>> that's it for tonight, you can tweet me @amoratv. we'll see you next time. >> hi, i'm john siegenthaler, this is al jazeera america. >> the uncertainty, the third night of protesters, demonstrators, the police and the fallout in ferguson. shootings, disturbing video. another life attention, and more questions about race and the police the lowest gas prices

in years, they are not translating to savings for many americans. and black and white - the striking images rising from the protests in ferguson and beyond and we begin in los angeles, where demonstrators are braving the cold and snow and protesting against grand jury's decision in the michael brown case. hundreds took their anger to city hall, some trying to push inside. police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd and arrested three people. the national guard is moving into ferguson. 30 humvees are in the target parking lot serving as a command post. diane eastabrook is there. >> protestors are demanding change and despite their efforts they don't see race relations

improving m here. [ chanting ] >> reporter: for people like michael, protesting is the new norm. since august the 20-year-old divided his time between college classes and protesting michael brown's shooting. marching in st louis, he calls the grand jury decision not to indict darren wilson a set back for race relations. >> the protests and people coming together, it's like a revolving cycle. basically it's like august all over again. >> protests broke out reason hours of brown's death, there was violence and looting. ferguson was the focus of the world's media. the intention faded after a few weeks, the protests here never stopped. some turned violent assistance the grand jury's decision on monday.

over 100 people have been arrested. the violence is casting a pal over ferguson, as it prepares for the holiday. businesses boarded up. many closed since monday. some shoppers preparing say they want life to return to the way it was before august. >> i want to go back to the way it was. it's a little rough. it's hard. i mean everything that's happened, i understand that people are upset. people still live and work in ferguson. they should have respected that as well. >> it will calm down eventually. nowhere in the future. i mean, next summer, by next stumer maybe. >> protesters think they don't want things to return to the way they were. >> this is like another civil rights movement. but on another scale. i read about this in school. i never thought that i would be a part of this. >> it was quite here earlier, there were about 30 people protesting in the last half

hour, 45 minutes, growing to about 150 people. they went north on west florissant, and say they'll be out all winter. >> what about the next couple of days, will they still be out. >> yes, some of the protesters would like to see darren wilson indicted. that requires the governor to call a special prosecutor. and that is something not likely to happen. diane eastabrook, thank you. >> protests over the shooting of michael brown spreading behind missouri. hundreds took to the streets in los angeles, marching past city hall and the ln p.d. headquarters, and paused to hold what's called a die-in. >> dozens of people in san diego blocked traffic. walking on to the freeway during

the morning rush hour. traffic was backed up for hours. thousands marched through the streets of london. protesters tore down barricades. chants mirrored those shouted in the u.s. like hand up, don't shoot and black lives matter. >> today michael brown's parents talked about their son and what is next. >> we are just going to keep fighting. hope for a better outcome. >> what do you hope happened? >> a conviction. >> you are hoping it proceeds in federal court. did you watch the interview with darren wilson? >> no. >> did you want to watch it? >> i'll get a chance to watch it. >> he's claiming that your son was the instigators, that he punched him, reached for his

gun, came back, charging for him. does that seem possible to you? >> no. >> why not? >> for one, my son would - he represented law enforcement. who in their right mind would rush or charge a police officer. >> chris is an associate professor of columbia university's teaching college and is known for creating the hip-hop movement. >> michael brown's family responded with comments made by darren wilson. likening their son to a demon, and hulk hogan. what do you make of the characterisations? >> it's representation of inhumanity of darren wilson, and the general public when they look at young black lives.

it's disheartening, heart-breaking and reality. sometimes it's better for us to be confronted with images of black words so we can see the reality and teach about engagement. >> you work with young people, and there has been a discussion about whether the old model is brokening, and young people took over the movement through social media. what sense do you get about where that is headed? >> the reality is the way folks critique what the norms are when it comes to outrage has to evolve with the layers of racism. you know, notion of a post racial era emerged and under the most racial era we see more

hurtful underhand forms of racism. it reflects how racism plays out. social media allows people to come together and have a voice. >> are new civil right leaders not needed because of social media. >> absolutely not. this is additional. folks need to protest. and be upset. we had the # black lives matter and black rage matters, black responses to these issues matter. there's a misperception that you can be upset in a way that we expect you to be upset. what social media does is it brings folks a way to vent

ideas. and sort of reformulate and recalibrate how to address the issues. >> stand by. sadly, there's more news, another deadly shooting of another blackmail is making headlines. a 12-year-old, tamir rice was shot by police in cleveland park. he was carrying a pellet gun. civilians was released. roxana saberi has that story. >> reporter: this video is silent and grainy, but shows 12-year-old tamir rice waving what appears to be a gun. the man in the gazebo calls 911 saying a juvenile is pointing what looks like a fake gun at people. the dispatcher radios two officers, but doesn't mention that the suspect is a child and the gun may not be real.

♪ ♪ rice hangs around, talks on a cell phone and sits in the now empty gazebo. soon the officers pull up on the grass. rookie timothy yelled out at the door to raise his hands. the men draw their weapons within 10 feet of the boy. rice died hours later. >> this is an obvious tragic event where a young member of the community lost their life. we have two officers out there protecting the public that had to, you know, do something no one wants to do. >> lowman and the driver, officer frank lamback are on

administration leave. a rookie killed rice. the gun is now tabling. the orange tip that identifies replication was missing. >> we'll review the file and tape to see if there was anything tactically that could have been done better. >> the police released a video after rice's parents sent them an alert tuesday saying: -- a letter tuesday saying: protesters rallied in cleveland monday and tuesday. some demonstrators called for a grand jury to indict the officer. the grand jury said words can't control their pain. >> i don't know why he did that. he loved everybody. >> reporter: police have three months to finish their investigation, then a grand jury will look at the evidence to decide whether to indict the

officer who shot rice. >> i'll bring back in chris edmund. when i listen to the police officer speak in cleveland and he says the officers are trying to protect the public and had to do something nobody else wants to do. is there a lack of sensitivity when these situations happen on the part of police. >> there's absolutely a lack of sensitivity. the description of a 12-year-old or a 20-year-old alone is an indication of the general public's inability to allow young black boys to be boys. it's not allowing boyhood to exist. >> he's waving around a gun. he's waving around a gun reported to be a toy gun. >> never passed on to the police. >> he's also a 12-year-old sitting alone. not posing threats to anyone in that moment. when we think about other populations, other aspects of the population who allow the opportunity to make mistakes, be boys, run around and still live.

and when it comes to black boys, they are criminalized by their presence alone. and described as demons and described as grown men. the inability to allow the populations to be children is problematic. for me, as an educator, how do i teach young black boys in schools across the city, when they look at media and news stories, and see people just like them being killed, have no justification for the killings, and they are walking around with a trauma not knowing if they are next. >> you mentor some of the those kids, what do you tell them? >> i tell them what my parents tell me, which is when police come up to you, surrender yourself. that is problematic when the job of the police is to protect and serve. when you are under fire, when you are in the cross-hairs by you existence, you have no

choice but to submit to their words. it shouldn't happen, for one. but there's no mechanism for us to place the blame at large on the folks who are doing the tilts. >> that is difficult to do, i was assume, in a community that has a lot of anger to the police, and distrust or mistrust to the police department. when you teach them to do that. how do they make that leap and overcome the anger of what they saw on the video or what happened to michael brown or anyone else? >> that's the major problem. in schools, when i walk to schools and work with young people, the expectation is that these things happen, they get to school, it's not a piece of their lives. the teacher teaches you the content. we have to ask ourselves when we stop teaching concept and teach children. how do we teach someone's find that their heart is broken.

the next level of addressing the issues is to teach teachers to allow these conversations to happen within schools, because there are no other spaces for young people to vent, know what the rules of engagement are, find a platform to have a voice. >> what about the conversation on the other side that ought to be going on? >> it should be happening as well. you can't ask folks to have a conversation about seeing humanity in a population when they are put on trial and the first thing they say is "i would do this again." >> you are talking about michael brown, when asked by george stefanopolous if he would do anything different, he said no. >> there has to be an acknowledgment of fault. when you say i feel sorry for the parents, but... it means your feeling bad is not authentic. we can't have a population saying "i would do this again", and say they are open to

addressing the problem. it has to start with an acknowledgment of fault, not a justification for practices under the law. at one time there's law and then morality. >> is lot of people are calling for police cameras, whether that help? >> the call for police cameras makes sense in that we can police the police. if the mind-set hasn't shifted. and perceptions have not shifted, if a police camera is showing a young person and it's addressed in a way that is violent, they can use an image to justify the killing. a camera alone can't make a difference. a camera when the mind-set has not shifted will only have a reason to justify the practices. a camera caught michael brown smashing cigars, and used as a public narrative to describe why it's positive. cameras can't make differences

if mined shifts don't shift. >> it's part of a conversation we need to continue. we'll have you back. >> now to the nasty winter storm days before the holidays. 20 million people in the north-east have been affected. not as bad as thought. hundreds of flight cancelled, thousands delayed. stranded passengers. meteorologist rebecca stevenson is here with more on what we can expect. >> we are looking at chilly temperatures and a bit of snow in the north-east. we are expecting to see the snow come in to the midwest, but tapering down to showers and tracking slowly and surely into the north-east where the storm system bringing all the snow, that is tracking off sure in the atlantic to the east of long island, off the coast line. things will be improving in the hours ahead.

as we look at the totals, you see the areases of green temperatures too warm, mild. nothing other than sleep. further inland we had as much as 20 inches reported. now, the biggest story for the storm will be in the winds. they were up to 60 miles per hour. throughout the night as the storm tracked its way. we have gusts up to 40-45. they are going to remain gusty from boston to main, where the snow continues to fall. as temperatures dipped down close to freezing. the morning problems may be the icy spot. a daring rescue mission. cash back.

gas prices could fuel the u.s. economy. don't go away. >> no one's prepared for this journey. >> experience al jazeera america's critically acclaimed original series from the beginning. >> experiencing it has changed me completely. >> follow the journey as six americans face the immigration debate up close and personal. >> it's heartbreaking. >> i'm the enemy. >> i'm really pissed off. >> all of these people shouldn't be dead. >> it's insane. >> the borderland thanksgiving day marathon. on al jazeera america.

u.s. special forces led a raid to rescue eight hostages from an al qaeda hideout in

yemen. it took place in the remote eastern province near the saudi boarder. two dozen american commandos joined yemeni troops, freeing six yemenies, one saudi, and an ethiopian national replacing defence secretary chuck hagel has turned out to be a challenge. deputy defense secretary ashton carter and homeland security jeh johnson could be replacements. finding a replacement could be difficult. >> no one wants the job. it's probably a 2-year job, it won't have a fixture like a bob gates over the next administration. given all that is going on, and how chuck hagel was let go, whoever takes the job has to be an obama insider.

>> major challenges that will be faced is the conflict with i.s.i.l., ebola crisis, and whether to keep troops in afghanistan longer than expected. >> supreme court justice ruth bator is recovering from heart surgery. she was taken to hospital on tuesday. a blockage was discovered in her right artery. doctors implanted a stent to open the blockage, she's expected at work monday. at 81, she's the oldest member of the u.s. supreme court. >> o.p.e.c. ministers are gathering in vienna for what many are calling an important meeting. many of the major oil producers would like to see o.p.e.c. cut production to shore up oil prices which have fallen. roxana saberi has our report. >> it's the most closely watched meeting in years. one member is commanding the spotlight. >> o.p.e.c. is saudi arabia and

the 11 dwarfs. the other 11 members cannot cut production in any significant way that could move oil prices upwards. >> as the largest oil exporter and o.p.e.c. swing producer, saudi arabia traditionally hoped to sway global prices by altering how much crude it pumped. this year laid bear how week that grip has become. in june global bench mark crude started to tumble towards $80 a bar 'em, thanks to shale producers flooding the markets with now supply at a time when demand in europe and asia is ebbing. >> reporter: even though oil prices are falling, many members and nonmembers that need higher prices are pushing for production cuts. the saudis signalled an unwillingness to curtail output.

>> the saudis are looking at members saying why should we forego revenue so you can free ride on us. they have seen the movie before and are not ready to play it again. with shale producer challenging o.p.e.c.'s position in america. some believe that saudis are leveraging lower extracts costs to test the upstart. >> saudis would like to see what happens in north america in u.s. and canada, when there's an environment of low prices. can they sweat it out. >> it may not be as powerful as it was when it comes to waging a price war the saudis are still king. >> gas prices are down significantly ahead of the holidays. many americans are saving at the pump, they are suffering at the supermarket. mary snow explains.

>> reporter: it's a cash bonus most were not expecting. the average price of gasoline across the country is $2.81. that's a 14% drop from a year ago. one rule of thumb estimate is that every $0.10 decline equals 3 billion more being pumped to consumers. one analyst crunched the numbers this way. let's say you are sa family using 97 gallons of gasoline. you would be saving $79 a month. economists say what is not visible is higher food prices eating into some savings at the pump. >> food prices matter. it seems pump prices matter more. just because they are more visible. >> and food accounts took more of the family budget than filling up a gas tank. one group estimates 5 billion will be saved in november and december from cheaper gas.

but spects prices to cost more. beef is jacking up consumer bills. it's hit record highs this year with a pound of ground beef up 23% at $4.15 a pound. economists say the cause is six. supply and demand. drought in texas and california took a toll op supply and consumer demand has been growing. dairy products cost more. a gallon of milk up 9%, costing $3.76, for than a gallon of the glasso lean. prices boosted in part by an increase in milk. over all the cost of food is expected to rise between 2.3 and 3%. some economies say lower income families get hurt. >> everyone has to eat

for some americans, the cost of housing has been rising dramatically. still ahead - why some first responders can't afford to live where they work. the images of ferguson - they are powerful, provocative. how they are shaping the conversation.

hi, everyone. this is al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler. worth a thousands words. pictures coming out of ferguson. they are their own story, the story they are telling the world. housing crisis - costs going um. police and firefighters forced to move out my conversation with the unforgettable sandra bernhard. . >> protests continue in ferguson, missouri, demonstrators marched in opposition to the grand jury's decision not to indict michael brown's killers. others are joining in to show solidarity, hundreds took their anger to city hall. some tried to push inside the courthouse. three were arrested.

diane eastabrook is in ferguson with more. what are you seeing tonight? >> it's been a relatively quite night before thanksgiving. throughout most of the evening there'd been about 30 protesters, and 15 national guards men. an hour ago the numbers swelled to 100 protesters, and five minutes ago they marched up the street and a few minutes ago we saw half-a-dozen police cars heading in that direction. from what we understand nothing has happened. the protesters are coming back this way. they may have been blocking traffic. all in all it's been a quiet evening here. >> so obviously it's quiet compared to the last couple of nights. it's cold. you had snowy weather. i guess we are listening to the protesters come back by you; is that right. >> yes, they are. they are walking back.

they are down there for 10-15 minutes and are heading back the other day. they have been engaging a little with the national guards men standing out front. occasionally we saw people throw things at police we haven't seen a police presence, just the national guard. we haven't seen the interaction as we saw last night or the night before. this has been peaceful. sounds like the weather could have a lot to do with it demonstrations over police treatment of young black men reach beyond ferguson. it's an issue that is nationwide. officers are more likely to kill african-american men. more from tom ackerman. >> reporter: one month after the ferguson shooting a white south carolina policeman confronts and

shoots an unarmed black motor. >> that officer was charged with a felony and lost his job. in 2012, michigan officers fired 41 shots on a homeless man. they were cleared. many are vindicated without facing trial. like darren wilson, the officer that killed michael brown junior. the justification they give is stark. >> can i shoot this guys, can i? legally. i answered myself "i have to, if i don't he'll kill me if he gets to me." for mean young black me like these, the police are the predators. our people are stopped, frisked, we are criminalized. we are targeted, invaded, gaoled and killed. >> the fbi reported that among 400 natal police shootings, 18% were blacks aged 18-34.

doubt the rate for whites. while most of the officers involved were white, 80% were also black. those fatalities are a slice of the grim realities of young blacks in america. >> one out of three black men between 18 and 30 is in gaol, prison, probation or parole. in los angeles, philadelphia, baltimore, washington - 50-60% of young men of colour are on probation or parole. >> president obama calls for better police training to better the trust, a goal requiring more than recruiting more blacks into the ranks. >> it is important, yes, that we have diversity in the police department and community. what is really important as well, too, is that we have well trained, well qualified well

paid police officers, men and women who feel supported. >> a mission to pursue for years to come. >> police shootings like the one in ferguson add to the national debate about equality in america. many hoped things would be different after the election of president obama. patty culhane has more on the expectation. >> reporter: for 34 years, hannah hawkins has done this. feeds the people of her community. she says it's only been getting harder. >> even the middle class don't have anything. they are constantly, every month, taking people, downsizing from the welfare. the images, across the country, the african american community continues the struggle.

>> unemployment for african-americans barely moved since the president took over. it's over 12%. increasing numbers, 41% of whites, 48% of blacks feel that race relations are bad. it's a dramatic increase from six years ago when the election. first african-american president seemed to indicate a change in race relations. but now as president. staying in the past was not erased. >> what we have seen is not just about particular incident. >> reporter: he is promising a renewed push to help the

african-american community. this woman believes it will get better, even as she stand in line waiting for a food hand out because her food assistance has run out. >> i'm hopeful for the future. >> she hopes it will be different, if not for her, her sons. the founder of media may change. tara conley joins us in the studio. the president had a lot of wait on his shoulders, how did he handle it. >> i wanted something more from him. i thought he was being politically correct. but we need more. we need to talk about race in an honest way. i'm consirned that the president is in this kind of you topic

state where everything - we can hope it away. now we are seeing on the streets that it's a little more serious than that. i want to hear that. >> there are critics saying that he talks too much about race, on the other, he doesn't talk enough. >> that's the problem of a black man being president of the united states. it's important for surrogates and advocates and people on the ground to talk about the issues. it's important for us to realise that what has happened in this country now is not very much different to what was happening in the '60s. are we post racial, no we are not. why aren't we. >> what is different in one way is social media. we heard the prosecutor complain about social media. how is it different now? >> it's different because we can see what is going on in real

time. looking on twitter, for example, you see protests happening in london. things happening in chicago, cleveland recollects ferguson, in new york city. and we are able to locating exactly where the uprisition are happening and telling the story in reel time is important. >> we saw the map of twitter light up as this unfolded. we have more to talk about. thousands of images taken in ferguson painting a profound and grim picture of a shooting that has ignited racial tension and polarized the nation. jonathan betz looks at that. >> when michael brown was shot and killed by police officer on august 9th, shock turned to anger and outrage. protest, looting, pain. >> this week's coverer of "new yorker" magazine disstills the death. the artist says "i wanted to comment on the tragic rift", he

lived in st louis for 17 years. the pain for all those involved is obvious. a mother's grief as her son's body was dead in the street. the response loud and clear "black lives matter", "don't shoot" and others. this picture taken by a photographer. he described the scene. "i heard explosions, people ran up the street towards us. the police fired tear gas into the crowd. i was running backwards, looking for pictures. i made the frame. after that you keep running." . he was arrested for refusing to leave a public side walk. his arrest captured by another photographer. and a decision on monday night, a no-bill from the grand jury. darren wilson would not be charged with a crime. protesters took to the streets. an ironic image seemingly from a

war zone as the holiday season approaches. the next day, after some set fire to police cars, but perhaps memorable image from august. a 25-year-old man throwing tear gas at riot police. no one knew what ha was going to get into. they thought they'd have a quiet night. the images showed a city and a country hurt and divided. >> that's jonathan betz, and tara conley joins us again. that season's greetings picture says it all in some ways. you see force lined up on the streets of ferguson, and there is that christmas greeting. what are these images mean? >> it's interesting to look at that image, and the cover of the

new yorker. we are talking about season's greetings, chris, holidays. the militarization, the policing, the institution that is underneath the sign. it's a comment on national discourse. on race relations in the country. i think we are in a pivotal time right now and we are trying to figure it out. that's why you see a lot of uprising. a lot of us versus them. it's unfortunate, but the images provide a glimpse into what is happening. >> in some ways they look like a war zone. you saw the explosion there because of the tear gas. i think we have a shot of a police car turned over. we saw the shot of looting. earlier. >> yes. >> these are not pretty images.

>> no. >> these are not easy to grasp. they send different messages to different people, right. >> i said they do and it depends who you ask. it's interesting we go into the holiday season with images like you talked about, war imagery being revobd. there is, in many ways, a war happening in the country, and we have to be - we have to understand what is going on with the young people, and the image of the young men throwing the tear gas. that image to me is a significant image. it's an image of resistance, of nouning resistance. it is an image of black resistance. where people are saying and through imagery, that there's a problem in this country, we need to face is head on, and that's what the young people are doing.

it's tough for some people to look at. >> you talk about a war going on in the country. then we get the cover of the "new yorker", which in some ways - i mean, i think that one of the most interesting things about this that i had forgotten was that when that was built, part of it was built that wiped out african american homes. this is our history. it ain't long ago. >> no, it's symbolic. the ark is broken. what is the new yorker trying to say. that this country in many ways is broken when it comes to race relations. also i want to make a point. we have to be careful in terms of how we talk about, distribute, show the images as mainstream images. i believe some of the violent images, particularly the one of the young boy and cleveland.

of him dying. that doesn't say violence to humanity. we have to be careful in terms of how we understand what the images are doing to us. >> you were saying you hope we are not desensitized to what is going on by seeing it over and over. >> that is one of the effects, certainly it is. >> great to see you. thanks for giving us your opinion of his images. they are very powerful. >> the white house is proposing stricter rules to cut down on smog. the knew plant targets countries with some of the worst ozone ratings. critics say it's not worth it. new standard would slash family budgets. reduce gtp and cost u.s. economy millions of jobs. in san francisco, many middle class residents are forced out. even first responders like

police and firefighters finding it difficult to live in the community they serve. melissa chan has that story. >> reporter: andrew was born and raised in san francisco and serves as a firefighter. he almost got priced out of living in san francisco. >> i have - went to preschool, all the way to high school here. everything has changed since growing up. i think prices have been driven high by the tech boom. it's hard to afford to rent in the city, let alone buy a house in san francisco. it's unfortunate. teachers, police officers, sheriffs, fire department - we want to be in the city that we work in. >> according to reports by the brookings institution, the gap between the rich and the poor is growing faster in san francisco than any other city. families in the bottom to

percentile saw salaries drop 4,000 in the past five years. those at the 95th percentile saw their die by 28,000. the median income is 73,000, around how much he makes. this group is discovering they can no longer find affordable places to rent or buy. with the costs of living sky high, some have been forced to move hours away. that worries officials in this quake-prone city. it's a question of when the next one hits, and when the next one hits, we want the first responders to be living in san francisco. >> city hall is offering first responders up to 100,000 in down-payment assistance to perform a home or an apartment inside the city limits launched last year. the initial pool had enough money. andrew is one of the lucky few

who benefitted from the program. >> i was getting outbid by 20%. a lot were cash offers. i was just lucky to get a house in san francisco today. i moved in two months ago. i'm doing a lot of little projects on my day off. it's two bedroom, one booth. small little house. >> the city recognised it would have to expand the programme for any impact. andrew ye said he'd like to see the system grow. so more public servantslike police and firefighters can have the opportunity to live in the city where they serve. >> coming up next - she is one of the funniest women in comedy, how sandra byrne hard sees herself and her legacy in our one on one conversation after this.

a storm system racing up the coast moving towards main. we have been getting a mix of rain and snow close to the coast. it was further inland into the hills, peninsula, new jersey, we have snow totals. quite a large range. anywhere from 0.2 up to a foot. also a couple of inches of snow in the midwest in minnesota, and parts of missouri. snow totals bringing rain overnight into the morning. tapering off. cold air moves in, icing over in many place, not only from minnesota and michigan, into new york and new jersey. temperatures cool. brisk and cold in the north-east. so mild in the north-west. whole different story on the west coast where the higher temperatures lead to snow in the

mountains, storm after storm bringing in the rain. we are going to expect most of the rain to stay to the west and showers into the north-east. al jazeera america continues. sandra bernhard is known for an in your face kind of comedy, even playing one of the first gay characters on tv. i sat with her to look at her career and asked how she as seen

the comedy industry change. >> in every way possible. when i started there was a small handful of people doing comedy. it was back in the mid "70, i moved to l.a. there was a handful of women doing comedy, joan rivers, and, you know, people that had been around for a while. phyllis diller, the vibe was self-deprecating, women making fun of their bodies, their dating, and i kind of came along and turned it on its ear. it was post modern, post feminist, uber confident, feeling jaunty, sort of mary tyler moore. my role model. >> who was your biggest influence? mary tyler moore - when i think you, i don't think of her? >> no, yet she is. she was very like - you know,

she left the big city, she moved to miles per hour, and she, just like was independent. and i patterned my life after her. >> did you have an idea when you started that you would do all this stuff, beyond comedy. >> ultimately i wanted to be a singer, a broadway musical performer. i went from arizona where i grew up to l.a. when i as 18, 19, and fell into the comedy screen. people said "you can sing, just get up at comedy clubs." >> in your early days when you came on tv as a viewer, i never knew what you were going to say, that was the cool thing. they talked about you as in your face comedy. how do you categorise yourself now? >> i think that was my jumping off place. i developed a lot as an artist, as a performer, i fine tuned my material. i think that i work a lot of

different levels emotionally. i can be up there, intro spective. >> you talked about breaking barriers in comedy with some of the material that you did. you broke barriers with rowan. >> right -- rowan. >> right. >> talk about that. >> i met rowan and --sanne. >> right -- rosanne. >> right. >> talk about that. >> i met rosanne and -- -- i met rosanne and tom at a party my agent had, she had great parties. we talked. she and tom called and said "would you come on the show and play tom's wife", you know, fiancee. i said "great, fun." of course, the whole thing was that arnie, tom arnold's character was so obnoxious he drove me into the arms of morgan fairchild. that was the joke. it turned into something bigger because nobody had really played

a bisexual gay character. >> movie reel: all right, her name is marler, i'm sighing a woman. >> we kept it fun, upbeat. we weren't trying to do anything. >> what do you remember about the reaction? >> i think the audience was - of course they were - they loved it. it was fun, a surprise. you know, it opened people up to a different way of looking. >> it was before ellen came out. >> yes. >> it was - like i said, it wasn't - nobody was trying to be a hero. all was within the realm of great collaboration, which rosanne is great at. >> when i think about your character on "rosanne", it was ground-breaking. in this year there has been a lot of change when it comes to the issue of gay marriage. >> it's unfolding, as we knew it would. >> how did you know it would?

>> it's a snowball effect. people are tired of it. anyone under 30. if you brought up the gay issue, they'd say "what issue?" busy listening. whatever. who cares. it's a non-starter. no one gives a hoot. >> can i ask you about politics, what was your rehabilitation to the results in this election year? i think that people are burnt out and have been since the bush administration and nixon and everything before. politics lost its glamour and veneer and excitement. people are tired. they get very lacy. they complain, bitch and moan. when there's an opportunity to go out and make a difference, they don't do it. >> as an entertainer, performer, artist, do you feel the need to get involved in political stuff? >> not as much as i did, you know, when the election was

happening initially for president barack obama. maybe, you know, i went a little deeper than i normally would. >> movie reel: here is a for exampled out... >> occasionally in my shows, when it's my audience i'll touch on something. there's great people, people like you here at al jazeera, jon stewart, there's stein colbert, you know, rachel - people that spend their lives picking apart politics, and that's not really my first love. >> you joined the cast of "brooklyn 99", can you talk about your character. >> it's starting. i play chelsea's mother, the policeman she's having the affair with, his father and i hook up. it's funny, the two of them are horrified at the two of us getting together. again, it's sort of - you know, a little cookie, a little out

there, which is fun. i like playing characters who are not who i am sophisticated - tongue in check, a little grounded, reality of the world we lie live in, and play loose canon. >> thank you for entertaining all of us for a long time. we hope you do it for many years. >> i foresee doing it for as long as i can get up and kick it out. >> good. it's great to meet you. thank you. >> sandra was one of many talented and compelling artists we talked to this year. you can see the best of many of these interviews friday 8:30 eastern now to the picture of the day. it is thanksgiving. getting ready for his close up. that is - sadly was the wrong picture. that is spider-man, the balloon taking shape on the upper west side. he'll join a cast of characters

floating above the crowds in the macey's day thanksgiving parade "america tonight" is next. i'm john seigenthaler, we want to wish you a happy thanksgiving. the police presence is definitely heavy just in case we see a repeat of last night. >> now as thousands rally nationwide, what's next for the ferguson community. for serious, objective, in-depth coverage stay with al jazeera america.

>> on "america tonight": moving beyond ferguson. protests spread to other cities and more are planned. >> hands up. >> don't shoot,. >> is this a real movement or just a moment in time? plus an island of productivity in an industrial waste land. >> we're all engaged not just general motors or uaw, we have two hands together engaging what we do given the direction out here how we're going to be successful and i think that's how we have to survive. >> and it has survived, revving