up next. >> see you in half an hour. >> pelley: tonight: the wa in wreck. obamacare computers crash from overwhelming demand as congress crashes the government to get rid of obamacare. >> that's not how adults operate. erate in washington? two teams of correspondents look at the trouble in the health care rollout and the impac the shutdown. >> i don't know that we'll be able to find and stop things that might kill people. >> pelley: there are major developments in that road rage attack that shocked the nation. michelle miller reports. and manuel bojorquez on a town coming to grips with the unexpected loss of a family held dear. >> you won't be able to find one person in this town that they did not touch. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news"

with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening, the long-awaited opening of obamacare was accompanied today by the long-threatened closing of the federal government. we'll have complete coverage of the government shutdown in a moment. but, first, americans began shopping online today for health insurance on those new state exchanges created by the affordable care act. there were major problems. all over the country. web sites were slow or crashed all together, leaving a lot of folks angry and frustrated. the president noted that by 7:00 a.m. more than a million people visited the main web site health care.gov. >> that gives you a sense of how important this is to millions of americans around the country. and that's a good thing. and we're going to be speeding things up in the next few hours to handle all this demand that exceeds anything that we had expected.

>> pelley: we have a team of correspondents covering the historic rollout of obamacare. first, wyatt andrews with more about the problems the president promised to fix. >> reporter: as millions of people flooded the system, the government web site for obamacare-- health care.gov-- temporarily broke under the strain. the main page went from "apply now" to this: please wait. and then for a time the system went down. "please try again later" it said. and this is the web site used by 34 states. several states running their own exchanges also had delays. in washington state, the web site closed down. administration officials said the federal site was overwhelmed by 2.8 million visitors-- a number they never expected. white house senior advisor david seamus said the problems drew an allout response from web site technician at the department of health and human services. >> we expected a slow rampup and what we saw today was an

overwhelming response that exceeded even what we've seen in medicare in any given day. so it was a good start. we identified problems. tomorrow's going to be better. >> reporter: despite the delays and inconvenience, the white house argued the high numbers were a sign of intense interest in obamacare. california alone saw 1.7 million hits on its web site in the first hour. connecticut reported 130,000 hits; maryland 87,000. what the administration is not reporting is how many people actually enrolled today. some of that is because officials won't know until people sign a contract with an insurance company and make a down payment. but, scott, we also know these first-day problems are what stopped many people from signing up. >> pelley: wyatt, thanks very much. more than half the states-- 27 in all-- declined to set up their own insurance exchanges, so those exchanges are being run by the federal government. texas is one of those states and here's what anna werner found with a family there.

>> the idea of being able to compare multiple plans with one simple application-- if it works as advertised like that-- it will help me a bunch. >> reporter: we were with dallas resident matt warren as he went to healthcare.gov. he and his wife jeanette with their two kids. she's a nursing student, he's a freelance videographer. the family has to pay for their own insurance, costing nearly $5,000 a year. >> well, it's one of our absolute biggest expenses. i mean, it's second to our mortgage our single-biggest expense. >> reporter: but warren himself isn't covered because his high cholesterol and a case of low- grade skin cancer made the policy too expensive. >> if something were to happen to him it would affect our whole family. it's terrifying for us. >> reporter: but instead of new choices, the web site told him to wait. attempts to log on with our producers' ipad failed, too. no options. after four hours, he gave up.

>> i was excited to get on and i can't so, yeah, i'm disappointed. >> reporter: he plans to try again tomorrow. scott, there are some six million uninsured residents in texas. it's estimated close to half of them could be eligible for coverage under the act. >> pelley: anna, thank you. in 17 states-- the states you see on this map-- the health insurance exchanges are being run by the states themselves. new york is one of those and don dahler was in brooklyn today with a woman trying to enroll. >> reporter: young americans like tory noel are essential if obamacare is to work. the administration says it needs $2.7 million young and healthy people to sign up to cover the cost of treating the sick. >> i'm not getting any younger and i would like to be protected in some way, absolutely. >> reporter: peace of mind? >> yes. health care has been sort of on the back burner. >> reporter: the self-employed shoe designer hasn't had health insurance since college. today she got as far as choosing a password.

>> i suppose everybody's trying to do this now. >> reporter: then the server crashed. >> oh, yes, i can transfer you. >> reporter: new york's health exchange help line assured callers it was a temporary glitch. the state's executive director of health, donna frescatore. >> we've received over two million hits on our web site starting at opening time at 8:00 this morning. >> reporter: things didn't improve much by afternoon. knoll tried about a dozen times before she gave up. she told us she'll keep trying again tomorrow. scott, registrants have until december 15 to sign up for coverage starting the first of the year and until march to sign up or risk tax penalties. >> reporter: don, thank you, those penalties don mentioned start at $95. it's a fine because, for the most part, under obamacare, individuals will be required by law to have insurance either through online exchanges or their employers. now, to the government shutdown triggered by a dispute over obamacare. the most conservative

republicans in the house refused to pass a bill to fund the government unless it includes a significant rollback of the health care law. so this morning money ran out, discretionary spending stopped closing federal landmarks and offices from sea to shining sea. 800,000 federal workers nationwide are being furloughed. their lost paychecks will take $200 million out of the economy everyday. chip reid is looking into this. >> reporter: treasury department employee peter gamba wants congress to know that federal workers have already sacrificed enough. >> we've not seen a pay increase, we've been furloughed and now for whatever reason that i can not fathom you're asking me again to give up my pay and give up service to the american public. >> reporter: bard from his office, gamba tried to relax at his home in harper's ferry, west virginia, but found that impossible.

>> it's a nightmare for me financially. it causes me a lot of anxiety and stress. i don't sleep well at night. >> reporter: at the portsmouth naval shipyard in kittery, maine, workers streamed out the front gate this morning after 1,500 of them were handed furlough papers, including barry seward. >> i'm very disappointed that things couldn't get done. >> reporter: in washington, outside the environmental protection agency which sent home 94% of its work force, furloughed employee michael firestone had tough words for congress. >> i am incredibly frustrated. there's absolutely no excuse for this kind of behavior. these congressmen and senators knew about this months and months ago. >> reporter: there's no telling how long this shutdown will last and there's no guarantee when it does end that those furloughed workers will be paid for the time they missed. so, scott, some of them are already out looking for temporary jobs to fill the gap but, of course, in this job market that won't be easy. >> pelley: thanks, chip. so how much of the government is

shutting down? we were surprised when our research department came up with this: turns out 82% of spending is exempt from the shutdown. that includes social security, medicare, medicaid, and interest on the debt. the parts subject to the shutdown is only 18%. but those agencies get slammed. for example, the treasury department loses 89% of its workers. the department of defense loses 50%. we sent mark strassmann to america's top national health agency. >> reporter: the centers for disease control headquarters in atlanta felt deserted. two-thirds of the center's 13,000 employees worldwide have been furloughed. director dr. thomas frieden. worried? >> i am worried. i usually don't lose sleep despite the many threat we face but i'm losing sleep because i don't know that we'll be able to find and stop things that might kill people. >> reporter: the shutdown means the c.d.c. will not be able to produce the weekly national map that tracks flu outbreaks state by state.

flu season began last month. >> we will be less able to determine when it's come, what kind of flu has come or to respond to outbreaks. >> reporter: more people are likely to get sick just because there's been no warning to let them know what a problem they have? >> what we won't know is what's happening with flu. where is it spreading? what types of flu are spreading? should we be using one medication or another? is it in nursing homes or elsewhere? this really interferes with our ability to protect people. >> reporter: frieden worries about other outbreak it is c.d.c. will not be able to track, including hepatitis-a, salmonella and measles. >> there's an outbreak of something like legionella pneumonia, we may not detect it, we may not find it, we may not stop it. if there's an outbreak of food born illness we may not identify it promptly. >> reporter: despite the shutdown, scott, hundreds of c.d.c. employees will be able to keep working on long-term projects including aids research and the world trade center health study. >> reporter: mark strassmann, thanks.

this afternoon president obama labeled this "the republican shutdown." >> one party in one house of congress in one branch of government shut down major parts of the got. all because they didn't like one law. >> pelley: nancy cordes is on capitol hill tonight. nancy, the last government shutdown 17 years ago lasted 28 days. is there any progress in ending this one? >> reporter: scott, if anything they are more entrenched than they were yesterday. here is the latest twist: the house tonight voted down a republican plan that would have restored funding to three areas of the government that got a lot of attention today: veterans affairs, the district of columbia and national parks. the white house had threatened to veto that plan. democrats saying you can't cherry-pick which parts of the government you want to keep open and which parts you want to close. i asked a tea party republican today how long he feels comfortable keeping the

government closed over obamacare. he said that is a decision for leadership. while another said that he feels that obamacare is worse for the country than a government shutdown. so he's fine with standing his ground for now, scott. >> pelley: how united are the republicans in the house on this issue? >> reporter: well, we saw a few more defections today, including one who called his tea party colleagues lemmings going over a cliff. he thinks this is a losing strategy. but you're really only looking at about eight house republicans who have gone public with their disagreement with about 200 of their colleagues so that's not enough to turn the ship around right now scott. >> pelley: we'll check in with you tomorrow, nancy, thanks very much. wall street took the shutdown in stride. the dow gained 62 points today, snapping a two-day losing streak. world war ii veterans found a way to get around the government shutdown. the police had a big

announcement today in a terrifying road rage attack. and the pope made news by what he said about some of his predecessors when the "cbs evening news" continues. 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. tylenol®. you want a way to help minimize blood sugar spikes. support heart health. and your immune system. now there's new glucerna advance with three benefits in one. [ male announcer ] new glucerna advance. from the brand doctors recommend most.

i don't miss out... you sat out most of our game yesterday! asthma doesn't affect my job... you were out sick last week. my asthma doesn't bother my family... you coughed all through our date night! i hardly use my rescue inhaler at all. what did you say? how about - every day? coping with asthma isn't controlling it. test your level of control at asthma.com, then talk to your doctor. there may be more you could do for your asthma. >> pelley: most of us have experienced this, but what happened in new york city on sunday was road rage to the extreme. a swarm of bikers attacked an s.u.v. and its driver. tonight, two men are in custody and michelle miller runs us through what happened. >> reporter: the incident was recorded on a helmet camera by

one of the 30 riders tailing this black s.u.v. police still don't know what started the confrontation. the s.u.v. was forced to a stop when one of the bikers slowed down and was rear ended. new york city police commissioner ray kelly. >> we had over 200 calls just on sunday about this particular group operating in a reckless manner. >> reporter: inside the s.u.v. was alexian lien, his wife and infant daughter. police say he became frightened, he ran over two people while trying to flee the bikers. a two-mile chase followed. at one point a biker tried to open lien's door. when they finally caught up to him, they smashed his window. police say lien was pulled from the car and beaten. police blame the bikers and have not charged the driver. it's believed the bikers were holding what's called a stunt ride in which they slow traffic to do tricks on the highway.

often bikers videotape their antics. this video's from southern california. new york police say they were aware the riders planned an event on sunday. >> we had checkpoints, we had inspections that were done of the motorcyclists. we had made 15 arrests. we'd confiscated 55 motorcycles. we issued 68 summons. >> reporter: lien was treated and released from the hospital, but 32-year-old jay mieses, one of the people he ran over, is in a coma. his wife diana says he was just trying to help. >> he paralyze mid-husband on the way. when you look at the video you can see he's running over something. it's not just a motorcycle, it was a human being under there. >> reporter: scott, one of the suspects in custody is believed to be one of the men who beat lien, the driver. investigators tell us they're studying that videotape, looking for even more suspects. >> pelley: michelle miller, thanks very much. pope francis is continuing his makeover of the catholic church. in an interview published today he criticized some of his predecessors saying they were

more concerned about the vatican than the faithful. the pope met today with a hand- picked team of advisors-- eight cardinals, including o'malley of boston-- for discussions on how to revamp the vatican bureaucracy. francis says he wants a catholic church that reaches out to everyone-- the poor, the young, and the elderly. as a mountain crumbled around them. a father gave his life to save his daughter. we'll have the story next. yet many of us don't meet our rotein needs? that's why there's boost® high protein nutritional drink. each delicious serving provides fifteen grams of protein to help maintain muscle and help meet expert recommended daily protein needs. plus it provides twenty-six essential vitamins and minerals and is gluten-free. help get the nutrition you need with a complete and balanced try boost® high protein. also available in powder. this has been medifacts for boost®.

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>> pelley: a 13-year-old girl is the sole survivor of a rock slide in colorado that killed five members of her family. it happened yesterday in the mountains southwest of denver. some of the red sox that fell were the size of trucks. manuel bojorquez has the story. >> reporter: search teams today reached the site where 100-ton boulders fell on a popular hiking trail. they recovered all five bodies despite unstable ground and the threat of more falling rocks. chafee county sheriff pete palmer. >> you see the steepest of the slope, you've seen the size of these boulders, this was a risky, risky operation to carry out by all volunteers, members of this community. >> reporter: dwayne and dawna johnson and their 18-year-old daughter kiowa died in the collapse, along with two cousins visiting from missouri. only 13-year-old grace johnson

survived with a broken leg. she told rescuers her father died trying to shield her. jennifer eggelston is a family friend. >> we may never get over this. they were so much a part of every single thing that we ever did. you won't be able to find one person in this town that they did not touch. they were a big part of everything. >> reporter: the loss in this town of 2,000 is felt deeply at buena vista high school. the johnsons both coached here, their daughters were students. today classmates mourned near a rock on campus that has become a memorial. brian yates is the school principal. >> we all loved them. and -- i love the kids here. we know that right now the kids are the focus and take care of them and take care of the staff. that's our job. >> reporter: there will be a vigil here at the school tonight. scott, the trail where the rock

slide happen remains closed. a county official said recent heavy rains in colorado may have played a role in the collapse and more rocks could give way. >> pelley: terrible accident, manuel. thank you very much. there was a remarkable site on the alaskan coast. scientists with the federal government came across this: 10,000 walrus washed up on shore. they were unable to find sea ice in the arctic ocean, they had no place to go but a barrier island q!west alaska. men who won world war ii were not about to be defeated by a government shutdown. their story is next. ory is next. after reading all the reviews i know i'm making the right choice. online or on the phone, we help you hire right the first time. with honest reviews on over 720 local services. keeping up with these two is more than a full time job, and i don't have time for unreliable companies.

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navy veteran from lucedale, mississippi, served in the pacific and later pledged to see the world war ii memorial before he died. were you going to see it one way or the other? >> yes, indeed. >> reporter: this morning he made it. >> thank you for your service and welcome to your memorial. >> reporter: but the barricades that came with the government shutdown got there first. >> i just wonder what we fought for. back then i had a pretty good idea but now i just wonder, the way that things are going, and they're not working together, they're working against this country. they're trying to destroy it. >> reporter: he arrived with a group of 90 other veterans on an honor flight. many of them were in wheelchairs and with medical supplies in tow. but they would not be deterred. a group of congressmen eventually moved the barricades. the memorial is dedicated to the 16 million americans who served in the armed forces and the more than 400,000 who died. when you saw it today what was running through your mind? >> i -- i'd see it. >> reporter: what are your

>> i -- i'd see it. >> reporter: what are your thoughts as you come to washington on a day when the government is shut down? >> well, that's just their way of doing things, i guess, and i think it's silly, but i think they -- with all these educated people that are up there doing these jobs that they should have sense enough to work together. >> reporter: a world war ii veteran in the nation's capital on the day parts of the country he fought for stopped working. jeff pegues, cbs news, washington. >> pelley: and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. night. captioning sponsored by cbs

>> this is kpix5 news. >> basically for all intents and purposes, yosemite national park is closed. >> campers ordered to pack up and leave. they're not the only ones suffering the consequences in california because of a federal shutdown. i'm elizabeth cook. >> i'm ken bastida. within the last half hour, the house failed to pass a measure that would fund veterans programs, specific departments and the national parks. they continue to debate over a temporary funding bill but it's just a lot of back and forth between our elected leaders. just before 1:00 a.m. last night, the house failed to pass a budget.

the senate will accept nothing else but a clean spending bill. how this is causing a big headache at home. >> it is. there was hopes that the national parks would get separate funding. now we know that they will not be opening any time soon. john ramos talked with frustrated tourists who were told they have to pack up. >> reporter: yosemite national park was closed today. well, sort of. they still let people in and you could take in the magnificent scenery but beyond that, there was nothing else to do. >> we're closing restrooms because employees have been sent home. we're closing facilities. so basically for all intents and purposes, the park is closed. >> reporter: the visitor's center and stores were locked up as employees prepared to go. campers already in the park have been given until thursday morning to pack up and leave. trails were closed and people were told they should stay in their cars.