[clock ticking]
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CARL AZUZ: Hi, I'm Carl Azuz.
Wednesday is officially the first day
of fall in the Northern Hemisphere,
and that's not the only fall we're
discussing on today's show.
More on that in about seven minutes.
We start, though, with a big meeting at the United Nations
headquarters in New York City.
The UN's 193 members are holding their General Assembly
this month it's the 76th time they've done that
and many of the delegates are back in person this time around
after a largely virtual summit last year
because of COVID concerns.
Recovering from the pandemic is a major theme in 2021.
The UN says responding to the planet's needs,
respecting people's rights, and revitalizing the UN or others.
The 2021 summit officially began last week,
but Tuesday was the opening of the general debate.
This is when representatives from each country
have the chance to take the stage
and talk about their nation's priorities plans
and problems in his first speech at the UN since taking office,
US President Joe Biden laid out his world vision.
The issues of COVID-19, climate change, and human rights
were key focuses of his speech.
JOE BIDEN: As a global community we're
challenged by urgent and looming crises
wherein lie enormous opportunities
if we can summon the will and resolve
to seize these opportunities.
CARL AZUZ: The diplomatic challenges
he faces include the troubled US withdrawal from Afghanistan
and a new agreement for the US to help Australia build
nuclear powered submarines.
As a result of that Australia, canceled a large order of
conventional subs from France.
That angered European officials.
And China spoke out against the deal
because it doesn't want increased military competition
in the Indo-Pacific region.
For members of the UN, there's a diplomatic tightrope to walk
at the General Assembly.
OMAR JIMENEZ: It's the United Nations, meeting place for most
of the world's countries from the most powerful
such as the United States, China, and Russia,
to the smallest and most vulnerable.
The UN has been involved in everything
from assisting refugees to negotiating
peace among nations.
Of all the languages in the world,
the UN uses six to communicate.
[foreign language] English, [foreign language]..
In some combination of those six,
the UN deliberates on global issues.
For judicial matters they look to the International
Court of Justice.
The Economic and Social Council, otherwise known as EcoSoc,
deals with you guessed it the world's economic, social,
and environmental issues.
The Trusteeship Council helps countries become
self-governed and independent, while the secretariat,
another part of the UN family, tackles
day to day issues that include keeping the press informed.
Where I'm standing is one of the more recognizable places in
the UN, the Security Council.
It determines threats to international peace
and works to solve those problems
right here in this chamber, a gift from Norway in 1952.
And on top of that this council selects the Secretary General,
who is then formally appointed by the General Assembly
the main representative body of the UN.
The GA as it's called meets from September
to December every year, but the world's problems don't
exactly follow the calendar.
The UN has to operate year round,
and one of the ways they're staying current
is through social media.
And you can follow the organization in any
of its official languages.
CARL AZUZ: 10 second trivia.
What contributes the most to US gross domestic product,
government spending, exports, business investment,
or consumer spending?
Consumer spending accounts for around 70% of America's GDP.
Consumer spending, the goods and services people buy.
That fluctuates throughout the year.
For instance, during back to school season in August
sales of books, instruments, and sports equipment usually
increase.
This year though with the ongoing effects
of the COVID pandemic production and consumer
spending on new cars have been hurt by the microchip
shortage we've reported on.
As coronavirus cases ramped up over the summer,
people spent less money in restaurants.
And restaurants and retail companies
are grappling with challenges of their own.
- This is Astro.
It works at Sergio's restaurant in Miami on its feet 12 hours
a day.
CARLOS GAZITUA: A lot of people thought it was a little crazy
to do, but our employees, once they
saw it and felt it after two hours,
they were like wait a minute.
We have something here.
- Astro assists human staff here,
and in five other locations.
The chain's CEO, Carlos Gazitua, hopes to have 12 soon.
Astro is not just a novelty, but a necessity,
as Gazitua struggles to staff up.
CARLOS GAZITUA: The robot was to prevent burnout.
Having robots be personal assistants to our employees,
not taking away jobs, but helping them
is the sweet spot for our industry in the future.
- That's because hiring in leisure and hospitality
was flat last month, after clawing back
from a record eight million jobs lost, with restaurants
and bars losing 42,000 jobs.
SEAN KENNEDY: The restaurant recovery
is now moving in reverse.
We still have 90,000 restaurants that are closed
permanently or long term.
We're about 1 million jobs below where we
should be before this pandemic.
- At Sergio's the summer brought in fresh help, students.
CARLOS GAZITUA: Those college students really helped us
during that transition period, but unfortunately those
students are gone already.
- Leaving restaurants like his facing
an intense labor shortage.
CARLOS GAZITUA: I think it's almost
like being stuck in the mud.
You take a step forward, and you want to move your other foot,
but it's very hard.
That's where we are right now.
- In retail, the industry is taking steps backwards.
About 1.3 million people quit retail jobs in just
June and July, and in August of the 28,000 lost retail jobs,
most of it happened here.
- Do you think, oh that makes sense.
That's me.
LOU SCADUTO JR: Yeah, that's what
we're dealing with exactly.
You're going to run into a hole on the shelf.
You're going to run into a longer
wait at the checkout or a longer wait at the deli counter.
Our overall businesses require about 800 team members.
We are right now around 680.
We have to shut our deli departments
down early because we just don't have enough labor to staff it.
- He's tried raising wages.
Has it worked?
LOU SCADUTO JR: Not great.
- And this month a new staffing challenge President Biden
announced businesses with more than 100 employees
would be required to mandate vaccines or weekly testing.
- When you hear that initially as a business owner,
what do you think?
LOU SCADUTO JR: You get scared.
You do.
Because if we have to go out and mandate
our team members to be vaccinated,
they might walk out the door.
And if they walk out the door, that's
going to make it that much more difficult for us
to continue to operate.
Vanessa Jurkovich, CNN Red Bank New Jersey.
[music playing]
CARL AZUZ: I don't need to be reporting with a dog
to have a blooper.
I can do that all by myself.
After three days in orbit, at an altitude of about what?
Popcorn, Oreos.
Shoot.
Let's try it again.
Corn dogs.
That's my favorite vegetable, corn dog.
And even if a reporter is kneeling doesn't mean he
or she can't fall.
Here's what this is all about.
- Talk about famous last words.
- And she's very well behaved.
- Well behaved, until Flash the trainee guide dog caused
BBC weather person Carol Kirkwood to face plant
live on the Breakfast Show.
- Oh God.
We've got we've got a Kirkwood down.
We've got a Kirkwood down.
- Kirkwood temporarily lost her earpiece, but not her dignity,
assuring the host she was all right.
- Yes, she's a very strong girl, Flash.
- And in a flash, Carol joins the ranks of TV types.
- Oh I ain't messing with you.
Oh no.
- In her acting, or trying not to interact, with animals.
- Get!
Frickin' raccoons Man.
- From spiders.
- Oh whoa.
- Oh my gosh.
That was creepy.
- To a camel.
- Other livestock owners.
Oh, get it out.
- I once found myself nearly disarmed by a hippo.
She seems to like to be mopped.
OK, just kidding.
Cradling, a chimp stuck in a pig pen as a cub reporter.
- Like my friend here.
- With a pig oinking at my feet.
Often, it's just an animal's killing
correspondence with affection.
- Ginger just loves people.
They need a wee bit training.
- Really, you think?
- Carol Kirkwood got compliments on her training.
Carol even manages to look graceful when falling down.
She literally fell head over heels for Flash.
CARL AZUZ: Who left in a flash like a heel
harnessing the moment to lead the reporter off camera?
It could have apologized at least before taking a walk
and causing her to roll over, but once she
was able to sit and stay on air, she
made a howling lead good recovery
that bowowed her audience.
That's terrible.
I'm Carl Azuz.
Homewood high school, want to give a shout out to you
folks in Homewood, Alabama.
How do we know about them?
Because they knew to subscribe and leave a comment
on our YouTube channel.
Have a great Wednesday everyone.
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