wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. john: tonight on pbs news weekend, the alarming rise in violence against healthcare workers, and what can be done to keep them safe. then, as a potential government shutdown looms, what's at stake for the federal program that helps low-income families afford healthy foods. d, how climate change affects the timing and intensity of fall foliage. >> it's really a delicate dance between many factors that are driving both the onset of the fall foliage, as well as the intensity of the color that we

see. ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs news weekend" has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, how can i help you? have a nice day. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, -- 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, i'm john yang. with union and automaker negotiatiors talking but making little progress, the head of the united auto workers union threatened today to widen the strike beyond the three plants that have beendle since friday. talks were set to resume today with g-m and monday with ford and stellantis, which used to be called cry. -- chrysler. on cbs face the nation, uaw president shawn fain compared the automakers' wage offers with the salaries of their ceos. >> in the last four years alone,

co pay went up 40%. they're already millionaires. you know, it's shameful that, you know, one of the, one of the leaders of one of the corporations is sitting in his second home in acapulco while we're bargaining, rather than being at the bargaining table. >> so 21% is a no-go for you? fain: it's definitely a no-go, and we've made that very clear to the companies. john: this is the first time the union has gone on strike against all three automakers at once, rather than targeting just one of them. south korean president yoon suk yeol says the international community must stand together to confront deepening military cooperation between russia and north korea. that's expected to be yoon's focus later this week when he addresses the united nations general assembly. fears of stronger military ties between the two nations deepened with north korean leader kim jong-un's six-day visit to russia, which ended today. kim met with vladimir putin, and inspected some of russia's nuclear force. the first two civilian cargo ships to reach ukraine since the collapse of a deal allowing ukrainian grain exports arrived in a seaport in the southern

odessa region. they used a temporary corridor to safely cross the black sea. ukrainian officials said the ships will deliver 20,000 tons of wheat to africa and asia. ukraine has rerouted grain shipments from the black sea to the danube river, and road and rail links. and, actress drew barrymore isn't bringing her daytime talk show back on the air after all, and says it will stay off the air until the writers and actors strikes are over. barrymore drew sharp criticism from striking writers and actors last week when she resumed taping. in may, barrymore had dropped out of hosting an mtv awards show because of the writers strike. other daytime talk shows have returned to air with new shows, and without their unionized writers. talk show hosts can work because they're covered by a separate union agreement. still to come on pbs news weekend what's at stake for the federal nutrition program that supports women, infants, and children. and how climate change affects fall foliage >> this is pbs news weekend from

weta studios in washington, and -- washington. john: government data shows that healthcare workers are five times as likely to experience workplace violence as other workers. they accounted for 73% of nonfatal injuries from violence in 2018, the most recent year for which numbers are available. and there are signs it's getting worse. in a national nurses association survey last year, 40 percent of hospital nurses said they'd seen violence increase. earlier i spoke with karen coughlin, a retired registered nurse who worked for the masshusetts department of mental health for 34 years. she's now chair of the massachusetts nurses association's workplace violence and abuse prevention task force. i asked her about her experiences with workplace

violence. >> violence threats to physical assault. kicked, punched, spit at, had weapons tried to be used against me. this is not new and i am not the only nurse who has experienced this. it is one of the things i think needs to be addressed. now is the time. it has only increased over the last several years to an alarming rate and something needs to be done because our employers are not keeping us, the patients, the staff, anyone safe. john: were most of these incidents involving patients? >> yes. and typically, i would say statistics and data has shown that the majority of assaults on health care workers are

perpetrated from patients. that is not to say that we don't face risks otherwise. we have had assaults from family members, patient on patient assaults, etc.. it does not just affect nurses it affects many people in health . care settings. so it could be social workers, housekeeping, transport workers. john: and what's the response of your hospital administrators to this? >> there is a lot of, i am so sorry this happened to you, etc., the -- but there are no real concrete changes being made in many of our hospitals. that is not to say that some hospitals don't do better than others because there are some that have addressed it. we have nurses who are leaving the profession because of the risk that they face on the job, and in all honesty, it's not what we signed up for.

we went to school and got our licenses in order to provide good quality care to our patients. and it's time that hospitals, they now are starting to acknowledge that there is a problem, but there's also a need to address it. john: now, some people listening to us may think, well, you worked at a facility run by the department of mental health. is this across the board, though, in other facilities as well? >> people automatically assume that all workplace violence incidents happen in emergency rooms and in psychiatric units. that is not the case. we are seeing workplace violence incidents across the gamut of health care, whether it's in home health or whether it's at doctor's offices, whether it's on a medical surgical unit, in maternity units, in post anesthesia units, you name it, we are seeing it.

john: you mentioned that it seems to be going up or over the past few years. are there reasons that you think account for this increase? >> it's almost like the perfect storm, so nurses are dealing with the inability to provide care to the patients in the way that they would like to be able to provide it in a timely manner. if you have too many patients to care for, you can't get to everyone, you can't be in ten places at once, the other thing is that there are, you know, we have learned there are no consequences oftentimes for these types of behaviors in

facilities. you know, patients are allowed to, you know, assault, verbally threaten verbally abuse staff without any consequences to those behaviors, visitors are not banned, they're not you know, they're not screened before they come in, we have weapons in general all across the country, you know, and hospitals that hesitant to put in, you know, metal detectors, you knowfor visitors coming in. john: what more can you would you like to see hospitals do? what more would you like to see laws change? >> we want to see legislation that addresses the and makes it a requirement that health care facilities make an assessment of all of the risk factors related to workplace violence in their particular hospital, and then make a plan with the input from direct care staff related to how they can address it, and then a reevaluation every year. but also along with that, to have reporting mechanisms so that we have data that can show and red flag, but it's like the department of public health should be aware of these types of incidents that are going on in facilities and hospitals, quite ankly, are reluctant to do that. but they should. something that set in place that they have to adhere to because there would be penalties, there would be reporting requirements, there would be time off given to those victims of workplace assault, because right now they don't get time off in order to address it if they decide to make, you know, charges, legal

charges. and then we also have legislative bills that would increase the penalties for workplace assaults against health care workers, because right now we don't have that, at least here in massachusetts, although there are at least 32 states in the nation that have that in place that make it a felony. and in total, there are like i think, 38 states in the nation that have laws addressing workplace violence against health care workers and nurses. i think more data has been done related to when there is a working, measurable, enforceable workplace violence prevention prograin place that it shows, the quality of care increases, that workplace violence incidents have gone down and that staff is more comfortable working there, and there's an ability to be able to not only recruit but to retain your staff

that you've got. they should feel supported and have the ability to work through a workplace violence incident with the support of their administrators, employer, and colleagues. john: karen coughlin, thank you very much. >> you're welcome, nice to be with you. ♪ john: with a possible shutdown looming, congress is scrambling to find a way to fund the government beyond september 30. ali rogin reports on one federal program facing potential cuts: “wic” -- women, infants, and children -- which helps low-income families get healthy foods.

>> last year wic serve more than 6 million people per month, including more than a third of the nation's infants. and participation continues to rise before the covid 19 pandemic, which gave women and children between 9 to $11 a month to purchase fruits and vegetables. in 2021, congress increased that amount. women now receive between $45 and $49 a month, and children get $25. but in their annual spending bill, house republicans want to cut those cash benefits back close to pre-covid levels. the left leaning center on budget and policy priorities estimates those cuts could affect e and a half million pregnant and postpartum women and three and a half million children. with congress unlikely to pass those spending bills by the end of the month, the white house is asking for $1.4 billion in emergency funds. now, menifee live runs public policy for the national wic association, a nonprofit organization representing public health, nutrition service providers and wake -- wic beneficiaries. thank you so much for being here. for people who might not be

familiar with the wic program, where does it fit in in terms of the spectrum of food assistance programs in the united states? >> wic is a public health nutrition program that's targeted to specific life stages, so pregnancy and postpartum and then birth through the fifth birthday. and it delivers really targeted nutrition that is meant to support healthy development during pregnancy, help get mom back to optimal health after delivery, and ensurehat kiddos have the healthy foods that they need for their optimal development during those really key early years. >> and one of the reasons why this program has grown so much since the pandemic began is simply because participation increased so much. why did participation get so much more robust during the pandemic? >> a couple of reasons. the first is that there have been some really important modernizations in service delivery.

new participants have been able to get certified and existing participants have been able to get recertified remotely on the program by phone or by video appointment where previously mom might have had to take time off from work, take kiddo daycare or go into a clinic in person. and that's time that often busy parents don't have. >> but as you've pointed out to me, this is a request that was made by the national wic association back in 2017, so well before the covid 19 pandemic. >> yes, correct. wexford package is based on independent recommendations from a panel of nutrition scientists at the national academies of science, engineering and medicine. they recommended that fruit and vegetable benefit be expanded in 2017, so that's something that we've been asking for quite a few years, and we were happy to see congress deliver on in 2021. >> in terms of the debate happening in congress right now, a lot of republicans have seen reducing that fruit and vegetable credit as a way to, in their view, course correct from expansions of some programs that took place during the public health emergency. here is what congressman andy

harris had to say during the congressional debate over funding levels. >> we must work to right size programs, especially since the ndemic is over and president biden has ended the public health emergency last month. and this is why we're returning the wic cash value voucher benefits to a normal, sustainable inflation adjusted funding level. >> what is your response to that? >> the benefit is pretty modest. it's not intended to supply a family's entire grocery budget for the month and even at those inflated levels or adjusted up levels, the fruit and vegetable benefit only supplies half of what'recommended for consumption per month. we have seen important payoffs in the nutrition outcomes as a result of those higher issuance levels we've seen a quarter cup increase in consumption of fruits and vegetables per day, among which enrolled toddlers. you're a new mom, you know how hard it is to get kiddos to eat their fruits and vegetables, so

that is a big deal. i think that these are important gains in public health. it's a worth a worthwhile investment in our nation's children. and i think e idea that these are our pandemic programs that need to be right size is overlooking that. these are recommendations stemming from an independent panel that met in 2017 to talk about how to make the most of wic's benefit. >> now, a lot of your job these days is spent talking to lawmakers, telling them about this program. what are youearing from them? >> we are fortunate that wic, a program that has enjoyed longstanding bipartisan support in congress. there has been an agreement for nearly 30 years to provide the program with the resources necessary to serve every eligible individual who walks in the door and asks to receive wic services. but the proposals that are currently being considered by congress do not provide resources necessary to serve the projected nearly 7 million participants who we expect will participate in the program in 2024. >> now, if wake funding does get cut in any way or not, expanded

to the levels that president biden is now requesting, how is that going to affect the state agencies that administer these funds? >> yeah, unfortunately, state agencies would be in the position of having to turn away folks who would otherwise be eligible to receive services. the first participants we would see fall off of the program would be non-breastfeeding new moms in the middle of a national maternal health crisis and older children who are getting ready to start kindergarten. who we want to make sure in the best possible position to be doing that. wic hasn't had to send families to wait lists since 1997. and the gains in participati that we've seen in the last couple of years are really hard won. that is the result of good work being done on the state and local level to keep more families engaged with the program. and we don't want to see folks turn away from the program because we know that once they fall off, it's really hard to get them back. congress needs to sustain these investments so that wic is reaching all of the families who would benefit from its vital nutrition services.

>> nell menefee libbey with the national wicker association, thank you so much for your time. >> thanks for having me, ali. john: next saturday is the autumnal equinox, the beginning of astronomical fall in the northern hemisphere. for some, though, fall doesn't really begin until leaves change color. but scientists say climate change is affecting both the timing and intensity of fall foliage. earlier i spoke with bill keeton, a professor of forest ecology and forestry at the university of vermont. i asked him to explain why leaves change color in the fall. >> it's really a delicate dance between many factors that are driving both the onset of the fall foliage, as well as the intensity of the color that we see. basically what happens is that the trees sense the onset of winter as the contrast between daytime temperatures and nighttime temperatures increases and as the length of the day shortens and as they sense that onset, they begin shutting down.

and they try to reabsorb as much of the energy that's stored in leaves as possible. these are sugars and carbohydrates that the trees have been producing all summer long. and as this is happening, the chlorophyl in those leaves, chlorophyl is a catalyst for photosynthesis and important for all of life on earth. it makes vegetation appear green to our eyes. the chlorophyll is beginning to degrade, and as this happens, it reveals other chemicals that have been in the leaves all summer. so these are the same chemicals that you find in bananas that make them appear yellow and oranges that make them appear orange. at the same time this is happening, the trees are trying to buffer those leaves and hang on to them as long as possible so that they can absorb as much of the energy stored in those leaves as possible. and to do that, they produce another group of chemicals called anthocyanins. these anthocyanins give us the reds and the purples that we find in some species like maples and oaks, and add a lot of diversity to the color that we

see on the landscape. john: and that process you've just described, how is that affected by climate change? >> first of all, there's pretty good evidence that climate change, especially our warming summers, is delaying the onset of fall foliage. there's even some research that's suggested that the onset of fall foliage may have been delayed by as much as a month over the last century. the other thing is the climate change can dampen the intensity of the fall foliage. and this happens particularly after extreme droughts or ter summers like we've just had, with really extreme rainfall and wet, saturated soils. so these types of climate extremes create stresses in trees, which can interfere with the production of some of these chemicals that give us color and can interfere with the overall productivity and health of trees. john: one of the things we've

seen this summer has been record wildfires, putting a lot of particulate matter into the air, into the atmosphere. does that affect the trees and the foliage in any way? >> we don't have conclusive evidence on this yet, but there's some evidence that, yes, in some parts of the eastern u.s., ash and particulate matter on leaves can interfere a little bit with photosynthesis and reduce the overall productivity of trees, which could have a ripple effect down the road on foliage, on color. but with the mega fire situation increasing year by year in the western u.s., and now across boreal, northern canada, this may change into the future. there are major differences around the country in terms of how climate change seems to be affecting forests.

so, for example, in the southwest and part of the intermountain west, we've just come out of one of the worst droughts in something like 1200 years. a ten year plus drought. and that certainly impacts tree health, tree growth. whereas in the northeast where i live, our climate seems to b getting rainier and wetter. we think that our rainfall has increased by something like 21% in the last couple of decades and our winters especially are getting a lot warmer and rainier. so these changes affect tree health, tree productivity, and their ability to produce some of these compounds that give us fall foliage. john: we know that forests and trees actually take greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. so does this become in any way a vicious cycle that that as climate change hurts the trees and forests, that they take less green, fewer greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, making climate change worse? >> we think that over the near

term of maybe the next 50 years or so, the combination of longer growing seasons, because we have warmer summers, and higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might actually increase forest productivity. again, over the next several decades. but over the very long term of maybe the next century, we might see those positive effects of climate changes overwhelmed by extreme climate conditions like drought and excessive rainfall. john: is there anything can be done now to mitigate the that long term loss? >> for example, we can conserve forests by conserving healthy, complex forests, particularly older forests, i might add, that are able to buffer their own climate beneath their canopies. this might help forests resist some of these climactic changes.

there are also a lot of things that foresters can do to make those forests more resilient to climate change. for example, reducing the stocking or the density of trees to make them less prone to drought. of course, in the west, all of the various techniques that we use to support and restore natural fire regimes. so things like reducing fuel loading anthe use of prescribed burning, all of these things can make our forests more resilient to climate change. john: bill keaton from the university of vermont, thank you very much. >> my pleasure. thank you for having me. ♪ john: there is more online, including a look at the science behind the smell of fall foliage. all that and more is on our website, pbs.org/newshour. and that is pbs news weekend for this sunday. i'm john yang. for all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us. have a good week.

♪ >> major funding has been provided by -- >> this is a pocket dial. >> with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. it 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. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪

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