Verbatim

‘Use my resignation to heal and start talking again.’

Tim Wolfe, University of Missouri president, stepping down from his position amid protests by students and faculty who accused the school’s administration of not addressing racial tensions on campus; one student had staged a hunger strike and numerous football players threatened to sit out games

Chris Stapleton

The singer swept three categories at the Country Music Association Awards

GOOD WEEK

BAD WEEK

Chris Christie

The Republican failed to qualify for the Nov. 10 prime-time debate

‘We are one family. No force can pull us apart.’

Chinese President Xi Jinping, at a meeting with Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, the first meeting between leaders of the two sides since before the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949

$2.4 million

Price a guitar that belonged to Beatles legend John Lennon fetched at an auction; he used it to record the song “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” among others

$12,000

Amount in fundraising checks returned to a Seattle elementary school after a local garbageman found them near some trash bins

‘We’re going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them.’

President Obama, rejecting construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline because he said it would have “undercut” American leadership on fighting climate change

‘I hope it’s a wake-up call to Putin.’

Dianne Feinstein, top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, regarding suspicion that terrorists brought down a Russian airliner; she said Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to play a “major” role in fighting the militant group ISIS

800

Weight, in pounds, of an alligator that was found in a Houston-area parking lot

‘This is a witch hunt.’

Ben Carson, Republican presidential candidate, dismissing the growing questions about the veracity of parts of his life story as an “irrelevant” media-generated controversy