♪ >> tonight on pbs news weekend, as the death toll in maui rises, a look at how officials can improve emergency responses to better handle future disasters. then, families in montana prepare for a new law banning certain medical treatments for

minors with gender dysphoria. >> what i see is taking our ability away to make an informed decision, a decision that has taken five yrs to make is not taken lightly. >> and with the ongoing writers strike means for reality and unscripted television. ♪ >> major funding for pbs news weekend has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, how may i help you? this is a pocket dial? well, thought i would let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. john: good evening. southern california and mexico's baja peninsula are already feeling the effects of hurricane hillary hours before fall. in the desert east of los angeles, what is expected to be three days of rain has begun. forecasters say a years rain could fall in a matter of hours, leading to catastrophic and life-threatening flash floods. hurricane hilary, now a category

two storm, is expected to become a tropical storm by the tenant fall as early as tonight in the baja peninsula. and then forecasters say it will surge north as the first tropical storm to hit southern california in 84 years. high winds and heavy rains are expected from the pacific coast to southern nevada and central arizona. residents are preparing. in newport beach, they stocked up on sandbags and san clemente workers put down parts to prevent mudslides. more natural disasters, wildfires are affecting the u.s. and canada. in maui, the death toll from the deadliest wildfire in modern u.s. history stands at 114. more than 900 are reported missing. in canada, yellowknife, the capital of the northwest territories is a virtual ghost town after 20,000 residents were ordered to leave as a large out-of-control wildfire

threatens the city. british columbia is under a state of emergency with several fires out of control, 15,000 evacuated, and 20,000 more under evacuation alerts. a russian missal strike in the northern ukrainian city killed at least 70 and injured more than 100 others, 12 children. officials say a theater and university were hit. latimer zelenskyy condemned the attack while visiting sweden. he is asking for fighter jets from sweden, which is in the process of joining nato. still to come on pbs news weekend, what a new montana law means for transgender children and their families. and the effect of the writer's strike on the production of reality and unscripted television shows. ♪ >> this is pbs news weekend, from weta studios in washington, home of the pbs newshour, weeknights on pbs.

john: the head of maui's emergency agency resigned earlier this week amid criticism of his decision not to activate warning sirens during the deadly fast-moving wildfire. he said he was quitting for health reasons. the fire and the high death toll put a spotlight on how communities respond to emergencies, both natural d man-made. the director of the disaster research center at the university of delaware joins us. having a factor was that decision not to use the sirens in the high death toll? >> i would like to start off by saying how tragic the event is, and i think all of our hearts go out to not only the survivors of this devastating disaster, but also the emergency responders. one of the things we know clearly from decades of research on disasters is that there is a sequence of behaviors that

people need to go through before they even begin to start reacting to a disaster or to a warning. they have to hear it, understand it, believe it, personalize it, so they have to confirm it, and that could be with people in their household, calling of a friend or family member, checking on the internet and trying to find out is this something that i need to do, some protective action? so anything that can speed up that decision-making to get them to that point, be it using different ways to reach people through cell phones, through the media, sirens, other kinds of warning mechanisms, get people a little more closer to be able to start that very time consuming step of actually evacuating or taking protective action. john: in the southwest, they have a tropical storm that is

currently a hurricane, hilary bearing down on them, and they are warning about potentially catastrophic and deadly flash flooding over the next early six hours or so. /letting, definition, comes on quickly. what is the best way to warn people about that? >> the more advanced notice you can give people to be on guard, to be ready for an evacuation, the better. the fact that it takes some peopleuch more time to get to that point, they may have a mobility issue. they may not be able to get out of an area because they have no transportation. having that advanced warning gets people thinking, gets people talking about this to each other, and then when there is a warning that comes through, they are much more close to the action of reacting. those seconds and minutes really count. john: the maui county emergency manager said that the reason he did not sound the sirens is because they were intended, he

said, for tsunami's. he did not want people rushing inland toward the fire. what do you make of that explanation? can emergency responders afford to have a one alert system for one particular event? >> there are a few things at play there. one, there is sometimes a misconception that people will panic during a disaster and there will be widespread panic that takes place that is not backed up the data unless there is a window of opportunity for escape that is quickly closing. it is more difficult to get people to move and to start taking action. that is why those extra minutes and hours count so much. it will be really important to look at the plans in place for that part of maui, whether or not community residents believe that those sirens are something that should be used for all different types of hazards. whether or not there was a

failure to activate them and they should have been, whether or not there were repairs that needed to be done, so i think part of the real investigation that will happen is the extent to which how much this was decision-making and how mh it was a lack of planning or different types of planning that did not take into account the severity or quick onset of this fire. john: if you were designing a warning system from scratch, someplace that has never had one before, and they called and asked you to do it, what would it look like? >> it would, first of all, involve the input of that community and understanding the different community members. yocannot design a warning system for a community. it has to be with them. it might be fined for an official to say this is what we use, particular warning mechanisms for, but if a community has a different understanding of that, that warning system is not quite effective. there are residents in this

community and people who have lived there for a long time or short time, there are tourists in the area, people who commute back and forth. all will have a different response and understanding the warning strategies, and we also know that we have to use a multipronged approach, so it cannot just be sirens or cell phone or media. different kinds of channels of communication to reach people in different ways, people trust different sources of information. all of that needs to be taken into account. not simply when that hazardous threatening people immediately but thinking about those plans years in advance. john: you mentioned trust. i suspect some people in maui may have lost trust in the government emergency response. how do they rebuild that? >> the recovery process is externally challenging at the best of times. this community has a long road ahead. unfortunately. in thinking of the amount of

paperwork involved, the claims that have to be filed, trying to make sense of the financial and community aspects. when you add that element of blame and mistrust, it can be a real challenge, and they will really need our support in moving forward. john: tricia, from the university of delaware, thank you very much. >> thank you. ♪ john: a new montana law is set to take effect in october, banning certain medical treatments for minors with gender dysphoria. the backers of the bill say the intent is to protect children from making irreversible medical decisions they may regret later. opponents say it is dangerous and unethical. we report on how families and medical providers are preparing for the new reality. >> i'm a disgrace to the cooking world because i put corn in my

fried rice. >> in helena, montana, it's 17-year-old sid beardslee's turn to cook dinner for the family. >> all good? ok. come dish up? >> yep. when i was 12, i hit the point where my brain just like, you know, i don't really feel like a female. and then once i hit 14, i kind of hit the point of like, no, i'm definitely not a female. >> sid identifies as non-binary trans masculine. assigned female at birth, sid neither identifies as a boy nor a girl, but feels a connection to masculinity. >> they've never been the perfect version of any type of child. they've been every kid, they've been a mony climbing trees, they've been my rapunzel princess wearing the dress and the beautiful, long flowing hair. >> it wasn't really a surprise when sid came out. and i mean, i kind of always knew they were a little different. >> while they weren't exactly surprised when sid came out, it did take some time to adjust.

>> it's definitely scary for five seconds, because it's like what does that mean? >> for the beardslees that meant getting treatment to affirm sid's gender identity. at 14, sid started taking puberty blockers, and at 17, began hormone therapy. the beardslees firmly feel that this was the right choice for sid. >> it's basically just grown my confidence. it's made me a lot happier and i actually feel like i have a future. i can grow up, be an adult. i'm ready to exist on the planet. >> sid is among the last group of transgender youth in montana who can legally receive gender affirming care. a new law, senate bill 99, takes effect on october 1. it prohibits the use of puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries to treat minors with gender dysphoria. montana is one of 19 states that have passed similar laws.

healthcare could providers be suspended from practicing medicine for one year if they provide the care. >> if you vote yes on this bil and yes on these amendments, i hope the next time there's an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer you see the blood on your hands. >> democratic state representative zooey zephyr, montana's first openly transgender lawmaker, directed that remark at the bill's supporters during debate in april. republican state senator john fuller sponsored the bill. fuller says his motivation is to protect children from what he contends are the poorly understood long term effects and the irreversibility of some of the treatments. >> children live under the guidance and guardianship of adults, precisely because they lack the maturity, prudence and experience to make safe and responsible decisions for themselves. >> the use of puberty blockers and hormones to treat gender dysphoria has been shown to reduce depression and suicidal thoughts. major medical groups, including

the american medical association, the american academy of pediatrics and the u.s. department of health and human services deem them medically necessary in many cases. >> when your child is struggling, it's really difficult to say there's nothing we can do to help you, especially when we have tools to offer that are really proven to improve mental health and reduce suicidality. >> dr. lauren wilson is the president of the montana chapter of the american academy of pediatrics. >> the response that we're seeing where people ban care completely is the antithesis of what we need to do in medicine, which is to study and improve care as we go. >> when sid beardslee began expressing their gender identity, they were mocked in public and bullied at school. >> i struggled a lot with suicidal thoughts. i didn't have an idea of who i could possibly be in the future. >> proponents ofhe ban argue social media and the impressionability of minors has created what they call a fad.

they also point to cases where adults who transitioned regret their care and are now reidentifying as their birth sex, some feel they were rushed into treatment or not given adequate mental health screening beforehand. studies suggest rates of regret are low. around 1%, but for the bill's sponsor, john fuller, the stakes are too high. >> we protect children from all kinds of things. we don't allow them to consume alcohol. we don't allow them to consume tobacco products. >> a challenge to the law is already underway. an aclu lawsuit claims the bill infringes on fundamental rights enshrined in the montana constitution. among them the rights of parents. >> the biggest thing that see is taking away our ability to make an informed decision. i mean, a decision that's taken five years to make is not take lightly.

>> but timing was on the beardslee's side. jessy and brandon say they're grateful for sid's treatment, and sid says they're living a more authentic life. >> i've never been so happy in my life to just get to be myself. >> while montana waits for the new law to take effect, families of transgender children are preparing for a new reality. for pbs news weekend, i'm joe lesar, in helena, montana. ♪ john: the broadcast tv networks are heading into the fall season with writers and actors still out on strike. that means no new episodes of scripted dramas and comedies. instead, the prime time schedules are leaning heavily on reality and competition shows. so you'd think the people who work on reality shows would be celebrating. but as ali rogin reports in hollywood, appearances are not always reality.

>> to give us more insight on how the strike is affecting reality and unscripted tv is ryan, digital staff editor at the hollywood reporter. thank you for joining us. is the reality tv industry celebrating the current state of hollywood? >> this has been a surprisingly tough moment to reality tv and for outsiders, initially, you would assume this would be kind of a groom moment for unscripted. when you look at the fall schedules coming up, for broadcast tv, a number of networks, cbs, abc, fox, are leaning heavily on unscripted with no new scripted episodes to air. it seems to be something one would assume there is a lot of work and a lot more projects getting green lit and that does not seem to be the case for some reason. i have talked to a number of producers who say this is the toughest moment they have seen for unscripted tv in terms of

people are not worki they are in long stretches since maybe december that a lot of people have been without work. and jobs that are available, as with unscripted tv, long hours, working weekends, no health benefits. it is surprising for many to learn that unscripted is not necessarily thriving right now. >> the last big writer's strike happened between 2007 and 2008. what were the circumstances then? >> reality tv certainly had success prior to the strike, but certainly once the strike took place in 2007, there were shows that came about to support the lack of a scripted options. so now i think that there are the wga east is has unionized some unscripted workers. but for the most part the majority of shows are not union. they're not under union contracts in unscripted. certain ones are sort of they call the shiny floor shows tend to be union shows like

masterchef and the voice, kind of those bigger competition shows, but most aren't. you know, when you look at the the schedule for this fall there are 38 hours of unscripted programming across the five broadcast networks which is an 81% uptick from last year. how many shows were being included on fall schedules at this time last year? so definitely reality is being brought in to help save all these networks. and yet the jobs aren't there right now. >> fascinating. you mentioned the shiny floor shows, how is the strength affecting the celebrity guests, and judges, that take part in competition shows and other types of reality television who are otherwise participating in the strike? >> sure, so i think reality hosts are often well-known a listers and people with acting careers and judges, and potentially contestants like

dancing with the stars. they are covered separately, so it is not part of the deal being ironed out, but just the idea of producing content for a company with some involved in the unscripted industry thought that it is possible that hosts and judges would, for optics reasons, perhaps, not want to create new episodes of shows, but so far, it appears that right now, most shows are still moving forward, even with actors involved. >> producers of reality shows are not considered writers or part of the union, but they play a large role in shaping storylines. they do a similar job that writers do. why are they not covered by the union? >> yeah, i think that, you know, you talk to people in the industry, and there is confusion as far to why that would not be considered writing. unscripted has been seen as a cheaper, quicker alternative.

i think that has helped to thrive. i talked to people who think some scripted programming liens and on more unexperienced producers and people behind the scenes who are able to get work. but they are willing to take or work longer hours, not getting residuals, not having health benefits. once studios find a way to create the content in a cheaper way, are you going to be able to change that? certain shows have managed walkouts. on survivor, i talked to an editor who has worked on two shows, who was part of walkouts for both shows. and they were able to make those shows union. certainly, that is a possibility but it becomes tricky. you sort of need the show to be seen as indispensable to your platform.

certainly, not allhows have that luxury. and then if you have not worked in a while, it becomes a little scary for work security to then be willing to be part of a walkout because people will take your job so it gets tricky. >> ryan with the hollywood reporter, thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much. ♪ john: and that is pbs news weekend for the saturday. i am john yang. for all of my colleague thank you for joining us. see you tomorrow. >> major funding for pbs news weekend has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, how may i help y? >> this is a pocket dial? well somebody's pocket, thought i would let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contracts. that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. >> 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 pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ >> you are watching pbs.

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