a dangerous situation, hostage situation, in fact, is still going on inside a shopping mall that was the scene of a horrific massacre for more than 30 hours ago. kenya's government says about 30 people are being held hostage by 10 to 15 gunmen. yesterday, those gunmen burst into the upscale mall in nairobi and opened fire. we just heard from the red cross that 68 people were killed and we know that 175 more were hurt. terrorist group al shabaab has taken responsibility and today kenya's president vowed to punish them. >> they shall not get away with their despicable and beastly acts. like the cowardly perpetrators now cornered in the building. we will punish the masterminds swiftly and indeed very painfully. >> reporte >> the president visited victims at the hospital today. his nephew and his nephew's fiancee were among the dead. the u.s. has offered its support. today, president obama called president kenyata and officered condolences. so far, there have been no requests for assistance. zain verjee is live at the scene in nairobi. zain, what can you tell us about the ongoing hostage situation. >> reporter: we're getting not a whole lot of information, because it's an ongoing hostage situation and they don't want to compromise any details of the operation. fred, what we heard a few hours ago were a little bit of shooting and one big explosion. and since then, there's been pretty much silence. we've heard a few ambulances going back and forth. now, where i'm located here, it's just about a five or ten-minute walk away from the west gate mall. and this is basically a red cross headquarters. you know, there's a triage center here and people have been ferrying water and food. and there's a real sense of urgency that something might be happening. some casualties might be coming. and everyone just jumped as soon as they get a radio signal in from west gate. there's no way that anyone can get unless they're not red cross or approved by the military. no persons allowed, no civilians allowed. there are snipers, also, reportedly positioned at particular areas of the west gate mall. one police man was killed by a sniper according to a few reports. everyone staying away. the operation is happening, but no details right now. >> and zain, what's the explanation behind the number of dead going up? is it because, now, authorities are able to get in and retrieve some of the bodies, identify some of the bodies, or is it that many people have died while being treated at hospitals? >> it could be a combination of both. we're in the process of getting in touch with the red cross, but there have been many people that were wounded and were in critical condition. so that could be one reason. the second could be related to the explosions and the shoot that we heard, because about ten minutes after that, there was a bunch of ambulances. and what people around here were saying is when they don't come in through these gates to go to emergency or to the makeshift triage here, that there may be fatalities. it could be a combination of both. and also, if the operation side are inside west gate mall, they may be coming across quarters and, you know, reporting back. so that's what i would suspect as a combination of those factors. >> all right, zain verjee, thanks so much. keep us updated. u.s. secretary of state john kerry responded to that attack, calling it an unspeakable evil. in a statement, secretary kerry said, quote, attacks like this can't change who we are. a people committed to peace and justice for all, but rather must reaffirm our determination to counter extremism and promote tolerance everywhere, end quote. he said, yesterday, there were reports of americans being hurt, but none killed. he did say the wife of a foreign service national working for a u.s. agency was among the dead. back here in the u.s., president obama will honor the victims of last week's navy yard massacre at a memorial this afternoon. the service will be held at a u.s. marine barracks in washington. on monday, 12 people were killed when former navy reservist aaron alexis opened fire inside a building at the naval facility in d.c. could we be heading towards a government shutdown? well, if there's no budget compromise by october 1st, the answer is yes. and the battle lines are being drawn in the sand over the president's health care law. top democrats and republicans all took to the sunday talk shows today to make their case. >> how far are you willing to push? if the senate does not go along night days, are you still going to insist, no funding for the government unless obama care is defunded? >> we are united around a simple goal, that is keeping the government open while protecting our constituents from the harmful effect of obama care. we'll do everything we can to protect our constituents and we have eight days to do that. my hope is that the senate is going to act in a very positive way. >> i don't think in america, we should throw tantrums when we lose elections and threaten to shut down the government and refuse to pay the bills. the american people had a choice last november. they had a choice between someone who said repeal obama care and president obama. >> house republicans passed a stopgap plan on friday, but it takes all the money from the president's health care plan. that plan is expected to be rejected by the senate, the one that was voted on, that is, on friday. it has been more than 17 years since the last government shutdown, the 28-day budget stalemate cost more than $1 billion #. a huge week at the united nations. world leaders gather for the general assembly and the u.n. security council will debate a u.s./russian deal that forces syria to hand over its stockpile of chemical weapons. but there is a hang up. and it centers on the threat of force if syria does not follow through with the deal. cnn's nick paton walsh is keeping an eye on the latest developments, live for us in new york. so, a lot on the line, a lot expected this week. >> certainly, although one unexpected thing we did see on saturday was syria come forward and give to something called the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons, who run the chemical weapons convention for the u.n., which syria has agreed to join. they came forward and gave a declaration of what chemical weapons they had. the u.s. said they were, quote, pleasantly surprised by what was in it. now, bizarrely, it also adhered to the really fast timetable that america came forward for syria to declare what it had. they said in geneva, they want it done within a week. that expired yesterday, but syria still went along with it. they seem to be moving towards that, but the deadlock, really, as you say, fredricka, is at the united nations, the concern about what words will be in any resolution that back up syria's desire to get rid of its chemical weapons. they want a resolution there to give us some sort of international force. as you point out, the russians don't want any suggestion in that resolution that force could be on the table if they don't move fast enough, fredricka. >> what is this, now, nick, the russians talking about the u.s. black mailing it. >> these are comments from the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov, saying if the americans don't get what they want inside that resolution, which would be under a part of the u.n. charter called chapter 7, which suggests potentially the use of force if things aren't obeyed, in resolutions under it, that sergey lavrov is saying, americans are threatening to derail the work of the american for the prohibition of chemical weapons. syria disarming itself of chemical weapons. there's no indication from the american side that that's the case, but certainly, this is about the ongoing stalemate here. this is the russians saying, look, we've brought syria to the table. they've given up unilaterally their chemical weapons, and it hasn't physically started yet as a protest. but the russians say american, britain, france, still want there to be somewhere in the wording of all of this, a suggestion that force could be on the table if they don't move fast enough. a real stalemate, potentially, and it's now going to have to play out. during all the showmanship of the united nations general assembly, which starts tomorrow, fredricka. >> thanks so much, nick paton walsh in new york. china's coast is bracing for a huge storm today. 44,000 fishing boats have been called back to port and at least 50,000 relief workers are standing by as typhoon usagi gets ready to make landfall. there was a bit of good news when the storm was downgraded from a super typhoon status, and that would have been the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane. usagi is still expected to pack hundred mile-an-hour winds and could cause flooding and landslides along coastal areas. back stateside now in colorado. the rain has stopped, but many roads and bridges have still been washed out. homes is and businesses destroyed and whole towns have been cut off. in some places, even the drinking water has been tainted with e. coli. and for a state that relies on tourism as one of its biggest industries, well, that could spell disaster. cnn's dan simon is in estes park, colorado. so what's the latest there, dan? >> reporter: hi, fredricka. this is my first time to this place and it's one of the most beautiful towns i have ever seen. it's no wonder that this is a very popular tourist area. but here's the problem. two of the major roadways to get here are destroyed. and that's going to make any kind of recovery very difficult. >> we've lost a lot of drywall. >> reporter: julie peeper and her staff are working furiously to get her restaurant reopened. >> it hurts. this is a good time of year. >> reporter: but getting the repairs done is only part of the challenge for her and other small businesses in the town of estes park, colorado. the worry, according to the town administrator, is how long it will take for customers to return. >> when you have an event like this, what does it do to the town? >> well, we've never had an event like this. this is the biggest event north carolina has ever had. >> reporter: the town sits at the foot of rocky mountain national park. elk graze out in the open. it is a tourist mecca. the sidewalks usually bustling on a weekend are virtually empty. >> this is a real shot in the solarplex and it takes the air right out of you. >> reporter: and it may be a while until merchants lake this are busy again. to understand why, you need to take a drive. this right here the biggest problem. roads like this one have completely caved in. just look like at the chunks of concrete in there. this is a major artery and it's preventing folks from getting into the town and spending money and it could be like this for months. >> reporter: there's no timetable yet for the major highway repairs. an alternative route exists, but it's not as convenient and it's not yet known how many people will use it. >> some of those marginal businesses, this might be enough to push them over the edge. >> reporter: despite the hardship, julie says there is no place she'd rather live. >> a lot of people can say they live somewhere community and a lot of people say they live in someplace beautiful, and the people here can say that they have both. more than 40% of the jobs are directly related to tourism, so as you can imagine, there is deep concern about the immediate future. back to you. >> indeed. thanks so much, dan simon. a terror group tries to raise its international profile and the deadly mall attack in kenya is the result. up next, the increasingly dangerous threat from al shabaab. and later, the gap between rich and poor is only getting bigger. i'm talking to a man who wants to change all of that. former labor secretary, robert reich. pools... waffle bars... fancy robes... seems every hotel has something to love... so join the loyalty program that lets you 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has been around for a number of years in somalia, has carried out some smaller attacks outside of somalia's borders, but nothing on this scale. and in fact, african union forces, including kenyan forces, had in recent years had success pushing al shabaab out of many of its strongholds in somalia. this would seem to indicate the possibility of a comeback. but also a greater intent on having an international impact. al that bob is, in effect, an affiliate of al qaeda with a similar brutality and a similar focus on spectacular attacks like this one. there had been a recent split in the leadership about whether to focus its attacks inside somalia, against the government there, or abroad. and this would seem to indicate the ascendency of the latter of particular interests for americans. al shabaab has had success recruiting somali americans into their membership, by some accounts, as many as 50. some have gone on to carry out attacks including suicide bombings. while it may not have the capability of carrying out attacks, it could have interests abroad. >> so just how vulnerable is the u.s. to a terror attack? joining me now from washington to discuss, cnn law enforcement analyst, tom fuentes. good to see you, as always. >> hi, fredricka. >> as you heard, jim is saying this attack is rather sophisticated and might be the international debut of al that bob. we even know that al shabaab has been known to recruit americans. how concerning is this combination to you? >> that's very concerning. al shabaab has conducted a lot of recruiting and some of the major u.s. cities, as well as in canada. and a number of young men travelled the to somalia to get training in how to use explosives and weapons. and, in fact, have conducted suicide attacked, killing dozens in the past. so it's not the first time. the fear is that they would get this training and then return to the u.s. and conduct attacks here. also, they've conducted a major attack a couple of years ago in the capital of uganda during world cup soccer. there were large venues outdoors where people were watching the world cup games on large screens and they conducted three bombings, they killed americans in those attacks, and the fbi dispatched dozens of agents to ugan uganda, to kenya, and to neighboring countries and eventually disturbed that that was an al shabaab external operation. in other words, an operation outside of the borders of somalia. >> and of course, soft targets are always the easiest target. but is there something about this attack that is most alarming to you as it pertaining to al shabaab also claiming responsibility? >> i think that the size of the attack, number one, and the fact that, you know, we give these attacks based on the number of casualties greater sophistication than they are, or we assume a greater degree of training. if you have a group of individuals and they have hand grenades, automatic weapons or other explosives, it only takes a few people and they don't have to be that bright or that well ained to do massive damage. look at the attack in mumbai, india, in november of 2008. you had a dozen young kids with just a couple of months of training on how to shoot guns and throw hand grenades, and they held the whole city of mumbai, 20 million people, hostage for about three days. so we give them too much credit for sophistication. the arms are plentiful in that region. obviously, in somalia, it's been a failed state for decades. they have arms, they have explosives, they have the inclination. they are trying to achieve the same objective as al qaeda, which means attack westerners. particularly attacks in kenya, because they see kenya as two cooperative with the west, too cooperative with the u.s. >> national security communities are always concerned about the vulnerabilities here in the u.s. but now, given what has taken place in kenya, does it heighten concerns about u.s. security, about potential soft targets in the u.s.? >> it does. it causes the authorities here to realize that it's going to have to believe intelligence-driven prevention to be able to identify a group of individuals before they carry out the attack, because if you get a group, you know, one or more people here with the inclination to go into a soft target, which would be a shopping mall, which would be a grocery store. any place where larger people gather without additional security measures to prevent them from accessing, this includes subways, commuters all over the country in major rail and bus networks, there is no big degree of security for anybody getting into those locations. so one or more people with automatic weapons or explosives could wreak havoc. and there would be -- it would be too late, at that point, to deal with it. you'd have to just do the best you could to respond and prevent it. >> tom fuentes, thanks so much. >> thank you, fredricka. all right, the nation's economy. you may think it's not your problem, but one guy who knows a little something about the economy says the growing income gap between the rich and poor does affect everybody. former labor secretary, robert reich, joins me to talk about his new movie, "inequality for all." >> fame, fortune, and millions in prize money. who did the best players in the world have to thank for making tennis what it is today? >> ladies and gentlemen, billie jean king. >> we really stood together to form the wta back in '73 and i think everyone's really proud of themselves now. >> billie jean king took center stage when the wta reunited its past number ones in london. >> billie jean has been one of my ultimate inspirations. she has told me so many things. >> she's always so inspirational to see, and just being around billie, you feel better after talking to her. zpr real >> really, the players today are living our dream. ♪ [ agent smith ] i've found software that intrigues me. it appears it's an agent of good. ♪ [ agent smith ] ge software connects patients to nurses to the 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