leaker. photos released of the arsenal inside his house and evidence he tried to destroy. this hour of "cnn this morning" starts right now. ♪ we start this morning with tucker carlson, the former fox news host, speaking out for the first time since he was fired. last night he posted this video which has been viewed millions of times on twitter as we are learning new details why fox got rid of its highest rated star. "the new york times" reporting it came on the eve of that dominion defamation trial, they found out highly offensive things said in text messages. it's lee contacted. he didn't mention that or fox by name in the video. >> when honest people say what's true calmly and without embarrassment, they become

powerful. at the same time, the layers who have been trying to silence them shrink and they become weaker. that's the iron law of the universe. true things prevail. >> "the new york times" reports the redacted text messages were even worse than ones revealed in the court filings and there was one message that was particularly offensive which added to the concern at the top of the company. that's from "the times" reporting this morning. we don't know what the message was. but just yesterday "the wall street journal" reported carlson called a senior fox news executive the c word, the same word he used to describe sidney powell who was a regular guest on fox news. >> here is how one of carlson's former producers who is now suing fox news described the culture of that show behind the scenes. >> woman were objectified. it was a game. it was a sport. female politicians who came on the show were mocked. there were debates about who

they'd rather sleep with. c word all the time. >> joining us now, cnn senior media reporter oliver darcy. obviously, the reason this reporting is so interesting is because people raise the question of how they could just get rid of their most popular host in primetime so abruptly. >> we still really don't enmae entirely know. we are hearing about these text messages. and i think the bottom line is it's something related to this dominion lawsuit. something emerged from these documents that resulted in carlson ultimately losing his show. i still think it could be a variety of things t could be a combination of factors. but it stems from this lawsuit. so at the end of the day, dominion's lawsuit against fox news resulted in the ouster of their popular 8:00 p.m. host. >> and the ratings have really, really suffered in that slot with their competitor gaining in that slot. >> the rate ings are at histori

lows right now. it's only been a couple of nights that we have the ratings data. but tuesday night, the latest night we have data ratings for, fox news delivered in the advertiser 25 to 54 demo, the important demographic, the worst ratings since the pre-9/11 era, in that demo. so it's a really stunning decline for fox news in the ratings. i should note what's the most interesting is their competitor, n newsmax, they are gaining. they are posting numbers four to five times higher than they were before tucker carlson was fired and these are the exact same -- this is the exact same trend that set off alarm bells before or after the 2020 election which resulted ultimately in this dominion lawsuit. >> i am struck by this reporting in "the washington post." they say two weeks ago tucker had dinner with rupert murdoch in l.a. and now he was fired, you know, on monday.

they say that the 92-year-old billionaire had grown weary of his far right commentary on his show as well as behind-the-scenes attitude and was disturbed by his stance on ukraine. >> it's hard to make sense on it. the murdochs stood by carlson as he promoted all sorts of deranged conspiracy theories is and white nationalist rhetoric. they stood by carlson. they said that he was the 8:00 p.m. host and they stood by him. so now that, you know, there is some reporting that rupert murdoch was concerned about ukraine rhetoric from carlson, perhaps he was, but still to me it doesn't add up why do you ouster 8:00 p.m. hosts who you have stood by through all these controversies because of, you know, recent ukraine rhetoric? it doesn't add up. also the idea that they don't know he was sort of, like, crude behind the scenes is a bit

silly. i think anyone who spoke to tucker carlson privately would know the language he uses. and so i just think at the end of the day this doesn't entirely add up, but perhaps it has to do something with his entire demeanor that he thought he was bigger than the network and that's really rupert more dock's empire. >> if you see these text messages, let us know. just hours from now the air national guardsman will appear in court in massachusetts. prosecutors are asking the judge to keep 21-year-old jack teixeira behind bars as he awaits trial. it shows that teixeira took far from material from the u.s. government than previously reported, made violent threats and showed a willingness to destroy evidence. this is his second appearance and we learned a lot from the prosecutors. >> reporter: oh, yeah, a lot of new information. and new allegations, including

that teixeira viewed hundreds of classified documents, something that was not reported before. prosecutors are now worried that if he were to get out, that he might still have access to some of those classified documents which is why they say he needs to remain behind bars. court documents filed by the u.s. attorney's office argue the alleged leaker of classified documents, jack teixeira, should not be released on bail while he awaits trial, claiming he poses a serious flight risk, writing he could take refuge with a foreign adversary. prosecutors claim that the information teixeira allegedly accessed far exceeds what has been disclosed on the internet, and, therefore, he poses an ongoing risk both to the national security of the united states and to the community. included in the filing are chilling pictures from the search warrant executed on teixeira's bedroom showing a gun

locker next to his bed containing multiple weapons, including an ak-style high-capacity weapon, handguns, shotguns, rifles and a gas mask. prosecutors say law enforcement also found a smashed tablet, laptop and a gaming console in a dumpster at the house. the alleged leaker has also obstructed justice, according to prosecutors, by telling those he was communicating with online to delete all messages and, if anyone comes looking, don't tell them expletive. also alleging he, quote, deleted the social media server where he posted government information and procured a new phone and email address. prosecutors say his history surrounding guns raises questions as to why he was a candidate for the air national guard. the court document states in 2018 he was suspended while still? high school after a classmate allegedly overheard him make

remarks about guns and make racial threats. that same year, prosecutors say, he applied for a firearms i.d. card but was denied due to the concerns of the local police department over the defendant's remarks at his high school. court documents mention his social media posts reviewed by the fbi. one post from last november reads, i hope isis goes through with their attack plan and key eights a mat kerr at the world cup, further writing, if i had my way, i'd kill a ton of people. seriously, i would be forcibly culling the weak minded. prosecutors say the defense is indicating they may ask the judge to release teixeira to his father's home. warning the defendant has been proven to be nothing short of deceptive in pursuit of his own freedom. and poppy, as we were looking through the court filing from late last night, this is something else that we found. another tis turbing allegation.

apparently, back in february when teixeira was speaking with a discord user he talked about converting a minivan into what he called an assassination van where he talked about wanting to carry out a mass shooting in an urban area or in a suburb. these are just some of the things that will be taken under conversation when the detention hearing gets underway at 1:00. >> incredibly disturbing. thank you very much. meanwhile, in washington house republicans are taking a victory lap as they got -- and passed kevin mccarthy's debt limit increase by the narrowest possible margin. >> yeas 217, the nays 215, it passed. >> tit's almost certainly going to be rejected by the democrat-led senate. schumer said as much. mccarthy said the ball he believes is now in president biden and the democrats' court.

>> we just passed the bill. it's not our job to modify it. we are the only ones to lift the debt limit to make sure this economy is not in jeopardy. >> included in this bill that was passed yesterday blocking student loan forgiveness, rescinding funding for the irs, work requirements for safety net programs like medicaid, repealing green energy tax credits and rescinding unspent covid-19 money. the government could default on its debt if a bipartisan deal is not reached as soon as early june. the president wants the debt ceiling discussion to be separate from spending talks. he said this about a potential meeting with mccarthy. >> happy to meet with mccarthy but not on whether or not the debt limit gets extended. that's not negotiable. >> joining us now is house majority whip tom emmer of minnesota. good morning, congressman, thank you for being here. republicans cheering as this passed by a very slim margin but i think the question everyone at

home has is, what happens now? >> well, thanks for having me, first off. remember, republicans have a very slim majority in the house. everybody matters. and it passed the house yesterday with overwhelming support. we had four members who wanted more, had other things that they were interested in, but they are not against the policy. look, republicans have provided a solution to the debt ceiling. it's over in the senate. and if the president is being sincere, which he said he was going to veto things so far in the first three months that he reversed himself on, maybe he will do that on this one. bottom line is, if he is sincere, then chuck schumer and the democrats leading the senate have a solution to the debt ceiling problem with some historic spending reforms, almost $4.8 trillion in savings over the next ten years, and i suggest they take it up and pass it. >> well, doesn't seem like they will. schumer said it's dead on arrival. so is the question, is the

nation closer to a default this morning? >> well, it shouldn't be. actually, the solution has been provided. kevin mccarthy and house republicans have once again led. the president, chuck schumer, all they have been doing is spouting rhetoric for three months. they want to play with american families' financial security and with the future of the financial future of this country. that's unacceptable. so i commend kevin mccarthy, our speaker i commend our members, because this bill was built from the bottom up. this was a collective process. we would have loved to have had the white house, the senate, democrats participating, but they have chosen to play with our financial future for political reasons rather than get to the table and work it out. so guess what? solutions over in the senate, if you don't want to negotiate or you don't like it, then come to the table. if you are not going to come to the table, pass it. >> i am sure you would have loved to have the four republican hold-outs vote for

this but they is not. we saw them vote against it yesterday with the democrats. you have a difficult job, navigating the republicans. you are the whip for republicans in the house. you have to make sure all the votes are there. was there ever a moment you thought this may not get passed? >> no. as i said for the last couple of weeks, we are going pass this bill. no question. and again you have got all kinds of perspectives, all kinds of personalities. i think it's a testament to speaker mccarthy's leadership and our membership that they recognize what the challenges are for this country and for american families. and without any participation from the white house or the senate, they had to take action and yesterday they did. historic, historic bill that, quite frankly, they. take a serious look at in the senate and i would suggest if you don't want to talk about it any further, then pass the bill and protect americans' futures. >> regardless, something does have to happen here. if mccarthy does negotiate a deal with senator schumer, with

president biden, are you confident that you could whip the votes to get that passed? >> well, you've got to see, first off, the solution is there. it's already over in the senate. they can take that up and pass it if they don't want to talk about it further. if they have problems with it, i suspect somebody will call speaker mccarthy and sit down and have a discussion. if there are additions, subtractions, if they want to go forward with something else at some point, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. >> but can mccarthy get the same support if the cuts you just passed aren't in whatever is the agreement? >> well, what if there are more? and you keep calling them cuts. look, we did this, $4.8 trillion in savings, and we not only protected things like social security and medicare, we actually protected them and improved them. by bringing people back into the work force, you are actually going to provide these programs

that people rely on with the resources to continue going forward. the only party that is showing leadership on this right now, quite frankly, is the republican party. and, hopefully, hopefully, if there are differences, different points of view, we start to get that from our colleagues in the senate and the white house. >> i understand that's your point with the work require. >> when it comes to medicaid that was passed. that was the part of the changes mccarthy made after he said he wasn't going to change it. the idea that there would be more cuts. the white house said that won't happen. senator schumer said that won't happen. you have to come to some kind of agreement with them, right? >> actually, yeah, injury statement about part of this was negotiated after is not correct -- >> there were changes made. the rules committee was in session to 5:00 yesterday morning. >> there were two technical changes that were made. sequentially, what came to the floor yesterday was the original bill. the work requirements, quite frankly, are clinton era work

requirements that joe biden himself voted for. you know what? this is not a republican or democrat thing. all this is, is encouraging able-bodied working aged adults without dependents to get back into the work force. and if you travel this country, you know we have a crisis when it comes to finding workers on main street, across this country. it will protect people who need the benefits while at the same time providing an incentive for people to get back in the work force. >> i understand that's your position. i want to ask you about something you tweeted. don't let democrats fool you. there is no such thing as a clean debt limit increase. but repeatedly when i covered president trump when he was in offers we saw republicans vote to raise it without any conditions. >> quite frankly, there is no such thing as a clean debt increase, especially with this administration and this senate. to give chuck schumer and joe biden a blank check tho do what they want, unrestricted, unnecessary spending that is

driving double-digit inflation we hadn't seen in 40 years, creating, i mean, spiking costs at the grocery store, the gas pump, that would be the biggest mistake. people have to remember, the most important fiscal reforms we have had in the last 30 years have come with the debt ceiling discussions. again, yesterday republicans and kevin mccarthy led in the house. the solution is there. if you don't have ideas, pass it. protect the american people in this country's financial future. if you don't like something in it, please, call our speaker, sit down with him and start talking about it. >> when you say there is no such thing as a clean debt ceiling increase, you are saying you it's not a practical outcome here, not that it doesn't exist, because republicans repeatedly did that under trump. you were there. >> absolutely. when it comes to the debt increase, when it comes to the debt increase we have always had spending reforms with the debt increase. so the idea that you are saying that there was some difference under the last administration, nancy pelosi you might remember

in 2019 said there will be no debt ceiling increase without strings attached. so let's not try to rewrite history. this is always the way it's done. in this case, we got a white house and a senate. they haven't put for the any ideas. they haven't put for th any solutions. so we did that yesterday. if you don't have any solutions, let's all protect america's future and keep the americans we represent in mind, pass the bill. if you don't like something in it, call the speaker, come on over, have a discussion with him andets le see what we can do. >> i am not saying it hasn't happened before. republicans have passed it before in this situation. a lot of questions where this goes from here and if president biden calls speaker mccarthy, vice versa, we will see what happens. thank you so much. appreciate you being here this morning. >> thank you. e. jean carroll suing former president trump for battery and defamation will return to the stand today. what you should expect inside that courtroom. that's next.

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in a short time from now the woman accusing former president donald trump of rape is expected to take the stand again here in new york. e. jean carroll is set to face more questions from her own lawyer and then the former president's lawyer will cross examine her. yesterday she testified in the mid 1990s trump raped her in a bergdorf goodman dressing room. on the stand she said i'm here because donald trump raped me and when i wrote about it he lied, he shattered my reputation, and i'm here to try to get my life back. paula road is back with us in terms of what we can expect

today, right, because they have to think hard about how they are going to cross examine her, especially in a case like this. >> absolutely. any defense attorney will tell you that cross-examining someone would had alleges they have been sexually assaulted is a delicate task. i would argue this is probably the most important day of this entire trial, unless the former president decides to testify, of course, because yesterday was very powerful. we heard e. jean carroll speaking at times through tears, recounting her story, but we had heard many of those details before. now though her story has to stand up to cross-examination and we know how they are going to try to undermine her story. they argue she made it up for political purposes. also this larger question, why now? it's interesting. yesterday we saw her attorneys try to get ahead of some of these questions, lay the foundation. for example, why now? why did it take you so long? >> she said she was frightful, fearful of retaliation and

ashamed. she said she is not doing this to settle political scores. when she came out with the accusations he attacked her reputation and as a journalist that's all she has. of course, we expect this cross-examination will be done by the former president's lawyer joe tacopina. he is big, he is loud, he is brash, he is sort of a central casting for a very aggressive new york defense attorney. this is going to be a real challenge for him. it will be interesting to see how he approaches this. >> paula reid, thank you. also, the feds say they are trying to speed up development for gene therapy. researchers says it can help treat or even prevent disease. it could be a game changer for children and adults who suffer from rare diseases. elizabeth cohen speak to a little girl who has been baiting a long time for this therapy. >> reporter: what are you going to be? >> a cheerleader. >> reporter: she loves costumes,

but didn't go trick-or-treating like other children you. any germ, even a common cold, could kill her because she was born with severe combined immunodeficiency, or bubble boy disease. made famous by the 1976 john travolta movie "the boy in the plastic bubble." she was born in hawaii where her father was stationed when she was six days old she was airlifted to ucla mattel children's hospital where she spent two months. >> for the first year of her life she never left her bedroom. >> reporter: her first christmas gifts wiped clean and brought to her room. later medications helped. >> six to seven shots a months. >> reporter: and she could go outside, but still not near anyone except her immediate family. then dr. cone, who runs this lab at ucla, had good news for the family. he said it looked like in the not too distant future saoirse would be able to get a treatment called gene therapy. he worked on it for nearly 40

years. >> we can really fix the gene or replace the gene that's missing. really exciting. >> reporter: a 2021 study showed the therapy had stunning near perfect results. >> all the children we treated in the past are doing well. we barely hear from them anymore. >> reporter: then the company decided not to pursue fda approval. instead, they invested money in treatments for more common diseases. that left saoirse and more than two dozen families waiting. >> the higher chance of infection or her medication not working or something happening outside of our control to make her severely sick. >> reporter: promising gene therapies for rare diseases have sometimes had trouble getting to market because the potential profits might be small. >> it's been very frustrating. >> reporter: thursday, the fda is holding a meeting on gene therapy, one of a series of public meetings intended to help the development of these innovative treatments.

last week the agency's leader testified to a senate committee. >> we agree that this is an area we've got to move along more quickly. >> reporter: as forc saoirse, next month she will get the gene therapy. she had a preparatory visit earlier this month. her family looking forward to the day she like other 5-year-olds. >> she is excited to go to school and wants to go to a dodger game and she is inviting everybody to disney world for her. >> reporter: after years of waiting, saoirse and her family, thrilled for the day she can finally get out into the world. >> now, she is aware that she has a long hospital stay coming up filled with pokes and shots, but she says she is ready because she knows that's what's going to get her to disney world, to the dodgers game and to kindergarten. >> yeah, anything to get to

disney world. thank you so much. also this morning, montana house republicans have banned transgender lawmakers from the house chamber for the remainder of their legislative session. the state representative is going to join us live next with her perspective.

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123450 . if you vote yes on this bill and amendments, i hope when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands. >> that's montana state representative zooey zephyr the first openly transgender woman elected to the state legislature there admonishing republican

colleagues passing bills for restricting transgender rights. republicans have banned her from the house chamber for the rest of legislative session. days after she gave that speech protests broke out in the house chamber when she raised microphone in solidarity. police in rigot gear responded. this culminated as companies kicked zephyr out of the house chamber for refusing to apologize. joining us is that montana state representative zooey zephyr. thank you for being here. a question people have is what's next now that hthis has happene? >> so, i was elected to represent 11,000 montanans in people's house and i left yesterday with my head held high knowing i made a moral and right choice and i will walk into the building this morning with my head held high. i will find a place to talk to my colleagues, sit down and go over the bills urchlt can't speak on the floor. you can vote remotely. do i have that correct?

>> that is correct, which is important to note this that we have a handful of bills, big bills coming forward in the last week of our legislative session. housing policy, the budget. and every time we debate any bill in the house floor there is going to be 11,000 montanans whose voiss are missing from that conversation. >> what have you heard from the 11,000 people that you represent? have you heard feedback from them since this happened or what are their concerns about the idea that their elected voice won't be there as that debate is happening? >> i think you hit it exactly at that. there is frustration in my community that the -- their voices aren't being allowed to be heard, but there is also gratitude for standing up. i know my community? inside and out are. they elected me to speak on their behalf and fight the hard fight. >> here is how your republican colleagues are defending their decision, the moves know made. they said this is because of your speech that you gave on the

house floor. >> this body witnessed one of its members participating in conduct that disrupted and disturbed the orderly proceedings of this body. >> irrefutable fact that the representative in question did, indeed, actively support an, arguably, incite demonstrators who gathered in the house gallery. the respective of house district 100 failed to do her duty. >> republicans want you to apologize. will you? >> no. i have seen -- it's an unequal application of -- the speaker agrees with the majority. they get away with a lot. my very existence is somehow sexualizing children they say. and when it comes to a bill i know the impacts of, i have seen and heard from the families facing suicide, suicide attempts, assaults on them to

apologize for that would be to be complicit. i can't to that. >> we are watching what's happening here with your punishment. it comes after we watched very closely what also happened in tennessee where democrats there were unseated from their seats after they led a protest on gun violence on the chamber floor. justin pearson, one of those legislators in tennessee tweeted in support of you saying, we will not let our democracy die without fighting for every voice. we are in this fight from memphis to montana. you know, now that you have been thrust no the national spotlight like they have, do you see the through line of what happened in tennessee and what's happening in your home state? >> i do. i think the through line is that republican super majorities in these states are passing legislation is broadly out of step with our communities. trans people are loved and accepted through my community and many communities in montana. americans want gun reform. and what we're seeing is when

marginalized communities stand up and talk about the real harm that these policies bring, it's not enough for these far-right legislatures to pass the bills. they want us to be silent and we are not going silent and the people who elected us [ inaudible ]. >> representative zooey zephyr, thank you so much for your time this morning. >> thank you for having me. also this release just moments ago. the gross domestic product report for the first quarter of 2023, our business team is crunching the numbers. we will bring those to you. thalso, a big day for sport fans. nfl draft day. you are looking live at kansas city. it's going to go down there hours from now. what teams can learn from previous picks. ha harry enten has this morning's number. ...so you can deliver moe to your customomers. fast. reliable. perfectly orchestrated. the united states postal service.

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new numbers that were released moments ago. the gross domestic product report for the first quarter of this year, cnn's chief business correspondent christine romans is here. >> this is the rearview mirror but it shows the economy slowed a little bit. 1.1% is the growth here in the u.s. economy in january, february and march. you see how that compares, that is a slowdown from the last quarter of last year, 2.6%, and certainly the middle of last year, which was a strong 3.2%. so this is a slowdown. what's happening here? you have high inflation still. it's coming off the boil of last summer but inflation is still too high here and you have interest rates going up for a year now. i think this is what it looks like when you see those interest rates so high over a year. the government says there was an

increase in consumer spending. the consumer is strong but a decrease in inventory bills and inventory investments. tha 's businesses pulling back. >> we have been talking all week about layoffs and the amount of companies, 3 m&m we were talking about. we have new jobless numbers. >> this picture is at odds with the headlines of layoffs in so many different industries. 230,000 first-time unemployment benefits. that is still pretty historically low, down 16,000 from the week prior. i expected these to rise because people who got tech layoffs were still getting severance before they were filing for unemployment benefits. so that was something i thought you'd start to be seeing in here. that could happen in the weeks ahead. this is still historically low and shows a job market pretty strong despite the headlines about layoffs in the economy, kaitlin. >> we will continue to watch that. thank you. also, speaking of numbers, it is nfl draft night. millions of people are expected

to tune in to watch their teams pick their favorite football players. 31 names of the first night of the draft which is hosted in kansas city more than 250 players see their dreams come true. harry enten, what's this morning's number? >> this morning's number is 12.8 million. that was the nfl first round viewership average over the last three years. this is an event. people come out, wear their team's colors, get so excited. we watch it on the air. i remember in covid watching bill belichick's dog make a draft pick. >> he was in a sleeveless hoodie. >> he looked exactly like his owner. that 12.8, how impressive that is. it's more than game one of the world series average. more than the top scripted show rhythmed and the nba finals game one has averaged over the first year. football in this country, it is king and here is the funny thing about this. if you look at nfl recent draft

history, it was first televised in 1908. they didn't think it would bring in viewership. why? because they didn't -- >> boring? >> i think people thought it would be boring, like a process, right? so now of course it makes millions of dollars not just for the nfl, but for the host city as well, which is why these cities fight to get the draft in their backyard. >> it's in kansas city this year. okay. obviously, i have a huge vested interest in this. i love to watch this as well. who do we think will be the first round pick? >> you know, if we look, you know, does the first draft pick become an all-star, all-pro? i looked since 1990. turns out 22 in the nfl had. that's basically on par with the nba where 23 have. and the mlb a little bit more of a crapshoot. but the chances are the person that you see drafted first tonight is going to go on to be someone who is really, really good, but here is the one little thing i will point out. >> i love this. >> sometimes the nfl drafts, right, future hall of famer tom

brady was picked 199th in the 2000 draft. i don't think he exactly looked like the guy you thought would be this great player. >> i hate this picture. it's everywhere. >> very famous people deserve a little bit of teasing from time to time to ground them. that's why i like teasing myself and having people tease me because i like to say grounded. >> this is funny when they compare this to that mac jones photo, alabama's quarterback, so great. we will watch to see who is going to be the tom brady of tonight. harry enten, thank you. also in washington, president biden, first lady jill biden capped off the south korean president's official state visit fwith a game rouse state dinner at the white house last night. but the highlight of the night was a karaoke rendition of "american pie" by president yoon. ♪ a long, long time ago ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ how the music used to make me

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>> he is. >> give me ice and a styrofoam bucket. here we go. >> dwight! >> what are you doing? >> we searched for the organs. where's the heart? precious heart. >> i'm not feeling well, i need to sit down. >> are you okay? >> no! >> why would you -- >> oh my god! >> the actor, producer and writer rainne wilson won people's hearts as dwight in "the office" and now he wants to tell you about the power of religion in his new book "soul boom" why we need a spiritual revolution. rainn joins us now. why did you write it? what trovdrove you to embark ons project? >> people are asking why is the guy that played dwight writing a

book on this topic? but i tell you, i love reading about religion, spirituality, i love mystical writings thinking about why we're here, what's the meaning of life, is there a god? do we have a soul? all of that messy, delightful stuff. and finally covid gave me an opportunity to sit down at a typewriter and come up with this thing. >> one thing that struck me in the book is when you write about after your father passed away. and you said, i knew in that moment there was something deeper afoot that a life, mine, yours, my father's, could not simply come to an end because brain activity ceased. >> i saw the body laid out and had the deep realization that this is not my father. this is the vessel that carried my father. whatever my father is, his light, his spirit, his soul, his consciousness, whatever you want to call it, this motivated me to

dig even deeper into the mystery of being alive. questions that we don't talk about much in contemporary society or think about too deeply or probe too deeply. >> something you said about young kids stood out to me. i have young siblings. you said the bottom line is people are suffering greatly they seem to lack the tools, skills, abilities to find solutions to difficult issues we all deal with, to befriend, bond, to create community. there are people who are concerned about younger generations and what they are doing and what it looks like when it comes to the sense of spirituality. >> we have a mental health crisis among young people that is unprecedented in the history of the human species. climate change as a pandemic. racism, sexism are pandemics, militaryism, nationalism is a pandemic as well. and they can't be addressed by a

new piece of legislation or a new election, these are fundamental human issues that need to be addressed at the heart and soul level and i'm not talking about kind of like incense and chakras spirituality i'm talking about digging deep into who we are as human beings and addressing these issues at a soul level. >> i have been reexperiencing my faith through my children. when sierra was 3, she asked me who god is. and now they both are asking why does he let bad things happen. >> that comes down to the dawn of time. why are people suffering? when you talk to mental health

professionals. they address the mental health crisis in young people as a lack resilience. but i think it points to a bigger question which has to do with the nature of suffering itself, why do we suffer? and why are we grateful for the suffering we've undergone. joy is an antidote for that. we don't want to just gloss over suffering. that can be oppressive and unsufferable. you see influencers on instagram, just be happy, be positive. but bringing joy, using joy as a tool to bring joy to others like we did on the office, that acknowledges the fact that there are ups and downs and we can have suffering and we can also have joy. that's part of the miracle of being alive. >> such a lovely way to put it. the book is "soul boom: why we need a spiritual revolution".

do you think we'll get one? >> i hope so. people are way more open to these questions and ideas than they were even five or ten years ago. because as things continue to unravel people realize maybe spirituality has some answers. >> before we go. we want to mention this. a video you posted of a guy sitting next to you. he had no clue you were there while he was on a plane watching the office. >> it was great. five and a half hours next to the guy watching the office, nonstop and as we're landing i nudge him, i heard that's a good show. i take off my covid mask very delicately and then all of a sudden, his head explodes. >> what did he say? >> oh my -- oh -- >> to be fair i'd do the same thing. love the office. so great. >> rainn wilson, thank you so

much. >> thanks for having me. >> be sure to grab this book "soul boom: why we all need a spiritual revolution" available now. my dad is so jealous of the interview. we love watching the office, we watch it all the time. reruns are constantly on and we're quoting it in the family group chat all the time. >> i'm so impressed with him. >> you see someone in their character and then you see them write a book on something kp completely different. so thanks to rainn wilson for joining us up. and thank you for joining us. cnn news central starts s right after this break.

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