NFL player in critical condition after collapse on field, new Congress begins: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: NFL player in critical condition after collapse on field

Buffalo Bills' safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field during the Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The game was suspended and Hamlin is in critical condition. Plus, USA TODAY Congressional Reporter Candy Woodall explains what to expect from the new Congress, a suspect in the Idaho killings will tell a judge today that he won't fight extradition to the state, USA TODAY Health Reporter Karen Weintraub talks about weight loss drugs, and a university's annual banished words list offers some words to leave behind in 2023.

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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 Tuesday, the 3rd of January, 2023. Today, the latest on NFL player Damar Hamlin who collapsed on the field last night. Plus a new congress gets to work, and we'll talk about weight loss drugs.

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It was a scary night in the National Football League when Buffalo Bills' safety Damar Hamlin collapsed in the first quarter of a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Hamlin tackled Bengals' wide receiver Tee Higgins, and stood up before collapsing to the ground. An ambulance was brought on the field and he was given CPR, according to the live ESPN broadcast. Teammates huddled nearby, many in tears. Just before 2:00 AM Eastern, the Buffalo Bills tweeted that Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest and his heartbeat was restored on the field. At the time of the tweet, he was sedated and listed in critical condition.

Last night's game was eventually suspended more than an hour after Hamlin collapsed. On a late night conference call, NFL Executive Vice President Troy Vincent said, "The league took no steps toward restarting the game and did not ask players to begin a five-minute warmup period, as ESPN's broadcasters said." On the broadcast, play-by-play announcer Joe Buck said that information came from the league. For more updates throughout the day, stay with USATODAY.com.

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The House Speaker's gavel will soon be held by a Republican, and with that change come new priorities, a series of investigations and partisan gridlock that could bring President Joe Biden's agenda to a crawl, if not a full stop. Producer PJ Elliott spoke with USA TODAY Congressional Reporter Candy Woodall to find out what we can expect with this new Congress.

PJ Elliott:

Candy, thanks so much for hopping on the podcast.

Candy Woodall:

Thanks for having me.

PJ Elliott:

So what can we expect with this new Congress?

Candy Woodall:

Well, I think the biggest thing to watch right now is who the leader of the House will be. For probably the first time in a century, there's really a lot of questions. It's completely unclear who will be elected on Tuesday as the House speaker. House Republicans captured the majority by a four-person margin really, and they're headed into Tuesday in a new session. They have a lot of goals, a lot of plans they want to hold the Biden administration accountable for, but they do not have a clear sense of who their speaker will be. Right now, the minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, is poised. He's been running for speaker for a long time now, but it's not clear that he has the support to do it. Right now, he can only afford to lose four votes. And there are nine Republicans who are calling for change.

PJ Elliott:

So if not McCarthy, who are some of the other front runners that could be the new speaker?

Candy Woodall:

Well, you have Andy Biggs challenging him, but there's not much support for Andy Biggs throughout the wider conference. It has been said that McCarthy's deputy, Steve Scalise, could be a potential speaker. However, Scalise has said publicly he's not going to challenge McCarthy, and the only way that he would even try and get that position would be if McCarthy bowed out. Another name that's been floated is House Freedom Caucus member Jim Jordan of Ohio, but he has also said publicly he's backing McCarthy and he has been calling for other members to support McCarthy. It's unclear - if McCarthy would bow - out what Jim Jordan would do. So we're really waiting to see Tuesday what's going to happen, and our Congress team will be offering constant updates. So hopefully everybody follows us usatoday.com.

PJ Elliott:

Is President Biden going to be able to get any of his agenda passed through the new House?

Candy Woodall:

That's a really great question, and there is a story from our White House team about that very issue. We've been writing about it in our Congressional coverage, and we're expecting that a lot of Biden's agenda could come to a screeching halt on the Hill. He's going to have a Republican-led House that's already very fractured within itself and then a Democratic Senate with a little bit of a majority, more of a majority than he had the first two years of his presidency. These two chambers are going to have to come together, though, to get some things done, such as passing the next federal spending plan. That quite frankly, makes it all the more important for who is elected speaker on Tuesday, because whoever that person is, is going to have to bring together that very conservative flank of the party and the moderates to be able to work with the Senate in order to pass anything, such as those crucial federal spending bills and it benefits neither party to have a shutdown. But as far as Biden's agenda on climate and wanting to see the child tax credit come back, those items don't look hopeful in this new Congress.

PJ Elliott:

What about investigations? What can we expect to see from the GOP in this session?

Candy Woodall:

They have several investigations they want to kick off. They also want to have a special committee that will look at what they describe is the weaponization of the FBI, DOJ. They're accusing the president of weaponizing those agencies to go after his political rivals. They also want to investigate the president's son, Hunter Biden. They also want to investigate COVID spending, Ukraine spending. But first, they have to get a speaker and have to get committees assigned. So it could be late January or February until you would hear anything more about that.

PJ Elliott:

Candy, it sounds like it's going to be a pretty busy week for you.

Candy Woodall:

It will be.

PJ Elliott:

Thanks so much for your time. I appreciate it.

Candy Woodall:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

A suspect arrested in connection with the killings of four University of Idaho students plans to waive an extradition hearing so he can be brought back to Idaho to face murder charges. 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger was taken into custody last Friday in Pennsylvania and is currently being held without bail. His lawyer said he's eager to be exonerated and plans to tell a judge today that he will not fight extradition, though it's not clear when he'll be sent to Idaho.

Four students, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, and Xana Kernodle were stabbed to death at their shared home on November 13th, according to police. Two other roommates inside the home slept through the attack. Kohberger is a doctoral student at Washington State University, just 10 miles from the University of Idaho. Moscow, Idaho Police Chief James Fry has not said what information led officials to Kohberger and would not say if they've determined a motive.

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Weight loss is usually a big topic this time of year. Gym memberships go up, people are exercising more, all in hopes of the "new year, new me" mantra. But what about weight loss drugs? Producer PJ Elliott spoke with USA TODAY Health Reporter Karen Weintraub for more.

PJ Elliott:

Karen, thanks for joining the podcast.

Karen Weintraub:

Thanks for having me.

PJ Elliott:

So everyone under the sun has goals of either being in better shape, losing some weight, or whatever just to become healthier in the new year. From the medical side of things, what is being done to help weight loss in 2023?

Karen Weintraub:

Medications that are more effective than any we've ever had before should become more widely available in the first quarter, first half of 2023. One drug has been technically available for the last year or so, but was in such short supply that most people couldn't get it. That will become in greater supply again in the first couple of months of 2023. The drug's name is Wegovy, W-E-G-O-V-Y. And people can lose 18% of their weight, somewhere around their 18, 20% of their weight on this drug over time. The challenge is it's expensive, and many insurance companies currently don't cover it.

PJ Elliott:

Is it a realistic option to help people lose weight? Everybody's heard of miracle drugs that will help people lose weight, but they don't really work.

Karen Weintraub:

Right. These are as close as we've ever had before. The generic name is semaglutide. Another drug that's coming on the market again early in 2023 is called tirzepatide. These two drugs in studies have shown greater weight reduction than anything before. The side effects if the drugs are well managed tend to be minimal. They can lead to nausea, vomiting, unpleasant things, but you ramp up slowly. They're not supposed to cause these bad side effects. And they really can help people lose 20 to 25% of their weight. These are people who are overweight. They have not been studied in people who just have two or three or four pounds to lose. These are people who have 40 or 50 pounds to lose, and they're meant to be taken for a lifetime. It's like blood pressure medication. You don't go off your blood pressure medication when you reach optimal blood pressure, and you're not supposed to go off these, at least at this point. They haven't been studied really, really long term. But the presumption is that people will have to continue to take them to keep the weight off.

PJ Elliott:

If obesity is the catalyst for bigger medical issues down the road, what would it take for these insurance companies to cover the weight loss drugs now so that they don't have to pay for other drugs later?

Karen Weintraub:

Right. You would think that it would make sense at some level for them to support these drugs if you're not becoming... If you can avoid diabetes, if you can avoid heart disease, if you can avoid all these other conditions, some types of cancer that have been associated with obesity. The issue is that not everybody who gains weight gets these problems, and so the insurance company might be paying $1,300 a month for somebody who's going to stay healthy for 50 years and not suffer these expensive health problems. So there has to be some kind of shift in coverage, both from the government point of view in terms of Medicare and Medicaid, as well as private insurance.

PJ Elliott:

Karen, thanks so much for the time. I really appreciate it.

Karen Weintraub:

Happy to be here.

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Taylor Wilson:

Which words should we leave behind in 2023? As it does every year, Lake Superior State University in Michigan has published its list of words and phrases to throw away, compiled with help from some 1500 submissions by language scolds around the world. The number one banished word for 2023, drum roll please, GOAT or greatest of all time. One objector said it's overused, applied to everything from athletes to chicken wings, while another made the point that GOAT once referred to something unsuccessful and now means the complete opposite. Number two, the phrase "inflection point." Critics say it's a pretentious way to say turning point and often misused. Other mentions on the list include quiet quitting, gaslighting, and the phrase "it is what it is." If you're trying to shake up your vocabulary, you can find the full list with a link in today's show notes.

And you can find new episodes of 5 Things every morning right here, wherever you're listening right now. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL player collapses on field, new Congress gavels in: 5 Things podcast