Transcripts For WPVI Inside Story 20170305

6 billion in profits. The ceo makes 25 million as a base salary. They spent 11 million fighting the tax on tv. Theyve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars every month on lobbyists and lawyers. And they take it out on the guy in the bottling plant . I mean, to me, theyre using their employees as pawns to create anger and mistrust and to try to get the tax away. But the tax has been passed. Its not going away unless a court kills it. And from the retailer side, guys like jeff brown and others at shoprite, i mean, he just opened a store yesterday inside the city limits. Hes talking on one hand about cutting employee hours. On the other hand, hes opening a new store. I had a young man come up to me last week, and he said to me, i really like you, but you cost me a dollar for every 16ounce soda i buy. I said, nope. The tax is a quarter. The 75 cents extra is going in the retailers pocket. Theyve been taxing this product before the tax even went into effect, and theyve been stockpiling the product in inventory from june, when we passed the tax. So a lot of whats being taxed now is not even taxable product. So its a lot of fearmongering and a lot of misdirection. But in the end, whats important is that our 3 and 4yearold babies in the city get the opportunity for prek so they can have a fulfilled life. Prek rebuild. A lot of things depend on this soda tax. You mentioned the legal challenge Commonwealth Court in april. The suspicion is that if they lose there, theyll go to state supreme court. Right. What happens if you lose . Would you have a contingency plan . Well do less prek, Less Community schools, and less rebuild. And that would be sad for the city. You know, when we passed the liquorbythedrink tax, there was never gonna be another restaurant or bar opened in the city. We have five times the number of restaurants and bars in the city. They passed the cigarette tax, everybodys gonna go outside and buy their cigarettes outdoors. Did for a while, but then people came back and started buying them here. But there are Companies Like wawa and cvs and others who are actually acting like adults and charging the tax, but not making a big deal out of it or putting my picture or my name on the shelves and stuff. I mean, i went into my Grocery Store yesterday in old city, and the 16ounce said it was 1. 30. Its not that big a deal. So it sounds like youre not backing down on this one. No, no. Lets talk about Something Else youve been pretty strong on, and that is the idea of philadelphia as a sanctuary city. Lets talk the money. Donald trump signs an executive order. It could be 340 million. Harrisburg making moves to hold funds. Talking about maybe another 640 million, almost a billion dollars, for a poor city. What will happen if we lose that money . Do you have a contingency plan . Well, first of all, we dont know first of all, the president ial executive order is a mishmash of like most of what he does, a mishmash of information. Theres no real specific target of where theyre taking the money from. And there needs to be a nexus between what they want to defund and what theyre saying were not doing. So thats mostly law enforcement. So if Congress Wants to vote to take lawenforcement money away from police in philadelphia and 19 other jurisdictions around pennsylvania. Were not the only island in the sea here. I mean there are other Montgomery County other places. There are sanctuary counties and sanctuary cities. Will council stick with you . It sounds like theyre starting to get nervous on this idea, saying, lets look at what Michael Nutter did. Lets look at some other things. Bullies makes you nervous, and bullies need to be fought. And i am not going to expose our vulnerable citizens to the whims of a very angry federal government or a very angry state government. You have to remember if we get a warrant, we turn the person over. The Fourth Amendment of the United States constitution requires a warrant to be held for someone to be personally held. And we will turn that person over if they give us a warrant. Were not Holding People for 48, 72 hours on a whim. The crime numbers have been coming down, but one numbers been going up. We had weve had 51 murders as of today. Last year this time, we had 37. So thats a 38 hike in the murder rate. Is that on your radar screen . Is that something youre concerned about . One homicides one homicide too many. The problem is is that we cant get any relief from state or federal government on the second amendment, which is gun control. I mean, when you allow the proliferation of weapons into our communities, youre gonna have shootings, youre gonna have homicides. You have to look at the homicide rate over a 10year period. Were at the lowest crime rate in philadelphia in 30 years. And to argue ill go back to sanctuary cities to argue that somehow cities who are sanctuary cities are locations of mayhem and crime is not true here. And, for the most part, our documented and undocumented immigrants are not the cause of crime. Two quick questions. Were down to the last minute. Have you thought about asking for a meeting with President Trump . Its harder to demonize somebody you dont know. I did that once on twitter, and my staff went crazy. But, you know, if the president of the United States wanted to meet with me, i would be happy to do that. However, hes got a lot of things on his plate. Hes more worried about whats going on with russia and jeff sessions. I mean, it seems within two months, theres more controversy than any president in history, so ill let him deal with his problems. All right, youre a year in. Youve gotten good reviews. Reelection . Are you thinking about it . Are you gonna do it . Yeah, most likely do it, but i mean, i dont think about it every day. I mean, im only in my second year. So i want to just get this first term right. When do you think youre gonna announce, let us know . Oh, itll be year three. All right, and finally, everybody likes the idea of this park on penns landing. Its not a park. Its a cap. Its a highway cap. Whatever you call it. You cant say park. You just got 100 million, it looks like, from penndot to do it. So it looks like its gonna happen. Yeah, i think thats wonderful. You have to understand that people in our city cant afford to go to the jersey shore. Their shore is the delaware river. And if we can have a nice, wonderful place to create jobs and to have people recreate, its a great thing. All right, mr. Mayor. Thank you for joining us. We look forward to having you back soon. Thank you. Well be back with the panel on inside story. Inside story is presented by temple university. Remarkable change isnt easy, but for those who take charge, it comes naturally. Explore temples impact. Visit temple. Edu impact. Fios is not cable. Were wired differently. Maybe thats why weve been ranked highest in Customer Satisfaction by jd power 4 years in a row. And now you can love fios too. Get 150 meg internet, tv and phone. All for 79. 99 per month, for the first year with a twoyear agreement. Its the only internet with equal upload and download speeds. Cable only offers upload speeds that are a fraction of the download speeds. Plus get hbo for a year and free multiroom dvr service for two years. Get the best. Go to getfios. Com welcome back to inside story. Im tamala edwards. Lets introduce you to the panel. First up, nonprofit exec sharmain matlockturner. Hi, tamala. Good morning. Documentarian sam katz. Good morning. Journalist larry platt. Good morning. And Communications Executive jeff jubelirer. Morning, tam. Well, we just listened to the mayor, and lets talk about the budget. First of all, after such a big budget, a big thing that he asked for the first year, was very modest. Were you surprised that he was smart enough, many would say, to come out and not ask for that much this time . I think it was smart to say, look, i put my priorities out in my first budget. I really sort of let the city know what i thought was important, and now ive spent the last year really listening to city council and others to make sure that we are making additional changes, but changes that i think we can afford and changes that i think are not going to talk about another big tax increase. In the budget, of course, we talked about how much of it is pinned on the soda tax and keeping the money. He was very dismissive of pepsico or shopkeepers or people. But i will tell you, our favorite pizza shop for my kids up in chestnut hill, the owner says people come in and yell at him because they cant get free refills anymore, that theyre saying theyre seeing an effect on customers. Theyre seeing an effect on sales. Is there a publicperception problem he needs to worry about . Hes saying its not that big a deal. Itll go away. Is he right on that . Or is there true rancor out there over it . Well, there is rancor, and there are people who are threatening to cut back on payroll and salary, and there are a lot of issues. But the truth is, who could predict the future . And he might be right. It may well be that people just get used to it. The city has consistently gone to taxes as their default mechanism. And over time, that has continued to undermine the growth of the economy of philadelphia. Im not saying the soda tax is a Growth Engine or a growth inhibitor, but it is just part and parcel of whats going on for a long time in philadelphia. And while the uses of the proceeds made the tax passable, cause that was a really brilliant political strategy, its just one more thing that puts a patina around philadelphias image as a good place to do business. Jeff, youve got a law degree. Two big turns of the wheel i dont, but thank you for escalating my scholarship. Ive now given you a law degree. Two big turns of the wheel on this next one that has never prevented him from practicing law. I play one on tv. Next month, this all goes to Commonwealth Court, and then it could end up its predicted that it will go to the state supreme court. He doesnt sound as though he really has a contingency plan, other than, boy, its gonna be bad around here if this money goes away. Is there a chance a good chance that he could lose this money that hes banking on . Well, i dont have a law degree, but i do know this he could he could lose. And theres a real argument tod. Direction, i believe, of budget director dubow, talking about these things but not in a public way. What will happen . What are contingencies . I think theyre meeting with Council Members and council staff. And council staff, ive learned, has said, were gonna support it regardless, in terms of the rec centers, the libraries, the school, the prek. So theyre meeting. Dont get us wrong. But publicly, hes saying, i wont comment on anything hypothetical. I think its really dangerous to dismiss for a mayor, for the chief executive of a city, to dismiss the loss of jobs. And pepsico is laying off people as a result of this soda tax, they say. And to claim that thats political is really dangerous. And i talked to jeff brown, who owns six shoprites and does a great job in cities, and hes down 15 . The soda tax, hes down 2 or 4 on. But what happens is people dont just go over across city lines to buy their soda. They cross city lines to buy all their groceries. And that is not sustainable. And for the mayor to just say thats political is really dangerous. But is he right that people will fall back . Theyre not gonna keep wanting to drive to Delaware County or Montgomery County. Eventually, theyll say, i just want to go around the corner. Well, theyre going there anyway to shop, to Shopping Centers and things of that nature. But on the legal issue, the courts are gonna have two issues. Theyre gonna have the Public Policy issue. That is, Public Policy here isnt just the tax. Its prek. Its culture. Its parks. Its libraries. So in overturning this tax, it isnt just a matter of the sterling act, which is one of the conditions that theyre arguing, its also one of the implications for Public Policy. And i think the publicpolicy argument is on the citys side. Lets talk a little bit about sanctuary cities. He didnt back down from that at all. But you get the feeling that city council, that Darrell Clarke is very nervous. If this goes through, if they do start to stick it to the city, ds. Ts a lot of money that the is the mayor correct tt he can hold fast on this until somebody comes to him with a legal argument you have to change or Michael Nutter, middle path this moment to maybe get the attention off of philadelphia . Well, i think hes made a commitment to sanctuary cities, for this issue and beone, the only mayor in the country whos doing this. Lot of people e sayi, right thing for cities. If you ask law ement t take on the role of marginalizing another group of peop tbe to really tell us whats really going on. This is absolutely the wrong way to go. I mean, as the mayor said, were already obligated, if someone commits a crime, to turn that person over. The question is, are we just checking peoples credentials and then saying, okay, were going to turn you over to someone else . So i think that the city has a good case to make. I think it will ultimately end up in court, if congress and the president continue to insist on this. I think its the wrong way for cities to go. It may be wrong, but politically, im not sure where philadelphia, or the mayor, have to go. Saying that your peers in los angeles or San Francisco or chicago or other large urban cities are going to be there in a fight with you. Their elected leaders are all in the minority. Theyre all democrats. Pat toomeys not gonna be there for you. Maybe you have bob casey for sure, but hes not in power. And so the problem is they may be right, perception or otherwise, but when moneys not coming to philadelphia for important needs, then its gonna hit the fan. And theres another political risk, which is that the felonies that are protected from being shared with ice detainer requests get to the extreme. In other words, drunk driving, drug dealers, aggravated assault. Why are we protecting people who commit those crimes . We dont get into this definition much about what violent felonies are. And i think thats a dangerous political prospect. If someone who commits aggravated assault turns out was not turned over in accordance with an ice detainer request. And i think if the federal government said that that we are not capturing people who are extremely violent who are here and we need to look at that question, that certainly is something that i think any reasonable person would say that were looking at. But thats not ultimately what theyre saying. Theyre saying, we want to make sure that local communities cannot have relationships with people who are undocumented. And i think that thats wrong. Lets go back and talk about something the mayor didnt bring up, which is rebuild, which is a huge part of what he wants to do. He and council have ironed it out. Council members will be able to say have some sayso on sites, on project managers. Theres a fight over the money. Does it stay outside, or is it gonna be forced to go through city council . What would you guess, in the end, is where they end up on this one . It goes into city council or he manages to keep the money out . City council. Well, i think the very significant issue that is at play here is the extent to which privately led contracts are subject to the same diversity provisions that are in place with publicly led contracts. And i think the city has a way, contractually, with these nonprofits. And i dont think just having two nonprofits the Free Library Association and the Fairmount Park conservancy is necessarily the prudent way to go. But engaging the nonprofit world, which also has a way of inducing more money into this program, i think is a prudent strategy, and hopefully they can work it out. And i just want to say you know, mayors get to do things that are oftentimes not significant in the long run because crime goes up and goes down. But the plan to cover i95 and to put a park on it and to finally open access to penns landing. And he had a Quiet Campaign for the fundraising. We didnt find out about this project until it was already funded. Kudos to jim kenney. The only thing about that plan that im concerned about is if you look at the artists rendering, in the corner of the rendering, there are six glass highrise buildings. Please, do not block the view that that park will have of the Benjamin Franklin bridge. Please do not do that. Theres plenty of places to develop. We expect you to show up at the planning meeting, sam, and raise that. Since 1976, when philadelphia created the penns landing corporation, that project has been a flop. This commitment of resources and that vision, which i commend him for, changes thats a legacy project thatll last a century. You know, sam must be getting much smarter cause i agree with you. [ laughter ] and ive been critical of the mayor for not thinking big enough, in terms of Economic Growth and economic development. And this is really bold. Lets turn and talk about Something Else that was in im sorry, sharmain that was in the news. Were boring you . No, no, no, no. For people who, you know, are looking for something beyond philadelphia, we have to talk to them, too. Josh shapiro, the attorney general of the state of pennsylvania, was in d. C. Meeting with President Trump, and they brought up what we saw here over the past week, some of the desecration of the jewish cemeteries, the bomb attacks. The president , he said in a call with reporters, said, this is reprehensible, but brought up the idea that the reverse can be true to make others look bad, which shapiro just said, it was a curious comment. Those of us in the room looked at each other, but he rushed to tell reporters. How should people look at that comment in a city where people are really charged about what they see going on at these day schools and at this cemetery . I talked to attorney general shapiro the day after, and he was still sort of reeling and mystified. And he said like, i tried to say, like, so what do you think he meant . And he said, i got to tell you. Ive been over it time i dont know. My reading of it is that it eerily mimics a tweet from david duke, which is. Exactly. Its outrageous. Which is to say, to suggest and to stoke fears that this desecration was done by either jews or democrats to make him look bad. Thats my reading of it. Josh wouldnt go there, but it is indecent to suggest that. Yeah, i just think its absolutely outrageous. I mean, for someone to say that without any proof, tweeted by someone else who you know already has a propensity to come out with these kinds of outrageous things, and actually repeat that to people who are coming into your office but we dont for sure that thats who the president was repeating. But i dont understand how theres another way to interpret that. I dont see it as like saying, okay, there are rallies for people who are really upset about the Affordable Care act, but all of those people are being paid by someone in order to come in and say that theyre upset. The idea that every time theres a criticism it must be someone who is doing something underhanded against him and his ideas. I just want to put a little relativity to it, and im not defending it, cause i have no idea, is youre not seeing a lot of this comment. It had a short news cycle. I mean, maybe thats because later that evening, his first line of his address to congress was denouncing the acts as reprehensible. And im not here to say trump is all right, but i will say that and you did see Administration Sources saying that it had to do more with the protestors. Again, i dont agree with it. I dont like it. We dont know what he truly meant. But i dont think we can say for sure that it had to do with oh, the jews did it. Two other local issues. Were down to the last few minutes. Villanova wants to build a pedestrian bridge across lancaster avenue with big crosses. It is a Catholic University. Theres some outcry, with locals saying, well, youre using some state funding across a state road. It should be no religious symbols. Whos right in this . It would seem a Catholic University im not shocked that they want to put crosses on the bridge. Im not shocked, and i looked at the picture. Its two crosses at the end of the bridge. It looks architecturally lovely. I had a chance to read our own Christine Flowers comments that she wrote, which i thought. She had no opinion. Was very, very good. I dont understand you know, i could understand a couple people there are always people who dont like something thats going on in their neighborhood, but i dont understand it being that the whole neighborhood is against it. And the entire Commission Voted in favor of the bridge. Well, thats a commission thats got a lot of democrats. Villanova is a Catholic University. Its augustinian. Most of the kids who park on the other side of lancaster avenue and will cross on that bridge, i dare say, will be catholic or christians, and theyre going to enter a Catholic University where catholicism and the values of catholics are taught. What are we worried about here . It was 60, the vote. We got 30 seconds. In south jersey, they wanted to use ezpass, but they want to boost what youll be pay by a dollar. You pay 1. 50 now. Youll be paying 2. 50 each time you cross one of five bridges. That could be a 10 trip if youre going from ocean city down to wildwood. Is this a good idea . If they put a soda tax in place down there, i think itll be a great idea. Offseason, its 50 cents off, though. Right, it is. So its really gonna i like the fact that theyre, you know its cheaper to go to cape may than new york city. Hey, it helps bridges. Bridges in pennsylvania and new jersey need funding. Thats going to go help to restore bridges. All right, cape may, theyre giving you a boost to this idea of the tax. All right, well be back with our insiders and their inside stories. 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 so dont wait. Get your free online valuation now at webuyanycar. Com. Find out how much your car is worth at webuyanycar. Com inside story is presented by temple university. Remarkable change isnt easy, but for those who take charge, it comes naturally. Explore temples impact. Visit temple. Edu impact. Welcome back here to inside story. Weve got our insiders inside stories of the week. Sharmain, well start with you. Well, tam, i really want to give kudos to you and channel 6 for really celebrating black History Month last week and to say congratulations to the honorees, to vanesse sgambati whos done a great job with literacy, to joe tucker whos put together a great philadelphia law firm, and to dr. Beverly richards whos done wonderful work saying what you probably know saving films from the Africanamerican Community from the 1920s up until 1960. The colored Players Association of philadelphia. This week, the mayor came out with his budget. The really big problem in the budget is pensions. We have a pension crisis. Its 5. 7 billion of unfunded liability. Were still assuming that were gonna earn 7. 7 , and we are retreating to believe that because all the other pension crises in the country are assuming 7. 7 , were gonna be all right. Big trouble coming. All right. Larry. I mentioned jeff brown and his shoprite stores. Even with all the soda tax stuff going on, he opened a fresh grocer in Wynnefield Heights that is amazing. It is the most diverse Grocery Store ive been in. Theres a performance space. Its really a great experience. And its my new shopping outlet. Its your new hangout . All right. Jeff. Heres an oxymoron are liberals helping trump . There was a very interesting piece in the New York Times last sunday, which suggested that the more moral superiority, the more folks go on facebook, a lot of moderate republicans who were reluctant to vote for trump and could be swayable to be for hillary or for the democrats, they said, in the first publicopinion poll by pew, that 70 approve of the Job Performance of trump not because they like trump, because they dislike how the liberals. How people are reacting. Protesting. All that. All right. Weve got to go. Im Alicia Vitarelli in for gray hall and nydia han him coming up next on action news, parts of the pennsylvania turnpike is shut down after a crash and fuel spill. The latest on that breaking news. Plus, the white house demanding action from congress, why the Trump Administration wants an investigation into the obama administration. A Philadelphia Police officer is honored two years after being killed in a shootout. Those stories and the exclusive accuweather sevenday forecast next on action news. Over 200 products no antibiotics ever. We take some unexpected extra steps to raise healthy chickens with no antibiotics ever. For example, thyme. Its part of our 100 veggie diet and helps support their immune system. Perdue. Over 200 products no antibiotics ever. March 5 im Alicia Vitarelli in for gray hall and nydia han here some of the stories were following on action news. A truck crashed on the pennsylvania turnpike causing part of it to be shut down. We have the latest on the