Sunday shows preview: New COVID-19 variants spread in US; Redditors shake Wall Street with Gamestop stock

The Biden administration’s effort to ramp up coronavirus vaccinations amid the threat of new variants in the U.S. and investors on Reddit driving up GameStop’s stock value are expected to dominate this week’s Sunday talk shows.

South Carolina on Thursday became the first state to report cases of COVID-19 of the B.1.351 variant, which was first discovered in South Africa. Maryland on Saturday announced that it detected its first case of the variant in Baltimore.

In addition, 30 states have reported cases of coronavirus variant B.1.1.7, which was originally discovered in the U.K., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The strains are spreading as President Biden aims to administer 100 million vaccinations within the first 100 days of his presidency.

The administration said Tuesday that it is increasing the weekly supply of doses sent to states by roughly 16 percent, and will be purchasing an additional 100 million doses of both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines, bringing total amount to 600 million doses.

Several public health experts are expected to take to the air waves this weekend including, Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, who will make an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press” and Tom Inglesby a director at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins. Inglesby will make an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” 

Meanwhile, White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, who will appear on “Meet the Press” and “State of the Union,” has held meetings with Democratic lawmakers this week in a push to pass President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who will appear on ABC’s “This Week,” has indicated that he’s ready to move the proposal forward via budget reconciliation, which would allow the measure to pass with a simple majority.

Meanwhile, Wall Street was shaken this week by amateur stock traders on Reddit who drove up stock values of several companies, including GameStop, after discovering that hedge funds shorted the stock.

Online trading platforms including Robinhood either prevented or limited trading on its platforms as a result of the rally. The Securities and Exchange Commission said it is investigating why the platforms blocked users from purchasing the stock and if illegal market manipulation led to the surge.

The recent Wall Street shake up has sparked bipartisan backlash. Sen. Elizabeth Warren( D-Mass.) who will appear on “State of the Union” said on Wednesday that it was “long past time for the SEC and other financial regulators to wake up and do their jobs.”

“With a new administration and Democrats running Congress, I intend to make sure they do,” Warren said.

Below is the full list of guests expected to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:

ABC’s “This Week” — Sens. Bernie Sanders, (I-Vt.), and Joe Manchin, (D-W.Va.); Govs. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., and Jim Justice, (R-W.Va.); Richard Besser, CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Brian Deese, economic adviser to President Joe Biden; Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.; Osterholm

CBS’s “Face the Nation” — Cedric Richmond, a Biden adviser; Gov. Ned Lamont, D-Conn.; Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami; Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson.

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Deese; Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Gov. Doug Ducey, R-Ariz.

“Fox News Sunday” — Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.; Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Jared Bernstein, a member of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), Ranking Member, House Intel Committee; Kash Patel, Former NSC Staffer; Stephen Miller, Former White House Senior Adviser; Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), House Foreign Affairs Committee; Gordon Chang, Author “The Great U.S.-China Tech War”; Jonathan Ward, Atlas Organization Founder

“America This Week With Eric Bolling” — Brett Favre- Hall Of Fame QB; Sarah Norman- Harris 2020; Ken Cuccinelli- Former Deputy Secretary; Dan Lippman- Politico