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New Day Sunday

"Dangerously Cold" Wind Chills Remain After Record Snowfall; Questions Swirl After Multiple Reports Ton Brady is Retiring; Russia Moves Navy Drills After Irish Fishermen Protest; U.S. Officials: Indications Russia Has Move Blood Supplies to Ukrainian Border; Trump Teases Presidential Run, Suggests Pardons for January 6 Rioters; There is a Shortage of Nurses All Across All Health Care Setting. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired January 30, 2022 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[07:00:04]

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Next hour of your NEW DAY starts right now.

So you are waking up on Sunday, January 30th, take a nice deep breath. We're so glad to have you with us.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much for waking up with us.

Christi, always a pleasure to be with you.

This morning, more than 15 million Americans from Maine to southern Florida are waking up under wind-chill alerts because of some very dangerous cold temperatures.

PAUL: Yeah, take a look at what the situation was in Boston. All four screens a mess. The powerful nor'easter brought historic snowfall. It broke records really throughout the Northeast.

It didn't stop one Rhode Island couple, though, from going through with their wedding plans. Congratulations to them this morning. That's memorable for everybody there.

Piles of snow and strong winds, though, could not stop these two from tying the knot. They are on the steps of the Providence courthouse there. Congratulations, again, to them. Many blessings to them.

Here is the thing, authorities are still urging people please stay home and off the roads. It wasn't just the snow, many places saw coastal flooding.

We were talking about that yesterday, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, that's right. Take a look at this view of the harbor in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Floodwaters covered entire streets. More than 60,000 residents in the state remain without power this morning.

The storm also affecting travel in the air as well. More than 1,200 flights to U.S. airports canceled just today alone. PAUL: So I know you're wondering what's next.

We will get the latest forecast from the CNN weather center in a moment but let's start with CNN's Polo Sandoval. He is probably freezing in Boston right now, but Boston recorded as we said its snowiest January on record, temperatures in their teens now.

All right. How are you doing out there, Polo? How is everybody else?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Doing well, but, you know, that storm, Christi and Boris, it has come and gone but it has left behind some frigid temperatures and some record-tying snow amounts in terms of what we saw last night, officially the national weather service calling it a blizzard because it met all the criteria that's required here. In terms of snow amounts here in Boston just a little bit over 23.6 inches tying the record for daily snow accumulation that was set back in 2003.

So, yes, Boston used to winter storms, that's not news. But that kind of snow amount it certainly is here. This is certainly something that people are not used to when it comes to those snow amounts. In terms of what we expect today, authorities here going to continue to work to make sure that those roads are clear. I have to tell you, though, Christi and Boris, pretty impressive, a lot of these roads, especially side roads as well, crews have been working around the clock, through the night, 900 pieces of equipment out there, snow removal equipment to make sure that those roads are clear, especially in anticipation for tomorrow.

We do expect to hear from Boston mayor, Michelle Wu, later today, the big question is whether or not the snow that we saw yesterday if it's still going to have any potential impact on life tomorrow whenever folks potentially head back to school and work, so that's a big question. But for now, really, it's power outages also.

You still have a lot of homes, especially along eastern Massachusetts, part of the coastal area, those parts of Massachusetts that saw that coastal flooding that are still in the dark, utility companies saying they are working nonstop to make sure they are back on line and you know that's a big priority, especially with the temperatures as cold as they are right now, a real feel of about negative 7 degrees right now. That's really cold for this Texan.

SANCHEZ: We hope you're staying warm out there, Polo. Those negative temperatures mean a lot of that snow and the stuff that's blocking crews from getting to -- getting folks their power that lightly will be a headache for the next few days.

Let's take a look at what's next in the forecast with CNN's Tyler Mauldin. He is in the weather center right now.

How long are we expecting those temperatures that polo was talking about, Tyler?

TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: For several days. So it's going to take about two to three days for the temperatures to rewound back to average. That winter storm that we dealt with yesterday is now long gone, the northerly winds behind it bringing down some cold air from the arctic and that's the reason why we have wind-chill alerts for many from Maine all the way down through the Carolinas and, yes, even down into Florida as well.

The temperatures right now when you look at the temperature in, let's say -- let's go to Albany here, temperature is 4 degrees but when you factor in the wind it's making it feel like it's minus 10. You look at Boston, the air temperature is 10 degrees but you add in the wind and it's making it feel like it's minus 5. So, that's the kind of air that we're dealing with and it's going to linger around for a few days.

Sure, we will rebound come the afternoon, highs will get out above the teens, we will get into the low 20s for many across the Northeast, the mid-Atlantic and New England, but this is well below average. Anytime you're below average in January you know the air is going to have a bite. It's going to feel really uncomfortable.

[07:05:03]

And then down here across Florida, we have freeze warnings up, freeze alerts are up for many from Northern Florida all the way down into southern Florida. Lows this morning and we also had the wind-chill alerts up, too, lows this morning, get this, Tallahassee, 23 degrees, going down to Miami, 39. Some of us will be breaking records this morning across central and southern Florida.

SANCHEZ: A note to my fellow Floridians, those iguanas are not dead, they will reanimate once the weather gets warm enough.

Tyler Mauldin, thanks so much for breaking that go down for us.

PAUL: Thank you for saying that, Boris. I was saying that yesterday. Saying the pictures you would assume that they may not still be with us.

SANCHEZ: Some folks have tried to harvest them when they're frozen and accidents have happened. We won't get into that now.

We have to get into a different fiasco, a question we've been trying to answer since yesterday afternoon, what the GOAT will do after ESPN reported that NFL quarterback Tom Brady is on the verge of retiring.

PAUL: Yeah, exactly. We know if you think about the numbers, 22 seasons, seven Super Bowl wins. He's 44 years old, which I heard somebody say he was advanced age. That was little depressing. I get it. In sport, I get it.

CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes reports on the GOAT. saying, listen, I'm still undecided.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Have we seen the NFL's most accomplished player walk off the field for the final time? ESPN's Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington reporting Saturday afternoon that after 22 seasons Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady plans to retire.

After orchestrating yet another incredible come back in the loss to the Rams last Sunday, Brady had said on his podcast Monday any decision to walk away would be a family call.

TOM BRADY, NFL PLAYER: The biggest difference now that I'm older is I have kids now, too, you know, and I care about them a lot as well. And, you know, they've been my biggest supporters, my wife is my biggest supporter. You know, it pains her to see me get hit out there. You know, she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad.

I would say I'm proud and satisfied of everything we accomplished this year. So, I know when I give it my all that's something to be proud of, and I've literally given everything I had this year, last year, the year before that, the year before that. Like I don't leave anything half-assed.

SCHOLES: The seven-time Super Bowl champ has always maintained he wanted to play to 45 years old. Brady will celebrate his 45th birthday in August.

His current Bucs teammate Devin White was quick to offer congratulations on a great career via social media but some close to Brady have told media outlets that his future is still undecided.

Brady's agent Don Yee releasing a statement to ESPN saying: I understand the advanced speculation about Tom's future. Without getting into the accuracy or inaccuracy of what's being reported, Tom will be the only person to express his plans with complete accuracy. He knows the realities of the football business and planning calendar as well as anybody, so that should be soon.

Brady's father, Tom Brady Sr. also telling multiple reporters his son hasn't made up his mind. The Bucs head coach Bruce Arians also according to multiple reports says he has not been told Brady is retiring. CNN has reached out to the Bucs, Brady's representatives and the NFL but haven't received response to questions about the situation.

But if this is it for Brady, he leaves as the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, a sixth round pick that was once the huge underdog ends with the most passing yards and most touchdowns in NFL history and those seven Super Bowl rings are more than any other team in league history.

BOB COSTAS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: He's able to step aside while still playing at an extraordinarily high level at an advanced age and the word satisfaction also came into play. He had all that he accomplished in New England and if he had stepped aside at that point it would have been more than enough to ensure his place in history right at the top of the pyramid.

Then he goes and wins another Super Bowl with the Bucs and he plays at an extremely high level this year, change a play or two and he's in the conference championship game tomorrow. So leaving at that level, very, very few athletes, even among the greatest of the great, get to go out on their own terms that way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Thanks to Andy Scholes for that report.

Let's bring in Dan Shaughnessy, he is a sports columnist and associate editor at the "Boston Globe". He's also the author of "Wish It Lasted Forever: Life with the Larry Bird Celtics."

Dan, thanks for being with us this morning.

I want to start with the front page of your paper, returning or retiring? Frenzy over Brady plans. The very top of "The Boston Sunday Globe".

You know, we've seen Tom Brady, I personally witnessed him manifest a number of incredible comebacks against my beloved Miami Dolphins on a number of occasions.

[07:10:05]

Is there one last comeback left in Tom Brady or do you think he's actually saying good-bye?

DAN SHAUGHNESSY, SPORTS COLUMNIST AND ASSOCIATE EDITOR, BOSTON GLOBE: There's always one more in him, there is no question, he is capable. We saw what he just did at the age of 44, but I do think this is it. I think the reports are accurate. I think that there's a quarrel about the timing of the reports, that Tom Brady and his camp want to control their own message. We understand that.

A guy with his resume, his gravitas, certainly deserves to have his own press conference, announce his retirement on his terms. I think it's true but I think it got out early and the Brady camp tried to get ahead of it. If you listen to those they're not really denials as much as they are clarifications about when this is going to be told to everybody.

SANCHEZ: Right. His agent said that he didn't want to get into the accuracy or inaccuracy of the reporting. Having covered Brady extensively when he was playing for the Patriots, I'm wondering what you think of how he perhaps feels about all of this. As you said, he wants to control the messaging, he probably doesn't want to overshadow the big championship games that are coming later today, too.

SHAUGHNESSY: Right. It's a good pocket after today. Today is both conference championships are today then you have two weeks before the Super Bowl. That's a nice little soft landing spot for tom to come out with his thing next week anytime Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, before the week of the super bowl action which would kick off in the week.

But, yeah, there's plenty of time for him to do this. For him to do it the day before the AFC/NFC championship games not characteristic. He didn't want it to get out that way. The reporters who got this are good. I believe it's true. I listened

to Tom Brady Sr. And his agent Don Yee they are not telling us it's not true they're telling us this has yet to be announced and will be announced on Tom's terms.

SANCHEZ: I may be asking someone who is biased but in the pantheon of sports greats, I can really only think of someone like Michael Jordan in American sports at least that rivals just the rarified air that Tom Brady occupies.

What can you take from his legacy not just as an athlete but also the example that he has set for people that aspire to be great at any craft?

SHAUGHNESSY: Well, certainly he's the greatest NFL player of all time, the greatest quarterback of all time and he's done it in the 21st century, setting records that may never be broken, certainly are way up there.

Football is so popular now, you think of those games last weekend, the four divisional playoff games were tremendous, it's the ultimate television product, the most popular sport in America, it has the gambling, violence, fantasy, all of things that America loves. It's a great TV product.

Tom is king of that sport at a time when the sport is bigger than it's ever before. You reference Jordan, sure you can go back to that. NBA has never as big as the NFL is now but Michael certainly was a global figure.

Hey, go back 100 years. Babe Ruth was a pretty big deal in America back in the 1920s. So, you are really talking about an iconic figure. And in our town he is number one, which is a lot to say when you've had Ted Williams, Bobby Orr, Bill Russell, guys like that.

SANCHEZ: It really is an incredible career and if this is the end of it, it is quite a chapter in NFL history. I just want to note I read this yesterday, the Miami Dolphins which I noted I'm a huge fan of have not won a single playoff game since the first time Tom Brady started and he has had an incredible 20-plus year career. Kind of sad.

One last question, Dan, what is your lasting image of Tom Brady? What will you remember most about his career if you had to pick one moment?

SHAUGHNESSY: It's the first one. It was 20 years ago almost this week, it was the first week of February in 2002, right after the towers fell, very sensitive time in America and the Patriots went to New Orleans and they were like 16-point underdogs against the St. Louis Rams and they beat them.

Brady had this great drive at the end of the game, there was a last second field goal that won the game. The patriots Pad never won a championship, they won it that day. Boston hadn't won a championship in 16 years. They won it that day and won 11 more over the next decade and a half.

So, it really changed things, created a renaissance in Boston sports and Brady kicked that off at the tender age of 24.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, again, an incredible career. Several Hall of Fame careers in one for Tom Brady.

Dan Shaughnessy, we appreciate you sharing part of your weekend for us looking back at the career of a legend. Thanks so much.

SHAUGHNESSY: Thank you.

PAUL: Still to come this morning, former President Trump hinting at another run for the White House, but he goes even further. What he said at a rally about how he would handle those who are charged in connection to the January 6th insurrection.

Also, rising tensions with Ukraine. Why Russia decided to change the location of naval drills off the coast of Ireland.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:19:10]

SANCHEZ: Russia is calling it a gesture of goodwill. Russian navy drills planned off the coast of Ireland are going to be relocated after protests by local fishermen.

PAUL: The fishermen were concerned about their safety since obviously the drills are expected to include rocket launches and naval artillery and they're concerned about the impact on traditional fishing areas as well.

CNN correspondent Donie O'Sullivan is with us from Castletownbere, Ireland.

Donie, I know you look very at home right now. Talk to us about the David and Goliath story that you're seeing play out.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. We are on really the western tip of Europe on the south coast of Ireland. Russia due to flex muscle with the Russian navy this week.

Waters just about 150 miles off the coast here right where fishermen in Castletownbere fish every day, where they depend on for their livelihoods.

[07:20:08]

They heard about this activity happening, made clear they were not happy about it and were planning on continuing fishing.

And representatives from the fishing industry went to meet the Russian ambassador during the week and Russia essentially said it would be unwise, even dangerous for these fishermen to go out in the ocean near where this exercise was taking place, but then last night a change of tune from the Russians.

I want to show you this statement from the Russian ambassador in Ireland who said: In response to request from the Irish government as well as from the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organization, that's the fishermen, the Russian government has decided as a gesture of good will to relocate the exercises by the Russian navy outside the Irish exclusive economic zone with the aim not to hinder activities by Irish vessels in the traditional fishing areas.

What that essentially means is the fishermen got what they're asking for, Russia is going to move further off the coast. We were speaking to fishermen preparing to go out there and as this news broke we were with Patrick Murphy who have negotiated with the Russian ambassador and we asked him for this reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK MURPHY, CEO, SOUTH & WEST FISH PRODUCERS' ORGANISATION: Out of the blue a bit. Yeah. Jesus, that's a bit to take in.

O'SULLIVAN: How do you feel?

MURPHY: Shocked really. Like I didn't think that little old us in the Irish South and West would have an impact on international diplomacy.

O'SULLIVAN: It's a big win for you, right?

MURPHY: For our boats and the lads here and the boats going out there, absolutely. Look, all they want to do is go to fish and now they can do so peaceably.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: So a real sense of relief and celebration here, a win, I guess, for the little guy in this David and Goliath battle. The fishermen from this harbor who will be leaving tonight and tomorrow can know they will be going out there and won't hopefully be coming across any Russian Navy vessels.

PAUL: Yeah, that would not be the best look when you are out there on a boat. That might make somebody just a bit nervous.

Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much. Good to see you this morning as always.

O'SULLIVAN: Thanks, guys.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Donie.

PAUL: Of course.

SANCHEZ: So the latest indication that Russia is building up its capacity for an invasion of Ukraine is blood, supplies of blood, which according to two U.S. defense officials has been positioned at the border with Ukraine intended for the casualties of a potential conflict.

With the world bracing for Vladimir Putin's next move, let's discuss with CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. He is a White House and national security correspondent for "The New York Times" and the author of "The Perfect Weapon."

David, thanks for being with us this morning.

So far, there are no tangible public signs of a de-escalation by Russia. So without capitulating to all of Vladimir Putin's demands at this point, is an invasion of Ukraine inevitable?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning.

I don't think it's inevitable, but I do think that the evidence would suggest that it is likely. There have been moments where we have seen the Russians at least sound de-escalatory. We have heard the foreign minister, Foreign Minister Lavrov, say we have no plan to invade. The account that Donie just gave us suggests that the Russians are trying their best not to go anger some of the European allies.

I'm not sure that's necessarily an indication of what would happen far away from the Irish coast in Ukraine, but it's a good sign. So I think the Russians are feeling a little bit of pressure here that comes from the U.S. and the united kingdom ramping up the warnings, including the evidence that they're bringing blood and medical units, that they've brought a radiological unit out as well, which would make sense if an invasion had to go run through the Chernobyl-excluded area.

SANCHEZ: And, David, I want to get to the core of Vladimir Putin's views of Ukraine specifically. He doesn't see it as an independent territory, but rather land that was negotiated away from the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. How does that weigh in his decision- making? He sees it as territory that's his essentially to reclaim.

SANGER: That's right. And if you go back and read the speech that he gave in July, a very long and somewhat winding speech, he makes it clear that he doesn't think that Ukraine has ever been really truly a separate state.

[07:25:02]

That it is ethnically, culturally part of Russia and that he is basically restoring elements of the old Soviet Empire. That said, you know, he -- while he is willing to take greater risk, it's not clear how high the risks are and I think what the U.S. is doing in ramping up the messaging about the nature of the sanctions, how difficult it might be for the Russians if an insurgency develops inside Ukraine, is to try to pierce the bubble a little bit that may surround Putin and make sure that he is hearing a full accounting of the risks.

Now, he may end up discount that go as Western propaganda and make his decision anyway. It would be difficult and maybe embarrassing for him now to pull those troops back, and that's part of the difficulty, I think, that everyone is facing. What's the face-saving way out of this?

SANCHEZ: And, David, you have written extensively about the potential for some kind of renewed agreement between the United States or even the West and Russia, and you've written about the difficulties of that specifically when it comes to cyber weapons, because, as you wrote, the United States has a vulnerability when it comes to Russian access to things like critical infrastructure.

You write that including some of those cyber weapons in an agreement is difficult because, quote, such weapons do not lend themselves to arms control. They are hard to find and impossible to count. But no agreement with Russia that excludes them will address the constant asymmetric battling that goes on between the two countries every day.

So, ultimately, are you arguing that there is a mutually-assured destruction between the United States and Russia when it comes to these cyber weapons?

SANGER: No, in fact, I don't think there is and that's one of the reasons we've never really seen a treaty around -- around cyber. You know, in the nuclear age you could put together mutually-assured destruction because we knew just how many and where the soviet and then Russian nuclear forces were. They knew where ours were. You could count them. You could count missiles. So there was some verification that was possible.

In the cyber world that doesn't exist. It's hard to know where the weapons are. They could be in the hands of the government, in the hands of criminal groups, in the hands of private actors, and so the old arms control concepts don't work. And that's particularly worrisome at a moment that we have got a much bigger target surface than the Russians do. Every one of our banks, every one of our electric grids and so forth is a target.

The Russians have some of those, too, but we're the most wired society around, and the Russians know that's a vulnerability for us.

SANCHEZ: An incredibly unsettling thought and reason to proceed with caution in any potential negotiation with the Russians.

David Sanger, as always, delighted to have your expertise. Thanks for joining us.

SANGER: Great to be with you.

PAUL: Full potential pardons for those charged in connection to the deadly insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. That's one of the things former president Trump is teasing if he takes back the White House. We'll tell you more of what he said.

Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:32:49]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: During a rally in Texas last night, former President Donald Trump not only teased the presidential run in the 2024 election, but says that he would consider pardoning those who were charged in connection with the deadly January 6th attack on the Capitol if he wins the White House again. CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Now, his comments seek to echo a growing

sentiment among some Republicans that the rioters should be forgiven.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: If I run and if I win we will treat those people from January 6th fairly. We will treat them fairly. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: CNN chief media correspondent and anchor of "RELIABLE SOURCES", Brian Stelter, with us now.

Stelter, so good to see you.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Thanks.

PAUL: You know, there was something that was interesting that stood out to me in this because at one point he said, quote, I'm trying to save the USA, which is in the worst condition and position that I believe it has ever been in.

When he paints the U.S. like that, there are a lot of people right now who do feel that after this pandemic, they're fatigued and there's so many uncertainty. But how does he get from there to pardoning people who assaulted the Capitol?

STELTER: Right, it shows -- it shows how both Trump and some portion of the GOP has really devolved when it comes to January 6, all the way to the point where it is the rioters who are behind bars who are being treated unfairly or being wronged and who must be saved. That is a complete narrative shift from a year ago and it speaks to how the Overton window can be moved, where Trump is moving to a more extreme vision where the people who ransacked the Capitol and who in some cases committed felonies but many misdemeanors are the ones who are actually innocent and need to be saved.

I also think that rhetoric speaks to every time Trump calls into a right wing talk show he gets asked, are you running for president? Are you running for president? Let's dispense with that.

Clearly, he is going to run or at least at the present day he wants us all to believe he is running. He gets up there and talks just like a presidential candidate. He is very much in this until he's not.

[07:35:03]

And I think what we heard last night was a lot of fear and concern about the investigations into his businesses and into his -- into his conduct, the investigations in New York, in Georgia. There was a palpable concern that he has about these investigations which may propel him even more to enter the race because if he is running as a candidate he can say it's all political.

I thought that was the big take away from his rally, how concerned he is about these probes.

SANCHEZ: I found it shocking, Brian, that he called these investigators racist, as if they were pursuing him because he's white. I think we have a portion of the speech. Let's listen to that now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington, D.C., in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere because our country and our elections are corrupt. They're corrupt. I'm trying to save the USA, which is in the worst condition and position that I believe it has ever been in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: He's directly challenging the rule of law a legitimate investigation and emboldening the very people who tried to undo the results of the 2020 election. This is incredibly dangerous.

STELTER: It's January 5th all over again. Remember January 5th when Trump was telling his fans to come to the capital for a save America rally. He wasn't telling them to go up to the Capitol and try to attack lawmakers, he was just telling them to come to a protest. That's exactly where we are again now.

What happened in 2020, 2021 was a slow-motion coup, now we have this slow motion erosion of the rule of law. If you say to yourself he is out of office, he is a loser, he lost the presidency, he doesn't matter, and I'll tell you why he does matter -- his speeches are live on Newsmax and other channel and reach millions of people. Last week -- two weekends ago when they aired one of these rallies, highest rated program on cable that day, on cable news.

So, there is an audience for this, not as big as it used to be but there is a base that wants to hear this from Trump that wants to be animated and that may listen to him that says if I'm wronged, protest for me. We know in Trump speak, that means if they find me guilty or if they find any evidence, right? That's what he means and he's already saying it every day. Seems to me it's January 5th all over again.

PAUL: I'm still trying to figure out how he believes the country is worst its ever been in and how protesting prosecutors has anything to do with making it better.

STELTER: Great point.

PAUL: Yeah, Brian Stelter, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.

STELTER: Thanks.

PAUL: And make sure to catch Brian, he's not going anywhere. He's on later this morning, of course, on RELIABLE SOURCES at 11:00 a.m. right here on CNN.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:42:27]

PAUL: Let me ask you something. If you have friends and family in the health care industry, and have you asked them how they're doing lately? We have this optimism from health experts right now when it comes to the falling number of COVID cases and hospitalizations, and deaths are still up. Health care workers are still on the front lines of this pandemic and now we're going into year three. So, a lot of us feel exhausted, imagine them.

Our next guest is Lauren Ghazal. She's a board certified family nurse practitioner and she wrote an op-ed for CNN.com and she said that if you want to ask -- if you go to somebody who is a nurse and ask them how they're doing, they will most likely answer nurses are not okay.

Lauren, thank you for what you do, first and foremost. I want to say that.

Secondly, I wanted to start this by asking how you are. I feel like I now know to some degree, but help us understand what is weighing on you most right now.

LAUREN GHAZAL, BOARD CERTIFIED NURSE PRACTITIONER: Hi. Thank you, Christi, for having me today.

It's a really complicated question and, you know, I'm taking this day by day as well as my other colleagues in the nursing profession. In my five years as a nurse practitioner I've never seen anything like this. What we're feeling is we're maxed out and the general population doesn't understand how much nurses are struggling right now and that needs to change.

PAUL: So I know that part of the problem is because there is a disproportionate number of nurses for patients, you have to turn some people away, physically say, we can't help you. That has got to be one of the hardest parts of your job I would think.

GHAZAL: Yes, and in my piece I talk about that in settings where I work and there are settings that don't have that option, nurses that work in the emergency department. We have heard some of their voices as well. But it is really hard when nurses feel like they can't deliver the quality of care that they want to because there's just so many patients, our patient load is very high so we're struggling with meeting both the needs of ourselves and the needs of our patients.

PAUL: You also wrote many nurses are left to silently suffer as they face overwhelming feelings of exhaustion, irritability, anxiety and sadness. I think that resonates with a lot of people. A lot of people are feeling that, but for nurses you say it's chipping away daily at our mental health.

[07:45:02] One recent study publish in JAMA Psychiatric found that compared to the general female population, female nurses are at two times higher risk of death by suicide. Do you know people who have those feelings and how do you commiserate with them? How do you talk with them about that?

GHAZAL: It's a really hard topic to talk about and that first question, right, how are you doing I think can open up a lot of this conversation. We do have data coming out and those statistics with the research team led out of the University of Michigan predated the pandemic. So we don't really know how much the pandemic has actually exacerbated mental health conditions and deaths by suicide.

Just recently, actually, on Friday, a team that I'm on out of New York university published a study that looked at the first six months and looked at nurses psychosocial health and over a study of over 600 nurses, there were really high rates of depressive symptoms, high rates of anxiety and insomnia, all those that chip away, like I wrote, at our mental health and ultimately impact the quality of care that we're able to give to patients.

PAUL: You ask the question, excuse me, can the U.S. afford to ignore nurses suffering. What do you need most? What would help you?

GHAZAL: That's a great question and to answer the first question, we can't afford to keep our voices silent. So having more nurses in an arena like this, sharing their experiences, talking to people like you is wonderful.

For other viewers listening in and if you are not already the best thing that I can recommend to help nurses is please get vaccinated and boosted, wear a high-quality mask and right now especially if you can consider donating blood. In health care, there are things we can focus on to strengthen what we call or work environment, where we work, and there are issues that you said that can actually move the needle and best support and protect our nurses like mandated nurse staffing.

PAUL: Lauren, I just hope that you all know -- I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on with my voice, but what we all recognize you and we know we can't imagine how hard this is for all of you, but you have so much support that you don't see and we're wishing you every good thing.

GHAZAL: Thank you so much and we ask that you keep advocating for us, and helping us so that way we can better protect and serve our patients because that's what we want to do.

PAUL: We know that. We do know that. Lauren, best of luck to you. Take good care.

GHAZAL: Thank you so much, Christi. Thank you for having me on.

PAUL: Of course. Of course.

SANCHEZ: We are so grateful for their work. We do have a quick programming note to share with you. Later this

evening, join Sara Sidner as she rides along to find out why driving while Black in America can be deadly. It's a new CNN special report "Traffic Stop: Dangerous Encounters", airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

We'll be right back.

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[07:52:56]

PAUL: I want to get you caught up on a couple top stories right now. More movement from North Korea regarding its missile program and the U.S. State Department recommending now to protecting -- or recommitting, I should say, to protecting allies in the region.

Early this morning, North Korea launched its seventh missile test this month. It landed in the water east of the Korean Peninsula. But this time, the country tested an intermediate range ballistic missile that hasn't been tested since 2017. South Korea's president is calling on the country to immediately stop its actions which threaten the international community's efforts for denuclearization, peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

In a statement a short time ago, the State Department condemned the launch, calling it a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

SANCHEZ: More than 100 influential black women from across the country thanked President Biden in a letter after he vowed to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court.

The letter reads in part, quote: Nominating a black woman with the necessary compassion, sense of justice and brilliant legal mind will bolster the integrity of the Supreme Court. It, of course, would be a historic pick, potentially one of these women will be the first ever to sit on the bench as an African American woman if she is confirmed.

Despite the support for the potential nominees from key Democrats, it is expected to be a rough confirmation process as President Biden is already taking criticism from some Republicans.

PAUL: After nearly 50 years, the University of Nebraska is changing its mascot's hand gesture to avoid being associated with white supremacy. In the original depiction of the mascot, Herbie Husker used his index finger and thumb to form a closed circle making the sign for okay. It is listed on the Anti-Defamation League's website as being have been co-opted as a racist hand size. The mascot's new hand gesture, his index finger raised in a number one gesture.

SANCHEZ: So, before we go, we want to share some really exciting news. This is the best news for me from the weekend, it warmed my heart. There is a new addition to the CNN family.

[07:55:02] CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and his wife Rachel welcomed Talia Davida Kaczynski to the world on Thursday. You can see the happy family there.

PAUL: Listen, Talia is already honoring her big sister Francesca better known as Beans, taking on her Hebrew name. Now, many of you may remember, Beans passed away after a long brave battle with brain cancer. And in celebration of Talia's birth on the 27th, people have been donating $27 to the Team Beans Dana Farber Cancer Institute Fund.

You just want to say, welcome to the world, beautiful girl. And congratulations to Andrew and Rachel. We are over the moon happy for you. Look at her.

And thank you so much for starting your morning with us. We hope you make good memories today.

SANCHEZ: "INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY" with Abby Phillip is up next.

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