By Kasha Patel, CNN

(CNN) — In southern Georgia, fast-moving flames destroyed a record number of homes; across the Plains in Nebraska, the largest fire in state history killed one person and wiped out more than 600,000 acres of cattle country; and outside Los Angeles, an unusually early blaze spurred evacuation alerts for thousands.

Wildfire season has been far from mild this spring.

Across the United States, wildfire activity has hit historic levels this spring and is likely to worsen in the coming months, experts say. Since the beginning of the year, nearly 30,000 fires have ignited across the country — the most in almost two decades. More than 2 million acres have burned, which is twice the previous 10-year average and the highest loss in 14 years.

The Southeast has tallied the highest number of fires across the country so far, with blazes closer to populated areas than usual. But the largest have occurred in the Great Plains, where strong winds pushed flames across towns. The West has already experienced uncharacteristically early and destructive events, bringing concerns for a perilous fire season.

“Here we are in May, and we’re talking about people losing their houses and lives,” said Morgan Varner, research director at Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy in Tallahassee, Florida. Several factors “all point to a really bad year” in many regions, he said.

That includes low snowpack, plenty of vegetation, drought and expected changes to weather patterns from a developing “Super” El Niño, all on top of an underlying warming climate that’s intensifying the hot, dry conditions that help fires ignite and spread.

Region by region, these are the most notable US wildfires so far and the biggest concerns heading into summer.

Dry conditions light up Southeast

Fires in Georgia are common from March to May, but this year is one for the history books.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 3,000 fires have burned 83,000 acres in the state, according to data from the Georgia Forestry Commission. That’s almost double the fires and eight times as many burned acres by this time of the year compared to the last five years.

“We’ve been in a drought, and it’s been building since late summer of 2025,” said Thomas Barrett, forest protection chief with the Georgia Forestry Commission. “It’s taken this long to finally get about as bad as it could get.”

On top of that, he said weather systems brought more dry air and strong winds to the region, creating a perfect storm of fire conditions this season. Forecasts from the National Interagency Fire Center expect high fire activity through July until summer thunderstorms bring relief.

“I keep my fingers crossed that we’re peaking about now, and that we’ll start going down in a couple of months,” said Barrett. “Everybody in the southeast part of the country has kind of been in the same shape this spring.”

Unlike previous years, the fires are also hitting closer to populated

By Kristen Holmes, Betsy Klein, CNN

(CNN) — Palm Beach socialite and model Bettina Anderson will celebrate her marriage to President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. on a tropical island today. It won’t be the affair the bride had originally envisioned.

Anderson had initially expressed interest in getting married at the White House, multiple sources told CNN. But the groom didn’t think it was appropriate, particularly given the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran, one of the sources said. President Donald Trump also told allies he didn’t think it was a good idea.

The couple settled instead on a small, exclusive ceremony on an island in the Bahamas where Anderson has previously posted images of crystal blue waters and secluded beaches. There could also be a follow-up celebration at the White House later this year, a source familiar with the matter said.

Friends of Trump Jr. told CNN they have never seen the groom so happy.

Technically, Trump Jr. and Anderson are already married; a marriage certificate filed in Palm Beach County shows they legally tied the knot Thursday. That’s not uncommon for couples who opt for international destination weddings.

For Trump Jr., it was a short engagement that followed a considerably longer one. After quietly splitting with Kimberly Guilfoyle, his fiancee of roughly four years, after the 2024 election, he was spotted around Palm Beach, and then at Mar-a-Lago, hand-in-hand with Anderson.

Their hard launch came at the president’s inauguration, Anderson by Trump Jr.’s side in the Capitol, dancing with him at the inaugural balls, eating McDonald’s aboard the family plane in a designer dress with matching Dior handbag. The public courtship spurred some backbiting that played out through anonymous sources on the front pages of tabloids.

After a year together, including an appearance on a presidential trip to Scotland, Trump Jr. proposed – the move revealed by the president to a White House holiday party crowd.

“This has really been the most unforgettable weekend of my life, and I get to marry the love of my life, and I feel just, like, the luckiest girl in the world,” Anderson said in impromptu remarks in the Cross Hall at the White House.

This weekend, Trump Jr. and Anderson will officially celebrate tying the knot on a small island in the Bahamas. The president said Friday he will not attend.

“I feel it is important for me to remain in Washington, D.C., at the White House during this important period of time. Congratulations to Don and Bettina!” Trump said on Truth Social.

The wedding is being kept small by design, according to two people familiar with the plans, with family and the couple’s closest friends making up the less-than-50-person guest list.

Extra security precautions are also being put in place after the wedding’s location was leaked earlier this week, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The couple had already been concerned about security ahead of the event, and those worries are now amplified.

The groom’s siblings, Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump, are expected to attend with their spouses, as will Trump Jr.’s five children: Kai, Donald III, Tristan, Spencer, and Chloe, ranging from 11 to 19 years old.

Trump has been married before, to Vanessa Trump, who announced this week that she is battling breast cancer. Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump remained close after their divorce, celebrating daughter Kai ahead of her senior prom, at a 19th birthday party, and at her graduation in recent days.

Anderson, 39, has styled herself as an influencer on social media, posting links to her designer wardrobe selections and fav

By Adam Cancryn, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s relationship with Senate Republicans has hit a new low after a revolt over his $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund surfaced deep divisions over the direction of the party and its priorities.

Trump and his close allies were fuming over the rebuke on Friday, while on Capitol Hill, GOP senators and aides blasted the fund as the latest in a series of damaging White House blunders that they increasingly fear will cost them control of the chamber, according to five people familiar with the conversations.

“The president is making it as hard as humanly possible,” said one senior GOP Senate aide. “This is a true unified front. All 53 Republican senators are not happy right now.”

And with six months to go until the midterm elections, Republicans exasperated by the infighting are warning it might only get worse from here.

The standoff over the “anti-weaponization” fund capped a disastrous period that derailed Republicans’ bid to pass a major immigration package by June 1, as Trump had demanded, leaving their agenda in the lurch.

It also further underscored lawmakers’ long-simmering fears that rather than helping bolster their political standing by focusing on economic issues and touting key policy wins, Trump was instead weakening their chances come November through his preoccupation with personal projects and a wide-ranging retribution campaign.

“This is a ‘Nero fiddled while Rome burned’ kind of moment,” said GOP strategist Barrett Marson. “The things that Trump, and to some extent Congress, are focusing on right now are not things that help Americans — and time is running out to change the narrative.”

In just the last week, Trump celebrated the ouster of GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, who his allies had poured funds into primarying as revenge for voting to convict Trump in his impeachment trial five years ago. The president then endorsed against well-liked Texas Sen. John Cornyn in next week’s GOP primary runoff, opting instead to back Ken Paxton, a challenger who senators had openly warned could cost Republicans the race.

All the while, the White House was pressing Senate Republicans to authorize $1 billion for Trump’s new ballroom and the Secret Service, elevating a personal project many lawmakers fear is only reinforcing voters’ perception of the GOP as out of touch, Senate aides and others familiar with the matter said.

When the Senate’s parliamentarian ruled that the money couldn’t be included in Republicans’ broader legislative package, Trump publicly called for her firing — a move that many senators viewed as inappropriate and unwise, the people familiar said.

“Even the must-pass stuff is starting to get hijacked by things like the ballroom,” said one person familiar with the Senate dynamics. “From a morale standpoint, that doesn’t help.”

Against that backdrop, the creation of Trump’s $1.8 billion fund amounted to a breaking point, GOP aides said, prompting an outpouring of public criticism that culminated in a tense closed-door meeting over the arrangement with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Republican senators in the hours since have sought to make clear in public and private that there is little support for the fund — and that Trump continuing to pursue it could jeopardize the party’s broader agenda.

“Unless there’s some so

Por Brian Stelter, CNN

El programa “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” se despidió por todo lo alto.

El episodio final de la serie, emitido el jueves por la noche, fue el capítulo entre semana más visto de los once años que Colbert ha estado al frente del programa, según las calificaciones de Nielsen publicadas durante la noche.

Colbert y compañía obtuvieron una media de 6,74 millones de espectadores, superando incluso su primer episodio como presentador en 2015, que tuvo una media de 6,55 millones de espectadores.

Los resultados de audiencia deben ser agridulces para Colbert, ya que no fue decisión suya despedirse del programa. CBS decidió cancelarlo el verano pasado, alegando las presiones financieras que se observan en el panorama de la televisión nocturna.

Los programas de entrevistas nocturnos como “The Late Show” llevan años perdiendo audiencia en un entorno mediático cada vez más fragmentado.

Muchos seguidores que solían verlos a las 23:35 simplemente los ven más tarde en YouTube o a través de las redes sociales.

En el primer trimestre de 2026, “The Late Show” tuvo un promedio de aproximadamente 2,7 millones de espectadores por noche, según CBS.

Pero el final de Colbert tenía todas las características de un gran evento televisivo.

Sus dos principales rivales, Jimmy Kimmel de ABC y Jimmy Fallon de NBC, optaron por emitir repeticiones el jueves por la noche, sabiendo que la mayoría de la audiencia estaría pendiente del programa de Colbert.

Y Kimmel animó encarecidamente a sus espectadores a sintonizar CBS solo por esa noche.

La despedida culminó con una gran actuación de Colbert cantando “Hello Goodbye” junto al ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, acompañado por Elvis Costello, Louis Cato y Jon Batiste.

Por lo tanto, no es de extrañar que el último episodio de “The Late Show” haya batido un récord de audiencia.

Aun así, es un resultado sorprendente, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que fue un episodio extra largo, lo que provocó que los espectadores se quedaran despiertos hasta más tarde de lo habitual para verlo completo.

El récord de audiencia viene con algunas salvedades: Colbert alcanzó más de 20 millones de espectadores en un episodio especial del domingo después del Super Bowl en 2016.

Y “The Late Show” atraía habitualmente a audiencias más grandes durante la era de David Letterman, antes de que YouTube y otras plataformas ofrecieran a la gente infinitas opciones para ver contenido.

El episodio de despedida de Letterman en 2015 obtuvo 13,7 millones de espectadores.

De cara al futuro, los analistas de televisión han pronosticado que Kimmel y Fallon absorberán parte de la audiencia habitual de Colbert ahora que “The Late Show” ha terminado.

CBS no intentará recrear el programa de Colbert.

El programa que lo reemplazará, un show de entrevistas cómicas en formato de mesa redonda llamado “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen”, tiene poca semejanza con “The Late Show”.

“Comics Unleashed” evita en gran medida el humor de actualidad porque los episodios están diseñados para ser vistos varias veces. Como resultado, el programa carece del comentario político que ha caracterizado gran parte de la trayectoria de Colbert.

Actualmente se emite después de “The Late Show” a las 12:35 a.m. y tiene una audiencia promedio de alrededor de 1,1 millones de espectadores.

Ahora que “Comics Unleashed” se traslada al horario de las 23:35, otro programa producido por la compañía de Allen, “Funny You Should Ask”, pasará a ocupar el horario de máxima madrugada.

Fundamentalmente para CBS, esos periodos de tiempo serán inmediatamente rentables para la cadena.

Allen pagó por alquilar el tiempo de emisión mediante un contrato de compra de tiempo, y recuperaría su inversión vendiendo publicidad durante los programas.

“Quiero unir a la gent

By Dianne Gallagher, Kyle Feldscher, CNN

Charlotte, North Carolina (CNN) — The shock and devastation of Kyle Busch’s sudden death at just 41 years old has shattered the racing world as it heads into one of its premier weekends of the year.

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion’s family announced on Thursday that he would not be taking part in this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway due to a severe illness. Just hours later, Busch was dead.

It’s a stunning turn of events that has left the world of NASCAR stunned.

“To me, Kyle Busch just defines what it means to be a racer in NASCAR, everything about it – the fire, the greatness, the heart that sometimes you rarely saw. The sport was truly lucky to have him, and I believe I can speak for everybody in the sport, and I’ll just say this for me personally, the family reunions week to week are just not going to be the same without him, but we’re going to do our damn best to continue his legacy and support his family,” NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said in a press conference Friday afternoon.

The winningest driver in NASCAR history, with 234 victories across the sport’s top three series, Busch was a polarizing figure. He often loved to play the role of the villain, but he had legions of passionate fans as well. In the wake of his death, many of his peers pointed to that polarizing personality as one of the things that makes racing great – people loved Busch and they loved to hate him.

But that hate – which was always tinged with admiration for his undeniable driving ability – melted in the face of his sudden death.

Tributes at Charlotte Motor Speedway quickly popped up and memories from his fellow competitors came fast as the emotions caught up with much of the racing world. His team, Richard Childress Racing, announced on Friday that it will suspend the use of Busch’s No. 8 car and will instead run the No. 33 car.

“Kyle Busch was instrumental in the design of RCR’s stylized No. 8 and it has become synonymous with Kyle and an important symbol for his fans and the NASCAR industry,” the team wrote in a statement.

“No one can carry it forward to the level that he did. The No. 8 is reserved and ready for Brexton Busch when he is ready to go NASCAR racing.”

Brexton is Busch’s 11-year-old son who has already begun following in his father’s footsteps and has racked up numerous wins in races around the country.

A heartbreaking week

As the racing world tried to comprehend what had happened to Busch, attention was quickly turned to an exchange the driver had with his team over the radio while competing in Watkins Glen, New York, during the May 10 NASCAR Cup Series race.

During that race, Busch asked his team to have a doctor waiting for him after the race because he was “going to need a shot.” The broadcast mentioned he had been battling a severe sinus cold and Busch told reporters last week in Dover that he had been suffering from a substantial cough during the race.

Busch appeared to have recovered – he won the NASCAR Truck Series race at Dover on May 17 – though he was spotted coughing during a post-victory interview. But things took a turn on Wednesday.

According to a 911 call obtained by CNN on Friday, Busch required medical attention on Wednesday after coughing up some blood and experiencing shortness of breath while getting ready for this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600.

According to a call obtained by CNN in response to a request for recordings related to Busch’s medical emergency, a caller – whose name is redacted in the recording – asks for an ambulance to come to a training facility in Concord, North Carolina.

“I’ve got an individual that’s (experiencing) shortness of breath, very hot, thinks he’s going to pass out and producing a little bit of blood – coughing up some blood,” the c