Transcript of Relief En Route To USS Lincoln, Ukraine's Drone Barrage On Russia, Kushner Gaza Talks

The head of Central Command visited the USS Lincoln and called its deployment one of the most intense in decades.

Another ship is on its way to relieve the Lincoln amid reports of poor living conditions on board.

I'm Sasha Pfeiffer. That's Michelle Martin. And this is Up First from NPR News. Ukraine launched one of its largest aerial attacks on Russia since the war began. More than 800 drones were launched, and at least 20 people were killed as both sides exchanged fire. How are Russians feeling as the war grinds on.

And President Trump's Middle East negotiator and son-in-law Jared Kushner is in Israel for talks on the future of Gaza. It comes after a rare meeting with Hamas in Egypt. Israel already rejected the latest US-backed peace plan. We look at where the negotiations stand. Stay with us, we'll give you news you need to start your day. The USS Washington is on its way to the Middle East to relieve the USS Lincoln.

The Lincoln has been at the center of concerns over mental health issues as one as lack of fresh food and supplies. And NPR is learning that the supply chain issues aren't limited to just that carrier.

To hear more about this, we have reporter Steve Walsh with member station WHRO in Norfolk. Good morning, Steve.

Morning, Michelle.

So there have been reports about families highlighting problems on board the USS Lincoln. We've heard a lot of those stories from you. Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers. How is the Trump administration responding?

This has been a grueling deployment. USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in January before the war with Iran started, and sailors have been on the ship since the war began. The head of Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, wrapped up a tour of the region Saturday, which included a visit to USS Lincoln. He praised the sacrifice of the sailors. Cooper is quoted as saying, "History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era." The administration has also been pushing back against reports from families who say the crews are under strain, including reports of sailors jumping overboard. Asked on Friday if the deployment had gone on too long, President Trump said, "No, not nearly long enough." Steve, what have you heard from sailors and their families about these comments? So not every sailor has the same reaction. I talked to the former acting head of force resiliency for the Navy, a Navy veteran, Andrea Goldstein, was in charge when the Navy was dealing with the rash of suicides in 2022 and 2023. She says the changes the Navy made started with creating a healthy command climate on the ships.

It's not one comment, it's creating an ambient environment of disrespect.

Dismissing sailors' concerns can actually make their situation worse. She says sailors may not recognize the impact of their constant stress until months after their deployment finally is over.

So can you Tell us a bit more about what conditions are like on these Navy ships in the Middle East right now, recognizing that many Americans at this point in our history don't have a personal connection to military service. So tell us what you can about it.

Right. So the problems with logistics are not confined to USS Lincoln. Supply lines have been strained since the beginning of the war. I talked with Sam Howard, a former Navy captain who lives in Virginia Beach. His son was on one of the ships in the USS Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group, which carries sailors and Marines. His son told him they quickly ran low on hygiene products and other supplies. The crew returned to their home port in Japan in late July, but they still haven't received all of their mail and care packages. As a former captain, Howard says he understands how quickly fatigue can set in.

I asked him very specifically about watch rotation and not having any port visits, and the, the comment that he made was, you know, not knowing when you're gonna get a break. It was, was really the among the toughest things that he experienced.

And now the Abraham Lincoln has been out to sea for more than 260 days. Do we know when they will be back?

So USS George Washington is now on its way to relieve USS Lincoln with their 5,000 sailors. It's hard to pinpoint when the Washington will arrive. Normally you would expect both carriers to remain in the region for a week or so, but a Navy official who wasn't authorized to speak publicly told me that there is no standard handoff period, so the Lincoln could leave rather quickly once USS Washington arrives in the region.

That's Steve Walsh with WHRO in Norfolk. Steve, thank you.

Thanks, Michelle.

Fighting between Russia and Ukraine continues with at least 20 people killed and dozens more injured in air attacks from both sides that stretched from the weekend to this morning.

That included the largest single-day Ukrainian attack on Russia to date. It's 5 years into the conflict, and the two countries appear locked in a war of attrition with no end in sight.

Joining us to tell us more about this is NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow. Good morning, Charles.

Morning, Michelle.

So first of all, tell us about this massive Ukrainian attack.

Well, Russia's Defense Ministry says more than 800 drones were fired into more than several regions of Russia on Sunday, the vast majority of which were targeting Moscow. That said, most of the deaths occurred closer to the Ukrainian border, including in Rostov in the south, where 5 people died Sunday. This morning, another 6 people were killed in Belgorod region. More generally, these attacks fit into pattern of Ukraine hitting, or attempting to hit anyway, not only military installations, but also softer targets, energy and logistics hubs to, as Kyiv puts it, bring the war home to Russians.

And how is that being felt in real terms?

Well, Ukraine struck another warehouse of Russia's largest online retailer, a company called Wildberries, which is part of a wider campaign of interrupting business supply chains. Ukraine continues to strike oil facilities, which, by the way, has caused the return of gas shortages we saw earlier in the summer. They're Ukrainians right now, for example, at a gas station just down the street from me. And Ukraine is going after defense-adjacent industries, you know, factories that produce parts or products that might in some way contribute or help fund the Russian military. And all of this has come with a growing number of civilian casualties.

And how has Russia responded?

Well, by escalating, which of course is also killing civilians, including 7 on Sunday. Russia can essentially strike Ukraine at will with ballistic missiles now that Ukraine is out of the US Patriot missiles that had provided some protection. As Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky has openly admitted. Moreover, Russia is increasingly targeting Ukrainian grain stores, a key export for Ukraine, and that's really brought shipping out of port cities like Odessa to a standstill and raised concerns of a repeat of global grain shortages that we saw early in the war as a result.

So Russia pounding Ukraine, that's been a story throughout this war, but Ukraine hitting back and hitting back effectively is relatively new. Now we hear from our colleagues in Kyiv that the goal is to force Russia into peace negotiations. Do you have any sense that that's working?

Well, politically, no. The Kremlin continues to insist this war is being won. In fact, President Vladimir Putin was recently on television talking about how Russians had victory in their DNA. But there's no question that what Ukraine euphemistically calls long-range sanctions have brought the war home to Russians in new ways. And that's adding to exhaustion from more than 4 years of war, repression, and sanctions.

And so, of course, they're exhausted by war, but is there any way to express that given the repression that you have reported on so often and that you're mentioning now?

Well, you know, we have parliamentary elections coming up in September and some form of opposition to the war would seem a potent political issue, but it's not on the ballot. The lone openly pro-peace party, a party called Jablika, was barred from participating by the Supreme Court earlier this month, even as its supporters gathered outside. Meanwhile, one of the party's liberal stalwarts, a man by the name of Lev Schlossberg, is widely expected to be convicted and sentenced to a long prison term today. The formal charge Schlossberg is denigrating the Russian army, although his supporters would say he's being punished for his passivism, and that his case is just another version of the same message: that antiwar views won't be tolerated.

That is NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow. Charles, thank you.

Thank you.

The president's envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner held a rare meeting with leaders of Hamas in Egypt on Sunday.

Today, Kushner is in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Kushner is trying to get closer to achieving President Trump's plan for a postwar Gaza. The U.S. and Hamas back the plan. Israel does not.

NPR's Daniel Estrin is with us now from Tel Aviv. Good morning, Daniel.

Good morning, Michelle.

First of all, just how unusual was it that any high-level representative of the U.S. met directly with Hamas leaders?

It is rare. Remember, the U.S. labels Hamas a terrorist group, But Jared Kushner did meet Hamas one time before. That was 10 months ago, and that meeting helped seal the deal on the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Since then, though, not much progress has happened at all on a postwar transition for Gaza.

Okay, so do we have any sense of what came out of this meeting?

We have not seen any evidence of a real breakthrough. I spoke with an official briefed on the meeting who spoke anonymously to divulge some details. And what I learned is that the US wants Hamas to stop military activities and to start disarming. They They want Hamas to hand over control of Gaza to a new Palestinian committee, and Hamas affirmed that it is willing to do that. But the reality here, Michelle, is that it's been 10 months since the ceasefire was declared, and there's been no tangible progress on the ground in Gaza. It took months just for Trump's Board of Peace to come up with a formal disarmament plan, and then it took many more months for Hamas to agree to it. And so now the US is pushing this new 15-point roadmap for Hamas to disarm and for Israel Israel to withdraw, and Israel says it will not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas fully disarms. And a big group of Mideast countries is now saying that Israel is the one to blame for obstructing peace efforts. Those group of countries include the ceasefire mediators themselves, Qatar and Egypt. So Kushner is now in Israel. He's meeting Netanyahu to discuss his objections to the plan.

And so given Israel's objections, what do you expect to be coming out of this meeting between Kushner and Netanyahu?

Really, the main sticking point here is that Israel is 10 weeks away from elections and Netanyahu could lose power. And Kushner knows that Netanyahu does not want Israelis to think he's giving any concessions to Hamas. That would be very unpopular. His far-right security minister even said recently that Israel should be killing 30 to 40 people every night in Gaza. So Netanyahu is under pressure. And if, if he would agree to any progress in Gaza, it would be the kind of of things that could be done behind the scenes. The official I spoke to said Kushner wants Israel to authorize a new Gaza police force to get training. It wants Israel to allow an international stabilization force to enter Gaza. But here, Israel has its own objections. They may seem subtle, but these are important to Israel. A person briefed on this told me Israel doesn't trust this plan for a Palestinian committee to take over Hamas's weapons. Israel wants more international oversight there. So Kushner's challenge here really is to find anything Israel is willing to do with just 10 weeks to go before Israeli elections.

That is NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Daniel, thank you.

You're welcome.

And before we go, don't forget to listen to the Up First Sunday story. Two decades ago, beavers were reintroduced to Britain. The rodents have become little climate warriors.

We haven't seen this in the UK for 400 years. This is a beaver-created wetland.

From the wilds of Scotland to the Tube stations of London, how beavers are transforming the British landscape. Listen now to the Sunday story right here in the Up First podcast from NPR.

And that's Up First for Monday, August 17th. I'm Sasha Pfeiffer.

And I'm Michelle Martin. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Brett Neely, Tina CRYA, Miguel Macías, Mohamed El Bardisi, and Adriana Gallardo. It was produced by Ziyad Butch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hynes, and our technical director is Eowyn Fane. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.