Sunday shows preview: Lawmakers to address alarming spike in coronavirus cases

The sharp spike in coronavirus cases across the country is set to dominate the Sunday talk show circuit this weekend, with lawmakers and health officials sounding the alarm that drastic action may be needed.

The U.S. set records this week with its number of new daily COVID-19 cases, with the bulk of the surge occurring in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.

To try to blunt the spread of the coronavirus further, the states have enacted a series of measures including closing bars and, in the case of Texas, ordering people to wear masks in public.

However, President Trump has taken a different tact, expressing optimism that the pandemic will eventually “disappear” and still declining to wear a mask while in public.

“I have no objection to masks whatsoever,” Trump told Fox News’s Eric Bolling in a pretaped interview this week, adding that he rarely wears one personally because “I have a different kind of life.”

Administration officials including the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia will discuss the ongoing fight against the pandemic and the White House’s efforts to rebuild the economy, while mayors from cities including Houston, Phoenix and Miami will be asked about local responses.

A slate of other issues is expected to come up in the Sunday show circuit, including the ongoing debate over Confederate statues and reports that Russia paid the Taliban bounties to target U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan. 

Below is the full list of guests who will appear on this weekend’s Sunday talk shows. 

ABC’s “This Week” — Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the FDA; Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego; Miami Mayor Francis Suarez; Judge Lina Hidalgo of Harris County, Texas.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Govs. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) and Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.); Susan Rice, former national security adviser to President Barack Obama.

CBS’s “Face the Nation” — Former national security adviser John Bolton; Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner; Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Hahn; Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa); Austin, Texas, Mayor Steve Adler.

“Fox News Sunday” — Scalia; Dr. Ashish Jha, director of Harvard’s Global Health Institute; Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.). 

Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.); columnist Gordon Chang.

“America This Week With Eric Bolling” — Trump; Sen Mike Lee (R-Utah); GOP operative and Trump associate Roger Stone; Raz Simone

—Updated at 9:55 p.m.