this in the news are energizing, but i'm not sure how many i can take in a row. so here is hope for a real boring day tomorrow. hoping for a boring day tomorrow. "first look" is up next. good thursday morning. right now on "first look" -- tears and jeers, proponents of same-sex marriage celebrate the supreme court's rulings with only 30% of states recognizing same-sex marriage the battle has just begun. life and death. texas executes its 500th prisoner. a huge day and a major witness at the george zimmerman murder trial. plus, how the fallout from paula deen's is affecting giada

e delaurenitis. good morning. we begin with the supreme court and two major rulings that will be felt for decades as justices hands two major victories to same-sex couples. wednesday, justices gave federal recognition to same-sex couples and lifted a ban on gay marriage in california. today's newspapers called the decisions historic but fall short of going nationwide with the rulings 12 states and washington, d.c., now allow for same-sex marriage. proponents say the next step is nationwide recognition. pete williams has more. >> reporter: gay rights supporters crowded outside the court cheering the historic decisions. striking down a law passed by congress in 1996 the defense of marriage act known as doma. that blocked the federal

government from recognizing same-sex marriages in the states that allow them. depriving them of benefits that other married couples have. in a 5-4 ruling, the court said that doma serves no government purpose and it demeans those in a same-sex relationship. in the second 5-4 decision, this time by chief justice roberts the court tossed an appeal involving california's proposition 8 passed by voters in 2008. it stopped same-sex marriage in the state. the people who put it on the ballot had no right to appeal. for the two california couples who challenged the law that's the answer they wanted now, we'll be marry and we'll be kwal to every other family in california. >> reporter: their interview on msnbc was interrupted by a call from the president on air force

one. >> we thank you so much for your support. >> you should be very proud of today and through your courage, you're helping out a whole lot of people everywhere. >> reporte >> i'm pleased that the court didn't constitute a -- >> that was nbc's pete williams reporting. wednesday was a huge day in the george zimmerman trial. perhaps one of the most important witnesses in the case, the defense challenging her testimony on the night that trayvon martin was killed. jay gray has more. >> reporter: on day three of testimony -- prosecutors introduced the witness who may be the corner stone of their case. >> unless george zimmerman himself takes the stand she'll be the most important witness in the state. >> reporter: 19-year-old was on the phone with trayvon martin

just minutes before he was killed. the state says that man was george zimmerman and she said that martin thought that he was being purr pseudothat night. >> he told me that the man started following him. >> reporter: next, she told jurors she heard what sounded like a struggle. >> i heard trayvon say, get off, get off. >> then what did you hear? >> suddenly, the phone hung up. >> reporter: cross examination from the defense was at times contentious, focused on inconsistencies in her testimony, including whether it was martin's voice screaming in the background of this 911 call. >> so you he's yelling help. >> yes. >> all right, what is your -- >> just -- there's gunshots. >> reporter: initially, she said that it was sure it was martin. but the defense challenged that.

>> trayvon, got that soft voice, baby voice sometimes. so it could be i don't know, you know, it's not. and that's the end of the quote. do you have knowledge that you made those statements, those answers to the questions under oath in the deposition. >> yes. >> reporter: the defense will continue its cross examination when court resumes. a vote could come as soon as today in the largest overhaul of immigration laws in decades. . the full senate could take up the legislation this morning among other things it includes a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the u.s. provisions were added to increase the number of border agents and build some 700 miles of fence the bill's future remains uncertain, though, house

speaker john bayner said that he has no plans to hold the vote. paula deen's empire continues crumbling after her admission of using a racial slur in the past. after an interview on the "today" show, walmart, home depot dropped the celebrity chef. she told matt lauer that she's only used the "n" word once. >> you're telling me you have never used the "n" word other than in the bank? >> never. in all of my 66 years on earth. >> but then a contradiction. >> so reports that you were asked in that deposition whether you had used the "n" word on other occasions you said probably, of course, are inaccurate. >> no, i answered the question truthfully. >> one bright spot, deen's new book not released until october,

is number one on the amazon's best-seller. meanwhile, another celebrity chef said that deen's fans aren't happy with her. when her program was dropped, it was replaced by giada's shows. air force is pretty tricked out airplane, it can reportedly withstand the pulse of a nuclear blast. but on its way to after can wednesday, it ran into a problem. the wi-fi went out. white house staff later called the plane to notify the president. when the president landed in senegal, he was greeted with this video of the world's famous rappers. nancy pelosi has apparently had it with colleague michele

bachmann. look at how she responds when she's asked to react to bachmann's comment. >> the decision today cannot undue god's word how do you respond to that? >> tim huelskamp will introduce a marriage amendment to blast same-sex marriage. texas state senator wendy davis said that you might see her name on the ballot elsewhere. she spoke on "all in." >> i would be lying if i told you i hadn't asked aspirations to run for a statewide office, i love this state, it's been an incredible opportunity to represent it in the texas state. lamar alexander wants to

abolish minimum wage, the tennessee republican said that he doesn't believe in its concept. as a side note, he voted for the most recent increase back in 2007. the women's congress softball game, against the press corps. the press corp won, 11-8. and now for this morning's forecast, we're joined by dylan dryer. >> we're talking about the heat and scattered thunderstorms. the storms are down through tennessee. those are weakening as we speak. another round of showers and storms redeveloping in the same area, the biggest threat will be for large hail and damaging hail. i wouldn't be surprised if we saw an isolated tornado. the excessive heat is the other

story, we have excessive heat warnings in the southwest, sure they can handle it, but when it's 13 degrees in phoenix, it's too hot even for that area and the national weather service is telling people to take precautions. drink lots of water. >> thanks so much, dylan. rumors swirling about the condition of ailing nelson mandela. plus, the d.e.a. agent who paid the ultimate price is honored. and could solar flare send the earth back to the 19th century. that's coming up.

welcome back. nelson mandela remains in critical condition at a south african hospital. for the very latest keir simpson joins us live. >> reporter: good morning, mara. moving scenes behind me. you may be able to see a large

crowd of fans. family members have thanked the press. there has been some confusion and rumors this morning. we had been told that nelson mandela's condition had gotten worse over the last 48 hours, that had been reported. i just spoken to a spokesperson for the south african president's office, he told me that it's not correct that his condition has gotten worse. south african president zuma has canceled a trip to mozambique this morning. after he visited mandela at the hospital behind me last night. he said that nelson mandela is still in critical condition. we have confirmed he does need a ventilator. crucially he's still described as critical. mara? >> keir simpson, thank you.

edward snowden could spend weeks in legal limbo thanks ecuador, they may deliberately slow his asylum. on the same day that texas executed their 500th prisoner since 1982 governor rick perry called the legislation into a special session in an effort to reintroduce a stricter abortion measure. and nasa is keeping its eye on an enormous solar flare that could have a big impact here on earth, it could wipe out electronics up to a year. effectively sending us back to the 19th century. now for our first look at business. we turn to cnbc.

futures are flat. stocks leapt on wednesday even as data showed the economy grew less than expected in the first quarter. feelings among investors that the fed may not be quick to end its program. senate majority leader harry reid said that he won't support the bipartisan measure. how much would you pay for lunch with yahoo! ceo marissa meier. bids are up to $50,000. final bids are due by the end of today. that's a pretty hefty price tag. for lunch. >> no such thing as a free lunch. collision course from a $40 million nfl career, to handcuffs and murder charges. things are looking grim for aaron hernandez, that's coming up next.

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new england patriot tight end aaron hernandez is behind bars this morning charged with murdering a friend. zblrm aaron hernandez is being charged in the connection of the death odin lloyd. a semipro football player. lloyd's relatives who were in court have said lloyd and hernandez were friends and that both were out together the night

lloyd was murdered. a night out that prosecutors say led to an argument and lloyd being shot five times. >> black semiautomatic firearm. >> reporter: within hours of his arrest hernandez was released from the patriots. a statement on the team's website reads in part, words cannot express the disappointment that we feel knowing that one of our players was arrested as a result of this investigation. time to dig deeper into some of our top political stories. joining me now is syndicated columnist bob franken. good morning. >> good morning. let's start with same-sex marriage, big supreme court rulings on doma and prop 8, still 36 states that ban same-sex marriage across the country, how does the future look like for this. >> when we speak about doma the big issue was the did nigh yal

of federal benefits. now the question becomes for the administration, will those who live in states that do not accept gay marriage or prohibit it, will those people who are validly married in other stats.s that's a huge issue. as to the future, even in california, the people who are anti-gay marriage, are looking to make other lawsuits that might delay things. this is hardly resolve. >> lot here to still be resolved. turning to the republicans in the house and in texas, in both places they're pursuing tough abortion measures. they seem to be doubling down. >> certainly in texas but that's no surprise, it is after all texas and we should point out they also had 500th execution

there yesterday, so, again, it is texas, and there was quite the drama, wendy davis has become a national figure now because of her filibuster. governor perry has called the legislature back to make these stricter abortion laws laws in texas. turning to new york politics, we just learned that anthony weiner is leading the polls. what do you make of this? >> after all it is new york. little stereotype day here, but, no, anthony weiner has gotten a huge amount of publicity. so, it's probably not a surprise at this particular point he's getting that kind of response from the voters, so, now, it becomes the task of others in the election to come up with ways to enhance their name recognition. >> bob franken, thanks so much

for joining us this morning. coming up -- we'll have our first buzz, all of the stories that we're talking about today. that's coming up next. it starts with little things. tiny changes in the brain. little things anyone can do. it steals your memories. your independence. ensures support, a breakthrough. and sooner than you'd like. sooner than you'd think. you die from alzheimer's disease. we cure alzheimer's disease. every little click, call or donation adds up to something big.

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time now for "first buzz," all of the stories that we're talking about this morning. richard, you got some sports drama going on. >> talk a little bit about yankees and a-rod. the yankees do not want him at this moment instead they want to collect insurance money. yankees may be able to get 80% of a-rod's $28 million salary if he sits out.

also, we're hearing from the general manager brian cashman commenting on the f-bomb earlier, he's saying now that he regrets the choice of words that he used yesterday. he said that he wants alex back that's notten issue. new york post saying, hip flop, starting with his hip injury, according to a source to the new york post, alex rodriguez said that he's not ready. >> if he sits it out, he still gets his salary. >> that's what the source is saying. also with the insurance money that the team itself will also get 80% of that money. >> everybody gets money. >> everybody's happy. >> hard to feel sorry for him. >> i want those agents. dylan kids in boston, snow days aren't free after all. >> you look forward to the snow days during the wintertime, now as we get to the end of summer -- beginning of summer, remember at the end of school

year, because of all of the snow in february and the boston marathon bombing, they are still in school right now and they have record-breaking heat on monday, 95 degrees. tuesday was in the 90s. it will be cooler today. i went to school in new jersey with no ac and this time of year it got very uncomfortable. >> kids in other parts of the country are out it makes you feel lousy. >> they're making up for it now. lot of people this morning talking a about the paula deen interview from the "today" show. i thought it would shore-up up her support. to me he felt authentic but then she got drop from other sponsors. the fallout still continues. >> i thought it was so interesting, it brought me to tears just watching someone cry, when he says that i'm still supported by other people she had connections with, all of a

sudden, after the interview, that's when they dropped her. >> those are the stories we're talking about. we'll leave you with you a dog and cat making peace. "way too early" starts right now. i for one can't believe the court threw out doma. it was passed to guarantee traditional marriage was between one man and one woman for the sacred purpose of getting bill clinton re-elected. >> the federal government and the gay marriage and it's not just symbolic, more than 1,000 benefits will now come to same-sex couples. from football stardom to murder charges we'll look closely at the case against aaron hernandez. and the power of celebrity, it is a female thing. more women than men top the

forbes list. they're so big they only need one name. this is "way too early." good morning, everybody. it is thursday, june the 27th. we start this morning on a story that's on the front page of every major newspaper and every major website. take a quick look in terms of prop 8 and defense of marriage act. rainbow rulings in the usa today. "new york times," straight above the fold as well. the business rags, wall street journal has it right there and the financial times, i mean, the financial times, it's a pink sheet, they never have social stories on the front. the supreme court overturned the