good eveningthis is al jazeera ameri. i'm michael eaves. john siegenthaler is off tonight. ray rice wins his appeal. what will it mean for league william nigeria, blast. a blast ripped through friday prayers. who is responsible? >> why protestors are taking aim at holiday shopping are,

following ferguson protests. jon stewart, that and more in our special spotlight arts. forker baltimor baltimore rr ray rice is free to return to football. richelle carey has the story. >> ray rice, key factor in the decision to allow the player back on the field. rice was first interviewed after spainlsurveillance photos. a second video of what happened inside the elevator. on september 28th, goodell

suspended rice permanently. >> that was not consistent with what he said. >> the athlete with the backing of the nfl players association appealed the ruling and former federal judge barbara jones was hired to conducts the hearing. the arbitrator had no choice. >> this case once there was a penalty announced it was imposed and then the nfl you without a real change in circumstance or change in facts other than the outcry from the public went and revisited made it far more severe even in their own guidelines, such a first offense penalty there was no way back other than to have the judge vacate it. >> failed to understand the impact of domestic violence. jones said the league did not realize the severity of the conduct, sanction this kind of conduct more severely.

>> it is domestic violence that swamped the league in all this. not that they could solve it but they needed to show empathy and greater concern for it. >> an nfl spokesman says the league accepts the arbitration ruling. >> she talks about why she's staying with her football husband. she also responds to critics who call her weak and accuses her of are sticking around for the money. >> can you explain? >> i was furious. >> jenae rice said she never considered ending her relationship with ray rice. >> of course i knew our relationship would not be over. i know this is us, it is not him. >> another interview with jenae rice, is online. valentine's day outing with two

others. that night both had been drinking heavily. she said they were arguing. he was on his phone not looking at her. then she reached for phone. he grabbed it back, spit at her and she slapped him. she says what happened in the elevator is still foggy about. she remembers nothing else from that elevator. when the couple met with nfl commissioner paul goodell, assumed the league knew what was on it even though they didn't know whether the nfl had seen it and she said they felt betrayed when the baltimore ravens cut rice, because the team was like family to them. she found it hard to be labeled a victim and realizes there are many different opinions that she's weak, making up excuses

and covering up abuse. some people are questioning her motives. she is a strong woman, and has never seen any woman in her family physically abused. it's love that keeps them together and not her husband's money. reaivet joinareva martin joins . once he saw the second piece of video. the judge sided with ray rice and jenae rice in the situation, how damning a statement is this? >> pretty damning michael. we know all along ray rice has contended that he was completely honest, completely transparent

in his meetings with roger goodell and the nfl about what happened that night. all along people believed that goodell was responding to public pressure that when he gave rice the permanent suspension he had all the facts. i don't think people believed roger goodell was working without sufficient information. but the video was so disturbing, pushed goodell to do something and it was the indefinite suspension that was overturned by this judge. >> there was one other statement from the judge barbara jones, it was about domestic violence. let me read this passage from her. it said the league did not realize the severity of the conduct without a visual record, also speaks to their admitted failure in the past to sanction this type of conduct severely. areva, let me ask correctly, she

called out the league for sanction being domestic violence. >> pushing it under the rug, being arbitrary in its disciplinary action he with respect to players. not taking domestic violence very seriously. now we have on the record from an impartial judge that the league did not do that much, that it didn't need that video to appreciate the altercation between ray rice and his now wife jenae. >> panel of experts to help shape its domestic violence policies going forward, how do you think it's going to be effective considering the faults and potholes that roger goodell keeps pulling the league through? >> there's such a lack of trust

of goodell, how he's disciplined players in the past how he has handled the ray rice situation, and the league coming forward around saying, i don't believe you goodell when you say you didn't have all the information. the woman that the nfl ahave put in place, some believe those women in some ways are just window dressing, that they don't have the power to make the kind of changes the nfl needs to make to address domestic violence. at the end of the day, the nfl is about making money and these players make the league a lot of money. you have to question how far the league is going to go in respect to a policy to make money for teams. >> real quicialg, quickly. i wanted to hear your response to jenae rice's statements can.

>> cookie cutter should look like and should act like so i give her a lot of kudos and bravos to her, to have the courage to face something so personal and so private that's being played out in the public. no, she's not the victim that she says she is, but hopefully the league and other organizations will take this to heart and do something about the violence against women's. >> areva martin, thanks so much for the smieght. insight. >> thank michael. more than 100 people were killed at a mosque in kano, nigeria's second largest city. boko haram is the same group responsible for the mass kidnapping of are school girls earlier this year. raga ragae has more.

>> the scene was absolute pandemonium. bodies were strewn across the area as stampede as people tried to escape the scene and it is believed that caused more fatalities particularly among children. angry young men immediately took to the street to vent their frustration over what they said was the inability of the government to stop boko haram's violence. they burned tires and attacked cars but security force he ultimately contained them. anger has been building over the endless state of attacks over the past couple of months, as the country heads to a much anticipated election later this year. reference to boko haram and a swipe of the government's handling of the radical group's action. attempt to seize territory but a

number of recent bombings targeting crowded areas and various cities in the north shows how the group appears intent on sending a message. it is still able to strike at will and in the heart of some of the country averages most complicated areas. al jazeera america, nigeria. >> pope francis earlier called on muslim leaders to condemn the bar baribarbaric action he offig i.s.i.l. bernard smith has more from istanbul. >> pope francis was welcomed by turkey's the, recep tayyip erdogan. the head downer the rise of armed groups . while acknowledging that military force is justified to

stop advance of groups like i.s.i.l. the pope said there was also more need of a dialogue between christians and muslims. >> translator: fundamentalism, as well as irrational fears need to be counted by solidarity of all believers. >> reporter: this is host, turkey's president spoke out against what he sees as rising islamophobia. >> it is astounding that in the west, racism discrimination and hatred to those who are different and islamophobia, including increasing intolerance to muslims living in the west. >> the pope also said that the international community has a moral obligation to help turkey take care of these refugees. on saturday the pope moves here to istanbul to tackle another

tough issue, the near thousand-year split between catholicism and orthodoxy. he will be meeting his old friend the eastern orthodox bartholomew 1. bring these two branches of christianityity closechristiani. bernard smith, al jazeera, istanbul. what to do when american citizens are kidnapped. jamie mcintaintire reports from washington. >> afghan taliban prisoners for captured american prisoner beau bergdahl. best way to respond when the

lives of americans are threatened. >> before i.s.i.l. fighters beheaded james foley he watched as one by one, fellow captives from other countries were freed. after foley's murder two other american captives met the same fate as foley. american law not only prevents the government from paying ransom, it bars its citizens for paying ransom, too. >> the united states has set a heartrending but absolutely necessary example: by refusing to pay ransom for captured americans. and all of the evidence shows that where and if a country has paid a ransom, there are many more people who are taken hostage. >> reporter: according to the u.n. security council's counterterrorism committee an estimated $120 million in ransom was paid to terrorist groups between 2004 and 2012, including between 35 and $45 million to

i.s.i.l. republican senator duncan hunter hassing accused designated a terrorist organization by the u.s. hunter in a letter to outgoing defense secretary chuck hagel quoted sources by saying, a payment was made to an afghan mediintermediary. >> there was no ransom paid. >> condition of u.s. captives. >> on occasion, why to obtain information sometimes in the field, there are -- there are such exchanges. that's a fact.

>> in britain the government is seeking to stop british insurance companies for reimbursing families while the white house has said its review of hostage spots will not change the demands of terrorists. >> i'm so delighted it's being revisited, all i ask is that families be invited to the discussion. >> diane foley said when she was in the midst of negotiations she faced an overwhelming bureaucracy. >> there was no one who could advocate for jim's situation so it was a very lonely experience. >> the white house says the review will focus on hous how te u.s. government pg conducts itself, many of the victims feel abandoned by the government and

left with agonizingly few options. >> the price of oil dropped again today, hitting a new low. opec agreed to maintain its limit of 30 million barrels a day. while some countries were against the decision it may bode well for is consumers. the price of oil is now $72 a barrel. the average cost of gas in the united states is now $2.75. up next, what we're learning about the gunman in texas. plus his canvas, as plywood, the artist who is bringing hope to ferguson.

>> we're learning more about the shooting this morning in austin, texas. police say larry stevens mcwilliams fired nearly 100 rounds of ammunition. no one else was injured, police have not revealed a motive. a report from the u.n. committee against torture says the u.s. should be concerned about the repeating attack, brutality and expensiv excessiv,

provide remedies and rehabilitation to the victims. the report comes just days after the grand jury decision not to indict a ferguson, missouri police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black steen, michael brown. the decision is still sparking nationwide protesters, many targeted at black friday rm shoppers. >> hands up don't shoot hands up don't shoot. >> in seattle, protesters blocked shommers at malls in the -shoppers in downtownmalls. this disruption in oakland involved trains. protesters blocked entrances to local transit systems and the trains themselves. service was halted for hours. 14 were arrested there. in missouri, closing of a are

popular mall has been hard hit by tonight's arrest. diane eastabrook reports. >> michael many of the businesses here in delwood are still frustrated what happened on monday night, they said the state didn't protect them well enough from the rioters. >> she compares the destruction of her business monday night by rioters to a bad dream. >> it's like is it really happening? >> morris's boutique was destroyed in the violence that engulfed delwood missouri, rioters cut a path of destruction from ferguson to delwood burning and destroying about 60 businesses. four das after the violence

delwood's mayor says he can't get a meeting with the governor jay nixon and he's frustrated. >> i personally can't get a call back from the governor. >> for the first time as soon ae monday the road connecting ferguson and delwood was open. banks and chamber of commerce could also provide zero interest loans for businesses to get back on their feet. late friday afternoon, governor jay nixon said $250,000 in zero interest loans would be made available. but more. >> some kind of low forgivenes forgiveness,.

>> patience she says she will rebuild. >> it's nothing wrong with falling. the problem is when you don't get up. >> and morris is trying to be patient. she's hopeful that maybe the state will come through with some sort of grant money that these businesses won't have to pay back. michael. >> artist phil burrwick spent his nights on the street of ferguson. he talks about turning burned out buildings into canvases of art. >> i started my thrarchgz day after a thanksgiving breakfast at a homeless shelter with some folks. i thought i got go to ferguson, i got osee the aftermath. i was walking down west florissant, and i was bummed out. i came up ferguson avenue with some art supplies to see if i could find somebody with a shop open, to do some art. and i was amazed to see there

were half a dozen other artists and none of us knew each other but we must have all had the same impetus the same motivation and something stirring to make us all come here and see if we could grab ahold of a piece of plywood, plastered against a building, and make it beautiful. i was involved in 21 days of prayer and fasting with a group called ferguson response, not far up the street from here. so we have been praying. we have had our hands up praying. i just went ahead with this little guy i created named murford and put him up here on the wall. hands up, it's time to pray. people on thanksgiving doing this we all i think got the call to come up here and bless ferguson with the creative blessing that god's given us so we're depicting it on the otherwise pretty boring plywood

that we see. >> phil burwick says he spends most of his time helping unemployed men to work in his tree care business. weather, rebecca stevenson. rebecca. >> we're getting cold air blowing in. into parts of central midwest. right now we've got a big cool down in the 20s in the northeast, it is a chill in the air certainly but for the west temperatures have just begun to drop. for the northeast the concern is black ice. after all the snow with the wet slushy snow and the rainfall we're going to be concerned about those wet spots freezing over tonight, and if you are headed back after thanksgiving, travel wise, not for idaho-montana, that's where we'll get intense heavy snow as the new system is working its way in.

california gets much needed rainfall. we could use about nine inches of rainfall to break the drought for parts of california. and we're going to get close to that in some aspects. there will be some heavy rain. today seattle almost had record rainfall, behind that front very heavy rain and cold air. gusty strong winds and temperatures have dropped by 20° and risk of snow. we'll have more on that throughout the day tomorrow, michael. >> rebecca thanks so much. up next, john siegenthaler's conversation on jon stewart and his dramatickic film,water. and inside the studio where peter max creates some famous and colorful works of art. than the ups and downs of the dow. for instance, could striking workers in greece delay your retirement? i'm here to make the connections to your money real.

>> jon stewart moving from punch lines to the director's chair. >> the definition of journalistic spans.

>> groundbreaking role. >> nobody had played a bisexual gay character. >> from performers to painters. >> i wake up inspired. i go to sleep inspired. >> we'll take you thought studio of peter max and reveal how a sopranos actor uncovered a priceless painting. >> i couldn't believe i was standing in front of a master. >> and lucy lawless. >> not everyone will agree with you but harden up. >> all that in our spotlight conversations. art can be anything, we intlord all aspects of art. we take a look back at the most unfocial ounforgettable artists. peter max, five decades later he's still creating iconic

masterpieces. he gives me a glimpse at his world. >> bursting into color, when you step into his studio. you're known for brightness. >> i grew.in shanghai china, so maybe that was an influence on me. i've always wanted to be an astronomer, so i love astronomy. the stars come up, how big is the universe, how many stars and it's getting big are and bigger as we talk.. >> and in the '60s max helped define a generation. >> there are so many things people think of when they think of the name peter max but for the child of the '60s the first thing that comes to mind is the psychedelic era. you sort of represent that in your art, right?

>> there was a period you know in the '60s in the middle late '60s right is when all that psych delpsychedelia started ha. >> love peace and the paint strokes of peter max. this is his poster from 1967, the summer of love. it catapulted him to fame and made him a lasting symbol of the era. >> this is a sketchy made. after a year of doing things and being with the swami the idea of love was the big idea, love people love animals, love the planet, love the people you don't even like and one day i decided to do l-o-v-e and draw my little love lady here. it became a very famou fame fams poster. >> every person had a peter max poster in their bedroom.

>> those days they sold for two or $3 apiece. everybody owned a poster and i became so powerfully famous that anywhere i would go people would point to you. peter max. i didn't know how to say yes all the time. >> graphic artist peter max has been coloring our world for decades. his cost minimum designs have touched to everything you could imagine, would you believe cruise ships to pianos. >> we walked by a piano that you gave to ringo. >> ringo came to me a few years ago ago and he asked me to paint a piano. and the day i finished it by total coincidence, ringo came up to thank me. he said peter can i have a bru

brush? he wrote, to peter a star, dot dot dot ringo. >> now you've got an ocean liner? >> biggest ship in the world, i couldn't believe it, i pant painted it and they loved it. >> you've been the official artist for olympics. >> five times at least. >> you have been artist for the presidents. >> seven, eight. >> you've painted for world series, the super bowl, the indy 500, nascar, kentucky derby, that's just to start. >> and you know every time i did one of those i thought to myself, hmm, maybe i shouldn't do it. i should just paint regular paintings. but they begged me and begged me and i thought well, do it, i got odo all those things. >> is the 76-year-old doesn't stop. with the art and the brand

attached to his name. >> you have people working for you this amazing gallery and you're churning out art constantly. >> the people assist me, mix my paints. get my canvases stretched. i'm in the arts you know i just love it. >> how do you see your place in history? >> you know i don't look at it from that point of view very much. and it's like hard you know? it's like hard to sometimes think about things that sort of like please the ego, you know? but i know that i became popular, i know that i always want to bring beautiful things to the planet and hope it continues. >> and we hope it continues for a very long time. peter max it's been a pleasure to meet you and spend time with you. thank you very much. >> nice to really have you in my studio.

>> from an artist to an art collector, fredrico castlea rgio, 17th century guarchino. >> i couldn't believe i was standing in front of a masterpiece. instantly. >> you knew it right away? >> it was like a lightning bolt, that immediate. there were several paintings stacked up on a landing before i went to the second floor to see what else was in this auction house. and i just pulled the first two paintings that were in front of this painting. this is my guarchino. that was my first thought and first words that came out. now i had to try to acquire it. >> they didn't realize what they had? >> actually i spoke to yvonne my

better half, i said quiet, don't say anything. the gentleman was at the bottom of the stairs and asked him to come up and i said what can you tell me about this painting? he says it's an 18th century italian holy painting, st. sebastian. it's probably been cut down you see it's probably -- i said really, you know you're probably right. i said would you like to sell it? he says he it will be in our sale in about two weeks from now. >> you cut a deal for $60,000? >> it came out close to $70,000. >> you spejt some time researching it. >> i did. i actually brought in a partner. i was afraid if someone else knew who this painting was done by. giovanni francesco, the squinter. >> do you have any idea how much

money it might be worth? >> i knew how much guacachinos o for. i've seen a large array of price he starting over a million to 14 million so you know -- >> all right so drum roll, to what it's now worth? >> it's now worth people are saying it's worth in the millions. i don't know. >> $7 million? >> yeah, maybe. >> you bought it for 60, $70,000 and it's worth 7 million. you and your partner could make a tidy sum. how did you make it? >> first of all i had to acquire the painting. you know what, getting over to the states was a little tricky because you can't ensure it for what it's worth because it's not authenticated. i was on pins and needles hoping

it would come to the states in one piece. and it did, in its original frame and everything. i contacted robert simon and said what you need to do is contact the experts. >> you must have worried it might be a fake with all the talk of fakes lately. >> fake, no because i've been collecting too long to -- believe me there are some really great fakeers from the 19th century that with our technology today now you can identify a fake. but prior to that, you know, you had to rely on connoisseurship and for centuries people just looked at paintings, they compared it to other paintings and drawings and they realized that this is by this painter. but this, to me, was -- it was the technique, the hand, i knew guarchino's work very well because i studied, did a paper on his work when i was in school. any museum in the world anyplace

i am in the world i'll go and find a guarchino just to look at. having a photographic memory being a painter, knowing brush strokes i could see this was an original thing. >> fredrico, good luck on your many careers. it's nice that you shared this painting with all of us. we appreciate it. >> good to see you. >> and still ahead from warrior princess to climate change advocate. my conversation with lucy lawless about her life after tv. and my interview with jon stuart, the comedian's new project. >> i wanted something that melded into the city so seamlessly that people could almost take it or leave it but hopefully, take it and run with it. >> robert kennedy jr., >> american democracy is rooted in wilderness...

>> his fathers lasting influence >> my father considered this part of our heritage... >> coping with tradgedy >> the enemy of any productive life is self pity... >> defending the environment >> global warming is gravest threat... >> every saturday, join us for exclusive... revealing... and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time... talk to al jazeera, only on al jazeera america

>> pashtd of our conversation with dustin lance black, screen director and producer in hollywood. comedian jon stewart is no laughing matter. rosewater is a film about a

journalist wrongfully held in an iranian prison. >> i was struck at the end of the film that you really wanted to make a statement about journalism around the world. can you talk about what that is? >> i think it was more -- if i was to say it was a statement of the unsustainability of that, the apparatuses that these regimes build and all regimes build. in the united states we're moving towards kind of this strange deep state of security apparatus that exist in nsa and all these or the places. that these that exist to keep information, that they don't want getting out. getting out. are more damaging to the state than any piece of information that could arise. and it's about the sustainability of i.t. and that of it and think about hohow much time how much efforts

exposed in keeping just maziar from not just doing something but filming something. >> given our reactions, our journalists around the world, especially our friends in al jazeera. >> we have a friend basam who was arrested driven off the air and can no longer do his show there. you know, this is the government that came in and said you know we're going to listen to the will of the people yet it won't allow the people to speak up. they've arrested three of your colleagues. the trial talk about absurdity. the evidence they present is footage of asian horse he and bits and pieces of found footage, has no bearing on anything, there's no accountability for what's going to happen to them. they have families that don't know, they're powerless to get

them out. this is an ally of the united states, we give them $1.5 billion a year in aid and there has to be a method that we can get these political prisoners that are being held in these countries. get them some visibility and hopefully enough pressure on these regimes to get them released. there's just no purpose in it. these people have done nothing. >> what did you think of the film when you first saw it? >> i was involved in fighting this, it was on the set and i saw the rough cut. and i think going back to your question, the film is about democratization of information. and i think that's what scaring these authoritarian regimes, antiwestern governments like iran. these regimes are 20th 03 regimes that can arrest people shut down newspapers, send interference with short wave radios but when it comes to

digital technology social media the internet they don't know what to do. they resort to the same old 20th century methods, we can't work the dcd player and show you the evidence that we have for the trial. as a result they look ridiculous and that's where the humor from the film comes from. >> i watched you on his show talk about what happened to you and the impression i get, i mean you seem joyful you seem positive you seem energized now that you're out. there doesn't seem to be a lot of vindictiveness in you. >> no, there's no point in vindictiveness and anger. of course when that happened to me i was angry but when you put a distance between that, you have to sublimbat sublimate thoa

different direction. we are talking about the plight of many of my colleagues who are going through same things. >> he did it with his inheritors. what is really appealing in the book these may not be sympathetic but they are humans. they have vulnerabilities. he never portrays them as monsters. >> but they were. >> they're not monsters. no. they were doing awful acts, they were torturing people,. >> torturing you. >> torturing me, humiliating me, putting me in front of cameras for forced confessions, those are bad acts that are done buy human being. >> is rosewater still alive still around? >> i'm sure he is. he must have read the book. >> it's a powerful film, congratulations. >> thank you. >> lucy lawless is famous for her tv role as zena warrior princess. she is also an environmental

activist. in this first person report she talks about her very personal position. >> i'm lucy lawless and i'm best known for playing zena warrior princess. since then i've gone to do battle star galactica and aspartame cus. including environmental activism.. >> right now, the world is heating up. >> when i understood what that meant in 2012 i joined together with a greenpeace team to scale an oil rig or a ship that was heading to the arctic which shell was going to drill and we occupied it for four days. to try to slow it and bring a bit of attention to the fact that they were doing this. >> this was seven of us, seven of us went up the rig but 133,000 people came down it with us. >> the reason that oil companies

are starting to rub their hands about going into the arctic is because it's melting so it seems much more accessible for them. so they're like can caching leo and melt the arctic. do you know what the world's going to look like if the arctic is content to allow to melt into antarctica? we are all going to be standing on the highest peaks you know huddled together. >> it is not a question of whether, it's a question of when. >> climate change is almost boring to people, a specter that seems far off and things like ebola and i.s.i.l. are very, they are hot topics but climate change is going to affect everything. you need to take back your government wherefor wherever yod

make sure they're working for you. i'm amazed how many few celebrities get involved in causes, perhaps they don't want to stick their necks out. you get this in blow back for anybody who stands up and says what they believe. inevitably not everybody is going to agree with you, harden up. >> coming up one of the funniest women in show business. sarah bernhard. >> there's nothing like it, live performance. you never forget the broadway play you see, you can't remember what movie you saw friday night but you'll remember what play you saw. >> tomorrow. al jazeera america presents. >> this is it. >> oscar winner alex gibney's "edge of eighteen", thanksgiving marathon. >> oh my god!

>> intense pressure. >> if i said that i'm perfectly fine, i would be lying. >> tough realities. >> i feel so utterly alone. >> life changing moments. >> in this envelope is my life. >> if you don't go to college you gonna be stuck here... i don't wanna be stuck here. >> catch the whole ground-breaking series. "edge of eighteen". thanksgiving marathon. tomorrow. 8:00 pm eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> my dad was working in brooklyn at the time we were shooting.

it was a closed set. i just went over there and said i'm the star's father. of course i only had three lines in the movie but the security person said right this way, mr. travolta. >> that was part of our interview with fran dresher. sarah bernhard, i sat back with her to talk about her multifaceted career. i asked her about how she saw her career change. >> in every way possible. a small handful of people doing comedy, back in the mid '70s when i moved to l.a. to pursue my dream of entertainer. there was joan rifers an riversl who had been a while, phyllis diller, the vibe was very self

deprecating. women were make fun of their bodies, and making fun of their career. post modern, uber confident. sort of mary tyler moore, my rolled model. >> mary tyler moore does not -- when i think about you i don't think about mary tyler moore. >> which is, mary was very -- she left the big city she moved to minneapolis and she just like was end and i patterned my life after her. >> did you have an idea when you started that you would do all this stuff? i mean beyond comedy? >> well yes, i knew i ultimately wanted to be a singer, i wanted to be a broadway musical performer. i went from arizona where i was growing up to l.a. when i was 18 turning 19 and i just fell into the you can

sing too just start getting up at comedy clubs. >> it's all right. >> in your early days when you came on tv as a viewer i never knew exactly what you were going to say and that was the cool thing about it and they talked about you as sort of in your face comedy. >> right. >> how do you characterize yourself now? >> that was my jumping off place. i've developed a lot as an artist, as a performer, i've fine-tuned my material. i think i work at a lot of different levels now emotionally, i can be introspective. >> you talked about breaking barriers in comedy about and on the show roseanne. >> sue mengers used to be my

agent in the '90s. i didn't really know roseanne we started talking and schmoozing. and she asked would you come on and play tom's wife, arnie tom arnold's character was so obnoxious he drove me into the arms of morgan fairchild. nobody had really played a bisexual, gay character. >> all right her name is marla i'm seeing a woman. >> and we kept it fun, we kept it upbeat, sophisticated. we weren't trying to do anything but it just happened actually. >> what do you remember about the reaction? >> the audience was a little -- they're all ah ooh they loved it, it was a surprise and it just sort of opened up people to a different way of looking. >> it was before ellen came out.

>> oh yeah. >> it was long before. >> it was like nobody was like trying to be a hero, you know? it was always within the realm of great collaboration which roseanne is so great about. >> when i look at your character on roseanne it really has been groundbreaking but this year there's a lot that's going on about gay marriage. >> beyond you know it would. >> how did you know it would? >> it's the snowball effect. anybody over 30 if they brought up the gay issue, they would go, what issue? everybody is busy, living, everybody is just whatever, who cares? it's a nonstarter, nobody gives a hoot. >> can i just ask you about politics a bit? >> of course. >> what was your reaction to the results in this political -- this election year? >> i think that people are burned out. they've been burned out since the bush administration and

nixon and everything before, you know politics is lost, lost its glamor and veneer and excitement and i think people are just tired and i think that people get very lazy in this country. they complain, they bitch, they moan and yet when there's an opportunity to go out and make a difference you know sometimes they just don't do it. >> as an entertainer as a performer as an 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 obama. i maybe went a little deeper into it than i normally did. >> if you are some little freaked out intimidated frightened right wing republican -- >> occasionally in my shows when it's my audience i'll touch on something. aside from beaten to death, there's people like you here at al jazeera there's jon stewart there's steven colbert, rachel

madow, people who spend their lives picking apart politics. not what i love. >> and. >> she's having the affair with and his father and i start looking up and so it's sort of this funny the two of them are like horrified at the two of us getting together and you know again it's sort of a -- you know she's a little bit kookie, a little bit out there. not someone who i am, sophisticated tongue in cheek, grounded in reality, like the reality of the world we're living in and play a little bit more you know of a loose cannon. >> thank you for entertaining all of us for such a long time we hope you do it for many, many years. >> i foresee doing it for as long as you know i can get up and kick it out. >> good. it's great to meet you thank you

very much. >> great to meet you. >> as can you see it's been quite a year in the world of art. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. that's our program, thanks for watching. >> consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the growing controversy. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> real perspective, consider this on al jazeera america

>> let's take a look at china. >> china overtakes us.