>> i'm monica malpass. on "inside story," is the moderate political voice of pennsylvania being drowned out or even erased? 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 donna gentile o'donnell, who is a nonprofit executive. welcome. good morning. glad to have you. val digiorgio, state gop official. thank you for being here, sir. >> thank you. >> george burrell, nonprofit executive. always good to have you with us, george. and brian tierney, marketing executive. thank you for spending time with us, as well. so, from state representative john taylor to congressman charlie dent, a retirement, a decision not to run again, much of the moderate voice of this state, locally and at the washington level, is now being put to rest, if you will. is it because of the forces at play in dc because the environment is not very hospitable to people who are

able to cross the aisle and make things happen between the parties, or what's really at work here? what do you think is going on? >> well, i've spoken to both charlie and john taylor. these are veteran legislators who have been there a long, long time -- one in congress, one in the state house. have served 20 to 30 years each. in both cases, they cited the inability to get anything done in harrisburg and in washington. rather than focus on their party or the democratic party, it's both parties, and it's a problem. and we need leaders who know how to reach across the aisle and get some things done, and these were two legislators who knew how to do that. unfortunately, we are losing them. >> so, the gridlock itself was too much even for them. if that's the case, then what hope do we have of getting anything done going forward, if even the people who are the best at sort of conjoining the group leave? >> well, you do a calculation, and i did this when i considered running for congress. i'm gonna take time away from my family. i'm gonna take a pay cut, or i'm gonna have to deal with angry constituents and angry media. that's fine if i can accomplish something. and if you feel you can't, then it's time to go. i guess that's how they felt. >> and charlie dent, in addition

to his time in congress, he also spent time in harrisburg. charlie is just really an extraordinary man and an extraordinary public servant. and i think for someone like him, who was facing headwinds with this president, with the president singling him out and attacking him when he would not go along with things that he thought were improper. and that is the tone and tenor of washington. we're witnessing one congressman after one senator after another being put in the crosshairs of this president and made an example of if they don't agree. that's no way to run an administration. that's no way to lead a party. that's no way to lead a congressional delegation. >> well, george, this isn't the only time historically that the two parties have butted heads, that there has been this gridlock, where things don't get done as quickly as many of us outside of washington would like to see. what is the next likely thing to happen here? >> well, i don't think any of us knows what the next likely thing is to happen. this is going to continue, i

think, for a while. at some point in time, you've got to break what's going on. if you're not on the far right or the far left in this political environment, and everything is tested by political loyalty, so democrats are stuck over here on the left, republicans are stuck over here on the right. steve bannon is pulling them further to the right. and the people in the middle are tested by that loyalty and asked to support a party, not their philosophy, not their values, not their priorities. and when you can't have dialogue about that, it creates chaos and conflict. and i think at this point in time, both parties are at fault, and no adults are rising up as leaders, demonstrating the ability to say, "this mess has to stop." >> and it's the loudest voices, and i think part of it is the nature of the news media, and i'm not talking about mainstream media, and i know that's used pejoratively. i think it's a positive. but, anyway, you've got fox over here. you've got msnbc over here. and it's almost like a psychic, sexual thing that people want to listen and get their same voices

reverberated back. and it's a shame because it's not good for the country. i talked to a u.s. senator -- i won't name him -- a few weeks ago, and he was saying to me, "when you become a u.s. senator, for the first six months you're in there, you're thinking, "how did i get here?" the next five and a half years, you're like, "how did he or she get here? these are morons! how did these people get here?" and that's kind of the reality i think of what it is. so, i could see somebody like charlie dent and john taylor feeling like "i did it, did it for a while, and now i want to focus on the next era of my life and not have to deal with all this." >> and speaking of that, governor wolf is going to have a special election a couple of weeks after mr. murphy, representative murphy steps down -- so, at the end of the month, early november, so that we can have the next level, next representative. and at what point do you think mocrats will try to get in on that, although that was a district out there by western pa and pittsburgh area that trump carried by 20 points. so, do you think it's going to be a free-for-all? >> well, we've got two state senators and a state representative in that on the republican side. what will happen is the governor will for a special election

within 10 days of the vacancy, and then that special election has to take place not less than 60 days thereafter. and so, the republican party and democratic party each pick a candidate. i can tell you on our side, it's an r-plus-11 seat. that's the rating. that means it's heavily republican. tim murphy, the leaving congressman, he won without challenges the last two times. so, we feel we'll hold onto that. we've got two state senators, kim ward and guy reschenthaler. try to say that 10 times fast. >> [ laughs ] >> and rick saccone is a state rep out there running. we'll pick from one of the three of them, and we feel confident we'll hang onto that one. >> and for dent's seat, there are more "d's" than "r's" out that way. so, that's gonna be another interesting one. >> yeah, i think charlie dent's seat is probably more likely to be able to be picked up by a democrat than tim murphy's seat. but having said that, i think there are going to be credible challenges mounted by democrats. i think that we know that the president is losing steam in pennsylvania, in terms of his polling. we don't know what it really

looks like because there's a lot of ambiguity there. but i think we should watch for women candidates to step forward. i think the antagonism that the trump administration has shown toward women, consistently from the day he was inaugurated, has invigorated women politically in a way that i have not seen in my lifetime. so, i think that that's gonna be a factor. >> new faces. >> yes. >> i think it's important so that people like pat meehan and ryan costello, who are these conservative/moderate tom ridge-type republicans, that they stay in the game because they offer an important voice to this dialogue down in washington. >> meantime, president trump came to pennsylvania. he was in harrisburg discussing a couple of things -- tax reform. he was also here to stump for representative lou barletta, who is running now against bob casey for the senate. let's talk a little bit first about the taxes and then about the local race. and what do you think is really the story behind him coming to speak to truckers, of all things? george, do you buy into him saying it's gonna even trickle down and help people, tax cuts that will help truckers?

>> well, i think two things. i think one, his coming here is a down payment on next year, an indication that they're gonna compete in pennsylvania next year in both the senate race and in the gubernatorial race. secondly, as the son of a truck driver, i don't have any confidence that removing estate taxes and taking away state tax deductions and local tax deductions is gonna put any more money in the pockets of middle-class americans. and i don't think -- what president trump is saying, "trust me in what i tell you what's gonna be the consequence of this and ignore the independent studies" that say it's gonna increase the deficit by $2.4 -- or cost the government about $2.4 billion over the next decade. and unfortunately that cost gets deferred by cutting discretionary spending that helps poor people and helps people in need in america. >> val's about to vehemently disagree. >> well, they're gonna vehemently disagree because they have to defend the republican position. there's no one who concludes that there's an economic benefit from this, including insurance

companies and all the other people they say they're helping. >> that's not true. chamber of commerce and a lot of other pro-business organizations think that tax cuts like this are a good thing. >> hooray for the business... [ laughter ] >> and that adds to the tax base. >> chamber of commerce is small businesses, too. >> we are going to weight the tax cuts to the middle class. we're gonna double the standard deduction for individuals and for couples. the president the other night said, "this is not a tax cut that's going to the 1%. it's a tax cut that's going to the middle class." we're going to find a way to bring back $3 trillion in money that's sitting offshore out of the united states from corporations that aren't allowed to bring it back 'cause they'll get taxed at 35% corporate tax rate, the highest in the world, in the industrialized world. we're gonna lower that down to 20%. >> they'll bring that money back, or can we be sure of this? >> and a one-time holiday for all that money to come back. yes, they will bring it back. you talk to those business leaders. a one-time holiday, bring it back and don't get taxed for profits you made overseas. this will be a tremendous, tremendous force for economic

growth in this country. >> it really is an exaggeration, all of those things. ultimately, all of the independent studies, all of them, who are independent studies, look at this and say it's gonna dramatically -- >> george, that's not true. >> hold up. republicans have -- >> all right, brian, weigh in. go ahead. >> republicans have said, "we want to reduce the size of government. and now we're gonna increase the cost by $2.3 billion." >> can you have it both ways, brian? >> you can't say all the independent studies because -- >> show me some independent study that -- >> well, i mean -- >> i've looked at five of them, and all of them reached the same conclusion. >> well, the five you looked at, when you scratch who funded them, though, it's funded by this democratic group or this left-wing group and all that, and they're "independent." we know how those things pop up all the time. the fact of the matter is, if you give an amnesty for people to bring this money that's overseas back in, that's gonna help the country. and the fact of the matter is, taxes are too high on so many groups of working groups. and if the president is saying at this point, "it's not gonna benefit the 1%," then we're gonna have to see that that's the case. >> but it might actually raise taxes for some people in the middle class, so that's the very

group, many of them, and the lower class, working-class folks, who voted trump in. >> well, that will be a disaster if that happens, and i got to think that by the time this gets done, that doesn't happen. >> correct. >> just like healthcare. >> what about lou barletta? he's the representative that was obviously one of the reasons president trump came here. he said he's gonna win big. do you think he's gonna win big? >> no. no, i don't think he'll win big. >> will he win? >> well, first of all, there are 389 days before the general election in november. that is multiple lifetimes in the political world. we don't know what's gonna happen. as george said earlier, there's no way to predict. the volatility, the political volatility that we are seeing coming out of washington now is unprecedented. so, where are trump's numbers gonna be at that point? where is trump gonna be at that point? where does barletta fit into that? he's a credible candidate in that he's got a track record, but it remains to be seen. he's gonna have to run on whatever happens between now and those 389 days.

and i agree largely with george, with the exception of the offshore taxes. i do think that that's an important thing to address. having said that, we're the richest country in the world, and we're cutting benefits for people who need food. now, i'm sorry. that's just morally wrong. the moral imperative that is gonna find representation in barletta's election i think will drive -- >> all right, last word on this, and we'll move on. >> you know what? barletta has, i guess, a great chance, but that casey name is a strong name, and that's a long history, both as his father as democratic governor, as well as sen. casey. so, i wouldn't be placing huge bets on that one. >> all right, let's talk about puerto rico and a big shout-out to the philadelphia-area community for raising a ton of money, $120,000, and shipping 189,000 pounds of supplies to the folks who are still suffering so horribly -- just nightmarish conditions with only 10% of folks with electricity, only half of them have cell service. they can't even call out to family in the u.s. and say, "i'm still alive.

i'm gonna hang in there. please send help." so, it's just a real long process to rebuild the devastation there. but let's talk a little bit about a local representative, scott perry, republican from york county. wasn't so sure he bought in to all the numbers of the people who had died and been injured and impacted. why do you think that came up? >> well, because cuomo was trying to paint a narrative, as cnn does, that republicans, including the president, are heartless, and we want puerto ricans to die. look. fema is not a nation-builder. you can't go into a country which is $74 billion -- a state, i should say -- $74 billion in debt that had poor infrastructure, that before 2011 didn't have a building code that required them to build for a category-3 hurricane and expect fema to go in and rebuild the country. so, scott perry, who i talked to this morning, was pushing back against a narrative that cuomo was very angrily trying to make. the fact of the matter is, you have poor leadership in puerto rico, which has brought them to a place where crumbling infrastructure doesn't allow them to rebuild quicker. they've got power lines and

power plants that are prehistoric, basically. >> their power grid is outdated. >> yeah, so, this is what happens when you get corrupt, irresponsible leadership that doesn't invest the money where it should be invested. >> but is it too early to be talking about that when people are literally dying of infection, george? >> we're reacting to -- nobody is talking about the fact that we knew in new orleans that they couldn't restrain -- the dams couldn't restrain the water. we know that the building infrastructures in florida -- we've been talking for decades about the need to strengthen those against hurricanes, that they would not withstand. nobody is talking about "let's not go there because the infrastructure" -- >> is it because it's the contiguous 48 states, or is there a racist element? >> it's because in all places, it's like the infrastructure in america we know today is tremendously inadequate. everybody -- republicans, democrats -- everybody's talking about infrastructure. but it's not sexy, so nobody does it until there's a catastrophe. and it's shameless to be talking about people who are in trouble.

it's shameless to be talking about people who are in trouble and talk about infrastructure and what happened ten years ago. >> that's a discussion for six months from now? >> yeah, listen. we got to remember. these are americans, okay? puerto ricans are part of america. so, we have to remember that. the fact of the matter is true. the government has been incredibly irresponsible, basically bankrupt. >> the local government. >> the government of puerto rico. it's kind of like so much debt. it's kind of like if atlantic city became a big island, okay? the same inside, taking care of this, kick the can down the road, not investing. now, though, is not the time to be saying, i personally feel, like, some of those things. now is the time, though, six months from now, "hey, guys, you got to start to have the discipline to balance your budgets and do the right things that other states are doing." and i don't think throwing paper towels at the crowd -- >> but first, let's save the people. absolutely. all right, we're gonna take a break. more "inside story" coming your way 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." the sanctuary-city debate goes on and the controversy for philadelphia, new york, dc, chicago. nine cities across the united states are in a fight with the federal government over immigration and how they should treat people. so, the question now becomes the letter from the department of justice a couple weeks ago saying to philadelphia they're in violation and could lose $1.6 million right away and

maybe $100 million long term if they don't comply with president trump's rules and with the rules of the department of justice that are now being enforced. what is the likelihood of that happening? mayor kenney says, "no way, no how" unless the courts make him, right? donna? >> i spoke to mayor kenney, and let me say a couple things. he is absolutely resolute in his commitment to fairness for immigrants in this city. >> but how does he lose that much money -- >> but let me finish. please, let me finish. so, a couple of really important things. the city sent a letter to the justice department in june, outlining how they were in compliance. it was a 15-page letter, outlining the compliance that the city evidences, based on their actions, which includes things like turning over any immigrant for which there is a warrant for someone's arrest. so, this idea that they are not working with justice -- it's a lie. >> and they are suing over that. >> yes, and so, justice has now sent a 3-page response, making a

whole series of demands. the city has to respond by october 27th. and in the meanwhile, they're in court. they're in federal court. >> you think this will play out over months, george? this is gonna be a long-term process? it's not a quick -- lose that money, philadelphia's in worse straits. it's the fourth-biggest city in america but the poorest. >> well, i think they're probably gonna try to play it out in a relatively quick judicial process. nobody wants this to go on forever. but i think the mayor -- it's fascinating because most cities around america grew their population through immigration... >> that's right. >> ...over the last decade or two. it was a really focal point of chambers of commerce and everybody else that we're gonna grow our population with immigration. for me, though, the troubling point here is i think that this reflects why people like the attorney general stay in the administration. there's a man who's been embarrassed and insulted by the president of the united states, but he stays because he wants to pursue his own agenda. the president is consistent with this, but i think this is the attorney general's agenda, and we're going to take away $1.6 million and a greater

amount down the road, which is used to fight crime. we're going to facilitate crime by arguing that we're taking on, we're fighting for a bill that reduces crime. >> maybe the courts will decide that this one's right or that one's right, but i have a problem with mayors setting immigration policy for the country. it's just not their job. it's just not their job. their job is to be a mayor, not to decide what federal laws are in immigration. and they can give it a shot, and it goes to the courts, and then they can't complain if they lose the money. it's a pr stunt, frankly. >> i disagree, brian. i disagree. >> my grandparents were immigrants. immigration is important to our country, but the fact of the matter is, mayors are mayors. >> i urge you -- >> my wife's an immigrant. my wife's an immigrant, and i've been called a xenophobe by the inquirer, which is irrational fear -- >> yeah, but she has an italian last name, val. come on. >> she runs the largest latino nonprofit -- >> i understand that. >> her parents are the cabreras. but aside from that, look. this is a 70% political issue,

sanctuary cities. 70% of the voters agree that the federal government should be setting immigration policy. >> that's the only way it can be. >> we have an epidemic of crime. to say it's immigration -- no, it's illegal immigration. it's not immigrants. you know that, according to the bureau of crime statistics, 22% of all murders in the united states between 2003 and 2009 were by illegal immigrants, who commit crimes at three times the rate of legal immigrants. we've got an epidemic in this country no one wants to talk about. and jim kenney and governor brown in california are making it worse. in the city of philadelphia, you go before a judge, and you're an illegal immigrant, they won't sentence you to a felony. they'll plead down to the misdemeanor so that the city does not have to report it to ice. in california, they signed a law, governor brown, into effect that says they made misdemeanors from 365 days in jail to 364 so you wouldn't have to report that to ice. in the meantime, they're committing crimes at three times the rate of legal immigrants.

that's the problem. this is illegal immigration, not immigration. >> and what about the instances in which there's a crime committed. you've got a victim. you've got a witness. they both have immigration issues of some type. they're being required -- >> it hurts both of them is what your point is. it hurts the victim, too, then. >> so, you're gonna revictimize the victim. >> we're gonna look at the federal law. >> we're a country of laws. >> if we're going to govern -- >> what about the moral imperative to do the right thing? >> run for congress! change the law. >> no! no. >> if we're going to govern by polling, 60% of americans don't want anything to be done to the affordable care act as it's going. if we're going to govern by polling -- >> we're not. we're governed by congress. >> you're the one who said 70% of americans are -- >> that's like your independent analysis on the taxes. >> that's the problem with politics today. everybody is putting their fingers up in the air and testing the wind. this is a tough issue, and it should be resolved in the courts. the president who said president obama was -- something wrong with him by governing by

executive order has issued twice as many executive orders in six months as president obama did. >> all right, and quickly, before we end, the president this past week talked about he's going to restrict the media because they upset him, and he's gonna pull some of their broadcast licenses. he can't technically pull fcc licenses, but he could make life very difficult. is this just a shot over the bow, or is he serious? >> he's serious if he can get away with it. i mean, i think that this president would like to be a version of president erdogan in turkey, who has done exactly the same thing. >> can i jump in on this one? >> so, the fourth estate is at risk or not, brian? >> i don't think it's at risk. thomas jefferson fought with the media all the time when he was president, but he said, "between newspapers without government or government without newspapers, i'll take newspapers without government." i've had a lot of battles with the press over the years. i've been a publisher of a newspaper, both sides of it. freedom of the press -- most journalists are just trying to do their job. and the president is making a huge mistake to take this on. and it's beneath him. and this is the kind of stuff we

do hear in turkey or in russia, and i'm embarrassed and ashamed and i'm a republican, and i was in the reagan administration, and it upsets me greatly. >> all right, we're gonna leave it at that. inside stories of the week coming your way right after this. we'll take a break.

after 8 years of chris christie, is kim guadagno the change new jersey really needs? guadagno is christie's hand-picked successor. says she's "proud to be part of the christie administration." guadagno was chris christie's right hand as our schools came under attack, critical services were underfunded, and our credit rating was downgraded...11 times. from the bridge to the beach, we've seen it all, and we've had enough. kim guadagno isn't the change we need.

>> "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 brian. >> facebook has had these ads coming from russia that are corrupting our political system. they say, "hey, we have so many ads. we're not sure..." picture if you owned a bar, and you said, "i just have so many customers, i can't card everybody." or if mcdonald's said, "we sell so many hamburgers. i'm sorry that every once in a while, somebody gets poisoned." facebook has the resources. they should spend the money to make sure those ads don't appear. it's time for them to step up. >> donna. >> i want to comment on an op-ed that we saw a couple of weeks ago in the inquirer on the

subject of diversity in the building trades. i wish that whoever had written it had done a little bit more research because there was an important program that the building trades had implemented. it was unsuccessful in its implementation but not for lack of effort. they took 50 kids who were graduates of philadelphia public schools and put them into -- and the school district chose them -- and they put them into a preapprenticeship training program. by the time they completed that program, they were still unable to meet the minimum standards that would have been necessary for them to advance. school districts got to take a hard look, but the inquirer should also be taking a hard look -- one of their own reporters writes compellingly about the lack of diversity at the inquirer. >> all right. val. >> so, our executive producer asked me to end on an uplifting note. so, this is not self-promotion. but at the state committee a couple weeks ago, as party chairman, i gave a speech to a group of very partisan state committee people, mostly from rural pennsylvania, about the need for the party to have a message for inner-city america. i grew up in inner-city american in south philly. and i said, "we have to speak from a position of love." i quoted dr. king --

"only love can drive out hate. only light can drive out darkness" -- and got a big ovation for that. the republican party really does want to have a message for inner-city america. >> all right. and george. >> i want to give a shout-out to sen. casey, state representatives curtis thomas and donna bullock and councilman jannie blackwell for providing leadership on the effort to rename 30th street station after the former congressman william h. gray iii and to applaud amtrak for moving forward with those discussions. >> terrific. and that's "inside story" for this week. thanks to everyone here and to coming up next, action news news >> police trying to determine why a man leafedly tried to run over a philadelphia sheriff's deputy. what witnesses say was happening right before a man was shot on his front porch. from philadelphia, to puerto rico, how local heros plan to make a difference on the hurricane ravaged island >> those stories and more next

on action news.