a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake in japan has led

extensive damage and thousands without power. coming up the latest developments as they come in. >> republican candidates making their last-minute pitches for the first ulcer casts. can they change any minds? vladimir putin's new year message, russia will never back down. what he is saying after a drone attack on a residential building. happy new year, everyone. good to be with you. this is cnn news central.

happy new year, everyone and welcome to this bonus hour. we are learning tsunami warnings have been changed to advisories, downgraded. they are not expecting waves higher than four feet. we are getting new reports from the damage of this powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake. seeing pictures of cracked roadways like this one. we understand highways have been shut down. collapsed homes. there is still the possibility of people trapped under the rubble. we are seeing videos of the moments of impact. i want to show you an office building. from another vantage point we saw people who were at a bowling alley, there to celebrate the new year. this hid in about 4:10 in the

afternoon, japan time. you can see people racing for cover underneath the tables. >> the 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the western coast. japanese officials warned people to get to higher ground in case of a tsunami. thousands of military personnel are on standby. >> the west coast of japan about 180 miles from tokyo. the epicenter was in the western coast. give us a sense of the latest of what you are hearing. >> as we know these tsunami warnings have been downgraded to an advisory. of course we are still seeing lots of aftershocks on this very powerful earthquake.

we have seen dozens of them. people are still not allowed to return to their homes. the synonymy warnings have not been entirely lifted. the japanese government and authorities are very concerned about potential damage. we know that hundreds of police officers, about 1700 firefighters, 1000 self-defense personnel have been dispatched to the area in order to try to evacuate people and get them to safer places. when the earthquake happened, people were expected to drop their things and evacuate immediately. we are hearing reports of people trapped under their houses and unable to get out. of course the military personnel are there in order to try to help people to safety. >> gary, let me bring you in. we know that those tsunami warnings were just removed. what more can you share with us? >> there is still a threat.

according to the japan meteorological agency the shaving of yellow on the west facing shoreline of japan has an advisory for up to one meter waves or roughly 3 1/2 feet potential. the reason is because we are getting this sloshing effect. we had a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake occur under the sea floor. that caused a wave to propagate in all directions, not only regionally towards the korean peninsula and russia, but also locally between the prefecture where we have seen some of these tsunami waves visible on the latest waves video. look at it crashing over the harbor wall that protects the city. we are going to show you a hyper local detail of why this is important and give you an idea of what this is like. it is like throwing a stone into your bathtub and watching the waves ripple back and forth from the edges to the center creating that chaotic feature.

this is a google earth map. you can see the epicenter of the earthquake was just off of that little peninsula. the omega in, where you saw the video just a moment ago, it is the opposite side of where the earthquake actually took place. that effect is happening locally as well, bouncing off of the coastline to myself and east. there is the harbor wall, there is the population densities. the videos that we have seen confirming the narrative out of this area that it is getting tougher and tougher to get communication. we have seen these waves up to about four feet in some locations. this powerful of an earthquake displaces the ground underneath where the tectonic plates actually meet. they are moving roughly about the same distance as your fingernails grow in the course of a year, roughly 80-90 millimeters. that is enough for seismic activity to be on the increase.

as it happens under the ocean it displaces the water, creates a wave of top. as it reaches the coastline of the population density is located the way it goes up and up. that is why we have a fear of salami. which of oars it is still a threat. >> be on alert. they are warning the waves could reach four feet, depending on where you are and that could create some problems. our thanks to you. just a short time ago i spoke with an earthquake expert at georgia tech. i asked what kind of damage this sort of earthquake that caused? >> because of the events of this size that we expect aftershocks. you probably know houses in japan are mostly wooded building structures. they can withstand some of the shaking. if you have continuous vibration, then back cause and damages. as you have already pointed out sometimes if it happens it can

cause fires and that could become another problem. those are primarily two things that i think people in the region really have to watch out for. >> yes. i can show people some of the video of the various shaking and damage. you can see the roads are damaged and cracked. this obviously makes it difficult to get aid and to get her rescue operations underway if they are in any way needed. obviously there is more shaking in other places. i am glad you brought up aftershocks. in some ways the term diminishes the threat. these earthquakes, they may not be as powerful, but the repetition in and of itself can be dangerous. can you explain that? >> absolutely. one of the things that we know is typically people think aftershocks are smaller. there is always a very small

percentage, we are talking 5% or 10% chance that an aftershock can be larger than the initial event. in that case of course we call the aftershock the main event and the previous event as a mini shock. things like that can happen. it is a very small probability, but it is not zero. that is one thing that i would like to point out to the audience. the sequence is still unfolding, it is not over. >> we are going to continue to follow developments from japan. it is the middle of the night and there is concern people could be trapped in the rubble of the buildings, even as the tsunami warnings themselves are downgraded. stay with us for much more information. >> still ahead, president biden sending a message that america is as we head into 2024. can he sell that the voters? we look at the campaign strategy as he stares down

major funding battles and a migrant surge at the border. minimum-wage workers in 22 states will get a pay raise. those details and other state laws taking place today that impacting my guns and abortion care. and maybe you have already noticed it where you live, lou activity is high in two thirds of the country. coming up, what's behind the spike.

welcome back. we are just 14 days out from the iowa caucuses followed closely by new hampshire primaries in super tuesday. at the same time 91 charges, notable trials and supreme court challenges is what donald trump is facing, all while the possibility of a rematch is still on course. as for bided some key issues will follow him into the new year and voters will be closely watching how he deals with those issues as he makes his re- election pitch. here with some of that from the bidens last night. >> i hope that they understand we are in a better position than any country in the world to leave the world. we are coming back and it is about time. >> dr. biden, your hopes for

america? >> be positive. be optimistic and kind to one another. >> kevin is traveling with the president's first day of the year in st. croix. kevin, i would say happy new year. it looks like your backdrop you are having a happy start. walk us through some of the challenges ahead for president biden. >> it is not too tough an assignment, but certainly president biden has a plate filled with significant issues heading into the new year. they all take on this new degree of consequence against the backdrop of the 2024 election. i think at the top of the list has to be this issue with the southern border and immigration. you do see the president trying to pull every lever to ease some of the crisis. certainly he is under a lot of pressure from republicans and also a lot of democrats, mayors and governors seeing the consequence of this in their own regions.

this is part of the reason president biden dispatched the delegation to mexico last week. some mexican officials will be back in washington in the coming weeks. that is sort of the diplomatic front. you often see a parallel effort in congress, talks between republicans and democrats on an acting new rules on the southern border. president biden has said he is open to significant concessions when it comes to rules of migration, when it comes to deportations. this is all tied up in president biden's request for more money for ukraine and israel. obviously those two overseas conflicts have taken up the bulk of the president's time over the last several months, and that will obviously continue into the new year. we are entering quite a critical stretch for the war in the middle east. u.s. officials watching closely to see if israel starts shifting down the conflict as they have been urging. the secretary of state antony

blinken will be in israel later this week. this is all happening against the backdrop of the 2024 election. certainly president biden will begin ramping up campaigning in the weeks to come. what you've heard from a lot of democrats if they have unnecessarily said enough about former president trump. that i am told will change. we will start to hear president biden talking more more about what he says other threats to democracy posed by a second truck presidency. we have not seen that much of president biden over the last week or so, but we did see him coming out of dinner a few nights ago. someone asked what his new year's resolution was? all he said was to be here next year. >> okay. kevin, thank you. with us now a former house republican government reform and oversight investigative committee counsel. i want to start with you, it's like i have john king sitting on my shoulder as a pen reporter

conscious telling me to wait or they count the vote. donald trump is way ahead in the polls in iowa and new hampshire. two weeks to go until the iowa caucuses. can these other candidates not named donald trump do anything between now and then to change their trajectory? >> happy new year, john. the answer to the question is absolutely not. i think individuals were still in the race are more than likely running to be considered a second to trial, meaning a running mate. nikki haley, ron desantis, individuals such as tim scott who have been very favorable in remarks about the former president as of late are all eyeing being his running mates. the reality is for trump you have to ask yourself who is going to give you some advantage with women voters and independent voters going into 2024? i think the biden administration is going to have a really difficult time trying to paint trump only as an anti- democracy candidate if he is able to find someone who is

more palatable than some of those swing voters. >> sophia, john king sitting right here my shoulder. let the people vote and let's count the votes. if you are the other candidates, what should you be doing? what can you do rather it be to beat donald trump or position yourself going forward? >> i agree that i think donald trump is too far ahead, particularly because the field has not consolidated enough. if ron desantis and chris christie were out and it was just nikki haley and trump, it might be a different ball game. there is still too much noise going on in this republican primary. i think iowa and new hampshire are going to fix that. i do think, you know, with respect to nikki haley, she had a lot of momentum. i think she heard herself gaff onwith the slavery and the omission about something that was really obvious. i think that the biden campaign, you can see it already.

the president immediately hit back to nikki haley and wrote that it was slavery when she didn't get the answer right for the question asked about the cause of the civil war. i think they're going to go after her and show that she is not all a candidate palatable to the center or independence, in fact she is just as bad as trump. whatever the ticket ends up being, trump and ron desantis or trump and haley, i think they're going to paint him as an extremist threat to democracy campaign and that's going to be what the campaign is going to be about to be honest. >> it cannot be ron desantis unless either of them move out of florida. an interesting trick because of the constitution. we heard hardship assignment in st. croix saying we can expect president biden to hit back harder directly against donald trump in the coming months. what do you think the biden campaign needs to do moving for this year?

>> i think that is one component of the argument, the anti-democratic argument. i am not convinced that is enough. if i were advising the president i will focus a lot on the economy. you guys had a segment that talks about how things are improving economically. look at the jobs numbers. we can expect in this new year for the fed to decrease basis rates. a good thing for people trying to buy homes, particularly my age group. i think that the administration is doing the right thing by having the vice president crisscrossed the country talking about reproductive rights. when you look at how effective democrats were down by, including my state of virginia, he saw significant victories in races that the republicans should've won on the question, the topic of abortion. i think focusing on those two things with a little antidemocracy talk against trumka be a effective message for the biden-harris administration going into november, which will likely

lead to re-election. >> is 2020 for the year democrats and president biden get credit for the u.s. economy from those who see the u.s. economy is going well? >> it all depends on the messaging. i think up to this point is been a big if we look at the fact and the figures. the president's numbers are not great. the truth is, john, the 800 pound elephant if nobody is excited about a trump-biden rematch. we've seen this before, yes president biden has a record to run on. donald trump seems like he's going to have a record that he's going to have to run with. i think at the end of the day you are looking at the economy versus how people are going to feel about re-electing a guy 91 counts for indictment and all kinds of crazy drama. every day the tweet, the crazy christmas tree, who wants to deal with four years of that? people are exhausted.

they are over it. we are going to see. >> if you look at the electoral results from democrat sal babbitt in 2023, if those numbers are to be believed that significant turnout will maintain in november of this year, i find it hard to believe president biden will not be re- elected, despite what the polls are saying i think the momentum is likely to remain. >> i think he is re-elected as well. i think people are not going to vote for crazy town for president again. i have faith in us, america. >> what shermichael cough momentum i think it is something absolutely democrats in the white house would like to claim the mantle. i'm not sure they feel like it's been much momentum. happy new year to both of you. >> happy new year, john. thank you. an unprecedented ruling from the israeli supreme court. a ruling that strike down some

major changes the government was trying to put in place and it could ignite beers tensions in the midst of the war in gaza. coming up we explain what it means. plus, ukraine facing and bombardment of air strikes from russia overnight. one of the attacks striking a two-story building, leaving people trapped in the rubble. we will have the latest.

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ the israeli supreme court has struck down a bill that would limit its judicial power. the bill was the first major legislation in the government's controversial plan to overhaul the judicial system. elliott, walk us through this ruling. >> this ruling is incredibly controversial. the supreme court ruled 8-7 to strike down this amendment to a

basic law. the basic laws of the equivalent of israel's constitution. the government amended one of these basic laws to say that the supreme court no longer has the power to strike down government decisions on the grounds of reasonableness. i will give you a quick example, the government appointed a minister that had been convicted three times, the supreme court said no. you cannot make him a minister. it is unreasonable to make someone who has just been convicted for the third time a minister. that is the kind of thing the government did not like the supreme court meddling in. it is hard to overstate just how controversial this was. we are in an actual war between israel and hamas. before this there was talk of civil war. such were the divisions in israeli society. every saturday evening hundreds of thousands of people on the streets protesting the government's plans to pass

judicial overhaul and weaken the powers of the supreme court. they were concerned it would damage israel's claim to be a democracy. indeed the supreme court in justify the ruling that the reason for striking down this amendment was because the severe and unprecedented low to the core character of israel as a democratic state that it represented. we have already heard from the justice minister who has said now was not the time. this goes against the unity required while israel is engaged in this war with hamas. but that the governor would continue to act with restraint and responsibility. it is actually not the supreme court's choice or decision to do it right now. and had no choice but to issue the ruling. two of the justices were officially resigning three months ago. they got a three month extension and they cannot extend it anymore.

the justice minister knows that. the timing may seem a bit bizarre, given that israel is in the middle of the war and those divisions seemed to be a lifetime away, but the supreme court had no choice but to issue the ruling. the ruling is 8-7 against the government's passage of this legislation. it has been struck down so the supreme court can once again strike down permit decisions on the grounds of reasonableness. >> i think it is fascinating how close the ruling was. you did a good job explaining the contacts. we mentioned upon months upon months on saturday those protests and underscoring how much division there was about this proposal. elliott, thank you. we are getting word people are trapped under the rubble of a two-story building in northeastern ukraine after the building was struck by a russian drone. the attack comes after vladimir putin that russia will increase

strikes on ukrainian targets. both the russian leader and the ukrainian president volodomyr zelenskyy delivered new year's messages. more on what this means going forward. >> reporter: ukraine fl bracing for a period of intensified air attacks after the massive bombardment on friday and now another big photo of the new year. southern defense forces save the overnight drone attack on new year's eve lasted 11 hours. russia even targeting residential areas at midnight as people rank in the new year. one teenager was killed, according to the ukrainian government. you don't have to read between the lines for russia strategy. president putin spelling it out in his first comments of the new year, telling a group of wounded astrologers -- wounded soldiers that strikes with intensify. his address never mentioned ukraine, instead emphasizing russian unity and patriotism.

[ speaking in a non-english language ] >> translator: we have proven more than once we can solve the most difficult problems and will never back down. >> reporter: president zelenskyy delivering a much longer address . a detailed account of ukrainian resilience, emphasizing its successes in the years where the front lines barely moved and u.s. support wavered. a key success with the european union opening negotiations for future membership. >> translator: the process will definitely have a logical conclusion, full-fledged membership in a powerful union. >> reporter: one thing they both had in common if they seemed in very different ways to be preparing their people who are almost two years into this war that there is still no clear end. >> our thanks for that. as we go to break a cnn exclusive. listening to this version made up of ukrainians affected by

the war, including those forced to flee their homeland in 2021.

welcome back. new laws are going into effect today all across the country. nearly half of all states will see some type of increase the minimum wage in 2024. the 12 states you see will get a play bump as part of an effort to reach the $10 per hour. another 11 states with the epee booster combat inflation and cost of living. rafael, what other new laws are you tracking that you can share with us?

>> reporter: happy new year to you. we've been tracking some of the most controversial law that went into effect with the arrival of the new year, especially as the country gets more polarized on issues like abortions. there are several total bands that took effect in 2003. now many blue states have passed laws of affecting abortion rights including two that took effect today. when it comes to abortion the state of washington is enacting a law with the goal of making the procedure more accessible when changes come to insurance coverage. any health insurance plan issued or renewed starting january 1 will be prohibited for abortions, which generally include out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles and co- pays. meanwhile a shield law took effect in california on monday that will protect local healthcare providers from out- of-state irrigation if they provide abortion services in states with restrictive laws. the protections extend to

gender affirming care and out of pay -- out-of-state patients. the new law is the ban on carrying concealed firearms in sensitive places. this is despite a federal ruling that the law is repugnant to the second amendment. under the new law people with permits would not be allowed to carry concealed firearms in places like schools, parks, and hospitals. a federal appeals court will allow the law to go into effect for now while the court case continues. many new laws. a lot of them controversial. >> lots of new laws affecting lots of people. rafael, happy new year. >> lots of flu also. two thirds of states reporting flu activity that is high or very high and seems to be accelerating. our cnn medical correspondent is here with us. it is everywhere.

>> i would say we are in peak flu season, but we actually don't know. the most recent numbers remind you of how bad the flu can be. there have been more than 7 million illnesses this season. 73,000 hospitalizations and 4500 deaths. if you look at the map of where it is the worst, it is hitting hardest in the southeast. they have this color-coded graph and you can see the purple is the absolute worst. really it is getting bad even stretching out into california. a majority of states are seeing high or very high levels. if you want to compare this with previous seasons we are still in this we are. ed where covid wiped out everything. what we are showing you is this season in the blue, it is starting off to a slower start than the previous season. the purple is the last season before covid came along. what we do not know is where the peak is going to be.

is it going to go up and be worse of last season? we do know it is january, one of the worst months for respiratory viruses. we have covid, we have rsv, it is a grab bag out there. >> in the air, quite literally. what should we be doing? >> we have started to see hospitals reinstating mask requirements. we are not seeing it on public transport and things like that, but within hospital systems in l.a. county, chicago and boston you're starting to see it. >> look, that seems to be the right place. thank you so much. on the radar this morning the fda is warning parents about a potential bacterial contamination of a specialty baby formula for infants allergic to cow's milk. nearly 700,000 cans have been recalled of the hypoallergenic powdered formula. the product has tested positive

for bacterial that produce rare and potentially fatal infections in newborns. the va believes most of the formula has been consumed, no illness has been reported. a surprise move, queen margaret the second of denmark announced that she will be stepping down this month after more than 52 years on the throne. the crown prince frederick will take over. the 83-year-old said her decision was influenced by a back surgery she had last year. she took over the throne following the death of king frederick the ninth. how about this one, mickey mouse, the iconic characters symbolizing business for almost a century is now available to are the creators. starting this month an early version of the 1928 steamboat willie is out of the exclusive copyright grasp. this is clarifying modern versions remain unaffected. the 1928 mickey lacks the

current gloves and oversized shoes adviser small black ovals without pupils. >> i find this so interesting. the copyright laws are so hard to wrap your head around. the first mickey mouse is now out there. you can start seeing that mickey in really weird stuff. >> similar to what we saw with winnie the pooh. with the hollywood strike over and are eagerly awaiting the return of their favorite tv shows and films. we are going to have a preview of what you can expect this year.

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i am excited. a new case and a new season for the hit show true detective. it appears a couple of weeks and owned by warner bros. discovery. it is one of the many highly anticipated shows that to vermeer this year. >> you are not alone with the excitement after last year strikes brought hollywood to a halt. widespread layoffs, there is a lot to be excited about in 2024. joining us to discuss all of it is an tv critic with npr and a senior editor and variety. emily, let's start with you. happy new year. the award season about to be in full swing. apparently there are some changes due to the strike. what's that going to look like? >> happy new year's to you guys

too. is going to be quite the busy few weeks coming up here. we have the emmy awards for the first time in january. they have been pushed before about 20 years ago, this is the first time they have been in january in a long time. that means the emmy awards, the globe and critics choice are all within 10 days of each other. that's a lot of people battling it out at the same time. oddly enough, some of the shows nominated for emmy awards are nominated for golden globes for different seasons. there is a chance we could see winning of awards within a week of each other due to the strike. >> toward the end of the year with the writer strike and everything i ran out of shows. i was watching the wire and game of thrones. i am excited for the new stuff. what new stuff are you most excited about? >> you can't go wrong with the wire. i want to say that right out. you showed a clip from true detective, an anthology series

that hbo has been for years. we haven't seen them for many years. now we are going to see a new version with jodie foster as a law enforcement official in alaska investigating a serious crime. i have watched all the episodes and it's very good. there is a show call from a wrecker coming in january. it stars peter capallie. is set in britain. a rightist police detective who suspects a black man may have been put in jail unjustly. one thing that is really interesting is hulu is going to bring only murderers in the building. they are going to show it on abc on broadcast television starting tomorrow. two hours per night every tuesday they are going to show

episodes to give people in broadcast a chance to see shows that hulu subscribers had to pay to see. >> that is interesting. we are seeing it now happening the opposite way. eric, i am wondering just coming off of the blockbuster success of the color purple, i think the most successful film on christmas day in -- i think second ever and most popular in 14 years or so. any early noise on nominations? what do you think? >> that is one of the things interesting about the jumbled up award season. because of the strikes actors, performers and creators are not necessarily able to campaign for oscar bait movies as long as they would have normally. it seems as the color purple is a movie that is doing really

well. there is strong word of mouth. pantano barrino as the star has a wonderful story about having survive financial troubles after winning american idol and coming back to star on color purple in broadway and now this movie. american fiction is a wonderful movie by a black author who is disenchanted with the literary business. he rises really stereotypical novel and then it takes off and settle him he has to contend with creating the thing that he thought was a joke. it becomes super successful. some movies that we thought would be in contention like napoleon, getting really terrible bus. and may not be in the conversation the way people modify out when they heard about the project. is going to be really interesting to see the impact of the golden globes and the

critics choice awards. they come so close together before we get to the oscars. >> let's back up and go back to you on the what to look forward to in 2024, small or big. >> i think the true detective or the new version is of course on the list. as he said, the episodes are credible and it is really nice to see such a great show back. i think there are a lot of other new shows coming. there is agatha, which everyone fell in love with during the show. that has been highly anticipated and long-awaited. as well as mr. and mrs. smith, donald glover's take on the classic movie with angelina jolie and brad pitt. it will be really fun to check that. another highly anticipated one would be the penguin. there is something or a story that people have followed for many decades they are really

excited to see that on the small screen. i would say those are my top picks for the big shows people are going to be talking about. >> eric, i saw you making some gestures. i want to give you a moment to get the final word. >> i was just thinking about the penguin. that is a really interesting spinoff of the most recent batman movie. it is a completely different universe. it stars an actor who doesn't really resemble the penguin, but somehow inhabits an entirely different character. it is a really interesting test as to whether or not people are going to be interested in a comic book tv show at a time where there seems to be a lot of comic book tv out there. i am really interested in watching how that does. >> a high bar for these different things coming up. if they meet the bar, maybe the

artistic side of it all will be enough to give people a turn on. thank you so much for being with us. have a wonderful rest of your new year. >> happy new year. >> we did it, for mac hours. >> especial bonus addition. thank you all so much. happy new year, everyone. cnn new central continues right now.