National News at a Glance

Rally by White Nationalists Ends Almost Before It Began

White supremacists managed just a couple of dozen supporters Sunday in the nation’s capital for the anniversary of their deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, finding themselves greatly outnumbered by counterprotesters and police. Members of the far right — some wearing bright red “Make America Great Again” hats — marched under heavy police escort from the Foggy Bottom neighborhood to their barricaded and heavily protected rally area near the White House. They were surrounded by counterprotesters who hurled insults. At the same time in Charlottesville, few if any far-right demonstrators could be found and only a handful of arrests were reported.

US Shifts Stance on Voting Rights, Endorsing Limits

A new voter ID law could shut out many Native Americans from the polls in North Dakota. A rule on the collection of absentee ballots in Arizona is being challenged as a form of voter suppression. And officials in Georgia are scrubbing voters from registration rolls if their details do not exactly match other records. During the Obama administration, the Justice Department would often go to court to stop states from taking steps like those. But under President Donald Trump, the department has launched no new efforts to roll back state restrictions on voting, and instead often sides with them.

Wisconsin Faces a Political Crossroads Tuesday. Which Way Will It Go?

The most memorable part of Scott Walker’s run for president in 2016 was how he ended it: By dissing Donald Trump. Walker, Wisconsin’s two-term governor, said he was bowing out to help “clear the field” so a “positive, conservative alternative” could emerge to Trump. But Republicans never coalesced around an opponent to Trump, who went on to become the first Republican presidential nominee to carry Wisconsin since 1984. Walker is still Wisconsin’s governor, still harboring national ambitions, and Wisconsin Democrats and Republicans have grown more divided. Those dynamics are on display as Wisconsin prepares for a primary election Tuesday.

Omarosa Manigault Newman Taped Her Firing by John Kelly

Omarosa Manigault Newman secretly taped John Kelly, White House chief of staff, as he fired her in December in the Situation Room, a breach of security protocols, but one that revealed him suggesting that she could face damage to her reputation if she did not leave quietly. The recording was played Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where Manigault Newman promoted her new book, “Unhinged.” The memoir focuses on her relationship with President Donald Trump going back to her time on “The Apprentice.” She said she recorded the conversation because “this is a White House where everybody lies.”

Parker Solar Probe Launches on NASA Voyage to ‘Touch the Sun’

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe lifted toward space early Sunday. The launch was the second attempt to carry the spacecraft, which NASA touts will “touch the sun” one day, into orbit after a scrub Saturday. The probe — which will study the sun’s outer atmosphere and solar wind — was carried on top of a Delta IV Heavy rocket, one of the most powerful rockets available. Its third stage gave the probe the extra kick it needs to escape Earth’s gravity at a high enough velocity to put it on course for Venus in November, and eventually the sun.

Giuliani: Trump and Comey Had ‘No Conversation About Michael Flynn’

Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, said Sunday that the president never had a conversation last year with James Comey, then the FBI director, about ending the investigation into the fired national security adviser Michael Flynn, contradicting a memo Comey wrote at the time. Giuliani’s statement, made during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” also appeared at odds with his own previous comments. While the White House has previously denied that Trump had asked Comey to drop the investigation, Giuliani had suggested that the two had discussed the inquiry, but in a way different from Comey’s account.

Experts Confounded How Man Managed to Fly Stolen Plane

Experts debated Sunday how Richard Russell, a Horizon Air employee without a pilot’s license, managed to fly a stolen plane above the Seattle area for nearly an hour Friday before his deadly crash. Ryan Barclay, founder of Fly Away Simulation, believes "a civilian who has a thorough experience of flight simulation could indeed start, taxi and take off an aircraft with no real-world pilot experience." Rick Todd, president of the National Association of Flight Instructors, said he was surprised to see that someone without a pilot’s license would be able to get the plane off the ground without it stalling.