[Allen:] Well, the rock star Supreme Court justice, RBG, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is recovering from surgery. Doctors removed two cancerous nodules from her left lung Friday. They were discovered after a fall last month. She fractured three ribs then.
[Howell:] Rock star based on her resilience. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has more on her treatment.
[Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] They took this cancer out. They don't see any other evidence of cancer within the lungs. So they're treating this as it's the only treatment she will need. Now it is a big operation I think for at any age, certainly if you're 85 years old. The recovery is going to be the most significant part over the next several days. We don't know if she had what's known as a standard thoracotomy, where it's an opening of the chest, or if she had something done less invasively, which would shorten the operation and recovery time as well. What's likely to happen next, we won't know for sure exactly what type of malignant cells these were that were found in the nodule. And that will give us a better idea of what it means for Justice Ginsburg going forward.
[Howell:] Before the surgery, Justice Ginsburg had said that she will serve on the Supreme Court as long as she's able to do so.
[Allen:] We wish her well.
[Howell:] Now to outer space we go and a large asteroid zooming past Earth as we speak. This is a far cry from Santa over the holidays. This thing is shaped like a sweet potato and it is making its way past Earth right now.
[Allen:] The object is about a mile long or 1.5 kilometers. It would make quite a dent if it hit Earth but we're happy to say that won't happen. The asteroid won't be back again until the year 2070, so, sweet potato, thanks for stopping by.
[Howell:] All right. Recapping our top story this day, Americans waking up to part of the government shut down. What it means, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are in limbo, not sure when they'll be paid next for the work they do.
[Allen:] Lawmakers left Washington Friday without a bill to fund the government by midnight. They're deadlocked over the president's demand to fund a border wall. Democrats oppose it. We'll have more on these developments on CNN throughout the coming hours. Thanks for watching. I'm Natalie Allen.
[Howell:] I'm George Howell. For our viewers here in the United States, "NEW DAY" is ahead. For viewers around the world, "AFRICAN VOICES" is ahead. You're watching CNN, the world's news leader.
[Allen:] See you later.