Plane crash victims; Target boycott; Nuclear tests : NPR

Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Today’s top stories

Federal investigators have retrieved the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from the American Airlines jet that collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday night. The collision happened mid-air over the Potomac River as the jet attempted to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. All 67 people on both aircraft were killed. Here’s the latest.

• 🎧 It is unclear how the two aircraft that were supposed to pass at a safe distance ended up in the same place at the same time, NPR’s Frank Langfitt tells Up First. Investigators will use the regional jet’s black boxes to examine the final conversations in the cockpit, the plane’s performance and data points such as its altitude right before the collision. Authorities will also need the recorder from the Army Black Hawkwhich is still in the river, to compare. Federal investigators emphasized that they would be careful to confirm facts before releasing them and that a preliminary report should be completed in 30 days.
• ➡️ At least a dozen elite figure skaters, coaches and their family members were aboard the plane.
• ➡️ Crowded airspace has been a concern at the D.C.-area airport. More than 23,000 flight operations took place there each month last year.
• ➡️ Here’s how many near-misses have happened at Reagan Airport, according to the FAA.

A push to restrict immigration in Germany has erupted into a fierce debate over the degree to which a country should allow its extreme political elements into mainstream politics. At the center of the debate is Friedrich Merz, the man who is the frontrunner to become Germany’s next chancellor. Merz heads the Christian Democratic Union, a center-right party that’s ahead in the polls.

• 🎧 The motion comes on the heels of recent deadly attacks committed by migrantsNPR’s Rob Schmitz says. None of the mainstream parties were interested in voting with Merz’s party on the proposal, but the AfD, the Alternative for Germany party, was. The AfD has advocated deporting all Germans with a migration background, some members use Nazi slogans and the party is under domestic surveillance for the threat it poses to the country’s democracy. Merz has now signaled he’s open to cooperating with the AfD on the immigration motion.

Target is scaling back its diversity, equity and inclusion effortsa promise that seemed important to the company headquartered where the murder of George Floyd in 2020 by a police officer set off waves of protests. With DEI initiatives under attack by the Trump administration, companies such as Walmart, McDonald’s and Meta have decided to curtail or eliminate these programs. With Target falling in line, activists called for a boycott of the store. However, Black business owners selling products at Target say it could hurt their business. Morning Edition host Michel Martin spoke to April Showers, founder and CEO of Afro Unicorn, whose products include apparel, hair products and books, are sold at Target, about her thoughts on the boycott and a possible compromise for those participating.

Deep dive

Thousands of feet underground, in a laboratory northwest of Las Vegas, the U.S. conducts some of its most sensitive nuclear weapons research. Nuclear testing seems like a Cold War relic, but amid growing tensions, Russia, China and the U.S. are upgrading their testing facilities. The National Nuclear Security Administration, the civilian agency maintaining America’s nuclear stockpile, allowed journalists, including NPR, to tour a secretive laboratory.

• 💥 In the early 1960s, nuclear tests went underground to protect people and the environment from the dangerous radioactive fallout.
• 💥 The stockpile program, a way to test nukes without setting them off, consists of supercomputers at the labs used to conduct large-scale digital simulations of nuclear weapons from “button to boom.”
• 💥 Project 2025, a conservative agenda published by the Heritage Foundation, says the government should be able “to conduct nuclear tests in response to adversary nuclear developments if necessary.”

Here’s a look inside the lab.

Weekend picks

Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:

🍿 Movies: In Presencea family moves into a haunted house, but what sets this film apart is that it’s told from the ghost’s perspective.

📺 TV: Hospital drama The Pittstarring Noah Wyle, takes elements common to the medical genre and mixes them with contemporary thinking about health care and an inventive episode structure.

📚 Books: As we welcome the Year of the Snake, here are two Lunar New Year romances to add to your to-read list.

🎵 Music: Jazz vocalist Christie Dashiell’s sophomore album, Journey in Blackearned her a Grammy nomination for the first time. The music reflects “the expansiveness of the Black experience.”

🎮 Games: Citizen Sleeper 2,out today, puts you in the shoes of an android who’s escaped a dystopian corporation. The sci-fi game grapples with trauma and communities in crisis.

🍚 Food: Dumplings are a dish NPR readers just can’t go without for the Lunar New Year. Here’s a no-fuss Chinese dumpling recipe you can try.

❓ Quiz: If this were school, I would have scored a B. I will take it. Do you think you can achieve an “A”?

3 things to know before you go

1. British musician and actress Marianne Faithfull, whose 1964 version of “As Tears Go By” made her a music star, died yesterday at the age of 78.
2. Brendan Carr, the newly appointed head of the Federal Communications Commission, has opened an investigation of NPR and PBS for allegedly running commercials, which public broadcasting stations are prohibited from doing.
3. The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.3% in October, November and December of 2024 as consumers ramped up their spending.

This newsletter was edited by Obed Manuel.