>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. good morning, everyone and happy new year. i'm john berman along with rahel solomon this morning and we are here following breaking news. tsunami warnings are in effect for the western coast of japan. this after a powerful earthquake struck several hours ago .

>> and this is the moment that the 7.5 magnitude quake struck. you can see just incredibly and hear the cars rattling. japan has now downgraded the warning from major tsunami warning to tsunami warning. but that still means that 9 foot waves are possible. the washing right now is for people to get to higher ground because every minute counts. >> and this was the scene at a bowling alley where people were enjoying the new year's day holiday when the quake hit. you see them there, hiding under

the tables as everything really shakes around them. some buildings have collapsed and people are said to be trapped in the rubble. a hospital in the area says that they're receiving injured patients, but some doctors haven't been able to get to the hospital because roads are damaged and several highways are closed. we're hearing that at one hospital people are being treated in the parking lot. there have been more than a dozen aftershocks and that could continue for days. we have team coverage for you. cnn's hanako montgomery is in tokyo and derek van dam is at the cnn weather center. hanako, i understand you have new reporting on the damages. what are you learning? >> reporter: hi, rahel. yeah, so we've heard from nhk japan's public broadcaster that there have been at least two people who are experiencing cardiac arrest. we also know that 33,000 homes in ishikawa prefecture are experiencing blackouts, we also know that bullet trains, train lines are being suspended and

there are so many cracks in the road that it's difficult for emergency personnel to get to ishikawa prefecture like you said. we also know that 1,000 self-defense force personnel have been dispatched to the area, on top of that 1,700 personnel have japan's firefighters have been dispatched to help with emergency response. 20 aircrafts within the self-defense force are also just monitoring the area, trying to assess what kind of damage has been caused by this earthquake, by the tsunami. we're also seeing really just scary footage of just fires roaring in ishikawa prefecture as people try to escape their homes. i just want to take a moment and contextualize this as well. today is new year's day in japan. we don't really celebrate thanksgiving or christmas here, so new year's day is really a time when many people celebrate with their families, with their friends in their homes. suddenly, right, this earthquake hit at 4:10 p.m. local time

which really just shocked many people, but also the western coast of japan isn't really associate ed with very big natural disasters. of course, we saw the 2011 triple disaster that was on the eastern coast of japan. so really this has been a shocking moment and a very terrifying moment for many people on the western coast of japan, rahel. >> as you point out, most people would have been likely home with their friends or family when this took place. hanako montgomery, we will check in with you throughout the morning. thank you. >> the earthquake triggered smaller tsunami waves reaching about 4 feet. the warning that is in effect does raise concerns that the waves could reach about 10 feet. derek van dam has been watching all of this from the weather center. derek, give us a sense of what you're seeing. >> well, i think it's important for our viewers who are tuning in this morning across the world, maybe in japan or here domestically in the united states that, yeah, the threat has not diminished from tsunami activity just yet, and i will

explain why in just one moment. keep in mind a tsunami is not necessarily one wave of water. a tsunami is a series of waves of water. a lot of times the separation between the wave crests can last anywhere between five minutes to upwards of an hour. and there is a lot of local topography that could extend this threat even further, and i will explain why. here are some of the first visuals we're getting out of this region in terms of the tsunami advancing inland, this is just off the ishikawa prefecture near where the magnitude 7.5 struck overnight and that video you saw is fitting the narrative of some of the observed wave heights from the tsunami that we have seen, roughly upwards of 4 feet across the western shoreline of japan from this powerful, powerful earthquake, but the threat is not over and the japan meteorological agency, the local meteorological agency on the

ground that issues the warnings for tsunamis is actually picking up on that as well. keep in mind we have tsunami warnings for upwards ever 9 foot waves still possible. here is the local topography i talked about being a factor, there is the ishikawa prefecture just near the epicenter of the earthquake. when we get that sloshing effect in between the bays and canals within that peninsula we can have that water slosh back and forth, back and forth, and even on a regional scale you don't have to look far before we see another land mass being korean peninsula and into russia so that water from a powerful earthquake is propagated outward and bounces back off of the land. this is similar to if you had a bathtub full of water and would drop a rock in the middle of it you would see the waves bounce off the edges of the bathtub and come back in the middle. tsunamis form with this separation of the tectonic plates, forms a wave at the surface and that wave grows

larger as it reaches the coastline, it's called bathymetry and it's all about that little specific coastline that lines the western sides of japan. >> derek van dam, watching the tsunami threat for us. derek, thank you very much. just to give people a sense of the geography here what we are talking about, this is the ishikawa prefecture right here, this is the epicenter of the earthquake. tokyo across the island about 180 miles away, the earthquake absolutely was felt in tokyo by tens of millions of people, but the epicenter here, the ishikawa prefecture here, the population there is much lower, it's a prefecture with a population of about one million people right here, the major city has fewer than half a million people. still there are tens of thousands of people inside the extreme danger zone. let's talk more about the threats they're seeing, particularly the tsunami threat. this is the area of greatest concern right there. with us now is a professor of gio physics at the georgia institute of technology. professor, through for being

with us. what are you watching most closely this morning? >> well, you have already talked about a tsunami, that is one of the things we have to be really watching out, but another thing i should point out is that because of the events of this size that we expect lots of aftershocks and as you probably know houses in japan are mostly wooden building structures, so they can withstand some of the shaking, but if you have continuous vibration, mostly aftershocks, then that could cause some damages. as you've already pointed out, sometimes it can cause fires that become another problem. so those are primarily the two things that i think, you know, people at the epicenter region, you know, really have to watch out. >> again, and i can show people some of the video of the various shaking and damage. this was an island off the coast here. you can see the roads there are damaged and cracked. this obviously makes it

difficult to get aid and to get rescue operations under way if third in any way needed. obviously there is more shaking and whatnot in other places as well. i'm glad you brought up aftershocks because i think in some ways the very term diminishes the threat. these are earthquakes. they may not be as powerful as the initial earthquake, but the repetition in and of itself can be very dangerous. can you explain that? >> absolutely. so one of the things that we know, i can point out, is typically people think that aftershocks are smaller than the main event, but there's always a very small percentage, we talk about maybe 5% or 10% chance that an aftershock could be larger than the initial event. in that case of course we call the aftershock as the main event and we call the previous event as the main shock, things like that can happen but it's a very small probability but it's not zero. that's one thing i like to point out to your audiences is that

the sequence is still unfolding, it's not over yet. >> and, again, as we look at the map of japan right now, people will remember 2011, the earthquake and the tsunami there that had a huge impact, killed 20,000 people and damaged the fukushima power plant north of tokyo there. we are not hearing of any abnormalities at the nuclear plants particularly on the western coast near the ishikawa province. what would you be looking for in the next several days insofar as that's concerned? >> right. i think when you talk about the earthquake the size matters. so the event that occurred in 2011 is definitely much larger and of course mostly offshore and triggered a much larger tsunami. so for now i think with the event of this size, you know, the tsunami probably is almost probably almost over or probably lingering for a while so that probably won't be a concern.

one of the concerns obviously which is hard to tell in this case is whether or not there will be something bigger happen. so that will be probably a main concern. one thing i should point out as i was checking with my colleagues in japan is that this region apparently is a region that has an ongoing earthquake swarm that have been lasting for several years. when you say earthquake swarm that means a lot of events are actually happening in a very short time period, but in this case lasts several years. in addition of this event, the 7.5 event actually have a foreshock that occurred five minutes or eight minutes before. what we're seeing here of course is a larger event, but we should look at in a larger context. in this region there are ongoing earthquake activities that have been lasting for several years and here comes the big one. i think that's one thing to watch out is what's going to happen next. >> dr. peng, thank you for

helping us understand what we're seeing and perhaps will see in the hours and days ahead. we appreciate your time. rahel? all right. john, still ahead, we continue to follow that breaking news live in japan this morning. right now as we've been saying a tsunami warning still in place. stay with us for the latest as authorities continue to assess the damage. plus the latest options facing donald trump's legal team as they start the new year preparing for two appeals to state decisions that could kick him off their ballots. and the u.s. sinks three of four boats operated by iran-backed rebels. what the pentagon is saying about u.s. involvement and security around the red sea as attacks on merchant ships continues. we will be right back.

all right. the breaking news this morning, japan is bracing for aftershocks and a tsunami warning is in place after this major powerful 7.5 magnitude quake hit several hours ago. it struck around 4:00 p.m. local time. people there celebrating the new year, you can see some of the stores there filled with people as the shaking knocked all those

goods off the shelves there right on to the floor. people in tokyo which is about 180 miles away they felt the earthquake. >> it was really strong, actually, we were just hanging out in the living room on new year's day and all of a sudden we could see that the pictures were rattling in their frames on the wall and the whole room was swaying and an alarm went off. i knew right away it was really strong. >> there is no mistaking it as it's going on and this went on for some time. more than a dozen strong aftershocks have been recorded, they could continue for the next several days. japanese officials are warning that the tsunami waves could reach as high as 10 feet, that is the current warning, with waves up to 10 feet high. emergency responders they are deployed, multiple fires reported, at least 33,000 homes at this point customers without power. there were some flight cancellations due to cracks on the runway in the major airport in the western part of the country as well.

>> we're going to keep a close eye on that. we also have, of course, officially entered the 2024 election year and the iowa caucuses are just two weeks ago, followed closely by the new hampshire primary and then super tuesday. it's shaping up to be monumental year for donald trump who faces 91 charges, potential supreme court challenges and republican rivals trying to take a dig out of his commanding polling lead. >> so let's get it done. we have 2024 ahead of us. we hold the future in our hands. we have it within our power to put this country on a totally new trajectory. donald trump is running on his issues, nikki haley is running on her donors' issues, i'm the only one running on your issues. >> all right. let's bring in eve have a mick kend who joins us now. the iowa caucuses approaching. what are you watching? >> time running out here.

the iowa caucus is january 15th, mark your calendars. govern governor ron desantis and his family joined a new year's eve ceremony, that's where he say he would work his opponents in the closing days. he has employed this all in on iowa strategy, leaning hard on the critical evangelical voters in the state and wracking up key endorsements. he's also traveled to all of the state's 99 counties, but governor ron desantis and the rest of the field trail far behind front runner former president donald trump. meanwhile, nikki haley, she's running in second place in new hampshire, which goes just after iowa. her top surrogate, governor chris sununu wants the field to consolidate around her as the anti-trump alternative. >> he knows his voters who want to see trump defeated are all coming over to nickki haley. the only person that wants chris christie to stay in the race is

donald trump. >> so chris christie who governor sununu referenced there has shown no indication he's prepared to leave the race, even cutting an ad last week indicating as much. that he's still very much in this. and if you travel throughout the state, which i did last week, you will see that he has a solid base of support as well. meanwhile, vivek ramaswamy spending a considerable amount of time in iowa. and former arkansas governor asa hutchinson is still in the contest, too, rahel, he's campaigning in iowa this week as part of his return to normal tour. rahel? >> all right. eva mckend, thank you. we will check back soon. with us now former democratic state representative in south carolina bakari sellers and cnn political commentator scott jennings. happy new year, gentlemen. it is great to see both of you. surprising, frankly, to see both of you awake at 9:20 a.m. on new

year's day, and i do appreciate you both being here. let's talk new year's resolutions if you are heading into the campaign season for these candidates. if you are donald trump, scott jennings, and you are looking at this year layout before you, what is it you think you need to do in the next several weeks? >> well, the first thing he wants to do is crush in iowa and win new hampshire and end this race. i mean, the faster he can get through two wins, it will effectively end the race and set him on course to be the republican nominee without much concern. the disaster for donald trump would be, say, if ron desantis slips up and gets pretty close to him in iowa or somehow ties him or overtakes him and nikki haley does the same thing for him in new hampshire. the dream for trump and it's within his grasp is to win by a record amount in iowa and fend off a harder state for him, new hampshire, where you have haley

and as was mentioned chris christie dragging her down there as well. >> bakari, do you think that chris sununu the governor of new hampshire urging chris christie to get out, do you think that's going to have the impact that maybe governor sununu wants? is christie going to hear that and say, okay, since you said it i'm going to get out now? >> yeah, i think we all know chris christie not to be that person. i actually think chris christie is doing an honorable and noble deed here in being somebody who is trying to pull the republican party back to the age of reagan. i mean, a party that actually stands conservative values and not this -- these lies and consumed by the cult of personality that is donald trump. so hats off to chris christie. i don't think it's enough, honestly. i know that governor sununu and chris christie and even nikki haley are putting their hats on new hampshire, however, respe respectfully, donald trump is up by 60 points in south carolina. so even with a decent showing in

new hampshire, it's already game, set, match. the new year's resolution for donald trump is to start running a general election because the election he's running right now will get him beat again by joe biden, which i have no issue with whatsoever. >> what do you think of that, scott? bakari is saying the election that donald trump is running right now and one where if you look at the head to head polls he is either tied about president biden or slightly ahead of president biden, bakari is saying that that will not last as the months continue. >> well, we'll see. i mean, a lot of things will happen between now and november. he has his legal issues that will remind people of all the things he is in trouble for. on the other side of the equation is is joe biden running the kind of campaign right now that would get him reelected in november. in some ways these guys are magnets for each other and both have glaring weaknesses. independent voters are not happy with the current president but in the last midterm we saw independent voters not happy with the current president and

they still voted for his party anyway. are they going to do that again? there's a lot of unknowns, i hesitate to hazard a prediction on how this is going to turn out because i don't really know. i think the american people don't want this choice, they don't want this rematch and there is some nostalgia for donald trump's economic policies, but there's probably not any nostalgia for some of the other things he did and stands for and the way he left office. there is certainly no love for joe biden's agenda, either. it's a toss-up affair in my opinion now as we get going. >> bakari, i've been in iowa with you, i remember sitting in the lobby of a hotel with you in iowa four years ago before the caucuses, albeit the democratic caucuses four years ago. in these days before people actually show up to vote at these unusual and unique caucus events, what do you think the voters are actually considering and shopping for? do you fundamentally believe that all of these iowa voters have looked at donald trump for so long are still shopping with

just 14 days to go until the caucuses? >> you know, this is going to be really tough. i don't think they're still shopping. you know donald trump now, you know everything he stands for, you know everything he brings to the table. the question is can someone persuade you that they can be a better president than donald trump, give you something different i think than nikki haley fell out of favor with some voters over the last couple of weeks, not necessarily with the inability to tell you what the civil war started because of, but just because of the way that she handled that limelight and the follow-up questioning. i do think that somebody who is going to do surprisingly well in the iowa caucuses is probably vivek ramaswamy, which is going to surprise a lot of people. i don't think of him as much of a candidate, but i think iowa is suited for him and the caucus scenario is suited for him to go in and kind of do that hand to hand combat. so we shall see, but donald trump is in great position in iowa and i think unless -- scott knows republican voters way better than i. unless he tells me something

differently i'm going to think that donald trump wins this going away. >> bakari sellers, scott jennings, our thanks to both of you. i hope you have a wonderful new year's day. >> thank you. >> happy new year. thanks, john. coming up for us, people in japan moving to higher ground after a major earthquake on this new year's day. coming up, the latest warnings.

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welcome back. we continue to follow breaking news for you this morning. a powerful earthquake has triggered tsunami warnings and evacuation orders in western japan on this new year's day. japan is sending 1,000 military personnel to the quake zone this morning and you've seen this video the moment a building crumbled to dust as the 7.5 magnitude quake struck the coast of western japan. it's feared some people are trapped in the rubble.

now, this video just came into us moments ago, it's incredible footage from an office building in the city of toyama, look at this video, people standing still in shock at a department store in japan, then rushing to make sure that no one was hurt. fires broke out in some areas after the quake, roads are cracked, some highways are

closed. we of course continue to stay on top of this breaking news. we will go live to japan in about 30 minutes so stay with us. all right. we have news from the middle east just in. the shipping company maersk is pausing all movement through the red sea after one of its vessels was attacked by iranian-backed houthis. u.s. helicopters responded to the distress call of the ship as it traveled through the straits near yemen. the u.s. sank three houthis vessels, killing, they say, everyone on board. the white house says this is not a u.s. escalation, they say they were just responding to what was happening in the water. natasha bertrand is following all of this for us from washington, d.c. bring us up to speed, natasha. >> reporter: john, this all happened late saturday night eastern time around 6:30 a.m. in yemen when a maersk commercial ship was posing through a strait going up north towards the suez canal in the southern red sea

and was hit by an unknown object according to maersk. they were able to continue on, it did not cause any significant damage, but later on four small boats carrying houthi militants approached that vessel and attempted to board it. they actually opened fire. at that point this vessel then issued a distress call, it was the second distress call it had issued in just under 24 hours to the u.s. military which responded with helicopters as well as a u.s. navy destroyer already in the region in attempt to bolster security giving aup the houthi attacks. that is when navy helicopters responded and the houthis opened fire on those helicopters according to u.s. central command and that prompted the u.s. to respond. they then killed all of the houthi militants that were on board, three of those vessels which were sunk. obviously this is a pretty big escalation that marks the first time that there has been that direct confrontation between the u.s. and the houthis in a way

that has led houthis to be killed. the u.s. saying that they don't want this to escalate any further and that they don't want a wider regional conflict, but given all of the houthi-led attacks on commercial shipping in the red sea that have continued, even despite the u.s. setting up a multinational task force to try to combat this, they have not yet been deterred, john. >> natasha bertrand, obviously this is a developing situation, keep us posted with new developments. thank you. rahel? with just two weeks until the iowa caucuses donald trump's legal team is expected to appeal two decisions to remove had i'm from primary ballots in the states of colorado and maine. the supreme court of colorado and maine's secretary of state have each ruled that the former president is not eligible to run for a second term in the white house. they say that his actions on january 6th violated the 14th amendment ban on insurrectionists holding federal office. joining us to discuss is former trump white house lawyer jim schultz. happy new year, thanks for being with us today. >> happy new year.

>> happy new year. let's say you're part of team trump, part of his defense team. make the case for us, what are you saying on these appeals as you try to make a legal case? >> so, look, everyone keeps talking about the political ramifications of this and not the legal. right? so the cases -- this is going to go -- ultimately come before the united states supreme court, it's going to make its way through the state courts in colorado and maine. the maine supreme court is going to hear it as well. i think it's interesting to note at least in the maine case that the secretary of state, one, is not -- two, does have the authority to make these determinations yet they have to make them -- those determinationes in accordance with federal law. so the maine -- the person -- the secretary of state of maine is appointed by the legislative -- elected by the legislative body, not by the people of maine, by the legislative body, meaning the legislative body that is majority democratic. that decision was made, she had

the authority to make that decision, now it moves on to the maine supreme court where the maine supreme court will interpret the federal constitution and that will then make its way to the united states supreme court. at that time the teams will make the arguments at that time that the 14th amendment does not apply to the president of the united states. that there are a number of specific officials that are named in that section, one of them does not include the president of the united states. i think that's going to be the basis upon which they make this appeal and i do believe that the united states supreme court is going to agree with the trump team on this one at least. >> so what about the argument, though, that the office of the presidency is so obvious that it doesn't need to be physically written out in the constitution? does that carry any weight from your perspective? >> so the fact that it's so obvious isn't a real legal argument here, right? they specifically -- the text of

the constitution matters in this instance and in this instance they're going to make the argument that it was specifically -- they enumerated a number of officials, but they left out the president of the united states? that's very compelling -- going to be very compelling for the supreme court. >> another issue that the supreme court of course is going to take up is this immunity issue, the special counsel jack smith arguing in a new filing over the weekend on saturday that this type of immunity, quote, threatens to license presidents to commit crimes to remain in office. jim, how do you see this playing out for trump? >> so jack smith has a winner on this one, right? i do not believe that the supreme court -- it is now the supreme court rejected the idea of expediting this, but it still goes to the d.c. circuit court and it's common knowledge in the legal community d.c. circuit court is the warm up act for the supreme court, a lot of supreme court justices have come from the d.c. circuit and this is the right tribunal to be hearing it.

and i think in this instance the d.c. circuit court is going to act swiftly and i think they're going to knock down this immunity claim, you know, very swiftly. >> jim schultz, good to have you. thank you. >> thank you. the nfl playoff picture getting more clear by the minute, and one thing you can count on, one playoff game is going through ballot. baltimore.

welcome back. the nfl playoff picture is coming into sharper focus as the top seeds in the afc and the nfc have been clinched. carolyn manno joins us with more. we are excited to have a guest in studio, carolyn. leak breaking news it down for us. >> we were just talk being who is in and who is out. this has been the most wild and chaotic playoff seen row with a week left in the season. we have nine teams that have clinched and five berths are up for grabs. the afc playoffs officially going through baltimore.

the ravens clinching the number one seed and home field advance after routing the dolphins yesterday. the game went about as well as it could have for quarterback lamar jackson, five touchdown passes, finishing with a perfect passer rating. that performance may have sealed the deal to win his second league mvp award. the final score 56-19. i say that because it's a score combination that has never happened before in the history of the league. >> score-a-gami. >> in the nfc the 49ers will have home field advantage and a bye in the first round. brock purdy, a pair of scores in the 27-10 win over the commanders, the former mr. irrelevant broke the team's single season passing record, entered the game third on the list find garcia and young and set the mark on his final toss, a five yard completion to george kittle. panthers shut out by the jaguars and the owner david tepper let

his frustrations show. this video showing his drink in what seems to be the direction of a fan from his open air suite has went viral. they say they are aware of this video and have no further comment at this time. a spokesman declining to comment but does not look good. as we turn the calendar to 2024 one of the most beloved traditions in sports returning to seattle, the nhl winter classic played in the great outdoors. this year it's the kraken hosting the vegas golden knights inside t-mobile park, the home of the mariners. fans looking forward to this event every year but the players do, too. >> whenever you play outdoors it's the purest form of the game. when you play outside, different uniforms on and eye black, i'm sure it brings up memories for guys about growing up and playing on ponds in their neighborhoods or in their towns.

>> the puck drops this afternoon at 2:00 eastern, you can watch all the action on our sister channel tnt. you can also stream it on max. very nostalgic for hockey fans who love outdoor hockey on the pond. it evokes that sense of childhood for so many. >> i want to say i appreciate -- it was an exhaustive sports report. i appreciate you not mentioning the eagles. >> you were making all kind of hand gestures during the brock purdy -- >> i can't believe he has the passing record for the 49ers. joe manha joe mon tan na. >> he is having this incredible career coming out of nowhere. >> happy new year. the space race in 2024 has nasa shooting for the moon literally. big predictions for the year ahead. to duckduckgo on all your devie

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happy new year, everyone. 2024 promises to be a spectacular year for space watchers. the artemus watchers will be a banner year and this is going to be the same. this is going to be a different presence though on the moon plan even asteroid mining. and at least that is the goal. and there could be another moon landing by 2025 or 2026, and leyland mel vis is a retired nasa astronaut who has been on two missions, and professor of astro physics and author, and the latest book is called "the little book of aliens." and i know that 1972 was the

greatest year, because it is the year that i was born, but is this the year that we get back at least to the moon's orbit? >> well, you know, john, thank you for having me on and happy new year. this is an exciting year, because we have sent people back to the moon, and gene cernan was the last person on the moon, and now we will have a diverse group of astronauts, canadians, a african-americans and this is going to be the time for everyone to see what is possible for the mission. we talked about in the opening of mining the moon, but people living and working on the moon for the first time for extended stays. and artemis is going to be the first time to get people back on another vehicle headed back to the lunar surface. >> adam, will you talk more about that? the artemis mission is an interesting franco mission on

the frankenstein rocket, and so why is this so important of looking forward, because a cynic might say, you know, we kind of did this including of before when i was born in 1972. >> well, leland, i love what he said, the first back to the step on the moon, because the moon is the gateway to the solar system, and the future of humanity if we make it through climate change and we don't blow ourselves up, it is the solar system, and the heavy industry, and the asteroid mining, and that is the solar system, and the moon is the gateway, because it is so close. nasa is trying to do this ambitious plan called the artemis structure, and it is to set a structure and human presence in space, and not going up and coming down after a couple of days. so it is very exciting and we have the capacity to do this now. >> and adam, i know that you are excited about the europa

clipper, and what is that? >> well, the europa clipper is a mission to one of the moons of jupiter, and we are very excited about the life of the universe. we want to know if there is life out there, and mars gets the most attention, but there are moons orbiting the gas giants jupiter and saturn, and they have huge amounts of water there, and we believe that water is important for life's shenanigans to happen. and so europa has more water than all of the oceans on earth, and it is covered of a layer of maybe six miles of ice. so it is a prime place that we should be looking for life, and the europa mission is that we are going to send a probe that is going to orbit jupiter and do the fly-byes past europa and give us a better view of what is happening there, and is there a

possibility of life and what is that ocean like. >> and so saturn and jupiter being called the gas giants, but i understand that. and now, leland, you are the executive producer of a national geographic documentary called "the space race" and what can we expect from that? >> well, john, it is the incredible movie of the first black astronaut chosen by john f. kennedy, and when john f. kennedy was killed, he was not allowed to be in the program. so then a sculptor ed white comes out, and it shows how it led to the other black astronauts, and one is jenette eps launching to the six-month mission on iss. >> i did not know about the ed white story, and it is fascinating, so i can't wait to

learn more about it. and so, leland, what are you most excited about for artemis when you are looking up to 2024? >> well, we are going to be launching an axiom crew that is going to be with mike lopez alegria with three private citizens and building another space station to replace the current space station, so, john, you can go up there to have a vacation or extended honeymoon and hang out in a private space station, and these are some of the things coming in the years, and adam, we are going to be looking for the aliens out, there which is incredible, because we don't know what is out there, and we have to look up and engage the universe. >> the truth is out there as i have been told by "the x-files" for some time. and so happy new year to both of you and i can't wait for documentary series, leland. thank you. >> thank you, john.

>> i can't wait to see you in space. >> well, a honeymoon in the space age sounds romantic? question mark. >> yes. great segment. of course, with refollowing the breaking news in japan where the officials are assessing threat after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake rocked the country. we will go live in tokyo next.

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