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7.5 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Western Japan; Fresh Strikes in Ukraine Hours Into the New Year; U.S. Helicopters Sink Three Houthi Boats in Red Sea; Israeli PM Netanyahu Says He Won't Resign From Office. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired January 01, 2024 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[05:00:35]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Max Foster.

We begin with breaking news, a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake has hit western Japan and a tsunami warning has been 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.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery is joining us live from Tokyo.

Tell us what information you've got right now, Hanako.

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Max, we this was a large and powerful earthquake that hit the west coast of Japan. As you mentioned, it was 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 families and their loved ones.

We know that also it was a shallow earthquake with depths of around 10 kilometers or about 6 miles. Now, 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, residents have been told to evacuate because they were close to the epicenter and we know that the Japanese 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.

FOSTER: In terms of the government effort to respond to this, it is difficult, isn't it, as we were hearing earlier that the power stations have closed down. So there isn't power in the area. So getting information and responding correctly is very difficult. MONTGOMERY: Yeah, Max. We know 32,500 homes in the Ishikawa

prefecture which is, again, very close to the epicenter, 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.

We also know that there have not been any nuclear abnormalities reported near the epicenter of this earthquake. But, again, we're still trying to confirm just how many people might have had their homes destroyed in this powerful earthquake, Max.

FOSTER: 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.

MONTGOMERY: Yes, that's right, Max. The tsunami waves are getting bigger and bigger and we're seeing several aftershocks, ones that are quite powerful, actually, 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 in Noto, right, near the epicenter of the earthquake, it is a seaport town. It's quite an idyllic 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, Max.

FOSTER: Okay. Hanako Montgomery in Tokyo, we'll be back with you as you get more. Thank you so much for joining us.

The 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. But in a New Year speech, Ukraine's president struck a resilient note, saying the country had already defeated the darkness, unquote, thanks to the strength of its people.

[05:05:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Clare Sebastian joins me now. Just take us through, people may have heard about the reports on Friday, but the fallout.

You know, we've learned much more about it over the weekend. It was a pretty extraordinary attack.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was huge. It was a combination of missiles and drones, as you said in our introduction, the death toll has now been 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 is accusing Ukraine of attacking Belgorod, that border region, and later Friday, 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. They air force says that pretty much almost all regions were under air alert. There was a record number of drones fired, some 90, in which 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 defenses are dwindling, the number of missiles they have to shoot down Russian drones and missiles are going down. 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 not concentrated to the frontline, I think the last few days have certainly proved it.

FOSTER: Yeah, it 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.

SEBASTIAN: 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 with his account of the war, very detailed, 20 minutes long, talking about the successes, diplomatic and production in Ukraine and things like that, 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.

FOSTER: Okay. Clare, thank you.

We'll have more on the breaking news on the earthquake and tsunamis hitting Japan after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:12:20]

FOSTER: We are 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 and the Japan Meteorological Agency 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 damage, the extent of damage at least. A tsunami threat has been issued in parts of eastern Russia that is close to the Sea of Japan.

Now, U.S. helicopters repelled an attack by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea Sunday sinking three boats and killing all those onboard. 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 to show support for Hamas.

CNN's Kevin Liptak has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: U.S. Central Command says two Navy helicopters shot and sank a Houthi rebel boat in the Red Sea this weekend. This is the first instance of a direct confrontation between the U.S. and the Houthis since the October 7th terror attacks, and this has been a source of growing concern within the Biden administration, the sense that this conflict could widen further.

Now, the way this incident unfolded is that a commercial vessel that was transiting the Red Sea came under attack from the Houthi rebels in the boats. They sent out a distress call to the U.S. military, which sent these helicopters.

When the Houthis fired on those helicopters, the U.S. fired back, sinking the boat and killing all of those on board. And it's a significant moment because it 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 this situation very closely, this -- transiting the Red Sea are these commercial vessels. It's a key commercial route -- merchant boats, commercial vessels all sort of coming under fire from the Houthis. And this is something that the U.S. has tried to prevent by a gathering, a coalition of about 20 countries to beef up security in the region.

The vessel that was fired upon this weekend was owned by Maersk. In fact, that group had just resumed transiting the Red Sea when this happened.

Now, they say they will wait 48 hours before making a decision on whether they will go back to the Red Sea moving forward.

[05:15:04]

President Biden is, of course, watching this very closely as the New Year begins. His secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will be traveling to the Middle East, including Israel next week. At the top of his discussions will be these conversations with the 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 certainly be a top issue for President Biden as he enters 2024.

Kevin Liptak, CNN, traveling with President Biden in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, some U.S. lawmakers are calling on the White House to respond more forcefully amid the escalating attacks on cargo ships of the U.S. military in the Red Sea. Others say President Biden is striking the right balance striking the right balance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): 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. REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): The 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 for their own people, 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Now, it has not been a peaceful start to 2024 in the Middle East where the battle between Israel and Hamas rages on. Al-Qassem brigades, Hamas military wing claimed it launched a barrage of rockets over Tel Aviv. At midnight local time, at least 12 of them were intercepted by Israel, according to a CNN team on the ground.

Now, a video taken from southern Israel, 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: On Sunday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians will not accept displacement from their land. He slammed Israel for its, quote, comprehensive war of extermination.

CNN's Jim Bittermann is joining us from Paris.

How do you interpret that language, Jim?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABU ABDULLAH AL-AGHA, DISPLACED FROM KHAN YOUNIS (through translator): In 2024, I wish to go back to the wreckage of my home, pitch attend, and live there. In 2024, I wish for our children to live in peace and security, to go back to school, back to university, for workers to go back to work and find a source of income.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BITTERMANN: All well and good to have those wishes and hope, but reality is that Netanyahu is not going to yield to Hamas, he's going to 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, Max.

[05:20:07]

FOSTER: 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.

BITTERMANN: Well, 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, Max.

FOSTER: Jim in Paris, thank you.

We will have more on the breaking news on the earthquake and tsunamis in Japan right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: 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.

[05:25:02]

Coastal regions have been put under a tsunami warning and there are reports of tsunami waves coming ashore as well.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 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 Yaareb Altaweel, representative of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Thank you for joining us.

From the numbers you're looking, how service was the earthquake and what damage might it have caused?

YAAREB ALTAWEEL, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GOLDEN, COLORADO (via telephone): 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's 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.

FOSTER: 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.

ALTAWEEL: That depends on the severity of the after shocks. As the right now, biggest aftershock was 6.2. And the whole series started with foreshock of 5.5.

FOSTER: Do you know how long that can continue?

ALTAWEEL: There is -- we cannot like predict earthquakes as you know. 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 of aftershocks. Right now, we're looking at that series most likely will die out.

FOSTER: 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.

ALTAWEEL: Yes. Usually earthquakes in that region happen on the east coast of Japan because it's subduction zone. On the west coast, it is more complicated like geologically. They do happen, earthquakes in there, and for the like last -- since 1900, we have about 30 magnitude 6 or larger. Last one we detected was May 5, 2023 and it was magnitude 6.2.

FOSTER: So how is this in comparison to the previous quakes you've monitored there?

ALTAWEEL: I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Say that again?

FOSTER: And how would you compare it to the other quakes that you've seen in that region in recent times, how concerned are you?

ALTAWEEL: Well, that is not for me to say. But we should keep watching the aftershocks series. As of right now, we have 16 earthquakes total, but more data is coming for like smaller aftershocks.

FOSTER: OK.

ALTAWEEL: So you will see more earthquakes showing up soon.

FOSTER: OK, Yaareb Altaweel of the U.S. Geological Service, we really appreciate your information there and I'm asking a lot of question very early on when you're getting the data. But appreciate that.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery is joining us now live from Tokyo, because, you know, it is a 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.

MONTGOMERY: 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.