What's up, sunshine? This is CNN 10 and
today we have fire season rewriting
record books. Why America just hit the
brakes on foreign made robots and a
cyclist taking the ultimate NFL road
trip with nothing but two wheels and a
whole lot of grit. I'm Koiwire and we
begin today with the Pacific Northwest
where destructive wildfires are wreaking
havoc across Washington and Oregon as
the states endure their worst fire
season in more than 30 years. In
Washington's Spokane County, a trio of
fires has consumed more than 10,000
acres so far with 0% containment since
they started over the weekend. The fires
have forced the evacuation of nearly
65,000 in Spokane area alone and more
than 700 structures have been destroyed.
>> This all happened in a matter of hours.
In other words, individuals woke up in
their homes Saturday morning. In a
matter of hours, their homes and
neighborhoods were just wiped out that
there this happened very very quickly.
>> No injuries or deaths have been
confirmed as of this taping, but
officials said that the scale of the
fires means it will take time to fully
evaluate. Law enforcement says a man has
been arrested on an arson charge in
connection with one of those and fire
officials are still investigating the
cause of the other blazes. The Pacific
Northwest isn't the only region feeling
the impact from wildfires. More than
27,000 firefighters across the country
are battling at least 100 uncontained
fires as of this taping. And that was
just this week alone. Wildfires have
scorched at least 5.3 million acres
across the country so far this year,
already surpassing last year's total for
the entire year. We've shown you videos
of robot dogs, humanoid robots. Well,
now importing those will be banned in
the US. The US Federal Communications
Commissions or FCC says that importing
advanced robotics from certain foreign
countries poses an unacceptable risk to
the national security of the United
States. Our Mike Valerio will tell us
more.
>> You want to bring a robot like this from
China into the United States? Well,
forget it. New foreign robots are now
banned. The Federal Communications
Commission in Washington just ruled
advanced robotic devices produced in
foreign countries quote pose an
unacceptable risk to the national
security of the United States. The ban
only applies to new imports, not any
devices already stateside. This comes
after robots from Chinese companies like
Unitry have wowed millions on social
media, becoming more familiar to
Americans and even taking the stage on
America's Got Talent. So the US
government now says that relying on
foreign produced advanced robotic
devices presents unacceptable supply
chain and cyber security
vulnerabilities. goes on to say,
"Advanced robotic devices collect data
that could be leveraged by malign actors
to surveil Americans, enhance the
capabilities of foreign intelligence
services, or to remotely commandeer the
robots. 90% of the world's humanoid
robots are made in China with more than
140 companies competing in a crowded and
quickly expanding market. Robotics
companies and China's Ministry of
Commerce for now are not publicly
reacting. The move is another potential
point of friction as the US and China
try to stabilize ties. The FCC says it's
possible to avoid the ban if a company
applies for an exception, proving the
product does not pose a risk and that
signed off by the Pentagon. This imports
ban mirrors other US prohibitions of
Chinese tech like communications
equipment from Huawei and Chinese EVs
kept out of the US market. Now to a
story about the impact that space junk
is having on the moon. And by impact, I
mean literally. A piece of SpaceX Falcon
9 rocket slammed into the moon earlier
this week at nearly seven times the
speed of sound. The rocket launched
about 18 months ago, and its upper stage
was intentionally left drifting through
space after completing its mission.
Normally, leftover rocket parts
eventually fall back to Earth and burn
up as they enter our atmosphere. Not
this one. Officials say it blasted a
crater roughly the size of a Major
League Baseball infield. No one could
actually see it happen with the naked
eye. Instead, astronomers used a special
telescope to see glowing plumes of
lithium and sodium gas being kicked into
space, almost like the moon briefly left
behind its own cosmic fingerprint.
Pop quiz hot shot. Which US state is
home to the only native population of
Venus fly traps? Florida, Hawaii, North
Carolina, or California?
If you said North Carolina, you so fly.
Venus fly traps only thrive in bogs and
wetlands. In the wild, nearly all of
them grow within a tight 70 to 100 mile
radius around Wilmington, North
Carolina. More than 150 years after
evolutionary scientist Charles Darwin
made a bold prediction, science just
proved him right. Darwin believed
certain carnivorous plants like Venus
fly traps didn't just trap insects, they
actually digested them. Back then, he
didn't have the technology to prove it.
Now, scientists in China use modern
genetic and chemical testing on a plant
called the saxophraga and confirmed that
those sticky little plants really do
absorb nutrients like nitrogen from the
bugs they catch. Darwin also believed
carnivorous plants evolved because they
grew in nutrient poor soil. Turns out he
nailed that, too. Carnivorous plants
still get most of their energy via
photosynthesis. Just like other plants,
NFL players spend months preparing for a
season, right? Well, one fan is spending
10,000 miles getting ready for week one.
22-year-old ultra endurance cyclist Bond
Almond is currently on a 10,000mi quest
to visit all 30 stadiums by bike ahead
of the league's kickoff in Seattle next
month. That's roughly the distance from
New York to Tokyo and halfway back. One
of our fearless CNN 10 teammates,
Brendan, caught up with Bond outside of
Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium to hear
how the trip is going and see what
motivates him to push himself to the
limit in pursuit of greatness.
>> Most mornings when I wake up, I do not
want to get on the bike. I'll be honest.
And after a couple hours of riding, I've
warmed up. I feel good and I'm loving
it. The bike can take me anywhere. It's
It's a great way to see the world. This
is Bond Almond, a one-of-a-kind ultra
endurance cyclist who's taking his sport
to the next level, one pedal at a time.
At just 22 years old, he already has
five world records. In 2024, he
shattered the record for fastest North
South Pan-American bike crossing,
completing all 14,000 m from Alaska to
Argentina in just 75 days. All of this
while balancing his studies at Dartmouth
College. Now, the recent grad is
spending his summer chasing a new goal,
crisscrossing the country on a quest to
visit all 30 NFL stadiums. The epic
Odyssey is the brainchild of Extreme
Networks, who pitched the idea to Bond
earlier this summer, and even he
couldn't believe it.
>> He originally came to me with idea, and
I was like, "That's a great idea, but
yeah, there's no way that ever happens."
And then he called me a week later and
was like, "Okay, we're all set." Bond
set out from Miami on July 7th, carrying
a special NFL game ball destined for the
league's kickoff game in Seattle on
September 9th. The scenic, and I mean
scenic, route is giving him a view of
the country that few people ever get to
see. But the trip is anything but a
leisure ride. Bond is averaging up to
200 m per day, sometimes climbing as
much as 20,000 ft. That's like summoning
Mount Kilimanjaro. And mileage like that
takes a physical and mental toll. the
cumulative fatigue every single day.
[music] Um, that stress in your body,
it's hard to understate. Obviously, I'm
one person, but there's like a side of
me that wants you to stop and rest.
Those two sides have to make peace.
[music]
>> His biggest challenge so far, not the
hills, the heat. Bond is losing gallons
of sweat every day, so he's found some
unique ways to stay hydrated.
>> I take a lot of table salt and just pour
it straight into my water bottle. You
can kind of see the salt on your skin.
That's all that sodium you're losing. My
favorite drink uh hack is um [music]
coffee creamer. If you get a bottle of
coffee creamer like this, has several
thousand calories in it.
>> From serene back roads to bustling city
centers, Bond is documenting the entire
trip on social media, hoping it'll help
raise awareness for other cyclists.
>> I've been hit by a couple cars before
and that really rattles me. It's always
in the back of the mind on the bike and
it's part of why um I love biking and
sharing my story is to kind of get
people more familiarized with biking.
And if a couple drivers can see my
videos and and be excited about biking,
maybe give the next biker [music] a
little bit more space when they pass,
um, then that's a huge win.
>> By the time Bond rolls into Lumen Field
on September 9th, he'll have clocked
more than 10,000 miles. About the same
amount most people put on their cars in
a given year. And on a trip this big,
sometimes the biggest challenge isn't
the terrain, it's staying motivated.
>> One thing that I've suffered with a bit
is burnout. I do love my bike and it
brings me a lot of joy, but there are
days when [music] it just doesn't. So
having that like higher purpose, like
what is the goal um of of riding? Why am
I doing this [music] is always
important.
>> His advice for the next generations of
endurance cyclists looking to make their
own marks.
>> Believe in yourself more than anything.
I was always told from a young age like
do whatever you love, follow your
dreams. I think that's 100% true, but
it's more complicated than that. I think
it's do what you love, but have
intention. Have some idea of where you
want it to take you.
>> For Bond, that somewhere is chasing the
horizon one mile at a time.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10.
Who let the dogs out? Dozens of
four-legged surfers took on some radical
waves in Northern California at the 10th
annual World Dog Surfing Championship
this week. Spectators flocked to the
beach and judges scored the pups on how
long they could stay on their board.
Wave size and confidence.
>> Surfing is amazing anyways, right?
Because you're you're communing with
nature. It's you've got the solitude,
you got the and then you got the
excitement and then you mix in your best
friend because then you're working
together as a team to accomplish
something.
>> The contest was cut short because of
some rough waves before the final surf
off, but that just means they're all
winners in our hearts. All right,
superstars. We're sending some love
today. First, we're going to Reach
Columbus in Indiana. Thank you for your
kind letters. We are so glad you spent
part of your summer with us. And this
next shout out goes to Coach Bradley at
White House Heritage High School in
Tennessee. Rise up. Thank you for
commenting and subscribing to our CNN 10
YouTube channel. Go out, make someone
smile, make someone laugh this weekend.
Remember, you are more powerful than you
know. I'm Ky Wire and we are CNN 10.