Morning Wire - Fentanyl Floods NYC & Damar Hamlin Remains Hospitalized | 1.4.23

Episode Date: January 4, 2023

Fentanyl overdoses surge in New York City, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin remains in critical care, and employers are raising pay for employees but is it enough to keep up with inflation?  Get the facts first on Morning Wire.   Get pre-qualified and find the best deals near you: https://carzing.com/wire   Get 10% off your first order or Coffee Club subscription with code WIRE: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fentanyl overdoses were once a border state issue, but now they're plaguing every major city in the U.S. Small quantities go a long way, and so a lot of people started to die accidentally. We look at the effect fentanyl had on America's most populous city, New York, in 2022. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, January 4th, and this is Morning Wire. Buffalo Bill's player, DeMarne, remains in critical condition.

We hear the latest from the team and Hamlin's family. And companies are raising employee pay at historic rates, but is it enough to keep pace with inflation? Wages since the pandemic have not matched the increase in prices. The real worker wages have gone down. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Use car prices are dropping, but before you walk into a dealership, you've got to check out Carzing. Carzing is an online car shopping website with millions of listed vehicles by partnering with credit

agencies, lenders, and dealerships, Carzing provides you with everything you need before stepping foot into a dealership. Visit Carzing.com slash wire today to skip the guesswork and find the best deals near you. That's carsing.com slash wire. New York City is in the midst of an overdose epidemic as fentanyl is flooding its streets and spiking the number of fatalities. In the 12 months leading up to July 2022, at least 2,800 New Yorkers passed away from overdoses with a large majority of those fatalities involving fentanyl.

That represents a 125% increase from the data in 2016. Here to discuss this tragic trend as columnist David Marcus. Hi, Dave. So just how bad has this fentanyl problem become in New York? Morning. It's extremely bad. One expert says that it's worse than the crack epidemic of the 1980s, which is remarkable.

It's really a function of two things. First, that even a tiny amount of fentanyl, the size of a pencil tip, And second, it's so cheap that it's basically replaced heroin as the opiate of choice for dealers and users alike. So much so, in fact, that it's almost impossible for a user to know which one they're taking, which turns a dangerous drug habit almost literally into Russian roulette. And that's incredibly frightening for anyone who uses or knows or loves someone who does.

All right. So fentanyl is mainly known as a synthetic substitute for heroin, but it can also be used to cut other drugs. How does that affect this problem as it can? continues to worsen. I mean, it can be used to cut almost any drug, and that has a massive impact. Heroin, though less risky than fentanyl, is associated with a fairly high rate of deadly overdoses. A drug like cocaine is not. People rarely die directly from it, but the presence of fentanyl changes all that. In one day, in New York, three people were killed by laced cocaine. And again, there's just

no way to know if the cocaine is laced or not. And these were not the kind of people we associate with drug overdoses. They were executives, not hardcore addicts. They thought they were just taking a party drug. And perhaps even worse, the drug is used to produce counterfeit prescription drugs like Xanax or Adderall. And that exposes kids at a fairly young age to death when they think they're taking a relatively safe pill that some might even have a prescription for. I think for all of us who are parents, it's absolutely terrifying. And there's no shortage of examples of kids dying from this. Yeah, it's just tragic. Where is this fentanyl coming from primarily, and what measures are authorities taking to address the crisis? Three words, the southern border. This is another example, like illegal immigration, of an issue that starts in border towns and states, but makes its way north causing havoc.

Mexican drug cartels are making out like the bandits that they are, smuggling both human beings and fentanyl across a border that our country just isn't protecting. And to add insult to injury, a lot of this is coming from China, which means that one of our greatest genius. geopolitical foes is seeing a massive windfall by killing American citizens. It's a disaster in so many different ways. And so far we just haven't seen effective solutions. Speaking of that, what are some of the proposals that have been floated to try to deal with the fentanyl crisis? And how realistic are they actually? The left and the right have a very different approach.

Progressives want to manage addiction and government-sponsored safe drug sites where supposedly they can monitor the drugs being used. But fentanyl is so ubiquitous. and outside drugs are so common at these sites that it really doesn't work. Conservatives have suggested greater penalties for those selling fentanyl, even charging dealers with murder, not just drug dealing, should someone die from one of their products laced with fentanyl. That may be enough to persuade some drug dealers to stop using it to cut other drugs,

but history shows criminal penalties only go so far. Ultimately, the flow of the drug into the country needs to be quelled, either through a stronger border, direct intervention against the cartels in Mexico, or both. You know, the problem with those solutions, you know, is that they sound a long way off. What can people do now to protect themselves and others from this drug? Look, I think, especially as it pertains to kids, it just has to be made crystal clear that there is no safe drug at this point, even if it looks like a prescription pill. It only takes once to die. That's a hard conversation to have, but it's the truth, and it's a truth that can be life-saber.

Yeah, it's a difficult conversation, but one's certainly worth having. David, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus. Coming up, the latest on Demar Hamlin. Buffalo Bill's safety, Damar Hamlin, collapsed during the Monday night football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, resulting in the game being postponed and an outpouring of support for Hamlin and his family. Here to give us the latest on this disturbing incident is Crane & Company co-host David Cohn. Hey, David. First, what is Hamlin's current condition? As of this recording, he remains in critical condition. Here is the statement from the bills that came a few hours after the incident. Quote, DeMar 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 UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment.

He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition, unquote. and the team issued another statement later Tuesday confirming that he is still in critical condition. Okay, so Hamlin remains in critical condition. Correct. Now, what details have we learned about what happened to Hamlin during the game? Well, part of what was so alarming about this situation is it came after Hamlin made a fairly routine tackle on Bengals' wide receiver T. Higgins. That was in the first quarter of Monday night's game. Hamlin then stood up, but immediately collapsed to the ground. Athletic trainers rushed the field, an ambulance came on the field of play, and Hamlin was administered CPR for several minutes.

The players from both teams, who were all just as stunned, John, as the fans, eventually gathered around Hamlin in prayer, and eventually the ambulance took him to the hospital. It was a really unsettling scene. In three decades of football, I've never seen anything like it. Neither have I. As you mentioned, it was several minutes of CPR before he was actually taken off the field, right? Correct. More than 15 minutes passed. between Hamlin's collapse to when the ambulance officially carried him away.

The head coaches from both teams then met at midfield. They were instructed to basically head back to their locker rooms, and the game was officially postponed less than an hour later. Now, there's been a number of statements issued, including from the family. What did they say yesterday? That's right. Here's a statement from his family expressing their gratitude for all the support. Quote, on behalf of our family, we want to express our sincere

gratitude for the love and support shown to DeMarre during this challenging time. We are deeply moved by the prayers, kind words, and donations from fans around the country. Now, I have one final statement here, and this is from the National Football League, which came out on Tuesday, quote, after speaking with both teams and the NFL Players Association leadership, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell informed the clubs today that the Bills and Bengals game will not be resumed this week. The NFL has made no decision regarding the possible resumption of the game at a later date. The league has not made any changes to its week 18 regular season schedule, which is the last of the year, John. All right, so no word yet on when the game will be rescheduled. That's correct. As for Hamlin,

tell us a little bit more about him and his charity. Certainly, Damar Hamlin is a promising young player out of the University of Pittsburgh who was selected by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL draft. This season, which is his second. He got a chance to start at safety on the bill's defense due to an injury to Micahide. Going into Monday night's game, he started 13 games and had 82 tackles on the season. This charity he started is a toy drive for needy kids that had a goal of raising $2,500. That goal took about two years to meet. Within 12 hours of his injury, the fundraiser had surpassed $4.4 million in donations.

Wow, well, some positive news there, at least. David, thanks for coming on. Thank you. That was Crane & Company co-host, David Cohn. Employees are currently getting the largest pay raises in decades as employers fight to retain workers. The White House says high wage growth is a good thing for Americans, but experts are warning that the pace of wage growth is actually driving the inflation that's wiping out earnings. Here to discuss how rising wages are impacting the economy and what Americans should look out for in 2023 is Daily Wire reporter Tim Peers. So, Tim, walk us through what's happening with the average worker in America right now. Well, their bank accounts look a little fatter each payday,

but that doesn't necessarily mean they can buy more stuff with it. Inflation has eaten away most or all of workers' gains in wages over the past year. Employers who have been hiking their employees' wages are passing along those costs of consumers with higher prices. I'll get into some numbers. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, workers who stayed at their jobs during the year ending in November earned 5.5% more. That's a pretty big increase from the 3.7% annual growth rate we saw in January 2022. It's also the highest annual growth rate for wages in 25 years.

So wages grew 5.5%, at least for people who stayed in their jobs. How does that compare to the inflation rate? Well, when you factor in inflation, the average private sector worker is actually making about 2% less than they were a year ago in real terms. According to Labor Department data, the annual rate of inflation in November was 7.1 percent. So that 5.5 percent wage growth isn't enough to keep up. And what are we hearing from the Biden administration about this? So far, they've been hesitant to acknowledge the loss in real wages. For example, here's one of the White House's top economic advisors, National Economic Council Director Brian Dees, in late December.

People have paid less attention to this, but over the course of the last five months, We've seen real wage growth. And for non-supervisory earners, we've seen real wage growth over that period that has been pretty healthy. And that is helping to sustain consumers through this cycle as well. But experts in financial markets are warning that high wage growth increases the odds of the Federal Reserve will have to bump up interest rates even more to curb inflation. And that could have significant downstream effects. Catherine Rooney-Vera is the head of research at Bulltick Capital Markets. Here she is last week predicting another recession in 2023. If the Fed is serious about its 2% target, which apparently it has become, then, yeah,

I think recession is inevitable. One of the primary drivers is the demand side. So salary growth of 5.5%, 6% is not commensurate with 2% inflation. The Fed realizes this. So the Fed has to force rates higher. The unemployment rate will likely follow suit. Consumer confidence drops as a result. that's when I think the equities are going to take out a further leg lower,

and the economy does roll over into recession. The good news, of course, is that it brings inflation down. I have inflation ending next year, close to about 3.5%. So it sounds like it could get worse before it gets better. Tim, thanks for reporting. Yeah, anytime. That was DailyWire's Tim Pierce. And finally, for the latest on the battle for the House speakership,

here's Daily Wire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips. The House adjourned late Tuesday afternoon, when California Congressman Kevin McCarthy failed to secure the necessary votes to become Speaker of the House after three rounds of voting. Today, he'll once again try to muster the 218 votes needed to take control.

By the third round of voting on Tuesday, 20 Republicans had split with their party and coalesced around Ohio conservative Jim Jordan, who's yet to say he wants to be Speaker and had actually endorsed and voted for McCarthy even after being nominated himself. The voting will continue today until a member gets the majority of votes,

and now the question becomes whether McCarthy will attempt to hold on or step aside and let another member try for the win. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, please consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend. Well, that's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know. Start the new year off right with Black Rifle Coffee. Black Rifle has all the best brewing gear, thermoses, mugs, and apparel, designed for folks who love country and coffee.

Go to Black RifleCofcoffee.com and use promo code wire for 10% off coffee, merchandise, apparel, or when he sign up for a coffee club subscription. That's BlackRifel Coffee.com, promo code wire for 10% off. Black Rifle Coffee, supporting veterans and America's coffee.