>> hello everybody. this is al jazeera america. i'm david shuster, in new york. john seigenthaler has the night off. christmas day a message of peace from the pope as around the world the faithful celebrate. prayers, 10 years later, the boxing day tsunami, remembering the victims, and a reality check on early warning systems. opening day for "the interview" - beyond the controversy. the game changer for hollywood, and home viewing plus, bright lights, big city. you will meet the maestro who brings out the cole ours for

the empire state building's dazzling colour show. we begin with the christmas se celebrations at home and around the square. thousands flock to listen to the pope's christmas message. he urged people not to help with the suffering of others. >> translation: i ask him, the saviour of the world today to look upon our brothers and sisters in iraq and syria, who for too long suffered the effect of ongoing conflict and who, together with those belonging to ethnic groups are suffering a brutal persecution. may christmas bring them hope.

>> in england queen elizabeth had a similar message of reconciliation. she was moved by the sacrifice of aid workers who risked their lives to help others. >> bringing reconciliation to wars or emergency homes is a harder task. i have been touched by the selflessness of aid workers and medical volunteers who have gone abroad to help victims of conflict, or diseases like ebola, often at great personal risk. >> 268 miles above the planet there was an out of this world christmas greeting from astronauts from the space station, where the views of santa's workshop and everything else was remarkable. >> it's so much fun to celebrate christmas up here, getting a chance to see the earth. >> i wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year. >> two n.a.s.a. aft --

astronauts who spent the year floating around.. >> the family of a downed jordanian pilot is asking i.s.i.l. to show mercy. the pilot crashed and his fate is uncertain. jordan is one helping the grates attack united states forces much the aircraft was not shot down as i.s.i.l. claimed. a sombre anniversary has begun throughout much of south-east asia, december the 26th marks it 10 years since a tsunami killed hundreds of thousands of people. an earthquake triggered waves crashing into coastal villages, killing more than 220,000 people. memorials are underway. the epicentre was near sumatra, and it was indonesia

experiencing the highest death toll. memorials are happening in thailand, including a memorial at a tsunami park. there was a sunrise journalist, hundreds of residents died in that village. >> in the tsunami like the one 10 years ago happens again. there are questions about whether communities will have time to react and move people to safety. signs and technology correspondent jacob ward looks at early warning systems and how reports are communicated. >> tsunami science advanced enormously and new system are online. the 28 country, 400 million ocean tsunami system senses approaching sees through a network of sys monitors and boyce and can send an alarm within 10 minutes. the trouble is getting that warning to individuals in time for them to escape. in archa indonesia, devastated

by the 2004 tsunami, a 2012 earthquake at sea did not set off the systems, a failure. in india, it cannot reliably reach citizens, it must rely on faxing them the news in some cases. >> how and where it's built is a factor. we are under the watchful gaze of the pacific tsunami warning center in the san francisco. experts are worried when it comes to a tsunami, about an earthquake triggered in alaska, giving us four hours of warping. with a clear early warning, this water frond is not prepared -- waterfront is not prepared for big floodwaters. that is true. some work has gone into developing survival capsules, but few companies are willing to make the massive investment for a dale usualing. forecasters predicted hurricane

sandy days before time and expected a storm surge on the east coast. when the waters arrived they revealed a lack of infrastructure for handling the sea. the solution, as japan learned thering the 2011 -- learned during the 2011 tsunami and sea rising, the solution may be soft engineering, reshaping the coastline. it calls for something harder - denying our deep-rooted human desire to life right on the water russia showing support this christmas for north korea. just as sony releases the movie "the interview" to a limited group of theatres. a spokesman for vladimir putin's government scribed the comedy as scandalous, and challenged the u.s. claims tying north korea to the hack attacks, exposing sony

emails and provoked top stars like angelina jolie many attended the screening of "the interview" at small centers. at one local center they were greeted by the star seth rogan. sony released through youtube and video and other platforms. we'll now talk about the digital release of "the interview." have you had a chance to see the movie? is it good or not? >> it's not terribly good. it's a seth rogan, james franco comedy, with a scandalous plot line. most of the movies is them ripping about nonsense call stuff and it gets to the big bang at the end, which is what everyone is inflamed about, that's a matter of taste. >> in other words it will be popular with teenager perhaps. the way that sony is distributing the movie, how

revolutionary is this. >> it's not terribly revolutionary, it's highly revolutionary for film. the idea of releasing a movie day and day with movies, as much as a month before the release is nothing new - smaller distribution companies have been doing that. it's a platform working well. the interview costs $44 million. and sony probably spends $20-$30 million more. it's a bigger risk. it's a bigger risk to the company if it pays off. it has a potential to change the paradigm. we'll have to wait for the numbers to come in. >> sony was looking at not making money off of this. at $6 a pop on youtube and social media - will sony break even and reach the $40 million of rev few? >> that is the wig question. you have to realise that when

you take a movie, and put it on video on demand, you are increasing the amount of money. if you see the interview with three friends, you are paying for a ticked between 40 to $50. if you stee it at home, one needs to buy it. that's a fraction of the money sony made. they have the novelty factor. some people think it's their patriotic duty to see the interview, and if that pays off, it might end up making its money back, and do well on home video, in addition to this. time will tell. >> you mentioned some of the less expensive movies that do better online, what is the range $5 million-$10 million. more than that and you wait for the theatre release. >> it's not so much a matter of how much the movie costs, it's a matter of what company is distributing it. the company's radius - they

distribute films through the model. magnolia distribute through that model as well. generally speaking they don't cost more than a few million dollars. so the making that money back is not quite as difficult as it will be for something like the interview which, in a theatrical release, with as many as 3,000 screens, it probably would have made the money back in a weekend or two. >> the hackers threatened 9/11 style attacks in theatres that carried the movie. have there been efforts online. to theatres or youtube or social media that are showing this. >> not that i'm aware of. the sony network is down at the moment. as i believe is the microsoft ex-box. it's uncertain whether that's the same group. it's my understanding that it probably isn't. those systems have been hacked multiple times before, for a variety of reasons.

>> william, a film critic for crave online. thank you for coming on the programme. we appreciate it. >> you're welcome there was a peaceful protest in berkeley missouri, following the shooting death of a black teen by a white police officer. it took place at a gas station. some are joining distinctions between this case and the michael brown case, acknowledging that the shooting may have been justified. a surveillance tape appears to show the picture pointing a gun at the police officer. the event in missouri were felt through the country and the white house, where the president vowed to push for reform. mike viqueira takes a look back at what topped his agenda. >> as a rocky near came to a close, president obama accentuated the positive. >> i said that 2014 would be a year of action, and a break-through year in america. it has been.

>> there are reasons for optimi optimism. the economy is heading up. the jobless rate dipped down, along with another encouraging sign. the price at the pump, plummeting. >> i'm glad to pull together my cabinet. president obama began 2014 with a vow to go around congress. that's what it took to enact the agenda. >> i have a pen and a phone. i can use that to sign executive orders and take executive actions, administrative actions to move the ball forward. >> so he did. on the minimum wage ordering the federal government to raise it to $10.10 for outside contractors. and on immigration. where he reversed course giving a 3-year reprieve from deportation to the parents of children in the u.s. legally. critics called him an emperor and worse. >> i think it's the height of embarrassment for this president to go around the constitution

and laws. >> there has been setbacks, and issues where they failed to find the right response. >> riots shook the streets. from the white house, the president appears in a split screen paradox. calling for a response as the community burnt. >> when president obama found his footing he vowed to change attitudes. >> part of the reason this time will be different is because the president of the united states is deeply invested in making sure that this time it's different. >> it was overseas in pleases that challenged american presidents for years, where president obama struggle the most. in february the crimean parliament is seized by armed men. behind the move a defiant and resurgent russia. this as the bashar al-assad regime in syria was killing thousands in a war, forcing millions to leave their homes. hit with criticism that he was shying away from decisive action, the president reacted

angrily. >> why is it everywhere is so eager to use military force after we have gone through a decade of war at enormous costs. >> but the stunning advance of i.s.i.l. changed that. three years after keeping his promise to get american troops out of iraq. president obama sent them back in. some 3,000 advisors, there to train and assist the iraqi army, now in a sham bles as they try to turn back i.s.i.l. by the end of the summer, the president changed his tune on military force. last night op my orders america's arm forces began strikes on syria. >> president obama saw his biggest political setback in november, when his party suffered an election wipe out. giving the g.o.p. control of congress for the last two years. the president and his family are on location in hawaii. a brief rest before returning to

washington and a new political reality spring valley is a posh washington d.c. neighbourhood with a potentially deadly secret. the residential area, not for from the american university, was built on a dumping ground for chemical weapons. i'm talking about mustard glass, blastering agents and who knows whatever else. named after the greek god of the dead was discovered 20 years ago, but the clean up continues to this day. lisa stark has the story. >> reporter: inside this gait the hunt is on -- gate the hunt is on for the remnants of deadly weapons. >> we are standing rite about here. standing in d.c.'s spring valley nibure hood, filled with expensive homes and ambassador's resident and american university. part of the campus and farmland

was leased by the arm. 660 acres. here, the military developed and tested poison gases. for world war i trench warfare. >> that history was virtually forgotten until it was literally unearthed on the street. it was in 1993. they were building homes, workers dug up what looked like rusted bombs. >> that was just the beginning. >> we found four disposal pits, a major surface disposal area, and we found pieces of munitions around the site. >> it turns out when the war ended the army closed up shop and buried all its materials, the clean-up led by the army core of engineers has been underway for two decades, costing hundreds of millions. tom smith is a long-time resident and represents the neighbourhood on a city advisory council. >> there has been a lot of foot

during and the aggressive efforts of the community that we are where we are now today. >> today the work is focussed on what may have been ground zero. that's the former driveway area to the property, and this was the garage they entered the home too. >> the home was demolished by the core. after the site was linked to the 1918 photo. inscribed on the fact was bottles full of mustard to be destroyed here. the hole called haitis. >> i have positive conformation that there was mustard and suicide contamination in the soils. >> that's mustard gas, along with a gas. the project manager for the clean up... >> if we encounter debris, it is something like an archeological dig. they use small garden trials, brushes and meticulously dig

through the sail. -- soil. >> it's done under a tent 3 storeys tall to help contain what is here. we are told what is here is safe. nothing is disturbed. before dig teams come in, this is the suit they'd wear. >> they cover themselves head to toe. once inside the tent workers are hooked up to oxygen for safety. when they unearth something, an explosives team takes over. with all the safety measures, neighbours worry about their own health. some are convinced the environment made them sick. two studies found: tom smith said the studies did not stop there. >> other health conditions of concern to the community - blood disorders, kidney diseases warrant further attention.

>> so was there further attention. >> no, there's never been any comprehensive follow up study. >> reporter: the core insists the neighbourhood is safe. air from the tent goes through a filtration system. if there is an accidental discharge. an alarm would warn of it in place. the army estimates it had two years of work left to go. we can't guarantee that we would find everything. there's be an ongoing engagement. >> what is your biggest concern? >> that the army would leave - will leave earlier than it should because of the limits of financial resources. >> the core says when it leaves

it would be because the job is done. >> meanwhile people were dreaming of a white christmas but did not get it. we'll tell you who did. here is a hint - even a tropical paradise. the man behind the light shows for one of the most iconic buildings in the world.

former president george h.w. bush will stay in hospital for another night. a family spokesperson said he had another terrific day, but will not be released. mr bush, the 41st president of the united states was hospitalized in texas tuesday night after experiencing shortness of breath. he is 90 years old. now to the weather - for some parts of america it was a

white christmas. meteorologist kevin corriveau joins us now. >> that's right. you mentioned before who experienced it in the tropics. believe it or not, hawaii. you had to go to 11,000 feet on the island to see the snow. blizzard warnings were effect there. across the united states it was the west. really, over to the east it had been rainy for the last couple of days. the snow on the ground was mushy. no fresh snow there. towards the west, people travelling to go skiing are seeing amazing conditions. a lot of white new snow. friday, more snow in the forecast. saturday more snow is coming into play as well. it will be great there. the next big system coming through will drop temperatures across much of the west of the united states, well below average. tomorrow morning, friday morning, as we go to the west, denver will begin the day with a temperature of 10 degrees.

billings at about 12 degrees. what will happen is a dip in the jet stream making its atto the east. the temperatures out here to the east have been above average. we'll stay nice in new york, nice conditions. as you can see on saturday, 12 degrees, as we go through the next couple of days, things will get golder, so next week, new years will be colder to the west. >> i want to take you over here and show you parts of australia, bondi beach. this is how they celebrated their christmas. they are in the southern hemisphere. they have a different type of weather. this is their summer, they are looking nice. i'd take this any day. >> bondi beach, wonderful it is the center piece of the new york city skyline, since 1976, the empire state building celebrated special occasions with a daz lings light show.

the display is set to music. we hear from the man who makes it all happen. >> growing up my parents used to take me to new york all the time. and the empire state building really was always very special. so i'm honoured to be able to light the building. >> we do holiday shows. ♪ ♪ jingle bell ♪ jingle bell ♪ jingle bell rock >> it's based around the music, it's the inspiration. we receive the music and plan the individual clues. i paint with light so, you know, like anything else, you can choose, really bad colours. so we tried - i guess i have a good sense of colour, and i really - it's more intuitive. if 4,000 channels of leds - we have 18,000 dmx which is a

language that lights speak and we have 210,000 individual l.e.d.s. the biggest challenge is being able to stay in sync. ♪ have a happy, holy christmas ♪ >> typically there's a time code that keeps you on time and in sync. here we listen to an fm radio, an analogue way of doing things. we are not allowed to practice because obviously the building is such a couple of - a building, it's out in the each, we can't turn on the lights and go crazy when we feel like it. the empire state building is the largest scale performance, many people see this in the moment the next light show will be on new year's eve. and we'll leave you tonight with a live picture of the empire

state picture lit up in red, green and white. i'm david shuster. thanks for watching.

jon stewart moving from punch line to the director's square. >> the definition - regimes are arresting more people. >> another comedian is passionate about her role. >> no one played a bisexual comedian. >> from performers. we take you inside. and how a priceless painting was uncovered. >> plus lucy lawless on her most important role yet. >> inevitably not everyone will great. you know, harden up. >> all that in more in with our spotlight conversations.

hi, i'm john seigenthaler, art can be anything. we explored all aspect of art. we look back at some of the most unforgettable conversations. beginning with peter max, a pioneer in the world of pop art. his psyche-dellic shapes and colours defined the '60s. five decades later he is creating iconic masterpieces. i talked with him where he gave me a glimpse into his colourful world. . >> bold strokes and colours are in the studio of peter mack. you are known for your brightness of colours. >> i grew up in shanghai china, maybe it was an influence. i wanted to be abbas tron somer. a lot of stars come up. i'm contemplating how big is the universe, how many st