skim milk marriage. >> after the justices vote, if they decide not to rehear the cases, they will begin crafting their decisions expected to come out in june. we posted the audio from the two hearings at abc7news.com if you want to listen. it is under "see it on tv." >> on this friday eve, we love that term. it sounds good. lisa argen is here for mike nicco. i saw sprinkles, too, this morning. >> little muggy as well with moist southwest flow that is pumping in the possibility of a shower, plenty of clouds this afternoon and we will look for a little bit of clearing. mostly cloudy and partly sunny will do it for today with the temperatures very mild from five to nine degrees warmer this morning than yesterday morning. that puts everyone in the 50's. we are looking at a little bit of fog along the coast. this morning, look for numbers in the 50's and a chance of a shower through noon with mid-60's from the bay to our inland valleys and around the south bay, cupertino, sunnyvale, s

. >> darth bader versus luke sky walker. i like this project. if i had just seen the lighter color one, i would have liked it as well. but having seen the darker win, i have a feeling it's nice to come across the black, but the darker one, charcoal, or whatever, when given a choice i lean towards the darker one for a lot of the reasons that commissioner hillis spoke about this area, pushing the envelope a little bit as far as architecture and particularly confined area of san francisco i think is good. and i think it matches the building across the street as the architect has explained and it really sort of unfolds a larger picture and sort of repositioned city hall and the two buildings across the street from each other. i'll support the project and if given the choice support the darker one. commissioner sugaya. >> i'll make a motion in the agony here. [laughter] >> approve the project with conditions, including the modifications that were mentioned by the city attorney. and also to the commission's preference would be for the darker color. an

justice ruth bader ginsburg questions why same-sex partners should not enjoy the same benefits that heterosexual couples do. >> it's pervasive. it's not as though, well, there's this little federal sphere and it's only. it's in the statute and it affects every area of life. and so, you are really diminishing what the state has said is marriage. you're saying, nope, the state, there are two kinds of marriage, the full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> and justice anthony kennedy, a critical swing vote, also cited states rights as one of his concerns over the controversial law. >> whether or not, if congress has the power, it can exercise it for the reason that it wants, that it likes some marriage, it doesn't like. i suppose it can do that. but when it has 1,100 laws, which in our society means that the federal government is intertwined with the citizens' day-to-day life, you are at real risk of running in conflict with what has always been thought to be the essence of the state police power, which is to regulate marriage, divorce, custody. >> justice elena kagan suggested con

married couples differently perhaps ruth bader ginsburg said it best. >> really diminishing what thete has said is marriage. you're saying no, state says two kinds of marriages. full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> bill: you got the full -- you got the whole milk -- >> the whole full fat milk. >> bill: and then you got the skim milk marriage. states should not be able to discriminate. sonia sotomayor says by the way who gives the federal government this right? >> what gives the federal government the right to be concerned that all -- at all at what the definition of marriage is? >> bill: even conservatives like justice kennedy and chief justice roberts came on to that point that this is -- defining what marriage is and who can get married is really up to the states, not to the federal government. and states should not be able to be allowed to discriminate. of course is implied in that. the justice kagan pointed out as did chief justice roberts that when the congress adopted this law in 1996, they actually admitted that they were not just making laws, they were t

ruth bader ginsberg argued that the law worked against state's interest, by weakening same-sex mare najs states that allow them. >> john: and justice elaine that kagan, acting in defense of the government, sort of, to explain if the act was driven by prejudice against gays. >> john: it's important to be objective. i couldn't agree more. for more i'm pleased to be joined by wayne besen, and by brian moulton, legal director for the human rights campaign. gentlemen what a pleasure it is to have both of you here again. brian you were in court today. what happened? and why did paul clemens who was once one of george w. bush's solicitor again rals present the case instead of the current solicitor general? >> you saw the justices considering the constitutionality of doma in the full range of issues there which was tremendous to have in front of the court. paul clemens was there, because about two years ago the justice department determined that they couldn't continue to defend doma because it is unconstitutional. and so they sent letters over to the house and senate giving them the opportunity

ruth bader ginsberg, she is on the court. she is leading liberal.at rowe had caused a lot of damage because it retrard add stable settlement of an issue which was on its way to reform. that is exactly a description of what is happening on this issue. stay out of the way and don't have an issue removed from the political process that makes people have a sense that they have been denied a say on this issue. so, if you are at the height of your popularity on this, and it is rising, in fact, over time, let the courts stay out of it. i think that is what the court is going to do. >> chris: carlos talks about tv and real life. more and more people are getting in contact with gay people and with gay couples. tv show like modern family, one of the most popular shows on television which prominently features a happily gay couple with an adoptive child, it's also mitt romney's favorite show. >> doesn't mean you have to change a thousand year old definition of marriage, made by three major religions. i have confidence because there is a popular tv show, okay, c

taking it further, like ruth bader ginsburg who said with doma in place there are two tiers of marriage. they're not treated the same. >> they touch every aspect of life. your partner is sick. social security, i mean it's pervasive. it's not a little federal sphere and only a tax question. it's -- it's, as justice kennedy said, 1100 statutes that affects every area of life she said you end up two full marriage and the other, skim milk marriage. >> shepard: separate but equal marriage. there was a lot of discussion among the justices about the motivation behind the law which went into place in 1996. >> that happened just across the street. it's hard to think 1996, it doesn't feel long ago but a lot has changed. the law passed with overhelp ming bipartisan majority and president clinton disavowed it. justice kagan mentioned a house rule and say congress reflected an honor of collective judgment and express moraldy aprompt of sexuality. >> so 84 -- same question before, 84 senators base their vote on moral disapproval of gay people? >> it led to a discussion about bigotry and fear. well, t

. >>> more details now, justice ruth bader ginsburg may have had the quote of the day, when she was asked if it poses penalties on gay couples. she said you are saying there's types of marriages. the typical marriage and this skim milk marriage. one might ask, what kind of marriage is this? >>> supporters of gay rights say doma is unfair. it prevents tax breaks, surviver insurance. a lesbian couple says they fear what may happen to their daughter if her non-biological daughter should die. >> she doesn't have the same rights. she's not going to get the same benefits if one of us dies. >> the couple says tax time is particularly challenging as they file jointly with the state, but separately with the federal government. >>> a symbol of marriage equality went viral this week as people turned to social media to show support for gay marriage. the symbol has been showing up on people's facebook, and twitter profiles. some say it shows the power of social media. according to the human rights campaign, the logo has been shared on facebook more than 66,000 times. >>> in 90 seconds. >> i wasn't exp

ruth bader ginsberg said it's not that the judgment was wrong, but it moved too far too fast. court made a decision nah made every abortion law in the country invalid, even the most liberal. we'll never know whether i'm right or wrong. things might have turned out differently if the court has been more restrained. i think it's shocking there thaw there is advocacy for rolling back the decision that the court made, too far ahead of its time. what do you make of that? >> of course, i respect justice ginsberg immensely and she does believe in the fundamental right of women to make their own decisions under the 14th amendment. what is so incredible, this is a constitutional right in this country for 40 years, but some states trying to roll back all of that progress. and i think what american people are, women's ability to make their own decisions, or a couple's ability to make their own decisions on their families shouldn't depend on what zip code they live in. that's what we're seeing in north dakota, seeing it in arkansas, where they have passed extreme measures to outlaw legal

the others are married, although ruth bader ginsburg is widowed now. >> some don't have biological children. justice roberts does not have biological children. >> he has two adopted children. fascinating story in the "l.a. times" today came out about how john roberts' cousin, who is an out lesbian woman from san francisco who wants to marry her partner, will be chief justice roberts' guest at the argument. now, i don't think that suggests exactly how he's going to vote, but john roberts comes from a very conservative catholic family in northern indiana, and he has a close gay relative. i just think that is indicative of how much the country has changed over the years. >> all right. jeff toobin, attorney general harris, thank you so much. >> the argument will be heard tomorrow and wednesday as well but a decision is not expected until june. for more, go to cnn.com. >>> next, an anxious night for amanda knox. italy's supreme court will decide if she is to be retried for the murder of college roommate in 2007. can they actually do that? we will talk to her attorney ahead. >>> from the rockies

here is ruth bader ginsburg the. >> states have two kinds of marriage: the full marriage and then thism miles per hour -- skim milk marriage. >> that is the buzz phrase on twitter. if the justices decide not to rehear the cases they will craft their decisions know late down. we posted the audio from yesterday's hearing at abc7news.com under "see it on tv." >> a new face on the abc7 morning news and this ain't it. leyla gulen is here, and we welcome you to our team. >> hello! ahello! thank you for having me. i am happy to be in san francisco and loving the experience. >> no stranger to the bay area? >> i have spent a lot of time here and was lucky enough to go to san francisco ballet school many moons ago and it has been wonderful to come back and see how the city has only gotten better. >> you love getting up usually in the morning? >> love it, dark and early! >> we will talk about that, the alarm, and coffee and all of that. at least five clocks set. >> you know what is exciting? silicon valley could be bringing jobs back to the bay area. >> baseball is back, three games define the gi

. >>> more details now, justice ruth bader ginsburg may have had the quote of the day, when she was asked if it poses penalties on gay couples. she said you are saying there's types of marriages. the typical marriage and this skim milk marriage. one might ask, what kind of marriage is this? >>> supporters of gay rights say doma is unfair. it prevents tax breaks, surviver insurance. a lesbian couple says they fear what may happen to their daughter if her non-biological daughter should die. >> she doesn't have the same rights. she's not going to get the same benefits if one of us dies. >> the couple says tax time is particularly challenging as they file jointly with the state, but separately with the federal government. >>> a symbol of marriage equality went viral this week as people turned to social media to show support for gay marriage. the symbol has been showing up on people's facebook, and twitter profiles. some say it shows the power of social media. according to the human rights campaign, the logo has been shared on facebook more than 66,000 times. >>> in 90 seconds. >> i wasn't exp

despite issue the arizona officials say they are facing justices like ruth bader ginsberg said thereying they must accept and use the federal form period. that is the end of it. the obama administration is not an official party the case. the court permitted it to argue a portion of case against arizona today. critics of the arizona measure say they are feeling optimistic. >> federal law override this provision. we are confident today based on the argument in the supreme court. that the court will rule in our favor. >> retired justice and arizona native sandra day to connor was in court. cig nant because she sit -- significant because she sits on the understaffed court and on the panel that overturned the arizona registration requirement in 2010. a it the supreme court, shannon bream. fox news. >> bret: cyprus may confiscate money from individual savings accounts to pay its bills. we will talk about the global ramifications when the fox all-stars join me after the break. not what you think. it's a phoenix with 4 wheels. it's a hawk with night vision goggles. it's marching to the beat

supreme court justice ruth bader ginsberg does lots of pushups with personal trainer.e is up to 20 pushups. i hate justices that make me look bad. what about you. >>. >> greta: and real life version catch me if you can. they tweets a man impersonates a piloted is suing the airport. he was wearing an air france shirt, he went straight to the cockpit and sat down and then told the copilot high was a 747 pilot. but when we couldn't provide the right paperwork. airline crew had him arrested the man definitely does not work for them, air france. >> and new celebrity couple, well sort of. rolling stone tweets, tony bennett him and lady gaga will record an album. his recent hip injury will not stop them from recording together. they teamed up with jazz after singing once before. they recorded the lady is a tramp for bennett's album. another duo you might call the odd couple. chris christie tweeting, you know it's a fun day in trenton when shaq stops by for a visit. check out the photo. he paid a visit to new jersey state house. the governor posing pictures for the towering 7'

it sounds like ruth bader ginsburg felt that roe v. wade went too far too fast.t sounds like they're worried if they go too far to fast they may set back the cause of marriage equality. >> thomas, is that a concern, that if the justices were to making a sweeping ruling, where they said that marriage is a fundamental several right, that no state can bar it, is there a concern that there could be a backlash, that the court made this decision rather than the congress doing it? >> well, i think if they look at where the trend lines are going with how the public feels. we've got the ken mehlman work, 135 republicans that have now come out in support for marriage equality. you would think, joy, it would be better if, like what we saw in november, the four states that had marriage equality, ballots that people voted for overwhelmingly, if that would be the case for the rest of the country, that would be fantastic, but why should we put minority rights up for a majority vote? why should that be done? 2013 when it's just a simple situation of people wanting to marry the p

and route bader ginsburg, the leading liberal on the court now, she is critical of roe v. wade for just that reason and in today's argument very careful a couple of times saying we don't have to deal with all 50 states. let's just make this case about california. there are procedural issues about the issue of who has the right to bring the case which could allow the court to duck the issue altogether. frankly, what today the conclusion i reached about today was that tomorrow is even more important. tomorrow is the day they evaluate the constitutionality of the defense of marriage act. that's the law that says the federal government will not recognize same-sex marriages even in the states where it's legal. this seemed to be -- they seemed to be teeing up for perhaps striking down doma and leaving the california law for another day. >> that's a pretty interesting point. we'll talk to you again tomorrow. thank you, jeff. >>> talking about this issue of maybe it's bet tore let the american people decide, the supreme court should follow the people who seem to be going in the di

supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg's 80th birthday.n a speech last month, she says she has no plans to quit any time soon, saying "i will stay in this job as long as i can do it full-steam." happy birthday. that's going to do it for me. i'll see you throughout the week, and again next weekend. don lemon is going to take it from here. >>> have a great week. i'm don lemon. you're in the cnn newsroom. we're going to start with this. six teenagers were killed today near warren, ohio, when their suv crashed into a pond. the suv hit a guardrail and flipped over before landing in the water. the victims ranged in age from 14 to 19. dive teams helped rescue two survivors. the suv appeared to be overloaded and no one was wearing a seat belt. >>> we go overseas now. if north korea has followed through on its latest threat, then the korean war cease fire agreement is no more. it's already monday morning on the korean peninsula. the day north korean officials promised to wipe away the 1953 armistice that ended the korean war with a truce. north kor

and tonight, it simply doesn't get any bader than brooklyn rapper and pro era crew member joey bada$$ou. i want to shout out pro era, who's in the room. >> woo! >> carson: welcome to austin, texas. >> woo! >> carson: nice to have you guys here. you got the whole crew here. >> yeah, man, we in the building. ♪ ♪ >> carson: thank you for your time, man. i saw you on this list, going to be here in south by southwest

we'll start with rachel maddow who was talking about just as ruth bader ginsburg talking about same-sexage being treated as a skim milk marriage. play the tape. >> this is no skim milk drink. and i think america is about to leave skim milk marriages behind. >> getting married in the fall was something really personal and really incredible that we got to experience with our family there, supporting us. our loved ones. so, i highly recommend it. >> thank you very much. my girlfriend, stephanie gosk and i who works here are expecting a baby girl at the end of august. >> jenna wolf saying she is pregnant with her girlfriend, who also works at nbc. imagine that happening 15, 20 years. that would have been a bombshell and now a blip. >> absolutely. >> does this have any impact on public opinion? now is not just faceless people, but people who come into your living rooms who say, hey, i'm gay. >> absolutely. even if you look at the way journalism has gone over the last 10 or 20 years, it has gotten more personal in a way. one thing that fox does very well, fox news they personalized their comm

here is ruth bader ginsburg. >> you are saying no, there are two kinds of marriage, full marriage, andhen this sort of skim milk marriage. >> that phrase skim milk marriage has taken off on twitter. after the justices vote if they decide not to hear the cases they will craft their decision expected to come out in late june. we have posted the audio from the two hearings on abc7news.com. >> now a check on 9 weather this thursday morning. what did you see on the way to work? >> a few rain drops and some wet ground. >> me, too! >> lisa? >> me, three. we are looking at a few areas of light sprinkles. in the santa cruz mountains around boulder creek, scotts valley, some of the enhancement has been increased because of the lift of clouds and the possibility of more showers through the day with five to six degrees warmer this morning than yesterday. in napa everyone is in the low-to-mid 50's, so grab the umbrella just in case and low-to-mid 50's and mid-60's throughout the noon hour and continued chance of a shower, and we will hook for numbers to decline to near 70 and san jose is 68 in conc

the four democratic appointees in different ways, justice ruth bader ginsburg, stephen breyer, sonia sotomayor and elena kagan seemed simple thre eed syntheti. the others seemed sympathetic to the anti-same-sex marriage force. clarence thomas said nothing. and anthony kennedy the swing vote so often seemed to be groping for some sort of resolution. he said, some things that were sympathetic to one side, some sympathetic to the other, but i wouldn't venture a guess on his vote at this point. >> real quick here, that's a good summary inside the courtroom. sounds like -- what is the mood outside the courtroom? is it festive? sounds like a party going on out there. >> it is pretty festive. it's overwhelmingly pro-same-sex marriage force but was a few opponents here. they've been here all day long. it's very good natured crowd. it's not threatening in any way. it's the first amendment to the united states constitution in action put to use by people expressing their views. >> lots of action outside the supreme court. as we mentioned we're waiting for the audio from the supreme court hearin

ruth bader ginsburg said that it could have been a mistake roe v wade. pro-choice perspective because it took it away for the legislators. >> look, this is an anguished reality. where we have a second-class citizenship for millions and millions of americans that are denied over a thousand laws. thank god that we didn't wait for the states on women, equality, african-american equality. this to me, is clearly, we know, as king said, the arc of a moral universe. >> it seems as if, that the case came to the supreme court in the first place because the most conservative justices thought that this might be their last chance to hold a line. >> justice delayed is justice denied. i think the supreme court is lagging so far behind now, that marriage equality has won in the country. >> the only thing that you and rush limbaugh agree on. >> it's moving in states and politically. i think you have seen perhaps the most rapid mass evolution on an issue among our politicos. they know where the future of this country is. it's qualifier to win a next generation. whatever

. >> sean: from ruth bader ginsburg to justice sotomayor and elena kagan, i was surprised at many of their questions, but you're right, you can't discern how they're going to vote based on the questioning. you can infer, but sometimes you could be wrong. what with what justice alito had to say, juan williams, he said we don't have an ability to see into the future. we're talking about an institution that's newer than cell phones and the internet. a pretty strong statement i felt from him. >> well, i think it was strong. the whole idea is, and i think that jay is exactly right. the argument today is largely about standing, but the overall tone was one of reluctance to make a ruling here and picks up on the man who is identified as the likely swing vote in in whole affair, which is justice kennedy, and kennedy just said recently why should nine unelected men or women, you know, who have a narrow legal background be allowed to make a decision of this momentous consequence for the entire society which is sort of, gee, i'm just a supreme court justice, why are you asking me? but i'm got t

. >> reporter: ruth bader ginsberg says being endorsed by the state but not the federal government was a skim milk marriage. >> for the federal government then to come in to say no joint return, no marital deduction, no social security benefits, your spouse is very sick but you can't get leave. people -- if that set of attributes, one might well ask, what kind of marriage is this? >> reporter: kennedy expressed concerns about the risk of doma infringing on the traditional role of the states to define marriage and the federal government denying benefits to same-sex couples. >> but when it has 1,100 laws, which in our society means that the federal government is intertwined with the citizens' day-to-day life, you are at real risk of running in conflict with what has always been thought to be the he essence of the state police power. >> reporter: professor cain says if doma is struck down as unconstitutional -- >> all couples legal ly married in the state would suddenly be eligible for those benefits. >> reporter: federal benefits with a big payoff for some. >> they may be saving $3,000,

clarifying definitions for the tax code, social security, which provoked this response from justice ruth bader ginsberg. >> it is not as though well, there's this little federal sphere and it's only a tax question. 1100 statutes, and it affects every area of life. and so he was really diminishing what the state has said is marriage. you're saying no, state said two kinds of marriages, the full marriage, and then this other skim milk marriage. >> to justice ginsberg, a legal marriage of woman to a woman in new york state is not a full marriage, it is but a skim milk marriage because no other state has to recognize that marriage, and the federal government refuses to recognize that marriage. justice kagan tried to get at why congress passed that law in the first place. >> 1996, i'm going to quote from the house report here is that congress decided to reflect an honor of collective moral judgment and to express moral disapproval of homosexuality. is that what happened in 1996? >> does the house report say that, of course it says that. if that's enough to invalidate the statute, then you should in

ruth bader ginsberg a justice of the supreme court appointed by democrats liberal an abortion rights says she thinks it was a mistake because it moved the court too quickly in the direction instead of leaving it to the states to work out something that they were working out. when you listen to what your three learned colleagues, justices here on the court say your thoughts about the debate this week and where it leaves the issue and the political implication? >> as for the debate not to sound polyannish here but i thought it was useful to listen to two days of discussion among nine various people of various views who aren't running for office and who aren't obsessed with the short-term political consequences of this thing for themselves but you wrestling with it in a serious way. in that regard i think it was a very, very helpful occasion in the whole debate because they had the sort of guts to go through a whole lot of difficult questions about is this really just like interracial marriage. what are the social science consequences and so forth. but i think what is crystallizing as a