Transcripts For WPVI Inside Story 20170813 : vimarsana.com

Our funding because were just trying to keep Public Safety issues. Philadelphia has some of the same rub. Should we jump on the bandwagon . Monica, you know, i do this every day. Im in the trenches on immigration, and so i have sort of like a bottomup view of this, and i have a problem with both extremes on this issue. We have people who do not only want to limit illegal immigration but also legal immigration, and so what theyre doing is theyre conflating criminal activity with illegality, with your legal status. There is absolutely no correlation there. On the other hand, you have immigrant advocates who are unwilling to even acknowledge the fact that you need some kind of Cooperation Among all of the Public Safety officials and officers to keep everyone, including those who may not be here in a documented way, safe. I do tend to agree with those who argue, though, that if an immigrant, legal of illegal, feels that theyre in danger of being arrested and or deported by ice if they go and report a crime, that makes our communities unsafe. So whats the answer, then . Where do we go next . In terms of whats actually going on on the ground, theres this misconception that City Government is not turning over people with criminal records that are immigrants to ice, and thats just false. There are several instances in which someone has been identified as a criminal and theyre here illegally, and that information has been turned over to ice. Where the mayor and others are drawing the line i think is in the space that christine is talking about, which is that space in which you have to exercise some kind of moral discretion. But the other thing that i think is worth noting with respect to chicago so, its very likely philadelphia is, the mayor is speaking to our mayor is speaking to mayor emanuel. Right. They are having conversations about how to work together. Our mayor acknowledges that there are various levels of sanctuary city. You know, weve got one type, theyve got Something Else. Every city has a different orientation to how they do this. And so theres certainly a high probability at a minimum of an amicus. There may be more activity on the side of the city, but theres broadly recognition that philadelphia needs to be participative in this. Were talking about millions of dollars, george 2. 3 million at least for chicago, couple million for philadelphia. I mean, its a modest amount of money in the great scheme of things, but its an important amount of money. The sanctuary city debate is a legitimate debate. Michael nutter had a different view of it than jim kenney has of it. But in my judgment, that should be how it gets reconciled should be worked out in the courts, and the Trump Administration should not be blackmailing cities by threatening to withhold funds if you dont conform to their view of the world. Theyve had litigation i think in San Francisco and a couple of other cities with respect to this. It will get resolved in that litigation posture. But the president campaigned on helping chicago solve its crisis, and now theyre trying to blackmail them to get 2. 3 million. Right. And i think its unfair of the attorney general to suggest this rhetoric that we get into in politics these days to suggest that somehow because the mayor of chicago and the city of chicago does not conform to the sanctuarycity requirements are somehow abandoning their responsibility to protect their city. Thats obnoxious. And no surprise hold on that jeff sessions, the attorney general, supports, of course, the president s stance on this. So, val, where does that leave us . cause its also seattle and richmond and santa clara county, california. Yeah, well, its a little bit of a euphemism here on georges part that were not conforming. You know, federal law the feds handle some things, and the states handle some things. Imagine a patchwork of laws where everyone decides what they want to do on issues that are constitutionally delegated to the federal government. In the case of immigration, you cant have every city and every state deciding what their own immigration policies are. So weve had this debate in the 60s on civil rights. Federal government has a role in certain areas, and they have the right to enforce those laws. Second, this is a dangerous situation where in a report, in a Government Accountability report in 2011, said that you had 250,000 Illegal Immigrants committing over 2 million crimes. And the crimes were rape, murder, on and on, drug arrests. There were so many please, christine. You cannot as a mayor say, im not gonna comply with ices requirements. But the other thing is and, val, i understand your concern. And you actually made my point for me when you said you cannot have a patchwork system. It is not within the purview of local municipalities to enforce federal immigration. But nobody wants rapes and murders, either, so weve got to have we dont, but what are the statistics of illegal and legal theres a law that says that the local governments have to comply. Law enforcement has to comply with ice on this. Its in the code. The constitution theres a law on the books, christine, that says that local governments and Law Enforcement have to comply. At the end of the day, thats why we have courts. In the civil rights fight, we had to go to court to fight against laws that were on the books that people thought were unfair and inappropriate. Thats why you have courts here to resolve this dispute. But the federal government should not be blackmailing cities and withholding necessary funding. But also hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. They should not be blackmailing cities and withholding funding that allow them to fight the crime that theyre talking about. Exactly, and compliance what youre talking about, val, is there are levels of compliance just as donna said. No, there youre a lawyer. Theres compliance, number one. Number two, as far as blackmail, blackmail is an unfortunate term. Nobody said it was blackmail when the kennedy administration, the Eisenhower Administration rightly went into the south and said, you have to comply with federal law or were gonna bring in the troops. On civil rights. Right. So its not blackmails an unfortunate term. They went there because people werent complying with the law. Correct. They were doing exactly what youre suggesting. Thats whats happening with ice. The local governments are not complying with ice requirements. Donna, get to you. Chime in. Just let me add one point. We watched a number of failures on immigration legislation at the federal level. We had republican legislators and democratic legislators in congress who tried to move Something Else forward, and they failed this is an abject legislative congressional failure. But its relevant because these peoples lives hang in the balance. By the way, do you guys know what happened to joe arpaio, who supposedly was complying with the law . That guy was going well beyond what the mandate was supposed to be. He was going out and deliberately, in a discriminatory manner, looking for people who looked a certain way and thought, well, you know what . These guys, they got to be illegal aliens. They committed specific crimes. Racial profiling. He has been held in contempt of court. Thats a different issue from what were talking about. All right, hold on. Val, next point. Go ahead, val. Its a different issue. Let val it wrap up. Go ahead. When ice comes and says, are you holding on detainer illegal aliens . And the mayor says no or Law Enforcement says no, thats a violation of law, clear and simple, number one. Number two, this is a 70 issue across the united states. Poll after poll, and ive seen them, say that people do not like the sanctuary city policy. And if democrats want to run on that next year, the Republican Party will take them on on it. Were gonna win on that issue. Toomey did last year. Were gonna win on that issue again next year. All right, lets move on and talk about two seats that could be in play, at least democrats are hoping that they are in this area, two incumbents pat meehan, the congressman from delaware, republican, as well, and incumbent congressman mike fitzpatrick, also a republican from bucks county. Both those seats are seen as vulnerable because of the trump coattails, at least according to democrats, and are putting some money and effort into trying to unseat those two. Whats the likelihood . Whats the vulnerability of those two seats . This is an area where you know a lot about it. Yeah, theres seats that are in play. Pat meehan has shown himself to be a very deft legislator who represents his district. Fitzpatrick, the same thing. Theyre voting their district right now, and there are some people in my party who are unhappy with them. Thats actually gonna serve them well with moderates in the suburbs. Pat meehan holds it. Hes got the most money on hand of almost any congressman in the nation, certainly any in pennsylvania. These are two skilled legislators who i think will survive. These races will be in play, but were ready to defend them. So democrats trying to do town halls, also using healthcare obviously as one of the controversial bulletpoints in their list of areas of discomfort. Well, one of the big problems on our side of the aisle is that were gonna have aggressive primaries in which were gonna have Democratic Candidates challenging each other. And in those primaries, its very likely to yield the kind of content that then gives rise to more conflict in the headon head race for the general election. My biggest concern on the democratic side is we need to be vetting good candidates to run, and we need to figure out a way to consolidate primaries in such a way that were behind a candidate. Im especially focused on that race in wisconsin where i think a rising candidate is gonna be able to do that and maybe take out paul ryan. And how do you feel about the methods . The democrats are trying some new things with google ads. Whenever you, you know, type in the word even congressman or healthcare, up pops some information, and it could lead you to their website. I think there are gonna be a whole host of efforts to muddy the waters with respect to candidates, and i think that, you know, the issue is when you get down to all these issues, the question is do voters still want change . And is there a frustration level out there thats gonna feed into that change . Most people forget that when barack obama was elected president of the united states, they were having the same discussion in the Republican Party about total disarray, where are we going, who are our leaders. 10 years later, the democrats are in the same place that republicans were then. And the question for next year is, do voters still want change . And i think they do. And whos gonna be able to define and respond to that as a matter of political messaging. All right, speaking of campaign, lets talk about the d. A. s race in philadelphia. Its pitting lots of people, two candidates, per se, but the people behind them are the ones really now the focus is on. So its a matter of which side that youre interested in, and at this point, its Larry Krasner backed by many. People say george soros put a lot of money behind him and thats how he beat out that large field of other candidates, six others. And then, of course, Beth Grossman whos running. And now shes gotten a philly, a former philly, anyway, Curt Schilling on the radiowaves talking about her campaign. Do you think the battle of the famous people is going to help out in this case . Ive interviewed Beth Grossman, as well. Shes extremely articulate, and she has a very strong i think a centrist vision for the city, which is important in this particular race, because with this particular democratic candidate, Larry Krasner, you have someone at the extreme leftward fringes of the Democratic Party who is representing the prosecutors office, the law and order branch of the government. And unfortunately, during the primaries, it didnt appear that very many of the Democratic Candidates were really talking more about the issues that, you know, the quality of life, the victim, how crime affects the victims, and it almost sounded as if they were vying for public defender office, chief defender. Beth grossman i think has an opportunity because she does have the backing of the fop, and she does have sort of like a large a diverse backing both demographically and i think politically. I think she has an opportunity to really wrest this position from a guy who is seen as, by many, including myself, extremely radical. Its an uphill climb. Its a 71 registration advantage, and Larry Krasner is the democratic nominee. So what do you make of the actual struggle ahead were gonna be watching . Well, while i think its true that during the primary there was a lot of disconnects and there were some angry people that george soros had funded Larry Krasner, there is an equal balancing force out there, which is that i dont think weve ever seen a time when people who live in large cities have been more distrustful of institutions that govern them. And i think that works to Larry Krasners advantage. In addition to that, hes also wrapped up endorsements from the big unions, the lgbtq community, and a number of other really important folks on the democratic side of the equation that if you didnt have them, if they were off the reservation, then youd have a different kind of problem. And he was a defense attorney for 30 years, specifically on civilrights cases. And notably, michael coard, whos one of the most significant black activists in the city, has been out front for this guy during the primary, made it really clear that krasner was gonna bring something important to the table that the black community needed in a period of time in which they feel under siege. And whats in this for george soros, george . I dont know what george soros is i have no idea. I dont know. But hes done this around the country in other places. And so hes into Law Enforcement. Hes into perhaps changing and speaking for minority communities who believe that District Attorney offices and attorney general offices have worked against them. I think Larry Krasner would have won without the soros money. I think he capably defined himself as a change agent, which people are looking for. I think people respect the fact that he brings that defender perspective. He understands that, and he reflects change in the same way that josh shapiro got himself elected attorney general in the commonwealth of pennsylvania without any prosecutorial background, cause people think he represents change. You know, monica, we have an adversarial position. This is an adversarial system, and you cannot have two individuals who seem to be aligned with the defense, who seem to be aligned with the offender as opposed to having someone who is out there for the people. You know, its always the commonwealth versus. Its not the victim versus. Its the commonwealth versus the defendant. And so having someone like Larry Krasner i actually think that having all of the activists for, you know, in the minority communities and victims not victims groups those who feel that there has been an unfair sense of prosecution on the part of the d. A. s office is actually gonna hurt him with respect to people thinking that hes gonna be a serious prosecutor. But if prosecutors can go to be defense attorneys, why cant a defense attorney go to be a prosecutor . Fair play. All right, were gonna take a break. Inside story continues right after this. Stick around. 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 to inside story. Talking about Pennsylvania State budget. We have a 32 billion budget, 2 billion hole that still has to be filled. Right now legislators have been borrowing money to fill the gap. Theyre not gonna be able to do that forever. And still debating what other options they have. Ironic, in a way, that last year or last budget, the new governor couldnt get one that everybody liked. This time hes in sync with the senate, but the house cant come around. What is the deal, val . I think its i dont think its necessarily realistic to say hes in sync with the senate. Hes made a deal with the senate that he can live with. Hed want much more spending. Right. Interesting about this is the governors been largely awol in the negotiations. Theyve tried to have fiveparty talks. The governor hasnt even been in town. Weve documented that. The governor needs to show some leadership as a chief executive to bring people together, even though hes from the other party. I see george snickering already. [ laughs ] so why cant the house come on board . Whats the issue . The house has a different view of what should be happening in the commonwealth. They believe that they dont want any more tax increases. Pennsylvanians are taxed enough. They think we could find cuts. Then they want to find cuts, and they dont want to do it with borrowing. So thats what their voters sent them to do, and theyre representing their districts. And, george, youre laughing. Well, this is the failure between i mean, everybody always wants to point to the governor, and ive been critical of the governor when hes warranted criticism. But hes cut a deal with the republicans. And the republicans themselves cant cut a deal with their partners in the state house. And it takes that triangle, and the governors on vacation, he says. Well, the state house is on vacation. Theyre not there. They get the scuttlebutt. Theyve had these private in fact, they said they had a private conversation with the Senate Leadership and the governor and the house leadership during this period and nothing came of it. They werent negotiations at the house leadership, but they were discussions. But this is a republican problem where theres a dramatic they have the same fundamental principles, i believe, but they have to balance the budget, and they wont do it. And then the squeeze, our state colleges and other groups that may lose their funding or may get short . There are a lot of people that are gonna get hurt if governing occurs. But i want to be clear about something. I mean, to characterize the governor as awol, i think, is inaccurate and unfair. I mean, its not like hes off in europe. Hes available to be participating. Wasnt in harrisburg. Hes available yeah, but, val, its an hour drive. You and i drive that drive. Come on. I mean, thats a little disingenuous. He was in philadelphia. So what . Hes in the commonwealth. Hes talking to people that he needs to talk to. All right, so what do you think is the answer . How do we fill that gap . So, dave reed on the house side is trying to have something pulled together by the end of august. Personally, i think trying to do anything by the end of august is like hurting cats, but i admire the fact that hes at least making an attempt to get something pulled together by the end of august. Whether or not it happens is unclear. But theres pain here. Theres gonna be pain for a lot of people. Right, lets talk about School Funding now, because its dependent on the state, as well, and the src running philadelphia schools is nothing new, but theres new talk every year about should the src be gotten rid of . Should we get a new board to somehow make these decisions . Philadelphia actually has never had its own board. Its been state run for a long time. Whats the answer . Because thats a 3 billion budget that half of which comes from the state and half from the city. Theres always been this desire on the part of philadelphia for selfgovernance, but the src can only dissolve itself. And estelle richman, one of the new members, indicated that she would be willing for them to dissolve, but then what happens if you dont have a backup plan . You dont have a board, a School District. A vacuum of leadership, right. Exactly, so, i mean, its nice to talk about getting rid of it, but whats plan b . Well, also, i think its useful to remember that in the rest of the if were talking about an elected school board, the governor talked about an elected school board other people in leadership on both sides of the aisle have talked about that. But in other counties around the commonwealth, an elected school board is a smaller subset of a county. I mean, philadelphia is the only county and city of the first class. Were the only county that has that status. But the question then recurs how would you construct it . Would it be by councilmanic district . Each councilmanic district has an elected board . Because, frankly, to try and govern, i think part of the problem is that what is at work here is something that is so large and unyielding that its very difficult. And how do you keep people from being available for paytoplay issues or bribery . How do you keep one group honest versus the other . Thats a very big issue. But the problem here is that the src is supposed to be the embodiment of the state running Public Education in philadelphia. There is no evidence whatsoever that the state is actually running Public Education or engaged in the process. The fact is that the src was appointed at a time when john perzel and dwight evans were the powers in harrisburg, and governor schweiker was talking about all philadelphias children being pennsylvanias children. There was a different set of dynamics different finances, but different set of dynamics. Now the people who are running harrisburg have no direct relationship. So the src actually functions on an island, and there is no one with a real power to govern education in philadelphia. But theres a lot of money on the line, val. Almost 2 billion comes from the state. The state wants to have some stake in education. I think george is right. It was done at a time when dwight and john perzel, two powerhouses from the city, were caring about philadelphia education. We need people in harrisburg who care about philadelphia education. Thats important. We need some state oversight. Look, it was put together at a time when the School District was financially collapsing and kids were not being educated. Nothing has changed since then. So what are we gonna replace it with . I think it needs to be done in a bipartisan way. I think people around the state do care about philadelphia kids getting educated, but they want to see some reform to the system before we spend 1. 8 billion of taxpayer money on the system. All right, were gonna leave it at that. Inside stories of the week coming your way next. Stick around. 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. Time for inside stories of the week. And lets start with george. Although theres support in the community, theres also frustration in minority communities that when an epidemic like the Opioid Epidemic impacts the Majority Community in a significant way that the federal government can find 45 billion and state governments can find money to directly address that issue but are not addressing issues like poverty and education and other ones in the same way. So where was the money when the other community needed it . All right. Christine. Monica, when i was 18, i registered as a democrat like my family, and for 35 years, i remained in the Democratic Party even though i was very, very disappointed with what i saw an increasing opposition, hostility to prolife members. I left. Now im happy to note that the dnc has Just Announced that they are no longer going to put a ban on supporting prolife Democratic Candidates. Its important for them to understand that there may be some democrats out there who would vote for prolife candidates, so maybe ill reregister as a democrat. Okay. Donna. So, Atlantic City used to be in its earliest incarnation a place that was focused on health and wellness. And few people would think of it in that way these days given the hard times that its fallen on and the orientation of the city. But theres a small, exciting, little thing going on on the Atlantic City boardwalk supported by the city, tropicana, and atlanticare gym. Were doing zumba on the boardwalk at noon on friday, saturday, and 10 00 on sunday. If you missed it this week, come next week. Its free. Its a ball. Marisela dellinger is a great leader, zumba leader, and get in good health. Get it in early in the morning. All right. Val. One thing ive been dealing with as a state gop chair is an error that the media when they call me trying to push that were somehow on our heels in the Republican Party across the state. In the region, registrations are proceeding as they had been, pretty much on an even par in the counties. But at the national level, were seeing rnc outpacing dnc donations by 2 to 1 and small donors by 50 more. For those who arent good for percentages, thats 1 1 2 to 1. So the Republican Partys alive and well. All right. Good to know. Thats inside story for this week. Thank you so much for watching. Hope youll be right back here next sunday morning. Thanks to our panelists. Everybody have a great week ahead. See you then. Im nydia han along with gray hall. Coming up next, the mother of the driver accused of attack ago crowd in virginia, said she had did not know why he was there. A fight outside a chester bar turns into shootout with police. One step off the curb, a man plunges into a hidden sinkhole, those stories and more next on action news. Fios is not cable. Were a 100 fiber optic network. And with the new fios gigabit connection. You get our Fastest Internet ever. With download speeds up to 940 megs 20 times faster than most people have. Switch to fios gigabit connection with tv and phone for 79. 99 a month online for the first year. Plus hbo for one year and multiroom dvr service for two years, all with a twoyear agreement. And switching has never been easier. Get out of you contract with up to a 500 credit to help cover your early termination fee. Go to fiosgigabit. Com august 13, im nydia han along with gray hall. Heres a look at the stories were following on action news, the fbi begins an investigation into the deadly clashes in charlottesville, virginia. As