e getting ready for hour number two. jacki schechner you re from florida. have you ever personally vetted marco rubio? [ laughter ] if i did i wouldn t tell. stephanie: you re a classy came. i don t vet and tell. stephanie: what s that how do people feel in florida about the marco? i haven t been there for a few months now so i haven t really taken the poll. stephanie: yeah. but what i ve gathered is that some of the hispanic community in florida is not thrilled with him. stephanie: oh no. yeah. stephanie: mitt romney has been doing so well among latinos. 35 point deficit or something like that. that s recoverable. no problem there. he can clean that up with two action ds. stephanie: mitt has them right where he wants to. they ve got ads. it will be awesome. stephanie: asian kids in there that we think are hispanic. all right. stock photos. stephanie: jacki schechner in the current
you guys are leading the charge on this, paul and jeff. thank you so much for being here this morning. i appreciate it. thanks. so from a former slave to f being immortalized in wax. had harriet tub man took her place in the wax museum, she is believed to have released at least 300 other slaves on the underground railroad and her faep said she looks so real all americans believe they should be in charge of their own future. how they ll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one.
right in this country. you cannot take it away from those individuals without violating the constitution. joining he this morning are jeff cirillo and tom, two of the plaintiffs in the original case that kicked off the debate. it s nice to see you this morning. hi, thomas. how are you? thanks for having us. absolutely. jeff, i want to start with the argument of liberty. even some conservatives saying at the heart of this very debate is personal tree dfreedom. have you spoken to anyone who has changed their opinions about this or have people in your own circles knowing what you ve gone through stood firm in how they feel about the issue? oh, sure, thomas, and it s not even just in the recent weeks. it s really been since we filed this case almost two and a half years ago. we have spent time telling our stories and changing the hearts and minds of people across the gay and lesbian community and also in america overall. so, paul, on a personal level yesterday s appeals court
decision, do you see that as a vindication, really a win for your original lawsuit or just another hurdle accomplished in the battle of this ongoing fight against prop 8? it s a part of the process. yesterday was a great day. it is absolutely a step in the right direction. the 9th circuit s ruling yesterday says you can t recognize a right for a minority group and then lobby against that group because you have a bias and strip away that right for them. it is a vindication in many ways because for a long time we never thought we would actually have these rights and now we re on the road, the quick road, we hope, to being married and having equality. when we talk about what s taking place in the country right now, jeff, washington state specifically has legislature scheduled to take up today a bill supporting marriage equality that is supported by the state s governor. do you think that your battle had anything to do with this nationwide movement towards marriage equality, movements
east coast and maryland as well? i would certainly hope so. i think when you look at the record that we ve put together, first at the district court and then the 9th circuit court of appeals and we have ted olson on our side, we have spent the last two and a half years not only educating people but making sure that people are informed when they go to the ballot box and they understand that we do not put the minority rights up to a vote. paul, again, this has moved on ultimately do you feel this has to reach the supreme court? you know, as much as we want equality for california, i think we need equality as a nation. there s people in other states that are like jeff and i, like chris and sandy, that have the same desire to marry, to be part of that institution that has universal recognition and we would hope if this does become a supreme court case and the supreme court does accept it that it could eventually affect our entire nation. to us it seems strange that you could have rig