0 are working hard to get her restaurant reopened. >> it hurts. this is a good time year. >> reporter: but getting the restaurant open is hard for her and other businesses in estes park, colorado. how long will it take for customers to return? >> when you have an event like this, what does it do to a town? >> well, we've never had an event like this. this is the biggest event this town has ever had. >> reporter: with elk raised out in the open, it is a tourist mecca. sidewalks usually bustling on the weekend are empty. >> it is a shot in the solar plex and takes the air out of you. >> reporter: it may be a while before merchants like this are busy again. to understand why, you need to take a drive. the problem is roads like this one. they have caved in. this is a major artery and it is preventing folks from getting into the town and spending money and it could be like this for many months. there is no timetable for the major highways repairs. an alternative route exists but it is not as convenient and not yet known how many people will use it. >> some of the businesses, this might be enough to push them over the edge. >> reporter: despite the hardship, julie says there is no place she would rather live. >> a lot of people can say they live some place beautiful and in a wonderful community, and people in estes park know they have both. >> reporter: the question is when. >> dan joins us now. aside from the road destruction, did the town suffer other types of extensive damage? >> reporter: there is some damage. downtown looks good. that's where the shops are. they are open today and the problem is they are all empty. that's because people can't get on those roadways. it is believed they will be fixed, hopefully by december 1st, and boy do they need help. rosa? >> simon, live for us. thank you so much. you are in the cnn newsroom, i'm rosa in for don lemon. we are following developing stories. in washington, just moments ago, president obama spoke at this memorial for 12 people who were killed in the navy yard shooting this past week. you will hear what the president had to say shortly. now we go to kenya right now. some of the attackers are holed up with hostages at a nairobi mall. security forces surrounded them. it seems minute to minute we are getting new and often shocking developments. and now another american connection. here's the latest. three of the gunmen who opened fire inside a shopping mall in kenya yesterday are from the united states. that's what we've been told by sources inside the extremist group claiming responsibility for killing at least 68 people yesterday. we, at cnn, are working to verify this major development. u.s. officials say they've long been worried that a terror group that recruits new members here in the states. in just a moment, i will talk with someone from a somali community here in america and ask him if he believes that that is indeed the case. something else from nairobi where it is after 1:00 in the morning. most of the hostages have been rescued. police believe that the attackers had been holding about 30 people inside the mall. several americans were wounded yesterday in the sudden violence saturday. live to nairobi right now, and our correspondents there, and mima, anything more from the kenyan military about the fate of those hostages? have most of them been, indeed, released? >> reporter: that's absolutely what we're hearing from the kenyan ministry of interior and defense, which is the kenyan army. they say that they have managed to successfully secure the release of most of those hostages. they do say most. we're not quite out of the woods yet. they say that operation is still ongoing but there is finally, they believe, a resolution in sight. they also say they have finally, after over 36 hours of impasse with those hostage-takers, that they have he isssecured most of building. we have been pushed back with members of the public to a road slightly further away from the west gate shopping mall. as much as to protect as to try and safeguard that ongoing operation. there was some pretty compelling evidence, i should say, that hostage-takers were receiving, information from the outside world as to how things were carrying on and how the hostage situation was being perceived. and for those reasons the kenyan government has consistently called upon us and other members of the media to be very careful about what we've been putting out there. but they are hopeful, they say, that in the very near future they finally have good news for the families of those inside for so long. >> you know, i know there was a bit of confusion. was it evident that a rescue operation was actually going on? did you hear noises? could you hear some gunfire, perhaps? >> well, there was a very long period, over ten hours in which we didn't hear very much, very sporadic bursts of gunfire. then just before sunset, we started seeing intense activity. very low-flying helicopters. police and military helicopters. military jets buzzing that building very, very loud. and then nothing. absolute silence for quite a while and sources we were speaking to said that was very much in keeping with the kind of distraction activities that armed forces put into effect when they are trying to move special forces or trying to move troops in a way without, and assuming we are seeing s.w.a.t. forces in the u.s., trying to carry out operation while distracting the hostage takers. we didn't actually hear anything from that operation. we did spell it to see increase of activities, heavy weaponry. tank came past us. kenyan forces, trucks moving back and forth. and a statement by the kenyan police force that they believe this operation could soon be over. >> live in nairobi for us, thank you so much. earlier, cnn international peter burgian talked about the group believed to be responsible for this attack. it is believed they recruit here in the united states, especially in minnesota. >> a number of young men around two dozen, from minneapolis, travelled to somalia in 2008, 2009. but they also came from other places. one of the leaders of of al shabad, he grew up baptist in alabama, a small town in alabama, and converted to islam when he was a teenager and travelled to somalia and became one of the star figurers of the group and frequently showcased and videos that al shebad made. it isn't totally surprising, knowing that they recruit in the united states and recruit in a number of other countries. and there is a twitter account, very active, speaking in colloquial english. >> in a moment we will speak with someone from somalia. stay with us for that. president obama honored 12 patriots killed in washington. the president says tears are not enough to fully honor the 1 n2 navy yard shooting victims, because it is way too easy to get hold of guns. let's listen in. >> americans are not inherently more violent people than folks in other country. we are not inherently more prone to mental health problems. the main difference that sets our nation apart, what makes us to susceptible to so many mass shootings is that we don't do enough, don't take the basic common sense actions, to keep guns out of the hand of criminals and dangerous people. what's difference in america is it is easy to gets your hands on a gun. i do not accept that we cannot find a common sense way it preserve our pra traditions including basic second amendment right. while at the same time, reducing the gun violence that unleashes so much mayhem on a regular basis. and it may not happen tomorrow and may not happen next week, may not happen next month, but it will happen. >> but the president said washington lawmakers are not likely to lead any push for change on gun control. the president tried and failed to pass a tougher gun control bill last spring. we are nine days away from a possible government shut down, a bitterly divided congress, much reach a budget deal or the shut down could come october 1st. house republicans passed a plan friday that would strip funding for the healthcare reform law also known as obama care. house minority leader nancy pelosi slammed republicans behind the plan when she talked to cnn's candy crowley. >> i called them legislative an ars knit. they are there to burn down what we should be building up in terms of inestmevestment, educa and i don't paint them all with the sathe same brush. >> ted cruz said he will filibuster if harry reid tries to keep obama care funding with the simple majority of 51 senate votes. >> senate republicans have the tools we always use when the majority leader is abusing his power, which is we can deny closure. we can filibuster and say, we will not allow you to add funding back for obama care with just 51 vote. >> the house plan is expected to be rejected by the senate. we should add also the deadline came and went, folks. and assad's government says syria turned over all of its data on chemical weapons stockpiles. so what's next? and why does iran want to get involved in all of this? that just ahead. also coming up, they claimed responsibility for the attack on that nairobi mall. and we've learned three of its members are from the united states. who is alshabob and are they a threat here?