Good morning, pooim im paige hopkins. Moments ago a huge loud explosion rocked the westgate fourth day in that hostage situation. Officials say theyre looking into a claim by kenyas 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 its 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 its 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 kenyas president is expected to address the nation today. Back here at home, will they or wont they . Its a day of high stakes the the united nations. All eyes are on whether president obama will meet facetoface with
Next few days. You can blame if on a perfect storm of Rising Oil Prices and the peak driving season. But thats not the only thing shooting up. The stock market got some extra fuel surging to all time highs. The dow was up 169 points at 15,460. And the s p 500 rose 22 points to 1,675. The record highs are in response to words from the Federal Reserve that it will continue its bond buying program. The prosecution has now made its Closing Arguments in the closely watched and highly charged trial of George Zimmerman. Zimmerman has been charged with seconddegree murder of Trayvon Martin, but that charge became an issue in court on thursday as the jury is now allowed to consider a lesser charge of manslaughter. Parents of the defendant and the dead teenager were all in court together for the First Time Since opening statements. The jury could have this case as soon as today. Ron mott reports from sanford, florida. A teenager is dead. He is dead through no fault of his own. He is dead because
Im paige hopkins. While many of us are preparing for the weekend, firefighters in Northern California are battling a rapidly growing wildfire near Yosemite National park. Its called the rim fire and it grew exponentially overnight now covering about 54,000 acres up from 16,000. And just 24 hours earlier, highway 120 year yosemite was shut down but the park itself remains open and mostly smokefree. On thursday, governor jerry brown issued a state of emergency and that declaration frees up money and resources for the 1800 firefighters on the ground. So far nine structures have been damaged. 2500 remain threatened. Now overseas to syria where more horrific images are emerging of what Syrian Rebels are calling a mass chemical attack. But the claims still not verified. If these reports are true it would be an outrageous and flagrant escalation of use of chemical weapons by the regime. So our focus is on nailing down the facts. The vicious civil war is now in its third year. More than 100,00
A rapidly growing wildfire near Yosemite National park. It is called the rim fire, and it grew overnight covering about 64,000 acres up from 16,000 just 24 hours earlier. The park remains open and mostly smokefree. On thursday, governor jerry brown issued a state of emergency. The declaration frees up money and resources for the 1800 firefighters on the ground. So far, nine structures have been damaged, 2,500 remain threatened. Lets take to you syria where more horrific images are servicing from what Syrian Rebels are calling a mass chemical attack but the claims are still not verified. If these reports are true, it would be an outrageous and flag grant escalation of use of chemical weapons by the regime, so our source is on nailing down the facts. More than 100,000 are dead and nearly 2 million refugees from that. Nbcs yousef gamal eldin is in cairo. Yousef, whats the latest there . Reporter the betty, the numbers are shocking the community and theres certainly a lack of clarity that
Anticipates closing arguments starting today with deliberations beginning friday afternoon. Nbcs sarah dallof is live for us outside the courthouse in sanford, florida. Sarah, good morning. Reporter good morning, paige. A lot of big developments yesterday, but the main headline, George Zimmerman will not testify. The defense would call Robert Zimmerman sr. , your honor. After four days of testimony, attorneys for George Zimmerman who pleaded not guilty to seconddegree murder wrapped up their case with zimmermans father. One last witness testifying the screams on the 911 call. I told them absolutely its my son, george. I am asking your client questions. Please, mr. West. Reporter it was a day sprinkled with heated exchanges between the defense and judge deborah nelson, specifically when the judge asked zimmerman if he would be taking the stand. I object to the court inquiring to mr. Zimmerman about his decision whether to testify your objection is overruled. Zimmerman told the judge he