tracy davidson: preventing road rage. a week after a deadly incident on a local road, a new crackdown went into effect. we'll look at the steps you can take to avoid aggressive drivers. a new focus on the opioid abuse epidemic. pennsylvania isn't just going after the dealers. see who else they're investigating. and countdown to total eclipse. this summer, see how people are getting ready for a sight that hasn't been seen coast to coast in nearly a century. male announcer: "nbc10 @issue" starts now. female: when i see them, like, being erratic and having erratic behavior, i just get away. tracy: there's a new crackdown on aggressive driving in pennsylvania a week after a case of road rage turned deadly. good morning, i'm tracy davidson. road rage is a problem that's getting new attention after the shooting death of a recent high school graduate in chester county. a week ago today, police arrested 28-year old david

desper, whom they say shot and killed bianca roberson in chester county. according to investigators, he fired the shot from his pickup truck as the two tried to merge into the same lane. a recent survey by the aaa foundation for traffic safety found nearly nine in ten people thought aggressive drivers were a somewhat or very dangerous threat to their personal safety. it also found that potentially aggressive actions are a factor in up to 56% of deadly crashes. on thursday, penndot launched a program aimed at stopping violence behind the wheel. penndot is footing the bill to put more officers on the street to look out for aggressive drivers. brad randolph: if you're speeding or exhibiting any kind of dangerous behavior behind the wheel, police are going to target you. tracy: the enforcement wave will last 2 months. joining us now to discuss the issue of road rage and how to prevent it are therapist arlene foreman, and jana tidwell from aaa mid-atlantic. welcome to you both. i'm going to start with you, arlene, because you specialize in anger management,

and you told me there's a distinction between the feeling of anger and the acting out, which is the aggressive form. how does it get there when we're out on the roads? why is this happening? arlene foreman: before they even get in the car, it's just people that have issues with anger. and something happens on the road that just triggers them, but they could trigger it anywhere. i have clients that come in with issues of anger and not road rage, and they'll tell me later in the session that they cut people off, they'll give people the finger, they'll scream at them. it's the same person just in a car. tracy: so, if you know you're angry and you know that sometimes that anger spills over into action, before you get in the car, what should you do? can you do anything? arlene: yes. you change the--i change the chemistry of my brain from a body and brain full of adrenaline and cortisol, which keeps me hyped up, to the breath.

and when i have a short breath in, long, slow breath out, short breath in, long, slow breath out, and repeatedly do that, i change the chemistry in my body and brain from adrenaline and cortisol, to oxytocin, endorphins, balance out serotonin, dopamine, and i feel relaxed. tracy: and really that's about protecting yourself as well as the other people who you could be targeting out on the road, so that's good advice. arlene: anger kills. there's so much research--don't even--you know, don't mention about killing other people. i'm killing myself with all of those cortisol, adrenaline hormones, like, surging through my arteries. tracy: so, jana, talk to us about what drivers can do when they encounter aggressive drivers. how can they protect themselves?

jana tidwell: first and foremost, aaa recommends that you just don't engage with these drivers in any way. you know, it takes--it takes a second person to fight with someone who's looking for a fight. so, if you are--do not make eye contact with those drivers, continue to keep a safe space between your vehicle and other vehicles out there on the road, don't engage in any type of gesture. but if you feel threatened, if you feel somebody is following you, you feel someone is just bouncing all over the road in an unsafe way, you definitely want to call police, you want to call 911, you want to drive to a safe, public place where there are a lot of people. don't drive home, don't lead that person to your home, and don't leave your car until the police get there. tracy: we also say--we often say that that tempers flare during the hot summer months. do you see that, and do you see that translating into more aggressive driving in the summer months? jana: can't say that we see more aggression in the summer months, but motorists need to understand that this is peak

summer driving season, there are more cars out there on the roadway, so you definitely want to give yourself plenty of extra time. and don't engage in behaviors that you know are triggers to other motorists, whether it be cutting them off, tailgating too closely, you know, engaging in a gesture, or honking the horn. you definitely want to try to stay away from those. but if you do make a mistake merging into the roadway, and you realize you cut somebody off, someone had to put their brake on too soon, you definitely want to gesture an apology of some sort, yeah. tracy: "sorry, sorry, got it," yeah. now, tell us about the new aggressive driving crackdown that was announced on thursday. what is--what is that all about, and how do you think it will address the problem? jana: penndot's working with police departments throughout the state, and especially here in the philadelphia area, to set up patrols over the next couple of months, to make the public aware that this is just not the way you're supposed to be driving.

everybody out there on the road should remember not only their own personal safety, but the safety of everybody else out there. so, there will be a very visible police presence, and they will be pulling over those drivers who participate in aggressive driving, which we know as speeding, which is the number one cause of crashes in the country, running red lights. those all fall under aggressive driving. road rage is really the-- tracy: that's the extreme, right? all of these other things are under the umbrella. jana: of course, of course. tracy: jana, thank you so much. arlene, thank you so much. we'll remind people to just take a deep breath before they get behind the wheel, keep everybody safe. well, pennsylvania is one of the states hit hard by the opioid abuse epidemic, and now the state is going after more than just drug dealers. attorney general josh shapiro joins us to tell us about a new investigation coming up. ♪

tracy: an undercover bust in chester county last month nabbed nearly 50 people, called operation wildfire. police say the sweep took heroin and opioid dealers off the streets. but as the special agent in charge of the dea in philadelphia told us during an exclusive investigation, dealers aren't the only source fueling this opioid abuse epidemic. gary tuggle: i've seen three major drug epidemics in my lifetime. one was the heroin epidemic of the 70s, post-vietnam, which was bad, and it was largely inner city, confined to, you know, low-income areas of the inner city. the second was the crack cocaine epidemic of the 80s, very violent, crack hugely, hugely addictive. and then the third is this epidemic. this epidemic dwarfs those because it has a feeder system that the other two epidemics didn't have, and that's the misuse and abuse of prescription opioids.

tracy: and pennsylvania is one of the states hit hard by the opioid abuse epidemic. according to the dea, more than 4,600 people died from overdose deaths in pennsylvania last year. that's a 37% increase from the previous year. and opioids were involved in 85% of those overdose deaths. now, pennsylvania's attorney general is joining a bipartisan nationwide investigation into the role of drug makers in creating or prolonging the opioid abuse crisis. and joining us now to tell us more about the investigation is pennsylvania attorney general josh shapiro. thanks for being here. josh shapiro: good to be back with you. tracy: so, special agent in charge tuggle made the point that this crisis is different from others because there's the element of legal prescription drugs sort of fueling it, and that's really at the root of your investigation, right? josh: it is and gary is spot-on, the dea is doing a terrific job, fbi, us attorney's office. we work closely with them each and every day. tracy, you said it in the run-up to this piece, we're losing 13 pennsylvanians a day,

each and every day, to this crisis. i've said it's my number one public safety priority and the top public health priority here in pennsylvania. we go out each and every day, all across pennsylvania, and arrest the dealers. in fact, i've been in office about 6 months, we've arrested 3 dealers a day, each and every day we've been in office. we've also arrested doctors and nurses who are illegally diverting, or giving away, or selling these prescription drugs, which is creating addicts. we've doubled the number of diversion arrests in the first quarter of '17 versus '16. but i believe fundamentally, tracy, we have got to get at the root cause of this problem. and the root cause of this problem are opioid painkillers. seventy-five percent of heroin addicts start with a legal prescription drug like an oxycontin, or something like that. and i think it's high time for the pharmaceutical companies, the opioid manufacturers, to be held accountable in this process. that's why i, along with many other attorneys general in a bipartisan basis, are investigating,

and pennsylvania's one of the leaders in this effort, investigating the opioid manufacturing industry for--to hold them accountable in this process. tracy: for their piece in it? josh: exactly. tracy: and to be clear, you usually don't talk about ongoing investigations, but you just wanted the public to know this is a serious problem, and we're trying to do something about it. josh: we're doing a lot on it. and obviously i can't get into details on the investigation, but what i want the public to know is that we recognize it's going to take a multidisciplinary approach to deal with this. arrest the dealers, go after the doctors who are illegally putting this out there, hold the pharmaceutical company accountable, make the insurance industry be more accountable in the process to allow for greater access to treatment and less access to these opioid painkillers. i recognize, tracy, certain people dealing with serious chronic pain need access. we don't want to cut them off. what we want to do is stop creating addicts, and stop having the type of death rate that we're seeing here in pennsylvania. tracy: i want to just mention that nbc10 reached out to the pharmaceutical research and manufacturers of america, a group that advocates for the drug industry.

they told us, they said they couldn't comment on this investigation, but on their website they say, quote, "pharmaceutical research and manufacturers of america remains deeply committed to working collectively to prevent the misuse, abuse and diversion of prescription medicines. we need a balanced approach that ensures appropriate treatment of pain while also addressing this critical public health challenge." and because you can't talk a lot about the investigation, there's no pharmaceutical company that has been named in this investigation, right? josh: we have not named-- tracy: right. and some people say they're making it, the doctors are prescribing it, and you already said you're going after doctors too. josh: absolutely, we've doubled the number of arrests, including a dozen at lehigh valley just recently. these diversion arrests are critical. look, as i said before, 75% of heroin addicts start with a legal opioid painkiller. and tracy, you know, when you try and get access to these oxycontins and then you can't get them legally, and you even can't get them through a doctor illegally, and you try and go out and buy it on the streets here in philadelphia, costs $75 a pill to buy it on the streets

here in philadelphia. costs you $5 to buy a bag of heroin. and so, you're seeing this change from these opioid painkillers to the heroin, and it's critically important that we cut that off and get at the root cause, and that's why this investigation and this effort is so important. this is our top priority. we're working with law enforcement all across pennsylvania at the federal, state, and local level. i've been very pleased with the collaboration, and i think we're making a dent. we got a long ways to go, but we're making progress. tracy: you said multifaceted. one more piece of this is the healthcare bill, the senate gop healthcare bill. there's some criticism that the funding needed to be increased, it got increased. pennsylvania senator pat toomey helped craft the bill. you say what? is there enough money in that plan, or is it because of the medicaid cap that it's still fallen short? josh: there's not enough money in the plan. look, it's not my job to go and reform healthcare in washington, thank god that's not my job, it's not a job i want. but here's what i have said to pat toomey, bob casey, and the entire delegation,

democrats and republicans. don't make my job harder. i've seen communities racked with this crisis, seen death and destruction in their communities because of the heroin and opioid epidemic. and by cutting off guaranteed access to treatment for people through medicaid, you're making it that much harder for us to combat this crisis. and i was really pleased, you know, on the congressional side, four congressional republicans from pennsylvania voted no, several of them cited this issue as the reason for voting no. that's 20% of all republicans who voted no in the house of representatives. i've made the same pitch to senator casey and senator toomey. obviously, i have fundamental differences, and i say this respectfully, with senator toomey on this issue. i think he's wrong, and i think ultimately it's going to lead to a greater crisis in pennsylvania. we need guaranteed access to treatment. if people are dealing, if they're violent, we're going to get them and we're going to lock them up. but too many people are suffering from addiction who need treatment, not incarceration. why, right now, would we do away with their access to treatment?

it doesn't make any sense. tracy: and we should say that he told the morning call that the final bill will include "an extraordinary effort to deal with addiction, especially opioid problems." but you make a point too that yeah, not--jail might not be the right place for a lot of these people. josh: and let me say senator toomey is technically right, there will be dollars set aside for this, but the guaranteed benefit, the guaranteed services and access to treatment will be taken away. tracy: it's the access piece of it, right, right? real quickly, when do you think you'll be done with your investigation? josh: i can't comment on that. tracy: now we're back to exactly what we expect. thank you so much. josh: thank you, tracy. tracy: pennsylvania attorney general josh shapiro. well, nbc10 has been investigating the heroin-opioid epidemic for more than a year, and that coverage has been anchored by our special report "generation addicted." the multifaceted project explored the tragic world of opioid addiction and what's being done to reverse the deadly crisis. our reporting was recently honored with the national edward r. murrow award, among other awards.

you can watch and read our coverage right now at nbc10.com and the nbc10 app. well, it's a stellar opportunity, but it hasn't come around in nearly a century. we're getting you ready for next month's rare total eclipse. that's coming up.

tracy: next month, across the entire us, an event will take place that hasn't happened in nearly a century. for the first time in 99 years, a total solar eclipse will be visible coast to coast. so, what's the best way to view the eclipse, and what precautions do we need to take to avoid hurting our eyes? well, to help us answer those questions, we've brought in the chief astronomer from the franklin institute, derrick pitts. the museum is celebrating the eclipse with a series of events that they're calling the summer of space. welcome back. derrick pitts: thanks for having me. tracy: so first, i know that you love to share your passion, and you're an educator at your heart. remind people what a total solar eclipse is.

derrick: well, the way i like to describe this actually, tracy, is that it's nothing more than light and shadows. in this particular instance, we have light from the sun being blocked by the moon. the moon creates a shadow that falls on the surface of the earth, and if you're standing in that shadow, you say the sun has been eclipsed. so, this eclipse that people will see will represent just that. tracy: so, it will turn day into night, only lasts a couple of minutes. derrick: that's right. but the real catch to this is you have to be along the path of totality, and that stretches from the west coast, across to the middle of the united states, and then goes off the coast at south carolina. so, if you're in that band, you're going to see totality, and it will get dark, and the temperature will drop. but for anybody that's off that path, and by the way, that path is only 70 miles wide, that means, well, the rest of the folks in the united states are going to see what's called a partial eclipse. and that's true for philadelphia. tracy: okay, so we'll see a partial eclipse about what time of the day?

derrick: it's going to happen at 1:20 in the afternoon. it starts here in philadelphia at 1:20 in the afternoon, and it'll last until just after 4:00 pm. the maximum of the eclipse for us is going to be at 2:44 in the afternoon. tracy: and when you say maximum, it's just a greater piece of partial. derrick: right, so, for us, about 80% of the sun will be covered by the disk of the moon. and so, there will still be 20% of the sun throwing light down onto our region. so, that's a particular caution that we have to be aware of. tracy: so, how do we stay safe? how do we view this? derrick: right, so there are ways to do this. and the way to do this properly for a partial eclipse is you must have some sort of eye protection that will allow you to view this without worrying about damage to your eyes. now fortunately, available today there are what are called solar viewers, and solar viewers allow you to look directly at the sun safely so that you can see the events of this. back in the past, we would use things like welder's glass. welder's glass #14 is still good for that,

but you have to use solar viewers instead. it's a very special kind of glass that provides protection for your eyes. tracy: so, there's other news that's really exciting people like you, astronomers, space buffs, the discovery by nasa's kepler spacecraft of some possible new planets. derrick: oh yes. tracy: right? derrick: yes. tracy: tell us about that. derrick: well, this is really very exciting because, for the last several years, kepler has been looking at a small section of our galaxy, just our galaxy, analyzing stars to see if they have planets orbiting those stars. and to date, this spacecraft has identified over 4,000 candidates for places that would have planets, and it's discovered 2,000 for sure that definitely have planets. so, the most recent discovery done by kepler identified another i think it's 250 planets orbiting other stars, some of which seem to be as if they might be the size of earth, or close to the size of earth. so, we think of them as being earthlike because they're rocky

and because they're about the size of earth. now, no atmospheres that we know of yet, and we're not talking about life yet, we're just identifying other planets orbiting other stars. tracy: all right, tell us about summer of space at the museum. derrick: we have all kinds of activities all set up for our visitors to do when they come to the franklin institute this summer. so, we have our astronomy saturdays, in which we're going to have activities on the floor to help people understand how solar eclipses work, help them understand how to build various kinds of viewers that will make it safe for them to view. tracy: what a cool thing to take your kids to before it so that they can fully understand what's happening, yeah. derrick: absolutely right. we have that, and we also have a great imax movie called "a beautiful planet," and it's the latest in a series of imax films that show our planet from space. we also have these really great workshops. one is a 3d workshop that's going to start in mid-july and go through august, so you'll have--you'll be able to do a 3d

workshop in which you get to build different kinds of space-related things. and in addition, we'll have another workshop that will help you build these solar-observing pieces. and we also have this really cool thing, it's like a--it's like a cool area for very young experimenters that we're going to have for young scientists to learn about engineering and learn about the solar eclipse. but during the engineering part, they get to build things with lego bricks. and so, that's for kids eight and under, and that's going to be at the museum in a special area that we'll have available for that. let's not forget our night skies at the observatory program, which is twice a month, july and august, in which our rooftop observatory is open for visitors to come get a look at really great objects in the night sky like jupiter and saturn. the showpiece items of our solar system are available this month, and so we have speakers, we have activities. and on our fifth floor roof deck, we have a cash bar, so. tracy: there's always something happening

at the franklin institute. derrick: there certainly is. cosmos-politans on the fifth floor roof deck at the franklin institute. tracy: da dun dun. derrick pitts, thanks so much. great to see you. derrick: thanks for having me, thank you. tracy: well, the franklin institute's summer of space 2017 is now underway. the museum-wide celebration includes space saturdays at the museum each saturday from 10 till 5. you can get more information on everything that derrick just ran down for us by tapping our nbc10 mobile app. we'll be right back.

money promised to local vets never arrives. now, the nbc10 investigators discover the former city leader behind the broken promise is also under investigation by the district attorney. that's monday night on nbc10 news at 11. and that's this edition of "nbc10 @issue." thanks for watching, i'm tracy davidson. ♪

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