texas "general hospital". joe, this is impossibly sad. you see the light in the eyes of henry. he was such a beautiful boy. he was around the "today" show studio a couple of times. a lot of us got to spend some time around him. and you cannot say enough about the love and care that richard and mary gave that boy. he was a light. >> he really was. and you see the love of a mother and a father there. just immeasurable pain. >> they were generous enough to share it all with us and the fact that they got the love back and the joy they got from henry too. >> that does it for us this morning. jose diaz-balart picks up the coverage right now. good morning. 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 pacific. which portions should be redacted after a florida judge

is willing to unseal some portions of the document. >> also this morning, ukrainian president zelenskyy warns the world could be on the verge of a nuclear disaster as a volatile situation unfolds at a power plant. meanwhile, be in los angeles, 50,000 students did not show up for the first day of school. we'll talk about challenges facing the l.a. unified school district with a new superintendent. and with the federal pause set this month, the president faces uncertainty in his own party. ♪♪ we begin with a surprising development of the fbi search from former president trump's mar-a-lago resort. they are reviewing the affidavit

for potential reactions after the judge, who approved the warrant, said he is inclined to unseal parts of it. the judge gave the department until next thursday to submit proposed redactions. it is very fortunate for the public to have as much as information as he can about this unprecedented church. it is a partial victory for president trump and media organizations, including nbc news, who pushed for the affidavit to be released in the interest of transparenty. the justice department wanted to keep the document secret, arguing the problem into mishandling of classified information is in early stages and releasing it could compromise witnesses and reveal details about where the investigation is going. after the hearing, a trump spokesperson tweeted, there should be no redactions and the whole affidavit should be released. with us now to talk about this, nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken

dilanian. and our msnbc contribcontributo. what is the likelihood we will see a redacted affidavit any time soon? >> good morning, jose. it may not be any time soon. the justice department has a week to propose redactions. but if the judge disagrees or the justice department doesn't like the judge's decision, it can appeal. it can appeal many layers up to the supreme court. it could be some time before we see this. even when we do, jose, the judge himself said this could end up being, his phrase, meaningless gibberish. i do think the judge would make this ruling if he doesn't see some room for release at least some aspect of this that could shed light for the public on this investigation.

>> and, chuck, a lot of people were thinking zero chance the affidavit would ever be released in any form. what do you think made the judge think otherwise? >> well, i was one of those people who thought there was very little chance, jose, that it would be released in full and almost -- and redactions, as ken described, may be so extensive you're not going to be able to glean anything from it. here's what i think is going on. this is just my impression. obviously, i haven't read the affidavit. i think the judge's instincts were laudable and wrong. i think he was trying to find some middle ground. there is great public interest in the affidavit. and trying to make some of the affidavit to all of us. i think that's laudable. this is just drawing on my own experience as a federal prosecutor, jose, when the government says there are legitimate ongoing law

enforcement interests in keeping the information sailed, i take them at their word. i credit that. in trying to find a middle ground, i think he's causing a lot of consternation and maybe needless work. as ken described, we could either end up with a slightly or partially unsealed affidavit that is heavily redacted and/or if the government is still not happy and still doesn't believe its investigative interests are being adequately protected, they can appeal. seems to be a lot of work to get to a place that's not going to help anybody very much. >> yeah. and to piggyback off that point, frank, the justice department said it could compromise the investigation. could releasing that affidavit compromise their investigation? >> yeah. the investigative aspects here could be to chill the future work in the case. we've already heard doj say this

is an ongoing criminal investigation. that's significant to learn in itself. this wasn't just about getting the documents back. there's more to be done here. so if you're the investigators assigned to this case, you want to develop more sources, more witnesses. we have seen references to witnesses, past and present, in the doj's filings. and there's concern about the ability to sit down with people, get them to cooperate if in the back of their head they're thinking is my name or cooperation going to be released here, even if that's highly unlikely, that continues to be a concern here. so, doj finds itself in really a strange position. they're not used to having to think about protect protecting a case while also kind of fighting and planning a public strategy, a pr strategy. because, rest assured, whatever comes out in this redaction, if it comes out at all, whether

it's all black page after black page or not, you're going to hear the trump folks saying, see that, there is a strategy to black everything out. they don't want us to see this. you really can't win at this point. >> ken, just wondering,, like, who would be in charge of redacting what? and does the judge have the final say on, no, this is -- this redaction is not acceptable, or redact less? what's that process like? >> yeah. the judge has the final say, jose. you're absolutely right. the head of the counter espionage justice department was arguing for the doj in court yesterday. presumably he would be in charge. he has a bevy of prosecutors, fbi agents that would all be putting their heads together and trying to figure out where their red lines are. although, the redactions will be black. you know, what they absolutely cannot tolerate being exposed and then where they could maybe

compromise. they will propose a set of redactions that will probably be more than the judge is willing to accept. the judge may push back. and the judge will make his final ruling. and he said he would put it under seal to allow the justice department time to appeal. we will have to see whether they can come to some agreement or whether it goes on appeal. in this case it could drag on weeks or months >> chuck, how unusual is it for search warrants to be released? >> well, ultimately, they are released. right? what's charges are filed, once everyone has been apprehended, once witnesses and evidence has been secured, they are typically released. i have written affidavits for search and arrest warrants in national security cases, and we do write them with an eye toward the future, knowing they will be released. what is highly unusual is releasing them during the investigation, jose. so, are they released? sure. when are they released?

when the investigation is over. maybe after charges have been filed. but are they typically released during the pendency of an investigation? no. that's what frank was getting at. even if there's nothing in the released information that undermines this particular case because it will be heavily redacted if released, it still sends something to other people who might cooperate in some other case, they can't be protected during the pendency of the investigation. i think that's bad for the justice department and i think it's bad for justice >> interesting. frank, what are your thoughts on that? there is a repercussion that, just as it is right now, this will have in future investigations you think, frank? >> well, we've seen actually in the doj filing opposing release that, you know, there's a road map in their affidavit to this their investigation. we saw a reufrpbs reference to

other high-profile information. this might include co-op rarities, witnesses in other investigations. maybe the january 6th inquiry. maybe some of the same people are cooperating. if you're an agent assigned to this case, you are really becoming concerned that you have to speed up your investigation. it's possible that the timing of criminal investigations could actually be impacted by decisions this judge makes. >> interesting. while a source familiar with the matter says there are discussions about releasing surveillance video of that mar-a-lago search? >> that's right. they asked the trump team to turn off the video while searching the compound. that request was declined. eric trump said they were absolutely considering releasing that video at the right time, which set off alarm bells inside the fbi. they do not want the faces of

their agents to be shown in public in this atmosphere of threats and violence. the justice department has asked news organizations to blur the faces of any fbi agents shown in the event this video is released. it is kind of an ugly situation, jose. it will be interesting to see how this plays. is this good for trump or bad for trump? the image of a swarm of fbimar- the jury is out on that. >> so the fbi apparently asked him not to record, but it wasn't an order. in other words, they had the right to record that, right? . >> that's right. and i'm told the justice department feels it does not have the legal authority to stop the trump side from releasing this surveillance video, jose. >> chuck, what kind of discussions are you having with former colleagues about what we have been living through the next couple of weeks? >> i think generally, jose if you ask any man or woman as a

special agent, professional support, they typically have two answers to the question how are you doing? answer number one is, fine. we love our work. we love the mission. we admire our colleagues. we're glad we're here. and answer number here is not so fine. there are lots of attacks not just on the fbi but in law enforcement generally. that's dangerous, reckless and disheartening. and i would hope that adults would stand up and speak up for members of law enforcement. two answers to the question. fine because we love our work. and not so fine because of the attacks. >> chuck rosenberg, frank figliuzzi and, ken, i will see you in a couple of minutes. >> still ahead, the red-hot housing market is chilling as home sales plummet across the country. what could it mean for a housing

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17 past the hour now. ukrainian and western officials are on edge amid warnings that russia is planning an incident at the zaporizhzhia power plant, the largest in europe. intelligence received information that russia told its workers not to show up to work today. but russia says ukraine is planning an attack on it and they would blame russia for it. and there have been concerns about shelling around the nuclear plant. u.n. secretary-general antonio guterres said if an attack,

material could sweep through europe. >> every potential damage to zaporizhzhia is suicide. >> joining us now josh letterman in dnipro, ukraine. ceo of the woodrow wilson center, josh. josh, what are you learning about what's going on in the plant today? . >> well, both russia and ukraine have been predicting there could be some type of provocation there today, jose. that has followed in which both countries were accusing each other of shelling the nuclear plant. it's been difficult to know exactly what's happening there. the russians do control the plant. the ukrainians have said this is all a false flag operation by russia to try to blame ukraine and also to potentially try to disconnect the power plant from ukraine's energy grid and instead connect it to crimea and russia. they say when the explosions go

off there there is only a second and a half to three seconds between the time of something being launched and impact, which they say makes it clear that russia is launching munitions from the nuclear power plant, at the nuclear power plant in an effort to blame ukraine for it. they have been holding nuclear disaster drills. and new video shows russia has placed military vehicles inside the turbine halls of two of the nuclear reactors. authorities are encouraging women who are pregnant, as well as children in the jab region gentleman region to leave because they would be at the greatest risk of radiation if it were to spread. >> apparently the russians told their workers not to show up. it's already in the afternoon there. do we know about what went on today inside that plant? >> yeah. we know that some of the russian

workers from the russian state nuclear energy company left last night. they were told to get out of there. today they were not supposed to go to work. aol critical personnel expected to show up. so far so good. we vice president seen any indications of explosions or other incidents there. there are still many hours left in the day. in the past the types of strikes we have seen tended to be at night after dark. so ukrainians still hoping that that won't be the case. but certainly bracing for that possibility. so i guess it's 5:20 p.m. your time. i'm just wondering what do you think putin's rationale is here? >> well, let's remember that he was threatening the use of tactical nukes a few months ago. they have a signature. and everybody would know they came from russia. this mess is intended, i think, to confuse folks so russia can

use it as propaganda. i have no doubt if this happens it would be a russian-triggered event. and it would be very dangerous, as your reporter just said. so let's hope compromise prevail. it seems like a desperate act by russia because things aren't going well. it is attacking russian facilities in crimea. that's a rich irony. and zelenskyy has said the war started in crimea and it will end in crimea. and high mars and the other weapons are really making a dent. we learned the old tanks they're using are very easy to blow up. so this could be unfortunately a hugely dangerous move by russia. >> josh, you also have been reporting about the strikes in crimea? >> that's right. the big question has been who

was behind them. was ukraine's government responsible for the strikes in crimea. a ukrainian official guerrilla fighters, pro-ukrainian opposed to russia's occupation were involved in the strikes. this official is not commenting on whether ukrainian special forces may have been involved in directing or facilitating those strikes. this is a clear indication this is not people lighting cigarettes and blowing it up. this is part of a strategy to make clear to russia that it is really used to try to launch air attacks on russia, ukrainian territory that they are they are not safe as they begin to push territory in the south. >> i'm just wondering, and you were talking about the russian

tanks that are easier to blow up than i guess a lot of people have known. you know, there's this whole legend of the strength of the russian armed forces. that's been shown to be a legend without any legs on it. is this something putin could continue to survive when we're coming up on the 24th of this month, the six-month anniversary of this devastating attack on ukraine. >> well, most reports that i've seen shows highway total control in russia. he uses propaganda extremely well. he has shut down many other modes of communication. interesting little factoid is that the ukrainians turn out to be fabulous hackers and very inventive at blocking russian cyber attacks but also at engineering even more advanced weapons than the west is providing. i heard that the weapon used to

attack crimea was reengineered by these smart ukrainians. and this is the rich irony too, they believe it will be what israel's economy is, a very advanced technology economy. let's just hope they get through the next patch. it is reported that six countries in europe. i hope this is false. member of the eu stopped sending aid to ukraine. this would be terrible if the flow of aid slowed down. and the appropriations run out at the end of september. then comes a '22 election. if anything goes wrong in this nuclear plant, as gutierres

said, radiation will affect europe. will that be an attack on nato? >> i thank you both for being with us. >> thank you. a dire skwaeugz in schools across the nation. how he is tackling the seven for teachers and missing students. you're watching jose diaz-balart reports. lart reports.

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students the district hadn't heard from. joining us now is the superintendent of the los angeles unified school district. and i should say a friend of mine, who i very much admire. alberto, 50,000 kids absent? how are there so many missing from school and how do you tackle that? >> jose, my dear friend. while this is a result of coming together of a number of factors. number one, the pandemic. put a lot of kids in position for whatever reason they stopped coming to school. economic conditions. temporarily or forever left the greater l.a. area. and the result of a change, shift in immigration policies, we believe there are considerable fears in the minds of many parents. we ended up with about 50% of kids chronically absent. we begin with monday with 50,000 out. but yesterday we reached already

a 93% attendance rate, which means we're still looking for about 25,000 to 30,000 students. so the work is still ongoing. >> superintendent, until this year, you worked as a superintendent in miami-dade for 14 years. and there you revolutionized the school system. what lessons are you taking from that experience, especially in helping underserved areas? >> all the strategies, jose, that actually work. you know, teaching kids how to read is no longer a skill set deficit. it is a will set proposition. do we have the courage to do the right thing. lower class saoeusz in most effective areas. the best teachers deployed to the most fragile schools. before and after school support programs, tutorial programs, aggressive counseling, social and emotional support, coherency approach as far as curriculum and progress monitoring tools.

well compensated, respected teachers and the support of the community. how about this, as a bonus round of parent academy to motivate and empower the community. it worked in miami. trust me, it will work in los angeles. in fact, we already have full staffing in our schools. every kid right now is being taught by a credentialed teacher across the 30,000 classrooms in the l.a. unified. >> superintendent, you yourself are living the american dream. you found out at an early age the value of education. >> i was undocumented in this country, grew up in poverty. my first job was in new york city as a dishwasher. i was once homeless in miami blocks from the office where i became superintendent. i said don't tell me the impossible can become the inevitable. that is what we realize need to be for every kid. i see myself in the eyes of the

kids we teach, the kids whose dreams we are realizing. l.a. is the second largest in the country. trust me, i'm going to do my very best alongside 24,000 teachers and many thousands support staff to make it the number one premier urban district in the country. >> i thank you very much for being with us. thanks. >> thank you. up next, a member of the notorious isis terrorist cell. he will find out his fate in a u.s. courtroom for killing american hostages. you're watching jose diaz-balart reports. reports. in order to thrive in an ever-changing market. the right relationship with a bank who understands your industry, as well as the local markets where you do business, can help lay a solid foundation for the future. pnc provides the resources of one of the nation's largest banks and local leaders with a focus on customized insights

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he was found dead in his prison cell less than 12 hours after he arrived at the west virginia prison. bulger had been on the run from law enforcement for 16 years before being captured in 2011. two people were killed when two small planes collided on thursday. both were on their final approach at the time of the collision. two people were on board one flight. one person on the second. a government commission in mexico released the results of an official inquiry into the disappearance of 43 students from napa back in 2014 which is now declared a state crime. local, state and federal officials had knowledge of the students's movements and were involved in their disappearance. the government has issued arrest warrants for 33 former officials linked to the case. right now a virginia court is sentencing an isis fighter convicted in the murder of slain

american journalist james foley. foley, you'll remember, was murdered in 2014 after a year in captivity in northern syria. we expect to hear from his parents after the sentencing. u.s. authorities say the terrorist was one of four members of an isis cell in iraq and syria referred to as the beatles for their british accents. ken dilan yann is back with break it down for us. this is the highest isis fighter to stand trial in the u.s. >> that's right. he is the most prominent member to be brought to trial here. he was captured in syria by a kurd issue-backed militia as he tried to flee to turkey. they beheaded some of them on video. he was convicted in federal court after an emotional two-week trial of 12 former

captives who detailed relentless beatings, waterboarding. he is likely to spend time in florence, colorado. the group's actions are said to have resulted in the deaths of four u.s. hostages. journalist james foley and steven sotloff and kayla mueller and peter kassig. they attorney general waived the death penalty to secure crucial evidence from the british government. in july 2020, al shaik incriminated himself in the mistreatment of western hostages in syria. >> they are very timid. they will say it's not enough. he would take the -- because he would think he is going to get punished for it. >> reporter: that interview was the first time that he had admitted involvement in muller,

tortured and sexually abused in her death. in terms of the other three, cote was sentenced to life in u.s. federal prison in the same federal courthouse in april. jihadi john was killed in a usair strike in 2015. a fourth, ian leslie davis, was recently arrested on terrorism charges in london, having been released from prison in turkey, jose. >> ken, thank you so much. up next, mitch mcconnell's midterm prediction. plus, the biden administration has less than two weeks to decide whether it will resume student loan payments. we'll talk to congressman bowen about what he thinks should be done next. n about what he thinks should be done next. new astepro allergy. no allergy spray is faster. with the speed of astepro, almost nothing can slow you down. because astepro starts working in 30 minutes,

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probably a greater likelihood the house flips than the senate. senate races are just different. they're statewide. candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome. >> joining us now nbc news senior political reporter. why do you think the senator thinks republicans may not be win the senate? . >> well, he dropped a pretty big hint there, mitch mcconnell did, when he said candidate quality. it's a really big issue republicans are struggling with this cycle. it doesn't take a mind reader to figure out who he is concerned about. dr. oz is struggling so much in this race, they shifted their rating from tossup. democrats are winning in ohio. j.d. vance. they will spend $28 million to prop him up. this is a republican-leaning

state. donald trump won by eight points even though he lost the country by 4.5 points in 2020. it should not be this difficult for republicans. because of a first time untested candidate, republicans are having to go in to prop him up. and first-time candidates in states like georgia with her shell walker and arizona make masters seen as wild cards in crucially competitive states. what do all four men have in common, jose? they were they are all hand-picked by donald trump. he is extremely effective at pushing his candidates, elevating them to win republican primaries. can he do that in a general election as well. if he doesn't, if they fall short, i suspect a lot will be giving trump a side eye as well. i think mitch mcconnell is feeling deja vu when republicans had excellent chances to take the senate. failed to do so by failing to nominate todd aiken, sharon

engel. they seem worried it could happen again thank you so much. turning to a looming deadline for millions, literally millions of student loan borrowers still in limbo is set to expire to the 31st of this month with no word from the white house yet whether there will be another extension. according to the education data initiative, the outstanding federal loan balance stands at over $1.6 trillion. and 43 million borrowers of federal student loan debt. joining us now with more is the vice chair on the committee on education and labor. he is called on the biden administration to end student loan debt. congressman, great to see you. why is this issue so important to you? >> well, people can't afford to live.

you know, we are still a recovering economy. even though job numbers are up, those numbers are not up for the african american and latino community. we're also seeing that seniors, who many hold student death still into their 60s and even 70s, cannot afford to live, cannot afford to pay rent. and coming off a pandemic that has killed more than a million people, it is time to reset our entire community. and canceling student loan debt or canceling a major chunk will be huge when we look at wealth inequality, affordability and resetting the overall economy. now is the time to do it, especially as we go into midst terms where democrats have to show what we have delivered for the american people. we have delivered a lot. this would be a knock-out blow to americans. >> how and who would be doing that knockout blow? >> well, the president has the

authority. he can take executive action and cancel student loan debt. i'm hearing whispers he might consider $50,000 in cancellation. even that would be huge in dealing with the issue of health inequality affordability overall. the president has the authority. the secretary of education has been exploring this for many, many months. we know conversations are happening. it's time to get it done. at the very least, the pause should continue, and we feed to make sure that no one goes into default, at the least. at best, let's take the big step to cancel student loan debt. >> congressman, according to the "washington post," the administration has created a plan to bring 7.5 million americans in default on their loans back to good standing. what's the significance of this particularly for lower-income individuals? >> well, that's huge. you know, a vast majority of the borrowers come from challenging

circumstances. and many are underemployed, even after receiving their degree. many never even received their degree. so the fact that we're saving them from going into default, it's going to allow them to hopefully go forward and take out mortgage loans and car loans and reinvest back in the economy. that's the other thing. if we cancel student loan debt outright, people will feel more confident on starting families, on investing in the market or starting their own businesses and it would really inject capital into the economy, which is what we need now at this time. on the other hand, we need to make sure we hold corporations accountable for price gouging pb because what we've seen here is when money sin injected into the economy, corporations take advantage and price gouge. and that is something we still have to deal with, and we have a bill, the emergency price stabilization act to deal with that particular issue.

>> and in january, the brookings institute found that student loan debt was concentrated in more affluent households. the top 20% of households ranked by wealth own 31% of student loans. the second highest owns 2%. what's your response to that, congressman? >> well, as we know, households that have wealth are more likely and have the capacity to pay back the loans. but we're talking about the other 60-some-odd percent that do not have that wealth. those are the people that are struggling. those are teachers, those are nurses. those are people who finished their education disproportionately, african-american latina, disproportionately women of color, as well. >> congressman jamaal bowman, it's always a pleasure to see you. i thank you so much for your time this morning. >> thank you. up next, home sales are dropping for the sixth month in

a row. but are houses becoming more affordable? you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." rdable you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ with godaddy you can start a stunning online store for free. easily connect it to social platforms and marketplaces. and manage all your sales from one place. because if you've got it, we've got you.

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56 past the hour. new indications this morning that the housing market is continuing to slow down, across the country. last month, home sales declined for the sixth month in a row, compared to july of last year. home sales fell by 20%, raising fears of whether the u.s. is now in the midst of a housing recession. joining us now is cnbc's real

estate correspondent, diana olick. diana, good morning. what does this really mean for people looking to buy or sell a home? >> well, jose, good morning. it means that it's basically a completely different market than it was just six months ago. and the reason for that is because not only do we have sharply higher home prices, but mortgage rates moved decidedly higher. we're at around 5.5% right now on the 30-year fixed. in june, when those contracts on the july home sales were signed, we went over 6%. and that's why we saw that precipitous drop. but a year ago, we were under 3%. and when you factor that into the high home prices already, it makes it so much harder, especially for first-time buyers to get into this extremely pricey market, jose. >> so, diana, what are we looking forward to? is this the new normal or do you think that it's going to stabilize anytime soon? >> well, that depends entirely on prices. historically, home prices usually lag sales by about six

months. and we are starting to see prices soften a bit. i'm not saying they're going down by any stretch. remember, we are up 40% in prices since the start of the pandemic. so while the home builders said in a report earlier this week that we were trying to lower prices, some on average by about 5%, it's not going to be enough to get to that really affordable level. you're not going to see home prices crash the way they did during the great recession and the subprime mortgage crisis. you may see them flatten out a little bit. and in some markets that were extremely hot in the south, perhaps in florida or in phoenix, las vegas. you might see them come down a little bit compared to a year ago. but they are still extremely high from just, again, the start of the pandemic. so, i think going forward, you will see home sales slow down. you still have a very tight supply of homes on the market. we saw home construction drop in july. we're not getting any help from the builders. so, again, it's going to be all about those prices, jose. >> diana olick, thank you so very much.

good seeing you. before we go, a sigh of relief for a 22-year-old texas man who's raising his 12-year-old brother all by himself. in the last couple of years, ju passed away and their home was severely damaged by hurricanes and ice storms. the damages were so severe, they were left without a home they could live in and no money to fix it. well, a local nonprofit, katie responds, stepped in and with volunteers and donations from community members, they remodeled the entire home in three months. here's what the brothers had to say. >> i love it. i'm speechless. it's way more than we asked for. completely grateful. >> i'm so happy to see that there is good people, you know, that like -- just the way that we've been treated, i just didn't think anything good would happen. >> there are good people out there, aren't there?

that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. i'll see you tomorrow night on "nbc nightly news" saturday. you can always reach me on twitter and instagram @jdbalart. please follow the show @jdbalartmsnbc. thank you for the privilege of your time. lindsey reiser picks up with more news right now. good friday morning. i'm lindsey reiser, live from msnbc headquarters in new york. right now, the countdown is on. six days, that's how much time the justice department has to submit its proposed redactions to the affidavit used to secure the fbi's search of donald trump's mar-a-lago estate. how much of it will we actually see and what could it reveal about the broader investigation. we'll talk to experts about the details investigators would want to keep secret. also this hour, a political jolt from senator mitch mcconnell.