National News at a Glance

President Admits Focus of Trump Tower Meeting Was Getting Dirt on Clinton

President Donald Trump said in a tweet Sunday that a Trump Tower meeting between top campaign aides and a Kremlin-connected lawyer was designed to “get information on an opponent,” was “totally legal” and of the sort “done all the time in politics.” It was the starkest acknowledgment yet that a statement he dictated last year about the meeting and the role of his son Donald Trump Jr. was wrong. The July 2017 statement said the meeting had been primarily about the adoption of Russian children. It is illegal for a campaign to accept help from a foreign individual or government.

Carr Fire in California Claims a Seventh Victim as It Continues to Grow

The deadly Carr Fire in California, already described by officials as the state’s sixth most destructive wildfire, grew nearly 10,000 acres overnight Saturday as authorities said a seventh death was tied to the blaze. The fire, which is centered about 200 miles north of San Francisco, has been one of this year’s most prominent blazes. As of Sunday morning, the fire had destroyed more than 1,600 buildings and consumed more than 154,000 acres. Authorities said 16 other major fires continued across the state, and 40,000 people have been evacuated, with 14,000 firefighters battling the blazes.

A ‘Rainbow Wave’? 2018 Has More LGBT Candidates Than Ever

More than 400 gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender candidates are running for office this year — a record number, according to groups that track such data. Most are Democrats, and several are mounting anti-Trump congressional bids with a message broader than gay rights. Sharice Davids, a leading Democrat running for a congressional primary election Tuesday in Kansas, says she talks mostly about issues like health care. She and other candidates are also pursuing a new kind of political strategy that treats sexuality, race and gender as campaign assets.

He’s a Superstar Pastor. She Worked for Him and Says He Groped Her Repeatedly.

Since the #MeToo movement emerged last year, evangelical churches have been grappling with allegations of sexual abuse by their pastors. The latest accusations have been leveled at Rev. Bill Hybels, who runs Willow Creek Community Church, a megachurch in Chicago. One of the church's former employees, Pat Baranowski, said on multiple occasions for two years beginning in 1986 Hybels fondled her breasts and rubbed against her, and the incidents once escalated to oral sex. Hybels denied the accusations. On Sunday, one of the church’s pastors resigned, saying it was in response to Baranowski’s “horrifying” allegations about Hybels.

Accused of Harassment, and Seeking Redemption at the Ballot Box

In Arizona, nine women have come forward with accusations of harassment by former state Rep. Don Shooter. Yet he is running for state Senate, and though he has been abandoned by much of the Republican establishment, his critics say he has a chance to win. Shooter is one of more than a dozen politicians who have been accused of misconduct and are running for state legislatures anyway. "I say stupid stuff, I admit it, big deal — I admitted it in my apology,” said Shooter, who believes Arizonans will vote for him because he has promised to root out corruption.

Body of Baby Boy Washes Up Under Brooklyn Bridge, Police Say

A family visiting New York City from Oklahoma made a shocking discovery Sunday — the body of an infant floating in the East River in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge. Investigators were trying to identify the boy, who was about 8 months old, find his parents and determine how he came to be in the water. Monte Campbell said he retrieved the infant from the water after his wife spotted the baby floating faceup near a pile of debris. Police said the baby’s body showed no signs of trauma. The medical examiner will determine how he died.

5 Killed After Plane Crashes in Strip Mall Parking Lot in California

A small plane crashed in the parking lot of a strip mall outside of Anaheim, California, on Sunday, killing all five people on board, the authorities said. The plane was en route to nearby John Wayne Airport when the pilot declared an emergency and crashed around 12:30 p.m. local time in Santa Ana, the authorities said. It crashed in a parking lot for Staples, a CVS pharmacy and other retailers. The plane struck a parked car but no one on the ground was injured. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the crash.

Man Found in Cafe Freezer Attacks Worker, Then Dies, Police Say

A 54-year-old Arizona man died after jumping out of a freezer and attacking an employee with a kitchen knife Sunday at a popular restaurant in Manhattan, police said. The man shouted, “Away, Satan!” and grabbed the knife after an employee opened the walk-in freezer at Sarabeth’s on the Upper West Side around 11 a.m., police said. Workers who heard the commotion wrestled the man to the floor and took away the knife, according to police. During the struggle, the man lost consciousness, went into cardiac arrest and was rushed to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead.