Russian partial cease-fire begins in Ukraine, deadly tornadoes in Iowa: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Russian partial cease-fire begins in Ukraine

It's not clear how long the move, designed to help civilian evacuations, will last. Plus, Assistant Washington Editor Ledyard King talks about low voter turnout for congressional primaries, deadly tornadoes tear through Iowa, money and tech reporter Terry Collins breaks down the rise in all-cash home buying and the national average for gas tops $4.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Monday, the 7th of March 2022. Today, a temporary cease fire in Ukraine. Plus gas prices may soon reach record highs and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

1. Israel fired several missiles towards Syrian military positions near Damascus earlier today, killing two civilians. It was the first Israeli attack inside Syria since Russia, a supporter of President Bashar Assad, invaded Ukraine.

2. Firefighters in Florida continue to battle a pair of massive wildfires in the state's Panhandle. One fire is more than 9,000 acres large.

3. And Major League Baseball is expected to cancel another week of regular season games soon after labor negotiations yesterday brought little progress. The first week of the season has already been canceled.

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Russia continues to shell cities across Ukraine.

[Sounds of shelling in Ukraine, woman in a Mariupol hospital]

Those are the scenes inside a hospital in Mariupol on the country's Southeastern coast. The city has been slammed by Russian attacks over the past week and is now in desperate need for food, water, medicine, and other supplies. Russian and Ukrainian forces had agreed to an 11-hour cease-fire there to allow civilians to be evacuated. But Russian attacks again quickly closed the humanitarian corridor over the weekend. The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that some 200,000 people are still trying to flee the city.

Still, both Russia and Ukraine have apparently agreed to a more nationwide cease-fire beginning this morning. It should apply for civilians from Kyiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv and Sumy according to a Russian task force, though it's not clear if fighting will stop beyond the areas mentioned or when the cease-fire would end. The West continues to largely back Ukraine with aid and weapons shipments, along with massive sanctions on Russia, but no NATO troops have been sent to Ukraine. US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, though, said yesterday that NATO countries now have the green light to send fighter jets as part of their military aid. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is increasingly frustrated with not getting more support and has called for a no-fly zone over Ukraine. NATO has so far ruled that out because of fears of sparking a wider war.

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, meanwhile continues to justify the invasion by pointing fingers at Ukraine. He repeated some of those comments to Turkish president, Recep Erdogan, yesterday. Putin launched the invasion with false accusations at Ukraine, saying it's led by neo-Nazis intent on undermining Russia with the development of nuclear weapons.

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A new round of redistricting is reducing the number of competitive seats in the House. That means congressional primaries matter more than ever. The problem though is 80% of voters don't participate in them. USA TODAY Assistant Washington Editor, Ledyard King, explains what's being done to try and get a higher turnout.

Ledyard King:

There's a number of groups out there that, what I call good government groups. These are people that want to increase the vote of participation in different ways. There's a couple in particular. Unite America is one, another is the Bipartisan Policy Center. And they recognize how primaries basically are the deciders of who gets to go to Capitol Hill and be in Congress. And some of the things that they want to do is open up primaries. So for instance, right now most states have what they call a closed or partially closed primary. That is to say that not every voter can get to participate. For nine states, for example, if you are a Republican, you get to vote in the Republican primary. If you're a Democrat, you could vote in the Democratic primary. But if you're an independent, you can't vote in either. If you are a Democrat, you can't vote in a Republican primary. If you're a Republican, you can't vote in a Democratic primary. Those are examples of closed primaries and the Bipartisan Policy Center, for example, wants all states to open up.

They also want to make the primary date one day of the year. Election Day, November, is always the first Tuesday. Well, on the primary calendar, it's all over the map. It's over several months and it changes sometimes from election to election, so people are confused. People, who are already uninterested in the process, aren't really sure when their primary dates are. So these groups want to make sure that there's one primary day where everybody knows when it is so they can go vote. And they also want to make sure that all the elections happen on the same day. For example, federal elections sometimes aren't held on the same ... primaries that is, aren't held on the same day as primaries for states and for local offices. So it's a mishmash of dates and elections office and they want to keep it to one. They like to have one day where everybody comes out and vote.

One of the concerns that especially the good government groups have is that because now the primaries have become so important, it can mean that the most extreme candidates come out of these elections. Because if it's just the Republican Party that's voting, or the Democratic Party, the base of each party are the ones that tend to come out. Well, the base of each party tends to go for the more extreme, the more vocal, the more polarizing candidate. And there's a concern that we're going to have a Congress with many more polarizing candidates, yes, even more than there are today, because the primaries are where the action is. And by November, the seats are so red or so blue it doesn't really matter who the opponent is.

Taylor Wilson:

For Ledyard's full piece, check out today's episode description.

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At least seven people are dead in Central Iowa after a pair of tornadoes tore through the area over the weekend. Two children are among those killed. Six of those killed were in and around the small hamlet of Winterset on the edge of the Des Moines metro area. Another tornado struck an hour later on Saturday in Lucas County. The storms are the deadliest in Iowa since 2008, when a tornado killed nine people.

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There's currently a rise in all-cash home buying that comes during a seller's market that exploded during the pandemic. Some experts say that coming in with all-cash may be the best way to win a bidding war or avoid one altogether. Producer, PJ Elliott spoke with Money and Tech reporter, Terry Collins, to find out more.

Terry Collins:

Most home buyers are looking to try to get into to the market by using all-cash companies, such as Ribbon, Orchard, Flyhomes and better.com. Maybe coming in with all-cash could be the best way to win a bidding war.

And it's a tough market. It's an example of how extreme and how hot the housing market is right now, to where you might have a mortgage, pre-approved loan for a mortgage, but that may not be enough, because the seller may want all-cash. And some bids even go up, in addition to all-cash, up to maybe between 20 to $30,000 higher. So it just, this is a snapshot of how competitive the housing market is right now, probably most we've seen in at least more than a dozen years or so.

PJ Elliott:

Is this all-cash bubble going to burst or is this going to be here to stay and become the new normal?

Terry Collins:

Oh, I think this is a trend. I think this is a trend, that I think right now you can see what's happening in the areas in the Southeast and the Southwest. And I'm sure, as things go, it tends to spread so I won't be surprised to see it start happening. Then places like on the East Coast and the West Coast and companies like Ribbon, now are hoping to expand to meet that demand because of there's such a short supply of housing.

PJ Elliott:

So what about people who don't have enough money, how are they able to buy houses?

Terry Collins:

Right now, ooh, it's a tough market. If you are into wanting to home right now, I think you should have multiple lists of wishlists of what you think you can afford, what you would like, and what may be out of reach. Maybe push those that are out of reach now, unless you're really determined and you'd have try to save some more. But if you need the immediacy of wanting to have a house between now and the next 90 to 120 days or more, you should try to find viable alternatives, in addition to already happening probably if you're being pre-approved and you may pour a loan and things like that.

Because it's really competitive right now. An all cash-offer, as some have said in my story, can help you jump the line if you have that, because that's what sellers are looking for right now. If the offer's there and they're looking towards that more so than someone who has a conventional loan and such. It's just a demand right now. There's such a shortage supply of houses. The demand's high, just short supply. And right now all-cash is seeming to be one of those viable options for sellers in a seller's market. As an example of where all-cash offers and purchases are right now, it's all-cash purchases comprise 30% of the market right now, home sales market, compared to about 19% of this time two years ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.

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Taylor Wilson:

The national average price for gas has officially topped $4 a gallon. It's the first time in over a decade that's happened in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and international sanctions against Russia. As of this morning, according to AAA, the national average is $4 and six and a half cents. That's up 14 cents from Saturday and up 40 cents from a week ago. The record high for the national average was $4 and 11 cents set on July 17th, 2008. And experts say that record could be broken by the end of the week.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us seven mornings a week, all year long, right here wherever you're listening right now. Thanks as always to PJ Elliot for his great work on the show. And I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Russia partial cease-fire in Ukraine, gas tops $4: 5 Things podcast