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7.5 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Western Japan; Texas Continues to Send Migrants to Other Cities; Kyiv Declares New Year's Day to be a Day of Mourning as Death Toll Grows from Friday's Russian Strikes. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired January 01, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We saw a huge earthquake, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hitting Western Japan.

[04:30:05]

A tsunami warning has been issued for the entire west coast of Japan, specifically in the city of Noto in Ishikawa Prefecture. They're under a major tsunami warning. They could see tsunami waves of measuring up to five meters, which would be very, very dangerous for many of the people in that region.

We also know that it was a shallow earthquake with depths of around ten kilometers, that's around six miles. And what this means is that with shallow earthquakes, they could trigger potentially more powerful and more dangerous tsunamis. So, really, we're just watching what potential damages could be caused because of these tsunamis that roll in, Max.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: We're getting very little information because obviously they're dealing with a crisis right now, but the initial images of the earthquake seem quite severe as well. Roads cracked, buildings collapsing and quite frightening scenes within bowling alleys and the like where people are hiding under tables.

MONTGOMERY: Yes. We know that 32,500 homes have lost power in Ishikawa Prefecture. The Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has also warned residents who live on the western coast of Japan near the epicenter to flee and to evacuate to higher ground.

We know that the Japanese government is trying to confirm the extent of this damage, try to evacuate people who might still be stuck and potentially be harmed by the tsunami. But we're still waiting to confirm some of the details, the extent of this damage, just who else might be potentially trapped as these tsunamis come within the source of Japan.

FOSTER: It's obviously a very developed nation. How capable of the buildings in that region of withstanding the earthquake and then any tsunamis that come in?

MONTGOMERY: Yes. As you said, Japan has a very robust emergency plan. Also a lot of the infrastructure, the buildings, the towns are very much capable of withstanding tsunamis and earthquakes.

But we do know that this earthquake happened at 4:10 P.M. local time on New Year's Day. This is a time when many people are still in their homes. You know, they could be in their family homes with their friends, with their loved ones. And what that means is that it's quite difficult to access people, even though they might be in their homes. It might take them a while to evacuate to higher ground.

And, of course, it doesn't necessarily mean that all homes have these earthquake-capable homes that just withstand these really big tremors. Even here in Tokyo, we felt the tremors. So, to imagine what the people in Ishikawa Prefecture, many others on the Western Japan coast are feeling is really quite indescribable.

FOSTER: Okay. We'll be back with you, we'll get more. Hanako Montgomery in Tokyo, thank you for now.

I want to look a bit more about the nuclear plants sort of based in that area, what risk is there to them. I'm joined by Azby Brown, he's the lead researcher with SAFECAST, an independent radiation-monitoring organization. Thank you so much for joining us.

I mean, what have you seen in terms of the nuclear threat as it were right now?

AZBY BROWN, LEAD RESEARCHER, SAFECAST: Of course, during the first few minutes after the earthquake and the tsunami warnings, there was not a lot of information coming in. But the Japanese nuclear regulator quickly announced that there were no abnormalities reported from any of the nuclear power plants in the region.

The region includes the largest nuclear power plant in Japan, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, which is near Niigata, which is fairly distant from the epicenter of the earthquake and the area of the largest tsunami risk.

FOSTER: Yes, in terms of, you know -- we're looking at map right now, how close are they to the coast? How might they be affected by tsunamis?

BROWN: Basically, almost every Japanese nuclear power plant is built right on the coastline. This was the case for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which had the horrific accident and meltdowns in 2011.

As a response to this eventuality, almost every nuclear power plant in Japan then underwent strong upgrades in reinforcing of seawalls, et cetera, specifically to protect against tsunami risk.

So, I think this tsunami was not as large as the one in 2011, but I think this was one possible test of how effective that those measures have been.

FOSTER: And we've seen some pretty dramatic pictures about the damage coming from the earthquake itself, but presumably they've made the same reinforcements as they have for tsunamis with earthquakes. BROWN: In terms of houses and other buildings, yes, there have been progressive retrofits and reinforcements for seismic risk certainly since the earthquake in 2011. But also prior to that, most of what we see in terms of damaging collapsed houses are older buildings, which were not subject to those kinds of reinforcements. I expect we'll see a lot of buildings damaged.

Fortunately, the region is not heavily populated where the highest risk was, so I'm cautiously optimistic that we will not see a lot of death or other serious injuries.

FOSTER: Can I just ask you about this warning we've had of a five meter wave? How concerned are you about that as opposed to the one meter ones that have already come in?

BROWN: It was quite alarming. This is the largest tsunami warning that we've had since 2011, as you know. Perhaps that tsunami was ten meters or more, so it was much higher. Still, it's a very remarkably large tsunami.

We'll see what the actual effects of that have been. Again, the video images and visual images are coming in, trickling in. We haven't seen a lot. We've seen some fires, particularly on the Noto Peninsula, which is the area of the highest risk. It's a peninsula north of Ishikawa prefecture, jutting out into the ocean.

So, that was very alarming. All of us were very concerned about that. Hopefully, in terms know, power plants, nuclear power plants, the damages won't be too big, but we expect to see a lot of damage to coastal structures and communities.

FOSTER: As you say, the last one was something like ten meters. So if the five-meter one comes in, you're pretty confident that the power plants will be able to withstand that?

BROWN: My confidence is very cautious because I've been to several of these power plants. I've seen the sea walls. There are always unknowns and other things that can happen. Perhaps you're aware that other power plants, not nuclear power plants, but thermal power plants, coal-fired power plants, are also now offline. There're no big reports of damage to them, but they all are automatically taken offline. So, the affected communities in many places are without power, and it's a very cold winter right now. So, that's a big concern as well.

FOSTER: Which is the worry, isn't it, because we're not getting the information right now. We're just relying on the pictures, which were streaming at the time effectively.

BROWN: Yes. It always takes time for a full picture to be gotten for this sort of thing. So far, no terrible disasters reported. But in terms of the nuclear power plants, because most of these power plants in Japan were taken offline, turned off after the disaster in 2011, a few in the further western part of Japan have been turned back on. But I don't think any of these in this region are operating. So, that absolutely minimizes the risk of any kind of meltdown or serious accident like we saw in Fukushima. FOSTER: Okay. Azby Brown, I really appreciate your time today, back with you if you get more. Thank you so much.

We'll have more on the breaking news on the earthquake and the tsunami concerns in Japan right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:40:00]

FOSTER: Back to our breaking news, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake has hit western Japan, triggering a tsunami warning. The U.S. Geological Survey says there were multiple aftershocks in the area. The city of Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture has reported tsunami waves of around nearly four feet high, according to the Japanese public broadcaster, NHK.

Japanese officials are urging people to evacuate to higher ground as soon as they can. We'll bring you the latest updates on this breaking news as it comes in.

Now, Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott continues to send hundreds of migrants to cities run by Democrats. Officials say a plane carrying more than 350 asylum seekers arrived at an airport near Chicago on Sunday morning.

CNN's Camila Bernal has more on the migrant crisis in the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): 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.

MAYOR MIKE JOHNSTON (D-DENVER, CO): When you're talking about 10 percent of the budget to allocate for cities on this, that's unsustainable. When we have every single hotel room in the city full of migrants that have arrived, that's unsustainable.

BERNAL: For months, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has bused thousands of migrants to these cities led by Democrats, resulting in turmoil and straining resources.

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON (D-CHICAGO, IL): At one point in the summer, we had 25, 30 buses showing up every single day without any coordination or any notification. He is now sending buses outside of the city of Chicago, in some instances 100 miles away where people are being dropped off. They're 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.

BERNAL: Some smaller municipalities have passed ordinances to try to stop the drop-offs, while the mayors of Chicago, Denver and New York City are asking the federal government for help.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NEW YORK CITY, NY): I think much more could be done and with all of our national leaders, from a decompression strategy, to making sure the cost of this is not falling on the lapse of everyday taxpayers in our cities.

BERNAL: They are also demanding for coordinated drop offs with exact times and locations to dedicate the appropriate resources.

JOHNSTON: What we need is everyone that gets paroled into this country should have the ability to work as soon as they enter. 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.

BERNAL: In a statement, a spokesperson for Abbott accused the Democrat mayors of hypocrisy, saying they're 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 he continues refusing to do.

But some activists believe the crisis at the border takes Republicans, Democrats and all levels of government to solve.

PEDRO RIOS, AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE: And if the governments are not doing that, then most likely what we'll see is 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 that asylum seekers have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERNAL (on camera): And the Biden administration has acknowledged these requests from the mayor, saying that 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.

FOSTER: The U.S. Supreme Court's chief justice, John Roberts, spent much of his yearend report discussing how new technology has brought positive change to the federal court system.

[04:45:00]

But he also raised concerns about the increasing presence of artificial intelligence in the judicial system, warning the technology could risk, quote, dehumanizing the law.

In his report, Roberts avoided addressing how the court has been pushed into two disputes involving Donald Trump and other issues, including the court's new code of conduct.

A New Year means new laws officially going onto the books. Rafael Romo takes a look at a slew of new ones taking effect today.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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.

For example, in Idaho, physicians or practitioners who provide puberty blocking medication, gender-affirming surgeries or other 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 healthcare 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 1st, 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, of course, in response to near total bans in several Republican-led states that took effect in 2023.

In California, a law taking effect Monday protects local health care providers from out of state litigation over both abortion and gender affirming care to people from other states. When it comes to laws that are not as controversial, nearly half of all us 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 carry and concealed firearms in sensitive places. This is despite the federal judge's prior ruling that the law is, quote, 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, among others. A federal appeals court will allow the law to go into effect for now, while the court case continues.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

FOSTER: More on our breaking news on the earthquake and tsunami concerns in Japan right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:50:00]

FOSTER: Back to our breaking news this hour, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake has hit western Japan, leading to tsunami warnings and reports of tsunami waves already hitting the coast.

These images show some of the damage from the quake, which struck shortly after 4:00 P.M. local time on Monday afternoon. According to the U.S. Geological Survey and the Japan Meteorological Agency, the quake was relatively shallow, with a depth of six miles, or ten kilometers. Japan's government has advised people who are under tsunami warnings in coastal areas to seek higher ground.

Kyiv has declared today a national day of mourning as the death toll in Ukraine continues to grow from Friday's massive aerial assault by Russia. The number of people killed climbed to at least 52 on Sunday, with more than half of those deaths 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. And just hours into the New Year, a series of aerial strikes killed at least five people in Odessa and Russian-occupied Donetsk.

Meanwhile, Russian authorities now 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 Ukraine's frontlines to the growing diaspora, this year is beginning with both joy and defiance, though you hear it on the streets of its cities and from those whom the war is physically distant but emotionally ever present.

We have for you now a unique arrangement performed just for CNN by the songs for Ukraine Chorus made up of singers impacted by the war.

[04:55:00]

Isn't that wonderful? Thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster.

We'll be back with breaking coverage of what's happening in Japan right now. So, we've had the earthquake. It was shallow. It caused some tsunamis of about a meter high hitting the coast, a warning of a higher one coming in. We're not getting much information because of the power blackouts. The power stations, we were told earlier, being closed down as a precaution. So, we're getting new information in all the time. We'll bring it to you as soon as we get.

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[05:00:00]