Transcripts For WPVI Inside Story 20150419

Meanwhile, Governor Tom Wolf who is, of course, of the same party, has said kane can still fulfill her duties as pennsylvanias top law enforcer and does not need to agree. Do you agree, dom giordano . No, i dont. I think this is way past it, but i thought right from the beginning, politics is hardball, but this is the most partisan a. G. That weve seen and i believe the most incompetent that weve seen, and what she did around the samesexmarriage thing, where she just negated her office, as an example, but matt, the internal stuff like this i think its Six Communications directors or spokespeople. And stuff happens. But i always judge politicians when theyre constantly having people leave their office, usually not a good sign. Pedro . The spectacles just bad for the office. I dont see how the office can be functioning in any reasonably effective way. And i think the cynicism its contributing to in the aftermath of the court scandals and all that its just bad for the a. G. s office and its bad for pennsylvania. This puts Montgomery County d. A. Risa vetri ferman in a somewhat difficult position. Shes been called to investigate kane and possibly bring charges. What do you thinks going on behind the scenes . That shes doing her job. I like risa ferman. I think she does a good job. Shell be fair. But i think that Kathleen Kane has always had issues, since day one. She was at the right place at the right time. She had the money. She got in. But she doesnt know what shes doing. And dom is absolutely right, and so is pedro. Theres a problem, and it makes pennsylvania look bad. Who is really in charge . What is going on . What is the top person supposed to be doing . Right now shes not doing anything, and i think its horrible, and she should step down. Theres a big tragedy here. She was golden when she came in. If she had just kept her head down, did her job, she would have had a great political future. But she was a novice politician. She thought she was gonna be political and do her friends favors in the office, and she, in doing so, alienated the career prosecutors that were working for her. She got in personal vendettas with people. I mean, somebody should have told her, stay out of fights. Keep your nose clean and just do your job. They might have told her. They might have told her, but she just doesnt listen. She doesnt listen. But to your point, matt about risa ferman, i think that she is a perfect person to be involved in this, and, again the gender issue is taken away a bit. And i think shes one of the most capable people in the area right now among d. A. s and others. Something that you brought up the samesexmarriage issue. If you remember way early on Kathleen Kane said shes not gonna enforce this new law that was passed in harrisburg, and you also many people pointed to the lottery situation and the fight with governor corbett actually as two things that allowed her to start off on the right note, because she ended up on, many people say, the right side of the samesex issue. It was early on back then. So what happened . Is really what people are trying to explain, and its difficult. People have already said it matt, as far as not having staff around her. People dont she has a hard time communicating with people. As a psych nurse, id be more than happy to help her with her communication skills. The bottom line is shes not really treating her staff in an appropriate fashion, because they keep leaving. Dom already said it. Six people come on spokespeople, and then theres always different stories. She was at the right place at the right time, and thats what happened. She got in. If shed have done what you were saying, jan, maybe she would have made it, but she was not doing anything, and shes not actively listening to people. This is really a horrible time for governor wolf, whos facing this huge budget fight with the legislation. This is the last thing he wants to deal with right now, right . Its absolutely the last thing he wants to deal with, and i think i dont think his position was unreasonable. He doesnt want to get himself into it, and i think he would have been in it more if he had said she should step down. He needs support. But but, eventually, he may have to change that view. How soon . I mean, i think most people think its past time. Even if she is ultimately vindicated, its bad for the office, its bad for the justice system, and its bad for pennsylvania. Want to talk about the philadelphia mayors race . Sure. Thank you, cause thats our next topic. It is april 19th. May 19th is the primary in the city of philadelphia, so one month away until we find out whos going to be the democratic nominee. We already know who the republican nominee is. Thank you. Yes. Couple things that have come out that ill mention, and you guys can talk about whatever you want, but Anthony Williams really hitting his stance on schools, trying to say hes really for public schools, even though a lot of people are suspective of him with his support of charter schools. There he is the state senator in pennsylvania. And, by the way, all these tv ads are being paid for by Political Action committees. Theyre not being paid for by the candidates. Thats a whole nother story. James kenneys also releasing tv ads, and hes pointed to all his endorsements, some of which are africanamericans, which race is always an issue when it comes to elections in philadelphia. Theres james kenney right there. What do you guys think . Throw in anything about the mayors race going on with any candidate. Well, starting with the ads i mean, first of all, i think senator williams has had his own ads, as well as there have been pac ads, and im not sure jim kenneys put up his own ads yet. Just in terms of quality of ads, jim kenneys ads are sharp. They seem to have some energy to them. And Tony Williams, for the amount of money being spent, im surprised that the ads arent better. I mean, theyre really kind of stale, sort of implied you know, they imply without saying. Theyre sort of insular. Im surprised, but theres a lot more money out there from the pac and others to sort of get it right over time. I think the momentum if the election were held this week, this tuesday, i think Tony Williams would win, but i think most people also think that the momentum currently is with jim kenney and absent some, you know, catastrophic, negative barrage from Tony Williams camp or independent expenditure, i think the race seems to be headed jim kenneys way. And, pedro, thats a really interesting point, because we havent really seen negative ads out there, now, have we . It hasnt gotten personal yet. It hasnt gotten negative. And this isnt a race that has energized people, i dont think, in great measure. Is that related to one another . Well, exactly, and i think, right, you need that. People are not following this as we might be following it, and if the big issue is schools, i think williams is trying to prove and i believe him. Hes the one guy in this that i think has the right formula and has been about education. His opponent, kenney, i think, is just playing to the Teachers Union and others, but that may be the Playing Field out there. That may be where people are. People are saying in the community its boring, that the race is boring. You were just saying theyre really not hearing anything from people. There is not any energy. People have to come out and really go door to door with these folks, make a big statement about who they are. I agree with you about senator williams. He is for education. He is dealing with it on both sides, as far as im concerned. He has relationships. Hes been in harrisburg. He does have experience. But he is gonna have to have more energy and come out there like youre alluding to, pedro. He has to do that. Or, you know, there might be a big difference. Then you have a group of africanamericans who are saying, im for jim kenney, you know, which people are like, oh, my god. O. M. G. Mmhmm. Dwight evans, one of the bigger names thats come out for james kenney. But a month is a long time in politics, and were gonna see a lot of drama in the weeks ahead as the race draws to a close and ill stick my neck out and make a prediction. We are gonna see those negative ads. We always do. I agree. I agree. Were gonna see a bunch of negative ads, and well, someones got to throw the first volley. Yeah. You just want more business for the tv station. Oh, radio, too, now. Come on. Were gonna see a lot more. But there does have to be a point where these two main contenders have to face williams has to face him down, and its hard in these debates. As a moderator, the thing i dont like you have at least two other candidates there that, you know, are kind of marginal and it chews up time. But they could be spoilers, also, though. Here are the ones that we havent mentioned yet, and ill do that right now nelson diaz, doug Oliver Milton street, and also Melissa Murray bailey, and i mentioned lynne abraham, as well. So. Can the field consolidate with a month to go democratic side . Oh, okay. Lets be clear. Because the republican side cannot consolidate any more. Well, they have another democrat whos masquerading as a republican, but what the heck . Well, i think youre pretty close to the point of no return, because if youre gonna spend money, you will have spent it or youre pretty close to having already spent it. So, you might as well stay in . Is that what youre saying . So, two weeks out, you pretty much have spent, you know or pretty close to have spent whatever youre gonna do, so i dont know why any of them would get out at this point. Mmhmm. Theyre not gonna get out. This gets their name out, so i wouldnt get out, either. And in terms of endorsements, i dont know what they have to offer. Lynne abraham may be able to offer some votes, but. Im sure weve discussed what happened with the debate. Long gone . Past news . Same thing happened to senator roth in delaware in his last campaign, he had a fainting spell in public, and, uh. Bob dole fell off the stage in 1996. Absolutely. You know, if youre older this becomes something that yeah. And things happen. Things happen to people. One thing i have to say about the education as the issue here, and this is why i couldnt ever run for office. Uhoh. Is the conversation that the publics getting is just a rehashing and sort of there arent really ideas coming out of candidates. Whats coming out of candidates is what polls say people want to hear. If you want to, you know understand where these positions you know, folks like tom ferrick and dave davies and others have been writing good columns about assessing sort of the aca the educational platforms, but, you know, at the end of the day, the challenge for a mayor on education is youre either you know, youre either gonna have to raise taxes or reduce city spending. Youre gonna have to shift millage from and you never hear that until after the elections over. But youre gonna have to shift millage from the city to the school district, even under a bestcase scenario in the state. You know, people think and many peoples taxes have gone up, but the way a. B. I. Was done, other places in the city, peoples taxes have gone down. A. B. I. Was done in a revenueneutral way. I think thats an issue schools havent benefited as much cause people say, my taxes have gone up, and schools still arent fixed. Well, schools have not necessarily been the beneficiary. But i would frame that williams has a different vision than kenney, and these are the two main people when it comes to it. Theres something there thats a difference. And its interesting, because before the election, i wouldnt have thought that jim kenney was anticharter. I would have thought that he would have probably been more aligned with, you know, the idea that good schools are good schools and youre playing to folks that give you money. Youre playing to people that youre speaking to. They go from person to person or groups to groups, so youre gonna play to that group or to those folks, because thats how you get their vote. Everyones trying to make a contrast between themselves and everybody else, and its fascinating to see the level of independent expenditures that are being invested in this race here in philadelphia to try and draw those contrasts. Bottom line is somethings gonna happen. Somethings got to happen. You are right. Were waiting for that first shot. Im just, like, waiting. And they have to take a risk to put it out there. Lets talk about another race thats not until 2016 not the president ial race, okay . Okay. Apparently, democrats want new blood in the race for pas u. S. Senate seat. Politics pa is reporting that National Democratic leaders are contacting Montgomery County commissioner josh shapiro to talk about a possible run against that guy, incumbent senator pat toomey, the republican, in 2016. Now, former congressman joe sestak is the main democratic challenger right now, and he actually nearly beat toomey six years ago, but, somehow, Party Leaders are uncomfortable about a rematch. So, shapiro hes 41, former state house representative, ally of governor wolf. Does he have what it takes to take on toomey . Yeah, i think he does. Toomey, to me, is rock solid and would win, but pennsylvania in a president ial year thats where the issue is. Thats where the problem is. And sestak is unliked by just about everybody inside the party, so whatever is it because of what happened with him and Arlen Specter . No, i think its because of the way that the guy treats the inside game again. Its like a Kathleen Kane thing, in my view, from what i can tell, and i think shapiro would be a tough candidate. Particularly in Montgomery County, he would raise a lot of money. Tough meaning it would be tough for him . He would be tough against toomey, and he can moderate himself, pretty much. I dont think he has extreme positions on the democrat side at all. Shapiro would be a strong candidate. I think a lot of democrats blame sestak for losing that seat. They do. You know, toomey just squeaked in there, and a lot of democrats think that should have been a democrat seat, and sestak lost it for them. Josh shapiros in Montgomery County. Ill be honest. Hes doing a good job as a democrat. Hes strong. People like him. He does a good thing. He knows how to work it. He had me as one of his transition chairs. I mean, he was crossing the lines, so everybody was like oh, my god. And he fought the democrats when he did that and put me in. But people respect him, also. Hes strong, hes young, and hes ready to fight. But maybe too much right now, given where he is . I think shapiro would be formidable. Hes got crossover appeal. Thats what im saying. Among moderate republicans. Toomeys got 7. 3 million in the bank today, so. Yes. Thats right. Thats where you start. And were gonna keep raising money for him. And i think shapiro wants to be governor, from what i can tell, more than anything. Now, would he do this for the party . Yeah, hes got eight years of that, potentially speaking. And pawlowski, allentown mayor, might also run against toomey. Would be a matchup of Lehigh Valley against Lehigh Valley. Lets go to commercial. Well be right back with inside story. Inside story is presented by temple university. Temple fuels students with academics and opportunities to take charge. Plugged in to the city, powered by the world. Tradingin or selling your car, truck or suv . Webuyanycar. Com takes the hassle out of selling in just 3 easy steps. One, get your free online valuation. Two, drive to your local car buying center. And three, walk out with your check in as little as 30 minutes. Buying used cars is all we do. All makes and models. No dealership pressure. Well even settle your loan or lease. So dont wait. Get your free online valuation now at webuyanycar. Com as a nation, youd like to think that our troops coming home are being cared for in the best possible way, and a government audit of the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs office says that just was not the case 78page report saying unreasonable workloads and poor leadership led to mismanagement and delays in disability and pension claims. Servicemen and women just not being cared for, after serving our country, at the philadelphia v. A. Dom, youve been talking about this on your radio show. What do you think . Couple things. One, costello, meehan, and fitzpatrick, three local congressmen, have been all over this. Theyve done a great job, and others have been part of this, too, investigation. But it breeds cynicism with listeners when we see this report and theres no recommendations of firings or potential criminal actions. Some of the stuff, like these stamp machines that are supposed to be secure i think there were 16 of them were just allowed for anybody to use. We have a director that came down from washington getting 288,000 to move 140 miles in the middle of all this. And if theres not something done where we actually see action, then i think people think, so what . You investigate it. You did all this. Well hear it again two or three years from now. And i have to say the local media has done a good job of focusing on it. What does it take to get reform . But this is very sad. This is very sad. You have people dying there was a member in our church whose husband didnt get service from v. A. Who passed away because of this. This does not make sense. Its reprehensible. They should do something about it. Somebody should be fired. This report is so bad and this story has been going on for so long through republican administrations and democratic administrations, and nothing gets fixed. I mean, i think it really calls in to question the ability of the federal government to manage a big bureaucracy. Maybe its just unmanageable. I mean, even for our veterans and the highprofile attention that they attract, we cant seem to get this solved. Well, nasa has spacex sending capsules to the i. S. S. , which is a difficult thing to do. Do you think maybe a private company could do the same thing with the Veterans Affairs take it, manage it . I dont know. I mean, the quality of medical service gets good reviews, and what you have is this organization thats the worst of all bureaucracies. I mean, i think theres one of the disappointments in this is everything is treated as sort of an administrative or processing. Theres room here for somebody in a position of power in that hierarchy to just get angry, to say to just lose it and say thats not enough and start breaking some china within that organization. But theyre not gonna do that. Well, one person nationally somebody you could pick anybody who sees one thing. Were gonna fix this. I dont care whats in the way. And thats it. Thats not there. Just take three things and work on those three things. You have to have complete reorganization. Privatized, to me, is much better. And theres a cost to not only the veterans. I mean, folks dont Health Issues generally dont get better with time. No. Youre absolutely correct. So, people get more ill. Other people get ill. People stop going, become homeless. The pains being managed badly. Well, these folks have really, really fought for us and look how were treating them. Thats not right. Thats not fair. Something has to get done. Okay. 2016 president ial race. Who is in . Hillary clinton with the democrats, senators marco rubio, rand paul, and ted cruz with the republicans. Hillary clinton went to a chipotle, and it was almost like, oh, my god. Shes at a chipotle. She actually stopped in central pennsylvania, in clinton county, of all counties. Gee, were shocked. To take some photographs with some folks. What do you guys think about this . I think whoever manages these people really should have a lot of money should be paid to them. I remember when mitt romney came here in 2012 and i supported romney i heard he was going to a wawa. I knew what was gonna happen. The touch screen, which had been in there for 10 years he talked about it endlessly and he kept on calling it wawas one single wawa. Yeah. Yeah. This is what these people that are out of touch mrs. Clinton hasnt driven, i think, in 20 years. Stuff like this, matt, democrat or republican if theyre out of touch, this is gonna create difficulty for them. Thats why theyre so careful when they go to regular places. Because theyre not used to going. Thats part of the problem. They havent been there before. Right, whereas a bill clinton could go in right now, and, hey. Sure. Hes well, maybe he should run again. If she comes to philadelphia, id be very disappointed if she went to a chipotle. This town is full of really good taquerias. Eating the cheesesteak dont order swiss on the cheesesteak. Pedro, pedro, what do you think about all this talk of you know what . Its a coronation . We need to find someone to challenge her in the primary cause we dont have one yet. Uh. I dont know who that is. Press pedro. I dont know who that is. The other perfect candidate . I think shes i think shes battletested. She has enormous intellect and endurance, and shes hard to beat, and thats why you dont have more democrats someone will come out of the woodwork. The opportunity is too good to be the challenger to hillary clinton. Martin omalley . Someone is gonna do it. Biden is thinking about it. Yeah. You know, hes positioning himself. If something happens, if theres a stumble, if something happens at a chipotle and she doesnt leave a tip or Something Like that she didnt leave a tip. Thats it. Thats the only one that can beat her. But everyone seems to think thats not gonna happen. Elizabeth warren cant win a general election. No. Well, id like to see her please let her come back. I want Elizabeth Warren to do it. Democrats have figured out that you need to win the general election. I want Elizabeth Warren to do it. Who wants a cheesesteak. [ laughter ]. With swiss . No, thats not how you order. Well be right back with our inside stories of the week. Inside story is presented by temple university. Temple fuels students with academics and opportunities to take charge. Plugged in to the city, powered by the world. Inside stories of the week we start with pedro. The philadelphia zoo balloon is up, the lion cubs are out and the gorilla treeway is opening up, part of the ongoing extension of the trails within the philadelphia zoo, now opening trails for gorillas that will be able to traverse all different parts of the zoo very cool. Philadelphia zooballoon 6abc. Thank you, pedro. My inside story is not so good. This opt out of the test because my kid will get a migraine if he has to take a highstakes pennsylvania keystone test has spread to lower marion, a place that i value education highly. 200 people have opted out there, and across the state, its gathering storm, and theres left and right, i think, lunatics on both sides of this. The test shows whether you should graduate or move to the next grade. Its a good idea. Thank you, dom. Jan . Lowwage workers want a raise to 15 an hour. In the last 10 years the United States has created 9 million new jobs, but we have also brought in 18 million new immigrants during that period. The administration has promised legalization for 5 million Illegal Immigrants in a program tied up in courts, and they have a program in place to allow them to bring their families in as soon as theyre legalized. Thank you, jan. Renee . I want to talk about leslie richards, who used to be the commissioner of Montgomery County, now the transportation secretary. Shes doing some unique things trying to get legislation to do an ignition alcohol test for people that have d. U. I. S, which i think is excellent, because there are so many people with d. U. I. S killing folks, and you just breathe in to your ignition, and then it says if youve been drinking too much, that kind of stuff. So, thats a good thing. Thank you, secretary richards. Okay. Thanks for joining us our insiders, and also you at home. Inside story returns next weekend, and ill be back on monday morning for action news beginning at 4 30 a. M. See you then. Im eva pilgrim. Coming up next on action news, tragedy on the football at st. Joes prep. A player collapses and dies. Three people are in the hospital afternoon gunfire rains down on the campus of delaware state university. After a summerlike saturday things are cooling off today. Were looking to start the workweek with some rain. All those stories next on action news. Lets say this is your tv and these are the channels you pay for with cable but these are the types of channels you actually want to watch what if you could pay for what you want, and not for what you dont so you could get kids channels sports. Or entertainment mix and match, or get them all. Now fios brings you a totally new way to customize your tv starting at 74. 99 including internet and phone. Cable just gives you channels. Fios gives you choice. Good afternoon, it is sunday april 19 im eva pilgrim along with Kenneth Moten nydia is off. Heres some of the stories were walker