President Donald Trump said this week he wants students to head back to the classroom this fall.

His announcement comes as the nation grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and as many states in the country show increases in cases.

Still, according to CBN News, Trump said this week that he is hopeful students will be able to physically attend school in a few weeks.

“We want our schools open. We want to get them open quickly, beautifully in the fall,” Trump said. “As you know this is a disease, a horrible disease but young people do extraordinarily well.”

Many school districts across the country have already announced tentative plans for the fall, allowing either in-person or virtual learning.

Also, in June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its guidance for schools, including recommendations such as staggering schedules, spreading out desks, having meals in classrooms instead of the cafeteria, adding physical barriers between bathroom sinks and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.

The CDC has also said children tend to have milder symptoms of COVID-19, but they can transmit the virus to others.

“It’s clear that the greater risk to our society is to have these schools close,” Dr. Robert Redfield, head of the CDC, said. “The CDC encourages all schools to do what they need to reopen, and to have plans that anticipate that COVID-19 cases will in fact occur.”

But it’s…

In a key win for religious employers, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Trump administration rule that exempts faith-based organizations from the Obama-era abortion/contraceptive mandate.

The controversy dates back to the Obama administration and President Obama’s chief legislative achievement, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). 

The text of the law required the coverage of “preventive care,” which Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) interpreted as mandating coverage of any Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive and sterilization procedure – including those such as Plan B (which can work after fertilization) and “ella” (which can work after implantation). Pro-life groups consider both drugs abortifacients. 

In 2018, the Trump administration’s HHS finalized a new rule exempting employers with religious and moral objections from the abortion/contraceptive mandate. The new rules did not apply to publicly traded companies.

A coalition of states, including Pennsylvania, filed suit against the Trump administration seeking to overturn the rule.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Trump rule and concluded the administration had the authority to issue it. Although the vote was 7-2 in the judgment, only five justices joined the majority opinion. The decision was authored by Justice Clarence Thomas and…

President Trump issued a notice to the United Nations this week asserting that the U.S. will be withdrawing from the World Health Organization over the group’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and its close ties with China.

According to Fox News, on Tuesday, a spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed that the WHO had received the notification of withdrawal from the President.

Members of Congress were also informed by the White House on Tuesday and told that the official removal will take effect July 2021.

“Congress received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the U.S. from the WHO in the midst of a pandemic,” Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), wrote on Twitter Tuesday.

“To call Trump’s response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn’t do it justice. This won’t protect American lives or interests—it leaves Americans sick & America alone,” he contended.

Congress received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the U.S. from the @WHO in the midst of a pandemic.

To call Trump’s response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn’t do it justice. This won’t protect American lives or interests—it leaves Americans sick & America alone.

— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) July 7, 2020

Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R- TN) also criticized Trump’s impending departure from the WHO asserting that the organization…

The U.S. Supreme Court handed private religious schools a major victory Wednesday, broadening the so-called ministerial exception and ruling they can hire and fire employees without being governed by anti-discrimination laws.

At issue were teachers at two separate Catholic schools who sued after their contracts were not renewed for reasons the schools said were related to performance. One teacher, though, alleged age discrimination, and the other alleged she was released because she asked for time off for a medical procedure. Both sued.

The ministerial exception is a legal doctrine that allows religious institutions to hire and fire employees without being governed by anti-discrimination laws. The U.S. Ninth Court of Appeals sided with the teachers, ruling they were covered by anti-discrimination because they weren’t ministers and had no ministerial background.

But the Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, said the schools were not bound by non-discrimination laws. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion.

The ruling could impact future cases related to sexual orientation and gender identity, allowing Christian schools to dismiss – for example – a teacher who comes out as LGBT.

The ministerial exception, Alito ruled, is broad. An employer doesn’t have to wear the title “minister” to be exempted from non-discrimination laws, Alito wrote.

“What matters, at bottom, is…

Despite cancer threatening his life, Alex Trebek and his wife Jean donated over half a million dollars recently to help open two shelters for the homeless in Los Angeles.

“I’m not one of those people who thinks that we can’t deal with the homeless near my house because that’s bad. I don’t feel that way,” the Jeopardy! host said to ABC 7 News. “I wish more people would react in a positive way to reaching out and trying to help their fellow member of the community.”

The 79-year-old game show host believes that the homeless should not be judged because of unfortunate circumstances. The Alex and Jean Trebek Community Room is part of the San Fernando Valley’s first “A Bridge Home” facility. It will temporarily hold 25 women and 60 men as they transition to permanent living situations. The Trebeks also donated to Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission for a second shelter opening in 2021, as reported by CBN News.

Though COVID-19 continues to disrupt everyday life for many, the new shelter will help the homeless get back on their feet and “become folks who we know are human beings and can feel that humanity again,” according to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. The shelters are part of “A Bridge Home” program, started in 2018.

“The goal of ‘A Bridge Home’ was very simple—to put ‘A Bridge Home’ shelter in every one of LA’s 15…

The United States is currently experiencing a rise in reported cases of COVID-19 while also seeing a decrease in the number of deaths. According to COVID tracking data from The New York Times, the 7-day average for new cases is at its highest peak yet, with an average of over 50,000 new cases being reported a day over the last week. At the same time, the 7- day average for deaths is at its lowest since late March. On average, 479 people died of the coronavirus every day for the first week of July. At one point in mid-April, the United States was averaging over 2,000 deaths per day.

Experts say the declining death rate coupled with the rising number of new cases cannot be explained by one factor. According to the New York Times, medical professionals see three main reasons behind the trend: more testing, better treatment, and a younger population contracting the virus.

The United States has dramatically increased its testing capacity since mid-March, even though it still lags behind what the leading experts have called for. In March, 100,000 were being tested each day while approximately 600,000 are tested each day in July. When testing was limited, many of those tested were exhibiting symptoms where more asymptomatic people are being tested now.

Hospitalizations have dropped by half since April, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project. Fewer people are on invasive ventilators and…