good morning, i'm max foster in for poppy harlow and phil mattingly. we're following breaking news for you out of japan on this new

year's day. a powerful earthquake triggering tsunami warnings and evacuations. this is video of the moment the quake struck. we're not getting much video because coms are down and they have closed all the power stations to protect them. but this is one neighborhood on one part of that long western coast of japan. this was the strike ahead of the tsunami which i'll talk about in a moment. but you can imagine what people are going through late afternoon in japan that time. and as soon as the quake struck, everyone was told by the government in emergency announcements that -- see that explosion there on the left has the house appears to collapse. everyone was told to go to higher ground because we had a series then of warnings from japanese officials about tsunamis.

some are still standing. warning 16-foot high tsunamis possibly coming in. so far they have been hitting just about over a meter. the weather agency says there could be more aftershocks as well from the earthquake the next few days which could cause landslides, building collapses. and this is video of the destruction we're already seeing there. the tsunami that was nearly 4 feet high that was observed, i mean, getting different pieces of video around this, and very deceptive these videos because waves get bigger as they go inland. so initially people see this, they think it is a regular wave but then more and more follow. and they are seeing one of 16 foot coming in. and i was speaking to an expert earlier and they said because of the way the sea is enclosed, water could be flushing in and out of neighborhoods causing damage, dragging debris out and pulling it back in over the next

24 to 48 hours. so extremely concerned about what is happening there. let's go to hanako montgomery, she is our correspondent in tokyo of course. what can you tell us, what information can you glean from what you are getting from the government and social media? all rig >> reporter: yeah, we have an update about the tsunami warnings. previously japan released major warning for of course noto, the city in ishikawa prefecture, but just now the japanese government reported by nhk has lowered it to a tsunami warning. so they no longer sxenlgts ex expect waves of up to 5 meters. comparing it to the 2011 which killed 22,000 people, this natural disaster saw waves of up to 30 feet high. of course the tsunami warnings have not been lifted entirely for this region of japan for this current earthquake, but of

course there are still concerns about what damages could be caused. we already know people have been evacuating going to higher ground as you said. the city of noto is a coast al down with many low rise homes. and so people spending new year's day with family and friends. and they were told to evacuate immediately, go to higher ground to save their lives. and of course this tsunami warning hasn't been lifted entirely. they have been told to stay away from their homes near the coast until this warning has been lifted. >> and we're looking at the waves. i think this was a canal. this video has gone viral because it shows how deceptive the waves are. they are low and look like a regular tidal wave because they are not. describe the sort of damage that has been caused in the past in japan by them. >> reporter: yeah, tsunamis can be very, very devastating.

just looking back on the 2011 earthquake and tsunami as we discussed, the waves knocked down parts of the nuclear power plant. and it caused -- it triggered one of japan's worst nuclear disasters. and it was devastating for the entire country not just people within eastern japan but the entire country. and now for western japan, this earthquake that we're currently reporting about, that we're seeing unfold in realtime, there have been no nuclear abnormalities. we've been told nearby nuclear power plants. we have heard that 33,000 homes are without power in ishikawa prefecture. nhk, the public broadcaster, is also reporting that six people have been injured in suzu city. and they have been told to be aware of landslides. the japanese prime minister has set up a special emergency team

to react quickly to the disaster unfolding. >> okay. thank you for that. i want to go to derek van dam because he has been tracking all of this. and we're becoming experts very quickly in this particular type of tsunami, aren't we, because we've been speaking to experts. and just take us through what i was talking about there with the enclosed nature of the sea and why they are so worried about tsunami hitting that side of japan as opposed to the other seed of japan that we've seen before. >> i think all you have to do is really just look at a map of the region. this part of waestern japan is enclosed basically by another land mass just to its west. so any earthquake with this type of a magnitude will propagate a wave and that potential to see that wave slosh back and forth . latest update from japan

meteorological agency is very important because they have dropped that major tsunami warning. last time they issued that was 2011 when the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused over 20,000 fatalities, that would be on the eastern side of the country of japan. and the ishikawa prefecture which is that little land mass that jets out on western japan, this is important because they are still under a tsunami warning. so the difference here between a major tsunami warning is that they called for initially up to 5 meters or 16 feet waves with that ninitial tsunami. they have lowered it to a warning so roughly 3 meters or 9 feet is still a potential with the sloshing of the water in and around the west facing -- i should say west-facing bays and shorelines ts throughout this p of the word. so we'll analyze this video coming into cnn. everything we're seeing here fits with the observed wave

heights that we have seen from the local area. you can see the water just moving up the coastline, up this particular canal, this is just off of the ishikawa prefecture. i'll show you a map in a moment. but that wave height is roughly a couple feet. and that really fits the narrative of what we've seen as reportable observations on the ground. this is coming out of ishikawa prefecture, roughly 4 feet, that video confirms that. and these waves more subsequent tsunami waves have been observed in and around the west shoreline of the honshu island. and this is important because not -- 1 meter or roughly 3-foot wave is dangerous because it is not just one initial wave, it is a series of waves, a lot of energy built up. when we get the tectonic shift, it displaces the water, creates a wave at the surface, and what

happens as just because the nature of how shorelines work, they get shallower and shallower closer you get to the population densities so the water has nowhere to go but up so it can create a larger wave and sometimes the timing between the crests of the waves can range from 5 minutes to upwards of an hour. so the threat according to the japan meteorological agency is far from other as the water continues to slosh. and needless to say many people felt this magnitude 7.5 earthquake, over 50 million people feeling some shaking and half a million feeling strong to severe shaking. >> and people watching this who may be in the area, it is widely watched in japan, we should warn them when you see the wave being pulled out or disappearing, that doesn't mean that you are safe because it can come back just as quickly. >> yeah, this is a series of waves. as i explained, that water, once

it goes inland, it has to retreat as well. so whatever devastation it has the capability of doing on the xwl ground along the immediate coastline, it will drag the debris back into the water with it. so the difference between wave crest to wave crest can be five minutes to upwards of an hour. and that is important because we could let our guard down if we have the relaxation of the water along the coastline and then another series of waves moves in. we've had 17 earthquakes already, the after shocks oig would he starting to see pop up on the earthquake monitor. and of course we're not expecting a significantly larger earthquake than what already occurred, but this could create localized tsunami waves as well. >> derek, thank you. stay with "cnn this morning." we continue to cover the breaking news out of japan. we're getting new information and videos all the time. a 7.5 magnitude earthquake

shaking the country on new year's day. our crew standing by for us live in tokyo. we'll be right back.

we're continuing to follow the breaking news out of japan, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake striking off the western coast overnight triggering tsunami alerts. we have new video here showing the waves rolling into a canal in the coastal town of juetsi.

tsunami warning were posted. there was very little warning to get out of there. so we did see the official warnings going out after the earthquake that people should get out of houses, just go to higher ground. another tsunami here, they seem quite threatening when you see them like this, but they just continue with that force of water. and dr. prager is joining us. it is remarkable, the images don't seem that intimidating until you see the destruction that they can made. >> good morning, yeah, the thing with tsunamis, especially if you are near the epicenter, you can get a very large tsunami that can be very destructive. luckily it looks like the threat of a big tsunami has passed but even a little bit of water rushing this is powerful. >> i think highest we've had is 1 meter. that can do a lot of damage depending on how many are

following it. >> well, it can. and also one of the things with tsunamis, it depends on the configuration of the coastline, what is the nature of the coastline, is it low lying, are there trees or forests, depends on what is there. and that all can change the shape and size of the 234578 as it hits. >> and pretty untested this side of japan as well, isn't it. we've had earthquakes and tsunamis on the other side of japan, but this is a very different geeioggeography. derek our meteorologist saying that there is a threat that the water can wash in and out in a way that it wouldn't do on the other side of the country. >> they are very different. other side of the country, it is subduction zone and you get much stronger earthquakes and

potentially larger tsunamis. on the west side of japan, it is what is called a reverse fault that has -- we can say broken and has thrust the water upwards. but usually they won't gets a big of a tsunami if it was in the subduction zone and you are right, you are in a bay, so you could potentially get what is called a sloshing back and forth, but it doesn't look like that this is going to be a serious issue there. it has the potential, but according to the meteorological agency and tsunami warning system, it doesn't look like it will be that serious. over the next couple hour, you could see small water rises, but hopefully that is going to be the extent of it. >> presumably it will depend on the after shshocks as well. they seem to be continuing. i think one was over 6 as well.

so not insignificant. >> right. aftershocks, typically anytime there is an earthquake over 7.1, automatically you get an alert looking for a tsunami. the aftershocks are probably not going to create a bigger tsunami but, yes, they have to keep an eye on those. and remember the way you get tsunami is displacement of water. so if you are just getting shaking, that is not going to create or trigger a tsunami. you have to actually have the sea floor going up or down. that is what triggers the tsunami. or you could get an underwater landslide. >> and we're wishing them all the best and trying to get as much information as we can, but they are dealing with a crisis situation. dr. prager, thank you for joining us. our breaking news this morning then, a powerful earthquake hitting waern gentwestern

japan. and our coverage continues after this short break.

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good morning. breaking news coverage of the 7.5 magnitude earthquake in western japan continuing in a moment. look at that, one of the tsunamis coming in. awesome destruction, although when you first see it, it doesn't look that threatening. but there were massive evacuation orders. former president trump

meanwhile fighting to keep his name on the republican primary ballot in colorado and maine. the supreme court of colorado and maine secretary of state each ruling trump ineligible to seek a second term in the white house. they say his actions during the january 6 capitol riot violated the 14th amendment ban on insurrectionists holding federal office. zachary cohen is joining us. this is happening with just two weeks until the iowa caucuses. >> reporter: yeah, max, and donald trump is vowing to appeal both of these decisions. the one in colorado and also in maine, the most recent handed down by the secretary of state there. and look, these decisions are both put on hold until this matter gets resolved through the court system. and there is mounting pressure on the u.s. supreme court to take up this issue and resolve the constitutional questions raised here. but there is also a political element. you mentioned iowa caucuses are coming up and the 2024 presidential election itself

just around the corner. so this needs to be resolved and addressed through the courts before, you know, we get to that point where the election is ongoing, election process is ongoing. donald trump is attacking this as election interference, we've seen it repeatedly and as we get closer to the presidential election, you can guarantee you will hear more of that from him. so mounting pressure on the supreme court to take up this issue. we're in unchartered waters as we've found ourselves repeatedly, but we'll see if the supreme court takes it up. >> yeah, you're getting used to that space. jamie raskin was on "state of the union" and was asked if justice clarence thomas should recuse himself on the 14th amendment case. what did you make of that? >> reporter: jamie raskin obviously a democrat, he was a member of the january 6 committee that investigated what happened on january 6. he says clarence thomas should

recuse himself if this matter gets taken up by the highest court in the land. and he says it is because of his wife's role in january 6. we've reported that his wife was actively involved in encouraging white house officials like mark meadows, former chief of staff, to keep fighting to overturns election in the leadup to january 6. obviously that is part of the case and the narrative that the january 6 committee says led to the violence on january 6 itself. so jamie raskin raising an interesting possibility. i would be surprised if he actually reduced himself, but take a listen to jamie raskin. >> i think anybody looking at this in any dispassionate reasonable way would say if your wife was involved in the big lie and claiming that donald trump had actually won the presidential election and been participating in the events leading up to january 6, that

you shouldn't be participating in -- >> so he should recuse himself? >> he absolutely should recuse himself. the question is what to we do if we doesn't recuse himself. >> reporter: thomass have maintained that they keep their work separate, but an interesting possibility that raskin raises here especially as we do anticipate that the pressure will continue to build for the supreme court to taup t take up the 14th amendment issue. >> zachary, thank you. new laws are officially going on to the books. rafael romo takes a look at the slew of new ones taking effect today. >> reporter: among the most polarizing new laws that take effect with the new year are those related to gender affirming care for minors with several republican-led states moving to enact restrictions. in idaho, physicians who provide treatments to minors could face a $5,000 fine and a felony charge. in louisiana, it will become illegal for those under 18 to

receive those treatments and health care professionals can have their licenses revoked for two years or more if they provide those services. on the other hand, maryland along with several other democratic-led states passed protections for gender affirming care for all ages and as of january 1, the state will require medicaid to cover them. when it comes to abortion, the state of washington is enacting a law with the goal of making the procedure more accessible by eliminating out of pocket costs including deductibles and co-pays. this is in response to near total bans in several republican-led states that took effect in 2023. in california, a law taking effect monday protects health care providers from out of state late gags over abortion and gender affirm care to people from other states. when its do laws that are not as ser controversial, nearly half of all states will increase their minimum wage. washington will continue to have the highest minimum wage of all states at $16.28 an hour. up from $15.74.

another new law for 2024 getting a lot of attention is california's ban on carrying concealed firearms in sensitive places. this is despite the federal judge's prior ruling that the law is, quote, repugnant to the second amendment. people with permits would not be allowed to carry concealed firearms in places like schools, parks and hospitals among others. federal appeals court will allow the law for now while the court case continues. rafael romo, cnn, atlanta. and we're covering japan's 7.5 magnitude earthquake for you this morning. all that coverage continues ahead. we'll be joined by the lead duty scientist at the pacific tsunami warning center. what these videos of waves indicate. stay with us.

good morning, i'm john berman. happy new year. this is cnn special live coverage. we're following breaking news out of japan this morning. a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami warning and evacuation. you are looking at video from moments just after the quake struck. you can see buildings collapse. huge clouds of dust rising there over on the left side of your screen. japanese officials just lowered their alert from a major tsunami warning to a tsunami warning. still, very serious. they are expecting waves of about 3 meters, that is 10 feet and higher. and they warn that aftershocks

could last for days with potential land slides and building collapses. we have team coverage this morning. derek van dam is tracking the warnings. and the lead duty scientist at the pacific tsunami warning center will be with us. but we start with hanako montgomery. give us a sense of what is happening on the ground. >> reporter: yeah, so right now we heard that the tsunami warning has been lowered, so we expect 3 meter high waves, that is about 10 feet. and of course this is a very developing story. so we're still trying to get a gauge of how devastating the tsunami might be. but right now, cnn has confirmed that we're seeing 1.2 meter high waves hitting parts of western japan. tsunami warning has been issued for the entire west coast of japan. and in ishikawa prefecture, there is a coastal city called

noto and we're seeing footage coming out of that region. many people have been told to evacuate from their homes. of course this is new year's day, so a time when many people spend it with their family and friends in their homes. but given this developing story, this emergency, people have been told to leave and evacuate to higher ground. as you mentioned, after shocks are being felt. we know we've had at least 14 aftershocks. and this might continue for at least three days is what japanese authorities are telling us. >> if people are not familiar with the geography of japan, tell us where the epicenter here was. how far away it is from tokyo. is this a major population center? how many people are being affected by this? >> reporter: -- >> i think we lost her right there. but as you can see, we're

talking about the west coast of japan, about 185 miles in a direct line from tokyo. it is a province with well over a million people. not as densely populated as the tokyo area. and as we sit here this morning, we are receiving reports of damage but not catastrophic damage at least not yet. and again, we are monitoring for tsunami warnings along the coast there. they have lowered the threat of the warning from catastrophic waves to waves 10 feet or a little higher. you are looking at live pictures from ishikawa. let's get to derek van dam who is tracking the warnings. give us a sense of what they are saying. >> the earthquake, there was 50 million people that felt some sort of shaking from this. so that is significant. tokyo of course well east of the epicenter. but in terms of the tsunami, we

do have initial video coming out, this is just to the south and east of ishikawa prefecture. i'll show you go eo graphical in a moment. here you see this river coming up. and just because you see the initial surge of water doesn't mean that the threat for a tsunami wave is over. there is a lot of energy associated with it and sometimes we can get five minutes to upwards of an hour in between the tsunami wave crests. and that is noted from some of the warnings from the u.s. geological survey 230i7bs for instance. and that fits the narrative of the observed wave heights. 1.2 meters, that is roughly 4 feet. similar values across the western shoreline oig of the honshu region. and that is the largest island within japan.

this ishikawa prefecture where the major tsunami warning initially issued sticks out, it kind of juts out from the west shoreline of the province. and that can wrap around this water as it continues to slosh in and out of the bays. but just looking at this geographical map, look what is to its west. the korean peninsula, here is russia, this is japan. that is the island of honshu. and with a magnitude 7.5 earthquake, that water is propagated westward and eventually will slosh back and forth within this enclosed region. so that makes it particularly susceptible to a tsunami versus if it was on the east side of the island of japan or nation of japan. so check it out. how is it formed? we get this tectonic shift underneath the sea. and of course with this shallow of a nature for the epicenter,

it will displace the sea water and some of the observed buoy measurements on the surface of the ocean offshore were roughly 1 meter or roughly 3 feet. and as that tsunami wave progresses closer to the coastline where people live, population densities, the water has nowhere to go but up. basic bathymetry. this is all about the coastline, the seabed, how it naturally rises as it heads toward the coast and of course that tsunami wave being a succession of waves has to recede as it eventually draws out the water that it pushed inland so far. >> how long will this threat realistically be? >> well, with magnitude 7.5 earthquake, the potential, and we have already seen aftershocks, will continue for days to come. and so potential here for a tsunami with the initial earthquake, the 7.5, is generally within the first 3 to

6 hours. but if we have larger aftershocks, let's say 6.5 or hi higher, if that happens underwater again, that would raise the threat of additional tsunamis not associated with the original earthquake. but here is this population map. this is important as well. look at these numbers. we're talking nearly 44 million people feeling light shaking, half a million feeling severe to violence shaking. this is the ishikawa prefecture over the western shoreline of japan. even though this is not the most populated marts of the country, nonetheless there are several people who live here and you have to take into consideration the type of construction material used to build their homes, their apartment complexes. some could be concrete, more earthquake-resistant, but some could be wood as well. and with further aftershocks, if that structure is destabilized, it won't take much to it a down additional buildings.

>> okay, stick around if you will. i want to bring in the lead duty scientist in the pacific tsunami warning center. if you are with us, stanley, give us a sense of what you are seeing at this moment. >> what we've done on our side, we issued the tsunami threat message. the tsunami threat message was based on the earthquake parameters that we received from japan meteorological agency. and this is for countries within 300 kilometers of the epicenter which included dpr, japan, russia. and then we also included in the threat message the republic of korea as well. the threat message for north korea, japan, russia was for waves of potentially reaching from 0.3 to 1 meters in height. this is today level.

and then for republic of korea, this would be less than 0.3 meters. >> the geography in that area, how does that impact the warnings and level of danger? >> well, the level of danger -- again, what we were doing here and i want to emphasize, we were using the parameters of the jma. and we use those in our models to determine what level of threat that would result from this particular earthquake. we know for the location, there is not a lot of gauges in that area in the west area there. so again the way the bay is, you could have some sloshing back and forth as it was pointed out earlier. but from the tsunami perspective here, after we issued the

initial message, then we subsequently issued several supplemental messages. and then we finally issued a warning message -- excuse me, a tsunami information message five, where the tsunami threat had largely passed. but what we wanted to still emphasize, that you could still have wave action in coastal areas. and that it was extremely important to follow the directions from local emergency managers. and then when you are in the areas, to stay alert because again you could still have significant wave action occurring. >> doctor, i'm a meteorologist here at cnn and i've covered earthquakes in and around japan for the better part of a decade working here at this channel. and the majority of the earthquakes that i've seen have been on the east shoreline or

the eastern side of japan, the tsunami threats there being more of a pacific-wide tsunami threat. looking at this map, why is this area so vulnerable to tsunami activity considering the geographical references of the korean peninsula, russia just to the west, what makes this area so susceptible to tsunamis? >> on that particular point, i'll have to defer on that because the way that the bay is really, really closed in there, i guess if you have an earthquake, there is a high chance of a wave getting sloshed back and forth there compared to the pacific side. but again, it is an area that if you do have an event, a tsunami

there could be particularly destructive as we see. >> and the depth of this earthquake, relatively shallow, which can lead to more destruction on the surface. how does that impact potential tsunami threats? >> the shallower the earthquake is, the more likely that you could have a very, very destructive tsunami. typically when we look at tsunami threats, we're looking from 100 kilometers and up. and from the parameters that jma had, this rupture was right at the surface. so again, this would be potentially very, very destructive tsunami. >> which is why you have so many people now on alert watching for potential threats along that entire western coast, particularly the region that we're looking at right there. doctor, thank you so much for being with us.

derek van dam thanks to you as well. we'll check back in with you shortly. for the first time a direct confrontation between u.s. forces and houthi rebels, this is happening in the red sea, not far from the conflict between israel and hamas. our live special coverage continues next.

you're looking at pictures we're just getting in from the earthquake, the major earthquake, 7.5 measuring. this happened in western japan in ishikawa prefecture. this is a prefecture with a population of over a million

people. it struck several hours ago. and we're now seeing pictures of some of the damage, getting reports back. the shaking was felt very far away, millions and millions of people did feel this as it was happening. we're trying to get more information from the epicenter. again, the ishikawa province on the western coast of japan. there is a tsunami warning in effect there. a major tsunami warning has been reduced now. so the threat that they are expecting is somewhat lower than it was. but they are still expecting waves or warning of waves that could be up to 10 feet. you can see some of the images from earlier this morning of the impact of this quake. again, very powerful quake. and it was shallow as well which can lead to grart daeater damag the surface. again, we'll bring you much more of the breaking news coverage as information comes in. there is other news this

morning, major news from the red sea where the u.s. navy has confirmed that two of its helicopters returned fire and sank through houthi rebel boats killing everyone on board. the incident follows an attack by houthis over the weekend, this is the first time there has been a direct confrontation between the u.s. and houthi rebels at least of this nature. certainly helicopters and these vessels. they have they've been targeting ships in the area showing their support for hamas since october 7th. cnn's natasha bertrand is in washington, watching this for us this morning. what are you learning, natasha? >> yeah, john. this incident happened as amersk vessel was heading from singapore to the -- up through the suez canal and it happened right off the coast of yemen, where these iran-backed houthis operate. at a certain point, they were hit by an unknown object, according to mersk and according

to to the u.s. military, but they were able to continue on. however, a little bit later, four boats containing these houthi militants, they tried to approach the vessel, the merchant vessel, and they tried to board it. they opened fire, according to mersk and that is when mersk issued a second distress call in just under 24 hours to the u.s. military, which, of course, is operating in the area amid all of these iran-backed houthi attacks on commercial shipping there. and at that point, the u.s. deployed helicopters from the aircraft carrier eisenhower as well as a u.s. navy destroyer, and they engaged with the houthis. the houthis started opening fire on the helicopters and the helicopters then responded in self-defense, according to u.s. central command. however, at that point, that is when the u.s. military killed everyone on those -- on three of those houthi ships, because they sank those vessels, they say, in

self-defense. now, mersk says at this point, it is trying to assess the security of the area, of course. it had previously paused its operations in the southern red sea while all of this is going on, and the u.s. has deployed what they called operation prosperity guardian in the southern red sea to try to bulk up security there. it's a multi-national maritime coalition that they had hoped would deter the houthi rebels from attacking commercial shipping in the area, clearly, it has not. however, as you noted john, this is a major escalation, because it is the first time that the u.s. military has killed these houthi militants and it marks the first time there is that direct confrontation between them. >> and again, this comes as the united states says it wants to prevent a wider conflict in the middle east, or at least the conflict that we're seeing between israel and hamas from spreading. but clearly, it is. >> right, and national security counsel spokesperson john kirby, he did say just yesterday that the u.s. is not seeking a

conflict wider in the region and not looking for a conflict with the houthis, but clearly, the cat is out of the bag here. the houthis have said that they're going to continue to attack ships in the area, regardless, really, of the u.s. and multi-national presence there. they're doing it in solidarity with the palestinians, with gaza, and the multi-national coalition has been forced to respond in many stassistances, shooting down missiles and drones that the houthis had launched. and he said yesterday, the defense minister, we are willing to take direct action and won't hesitate to take further action. what remains to be seen is whether the u.s. takes that additional step and actually striking the houthis directly inside yemen. natasha bertrand in washington watching this for us. keep us posted. we have other new developments this morning from ukraine. russian leader vladimir putin said moments ago, that russia will increase its air strikes on ukraine in the coming days,

weeks and months. this comes as ukraine says that odessa, on the black seacoast came under assault from unmanned russian drones, just hours into the new year, one person died, at least nine were injured. new year's day was officially declared a day of mourning in ukraine, where the death toll is climbing, after the large scale attacks from russia a couple of days ago. search and rescue operations are still underway in kyiv, where at least 28 people were killed, 30 injured. at least 53 people across ukraine were killed in that large-scale attack. cnn's clare sebastian is watching this for us. clare, what are you learning this morning. >> yeah, good morning, john, look, i think even before we had from president putin, who was speaking at a military rehabilitation hospital this morning, it was pretty clear given the events of the last few days that russia is stepping up the intensity of its air war with those missile and drone attacks. and friday, new year's eve saw according to the ukrainian efforts some 90 drones.

they say it was a record amount fired at ukraine in which they were able to avert 87 of them. but hearing it from putin, saying it out loud, saying they are going to step up strikes on ukraine's military installations and things like that. it seems like the air war is now growing in importance, perhaps inevitable given the lack of movement on the front lines. so, look, almost all regions of ukraine on new year's eve facing an air alert. as i said, those 90 drones. these numbers are very significant. this may be a message not only to ukraine, but also to the u.s., where, of course, ukraine has now been promised the last package of military aid, unless, of course, congress approves more funding, that russia is willing and able to exploit the gaps in ukraine's arsenal and exploit the gaps in its western weapons supplies, john. >> it's almost as if vladimir putin is taunting the united states as the congress here seems to be deadlocked on whether to provide new aid to ukraine. what are you hearing from ukrainian leader volodymyr

zelenskyy? >> yes, so we had new year's addresses both from putin and zelenskyy. zelenskyy's was much longer, some 20 minutes compared to the 3 1/2 or so that putin spoke for. and he did what we have traditionally heard him do, which was really to try to accentuate the positive, to try to build up ukrainian moral, which is being really tested at the moment, especially because of what is going on in congress. so he talked about the diplomatic achievements over the years, the numbers of weapons packages that ukraine has got the decision by the eu to start negotiations towards eu membership for ukraine, and he sort of talking about ukrainian bravery and strength that the ukraine is going to get stronger. so he struck a resilient tone. he said that ukraine is going to massively step up domestic production of weapons, but it is clear that ukraine is going into the new year, especially vulnerable. john? >> clare sebastian, thank you very much for that. we have breaking news coverage this morning of this powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake in japan. we're getting new video just in. you can see these cars shaking

at a parking garage. we're live on the ground in tokyo. stay with us.

good morning, everyone, and happy new year. i'm john berman and we are following breaking news out of japan this morning. a powerful earthquake measuring 7.5 has triggered evacuations

and un