>> good morning. i'm morgan radford and these are some of the stories we're following right now. as word leaders gather in the united nations general assembly, president obama appears to make a major speech. on the agenda, syria and improved relations with iran. >> the deadly standoff in a kenyan shopping mall still not over. this morning, an american connection, word that somalis from right here at home may have played a role in the attack that left dozens dead. >> in chicago, two men of under arrest, accused of last week's violent shooting that left 13 people wounded, including a

3-year-old boy. >> world leaders, including president obama have arrived in new york city for the start of this week's u.n. general assembly. mr. obama will address the gathering this morning, and at the top of his agenda is dealing with the crisis in syria, and that thawing diplomatic relations with iran. iran's president will address the assembly today. he's been taking a very different approach from his predecessor, and appears willing to work with the west and indicated iran will not seek nuclear weapons. it's a pretty big week for secretary of state john kerry. on wednesday, he is expected to update the talks between israel and palestine and attend a meeting on iran's nuclear

program. we are live at the united nations. what about the buzz around this handshake that could take place between president obama and president rouhani? could today be the first time in 34 years that the president's of both countries actually shake hands? >> it's a tantalizing prospect. everyone is excited about this happening, but we just don't know. if this happens at all, we think it's going to happen in passing. the two will just bump into each other. there will be no sweeping gesture. president obama is not going to come down off the podium and find president rouhani in front of the cameras. if it happens at all, it will be in the corridors, they pass each other, a fleeting handshake and there may or may not be a camera there. we're just going to have to wait and see. you're absolutely right to be excited about it, because everybody is here is excited because of the new tone

president rouhani is bringing. gone is the rhetoric of ahmadinejad, his predecessor, replaced by the op ed in the washington post last friday. people are listen, inc. for the tone that will be set this morning. much more important is the meeting between secretary of state john kerry and the iranian foreign minister, the highest ever meeting between the u.s. administration official and an iranian official since the iranian revolution in 1979. that will take place later this week in the environment of the security council, plus germany when they talk about iran's nuclear issues. >> we look forward to that later in the week. when obama makes his case today on syria, is he trying to reinforce his threat of a military strike or trying to ask the international community to support the diplomatic deal brokered with russia? >> really, it's both.

syria has handed over all the documents rewarding its nuclear program the west has been seeking. the reason that happened is because of the threat of military force. really, the president's going to take a two-pronged approach. syria is dominating this general assembly in a way they didn't want it. they wanted at a make that agreement between the russia and u.s. legal by last friday. they couldn't achieve it, so obama and kerry will spend a lot of time trying to get that in place. >> john, thanks so much for joining us this morning. >> a potential meeting between president obama and rouhani could signal a fall in the very long icy relationship between the u.s. and iran. the iranian hopes about their president's trip to the u.n. >> he is fronts page news in tehran and across the world.

what he has said in recent days means he's making headlines in a way an iranian leader has not done for decades. eye raines who voted for rouhani in the june election want change. >> not only the person, it's more than rouhani, but also all the iranians expect him to fulfill his promises, so what promises? being peaceful, show the outer world that you are peaceful and you want to have a peaceful nuclear program. >> rouhani campaigned on the promises of fixing an ailing economy at home but acknowledged that wouldn't happen until iran repaired its reputation overseas. >> there is no need for a preliminary step. whoever has good will for talks and if we can fulfill our national interests through those talks, we have no problem. no matter who the other party is, even if it is the u.s.

>> this willingness to talk, to engage and potentially act is highlighted in reports rouhani will meet u.s. president barack obama on the sidelines of the general assembly, but rouhani's government don't stop there. his foreign ministers met with the european union's envoy on iran's nuclear promise. >> the obstacle e. kills are substantial. there's syria, a staunch supporter of president bashar al assad, iran and the u.s. and its allies are on opposite sides. then as iran's backing of the military wing of hezbollah, a listed terror group operating in syria and lebanon. iran's nuclear program has left the country isolated. a former diplomat in iran's mission says rouhani can change that,s specially as the highest authority sees the need for flexibility.

>> it means that mr. rouhani has authority. >> that mandate means that instead of pessimism, there's a degree of optimism, as an iranian leader prepares to speak to the world at the u.n. aljazeera, tehran. >> as we've been stressing, the potential shift in diplomatic relations between the u.s. and iran will be a major focal point. the president of the national iranian american council and author of single roll of the dice is in washington, d.c. this morning. dr., that you can so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> 34 years is a long time. this isn't the first time the two countries have gotten close

to talking. what's different now? >> there's a lot that is actually different. you're absolutely right. there is plenty of missed opportunities between the two sides, just when it comes to hand shakes, in 2000, the president had the opportunity to shake president clintons hand, but at that point was not willing to take that political risk. what's different this time around is both sides seem to have a far greater degree of readiness at the same time than we've seen in any previous instances. what we've usually seen is one side is ready and the other side is not but for the first time, it seems both sides may have enough readiness this time around. >> we know iran is ready. this meeting has been a huge press push by the iranian government, a government long unwilling to live up to its obligations to the national community. what can rouhani do to prove

sincerity? >> well, i think first of all, rouhani has done quite a lot to show and prove that he can deliver. there is a legitimate question mark in the minds of many in washington, can he deliver, because the danger of engagement with the other side is that if the other side cannot deliver, you have wasted diplomatic capitol. he has released political prisoners, done things that shows that he has the ability to maneuver the. thepolitical landscape. president obama has challenges with congress. congress is going to be quite important in order to get a lasting, enduring deal with the iranians. only congress can lift many of the sanctions imposed on iran. >> how much is timing an issue? if this meeting doesn't happen now, is the chance just lost

forever. >> i think because of the expectation game, it will be a tremendous amount of disappointment if the handshake does not take place. it may overshadow a very historic meeting taking place thursday when secretary kerry and the iranian foreign minister meet, which is very important and would have gotten far more attention had it not been for the expectation that there also could have been a handshake between president obama and president rouhani. >> a handshake we're still waiting to see. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. >> aljazeera will have special live coverage of president obama's speech at the united nations this morning, beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern. >> gunman inside an upscale snapping mall in kenya are denying reports that there are no longer hostages inside. kenyan security forces say they are making a final push to clear the building.

gunfire can still be heard as a standoff between the military and somali fighters moves into its fourth day. let's take you live into kenya where aljazeera has been coverings the story. peter, the military says all of the hostages are out. about an hour ago, al shabab said there are still hostages, who's right? >> well, before i deal with that, i just want to bring you up to date. within the last hour or so, heard some more fairly powerful explosions. we've seen kenyan military going in there. we believe it was the bomb squad. we don't know who is responsible for those explosions or what caused them. there is still an ongoing crisis. three government soldiers have been killed in the gun battles and eight are bring treated for their wounds. there were about six of the al shabab fighters who have been

killed, and that assumes therefore, we can only assume that there are at least six or more others still engaged in the gun battle. in terms of that contradictions over hostages, there is no way of reconciling them. >> kenyans foreign minister said other countries like the u.s. are getting involved and that al shabab is not tribal anymore, it's international. let's take a listen to this really quick. >> this is not just al shabab, this is al-qaeda. it's somebody from another part of the world. >> has this attack changed the way the international community comes together to fight terrorism? >> it's a very difficult thing to say. you've got to be careful. this is still underway, sort of assessing what sort of affect this might have. i think it's a little early. we need to look down the line

how that works. there are a couple of points to be made here. one is this is very much an together on kenyans, and a whole range of people. americans were caught up in this, australians, british, canadians, all sorts of nationalities were killed or injured or affected in some way. we know that various agencies from the united states, from israel, from britain, they're also supporting the government. this has become a much more international problem than weaver seen before from al shabab. >> live in kenya, thanks for joining us this morning. >> police in chicago charged two men in connection with a shooting that injured 13. the shooting broke out last thursday at a basketball court on chicago's south side. 21-year-old brian chance and 20-year-old kiani guide wood are suspected of playing roles, but police don't think either pulled the trigger. >> unsettled weather is taking shape in several parts of the

u.s. for more, let's bring in our meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> a lot going on in the united states. i'm going to take a quick look at the tropics first. we've had problems here like the philippines, landslides and mud slides with a tropical storm moving through, still some showers in the area. to the north, we are looking at japan. you can see typhoon headed that direction, that actually with this front coming in will steer it away. at the meantime, you could be looking at squally weather, high irwaves, showers. the u.s. tropics are quiet. we really have two areas that we are watching. the first is heading to florida, looking at a lot of rain, a very persistent flow in this region. continuing through the day, it's sad rated and we'll see more rain, so we will have more of these problems. into the midsection of the country, you can see a little disturbance, not bringing a ton of rain with it or much in the way of cooler weather. we're going to stay with nice

comfortable fall days that we've been seeing recently, now that we are officially into fall. you can pick out the onshore flow we've had. that's going to keep the weather persistent through the day and also areas of showers through the rest of the region. a couple of things to watch. it's been very moist here. we've been looking at places especially when you get into showers or fashion, could get into an inch or two. because of that, a lot of the state of florida under flood watches or warnings. watch out if you're heading into one of those areas. in the midwest, another system that we'll continue to watch. >> a countdown to a shutdown. lawmakers in washington have just one week to reach a deal to fund the federal government. we're live in the capitol, tracking the back and forth on negotiations. >> it was a wild night on

central teams with post game hopes.

faultlines investigates the epidemic of overcrowding in women's prisons. >> the system is setup to do exactly what it's doing - to

break people and to keep them broken. >> breaking news out of pakistan this morning where a massive 7.8 magnitude quake struck the northeastern part of the country. there's no word yet on the damage, but the quake hit an area that is mostly uninhabited, so a lot of casualties are not expected. it was felt in the capitol of new delhi where buildings were shaken. >> a potential government shutdown is looming. aljazeera is in the capitol. unless congress comes to an agreement, the government will shut down october 1.

with just one week to go, how likely is a compromise? >> it's really anyone's guess at this point, although we did get a little closer to seeing what will happen in the senate this week. next monday night, the government runs out of money. unless congress can come up with a compromise on issues, the federal government will shut down. we haven't seen anything like this since the clinton administration. federal workers won't get paid. members of the military won't get paid, but will net i.o.u.s. if you want to get a passport, that's going to be a tough reach. the markets could feel real repercussions if congress doesn't come to terms with things. there's a lot riding on this, a lot in play. republicans in the senate, some tea party conservatives, like we usually see coming out of the

house of representatives are holding a line and saying they will not support a budget deal unless obamacare, the federal law, the health care law is essentially defunded, one of those republicans that's pushing for that the most is senator ted cruz of texas. he's been really outspoken about -- >> i'm sorry, i think we lost you. that was libby joining us live from washington, d.c. it was a big night on the baseball diamond, especially for a city that hasn't seen a playoff team in over 21 years. we have that in supports. >> it's been 21 years since the pittsburgh pirates clinched a spot in the post game season. we start this one in the top of the ninth. game tied at one, starlin marte spanks a solo home run to left off kevin gregg. that's all they would need to defeat the cubs 2-1.

then inside their clubhouse, they watched as the nationals lost to the cardinals, officially putting the pirates back in playoff baseball, and yes, there was a champagne celebration. this marks the first time since 1992 that the pirates are playing postseason baseball. two decades of misery for the city of pittsburgh has finally come to an end. the season ended their 20 straight losing streak, which was by far the longest in all four major sports. >> the reds had an opportunity to clinch a postseason berth if they defeated the new york mets. they had an opportunity to hit the 91 plateau for the third time in the last four seasons. to cincinnati we go. bottom of the second, sin-soo choo up at the plate. he's eating. base hit makes the score 1-0 reds. the mets strike back. duda hat a sacrifice fly in the third acknowledge solo shot,

snapping an 0-17 slump. game tied at two. one out with rangers on the corners. the game-winning run, walk off. reds clinch they're first postseason berth since the 1975-1976 season. >> the rays were trying to, chris davis goes up, goes out. a two-run shot gives the o's the 2-1 lead. later now, scary moment here. at the top of the seventh, up and coming star manny machado tries to beat the throw to first but watch as he steps on the bag and goes down in serious pain, grouping his knee.

in both dugouts, the look on their faces explain how serious it can be. now in the bottom of the ninth, james loney, how about this, deposits a 96-mile per hour fastball into right field. no need for a balanced receipt. the rays win in walk off fashion, 5-4 the final there. >> the texas rangers are still in the chase. a double plates two, rangers with the early lead. a solo home run, rangers now up 9-0. in his fourth at-bat, he hits a triple, sending ellis andrews in. that's the keuchel or alex rios, the first for rios and seventh in rangers history. the rangers went on to win houston 12-0. >> the royals and yankees have a very tough hill to climb, but right now looks like it's a

three team race. the rays, indians and rangers are all fighting for the spot. that's a sports wrap. >> rangers for the win. >> a big boom in one of the most dangerous drugs available. one state's battle plan to get control of its crystal meth problem. >> a $400 million payday. the charm for a south carolina man who hit it big.

>> in business news, blackberry glory days maybe behind it. the former smart phone king is now going private. the company reached a tentative deal to sell to canadian insurance firm fairfax financial, the price tag, $4.7 billion. the move comes after the company warned friday it lost $1 billion this quarter because of unsold phones. it also said it was cutting 4500 employees. >> crystal meth is one of america's most dangerous drugs and even though the number of meth labs discovered across the u.s. has dropped slightly over the last two years, the problem is growing in tennessee.

we report from nashville. >> despite strict state laws, tennessees crystal meth amphetamine epidemic may be getting worse. >> it seems every time law enforcement fights it, the odds of against us. >> for the first time in years, tennessee is on track to top missouri as the state with the highest number of meth lab busts. more than 1200 labs have been shut down statewide, 750 people arrested. >> we don't know why it has become such a major issue for our state. >> meth is a highly detect ooh detective stimulant. in 2000 knife, an i.d. is required to purchase cold medications to limit the

amounts. >> you might be convicted of manufacturing meth amphetamine and aren't allowed to buy sudafed, but i can. you pay me to go and buy my limit for you to be able to manufacture meth. >> users also turn to a quicker way of making meth, the shake 'n bake method requires fewer chemicals. >> it's a very volatile combination. if things around ready, there's an explosion. that's what we're seeing. >> the only way to really tackle tennessee's meth issue is to do what other states have done and make pseudoefed run prescription only. >> it would be an additional burden, requiring doctor's visits to get new prescriptions.

>> greater solutions are needed more than ever. >> the drug enforcement agency says of the more than 11,000 incidents involving meth labs last year, more than 1500 occurred in tennessee. >> in south carolina, the winner of last thursday's powerball jacket is choosing to remain anonymous. the winner presented the nearly $400 million winning ticket monday afternoon. he told them it was only the second time he had ever played the lottery. winners in south carolina can claim winnings without releasing their names. only 16 states allow winners to remain anonymous. >> aljazeera will have live coverage of president obama's speech to the united nations in just about an hour.

that will do it for now. ♪ what is this bottle of wine and the current u.s. budget have in common? i'll tell you. they are young, healthy, and don't have health insurance. obamacare relies on so-called young invincibles. plus more companies are rewarding employees with bonuses, but i'll tell you why that may be a bad thing. i'm ali velshi and this is "real money." ♪ this is "real money." you are the most important part of the show, so join our live conversation for the next half