is our newsmaker.ayor jim kenney let's get the inside story. ♪ good morning, and welcome to "inside story." i'm tamala edwards. good morning, mr. mayor. >> good morning. how are you? >> always good to have you here. >> thank you. >> let's start talking about this ppa state auditor's report. the word "damning" doesn't begin to cover it. it finds, for over five years, there was $77 million hole that came between questionable expenses, uncollected fines, all money that could have gone into the school system. now, city council and governor wolf say, "let's just take the agency back to the city." well, what else? that seems sort of pale. can you sue them? can you do something to claw that money back? >> we're examining those options now, however, i mean, clarena tolson, who's -- was one of our deputy managing directors who's now over there, has been there for awhile, i think has

really kind of put the place back on track. not totally, but a lot of the stuff that the auditor general was looking at happened in the last administration under mr. fenerty who's a friend of mine. i like him, but, you know, you can't run a place like that. you can't -- this is a public agency, and you need to run it with austerity, you need to run it with honesty, and that didn't happen. >> do you have lawyers looking at this? like, can you sue? >> well, i don't know what grounds we'll sue on, but, i mean, if we can or not, but the city solicitor's office is looking at, so we'll see what happens. i mean, it just -- i'm happy for auditor general depasquale doing what he did. i think it may change the game and change the conversation. >> are you ready to take back, now that you've taken back the school board, to take back another big state agency? >> yeah, i mean, they take stuff where they can make money from, and, you know, we didn't really do that well under the src when it comes to increased funding for schools, so we decided that we're masters of our own destiny, and we took it back,

and if they want to give back to us, we'd be happy to take it. >> in the end, sometime by next spring, you're going to give us nine people and say, "this is your school board." no details are out now. i know there's a lot of work to be done. what can you tell us? people want something. >> well, we're putting together the selection committee now which will determine -- which will review all the potential -- >> can you give us any names on who's on that committee? >> actually, there's no names yet because we don't have the selection committee in place. selection committee should be in place by hopefully the end of the month, beginning of january. we hope to have 27 names before us by march, and then appoint 9 of those 27. council will then review them in an open-public hearing and ask them about their educational philosophies, their talents. >> i'm sure there's somebody out there in the city that you've said, "please come forward. i'd love to see you do this." can you give us some thoughts on people you'd like to see maybe try for? >> well, there's a few people in the src that have done a wonderful job that we would like to, maybe if they're interested -- you have to understand, this is a full-time,

nonpaid job, and it's a lot of hours that are necessary to do this, so you're asking a lot from someone who -- and not paying them. so, i mean, there are at least three or four on the src now that would be good candidates. >> you've gotten a lot of pushback on the idea of you appointing these people rather than electing. every other district in the state elects their school boards. why not us? >> well, the charter -- the philadelphia city charter mandated that the mayor appoint. i think what happens is when you elect someone, you have outside influences now with these independent pacs that are allowed to raise unfettered money to raise -- to support candidates. >> but can't you say that about any race? and we still have elections. >> yes, but i think our kids need to have some -- we need to have accountability to our kids and to our families. the only -- the main reason why people leave the city is because of the schools, and if we can fix that, think about all the young families that we could keep in our city that wouldn't have to move to the suburbs in new jersey because they feel that there's not a good choice

for schools in philly. >> so, why would it necessary be better? this is what we had in the two years before the src came on. why is going back to that better? >> because i think the accountabity needs to be with the mayor's office, whoever the mayor is, and the mayor and the school board need to run concurrent terms so that if the schools are not performing well, you can throw out the mayor and you'll throw out the school board at the same time. so, in some y,hey are actually elected because they're appointed by a person who's elected and responsible for the schools, and we really need to take responsibility for the educ we keep on waiting for harrisburg and washington to do something for us. it's never going to happen. >> but do you worry about who ave madehis a signature suyou've gotten higt you don't know who comes after you, and they'll have this power. >> well, hopefully people elect a good mayor the next time, too, and dr. hite, i just love him. he's a great image for the city. he's a great image for the school district. the kids like him. they look up to him, and he's a great role model. and he did the hard things -- he laid off 4,000 people, he closed 26 schools, he had to cut

everything everywhere, and now he's finally gotten to a place where he's put everything back, and we've gone up five points or so in our statewide tests. >> let's talk about another couple of issues quickly. the "stop and go" bill -- big fight this week about whether or not beer delis should have the plexiglass or not have their rules changed. i know there's a lot of work to be done. you said you're looking at till 2021. what's your gut, though? what do you think should happen? >> my gut is, is that we really don't need businesses that sell shots through a plexiglass window. i mean, that's -- or malt liquor. i mean, you know, a lot of what's happening now is a result of the activities and what goes on around those businesses, and it's not a res-- these are "e" licenses. "e" licenses on the state liquor control system are restaurants. if you can't sit in a rest-- if you can't sit in a stop-and-go, if you can't use the bathroom in a stop-and-go, if all you're doing in buying malt liquor and shots, open a bar. >> so they changed, but many of them are saying, "fine, we'll take down the plexiglass and

change, but we're also gonna get a gun." >> yeah, i mean, we're still working out that issue. i mean, what happened was this really came to the fore when they started selling individual shots. when i was growing up in south philly, you didn't go into a grocery store and buy a shot. i mean, it's just not something that you did. and i think that we'll work it out in the end, and we don't want to see anybody hurt on either side, but some of these businesses are really areas for trouble, and -- >> speaking of which, really quickly, a crime question. we saw this past week three teenagers arrested for a violent beating of a homeless man in mayfair -- a terrible crime. i feel like on my show the ages are getting younger and younger of who's getting shot and who's getting arrested. is something different? is this on your radar screen as a different, new problem coming along? >> i think part of it has to do with our education system where -- it has to also do with our society where things are accepted and seen by kids that i never saw when i was that age. and i think that these are

anomalies. i mean, thankfully it's not an everyday kind of occurrence, and i don't know the psychology of the three young people involved, but someone lost a family member, and apparently, he was a pretty decent guy. he wasn't bothering anybody, and it is the sad fact of urban life that we have these kind of things. >> is there something differently the police department needs to be doing? people always say, "crime is my number-one issue." >> i think education should be our number-one issue, and that will reduce crime because if you look at the poverty in our city, it's all related to the lack of access to a good education. if we can get our kids reading in pre-k, reading at grade level by third, graduating at eighth grade, graduating twelfth, going to college, going to cte, getting a good job, we won't have to lock people up or have people rehabilitated from drugs. >> and finally, really quickly, are we gonna get amazon or it's just a fun game to play? >> no, i think we're in a good spot. i think logistically we're in a good spot between new york and washington. i think our cost of living is 23% cheaper than boston, new york, and washington. i think we're in the middle of a

bunch of fulfillment centers that they have. we have great transportation, great airport. >> are they telling you anything? >> no, they're not. they're very close-lipped, and i love the whole process, but despite the fact whether we get them or whether we don't, we have put our face out there, and we can use our efforts as a template to attract other businesses. >> okay, i can talk to you for another 30 minutes, but they say i have to take a commercial. thank you for coming. please come back soon. >> good to see you. happy new year. >> happy new year to you, too. we'll be right back to "inside story." >> 6abc's "inside story" is presented by temple university.

♪ >> welcome back to "inside story." let's introduce you to the panel. first up communications exec nia meeks. >> good morning. >> good morning. attorney christine flowers. >> hey, tam. >> good morning. >> attorney jim eisenhower. >> good morning, tamala. >> and marketing exec brian tierney. >> good morning. >> good morning. the mayor talked a little bit about the "stop n' go," the plexiglass issue. it feels like there are a lot of different dynamics around this, both are they out of sync with their licenses? they say they're doing one thing, but they're doing something else, and also the culture issue -- selling single shots and beers in a neighborhood that doesn't maybe need that, and also the plexiglass, the way it makes the neighborhood feel. who's right -- cindy bass, who wants to take the plexiglass down and reestablish rules, or the owners who say, "we need this in these neighborhoods for our safety." and, nia, i will start with you because you have a personal connection. >> yeah, i mean, when i was younger in west philadelphia, my family had a variety store, so

we had a pane glass window at that time, and we were great neighbors. i can say this. i mean, we had everyone come in. we supported areas, and we were part of a business community, and with all the great things and a clean store and everything, that didn't stop someone from coming in one day with a gun and threatening my mother. and she could have died that day had she not been able to get off and be able to call the police, and that actually spooked the guy, and he ran away. so, i definitely am empathetic when they say, these business owners, "we need the plexiglass for safety issues," but let's go back to the core of this. the core of this is -- when we were talking about the stop-and-gos, and i worked on this issue more than a decade ago, we're talking about people who are not adhering to the spirit and letter of the law. therein you're selling alcohol that's fortified without selling the hot food, without really being more or less a restaurant, and those are some cultural issues that people have had because it draws the wrong kind of crowd, negative crowd, and if you're selling beer and alcohol and other things early in the

morning where kids are going back and forth to school, it is abhorrent, and it is a negative aspect of your community. so, i've seen some shifts, i mean, right now -- [ clears throat ] excuse me. the business owners are saying, "yes, we're good with everything about the law, except for the plexiglass." i understand where cindy bass is coming from with the community. it can be more aesthetically pleasing, truly, but i do believe that bulletproof glass is something that should be a viable option for any business owner who feels they need it. >> i agree with you. i think the mayor makes a good point about some of these places selling liquor and only selling liquor and that creating a bad climate, but i just don't see how the government can say to a store owner, "you're not allowed to put up something that you feel you need to protect yourself." and if people don't like it, they don't have to patronize the store. >> if this is about the liquor, cindy says, "well, then, become a beer distributor." why not do that if that's really where the money is? get out of the game of this. >> the business owners don't have a problem. they've even said, "we don't have a problem with the

regulation on the food stuffs, the alcohol." they do have a problem with not having that option of being able to protect themselves, and i do get where cindy bass is coming from. it is a cultural issue. it is off-putting to go into a store when you go in there in good faith, and you want to just buy whatever in the morning, and you have, you know, something like this between you and the store owner. >> well, don't shop there then. i mean, let the market decide. so, i think the reason cindy bass came out with the plexiglass part of it is because that's the controversial thing. that's what gets you the headlines. if she said, "i have an agreement with the asian-american merchants association, and they're now gonna serve hot food, only do this, only do this," it wouldn't have been an issue. >> but you know what? there are people in the community who hate the plexiglass. >> well, then don't go there. then what would happen is -- >> you don't have any other options. we're not talking about you having a plethora of stores. >> what else is sold in these beer delis... >> if all of a sudden people stop going to one store because it had plexiglass, then another guy would say, "i'm gonna take mine down," and he'd do better if it was really -- that's what it's about. >> but that's if you have options. if you're in a community that does not have options, if every

store is doing the exact same thing, you don't have that and trust me, i am not against the plexiglass. i think the plexiglass can work. i do believe it can be more aesthetically pleasing in how it's installed, but i do believe that if you're going to sell these alcoholic beverages, you should be more or less a restaurant. if you're gonna be a beer distributor, which i believe actually costs more money to establish -- >> it costs money to put up the plexiglass, right? so, there must be a reason that the store owner does that and is making that investment. >> would changing to a restaurant change what people do? like, if there was actually hot food and a bathroom, the person who wants to buy one bottle of malt liquor, would it change what they do? >> if you're coming in to buy malt liquor, you're gonna come in to buy malt liquor, but if you're establishing yourself as a legitimate restaurant, you're gonna have other type of clientele that's coming in here, so you're not just gonna have the neighborhood... >> these business owners -- listen, you understand, and they fear for their safety, and absolutely they should be able to protect themselves, but they're not in these businesses

for altruistic reasons. they're in these businesses to make money, and so they also owe something to the communities in which they're located. and, again, you know, at the beginning, i had a problem with the whole idea of not letting people use the plexiglass, but i do get where cindy bass is coming from -- that messaging, that subliminal messaging, like, "you're good enough to come in, and we'll take your money, and we'll get you that, but you're not good enough to come near us." >> i'm not saying that it's not messaging and all that stuff. >> it would be better if they said, "don't sell alcohol from these hours to these hours." that's fine with the government. i can deal with that, but i mean, with the plexiglass, i think we're all in agreement. this can be a win. i mean, i've seen a cultural shift. like i said, about 10 years ago, there was just an uproar. everything was on the table, and everyone was upset. nobody wanted to move. i've seen the business owners shift in their thinking and say, "okay, let's adopt some of these changes." and i also believe that's also 'cause you're seeing second-generation people. when you had first-generation people, it might not have been as trusting, didn't know the neighborhood. now you have folks who grew up in these same communities, and now they're a little bit more

willing to give and take. so, take the win and get rid of the plexiglass provision. >> but also think about the communities. we're not talking about delaware county where i live. we're talking about areas which are high-crime areas, and we should be looking at the reason that these are high-crime areas, as well. the plexiglass is not a cure-all for everything. >> but many people would say, "i can't get out of this area, and i shouldn't be made to feel this way just because the neighbor down the road wants to stick people up." >> right, right. >> but you have a septa station, you have gas stations, you have many different types of businesses that have plexiglass, so... >> the conshohocken gas stations have it, yeah. >> let's move on to this which is this abortion bill that looks as though it's going to be passed by the legislature in harrisburg, but vetoed by governor wolf. many people calling it draconian, there would be strict changes. moving the limitation on abortion from six months to five. they say science says a fetus can now survive, but they also did this -- they would change things, no exception for rape, incest, or fetal abnormality. when i looked at this bill, i wondered why they didn't take

one or the other. maybe they could've made an argument on the science, but by putting everything else in there, that seemed to have sent up the red flags. why do it this way? >> it's the single best reason for tom wolf to be reelected, and it's gonna drive voters to tom wolf because he will stand and veto that legislation and whatever republican candidate is running, i can't think of a single one of them that would not veto it. they'd let it go forward. >> that would be a big deal to get a win on abortion, to move the goal post back. why put this other stuff in and get in your way? >> well, jim sort of, like, puts his finger on it. this is a political -- as opposed to -- this is abortion. listen, i mean, i'm pro-life christine, down the line. i'm very, very happy when i see legislation coming through that is going to roll back that date when you can have an abortion, but i do -- i looked at this particular bill, and i read through it, and it is draconian in the sense that there is no exceptiofo abnormalities.

there are cases where you have a child, as you indicated before, with a hole in the heart, a child who would not be able to survive. we're not talking about kids who can be resuscitated through the miracles of science at chop right now, or something like that. we're talking about children who will not survive. and so, it is understandable that people would want that exception. rape and incest -- i have never been in favor of those exceptions because regardless of what people think, if you're gonna be consistent on the value of life, you have to look at the fact to say that the genesis of how that life came into creation should not be -- it's not the burden of that child. now, one last thing, again, this is a political issue, and the reason that it is a political issue is because of the climate now, with roy moore for example in alabama. if he gets reelected, he'll get reelected because of this abortion issue, and the whole thing about the sexual offenses will be irrelevant because there are single-issue voters, evangelical christians, who will vote on abortion. >> it feels like abortion was

a big issue for awhile, then other issues came to the fore, and now it's coming back. why in this moment? >> abortion is not a big issue right now, though. i mean, when you look across the board, abortion rates are declining in pennsylvania and across the country, so it's -- >> in alabama, it's going to be the key issue on who goes to the senate. >> but that's alabama. we're talking about right here in pennsylvania. this bill that's for pennsylvania -- and i get what you're saying -- but this bill is for pennsylvanians. when you look and you talk, at least in philadelphia when you look at it, public safety, education -- top two issues. this is not creating one job. >> leaders in harrisburg must think there's something to this. >> i think they think that it really is a silent dog whistle to your base, and i think you're going into 2018, it's an election year in pennsylvania, both the house, half the senate, the governor, and i think what it is -- that's what it's about. it's a silent dog whistle to your base to try to rile them up on both sides. >> but how cynical is that? >> but it helps the other side. it rallies the other side. it wakes the sleeping giant. >> but it's a waste of time. again, we need jobs.

we're talking about improving education. we're talking about the quality of life. this is not it, and i mean, we can argue about abortion till the cows come home on either side and have good points. the fact of it is we have laws on the books. we already are working toward making abortion safe and legal. it's already there, and it's declining. that's what everybody wants. no one's running around saying, "yes! yes! yes! increase more abortions!" that's not the point. the point is that you want to give people options, and every time we come up with another bill to limit those options -- >> but on the political side of it, like as you said, there's gonna be a stark choice then for governor, and 40% of the electorate is in the southeast. and a great percentage of people in the southeast, particularly women voters, are pro-choice. >> but 60% of the voters in the middle of the state and elsewhere will see if indeed -- >> but they're not all pro-life. >> let's take a look at something that was a bit of drama up in harrisburg. this was the moment between a republican, daryl metcalfe, and matt bradford in a hearing, and

it kind of went left. take a look. >> ...i have a wife. i love my wife. i don't like men, as you might, but don't -- stop touching me all the time. [ laughter ] it's, like, keep your hands to yourself. >> so, now matt bradford, who you see just kind of, like, exclaiming, says all he was doing was touching metcalfe's forearm because he said metcalfe kept interrupting him. >> this is a post harvey weinstein moment, i guess, isn't it? >> this is daryl metcalfe's "me too" moment, right? >> yeah, and so the governor has come out said, "this is ridiculous." brian sims has come out, and they've asked turzai to take metcalfe off of this board, this committee which actually oversees gay and lesbian and transgender legislation. turzai's saying nothing. is that the right call for him to say nothing, or he needs to act on this? >> look, metcalfe is known as -- some would call a "kook," okay? but this doesn't disqualify him, this kind of stupidity, from being on a committee or should be thrown out of the house or

barred from committee. so, he's a kook. it must play really well where he's from. >> butler county. >> butler county -- they must love it. but the fact of the matter is, he's known as a kook, he is a kook, but that doesn't disqualify him. there's a lot of kooks up there. >> quite a long line of his kookiness, we can definitely say, but as chairing a committee that -- first of all, to infer that being a homosexual is somehow a slur was a problem. that right there, and then, you know, he just went all above and overboard in this meeting, and everyone's looking like -- a simple apology -- or they laughed, but they had to stop the meeting, and as it happens in harrisburg, when people go really well left or well right, it's like, "okay, time out. pause 'cause we're not getting work done." the fact is he should apologize. he just went overboard. it wasn't necessary. >> but it is outrageous that someone who has these kind of views -- obviously he does because he said the things that he said -- would be chairing a committee that is supposed to protect gay, lesbian, and transgender rights. >> oh, he has been -- i mean, he's anti-immigrant. this is the least of his problems.

>> is this smart for turzai? on one hand, he's got a conservative party and yet many people have children, spouse-- siblings, other people who are gay. they may not agree with it, but they want people to be treated with respect. when they see that, even if they don't agree with homosexual issues, they don't like the way somebody's treated, and younger people -- polls show younger republicans feel differently. isn't the long view to say, "you can have your views, but you got to be civil." >> tam, i'll tell you what, if nothing happens to have him removed, i mean, we in pennsylvania have no basis to start criticizing people down in alabama because daryl metcalfe is our roy moore, and i mean, i love you, brian, but i disagree. i think he has disqualified himself from being in this position of authority, and the people in butler county love him, and gerrymandering will guarantee that he will be there until his dying day, not touched by other men, but really i don't think he should be in a position of authority in this particular

area where you're talking about -- >> no work got done for the voters that day. >> right. no, it didn't, but, see, if i'm turzai, if every time somebody in my caucus says something that's a bit outrageous, that's kind of kooky, and i allow the other side to say he should be -- then nothing will happen, and what will happen is you'll constantly be -- and both sides -- it was all about politics. it would've been better if brian sims, quietly behind the door, said to turzai, "why don't you do something?" but when they go public on the other side, the democrats, and say, "he must be removed," then they're all playing the same game again. >> but sims and metcalfe havea . they personally hate each other. >> wow, gee, i wonder why. >> it doesn't look as though this is going to do anything to make those men send each other a christmas card. all right, well, we have to take a short break, and we'll come right back to "inside story." ♪

>> 6abc's "inside story" is presented by temple university.

♪ >> welcome back. we have time for one inside story, and, boy, is it a good one. jim? >> well, tam, this week, my daughter, annie, gave birth to twins, twin boys -- asher and dylan turnbull -- and they were born on my wife's birthday. first-time grandparents. we're over the moon, nora and i. thank you so much. >> the only thing in life that's not overrated. [ laughter ] >> thank you. i think you're right. >> well, congratulations, jim. thanks to all of you. thank you for being here with "inside story." have a good sunday. coming up next on "action news", first the snow, and now the cold, what freezing temperatures will be coming our way. plus details on a multiple car crash in delaware county overnight. plus, fly eagles fly, big game this afternoon, eagles face off against the rams in an effort to clinch the nfc east. those stories, accu weather forecast and more, next up 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 december 10th aim nydia han with jeanette ray necessary for gray hall today. >> here are stories we are following on "action news". with snow on the ground the mixed reaction from the winter wet's cross the