President Donald Trump got mixed reviews Thursday after meeting with families of the students and teachers shot earlier this month at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas. The president traveled to Houston for a fundraiser and spent about an hour meeting privately with the families. Pamela Stanich, whose 17-year-old son Jared Black died in the attack, praised the president’s sincerity and compassion.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee’s new wildcard system paid off for Thursday’s winner, 14-year-old Karthik Nemmani of McKinney, Texas. Nemmani was one of 515 participants who came to the prestigious competition through the RSVBee system, designed to give spellers from especially competitive regions a better chance to participate. Nemmani beat out 12-year-old Naysa Modi from Frisco, Texas, who bested him in their county-level meet. “I didn’t really think I’d be able to do it,” the soft-spoken winner said.

The North Korean delegation visiting the United States to negotiate details of a summit between the two country’s leaders will travel to Washington, D.C., Friday to hand-deliver a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump. The president first mentioned the letter Wednesday, and U.S. officials confirmed its existence Thursday. It contains a personal message to Trump from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but officials have not revealed its contents. After Thursday’s meeting in New York, U.S.

The simmering dispute between President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions flamed up again this week when the president again took to Twitter to vent his frustration over his pick for the country’s top lawman. But White House watchers suggest Sessions’ job isn’t quite as precarious as it seems. Trump’s advisers have repeatedly warned him not to fire Sessions until special counsel Robert Mueller wraps up his investigation into Russia’s attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Cellphone videos released Wednesday offer a gut-wrenching look at the planning Nikolas Cruz put into the attack at Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School in Parkland, Fla. The mass shooting left 17 people dead—three fewer than Cruz said he hoped to kill. “When you see me on the news, you’ll all know who I am,” Cruz said with a laugh in one of the three videos. “You’re all going to die. … Can’t wait.” In another video, Cruz details the logistics of his meticulously planned attack.

The governing board of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, voted Wednesday to strip former President Paige Patterson of his retirement benefits and status as “president emeritus” following an internal investigation into his handling of sex abuse claims. Patterson’s downfall began earlier this month over his comments about women, abuse, and divorce.

Evolutionists in Arizona are fighting for their survival after the state’s top education official suggested students should be taught the reality many scientists already acknowledge: Evolution is a theory, not settled science.