issued. it struck at about 4:00 p.m. local time. a series of strong aftershocks have already been recorded. and tsunami waves of 1.2 meters have hit a number of areas along the western coast. japan's prime minister is urging residents in tsunami areas to evacuate as soon as possible. the u.s. geological survey and japan meteorological office as well have been making similar warnings. hanako montgomery is joining us live from tokyo. tell us what information you've got right now, that knyou have w hanako. >> reporter: this was a large and powerful, 7.5 magnitude earthquake that hit around 4:10 p.m. local time, a time when many people are celebrating new year's day with their familiesnd loved ones. and it was a shallow earthquake with depths of around 10 kilometers or about 6 miles. this is significant to note because with shallow earthquakes, we know that they could potentially be more powerful and more destructive and essentially trigger tsunamis that could really devastate certain cities and towns that lie against the coast. with the ishikawa prefecture cities, residents have been told to evacuate because they were close to the epicenter and we know the prime minister's office is trying to confirm just how extensive the damage is and how many people might be hurt or injured because of these powerful quakes and subsequent tsunamis. >> in terms of the government effort to respond to this, it is difficult as we were hearing that the power stations have closed down, so there is not power in the area. so getting information and responding correctly is very difficult. >> reporter: we know 32,500 homes in the ishikawa prefecture have lost power. we also know several bullet train lines have been suspended and they won't resume in the near future. we also know that the japanese prime minister's office has set up an office of response disaster counter measure hq, trying to respond to any emergencies, any requests in order to evacuate civilians. there have not been any nuclear abnormalities reported near the epicenter. but we're still trying to confirm just how many people might have had their homes destroyed in this powerful earthquake. >> and we don't know when it will be over because we've got so many aftershocks that are triggering tsunamis as well. and those waves appear to be looking bigger as they come in. >> reporter: yes, that's right, max. the tsunami waves are getting bigger and bigger and we're seeing several aftershocks, ones that are quite powerful, 6.2 magnitude, 5.2 magnitude. and they just keep rolling in. here in tokyo even we're hearing warnings essentially of people having to fly -- sorry, to evacuate to higher ground. we also know that near the epicenter of the earthquake, it is a seaport town with a lot of different ports. and just locals, you know, who love to fish. and we know that it is very close to the sea, so a lot of concern and worry about whether or not they can get the civilians out to higher ground in case of any larger tsunamis that might hit that place. >> okay. hanako montgomery, we'll be back with you as you get more. thank you for joining us. new year's off to a somber start in the ukrainian capital, kyiv declared this a national day of mourning as death toll road to 52 after the friday massive aerial assault by russia. ukraine's president said the country had already defeated the darkness thanks to the strength of its people. >> translator: ukraine is alive. ukraine lives. ukraine fights. ukraine advances. ukraine overcomes the path. ukraine gains. ukraine works. ukraine exists. and all together, this is not a new year's miracle, not a fairy tale, not magic, but the merit of each of you. >> russian president vladimir putin also released a pre-recorded new year's address, he emphasized russia's self reliance and unity in pursuit of its national interests. >> translator: we are acutely and clearly aware of how much during this period depends on ourselves, on our attitude towards the best. our desire to support each other in word and deed. working for the common good brought the community together. we are united in our thoughts and work and in battle. >> clare sebastian is joining me. just take us through, people may have heard about the reports on friday, but the fallout. we've learned much more about it over the weekend. it was a pretty extraordinary attack. >> a combination of missiles and drones, death toll now upgraded because they have been essentially pulling more bodies out of the rubble. and many of them in the capital kyiv. so this is really significant. and we've seen since then that the violence has continued really on both sides. russia accusing ukraine of attacking belgbelgorod. and they say that 24 were killed, many more injured. and then attacks over the weekend by russia on kharkiv ukraine says and then new year's eve brought more attacks. almost all regions were under air alert. 90 drones fired and 87 they managed to overt. but this is really bad news for ukraine because we know western support is waning particularly from the u.s. they just got promised the last aid package from the u.s. unless more funding is agreed by congress, that means that these air gudefenses will dwindling. they want to conserve them, they don't want to have to deal with the massive attacks. and of course russia is watching and knows this. so if you were in any doubt as to whether this is an all out war, i think the last few days have proved it. >> and so sets the tone for the year ahead. also the speeches, what did you read into them? because putin didn't say all that much about the war. >> it was 2021 style new year's address for putin. last year we saw him in a speech that was some nine minutes long flanked by military service men and women. this year it was about 3 1/2 minutes in front of the kremlin and he didn't mention the war once. he alluded to it, he thanked russian soldiers, military men and all that but he really just sort of called on russian patriotism he said, things like the colossal responsibility that russians feel from the homeland. he said we'll never back down. in some way both addresses, both zelenskyy very detailed, 20 minutes long, talking about the successes, and in some ways both trying to call on their people to stay the course, stick it out. almost two years in, and both populations are getting tired of this. so i think that that is what these speeches said in very different ways. of course from putin, this is an opportunity going into an election to project that strength and confidence, to set that tone. >> okay. clare, thank you. we'll have more on the breaking news on the earthquake and tsunamis hitting japan after this short break. 00 h e . we're following breaking news out of japan where a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the western part of the country a short while ago. you can see the moment the quake hit in this dramatic video from a train station. strong aftershocks have been recorded. u.s. geological survey say the original quake had a depth of 10 kilometers or 6 miles. and tsunami waves of 1.2 meters have hit a number of areas along the western coast. japan's prime minister urging residents in tsunami areas to evacuate and get to higher ground as soon as possible. he says an emergency response office has been set up and the government is working to assess the extent of damage. tsunami threat has been issued in parts of eastern russia that is close to the sea of japan. u.s. helicopters repelled an attack by houthi rebels in the red sea sunday sinking three boats and killing all those on board. it is the first time since the war broke out in gaza that the u.s. has killed members of the iranian-backed group that is targeting vessels in the region. kevin lip tap has more. >> reporter: two navy helicopters shot and sang a houthi rebel boat. this is the first instance of a direct confrontation between the u.s. and the houthis since the october 7 error terror attacks. and this is a growing concern within the biden administration, a sense that this conflict could widen further. the way the incident unfolded is that commercial vessel came under attack from the houthi rebels in the boats. they sent out a distress call. the u.s. fired back sinking the boat. and this is the first time that the u.s. has killed a member of the houthi rebel group since the conflict in israel began. the u.s. has been watching the situation very closely, transiting the red saw are these commercial vessels, a key commercial route. vessels all coming under fire from the new an -- houthis. and this is something that the is trying to prevent. and the vessel fired upon this weekend was owned by maersk. that group had just resumed transiting the red sea when it happened and now they say they will wait 48 hours before making a decision on whether they will go back to the red sea moving forward. president biden is of course watching this very closely. his secretary of state antony blinken will be traveling to the middle east including israel next week. he will have conversations with israelis about shifting to a lower intensity phase of the conflict. that is something that the united states wants to see happen very soon, but this will be a top issue for president biden as he enters 2024. kevin liptak, cnn, traveling with the president in the u.s. virgin islands. some u.s. lawmakers are calling on the white house to respond more forcefully amid the escalating attacks on cargo ships in the red sea. others say president biden is striking the right balance . >> this administration has been very timid in responding to escalations by iran. >> the president absolutely has to look at what actions need to be taken in yemen to be able to prevent the houthis to continue to put commercial and military vessels at risk. the fact that the president is not doing that is giving iran a total pass and ability to operate without consequences in the area. >> u.s. is taking the absolute right approach, carefully engaging obviously what happened early with self-defense and the idea that the president or white house does not take iran seriously is completely false. i mean, iran is clearly a danger to the region and clearly there are abuses of civil rights and human rights, it should disturb everyone. the president has been very forceful against the entire government, the authoritarian government that iran is really pressuring on and really i think hurting not just their own people but the entire region. it has not been a peaceful start to 2024 in the middle east where the battle between israel and hamas rages on. hamas military wing claims it launched a barrage of rockets over tel aviv. 12 were intercepted. video taken, flares were seen falling over gaza with a string of loud explosions. this as the new year began. and benjamin netanyahu is warning that the war will continue for months. he says he has no plans to resign after calls from the opposition leader to do just that. >> translator: only thing i intend to resign from is hamas. this is what i'm going to get rid of, this is what i'm busy with, nothing else. >> on sunday mahmoud abbas said palestinians will not accept displacement from their land. he slammed israel for its, quote, comprehensive war of extermination. jim bittermann is joining us from paris. how do you interpret that language, jim? >> reporter: i tell you, one of the things that you have to have perspective on, some of these palestinians that are currently being displaced, the number is somewhere around 1.9 million people in the gaza strip who have been displaced, have been displaced before back in 1948 when the state of israel was established. and again in 1967 after the '67 war. so this idea of displacing palestinians i think many are saying that we've had enough of that and especially in the way that it has been coming about right now with hundreds of thousands of palestinians being forced to the southeast corner of the gaza strip, the situation there is desperate, people are living in tents, sometimes they don't have tents at all, the food situation is so desperate that in fact some aid agencies are saying that the situation there is a state of crisis. so you have to take that into account. you wonder how much more the people can tolerate. here is what one had to say about the situation that he saw. >> translator: in 2024, i wish to go back to the wreckage of my home, pitch a tent and live there. in 2024, i wish for our children to live in peace and security, to go back tck to school, to university, for workers to go back to work and find a source of income. >> reporter: all well and good to have those wishes and hope, but reality is that netanyahu won't yield to hamas, he will continue his fight to eliminate hamas from the gaza strip. and at the same time, the palestinians are firm in their goals to keep on the struggle. so it does not look at all like that man's hopes and wishes are going to be realized in 2024. >> yeah, and there is this fear, isn't there, jim, when you speak to palestinians that if they leave gaza, they won't be allowed back in. and a huge concern about netanyahu's policy on that. and it is not verbalized anywhere. they don't know the deal. >> reporter: in fact that is very realistic fear because one of the things that has happened is this whole question of right to return, israelis have refused that. the palestinians who were driven out to lebanon in 1948 or elsewhere around the middle east in 1967 have not been allowed to return to any of the palestinian territories. and so that is totally justified, that fear, the idea that if they leave, they will never be able to come back to their homes. >> jim paris, thank you. more on the earl quakthquake ri after the break. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. latest now on the breaking news, japan's prime minister says authorities are working to assess any possible damage from today's 7.5 magnitude earthquake in western japan. there is a tsunami warning and reports of waves coming ashore. at least 14 aftershocks have rattled the region including one with a magnitude of 6.2. so far no reports of anything abnormal at the nuclear plants in the region. japan's bullet train services are suspended and we're told some train lines are expecting -- or experiencing delays. more on that story as information becomes available. but for more, we're joined by representative of the u.s. geological survey. thank you for joining us. from the numbers, what damage might it have caused? >> as of right now, main shock is 7.5. and indications are that economic losses might be orange. and the fatalities on yellow. and that is between 1 to 100 personnel. the mechanism of the earthquake is reverse fault, which indicate that tsunami warning and tsunami warning center issued for between 30 centimeters to a meter waves might hit korea, japan and russia. >> we've heard waves of more than a meter have hit some parts of japan and others are expected to come in, presumably this will continue to happen as long as there are aftershocks. >> that depends on the severity of the after shocks. as the right now, biggest was 6.2. and the whole series started with foreshock of 5.5. >> do you know how long that can continue? >> there is -- we cannot like pre-difficultdict earthquakes. we have a model to predict or to forecast the aftershocks. usually it is like for 30 days. and then based on the magnitude of the aftershocks, there are usually three scenarios. most likely that the aftershock will die out after a while. less likely for a bigger aftershock which create its own series aftershocks. right now we're looking at that series most likely will die out. >> we should really look at the headline figure. because a lot of it has to do with the depth of the earthquake and it was relatively shallow. >> yes. usually earthquakes in that region happen on the east coast of japan. on the west coast, it is more complicated xgeologically. they do happen earthquakes in there. and for the last -- since 1900, we have about 30 magnitude 6 or larger. last one we detected was may 5, 2023 and it was 6.2. >> so how is this in comparison to the previous quakes that you've seen in that region in recent times, how concerned are you? >> well, that is not for me to s say. but we should keep watching the aftershocks oigseries. as of right now, 16 earthquakes total, but more data is coming for like smaller aftershocks. so you will see more earthquakes showing up soon. >> okay. thank you so much for giving us the information. i know i'm asking you a lot of questions very early on. appreciate that. hanako montgomery is joining us now live from tokyo. because, you know, it is a str struggle, isn't it, because there is little information coming from the area, but from what we're hearing it does look serious in terms of tsunamis hitting the coastline which doesn't always happen after a quake. >> reporter: yeah, max, that's correct. japan has issued its first major tsunami warning since the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed 22,000 people. we also know with this earthquake, it was quite shallow, depths of around 10 kilometers, that is around 6 miles. and with shallow earthquakes, they can trigger potentially larger and more destructive tsunamis. we don't know just how much destruction has been caused by these tsunami, but we're watching the city near the epicenter in easishikawa prefece for any updates. >> in terms of how the government is responding, i did notice how the prime minister came out very quickly which does show perhaps how concerned he was in the early stages of the earthquake. >> reporter: yeah, i think the japanese government is quite concerned about the earthquake and the devastation that could potentially be caused. we know that the japanese prime minister has set up its office of response disaster counter measure headquarters, and what this means is that the japanese government is really just trying to put together any resources, any teams it needs in order to hopefully evacuate people in this area. we know there haven't been any nuclear abnormalities reported near the epicenter. we also know that 23, -- sorry, 32,500 homes to be exact have lost power. we also know that lot of bullet trains within japan have been suspended because of these earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis. >> in terms of what information we're waiting for, does that depend on the aftershocks and subsequent tsunamis? i know there was this warning about 5 meter tsunami, which would be pretty frightening for many people in that area. >> reporter: all right yeah, that's correct. context, the 2011 earthquake and tsunami saw waves of up to 30 feet. at cnn we've confirmed that some areas have been seeing waves of up to 1.2 meters. there has been a warning issued for waves of up to 5 meters specifically in ishikawa prefecture which is close to the epicenter. >> okay. hanako montgomery, thank you. back with you as get more. now texas republican governor greg abbott continues to send hundreds of migrants to cities run by democrats. officials say that plane carrying more than 350 asylum seekers arrived at an airport near chicago on sunday morning. camila bernal has more on the migrant crisis in the u.s. >> reporter: a breaking point at the u.s./mexico border as preliminary homeland security statistics show authorities encountered more than 225,000 migrants so far in december. the highest monthly total recorded in more than 20 years. and from the border to cities all over the u.s., struggling to keep up. because this welcome comes at a cost. >> when you are talking about 10% of the budget to allocate for cities on this, that is unsustainable. we have every single hotel room full of migrants, that is unsustainable. >> reporter: for months governor abbott has bussed thousands of migrants to these cities led by democrats, resulting in turmoil and straining resources. >> at one point in the summer we had 25, 30 buses showing up every single day without any coordination or any notification. he is sending buses outside of the city of chicago in some instances 100 miles away where people are being dropped off and being told that they are in the city of chicago, literally dropped off in the middle of nowhere. i find that to be inhumane and unconscionable. >> reporter: smaller municipalities have passed ordinances to try to stop it. while mayors of denver, new york and chicago are asking the federal government for help. >> i think much more could be done and with all of our national leaders from a decompression strategy and making sure the cost is not falling on the laps of everyday taxpayers in our cities. >> reporter: they are also demanding for coordinated dropoffs with exact times and locations to dedicate the appropriate resources. >> what we need is everyone that gets in the country should have the ability to work, they should have federal dollars to help support them in the cities that they arrive in and we should have a coordinated national plan for where those folks arrive. >> reporter: in a statement a spokesperson for abbott accused the democrat mayors of hypocrisy saying they are now going to extreme lengths to avoid fulfilling their self declared sanctuary city promises. the statement also said the mayors should call on their party leader to finally do his job and secure the border. something that he continues refusing to do. but some activists believe the crisisis at the e border takes rerepublicans,s, democrats and levels of government to solve. >> if the governments are not doing that, then most our people will see, people will be further traumatized and harmed and likely we will see more people die as a result of the inability of governments to really address the humanitarian needs asylum seekers have. >> reporter: and the biden administration has acknowledged the requests from the mayors saying the president asked congress for funding and for resources when it comes to the border and securing the border, specifically law enforcement. but also for funding for those cities that are hosting these migrants. and also for work permits. we have seen some bipartisan efforts in congress to try to address this, but the bottom line is that congress has not found a permanent solution for this. camila bernal, cnn, los angeles. the u.s. supreme court chief justice john roberts spent much of his year end report discussing how new technology has brought positive change to the federal court system, but he also raised concerns about the increasing presence of artificial intelligence in the judicial system warning technology could risk dehumanizing the law. he avoided addressing how the court has been pushed in to two disputes involving donald trump and other issues involving the court's new code of conduct. a new year means new laws. rafael romo takes a look at a slew of new ones. >> reporter: among the most polarizing new laws that take effect with the new year are those related to gender affirming care for minors with several republican-led states moving to enact restrictions. in idaho, physicians who provide treatments to minors could face a $5,000 fine and a felony charge. in louisiana, it will become illegal for those under 18 to receive those treatments and health care professionals can have their licenses revoked for two years or more if they provide those services. on the other hand, maryland along with several other democratic-led states passed protections for gender affirming care for all ages and as of january 1, the state will require medicaid to cover them. when it comes to abortion, the state of washington is enacting a law with the goal of making the procedure more accessible by eliminating out of pocket costs including deductibles and co-pays. this is in response to near total bans in several republican-led states that took effect in 2023. in california, a law taking effect monday protects health care providers from out of state litigation for care it-to-people from other states. nearly half of all u.s. states will increase their minimum wage in 2024. washington will continue to have the highest minimum wage of all states at $16.28 an hour. up from $15.74. another new law for 2024 getting a lot of attention is california's ban on carrying concealed firearms in sensitive places. this is despite the federal judge's prior ruling that the law is, quote, repugnant to the second amendment. people with permits would not be allowed to carry concealed firearms in places like schools, parks and hospitals among others. federal appeals court will allow the law for now while the court case continues. rafael romo, cnn, atlanta. we'll have more on the earthquake in japan right after this break. back to our breaking news. powerful aftershocks could continue for several more days after the earthquake in western japan. the u.s. geological survey has reported already at least 14 one of which measured 6.2 magnitude. wajima city has reported waves of around nearly 4 feet high. and the city of is reporting damage. and people are urged to evacuate to hire ground as soon as possible. we'll bring you the latest updates as details come into us. kyiv has declared today a national day of mourning as the death toll in ukraine continues to grow. the number killed climbed to at least 52 with more than half of those in kyiv. the attacks were the largest russian aerial strikes in ukraine since the war began. sunday also saw deadly attacks in the kharkiv region. just hours into the new year, a series of aerial strikes killed at least five people in odesa and donetsk. russian authorities say at least 24 people died and 107 were injured in saturday's attack on the city of belgorod which the kremlin blames on ukraine. from front lines to the growing diaspora, this year is beginning with joy and defiance. you hear it in the streets and from those for whom the war is physically distant but emotionally ever present. we're bringing you now a unique arrangement performed just for cnn by the songs of ukraine chorus made up of singers impacted by the war. ♪ ♪ should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? ♪ ♪ should auld acquaintance be forgot ♪ ♪ and days of auld lang syne? and days of auld lang syne my dear and days of auld lang syne ♪ ♪ ♪ for auld lang syne we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet ♪ ♪ for auld lang syne ♪ ♪ and days of auld lang syne? and days of auld lang syne my dear and days of auld lang syne ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ for auld lang syne for auld lang syne my dear ♪ ♪ for auld lang syne we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet ♪ ♪ for auld lang syne ♪ we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet ♪ ♪ for auld lang syne ♪ back to our breaking news. a 7.5 magnitude earthquake has hit western japan leading to tsunami warnings. reports of waves already hitting the coastline. these images show some of the damage from the quake which struck shortly after 4:00 p.m. local time monday evafternoon. it had a depth of 6 miles or 10ky local terse. japan's government has advised people to seek higher ground.te. japan's government has advised people to seek higher ground. derek van dam is looking at all this. take us through the region we're talking about. i spoke to a seismologist who says it is much more common to see this on the east coast respe, not the west coast. >> and that is a great point. we're learning together here. the time i've worked at cnn, we've seen the majority of the earthquakes you're right along along the east facing shoreline of the country of japan. but now to see it on this west facing shoreline, it is a significant thing. and what you mentioned the shallow nature of this earthquake will play into the ramifications down the line. because that shallow nature doesn't allow for the ground to really absorb much of the shock. so what we know so far with the magnitude 7.5 is that significant amount of japan's population all the way as far east as tokyo felt this, but when you talk about ishikawa prefecture, which is this little peninsula that sticks out from the western shoreline, we're talking roughly 50 million people. so there were some sort of light shaking felt by about 43 million people, but you can see the number still increasing -- or not rather increasing but impacting millions of people when it goes in to the moderate and strong shaking that is felt. these are all numbers according to the u.s. geological service. and you can see a significant population density. but this is also interesting as well, japan meteorological agency, the local coordinating agency on the ground within japan, issued this major tsunami warning. looking back, last time they issued this major tsunami warning near the ishikawa prefecture was in 2011. and we recall that obviously very, very challenging time when so many people perished from that particular earthquake and suction subsequent sue nam pi. so, yes, tsunami waves have been observed. they have been roughly about 1 meter. so roughly 3 to 4 feet in height above normal tide. and remember, they were calling for suetsunami waves potentiallp to 5 meters. so good we're not seeing those results just yet. we're scouring the latest information and bringing it to you in realtime here. 1.2 meters is significantly far less than the original projections. remember a shallow earthquake can cause significant shaking but also significant displacement of water. and large tsunami waves. now, with this magnitude 7.5, it is not just the west shoreline of japan that could feel the tsunami waves. remember we have neighboring and nearby russia, how about north and south korea, the entire korean peninsula and their local offices say anywhere from on 0.3 meters to up to 1 meter is possible. remember depending on the type of earthquake that occurred, this underground very shallow nature, what can happen, we get this thrusting of the plate, the tectonic plates located within that part of the world. and that displaces the water and causes this rippling effect. we talk about a tsunami wave not as one particular wave, but this is a series of waves. so the threat is not done yet. that is most important for people to understand who are nearest to the epicenter of the earthquake that just occurred. and because we could have anywhere from 5 minutes to upwards of one hour in between the crests of these waves. so a series of waves could bring this potential still of an ongoing threat of tsunamis. so this is something we're monitoring here as well. it is all about the depth of the seabed, and that is how the tsunami wave is does displaced this part of the word. when we talk just about the earthquake, according to usgs, significant damage is likely. we've confirmed that with some of the videos seen out of the area. >> and great analysis. we'll get more as more information comes in. thank you for joining us. we'll be back with our breaking news coverage right after this break. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ . good morning. i'm max foster in for poppy harlow and phil mattingly. and we're following breaking news out o