Otto Warmbier's father, Fred Warmbier, spoke publicly on Thursday for the first time since Otto was released from North Korea earlier this week. Warmbier, 22, was sentenced to 15 years hard labor in 2015, when he was 21, after he stole a propaganda sign from his hotel room. Warmbier's release was announced on Tuesday by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pyongyang claims they released Warmbier on "humanitarian grounds"; he has allegedly been in a coma since shortly after he was sentenced.

Fred Warmbier told reporters that he received a phone call from President Trump on Wednesday night: "He just wanted to find out how Cindy [Warmbier] and I were doing, and wanted to know about Otto," Fred Warmbier said. "It was a really nice conversation. It was kind. It was, 'Are you taking care of yourself?' And, 'We worked hard, and I'm sorry this is the outcome.'"

Fred Warmbier added: "To be honest with you, I had avoided conversations with [Trump]. Because, to what end? I'm dealing with my son, this is about Otto. But I did take the call and it was gracious, it was nice, and it felt good. And I thank him for that."

Fred Warmbier also criticized the Obama administration, giving credit to President Trump for returning Otto to the United States. "When Otto was first taken, we were advised by the past administration to take a low profile while they worked to obtain his release," Warmbier said. "We did so without result. Earlier this year, Cindy and I decided the time for strategic patience was over. … It is my understanding that [Special Representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Y. Yun] and his team, at the direction of the president, aggressively pursued resolution of the situation."

When asked directly if he believed Obama could have done more to help Otto Warmbier, Fred Warmbier said: "I think the results speak for themselves." Jeva Lange

Lily Ebert never forgot about the kindness shown to her by an American soldier during the darkest time of her life.

Ebert, 90, was born in Hungary, and at 14, she was sent to Auschwitz. Her mother, brother, and sister were killed, and she survived being forced to work in a munitions factory and a death march. She was liberated in April 1945, but after going through so much trauma, she could not feel at ease.

One American approached her and gave her a German banknote inscribed with an optimistic message. "The start to a new life," he wrote. "Good luck and happiness." This man was "the first person who was kind and wasn't an enemy," Ebert told CNN, and she held onto the banknote, keeping it with her through moves to Switzerland, Israel, and London.

After sharing this story with her 16-year-old great-grandson, Dov Forman, he tweeted photos of the banknote, hoping to learn the identity of the GI who helped Ebert. The man had also written "assistant to Chaplain Schachter" on the bill, and internet sleuths determined he was Private Hyman Schulman, a Jewish soldier from Brooklyn. He died seven years ago, but Ebert and Forman were able to set up a Zoom meeting with his children. "It means so much that we can now connect with the family," Ebert said. Catherine Garcia

A federal judge stepped in Monday to stop the first federal executions since 2003, ruling that the three inmates slated to be put to death this week have a right to argue their concerns about the constitutionality of lethal injection drugs in court. "The public is not served by short-circuiting legitimate judicial process," said U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration immediately appealed the decision, and when the federal appeals court in D.C. declined to overturn the stay, the administration petitioned the Supreme Court.

Attorney General William Barr lifted a hold on federal executions last year, and Daniel Lewis Lee was scheduled for execution at the federal person in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Monday evening. Lee was convicted of the murder of thee people, including an 8-year-old girl, in Arkansas in 1996, as part of a white supremacist plot to set up a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest.

Last month, Barr said "we owe it to the victims of these horrific crimes, and to the families left behind, to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system."

But family members of Lee's victims were among the biggest opponents of executing him, arguing he should be given a life sentence like the plot leader who participated in the murders. They also have an appeal at the Supreme Court. "For us it is a matter of being there and saying, 'This is not being done in our name; we do not want this,'" said relative Monica Veillette.

The federal government has executed just three people since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988. But things have shifted "since the Justice Department last carried out an execution in 2003," The Washington Post notes, "Executions and death sentences have both declined significantly, public support for capital punishment has fallen, and more states have abolished the practice entirely. State have struggled to obtain drugs, with pharmaceutical firms opposing the use of their products to carry out death sentences, in some cases going to court to fight against it." Peter Weber

Grant Imahara, an electrical engineer who went on to host MythBusters and White Rabbit Project, has died. He was 49.

The Hollywood Reporter on Monday said it confirmed Imahara died following a brain aneurysm.

He joined MythBusters in its third season, and was known for designing and building robots. He reunited with co-hosts Kari Byron and Torry Belleci in 2016 for Netflix's White Rabbit Project. On Monday night, Byron tweeted a photo with Imahara and the caption, "Sometimes I wish I had a time machine."

A Los Angeles native, Imahara attended the University of Southern California, and after graduating spent nine years working for Lucasfilm's THX and Industrial Light and Magic divisions. He specialized in animatronics, and worked on several major films, including the Star Wars prequels, The Matrix Reloaded, Van Helsing, and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Catherine Garcia

During a press conference on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was interrupted by an activist who accused him of misleading the public over the true number of coronavirus cases in the state.

Florida is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, with public health experts saying the rapid increase is due to the state reopening too early and without enough precautions. DeSantis' press conference, held at a Miami hospital, came one day after Florida recorded 15,300 new coronavirus cases, the highest single-day total of any state since the beginning of the pandemic.

While DeSantis was speaking, a heckler in the audience began shouting at him, yelling, "Shame on you! You are an embarrassment!" The man was identified as Thomas Kennedy, Florida director of the immigration advocacy group United We Dream. Kennedy accused DeSantis of "doing nothing" and "falsifying information" about the extent of the coronavirus crisis in the state. As he was escorted out of the room, Kennedy declared that DeSantis is "deceiving the public" and "should resign." DeSantis did not respond.

On Saturday, Rebekah Jones, Florida's former data chief, published an op-ed in USA Today saying the state's COVID-19 data is "unreliable, confusing, and hazardous to our health." Jones said she was fired in May because she refused to "manually manipulate" data at the request of state leaders. Catherine Garcia

For people who believe trying to contain COVID-19 is too hard, or not worth the socioeconomic tradeoffs, or too uncomfortable, letting the new coronavirus spread freely throughout the population to achieve herd immunity — the point where the virus has saturated a community enough that it is effectively contained — without waiting for a vaccine might sound like a tempting, viable alternative to masks, social distancing, and more stringent measures.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) disagrees, and he explained why with some back-of-the-envelope math in a Twitter thread Monday evening.

In Mississippi, 40 percent of the population would equal 1.2 million people getting infected, versus the 36,680 cases that have already left the state's hospitals "stressed to the point of pain," Reeves wrote. To put it another way, Mississippi would need at least 3,187 new COVID-19 cases every day for a year, triple the state's worst days of this pandemic.

And even if you were willing to stomach 1.2 million to 2.4 million Mississippi residents getting infected with the virus, a study from King's College in London released Monday suggested people may lose their COVID-19 immunity within months, making herd immunity moot. Peter Weber

The Atlanta Braves on Monday said the organization's 108-year-old name "honors, respects, and values the Native American community," and there are no plans to come up with a new one.

On Monday, the Washington Redskins announced their name and logo will be retired, as the moniker is considered a slur against Native Americans. The Braves do not believe their name is insensitive, with the organization saying discussions have been held with Native American and tribal leaders, and a change is "not under consideration or deemed necessary. We have great respect and reverence for our name and the Native American communities that have held meaningful relationships with us do as well. We will always be the Atlanta Braves."

The team does have an advisory board that is taking a closer look at the "Tomahawk Chop" motion, which was popularized when Deion Sanders joined the Braves in 1991. Critics consider this gesture to be a racist caricature targeting Native Americans, and the Braves said this is "one of the many issues we are working through," with the organization "continuing to listen to the Native American community, as well as our fans, players, and alumni to ensure we are making an informed decision on this part of our fan experience." Catherine Garcia