tabling the request to change the president's health care law. meanwhile, majority leader harry reid saying that he won't compromise as long as republicans hold up a straightforward spending bill that keeps the government operating. senator mitch mcconnell just tweeting out that the house legislation didn't have everything the gop wanted or the democrats wanted, but it remitted compromise. now, this is the fourth time in this shutdown showdown that the senate has rebuffed house republican efforts. so what does the president think about all of this? he will speak at 12:25. you can watch it live here on nbc 4 or online at nbcwashington.com. barbara? >> thank you, angie. the government shutdown is affecting hundreds of thousands of federal workers now on furlough. many of those workers are closing their offices right now. news4's melissa picks up our team coverage at the southwest metro stop in d.c. melissa? >> reporter: good morning, brar

barbara. a lot of federal workers were out here yesterday. we spoke with them at this metro stop yesterday. they were telling me they were very nervous. today they say simply they are annoyed and without a paycheck. >> it's really happening? ice really shocking. >> reporter: 800,000 federal worker, those considered nonessential, forced off the job without pay. no check, no checking e-mail, no work, no answers for who knows how long. >> morale is very low. >> reporter: it's been 17 years since a shut down like this one. many of the federal workers unsure of how the next few days will play out. >> just going in and they ale give me my letter and send me home. >> reporter: spending just the morning at the office. >> we can't do anything. basically we've got four hours to do the work it takes to have an orderly shutdown, and then we go home. >> reporter: as workers slowly trickled out of the federal center metro stop this morning, a few blocks away, park police were shutting down roads

flanking the national mall. >> i think everybody's nervous, you know? i think everybody's -- you know, it's uncertainty, you know? and as a contractor, you know, i'm still going to be working, but, you know, in what capacity i don't know >> reporter: he's been a federal employee for 13 years and is no fan of taking a financial hit just because lawmakers can't agree. >> everybody needs a paycheck. need a full paycheck. >> reporter: those who are being sent home are confused by the message they say congress is sending. >> just saying you don't like all the spending, so just to get a point across about a glitch in a health care program. so that is a little weird. >> reporter: live southwest station, you can see only a couple of people there. it was really kind of desolate this morning, i have to say, compared with yesterday. so perhaps some people just did not show up this morning, you know, because they knew they

would only be in for tour hours. remember during that last shutdown 17 years ago, some people ended up being paid at the end when congress approved additional moneys. no word, of course, yet on if or when that minor league happen. back to you. >> all right. thanks so much, melissa. and right now all 33,000 d.c. city employees are on the job. d.c. mayor vincent gray declared the city workers essential personnel, keeping them working during the government shutdown. the mayor will use reserve funds already approved by congress to pay for operations. all emergency services in the district including 911 service will operate as normal. trash will be picked up. d.c. parking rules will be enforced. unemployment checks, food stamps, tax filings and social security benefits will continue to go out. and we're keeping track of some changes mark and vre are making in the wake of the government shutdown. trains 875, that's train 875 on the brunswick line is canceled.

a special midday train will leave union station at 2:00 this afternoon. train 850 on the camden line is also canceled. a special train will leave union station at 2:15 for that line. the penn line will run as scheduled. we just received an e-mail from vre. it's adding longer trains early in the afternoon to accommodate the larger crowds leaving work early today. our web team will post any changes on nbcwashington.com for you. and if you're planning on getting out of town today, you should still be able to catch a flight. air-traffic controllers and airport screeners are expected to stay on the job today. for the moment, the state department will also continue to process applications for visas and passports since fees are collected, but the department is warning that embassy and consulate services both at home and abroad will only stay open as long as enough fees are coming in to support them. and right now, several popular tourist destinations are

closed because of the gft shutdown. news4's gramegan mcgrath is liv along the national mall with more. >> reporter: barbara, as you come down here to the museum of natural history, you're going to be able to take a look at the petrified wood that they have out front, but you can forget about getting inside. take a look at these folks. we've been seeing this all morning long. visitors who are unaware of what's going on going up the stairs only to discover that this museum and in fact all of the smithsonian museums are closed. and it's not just the museums. it's the monuments around town, even the national zoo. the front gate of the national zoo is locked. the sign says it all -- "closed today due to the government shutdown." at 8:00 a.m., the live panda cam was turned off. the images of the panda and her baby was replaced by an error message. >> horrible. it's ridiculous. >> i really don't think people are going to have a higher opinion of congress after this.

so anyhow, hopefully it won't last too long. >> reporter: next came the world war ii memorial. shortly after 9:00, the fountain was turned off and the spray of water gradually petered out. that old fencing keeps tourists at a distance. there's a similar situation at the lincoln memorial. and the smithsonian museum, well, they're all closed too. it's not a good time to be a visitor to the nation's capital. you're hear from vegas and everything's closing. >> i know. it's disappointed because we want to come here and to see all the museum and parks and everything. >> it's crazy. it's too expensive to come to usa and all is closed. too expensive for me. >> reporter: and the shutdown doesn't just affect memorials and tourist attractions. trash pickup won't happen around the mall and other federal parks. all the public restrooms are

locked. there will be road closures. >> we'll be closing internal park roads including ohio, west basin, east bay sin along jefferson, jefferson and madison drives over by the smithsonian. >> reporter: we're standing here along madison drive and you can see that it's already been closed. we haven't seen traffic come through here for about an hour and a half or so. now, of course a lot of disappointed visitors. they're just hoping that this doesn't last too long, that they'll be able to take in some of the sights, at least, before they leave. reporting live from the national mall, megan mcgrath, news4. back to you. >> thank you, megan. we invite you to stay with news4 throughout the day as we follow the impact of the government shutdown. and head to nbcwashington.com for a list of things that you will and won't be able to do while the government stores are closed. right now, the health insurance law that played a major role in this budget battle is now in effect. insurance exchanges that are part of the affordable care act

opened today. the obama administration expects about 7 million people to sign up for plans during this first year. it hopes about 25 million uninsured americans will sign up eventually. and the white house says the process for shopping through these insurance exchanges should be simple. your options will be based on your age, where you live, and the size of your family. each plan will also offer the same set of benefits and will be categorized by cost. it will also be illegal for insurers to deny you benefits or charge you more because of pre-existing conditions. and you probably have many more questions about the new health care law, and we've tried to answer as many of those questions on our nbcwashington.com website. so you can go there. just search affordable care act to get many of your questions answered. you might be thinking about them right now. taking a look outside, it's unusually warm for the first day of october. let's talk to storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein who has the first forecast for this first day of the month.

tom? good morning. in our weather center, the observations coming in, temperatures now climbing into the 70s around most of the region for from the mountains all the way to the bay. low to mid-70s right around washington by noontime. then during the afternoon it's going to be even warmer. highs expected around the metro area. should be making it into the low 80s. a look at highs elsewhere, we'll look at the week ahead into the weekend. how much longer will this little summer-like pattern last? that's coming up in just a few minutes. barbara? >> thank you, tom. and we have breaking news out of montgomery county. now nbc 4 has learned a potential big change is coming to the county school system. mark segraves is live in rockville with details. mark? >> reporter: barbara, joshua starr, the superintendent of montgomery county public schools, will make the recommendations official when he presents hem to the school board next week, but he just rolled them out to public moments ago. the recommendations would make far longer school day for elementary students.

they would stay in school an additional 30 minutes every day. but high school students would start their day 15 minutes later. they would begin the day at -- they start right now at 7:25. that would move to 8:15 under the new plan. middle school students would be impacted also. they'd start their day ten minutes earlier. of course elementary students would start at the same time they've been starting currently. now the students, any of these changes could into go into e effect would be the 2015 shall have 2016 school year. this is just a preliminary recommendation. what happens now is it goes to the school board, there will be a series of public hearings, and the recommendations could be altered based on those hearings. a final proposal will be voted on by the school board. joshua starr will make comments later today. we'll bring you those comments this evening at 4:00. now, it's important to know that the school board does have to approve this again. the cost for all this, the preliminary estimate on the cost of these changes would be $12 million a year.

the changes all came from parents who complained their students weren't getting enough sleep. that's the very latest live at montgomery county's public school headquarters. mark segraves, news4. a number of new laws are in effect in our area from your car to weapons and everything in between. we'll break down what you need to know just ahead. and it's our big story of the day. thousands in our area sent home from work because of a government shutdown the that's affecting just about everything this morning. stay with us. our continuing coverage of the shutdown showdown continues next.

well, the government is shut down and roughly 800,000 federal workers are now on furlough. here's a live look at the senate. about an hour ago they rejected a conference to negotiate a government spending bill.

lawmakers are deadlocked over republican plan to delay part of the health care law. and now more than 11 hours into this shutdown and what's going to happen, nbc's deputy political editor domenico montanaro -- >> come and gone. >> i they lot of people were hoping that -- >> i think we thought there was a glimmer of hope that at the end of the day, after speaker boehner felt like he'd exhausted all options, that they'd bring the continuing resolution forward and they did not do that. >> any chance we could see a deal today? >> i don't think so. i mean, we're moving towards something where both sides are locked in, republicans are not going to accept anything that doesn't delay or, you know, have some mandate delay in the affordable care act. and democrats are saying, look, this is law. we're not negotiating on whether or not we're going to defund obama care and that's where we're stuck right now. >> is it anything that you can

see that would make either side budge? >> the only thing is if speaker john boehner blinks and says to his conservatives, look, we've tried everything, we've gone as far as we can go, let's have a fight on the debt ceiling instead, and do they buy that. of course if they move on to the debt ceiling that could have even bigger consequences for the economy. >> now, you just mentioned the affordable care act went into e effect today. >> yep. >> now, is that still something they want to fight over now that it's already in effect? >> no question about it. a big reason why i think conservatives wanted to have this fight is because today is the day where people start enrolling. but i do think it's going to be much more difficult for republicans to say, look, we need to get rid of this thing if today people start signing up and they're already signing up for the -- to get insurance. how do you say to somebody, well, we're going to take your coverage away because we've decided to do away with this law? much trickier. >> will the numbers that show up around the country to sign up make a big difference, do you think? >> absolutely. i mean, i think that the

administration expects slow in october, slow in november, various glitchers with the systems where they're not working in certain places. they only expect between 3 million and 9 million, about 7 million people to sign up over a year, there are 40 million to 50 million people without insurance. >> politically, which side emerges the winner? >> i think everybody's going to have some kind of negative effect, but so far republicans are taking a much bigger hit. you can see in this quinnipiac poll out today on your screen, 72% of people disagree with the house republican strategy of trying to block the health care law to shut down the government, and 22% agree with house rep e kahns strategy. but republicans agree, they're split but more republicans than not say they agree, that's where house republicans are looking right now. they're saying we're looking out for our constituents, and the way that these districts have been drawn over the last decade is really the foundational

reason this has taken place. >> we have a lot to talk about. and for more from domenico and the rest of the nbc news political team, check out first read on nbcnews.com. there are several new laws you need to know about before you head out the door. maryland's new gun law goes into effect today. the new regulations ban 45 different kinds of assault rifles and magazines that hold more than ten rounds. you'll also have to be fingerprinted when you buy a gun. synthetic marijuana, known as k-2 or spice, is now illegal to sell anywhere in the states. starting today, talking on a hand-held cell phone is a primary offense. that means police can p pull you over and slap you with an $83 fine just for being on the fine. everyone in a vehicle will be required to wear a seat belt. children under 4'9" will be required to be in a safety seat. all these laws going into effect today. new traffic fines and rules are in effect in the district now. the fines for speeding are going up as much as $50.

violators will now be fined $150 for speeding 16 to 20 miles an hour over the limit. that will be what that fine will be for. however, the fine for failing to make a complete stop before turning will drop to 50 bucks each time. street sweeping parking sly lagss are now $45. also owners will now need to pay all fines and fees before getting a boot removed or getting their car released from the impound lot. all that happening in the district as of today. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us now. more good news on the -- >> feeling un-autumn-like, that's for sure, feeling more like summer than autumn. let's look at the sky over washington now. lots of sunshine after quite a bit of cloudiness earlier this morning. the temperature at reagan national with that bright sun up to 71, dew point a comfortable 58. humidity down to just 63% or so. a light southeasterly breeze. temperatures nearby suburbs,

northern virginia, most of fairfax county in the low to mid-70s as is prince william and loudon and faulkier, stafford and spotsylvania. in maryland, much of prince george's county, montgomery county, low to mid-70s. right near the bay it's generally in the upper 60s. but low 70s away from the water and farther to our west, temperatures 70s and beautiful autumn day, though, in the mountains of western maryland, west virginia, and the higher elevations above 3,000 feet, they're getting some pretty good fall color now and locally around the metro area, afternoon highs will be climbing into the low 80s around, a light wind, quite a bit of sunshine. and through the rest of the afternoon, highs reaching the mid-80s across parts of northern virginia and in the maryland highs reaching just around 80. should peak in the mid to upper 70s around the bay. farther west, shenandoah valley into the mountains, most locations peak in the upper 70s. and after that, we'll see our temperature drop back under a mostly clear sky tonight. should be 70s through the evening. then by midnight should be back

down to around 70 degrees under a mostly clear sky. and then by dawn on wednesday, temperatures tomorrow morning should be down to near 60 degrees. afternoon highs on wednesday with lots of sunshine into the mid-80s. we'll keep this warm afternoon, cool morning trend going on thursday with highs reaching low to mid-80s. and on friday as well, although there may be just a few more clouds around, highs reaching the mid-80s. here's your weekend. storm team 4, seven-day outlook on saturday should be partly cloudy, highs reaching the mid-80s. then increasing clouds on sunday, highs reaching around 80 degrees. does look like a pretty good chance for some showers maybe moving in late on sunday afternoon, perhaps into sunday evening, but most of the day sunday right now appears will be dry as the timing on that and maybe some lirnging showers into monday. that's the way it looks. back with another update coming up. >> see you then, tom. thank you. we're following a developing story this morning in colorado

right now a difficult recovery effort after a deadly rock slide. what we're learning about the victims just ahead. and as gridlock continues on capitol hill, president obama makes a big promise. what he has to say about the government shutdown. that coming up next. stay with us. too big. too small. too soft. too tasty. [ both laugh ] [ male announcer ] introducing progresso's new creamy alfredo soup. inspired by perfection.

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how much wine you drink depends on the type of glass you use. researchers at cornell university had volunteers pour themselves a normal glass of wine. what was normal to them. they found when they were given a wide glass they poured 12% more wine. they also poured more wine when holding the glass instead of pouring when it was placed on a table. researchers say this is

significant because people may think they're having one serving of wine when they're actually having two or three at one time. well, there's a gold rush for apple's newest gold-covered iphone. the 5s is in such popular demand people are willing to pay hundreds of dollars on websites like craigslist and ebay. one bidder on ex-bay almost paid $10,100 for a single gold iphone. fortunately, the seller canceled the bid. the 16 gigabyte version sells for $649 on apple's website. it won't be available, though, until mid-october. students on one college campus have a lot to talk about this morning. right now, what investigators think caused an explosion that knocked out power for hours. here in washington, yao might need to break out some shorts today. it's going to be warm out there. tom will be back with the summer-like weather forecast that he's got. and a live look over washington now, where thousands are eagerly waiting for word of

a deal from lawmakers. we'll have an upkate on their progress next. we'll look at what can happen today and what you can do and what you can't do.

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i'm angie goff at the live desk. an hour before he is set to address the nation, president obama writes a letter to government employees. in the letter posted on the office of personnel management site, he blames congress for the shutdown and an inability to pass a budget. he also says he'll keep working to reopen the government and vital services and allows those whofsh sent home to return to work. he also thanked employees for their working, adding the shutdown was, in his eyes, completely preventable. in the last hour the democratic-led senate rejected the latest republican request for formal talks about a budget deal. here more from the president when he speaks at 12:25 from the

rose garden. watch it on nbc 4 or on nbcwashington.com. barbara? >> thank you, angie. right now the federal government is shut down. roughly 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed while lawmakers remain deadlocked on a spending budget. this morning the senate rejected a house request to name negotiators to a conference to resolve their differences. house republican negotiators are expected to hold a news conference at noon asking for the senate to reconsider. about an hour from now, president obama is expected to address the country from the white house rose garden. they talked with federal workers deemed essential. that means they are working today. she is live at the southwest metro station with their reaction. good morning again. >> reporter: good morning again. you can see here behind me things are actually picking up just a little bit here. this is federal center and southwest, again, the metro station here. been a little bit slow this morning. now that we're heading more towards the noon hour and people

have been at work for a couple hours, things are picking up just a tad. now of course remember 17 years ago is the last time something like this happened. a lot of the workers i was speaking with this morning saying they're really waiting to see really how this will play out today. a lot of them, of course, very, very upset about what is happening, unsure of what is going to happen to them with no check, no checking e-mails, no work, no answers, really, for who knows how long. many departments handing out letters notifying employees that they will be furloughed. they're doing that this morning. then those employees scheduled to go home after about four hours at work. one woman we spoke with is actually an essential employee, so she is not furloughed but says still she feels for her co-workers. >> i feel bad. i mean, this whole situation, it's the first time i'm personally going through something like this, and i see my colleague, and fortunately i'm in a decent financial condition, but i know there are people who have children, who have bills, much bigger bills than mine to pay. so i can only imagine just how

much it must hurt them. >> reporter: and of course also affecting a lot of businesses around here. one gentleman walked by a second ago and said cafe 55 on the corner has only seen two federal employees this morning. typically they get about 15 or 20 on a normal morning. going to be very interesting to see how this plays out. a lot of people major, major hardship for them, should be leaving here probably around 12:00 or 1:00 this afternoon. and no word yet of course on when they will be coming back to work. live in southwest washington, back to you. >> thank you, me lis slissameli. while museums on the national mall are closed today, many attractions are still open. visit more than a dozen museums including the newseum, "national geographic" museum, the national crime museum. there are more than 42 tours of district neighborhoods. find out more about these and about the walking town tour of d.c. it's a program through the

cultural tourism d.c. you can find that in the yellow pages. pepco is helping customers affected by the government shutdown. the company says customers can make special payment arrangements. there are several options available including an extended payment plan that doesn't add late payment fees. you can make arrangements by calling 202-833-7500. the reach of the government shutdown is going beyond d.c. national parks across the country will be closed off to the public. vacation destinations like yellowstone, glacier, and grand canyon park are a few of the big-name places that are closing today. nonessential workers at those parks will also be subject to government furloughs. president obama reassured men and women in the u.s. armed forces that their mission remains the same. he shared a video message with them last night. >> today i want to speak directly to you about what happens next. those of you in uniform will

remain on your normal duty status. the threats to our national security have not changed, and we need you to be ready for any contingency. ongoing military operations like our efforts in afghanistan will continue. >> the president signed the bill into law that pays members of the military. however, that does not apply to civilian employees at the department of defense. and stay with news4 throughout the day as we follow the impacts of the government shutdown. remember, you can head to nbcwashington.com for a detailed list of things that you will and won't be able to do while the government doors are closed. a developing story from california. most of the power is back at the university of california, berkeley, campus, after an explosion blacked out the school. the blast is being blamed on a copper thief who may have exposed some volatile wiring and chemicals to each other in an underground utility closet. the outage trapped at least 20 people in elevators across the

property for over an hour. one person was hospitalized, but he is expected to be fine. right now, crews are trying to rethe five people who died on a rock slide that sent 110 boulders onto a hibing trail in central colorado. take a look at the debris. the group was hiking near mt. princeton yesterday morning when the rocks gave way. that's about two hours from denver. the lone survivor, a 13-year-old girl, was take on the hospital with a broken leg. the ages of the other victims have not been released. right now in washington state, it looks like january. they're blanketed in snow out there. take a look at this. snowboarders getting their thrills in early as a ski resort outside seattle was opened. crews there are already hard at work on the roads. however, the weather channel predicts they'll be seeing even more snow over the next few days so be clearing roads for a while

back there. back in this washington a very different story. let's check in with tom kierein, who's outside. a warmer than usual day. like summer at our campus at nbc 4. you can see the sunshine on the dappled green lawn. most of the trees still green around the metro area, but there is some spotty beginning to show up. right now there is a beautiful blue sky over washington. the live view from our city camera on this tuesday morning. temperatures are into the 70s around the region to near 80 degrees parts of northern virginia. look at culpepper, 81 right now, nearby suburbs, prince george's county, now in the mid-70s, also mid-70s in montgomery and fairfax county. alexandria, arlington, falls church, in the low to mid-70s there as well as right around the bay and much of the shenandoah valley into the mountains, low 70s, climbing into the low 80s, lots of sunshine, just a glorious autumn

day. tomorrow, lit feel more like sumner the afternoon, highs reaching mid-80s, midafternoon, the warm pattern continues into the weekend. and we'll have cool mornings, afternoon highs low to mid-80s. thursday, friday, saturday, sunday, high near 80. might get some showers sunday afternoon into sunday evening. that may linger into monday. barbara? >> thank you, tom. starting today, metro is dropping the price of its smart trip card to $2. you'll still pay $10 for a new card, however. it will come preloaded with $8. you can buy them at any cvs location and metro stores. they hope the price drop will help people make the switch from paper to fare cards. concern this morning that certain businesses along the proposed purple line are being given preferential treatment. last week it was announced that a deal was struck with the columbia country club in chevy chase to shift the purple line route 12 feet on club property.

in return, the club is dropping their opposition to the project. in a letter to a montgomery county executive, two council members say the deal gives the impression powerful private groups are getting special attention. he says they are working with multiple groups to address concerns about the line but that the state does have the final say. a public meeting today about the bi-county parkway project. it would link route 50 and 66. the new ten-mile highway would relocate route 34 out of the heart of manassas national battlefield park. it's part of a north-south corridor project linking loudoun and prince william counties. the meeting is happening tonight at john champe high school. the meeting is from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. >> some problems this morning at virginia's state capitol. just ahead, if i canning a growing problem in richmond, but

it ha nothing to do with lawmakers. and a live look at capitol hill this morning. we're tracking developments. congress continues their debate over the nation's budget. almost 12 hours into a government shutdown.

"i'm terry mcauliffe, candidate for governor, and i sponsored this ad." these are birth control pills. more than half of american women use them at some point in their lives but ken cuccinelli sponsored a bill that could have made common forms of birth control illegal, including the pill. cuccinelli was one of only five senators to support this "potentially radical intrusion into domestic, family and individual decision-making" why is ken cuccinelli interfering in our private lives? he's focused on his own agenda. not us.

this just in -- d.c. delegate eleanor holmes norton sent a memo to her staff saying all of them will continue to work during the shutdown. now, only congressional workers deemed vital are supposed to stay on the clock except the lawmakers to determine who that is, and holmes norton has decided all will stay on board. d.c. is particularly hit hard by a shutdown. by law, the district can't spend locally raised money during a shutdown. i'm angie goff at the live desk. >> thank you, angie. virginia governor bob mcdonald says the federal shutdown could cause fiscal problems in his state. the state depends heavily on federal funds. the states that also take a hit

on how unpaid furloughs affect the tax cleks in the state. virginia does have some financial cushion, though. mcdonald can use about $13 million in a reserve fund createded by the general assembly last year. and right now the fairfax county fire and rescue department will wear pink shirts. they're supporting the new garb now until october 14th for breast cancer awareness month. for the second half of the month, firefighters will wear purple wristbands in support of the fight against domestic violence, which is also recognized in october. and this morning, crews are repairing tiny cracks in the columns at the virginia capitol. the microscopic cracks are in the stucco surrounding eight columns on the southport coe. those cracks have led to water forming underneath the portico. a richmond company has been hired to fill in and coat the columns at a cost of about $82,000. the state says the 2011 east coast quake could have contributed to these cracks

being formed. well, the shutdown of the government here in washington is having a surprise effect on wall street. we'll check in with cnbc's hampton pearson who joins us live with more on that and the rest of the day's business headlines. >> hi, barbara. the stock market is in positive territory in spite of the government shutdown. checking the major averages this hour, the dow is up about 75 points. the nasdaq is up 39. the s&p up 14 points. checking a couple key stock items, drugmaker merck leading the dow higher after saying it will cut 8,500 jobs and move its headquarters to save money. the stock is up about 2%. and the nation's largest drugstore chain, walgreens, is reporting a huge jump in earnings, up 86% over the previous quarter. the stock up more than 2%. no government data about the economy but a closely watched private sector survey tracking manufacturing activity, the ism index at its highest level in more than two years. analysts say when you go inside

the numbers it shows manufacturing momentum is picking up with 11 of 18 industries showing signs of growth. markets also reacting to the latest data on auto sales. september auto sales dropped 11% from a year ago including a drop in pickup trucks an its most popular compact model, the chevy cruise. a prediction of 4% overall in part because labor day weekend sales were counted in the august numbers this year instead of in september. barbara, back to you. >> thank you. >> you got it. >> see you tomorrow. taking an extra second to breathe and destress could help your mental state more than you think. researchers found middle-aged women with high stress levels were more likely to develop alzheimer's or dementia later in life. in a study, the stress levels of 800 women were watched for 40 years. researchers found those who had higher stress levels were 21% more likely to develop

alzheimer's and 15% more likely to develop dementia. the study was focused on women but researchers believe these same kind of results would apply to men as well. so destress while you can. it's an industry that makes billions of dollars every year. this morning we're getting a look at some of the inside secrets skin care and cosmetic industries have. dr. cheryl burgess joins us this morning with what to look out for, a really good topic because there's so much to buy and we're spending a lot on that, both men and women. >> we do. i was talking a couple weeks ago about the new men's products so, yeah. >> we believe what we hear in the advertisements, what we read in the magazines. most of these big companies really work with certain buzzwords that they know appeal us to as consumers. what are those buzzwords? >> one specifically that would pertain to me is dermatologist tested or dermatologist recommended. >> what does that mean? >> it just means they may have

talked to someone and they looked at the product and said, yeah, it's not going to cause a problem, but you can see that there are certain buzzwords that we use like lightening and brightening and appealing type words that you can use. but the fda is starting to crack down on using certain words in that lawsuits are coming up because it didn't do what it said it was going to do. >> we had a list up there of a bunch of them, and there were a couple of them. there they are again. hypoallergenic tested. if they say it, doesn't it have to be done? >> not necessarily. they can look at ten people and see if they all tolerated it okay and say it's hypoallergenic. so there are certain things that we use in the dermatology industry where we know that are contact allergens that we recommend that they not put in their product ingreed yenls. >> i see, so we should not believe everything we read on the side of the box. >> you can't. >> i see. so what do we go?

>> let me, plain how the industry works. first of all, there are few -- a select few, and it's less than ten vertical manufacturing companies in the whole country. they make all the products for every single company that you see at the -- >> so whether you're paying $100 or $10. >> exactly. so we know that the product that's at the department store can be comparable to the product at the cvs and vice versa is because you're paying for that one-page ad in "vogue." you're paying for that salesperson to stand up there and sell you that product. so the ingredients may be all the same, and there are ways that people, when they like certain products, they can do reverse biochemistry and determine what's in it. and they can make the same ideal product. >> but, you know, it's really hard, and especially for those of us who need glasses to read

the tiny, tiny little print, to stand there and try to read through this to make sure it has exactly the same thing that the that product in a fancy store has in it. >> well, ir's like making a cake. a chocolate cake is different from a lemon cake versus an orange cake or whatever, cherry cake. tights the flavoring. so some will have different dyes, so it will be a different color. some may have a different fragrance. some may be unscented. but the base ingredients are the same. >> quickly tell me, how can people buy things that are smart for both their wallet and their skin? >> well, first of all, try the drugstore. and if that's in your budget, that is perfectly fine. the department store, some people just cater to a certain brand. but is clinique the same as l'oreal at the drugstore? a lot of the products are. >> all right. we'll have to really get busy with our glasses on. >> yeah. >> thank you so much for coming in to see us. >> you're welcome. stopping those pesky phone

calls once and for all. just ahead, how to get companies that dial your number illegally to leave you alone. and stepping outside, you would never guess it's october. so when will the seasons catch up with us? tom is back with his forecast.

right now, the federal government is closed for business. roughly 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed, while lawmakers remain deadlocked on a spending budget. this morning, the senate rejected a house request to name negotiators to a conference to resolve the differences. in a few minutes, the house republican negotiators are expected to hold a news conference. in about a half hour, president obama is expected to address the country from the white house rose garden. we'll bring you that live right here on nbc 4 and online on nbcwashington.com. we'll take a look now at some of the stories we're following on news4 this afternoon. we will be following a big

development of the government shutdown, of course. can lawmakers reach an agreement today? and we're also hitting the streets tonight talking with everyone affected by this shutdown from furloughed workers who don't know when they'll be getting another paycheck to tourists with wrecked vacations, school trips and even weddings on the national mgs national ma. we've got you completely covered starting at 4:00 p.m. tonight. also coming up this evening, a different kind of story. how an amazing combination of bravery and technology helped rescue a grandmother and her granddaughter who drove right into a creek. a busy day. join us today, this evening, beginning at 4:00 this afternoon. a new phone service could stop all those robocalls once and for call. a new website called nomorobsoshgs like a spam filter for your phone. it's a cloud-based system that blocks the ring service that calls multiple people at one time. it detects if the number calling you is also on the line with

multiple other numbers and hangs up for you from that phone call. it says it's careful to only block illegal calls. robocalls from schools, doctors, or pharmacies will go through. the site went live last night and over million people have subscrib subscribed. fim for our final check of the forecast. is it warm enough out there, tom? >> can quickly approaching the noon hour, look at the temperatures right now, stepping out the door, almost 80 degrees in washington. we'll take that first day of october. 79 at reagan national. we're in the 70s many of the suburbs north and west of the metro area, but right around the bay it's a bit of a breeze off the water there, near 70, but inland away from the water up into the 70s. later today you should climb into the low 80s, most of the region, lots of sunshine, a clear night tonight, down to near 60 by dawn tomorrow. a little bit warmer on wednesday. now the record high tomorrow is 89 for the day for october 2nd. we may come within three degrees or so of the record high tomorrow afternoon.

and then on thursday, friday, saturday, each day low to mid-80s, might get some showers late on sunday into monday. have a great afternoon. enjoy. >> that's "news 4 midday" for today. thanks for joining us. be sure to join us for the news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, and tonight at 11:00 p.m. we'll be back tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. with "news 4 midday." join us then. have a terrific day. see you in the morning.

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♪ [ singing]. [applause]. >> oh. that will forever by synonymous with the end of the great song. bad finger baby blue. 1972, kit. >> i love a little bad finger. >> breaking bad finger. it was amazing. i can't believe it's now over. it's just -- ♪ 41 years ago. >> the original. i have to say what a great tune. >> another lead singer that dies at the aim of 27. that awful number.