bill: going to be a phenomenal nine seconds here. martha: indeed. wind the clock down to the end of "america's newsroom." thanks so much for being here everybody. we'll see you back here tomorrow. "happening now" starts right now. jenna: we start off with a fox news alert on three developing stories this hour. the president wrapping up a highly-anticipated address to the u.n. general assembly. new reactions moments away on that. as the president spoke demonstrators protested outside the u.n. against the iranian government and its continued human rights abuses and sponsorship of terror. they say the iranian president should be punished for having blood on his hand a big issue today. also reaching a boiling point on capitol hill, a showdown how to spend your tax dollars intensifies, not only between democrats and republicans but within the gop itself. what it could mean to you with a possible government shutdown just days away. more people die inside of a shopping mall ambushed by

terrorists four days ago even as kenya claims the end of this siege is near. add together confusion uncertainty about whether americans may have been involved in the attack. but first more breaking news. jon: we'll have more on all of that throughout the show but first officials release the autopsy report of a mother whose teenage daughter was kidnapped by a family friend, prompting a massive manhunt. details of her murder are chilling. also, new proposed systems to mesh surety destructiveness of wildfires. who is behind it and what it could mean for millions of homeowners. and he took his own life after making the lives of three young cleveland women hell on earth. now the son of convicted kidnapper and rapist ariel castro breaks his silence about his father. we individual for you, "happening now."

jon: but we begin on this tuesday with president obama's address to the united nations general assembly. the president's words to the world at a critical time for american diplomatic efforts. good morning to you. i'm jon scott. jenna: a lot to get to in the speech. hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. the president laying out the case on american policy from everything from syria's chemical weapons to iran's nuclear ambitions to middle east peace talks. he also touch touched on the terror attack in encan i can't. on the issue of iran the u.s. says they want to solve the nuclear showdown peacefully but remains determined to prevent iran from acquiring the world's most destructive weapon. we see live pick us from the u.n. today as speeches continue. there are a lot of questions how iran's leaders interpreted our administration's response to the crisis in syria and so many more issues as well. jon: joining us now with more reaction to the president's u.n. appearance, bret baier. he anchors "special report." you know i was thinking back towards some of my high school

speech writing classes. when you write a speech you're supposed to figure out who your audience is and what you want them to do, what you want them to take away from it. who was this speech intended for, bret? >> that's a great question, jon. there are a number of different parts to this speech as you all have mentioned. one of the big parts of it though was about iran and this focus on a more, quote, moderate course, that he says iran is taking, directing secretary of state john kerry to start this diplomatic overture with the e.u. and iran to try to get another effort at diplomacy to solve the nuclear issue. this is really where the focus i think of the speech was, although, as you just heard on air here, ambassador bolton saying that there were a number of different parts of it that kind of went on for some time. the critics of this will say that, that you've seen this diplomat stick dance with iran many times before as they continue to spin centrifuges.

jon: the iranians are said to be presenting a kind letter, gentler face? is that going over in washington. how much trust or mistrust is there on capitol hill? >> well, there's a lot. jon, the last few minutes a letter from senator marco rubio who is on the senate intelligence and foreign relations committee along with 10 other senators to the white house saying we understand you might be considering a new proposal that would leave the door open for a nuclear iran, perhaps allowing iran to preserve part of its nuclear weapons program. it goes on in this letter to say, now is the time to increase pressure on iran and to stand with the iranian people, not pursue diplomatic half-measures that will allow rulers to continue to delay, obfuscate and avoid real reform. there is already pushback here. we'll see how it plays out through the rest of the day and the iranian president's speech sometime after 4:00. jon: the president spent a lot of time talking about syria and bashar al-assad and saying there

is absolutely no way, he called it a fantasy, that assad would somehow remain in power but by entering into this agreement with the russians to disarm iran, i'm sorry, syria of its chemical weapons, isn't that precisely what he's done, basically legitimatize assad at least for the time-being make sure he remains in charge there? >> sure. i mean that's a great point. by doing what has already been done pursuing this russia deal, it also falls to bashar al-assad to come up with these chemical weapons and have the logistics to deal with the weapons that are in his control. yes, he will be in power for the foreseeable future until this deal is through and, as the president said, it is hopeful to get a different leader in power but there's nothing that the u.s. really is doing substantially that's going to force that, considering the position of the rebels currently. jon: then, to the iranians, there has been some discussion about whether the president is

going to be meeting with iran's president. what do we know about that? >> well it's still a possibility. we're hearing from ed henry in our white house team that there's still saying there might be some pull aside these things happen up at the u.n. not obviously just a walk-by and, pulling into a corner but it is fairly orchestrated but not a formal meeting. and it's still a possibility. the iranians on twitter and elsewhere are suggesting that it's in the works. jon: which side does that help? i mean does it elevate the new iranian president to have a meeting with the united states leader? >> yes. it probably would and it would probably move forward with this, the rhetoric at least of the iranians that they are on this more moderate course. the israelis will say, show us the action, you know, where's the beef? tell us what you're going to do

specifically as far as action instead of just words. so i think there will be an interesting point here over the next couple of weeks where we really see where this is going. the other, one last thing, this speech also indicated to me how much power and trust they're giving to secretary of state john kerry in this second term of this administration. he is taking the spotlight really and, on a host of different issues. jon: well it is going to give you an awful lot of material to talk about this evening with the panel on "special report." bret baier, the anchor of that program, thank you. "special report" of course airs each and every week night here channel, 6:00 p.m. eastern time out of washington. jenna: a lot of big news coming from the u.n. today. we'll continue to follow that here in new york city. in the meantime new details of the mother of kidnapped teenager hannah anderson. what coroners are saying about christina anderson's violent death at the hands of a family

friend. day four after deadly terrorist standoff in kenya. officials there claim some of the attackers are americans, recruited and brought overseas to fight. what u.s. intelligence forces are saying about that. plus next, "happening now" wants to know what is going on where you live. tweet us at the address at the bottom of your screen and we'll try to include you in some of our coverage today. we'll be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] making a dodge in 100 easy steps. step 1 -- study the competition. step 2 -- get angry. they're boring. 3 -- make a car from scratch the dodge way. steps 4 through 28 -- recall 100 years of know-how. start building, try things. yes. make it different. not that different. bring muscle -- technology muscle, efficiency muscle. get it racing. get it in a calendar. more calendars. aww. polish it. punish it. and you're done. wt. one more. now you're done. ♪

jon: right now new information on some crime stories we're keeping an eye on. chicago police charge four men in connection with a mass shooting last week including the man they believe opened fire with an assault-style rifle in a crowded park. 13 people including a 3-year-old boy were wounded. the mother of a 16-year-old girl allegedly abducted by a family friend died from blunt head trauma according to an autopsy report. christina anderson and her son's ethan remains were recovered

from the burning home of james dimaggio, who was killed by fbi agents in the idaho wilderness last month. police in california are trying to figure out who torched a statue of former president ronald reagan near a sports park near san diego. jenna: some breaking news on day four of the deadly terror standoff in kenya. government forces there say the end of the siege is quote, very near, but three more soldiers were killed today in the fighting so far. in the meantime al qaeda-linked group says its gunmen are holding out in the westgate mall and their hostages are still alive. the red cross on the scene confirming at least 62 people have been killed. the government officials say the morgues have been told to expect a lot more bodies. terms of the attackers, senior kenyan official said, at least two of gunmen are americans and federal law enforcement sources are working to confirm those claims. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is live in washington with more on this. so, catherine, in what direction

are investigators even going with this? >> reporter: thank you, jenna, and good morning. federal law enforcement sources tell fox news they're waiting for new intelligence or forensic evidence from the scene as they awork to the confirm the alleged participation of at least two americans in that mall attack. the initial review of the names posted on a twitter feed claiming to the belong to the al qaeda affiliate al-shabaab. that search came up with no matches on any u.s. government databases. before the twitter feed was taken down it claimed the operatives came from minute in place, kansas city, missouri, state of maine and illinois and great britain, canada and former soviet union. they target anyone who could not speak arabic or recite an islamic prayer. there was no confirmation of nationalities or ought then activity of the twitter feed itself, the head of the house homeland security committee told fox news the attack is a water shed. >> they're on the world stage now. with that comes the opportunity i think for them to recruit and train and become a larger threat

to not only that region but also to the united states as well. >> reporter: law enforcement sources confirming that the fbi is on the ground in nairobi by the legal attache and in minnesota and missouri where agents are focusing on individuals who are missing or have recently fled the united states, jenna. jenna: we'll continue to follow that trail and the story. meantime there is a lot of reports about a particular british woman, how she's potentially involved in this attack. what are we learning about this woman? who is she? >> reporter: fox news told terrorists in nairobi were captured by sid yo surveillance one of the operatives was long hair and appearing caulkcation there is no confirmation of widespread social media reporting that it is brit sir citizen samantha leuthwaite. she is known in jihadist circles as the "white widow", after her husband blew himself up in the 2005 london subway bombing. she may be described by the

kenyan authorities as among the dead terrorists on the scene. since fleeing england she is accused of training female suicide bombers for al-shabaab in somalia and more critically being a fund-raiser for the organization. jenna: catherine, thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome. jon: we do not have to tell you it has been an extremely active wildfire season southwest. it has cost hundred of millions of dollars in damage. a new proposal that could impact everything from building codes to insurance rates for millions of americans. also demonstrators outside the u.n. say iran's president has blood on his hands. that newly-elected president set to address the general assembly just hours from now as one big question looms, will our president, president obama, meet with him? one influential lawmaker has some thoughts on that. he joins us next. ♪ ♪

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jon: new information on a proposed system that could impact millions of homeowners in areas prone to wildfires. scientists are developing a method that measures and predicts their destructiveness which could affect everything from building codes to insurance rates. patti ann browne has details. she is in the newsroom. patti ann. >> reporter: jon that scale would go from e-1 to e-4, which means the e-4 area is high-risk for destruction of. in a few years the news would report a fire was burning in e-4 community. is it would be main use before them to determine building codes

and insurance rates t would be called the wild land urban interface hazard scale which does not translate into a good acronym. city planners would use the designations to toughen building codes. for example, they might require larger buffer zones between a home and a forest. researchers are analyzing building materials, grass, trees, shrubs, topography and weather patterns and focusing distance embers travel in high winds. more than hatch of homes destroyed in wildfires are ignited by embers which can drift half a mile ahead after fire. buildings as fireproof often fail because the embers infiltrate tiny racks between them. insurance companies meanwhile are eagerly awaiting the imposition of this new scale. obviously homes in e-4 communities might be charge ad higher rate than those with lower risk of fire. the scale is being developed by the national institute of standards and technology which is part of the u.s. commerce department. it would be applied to a region in the west, known as the wild

land urban interface. it's a vast area of forest, grassland and other wild land. people are questioning whether this could be expanded over time to beyond that region with implications for new constructions and even some existing structures. jon? jon: yeah. and so much would be dependent upon the weather it seems. i mean because some years some areas are dry. some areas are not. >> reporter: yeah. jon: lots to think about that. patti ann browne. thank you. >> i want to be clear, we are encouraged that president rouhani received from the iranian people a mandate to pursue a more moderate course and given president rouhani's stated commitment to reach an agreement i'm directing john kerry to pursue this effort with the iranian government. jenna: some news today, out of the u.n. as the president speaks out about the possibility of restarting nuclear talks with iran in his address to the u.n. general assembly. the president is also saying the roadblocks may be too great between our two countries and he believes the diplomatic path must be tested. we await a speech by the

president, the new president of iran. the iran's foreign minister a planned meeting to restart nuclear talks signals the start of a new era with relations to the west. speeches are going on throughout the day. that's what you're seeing a, a live picture from the u.n. we have california congressman ed royce, chairman of the house foreign relations committee. nice to have you on the program. >> thank you, good to be with you. jenna: what do you think of the more moderate course and what the pet raid laid out at the u.n.? >> i think what happened here iran looked how north korea obtained nuclear weapons capability, especially when they're under crippling sanctions, especially $600 billion over last two years left the country. mass unemployment. very high inflation. they're trying to get out from under that. they watched in 2005, if you recall, north korea was under u.s. sanctions and it was debilitating to that regime. and instead, north korea was

able to get those sanctions lifted by going into negotiations and string out the negotiations until they had the capability to have nuclear weapons. that's what iran wants to do. and i think the president misinterprets -- jenna: apologize for interrupting so we can kind of pull that more into the conversation. really important point in compare southern to north korea. prime minister of israel will make such a statement to reiterate what we should and should not do with iran. you were in congress when north korea made that manuever. how do we prevent iran from doing that as well? >> iran watched that playbook. the way to do it is to recognize the mistake we made in 2005 or 2006, that our government made in lifting those sanctions. instead we should double down. we have legislation that i and eliot engel passed not long ago, a little over a month ago out of the house of representatives, now pending in the senate.

i suggest we have that brought up in the senate and put that on the president's desk and hold that as the hammer because that additional legislation would absolutely block all repatriation of earnings into the country. into iran. thus would destroy the economy. jenna: we know that you've been critical to getting that house vote. it was an overwhelming house vote and many that are familiar with the sanctions and details of it all say this is crucial, crucial to really shutting down the iranian economy and punishing the economy in the way that we want it to force a change. but it hasn't hasn't fon anywhere in the senate. what do you do about that, congressman? >> clearly the administration is opposed to moving the legislation in the senate, despite as you said, jenna, 400 votes in the house of representatives. the only reason that the iranians are at the terrible, the only reason they're trying to negotiate, is because they're concerned about us imploding their economy. and this time we ought to give

them this choice, for the ayatollah. either you stop the enrichment, either you, you end your bomb-making capabilities, or, we implode your economy. we go through with it. and, i think that is, frankly, the position that would give us the maximum amount of leverage, and, would be so injurious to their economy it would be very hard for them to continue any kind of military build-up in that kind of a situation where it would drive unemployment, drive mass hyperinflation, and, it's, it's a fact that the only thing that's ever worked on this, think about south africa. when the sanctions went on, they gave up their bomb and they sysm apartheid. this is the type of approach that needs to be taken here. jenna: the question then becomes one of timing.

so you pass this bill in the house. we're awaiting on senate, waiting on the administration as you mentioned. i was taking a look what the president said birran last year during his speech, taking a look at some of his word choice. i would like to play a little portion of that for you then talk about timing. let's go ahead and do that. >> let me be clear america wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy and we believe there is still time and space to do so but that time is not unlimited. we respect the right of nations to access peaceful nuclear power but one of the purposes of the united nations is to see we harness that power for peace. jenna: here we are a year later. apparently a little bit more time but how much time do we have before iran has a nuclear weapon? >> very little time. that's exactly what this is about. the reason hassan rouhani is here, the reason this initiative is being proposed is to get sanctions lifted and buy time for iran to complete their

program and they are so close, they're maybe a year away. that's why we need exactly the opposite strategy from the one the president is suggesting. we need, frankly, to close down that economy, and give them that choice because we don't need gestures of the we need actions from iran. as long as the centrifuges continue to spin, and these are four times more powerful than the ones that were spinning last year, as long as that con to happen and rouhani continues to tell his people, look what i was able to do when i was chief negotiator, i strung that out and we got those centrifuges up and running, he takes credit for that back home. so we should look him in the eye and say, shut down the centrifuges now. let the u.n. inspectors come in. let the inspectors, iaea take a look at what you're doing and let them attest to the fact that you've closed down your

operations and all of those sites across iran and let's start negotiating from there. but let's not let them continue to do their buildup. jenna: congressman, before i let you go, i should mention to our viewers, we'll be able to see what the iranian president has to say a little after 4:00 p.m. he will address the general assembly and we'll watch that carefully. i can't go without asking you about a different man. the head of the revolutionary guard in iran and he has been the head of the revolutionary guard for years now. the "new yorker" has a big piece on him. his operations, how he has orchestrated the killing of americans. how he is accepting $20 million from iraq every single day to support his operations in syria, that are completely undermining anything that we could do in the region. what do we do about him? he is not affected by the sanctions according to these reports at all. how do we address that problem in iran? >> and this shows us the fact that iran continues to put $200 million into hezbollah.

continues this type of support and would even have someone like hassan rouhani, who himself was the one who in 1999 called for the beatings of the students, called for them to go into the universities and beat them mercilessly. and you know, over 100 people disappeared or killed. thousands arrested. hundreds and hundreds of students tortured. that is the same rouhani we're calling a moderate today. let's not forget he was in his position as head of the national security council there in iran during the time of the bombing of the jewish center, cultural center in argentina. jenna: but according to reports he is not half as bad, even if that is all true as you say, congressman, according to reports he is not as bad as

sulamani. the sanctions you passed don't affect the revolutionary guard, what do you do about that? >> they would actually affect the revolutionary guard. they would affect the revolutionary guard because the revolutionary guard is repatriating the money from overseas as well as the banking system. this goes the extra step the treasury department, stuart levy, former undersecretary of treasury wanted to take to totally close doesn't economy there and block all repatriation of profits back into the country. it would cut off not just the revolutionary guard but it would bring the economy to a standstill. it is time to do it. we have no other option. we're out of time in order to stop their, you know, three-stage icbm program. their miniaturization of the nuclear warhead as well as their, enrichment and reprocessing. i mean they are building icbms that are going to be a threat to the united states and our allies and it's time for us to act.

jenna: congressman, nice having you on the program. i appreciate working all of that with you and looking forward to having you back. thank you very much. >> thank you. jon: so we're a few hours away from hearing the new iranian president make his highly-anticipated today debut at the u.n. general semiably. we're getting brand new information on the american jailed for almost a year in the islamic republic. a live report what is going on with him just ahead. plus with the countdown to a government shutdown underway the senate is poised for a key vote that would keep the lights on and strip funding for the president's health care law. the latest on the showdown over the shut down next. ♪ ho ho ho [ female announcer ] at 100 calories, not all food choices add up. some are giant. some not so giant. when managing your weight, bigger is always better. ♪ ho ho ho

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jenna: back with a fox news alert now. there is new word hostages are still being held by islamic militants, by terrorists in a kenya shopping mall. the terrorist group al-shabaab claiming on social media today that some has damages are still alive while saying bombed did is remain scattered around the mall. the sound of explosions and gunfire continue to ring out today. kenyan troops moving from shop to shop. checking for explosives and looking for any survivors who may still be hiding at this time. as the fiving goes on for a fourth day, kenyan officials claim they're in a final push to clear the complex, calling it a mop-up operation but a western security official in nairobi is

saying the only reason the siege would not have ended yet would be because there are still hostages alive and being held inside. we'll have more on this later this hour when we talk to mike baker a former covert operations officer with the cia. jon: well, right now the county down to a potential government shutdown is underway as president obama meets with bill clinton today to discuss the future of obamacare. the senate considers a spending bill to keep the lights on after october 1st but that measure also would defund obamacare. starve it of its money. republican senator ted cruz is vowing to prevent that language from being stripped out. joe trippi is a former campaign manager for howard dean and a fox news contributor. what do you think of senator cruz's chances of success here, joe? >> slim and none. jon. i just don't think that is going to happen. it is good for him to do it because the base of his party, i

think wants somebody, a champion who is going to fight to the end but i don't think it's going to happen. i think, you already see mitch mcconnell and senate leadership on the gop side actually whipping against ted cruz's line of attack here. so i don't think it is going to happen. jon: yeah, it is pretty interesting. he is a junior senator from texas and yet he is taking on the leadership of his own party in pursuing this plan. why? >> well, look, i think you're going to see this fight between the establishment in the be republican party and people like cruz and the tea party. that fight has been going on for some time but i think ted cruz's positioning himself as a leader of that movement right now and doing a very effective job at it, even if he loses, he is the last man standing against obamacare and in his party that's going to help him when you look to 2016 and a potential presidential race. jon: all right, what happens

when the senate is done with this thing, they're going to send it back to the house presumably stripped of the language that would defund obamacare, right? >> yes, they are and then that means speaker boehner has the problem of either gathering the votes to pass it, with the senate, a bill that doesn't take obamacare out, leaves it in, or, face again another split in the party. i mean there are a lot of tea party and conservative gop members in the house, more of them there than in the senate, that may, you know, that that's where the big fight, the next big fight and it's a fight really within the republican, between the republican leadership and the establishment in the party and, who believe a shutdown isn't the way to go, isn't the way to fight obamacare, and again the tea party and others and ted cruz who think it is the only time to fight. it is the only time left to fight it is right now, not in

the 2014 elections. jon: but as a democrat, joe, i want you to be honest, don't you suppose there are a lot of house democrats who don't like obamacare either, but because the republicans are in control, they don't necessarily have to vote, you knee, vote their conscience about it? >> we, i'm sure, look, there are definitely democrats who also think that there need to be changes or think they would oppose it but, i don't think there are any democrats who are for out and out repeal or shutting down the government to stop it. i don't think there will be much support there for ted cruz in house gop members who want to shut it down. frankly as democrats are sitting back right now and thrilled to watch this fight, and, and a lot of them are probably hoping ted cruz does run for president in 2016 and creates, has the big fight in the gop side. so right now, the democrats get to sit back and, we'll watch the gop fight it out between the

establishment and the tea party. jon: top guy in the senate, senator harry reid sent out this tweet, obamacare is the law of the land and it will remain so as long as barack obama is president and as long i am the senate majority leader. all right. we'll see what happens. it will be an interesting couple of weeks. >> thanks, jon. jon: joe trippi, thank you. jenna: as iran's new president makes his debut on the world stage a few hours from now addressing the u.n. general assembly a little later on today we're getting new information on the american pastor who has been jailed in iran for nearly a year, arrested as a threat to national security. religion correspondent lauren green is live in our new york city newsroom with more on this story. >> reporter: jenna, that was a chance meeting that she says only could have been answer to her prayers. the wife of jailed iranian born pastor, saeed abedini was able to hand deliver a letter from her husband to iranian president hassan rouhani's delegation. he left monday heading for new

york city with the united nation es general assembly. he says he will put a different pace on iran as cultural and peace-loving country. they happened to be staying in the same hotel across the u.n. while i was being interviewed in the lobby, the iranian delegation came through and she approached them. >> i was hesitant, thinking will they arrest me if i approach them. they were surprised and shocked by me taking such a bold step. i could see confusion and shock on their face. >> saeed abedini was imprisoned in ran a year ago while in the country working at an or fannage. the government arrested him as a threat to national security. abedini he said it was because he is a christian. they campaigned continuously for his release keeping his cause in the news. he pleads his case saying, my purpose in all my attempts in my hometown was to reduce pain and suffering as well as compassion for the poor, orphans and

unaccompanied children in accordance with religious rules and sole intention of pleasing my savior, jesus christ. nag mao, saw members of the iranian delegation read the letter. she doesn't know if president rouhani himself has seen it. thursday vigils are planned across the u.s. for supporters to pray for the release of said abedini. jenna. jenna: what the family has been through. lauren, thank you. >> sure. jon: another family that has seen the worst, the son of ariel castro speak out describing his personal tomorrow meant after his father's horrible crimes. we'll tell you what he has to say. plus day four of a terror assault on a shopping mall in nairobi, kenya. government forces say they are close to ending the siege. coming up we'll speak with a former cia operative whether there were any warning signs that an attack like this was coming. [shouting]

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jenna: back now to the terror attack at a shopping mall in kenya as kenyan security forces fight fierce gun battles what is day four of this siege. there are growing questions whether there were warning signs this attack was coming. there are some questions about all of this. joining us now, mike baker, former covert operations officer with the cia and president of diligence, llc, a global intelligence and security firm. let's get to some of the questions, mike. we don't know the precise number of attackers, their origin. we heard about a lack of chatter that intelligence communities picked up on. there was very little warning. we know they came in somewhat prepared but we don't really know how they kept the ammunition or got more ammunition the last couple days. what does all of this tell you? >> well, i mean it tells me this follows the same pattern we have after every incident like this, regardless where it is. i mean there is is always that shock that an attack has

occurred and something has occurred. emimmediately there, how can this happen? it's a failure. look at this realistically. somalia sits right on the border of kenya. it is about as secure as our border with mexico. so the idea that personnel from shabaab could move back and forth shouldn't be surprising. weapons are not difficult to get your hand on in this part of the word. so that's not tough. and mounting an attack on a facility like westgate in chaotic city like nairobi is not exactly leaks luthor task. this is not a complicated process. jenna: if it isn't tough why haven't the kenyan forces on able to take the guys out and free the people inside? >> i'm saying mounting the attack isn't tough. what i'm saying the idea that kenyan authorities missed something, you again didn't need a lot of communications, a lot of sophisticated coms ahead of this attack in terms of the planning. so there wasn't an opportunity

perhaps for a lot of technical intercept of these attackers planning this attack. in terms of surveilling the target prior to the attack so they could determine the points of attack, that is not difficult on a shopping a facility again in place as chaotic and crowded as westgate in the nairobi area. doing counter surveillance would be tough to pick up. what i'm saying, i'm not, i'm not throwing blame at the kenyan authorities immediately for saying they should have picked up on this ahead of time. the bad news is, this sort of attack can be, replicated in other places. in terms of -- jenna: according to what you said, it does sound that way. there is a lot of busy cities across our country. a lot of people go to the malls and we could see something like this happening here at home. maybe as easily as you're suggest, mike. it doesn't take that much to provoke terror, to, in individuals. >> right. jenna: but what is going on now is confusing because we're hearing from the kenyan

government that they're almost all done with the operation. yet we continue to hear the gunshots. we know that not everyone south of that building. so what do you think is really going on in the background there? >> right. well the problem is you're talking about a very fluid and very difficult situation. you've got a large shopping complex. you've got an undetermined number of people. wasn't like they kept a head count of people in the facility at the time of the attack. so they are still trying to figure out how many hostages may be inside. in terms of a level of negotiation this is not like a bank standoff here in the united states where it sort of, immediately becomes sort after very focused process where you're having direct communication with the hostage-takers and you know what you've got inside there. this is a very, very difficult situation. so, you know, it's not a surprise necessarily from perspective of people who have been involved in these sort of things that you're getting mixed messages. certainly al-shabaab, attackers

making use of social media, throwing their own propaganda out there discounting what the government is saying. the government is trying to do the best they can i would argue in a very difficult situation. we have to remember these things don't end well. look at the algerian gas plant attack. you lost 39 or so hostages, foreign hostages. there have been a number of incidents. they have to take their time would be my point. jenna: we hope to see some sort of a resolution for sake of their families sometime soon. mike, great as always. thank you. >> thank you. >> more coming up, a court date for lindsay lohan's mother. she is entering a plea to drunk driving charges. julie banderas joins us with a live update on today's "fox 411" plus ariel castro's son is speaking out saying he is still shell-shocked by his father's crimes. what else he has to say straight ahead. [ cheering ]

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jon: we have some new information now on legal trouble for the mother of the already troubled lindsay lohan. dina lohan appearing in court to face charges of driving while intoxicated just two months after lindsey got out of rehab herself. julie banderas has the lohan lowdown in today's "fox 411". julie. >> yeah, jon, hate to say it, but i will. i guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree or in this case the tree doesn't fall far from the apple. this time lindsay lohan's 34078 dina is in trouble for drunken driving. she appeared in a new york courtroom after getting arrested earlier this month for dwi and speeding. state police say the 50-year-old

was pulled over on a long island highway and fail ad breath test. by failed i mean bombed. her blood-alcohol level was more than double new york's legal limit of .08%. dina isn't speaking but of course her lawyer is. >> the court today saw fit to release her without bail and without requiring her to participate on active probation. >> at least her hair looked good. he added dina is first-time offender. her arrest comes a month after lilo completed her stint in rye hab. she on her home in long island where she has more trouble. according to long island press, jpmorgan bank filed a lawsuit to foreclose on the house. she fell behind on mortgage payments. she managed to salvage the debt thanks to her rich daughter. lindsey bailed her mom out and

fronted her $40,000. after being served with foreclosure papers this time, went out and got the dwi two weeks later. when it rain it pours for the low hands, jon. i hope you have rich kids if you have to foreclose on a house. jon: i hope i have rich kids too. >> that is what kids are for. to pay for our homes if we can't. jon: because i have four of them increases my chances. thanks, julie. jenna: a final push for kenyan troops today as they search for survivors and try to put an end to the four-day siege in the shopping mall in nairobi. rising tensions on capitol hill as republicans appear divided in the senate because after possible government shutdown which is only six days away unless lawmakers reach a deal. new details at the top of the hour.

jenna: a big day of news and a lot of developing stories. jon: that's for sure. president obama addressing the biggest issues around the globe, what he just told the u.n. general assembly about the crisis in syria, the mideast

peace process and the nuclear showdown with iran. live to capitol hill now, and the countdown to a possible government shutdown. will it happen? there is new trouble for some of the senate's top republicans. plus, terror at the mall. chilling video from inside the shopping center in kenya as we get new word about the identity of one of the possible attackers. ♪ ♪ jon: well, president obama addresses the united nations where he just wrapped up his speech to the general assembly. he's also getting ready for high-level meetings on the most pressing issues the world faces right now. i'm jon scott. jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee, and the president with a whole lot on the agenda as he spoke to the u.n. general assembly just about an hour, little over an hour ago. he covered a lot of issues from the crisis in syria and calls for the security council to mandate consequences if assad

doesn't keep his word and turn over his chemical weapons, he also covered a new push more middle east peace talks, plus what could turn into a major diplomatic breakthrough on iranian's nuclear program. >> we are encouraged that president rouhani received from the iranian people a mandate to pursue a more moderate case, and given president rouhani's stated commitment to reach an agreement, i am directing john kerry to pursue this effort with the iranian government in close cooperation with the european union, the united kingdom, france, germany, russia and china. the roadblocks may prove to be too great, but i firmly believe the diplomatic path must be tested. jenna: and to that end, secretary of state john kerry is now set to meet with iran's foreign minister in what would be the highest level talks between our governments since 1979, a big deal here. you're going to hear that sound

bite throughout the day. our chief white house correspondent ed henry is life in our new york city newsroom. this is a major development on a major diplomatic issue. >> reporter: it is. jenna: how realistics, how committed is this administration to seeing this through? >> reporter: that's the big question. the president made clear he's committed to trying to see it through, but the question is whether if ann a iran is -- iran is going to follow through. you mentioned syria. the president also said, look, we need to make sure the ton security council gets tough, has a verifiable agreement to make sure this turning over of the chemical weapons actually happens. well, there's great question marks over whether any of that will be followed through upon. same here with iran. the president himself acknowledging while we've heard positive statements, as you noted, from the new president rouhani, president obama made clear the road is going to be very difficult and this, too, could fall apart. take a listen. >> i don't believe this difficult history can be

overcome overnight. the suspicions run too deep. but i do believe that if we can resolve the issue of iran's nuclear program, that can serve as a major step down a long road towards a different relationship. >> reporter: big if. obviously, you mentioned the iranian foreign minister, there is president rouhani. he is going to be addressing the u.n. general assembly late this afternoon, so we'll all be watching that very carefully. in the meantime, his foreign minister, as you noted, will be meeting with secretary of state john kerry, the highest level contact between the u.s. and iranian government since 1979, but also earlier the foreign minister had this tweet, quote: >> r eporter: that has critics coft administration raising eyebrows that the west has to adjust its

posture when all iran has done is really changed its rhetoric, not changed action. jenna: interesting. the president saying the road will be long. how long exactly is a big question for some of our allies, especially israel. we had the prime minister, netanyahu, talking about how much time is left before the iranians got a nuclear weapon with. what is the reaction in israel? >> reporter: well, look, bottom line is netanyahu, you remember the prime minister last year, he drew a red line before we heard about that red line on syria, he had a red line about iran making sure they didn't get nuclear weapons. you have democrats and republicans on capitol hill, bob menendez, lindsey graham, republican who's been a critic of the president's foreign policy, they wrote a letter saying this is about action. and just a short time ago john bolton was on our air, the former u.n. ambassador, saying this could be such a long, winding road that all it will be about is iran stalling for more

time. take a listen. >> on iran, very clear now we are about to enter a lengthy diplomatic process, negotiations that could stretch as far as the eye could see on the nuclear weapons program. i think that, essentially, guarantees that iran is free from the threat of certainly a u.s. military strike. >> reporter: now, ambassador bolton went on to say that would then put the ball in israel's court. you see the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu there. whether or not israel could potentially launch it own military strike unilaterally against iran. what net an. >> hue and his advisers have been saying is they're fearful that iran is using the north korean playbook of everything sl -- several years ago -- stall sanctions, stall the threat of military action and then keep moving closer and closer to getting nuclear weapons. of interesting, because we mentioned president obama already spoke, president rouhani of iran will speak this afternoon, prime minister netanyahu doesn't take the stage

until next week. so the others are going to frame this first. jenna: ed, thank you. jon: last hour on "happening now," congressman royce reacted to the president's call to pursue a diplomatic path in the iran nuclear showdown. >> the only reason that the iranians are at the table, the only reason they're willing to negotiate is because they're concerned about us imploding their economy. and this time we ought to give them this choice for the ayatollah: either you stop the enrichment, either you end your bomb-making capabilities, or we implode your economy. and we go through with it. jon: i'm joined now by kt mcfarland, fox news national security analyst. what do you think about what chairman royce had to say there, the threat of imploding rapp's economy -- iran's economy, realistic? >> yeah, absolutely. and that's how, ultimately, we won the cold war, by imploding

the soviet union's economy using the oil weapon. that's what reagan did. he set it up, he ultimately drove the price of oil from $40 a barrel to $18 a barrel in nine month, and the soviet union was on the ropes. the reason we had to tear down this wall, go along with negotiations with the united states was because we didn't have any money to import the wheat we needed for the winter. i think that congressman royce has the right idea. don't -- you know, nobody's going to believe that the united states is really going to have a prebe 'emtive strike, military strike against iran. but what we do have the ability to do is crash their economy and do it quickly. and then the iranian people get up and change their regime or change the approach. jon: so president rue hand is here apparently on some kind of charm offensive -- >> oh, yeah. jon: -- perhaps to suggest, oh, we are reasonable iranians, we are not the ahmadinejad era iranians, and you should be, you should lift some of these sanctions. >> well, that's exactly what he's doing.

in fact, he's on a charm offensive, i'm meeting with him later this week with a group of foreign policy experts. he's going to make the case that he is the new iran, the new face of iran. they're reasonable, they're a world power, they just want to have the ability to have nuclear energy. they're not going for nuclear weapons. and by the way, lift those sanctions that are squeezing their economy. that's what they want. and the question is whether they're credible or not. jon: the president, first of all, you're a former speech writer, wrote speeches for casper weinberger and ronald reagan. the president said in his u.n. address today that the world is safer now than it was five years ago. >> you know, i heard that, i just sort of jumped occupant of my seat, because that's the phrase ronald reagan used when he was running for president against jimmy carter in 980, and can he said if you're better off you americans now, four years ago today, that's how you decide your vote. and that's essentially what president obama said, except reagan knew the answer that americans weren't better off. now obama gives that question, and the world is not safer.

the entire swath of the middle east, north africa, you could go all the way to iraq, afghanistan, they're not safer. do americans feel any safer? how many foiled terrorist attacks have we had? i mean, thank god they have been foiled, but there have been continuing terrorist attack, and we now see that al-qaeda which the president claimed was on the ropes, finished is now, in fact, in more places and more powerful than ever before. jon j i hope you'll come back and speak to us after you've spoken to president rouhani. >> after i've been charmed. jon: interesting discussion, i'm sure. kt mcfarland. jenna: right now back to washington, d.c., six days from a possible government shutdown at this time. it apparently is getting ugly on capitol hill. our chief congressional correspondent be mike emanuel has seen ugly before. [laughter] he's joining us live now. how ugly is it, mike? >> reporter: interesting times here on capitol hill, jenna. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell is very vocal in favor of this house bill because it would keep the government up and running, it would not

increase spending, and it would take away money for the president's health care law. mcconnell says he is looking forward to when there's a vote on an amendment to restore funding for obamacare, putting pressure on democrats and putting pressure on senate majority leader harry reid. >> he can only afford to lose four democrats, just four. if he wants to restore funding for obamacare. so if five senate democrats vote against the majority leader, obamacare will be defunded. that, mr. president, is a vote we should have. >> reporter: mcconnell and senate xop whip john cornyn are actively encouraging colleagues to go forward with the house bill, that opposes texas senator ted cruz. republican aides say it is not personal, it's about pursuing a strategy that work withs. here's senate conservative mike lee on republicans with different approaches. >> we don't always agree all the time on every single vote, and

sometimes we disagree. but i think as republicans we do stand behind the idea that we need to stop obamacare. we need to fight it, we need to stop it any way we can. even though some of us might have different ideas about how best to get there. >> reporter: also today on the floor, senate majority leader harry reid said there will be a critical procedural vote tomorrow no matter or what happens today. >> on the morning news, i hear that there's a filibuster today i want to disabuse everybody, there'll be no filibuster today. filibusters stop people from voting, and we are going to vote tomorrow. under the rules, no one can stop that. >> reporter: and make no mistake about it, these will be votes that people will remember. did you vote to defund obamacare? did you vote to give money to the president's health care law? undoubtedly, these votes will have 2014 political consequences. jenna? jenna: and there's always that.

michael, thank you very much. >> reporter: thank you. jon: well, supersizing america's storms, the forecast that says superstorms like sandy could become more common with, obviously, devastating results. we'll get you caught up on that. plus, common core, it's become the latest front in a debate over the best way to educate america's kids. so why is common core so controversial? a fair and balanced report coming up. ♪ ♪ hey lena, what ya looking for?

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but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is. for a strong bag that grips the can... ♪ get glad forceflex. small change, big difference. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. jon: "happening now," have you heardt common core? it's the new front in the battle over public education. it is not a federal program, but 45 states have adopted common core which sets standards for learning and testing in america's public schools. but the program has run into a buzz saw of controversy. chief political correspondent carl cameron joins us now live

from washington with that. >> reporter: common core was created by the national governor's association, and a lot of republicans were backing it, and that was more than a decade ago. but a few states took part, and there wasn't a lot of controversy. now think back to president obama's economic stimulus. remember that? well, the president's race to the top education plan was part of that, and he said if states wanted to get those billions in tax dollars, they could adopt common core standards and get the race to the top money. now parents are kind of worried that their kids are being judged by a one size fits all standard that could give up their local control of their kids' education. >> the idea that you should have one national standard that moves everybody at the same place at the same time is nonsensical. you have a very big threat of the federal government taking over education. >> reporter: there very parents showing up at school board meetings all across the country. common core supporters argue that schools and teachers still

set their own curricula and that the common core program seeks to insure quality which ultimately requires students to meet a defined certain standard. >> how a teacher decides to teach that is still up to her, what textbook she uses, what methods she uses, that's all left to the local, local area, local policymakers, the school board with. but the standards stay the same. we know that students need to know fractions because we know that the next step is learning formulas. >> reporter: experts say the standards were based on the top performing states in the country, massachusetts and indiana, but they also used international standards, and so some of the standards are based upon what kids are singapore are doing. all of this has been in large measure because of the race for the's race to the top money which was contingent on many of these states adopting the common core standards. jon, jenna? jon: just teaching little kids, and it gets so controversial. carl cameron, thank you.

jenna: government forces in kenya are trying to end a bloody hostage standoff that left at least 60 people dead, that's what we know now. coming up, some new details on their efforts as we learn as many as three americans could be among the attackers. plus, an in-depth look at al-shabaab, the terror organization is raising a lot of red flags in one state in particular. we'll tell you about that next.

jon: right now government forces in kenya reportedly are making a final push to rescue any surviving hostages still held by terrorists inside this, excuse me, this shopping mall. the chilling video you're seeing here was taken inside the mall. at least 60 people were killed in the attack while an unknown number of hostages might still be in the building.

meantime, we are also learning more about at least one of possible attackers. reportedly, she is a young mother known as britain's white widow. greg talcott is live in london with more on that part of the story. >> reporter: hi, jon, a lot of attention being paid to that woman as a possible key player in the kenya attacks and also, certainly, a sign of the possible international links to this terror attack. her name is samantha luthwaite a 29-year-old british-raised mother of three. speculation increased when the kenyan foreign minister said that along with two or three americans in the attacker ranks, there was a british woman, and she has been involved in terrorism, quote, many times before. we've talked to british authorities here on the record. they can't confirm it. off the record they're reported as saying this is possible. the al-shabaab terrorist group is saying that a woman was not in the ranks. there are some reports backing that up.

we've talked to other people, though, who say it is a real possibility. she is dubbed the white widow because her husband was one of those responsible for the 2005 terror attack on a london transport system here which left 52 people dead. while she was never charged in that, she publicly denounced it a but years later she fled to east africa and since then, according to reports and according to authorities, she has been linked to that al-shabaab group, she's been in somalia reportingedly -- reportedly training as well as being involved in plots gwen western targets in the -- against western targets in the region. two of her closest associates both with alleged terror ties, both also, by the way, coming from the u.k. and just to tell you how complex, jon, her activities might be, sources in the south african government are now telling fox news that they are aware that she has been using a fake south african passport to move around. another source telling fox news

that she was actually spotted in johannesburg in recent years. all of this speculation about a woman who began as a young girl in britain, liked pop music, liked going to discos and liked football star david beckham, a long, long strange journey all to be sorted out. jon: it's hard to know what figures out or what happens to some of those people. greg talcott in london, thank you. jenna: let's talk about what we know about al-shabaab, the terror group behind the deadly siege in kenya. its primary base is in somalia. it officially joined al-qaeda last year but has been associated with them for many, many years. the state department designated al-shabaab a terrorist organization in 2008. the name, the literal translation means the youth in arabic. al-shabaab is estimated to have anywhere from 7,000 to 9,000 fighters, and in 1998 the group claimed responsibility for the u.s. embassy bombings in kenya and tanzania that killed more than 200 people.

so what should we know about al-shabaab? what kind of emerging threat is it? joining us now, a former fbi supervisory potential agent, chief executive officer of the chiffon group. ali, you say that al-shabaab where we got those facts even a week ago is much different today. >> one of the facts of the east africa embassy bombing, that was al-qaeda, that wasn't al-shabaab. jenna: they weren't fully formed yet? >> not when that happened. shabab is not a monolithic organization. it has a national listic action that only wanted to function inside somalia. in fact, most of the recruitment they did in the united states was very nationalistic, not jihadi. recently, in the last month or so, the global jihadi faction of al-shabaab appears to consolidate its grip over the organization, and most of the

leaders have been killed and executed. jenna: what does that mean for us? >> guest: al-shabaab is a very different group now. they're not that nationalistic group that wanted to bring peace to somalia as they allege. it is part of al-qaeda network, it's part of ay addty network, and it is dedicated to inflict chaos and instability, and that's exactly what we have been seeing. jenna: you have great experience with the fbi. we hear that the fbi has been looking at this, quote-unquote, terror pipeline from the twin cities in minnesota to somalia, funneling fighters, would-be terrorists, folks that want to be trained. >> sure. jenna: what about that, how dangerous is that, how active is it? what do we do? >> i think the law enforcement committee and intelligence committee since 2008 have been very focused on al-shabaab threat. we have between 40-50 members of al-shabaab who came from the united states. those individuals have u.s. citizenships, have u.s.

passports, and they travel to fight. however, the not all of them are going to be part of the global jihadi network of al-shabaab, some are fighting for what's going on in somalia. i think the intelligence community now and the law enforcement community need to focus on al-shabaab as part and an affiliate as al-qaeda, not as a nationalistic movement we thought it was at one point. jenna: let's talk a little bit about that. you mentioned that the title is important, the affiliations are important. we just heard the president speak at the u.n., he covered a wide swath of issues from what happened in kenya to syria to iran to libya. we've talked a lot about yemen and somalia as well. what connects most of these conversations is muslim terrorists. >> absolutely. jenna: of different names of different groups but with that one commonnal the city. >> well, i add one thing to it -- jenna: why are we not directly talking about that more? >> all these groups are affiliates of al-qaeda. what we saw in mali, what we see

between al-nusra and the isis in syria, what we see with al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula, what happened after 2001, after 9/11, al-qaeda switched from being a chief operator to being a chief motivator. we haven't been focusing on the narrative of al-qaeda. that has been the achilles heel of our strategy against terrorism. and now you have a threat, you have a narrative that before 9/11 existed only in afghanistan, some areas in pakistan. but now it's spread all the way from west africa to southeast asia. jenna: what could we say that our enemies would hear? >> well, i think what we need to do is look at the local conflict and don't think it is only local conflict, we have nothing to do with it, because something is going to happen down the road. a lot of people thought of bin laden as a local issue for the saudis and taliban for afghanistan. and then we had 9/11. the narrative, we have to focus on the narrative, not on the name.

al-qaeda can operate in libya, but they operate under al-qaeda name in different place. we have to look at the narrative, we have to look at the ideology, and we have to try to target these groups at the local level. jenna: i have to ask you this final question, there is a clear choice that these groups have attacked overseas, in kenya, for example. why are they not making the decision to attack here? if it's the goal, it is jihad, and when is that coming? >> right. well, we have to give credit for the intelligence and the law enforcement community in the united states, and i believe they have been doing a great job in preventing that. the threat that remains today in america is the home grown terrorism. it's that individual who one day woke up, decided to self-radicalize and self-mobilize. those individuals are the scary part like we saw in boston. however, i believe the fbi, the local police, the cia and other intelligence community have been doing a phenomenal job in keeping us safe. jenna: ali, great to see you. appreciate it very much. jonsome. jon: you probably know there is the showdown over a potential government shutdown underway

right now, and fight over funding for obamacare. those two political issues could wind up boosting the political career of ted cruz, a rising star in the republican party. we'll go in depth on the senator's future. ♪ ♪ clay. mom? come in here. come in where? welcome to my mom cave. wow. sit down.

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government shutdown, republican senator ted cruz of texas is taking a lot of heat, even from some republicans over his stand on defunding obamacare, even if it means a government shutdown. but former george w. bush speech writer believes that cruz can win even if he loses this battle because it could pave the way for him to become a major player in the 2016 presidential race. writing about cruz, he writes, quote, he's a hugely smart, highly focused political player with a clear eyed view of political realities. he defeated the most powerful republican in texas to win nomination to the u.s. senate. as a senator, he's overshadowed his senior colleague. cruz makes mistakes. everybody does. but he thinks before he acts and his critics should appreciate that he has a plan. let's talk about it with susan, chief congressional correspondent for the "washington examiner." is ted cruz likely to win this

battle over obamacare, susan? >> i think that's an interesting question. it depends how you define win. are they going to stop the implementation of the health care law through the funding bill? probably not but he'll emerge as a republican who has fired up the base and who has pushed the cause of defunding a law even in the face of a government shutdown. it's a bold move and it's one that a lot of people in the party are calling for. now, i know the minority leader is not behind him, mitch mc connell. he's running for re-election, taking the safe route of not standing up against democrats because it could have resulted in a government shutdown but it's cruz who will walk away looking as though he was willing to do anything to stop the health care law and it is unpopular and there are a lot of people really want republicans to stop at nothing to defund the bill. that's what cruz has pledged. he fought a real tough campaign to get to his senate seat going

up against the governor's endorsed candidate, the lieutenant candidate and he's doing it in the senate right now. he's bucking the mainstream g.o.p. there are a lot of people who are looking for somebody like ted cruz who is willing to stand up against the health care law even if it's sort of an unpopular move and i think that's going to really help his -- boost his popularity. polls already show in texas he's one of the most popular choices for 2016 candidate and i think he'll emerge from this winning even though he won't succeed in his primary mission. jon: if obamacare is unpopular, it's also unpopular of the notion of shutting down the government again and the military not receiving their paycheck. >> i think ultimately cruz realizes he doesn't have enough support to really stop the bill in the senate. it's going to end up back over in the house. they're going to have to add something to it that's not to

defund the entire government but maybe parts of it or maybe we'll put something in there very hard for the democrats to say no to that does change part of the health care law so in some sense, cruz pushes the ball forward a little bit without shutting down the government. so it's almost like the best of all possibilities because the government will stay open and that will spare him the blame for that. yet he will have moved this thing ahead and further than mitch mc connell or any other republicans. jon: is it possible, is it likely that any democrats in the senate would vote to defund obamacare? >> and that's the third prong in all of this. this puts pressure on red state democrats who are up for election in 2014 and whose victory determines who will be in the majority in the senate. now, cruz, it's putting a lot of pressure on the democrats, people like mark pryor of arkansas, kay hagen of north carolina, these folks come from states where the health care law

is unpopular. the big question is, when the majority leader harry reid amdz the bill to strip out the defunding language, what will these democrats do? and i think it's possible some may vote along with republicans. if they don't, it's going to become a main campaign issue for them and it could hurt them going into the 2014 election and that, of course, benefits people like cruz and the republicans. rick: susan, thank you. >> thanks. jenna: some say it could be a game changer in the iran nuclear showdown with the president now looking to test the diplomatic path with tehran's new leadership. he laid out his position this morning in the united nations just a few blocks away. going t what's going on there when we talk live to the former deputy secretary of defense under george w. bush. he's next.

jon: the entire world has been watching the after math of the horrible attack on a shopping mall in kenya. this is the kenyan president telling the assembled press there in some statements we're getting from reuters news agency that 61 civilians are dead, six attackers are dead and 11 are in custody. he would suggest, apparently, that this thing is entirely over. now, there have been other suggestions that there were going to be more bodies found once authorities really got into that mall and perhaps that the attackers had not been entirely defeated but according to the president there of kenya, that appears to be the case. it appears to be over. he says he cannot confirm two to three attackers are americans and he cannot confirm that one of the attackers was a british

woman. he says we have ashamed and defeated our enemies. he also says that two to three floors in that shopping mall actually collapsed as a result of this attack. we'll continue to keep an ear to his comments and let you know if he makes more news. jenna: let's turn to one of the big headlines today. one of the president's lines from the address to the u.n. general assembly a little over an hour ago as the commander in chief made clear his position about testing out the iran nuclear showdown. >> since i took office, i've made it clear in letters to the supreme leader in iran and more recently to the president there that america prefers to resolve our concerns over iran's nuclear program peacefully, although we're determined to prevent iran from developing a nuclear weapon. we are not seeking regime change and we respect the right of the

iranian people to access peaceful nuclear energy. instead, we insist that the iranian government meet its responsibilities. jenna: joining us now, the former deputy secretary of defense under president george w. bush and a scholar now at the american enterprise institute. thank you for being here. >> thank you. jenna: what is your reaction from the president today? >> too much about humility, not that i'm in favor of arrogance but what the middle east -- what our friends in the middle east want to hear and around the world is confidence and strength. what our enemies need to hear is confidence and strength, not saying that we can't impose democracy by force as if that was ever the policy of the predecessor. it's not what we need at the u.n. jenna: most of the viewers might know you from your work at the bush white house. it's interesting to note that you work under the carter administration. >> true. jenna: during the last time that we had any high level talks

between iran and our country. just take us back to that experience and what you're seeing now. a lot has happened the last 30 years. how do you set it all in your mind and how do you see it? >> it's interesting you take it back that far. when i came to the pentagon in 1977, one of the things that struck me was we were doing no planning for the persian gulf, but the british announced in 1971 they were band oning all commitments east of suez and you had an incredible vacuum created by the british departure and nobody to fill the vacuum. well, i'm afraid what we're seeing now with this administration is washing our hands of the region. the president boasts of ending a decade of war. well, he's only ending the american participation in iraq and afghanistan. those wars continue and now a new worse one in syria, all of them without any serious american effort to deal with them. and our friends in the region are crying out. the syrian people are crying

out. we don't want to hear about humility. we want help. jenna: you've seen different styles of leadership from our president over the years. what works in the region? >> velvet glove and a nail fist. diplomacy backed up by real strength, real leverage. ultimately in most of these situations, a peaceful outcome is a desirable outcome but you merely get there if the killers and mass murders like asad and damascus figure they can get away with not compromising. jenna: the president did take issue with the middle east and how america is perceived there. i would like to play that short sound and get your thoughts in a moment. >> a situation in syria mirrors the contradiction that has persisted in the region for decades. the united states is chastized

for meddling in the region, accused of having a hand in conspiracy. at the same time the united states is blamed for showing -- jenna: what does that mean? >> i think it's wrong and i think it's an excuse for doing very little. in libya which is one place where i supported what the president-d they put up a billboard in tripoli after muammar qaddafi fell that said thank you for everything and had eight national flags, including the american flag. in the middle it had the nato flag. who would have said they would have a billboard saying thank you, nato. i think if we -- the cause of the syrian people today is i think more concerning to arabs across the middle east, even the palestinian issue and i understand the palestinian issue is one that we're going to have issues with because we would like to see both sides come out ahead but in the case of syria,

there's an opportunity which we've now thrown away for 2 1/2 years. we don't even give them gas masks apparently. we don't even provide hospital ships off shore to treat the syrian wounded. there's so many things we could have been doing that would produce a different situation now and frankly, look. i understand we don't always get gratitude for the sacrifices we make but on the other hand, we also often come much too late to the party. jenna: if you had the opportunity to advice the president, secretary kerry on the path we now are setting out, a diplomatic path for iran, whalgd -- what would be your advice? >> it's not great. the main leverage we have at the moment are sanctions and i don't know how much you'll get for sanctions but because they're not great, you shouldn't start giving it away easily at the beginning. that's number one. number two, i would not take off the agenda other major issues. after all, this is a government

according to the eric holder justice department who organized incredible bombing effort in downtown washington to asassinate the awedy ambassador and this would upheld in court. iranians were behind that, as alleged, by the u.s. justice department. the mistreatment of the iranian people, he talked about they have a right for the nuclear agency. how about a right to peaceful demonstrations? you need to take on the broad agenda. at the end of the day, you're not going to get the whole agenda but if you don't have everything on the table at the outset, if you say with syria, all we really care about are your chemical weapons, if you said all we care about your nuclear weapons, you can continue destabilizing iraq and you can continue abusing your own people, well, guess what? the best you'll get out of it is that very narrow issue. jenna: always wish we had more time. i could talk to you for an hour. we hope you come back to the

program and very much appreciate it. >> thank you. nice to be here temporarily. jenna: we'll take you for however long. right, jon? jon: that's right. president obama gets caught on an open mike again. coming up, what he was overheard saying at the united nations and why it could land him in hot water at the white house. plus we just said goodbye to summer but next we're going to tell you where some folks should now be getting ready for snow. ... ... ... ... ... ...

jon: a fox news extreme weather alert now and a major cold front sweeping across the rockies and the northwest bringing with it the first significant snowfall of the season. janet is live in the fox news weather center. she has more for it. >> are we ready for it?

jon: yes. always. >> this snowfall will go directly on our senior producer's dad's home. right around butte, montana. winter storm advisories for this region of the northern rockies where they could receive one to two feet of snow above 7,000 feet. this is not a rare event but certainly some news that we like to bring you from the fox news extreme weather center. we're also watching the potential for heavy rain across florida. we have the stationary front that's been there for days and the potential for some heavy rain not only today but for the next 48 hours into wednesday. look at the potential for over a foot of rain just south of the tampa area and if i could, we're going to watch something develop perhaps off the stationary front. we're going to have to monitor the low pressure system as it continues to move fairly close to the mid add atlantic and northeast on saturday. something we should watch. it could be tropical, sub tropical but we'll keep an eye

on it for the fox news extreme weather center. jon: i'm concerned if it snows in the northwest, there's a certain frog named freddy who might have a problem. frogs don't do well in the snow >> that's true. you're right and look at freddy the frog. jon and jenna know about the book and post a review on ama n amazon.com. big supporters of the frog. jenna: oh, yes. with the umbrella. >> thank you so much. it's been out a month and it's well. we're on the second printing. thanks to fox viewers here. freddy is going to be around for awhile. jenna: i learned a lot reading that book. jon: it's a great little book. look for it. >> it's for kids but adults young at heart. jon: i read it to my children. >> and? jon: they loved it. >> i'm waiting for the review. jon: not quite the same as when they were six but they loved it. jenna: not -- what's in the nasa

photo of mercury has some folks seeing their favorite star wars character next. so what can i get you?

we'll take something tasty and healthy. ♪ ♪ if you wanna go and fly with me ♪ ♪ it's buzz the bee on your tv ♪ ♪ oh how did i get this way? ♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪ there's a party going on in your cereal bowl ♪ ♪ o's can help lower cholesterol ♪ ♪ oh why does it taste so great? ♪ ♪ hey! must be the honey!

♪ ♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪ hey! must be the honey!

>> an open microphone catches the president making a personal remark and who might be the real boss in the white house. >> yeah. >> the president did tell reporters four yearsing on and he still drugled with smoking and the first lady said mr. obama was motivated to kick the habit because he wants to set a good example. >> is there any secret of who is the boss in any married relationship. >> i will not say anything about it. >> we wanted to she you something. a brief picture of it.

but i was cut off from the control room and we'll save it for tomorrow and we'll explain that mannaia. >> this picture, who is it? tomorrow. >> that is a good tease. thank you for that. >> and america live starts right now. >> we begin with a fox news alert. the terrorist attack inside of the mall in kenya is over. that word from the president of that country. welcome to america live. i am shannon broem in for megyn kelliy. the president of kenya said five terrorist were killed and 11 others taken into custody after a four- day stand off. the forces made a final push to takedown the remaining fathers. it was a fierce four fight and stewart ramsey experienced it