Sunday shows preview: 2020 field begins to take shape

The scope of the 2020 Democratic field grew more defined this week as the party’s primary field gained new candidates while several other potential contenders announced they would not run.

Gov. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and former Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) announced their White House bids this month while Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Attorney General Eric Holder all declined to throw their hats into the ring.

{mosads}Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), who shot to rockstar status with his failed Senate campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) last year, also teased a “big announcement” as he weighs a White House campaign.

Over a dozen Democrats have already announced they will seek their party’s presidential nomination next year. The primary field already features prominent candidates like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and more. Former Vice President Joe Biden is also widely expected to announce a campaign of his own.

Hickenlooper will appear on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Inslee and former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, another 2020 contender, will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” and Brown will appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Investigations into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia by congress and special counsel Robert Mueller saw further developments this week, with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort being sentenced to just under four years behind bars for a litany of financial crimes while former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen met behind closed doors with the House Intelligence Committee.

Manafort was sentenced for eight charges of bank and tax fraud, Cohen gave the Intelligence panel new documents, including some that reportedly showed his prior false statements about a proposal to build a Trump property in Moscow were edited before he delivered them to Congress.

Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) called the interview “enormously productive.”

Schiff will appear on “Meet the Press” and former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe will be on “Face the Nation.”

Beyond the Russia probes, the House of Representatives was also consumed this week with controversy around Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) comments about the influence of pro-Israel advocacy groups, which some criticized as anti-Semitic.

House Democrats scrambled to tinker with the language of a resolution meant to condemn her remarks, eventually settling on legislation that condemned anti-Semitism and Islamophobia while not mentioning Omar by name.

The House Democratic caucus unanimously voted for the resolution, while 23 Republicans voted against it over claims its censure of anti-Semitism was watered down.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the House Republican Conference chair, rebuked the GOP leadership when she voted against the legislation. She will appear on “Meet the Press.”

Here’s the full lineup:

ABC’s “This Week” — White House national security adviser John Bolton.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Brown, Cheney, Schiff 

CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., Hickenlooper, McCabe 

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Castro, Inslee, Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.)

“Fox News Sunday” — White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow; Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.)