i pushed my voice. i always try to stay fit. day, trying every to stay fit. to have too many bad habits. >> i went down on my knees in prayer, and i hated that you were so far from me i could not get you. i could not reach out to touch you, but i was rating for you. like tom a don't let that

happen. like, don't let that happen. valves that were leaking, but i had not noticed anything until then. a couple of instances of but that of rest, really set me down for a few minutes. was in thelater i studio, and eight days later i was on stage. i'm not stopping. i asked this question because i am curious about when

and where you came into the knowledge that this was your going gift, that you were to spend your life empowering .nd inspiring >> i sat next to my mother in church. happened before i set foot on this planet. -- aour brilliant pn brilliant pianist. i came here with something i inherited from my folks. you can call me out went. .- call me al

got people interested in the story that includes an orchestra. i can't say a lot more about it, but we are going to tell the story about what happened. i was six or seven and singing. people smiled and pinched my cheeks until the blood vessels broke. i knew i was doing something right. i did a concert at five years in the garden. we raise money to buy a new pn iano at our church in milwaukee. i kind of knew something was going on.

brothers were singing. i started singing. i didn't know i wasn't supposed to sing intervals like that. there it was right in front of me. it would laterecome part of my signature. just like our thumbprt makes us different from anyone in the world, you said we have a .humbprint on our throat your voice is distinctive in the world, and you have to give some volume to your voice. that was the most deeply

philosophical thing i have heard. anyone who hears your voice in the middle of the night knows that is tavis smiley. they would know your voice .ecause of the textures >> you discovered this when you were five years old, but how did you become proficient. did you become so versatile in so many different genres? >> it's all listening and exposure.

that's why it's so important to expose your kids do many different things. i can sing some poll codes. don't get me started. lkas.me po don't get me started. i'm proud of that. i watched elvis restfully become. -- elvis presley becom become.d chuck berry i listened to doo-wop before it was called doo-wop.

♪ i did that in the airport. we took victors and started singing in an international airport. photos and started singing in an international airport. >> you were singing a cappella? >> our families go back to this little school in huntsville, alabama. they saying in a quartet.

amazing, and that gets mentioned on stage. every day is thanksgiving. you're going to hear god. tavis: you're a class act. >> the thing is we need to keep some voices that hold some stuff. there are other voices making a bazillion dollars, and kids are listening. tavis: you mentioned take six. it was one of the

great joys of your life where you were a kid growing up in milwaukee and to now have artist's as they break. times where people say he sounds like al jarreau. i remember kim, they said, he .ounds like al jarreau i assume it must be a huge that they compare them. you there is arn lot of money to be made. you don't want to be al jarreau.

>> i do this for free and did it stillee a lot and would be doing it in some fashion for to make money had shining shoes. find something you would do for free. let that put the light in your eyes. it makes you a better husband, father, neighbor, citizen when you have that light in your eyes and you are a pleasant person to be around. did you find everything you need? that is on aisle seven? find something. it could be planting flowers.

especially if you can do something where there was not something before. rearrange the furniture. tavis: i am glad you said that. senselways gotten the that part of what turns you on is the chance to create something every day. there are a couple of tracks i have heard you do a thousand but the way you do it with this orchestra. greatestall one of the love songs ever, or what?

>> he wrote the music, and i did the lyrics. yes, it's a sweetheart love song. i like to say for one moment there was a place called camelot. toe used that in reference america where we have gotten beyond our differences. it might have even been a woman at the time. i like what happened in that song. we sing it every night. spain, butould be you never sing it the same way.

you create something different every time. >> that's one of the commandments of improvisation. improvisation is happening right where guys 'n roll are improvising. step out there and venture and create something tonight that and let't do last night that person make you play a little differently than you did. there was a lady in the audience. that's the commandment. jazz brought this sense of democracy. marquee, may be on the

but it's you. it takes a great deal of courage. improvise live on stage every day. show and telle show, then of the time they're going to play each song. sound, butway they there's no improvisation. you step out every night and improvise live in front of us. that takes a lot of courage. >> i've learned it from the people who have done it before.

thank you for paying that wonderful complement. i would like to say it, but you did. tavis: you make mention of citizens. word i use. it the american people. i prefer fellow citizen. if you don't know -- if you know al jarreau you know he has thoughts about everything. just give me your thoughts about the nation. talk to me about how we are

doing. >> there is a group. it's all the industrialized nations. we mention them because they are our friends. lead the world in things the world needs leadership in. amongst them, we are the only ones without national health care. hospitalt go to the and not worry about falling into bankruptcy. they go to university. we are killing our students with debt. that scares me.

though 405 is the worst freeway to the airport i have driven on. our infrastructure is falling apart. somebody has threatened washington with you cannot raise tax dollars, and it has got to come from deep pockets. use our highways, use our airports, use our libraries, use our universities, and they hoard it away and sit in an office and moved the rose and decimal andts -- and move zeroes decimal points around. it breaks my heart. there are a lot of things that .eed some help

>> i have two days to go, and i can do this for days. given all our fellow citizens are up against, when they take our money and choose to spend it to come see al jarreau, you're going to give them the best show you can give them, but given what the people are up against, umph inat put a little your performance? thatat's always been there my audience is not flush with money.

these are people who work hard to see me. audience, but my audience has always been people who are struggling to stay in the middle class. everyday people. i've got 30 seconds. of our dearlys department friend, george duke. >> we celebrate george every night since he went back to the from which he came from. tavis: i love it. al jarreau is welcome on this show any time. first guestas my

from my first show. we didn't want this to end without him paying a visit. him in town.ught >> tavis for president. isis: the latest project called " al jarreau and the metro orchestra live." i love you. give my best to susan. that's our show for tonight. as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversation with

dennis haysbert and dilbert creator scott adams. that's next time. we'll see you then. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. pbs.

♪ coming up, lucky severson reports on brain scanning that could help predict whether someone might commit terrible violence. should it be used? and a report card on pope francis more than seven months into his papacy. what effect is he having on the american catholic church? a highly controversial book about jesus that's been on the best-seller list for more than 14 weeks.

>> funding for religion and ethics weekly is provided by the endowment. additional funding also provided by mutual of america. designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> welcome. i'm bob abernathy. it's good to have you with us. religious leaders are among those criticizing new cuts to the u.s. food stamp program that took effect november 1st. for months faith-based groups have warned this would hurt struggling americans and strain the resources of charities that help the poor. the new cuts, which total $5 billion over the next year, affect nearly 48 million americans who receive benefits

under the supplemental nutrition assistance program, or s.n.a.p. experts estimate those on food stamps will receive between 5% and 8% less. next week congress will debate making even larger cuts over the next decade. this week marked the one-year anniversary of hurricane sandy, the deadly storm that devastated parts of the mid-atlantic coast, leaving thousands homeless and causing many billions of dollars in damage. a year later faith-based relief efforts are still under way in new york and new jersey, where much of the damage occurred. denominational groups such as southern baptist disaster relief have pledged to continue efforts to rebuild homes and neighborhoods that sandy destroyed. there were mixed reactions after last week's announcement that air force cadets will no longer be required to say "so help me god" when taking their

honor oath. the air force academy in colorado springs decided to make the language optional after a complaint that it violated the cadets' freedom of religion. the decision and the reactions to it highlight the ongoing debatever the role of religion in the u.s. military. we have a lucky severson report now on medical research that raises the question, suppose you could scan a child's brain and tell whether he or she could become dangerously violent in the future. would it be right to have that knowledge? or what if it were a convicted criminal? should brain scans help decide whether a convict should be paroled? >> there is always the one big question after mass killings in places like the aurora theater, sandy hook elementary, virginia tech. could this violence have been predicted or even prevented?

>> i believe firmly there are things we can do to not just treat violence but also prevent it. >> reporter: adrian raine is a professor at the university of pennsylvania and a pioneer in the field of neurocriminology. he has written a controversial book called "the anatomy of violence: the biological roots of crime." >> it's beyond reasonable doubt now that there is this brain basis to crime. this research at one point was suppressed and ignored by social scientists for lots of ethical reasons, basically. but now we're out in the open with this information and we can't go on ignoring it anymore. >> i have enormous respect for adrian raine, and i think he's an excellent scientist. i cannot think of anything more dangerous than his policy recommendations. >> reporter: paul wolpe directs the center