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Saying that "I had been drinking," former NBA player Dennis Rodman has had his publicist issue an apology for the obscenity-laced rant he went on earlier this week during an interview on CNN.

In that combative exchange with the news network's Chris Cuomo, Rodman implied that American citizen Kenneth Bae, who is imprisoned in North Korea, did something to deserve his punishment. Rodman is in North Korea with a group of other former NBA players.

Now, Rodman's publicist has sent a statement to The Associated Press and other news outlets. In it, Rodman is quoted as saying:

"I want to first apologize to Kenneth Bae's family. ...

"Some of my teammates were leaving because of pressure from their families and business associates. My dreams of basketball diplomacy was quickly falling apart. I had been drinking. It's not an excuse but by the time the interview happened I was upset. I was overwhelmed. It's not an excuse, it's just the truth. ...

"At this point, I should know better than to make political statements. I'm truly sorry."

To many Chinese, the place is a rust belt.

But to the few North Koreans lucky enough to make it, a visit there can be a mind-expanding experience.

One 58-year-old woman who came to visit her relatives says that on her first visit to China, the affluence and abundance she saw dazzled her. She and the other North Koreans NPR interviewed requested anonymity so as to avoid severe punishment back home.

"What I found here was unimaginable. So much food here is wasted. The roads, the cars, the electricity. It's always bright, whether it's night or day. I wondered, where is all this electricity produced? In North Korea, it's very dark at night, you can't do anything and it's very lonely," she says. "Even If you tell people, it sounds like a dream. They won't listen to you, or they'll wonder if you're telling the truth."

But in North Korea, she says, it's dangerous to talk too much about her experiences in China.

So when she returns home, she says she takes the amazement and envy she felt and hides them in her heart.

A Signal To China

On Monday, citizens in Pyongyang marched through the streets, pledging support for policies outlined by Kim Jong Un in a New Year's address.

In the speech, Kim said that the purge of his uncle had strengthened the unity of the ruling Worker's Party.

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You never know where you might find a volunteer with a clipboard looking for signatures trying to get a voter referendum on the local ballot – like Ed Flanagan in the town of North Pole, Ala.

"I'm out in what's called the North Pole transfer station. This facility has about 50 metal dumpsters arranged in a fenced area. Folks back up and throw their household trash in there. This is a very busy place," he says.

There's no residential trash pick-up there so people have to haul their own. So for Flanagan, it's a great place to do some politicking for the minimum-wage hike that his group hopes to get on the August primary ballot.

Democrats in Congress are pushing to increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour and tie further increases to the cost of living. But there are also ongoing efforts to boost the minimum wage in more than a dozen cities and states, like Alaska.

Activists around the country say it's an issue whose moment has arrived in all states — Democratic or Republican.

Thousands of miles away at an office in Massachusetts, Lew Finfer is with a coalition looking to get a minimum wage hike on the November ballot.

"Something like 700,000 people in Massachusetts who earn between $8 and $10.50 would get a raise, and there would be a billion dollars that would go back into the economy because people would spend it locally," Finfer says.

One of those Massachusetts workers who would benefit is 41-year-old Patty Federico. She makes $9.10 per hour at a movie theater, and she says they won't put her on full-time work.

"Right now with the money that I'm making, it just is a nightmare," she says. "It's not paying the bills. So I am desperately looking for a full-time job."

More On Minimum Wage

Planet Money

Here's Who Earns The Minimum Wage, In 3 Graphs

Central African Republic's interim president resigned Friday under pressure from fellow leaders at a regional summit to end the violence in his country.

Michel Djotodia and Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye resigned at the regional meeting in Chad.

Djotodia, a Muslim, took power in a coup last year, almost immediately plunging his landlocked, predominantly Christian country into violence. The U.N. voted last month to send French and African Union troops in an attempt to restore stability. As Hannah McNeish reported on All Things Considered at the time:

"Brutal sectarian violence has engulfed the mostly Christian country since March, when the first Muslim leader assumed power after a coup.

"Armed gangs of Muslim extremists joined by mercenaries from neighboring countries now control most of the country. Armed Christian forces are fighting back. Slaughter, rape and torture are widely reported."

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