>> thanks, guys. have a great day. "newsroom" starts now. good morning, everyone. i'm carol costello. thank you very much for joining me this morning. most of our government is shut down. lights out, doors closed, tops down, at least for now. i'm going to start far away from pennsylvania avenue and begin in main street. instead of hearing words like brink, catastrophe, revolt being spewed by our government in washington, i want to start with the facts. fact number one, congress will still get paid today. in fact, the average lawmaker will make $669 just today. that's nearly 3 1/2 times what most of us, the average american, will make. fact number two, you're fed up with congress. they've sunk to an all-time low. only 10% of you say lawmakers are doing a good job. just 10%. that's down from a high of 84% in the days after 9/11. fact number three, thousands of federal workers who often live paycheck to paycheck are left in the cold. 800,000 employees are on unpaid leave. they are among some 2 million americans who are civilian federal employees. people like vic temple with the faa. >> put best face forward and hope for the best but it's just ridiculous that you just have to go through this anxiety each time. so, i feel sad about it. we expect more from our congress. >> or jeff little, with the department of housing and urban development. >> it's frustrating and it's -- you know, i feel like it's unfortunate that i don't think the story is really out there about the really important work that goes on in these buildings and how disruptive this will be to the work that we're doing. >> or dee alexander, department of agriculture. >> if we're not getting paid, i don't think congress should get paid either. they need to feel what we're feeling. >> there is one rare victory of common sense and decency. men and women who risk their lives in america's military will still get paid on time. that means the paychecks will keep coming for the 1.4 million people who are on active military duty. they have escaped the beltway bickering that has left millions of americans embarrass bid their elected leaders. all right. now to the dpragrandstanding. it lasted late into the evening. now from brianna keilar. >> reporter: overnight the president released a message to the troops. >> you and your families deserve better. >> reporter: agreed upon by congress in order to keep paying the military. >> i'll keep working to get congress to reopen our government and get you back to work as soon as possible. >> reporter: as lawmakers work into the night in a heated floor debate. >> do you stand with your country? do you stand for your country? or do you want to take it down? >> reporter: but failed to reach an agreement to keep the government funded. >> the house has made its position known very clearly. >> reporter: this morning, national parks and museums are closed for business and hundreds of thousands of nonessential government employees are furloughed indefinitely. house republicans did not blink in their demand to push forward a new plan to tie government spending to a weakening of obama care, which begins open enrollment this morning. president obama blamed house republicans on monday night and reiterated this was, quote, entirely preventable. >> one faction of one party in one house of congress, in one branch of government doesn't get to shut down the entire government just to refight the results of an election. >> house speaker john boehner fired back. >> i talked to the president earlier tonight. i'm not going to negotiate. i'm not going to negotiate. we're not going to do this. well, i would say to the president, this is not about me. it's not about republicans here in congress. it's about fairness for the american people. >> reporter: after days of talking past each other, competing plans ping ponged from one chamber to the other, and now a government shutdown for the first time since 1996, when bill clinton was in the white house, republican speaker newt gingrich ruled the house of representatives and their standoff lasted for weeks. now, in that case, carol, folks look back and say republicans really lost that battle when you're talking politically, that's very true. i think sort of in the long term. but it wasn't as cut and dry at the time. and so really what it is -- and i think what the white house expects and what the members of congress expect is that everybody could be blamed for this. when you saw president obama talking directly to the camera, trying to address military families, i think that might be a preview of what you're going to see. one of his tactics, when it comes to something like this, is really highlight the folks who are most affected by something like a shutdown and doing that, really, to put the pressure on house republicans as this impasse continues. >> so, what are they doing at the white house to try to fix things? is anybody doing anything? or will they still be grandstanding in the senate and the house and talking about obama care and will the government remain shut down while they do that? >> reporter: i think at this point -- we haven't seen any change -- the white house is really sort of putting -- just trying to put the pressure on house republicans. president obama has made it clear that he has no intention of dismantling his signature health care reform program in any way. and when you talk with white house officials here, carol, they look at what house republicans have proposed and they say it's not serious. they think it's ridiculous. they sort of try to outline their thinking like this. house republicans are talking about an extension of government funding for the next, what, 2 1/2 months and looking for a delay to a major essential part of obama care for a year. so, they don't really feel, one, that it's apples to apples and they don't really feel like they would be -- they would be giving up so much and not really getting a lot when we would see this fight go on again before the end of the year. >> brianna keilar reporting live from the white house. this is all over obama care. but guess what, obama care is up and running. health care coverage available right now, at least for the last hour. the obama care portal, healthcare.gov up and running, allowing uninsured americans to get health coverage. how does it work? cnn chief medical correspondent sanjay gupta live in south carolina where 20%, just 20% of that state -- actually 20% of that state is uninsured. that's what i meant today. sanjay, explain this to us. >> reporter: as you mentioned, healthcare.gov is the main portal. look, no one loves signing up for health care insurance. it can be confusing for anybody. if you go to this site, a couple of things you might find. one is that you can't get on. we've tried visiting a couple of them. there's a lot of traffic and therefore people aren't able to get on right away. a sign that people are interested or technical glitches, depending on your perspective. when you get on, you have your choice of plans. everything from a bronze plan, the lowest premiums and the highest co-pays, to a platinum plan, which is the highest premiums, but the lowest co-pays. one thing, this is sort of the crux of it, you fill out the three-page questionnaire. one of the things you won't see on that questionnaire are questions about your health. that sounds counter intuitive. the point is that they cannot discriminate on your premiums, charge you more because of pre-existing illness. you don't even get those questions as part of that questionnaire. it looks like there's a lot of activity on the sites so far. so much so that a lot of them you can't even get on yet. >> when i get on these health care exchanges and look through the insurance plans and pick my bronze plan or silver plan, can i pick my own doctor, too? >> the best way to answer that, i looked into this, is maybe. there are some doctors that are going to accept certain plans, but will be out of network on other plans. you need to check ahead of time to see what plans your doctor might accept. i will tell you, carol -- maybe this is obvious. the vast majority of people we're talking about here are people who don't have doctors. they don't have insurance. and this is all a brand-new experience for them. for people who go to the marketplace who already have insurance, they should check ahead of time to find out. that could influence how much they're paying in terms of co-pays and deductibles. make sure your doctor is in the plan that you're picking. >> on average, how much will this cost the uninsured? >> reporter: so if you look at this number, you know, roughly 48 million uninsured. if you say people from that pool, people are going to the marketplace today -- we don't know how many will. they're going to the marketplace today. the estimates are -- we're going to keep close tabs on this, but the estimates are that six out of ten of them will pay $100 a month or a little bit less than that. that takes into account subsidies. that takes into account in some states that they've expanded medicaid. it takes into account all those things. keep in mind, carol, if you don't do this, there is a penalty. this has been controversial, as you well know. the penalty in the first year is $95 or 1% of your income, whichever of those two numbers is greater. second year, $325 or 2% of your income. the numbers keep going up in terms of penalties. but you've got to do it or you face those penalties, carol. >> sanjay, you're in for a long day. we have a lot of questions and you'll be on the air, i think, for hours more today. thank you, sanjay. you're in kentucky tomorrow to answer questions that people have about obama care. check out sanjay gupta every sunday here on cnn. let's talk about potential problems. as you heard sanjay say, there have been problems. ceo of e-health, enrolling uninsure uninsur uninsureds. >> he has tried to get on healthcare.gov. he's not sure that there are glitches or so many people are trying to sign on. >> yeah. i don't know as well. you know, this is a complex decision process for people. building these e-commerce sites are not easy. we're a silicon valley company and have built this the last 15 years. i'm not surprised. we saw 20 million americans last year come to us. to give you a flavor for the kind of interest that there is in health insurance and getting coverage. so i wouldn't be surprised over the next several days and weeks -- we do see some turbulence and things don't run as smoothly as some would like to see them run. >> according to the wall street journal, there have been technical challenges. put simply, people in d.c. could not calculate tax break money to help pay for their insurance plans. are they continuing today? >> well, that's a great question. whether they're continuing at the moment, i don't know. but, you know, it's very complex to go into the treasury department. >> that's kind of scary when you say you don't know. >> i don't know. i don't run the government site. we're a private sector company and we've been doing this for years and years. i can tell you with us it works and it works quite smoothly. i think it's going to take some time -- it may take government some time to get this to work, again, the way people would like to see. government has never been great at enrolling people. look at the uninsured, as sanjay was saying, 48 million, it's estimated over 10 million of them are medicaid eligible, but not enrolled. this is all fine for government to do this. relying on government only may be a mistake. i think we need good parts of the private sector working with government here to get people enrolled. obama care either succeeds or fails based on enrollment. >> you're a private company and you run some exchanges in a certain number of states and the government runs a certain number of exchanges in a certain number of states. help people understand that. >> actually, we run an exchange in all 50 states. and we have in the past and we are today and we will tomorrow. 36 states, the federal government is running an exchange because the states, as required by obama care, have not built their own exchanges to this point. those states working with the federal government, we are also enrolling lower income subsidy eligible people. in 14 states, and i don't want this to sound too complicated, that are building their own exchanges today are not enrolling subsidy eligible individuals but anybody else whose not subsidy eligible. it's really interesting, because through the history of our company, over 40% of individuals we've insured were previously uninsured and many of them in their subsidy eligible ranges. bring the best of the private and the public sector together for the greater common good, which is to get 32 million people enrolled in coverage. that's the objective of obama care. and even more importantly, carol, we need younger people, people between the ages of 18 and 34 years of age. because, frankly, as a group they're healthier. they don't use health insurance as much. they help to offset some of the expense that people in my age group encounter, using health care insurance. really important, we've got -- really important, we've got a number of entities working on this, not just government. >> in your estimation, how will today go? when people go to their computer and they sign on to healthcare.gov, what will their experience be like overall? >> well, you know, again, i haven't been on healthcare.gov this morning. i hope they'll have a decent experience. people at this point are just trying to evaluate and understand, gain a little information and knowledge. this is not like buying a new flat screen tv or something that's exciting, new piece of apparel. it's confusing and complex. in fact, you had asked sanjay earlier about doctors. at e health we ask you, who is your physician? we'll show you all the plan that is support that physician. there's a lot that goes into this. i hope it's smooth. the real question is what does this look like two or three months from now? has it worked? has it been effective? have we gotten people enrolled? that's where we begin to see whether this is going to work and whether the legislation will begin to succeed. it's all based around enrollment, not building great government exchanges. we've got to get people into the ranks of having insurance. not only is it a good thing for obama care but morally it's been a good thing. i'm critical of government. i want everything to get people enrolled in a reliable way to be at work here. >> gary lauer, ceo of e-health, thank you for joining me this morning. >> thank you, carol. what we see today, partial government shutdown. now the impact is being felt by some 800,000 federal workers being furloughed today. that price tag is pretty steep. their absence will cost our economy about $1 billion in lost pay every week. cnn's erin mcpike has that story. good morning, erin. >> reporter: good morning, carol. we talked to a number of federal workers over the past couple of days about how this will affect them. many of them say they work paycheck to paycheck. as you can imagine, there is very intense frustration over this. one man just told us this morning that he's really worried about being able to pay child support. we talked to another woman this morning who works for the smithsonian and this is what she told us. >> it's very disruptive. major exhibition, construction, shipments are coming in. we've ended up having to exempt employees that are involved with that show. a lot of them are very worried, you know. one just bought a house. worried how she's going to make the mortgage payment. >> reporter: so when politicians say this will be worse for the economy, there are some examples of why. not being able to make a mortgage payment. also, carol, i was at the national zoo yesterday as well and talking to some of its employees there, who said they were supposed to call a number this morning to figure out whether or not they were to report to work. they will have to come later this week to the front gates of the zoo to collect their paychecks for having worked last week, carol. so, some very serious confusion and frustration around here today. >> erin mcpike reporting live from washington this morning. still to come in the "newsroom" poppy harlow has been talking to another group shut down by the government standoff. good morning, carol. good morning, everyone. we're going to take you to liberty island. all the nation's national parks are should shudderred today. and that means employees without a paycheck. they're angry today. their story, next. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic. this is humira, adalimumab. this is humira working to help relieve my pain. this is humira helping me through the twists and turns. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for over ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. for many adults, humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira , your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your doctor if humira can work for you. this is humira at work. hope you weren't planning a visit to the national park because they're all closed. no visit to places like the statue of liberty. poppy harlow is live where visitors usually board a ferry to head over to liberty island, but not today. >> reporter: no. a lot of disappointed tourists and, frankly, a lot of angry workers because the statue of liberty is shudderred, 400 national parks are closed. they bring in $450,000 in revenue to the u.s. government, every day, money we need. now none of that money is coming in. liberty island was slammed by superstorm sandy, closed for eight months. now another shutdown. what does it mean for to you visit the statue of liberty? >> freedom, liberty. that's why i'm in america. so, to hear that the government is shutting down, it's like, what have we come to? >> reporter: stacey garcia is among the last visitors to the island. >> welcome aboard statue cruises lady liberty. >> reporter: along with the government shutdown comes the closure of all the nation's national parks and that includes lady liberty. for folks coming to new york to see the iconic statue of liberty, this may be their last chance in who knows how long. >> it's going to be awful. it's also going to damage the economy in ways that nobody has bothered to calculate yet. it's just mindless. >> reporter: with more than 280 million visitors a year from yellowstone to yosemite to the grand canyon, more than 400 national parks are now closed. >> i'm not going to let congress, you know, make me miss the statue of liberty, which is so important to me as a retired history teacher. >> reporter: tourists turned away. more than 21,000 national parks employees furloughed and thousands more like clean-up crews and concession stand workers all left without jobs. >> i have to find another job if they're not paying us while we're laid off or file for unemployment but it's still not going to be enough. it's hard. even to think about it, it's hard to think about.