>> i'm monica malpass. on "inside story," a key win for philadelphia on the controversial sanctuary-cities issue. but will it last? let's get the inside story. ♪♪ good morning, and welcome to "inside story." let's meet our insiders this week, and they are ajay raju attorney. thank you for being here. we appreciate that. dom giordano, radio talk-show host. >> thanks, monica. >> jim eisenhower, attorney. >> good morning, monica. >> welcome back, sir. thank you. and christine flowers, journalist and attorney. always good so, last week a key ruling. fe did rule for philadelphia versus uncle sam, saying -- he had to weigh, of course, the enforcement of immigration policies versus safety of not just philadelphia, but it would have reverberations throughout the country of big cities in our country. and decided that there was no imminent danger, based on what the police commissioner told him and said the sanctuary-cities policy can stand -- in fact,

because the federal government he said, cannot withhold funding as a punishment or as an incentive, if you want to take the positive angle. what do you make of what he said, dom? >> i think we're into the definition battle. i thought he said it's not a sanctuary city, or at least the mayor says it is not a sanctuary city. it's a complete violation of the law. it's a magnet to bring people here. there have been cases where we have seen people commit crimes that were here illegally thatme back. and mayor nutter, i guess it was the last couple weeks in office, rescinded his policy. kenney then put it right back in, and even the obama administration had come here and told him, "this is a troublesome policy vis-à-vis terrorism." >> monica, judge baylson found that philadelphia was in substantial compliance with the requoperate with ice. in cases where there are convicted felons, people who are dangerous and those who there is a reason to believe even if not been convicted yet reason to believe that they would be a danger and convicted of these crimes. the city has been fully

cooperative with the f what the judge was saying was in order to -- the federalosedly, the administration is supposedlyncerned with the safety of the citizens of philadelphia, which is the case. obviously, they are. but what they're actually doing in trying to keep these funds from the city of philadelphia is they're siphoning off funds that were -- it's, like $1.5 million, a drop in the budget -- were designated for first responders, for those who really are the ones who are supposed to ensure the public safety. and, again, i want to say this. statistically speaking immigrants, illegal or legal have a very low rate of criminal activity in the city of philadelphia and nationally. >> yeah, monica, full disclosure -- i worked for judge baylson when he was united states attorney. he's a very intelligent guy. wrote a very thoughtful opinion in this case. and i think it's very interesting that just about everyone in law enforcement in

philadelphia supports mayor kenney's position. commissioner ross has testified to say, "we want to build bridges in the community, and we're not out, as local law enforcement, looking to just find people who are here illegally that have done nothing wrong other than that, waste our resources on that." we want those people to respect us, work with us, help us prosecute real violent criminals. and let's remember. if there's a warrant for someone, the locals execute that warrant and cooperate. so, i think as a pure law-enforcement matter judge baylson was right on top of it, and i think most law-enforcement people agree with that. >> but this was a key plank for president trump, then candidate trump. he said we're going to stop -- in his words, caused a big controversy -- people who were alleged murderers and rapists from coming across the border and causing problems in our big cities and send them back. so, do you think he's going to continue, his administration his department of justice, is going to continue hitting on this? >> i think demagogues have three ingredients for their formula -- common enemy, common religion,

common langu and you create the us vs. them narrative. ch was anybody otherthan whether it is whatever the common emy was tive supporters you needed.-- anybowpoint andeir rhetoric. common religion -- islam orlse that doesn't that's what motivated all of this. the term "sanctuary city" is not that the give crim ris th instead, it's the other intent. is to allow folks who ine out we hsequ ment >> right, but i wouldacterize this as there is hat are here that are here illegally. and that is against the laws of the united states. that wasn't addressed here. >> dom is right, but y what? >> i agree. we can't be selective about which laws to -- >> exactly. >> but in this case, the reason and the political motivations behind elevating it to a discourse is not exactly that. >> can i well, what's gonna happen isbe appealed by the government. it's going to go ahead. but this was really important because this was either the -- it may have been the second time i think that there has been

a statement made that the federal government simply cannot come out and make contingent on federal funding absolute between local authorities and the feds.t say thing. yes, laws are being broken. you're absolutely right. but they're civil laws. and we can't conflate criminal activity and aggravated felons with the "simple" violation of civil laws and immigration. thing, dom, to remember is bout the laws of the united states.iladelphia police do not enfothe laws of the united states. and once you start getting into ce be think you're going dow hole. >> but i don't think anybody's calling upon, at least i'm not calling upon them to willy-nilly going and picking people up. >> but some people are. >> i think the problem is -- i worry, given the numbers of people that are arrested and all the things that go on, when we're making all these nuanced decisions about cooperation with the federal government, it tilts towards somebody that the feds ought to be able to keep there that potentially is violent, has committed criminal activities.

>> it's not the last we'll hear of it for sure. >> all right, let's move on and talk about the school-reform commission. it was dissolved this past week, something that had been in the works for a while. really, it started years ago when the state decided because of financial issues with the city of philadelphia or the school district's budget, that it would impose its own group to oversee that. now the school district says it doesn't need that kind of oversight. it would rather have a local school board of nine members and the mayor agreed.so, the school board was reso. what do you think is going to be the long-term implication of that for students and for teaching, and that's the real bottom line. >> i think the long term is positive because it's going tozens of philadelphia and to the duly elected officials of our city the power to name the school board and be responsible forhey do. the sin in the creation, if you will, of the src was that it was sort of a faceless, nameless thing that was responsible to no one. and if the citizens had a problem or concerned about a policy, who did you complain to?

now, mayor kenney, i give him a lot of credit, said, "it's now my responsibility. you complain to me. i will take it." and i'm sure he'll be held accountable for that. >> one of the complaints was that it was too sort of tight that it's who you know and that's how you get put on the board, and maybe you're gonna just pass a policy because it's your friend that puts you on the board. so, that's why in the first place state control started and to get the finances untangled, certainly. >> well, as a conservative, i like local control, but these were babysitters. the city of philadelphia needed babysitters. that's exactly how i see it. that's how they got the funding. i don't know what's changed. what has changed here as far as reading skills, math skills, and, also, the deficit -- >> a $100 million deficit projected. >> so, i'm glad to see this happen, but jim kenney will not be held responsible. he's a political genius here. have all the power. they will blame the state or the suburbs for not giving enough money. it will always come back to money. >> how do you get around $100 million projected deficit in 2019 and say that you're healthy now?

>> well, i will say this. to me, the debate is completely misguided. the debate should not be whether or not somebody else should not control the vcr and replacing src with a school board. the question is, should we still have a vcr in our house? we have a corporate-model-based education system, where it's standardized. that's not how we learned. that's not how technology works today. that's not how the society works today. and we are not having a debate about whether it should be competency-based education system, empowering teachers, recruiting the best kind of teachers, paying them more, and then expecting more from them, accountability. all of that is lost. all you're doing is going from one authority, having their cronies, to a new authority, having their cronies run, but it's the same vcr.greatth y was talking about the.self-imploded.e'snlesscal people are going tool boart's the same pem .we're just changing the characters, just shifting thenic over here. and i like what dom said, too.real have we overcome here? i mean, our former p

the beloved farah jimenez, that was one of the reasons for her vote. y change there hasn't been any kind of real improvement. >>. william hite superintendent of the schools so, some progress needs to be in order to continue keeping him or reuit the school. you can't just pass it aroundd hope that things resolveselves. a l, t to christ any mandate here i just see a mandate to now ourselves. this is part of the revolutionn, andke.ki s and it's down.ked this down. bue the core that's different here that's revolutionary, that's gonna change things? rhaving influential people on the school board? the founder of our firm, richardson dilworth, former mayor, was the chair of the school board in the '60s and '70s and by all accounts did a. it's not a bad thing to have someone who's a proven leader and kno to get things done. >> all right, republican speaker of the pennsylvania hous mike turzai threw his name in the ring for gubernatorial consideration, one of four republicans to do so. and we're gonna see how it all works out. do you think that this is going to be quite an exciting race?

what do you think is going to be the bottom line, as they all challenge the incumbent, governor wolf? >> well, i think in the primary, this guy wagner is a trumpian sort of figure, but now he's moved away from donald trump after the most recent results. so, him being in the race alone, monica, throws a lot of stuff. and taking the other guy was an opponent in another race, making him the lieutenant governor. >> right. >> the thing i'm most excited about is the fetterman guy, the 6'8" imposing figure in denim, running for lieutenant governor. he gets the democrat party particularly, i think, afraid of what might happen if he is the lieutenant governor. i hope he is. i want to see that. >> a suburb of pittsburgh. it's gonna shake things up, no doubt about it. >> i think mike turzai's entrance into the race is very significant. he's a real figure. he also has a political base in allegheny county and western pennsylvania. and if you look at the history of pennsylvania politics particularly in governor's race, that east-west matchup. and while governor wolf isn't from philadelphia, he sort of feels more like a philadelphia ndidate.

i think if it ends up turzai versus wolf, that's gonna be a very, very interesting and hard-fought election. >> but he doesn't have the namehe south, and he some of the folks who didn't support in that has been a challenge for republicans. >> he has name recognition within the republican party and the power base. and they can get the votes and the interest out. and that's why this is much more of a significant announcement with turzai and because it gives a real opponent to governor wolf, who, quite frankly, is a weak candidate. but i think right now it is his election to lose. >> all right, let's talk about senator bob menendez in new jersey. the corruption trial was declared a mistrial last week, at least a temporary victory for him until we wait and see if they're gonna retry the case. it is a higher bar that's been set because of t he corruption cases. does it all but render prosecutors unable to find or proceed with a corruption case? >> well, there's no question that the supreme court's decision in the mcdonn really has put a significant obstacle in the way of federal

prosecutions of federally elected officials. and it did play a big role in the menendez case. i've always felt government takes that long to put a case in, you think it's gonna jurors don't like that. they get resentful. and from what i unde fromrs' responses,of felt, "rien give me gifts, too." >> and that was part of the pull in this case was they had a long-term friendship, he and the doctor from florida that flew him places, provided hotels, that kind of thing. and there may not have been enough quid pro quo, at least for this jury. we'll see the next time. there has to be some evidence of quid pro quo, and it has to be pretty obvious. i don't know if the prosecutors laid out that in very clean and simple form. >> i thought they did. i think it's a jersey jury, and you have one juror asking, "what's a senator?" as soon as i heard that, i said, "oh, man, this is gonna be uphill here." and they're bonding. the one juror who got kicked out was bonding with menendez along these lines. "what's wrong with this? i'll do it with friends" and all

that. legally, i don't think that stands up, but the jury -- >> but that's our system. >> exactly. >> yeah, it's our system, with >> we're gonna take a break. "inside story" continues right after th stick around. >> 6abc's "inside story" is presented by temple university.

♪♪>> welcome back to "inside story." philadelphia-born rapper meek mill is back in jail, a 2-to-4-year term for violating probation. and now there is a controversy about the judge and whether she waase, ovaring, some people would he did violate a 2008 case gun and drug violations. and she, to her defensitof multiple violations over that decade, and she just had enough. now, what do you think? let imebody don't think so, and i on we ought to b of prtion celebrities, a instead, in some cases, mill is being used as the face of the protests we're seeing in the

nfl. and i find that to be just wild out of sync it's an african-american female judge. but the length of probation and a guy like t all, that's a good conversation that's getting lost in this other stuff. >> do you think he got the raw end of the deal? >> well, no. i think that when you're placed on probation, it's really a privilege. the court is giving yo to rehabilitate yourself and not do it behind bars. so, you're best to be on the straight and narrow. and some of the violations are just silly. you could say too silly to put him in jail.but it does question the power of the court. there is an interesting discussion here about length of probation. a lot of judges don't like to put people on probation that long. microscope for too long, and then there's sort of an inevitable thing that's gonna happen to violate. >> monica, it's not -- go ahead. you go. >> just to piggyback on that. i think the topic of conversation should be about institutional bias. you got 4.65 million people who are either on parole, probation,

or under government supervision. 40% of them are african-american. so, the question really is not just about meek mill, but is that community or latino rs, ar being treated differently? >> with a heavie >>a legitimate argument to have. not. meek mill is not the face for that conversation. and can t judge, personally know, has made it her young people rehabilitate themselves. meek mill, moment after moment point after point after point, violated, as dom said, not hug but the critical mass of it was to show an a and he ada, theone ifically, judge. so, we're talking about sexual harassment and the treatment of with that. and can i dovery, veryhis? okay. >> uh-oh. >> ♪ you disrespect a lady you shady ♪ ♪ throw your nose at those who chose to do it clean ♪ ♪you seek, meek ♪ you real? ♪ you do the time ♪ first on "inside story." >> there you go. let's talk about sexual harassment and our philadelp jewellliams, handled them ina difficult way or put them in

an odd position, harassed them sexually. and now we're be $30,000 payment, an issue th attements, agreed e victim, as well, for a payout. there's a bill that's gonna be lobbied before the state legislature, asking that there be no more of these nondisclos >> well, it's a difficult thing because they are voluntary as part of the negotiation anxual-harassment complae may be instances where the woman who's brought the complaint wants a confidentiality agreement. she'd like to get her settlement and move on with her life. >> and not have her name in the press. >> have her name in the press and have to go through it. so, i'm a little bit circumspect about an outright ban. sometimes these reactions in politics -- one little thing that happens in one case, one abuse, and all of a sudden, we want a ban on everything. i think it's kind of dangerous. >> i would agree. you're taking away a right of a person, some leverage they have here with a nondisclosure. problem i have is with the national level, with congress and nondisclosures and public funds that are being used. if it's private, i think the woman should have a chance to

make that decision. >> but how do you take it from sort of secret, back-door deals, as the way it looks to a public person, wondering what's going on and why didn't we know that there was a history of this repeat offender? >> look, i think to jim's point, there is a stigma associated if you're a victim of sexual abuse of shame, and that's one of the reasons why most people who have been abused or have been harassed don't come out, even if they should. but we're going through this watershed moment where they're being empowered, where men, as well as women, are saying, "enough is enough," and we're changing the climate and the environment where there should be no stigma associated for the victim, but instead the shame should really rightly belong with the harasser. >> see, but i see this as a legal matter. take the sex, take all that type of stuff, to jim's point. this is a legal matter, and let's say it's going to be a close call. the woman doesn't know if she's gonna win or not in this. so, she wants to get a settlement. i don't think you should take that right away. >> plus, as dom says, this is a legal issue, and you can't use proof of a settl

of guilt against anyone in a legal proceeding. and, to me, an accusation is an accusation. and a person may for many different reasons decide that they don't want to go to trial on this, and they're willing to settle. why should that person's name be, because then you have an accusation just hanging out there without any kind of supporting evidence. but that reputation has been impugned. >> right. all right. that's it for this segment.we're gonna take a brendr a break.ic >> 6abc's "inside sty" presented

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nside story" issi le dom. ory,>> well, isphiladelphia. the revolution continues. er councilman.an philadelphia public schools. he voted against it -- good vo and i really like what he's done. he is a true hero. >> all right. jim? >> monica, the chester county de a week ago, awinning, i think, just about every row office in that county for the first time, some say, since the constitution was drafted. and then tragically just a fewer a brilliant, young political operative for the chester county democratic party, adam swope, killed in a car so, our thoughts gt to him and his family.utely, condolences. >> monica, the sexual-harassmer the past fewweeks touch all of us,gardless of political affiliation. we have seen roy moore implode. and we have also seen al franken. so, it doesn't matter if you're a democrat, if you're a republican, a conservative, a liberal, a catholic, jewish, muslim. it doesn't mat sexual harassment is wrong across the b >> so, s

>> all right. ajay? >> monica, my foundation received year for a delegation, along with the finance ministeadelphia. the reason? steaks and not all the other things that we're proud of, but really the innovation that is coming out of penn medicine and all of our medical institutions, as well as the technology-hub repres developing because of comcast and all of the new startups that are emerging.t refresh of our brand globally. >> pcoming known asglobally. >> at least there's an interest others to sort of say "what's happening here?" and they're willing to send delegates over here to understand us -- what a great sign. >> absolutely. all right, thank you for your insight on those inside stories. thank you so much for watching. hope you have a great week ahead, and we'll see you right back here next sunday morning for "inside story." ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

i'm nydia han with jean it reyes in for gray hall. coming up next on "action news" days after a devastating fire at a juniorg facility how community members hope to make a difference. plus ordered to half staff for a pennsylvania police officer, as investigators try to track down his killer. if you plan to head out the door for thanksgiving you won't ab loan, details on how many people are expected to travel this holiday season. >> those stories, accu weather forecast and more next up on "action news". janet.