reporter: de herrera and johnson have now settled a lawsuit against the city, and when this video finally came to light, charges against the two men were dropped. clayton sandell, abc news, denver. now to a developing story in iraq. dozens are confirmed dead and more than 100 people wounded in an apparent suicide bomb attack in baghdad. the target, an army recruitment center. iraq is recruiting soldiers while the u.s. plans to ship out combat troops at the end of this month. a federal appeals court has indefinitely blocked same-sex weddings in california. county clerks were ready to start issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples as early as wednesday after a lower court judge s order last week. but the appeals court stepped in, stopping any more same-sex marriages while it decides if california s gay marriage ban is constitutional. pakistan s floodwaters have now affected an estimated 62,000 square miles. the u.n. says 2 million acres of crops are lost. the human to
welcome back, everybody. i m norah o donnell. the wedding plans for same-sex couples in california are put on hold yet again. yesterday a federal appeals court ordered an emergency stay on the ruling that overturned the state s gay marriage ban. without the stay, same-sex marriages would have resumed tomorrow, but now couples will have to wait until at least december and perhaps even longer to get married. robert shapiro is professor of law at emory university. professor, good to see you. thanks so much for joining us. happy to be here. so why was the stay ordered? when you get a case like this where a judge says the law can t take effect, that is, the law which had banned gay marriages, there s always a question of what should happen during the appeal process, should the law stay in place or should the lower court order setting it aside be the new law of the land? and that does something that appeals courts have to grapple with all the time. here i guess the appeals court decide
important to our friends and family to see us take part in something that has so great for a relationship and really to solidify our love for each other, but we are hopeful that the courts are going to rule in our favor. and challenges of the gay marriage ban say they will not appeal this latest ruling, their content mostly because of the fact that this is going to be an expedited process, a fast track appeals process. give us a sense of your opinion of that. do you think this will be it that as this finally reaches the supreme court that we may finally conclude gay marriage in the united states? i m certainly not an expert, but both of us are hopeful that the courts are going to rule in our favor and we will be able to get married sometime soon. scotty, is that you on the right, i m guessing? yes. so if that s scotty on the right, then ron, i want to get
constitutionality of the state s gay marriage ban. a federal judge last month permitted the marriages to continue. defense secretary robert gates is sending a strong signal he ll retire in 2011. gates says, quote, this is not the kind of job you want to fill in the spring of an election year. senator carl levin is the latest public figure to get hit in the pay with a pie. the senate arms services chairman was pied by an anti-war protestors today in michigan. a 22-year-old woman was arrested, and in case you re wondering, john, we re told it was an apple pie. the senator is okay. we re also today he prefers blueberry. this is a retroprotest, and i thought they used banana cream or lemon meringue. that s in baseball. what s your favorite pie? i think i ll go with the blueberry. i think he s about right on that. you want to connect two stories there. anti-war protestors pieing
examination of what is going on in america s schools. that is tomorrow afternoon, noon eastern right here on msnbc sunday. well, the conservative group that pushed for the same sex marriage ban in california has filed an emergency appeal to stop gay marriages from resuming in the state. the emergency filing is being considered by three appellate judges right now. and if they refuse to intervene, same sex couples can marry in california again as early as next wednesday. good morning, guys. good morning. let s get to with you, karen. this group protect marriage is one appealing to the judge, the august 4th ruling that gay marriage is unconstitutional. this gay marriage ban is. but the issue right now is what? they want to stop the marriages from taking place so that they have a chance to file an appeal. right. well, it s twofold. they want to do an emergent appeal, which is very different. usually the only time i get to do those is with elections or