Health-Exchange Deadline Looms

All of the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," doesn't go into effect until 2014, but states are required to set up their own health care exchanges or leave it to the federal government to step in by next year. The deadline for the governors' decisions is Friday.

The health insurance exchanges are one of the key stipulations of the new health care law. They will offer consumers an Internet-based marketplace for purchasing private health insurance plans.

But the president's signature health care plan has become so fraught with politics that whether governors agreed to set up the exchanges has fallen mostly along party lines.

Such partisanship is largely symbolic because if a state opts not to set up the exchange, the Department of Health and Human Services will do it for them as part of the federal program. That would not likely be well-received by Republican governors, either, but the law forces each state's chief executive to make a decision one way or the other.

Here's what it looks like in all 50 states and the District of Columbia:

20 states that have opted out -- N.J., S.C., La., Wis., Ohio, Maine, Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ga., Pa., Kan., Neb., N.H., N.D., Okla., S.D., Tenn., Texas and Wyo.

Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

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Several Republican governors have said they will not set up the exchanges, including Chris Christie (N.J.), Nikki Haley (S.C.), Bobby Jindal (La.), Scott Walker (Wis.), John Kasich (Ohio), Paul LePage (Maine), Robert Bentley (Ala.), Sean Parnell (Ark.), Jan Brewer (Ariz.), Nathan Deal (Ga.), Tom Corbett (Pa.), Sam Brownback (Kan.), Dave Heineman (Neb.), John Lynch (N.H.), Jack Dalrymple (N.D.), Mary Fallin (Okla.), Dennis Daugaard (S.D.), Bill Haslam (Tenn.), Rick Perry (Texas), and Matt Mead (Wyo.).

3 States Out, but a Little More Complicated -- Mont., Ind. and Mo.

The Montana outgoing and incoming governors are both Democrats, but the Republican state legislature rejected the Democratic state auditor's request to start setting up a state exchange. So a federal exchange will be set up in Montana as well.

The Indiana outgoing and incoming governors are both Republicans and outgoing Gov. Mitch Daniels deferred the decision to governor-elect and U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, who said his preference is not to set up a state health care exchange, paving the way for the feds to come in too.

In Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon is a Democrat, but Prop E passed on Nov. 6, which barred his administration from creating a state-based exchange without a public vote or the approval of the state legislature. After the election, he sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services saying he would be unable to set up a state-based exchange, meaning the federal government would have to set up its own.

1 State Waiting for the White House -- Utah

Utah already has a state exchange set up, a Web-based tool where small-business employees can shop and compare health insurance with contributions from their employee. In a letter Republican Gov. Gary Herbert sent to the White House Tuesday, he asked for its exchange, called Avenue H, to be approved as a state-based exchange under the Affordable Care Act as long as state officials can open it to individuals and larger businesses.

Norm Thurston, the state's health reform implementation coordinator, says authorities there "haven't received an official response" from the White House, but "we anticipate getting one soon."

There are some sticking points that don't comply with the exchanges envisioned by the Affordable Care Act and Utah would like to keep it that way.

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Assad's forces fire Scuds in Syria escalation: U.S. official

WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have fired Scud missiles at rebels trying to overthrow Syria's government, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, a step seen as an escalation in Assad's struggle to retain power.

U.S. officials said they were unaware of any previous instances in which Scuds were used against the rebels since the start of the 20-month-old uprising, which has killed more than 40,000 people.

White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to confirm the reports, saying he was aware of them but could not discuss intelligence matters.

"If true, this would be the latest desperate act from a regime that has shown utter disregard for innocent life," he said. "The idea that the Syrian regime would launch missiles in its borders at its own people is stunning, desperate, a completely disproportionate military escalation."

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Scuds had been used.

In Brussels, a NATO official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said a number of "Scud-type" short-range ballistic missiles had been launched inside Syria in recent days.

"Allied intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets have detected the launch of a number of unguided, short-range ballistic missiles inside Syria this week," the official said.

"Trajectory and distance travelled indicate they were Scud-type missiles," the NATO official said.

Thomas Houlahan, a military analyst at the Center for Security and Science, said the weapons were probably North Korean-made Hwasong-6 missiles, an improved variant of the original Soviet Scuds.

"In terms of the short-range battlefield missiles, they produce a pretty good missile and because of North Korea's constant need for hard currency, they sell them pretty cheap. So they have moved a lot of missiles around and Syria has ended up with a lot of them," Houlahan said.

"MORE ACCURATE"

He said the Hwasong-6 was more accurate than the original Scud, could carry a warhead of about 1,800 pounds (820 kg) and had a range of about 450 miles.

But he said the use of the weapon raised questions as to why the Syrians were not using their air force instead, which was a better alternative.

"If I want to dump 1,800 pounds of explosives on somebody with fairly decent accuracy and I have an air force and they don't, why the hell am I not using a plane?" Houlahan said.

"If you see a country or an army that has much better options not using them, you start to ask yourself why," he added. "Is it the old problem where dictators can't always trust their air forces?"

NATO agreed last week to send Patriot anti-missile systems to alliance member Turkey to reinforce its air defenses and calm its fears of coming under missile attack, possibly with chemical weapons, from neighboring Syria.

The NATO official said the Syrian missiles had landed inside Syria and no missiles had hit Turkish territory. He said the Western alliance had no information about what casualties or damage the missiles had caused.

Asked if there was any evidence of Syrian use of chemical weapons, he said: "We have no information concerning the payload."

U.S. President Barack Obama warned Assad last week not to use chemical weapons against Syrian opposition forces, saying there would be unspecified consequences if he did so.

The United States, Germany and Netherlands have all agreed to send Patriot missiles to protect Turkey, but the missile batteries are not expected to arrive for several more weeks.

The New York Times, which initially reported Syria's use of the missiles, quoted one official as saying more than six had been fired at the rebels. Another official said the missiles had been launched from the Damascus area at targets in northern Syria, the Times said.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters they would not dispute the Times report.

News of Syria's use of Scud missiles broke as Western and Arab nations sympathetic to the uprising against Assad gave full political recognition to the opposition at a meeting in Morroco.

(Reporting by David Alexander in Washington and Adrian Croft in Brussels; Editing by Michael Roddy and David Brunnstrom)

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China 'lacks leverage' over N. Korea: state media

BEIJING: Beijing lacks leverage over North Korea and will block moves for strong new sanctions for fear of weakening its position further, Chinese state media said Thursday following Pyongyang's rocket launch.

China is the North's sole major ally, considered the nation with the most influence over Pyongyang, and after Wednesday's rocket flight US officials urged it to intervene.

But in an editorial Thursday the state-run Global Times said: "China's ability to influence countries in the region is limited... The real problem is China's strength is not sufficient to influence its neighbour's situation."

"NK move shows China's lack of leverage" read its headline.

China voiced "regret" over the launch but state press said it could not support strong further measures against Pyongyang for fear of weakening its relationship.

A bellicose Western reaction risked driving North Korea into a corner with potentially devastating results, editorials said.

"That is why China should not take a cooperative stance with the US, Japan and South Korea in imposing sanctions on North Korea," the Global Times said.

"China will veto radical resolutions made by the three countries. At the same time North Korea should pay for its actions."

It acknowledged fears in the region should North Korea eventually be able to arm a ballistic missile with a nuclear weapon.

The reaction to the launch "is almost the same as that of North Korea's nuclear test", the paper said, and "a vicious circle" of escalation could lead to Japan abandoning its pacifist constitution and threaten peace in Northeast Asia.

The situation was "subtle, complex and dangerous", said the People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party, urging calm and a return to the six-party talks on North Korea hosted by China and including Russia, the United States, South Korea and Japan.

"The reaction by the Security Council should be prudent and measured," the paper added.

One columnist in Global Times, which often takes a nationalist stance, suggested that China should seize the opportunity to establish a regional security framework.

The country is embroiled in territorial disputes with Japan over islands in the East China Sea, and several littoral states over the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.

"Now it's high time to establish a political and security mechanism," wrote Ding Gang. "China is a big power in the region.

"China itself will certainly be confined by the mechanism, but the credibility it acquires will be more important. "The mechanism will not only regulate North Korea, but also the Philippines and Vietnam."

- AFP/ck

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DA case: SC orders CBI to continue probe against Mulayam, Akhilesh

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has asked the CBI to continue with its probe into the disproportionate assets case against Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav.

The court also ordered investigations to continue against Mulayam's other son Prateek. However, the apex court dropped DA charges against Akhilesh's wife Dimple Yadav.

The Supreme Court had ordered the DA probe agianst Mulayam's family on March 1, 2007.

The court modified its 2007 order which had asked CBI to submit preliminary probe report to the Centre for further action.

The judges said it was an error to ask CBI to submit report to the Centre.

The court ordered CBI to proceed with the DA investigations against the Yadavs independently and take steps in accordance with the law.

The court had on February 17, 2011 reserved its verdict on Mulayam's plea for annulment of the order.

Mulayam in his plea had said he could not be made to suffer a CBI probe when he and his family members had regularly filed income tax returns. He had also said that the court had adopted a different stand -- "Supreme Court cannot be the ground for settling political battles" -- when it came to investigating identical charges against RJD leader Lalu Prasad.

On a petition filed by Vishwanath Chaturvedi, whom Mulayam accuses to be associated with rival Congress party, the court had on March 1, 2007 ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary probe and surprisingly asked the agency to submit a probe report to the government for further action.

The probe was ordered against Mulayam, his sons Akhilesh and Prateek and his daughter-in-law Dimple. The Centre, after initially supporting the petitioner and taking a stand against Mulayam 's review petition, backed the SP leader's plea last year.

A bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and H L Dattu had reserved orders on the review petitions filed by Mulayam and his kin after hearing Chaturvedi's counsel and senior advocate K T S Tulsi, who criticized the Centre for its double standards and quoted the Centre's November 13, 2006 affidavit supporting the probe into the alleged illegal wealth of the Yadavs.

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Congress examines science behind HGH test for NFL

WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional committee has opened a hearing to examine the science behind a human growth hormone test the NFL wants to start using on its players.

Nearly two full seasons have passed since the league and the players' union signed a labor deal that set the stage for HGH testing.

The NFL Players Association won't concede the validity of a test that's used by Olympic sports and Major League Baseball, and the sides haven't been able to agree on a scientist to help resolve that impasse.

Among the witnesses before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday is Pro Football Hall of Fame member Dick Butkus. In his prepared statement, Butkus writes: "Now, let's get on with it. The HGH testing process is proven to be reliable."

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McAfee Lands in Miami: I'm Free

Software mogul John McAfee has been released from detention in Guatemala City and has landed in Miami.

Immediately upon landing, according to passengers on the plane, McAfee's name was called and he was whisked off the aircraft. Federal officials escorted the 67-year-old Internet antivirus pioneer through customs spirit him out a side door, out of the view of reporters, according to Miami International Airport's communication director, Greg Chin.

It was not clear whether officials intended to help McAfee avoid the inevitable media circus or wanted to question him. However, he has not been charged with committing a crime in Guatemala or Belize, where the authorities have sought to question him about the murder of his neighbor.

McAfee's departure from Guatemala came earlier today.

"They took me out of my cell and put me on a freaking airplane," he told ABC News. "I had no choice in the matter."

McAfee said, however, that Guatemalan authorities had been "nice" and that his exit from the Central American country was "not at all" unpleasant.

"It was the most gracious expulsion I've ever experienced," he said. "Compared to my past two wives that expelled me this isn't a terrible trip."

McAfee said he would not be accompanied by his 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend, but is seeking a visa for her. He also said he had retained a lawyer in the U.S.

Guatemala's National Police/AP Photo

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When he was released earlier today, McAfee told the Associated Press, "I'm free. ... I'm going to America."

McAfee, who had been living in a beachfront house in Belize, went on the run after the Nov. 10 murder of his neighbor, fellow American expatriate Greg Faull. Belize police said they wanted to question McAfee about the murder, but McAfee said he feared for his life in Belizean custody.

He entered Guatemala last week seeking asylum, but was arrested and taken to an immigration detention center. He was taken to the hospital after suffering a nervous collapse and then returned to the detention center. The U.S. State Department has visited McAfee, who is a dual U.S.-British citizen, several times during his stay in Guatemala.

During his three-week journey, said McAfee, he disguised himself as handicapped, dyed his hair seven times and hid in many different places during his three-week journey.

He dismissed accounts of erratic behavior and reports that he had been using the synthetic drug bath salts. He said he had never used the drug, and said statements that he had were part of an elaborate prank.

Investigators in Belize said that McAfee was not a suspect in the death of Faull, a former developer who was found shot in the head in his house.

McAfee told ABC News that the poisoning death of his dogs and the murder just hours later of Faull, who had complained about his dogs, was a coincidence.

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North Korea's new leader burnishes credentials with rocket

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to its opponents.

The rocket, which North Korea says put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting targets as far as the continental United States.

"The satellite has entered the planned orbit," a North Korean television news-reader clad in traditional Korean garb triumphantly announced, after which the station played patriotic songs with the lyrics "Chosun (Korea) does what it says".

The rocket was launched just before 10 a.m. Korea time (9 p.m. ET on Tuesday), according to defense officials in South Korea and Japan, and easily surpassed a failed April launch that flew for less than two minutes.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said that it "deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit", the first time an independent body has verified North Korean claims.

North Korea followed what it said was a similar successful launch in 2009 with a nuclear test that prompted the United Nations Security Council to stiffen sanctions that it originally imposed in 2006 after the North's first nuclear test.

The state is banned from developing nuclear and missile-related technology under U.N. resolutions, although Kim Jong-un, the youthful head of state who took power a year ago, is believed to have continued the state's "military first" programs put into place by his deceased father Kim Jong-il.

Washington condemned Wednesday's launch as a "provocative action" and breach of U.N. rules, while Japan's U.N. envoy called for a Security Council meeting. However, diplomats say further tough sanctions are unlikely to be agreed at the body as China, the North's only major ally, will oppose them.

"The international community must work in a concerted fashion to send North Korea a clear message that its violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions have consequences," the White House said in a statement.

Japan's likely next prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who is leading in opinion polls ahead of an election on December 16 and who is known as a North Korea hawk, called on the United Nations to adopt a resolution "strongly criticizing" Pyongyang.

There was no immediate official reaction from the Chinese government, which is North Korea's only major ally.

China had expressed "deep concern" over the launch which was announced a day after a top politburo member, representing new Chinese leader Xi Xinping, met Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang.

STUMBLING BLOCK

On Wednesday, China's state news agency Xinhua said North Korea had the "right to conduct peaceful exploration of outer space" but also called on it to abide by U.N. resolutions.

"China has been the stumbling block to firmer U.N. action and we'll have to see if the new leadership is any different than its predecessors," Bruce Klingner, a Korea expert at the Heritage Foundation, a U.S. thinktank told a conference call.

A senior adviser to South Korea's president said last week it was unlikely there would be action from the U.N. and that Seoul would expect its allies to tighten sanctions unilaterally.

Kim Jong-un, believed to be 29 years old, took office after his father died on December 17 last year and experts believe that Wednesday's launch was intended to commemorate the first anniversary of the death.

The April launch was timed for the centennial of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea and the grandfather of its current ruler.

Wednesday's success puts the North ahead of the South which has not managed to get a rocket off the ground.

"This is a considerable boost in establishing the rule of Kim Jong-un," said Cho Min, an expert at the Korea Institute of National Unification.

There have been few indications the secretive and impoverished state, where the United Nations estimates a third of the population is malnourished, has made any advances in opening up economically over the past year.

North Korea remains reliant on minerals exports to China and remittances from tens of thousands of its people working on labor projects overseas.

The 22 million population often needs handouts from defectors who have escaped to South Korea in order to afford basic medicines.

Given the puny size of its economy - per capita income is less than $2,000 a year - one of the few ways the North can attract world attention is by emphasizing its military threat.

Pyongyang wants the United States to resume aid and to recognize it diplomatically, although the April launch scuppered a planned food deal.

It is believed to be some years away from developing a functioning nuclear warhead although it may have enough plutonium for around half a dozen nuclear bombs, according to nuclear experts.

The North has also been enriching uranium which would give it a second path to nuclear weapons as it sits on vast natural uranium reserves.

"A successful launch puts North Korea closer to the capability to deploy a weaponized missile," said Denny Roy a senior fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii.

"But this would still require fitting a weapon to the missile and ensuring a reasonable degree of accuracy. The North Koreans probably do not yet have a nuclear weapon small enough for a missile to carry."

Pyongyang says that its development is part of a civil nuclear program, but has also boasted of it being a "nuclear weapons power".

(Additional reporting by Jumin Park and Yoo Choonsik in SEOUL; David Alexander, Matt Spetalnick and Paul Eckert in WASHINGTON; Linda Sieg in TOKYO; Sui-Lee Wee in BEIJING; Rosmarie Francisco in MANILA; Writing by David Chance; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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China raps N. Korea over rocket launch

BEIJING: China on Wednesday rapped North Korea over its long-range rocket launch, demanding North Korea comply with UN resolutions against using ballistic missiles, the official news agency Xinhua said.

"Pyongyang should... abide by relevant UN Security Council resolutions... which demands the DPRK not to conduct 'any launch using ballistic missile technology' and urges it to 'suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile programme'," Xinhua said in a commentary.

China, North Korea's sole major ally and its biggest trading partner and aid provider, is seen as one of the few nations with any influence over the regime in Pyongyang and had previously expressed concerns over the launch.

Over the past decade, Beijing has repeatedly called for calm as North Korea tested nuclear weapons and carried out ballistic missile tests, despite wide condemnation from the international community, including the United States.

Following Wednesday's launch, Xinhua again urged all sides to exercise restraint.

"All parties concerned should stay cool-headed and refrain from stoking the flames so as to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control," Xinhua said.

"In place of bellicose rhetoric and gestures, they need to take concrete actions to foster a conducive milieu for dialogue and return to the negotiating table as soon as possible."

Xinhua also called for the resumption of long-stalled six-party talks over the North's nuclear programme, which are chaired by China and take in both Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia.

"For years, the situation on the peninsula seems to have entered a reinforcing loop of misunderstanding, mistrust and animosity. The only viable way begins with trust-building," the agency added.

However, it said that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- the North's official name -- had "the right to conduct peaceful exploration of the outer space".

North Korea insisted the mission was not a banned intercontinental missile test but was designed to place a scientific satellite in orbit, and said it had achieved all its objectives.

"In international relations, as in life, the best way to make an enemy of a country is to treat it like one," Xinhua said. "This rule of thumb is also true with making friends."

- AFP/ck

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Join BJP-led NDA and you can become PM: Shiv Sena leader to Sharad Pawar

PUNE: Senior Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi on Tuesday invited NCP president Sharad Pawar to join NDA, saying "he would be able to end quarrels within the BJP-led alliance and could also become Prime Minister".

Hailing the Maratha strongman's political skills, Joshi, who attended a function organised here on the eve of Pawar's birthday tomorrow, told reporters "Pawar should join NDA to end quarrels within the alliance and bring together all factions. If he joins NDA, he can also become the Prime Minister."

Asked whether other NDA constituents would accept such a proposal, the former Lok Sabha Speaker quipped "Pawar can get it done."

Earlier, the former Maharashtra chief minister, addressing the gathering, showered praise on Pawar and said the NCP leader has the capability to become Prime Minister.

To a question, Joshi maintained the temporary structure built at Mumbai's Shivaji Park, where the last rites of Sena chief Bal Thackeray were performed, was linked with "sentiments" of the party.

There would not be any compromise on the stand taken by the party on keeping the structure intact, he said.

When pointed out that Sena stand could precipitate a showdown with the Congress-NCP government in the state, Joshi said "we will persist with our stand in the matter".

On the talk about constructing Thackeray's memorial in the premises of Mumbai's Kohinoor Mill owned by him, the Sena leader said there was no place there for such a project.

"There are already three buildings standing there and there is no vacant space," he said.

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Gunman 'Tentatively' Identified in Oregon Shooting

A masked gunman who opened fire in the crowded Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two individuals before killing himself, has been "tentatively" identified by police, though they have not yet released his name.

The shooter, wearing a white hockey mask, black clothing, and a bullet proof vest, tore through the mall around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, entering through a Macy's store and proceeding to the food court and public areas spraying bullets, according to witness reports.

Police have not released the names of the deceased. Clackamas County Sheriff's Department Lt. James Rhodes said authorities are in the process of notifying victims' families.

The injured victim has been transported to a local hospital, where she is "fighting for her life," according to Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts.

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Nadia Telguz, who said she was a friend of the injured victim, told ABC News affiliate KATU-TV in Portland that the woman was expected to recover.

"My friend's sister got shot," Teleguz told KATU. "She's on her way to (Oregon Health and Science University hospital). They're saying she got shot in her side and so it's not life-threatening, so she'll be OK."

Christopher Onstott/Pamplen Media Group/Portland Tribune

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Witnesses from the shooting rampage said that a young man who appeared to be a teenager ran through the upper level of Macy's to the mall food court, firing multiple shots, one right after the other, with what is believed to be a black, semi-automatic rifle.

More than 10,000 shoppers were at the mall during the day, police said. Roberts said that officers responded to the scene of the shooting within minutes, and four SWAT teams swept the 1.4 million-square-foot building searching for the shooter. He was eventually found dead, an apparent suicide.

"I can confirm the shooter is dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," Rhodes said. "By all accounts there were no rounds fired by law enforcement today in the mall."

Roberts said more than 100 law enforcement officers responded to the shooting, and at least four local agencies were working on the investigation, including the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which is working to trace the shooter's weapon.

READ: Guns in America: A Statistical Look

Roberts also said that shoppers, including two emergency room nurses and one physician who happened to be at the mall, provided medical assistance to victims who had been shot. Other shoppers helped escort individuals out of the mall and out of harm's way, he said.

"There were a huge amount of people running in different directions, and it was chaos for a lot of citizens, but true heroes were stepping up in this time of high stress," Roberts said. "E.R. nurses on the scene were providing medical care to those injured, a physician on the scene was helping provide care to the wounded."

Mall shopper Daniel Martinez told KATU that he had just sat down at a Jamba Juice inside the mall when he heard rapid gunfire. He turned and saw the masked gunman, dressed in all black, about 10 feet away from him.

"I just saw him (the gunman) and thought, 'I need to go somewhere,'" Martinez said. "It was so fast, and at that time, everyone was moving around."

Martinez said he ran to the nearest clothing store. As he ran, he motioned for another woman to follow; several others ran to the store as well, hiding in a fitting room. They stayed there for an hour and a half until SWAT teams told them it was safe to leave the mall.

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