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U.S. COVID Numbers Surge as Omicron Threat Looms; Leftist Gabriel Boric Wins Chilean Presidency; Chinese Tennis Star Denies She Made Sex Assault Accusation; Manchin Rejects "Build Back Better" After Months of Talks. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 20, 2021 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:00:19]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Omicron is surging with major holidays just around the corner. Health experts echoing get boosted now.

Also --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE MANCHIN, (D) WEST VIRGINIA: I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Joe Manchin says, he's made up his mind on Biden's Build Back Better plan, and Democrats are furious. But America's internal conflicts don't stop them. I speak with a guest on how close the United States is to civil war.

Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes and This is CNN Newsroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: Not a wave but a COVID tsunami that is the warning from one U.S. health expert as the Omicron variant threatens to plunge the country into yet another COVID emergency.

The Delta variant is already driving a surge in cases and hospitalizations. But experts say Omicron will overtake Delta soon straining a health care system that's already at the brink. That's why officials say it is more important than ever for Americans to get vaccinated and boosted.

And new numbers underscore why that is so according to data from the CDC, unvaccinated people are 20 times more likely to die from COVID than people who have been fully vaccinated and boosted. And yet around 70% of fully vaccinated Americans still haven't gotten that extra dose.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We could be in for an ominous winter season and a kind of grim beginning of the new year. There are still so many now vaccinated but still not boosted folks out there. I wish everybody would go and get vaccine tomorrow. We've got plenty of vaccine available. It's in the refrigerators just waiting to get into arms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We're also seeing the impact of the latest surge in other ways. On Sunday, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker both announced they've tested positive for the virus. Both say they say they are experiencing mild symptoms.

Now, New York reporting some troubling COVID numbers with another record case count on Sunday of more than 22,000. CNN's Polo Sandoval reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For three days now, New York State has seen a significant increase in the number of new COVID cases down. In fact, a record number of COVID cases confirmed throughout the state here we have heard some optimism coming from New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio on Sunday, saying that the bringing back of several of these mitigation efforts also this increase in numbers that yes, it is happening right now. It's a new reality. But it is a temporary one.

But when you speak to New Yorkers, there is a concern and fear that things are possibly going to get worse before they get better. And so, we have seen just massive crowds at COVID testing sites throughout New York City, people who are trying to at least secure an appointment to actually get those tests. Some it is a requirement if they're going to be traveling soon. But for many, almost everybody they want to be tested. They want that extra peace of mind, even though majority of them are vaccinated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like a couple of friends that I have, they have been vaccinated did also like catch COVID or positive. So, it's just kind of like trying to play safe for the family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be safe, you'll never know. Even you're vaccinated you still get it. So, it's better to make sure than be sorry later.

SANDOVAL: As recent as last week, New York City actually announced a multipoint approach that is meant to try to slow the spread that includes increasing the number of locations where people could get vaccinated, and also where people can get tested and even making those home kits available for those who are not able to actually stand in line for hours at a time. But the big, big advice obviously coming from officials not just here in New York City but throughout the country is for the 7 billion (ph) of the population that's not vaccinated, to get the shot. If they already did, to get boosted. And if you got boosted, get tested. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Dr. Tamara Dildy is an Emergency Medical Physician at CityMD. She joins me now. I'd love to know, first of all, what is it like in your A.R. right now, Doctor? And what's the morale of stuff?

DR. TAMARA DILDY, NYC EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN, CITYMD: I think people are exhausted. It's been a long haul for everyone. Patience, everyone, physicians, nurses, everyone, housekeeping. We've all been trying to keep it together.

[01:05:06]

HOLMES: What -- do you worry that the hospitals are on the brink? Where you are and elsewhere? And what happens if that tipping point is reached?

DILDY: I do worry that we're on the brink. What the good news, let's start with the good news. The good news is that we have vaccine. And the vaccines, we're seeing that we're seeing less severe infections. We're seeing people who have cold like symptoms when they've been vaccinated with both vaccines and boosted. So that's really, really important.

In terms of people coming in, there's more concern because people want to get back to normal life. And so here in there, and my children school, there's a positive COVID, or there's a COVID, positive person potential contact. So that sends people to an urgent care to be tested, it sends people to the pharmacy to get at home test, then you have people who test positive, and some people are getting very sick, particularly those who are not vaccinated. So, we are seeing more patients come through.

HOLMES: Yeah, that the President is going to be speaking on COVID and specifically Omicron on Tuesday. What would you like to hear from the President?

DILDY: You know, I think in order to mitigate and to get things back to our lives back to normal or as close to normal as possible in this period of time, until we get on top of COVID, we need more testing, whether it be testing centers or at home testing, we need more testing. We also need vaccines. We need each (ph) readiness to get vaccinated.

I can tell you that I tried to schedule boosters for my children before they go back to school, and I have to wait a week and a half. And if you've got a busy life and you're trying to manage multiple things, like most parents are right now, getting their children vaccinated, making sure that their parents are vaccinated an extended family, if you have to wait a week and a half, that can be an impediment. And so, you might get back. So, if we had vaccination centers where we could get vaccinated also boosted getting boosters are so important. So, if that were faster, that would help a lot.

HOLMES: I'm curious what unvaccinated patients tell you in the hospital. Are there some who still don't regret their choice?

DILDY: You know, it's -- I have made it a point when I work clinically to at least sit down with one person a day who I think I might be able to touch and talk through their concerns and their fears with regard to vaccinations. What I've heard, and it's really hard, it's a very -- it's a high slope to climb. What I've heard is that they get information from their friend groups, whether or not, people from high school that they knew that are in the medical field that put in facts with misinformation, and it sounds believable. They're telling me what they're hearing. And I'm like, well, that's true. Well, that's not true.

And I think that there are two things at hand. I don't think that it's nefarious. I don't think anyone's trying to misinform anyone intentionally absolutely intent, I'm choosing to believe positive in people. I think that COVID has been such a -- I mean, we're living history. I mean, I went into medicine, because I like science. I like medicine, I like things of the human body. But it's all happening right now. And it's happening on math. And so, we're trying to gather information data. And sometimes facts are mixed up. And I think facts can be mixed up or information can be, rather, information can be mixed up with fears and emotions, and perceptions of what may be going on. So, I think that those are the big hurdles to fight in terms of getting people vaccinated.

HOLMES: I wanted to also ask, you know, about healthcare workers, because, of course, healthcare workers get COVID to and then then they're not on the frontlines treating others and you can't as manufacture people who can take over and who are best qualified to do so, can you?

DILDY: No, you can't. And, you know, that's another issue or angle that I try to take when I speak to people who are not vaccinated. I try to approach it from, who's going to take care of you, if we're all getting sick?

So, because one of the arguments, one of the main arguments is like, if it's my time, it's my time, you know, I don't need to get vaccinated. It's like, OK, right. You have that, right. However, we're not living as Island. You know, one person can infect multiple other people. And as we get new variants, Delta was more infectious and now Omicron is even more so. We infect more people and that impacts people getting ill also our mental health and our readiness to live our lives. I mean, Christmas is coming up. So how do we gather? I hear about holiday parties being canceled. I chose not to go to a party last night with my kids because I'm preparing to spend Christmas with my older family members, you know, some of whom have metal problem. So, I want to try to ration or mitigate my risk.

[01:10:06]

HOLMES: I'm very grateful for what you do and those around you. So, thanks for sharing some of that. Dr. Tamara Dildy, thank you so much.

DILDY: Thanks for having me.

HOLMES: And later this hour, we'll hear from a clinical psychologist on how the pandemic is creating a mental health crisis in the U.S.

Now, the surge of the Omicron and Delta variants is forcing governments around the world to take drastic and unpopular at times, actions 1000s gathering in Brussels on Sunday to protest COVID restrictions, Belgium recently requiring COVID passes to enter bars and restaurants.

Danish authorities painting a grim picture for the holidays saying COVID infections could reach up to 45,000 per day by Christmas.

And Israel's Prime Minister says the country is in its fifth wave of the pandemic now and that cases could skyrocket even further in the next few weeks.

The Omicron variant taking over parts of the U.K. and its neighbor, Ireland. Irish officials enforcing hospitality curfews to help slow the spread. And health experts say it is time to start considering tougher restrictions in the U.K., as well. CNN's Scott McLean with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Omicron variant is now officially the dominant strain in Ireland as that country faces the highest number of new infections since January, starting Monday at 8 p.m. curfew on the hospitality sector goes into effect to try to slow the spread.

The variant is also now the dominant strain in England, accounting for more than half of all new cases with an even higher proportion in London. According to the mayor, COVID hospitalizations are up 30% in the last week and the head of the health service in England expects that by Christmas one in five health care staff could be out sick with the virus.

Government scientists say that a new set of restrictions to limit social gatherings is needed sooner rather than later to avoid near peak levels of new hospitalizations of around 3000 per day in England alone. Here's how the Health Secretary reacted.

SAJID JAVID, BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY: It's a very sobering analysis. We take it very seriously. As I said there are gaps in the data and our scientists, of course, they recognize that, for example on severity, on hospitalizations, but we will look at this data, we will take into account other factors and then decide whether further action is needed or not.

The government is still very much in wait and see mode waiting to see more data on just how severe an illness Omicron actually causes. If the Prime Minister Boris Johnson does opt for more serious restrictions, he will have to recall MPs from Christmas break and there is no doubt that he will have difficulty convincing much of his own party to go along. Scott McLean, CNN London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: At 35 years of age, Gabriel Boric will become the youngest president of Chile in modern history.

Coming up, reaction to his big win over far-right candidate Jose Kast. And the Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai is walking back allegations about sexual assault in a new interview. We'll have the response from the Women's Tennis Association in a live report from Tokyo, coming up.

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HOLMES: Leftist Gabriel Boric will become Chile's next leader after winning Sunday's presidential runoff election. He defeated the conservative Jose Kast and he'll replace the outgoing President Sebastian Pinella, who was set to leave office in March. CNN's Rafael Romo reports from Santiago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's 35 years old, a former student leader and has the support of the country's Communist Party. Gabriel Boric will be Chile's next president. The former congressman and leftist leader garnered more than 55% of the vote on Sundays runoff elections. His rival conservative attorney Jose Antonio Kast quickly conceded defeat, saying he had called Boric less than two hours after polls closed. Boric's victory was also swiftly recognized by current president, Sebastian Pinella, who had a video conference call with the winner moments later.

SEBASTIAN PINELLA, CHILE CURRENT PRESIDENT (through translation): You are going to be one of the youngest presidents of recent times. And people should know how to combine strength, idealism and the spirit of youth with prudence and the experience of grey hair. So, I want to invite you tomorrow to have a work meeting so we can talk about very important subjects for Chile.

ROMO: After a tooth and nail campaign in a very polarized country, Boric was ready to turn the page when he addressed Chileans after winning the election. He thanks his supporters and said he will be a president for all Chileans.

GABRIEL BORIC, CHILEAN PRESIDENT-ELECT (through translation): Compatriots, I will be the president of old Chileans, of those who voted for this movement, of those who today fill the squares of all of Chile, of those who chose another alternative and those who did not vote, we will be there for you.

ROMO: Boric made a lot of promises during his campaign, promises that could prove hard to keep.

ROBERT FUNK, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CHILE: He's going to have a very hard time, you know, he's confronting a deadlocked Congress. He's got a constitutional convention. He's got a very fractious coalition. It's not clear what role the Communist Party is going to play in this coalition, whether the Socialist Party will join or not. And he's got a difficult economic situation, we're coming out of the pandemic and the economic effects of that. And he's, as you say, he's made a lot of promises across a lot of money. Many of the things coming out of the Constitutional Convention are, you know, social and political rights are likely to, you know, have an effect on fiscal spending. And so, he's going to have a hard time meeting all of that.

ROMO: Leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean, including presidents Miguel Diaz-Canel of Cuba and Colombia's Ivan Duque congratulated the new president-elect. Boric will take office on March 11 for a four-year term. Rafael Romo, CNN Santiago, Chile.

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[01:20:03]

HOLMES: Pro-Beijing candidates claiming victory in Hong Kong's election amid historically low voter turnout of just about 30%. The legislative council election comes after Beijing introduced sweeping electoral reforms giving local authorities far greater power to ensure only so-called patriots are even allowed to stand as candidates. It resulted in Hong Kong's first legislative council election without the participation of major pro-democracy parties.

Chinese Tennis Star Peng Shuai says she never accused anyone of sexual assault. This happened in an interview to a Singapore newspaper, and it's despite a post on her social media account about being coerced into sex by a former senior Chinese official.

In a video of the interview, she says she's always been free and that there may have been a misunderstanding. There's been global concern for Peng's well-being and by about whether she's being silenced by Chinese authorities.

Selina Wang joins me now live from Tokyo with the very latest. What did she say, Selina?

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael, this is the first time that Peng Shuai has spoken to international media on the sexual assault allegations and in the interview, she denied the claims. She was speaking on the sidelines of a cross country skiing event in Shanghai. She was speaking to a Singaporean Chinese Language News outlet called (foreign language).

This is what she said in the video interview. She said, "I want to emphasize one thing that is very important that I have never spoken or written about anyone sexually assaulting me. This point is very important to be emphasized clearly. In terms of the Weibo (post), first of all, it's my personal privacy. There possibly has been a lot of misunderstanding."

And Michael photos of her at the event were also posted by Chinese state media reporters including this video of her talking and smiling with former Chinese NBA Yao Ming. In the interview she also said that she's been living at home in Beijing and denied that she's been under any kind of surveillance.

But Michael global concern about Peng Shuai's well-being still persists. This all started after she alleged in a Weibo post on Chinese social media site, dated November 2 that a former Chinese Vice Premier had sexually assaulted her. That post was quickly censored, and the topic has been blocked on China's heavily censored internet. And then after that, for nearly three weeks, she disappeared from public view. She later appeared in posts and videos posted by Chinese state media. The IOC said that it helps to video calls with her although the IOC has not made those calls public. But after those appearances and this most recent one, the Women's Tennis Association is still pushing for an investigation.

The WTA said, "As we have consistently stated, these appearances do not alleviate or address the WTA significant concerns about her well- being and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion. We remain steadfast in our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation without censorship into our allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern."

The WTA had said earlier this month that it is suspending tournament in China over concern about the treatment of Peng Shuai and with the Winter Olympics less than two months away, Michael, China's foreign ministry has said that it opposes the politicization of sports and that it hopes, "malicious speculation" about Peng's well-being and whereabouts will stop. Michael?

HOLMES: All right, Selina Wang there with the latest in Tokyo, I appreciate it.

We're going to take a quick break here on the program. When we come back, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin says he won't vote for the Build Back Better plan. The President's top legislative priority details of the swift and angry reaction from Democrats in Washington. That's coming up.

And also, why one American expert on foreign civil wars believes the U.S. may be closer to its own such war than anyone would like to think. We'll be right back.

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[01:27:29]

HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world, I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN Newsroom.

Now in a major blow, the U.S. President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan. Senator Joe Manchin says he will not vote for the legislation that would expand the nation's social safety net. Manchin has long been a key hold out on the plan despite months of talks. Here's what he said on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANCHIN: I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't. I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: You're done. This is a no?

MANCHIN: This is a no on this legislation. I have tried everything I know to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Manchin's decision has sparked outrage from the White House and other Democrats. CNN Suzanne Malveaux has the details.

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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Senate and the House are on recess for the holiday. But the reaction was fast and furious. Democrats moderates as well as progressive, angry frustrated disappointed all tweeting out statements over the weekend regarding this bombshell announcement that was made.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California tweeting that she was infuriated and disappointed that those who would be losing out would be the caregivers and she said primarily black and brown women, children, the poor, the homeless, not to mention the climate, many provisions to protect the climate. Also, in that bill.

At the same time, we heard from Republicans almost uniformly Senator John Cornyn, describing as an early Christmas gift that this was a bill that was reckless and costly. We have seen this play out for months and months and months. Now, Senator Manchin at the center of all this as his colleagues, progressives and moderates have tried to bring him over and convince him that he is the lone standout that they need to pass this legislation to, in fact, vote for it and see what he would find acceptable. They started off as a $6 trillion price tag to this. They cut it down to 3 trillion, and then about $1.75 trillion.

The latest complaint from Manchin was that the child tax credit extended for one year, he said well, if you extend it for 10 years, it'll be a lot costlier and the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, actually scored it as such.

But his Democratic colleagues came back and said first the bill you have before you is a one-year extension, not ten. That is a hypothetical.

And secondly, the CBO didn't take into account any kind of revenue- generating mechanisms that might also be proposed and kick in during that period. And so they said it really wasn't a valid complaint.

There are some of his colleagues, those who are most angry, most frustrated who are now saying they don't even believe that Manchin negotiated in good faith.

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SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT); I hope that we will bring a strong bill to the floor of the Senate as soon as we can and let Mr. Manchin explain to the people of West Virginia why he doesn't have the guts to stand up to powerful special interests.

If he doesn't have the courage to do the right thing for the working families for West Virginia and America, let him vote "no" in front of the whole world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I spoke with Senator Dick Durbin before they went on recess and he said that he joked that if they went home to eggnog and fruitcake, maybe they'd come back with better attitudes and be able to negotiate.

But he was optimistic that they would strike a deal some time early next year. And I asked him why. And he said well this is because the American people need this legislation, that they are in desperate need of this.

But clearly, that argument did not hold up for Senator Manchin. And the question now becomes whether or not there is a piece of this bill that could be taken out, a stand-alone portion that perhaps Manchin and even some Republicans would support.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN -- at the Capitol.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: The rigid refusal by lawmakers to compromise underscores the disturbing findings of one study on democracy in the U.S. According it a "Washington Post" editorial on the subject, data from the Center for Systemic Peace finds the U.S. no longer technically qualifies as a democracy after the Trump years. It's somewhere between a democracy and an autocratic state.

Barbara Walter is a professor of international relations at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California San Diego. She joins me now. And I'm delighted.

I mean when we look at the research, it's frankly frightening and you conclude that the U.S. is quote, "closer to civil war than any of us would like to believe". How close?

BARBARA WALTER, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: Well, I've been studying civil wars for the last 30 years across the globe. And in fact, the last four years I've been on a task force run by the CIA that tries to predict where outside the United States a civil war, political violence and instability is likely to break out.

And we actually know now that the two best predictors of whether violence is likely to happen are whether a country is in an anocracy and that's a fancy term for a partial democracy and whether ethnic entrepreneurs have emerged in a country that are using racial, religious or ethnic divisions to try to gain political power.

And the amazing thing about the United States is that both of these factors currently exist and they have emerged at a surprisingly fast rate.

HOLMES: What's remarkable is the research isn't based on sentiment, it's based on metrics and markers and signs and facts that the U.S. uses to determine the state of other countries' democracies and proximity to upheaval.

So if the U.S. were looking at another country and saw these signs, what would be the U.S. evaluation of that have country?

WALTER: The U.S. would look at that country and we would put that country likely at risk, we quote-unquote "risk of civil war". The United States is pretty close to being at high risk of civil war.

And once a country is at high risk, the task force puts it on what we call a watch list. Countries that the agency wants to watch very closely because they believe sometime in the next few years, that country is at high risk of descending into instability or political violence.

HOLMES: Wow. You know, I think most Americans automatically assume truly, believe that democracy is sacrosanct in this country that the system is solid and safe and impervious.

What do you say to them? How do you punch through complacency?

WALTER: What I say to them is we all wish that the United States was a strong democracy. We all see it that way, but the reality is just not true.

The United States has been declining as a democracy for the last five years on every measure. There are multiple different data sets that measure democracy in various different ways and all of them have shown America in decline.

And in fact, the main measure that the task force uses to predict political violence that comes from a data set called the polity data set.

[01:34:50]

WALTER: They have actually classified the United States for the very first time as an anocracy, not a full democracy. Not -- a partial democracy, some people call it a hybrid democracy. Fareed Zakaria has called it an illiberal democracy.

But it is certainly not considered on par with countries like Switzerland or Canada or Denmark or Japan. We are considered -- we are no longer considered the world's longest democracy. That ended in January of 2021.

HOLMES: Yes. Can such shifts be easily turned around? I mean is there a threshold countries cross where you can't go back? And how close is the U.S. to that threshold?

WALTER: One of the things that we know is that countries that experience one civil war significantly more likely to experience a second and third civil war. Political scientists call that the conflict trap.

We've done a lot of research on the conflict trap to try to figure out how countries can escape that. The United States has already had one civil war. How can we ensure that it doesn't have a second one?

And we know that the countries that escape this trap invest in good governance. They double down on democracy. And if they don't do that, those are the countries that tend to experience repeat violence over time.

HOLMES: Yes. As someone I was talking to the other day said the French public didn't expect their French revolution until it happened either.

I'm curious and we should make clear I mean, when you've talked about, you know, a civil war, you're not meaning like the old one where, you know, battle fields and things like that. What would it look like?

WALTER: Yes. One of the reasons why most Americans can't conceive of another civil war here in the United States is because they're thinking about the old type of civil war. They're thinking about large armies and gray and blue uniforms meeting each other on battlefields. And that's the 19th century civil war.

21st century civil wars do not look at all like that. They tend to be decentralized. They tend to be fought by lots of small factions, militias, paramilitary groups who use different types of tactics, insurgency, guerilla warfare, terrorism.

So if a second civil war happens here in the United States, it's going to look very different from the first. And it's going to look more like a siege of terror. Think about Northern Ireland. Think about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

That's the type of violence we're likely to see here in the United States. And that violence can last for decades and be almost equally as destructive.

HOLMES: It's a hard genie to put back in the bottle.

WALTER: Yes.

HOLMES: It's scary, but it's a conversation that needs to be had because as you say, the ingredients are pretty obvious.

Professor Barbara Walter, I wish we had more time. We do not. Thanks so much.

WALTER: It's my pleasure. Thank you very much.

HOLMES: Important stuff.

Now the far-reaching effects of the pandemic aren't limited to physical (INAUDIBLE). Coming up tremendous strain on mental healthcare in the United States. That's after the break.

[01:38:12]

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HOLMES: The pandemic is taking more than a physical toll on Americans. A Harris poll survey for the American Psychological Association finds more than a third of adult are finding it more stressful to make day- to-day and major life decisions now compared to before the pandemic.

As the U.S. heads into a third year of pandemic living, therapists across the country cannot keep up with the demand for psychological help. Many are turning away potential patients, including children, who want mental health support cause they do not have available time.

The "New York Times" spoke with more than 1,300 mental health professionals who said anxiety and depression were the most common reasons patients sought help and one in four providers said suicidal thoughts were among the top reasons clients were seeking therapy.

Lakeasha Sullivan is a clinical psychologist. She joins me now from here in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also one of the healthcare professionals that the "New York Times" -- took part in the "New York Times" psychology today (ph) survey.

Thanks so much for being with us. It was interesting, one of your replies to the survey quotes you saying and I'll just read it for people. "I regularly wished aloud for a mental health version of Dr. Fauci to give daily briefings. Has enough attention, nearly enough attention been paid to this aspect of the pandemic, the mental health aspect?

LAKEASHA SULLIVAN, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Absolutely not, Michael. You know, at the very beginning of the pandemic, I could see clear trends in terms of emotional functioning, you know, among my patient population.

And it was unfortunate that they honestly, I wish they could talk to one another because at the beginning of the week, you know, there was a theme as if like anger for the week or depression or people were sad and people are exhausted and they felt so isolated. And so, you know, at the beginning, it was -- I really, truly wished that there was like a forecast of some sort to let people know, you know, basic emotional like processes, like depression often follows anger and things of that nature to kind of get yourself ready. You're feeling this then this may come (INAUDIBLE). And so --

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Yes. No, I can understand that.

You know, one of the worrying aspects, and there are many, of this survey is that nearly one in three clinicians said it could take at least three months to get an appointment. Or they didn't have room for new patients at all. Have you seen that level of demand?

SULLIVAN: Absolutely. Everyone I know in my network is either at capacity or near capacity and so you know, it's really unfortunate and, you know, my take on it is that in the short term, of course, we need more clinicians and we need more mental health services. And to have people be able to access to those mental health services in affordable ways. But the long term solution, I believe, is not necessarily more clinicians. It's really focusing on teaching people, you know, students would be great, you know, children on up basic emotional you know, emotional information about emotions.

HOLMES: Yes.

SULLIVAN: So you know, that people -- so people know what emotion -- so people can normalize emotions for themselves.

HOLMES: Right.

SULLIVAN: And so -- yes.

[01:44:57]

HOLMES: I was -- when -- as I was reading the study, the survey, it struck me, how are therapists coping? Because you all seem to be under -- I mean you have the workload. The sort of things you are hearing. Who counsels the therapists?

SULLIVAN: Right. Well, you know, most therapists are in therapy, or they have had a robust therapy in the past and so that's a major source of support for therapists. We also have consultation groups we're part of and therapists are notorious for saying yes to requests.

And so therapists have to -- I think this pandemic really highlighted the need to set boundaries and to engage in self-care and to be -- you know, to basically try to protect our careers and ourselves from burnout.

HOLMES: Right. What would be your advice to someone who's watching right now, perhaps feeling overwhelmed, depressed or whatever and can't get in to see someone like you? I mean what would you say to them?

SULLIVAN: Right. Well, you know, I would say that -- so barring really significant symptoms that indicate serious mental illnesses like that -- you know, if someone is experiencing that they need attention, and they should go, you know, to their private care doctor or urgent care or something like that.

Barring that kind of situation, I would say that people -- it would be very useful if people don't pathologize themselves. That they allow themselves to feel grief and to feel anxious and feel angry and to feel all of those things as opposed to engaging in behaviors or mental behaviors even that suppress those emotions because it just makes it worst.

HOLMES: And I want to ask you this too. I mean has at least discussion of mental health because of the pandemic at least had the benefit of perhaps destigmatizing the issue a little?

Absolutely. Most of my patients are first timers and it's a really wonderful thing. And so, you know, the phones are ringing off the hook, you know. So yes. HOLMES: And also, are you treating people who you may not have seen if

not for the pandemic? I guess, has the pandemic exposed underlying issues for people, magnified them, brought them to the surface relationships you know, too much of the kids and so on?

SULLIVAN: Absolutely. So one way to think about the, you know, symptoms that people have is that it's called a (INAUDIBLE) stress model. And I won't really get into it too much because basically that someone could be predisposed to a condition and faced with a certain environmental stressor that condition may manifest.

And so I do believe that some people, because of the stress of the pandemic, are now manifesting issues that they were predisposed to manifest. And so that is a subset.

But I also believe it that there are a lot of people who one, they pathologize their own emotions, normal emotions that humans experience under unnatural and stressful and traumatic situations.

So they need to (INAUDIBLE) so then they're coming to therapy for these reasons. And so for that group of people, I don't necessarily think they would have sought therapy. But then again, it's a by sample. People who seek help are who tend to seek help when they reach a certain point.

HOLMES: Such an important issue. Needs to be talked about and thanks for the work you do. Clinical psychologist Lakeasha Sullivan. Thanks so much.

SULLIVAN: Thank you so much, Michael.

HOLMES: Now important to say if you are thinking about suicide, if you're worried about a friend or a loved one or would like emotional support, the U.S. National Suicide Hotline is 1-800-273-talk. Again that number, 1-800-273-8255 in the U.S. For international resources, head over to save.org.

We'll be right back.

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HOLMES: More than 200 people are now dead and dozens more missing after super typhoon Rai battered the Philippines. That's according to the Philippine National Police. Though the official death count still stands at just over 30, the national police say more than 230 people have suffered what they described as considerable injuries.

The storm hit the central and southern regions of the country last week with the strength of a category 5 hurricane.

And in Malaysia, authorities say monsoon flooding has displaced more than 41,000 people. That's according to the state news agency. Rescue efforts are ongoing. Officials say hundreds of motorists had to be rescued from a stretch of highway on Saturday. Malaysia's prime minister promised in a Facebook post to devote $23 million to flood recovery efforts.

Let's talk more about all of this with the CNN Weather Center and meteorologist Tyler Mauldin. Good to see you, Tyler.

TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Michael.

If I have any good news to share right now, it's the fact that Typhoon Rai continues to weaken. As you mentioned, it did make landfall as a super typhoon, it's just a typhoon. 160 -- excuse me -- 130 kilometer per hour sustained winds but gusts up to 160. This makes it, for those in America watching, that makes it roughly a low-end category 1 hurricane.

As you can see, it is hugging the coastline of Vietnam and what it's doing right now is making a beeline for southeastern China. You can see the rainfall that it left behind across portions of Vietnam in the last 24 hours, roughly 100 millimeters of rainfall in just a few hours.

Now what we are going to see is that it does continue to move to the north and east. It hugs that southeastern China coastline. It sends squalls into Hong Kong.

[01:54:54]

MAULDIN: So the weather will go downhill in the next 24 to 36 hours for Hong Kong. But it doesn't make a direct landfall. It actually just skirts the coastline and continues to weaken for us.

So that's good news.

We could see up to 100, 150 millimeters of rainfall here in this part of China because of Rai as it pushes to the north and as it does begin to weaken.

You also mentioned, Michael, that Malaysia has dealt with monsoon rains. Notice how much rainfall we have dealt with here since Friday. Just since Friday, we have picked up 758 millimeters of rainfall. The monthly average is 598 millimeters. So that's the kind of rainfall we've been dealing with here.

Unfortunately, behind Rai there is a tropical system that we have to watch here too. And it's going to push to the east right over Malaysia. That means we're going to see more rainfall and some very heavy rainfall at that across Malaysia.

You can see, zooming up the image here, plenty --- about 100, 150 millimeters of rainfall here across Malaysia. That's on top of what we've already dealt with.

And then more in the way of rainfall for the Philippines too. So it is wet for sure across portions of this area, Michael.

HOLMES: All right. Tyler, thanks so much for that. Tyler Mauldin, appreciate it.

The Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa is back on earth after spending 11 days on the International Space Station. The fashion magnate is the first space tourist to reach the station in more than a decade.

He returned inside a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and landed in Kazakhstan a short time ago. He traveled with his production assistant who document the journey and a Russian cosmonaut who piloted the round- trip flight.

The cost of the trip was not disclosed. But some reports have put the price tag as high as $50 million.

Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @HolmesCNN.

Do stick around because one Australian is never enough. Rosemary Church will be with you next hour.

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