Obama rejects GOP offer to ease shutdown

The White House rejected a Republican plan to reopen portions of the US government on Tuesday as the first shutdown in 17 years closed landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and threw hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of work.

The back and forth offered no sign that President Barack Obama and Republicans can soon end a standoff over health care that has sidelined everything from trade negotiations to medical research and raised new concerns about Congress's ability to perform its most basic duties.

Al Jazeera's Kimberly Halkett reports from Washington DC.