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CARL AZUZ: Two days into the week,
we are happy you're taking 10 minutes to watch our show.
I'm Carl Azuz.
Across the Pacific, the nation of North Korea
is making a statement with cruise missiles.
This is a secretive communist country situated
between China and South Korea.
It said on Monday it had successfully
test fired the weapons over the weekend
and that after two hours of flight time,
they hit targets hundreds of miles from their launch site
in North Korean territory.
Cruise missiles are harder to detect than ballistic missiles,
which North Korea has also tested in the past,
and experts say most cruise missiles are not designed
to carry nuclear warheads.
Still, this is the most significant weapons test
by North Korea since US President Joe
Biden took office in January.
That's something that international experts keep tabs
on because despite historic summits between the two
countries' leaders during the Trump administration,
the United States and North Korea have
remained rivals since fighting stopped
in the Korean War in 1953.
The communist countries announcement was also
noteworthy for its timing, there's
a meeting in Japan this week between American, Japanese,
and South Korean officials.
These three countries are allies and their rival, North Korea,
is the subject of this meeting.
So analysts say that by purportedly launching
new missiles, North Korea may be trying to show off
its importance in the region.
The country utilizes parades to do this as well.
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BRIAN TODD: A midnight parade in Pyongyang,
an event commemorating the 73rd anniversary
of North Korea's founding.
And at the stroke of midnight Thursday,
a surprise appearance, the country's 37-year-old dictator,
Kim Jong-un, in a tailored light colored
suit, looking remarkably slimmer than he was a few months ago.
JEAN LEE: He has clearly lost so much weight.
He was looking svelte, trim, we're not used to that.
And I think in some ways we saw that as the biggest
risk to the North Korean leadership
was his health so it's interesting
how the regime has used his weight loss in its propaganda.
BRIAN TODD: Other footage shows the supreme leader
and top aides at an outdoor table,
appearing to enjoy some kind of bright green drinks
with a twirly straw.
The Western style suit, the overall air of confidence,
analysts say could be an effort by Kim
to channel his late grandfather, Kim II-sung,
the founder of North Korea, who remains
a wildly popular figure there.
JEAN LEE: His grandfather was somebody
that the North Koreans genuinely have respect and affection for.
And I do see that during times of hardship and trouble,
he really works to evoke the memory of his grandfather.
BRIAN TODD: The parade featured the customary rows of soldiers
in perfectly synchronized cadence, paratroopers
descending in the night sky, aircraft firing flares
but with a notable feature missing.
This time no missiles on display, no references
to North Korea's nuclear capability.
Instead, there were fire trucks, dogs, horses,
and a large formation of marchers in orange hazmat
suits, what North Korean media described as the emergency
disease prevention unit.
PATRICK CRONIN: The focus is to demonstrate
Kim's unsurpassed handling of the pandemic.
And hazmat suits and dogs and fire trucks and horses
apparently are much better for manipulating
the narrative of successful pandemic management
than missiles.
CARL AZUZ: North Korea still claims
it's had no cases of COVID 19 in the entire country,
something analysts say is highly unlikely.
And Kim still can't sidestep his nation's status
as a rogue regime.
The International Olympic Committee
has just decided to ban North Korea from participating
in next year's Winter Olympics in Beijing,
at least under the country's official name,
because of North Korea's decision
not to send any athletes to this year's Summer Games in Tokyo.
PATRICK CRONIN: Missing the Olympics not once but twice
in the space of a year is a terrible missed
opportunity for North Korea.
But I think because they've been in this emergency lockdown
state with the pandemic, they will
have to pay the price of being relegated
to a non-player, a non-actor.
BRIAN TODD: Analysts say despite this pageantry,
despite Kim Jong-un's appearance,
North Korea is probably worse off internally than much
of the world realizes.
They point out that during the pandemic,
North Korea's border with China has been closed off,
food, revenue, other resources, have not been getting in
and North Koreans are likely in more desperate straits
than they usually are.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
CARL AZUZ: 10 second trivia.
Which of these food delivery platforms was founded first?
Grubhub, Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Postmates?
Grubhub was established in 2004, several years
before any of these other companies.
But all of those companies are involved in a new lawsuit
against New York City.
This concerns what third party delivery platforms like Grubhub
and Uber Eats are allowed to charge
restaurants for their services.
Let's say you use DoorDash to order a hamburger to-go,
New York's government says the most
that DoorDash can charge the restaurant is
15% of the cost of your order plus an additional 5%
for fees like marketing.
These limits can help restaurants
by keeping their costs down on to-go orders, that's
why they were put in place last year when restaurants were
forced to close or limit their dining room capacity because
of concerns surrounding COVID.
But the limits can hurt delivery companies which
have their own operating costs.
They say they may be forced to reduce their services
or charge higher fees to people who order to-go food.
And because New York City recently
voted to make its fee limits permanent,
DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats sued.
They say the government is illegally interfering
with agreements reached between restaurants and delivery
companies, that the city shouldn't have the power
to decide business economics.
New York's law Department says it's
confident its limits are legal and that it
will defend them in court.
San Francisco is another city that's
put delivery limits in place and DoorDash and Grubhub
are suing there as well.
An ongoing challenge for restaurants and delivery
companies in some areas is a shortage of workers,
help is wanted in many parts of the United States.
It's not just in the food industry.
There's a shortage of truck drivers,
manufacturers are having trouble filling factory jobs.
Some businesses and states have blamed government benefits,
pay for unemployed workers during the COVID pandemic
as one reason why people weren't motivated to go back to work.
But those benefits have expired and while analysts say there's
more than one factor to blame, some restaurants
are getting creative to keep their doors open.
- In the month of July, Texas added over 72,000 jobs,
about 18,000 of those were in the Dallas
Plano Irving Metro area.
And even still.
ED SILLS: One of the things that's happening
is some workers are saying, I don't want to go back to that.
- In one of the fastest growing states in the country,
many of those roles are going unfilled.
Ed Sills, of Texas AFL-CIO, a state labor union,
says it's likely the low wages of service jobs
and the Delta variant keeping folks from clocking back in.
ED SILLS: They found that maybe working the night shift
or being paid $8 an hour is something that can be improved
upon and they found ways to do it
somehow during this pandemic.
- But some businesses have grown tired of waiting
for applications altogether.
The Dallas restaurant, La Duni, has
turned to robots for workers.
- I had people who tell me, well, they're taking
people's jobs, guess what?
No, they're not taking anybody's jobs because there's
no one is showing up.
What they are doing is helping the ones
who are really working.
- Their owner says they have a third of the staff
they had pre-pandemic and that hiring
has been nearly impossible.
There are three robots take guests to tables,
bring out orders, and even sing happy birthday.
The goal isn't to replace all their staff
but to help supplement the jobs no one else seems to want.
- And they don't complain and they're happy to do it.
- Ed says until those jobs become more desirable,
it's no surprise businesses will have to get creative.
ED SILLS: The market is finally working on behalf of workers.
- He does believe eventually the labor shortage will level
but it will likely take COVID calming down
and improved pay for workers.
ED SILLS: I think it's probably part of a stage of recovery
rather than something permanent.
CARL AZUZ: Well, whether or not you're
familiar with all the rules of cricket,
you probably know this ain't supposed to happen.
- Oh, the dog has the ball.
Oh, here we go, now that is--
CARL AZUZ: At least she's not breaking any leash laws.
An Irish women's player who was on the field
owns this Cocker Spaniel, according to Newsweek magazine.
When she practices with her family at home,
the dog reportedly plays with them.
So when the animal saw her owner playing in a game, well--.
[rapping] So the dog plays cricket,
when she told to go and sick it, did she kick it,
did she flick it?
No she saw the ball and picked it,
then she ran away so quick it caused an interrupted wicket,
protesters can go and pick it unless the dog had a ticket.
Well, it's almost time for us to scoot on out of here
but before we do, we want to give a shout out
to Seaforth High School, our viewers watching
in Pittsboro North Carolina.
Subscribing and commenting on our YouTube channel
is the only way to get a mention of your school.
I'm Carl Azuz for CNN.
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