my guest tonight from "mad men," linda cardellini is here. ( cheers and applause ). but first, first tonight, i and the rest of america woke up this morning in the worst way imaginable. >> governor, welcome back to the channel. >> thank you. i get to be here the entire hour. >> john: well, well, well. ( cheers and applause ) well, well, well. look what the fox dragged in ( laughter ) sarah palin has been hired back by fox news, and she only left five months ago. she's now effectively quit quitting. ( laughter ) she can't even commit to being uncommitted. but, you know, you know what? let's be fair to her. people do change. what are you up to? >> i am doing great, writing a book, a book about christmas, and pushing back on the politically correct who would try to take christ out of christmas. do new yorkers feel like you're just a bunch of little babies with thank goodness you got this nanny. you just put the b.s. in cbs. with benghazi, the government lied and people died. government lied and government spied. >> john: okay, dr. seuss. ( laughter ) by the way, that little rhyme is from one of sarah's kids' books, "all the places you'll leave." i just don't even know where to begin with her. i mean-- hold on. i think i've just realized something. ( bleep ). this is exactly what she wants. just because i walked into a supermarket doesn't mean i have to buy anything. this is brings us to our new incredibly important segment. "wait a second. we can just ignore her." ( laughter ) we can do that. ( cheers ) we can all do that. that is a power we have. because, yes, we could spend the whole show juxtaposing video clips to demonstrate how sarah palin's strongly felt convictions are nothing more than self-contradictory nonsense. or we can just ignore her. yes! ( cheers and applause ) we can respond to her obvious trolling with a series of insulting jokes, and maybe together enjoy a brief moment of catharsis, or we can just ( bleep ) ignog her. i promise, america, it will feel so good. it will be like we give our brains an enema together. i'm not saying it will be easy. i mean, just look at her. she's a temptress. ( laughter ) oh, sarah, if only it was as easy for us to quit you as it is for you to quit everything. ( laughter ) so let's just move on. let's just move on because we can. to a much lighter subject, iran. ( laughter ) our mortal enemy, iran, the great threat the pontiest bit of the axis of evil, ruled by a tiny cartoon villain with an iron grip on power that he will never relinquish. >> in iran voters are going to the polls today to elect a new president. >> six candidates are vying to replace outgoing president mahmoud ahmadinejad, who is barred from seek a third consecutive term. >> john: hold ohold on. so the most serrifying super villain on the world stage has been brought to his knees by term limits? ( laughter ) that means he technically had less power than michael bloomberg. ( cheers and applause ) incidentally, that is a contrast that would upset ahmadinejad for so many reasons. now, you might remember the last election in 2009 in iran didn't go too well. so brace yourself, everyone. >> iran has a new president-elect, a moderate cleric, nabbing more than 50% of the vote. >> john: wait, really? ( laughter ) a moderate? so the people in iran have spoken, supreme leader ayatollah khomeini's days are numbers. >> it's iran's supreme court leader who has ultimate power and it was his guardian council of clerics who preapproved the six candidates. >> john: i get it. these days are technically still numbered, just in the thousands. you can imagine what it must be like to vote in an election where the candidates are preapproved by a small handful of religious conservatives with vastly inflated power. ( cheers and applause ). that would be so frustrating. imagine how annoying that would be. it is hard for us in america to know how to react to this. on one hand, the iranian people only got to choose from a preapproved selection of hard-line conservatives. on the other hand, they chose the most moderate one. on one hand, the the iranian people seem happy, marching and chanting in the streets. on the other hand, as far as i can tell from watching the news, that is kind of how they react to everything. ( laughter ) the bottom line is this-- whenever there is a democratic election in eye country we're not entirely on good terms with, america gets to play its favorite game-- ( cheers and applause ) and to answer that important question, let's check in with our panel of experts. >> a turnout of more than 70% suggests many eventually came out and voted for rouhani. >> this is a candidate who came in and injected some optimism and hope that maybe iran can improve its relations with the west. >> john: yes, of course. it's a good thing, democratic elections, 72% turnout. that's huge. basically, everyone not under house arrest in iran voted. ( laughter ) so that's definitely unqualified good news. >> this is a fake election and a fake democracy. let's not kid ourselves. >> john: okay, i take that back. ( laughter ) a fake election is no good. we in america have no tolerance for fake things. with the exception of cheese, designer handbags and breasts. or, or, or the ultimate american accessory, designer cheese boots. ( laughter ) ( applause ) there is something both sexy and nauseating about that. still, there is one positive aspect of this election that we can all agree on-- iranians, americans, even itolans, and that is, that this guy is gone, this 56-year-old with an impressive commitment to the members only jacket. ( laughter ) this-- this man who has a ph.d. in traffic planning-- that is actually true. he is a doctor of traffic, although, to be fair, most of the time his only solution is to just deny the traffic jam ever happened. the point is-- ( cheers and applause ) the point is-- the point is he now leaves his position as chief antagonist to the entire planet. but he will lived on in his words, his crazy, crazy crazy words. >> ahmadinejad laughed about topics like the torture of his own people. >> he famously denied the holocaust. >> suggesting that 9/11 was an american conspiracy to somehow help israel. >> in iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country. >> i heard that osama bin laden is in washington, d.c. >> no, you didn't. ( laughter ) >> john: i like stephanopoulos "oh, know you didn't." oh, know you did not. so now we officially retire ahmadinejad's tan members only jacket to live in the "daily show" rafters alongside the garments of other lunatics. ( cheers and applause ). gaddafi, michael jackson's costume, and kim jong il's dinner jacket to take its place of honor in the "daily show" hall of fame. shine on, you crazy ( bleep ). ( laughter ) we'll be right back. ( cheers and applause ) >> john: welcome back. the supreme court will soon hand down a pair of historic rulings on same sex marriage, marking a turning point in the fight for gay rights. what about those who the march of progress has left behind? sam beehas more. >> gay rights have made great strides with the majority of americans supporting same sex marriage but there are still millions suffering from the sting of bigotry and bullying. christians. >> it's open season to bully christians, and all in the name tolerance and diversity. >> if i say i support traditional marriage, i'm automatically called a bigot. i'm called a homophob. >> we're getting to the point where these homofascists are going to force us to wear on our sleeves some kind of identifying marker. >> and evangelicals have found themselves the victims of the most horrific bullying. >> the christians are getting bullying. the christians i talk to are intimidated. they get intimidated. >> for what. >> for saying homoswult is wrong, or they are sinful, just like pedophiles, just like liars, just like thieves. >> so the homosexuals don't like that. >> that's right, they're just not very tolerant. >> so, hey, jerk, be more tolerant of your intolerance. after spending an afternoon-- christian, coming through! i realized how tough it is. people wouldn't stop staring at us. hey! watch out! i got a christian! it was clear that intolerance towards christians is a huge problem in his mind, and though there are countless actual examples of appalling intolerance against homosexuals, that's missing the real story. >> the reverse happens as well. where homosexual goes out and find straights to beat up. >> really? >> yeah. >> are you sure about that? >> these kinds of events are not publicized very well. why is this not being covered? >> yes, why is this hypothetical violence not being covered or recorded or even occurring? maybe it's because the figures are being hushed up by the homosexual industrial complex. >> how come the homosexuals aren't defending us christians with our right to be able to express ourselves. >> at what point has your right to express yourself been infringed upon? >> ( laughter ) >> don't know if it's going to happen, but i'm concerned about it. i have a radio show. i'm just concerned about any oppression that may come. >> sure. >> that people might say, "matt, you can't say that on the radio that homoswult is a sin." >> you can't even go on the radio anymore and condemn a whole subset of people to hell without getting some blowback. >> when you fut that way, it does sound rather arrogant and myopic and narrow minded and bigoted. >> good, then i've done my jobs. no wonder he's concerned about christian oppression. there are so few place where's they can safely concongregate, apart from truck starts, inaugurationing the entire military, and the churches in major and minor cities. it makes you fear for vulnerable young christians like todd clayton. >> i've been called names and shunned from a community that i grew up in, had to quit my job. >> all because you're an outspoken christian. >> it's because i'm gay. >> i'm sorry, i thought you were a christian? >> i'm also gay. >> so it was the gay part of you? >> right. >> that was bullied? >> right, exactly. >> okay, but as a christian, you must admit you need protection from people like you. >> that's insane. >> this intolerance gay thug was just getting warmed up. >> evangelical christians not experiencing bullying. it's a giant temper tantrum that they don't get to be in charge anymore and that they have to share their toys. >> okay, i don't think the evangelical christians want to play with your gay toys. there's not enough clorox in the world. closed minded gay agendists like todd weren't willing to reach out to the other side the way matt was. >> i have homosexual friend. >> okay, that's so cool. >> i had a friend at the gym back in southern california where he sat down next to me in a jacuzzi, and i knew right away he was gay. >> how did you know? >> i just knew. and we became friends for a year. we were sitting in the car together after going dancing together and having fun and doing movies. and he told me. and i said, "yeah, i knew." and he said, "what do you mean?" >> first of all, i met you in a jaciewzy and we constantly going gdancing together. >> that wasn't even it. he was-- he had some friends. anyway. >> soall the evangelical christians out there, be proud of who you are and who you want to condemn to eternal damnination. some day the gay bullies may learn to accept you. i feel like if you ever got the chance to just know a real christian by having a jacuzzi with them and maybe going dancing a few times with them, maybe you would change your opinion christians. >> sounds pretty gay. >> i guess the name calling may never end. >> john: thank you, sam. we'll be right back. ( cheers and applause ). >> john: welcome back. my guest tonight an actress who is currently on amc's "mad men." please welcome linda cardellini! ( cheers and applause ) that's right. that is the appropriate response. >> i like that response. >> john: congratulations on "mad men." it is fantastic. you are great in it. >> thank you. ( cheers and applause ). >> john: that is how democracy works? >> i love it. >> john: that is now an official fact in history. i was reading a bit about you, and i stumbled onto the fact when you were 19 you were on the "price is right. of. >> i was, yes, i was. >> john: and you won a ( bleep ) fireplace. >> i did. >> john: that is incredible. >> i still have it. >> john: you still have it? >> yes. i kept it for years in the box in my garage. because it was the very first time i was ever on television so once i was really an actress i was going to put a plaque on it that said, "my first time on television" and be very proud of it. i kept it all these years and never got the plaque and i just put it up in my house and it looks terrible. >> john: doesn't matter. it does not matter. >> it does not burn wood. >> john: a bob barker endorsed fireplace. it's the first thing people see, "ask me about that fireplace because i'm about to have a story that blows your mind," especially because aaron paul who plays jesse, he also was on the "price is right." >> what did he win? >> john: he won a desk. ( laughter ) it's almost like amc is using the "price is right" for casting. >> once i put my snacks snacks,b barker, you have to have ron draper. >> john: if you can have barker drairp is no problem. growing up in england as i did, i remember the "price is right" was one of my first introductions to americans. ( laughter ) >> oh! >> john: and i was thinking, wow, they are excitable. >> i ran down that aisle and i practically molested a stranger i just hugged her so much i was jumping up and down. >> john: did you go with the high-five? that was the classic. >> they tell you when your name is called-- if your name is called and i never thought my name would be called and they pronounced it incorrectly-- to raise your hand. you're doing what they ask you to do but you look like crazy weaving your hands, and of course you're excite. >> john: you've been in so many amazing things. "mad men" is the latest. you're in "gravity falls." >> i play the voice of wendy. ( cheers and applause ). >> john: where did all this start, school, i guess? did you do plays in school? >> well, i was kind of the kid that my brother was always like, "shut up. stop singing or dancing or doing something stupid in the front room." i never thought i was good at it, and a teacher came to my class in sixth grade, and she thought i could sing and she put me in a christmas play and that was it. >> john: that's as you the way. i start my first and almost only appearance on stage was in-- i was six years old in the nativity and i played third shepard. ( laughter ) and i said, "lo, a star," and i left. that was-- that was the height of my experience as an actor. >> i think you're doing okay. ( laughter ) ( applause ). >> john: how is "mad men"? were you a fan of "mad men" before? >> yes, yes, i was a very big fan. >> john: how strange to walk on to the set for the first time. >> it's amazing. the sets are beautiful and the props are-- i mean, every glass is gorgeous and i love that time period. >> john: do you find "mad men" fans can over-shoot their compliments into becoming creepy. ""mad men" is great. it was such a fantastic time in american history am upon. a simpler time where we all knew where we stood and you're good in it." ( laughter ) >> that's the funny thing tsort of glamarrizes a lot of-- even for women. my character has a lot of things that she goes through as a woman that nowadays are much further. i think the social mores are very different. and it was quite a tumultuous time. >> john: there was an amazing episode where you were stuck in the hotel room as part of a nefarious sex game you were just left on your own in there. at one point being alone stop being sexy and start being boring, i wonder? >> well, you know, somebody-- i was talking about that with somebody, and they were saying if that were my husband i'd be very angry. and i said well, it's not our husband. i think maybe because they're with people who are not their husbands or wives, it's a little bit easier to enjoy yourself on your private time. >> john: it probably stops-- it stops officially becoming sexy probably about the time you order up "romeo and juliette" on demand. you're absolutely brilliant in it. i wish i had a fireplace to give you. >> i have one to give you. >> john: it's the least you deserve. "mad men" is sunday nights at 10:00 on a.m.c. ( cheecardellini. captioning sponsored by comedy central captioned by media access grat