Sunday shows preview: Coronavirus poses questions about school safety; Trump commutes Roger Stone sentence

Whether or not and how schools and colleges open in the fall amid the coronavirus pandemic will be one of the main topics discussed on this week’s Sunday morning shows.

The Trump administration this week took an aggressive stance on wanting schools to in the fall. President Trump threatened to cut schools’ federal funding if they don’t open up in the fall, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told governors it was unacceptable for schools districts to have in-person teaching only part of the time.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released guidance for the nation’s schools on how to reopen in the safest way possible, but Trump pushed back on the recommendations, calling the guidelines “very tough & expensive.”

CDC Director Robert Redfield said Thursday that there are greater health risks with keeping schools closed rather than having them reopen.

“I’m of the point of view as a public health leader in this nation, that having the schools actually closed is a greater public health threat to the children than having the schools reopen,” Redfield told The Hill.

Another leading health official, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, will appear on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

DeVos will also make an appearance, going on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

The other major topic on the shows will most likely be Trump’s commutation of longtime adviser Roger Stone. The president commuted the sentence of Stone, who was convicted of witness tampering and lying to Congress and set to go to jail on Tuesday.

The move prompted instant backlash from the president’s Democratic critics in Congress. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Saturday that she plans on introducing legislation that will limit the president’s future pardon powers.

“President Trump’s decision to commute the sentence of top campaign advisor Roger Stone, who could directly implicate him in criminal misconduct, is an act of staggering corruption,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Pelosi will appear on “State of the Union.”

A full lineup of the shows is below:

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