department says terrorists have hit a target and american citizens are injured. it is playing out right now in nairobi, kenya, and we are told president obama is being briefed on this and the national security team is working to gather more information about what is going on with our people in a shopping mall under siege. here is what we know. gunmen have stormed an upscale shopping center opening fire and throwing grenades. reportedly targeting nonmuslims. kenya's president reported moments ago at least 39 people are dead. up to 150 wounded. the mall turned into a war

zone. police waged intense battles with the gunmen. this as we are getting word that a fierce islamic terror group is taking responsibility for the attack. it is called, and you display heard of it, al shabab. it is based in neighboring somalia. and some of the representatives are on twitter today sending messages that all muslims were escorted out of the shopping mall before the violence began. and the group will not negotiate. one victim describes the chaos. >> we tried running away, but we were told they are also covering the place so we can't escape. so we had to move back into the corner, the left corner of west gate, and we were all there and we tried escaping and they threw a grenade and the grenade -- the sharp particles entered into my hand and leg.

there were very many peel who were injured. >> you heard him say west gate. that's the name of the shopping mall. connor powell has more from our mideast bureau. connor? >> al-shabab is aal al-qaeda-linked group and they wreaked havoc on that country for the past few years. they vowed to hit nairobi after they sent troops to somalia about two years ago to try to dislodge al-shabab from power there. they had taken over much of somalia over the past few years. they say the gunmen and we believe there were at least five and maybe more including one woman stormed an upscale shopping mall around noon local time and carrying ak-47's and throwing grenades. there were multiple reports that they were targeting nonmuslims and even telling some to leave a food court area before opening fire. al-shabab is vowing to launch additional attacks and refusing to negotiate. this is not a new group,

harris, but today's attack does confirm that they are as violent and nasty and as dangerous as we always suspected it. >> how about the attackers? i understand they were going store by store looking for them. >> that's right. and there are some reports that there are still attackers in the building. at least one of the attackers died in custody from wounds he suffered during his capture, but several others were killed and we think there are a couple that are still holed up in the shopping mall surrounded by kenyan police. it appears they have taken hostages and barricaded themselves in the mall. kenyan police are still trying to capture or kill several fighters. the u.s. state department believes several americans were either injured or possibly even killed during the attack. we still are waiting for more information from the u.s. government as they try to sort through all of the conflicting reports and there are a lot of conflicting reports coming out of nairobi.

the details are very, very sketchy. right now we are hearing at least 39 people have been killed. that number is likely to rise, harris, as we get more information. with 150 people injured it is very possible that some of those will actually end up being unfortunately on the killed list. this apparently was a very nasty , violent fight inside the shopping mall with ak's and hand grenades. >> thank you very much. we want to update people even from his reporting. this is coming across the associated press wires now. the kin yen president -- the kenyan president says he has lost close family members in this mall shooting. and now for americans part of it, it condemns it in the strongest terms. this is coming from the administration. the despicable terrorist attack on innocent civilians at the west gate shopping mall in. yow be, kenya. we exend tend -- exstepped

condolences to those who were injured or killed including americans killed and the staff at the embassy tragically affected by this attack. remember, nairobi is the city where a u.s. embassy was bombed. you heard the mention coming out of the administration about our workers there. the danger in that part of the world is very real for americans. this time specifically for non muslims as you heard connor powell reporting. the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations and a fox news contributor is with us now. ambassador, we are learning the terrorists from this al-qaeda-linked group, al-shabab, escorted muslims away from the mall and out of danger. what does that tell you? >> this sounds like a very concerted, well-planned attack. i think the dimensions of it are still unclear, but big. the possibility for the attackers may have hostages inside the mall.

we don't know about that yet either. but the death toll is high and likely to go higher. i think the most significant thing here is that al-shabab is part of a terrorist organization. somali itself will be without a central government for over 20 years. and if this is really the export of violence from somalia into kenya, when you look at the violence across africa and algeria in january in mali and through the terrorist group in libya, obviously and in the sudan this could pour much wider out break of violence across the divide between saw hair wren and sub saharan areas. point something out for the viewers. we did report it when it first happened, but now maybe has more meaning.

national security advisor susan rice met just yesterday with the president of somalia at the white house. and now we learn americans are caught up in this. did the terrorists, and i don't want to use this in a bad phrase, but it is kind of how it is, but almost get lucky, or did they go after our people, ambassador? >> i don't think we can tell at this point. that mall is upscale is the word people use, and that is a euphemism for a place where uh the lo of expats go, foreigners living in nairobi and the more wealthy kenyans. if you are going to attack a target in nairobi and designed to get maximum international attention, this would be the thing to go after. the fact that al-shabab was able to plan and execute an attack like this is significant. up until now there were kidnappings and hostage takings from resorts on the kenyan coast for the european

tourists primarily. but this is much more extensive and much more threatening for kenya as a whole. i don't know if you heard from the administration. they were condemning the united states and condemning this attack and wanted to reach out and give support so on and so forth. in a broader aspect, how do we respond as the united states to americans caught up again in a terror attack in that part of the world? >> the first question is what intelligence if any did we have about al shaba em mounting an exter national threat from their base of operations. i just don't think we paid enough attention to somalia for a long period of time. there was publicity about the pirates operating off the somali coast. it will be for economic reasons if the no extremist, political or religious reasons.

we paid those parts very little attention for a long period of time. this violence between kenya and somalia has simmered for a longtime. it is not that anybody paid much attention to it. i think when you see the rise in violence in places like nigeria and in mali and. nigerin kenya, really we have just got to pay more attention to africa because of the risk to citizens found throughout the region. >> and once again as we heard from that statement, our u.s. em bough sigh -- embassy is mentioned and as those people were heavily impacted with the bombing there, and then you have them being affected again today. those americans injured no doubt will have to interface with the embassy if they need to come home. quickly i want to change topics with you. i have such an opportunity to ask you about this ahead of next week. ambassador there has been talk now regarding iran that our

president might meet with the iranian president. the big question is will they talk about syria? will they talk about the nuclear weapons that the program that the west accuses them of having and what they need to do to take that apart? you have a warning. you said this president better be careful. why? >> the new iranian president is engaged in a charm offensive of a propaganda campaign. they would like the economic sanctions lifted, but they would like to have the sanctions lifted or eased without giving up a single thing on their nuclear weapons program. the iranians have taken us to the cleaners in negotiations before. he did it 10 years ago and he is prepared to do it again. next tuesday is my predicted date at the united nations. president obama speaks in the morning and rouhani in the afternoon. if there was a moment to have a, quote, unquote, chance

encounter and a handshake between obama and rouhani, that will be it. there is questions if there are substantive negotiations or not. i find this very troubling that rouhani is the head of a designated state sponsored terrorism and that makes him the equivalent of a terrorist and not somebody the president of the united states should shake hands with. >> thank you very much first of all forgiving us per spec tiff on the breaking -- perspective on the breaking news and talking iran with us. now we move to another story making headlines at this hour. a tropical storm that is packing dangerous and de sprocket tiff tiff -- destructive winds. we will take to you this place and tell you how they are coping. and facing mounting pressure. will president obama be forced to make revisions to the signature health care law? >> they are focused on politics. they are focused on trying to

mess with me. they are not focused on you.

stories developing at this hour, a strong typhoon in the western pacific is packing winds equal to a category 3 hurricane. it is threatening millions of people who live in hong kong and will continue to over the next 24 hours.

we will watch that. and the florida girl known as hiccup girl is now serving a life sentence without parole. remember her? the jury deliberated just four hours and found her guilty of first degree murder for a botched robbery that left a man dead. she didn't exactly pull the trigger, but in that state if you take part in a crime that leads to death you get first degree and she got it and is guilty. the affordable care act is facing new earns c. it is about to take affect on october 1st. at least the exchange part of it. home depot is shifting coverage from part-time worker usa way from the company's medical plan and into the insurance exchange that is set up under the new law that will take affect next month. but the cleveland clinic in ohio once held up as a shining example for obamacare is slashing its budget and laying off workers. president obama has agreed to

at least 16 repeals, exemptions, provisions, delays to the health care law. will he agree to negotiate with lawmakers on more changes? we go to the senior editor for the daily caller. it is good to see you. >> good to see you as well. >> we know there is a fight going on on the hill. and we know as part of the fight that talks about de funding obamacare, it could be -- it could be in the way of keeping the government from running. first we will talk about that and then will it be hoof the president to negotiate on the health care? >> in the house on friday there was a resolution for the continuing resolution to fund the government and accept obamacare. that goes to the senate next week. in reality and i think truthfully there is really no chance that i can see where the president will ever sign a bill that de funds his signature achievement as

president or at least he sees it which is obamacare. i don't think the fund obamacare movement has any legs to pass overall. you have a president who will not negotiate with signing away what he sees as his number one achievement and the democratic senate which is not going to throw their president's number one achievement under the bus. i think the fund obamacare push won't happen. even if the government shuts down as a result of a fight between the republicans and congress and the democrats and the senate and the presidency, obamacare will continue to be funded because that's the way it has been put into place. >> you know, i mentioned all of those revisions, and i can kind of go down a brief list. in november of 2012, medicare physician reimbursments increased em burrs ments for those who treat medicare. that went into affect. we have seen delays for businesses in terms of when obamacare would take affect.

we now know at least in some states that these insurance exchanges may have to be delayed because they haven't been set up properly yet. maybe the president wouldn't wipe this away, but it could be a good idea not to negotiate because he has given up some ground. >> there is a small possibility and i would say very small that the republicans could maybe try to push for a delay for the 2014 election if the president is convinced that the implementation will be bad for the democrats. maybe he would agree to something along those lines. but if you are looking for significant revisions to the obamacare law, i think the best opportunity -- there were some opportunities that were missed by not electing a republican president and by not stoping the bill when it was first proposed. those are behind us. you can't do anything about that. the best opportunity in my mind is the failure of implementation. that is a real possibility where obamacare could collapse under its own weight. by which the obamacare

exchanges depend on young and healthy people signing up for insurance to subsidize the sick and old. if they don't do that, the premiums people are paying for insurance on the exchanges could sky rocket and force the president in congress to revisit obamacare. that is a key point of obamacare. if you don't get these young people to spend money they don't think is worth spending and they don't think they need, the obamacare law could be in serious trouble. that is the pressure point where significant change could happen. it is not a guarantee, but i see it as the best opportunity. >> jaime, thank you very much. coming up, they served in the war zones overseas and now a group of veterans are on a new mission. they are helping people right here at home. that's straight ahead. xç

we have learned the death toll is rising in mexico after a massive landslide. more than a hundred people are dead, dozens more feared missing. the search for victims is going on with a one-two punch of the storm. manuel that hit portions of the country as a hurricane and tropical storm ingrid. both the gulf coast and pacific coast damaged. a plane crashed carrying supplies and everybody on board died. america's veterans are signing up for a new mission. after serving in iraq and afghanistan, now some of our men and women are deploying to flood ravaged, colorado. a group taking the skills they learned in the military overseas to help people recover from this crisis at home.

we go now live to our west coast bureau with more on this. >> we came home and pretty much do anything. they decided they want to come home and continue to serve. there was a earthquake and they got together and went to the earthquake to help out. the team was team picked up 12,000 volunteers. they go into disasters and they identified areas with the most help and then they go to work. >> we can do this and not because team rubicon is a large enough organization or in existence long enough. we do this because we are veterans. veterans know how to cover a line and they know how to lead and they know how to follow and they do that really well in the midst of chaos. >> so far they have responded

to 14 different missions and that includes tornadoes, earthquakes and floods. it is just like in colorado this past week. >> well, speaking of which, the pictures coming out of colorado as they were getting inundated by 18 to 20 inches of rain, what is happening there with the flooding? >> that's right. right now that area needs all of the help it can get. we can tell you that overnight there were four new oil spills and that is because the floodwaters you have seen all week long have hit several oil fields and also with this flood seven people have died. there are still 60 people unaccounted for. that number has gotten less throughout the day and you can see why all of the veterans and all of the other groups that have boots on the ground are so needed right now. harris? >> absolutely. will, thank you. before we go americans in a terror attack. we are working the story in nairobi, kenya. the president says 39 dead and some his closest family members. 150 people hurt. the terrorists shouted they were looking for nonmuslims.

again, as news comes about the americans caught up in this, we will bring it to you. for now, my friends on "the five" and at 7:00 eastern" the fox report." sew you -- see you then.

hello everyone. it is 5:00 in new york city and this is "the five." >> obamacare is on everyone's mind and the american people don't like it. according to the latest fox news poll, 60% have an unfavorable opinion of obamacare versus 34% who have a favorable opinion. unions don't like it. >> when the act was put together it wasn't thought completely through. we are working to try to solve problems. >> you allow an aca bill to go through. i guarantee in t