... this is al jazeera. i am del walters coming to you live from new york city. kenyan security forces are still in that tense stand-off with gunmen who stormed an upscale mall in nairobi. now 59. hostages still being held. president obama and the first lady to attend the memorial at the washington, d.c. navy yard later today. typhoonusagi hitting hong kong hard with high winds and heavy rains.

we are now 30 hours into the siege and a large explosion has rocked 7ia's westgate mall where on saturday, gun men stormed the center, killing shoppers and taking dozens hostage. what the is how those shoppers in the mall, 59 dead and many missing. american securities working and andrew simmons has more on the investigation into the attack >> reporter: much focus now is being put on the early moments of this attack. 12:00 mid day. >>, gunshots, screams, grenades thrown. yet the response was for an armed robbery. this sort of policeman was called to the scene. not the anti-terrorist squad, not any specialist forces. that didn't happen until after an hour. and so, many people, can

diplomats, security forces and indeed the people of kenya are beginning to think mistakes were made and an inquiry is inevitable. right now, it's thought amongst the security services that more could have been done to contain the attack. more could have been done to prevent hostages being taken because they are confronted now with a complicated situation. it's not as if the hostages in one place and the gunmen in another and the negotiators somewhere else. it's more complicated than that. i put this situation to the presidential spokesman who has been at high-level meetings throughout this. he responded in this way >> i can't say whether or not there was intelligence that this was going to happen. >> if there was, it's unforb givable the response, surely >> i think that the way -- with the way you react to terror attacks is not always going to be uniform. when something like this happens, it gives you the opportunity to reflect and think

what things were we doing wrong? and it may well be we think, yeah, we needed to do more. we should have done more. we must do more. >> and so, is this long stand-off goes -- as this long stand-off goes on, many kenyons might be disturbed that lessons should be learned. al shabaab has threatened commercial target did like this shopping mall. it's 300 meters away. it's completely out of view. >> that's the way the security forces wants to keep it, a complete blackout for all media. >> president obama called kenya's president this morning to express his condolences. he reiterated u.s. support for kenya, efforts to bring the attackers to justice. in washington, that government shutdown looms large once again. it pits the republican controlled house against the democrats and the senate and the white houses raelyn johnson has

the details. >> a budget that removes funding for the affordable care act have set up a fiscal showdown with the white house that could lead to a government shutdown on october 1st. the democratic controlled senate says the house bill is dead on arrival. the president warned congress. >> we are running out of time to fix this. but we could fix it tomorrow. both houses of congress can take a simple vote to pay our bills on time then work together to pass a budget on time. >> the political drum beating to defeat and preserve obama care of as the affordable care act is known took center stage on the sunday news talk shows. >> a vote for cloture is a vote for obamacare. i think we will stand side-by-side with speaker obtainer listen can to the people and stopping this train wreck that is obama care. >> the last thing the american people want right now is people playing political games, putting in poison pills and threatening to shut the government down and default on our debt. >> the government has closed its

doors before. there were six shutdowns between 1977 and 1980. the last was during the clinton administration and also focused around the issue of healthcare, specifically medicare funding. that showdown lasted go 1 days. failure to fund the 2014 budget that begins october 1st will be felt quickly. social security and medicare payments to millions of americans would be delayed. military personnel won't get paid until the government reopens and government workers will be forced to take an unpaid vacation. the house version without obamacare is a stop-gap bill that will keep the government open until december 15th. >> the american people don't want the government shut down and they don't want obamacare. >> politics is driving this battle. the president will veto any such bill and democrats in the senate say they won't let that happen. so expect a high-stakes poker game with conservatives in the house taking on mod rats in their party, the senate and the

white houses. raelyn johnson, al jazeera. >> randall pinkston joins us live from washington. randall, is it inevitable? is the president ready for the government to be shut down? >> reporter: the president hopes it certain happen but since it has happened before, all three brags of government have their con techni-ince see plans, including among other things, furloughs and delays of some federal payments. mean while some republican senators who oppose the president and obamacare are claiming they can get some democrats to join them. >> all 45 republicans in the senate in march voted to defund obamacare. we will keep those and add a 46th, geoff kiaza from new jersey. i hope that a few senate democrats, particularly those from red states who will referee elections this year will consider joining us. this is what the american people asked us to do. >> that's senator mike lee of utah. he and his counteder parts -- counterparts continue to say they do not want a government

shutdown but they also don't want funding for obamacare and their purpose is to keep the government operating. the minority leader in the houses of representatives, nancy pelosi doesn't believe them. >> the effect of putting the obama -- the affordable care act on the bill is to shut down government. they know that. they know that has no prospects of prevailing. >> well, the senate takes it up tomorrow working on that house bill that was sent over with the defunding obamacare legislation as part of the continuing resolution. senate majority leader harry reid saying it will be removed. >> randall shifting gears, that blag behind you is at half staff. washington nearly a week after that stalk still a city in mourning as is the nation. >> yes. president obama and mrs. obama will be joining about 3,000 people at marine bearax near the site of the navy yard later today. the president has been talking about the carnage that's created by gun violence in america.

last night, he told an audience that he was not able to get any it kind of gun legislation passed earlier this year in the wake of the newtown shootings but that the job is still out there to be done and he hopes that congress will take it up again. meanwhile, he is not proposing any new legislation, but he has taken a number of executive orders to put some restrictions on guns. detail. >> randall pinkston joining us live from washington, d.c. thank you very. >> a pair of suicide bombers targeted a historic church in pakistan killing 78 people. the bombers striking as people were leaving church in the northwestern city of peshwar. more than 100 people had to be taken to hospitals for treatment and officials are saying the death toll there could rise as many as 600 people packed inside the all saints church when the explosion took place. it is life in prison for disgraced chinesed politician bo xilai found guilty of corruption. he is the most high profile

communist party member to be convicted under china, anti-corruption campaign. scott hidel reports. >> it was the verdict all of china was waiting for. >> bo xilai is sentenced to life i am prisonment and seizure foreof all of his assets. >> the pafate sealed for bo xil he was formed guilty of bribery, corruption and abuse of power on sunday. he has been ordered to pay the government $4 million. the figure he was accused of taking. he will lose his seaside villa in france. many fem feel it's due to his did he have fangs during the 5-day trial and because he pled not guilty. >> the government led by the president is cracking down on corruption. he has made it one of his administration's most important tasks, looking to tap the support of those many chinese who are angered by corrupt politicians. >> most high-level political figures accused of corruption

admit guilt and fade away serving their time in prison. not bo. his downfall was set in motion by his wife's murder of a british businessman she testified against bo in his trial. he called her a mad woman while professing his innocence. bo did admit to failing his country in how he handled his then police chief after he told bo of his wife's actions. it's expected in the coming days that bo will appeal sunday's decision. then a higher court will hear the case, a process that should take a few months. giving bo more time in the spotlight. scott hideler, al jazeera. chi china. the powerful typhoon usagi made handfall in china. >> a move for education and equality taken to the streets for trans gender rights.

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demonstrators in miami say it is a move for equal rights. they want lawmakers to make an amendment to an equal rights ordinance. that protects gays and lesbia in. s but not transgender rights. >> araya lester was born a male but she said she beats the hear a woman. after years of struggling with depression and repeat suicide attempts. >> i thought was a an abomnation. i felt alienated from society and my family. >> lester has been unemployed since 2010 and she has been sleeping on a friend's couch for the last year. they says her transgender identity cost her countless

jobs. she opened a drop-in center but she doesn't draw a salary. lester says transgender people are regarded as second-class citizens and they need protection against discrimination. >> so many obstacles, so many things that come up against us in life that prevent did us from having the good quality of life that everyone, you know, should be offered. >> lester and members of the lesbian, gay, by sexual and transgender community are fighting to ensure that the miami dade passes an amendment to include transgender people. >> the absence of that makes it permissible to discriminate based on somebody's transgender preference. >> this summer as county commissioners discuss the amendment, the christian family coalition sprung into action. the group distributed these flyers saying, the amendment would force all restrooms and plays to open bathrooms address and restrooms to tra

transsectionuals. >> nobody is denying you to fantasize the section you want to be -- sex you want to be but what you don't have the right is to demand everyone else play along with your make pretend. >> lester is hoping to speak to county commissioners. >> i want to let people know just what type of life that we lead and why we need help because we have been disserviced and under serviced for many years. >> she and other advocates believe with their efforts, miami dade county will eventually ensure transgendered people aren't discriminated against when it comes to housing, and public accommodations. axis, miami dade county. >> earlier in the summer, lawmakers intimated a vote on the ordinance to add rights for trans gender people after facing pressure from religious groups. the polls have closed in germany. voters expected to reelect angela merkel as chancellor for the third time. the poles suggest her party may

get the largest number. her power may be limited. some poles suggest she may be forced into an awkward position. joel from ber -- joanah, a lot from this election even for those outside of germany. >> well, certainly germany is the preeminent political and comic pour in europe. many eyes turn towards this country in the continent, in the european union, particularly neuro zone for help, for assistance through the ongoing economic crisis. and a lot of major decisions, major challenges that the continent faces will have been put on hold now for a number of months as the election campaign has wound itself down to completion in the voting day here on sunday. everybody waiting to see whether they can expect continuity from a german government in berlin.

chancellor merkel in for a third term or a different set of faces and policies. i think it looks like based upon the exit polls that as you described there, a grand coalition between the center right, mrs. merkel's party and center left, the social democrats but sxwornlth, she is very likely to remain as chance he will or for a third term. her party got 42% of the vote. she has popularity ratings between 60 and 70%. so, for countriesterm. her party got 42% of the vote. she has popularity ratings between 60 and 70%. so, for countries for countries outside of germany and across the atlantic in washington, what to expect from germany as a result of this election, continuity. chancellor merkel will remain chancellor merkel. >> jonah with numbers like that, 67 percents of that, plinks on this side of the atlantic would love those numbers. what makes her so popular in germany? >> reporter: angela merkel has been in power for eight years, don't forget, with numbers like

that between 60 and 70% popularity ratings. it is an enviable thing for politicians. she is seen and credited with having brought this country through the worst effects of the economic crisis in 2008, the bureau crisis that began to evolve from 2009. she is seen as having steered the economy to growth, prosperity, historical low levels of unemployment when just ten years ago, this country was an economic basketcase. she has a lot of credibility. there is a lot of trust in her buzz she is a bi-word for stability. she has critics but a bi-word for the stability. germans like anyone else like the idea of stability white a lot. >> thank you for the joining us from berlin. congressional numbers here to be in the 20s. thank you very much. the southeast coast of china in the grip of typhoon usagi has issued a red alert, the highest of its kind, making landfall 100

miles northeast of hong kong. usagi is a large storm extended 700 miles in width with 90-mile-an-hour winds. the storm passed through the straits lashing philippines with torrential rains and winds. congress leeson joins us in hong kong. it is past 1:00 a.m. in hong kong. where is the storm right now? >> reporter: well, it's just centered directly above us about 50 miles to the north of us. it was supposed to have made a direct hit. thankfully, that didn't happen. it came to landfall about 100 miles to the northeast in shungwi and made it's way across the top of hong kong. it hasn't quite bypassed us yet. it has us in the grip of its rage at the moment. we just went outside to have a look at the streets, which are empty. that might sound not unusual on a sunday night. but in hong kong, it is unusual. most people are inside or at typhoon parties anticipating a

day off tomorrow. at this stage, if the snapple number 8 stays up, the entire government will have a day off. all government departments will be closed. the stock exchange will also be closed and that will affect the airlines here so far, 375 flights have been cancelled. the airlines anticipate that they won't be able to resume normal flights until thursday. >> greg, how long does the city of hong kong think it's going to have to ride out the storm? >> well, this one is moving particularly slow about 15 miles an hour. and that's why it's expected to cause a lot of damage, particularly in the quandong prove i knew because it's bringing a lot of rain that's had its fair share of rain, many landslides killing more than 200 people in this part of china. so the last thing they needed was more rain like this. so, they are expecting it to stay within the hong kong shingin area within the next two

or three days. it will affect with this rain about 55 million people within this area. so hong kong is, of course, considered one of the most depositionly populated cities on the planet. it's just as well it didn't score a direct hit here. >> craig leeson joining us live from hong kong. thank you very much. mexico, also cleaning up from a devastating pair of storms there. more than 100 people were killed after tropical storm manuel hit the pacific coast. that is where hurricane ingrid pounded the west coast. mo destroying homes and roads. mexican president touring some of the damage on saturday. he promised to help survivors rebuild in a safer location. the storms in mexico and hong kong just a reminder of how fortunate the u.s. has been this storm season so far. so for the latest on the conditions in the tropics, we turn to julalh acmedium. >>kmed.

>>. today marks hurricane hugo made landfall in south carolina and certainly caused quite a bit of devastation there since that storm name has been retired. we have dealing with usagi as it continues to push north and northwest. it's going to continue to turn here, and the next 24 hours, i believe, will be very trying for the folks living in the rural areas just to the north of hong kong and certainly in hong kong as well. we will continue to deal with heavy rainfall and gusty winds, mudslides certainly, something we are going to have to be on the lookout forgiven the fact a lot of this terrain is mountainous. the good news is the storm has made landfall so if will run into rugged terrain in the next 32 to 4 you 2 hours as it made its way on land. it was a category 2, equivalent to a category 2 hurricane. as it continues to push towards the north, it will weaken into what we would consider hat gory

1 hurricane and then a strong tropical system on the back side. the rain is going to be falling quite heavily. now, back on the home range, as i said, it's quite. we have a bit of rainfall earlier in the day, given the fact that we had a frontal boundary push through. today is the first day of fall. and it feels like fall in the northeast. it's a lot cooler out there today than it was yesterday. the sunshining behind the frontal boundary. and we have the winds pushing in out of canada. it's a bill chillier, that it was yesterday making our way back to work on monday, we will have mostly sumny skies with a high of 67 tuesday into wednesday looking sunny and just a bit warmer. look at temperatures across the country. en down in atlanta, close to 80. it feels pretty good at this time of the year. in the ernesto northwest, an area of low pressure spinning on shore. if you are traveling along i-5 from seattle down into portland, i think you will run into a bit of rain. the rain will continue to push toward the east. as we track into the next some of days, it may wake make its

way into colorado. we may see more flooding across the south plat rich. i will definitely keep you updated on that as we track into the next days. welcome to fall across the u.s. del, back to you. >> thank you very much. still ahead, hitting the road on lumber. the homemade, cost effective and one of the quickest and most popular way to travel in one african city.

my name is jonathan betz. i'm from dallas, texas, and i'm]

>> the deadly attack on a mall in kenya is now in its second day. plosions were heard earlier. 59 people are dead. kenya's government ministers saying there are 175 people who were injured in saturday's attack. the somalian rebel group al shabaab has claimed responsibility. congress has eight days to work out a funding deal or allow the government to shut down. house republicans passed a bill on friday that would fund the government but effectively kill the a affordable care act. mompom and the first lady will be meeting today with families of those who lost loved ones in the washington navy yard shootings. the president will also attend a memorial service for the

victims. at least 16 people are dead after a suicide blast in baghdad. there are reports that the suicide bomber blew himself up inside a tent filled with mourners in a predominantly sunni section of the city. the u.n. estimated 800 people were killed across iraq since august. after decades of conflict there, few people in the democratic part of congo but around doma, it is common top see people using hand made wooden scooters. al jazeera's malcolm web gave one a try. >> it takes a steady hand to drive a chudu. it's unique in congo. mr. augustin is transporting a friend but it's mainly used for transporting goods. >>fy my father died when i was

young. but this has given me money. >> they are used to carry almost anything. this man is brilling timber from the hills into town. here, goods are being delivered. it has several useful features. this bit of rubber provides suspension. these wooden boards are for wrapping rubber straps around, used to tie the cargo on the back. on the back wheel is a brake operated with your foot. >> this has attracted some attention. i don't think it's normal for f people to see aphonner trying to do this. bumpy but tires and success spence. the bumps getting faster now. you . /* i found the brake. to bring it to a stop. there we go. it's good. it's very simple. but it's very tough. it needs to be. the chikudus can carry more than half aton. uphill is hard work.

most people here can't afford motor bikes or cars but many say if you own one of these, you will always be able to make a living living. he makes about eight chikudus every month. finding a strong enough tree for the wood is crucial and it takes years to learn how to make them well. tra tr tra i saw a tree. i knew i could make something and. >> here,o the city has a statue of one. numerous conflicts and many live in extreme poverty but it overcomes some of the challenges. malcolm web, al jazeera, goma in the democratic republic of congo. >> not bad.

i am del walters. 101 east con tapeous is next. the ghosts of men and women fill the wards of government hospitals across india. they stare silently - suspended in limbo between the living and the dead. these patients are the infected - victims of a contagion so lethal it kills almost one and a half million people globally every year, and infects a further nine million. despite an arsenal of drugs,