>> good evening everyone, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm in new york. >>. >> pass the budget, end the government shutdown pay your bills. prevent an economic shutdown. don't wait or delay. don't put our economy or people through this any longer. >> 20 hours into the federal government shutdown and the president tells republicans to restart the government. >> a prime example of shutdown frustration - close signs greet world war ii vet rans at washington monuments.

>> pensioners can go on line and sign up for health benefits - but there are a few problems. >> day one of the government shutdown. gridlock still reigns on capitol hill. the impact is being felt across america. hundreds of thousands of federal workers sent home and millions of taxpayers feeling the effects. lady liberty closed and veterans turned away from washington monuments. we cover workers without paychecks in california, nasa operating with a skelton crew in hoou houston, and reports from washington and other places. >> libby casey joins us with the latest. any possibility of a deal? >> we are in the final moments of legislation. the house took on three bills. they are piecemeal.

instead of funding the government they attacked it one by one. they took two votes, one to fund veterans' affairs, one to fund the city of dc, dependent on federal dollars. they failed. they needed two-thirds votes. some democrats joined with the republicans, but not enough. it's true to say nancy pelosi, a top democrat says, "i support vet rans, i have them in my family, i support the military, but i can't vote for this one. it has to be a whole budget". we'll see one more vote over funding parks and museums. don't expect it to pass. i want to give a sense of the debate going on. here is eric cantor, minority leader, republican of virginia. >> there is a way for us to work through our difference, and we agree on an awful lot. as we have seen by the spending bill for the troops, that the president signed into law, there

are things that we can build on and agree on so that the disagreements that we have don't get in the way of the things that we agree on. >> and, john, in the last moment that bill to fund parks and museums failed. here is leader nancy pelosi explaining why she wouldn't support that one. >> this isn't about the parks. they are using the parks as a pawn. this is about defunding the affordable care act on a day when millions of people are logging in to find out how they can enrol. it's a remarkable historic day where people can receive the promise of our founders - of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. >> so no progress today. we are still at the impasse here in capitol hill. now, let's go to mike vacera for reaction from the president. >> here at the white house they

are cashing -- characterising what the house is doing. something is put forward, it's knocked back. in the rose garden, the day that the online exchanges for the president's health care laws get under way after 3.5 years since the law passed. yes, there were glitches, he talked about the health care law, but spent half his time talking about the shutdown, blasting republicans for holding government spending ransom, and shutting down the government just so they can have their way, in the president's view, on defunding or delaying obamacare. let's listen. >> my basic message to congress is this: pass the budget. end the government shutdown. pay your bills. prevent an economic shutdown. don't wait, don't delay.

don't put our economy or people through this any longer. i'm more than happy to work with them on all issues. i want to get back to work on the things that the america people sent us here to work on - creating new jobs, growth, security for the middle class. >> many are criticising the president for not getting personally involved. you are hearing it from the white house. jay kearney was inundated with questions about this. the president called republican leaders, house and senate, and had a telephone conversation with the democratic leader in the house, nancy pelosi. but the white house strategy all along is to let harry reid drive the train tactically and he is taking a hard line rejecting everything that the house is trying to do, most times taking the senate floor announcing he'll reject it before the house

passes it. jay kearney emphasising that the president has little he can do, it's up to house republicans, where they are trying to keep the pressure on. >> that suggests that is the president could take over the house and pass one himself, and he can't. he cannot order a force, you know, call out the national guard to get speaker of the house to get a clean cr on the floor. >> now, here is the issue. today the stock market was up. a lot of americans are not feeling the full effects of this. that is something that the white house is counting on, to put more pressure on republicans in the house republicans to gave. at the white house they expect it to do that. if you look at public polls, it's a pox on both their houses. yes, republicans, if you poll, are marginally more to blame in the public view. democrats are not far behind. >> also joining us from washington d.c. is shaun spicer, the communication director for the republican national

committee. welcome, it's good to see you. >> thank you, john. >> what is your reaction to what you heard jay kearney say there? >> i think what you have seen over the past 24-48 hours are house republicans continuing to find a way to fund the government in a way that is both responsible, that deals with the issues and respects the voice of the american people, and the message that they are sending, that they don't want the affordable care act, and obamacare is crippling businesses and jobs, we are spending too much and we need to reign in government spending. >> your message is the house republicans will stand firm? >> absolutely. i think - it's not just stand firm. you have seen - the irony of what you have seen over the last 72 hours is it's six times they have voted to find a way to keep the government open, and yet out of hand it's dismissed by senate democrats and senator reid. speaker boehner said let's get a bunch of adults to sit at a

table, sit across from each other and work it out. it was dismissed by senator reid and senator democrats who said, "we have nothing to talk about." the president said, "i have other things to talk to them about, but not this." the president and the democrats want a conversation. it's their way or the highway. house republicans tried to find a way to keep the government open and stay true to what the american people tell them that they want. >> some house republicans, though, who said after they voted for the bill yesterday and the day before, which essentially linked obamacare and the budget, that they wanted a clean bill, and they'd support a clean bill without obamacare attached to it. so it there any chance that republicans are beginning to lose support from their own party? >> no, i think that you are seeing - vote after vote shows that our party is united when it comes to this. we are hearing more and more every day that we stand firm that the folks in america who

are calling saying, "i appreciate you taking a principled stand", we saw how disastrous the affordable care act. every exchange went into tatters. if it was that hard to sign up online, can you imagine how hard it would be to make an appointment to see your doctor. that is what america is upset about. they want house republicans to stand firm, united and support what is going on in america. the administration said obamacare was not ready, they asked for a delay for certain businesses and administration. it the administration is going to stand up for big corporation, that we should give small businesses and individuals the same delay that the administration gave to large corporations. >> you said that clearly for the past several days. do you really think - americans may not like obamacare, but do you think americans are happy

that those in congress are standing up and essentially shutting down the government for an extended period of time? >> well, i think - no one wants the government to shut down. neither side. we are - house republicans voted multiple times to find ways to maintain the government staying open. in fact, libby reported at the top of your show that they voted on three different bills to keep veterans paid, national monuments in the city of dc open. summarily the house democrats say, "we are not playing the game". democrats in the house and senate want nothing to do with it. >> you think it's good to piecemeal out the budget and votes on every part of it. >> yes. >> you do? you think that's a better plan for the united states government than passing one budget? that ought to be the norm, is it? >> let's back up. what the process is supposed to

happen is there's 13 appropriations bill. speaker boehner and house republicans is closer to regular order than what we is a seen, the end of the government we pass an omnibus or cr. the process is pass one of 13 bills to keep the different pieces of government open. frankly, it's more than in accord with what the president talked about, what they call in washington regular order. the irony of them being opposed - this is what the president asked for. >> is there a way out of this? >> well, i hope so. frankly, i think part of what we could have done is get the government back on track, the different pieces we spend on, spend low, get the government on track and get down to the nut of this debate, instead of making everyone in the government to battle through this. i applaud the approach of the

house republicans and i hope that we can get back to getting that part of the government funded that we all agree on, and fight out the piece that we have an issue with. >> how long will that take? >> oh, god. if i guess that, i would be out playing... >> american people are asking that question. >> i agree, you are asking the right question. i wish i knew the answer. like i said, i can't say it more times. but the house republicans try to find a way forward that meets everyone halfways, trying to appoint or pass bills that fund the areas of government that we agree upon, so we don't have images of vet rans prevented from seeing the world war ii memorial, saying let's take those piece, the veterans' affairs, the driistrict of columbia. there's only so much bending over to meet the other side before you admit that house democrats and senate democrats

don't want a deal. >> i know you are busy, and we appreciate your time, you have other interviews to get to, but thank you for joining us from washington. >> it's a pleasure, thank you for talking to me. >> there are two issues. one is the budget, the other may be more important - raising the debt ceiling. real money's ali velshi is here to talk about this. good to see you. >> i'm not sure what we are going to talk about. i can't get past what was said. heap is, at best, misleading and at worst delusional to suggest this is the normal course of event. the normal course of events is to have a budget agreed upon which by -- by april 15th, not the day after the government shuts down. it is irresponsible to say to americans that what republicans are doing in the house is the normal course of business. they may say they are right or feel strongly about what they are doing, but this is abnormal.

this is supposed to be done in april and be in place in october. if this is the way the republicans are convincing themselves it is okay, it's not. as i said to you last night. there's an article in the constitution demanding that the one thing that the government does is create aappropriation deals to spend money, everything else is optional. that's the one thing to do. republicans are preventing it. whatever the arguments - you can hate obamacare, it's the law, deal with it another way. this is dangerous. >> let's talk about tomorrow. bankers are expected to go to the white house and have a conversation. i assume they'll talk about the budget and the debt ceiling. >> this is weird, because when you talk to the american people saying the bankers are going to the white house, people say that's fantastic, glad you're on top of this, you've been leading

the government astray for years. an hour ago it was said it will be catastrophic if we get to october 17th. the treasury is moving things around the way you would if you knew you were going be short of money. you pay some people, you try to move around to see that things will be paid a different way. come october 17th, they may miss a bill. if america misses a bill it will be more expensive to borrow money, trickling down to the rest of us. that is catastrophic. >> will they say it loud and clear to the american people tomorrow are or for pr reasons, maybe not. >> maybe they will, maybe they won't. i am sure the viewers and american people are sitting there biting their nails. unfortunately, this is a mess. the bankers are the last guys i was going to take advice on from this. >> let's move on and talk about the markets. they were up. there is some theory that the

markets thought well, the republicans wasted their political capital on the budget the and debt ceiling will not happen. >> that's it. the betting is that they are playing this out. it's fine, they'll figure it out and stupidity is not sustainable. as a result we'll get to a point where the people in charge of congress will get a budget going and get to the debt ceiling. i would not be optimistic after having seen what happened in the last 24 hours. the stock market is open every day. this can change the minute we find out we are not going increase the debt ceiling, you could see a drop. >> you talk to friends on wall street. do you get reaction the day after the government shutdown? >> no. the expectations of what congress will do are lower than they were five years ago. that's the problem. so many americans are not surprised, and as mike pointed out, so many americans are going about their daily lives, they do not feel affected. i feel terrible for the folks

suffering because national parks are not open and services are not open, but it's not affecting the broad vast majority of americans yet. they are not feeling it. >> ali velshi, great to see you. >> vet rans are feeling the impact of the shutdown. in washington d.c. 91 world war ii vets arrived from mississippi, but all the memorials in the nation's capital were closed because the shutdown. the vets were told they could not tour the world war ii monument. a grouch of congressman stepped in, moved the barriers and let them inside. >> we heard what is happening in washington, wall street, coming up more of the impact on the people affected by the shutdown. . >> the department of commerce heads up the national weather servicement . -- service.

with the government shut down you can't see satellite data. if it's needed for saving life and property, you may not get the real-time updates of your satellite data or radar dat -- data globally. we need it for things like all the rain in the gulf of mexico, new orleans 4 inches over your monthly average. here is what i see on the noah websites, when you want to see where the rivers are running high or how much rainfall has come down in specific areas across the globe. we'll monitor this certainly, because we are monitoring things like a cluster the thunder storms. there'll be tracking by the end of the week into the gulf of mexico for rain and electronical storm development. more details and how much rain to expect from florida coming up. >> open for business. still ahead - health exchanges roll out as open enrol. begins for obamacare. the roll-outs run into travel as

millions hit the system searching for affordable insurance.

many government services were shut down today, but a notable exception are the enrolments in the affordable care act. the sites were overloaded. president obama urged members to be patient. >> we'll speed things up to handle the demand that exceeds anything we expected. consider that just a couple of weeks ago apple rolled out a new mobile operating system. within days they found a glitch. they fixed it. i don't remember anyone suggesting apple should stop selling iphones or ipads or threatening to shut the company if they didn't. >> david shuster is here to walk us through the first day of the

affordable care act act. take a look. >> to put the figure into perspective, when the president talks about being overloaded. the whole goal is to get about 25-30 million americans who don't have insurance to sign up. today alone this website, healthcare.com got 3 million visitors, the main clearing house, so as a result a lot of times what people found is when they put in the information and wanted to supply - we'll use state of indiana - which has a federal plan. when you kick apply, it says, "please wait, we have a lot of visitors on the site. we are working to make your experience better. wait until we send you the log-in." that was the story for much of the day. the exchange was so overloaded by curiosity seekers, those that have insurance and want to compare. a lot of sites crashed. there were opportunities for folks, new york, which had more

than a million visitors to its state page in the first couple of hours. it was on and off. this is typical. the state will have information on how to get started, log on, tell us the about the -- tell us about the family, you can get updates. you put in information, like a travel site, and the feel is similar. the interesting part - this is the page for washington d.c. - it has a costs calculator. every website has that. you put in basic calculations and they tell you what the costs might be. if we click on, "calculate your costs", there we go, it's an example of a couple. first is 30, second 28, and your total annual income - let's say $50,000. what it does is calculate your monthly cost for both of you

under the bronze plan - $418, et cetera. the website reminds you that based on the annual household income you are eligible for a tax credit, assistance to make these costs affordable. all of this is online. there are opportunities. if you don't have a computer, go to a hospital, library, nurses' association, community centres. there are sites and organizations that will help you. if you want to do it online web pages are open, exchanges are open and everybody has six months to get health insurance through an exchange, employer, medicare, whatever it is. if you don't have it by next spring, you could face irs tax penalties. >> thank you david shuster. >> now, al jazeera's alan is in seattle where enrolment stations were set up for patients to sign up. there were problems today,

right? >> absolutely. this is one of 16 states running their own exchanges or online marketplaces. in the state of washington it didn't run well. at this hospital counsellors and social workers went through training to help patients navigate the options in the online marketplace. that marketplace went down, it was swamped by users this morning. people couldn't get in, couldn't get the information they need. this is a trauma center, a level one trauma center, with folks coming in off the street using the emergency room as a drop-in doctor's office. the more people they can get enrolled and help, the better it will be for the people we visited with today. the website from the state came back online in mid afternoon, but it was clunky, and the ceo in charge of the insurance

exchange admitted that if people could get in, a lot of people would have problems using it. they'll take it down, do maintenance on it tonight. i spoke to a spokesperson who says that they hope to tell us tomorrow morning when that website might be running again. >> alan, any other options for washington state residents to sign up for affordable care act? >> there are some other options. you can go to a registered insurance broker, or a lot of community organizations who had the proper training, and they can walk people through a paper application. but the website is the key. that's where all the formulas for what kind of programs might be best for you, or that you can get enrolled in. that's where all the information is. the brokers will use it, the folks at the call center that the state set up, which is occasionally useable. they'll use it as well. there are options. it comes back to the online site

and we hope to have it running tomorrow. >> thank you very much, alan. >> now for sport. and nba news. >> time to follow the bouncing ball. nba training camps are starting up. a superstar has been shut down. russell west brook will miss the first four to six weeks of the season after undergoing surgery on the right knee, the second operation in the past six way, he had a torn lateral mannise cues and now a procedure for sweling. the government shutdown messing everyone up, including college football. the air force navy and army boston college are in danger of being cancelled. the department of defense suspended travel for intercollegiate athletics, a decision will be made thursday. everyone is going bananas in pittsburg, the pirates hosting a

game since 1992. they are taking their hats off against the cincinnati reds - winner take all. wildcard showdown. the winner faces the cardinals in the nl division series. we'll be right back. s2úq@eñsy$n

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john. here are the top stories. israeli's prime minister talks tough at the united nations general assembly saying iran's president cannot be trusted. benyamin netanyahu told other countries that iran is the pulling the wool over their eyes when its leader talks of not wanting to pursue nepons. >> open enrolment for the affordable care act started. a number of glitches have been reported, including overwhelmed websites and long waits to log in. it is a stalemate in washington. the democrats and republicans failed to come up with a deal to fund the federal government. there are parts not affected by

the shutdown. social security payments, medicare and medicade payments. border pot ral -- patrol agents and tsa are on the job. if you are looking for a passport or visa - your wait is longer. national parks and museums have been shut down. al jazeera's correspondent has more from washington dc. >> the most immediately visible effect of the shutdown - the closing of national parks, museums and monuments leading to a poignant exchange for some of those that fought for the united states and world war ii had to fight to visit the monuments constructed in their honour. >> i'm the public information officer. i can't say. >> let's hope they solve it and don't hurt too many people. >> it's too early to tell how many people will be hurt. hundreds of thousands of americas are affected.

almost all of the nartional space agency workers have been told not to go to work, except for those that run the international space station, and mission control in houston. 25%. environmental protection authoritiy have been told to come to work. food and drug administration will have to stop some of its food safety inspections. in all, the federal government has some 2 million employees, around 800,000 have been told not to come to work, essentially without pay. those that are working do not know when they'll be paid. that means not knowing if they can make ends meet. >> i hope they get back soon. we are losing money. >> most of my co-worker have one salary or two government salaries. so they won't be getting money at all. there was a lot of people who were very upset. >> president obama says he's prepared to have a discussion with republicans, but not under these conditions.

>> congress generally has to stop governing by crisis. they have to break the habit. it is a drag on the economy. >> now the republicans have to decide whether it suits their political objectives to be praised for taking a stand against an unpopular health reform plan or risk being held responsible for potentially serious consequences. the democrats need to hold firm under what they say is the principal of not negotiating while the government is held hostage. the public appear to be getting increasingly wary of the democrats and the republicans, claiming to speak and fight for their interests amid such disarray. >> and one of the federal agencies hit by the shutdown is the internal revenue service. 10 of its processing facilities are closed down. jennifer london is in forest know california, at one of those. what is the situation there,

jennifer? >> well, on a normal day it would be after quitting title at the irs processing center in fresno, california. 900 work here with 3600 seasonal employees - the majority told to stay home. this parking lot is normally packed with cars and has been virtually empty because a majority of those workers have been told to stay home. what is the impact of the partial government shutdown, what does it have on the american taxpayer. all americans, the short answer - you have to pay taxes. anyone who filed for an extension on the 2012 returns, that deadline is october 15th. that holds firm. it means if you file for an extension, you must file by october 15th. there'll be a small set of employees convincing workers that will process electronic

returns. however, they will not process paper returns, which means if you are expecting a refund and you file with a paper return, you may see a delay. if you have questions, the call centres will be closed, walk-in centres may be closed. this may be good news - the irs says all audits will be suspended. >> just because the gates are closed doesn't mean you don't have to file taxes. have you talked to employees who worked at the center? >> i did. earlier i spoke to a seasonal worker, and her boyfriend is a full-time worker here at this plant. unfortunately they couldn't speak on camera because they both signed nondisclosure agreements, ndas as do most of the employers, employees with the irs, they can't speak about their employment. she told me personally that is a terrifying time for them, because they don't know day to day if they'll receive a pay

check. they don't know day to day if they'll go to work. they are given little information. she said that her boyfriend has been given a call-in number, like jury duty where you call in to find out if you go to work. depending on how long they are furloughed it could have a serious impact on offences. >> jennifer london in fresno, at an irs center. >> this has not been a celebration for thousands of nasa workers. we have a report from the johnson space center - 97% of nasa staff as been idled by the shut down. >> nasa was here first. then did the community spring up around the federal agency to support the astro nouts and workers there. it's none more apparent than in frenchies restaurant, a locally owned italian airport is popular with employees.

on a given day this day would be packed with nasa employees. on the first day of furlough, where 97% of the workforce was told to go home without pay, this place is significantly quieter. here is what the owner has to say. >> it's unfortunate that we are in a situation where the government is shut down, and the people that are paying the price are the workers that ought to support the country's ongoing space program and the other activities that the government workers here are involved in. it's not the way you ought to operate. >> this is where we spoke with a nasa employee who said that tomorrow would have been her 30th anniversary of service with the space agency. instead she's been told to pack up and go home. >> in a week i'll be fine. if it's a month, then, you know, that changes things. the longer we are out, the more financial difficulty it puts

employees in. even just being out the rest of this week can cause financial difficulties for some of our employees, who are single parents. i prepared for a rainy day, but depends on how many days it rains. >> that worker you heard from, bridge et, she's the president of the local federal workers union here at johnson's space center and says while tomorrow she won't have official work duties to do, she'll be busy because she'll start to organise the 100-some employees in the union with her, and she says the first order of business is lobbying congress to bring the shutdown to an end, and then to lobby those congressional officials for back pay for all of these employees. >> that report from houston. federal officers across the country - workers showed up, only to be sent home. people who work at the john

casinski building in chicago were frustrated. >> this is unfortunate. there's hard-working people that want to, you know, do their due diligence by submitting their taxes and doing their part. but the government is not doing theirs. >> the state of illinois, home to 52,000 federal workers, tens of thousands could be idled by the shutdown. tourists hoping to visit landmark monuments are discovering they have been shut down. there's 59 national parks and wildlife service nationwide. 108 national mon ouments and 40 museums, including the statute of liberty where jonathan betz spent the day. >> for hundreds of tourists it's not the greeting they expected. . >> we come from syrus in france. we are disappointed. >> visitors were caught offguard to learn the statute of liberty

was closed. 135 employees told to stay home, including the park superintendent. >> seeing the tourists is the hardest part, especially the foreign visitors. for most people like that, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. it's hard to tell them that we are closed - will we be open tomorrow? i don't know. the ferry to the islands pushed off carrying grumpy passengers who bought tickets weeks ago. >> stupid, what else can i say. >> this is as close as you can get to the statute of liberty. it's a great view. ferries can only circle the island, they cannot dock. >> this was to be the first time to see lady liberty. family came in from arizona, but it's not as close as they hope. >> it's pathetic. a lot of people are here specifically to see the statute of liberty. people have come from europe and over the world to vacation here

and tour the things. it's a shame. >> visitors to the statute of liberty generate $134 million from souvenir stands to the ferries. the the company is bearing with it. if this drags on, people will be laid off. it's not right. >> this is one of many clorgets cee -- closures creating waves. >> in other news the iranian leadership may have softened its tone, but the israeli leadership is not buying it. diplomatic editor james bays has more on the speech at the u.n. >> it was a forthright speech. the israeli prime minister telling the world what he thinks of iran, days after the historic phone call between president obama and president hassan rouhani. >> i wish i could believe hassan rouhani, but i don't.

because facts are stubborn things. and the facts are that iran's savage record flatly contradicts hassan rouhani's soothing rhetoric. >> one year earlier benyamin netanyahu had drawn a diagram showing how close he claimed iran was to building a bomb. >> last year when i spoke here at the u.n., i drew a red line. now iran has been very careful not to cross that line. but iran is positioning itself to race across that line in the future at a time of his choosing. >> he said israel would only trust iran when they agreed to four points - so cease all nuclear enrichment, remove stockpiles, dismantle infrastructure that could be used for breakout capability -

the final stage of building a bomb, and stop work on the heavy water reactor. without these israel would maintain military action. >> israel will not allow iran to get nuclear weapons. if israel is forced to stand alone, israel will stand alone. >> within minutes an iranian diplomat exercised their right to reply. >> we just heard an extremely inflammatory statement by the last speaker at the general assembly's debate. in which he made allegations against peaceful nuclear activities of my country. i do not want to dignify such unfounded accusation with an answer other than categorically rejecting them all. >> iran's nuclear program will be back in the spotlight in over two week's time. after all the conceal atry talk

between iran and the west, detailed technical information in syria. >> a team of 20 inspectors are in damascus. they have a month to disable the country's ability to produce chemical weapons. progress may prove difficult, ishaq majali reports. >> u.n. inspectors are in syria for the delicate task of scrapping the country's chemical weapons. they have until mid 2014 to complete their mission. their risky operation amid growing violence across the country. downtown it is a battle zone. all government buildings in the city are based here. >> translation: the problem that we are facing is that we have to ensure the area is safe.

>> the fighting was so intense, that most of the buildings were destroyed. >> translation: despite the lack of resources our fighters are doing their best. they are from dura and fighting for the people in the city. >> these fighters also claim to have captured one of the biggest army check points in the suburb. it's a fight that comes at a price. people here live in fear of snipers. they block allies with kurt ans and covers to prevent shooting. >> from the outskirts of damascus rebels posted this video. it appears to show bodies of government soldiers. they were killed while trying to launch an attack. despite daily shelling and air

fights, the rebels hold territory. to consolidate gains, the rebels have set up a new training union, and they say these are the best fighters in the area, ready to pass on their knowledge to those willing to fight against president assad's army. >> translation: we are an independent unit. our goal is to teach the rebels the art of war - fighting tactics, using weapons and storming buildings. >> this is a rebel stronghold. for months government troops are using their military might to recapture the strategic area, which is a few kilometres from the presidential palace. >> it's time to head to washington dc, and joey chen is standing by to tell us what is coming up on america tonight at the top of the hour. good evening. >> good evening.

on the program - we'll consider a different health care issue than the one battled over here in washington. we'll talk about the toughest conversation a family can have about the end. it is never easy to have the end-of-life conversation - what you or a loved one wants in your fine cases. there's a new effort to start the talk through the conversation project. led by a pulitzer prize winning columnist, it's an important avenue bringing up a difficult subject but one you can't afford to avoid. >> it was women largely, but personalities-to-be in general who said, "wait, let's have the experience the way it should be." this is not only a medical experience, it's a life experience. and i think if we change the way we give birth in america, we could change the way we die in

america. >> we'll hear more about the conversation project and how to get the talk started in your own family. that is coming up at the top of the hour on america tonight. >> we'll watch. thank you. coming up in sports. the nhl season starts, featuring the stanley cup champions. we have a preview in a moment.

. ross is here with sport. it's that time of the year. opening season of the nhl. >> time to put the baby on ice. the the nhl is back in business. the spotlight will be in

chicago. defending the standing cup champions, black hawks take on the capitals. the blackhawks won their own stockpile with patrick cain and company. it will be a special night at the united center, chicago will unveil the championship banner, and the black-hawks the first team in detrait looking to win back to back championships. the commissioner is in the house. john henry got a chance to speak to him. >> we are here to see the blackhawks - this team could be a dynasty, they are young with a potential to do well. is it good for the league to have an original six team be dominated in the nhl? >> we are seeing incredible competitive balance. on opening night it's impossible to predict who will hoist the cup, let alone who will make the playoffs. this is an experienced team that happens to be young and had a

deal of success. if you are a blackhawks fan you'll be excited. >> absolutely, and as a hockey fan. there's a few sweeping changes in terms of safety, conference realignment, play-off, and things to open up. what rule changes have you particularly excited going into the year? >> most excited is the visor rule. the league has been trying to get the players agree to wear advisors. everyone has to -- vizors, everyone has to wear one. 75 to 80% have to do so. we have made the nets a bit narrow to there's room for a wrap around. we have shrinking goal tender pads a little and a variety of other things. it's a constant theme that we are watching the game every night and if it needs fine tuning we want to give it to it. >> you talk about something that

has really been a success for the nhl - the outdoor games. you'll have six. i'm anxious to see how the one in la works out. >> so am i. >> let me ask you this: at what point is it killing the golden goose having too many? >> let's start on a pure mathematical standpoint. we have 1230 regular season games. this is six. there'll be six on national tv. the fact of the matter is what we hear from fans, clubs, places is they can't get enough of these. if you are a team that has been in one, hosted one, you don't want to wait a decade. if you have never been in one and want to, we believe you can success fully get six games well organised and well played and take a deep breath after it's over, making sure it's the right number. >> last year at this time you were in the process of cancelling games in preparation

for the third lock-out under your watch. a year later - you remember all that was said at that time, that this was a death knell, the nhl was killing itself. where are we? >> the game has never been stronger. we came back to an incredible season, starting later than we want. when you are in sports, you have to make decisions which in the short term are painful, but you are good for the long-time health of the franchise. it's good for the game, the fans and players. we have a long-term collective bargaining agreement, a great game and a solid foundation. >> in baseball the pittsburgh pirates finally hosting a post-season game. the last time that happened gas was $1.13 a gallon, "silence of the lambs" won an oscar for best picture, and boys will be boys. after 21 years happy times here,

pittsburgh pirates taking on the cincinnati reds. the pirates lead at 2-0 in the third on home runs by bird and russell. the winner faces the st. louis cardinals. in the nba oklahoma city is a contender. things are getting complicated. the superstar russell westbrook will miss the first 4-6 weeks of the season after having knee surgery on his right knee. it's his second operation on the knee in the past six monthless. he had to fix a torn lateral mennise cues, and yesterday a procedure because of swelling. and the 3-time all star that we like - he says he will not change his style after averaging 24 points and seven assists last even. when you are 24, you think you are invincible and you can do anything. we'll see what happens. >> stay with us, rebecca stevenson is back with a check of the weather.

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shut dout noah.com is shut down we are getting some information. at al jazeera america we are utilising that to show you rain. first of all in florida or louisiana, especially today louisiana, down through the texas coast. we have an exceptional amount of rain and more on the way. this is where the highest probability is for the next 24 hours around new orleans. the showers are continuing while they may be decreasing alopping the texas coast we'll see them spin up for another day or two. we are tracking a storm further to the south, developing gradually. we'll track up to the golf of mexico by friday. we'll watch for a tropical development. otherwise the story will focus on the story moving into the fas iffic north-west. we have dop ler radar, but satellite pictures provided by

nata, landsat. remember the colorado floods where we had a record amount of rainfall coming down fast in the mountains, and record flooding on the south platt river. the satellite picture looking from space to the earth shows - not very well - the rivers taken on 17 august. go to 17 september and you can see the rivers at flood stage. this is about 6 feet above the flood stages. very interesting things to look at. that is one of the things that we have lost with the government shutdown. but we have lost the forecast ability to show you it's getting chilly in the west and north. overnight lows to the upper 30s, and 40s. we'll feel the lows tomorrow. the cool lows bringing the snow down and a winter storm watch now into the rockies forum to a foot of snow tomorrow night.

welcome to al jazeera america. here are tonight's top stories. as the first day of the government shutdown nears it's end. congress is no closer to putting an end to it. tonight republicans put forward a resolution that would have opened national parks and monuments. withs defeated with rubs saying the republicans can't pick and choose what they are going to open. today was the first day of the the obamacare. several exchanges had problems with access to their sights and slow web pages and missing information. in syria