>> i'm monica malpass. on "inside story," one of pennsylvania's congressmen says he is done with washington. what does that mean for forging bonds between the parties going forward? let's get the inside story. ♪ good morning, and welcome to "inside story." i'm monica malpass. let's meet our insiders this week, and they are jim eisenhower, attorney. welcome back to you, sir. >> good morning, monica. >> thank you for being here. also christine flowers, journalist and attorney. good morning, christine. ajay raju, attorney. good morning, sir. glad to have you, as well, as always. and dom giordano, radio talk show host. thank you for being with us, as well. >> thanks, monica. >> let's talk about representative charlie dent. a very well-known moderate in the state of pennsylvania. he's been in d.c. for a long time, has decided he is not going to run for reelection. there may be a number of factors in making that decision, but the bottom line is, not many moderates seem to be sticking

around washington. is it because it's too hard to make a deal, because the acrimony between the parties has gotten so loud that there's really no sort of career growth pattern for a moderate even? what is the reasoning behind so many folks fleeing d.c.? >> you know, monica, i knew charlie when he was in the state senate in harrisburg, and i was in the rendell administration, and what a great guy. fantastic legislator. you know, had principles, but was willing to compromise and work together to produce results. i think he showed a tremendous amount of courage in the early days of the trump administration and taking stands against the president of his own party. i think, you know, just the two-year cycle, running every two years, it's almost like you're always running. >> it's a grind. >> and just the dysfunction of congress. i haven't talked to him about his decision, but i can only imagine it's just got to be so frustrating to do that day in and day out, year after year. you finally say, "you know, time to do something else, i guess." >> does it seem like it's getting worse, not better,

because there is this sort of back and forth, one day this group's on top, the next day the opponents are winning in their favor with the president? what do you think is really happening, ajay? >> you know that saying, "if it's too hot in the kitchen, get out of the kitchen." but why would anybody want to go into a hot kitchen in the first place? so many moderate republicans are now thinking from a job satisfaction standpoint, from an effectiveness standpoint that they can't operate in that hot kitchen, where they're so polarized, where, you know, they're riled up by the left extremes and the right extremes, and they're stuck in the middle. they know that whatever they do, you know, they're only bringing a bucket of chlorine into an ocean of divisiveness, and it doesn't really matter. that bucket isn't gonna do anything to clean things up. and they're better off doing other things, and that's why, you know, charlie dent is not the last of the mohicans, but there may be two or three other moderates remaining before we start seeing a complete draining of the swamp of not good republicans, but just moderate republicans. whether they're good or bad doesn't -- you know, that's subject of opinion.

>> and back in this area, representative john taylor in the state house is also considering not coming back again -- the same issues, i believe. >> well, monica, i don't see it quite that way with dent. i think he's never had more power. i mean, he has national prestige for some of the things. he heads up a caucus of neo-conservative/moderate people. so maybe it was just personal with him. he doesn't like the grind. he doesn't like all this. he's also allied with john kasich, and i would see him surfacing. i did an event with kasich. dent came down from lehigh county for that, and they were brothers in arms around going back in the republican party, doing something. i think he'll join him in doing something. >> okay, interesting. >> you know, monica, i tend to agree with dom on many things, and on this especially because i think that this is a time when moderates -- even though they may personally feel that they're disenfranchised and neutered in a sense because of the polarization, as ajay mentioned, they're more important now than ever, and they do stand out, especially not just moderate republicans, but conservative

democrats, as well. >> exactly. >> they need to come to the center. there is, you know -- it's like the paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, nancy pelosi, chuck schumer, and what's in the middle. well, what was in the middle was charlie dent and taylor and these guys who -- and women -- you know, like -- oh, my goodness -- collins and -- >> olympia snowe. >> well, right. but senator susan collins. >> exactly. >> i mean, those are the ones sort of like the extremist whisperers, i call them, people who can actually try and speak to both sides of it, so i definitely think that this was -- they're losing an opportunity if they pull themselves out of the public square, the public discussions. >> speaking of national politics quickly, hillary clinton came out with her new book last week and issued a number of sort of estimations of what happened on several big topics. russia -- she blames the media for not taking their fear factor seriously when they believed that russia was interfering. donald trump she said was appealing to the ugliest impulses of the national character and on and on.

wall street -- she says she admits blame on that. she shouldn't have gone to make those high-price speeches. and e-mails, she just called it a dumb decision to have an e-mail server that shouldn't have been used. what did you make of her in particular in her book, as well as the blame game that was going on in the book? >> well, i haven't read the book, but i have read the excerpts that have been printed in various newspapers. i think, you know, let's face it, she did get 3 million more votes than donald trump, so there is -- there are a lot of people out there who voted for her, support her, and had this sense of hurt, you know, that she lost, and i think are looking for some answers, some explanation and are interested in hearing what she has to say. i think she still has a voice in the democratic party and in the country, although she said, you know, she's not gonna ever run for office again. but i think she still has, you know, the podium, so to speak, to advance causes that she believes in. >> and does anyone else find

what she said surprising, or was it more the same? >> well, i think she made some mistakes with respect to, for example, bernie sanders. i mean, she was still blaming bernie for some of her problems, and she's alienating -- speaking of the extreme parts of the different parties, she's alienating that very strong bernie vote, which is still really, really, you know, palpably active. also, i mean, as a woman, i really hate it when women start talking about how they're being intimidated by the actions of men, so when she started talking about, well, the way donald trump was moving around at the debate and, you know, she didn't know whether or not she should tell him to back off, buddy, or, you know, just sort of deal with it, i said, "why are you even revisiting that issue? it's a nonstarter." >> well, monica, i would say she was better during this book tour than she was as a candidate in some ways since she was feistier or more open. she was mechanical as a candidate. she didn't bond with people. there was not excitement as the

first woman, so she tried to make the case the excitement level is much different than the first african-american. that may be to some degree, but there should have been -- if elizabeth warren were the candidate... >> right. >> ...there would have been a lot more excitement, so a lot of it comes back to her personality, the mechanical nature of this, and being there forever, even the first woman. >> i think dom has a point -- an excellent point there, which is americans after the great recession wanted somebody to share in their frustration and anger, not just provide solutions, which i think she did, which is a measured way about what the future is. they just wanted somebody to excite. the book itself, though, it's an autopsy of a failed presidential candidacy. >> right. >> but it can also be an important biopsy for the democratic party about what not to do and not repeat the same mistakes. so i think there's value in the tour. i know that she's been criticized for still hogging up the spotlight, but really this is an opportunity to reflect as a party and see will the same tactics work in the future?

>> right. and can healing be done in between now and 2018 and going forward? all right, in an interesting twist with our president, who met with and had chinese dinner, of all things... [ laughter ] ...some chocolate dessert with nancy pelosi and chuck schumer of all folks, two people in the democratic party, leaders, of course, that he has maligned and had nothing but bad things to say for a number of months. now cozying up with them a second time. had them over for dinner about daca, but the next day, depending on whose tweet you were reading, it confused both parties. did he agree to allow some daca folks to stay and have a path to citizenship in exchange for building part of the wall? did he not? now it sounds like they're mad, angrier than ever before, and the republicans, of course, scratching their heads like, "what does he keep going over to the dems?" >> well, i think he did make that. that's the trump that i think is there. he did make a deal with them on paper with, you know, the fury of this and all. and then there was such a backlash, even people like sean hannity and ann coulter and all went wild. there are people burning the

maga hats now in protest, and i think there was a pushback. they're gonna let this calm down. but on -- >> did he not expect that? was that news to him that they were gonna push back if he made a deal? that was a campaign platform for him. >> yeah, but i think two things. one, the base is so supportive pretty much of anything, like nothing i've ever seen. and two, he likes the media, likes the press. it was golden seeing this sort of friendship. he's willing to risk it. >> let's not forget that he threw a fundraiser for chuck schumer at mar-a-lago just a few years ago. >> right. >> right. >> and i believe has contributed to nancy pelosi. >> let's not forget he was a democrat. >> plus -- plus -- >> so he's really -- >> it makes a difference depending on who is practically going to get his agenda done. >> plus he's very personality-driven, and he has -- there's bad blood between him and paul ryan. there's bad blood between him and mitch mcconnell, so he's saying, "okay, didn't work on this side. let me look at these guys over here." daca is an extremely sympathetic immigration point, so while the base is still kind of like, "no, nothing. it's amnesty, it's amnesty." >> i mean, people are burning their "make america great" hats over this. >> right. >> they think they have been literally taken out to pasture.

>> it's true, but it's the most -- and as dom says, as dom says, they may be burning their hats, but they're not going to -- i mean, what's the alternative? they are gonna stick with donald trump regardless. you know, sean hannity and ann coulter are outliers. >> well, i think it's naive. it would be naive to simplify donald trump into one basket or the other. >> right. >> when ronald reagan first came into power, i think the world was really afraid of how extreme he could have been. it was that extreme position that allowed him to soften up with gorbachev to then tear down that wall. i'm not suggesting that trump is using the same tactic, but you have to give him credit in how he negotiates and what he does. this is classic playbook. he goes from one extreme to the other extreme and always confuses the other side. i think this is not just accidental. some of it is a strategy. you have to give him some credit. >> any collateral damage done, though? did he do any damage this past week? >> i see this as erratic, and the test of the tale is this -- he didn't get funding for the wall. democrats are never gonna give funding for the wall. >> right. >> their base will not allow it in any way, shape, or form.

so now we're repairing fences versus building a wall. that's pretty telling to me. >> right. all right, bernie sanders, speaking of sanders, was not supported in his healthcare suggestions and plan by either pennsylvania senator. why not, and what in the world is going to happen with his ideas, which some folks said it might actually work? >> well, no surprise that pat toomey wouldn't support it. [ laughter ] >> sure. he's a republican. >> bernie brought them together. >> hard to tell what senator toomey supports. but senator casey -- somewhat surprising because i think since the election of donald trump, he seems to have been much more vocal and maybe moved a little there is a lot of anger about trump and a lot of concern about healthcare. but i think the senator, you know, sort of looked at the plan, and i think knowing him the way i do, i think he looked at it and just thought it just wouldn't work. that's just the way he analyzes things, yeah. >> i agree. i mean, i don't know how you pay for it -- approximately

$32 trillion or so in costs. so i think it's little bit more of not disagreement in the ideology or the logic behind the proposal as much as what is practical, and i think senator casey's looking for more practical. >> i think the smart thing to do to bernie sanders is calling it medicare for all. that's the smart thing, and they're gonna continue to try to roll that out. but i think casey, as much as he has now said he's woke and he's going to various positions against trump, at the end of the day, i don't think he's a single payer guy. i'd be really surprised that that's where in his heart of hearts he wants to go. >> we were talking about conservative democrats before. i think in his heart of hearts, even though he's diverged from the pro-life positions, i think his natural orientation is to be a conservative democrat like his father. he's not his father, but i do think that that's deep inside. and while he has moved to the left and he may be woke, whatever that means... >> [ chuckles ] had to throw that in there. that's what he says. he's woke. >> i do think his natural position is significantly right of the left.

>> [ chuckles ] got it. all right, let's talk about congressman bob brady. a big twist this past week. judge jimmie moore now admits that he took payments he said so that he would not run against congressman brady in a primary, and so congressman brady denies that, and, of course, in our system of justice, you are innocent until proven otherwise. so let's find out, is this one more sort of nail in the coffin, or is there still no quid pro quo? is there no proof that simply retiring an opponent's debt, which is a common practice, is the same as telling them or asking them not to run and then paying them off? there's a big difference. >> well, first of all, monica, for our viewers, full disclosure, i represent congressman brady in this matter, and ajay raju is the chairman of the law firm that i work at, so just let our viewers know that. what judge moore has pled guilty to is defrauding his own campaign. he's not admitted to any crimes related to bob brady. bob brady has not been advised he's a target of this investigation. he's done nothing wrong.

he helped to vanquish opponent five years ago, retire some of his debt. he had lots of other debt that was not retired. >> and that's common practice. he wasn't the first. >> and he bought a 500-page very detailed poll that had been commissioned by the former opponent. i read it. i've looked at it. it's got lots of very, very important information that bob brady has used for political purposes over the years. and the law's absolutely clear. you can buy an asset from a vanquished opponent, pay a reasonable value for it. and the other important factor is bob brady reported the purchase of that poll on his publicly filed federal election reports. >> any red herrings for you, dom, chris? >> i don't see anything. i defer to jim on the internal part of this, but to me, this smacks of what goes on in philadelphia, and whether this is legal or not i think is gonna be -- i'm interested to see what courts will say based upon what's been in the media about

what brady did or didn't do. >> and you just think maybe there's something more to it? if it doesn't pass the smell test, in other words, in might not be illegal. it just might not be the right thing to have done, in your opinion? >> right. exactly. >> all right. any ideas, chris? >> i agree with dom again. this is getting boring over here. [ laughter ] no, i think -- actually, i agree with what jim is saying. i think legally there's nothing there. you know, the optics are always going to be bad here, but bob brady is a survivor. bob brady has been around for many, many, many years, generations, so... >> you don't think this is the nail in the coffin to take him down? >> i don't, no. >> okay, we'll take a break. "inside story" continues right after this. stick around. >> "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." some disappointing news and very sad for our city. philadelphia did not improve its stature economically, at least when it comes to the poverty rate. still in 2017 matched the numbers of the prior year, 2016's numbers and '15. so there's no improvement, which is bucking the national trend. other big cities having some economic improvement, getting some jobs going and getting some people out of the poverty level. 1 out of 3 children in philadelphia still in abject poverty. what do you think is the answer?

how do we move the dial on this, christine, because really philadelphia is stuck at the top of a list we don't want to be at. >> you know, i'm gonna say something that's no surprise to anyone. education. education. we are not -- you know, we're gonna be talking about amazon and bringing things in. we need to be focusing on education, immigration -- i know that's a little controversial -- bringing tech into the philadelphia area, and maximizing what we already have here, which, you know, i don't have any solutions, but i think that we, as a city, have so much in the way of natural resources that we're just not exploiting it in the best sense. >> you mentioned tech. millennials seem to be getting good paying jobs in philadelphia because they are qualified and educated, but it's the rest of the philadelphia population that's suffering so much who has not been educated. so now what do we do with that? because amazon, as she mentioned, does want to have a second major headquarters in the u.s., and they're shopping cities, and philly's on the

list. >> it's a tale of two cities. now, i can't compare why philadelphia marginally versus some of these others. one theory i have is you've been doing the same policies, same people -- democrats that run philadelphia for 65 years. but what else is in that dynamic that's worse than some other cities where it's sort of like that? that's a little hard to say. and i know kenney's grand plan, the mayor, is the soda tax, the pre-k. i believe in pre-k not just through this modality. why are the philadelphia public schools so bad? a lot of these places have bad school districts and yet the results are not as bad when it comes to poverty. >> i think dom's right. i think you have to recognize that it seems that there's sort of a permanent underclass in philadelphia, because we look around us and we see the city growing. the city is so vital and vibrant. >> the tax space is growing with it. >> restaurants and condominiums and all that happening. great attitude in the city. and yet a permanent, entrenched underclass, and it's so many things. it's education, it's nutrition, it's crime. it's so multifaceted, and it

seems like we've never really been able to get, you know, a comprehensive approach, where we do this over here and then we'll try that over there. and i don't know what the answer is, but i do think we need something that's more coordinated and more comprehensive. >> so why would an amazon want to come here then, ajay? because the other cities on the list, unfortunately, the number two poorest is phoenix and l.a., dallas, chicago, new york, san antonio -- they've got other issues and big problems, too, but somehow they're not always number one of the poorest. we are on the amazon maybe list to bring in 50,000 jobs. that would be tremendously helpful. do we have enough employees halfway qualified to even go apply for an amazon job? >> and the answer is yes, and we can recruit them. we're equidistant between the mecca of the capital of the world, which is new york, and the medina of the political world, which is d.c. densely populated, able to reach a lot of things from a logistics standpoint, a very important geographic destination. number two, most of the

millennials who are flooding in here are flooding because they can't afford brooklyn and bronx, et cetera. they're coming here, but they can't stay here long because the fertile soil that they expected to find is not as fertile, and the education system is not great. so by the time they have their first baby, they move on to the suburbs, et cetera. >> exactly. >> we are continue -- we'll always continue to have these problems until we do a structural change in how we think about issues. in philadelphia, ideas matter less than the person who actually delivers the idea. until we're bound to that culture of a handful of stakeholders who control the flow of traffic, we will always be subject to their -- >> so you're saying it's the idea, not the personality. >> no, it's the few individuals who control. once we dilute the influence of the insiders and we allow -- >> that's brilliant, ajay. it's not just personalities. >> because there's no shortage of great ideas. look at all the greatest innovation in biotech happening right now. it's happening in philadelphia. it's at penn medicine, chop, and others. but how many people -- if dr. joon right now was in a

lineup, how many people would recognize dr. joon? but i can tell you any union leader today everybody will recognize. dr. joon transformed medicine, and he is the first key to maybe curing cancer. >> not a household name in philadelphia, right. >> run for mayor, ajay. >> [ chuckles ] >> nobody would vote for me. >> is there hope for the amazon contract landing here? >> i absolutely think so. i mean, for the reasons that were laid out already, we are equidistant between new york and d.c. geographically, we're great. we have a port. i do think that we have people who are intelligent, active. we have -- the median age of the philadelphian is 34.6 or 36.4, something like that. so we're a young city. we were an aging city. so i think we have a lot of energy behind us, and i think jeff bezos really would do well in his business to have us be the eastern anchor -- not pittsburgh. not pittsburgh. >> we also have great universities. it's affordable to live here. >> right. >> you can have a great lifestyle here, great culture. >> we'll have to leave it at

that. all right, pick philadelphia. all right, inside stories coming your way right after this. ♪

i'll have the langoustine lobster ravioli. for you, sir? the original call was for langoustine ravioli. a langoustine is a tiny kind of lobster. a slight shellfish allergy rules that out, plus my wife ordered the langoustine. i will have chicken tenders and tater tots. if you're a ref, you way over-explain things. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance

you switch to geico. sir, we don't have tater tots. it's what you do. i will have nachos! >> "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. >> time for inside stories of the week, and let's start with dom. >> my inside story involves so-called safe injection sites where addicts in philadelphia could go and inject with a medical personnel there if they overdose or some other distress. larry krasner, he agrees with that, the democrat candidate for d.a., but shockingly, on my show, beth grossman does, too, and she wants mobile centers like this. imagine going around philadelphia with a site, a mobile site for people to come and shoot up with doctors there. >> hmm. all right. jim. >> monica, insiders in harrisburg are talking about the competition between the three statewide office holders -- joe torsella, the treasurer, eugene depasquale, auditor general, and josh shapiro, our new attorney general.

the talk is josh has gotten off to a bit of a slow start, hasn't brought really any significant cases, hasn't been out front with many of the multistate cases brought by other ags against trump. he's been more in the background. whereas torsella's been in the news on the budget. eugene is issuing audits left and right. and all of this is about who's gonna succeed tom wolf. >> hmm! all right. christine. >> monica, years ago i read a book by archbishop chaput called "render unto caesar" about how a person of faith could operate in the public square. i'm gonna send my copy to senator dianne feinstein. at a recent confirmation hearing for a trump nominee to the seventh circuit, law professor amy barrett was grilled by feinstein on her catholic faith. when professor barrett said she would recuse herself when her morals conflicted with the law, that wasn't enough for feinstein. senator feinstein needs to re-read the free exercise clause of the first amendment. >> all right. ajay. >> monica, we talked about how do we get the new era of civic

evolution, and we claim philadelphia's position in the global front line of ideas and discovery. come tuesday on the 19th, watch the new germination fellows -- germination project's fellows get revealed. 17 kids will be admitted to the fellowship. 47 students received interview slots. the kids who were not accepted into the fellowship, the rejected candidates, the average gpa for them was 4.2. >> and that's the rejects? >> those were the rejects. >> wow. impressive. all right, that's "inside story" for this week. have a great week ahead. we'll see you right back here i'm nydia han along with gray hall disproof -- coming up next passengers recall the derailment of a septa train. making a difference in time for the upcoming jewish high holiday, a way habitat for humanity is helping seniors in

need. those sters and more coming up next on "action when "action nes right "action news"

>> good afternoon it is sunday, september 17 i'm nydia han along with gray hall. >> here's a look at the stories we're following on snacks. >> authorities in the uk update the terrorist threat level as police arrest two people in the