Trouble Scoring a Restaurant Reservation? Blame the Apps.

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Alex Ossola (0:34)

Seven months into the US fuel blockade, everyday Cubans are struggling to meet their basic needs without power.

José de Córdoba (0:41)

All the people that I talk to make a note of saying, it's really difficult to sleep, I haven't slept, it's a zombie nation.

Alex Ossola (0:49)

Plus, the AI safety pitch that a Google scientist was making before a management shakeup. And, can't get a dinner reservation at a buzzy restaurant for a time when people actually eat? Blame the apps. It's Thursday, August 13th. I'm Alex Ossola for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

We begin tonight's show with an exclusive. The US is preparing to send the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln. Officials familiar with the matter say it's part of a previously scheduled rotation plan. But the Lincoln has been under particular scrutiny because it's had such a long deployment. It's been deployed for 250 days and hasn't made a port call in 200 That's caused lawmakers to press the Pentagon for more information about the living conditions and reports of mental health issues for sailors aboard the carrier during the Iran War.

A Navy official said the military is not experiencing an uptick in mental health issues aboard the Lincoln and that the Navy takes every service member's well-being seriously.

Also today, a federal judge dismissed the government's lawsuit alleging antisemitism at Harvard University, saying there isn't sufficient evidence of ongoing institutionalized discrimination there. Harvard has said it's taken steps to address antisemitism on campus. Neither the school nor the White House responded to requests for comment.

And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffreys has signaled that Democrats would look to overhaul the Supreme Court if they regained control of Congress, as they hope to do this fall. Here he is speaking today at the National Association of Black Journalist Convention in Atlanta.

SPEAKER_4 (2:32)

There's a variety of different options that are on the table, and I think that we can't foreclose any single one of them. The Supreme Court, the conservative right-wing majority on the Supreme Court has become, you know, basically a subsidiary of the MAGA Republican Party.

Alex Ossola (2:50)

Even if Democrats do take control of the House and Senate in the midterms, passing any court-related legislation would require hitting a 60-vote threshold in the Senate, unless Democrats end or change the filibuster rule. And even if a measure does pass, Trump could veto it.

Cuba has been dealing with a US blockade of its oil since January. In those seven months, its economy has more or less ground to a halt. Residents frequently go without electricity and there's practically no fuel for cars. Journal reporter José de Córdoba recently spoke with a number of residents on the island and joins me now. José, let's start with the basic human needs. Food, water, sleep. How are people doing with all of these things?

José de Córdoba (3:34)

All the people that I talk to make a note of saying, you know, it's really difficult to sleep, I haven't slept. It's a zombie nation. They all say that. The reason being that there are energy blackouts that go 20 hours a day, but some of the times it stays at a time.

So you don't have air conditioning, you don't have electricity for fans, and the heat becomes unbearable. The lack of electricity also makes getting water for a lot of people very difficult because that depends on pumps that are powered by electricity. There appears to be food, but it's very expensive. Getting the money to pay for it is very, very hard.

Alex Ossola (4:19)

Well, what about people who need medical care? In your story, you highlighted a woman named Edis Moreno. What's the situation she's in?

José de Córdoba (4:26)

Edis is an actress in Camaway and she is having her second child any day now in terms of going to the hospital to give birth. Because there are no medicines in Cuba, people get by hook or by crook. They ask their relatives, they go into the black market. They do everything to try to get every kind of medicine that they will need before they go to a hospital.