obama care panic. the president gets an earful from senate democrats nervous obama care will hurt their hopes for re-election. and chris kift christie's landslide. winning the majority of women and hispanics. but is he a model for the gop? plus, america's schools get their report card. find out who's making the most improvements. >> i am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me.

>> welcome to "the journal editorial report." as more obama care problems plague the white house, president obama now apologizes that americans are losing their health care coverage when he originally promised they would be able to keep it period. now even democrats are admitting that health care.gov should be shut down until it's fixed and made that proposal to kathleen sebelius this week. >> you've indicated that delays health care for a lot of people. and i appreciate that, but if you want more time, why not just get it done right? >> and this week, 16 democratic senators met with the president at the white house to express their concerns about the health care glitches. 12 of those senators voted for the affordable care act in 2010 and face re-election next year. dan lettinger. editorial board member joe rego and washington columnist kim

straso. this is not a president who apologizes for much. recently, he just said we're going to grind it out. i think that's a direct quote. we're going to grind it out on obama care. why the switch on the apology? >> i think after what are he's been through with obama care the last two weeks and that meeting with the 15 senators, he had to stop the political bleeding on this problem. he had to do something. so he's apologized tore the american people. problems remain that are going to be very difficult to reverse. first of all -- >> do you think that apology's sincere? is that just a tactical shift to try to say i feel your pain? >> i think it's a tactical shift. i feel your pain. this is a president who said you can keep your policy or your doctor's period. that statement was false period, okay. he can't reel that back no matter how much they try to rewrite it. speaking of rewriting, these 15 senators i think are now themselves literally only discovering what was in the law.

they knew the broad outlines but they didn't understand the law would require some people lose their policy or lose their doctors so the costs saved there could be transferred to the law's other provisions. if they understood that, they themselves might not have voted for it. they can't reel that back. that is the law as the white house says over and over. >> how much panic is there, if that's not too strong a word, among senate democrats? there was a lot of hand holding. the president saying, don't worry, we're going to get this fixed by the end of november. this is temporary. this will all be over. just a short term problem. are they -- do they believe them? >> paul, you can smell the fear rising up off the pavement down here in washington. there's a lot of nervousness. that being said, there's a little bit of a game goinghere. you have growing numbers of senate democrat, house democrats jumping on board with legislation to delay or change or make sure that people can

keep their health insurance. on the other hand, they have been told by the white house that this website is going to be fixed by the end of november. i think some are stringing this out. they're hoping it does get fixed before they have to pull the pin on any legislation. if it doesn't get fixed, they're going to be in a much tougher spot. but the groundwork is being laid to actually make some big moves here. >> that's the thing, i mean, i don't see them, any of these democrats, proposal real substantive changes to the bill. these are token gestures. well, we'll just wait for six weeks before the enrollment period or something. or we'll delay the penalty for a few weeks. none of that addresses the real heart of the legislation. that's the problem. >> no, that's right. what you're going to see, next week, for instance, is house republicans are going to try to actually put them on the spot, exert some pressure. so house republicans are going to have a vote on legislation, guaranteeing that people can

keep their existing health coverage for another year if they want it. we'll see how many house democrats vote for that. there could be pressure on the senate to do that as well. >> 20 or 30, maybe more, house democrats will vote for that as political cover. i want to ask joe about a sentence the president said on his policy statement. he said, obviously, we didn't do a good enough job in terns of how we drafted the law, crafted the law, unquote. wait a minute. they knew exactly what they were doing when they crafted the law. am i wrong? >> no, aaxial, actually, he's sorry they're mad they're losing their policies. i'm sorry you feel that way. >> "if i offended you at all, i apologize." >> this bill is designed to destroy those policies. that's why they're disappearing. that's what they wanted to do all along. they decided those policies were

inferior. even if people preferred them and they wanted to get rid of them and substitute in new policies that are government approved. >> they wanted to destroy the individual insurance market to fade away. that means drive everybody in the exchanges. we had a cancer patient this week, write in our paper in california that she may be in danger of using her oncologist. >> right, just very limited choices in the exchange's narrow networks. so this person wrote, for example, in the exchange policy, she couldn't go to m.d. anderson. >> houston cancer center. >> renowned cancer center in texas. so it really just disrupted her care for a stage 4 cancer patient. and we're seeing that nationwide, state to state, not just california. >> i think the democrats, senate democrats have to break here, before the president would even consider any substantive

changes. you agree with that? >> i think so. he's going to have to be under tremendous pressure. really, as joe was suggesting, this law is structured in a way that's going to make it very difficult to revise or break apart at this stage. >> it will either be a delay i think or nothing much is going to happen. when we come back, new jersey votes for chris christie again. what can the republican party learn from his re-election? i'm beth...

and i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love. infrom chase. so you can. does your dog food have? 18 percent? 20? new purina one true instinct has 30. active dogs crave nutrient-dense food. so we made purina one true instinct. learmore at purinaone.com

i know if we can do this in trenton, new jersey, maybe the folks in washington, d.c. should tune in their tvs right now, see how it's done. >> new jersey governor christie says he can work with opposing parties and get things done for

his state. so why can't washington? christie won re-election by a wide margin and gained the majority of women and hispanics, two key demographics. we're back with washington columnist kim strassel and our other guests. kim, a lot of talk about governor christie now on the left and the right. is he a model for republicans, how to win? >> aspects of what he has done definitely are a model for how republicans want to win. the idea for any party is you've got to expand the tent and christie's way is to increase his tone and message. he's actually a conservative governor but he does attempt to reach the other side. he talks to all voters. he had a good ground game up in new jersey, went out to a lot of different communities all during his first term, to make sure they knew what he accomplished. as a result, you saw it in those

fin final poll numbers. he made the tent bigger. >> how much is this about christie's personal, unique personal political talents that aren't translatable nationally? >> he is a charismatic guy. he also shows you can go out and get minority votes. you can go out and get young voters. he also increased his numbers among blacks and among young people age 18 to 29. by double digits. this is what the gop needs to do. he said in his speech you have to go to places where you're not comfortable. he can't just show up six months before the election and start then. >> i think the mind-set of too many republican candidate has been to write off large segments of the voting public. and christie shows even in the

obama era you can get minority votes if you're willing to work for them. and not let your opponent paint a picture of you. >> you listen to the governor's victory speech. do you think it suggest, a man ready to go natural? >> i think he's hard to beat in terms of charisma, but also because he is a man who can use a little touchup and a little listening to. it was a very self-regarding speech. >> a little too much about me, me, me? >> me, me, me, yes. and it was a sense you don't hear all that often in christie. this plays against an era where we have a president who never uses a personal pronoun, i, i, i, i sent these troops. >> if you're running as a republican, you don't want to sound like that. >> you want to be the guy he normally is, down to earth fellow, instead of the symphony

of ex-al tation about new jersey into which he falls now. this is a speech he should be watching before he goes on the campaign trail. i have great hope for christie's capacity to learn. >> jason, what do you think? i've listened to the governor. he can be very compelling. he tends to go on and on and on. >> it's a particular kind of discipline. that i think can get you into trouble. it's a great 20-minute speech. when it's a great 30-minute speech, they think, how can i get out of here? >> that's why we have the long primary process. he'll get tested. i think he'll get better as he goes forward. but i think he has a very compelling case to make here. this is a very blue state. this is a state obama won by double digits. he comes out of this race with a

running start. i think, particularly, his ability to appeal to different democratic groups can go a long way. >> the liberals are already saying his appeal is he's a moderate. and that is not a conservative like all those other crazy republicans in washington. so how does he bridge that in a republican primary, to be able to persuade conservatives who are the bulk of the primary voters? >> christie's problem here, and he is relatively conservative for the party. but, you know, being from new jersey and having to work in that environment, the reality is he steps back. some of the reforms he's done have not been as striking as, for instance, what scott walker did. i think what you see happen is he settle also into the second term. you're going to see a pivot. he'll be more aggressive about putting out things that really do resonate with the republican base on taxes and government reform. maybe some areas where he's been a little weaker, for instance.

and try to position himself. >> all right, kim, thanks. when we come back, new education reforms in washington, d.c. and tennessee have taken effect. find out how well schools in those region, have improved next. ♪ [ camera shutter clicks ] now, that's cardworthy. [ n ] all right. here we go. ♪ cardworthy. [ female announcer ] this holiday season, visit shutterfly.com for all your cardworthy moments.

add brand new belongings from nationwide insurance and we'll replace stolen or destroyed items with brand-new versions. we put members first. join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪

the nation's report card is out. the latest result is the educational progress of tennessee and the district of columbia made the biggest improvements in math and reading. what are those school districts doing that sets them apart from the rest? i'm joined by michelle reid,

former d.c. school chancellor and founder of studentsfirst.org. welcome back to the program. great to have you here. >> thanks for having me. >> if you look at the results, let's look at the top line first nationwide. it looks like there's not as much progress between 2011 and 2013 as we would like nationwide. do you agree with that? >> we saw a little uptick here and there but overall the nation is not gaining ground in the way we would want to see it. >> okay. let's focus in on where there was progress. two of those states, well, district of columbia, where you were the former school's chancellor and tennessee. what do you think explains their rather remarkable progress? tennessee catching up to almost the national average it the district, as you know, having been one of the worst school districts in the country. >> large numbers of kids in failing schools and while we can't contribute directly any one policy to the gains we've

seen, we have to look at what were they doing. as we ask that question, it's very clear both of these states are places that are invested in teacher effectiveness. they characterize that by putting in place different pay structures, recognizing the very best teachers in the classroom. they put in place rigorous systems. they invested heavily in professional development. the second thing they did is put in place high standards. both of them were early adapters the common core standards which are a set of internationally benchmarked standards that will make sure the kids cap up with the rest of the world so we're no longer 25th in math. >> let's dig into teacher evaluations a little bit. one of the keys seems to be we've got to link it to teacher performance. link it to do you see progress

on tests? is that key? >> when i was the d.c., we had a circumstance where only 8% of the children in eighth grade were on grade level in mathematics. when you looked at the performance evaluations of adults in the system, 98% were rated as doing a great job. >> everybody was a genius. >> you have a disconnect. d.c. and tennessee were the two jurisdictions across the country that actually implemented the model first, which said we have to link how well students are doing, how much they're growing to a teacher's evaluation. i think we're beginning to see the fruits of that. >> you talk about rewarding good teachers with extra pay, but how do you weed out teachers? how do you decide who stays and who goes? >> it's important to know when you put in place a teacher evaluation system, you can't look at teachers through any one

lens. you have to look at them through multiple lenses. what both d.c. and tennessee did was implement teacher evaluation systems that looked at one student growth but, two, classroom observations, three, here in tennessee, they're using student surveys to link to teacher evaluation. so you have to look through multiple lenses at a teacher's performance overall. when teachers are not performing where they need to be, when they are rated as ineffective, there has to be real consequences. >> in d.c., you could be removed the first year. if you were minimally effective, you got a year to shape up. and then -- but you could be removed that second year. one of the things that's striking in d.c. many of those labeled minimally effective decided, i'll leave on my own. so that was a significant incentive for -- to sort the good from the bad. >> that's right, stanford and the university of virginia just

did a study on the evaluation system and the paper performance system that d.c. put in place. and what it said was that because the higher performers were being paid a whole lot of money, the district was retaining them at higher rates. which is what you want. for those at the bottom of the scale, ineffective teachers and minimally effective teachers, because they knew it was -- you know, they had to either improve or leave, you saw a lot of low performers sort of choosing to leave. but what you also saw was that the district invested money and resources and time into making all teachers better. ensuring there's good professional development options. so a lot of the teachers in the middle all improved their performance which is exactly what you want to see. >> i remember writing about your fight in d.c. to get this through. a lot of the unions really fought it. how can we spread this success and d.c. and tennessee, this model, elsewhere around the

country? >> i think what you need is courageous politicians. any time you are really disrupting the status quo, you're implementing significant change that people are not used to, you're going to get a lot of pushback. in tennessee, both governor haslem and commissioners have been moving forward on aggressive reforms but they're also facing a tremendous amount of opposition. you have to be able to push through that as politicians and say, you know what, even though some adults might not be happy with this, this is what is good and right for kids. it's ways goiwhat's going to produce better outcomes for children. >> we have to take one more break. when we come back, our hits and misses of the week. vo: two years of grad school. 20 years with the company. thousands of presentations. and one rd earned partnership. it took a lot of work to get this far. so now i'm supposed to take a back seat when it comes to my investments?

there's zero chance of that happening. avo: when you work with a schwab financial consultant, you'll get the guidance you need with the control you want. talk to us today. customer erin swenson ordebut they didn't fit.line customer's not happy, i'm not happy. sales go down, i'm not happy. merch comes back, i'm not happy. use ups. they make returns easy. unhappy customer becomes happy customer. then, repeat customer. easy returns, i'm happy. repeat customers, i'm happy. sales go up, i'm happy. i ordered another pair. i'm happy. (both) i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. happy happy. i love logistics. an important message for americans eligible an important message for for medicare. the annual enrollment period is now open. now is the time to find the coverage that's right for you ... at the right price. the way to do that is to explore your options. you can spend hours doing that yourself ...

or you can call healthmarkets ... and let us do the legwork for you - with no cost or obligation. we'll search a variety of plans from nationally recognized companies to find the coverage that's the best fit for you ... at a price that fits your budget. and we'll do it at no charge to you. just tell us what you're looking for ... what deductibles you prefer ... what doctors you want to see. let us know if you want prescription drug coverage ... or vision care. not sure what you want in a plan? at health markets insurance agency we evaluate your needs ... and offer options that meet them. at no cost. you can talk to us over the phone ... or meet with a local licensed representative in person. why pay a penny more than you have to for an insurance policy? in the past 3 years alone, healthmarkets insurance agency has enrolled americans in more than 1.1 million insurance polices. put our free service to work for you at no charge. britt of indiana did. and she writes ... when we became eligible for medicare, we were overwhelmed.

i called healthmarkets and they helped us find the right plan. leon of california says ... healthmarkets was excellent. they explained our medicare choices and followed up at every level. and here's what judy of indiana writes ... medicare shopping was very confusing - if only we had talked to you first! at healthmarkets, we make finding the coverage you need fast and easy ... because we know you have better things to do. time now for hits and misses of the week. >> a miss to the national

football league. a miss to lineman incognito and his teammate jonathan martin who blew up the nfl by accusing mr. incognito of bullying him. i mean, give me a break. these are guys who spend all day sunday taunting, whooping and whacking each other nearly senseless. bullying? a miss. >> this is a miss for the toronto mayer who admitted to smoking crack cocaine while in office, yet he refuses to resign. he says his heavy drinking drove him to smoke crack which for some of us is a second reason. >> yes, that's reassuring. >> there is no recall process. the city council cannot remove him. it looks like toronto will be stuck with him until the end of his tomorrow next year. >> the national academy of science reported this week there's $8.8 billion planets in the milky way about the same size of earth, about the same distance from a sun-like star. that means you could sustain water, oxygen, maybe life

somewhere else. this is a hit for al gore and the other doom sayers out there. >> we've got a place to go. all right. that's it for this week's show. thanks to my panel and all you for watching. we hope to see you next week. fox news alert. on a tragedy of epic proportions. one of the most powerful storms in over 30 years ripping through the philippines. leaving a trail of death and destruction. the red cross now estimating about 1,000 people were killed so far. that number expected to rise sharply as rescue workers reach remote areas cut off by the fast moving storm. hello, everyone. glad you're with us. welcome to america's news headquarters. i'll greg jarrett. >> and i'm arthel neville. that storm is forcing thousands of people out of their homes while causing