Obama, Gina Haspel, Texas: Your Monday Evening Briefing

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Good evening. Here’s the latest.

1. President Trump praised the “patriots of the C.I.A.” as he swore in Gina Haspel, above left, as the agency’s next director.

It was a departure from his accusations that intelligence agencies had orchestrated a conspiracy against his presidential campaign. (Last year, on his first visit to the agency, he delivered a diatribe against the news media and Democrats.)

Over at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Ms. Haspel’s predecessor, Mike Pompeo, above center, delivered a remarkably hard-line speech about Iran. Mr. Pompeo, now secretary of state, offered no concessions to European leaders who want to do business with Tehran.

And we looked at the “shadow N.S.C.” advising John Bolton, the national security adviser. Drawn from the world of conservative politics, international consulting and defense contracting, some have business interests that overlap with the National Security Council’s work.

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2. China called the Trump administration’s bluff.

President Trump promoted his administration’s trade talks with China as a success, saying China would end up buying more American agricultural goods.

But though Washington has held off on imposing tariffs on $150 billion in Chinese goods, Beijing has stood its ground, rebuffing demands and avoiding specific pledges. Above, a booth at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona belonging to ZTE, a Chinese telecommunications company hit with severe American penalties.

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3. President Trump met with the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, above, and the F.B.I. director, Christopher Wray. We’re waiting to hear what happened; stay tuned.

The meeting came a day after Mr. Trump demanded that the Justice Department investigate whether it or the F.B.I. had “infiltrated or surveilled” his campaign at the behest of the Obama administration.

Legal experts said such a presidential intervention had little precedent and could force a clash between Mr. Trump and his Justice Department that would be reminiscent of Richard Nixon during Watergate.

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4. In 23 years on the Houston police force, he never had to fire his gun.

But four months into his job as a school resource officer, John Barnes took a shotgun blast to his right arm while confronting a gunman on Friday at Santa Fe High School, above, in eastern Texas. The shooting left 10 people dead.

Officer Barnes has been in critical condition and is heavily sedated, and surrounded by his family. “He is by no means completely out of the woods,” his stepfather said.

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5. New York City landlords have twisted housing court into an eviction machine.

Our investigation details how mega-landlords have pushed out tenants and wrested a civic commodity, affordable housing, out of regulation and into the free market. Above, Neri Carranza, who was targeted for eviction after living for more than a half-century in a rent-regulated apartment.

“I was sick of fighting with them and sick of the harassment,” said another tenant who was pushed out of his Manhattan apartment. (This is Part 2 of a series; here are Part 1 and Part 3.)

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6. They’re back: the Obamas, the Clintons and — drumroll — Don Blankenship.

Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama will produce television shows and films for Netflix as part of a multiyear deal, the company announced. The streaming service said they would produce a mix of scripted and unscripted series and documentaries.

Another former first couple, Hillary and Bill Clinton, are emerging from a political hiatus, with Mrs. Clinton set to endorse Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his progressive rival, Cynthia Nixon, in New York’s Democratic primary for governor. Both Clintons are treading carefully, though — some Democrats see them as liabilities.

And Mr. Blankenship wants to run as a third-party candidate for Senate in West Virginia, having lost the Republican primary. Democrats would welcome his splitting the Republican vote, but the state has a “sore loser” law that may foil his plans.

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7. Sports betting is set to be widely legal, and Native American tribes in the casino business want to be dealt in.

A pivotal Supreme Court decision last week sent state governments scrambling to capture the tens of billions of dollars in projected revenue. Their efforts could hinge on the fine print of a series of gaming agreements between states and Native American tribes.

Tribes in Connecticut and other states insist that the agreements give them alone the legal authority to offer sports betting. Still, there may be motion, since no one wants a yearslong legal fight at the expense of huge profits. Above, the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa in California.

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8. A Chilean survivor of sexual abuse said Pope Francis told him that being gay was “not a problem” and that “God made you this way and loves you this way, and the pope loves you this way.”

The Vatican declined to comment on what would be a remarkable expression of Roman Catholic inclusion.

In July 2013, the pope responded to questions about a supposed “gay lobby” in the Vatican by saying “Who am I to judge,” a remark that caused celebration among liberals and consternation among conservatives.

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9. “Our deity is coming down to play.”

That was a hula dancer and poet referring to Pele, Hawaii’s goddess of volcanoes and fire. Reverence for her hasn’t diminished with the eruption of the Kilauea volcano, which has laid waste to dozens of homes and set off earthquakes.

“My house was an offering for Pele,” said a woman whose home was destroyed by lava. “It’s an awe-inspiring process of destruction and creation and I was lucky to glimpse it.” Above, Stefani Hinkle gave thanks to Pele.

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10. Finally, let’s return to science class.

Remember the nucleolus? It’s that blob inside the nucleus that you might have seen under a microscope.

And it may play a key role in aging, a new scientific review found, after researchers examined how it waxes and wanes in response to a body’s available nutrients and growth signals.

Scientists are amazed that their long hunt for markers of longevity might have been sitting there in (nearly) plain view all along.

Have a great night.

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