Sunday shows preview: Spotlight on Georgia voting law; lawmakers tackle gun violence, border surge

This week’s Sunday talk shows are expected to be dominated by Georgia’s controversial voting law and lawmakers’ push to tackle gun violence and the surge of migrants at the U.S. border.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a controversial law on Thursday tightening the state’s voting rules. Among the changes are limits on ballot drop boxes and a requirement for photo ID for absentee voting.

As Kemp was signing the bill, Georgia state Rep. Park Cannon (D) was arrested for knocking on his door. Video of the incident went circulated on social media drawing anger from Democrats.

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union,” told reporters on Thursday “the people are being locked down and locked out of their own democracy.”

“This effort to silence the voices of Georgians … will not stand,” he said after visiting Cannon in Fulton County jail.

The law sparked fury from Democrats, who are looking to pass election reform at the federal level amidst attempts from GOP-controlled states to pass similar laws. House Democrats have already passed H.R. 1, which requires states to offer mail-in ballots, same day voter registration and expanded early voting.

But the bill meets a challenge in an evenly-divided Senate, where 60 votes are needed to pass the bill. The measure has since spawned new debate around ending the filibuster, which Democrats do not have enough votes to do.

President Biden said during his first press conference on Thursday that he may support drastic changes to the filibuster if it continued to block passage of voting rights.

Also last week, lawmakers grappled with gun reform after a mass shooting in Boulder, Colo. left ten people dead. The shooting came roughly a week after a series of shootings at spas in Atlanta left eight dead.

The suspect, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, is facing ten counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder from the shooting. He will be held without bail pending trial. Court records revealed that Alissa bought the gun he used six days before the shooting.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are scrambling to tackle the surge of migrants at the U.S. border that appears to be escalating quickly. Eighteen senators visited the southern border this week amid the surge.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who will appear on  Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” shared claiming that they “encountered human traffickers” and “cartel members” along the border. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke slammed Cruz over the video.

Biden addressed the surge during his press conference on Thursday, and blasted former President Trump for defunding agencies that would have been able to handle the surge. The U.S. was in custody of over 15,000 unaccompanied minors as of that day.

Below are the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this weeks Sunday talk shows

CNN “State of the Union”: Secretary of State Antony Blinken; Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.); Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.); Sanjay Gupta.

NBC “Meet the Press”: Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.); Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.);  Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.).; Peter Baker; Al Cardenas; Heather McGhee; Vicky Nguyen

CBS “Face the Nation”: Anthony Fauci;  Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas); Rep.-elect Julia Letlow (R-La.); Anthony Capuano; Scott Gottlieb.

ABC “This Week”: White House comms director Kate Bedingfield; Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska).; Rahm Emanuel;Leah Wright Rigueur; Margaret Hoover; Ramesh Ponnuru.

“Fox News Sunday”: White House press secretary Jen Psaki; Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).; Josh Holmes, Shannon Bream; Harold Ford, Jr.;Taylor Gaussoin; Joe DiPietro.

Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures”: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas); Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.); Eric Trump; Charlie Kirk; Christian Walker.