Array
On today’s episode of the 5 Things podcast: House adjourns without a new speaker as McCarthy loses three rounds of voting
Plus, Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy failed Tuesday to win the House speakership. Voting is expected to resume Wednesday, former NFL Doctor David J. Chao reflects on NFL player Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest (read more at sicscore.com), Bills Mafia co-founder Del Reid talks about unity in Buffalo, USA TODAY National Correspondent Elizabeth Weise has the latest from San Francisco where more severe weather is expected, and natural gas prices in Europe have fallen to below pre-war levels despite initial fears of an energy crisis amid the war in Ukraine.
Podcasts:True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.
Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below.This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I’m Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Wednesday, the 4th of January, 2023. Today, Kevin McCarthy’s failure to win the House speakership, plus how NFL teams prepare for medical emergencies, and California faces another wave of severe weather.
♦
House Republicans had a turbulent first day in the new Congress yesterday as they failed to elect a speaker to lead the chamber. Their more-narrow-than-expected majority in the chamber after last fall’s midterms allowed far right conservatives to prevent Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy from rising to the speaker role. It was the first time in a century that a speaker’s election took multiple ballots to decide, and there was still no speaker as the House adjourned for the night. They’ll reconvene at noon today, and in the meantime, no other business can begin in the House. In the first two ballots, McCarthy secured 203 votes, well short of the 218 he needed as 19 Republicans chose other members. He lost a vote in the third and final ballot. Each time he received fewer votes than House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Though he also fell short of enough votes to win the speakership himself.
A new generation of conservative Republicans, many aligned with former President Donald Trump, were committed to stop McCarthy’s rise. A potential GOP alternative is Jim Jordan. He has allies in both the party’s far right and McCarthy’s more moderate inner circle. Jordan nominated McCarthy and voted for him as speaker, but Jordan also drew the most votes from anti-McCarthy Republicans. Second ranking House Republican, Steve Scalise, could be another choice. Meanwhile, things were smoother on the other side of the Capitol. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell became the party’s longest serving leader in history. Democrat, Chuck Schumer will remain majority leader.
♦
Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin remains in critical condition after being resuscitated twice following a cardiac arrest during Monday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Hamlin’s heartbeat was restored on the field before he was transferred to the hospital. His uncle said last night that Hamlin was sedated on a ventilator and that there are concerns of lung damage. But he told CNN that it seems like he’s trending upwards. For more on how the league prepares for medical emergencies, like what happened with Hamlin, producer PJ Elliott spoke with former NFL team doctor and injury expert, Dr. David J. Chao.
PJ Elliott:
Dr. Chao, thanks so much for joining 5 Things.
Dr. Chao:
Yeah, no problem.
PJ Elliott:
Well, it was obviously a very scary situation on Monday night in Cincinnati with Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin going into cardiac arrest on the field. I want to start off by asking you how common these events are in sports?
Dr. Chao:
Well, I mean, depends on your definition of common. It does happen at different levels, but it’s not very common. I mean, I don’t think anyone else can cite an NFL example like this. It’s horrific. It’s frightening when it does happen, but this is why you drill for it. Every NFL team does a pre-season drill, emergency drill for neck, spine, head, and also for the heart ready for this occasion. And the Bengals were ready. They were the host home team, so they had greater responsibility for some of that care and they came up in spades. It was a great job on their part.
PJ Elliott:
Well, you sort of touched on my next question with teams drilling in the off season for medical events like this during a game. How prepared are these medical staffs on all the NFL teams?
Dr. Chao:
Well, first of all, every team, when you’re on the road, travels typically three physicians and five athletic trainers and a physical therapist in all, and whatever else that you need. The home team has even more. Different specialists, you have emergency physicians, an airway physician, et cetera. So people who can run a code in an emergency cardiac situation. And obviously they were very, very, so far, successful, thankfully. I mean the Buffalo Bills tweeted that his heart was restarted on the field, and that was a very, very big thing to have happened. So kudos to them.
Not only do they drill this, but usually 90 minutes ahead of time before the game, both teams, the team physicians, head athletic trainers, the emergency physician, the paramedics all meet up. And look, the NFL sometimes gets rightfully criticized for the concussion protocol, but I think they should be commended that they got this one right. For years, for decades they’ve been preparing for something that has not happened, and yet they were ready. And so I think kudos need to be given specifically to the Bengals and the Bills, but also to the NFL. It’s their protocol. And it’s only fair to say that.
