>> i'm monica malpass. on "inside story" this week, it's been reported philadelphia d.a. seth williams is under investigation by the feds. let's get the inside story. ♪ good morning, and welcome to "inside story." let's meet our insiders this week. they are nia meeks, who is a communications executive. >> good morning. >> and welcome back to you. brian tierney, marketing executive. good morning, sir. ajay raju, attorney and businessman, good morning. and jeff jubelirer, communications executive. >> good morning, monica. >> thanks for being here to all of you. sources are saying that our d.a. in philadelphia, seth williams, has been investigated or is under investigation by a grand jury panel, allegedly impaneled a couple of months ago, looking into campaign finances -- whether they were used to pay for personal expenses, like a gym membership at the bellevue and expensive meals at the union league -- that kind of thing. no comment yet from the d.a. no comment, officially, from the federal government. some people are saying seth williams isn't as popular

as this moment because he's been putting the heat on people in his own party and pursuing allegations against the state attorney general -- kathleen kane, among others. is this just a political retribution? what do you make of it, ajay? >> well, first of all, let's make a couple of things clear. you can be under investigation. you don't even need probable cause -- all you need is an allegation to be under investigation. then, you can be a subject of an investigation. that doesn't mean that an incitement is coming forth. it's only when you become a target. and right now, all we know is that they're looking into -- the feds are looking into whether or not there has been misappropriation of his finance -- public, you know, his political campaign funds for personal use. it's too early to speculate anything other than that. anybody can get investigated -- doesn't mean that it amounts to anything. >> it is the irs and the fbi jointly, reportedly. and he is in his second term, having run just in 2013, and starting his second four-year term. so, again, do you feel like there's much tempest in a teapot here? >> i mean, we'll see as it goes

forward, but his reputation -- his public reputation is one of being very ethical. you know, he -- these are questions about his expenses, and were they appropriate, if those are, indeed, what's being investigated. and i think it's way too early to kind of comment, to be honest with you. i mean, i'm one to weigh in, but this one seems really early to comment on. >> yeah, it's completely fresh, and then, we're still waiting to see what exactly the allegations may yield. and, again, they are allegations -- they are not charges or anything of that nature, so... it's interesting -- the timing, of course, because i don't know about anybody else around the table, but we're just tired of the phrase "the federal government is investigating..." fill in the blank. i mean, it is somewhat wearying, and it is unfortunate that we have a district attorney who has a great reputation for being above board and, you know, a crusader -- also, now, part of that mix and that mire that's become philadelphia, unfortunately, with our public officials. >> and it is perception versus reality. >> absolutely. >> i mean, perception's the problem. and you think about it -- take away -- you know, the court of law will determine. we'll see what happens. but you think about harrisburg.

you think about the perception of philadelphia, and here we go. here's another official -- whether or not it's accurate or fair to say that, another official who's under investigation, on top of congressman fattah, on top of -- now, kathleen kane's not from here, but on top of the four out of five state representatives who are charged. >> yeah, if i was talking to harrisburg, i'd say, "look at the panoply of folks who have gone away to higher education, universities, federal- and state-owned for periods of time. they came out of harrisburg." >> sure. >> and it does seem something, unfortunately, about the new jersey, pennsylvania political culture -- it's been written about in the new york times. you also see it in states like illinois, et cetera, where this is going on. but it's not like this in most of the country. and i don't know whether it's the two-party system isn't vibrant enough, frankly. one party gets entrenched, and they just kind of -- all the decisions of who wins the primary, wins the general election, but there's a culture here in our state and in jersey and in states like illinois which is very bad for democracy. >> and let's talk about kathleen kane now, because new information came out last week from the pennsylvania supreme court.

she had said that she was being -- there was retribution being taken against her because she had released some pornographic e-mails by public officials, and she was not allowed to release those or shouldn't have. originally -- well, the supreme court just released documents showing they had said it's okay, as long as it's appropriately released. so, in other words, they are sort of undoing her idea of why she's being attacked with charges against her. does that undo her entire argument, nia? >> you know, the public perception for kathleen kane -- she's lost that battle -- i mean, just plain and simple. we have yet to see what's going to unfold completely in court, as far as the legalities, but when it comes to the public perception, it's been one thing after another after another. and when you talk about unfortunate squandering, she had the most political capital in this commonwealth to spend, and it has evaporated, for the most part. i don't care if you're male or female. at this point, when you're looking at... >> democrat or republican. >> democrat or republican. at this point, for kathleen kane, it's the ability to really conduct her office well. and when you lose that public

support from the governor down, that's a difficult hurdle. so, we don't know, again, all of what's true or not true, but, you know, every bit that seems to chip away at her story is unfortunate for her. >> is it also that she allegedly only released documents about eight people with the pornographic information and photos, and there were allegedly dozens of them? >> who were those eight people? they all happen to work... >> right. >> sorry, monica. ...in the corbett administration. so, she has yet to connect what those pornographic e-mails or what those e-mails were discussing that directly ties it into, "therefore, i had the ability to perhaps do something, leak -- not, you know -- leak information which was legal." there's no connection that has been made yet to what the federal -- feds have said that she has done. >> the real inside story with her is, from those who know her close, is that she has an explosive temper, that she's an intemperate person, that she thinks very much about the next news cycle. if you were giving her advice, the best advice would be, "stop talking about this." the only thing that really matters for her is what happens

in terms of the criminal investigation. the rest of it, you know, don't worry about trying to get, like, short-term hits out -- it was about the e-mails, the porn e-mails -- 'cause then she's embarrassed when they say, "you could have released this for months." it's just, "calm down. do your job. show you're doing your job. stop talking about the investigation and worry about the criminal side of things. if you get through that, you might have a chance to run for reelection." but she is playing a constant short-term game, and it just gets her further and further in the hole. >> and then there's the chief of staff debacle. allegedly, she appointed someone to chief of staff that she knew about. some unwanted sexual advances had been mentioned by some women on her staff, but she appointed him, anyway. even the h.r. office, or human relations folks said, "fire him. get rid -- don't do this." but he's appointed. he's still there. and now there may be some union negotiations that were tied to, "just, please, if you support my chief of staff, i'll support your union." it sounds like a mess, ajay. >> well, you know, given the petty details of her alleged misdeeds and, also, the mounting contradictions of our own

narrative, i think it would be a stretch to imagine that she would come out of this fiasco with both her dignity and her career intact. so i don't think she probably has a political career in pennsylvania. but having said that, i think, brian, you were spot on, which is, you know, at this point, she has to sort of close the ranks and do less, and that probably is more for her. >> did chaka fattah this week make up some ground? he was in court. he pleaded not guilty before it was even asked of him what his plea would be. but he also sort of sent a letter and said to the public at large and the feds in general that they are targeting him. and he alleged they improperly approached witnesses, they violated grand jury secrecy themselves, they used threats to his office, they made false statements -- he said they lied, basically. do you think that's mostly an appeal to voters, because he says he's gonna run again, or is it really -- >> the obama administration is known to -- oh, no, that doesn't make any sense -- does it? -- at all. [ laughter ] now, why would the obama administration, which runs the justice department, be after a democratic congressman? >> their own. >> okay, let me think of another reason.

i think, again, chaka fattah has had a long career. it'll be really interesting to see how this unfolds. but i don't think his start was -- last week was off to a great one. >> if you speak with experienced prosecutors, they say, "if you have the facts, you argue the facts." >> facts, right. >> "but if you don't have the facts, you argue the law. and if you don't have either, then you attack the prosecutor." now, i don't know if there is wisdom in that in what's happening with congressman fattah's case, and i don't want to pile on to congressman's woes. but the real focus is, last time we commented on it -- you know, you have a 2nd district that has 28% poverty rate. you have 61% of the population is african-american. in this country, post-great recession, the concentration of poverty in urban areas, especially with african-americans and latinos, have climbed -- 7.8 million americans in 2007 -- today, 13.2 million. so i think that should be the real focus, which is who's going to lead the 2nd district... >> well, now we have a new name. >> ...out of the hole that they're finding themselves in.

>> right, someone already ready to dive in there. >> ward leader dan muroff has announced that he's going to run, and he resides in the very voter-rich -- in terms of turnout -- mount airy and chestnut hill ward, 9th ward. and he has a strong background. and another number to remember is 81% registered democrat. this isn't going republican. >> but, you know, the other thing that you also have to consider, looking at the statistics that ajay just rattled off -- we keep hearing about all these different names. they're all males. and it's interesting -- when you look at this district, it's majority female. why is it that we have not yet heard of a female name being advanced by the party or anyone else... >> could kathleen kane get out and get into that district? >> you're being quite funny, but there are other women that -- hey, even our own sharmain matlock-turner. >> sure. super bright woman, yeah. >> there are plenty of female leaders that are in the area, that are in the district. >> sure. >> and this is a fault of both parties, but particularly the democratic party here in philadelphia that we are not advancing names and a farm team that includes the majority of the population. >> yeah, exactly. >> quiet. [ laughter ] >> no, no, no. nia, i was just gonna say -- a lot of the men and women happen to be on chaka's team, 'cause that's the way it seems

to work in a lot of philadelphia. >> but that's not the entirety of the district. >> i'm not saying the entirety. i'm saying there's a lot of prominent public officials that are part of the chaka team or the anthony williams team or what have you -- philadelphia. >> but they don't have to necessarily be public officials. they can be nonprofit -- >> oh, god bless you. bless you. >> sharmain would be a terrific example of somebody... >> there are plenty of people that are out here. >> ...these are great, long-term public servants. >> we just saw donna johnson bullock that just came up and became now a state representative. and she was a young woman. i mean, there are leaders that are out here. we are not cultivating or advancing them. >> all right, let's talk about the papal visit. it's just about a month away from philadelphia. secret service has been heavily involved, of course, protecting the pontiff, among all the people, as well, who are gonna be attending -- millions or around that. and now there are letters going around in newspapers. there are editorials. there's all kinds of criticism before it even happens, even from the former governor ed rendell that we're overdoing it in philadelphia, that we're actually ruining the event before it even comes our way. what do you make of it? is it just the fact that it is

so large of an area that's gonna be fenced off, that there is gonna be so little ability to drive buses and trains and cars and get people in and out of there, that people who are elderly -- a bulk of our population who may want to go -- would have to walk 4 or 5 miles? there are some legitimate criticisms -- and other cities didn't do a fenced-in area this way that have large poor populations -- or is it the fact that philadelphia needs to make sure it's safe? we don't want to be the city where the pope got hurt, for heaven's sakes. >> first of all, let me just disclose again, as i've done before, we're helping out a little bit with the world meeting of families, so in terms of this. i think there's a couple of things. there's been a lot of misinformation or -- like, when i saw the middletown township in bucks county declared a state of emergency... >> mm-hmm. >> okay? and then, when you see the head of the new jersey department of transportation talking about paralyzing crowds coming in from new jersey, the fact of the matter is, there's 80,000 patco passes. as of a few days ago, they had sold 4,000. that means that's 76,000 passes. so, everybody's got to just chill and calm down. there's many festivals and

things like this that are approximately this size. the area that's the magnetometer area is a relatively small part of it. the other part of it -- if you have a car, you're gonna be able to drive inside. and it's gonna be a really fun, chill event. i mean, and i think you'll see more of that over the next few weeks. so, i think the septa crashing, in terms of the e-commerce -- well, they'd never done e-commerce before, so, you know -- and there are still septa passes left, after all. but it creates this sense of frenzy, which is unfortunate. and a lot of voices from a lot of different agencies that aren't in coordination -- but i think, over the next month, people are gonna realize it's historic. you know, maybe your father and mother took you or your younger -- older brother one time. >> right. >> you want to be part of it. and you won't have to get to the parkway to have fun with this thing. >> yeah, the lack of coordination is the important key here, because it's -- really, nature abhors a vacuum. when you didn't have information right away, people just made up all kinds of things, and it spread. and we are now in that digital age. it only takes 10 seconds -- put some falsehood out there, and then everyone panics, and it gets crazy. and, "oh, i live in fairmount.

and what's gonna happen here?" and, "i'm pregnant, and i got to get to the hospital." and all of that is unnecessary. it's unfortunate that we did not have a better coordinated message earlier on. that's not to say it can't be overcome. >> no, we have six weeks. we have plenty of time to get it done, yeah. >> it can definitely happen, and it can be a great event. it will be a great event. >> it will be, yeah. >> they don't call it "popenado" for nothing. the only thing i would say is, the secret service, as i understand it, has one mission -- protect the pope and protect philadelphians. their job isn't public relations. >> no, protect the pope is their mission. >> yeah, sorry -- protect the pope. >> they don't care about us. >> no. >> sure. >> well, they care about -- the city has to protect its citizens. >> right. >> but when you start seeing -- the more you talk sometimes, the less effective you are. when mayor nutter -- again, i think he's doing a great job or a good job -- again, another press conference. >> and rendell did not criticize him. >> no, he didn't. another press conference. again, another press conference. >> right. >> and then a 1,000-word response to will bunch in a news-- in the daily news, and, you know, it looks like he's -- it's defensive. >> right. >> mm. >> all right, let's talk quickly about something a little more

somber with the archdiocese. they did settle a sexual-abuse lawsuit that was brought by an accuser, and that accuser -- and the allegations led to the conviction of two catholic priests for abuse and a parish teacher, as well as, for the first time, a church administrator being held culpable for alleged cover-up of those people who were attacking. so, now there's been a settlement, ajay. is this the end of that? >> well, i don't know if it's the end of it. i think that, you know, you may have -- as long as you have people that you'll have sin, so i don't know if that's the end of it, as much as -- i will say one thing. pope francis, if you look at his popularity rating, compared to the peak of when john paul ii was pope, they're probably comparable. >> yeah. >> 8 catholics out of 10 consider -- have him on the favorably rating -- not just catholics, but universally beloved. so, i think what pope francis does is lift the image of the catholic church, separate of what is happening. that's one thing. second, look -- i think, with this -- the pope visit -- this is a multi-generational opportunity to have a global

spotlight shine on philadelphia. and if we're ready for the big times, as we claim that we ought to be, then the panic and the conversation really undermines our ability to suggest that we're a global city. in new york, if you ever go down there, if there's a puerto rican day parade or an indian day parade or a vietnamese day parade, they also have the same thing where they cordon off areas, and that's just for public safety. people are used to it because that's what it is. you can't complain at the trainer just because you want a six-pack. you just have to do -- [ laughter ] you just have to do the workout. >> it goes with the territory. >> the fact of the matter -- one of the things -- two thoughts -- one is, you know, 50 and 100 years from now, people are gonna be talking about this pope -- his incredible popularity -- because of what he's doing and what he's saying. so, i think people will want to be part of that and say they were part of that, no matter even if he was way in the distance. >> and we're blessed to be part of it. >> everybody in the world would love to have this happening. >> sure. >> and then, the other part of it is, these recent things that were announced -- these are issues that occurred a decade ago that are just getting resolved now. and you got to thank this archbishop chaput -- the first thing he did as he come to town -- he sold the "cardinal's mansion," and he

lives in the seminary, in a room in the seminary. >> there you go. >> and all of this is getting resolved. >> all right, we're gonna leave it at that. we're taking a break. more "inside story" for you right after this. stick around. >> "inside story" is presented by temple university. temple fuels students with academics and opportunities to take charge. plugged into the city, powered by the world. temple.edu/takecharge.

>> welcome back to

"inside story." governor tom wolf is targeting some of the charter school funding, saying that, for years, there have been financial crises, specifically, in the chester upland district. he says, with a 25-year history of struggling there and emergency state aid to bail them out, massive layoffs -- that kind of thing -- that the only solution is to cut some of the funding. and that raised enough ire among parents and staffers. they had a meeting that was so overcrowded, it was a public-safety hazard. it will be held this tuesday. they had to cancel that one and move to a bigger auditorium. so, what's the upshot of this? it is part of his budget negotiations right now. so, is it just really a chess match with the house, or is he actually gonna try to slice that much of the education budget, even though he is a big proponent of raising funding for education, generally? >> well, he might be a big proponent of raising education funding, but he's really not been -- to date, he hasn't signaled any support, really, for charter schools and charter schools that work. and in chester, you can look at that alone. look at the results. and the scores are higher. the attendance is higher. satisfaction is higher among those, generally speaking, that attend the charter schools.

and you have to look at the budget, especially for charter schools -- and i do some work with charter schools -- in the context of what they get, in terms of what the regular, traditional public-school districts get. it's 70 cents on the dollar. so, you can start to pick and choose -- "well, they get too much for special ed." and i understand you should look at things. but you know where a lot of the problem is? in the cyber charters. >> mm. >> that's where you really should be looking at, because they don't need, necessarily, as much to teach their children as the traditional brick-and-mortars. >> but isn't it true that some of those charters were getting $40,000 per child for special-ed needs? >> yeah, the per-head, right. >> you can pick and choose. >> doesn't that seem high? >> it does seem high. >> episcopal academy is $32,000. >> it does seem high because of the formula. but the problem is -- >> well, shouldn't you change the formula, then? >> yeah, and that's what they're doing right now. >> i mean, doesn't it insult you to think that somebody's paying $40,000 per child? >> and is this a backdoor attempt to do what they couldn't do in the general assembly, to try to around-end it and get your budget cut how you can? >> i think this is a dangerous game of hot potato with yourself, where you're just shifting money from one side to the other. all you do is -- you just burn your own hands. the narrative and the argument is not, you know, public school versus charter. it really should not be one to

the exclusion of the other. it's really finding the right amount of revenues to make sure that it's allocated appropriately, where the needs are. and that's not what is happening here. it's usually one argument against the other extreme argument. >> you are right. >> i mean, charter schools are public schools. >> right. >> i mean, we always forget that when we have these kinds of discussions, but, really, when we're looking at this holistically, our entire educational funding formula needs to be retooled. >> they're talking about -- >> and we always do it when we're at the brink of disaster. in this case, we have a 7-, 8-week-old budget stalemate. >> right. >> and this is not the time where you have thoughtful discussion and dialogue about these things. >> we may have had some movement, by the way, this past week, on the budget stalemate. the republicans have offered a one-time budget deal, they said, that has concessions on pensions, and the governor threw back a pension-reform idea. he said they're getting a lot of what they want, and he gets a little of what he wants. i'm not sure they've met in the middle. i don't think we have an agreement yet, but are we getting somewhere? does this look positive? >> the idea of compromise is really what you need to have. i mean, what the republicans have put forth said that, for new people -- if you're already

a state employee, nothing changes, but for new people to have more of a 401(k) -- frankly, the way most of our businesses are -- for all new employees. how's that a bad thing? >> right. >> how's that a bad thing? >> and yet, the governor's still calling the republicans the party of "no," which is sort of mirroring the national conversation in the attacks on republicans. is he just attacking for no reason, ajay? >> i think one of the things he wants to do is not have an egregious tax on energy -- energy companies. just to keep things in perspective, we're the second largest producer of natural gas in the country, second only to texas. with the dropping of prices in both oil, as well as gas, that has done -- what it's done is that it's created pain points for the natural-gas industry. you have 131 rigs that were in operation in marcellus shale. now they're down to 70. that creates a ripple effect on all of the industries that serve it. so, if you want to take the funding gap -- $400 million for education today -- by sacrificing our energy future, you know, you can do that. but that's not a republican saying "no" as much as saying, "hey, before you take that money and before you make it more burdensome for companies to do business here, let's think twice

about what we're mortgaging." >> yes, but you could say, "we're gonna have the lowest tax of all the states." we're not gonna have zero tax, would be the thing, is what i would say. >> correct. >> so, then, you'd say, "hey, they're not gonna say this is bad to do business --" >> about 2%. >> whatever the lowest state tax is on that kind of drilling, let's adopt that one. that would seem to be reasonable. and something about -- all new employees don't get the old pension that we can't afford anymore. and the thought about saying, you know -- and why be one of two states that owns the liquor stores? >> right. >> i mean, how ridiculous is that? >> that one still hasn't even come close to being on the table. >> i mean, it's so absurd. >> i have the solution -- quick solution. you take that property -- and he wants to reform the property tax. he has all these great ideas. make that a special session. they deal with that separately. you have the compromise we just laid out. >> pass the budget. >> liquor modernization, pension reform, money for schools. >> yeah, but i think reasonable people could sit around the table, if we would -- we'd say, "okay, how about this? i give you that. you give me that. that's important to you -- okay, let's get this done." >> "we're done." right. all right, we're gonna have to leave it at that. inside stories of the week coming your way next. sorry, nia. >> no, it's no... ♪

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>> "inside story" is presented by temple university. temple fuels students with academics and opportunities to take charge. plugged into the city, powered by the world. temple.edu/takecharge. >> time for inside stories of the week, and let's start with ajay. >> monica, in the world of biopharma, immuno-oncology is one of the hottest areas of research, and penn medicine is the hub of that research, with dr. june and his team finding a potential cure for leukemia to now finding a rare disease cure for castleman's disease -- penn medicine, right here in our neighborhood, you know, the hub of all research in immuno-oncology. >> terrific. all right, jeff. >> well, next year's presidential election, the general election, pennsylvania doesn't have to be blue. what i mean there is not necessarily they're not gonna vote democratic, per se -- we'll see. but in the last election, mitt romney kind of called pennsylvania off, said, "enh, obama's gonna win it." there's been a memo that's been reported -- well, not reported -- shared on

different websites that show that hillary clinton counts pennsylvania, along with wisconsin and michigan, as states she must win and pay a lot of attention to in order to get enough electoral votes. good news all around -- it looks like a competitive race here in pennsylvania. >> all right, nia. >> during the presidential campaign that we're in, we've been seeing a lot of the protest movement rekindle with the black lives matter movement. but just this past few weeks, we noticed that, when it comes to protests, it's not always about placards. fran aulston, who founded the west philadelphia cultural alliance, was someone who protested because she believed that black lives mattered. that's why she founded that particular alliance and the paul robeson house -- to preserve culture and alliances because she said black lives do, indeed, matter. we need to pay attention to that. we say goodbye to her this week. >> all right, let's talk to brian, as well. >> have you checked the airline prices recently for a ticket? yikes! well, that's 'cause the oil prices -- no, that's right. oil's really cheap. >> [ laughs ] >> huh. i'm trying to think what it was. recently, american airlines here announced that they were canceling the philadelphia to tel aviv flight. it's pretty full, they say, but they just can't make enough money.

i guess they -- we need more competition here in philadelphia for airlines, and that's a real problem for us. it's a choke on the economy. and if we want to be a first-class city, a global city, we need more competition. >> all right, and that's "inside story" for this week. thanks to our insiders for being here, for your thoughts and your time. thank you so much for watching. we appreciate that. hope you have a great week ahead. we'll see you right back here next sunday morning. ♪ >> i'm eva pilgrim, coming up next only "action news," philadelphia police investigate the death of one of their own in a deadly crash overnight. the new jersey man who lived at the home where rose o'donnell's daughter was found is behind bars. the eagles 0 breathing easier. sam broad folder -- bradford came through his first hit okay,

and the bitter get another win. those stories ennext on "action news."

>> good afternoon, sunday, august 23, i'm eva pilgrim. >> announcer: in an is off today. here some of the stories we're following on "action news." new information on a early morning crash that killed a philadelphia police sergeant. joe