she reiterated her proposal to edie. were married in canada.'s go to another clip from the documentary, "edie & thea: a very long engagement." it was directed and produced by susan muska and greta olafsdotti. >> she woke up the next morning and said, do you still want to get married? i said, yes. she said, so do i.. >> i have about another year to live and that was it. >> max. >> max. thediately, as soon as doctor left the room, i just knew said. yes and now and quick. >> usually people do this because they're making a commitment, as they say, at the beginning of their lives. for us, it is at the other end. >> i work as a marriage ambassador. i went to marriage equality meeting and i went -- i knew some had been married in canada. how i and asked if how -- went about getting an official enbridge canada's first openly gay judge. we were thrilled to be married by him. i had to get the airplane tickets for everybody and hotel rooms. then i spoke to someone in the sales department rid i did not tell them it was a same-sex marriage. i just email the

and what a day it was for her. >> all: edie, edie, edie. >> reporter: this woman born in the 1920s has become a kind of folk hero to countless young americans in the 20 teens. >> you guys, i'm talking to you freely. you know, i'd have been hiding in the closet ten years ago. >> reporter: her case arises from the love of her life, thea spire. they spent 44 years together in new york city. edie worked at ibm. thea was a therapist, and they finally married in 2007. but then after thea died in 2009, edie, who lives on a fixed income, was suddenly hit with $363,000 in estate taxes, taxes no straight widow would pay because the federal government refused to recognize their marriage under the defense of marriage act, which defines marriage under federal law as the union of one man, one woman, affecting taxes, social security, military survivor benefits. in court, justice ruth ginsburg said it seemed like a second-class system for gay couples. >> the states have two kinds of marriages, the full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> reporter: that comment struck a chord on socia

today's case was 8 #-year-old new yorker edie. when he partner of 44 years who she married in canada died, edie had to pay $363,000 in federal inheritance taxes, instead of zero because the u.s. defense i marriage act, doma, passed in 1996, denies federal marriage benefits like tax breaks to same-sex couples. 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 hav

she will represent edie windsor. there's a long line of today beginning with vicki jackson, a harvard law professor, specifically appointed to argue the case cannot be decided on the merits because the federal government no longer is defending section of three of the defense of marriage act. republican-dominated group of house members has come in to defend it. the question is do they have legal standing to do that? host: people are heading into the court right now as we are talking. it's only about 7:40. upst: many people were lined since last thursday for and these cases. eventually they will let them in out of the cold to go to the bathroom. once we get to this point on the day of an host: who will be arguing on the other side? guest: the main advocate against the federal government is a man by the name of paul, who many of your viewers are familiar with. he was the lead lawyer challenging the obama healthcare law last year. he is a former general under george w. bush. he will be representing the house members, the

even though new york recognized their marriage, edie did not qualify for the marital deduction allowed heterosexual marriages because of the defense of marriage act. a federal appeals court in new york found that also violated the guarantee to equal protection, but went much further. after noting a long history of discrimination against gays and lesbians, the court concluded any law that makes distinctions based on sexual orientation must be subjected to "heightened scrutiny," and the government must present "exceedingly persuasive" proof that the distinctions further "an important government interest." should the u.s. supreme court agree, it would be much more difficult for congress or any city or state to discriminate against gays and lesbians on anything, not just marriage. the justice department ordinarily defends laws passed by congress, even those it doesn't like. but after the new york court's decision, president obama said his justice department would no longer defend doma in court. >> those who had fought for passage of the defense of marriage act were understandably dismayed.

. >> in 1965, edie windsor meat thea spire at a new york city restaurant. she would later tell the times that they danced so much that night. they fell in love, spent 44 years together and eventually, in 2007, they got married. >> we heard from literally hundreds of people, little playmates and schoolmates and friends and relatives all congratulating us and sending love because we were married. so it's a magic word, for anybody who doesn't understand why we want it and why we need it, okay. it is magic. >> their story is a story of millions of couples who find love in this country, except that edie and thea were gay. and because of that, the rules were different. and edie was widowed in 2009, she owed state and federal taxes. >> in the midst of my grief, i realized that the federal government was treating us as strangers, and i paid a humongous estate tax, and it meant selling a lot of stuff to do it. >> today the supreme court heard charges to the defense of marriage act. the challenge was brought by edie windsor herself, for a basic reason. doma doesn't s

. >> edie is a very courageous brave woman.was a joy just to see her sitting there in the court held held high that her marriage and the fight that she is make for other people. this is as big as our country, as big as our constitution as big as being a beacon of equal propersian to the world. >> michael: the spineless cowards on the other side of the aisle did not speak to the press, and john boehner said that house republicans would continue to defend doma. eric cantor and the rest of the laughable leadership didn't say anything at all. then again in washington polling speaks louder than anything, and the most recent polls show popular sentiment is moving against republicans. a significant number of americans want the supreme court to overturn doma. a cnn orc poll finds that 56% of americans think the federal government should recognize same-sex marriage. that is three points higher than last week ear cnn poll. more politicians are showing the political courage to support marriage equality. today kay hagan signaled her suppor

hi, i'm edie windsor. somebody wrote me a large speech which i won't make good that there are a couple of things i wanted to say. i wanted to tell you what marriage meant to me. it's kind of crazy. we lived together for 40 years. we were engaged with a circle diamond and because i wouldn't wear a ring because i was still in the closet. , ok,today an out lesbian who just sued the united states of america, which is kind of overwhelming for me. when my beautiful sparkling thea died, i was overcome with grief. within a month, i was hospitalized with a heart attack. that is pretty common. it is usually look that as broken heart syndrome can in the midst of my grief, i realized that the federal government had been treating us like strangers and i paid a humongous estate tax if it meant selling a lot of stuff to do it. it wasn't easy. i live on a fixed income and it wasn't easy. many people ask me why get married? was 75 andd thea maybe we were older at that point. but the fact is that everybody treated us differ

edie worked at ibm. leah was a therapist. they finally married in 2007. after leah died, edie, who lives on a fixed income, was hit with $362,000 in estate taxes, taxes that no straight widow would have to pay. a federal government refused to recognize their marriage under defense of marriage act. which defines marriage under federal law as the union of one man and one woman -- affecting taxes, social security, military survivor benefits. today in court, ruth ginsburg said it seems like a second-class system for gay couples. >> there's two kinds of marriage. the full marriage and then the sort of skim milk marriage. >> reporter: that comment struck a cord while this red equal sign became an overnight symbol of solidarity with gay couples. since president obama said the 1996 law is unconstitutional, house republican leaders are defending it, their lawyer telling the court that all congress was doing was setting one federal standard for marriage, but elena kagan challenged that claim, reading from the original documents on the bill and suggesting something

>> edie will have to answer that. go ahead. >> i think what happened is, at some point, somebody came out and said "i am gay," and it gave more people the courage to take the step. we all really live behind masks. what happened is, as we increasingly came out, people saw that we did not have horns. people learned that, ok, we are their cousins and their friends, all of whom are coming out for the first time. and i think it just grew. we are human beings, like anybody else. and i really think that is what made the change, ok? i'm talking to you freely. i had been hiding in the closet 10 years ago. [laughter] >> how do you feel about being here? can you believe you're here? >> pardon me? >> how does it feel to be here? >> thrilled and exhausted and humble. very humble. great. >> [indiscernible] >> we did not memorize everything that was said, i'm sorry. >> [indiscernible] >> the basics are that doma is an extremely unusual statute. it cuts across all federal law. it affects a 1100 different federal programs from notific

. >> in 1965, edie windsor meat thea spire at a new york city restaurant. she would later tell the times that they danced so much that night. they fell in love, spent 44 years together and eventually, in 2007, they got married. >> we heard from literally hundreds of people, little playmates and schoolmates and friends and relatives all congratulating us and sending love because we were married. so it's a magic word, for anybody who doesn't understand why we want it and why we need it, okay.

which brungs us to today's plaintiff, edie windsor. married thea spyer 40 years after they became engaged. but after thia died in 2009,' dee did not get the same treatment that a heterosexual spouse would have inherited. >> i realized that the federal government was treating us as strangers and i paid a hue moneying gous estate tax. >> john: the defense of marriage act barred the irs from treating edie windsor as a surviving widowed spouse. she id paid about $360,000 in estate taxes that would not have been forthcoming if she had been married to man. ruth bader ginsberg argued that the law worked against state's interest, by weakening same-sex mare najs the 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 t

. >> that's after they heard 83-year-old edy windsor's case.lationship with her lesbian partner for 44 years. tahman bradley is following this high profile case. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: good morning, john. good morning, diana. nine states plus district of columbia allow same sex couples to wed. under federal law they are denied marriage benefits. but now, those couples have had their day in court. 83-year-old edie windsor took her fight for marriage equality to the supreme court. >> today is like a spectacular event for me. a lifetime kind of event. >> reporter: windsor and her wife, thea spire were married three years, partners for 40. when spire passed away she was hit with a $360,000 federal estate tax bill. money she would not have had to pay if she had been married to a man. >> in the midst of my grief, i realized the federal government was treating us as strangers. >> reporter: the defense of marriage act, or doma, defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. so gays and lesbians who are legally wed in their states, c

edie windsor had her day in court. and what a day it was for her. this woman, born in the 1920s, has become a folk hero to countless young americans. >> you guys are talking freely. i'd have been hiding in a closet ten years ago. >> reporter: her case arises

examination of same-sex marriage focuses on the defense of marriage act, also known as doma. 83-year-old edie windsor is asking the court to strike down the law. >> cenk: turns out she might win. we'll show you why in just a little bit. and then, wow, religious leaders get really tough on president obama. >> obama: this is a targeted focused effort of people who are on a list of active terrorists. >> the obama administration is playing god. instead of a culture of life, we are dealing death. >> cenk: and then on the issue of the chicago public school closings, there were 54 of them. it had to do with the budget. not necessarily so. it may have more to do with rahm emanuel and who he is getting money from. very interesting story. it's go time. [♪ theme music ♪] >> cenk: the supreme court today is considering a defense of marriage act, a law passed in 1996 that says quote . . . now, this is of course being championed by conservatives who claimed they care staibt righted. they say if your state passes gay marriage laws too bad we don't care about state rights at all. and that seems to be wildly

plaintiff on hand to witness today's arguments, 83-year-old new yorker, edie windsor is suing because the law barred the irs from recognizing the marriage to her partner 44 years. when her wife died she got a $364,000 tax bill that surviving straight spouse would not have to pay. she and one of her attorneys spoke out outside the court moments ago. >> i am today an out lesbian, okay, who just sued the united states of america, which is kind of overwhelming for me. today is like a spectacular event for me. of a lifetime. >> we walked down 44 steps, which coincidentally is how many years edie windsor and thea spire spent together as a committed couple and we ask for equal justice under law here. >> and the lawyer defending doma is deis taking to house republicans. just like yesterday, the hearing with demonstrators from both sides. >> as a conservative, i will tell you that doma wreaks of big government. >> we will no longer be satisfied with living in the shadows of freedom. we have the right to marry who we love. we have the right to work as we are. >> those who are anti-marriage equa

, leaving edie the bulk of her estate. that resulted in a federal estate tax of $363,000. even though new york recognized their marriage, she did not qualify for the federal marital deduction because of doma. windsor sued the united states and won. >> we did win in the lower courts. today is like a spectacular event for me. i mean, it's a lifetime kind of event, and i know that the spirit of my late spouse, thea spayer, is right here watching and listening and would be very proud and happy of where we've come to. >> reporter: windsor sat quietly in the front row of the spectators' section as at least five justices cast doubt on the wisdom, if not the constitutionality of doma. justice kennedy, a moderate whose vote could be crucial, saw doma as intruding on matters historically left to the states. >> 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. >> what gives the federal government the right to be c

let's go to edie in washington, d.c. edie. >> caller: this is edie. this is a reit question. what is your opinion of two harbors concerning the issuance of 50 million common shares, shares of spy their spin-off and lowering their dividend? >> look, we don't want to see all that happen. remember, these are companies that do variable dividends, okay? whether it be anly or agnc. these are companies that do that and reinvest that money. don't worry about it. it's a good situation. louise in california. >> caller: professor cramer, thanks for all you do for the little guy. my stock is realogy. it was an ipo last october at the $32 range and it's in the $48 range now. >> i think it's great. i know the people at corcoran real well, which is one of their high-end business. i think this is a better way to play the real estate market than even trulia or zillow which has also been good. i like toll brothers, too. i think realogy is a great place to be. i need to go to tom in michigan. tom. >> caller: hello, dr. cramer. >> doctor, yeah, professor, i love all these. >> caller: i'm arnold

any one of us would be so lucky to have as a spouse edie windsor. when i said she personifies equal protection, she truly does. constitution deserves her, and she deserves our constitution. thank you for a much. >> my name is pamela karlan. i am co-director of the litigation clinic. a few minutes ago we came out of the front door of the supreme court. equal justice under law. we walk down 44 steps, which is how many years they spent ,ogether as a committed couple and we asked for whom justice. in the 1960, the court upheld the exclusion of gay aliens. in the 1940 profit of held laws incriminating behavior by a gay couples. we are confident today equal justice under law will be a reality for gay people and straight people in the united states. thank you very much. lgbte director of the project. i want to say a few words about what the defense of marriage act does. we know the federal government does not marry people. the state's married people. we also know whether you are married or not makes a difference. there are over 1100 different laws that dep

. >> edie windsor yesterday was so awesome. love her. >> stephanie: yeah.airness not kick in when you listen to these human stories. sam in colorado writes why are christians so upset about gay people raising children when jesus was raised by two fathers. [♪ circus music ♪] >> stephanie: good morning, jim. >> hey that kid looks just like that roman santorium. >> stephanie: carl reiner on the show said. >> he has a new memoir. >> stephanie: yes, he does and he has an awesome son. we have lots to get to. karl frisch is here right out of the box. ♪ carl ♪ >> stephanie: karl frisch bullfightstrategies.com. ♪ so exciting to me ♪ ♪ frisch ♪ >> stephanie: good morning karl frisch. >> good morning, from the bul fight strategies office right across from the supreme court. noo >> stephanie: look at you. location, location location. >> it has been very exciting. i saw a group of junior high students with a sign that said kids deserve a mom and a dad, and i said and they deserve to be in school. [ laughter ] >> stephanie: yesterday doma your take on that obviously that

and i think as we see through the demonstration of edie windsor. here is an 83-year-old woman coming out to demonstrate the decades of love that she had with her wife, thea. the fact she is being penalized and restricted to over 1100 different federal rights that would be afforded to anybody if i, just chose to marry a woman, it is just -- you think about that and in the context, it is about time for people not to be separate but equal. you know. the otherness, it is time for that to go away. we look back at historic cases, like loving versus virginia in 1967. it was unanimous. the supreme court might have had a lofty goal of wanting to see america as color blind. doing, you know, having loving versus virginia and allowing for interracial marriage. that certainly hasn't done away with racism in our country. and if the supreme court, you know, get rid of doma and goes ahead and strikes prop 8 out o of the way, does that get rid of homophobia go way? no. but it makes the government stand up and appreciate the fact that the lbgt community does exist?

. >> this morning edie windsor is celebrating after having her day in court and what a day it was. this 83-year-old woman has become a kind of focus hero to countless young americans. >> i'm talking freely. i would have been hiding in a closet ten years ago. >> reporter: her case arises from the love of her life, thea spire. they spent 44 years together, finally marrying in 2007. but after thea died in 2009, edie was suddenly hit with $363,000 in estate taxes, taxes no straight widow would have to pay because the federal government refused to recognize their marriage under the defense of marriage act. in court justice ruth ginsberg said it seemed like a second class system for gay couples. >> two kinds of marriage, the full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> reporter: that comment struck a cord on social media, becoming a popular twitter hash tag. but for millions of americans it's no laughing matter. same sex marriage is about bed rock beliefs. >> we're not motivated by bigotry. we just believe that when the god of the bible created the institution, he defined i

edie winsor's case that i know you guys have been running a story on, tells that story.oved each other for decades. when one got sick, edie took care of her until she died. and then after that tragic death. the federal government basically sent edie a letter saying you are less than your heterosexual americans that you know. that's horrible. it's just wrong. and i'm so excited that this issue has gone all the way to the supreme court. and going to get -- is getting heard and is going to get heard. >> second day. we'll see what happens. christine quinn, new york city council. thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. look what mommy is having. mommy's having a french fry. yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle. waiting for your wrinkle cream to work? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair has the fastest retinol formula. to visibly reduce fine lines and wrinkles in just one week. neutrogena®. to visibly reduce fine lines and

the best example of what this means for gay couples is edie windsor, she brought this case.'s 83 years old. she and her partner were married for 40 years. her partner died. left her the full estate and edie windsor because she was a lesbian and not a man had to pay $363,000 in estate taxes. she would not have to have paid them if her partner had been a man. here is edie windsor outside the court yesterday. >> i realize that the federal government was treating us as strangers and i paid this humongous estate tax. it meant selling a lot of stuff to do it. it wasn't easy. >> bill: $363,000. it looks like defense of marriage act will be history soon. 1-866-55-press. meanwhile, the other question i have for you is it's great to see so many senators now coming on board. kay hagan became the latest one yesterday. so now in the last few days, you've had kay hagan and mark warner and mark begich and claire mccaskill and jay rockefeller and jon tester, right? and one republican, rob portman. but where are the others? where's joe donnelly. where's bill nelson? >> "huffington post" had

this is how long edie windsor was with her partner clara spyer. they lived in the state of new york, one of the nine states that recognized same-sex marriage. when spyer died, windsor learned she had to pay the sum of money, this $363,000 in estate taxes from an intheritance from spyer. windsor says if her spouse had been a man, there would have been zero tax, one of the benefits like social security, that same-sex spouses do not get because of doma. >> when my beautiful sparkling thea died four years ago, i was overcome with grief. within a month i was hospitalized with a heart attack, and that is kind of common. it is usually looked at as broken heart syndrome. in the midst of my grief, i realized the federal government was treating us as strangers and i paid a humongous estate tax and sold a lot of stuff to do it. and it wasn't easy. i live on a fixed income and it wasn't easy. many people ask me why get married? i was 77, she was 75. and maybe we were older than that at that point. but the fact is that everybody treated us as different. it tur

my client edie windsor is 83 years old.elieve that she is owed a refund from the united states government for a tax she had to pay contrary to the united states constitution. she doesn't frankly have time to wait for the political process to work its way out. she will be 84 in june. and i think both the court and everyone else realizes she's entitled to get a ruling on her claim which two courts below agreed with her on. >> roberta kaplan argued against doma in the supreme court yesterday. nice to have you with us. appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you so much. >>> still ahead this morning on "starting point," they're bad at their job and they love it. a study shows the low performers are the happiest people at work. of course they are. we've got details ahead. morning, brian! love your passat! um. listen, gary. i bought the last one. nice try. says right here you can get one for $199 a month. you can't believe the lame-stream media, gary. they're all gone. maybe i'll get one. [ male announcer ] now everyone's going

this is how long edie wincer was with her partner. >> when my beautiful sparkling partner died four years ago. i was over come with grief. i realized the federal government was treating us as strangers. >> jon: incredibly adorable woman grieving the loss of her spouse in every conceivable way except in the eyes of the law. can we just move to justice? [laughter] of course not. there's an issue that i think the conservative justices will get hit home with. >> when spire passed away she was hit with a $360,000 federal estate tax bill money she would not have to paid if he is she was married to a man. >> jon: (bleep) injustice the right may not recognize true love but they recognize the heartbreak that is double show. last week. we talked about last week. we learned that another jewel of american journalism sup for sale with the reports that the 132 "los angeles times" was up for sale. interesting names. rupert murdoch very interested in the "los angeles times". >> jon: the death was no accident it was -- [laughter] murdoch. [ laughter ] there's one problem for the media mogul he owns two te

wife edie two daughters apits w pale 81. politics yale university american studies with an emphasis on religious and politics. ba some come law day. harvard university ph.d. religioum cum laude. harvard university ph.d. religion. "new york times" magazine. new york book review the "wall stre joual" "l.a.imes the waingt post. so on.com. three books on white buddhists, recently american jesus, how the son of god became a national icon. red sox die fan and ken u.s. richard plotherow. >> bangor maine 47 years of age. wife na g i sa. jewish. politics inpenden. wesley 81. london school of economics ms international relations. business week magazine moscow burro chief 4 years. the atlantic contributing editor one year and currently. national journal staff correspondent with five cover stories this year. the french were right kerry is a worldly der the rise of nationalism. rethinking tha zionism and going dutch one year the new york and washington post, "los angeles times" contributed to. the real state of the union essays on united

edie windsor, when miss windsor's spouse thea spyer died four years ago, she left the estate she got an inheritance tax bill for $363,000 because doma blocked the irs from considering them married. she says that tax bill was a shock. >> in the midst of my grief i realized the federal government was treating us as strangers and i paid a humongous estate tax. >> reporter: her lawyers claim her country has a different attitude about gay marriage. >> why are you so confident in that judgment? how many states permit gay couples to marry? >> today. nine, your honor. >> nine, and so, there's been this sea change between now and 1996? >> reporter: but the court's liberals sharply questioned doma saying the federal benefits denied legally married same-sex couples have a profound effect. >> they touch every aspect of your life. your partner is sick. and social security -- i mean, it's pervasive. the full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> reporter: justice kennedy, potentially the pivotal vote, said the states, not congress, traditionally define what it means to be married a

edie windsor had to pay $363,000 in estate taxes when her partner died. >> i couldn't believe they wereing a stranger of the person i lived with and loved for 42 something live. >> president obama now calls the law unconstitutional. house republicans are defending it in court. a new pew research center shows the majority of americans now support gay marriage. researchers say it shows the largest change in opinions on a policy issue in a decade. in washington i'm danielle lee, nbc news. >>> moving on to business, shares in yahoo! hit a new 52-week high this morning. the company bought a new startup as well. scott mcgrew joins us. you were thinking about young ceos but in this case very young. >> he just turned 18. he invented something, he and as a 17-year-old. yahoo! bought his company lock, stock, and barrel. we don't know the exact price but it's in the few tens of millions of dollars. shares in yahoo! hitting that new 52-week high you mentioned, up $0.19 this morning. wall street in a very good mood after the company of cyprus was able to prevent its own bankruptcy by grabbing bank a

it agrees with edie windsor. it agrees with the lower federal appellate court. the bipartisan legal advisory committee of the house-- >> suarez: representing the house majority, the republicans. >> exactly. believebelieves that that it's rightfully before the court, as does the united states. the court needed somebody to argue the other side. they want to hear all the arguments. do those-- are those two parties properly before us? do we have jurisdiction? so they appointed professor jackson. >> suarez: in effect if i unrstand this, tey pointed a lawyer t arg to them that they had no jurisdiction to hear the case? >> exactly, exactly, to make those arguments. that way they get the full picture, ray. >> suarez: a lot of back and forth between justices and lawyers today went to weather the obama administration declining to enforce the law created a situation that makes this, in some sense, impossible to judge. tell us more about how this-- how this hit the justices because a lot of them had a lot of questions about it. >> they did. in fact, they are troubed by the

. >> 83-year-old edie windsor is the face behind the lawsuit, the challenge to the defensive marriage act. doma denies benefits from legally married couples. >> are you saying, there are two kinds of marriages, the full marriage and then the skim milk marriage. >> the court is expected to meet to take a first vote. if they don't decide to rehear the case, they will begin crafting a decision, but we are not likely to hear the decision until late june. we have posted the audio from today's hearing at abc7news.com. you will find it under see it on tv. >>> and there are major safety concerns about the bay bridge construction project. defects were discovered and large bolts and rods designed to hold the bridge together during an earthquake. 30 giant metal bolts snapped when the workers tightened the fittings. the bolt systems are beneath the roadway decks as shown in this cal trans animation. so far 96 rods have been tightened and about one-third has failed. >> the bridge will not open. when it hopes it will be safe. >> they have a third party review group. some of the best engineers in th

united states, petitioner, versus edith schlain windsor, edie windsor.h spire. so they were a married couple, thea is gone now, she's no longer with us but edie has brought this case. she's still here fighting for the two of them. by fighting for the estate, she's fighting for the two of them and she is fighting for something very big indeed for our country. and in order to do so, she has to fight against something very big. >> it is kind of crazy. we lived together for 40 years, we were engaged with the circle diamond pin because i wouldn't wear a ring because i was still in the closet. i am today an out lesbian, okay, who just sued the united states of america, which is kind of overwhelming for me. >> she's in her 80s. there are all sorts of people and all sorts of fights that technically are not still around, but they live and we can see them. we can see their light in some of the biggest deal and most difficult things we do today. whether or not you see equal rights for gay people as your particular fight, whether or not you even agree with that part

considers the defense of marriage act, which denies an array of federal benefits to same-sex spouses, like edy windsor of new york. when her spouse died, the irs sent a $363,000 bill and refused to recognize her marriage. >> i couldn't believe that they were making a stranger of this person i lived with and loved for 43 something years. >> reporter: in new york, hundreds rallied in support of gay marriage and expressed hopes this week will be a turning point. >> the question before the supreme court this week will be, am i full american or am i not? >> reporter: the very definition of marriage up for debate in the highest court in the land. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> pope francis presided over his first palm sunday mass today in front of an audience of perhaps a quarter million people, telling them to be humble and young at heart. nbc's claudia la vonga reports from rome. >> reporter: pope francis celebrated his first palm sunday mass to mark the thought of holy week on sunday in st. petersburg. he was welcomed by 250,000 people from all over the world, who were waving olive and pa

edie had 42 happy years with the love of her life, thea spire. >> we are gathered together today -- >porter: the two were married, but when thea died in 2009 edie got hit with almost $400,000 in federal estate taxes, a penalty she would not have had to pay if she were married to a man. if you could talk to the supreme court as they consider this case, what would you tell them? >> it's a marriage that anybody would want, okay, gay or straight. we wonde >> reporter: eddie windsor in court today. now, none of the justices as far as we know have twitter or instagram accounts. this is a 21st century social media revolution. and you can see it. check out beyonce's instagram account. she posted a photograph of a note that she apparently herself wrote. it reads simply if you like it, you ought to be able to put a ring on it. george? >> maybe one of them will have to get an account. thanks very much. >>> now to general petraeus' very public mea culpa. the former head of the cia makiifiri sp sin abc's david kerleha t good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning, robin. david petraeus has been

. >> 83-year-old edie windsor is the face behind the lawsuit, the challenge to the defensive marriage act. doma denies benefits from legally married couples. >> are you saying, there are two kinds of marriages, the full marriage and then the skim milk marriage. >> the court is expected to meet to take a first vote. if they don't decide to rehear the case, they will begin crafting a decision, but we are not likely to hear the decision until late june. we have posted the audio from today's hearing at abc7news.com. you will find it under see it on tv. >>> and there are major safety concerns about the bay bridge construction project. defects were discovered and large bolts and rods designed to hold the bridge together during an earthquake. 30 giant metal bolts snapped when the workers tightened the fittings. the bolt systems are beneath the roadway decks as shown in this cal trans animation. so far 96 rods have been tightened and about one-third has failed. >> the bridge will not open. when it hopes it will be safe. >> they have a third party review group. some of the best engineers in th

it's being challenged by 83-year-old edie windsor of new york when they are spouse died and left her the estate, she got a tax bill for $360,000. >> if the federal government recognized the marriage it would have been zero. >> reporter: president obama now says it is unconstitutional. >> the basic principle that america is founded on, the idea that we're all created equal, applies to everybody. regardless of sexual orientation. >> reporter: house republicans are now defending doma in court. >> the administration doesn't get to decide what's constitutional. the supreme court does. and our financing a lawsuit was to make sure that the proper forum was used to make sure we know what's constitutional and what isn't. >> reporter: the court hears the doma case on wednesday. the prop 8 case on tuesday. and both of them come here as public support for same-sex marriage is growing. different political climate than just four years ago when prop 8 became law. lester? >> pete, thanks. >>> at the vatican today, pope francis celebrated palm sunday mass before a crowd estimated at 250,000. he marke

. >> 83-year-old edie windsor is the face behind the lawsuit, the challenge to the defensive marriage act. doma denies benefits from legally married couples. >> are you saying, there are two kinds of marriages, the full marriage and then the skim milk marriage. >> the court is expected to meet to take a first vote. if they don't decide to rehear the case, they will begin crafting a decision, but we are not likely to hear the decision until late june. we have posted the audio from today's hearing at abc7news.com. you will find it under see it on tv. >>> and there are major safety concerns about the bay bridge construction project. defects were discovered and large bolts and rods designed to hold the bridge together during an earthquake. 30 giant metal bolts snapped when the workers tightened the fittings. the bolt systems are beneath the roadway decks as shown in this cal trans animation. so far 96 rods have been tightened and about one-third has failed. >> the bridge will not open. when it hopes it will be safe. >> they have a third party review group. some of the best engineers in th

we heard from the 83-year-old poster child of change, edy windsor. . i am today an out lesbian it's kind of overwhelming for me. >> she married her long-term partner in 2007 but when thea died two years later she was saddled with a six figure bill for inheritance tax that would not have aplayed if married to man. on the steps of the court she thanks the judges. >> very respected and i speak for it to be good. >> so after two days of hearings, it's pretty clear the court is not just divided, as you would expect, but conflicted about how boldly and broadly to rule on this issue. the words of justice anthony kennedy, he and his colleagues are in unchartered waters and we'll know in a few weeks how far they're prepared to go. steve kingston, bbc news at the u.s. supreme court. >> for more on the cases heard the past two days, i spoke a breathe time ago with adam, a supreme court reporter for "the new york times." adam, i know reading the tea leaves of the supreme court is a very inexact science but based on what you heard today, do you think edith windsor