keep pennsylvania in their column in 2020? what can democrats do to win it back? this morning, we're talking to leaders in both parties. concussion concerns, if a young person in your family plays contact sports, there is a test you should know about. and school rankings, how important are they when it comes to selecting a school for your children? male announcer: nbc10 @issue starts now. erin coleman: good morning, i'm erin coleman. since 1992, pennsylvania had been in the blue column for democrats in presidential elections but last year president donald trump changes all that turning the keystone state red for the first time since 1988. president trump won the state in 2016 by less than a percentage point. his margin of victory was a little more than 44,000 votes

but according to the pennsylvania department of state, registered democratic voters in the state outnumber registered republicans by more than 800,000. now, when it comes to the state's congressional delegation in the u.s. house, republican representatives outnumber democrats 13 to 5. the states two senate seats are evenly split between the parties. so, can republicans keep pennsylvania red? what do democrats have to do to win back the state in 2020? can democrats win back any house seats in 2018? and can republicans oust democratic senator bob casey? here to answer some of those questions and a whole lot more is democratic congress,an from pennsylvania's 13th district representative brendan boyle. he is serving his second term in dc. thanks for being with us this morning. brendan boyle: yeah, great to be back. erin: yes okay so, let's jump right in. white working-class voters were once a key pillar of the democratic party but in this last election, president trump swayed them over. you helped form the blue collar caucus,

talk about forming that and how you're hoping to sway these voters back. brendan: yeah, well first just to be clear, it's all blue-collar workers because about 40% of those who are defined as working class or blue-collar workers are, in fact, nonwhite. so, i look at this as a completely inclusive way but yes, that also does include white working-class workers that many ways have fewer job opportunities today for less wages and benefits than they had a generation ago. so, making sure that at the government level in washington, d.c., we're finally talking about the needs and concerns of that hard-working, hard-pressed working class that the statistics show are no better off today than 30, 40 years ago. many of these--many of the answers of how we can help them are quite complex, but we need to at least talking about these issues. and i feel for too long, washington, d.c.

has not been addressing their concerns. erin: republican congressman charlie dent who represents much of the lehigh valley recently announced his retirement. that puts as many of five congressional seats in pennsylvania up for grabs in play for democrats. how do you see your party's prospects in those races and what do you feel should be the democrats' platform here? brendan: well, first, it's great that pennsylvania-- speaking as a pennsylvanian, regardless of party, it's great that we have five competitive seats, open seats, here in our seat because that means once again the center of political attention for the country will be right here in our state. now, i believe that as a party, whether it's in pennsylvania or nationwide, we need to be clear that we are about better jobs and better wages for all of the american people. we need to make sure the center of our message is about the economy, it's about jobs, and it is, in my view, about rebuilding the american dream. you know today, there are more people who believe that the american dream is unattainable than

any other previous generation. they actually believe that their kids will not be better off than they are. that is disturbing. that is not the america that i was raised to believe in. so, it shows you that government is not working for a big number and a big percentage of americans. and if we, as democrats, are gonna be successful, we have to address their concerns and promote concrete solutions for them. erin: some in your party have called for the ouster of nancy pelosi as a democratic leader in the house. what is your take on that? is she an effective leader? brendan: she's clearly very effective if you compare her time as speaker 8 years ago to that of speaker boehner or speaker ryan today. but many ways the question over who the democratic leader of the u.s. house democrats may be completely obscures and misses the point that at all levels of government, we have seen increasingly the democratic party lose in areas that we typically won from the 1930s all the way through

the 1990s. so, i think that in many ways our challenge is much deeper than that and until we, as a party, do a better job of reconnecting with workers, then we're gonna be-- continue to be in the position we're in now in the minority. erin: switching gears just a little bit. you've recently proposed legislation to eliminate the debt ceiling which limits how much the money the federal government can borrow to pay its bills. house speaker paul ryan opposes the idea. we've got a quote from him. he said, quote, "there is a legitimate role for the power of the purse of the article 1 powers and that is something we defend here in congress." so congressman, if your credit cards have a debt limit, why shouldn't the country? brendan: yeah, well first i believe that i actually have the support of president trump and senator schumer on this and i believe also senator mcconnell in the past has signaled, you know, every 6 months or 12 months, we get close as a country to not raising the debt ceiling which would have catastrophic consequences. now, i'm not talking about going out and increasing the debt.

that's not what the debt ceiling is about. what i'm just saying is removing this mechanism under which the united states would refuse to live up to our financial obligations, that would actually threaten and jeopardize the full faith and credit of the united states. you would immediately see interest rates spike to 15% to 20%. you would see a tanking of our economy. and by the way, that's something that's not just a democratic position. conservative and liberal economists agree with what i just said. so, i think we should have a focus, yes, on our increasing debt, especially as we get in the 2030s when it's really projected to balloon. let's make that the focus. let's just not have this artificial debate on the debt ceiling that could have catastrophic consequences. erin: and speaking really quickly of recent legislation. you've got some more legislation that you are gonna be rolling out very soon. brendan: well, this week i'm introducing what is called with a number of my colleagues, the patriot employer act and this actually relates to what we were talking about earlier about how we, as democrats, can be the party of workers.

right now in the united states of america in our tax code, there is an incentive for employers to end jobs at home and ship those jobs overseas. i saw it in my district when mondelez, the company that runs nabisco, did that in philadelphia, laid off over 300 workers. they can take a tax deduction for doing that. my bill would eliminate that tax deduction, take the money from that and instead, create a tax credit for employers that are doing right by their workers, for employers that are creating jobs here at home and america, that's what our tax code should reward. erin: we'll be looking for that rollout, congressman boyle, thanks for joining us today. brendan: thank you, thank you. erin: all right, now let's get the view from the other side of the political divide. val digeorgio is the chairman of the pennsylvania republican party. he's joining us now from our digital operation center. thanks for being here with us on nbc10 @issue. you've been listening to our conversation with congressman boyle, so, what do republicans needs to do to hold on to vulnerable congressional seats?

and what do you think your chances are of actually gaining house seats and ousting senator casey? val digeorgio: well, we need to stay on message and congressman boyle sounded very much like a lot of people on our side of the aisle because he's focused on jobs. he understands it's about jobs and creating jobs. president trump is committed to creating jobs. we in the republican party want an opportunity economy for all. and as far as next year's elections look, senator casey is not very much like brendan boyle. he's moved very far to the left. he's a far-left progressive now. he's not the moderate he professed to be when he first ran for office that his father was. republican voters across the column of pennsylvania don't like candidates on the extremes. they want to see someone who could reach across the aisle and not be part of the elizabeth warren, nancy pelosi of the democrat party. so, we intend to contest that u.s. senate seat very vigorously. we feel very confident about our u.s. congressional delegation especially here in pennsylvania. folks like ryan costello, and pat meehan,

and brian fitzpatrick who very much know how to work on both sides of the aisle, but again, are gonna stick up for american jobs and put american workers first. erin: now, as we mentioned earlier, republicans hold 13 house seats in pennsylvania. the democrats hold just five despite the fact that there are more registered democrats in the state. many observers say that is because of gerrymandering and they used pennsylvania's oddly shaped 7th congressional district as an example. critics have said it looks like goofy kicking donald duck as some have described. and the league of women voters earlier this year filed a lawsuit so strike down the state's congressional map. so, what is your reaction to that? val: well, first off, keep in mind that 800,000 vote deficit that we saw from the republican party, that's been knocked down from about 900,000 earlier this year to about 800,000, so we're gaining ground there. a lot of those 800,000 are folks that are--have moved and they need to be purged from the voter role. so, we know that that's a much lower number. as far as why we do so well at a 13 to 5 advantage,

we recruit great candidates, candidates who are not on the extremes in a lot of cases and who raise a lot of money. and we have a great organization in pennsylvania, a great ground game in the republican party. our message resonates throughout the commonwealth of pennsylvania in very diverse districts from rural pennsylvania in the west to more moderate suburban districts and that's why we do so well. it's a combination of factors. drawing the lines is one element of it but it's a much broader, it's a much broader group of reasons than just that. erin: well, recently, president trump has shown a willingness to make deals with democrats on issues like the debt ceiling, like daca. do you think he risks upsetting his base by reaching across the aisle? val: no, i can tell you, i test this as i go across the state. our voters on the republican side want to see us reach across the aisle, but in a way that doesn't compromise our principles. and those principles are smaller government, reigning in this debt, doing something about unchecked immigration. you know, the democrat party has become the party of open boarders, sanctuary cities, universal healthcare,

taking over one-sixth of the economy and trying to manage our healthcare from washington. our voters don't want that but they also want to see us reach across the aisle. so, maybe if we could find a way to have comprehensive immigration reform, which protects our boarders, i think donald trump will do very well, not only in maintaining his base, but reaching out to a whole new segment of voters and potentially win in a historic landslide in 2020 if we can do that. erin: pennsylvania gop state chairman val digeorgio, thanks for joining us. val: thanks for having me. erin: all right, up next, concussion concerns. if a child in your family plays football or another contact sport, there is a test you need to know about. we'll discuss that coming up.

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kim guadagno isn't erin: later today, millions of americans will gather to watch nfl football but statistics show fewer young people are playing the sport and some attribute the decline to

concerns over concussions. a new study released last week suggests playing youth football could have longterm health effects. boston university researchers found those who started playing football before age 12 were much more likely to have mood swings and emotional problems later in life, no matter how long they played or how many concussions they suffered. but for children who continue to play football and other contact sports, recognizing concussions is crucial. and joining us to discuss that are corinne taylor-walls. she's the director of outpatient rehabilitation services at weisman children's rehabilitation hospital and we're also joined by james galanis, director of the medford strikers. he's also carli lloyd's old coach. thanks for being here. corinne taylor-walls: thank you for having us. erin: all right, corinne, let's start with you. we'll start with the one tool, and it's out there for recognizing and managing concussions, it's called the impact. talk about that. what is that? corinne: well, at weisman children's rehabilitation hospital, we've done extensive work with children

and adolescents that have sustained a concussion. so, one of the tools that we news in helping to manage and diagnose concussions is the impact test. the impact test is a computer-based tool and when someone takes the impact test, it takes them through a series of challenges so we say, for example, problem solving, reaction speed, cognition tests. and what we do is that we have the athlete--we have the athlete go through that test prior to starting their season and we get a baseline assessment. once we get the baseline assessment, if the concussion is sustained, the athlete repeats the test. so, we compare the baseline to the post-concussion test and it gives us a better idea as to where we need to work on in the rehabilitation process so it can involve a number of different disciplines ranging from pt, ot, and speech which we all work with on site at our hospital. erin: james, what can you soccer coaches like yourself do to recognize concussions and make sure players get what they need right away, get the proper care immediately? james galanis: yeah, so the first thing is as soon as you

see an incident where there's been a collision or some type of incident where a possible concussion could be, could have surfaced, you need to run out there right away. you need to evaluate the player. what i like to do is ask questions everything from, you know, full name, your phone number, your address, ask them if they blanked out, and basically get out there real early and assess the situation. and if you see something off the field, don't let them back on and then contact their parents and make sure they get the proper care from that point on. erin: and if they can answer those questions, are they in the clear or you still kind of watching? james: i'm more precautious and i don't let them back on if i know it's a collision and i think that every coach should do the same 'cause you just don't know. sometimes they can answer a question and it might be a mild concussion that could lead to something bigger.

erin: so, how big of an emphasis should parents place on concussions when considering whether to allow their children to play a type of contact sport? corinne: well, one of the things, and we're very happy to partner with the medford strikers because they also emphasize taking care of the player. so, we can't emphasize enough the fact that if you sustain a concussion or if you suspect that you sustain a concussion to definitely limit play. talk to your coach, talk to your health-care professional, and make sure that you have enough people on your team to help make an informed decision. we want to really emphasize for parents and student athletes to make sure that you're talking to someone if you sustain a concussion or if you're just not feeling well after some type of collision. you never know what it can be but it's more--it's better to err on the side of caution than risk it. i think that goes with what james had talked about earlier as well. erin: when you-- when parents come to you, are they generally pretty nervous or just not sure how to react? 'cause we're hearing about concussions a lot in the news now.

corinne: we try to guide parents through the process. it is very nerve-racking because this is your child and, of course, you're very concerned about your child. so, i think with our team here at weisman and then we work with the medford strikers in order to inform the parents what the process is going to be like and throughout the rehabilitation process, we're with you. step by step, we walk you through. and if there's anything that we need to do, anyone else that we need to reach out to, be it a coach, be it another health-care professional, we would absolutely do that. you are a part of the process with us. the family, the athlete, whoever it is, we're all in it together so we all work together and communicate together in order to get the best possible outcome that we can. erin: all right, corinne, james, thanks so much for being here with us. corinne: thank you. erin: selecting a school for your child can be a confusing process. coming up, how much importance parents should place on school rankings when it comes to making a decision.

erin: selecting a school is one of the most important decisions parents and their children can make,

and families in our area have many educational options and here to tell us a little bit more and help us examine those options are salma khan from the organization great philly schools and ina lipman from the children's scholarship fund of philadelphia. welcome to you both. ina lipman: thank you. salma khan: thanks for having us. erin: all right, so, let's talk a little bit about school rankings, how important are they and how much weight should parents put on them when they're choosing a school? salma: well, with school rankings, you know, great philly schools, we rate schools rather than rank them on a scale of one to ten. with so many options here in philadelphia, over 400 for k through 12, ratings are simply a starting point for families to help them assess, you know, where should they visit and what factors they should consider when visiting the school. erin: so, it's not the be all end all? salma: no, absolutely not, absolutely not. erin: you still have to do a little bit more. salma: you have to visit the school. you have to visit the school.

you have to meet school officials. we're actually cohosting a school fair in a couple of weeks. ina: october 7, it will be a k through 8th grade fair at st. joe's prep, 17th and girard from 10 to 2 and there'll be about 140 different providers public, private, and charter, at that fair so families can really get a chance to talk firsthand to administrators and see what they have to offer. erin: and speaking of private schools, a lot of families think that private schools are just out of reach for them, but you say that's not really the case. ina: that's not the case. in my 16 years at children's scholarship fund philadelphia, that's exactly what we do. we provide financial access to philadelphia families to get their kids into a great private k through 8th grade school. we currently have about 170 schools that our families choose from and what's exciting for me is the fact that we're opening new scholarship applications, and we'll be awarding 2,000

new 4-year scholarships to philadelphia children k through 8th grade. erin: talk about the questions that parents and families need to ask when they are deciding on that school. it's a big decision for a lot of families. ina: for us, it's--i applaud what great philly schools is doing in terms of ranking, and ratings, and looks at quantitative data. i think too often as a parent, myself and having gone through that process, that is a vital starting point and it really should go to the core of comparing schools to make sure you're getting a good opportunity for your child. with that being said, you then look at the school, you look at the environment, is it welcoming? is a school the kind of place that's striving to improve? 'cause sometimes you can have a ranking that looks really good, and it happened in my case in our school district and then you

find out it a school in decline so that the statistics and the ratings have hidden a lack of performance. so, you really want to get in there. you want to see if each year they're taking your child and improving their outcomes for your child. you know, so you really want to keep an eye on both objective and subjective measurements. salma: you know, i couldn't agree more. on our website at greatphillyschools.org, we have questions for families to consider because this is a very personalized decision and even families that have multiple children, they are not the same. so, if your child has special needs, let's say they want to, you know, play sports at a school, you know, all these factors are very, very important. talk to your child, see what they're interested in, what they want in a school as well. so, you have the obvious things like academics, safety, attendance, but also talk to your child as well and see what they're interested in. erin: salma, ina, thanks so much for being here.

once again, here's that info, great philly schools and the children's scholarship fund are cohosting a citywide k through 8th grade school fair. it is saturday october 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at st. joseph's prep, 1733 west girard in philadelphia. you can find more info on the nbc10 mobile app. we'll be right back.

judging mom blog.com says over scheduling my kids will deprive them of there childhood. well listen up judging mom blog. between baseball, karate, water polo, sat practice, mandarin classes, salsa lessons and piano. i make sure they still have time to just be kids. four minutes! ey is facing an epidemic fueled by opioid painkillers. vanessa: in honor of september being recovery month,

we want you to know that recovery from addiction is possible, but you need to know the signs. they can be hard to spot: social withdrawal, financial problems, irritability. christie: if you see these signs occurring together or suddenly, you may have cause for concern. the signs you spot today... vanessa: ...could save a loved one tomorrow. christie: call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj.gov. erin: starting tomorrow, the philadelphia orchestra will kick off we're here week. it's a weeklong series of events across the city designed to promote health, music education, and broad access to orchestra performances through free neighborhood concerts. well, that is all for this edition of nbc10 @issue. i'm erin coleman, thanks for joining us. ♪

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watching television that'sis educational and informational. the more you know on nbc. lauren: hi, i'm lauren thompson and this is the best of heart of a champion. today, the amazing story of how jason day's friendship and bond with his caddy has propelled him to the top spot of his sport. jason: he just wanted the best for me. i guess if you hang around someone long enough that makes you work harder, then it'll rub off. lauren: then, the story of olympic skier alex bilodeau whose disabled brother helped inspire a nation. alex: a lot of people recognize me in the street but a lot more people recognize me when we're together. i'm always the second star. lauren: plus, see why ravens' kicker justin tucker's vocal chords are a force to be reckoned with. justin: any of my teammates, they'd tell you i'm... i'm loud. when it comes to singing, that's really important.