Pandemic Politics: As coronavirus infections continue to surge, President Trump yesterday threatened to withhold federal money from school districts that choose not to re-open this fall and he appears to be pressuring the Centers for Disease Control to ease its guidelines.

  Trump tweeted, “The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open!”

  The Democratic Party does not control local school districts, but Trump is also blaming the CDC;  “I disagree with@CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools. While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things.” 

  Following that, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the CDC would be issuing new guidelines, but Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said, “I’m not sending kids and our educational workforce into our schools unless it’s safe.”

  In the midst of all that noise, the New York City public schools announced that they will limit class to between one and three days a week and the Ivy League says they will have no fall sports.

The Numbers:  The US passed the mark of three million coronavirus cases yesterday while the world reached over twelve million. Deaths are creeping upward again in the US, 829 in the last 24 hours.

  The city of Tulsa, Oklahoma reported a surge of 500 new cases following President Trump’s political rally. 

  Arizona is quickly becoming the coronavirus center of the US. The state announce a delay in opening schools, hospital beds are nearly full, and people are waiting on line for hours to get tested.

Religious Reasons: The Supreme Court upheld a Trump administration regulation that lets employers with religious or moral objections limit women’s access to birth control coverage that was mandated by the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. Government estimates say about 70,000 to 126,000 women could lose contraceptive coverage as a result of the decision.

  The vote was 7 to 2, with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissenting.

  In the case called “LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR SAINTS PETER AND PAUL HOME v. PENNSYLVANIA,” the court noted that, “Consistent with their Catholic faith, the Little Sisters hold the religious conviction ‘that deliberately avoiding re- production through medical means is immoral.’” 

Last Words: Transcripts of Minneapolis police videos reveal that George Floyd told the cops more than 20 times that he couldn’t not breathe and he thought they were killing him.  “Come on, man. Oh, oh. I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe,” Floyd said, according to the transcripts. “They’ll kill me. They’ll kill me. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”

  Floyd died at the hands of Minneapolis police with an officer’s knee on his neck. His death set off weeks of street protests and a national re-examination of racism and police violence.

  The audio also reveals that the officers dismissed Floyd’s alarm. Former officer Derek Chauvin, who’s been charged with murder, is heard saying, “Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.”

  Floyd had said, “Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I’m dead.”

Friendly Fire: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a decorated combat veteran and former staff member with the National Security Council who testified against President Trump in his impeachment, announced he’s retiring in the face of the President’s opposition to his promotion. Vindman was in line to be made a full Colonel.

  Vindman was wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2004. The White House had actually pressed the Pentagon to dig up behavior by Vindman that would have justified denying him promotion.

 A spokesman for Vindman issued a statement saying, “Through a campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation, the President of the United States attempted to force LTC Vindman to choose: Between adhering to the law or pleasing a President.”

War of Words: Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a purveyor of political hatred, has boosted his profile by attacking Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a veteran who lost both legs when her helicopter was shot down in Iraq.

  Duckworth had declined to appear on Carlson’s show to talk about her suggestion that Americans should at least discuss and consider the possibility of removing statues and memorials to offensive figures. Carlson went on air calling her a moron, a fraud, and saying she “hates our country.”

  Duckworth, who has artificial legs but also uses a wheel chair, tweeted, “Does @TuckerCarlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?”

The Bulletin Board: The Supreme Court is expected to rule today on whether President Trump must turn over his tax returns to New York investigators. —Shepard Smith, the former Fox News anchor who quit in disagreement with the network over its coverage, is joining CNBC as anchor of a nightly show. — Already struggling with changing office dress codes, the 202-year-old clothing company Brooks Brothers filed for bankruptcy after suffering loss of business during the pandemic. — A man and woman in Martinez, California seen painting over an officially sanctioned “Black Lives Matter” slogan in the street have been charged with a hate crime. — Actress Naya Rivera, who starred in the television series “Glee” is missing on a California lake. Her four-year-old son was found alone on the boat she had rented. — Harvard and MIT are suing the Trump administration over its policy that requires foreign students to return home if they can’t attend classes in person.

The Pot and the Kettle: Speaking yesterday about China and the coronavirus, Secy. of State Mike Pompeo told reporters, “They’re incapable of being transparent, of accepting criticism, of allowing reporters to ask them questions that they find uncomfortable, that elicit the truth and the facts.”

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