Ukraine's Victory Plan, New York Mayor Indictment, Hurricane Helene

0:02Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he has a plan to defeat Russia. He's in Washington, D.C. today to discuss this plan with President Biden. So what's in it? I'm A. Martinez with Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. The sitting mayor of the country's largest city has been indicted. New York Mayor Eric Adams is facing criminal charges. The indictment remains sealed for now, but investigations into his administration have led to a wave of departure. So how is the mayor responding? And Florida is bracing for the impact of Hurricane Helene. The powerful storm could lead to life-threatening storm surges.

0:38If you think you're going to have to evacuate, get out now. NPR's Frank Morris with the latest. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

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1:34More at nprwineclub.org slash podcast. Must be 21 or older to purchase. This message comes from NPR sponsor Walmart. Did you know that Walmart is one of Fortune's 100 best companies to work for in 2025? It's no surprise. Walmart is investing$1 billion in training and development to help associates build lasting careers with or without a degree. In fact, 75 percent of Walmart management started in hourly rolls. With benefits like health care, paid parental leave and tuition support, Walmart isn't just a place to work. It's a place to grow. Learn more at walmart.com slash spark. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Washington, D.C.

2:20today seeking President Biden's support for a strategy to end the war on Ukraine's terms. Zelensky says protecting Ukraine will also keep Europe and the West safe. He warned the U.N. General Assembly that Russia was preparing to strike Ukraine's nuclear power plants. A day like that must never come. Former President Trump, however, is accusing Zelensky of dragging out the war and vows to cut aid to the country if he's elected. With me now is NPR Ukraine correspondent Joanna Kakissis, who's in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. Joanna, thank you so much for being here. You're welcome. Let's start with this plan, which Zelensky calls his victory plan.

2:56Can you tell us about it? Sure. Zelensky's team has kept the plan's details under wraps, but broadly, he wants much quicker action by President Biden on issues Zelensky say could strengthen Ukraine and keep Russia from dictating any peace terms. These issues include supporting an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO as soon as possible and lifting restrictions on the use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles like ATAKAMs. Ukraine wants to use these missiles to hit military targets like arms depots deep in Russia. Here in Kiev, we spoke to a Ukrainian soldier, 23-year-old Vyacheslav Yurchak. He believes these strikes will weaken Russia's ability to supply its troops in Ukraine.

3:39He's puzzled by this restriction.

3:44He's saying, look, they give us these long-range weapons, but say we can't use them. It's like giving me a machine gun and saying the enemy is 100 meters away, but don't shoot him. So we hear, you know, here in Washington that the White House has been cautious because it's trying to avoid escalating tensions. So tell us more about how Ukrainians view this attitude. Yeah, they're frustrated. We've spoken to Ukrainians who are very grateful to the U.S. for helping their country survive this war. But they say they doubt that the U.S. actually wants Ukraine to win. Russia continues to bomb Ukrainian cities, killing civilians, destroying power plants.

4:22Ukrainians see Russia as getting more aggressive, like this threat of attacking nuclear power plants, as Zelensky mentioned. Are the Ukrainians worried enough to consider a deal, an unpleasant deal, like swapping territory occupied by Russia in exchange for some kind of ceasefire? So, yeah, so that's a good question, because recent polls are showing an increasing number of Ukrainians willing to consider this, but most are still categorically against it. Let's hear from Vika Stujuk. She's a 32-year-old financial consultant. She got very emotional talking to producer Polina Litvinova. Stujuk's relatives and friends were killed in this war, and she does not want them to have died in vain.

5:04We also spoke to Serhii Kuzan. He's a defense analyst in Kiev, and he said, look, Russia first invaded Ukraine 10 years ago, and it hasn't stopped attacking us since. He's saying we will keep fighting no matter how much of Ukraine is occupied because there is no other way. Before we let you go, how are Ukrainians viewing the upcoming U.S. election? So Ukrainians are actually following it very closely. And those we spoke to are worried about Donald Trump winning. They see him as ill-informed about the geopolitics and the context of this war. They believe he is too enamored of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

5:42And it didn't help that Trump also refused to meet Zelensky this week. Because Ukraine's leadership, it has tried very hard to cultivate both political parties. And now Zelensky will meet with President Biden and Vice President Harris. And Biden, at least, is expected to announce a surge in security assistance to Ukraine today. That is in P.S. Joanna Kakisis. Joanna, thank you. You're welcome.

6:10World leaders are gathered in New York this week to address global issues. Meanwhile, the city's top leader is facing serious legal problems. Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted, according to numerous media reports. The news broke last night after months of speculation about whether a series of federal investigations surrounding his administration would tie back to him directly. Joining me now to tell us what she knows so far is Bridget Bergen, senior politics reporter at member station WNYC in New York. Good morning, Bridget. Good morning, Michelle. So what do we know about what the mayor is accused of doing?

6:45Well, at this point, the indictment is still under seal, so we haven't seen the specific charges yet. But about a year ago, The New York Times reported that the FBI was investigating whether the mayor conspired with the Turkish government to funnel illegal foreign donations to his campaign committee in exchange for favors from his administration. The Turkish government had built a new high-rise consulate in Manhattan, and there were issues with its fire safety inspection. But again, as I said, we don't know the specific details. will know that when the indictment isn't sealed, which could happen as early as later this morning.

7:17It does seem as though things have escalated in recent weeks. So for people who haven't been following it, can you just tell us a bit about what has been happening? Yeah, this really comes after nearly a year of investigations into the mayor's campaign and city government. And this month, things really just stepped into a new gear. Federal investigators seized the phones of the city's police commissioner to deputy mayors and the city's schools chancellor. And that was then followed by a wave of departures from the administration, including the police commissioner, the mayor's chief counsel. And just this week, the city's schools chancellor said he was retiring at the end of this calendar year.

7:53How has the mayor responded to all this? Yeah. So, you know, for the past year, the mayor has insisted he did nothing wrong. And remember, this is someone who got his start as a New York City police officer who rose to the rank of captain. So he often invokes his ties to law enforcement when he says he's always followed the law. He tells the people around him to follow the law. But last night, he also issued a video statement. He says the charges will be found entirely false and that they're based on lies. I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit. If I'm charged, I know I am innocent.

8:29So tell us about the reaction from the city. I mean, as you've just told us that this news broke last night, but what have you heard so far? How are people reacting to this? Lots of people have been calling on him to resign. Even yesterday, before the news of the indictment broke, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a statement to that effect. And since the news broke, the calls on Adams to step aside are really just growing louder by the moment. The one person who could actually remove Adams from office right now is New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Her spokesman, Avi Small, issued a statement very late last night.

9:04He said she's aware of these concerning news reports, is monitoring the situation, but it would be premature to comment further until the matter is confirmed by law enforcement. So the pressure on Adams is growing. That is WNYC senior politics reporter Bridget Bergen. Bridget, thank you so much. Thank you.

9:31One of the largest hurricanes on record is roaring north through the Gulf of Mexico off the west coast of Florida this morning. Hurricane Helene is forecast to grow to a Category 4 storm when it slams into Florida's Big Bend region this evening. NPR's Frank Morris is in St. Petersburg, and he's going to bring us up today. Good morning, Frank. Hi, Michelle. So we've been keeping an eye on this, as you certainly have. Helene seems to be gaining in power and size. Would you just talk about the scope of what people are facing? Yeah, the storm is enormous. Only four hurricanes this century have been this big over the Gulf, as big as Helene is expected to grow today.

10:08Forecasters have the entire coast of Florida, the west coast of Florida, under a storm surge warning. 61 of the state's 67 counties are under a state of emergency. In Tampa, a little more than halfway up Florida's Gulf Coast, the surge could shove eight feet of moving water through low-lying areas. Across the bay in St. Petersburg yesterday evening, people like Tracy Roginski were just taking it in stride and stocking up on essentials. Wine and ice cream. Yeah. Luckily, I'm pretty high up, so we usually don't have any flooding or anything. So, yeah, I'm kind of used to the drill. Got the water, got the bathtub full, make sure everything's charged up and download some movies on my phone just in case.

10:48The storm surge is expected to be much worse farther north where Helene will make landfall. Their forecasters say the storm surge could be, quote, catastrophic and deadly. It could be 20 feet, what meteorologists are calling unsurvivable. So what about people in Florida's Big Bend region? What should they be doing? Right, that's where the storm's going to hit. And the prudent thing to do is leave. In fact, many counties that are under mandatory evacuations, many others are under voluntary evacuations. Of course, in every hurricane, there are people who ignore those evacuation orders. And afterwards, a lot of times in the city, they'll never do that again.

11:23So we caught up with Florida Senator Rick Scott in Apalachicola yesterday. He's a former governor with lots of hurricanes under his belt. And he says he's warning people to get out. Right here in Apalachicola, they're thinking about 10 feet of storm surge. That's almost twice my height. In the Big Bend, they're talking about 18 feet. You don't survive six foot of storm surge. Water is what kills you. You know, mostly it's water now that kills you. And so I hope everybody will take this seriously. Listen to the locals. If you think you're going to have to evacuate, get out now. And then there is the wind.

11:54The National Hurricane Center says it expects Helene to be a major category for hurricane when the eye of the storm makes landfall tonight. That actually just sounds really frightening, Frank. Right, yeah. When the storm hits, it's going to be packing sustained winds of 130 miles an hour with higher wind gusts, and it could be even stronger. And Helene is a fast-moving hurricane. It's not going to slack off much as it moves inland. And Tallahassee, about 25 miles up the coast, could see wind gusts of more than 100 miles an hour. The storm is likely to blow down trees and knock out power over a huge area, fanning out hundreds of miles inland as it sweeps into Georgia and Carolinas and possibly stalls out over Tennessee and Kentucky.

12:33Jamie Rome with the National Hurricane Center said the scale of the wind damage will be enormous. We don't normally issue tropical storm warnings this far inland or for this part of the country. Blanketing the entire state of Georgia, the entire state of South Carolina, in western periphery or the mountains of North Carolina with tropical storm winds. Rome says about half the hurricane deaths are from inland flooding. That is NPR's Frank Morris in St. Petersburg, Florida. Frank, thank you. Thank you, Michelle. In yesterday's podcast, in the introduction to a story about the growing Israel-Lebanon conflict, we referred to Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel.

13:14This is incorrect. Israel says Jerusalem is its capital. Many governments around the world do not recognize it. Jerusalem is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians.

13:28And that's up first for Thursday, September 26th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm A. Martinez. How about listening to Consider This from NPR? Republican politicians repeatedly argue immigration hurts the U.S. economy, but residents of Dayton, Ohio, have found the opposite. Listen to Consider This from NPR. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Rebecca Rossman, Andrea DeLeon, Russell Lewis, H.J. Mai, and Ali Schweitzer. It was produced by Iman Ma 'ani, Nia Dumas, Brianna Joseph, and Mansi Karana. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott and our technical director is Zach Coleman. Join us again tomorrow.

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