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what's up Superstars happy Friday let's
get our minds right make the most of
these moments and soak in some knowledge
and information remember what is within
influences what happens without I'm Coy
this is CNN 10 and we start by taking
you to experience the exclusive access
we gained on board one of the jewels of
the US Air Force fet the B-52 bomber CNN
was the first news organization to be
given access to a B-52 and its Command
Center we were on board as the B-52 flew
one of the longest military missions in
the world a 33-hour 13,000 mile Journey
from Louisiana to Japan and back Boeing
built the B-52 to carry bombs and it can
drop the widest array of weapons of any
jet in the Air Force including nuclear
weapons but on this flight the jet was
unarmed that's because the point of this
mission was deterrence to show other
nations both adversaries and allies
alike that the US is still the
preeminent Force dominating the skies
the military began using B-52s in
1955 and many of the planes still in
operation were built several decades ago
and as you'll see in this exclusive news
report these old planes can sometimes
show their age CNN's Orin liberman has
more
myar 11 Runway 33 wind
330 under the shroud of pre-dawn
Darkness flight myar 11 Roars out of
Louisiana's Barksdale Air Force
Base it's the start of one of the
longest military missions in the world a
non-stop 33-hour flight by this B-52
strategic bomber group to the other side
of the world flying near Russia China
North Korea and back as you can see it's
dark outside uh the cockpit has red
light once again for the night vision
here CNN is the first news crew ever
allowed on one of these extensive B-52
missions not only are we one of the most
visible and flexible legs of the nuclear
Triad we can have a B52 where you need
it when you need it within 48 Hours
these flights are intentionally
high-profile two years into the war in
Ukraine as Russia challenges the US and
NATO the Kremlin is meant to know about
our bomber flight so is China with
Beijing pressuring Taiwan Chinese Coast
Guard vessels harassing ships of the
Philippines a US Ally both the national
leadership of Russia and the national
leadership of China what do they react
to we see that they publicly comment
about our bomber Task Force missions
particularly when it involves others in
very joint and public ways T contact on
contact 5 hours into the flight we hit
our first of four aerial refuelings off
Alaska's Coast taking on as much gas as
we can keep a track of your own fuel
state I'd like for you guys to stay with
us all the way to Yan Papa after an hour
of formation flying during this refuel
we Arc out over the Pacific and towards
Japan it's important that we communicate
to our partners that we mean what we say
when we say that we're committed to our
alliances that's an example of what the
B-52 does we show up when we're asked
this 63-year-old Boeing B-52 Strat
Fortress decades older than its crew
shows its age but it Remains The Air
Force's primary bomber taking part in
every us War since Vietnam with planned
upgrades to its Antiquated systems it'll
see nearly a century of service this
year the US began producing its next
Generation B21 bomber China is close
behind promising their H20 strategic
stealth bomber will be unveiled soon 20
seconds to the turn 0 5 Z thank you on
board myar 11 we pass by Russia's East
Coast closer to meeting up with us and
Allied fighter jets our flight is
unarmed the mission is not to attack but
to prevent attack to deter but this is a
bomber of course if we were carrying
nuclear weapons the Air Force would
monitor the flight from The Joint
nuclear operations center back in
Louisiana seen here on news camera for
the first time it's a 24/7 operation
tracking all ballistic missile silos and
Airborne nuclear weapons you five five
all right you're jet it is a marathon of
marathons to put the B-52 and its crew
virtually anywhere in the world at this
point we've uh passed the halfway point
of the flight we've been in the air more
than 16 hours is the middle of the day
here in Japan where we're overflying at
the moment in route to the mission area
where we'll meet up with uh fighter from
several other countries here and carry
out an exercise here on the edge of the
East China Sea fighter jets from Japan
and South Korea take up formation off
our
Wings hours earlier during our flight
North Korea test fired a mid-range
ballistic missile a reminder of the
threats in the Pacific you want to be
seen by both allies and adversaries we
want to be seen by allies and
adversaries it is still a head turner
when you take it around the world it is
but it's China that the US is watching
most closely in October a Chinese
fighter jet intercepted a B-52 flying
over the South China Sea at night coming
within 10 ft of the bomber by number of
ships China has the world's largest navy
soon have the world's largest Air Force
according to the commander of us
indopacific command Beijing is rapidly
modernizing its military including its
strategic forces and they're not part of
any non-proliferation treaty obscuring
their nuclear assets after 19 hours of
flying and 14 more to go a warning light
signals trouble with one of the plane's
main engines the crew runs through the
checklists throttles number five five
confirmed they make the decision to shut
down the engine there is no Panic just a
management of risk nearing the 30-hour
mark of the flight we see our second
sunrise over Washington State's mount
rineer and although the crew is tired
they all know there's still a a critical
task ahead and that is getting the B2
back on the ground and that is one of
the most difficult parts of the mission
on Final Approach the B-52 which has
been in the air nearly 15 hours longer
than the longest commercial flight in
the world has one final surprise one
gear not down a firm right main gear is
not down let's go ahead K emergency
extended flight myar 111 touches down at
3: in the afternoon after 33 hours in
the air a that showed the abilities and
the age of a jet that remains critical
to the Air Force despite how many years
the B52 has been running she is a tough
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girl pop quiz Hot Shot which one of
these insects are among the loudest in
the world bees grasshoppers crickets or
cicas if you said cicas well done these
insects that can be as big as your thumb
are known to produce sound up to 100 DB
that's as loud as the revving engine of
a motorcycle from just a few feet away
or being next to a speaker at a
concert did you know that this spring a
phenomenon that happens only once every
221 years will occur that's right
billions of cicas are set to emerge it's
being called cic apocalypse why is this
event so rare well two different Broods
or groups of periodical cic which only
emerg every 13 or 17 years are set to
surface around the same time the noisy
insects will populate the Midwest and
southeast of the United States for about
six weeks starting sometime in miday and
even though the cicas will be loud and
maybe a little freaky looking they pose
no physical threat to humans or
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pets for today's story getting a 10 out
of 10 we have a nautical vessel that
takes the term houseboat to a whole new
level you are seeing a twostory home
floating across the San Francisco Bay it
was one of several dozen house boats
forced to pull up anchor and set sail
after a local marina where they were
docked lost a legal battle with the
state talk about peer pressure they
needed some Anchor management but turns
out it was just a fleeting moment the
house boat reportedly found a new
permanent port in salsao boy all right
mies let's spread some good vibes this
weekend I'll start by showing some love
to our Trojan friends over in Sparta
Missouri right on fight on Sparta Middle
School this is Sparta
and how about our huge shout out to our
Vikings at East Bridgewater Junior and
Senior High School in East Bridgewater
Massachusetts rise up don't
underestimate your power to make
someone's day this weekend remember you
are more powerful than you know I'm Ki
wire we are CNN 10 it's been a blessing
to spend this week with
you
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