facebook or twitter. that's all for now. i hope you enjoyed the show and are learning to be more of a healthier you. a fox news alert. open enrollment is under way for the next phase of obamacare. hello, everyone. i'm arthel neville. they are assuring that it's going to work smoothly for this time around but for many americans, that may be the least of their concerns because those signed up may be forced to switch their plans or see the cost of their premiums jumped by next year. this comes as the state of washington's health care website was shut down after just a few hours while authorities try to fix a software glitch. peter ducey live in our nation's capital with more. hi, peter.

>> reporter: in the first few hours of obamacare enrollment, more than 23,000 people submitted applications. that's a lot better than day one last year when internal notes revealed that just six applications went through in the whole first day. some users today are unable to login to accounts that they just created and now washington state is offline because they are processing tax credits. cynthia burwell is still optimistic. >> we are open to things that improve afford built and access. we want to have that conversation about what can increase the fundamental goals of the act and we'll do that. >> but just because things are going better today doesn't mean obamacare isn't about to stop changes. there are unresolved legal challenges that could change key parts of the law and even if the

law looks different down the line, some are predicting that president only will firmly stand by it for this reason. >> the president is not signing anything big. he's going to continue to stake his legacy on what he thinks is a success of this law. we're seeing that's not the case with skyrocketing deductibles and everything else. it's going to be a tough couple of years. >> and this afternoon we asked hhs secretary sylvia burwell if she's spoke with her predecessor kathleen sebelius and she said that they have not talked today but they have talked ahead of the three-month open enrollment. >> peter doocy, thank you. a third doctor has landed in omaha and is now on the way to the nebraska hospital. dr. martin salia has contracted ebola after working in africa. dom is joining us.

>> the pictures happened in the last ten minutes or so. he touched down about r50 minu s ago. he was carried away by a gurney by fire and rescue ambulance crews, taken off that gulf stream 3 plane that is specially chartered for ebola patients. it's usually a 30-minute drive across the city to nebraska city medical center but it's going to be much faster, about 15 to 20 minutes. this is an urgent case. the medical center said his exact condition won't be known until the doctor there evaluated him. it took him a while to get him off the plane. it landed about 50 minutes ago. so 45 minutes before he was safe to move. what you're seeing in the pictures there is him being taken off the isolation capsule and then they put him back on the ambulance. indications are that he's possibly sicker than the first

patients that were treated in the united states. that's what we've heard from nebraska medical. apparently he started getting flu-like symptoms and his wife told him to get tested and rathhe got negative results twice before testing positive five days ago. the scene you're looking at is at nebraska medical center. i don't know if that's the ambulance that picked it him up but it's precisely where he's going to be taken to and in this bio contamination unit. he's the tenth known case in the united states. we don't know specifically how he contracted ebola. he had been working in sierra leone but in other units as well. they are trying to trace that. we're expecting the hospital to give us an update. they have been cooperating very well and giving us regular updates with their other patients so we should hear something in the next few hours.

tune in at 6:00, arthel. >> i'll be here at 6:00 and i look forward to that. thank you. joint chief general martin dempsey speaking to u.s. troops about the next phase in the battle against isis. it is his first trip to iraq since the offensive began over the summer. general dempsey also saying the tide is turning but warning it will still be a long, difficult campaign. now that general dempsey has seen developments with his own eyes eyes, will that influence future recommendations? pope francis denouncing the right to die movement, calling it a false sense of compassion. the pontiff also says a 29-year-old woman died by assisted suicide earlier this month.

brittany maynard used the oregon death with dignity law in order to end her life. and the european space agency losing contact with philae sending spectacular images back to earth but now the robotic module has gone into sleep mode because it relies on solar power and the battery has died. chief correspondent jonathan hunt is live in our new york city newsroom with the latest. so it needs sun like all of us. it needs sun. >> indeed. the lander is now sleeping and ever wake up? the key to that is recharging philae's batteries by solar panels. it shut down on a cliff face on that comet. that's preventing it from seeing the sun and therefore charging the batteries. scientists at the european space agency did manage to take the lander by about 35 degrees before it shut down and they

hope that may be enough to get the solar panels into sunlight. but right now they simply don't know the precise location of philae. the lander has already performed some 56 hours of experiments and data collection, according to scientists, and returned that data to the esa. so officials say it's been a, quote, exciting and successful week as they try to understand the roles that comets have played. >> this is really a spectacular moment in history for us to try to understand. this is a time capsule. when our solar system was created and the cloud collapsed, it first formed the comet before it formed the planet. so when we interrogate what this is made of, we're really looking back in time. >> as the batteries ran low, philae tweeted, yes, it does tweet, i'm feeling a bit tired. did you get my data?

i might take a nap. so the big question, arthel, is that nap going to last days, weeks, or sadly it could last forever. >> that's too bad. >> yes. let's hope not. >> jonathan hunt, everybody tweets. >> thank you so much. president only signaling he's set to go it alone regarding immigration. why our next guest says this could end the republican agenda. plus, the hunt is on for a cat on the loose where mickey mouse and donald duck roam free. . did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast and are proven to taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm... amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. why do i cook for the to share with family to carry on traditions to come together, even when we're apart

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dad,thank you mom for said this oftprotecting my future.you. thank you for being my hero and my dad. military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa auto insurance could be one of them. if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. time for a quick check of the headlines. officials in the congo announcing the ebola outbreak is now over. the deadly virus killing nearly 50 people there since it was first detected back in august. a south sudanese soldiers

firing a vehicle which was carrying our ambassador charles twining. the government spokesman arguing that a soldier simply hit the vehicle with the butt of his gun. the u.s. has given more than $600 million of humanitarian aid to south sudan this year alone. and the french army is on the hunt for a tiger after days of a report that the mystery beast is wandering around disneyland in paris. police have stopped using tranquilizer guns after finding small paw prints. president only says he's prepared to act unilaterally on immigration. some republican lawmakers are hinting the upcoming spending bill could be in py to counter the president's pending move. let's discuss how gop leaders plan to handle this issue.

rebecca berg is here. the political correspondent for the washington examiner. >> hi, arthel, thank you for having me. >> what's the residual domino effect, if you will, if president only exercises executive order? >> well, it poisons the well very early on for the new congress led by republicans in both the senate and the house. republicans came in saying that they would be willing to work with the president on a number of issues, including immigration reform, but by taking this action, the president is saying that he doesn't want to work with republicans, that he is going to go it alone if he needs to and i think republicans are going to have a tough time coming to the negotiating table under those circumstances. >> so let's talk about this, rebecca. let's say the republican lawmakers decide to hold hostage the upcoming spending bill to counter executive action on immigration reform. might that move have a negative backlash on republicans?

>> it could, yes. and republicans up and down the line are saying that they don't want to hold this spending bill hostage. cory gardener said in an interview this week that no mature governing body would ever create a government shutdown in order to have its demands met. i don't think we're looking at the same threat of a shutdown as we are this year. however, republicans are going to demand the president give up something in return for them passing a spending bill. it's unclear whether that's going to happen sooner rather than later, if republicans will wait until they take control of the senate in january. we'll have to see what they decide. >> but you'll have to see what the president is going to decide. it could be, if he's going to exercise executive action it's going to happen sooner than january. so what, if anything, could deter or delay the president's plan? >> well, republicans are looking

at using the spending bill to defund some of the initiatives the president is taking. but there isn't much that republicans can do to actually stop him except maybe convince him not to take this action by threatening to hold out measures in congress. the president is granted this action by his executive authority. so there's not much republicans can do to stop him. the president has even said through his white house officials to reporters in recent reports that he's not going to scale back on these actions in spite of these republican threats. so -- >> here's the trick question for you. i'll say it up front. seriously, is immigration reform satisfactory to both parties even possible, rebecca? >> that's an excellent question. and that is a question that both parties are going to be asking as we move forward in this

congress. before 2016, both parties are going to need to prove that they are strong on immigration reform. no candidate, republican or democrat, is going to be able to win in 2016 without some evidence that he or she has done some work on this issue or it would like to do some work on this issue. so both parties have incentive to find solution to this problem but at least, based on what we're seeing now with the president taking this executive action on his own, it indicates that we're in the same place we were before the election with democrats on one end, republicans on the other and a lot of space in between. >> and if you listen to the president, his defense saying that you guys led me to this. i've been trying to get something done with congress and it hasn't happened so here we sit and now i've got to make a move. >> although, by the same token, republicans have said that as they take this majority in both chambers of commercial that they intend to do some work on immigration reform starting with border security and guest worker

programs as well. so there is definitely movement and incentive on the republican side to start working on this issue. but, you know, the president and his policies were on the ballot and republicans say we won. that means that we should have this mandate to govern. obviously there's a disagreement there. >> okay. we will leave it there, rebecca berg. thank you. see you next time. >> thank you. staying with politics two weeks after the midterm elections, alaska has a winner, independent bill walker. he's the first independent candidate to be elected governor since alaska became a state. his victory announced after thousands of absentee and question ballots were counted this week. well, troops in iran getting a surprise visit today from america's top military officer, general martin dempsey. he is there to see firsthand the efforts to battle isis and whether a strategy, a different strategy may be necessary, including u.s. ground troops.

lieutenant general tom mcinary will weigh in next. ♪ i love my meta health bars. because when nutritious tastes this delicious, i don't miss the other stuff. new meta health bars help promote heart health. experience the meta effect with our new multi-health wellness line. ♪

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america's top military leader making a surprise visit to iraq to assess the ground situation. his first trip since the u.s.-led campaign against isis began this summer. joint chiefs chairman general martin dempsey telling u.s. troops the tide is turning in the battle. but warning it will still be a long, difficult campaign. as iraqi army forces take back the country's largest oil refinery. earlier this week, general dempsey testified on capitol hill that he is prepared to help iraqi forces in whatever way necessary. >> i'm not predicting at this point that i would recommend that those forces in mosul and along the border would need to

be accompanied by u.s. forces, but we're certainly considering it. >> lieutenant general is a fox news contributor. he served 35 years in the air force as a pilot, commander and strategic plan. retiring as a assistant vice chief of staff. good to sigh, sir. >> thanks, good to be here. >> let's start here. tell me how important is it for general dempsey to get a firsthand, in person assessment of what's going on and what would he, the general, be looking for? >> i think it's extremely important because he's getting hands on. what he ought to be look for, number one, is it a unity government? as prime minister al baddie brat in the sunnies sunnies and the . number two, what is the status of the iraqi forces and the kurdish forces from our advisors? don't talk to generals. talk to captains, lieutenants and sergeants. what are the real facts on the ground so we know? then, what do the iraqis

themselves say they need what kind of equipment, et cetera? then what are our allies prepared to do because i think the bottom line is he's got to make an assessment to the president of the united states, are they going to be able to do it with that kind of help or are they going to need u.s. ground forces, which i am strongly against. >> you're strongly against it because as we just heard, general dempsey stating he may consider a ground campaign with the air campaign, saying that applying pressure from multiple angles. you think sending more combat units in is not a good idea? >> look, we can win this in 30 days if we took saddam hussein down with 580,000 troops that he had and we went in with our forces in 2003, march. we did that in 23 days. i know we can take 30 to 40,000 isis forces out. the fact is, this is their

fight. and they need to do it because once we would do that, then what do you have here? we've shown they don't want a jeffersonian democracy. that's not what they want. so we need to let them figure it out. this is an arab problem. get the saudis involved, the uae involved. we've also got to determine is iran the henchman in iran today? the kud force commander is in baghdad. it will be interesting to see if general dempsey bumps into him. what is the iranian relationship going on there? so those are all the kind of things that must be answered and clearly the president has been very strong on not wanting to put u.s. ground forces back in there for political and other reahat judgment and i think that's right. let the arabs solve this problem. >> i mean, you mentioned so many items there that need to be

looked into directly. as you well know, trying to get honest, truthful, trustworthy answers to all of those scenarios that you painted there, it has been pretty much impossible thus far. so there is that. let me add to that before i get you to comment. another complication, if you will, now that -- general dempsey said we need to build up syrian opposition. you know the two faction of al-qaeda getting together. they're reunited in the fight. how does that complicate the fight against isis? >> that does complicate it. but the fact is, isis and al nusra, who you're talking about, are radical islams. so i believe that we can take them on and that will require a very aggressive air campaign, which i'm not against. i think that's very good. that's our strength. we have an advantage there. let's use that in concert with the ground forces of the arab

forces that i believe general dempsey has got to say what, are those allies going to do? can we get the t involved? can we get the saudis involved, the jordanians, maybe the egygyptians? president bush and desert storm, bush 41, not only did he get those nations involved against saddam hussein, he got them to pay for it. >> all right. >> why don't we get them to pay for it? >> good question. general, thank you very much for joining me. that's going to do it for me right now. i'm arthel neville. don't go anywhere because "the five" is up next. see what they're up to. i'm back at 6 alongside eric shutdown. we'll seeh, shutdown. you then well, did you know genies can be really literal? no. what is your wish? no...ok...a million bucks!

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held row, everyone, i'm dana, along with kimberly, greg, and eric. it's 5:00 in new york city and this is "the five." this week americans lenaarned t truth, they were intentionally not told the truth. >> it's called the stupidity of the american voter. >> it's a very clever, exploitation of the lack of economic understanding of the american voter. >> that was one of the key architects of the law. today we are learning mean