good morning. 10:00 a.m. eastern. i'm jose-diaz-balart. key races are taking shape this morning ahead of the midterm election after millions of

americans cast their ballot in yesterday's primaries. from new york and florida, including one big win in a swing district that could foreshadow what we see in november. plus, today marks independence day in ukraine. now under high alert that moscow could step up strikes on civilians. we'll bring you a live report from the ground. joe biden is suspected to announce in the upcoming hours a decision on student loan debt. we'll tell you what we can expect. and uvalde, texas, the fate of the school police chief hangs in the balance today. while some children who survived the massacre are simply too scared to return to the classroom. we begin this hour with the results from some key races in tuesday's primary elections. in new york and in florida. in new york's newly redrun 12th

congressional district, jerry nadler defeated carolyn maloney in a race that put two veteran democrats against one another. in florida's primary, it was former governor and current congressman charlie crist, who was declared the winner as he gets to take on governor ron desantis. and in the race to see who will challenge florida's republican senator marco rubio, congresswoman val demings won the democratic primary, as democrats hope to control the senate. back at the big board is steve kornacki. steve, good morning. good to see you. what stood out to you from last night's results? >> yeah, jose, it wasn't one of the primaries last night that was the big story. to me, it was the special election, special congressional election in new york's 19th congressional district. here you see the democrat, patriaian, defeating the republican. this is a classic swing district where this happened. take a look here.

in 2020, donald trump lost the district to joe biden by two points. in 2016, trump had won it by seven. if you went back to 2012, obama won it in 2012. so it's kind of tracked with the country. obama, then trump, then biden. and it's exactly the kind of district that republicans felt would be ripe for them to peel off in a wave election year. but so much talk early on in this cycle about 2022 looming as a wave election e year. joe biden's approval rating is very low. the mood about the economy very sour. a year ago, republicans overperforming so dramatically in the virginia and new jersey nub thatter toial races. so this is the kind of district they looked at, almost as low-hanging fruit. instead the democrats win this special election last night in a bit of a surprise. one of the reasons why the democrats were able to win here was, you take a look at the district itself, there's two

counties here, two blue counties on the map here. olster is the most democrat nick the district. turnout, democratic voter turnout and interest, these two blue counties in 2020 accounted for 36% of all the votes that were cast in this district. last night, they accounted for 42% of the votes that were cast in this district. so disproportionately high turnout in the core democratic areas, made all the difference. what that says, jose, that get right to the argument that democrats have been making. they have been saying in the last self-months, particularly in the wake of the supreme court's decision, to overkurn roe v. wade, there has been a significant uptick in democratic interest, democratic enthusiasm in these elections, in these midterm elections. and seeing this turnout proportionately much higher democratic turnout in these

democratic areas than you saw republican turnout in these republican areas, that speaks to that argument that democrats are making, and it's not the first time we have seen it. we have now seen four special elections since that supreme court decision overturning roe v. wade. and in all four of those elections, the democrats have overperformed and done better than joe biden did in those districts in 2020. that's not the kind of result, that's not the kind of trend you would be expecting if a big republican wave were building. so there's a question now, some suspense, i don't think we're expecting a few months ago, heading into this fall's midterms. we were talking a few months ago, all the historical patterns favor the republicans. the out of power party, joe biden's approval rating is low. all of that. i think there's a question right now about whether broadly the national political environment has shifted away from the republicans and towards something more neutral.

and it raises the possibility, could the democrats simply hang on to the u.s. senate, and is the house where republicans only need to pick up a handful of seats to get control, is there actually a scenario here where the democrats could find a way to hanging on to that very, very slim house majority? i think a result like this last night absolutely raises that question. >> steve, what was the total turnout last night on this special election? higher than in the past, the same? >> yeah, i mean, it's tough to say, because we don't have too many special elections in this district to point to. but you could see, there were in excess here of about 150,000 votes that were cast of 130,000 votes that were cast in this district. like i say, i think that represents some high interest. but higher interest in the democratic areas than the republican areas.

molinaro ran up numbers here, his level of support in these counties was as high or higher than donald trump's support in the 2020 presidential election. it's just that the democratic turnout was so much higher in those two blue counties. that's what made all the difference for ryan in this race. and if you see a pattern like that emerge throughout the rest of the country, that could change the math in other districts, as well. >> steve kornacki, thank you so very much. great seeing you my friend. joining us is nbc's mark caputo. so let's begin where steve ended. after the supreme court overturned roe v. wade, democrats have outperformed now in a couple of -- several special elections. how much should democrats be reading into this? >> well, probably a lot. there's -- i think there's a disconnect between what we're seeing in the polling and what you're seeing in the results. the reality is, the abortion issue woke up the left, and there was all of this tension

that already existed and this anger. anger is a powerful motivator. and the january 6th sacking of the capitol, the constant investigations, donald trump reemerging as such a clear figure. and then clarence thomas, the supreme court justice, in his concurrence to the dobbs opinion overturning roe v. wade. maybe we should cancel federal legal protections for gay marriage, and all of those things stacked on top of each other helped wake up the left and the way republicans have approached abortion, like in florida where we are. there's a 15-week abortion ban. but there's no rape or incest exemptions. one of the things the democrats have been looking to do as define republicans as too radical. now republicans are playing into those hands. the left has woken up. they're moving forward.

you know, steve said it, it's very true. be careful of interpreting special elections and the like for a general election. but we have enough polling and election results to show that this is going to be a tighter race for the control of congress than it looked like in the early spring, early summer. >> meanwhile, in florida, what results did you particularly look at last night? >> well, charlie crist had a huge win for governor over nicky freed. but i wrote a story about this for nbc. when you talk to democrats, up and down the spectrum, they're really fatalistic, that's a direct quote about his chances. ron desantis is leading in the polls. he has $140 million in the bank. republicans have outregistered democrats in the florida voter rolls, never happened before. and you have this anchor effect that biden might be dragging. so there's a lot of nervousness

about how well crist can do against desantis. but there's a ray of hope, which is val demings. she would be the first black congresswoman or first black elected u.s. senator from florida, a woman. and they're parlaying her campaign off of her past as a police chief. but marco rubio, her opponent, is also kind of tough to beat. based in miami, this is a place where republicans -- democrats need to win big. he has strong support among hispanic voters. so it has the makings of a dogfight. >> interesting. >> thank you so much. now to the latest on the investigation into former donald trump's handling of classifying information. the national archives released the letter it sent to one of trump's attorneys in may saying its initial review of 15 boxes recovered from mar-a-lago found highly classified information, some of it highly sensitive.

this as four current u.s. officials tell nbc news top officials do not appear to have launched a formal assess tent of damage relating to the documents. joining us now is ken dilanian. what else did we learn from that leter? >> we learned a lot. it shed new light on the timeline leading up to this controversial search of donald trump's home. first of all, as you said, we learned that the u.s. government knew as early as late january that there were not only 700 pages of classified documents found in boxes that were in mar-a-lago, but they included some of the highest classifications in the u.s. government, top secret, sensitive information, special access programs that only a small number of individuals inside the u.s. government are allowed to see. but yet we also learned there was a four-month delay before the archives granted permission to the fbi to look at the

documents. even though the doj had quickly opened a criminal investigation. and there's some bureaucracy around presidential letters. this letter was the archives saying we are overruling claims of privilege and giving these documents to the fbi. that was may, having learned in january about the classified nature of the documents. then we learned from the trump lawsuit and other reporting that there was a series of steps, grand jury, subpoenas, visits to mar-a-lago, all this before the doj took the dramatic step of getting that search warrant and going down there. and clearly, taken together, you see a picture of the justice department bending over backwards to give the president the benefit of doubt, and feeling deceived and getting a warrant, jose. >> ken, we're getting word that congressman scott perry, who is at the center of the january 6th investigations, is suing the justice department? >> that's right. his phone was seized under a

warrant on august 9. the warrant gave the fbi the ability to seize his phone, and they needed another warrant to rook at the data. now they are negotiating, because some material on that phone might be protected under the speech and debate clause, under attorney/client privilege. he's asking the judge to prevent the fbi from looking at any of it, and the fbi is negotiating an arrangement where lawyers can look at it together to sift out the information that's not relevant, jose. >> ken dilanian, thank you so much. still ahead, joe biden is expected to make a major announcement today about forgiving some student loan debt. but first, six months ago today, russia invaded ukraine. we'll be going live to ukraine to see how people are doing. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." atching "j you may be missing a critical piece. preservision. preservision areds 2 contains the only clinically proven nutrient formula recommended by

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17 past the hour. ukraine is on high alert today. it's been six months today since the russian invasion of that country began. large-scale celebrations were discouraged in kyiv over fears russia may step up its attack, especially after last weekend's car bombing that killed the daughter of a putin ally right outside moscow. ukraine's president marked independence day in a speech which he said ukraine was reborn when russia invaded, and that the country's ultimate goal is victory. joe biden is marking the occasion by announcing a nearly

$3 billion package of weapons and equipment for ukraine, expected to include air defense systems, artillery and drones. boris johnson visited kyiv to show his support for ukraine, and the united nations warns of catastrophic consequences if the fighting around europe's largest nuclear power plant doesn't end. with us now is megan fitzgerald and ambassador william taylor, former ambassador to ukraine. megan, what's the mood in ukraine today as it marks its independence day? >> reporter: jose, great question. this is an incredibly grateful nation, grateful to the men and women who have lost their lives while fighting on the frontlines in this war for the independence of ukraine. and those who are still actively fighting. this day has a completely different meaning for people,

now that the country is at war. but look, people are on edge. the capital city here of kyiv, we know that people have left ahead of those warnings from u.s. intelligence with ukrainian intelligence, warning that the russians could be planning a vicious, vengeful attack. we know that mass gatherings in this city have been banned. people are being told to work from home, which is a stark contrast how they celebrate this day. like in the united states, there's parades, fireworks, festivals. so a somber mood right now. currently, kyiv is relatively quiet, but in the east, we saw overnight just this constant shelling in kharkiv, which is the second largest city here in ukraine. i had an opportunity earlier today to speak with the mayor of kyiv. i want you to take a little bit of our conversation. >> it is genocide what happened

in bucha and other cities. what we are doing is to bring the safety to every one of us, what we have to do in the current situation, and we live right now in the war. continue to live. >> reporter: yeah, a really powerful interview there. he said putin wants ukraine without ukrainians, he said. then he went on to tell us that in mariupol, which is in the southeast part of the country, there is grave concern there that the death toll could be beyond 30,000 people. we just don't know. the atrocities and war crimes being committed there, there are big fears. but because that area is occupied by the russians, there's no way of knowing the devastation that's there, jose. >> that's really something that

is so tragic and yet, as you're saying, because megan, the fact is they control that area. it's very difficult to know what is going on there. now, ambassador, i'm just wondering, this fighting that's going on around, near, in, outside this nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in europe, somewhat is so concerning about this? >> well, jose, we all remember the disaster, nuclear disaster in chernobyl in soviet times, when human error, soviet human error caused the great explosion and radiation spewing out over a lot of europe. that's the concern. and the russians now occupy zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and they are keeping the inspectors and the safety inspectors out of that plant. there is shelling going on.

the ukrainians say it's the russians that are shelling the nuclear power plant, which is obviously, jose, just a dangerous situation that they are trying to resolve. >> you know, ambassador, it's also just extraordinary to think that six months into the russian invasion of a country, of ukraine, ukraine is not only still standing, but they're actually pushing the russians back in a lot of places. >> they absolutely are. you're right to point out that this is six months. in the beginning, in the first month, the ukrainians pushed the russians -- stopped the invasion and attack on kyiv, pushed the russians back, and now the ukrainians are mounting an indirect, a gradual counteroffensive in the south, trying to push the russians back out of the area that the russians have controlled. the russians now occupy about

20% of ukrainian territory, and the ukrainian military is now gradually pushing them back, with the support of this new weapon, these new weapons that the americans and the brits and the germans and the poles are providing to the ukrainians. so the ukrainians have a lot of support. they're using that support well, and they are gradually pushing the russians back. >> ambassador william tay more, megan fitzgerald, thank you very much for your time. the u.s. has retaliated for its acts earlier this month against u.s. facilities in syria. the u.s. military launched air strikes yesterday in syria. the u.s. says it doesn't believe there were casualties. the attacks hit nine bunkers believed to be used for ammunition storage. last week, rockets hit two u.s. facilities and the u.s. says it's certain iranian aligned groups were the source of both attacks. coming up, millions of

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27 past the hour. joe biden is expected to make a major announcement on student loan debt. the president is set to cancel up to $10,000 per borrower for those earning $125,000 a year or less. biden is expected to extend the pause on federal student loan payments for several more months. 45 million americans owe $1.7 trillion in student loan debt. joining us now with the latest is chief white house correspondent kristen welker. great seeing you. what are the details that we're waiting on from the white house? >> reporter: jose, it's great to be with you. what we are expecting this announcement a little later on today, joe biden returning from his vacation in delaware. and we do anticipate that he's going to announce that his administration will extend that pause on student loans through

january. of course, the timeline here is significant, jose, because it goes through the november midterm elections. and then, as you say, he's also expected to announce $10,000 student loan forgiveness for boar lowers who make less than $125,000 a year, important to the president to cap it at that level. so it really targets those in the lower income brackets. what is notable about this moment and about this announcement, jose is that the president is getting some backlash from a number of different sides. some democrats want him to go further. the top democrat in the senate, chuck schumer, pushing him to forgive $50,000 in student loan debt. your progressive groups, the naacp arguing for more student loan forgiveness, saying this doesn't do enough to help americans of color who are struggling with student loan debt. then on the other side, you have republicans who are saying that this could ultimately add to

inflation. this is a statement from kevin mccarthy who said the president is transferring $10,000 in student loan debt for highly educated rich borrowers and who pays for it? hardworking americans. the white house would push back on that characterization. and officials here would note that this cause only extends through january. so they say ultimately, it's not going to add to inflation. but as you can tell, jose, all sides will be watching this very closely. >> kristen welker at the white house, thank you so much. up next, new developments in the police calling of rashard brooks y. the two officers involved will not be charged, next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." ing "jose diaz-balart reports. power e*trade's award-winning trading app makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use tools, and paper trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. power e*trade's easy-to-use tools

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has drowned trying to cross the rio grande. his death comes less than 24 hours after a 5-year-old also drowned in the river. the boy was with his uncle, who was carrying a 2-month-old baby. the 2-month-old baby was rescued. a jury convicted two men of conspiring to kidnap the governor of michigan. in 2020, they were found guilty of conspiring to obtain a weapons of mass destruction with plans to blow up a bridge to slow police. students in columbus, ohio began their first day of school today remotely, as teachers remain on strike. the city announced it would create student support spaces to help children with online learning. teachers are asking for better building conditions, funding for arts and physical education, and better pay among other demands. the families of rashard brooks say they will file a civil lawsuit after a special

prosecutor announced he will not provide with charges against the officers involved in his killing. two police officers shot and killed brooks outside of a wendy's in atlanta in 2020. the prosecutor is now concluding their actions were reasonable. in kentucky, a former police detective admitted she misled a jury into wrongly authorizing a raid of 26-year-old breonna taylor's apartment in 2020. the raid resulted in taylor's death. the former detective, kelly goodlet, pled guilty to federal court to one count of conspiracy. with us now is charles coleman, civil rights attorney, former brooklyn attorney and msnbc legal analyst. always a pleasure to see you. on the rashard brooks case, what is the process you go through as a prosecutor to -- when deciding whether or not to pursue charges in a case like this? >> well, jose, ultimately, this is going to come down to a question of reasonableness of force.

you as a prosecutor are reviewing all of the evidence that you have in front of you, the videotapes from every different angle, and witness accounts, in order to determine whether the force that the officers used against rashard brooks that evening was reasonable under the circumstances. was it reasonable under the circumstances for them to have a fear of their life, such that they invoked lethal force against rashard brooks? apparently the prosecutor in this case, the special prosecutor, determined that they did. >> you wrote, charles, about reactions to police violence yesterday. "leaving this as an issue to individual court cases without policy reform is the wrong approach." why? >> one of the things we don't realize why these things continue to happen is we continue to process police violence in america on an individualized basis without accepting the fact that the system, in large part, needs an overhaul at the ground up. and part of that overhaul has to be accountability measures that

are rooted in policy. we don't have a system right now that, in a widespread nature, holds police accountable. qualified immunity is a shield from police often times for their wrongdoing, and things of that nature create a lack of trust for society. because of that, if we continue -- if the system continues to function the way it does, we can guarantee more instances of police violence are going to continue to happen. >> and then also the detective who misled the judge in the breonna taylor search warrant will be the first police force member to be convicted over that raid. you wrote about the case and said police violations of civil rights undermine democracy. what did you mean by that? >> well, jose, police in society essentially exist together in a contract. that contract allows law enforcement great discretion in order to keep us safe. it allows them the discretion up to and including being able to

take human life. the exchange for that is our safety. one of the premises of that is transparency and truthfulness. when police, as they were in the case of breonna taylor, violate that by being dishonest, when they violate their end of the contract, it is unraveling one of the most fundamental tenants of our democracy. so all of these things have to be at the front of our mind, because it's not a black or white issue, it's an american issue that needs to be addressed. >> charles coleman, always a pleasure to see you. thank you for your time. and turning this morning to uvalde, texas, where tonight, the school board plans to discuss whether to fire school district police chief pete arredondo, who has come under intense scrutiny since the massacre at robb elementary school. three months later, some students don't feel safe going

back for the first day which is under two weeks away. this man is one of many uvalde parents now moving their children to virtual classes. [ speaking non-english ] >> he says his kids are afraid and don't want to go to school and his son worries officers wouldn't enter the building if something happened, even if they were there. joining us now is an investigative reporter at the austin american statesman. what do we expect from today's school board meeting? >> well, the motion is to fire the school district police chief, pete arredondo, who we all know at this point was the incident commander, at least

according to investigators. he assumed the role of incident command during this very flawed response. of course, he has said he did not assume that position, and was merely acting as a responding officer that day. but over the past several weeks, we know that there have been some level of negotiations between his attorney and the school district about possibly him leaving the district, being separated from the district. and so tonight, the school board is set to possibly consider firing him, ousting him, and of course, jose, the that were to happen, of course, we would be asking and wanting to know what are the terms if there are any, of such a separation? >> tony, the building where the shooting took place may be closed for good, but turning to school is really scary for those kids and kits throughout uvalde. what are you hearing from families? >> certainly, this is part of

the trauma of everything that happened that day. you have ongoing, unimaginable grief for the parents who lost children. but also, in addition to that, this grappling for what the future holds for parents whose children were inside that school that day, are now intimately and painfully familiar with what happened that day. and many families are just trying to sort through how to move forward, whether or not they will send their children back to school in a traditional setting, or whether or not there is some alternative they need to pursue. but keep in mind, many of these parents are working families, working parents who don't have the ability to stay home and do virtual school with a lot of their children. so it's a very complex and dynamic situation that parents are now facing. >> yeah.

as they continue to be bathed in the infinite pain of losing a child. tony, thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. still ahead, one of the most devastating hurricanes in history hit south florida 30 years ago. how the towns have recovered. but first, what exactly makes a presidential candidate electable? oh, hi, ali. she's got a great, fantastic book out, "electable" and will be here to talk to us about that and a whole lot more. ali, can't wait to just -- i've been reading your book and i love it. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." we'll be right back. l be right . ♪♪ subway's drafting 12 new subs for the all-new subway series menu

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new astepro allergy. now available without a prescription. astepro is the first and only 24-hour steroid free spray. while other allergy sprays take hours astepro starts working in 30 minutes. so you can... astepro and go. 47 past the hour. ukrainian president zelenskyy is addressing the united nations security council. today marks six months since russia invaded ukraine and it's the country's independence day. there you see him right there addressing the u.n. earlier, zelenskyy said ukraine was reborn when russia invaded it six months ago. with just 76 days until the november midterms, a brand new book details how the political

playing field is not equal for everyone. "electable, why america hasn't put a woman in the white house yet" details the challenges faced by non-male, non-white candidates and the lessons from the 2020 race. joining us now is ali vitali, who spent a lot of time on the road and on the campaign trail before write thing fantastic book, that i'm very much enjoying reading. >> thank you. >> you spoke to julian castro about his presidential run. he said -- >> what are the layers, disadvantages of non-male, non-white candidates face when they seek the highest office in the land? >> reporter: i'm so happy to have this conversation with you, and that you're enjoying the book as you read it. i was struck by those words from secretary castro, as well. he was very candid with me when we spoke for this book.

he was, as the only hispanic candidate in the democratic primary field in 2020, someone who brought a very important voice to this moment. but at the same time, was getting caught in a feedback loop that many non-white and non-male candidates get caught in, which is this idea that they are expected to speak to the issues facing their communities, whether that's -- those are issues of immigration in the case of castro, or for women, speaking to so-called women's issues, despite the fact that multiple women in the field said i'm so glad you want to talk about the economy, because that's a woman's issue, too. so you're not just looking to be the candidate for american women or american latinas, but the candidate for everybody. and that's why something that his campaign manager struck me so much when i was reporting for this book, i'll read to you, there's an objectivity that's given to white men to take any issue and make it broad. whereas there's a built-in

concept that everybody else's lens is already shaded. and so when you are a female candidate, when you are a candidate of color, speaking to those issues that directly impact your community, that's expected of you. but it's also to just be seen in a feedback loop as acandidate, which is a problem if you want to be the president for everybody. >> yeah, you know, i've been thinking a lot about that since i read it in your book, because it happens to a lot of people that aren't just in politics. you know, it seems as though many times, it's easy to pigeonhole people into what they should be talking about or what their passion point should be, right? and you also mention, ali, in our political system, and how we measure success was built, you say this, by straight white men for straight white men. what are some of the things you want voters to be conscious of this election season? >> look, that's kind of the point of this entire look, jose. i think that once you see these inequities, whether it's in the fund-raising systems or the ways

that these candidates are interpreted as authentic or likable, which, by the way, for women, is not just like nice to be liked, it actually impacts the way that voters vote for them. it's shown in some studies i point to in the book that voters will vote for a male candidate they don't like. i saw that time and again when i was on the campaign trail for donald trump, but for female candidates, it's harder for them to vote for a woman that they don't like. women have to walk that line of being likable, while also being aggressive on the primary stages, specifically on debate stages. i think that for voters, as they are bringing themselves to the able as who do i support here, checking those biases of why is this candidate maybe running me the wrong way, because of the way that their voice sounds, or because of the way that they are punching out on a debate stage and showing contrast. that's the job of being a candidate, that's the job of being a good candidate, and ultimately, it's the job of being president. >> yeah. ali, there's also just such great passages here about the privilege that it is to be a

reporter and to be able to cover these stories. ali vitali, thank you so much. i'm going to send you the book that i bought so you can sign it for me if you don't mind. >> absolutely. >> thanks, ali. 30 years ago today, hurricane andrew ravaged south florida. a rare category 5 hurricane. it was the strongest, most devastating hurricane on record to hit southern florida, according to the noaa, noaa. 30 years ago today, i was part of a team with nbc 6 miami along with so many others, including nbc's kerry sanders as we struggled to stay on-air to inform those in the path of this deadly hurricane. our station simulcasting on radio for those who had lost power. joining us from homestead, florida, kerry sanders. 30 years ago today, a lot of memories coming back to me today. what sticks out in your mind? >> i've got to tell you, so much is in my mind, because it can feel like yesterday, but this is remarkable, because this was

part of homestead air force base, okay? we're now in a building where they moved the fence line in, so this is leftover from homestead air force base, that got hit by the hurricane. so come in here. i'm going to take you a little bit around here to take a look at this. first of all, i don't know whether this is a result of vandals or whether this was from the hurricane, but the windows are all smashed. there are still some boards up on the windows here. you can see over here, there's a vehicle with a smashed out window. up here, the eager beavers, which was all part of what the homestead air force base team that was based here. and then you can see in here, this abandoned building. again, 30 years later, which is remarkable. but it's important to note, as we're looking here now, 30 years later, that what everybody experienced during hurricane andrew, well, at the end of the day, looking back now, there has only been five category 5 hurricanes. and what happened here was unlike anything that anybody had ever seen before.

the city of homestead, florida, is today rebuilt. three decades ago, no one thought homestead would recover. hurricane andrew, with wind gusts that broke one official gauge at 212 miles per hour. across south florida, andrew destroyed 65,000 homes, left 175,000 people homeless. >> i remember getting scared. i remember seeing the panic in my mother and my aunt's eyes. >> barbara lola cesar was 5 years old, protecting herself under a mattress at ground zero in homestead. >> and then the ceiling collapsed. it collapsed where we thought our -- my baby cousin was going to be the safest. >> reporter: her cousin survived, but the national hurricane center says 15 people were directly killed by the hurricane. i was reporting inside a car for wtvj and nbc news. >> i've got myself in this position in case something were -- some driveway were fly

through. >> the am of energy released in hurricanes is comparable to now literally thousands of nuclear devices being released every minute. >> initially, few knew how bad the damage was. >> for those mobile homes -- >> reporter: but once we could fly in choppers, the picture of devastation became clear. >> there must have been about, let's say, counting and trying to estimate, at least 300 to 400 mobile homes here. the rest are just completely gone. >> also in the path, zoo miami. among the iconic pictures, flamingos herded into the bathroom for protection. >> are any of these survivors of hurricane andrew? >> actually, eight of them. >> eight?! >> flamingos can live to be 50. >> at the time, few believed the zoo would ever return. but then, an interview here on "today" changed that. >> when we saw the outcry from the public after that "today" show interview, guys, this is our home. >> the tiger exhibit named after 12-year-old naomi browning, a

zoo volunteer, who told her mother, before she was killed by flying debris, mom, i'm worried about the animals. today, zoo miami has 3,000 animals, 500 specie >> what overwhelms me really is the generosity, the compassion, and the determination to get back to be better than we ever were. >> so you see resilience, not sadness? >> absolutely. >> this seems like a snapshot or maybe a museum here, but jose, we all have memories of what we went through. and i think we also have lessons that we learned. i know i did and you certainly did, too. >> indeed. kerry sanders, always doing great work. thank you very much. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can reach me on twitter and instagram. be sure to follow the show online. thank you for the privilege of your time. more news after a quick break. . more news after a quick break.

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good to be with you. i'm katy tur. today, democrats and republicans are reassessing their political fortunes after the november midterms after a special election upset in bellwether swing district in new york -- a bellwether swing district. excuse me. republicans went into the race with a built-in advantage. it is a midterm year with a democrat in the white house, but democr p