--:-- Gideon Resnick: Good morning and Happy New Year. It is Tuesday, January 3rd. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. We're glad to be back with you.
--:-- Natalie Andrews: On today's show, an NFL player is in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest on the field, the rise of births following the fall of Roe v. Wade, and how practicing optimism can help your health.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But first, Congress kicks off its new session today. And on the agenda for the House of Representatives, now narrowly controlled by Republicans, is a roll call vote for a new leader to succeed Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
--:-- Natalie Andrews: House Speaker elections tend to be a kind of dull first-day formality in Congress. But this year's vote is anything but. It's shaping up to be the most dramatic in a century.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Pretty much everyone thinks this goes to a second ballot, which hasn't happened in the House of Representatives since 1923.
--:-- Natalie Andrews: That is correct. The top choice for many House Republicans is Congressman Kevin McCarthy. He won the party's nomination last fall.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Now, whether he and his allies will be able to secure the 218 votes that are needed to become House Speaker with such a tight Republican majority, that's the big question.
--:-- Natalie Andrews: They're going to have 222 Republicans. So Kevin McCarthy can only lose four votes to get that magic number.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And there's already five House Republicans who have said they will absolutely not vote for him on the first ballot.
--:-- Natalie Andrews: Andrew says there's no one cause that is uniting this small group of GOP lawmakers against McCarthy.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: He's been a Republican leader for over a decade and has made some enemies along the way.
--:-- Natalie Andrews: And a failed bid could derail the party's future plans.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: If the House can't reach a consensus on a new speaker today, Congress will get off to a slow start.
--:-- Natalie Andrews: The delay of choosing the House speaker really delays the whole Congress from starting.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So House Republicans are starting to get antsy. They just won the majority. They'd like to get going on legislation.
--:-- Natalie Andrews: And it is going to take them longer to get their committees set up. It's going to take them longer to get legislation going on the floor.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: McCarthy and his allies spent the holiday weekend working the phones and meeting with members to change minds.
--:-- Natalie Andrews: And Andrew says they'll likely be working down to the noon Eastern deadline for today's floor vote.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And if he doesn't win on the first ballot, it'll go to a second ballot, then potentially a third or more.
--:-- Natalie Andrews: In 1923 it took nine ballots to reach a consensus candidate Kevin McCarthy gonna try to make some more deals if he can.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: If he can you could see an emergence of a consensus candidate or an emergence of someone challenging him and saying, hey, you don't have the votes.
--:-- Natalie Andrews: So it could get dramatic, but there's always a chance that Kevin McCarthy wins it on the first ballot.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: That is what he is hoping for, at least.
--:-- Natalie Andrews: And if McCarthy is elected to hold the speakers gavel next, he will be the third in line to the presidency.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Damar Hamlin, a 24-year-old safety for the Buffalo Bills, is in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest last night during the team's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
--:-- Ryan Clark: This terrifying moment came with just a few minutes left in the first quarter. Hamlin had tackled Bengals wide receiver T. Higgins near midfield.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: He stood up, then almost immediately collapsed to the ground.
--:-- Ryan Clark: Medical personnel performed CPR for several minutes and gave Hamlin oxygen before putting him in an ambulance.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Players and coaches from both teams were visibly distressed.
--:-- Ryan Clark: The entire Bills sideline rushed to surround Hamlin as he received care, and the NFL eventually postponed the game.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: According to the Bills, Hamlin is currently sedated and in critical condition.
--:-- Ryan Clark: ESPN reports that the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, does not anticipate making any statements about his condition early Tuesday morning.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Last night, Ryan Clark, a former NFL safety, joined ESPN as it covered the aftermath of Hamlin's collapse.
--:-- Ryan Clark: So many times in this game, and in our job as well, we use the cliches, you know, I'm ready to die for this. I'm willing to give my life for this.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It's time to go to war. And I think sometimes we use those things so much, we forget that part of living this dream is putting your life at risk.
--:-- Ryan Clark: And tonight, you know, we got to see a side of football that is extremely ugly, a side of football that no one ever, a side of football that no one ever wants to see or never wants to admit exists.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Hamlin is from Pittsburgh and was one of the top cornerbacks in the country for the class of 2016.
--:-- Ryan Clark: He played for the University of Pittsburgh and was a six-round pick for the Bills in the 2021 NFL draft.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: His charitable foundation called Chasing Ems has been raising money for a holiday toy drive for kids in Pennsylvania.
--:-- Ryan Clark: Hamlin aimed to collect $2,500 for the cause. And as of this morning, donations have surged to over $3 million.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Let turn now to the state of abortion rights as we enter 2023.
--:-- Melissa Jeltson: An economic model predicts there will be 50,000 more annual births in America if abortion restrictions go forward as expected.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: That's not that many more births when you look at the whole number of births That happened in the U.S. every year.
--:-- Melissa Jeltson: But it's significant in that these births are not going to be equally distributed across the population.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It's really going to be births with mothers who are in extreme poverty and have the least amount of resources to be able to access abortion in the first place.
--:-- Melissa Jeltson: And she explains that people denied abortions are likely to be in states with poor track records of supporting infants and parents.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The states that have banned abortion or are in the process of banning abortion are already the states where it is the hardest to be a pregnant mother or to have a young newborn, where there aren't the types of resources and a strong safety net for people who need it to be able to call upon it.
--:-- Melissa Jeltsin: One policy Jeltsin says could help a lot would be extending pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage for a full year after a birth.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Now, federal law only requires two months.
--:-- Melissa Jeltsin: But many states that have banned abortion have not taken this step to help low-income parents.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Jeltsin worries that changes to shore up assistance are just not happening fast enough.
--:-- Melissa Jeltsin: It's very realistic to expect that there will be more families in poverty, more women will die as a result of these bans.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And if these states want to do something about it, they need to act now.
--:-- Melissa Jeltsin: These are complicated problems that require a lot of resources and investment.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Roe v. Wade was struck down about six months ago.
--:-- Melissa Jeltsin: So a wave of births could be just weeks away.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It's the time of year when self-improvement is top of mind for a lot of people.
--:-- Judith Graham: New year, new goals, you know the drill.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So maybe in 2023, you've pledged to call family and friends more often or order less takeout or dust the cobwebs off that fitness membership that you bought last year.
--:-- Judith Graham: But what about just trying to change your frame of mind?
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Judith Graham from Kaiser Health News writes about the benefits of practicing optimism.
--:-- Judith Graham: Scientists have been digging into it for years, and two studies released in 2022 found practicing optimism can help our bodies stay healthier for longer.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Optimism enhances confidence mental strength resilience
--:-- Judith Graham: And these are some of the qualities most needed as we get older because we need the ability to adapt to difficult circumstances and optimism is one of those characteristics that allows us to do so.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Studies have linked higher levels of optimism with a reduced risk for things like heart disease, stroke, and cognitive impairment.
--:-- Judith Graham: Optimistic people tend to be better at regulating their emotions and navigating the challenges of day-to-day life.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Graham spoke with a bunch of self-identified optimists to better understand their half-glass-full worldview.
--:-- Judith Graham: Like Grace Harvey from Georgia, she is 100 years old, the daughter of sharecroppers.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And Graham suspects Harvey was born an optimist.
--:-- Judith Graham: For her, faith plays a key role. Her belief in God is a deep source of optimism.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Her belief helps her adapt to all kinds of situations and cultivates trust.
--:-- Judith Graham: For another woman Graham spoke with, Anita Larrick, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, optimism was a skill she worked to develop over time.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: She said she was not at all optimistic in her youth.
--:-- Judith Graham: But her journey through life, she said, was a journey from resentment to understanding.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: I think she resented the sense of trauma that she grew up with and the sense of fear.
--:-- Judith Graham: She said there's always the struggle. There's always the midnight voice.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But what she does is she encounters it. She acknowledges it. And she chooses trust in herself and in the people that surround her and in the world that she's created for herself.
--:-- Judith Graham: She chooses gratitude.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Becoming an optimistic person might sound easier said than done.
--:-- Judith Graham: And the science does support that. Studies suggest some people have a natural advantage and genetically inherit optimism from their ancestors.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But it can be learned.
--:-- Judith Graham: How is the next big question for scientists, Graham says.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Until we have that answer, Graham has this advice from her reporting.
--:-- Judith Graham: Optimism is a continual choice. It's not just something that you take for granted. It's something that you enact every day of your life.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And if you're already listening in the News app, stick around. We've got a narrated article coming up next.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: New York Magazine takes us behind Hollywood's fascination with hiring the children of famous people and why so many fans love, hate, and obsess over these so-called Nepo babies.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So sit back, enjoy listening to that, and we'll be back here with the news tomorrow.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Thank you.
