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--:-- Michelle Martin: Welcome to Up First from NPR News. I'm Michelle Martin.
--:-- A Martinez: And I'm A Martinez.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Ukrainian officials say Russia launched its largest airstrikes since the start of the conflict. Sunday's attack killed 12 people and happened only hours prior to a prisoner exchange. What's it mean for potential ceasefire talks?
--:-- A Martinez: That's right. We'll get into that in a moment. But first, let's talk about Memorial Day. It's considered the unofficial start of summer and the summer travel season. Millions will take to the roads and skies this holiday weekend. But a deadly air collision in D.C. in January and reports of air traffic control outages have raised safety concerns.
--:-- Michelle Martin: What should you know before you go?
--:-- A Martinez: And the summer wildfire season is here. Forecasts predict an above normal fire risk in some parts of the country. It cuts to the U.S. Forest Service, makes fighting fires harder.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.
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--:-- President Fernando Madeira: For me, sometimes I just need to go and talk to somebody that is not going to judge me, right? Is going to be there and going to listen to me. And I can start just saying, look, I'm not feeling right today. And it feels natural. I love it.
--:-- Michelle Martin: To get matched with a therapist, visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
--:-- A Martinez: This message comes from NPR sponsor Adobe. Introducing the all-new Adobe Acrobat Studio, now with AI-powered PDF spaces.
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--:-- A Martinez: Learn more at adobe.com slash do that with Acrobat.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Russia has launched massive drone and missile assaults on Ukrainian cities over the weekend. The attacks happened over the past three nights, even as the two countries carried out the largest prisoner exchange since Russia's full-scale invasion began more than three years ago.
--:-- A Martinez: President Trump criticized the strikes while also repeating his claim that this war would have never started under his watch.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Joining us to talk about all this is NPR's Joanna Kakissis, who's in Kiev.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: Good morning, Michelle. So let's start with Russia's latest drone and missile strikes. What can you tell us?
--:-- Michelle Martin: So Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities over the past three days. And these attacks have killed at least a dozen people, including children, and injured many more and also destroyed homes. And so here in Kiev, we consider ourselves lucky if after all that we are only sleep deprived.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: Here's what woke me up last night. That's the sound of Ukraine's air defenses shooting down drones buzzing over our neighborhood.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Joanna, I've been hearing you report on these attacks just about every day, and they seem to be escalating. So why has Russia intensified its attacks in recent weeks?
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: So, Michelle, we don't really have a clear answer, but this all happened after the Trump administration brokered a 30-day ceasefire proposal in March. Ukraine agreed to it, but Russia refused unless the West stopped sending weapons to Ukraine.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And now last month, Russian missiles hit near a playground in one Ukrainian city and the crowded downtown of another city, killing 53 civilians in all, including several children.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: After this weekend's attacks, President Trump criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin on social media, saying Putin had, quote, gone absolutely crazy. But Trump also slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and former President Biden and insisted they were also to blame for the war.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So considering all this, have the diplomatic efforts to end the war made any headway at all?
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: In terms of ending the war, no. As I said, Russia has not even agreed to a ceasefire, even after talks between Ukraine and Russia and Istanbul. A couple of weeks ago.
--:-- Michelle Martin: The only breakthrough out of those talks was an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war from each country, an exchange which took place this weekend.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: And you were there for this latest prisoner exchange. Tell us about that. What kind of condition were the Ukrainians in?
--:-- Michelle Martin: So, Michelle, they all looked sickly and gaunt. Their clothes were just hanging off them. Their heads were shaved. We don't know yet what these soldiers endured in Russian captivity, but other Ukrainians imprisoned by Russia have described horrific conditions.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: They were starved, beaten, and tortured.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And what was the scene as these soldiers came home?
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: Well, it was incredibly moving and also heartbreaking. Families were gathered in this leafy courtyard in northern Ukraine, waiting to see if their loved ones would be among the soldiers getting off these chartered buses.
--:-- Michelle Martin: 18-year-old Milena Moroz held a photo of her father, who has been missing since February, and she broke down when we talked.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: She's saying, I wish I'd told them, I love you, dad.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So when the buses carrying the soldiers arrived, the families rushed to hug them as they walked out.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: One young soldier, Anton Kobylnik, told us he'd been in captivity for three years.
--:-- Michelle Martin: He's saying, I won't really feel like I'm at home until I see my mom.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: We only saw a handful of these reunions. However, Michelle, most family members were left waiting in tears, including 18-year-old Milena Moroz. Her father is still missing.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Oh, that's so tragic.
--:-- Joanna Kakissis: That's NPR's Joanna Kakissis.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Thanks, Joanna.
--:-- A Martinez: The summer travel season is underway with millions of Americans on the move over the long holiday weekend. But there are also some big questions about the summer travel season, including whether the nation's fragile air traffic control system can handle the surge.
--:-- Michelle Martin: NPR's Joel Rose covers transportation. So, Joel, what kind of numbers are we expecting from this Memorial Day weekend?
--:-- Joel Rose: Big ones. The forecast from AAA is that we will see a record this holiday weekend with 45 million Americans traveling at least 50 miles from home. That is expected to break a record that has stood for 20 years.
--:-- A Martinez: And it's mostly because of a record number of Americans driving this weekend.
--:-- Joel Rose: Drivers will find gas prices at their lowest levels on Memorial Day since 2021, according to GasBuddy.
--:-- A Martinez: Air travel is not quite expected to break the all-time record, but it is still forecast to be up about 12% compared to the levels before the COVID pandemic, according to AAA.
--:-- Joel Rose: So the demand for holiday travel this weekend is definitely there.
--:-- A Martinez: You know, Joel, summer and airline travel go hand in hand. So what's the outlook for the skies?
--:-- Joel Rose: Airlines went into this year very optimistic about 2025, and they were expecting strong demand. But a lot of things have happened to cut into that optimism.
--:-- A Martinez: The forecasts for international travel have softened because of political tensions between the U.S. and other countries.
--:-- Joel Rose: There's a lot of concern that travel from Canada and Europe to the U.S. will be down this summer.
--:-- A Martinez: Also, we have seen some very high-profile problems in the aviation system itself.
--:-- Joel Rose: You had the midair collision at Washington Reagan National Airport in January between a regional jet and a military helicopter.
--:-- A Martinez: And a few weeks later there was a hard landing in Toronto where another regional jet flipped over on the runway.
--:-- Joel Rose: And in recent weeks we have seen hundreds of flights canceled or delayed or diverted around Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey outside New York City because of several radar and communication outages in the facility that manages that airspace.
--:-- A Martinez: Also, there's a shortage of air traffic controllers in Newark and really across the whole country.
--:-- Joel Rose: And all of this is creating a lot of uncertainty around air travel this summer.
--:-- A Martinez: So speaking of Newark, what's new there?
--:-- Joel Rose: The FAA has now capped the number of flights in and out at Newark at a level that the agency says is more in line with what air traffic control can handle.
--:-- A Martinez: The FAA says it's working to install new fiber optic lines and adding new backup systems to help with the technical problems in Newark.
--:-- Joel Rose: The FAA says it's also trying to speed up hiring and training of new air traffic controllers.
--:-- A Martinez: But the reality is that it takes years to train them to work in complex and congested airspace.
--:-- Joel Rose: And the system nationwide is more than 3,000 controllers short.
--:-- A Martinez: So is Newark Airport ready for the summer travel season? I mean, what's going on?
--:-- Joel Rose: Federal regulators and aviation industry experts say it is safe to fly through Newark.
--:-- A Martinez: And so does United Airlines.
--:-- Joel Rose: And this is a very big deal for United because Newark is a major hub. In particular, it is United's biggest international hub in the country.
--:-- A Martinez: So United says it has seen some customers trying to avoid Newark, rebooking to other airports in the New York area and to other airlines.
--:-- Joel Rose: But United says it's optimistic that these new limits on the number of flights should reduce delays this summer.
--:-- A Martinez: Now, anything else travelers need to know about?
--:-- Joel Rose: This is the first Memorial Day since the real ID requirement took effect.
--:-- A Martinez: Officially, that means you cannot just show up with a standard driver's license or state ID at airport security.
--:-- Joel Rose: In practice, TSA is still allowing people without a real ID to travel, but they say you may experience delays and have to go through some additional screening if you don't have the updated real ID.
--:-- A Martinez: Joel Rose covers transportation for NPR. Thanks, Joel.
--:-- Joel Rose: You're welcome.
--:-- A Martinez: The summer fire season has already kicked off with some significant fires in the Midwest and Arizona. The latest wildfire forecast from the federal government is predicting above normal fire potential in much of the West and some southeastern states.
--:-- Michelle Martin: There's heightened concern this year because the Trump administration has been cutting staff at the U.S. Forest Service, the nation's lead wildland firefighting agency.
--:-- A Martinez: Watching all of this closely is Ryan Heinches, the news director at KNAU in Flagstaff, Arizona.
--:-- Ryan Heinches: Yeah, this was a big one. More than 20,000 acres in the rural White Mountains of eastern Arizona. At its height, more than 700 personnel were fighting it.
--:-- A Martinez: And they pulled off what I think was a bit of a miracle by building miles of fire line in anticipation of heavy winds.
--:-- Ryan Heinches: Unfortunately, they were successful in keeping the fire from progressing toward local communities.
--:-- A Martinez: All right. That's good. That's good news.
--:-- Ryan Heinches: Now, it sounds like concerns about the federal response might not kick in unless it's a busy summer for fires, and lots of places are competing for personnel to fight them.
--:-- A Martinez: What's the forecast there?
--:-- Ryan Heinches: Well, forecasters say the southwest, along with parts of southern Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, are facing higher than normal potential for wildfire over the next month or so.
--:-- A Martinez: You know, a lot of people in Rocky Mountain states, including us here in Flagstaff, are worried because it was a below average year for snowfall, And that can really create especially dry conditions
--:-- Ryan Heinches: Elevated fire danger is also predicted in parts of central and southern California and will stretch up into eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle along with parts of Texas and Oklahoma.
--:-- A Martinez: Even some mid-Atlantic states, Minnesota and Florida, are facing possible wildfires.
--:-- Ryan Heinches: Yeah, living in Los Angeles, Ryan, I know that we are constantly in fire season. It doesn't matter what time of the year it is.
--:-- A Martinez: Now, the Trump administration says there's nothing to worry about because the jobs that have been cut to the Forest Service were not to frontline firefighting staff.
--:-- Ryan Heinches: But a lot of people say it's not that simple.
--:-- A Martinez: So what are you hearing?
--:-- Ryan Heinches: Well, it really remains to be seen how layoffs will affect firefighting this season.
--:-- A Martinez: And yes, it's true that frontline firefighters were spared from the DOGE staffing cuts earlier this year.
--:-- Ryan Heinches: But an unknown number of Forest Service employees who do contribute to firefighting work were affected. Those with what are known as red cards.
--:-- A Martinez: These are employees who don't typically work in fire, but can hop in if needed.
--:-- Ryan Heinches: They're especially important with wildfire starts that are near communities to really beef up the firefighting staff.
--:-- A Martinez: Full-time firefighters are still out there doing the hard work, of course.
--:-- Ryan Heinches: But there's a worry that the hotshot crews and others could ultimately be short-staffed.
--:-- A Martinez: And when these big wildfires do pop up, the personnel just won't be there to adequately respond.
--:-- Ryan Heinches: Wow. All right.
--:-- A Martinez: So what are you going to be watching for as this fire season unfolds?
--:-- Ryan Heinches: We're going to see what the federal response is like, of course.
--:-- A Martinez: Sources have been telling NPR that some of the people who either chose to leave or were fired from the Forest Service are among the most experienced in leading wildland firefighting crews.
--:-- Ryan Heinches: Some of those folks with the red cards I talked about. Even though firefighting isn't their full-time job, they spend a lot of time doing it and are in leadership positions.
--:-- A Martinez: That's Ryan Heinches, the news director at KNAU in Flagstaff, Arizona.
--:-- Ryan Heinches: Thanks.
--:-- A Martinez: Thanks, Ryan.
--:-- A Martinez: That's Up First for Monday, May 26th. I'm A Martinez.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And I'm Michelle Martin.
--:-- A Martinez: Thanks for waking up with NPR.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Your NPR station makes Up First possible each morning.
--:-- A Martinez: Support their work and ours at donate.npr.org slash Up First.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Ryland Barton, Catherine Laidlaw, H.J. Mai, and Mohamed El-Bardisi.
--:-- A Martinez: It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, and Lindsay Tade.
--:-- Michelle Martin: We get engineering support from Damian Herring, and our technical director is David Greenberg.
--:-- A Martinez: Join us again tomorrow.
--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from ShipBob. Nothing ruins your holiday faster than the customer emails like, where's my order? Or worst of all, why can't you deliver by Christmas?
--:-- A Martinez: But Peak doesn't have to be chaotic when ShipBob's in your corner.
--:-- Michelle Martin: ShipBob helps brands like Our Place, Bloom Nutrition, and Tony's win the holidays with reliable, scalable, fast, and cost-effective fulfillment.
--:-- A Martinez: Make this your best holiday season yet with ShipBob. Go to shipbob.com slash NPR for a free quote.
--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from Capital One. Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts.
--:-- A Martinez: What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com slash bank for details.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Capital One N.A. Member FDIC.
--:-- A Martinez: This message comes from The Nature Conservancy. Nature is common ground for everyone, and uniting to protect nature can help solve today's challenges and create a thriving tomorrow for future generations.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Discover why at nature.org slash NPR.
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