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Investigators are looking at what caused an Amazon cargo plane to crash at Miami International Airport. Five people are dead and five others are injured after the plane over around the runway and smashed into multiple vehicles. I'm Leila Faldin, that's Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News. [MUSIC]
President Trump's envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Whitkov went to Kiev for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion. They arrived from Moscow and said they want peace talks to restart.
I think if we can achieve that, it would be an incredible thing.
Their presence brought a rare break from Russia attacks. And Germany's Far Right Party won by a landslide in a regional election. The AFD Party campaigned on nasty portations. Its win could open the door to Germany's first far-right local government since the Nazis.
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[MUSIC] This week on NewsMakers, after more than a decade in comedy. I wasn't sure that we would get here. Robbie Hoffman is fearless. I had a small feeling I wasn't sure.
And fully herself. My landlord. Hello? You can go out and wash.
Well, I'm not home now, I'm doing something.
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[MUSIC] Authorities in Florida are investing in a plane crash in Miami that killed five people on Sunday. An Amazon Prime cargo plane was landing at Miami International Airport around TPM Eastern. When it over ran the runway, crash and rammed into vehicles on the ground. Five people were injured as well.
It's not yet clear how many of the people killed or hurt were on board the plane or on the ground. Amazon says the plane was operated by 21 Air, a contract cargo carrier. NPR's, as it was funny, has been following the story. And she's with us now to tell us more about it. Good morning, I say. Hey, Michelle.
So investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board have started arriving in Miami,
“what are they going to be looking at to try to figure out what caused this crash?”
They'll be looking at everything from possible mechanical failure or tin environmental variables to flight crew performance. I spoke with Peter Gold's last night, he's the former managing director of the NTSB. He's now a transportation safety consultant. And he explained to me how this usually goes.
They listened to the concrete voice recorder to make sure that the pilots were following the checklist, were aware of the extinuating circumstances. They will look at the data recorder, which will tell them how fast the plane was going. When it touched down, what sort of breaking action was applied by the crew? Another detail investigators will likely examine our thunderstorms and winds
that were directly over the airport at the time of the crash. Whether conditions are often a reason to delay or avoid a landing, but it's still a little too early to tell if whether it was a key factor in this crash. Okay, and do I have this right? But it's usually a combination of factors that cause us plane crashes?
Yes, that's right, and that's a big reason why these investigations are so extensive and take so much time. It's typically a series of cascading factors that contribute to any crash.
“But how unusual is it for a plane to overrun the runway?”
Well, it's enough of a concern that for the last couple of decades, many airports, particularly those with shorter runways, have set up an engineered materials arresting system
or E-MAS, which is basically this crushable material placed at the end of a runway,
designed to help stop a plane that overruns the runway. These systems are not mandated by the FAA and Miami International Airport doesn't have that in place because the runways there are pretty long, which is why this crash at this particular airport is a bit curious. And this was an Amazon plane that was operated by a contract cargo carrier.
Could that figure into the investigation? Yeah, you know, this is something that also caught the attention of golds, the former anti-SB director, and he thinks investigators will examine that corporate relationship that put this plane in the air to see who was responsible for flight crew training, who was responsible for maintenance. So I think as this investigation goes on, that will be a space to watch.
And this crash happened on Labor Day weekend, which is one of the busiest travel periods, did it affect other flights? It certainly did on Sunday. All runways and taxiways at Miami International were closed
For several hours, it caused massive delays and cancellations, and that of co...
at the airport with passengers rebooking flights, which in some cases kept getting canceled. It's unclear how much of that will continue today, but the airport's website says two of the four runways are back open now. That is, and peres are as funny. I'll see you. Thank you. You're welcome.
President Trump's envoy's went to Ukraine's capital key for the first official visit during wartime. Jared Kushner and Steve Whitkoff came right from Moscow. They said they want peace talks
to restart. The visit did not produce a breakthrough, but it gave you crannies in key of reprieve
from near constant Russian attacks. Joining us now to talk about this is in P.S. Joanna Kekisos, who is in key to trying a good morning? Good morning, Michelle. So you were at the press conference with Kushner Whitkoff
“and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. What did they say?”
So all three men said the tops were substantive, and new ideas had been presented, but they didn't offer any details about these ideas even when reporters pressed them. Now the men were seated on this stage outside the ornate presidential palace in key wonder rainy and gray skies. Jared Kushner, who is Trump's sudden loss, said President Trump wants to end the war as soon as possible. A Ukrainian journalist asked, you know, could this happen? Is there really this winter?
And Kushner said he wants to try. I think if we can achieve that, it'd be an incredible thing. It doesn't mean that we will achieve it, but it's an effort that's very important to try. Zelensky looked really skeptical as Kushner said this, and he told reporters afterwards that he expects Russia to continue the war. And because Ukraine is facing another brutal winter, with more Russian air strikes on its energy grid expected, Zelensky says he is pushing for aid
that includes more air defense supplies. Do you know, can you just remind us of why peace talks have stalled? Yeah, well, you know, the White House, which is sponsored these talks, has been occupied with Iran since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February. However, a member of Ukraine's negotiating
came told me that the Ukrainians actually never stopped communicating with Trump's team and even occasionally
with Russian representatives. Did this help at all? Well, actually, no, not really, because the
“two sides remain so far apart on crucial issues. For example, consider the very sensitive issue of”
territory, Russia has pushed for Ukraine to give up land. It's still controls in exchange for a peace deal. A public opinion policy that most Ukrainians strongly oppose this. Now, Zelensky said he did discuss the territory issue with Kushner and Whitkoff. Actual news, those sides are a little bit more. And he's saying something this sensitive can only be handled by leaders and self Vladimir Putin with maybe Trump and the Europeans also involved. Well, what did this
is mean for Zelensky and for Ukrainians in general? Yeah, well, Michelle Furze, Zelensky,
the symbolism of just seeing Trump's employees in Kiev mattered. Remember, this is their first
ever wartime trip to Ukraine and they have visited Moscow several times. So the war has closed Ukrainian airspace. They travel to Kiev on a train dubbed the Peace Express. Whitkoff told everybody that he loved it. It reminded me of my days taking the train to see my grandmother down to Florida. And it was great. And what was also great, Zelensky said is that having Trump's most trusted representatives in Kiev meant Russia would not dare bomb the city. We saw it in just
Portugal, Navig, Croatia, and the system of Petro, Zelensky saying Kushner and Whitkoff visiting Kiev did so much more than any deep-read air defense system to protect the city. And he said, "Please, come more often so our people can live a little." That is in Kiev, Ukraine's capital. Joena, thank you. Joena, thank you. Joena, thank you. Joena, you're welcome. Far right regional government in the country, since Nazi Germany.
And Piaz, Esmi Nicholson is in Berlin with more on the Eskomeni Esmi. Good morning, Michelle. How did AFD pull this off? This is a question that Germany's rather shell-shocked ruling centre-right Christian Democratic Union party or the CDU is certainly asking itself the morning the vote took place in the small eastern state of Saxony, Unhardt. And the CDU
that got just 17% while the AFD more than doubled its share from the last election to 43%.
“I think the AFD can really thank its candidate, a man called Horish Ziegmund, the 35-year-old,”
is a former marketing man and salesman and it shows not least on TikTok where throughout the campaign.
He posted feel good videos and promised to quote, "bring back the good old Ge...
He stands out even within his own party, because he is uncharacteristically upbeat,
“but this does not make him moderate by any means. In fact, Germany's domestic intelligence”
classifies the AFD as extremist in Saxony Unhardt. And its platform there is the party's most radical. What else more about that? Like, what does this party want? And what would an AFD led regional government actually look like? Well, right at the top of the agenda is what the AFD calls its "remigration policy", which promises mass deportations. Last night, Ziegmund actually spelled out the policy in more detail to public broadcaster ARD.
Remi Grazion is familiar, it's not an absolute only Remi Grazion. He says here that "remigration is far more than just deportation and that it applies to
“anyone who does not contribute to society." He included here at Ukrainian refugees without jobs.”
The AFD also wants to segregate refugees and disabled children in schools and revamp the curriculum to focus on a more positive teaching of Germany's history. It is also promising to dismantle the region's public broadcaster. And all this, and more, is seen as the AFD's blueprint for the rest of Germany. So whether it's secure as an effort to govern or not,
what does last night's win mean for Germany as a whole? Well, first of all, if Ziegmund does
end up as state governor, he will be privy to foreign and domestic intelligence, which is a major concern, considering the AFD's rather cozy relations with Russia, and there is already talk
“of Germany's other 15 states preparing to meet separately. Politically, this is a disaster for”
Chancellor Friedrich Mats. He came to power vowing to halve the number of AFD voters, but last night his conservatives halved their own voter share. So Mats is now under extreme pressure. Finally, beyond Germany, President Donald Trump posted the results on truth social, which the Kremlin has reposted, calling it an historic win. There it is, and please ask me, Nicholson in Berlin. As me, thank you. Thank you, Michelle. This week on a Sunday Story, we have new developments in
sunscreen research. You cannot sunscreen to protect your skin, but that SPF rating on the bottle might not be exactly as advertised. We know from, you know, various different studies and reports that there's like this issue of inconsistent testing. So you can measure an SPF 50 at one lab,
an SPF 30 at another. On a Sunday Story from up first, why sunscreen guidance might be changing.
Listen, now on the MPR app. And that's up first for Monday, September 7th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Leila Faldin. Today's episode of up first was edited by Miguel Mcc. Tina Crya, Mohamed at Bertesean, and let's say Toddy. It was produced by Ziyad Bunch and Julie Deppenbrock. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hynes and Robert Rodriguez. And our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.
[Music] Billionaire Mark Cuban has stared into the belly of the beast of America's health care system. I mean, it's so bad you can go through a long list of really quality hospitals and they don't know their costs. So, can Medicare for all be a solution? We take a hard look at the cost of the program along with U.S. health care itself. Find this and hear more stories from the indicator from
Planet Money on the NPR app. This is Terry Gross, host of fresh air. I interviewed feminist icon Gloria Steinem several times over the years and we've compiled a special episode to celebrate her life and legacy. Women become ourselves after 50. We drop a lot of baggage and really become much more at true selves. Find it on the NPR app or wherever you listen to fresh air.
