situation room. happening now, breaking news, the first deaths are reported from a powerful earthquake that flattened homes and unleashed a wall of water in japan. stand by for new images and information on the massive 7.5 quake and its aftermath. also this hour, at a critical moment in israel s fight against hamas, the nation s high court striking down a key part of a controversial government plan to limit the power of the judiciary. the unprecedented decision now threatening to fan par time tensions and division. plus, 2024 is here. the first presidential votes are now just two weeks away. we ll get the lay of the political landscape as donald trump s rivals battle to be the last republican standing in his way to the nomination. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. i m brianna keilar, and this is the situation room special report. we begin with breaking news. the earthquake disaster in japan turning deadly. at
going. people trapped on the trains. businesses and homes are crushed. a major move by israel supreme court striking down a contentious law. risking even more division in the country at more. as we start 2024, some of the 2023 political predictions that were also wrong. how is it looking this new year? welcome to the lead. i m casey in for jake tapper. we start with destruction in a japan after a 7.2 magnitude earth right. four people were killed when the 7.5 magnitude quake hit western japan just hours into the new year followed by a series of aftershocks. the weather agency says those could continue up to a week. it also triggered tsunami warnings along the coast and residents have been urged to evacuate. the warnings have been downgraded but there is still a tsunami threat. multiple buildings caught fire or collapsed including a home on the upper left of the screen. it was reduced to a pile of rubble. we start coverage off from japan where more than 8000 military perso
Winter storms from the Pacific Northwest to new england, texas to tallahassee, weve seen temperatures plunge in some places by tens of degrees an hour. Coastal flooding, gail forced winds, Blizzard Conditions, roads iced over causing massive pileups, including the one you see here on the Ohio Turnpike that took one life at least. Were also seeing more than a million homes without power tonight, more than 5,000 flights cancelled. C cnn Polo Sandoval is live for us and drivers are stranded on icy roads and omar jimenez is at ohare. We begin with Polo Sandoval. What can you tell us about the stranded drivers and what theyre facing tonight . Reporter it is going to be a very long frigid night, Jim For County officials as they will be out in these conditions going through hundreds of Stranded Cars Inn erie county and rescuig people inside. Officials said this is something they feared of happening so they implemented at 9 30 this morning a driving ban hoping people would stay home but sadly,
can t rent a car to go back to boseman. there s no flights back to boseman, no flights to nashville until christmas eve or christmas or like the 26th. so stressed. boy, oh boy. that s the situation at the airport. but then out on the roads, people at home with no elect electricity. good morning, it is friday, december 23rd, poppy and kaitlan are off. sara sidner is with me. i m happy to be here. usually i m out there and you re in here. but it s dangerous and getting worse by the minute. we re covering the blizzard wreaking havoc ahead of the holidays nationwide. living in limbo, migrants braving freezing temperatures for a chance to reach the united states. a cnn report from the border. one man is responsible. the january 6th committee report declares donald trump caused the insurrection. what the panel recommends now. but we begin with this, more than 200 million americans spending the holiday weekend under wind chill alerts as an arctic blast plunges temperatur
winter storms from the pacific northwest to new england, texas to tallahassee, we ve seen temperatures plunge in some places by tens of degrees an hour. coastal flooding, gail forced winds, blizzard conditions, roads iced over causing massive pileups, including the one you see here on the ohio turnpike that took one life at least. we re also seeing more than a million homes without power tonight, more than 5,000 flights cancelled. c cnn polo sandoval is live for us and drivers are stranded on icy roads and omar jimenez is at o hare. we begin with polo sandoval. what can you tell us about the stranded drivers and what they re facing tonight? reporter: it is going to be a very long frigid night, jim for county officials as they will be out in these conditions going through hundreds of stranded cars inn erie county and rescuig people inside. officials said this is something they feared of happening so they implemented at 9:30 this morning a driving ban hoping people would stay