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Zelenskyy Lauds Troops Holding Defensive Lines in Donbas; Biden: Ukraine Doesn't Need F-16 Fighter Jets Right Now; Winter Storm Causes Chaos in Southern California; U.S. EPA Halts Hazardous Waste Shipments From East Palestine; Key Inflation Gauge Unexpected Rises in January; Millions Await Election Results as Nigeria Counts Votes; Inside Nablus, West Bank After Deadly Israel Military Raid; Webb Telescope Spots Massive Galaxies From Early Universe. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired February 26, 2023 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:31]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello and welcome to all, you're watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Ahead on CNN Newsroom. The U.S. is sending more aid and military hardware to Ukraine. But one key weapon isn't included. We'll look at how this could impact the spring offensive.

Plus, surfing during a hailstorm in California, the some of the extreme weather hitting parts of the west. Meanwhile, other places could see as much as eight feet of snow this weekend, and rising prices apparently aren't going anywhere soon. A key inflation indicator unexpectedly rose in the U.S. last month, we'll look at what that means for consumers.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: As Russia's war on Ukraine enters year two, President Vladimir Putin is now claiming the West is trying to destroy Russia and break it up. Putin made those remarks in an interview on Russian state television and said he had documentary proof of the Western plans. U.S. President Biden has said previously the West isn't planning to attack Russia.

Now, all this came as Ukraine's military says Russian forces have stepped up their attacks along the frontlines. The most ferocious fighting remains in and around the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine claims a considerable number of Russian troops have repeatedly tried and failed to surround the city.

In his nightly address President Zelenskyy lauded the heroic efforts of Ukraine's embattled troops. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): To all of those who steadfastly, strongly, bravely defending our positions in Donbas, destroying the enemy, and for such a powerful result in the east, the result in the east is necessary for us to have results and all other areas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Ukraine's military says its defensive positions near the Russian held city of Donetsk have been facing barrages of Russian fire. At the same time Russian backed officials in Donetsk claim Ukraine fired at least four large caliber munitions towards the city. And the U.S. State Department is confirming an American Army veteran is among the latest battle casualties in Ukraine. 28-year-old Andrew Peters died on February 16, and was part of the unit of foreigners fighting alongside the Ukrainians.

While since the war began the Biden ministration has provided Ukraine with billions of dollars' worth of military aid, but it's been a hard no on sending advanced U.S. fighter jets, at least for now. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is at the White House with those details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Biden said that he is ruling out for now sending advanced American fighter jets to Ukraine despite Ukrainian President Zelenskyy asking for those jets as the country braces for an offensive from Russia in the coming weeks or months.

Now President Biden spent the week saying that the United States will stand by Ukraine. But as far as those F-16 fighter jets, he says he is still ruling that out at least for now.

JOE BIDEN, (D) U.S. PRESIDENT: We're sending him what our seasoned military thinks he needs now. He needs tanks. He needs artillery. He needs air defense, including another HIMAR(S). There's things he needs now that we're sending him to put them in a position to be able to make gains this spring and this summer going into the fall.

DAVID MUIR, ABC ANCHOR: You don't think he needs F-16s now?

BIDEN: No, he doesn't need F-16s. There is no basis upon which there is a rationale according to our military now to provide F-16s.

MUIR: But you're not ruling it out.

BIDEN: I am ruling it out for now.

ALVAREZ: Now, President Biden is facing increasing pressure to provide advanced weaponry to Ukraine. But this ask has been a controversial one over concerns that it would escalate the conflict. Now, the administration has said that they will stand by Ukraine and they're doing so by providing now a $2 billion package to the country as well as cracking down with sanctions to degrade Russia's economy and discourage individuals from supporting Russia's war in Ukraine. All of this in totality, the administration says to show its support from the U.S. and allies against the war in Ukraine. Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is tracking all of this for us in London. So Salma, the U.S.'s refusal to send jets to Ukraine, how could that impact the spring offensive?

[05:05:04]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, if you ask President Biden, Kim, it won't impact it at all. He does not believe that Ukrainian troops, Ukrainian forces need those fighter jets at this time. That doesn't mean President Zelenskyy is going to stop asking for them. In fact, his wish list is growing by the minute. He wants long range artillery, he wants air defense systems, he wants ammunition. He wants those fighter jets. He met with the Republican lawmakers just a few days ago to hand over that wish list. And even when he gets to know it doesn't mean he stops campaigning.

So far, billions of dollars in aid have been pledged to help Ukraine win this fight. The U.S. alone more than $110 billion pledged 2 billion of that just on Friday to mark the one year anniversary of the conflict. And the thing to keep in mind here when we're talking about these enormous numbers in this never-ending wish list from Kyiv is that this is a military Ukraine's army that was largely outdated before this conflict. It relied on Soviet era weapons that are difficult to maintain, difficult to resupply. What NATO was trying to do now is actively in the middle of a war, bring that army up to date and give it a qualitative advantage over Moscow's very large fighting force.

And what President Zelenskyy points to when he is making these requests is that he has been able to make games on the ground. Remember, Ukrainian forces in the latter half of last year were able to fight back Russian troops, regain a great deal of territory. Russia now holding just about 17% of Ukrainian land, but in some places, they are absolutely struggling to hold the line, Kim.

Take Bakhmut for example, that's a flashpoint city in the East there Ukrainian commanders say they simply don't have the means to fight back Moscow's troops. They're asking for everything, from tanks to long range artillery, to planes to more ammunition. And of course, we know that much of that is on the way. And that's the other thing to keep in mind here, Kim, is the lag time. There is a lag time between when something is promised by Western nations, by Western leaders, and how long it takes for Ukrainian troops to actually retrained on for example, the Leopard tanks and to see those make an impact on the battlefield.

And time is absolutely of the essence when you're talking about the spring offensive, when you were talking about the expectation that Russian troops will ramp up their attacks in the coming weeks and months. But I also want to take a step back here, Kim, and just look at the bigger picture. At the beginning of this conflict, it was unfathomable that some of these weapons would be sent to Kyiv by Western leaders who were very concerned about further aggravating this conflict, further escalating this conflict with the nuclear superpower that is Russia, very much that calculation is changing, very much now, you're looking at a U.S. and its partners that is preparing to send ever more advanced weapons to those Ukrainian frontlines.

BRUNHUBER: All right, appreciate it. Salma Abdelaziz in London.

More on the meeting in India, most finance ministers of the G20 agreed to a statement condemning Moscow's war on Ukraine but Russia and China declined to support it, ending Saturday's conference without a joint communique. And part of the statement said that the war was, "causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy -- constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity and elevating financial stability risks."

Well, from a heat wave to winter storms, extreme weather is sweeping across the U.S. Record heat continues along the Gulf Coast and Florida. Temperatures will be in the 80s throughout the weekend, but in some areas it could reach 90 that's 15 to 20 degrees above normal for this time of year. Severe storms are possible from Texas to Illinois. According to the Storm Prediction Center, a significant damaging wind event is expected from the Texas Panhandle into much of Oklahoma in southern Kansas. Wind gusts of more than 75 miles an hour will be possible as well as strong tornadoes. Now, this is a rare winter storm brought historic snow dangerous flooding and blizzard conditions to Southern California. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM WHITE, TRUCK DRIVER: I've been driving for like 16 years, but I've never seen it like this in California. I try to avoid it or get around it or beat it out. But it caught me. So, I didn't think it's going to be topping this much.

KRISTYN STAFFORD, LEBEC, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: Blizzard came out of nowhere and then the I-5 closed down and now we can't leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The storm also washed-out roads and left drivers stranded in high water and heavy rain and lightning prompted the closure of all beaches in Los Angeles.

And have a look at this video just into us here at CNN.

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BRUNHUBER: CNN Affiliate KABC captured this RV falling straight into a river in Valencia as the embankment erode the way, look at the tree go there and that's just one of three RVs that fell into the river and a few miles north of that, the problem was snow. CNN's Camila Bernal reports.

[05:10:12]

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CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is extremely rare for Southern California. We had not seen some of these warnings in more than 30 years. Over the last couple of days, a lot of snow, a lot of ice, a lot of rain and wind as well. Many of the highways in the Los Angeles area have been shut down in the past few days.

On my left is Interstate 5. It is currently closed and it has been mostly closed over the last couple of days as crews tried to clean up that snow and the ice but they continue to see that it is extremely dangerous. For many of the drivers. This is the highway that connects Los Angeles to San Francisco. So they're trying to open it but it has been difficult to do so just because crews are not used to dealing with this kind of weather in Southern California.

I want to walk through some of the snow, just so that you can see the accumulation. It is nothing like you see in other parts of the country. The problem is that residents here just don't know how to deal with this. Many of the cars you're trying to get out have been stuck. And to be fair, my producer's car got stuck as well. So we've been dealing with the snow. A lot of rain in the L.A. area, a lot of flooding, cars that have been stranded and again authorities just saying if you can stay home, that's what you should do. This could be historic for Southern California and we'll have to wait and see the totals in terms of the snow and the rain. Camila Bernal, CNN Labette California.

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BRUNHUBER: In the Midwest, federal teams are going door to door in East Palestine, Ohio to conduct health surveys weeks after that toxic train derailment. White House officials of the teams are providing fliers with federal and local resources in a move directed by President Biden. The federal government has also ordered all shipments of hazardous waste from the derailment to stop. Now, this comes after officials in Texas and Michigan complained they weren't told in advance the waste was being sent to their states for disposal. CNN's Polo Sandoval has more on the controversial disposal plans for the hazardous material.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Local officials in both the State of Texas and in Michigan feeling frustrated, many of them recognizing that even though Norfolk Southern may not have been legally required to inform them that some of this hazardous material would be disposed of in their communities, they at least would have liked to have been notified by that rail company.

For example, in Harris County, Texas, the chief executive there, Lina Hidalgo, saying that she first learned about -- about 2 million gallons of water that was used to fight the fire after that February 3 derailment, that that water would be trucked to a licensed facility in her community. And she learned about that after nearly half of it was already in Harris County alone. And that she found out about it while watching the news. So that's a source of frustration.

Texas Molecular, the company that was hired to dispose of this potentially dangerous water saying that it has over four decades managing water safely.

There's also the contaminated soil, some 4800 cubic yards of it that the State of Ohio said would have to be removed and we're already on their way to a disposal facility in Wayne County, Michigan, until elected officials raised concerns about them not getting word from Norfolk Southern. So as a result, on Saturday, the EPA put a temporary halt to the shipment so that they can further review the disposal plan that's in place.

Officials in both states saying that they have no reason to believe that the water and the soil is not being handled safely. They merely want to be informed especially in a situation where information was very difficult to come by during the early stages of this incident. The EPA recognizing though that this hazardous material, it has to go somewhere to be disposed of so long as it's safely handled.

DEBRA SHORE, U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY: The one thing that's been made clear to me is that everyone wants this contamination gone from the community. They don't want the worry, they don't want the smell. And we owe it to the people of East Palestine to move it out of the community as quickly as possible. At the same time, I know there are folks in the States with concerns, legitimate concerns about how this waste is being transported and how it will be disposed of. EPA will continue to work with our local state and federal partners to use our long-standing experience and expertise in these matters to ensure the health and safety and support the East Palestine community and to hold Norfolk Southern accountable.

SANDOVAL: The National Transportation Safety Board out with a preliminary report on Thursday, which indicated that a wheel bearing failure was the likely cause of that February 3 incident to derailed 38 train cars, 11 of them were carrying hazardous materials. The NTSB also adding last week that the crew was not to blame and saying that the incident was 100% preventable, though exactly what could have been done to prevent this incident from happening, with authorities saying that that answer may not come for several more months. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

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[05:15:21]

BRUNHUBER: U.S. inflation rises unexpectedly in January. Ahead will explain what's behind the surging crisis and how long the trend will likely last. Plus, a shake-up of the global economy courtesy of the war in Ukraine. The economic clash between Russia and the West left many consumers high and dry.

And Nigerians turned out by the millions to vote for a new president. But there are concerns about delays reported at some polling stations. We'll go live report in Lagos, coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Unexpected inflation news has some economists worried that America's fight against surging prices is far from over. One of the Feds go to inflation gauges abruptly rose in January ending months of a downward trend. The core personal consumption expenditures price index showed that inflation rose 0.6% in January and 5.4% since last year. Now since May of last year the Fed has tried to cool down inflation by raising interest rates seven times.

[05:20:15]

For more on this, joining me now is Ryan Patel, a Senior Fellow at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and joins me now from Los Angeles. Thanks so much for being here with us. So what do you make of those numbers?

RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: Well, the thing that most people are echoing, let me be clear, more work needs to be done. And when the Fed says it, what other people are saying it because of the numbers, what that means is that we're not seeing any kind of impact of what the hikes have done all of last year. And I know it takes time. But it's clear, I think many economists are looking at it, that it's not showing up in the job market, the job market is hot, and it's harder to bring down than they thought. And so with that equals more rate hikes are going to be coming.

BRUNHUBER: So what is it exactly that is driving this inflation then, is it -- is it hard to tell?

PATEL: Well, it is. I mean, there's multitude of things. And let me take a couple things in there. When you think about the strong job growth, right? And then you think about the rising wages, which we see, right? There's other things too, I mean, they're smaller data points, but like retirees got a raise this year and Social Security benefits rose by 8.7% in January, which the largest cost of living that they saw. I know it's a -- it's a small thing. But these things start to add up. And when -- and in other words, that I would say that the -- I would say the consumers are -- one word, I would describe it as resilient. I think they've been more resilient than most people have given them credit to express economist thinking that the spending is there. And then the other aspect, too, is we've seen more debt, as well began taking care of the total U.S. household debt hit a record of 16.9 trillion, which is an increase of 2.4% from the prior three- month period. So we also seeing that were there is that aspect. And will it hit the crossroads at some point? Yes, it will. But we're just not seeing it right now in the numbers.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, that's the weird thing, despite all of this worry about the economy, as you suggest to consumer confidence is growing, as you said, Americans are still spending like crazy, despite the inflation. So how long can that continue?

PATEL: That is a great question. You know, I think when you look at how long we will continue will depend on actually how strong the Fed really looks at the next few meetings about higher, you know, increasing the increase interest rate, this number alone, Kim, I think has undoubtedly put the onus back on the Fed to go be more aggressive by that, which I don't think that they were going to and I think that will increase that time difference of how long that this will affect for people to spend, right when the higher interest rate goes up. Obviously, we're going to see that a feel for many of the spending habits to curb its actual confidence.

BRUNHUBER: It's so hard, I want to get your take on this. Because trying to make sense of where it's heading is tough. There seemed to be an equal number of reports saying recession fears are growing and recession fears are fading?

PATEL: Yeah, you know, I think I probably lean on, you see, you know, Janet Yellen and the IMF head, they both came out recently and said, they don't feel there's going to be recession in the U.S. because of the job market being so low, you know, unemployment being so low. But with that said, right, the things that you should watch is, right, where -- if our companies cutting further in jobs, right? Our companies -- are we going to see that, push that factor in recession fears? And I don't know, really, that's a conversation where the mixed feeling of the job growth is there. And so the spending habit to me is really interesting. And I would pay attention to the debt number as well, because I think that also the repaying of loans, obviously, it's a lot of mortgage loans to take out last year, right, that could creep up to when you see default loans being higher.

BRUNHUBER: Now, we've been talking, you know, strictly about the U.S., but obviously, we don't operate in a bubble. So what are the global numbers, Europe, China, what did they tell you?

PATEL: Yeah, you know, it's interesting, because we started the start of the year, people would say, well, it'd be kind of gloomy in the last couple, you know, weeks, you've seen again, the IMF, the World Bank, and obviously, China reopening as well as put that kind of, you know, not fears aside, but that there will be some kind of growth going into this year. I think we'll see some stronger demand, especially because of China, reopening up their voters and supply chain and goods and services and raw materials get there. But Kim, I don't want to be the bearer of bad news. But, you know, the flip side of this, right, it also could push, right, when there is a demand that's increasing and there's lack of supply, it just means that there could be higher interest rates that are going -- look might be a little bit longer. And so if I had to sum this up, what we see from the data, what we see from the global economy is that, yeah, I don't think interest rates are going to be dropping that quickly or inflation as well. That just means we're going to be here for a little bit longer and you should be getting settled in for that.

BRUNHUBER: Last 20 seconds, what advice do you have for the people out there who are watching?

[05:25:00]

PATEL: Keep building your reserves, that savings. I think when we see numbers of why people are spending is that they're going into the reserves. They have like six, seven months on average saved up and they're going into that. So, if I was -- you know, if you're listening to me, try to save as much as you can for that rainy day fund to keep building and not the time to spend in different things that you don't need, just -- you know, buy the things that you need not want.

BRUNHUBER: Great advice, as always, Ryan Patel, thanks so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

PATEL: Thank you, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Well, many of the inflation problems here in the U.S. and elsewhere can be pinned on the war in Ukraine. It's become an economic showdown between Russia and Ukraine's Western allies, with average consumers caught in the middle. Clare Sebastian looks back at how that economic battle was fought, and how it reshaped the global economy.

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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago sparked an immediate economic dilemma in the West. How to punish a long-standing economic partner and major energy producer while minimizing turmoil at home.

CHRISTINE LAGARDE, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK: Russia's unjustified aggression towards Ukraine is an ongoing drag on growth.

SEBASTIAN: Europe proved it was willing to take some pain as well as inflict it, imposing sanctions on Russian banks, high profile oligarchs and albeit gradually on Russia's fossil fuels, its biggest source of export revenue.

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: We decided then to have a ban now on de facto 90% of Russian oil.

SEBASTIAN: That decision redrew the global energy, leaving the E.U. scrambling to find new energy suppliers.

Russia fought back, cutting most of Europe off from a vital gas pipeline, oil and gas prices and energy bills skyrocketed. As winter drew closer, the race was on to store enough energy. Storage targets were surpassed. At one point, Europe had so much natural gas that prices in some countries dipped below zero and LNG tankers were unable to unload at ports. The war in Ukraine, a major grain producer, and Russia's blockade of its black sea ports also sent food prices soaring up 14% in 2022, compared to the previous year, according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Administration.

DAVID BEASLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: There's absolutely a crisis mode. What do you think is going to happen when you take a nation that normally grows enough food to feed 400 million people and you sidelined that?

SEBASTIAN: And yet, after hitting multi decade highs last year, inflation in the West is now falling, Central Bank's slowing their aggressive rate rises. Signs recession in the E.U. and U.S. might be narrowly avoided. The U.K. though may not be so lucky. ANDREW BAILEY, GOVERNOR, BANK OF ENGLAND: With inflation currently above 10%, we are in uncharted territory.

SEBASTIAN: So while sanctions have not stopped Putin's war, entering a second year, forcing Ukraine's allies to reckon now with the mounting cost of military aid, Western economies are showing signs of resilience.

KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA, IMF MANAGING DIRECTOR: What we project is less bad, not good.

SEBASTIAN: Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right. Just ahead, have a look at this. You're seeing live pictures here from Nigeria where millions have gone to the polls to pick their next president, now the waiting begins as the counting goes on. And some there that you're seeing there are angry, they haven't been able to vote. So we'll have a live report from Lagos.

Plus, trying to restore calm. Jordan is hosting Israeli and Palestinian officials in hopes of halting a recent surge in violence. We have the details next. Stay with us.

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[05:32:05]

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

All the votes have been cast. Now, millions of Nigerians are waiting for the results of Saturday's election. The presidency is up for grabs as our seats in the National Assembly, an estimated 93 million people are registered to vote in this election, including a record number of young voters. The main issues, the high cost of living, cash and power shortages and political corruption.

Now, there were reports of delays at multiple polling places throughout the country, and a few isolated cases of violence. Let's go now to Larry Madowo live in Lagos, Nigeria. So Larry, Africa's largest democracy has voted. But there were plenty of delays as I mentioned, lots of anger and confusion as well, including among the people, they're behind you. So explain where you are and why folks there so frustrated?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kim. This is one of two polling units in Lagos state that did not get a vote yesterday. Most of Nigeria voted but folks here did not vote. Some of them were here from early in the morning. And one person told me they were here until 10 p.m. And they still didn't get a chance to vote. They'll be back this morning. It's just after 11:30 local, and they still have not heard from the Independent National Electoral Commission. That's the electoral voter here in Nigeria. They hope that they've been told to exercise patience, they hope that finally they'll hear from them and get a chance to vote because this has been a seminal election. It's the most hotly contested election in Nigeria's history. And the so many people, young people especially have been galvanized to come out registered to vote. And they feel that election is going to be this tight, every single vote counts. But yesterday we went around talking to people in different parts of the city, and this is what the voting process was like.

(Voice-over): Large crowds and long waits at several polling places across Nigeria, as millions of voters tried to cast their ballots in the country's high stakes presidential election. There were several delays in polling places, with some people waiting for hours for election officials to show up or for voting materials to arrive. Patients wearing thin as people worried with the clock ticking down, they would lose their chance to vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With our rights, we want to vote. It is our rights to vote.

MADOWO: Election officials say polls will remain open until everyone in line had voted in places where election workers were staffed.

MAHMOOD YAKUBU, CHAIRMAN, INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMUNICATION: We determined that no Nigerian should and would be disenfranchised. So we'll be responding to some of the situations as they arise.

MADOWO: The delays making this highly competitive contest which also includes parliamentary elections, even more tense, but for all the logistical problems in what is Africa's largest excess of democracy, many people voted without incident. Though there were reports of isolated violence, but also great community spirit like this free barbecue for all at a polling unit in Lagos.

[05:35:06]

Many Nigerians say they want to change from the past eight years and the President Muhammadu Buhari, who can't run again because of term limits.

RYAN ONAB, NIGERIAN VOTER: We've been stuck in having the same, same set of governance, you know, come over and over, we just want something new.

MADOWO: Many voters say they want the new leader to make good on promises to keep the country safe from Islamic terror groups like Boko Haram, and they want economic relief from cash and fuel shortages and high inflation, which have gripped the nation. The vote likely comes down to three frontrunners, Bola Ahmed Tinubu from the current ruling party, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, representing the main opposition party, and third-party candidate Peter Obi, who is popular with the youth. And even in the smoothest of elections, the announcement of a winner can take days.

(On camera): After polls close up and down the country, this is what you see. The painstaking slow process of counting the ballots one by one showing everyone so that everyone around can be satisfied for transparency sake.

(Voice-over): That counting is ongoing in a vote that for many Nigerians was a long time coming.

(On camera): This is how important Nigerians are taking this election. People who didn't vote yesterday spent most of the day here back here again, hoping that there's already an orderly process here where they're making sure that when if the INEC officials, electoral body officials come here to start that process. They're ready, and everybody's got their place in line. I want to speak with Charles. Charles, we met you here yesterday. You're back here today, why?

CHARLES: Yeah, I'm back here today because of yesterday, I was here to vote. And getting here with the other persons that were here. Some of them were voting but the unit I'm voting 15, 16 we couldn't vote because the INEC official, the people that are supposed to attend to us, they were not here at the time we came.

MADOWO: Are you optimistic that today you'll get to vote?

CHARLES: Yeah. Well, we -- I saw it on the -- on the news that those places that they couldn't vote yesterday that they had issues that they are some of them are going to -- the opportune to cast their vote today.

MADOWO: So you'll wait as long as it takes?

CHARLES: Yeah, I'm going to wait as long as it takes for me to vote today. And believe in what we're seeing with the presence of the people around. But I don't know what are the INEC officials now that are going to --

MADOWO: I have to live with their Charles. Thank you so much. But you see that level of commitment came that as long as it takes, if it takes another day they'll be here.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, impressive to see. And thanks so much for the on the ground reporting there. Larry Madowo in Lagos. Appreciate it.

Well, Jordan is hosting a meeting between Israeli and Palestinian officials today in an effort to end the recent surge in violence, comes just days after the Israeli military conducted a raid in the West Bank, which left at least 11 Palestinians dead, nearly 500 wounded. CNN's Hadas Gold reports on the devastation left behind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The winding narrow streets of the Casbah and Nablus looks like a warzone, bullet holes in the doorways, cars, rubble on the street, bloodstains on the ground. Aftermath of a rare daytime Israeli military operation to target three militants, the Israeli say we're about to carry out imminent attacks. Soldiers surrounding this home where militants were holed up, refusing to give themselves up.

Massive firefight, the Israelis launching shoulder fired rockets. This woman lives right next door still trembling, so afraid she didn't want to show her face, saying soldiers warn people to go home. She entered her house where soldiers questioned her and warned her she'd hear explosions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard explosions and went to hide under our beds. We covered our ears with blankets. I can't even describe how shocking it was. We saw death with our own eyes. We didn't expect to get out of this alive.

GOLD: The battle spilling out into the surrounding streets as locals and militants clashed with the soldiers. Ahmad Jibril, the Head of the Red Crescent in Nablus said hundreds were injured. Many buy live ammunition seemingly falling from the sky, including unarmed non- combatants.

AHMAD JIBRIL, HEAD OF THE RED CRESCENT SOCIETY NABLUS (through translator): This is the first time they invaded this time of the day. We consider a trash hour at a densely populated area, at the main market in the city.

GOLD: That includes the father of Elias Al Ashqar, a nurse at Al Nadja hospital, who says he was treating the wounded when he was called into another room. I mean was dying from a bullet. But then father, father he cries out when he recognizes the body.

[05:40:05]

ELIAS AL ASHQAR, NURSE (through translator): I came back to check on the two injuries, I asked the doctor and he said both died. I felt a very strange feeling that something belongs to me is between the beds. I opened the second cartoon, and it was my father. In the beginning, I didn't believe it. Then I came closer.

GOLD: The Israeli military acknowledging the situation was chaotic and messy, saying was looking into reports of unarmed civilians shot by their forces. Carnage like this not seen since the days of the Second Intifada, as residents here have lost faith in the Palestinian Authority, saying only God can protect them. Hadas Gold, CNN.

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BRUNHUBER: A new study analyzes images from the Webb telescope and makes discoveries that are up ending theories about the origins of galaxies. Will talk to one of the co-authors straight ahead, please, stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Astronomers have made a discovery using the James Webb Space Telescope that's so unexpected they're scratching their heads. So it's spotted six massive galaxies that existed between 500 million and 700 million years after the Big Bang that created the universe. Now, the discovery up ends existing theories about the origin of galaxies the current theory suggests a galaxies began as a small clouds of stars and dust that grew over time. But these galaxies are so colossal, scientists are being forced to rethink how galaxies formed and evolved.

Pieter van Dokkum is a Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Yale University and a co-author of the study that spotted those distant galaxies. And he joins us now live from New Haven, Connecticut. Thanks so much for being here with us. So, just as context for some of our viewers, the James Webb Telescope, it's the largest optical telescope in space and it was essentially designed, you know, pretty much for this purpose to investigate the formation of the first stars and galaxies. So then, when you found these giant galaxies that shouldn't have grown so big, so fast, what was your reaction?

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PIETER VAN DOKKUM, PROFESSOR, ASTRONOMY AND PHYSICS, YALE UNIVERSITY: Yeah, no, you gave an -- you gave an excellent summary, actually, of the founding. It was a complete surprise. We were actually worried that the web would show that the early universe is kind of empty, that things started forming much later, than -- you know, the era that it's now unlocked. And so to see that there's these apparently mature galaxies, when the universe was really, in its infant stage was a complete surprise. And the first thing is always, are we right? You know, so we spent a lot of time months to check our observations again and again. And then in the end, we were like, you know, we just have to -- we have to publish this and see how it all develops and see how we can make sense of it later.

BRUNHUBER: So, I mean we're talking, you know, how big these galaxies are. I mean, they all had masses of at least 10 billion times -- at least 10 billion times the mass of the Sun. So you said it creates problems for science. So what are those problems?

DOKKUM: Yeah, well, one analogy is, if you think of, you know, I have a 14-year-old and the universe is 14 billion years old. So what we did basically was take pictures of a time when my son was six months old, right? When you see those pictures for the first time, and you expect to see a baby, and what you see is a toddler. And then you're like, huh, what happened here? You know, how did how did he grow up so fast, literally. And so there's something that we're not doing right purely in modeling these galaxies.

BRUNHUBER: So how did it grow up so fast? I mean, do you have any theories about how this fast tracking might have happened?

DOKKUM: Well, not really, at the moment, to be honest, the -- I think most of my colleagues would say, at the moment, we'll just assume that they're wrong. And so, you know, and see if this result stays, the issue is one of how much fuel is available to make galaxies. And so at this early time, we didn't think there was enough material around to have these galaxies already be that mature. But there are ways to fix it, you know, the -- probably have supermassive black holes at their centers, they probably played some kind of role. It's super exciting. We always love to see new things that we didn't expect and can't explain. That's why we're in this business.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, you just spoke of black holes. So I want to ask you about this, you just discovered a massive black hole hurtling through space. So how unusual is this? And, you know, why you think it's on the move?

DOKKUM: Oh, yeah, that's a separate study that's -- that happens to come out at the same time. Yeah, this is a completely unexpected discovery, where the central black hole of a big galaxy was thrown out, and is now hurtling through space. It's now 200,000 light years from the center of the galaxy it came out of. It's -- yeah, 20 billion times, 20 million times the mass of our Sun. And it is wild. We're trying to study that now with the James Webb Space Telescope as well follow up observations with other observatories. But yeah, there's that's another thing, how do these black holes forming the centers of galaxies? How do they evolve over time? There's a lot we don't know.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, and how they go traveling through space as well. It sounds a bit frightening as well.

DOKKUM: Yeah. It's not heading towards us. So don't worry.

BRUNHUBER: That's a good -- that's a good note to end on there. Really appreciate it. So many mysteries of the universe that we're just uncovering. Thanks so much for your expertise. Pieter van Dokkum, appreciate it.

DOKKUM: Yeah, it's a pleasure. Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Well, Russia has sent a spacecraft to retrieve three stranded astronauts on the International Space Station. According to Russian media, the Soyuz, MS-23, docked with the ISS a few hours ago. It'll bring home two Russian cosmonauts and one astronaut from NASA.

Now, originally, the crew was supposed to use another Russian spacecraft to return to Earth, but it was damaged by the meteorite. They're now expected to arrive home later this year.

All right, just ahead. Baseball season is upon us. But there's more to it this year, and explain the new rule changes to America's pastime as spring training kicks off in earnest. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Spring is almost here, which means it's time for spring training for Major League Baseball. Players will also be adjusting to new rules introduced by the League for the first time the season. Now, the idea is to improve the pace of the game and increase action on the field. The biggest real change is the introduction of a pitching clock with penalties for the pitcher or batter for clock violations. And some of the other rule changes include pitchers can only try to pick off runners twice per at-bat. Bases have increased from 15 to 18 inches in size. And defenses will no longer be allowed to shift infielders, almost agree it'll take some time to get used to these things.

The 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will take place Sunday evening. The film everything everywhere all at once has five nominations but it's not the only one. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just tell me what I've done here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You didn't do anything. It just don't like you no more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You like me yesterday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The Irish dark comedy, The Banshees of Inisherin is also up for five awards.

[05:55:10]

The personal Steven Spielberg's family drama. The Failed Woman is also a favorite. And Sally Field will receive a lifetime achievement award celebrating her work on the Silver Screen from Gidget to Steel Magnolias and Norma Rae to the just released 80 for Brady. After more than two decades on TV this year, the SAG Awards will be streamed exclusively on the official Netflix YouTube Channel.

All right, for we go, here's Saturday Night Live's take on former President Donald Trump's visit to East Palestine, Ohio. Have a look at this.

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JAMES AUSTIN JOHNSON (as Donald Trump on SNL): Now earlier today, a farmer came up to me big fella and he said, "Sir, we have nothing to eat because dirt is poison." And I said, "Well, what are you doing?" Eating the dirt. Don't eat the dirt folks. Don't eat the dirt. You should be eating the cold McDonald's I brought you. And the bottled water Trump ice. I'll be honest, I just put my sticker on some Dasani. We like to say Dasani. I've heard all about your situation with the water, but I was looking at your river and it's so shiny. I've never seen water so beautiful, beautiful rainbows and discolorations.

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BRUNHUBER: Now, the actor who played Trump was flanked by actual firefighters from East Palestine during that cold open. I'm Kim Brunhuber at CNN Center in Atlanta. You can follow me on Twitter @Kimbrunhuber for viewers in North America. CNN This Morning is next. For the rest of the world, it's decoded.

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