we will go right arrest, now, to conor powell watching this veryó closely. conor? word from kenyan military authorities that most of the shopping mall that now is under criminal of the military and they are saying most of the hostages are free. what we are not hearing is how much longer it will take to free the rest of the hostages, how many have actually been freed and how many are it will being held hostage. a lot of questions right now but this is the first indication we have gotten from the kenyan authorities in the past few hours that this assault by the kenya military forces on the building, on this facility, is starting to

conor powell tells... in audio posted online... he explains why the militants took over the shopping center and warns of future violence. as more images of the destruction at nairobi's westgate shopping mall are released... the leader of terror group al-shabab is taking responsibility for the deadly siege there last weekend. saying the attack is payback for the presence of kenyan troops in somalia. godane says: "this operation shocked the kenyan authorities who sent their forces into our homeland and it was a lesson to those western groups who support kenyan intervention in our country, which loots our natural resources, like oil." (audio only/voice of translator) the group ... threatening more violence if kenya keeps a military presence in their nation. godane says: "you will not be able to withstand a long- lasting war in somalia and the calculated attack inside kenya. today take the decision to withdraw your troops out of somalia or prepare for a long-lasting war, blood, destruction and evacuation." (audio only/voice of translat

. >> conor powell is live from our jerusalem bureau with more. conor? >> this is still very much an ongoing situation. the kenyon authorities just provided a quick update a few minutes ago and said that the 10 to 15 gunmen that are believed to be in there are now cornered in one spot in the entire shopping mall and that kenyon security forces are moving in to try to neutralize them, but they're taking their time because of the fear of hostages. it's not clear exactly how many hostages are there, but the red cross is saying 49 people are unaccounted for right now. it doesn't necessarily mean there are 49 hostages. that just means it's unaccounted. estimates have gone from 50 to 200 or so hostages. israel has sent a special team to nairobi to help with negotiations. the shopping mall that was attacked is owned by a wealthy israeli man. it believes the mall was chosen as a sign of the west. israelis there are only helping to assist. they will not be part of any type of siege. more than 1,000 people have safely escaped from the mall including some earlier t

and conor powell with details on the situation in kenya. let's start there live in jerusalem. conor? >> harris for the first time in hours, really the last two days, there is some encouraging news coming out of nairobi as kenyan special forces have essentially laid siege to this shopping mall to the westgate shopping mall, and the reports we're getting now is that most of the hostages are now free. according to kenyan police and military officials, most of the hostages that are freed are in good condition. they are adults. although some are suffering from dehydration. however, a word of caution here. we don't know how many of these hostages have actually been freed, nor do we know how many are still being held by the somali militants. and despite the encouraging news, this is not over. somali militants are still barricaded in this shopping mall. there is still fighting going on. there are still reports of loud explosions, and gunfire in nairobi -- or in kenya's capital in nairobi. the death toll has risen this evening already to 68 people. and kenyan authorities say it may incr

conor powell from our middle east bureau on today's meeting. conor? >> doug, israeli officials are on board with this plan, at least for right now. it helps that secretary of state john kerry is keeping the threat of force at least on the table. saying today at this press conference with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu a a possibility of an attack on syria is real and that the assad regime must give up chemical weapons or face u.s. military strikes. israel, of course, is concerned about syria's chemical weapons. and the attack that allegedly happened last month. but netanyahu sees syria entirely through the eyes and the lenz of iran and its nuclear ambition insisting that the international community must take a hard line with assad to send a message to iran. if diplomacy has any chance to work, it must be coupled with a credible military threat. what is true of iran, or what is true of syria, is true of iran. >> >> now, as the fighting rages on in syria, for now diplomacy is the main tool of choice. kerry warned there are still a lot of deta

conor powell live in our middle east newsroom. . >> shepard, the ancient town just outside damascus is one of if not the oldest christian communities in the entire world. it also perfectly illustrates just how complicated it it is on the ground in syria right now. the christians have long been under the protection of the syrian army and assad regime since the start of the civil war. keep in mind that sir yaps christian community generally supports bashar al assad. syrian opposition that the u.s. supports though is mainly made up of sunni muslims, increasingly the most rebel groups. islamic extremists and often tied or share ideology linked to al qaeda so, shepard, if u.s. were to launch an attack on the assad regime, they could very easily be helping groups tied to at least sharing ideology to al qaeda while at the same time punishing christian communities in syria. shepard? >> shepard: conor powell live early this tuesday morning. our coverage of the crisis in syria continues ahead. but, first, the youtube confession that has more

let's bring in now fox's conor powell who is following the developments from our mideast bureau. >> reporter: well, it was a violent and bloody day today in nairobi and appears kenyan police now have the situation under control but it's not entirely clear if the entire fighting is over. we believe at least one of the gunmen is in custody right now. several appear have been killed or at least injured severely. we don't know if they are all either dead or in custody right now. there still might be some out there. the group that is saying that they are responsible for the attack say they still have fighters in the mall, the police have given the indication it's under control. now it began earlier today around noon local time in nairobi as gunmen stormed an upscale shopping mall in the heart of nairobi's international community. witnesses say the gunmen were carrying ak-47 rivals and throwing grenades and were targeting nonmuslims and westerners telling muslims to leave a food court area before opening fire there. fox news has learned that a shopping mall was owned by a wealthy israeli businessm

we will go right arrest, now, to conor powell watching this veryó closely. conor?>> in the past few minutes we have word from kenyan military authorities that most of the shopping mall that now is under criminal of the military and they are saying most of the hostages are free. what we are not hearing is how much longer it will take to free the rest of the hostages, how many have actually been freed and how many are it will being held hostage. a lot of questions right now but this is the first indication we have gotten from the kenyan authorities in the past few hours that this assault by the kenya military forces on the building, on this facility, is starting to prove successful. what we are hearing is not a complete story of what is going on in kenya. there are a lot of questions of how many hostages have been freed and who may still be held hostage and what type of death toll we could be facing during this type of assault and whether any kenyan soldiers were killed. how many of the gunmen are alive? there are a lot of questions still. the good news is that at le

conor powell, ktvu news. >> we will be carrying the president's a -- address live right here. >>> and tomorrow afternoon, sending a message about the attack on syria. americans weigh in. >>> the san francisco fire department has apparently reached a settlement with a firefighter that accused superior of racial harassment. according to the san francisco chronicle. african american firefighter larry jacobs says he was called house boy. that he was told he could not associate with other trainees. some veteran firefighters supported his story. under the agreement jacobs will receive $175,000. city supervisors must still approve the settlement. >>> and oakland man is sharing his own story of abuse in an old reform school in florida. investigators have already found remains there. a local man believes the disturbing discoveries will continue. >> reporter: for more than 25 years, oakland has been a place of refuge for paul price. >> i wanted to get away as far as i could from florida. >> reporter: pryce says that he was one of the lucky ones. he made it out of a reform school in florida. off

conor powell live for us from our jerusalem bureau with more on that. conor?atement by the assad regime is actually support for some type of peace negotiations to be used and done through the u.n. for the past 2 1/2 years president assad and his russian backers really used the u.n. to stifle any type of peace negotiations or peace settlement. the assad and his government are likely playing for time, trying to prevent any type of an american-backed international coalition from really forming. now today nato secretary-general rasmussen said a firm response was needed to the august 21st chemical weapons attack while the arab league issued a statement urging international action against syria. heather, important to note that the arab league stopped short of endorsing any type of u.s. military strike in syria. heather: so, conor, is the ongoing debit a u.s. strike impacting fighting in syria? >> reporter: it is important to remember, heather, day in, day out, syrians are fighting and dieing even well after this august 201st chemical weapons attack. the war is liter

conor powell is live in jerusalem with more. conor? >> reporter: jon, now that this u.s. temporarily at least on hold, president assad is sort of waging his own public relations war telling a french newspaper that the middle east is a powder keg and that a u.s. strike will ignite it, hinting that either iran or hezbollah may sort of retaliate either against israel or jordan or turkey or any number of possibilities. now, assad also insisted to this newspaper that a u.s. attack would only help al-qaeda who at this point really does make up a significant part of the syrian opposition. assad also echoed the russian position, demanding proof of the use of chemical weapons saying, you know, obama doesn't have any of this proof, he's scared to put it out there. but for all this tough talk, he -- like pretty much the rest of the world -- is sort of waiting to see what congress does and, ultimately, what decision president obama makes. they're sort of all on the sidelines waiting to see what washington does, jon. jon: so what are you hearing, conor, about this missile test that is

conor powell in jerusalem, thank you.back here in the united states as we get closer to full implementation of obamacare, millions of americans are wondering just how much this is going to cost them. the obama administration is touting very affordable rates. critics of the plan, though, say that those rates are really just optimistic estimates, and we're going to see a different story. jim engel's live from washington to work through all of this for us. >> reporter: hello, jenna. well, the administration offered the most detailed information so far about obamacare this week and insisted it will do what the president pledged. >> the affordable care act will deliver on its promise to make health insurance more affordable and accessible for americans. >> unfortunately, you can go all through that hhs report and not be able to answer the most important question: will my insurance rates go up in 2014. >> they cherry picked the data in order to highlight the fact that people of low income will benefit under the law, but people

. >> conor powell live in the middle east. >> and rod labor became the first player to win the coveted 1948. for decades none came close. then in his big year he dominated the u.s. open and followed it with wins at the french open. rod labor would turn professional the next year. at the time the events were amateur-only events. he aced the competition 51 years ago today. and now you know the news for this tuesday, september 10, 2013, i'm shepard smith. the president address will be just before 9:00 eastern. as always, "the o'reilly factor" is next. thanks for trusting us with your news and information. have a good night. >>> tonight -- >> this cannot be a game. that we have made very, very clear to the russians. >> maybe that's why the russians cancelled a big u.n. meeting today about syria's weapons of mass destruction. that creates even more problems for president obama. we'll analyze. >> in 1938 about 80% of the american public opposed strong action against nazi germany. is history repeating itself now? we'll discuss it with john stossel. >> i'll try it out for a couple of weeks. if

let's start in the middle east with fox news's conor powell in jerusalem. connor with all the developments the last few hours, what are you hearing there in the middle east? >> it has been a dramatic change. just a week ago it seemed like the middle east was on the verge of war. now the war button has been put to pause. the region is in really in a state of limbo. it doesn't know what is going on. it is waiting for developments at the u.n. and washington and moscow. this entire region in israel, saudi arabia, jordan and turkey, israel they're waiting and watching to see what happens. as the region is in limbo, the underlying facts on the ground haven't changed. assad is still in power. he continues to have chemical weapons. the syrian civil war is continuing. thousands are dieing. syrian national committee, one of large opposition groups actually based in turkey right now they issued a statement that the russian plan doesn't do anything to punish assad for his crimes, for use of his chemical weaponserrer about a month or so ago in august. privately official

conor powell with the news live in jerusalem.skeptical of this russian proposal. >> shepard, not just skeptical some here in israel pushing for the united states to strike against syria. today israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu took a hard stance not only against syria but also iran saying not only should assad's chemical weapons be taken away, but whoever uses chemical weapons should be punished. now, keep in mind, the white house position right now appears to be that removing assad's chemical weapons is the punishment. netanyahu though seems to be calling for something much more stronger than that. most israeli politicians see the syrian civil war entirely through the lenz of iran and its nuclear ambition. the idea being that if assad isn't punished by the u.s., the ayatollahs in tehran will be emboldened and they will continue to pursue nuclear weapons. netanyahu and others here in israel want the west to hit assad, shepard, to send a message to those in iran. shepard? >> shepard: connor, a russian missile cruiser is no

conor powell live in jerusalem bureau with more. conor? >> reporter: authorities are making good progressivitying through the debris and weakage at the shopping mall but it will be days before they can determine identities of attackers. they released three people originally arrested in connection to the attack. eight people are in custody and searching for more including a british woman, samantha leuthwaite, the so-called "white widow." interpol issued a essentially a passport around the world there is no evidence linking here to the attack. technically she isn't wanted in connection with the nairobi mass current authorities think she might have some connection to it though. we're also getting a better look inside the karnage at the westgate mall. the destruction is substantial. initially we thought attackers caused most of damage but a senior kenyan official told the associated press today that kenyan soldiers caused the massive collapse there. it is huge. it is three stories that collapsed on itself. fox can't confirm that report but the

conor powell is live in jerusalem. conor, the assad regime is not just waiting. they are preparing clearly because they have extended time now for these attacks. >> reporter: martha there were report as few days ago that the syrian military was moving military equipment around the country preparing for some type of u.s. military strike. keep in mind the assad regime is fighting a civil war for 2 1/2 years. they have long had to take precautions against their military arsenal. in some ways they have dug in against the syrian opposition. the u.s. strike, they're not moving things all around the country but taking precautions against u.s. tomahawk missiles and other things, a different type of warfare they have already been experiencing. assad is mounting a public relations war past few days, that a telling french newspaper that a u.s. strike would set off a regional war and the u.s. attack would only help al qaeda, who at this point up a significant part of the u.s. opposition. that is the biggest reason why the u.s. government is so concerned about launching a str

conner powell joining us live with the latest on the story. co conor?as been mounting for months now. but for the most part over the past few weeks, while it has been heats, it's been civil in terms of the dialogue between the two countries. now president putin has begun to ratchet up his aggressive language as the united states talked more about a strike in syria, with putin now saying that russia would, quote, help syria if the u.s. attacked the asaad regime. the russian government provides military weapons to the assad regime. putin seemed to threaten the u.s. this week admitting that russia suspended the sale of some weapons to the assad regime already but russia would come to the aid if syria's attacked by the united states. earlier in the week, putin called secretary of state kerry a liar when he said the assad regime used chemical wellens on rebels. no matter what the united states shows or says, in terms of intelligence. president obama and putin did speak briefly at the g-20 meeting but it was by no means a warm conversation. the two men have b