Transcripts For WPVI Inside Story 20160710 : vimarsana.com
WPVI Inside Story July 10, 2016
For the time being, and as weve reported several times, philadelphia has seen protests similar to the peaceful one going on in dallas. We havent really seen any outbreaks of violence around here during them. We know that protesters will be at the dnc. Theyre going to be gathering at fdr park, which is across from the wells fargo center. It doesnt mean that there wont be other protests outside of that area. Dom, if you were at some of these dnc meetings restrategizing, what are some of the things youd like to hear . Well, i dont know about violence from these groups. I dont see that, either. What id like to hear from mayor kenney and the others, though, is, were not gonna allow people just to shut down traffic, shut down streets, block people in more than inconvenience them for hours at a time, and im told they believe thats the constitutional right. I dont. How about you, jim . Well, i think that the key, getting ready for the convention, is coordination, and the difference with the dallas situation, which was a surprise incident took the police by surprise here theres some notice to get ready for something maybe to happen hopefully not but also federal involvement early on. You got the secret service, other federal agencies because its a national convention. That increases not only ontheground Law Enforcement, but also intelligence in advance of the convention. I think thats gonna be a very, very important factor here. Jeff, would you say on its side i mean, philadelphia hosts the president , world leaders. We had the pope here in september. There is a lot of experience not only with the Philadelphia Police department, but the local leaders here. There sure is, and thats a source of comfort in this trying time. What id like to see, as well, similar to what dom said, is the police and the secret service and the authorities to have discretion. What i dont want to see is one standard. So if you protest and you block traffic, then everyones gonna get a ticket. Well, good luck when they dont have their i. D. S on them, finding out who these people are. The police should have discretion. I trust commissioner ross. I trust our police. I trust our officials. They need to be able to make decisions, frankly, on the fly sometimes. It cant be onesizefitsall. Mayor kenney has received criticism for making it so that they are only ticketing. He didnt want to get the jails all stocked up with protesters. What do you think about that, ajay . I think theres something to say about not creating a police state where youre agitating and creating that result that you dont want to have, anyway, but i tend to agree with jeff on this that you cant send your boxer in the ring with one hand tied behind their back. The goal in this case with mayor kenney, i think, is its laudable. Hes trying to make sure the bell doesnt go off in the first place, but when you send cops over there, they have discretion. They have earned our respect, because in the past with protests, Philadelphia Police have not created a police state. They have cooperated with neighbors. They have cooperated with protesters, and weve had peaceful protests. So give them discretion, give them the respect that theyve earned, and let them do their job and not make it more difficult, because i think this will be a difficult and trying time. We will have professional protesters invading philadelphia during dnc. Were prepared. We have the finest police force in the country, in my opinion, and i think well do a good job, but you want to make it easier for them. And the nice thing, i guess, in one sense is theyll get to see not that its gonna be the same as cleveland, but clevelands first. So well have seen, hopefully, not too much, but thats gonna be rough. And theyre going there. Sure. To observe. People are really angry, okay . You see a lot in social media cause its so easy to send things out. People are angry, and were talking about both sides where you have people saying that Excessive Police force is a major problem. The other sides saying, you know, Police Officers cant be looking over their backs and always worrying about someone taking video and then trying to make sure that they come home alive. Given the dnc is some two weeks away, and this anger seems to have steam, and its growing, does that concern you amongst just the regular population . You know, personally, i dont see a lot of anger in the Community Directed at Hillary Clinton, whos gonna be the nominee, obviously. There is much more divisiveness on the other side, and i am worried about whats gonna happen in cleveland, but, personally, i dont see that level of anger that youve seen in other candidacies over the years, going back to 1968 in the Democratic Convention that year frustration and anger and resentment about who the nominee was gonna be. I hope im right, and we dont see that kind of reaction here in philadelphia in late july. I dont see violence like we saw in dallas, but, again, black lives matter, their tactic is to shut things down, to disrupt, and they see it as a victory when theyre able to do that, and i believe that jim kenney is gonna let them do that. So thats not violence, per se, but theres gonna be chaos and inconvenience for people that i think is unacceptable. You hit the nail on the head by saying all of the recent incidents of alleged and Police Brutality and killings and video, and the ability of all of us who are not professionals to go on twitter, to go on facebook, and be a bystander, and throw that up there, and the world gets to be journalists. Thats what concerns me. Its not necessarily the candidacies, although certainly more in cleveland with trump is divisive, is its a platform. The world is watching. Its not Hillary Clinton. Its like, oh, yeah. By the way, shes gonna be the nominee. Its the opportunity to get your message out amongst millions upon millions of people across the world. Mmhmm. Lets talk about the political aspect, and, as we know, the president ial candidates, out of deference for what happened in dallas, canceled some events, some local here, but Hillary Clinton was in Atlantic City recently, campaigning earlier this week, using Donald Trumps casino empire, or former empire, as an example he shouldnt be running the country. Trump has been jumping on clinton, claiming that she actually bribed the Justice Department to clear her in the email investigation. So, the question here is, is philadelphia ready for the rhetoric . Because we know that the dnc is actually prepared for the scenario that donald trump has rallies here somewhere. [ laughter ]. But that theyre ready for the possibility that he comes to philadelphia and has twin rallies going on. Well, you know, matt, i think the Philadelphia Police department has really learned a lot over the years and has really learned how to handle these situations. You dont see these kind of incidents occurring in philadelphia, and, after all, back in the 70s and 60s, we had a different reputation for our police, but i had the experience in 2000 of attending both conventions the Republican Convention in philadelphia, Democratic Convention in l. A. The Philadelphia Police under john timoney did a far better job than l. A. Pd. They deescalated. There were lots of protesters. You remember all those things going on back in 2000 when george w. Bush was nominated. Timoney was on a bike. Yeah. Officers were in swat gear, and it turned out that philadelphia, even in the year 2000 now, were talking years ago handled it so much better than los angeles handled it, and i think weve got a good chance that were gonna do as good a job this time. A. C. Casinos is that an albatross for donald trump, and is the email investigation going to be an albatross for clinton leading up to the conventions . I think the email has much more of a shot. Republicans tried to do that. I think she was more skillful than republicans were of tying a. C. To donald trump. She went there with good photo ops. There was a lot of stuff. She found a guy who was stiffed by him on bankruptcy, but it hasnt worked, and i dont think its gonna work. With her, though, ive done straw polls with people across the board, and the one word out of all the words that stick are liar, corrupt that kind of thing. Her untrustworthy numbers rival anybody weve ever seen, and thats something shes gonna have to address. This hasnt gone away yet. But, also, the normal lines of decorum dont apply for donald trump. Its like your drunk friend. You dont really apply the same standard to the ones that are sober. So i think donald can do and say whatever he wants. It doesnt really stick because we almost have this numbing effect of what he says and what he doesnt say, but hes not just a dog whistler. Hes a whistle whistler. I mean, what hes doing is stoking the fears and anxiety of both the majority, who have lost economic who are now finding themselves disproportionately hurt in terms of economy since 2008. Hes also stoking the fears of white america, who feel that they have lost some of their privilege, as well as rights within america. Hes talking about citizens who are worried about Illegal Immigrants. I mean, so hes stoking, in some cases, legitimate fears, but the way hes doing it, its sort of rallying that base, and im not convinced that hes a racist. Im not convinced hes any of those things. I think hes just a smart businessperson who knows how to mobilize various factions and stoke the anxiety for his own personal gain. Well, the anxietys real. Some of these are Bernie Sanders people. Bernie sanders did the same thing from the left the two of them come together. All demagogues work with real things. They work with natural fears and anxiety, and we are at a Tipping Point in our country, post2008, where people are struggling with jobs, people are struggling with income disparities, people are struggling with violence, people are struggling with terrorism, people are struggling with illegal immigration. It doesnt matter whether trump is personally a racist. What matters is when he uses racist and antisemitic imagery the star of david with a picture of hillary with money flowing down over her. Were saying the same thing. Hes appropriating these images from extremist groups. Whether hes doing it intentionally i dont know whats better. Is he doing it intentionally or is he just ignorant . I dont know which one. Or is he doing it and basically admitting that he is when, before, it was more subtle . Yeah. And i think we are pawns to this game, and i dont think its right. But its not the first time that this has happened with him. And hes not antisemitic. His soninlaws an orthodox jew. Its sloppiness, which is not excusable. Just like carelessness is not an excuse for the email debacle with hillary, but what i think it is, matt, is he has the socialmedia people. He has people that are not professional and maybe even sympathetic to supremacists, and rather than firing them, he never apologizes. Thats part of the schtick never apologize. Nate silver of the blog fivethirtyeight lists pennsylvania as one of the select states that can flip red on election day even though pollsters have been saying this, basically, the last election cycle over the course of 12 years. Pennsylvania hasnt gone red since 1988 with george h. W. Bush. Do you buy what nate silver is saying, where he thinks, you know what . Maybe trump could win pennsylvania . If he wins pennsylvania, hes president trump. First, ill say that. Hillary has to win pennsylvania in order to win the Electoral College map. What i do think is if you look at some of the counties that have become more competitive in terms of their registration numbers, since the last eight years, they have all trended up in terms of number of Republican Voters increasing as related to democrats. If he gets about 1,000 to 2,000 more votes in these 10 counties and these counties, bucks is one of them and philadelphia. Bucks is one of them. But others are in scranton wilkesbarre, and absolutely watch out for western pennsylvania. These are democrats, reagan democrats that could be pulling the lever for trump. I dont think democrats are taking pennsylvania for granted. Theyre not. And i think even in the last couple of elections with john kerry or barack obama, constantly really campaigning here because the real turning thing on election day is turnout. If youve got huge populations in philadelphia and the pittsburgh area, theyre mostly democratic. Youve got a democratic governor. Youve got pockets around the state that are not gonna vote democratic when they go for donald trump. Thats absolutely gonna happen. So, if the turnout is not high, particularly in the southeast, then donald trump definitely could win pennsylvania. I think he does rather well in philadelphia. Its a weird sort of thing. Its the frank rizzo syndrome bridesburg, south philly, port richmond. Hell do much better than mccain or romney in philadelphia. Hell certainly attract a lot of democratic votes. Yeah. Right . Yeah. I think in western pennsylvania. Some. Some republicans will vote for hillary, too. Sure, and some said they already will. All right, so this may sum things up right here. G. Terry madonna, he writes his politically uncorrected column. He asks the question, is it bad that the two main candidates for the president of the United States are widely unpopular . Yes, of course. Going back to 92, the winning president ial candidate always had a favorable rating above 50. Right. Both of them are gonna likely be in the 40s of favorable on election day. Is that bad . Well, i would say certainly not good. I think trump is much more unpopular than hillary on a popularity scale. Ironically, hillary still polls as the most admired woman in the United States. So, some of these polls are very inconsistent, but if you look at peoples opinions just about politicians generally, most politicians poll unpopular. Sure. So the trend has been moving in that direction, and a lot of it has very little to do with the actual candidates. I differ on that. No, i think these are two of the most unpopular people weve ever seen. Its a race to the bottom. Hillarys most admired because of name recognition. Shes not even admired inside the Democrat Party by and large. Thats why Bernie Sanders did so well. Deep down, i think the base of the Democrat Party would want Bernie Sanders. Its hard not to admire someone with her credentials, though. We may disagree with her policy. We may say that shes not not even like her. We dont like her likability is a big factor. That may be, especially with the credibility, but to suggest that shes not worthy of admiration, especially with what she has accumulated over the careers. Look, when barack obama was president , i remember my republican friends saying that this guys not articulate. He needs a teleprompter to give a speech. Barack obama is one of the most articulate, eloquent president s weve ever had in history. It was just that theres something within us that will deny the ability to sort of say that somebody we dont like may be good for the job that they have, and i think theres a little bit of that with hillary. But in terms of her policy, i may not agree 100 with, but you have to admire someone with her credentials and the life that she has led. Were gonna take a quick break. Well be right back with 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. When youre the parent of a disabled child, you realize that the world can be a harsh place. But you also realize it can be a really loving, wonderful place. When i saw donald trump mock somebody who was disabled, i was appalled. You gotta see this guy. Ahh, i dont know what i said, ahh, i dont remember that reporter suffers from a chronic condition that impairs movement of his arms. It told me everything i need to know about his heart and what he believes deep down. Priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. Priorities usa action is responsible unexpected extra steps to raise healthy chickens with no antibiotics ever. For example, thyme. Its part of our 100 veggie diet that we feed our chickens and helps support their immune system. And we dont need to add antibiotics to their diet. If you want some sage advice, you should use thyme. Okay, rosemary. Thyme, just one more way we bring you chicken raised with no antibiotics ever. Its not the easy way. Its the perdue way. Back with inside story. The philadelphia archbishop and the philadelphia mayor are butting heads again. Archbishop Charles Chaput released a new set of rules for local catholics that forbid sexually active gays and unmarried couples to receive communion or hold leadership roles in their parishes if they continue to have sex. Now, mayor jim kenney then tweeted this jesus gave us the gift of Holy Communion because he loved us all of us. Chaputs actions are not christian. Again, the mayor of philadelphia saying about the philadelphia archbishop his actions are not christian. Well, it doesnt surprise me. This is what jim kenneys about, and a lot of people in philadelphia like this. Its incredibly disrespectful. And i differ with the archbishop. I think hes harsh in these guidelines, and he didnt have to be, particularly, matt, for catholics who remarry, and then they cant have sex because you cant get an annulment and all that stuff. Its amazing to me that he said that, but the response of i think kenneys a catholic to the archbishop, its really unparalleled. Mmhmm. He actually butted heads with chaput back before he ran for mayor about another issue image and money with the archdiocese. Just as mayor, this is a leader of a large group of people, and you would think treading water in this area would be wrong, but given our last conversation in the earlier segment, maybe it just makes sense these days for a leader well, you know, it is hard for the mayor to contain himself. He had a reputation during his years in city council shooting off the mouth and flipping out tweets about the Dallas Cowboys and Chris Christie and other things, and the political storyline was, wow, this guys really got himself under control when he ran for mayor. No more of that stuff was happening. Staff must be great and all that, and he really did, and that went on for a number of months, but, you know, the true person comes out, and youre sitting at home, and youve got that little device. I think it was a broader thing here, too. I think because of the priest scandal nationwide and here locally, the church has been diminished. You couldnt do this 10, 15 years ago. You take a shot like this if youre mayor, there would be repercussion. Is this surprising, too, given that pope francis was just here in september, and he actually was kind of encouraging not directing, but encouraging the church to be more receptive to people like this, and to i mean, obviously, hes one of the more conservative bishops that we have in america. Right. You hit the nail on the head. He came from colorado, and he had this reputation. Listen, im not catholic, but this is the teachings of the Catholic Church whether or not we agree with them or disagree with them, or we consider it to be oldfashioned. Its just its right. The pope comes, and you have i just think theres better ways. Twitter is not the mechanism by, i would think, youd want to communicate that disagreement. I am catholic, and Church Doctrine does not move lockstep with social evolution, and just evolution and social norms. Having said that, and as catholics, we sort of take the edict that comes from the vatican as law, but as normal, rational human beings, and when we look at something that offends our own consciousness, we then speak out saying, that just doesnt sound right. I dont think the jesus that i know, that i pray to, would probably accept noninclusiveness. So thats what jim kenney, i think, was trying to suggest. Was is it inelegant . Probably, especially considering the position that he is in. I mean, i think you saw the jimmy from the block kind of contain himself a little bit during when he became a candidate, and i think youve seen a restrained mayor, but sometimes, you know, you let steam off, and this is an example of that. But this is also internal church politics. Im a catholic myself. Lets not forget. The archbishops statement was in response to and its cyclical, i believe from the vatican. Right. The archbishop is not in the wing of the church that really supports many of the things that pope francis is proposing, so this was kind of a countershot within that internecine world of vatican politics is the way i read it. I think thats right. Absolutely. But, and, also, there are a group of people, though, who like this because theyve been following the rules. Theyve been calling me and telling me that youre way out of step with this. They actually like this. They like it reaffirmed in this manner, which is surprising to me. I think its very harsh, but i think that hes speaking to his base, perhaps . Yeah, exactly right. So, sanctuary city. Well talk about that real quick. Mayor kenney was drawn into another battle with pennsylvanias junior senator. Senator pat toomey introduced a sanctuary city bill that would strip funding from cities like philadelphia for offering relief for undocumented immigrants. Kenneys championed this issue. Toomeys bill quickly fell in the senate, and, oddly enough, toomeys democratic opponent, katie mcginty, sided with toomey on this issue. Not really. I think shes trying to find ground here because she realizes this issue across the state, maybe not in philadelphia, has tremendous power based upon things weve seen. So i think shes cleverly said that jim kenneys gone too far, matt, but i dont think shes on board with sanctuary city. Dom, lets be clear. The toomey bill was a draconian antiphiladelphia bill. If that had passed, that would have been tons of money federal money for, among other things, Law Enforcement deprived from the city because of senator toomeys actions. Luckily, it didnt pass. So katie has not endorsed the bill. She has said, we need to reexamine the sanctuary city issue, and we need to be more aggressive in making sure that Illegal Immigrants who commit crimes are prosecuted and deported. Well, i also think, remember who is also in disagreement with our mayor and with, perhaps, katies position president obama and the Obama Administration and the department of homeland security. So this is not just a partisan political issue. Not withstanding the consequences of philadelphia, the situation of logic should not apply. You cant pick and choose which laws to follow. Inside stories of the week coming up. I survived breast cancer. If the doctors hadnt caught it early i might not be sitting here. So im outraged that pat toomey voted to defund planned parenthood. Which thousands of pennsylvania women depend on for cancer screenings. Pat toomey was even willing to shut down the federal government to eliminate funding for planned parenthood. Shut down the government over planned parenthood . I think we ought to shut down pat toomey. Women vote is responsible for the content of this advertising. 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. Inside stories of the week we start with ajay. Matt, the 1 is hurting since brexit and post2008. New York Real Estate about 3 million, over 169 days still on the market. Youre talking 31 downwards. Youre not getting chinese and russians and japanese buying in new york anymore or highend art is not going as fast as it can. I think the 1 is feeling exactly what the 99 has felt since 2008. Thank you, ajay. Dom . We got a tin cup here. Yeah. Dom . Uh, matt, tom marr passed away. Tom marr was a longtime baltimore and philadelphia talk show host, and when i broke in at wwdb not so long ago there were these great names of philadelphia one of them irv homer, who you know was a panelist here. Dominic quinn, susan bray, dr. Jim corea, and tom marr the golden age of talk radio. There was tremendous diversity, color, and entertainment. He was one of the oldtimers. Thanks, dom. Jim . Matt, during the convention, all of the politics thats gonna be going on, theres a Great Charity event the tuesday night of the convention i believe the 26th down at Citizens Bank park, a celebrity allstar batting challenge. Perhaps youd like to join in. Some of the proceeds are going to go to the washington literacy project and to phillies charities. Thanks, jim. Jeff . Slogan on governor gary johnson and governor william weld the libertarians on their website is, make america sane again. Well, can sanity result itself . And if this ticket gets 15 in the National Polls of an average of about five polls coming in around labor day, they get into the debates. Watch out. The positions of the libertarians and the green party could still get in the ballot, could make a huge impact on this election, and who knows . In this year, anything could happen. You know what . Youre right. [ laughter ] anything can happen cause a lot of things have happened that we never expected. Thats inside story for this week. Thanks for watching, everyone. Well see you next week. Byebye. Im nydia han with gray hall. Coming up next praying for peace and Church Members unite for a special services in montgomery county. We are live. Plus Police Released disturbing new details about dallas snipper Micah Johnson why they believe he was plotting larges tax. Begin fire kills a man in Delaware County and leaves his sister, critically injured. Those stories, the accu Weather Forecast and more next up on action news. Action news, delaware valleys leading news program. Good afternoon, it is sunday july 10th im nydia han with gray hall. Heres some of the stories we are following on action news. Tensions continue to escalate across the nation, as protesters take to the streets, after two Deadly Police invol