>> philadelphia city council president darrell clarke is our guest. let's get the inside story. ♪ good morning. i'm tamala edwards. welcome to "inside story," and good morning to you, council president. happy father's day. >> thank you so much. >> big week in city council. rebuild, the mayor's signature program, makes its way through, very different than what he originally proposed. one of the key things had been a back-and-forth on minority participation. we saw somebody from city hall say that they expect, in the first year, 45% participation, to which you said, "comment in the heat of battle." do you think they will meet that benchmark in the first year? >> we better. i mean, we've hyped this program, we've set expectations across the board, and i think that it will give us the ability to achieve those goals. the simple reality is that the

disparity study that was done says that those individuals are available -- female, disadvantaged. minority participation can, in fact, be achieved, so we've established a very robust program that will put in place mechanisms that will allow us to reach those numbers, so i'm pretty optimistic. >> we heard a number of your councilmembers express doubt on changes and whether or not -- and, you know, we've heard, we've seen, we've been told. we need to see it. you talk about the figures -- 99% male, 75% white. even with rebuild, which is a small program in the scope of what's being done in the city, 10 years from now, will i go to a building trades site and it'll look different than what i see now? >> well, we hope so. i mean, and it's not just rebuild. we hope to use this as a template for how we apply our participation goals and standards for every municipal project. we also look at a larger scope of projects. as an example, we actually passed out at committee the proposal to deal with

the inquirer, to turn it into police headquarters. we're going to attach several of the guidelines and goals for that building, so, given the level of construction in the city, we think that we can make real strides. the union has participated in the conversation and laid out memorandums of understanding that will allow us to take advantage of these programs, and i think that we're gonna get it done. >> so, you think rebuild has put down a marker? things are gonna be done differently? >> if we can't get it done now, with employment in construction 110%, municipally owned facilities, taxpayers' dollars, then it will never happen, so this is our optimum time to get this done. >> let's talk about the money that goes into rebuild. the soda tax made it through commonwealth court, the beverage industry saying they intend to go to the supreme court. what are you anticipating happening there? >> well, we always anticipated that, regardless of who won what level of the appellate process, that it would ultimately end up in the supreme court. we obviously are excited. in fact, if we pass those two hurdles successfully, we think that that it laid out clearly

that it is not infringing on the uniformity clause. that was a key component with respect to the challenge, so i think we'll be successful. looking forward to getting that money so we can spend it. >> they're not gonna make the projections. they'll get about maybe 2/3 of it this year, maybe less. but they continue to keep the same projections over the 5-year program. do you think they're right? will they get the money, and what do you do if they don't? >> well, that's why you have annual budgets, because the simple reality is, every now and then, you have to adjust your budget, but the reality is that we look at worst-case scenario at having a significant amount of revenue to implement this program. >> let's talk about the teachers' contract. >> mm-hmm. >> i want you to tell me as much as you can, 'cause i know you're involved in lots of things. they are signaling that, after four years of arguing, they might be on the cusp of something. does "cusp" mean it's going to happen, or "i wouldn't put money on it"? >> i mean, obviously, i can't talk about that, but the simple reality is that they've made significant strides as it relates to getting more changes, putting additional dollars on

the table to make sure that the teachers get a fair and equitable contract. i anticipate that we'll get there. >> i'm gonna try you again on this. >> all right. >> the sticking point last time was no retroactive pay, no cost-of-living increase. has there been movement on those two things? >> i think there's been movement on all aspects of it. they started out here, and they've moved together, and they're very close to concluding a contract. >> how soon do you think i might hear something? >> uh, that i don't know. >> all right. >> [ chuckles ] >> you have said shortly after councilman oh being targeted and assaulted that city council is going to take up the issue of gun control, a gun commission. what can we do? many people might look at that in a year in which 480 people have been shot. 100 of them have died. we're just midway through the year. what can city council do? >> well, we're limited in terms of limiting the number of weapons on the street. the proliferation is primarily the issue -- too many guns on the street in the wrong hands. the simple reality is that we can do several preventive

measures, which we're gonna do. we're gonna do outreach. we're gonna do more training, more education as it relates to young people, 'cause the reality is that poverty is driving a lot of the challenges in some of these neighborhoods as it relates to violence. >> but if a lot of kids feel, or a lot of people feel, like, "i'm not safe out here, i need this gun," can you get it out of their hands? >> well, you know, we hope. i've had a very strong conversation with the attorney general, josh shapiro, who is a good friend of mine. i supported him vigorously. we're gonna work together on some things. we have some legislators, in spite of the fact that the republican side of the general assembly has not allowed us to do anything, but i think we have to do something. it's clear that, locally, we're somewhat limited, but you can't just sit back on your hands and say, "we're not gonna do anything." we put together a select committee in council to deal with gun violence. we met with the mayor. we're talking about pulling together some additional resources, and i think you'll see some changes in the next several weeks. >> you know, we're talking in a week in which a congressman's been shot, a number of people

were shot, at a baseball game, or a baseball practice, in virginia, and so that's got people talking about the tone and about civility. on july 2nd in philadelphia, there will be an impeachment march. we've seen a lot of marches saying, pretty much, we just don't like this president and we're calling for his impeachment. do you think it's a good idea for things like this to continue on? people had their moment after the election. is this continued sort of resistance a good idea? >> absolutely. i think that, you know, it is clear that people are not satisfied. we've seen recent polling numbers. even in his party, the numbers are going down. we need to keep it up, but, more importantly, we need to prepare for 2018. i mean, you can march. you can advocate. at the end of the day, it's all about the vote. too many people had decided that hillary clinton wasn't the ideal candidate or "bernie's not running, so i'm not gonna vote." look where we are. so, i think we need to make sure that everybody's registered and make sure that we get people out to vote to put people in so we can put the country back to work. >> all right. thank you for joining us, and, again, happy father's day.

>> thank you so much. >> all right. we'll take a short break and come back to our "inside story" panel. >> "inside story" is presented by temple university. remarkable change isn't easy, but for those who take charge, it comes naturally. explore temple's impact. visit temple.edu/impact.

♪ >> and welcome back to "inside story." let's introduce you to the panel. first up, we've got nonprofit exec george burrell. good to see you. >> morning, tamala. >> we also have documentarian

sam katz... >> good morning. >> ...attorney ajay raju... >> morning. >> ...and communications expert jeff jubelirer. >> morning, tamala. >> happy father's day to all of you. >> thank you very much. >> let's get going talking about darrell clarke and rebuild. i mean, he suggests this is a turning point for the city in terms of what work crews look like. they've complained about this issue for years that minorities and women were not really able to get a toehold in the building trades. is he right that this makes a difference, or not really? >> he's right, and i think the most exciting part of what they're talking about is hiring philadelphians, and philadelphia's assets and resources are being deployed to build for philadelphians and more extensively by philadelphians than i've ever seen, so kudos to them for that. and, secondly, to me, these investments in recreation, in better public facilities, in libraries are the legacy investments that make philadelphia better for quality of life and will help resuscitate neighborhoods and will bring back the city in a

most significant way, and it's one of the things that government actually does well, which is capital improvements to government assets, so i say hats off to mayor kenney and to the city council. >> i think it's too early to tell. i think it will have a positive effect with respect to rebuild, but it's not gonna affect -- the renaissance of construction that's going on the city is going on today. those jobsites are already filled with people who are not minorities, who are not women, and that's not gonna impact that, so if rebuild -- if the template works, will there be a construction boom that's going on after this? and i think it does, though, improve the quality of life in neighborhoods. i think the council president and city council and the mayor are to be commended for it. but there are things, you know -- there are some other things that have to do to change the quality of life for people in those neighborhoods. you know, if you look at america today, they say there are 250,000 to 300,000 jobs that go unfilled because there are not people qualified to do them. the question is, how do we get those people ready in our city? because the question's gonna be

whether there are people in the city ready to do those jobs. >> ajay and jeff, something else they got was a lot more councilmanic input -- you know, final call on what the list looks like. it was nonprofits at the start. now it's back to sitting in council, councilmembers on the board, everything. is that a good thing, or is that going to be an anchor in terms of what's able to get done? >> it's how it's done in philly. that's the only -- we're sitting here today talking about the agreement that was put into place this past week. it's just the way things are done, and it's to be seen, but it certainly is not something that, in the past, this councilmanic prerogative of jobs and sites that get chosen -- it's not always done for the right reasons, the sites that are chosen, so we will have to see, because -- but it would not have been done. i think the council would have held up the deal with the mayor otherwise. >> let's talk a little bit about the soda tax. we've talked on this panel before when they were getting in numbers that they thought it exceeded expectations. we now have a drop in revenue. they're having to readjust

expectations. do you think it's a momentary blip, that they're right when they say, "next year, when we have a full year, starting now in june to next june, we'll get the revenue we expect," or have people's habits changed? should they anticipate less money? >> i don't think people's habits have changed, but, like with all of these projects, to jeff's point, sometimes in philadelphia it's not really the idea that matters as much as who has control over the idea that matters even more, as long as the political jostling over the soda tax, the rebuild. i mean, rebuild -- think about it. it's an over half-a-billion-dollar project, a chance for us to completely revitalize essential community resources, add diversity to the union labor force. soda tax potentially has the impact of at least lowering our health effects and, at the same time, helping education. all of these ideas are good. the question is, who administers it, whether they watch the dollars, and whether or not the actual dollars collected go to improving half of these things. i'm actually more optimistic now, especially with the rebuild

project that sam pointed out, this is a great moment looking forward. and i understand we don't have to sort of claim victory yet, but really smart, long-term visioning process for our city. >> the soda-tax issue is a two-edged sword. you know, every action prompts a reaction. and senators anthony williams and scott wagner, who are the respective chairs of the senate local government committee, are planning on bringing a hearing to philadelphia to give grocery-store owners, bodegas, and convenience-store owners an opportunity to express the effects of the soda tax on their business, which has been pronounced. and the possibility of a senate legislative initiative to reclaim the right to the state to control the soda tax is a possibility now. but one thing offsetting that -- i mentioned this to george before the program -- is the city is now collecting so much more in real-estate taxes because of actual value initiative, and

particularly on center city commercial properties, the city's doing financially better as a result of both of these things, and if they were to lose one, there are resources there to kind of close that gap. >> i think it's important, too -- i mean, i've been at this, in the public life in philadelphia, for a very long time. we're always celebrating intent... [ laughter ] ...as opposed to measuring outcomes, and so i don't think any of us knows what the result of this is going to be until we get down the road and see what the outcomes are and whose lives are actually changed. >> speaking of not knowing the outcome, as we tape at this moment, the bill cosby sex-assault trial is still going on, the jury back for its fifth day, asking its seventh question, but we still want to talk a little bit, 'cause this has been a blockbuster moment. i kind of want to know your big takeaways in that we had days of opening statements and prosecution and seven minutes of defense, and yet they have said to the judge, "we're deadlocked." what does this tell us in this moment with this trial? >> that they're -- they're stuck.

and all signs -- and we'll see if it comes true -- that it could be a mistrial or a hung jury and that they cannot -- as a jury, there could be three or four -- who knows? -- members who just will not come to the other side, whatever that majority opinion is. so, i think if we're just looking at the tea leaves, that it appears that there will not be a conviction and that the prosecutor, then, will have four months to decide whether or not to bring this back up again. >> they seem to keep going back into what was in his head and what was in her head the moment when he gives her the pills and then the moment when the alleged assault is occurring, and they keep wanting to hear his explanation that, you know, "she had the option, i gave them to her, and i thought we were in agreement here." it seems as though they keep focused on that section of the testimony. >> yeah. i think they do. i think there is seven minutes of defense. there is no defense for bill cosby's behavior, whether he is convicted of this crime or not. you know, there's just --

there's no defense for that, and there's no way for him to reclaim his reputation or his identity in america as it moves through this, and so i really think the outcome of the trial will certainly impact the victim and those who think they've been victimized before, but bill cosby's image has been destroyed, and what he's done is wrong. >> ajay, you're the attorney here. what happens? let's say he beats this one. there are many civil cases out there. does it have an impact, or two totally different things? >> oh, they're separate things. i mean, i think one would be an issue of criminal prosecution. if he beats this, the civil lawsuits can go on forever, and they're not linked together. >> let's turn and move on and talk about another topic. >> i'm glad. [ laughter ] >> the league of women voters -- they've come out, just yesterday, with a lawsuit up in harrisburg saying, "on the behalf of democrats, even though democrats and republicans agreed to this map, we have to sue.

the way things are set up, the voters' intent just is not being seen in changing the makeup." does this lawsuit have any sort of chance? >> i don't really know, 'cause it's a civil lawsuit that's gonna be adjudicated in a court system that's elected, and so it's a little complicated to think about, but, you know, there's 800,000 more democrats in pennsylvania -- i don't know if i have the exact right number today -- than republicans, and 36 out of 50 members of the state senate are republican. 121 out of 203 members of the state house are republican. so, how could the math work that way, other than from a totally gerrymandered legislative district mapping process that comes every 10 years after the census? and it's not just pennsylvania. it's across the board. >> but pennsylvania's been cited as being one of the worst... >> we're the best. we're the best. we're not the worst, we're the best. >> ...where a line has been drawn around one building on a street. >> nobody runs for re-election

in pennsylvania in a competitive district. >> by the way, i'm not trying to defend republicans, except to say when democrats were in charge, they had similar things, and if you look at other states, it's that way, as well. you have to go state by state to see, like, there are problems everywhere, and what courts have decided -- and it depends on which court, of course -- is that, oftentimes, it's the legislature's function to actually create the districts, and that's been adjudicated at the highest level of the united states supreme court, whether it's right or wrong. >> this is one of those moments where people like the sexy "let's go march, let's go yell." >> i know, but nothing gets done. >> this is the stuff that matters, like, the more we see people actually come out and say, "we want districts that are squares or rectangles or circles but something obvious." >> has to happen. >> but i think you're going to see these type of litigations all over the country. remember, north carolina just decided one recently, where they struck down the redistricting platform. eric holder has, i think, started a program that's really focused on nationally redistricting of sites all over the country, so i think you'll see this type of litigation be part of the strategy going

forward. >> let's jump over into new jersey -- chris christie. >> where? >> new jersey. [ laughter ] chris christie's saying he wants to tie the pension system to the lottery system -- pretty much what pennsylvania does, trying to put some of the money into things for seniors -- and he thinks that this could solve their pension problem. is he right? >> no. >> [ laughing ] okay. >> but he's right that it'll move towards -- the size of unfunded pension liabilities in america -- philadelphia, $5 million plus by overstating the return rate, pennsylvania, $65 billion. did i say, "$5 million"? $5 billion plus, $65 billion, new jersey somewhere in that vicinity. illinois is like imploding. there is no solution to this problem short of infusing a tremendous amount of cash into these systems, and nobody has that, and nobody wants to sell anything, which is the only place you can get cash, because the bond market doesn't work. so, the governments have been shortchanging their annual contributions to pension systems

for three decades, and we're now going to start to see what it means to pay the piper. >> yeah. i think to your point, sam, it's a $74 billion problem in pennsylvania. it's growing at $127 per second. >> my goodness. >> that's the growth of the unfunded pension liability. all we're doing is if we take it from the lottery, we're just diverting funds that aging citizens will not have and we can take it from the privatization of liquor, we can take it from -- but it's just putting more money to the problem without addressing the root cause of why we're in this position. we've kicked the can down the road for far too long. now it's come home to roost. >> and the pension reform just passed in harrisburg. giving it the word "reform" seems a little e tom wolf, showing that he and republicans are getting something done? >> that's true. it is a start. it could help tom wolf quite a bit, 'cause he needs some things that are gonna help him, and this will certainly be one. >> and the guy who, today, at least, looks like to be his opponent in the fall, which

would be senator scott wagner who's one of two or three who voted against it, saying it didn't go far enough. >> and, very quickly, on chris christie, quinnipiac came out with a poll, and they pretty much said he found the floor and fell through it in terms of being considered the worst governor. i mean, just the rating's incredibly low. he has said he doesn't care, that he's looking to history. when i saw that poll, i wondered, "can you really say that at this moment, that after some of the ups, for it to come this far down?" >> does it matter if you're 34% or 14%? at this point, does it really matter? i think i believe him. i don't think it matters anymore. he's already in the pool, throwing another glass of water on him. it doesn't matter. >> i think for him, he didn't get where he wanted to go, so where he is doesn't make any difference. >> and it impacts the new jersey gubernatorial election this year. i think guadagno is going to have a difficult time, and she's actually a pretty good candidate, but in this environment, with trump at the top of the ticket... >> and a goldman sachs executive with a lot of money to flood to himself on the democratic side. >> but you said something important. you said, "goldman sachs," which normally would be something to use against a candidate, even though he has a lot of money, he's self-funded. >> as the historian at the

table, let me say that history very rarely talks about governors, so it's not gonna be one of the great moments in american history. >> i want to end with the same question i ended with with council president clarke. this idea of an impeachment march on july 2nd -- when you look at the brief for the march, it's pretty much -- there's a little about russia and obstruction of justice, but mainly it's just, "we just don't like this guy, and we don't think he's doing a very good job, and we think he should just be tossed out." is it a good idea for many people on the left or who feel this way to keep going down this road, or does it continue this feeling that, after a certain while, if you're angry about everything, you're almost angry about nothing -- people don't pay attention? is it a good idea for these marches to keep going on, for the hostility to stay at this level, or a bad thing? >> well, i agree with council president clarke. i think it's a good thing. but i think it's not just the left. i think there are a lot of independents and a lot of moderates who are offended, who are protesting. they may not be marching for impeachment, but are engaging in discussions all over america today, and i don't think the president is helping himself or his party by his behavior.

and i was one of those who said i thought it would fade away, but i think it's important that they sustain it. the opposition must be sustained. it must be respectful, but it must be sustained. >> but is that the right way to do it, ajay -- to have the marches -- or would they be better off picking issues and saying, "gosh, we really hated that healthcare bill, we don't like tax reform, let's work on these specific issues" versus just "get him out of there!"? >> that's an issue of strategy. i mean, when you have too much noise, it's hard to focus on what's really important, so that's more of an issue, but to the larger point of people are angry, they should be angry, and they are voicing their concerns either through protests or behind-the-scenes maneuvering or policy advocating or getting people to register to vote. all of those things are, i think, healthy for democracy. you have to have a very steady opposition, no matter who's in power. >> sam, you're the historian. what do we do with the tone and the hostility -- somebody being shot this week? is there anything we can do in this moment? >> oh, i think there's a lot that can be done. first of all, i think this march, you need to be careful

what you wish for, because mike pence is the outcome of an impeachment, and i'm not sure very many of the folks who will be out there would like to see that, but we need people -- what the congress did in the last couple of hours, getting together, the turnout for the baseball game at the national stadium -- these are moments we need to capitalize on in philadelphia and around the country, to talk about civility and how we can move forward together. >> all right. short break. back with our inside stories.

>> "inside story" is presented by temple university. remarkable change isn't easy, but for those who take charge, it comes naturally. explore temple's impact. visit temple.edu/impact. >> welcome back to "inside story." we got so wrapped up in that last segment that, pretty much, i think we ate up all the time for inside stories, so i've got kind of my own inside story. people will tweet at me and say, "why are there no women on the panel?" i will tell you, we've got a revolving list, and sometimes it just works out that way, as is the case today, but i'm glad about it because it's

father's day, and i get to know these people behind the scenes, and they're incredible dads. >> thank you. >> so, i want to take a moment to thank you gentlemen for being here, and i hope you're getting something more than a tie... [ laughter ] ...or a bar of soap -- that you're getting something you really wanted. >> getting the pleasure of being with my children. >> but, sam, the pleasure of being with your grandchildren, not to make you too old. it is the best job in the world, sam, and none of us would trade it for the world. >> and happy father's day to my husband -- you make it all worthwhile -- and to my dad. all right. have a great day. >> happy father's day. >> happy father's day, everybody. i'm nydia han along with gray hall. cosby is back homeon "action this father's day after a judge declares a mistrial in the case. reaction and what's next. devastating details revealed built seven sailors who dioy after a crash. >> a humid start to the week, when will we see relief? meteorologist chris sowers and the accuweather forecast has the

answers. >> those stories and more neck on "action news." >> good after,

june 18 i'm nydia han along with gray hall. >> here's a look at the stories we're following on "action news." >> a mistrial declared in the bill cosby sexual assault trial. what it means for the comedian