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Hello, hello, and welcome to the show.
Wonderful Wednesday to you. It is a your
word Wednesday. So, listen to see if the
vocabulary word one of you submitted
helped us write today's show. I'm Koi
Wire. This is CNN 10 and today is August
19th. So, let's start off with a on this
day in history, man's best friend helped
change the space race forever. On August
19th, 1960, two K9 cosminauts named
Belela and Stroka blasted off aboard the
Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 5, becoming
the first dogs to orbit Earth and make
it home alive. And they weren't flying
solo. Along for the ride, a rabbit,
rats, dozens of mice, and assorted
plants and fungi. Basically Noah's Ark
space edition. They orbited the Earth 17
times, spending more than a day in
space. The pups followed Leica, a Soviet
dog who became the first living creature
to be sent into space in 1957, but sadly
did not survive. Belela and Stroka,
Russian for squirrel and little arrow,
became instant folk heroes back home and
threw the US Soviet space race into
overdrive. Just nine months later,
Russia's Yuri Gagarin became the first
person in space. Less than a decade
later, in 1969, the US landed on the
moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission.
So before humans took one giant leap, a
couple of very good girls took some
pretty important first steps. Opening
arguments begin today in what could
become Meta's most consequential legal
battle yet over young people and social
media. Attorneys general have accused
the company behind Instagram and
Facebook of deliberately designing
features to keep children hooked while
misleading the public about potential
harms and improperly collecting some
children's data. Meta denies these
allegations, saying it is invested
heavily in protections for teens. Our
Claire Duffy has more on exactly what's
at stake and how this trial could
reshape the social landscape. Hi Claire.
>> Hey Coy. Yeah, we have been following
this year this string of thousands of
lawsuits that have been filed against
Meta and the other big social media
platforms, accusing them of creating
addictive platforms that have harmed the
mental health of young users. Meta has
already lost two of those cases this
year, putting it on the hook for nearly
a billion dollars in damages. But what
really sets this case that kicks off
this week apart is the scale of the
potential consequences for Meta. The
state attorneys general who have brought
this case are seeking as much as 1.4 4
trillion trillion with a t dollars in
damages. And even if they don't get that
big of a number, which is nearly as much
as Meta is worth on Wall Street, they're
also seeking changes to how Meta
operates its platform. So if Meta loses
this case, we could see really
significant changes to how all of us
experience social media. This trial that
kicked off in federal court in Oakland
is part of a case that was brought by 29
state attorneys general. It will be
argued by lawyers for four of those
states who claimed that Meta
intentionally designed its platforms to
be addictive with features like the
endlessly scrolling feeds and the
recommendation algorithms and that all
of that has contributed to a mental
health crisis among young people in
their states. They also claimed that
Meta misled the public about the risks
from its platforms and that it illegally
gathered data from children under the
age of 13. Now, Meta is pushing back
hard on these claims. In a statement, a
company spokesperson told us, quote,
"The AG's offer no proof that anyone in
their states was misled, claim benign
[snorts] features like having an
additional Instagram account somehow
harmed their residents, and attempt to
penalize Meta for industry-wide
challenges like age verification."
Rather than sticking to the facts or the
law, the states have instead decided to
chase an outlandish payout. Now, Koi, a
jury, will have the chance to consider
those arguments, and they will advise
the judge who will be responsible for
the ultimate verdict in this case. And
it's going to be a long one. It's
expected to last around 7 weeks. So, I
will be back with updates.
>> One of the biggest names in fast fashion
could soon go public with a surprising
price tag. Chinese e-commerce giant
Shien is gearing up for its long-awaited
initial public offering or IPO. When a
private company sells shares to the
public for the first time, for a
company, that can mean raising a
mountain of money to expand. And for
everyday investors, it means getting a
chance to own a tiny piece of the
business. Shien was valued at nearly 100
billion dollars just a few years ago.
Now it's pitching potential investors
with a valuation of just under 30
billion. Our Christy Lou Stout has more
on what's driving the e-commerce darling
steep drop in valuation. You've probably
seen she and Hall videos like this.
But how much is the company looking to
haul for its long awaited initial public
offering in Hong Kong? Reports say under
$30 billion. That's quite a drop in
valuation from its previous funding
rounds. Nearly $100 billion in 2022 and
$64 billion in 2023. So why has Shiin
lost its shine? Sheen tried New York and
London before finally getting approval
to list here in Hong Kong. It's
notorious for its cheap and trendy
clothes, mostly made by third-party
suppliers in China. It could turn out
thousands of new styles a day, which has
brought huge profit margins and rapid
growth. But it's been hit with higher
costs and slowing sales. Shien is also
facing a probe by the US Federal Trade
Commission that could result in
significant fines. Over the years, it's
faced scrutiny from Western lawmakers
over its business practices, including
accusations of using forced labor, which
Sheen denies. Also weighing on the
retailer, a new threeyear euro sales tax
on low-v value shipments to curb what
the EU calls unfair competition from
China.
Pop quiz hot shot. What is the record
for most moves ever played in a master
level chess game? 92, 143, 269, or 427?
If you said 269, you're no rookie. In
1989, Ivan Nicolich and Goran Arevich
battled for an astonishing 20 hours and
15 minutes in Belgrade. And after 269
moves, it ended in a draw. Chess is
making all the right moves. Under the
eegis of Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus
Carlson, widely considered the GOAT, and
a boost from online play, streaming, and
pop culture, the centuries old game is
enjoying a surge in popularity. Our
Matias Grez has more on this old school
game that's been thinking several moves
ahead.
>> How did a 1,500year-old
pastime end up in a tournament alongside
Fortnite and Call of Duty? It's fair to
say chess has experienced something of a
renaissance in recent years. In 2020,
Netflix series The Queen's Gambit became
a cultural phenomenon. In the first
three weeks following its October 2020
release, a US market research group said
sales of chess sets in the US jumped 87%
and sales of chess books jumped 603%.
The winner on Chess's esports World Cup
debut in 2025 was of course none other
than Magnus Carlson. The suave
Scandinavian is no doubt the best player
of his generation and for many he is the
chess goat. A chess prodigy who earned
the title of grandmaster at just the age
of 13, Carlson boasts a ridiculous list
of records. As well as the sport and its
stars blowing up over the last few
years, chess streamers on YouTube and
Twitch also experienced a huge surge in
popularity. But despite a female
protagonist in the Queen's Gambit,
played by Anna Taylor Joy, chess remains
a maledominated sport. According to the
International Chess Federation, just
16.5% of registered players are female.
Chess influencers and former players
Nemo and Anna Kramling are two of the
most high-profile women trying to change
that.
>> Unfortunately, there is a lot of
misogyny in chess. And as I got older,
it started to really hit me. Like the
fact that I am a woman means I am
sometimes treated differently. And
unfortunately, we've had a ton of
stories about women getting harassed at
chess events. And the whole backstory
for why women have women's only events
in the first place is so that we can
encourage more girls to play the game.
>> The trip to Paris was well worth
Carlson's time. He walks away from the
tournament with a check for $250,000.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. a
new tourist attraction. Put in the in
bird watching. Visit a big American city
and there's probably a tour for
everything. Food, history, architecture,
ghosts. But on your next trip to
Philadelphia, how about pigeons? Sure,
some people say they're just rats with
wings. But one Philly couple is trying
to give these birds a serious PR
makeover. And it all started when they
passed one on the street.
>> This bird seems sick or injured. I did
take her to a rehabilitator. She was
malnourished. I don't think she is gonna
survive on the streets of Philadelphia.
So, do you want a pet pigeon?
>> So, an impromptu rescue became a pet.
The pet became a passion. And the
passion has led to weekly Philly pigeon
tours, walking tours devoted entirely to
one of America's most overlooked urban
neighbors. Did you know humans once used
homing pigeons to carry messages like
sports results or that they can see
ultraviolet light? Or that the British
used pigeons during World War II to
carry intelligence in Nazi occupied
Europe? So, maybe it's time we stop
looking down on pigeons. Although,
considering where they usually sit,
they've been looking down on us the
whole time. All right, congratulations
to our your Word Wednesday winners, Mr.
Hardaway and all of our wild cats at
Cashian High School in Oklahoma who
submitted eegis, a noun meaning the
controller guidance, especially by an
individual group or system. Thank you
because under your eegis, we just got
smarter. Today, we're also giving a
shout out from the comment section of
our CNN 10 YouTube channel. Mr. Odardi
from Bondant Middle School in Frankfurt,
Kentucky. Thank you for starting off the
school year with us. Rise up everyone.
I'm Koi Wire. Go be a spark of joy today
and I'll see you right back here
tomorrow on CNN 10. [music]