>> hi everyone, i'm john siegenthaler. this is al jazeera america. state of emergency. california's drought crises leads to historic restrictions. our fragile planet. >> but it's guaranteed the ocean's coming up. >> rising sea levels. rising concerns about a nuclear plant on florida's endangered coast. judgment call. >> where is 181 peach tree?

>> domestic violence charges about a federal judge. should he be removed from the bench? plus lasting impression. the last century glass maker who left his mark on art and complers. commerce. the record drought in california is now in it's fourth year. we can tell you about the crisis but it's the pictures that tell the story of the devastation. this is lake oroville. in 2007, a lake with ample vegetation. this is now lake levels at lake oroville have plunged 68%. here is the look at the same lake. this is before, this is after. to counter the drought emergency california governor jerry brown

signed an executive order requiring businesses farms and individuals to cut their usage by 25%. >> it's going to to affect golf courses people's lawns universities campuses all sorts of surfaces, median vegetation, it affects all of that and we're directing local water agencies to take specific action as they determine. but overall we're looking for a 25% aggregate reduction. >> our meteorologist kevin corriveau is here with more on just how severe this drought has been kevin. >> john we have been watching this for the last five years these are the hard cold facts of where the drought is. in 2010, we were talking about only 10% of the state was under moderate area of the drought 64% was not affected at all. just in five years this is what we are looking at.

almost 98% of the state is under moderate less than 1% is not affected down towards the south. we are talking about 41% of the state is in exceptional drought. that is the worst we can see it's not going to take one year to get out of the drought, it's going to take many years of rain to get out of this drought. we're talking and it's not going to happen in the next year. >> hitting extremely hard, the drought, the san joaquin river is on the verge of running dry. jennifer london reports. >> on a late afternoon dry this family is fishing for dinner around the san joaquin river near fresno california. chances are they will not catch anything. the second largest river is dying. topping the most endangered rivers. >> it's really low.

>> to find out why i met with john kane for a kayak trip down the river. >> the most important reason the river is in bad condition today is it simply doesn't get enough water to be a healthy river. >> why do you say that? >> because so much is diverted for agriculture. >> california's central valley is home to the nation's bread basket. crops that grow here help feed the world. with farms large and small making up 700,000 acres of irrigated farmland. the river and its tributaries are dammed seven times. helps irrigate harry bailey's lemon orchard. >> are you why? >> if you want to go back to when it was decided that the water was going to be diverted, to benefit a tremendous amount more people and grow crops that go all over the world.

you can say that it was that, that killed the river. >> reporter: every day people drive right over the san joaquin river. but what you can't see from the bridge is that there's no water here and there hasn't been for years. if you come down the encyclopedia and look this way this was once the mighty san joaquin river. at one time there was enough to carry steam boats all the way up river to fresno. now you'll find some sand, a couple of shells and some footprints. and the part of the river that have some water are so low the migration of salmon is nothing. >> he's not a very big guy. >> those living and working here worry about a future tide to the troubled san joaquin. >> my backyard is this river and i get to work and make a living off of it, it would be detrimental to me to see it

deteriorate more than it is now. >> there are a lot of political forces that would rather just have the water for farms and not worry about the river. we're asking the state water board to stand up for the river and protect it. >> les grober is with the state water board the agency that's in charge of water for the state. >> why has it been allowed to get to this point? >> in the end there are people who won't like the specific answer but what we're going to do in this process is make sure we're relying on the best science for the protection of fish and wildlife and balance it again with the uses for agriculture. >> john kane says balancing just a little bit can be used for those needs. >> the river can be saved. the plan calls for only 25% of the river's natural flow to stay

in the river. >> that may be difficult in the historic drought which has made the bad situation worse for farms and the fish that so many people rely on. jennifer london al jazeera along the san joaquin river. >> last year the governor asked for voluntary reduction of usage but it back backfired. jake ward is in san francisco for that. jake. >> john it really was seems like a grand plan. governor brown asked for californians to make a voluntary 20% reduction by simply watering their lawns less, washing their cars less, the entire state's usage went up by 1% at that time. it turns out californians are basically insulated. everyday californians are insulated against what's going on by the country side, by the reservoir system here. the california water authority has a huge system for moving water from place to place so

everyone has been held back from having to feel it themselves. now governor brown feels a voluntary measure did not work and now needs to impose a more mandatory, entirely mandatory restriction against water usage across the state. >> some people have complained about their drinking water. what's happening there? >> that's absolutely right. berkeley oakland and san francisco residents complain the water has a strange mineral taste to it. because the water authorities are moving water supplies around, beginning to draw from different parts of recess vo reservoirs they haven't used from before. the drinking water is going to be this way and while this may not sort of change water usage

among residents the things people are beginning to understand is 80% of this water in the state goes to agriculture, that's where it goes and that's the the source ofsource ofthe problem here. >> jake ward, thank you very much. mcdonald's is raising pay for some 90,000 of its american employees. starting in july, the workers will get at least $1 more than the local minimum wage. that comes to an average of $9.90 per hour but by the end of next year that will raise to $10 per hour. the move only affects workers run by mcdonald's themselves. more than 750,000 workers mcdonald's franchises will not be affected. the minimum wage in seattle goes up today. it's set to gradually peak at $15 an hour nearly double the current federal minimum wage. allen schauffler has that story. >> reporter: restaurant owner john pratt's price of doing business is going up. we met him last year when the

seattle city council was still debating raising the minimum wage. >> when i keep hearing, it's a done deal, i am shocked did seattle really think about this? >> platt was worried about the bottom line on both his restaurant and his employees. >> whatever people's perception of wealthy business owners, i'm not that guy. >> reporter: that guy has changed his tune. >> last year at this time totally freaked out. >> he's less worried now because of the way the pay hikes will be phased in, gradually. half of platt's workers will now make $10 an hour base pay. that's the new low end for employees who also make tips or get health benefits. across the city most minimum wage workers go to $11 right now and will make 15 within three years. platt says the step by step approach should make it economically feasible.

>> as a community we're going to walk together with this. >> but it's a slow walk. it will be 2021 before all of the estimated 100,000 low wage earners in seattle hit that $15 mark. robert o'neil has been waiting table for minimum wage plus tips for the last six years. he knows this first bump isn't a big one but every little bit helps. >> when i was a kid i liked to go to the construction sites to work for $10 to work, i liked that, ten is a nice even number but 11 is better you know. >> the wage will have the biggest impacts in the food hospitality and health care industries. complaints will be handled by the new office of labor standards at city hall but there's one problem. >> right now the office of labor standards exists on paper only. >> the office of labor standards the city hasn't yet appointed a director. >> no enforcement officers. >> at this moment, nothing has happened yet. and i am hopeful that it will.

the appointees will be selected based on -- >> our task, to keep the fire burning. >> councilwoman shama sawant wants workers know they will be tracked and punished if they don't pay the new rates. but exactly how that happens is not clear. >> it's not surprising to me one bit that the establishment politicians of the city government haven't really put their best foot forward on enforcement. >> how easy is this going to be? >> ha ha just as easy as owning and running a restaurant is, you know? just a piece of cake. >> john platt says a few employees might lose a few hours of work here and there and gradual pay rates will guarantee gradual pay rates. >> prices are going to go up.

>> allen schauffler, al jazeera seattle. >> now to iran. a second deadline missed, the second extension granted for reaching a deal on iran's nuclear program. u.s. secretary of state john kerry will remain at the talks in switzerland until at least thursday. some diplomats say they believe the negotiations are in the final pages but tehran and six world powers are at the table and they're still far apart on some key issues. >> if we are in a situation where we sense that the talks have stalled, then yes the united states and the international community is prepared to walk away. because we've been very clear about what kinds of commitments we expect and we've been clear about those kinds of commitments for in excess of a year. >> iran's foreign minister says it's time to seize the moment that may never come again. both sides are accusing each other of holding up the deal. hans blix is head of the former atomic energy agency, joins us

from -- on skype from stockholm. what could that impact have on these negotiations? >> sanctions are a very important part of it but the u.s. sanctions ant the congress are only one part of it. there are sanctions imposed by the united nations security council, not as far reaching in terms of the economy and the european union decided to have also not any import of oil. so if there is a settlement now then i think for the iranians it's very important that the u.n. sanctions in the first play be lifted. because they see that as a sort of stigma as to placing them in a category of pariah in the world. >> dr. blix you know the prime minister of israel says you can't trust iran, so do members of congress and other leaders.

how do you trust a country like iran? how do you verify that they're doing what they said they would do if there is an agreement? >> well, they have claimed all along that they have not been working to get a nuclear agreement, to get a nuclear weapon, and it's true that they have had a nuclear program that is over-dimension, that is too big for what they would need for simply producing electricity and light water reactors. this has raised suspicions. but you must remember that in the 1980s the united states was the country that tried to prevent iran from having any enriched uranium at all. they might have started this at least with the idea that they should be self-supplying, self -- manage themselves. but then it's clear that the program became too big. and what i think negotiations had been about is to really reduce it, to slim the program to be of the size that is right for the production of

electricity. >> but how can an organization like the one you used to lead, the atomic energy agency, the international atomic energy agency, make sure that they are actually getting the information that they need to make a judgment about what iran is really doing? >> well, in 1991, when i was in vienna, the head of the iea we learned how the iraqis were cheating us because the arrangements at that time were not sufficiently strong and we took measures then to modify the system. in 1997, the year i left the iea, the additional powers to information, the right to this was adopted by the general conference. and under the settlement discussed now the idea is that iran will accept all the provisions of the additional protocol and that will have a rather rigorous inspection going on in the future. however, i would not say that

you can ever have 100% assurances, because you cannot prove the negative. >> and if the talks fall apart what does it mean for the world? >> well, it means that there will be no insurances, no -- no assurances, no commitments given by the iranian side and it will also mean that the liberal wing in iran, this is also a regime, will be weakened at the time. this is not something we would like to see. apparently iran is trying to suppress the i.s.i.s. in iraq and we don't know whether they will be very helpful in the future. they will also be helpful in bringing assad to do away with his chemical weapons. iran can be very helpful but if they are subjected to what i feel is a humiliation then i fear i worry very much about

what the attitude would be. >> dr. blix, it's good to have you on the program, thank you very much for staying up late tonight. >> sure. >> to retake tikrit from i.s.i.l, the rebels are still present this certain parts of the strategic city north of baghdad but the iraqis are raising the national flag. last night the u.s. led the fight with air strikes now i.s.i.l. has reached deeper into the capital city than ever before. outside of damascus, they have now reportedly pulled out. video of smoke rising, clashes with syrian military. about 8,000 live in that refugee

camp. what you need to know about climate change. is the world's largest producer of nuclear injury but as sea levels continue to rise, there is concern that america's low level reactors could be at risk. coming up paul beban is live, to show you how rising sea levels could change the country's nuclear industry.

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xfinity is perfect for people who love fast. don't miss furious 7 in theaters april 3rd. >> a federal grand jury has indicted new jersey u.s. senator robert menendez. for bribery making false statement, to help the business interests of a top campaign supporter. earlier tonight senator mennendez denied all wrong coining.

>> three years ago they had false allegation is by those who have a political motive to silence me but i will not be silenced. >> a spokes spokesperson for menendez says he will not step a side and will stay in office. the corruption case will take more than a year before it goes trogoesto trial. a verdict in the largest school cheating case in history. case ignited nationwide debate about standardized test. over 200 were indicted, some say they were instructed to change test scores in order to get bonuses or even keep their jobs. now to the case of a federal

judge. misdemeanor charges of beating his wife. fuller denies the charges. a disturbing 911 call made by his wife is raising serious questions about whether fuller should stay on the bench. >> what's going on? >> i'm -- >> consume? >> domestic dispute. >> this is the nerch call. >> i'm calling i need help. >> that put federal judge mark fuller in an atlanta jail. >> do you need an ambulance? >> yes please. >> he was arguing with his wife while they stayed at a luxury hotel last august. >> kelly. kelly. okay. she needs an ambulance. i'm sending the police. they're in a domestic call at the ritz carlton.

>> kelly fuller answered the door in tears and there were visible signs on her mouth and forehead. his wife became violent for confronting him about being unfaithful. >> you agree to complete the program. >> the judge spent a night in jail and later agreed to enter a program that includes counseling. fuller appointed by george zimmerman bush in 2000 has been criticized before for his behavior. he had an affair with his courtroom assistant which led to a messy divorce. his 8 yaition firm does -- his eight of yais firm doesaviation firm doesmillions of

dollars of work with the faa. judge, welcome. what should happen to judge fuller? >> well, in my view the process should run its course. the judicial council should make a recommendation to the house of representatives that judge fuller be impeached and i think that the house should proceed with impeachment proceedings and if the evidence is presented i'm reasonably confident that the house of representatives will conclude that he has not displayed the good behavior that is required of federal judges. >> that's even if the charges are dropped? >> that's correct. >> why? >> well, the standard of conduct for federal judges is set forth in the constitution. it was articulated by our founding fathers.

federal judicial appointments are not lifetime appointments. rather, they are under article 3 section 1 of the constitution, appointments during good behavior. that phrase. during good behavior. and so if a federal judge's behavior falls short of the good standard then that federal judge, in my judgment, should be impeached and convicted and removed from office. >> judge clemon you know judge fuller. can you give us some insight? have there been problems before, any warning signs? >> i don't know personally of any problems. there are always rumors. but my decision and my approach is based largely on the

undisputed facts concerning what happened at the ritz carlton back in august of last year. >> specifically, when you look at the story and you just heard the story that we ran what is it about that incident that is so disturbing in your mind? >> well, a federal judge should epitomize good conduct. domestic violence is one of the very deep-seeded problems of our society today. and it is so is out of character for one who is sworn to uphold and enforce the law to himself engage in that kind of deplorable conduct that it creates a bad appearance for the judiciary as a whole.

and those considerations i think are very important and they are the considerations which should lead to the impeachment and conviction of judge fuller. >> we will follow judge fuller's case and revisit this when a decision is made. judge it's good to have you on the program. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> coming up next: fragile planet. how rising sea levels could threaten a florida nuclear power plant. plus in arkansas. a reversal on a controversial religious freedom bill.

>> hi everyone, this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler. religious redom. >> we're a state that -- freedom. >> we're a state that recognizes the diversity of the workforce the need for nondiscrimination. >> the debate over protecting religion and preventing discrimination spreads to another state. nuclear fears. >> i'm not aware of anything that they have done to harden

the site since fukushima. >> how rising seas could put a florida power plant and people at risk. and stand-up guy. from beijing to brooklyn. the american comedian getting laughs in three languages. ark's governor says he will not -- arkansas's governor says he will not sign the new religious freedom act into law. it comes one day after indiana's governor asked lawmakers to clarify his state law. pressure is coming from business leaders and gay rights activists who call the bill discriminatory. erica pitzi has the story. erica. >> calling for changes to this religious freedom measure that faces intense backlash from

businesses and civil rights groups. >> this is a bill that in ordinary times would not be controversial. bus these are not ordinary times. -- but these are not ordinary times. >> thrust into the national spotlight, arkansas governor seized an opportunity to quell a growing controversy. >> we want to be a place that has the right balance between religious protections and freedom and nondiscrimination. >> we are arkansas. >> but opponents of the so-called religious freedom law simply said it would allow businesses to discriminate against people for any reasons. >> i think it's ironic at best that they're using religious as an excuse to pass something that could have intentions or unintentional consequences that are not good for a huge segment of our population here. >> that segment is the lgbt community here.

gaining steam nationwide this kind of law represents push back against that success. >> done in the name of religious it's just incomprehensible that anyone who has a relationship with god would believe that, that it's even necessary. >> that's the thing. why do some lawmakers feel legislation like this necessary especially if it already is considered national? areva martin, legal specialist. >> they're saying we want to give which is the right to exercise their religious beliefs and feelings. >> clearly, several other state legislatures agree since nationwide, 20 states already have some kind of religious freedom laws on the books. 12 other states introduced legislation this year. it became law in indiana this week but bills recently stalled

in north carolina and georgia. in arkansas, the state's biggest employer walmart immediately urged governor hutchinson to detoe it. >> i think we have potentially opened the door for people to interpret this as the ability to treat others differently based on our religion and i don't believe that is my religious beliefs are and if jesus were alive today that's what he would be telling us today. >> ultimately the governor has the last word and he's calling for change. >> this is about substance getting the legislation right and also about communicating to the world and to our neighboring states that we're a state that recognizes the diversity of the workforce the need for nondiscrimination and that we want to accomplish that.

>> now as for indiana the religiousreligious law there goes into effect may 1st. meanwhile john some legal analysts are saying that this issue will likely play itself out in the court system especially in states that do not have antidiscrimination laws in place against -- to protect the lgbt community in one of those states is indiana. >> sounds like this fight is just beginning in many states. erica thank you. jay cheshire joins us. what did your governor say in your state? >> we asked the governor to take this bill back and mirror language from the religious freedom restoration act at the federal level recognizing that we don't want to do anything that would be considered

discriminatory against anyone. >> you heard what one state lawmaker said in that piece which is that this is law, this is a law that is not what jesus would do. what do you say to that? >> you know while we believe that the original intent of hb 1228 was to protect the religious freedoms of all our kansans, we believe it can be interpreted to protect arkansas, is that we want to be a state of opportunity not intolerance . >> why are legislatures passing bills that in your opinion would allow their citizens of their states to discriminate against gays and lesbians? what is this about? >> i can't speak to the legislative intent of the gentleman thatgentleman thatgentlemen that have been

involved in this piece of legislation or other states. but what we have tried to do is urge the arkansas legislature governor has come out and spoke to ensure an open and fair workplace as well as an equitable work environment for all arkansasns. arkansas residents. >> i've got to talk to you about. has this already done damage by arkansas the state legislature by going ahead and passing it? >> i don't think so. because the fast action of the governor and the legislative leaders to take a step back to take a deep breath to take another look at what the perception of this legislation was being perceived as across the country gave them an opportunity to recognize that you know, maybe this isn't exactly what we wanted it to be. and let's go back and make sure we get it right so that we

don't discriminate against anyone. >> we'll see whether that happens. it's good to have you on the program, jay thanks very much. >> thank you john. one of the biggest threats to the environment is rising sea levels. it's a concern all along america's coasts and one of the most vulnerable areas is florida. more than a thousand miles of coast is at the mercy of rising sea $. many say so is is a -- seas. many say so is the area at miami turkey point. fragile planet, paul beban takes a look at the risk . >> reporter: miami is world famous for its beautiful beaches and beautiful people but the city known for its bright lights, billions of dollars of real estate and glamorous boulevards is now on the front lines of the battle against climate change. flooding is becoming more frequent, more destructive and according to the vast majority of sea level rise projections

it's only going to get worse. that grim forecast is what has some people here very concerned about this place. turkey point nuclear power plant. just 25 miles south of the greater miami membership rop lustmetropolis. >> it's going to go underwater much sooner than many people think. >> built on the edge of biscayne bay, in the early '70s when rising seas weren't a concern. that isn't reassuring to dan kipness. >> it's 60, 70, 100 years guaranteed, the water is coming up. >> kipness loves these waters. he's worried that turkey point

is the next fukushima. the 2011 disaster in japan triggered when a tsunami hit the nuclear power plant. >> the spent nuclear fuel rods, they are in a tank with water that's exactly the way it was with fukushima. when fukushima flooded with the tidal wave the tsunami that hit them part of the water came out of the tank. that heats the fuel up, it causes gas to get into the containment vessel that's around it and then it exploaz and explodes and that's what blew it up. >> the country ordered the plants to review their safety plans. an nrc spokesman said turkey point is secure against current sea level conditions. the nrc has reviewed turkey point and determined it is free of immediate safety issues. the nrc is satisfied to this point that turkey point is appropriately implementing strategies to maintain key

safety functions if a severe event such as flooding affects installed systems. >> i'm not aware of anything they've done to harden the site since fukushima. >> phillip stoddard, recently reelected to a third term as mayor of south miami also an outspoken critic of the power plant. >> is it a good idea of having nuclear plants of any age on water line? the water going out there is pretty low two feet of see sea level as i'm sure you've heard is going to make turkey point an island. >> show me the maps he made showing how rising seas would inundate south florida and isolate the powerpoint. power plant. >> i'm going to bring up half a

foot at high tide and here is what i get. >> that is only six inches of sea level rise at high tide. >> in 25 years. >> looks like the plant is completely swamped. >> it is an island. >> here is what two feet, three feet four feet of permanent sea rise. waves would roll in on top of that. the agency predicts water levels could rise six feet. >> for every foot of sea level rise, you add three feet of wave surge. >> turkey point emerged largely unscathed. florida power and light the plant's operator cites that prominently on its website but according to harlem and mayor

stoddard the peak surge missed turkey point by ten miles. >> they said turkey point withstood the full surge of hurricane andrew. it was never tested by the surge. >> if they are right and turkey point is safe, they say south florida will be tested by other questions. as the water permanently rises. >> how soon? not this year, not 30 years. 200 years i don't expect much of florida to be above the water line. >> how do you depopulate an urban area like miami? it's not going to be pretty. so the question really is for me and my wife: will we live out our life here in this house? and we hope to. my daughter would not be able to do that. >> that was paul beban reporting. michael gerard is a professor and the director of the sabin center for climate change at the

columbia law school and he joins us tonight. so michael give me your opinion on this. many nuclear power plants were built 40 years ago when climate change was not considered an issue. they were often built along the water because they used water for cooling. are they built to withstand the effects of climate change today? >> no, they weren't built with that in mind. when they were designed, there was no real concept that there would be significant sea level rise and the situation is certainly changing. >> so as we just heard it could be anywhere from 60 to 100 years before the rising sea level poses a concern for power plants. does that estimate in your opinion seem correct or not? >> well, i think there are going to be real storm surges before that but power plants are not going to be around 60 -- that long. they were built for a 40 year life span. that has just been extended another 20 years. but another 40 or 50 years i think all of the existing

nuclear power plants will be gone. >> how worried should we be about repeating another fukushima? >> i don't think the risk of that is very high. it's not zero but after fukushima the nuclear regulatory commission did an emergency review and set forth a whole long list of measures they wanted nuclear power plants to undertake. only a fraction of them have been done. the nrc says the most important will be done by the end of 2016 but so far we haven't had a whole lot of improvement. >> all right so what do you see as the hazards associated with rising sea levels? >> at a nuclear power plant the major concerns is it knocks out the generator which is needed to keep the power rods cool. poses other problems for the infrastructure of other parts of south florida and the other parts of the country. >> what are the regulations in place to avoid a catastrophe?

>> the nuclear regulatory commission takes a look at these issues from time to time and see if there are any emergency needs. they don't think emergency needs are but other things to further reduce the risk. >> do you think our country circulate have done more after fukushima? >> yes. the country should have moved faster on nuclear power plants and the country should today be moving much faster both on reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the climate change we know is coming in the coming decades. >> michael gerard thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> the cynthia lennon, the first wife of john lennon died of cancer today. the beatles said hey jude was

written to help john through the divorce. cynthia was 72 years old. antonio mora is here with the story of the next hour. >> palestinians voted last year to join the icc. they joined to put forward war crimes committed by israel last summer. in the end their side may be investigated as well. either way, the hague is expected to take its time on this given the volatile situation in the middle east. >> what i think is important at this stage is to allow the prosecutor this possibility of analyzing all the relevant voargsinformation, all the relevant arguments, the time of the crimes the alleged perpetrators. >> thawing investigators may

also look into illegal settlements on palestinian land. also john the impact it might have on middle east peace efforts. >> antonio, thank you. a brand name product dating back some 2,000 years. plus: >> irish american comedian who is a huge hit in china. what he says about the cultural differences and how he bridges the divide with laughter.

>> i don't know if you know this bus years ago in ireland we had an economy. people went to ireland to work. these people would host families, the host family would be like welcome to ireland, what is your flame? the guy would say son grrvetion

chiong chi yu.and the answer would be shamus. >> we talked to him about being a trilingual comic. we asked him how he got into comedy. >> originally a deep desire to be liked. i was a natural performer i guess class clown and all that. the actual class comedy and stuff a friend sort of pushed me into it and then the addiction kicked in. >> and how do you become a trilingual comic? >> i mean that's a process like a series of events. originally i learned the gaelic language. >> you moved to ireland? >> my story is too long. >> no no. >> i moved to ireland and i went to boarding school and i

learned to stand up comedy in gaelic. >> you go from new york to ireland to learn gaelic and you learned mandarin chinese right? >> that's the last part of the journey. up until now. >> now you're back in new york? >> i'm back in new york in flushing which turns out might as well be in china fantastic neighborhood. >> let's talk about how comedy translates into language and different cultures. did your original work begin in ireland? >> i was formerly from new york. i would do comedy in ireland you can't do a joke about some famous irish star that nobody knows here or doesn't know the back story. certainly when i started doing gigs in chinese there's a whole raft of issues that don't work, grammar issues like you know,

where does the punch line go? like sometimes the grammar goes you have to put the punch line before the joke. which doesn't go well. >> there are areas where there's lots of chinese now? >> i am from flushing. i went to china. everyone knows i went the wrong way. it seems to be the other way around. oddly enough i never wanted to come back to flurk but flushing, but it's you can come back to new york after learning chinese and feel just as welcome when you come back. >> what's the issue about being a trilingual comic for you? >> any comic knows any time you can open yourself up to a new language, the wealth of material that other comics would only be jealous of.

>> i'm an irish american by the way originally from flushing new york. i was always irish really, raised in new york, raised by issue people, in the proper irish way in that i was raised by ferocious alcoholics. >> you must get a lot of talk about what you've done. >> americans are more obsessed by race than they would be in britain or ireland. when you're dealing with the issue of i was the only white guy in the village so to speak or the fish out of water it is fun to play olittle bit with race and certainly to play around with people's perceptions about the chinese and stereotypes about the chinese. >> in addition to making people law of you're breaking down barriers. >> hopefully. >> thanks so much for coming by. >> and des bishop is performing

his show in new york until april 5th. we think of brand names as distinctly modern. turns out they go back nearly 2,000 years to a master glass maker in modern lebanon whose name stretched all over the ancient report. here is today's first person report. >> my name is crifer lightfoot lightfoot -- christopher lightfoot. i'm the curator of roman art in the museum. what sets him apart is that he signs his wears. these are one of the earl earliest of labeling. the greek apoyer which means named by him. he also used bright colors to attract customers. he used attractive designs.

and then on top of that he also used his own name as his label so that people could say i bought an enium. his glass wear was found throughout the mediterranean world. that is roman empire in the first century ad. surprisingly, a lot of his work has been found in good condition. and that is because they were buried in tombs and so have been preserved intact. most of the greek and roman works of art that you see in museums today have only been preserved because they were buried as grave goods in tombs. it is clear that he inspired other makers of mull-blown glass to make similar objects. he had a very close programs rival.

arasteas. luxury not luxury but high-class table wear. he was the first really to make a label and incorporate it into the overall design of his products so he was very clear and very visible on his works and so he branded his glass wear and people could basically ask for it by name. >> the exhibition, ennian master of ancient glass is here at the metropolitan museum of art in the april 13th. anything is possible, even selling a pet rock. the '70s was a best seller, more than a million pet rocks were bought. gary dahl came up with the idea while speaking with friends at a bar. he was 78 years old. he died yesterday. i'm john siegenthaler, the

news continues next with antonio mora.

god willing, iraq will be liberated from i.s.i.l. and their crime. >> victory in tikrit. iraq's prime minister celebrates with his troops but the fight is not over. nuclear program, secretary of state john kerry continues his stay to continue negotiations. mayhem in turkey. three attacks on government