By Clare Duffy, Samantha Delouya, CNN

New York (CNN) — Kaley started using YouTube at the age of 6, downloading the app on her iPod Touch to watch videos about lip gloss collections and the online kids game Animal Jam. She posted her first video when she was 8 — in it, she played Animal Jam as an otter character, singing in a put-on British accent.

A year later, she downloaded and began posting on Instagram, circumventing a guardrail her mom had tried to set up to block her from the app.

She says she became addicted. She started staying up late and sneaking out of class to scroll YouTube and Instagram.

Within several years Kaley says she began cutting herself to cope with depression, one of a number of mental health challenges she claims were caused or exacerbated by an addiction to social media.

Kaley, now 20, described ongoing struggles with social media before a Los Angeles jury on Thursday, part of a lawsuit from her and her mother against Meta and YouTube. It marks the first time the public has gotten to hear directly from the young woman at the heart of a case that could set a precedent for hundreds of lawsuits accusing tech platforms of intentionally addicting and harming young users.

“Anytime I would try to set limits for myself, I couldn’t,” said Kaley, who is being referred to in court by only her first name because her claims relate to incidents that took place while she was a minor.

Meta and YouTube have denied her claims and objected to the idea that social media can be “addictive.” YouTube has contested the amount of time Kaley says she spent on the platform; Meta has argued her upbringing is responsible for her mental health challenges.

Both companies say they’ve invested heavily in youth safety features such as parental controls and safety settings for teens, although many of those measures were not in place in Kaley’s early years using the platforms.

YouTube

By the time she was 10, Kaley had uploaded 200 videos to YouTube. She also created multiple accounts so it would appear her videos had more likes and urged her mom and sister to like her videos, too.

When her videos received little reaction, “it made me feel like I shouldn’t have posted or that it was stupid, or I looked bad,” she said. Losing subscribers made her feel “not worthy.”

Despite bullying Kaley said she experienced on YouTube, she didn’t leave the platform because the idea “bothered me more than the comments.” She once turned off notifications, but that didn’t last, saying, “”I wanted to see what people were saying or who was liking my video.”

YouTube’s autoplay feature also often kept Kaley on the app longer than she intended.

“I would say okay I’m going to get off after that, but then it would autoplay and I would be on for hours,” she said. She added, “I was on it from a young age and I would spend all my time on it,” and would often sneak onto YouTube on her phone in class.

YouTube argues that records from Kaley’s logged-in account show she used it for only a short time each day. The company’s attorney, Luis Li, said in court that Kaley “is not addicted to YouTube and never h

By Lily Hautau, CNN

(CNN) — Sky-gazers will have the opportunity to see six planets in the sky on Saturday, weather permitting, according to NASA.

This planetary parade occurs due to the alignment of the planets’ orbits around the sun, said Heidi Haviland, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter will be visible to the naked eye, whereas Uranus and Neptune will require binoculars or a telescope, according to NASA. Viewers do not have to worry about wearing protective eyewear as they would to watch a solar eclipse.

The event is visible anywhere on Earth — with best views at twilight. Early birds should try to glimpse the planetary parade before sunrise, and for night owls the best visibility will be right after sunset, Haviland said.

The best viewing times vary by location, however, she explained via email. The planets need to be roughly 10 degrees or higher above the horizon to be visible. If they are too low, they will be obscured by Earth’s atmosphere, she added.

The planetary parade is a reminder of how planets orbit around the sun and how their positions relative to Earth vary — a key factor scientists consider when planning missions to other planets such as Mars, Haviland noted.

“The InSight mission had to wait a full year for the Earth & Mars to align to their closet approach so planetary orbits and their position to the Earth play an important role in mission design,” she said, referring to the NASA program that sent a robotic lander to Mars in 2018.

How to tell the planets apart

Haviland shared a few tips for identifying the planets during the upcoming display.

“Typically, Venus is the first one that pops up,” Haviland said, adding that it will be the brightest object in the sky after the sun and moon, and will have a steady, brilliant white glow on the western horizon after sunset.

Mars will show up as a red dot, and Saturn will have a yellowish hue. If you look high overhead, you will be able to find Jupiter.

Mercury will be the hardest to spot without visual aids, but your best chance to see it is about 30 to 60 minutes after local sunset, Haviland said. The smallest planet in our solar system will appear white and will be low on the horizon.

For the best view, avoid city lights and hope for clear skies, said Joel Wallace, public information officer at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

Upcoming celestial events

On Tuesday, a total lunar eclipse will be visible for those in Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands and the Americas. The moon will appear red, which is why it’s referred to as a blood moon. The event marks the last total lunar eclipse visible from North America until December 2028.

On May 31, sky-gazers can look forward to a blue moon, the second full moon in one calendar month. Despite its name, the moon will not appear blue in color. It happens every 2 ½ to three years, or “once in a blue moon.”

On June 8 and 9, two bright planets — Venus and Jupiter — will appear in the sky only a pinky finger distance apart from our perspective on Earth despite being millions of miles from one another. They will be visible with the naked eye, according to

By Eric Levenson, CNN

(CNN) — Colin Gray, the father of teenage Georgia school shooter Colt Gray, took the stand Friday to testify at his trial on charges of murder and manslaughter.

Over about two weeks, the prosecution presented evidence seeking to show Colin Gray bought his teenage son an AR-15-style rifle as a Christmas gift and allowed him unsecured access to the weapon despite warnings that his son was a danger to others, actions that constitute criminally reckless conduct.

However, his defense attorney said in opening statements Gray was unaware his son was planning the shooting and had taken steps to try to get him help.

Gray has pleaded not guilty to nearly 30 charges, including two counts each of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Colin Gray’s trial is part of a broader push to hold more people accountable for a school shooting, including the shooter’s parents and responding law enforcement officers. This case bears close similarities to the trials of James and Jennifer Crumbley, whose then-15-year-old son killed four students in 2021 at his high school in Oxford, Michigan.

Colt Gray, then 14, brought that AR-15-style rifle to Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, and opened fire on September 4, 2024. Four people were killed and nine were injured, before the teen surrendered to police.

The teen has admitted to the shooting, according to authorities. Now 16, he has pleaded not guilty to 55 felony counts, including four counts of malice murder. A trial date has not been set.

Earlier this week, jurors heard two lengthy police interrogations of Colin Gray after the shooting. The father told an investigator he bought Colt the rifle in an attempt to get him away from video games and introduce him to deer hunting. He also acknowledged the teen’s behavior had escalated and become more aggressive in the previous five to seven months, and that he had signed paperwork with the school to get him into counseling.

“You have to believe me when I say that I never, ever in a thousand years thought this could happen,” Colin Gray said in one police interview.

The defense sought to use the recording to humanize Colin Gray as a working father trying to care for his three children while helping his wife recover from drug and alcohol addiction.

The state rested its case Thursday after about two weeks, including emotional testimony from students and teachers who survived the shooting, police interviews with Colin Gray, photos showing unsecured firearms and ammo in the home and testimony from the teen’s mother, grandmother and sister about their unsettled family life.

Marcee Gray, the defendant’s estranged wife, testified Colt Gray was riddled

Happy Friday! We begin the morning with mostly clear skies and slightly breezy winds. A fast warming trend is ahead as peak heating occurs. Most areas will battle daily records once again. Expect highs into the 70s and mid 80s. A Wind Advisory is in effect for northern San Luis Obispo County through 2pm, where winds will gust near 40-50mph.

Mostly clear skies prevail Saturday and the heat holds. We begin a small cooling trend Sunday as onshore flow increases. Into Monday and Tuesday we ease into the 60s and 70s with more marine layer influence in the mornings.

The heat is back by the middle of next week. Wednesday and Thursday are projected to be above average and rebounding back to 70s and 80s. The extended forecast looks hot with minimal weather pattern shifts.

The post Peak heat Friday, cooling into March appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Happy Friday! We begin the morning with mostly clear skies and slightly breezy winds. A fast warming trend is ahead as peak heating occurs. Most areas will battle daily records once again. Expect highs into the 70s and mid 80s. A Wind Advisory is in effect for northern San Luis Obispo County through 2pm, where winds will gust near 40-50mph.

Mostly clear skies prevail Saturday and the heat holds. We begin a small cooling trend Sunday as onshore flow increases. Into Monday and Tuesday we ease into the 60s and 70s with more marine layer influence in the mornings.

The heat is back by the middle of next week. Wednesday and Thursday are projected to be above average and rebounding back to 70s and 80s. The extended forecast looks hot with minimal weather pattern shifts.

The post Peak heat Friday, cooling into March appeared first on News Channel 3-12.