3rd. get this, the scripps national spelling bee kicks off today, 281 spellers from all 00 states and around the world are going to compete for this are going to compete for this title. the youngest speller is only eight years old. that's going to do it for a tuesday edition of "way too early." "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ i'm here on a single mission and that is to thank you for your extraordinary service. your willingness to serve, to step forward at a time of war and say, send me, is the reason the united states stays strong and free. when it comes to supporting you and your families, the american people stand united. we support you. we are proud of you. we stand in awe of your service. you see it in the kids across america who send you all those care packages.

you see it in the airports when you return stateside. all the folks standing up applauding, lining up to shake your hand. i'm here to say thank you. i'm here to say i'm proud of you. the american people are proud of you. god bless you. god bless the united states armed forces. and god bless our united states of america. >> and that is president obama on a surprise trip to afghanistan on memorial day thanking the troops for everything they have done. good morning, everyone. it is tuesday, may 27th. welcome to "morning joe." >> you know, as we look at these pictures of our men and women who have done so much over the past 12 years, a big part of this story is what they've done while most of americans haven't been paying attention. but i got to say another part of this story is how americans have

responded in other ways. how they have been supportive, all the ways the president of the united states outlined, that they have in many ways been shoulder to shoulder with them. and they have such extraordinary respect. we need to treat them well when they come out. >> out of respect to them and to their families. >> there is such a great difference between how they're being treated and how vets were treated when they came home from vietnam. but now we have to complete our promise and take care of them and take care of their health care and their families. >> more on that straight ahead. with us on set we have donny deutsch and economic analyst steve rattner along with willie and joe and me. >> how was your weekend? >> my lord. it was great. >> your memorial day weekend. >> it was wonderful. >> what'd you do? >> i spent most of my time trying to get three teenagers to spend time outside. >> how did that go?

>> i got them there. >> yeah? >> uh-huh. chased them with a paddle. kayaked. is that you? >> coney island there. >> willie was just talking about how you were out at your mansion in south hampton. but your helicopter -- >> oh, it worked. >> were you flying your helicopter because you couldn't go to mika's event? you did do it to fly out to the hamptons. where exactly does your helo land? >> i take the f-train up there. >> willie, a couple of quick questions. when's the last time donny was on that train? and secondly, when is the last time he was on coney island? >> they painted an f on the side of his chopper. >> when louis shot our last promo, donny was down in the

subway. >> spent 20 years down in the subway. >> whatever. >> true story. true story. but i want to hear about the kids event in nantucket. >> did you have a good time? >> i was not up there because i had something that for parents that have a lot of kids and have older kids, i had something unusual happen. >> what's that? >> i had all four kids under one roof at one time. that's a big deal. >> a lot of work. >> as your kids get older and get into their 20s and of course that younger kids are there, they scatter. it's one time you can relax and think, they're all here. i can go to sleep. your mind's always wandering. >> jack's birthday. >> jack's birthday. i want to show you all a couple of quick pictures here. this was jack when he was born. about two weeks in. >> oh, my lord.

>> and i want to show you, here's how small jack was. three weeks after, susan and i were digging through the pictures this weekend. that was his finger three weeks in. that's my finger next to the picture. >> how much did he weigh? >> two pounds, two ounces. it's hard to explain. this -- and i wish i could show you the thousand pictures of jack. he's the happiest boy. but it's not smart to show here. but i can show you the back of jack where we were this weekend. he's on the left waving the flag. six years old, tallest boy in his class. >> is he really? >> he is the tallest boy in his class. >> playing t-ball this weekend. >> he plays t-ball, running all around. i remember something after jack was born, it's such a trying time for parents whose kids are in the nicu right now.

thank you nicu in pensacola. your jack is six years old. but i remember we had the star from boston -- and i'm blanking out because i'm so tired -- >> denis leary. >> denis leary. he came up to me afterwards and he could tell i was kind of off. he goes, hey, i got a nicu kid. and he was born young. you want to see a picture of him. he takes out a picture and it's his 6'4" playing hockey. and i broke down and cried. >> hi a weak time when daisy was four pounds. >> i had one three pounds. he's not 6'4" now but he plays a lot of sports. >> i've heard time and time again a lot of these kids -- you know, when jack was born young, they said he was going to be

fine. the doctors said we don't know whether he's going to live or not, you never know. but about two hours in the nurse came in and said he's going to be fine. he was angry. he tore out all of his cords and i laughed. he said he's going to be fine. he's a fighter. >> apple doesn't fall far. >> he was 28 weeks. about two pounds. >> that was incredible. >> you talk about the hospital. how incredible is it nowadays 28 weeks and two pounds they cannot only save him, but they can flourish. >> we're going to start this morning with a story that is absolutely heart breaking for parents though. classes are canceled at uc santa barbara in preparation far ma massive memorial service on campus today after a student

killed six other students before killing himself. elliot rodger stabbed his three roommates to death at their apartment. then he went on a shooting rampage in his black bmw firing inside a deli and at a sorority house. but rodger had a history of instability. some say red flags may have been missed by authorities. the sheriff's department is re-examining a checkup call when his parents became concerned. on that occasion, rodger reportedly convinced the officers he was okay. >> he was found to be very shy, timid. he was courteous to them. he told them he was having some social problems and some school issues and that he probably was not going to continue in school. and he was able to convince the deputies that he was not a danger to himself or other

people. and they ended up advising him of resources that were available to him if he was depressed or having issues. but there wasn't enough criteria there for them to actually put in motion the process of taking him against his will. >> the problem here is he ran this long manifesto. inside it he said it was a good thing that the officers didn't go into his bedroom because if they had, it would have been all over. they would have discovered his plan. >> that might have been the one step. there's so much to learn from this. you have to also -- it's so incredibly difficult to pinpoint when you need to act when working with people with a mental illness. >> in my family, i've had this, situations where a very sick relative and tried to get them committed and then they show up and the person is charming at

that moment. this is a tragedy. >> there may be more in terms of signs. >> all that is true and it is a tricky bit of business, but there are also those of us who wonder what possible purpose it serves to sell semiautomatic handguns to anybody. >> speaking of that manifesto, it's 137 pages long. he promised a day of retribution and put it up on youtube in which he blamed women for spurning him. >> hi. elliot rodger here. well, this is my last video. it all has to come to this. tomorrow is the day of retribution. a day in which i will have my revenge against humanity. against all of you. for the last eight years of my life, ever since i hit

puberty -- >> this video after the fact, lots of different news agencies are looking at it. i don't want to give it anymore that. >> "washington post" put it up. i saw it this weekend. he talked during this entire video about being alone, being rejected by women, being a virgin, living in this paradise and having no one to share it with and went on and on for five, six minutes. this was a kid who was completely isolated. we see this in a lot of these shootings, people that have been brushed aside, left by themselves, and when they get in this world by themselves, it's a terrible thing. >> he was seeing two therapists. clearly the parents noticed

something. supposedly he was on the spectrum of asperger'asperger's. and sometimes there are problems without solutions. i don't know what -- >> something happened. the parents certainly knew there were problems all along. and there was this horrifying moment, willie, where the parents -- the mother had e-mailed where she read the first three or four lines, she called the father and they both got in their cars separately and raced up there to try to get their son. and by the time they got up there, it had happened. i did not hear about the -- him being on the spectrum. i brought that up before and got pounded for that even though i think eventually it ended up being true in another case. >> they got a copy of the manifesto, his parents did.

they knew, they were engaged and had him in therapy. they got in the car and heard on the radio there was a shooting in santa barbara and knew immediately it was their son. >> we have other elements of the story we'll get to later. i think it's conversation we need to keep having. >> i will say, though, following newtown we talked about three things. and of course because one of the things we talked about was guns, nobody wanted to talk about it anymore. talked about video game. that's shut down because another group of people didn't want to talk about that. there may be one thing we can talk about here. maybe we can talk about mental health in america. we're talking about it, we're finally starting to talk about it with our veterans. we need to talk about it with these men and women, these children that fall through the cracks that have mental health

issues. and we need to figure out how to take care of them. we need to figure out how to invest as a country. it's going to cost a lot of money, but so many of these tragedies coming baa back to this. three people are dead today. three people lost their children because of knives. at some point we've got to look at the common denominator. so many times as i said in newtown, before newtown when we first saw the news, i described the kid. without knowing anything about him. there are some warning signs. but it's going to take an investment. and we're going to have to figure out how to face it. >> you see how hard it is even when the parents know. we do need to do more to support families that need hep. >> that's why it's so hard. when they're on the line. when they can act normally and get past the sheriff's deputy that goes through the standard protocols to determine whether

he has the legal right to commit the kid. and the kid passes it. it's really hard. >> it's very tight rope to walk. i want to move to ukraine because the outcome of ukraine's presidential election has apparently done little to end the violence there so far. ukraine's military fought back pro-russian militants trying to take the airport. kiev quickly went on the offensive with anti-terrorism forces launching air strikes on the rebels. civilians ran for cover. at least two civilians are dead. the pro-russian militants say more than 50 rebels were killed. the violence comes one day after ukrainian elected petro poroshenko at president. he's been nicknamed the chocolate king because of his candy business. poroshenko received 50% of the vote. largely thanks to strong turnout

in kiev and low turnout in cities loyal to moscow. in his first move as president, he vowing to end the crisis with russia and promising to offer amnesty to those who want to end the violence. >> for those taking the weapons but not using them, we are aided to introduce the amnesty law. the only condition for using the amnesty law -- two condition. for those who are killing the people, they're terrorists and no country in the world has any negotiation with a terrorist. >> let's bring in ian brzezinski which happens to be a relative of someone at this table. >> distant cousin. >> good morning. >> for people just tuning back in on a tuesday morning after the long holiday weekend, get us up to speed what exactly we saw in ukraine over the weekend and what is the significance.

>> we saw two events. one is the violence that continues in luhansk and donetsk. but there was a positive thing over the weekend, that was elections. high voter turnout, about 60%. and you had poroshenko, the chocolate king, who got about 55% of the vote. a strong mandate in that system. i think that gives us hope that he'll have a mandate that he'll be able to use to help heal the country, to help give more confidence to the security forces, and to contribute to the global context necessary for the economic reform in that country. >> in terms of the credibility of the elections, madison lelin albright was on think phone with

us yesterday. take a listen. >> the elections were perfectly carried out. there was a very large turnout. people were -- stood in lines. the election polling places were open late. and the results were ones that proved the desire of the ukrainian people to have democracy, sovereignty. and the votes spoke that. i think that's important for the american people to understand the significance of this election for ukraine and for europe and for us. >> ian, while we're in europe, a sharp, sharp right turn with eu elections over the weekend. what's happening in europe other than a healthy, healthy dose of skepticism? >> very healthy dose of skepticism towards the eu. you have to also take in what it was and what it wasn't.

it was a rejection of the vision of europe but not a predominant rejection of europe. the far right and far left parties got about 170 out of 750 seats. so they're going to have an influence. they certainly deflate those who want to develop a more united europe. but they don't destruct totally the order there. the long standing parties are still in control. >> this weekend the loudest candidates were the candidates that did the best. the populist reaction against the european union and against the bailouts. >> yeah. absolutely right it's still a minority of the european parliament and therefore it's not going to necessarily change what happens. but personally i found it really scary in a way. you had the right and left come together. a lot of populist outrage. a lot of anger at the concept of

europe and what it's doing to the economy of europe. and you've got the possible separation of scotland from the uk in a vote that's going to occur there. so you do have the sense that with these lingering economic problems that are so pervasive many europe, the double digit unemployment, the lack of growth, it's fermenting the rise -- >> guys, i want to push back a little bit on healthy skepticism particularly in hungary. there is such a level of nationalism in these countries and that with what's happening in the ukraine, there's a lot of scary stuff going on here. one thing for economic issues, but this fringe right where these parties are running on platforms and getting huge chunks of votes. scary stuff. >> again, i think it all comes out of the fact that you have terrible, terrible economic conditions. >> and when you say healthy skepticism, healthy wasn't

attached to the people in this. >> i know. >> but this populism that's sweeping across europe, expected to sweep across america in the coming years. mainline parties are being rejected. and we'll see more and more of that. so ian, stay with us if you will. we have a lot more to talk about. still ahead on "morning joe," a lot more to talk about. >> former senator jim webb joins us for his first live tv interview for his first memoir. "i heard the country calling." and actress toni collette. and a train trying to stop. >> see that again in slow motion. >> stop. let's go to brittany ship. she's in for bill kairns.

>> that's a tough act to follow, but i'm going to try. basically we saw nice over the holiday weekend. it's dry right now. we will see a chance of showers and thunderstorms pushing into this afternoon. we're still dealing with soaking rains in texas, but it's also causing a flood watch in the eastern part of texas nerz rest of today. closer look at what we can expect along the northeast. 86 degrees in philadelphia. 84 in new york. we'll see temperatures in washington, d.c. at 87 degrees. a cold front drops temperatures by tomorrow. make sure to have your umbrella today. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ ♪

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before we go to papers, chris licht e-mailed. he says your sweater -- >> makes him sad to be a man. >> makes grown men cry. it's an easter egg pink sweater. >> you like this sweater? >> lying. >> chris has many reasons to cry as a man. >> if this is making him sad, he's not looking in the mirror. >> okay. >> let's go to the morning papers now and let's get some of the other headlines in this morning. we'll start with "the new york times." nigeria's defense team says officials know where an islamic militant group is holding the kidnapped school girls. the pentagon says it is unable to confirm their location. it has been seven weeks since

the boko haram abducted the girls and threatened to sell them into slavery since the abduction. >> and from our parade of papers "the boston herald." this weekend pope francis wrapped up his mideast tour. he prayed and left a note at the western wall which is the holiest place for jews. he changed his schedule to go to the holocaust memorial, kissed the hands of six holocaust survivors. during his flight home the pope told reporters he hopes to meet with a group of people who were sexually abused by members of the clergy next month. >> he is going to make changes and have an impact around the world. he plans on it. "the denver post." in just a few hours crews will resume their search for three men missing after a mudslide in western colorado. the men disappeared on sunday

when they went to check on reports of a previous mudslide. that's when the earth moved a second time. the slide was more than three miles long, a mile wide, and 250 feet deep. >> and "the washington post." the white house made a blunder this weekend accidentally revealing the identity of the cia station chief serving in afghanistan. in a mass e-mail to nearly 6,000 journalists covering the president's trip. the message listed dignitaries who met with the president but included among them was the name of the top ranking cia officer in afghanistan. with the title, chief of station. nbc news is withholding the name of the station chief. >> let's go to "the san francisco chronicle." incredible collision caught on tape where a train crashed into a truck stuck on the tracks. the area is notoriously for big rigs. the driver gets out and tries to alert the oncoming train.

too late. the train barrelling through the 18 wheeler. no one was hurt. time now for a look at politico. should i go to willie? >> i think so. >> take it away. >> the chief correspondent for politico is mike allen. >> good morning, willie. >> you're one foot in memorial day weekend still? >> time up in the lake in maine. >> excellent. let's talk business here at politico. republicans consider going back 20 years in the playbook to revisit the contract with america. explain. >> well, there's a few republican senators who said people are forecasting that they'll take control of the senate. better than 50/50 chance in some forecasts that republicans will take over the senate which means they'll control the whole capitol starting in january. there's been surprisingly little talk among republicans on either the house side or the senate

side of what they would do if they controlled the whole capitol. lindsey graham of south carolina is among the republicans who say we should put out a list of what we're going to do similar to the contract with america that house republicans ran on in '94. plenty of other republicans and senators are saying not so fast. that would just make us a fat target. we're better off to just run against obama. better off to let the political environment carry us along, not put something out there for our opponents to shoot at among the people who feel that way is the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell who if this happens would be the senate majority leader. they asked him about this the other day. he said we're not measuring the drapes. >> so, mike, tell me. what would be at the top of this list if they put out such a document, what's the one policy area they want to focus on? >> they say they're going focus on economic issues, pocketbook

issues. what mitch mcconnell has been talking about is mechanical issues for the senate. a five-day work week involving the committees more. and what some republicans say that actually is smart. because if you look in polling and we have talked about this before, people want congress to work. people want government to get unstuck. the real risk for republicans is making a bunch of promises they can't keep. so if you say we're going to make congress work better, that's something they could do. >> a five-day work week. it's a radical idea. all right. there's another one you have up right now. you get a look inside hillary clinton's forthcoming memoir. what did you see inside? >> so this morning for anyone who logs on to clinton memoir.com and signed up for information about the book, they're going to get a copy of the four-page author's note that's at the beginning of the book. and, willie, in this author's

note, we see the first look at what secretary clinton will be saying if she runs for president. in this author's note she says that america is still the indispensable nation. people who wonder if america can still lead, she says in this book hard choices. america can still lead. she says this book is not written for people who follow washington open operas, people who want to see who's up, who's down. but people want to see how she decided things in the past and perhaps will decide things in the future. >> sneak peek on that website. mike allen with a look inside the playbook. thank you. >> good to see you. kim and kanye got married. >> mika was saying this was going to happen. >> it happened. kim and kanye. >> willie, don't you have something to do? >> mika's going to bring all the details in news you can't use. >> i don't want to. >> it's exciting. >> coming up next, the pacers

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all right. let's do some sports. the nba playoffs, eastern conference finals. pacers and heat. game four in mime. miami in the driver's seat the whole way. lebron james led with 32 points. chris bosh had another 25. the heat put the pacers on the brink now. they win 102-90. lead the series three games to one as it heads back to indiana tomorrow night. tonight the thunder could even things up playing home against the spurs in game four. stanley cup playoffs. l.a. kings and chicago blackhawks. the kings scored three goals in the first period and get a fourth before the blackhawks even got on the board. l.a. wins 5-2. now has a demanding 3-1 series advantage. tonight the new york rangers head up to montreal with a chance to close out the series against the ka natd yens. >> how about the rangers? in ot, man. what a game. >> go back to the cup finals for

the first time since they won it in 1994. 20 years. to baseball. the red sox were in the middle of a ten-game series streak. >> i didn't know that. false sense of security pretty soon you're wearing really gross suits like gray gangster striped. >> like a matching gray shirt underneath. >> boston is down 6-3, two men on for david ortiz in the fifth inning. >> high fly ball. left center deep. up and back. it is tied! >> big papi ties it up. ortiz then with his fourth rbi of the day. that's in the seventh inning gives boston the lead. red sox win 8-6 ending their longest slide at ten games. los angeles dodgers hosting

the reds. in position to do a no hitter again. taking a perfect game in the eighth riyu retired batters before that. the dodgers don't make history, but they do get the win. speaking of beckett's no hitter. may have celebrated too hard. the team placed him on the 15-day disabled list after his sprained his ankle after stepping on a catcher's mask when the team mobbed beckett. you hate the celebration injuries. >> you remember back in -- >> huge interview. yes. >> jumping up and down. my back went out. it was awful. >> maybe you were on the three-month d.l. >> you need to do that again. >> yes. that's exactly what happened. >> you recovered well. >> let's just move on. i think you should have one tomorrow. >> i think i should have one for

three months. former senator jim webb and tom friedman of "the new york times" joins us. coming up next, the question is college worth it. we bust out the rattner charts next. ♪

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more. what you got on your charts? what are they going to teach us today? >> we'll find out. it's commencement time. >> little -- >> would you like to come over and do my chart? >> no. trying to dress it up. >> it's college commencement week. kids are graduating. they're wondering whether their college is going to be worth anything. let's look at that and start with a comparison of kids across different generations and how they've done coming out of college. so if you look at the first chart, you will see that the so-called millennials, the people graduating now still get an enormous premium of wages. they get a growing premium of wages over those graduated in earlier years with two-year college degree or a high school degree. they're going to earn on average $45,000 a year compared to only $28,000 a year. >> so that looks like good news.

>> right. >> let's go to the next chart. >> everyone should go to college. >> if you go back to the so-called silent generation, those who existed before vietnam and all that, you can see, in fact, they were closer together. the difference between college and no college was much smaller than it is now. and so the premium were going to college has gotten greater, not smaller as time as gone on. but life is not perfect. let's talk a little bit about job prospects and what happens to these kids coming out of college. so first of all, if you look at all college graduates of all ages, you can see that 63% of them are working in a job that requires a college degree. some of them are unemployed, some of them but not many. some are working at places that don't require college degrees. for young college grads 50% are working in jobs requiring a college degree. here's what's interesting on the chart. it depends what you chose to

major in. in engineering, education, health, not subjects of most of us at the table, you are a prime employment candidate. 75% of those are working jobs that require a college degree. if you went liberal arts or ledger, you're down. >> i went with liberal arts. >> one are happy to have a job. let's look at the last challenge that college kids face. you alluded to this in your instruction which is debt. look at what's happened to debt across our household economy. you can see that most categories of debt, autoloans, credit cards, mortgages. but college debt is four times higher. >> it's criminal. >> because constitution is rising faster than inflation, faster than incomes, kids have

to borrow money. >> are we talking about a possible bubble here? people were worrying there could be a bubble here. >> yeah. kids are going to have a real problem paying this money back. so the question is do you want to make it easier for them to go to college by having lower cost loans and you saw the wage premiums and advantages you get if your go to college. or do you want to stay on the track we're on now where these kids are going to go belly up. >> so you would perhaps agree with elizabeth warren this needs to be addressed. >> i totally agree with elizabeth warren on this subject. you got that out of me. >> that's a huge victory. he's going to write a check for her presidential campaign. >> that's so swoo et. >> you look at these charts and it explains why some of the best universities in the country, dartmouth, their applications for them and a lot of other colleges down 14%, 15% which is

unheard of in the past generation. and a lot is driven by how much it costs to go to these schools. >> they run the risk of pricing themselves out of the market. you've got two things happening. there's a value to college. so kids believe that going to dartmouth is going to be good for them. but they're raising tuition, 3%, 5% a year when family incomes are going up 1% a year. that math doesn't work. >> and this is happening at so many great elite colleges. >> just one more sign about the 1%, the haves and have nots. the upper echelon, that increase is not phasing them. it's the emerging middle class that's getting effected. >> that's right. the people at the bottom get scholarships at good schools. the people at the top can afford it. it's what donny says. parents that make $200,000 a year that can't qualify for financial aid can't afford to send their kid to college. >> steve, thank you very much.

great charts. we need to stay on this. i'm glad you agree with my favorite politician. coming up, kids are great with modern technology, but what about technology from a few decades ago? the video you need to see. oh, look at that big computer. that looks like what i had in college. that's how old i am. next on "morning joe." oh, my gosh. ♪ ♪

[ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪

♪ today you are reacting to this. >> what is this? >> this is very hipster. >> have to type into the keyboard to get it to do anything. >> so if i type in, game. hit return. error? >> error. >> this computer is an error. >> there was no internet back then. >> what? >> how do you look up homework? >> got to go to the library. >> who wants to do that? >> they actually call that a floppy disk. >> it is floppy. >> yes. >> i don't like it. >> it works at least. >> at least it's better than

flappy bird. >> i don't get it. and i also don't get the 1970s. >> my gosh. that's the greatest thing. so cute. >> makes you miss pong a little bit. remember that? >> talking about this weekend, that's what the kids and i were playing this weekend. >> that was part of a web video called kids react. you may have been able to see that was the apple computer there. >> can i ask you because macy kept calling me up and saying i'm with the family. she says i got to talk to you about it. >> no, i didn't. >> i said willie will give aus wrap on tuesday. so tell mika now about kim and kanye's wedding because she would not leave me aload. >> would you like to lead this? >> no, i don't. >> mika's been reporting this out. it's the most important wedding in the history of weddings. kim kardashian, kanye west.

>> don't they already have a child? >> they do. north west. they did post some selfies here. some photos in the photo booth. >> who cares? >> she wore a dress and northwest wore a dress. jayden smith, look at what we have here. >> what's going on? >> will smith's child. >> white batman outfit. >> to the reception. >> it's memorial day so of course it's appropriate. >> is there any back story on that? >> could we just not? can we stop? >> here's what "the new york times" wrote about it. quote, two jackasses got married in italy saturday. sex-tape star kim kardashian and egotist kanye west. goes on to read the republic

still stands. >> we today all are "the new york times." we all agree. >> i'm troubled by the white batman. >> serious problems. >> i'm just troubled by that. >> these people. >> projecting american power abroad. >> may i please go to break? >> kanye is certifiable. >> we have a big weekend ahead. believe it or not. you wouldn't get that from this segment. >> he's not a brilliant genius. >> i think there's some genius there, but there's a lot of crazy too. >> more crazy. >> we have guests that might leave standing by if you keep speaking. the one big factor that can push a volatile political situation over the edge. also ukraine's new president is wasting no time striking back against pro-russian separatists. but is there hope for a deal with vladimir putin. dr. ian brzezinski joins us with

his analysis. and this morning we have an exclusive first look at the report on ceo pay. the new record number their pay hit. and the reason behind it. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ it starts with little things. tiny changes in the brain. little things, anyone can do. it steals your memories. your independence. insures support. a breakthrough. and sooner than you'd like... ...sooner than you think. ...you die from alzheimer's disease. ...we cure alzheimer's disease. every little click, call, or donation adds up to something big. alzheimer's association. the brains behind saving yours.

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for many of you, this will be your last tour in afghanistan. and by the end of this year, the transition will be complete. and afghans will take full responsibility for their security in our combat mission will be over. america's war in afghanistan will come to a responsible end. >> welcome back to "morning joe." top of the hour as we look at photographs of the men and women who serve our country. the day after memorial day we come in of course with the president who made a surprise trip to afghanistan to talk to the troops and pay them the respect that they deserve. and their families as well. welcome back, everyone. joining us in washington, pulitzer prize winning columnist

and associate editor of "the washington post" eugene robinson. >> all right. >> all right. we'll get to the news. and we'll start out west where classes are canceled at uc santa barbara in preparation for a massive memorial service this afternoon on campus after a college student killed six other students before killing himself. elliot rodger stabbed his three roommates and then went on a shooting rampage killing more than three students and injured 13 more. but rodger we know had an history of instability. they are re-examining a checkup by officers less than a month ago when they were called to his home after his parents became concerned on that occasion he reportedly convinced the officers he was just fine.

>> he was found to be very shy, timid. he was courteous to them. he told them that he was having some social problems and some school issues and that he probably was not going to continue in school. and he was automobile to convince the deputies that he was not a danger to himself or other people. they ended up advising him of sources that were available to him if he was depressed. there wasn't enough criteria available for them to put it in motion. >> the 22-year-old wrote a 137-page manifesto promising a day of retribution and put it up on youtube which he blamed women for spurning him. federal officials also looking into three gun stores where he purchased weapons.

six sets of parents are united in common grief. and this weekend the father of one of the shooting victims lashed out at the culture of gun violence and the gun rights law in the u.s. >> why did chris die? chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the nra. they talk about gun rights. what about chris' right to live? when will this insanity stop? when will enough people say stop this madness, we don't have to live like this. too many have died! we should say to ourselves not one more. thank you. that's it. >> joe, i can't fathom his pain. to pick up your point from last hour, the more we focus on mental health versus video

games, guns, that's the core here. once again, that dad has the right to say and feel everything he does, but this is a mental health issue. >> i think it's an all of the above issue. i think you want get at all of those problems, all of those issues. not just mental health. >> but the real core here, he stabbed three kids. this was a sick, sick, sick boy -- >> whose parents were struggling. >> and somehow this still happened. the ground zero on this one was mental health. >> it is. i mean, you have -- it almost reminds you of the guy that shot ronald reagan, his obsession with jodie foster. thankfully they don't show the young woman's picture. this guy was obsessed with a girl from the time he was ten years old and she was ten years old. and in his manifesto, he blames her. and they've got pictures --

>> i don't know why anyone would -- >> by the way, the girl says she doesn't know who he is. >> ten years old. it is a mental health issue. we're going to have to invest in mental health. we're going to have to figure out a better way to handle this. >> no one said it better than that father. we have a couple of other stories to talk about. big headlines over the weekend in the outcome of ukraine's presidential election which has done little to end the violence there. ukraine's military fought back pro-russian militants trying to seize control of the largest airport in the eastern region. kiev quickly went on the offensive with anti-terrorism forces launching air strikes on the rebels. civilians ran for cover as the clashes went back and forth for hours. at least two civilians are dead. the pro-russian militants say more than 50 rebels were also killed. the violence comes one day after ukrainians elected petro poroshenko as their next president. he is a pro-european billionaire

who has been nicknamed the chocolate king because of his candy business. poroshenko received more than 50% of the vote largely thanks to strong turnout in kiev and low turnout in eastern cities that are loyal to moscow. he's vowing to end the crisis with russia promising to offer amnesty to rebels to show they want to end the violence. >> those who have taken weapons but not used them, we can use the amnesty law. the only condition for using the amnesty law -- two condition. disarmament. for those who are killing the people, they're terrorists. and no country in the world has any negotiation with a terrorist. >> joining us now from washington former national security adviser for president

carter. dr. zbigniew brzezinski. and takes a look at the crisis in ukraine. >> this morning the main editorial, the election removes the last excuse for the u.s. and the europeans to deny ukraine lethal military aid. if the attacks keep coming in the east, what is the best response for the west? >> well, in my view it has to be a combination of things. including what "the wall street journal" says. we have to be willing to make it clear that we will support a compromise with the russians regarding ukraine's status between the west and the east. something like finland. but we also have to help the ukrainians to be able to defend themselves. that's absolutely essential. right now they're the objects of an external attack. and we also have to reassure

those european countries which fear what putin has done is a precedent. the first use of force on european territory to change boundaries on the grounds of ethnicity. not since the days of hitler, this hasn't happened in europe now for decades. so we have to realize that we are facing a long haul issue here in which we have to be determined, cautious, but persistent. >> james, as part of your documentary on pbs, you were on the ground in ukraine for three months. talk to me about what you saw exactly and maybe what we're not getting as we sit in the united states and watch this from afar. >> i think what really struck me, ukraine has always been divided a long kund of ethnic divide. the west they speak dominant ukrainian and in the east

they're mostly russian speaking. and i really saw over the three months the revolution this kind of joyous moment when they toppled a corrupt president. it ended up unleashing these old hatreds that have been beneath the surface. and they genuinely thought that the new government in kiev were fascists that would come and kill in the east. i think the danger in this moment with poroshenko sending in the troops is that kind of fear that was very real is going to be realized. these operations are going to kill civilians. and with every death, those kind of hatreds and their paranoia about the government attacking them becomes true. >> steve rattner? >> dr. brzezinski, just going back to your comments, with reach -- on the question of

arming the ukrainians, i believe the reason that the obama administration and the rest of europe have been reluctant to do that is for fear it would lead to an escalation. that if they were armed, the russians will be more armed. then we risk an east/west confrontation in the ukraine. how do you feel about that argument? >> i feel that's a false argument. because what we are seeing in the east is actually an intervention on the qt by the russians. look at these so-called rebels or whatever you call them. who arm them? where did that they get their weapons and training? how are they being coordinated? obviously that is support from the east. moreover the fact that the ukrainians generally speaking speak both ukrainian and russian doesn't mean that those speaking

russian are actually pro-russian. the number of russians living in ukraine is 17%. incidentally there are 32% non-russians living in russia. so this is a dangerous game to be playing in that part of the world. we ought to be clear that the ukrainian government has a right to insist on its authority on its territory. and if someone is sponsoring a kind of terroristic warfare by sending in experts like the kind that we saw in crimea where have now reappeared in eastern ukraine. and if it's encouraging other elements to rise, ukrainian government has every right to assert its authority. and that is a start of the entire international community accepts. >> gene, jump in. >> dr. brzezinski, what legitimate interest does vladimir putin have in ukraine? and is there a real u.s.ic fear that he would seek to do a

similar thing, for example -- >> if you asked me three months ago, i wouldn't have expected that. while i don't share his views, i thought that he was realistic. i think now he shows a certain inclination towards sudden passion, some emotional arousement in the name of chauvinism and nationalism. and an inclination to assert territorial changes on the basis of ethnicity. i think that's an opening game to major conflict. we have to make it very clear that in the case of latvia and estonia in which there are 25% of russians living, that we're going to support these nato countries. and i think america should have a permanent military presence, a kind of trip line. and it would be a good thing if

the germans, french, and british send some symbolic units there in the show they stand together. nato would disintegrate if we don't address these issues in a clear headed fashion at the same time while holding out the hand of compromise to russia. >> james, part one of "frontline" airs tonight. here's a preview of that. >> patriot is in my blood. it's genetic. i have to defend my motherland and fight for its great future. we have to fight and right sector is the organization to do it. i'm ready to give my life for this struggle. >> to right sector's headquarters in kiev where he waited to sign up.

>> 20 minutes later, he emerged as one of right sector's newest members. >> donny? >> james, what are we feeling on the ground there we're not seeing in the tape? hands to the ground there. >> i mean, i think what, you know, that guy there was downing an organization called right sector who they're in eastern ukraine. they're ultranationalists and hate russia. because they're linked to ukrainian nationalists fighting for the soviet they're seen as nazi collaborators. they're afraid everyone is going to come in and attack them. and there's this polarization. and both sides have these kind of long standing hatreds of the

other. what i was seeing on the ground is the kind of violence, you know, escalating these hatreds. and, you know, the situation going from a few thugs in the east causing trouble getting worse and worse. >> steve rattner? >> dr. brzezinski, respectfully, you didn't quite answer my last question fully. what i was trying to find out was if we are to arm the ukrainians regardless of who's right or wrong, whether the territory belongs to ukraine, but what are the chances if we arm the ukrainians that russia will go from theer surreptitiou that they provide real arms, real russian troops and the whole east/west conflict escalates? >> that implies somehow that the ukraine government and state should stay disarmed while the

russians have a free hand to promote violence indirectly as we have seen in eastern ukraine. you know, the interesting thing about the divisions in ukraine is that this right wing that it was just shown on television is a relatively small percentage of ukrainians. but if the ukrainians don't have an army of their own that can assert its authority throughout the ukrainian territory, these sort of quasi independent groups will come in. i think they'll prefer that way. and if ukraine stays disarmed, the opportunity for that happening, that negative outcome taking place, increases. so i think it's simply a matter of logic that the ukraine authorities should have the equipment they need to assert their authority in their country. otherwise we have the end to the international system. this can be repeated also in estonia and latvia. and we're sliding down a path

towards a much more significant and dangerous conflict. so compromise, steadiness, firmness are the necessary ingredients of finding a solution here. and patience. i'm afraid we're going to be facing this problem for quite some time. >> okay, dad. thanks so much. brzezinski squared today. james jones, thank you as well. good to have you. "frontline: battle zones" airs tonight on pbs. eugene robinson, stay with us. it's been over a year since jim webb left the senate, but is his memoir a show he's eyeing a return to washington? he joins us in our 8:00 hour. ahead this hour, the numbers are in and ceo pay has now hit new record levels. >> it's unbelievable. >> we'll show you why. it's one of the more serious

threats to our national security. tom friedman will be by to explain that. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ when i started weight watchers i wasn't sure what to expect at the meetings. but i really love going. i do! it reminds me we don't have to do this alone. it's so much better to have some backup and to do it together because we all face similar challenges. the meetings keep me focused and motivated. and i have a newfound determination that i'm really proud of. [ female announcer ] jumpstart your summer and start losing weight right away. join for free. try meetings, do it online or both. hurry, offer ends june 7th. weight watchers. because it works. hurry, offer ends june 7th. ameriprise asked people a simple question: in retirement, will you outlive your money? uhhh. no, that can't happen. that's the thing, you don't know how long it has to last.

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♪ we have an update on the heated exchange between rockefeller and johnson. senator rockefeller is standing by his comments where he se said part of the opposition to the president's agenda is because of his race. the west virginia senator told politico, people oppose things for a variety of reasons. it's a part of life and part of american life and world life. and it's a part -- just a part -- of why they oppose absolutely everything this president does. politico says his retirement may play into his openness which has not been publicly backed by any

other democrats. >> you wrote a column about this in "the washington post" today. >> i love the title. >> conversation stoppers. we had a great talk about this on friday, i think it was. a lot of conversation coming out of that. and i certainly understand what you were saying about getting bomb boarded by e-mails. i just haven't heard in the mainstream of political discourse race being a reason why affordable care act is opposed by republicans. do you think -- do you really think that plays a big role? >> you know, i think it does. i think it plays a role. i think it plays a role in the opposition to the affordable care act and virtually everything president obama tries to do. and i see it. i see it in e-mails. i see it in snail mail that i get. i see it out there. and it's not -- it is something that a lot of people believe. and it's not something that as

senator rockefeller said, it's not something you're supposed to talk about really because it immediately -- the conversation immediately gets shut down by you called me a racist or you played the race card. and then so that ends the conversation. he started the conversation. he's retiring and he gets to say whatever he wants to say. >> that's true. good thing about retiring. i guess it just depends on where you look. i brought it up on friday, for instance. despite my great admiration for the union movement, we've got tom friedman coming up next hour. identify said for quite some time there's a reason why you have union membership dropping down 10% in some areas in the private sector. and you have income disparity going up more and more. whereas after world war ii, you had 35%. i can go to people that constantly have -- you know, i brought up unite blue. i can find people in unite blue who have said some terrible

things about me over the past two, three, four years. but that doesn't mean there aren't great people in the union movement. that doesn't mean there aren't great vets in unite blue. great people in these organizations. it's just where do you go to select them. you know, so it'd be like me saying everybody that in the union movement writes nasty e-mails. that's just twitter. don't we just realize at some point there's some people who will try to associate themselves with a bigger group and say hateful things that shouldn't be associated with the union movement or unite blue or in your case be associated with conservatives or opposition to obamacare? >> well, you know, i think that's a good point, joe. i think it should be incumbent on those in the mainstream of the left and the right, then, to say, look. this is what we stand for.

and we reject. we reject racism. we reject the sort of invidious personal attacks that you're talking about. and we stand on policy grounds. and if you -- if the reason you're supporting this position or you want to join with us is because you don't like the president's color or you want to say nasty things about personalities on the right or whatever, then we don't want you. should make that clear. >> i think that's a fantastic point. make it about policy. got a problem with health care? talk about health care. you got to problem with somebody on the right, talk about policies. speaking of policies and race conversations, we've got to talk about mark cuban. we didn't talk about him on friday. that was extraordinary. we need to talk about that later on. speaking of the very issue i'm

talking about, income inequality and the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer. i talked about populism sweeping europe. that's coming to america. and republican politicians better figure that out or they're going to get left behind. eugene, stay with us. coming up we're going to continue the conversation. by the way, conversation, eugene for receiving the school of law's 2014 brandis medal. >> congrats. amazing. >> coming up, what the country's been doing that showtime calls years of living dangerously. tom friedman is going to join us next talking about income disparity when we return. ♪

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what? was that tom friedman? that was a clip from "years of living dangerously," a series of showtime exploring climate change. joining us now from washington, "new york times" columnist thomas friedman who is also a correspondent for the series. >> tom, that was shot in such a way -- >> i thought it was james bond. >> exactly. >> my good ps. >> amazing what they can do in hollywood. >> actually, you're shedding light on an issue we need to talk about. >> i totally got the issue wrong. let's go to the right issue. climate change. talk about the series. it looks incredible. >> what were we looking at? >> it's an amazing nine-part series really looking at how climate change, environmental stresses are playing out on the ground in real life. i was involved in four episodes. one was in syria looking at the

drought in northern syria that was one of the stressors that provoked the uprising. that was yemen where we were visiting a town in central yemen where if you turn on your tap, you get water once every 30 to 40 days. and we were covering two villages fighting over a water well. and the last show i was involved with which appeared last night which is about the world wheat crisis that helped really stimulate the revolution in egypt. >> donny? >> what -- so through this nine-part series, what's the arc? what are we going to see unveiled before our eyes? >> you know, what it's really about is the predicament we're in. which scientists say we're at a stage right now where we have to manage the unavoidable and avoid the unmanageable. if we cross certain red lines,

if we cross them, we're going to get into disruptive stuff. the main part of the show, it's here already. and they're living the impacts of it right now. >> steve? >> so, tom, it seems -- the case seems completely unquestionable. doesn't seem to be a shred of an argument on the other side. your show, of course, just will drive it home. but why can we not get the things done even in our own country that we all know things need to be done. things like a carbon tox, things to take a more dramatic stance on this? >> in the last show, the president gave his speech on climate change. that'll appear on june 9th. he really talks about it. it's a challenge. when you have people stressing out about their income, getting through the week, as you've been talking about on the show just before i came on, it's just very hard to confront an issue that plays out long-term whose

biggest impact will be on people who haven't been born yet. and the way i like to talk about it is the thing about it, if we took climate change seriously right now, what would we do? one of the things we'd do is reduce income taxes and corporate taxes and replace them with a carbon tax. one thing we would do is have cleaner air. one thing is have greater energy efficiency. one thing weld do is reduce dependence on foreign oil. everything you would actually do to deal with climate change now would make america healthier, stronger, more geopolitically secure, weaken the worst dictators in the world like putin whose only resource now is gas oil and revenue. really taking climate change now is training for the olympics. whether or not you make the finals, you are healthier, fitter, and stronger. >> if the world doesn't get it together to address climate change by reducing climate emissions and temperatures keep rising, is there a danger that

some country will try to take unilateral sort of engineering to slow it down? is that on the radar scope? >> it's hard to imagine what any individual country could do. when that question gets turned on us, gene, and people say you've got china out there, india, nothing we do really matters. i disagree with that for two reasons. one is we are such an example for the world. china and india can sit down and say if america's not taking it seriously why should we? when we take it seriously, when america changes, the power of emlation is greater than any other country in the world. whether you believe in climate or not. i wrote a book, hot that's global warming. some people believe it, some don't. take that out. i believe in it. you don't, fine. i wouldn't build a house on the beach, but that's your business.

you better believe the world is getting more and more middle classes in all of these countries. people who can see how americans live and aspire to how we live in american sized homes and eating american sized big macs. and the world is going to 9 billion unless there's an epidemic. more people means systems are going to be -- they have to be the next great global industry. don't you want america to lead that industry? >> might be nice. >> donny asked me, leave his beach house out of it. >> i'm sitting here going, come on. >> between you and your beach house. >> which beach house of his, we don't know. let me ask you quickly before we let you go, in the wake of 9/11 you wrote in the weeks and months after that and woke

people up about the relationship with countries in the middle east. you said we need to get off foreign oil. in the 12 or 13 years since we've moved in that direction. how is that energy revolution now a decade on going in the united states? >> well, actually, you know, clean power systems are really scaling a lot faster than people realize. solar, for instance, now very competitive. natural gas if extracted under the proper environmental regulations can be a real bridge to the future. but it has to be paired with a national renewable portfolio standard that requires every utility to factor in more where natural gas replaces coal and not solar and wind. we are really close. we are well positioned. if you add a carbon tax, i would settle of a penny a ton. the signal it would send to every industry, every boss, every ceo is we need to get ready our country for a different kind of economy. it's so win/win/win.

it really -- it pains you to see us not taking full advantage of this. >> the series finales of "years of living dangerously" airs monday june 9th on shoetime. thanks for that. stay with us because up next ceo pay is on the rise. the record numbers their salaries have now hit. and what it means for the economy. also, joe's conversation with the editor of "new york" magazine. we look at how they went about getting this iconic shot. stay with us. ♪

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here with us now, business writer for the associated press, ken suite who was out this morning with a new report on record ceo pay. what? >> give us the news here. >> break it down for us. >> income disparity continues to rise between the rich and the poor. tell us about it. >> sure. according to our data, ceo pay has crossed the $10 million threshold last year. the average was $10.5 million. that was up 9% from last year. you're now talking about, you know, these are not the seven-figure salaries. this is eight-figure salary. >> let me push back and why i have no issue with that. that was a 10% increase and the stock market was up 30%.

les moonves makes -- >> is the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer? the guy makes $56 million. >> as a shareholders. >> but as an american -- come on. as a shareholder don't you -- wait. steve rattner, don't you think companies actually would do better with their shareholders if they actually spent more money on their employees and not just $68 million for salary plus golden parachutes when they destroy the company, et cetera. >> i take your point the stock market was up a lot last year. but if you look at the st trajectory of ceo pay over any period of time you want, it has far outstripped the rise in pay for the average worker because in my opinion the system of corporate governance we have in this country is broken. >> but as a shareholder if cbs stock is up 60%, i got no problem -- >> i know you want to be invited to les' parties, but let's leave

that out of this. this comes at the same time where mika as you talk about all the time, minimum wage is stuck a little over seven bucks. the richer get richer and the poor are getting poorer. >> can't this be part of the same conversation? i get admonished by economists saying it has nothing to do with anything and the minimum wage can't go up because it will cost us jobs can. well? >> well, i think to your point you mention the fact that ceo pay is exponentially expanding. we're talking in 2009 the average ceo made 180 times the average worker. we're now talking 250 times the average worker's salary to ceo pay. and while there is some signs of wage inflation, there is some signs of that worker pay is going up, it's -- the raises that the average worker is getting is nowhere close. >> pails in comparison. >> correct.

the bureau labor statistics said worker pay went up about 1% last year. >> tom friedman, the biggest problem here is i agree with steve rattner completely. the biggest problem here is the corporate governance system is broken. you got ceos who put their buddies on the board and say give me a big raise or else i'm going to leave. how do we fix that? we talked about doing that after the crash in 2008. it never happened. donny talks about shareholders. i think shareholders would actually like independent boards that don't give away all their money to ceos. >> i think that's the solution, joe. you know, you can say that the stock market was up 60% and that's true. but what if the stock market was down 60%? would those salaries have gone down 60%? >> no. and they would have all gotten golden parachutes for destroying the companies. >> the salaries keep going up and then when shareholder return goes down, the salaries do not go down. i think steve has got the point exactly right.

it's self-dealing on corporate boards. and you need a much more independent form of corporate governance. >> so two points. first, ceo pay has gone up faster than the stock market over a period of time. you can look at one year, but that's obviously not the fair way to do it. look at it over the fullness of time. secondly, the s.e.c. allowed large shareholders to nominate for boards. there are shareholders you can't nominate to go on the proxy of the company. the s.e.c. retreated and said we'll leave this alone, but these are the changes we need. large shareholders should be able to put them on boards. >> i agree. all i'm saying is stock goes down, business goes down. fire the bum or he gets no salary. so all i'm saying is attach a leader to the success or failure of it. >> unfortunately the way it's rigged right now, gene, is if a company does well, the ceo does

extraordinary well. the company does badly, they pay him out and he does extraordinarily well. people at the bottom lose. working class americans lose. middle class americans lose. the .1% always win. >> yeah. my question would be for donny, do you agree that there is a problem with corporate governance and there ought to be some way to watch out for the workers in addition to watching out for the ceos who seem to have people watching out for them? >> absolutely. my big problem with corporate governance, i don't get gall on that. it's on guys making it when the stock market down 20%. i want it both ways. >> do you see the fight you started on our set? our guest comes down and sits down, nice guy. his last name is sweet. nice guy. he says one thing, we interrupt him. so tell me where this is all going, if you have a chance to speak?

>> it's fine. i think we're talking about corporate governance. it's important to point out the top of our list. anthony petrella. the man made $60 million basically because the board created an overly lucrative contract for him and had to buy him out. the stock did not perform better than the s&p 500. he did not pull rabbits out of his hat when it comes to business. it was just them buying out his contract. >> that number, too, though because we don't want to over-is simplify. les moonves is number two. i know a lot of people that would pay les moonves that much money. because he took cbs from last place to first place. >> you want go to his party to. >> they're printing money over there. that is hard. sometimes it's bad corporate governance. sometimes it's market.

>> les under cbs the stock went up 70% last year. because les' pay package is heavily weighted towards stock, it's not a surprise he that he got a pay bump and is one of the best paid ceos in the country. >> sumner redstone likes to line his own pocket so he has paid the ceos of viacom and cbs which he controls extraordinary amounts of money for a long period of time action even when the stock wasn't going up 70%, because that way he could pay himself more. i think les moonves is great but i'm not sure $65 million a year is the right number for any ceo. >> gene, it looks like donny will still be invited to les's parties. what about you, do you want to comment about les moonves and whether he deserves his money or not. >> i personally do, but i'm not commenting, though. >> i've always loved les moonves. i did, i loved him.

>> and how much does he make again? i just forgot the number. >> not enough. >> ken, while they suck up to les moonves, can i ask you about n nabors industries? how low with the lowest wage earners there? given what it does, i would think it goes to the bottom of the barrel and has people paid the minimum wage or close to it. >> the company is based in the bahamas, an oil field services in it. they have engineers who are probably paid pretty well but it's mostly a foreign company that, you know, implies foreign workers. >> based in the bahamas so they can avoid american taxes. >> fantastic. so they have a ceo who got paid off for doing badly, they can avoid their taxes and i'm sure the people paid at the bottom of the rungs there are super happy to work there. >> i think bob eiger is great also. >> i don't know what's fair about that. >> there's -- investors can vote

on executives' pay packages, it's called say on pay. actually nabors industries had two votes where shareholders said we don't like how you're paying your ceo, you need to fix this, so this is how they fixed it. yeah, they paid him $60 million, but now that that contract is put to the side and now they can focus on the -- >> ken sweet, you're a nice guy. >> thank you, ken. greatly appreciate it. >> tom friedman, eugene robinson, not so nice but we love you anyway. still ahead, the editor of "new york" magazine adam moss gives us information on some of the most talked about issues. find out which issue over the last ten years was his absolute favorite. also in our next hour toni collette is here. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. wondering what that is?

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coming up at the top of the hour, another school shooting has everyone searching for answers. the big warning sign from the shooter himself that authorities may have missed. also ukraine's new president is willing to extend an olive branch to rebels to end the

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♪ how many roads must a man walk down ♪ >> i'm here on a single mission, and that is to thank you for your extraordinary service. your willingness to serve, to

step forward at a time of war and say "send me" is the reason the united states stays strong and free. when it comes to supporting you and your families, the american people stand united. we support you. we are proud of you. we stand in awe of your service. you see it in the kids across america who send you all those care packages. you see it at the airports when you return state side, all the folks standing up, applauding, lining up to shake your hand. so i'm here to say thank you. i'm here to say i'm proud of you. the american people are proud of you. god bless you. god bless the united states armed forces, and god bless our united states of america. >> and that is president obama on a surprise trip to afghanistan on memorial day thanking the troops for everything they have done.

good morning, everyone. it is tuesday, may 27th. welcome to "morning joe." >> you know, as we look at these pictures of our men and women that have done so much over the past 12 years, a big part of this story is what they have done while most of americans haven't been paying attention. but i've got to say another part of this story is how americans have responded in other ways, how they have been supportive. all the ways that the president of the united states outlined, that they have in many ways been shoulder to shoulder with them. and they have such extraordinary respect. we need to treat them well when they come home. >> and a lot of respect to them and to their families. >> there is such a great difference between how they are being treated and how vets were treated when they came home from vietnam. but now we have to complete our promise and take care of them and take care of their health

care and take care of their families. >> with us on set we have donny deutsch and former treasury official steve rattner along with willie, joe and me. >> how was your weekend? >> oh, my lord. it was great. >> your memorial day weekend. >> it was wonderful, wonderful. yes. >> what did you do? >> i spent most of my time trying to get three wonderful teenagers to spend some time outside. >> how did that go? >> we got them there. we chased them with a paddle. kayaked. >> was that you on coney island? >> the yellow umbrella. you can't really see me there. >> so it's funny because willie was just talking about how you were actually out at your mansion in southampton. >> you know, what i do -- >> with your helicopter. >> oh, it worked. >> when you fly your helicopter because you couldn't go up to mika's event, you did do it to fly out to the hamptons. but where exactly does your helo

land? >> when i go to coney island, i take the f train out there. willie, you and i know this -- >> willie, a couple of quick questions. when was the last time donny was on the f train and secondly when is the last time he was in coney island? >> they painted an "f" on the side of his chopper. >> you know, when lewis shot our last promo, donny had never been down in the subway. >> that was interesting. >> i spent 20 years down in the subway. >> whatever. >> no, no, no, true story. i want to hear about the kids event in nantucket. >> did you have a good memorial day? >> i was not up there because i was -- for parents that have a lot of kids and have older kids, i had something happen that doesn't usually happen. >> what's that? >> i had all four kids under one roof at one time. >> that's your favorite thing. >> that's a big deal. that's a lot of work. ad as your kids get older and get in their 20s, they scatter.

so it's one of the few times you can just relax. >> they're all here right now, safe. >> i can go to sleep because, as steve knows, your mind is always wandering and flying around. >> and jack's birthday. >> so i want to show you all a couple of quick pictures here. this was jack when he was born, about two weeks in. >> oh, my lord. >> and i want to show you, here's how small jack was. three weeks after, susan and i were digging through pictures. that's my finger next to his handprint. >> how much did he weigh when he was born? >> 2 pounds, 2 ounces. it's hard to explain. and i wish i could show you a thousand pictures of jack. he's the happiest, sweetest boy. i can show you the back of jack. he's on the left waving the american flag, 6 years old.

tallest boy in his class. >> is he really? >> he is the tallest boy in his class. >> playing t-ball i saw. >> plays t-ball, runs all around. and i remember something that right after jack was born, and it's such a trying time for parents whose kids are in the nicu right now. thank you so much sacred heart hospital, pensacola, florida. your jack, he is 6 years old. but i remember we had the store from boston and i'm blanking out because i'm so tired. >> dennis leary. >> dennis came up and he could tell i was kind of off. he said, hey, i've got a kid, nicu kid. he was born young. you want to see a picture of him? he takes out a picture and his son is 6'4", playing hockey and i just broke down and cried.

it is hard for parents to understand. >> i had a week in there, daisy was four pounds. >> and i had one who was three pounds that was in there a couple of weeks and he's not 6'4" but he plays a lot of sports. >> you know, i've heard time and time again, a lot of these kids, you know, when jack was born young, they said he was going to be fine. the doctors said we don't know, you know, whether he's going to live or not, you never know. but about two hours in, the nurse came in and said he's going to be fine. he was angry, he tore out all of his cords. i laughed and she said no, no, no, he's going to be fine, he's a fighter. >> apple doesn't fall far. >> it was a great weekend, just a great weekend. >> was he 25? >> he was 28 weeks, about 2 pounds. >> that was incredible. >> and it was -- >> and you talk about the hospital. how incredible is it that nowadays 28 weeks and 2 pounds,

they can not only save them but he can grow into be who he is today. that is incredible now. >> it is unbelievable what they do. >> we're going to start this morning with a story that is absolutely heart-breaking for parents, though. classes are cancelled at uc santa barbara in preparation for a massive memorial service this afternoon on campus after a college student killed six other students before killing himself. on friday, police say elliot rodger stabbed his three roommates to death at their apartment. then he went on a shooting rampage in his black bmw firing inside a deli and at a sorority house kill three more students and injuring 13 more. but rodger had a history of instability and some say red flags may have been missed by authorities. the sheriff's department is re-examining a checkup by officers less than a month ago when they were called to his home after his parents became concerned. on that occasion, rodger reportedly convinced the officers he was okay.

>> he was found to be very shy, timid. he was courteous to them. he told them that he was having some social problems and some school issues and that he probably was not going to continue in school. he was able to convince the deputies that he was not a danger to himself or other people. and they ended up advising him of resources that were available to him if he was, you know, depressed or having issues, but it was -- there wasn't enough criteria there for them to actually put in motion the process of taking him against his will, as it were. >> the problem here is, mika, he wrote this long manifesto. inside the manifesto he said it was a good thing that the officers didn't go into his bedroom because if they had, it would have been all over. they would have discovered -- they would have discovered what he was planning to do. >> there's so much to learn from

this. you have to also -- it's so incredibly difficult to pinpoint when you need to act with people who are suffering from mental illness. >> in my family, i have had this -- not in my immediate family, but situations where very, very sick relative. >> myself as well. >> and tried to get them committed and then they show up and the person is charming at that moment. >> right. >> this is just one of those tragedies. it's a tragedy. >> there may be more in terms of signs. >> all that is true and it is a tricky bit of business, but there are also those of us who wonder what possible purpose it serves to be selling semiautomatic glock handguns to anybody, regardless of their mental condition. why do we need these? >> speaking of that manifesto, it's 137 pages long. he promised a day of retribution and put it up on youtube in which he blamed women for spurning him. >> hi. elliot rodger here.

well, this is my last video. it all has to come to this. tomorrow is the day of retribution. the day in which i will have my revenge against humanity, against all of you. for the last eight years of my life, ever since i've hit puberty -- >> this video after the fact is on the top of washingtonpost.com -- lots of news outlets are looking at it. i look at it and find it chilling. i don't want to give it any more than that. >> the "washington post" put it up and i saw it this weekend. he talked during this entire video about being alone, being rejected by women, being a virgin, living in this paradise and having no one to share it with and went on and on for five, six minutes. this was a kid who was completely isolated.

we see this in a lot of these shootings, people that have been brushed aside, left by themselves. and when they get in this world by themselves, it's terrible, terrible things that happen. >> he was seeing two therapists. clearly the parents seemed to be on it. sometimes we can pick things apart and it's just -- supposedly he was on a spectrum, he had asperger's and that was a symptom of the last horrible mass killing. sometimes there are problems without solutions. i don't know what -- >> the parents certainly knew there were problems all along -- >> they even called the authorities. >> there's this horrifying moment, willie, where the parents, the mother had gotten the e-mail from him. she read the first three or four lines. she called the father and they both got in their cars separately and raced up there to

try to get their son. by the time they got up there, it had happened. i did not hear about the -- him being on the spectrum, so i don't -- i brought that up before and got pounded for that, even though i think eventually it ended up being true in another case. >> yeah, they got a copy of the manifesto, his parents did. immediately they knew, as donny said, they were engaged. they had him in therapy. they got in their cars and actually heard on the radio the news that there had been a shooting at santa barbara and knew immediately that it must have been their son. >> i will say, though, following newtown, we talked about three things. and of course because one of the things we talked about was guns, the entire conversation shut down. >> right. >> nobody wanted to talk about it anymore. we talked about video games. that shut down because another group of people didn't want to talk about that. there may be one thing we can talk about here. the republicans and democrats, conservatives and liberals,

maybe we can talk about mental health in america. we're talking about it. we're finally starting to talk about it with our veterans. we need to talk about it with these men and women, these children that fall through the cracks that have mental health issues, and we need to figure out how to take care of them. we need to figure out how to invest as a country. and it is an investment. it's going to cost money. probably a lot of money. but so many of these tragedies come back to this. as donny said in this case, ban all guns. three people are dead today. three parents lost their children because of knives. at some point we've got to look at the common denominator and so many times, as i said in newtown, before newtown when we first saw the news, i described the kid, without knowing anything about him. there are some warning signs, but it's going to take an investment and we're going to have to figure out how to face mental health issues. >> you see how hard it is even when the parents know they are

there so we do need to do more to support families that need help. >> that's why it's so hard when they're on the line, they can act normally. they can get past the sheriff's deputy and the kid passes all these tests even while he's got that manifesto in the back room and the video. >> it's a very, very, very tight rope to walk. i want to move to ukraine because the outcome of ukraine's presidential election has apparently done little to end the violence there so far. ukraine's military fought back, pro-russian militants trying to seize control of the largest airport in the eastern region. kiev quickly went on the offensive with anti-terrorism forces launching air strikes on the rebels. civilians ran for cover as the clashes went back and forth for hours. at least two civilians are dead. the pro-russian militants say more than 50 rebels were killed. the violence comes one day after ukrainians elected petro

poroshenko as their next president. he is a pro european billionaire who has been nicknamed the chocolate king because of his candy business. poroshenko received more than 50% of the vote, largely thanks to strong turnout in kiev and low turnout in eastern cities loyal to moscow. in his first move as president, he is vowing to end the crisis with russia, promising to offer amnesty to rebels who show they want to end the violence. >> for those who have taken the weapons but not using them, we are ready to introduce the amnesty law. the only condition for using the amnesty law, two conditions, just no blood and disarmament. for those who are killing the people, they are terrorists, and no country in the world has any negotiation with a terrorist. >> mika, great "wall street journal" editorial. i'd love to get your brother's

reaction. >> they say, ian, ukrainians gave europe a democracy lesson and now it falls to petro poroshenko to safeguard this hard-won freedom and ukraine's independence against a russian assault. what are some of the challenges they would face? >> well, poroshenko won with 60% turnout, which is far higher than the turnout for the european elections so the editorial's point is spot on. ukraine did give the rest of europe a lesson in democracy. >> also, ian, they say this election removes the last excuse for the u.s. and europeans to deny ukraine lethal military aid. do you agree with that? >> absolutely. first, ukrainian government is now on record requesting lethal aid, including surface-to-air missiles. this election was an overwhelming victory for poroshenko whose platforms was fighting corruption, healing the nation and pulling ukraine into europe. the united states should be

supporting that firmly. >> one final thing the editorial brings up, the pro-russian candidates, only 6% of the vote between them. >> yeah, this election demonstrated tremendous unity within ukraine. only two didn't get to participate and it was only half of that didn't participate. you had an overwhelming participation and ability to participate in the country and 60% turnout shows this is a fairly healthy democracy in time of great adversity. still ahead, former senator jim webb will be here with his great new memoir. the one pass annuage that sums what it is to be a marine. and then award-winning actress toni collette is here. >> she's great. up next, some republicans are pushing for a new contract with america, but not everyone thinks it's a good idea. we'll explain in the political playbook. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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before we go to papers, chris e-mailed and said that your sweater -- >> makes him sad to be a man. >> makes him really sad to be a man. makes grown men cry. it's an easter egg pink sweater. >> what do you think, do you like this sweater? >> no. no, she's lying. >> i will only say chris has so many other reasons to be sad to be a man. >> this is true. if this is making him sad, he's not looking in the mirror. okay, let's go to the morning papers now. let's get some of the other headlines in this morning.

we'll start with "the new york times." nigeria's defense chief says officials know with an islamist militant group is holdings nearly 300 kidnapped school girls but is ruling out force to rescue them. the pentagon says it is unable to confirm their location. it has been seven weeks since the boko haram abducted the girls and threatened to sell them off into slavery. since the abduction the group has carried out attacks that resulted in the deaths of nearly 500 civilians. and "the boston herald" this weekend pope francis wrapped up his three-day whirlwind tour in israel. he prayed and left a note at the western wall, which is the holiest place in jerusalem for jews. at israel's request, pope francis changed his schedule and went to the holocaust memorial. he kissed the hands of six survivors and attended more than 30 events in 55 hours. during his flight home the pope told reporters he plans to meet with a group of people who were

sexually abused by members of the clergy next month. >> he is going to make changes and have an impact around the world. he plans on it. the "denver post" crews will resume their search for three men missing after a mudslide in western colorado. the men disappeared on sunday when they went to check on reports of a previous mudslide. officials say that's when the earth moved a second time. the slide was more than three miles long, half a mile wide and up to 250 meet deep. and "the washington post" the white house inadvertently made a major blunder after actually revealing the identity of the cia station chief serving in afghanistan. in a mass e-mail to nearly 6,000 journalists covering the president's trip, the message listed dignitaries who met with the president but included among them was the name of the top ranking cia officer in afghanistan. with the title, chief of station. nbc news is withholding the name of the station chief. let's go to the "san

francisco chronicle." an incredible collision caught on tape in california where a train crashed into a truck stuck on the tracks. the area is notoriously difficult for big rigs. as the train approaches, the driver gets out and tries to alert the oncoming train. too late, though. the train carrying military vehicles barrelled through the 18-wheeler. no one was hurt by the incident. time now for a look at politico -- shall we go to willie? >> i think so. >> mr. mike allen has a look at the playbook. mike, good morning. >> welcome back, willie. >> you look tanned, have the nice patriotic tie going on. you're still one foot up in memorial day weekend. >> a little time up at the lake in maine. >> let's talk some business. republicans considering going back 20 years in the playbook to revisit the contract with america. explain. >> yeah. there's a few republican senators who say people are forecasts that we're going to take of the senate, a better

than 50-50 chance in most forecasts that republicans will take over the senate which means they'll control the whole capital starting in january. so we better say what we're going to do, willie. there's been surprisingly little talk among republicans on either the house side or the senate side of what they would do if they controlled the whole capital. senator lindsey graham of south carolina is among the republicans who say we should put out a list of what we're going to do similar to the contract with america that house republicans ran on in '94. plenty of other republicans that senators are saying not so fast. that would just make us a fat target. we're better off to just run against obama, better off to let the political environment carry us along, not put something out there for our opponents to shoot at. among the people who feel that way is the senate republican leader, mitch mcconnell, who if this happens would be the senator majority leader. they asked him about this the

other day and he said we're not measuring the drapes. >> thanks, mike. coming up next, he says the american political system has become paralyzed. so what could get jim webb back into government and some say running for president? he'll answer that question next when "morning joe" returns. can you start tomorrow? yes sir. alright. let's share the news tomorrow. today we failrly busy. tomorrow we're booked solid. we close on the house tomorrow. i want one of these opened up. because tomorow we go live... it's a day full of promise. and often, that day arrives by train. big day today? even bigger one tomorrow. when csx trains move forward, so does the rest of the economy. csx. how tomorrow moves.

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31 past the hour. look at this. hey, guess what, right here. >> what's that. >> right here -- all right, 31 past the hour, weekend to "morning joe." you have to wait until your moment. thomas knows a thing or two about that. >> is it my moment yet? >> not yet. with us now former senator jim webb who's out with a new memoir, "i heard my country calling" and we want to hear what they said. senator, good to have you on the show this morning. >> good morning. it's good to be with you. >> talking about the book, senator, a lot of people are talking about the possibility of you throwing your hat in the ring in 2016. the book has a lot of people talking. tell us why you wrote it and what we're going to read in it. >> well, it's not a political book. i think one of the things that's happened here is when i left the

senate, i went back to my other career. i've spent almost exactly half of my life since i left the marine corps in public service. the other period has been writing. and so i decided that for a year i wouldn't do any media or op-eds or political events. with the book coming out, i want to again get out here and start talking about the issues that concern us. >> what are they? >> where the country is going. i heard you're running for president, joe? >> what's that? >> i heard you're running for president. >> oh, lord. >> a lot of people like to say that. we're taking things one at a time. the issues that i worked on when i was in the senate in terms of themes are the issues that i care about. our national security policy, working on issues of economic fairness. we put criminal justice reform on the table. i worked the gi bill, post-9/11 gi bill. we preceded the so-called pivot

into asia right out of our office. you know, in a system that's fairly paralyzed, we did a lot of good things when i was in the senate and i want to keep doing that. >> so you know, mika, if i were running for president -- >> yeah. >> would i be wearing this sweater? >> you know, i think you'd want to get the sympathy vote. >> that's a good point. >> no, i know you, joe. you're definitely going for the sympathy vote. >> so anyway, what have you got, mika? >> senator, you say i heard my country calling. i and my fellow combat veterans stand on one side of the a great impassable divide with the rest of the world on the other. can you tell us what you mean by that? >> i think in terms of comprehending what hard combat is like and attempting to articulate it to other people. those who have been in it learn something. some of it is tragic and a lot of is intense camaraderie that exists for the rest of your

life. i just spent memorial day weekend with two of the members of my rifle platoon and company in vietnam. in a very rural area in southern illinois. i went to pay a visit to a wonderful marine named kevin evington. we called him cannonball in vietnam. he's very ill and he assembled his family. i just found out literally 20 minutes ago that canonball passed away. so this is a friendship and a camaraderie that you probably never could find in its intensity in other areas of our society. difficult to explain but it stays with you. >> senator, this is thomas roberts. my dad is a vietnam vet. he's currently at a vet reunion over memorial day weekend. i know how intensely he feels about those that he served with and he doesn't talk much about the war, but we certainly listen when he does. for you, though, as we look

about what you've revealed about your past, you grew up as an air force brat, then went into the marines and then you go into life as an elected official. that time you took off where you said you rested quietly for a year, you were on the lowdown, how does that prepare you for where you want to go for your future, that time that you took off? >> i worked hard. it's just a different -- churchill used to say a change is as good as a rest. but i've had four different periods of public service. after each one, i've taken a step back, recollected my thoughts and taken a fresh look at the country in terms of how i might be able to help. but also i do write my own books, so it was a period of pretty intense work. this is a very personal memoir. i wanted to write about what it was like to grow up inside the military during this cold war period and then myself moving into annapolis and into the marine corps and vietnam and

write in a different way about vietnam itself. in the year that i was in vietnam in 1969, we lost twice as many americans on the battlefield as we have lost in iraq and afghanistan combined in the entire war in iraq and afghanistan. it went right over the heads of the country. 1968 was worse. 1967 was about the same. you know, i want people to understand the journey, not just the war journey but what it was like. my mother, 24 years old with four kids in a town where she didn't know anybody. and one of the real things that i'm the proudest of in terms of my professional life is having helped to create family assistance programs for the families of people who were in the military. >> senator, real quick, donny deutsch. as a decorated war hero it's

been no secret over the years, a lot of the dysfunction of the va hospital. obviously the last few weeks the scandal has hit a boiling point. your reactions? >> it's more than a hospital system. i've worked in veterans issues my entire adult life. i was the first vietnam veteran to serve on the council in the house committee. we were mentored by the world war ii veterans and i continuously worked since then. i was on a veterans committee in the senate. very proud of the gi bill we got through, the best gi bill in history, but we've got a leadership problem. we have to admit it. it's not a problem with style, it's not a problem of intent. but when i got to the senate, we had a 600,000 backlog in terms of claims. this is separate from hospital issues that are now. when i left we had a 900,000 backlog. we need to get the leaders in there and solve the problem.

>> the book is "i heard my country calling." former senator jim webb, thank you very much for being on the show this morning. >> i heard he's running for president. >> we'll see you in new hampshire, joe. >> see you there, buddy. >> wear your sweater. >> don't wear it actually. >> senator, no pink. still ahead, joe's conversation with "new york" magazine editor adam moss. plus it's been 20 years since her breakout role. now toni collette is both an emmy and golden globe winner. we'll find out which actor has a surprise uncredited role in her latest film coming up. revolutionizing an industry can be a tough act to follow,

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mika, we were at the national magazine awards. >> that was so much fun. >> it was unbelievable. one of the big winners, "new york" magazine. they have actually won more national magazine awards since any other magazine since 2004. of course it's no coincidence that 2004 is also the year that adam moss took over as the editor. i was lucky enough to sit down with adam in "new york" magazine's office and we started with how important visuals are at the heart of the magazine's identity. >> for a magazine, especially with the word "new york" in its title and a place as sort of visually sophisticated as this one, it kind of became both necessity as a matter of mission and also fun. it's one of the things i like about a magazine. >> when you first got here in 2004, you immediately started working on an overhaul of the magazine. >> the first day. >> how difficult was that? >> it was weekly then, which was

an enormous amount of work. during the day we would make the magazine and at night we would make a pretend magazine and we'd just make it and rip it up and make it and rip it up. you know, at the end of a four-month process we had what was really a pretty different magazine. >> and this remarkable issue, you have this quote. the city's geocultural map was scrambled. downtown became uptown. brooklyn became the defining pearl of new york, an alternate to manhattan and a global brand. it's unbelievable the changes that have happened in this city since you took over. >> yeah. this was about bloomberg's era. but really it was a sort of special issue in the magazine that had a sort of secret agenda, which was to analyze the dramatic profound shift in the city during what is coincidentalally the period of this era of the magazine. >> one of the most remarkable covers you guys had after sandy.

i was struck when i first read this magazine about what overtook us so quickly as a city, but in the back you still had holiday recipes. >> the story of the issue is really that we had an issue. >> exactly. and that was my point. and when i looked through that, i was just thinking how quickly this became upon us. >> three days. >> the photograph shows it. >> the amazing thing about this is that this place where we're now sitting was washed out. we couldn't get into our office. this particular shot, our amazing photo editor went up in a helicopter. it was very hard to find a helicopter willing to go up into the darkness. and he took thousands and thousands of frames. three of them were usable. one of them was that. >> my fafvorite issue recently, music issue. >> you were very nice on the air about that. i appreciate it. >> the problem was i just didn't have enough time. how do you talk about a city

that welcomed the beatles invasion, and the punk in the mi mid-'70s. >> new york was a great music town over and over and over again. new york was actually always, even in periods when it was making crappy music, it was always absolutely essential as a music town because of course this is where the money was. this is where the music got distributed out to the world. this sort of created the popularity. >> this 9/11 issue, what really made it remarkable was it wasn't a day in the life, it was an encyclopedia. it was an a to z of that horrific day. >> this issue may be my favorite issue i ever did in my life. also very tough and interesting and really in some ways a history of the same period. >> what's been your big takeaway in the battle? what's the big idea on how you've transitioned from a great

magazine to a great website? >> well, i don't think of it so much as a transition as sort of an amplification. we realized what we do in the magazine, we try to do smart and we try to be playful at the same time and that translates extremely well to the web. we're constantly evolving, we're constantly shifting, but essentially we stay true to what is the voice and sensibility of new york. we just -- you know, we apply it to entertainment. we apply it to politics. we apply it to fashion. we apply it now to science. >> tell us what are we going to see in "science of us." >> human behavior studied in all sorts of different ways. you'll see why bullies have better health benefits later on. the people who are bullied, sadly their health benefits are worse later on. we tell you about what kind of rebound sex people tend to have. >> that's important. >> it's very important. >> that's important to know. all right. so you've been here for a

decade. >> i've been here for a decade. >> do you have wanderlust? is it time to move on? >> no. standing still just comes at you. it's never the same day to day. >> you've never bored? >> i'm never bored. it's not the same job i had six months ago. it used to be a relatively static formally thing journalism and now it's just wild west here, and i find that exhilarating. >> i always talk about layout. it's just -- it's as good as it gets. he's as good as it gets. >> yeah, and he says you can't leave because there's so much change. you can also see what happens to the trajectory of one's career when one does leave in the fate of john heilman. >> i think the magazine is better. >> he was great. >> he's a very smart man. up next, she plays a rock journalist who brings along her music-hating documentarian friend to track down her once very famous musician

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>> okay. matthew smith's music is unique in that it was a blend -- >> cut. what is that? i don't really care about that. is that like music criticism or something? >> yeah, that's what i do. >> ligright. well, i don't care about that. i'm fairly certain that anybody who views this documentary won't either. >> you know what, i think i'm just going to focus on the road here if that's okay. >> okay. hostile interview, cut. >> that was a scene from the new movie "lucky them." joining us now is the emmy and golden globe winning actress toni collette. toni, it's so great to have you here. >> you're phenomenal. >> who is that guy? >> thomas hayden church. >> tell us who he is. >> in the movie? >> he plays this guy, charlie, who's a very affluent man. he's bored and he decides to

become a documentary filmmaker. it's the person who has had my character kind of forced her into a very stuck kind of position. she's kind of self-destructive and treading water and having to go back and look for him and look into her past is kind of what the story is about. >> so you play a journalist? >> a music critic. >> okay. so what did you learn about journalism in this? >> she's a very bad journalist actually. she likes to stay up late, drink lots of tequila. >> check. >> i pointed at you when i said tequila. >> you did. >> post-memorial day. >> but there's a surprise guest at the end. >> yeah. the person that i'm looking for and the person that i've been so kind of stuck over is this character, matthew smith. you don't know whether he's -- you know, he was on the precipice of becoming a massive

musician and having a lot of success and fame. you don't know whether he committed suicide or just should knowed the limelight. so in searching the limelight eventually we find him. johnny depp plays matthew smith. >> and your character has her back up against the wall. you have to deliver or else you lose your job, right? >> yeah. part of not being happy is not being good at things she used to be good at. her boss kind of threatens her position within this music magazine. so, yeah, she has to pull her socks up and write a good story. it's very confronting for her because it's everything she's been trying to avoid. she's an alcoholic and she's a bit numb and she has to face it all. >> it sounds like a lot of the people that work for us. >> and in my life. so your broadway show, two little kids and your role as

global ambassador for concern worldwide, which is very important. tell us about it. >> concern is an incredible company. i've just started working with them and i can't wait to get out to these country that say they help. they're incredible to me because certainly in times of crisis they drop, you know, an immediate kind of helping load in. but they're more about educating people so they can be self-sufficient and have a sense of autonomy, which i think is really great. >> i have two questions really quickly. one, can i borrow the dress for tomorrow. >> absolutely. >> you may as well. >> and number two, you're such an incredible actress. >> thank you. >> and so moving on the screen. is it something you always knew you wanted to do? is it something you -- how did you -- did you fall into it? what happened? >> my father said i came out of the womb kind of looking at the light of the tunnel with a bit of a jazz hand. but i think it was probably, you know, i got into dancing classes when i was a little kid but i think in my teens is when i

really started to kind of -- it was like an emotional tool for me, i think. it just -- initially it was something that i needed to do in order to just kind of get stuff out and communicate something. so my relationship has changed with it over the years. but i think that's what got me into it. i mean it just feels right to me. >> it serves you well. >> love that show. >> toni collette, thank you so much. >> it's available on video on demand and digital platform its and you can catch "the realistic joneses" on broadway right now. she's just a little busy. up next, what, if anything, we learned today. to gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians.

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