By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN

(CNN) — Democrats already facing a difficult path to recapture control of the US Senate are grappling with the latest revelations about Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee set to face Sen. Susan Collins in a must-win race for the party.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said Sunday that he has “concerns” about Platner. “That guy has questions to answer, and that’s what campaigns are for,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Platner’s wife said in a statement Saturday that she was “deeply hurt” after details of her husband’s messages to other women became public, accusing a former campaign official and confidante of betraying her trust. The statement from Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, came after both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that shortly after Platner announced his Senate campaign last year, Gertner flagged to campaign staff sexual text messages her husband had with other women.

Platner, a Marine Corps veteran with no prior political experience, has surged ahead of the June 9 primary, drawing large crowds at his rallies and garnering endorsements from Democrats like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ruben Gallego. That’s even as his campaign has been hit by revelations from his past, including a since-covered tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol and comments he posted online denigrating police and White people.

Platner became the Democrats’ presumptive nominee after Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out in late April, just weeks before the June 9 primary. Mills, who was recruited to run by national Democratic leaders, will remain on the primary ballot.

Democratic Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey, in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” wouldn’t say whether he is concerned about Platner but committed to working with “whoever the people of Maine elect.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Murphy offered a more optimistic tone, telling CBS’ “Face the Nation” that there would be a glaring difference to voters between Platner and Collins.

“He certainly admitted that he has made mistakes, but I think this is going to be a pretty clear contrast in Maine between somebody who has spent his life protecting us versus somebody who seems to be protecting Donald Trump’s corruption,” the Connecticut Democrat said.

While Platner’s campaign has been marked by revelations over his past behavior, those earlier developments hadn’t appeared to cut into his support: He led Collins by 9 points in a University of New Hampshire poll released last week.

It’s still unclear how the news of his extramarital sexting will affect his appeal. Genevieve McDonald, the former political director for Platner’s campaign, confirmed to CNN on Saturday that Platner’s wife disclosed to her last year that Platner had been sexting multiple women and that the campaign evaluated the matter as a potential political liability.

CNN has not independently confirmed the existence of the text messages. CNN did verify that an account on the messaging app Kik appears to belong to Platner. The account, under the username “phustle0331,” features a profile photo showing Platner shirtless in a bathroom with a towel on his wai

Por Gonzalo Jiménez, CNN en Español

Hollywood no olvidará el último fin de semana de mayo de 2026, pues la cinta independiente “Backrooms” sorprendió a la industria al recaudar US$ 81 millones en su fin de semana de estreno.

Si se pregunta qué es lo novedoso de ello, estos datos indican su peculiaridad: el director de “Backrooms”, Kane Persons, es un youtuber de 20 años; la historia de la cinta surgió de un cortometraje web que Persons creó en YouTube; y el origen del argumento proviene de unas imágenes misteriosas que se popularizaron en redes sociales.

Al igual que la también exitosa “Obsession”, “Backrooms” es una película creada por un youtuber de la Generación Z que se convierte en un fenómeno de público entre la población joven sin apelar a un gran presupuesto (es una cinta independiente, distribuida por el sello A24) y sin estrellas de cine ultrafamosas (aunque sí reconocidas, como Chiwetel Ejiofor y Rena Reinsve).

Su historia se originó como una creepypasta, que es como se llama a las historias cortas de terror que se comparten en foros de Internet y videos de Youtube, con el propósito de inquietar a los lectores. “The Backrooms”, que pudiera traducirse como las habitaciones traseras, se refiere a un laberinto de oficinas vacías u otros espacios, que causan desasosiego al espectador.

La “backroom” original se publicó el 12 de mayo del 2019, en la sección paranormal /x/ de la red social 4chan, en la que un usuario anónimo pedía a otros que compartieran imágenes inquietantes o que se sienten “fuera de lugar”. La imagen que encabezaba ese post era la de una oficina en los Países Bajos, con una gran habitación alfombrada, paredes amarillas y lámparas fluorescente.

Un usuario compartió otra imagen en este foro y añadió una descripción que definió la esencia de lo que es el “backroom”: “seiscientos millones de kilòmetros cuadrados de habitaciones vacías segmentadas de manera aleatoria” a las que se puede entrar cuando se atraviesa “fuera de la realidad en los lugares incorrectos”.

La serie documental “Monstrum” de PBS emitió un programa titulado “Lost in the Backrooms: Exploring the Internet’s Creepiest Liminal Space” para explicar este fenómeno de folklore digital creado por los usuarios. También se le llama horror liminal: aquel que muestra un lugar que luce real, pero, al mismo tiempo, resulta inquietante, como si se hubiese cruzado un umbral a una realidad que ya no es lo que era.

Esa es la imagen que inspiró al director Persons a estrenar en YouTube en enero de 2022 “The Backrooms (Found Footage)”, un cortometraje de terror de estilo “película encontrada” que se viralizó rápidamente, con más de 80 millones de visualizaciones a mayo de 2026.

Todo esto sirvió a Persons para construir el argumento de “Backrooms”, en el que el dueño de una mueblería, Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), explora el sótano de la tienda y nota un destello de luz en la pared; se acerca y atraviesa la pared, descubriendo los “backrooms”, un gran espacio extradimensional que parece no tener fin y en el que deambulan unas figuras humanoides que, si te alcanzan, te matan. La terapeuta de Clark (Renate Reinsve), preocupada por Clark, visita la mueblería, dispuesta a comprobar si las historias que Clark le contó son ciertas.

Es una premisa que se inspira en los “glitches” de los videojuegos (en los que un jugador puede atravesar paredes, por ejemplo) y en el folclore digital para construir una historia que evade las convenciones del cine de terror tradicional.

Según Variety, el presupuesto de “Backrooms” es US$ 10 millones y, en su fin de semana de estreno, a nivel global recaudó US$ 118 millones. No en balde, Persons, de acuerdo al reporte de Variety, está pensando en transformar “Backrooms” en una franquicia con varias secuelas.

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Beautiful last day of May as high pressure brought us another fantastic day. Breezy and at times, gusty northerly winds continue across our mountains and out to sea. For now we are not under any watches or advisories for wind, if that changes through the evening, we will let you know. Late season storms spinning out of the Gulf of Alaska have produced some moderate ocean swells and a High Surf Advisory remains for portions of the Central Coast. Waves could exceed 8 feet along beaches that face north or northwest through late Sunday. Patchy fog is expected for some coastal areas depending on how much northerly wind stays in play through the night. If any fog is present for Monday morning, it should burn off quickly. Highs on Monday will be mostly in the upper 60's and 70's near the coast with very warm 80's and even maybe a 90 degree reading or two farther inland.

Looking ahead, things stay breezy with limited fog for the coastal areas through the next several days. Winds should stay below advisory thresholds with the strongest afternoon and early evening gusts remaining below passes and canyons. Temperatures will stay on the warm side, but hopefully not too hot for interior regions. It looks like the warmest days will be through about mid week with then a slight cool down expected by Thursday and Friday. Coastal areas will again see a mix of early morning fog and afternoon breezy sunshine. Temperatures will hover in the 60's and 70's which is about where we should be for this time of year.

The post Fantastic start to June, Monday forecast appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Beautiful last day of May as high pressure brought us another fantastic day. Breezy and at times, gusty northerly winds continue across our mountains and out to sea. For now we are not under any watches or advisories for wind, if that changes through the evening, we will let you know. Late season storms spinning out of the Gulf of Alaska have produced some moderate ocean swells and a High Surf Advisory remains for portions of the Central Coast. Waves could exceed 8 feet along beaches that face north or northwest through late Sunday. Patchy fog is expected for some coastal areas depending on how much northerly wind stays in play through the night. If any fog is present for Monday morning, it should burn off quickly. Highs on Monday will be mostly in the upper 60's and 70's near the coast with very warm 80's and even maybe a 90 degree reading or two farther inland.

Looking ahead, things stay breezy with limited fog for the coastal areas through the next several days. Winds should stay below advisory thresholds with the strongest afternoon and early evening gusts remaining below passes and canyons. Temperatures will stay on the warm side, but hopefully not too hot for interior regions. It looks like the warmest days will be through about mid week with then a slight cool down expected by Thursday and Friday. Coastal areas will again see a mix of early morning fog and afternoon breezy sunshine. Temperatures will hover in the 60's and 70's which is about where we should be for this time of year.

The post Fantastic start to June, Monday forecast appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Alessandra Freitas, Gonzalo Zegarra, Sebastian Jimenez, CNN

(CNN) — In a surprisingly strong performance, right-wing outsider candidate Abelardo de la Espriella will face leftist candidate senator Iván Cepeda in a June runoff election to decide Colombia’s presidency, setting the stage for a battle over the country’s political future and the direction of its relationships with key international partners, including the United States.

With more than 99% of the votes counted in Sunday’s first round of the presidential election, de la Espriella won the most ballots with 43.73% of the vote, falling short of the absolute majority required to win outright in the contest. Cepeda, representing the left-wing Historic Pact coalition, was in second place with 40.91%. The first-round vote left Democratic Center candidate Paloma Valencia trailing well behind with 6.92%, according to preliminary results released by the National Civil Registry.

Valencia represented the Democratic Center party founded by former President Álvaro Uribe and became the first woman to win the party’s presidential nomination. Shortly after the results, Valencia announced her support for de la Espriella, urging people not to let the “new communism” in the country continue.

The runoff, scheduled for June 21, will pit two sharply contrasting political visions against each other in what is expected to be a highly polarized race.

Who are the candidates heading to the runoff

Abelardo de la Espriella, 47, is a lawyer and political outsider who emerged as one of the strongest challengers to the governing coalition, has spoken favorably of US President Donald Trump and has drawn comparisons from supporters and critics alike to leaders such as El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele because of his tough-on-crime rhetoric.

Running on a platform centered on security, law and order, and economic liberalization, the self-described conservative nationalist has promised a more confrontational approach toward criminal organizations, stronger security ties with the United States and Israel, lower taxes, and expanded oil exploration. He has also pledged to reverse what he describes as the failures of Petro’s administration.

Following the results, de la Espriella celebrated the better-than-expected results and expressed confidence ahead of the runoff, where he will face government-backed candidate Iván Cepeda.

“We advanced to the runoff thanks to the more than 10 million Colombians who answered the roar. In 21 days, we will make history!” de la Espriella said on X, adding that he would defeat “tyranny and absolutism.”

The lawyer and businessman also posted a video with his family and invited supporters at his campaign HQ in Barranquilla to celebrate the result.

Senator Iván Cepeda, 63, entered the race as the standard-bearer of Petro’s governing coalition, the Historic Pact. A longtime left-wing politician and human rights advocate, Cepeda campaigned on continuing many of Petro’s policies, including the government’s “total peace” strategy aimed at negotiating with armed groups.

The son of assassinated politician Manuel Cepeda Vargas, he spent years in human rights activism and served as a key participant in peace negotiations involving guerrilla groups.

His campaign focused on social inclusion, human rights, agrarian reform and what he describes as a “democratic revolution” to deepen the changes initiated under Petro.

Cepeda has framed the election as a choice between preserving progressive reforms and returning to traditional political models.

A referendum on the Petro era

The election is widely viewed as a verdict on the turbulent presidency of Gustavo Petro, who came to power in 2022, and on the future direction of Colombia’s political and economic model.

Supporters of the government argue that Petro’s admi