Up First from NPR - Bridge Collapse Probe, Bankman-Fried Sentencing, Disney-DeSantis Truce

Episode Date: March 28, 2024

We now have an initial timeline — minute by minute — of how a massive cargo ship came to crash into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge. Sam Bankman-Fried, the Crypto Wunderkind convicted of fraud, will be sentenced Thursday to a prison term that could last decades. And the Walt Disney Company and Gov. Ron DeSantis appear to have both realized that Florida is a small world after all.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Russell Lewis, Julia Redpath, Alice Woelfle and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Milton Guevara. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Federal investigators have boarded the cargo ship that brought down Baltimore's Key Bridge. It's just utter devastation. Authorities say it took mere minutes from the first alarms to the crash. I'm Laila Fadil, that's Debbie Elliott, and this is Up First from NPR News. How long a prison term does crypto mogul Sam Bankman Freed deserve for $8 billion of fraud? His attorneys are asking for just five years. Prosecutors are seeking 50. A judge decides today.

And in Florida, Disney and Ron DeSantis seem to have let it go. The two sides say they're ready to work together instead of battling it out in court. They need to keep tourists coming back. They need to reinvest in the park. No fairy tales here, just the news you need to start your day. Now Our Change will honor 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and their dedicated service to communities at home and abroad. From the skies to our change, this $2 commemorative circulation coin marks their storied past and promising future. Find the limited edition Royal Canadian Air Force $2 coin today. We now have an initial timeline, minute by minute, of how a massive

cargo ship came to crash into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge. Now this is just the early stages of federal investigators probe into the collapse of that bridge that crumbled into the Patapsco River. And authorities say they've recovered the bodies of two construction workers. Four more are likely still underwater. NPR's Joel Rose has been following the story and joins us. Good morning. Good morning, Debbie. Federal investigators briefed the media last night. What did they say? Yeah, investigators say they were able to get onto the ship yesterday. The dolly is still stuck in the river, tangled up in the wreckage of the bridge. And the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, says it is a huge investigation scene and it is a mess.

It's just utter devastation. And when I look at something like that, I am thinking not about the container ships that are coming through, not about traffic getting back up and running on the bridge. I'm thinking about the families who've lost loved ones and what they must be going through. Hamendi said there is a visible sheen on the waterway, but that it's being addressed. We also learned yesterday that some of the containers on the ship have hazardous materials in them, 764 tons to be precise. These are mostly things like corrosives and flammables, Hamendi said, also lithium-ion batteries. Hamendi said some of these containers

had been breached in the ship, but I also want to note Coast Guard officials addressed this earlier in the day, and they said they are not aware of any release of hazardous materials and that there is currently no threat to the public. That's good. Now, investigators were able to share a timeline

of what happened after the ship left port. What led up to the public. That's good. Now, investigators were able to share a timeline of what happened after the ship left port. What led up to the collision? Yeah, investigators said that at about 1.24 a.m., there were numerous audible alarms on the ship. About two minutes later, at 1.26, the ship's pilot asked for help for the first time, requesting tugboat assistance. A minute after that, the pilot called for the ship to drop one of its anchors, the port anchor, in an attempt to slow down. But it was just too late. The ship struck the bridge around 1.29 a.m. So, you know, all of this happening in a matter of just a few minutes, about five minutes. Joel, did investigators say anything about the ship's voyage data recorder,

which tracks the sensors and systems on board? Yeah, they say they have it, and that so far they've reviewed about six hours of audio and data from the night of the incident. But investigators said that this recorder is not as sophisticated as you would find in the black box on a plane, for example. It does not capture as much data as they would like. So investigators are going to have to rely on other sources of information, including interviews with the crew. Those have already begun, and interviews with the pilots, whose job it is to guide the ship out of port, are set for today. So, you know, bottom line is it's very early.

It could be weeks or months before investigators can determine what happened and why the ship seemed to lose power. Finally, authorities in Maryland say they found the bodies of two men who had been missing since the accident. Do you have any more information about them? Yeah, these are the bodies of two of the six construction workers who were fixing potholes on the bridge when it collapsed. Police in Maryland say that the men were found inside a red pickup truck submerged in about 25 feet of water. Authorities believe that there are other vehicles with victims inside that are still trapped under wreckage from the collapsed bridge. All of the deceased were construction workers, and all of them hailed from Mexico or Central America. That's NPR's transportation correspondent, Joel Rose. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Crypto wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried enters a Manhattan courtroom today to learn his fate.

He, of course, was the mastermind behind the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and then a jury found a criminal mastermind. It all came to a colossal and sudden collapse in late 2022, costing investors billions of dollars. Now, at just 32 years old, he'll be sentenced today to a prison term that could last decades. NPR's Raphael Nam is here to bring us up to speed. Remind us, what was Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty of? Basically, fraud. Back in November, he faced seven criminal charges and he was convicted of all of them. FTX, if you remember, was this huge exchange where people kept their money to trade cryptocurrencies. And Bankman Freed was found guilty of stealing their money, at least $8 billion.

$8 billion. That's billion with a B. Yeah, it's a lot of money. And he used the money to finance a lavish lifestyle. Keep in mind, he created this company when he was in his 20s. He was surrounded by 20-something-year-olds. He was in the Bahamas. That's where FTX was based. And he was the golden boy of crypto. He was the guy who made crypto cool. He built FTX into the biggest crypto exchange in the world. He had this big hair. He flew in private jets. He knew celebrities. He financed sports, politics, you name it. Tom Brady was a promoter of FTX. So was Steph Curry. And he was seen as the next big thing in finance. And now, he could face years in prison. Years in prison. How many years are you talking about? So prosecutors want 40 to 50 years. They argue that he committed one of the

largest financial frauds of all time. They say he was motivated by greed. On the other hand, some Bankman Freed's lawyers say he only deserves about five to six years. And that's because they essentially argue that he was just a young guy who was simply in over his head. Somebody who just didn't mean to commit fraud. They say he was a bit of a who was simply in over his head. Somebody who just didn't mean to commit fraud. They say he was a bit of a social misfit. He had trouble interacting with others, and he wasn't greedy. He gave some of his money away and wanted to eventually give his fortune away, and that he should be given a second chance in life. And the lawyers also argue that a lot of investors are going to get their money back anyway. Now, that seems a bit unusual in a case like this.

Investors, you're saying, are likely to get their money back? Would it be all of it? Yeah, this is kind of incredible. FTX is now saying they may be able to get all their money back. And keep in mind, after FTX collapsed, a lot of people didn't want anything to do with crypto. Today, however, Bitcoin is back at a record high, and that's important because a lot of FTX holdings for cryptocurrencies and other companies, and it now looks like FTX may be able to sell quite a few of their investments at a big profit.

So Bankman-Fried's lawyers argue that the judge should be taking all of this into account. So the judge in this case has a big decision to make as Bankman Freed sits in a Brooklyn detention center waiting to hear about his fate. Is this young guy who was once the biggest crypto star going to jail for years or decades? We should find out soon enough. Well, we'll be watching. NPR's Rafael Nam, thanks a lot. Thank you, Debbie. The Walt Disney Company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appear to have both realized that Florida is a small world after all. They spent the last two years in a bitter

legal and political battle that began with Florida's so-called don't say gay law. Now the two sides say they've settled lawsuits in state court and they're ready to work together to expand Walt Disney World. NPR's Greg Allen has been covering the dispute and joins us now from Florida. Good morning, Greg. Hi, Debbie. So this has been among the front lines of the culture wars, and now we have a truth. Yes, and this began in 2022 when Florida passed a law that restricts how sexual orientation and gender identity are discussed in the schools. Disney's CEO at the time, Bob Chapek, said he'd worked to overturn it. That angered Governor DeSantis, who worked with Republican lawmakers to pass law that revoked Disney's self-governing status.

They then appointed a new board to oversee the district. Disney challenged the new board in federal court. They lost, but the company's appealing that lawsuit. But yesterday, Disney and the DeSantis-appointed board announced that they'd settled all the lawsuits that were pending in state court and now are ready to move forward together. Walt Disney World President Jeff Valle called it, quote, a new chapter of constructive engagement. So let's get into a little bit of the specifics. What issues will this deal actually resolve? Well, this settles the dispute over a last-minute agreement that Disney signed with its old board last year

before it was dissolved by DeSantis and the Florida legislature. The agreement would have taken power away from the new board and reserved for Disney all the decisions concerning development at the theme parks. That deal is now null and void under the settlement. A little later at a news conference, though, Governor DeSantis took aim at critics in the media and elsewhere who predicted that Disney would win its lawsuits and take back its self-governing status. And the reality is here we are a year later and not one of them has succeeded. Every action that we've taken has been upheld in full and the state's better off. Sounds like the governor is spinning this as a victory. What about Disney?

There's clearly a lot of tourist revenue at stake here. What's next for them? Right. Well, Disney is indicating that this current lot of tourist revenue at stake here. What's next for them? Right. Well, Disney's indicating that this current structure is one it can work with. Disney's CEO now, Bob Iger, has plans to spend at least $30 billion to upgrade its theme parks over the next decade, including in Orlando. Rick Vogelsang, a retired professor and author of a book on Disney's relationship with Florida, says this settlement now clears the way for those plans to go forward. They needed to continue to invest here without appearing weak as if they were caving to DeSantis. They need to keep tourists coming back. They need to reinvest in the parks. So we have reached the end of this bruising public relations battle between a governor who was

also a presidential candidate and one of the most powerful entertainment companies. Did either of them actually win? Well, you know, probably both sides. Disney can put the political and legal battle behind it now and focus on operating and improving its Orlando theme parks. DeSantis indicated in recent months he also was ready to move on from the fight. You know, he talked about Disney a lot when he was on the campaign trail, but ultimately that candidacy, as you know, didn't go so well. And when you get down to it, tourism is a big business in Florida. Fighting one of the state's most popular tourist destinations really never seemed like a winning strategy. And as for that original dispute over the parental rights and education don't say gay law, there was a recent settlement between the DeSantis administration and LGBTQ groups that attempts to clarify a number

of issues, including that teachers can talk about people being gay. NPR's Greg Allen in Miami, thank you. senator from Connecticut. He died yesterday due to complications from a fall. Lieberman was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000, but later ran for his Senate seat as an independent. In 2011, when he announced he wouldn't run for a fifth Senate term, he described himself like this. I have not always fit comfortably into conventional political boxes. Maybe you've noticed that. Democrat, Republican, liberal, or conservative, because I've always thought that my first responsibility is not to serve a political party, but to serve my constituents,

my state and my country, and then to work across party lines to make sure good things get done for them. One of Connecticut's current U.S. senators, Democrat Chris Murphy, says Lieberman was one of one. In an era where folks want to filter everything into partisan understanding of the world, he was maddening. He was frustrating, right? But he was Joe Lieberman. And he was somebody that shaped policy. Not every senator gets to do that. Lieberman was 82 years old.

And that's Up First for Thursday, march 28th i'm debbie elliott and i'm leila falde your next listen is consider this from npr universal basic income was considered a radical idea in the u.s before the pandemic but now more than 150 such programs exist around the country and some are pushing to make it a permanent part of the social safety net. Listen to consider this. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Russell Lewis, Julia Redpath, Alice Wolfley, and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Ben Abrams, and Milton Gavata. We get engineering support from Arthur Loren. Our technical director is Stacey Abbott. Start your day here with us tomorrow.