(upbeat music) - Coming up next on NewsDepth, we take a tropical trip to see how tourism transforms Thailand.

Plus Qatar Airlines is turning passenger planes into cargo carriers.

President Biden makes his first big address to Congress.

We've got details.

And what does the census count mean for the importance of our state?

NewsDepth is now.

(upbeat music) 100 days done but plenty more to go.

Hello everybody, I'm Rick Jackson.

Thank you for joining us.

President Joe Biden has passed the 100 day mark in office.

Since the time of Franklin Roosevelt, presidents have been judged on what they can accomplish in that period.

By the numbers, Biden's been up to a lot.

11 new laws passed, 42 executive orders issued, 11 federal judge nominations.

These numbers all coming from our friends at NPR but unlike for every president in the past, there is another set of stats that Biden's being judged on.

COVID cases and vaccinations.

When Joe Biden took his oath of office January 20th there were 188,353 new COVID cases that day.

That's according to the centers for disease control and prevention.

On day 100, April 29th, there were 60,405 new cases.

And as of our recording this show today the CDC reports about 246 million shots that have now been administered.

On his 99th day, Biden gave his first joint address to Congress to talk about everything from the pandemic to jobs, to the economy.

Isabel Rosatto's has the scoop on that big speech.

- [Isabel] After decades sitting in the audience, - Madam speaker.

The president of the United States.

- [Isabel] President Joe Biden delivers his first speech as president to a joint session of Congress.

- I can report to the nation.

America is on the move again.

- [Isabel] Highlighting promises kept in the battle against COVID.

- We will have provided over 220 million COVID shots in those hundred days.

(audience applauding) - [Isabel] While looking to the battles ahead.

- We're in competition with China and other countries to win the 21st century.

We're at a great inflection point in history.

- [Isabel] The President pushing for passage of his American jobs plan, a massive infrastructure bill aimed at getting Americans back to work.

- There is simply no reason why the blades for wind turbines can't be built in Pittsburgh instead of Beijing.

- [Isabel] The speech delivered under heightened security due to lingering concerns after the Capitol attack that threatened the democratic process.

- Congress should pass it.

HR one and the John Lewis voting rights act can send it to my desk right away.

- [Isabel] Republicans responding.

- Our best future will not come from Washington schemes or socialist dreams.

- [Isabel] In his official rebuttal, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, focusing on advancements made in the previous administration.

- Just before COVID, we had the most inclusive economy in my lifetime.

- Thank you, Isabel.

Okay, so we talked a lot at the top of the show about numbers, right?

But we can't not mention that after several months of delays, the census count has finally been announced.

What's the census?

Well, I don't wanna steal Nick Castell's thunder.

He's got a great explainer on it in this week's politics on point.

I'll leave it to him.

Then, we'll chat about the new totals.

Nick?

- How many people are in your family?

(bell dinging) Well, that's pretty easy to count, right?

What about in your neighborhood?

That's a little bit harder.

What's the population of your city, town or state?

I certainly couldn't tell you that number off the top of my head.

And how many people are in the entire country?

That's practically impossible without a little bit of help.

(upbeat music) Thankfully, every 10 years we get that help through something called the census.

A census is the government's official count of how many people are living in the country.

Our census began way back with the founding of the country.

It's written right into the U.S. constitution.

Why?

Well, the founding fathers wanted people to hold the political power.

They figured the best way to do that was by finding out how many people lived in each area of the country.

(light music) Then they could divvy up the power based on population.

Now, each state gets two senators, (bell dinging) but the number of representatives representing them in the house is determined by how many folks live there.

Because it's in the constitution, the government must conduct a census and it happens every 10 years.

No skipping out on this math assignment.

In 1790, then secretary of state and future president Thomas Jefferson oversaw the first census.

Federal law enforcement workers known as U.S. marshals traveled to the first 13 States, plus soon to be States and visited each and every household.

They only had six questions.

The name of the white male in charge of the household, the names of everyone else, which were divided into free white males, at least 16 years old free white males under 16, free white females, all other free people, and enslaved people.

That total count, 3,929,214.

But keep in mind at the time enslaved people were only counted as three fifths of a person.

A lot has changed with the census.

And of course, with the country.

Obviously there are more people that count.

This includes in U.S. territories like Guam and American Samoa.

There are a couple more questions too and they are different from the original.

The 2020 census asked about each person's name, age, race, and sex.

There was some debate about whether to ask about a person's citizenship status, but that didn't make it onto the 2020 forum.

Plus, now folks can fill it out online, by phone, or by mail.

Still, census workers took to the streets knocking on doors to follow up with families who didn't fill out this short questionnaire.

Also remaining the same, the census is used to determine how many representatives each state gets.

It's a tricky equation, but it boils down to the more people in a state, the more representatives it gets in the House.

That's why Ohio has more representatives than Delaware.

Our population is just much bigger.

The census also helps the government decide how to spend federal money.

Workers wanna be as accurate as possible.

So the government will know what communities really need.

So it's up to you to make sure that you raise that hand and say, I count.

- Thanks Nick.

Okay, now you know the basics.

Drum roll, please.

(drum roll) There are 331.1 million people living in the United States.

In Ohio, we have 11.8 million residents.

That's about 300,000 more than the last census way back in 2010.

So our state really hasn't grown as fast as many others.

That means the number of people from Ohio and the house of representatives will decrease from 16 to 15.

And that's an important story we will be sure to follow.

For this week's poll, we want to take a mini census of our NewsDepth classrooms.

Head online to tell us what grade you're in.

No long wait.

We promise we'll report the census results next week.

More stats.

Sure, why not?

Numbers show more than 44% of Americans have now received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine with about 32% being fully vaccinated.

Again, according to numbers from the CDC.

With those numbers creeping up, top U.S. health officials have just announced more freedoms for folks who are fully protected.

Mandy Gaither has the latest there.

- [Mandy] With a rise in vaccinations and a fall in COVID case rates, the CDC released new guidance Tuesday on what fully vaccinated Americans can now safely do.

- There's increasing data that suggests that most of transmission is happening indoors rather than outdoors Less than 10% of documented transmission and many studies have occurred outdoors.

- [Mandy Top U.S. health Officials say there's increasing information suggesting the spread of COVID-19 is happening mostly indoors.

That's one of the reasons that fully vaccinated can now unmask when walking or exercising outside alone, or with household members when dining outdoors and at small outdoor gatherings with vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

- However, we continue to recommend masking in crowded outdoor settings and venues such as packed stadiums and concerts, where there is decreased ability to maintain physical distance and where many unvaccinated people may also be present.

- [Mandy] Meanwhile, fewer new people are getting their first COVID-19 shot than those finishing up their second, according to CDC data.

Officials hope loosening some of the guidelines will help encourage those who are vaccine hesitant.

- This is incentive to try and tell people okay, now that we know these vaccines can save your life, here's what you get to do with that life.

- [Mandy] And as more shots go into arms, Americans can expect even more updated guidance.

- Thank you, Mandy.

More freedom for the fully vaccinated.

That has me thinking about traveling again.

Maybe taking a summer vacation.

Travel means more than just new, fun experiences though.

Some countries rely on tourism to stay afloat.

Tourism is the industry of providing goods and services to people visiting from an area away from their hometown.

Usually for vacation, sometimes for business.

Thailand is one of those countries.

They need vacations to boost their economy.

So let's head on over.

(speaking in a foreign language) Welcome to the beautiful country of Thailand .

located in Southeast Asia.

Here, there's a tropical climate, a colorful Buddhist way of life and a diverse set of wildlife.

The country is a constitutional monarchy and Bangkok is its capital.

About half of the more than 69 million population live in rural areas where the main crop is rice.

Agriculture and tourism drive Thailand's economy.

So with the pandemic, putting a pause on travel the people here have been holding out hope that vaccines will bring back vacationers.

Thailand even approved a plan to allow vaccinated tourists to skip quarantine and get right to the beach.

Blake Essig tells us what's at stake if tourism doesn't start back soon.

(waves crashing) - [Blake] On Phuket, off the coast of Thailand, the waves peacefully lapping up the shore mask erase furiously underway.

- If we have a vaccine, that would be a very great news.

- We hold for vaccine.

If vaccine is okay, we hope this customer will come back.

- The vaccine is the best solution now.

- [Blake] Normally bustling this time of year, one of the world's great destinations been left fallow by the pandemic.

The sooner Phuket reaches herd immunity, the sooner it can welcome back those well-healed travelers from abroad.

- Around 85% of the population Phuket relies on tourism in some form or another, whether they're working in hotels or taxi drivers, fisherman, it's all connected to tourism.

- [Blake] For Vincent Gerards who runs the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary, the pandemic and the Thai government's strict quarantine rules have been an existential threat to business.

- We are a tourism company, so we're not a foundation.

So before COVID our main income stream would be visitors who come here and join our tourists.

More than 150 elephants living in Phuket have left the Island since the beginning of COVID-19, because the camps had to temporarily or permanently close.

- [Blake] Mandating quarantine for outsiders has helped Thailand control the spread of COVID-19.

Fewer than 100 people have died from coronavirus here.

Anthony Lark, the president of Phuket Hotels Association says the resulting drop in tourism has caused untold damage.

- We know that the virus is not what is destroying this industry.

It's the quarantine.

- [Blake] And the ripple effects go well beyond just this one island.

Since many tourism workers come from outside of Phuket and send their income back home to support their families.

After a year of struggle many here are pinning their hopes on a new government plan to allow inoculated foreigners to start returning to the island in July and skip the quarantine.

Lark says that the way out of this crisis is not with vaccinated tourists, but vaccinated locals.

- The fear factor here is quite high.

You know, there's a lot of people in Thailand that don't want foreigners coming in here with this, carrying the virus.

So the secret is to get the local community vaccinated to a level where we feel safe enough with the presence of antibodies in people's systems to welcome back tourists without that fear.

- [Blake] For a developing country like Thailand, getting vaccine doses has not been easy.

The country has received just over 1 million doses so far for a population of nearly 70 million.

With millions more doses on order, the government has said it will prioritize tourist dependent Phuket, year marking nearly a million doses for the island, hoping to speed up the path to herd immunity.

Gerard smiles at the thought of Phuket reaching that milestone.

- That's great to finally see that light at the end of the tunnel.

- [Blake] He looks forward to welcoming back the international tourists that support his 12 elephants along with many other businesses in the heart of Thailand's tourism industry.

- Thank you, Blake.

With fewer folks flying, airlines have had to get kind of creative to keep in business.

Qatar Airways in the Middle East found that replacing passengers with cargo has been just the ticket.

Cargo means goods that are transported over air or land or sea.

The company's pre-pandemic passenger planes are now being used to ferry medical supplies around the world.

Richard Quest got a special look at how it all works from Doha to your doorstep.

- [Richard] The cabin is full.

The hold loaded.

The only thing missing are the passengers.

And for Qatar Airways, this is part of the new normal.

- The story's fairly simple.

The world has stopped traveling in 2020, but the world has not stopped trading.

My name is Guillaume Halleux.

I'm the chief of cargo for Qatar Airways.

When the pandemic hit, clearly the business model that we were operating was no longer valid.

The business model of Qatar Airways was 60 cargo flights per day, and close to 600 passenger flights per day.

Those passenger flights almost disappeared almost overnight.

- [Richard] Empty departure lounges meant largely empty planes.

For all the airlines, this has been the worst crisis in history.

Qatar Airways is trying to make the best of a very difficult job.

And the crisis became an opportunity for cargo.

- [Guillaume] Hi, guys.

- [Richard] Rather than ground its entire fleet of passenger jets, Qatar kept them flying.

For instance, from April last year, it flew between Doha and Australia with only freight on board.

- Before COVID, 66% of the world's cargo was traveling on passenger flights.

You might not see it, but when you travel as a passenger and you look through the window, you see those containers being loaded.

You believe those are your luggage.

Most of them are actually cargo.

- [Richard] The planes were carrying everything from medical supplies and PPE to food and fresh produce.

These cargo flights kept products moving even when people couldn't.

And as the pandemic persisted, the airline took things further.

It converted its passenger planes to cargo carriers.

- So we call them mini freighters.

As you can see, mini freighter a passenger airplane.

From the outside it's very easy to notice.

Passenger planes have windows, cargo flights have no windows.

And so we have removed the seats.

In our industry, everything is extremely regulated and you cannot just decide to remove the seat and fly.

For example, we had to remove the oxygen bottles and the masks because there's no passengers on board.

We had to put the cabin crew on board because what if there is a fire?

- [Richard] Filling planes with people is tricky enough.

When you want to fill those same cabins with freight.

it's an entirely different jigsaw puzzle.

- The devil hides in the details.

In order to maximize and optimally load that main deck here, these are the racks where the seats used to be attached to, right?

So this is part of the structure of the aircraft.

We have to use that where it is, we can't change it.

So if you start from here and you go here that's your central section.

A job well done by the cargo team is to identify shipments with dimensions that are compatible with the space available here.

And so look at that one, two, three four matching almost perfectly the width that is available.

- [Richard] For the airline's chief executive, the experiment has paid dividends in very difficult times.

Akbar Al Bakker told me Qatar Airways is now the world's number one carrier for cargo.

- Actually it has been extremely significant because we have nearly doubled the capacity that we were carrying before the pandemic.

We converted most of our passenger aircraft that was completely grounded in the onset of the pandemic to utilize those airplanes, to carry cargo.

- Do you think this will remain, this cargo?

Or, will you fall back, do you think?

- No, I think that we will start converting the airplanes back from cargo to passengers because once the growth starts, we will need the passenger aircraft.

- [Richard] Soon enough, these planes will revert to once again being filled with passengers, rather than pallets.

The lessons learned will last well beyond the pandemic.

- Thanks Richard.

Now we want that story to inspire your answers to our writing question.

Here's what we wanna know.

If you took the passengers out what would you turn a school bus into?

Last week we also asked you about school buses in our poll.

We wanted to know then how you'd feel about a self driving school bus.

Turns out, 49% of you said you're all for it.

Last week, we also asked you to tell us about the teacher and other school employees who've made a difference in your life.

Let's see what you had to say by opening up our inbox.

Ana from Tallmadge middle school in Tallmadge wrote, "a school employee who has made "a difference in my life is one of my favorite teachers, "Mrs. Bishop.

"Mrs. Bishop has always been kind to me.

"At lunch, she always talks to me "because I don't sit around any of my friends, "so she keeps me company.

"Also, one time when we were doing a science reading assignment, "I didn't have a partner.

"So, Mrs. Bishop came over and read with me.

"She taught me to never leave someone out "and to always be kind to people.

"That is how Mrs. Bishop has influenced me and my life."

Leo from Woodland elementary in Liberty wrote, "The janitor has made a difference "at our school because she keeps our school clean.

"If it weren't for the janitor, "our school would be a filthy mess.

"The janitor also has to work so hard just for us kids "and I think that's very thoughtful.

"That is why I think the janitor has made a huge difference "in our school."

Here's one from Aliya at Sandusky intermediate in Sandusky.

"My teacher, Mr. Stang.

"He taught me a lot and helped me with math.

"He's really great at explaining things "and has a lot of ways to make learning fun."

Hollis from Woodland elementary in Perrysberg wrote, "The school employee that changed my life "is Mrs. Watson.

"She is a recess monitor that helped me "out my whole elementary from first grade to fourth grade.

"She helped me when I fell down, "when I was having a bad day "and whenever I needed something.

"Fun fact, "she's also a veteran."

Finally, a letter from Devyn from Central intermediate in Wadsworth.

"My math teacher Mrs. Sheean.

"I picked her because when she saw me struggling in math, "she did not sit back and say, "ha, I figure it out yourself.

"No, she stepped up to the plate and made sure "I had the tools that I needed.

"She made sure that if I did not understand the lesson, "she would explain it to me a little slower.

"It makes me feel like I can do it.

"And that I finally figure it out.

"I am forever grateful for all the things she has done.

"She takes all my worries by telling us funny stories.

"It makes me forget about my worries."

Great letters everybody.

And good job teachers.

And did you know that this is teacher appreciation week?

We certainly want to say thanks to all the teachers who make NewsDepth a part of their classroom every week.

You're all stars in our eyes.

Back to the news now.

Football fans know that downtown Cleveland just hosted a big event.

The national football league draft happened just actually around the corner from our NewsDepth studios here.

Tons of fans showed up to the event, despite soggy weather.

They were excited to see who their team would choose for their roster.

One football player we're excited about, Becca Cook.

Haven't heard of her?

Well, she's not playing with the pros.

Not yet anyway.

When the California teams signed up to play varsity football at her high school, she didn't know it would break records and inspire others.

For her, it was just having some fun.

Leah Pezetti talked to the defensive line player about the impact she's made in just a short time.

- [Leah] Becca Cook is tough.

- I mean, it's pretty physical.

- [Leah] So tough that these bruises are the norm.

She's covered in them.

Her legs, her arms, but she wears them almost like a badge of honor.

- I'm a defensive lineman.

- [Leah] This defensive lineman is the first woman to play it down on the varsity football team at Scripps ranch high school.

- When I come back, everyone's like, you just made history.

I was like, okay.

- [Leah] She's the only female on the team right now.

Something she didn't put too much thought into when she joined.

- I just wanted to play football.

I had no idea the impact it would have on other women.

- [Leah] Since then, other students and moms constantly tell her they look up to her.

- They're just like, "oh I'm just a fan.

"You've inspired me.

"It's so awesome to see you out here doing this "and just representing us."

- [Leah] She admits it's hard, but that hasn't stopped her.

- I am smaller.

These players are bigger, stronger, faster and I have to work 10 times harder to get to the baseline of their strength.

- [Leah] This is her first year on varsity but her last year of high school and Friday night's game is the last of the season.

So, it's her final time playing a game of football.

- I know there's gonna be a lot of tears from a lot of the guys out there.

I don't know if I'll cry.

- [Leah] She's on to college next, to hanging up her helmet with a goal of becoming a trauma surgeon.

But this experience making history is a time she'll always carry with her.

- If you really wanna do something in life, just go for it.

Because if you think about it later on in the future you're always gonna regret, oh, I never did this.

- Thanks Leah.

Now another amazing student is our A-plus recipient.

Fourth grader, Elizabeth Falcon from Lakewood.

Her school, the Lakewood Catholic Academy has a social justice project every year.

This year's project focused on water access for people across the world.

In class, Elizabeth learned about water pollution and how it affects our lakes and rivers and oceans through a partnership with local organization Drink Local Drink Tap, Elizabeth and her classmates learned that some people in Uganda, which is on the African continent and some other parts of the world have to walk up to four miles a day just to get drinking water.

"I think people have a right to clean drinking water.

"And at the end of the year "my class is going to walk four miles at Lakewood park "so we know what it's like to walk that far."

Elizabeth shared that with us and then said, "We need to do what we can to stop pollution "and make sure people can get water."

Elizabeth decided that she wanted to make a difference and started cleaning up litter in her community.

She's also trying to encourage people to stop using single use water bottles which create a lot of pollution.

"I learned that for $30 a person "in Uganda can have clean water for a lifetime" she shared.

This motivated Elizabeth to raise close to $400 and donate to Drink Local Drink Tap to help build wells in Africa.

And Elizabeth plans to continue her work and wants to teach people to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

She even plans to donate her allowance to help build water sources in Africa.

So this week's NewsDepth A-plus award goes to Elizabeth Falcone for helping people in Africa get access to clean water.

Keep up that great work.

Now, should we see if Newscat's been up to any great work?

It's time for petting zoo.

(light music) (cat meowing) Going old school, listening to the latest on the radio Newscat?

And she's off.

What, is it me?

Or does she seem faster?

A-ha, she found an Alaska farm enjoying baby reindeer season.

Now, that's just too cute.

To see some of the newbies with tiny little hooves, click the petting zoo button on our website.

(light music) And thank you, Newscat.

Before I sign off, a reminder that our end of season audience survey is on the NewsDepth website.

Teachers, we'd love for you to fill it out.

Your input is what helps us make NewsDepth better each and every year.

And as a thank you, as a reminder, we'll be choosing a couple of classes for a virtual or maybe even an in-person visit next season.

Oh, and if you're not a teacher, we've still got some questions on that survey for you too.

So go ahead and take a look.

That's gonna do it for us, but of course we do still wanna hear from you.

And there are plenty of ways to stay in touch with us.

You can write to us.

We're at 1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

Our zip code, four four one one five.

You can email us atnewsdepth@ideastream.org, or you can tweet us.

Our handle is at NewsDepthOhio.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Rick Jackson.

We will see you right back here next week.

(upbeat music) - [Child] NewsDepth is made possible by a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings foundation.

(upbeat music)