captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, power plays: president trump says he won't work with congressional democrats, as they investigate him and debate whether to start an impeachment inquiry. then, how one organization works to remove the stigma of mental hehealth issues in testaurant industry, where substance abuse is more prevalent than any other legal line of rk. aplus, from the ashes-- h mare at a cathedral in britain might offer a roadp to reconstruct notre dame. >> what we learned from the fire was we compartmentalized all the roofs in the minster so if a fire breaks out anywhere, it can reasonably well be contained. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the p b newshour hasn provided by: >> babbel. aap langup that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. babbel's 10-15 minute lessons are available asnen app, or on more information on babbel.com. >> for projects around the wuse, home advisor helps find local pros to do tk. you can check ratings, read customer reviews, and book appointments with pros online at homeadvisor.com. home advisor is proud to support pbs newsur. >> supporting social

entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention, in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pie station fromrs like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the speaker talks "cover up." the president walks ou

a political drama played out in washington today, as president trump demanded that democrats give up on investigations and impeacent. house speaker nancy pelosi did not call for impeaeechment prngs today as she left a closed door meeting with house democrats. but she had a firm message.th >> we believpresident of the united states is engaged in a cover up. >> woodruff: hours later, in the rose garden, president trump reacted... >> i don't do cover up >> woodruff: he accused pelosi hud senate minority leader schumer of, in effect, bad faith, bef to be a white house meeting dout infrastructure, and added he won't work wiocrats on that issue, or anything else, until investigations into him ceased. >> i want to do infrastructure. but you know what, you can't do

it under these circumstances. so, get these phony investigations over with.f: >> woodrack at the capitol, pelosi and schumer responded. >> he just took a pass. and it just makes me wonder why, why he did that. in any event, i pray for the president of the united states. >> we were interested, we are interested, in doing infrastructure. it's clear the president isn't. he is looking for every excuse. >> woodruff: on impeachment, house democrats are split. some, like california's maxine waters, who's part of the leadership, favor it. >> i'm for impeachment. f i've always be impeachment. i've never backed up. i've never changed my mind. i d.ink he should be impeach >> woodruff: but others, like house oversight chair elijah cummings omaryland are less eager. >> let's stay the course. let's continue to look to the courts to provide the remedies

with regard to getting us the information we need to do our jobs. >> woodruff: the trump administration is pushing back on multiple investigations, including requests by congress for the president's tax returns. the "washington post" reported yesterday that a confidential internal revenue service memo says tax returns must be given to congress unless executive privilege is invoked. before the house financial services committee today, treasury secretary steve mnuchin said the mo doesn't contradict the treasury's reason for withholding the returns. he argues the release request does not have a legislati purpose. >> that memo, i understand, is issue andg a different is not addressing the issue that we and the department of justice looked at. >> woodruff: in new york meanwhile, state lawmakers passed a bill thawould give congress access to the president's state tax returns if the i.r.s. does not release them in full.

and there was one area of cooperation between congress and the executive branch. the house intelligence committee says it reached a deal with the justice department to turn over some underlying intelligence documents from the mueller report. later, a federal judge in new york upheld congress' power to subpoena financial records from banks doing business with the esident. and our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins joins me now. lisa, you've been reporting on this all day. what do we know abou t what happen that meeting at the white house? >> the best read we've gotten so far is m democrats who were there, and what democrats say happened is the president walked in, he spoke tor them exactly three minutes, and he told them that hypotheticals to do infrastructure, he also wants a deal on trade and some other items, but that given speake pelosi's comments today, which he called terrible, accusing him of a cover-up, and thecr deic investigations, he

said saiz it's not possible, and m. cannot work with the he walked out before they could sit down, and that was the end of the meeting. >> woodruff: so we are reporting on this, democratic leaders ying they're not prepared to begin an impeachment inquiry, but they do have some kind of plan. o what are you heang? >> that was the news from before the meeting with the president. here's what happened after democrats met thi morning. speaker pelosi said this is what now.are doing democrats seem to generally be on board this idea for now. so here's what's happening: there are five house democratic committees that are investigating the president in various areas. some include the mueller report, others include his financialde ings. they will be having hearings, subpoenas being issued. and if those subpoenas are not compliedith, as we have seen so far they have not been, democratare counting on court action. now, they are considering what's called "inherent contempt of congress." n at is a power congress has on

its arrest someone even or issue fines for those who doo cooperate with their investigations. it has not been used since 1935. speaker pelosi told members toy that it is on the table. the message here, judy, is have faith in the process that we've begun, even as some members uld like to go farther now. pelosi was able to bring downtown temperature in the anom. the court action today, especially, helps her argument for this longer process. >> woodruff: so that's what the leaders are saying. how ares, republicemocrats down the line respond to all this expwroo these two stories are highly connected, of course, president saying the investigations are the reasons he will not cooperate with democrats. democrats say that they think this exposeaise weak point on the part of the president. th also believe-- democrats -- that this was a setup, that the president was not able to deal on infrastructure because the truth is, it is a difficult issue for republicans p toay for a $2 trillion infrastructue deal. democrats believe the president

went into that meeting looking for an excuse to get out of the infrastructure deal he thad agre tentatively before. republicans, on the other hand, sa it's nancy pelosi who is goagd the president when she said that he's involved in a cover-up, a cme, very strong words. a me republicans, though, judy are having fficult time with this i spoke to john cornyn of texa a senator, who said i understand why the president feels as he does, but we do have a duty to do our jobs. and he's hopeful that the president actually engages on at least me took placic soon. that remains to be seen. >> woodruff: well, speaking of that, the president is saying i'm not going to talk to you about anything. we're not going to negotiate on anything as long as you are investigating me, thiinabout impeachment. s what real-world effect do they think thising to have right now? >> i think this is the most important question. there are many issues really nd of ready for action in congress right now and needing action. let's look at a few. first of all, hurricane, fire, and flood relief, much of that from last year, billions of dollars waiting for action.

there had hoped to be a deal this week. it looks like thatay be slping away. they are also approaching budget cuts later this year. and there was a potential deal this week, also, getng toward a deal, and that seems to, also, be slippinaw. there also is a lot of talk about doing something on health care and prescription drug costs on a bipartisan way. but if the president is not engaging on these topics, it creates a problem for everyone. some important reporting from our yamiche alcindor. white house aides told r the president will engage on some things, like, for example, keeping government open. but i think we need to see by day how the president handles this, how he deals with democrats. today, he didn't want to deal with them at allru. >> wo: so interesting and fast moving. day, thank you. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: ithe day's other news, surging rivers have triggered new flooding in oklahoma and neighboring states, and new evacuation wnings. the flooding was fueled by heavy atrain from a storm front s blamed for three deaths.

today, the cimarron river took out swaths of land around crescent, oklahoma, and threatened to wash away homes. outside tulsa, officials released dam, on the arkansas river, and the governor warned of worse to come. >> the biggest concern is more rain more rain in the forecast for north tulsa, northern oklahoma, tulsa area. as kstone gets more and more or flow, that's going to determine how muchwater they're going to have to let out into the arkansas river. >> woodruff: flood warnings are in place for parts of oklahoma, kansas and missouri through at least tomorrow afternoon. the deaths of five migrant now conconfirmed the plans are in response to tensions with iran. the u.s. has already sent an aircraft carrier group, patriot missiles, and b-52 t bombe

the region.de thhs of five migrant children at the u.s. border since december sparked a confrontation today he a u.s. housing. illinois democrat lauren underwood challeed the acting bcretary of homeland security, kevin mcaleenan, amed the deaths directly on the president's policies. >> i feel like the evidence is really clear that this isnt innal. it's intentional. it's a policy choice being made on purpose by this administration and it's cruel and inhumane. >> that's an appalling cusation. our men and women fight hard to protect people in our custody. every single day.an ile, u.s. border officials temporarily closed their main processing site in south texas. a 16-year-old boy who was held there, died this week, after being diagnosed with the flu. in indonesia, six people are dead after rioting over the presidential election results. the violence began overnight in central jakarta.

more than two dozen vehicles burned and fireworks exploded, as police officers fired back with tear gas and water cannons the crowds were protesting president joko widodo's election victory. back in this country, there's wordhat president trump will announce tomorrow more aid for farmers hurt by the trade war with china. the newshour has learned it will total $15 to $20 billion. a previous aidge totaled $11 billion. the payments will cover soybeans, wheat and investigators at eastern virginia medical school say they cannot tell if governor ralphm nort indeed in a racist photo from a 1984 yearbook. they issued their report today. the image shows onman in blackface, and another in ku klux klan robes. northam, a democrat, first saiph he was in thoto. later, he said he does not believe either man was him. and, wall street had a down day: the dow jones industrial average

lost 100 points to close at 25,776. the nasdaq fell 34 points, and the s&p 500 slipped eight. still to come on the newshour: democrats remain divided on questions of ieachment proceedings against presiden inside idlib, the last rebel holdout in syria, as government. forces close i the burden of student debt at historically black colles following a billionaire's offer to pay off loans for all morehouse graduates, and much re. >> woodrufac to begin iment or not-- that is the question dividing democrats in the u.s. house. congressman gerry connolly of virginia sits on the oversight committee and joins me now. congressman, welcome back to the newshour. so given the president's

reaction today, was speaker losi right to say that the president was guilty of a cover-up? oh, yeah. i-- i mean, across the board, you name it, in tms of financial transactions, in terms of contacts with the russians, in terms of protecting his family, in terms of a series of obstruction moves to try to llerent the mue investigation from going forward, i think we have seen a massive cover-up on so many and no wonder he's so sensitive about it. this was a nixonian moment today, you know, whee remember nixon talked about "i am not a crook." "i don't do cover-ups. well, in both cases, it was actually the opposite, wasn't it? >> woo to have this kind of standoff, because now the president is saying "i'm not goi to work with you on any of these issues we talked about

infrastructure, prescription drugs, or anything else," essentially until democrats stop investigating him. >> does anyone seriously think we're going to be held hostagef by that kind o juvenile, petulant behavior? i mean, the president of the united states doe't get to dictate to the legislative branch what he will and will not put up with in terms of what we do and how we do our jos. he has to deal with the government he's got. he's clearly still got growingin painealing with a democratic majority in the house of representatives. 's got to get over that. but he took an oath, just like i did, to protectnd defend the constitution of the united states. he needs to get on with his job. we're going to disagree about these investigations. that doesn't mean we can't findg commund on the business of the country- countron a day-to-y base,is unless he repeats what he did today, and boycotts, even encounter people of the othero partry to find that other

ground. >> woodruff: before i ask you what democrats dare thinkin you think what you're saying is what votersment, your constituents want in virginia, other democratic voarktz that they want democrats focused more on the investigation than issues? >> no, and i hope i didn't say that. no, i think we can walk and chew gum at the same time. i think voters are discerning. they understand tre's a big agenda we're moving forward on, on health care, on prescription xiugs, on preing conditions, on job creation, on protecting women's rights and voting rights, for example; while, at the same time, doing our constitutional job an holding the executive to account. there is compelling evince that this president may have committed crimes and certainly has crossed the line in terms of impeachable offenses. sud i think we have an obligation to pe that and investigate that. and i think our voters understand that. >> wdruff: well, having

said, that as you know, a number of your democratic colleagues are saying they want to see you move even more aggresvely. we interviewed congressman jami rascin last night, that he changedusband mind. he had been for a go-slow approach but now given the administrati's what he cal obstruction, they're not cooperating, he believes you need to move full steam ahead with some kind of impeachment inquiry. why is he wrong? >> i don know that hes wrong, but i don't think we need an impeachment inquirto move forward in terms of investigations. in fact, i think-- i think that has somerocess dent that troublese because i don't think we need to go to a court and say we're going to launch an impeachment inestigation. that justifies this inquiry. we don't need as the ruling earlier this week proved, in terms of the judge saying congress has broad powers, and it ought to be able to useit themhout interference by the executive branch. so i don't think we need that

inquiry to do the investigations that are under way. jami's bigger point aut pushing us toward impeachment i think is valid. certainly, i feel pressure in that regard. with trump, across the boardpn defying now threatening not to work with us on anything roless we agree to all of these investigations and inquiries, that's an unacceptable choice, and that's going to push a number of us into the impeachment camp if he's not careful. >> woodruff: well, that's what i'm trying to understand. what will it take-- what would it take for you other ands -- including spe daker pelosyou think-- to come around and say iouseed to launch a ser inquiry here, a legitimate impeachment inquiry? >> well, i think we are unching serious inquiries as we speak. my committee, for example, subpoenaed financial records hom donald trump that wed by a private company. he sued our chairman and our committee to prevent that from

happening. he lost that suit this week. and so i think thas a pretty important victory. we did all of that without an impeachment inquiry. so i don't think it's necessary to have an impeachment inquire towroceed with the investigations under way. they may yet lead to an impeachment inquiry because of the facts we uncover. i think we're very close there now, and i think the president is making it a lot harder for thee of us who trying not to cross that line just yet. and ironally today, judy, one-- the one person in the democratic caucus who is saying, "don't do this, don't go there," is nancy pelosi. and that's theerson he dissed today. >> woodruff: we're going to leave it therere. congman gerry connolly of virginia. we thank you. >> thank you, judy. od >> woodruff: the u.s. called for a new cease fire in

the nohwestern syrian province of idlib, the last refuge of rebels fighting the syrian regime. idlib is also filled with tremists and millions of civilians, and where the regime recently launched a final assault. as nick schifrin reports, humanitarian groups fear the fighting could set off the worst crisis of the eight-year-old war. >> and a warningimsome of the ages in this report are >> schifrin: in idlib's valley of the shadow of death, there is no walking to safety. only run ng. >> allahu akbar, allah! sxplosion) >>chifrin: and praying that on this day, the bomb misses its target. but for so many, they fear this th the end. e slow and brutal end of the last major rebel-held province, where streets that used to be markets, are bombed into mangled messes, and funeral pyres, where what looks like snow is actually bomb's aftermath. and a baby's future seems as blacas night.

idlib is in syria's northwest, controlled by rebels and extremists in green, the final refuge of syrians opposed to their vernment, in red. it is a few hundred miles from u.s. and kurdish-controlled areas, in yellow. ntse months ago with presi recep tayeb erdogan and vladimir putin looking on, turkey and russia signed a deal that was tapposed to make idlib a demized buffer zone. but turkey has failed to deliver on promises to elimid te radicals, en up highways. and so for the last three weeksn syorces have waged a campaign that is cornering their s. syrian ground troops fire tanks, and have advanced into more than 10 villages formerly controlled by rebels. death rains from the s as russian jets provide top- cover, syrian helicopters drop barrel bombs. they fall slowly, but they're full of explosives and shrapnel designed to maximize destruction. syria says it's targeting terrorists. idlib is a nest of extremists.

the u.s. once called it thela world'est al-qaeda safe haven. but the u.n. also describes it as the world's largest refugee camp, home to millions of civilians. d st this month nearly 200,000 have feir homes. they know they have to leave. but they have nowhere to go. >> as a human, as a man living here with my family, of course we are living in difficult and harsh circumstances, w way out. >> schifrin: husam alhussein isr an english tean al ghadfa, idlib. he works here, a women's center. r,through eight years of t has stayed open. but they say what they're facing today is morbedire than it's in years. >> the bombardments compared with the last times, now in the last few weeks it was very, very heavy. including with air strikes and bombardments and rockets. >> schifrin: at an affiliated orphanage lled the wisdom house, young syrians say the only person who can save them is president trump. >> ( translated ): we are

pleading with mr. trump please stop the criminals from bombing our villagesnd to protect the syrian people, the defenseless civilians. >> ( translated ): we are s eading with mr trump to stop the massac our village, and protect the civilians, children, women and elderly and to stop the spilling of blood. >> schifrin: the oprhanage and women's center are funded by americans in arkansas, including fromonway's st. peter's episcopal church, led by the reverend greg waen. this week he and dozens of interfaith lea to president trump, also appealing to save idlib and stop the russians and syrians. >> this is a "never again" moment for us. we're asking him to draw a red line with those forces, those countering forces to not let this happen, and to stop what could potentially be the worseri humani crisis that we've seen. >> schifrin:aphe appeal also ared in a congressional letter asking president trump to demonstrate american leadership in syria. s was signed by 400 senat and congresspeople, including top house foreign affairs

committee democrat, eliot engel. >> we need a serious policy that pushes for a stop to the violence and the start to a political resolution. s schifrin: in the past, president trump ken credit for preventing an idlib onslaught. >> but if you look at idlib province in syria, i stopped the slaughter of perhaps three million people. nobody talk about that. they don't talk about that. >> schifrin: today in the houst, state department's top syria official cled out syrian and russian actions in idlib, including a possible chemical attack >> we are mobilizing the international community, we are workg closely with them, and we are working closely with us, to put pressure on russia. at schifrin: and he defended the administration's sy, saying the idlib fighting was at least contained. >> i will say in defense of what we're doing, that at one point, several years ago, in fact, pretty close to the present, you had idlibs happening all over syri right now, we have it happening in less than4 square

kilometers. the is, unfortunately by th miserable standards of this conflict, progress, sir. >> schifrin: but that's only true because all the other rebel strongholds have been defeated. and unless there is suddenly a political solution, the people of idlib are facing more days like today. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: the growth in student debt for college students has finally started slowing down.ny but for the burden remains high since debt has soared over two decades. roughly two in three senio who graduate from public and private nonprofit colleges had an average debt of more than $28,000 dollars in 2017. that compares with about $13,000 in 1996. as amna nawaz reports, the

challenges of all that debt were cast back into the national nversation this week by a surprising announcement. it's part of our special series on "rethinking college" this month. >> nawaz: billionaire investor d philanthropist robert f. smith stunned the graduating class of historically black morehouse college during his commencement address on sunday. he promised to eliminate the student debt of all mbers of the class of 2019. the generous pledge also spotlighted the distinct wealth gap for recent african-american they carry nearly $7,500 more debt than their white counterparts. i smith, wthe wealthiest african-american in the u.s., h said he intend gift not only to help, but to inspire... re going to put a little fuel in your bus. now, i've got the alumni over there and this is a challenge to you, alumni. this is my class, 2019.

( cheers andpplause ) and my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. ( cheers and applause ) >> nawaz: let's examine the morehouse gift and some es the broader ons it raises with mehrsa baradaran, professor at the university of georgia school of law, and author of "the col of money: black banks and the racial wealth gap." and scott jaschik, the editor of "inside higher ed." welcome to you both. firsa baradaran, to you big picture for the average student what, is the impact of a gift like this? what does it change for them? >> this i not just this-- you know, their lives, but this will have intergenerational effects. i mean, this will change their entire trajectory. maybe they can go get a mortgage now. maybe th their lives have, children. that psychological debt load that they've been carrying can be wiped out. and so they can then push their children out into the world. so for this group of, you know,

400 morehouse graduates who got their debt wiped out. i mean they wasn't life lottery. and it really issh doeow how-- how effective that, you know, student debt is in sort of, you know, determining your life outcomes. >> nawaz: the life lottery this one class has won, it's gnificant not just because of the way that smith made the gift, but also the fact that it's at morehouse. 's an h.b.c.u. it's a historically black e llege. talk to me a litt about debt for these students compared to the larger debt landscape. >>ebt is a struggle for all graduate of races and ethnicities. t the reality is a blck student is less likely than a white student to have had at family tould contribute a lot of money to education. now, my parents paid for my sister'sisters and i to go to ee private colleges. many black families love their children just as much, but they don't have the nd of money to t aside to do that. on average, there are about 30%

of black udents graduate with $100,000 in debt. that's three times thlevel of a white student. these are-- these are very large numb and they influence what they can do. d> nawaz: me mehrsa we hear bert smith to college other alumni to do something similar. is this a way giving sustainable? is this the answer? >> no. i mean, i think, you know, we commend robert smith. it's wonderful. it's generous of a billionaire to give so generously of hs wealth. but there just aren't enough billionaires to deal with this problem. i mean, we're talked abou two-thirds of white students, 80-something 36 t rcen black communities. this is a lot of debt. it's a strucral problem. it's a whole generation. there aren't enough billionaires who are willing, and capable to do it. democracy shouldn't rely on the harity and generosity of a few

people to really solve systemic problems. so we really, i think, do need to look at this aias a s problem. it's not just the debt. it is all of the, you know, effects psychologically, again, of life outcom. it is a servicing of the debt. it is what they can and can't do going forward. and so i think it's really time to look forward to a policy changes that will help these students, this whole generation, to deal with that debt. >> woodruff: glau speak of policies, i want to mention some of the students who were not affected by this. this girveght we should point out, only applies to the 396 students who graduated, many of whom were tweeting their tha and celebrating onlase. but there one account i wanted to share by a student named jordan ng who is 22 years old. he was featured in "the new york times." he tweeted after leainabout that gift, and he tweeted this:

clearly a lot of regret there. but, scott, it gets to the larger structural issue which it here were students who knew there was going to be a lot of debt. that debt was cripling and didn't even allow them to graduate in the first place. >> right. and you veto remember next year's class isn't paid for. last year's isn't paid you have to look at the policy questions. the vawflt pell grant, the largest federal effort to help low-income students is not keeping up with the cost of college. education is going up in some states, not in others. programs that hel low-income studentset ahead at not adequately supported. that's why you see all the talk lege. free col many people feel the system working. just is n >> nawaz: mehrsa, we want to mention, of course, we don't want to undersell this incredible gift, the generosity behind what robert smith did here, but i'll go back to what you id earlier in the conversation, is that this will change their lives and the lives

of many people thestse stud may come into contact with. at the same time, this is not just about stu ddet. this is about larger inequalities in our society right now. put that into context for me. what do we need to do? >> yeah, so, you know, white families have something like 12 times the wealth of black families, and this a result of past generations. so your father and you grandfather getting an f.h.a. mortgage or g.i. bill and having thde costs their debts reduced by public programs. so they were able toet good jobs. they were able to build wealth. and then they were able to help you out, give you a place to stay, provide that buffer. so a lot of black families don't have that. and due to the effects of segregation, they're also part of a social system that is low wealth. so they can't reach out to auntc and s and, you know, grandfathers and grandmothers to get that help, either. in fact, a lot of low-income , especially black an brown students, end up helping

families while they're in college okay. so in the white-- you know, white, wealthy world, or the middle class that help comes down. so parents help their kids. but a lot of tim in, u know, low-income communities of color, the kids are hel tpi parents just as much soap this really allows for this generation to help out. and you're right. i meaisn, thi we should not diminish the absolute generosity of this gift. it was really quite stunning. >> nawaz: stung, indeed. a the love people are stilg l talkout it. thank you to you both, mehrsa baradaran, and scott jaschik for being here today. >> thank you. ft >> woodruff: a series of high-profile suicides last year, including anthony bourdain, one restaurant owner in sacramento, california decided to take action. he is now trying to spark a national movement, ochen at a time. john yang reports for our weekly

series on the leading edge of health and science. >> yang: the dinner specials at mulvaney's b&l restaurant in sacramento: pasta with truffle and wild caught halibut with b choy. the mood of the staff: very anxious. tensions are high because chef and owner patrick mulvaney blew up earlier when a catering job went wrong. months ago, the staff might have pushed their feelin aside, smiled for the customers and moved on. but these days workers are encouraged to be open about their feelings and keep an eye on each other. it's a change born out of necessity, and loss. anthony bourdain's suicide last year shocked the restaurant world across the country. the host of cns "parts unknown" was beloved by chefs, candid about his battles with

drugs and depression. in sacramento, bourdain's death came amid a string of restaunt workers' suicides. >> in four weeks we had this, we md four people die. on a sunday we hadorial here for our server. and i woke up monday to get ready for a memorial former bartender to see my phon lit up with e messages that a former chef had died as well. and just, four memorial services in two weeks is too much. >> yang: mulvaney's grief spurred him to create ram focused on his workers' mental health. he calls it "i got your back" >> we want people to be able to talk about it. and the idea that you can, by lowering stigma, increase the safety. also the people who are facing challenges. instead of saying that's just 'rem, we'll let them go, beginning to engage with them to try y, hey i don't think you're okay. how can we help you be better.

>> yang: it's a peer to peer unseling and support program designed in conjunction with local health care providers. researchers say service workers who rely on tips run a greater for depression and stre than other employees. and federal data shows that rebstance abuse is higher in the hospitality anaurant industry than in any other sector. the fast paced, high pressure environment of restaurant kitchens--g, grueling shifts anwhat are often low and unpredictable wages, can take its toll. >> the reticence to ask for help or ask people for things is built into the restaurant industry because we're about hospitality. is your drink cold? is your steak hot? is your soup to your ling? we never ask about ourselves. >> y to encourage staff to be aware of their feelings, and those of their colleagues, each member of mulvaney's team gives a mood check when they clock in for work each day.

they pick a color-- red for angry, green for happy, yellow for ok and blue for sad, and e ace it in a box. lisa schulze is restaurant's human resource manager >> throughout the day, we might grab the box at the change of shift times, and kind of countw out many reds we have, how many yellows we have, how many greens. sometimes just having an idea about how people are feeling changes how you react with the or interact with them. i just needed to basically say thank you for stepping up for alex. >> yang: one worker on every shift, identified by a purple" helping hand" sticker like the one lisa's wearing, is trainig to recognize of colleagues' mental distress and direct them to help. >> when we said that we're going to have the counselors being peers, being the people on the choor working with you in the tr, that then people would go to them naturally, and in fact they have. >> yang: and they can relay fellow workers concerns the boss. arsources are available online

and reminders everywhere from the bathrooms to the host stand that there is help and hope.a alition of local healthcare groups inclung kaiser permanente and the university of california, davis medical cented prfunding and mental health resources. >> what made today worse? >> yang: liseanne wick is the director of the suicide lsprevention program at wece health, which also provides services for mulvaney's program. >> the beauty of the i got your back project is that it does, it puts it right there, wre they're at. it makes talking about mental health, and wellness, and help seeking, and even suicide oron depresa more natural thing >> yang: mulvaney's initiative fits with the other community work he does with his wife and business partner, bobbin. he says it's inspired by one of s favorite films. the classic, "it's a wonderful life." the "b&l" in his restaurant's name stands for "building and loan," a nod to the institution at the center of tor movie's

sty. >> merry christmas d u wonderful ilding and >> i hoped that we would open a place for people to come to talk about issues of the day and invite us into those conversations. and over the last 13 years what we've seen is that we've become a central part of many of those conversations in our community. and this ithe first time where we are bringing thatside community in to talk about how to help our own. >> yang: help people like casey shideler. she's an executive chef another sacramento restaurant, taylor's kitchen. she's been diagnr ed with biposorder. in the 10 years she's worked in prsessional kitchens, she s she hit rock botalm both in her holism and mental health. in 2018 she was ving suicidal thoughts but never talked about it. after bourdain's suicide she attended a "i got your back" session at mulvaney's. >> after that first meeting, even though i didn't speak, i felt better. that's when i spoke with my motheror the first time.

like, my mom has been in the mental health field my entire life, and she's always been a safe person to talk to. but even then i wouldn't talk to her, i wouldn't talk to anyone. don't know w that's not true. i know exactly why. it's just an incredibly difficult thing to say out loud, and admit to people. >> yang: since then she's gotten the treatment she needs, including medication. she's now trained in mental health first aid a is running an i got your back program at her own restaurant. >> everyone in the room we have faced tough year and a tough life and think about how we changed the culture in >> yang: by organizing mental health training sessions for other sacramento restaurant owbers, mulvaney hopes he'l able to expand the program statewide, and one day take the program to kitchens across the country.

>> as we as an industry start to it upbout this and op and reduce stigma, we think that everyone will begin to come into the conversation. >> yan and he hopes his effort provides an example for other to follow. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang in sacramento, california. >> woodruff: the pursuit for peace in the middle east has en an elusive goal for decades. as hari sr nivasan reports, one couple is turning to humor to tackle conflict between ws and palestinians. >> sreenivasan: an unlikely duo... >> i'm jess. >> and i'm eman. >> and we're a jewish palestinian lesbian married couple. ( cheers and applause ) wow, that's not how our families reacted. >> sreenivasan: for the past

year, comedians jess salomon and eman el-husseini have performed together, on stage and through instagram cartns, with one name: the el-salomons. jess is the one who proposed to me, amazing. she actually built the courage and asked my slim father for hand in marriage. he said no.em >> sreenivasan and jess' act draws on what they call their "inconvenient marriage." thei life as a jewish-palestinian couple, is finding newe audiences, at me time that the debate hts up in washington over u.s. support for israel. in recent months, prident trump has engaged in a wth of words wi representative ilhan omar, one of the first muslim women in congress, over langge republicans, and even some democrat >> what do you think? >> i like it but i wish yellow mustard. >> sreenivasan: after a quick stop at their local jewish deli anarabic grocery store, jess and eman say there's no debate.

is it possible to be critical israel policy without being anti-semitic? >> of course. when you love something, it'sic fair to cre it because you want to get better. you have high expectationyos. >> i lovand i criticize you. >> all the time, exactly. that's the perfect example. >> and look how much better you've gotten. >> sreenivasan: one uniting issue for the muslim and jewish commities: hate crimes-- reported incidents in the united states have been on the rise in recent years. high profile attacks like those on synagogues in pittsburgh and san diegand a mosque in new zealand keep the concern in the news.th harise in white supremacy bonded both of you a little more? >> it's bonded us for sure, both our communities are targets of white nationalism or white supremacists. >> that's one of our arguments. i'm hated more. no i'm hated more. >> no, it's me. >> sreenivasan: but they could have serious conversations about the divide between isparal anstinians, the couple had

to establish some ground rules. o >> when we would get int argument, where did you hear this? if you heard it growing up or you heard it at the dinnea table or you it at hebrew school, it doesn't count. we have to go to another source of information. >> sreenivasan: what's something else people can do to try to turn the temperature down in an argument with someone when it's so personal? >> i thinku educate geurself. a lot of people whin these heated discussions, it's usually emotional rather than an actual just like regular conversation that's wl thought of. >> sreenivasan: over time, their politics became aligned as jesse a formd nations human rights lawyer, has grown more critical of israeli policy. >> i moved into her place.me she didn't wanhere. a but i moved way you know l w, we do. >> it's a beautive story. ece makes me go through oints in my own apartment. >> sreenivasan: and eman, whose family fled palestine and then kuwait after the iqi invasion

in 1991, makes her palestinian heritage a centerpiece in their act. >> it's not easy being fopalestinian these days o the past seven decades. en're the only minority group that gets excited racist person tells us to go back to hecountry. blike hey why don't you gk to your country? oh my god thank you so much. that's so nice. he thinks we have a country that is so sweet. >> there's like some talking points that you grow up with as a jewish person. and one of them is always well thhe don't want to recognize palestinians don't recognize the existence of israel, you know, for example. wnd it was really only with eman that she was likell. >> what about our existence. nobody cares. >> sreenivasan: some people will watch this and say, look, clearly jess has sold out. she's so enamored. she's gone to l e other side. >> yeah, wmetimes they'll even call me anti-semitic or self-hating or a traitor. >> but our life, aside from our politics, our life is pretty jewish. i'm not particularly religious, but i've been to more, i've been

to synagogues way more than mosques. >> sreenivasan: while a sense of humor has worked so far for jess and eman, a comedic cure has yet land among their divide cultures. for the pbs newshour, i'm hari sreenivasan in brooklyn, new york. >> woodruff: after last month'se stating fire at notre dame cathedral in paris, leading stonemasons offered a warning-- think carefully about reconstruction or risk substandard wo. special correspondent malcolm brabant visits a cathedral in the english city of york to see how the artisans there rebuilt after a fire in 1984. this report is part of our arts and culture series, canvas. >> reporter: like notre dame,

york minster has dominatedr he landscape nturies. it has similar architectural characteristics and it offers the hope of recovery from the inferno. >> in july 1984, it was a very hot summernd in the early hoss of the morning, there an electrical storm, which it's believed struck the minster and set up a fire smoldering in the roof and because we have both a timber rf and a timber vault here in york, the fire spread into the vault and of course ran the risk of affecting the whole building. >> reporter: sarah brown heads the trust which cares for stained glass. she's looking up at the now restored vault or inner roof the wing that was gutted. york's glaziers have unique experience of restoring fired damaass and their services have been offered to notre dame. >> glass is susceptible to extreme heat. and it's susceptible to rapid cooling. a ire situation it's cooling rapidly, particularly if gallons and gallons of water are being

poured over the structure which obviously is the case both here and in paris. and this causes a kind of thermal shock. so although the windows appear for the most part to be surviving in the windows, close up you'll probably see lots of micro cracks in the glass which make it vulnerable now to mechanical damage to stresses and strains, high winds, et cetera. >> reporter: york has a team of stone masons working constantly to replace crumbling elements of n e minster. they're led by jvid. he was at the fireedn 1984 and heescue treasures before the blazing roof was brought down deliberately totop the flames from spreading to the main body of the minster. >> what we have now and what we learned from the fire, was that st compartmentalized all the roofs in the m. so now... and their fireproofing, so if a fireae out anywhere it can

reasonably be contained if the fire people get here quick enough. >> reporter: although it looks like stone, the vauthlt o restored wing is wooden and therefore combustible. but there is no sprinkler system in pla, because john david says the volume of water involvedould damage the ilding's fabric. he believes the french should follow york minster'lead. >> state of the art alarms and smoke detectors, flame detectors, these are the sort of things that they need. plus breaking the roof off into separate areas. and what you have is actually a map in a control room somewhere in the cathedral which shows that if an alarm goes off in a certain area you know exactly where they come and also the fire service, as in york. the fire service regularly come to do a practice. y >> reportek is monitoring the debate in france about the nature of notre dame's restoration. evould it be true to its

meal origins or something modern? canon michael smith is a traditionalist. >> i think we have to acknowledge that places like places like notre dame are actually repositories of prayer. they hold the memory, old the joys and sorrows, the tears and the laughter, the questions, the doubts, the affirmations of faith of generations of people. >> reporter: although york's prevailing attitude towards restation is conservative, vignettes of modernity exist. in the roof timbers thers an image of the moon landing. harriet pace is creating a replacement grotesque, which is veke a gargoyle, excepit doesn't water spout. and the inspiration for the face is her late father, a former sculptor. >> the original had a high collar and a hood and a cloak. and i copies those as reference points and decided to do a doctor. but the face i decided to do of my dad, purely because i wanted

to carry on like his, skills and put them in the stone work and have him as a memory on the side of the cathedral. >> reporter: but that's about as modern as it gets in york. john david fears the french will abandon traditional materials and craft skills such ashese in order to fulfill president eacron's pledge to restoreotre dame in five. >> it's not going to be achievable without any poor quality or poor workmanship. and i hope he will think again. these cathedrals are above politics, they're for th people. veere's no way that it can be done in ears with care and proper consideration for the building. >> reporter: so far thnt of money pledged to restore notre dame is close to a billion dollars. most of this money i potentially going to come from french billionaires or corporations. now these apparent acts of philanthropy has been condemned around the world by people who believe the potential donors are

just trying to build their own legacy or gain tax advantages. they have been criticized for rescuing a buildg, but not looking after people in need. now, this county here, yorkshire, is renowned in citain for being a place for plain speaking amon sense. so what's the yorkshire view of the ethics of this issue? ot as always these things are not either or, butand. i'm always cautious about judging people's motives. it may well be we can doubts about them but people are often more generous than w realize. and i wouldn't want to be too judgmental about that. >> reporter: can adrian botwright has recently retired after three decades as pastor of a large yorkshire paris >> yes a lot of money will be needed to rebuild notre me. but perhaps we should always judge things by the amount of money they take. the value is beyond just the amount of money that is spent upon them. and i think i'd argue or a nation that's lost as this untry certainly has and arguably many countries in europe have lost a sense of e rpose, lost a sense of meaning and significance, le that

a building like that plays is colossal. >> reporter: the minster's canon michael smith believes that perhaps 10% of donations towards notre dame should go to good human causes. >> i think we impoverish the whole of society if we don't make beautiful things. i think art is important, beautiful places, beautiful spaces, are really, really important. that's not to say that the people who sep in our doorways aren't important. they're just as important, well they are more important, but we have to care for tm. but we also have to have beautiful places where people can come and think and b challenged and connect with thof big questionife and that's what buildings like this do to peop i. >> reportethe minster's experience, it'll take at least a year to evaluate notre dame's restoration needs. the french should know every move will be closely scrutinized here in northern england. for thpbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in york.

woodruff: today we're debuting canvas online, our brand new website for arts and culture stories from the newshour and from your local pbs stations around the country. explore now at artscanvas.org. atd join our facebook community, dedicated to convens around art in all its forms. that's at facebook.com/groups/newshourarts and that's the newshour for oonight. i'm judyuff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been pr by: >> ordering takeout. >> finding the west route. >>alking for hours. >> planning for showers. >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. monsumer cellular. lear at consumercellular.tv >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more.

>>ith the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for publiccasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by ceedia access group at wgbh .wgbh.org

to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. >> we are not willing to talk to people who have broken their promises. >> iran's foreign minister warns america is playing a very dangerous game in the persian gulf. general david petraeus joi me. he sautw tehran's influence up close. >> you need to be pragmatic, smart. >> jose andreas made a name feeding the huny in desperate situations. now he is trying to get us to see vegetables in aew whole light just as the role of climate change becomes more apparent. and the whole debate around global migration is fraught with