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Buffalo Bills: Damar Hamlin in Critical Condition After Cardiac Arrest; Uncertainty Hangs Over McCarthy's Bid for Speaker. Aired 4- 4:30a ET

Aired January 03, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo.

I'm Max Foster joining you live from London. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Bills safety, Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field after making a tackle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To see him fall to the ground like that it was heartbreaking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: CPR administered to the field.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sharp blow to the chest at precisely the wrong moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never want to see anything like that happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: It is 9 a.m. here in London, it's 4 a.m. on the U.S. East Coast. Where people are starting to wake and wonder what happened during Monday night's football after a Buffalo Bills player suddenly collapsed and the critical game was postponed. The Bills are now providing some answers.

NOBILO: They recently tweeted: Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in our game versus the Bengals. His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He's currently sedated and listed in critical condition.

FOSTER: For hours there was a lot of confusion about the terrifying incident. Hamlin who plays safety for the Bills made a hard tackle about halfway through the first quarter. He stood up right away but then fell backwards again. Hamlin is number 3 and wearing white. He received CPR immediately and was then rushed out of the stadium in an ambulance. CNN sports contributor Bob Costas explains how the play unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP))

BOB COSTAS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Damar Hamlin made the tackle. T. Higgins, the receiver for the Bengals, accidentally hit him in the chest. Nothing dirty about the play according to the rules. This kind of play happens all the time in football but Hamlin actually -- although he made the tackle -- took the brunt of the collision squarely in his chest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: A lot of people are extremely worried about Hamlin right now, including his mother who was at the game and then rode with him in the ambulance. Some of his teammates are also at the hospital with him. The 24-year-old is in his second season with the Bills and has played in every game of this season. Many players, fans and even experts say that they've never seen anything like this during an NFL game.

CNN sports correspondent Carolyn Manno is covering this live from New York. Carolyn, for our viewers that are just joining us now, can you explain what it was that made fans and his teammates and of course, the other team aware that something unprecedented had happened to Hamlin?

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think, you know, Americans unfortunately have become desensitized to a certain extent to the violence that's often associated with head trauma in the NFL, but you got the sense very early on, Bianca and Max, that this was different. Not because a different part of the body was targeted but just the way that Damar Hamlin responded.

I mean, the video is disturbing. We try to play it as little as possible, but to see him get up and then suddenly collapse on the field and then to have players from both teams completely breakdown. I mean, the emotion was so overwhelming as they crowded around him and watched him essentially be resuscitated from this cardiac arrest incident -- that the team has since confirmed in the last couple of hours that took place -- was unlike anything we've ever seen before.

And I think it was just the panic and the devastation on all of the players faces. The fact that they were holding their towels over their heads sobbing. The unknown and wondering if they were watching their friend, their brother as they often say, their teammate being carted off the field for the last time. I mean, it was a very chilling scene to watch and it left a lot of people wondering what might be happening in the ambulance and beyond.

So, the statement that we received from the Buffalo Bills a short time ago was, you know, we can't speculate or interpret it to be anything at this point. We won't know for the next couple of hours at least.

[04:05:00] It was reassuring to have a little bit more information that this was, in fact, a cardiac event, that he was able to be resuscitated on the field and that now though he's in critical condition, he's under watchful care and is being sedated.

NOBILO: Carolyn Manno, thank you.

FOSTER: Joining us from Los Angeles, emergency room specialists Dr. Anthony Cardillo and also in Dallas, Texas, lifestyle and sports analyst Eric Mitchell. Thank you so much for joining us. First of all, to you, doctor. Obviously, people look at this very shocking video and they see a tackle and be then they see a player falling to the floor. What do you think happened there without having direct access?

DR. ANTHONY CARDILLO, EMERGENCY ROOM SPECIALIST: Yes, well after analyzing this video, it does appear that he had this acute chest trauma. When you first look at the video and see a player falling down, your immediate thought are, was there any cervical spinal injury, any head trauma. But this clearly looks as though it wasn't anterior chest trauma. Then we're finding out that he did go into cardiac arrest.

There are very few things that can put you into cardiac arrest after acute chest trauma. This phenomena known as Commotio Cordis. This is a post traumatic, post anterior chest trauma that happens at a very specific moment when the heart is getting ready to beat again. If you look at an EKG, you can imagine what happens when the heart is depolarizing and then repolarizing, if you get hit at an exact moment, it's within milliseconds. That's when the heart goes into at what we call a ventricular fibrillation. Remember, normally the heart is beating like this and then it starts fibrillating, that's when you're in cardiac arrest.

I will tell you a lot of us are looking at that video very carefully to identify what was going on. But now we're hearing new reports that he was pulseless, he was in cardiac arrest and that pretty much kind of confirms what had happened here.

NOBILO: And, doctor, in a situation like that obviously the speed of which somebody can be administered CPR is essential. I think we understand that CPR was administered for around nine minutes and then now we have it confirmed that his heartbeat was restored on the pitch. What does that make you think of immediately? Are you concerned about him being deprived of oxygen or further damage? Obviously, it's very difficult and we don't want to speculate -- but what would your primary concerns be?

CARDILLO: The primary concern is the length of time that he was not having cardiac activity. Now it sounds as though CPR was administered immediately. You can't get much faster than it happened. That medical professional team was there, prepared and ready to administer care. So, the first thing was the initiation CPR and that would start to circulate the blood as that heart was fibrillated. The next important thing in the most critical, was the defibrillation, the shocking of that heart with the automated external defibrillator. It sounded that was done there on the field. And that's when the pulse was restored. Once the electrical activity of that heart was regained and restored, that's when we got a pulse again.

It's really going to be a matter of time, how long was he down? You know, every second counts. It's no different that when a child falls in the pool, 1 minute, versus 2 minutes, versus 3 minutes. These are critical time junctures and every second is going to count for how long he was deprived of oxygen and had brain anoxia.

What's going to happen now in the hospital setting, is obviously he's been stabilized. It sounds like he has a normal pulse now. That's great news. He's intubated, meaning they are breathing for him. And we do that just to restore and maintain his ability to breathe but also to control his physiology. They will slowly start pulling back on that ventilator in the next 12 to 24 hours. And that will be critical in determining whether he's breathing on his own, whether he's breathing over the ventilator. That will be vitally important to see how much damage his brain did suffer while he was in cardiac arrest.

When you're in cardiac arrest, remember, there's no blood circulating to the organs in your body that's why it's essential to start CPR emergently and then also to use the AED. So, time is going to be very important here. We know it's anywhere from 1 minute to 10 minutes roughly that he was deprived. We don't know when he was shocked. That's going to be critical. But really, it's up to his own body. How is he going to respond? And we know that he's a young 24, healthy, conditioned athlete. He's in the greatest possible situation to come back to a normal life at this point. But our prayers are with him to make sure he does recover like that.

FOSTER: Absolutely. And Eric, obviously the medical response seems very impressive. What do you make of the NFL response? Because there's some criticism that the game wasn't suspended right away.

ERIC MITCHELL, PRESIDENT, LIFE FLIP MEDIA: You know, it's hard to judge.

[04:10:00]

This has never happened before in the NFL. We've had severe injuries on the field, but nothing like what we saw. Like the doctor's saying, Damar fell to the turf and all of a sudden almost immediately you can see a Buffalo Bills player just waving for medical attention. You don't see that with most injuries.

In just a few short weeks ago on the same very field Tua was knocked out on the field and was rushed off the field. But we didn't even get the same reaction. It was different. Now the NFL had to deal with what they were going to do. It has come out that this five minutes that everyone's been reporting and even was shared on TV wasn't exactly -- there was miscommunication according to the NFL. They left it up to the coaches and players. It was very obvious each time that the Monday Night Football team came back on TV.

Those of us sitting on our couch watching in disbelief, you can look at the player's faces, look at Joey Burrow, look at Josh Allen, look at Stefon Diggs. To look at these guys they were not going to play a football game. It took a little bit longer than I thought it would. I mean, going almost 45 minutes before we said, we are not going to play a football game. Because once they put those cameras on, there was a zero percent chance they were going to play on the field.

And I actually don't think they're going to redo this game. And it doesn't really matter. At this point all we care is that -- this is the only thing that matters is that a human being can recover from this. I was happy he's alive because that was a scary moment. When they're playing CPR on a NFL football field on Monday night football, that's scary stuff. And we also all the reaction. And I think it showed us how human these NFL football players are. That we're all united. We're all human. And you look at the crowd and the way that the faces and -- I mean, the Bengals fans and the Bengal players, I mean, they're standing in front of the hospital right now having a candlelight vigil. What does that say about how this isn't this gigantic competition that comes down to that's a human life and everyone is praying for Damar.

NOBILO: And Eric, we're seeing the physical displays of solidarity and unity, stadiums being lit up in the Bengals and Bills colors, what can you tell us about the response we're hearing from sportsmen, NFL players and the athletic community at large?

MITCHELL: Well, the players I work with, we were instantly on the phone texting each other back and forth. Their hearts and prayers go out. I mean, they're all combatants on this field of the NFL. They go hard on this field. They see injuries. It's not -- it's a violent sport, right. Let's just face it.

But you see it -- I mean, tonight Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers played in the NBA scored 71 points, he made sure at the end of the press conference to mention thoughts and prayers. Klay Thompson hit a buzzer beater tonight, same thing. You saw LeBron James. You're seeing players J.J. Watt and his brother T.J. Watt. The University of Pittsburgh where Damar went be to school. You're seeing it from teams, whole teams are doing whatever they can to support and I guess he has a GoFundMe -- I'm probably saying it wrong. But he has a charity that went from a low amount of money to a couple million dollars have been donated since this injury.

It's just amazing the response, how everybody, sports and folks that don't normally watch sports have been just drawn into this story. And it's actually united a very -- well, OK, let's just face it, we're a little divided here in the states. But it's really united everyone.

FOSTER: Eric Mitchell in Dallas thank you. Also, Dr. Anthony Camillo in Los Angeles. And you're looking there at pictures outside the hospital. All eyes on the hospital hoping to get any sort of update. Hamlin is recovering as many people hoped. And 24 is a young age, is prime health, isn't it. And just looking at the GoFundMe page. This was set up for -- by Hamlin for kids to get toys in his local community where he grew up. And it's raised more than $3 million in the few hours since this happened.

NOBILO: And I read that the initial target was $2,500. It's truly incredible.

FOSTER: People want to help. They want to express themselves. It's a great way actually, isn't it.

NOBILO: Absolutely, especially when people feel powerless. It's something that they can do. And one NFL executive said some of the Buffalo Bills plan to stay in Cincinnati while others will be traveling back to New York. Their concerns for Hamlin are being shared by football fans praying for his recovery. Some even gathered outside the hospital where Hamlin is being treated. Fans of both the Bills and Bengals came together to show their support with some holding candles as you can see.

Also developing this hour, Israel's new far right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir has visited a key holy site in Jerusalem. A move quickly condemned by the Palestinian Authority.

FOSTER: Well, they say his visit to Al-Aqsa mosque -- known as temple mountain in Judaism -- amounts to an unprecedented provocation and a serious threat and they say new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ultimately responsible for the consequences that it brings.

[04:15:00]

NOBILO: Under a status quo agreement only Muslims are allowed to pray inside the Al-Aqsa compound. But some religious nationalist Jewish groups have been demanding access to the area for prayer.

FOSTER: Now we have much more on Damar Hamlin ahead at this hour including reaction from teams around the NFL.

NOBILO: The serious questions being asked about whether Kevin McCarthy has what it takes to be Speaker of the house. That's 218 votes and we'll find out within hours whether or not he's got them.

And from the Midwest to the South, Americans are under threat from powerful storms. We'll tell you about the risk that they pose and the damage that they've already caused.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: We are continuing our breaking news coverage out of Cincinnati where Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is in a critical condition after collapsing on the field during a Monday Night Football game against the Bengals.

NOBILO: There's an outpouring of support for Hamlin from across the NFL. The Cincinnati Bengals tweeted: Sending our thoughts and prayers to Damar.

FOSTER: And the New England patriots said: Our thoughts are with Hamlin as well as the entire Buffalo Bills organization.

[04:20:00]

NOBILO: And the Atlantic Falcons had this: Sending our thoughts and prayers to Damar Hamlin, his family and the Buffalo Bills. FOSTER: LeBron James is just one of the many athletes expressing his

concern for Hamlin. The NBA star also praised the decision to postpone the game saying, the safety of players must always be the most important consideration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: I seen the replay but I don't know exactly what happened. My thoughts and super prayers goes up to the skies above for that kid's family, for him, for, you know, that brotherhood of the NFL and everybody that's part of the NFL family. It's definitely by the right call by either -- whoever made that call, Roger Goodell or whoever had the opportunity or authority to make that call to suspend that.

The safety of all players in all sports is always the most important. So, you know, it was a terrible thing to see. I'm a huge fan of the NFL. I'm a huge fan of football. You know, you never want to see anything like that happen even in the type of competition that they're playing in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: 24-year-old Hamlin is in his second year in the NFL. He's played every game with the Bills this season.

NOBILO: A cloud of uncertainty hangs over Republican Kevin McCarthy's bid to be the Speaker of the House.

FOSTER: He's still scrambling to lockdown enough votes secure one of the most powerful positions in the Washington. Lawmakers vote later today. He needs 218 votes to land the Speaker role and he's not there yet despite ongoing efforts to persuade some of his fellow Republicans to back him.

CNN's Melanie Zanona is in Washington with more on this developing story.

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MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER (voice-over): House Republicans are bracing for a once in a century fight.

REPORTER: Do you have the votes for speaker locked in tomorrow?

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I think we are going to have a good day tomorrow.

ZANONA (voice-over): After their leader Kevin McCarthy has struggled to lockdown the speaker votes.

REP. WARREN DAVIDSON (R-OH): He's worked hard to earn the job as a speaker, and we'll see whether this is placated the people that put out a list of demands. He has gone really right up to the line. He has conceded on virtually everything. ZANONA (voice-over): McCarthy has given into his critics most hardline demands, including making it easier to topple the sitting speaker. But his opponents remain unmoved.

REP. BOB GOOD (R-VA): I won't be voting for Kevin McCarthy tomorrow. He's part of the problem. He's not part of the solution.

ZANONA (voice-over): In addition to five hard no votes, another group of nine Republicans made clear they are unsatisfied with McCarthy's promises.

Writing in a new letter: Thus far, there continue to be missing specific commitments with respect to virtually every component of our entreaties.

The drama threatening to paralyze business in the House and overshadow the GOP's new majority.

ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA) HOUSE-ELECT: Kevin McCarthy has its own problems. And we'll see if he actually becomes the speaker are not. You know, obviously, Republicans are in complete disarray right now and trying to get the real leadership house in order.

ZANONA (voice-over): McCarthy is still projecting confidence, with boxes from his office being moved into the speaker suite and McCarthy vowing not to go down without a fight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you prepared to make more concessions in exchange for support?

MCCARTHY: Oh -- I hope you all have a very nice New Year's.

ZANONA (voice-over): While his allies acknowledge the tough road ahead.

REP. KEVIN BRADY (R-TX): I am confident he can pull these final those together. It's not an easy job. It isn't easy being speaker these days. But Kevin McCarthy, I believe, can unite us.

ZANONA (voice-over): And if McCarthy can't get the votes on Tuesday, no one knows what happens next. But there is speculation that another candidate could jump into the race.

GOOD: You will see on the second ballot, an increasing number of members vote for a true candidates who can represent the conservative center of the conference, can motivate the base, inspire Republicans across the country, get the country to 218 votes. Bring our conference together.

ZANONA: Now Kevin McCarthy is still very much so in deal-making mode. He is hoping for an 11th hour resolution. He held various meetings in his new speaker's office on Monday evening. First, he met with some of his supporters to walk through how the floor proceedings are going to go down on Tuesday. And then he met with a small handful of some of his critics, including Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert and Scott Perry. But leaving the meeting they were very tight-lipped. They said it was short and productive. So, it's unclear whether McCarthy is going to have to give in to even more of their demands but time is running out.

Melanie Zanona, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Millions of Americans under threat from extreme weather including a risk of tornadoes in the first few days of the year.

FOSTER: Heavy snow falling from the Rockies to the upper Midwest and some areas could see ice storms.

NOBILO: And elsewhere we've seen more than 20 reports of strong winds, hail and at least one tornado. CNN meteorologist Britley Ritz joins us now. A lot to keep track of Britley.

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, Bianca, Max. We have tornado watches that now extend up into parts of Kentucky until 11 a.m. central time. Those areas highlighted in red. Isolated tornadoes a possibility. And were noticing some of the stronger storms up through parts of let's say Kentucky, down into Tennessee so these areas highlighted in that fuchsia color. Those are tornado warnings.

We also have severe thunderstorm warnings.

[04:25:00]

So just where your safe spot is and if you hear the siren or if your weather radio is going off, take shelter. You'll see the areas highlighted once again. Some of the stronger storms expected within that vicinity.

Tuesday some of the tornado threat now concentrated down towards the south. Parts of Louisiana back into southern Mississippi as well as Alabama. Then moving into Wednesday. While the threat weakens, we still hold onto the stronger storm threat all the way from Panama City into Norfolk, Virginia, where we'll have stronger winds and hail. Some of the bigger concerns there, not just the hail, not just the winds, not just the threat of tornadoes but also flooding. Flood watches in effect all the way along the Mississippi River, back up into parts of the Ohio Valley, now stretching into the southeast with an additional two to three inches of rain on top of what we've already picked up.

Now mind you, these are estimated rainfall totals. You see the swath of dark red, that's four to six inches of rain that's already fallen. On top of it with that area of low pressure spinning across the Northern Plains, snow and ice some of the bigger concerns. Winter storm warnings in effect where we could pick up roughly 10 to 15 inches of snowfall. And where ice storm warnings for parts of the plains back into the Midwest where we can pick up 1/4 to half an inch of ice. And now we could be dealing with widespread power outages and trees coming down on top of that and that ice starts to get heavy and then of course the winds start to pick up -- Max and Bianca.

NOBILO: Britney Ritz, thank you.

FOSTER: Now just ahead we'll have reaction from the sports world about Damar Hamlin's collapse on the field in Cincinnati. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Welcome back. More on the developing story that we're following from the NFL. The Buffalo Bills say that Damar Hamlin is in critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field.

FOSTER: He collapsed just moments after making a tackle in the first quarter of the game on Monday.

[04:30:00]