♪ >> tonight, it is majesty restored, notre dame reopens after fire devastated the cathedral. with world leaders like trump in attendance paired with drunk driving accidents expected to

spike during the holidays, we look at what lowering the legal limit could do for public safety. how a family of north carolina christmas tree farmers overcame hurricane helene's destruction to get trees to market and one to the white house. >> this year it is extra special that it is coming from our area that was so heavily devastated and we can send a christmas tree to the white house to represent north carolina as a gift. ♪ >> major funding has been provided by -- ♪ and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the news hour.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and my contributions to your station by viewers like you. thank you. >> good evening. the embers of notre dame cathedral were still smoldering in april of 2019 when emmanuel macron vowed to remake the cathedral and do it in five years. that struck some as wildly unrealistic but today, 5.5 years and $9 million later, a promise has been fulfilled. [bells]

against the skyline of paris, the notre dame chedral has risen from the ashes. its official reopening marked by the archbishop of paris knocking on the doors. inside, led by emmanuel macron, dignitaries and clergy rose to applaud the hundreds of paris firefighters who fought for hours to dallas the flames -- douse the flames. >> i am here before you before we begin the mass to tell you of the gratitude of the french nation, the gratitude for all of those who saved, helped, and rebuilt our lady of paris. >> for nearly 900 years, it survived revolutions and wars only to be devastated on -- in april of 2019 but a massive fire. the roof went up in flames and

the spire toppled. outside the landmark, stunned onlookers sung hymns. three construction began a most immediately. 2000 craftspeople from around the world worked on the restoration. dozens of world leaders, diplomats, and celebrities attended the monument's rebirth. president biden did not attend. he sent the first lady in his place. macron invited trump, who made his first overseas trip since the election. it was a high-profile return to the global spotlight and an opportunity for a face-to-face meeting with macron and zelenskyy. today was more than just a celebration of the cathedral's restoration. it was trump's return to the

world stage. our guest was deputy secretary of state for european affairs in the george w. bush administration. we had a very unusual sight today in paris. the current president of the u.s. was not there. the president-elect was there and he met with the french president and the president of ukraine. what do you make of that? >> it is very extraordinary to have a president-elect beginning to take the approaches of state, conducting foreign policy while we already have a different administration in place. these are extraordinary times. certainly president-elect trump is taking advantage of this moment and the world's focus on the reopening and restoration of notre dame to begin that important diplomacy. >> we are told that macron really lobbied the president-elect to go. why was it so important to

macron show up? >>? he knows that president trump likes pomp and circumstance. he gave it to him in volumes in the first term with the bastille day special ceremony. restaurateurs. he knew this wanted to be the first european leader to engage with trump. his shaped his views on the war in ukraine as events are rapidly unfolding in the middle east. this was a real coup for macron to have one-on-one time with trump and bring him and zelenskyy to gather in a conversation. this was really important. it paid off. it is great because mccrone -- macron has really had a tough week domestically. >> in the president's first term

we knew his affinity for putin, his antipathy toward nato comedy is threatening tariffs on eu products. how is europe approaching this or viewing this second trump administration? >> the good news is european leaders are not surprised. they were really scrambling in 2017. they did not have the connections into the trump administration or his closest advisors. they have been working this for several months, meeting with advisors, making those connections. it is very important. when our european allies rely on american security, europe is america's largest trade and vestment partner. they have really began to take that approach. they have scenarios for everything. scenarios to try to not have those tariffs be imposed by an incoming trump administration. offering some incentives.

our european allies are also quite prepared if weo down that road to remind us that painful tariffs can go both ways. it will certaly impact the american economy. >> there are signs that the european leaders have learned lessons and learn how to deal with mr. trump from the first administration. >> they certainly have. they understand that personal relationships are incredibly important. they know to make sure that they are constantly reaching out to mr. trump, to his closest advisors, to help shape policies. they know mr. trump is disruptive. he may say as shape a policy one day and contradict himself in a 24 hour period. you are constantly trying to shape a more positive policy outlook. th are reminding mr. trump that should ukraine fail or nato fail, that is actually a massive failure for him and his administration.

he wants to project peace through strength with our closest relationship with our nato allies. >> the political landscape in europe is very different than in the first trump administration. angela merkel is gone. moderate leaders are being pressed by populists on the right. how will that affect european relations with the next trump administration? >> we know the president-elect likes to have those one-on-one relationships. we know in addition to seeing macron he is also seeing the italian prime minister. this is a different political landscape in europe. you have more right and center-right leaders. and you certainly have very close allies in europe like viktor orban. he has a political landscape that may be more suited to those issues.

but those same allies what a strong america engaged in security and growing trade and investment. they do not want to see a isolationist america. they do not want to see the u.s. imposing tariffs and harming both of our economies on both sides of the atlantic. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> elsewhere, in the middle east, as pressure mounts on israel and hamas to reach a cease-fire deal, hamas released a new video of a young israeli hostage. he said he has been held in captivity for more than 420 days. he blamed the israeli government for neglecting the hostages. his mother spoke at a protest in tel aviv to urge a cease-fire. he said while his -- her son is held captive, she is living in hell. >> my life, i miss you so much and i worry about you. if you can hear me, holland. know that we are not stopping for a moment and we will continue to fight.

>> the video comes as trump's middle east envoy traveled to qatar this weekend to push for a cease-fire. trump says he wants a deal done before he takes office. in gaza at least 34 people were killed when an israe airstrike hit a home in gaza city. they blamed hamas. in syria, opposition fighters have found this. they have taken control of major cities as they go. the president of syria has deployed additional troops. his government has denied reports that he has fled the country. the south korean president is staying in office for now. lawmakers in the ruling party boycotted in impeachment vote in parliament. hours earlier, yoon went on television to apologize for

imposing martial law and said if he was allowed to stay in office, he would not do it again. tens of thousands of people demanding his ouster took to the streets. the opposition party said it will try to impeach him again in a matter of days. veterans and current servicemembers gathered in hawaii to honor those killed at plural harbor -- pearl harbor 83 years ago today. there was a japanese surprise attack that destroyed 20 ships and propelled the u.s. into world war ii. nearly 2500 military personnel and civilians died that day and nearly a thousand others were injured. up next, is it time for states to lower the alcohol driving limit? how a north carolina christmas tree farm overcame the destruction of hurricane helene. ♪ >> this is pbs news hour weekend from our studio in washington, home of the news hour,

weeknights on pbs. >> the holiday season means holiday parties and that raises concerns about driving after having too much to drink. according to data, drunk driving crashes are as much as 40% higher between thanksgiving and new year's day than they are the rest of the year. in 2000, congress set a nationwide blood-alcohol limit for drunk driving. it is higher than it is around the world and advocate say that lowering it wi reduce crashes. a principal research scientist at the university of chicago joins us. you have been studying impaired driving for a long time now. what has drunk driving down over that time? as a gone up or down? >> it went down between 1982 and

1997 when a lot of laws were being passed. we lowered the limit. we had administrative license revocation and things like that. it worked. in 1997 we hit a plateau and now it has gone up during the pandemic. i never would have thought that. you figure that travel is lower. fatalities will go down. but it went up. there has been an increase in impaired driving. >> the legal limit in the u.s. is .08. in most of the rest of the world it is .05. how did that come about. how did the u.s. limit come about and the difference come about? >> the limit back in the 1950's and 1960's was .15. that is what the american medical association recommended. we were a high for a while.

then we lowered it. in the 1980's, beginning in 1983, states on their own started lowering it. then there washe federal sanction for all of the states to do that. >> congress said they could not get federal highway money and thus they did that. i think a lot of people here those numbers but they do not really know what it means. i don't know what it means. can you quantify it into how many drinks the average person would have or what level of impairment. >> everybody is different and it does not work for everyby but in general, we have done studies, .05 would be a 170 pound male having four drinks in two hours on a nifty stomach. 137 pound female would need three drinks over two hours on a nifty stomach. if you are eating, your blood

alcohol lower because it absorbs some of the alcohol. if you're at a party and you are not drinking -- eating, do not exceed those. that will be illegal hopefully in every state soon. >> advocacy want to lower the u.s. level, there is a real-world example of the effects of that. utah, tell us about the. >> utah is amazing. they start out with the lowest drunk driving rate in the nation. when i saw that they were going to go to .05, that is great, but we will not see much of an effect. in the first year of that law, a 20% decrease. the other 49 states had a decrease. people said they changed their behavior. they heard about the law. obviously was publicized.

they said they changed their behavior. they use alternative transportation. >> with those results, lowering it isacked by the national transportation safety board. why has it not happened? >> i don't know why it is not happening. it has been introduced in about 10 states. it only passed in utah. the science behind it is very strong. 63% of the public supports lowering it. and it will not cost the state of thing. it could mean saving 18,000 lives per year. >> are there other ways to address drunk driving? >> there are several things that work. the enforcement strategy, using sobriety checkpoints, where the police stop every car or every other car and they talk to the driver and if they smell alcohol or notice the driver is slurring his words, they pull him over

and give him a field test. people do not want to get caught at a checkpoint. it is very difficult to get police to do them frequently. they have to be done at least once a week to have a big effect. another one is alcohol ignition interlocks for repeat offenders. they will not be able to drink and drive. they have to blow into a breathalyzer and if they have any positive alcohol, the car will not start. that is very effective also. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for having. ♪ >> hurricane helene's path of destruction devastated one of north carolin's biggest industries, christmas tree farming. we have the story of one family operation that overcame

obstacles to get its crop to market, including one special tree that ended up at a special white house. >> it has a great color. i think it is lush. it is a nice-looking trait. reporter: standing 20 feet tall and wide, this frazier first treat grew up in the blue ridge mountains on this farm. >> mom and dad started it in the 1950's. dad and some other pioneers are so christmas trees as a cash crop. reporter: trees like this take a generation to grow. destined to be cut down. on this 500 acre farm that he runs with his brothers, it is always bittersweet. >> it does strike a chord after you have harvested the trees. all ucr stumps. you have to stop and remember what that tree is symbolizing and what it is doing. that tree is going to a family where they can experience family time, joy. they can have faith, hope, and

love. reporter: this year, faith, hope, and love were all at some neighbors had left after hurricane helene hit. >> the first time in my lifetime that i have seen mudslides on the farm. we have lost about 6,000 trees across our farm. it looks like those areas over there may be 4000. reporter: barren hillsides show where saplings should be growing. trees were not just laws, so too were lives and livelihoods. >> everyone has heard about the damage and devastation and horrific. we experienced such great generosity from people all over the u.s. who have given us supplies and water and their time to come and help strangers they did not even know. >> i think that has been very difficult for a lot of these farmers. >> t is a reporter for the asheville citizen times.

>> there are two industries in the area, the christmas tree industry and tourism. helene devastated the tourism industry. being able to fall back on christmas trees is huge for them. reporter: one of the main problems after the storm was getting around. the roads were washed out, making a hard to transport the trees to loading areas. but officials went to work. >> this. they have shown coming together to get their roads fixed up and get the trees out is pretty amazing. >> we harvest up to 5 million christmas trees annually. reporter: north carolina is the second largest producer of christmas trees in the country, selling44 million dollars worth in 2022. >> the hurricane hit four weeks before harvest season. it already made a stressful time

much more stressful. it will be a long time before western north carolina is back and fully operational. but it will happen. obviously it is happening a lot quicker than i thought in a lot of places. people are very community oriented. i think that the storm has really brought our communities together. reporter: now that community pride is taking up most of the blue room at the white house. a 20 foot tall fir won the national christmas tree competition. >> they were insistent that they find a tree that tall. that was so that they take out the chandelier in the blue room and the tree has to reach up to the chandelier. that is where they bring the electricity from to light the lights. >> this year it is extra special for the fact that it is coming from our area that was so heavily devastated and we can

send a christmas tree to the white house to represent western north carolina as a gift to the people. reporter: this is the 16th tree from north carolina to make it to the white house. >> we wanted to represent all these growers and families in north carolina. it is about what the christmas tree represents, all of those good things. reporter: after this hurricane season, good things made all the better. ♪ >> that is pbs news weeke for this saturday. thank you for joining us. we will see you tomorrow. >> major funding has been provided by -- >> two friends set out to make wireless coverage accessible to all. with no long-term contracts, nationwide coverage, and 100% u.s.-based customer support.

consumer cellular, freedom calls. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> you are watching

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