we'll accept there's never been a real war on drugs. war on drugs implies an us versus them. and all over this part of america, people are learning there is no them. there is only us. and we're going to have to figure this out together. president trump leaves open the possibility of investigating joe biden, a look at what this could mean for the 2020 race. plus this -- >> with this new tariff, it is inevitable we have to make changes on this model. >> business owners express their frustration over the trade war between the u.s. and china, the tariffs hitting their finances now more than ever. also ahead this hour, the british royals launch a text messaging service to provide support for anyone experiencing mental health problems. a psychiatrist talks to us about the same service that is already

available in the united states. all ahead this hour, welcome to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world, we're coming to you live from atlanta, i'm natalie allen. >> i'm george howell from cnn world headquarters. "newsroom" starts right now. at 4:00 a.m. in the u.s. east coast in the span of about an hour's time on saturday, the u.s. president unleashed a torrent of praise, of conspiracies and accusations on his favorite medium, twitter. >> he left no tweet unturned. among his targets, the mueller report. saying he was not going to fire the special counsel despite what was said in the report. he defended his son don jr. and retweeted posts about some of his favorite talking points, china, border protection and jobs. >> mr. trump is also focusing on the democratic front-runner in next year's presidential race. >> yeah, a new interview with politico, the president says it

would be appropriate for him to talk with his attorney general about launching an investigation into former vice president joe biden. >> this comes a day after mr. trump's lawyer canceled the trip to ukraine. rudy giuliani wanted that country to investigate biden. sara west wood has that part of the story from the white house. >> reporter: the president's personal attorney rudy giuliani reversing his decision to go to ukraine and discuss with ukrainian officials something that might damage a potential 2020 rival for president trump, and that's former vice president joe biden. giuliani first defended his decision to make this trip before back tracking amid a massive backlash with democrats criticizing the trip overseas to work with foreign officials to gain information that might hurt someone who could run against the president in the next presidential election. just for some context, this is all related to events that took place in 2016, when then vice president joe biden was pushing

to oust the top prosecutor in ukraine. that prosecutor was investigating an energy company in which hunter biden, the son of the former vice president, had financial interests. on friday, trump told politico he thought he would be within his rights to ask attorney general bill barr to look into all of this. here's what he said. certainly it would be an appropriate thing to speak to him about, but i have not done that as of yet. it could be a very big situation. now, of course, biden was not alone in calling for the removal of that ukrainian official. there were a number of other western leaders who were doing the same at the time and there is no evidence that the actions biden took were connected to his son's business activities. but before giuliani abandoned his plans to go to ukraine, democratic senator chris murphy wrote a letter to the republican chair of the senate foreign relations committee, asking him to press for more details about this trip so democrats were preparing to look into all of

this and also came after trump told politico he planned to discuss the planned trip with giuliani. biden's campaign responded to all of this on saturday, a spokesman telling cnn that this was, quote, a blatantly political smear from the trump team. sara westwood, cnn, the white house. let's get perspective now with kate andrews. kate is the associate director at the institute of economic affairs, joining this hour from our london bureau. good to have you. >> good to see you, george. >> let's start with the president's comments to politico where he says it would be appropriate for him to talk to his attorney general about investigating joe biden. do you believe the president is within his bounds here or is this a veiled threat or not so veiled threat that mr. trump could cause problems for the democrat who he may see as a threat come 2020? >> it is a not so veiled threat, absolutely. but the reality here is that both sides are playing very dirty now when it comes to

targeting political opponents. i think donald trump is suggesting he could set a special investigation on his top political opponent, his -- a very likely democratic front-runner joe biden. it is very concerning but he's responding in many ways to the house judiciary committee also suggesting that special agent robert mueller got it wrong, that trump did try to obstruct justice, and then trying to push back and also handle court cases on their own, bringing people forward to the house, trying to get them to testify outside of our proper institutions. so i think he's pushing back on targeting one's political opponents by targeting another political opponent. both sides really need to step back and think to themselves is this the way we want to go into the 2020 election? because if it is going to come down to who can use the bigger institution and who can abuse the power to try to make their political opponent look bad, i think that's going to come across as very anti-democratic and in many ways very anti-many

of the principles we stand on in america when it comes to free elections. >> 2020 will be interesting, for sure. before these comments to politico, mr. trump's personal attorney rudy giuliani planned to travel to ukraine to urge that country to investigate joe biden. giuliani did a 180, canceled that trip and now we'reing from the biden team, it is great to see all these strong progressive voices stand up to the attempt, this attempt at a blatantly political smear. and of itself reflects the urgent need for change and to restore the soul of the country. the bottom line here, kate, giuliani's trip won't happen, but what do you make of the suggestion of seeking an investigation from a foreign government to trip up an adversary? >> i'm pleased rudy ugiuliani i no longer going on this trip. trying to use foreign

governments to target political opponents so openly in this way is -- there say letter written saying giuliani himself should be investigated but we have the hill reporting weeks ago that the obama administration brought in ukrainian officials in january 2016 and it became very clear that while they were brought in under the assumption they would be talking about trying to crack down on corruption, they really wanted to speak about donald trump. and certain connections he had and highlighting the particular skeletons in his closet and also wanted to talk about joe biden and his son and his connection to the gas company. so i think the standards you have for one side you must have for the other. and perhaps we could stop mudslinging and trying to get our political opponents investigated for this and investigated for that. i'm pleased giuliani isn't going. and i roughly agree with joe biden's statement, but it has to apply to both sides. >> mr. trump was busy on

saturday, retweeting 62 tweets on a wide range of issues. everything from the subpoena of his son don jr. to the fisa warrant, the steele dossier, the mueller investigation, jobs, on and on. it was one retweet a minute over an hour's time, kate. is this presidential venting of frustrations, how do you see it? >> i'm sure that the president is frustrated that despite the mueller investigation, more or less clearing his name, though some areas like obstruction of justice were inconclusive, it seems that people have -- many people have not actually taken his innocence in that sense on board. so we see a lot of frustration. the president uses twitter as his main platform to communicate to his base. this isn't particularly new. but, you know, leading up to 2020 he's going to face some real competition. you have the center left of joe biden and the further to the left bernie sanders who are gaining real traction and he's going to have to come up with arguments against them. i suspect it will be slightly

harder for him this time around because he actually has a record now that people are going to point to, yes there have been some good things i would argue with the tax cuts, puttinging more money back in people's pockets, but many immigration platforms have made people deeply uncomfortable about how unethical it has been separating families at the border. he has to run on these things. i think he thinks if he tweets them out, he can get the spin on them he wants and he can talk about jobs and trade, et cetera. but he's going to face some real competition and he's using this platform as he always does to communicate to the people who he knows will love him, regardless of the story. >> kate andrews, we appreciate your time, thank you. >> thank you. one of those tweets you mentioned, george, had to do with china. so we look there next. the trade war ongoing between the u.s. and china, with talks at a stand still. president trump putting on his salesman hat to make his pitch to beijing. in a tweet saturday, this is

what he wrote, that china should make a trade deal now because they'll only get a worse deal if they wait and he wins re-election. >> so far the hard sell does not appear to be working. china's top trade negotiator says the latest round of u.s. tariffs, a hike from 10% to 25% on $200 billion in chinese imports, that it must be rolled back before anything else can happen. >> beijing vows to strike back against the united states, but we have yet to hear what that might be. steven jiang joins us from the chinese capital. steven, hello to you. there is no indication china will succumb to the u.s. president's intsistence but wha may retaliation look like? >> they could impose countertariffs on american imports but not dollar for dollar. china imports a lot less from the u.s. than the other way around. they're literally running out of

american products to tax on. but they could, for example, cancel or reduce major purchases from the u.s., we're talking about agricultural or energy products, things that could hit hard on the political base for mr. trump. they could also, for example, favor non-u.s. companies when it comes to granting market access here. they could even launch an official retaliation to make life difficult for american businesses here in china, sending fire inspectors or delaying the issuance of licenses or custom clearance. it is notable the chinese state media's coverage on the story is getting increasingly nationalistic. we have been seeing headlines like china would never concede on issues of principle or china will never back down under extreme pressure with more and more editorials than the commentaries calling the u.s. a bully making unreasonable and unrealistic demands. even sometimes evoking memories

of the u.s./chinese military conflicts during the korean war, natalie. >> they're owning the narrative there on this back and forth. i want to ask you, what is the economic risk to china if it holds firm and hits back at the u.s. for these tariffs? >> i think the risk for further escalation or vicious cycle is very much real. mr. trump has also threatened if there is no deal reached anytime soon. he will impose tariffs and additional $325 billion worth of chinese imports, basically taxing all chinese imports going into the u.s. i think at this stage he probably has made a political calculation about standing on -- being tough on china's more advantageous than signing a deal that could be described as weak by his opponents, especially as the u.s. is fast entering this 2020 election season. so for mr. xi, the chinese president, he's also under domestic pressure here to

standing his ground against the u.s. i think the risk right now, according to many experts on both sides, is tensions from the trade war could easily spill over to other aspects of the increasingly important but also complex relationship between the world's two largest economies. natalie? >> the world is watching. because it doesn't just affect the u.s. and china for sure. steven jiang for us as always, thank you. we'll talk with you again and see what we learn from china eventually. according to the u.s. president, tariffs he says are a good thing because they fatten the coffers, he says, of the u.s. treasury. but it is not quite that simple. >> right. ultimately it is american businesses and customers who foot the bill. pablo sandoval visited a bicycle shop in new york struggling to cope with the raising tariffs. >> reporter: step inside ryan's new york city showroom and you'll see the unintended consequences of a trade war.

>> with this new tariff, it is inevitable we have to increase the price on this new model. >> reporter: like many businesses, the brooklyn bicycle company is already dealing with the burden of increased chinese import tariffs. these bikes are assembled in china using foreign made components to keep the cost down for the consumer. in september, the trump administration's 10% tariff hike on nearly $200 billion in chinese goods forced him to raise some prices. >> this is one of our most popular bicycles. $449 last summer. >> reporter: then on friday, the 10% goes to 25%, a change that will result in another price hike on the showroom floor. >> for every $100 we spend on buy sib bicycles, $5.50 we pay on duties. we're now at $15.50. now it is another $15, we're talking $30.50 for every single bike we import on $100, not f,

$200, our cost is $61 that we're paying on duty to the government. >> reporter: he says that means some of his customers will be paying more for the same bike. >> it is difficult for me. i can't call my customer and say, guess what, you're getting a better wheel set and better grips and this luxurious leather saddle. that's not what you're getting. the money is going to the government. >> reporter: it has been a rough ride for many business owners since president trump waged his trade war with china. he blames the uncertainty that comes with trade negotiations. >> it is not difficult for us as a business to decide what to do. we have built financial models that we can punch in these variables regardless of what the scenario is and the model will spit out this is what you need to do. the challenge with the model now is we're missing one main variable, we don't know what the final duty will be. with the trade talks ongoing. >> reporter: there is some optimism coming from the president. on friday, he took to twitter saying tariffs will make the country, quote, much stronger, just sit back and watch. that may be hard to do for some

u.s. importers with china now vowing to hit back after friday's tariff hike. >> i think the tariffs are great, i applaud the administration for what they're doing, i just think six months, nine months in it is becoming really difficult and, like, come on already with these negotiations, like, let's move ahead. >> reporter: pablo sandoval, cnn, new york. that's one example of what could be very many in the future if this goes on. the u.s. secretary of state is getting ready for a trip to russia. the state department says mike pompeo will head to moscow over the coming hours, he'll be there monday, but the highlight of the trip probably won't come until tuesday. >> that's when he's set to meet with the russian president vladimir putin in sochi. they'll have a lot to talk about including ukraine, north korea, venezuela and iran. this will also be the first russia trip for the senior u.s. official since the release of the mueller report. still ahead here on "newsroom,"

vacationgoers dream of finding an empty beach, but sri lanka would be visitors are thinking terrorism not tourism. how bombings have hurt that island's economy. storms causing major flooding in the southeast and u.s. it continues. and as we said just yesterday, more heavy rain continues as well. we'll have the forecast. can't see what it is yet.re? what is that? that's a blazer? that's a chevy blazer? aww, this is dope. this thing is beautiful. i love the lights. oh man, it's got a mean face on it. it looks like a piece of candy. look at the interior. this is nice. this is my sexy mom car. i would feel like a cool dad. it's just really chic. i love this thing. it's gorgeous. i would pull up in this in a heartbeat. i want one of these. that is sharp. the all-new chevy blazer. speaks for itself. i don't know who they got to design this but give them a cookie and a star. they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com

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(vo) you earned it, we're here to make sure you get it. quickbooks. backing you. and welcome back to "cnn newsroom." catholic churches have been holding sunday mass in sri lanka. this for the first time since last month's easter bombings. >> those attacks killed hundreds of people and dealt a major blow to that nation's once popular tourism industry. >> reporter: empty beaches, deserted streets, restaurants with no customers, the staff idling outside. the attacks killed more than 250 people, and the bombings also dealt a body blow to a key pillar of the country's economy, tourism. i'm a couple of kilometers away from one of the targets of the easter sunday bombings, the saint sebastian shrine outside

colombo. i'm in a part of town a block away from the beach that would normally be full of tourists. but as you can see, there is hardly anybody out on the streets. the terrorists targeted churches as well as hotels popular with the more than 2 million tourists who visit the country every year. the industry accounts for about 1 million jobs. it is one of the great success stories here following the end of a bloody 26 year long civil war in 2009. but now the industry is staring at big losses, according to the head of a trade body. >> most are experiencing 70% to 75% cancellations. we keep on getting the cancellations. >> reporter: the impact is nationwide. one of the country's leading travel companies says about a third of the bookings they had for may have already been canceled. >> since 2009, it had been going up. year on year increases. since then the first time that we had downfall, yeah. >> reporter: among those killed on easter sunday were more than

40 foreign nationals from at least a dozen countries. sri lank walanka's leaders ackn the economic fallout. >> translator: yes, the economy has a blow as a result of these attacks and it is the tourism industry which has suffered the greatest blow. >> reporter: it is a double blow. back here, even as people here and around the country mourn the lives lost in the bombings, the economic costs are mounting. cnn, sri lanka. parts of the southeastern united states are dealing with major flooding and there is risk of more to come. on saturday, thunderstorms pounded southern texas with heavy rain and hail the size of golf balls. some residents were stranded by the sudden floods. >> that's the flooding there in houston. in mississippi, flash floods washed out rail lines that caused this train to derail. luckily, no one was injured

there. and the train compartments were mostly empty. let's bring in our meteorologist derek van dam to tell us what is going on there. texas to these other states in the south it pretty bad. >> i don't think i've ever heard of a train derailing from flooding. >> yeah. washed over the railroad tracks and allowed it to erode, eventually derailing a train that went through there. fortunately nobody was hurt. good news about that. but the rivered in i flooding, water that has moved down the mississippi river valley has to enter the gulf coast. before it does that, it raises the water levels across the lower mississippi river valley. we expect river flooding to continue into early june. so you think about the monetary loss for people, home owners, farmers, businesses, people have to wait for another couple of weeks before they can even return home to start up the cleanup process. so there is just wide ranging effects for this flood situation

which is the worst in decades in many locations. now, there are 15 states impacted by flooding at this present time. you can see the river, you can track the entire mississippi river from north to south, that is ongoing. it will continue to occur as that water streams southward into the gulf of mexico. on top of that, we have had our heavy rain events, these are localized events that happen in short periods of time. just like what's taken place over the past 12 hours across eastern louisiana and southern mississippi where they had upwards of 10 inches of rainfall just in the past couple of days. this is a five-day rainfall total. you see baton rouge to houston, particularly bad, where areas have been flooded because of the strong storms that have moved through. but, again, talking about the river flooding that is still coming, that is why the national weather service has flash flood warnings in effect for much of the mid-mississippi and lower mississippi river valley. the radar is starting to clear out.

that's the good news here. we have a dry pattern setting up into the rest of the weekend, and into early parts of next week. thunderstorms enter into the forecast once again for next week. we have major flooding taking place at 34 river gauges at the moment. and well over 250 river gauges repo reporting some sort of flooding taking place across the entire central parts of the u.s. look at this. rainfall accumulation again shifting eastward, away from the hardest hit areas. that doesn't negate what is still coming and that is the cresting of the rivers as that water eventually pours southward into the gulf of mexico. this is a slow motion disaster. >> all right. thanks. >> after spending terrifying days in captivity, four hostages are safe, three of them arriving in france saturday. now we're hearing more about why the rescuers had to act fast to get them all out. what was behind it all. and u.s. presidential hopefuls hit the campaign trails and talk about motherhood.

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here in the u.s. and all around the world. this is "cnn newsroom." i'm natalie allen. >> i'm george howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour. the u.s. president donald trump says it will be appropriate for him to talk to his attorney general about launching a probe, an investigation into the former vice president joe biden. you'll remember joe biden is now running for president. it stems from biden's call in 2016 for a ukrainian prosecutor to be removed from a case involving his son's company. president trump is warning china to make a trade deal now while the terms are still favorable.

he tweeted they'll get a worse deal if they wait until after the 2020 election. but beijing is digging in, vowing to retaliate for the latest hike in u.s. tariffs. at least one security guard is dead, this after a gunman tried to storm a luxury hotel in southwest pakistan. the military says the attack is over and the guests at the pearl continental were evacuated. all of this happening in the port city on saturday. separatist groups are known to operate there. three of the four hostages rescued from terrorists in burkina faso are in france now, greeted by president emmanuel macron when they arrived saturday. >> we're hearing more details of their ordeal and the nerve wracking rescue operation. selma abdel aziz has this report. >> reporter: french forces launched an operation to rescue what they believed were two french men kidnapped in neighboring benin. once inside, they found an

american hostage and a south korean woman had been taken as well. they were able to rescue all four, but two french soldiers lost their lives in this raid. one of the freed french men speaks of his mixed emotions at his new found freedom. >> translator: first of all, our thoughts go to the families of the soldiers and the soldiers who lost their lives to free us from this hell. we wanted to present our condolences immediately to the families because our thoughts are ambivalent in relation to everything that is happening to us. >> reporter: the two french men were kidnapped on may 1st in neighboring benin on safari. they described a terrible incident where their local guide was killed by the kidnappers. they were taken and then moved on to burkina faso. the french authorities say they had to act had they did to rescue these men because their hostage takers were about to move them on to another militant group, this one based in mali and with links to al qaeda. french authorities say if they

had been moved on, it would have been near impossible to rescue these french men. now, the french military is involved in this region, there are over 4,000 french troops there fighting an extremist insurgency. the french foreign minister described this as a success in that battle against extremist elements in the region. as for the two french soldiers that lost their lives, the country will be honoring them in a tribute on tuesday. selma abdul aziz, cnn, london. protests turned violent on saturday, some demonstrators threw gas bombs at government buildings and police hurled tear gas at the crowds. >> this caps off three months of protests led by the opposition party. they want the prime minister to quit over allegations of election fraud and corruption and hold snap elections. the opposition party has already cut ties to parliament and say they won't take part in the

local elections at the end of june. in the u.s., the 2020 democratic presidential hopefuls are hitting the campaign trail this mother's day weekend. >> senator amy klobuchar spent saturday in puerto rico where she visited a school that was affected by hurricane maria back in 2017. her visit came during heated debates in washington over relief funds for the island. >> also, senator elizabeth warren in the swing state of iowa. she held a town hall with voters. afterwards she took selfies with supporters including this special one. she says it was her 20,000th selfie as a candidate. get used to it. >> she's keeping count. the candidates you saw there are part of a record number of women running for office in 2020. many of them are also working moms. >> a happy mother's day to moms who are watching. >> happy mother's day. >> over the past few months, those presidential hopefuls have started to open up about motherhood and what it all means to them. our kyung lah has that.

>> thank you all! >> reporter: in the heart of west virginia, senator elizabeth warren joined by her son. >> by the way, the guy in the blue shirt, that's my son alex. >> reporter: her experience as a mother part of her pitch to voters. >> child care never stopped being an issue. for me, like for so many working parents today, it was this weight i had to carry around every single day. and it never let up. >> reporter: the motherhood identity, once viewed as an albatross, in 2020, is getting a makeover with a record number of women running for president. senator kamala harris, married to doug inhofe, father of two children from a previous marriage, ella and cole. >> i therefore have two children that are cole and ella who are here and they named me their

mamala and their mother kristen is here who is a dear friend of mine and we have a real modern family. >> reporter: the portrait of a modern candidate. in a personal essay, in honor of mother's day, harris writes about the heartache of missing her step daughter's graduation. >> i am not perfect, our kids are not perfect. my husband is not perfect. and i don't think that the american people want perfect. >> reporter: senator amy klobuchar at a cnn town hall explained how getting kicked out of the hospital 24 hours after giving birth to her daughter who was born with a condition that made her unable to swallow, made her fight back and become a lawmaker. >> that was when he got hooked on public service. because i could see you could make a difference. >> reporter: to even joke about motherhood means backlash in

2020. beto o'rourke quipped about barely helping his wife with the kids, promptinging this public apology. >> not only will i not say that again, but i'll be much more thoughtful going forward. >> looking forward to getting a chance to say hello. >> reporter: today, amy o'rourke's on the trail. she's doing the driving. >> i've got little henry with me. >> reporter: senator kirstjen gillibrand brings her family on the trail. her mom status, a credential as a candidate. >> i'll fight for their families and their communities. >> reporter: kyung lah, cnn, los angeles. fighting for mental health is a battle that isn't going away. ahead, what britain's royals are doing to offer help and hope to people who need it most. feel te to drink a lot of water. medications seem to be the number one cause for dry mouth. i like to recommend biotene. it replenishes the moisture in your mouth. biotene definitely works.

[heartbeat]

this story about a teacher in the state of california who was diagnosed with cancer and in

order for her not to lose her job, she has to pay someone else to cover for her. >> when that story broke, it just -- people couldn't believe the situation. it really sparked outrage. cnn's dan simon has more from san francisco. >> reporter: she's a popular second grade teacher at san francisco's glen park elementary, and she has breast cancer. now on extended leave, she is having to pay money out of her own pocket for a substitute teacher. parents are outraged. >> she's a beautiful, lovely, great teacher. she's one of the best teachers. it is terrible. >> makes me worry later on, if that were to happen to me, you know, like, i have to plan accordingly and that's not fair. >> reporter: it is all part of a little known state policy that dates back decades. here's how it works. california teachers get ten sick days a year. if they need more, they can take an additional 100 days of extended sick leave. but there is a catch. the teachers have to pay for

their own subs. the money gets docked from their paychecks. about $200 per day in the case of the san francisco teacher who wishes to remain anonymous. >> she's an incredible teacher and that's not fair. that's, like, crazy. >> reporter: it falls under a 1976 provision in which teachers don't pay into the state's disability insurance program. so they don't get those benefits. in a statement, the san francisco teacher's union says it is consulting with our members on the priorities for contract negotiations next year. as always, we look forward to making improvements in this and other parts of the contract. educators say it is part of a larger issue about the lack of money in public education. >> we need to fix funding in california. we have been -- we're the fifth largest economy in the world and we pay 42nd in rankings per state in what we spend per pupil on education. that's not right. >> reporter: it is not clear how many times this has happened. but it was a go fund me page

that brought the issue to light. the teacher being fully reimbursed and beyond. it is going to take california lawmakers and the teachers unions to come up with a fix for what everyone seems to acknowledge is ridiculous. a cancer ridden teacher with all the stresses and worries associated with an illness having to pay for her own substitute. dan simon, cnn, san francisco. >> dan, thank you. britain's young royals are launching a new service to help people going through a mental health crisis. it is a brand-new project from their heads together initiative and meant to offer immediate aid to people who need that aid the most. >> we wanted to do our bit to make it easier for people to start to get the help they need. this supports people that need advice in a tough moment. it operates 24/7, connects people to trained volunteers who

provide help at a time when it is most needed, enabling for them to move from crisis to calm and finder longer term support. shout is launched with crisis text line, which has been tried and tested in the united states. >> princip >> they have been vocal supporters of mental wellness. the princes have been praised for opening up about their struggles after the death of their mother princess diana. the shout service is aimed particularly at younger people and students who may be afraid to reach out for help. let's talk about the program with our guest, psychiatrist dr. daniel bober joining us, a former mental health policy fellow for the u.s. thank you for being with us. this crisis text line was founded in the u.s. in 2013. talk to us about how it works, how are people reaching out. >> well, you know, as you said, it was founded in august of 2013

as a nonprofit corporation. and received over 20 million calls thus far. and essentially people are texting in and they are paired with a volunteer who is specially trained, not a medical professional, but a volunteer who is trained to have a conversation and decide whether they need to route the call to an emergency service worker or higher up on the scale to get people the help they need. >> their texting their issues, texting back and forth? >> exactly. they're texting. texting doesn't convey tone the way voice does. you have to be careful the way you interpret texting. it is a good first start because there are so many people now that utilize social media and texting to communicate and very often people feel more comfortable texting than they do actually speaking to someone because they feel it is safer and more anonymous. >> right. are there certain mental issues that dominate these texts? what are people seeking?

>> well, it is mostly depression and anxiety and very often there are people that call in that are suicidal. you look at the world health organization statistics, the number one cause of disability worldwide is depression and anxiety and it costs the globe a trillion dollars. it is a serious public health problem. >> right. and we know that suicide rates are on the rise. this is another tool to start a conversation with someone, correct? >> yes. and the suicide rates have doubled since 2014. the utilization of this text messaging crisis service has coincided with the increase in suicides in the united states and globally as well. >> and, of course, there is drug use as well, which is we know that is on the rise. and crisis level as well with the people who are abusing drugs and od'ing. there is so much more information online for people who have mental health issues.

regardless is there still a stigma attached to reaching out for help for mental issues? >> i think there is a tremendous stigma against mental illness and that remains as one of the greatest barriers to treatment. if you tell someone they have depression, they don't look at you the same way as if you tell them you have diabetes or cancer. people still view mental illness as a basic weakness and character defect. until we can overcome that, it is going to be a barrier to treatment. >> do you see this as something that is going to get more and more popular, more used as young people that need help, they text, that's what they do in their lives for the most part. >> that's exactly right. especially for the millennial generation. i think texting and social media is a double edged sword. in one way i think social media has created the problem by creating all these, you know, false facades of people and enjoying their lives and instagram filters to make them

look better than they actually are, which i has created an expectation that the millennials can't live up to. on the other hand, social media and texting has made it more accessible for people to get help. it is really a double edged sword. >> right, right. i see what you're saying. you touched on this, talk more about the fact that a text isn't like a phone call. texting you can't hear someone's voice, the person that is texting who needs help can't hear the person taking the calls' concern or compassion for them. >> that's exactly right. and that's true. not just in people who are suicidal, but think about your friends or family members who you text. texting is very often misinterpr misinterpreted. texting doesn't convey tone. you have someone's voice, the rhythm, the rate, the tone, the inflexion in their voice, it can convey meetings. it is important to have a conversation with people if you

can because you can get a lot more data and a lot more information from that than from a text message. >> right. it is much more complicated for someone to decipher what this person's needs are just via text. >> exactly. >> well, we appreciate your information. it sound looks a wonderful program. it is obviously being used. dr. daniel bober, thank you. >> my pleasure. so in the u.s., the crisis text line number is 741741. and the uk, you see there on your screen, the shout number to text 85258. we'll be right back. we were paying an arm and a leg for postage. i remember setting up shipstation. one or two clicks and everything was up and running. i was printing out labels and saving money. shipstation saves us so much time. it makes it really easy and seamless. pick an order, print everything you need, slap the label onto the box, and it's ready to go. our costs for shipping were cut in half. just like that. shipstation. the #1 choice of online sellers.

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exactly 150 years ago americans were electrified by an achievement that was the moon landing of its day. it was 1869, the moment the eastern and western halves of the u.s. were first joined by a transcontinental railroad. >> it was a big deal, historic event that celebrated with a golden spike used to connect these final rails. our paul vercammen marked the anniversary with a ride aboard the scenic grand canyon railway.

>> reporter: so from sea to shining sea, train depots, train museums marking the anniversary, i'm on the grand canyon railway, you see how beautiful it is. it connects williams, arizona, with grand canyon national park. ♪ many people are enjoying the scenery and time talking to other folks including pam here. this is her birthday month. describe what this has been like for you. >> this is such a treat. it is beautiful. the scenery is beautiful. it is relaxing. i love it. >> reporter: and if you go further down the road here in the car, thank you so much and happy birthday, pam. you see rambling rose. what have you been doing today? >> this is what i've been doing all day. >> you have a song for us? ♪ i've been working on the railroad ♪ ♪ all the live long day ♪ i've been working on the railroad ♪

♪ just to pass the time away ♪ >> reporter: thank you so much rambling rose from tennessee, found herself on a train here in arizona. this is all part of the history. if you think about this event, it was the railroad that opened up the western united states. the country had not been connected before this point. we talk about that promtory point, utah, that golden spike went in. for the passengers, the trip stopped right here, the grand canyon, an overlook, a magnificent vista. look below. that's where the colorado river carved out its path, century after century after century. for the riders on the train, it was all a commemoration of that 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad. and it got a little memento here, look at this. it is their own version of the golden spike. reporting from the grand canyon,

i'm paul vercammen, now back to you. >> he loves the west coast. >> how fun was that story? love it. ireland is using the world's most comfortable clothing to raise money and awareness for children's charities. on friday, it was national pajamas day here and for 16 years the early child island organization had used that date to hold a fund-raiser. >> children and staff in preschools are sponsored to wear pajamas to close. how fun is that? the charities they support focus on children 6 years old and younger. the organization says pajama day has raised more than $3 million since it began. >> comfortable. >> i think we should have a pajama day here at cnn, george. >> not a bad idea. >> not a bad idea. >> might look a little strange. >> we're working in the middle of the night. our top stories are just ahead. >> happy mother's day. see you in a few minutes.

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in the united states and