Tom: Hey everyone, hope you enjoyed your first day of spring yesterday.It is Monday, March 21. I am Tom Hanson, and Channel One News starts right now.
Let's jump right into what is making news out there, and first up, President Obama is on a historic trip to Cuba. He is the first sitting U.S. president to visit the island nation in nearly 90 years. During his two-day trip, he is set to meet with the Cuban president and is expected to press for more changes.
President Obama brought along the entire family to Cuba. It is a big step as the U.S. looks to normalize relations with a country we barely spoke to for decades. The president will give a speech to the Cuban people on a live, televised address.
For weeks work crews have been preparing for his arrival, restoring some roads and repaving others. Fresh coats of paint were applied to homes and businesses in the areas where the president will tour. This “welcome” sign was put outside a restaurant in old Havana.
Many Cubans are hopeful the visit will pave the way for more openness between the island nation and the U.S.
Lulu Pinieira: I think that we're going to have some changes, but it's going to be slowly.
Tom: The president is also expected to meet with people who speak out against the Communist Cuban government.And before he leaves, he will even squeeze in a baseball game, where the Tampa Bay Rays go up against the Cuban national team.
Moving on to a manhunt taking place across Europe, last November France suffered Europe's worst terror attack in 10 years. But over the weekend, police were able to capture a key suspect in the Paris attacks. They tracked him down and arrested him in the country of Belgium.
Saleh Abdeslam is believed to be the only direct participant in the November Paris attacks to still be alive. The four-month-long manhunt ended on Friday with a gun battle in Belgium. This is believed to be the moment that Saleh Abdeslam was caught, shot in the leg and dragged into a car. He was the most wanted man in Europe.
Authorities say he helped plan the November 13 Paris attacks and was in the city the night they went down. All the other attackers were shot dead or blew themselves up. The coordinated attacks that night at cafes, a sports stadium and a concert hall killed 130 people and wounded more than 400.
French President FrançoisHollande is seeking to have Abdeslam sent over to France to face justice. The lawyer ofAbdeslam is fighting that.
Sven Mary: Well,I can tell you that he's collaborating with the Belgian justice and that we will refuse the extradition to France.
Tom: As of now,Abdeslam is being charged with terrorist murder.
Next, we head to Russia, where investigators are trying to figure out what led to a devastating plane crash over the weekend that killed everyone on board. A Russian security camera captured the final moments of Flydubai Flight 981. All 62 people on board, including 55 passengers— 4 of them children — and 7 crew members, died in the violent crash.
Ghaith Al Ghaith: Everyone in our company is in deep shock.
Tom: While the impact pulverized the 5-year-old Boeing 737, investigators quickly recovered the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. Was it a pilot error, a technical failure or bad weather? Officials are hoping to solve that mystery.
The deadly crash happened about two hours after the flight from Dubai was scheduled to arrive in Rostov-on-Don,Russia, about 600 miles outside of Moscow. Based on flight data, it appears the plane made an unsuccessful attempt to land and then circled back for a considerable period of time before making a second attempt. The mayor of the region told Russian reporters the plane ended up about 800 feet short of the runway in bad weather that included rain and strong wind gusts.
All right, after the break: Do you think you get enough sleep? Well, experts say,“Probably not.”
Tom: All right,Arielle is here with a story I know we can all relate to.
Arielle: Definitely.Now, picture this: You are sitting in class, looking at the board and you can’t keep your eyes open. Well, the lack of sleep is real, and now scientists are looking at how that affects your day.
Seventeen-year-old Nora Siegler is getting wired up before she hits the sackso scientists can study the importance of getting enough shut-eye.
Dr. Rafael Pelayo: The biggest workout your heart gets every night is dreaming.
Arielle: At Stanford University's Center for Sleep Sciences, these high school students are getting a crash course on why bedtime is the most important part of their day.
NoraSiegler: People talk about how exhausted they are, how late they went to bed.
Arielle: Doctors say teenagers need 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night, but according to the National Sleep Foundation, 87 percent of high school students don't get that much, and that impairs their judgment and concentration and can cause anxiety, depression and even thoughts of suicide. The American Academy of Pediatrics calls the problem of tired teens an epidemic.
Pelayo: If we had told you that teenagers do not get enough food, we'd have telethons; it'd be national news. It’d be covered in the presidential campaign.
Arielle: Dr. Rafael Pelayo is a clinical professor at Stanford and a sleep researcher.
Pelayo: How many of you wake up tired?
Arielle: There is a required amount of sleep needed every day. Just because you can function on as little as five hours doesn't mean you should.
Pelayo: Just because you can get by does not mean you're at your best. You could put low-octane gas into your sports car — the car still functions, but it's not performing at its full potential.
Arielle: Research has found that when teens become teenagers, their circadian rhythm —or internal biological clock — shifts to a later time, which makes them more likely to fall asleep about two hours later than they used to. But waking up early to get to school on time cuts off their deepest and most productive hours of sleep.
Pelayo: How many of you have skipped sleep to do homework?
Arielle: Some schools are now starting their classes later to go along with the new biological shift. That is because research says sleeping in helps boost students' academic performance and mood. One school in Illinois is considering starting classes as late as 9:30 a.m.
Jennifer Smith: As a committee, we have felt the driving force for why we are doing what we are doing is ultimately for the physiological, psychological and overall health of our children.
Arielle: But for students with an early start like Nora, the lost sleep can directly affecttheir success in the classroom.
Nora: I think the biggest takeaway from the lecture was how vital sleep is for memory retention and consolidation of memory, which is really important as a student because we're constantly trying to cram information. And we think that staying up later and later is the way to do it.
Arielle: At her high school in Menlo Park, students from Stanford are training teens like Nora to become "sleep ambassadors,"hoping they will give their fellow students a wake-up call on the importance of falling asleep.
Arielle Hixson, Channel One News.
Tom: So do you get enough sleep? I bet not, but you can find out by taking our quizover at ChannelOne.com.
All right, after the break: Do you ever struggle with what to wear in a job interview? Well,one school in Oklahoma is taking care of that problem for its students. We will explain.
Tom:So being a college student can get pretty expensive when you add up the books and the tuition and the housing.
Azia: Yeah,Tom, and on top of all of that, job hunting can add to the stress, so this university in Claremore, Oklahoma, is stepping in. Take a look.
Teran Houston: That is so nice. Looks like it's only been worn like twice.
Azia: Sophomore Teran Houstonis doing some shopping. So far, he likes what he sees.
Teran: I mean, now that I'm in here, it's actually really impressive.
Azia: Teran needs to suit up for some job interviews, so he stopped by Rogers State University's new Career Closet.
Teran: I am trying to look for a new job this summer, you know, possibly an internship, and I mean, I only have one suit, and I don't want to wear that same suit over and over again. And I don't even know if my pants still fit.
Azia: According to a report by College Board, college tuition, fees and housing at a public, state university cost over $19,000 a year. For a private university, that price tag jumps to over $43,000 a year, which doesn't leave a lot of dough for professional work clothes and can be pretty pricey for college students who are on tight budgets.
Calli Knight, coordinator of Career Services, explains that many RSU students are the first in their families to attend college, so they might not have access to a business wardrobe.
Calli Knight: They just don't have the attire for professional dress for interviewing, for starting their first job, and so it was an idea to start a Career Closet for us, but it was one of those things that was on the back burner.
Azia: That is, until a local woman donated 50 business suits and outfits, many of them brand new.
Knight: We have this suit, has the original tag on it — almost $200.
Azia: Any RSU student can come in and choose an outfit to take home. If they don't need to keep it, they can have it dry-cleaned and return it for the next student.
Teran: For anyone that's been to college, you understand how hard it is, and I mean, it's just, it takes something that's stressful off your shoulders, you know?
Azia: AziaCelestino, Channel One News.
Tom: Very cool.All right,well, that buttons up our show. We are all out of time, but we will see you right back here tomorrow.
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