President Trump's personal pastor, Florida televangelist Paula White, has officially joined the White House in the Office of Public Liaison, The New York Times reports, citing a White House official. Her job will be advising the Trump's administration's Faith and Opportunity Initiative, created by executive order last year to give religious groups more of a say in federal programs programs focused on religious liberty and fighting poverty.
Hiring White to work in an office charged with outreach to various parts of Trump's base may be linked to Trump's re-election campaign, which is banking on strong turnout from white evangelical Christians, the Times notes. But "White cannot be easily categorized as either a political asset or a liability. She has a large following among Christians who believe in the 'prosperity gospel,' which teaches that God blesses people he deems to be of strong faith with wealth, good health, and other gifts. But many other Christians consider these beliefs to be heresy."
Still, White is in good standing with Trump, who she has known since 2002 and frequently visited in the White House even before getting a job there. She also delivered an invocation at Trump's inauguration and said a prayer before his official campaign kickoff rally in June. And her prayer at the June rally gives you a sense of why Trump values her ministration. "Let every demonic network that has aligned itself against the purpose, against the calling of President Trump, let it be broken, let it be torn down in the name of Jesus," White said. "I declare that President Trump will overcome every strategy from hell and every strategy from the enemy." Peter Weber
The Florida Department of Health has issued a warning to residents of Hillsborough County after a person there contracted Naegleria fowleri, a single-cell amoeba that infects the brain and is usually fatal.
Infections are rare — between 2009 and 2018, only 34 cases were reported in the United States, with most in the South, the BBC reports. In Florida, there have been just 37 cases reported since 1962. Typically found in warm freshwater, the amoeba enters the body through the nose. It cannot be passed from person to person.
The Department of Health did not say where the infection was contracted or the patient's condition, but did advise residents to avoid getting water from taps, lakes, rivers, ponds, and canals up their noses. Symptoms include fever, nausea, vomiting, headaches, and a stiff neck, and officials said anyone who believes they have been infected should "seek medical attention right away, as the disease progresses rapidly."
Infections are more likely in July, August, and September, when the water is warmer, but health officials don't want people to worry too much, reminding residents that the "disease is rare and effective prevention strategies can allow for a safe and relaxing summer swim season." Catherine Garcia
Nick Cordero, the Tony-nominated actor who starred in Bullets Over Broadway, Waitress, Rock of Ages, and A Bronx Tale: The Musical, died Sunday in Los Angeles after battling the coronavirus for several months. He was 41.
Cordero's wife, Amanda Kloots, shared on Instagram that her husband died "surrounded in love by his family, singing and praying as he gently left this Earth."
Cordero was hospitalized in late March after doctors thought he had pneumonia, and Kloots kept fans updated on his condition via Instagram. While in the intensive care unit, his right leg was amputated and he was put in a medically-induced coma. He also lost 65 pounds and suffered from two mini-strokes. Earlier this month, Kloots told CBS This Morning that Cordero would "most likely" need a double lung transplant in order to "live the kind of life that I know my husband would want to live."
The Canadian-born Cordero made his Broadway debut in 2012 in Rock of Ages, and was nominated for a Tony in 2014 for his role as Cheech in Bullets Over Broadway. He also appeared on several television shows, including a stint on Blue Bloods as Victor Lugo. In addition to Kloots, Cordero is survived by his young son, Elvis. Catherine Garcia
More than 230 scientists from 32 countries are asking the World Health Organization to address growing evidence that the coronavirus can spread indoors via aerosols that float in the air, The New York Times reports.
The WHO has maintained that the coronavirus is primarily spread by infected people who sneeze and cough, with their large respiratory droplets falling to the ground quickly. In its most recent guidance, the WHO said airborne transmission of the virus is only possible after medical procedures that produce aerosols. The scientists disagree, writing in a soon-to-be-published open letter that smaller exhaled particles can infect people, and the WHO's recommendations should be revised.
Multiple scientists told the Times that while they appreciate the WHO's work and attempts to educate the public, they are slow and risk-averse to updating recommendations. Dr. Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO's technical lead on infection control, told the Times the organization stated "several times that we consider airborne transmission as possible but certainly not supported by solid or even clear evidence. There is a strong debate on this." Read more at The New York Times. Catherine Garcia
President Trump will hold an outdoor rally in New Hampshire next Saturday, with his campaign saying on Sunday it will pass out face masks and hand sanitizer to attendees.
The rally will take place at Portsmouth International Airport. In June, Trump held his first campaign event in months at Tulsa's BOK Center. About 6,000 people showed up, a smaller-than-expected crowd. Hogan Gidley, Trump 2020's national press secretary, said in a statement the campaign is looking forward to "so many freedom-loving patriots" coming to the New Hampshire rally and "celebrating America."
The number of coronavirus cases continues to climb across the country, and Ray Buckley, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, told Reuters the rally will "only further highlight the chaos" Trump has caused in his "woefully inadequate" handling of the pandemic. Catherine Garcia
Dominion Energy and Duke Energy, the developers behind the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline, announced on Sunday they are canceling the $8 billion project.
The natural gas pipeline was set to go from West Virginia through Virginia to North Carolina. The project was first announced in 2014, with the developers saying they wanted the pipeline operational by 2018, but it was delayed due to environmental groups filing several legal challenges over permits.
Supporters said the pipeline would create manufacturing and construction jobs, while environmentalists and land owners argued it would destroy Appalachian forests. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Forest Service did have the authority to give the developers a key permit, but in a statement on Sunday, Dominion Energy and Duke Energy said there is still an "unacceptable layer of uncertainty and anticipated delays," making the project "too uncertain to justify investing more shareholder capital." Catherine Garcia