>> a new report says that philadelphia is the poorest big city in the nation, that many of our friends and neighbors don't have that much to be thankful for. let's get the inside story. ♪ good morning. i'm tamala edwards. we hope you've digested enough turkey to be able to stick with us here for the half-hour, but we're glad that you're joining us. let's introduce you to our panel. first up, journalist larry platt. >> good morning. >> good morning. marketing exec brian tierney. >> good morning. >> nonprofit exec sharmain matlock-turner. >> good morning. >> and communications exec -- everybody's an exec -- jeff jubelirer. >> good morning, tamala. >> so, we probably have all had great thanksgivings, but this report from pew was really stunning. when you dig into it, the poorest big city in the nation, a quarter of the population in the regions in philadelphia, but half of the poverty, half of the poor people, all of them, it's

dispersed throughout the city. it's not just certain neighborhoods, and this figure, 40% of the children, and when we talk about poverty, we're talking an adult with two kids making less than $20,000 a year, or deep poverty, less than $10,000 a year. what should city hall, city council, the mayor do with this report? >> well, one thing is, they should talk about it. we don't talk about this. jim kenney ran for mayor, and to his credit, said that this is a disgrace, and we should all be embarrassed by it, but the poverty rate has not changed an iota since he became mayor, and i think you need to use the bully pulpit to talk about this "tale of two cities" narrative we have going on now, because center city is booming, and two miles down the road, you have abject poverty, and cities don't ultimately overcome that kind of discrepancy. >> and we're kind of inured

to it, as well. i mean, the news comes out, and it's like, "yeah, you know." we're in last place, guys. we're the highest, most horrible poverty situation of any major city in america, and we're not like, "well, it's just 'cause we're geographically isolated." no, we're not. we're between washington and new york city. we've got trains, we've got highways, we have all kinds of infrastructure here. jim kenney is, we'll get elected talking about it, but then they feel, i think, kind of like they own a piece of it, and they kind of get a little quiet about it. this is a crisis. >> that's right. >> sharmain, you spent a lifetime on this. what do leaders need to do? what would really make a difference? i feel as though a lot of people are sort of like, "yeah, but nothing's gonna change it." >> but i do think a lot of people are talking about it. i don't think it makes the news every night. i sat in on some meetings with president harker of the federal reserve, who's done a lot of workoverty. certainly the mayor absolutely made it as a cornerstone of his campaign. i was a part of, along with larry, about on the table,

and more than 1,000 people in philadelphia came together to talk about issues of concern. poverty came up and education came up number one and two on the list that people were concerned about not just in philadelphia, but in the region. so i do think that people care about it and are talking about it. there are short-term solutions, which is, what do we do around food, clothing, and shelter? how do we make sure that people can take care of themselves today? but then there are the longer-term issues, which i think we're gonna spend some time talking about. it's really about education and jobs in the long run. >> tamala, the statistic that threw me was 31% of philadelphians either don't have jobs or they're not looking for jobs, and we don't know if those folks gave up, or if they're seniors, or whatever the case may be, and that's what it all comes down to, and we can spend hours on this topic, but if there's no accountability for the elected officials, they're not going to lose. we can all talk about it. it's still in the city.

in other parts of the state, it's another party, but it's a democratic city. folks aren't gonna lose. there's no accountability in the sense that they're not gonna lose, and they're not gonna make a tough vote. >> but we've seen people come out in surprising ways in this last election. this seems to be the kind of issue that really ought to cost somebody a job, or a solution will give somebody a job. >> well, what's missing is the idea that we can galvanize around a solution or a series of solutions, a vision. we don't have an economic-development plan in the city. we go from tax break to tax break, depending on the industry, but we don't have a comprehensive economic-development plan, and that's what we need to galvanize around. like, we're all agreed this is a crisis. what's the plan? what's the vision? >> but it's also a regional issue. there's a lot of sort of spotlight on the city, and i think that that's true, but the city is the only place where there's affordable housing for most poor people. if you go outside of the city and ask people, "is there a place for someone who makes

$20,000 a year to live?," there is no other place for them, and until we look at a regional approach, and say that everybody should be responsible for the poverty that's in the region, then you put all the onus on the city of philadelphia where they're going to ultimately spend a lot of time doing what needs to be done today when we really need to be planning for tomorrow. >> i would like to have seen members of council, i would lo t the mayor step forward when that pew report came out and said, "this is a crisis," and instead, they're kind of maybe commenting on it, their assistants comment on it, but nobody's owning this to be honest with you. i know it's being talked about, but it's not being like there's a fire in the house, and we need to do something about it immediately. >> what does it tell us that, increasingly, poverty is hispanic working age, and that there's a difference in race that if you are poor and white, you probably live in a neighborhood that's not classified as poor, but if you're a poor minority, you are in a neighborhood classified as poverty? what does this all tell us? >> well, i mean, race still matters in america and philadelphia and the region.

poverty tends to be geographic in philadelphia. it's where -- again, that's where the housing stock is. so when you move up to chestnut hill, you're not gonna find a lot of housing there that people can afford. people live in the areas where they can afford. i will say the philadelphia housing authority over the years has tried to expand the region where affordable housing is being built, but, again, it is ultimately about where are people gonna live? >> larry, you focused a lot in your publication on solutions. if you could get the city to do one thing, what would it be? >> well, i think to get stakeholders together. this isn't just -- we can't just wring our hands at the ineffectual political leaders. i think you've got to get universities, i think you've got to get business leaders, civic leaders to the problem-solving table together. other cities are doing it. they're using things like -- innovative solutions like social impact bonds where private sector and public sector come together -- they're also called pay for success bonds -- so that you float these bonds,

and the investors don't get paid until certain civic measures are met. we don't do that here. there are all sorts of things that are pro-growth. i think everything you've said is absolutely correct, and the answer ultimately is education, but in the meantime, we've got to shift our focus to how do you grow a local economy when no one's gonna bail us out federally? >> well, let's talk about education because we know we deal with high dropout rates on a number of levels, high school and college, and it really makes a difference. in this report, they showed a kid who doesn't graduate high school makes about $20,000 a year. if you canake it t the graduate l looking at at least $60,000 a year at a time when we're talking about the src and big changes coming. they voted to dissolve themselves. right now city council, the mayor are busy putting forth candidates. they will end up with a board. are you guys hearing anything about who's going to be youike this idea? do you wish it was an election or you like the idea of kind of handpicked people who will be chosen among for the final

nine? >>elfirst part of the show when we talke about the lack of being able to kind of create the public will and political leadership to solve poverty. now at to education. the school reform commission, i got to give commends, first of all, to bill hite. he's done a great job, and you're seeing it, actually, in actual numbers and results, but the fact of the matter is, this is all about ego, i think it is, and it's also about power, okay? who wants the school reform commission to go away? the public-school teachers' unions. that's who really wants it. so that's what this is about, and, by the way, when you go to harrisburg, when you're asking for money now, they're going to say, "hey, your problem was solved," right? you own them now. so there's no really good business reasons or educational reasons to do this, but they're doing it for other reasons. >> i have to absolutely disagree with brian on this one. i really do think that the mayor -- >> you're hurting my feelings. >> i'm sorry, brian -- after all that great turkey, all that good stuff, but i do believe that this is the right time, really, for the mayor to take responsibility. if you look at washington, d.c., the mayor is responsible

for schools. if you look at new york city, the mayor's responsible for schools. i think three things are coming together here. first and foremost is the idea that philly is going to have to make decisions about how we ultimately want to pay for education. then the city should ultimately be responsible. second, we're really looking to try to grow and bring millennials here who are ultimately gonna have families. we need to make sure that education works. a lot of the reports are coming out saying people are gonna be leaving if we n't fix the schools, and number three is the suit that is now before commonwealth court in harrisburg, which is seriously looking at the question of whether or not the state has really come up with a really fair formula to fund education in poor districts across the state. >> bill green left behind a letter. he said, "good luck to you." to him, he calls that magic money, that until it is proven that that suit goes through, they can't count on it. he says new school board members should insist on a couple things when they come in -- three years of funding that is clear-cut, it's coming through.

is he right in that? i mean, are they right to hope that they're going to win that suit, and is he right to say, "you better make sure you have some things coming throh he is right, and the bottom line is, the proof's in the pudding. i don't want to pre-judge the mayor until we see who his selections are. we hope that it's as transparent as it possibly can be. what are the qualifications of the individuals?re it will be nce on public charter schools? you're gonna have a voice there because if the teachers' union 't have any public charter schools. >> in the mayor's report -- i did read the mayor's report. he absolutely said that charter schools are part of the solution, not a part of the problem. >> we'll find out, and we'll also find out what's he feel about whether it be tax credits or opportunities for kids to go to private schools -- if they're supported by tax credits or business earned income, educational, tax credits -- things of that nature. we're gonna have to see, but it may change. so it may start out as the mayor pointing, but then it may change to where council ends up electi og their own to run almost in districts. >> this is philadelphia. >> you know they're going to do that. >> i know the final run

of the movie. i've lived here for a long time. >> let me agree with both brian and sharmain. brian's right that -- >> but not me. >> brian's right that be careful what you wish for, because we're now saying to the state, "we got this," and that could have dire consequences. sharmain, you're right that it's cool that the mayor is saying, "judge me," but also be careful what you wish for. you now have, mayor kenney, $8 billion between the city budget and the school budget to service 1.5 million people. you better be able to do it. >> but i think we just said, tamala, when we talked about poverty, that politicians need to take some tough issues on. when they take the tough issues on, we have to give them credit fowilling to do that. >> are they gonna take on teacher seniority? are they going to take on the unions now that they're all on one team? we're one team. >> no, they're gonna give the teachers' union the right to strike. >> is it gonna be they let principals make decisions? it's the best interest of their schools? >> you're gonna have city council members saying, "i want that principal at my school." >> are they gonna make decisions about where do you find

economies of scale? how do you find administrative savings? >> i think they should all agree to come to the next meeting. [ laughter ] they've got nine charter applications in front of them. some of the names we know -- aspira, mastery. should they act on this or should they say, "we want a time-out. let's wait till we have thnemodel in here and lethem decide on this"? >> you can't. there's about 180,000, 190,000 kids, i think, of school age. about 65,000 or 70,000 -- my numbers could be off slightly -- are in charter schools. those other parents want to go to charter schools. this is that child's only third grade. >> there's a waiting list. >> so you can't -- yeah, there's a waiting list, and there's kids who would go to the catholic schools -- most of them aren't catholic -- with scholarships, et cetera, that are being offered by various things, like independence mission schools, but the fact of the matter is, you can't say to that child, "hey, can you wait while we fix this over?" again, as parents, you live in philadelphia, you've seen this go on and on. there's an urgency to your child's third grade, fifth grade, seventh grade. you can't wait. >> let's talk about something else, which is rebuild, which has been part of mayor kenney's effort to revitalize the neighborhoods. we finally got the list. there's been a lot of argumentan

the list -- 21 names -- and some of them are very hyperlocal, small-community organizations. so i'm gonna start with you, sharmain. when you saw the list, did it allay your fears? did you think they did a good job or no? >> yeah, i thought they did a good job. i mean, philadelphia has had over 35 years of strong community-based, community-development organizations, and i was really excited to see them on the list. as long as the city is there to support and creates a structure around this to review and to make sure that people are getting projects that they can absolutely manage really well, i thought it was an absolutely great idea to get that kind of buy-in from neighborhoods and communities. >> now i'm gonna take a hard left, and let's talk a little bit about state politics. things are looking good for governor wolf, at least for now. he's got some numbers that people think are on track for rendell. he's getting a lot of credit for where unemployment numbersc. it could work out for him, but kevin stack says, "i'm not going anywhere." john fetterman says, "i'm running." madeleine dean says she's running. a number of other people say they might want to run

for lieutenant governor. first of all, in two minutes, tell me how you feel about wolf. is he looking good for next year? and what does this mean, stack saying, "i'm not gonna go quietly"? >> let me go quickly, if i can, first. wolf looks good because the other side looks bad. i mean, this is a tale of two -- sort of the mirror flipping itself, and it's in comparison.t right now, a climate. we saw what happened this past election. the democrats, clearly, especially locally, just kicked butt. >> he took the edge off. his first two years, though, partly staff-driven, et cetera. there was an edge, there was an anger, there was all that. he has changed that, pivoted into a softer, kinder, and gentler tom wolf, and compared to the first -->> - >> i still don't think he's done much, though. >> no. >> like, what does he run on? like, there's no -- >>ut. he's notpsetting people. he's kind of mister rogers. >> and he's not gonna run -- if stack were to win --and he vy in a competitive lieutenant governor primary. i mean, fetterman's the flavor of the day, but there's other people running from allegheny county, and they could take each other's votes. >> you don't think fetterman

is just so different that people do pay attention? >> they do pay attention, but there's some very qualified folks, considering madeleine dean from montgomery county. >> i think so, but fetterman was in town last week meeting with a lot of people. he was at an event, i heard, with the mayor. i'm saying i don't think we should sleep on him. anthony bourdain. he is -- [ laughter ] >> he's good at media saturation. >> he absolutely is doing it. >> towards the end of the general election, ed rendell told hillary's people, "get her in a car with john fetterman, and go througho >> did that happen? >> and they ignored him. >> well, you see how that turned out. we're gonna take a break, and we'll be right back. >> 6abc's "inside story" is presented by temple university. ♪

♪ >> welcome back. and the #metoo movement continues to be a fire that burns across the nation. charlie rose, the latest as of right now. by the time we air, goodness knows who else. but there's also a local angle to this. we've got mayor kenney calling on sheriff jewell williams to step down amid allegations. there's talk that maybe roger lamay's decision not to go on for a third term as the head of the npr board, though he says this is not the reason, might have to do with some allegations. the former head of drexel neurology has issues in three states with women saying he behaved inappropriately. a local company owner, nate mell, who owns a ceramics

company, fat+felt, now has employees fleeing and a host of allegations. it is coming in so thick, so fast and furious. how are we actually to look at all of these different things and begin to come up with a way of deciding how to analyze them, how to react, what do we expect from people? is it an across-the-board answer you got to go? is an apology enough? is some sort of restitution enough? like, it's time now to start figuring out what do we do? >> this is a really dangerous and messy time. the litany of examples you just ran down -- for example, in the roger lamay case, i've done a little bit of reporting. there's nothing there. there was no complaint. there was no accusation. that is just wild rumor, and now a guy who's, you know, stepping down for -- was planning to step down, it's, like, tainted. so what i call for is a little bit of restraint amongst my brethren in the media

to actually get your ducks in a row on a story, and this is one place where maybe you don't have to be first, because the rush to be first can take some people down unfairly. so i think that's one thing. the other thing is, it's not just media. i wish the mayor hadn't called for jewell williams to resign. i wish he'd called for an investigation, for the inspector general to investigate, because that's -- you know, like al franken said, "investigate me." i ink that's the prudent thing at the beginning to do. >> i mean, harvey weinstein, you looked at him, you thought, "well, hollywood. i'm not surprised." louis c.k. was part of his act, some of these things. >> right. >> but charlie rose. i'm having a hard time with charlie rose. i mean... >> and the stories are just -- >> are just kind of -- >> awful and surprising and just walking around with staff people totally naked. >> i think we're going through some stages here, and i don't think that we need to try to

short-circuit those stages. the fact that we are finally listening to women and hearing women's voices and not automatically saying, "well, do you think that's true?" >> "what were you wearing?" "what did you get out of it?" >> "what did you have on?," and "did you send a kind of signal?" "what color was your lipstick?" i mean, the fact that you have people saying automatically, "i believe the women." i don't think that women put themselves out publicly in this way if they are not serious about it. i think we will get to the place of the punishment fitting the crime. you know, every situation is not the same, equal, or whatever, but right now, i think we have to allow people to be able to feel comfortable to step out, and then the investigations, the resignations, whatever is needed needs to ultimately happen 'cause it has to ultimately get to a place where there is some action here, and i am really excited to hear men actually say,

"i believe women. i hear you. we need to do something about this." >> and what i like is i think it's a movement. i think we're gonna be reading about this in history books. hopefully there's still books in two decades. >> you'll be reading it on a social-media history post. >> social media, but that it's equal -- excuse me if i'm being a little over the top -- but to the women's movement, to the right to vote. i mean, this is something way more is to come. doesn't it come back to, though, training and hr, and i think now -- sharmain, give me your hand. i mean, do i shake your hand like this like i shake larry's and brian's, or do i do this? sorry. and is that appropriate? i don't know, and now we're thinking, as men especially, what we can do in the workplace, and that we have to be -- we need to learn. >> right, but a lot of this also has to do with power. >> of course. it all does. >> you know, if i have more power -- if i'm a man, and i have more power than a lower-level person in the office, and i have the ability to tell you what to do, and then i don't value women in the way

that i should, then i ultimately take some actions that are completely inappropriate. so i think it's a bigger question about whether or not we know how to shake hands. it's more about do you value me? do you hear me? do you think that i'm equal? >> and that's, you know, go take it to the extreme. >> brian, i have to ask. do you worry about backlash? all you need is one case where they fall apart. because often women's stories, we get going, and then anything that's an anchor seems to have more power than other people's stories. do you worry that there could be a backlash because of one story that doesn't pan out? >> absolutely. i mean -- and we've seen the same issue around race. people worry about raising questions around race because if there's one story that doesn't completely line up with the facts, does that give people the ability to say, "oh, i don't know why you guys blame the race card"? we'll have people ultimately say, "why are you playing the woman's card?" i think, though, there is enough there now that we'll be able to overcome that. >> the speed of news, how fast it is, all the outlets, i mean, it creates a certain amount of frenzy to get to the next story, to get to the next story, and some

of the things you're talking about with the roger lamay story. >> and i think we have had those backlashes. you had the virginia rape case, and you had the duke lacrosse case. >> right. there you go. >> we'll take a short break. we could talk about this for quite some time, but we'll come back to "inside stories." ♪

>> 6abc's "inside story" is presented by temple university. ♪ >> welcome back. time for our "inside stories." larry, we'll start with you. >> tam, the most interesting election result for us here, in what i like to call the people's republic of city committee, was in syracuse, new york, where the new mayor is a 38-year-old independent in a widely democratic town, and independents are the fastest-growing political party in the country and in our city, and so i've put out a call, "e-mail me at the philadelphia citizen -- looking for an independent

to run for mayor next time." >> oh, interesting. brian. >> amazon. we want the headquarters. what i don't like about amazon is 44 cents out of every dollar spent online in terms of shopping this year is gonna go through amazon. where are the trustbusters in terms of this? also, think about the jobs we talked about earlier. there are small businesses. also think about the environmental. people send me a candy bar in a box this big. [ laughter ] think about the environmental cost, as well. >> all right. sharmain. >> well, we had a wonderful black friday. we had small business saturday, and we're gonna have -- tomorrow we're gonna have buying at amazon, buying online monday, but i'm asking everybody to not forget about giving tuesday. >> yes. >> and think about the small organizations in your communities that are making a big difference, reaching out to families, touching those who are less fortunate this year. >> wonderful. jeff. >> we thought this past year's state budget was rough. wait till next year. in an election year when the legislature and wolf signing off or not signing certain things said, "hey, we're gonna borrow

our way. we're gonna take money from the tobacco settlement fund." it's not a done deal yet. watch out for lawsuits challenging the legality of taking money for something that was dedicated for healthcare purposes to be used for the general fund. you think it's a mess now, next year, watch out. it's gonna be a whopper. >> well, thanks to all of you. i got to say, as we think about gratitude and what you're thankful for, i'm always thankful when i get to do this show. it's one of my favorite things. i'm lucky to get to spend my time with people as smart and talented and dedicated as you, and i'm smart to get to be here with you. have a great sunday. ♪ i'm nydia han with tamala edward coming up next on "action news", planes, trains, automobiles it is a busy day all the way around and 50 million americans head home for the holidays. police have asked for witnesses in the shooting death of two people found along i-95 last night. and the nation's top

consumer protection agency is, thrown into confusion, those stories, the accu weather forecast and more, all up next on "action news".

"action news", delaware valley's leading news program, with gray hall, nydia han and meteorologist chris sowers. good afternoon, it is sunday november 26th i'm nydia

han. tamala edward in for gray hall here's stories we