america's number one provider of online credit reports and scores. don't take chances. go to experian.com. here we go. i'm brooke baldwin. this is cnn's special live coverage of the first government shutdown in 17 years. right now neither side is talking to one another. they're just simply attacking one another. the vitriol is palpable in washington. in fact, the nation's largest employer has now just laid off about 800,000 employees. that is essentially what the government shutdown did to federal workers today. and if the furlough of the nonessential staffers lasts, the economy could take a serious hit. just think about this. losing $1 billion a week according to some economists and all this could end in an

instant, if, and only if congress could pass the spending bill. you know the divide here. senate democrats want to pass a bill to fund the government. house republicans want the same thing but with a provision to somehow stop obama care, the health reform law. obama care has not shut down. in fact, take a look at these live pictures. democrats get ready to hail its debut. the first time people can enroll in an insurance plan. so we're watching that for you today. after four votes, it does not look like lawmakers are any closer to a resolution of funding the government. just listen to republican leadership here and president obama who spoke from the white house moments ago. >> they demanded ransom just for doing their job. many representatives, including an increasing number of republicans have made it clear that had they been allowed by speaker boehner to take a simple

up or down vote on keeping the government open with no partisan strings attached, enough votes from both parties would have kept the american people's government open and operating. >> they'll say it was the mean old republicans or the tea party or fox news or maybe even george w. bush that shut down the government, and now they're praying the american people will think somebody else is responsible. they're doing this because they'd rather see the government shut down than do anything to protect the american people from the consequences of obama care. despite the stories we see every single day about the pain this law is causing all of our constituents. >> so there you hear both sides. if you look at these numbers, you can see americans are angry. they disapprove in whopping numbers here. 10% approval rating of congress. that is half of what richard nixon had during watergate. and fueling the anti-congress

frustration, lawmakers, they do get paid today. each legislator makes about $3300 for a week's pay. that's four times what the average american makes. so to capitol hill we go. she was up late. she's back this morning. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash. a republican meeting has just ended. what are you learning? >> the next move by house republicans and what they are deciding to do is to try to fund the government piecemeal starting with some of the agencies that perhaps are the most visible when it comes to a shutdown, the national parks service. you have seen aaron over at the world war ii memorial this morning. we've seen pictures of effectively padlocks across the country. that is bad optics for republicans. they want to try to fund that. in addition to that, the d.c. government and veterans. it's sort of obvious why they're starting with those. but not everybody is on board

with this strategy to let the government shut down. i have with me congressman scott rigell of virginia. we spoke yet at this hour. you said we got to fight, fight, fight. 24 hours you've changed your mind. >> i'm very proud of the efforts that we advanced to stop the unaffordable care act. it's not good for america. had a union member call me yesterday and said, scott, i can't keep my insurance. folks in the union hall are upset about it. it's not a good bill. i'm proud of the work we did there. that said -- >> but? >> but now we're at a point. what are we fighting for? the delay of only one year of the individual mandate and the elimination of some subsidies. the question is, does that objective, when measured up against the pain, both economic and the damage being done to our military, including a full shutdown of reserve operations, you try to balance those out, and i don't think the continued shutdown advances our conservative agenda. >> so you want the speaker to

bring up a clean bill, no strings attached, to fund the entire government. >> that's right. the people that ought to experience pain as a result of the shutdown are not the american people but the democrats in the senate who have been intransigent and have not demonstrated any willingness whatsoever to negotiate. we sent over a consecutive series, each one representing a concession, of ways to fund the government. each time we were told to pound sand. >> now, when you brought this up with the speaker or with other republican leaders, did they say, no way? what is the response to this? i mean, let's be honest, you are maybe one of three people who are -- >> no, there's at least seven or eight. >> okay. so are you lobbying? >> i'm certain there are a lot more. i'm going to -- >> senator, just to make clear, seven or eight republicans who are willing to pass something without any strings attached to fund the government. >> there are at least seven or eight of us. i'm convinced there's probably double that. some members just haven't come

public. i've got an obligation to advance the policies that i think are best for our country. i don't think that laying a marker down and saying -- see, we're not defunding obama care. we're not even delaying the full thing. we're talking about one element, the individual mandate. so that's what the objective here, that's what the hurdle is. i thought it was a very reasonable act to present to the senate. they should have acted on that. my resentment of the senate for not acting is great, but the question is, does a shutdown, hurting the american people, our economy, including so many of whom are in the virginia second congressional district, keeping our country safe, does that pain level justify -- is it justified given the objective? my conclusion is no. it doesn't. >> okay. thank you very much. we'll see if your argument is going to have anymore sway than we've seen from a few other of your colleagues who have tried. thank you very much. brooke, back to you. >> dana bash, we'll stay close in contact with you as we follow

those potential votes. dana, thank you. and now this. regardless of the government shutdown today, americans still sign up for health care insurance. this is all under obama care. but you have to wait a little bit. healthcare.gov is up and live, but already running into some technical troubles today. con sulers looking to sign up for health insurance say they're finding it difficult to access the site, to chat with online representatives. there are also problems with the application process itself. president obama said just a little while ago there at the white house, this happened because the demand was more than expected. he said more than 1 million people visited the site before 7:00 this morning. >> consider that just a couple weeks ago apple rolled out a new mobile operating system. within days they found a glitch. so they fixed it. i don't remember anybody suggesting apple should stop selling iphones or ipads or

threat toening to shut down the company if they didn't. that's not how we do things in america. we don't actively root for failure. >> cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta driving around in the cnn express bus. you're in south carolina today, sanjay. a fifth of the state lacks health insurance. first on those technical glitches, tell me about that. >> i think they're real technical glitches. i'm sure there are a lot of people who have been planning for this for a long time that aren't too happy about that. many of the states,36 states which are using the federal sort of exchanges. we've heard about two-thirds of them are having significant problems. either people can't get on or they start filling out their application and can't save it in some way. part of that could be is just the demand is higher than was expected. keep in mind, brooke, this is the first day. there's six months of open

enrollment through the end of march. they're going to have -- many of these people are going to have many more opportunities. again, i'm sure they wished that everything was working fine. it sounds like they're going to get to it. >> so glitches aside, as you point out, this is day one. this happens. when people do access the website, when they get on this health care exchange, one of the big questions from americans is, can i pick my own doctor? how does the plan really work? >> well, i think the best way to answer that is it's possible you could pick your own doctor, much in the same way it's possible that people right now who have signed up for insurance in various places through their work, for example, could pick their own doctor. what i would say is two things. first of all, if you have a doctor, you go on, find the insurance plan you want. you can save it, call your doctor's office and see if they're going to be an in-network doctor or out-of-network doctor. i think the larger point is if you're looking at the some 48 million people who don't have health care insurance, it's a

large percentage of those people who may be going to try to get insurance for the first time. they don't have a doctor. they haven't had insurance. this is all brand new to them. so it's less of a concern for people like that. but for people who are going to go to the marketplace who already have a doctor, have their insurance, it's possible as long as they do a little planning to keep that doctor. >> sanjay, thank you. i know you're in greenville, south carolina, today. you're talking to the people. you're seeing some of the glitches first hand. i know cnn express rolls into lexington, kentucky, tomorrow where sanjay will be looking at how the affordable care act affects people who already have insurance. that's kentucky and that's tomorrow. but criminals are finding creative ways to use the new health care law to rip off unwitting customers. so let's talk to zain asher about that with the top obama care cons. sadly, not surprised hearing about this. tell people what they should be looking out for. >> hey, brooke. the affordable care act really does represent the opportunity of the decade for scam artists. there are a number of scams.

first and foremost, fake health exchange sites. these are sites that might look like a typical exchange, but they're not real. you typically type in a web address but might misspell it by one letter, which does happen. you're redirected to a fake site that is simply looking to get your details. my advice is to really sort of watch out for sites that don't end in .gov. another thing i find scary is people impersonating navigators. navigators are people who are certified professionals who will help you walk you through shopping for insurance. an impersonator might say, pay us $300 and we'll help you sign up. bottom line is nobody should be asking you for money. also, one thing that sort of breaks my heart is that seniors often do become targets with these kinds of things. someone might tell a senior they could lose coverage if they don't get a new medicare card. they'll ask for your social security card. you don't need a new card.

watch out for companies offer a cheaper alternative to insurance. these are so-called medical discount plans. they're bogus. they sort of lure you into looking for an alternative. there is no alternative. just go on to your state and federal exchange. brooke? >> so what can you do? with all of that to look out for, what can you do to protect yourself? >> the bottom line is, you know, if you're unsure about what your state exchange is, go to healthcare.gov. it's very important that consumers arm themselves with information. go to healthcare.gov if you want to know more about your state exchange. also, watch out for any unsolicited calls, e-mails, or text messages. no navigator should be asking you for money whatsoever. >> so that's a no-no. what can you do, though f you think you have come across one of these, you know, myriad of scams you've gone through? because of the shutdown, the ftc isn't taking complaints right now, right? >> i know. exactly. we tried calling the ftc complaint line this morning and they're closed because of the

government shutdown. however, there are alternatives. you can complain to your state attorney generals office or local consumer protection agency or your local better business bureau. people really should be vigilant right now. >> zain, thank you very much. coming up, we're staying on this. president obama keeps referring to this small fraction of the republican party keeping america hostage over this whole government shutdown. so coming up next, how much is this small faction influencing the house speaker john boehner, and what is the speaker's exit plan here? plus, i will talk live with one couple who's been forced to cancel their wedding this weekend at beautiful grand canyon park because of this shutdown. they're angry, they're irked, they're not alone. you're watching cnn's special live coverage. stay with us. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age.

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bill, somehow delaying or defunding obama care. >> the house has voted to keep the government open, but we also want basic clearance for all american ss. -- under obama care. >> well, house speaker john boehner took a winding road to the position he holds currently. it was actually not his original plan to tie the spending bill to obama care. i want you to listen to him. this is from a news conference back in the spring. >> we have voted many times over the last two years to defund obama care, to repeal obama care, and we will do so again here in the house in the coming months. our goal here is to cut spending. it's not to shut down the government. i believe that trying to put obama care on this vehicle risks shutting down the government. that's not what our goal is. our goal here is to reduce

spending. >> so singing a different tune, but things change in the course of politics. we know that. john avalon, i know you heard dana bash's reporting at the top of the hour. she has these house leadership sources telling her they are planning on voting, albeit voting on a series of piecemeal bills to fund the government. do you think that's boehner's exit strategy here? >> well, it's a plan "d." it's the best thing they've got right now. the house leadership and speaker boehner are bending over backwards to try to appear like the reasonable folks in this conversation. just look at the way they framed the debate with speaker boehner disciplined with talking points, talking about how this was a vote last night to keep the government open and about fairness. i mean, that is a stretch by any objective standard. everybody knows that attaching a defund or delay to the spending bill shuts down the government. but the poll numbers show they need to frame this positively.

privately boehner said this decision could impact the republicans negatively in 2014. so now they're grasping at straws. they're trying to frame the argument to the american people because they know they're losing. boehner being a consummate deal maker, being the same guy who said the clip you just referenced a second ago, knows this is not an optimal position. he's been forced into it. now he's looking for a way out, somewhat desperately. >> one issue is maybe the desperation. how do republicans come out of this whole thing? how do they look? at the same time, we all listened to the president speaking from the white house not too long ago talking about, you know, today the government is shut down, but hey, let's not even begin to think about what could happen in 16 days from now. take a listen. >> one of the most important things congress has to do in the next couple weeks is to raise what's called the debt ceiling. and they shouldn't wait until the last minute to do it. the last time republicans even threatened this course of action, many of you remember

back in 2011, our economy staggered, our credit rating was downgraded for the first time. if they go through with it this time and force the united states to default on its obligations for the first time in history, it would be far more dangerous than a government shutdown as bad as a shutdown is. it would be an economic shutdown. >> so on that point, john, if congress, you know, is playing this game of chicken right now over the government shutdown, then fast forward three weeks when it really hits the fan and the government could run out of all the money to pay its bills. how do you see that playing out? >> well, that's why these two fights are connected. it's better to have a shutdown now, to act like, you know, cold water on some of the more -- >> so you think it's better now? >> -- so they actually feel the political pain. 16 days from now, this all goes from bad to worse with huge economic consequences. we've seen that movie before. so there's the hope that this will effectively force cooler heads to prevail.

boehner may be among that cohort. this gives effectively folks in washington time to negotiate a plan that does not involve the united states defaulting on its full faith and credit. that's the urgent crisis ahead of us. this shutdown is bad. that would be infinitely worse. >> i like the idea of hope. let's be hopeful in washington. >> keep hope alive. >> john avalon in new york. coming up, road rage at its worst caught on video. watch this. bikers and the driver of an suv, they go at it. this is on a new york highway. now word of an arrest. who's to blame? we're on the case. my name is mike and i quit smoking. chantix... it's a non-nicotine pill. i didn't want nicotine to give up nicotine. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. [ mike ] when i was taking the chantix, it reduced the urge to smoke. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions

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one man is under arrest after an extreme case of road rage involving this pack of bikers and a family in their suv. almost every dramatic second was caught on camera. cnn's john berman has the video. >> reporter: a road rage clash caught on camera. the driver of this range rover gets cut off in a pack of motorcycles on new york city's west side highway. take a look at how it started.

a biker pulls in front of the suv, appearing to slow down. the driver, apparently accidently bumps the back tire, breaking the biker's leg. between 20 and 30 bikers descend on the suv, surrounding him. police say they begin denting his car and slashing tires. fearing for his life, police say, the driver barrels through the mob with his wife and 2-year-old daughter in the car, hitting three more of the motorcyclists. the bikers are now in hot pursuit. they catch up and one opens the door, but the driver of the suv floors it and gets away. the chase begins again and moves off the highway. this time there's nowhere to go, stuck behind new york city traffic, an enraged biker makes his move, using a helmet to bash in the driver's window. >> he's taken out of the car. he is assaulted. he received some stitches at the

hospital. he has been treated and released. >> reporter: new york city police are now investigating, looking for the members of the motorcycle group called hollywood stunts. >> this is a sort of major stunt event where motorcyclists from various locations come together. their ultimate goal is to get into times square. >> here they are in this video posted to youtube. more than 1,000 motorcycles, dirt bikes, and four-wheelers taking over times square in 2012. now police are checking security cameras for any information that could lead to arrests. john berman, cnn, new york. >> so you saw this back and forth. who is at fault? i want to bring in cnn legal analyst sunny hostin to talk me through this. i know one of the bikers has been arrested. what about the driver of the

suv? can he be held liable? >> you know, i think that's a question on everyone's mind. we are hearing reports that one of the cyclists was run over. he may even be paralyzed. so who is responsible for that? this investigation, brooke, is still ongoing. although, the police have indicated that the driver will not be charged, will not be arrested. but i think we need to proceed with caution here because, again, someone was severely injured. one of these bikers. we don't know the extent of his involvement in the attack. we don't know much about what even started, i think, this incident. so i think it's certainly still possible that the driver could be charged with at least that piece, injuring that one person. >> what about on the flipside, though? we know it was the driver, the 2-year-old child in the car, the wife. is there anything he could claim, reasonable fear, right, for his and his family's lives? >> absolutely because he was fleeing what turned into an attack, a vicious attack and

assault. i've got to tell you, i was is stunned when i first heard about this yesterday. the west side highway is the highway that i take each and every day to come into cnn studios. i'm a native new yorker and have driven along this highway for many, many years. it is a small highway. so when i think someone is encompassed in this way, in this fashion by so many of these motorcycles -- and i've got to tell you, i've seen this type of thing happen before, not to this extent, of course. it can be very scary. i think it would be a decent defense to say, i was being pursued, i was in fear of my life, and that's why i proceeded to drive away. it's just terrible when you think about it all the way around. you have a man driving with his wife, with his 2-year-old child, and he does get viciously, viciously assaulted. but i think this is not the end of this story. i think the police are going to continue investigating.

i think we're going to hear more about it. >> we'll follow it. and to think there's video. basically the entire thing on video. >> unbelievable. >> thank you. coming up, veterans breakthrough the barricades at the world war ii memorial there in washington today now that the government is closed down. we'll play that clip for you. plus, from nuclear weapon concerns to distrust of iran's new president. tough talk today from the prime minister of israel during his final speech at the united nations. [ female announcer ] it's simple physics...

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and as we mentioned at the top of the hour, almost 800,000 federal workers are furloughed. people who are getting paid, active military. overnight the president signed a bipartisan bill to guarantee their salaries. and you may not see very much patriotism in the ranks of congress, but there was plenty today at the world war ii memorial. you have to see these pictures. some veterans from mississippi did not let the shutdown stop them from paying their respects this morning. they moved aside. here they go. they moved aside the barriers themselves just to be able to see and walk around this beautiful memorial. at least one republican lawmakers was appalled that it was closed to begin with and blamed the white house. >> this is to barricade an open-air monument when you know there are people who have been chartered and they're going to come to this town and say, how

can we intercept? let's put some extra people on the ground and use some resources to lock people out of an open-air monument. that's a white house decision. >> coming up next, reran for president. he was seen as a moderate republican. now john huntsman is suggesting the gop went too far this time as the government shuts down. how would he fix it? what does he think is going on behind closed doors? he'll join me live next. [ female announcer ] we lowered her fever. you raise her spirits. we tackled your shoulder pain. you make him rookie of the year. we took care of your cold symptoms. you take him on an adventure. tylenol® has been the number 1 doctor recommended brand of pain reliever for over 20 years. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more.

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after a lodng, late night o political haggling, the u.s. government shut down as the clock struck midnight. as this debate continues today, about 800,000 americans are kept from being paid, a divide in the

republican party is deepening. a rift some are calling very dangerous. john huntsman is one of them. he's criticizing this republican j strategy that uses a government shutdown as leverage to underkhundercut the health reform law. john huntsman joins me now from washington. governor, awesome having you back on the show. >> thank you, brooke. >> let's get right to it. i read how, you know, you called some of these republican senators who rejected this strategy, you called them heroes. my question to you, putting you on the smpot, what do you call these house republicans who led this charge? >> listen, let's just get to the real conversation here. it's above and beyond just any one party or a faction of one party. what we're seeing play out unfortunately is a failure of political leadership on both side. the people who are suffering are those out in the real economy. we forget at the end of the day our focus ought to be on creating jobs and expanding the economic base. you've got people in boardrooms across this country who want to

reinvest in the economy, who want to expand their bases, who want to hire more people, which is what we need. in this very uncertain environment, complete with cliff hangers every other month, it becomes impossible for the private sector to do what it naturally should be doing right now. so under no labels of which i'm a part, we've come up with a jobs-first program. you can find that at jobsfirst.com, in which we're saying we need a truce. we need a cease fire, enough is enough. we're not going to have a peace plan any time soon, but we can call a cease fire. let's push this out until unemployment gets to 6.5%. >> governor, i hear you. i know even some house republicans who folks have been talking to today agree with you. we've heard from the president. sounds like you're disagreeing with him. so you don't think this small fraction of house republicans are to blame here. you're finding fingers at both sides. >> i'm pointing fingers at both sides. i think this is a complete advocation of leadership on either side.

we've gotten to the point where we've blown out the middle politically. the people who used to actually fashion deals and get them done at the end of the day. right now we just need a cease fire. we need to create some space where both sides can basically say, okay, we're putting off any real decisions until unemployment gets to 6.5%, which will be sometime next year. that's important, brooke, because the federal reserve has said they're going to keep interest rates at about zero until we get to 6.5%, when we get off life support, in essence. all the while, both sides can begin talking about what really needs to be discussed in this town, which is tax reform, energy policy, trade, and the things that are really going to create growth in jobs in this economy. we're not going it now. we need to get to a position where we can begin that. >> let's talk about these decisions. before you can even really do that, we are up against this deadline of october 17th, right. so here we have -- and you watched this political ping-pong. that's one analogy people have been using and this game of chicken over the government

shutdown. you fast forward, you know the deal. three weeks from now when it hits the fan, so to speak, and the government could hit the debt ceiling, run out of cash to pay for bills, how do you see that, governor? how do you see that playing out? >> well, that's where this cease fire plan would be perfectly suited. you push out the debt ceiling until we get into next year, unemployment of 6.5%. here's what happens if we don't. you think the government shutdown is a big deal -- and we're going to hurt every day this goes on economically. the debt ceiling is a thermonuclear explosion. that's when we wake up october 17th and we find the treasury has $37 billion. we have an interest payment due of $29 billion shortly thereafter. and debt rollover the next month. what is interesting here is we know what our expenditures are going to be, but we don't know what our income is going to be. some days the treasury brings in $3 billion as a low. sometimes it brings in $50 billion. it's very unpredictable. because of that, the threat of

default is significant. a default would be a horrible thing for the global economy and for every consumer in this nation because it would jack up the cost of capital for borrowers and small business people trying to get by. that's something we shouldn't have do deal with. we're the greatest nation on earth. the whole world is watching this play out. we deserve better from our political class. >> thermonuclear explosion. i just wrote that down. i'm quoting you on that one. as a member of the republican party, and i know you're not there on capitol hill, but what do you think is going on behind closed doors right now? i mean, who -- i guess it's sort of twofold. who do you think is leading the party right now? who do you think should be leading the party right now? >> well, that's not for me to say. what i hope happens is that the republican party gets around to problem solving because the republican party has always succeeded. we've always won when we put problem solving first and foremost. we're at a point in time where we need to solve some problems and find not just problems but

solutions. i put one on the table. we're the party of lincoln. we're the party of roosevelt. we're the party of eisenhower. we're the party of reagan. in all cases we've had big, bold inclusionary visions that have spoken to problem solving. we can do it again. i have every confidence. >> okay. governor jon huntsman. always a pleasure. thank you so much. >> thermonuclear. don't forget it. >> got you quoted. coming up, from a former governor to the current mayor of the district of columbia, defying the government shutdown today, declaring all workers essential. here he is, major vincent gray joining me live next. twins. i didn't see them coming.

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of two aleve for six tylenol? what's the catch? there's no catch. you want me to give up my two aleve for six tylenol? no. for my knee pain, nothing beats my aleve. the federal government may be closed, but this doesn't include employees of the district of columbia. a d.c. mayor, vincent gray, told the white house he was declaring all district employees essential. that means the street sweepers, the garbage collectors, the librarians. the district is unique because it requires a federal appropriation to spend its budget. so the mayor, vincent gray, joining me now from washington. so mayor gray, you are essentially defying this shutdown. what are you doing to keep the district running? >> well, first of all, we have a contingency reserve that we've established that has about $130

million in it we can use to tide us over in the meantime. the district of columbia has a very strong financial position. what people hopefully will understand through all this is we raise our own money. we raise $6 billion a year from the taxes paid by the taxpayers of this city. in addition to that, we contribute between $3.5 billion and $4 billion in taxes to the federal government. we don't operate really any differently than a state does. it's absolutely absurd we are subjected to a shutdown when the federal government chooses to do these things. >> i hear you on the contingency fund, $130 million or so to tide you over. who knows how long this thing could go. could be days, weeks. given that variable, mr. mayor, are you on a slippery slope legally speaking here? >> well, we'll see. we think we have got enough dollars to last for, i don't know, 15 or 16 days. in the meantime, we're going to work with the congress to try to

get the district of columbia exempt from this. there's no credible argument that anyone can make that this city should be caught in the shutdown. there's no reason for it. >> what's the feedback you've gotten from some of those workers who are essential, according to you today? >> our workers are absolutely ecstatic. they recognize, of course, that the city shouldn't be involved in this, and they are glad that we have stood up and made the case on their behalf, on behalf of the entire city. what a lot of people don't understand, brooke, is we have more people in the city, 632,000 people who live in the city, more than the state of wyoming, more than the state of vermont. we're not a small jurisdiction. we're 33,000 employees who work for the district government because we're a state, county, city, and school district all rolled into one. again, we don't get our money any differently than other states do. >> you point out that the

populous of the district of columbia is also the largest concentration of federal workers and contractors in the united states. in reading up on the economic forecast, if you will, with this federal government shutdown, the district could lose $200 million a day. i was reading my "washington post," and they quoted the director of the george mason university central for regional analysis. he said, this is serious, the national economy may not notice the shutdown much unless it lasts three or four weeks, but for the washington area, this is a tsunami. mayor gray, you are running now. you say maybe you could go to day 15, 16 with your contingency fund. at what point does the tsunami truly hit you? >> well, for us, we probably will lose. our economy will bleed about $5 million or $6 million a day. obviously, we don't want that to happen. we have gone through a painstaking process to develop and approve a budget for the

city. i submitted a budget to the council of our city back in march. they went through a painstaking process of 56 days of hearings, discussions. they eventually approved the budget we have a budget that is ball lanszed on the basis of revenues principally that we are generating that was ready to go october 1st. yes, we certainly don't look forward to losing the dollars that will be impacted in terms of our economy. but at the same time, it's time for people to recognize that we are not a part of the federal government. we're not a federal agency. we're not the department of health and human services, agriculture, defense, or anything else. >> yeah, mayor vincent gray, we'll be watching, we'll be counting the days along with you. thank you, sir, so much for your time. >> thank you. coming up, as far as the shutdown goes, some couples hoping to get married this week in national parks like the grand canyon have been told, sorry, no park for you. go with plan "b." we're going to talk live with one of those couples. there they are. i'm going to guess they're a

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you know the deal by now. congress can't get their act together. the government is closed today. many americans are having to cancel travel plans all across the country. but congress is also to blame for ruining weddings. yes, weddings. 24 couples who had plans to get married at government-run sites,

sorry, you have to make those changes. you got to go with plan "b." hopefully you have one. that includes this couple from new jersey. welcome, you two. congratulations. no matter what, congratulations on wherever you tie the knot. >> thank you. >> so first, let me just begin. i imagine you have your guests set, the flights are paid for, hotel rooms. you had plans to be at the grand canyon. that has changed. are you angry? >> oh, gosh. well, i've been going through a lot of different emotions at this time. it's been all over the place. i got the call thursday night. i cried. i was freaking out. then i thought i was turning into a bridezilla or something like that. i had to make all new plans on friday. so i even -- at my job, my boss was so kind. he let me take the day to figure out what we were going to do. but it was just absolutely

exhausting. and we're still kind of unsure of what we're doing. i mean, we think we know, but we're not sure. >> what are you thinking? >> well, okay. so we have a planner in sedona. he's been amazing. they're very flexible. it's been really wonderful. you know, we were waiting until the last minute to try and, you know, find out whether or not this was going to happen. then, you know, by yesterday we just said, before we were leaving, we said, no, we have to go with plan "b." plan "b" is merry-go-round rock in sedona. >> i hear it's lovely this time of year. michael, what's the toughest part of all this been for you? >> all the time and planning. i wanted to see the grand canyon, wanted to get married on the edge of the grand canyon. that was our dream for a while. we put in the order for the permit a long time ago. just the fact that we're being

told that we can't use a park in our own country for us to get married, it's one of our national treasures. we can't even see it. >> we've been joking that the government's going to put a tarp over top of it or something so we can't see it. like, really? they'll pay $8 million for a tarp to cover. >> i appreciate the sense of humor. let me end with this from both of you. if you had a member of congress -- really, this goes both ways. whatever side of the political aisle. what would you say to him or her? >> that's easy for me. if i don't perform at my job, i don't get paid. and i'm held to a high standard at my job. if i don't perform, then i wouldn't be there for a long time. i've been at my job for a very long time. so i think that should go and hold true for other people. you should be held to a high standard and perform for what you're getting paid for.

>> yeah, don't put 800,000 people out of work because you can't make a decision, you know. and then all of the people that have had to find new hotels. all the grand canyon hotels were booked, you know. i can't imagine what those people are going to do. we caught it early, you know. >> not fun. >> not at all. >> i haven't done it, but, you know, i imagine it's not where you tie the knot but who you're tying it with. good luck to both of you, seriously. >> thank you. >> we'll be talking to a house republican at the top of the hour. i'll ask them about that whole getting paid thing. i can assure you of that. thanks very much, you two. congratulations. >> thank you so much. >> on their point, that's the thing, congress is still getting paid during this shutdown. does that make sense to you? i'll talk live with one republican congressman who says is lawmakers should give up their paychecks. plus, today is the first day for obama care sign up. got a little rough. there are some glitches, technical problems. we'll cover it all for you just

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economy could take a serious hit, losing $1 billion a week according to some economists. the latest hit, the air force versus navy football game may be postponed, folks. it's a soldout game. in fact, all intercollegiate at the service academies could all be canceled. this is really just the beginning. it could end in an instant if congress could pass this spending bill. you know the divide. senate democrats want to pass this bill to fund the government. house republicans, there are even factions within those groups. they want the same thing but with the provision to somehow stop obama care, the signature piece of legislation from the president. but after four votes and now 16-plus hours -- 15-plus hours of a shutdown, no significant progress toward a resolution. i want you to listen to president barack obama, who spoke just a couple hours ago.

>> they'll say it was the mean old republicans or the tea party or fox news or maybe even george w. bush. they shut down the government, and now they're praying the american people will think somebody else is responsible. they're doing this because they'd rather see the government shut down than do thing to protect the american people from the consequences of obama care. despite the stories we see every single day about the pain this law is causing all of our constituen constituents. >> that was mitch mcconnell, republican senator from kentucky. we're going to play you some sound from the president in a minute. let's go to washington. let me talk to congressman jason smith, a republican from missouri. congressman, welcome. thank you for taking the time. you know, i want to just begin with the news. i know you were part of this closed door meeting with house republicans here. we're learning that you all are considering now piecemeal bills,

piecemeal votes to fund the government. can you give me sort of the back story? why this strategy? >> you know, brooke, thanks for having me on. first and foremost, right now it is the urgency of the house republicans to open government up. we're trying every aspect we can to get the house -- the senate democrats and the president to actually just work with us and negotiate. we have sent four different proposals over to the senate, and they continue to table the motion. the last one last night and the early morning hours, we asked to go to conference just to get to the middle to actually negotiate common ground. they refused to negotiate. you know, i'm the newest member in washington, d.c., as a member of congress. where i come from in missouri, we actually believe you cooperate with people. it's so unfortunate the government is closed, but we need to get our job done. >> i'm not going to get into the machinations of negotiating there on the hill.

let me cut right to it. a lot of americans are irked. i just talked to a couple who can't get married in the grand canyon because of you, because of congress. so one of their issues is, hey, give up your salary. you should not be paid. i know you're actually offering, you know, to give up your salary. what would you do with that money? >> you know, i totally agree with those people. it's about fairness. where i come from, people get the job done and they get paid for the job that they've done. we have not finished and accomplished our job by passing a budget up here. i've called for the house administrator to withhold my salary. what i will do with that salary for the days that we have lapsed in appropriations is give it back to the treasury where it belongs. >> let me take it a step further. a lot of members of congress are fairly affluent, so maybe this wouldn't be too big of a deal if they're giving up their own salaries for, say, a week. what about all the perks you all get? the cars, the travel to and from d.c. would you be willing to give that up? >> you know, absolutely.

washington politicians should not be treat eed any differentl than any other american. that's what people are fed up with. that's one of the last proposals we sent to the senate. you know, all washington politicians, congress, the president, every member of leadership should have to fall sbool the same requirement of any other american when it comes to obama care. for some reason they decided to exempt themselves. if they want this program so much, they should be able to stand up and be the first ones to sign up to be a part of it. >> congressman jason smith, thank you very much for your time today. as promised, president obama this afternoon, here he was talking specifically about the government shutdown. >> they demanded ransom just for doing their job. many representatives, including an increasing number of republicans, have made it clear that had they been allowed by speaker boehner to take a simple up or down vote on keeping the

government open with no partisan strings attached, enough votes from both parties would have kept the american people's government open and operating. >> one senator says he expects today's government shutdown to last anywhere from 1 to 21 days. 21 days, that's how long that monster impasse that began in december of '95 continued. that was the last time the federal government closed its doors. two voices i want to bring in here. first, a journalist who covered that stalemate 17 years ago. he is john decker. he's now white house correspondent at sirius xm radio. also with me, our chief global analyst, gloria borger. welcome to both of you. john, let's begin with the differences between then and today. social media. you have these members of congress. they're apparently meeting and talking about things behind closed doors. they're also airing their grievances in 140 characters or less compared to 17 years ago. >> yeah, obviously social media

didn't exist 17 years ago. there was no twitter, no google, no facebook. i think that's one of the advantages that members of both parties have in terms of reaching out to their constituents, trying to get some sort of action or perhaps inaction as it relates to the stalemate that's going on. you also have some other differences as well, brooke. that, of course, has to do with this extraneous issue that's been brought to bear with this particular government shutdown. back in '95 and '96, it was all about budgetary issues. it was all about spending. this time around you have this additional issue being brought to bear by republicans in the house particularly involving the affordable care act, also known as obama care. >> and gloria, the president's been crystal clear. he's not giving any ground on this signature achievement, this piece of legislation. so how -- you know, we've heard the reporting. i just talked to a republican congressman who was in the meeting saying their latest strategy, if you will s the

piecemeal bills to keep parts of the government up and running. is that part of this exit strategy for john boehner here and his house republicans? >> i think they're looking for an exit strategy. jay carney kind of dismissed it for a lack of seriousness. i think it's ton likely that that's going to be anything that democrats would accept. look, i think what's interesting about this is that john boehner, the speaker of the house, was dragged into this strategy. i don't know if he was kicking and screaming, but he might have been. what he wanted to do was talk about spending in terms of the next crisis that's coming up on the debt ceiling. but he was prevailed upon by one part of his caucus, the conservative party of his caucus, to do this. and they have now done this. they are now in it. i talked to one senior house republican last night, and i said, okay, what's the exit strategy, what's the end game? he said, i honestly don't know.

this is incredibly, to me, looking at it, it's kind of they're figuring it out as they go along. this is really ad hoc. we could see a few more volleys or not. i just -- it's very hard to tell right now, brooke. >> flashing back, john, to 17 years ago, the then-speaker newt gingrich then president bill clinton, he ultimately was re-elected. i want you to compare the then and now, the intransgents, the brinksmanship. >> what has struck me is there's a photograph in "the wall street journal" today. the photograph is in december of 1995 during the midst of the government shutdown. it has house speaker newt gingrich, senate majority leader bob dole, president bill clinton and vice president al gore in the oval office actually talking to one another about the issues before them. we haven't seen a picture like that yet, brooke. it sounds to me just based upon the rhetoric we heard today, which is very similar to the

rhetoric we heard back in 1995 and '96. extorti extortion, blackmail, that type of thing. it doesn't seem like that kind of picture, that kind of photo op will happen any time soon. >> john decker and gloria borger, thank you both. and starting today, millions of americans are eligible for health care with the affordable care act. but it doesn't come without its glitches. >> consider that just a couple weeks ago apple rolled out a new mobile operating system. within days they found a glitch. so they fixed it. i don't remember anybody suggesting apple should stop selling iphones or ipads or threatening to shut down the company if they didn't. that's not how we do things in america. we don't actively root for failure. >> here to walk us through some of those glitches, cnn's tom foreman. tom, i hear you laughing.

what have you found? >> this isn't exactly the iphone. i'll tell you that. obama care hoped to launch with a bang this morning. it's been more like a sputter. look at all these states all across the nation where they've had some kind of problem with the website as people try to look into and sign up for this program. all the states we've put in red here. some of our producers checked out these systems. in new york, they got a message that said the system was suffering from an internal server error. in maryland, they said there were connectivity problems. problems in new mexico and in washington. look at this. the whole screen froze and the state actually had to shut it down for troubleshooting. still, our team got through fine in kentucky, iowa, connecticut, other places. while these problems were widespread, they do not appear to be universal, brooke. some people will get through in some places. others may not. the federal government is handling enrollment for 36 states, which have either opted out of obama care or haven't fully established their

insurance marketplaces. this is the message many people saw in places like that. they saw health insurance marketplace, please wait. we have a lot of visitors on our site right now, we're working to make your experience here better. please wait until we send you to it the log-in page. thanks for your patience. the president also pointed out they had about 1 million people before 7:00 in the morning trying to do this. so none of this is particularly unexpected. it's a massive and complicated system. the president did say glitches would occur and the department of health and human resources issued a statement saying we built a dynamic system and we're prepared to make adjustments. at least as of now it looks like a good many adjustments may have to be made, even though it's just the first day. six months to sign up. complicated system, a lot going on. not the iphone, but they're trying to get there. >> tom foreman, thank you very much. i know a lot of you don't understand the affordable care act. that's what surveys show. a lot of americans are sort of scratching their heads over there. you see the numbers here in this

new cnn poll. this is out this morning. shows only 17% believe that obama care will help their families. 4 out of 10 americans say they'll be worse off under obama care. another 41% say they will be more or less the same. let's hit the road with dr. sanjay gupta, our chief medical correspondent, who is in greenville, south carolina, today. a fifth of that state, sanjay, lacks health insurance. run me through the basics here. how does the obama care marketplace website work? we've already touched on the glitches. how does the website work? what kind of coverage can people get? >> well, once you get there, and as you point out, it could take longer than expected, what you'll see is you go to the website healthcare.gov. you pick your state. from there, you're going to have to apply and register within the site. what that is, is basically a three-page application, which i think is most notable for what it doesn't have versus what it does. the thing you're not going to be asked about on this three-page application is anything about your health history.

go figure, right? this is health insurance we're talking about. you're not asked about your health history because it doesn't matter with regard to what you're going to be charged for premiums. that's the crux of the issue, really, this idea that you don't get discriminated against for a pre-existing condition. after that, you have these tiers of programs, which by the way a lot of people have seen before. you just have to think about this in terms of what your needs are. bronze programs, that means you're going to pay the lowest premium but have the highest copays and deductible. platinum is just the opposite. they have the highest premiums and the lowest co-pay and lowest deductible. very simply put, if you think you're going to go to the doctor a lot, utilize a lot of medical services, you probably want the higher premiums and lower co-pays so you don't get dinged as much. and just the opposite if you don't think you're going to go to the doctor as much. but keep in mind a lot of people trying to get on this website today, trying to do this, they've never done this before.

they haven't had insurance. they haven't had doctors. this is all brand new to them. >> and as, you know, you and tom foreman have pointed out, there's time to figure this out. six months is a lot of time. dr. sanjay gupta in greenville, south carolina. sanjay continues to hit the road with the cnn express bus, rolling into lexington, kentucky, tomorrow. sanjay will look at how this affordable care act affects people who already have insurance. that's tomorrow. coming up, as our special coverage continues, we have reporters spanned out across this country watching this impact unfold live. poppy harlow in new york. >> hi there, brooke. people down here, tourists very upset. statue of liberty one of 400 national parks closed. that means tens of thousands of people out of work. we're going to bring you their story coming up next.

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an unpaid vacation for who knows how long. and let's remember, every day of the shutdown it costs the economy $300 million. so let's begin in new york with poppy harlow where tourists, i'm sure, are getting frustrated. poppy, let's begin with you there. how angry are tourists? >> reporter: they're angry. i mean, i can't tell you how many i ran into this morning from a family from australia to a guy here from london for his birthday that had come to see the statue of liberty. unfortunately we were the bearers of bad news. we had to tell them it's closed. they said, why? we said, government shutdown. they were scratching their heads. i have to tell you, i spent yesterday out on liberty island. they see 4 million tourists a year, 20,000 a day in peak season. $17 a ticket. you get the idea. a lot of money is coming into the government through these national parks. $450,000 a day, actually. now the government is losing out

on that revenue because the government has shut down and all these parks are closed. what i've also found is that it's really hurting the other businesses, the peripheral businesses down here in lower manhattan like the tour bus operators that all rely on people to come because of the statue of liberty. listen to what some of them told me today. >> it's killing your business? >> yeah, it's killing our business down here. >> already? >> yeah, the people are not coming. i don't know why the government is doing that because this is part of our business. this is what we do daily. the people are not coming, so we're not selling tickets. we're not making money. >> i don't really understand what's going on and why it's closed. >> so the u.s. government, it shut down. that's why it's closed. >> yes. >> what do you think of that looking from an outside perspective? >> very surprised. this is supposed to be the

number one country in the world. things like this would probably not go on in europe as much. >> reporter: so that gives you a taste for it, brooke. i do have to say that some of the workers on the island that are not federal employees, they work for the concession stands, the cleanup crews, they rent the audio tours, they have no chance of getting paid, even if congress approves back pay for the federal workers. they told me these are hourly jobs and every day we're not working, we are not getting a paycheck and we can't pay our rent after a few days. this is a very, very big problem for all the folks down here. >> you are so right about those peripheral businesses. poppy harlow for us. thank you. just imagine your boss telling you, go home, and when congress stops bickering, you can come back to work. by the way, your pay, well, maybe you get it, maybe you don't. fun times. aaron pike is covering that for us in washington. one of my dear,

texted me today. she said she was told to go home. but look on the bright side, it's beautiful out. >> reporter: yes, brooke. that's what we have heard from a few people, too, but by and large, i found much of the same thing that poppy found up in new york. people are really frustrated and disappointed and confused. now, most of the time here in washington, federal workers don't really like to talk to the media because they're afraid they'll get in trouble for doing so. but today when people got to work, they signed furlough notices by 10:00 and started streaming out of some of the buildings that you see here behind me. they came right up to us and wanted to talk to us about how angry they were. one woman described to me what it's been like the past couple of years with this brinksmanship and the threat of the government shutdowns. >> people have, you know, children in college, they have things they have to get paid. we've been on a roller coaster for a while. i would say for the past year. it's been an emotional roller

coaster, up and down. a lot of people just finished furloughs, and their funds were cut short. now here we go again. so it's just -- it seems to be a vicious cycle. >> reporter: now, brooke, another guy came out of the building this morning, and he was so angry. he said he was going to walk straight to the capitol building to talk to his congressman. it's just about five blocks down that way. others are telling us that they're working paycheck to paycheck, really. some people said they don't know how to pay child support or their mortgages. yes, people are very upset. here's one of these furlough notices. it basically says they can't touch any of their equipment other than to see their blackberry for status updates. if they use their equipment for any other purposes, they could be penalized, brooke. it's really a tough situation here in washington. >> oh, wow. so essentially put those blackberries down and wait until congress gets their act together. then you get to come back to

work. erin mcpike, thank you. i hear the frustration in washington. at the same time, have you seen these pictures? veterans are removing the barricades themselves there this morning at the world war ii memorial. you hear the cheers despite the government shutting down. we'll play that video for you. plus, in this debate over the shutdown, many republicans are at odds with their own party. so coming up next, i'll talk to two conservatives. ben stein said republicans should move on. columnist emily miller says they should keep fighting. more of cnn's special coverage right after this.

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even on the brinksmanship, the intransigence in congress may not seem patriotic, but there was plenty of patriotism this morning at the world war ii memorial. you have to see these pictures. you have these united states veterans. these folks are from mississippi showing up in d.c. they didn't let the shutdown stop them. crowds are cheering because what they're doing here is physically removing the barricades so they

can see that beautiful memorial. at least one republican lawmakers was appalled that it was closed to begin with and placed blame on the white house. >> this is -- to barricade an open-air monument when you know there are honor flights that have been chartered that are wheels up, and they're going to come to this town and say, how can we intercept them? let's put some extra people on the ground and use some resources to lock people out of an open of air mo-air monument. that's a white house decision. >> this shutdown is not just about democrats versus republicans. i've seen the phrase civil war. this is a civil war brewing within the republican party. so let's talk both sides here. we're joined now by a pair of conservatives. emily miller is senior editor of opinion for "the washington times," and ben stein, the

economist, author, former speech writer for president richard nixon. great to see both of you here. ben stein, let me begin with you here as a conservative, you know, working in the nixon white house, yet you say that there is no point to what the republicans are doing right now. why? >> well, because we republicans started out the idea of universal health care. we republicans in 1973 sent a message to congress asking for universal health care. it was killed by edward kennedy for no good reason. it's a perfectly good idea. there are glitches in the immomei implementation. let's get them fixed. if the plan is so bad that it's going to bring down the government, let's put it in effect and ruin the democratic party for generations. but let's not shut down the government. it has lots of vital functions. it's full of decent, good, hard-working people. the law isn't bad. it was approved by the supreme court. let's have it go into law the way the constitution says.

if it's going to be a bad thing, let it be good for the republican party. >> emily miller, you disagree. >> i agree the law is terrible. this is where you have the divide. the conservative, more tea party republicans, largely started by senator ted cruz of texas, say we have very little leverage here. we control one-half of one-third of the government, and we don't want to see obama care implemented, which is happening today. so let's do what we can. what we can do is stop the spending. so let's stop the spending and leave some leverage to negotiate. unfortunately obama says i'm not negotiating. the house republicans keep sending over spending bills with some modify kagication to obama, whether it's taking out the tax or putting it off for a year, and it keeps getting rejected or the white house issues a veto threat. everything went into effect today. the question is, what can the republicans salvage out of this. >> in terms of salvaging here, we have this shutdown. who knows how long this will last. we know the latest reporting is that the house republicans are proposing this piecemeal bill to

fund parts of the government. i talked to -- i want to play some sound. i talked to a moderate republican. i talked to presidential candidate jon huntsman last hour. i asked him not about this particular fight but about that fight, this upcoming fight october 17th and the possibility of the government running out of money to pay its bills. this is what he said. >> you think the government shutdown is a big deal, and we're going to hurt every day this goes on economically. the debt ceiling is a thermonuclear explosion compared to a hand grenade. that's when we wake up october 17th and find the treasury has $30 billion. we have an interest payment due of $29 billion shortly thereafter and debt rollover the next month. >> emily, do you think this small faction that the president continues to refer to, you know, this group of ted cruz and company, do you think they will lead another fight come debt ceiling time? >> well, to clarify small faction is a majority of the house of representatives.

it's all of the senate republicans. it's not a small faction. it's the majority of republicans, congress. yeah, i mean, this is going to be -- this spending -- this fight right now is not about spending. what's holding it up is obama care. this is about the american people saying we're not being listened to. we've elected you to cut spending, to bring down the deficit, to stop this obama care, and you're not doing anything. the republicans here are trying to say, we're listening, we're doing what we can with the limited power and control that we have over this government to do those things. >> ben, what do you think? you've been around the block. >> i think we've got to -- look, this is a flight from responsibility on the part of the republican party, which is extremely embarrassing to a person that's been a republican probably for longer than both of your lives put together. it is not allowed to blow up the government in order to change a law. if we want to change a law, let's try to get republicans elected in the next election cycle and get the law revised.

but let's not bring down the house on top of us like sampson pulling down the pillars. this is just nuts. it's just nuts to endanger the national defense, endanger the economic security of older americans. what about the federal workers? why on earth should the federal workers be suffering? they're hard working men and women. they're not just parasites. they're hard working men and women. why are they being tortured over this? >> every time we have one of these shutdowns, and obviously we haven't had one in 17 years, they always go back and completely fund everything. everybody gets paid in full. nobody loses money in the end. >> then why do it in the first place? >> because it's all the control they have to try to avert obama care from hitting today. it's all they can do. >> i mean, this is just not responsible behavior. this is not the republican party -- >> but -- >> did you think for a minute dwight eisenhower would have approved of this? >> ben, i don't know what dwight

eisenhower would do. the republicans have sent over five bills to the senate. they're the ones who have rejected them. five. the president -- >> but they're bills that are nonsense. >> they're not. one of them is very reasonable to say let's just put off the medical device tax. that's completely reasonable. that is something that could have been a negotiated middle ground there. again -- i mean, this morning, the house senate over a bill to go to conference and negotiate. >> the bills aren't even passed. emily, i respect you very much and i love "the washington times" a lot. but with the greatest rc eest r the bills aren't even passed and approved by the supreme court. >> i'm just talking about the spending bills. >> but it's already done. >> all right. i hear both of you. i'm so glad we are having this exchange because i think a lot of americans represent what emily thinks and ben stein, what you think. hopefully all the money comes back, as you pointed out. but i think the big question a lot of people agree with is not what happens this very moment but what happens 16 days from

now. that could be, to quote jon huntsman, a thermonuclear explosion. >> and he could be our next president. >> thank you both very much. coming up next, switching gears. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu speaking today at the united nations. he did not mince words when talking about this new president of iran calling him, once again, a wolf in sheep's clothing. he didn't stop there. that's next. across america people are taking charge of their type 2 diabetes with non-insulin victoza®.

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israel's prime minister says he cannot trust iran and its new president. benjamin netanyahu speaking today, addressing the united nations just a short time ago. he said the only way to contain iran's nuclear ambitions is to combine tough sanctions with a credible military threat. the prime minister called iranian president hasan rouhani a loyal servant of the regime. he urged leaders not to be duped by his moderate tone. >> now, i know rouhani doesn't sound like ahmadinejad, but when it comes to iran's nuclear weapons program, the only difference between them is this. ahmadinejad was a wolf in wolf's clothing. rouhani is a wolf in sheep's clothing. a wolf who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the

international community. >> iran is calling netanyahu's speech, quote, extremely inflammatory. an iranian envoy saying the accusations are unfounded. coming up on this first day that obama care goes live on the web, many people are having a tough time logging in. so who should this be working for you? elizabeth cohen walked through the process herself. she'll join me live to tell me about it. that's later. customer erin swenson ordered shoes from us online but they didn't fit. customer's not happy, i'm not happy. sales go down, i'm not happy. merch comes back, i'm not happy. use ups. they make returns easy. unhappy customer becomes happy customer. then, repeat customer. easy returns, i'm happy. repeat customers, i'm happy. sales go up, i'm happy. i ordered another pair. i'm happy. (both) i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. happy happy. i love logistics.

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while the federal government is shutdown because of this impasse over obama care, a critical part of the health insurance law is, in fact, opening today. millions of uninsured americans are going online. this is healthcare.gov, hoping to enroll in the obama care exchanges. but the websites have been experiencing technical glitches. elizabeth cohen has been trying to log in and thus far unsuccessfully. >> unsuccessful in the state of georgia. i pretended like i was really doing it. we were here in atlanta.

so you get this screen first. so i clicked apply now. let me show you what we got. please wait. now, it says thanks for your patience. i was patient. in about five minutes, i did get to a screen where you could try to create a log-in, which is the first step. let me show you what happened. when you try to create an account, you have to do these security questions. you've seen them other places. when you do it, it says no options. like, i can't even get to the questions. it just says no options. you can't create an account without putting in these questions. >> okay. >> so i was -- i kind of hit a wall. i tried this several times today. >> so you guys hit a wall. we're here in georgia. what about other states? similar issues? >> the cnn medical team branched out. we tried in about 20 different state states. in 12 of them we hit glitches. sometimes it made it impossible to sign up. there were error messages or that annoying kind of twirly thing. >> i hate the twirly thing. >> hate it, hate it. in many cases, you just couldn't sign up. >> president obama, he addressed

this, speaking at the white house earlier, sort of likening it to glitches with apple. this was the president. >> like every new law, every new product rollout, there are going to be some glitches in the signup process along the way that we will fix. i've been saying this from the start. for example, we found out that there have been times this morning where the site's been running more slowly than it normally will. the reason is because more than 1 million people visited healthcare.gov before 7:00 in the morning. >> he had said, you know, issues with iphone when it first rolled out, you know, but this isn't necessarily like the iphone. >> right. my ios-7 works. it works. this i couldn't even sign up. some states we tried, we could get to the signup point. in many cases, we hit a wall. they say they're trying to speed it up. so day one of six months, it's not like this is the only day to do it.

hopefully they will get this going. >> hopefully they won't have the no options button. elizabeth, thank you. coming up here as we continue our special coverage, five of the outrageous numbers you need to know when it comes to the shutdown. everything from brides to be to cold-hard cash. we have all five for you. plus, road rage at its worst caught on video. bikers and the driver of this suv go at it on this new york highway. now word of an arrest. who's at fault here? we're on the case. e, money, and i avoid frustration. you'll find reviews on home repair to healthcare, written by people just like you. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.