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Three Alleged Mall Attackers Lived in U.S.; U.N. General Assembly to Tackle Syria's Chemical Weapons; Hillary Clinton in 2016

Aired September 22, 2013 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Breaking news this hour, we have just learned that three of the alleged attackers in that mall shooting in Kenya lived in the United States. That's according to sources within Al-Shabaab, the terror group that has claimed responsibility.

Two lived in Minnesota and one in Missouri. The U.S. State Department says it is trying to match those names, but it's becoming more confident, the State Department that is, that American citizens may have been involved in this attack.

The massacre started yesterday afternoon when gunmen burst into that upscale mall in Nairobi. Sixty-eight people were killed according to Kenya's Red Cross. And 175 were hurt. Right now, 30 people are still being held hostage inside that mall by about 10 to 15 militants. Nima Elbagir is live for us from the scene.

Nima, what is the latest on trying to free, potentially, those hostages?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the impasse still continues here, Fredricka. We're continuing to hear reports from security and intelligence sources that a major assault is going. But as you can imagine, this is very, very careful, very slow, very painstaking work. It's being undertaken under the cover of darkness, as you can see around me here.

The biggest concern, having freed some over a thousand hostages for the Kenyan government is that they're going to try and get those 30 home safely. This, of course, comes as the relatives, the friends and the loved ones of those who were injured in this attack are - they're spending pretty anxious evening.

Some of those injuries sustained, we've been hearing from the Kenyan Red Cross and medical sources are extraordinarily critical. The Kenyan Red Cross has actually gone so far as to call for national blood drive. They're concern with blood and the hospital is running short. This is one of the ways that Kenyans have been coming forward and trying - they say to show a little bit of strength in this tragedy. And they've been turning out in their (INAUDIBLE) and they've been joined by the American ambassador, by the Israeli ambassador, even by the Somali ambassador in Kenya trying to show their support for what the Kenyan people have been going through over the last two days. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Frightening and very tense situation. Thanks so much. Nima Elbagir.

So we are, indeed, learning a bit more about the attackers who carried out this massacre, including the fact that three allegedly lived in the United States. We're going to go with one of our correspondents now. Evan Perez.

Evan, what can you tell us about this information that we're learning that according to some Al Shabaab sources, they're saying that three of the alleged attackers had lived in the United States in Minnesota as well as Missouri. What do you know about that?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Hi, Fredricka. This is something that's obviously a very big concern for U.S. law enforcement. It's something that they've been looking at for some years now, which is a concern about recruitment of young Somalis, mostly from Minnesota, but also in other communities in the United States. There have been several prosecutions of these recruiters. People who are looking for money and also recruiting young people to send over there to fight.

Big concern obviously is these people learn - they joined Al Shabaab. They learn essentially how to commit terrorist acts and they could come back to the United States and do that here. So far, there's been no sign of that. And then nationally, in recent years, the FBI has said that they've seen a decrease in that recruitment.

Now, they're still looking at the situation. There's no confirmation yet. I think as Elise Labott has reported already, they're increasingly concerned that it might be true. But at this point, they're still very much monitoring the situation.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and when you talk about the recruitment that's taking place in the United States, there is already a fairly high concentration of Somali-Americans in Minnesota. And there have been many reports in recent years that a lot of the recruiting has actually taken place there that many young -

PEREZ: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Somali-Americans had been recruited from the Minnesota area, been trained and tried to be coerce into this new life associated with Al Shabaab. What more can you tell us about the real realities of that?

PEREZ: The issue has been that the Somali population there is - it's a very close knit group. The FBI has been working to try to work with tribal leaders to be able to influence the situation. The first known American to carry out a suicide bombing came from that area several years ago. This first started in 2008. The FBI has doubled down on trying to work with the tribal leaders there to try to make sure that they're talking to the young people to keep them off of this. But it is a struggle. Apparently, it's not over. You know, they still believe about 20 of these people have disappeared over there and they don't where they are. And so that's the big concern for U.S. law enforcement.

WHITFIELD: All right. Evan Perez, justice correspondent. Thank you so much for your time, coming to us from Washington.

Let's go to London now where senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us now. So Nic, we're hearing just a little bit of information from Al Shabaab sources about where some of these alleged attackers may originate. From London, from Canada and now we're also hearing reportedly three who have lived in the United States. So what more are you learning about who these alleged attackers may be?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the British foreign offices are checking to see if the name of the person who is described by Al Shabaab as being British, if he really is. I mean, we do know that as recently as last year, British officials were saying as many as a hundred people who lived in Britain had gone to Somalia for training.

We also know that at least 40 U.S. citizens or U.S. residents had gone to Somalia for training and fighting with Al Shabaab. Of those, half of them couldn't be accounted for, at least at the beginning of last year. And so at them moment, it really is an effort to confirm if those are really accurate names and that is known at the moment and then to try to figure out who else they are associated with, what else maybe being fanned right now. The assessment until last year had been that Al Shabaab and the Americans and British who were going there were being watched closely enough to know that they couldn't perpetrate attacks in the United States or Britain. That this incident is really going to raise big questions again, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Nic, it is a very perplexing situation because apparently, some of these sources within Al Shabaab also are telling CNN that they are not willing to negotiate but here, you have this hostage stand off involving potentially 30 hostages and that according to some sources, Kenyan authorities do have them cornered in this mall. What are the demands likely to be from the attackers, the alleged attackers?

ROBERTSON: You know what, Fredricka, we don't know what the demands are. But it's almost at this stage irrelevant. Because what Al Shabaab wants to do is to create the maximum amount of publicity it can for itself. This is why, it wasn't a hit and run attack. This is why this is an attack that has gone into a hostage scenario because they know it would draw attention. They released these names because they know that would draw further attention. So, really, it does seem to be at this stage to be immaterial.

But we do know and perhaps the best way to analyze what's going to happen next is to look at the Al-Qaeda linked attack in Mumbai in India in 2008. Whereby the attackers there were essentially on a suicide mission. They've stocked up with ammunition and weapons and basically fought until those stockpiles ran out. That is the Al Qaeda method. And, again, the fact that Al Shabaab released names of some of the people that claims or the attackers in the building is an indication that perhaps they will have recorded martyrdom videos.

These so called videos where these individuals will have stated essentially why they took part in the attack. And if that's the case, we'll expect - can expect Al Shabaab to release those videos in the coming weeks. So I think the analysis here is going to be a very difficult one for negotiators, for people trying to release all those people still held in the building because the indications are these people will and probably and in all likelihood try to fight to the death, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson, thank you so much for that information. U.S. secretary of state John Kerry called the attack "an unspeakable evil." In a statement Secretary Kerry said "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."

So we are expecting to hear from President Obama in the next hour. The president will be honoring the victims of last weeks' Navy Yard massacre at a memorial. The service will be held at the U.S. Marine barracks in Washington.

On Monday, 12 people were killed when former Navy reservist Aaron Alexis open fir inside the building at Navy headquarters.

Suicide bombers struck a church in Pakistan killing 77 people. The blast happened today in Peshawar, about 75 miles west of the capital of Islamabad. Witnesses say two attackers struck the protestant church there just as services concluded. Choir members and children attending Sunday school, are among the dead. Pakistan's prime minister and Pope Francis also condemning the attack.

World leaders will gather this week at the United Nations for the general assembly, They'll be talking about the U.S.-Russian deal that forces Syria to hand over its stockpile of chemical weapons. The debate will center on the threat of course, if Syria doesn't follow through.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joining us right now, keeping a close eye on the developments and all those pending developments. How might this week unfold at the U.N.?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, people I think were hoping certain diplomats I spoke at the U.N. that they ought to get this resolution, really kind of backing up in international law, in many ways. What John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, agreed last weekend in Geneva. We were hoping he wasn't going to get swallowed in the showmanship and see the U.N. for this next week with all the heads of state come piling in.

But it has hit that problem - will it reference the threats of force if Syria doesn't move fast enough? That's the sticking point, really. It seems you're not going to see much budging on either side on really. The issue though is what timetable are we seeing. Well, last weekend, John Kerry and Sergey Lavrov said "Look, you got a week, Syria, to tell us what chemical weapons you have." Many thought they not actually have obey that timetable. But they have, remarkably. Yes, given the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons. The group the U.N. charged of disarming people from chemical weapons, giving them a long list of where they have chemical weapons, making that open declaration fast and they never actually said publicly that they would adhere to that timetable.

So many surprised to see that speed of moment. But the real question (INAUDIBLE) if it's a stalling tactic by the Syrians, just playing for time. Because remember they're in a brutal civil war here so whatever window they can get to maneuver they'll take, if it's a stalling tactic, then they'll need somewhere in the future, the threat, of force, perhaps the United States to hurry the process up or at least have a stick to go with the carrot here. So real pressure from Washington to see some sort of language and a resolution that may suggest force could be on the table if Syria doesn't move fast enough. Russia quite clear it won't tolerate that and even suggesting that America, in fact, blackmailing them by insisting on getting this kind of language into the resolution. So a tricky week ahead at the U.N.. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Tricky, indeed. Nick Paton Walsh, thanks so much.

It is the dawn of a new international terror threat. Al Shabaab ramping up this deathly strategy, the Kenyan mall attack is the biggest one this terror group has carried out thus far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hostages are still being held inside a shopping mall a day after armed militants stormed in and killing almost 70 people. The terror group, Al Shabaab has taken responsibility for the attack in Kenya. And we've just learned from sources within Al Shabaab that three people who allegedly are among the attackers lived in the United States. The terror based is based in Somalia right next to Kenya.

As Jim Sciutto reports, this could be an alarming new step for that group.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, we could look at this as the disturbing debut on the international stage of a new international terror threat. Al Shabaab 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 international impact. Al Shabaab 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 to indicate the ascendancy of the latter, of particular interest for Americans. Al Shabaab has had success recruiting Somali- Americans into their membership by some accounts as many as 50, some of whom have gone on to carry out attacks including suicide bombings and while it may not have the capability of carrying out attacks on American soil, it could very well strike U.S. interests abroad. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. Jim Sciutto in Washington.

So we're continuing to break down what we're learning about these alleged attackers. Joining me right now via Skype is CNN national security analyst and former CIA operator, Bob Baer. So Bob, this is pretty remarkable if our sources' information is correct. That among these alleged attackers, three of them lived in the United States, Minnesota and Missouri. How does this information sit with you?

BOB BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Fredricka, you know, frankly I wasn't surprised. I kept in touch with the FBI in the Midwest and they have been worried about their coming back here, doing attacks here but the fact, they went after Kenya, really won't come as a surprise to the FBI or the CIA.

WHITFIELD: Why Kenya in you view? Besides the fact that it's a neighbor of Somalia.

BAER: Well, first of all, Kenya is sort of the platform the west has been using against Shabaab. There's been various covert action, programs going on based out of Kenya. Fighting the Shabaab. Fighting the pirates, the Kenyans have been very cooperative and (INAUDIBLE) some policy with us. And Kenya frankly is a soft target and if the Shabaab wants to hit that, Kenya is the place to do it.

WHITFIELD: And this shopping mall, clearly a soft target but you know, a shopping malls, this shopping mall there in Nairobi, similar in some ways to what you see in the United States but they're also very different because, you know, they've got a movie theater, they got regular shopping of eyeglass shop and clothing but you also have super markets. So you have many families. You have people going about their daily business and doing it on the weekends, the most popular time in which to do so, you know, just to prepare yourself for the work week.

BAER: Well, Fredricka, the worst case scenario is a bunch of these kids coming back, buying weapons in the United States some place like Minneapolis or Chicago and going after one of our malls here. They are indefensible especially with a well-trained group. There's nothing you can do about it. And I guarantee you that the FBI is going to be on it today.

I mean, I find this very alarming. The possibilities here go on and on but right now Americans, all through sub-Saharan Africa should be worried.

WHITFIELD: How can the U.S. - how can U.S. intelligence be an active participant in helping able to thwart counter terrorism efforts from something like this happening again at the same time, you know, authorities are not asking for the U.S. assistance with now. The law enforcement job is being done by Kenyan authorities and Israeli authorities right there on the ground in Nairobi right now. BAER: We can train them on how to take down a building, a mall like this, it's not easy, it could take days. But basic training, beyond that, there's not much we can do. Intelligence on Somalia is abysmal (INAUDIBLE) there's no internet. There's no American embassy there. There's no American presence to speak of.

WHITFIELD: There's no real government right now.

BAER: There's no government help. So - the situation is so chaotic that it's almost a black hole on the map that we cannot figure out what's going on and you know, what do you do? You just hope this burns itself out fairly quickly.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sad situation and very dire. Bob Baer, thanks so much.

All right. We're going to shift gears quite a bit to politics. Possibly presidential politics 2016. She got pretty close in the last run, 2008. Now, Hillary Clinton is apparently weighing yet another run for the White House. We'll tell you what she might be thinking and saying next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, it shows she's the front runner. Hillary Clinton may already be thinking about running for president again. In her first interview since stepping down as U.S. Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton reveals she is "both pragmatic and realistic about it."

CNN's Erin McPike reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Denials no more. Hillary Clinton admits it. She's thinking about running for president in 2016.

JOE HAGAN, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": She's come out for the first time here and said "You know, I'm thinking about it." So she's weighing it.

MCPIKE: She's said as much to Joe Hagan in a wide ranging interview featured in next week's "New York Magazine." Here she is in her own words about whether she wrestles with the idea of jumping into the ring again. "I do, but I'm both pragmatic and realistic. I will just continue to weigh what the factors are that would influence me making a decision one way or the other."

It's a far cry from what she said every time she has been asked the last three years, including in January by CNN.

HILLARY CLINTON, FMS. U.S. STATE SECRETARY: Well I have absolutely have no plans to run.

MCPIKE: Her inner circle is making different plants.

HAGAN: The most fascinating plan of the experience for me was talking to many of here former staffers from the State Department and some of her closer friends. And they are much more open about here's how she's qualified, here's what happened at the State Department that gives her the experience. Here's how she learned from the mistakes of 2008.

MCPIKE: Because of that role, she's more popular than ever.

BILL CLINTON, FMR. U.S. PRESIDENT: It was the first time the country had gotten to see her as somebody who what you see is what you get. She shows up for work every day, gets the job done and is very strong about it.

MCPIKE: And she's getting some encouragement to run from another glass ceiling cracker, the first female speaker of the House.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: I know that if she does, she will win

MCPIKE: But if you're chomping at the bit for campaign season to begin, hold your horses. Her warning? "I'm not in any hurry. I think it's a serious decision not to be made lightly. But it's also not one that has to be made soon."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Erin McPike joining us live now from Washington. So Eric, you know, Hillary Clinton, well she has been down this road before. But what is it about this interview that reveals so much about her intentions or thoughts?

MCPIKE: Well, Fred there is a lot to this interview. In part of it, she talks about what here life is like now with Bill Clinton now that after 20 years, she has stepped away, at least temporarily, from public service. There's a really fascinating nugget in the story itself about how at some point last year, Hillary Clinton was with her staff in Bogota, Colombia as was Bill Clinton and they met for dinner but they both went back to separate hotels because they had these huge staffs they had to stay with. It was really pretty funny. But now, they are living together and seeing what life is like, like that as private citizens again. Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and I think she even talked about how it's so much nicer to have quality time together. They go for walks, they go for swims.

MCPIKE: Absolutely. She also said that even though Bill Clinton keeps telling everyone, he doesn't know what she's going to do. He said that he just wants her to take her time and think about it, too.

WHITFIELD: All right. There's a lot to talk about when they have their dinners there. All right.

MCPIKE: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Erin McPike, thanks so much, in Washington.

All right, terrorists target new sites now, so called soft targets, like that upscale mall in Kenya. A deadly attack happened there. Could it happen at a mall in the U.S.? Right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Bottom of the hour now. A couple of developing stories that we're following for you.

First, the deadly mall massacre in Kenya. And we have learned that three of the alleged attackers lived in the United States. According to sources, within terror group Al Shabaab, two lived in Minnesota and one in Missouri. And they are all in their 20s. A senior U.S. State Department official says they are still trying to match the names but they becoming more confident that American citizens may have been involved.

Right now, about 30 people are still being held hostage at that shopping mall in Nairobi. Kenya's Red Cross says 68 people were killed in the attack yesterday.

And right now, you're looking at live pictures in the nation's capital at the Marine barracks where President Barack Obama will soon be attending to help honor the victims of last week's Navy Yard massacre in D.C. The president is expected to make remarks during the next hour at the marine barracks there in Washington with these live pictures that you are seeing right now. Monday, 12 people were killed when former navy reservist Arene Alexis opened fire inside a building at the Navy Headquarters.

Again, the president of the United States will be in attendance there. His live remarks will take place in the next hour as a number of dignitaries there file in. You are looking at D.C. delicate Eleanor Holmes Norton there. A number of dignitaries being filed in at the marine barracks all to honor the 12 lives lost at the Naval Yard last week.

All right, back now, overseas to that mall massacre in Nairobi, Kenya. The leader of the terrorist group claiming responsibility for the killings has previously threatened a direct attack on the United States. Here now is CNN's Margaret Conley.

MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, we've seen these violent attacks on civilians in crowded public places overseas. The Madrid train bombings in 2004, the London public transport bombings in 2005. In Kenya, Americans were involved, they were in the mall, and some of them were wounded. This raises questions about security here in the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CONLEY: It may be more than 7,000 miles from Nairobi, Kenya to the United States, but the mall massacre half way around the world couldn't bring the tragedy any closer to home.

Washington, D.C. resident Sara Head was inside the mall when shots were fired. She kept hidden in a stairwell with dozens of others as the kaos unfolded. SARA HEAD, EYEWITNESS: So I just waited in the stairwell for about an hour and a half. There were two individuals with me who had superficial gunshot wounds. Well individuals in the stairwell with me they were not with me, but there was about probably sixty of us. There were a few floors with people.

CONLEY: The attack on these so called soft targets raises the question about mall security on U.S. soil. Could what happened over seas happen here?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Soft targets always attract the terrorists because they're usually not defended. It's a very effective way of causing a lot of panic, a lot of damage very quickly and achieving the objective of terrorizing people.

CONLEY: Back in this country one mall that puts its security front and center is Minnesota's Mall of America. One of the largest enclosed shopping centers in the country, visited by 42 million people a year. DOUG REYNOLDS, MALL OF AMERICA: I think that if you're looking for a hundred percent safety, you should probably wrap yourself in bubble wrap and never leave home.

CONLEY: It even has something many government facilities do not.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): This is a drill. Mall of America is now going into lock down.

CONLEY: Twice a month without fail, its tenants and its customers participate in a lockdown drill. Practicing how to shelter in back rooms of stores to try to prevent casualties in an attack.

REYNOLDS: If something bad should happen here, we don't want our response to start with and law enforcement will be here and they'll protect you. We want to know what can be done until law enforcement gets here.

CONLEY: Even with heightened security and awareness of your surroundings may end up being your best defense.

TOM FUENTES, LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: For the average American citizen, you go to the grocery store, you go to the gas station, you go to the shopping mall, and you go to a movie theater. You take walks in your neighborhood. Anyone of those situations could make you vulnerable if other people or another person is out there determined to conduct an attack.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CONLEY: Tom Fuentes went on to say that you could just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: Margaret Conley, thank you so much.

On to Colorado now. There the rain has stopped but the flood waters have washed out roads and bridges, it is cutting of so many towns. The same flooding has also contaminated drinking water in the town of Lyons just north of Boulder. Residents there are being told to boil their water until further notice.

So to find out how you might be able to help out the folks out there in Colorado, visit our "Impact your world" page at CNN.com/impact.

All right. A beloved actor gets a special tribute from his own community. Remembering Gins Kendal Finny (ph) at tonight's Emmy Awards. We will have live pictures for you from the red carpet in Los Angeles. We'll take you there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The biggest night in prime time TV and red carpet fashion is about to get underway in Los Angles. The 65th Prime Time Emmy Award and CNN entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner is there on the red carpet dazzling it all.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

WHITFIELD: OK. What do we expect? This is a big night for some stars. Like Kerry Washington, but also there's going to be some nice tributes, too, right?

TURNER: Yes, there definitely will. There are a couple big story lines to thing about tonight here, Fredricka. You talked about some of the tributes. Instead of doing the usual in memoriam tribute, they're going to do some special things. They're going to give some special tribute to four actors that have passed away this year James Gandolfini, Corey Monteeth, Jean Stapleton and also Gary David Gilbert. And, I feel bad. I keep forgetting Gary David Goldberg. And I shouldn't be forgetting Gary David Goldberg. Michael J. Fox is going to present his special in memoriam. Jane Lynch will to Corey Monteeth. We also have Edie Falco to James Gandolfini and Rob Reigner will present Jean Stapleton.

Now if you look here, you see the red carpet it is kind of busy, a little bustling but it is not officially going to open for another hour. But take a look over here, and you see this is our red carpet position, that is the beginning of the red carpet. So we have a very good position. We're going to see a lot of people walking the red carpet here tonight. Not only your favorite television stars, but a lot of movie stars that are nominated for Prime Time Emmy Awards like Michael Douglas. Who is nominated for "Beyond a Candelabra?" He plays Liberachi. Matt Damon is also nominated for "Beyond the Candelabra." So we'll see a lot of those big TV movie stars here on the red carpet tonight.

We have been seeing a lot more of that lately. One of the other stories lines to think about here tonight you mentioned Kerry Washington she is the first African American actress to be nominated in a lead role since 1995, the last actress to do so was Cecily Tyson. No African American actress has ever won in this category. So we will have to see what happens here tonight with that. And also, I think one of the biggest stories tonight here, Fred, is Netflix. The rise of this new, they call themselves the network now so I will call them a network as well. It is the first; you know they are the first ones to be nominated for a big award in a big category for contents that is not made for television. That is made to be distributed via the internet.

They have 14 nominations for the network tonight. Nine of them for the original series, "House of Cards." Kevin Spacey nominated for lead actor in that. Robin Wright nominated for lead actress and "House of Cards" is nominated for best original series in a drama. So we will have to see what happens with that, too. This is always a fun night, it is a big night. A little bit more laid back then you have, for the Oscar so I am excited for this. This really our first big award shows of the season so I am ready to go.

WHITFIELD: You are ready to go. OK. Ready to roll. All right. Thanks so much Nichelle. We're going to let you go now. Appreciate it. Good job.

All right. The pope making headlines around the world with his comments about abortion, contraception and gay rights. People are still trying to wrap their heads around what he said. I will talk to our Vatican analyst next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, this new information a day after hostage taking and that massacre at a shopping mall in Kenyan. Now we understand from Kenyan authorities, they are saying that "Most of the hostages have been rescued and security forces have taken control of most parts of the buildings." We've been reporting to you more than 24 hours after this situation unfolded that some 30 people were still being taken hostage by 10-15 gunmen. They're in that shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya.

Now, according to Kenyan Defense Forces, their twitter account, they are announcing that "Most of the hostages have been rescued and security forces have taken control of most of the parts of the building." When we get any more information about the alleged gunmen and anymore information about how those hostages were freed, we will, of course, bring that information to you. All right. Now, a switching gears. Last week, Pope Francis talked spoke out on some of the oldest traditions in the Roman Catholic Church.

He talked about accepting gay and lesbians, embracing prominent roles for women in the church and even conception and abortion. Well this all happened in an interview published by the "Jesuit Magazine, America." John Allen is CNN's Vatican analyst he is joining us now via Skype. So, John we're talking about the Pope in this interview. Pope Francis saying that women must play a key role in church decisions. What is making him feel so eager to be so open? Even more open than he has been.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST (via Skype): Well, yes, Fredricka, it is funny I listened to you a moment ago talking about how it is any night in the States. Well here in Rome it is still Pope Francis Night I mean we got a TV star on this gate as well. I think what is going on Fredricka is that the Pope feels that the Catholic Church, when it comes to groups like women and groups of gays and lesbians and so on has got an image problem. And he's trying to address that image problem.

He's not trying to change the traditional teaching, but he is trying to put a much more passionate and tolerant and welcoming sort of face on that teaching. And what's beneath all of that I think is his desire, trying to make sure that the Catholic Church doesn't kind of slide into irrelevance. But it needs to be a kind of player in post modern 21 century secular conversation.

WHITFIELD: So is anyone going as far as saying that he is breaking with doctrine? That he is showing a real shift? Or is it a little bit more tenuous or, I guess, reluctantly are people acknowledging that?

ALLEN: Well I mean look, nothing he has said implies a break in teaching. I mean he has twice now reaffirmed traditional teaching that women can't be priests. He hasn't sent any signal that he is planning to change the church's teaching against gay marriage. But this is definitely a significant deep and profound shift when it comes to sort of tone in priority.

That is to say he wants to see a Catholic Church that is less invested in the culture, of course, and more invested in trying to meet people where they are and kind of reach out. I mean when it comes to Pope's, I mean at certain stance a changing tone is a change in substance. And at that level I think people can say that it reorientation of the Catholic message that is going on under Pope Francis this just isn't cosmetic window dressing it is quite significant stuff.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. John Allen thanks so much for joining us from Rome.

ALLEN: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. According to the U.S. Census, more than half of American children are growing up without fathers at home. Today's CNN Hero overcame a lot of his own life and is now trying to turn dead beat dads into responsible loving fathers.

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(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): I sold drugs on and off though out my life. The tattoo, when I first got them, was war paint. I've been thinking about my son, I did not think about my family, they did not exist.

JOE JONES: God did not make one man who did not know want to be a good man. They just don't know how to be good dads.

What male has helped to shape who you are? We had young men who didn't have fathers in their own lives and a cycle of father absents repeated and we want them to change that for their children. I'm Joe Jones. I work to help fathers and families become responsible for themselves, their children and their communities. I was nine years old when my dad left the house. I began using drugs when I was 13. I spent time in jail consistently and I also had a - because I wasn't responsible for. There's no reason why you can be the get out of the hole regardless of what the circumstances are. I'm telling you.

There aren't many spaces in our community where men can go that are safe, constructive, healthy.

We have been put on the street because you have to be responsible. That's the stuff we have to do.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): You can make mistakes but you can cover those mistakes. Joe has allowed me to find and restore my dignity.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): You have currently have six classes left for you to take. You're almost done.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): That's one of the greatest things that you can offer anyone. You see someone and they've got that pride, that light in their eye. It is relit. Showing little boys and little girls what it means to be a man. What it means to be a dad.

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WHITFIELD: Now for some other stories this hour. A huge storm is bearing down on China's coast right now. At least 80,000 people in the storm's path have been evacuated. The storm has been downgraded from a super-typhoon status. Usagi is the name of the typhoon. It is still expected to pass a 100 mile an hour winds and could cause flooding and landslides along coastal areas.

Back here in the U.S., it wasn't your typical landing this morning in Chicago. Oh, no, a small plane had to make an emergency landing on Lake Shore Drive. The pilot had to find a safe spot to touch down when the two seater began having mechanical problems. The pilot stopped the plane just near a fountain just off that highway. No one was hurt.

A potential government shutdown now just eight days away and the budget battle lines are being drawn over the president's healthcare law. Tea Party Republicans say they will fight any deal if it still funds the president's healthcare law. House Republicans passed the stop gap budget plan Friday that takes all the money away from that law. That plan is expected to be rejected behind the U.S. Senate.

So what do a NASA mission, "The Shining" and Amanda Bines all have in common? They are all part of the week ahead, next.

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WHITFIELD: With the crisis in Syria and the deadly massacre in Kenya as a backdrop, world leaders come together starting tomorrow for the United Nations General Assembly Meeting. And that's where we start our look at the week ahead. President Obama makes his speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday. The president plans to talk about America's evolving role in the Middle East and Africa. He is not scheduled to meet Iran's new president but the White House isn't ruling that out.

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(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Here's Johnny.

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WHITFIELD: Oh, 36 years after Steven King's horror novel, "The Shining" was published. The sequel comes out on Tuesday. Dr. Sleep focuses on Danny Toren he was the young son in "The Shining" who had psychic ability, well he's now an adult fighting a group of psychic vampires.

One astronaut and two cosmonauts take off on Wednesday heading for the International Space Station. Michael Hopkins the American on board is the first member of NASA's 2009 astronaut class to travel to space.

Actress Amanda Bynes is back in court on Thursday she is fighting allegations that she tossed a marijuana bong out of the window of her New York apartment in May. The last time she showed up in court she wore this aqua marine wig.

A really influential climate change report comes out Friday in stack home. We've got a preview when details from the draft report leaked in August. The big take away scientists are at least 90 percent certain that humans are the principle cause of global warming.

All right. That's going to do it for me. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield; Rosa Flores is coming up next in the CNN NEWSROOM.