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Runway Collision in Tokyo; Hamas Deputy Leader Assassinated; Trump Challenges Ballot Removal; Harvard President Resigns; Death Toll Rises to 62 as Rescuers Search for Earthquake Survivors in Japan. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired January 03, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Coming up this hour here on CNN, how all on board this Japanese airliner survived a fiery runway collision with another plane at a busy airport in Tokyo. Payback for a massacre. Israel assassinates the deputy political leader of Hamas and warns others will be next. And 500 Russian airstrikes in just days leaves Ukraine pleading for international help.

Almost 24 hours after a fiery collision at an airport in Tokyo, investigators are trying to piece together how two planes, one a small Coast Guard turboprop, the other a commercial airliner, ended up on the same runway. New images shows the burnt-out wreckage of the Japan Airlines Airbus A350. Incredibly, all 367 passengers and 12 crew on board escaped, a few suffering minor injuries. But five crew members on the Coast Guard plane were killed in the collision. A Coast Guard captain is in a critical condition. Japan Airlines has released audio from the cockpit crew, reading back clearance for landing instructions from the tower.

French authorities and advisers from Airbus will be joining the investigation. The Coast Guard plane was part of relief efforts after Monday's earthquake was set to deliver supplies to the quake zone. More details now from CNN's senior international correspondent, Will Ripley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Japan Airlines jet touches down in Tokyo. The cabin calmed until passengers look out the windows. We saw fire coming out of the engines, and I found it strange, Satoshi Yamake (ph) tells CNN. Within seconds, black smoke billowing through the aircraft. The Airbus A350-900, packed with nearly 400 passengers and crew, including parents with young children. He says some passengers were scared, especially the kids and women. The scene outside, even scarier. People on other planes captured the chaos.

GUY MAESTRE, EYEWITNESS: And just as we were starting to just pick up some speed, we heard that big bang, and I turned, and I saw that flame that was making a trace, and then we saw the flame that was inflamed.

RIPLEY (voice-over): The runway's full for a Tuesday evening. Haneda Airport, in the heart of Tokyo, handling extra holiday traffic, and a Japan Coast Guard plane, with six crew members carrying badly needed relief to parts of Japan jolted by a massive 7.5 magnitude earthquake. The quake causing widespread destruction, dozens of deaths just hours into the new year. Japan's transportation minister says the two planes collided on the runway. runway. The Coast Guard captain badly hurt. Five other crew members killed.

A very different outcome for the Japan Airlines jet. With just seconds to spare, 12 crew members safely evacuated, all 367 passengers, including eight children under the age of two. Only a handful had to go to the hospital. Everyone walked away as flames fully engulfed the plane. For a nation obsessed with transportation safety, one question, how could the new year begin like this?

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VAUSE: Richard Quest is with us now for more on this runway incursion. Richard is host of Quest Means Business, as well as an aviation expert. It's good to see you. Thanks for being with us.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Thank you very much.

Okay, so we'll begin with the evacuation of the Japanese Airlines Airbus. Here's how two passengers described what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARUTO IWAMA, PASSENGER (through translator): At landing, I felt strong shaking, and when I looked at the window, I saw sparks flying and burning. And when the plane stopped in less than one minute, the cabin was full of smoke.

TSUBASA SAWADA, PASSENGER: I heard an explosion about ten minutes after we all got off the plane. We would have been in trouble if we had left even a little late.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: There's been a lot of praise for the cabin crew for a very fast, very orderly evacuation. But as Bloomberg reported, to gain certification, modern aircraft need to be able to completely evacuate in no more than 90 seconds, using only half the number of their available emergency slides. I don't want to play it down, but at the end of the day, it seems the cabin crew did what they were trained to do, and they did their job. They just did it very well, right?

QUEST: Oh, I think that's mealy-mouthed, if I may, John, because I think that the ability to get several hundred people to move in an orderly fashion and remember, in this case, I'm not sure exactly how many, but certainly, they did not use all the doors on the 350. They were told not to open the rear doors for the evacuation, because there may have been flames coming from the engines going backwards. So quite often, you only use the front doors on the aircraft, and that's what they did.

But I've done these exercises. I mean, if you look at the -- there's the -- there's the famous A380 exercise where you see everybody standing ready to jump off the plane. I've actually done one of these exercises and the flight crew or the cabin crew sit there. And as soon as you're ready to evacuate the aircraft, they shout, come forward, come forward, stay down, stay down, come forward, keep moving. I mean, it's a real shout, sometimes with a megaphone right the way down the aircraft.

And what you're aiming to do, of course, is stop people from picking up, never mind their passport. I mean, some people take it, although you shouldn't have your shoes off at landing, should always be wearing your shoes at landing. And it's quite an achievement to get it done in an orderly fashion when people are on the verge of panic and the flight and the crew themselves are frightened.

Meantime, this investigation now it's underway in how this actually happened. It's focusing in part on human error, possibly caused by. Miscommunication between either the airliner and the tower or the Coast Guard plane and the tower. Japan Airlines issued this statement. According to interviews with the operating crew, they acknowledged and repeated the landing permission from air traffic control and then proceeded with the approach and landing procedures. To be fair, the investigation has only just started. But is it too early to make what seems to be a very obvious assumption here?

QUEST: Which is what?

VAUSE: Basically, it was the Coast Guard plane, the Dash 8, which either did not receive the instructions. Or did not hear the instructions correctly. And that's where the human error originated from.

QUEST: Oh, I most certainly would not make that assumption. Absolutely not. You're talking about -- you've got one piece of the jigsaw, John. You've got the piece of the jigsaw of ATC telling the aircraft, telling the 350 to take to the runway. You're cleared to land. But what will you do if a piece of tape comes up that shows the Dash 8 told to take the runway and prepare to take off and hold? Prepare for takeoff. Or some version thereof where the Dash has misheard or the air traffic controller has given a mishear. Look, we know the fault lies at that end of the runway. We now know that the 350 was given permission to land. But had the Dash also been permissioned to position and hold? And that's what we don't know.

VAUSE: Well, the incident is known as a runway incursion, which the FAA defines as the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. You can split hairs over this, but that's essentially what we're talking about here right now.

And it seems that they're happening with increasing frequency in the United States. The Wall Street Journal reported last May about a spate of runway near misses casting shadows over summer travel. Senior aviation officials were so concerned in the U.S. they met last year to discuss a string of serious incidents at airports across the country. So it seems that air travel is now at this point where the skies have never actually been safer. But once you're on the ground, that's when you're most at risk.

QUEST: Absolutely. And for good reason. The planes are closer to each other. You have a large number of aircraft.

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If you go on flight radar or you go to any of those apps and look at the sheer number of aircraft that are all moving at the same time, very slowly in most cases, but then you get to these long strips, the runways, which if you transgress or incur into them, if there's an incursion, the potential, as you see tonight, is extreme for disaster.

But in the air, they are miles apart from each other. Aircraft separation, it's all to do with vortexes and number of miles between heavies and lights and all sorts of things. It's very well documented. But on the ground, they get a lot closer. They get literally nose to tail as they're working their way towards runways. And it only requires one mistake. Either through language mistranslation, misunderstanding -- I don't think so necessarily in this case because that's going to be an issue because everybody was speaking Japanese or at least understood Japanese. But there is no question. On the ground has huge potential for grave incidents at the moment. Yes.

VAUSE: Richard, as always, great to have you with us. Thank you. Appreciate your time. Happy New Year. Thank you, sir.

The deputy political leader of Hamas has been killed in an explosion in southern Beirut. The U.S. official confirmed to CNN Israel is behind the assassination. Salah al-Arouri, it was wanted by both Israel and the United States. Lebanese media reported an office belonging to Hamas was targeted and other Hamas military leaders were killed in the blast. Here's how an Israeli government spokesperson initially described the targeted killing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Israel has not taken responsibility for this attack. But whoever did it, it must be clear that this was not an attack on the Lebanese state. It was not an attack even on Hezbollah, the terrorist organization, whoever did this did a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Al-Arouri is the most senior Hamas political leader killed by Israel since the October 7 terror attacks. He's considered the mastermind of arming the group's military wing, known as the Al-Qassam Brigades. His assassination has sparked condemnation from key Hamas allies like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran, and Houthis in Yemen. Crowds of Palestinians also took to the streets to protest in the West Bank. The U.S. Treasury designated Salah al-Arouri as a terrorist back in

2015, offered a $5 million reward for information, but there's no word yet on whether the reward will be paid and who might get it. More now from Elliott Gotkine, picking up the story from Tel Aviv.

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ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: After October the 7th, Israel said that it would target Hamas leaders wherever they are. So, if it did kill Salah al-Arouri, then it would have simply been making good on its threats. Now, Israel's official line is no comment, resorting to its oft-used tactic of strategic ambiguity. But Danny Danon, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, may have given the game away.

He wrote on X, formerly Twitter, I congratulate the IDF, the Shin Bet, the Mossad and the security services for the targeted killing of Hamas leader Salah al-Arouri in Beirut. Everyone involved in the massacre of October the 7th needs to know that we will get them and close accounts with them.

Now, the IDF itself says that it is in a state of high alert. It may have been calculating, if it did it, that by taking out a Hamas leader in Beirut rather than a Hezbollah leader, that the Iranian-backed militia that has been skirmishing with Israel on the northern border may not see this as a cause for escalation. And that the war that isn't a war that's been ongoing on the northern border between Israel and Lebanon will continue in its current state and won't turn into all-out war. Elliott Gotkine, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Russian airstrikes on Ukraine have dramatically increased in recent days, according to the Ukrainian president. Russia launched at least 500 missiles and drones in the past five days, including a massive bombardment of Kyiv and Kharkiv on Tuesday. That attack lasted for hours, killing at least five people, wounding 130 others. Ukraine's top general also adds a record number of Kinzhal (ph) ballistic missiles have been fired as well. He says it proves how essential Western air defenses are at the moment. Ukraine pleading for more and warning there's no reason to believe Russia will slow down the attacks anytime soon. More now from Nic Robertson.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Ukrainians on the receiving end of another massive missile salvo from Russia. The new year beginning just as the last one ended, facing ferocious attacks, not on the front lines, but hitting civilians in cities.

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Olena, a retired figure skating coach, describes her near miss. The house rocked. The TV went out. There was a violent rumble, she says. It was scary. I didn't know what to do. The fourth floor was on fire. Anna, who also had a near miss, both angry and lucky. It was hell. It was real hell. It was a direct hit with a Kinzhal (ph) in the yard, she says, right between the blocks of the building. It was just a complete shock. There are no military facilities around here. The capital, Kiev, like last year, Putin's target of choice.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Almost 100 missiles of various types. At least 70 missiles. Almost 60 of them were shot down in the Kiev area. Kharkiv was also hit hard.

ROBERTSON: In a rare and exclusive interview, the country's top general telling CNN civilians will die without continued Western support.

GEN. VALERIY ZALUZHNIY, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE: The Air Force of Ukraine shot down all 10 Russian Kinzhal missiles using Patriot surface-to-air missiles. This is a record. If these Kinzhals had reached their targets, the consequences would have been catastrophic.

ROBERTSON: The hypersonic Kinzhal missile, one of Russia's fastest and potentially Ukrainian civilians' biggest threat.

ZALUZHNIY: There is no reason to believe that the enemy will stop there. That is why we need more systems and ammunition for them.

ROBERTSON: The northeastern city of Kharkiv, also bearing the brunt of Putin's New Year's Day promise to escalate strikes. Civilians, the casualties, despite Putin's claims to be targeting only military installations.

UNKNOWN (through translator): As of now, there are 44 wounded, all civilians. One local resident died as a result of the strike on this location. There were three attacked areas in the city center.

ROBERTSON: The death toll climbing not long after he spoke. 2024, already on the same track as 2023. Pain and suffering in unwelcome abundance. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joining me now is Matthew Schmidt, associate professor of national security at the University of New Haven. Before that, he was professor of strategic and operational planning at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Happy New Year. Welcome back.

MATTHEW SCHMIDT, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF NATIONAL SECURITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN: Happy New Year. It's good to be here.

VAUSE: Okay, so I want you to listen to the Ukrainian president describing the past few days of these sustained Russian airstrikes. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): This is absolutely conscious terror. In just a few days, from December 29th till today, Russia has already used almost 300 missiles and more than 200 drones against Ukraine. No other country so far has repelled similar attacks by combined drones and missiles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Clearly, this is not the new year Ukraine was hoping for. It would seem Russia spent the past few months rebuilding depleted stockpiles of missiles and drones, while at the same time, without U.S. funding. Will it be long before this new reality begins to shift the front lines in the East?

SCHMIDT: I don't think so. The loss of air defense for Ukraine is catastrophic. Their ability to create air defense took some time. If you go back to 2022, and it was critical to allowing them to defend Kyiv, for instance. If they can't defend Kyiv from Russian air attacks, Russia is quite capable then of coming back in and fixing the mistakes they made in 2022 to try to take the city.

VAUSE: So even though Ukraine has not been in the headlines for the past few months, we should note the war has continued. So, here's a reminder of what Ukrainians have been living with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (through translator): We were under fire the whole night. First there were shell heads, then we fell asleep for a second and were woken up by explosions. Hearing that missiles are in the air, me and my child hid in the corridor. We were very scared.

UNKNOWN (through translator): Something fell and there was a strong explosion. The windows were blown out and flew around the flat. Oh God, what a horror this is. Just think about it. Why is this happening?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: There are a lot of reasons why it is happening, but at this moment, is this happening because Republicans in the U.S. Congress are letting it happen by playing politics and blocking billions of dollars in U.S. military assistance?

SCHMIDT: Yes, I think that they are culpable. I think that Russia's analytical services have looked out and they've said there is a wedge in the American political establishment that we can drive. We can cut off aid to Ukraine in this area. We can launch large attacks in order to absorb existing Ukrainian air defense ammunition. And we can create this kind of pressure, this kind of pain and terror in the Ukrainian population. I think that's exactly what they're doing.

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VAUSE: So hypothetically speaking, if Congress was to return in a couple of weeks, maybe a month or so, and that Ukraine funding bill actually eventually gets passed, all the wheels and deals are done, there's an agreement there between the Republicans and Democrats, how much progress would have been lost over that period of time? Will it be possible to sort of go back and get it? But at what cost?

SCHMIDT: I think that they could probably get most of the air defense ammunition into the country within a week or two. It's already pre- positioned in Europe, and it's there on the expectation the money was going to be appropriated back in December. So, I think you could make up a lot of the ground if Congress acts.

VAUSE: That's the key, though, right?

SCHMIDT: Yeah.

VAUSE: So Ukraine's foreign minister tweeted out a plea for help on X, calling for long-range missiles, combat drones, air defense systems. And he added this, the terrorist regime in Moscow must realize that the international community will not turn a blind eye to the murder of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. The reality, though, seems to be the exact opposite. Moscow realized that the world, not just the United States, seems more than willing than ever to turn a blind eye. And that's why Putin has escalated. And it seems that's why he's escalated these strikes, right?

SCHMIDT: Yeah, of course, you know, the war in Israel-Palestine has sucked a lot of the oxygen out of the discussion over Ukraine. And I think that Putin, again, is looking at that. He's looking at the American political situation. He sees an opportunity to have his military force have greater political effect on Ukraine. This is going to be an absolutely critical year. I think the next storyhe next story here is the potential mobilization that Ukraine is looking at. It's massive, and it indicates that this is going to be a longer war and that Ukraine faces a lot more suffering.

VAUSE: And they've already suffered enough. Matthew, thanks for being with us. Matthew Schmidt there. Appreciate your time, sir.

SCHMIDT: My pleasure.

VAUSE: In a moment, Donald Trump pushing back after Maine moved to keep him off the upcoming primary ballots. We'll have details on the legal challenges that are coming. That's ahead here on CNN. Also, Harvard University. He's on the lookout for a new president. We'll break down how a firestorm of controversy led to its current president announcing a resignation.

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VAUSE: Four times indicted, twice impeached, one-term U.S. President Donald Trump is asking a Maine court to overturn a decision removing him from the state's 2024 primary ballot. Maine's Secretary of State said last week she was legally obliged to remove Trump from the ballot over his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, citing the same reason Colorado gave for removing him from its ballot. CNN's Paul Reid has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: In their filing late Tuesday, the Trump team attacking Maine's Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows. She is a Democrat, but it's Maine's policy that the first stop for questions about whether someone is eligible to appear on the ballot go to the Secretary of State. But in their filing tonight, Trump's lawyers insist that she was, quote, a biased decision maker who should have accused herself, had no legal authority, made multiple errors of law, and acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

Her decision was based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Now, this particular piece of the Constitution and who should enforce it, this has been litigated across multiple states over the past several months, and we've seen differing outcomes. Now, most of the states, except for Colorado and Maine, have opted to keep Trump on the ballot. But those states mostly did so based on procedural grounds. They didn't get into the merits of the argument.

[00:24:59]

But that leaves the door open for this to continue to be litigated through the 2024 election. And we're also still waiting for Trump to file his appeal on the Colorado decision. That appeal is expected to go to the Supreme Court. The Republican Party of Colorado has already filed an appeal there, but it is expected that Trump will also appeal that decision. And what's clear is the Supreme Court just has to weigh in here, give some clarity on who the Section 3 of the 14th Amendment applies to, who is supposed to enforce it. And there is a desire by many parties and states to have some clarity on this before Super Tuesday. Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Gold bars and Grand Prix tickets, among the gifts U.S. Senator Bob Menendez allegedly received from Qatar, an alleged co-conspirator, as part of a years-long corruption scheme. The accusations are part of an indictment made public Tuesday. Qatar is the second foreign country, along with Egypt, that the New Jersey Democrat is accused of helping while in office. Menendez sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, vigorously denied any wrongdoing. His attorney says the senator acted entirely appropriately at all times.

Harvard University President Claudine Gay is resigning from her position just six months into her tenure, the shortest in Harvard history. This comes after weeks of controversy involving a plagiarism scandal, as well as her testimony on Capitol Hill about anti-Semitism on campus. CNN's Miguel Marquez has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, SENIOR U.S NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A second Ivy League president out in less than a month. Harvard University President Claudine Gay's tenure, just six months long, was mired in controversy.

The weight of multiple allegations of plagiarism following a poor performance in a Capitol Hill hearing about anti-Semitism, resulting in her resignation. In a letter to the Harvard community, Gay wrote that her exit came with a heavy heart. It has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual.

Harvard announced that Alan M. Garber, who currently serves as provost at the university, will step in as interim president while acknowledging Gay's commitment to the school. It is with that overarching consideration in mind that we have accepted Gay's resignation, the Harvard leadership wrote, adding, we do so with sorrow. Conservative media had been unearthing multiple examples of plagiarism in Gay's past works, including an entire paragraph being lifted almost verbatim in her 1997 PhD dissertation without citation.

After she, along with the presidents of UPenn and MIT, gave an answer that was widely considered too legal in a December 5th congressional hearing about anti-Semitism on campus.

UNKNOWN: So the answer is yes, that calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard code of conduct, correct?

UNKNOWN: Again, it depends on the context.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Fallout from the hearing also resulted in the resignation of UPenn's president, Liz McGill. House Republican caucus leader Elise Stefanik wasting no time responding to the decision.

ELISE STEFANIK, HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS LEADER: As a Harvard graduate myself, we have seen a failure of leadership from Claudine Gay, a failure of moral leadership. This accountability would not have happened were it not for that congressional hearing.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Stefanik underscoring that her investigation will continue.

JACOB MILLER, HARVARD HILLEL PRESIDENT: Only when it comes to anti- Semitic hate speech that, you know, the school tolerates it and gives these kind of lawyerly equivocal answers. And so I think this is kind of the bigger issue that we've got to deal with.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Gay's tenure as president was the shortest in Harvard's nearly 400-year history. She was also the school's first black president and only the second woman at the helm. In her resignation note, she wrote that it has been frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus.

MARQUEZ : Now, Dr. Gay will remain a member of the Harvard faculty and the school says it will begin a search for a new president in due course. And some conservatives on Capitol Hill say they will now start looking at MIT's president, who was also at that congressional hearing, as well as leadership and faculty at other universities that they consider too woke. And some African-American leaders now saying that all of this has the stink of racial bias in the way this was handled at Harvard and say that they will begin protesting some of those donors who targeted Claudine Gay. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, another night in evacuation centers

for thousands in Japan and the search for survivors goes on. After Monday's powerful earthquake, the very latest in a moment.

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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

We have more now on our top story this hour. Japan Airlines has released audio from the cockpit of the passenger jet, as it was cleared for landing at a Tokyo airport. Just moments later came a collision with a Coast Guard turboprop on the same runway.

All the passengers and the crew on the commercial airliner escaped, some suffering just minor injuries. But five Coast Guard crew members on the smaller plane died in the collision.

Video from inside the passenger jet shows smoke filling the cabin just after landing. The in-flight announcement system had malfunctioned. Crewmembers were using megaphones to issue evacuation orders.

CNN's Marc Stewart following these developments from Seoul. He's with us now live.

So Marc, clearly, you know, for many, this was a crew doing what they had to do. They were trained for it. This was their job: get everyone out in 90 seconds. But still, it's pretty amazing they got everyone out so quickly.

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, if you talk to flight attendants, they will tell you, the reason why their training is so rigorous is that, in the -- in the event of an emergency, such as this, there is no hesitation what to do. It's all instinct; it's all second nature. And that includes the malfunction of the announcement system, as we saw yesterday.

So, a lot of praise is being given to the cabin crew.

We are also hearing from Japan Airlines, in a statement, about inside, about what was happening inside the cockpit at the time of this crash.

Moments before, Japan Airlines confirms that its flight deck crew received authorization to make this landing, and that the crew confirmed it. They've verbally repeated those instructions back to air traffic control.

So, that likely may be a big part of this investigation.

And as we look at this investigation on a broader scale, Japan's transportation authority right now will be taking the lead, and among those participating will not only be Japan Airlines, but also the French Aviation Authority. This involved an Airbus A-350 aircraft. It's manufactured by Airbus, a European manufacturer. So they will be sending a team from Paris to Tokyo to help with -- to help with this investigation, as they try to establish a timeline of exactly what happened and where this shortfall took place that allowed for this jumbo jet to -- to touch this much smaller Coast Guard aircraft.

In addition, we keep hearing stories of survival from those on board. We heard from one person who said they had heard a bang at the time of this landing. Yet another passenger, initially, had no indication that anything was wrong at all.

[00:35:10]

As far as operations today at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, John, not a surprise, there are some cancellations taking place, likely some delays, as, one, investigators try to figure out what happened by looking at the wreckage on the runway and the, two, obviously, eventually, they're going to need to clear that apart so that runway, John, is able to be used once again.

VAUSE: Marc, thank you. Marc Stewart with the very latest there in Seoul. Appreciate it, thank you.

We have new details on the devastating earthquake which hit Japan's West coast on New Year's Day. Officials say the death toll has risen to 62. Rescuers are working in freezing temperatures right now to reach hard-hit areas, where many are still feared trapped under the debris of collapsed buildings.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been more than a day since the powerful quake. But for Minae and her mother, the impact still very fresh.

MINAE AKIYAMA, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): Thinking about it now still makes me tremble. My heart was pounding. My mind went blank. We just scrambled, things like our wallets, and ran outside.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Minae was visiting her family for New Year's, when the quake struck. Her mother's house now unlivable because of the powerful impact.

The pair, luckily, able to escape unharmed. But with the constant aftershocks, they're still far from safe.

AKIYAMA (through translator): I feel like even now the building is shaking. Whenever an aftershock happens, I think of the main quake, and my body trembles.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): But it's not just the tremors people here have to worry about. Other than a roof, there's little else. MONTGOMERY: There is no heating right now, so people are sleeping on

mats. They're using thick blankets to stay warm. There's also no running water, so the Japanese Self-Defense Forces are just outside this building, handing out water to locals.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): This water, a lifeline for dozens here and thousands across the region, left without supply or simply without homes after Monday's powerful quake. The devastation difficult to comprehend at night but clearly visible from the sky.

In Wajima, the shock flipping multi-story buildings on their side, and razing entire blocks to the ground. Tsunami waves forcing large vessels onto the shore and fires adding to the destruction.

Amid it all, authorities desperately searching for the dozens still trapped beneath the rubble.

YOSHIMASA HAYASHI, JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY (through translator): Prime Minister Kishida instructed us to once again put lives first, understand the situation of the damages, and make an utmost effort to save people in emergency rescue operations.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Urgent efforts slowed down by the devastating impact, the quake destroying access to the most impacted zones and making these already remote areas nearly impossible to reach.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Nanao.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Still to come, from Steamboat Willie to murdering mouse. A live-action horror film reimagines Disney's beloved mascot, Mickey, like you've never seen him before, and it's perfectly legal.

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[00:41:04]

VAUSE: How do you start a social media company worth just a few billion dollars? Start with a big one.

Fourteen months after Elon Musk purchased Twitter, the company, now known as X, has lost 71 percent of its value, according to the investment firm Fidelity, which valued its current stake in X at just under $5.6 million, a sharp drop from the 19.6 million Fidelity said it was worth when Musk took over Twitter, October 2022.

It's part of a long-running trend for X, which has seen its estimated value plummet with each new crisis the company has faced, most of which have been created and driven by Elon himself.

For the past 95 years, Steamboat Willie, the iconic Disney cartoon on which the entire House of Mouse was built, has been protected by stringent copyright laws.

But on New Year's Day, copyright protection expired, and this is a reminder of our beloved rodent as he was.

But now comes Mickey Mouse like you've never seen before. To be fair, it's open season only on the very first version of Mickey, the one that looks like a rat. So the world's most famous rodent is already set to star in a horror movie, called "Mickey [SIC] Mouse Trap."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

GRAPHIC: A place for friends. A place for hunting. The mouse is out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The mouse is loose.

With Steamboat Willie now in public domain, copyright laws do not apply, so legally, there's nothing Disney can do.

A second Steamboat Willie horror film has been announced. Production will start in just a few months.

Can't wait.

I'm John Vause, back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after the break.

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