a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake rocking western japan, causing serious damage and triggering significant waves. and a lot that sparked a fierce debate and protest inside of israel. now the nation's top court struck down the plan to limit the powers of the judiciary. it is a drug that millions need to survive. starting today it just got a lot cheaper. we are following these major developing stories and many more are coming in right here to see in and new central. 2024 beginning in catastrophe for western japan.

a short time ago the tsunami warnings were lifted after a very strong 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit at a depth of six miles beneath the earth surface. nhk reporting multiple incidents of people trapped beneath the rubble and rescue underway. it crumbled buildings and disrupted power and rail lines. we are going to show what happen in one parking lot in the prefecture next to it. the shaking laughing for less than 30 seconds. later in the clip it seemed to intensify before easing.

>> marc stewart is joining us live. mark, incredibly scary as we see these videos. it is of course the middle of the night. what can you tell us about rescue efforts that are underway? >> reporter: we have received late news, the fact that 1400 people have been stranded basically on the japanese bullet train system. the fact that there is a disruption, a delay and that these trains are not able to move really shows the intensity and the back nominee of this disaster. this is a system that prides itself in being able to run in

all sorts of conditions. i think it is an important point to stress. if these trains are not running it is very indicative of the challenges facing the country. there are two big issues, one is infrastructure and the second being injuries. we have some video, some new video of an office building shaking. you can see just how intense that quake was at 4:10. at this point, we are receiving reports that 33,000 people are without power and that five highways are closed. this is a big deal. as we talk about the number of injured, people who may be trapped under rubble, under their homes, doctors are having a hard time getting to hospitals and getting to disaster scenes. the roadways are in such poor shape. infrastructure is going to be a big issue. when this quake struck a lot of people were enjoying the holiday. people were at the convenience

door, the bowling alley, on the local trains. this is really impacting all facets of life. in addition, we are receiving reports that so far for my people have reported cardiac arrest. at this point no definitive list as far as number of injuries other than this is going to be a very big concern. it is something that the prime minister talk about in a statement earlier today. as far as resources, the fact that so many roadways are damaged and even some of the airports are having challenges, it is going to be difficult giving people and materials into these damaged areas. so far 1000 members of the military force have been activated. however, another 8500 are on standby. in addition, a lot of people in japan, especially this northwestern portion where the quake hit more intensely,

they have been stranded. they cannot go home. any people are spending the evening in shelters. according to government officials 21 schools have been converted into evacuation centers. unfortunately the risk as we move in the hours ahead is not going away. the weather service in japan is warning that we could see aftershocks for at least three days, perhaps even a week. >> marc stewart, thank you for that report. now let's go to our meteorologist in the severe weather center. allison, we are glad to note the salami warnings have been lifted. tsunami advisories are in effect. explain the current risk. >> reporter: these advisories could be in place for a a while. while the main quake and tsunami may start to window down, you can have landslides

that can trigger additional tsunamis. you can have aftershocks. this is something we are still going to have to keep a close eye on for all of these areas up and down the west coast, where you do still have the tsunami advisory. here is a look at video from earlier. you can see the waves coming over the brick wall into a lot of the communities. it has been that back and forth where you get one way and another comes in. part of that has to do with the topography. even though you have a little bay, inc. a bit like this, you drop a toy or a stone and the wave will go back out to the walls and then it is going to come back in. you are going to have this sloshing back and forth taking place. we have seen as much as 1.2 meters, just about for macv. some of these other areas roughly about two and half, three feet. when you have the earthquake take place, the land that is they are, the plate is thrust

upwards and displaces the water. the water instantly starts moving outward. eventually the water will spread england. the topography of the coastline shape is going to play a factor into how quickly the water comes in and how high up and goes as well. the main quake what 7.5. we have already had several aftershocks take place, at least 25 or more that have been 2.5 magnitude or higher. even if those aftershocks are five or six point magnitudes, they can still cause damage. the initial quake of a 7.5, buildings and homes are now structurally compromised. even a slightly weaker earthquake that comes after can still cause further damage. this is something we are going to have to close eye on, as more aftershocks are going to be expected throughout the day today in the coming days as well. >> all right, allison, thank you for that. let's talk now with a professor

of earth and planetary sciences at yale university. professor, thank you for being with us. it has been more than 10 hours. the tsunami warning is over, walk us through the damage that we are seeing and how it happened. we saw one video where you had cars moving forward and backwards, and then they started to shift and go side to side. >> there is going to be a lot of local shaking in the area right above where the forecastle ruptured. in cases like this you are going to have shaking and damage and later aftershocks will cause more damage. the immediate worry is for a few days, but actually this area has been an area of swarm activities. swarms of small earthquakes. i would be concerned about having significant aftershocks over the coming months or even another year. >> over the coming year, tell

us a little more about that. i am certainly not familiar with what this could mean for the longer-term. >> was interesting about this earthquake is the western coastline of japan does not have a lot of earthquake activity. however, underneath the noto peninsula a small earthquake started to accumulate in 2019. at least 10,000 of them have been located and identified in the region. these are often very small earthquakes, down to magnitude one, but with modern seismic networks and sophisticated data processing, we can actually identify and locate them. >> does this necessarily mean this is the big one that you would've been expecting to build out from some of the attention or could you see something bigger than this coming? >> i think that this is probably what will be the largest.

the fox zone associated with the noto peninsula is probably not large enough to sustain a earthquake significantly larger or even a second one of this size. however, in may there was a magnitude 6.5 earthquake in the same general area. i would be worried that a repeat as possible. >> listen, this is incredible as we look at this damage. this is a 7.5. we should put that up against what was a 9.1 back in 2011 that caused the fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. how does this compare and how much has japan learned since the? >> japan has learned a lot. a lot of what you are seeing is damage, but probably the total death toll will be relatively muted. there is also a lot of tsunami

warning associated with earthquakes in coastal japan these days. >> and they taken incredibly seriously. repressor, inc. you so much for being with us. >> thank you. breaking news out of israel, a major legal blow to prime minister netanyahu's plans to overhaul the supreme court. justices struck down a bill that would have limited their power and oversight. elliott, what does this mean moving forward? >> what this means is a couple of things, i suppose. first of all, the one part of netanyahu's flagship judicial overhaul legislation is now dead in the water. it has been struck down by the supreme court. the other broader implication is that is has the attention to reopen these very deep divisions that these judicial

overhaul plans created for the most part of 2023. we are only really pushed aside because of the hamas terrorist attacks of october 7th. indeed the justice minister, who was the architect of this judicial overcall coming out in a failing supreme court for the timing of this decision, saying it is the opposite of the unity required not right now. i won't go too much into the weeds and talk about why the supreme court had to issue a decision right now, but just to recap in terms of the significance, it was an 8-7 ruling. all 15 of the supreme court justices were there to hear this an issue the ruling. what they said is that the government's changes to a basic law, the equivalent of israel's constitution, the government's changes to this basic law to remove the supreme court's powers, to strike down

government decisions on the grounds of reasonableness, the supreme court said you cannot do that. i'll give you an example, the government wanted to appoint a minister, a key ally of netanyahu . he was appointed a minister by the netanyahu government, but has been convicted three times, most recently of tax fraud. the supreme court said no. it is unreasonable to make this man who has been convicted three times as a minister and therefore the government could not make him a minister. by passing the legislation, the government wanted to be able to appoint whoever he wants as a minister or make decisions the supreme court cannot strike down. the supreme court has that the law cannot stand and as a result it is a big blow for netanyahu and one that threatens to reopen divisions in israeli society. >> elliott, thank you for that report.

the first major test of the 2024 election year is just two weeks from today. how republican hopefuls are making their closing pitches ahead of the iowa caucuses. plus, u.s. helicopters, military helicopters seeking three houti boats captain by iranian backed rebels, killing them in the red sea. killing those crews after they came under fire. what the white house is saying. major news for americans with diabetes have another drugmaker lowers the cost of insulin.

2024 is here at last and that means we are officially in a presidential election year. in fact it is a presidential election month with the iowa caucus in two weeks. republican candidates are making closing pitches. as nikki haley and ron desantis try to put it in president trump's commanding lead in the polls. he is contending trump with dozens of criminal charges in cases that could head to the supreme court. christian homes is following

the sprint iowa. how are these gop hopefuls kicking off the new year? >> when you mention we are officially in a presidential year i can actually feel my eye twitching. sorry if that comes up again during this period it was a little nerve-racking to hear those words. we are in the final sprint iowa and expect to have all of the candidates on the ground. they are expected to really hit the pavement, trying to reach as many voters as they can. let's start with taking a look at the calendar and we can kind of go over what is important. first, january 15 in iowa. what we are watching here is that ron desantis really went all in on this date. he needs to have a strong showing. the polls still show donald trump leading by a very big margin, but we are told by advisers on the ground as well as iowa operatives that they think the margin might be smaller than the polls show.

again, still a very big margin. then you go down to 23 january in new hampshire. here you start is the nikki haley surge. she is still behind donald trump. there is another factor, which is the chris christie of it all. he has gone all in on new hampshire and wanted to make that his pathway. we have nevada on february 8th. they have a primary and a caucus. nikki haley will be the only person participating in the primary, but there are no delegates. everyone else will be in the caucus. an interesting system, and then all eyes on february 24th in south carolina. this is going to be huge. that is donald trump's bread- and-butter, but it is also nikki haley's home state. that will be critical for her. i want to go over where the numbers currently stand on the first day of the year of this

residential cycle. i will start with the middle column and you can see iowa. trumpet 51% and behind him we see desantis at 19%. nikki haley is 16% and chris christie at 4%. not surprising chris christie has put almost no resources in iowa. the real numbers is ken haley actually get the point to catch up to ron desantis? which would obviously be very bad for ron desantis, who went all in for this date. the you look at new hampshire, uc trumps number, he is still leading. there is the chris christie factor 14%. in the last one of course, south carolina. again, it is still early. all of the different dynamics will come into play, depending on what happens in iowa. this is where it stands right now. >> thank you for taking us through that.

i also get a bit of an eye twitch or hives, but i feel you one back. it gets a little crazy this time of year. let's bring in former biden white house communications director and now cnn political commentator kate bedingfield and joe walsh, the director of mission democracy and host of the white flag podcasts. it is mixed emotion. so much chaos and so much excitement. what can these non-trump candidates accomplish in this homestretch, as you look at where things stand as christian just to go through that? >> happy new year. not a thing. i do not want to sound like a broken record as we launch 2024, but there is nothing new or different they can do. from the beginning haley , desantis, none of these candidates have been running to beat donald trump. none of them have thought of

from the beginning that they could be donald trump. the strategy has been be the alternative in case something happens to trump. i do not think you are going to see any changes this month. i expect trump to win iowa going away. i expect him to win new hampshire. i don't think this primary race has ever been much of a primary race. i know we have to talk about it, but i think the general election is pretty close to already upon us. >> and that is certainly what the trump campaign is expecting. they recently that they think they will have the gop nomination locked down by march. is that what you think will happen? >> it certainly seems the most likely outcome. as a veteran of presidential campaigns, where it is true that anything could happen in iowa, new hampshire or south carolina, i don't want to say

it is impossible for somebody else to take the nomination. i do agree with the congressman, nobody has really carved out a path or an effective case against donald trump that is getting traction with republican primary voters. unless somebody really changes their tunes in the next two weeks, it is hard to see somebody creating that momentum. we know that historically polling has been or has not always accurately captured enthusiasm and intensity. i would say the door is not shut for these other folks. i do think it is tough to see a path forward, barring some sort of fundamental shift in the race. we will see what happens. >> if that is the case, how does the bible -- battle between trump and biden take place? >> you seen the biden campaign over the last month-six weeks start to ramp up their rhetoric and framing of the race as a

choice between, you know, an ex- essential question about whether our democracy is going to survive. questions around who will protect your rights and your freedoms? for the biden campaign this is an opponent they know well. they know his vulnerabilities. as he presumably starts to move toward the nomination in the next few weeks, i would imagine they would start to dial up the rhetoric. if you are someone who cares about the right to make your own decisions about your healthcare and your body, somebody who cares about your right to vote and have your vote count, they will start to draw those contrasts. as trump moves toward the nominations, and heightens the stakes of the urgency and intensity as voter start to dial in. that is the other factor. those of us who talk about this for a living and probably the cnn audience, most of the country hasn't really been dialed in and won't talk to for months to come.

we will see that start to ramp up as well as these contests underway. >> chris christie has been resisting calls to drop out, including from new hampshire governor chris sununu, but if he did, where do you think his supporters will go? >> look, they would go to nikki haley. i appreciate what chris christie has done in this race. i have been one of those people out there for a long time now calling for christie to get out . i don't believe any other candidate has a shot. but, it is not impossible. the only shot is nikki haley wins new hampshire. i think the only way nikki haley can do that if it chris christie gets out. his vote will go to nikki haley. look, christie has got to put the country first here. he has gotten a lot of traction

as the anti-trump guy. he cannot win. republican base holders cannot stand chris christie. if he wants to put the country first and give somebody else just a little bit of a shock, he ought to get out and endorsed haley and thea haley can get new hampshire. >> i want to listen to president biden, pretty optimistic last night. >> we brought a lot of jobs back to the united states. people are in a position to make a living now. they have created a lot of jobs, over 14 million. i just feel good that the american people got up. they've been through a rough time, the pandemic, but now we are coming back. we are back. >> you were his communications director for some time. do you expect that he is going to shift his message at all? are you expecting that he keeps to it, hoping the economic sentiment catches up to some of these economic indicators we are seeing?

>> one of the core messages that joe biden has always put front and center is a sense of optimism, possibility. he believes that is one of the responsibilities elected officials have, especially the president, maybe more than any other elected official. talk about the optimism and the possibility in the country. regardless of the topic, hearing him say that he feels good about where we are. that he believes the american people have been through a lot. that they are resilient. i think you can expect to hear that being a consistent theme throughout the campaign. i think on the question of the economy, yes, i would expect you will continue to hear make the case wages have gone up, inflation has gotten under control. we have not spiraled into recession, as many economists were predicting for two years now. i would imagine he will continue to make the case.

as the campaign heats up, you're going to hear him draw the contrast. nobody has shied away less from taking on trump directly than joe biden. i think you will hear the contrast dialogue as well as the campaign moves forward. >> here we are, happy new year to both of you and thank you for being with me today. a deadly battle on the red sea. the u.s. repelling an attack and thinking three boats operated by iranian backed houti rebels. what u.s. officials are now saying about a broader conflict. minutes into the start of the new year israel intercepts at least 12 rockets fired from gaza, as military officials say they will begin withdrawing soldiers from the area. we will talk about their strategy next.

i think he's having a midlife crisis i'm not. you got us t-mobile home internet lite. after a week of streaming they knocked us down... ...to dial up speeds. like from the 90s. great times. all i can do say is that my life is pre-- i like watching the puddles gather rain. -hey, your mom and i procreated to that song. oh, ew! i think you've said enough. why don't we just switch to xfinity like everyone else? then you would know what year it was. i know what year it is. one of the world's largest shipping companies is positing use of a major shipping channel

after new attack. mearsk says one of his ships was hit as it traveled in the red sea over the weekend. u.s. military helicopters responding thinking three of the four mac attack ships. it is the first time the u.s. has killed houti rebels since tensions boiled over in october. the white house says this is not an escalation. what are you learning about this attack here? >> reporter: the problem with saying it does not want a wider conflict is that it is not just up to the u.s. now we have to see how the houti's respond. this all played out on saturday. a commercial vessel was operating in the southern red sea. you can see near a critical waterway where a lot of the world shipping use the past has since avoided it because of a number of houti attacks.

the maersk was operating in that area when they issued a distress call. they had come under attack. there were four mac houti ships coming toward them. u.s. central command say they came within 20 meters, about 60 feet. that is when u.s. helicopters responded. they say they came under fire and returned fire, thinking three of those houti ships, killing the crew of the best things -- of the vessels. the maersk were there was the attempted hijacking, that she was able to sell away. you can see the details of the attack. because of what happened maersk say they will once again avoid the red sea. along with a number of other shipping companies who have said they would because of the dangers in that area, sailing around africa or boarding the red sea in general. maersk was one of the largest if not the largest that said after the u.s. set up a

multinational coalition to protect shipping that it would again go through the red d, but they have since reversed that decision or at least pause owing to the critical roadway. it is also worth noting there was another attack, the u.s. says they intercepted two ballistic missiles fired from the houti's. who are the houti's? they are an iranian backed proxy that operates in yemen. they came to power in the 90s. they have launched at least 100 attacks using drones, anti-ship ballistic missiles and cruise missiles in december and over the course of the past couple of months. that is why so many shipping companies have opted to abort the red sea. that is why the u.s. set up a multinational force to try to protect shipping. now we have to see how it plays out. the u.s. has tried to avoid widening the conflict. it is the first time we have seen the u.s. fire upon and kill houti militants and sink

their ships over the course of the past several months. the u.s. is trying to avoid widening this conflict, but of course it is not just up to the u.s. now we need to see what the houti's and what iran have planned over the course of the next few days and weeks. >> we certainly do. thank you. let's talk more about what this means. joining us now we have retired major general james spider marks. sir, what is your assessment of these latest attacks? >> it is about time. the united states have been aggressive, but they are really kicking it up a notch. iran understands the response to connecticut actions. they will respond in some way, either we could expect one of two particular outcomes. one, a decrease in the activity. or we could see an increase of

activity by the houti's and others, looking at hamas as well as hezbollah, palestinian jihad in gaza. what we are seeing is the united states has appropriately gone after the houti's. i think it is absolutely the right thing to do. in addition, the united states certainly has the option to try some additional or what i would call asymmetrical responses. they can increase economic sanctions and can offer you cyber type activities, et cetera. the resistance clearly must be to feel like there needs to be a connecticut operation against iran itself. that is the expansion of the war that everybody wants to try to avoid. it is the old expression if it feels good, don't do it. the united states needs to act appropriately, and i think they are. they are increasing the pain against the houti's specifically. >> when we look at the israel- hamas conflict, israel defense forces say they are reducing

the number of soldiers, but also expecting the war to last throughout the year. what is a read of this? >> what i think they are signaling if at some point in the very near future, even though netanyahu has indicated this is many more months to go. at some point they are going to say mission accomplished. however, we are now going to transition to the completion of the counterterrorism operation, which is to go after leadership and infrastructure of hamas. in some type of transition there has to be a counterinsurgency, which means you have to eliminate the influence of hamas. that has to be not only an israeli effort, but there's got to be a third party. israel has that we do not want to stick around in gaza. in order to complete counterterrorism, you then have to transition into some type of an operation that negates the influence of hamas. a priority or some type of declaration of what the governing body will look like

going forward. there is going to be a period where israel will continue to maintain a presence in gaza. when you look at the numbers, the doctrine, they are going to end up with about 2 million folks that live in gaza, the palestinians. we look at the doctrine, that is about the size of a 40- 45,000 troops on the ground to maintain some degree of stability as a complete these operations. >> there is a senior u.s. official tally cnn this reduction means a shift to lower density operations. that is sort of a catchphrase. military officials and government officials here in the u.s. talking, especially as the biden administration is under a lot of medical pressure domestically to put israel under pressure to stop so many deaths of civilians in gaza. is this how you see it? this shift to lower intensity

is happening? >> i do. certainly we do not like the term low intensity. when you are engaged in combat there is nothing that is low intensity about any of that. this is a transition from conventional combat operations, going after the terrorist infrastructure to an operation that can be more precise in terms of going after those key leaders within hamas that they, the israelis, have not to this date identified, killed, captured or have neutralized. there is still work that needs to be done. this is an acknowledgment that the preliminary operations are really trying to reduce the infrastructure, the not a capability of hamas to operate within the population and now transitions to more precise operations going after the leadership. any additional infrastructure that exists. i

think it is an acknowledgment that there is a transition. i think that the united states has made it crystal clear. these are the expectations of the united states. i cannot talk about the conditions, but i would imagine they are if you want our support we are going to demand that you transition to something that looks different than the previous three months. >> general, thank you so much for being with us. we appreciate it. an essential drug for so many americans with diabetes just got a lot cheaper. we are going to tell you how little they could pay for insulin on their next trip to the pharmacy.

more americans with diabetes will get a price break on insulin this year. novolog will cap cost of $35 per month. for years drugmakers have come

under fire for drastically raising the price of insulin. our cnn medical correspondent is here with us. this is going to be music to the years of so many. >> reporter: that is so true. these are initiatives drugmakers have been announcing since last year. the last piece is common to place where the $35 cap is on out-of-pocket costs, starting today, january 1. sometimes you have to go to the company website to find a co-pay coupon or something like that. these programs are now in place. more than 8 million people rely on insulin in the united states to live. according to the american diabetes association, 1-4 report having to ration insulin because of the cost. back and have really severe health consequences. in addition to the $35 limit to the out-of-pocket costs, today

we are seeing dramatic reductions in the list prices of insulin going into effect of 70% or more for these major influence from eli lilly, nova nordisk and santfi. that is because of a law that changed the way companies pay rebates to medicaid. that is going to save drug companies money. overall, folks really excited about more affordable insulin across the board. >> now it is all making more sense. thank you so much. we appreciate the report. the nfl postseason shaping up. one thing you can bet on is at least one playoff is going through baltimore.

the nfl playoff picture is coming in as the top seeds in both the afc and nfc have been clenched. let's bring in carolyn manno. who made the cut?

>> happy new year. nine teams have clinched postseason berths and five spots are still up for grabs. the afc playoffs will definitely go through baltimore. the ravens clinched the number one seed after routing the dolphins yesterday. the game went about as well as apostle he could have for quarterback lamar jackson. he tied his career-high five touchdown passes finishing with a perfect passer rating. that may have sealed the deal to win his second league mvp award. the final score ended up being 56-19. it is notable because that combination has never happened before in the history of the nfl. it is called score got me. the 49ers were also have home- field advantage throughout the playoffs and they get the bye week in the first round. brock purdy led the way with a pair of touchdowns in a 27-10 win over the commander's.

he broke the teams single- season passing record entering the day third on the list behind jeff garcia and steve young and set the mark on his final toss of the day the five yard completion to george kittle. as we turn to 2024, one of the most beloved traditions in sports returning in seattle, the nhl winter classic. the annual hockey game played in the great outdoors. this year the kracken are hosting the vegas golden knights inside t-mobile park inside the home of the seattle mariners. vans look forward to this every year, but the players do as well . >> whenever you play outdoors, it is the purest form. you play outside and you get different uniforms on, i'm sure brings back memories for guys growing up and playing on pawns in their neighborhoods or in their towns. >> the puck drops this

afternoon at 3:00 eastern with coverage starting at the top of the hour. you can watch all of it on her sister channel tnt or stream it on max. these are the leagues two newest franchises. it is exciting to see this on the west coast but all of these guys grew up playing pond hockey. >> that looks fun. you have never seen the stadium look like that. happy new year. thank you so much. from minimum wage to guns and abortion, new state laws take effect today. will take a closer look ahead.

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