good tuesday morning. coming up on "early today," overnight reports of a huge and loud explosion in cane ya where terrorists have been holding hostages since saturday. is the united states about to engage in talks with iran in the first time in 30 years. former president bill clinton up close on nairobi terror, putin, and terror. burger king is shaking up the french fry world. the things president obama fears the most when it comes to smoking. and a do or die america's cup. "early today" starts right now.

good morning, pooim i'm paige hopkins. moments ago a huge loud explosion rocked the westgate fourth day in that hostage situation. officials say they're looking into a claim by kenya's foreign minister that, quote, two or thrown americans are among the attackers, but they say they have no definitive evidence. kenya forces battled al shabaab overnight. the siege has left 60 dead and 200 injured, including americans. the kenyan government says on twitter it's now in charge of the mall, but a.p. is reporting that al shabaab is tweeting that its militants are, quote, still holding their ground. so it's not clear how many hostages, if any, were treed. smoke rose from the complex well into the night. the kenyan government says more than ten suspects are arrested for questioning, and kenya's president is expected to address the nation today.

back here at home, will they or won't they? it's a day of high stakes the the united nations. all eyes are on whether president obama will meet face-to-face with iran's new leader. tracie potts is live in washington. tracie, good morning. this meeting would be the first of its kind in three decades. do we think it will happen? >> reporter: we think something will happen. it's certainly possible the two leaders, president obama, and president rouhani, new president of iran, may shake hands, have words in the hallway, have brief conversation. it won't be sort of a big sitdown, formal one-on-one with their teams. what we do know is president obama will be speaking in a couple of hours -- about three hours from now -- at the u.n. he will likely not talk only about the bigger situation in the middle east -- iran, nuclear weapons, and the threats

there -- but the situation in syria. the u.s. and russia has brokered a deal for syria to turn over the chemical weapons, but the key for the u.s., and this is what we expect the president to say, how will the deal be enforced. with a u.n. resolution, possible military strike, still on the table for the u.s. he's also likely to talk about middle east peace with the israelis and palestinian, now restarting their peace talks. >> tracie potts, thank you so much. former president bill clinton made some very candid and personal remarks in an interview on "late night." mr. clinton describe as close personal connection to one of the victims in the shopping mall attack. an employee his foundation describes as brilliant, dedicated, and deeply admired. >> i was looking at a picture on my phone of one of our employee, a 33-year-old dutch nurse, had

just gotten her ph.d., eight months pregnant. she and her baby's father were in that mall and were killed. this is very personal to me. >> clinton also discussed the crisis in syria and u.s./russia relations. >> the u.n. report, which came out a few days ago, made it pretty clear that the chemical weapons were fired from a place that the syrian government controlled and that there had never been any effort by the rebels to take it over. anybody i know believes there's a reasonable chance that it wasn't the syrian government. getting russia and syria out into the open in an arena of accountability where they can't fool around with this, for mr. putin to benefit he has to deliver. if he delivered and lifted the burden of chemical weapons that would be great.

if he got in the habit of doing it and we switched to a peace process even better. >> on the heels of his wife hillary clinton's comments to "new york magazine" she might run for president in 2016 -- >> if she is running, to your knowledge, blink twice. [ laughter ] >> i blinked once. huh-oh. >> and now, to news that's looming over the government shutdown. the back-and-forth continues, and there's news of a break in the republican ranks. senate gop leader mitch mcconnell is backing away from a push by texas senator ted cruz. the plan is for republicans to filibuster a house bill that defunds obamacare and keeps the government running. democrats have vowed to remove the health care provision and hold a simple majority vote on the budget. cruz says keeping the bill off the floor is worth closing the government. but in a new cnbc poll, nearly 60% of americans say defunding obamacare is not worth a

government shutdown. just 19% favor linking negotiations of the health care law and the federal budget. vice president joe biden says simply, devastation is devastation. he toured the flood damage in colorado monday from a helicopter over the big thompson river. also monday, a 79-year-old woman was found, bringing the death toll up to eight. six people are still missing and biden vows the relief effort won't cease even if there's a government shutdown. >> i don't want folks here in shelters or watching on tv, seeing the dysfunction of congress and thinking all of the relief efforts that they're now benefitting from are likely to continue to benefit are are going to shut down. they will not shut down. >> the second day of autumn felt more like winter in some parting of colorado. up to four inches of snow fell in the high country. look at that. several highways were closed

briefly because of traffic accidents. nbc's bill karins is here with hopefully a less wintry forecast. good morning. >> as the calendar pages turn, we're getting closer and closer to winter. paige, in montana, they're the next ones. they have winter storm watches out. those the are the first ones we've seen in the lower 48. they'll see a decent winter storm, mostly at the higher elevations, but we're talking a foot of snow at the high peaks outside of butte. that's kind of the first snowfall map i've shown in a long time. hopefully, there won't be too many more until we get to the heart of winter. in the west, what's the big story out there? a big trough coming onshore with the west coast. it had rain, cool temperatures. that's the same system that will bring the snow to montana eventually. the wet weather out there, it's not a big storm system as far as precipitation. there's hit-and-miss showers trying to make their way into olympia and down i-5 from portland, to salem, to eugene. but hit-and-miss stuff. it won't be with us during the day. even the afternoon hours, you

get some sunshine, it might spark thunderstorms throughout the northwest, too. much of california and areas down into arizona, you look pretty gorgeous. temperatures no problems whatsoever. the storm in the northwest will miss you and pass safely off to your north. that's a look there. so we'll have to watch out for that. good news for the northwest. still looks like a decent end to the week. i'll bring you that forecast coming up. >> can't wait. thanks a lot, bill. if you love french fries, stick around. some big news ahead. first, the jury in the months' long jackson wrongful death trial will hear closing arguments today. aeg live, jackson's tour promoter, is accused of jackson's mother of negligently hiring conrad murray, who was

convicted of giving jackson an overdose that killed him.

welcome back. stories making new this is morning. president obama says he hasn't had a cigarette in six years. during a conversation at the u.n. the president opens up about why he hasn't lit up. >> no, no. a south carolina man has come forward as the sole winner of this month's $400 million powerball jackpot. he's chosen to remain anonymous. the ticket was bought at a murphy usa gas station in lexington. they'll get a $50,000 bonus for selling the lucky ticket. police in chicago arrested two men in connection with last thursday's shooting in a park. the 20 and 21 year old have been charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery. 13 people were injured in that

shooting, including a 3-year-old boy. lois lerner, the official at the center of the irs targeting, is retiring. she had headed the division for applications of tax exempt status. she's been on administrative leave since may. and this gorilla from a dallas zoo is heading to a gorilla therapy. his name is patrick. he weighs 430 pounds and zoo officials says he has a sexist attitude and shows aggression towards females. a little political correctness hitting the animal kingdom. now, cnbc and bertha coombs. good morning. >> good morning, paige. chrysler files for an ipo four years after being bailed out. if and when a deal happens, it would be the first time since 1998 that all three big u.s. automakers will be publicly traded. facebook, meantime, is rolling out a new payments feature. users will be able to automatically fill out personal

information when paying for items in retail stores. and burger kings wants you to feel less guilty about eating its fries. the fast-food chain is releasing crinkle cut, 20% fewer calories than regular fries. back to you. >> thank you. can't wait to try those. coming up, the sports highlights. there have been several nfl quarterbacks to played in super bowls for different teams. but has any starting quarterback won a super bowl with two different teams?

before the break, we asked has any starting quarterback won the super bowl with two different teams? the answer is, no. although, craig morton and kurt warner started a second team, but they didn't win. monday night football. broncos and raiders. peyton manning certainly has a great start toward getting ready to win another super bowl. in the first quarter, manning to decker for the touchdown. the second quarter, manning connects with wes welker for the td, and the third-scoring pass was a quick out to julius thomas. manning sets a new nfl record with 12 touchdown passes in his first three games. broncos over the raiders, 37-21.

boxing champ floyd mayweather tweeted he won big by betting $220,000 on manziel and a&m. he said, manziel, may not be able to make money off himself, but i can. the astros game in houston drew zero. none of the 581 randomly selected houston area households were tuned in. in texas, the rangers, alex rios, hit for the cycle with a double in the first inning and a single in the third. then, rios smacked a home run in the fourth inning and hit a triple to the gap in right center field. and check this out. angels' left fielder cowgill making back-to-back spectacular catches. first on a diving catch of a sinking liner.

on the next play, he runs towards the wall for another great defensive play. ooh. and don't try this at home, kids. in benos aires, a soccer player dives head first into an oncoming player with the ball, and it doesn't end well. he gets kicked in the mouth bhi the oncoming opponent and loses three teeth in the process. ouch. next, to sailing. teem usa still fighting to stay alive in the america's cup race. on monday, they held off new zealand, which needs one more win to capture the cup. the u.s. needs to win three straight races for the victory. former president george w. bush was interviewed on the golf channel and he defended president obama's frequent trips to the golf course. >> you know, i see our president criticized for playing golf. i don't. i think he ought to play golf. >> why is that? >> i know what it's like to be in the bubble. i know the pressures of the job and to be able to get outside and play golf with some of your pals is important, for the president. and a new record for

flewtog. the engineers launched and it flew 258 feet, and it beats the old record by 29 feet. by the way, it's german for flying day in case you didn't know. just ahead, the most tweeted moments from the emmys and which "mad man" is going under the knife. plus, conan o'brien goes full on "breaking bad" when we come back.

welcome back. we're going to look for a beautiful afternoon today in arizona and california. but up in the pacific northwest, still dealing with the trough coming onshore. as i mentioned, there's not a lot of rain with it. hit-and-miss throughout the afternoon hours especially. and as far as how long this storm system will last for, it may stick around for some showers into wednesday. but then thursday and friday, it clears out. even look at saturday. hints that we could have a nice warm fall weekend. in san francisco, this is the weather you've been waiting for. temperatures in the upper 60s, low 70s. a lot of people will tell you, paige, this is the time of year to go visit san francisco. this is the reason why. >> it is the best time to be there. thanks. in entertainment news, the hollywood reporter has pulled together people's most tweeted about moments from sunday night's emmy awards. carrie underwood's performance took the hot spot and elton john was number two. the emmy awards brought in the 17.6 million viewers, the

highest since 2005. "breaking bad" broke records with 6.6 million viewers. smashing last week's record of 6.3 million. "mad men" friends do not fear john hamm will be undergoing throat surgery to have a polyp removed. and he will make a full recovery. he was still able to celebrate at the emmys party so he and friend amy pohler hosted a party for losers. losers got in free, but winners were not turned away. they had to donate $1,000 to charity. kim kardashian is out of the post baby shadows with a new ad for her fragrance pure honey. she wants the scent to be light and sweet and powerfully seductive. and conan began his show to "breaking bad," with a new advertisement with "breaking bad" inspired workout equipment. >> introducing barrel flex, the full body barrel workout.

experts agree rolling a barrel through the desert is a fast way to achieving a sexy look. >> oh, wow. >> barrel flex. he had to dig a six-foot hole. that's bad enough. >> yeah. will you be buying ms. karin's kim kardashian's pure honey? >> the name, it sounds like it should be in your tea. >> but it's powerfully seductive. >> well, who knows? maybe we will then. >> yeah, you never know. i'm paige hopkins, and this is "early today." we hope it's your first stop of the day here on nbc. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

leading the news in "the las vegas review journal," sewers clogs as consumers glom on to flushable wipes. it is costing some millions to unclog pipes and pumps. time to go back to toilet paper. and on discovery news the moon just got 100 million years younger. it turns out that 4.4 billion is the new 4.56 billion. the recent analysis of lunar rock finds the moon formed sooner than thought. a huge explosion rocked the westgate mall in nairobi overnight and there are conflicting reports in who is in control of the mall. is it the kenyan government or the al qaeda linked group al shabaab?

new standards on the way for soldiers and their tattoos. it's been in the works for years, according to the news site stars and stripes. they would not be allowed to have body art below the elbows or knees or above the neckline. connecticut street court set to hear a case on whether to classify horses as naturally vicious. it's an appeal to another court's decision following a horse biting a boy in the face t would be the first classification in the u.s., and farmers say it would make owning the animals uninsurable. here is proof that the only thing cuter than a panda cub is 14 of them. the pandas made their first public debut. all of them were bred artificially and being raised in two separate glass delivery rooms. everyone can admire their cuteness. the 14 cubs are going strong. they were born between september and july. one already weighed almost nine pounds. it doesn't get much cuter than

that, bill. >> no, i didn't know they were doing that with pandas, artificial -- >> yeah, adorable. >> save the species. >> that's right. time to look ahead and a look back. firefighters in southern california will try to get the upper hand on a fast-moving brush fire. it's burned at least 48 acres. the cause is still under investigation. and on this day in 1961, walt disney's wonderful world of color debuted here on nbc. ♪ happy birthday to --. happy birthday to them. i'm paige hopkins, and this is "early today." have a terrific day.

it is day four of that standoff at a mall in kenya. we're getting conflicting reports of what's happening inside. security forces say they have the upper hand, but militants are offering a much different picture. plus -- >> on the fact that they left him there to die it's just -- i can't even understand this. >> a man beaten near his home after asking a group of teens to quiet down. the latest on efforts by officers to track down the attackers. >> and commuters standing in line at a casual carpool stop. what police are saying about possible suspects. >> a live look at san francisco. it's tuesday, september 24th, this is "t