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COY WIRE: Hello from Buffalo everyone.
It's your boy, Coy.
And we have missed you.
We hope the start of your new year
has been full of love and positive energy.
I know we're feeling it now that we are back.
I'm Coy Wire.
"This is CNN 10."
And we start with a remarkable story
that has transpired here in Buffalo, New York,
this past week.
Bills player Damar Hamlin was tragically injured,
suffering cardiac arrest in the first quarter of their game
last Monday.
And in an unprecedented move, Bills players
and head coach Sean McDermott refused to play on.
In the past, games have always played on,
but these NFL players prioritize their mental health
over the outcome of the game.
Hamlin spent the following days in critical condition,
but eventually showed enough progress
to surprise the team with a video call days
before their final regular season game.
The team said that's all they needed.
The game was magical.
Bill's head coach Sean McDermott said it was going
to be a celebration of life.
The power of 3, Damar's Jersey number, was everywhere.
Then powerful moment.
The medical workers and training staff
who pounced in with poise and precision
to save Damar Hamlin's life walked to midfield,
getting an ovation as big as any we've ever heard.
Then game time.
And on the opening play, the Bills' first since the tragic
injury, goosebumps when Nyheim Hines took the kickoff
back for a touchdown.
It had been three years and three months
since the Bills had done that before.
Bills star quarterback Josh Allen said it
was spiritual, bone-chilling.
And Damar Hamlin, watching from the hospital,
tweeted, God behind all this.
No coincidence.
Buffalo would go on to win 35-23.
Here's star offensive lineman Dion Dawkins on what he's
learned through all of this.
DION DAWKINS: No second, no breath, no event,
no situation is promised.
It could be a drastic this or this at any moment.
And I have truly learned to be a better father,
to be a better partner, to be a better person.
COY WIRE: Remember, lovely people,
we can find strength through our struggles,
find heroes through heartache.
The world has come together to support Damar Hamlin.
His GoFundMe charity to raise money to buy toys for kids
originally set out to raise $2,500.
It has skyrocketed to more than $8.5 million so far.
All right, next up, we're bringing you
to Washington DC with an update on what's
happening in the US Congress.
Every time a new political party gains the majority
in the House of Representatives, a new speaker of the House
is elected.
The speaker is in charge of the House's legislative agenda,
it's committee assignments, and deciding on voting procedures.
Democrat Nancy Pelosi stepped down from her role
as speaker of the House in November following the US
midterm elections, where Republicans
won back control of the House.
This week, California Congressman
Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker, but it wasn't easy.
McCarthy made numerous concessions
over the course of many days before he
finally earned a majority and was elected
on the 15th round of voting.
To secure the gavel, McCarthy and his allies
overcame opposition from a group of conservative critics
within the Republican Party.
It was the longest contest in 164 years.
Many Republicans fear this may make it harder to govern
in the future, while Democrats, who voted unanimously
for their candidate, the Minority Leader Hakeem
Jeffries, were happy to see what many called
chaos for the opposing party.
More now from politics reporter Eva
McKend, who has more on the proceedings
from the nation's capital.
EVA MCKEND: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy securing a victory
at long last by picking off his detractors one by one,
doing so through making some key concessions,
namely, it will require only one member
to trigger a vote that could potentially lead
to ousting the House Speaker.
Take a listen to what McCarthy had to say after the vote.
KEVIN MCCARTHY: Don't judge us on how we start.
Watch how we finish.
And I think by having the disruption now
really built the trust with one another
and learned how to work together.
What we're going to have to find in our mindset
is that we have to frontload, that we have
to think about and work on the bills
with a microcosm of the conference
before we even start writing it.
And that's really what we learned here.
EVA MCKEND: So you can hear McCarthy there really
striking an optimistic tone.
Republicans have done so as well,
arguing that this week really illustrated
that this is what democracy looks like,
that sometimes it is messy.
Well, Democrats, they have a different view.
They say that the chaotic episodes that played out
on the House floor time and time again
really illustrate that Republicans
are not prepared to govern.
They will face another key test, this new Republican leadership
on Monday, when they have to vote on a house rules package.
COY WIRE: OK, yesterday, President Joe Biden
made his first trip in office to the US-Mexico border,
where he visited Paso, Texas.
This follows a major immigration policy announcement
by the president, who visited the border
Sunday for a firsthand view of the border
enforcement operation.
Biden has faced backlash in recent months
from both Democrats in his own party and Republicans who
believe he has not managed immigration
issues well while in office.
Democrats condemn recent immigration policies
as human rights violations, while Republicans
say the president has not done enough to limit border
crossing amid recent surge.
We'll hear now from Arlette Saenz, a CNN White House
correspondent based in DC, who has more
on the details of the visit.
ARLETTE SAENZ: El Paso, Texas, a city that has seen a surge
in migrants in recent weeks.
Officials here at the White House
say the president wants to get an assessment of the border
security situation on the ground there,
and he will meet and hear from officials with Customs
and Border Protection.
The president will also be joined on this trip
by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
And officials have also said he--
the president wants to learn more about the efforts
to stem fentanyl flow into the country.
Now this all comes as the president has faced pressure
not just to visit the border, but also address these issues
regarding the border, as it has quickly
become a political liability for President Biden.
The Texas Governor, a Republican, Greg Abbott,
said that it's about time that President Biden paid that visit
down to the US-Mexico border.
But on the other hand, the president
has also accused Republicans of engaging in demagoguery,
saying that they need to come to the table
to pass comprehensive immigration reform, which
this White House says is the only way
to fully ease these issues relating to the border.
COY WIRE: 10-second trivia.
What is the world's smallest ocean?
India, Pacific, Arctic, or Atlantic?
Answer is, the smallest and shallowest ocean on Earth
is the Arctic Ocean.
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Next up, a snowy owl normally found in the Arctic tundra
shows up 3,000 miles away amid palm trees and beaches
of sunny southern California.
The extremely rare sighting has transfixed
a California community.
But as for how the owl arrived there, "hoo-hoo" could know?
Maybe CNN reporter Jeanne Moos.
JEANNE MOOS: It's a head-scratcher, all right.
How did a snowy owl that normally lives
in the Arctic tundra end up amid the palm
trees of southern California?
- I consider it an honor to be able to see the bird.
JEANNE MOOS: Bird lovers are flocking to Cypress,
California, to get a peek.
- It's so exciting to see a bird that does not belong here.
JEANNE MOOS: Yeah, well, not everyone is excited.
JARET DAVEY: There were all these crows
that were just dive bombing it and trying to scare it away.
And the owl was just unfazed.
JEANNE MOOS: Not so unfazed, the birder who posted this video.
Nicolas Belardes, admits, I teared up.
A marine biologist told "The New York Times,"
it's like seeing Santa Claus on a beach.
Wildlife experts are watching the owl like a hawk,
even to the point of climbing up a ladder to retrieve a pellet
regurgitated by the raptor.
- Oh, it's a treasure right away.
JEANNE MOOS: The birds expel the indigestible parts
of their meals, so the Wetlands and Wildlife Care center
decided to check on the owl's taste in California cuisine.
- This looks like the skull, yeah, look at that, the skull
of some kind of rodent.
JEANNE MOOS: We know what it ate,
but we don't know how it got here.
Is it an escaped illegal pet?
Or did it hitch a ride on a freighter from up North?
Or maybe it just got disoriented and flew too far South?
- It looks nice and fluffy.
JEANNE MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN New York.
COY WIRE: Owl right now, time for our favorite part
of the day.
Special shout out to Carol Middle
School in Carol, Michigan.
Thanks for caroling enough to show us
some love on our YouTube channel.
Remember, the strongest steel is burned in the hottest cold.
So no matter what you're going through, just keep going.
Sending you some good vibes and "Buffa-love"
to start your week.
I'm Coy Wire this is CNN.
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