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 ssues in the restaurant industry, where substance abuse is more prevalent than any other legal line of work. plus, from the ashes-- how a fire at a cathedral in britain mighoffer a roadmap 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 cdrtained. >> wf: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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washington today, as president trump demanded that democrats give up on investigations and impeachment. house speaker nancy pelosi did not call for impeachment proceedings today as left a closed door meeting with house democrats. but she had a firm msage. >> we believe the president of the united states is engaged in a cover up. >> woodruff: hours later, se the arden, president trump reacted... o cover ups. >> woodruff: he accused pelosi and senate min schumer of, in effect, bad faith, before what was supposed to be a white house meeting about infrastructure, and added he won't work with democrats on that issue, or anything else,io until investig into him ceased. >> i want to do infrastructure. but you know what, you can't do it under these circumstances., t these phony

investigations over with. >> woodruff: back 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.o >>uff: on impeachment, house democrats are split. some, like california's maxine waters, who's part of the leadership, favor it. >> i'm for impeachment. i've always been for impeachment. i've never backed up.ve ever changed my mind. i think he should be impeached. >> woodruff: but others, like house overght chair elijah cummings of maryland are less eager. >>et's stay the course. let's continue turlook to the to provide the remedies

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

and cooperation between congress and the executive branch. mithe house intelligence cee says it reached a deal with the justice department to turn over me underlying intelligence documents from the mueller report. later, a federal judge in new york upheld congress' power to subpoena financial records from ss with tng busi president. and our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins joins me now. lisa, you've been reporting on this all day. what do we know about what happened at that ming at the white house? >> the best read we've gotten so far is from ats who were there, and what democrats say happened is the president walked in, he spoke to tm for 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 speaker pelosi's comments today, which he called terrible, accu ng him a cover-up, and the democratic investigations, he said saiz it's not possible, and he cannot work with thewam.

hked out before they could sit down, and that was the end of the meeting. >> woodruff: so we are reporting on this, democratic leaders saying they'rnot prepared to begin an impeachment inquiry, but they do have some kind of plan.e so what u hearing? >> that was the news from before the meeting with the president. re's what happened after eamocrats met this morning. r pelosi said this is what they are doing now. democrats seem to generally be on board this idea for now. so here'what's happening: there are five house democratic committees that are investigating the preside in various areas. some include the mueller rert, others include his financial they will be having hearings, subpoenas being issued. and if those subpoenas are not complied with, as we have seen so far they have not been, democrats are counting action. now, they are considering what's called "inherent contempt of congress." that is a power congress has on its own to arrest someone even

or issue fines for those who doi not cooperat their investigations. it has not been used since 193. speaer pelosi told members today that it is on the table. the message here, juav, is faith in the process that we've begun, even as some members would like to go farther now. pelosiwas able to bring downtown temperature in the room. and the court action today, especially, helps her argument for thgis ler process. >> woodruff: so that's what the leaders are saying. icans, democra down the line respond to all this expwroo these two stories are highly connected, of course, the 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. they also believe-- decrats -- that this was a setup, that the president was not able to dea on infrastructure because the truth is, it is a difficult issue for republicans t pay f a $2 trillion frastructure deal. democrats believe the president went into that meeting looking for an excuse to t out of the

infrastructure deal he had agreed to tentatively before. republicans, on the other hand, say it's p nanosi who is goagd the president when she said that he's involved in a cover-up, crime, very strong words. some republicans, though, judy are hmeing a difficult ith this. i spoke to john cornyn of texas, 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 o at least some took placic soon. that remains to be seen. >> woodruff: well, speaking of that, the president is sayiotng i'moing to talk to you about anything. we're not going to negotiate on anything as longas you are investigating me, thinking about impeachment. so what real-world effect do they think this is going to have right now? >> i think this is the most q importanstion. there are many issues really kind of ready for action in congress right now and needing action. let's look at a few. first of all, hurricane, fire, and floodelief, much of that from last year, billions of dollars waiting for action.th e had hoped to be a deal

this week. it looks like that may be slipping away. they are also approaching budget cuts later this year. and there was aia pote deal this week, also, getting toward a deal, and that seems to, also, be slipping away. there also is a lot of talk about doing something on health tsre and prescription drug cos on a bipartisan way. but if the president is not engang on these topics, it creates a problem for everyone. some important reporting from our yamiche alcindor. white house des told her the president will engage on some things, like, for example, keeping govern but i think we need to see day by day how the president handlee this, how deals with democrats. today, he didn't want to deal with them at all. >> woodruff: so interesting and fast moving. ay, thank you. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, surging rivers have triggered new flooding in oklahoma and neighboring states, and new evacuation warnings. the flooding was fueled by heavy rain from a storm front that is blamed for three deaths. today, the cimarron river took

out swaths of land around enescent, oklahoma, and thre to wash away homes. outside tulsa, officials released water from the thystone dam, oarkansas 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 keystone gets mor and more in flow, that's going to determinhow much more water they're going to have to let out into the arkansas river. >> woodruff: flood warnings are m place for parts of oklahoma, kansas asouri 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 a aircraft carrier group, patriot missiles, and b-52 bombethrs to region.

the deaths of five migrant children at the u.s. border since december sparked a confrontation today at a u.s. house hearing. illinois democrat lauren underwood challenged the acting secretary of homeland security, kevin mcaleenan, and blamed the deaths directly onpohe president'cies. >> i feel like the evidence is re tly clear thats is intentional. 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 accusation. our men and women fight hard to protect people in our custody. every single day.bo meanwhile, u.ser 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 tipresid election results. the violence began overnight in central jakarta. more than two dozen vehicles

burned and fireworks exploded, as pole officers fired back with tear gas and water cannons. e the crowds wotesting president joko widodo's election victory. back in this country, there's word that president trump will announce tomorrow more aid for farmers hurt by the war with china. toe newshour has learned it will $15 to $20 billion. a previous aid package totaled billion. the payments will cover soybeans, wheat and corn. vestigators at eastern virginia medical school say thoy caell if governor ralph northam is indeed in a racist photo from a 1984 ye. they issued their report today. the image shows one man in blackface, and another in ku klux klan robes. northam, a democrat, first said he was in the photo. later, he said he does notbe eve either man was him. and, wall street had a down day: the dow jodustrial average lost 100 points to close at

25,776. the nasdaq fell 34 points, and the s&p 500 slipped eight. still to come onewshour: democrats remain divided on quesons of impeachment proceedingesagainst the ident. inside idlib, the last rebel holdout in syria, as government forces close in. the burden of student bt at historically black colleges following a billionaire's offer to pay off loans for all morehouse graduates, and much more. >> woodruff: to begin impeachment or not-- that is the question dividing democrats in e u.s. house. ssman gerry connolly of virginia sits on the oversight committee and joins me now. congressman, welcome back to th. newsho so given the president's reaction today, was speaker

pelosi right to say that the president was guiltyof a cover-up? >> oh, yeah. i-- i mean, across the board, fou name it, in terms financial transactions, in terms of contacts with the russians, in terms of protecting hi family, in terms of a series of obstruction moves to try to prevent the mueigller inveion from going forward, i think we have seen a massive ov-up on so many fronts. and no wonder he's so sensitive about it. this was a nixonian moment today, you kw, where remember nixon talked about "i am not a crook." "i don't do cover-ups." well, inoth cases, it was of standoff, opposite, wasn't because now the president is sayingi'm not going 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 thk we're going to be held hostage by that kind of juvenile, petulant behavior? i mean, the president of the united states doesn't geto dictate to the legislative branch what he will and will not put up with in terms of what we s. and how we do our job he has to deal with the government he's got. he's clearly still got growing pains in dealing with a democratic majority in the house of representatives. he's got to get over that. but he took an oath, just like i did, to protect and defd the constitution of the united states. he needs to get on with his jobe e going to disagree about these investigations. that doesn't mean we can't findo common grounthe business of the country- country on a day-ty base,is unless he repeats wha dt today, and boycotts, even encounter people of the other part to try to find that other ground.

>> woodruff: before i ask you what democrats are th you think what you're saying is what votrsment, your constituents want in virginia, other democratic voarktz that they want democrats focused more on the investigation than on 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 e discerning. they understand there's a big agenda we're moving forward on, on health care, on prescription drugs, on pre-existing conditions, on job creion, on protecting women's rights and voting rights, for example; while,oit the same time,g our constitutional job and holding the executive to account. there is compelling evidence that athis president mayve committed crimes and certainly has crossed the line in terms of impeachablethffenses. and k we have an obligation to pursue that and investigate thatth. and k our voters understand that. >> woodruff: well, having said, that as you know, a number of your democra colleagues are saying they want to see you

move even more aggressively. we interviewed congressman rascin last night, that he changed husband mind. he h been for a go-slow approach but now given the administration's what he calls obstruction, they're not cooperating, he belieu need to move full steam ahead with some kind of impeachment inquiry. why is he wrong? >> i don't know that he is wrong, but i don't think we need an impeachment inquiry to move forward in terms of in fstigations. t, i think-- i think that has some process dent that troubles me because i d think we need to go to a court and say we're going to launch an impeachment investigation.ti that jes this inquiry. we don't need that. as the ruling earlier this week boved, in terms of the judge saying congress haad powers, and it ought to be able to use them without interference by the execute branch. so i don't think we need that inquiry to do the investigations that are under way.

jami's bigger point about pushing us toward impeachment i thinis valid. certainly, i feel pressure in that regard. withherump, across board, defying expns now threatening not to work withs anything unless we agree to drop all of these iioestig and inquiries, that's an unacceptable choice, and that's going to push aumber of us into the impeachment camp if he's not careful. >> woodruff: well, that's whtrt i'ng to understand. what will it take-- what would it take for you other ands -- includi speaker pelosi, do you nd and sao come aro we need to launch a serious inquiry here, a legimitimate achment inquiry? >> well, i think we are launching serious inquiries as we speak. my committee, for example, subpoenaed financial records from donald trump that were held by a private company. he sued our chairman and our committee to prevent that from happening. he lost that suithis week.

and so i think that's a pretty important victory.we id all of that without an impeachment inquiry. no i don't think it's necessary to have impeachment inquire tow proceed with the investigations under way th 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 those of us who are trying not to cross that line just yet. and ironically today, judy, hee-- the one person in democratic caucus who is saying, "don't do this, don't go there,y is nelosi. wd that's the person he dissed today. druff: we're going to leave it there. congressman gerry connolly of virginia. we thank you. >> tnk you, dy. >> woodruff: today the u.s. called f a new cease fire in the northwestern syrian province

of idl, the last refuge of rebels fighting the syrian regime. idlib is also filled with extremists and millions of civilians, and wherehe 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 warning, some oththe images iis report are chsturbing. heifrin: in idlib's valley of thadow of death, there is no walking to safety. only running. >> allahu akbar, allah! n:xplosion) >> schif and praying that on etis day, the bomb misses its targ but for so many, they fear this a the end. the slow 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 a bomb's aftmath. and a baby's future seems as black as night. idlib in syria's northwest,

controlled by rebels and extremists in green, the final refuge of syrians opposed to their government, in red. it is a few hundred miles from u.s. and kurdish-controlled areas, in yellow. nine months ago with presidents recep tayeb erdogan and vladimir putin looking on, turkey and russia signed a deal that was supposed to make idlib a demilitarized buffer zone. but turkey has failed to deliver on promises to eliminate radicals, and open up highways. and so for the last three weeks, syrian forces have waged a campaign that is corneheir enemies. syrian ground troops fire tanks, and have advanced into more than 10 villages formerly controlled by rebels. death rains from the sky. as russian jets provide top- cover, syrian helicodrop barrel bombs. they fall slowt they're full of explosives and shrapnel designed to maximize destruction.s syria says it'rgeting terrorists. idlib is a nest of extremists. -qe u.s. once called it the world's largest da safe

haven. but the u.n. also describes it as the world's largest refugee camp, home to millions of civilians. just this month nearly 200,000 have fled their homes. whey know they have to leave. but they have e to go. >> as a human, as a ving here with my family, of course we are living in difficult and rcumstances, with no way out. >> schifrin: husam alhussein is haan english teacher in alfa, idlib. he works here, a women's center. through has stayed open., it but they say what they're facing today is more dire than it's been in years. he 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 called the wisdom house, youians say the only person who can save them is president trump. ar ( translated ): w pleading with mr. trump please stop the criminals from bombing

e,r villages and to protect the syrian peohe defenseless civilians. >> ( translated ): we are pleading with mr trump to stop the massacres in our village, and protect the civilians, children, women and elderly and to stop the spilling of blood. >> schifrin: the oprhanage and women's cteare funded by americans in arkansas, including from conway'st. peter's episcopal church, led by the reverend greg warren. this week he and dozens of interfaith leaders sent reletter todent 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 worse humanitarian crisis that we've seen. >> schifrin: the appeal also appeared in a congressional letter asking president trump to demonstrate american leadership in syria. op was signed by 400 senators and congress, 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. >> schifrin: in the past crpresident trump has takeit 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 house, the stpartment's top syria official called out syrian and russian actions in idlib, including a possible chemical attack. >> we are mobilizing the international community, we are working closely with them, and we are working closely with us, to put pressure on russia. >> schifrin: and he defended the ministration's strategy, 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 syria. right now, we have it happening in less than 74 square

kilometers. that is, u ortunately by the miserable standards of this conflict, progress, sir. >> schifri 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 ds r ke today. fothe pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: the growth in student debt for college students has finally started slowing down. but for many, the burden remains high since debt has soared over two decades. roughly two in three seniors 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 a challenges of all that debt were cast back into the national conversation this week by a

surprising announcement. it's part of our special series on "rethinking college" this month. >> nawaz: billionaire investor and philanthropist robert f. smith stunned the graduating class historically blac morehouse college during his commencement aress on sunday. he promised to eliminate the student debt of all 396 members of the class of 2019. the gerous pledge also spotlighted the distinct wealth gap for recent african-american graduates. they carry nearly $7,500 more debt than their white counterparts. smith, who is the wealthiest african-american in the u.s., said he intended his gift not only to help, but to inspire... >> we'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 and applause ) and my family is making a grant

to eliminate their st loans. ( cheers and applause ) >> nawaz: let's examine the rrehouse gift and some of the broader questions ses with mehrsa baradaran, professor at the university of georgia school of law, and author of "the color thof money: black banks an racial wealth gap." and scott jaschik, the editor of "inside higher ed." welcome to you both. mehrsa baradaran, to you first. big picture for the average student what, is the impact of a tgift likes? what does it change for them? >> this is 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 they can, you know, start 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 , you know, 400 morehouse graduates who got

their debt wiped out. i mean, they wasn't life lottery. and it really is-- does show how-- how effective that, you know, student debt is inort of, you know, determining your life outcomes. >> nawaz: the life lotters this one cls won, it's significant not just because of the way that smith made the gift, but also the fact that it's at morehouse. it's an h.b.c.u. it's a historically black college. tlk to me a little bit ab debt for these students compared to the larger debt landscape. >> debt ris a uggle for all graduate of races and ethnicities. but the reality is a black student is less likely than a white student to have had a family that could contribute a lot of money to ecation. now, my parents paid for my sister'sistersnd i to go to expe private colleges. many black families love their children just as much, but they don't have the kind of moe y to set as do that. on average, there are about 30% of black students gitduate

$100,000 in debt. that's three times the level of a white stud these are-- these are very large numbers, i and they influence wt they can do. >> nawaz: m mehrsa we heardmi roberth to college other alumni to do something similar. is this a wayi of gng sustainable? is this the answer? >> no i mean, i think, you know, we commend robert smith. it's wonderful. et's so generous of a billionaire to go generously of his wealth. but there just aren't enough billionaires to deal with this problem. i mean, we're talked about o-thirds of white students, 80-something 36 percent of black communities. this is a lot of debt. it's a structural 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 charity and generosity of a few people to realy solve systemic

problems. so we really, i think, do need to look at this as a social problem. it's not just the debt. it is all of the, you know, effects psychologically, again, of life outcomes. 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 willse help t students, this whole generation, to deal with that debt. >> woodruff: glauak of policies, i want to mention some of the students who were not affected by this. this girveghwe should point out, only applies to the 396 students whoraduated, many of whom were tweeting their thanks and celebrating online. but there was o account i wanted to share by a student named jordan long who is 22 years old. he was featured in "the new york times." he tweeted after learning about that gift, and he tweeted this:

clearly a lot of regret there. but, scott, it gets to the larg structural issue which is that there were students who knew there was going to be a lt debt. that debt was crippling and didn't even allow them to e.aduate in the first pl >> right. and you have to remember next year class isn't paid for. last year's isn't paid for. you have to look at the policy the vawflt pell grant, the isrgest federal effort to help low-income studentot keeping up with the cost of college. state support for higher education is going up in some states, not in others. programs that helpow-income students get ahead at not adequately'supported. thhy you see all the talk about free college. many people feel the system right now just is not working. >> nawaz: mehrsa, we want to ntion, of course, we don't want to undersell this incredible gift, the generosity behind what robert smith did here, butac'll go to what you said earlier in the conversation, is that this will change their lives aan the lives of people these students

may come into conta with. at the same time, this is not just about student debt. rhis is about larger inequalities in ociety right now. put that into context for me. what do we need to do? >> yeah, so, you know, white families have somethinlike 12 times the wealth of black families, and this is a result of past generations. so your father and your grandfather getting an f.h.a. mortgage or g.i. bill and having those cost ts andir debts reduced by public programs. so they were able to get 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 fa'tlies don have that. and due to the effects of segregation, they're also part of a social system that is low so they can't reach out to aunts and uncles and, you know, grandfathers and grandmothers to get that help, either. in fact, a lot of low-income students, especily black and own students, end up helping families while they're in collegay.

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 times in, you know, low-income communitiesof color, the kids are helping the parents just as much soap this really allows for this generation to help out. and you're right. i meawen, this is-- hould not diminish the absolute generosity gift.s it was really quite stunning. >> nawaz: stung, indeed. a the love people are still talking about it. thank you to you both, mehrsa baradaran, and scott jaschik for being here today. >> thank you. >> woodruff: after a series of high-profile suicides last year, including anthony bourdain, one restaurant owner isacramento, california decided to take action. he is now trying to spark a national movement, one kitchen 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 bok choy. th 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 feelings 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 cnn's "parts unknown" was beloved by chefs, candid about his battles with

rdugs and depression. in sacramento, bn's death came amid a string of restaurant workers' suicides. >> in four weeks we had thi w had four people die. on a sunday we had a memorial here for our server. and i woke up onday to get ready for a memorial for a former bartender to see my phone lit up with all the messages that a former chef had died as emll. and just, fourial services in two weeks is too much. >> yang: mulvaney's grief spurred him to create a program 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 them, we'll let them go, we're beginninto engage with them to try and say, hey i don't think you're okay. how can we help u be better. >> yang: it's a peer to peerli coun and support program

designed in conjunction with lol health care providers. researchers say service workers who rely on tips run a greater risk for depression and stress than other employees. and federal data shows that substance abuse is higher in the hospitality and restau industry than in any other sector. the fast paced, high pressure environment of restaurant kitchens-- long, grueling shifts and whatre 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 liking? we never ask about ourselves. >> yang: to enage 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 place it in a box. lisa schulze is the restaurant's human resource manager >> throughout the day, we might grab the box at the change of shift times, and kind of count r out how manys 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 them, or interact with them.t >> i jeded 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 trained to recognize signs 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 atoor working with you in the trenches, hen people would go to them naturally, and in fact they have.>> yang: and they can relay fellow workers concerns to the boss. resources are available online and reminders are everywhere

from the bathrooms to the host stand that there is help and hope. a coalition of local healthcare groups including kair permanente and the university of california, davis medical center provide funding and mental health resources. >> what made today worse? >> yang: liseanne wick is the director of the suicide prevention program at wellspace health, which alsprides services for mulvaney's program. >> the beauty of theot iour back project is that it does, it puts it right there, where they're at. it makes talking about mental health, and wellness, and help seeking, and even suicide or depression, a more natural thing >> yang: mulvaney's initiative w fitsh the other community work he does with his wife and business partner, bobbin. he sayit's inspired by one of his favorite films. the classic, "it's a wonderful life.th" e "b&l" in his restaurant's nam" stands for "ilding and loan," a nod to the institution at the center of the moe's story.

>> merry christmas you wonderful old building and >> i hoped that we would open a place for people to come k about issues of the day and invite us into those conversations. and over the last 13 yrs what we've seen is that we've become a central part of many ofonhose conversain our community. and this is the first time where we are bringing that outside community in to talk about how to help our own. >> yang: help people like casey shideler. she's an executive chef at another sacramento restaurant, taylor's kitchen. she's been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. in the 1years she's worked in professional kitchens, she says she hit rock bottom bothsmn her alcohond mental health. in 2018 she was having suidal 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 mother for 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. t even then i wouldn't talk to her, i wouldn't talk to anyone. don't know why. that's not true. i know exactly why it's just an incredibly difficult thing to say out loud, and admit to peopl >> yang: since then she's gotten the treatment she needic including meion. she's now trained in mental health first aid and is running an i got your back program at her own restaurant. >> everyone in the room we have faced a 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 owners, m able to expand the program statewide, and one day take the program to kitchens across the country. as we as an industry start to talk about this and open it up

d reduce stigma, we think that everyone will begin to come into the conversation. >> yang: 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 been an eldive goal for ecades. as hari sreenivasan reports, one couple is turning to humor to tackle conflict between jews and palestinians. >> sreenivasan: an unlikely duo... >> i'm je. >> and i'm eman. >> and we' a jewish palestinian lesbian married couple. ( cheers and applause ) wow, that's not how our families reacted. ye sreenivasan: for the past , comedians jess salomon and eman el-husseini have performed

together, on stage and through instagram cartoons, wi one name: the el-salomons.s >> j the one who proposed to me, amazing. she actually built the courage and asked my muslim fd her for my h marriage. he said no. >> sreenivasan: eman and jess' act draws on wt they call their "inconvenient marriage." their comedy, based on their life as a jewish-palestinian couple, is finding new audiences, at the same time that the debate heats up in powashington over u.s. sup for israel. in recent months, president seump has engaged in a war of words with reprentative ilhan omar, one of the first muslim women in congress, over language republicans, and even some democrats, called anti-semitic. >> what do you think? >> i like it but i wish yellow stard. >> sreenivasan: after a quick stop at their local jewish deli and arabic gcery 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's fair to criticize it because you want to get better. you have high expectations. >> i love you and i criticize you. >> all the time, exactly. that's the perfect example. >> and look how much better you've gn.otte >> sreenivasan: one uniting issue for the muslim and jewish communities: hate crimes-- reported incidents in the unitee states hav on the rise in recent years. high profile attacks like those sq synagogues in pittsburgh and san diego and a ue in new zealand keep the concern in the news. has the rise in white supremacy boa ed both of you ttle 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 before they could have serious conversationb t the divide between israel and palestinians, the couple had to establish some grnd rules.

>> when we would get into an argument, where did you hear this? if you heard it growing up or you heard it at the dinner table or you heard it at hebrew school, it doesn't count. we have to go to another source of iormation. >> 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? >> iuchink if you e yourself. helot of people who get in heated discussions, it's usually emotional rather than an actual just like regular conversation that's well thght of. >> sreenivasan: over time, their politics became aligned as jess, a former united natis human rights lawyer, has grown more critical of israeli policy. >> i moved into her place. she didn't want me there. but i moved in anywaknow how, we do. >> it's a beautiful love story. she makes me go throug checkpoints in my own apartment. >> sreenivasan: and eman, whose family fled palestine and then kuwait after the iraqi invion

in 1991, makes her palestinian heritage a centerpiece in their act. >> it's not easy being palestinian these days or for the past seven decades. we're the ly minority group that gets excited when a racist person tells us to go back to her couny. like hey why don't you go back to your country? oh my gothank you so much. that's so nice. he thinks we havisa country that o sweet. >> there's like some talking points that you grow up with as a jewish person. and one of them is always well they don't want to recognize the palestinians don't recognize the existence of israel, you know, r example. and it was really only with eman that she was like well. >> 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 the other side. >> yeah, well sometiey'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 m se, i've been agogues way more than mosques.

>> sreenivasan: while a sense of humor has worked so far for jess and eman, a comedic cure has yet to land amontheir divided cultures. for the pbs newshour, i'm hari sreenivasan in brooklyn, new york. >> woodruff: after last month's devastating fire at notre dame cathedral in p stonemasons offered a warning-- think carefully about reconstruction or risk substandard work. special coespondent 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, ierk minster has dominated the landscape for cent.

it has similar architectural characteristics and it offers the hope of recovery from the inferno. >> in july 1984, it was a very hot summer and in the early hours of t 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 roof and timber vault here in york, the fire spread into the vault and of course n the risk of affecting the whole building. >> reporter: sarah brown heads the trust which cares for stained glass. she's oking up at the now restored vault or inner roof of the wing that was gutted. york's glaziers have unique experience of restoring firean damaged glastheir services have been offered to notre dame. >> glass is susceptible to extreme heat. and it's susceptible to rapid cooling.si in a firation it's cooling rapidly, particularly if gallons and gallons of water are being tructure whithe s

obviously is the case both here and in paris. and this causes a kind of thermashock. 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 toic mech damage to stresses and strains, high winds, et cetera. >> reporter: york has a team of stone masons working constantly to replace crumbling elements of the minster. they're led by john davi he was at the fire in 1984e nd helped reseasures before the blazing roof was brought down deliberately to stop th flames from spreading to the main body of tht minster. >> w have now and what we learned from t fire, was that compartmentalized all the roofs in the minster. so now... and their fireproofing, so if a fir ae breaks owhere it can reasonably be contained if the

fire people get here quick enough. >> reporter: although it looks like stone, the vault of the restored wing is wooden and therefore combustible. but there is no sprinkler system in place, because john david says the volume of water involved would damage the building's fabric. he believes the french should follow york minster's lead. >> state of the art alarms and smoke detectors, flame tectors, these are the sort of things that they need. plus breaking the roof off into separate areas. and what youave is actually a map in a control r tm somewhere cathedral which shows that if an alarm goes off in a certain area you know exactly where they come and also the thre service, as in york. fire service regularly come to do a practice. >> reporter: york is monitoring the debate in france about the nature of notre dame's restoration. giould it be true to its medieval orins or something

modern? non michael smith is a traditionalist. >> i think we have to acknowledge that places like here and placelike notre dame e actually repositories of prayer. theyold the memory, they hol the joys and sorrows, the tears and the laughter, the questions, ts, the affirmations of faith of generations of people. >> reporter: although york's prevailing attitude towards restoration conservative, vignettes of modernity exist. in the roof timbers there's an image of the moon landing. harriet pace is creating a replacement grotesque, which is erke a gargoyle, except it doesn't have a wpout. and the inspiration for the face is her late father, a former sculptor. >> the original had a high collarnd 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 r: the cathedral. >> reporut that's about as modern as it gets in york. john david fears the french will abandon traditional mateals and craft skills such as these in order to fulfill president macron'sledge to restore notre dame in five years. >> 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 the itere's no way that it can be done in five yearscare and proper consideration for the building. >> reporter: so far the amount me money pledged to restore notre s close to a billion dollars. most of this money is 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 iscuing a building, but not looking after peopneed. now, this county here, yorkshire, is renowned in britain for being a place for plain speaking and common sense. so what's the yorkshire view of the ethics of this issue? >> as always these things are not either or, but both and. i'm always cautious about judging people's motives. it may well be we can have doubts about them but people are often more generous than we realize. and i wouldn't want to be too judgmental about that. >> reporter: canon adrian boedright has recently retir after three decades as pastor of a large yorkshire parish. >>es a lot of money will be needed to rebuild notre dame. 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 the and i think i'd argue that for a nation that's lost as this country certainly has and arguably many countries in europe have lost a sense of purpose, lost a sense of meaning and significance, the role that a building like that plays is

colossal. >> reporter: the minster's canon michael smith believes perhaps 10% of donations towards notre dame should go to good human causes. i i think we poverish the whole of sociewe don't make beautiful things. i th beautiful places, beautiful spaces, are really, really atportant. not to say that the people who sleep in our doorways aren't important. rtey're just as important, well they are more imt, but we have to care for them. but we also have to have beautiful placeseo wheree can come and think and be challenged and connect with the big questions of life and that's what buildings like this do to people. >> reporter: in the 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 the pbs nehour, i'm malcolm brabant in york.

>> woodr debuting canvas online, our brand new website for arts and culture stories from the newshour and from your local pbs stations around y.e countr explore now scanvas.org. and join our facebook community, dedicated to conversations around a in all its forms. that's at facebook.com/groups/newshourarts and th's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newsur has been provided by: >> ordering takeout. >> finding the west route. >> talking >>r hours. lanning for showers. >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more.

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