to influence the investigation? >> let me bring that to preet. if you look at the various pieces. there are so many of them. "the new york times" article about the discussions with don mcgann and jeff sessions. all the discussions in the white house. before james comey was fired. and the president talking about how he wanted to fire james comey. all those discussions in the white house where the president helped write a false statement about his son don jr.'s dealing with the russians. back in the campaign. you're a former prosecutor. you add all that up. you see just what we know has been reported. would you need to talk to the president about that? >> generally speaking, when an investigation is overt as opposed to covert. in this case, there's no more investigation in the history of the world, perhaps. everyone knows what is happening. the lawyers have said they want to meet. the president's lawyers want to meet with special counsel mueller. generally speaking, before you make a decision about this, if you're buttoning everything up, crossing every "t," dotting every "i," usually, you have a

high-profile potential target, yeah, you talk to that person. usually close to the end. now, the president doesn't have to talk. i imagine the president will talk because that's what he does. >> the president will talk. that is a perilous decision for the president and his lawyers. >> i don't think he can do it. i don't think that the president can sit down with mueller's team and answer these sorts of questions. why? because he's opening himself up to other possible crimes, right? if he gets in there and they determine he isn't telling them the truth about certain things, again, it doesn't have to be about the fundamental questions as to russian collusion. it can be about almost anything. he's opening himself up to the possibility of additional federal charges. i think that that -- i think he will say, maybe i'm wrong. i think he'll say, my lawyers have told me. i want to be in there. i want to talk. and i believe that by the way. i believe donald trump wants to be in there and talk to them. i have to believe that his lawyers will tell him not to. do you disagree?

>> what i believe is is that the president doesn't listen to his lawyers. the president -- a gentleman who is a stable genius, he tells us, was listening to his lawyers, there's lots and lots of stuff he would not have said, done, tweeted. >> sure. >> here's a person who wants to defend himself. he does it through the platform of twitter on a daily basis. and he said he wants to talk to the special counsel's office. if they make the request, or say we're available for you to talk us to, it seems untenable not to do it. >> let me flip it. what does the special counsel do if the president refuses to talk to them? >> they go on their merry way and decide to make a case or not make a case. i don't think it matters all that much to them, depending on what kinds of things they're looking at. usually there are two reasons you want to talk to target close to the end. one is to afford them the opportunity, them and their lawyers, to explain to you why you may have it wrong.

we did that all the time. people think prosecutors have a blunderbus approach. it's an open and notorious thing that prosecutors are doing, you give them the opportunity. why did you say this? why did you do that? why don't you give us your explanation? it may be the case, as dan says, absolutely correctly, that you can fall into a trap if you decide to speak and lie about it because you think you're charming enough to harmonize the disparate facts and circumstances. that's a principle reason you talk to them. another avenue to further the investigation. in a case like this, they're going to have all the facts that they have. they're going to be interested in wanting to hear from the president if he wants to talk to him. >> we'll see which one of you are right. up next, are we headed to a government shutdown? over trump's border wall. that debate ahead with senators tom cotton and bernie sanders.

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fedex powers global commerce with vast, far-reaching networks... deep knowledge of industries... and, yes... maybe a little magic. ♪ we want the wall. the wall is going to happen or we're not going to have daca. we all want daca to happen. but we also want great security for our country. >> that was the president talking yesterday at camp david. talking about daca. those are the children of undocumented immigrants brought to the united states. will they be protected or not? the president says there has to be funding for a border wall. let's talk about that now with senator bernie sanders and senator tom cotton. both in the middle of the issue right now. i want to start with senator

sanders, with you. you heard the president there, not daca without a border wall. you said some kind of daca protections have to be included in the bill to keep the government open in late january. does that mean we're headed for a government shutdown? >> george, as you know, the republicans control the white house, the senate, the u.s. house. they'll determine whether or not there is a government shutdown. or not. and i certainly hope there is not a government shutdown. it would be a disaster for the country. but when you have a president who says, who precipitated this crisis back in september by revoking the daca provision, and now we're in a position where some 800,000 young people. young people raised in this country. young people in school, working in the u.s. military. now are living in extraordinary anxiety about with whether or not they're going to lose legal status and be subject to deportation, this is what the president precipitated.

we have got to deal with that decision. what we have got to do, it seems to me is to pass the dreamers legislation that provides and protects legal status. to these young people. later on we have to work for comprehensive immigration reform. american people want that. 77% of the american people in a recent poll suggested they want to see legal status for the young people. the american people don't want to spend billions of dollars on a wall which trump told us would be paid for by the mexican government which is, of course, not going to be paid for by the mexican government. >> is there any compromise on the wall? in the past, democrats have voted to double the size of the border fence. to about 700 miles. is there a compromise that can be worked out? where you have increased funding for a fence. the president can call it a wall. and the democrats get daca proe teks? >> i don't think there is anybody that disagrees we need strong border security.

if the president wants to work with us to make sure we have strong border security, let's do that. but the idea of spending some $18 billion on a wall that most people think will not do what he says it will do, does not make any sense. and by the way, george, when we talk about a government shutdown, the other thing that concerns me is that senator mcconnell, now wants to do away with the concept of parity, which is what we have had in four budget agreements since 2011. and what that means is, they want to spend $90 billion, $100 billion in the next couple of years on the military. but they're ignoring the needs of the middle class. ignoring the needs of veterans. ignoring the needs of the people about to lose their pensions. these guys, the republican leadership, unbelievably, has not reauthorized the c.h.i.p. program for 9 million children in the country in terms of health care or the community health program. we have to get priorities right.

giving tax breaks to billionaires. throwing millions of people off health insurance is not what we should be doing. we have to pay attention to the working families of this country. we have to protect their health care. make sure that young people are not leaving school deeply in debt. fund the social security administration. 10,000 people died last year who are with disabilities because they didn't get the kind of attention they need in processing their claims from the social security administration. that concerns me as well. >> sounds like there's a wide gap between republicans and democrats. it's a couple of weeks from the possible shutdown. i want to ask you about the concerns raised by the michael wolff book. this week. and the president's response this week. saying he's a stable genius. do you have concerns -- i saw you raise your eyebrows. do you have concerns about the president's mental stability? are you going to sign on to the

pending legislation about an oversight commission on the president's ability to handle the job? >> i'm not going to -- look, what bothers me about this president is no so much what he says. but he's so offensive. i mean, just a few weeks ago, he attacked a united states senator with sexual innuendo. he talks about prison for his former opponent in a presidential election. this is not what presidents of the united states do. but i am more worried about what this president's policies are in terms of telling the working people of this country, during his campaign that he was going to stand with them. and yet, he governs now as a representative of the billionaire class. tax breaks for the wealthy. cutting people off of health insurance. ignoring the needs of children. not dealing with the

prescription drug crisis in the country that he said he would deal with. i worry about him being a pathological liar. those are some of the concerns i have. >> senator sanders, thank you for your time. want to bring to it senator tom cotton. republican of arkansas. you heard senator sanders call the president a pathological liar. you have seen the quotes in the michael wolff book, as well. but it's not just those questions that are been raised this week. in the past, your colleagues, like senator corker, has challenged his stability. lindsey graham called him a kook. some are suggesting that behind closed doors, those sentiments are shared by a lot of senate republicans. is that true? >> george, first off, thank you for having me on. it's a very common occurrence in washington to have these tell-all books hit with big effect. in fact, you wrote one about the clinton administration. the difference is, your book was accurate. this book is written by a new york gossip cloumist.

columnist. looseness with the truth is an elemental thread of the book. the media made similar claims about presidents bush and reagan. they all have in common they are republicans. when i have been around president trump, he's been active, engaged. and an event -- effective leader. leading the fight against isis. turning the economy around. >> you worked with the president this week on immigration. you heard senator sanders talk about the democrats' demands on daca and the border wall. they won't go along with the border wall. the president says that's a bottom line demand of his. is there a way to solve the problem? >> i hope so. the president has said all along that while president obama acted unlawfully giving legal status without a ruling from congress, we have been working on this. in addition to funding, we have to take steps against unskilled and low skilled immigration.

coming into the country. like ending chain migration. ending the diversity lottery. one of the unheralded accomplishments of the first year of the trump administration that gets overlooked with the growing stock market, for instance, is that wages for people who work with their hands and their feet, the kind of jobs where you have to take a shower after you get off work not before you go to work have increased at the fastest pace yet. there's a reason for that. it's not just the growing economy. it's that this administration is getting unskilled and low skilled immigration under control. we need to continue on those efforts while finding a compromise on those people brought here as young children and young adults through no fault of their own. i hope the democrats will come off their unreasonable negotiating position and be willing to compromise. >> but you saw that response this week. it wasn't just senator sanders on the program right now. senator dick durbin. his reaction to the $18 billion for the border wall. he's saying it's a nonstarter. not close to a compromise at

this point, are we? >> well, george, as you rightly said, those are democratic demands. not as they're often portrayed as republicans only make demands, democrats negotiate. and senator durbin's dream act would cost $26 billion according to the congressional budget office. senator durbin should reconsider who is making unreasonable, costly demands. the southern border creates such a huge magnet for illegal immigration and crime and drugs. >> are we going to have a government shutdown at the end of january? >> i don't expect to have one. i don't want to have one. but if the democrats want to shut down the government because they can't get amnesty for illegal immigrants, they'll have to defend that to the american people. they didn't do that last month. i suspect they didn't do it because they know that amnesty for illegal immigrants without any real reform is unpopular. >> let me ask you about north korea. you saw the president's tweet about the nuclear button.

ambassador haley says it shows the president is forthright and strong. and the north koreans are getting that message. are you hopeful about the talks between the north and south koreans this week? >> george, my understanding is those talks on tuesday are primarily about the upcoming south korean olympics. i don't know if they'll go beyond that. we'll see what the south koreans have to say when those talks are over. but, president trump's statement didn't come out of the blue. kim jong-un is the one that raised the issue of a nuclear button in his new year's day speech. for 25 years, we have sat around and allowed the kim regime to make any kind of threats they want against the united states. donald trump's statement reiterated a point of strategic deterrence. we don't allow other countries to hold us at risk when our arsenal is the largest and the strongest in the world. >> there is talk that the president might ask you to join the administration as the cia director. are you open to that?

>> well, george, last time i checked, the cia has a director. he's doing a good job. i'm honored to serve in the senate for the people of arkansas. >> thank you, tom cotton. wooelt be back in just win minute with "the roundtable."

and we're back with "the roundtable." want to pick up on the conversations with the senators. sara, let me begin with you. because it seems like so much is going to happen in the month of january that could determine the whole course of 2018. from listening to those two senators, it seems to me that we're headed for a government shutdown in a couple of weeks. >> well, i hope not. because i think that will be very problematic for republicans, since we control the house, the senate, and the presidency. having said that, there is a need to get daca done. there's broad bipartisan consensus that something needs to get done there. to me, it's a recipe to put together a spending package and a broader immigration package. the president may have to back down. not get as big of a wall or some structures.

as opposed to an entire wall. but there is a formula for this to get done. for it to be, for frankly all the criticism of trump, and his fitness of office, to get through january and get tax reform. a huge piece of obamacare repealed. and significant immigration reform, that's a pretty good record. >> that will be the question, matt. is either side looking for a win-win here? or not? is the president willing to take a wall that's not a wall? are the democrats willing to let him call something a wall that they don't think is a wall? >> as we have discovered over the course of the last few weeks and said by the majority leader, the president will basically sign anything that comes to his desk. so, i don't think the president fundamentally, as long as he gets a bill on his desk where he can stand up. he said he repealed obamacare when he didn't repeal obamacare. he repealed an element of it. >> a big element. >> a big element. >> i'm saying the president's ability to say whatever he

wants, he'll sign a bill. the fundamental question is, why are the republicans drawing a line between one compassion for young people here who have done nothing of their own, come here, who serve, and are going to serve in a great capacity in order to put a wall, that the president says immigration into our country has slowed to a trickle on our southern border. this is what i don't understand. >> what's the answer? >> he's not asking for a wall for this, as sara -- let me go beyond that. as sara said, even barack obama and hillary clinton have voted for fences. we can use all kinds of synonyms. the idea is we want to secure the southern border. he wants to do that with funding for as much of a wall as he can. he wants to end the family chain migration. wants to end the diversity lottery. which, by the way is popular with a lot of people in h this country who are struggling to make ends meet. want to find good jobs for their families. this is actually an issue. this broader question of how we have our immigration system,

that we need to have as country. i would like to see us do that. if the democrats are going to be dumb enough to say they're going to be #resistance all year. and even these democrats up in the red states, if they decide to never work on donald trump on any issue is that is a political risk that is not wise to take. >> the president has admitted he's willing to shut down the government if he doesn't get the $18 billion to fund his wall. the president has said he's holding daca hostage to get what he wants on immigration. why can't we just agree, since there is broad bipartisan consensus, across the country and washington, to have a daca fix. >> because that created the tea party movement. when the republicans go along with what the democrats want -- >> that is not what created the tea party movement. >> it's not -- >> first of all, i'm going to pull the applause there. i found it very creative for you the say the president doesn't want a wall and then you just

said, we're not going to call it a wall. but again, that was cute. a nice try. >> he wants a wall plus. >> at the end of the day, here's what you're facing. this president pushed the appropriate racial buttons in terms of immigration. so what you have here is, he has no choice but to hold it hostage. because he understands who he's appealing to by pushing those buttons when it comes to immigration. what you have on the other side, though, is individuals, for instance, this caretaker for a paraplegic, the only person who is going to be sent out of the country. look, that's a sad story. you have people out there who are taxpaying citizens. who have contributed to the country when it comes to daca. you can actually do both things. they don't want to do that because it serves a very calculated political interest. >> does the president have to abandon his base on this issue? >> no, not at all. this is not that complicated. you have republicans who want stronger border security.

and some democrats who have agreed in the past that we need it. you have almost everyone who agrees that daca needs to be fixed. and you have to avoid a government shutdown. so if these leaders can get in a room and figure this out. >> it's called legislating. it's really not that complicating. why is it a hostage for republicans to take? >> exactly. >> and not a hostage for the democrats to take? >> the bipartisan congressional process of the people who care about these issues was working until a set of poison pills were set up to the hill by the white house, authored by steven miller, of their demands on immigration before there was a daca deal. if the white house could stay out of it, i think a deal can be done. as most things are happening in washington, if they stay out of it, the system will work. >> the reality is i know matt likes to create a world that is sort of fictional rah-rah. >> quit saying i'm a liar. >> i have never called you a

liar. >> you did. >> i said if you drank truth serum, you would admit -- >> a clever way of calling me a liar. >> -- fundamentally, the republicans have passed nothing that is popular with the majority of america in 2017. i expect them to pass nothing that is popular with the majority of america in 2018. the president is inherently the most unpopular president at this point of any president we have had. the democrats have a generic ballot lead larger than any time in the last 20 years. so we're seeing a situation that this huge wave is coming. i don't see a president who has only governed to base to change that in the course of the next few months. >> this conversation has to continue off the air. we're about to hit the computer. we're out of time. we'll be right back.

and now, we honor our fellow americans who serve and sacrifice. in the month of december, two service members died overseas supporting operations in iraq and afghanistan. ♪ that is all for us today. thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. check out "world news" tonight. i'll see you tomorrow on "gma."

>> i'm monica malpass. volatile times in washington are impacting the tristate area. let's test the tone and temperature with delaware senator chris coons. ♪ welcome to "inside story." i'm monica malpass, and we want to welcome delaware senator chris coons to talk about washington politics. a very full plate we've got for you this morning. let's start with, though, a bill that you did get passed to forgive, in part, student loans. what led you to that and how did you get the passage in a bipartisan way? >> well, this came out of a constituent case. someone who was working in my office had an older brother who had attended college, had graduated with $75,000 in student loans and then tragically died the next year of a brain tumor. >> mm. >> while he was working in my office, he realized there's a federal program that will forgive student loans if the child for whom they were taken out is permanently disabled or dies.

his parents were elated. they went through the process, the loans were forgiven, and then the next month, they got a bill from the irs for $25,000 because they counted it as income -- forgiven student loans. they said, "that's even worse. we have to pay the irs bill." so i spent the next two years working with a dozen other senators introducing a bipartisan bill. it was part of the tax package that the president signed into law... >> terrific. >> ...and that's a reassuring thing that will help a lot of families in our region and our country. >> not easy to get bipartisan support these days, but it happened, as well, with tax reform, and now we're looking at possibly a standoff on the budget, government shutdown looming, possibly. daca might be tied into that if democrats have their way, so we hear. where do you stand on that and what do you hope to see happen in the next 10 days? >> we have a lot of unresolved issues. this is no way to run a country. i'm on the appropriations committee. we didn't finish our business before the end of the year, so we've got the children's health insurance program that's at risk of running out.

we're already three months past it. puerto rico -- still 40% of the residents of puerto rico don't have access to electricity 100 days after that hurricane. we've got unmet hurricane-response needs in texas, in florida, and in puerto rico and the virgin islands. we haven't refunded community health centers, so there's a whole range of issues, including dreamers, that are vital to democrats and, i think, to getting a bipartisan deal. i know that the leaders of both caucuses, both chambers are meeting with folks from the white house. it's my hope they can get this done by the january 19th deadline. if not, i think we're looking at yet another continuing resolution. this isn't how we ought to be running the affairs of our entire federal government. >> kicking the can down the road in an extension, as it were. >> so, as a member of the appropriations committee, my subcommittee, we never even met for our final vote. i get along well with the chair, but we never got a chance to present our bill to our subcommittee or to the floor of the senate. >> just this weekend, president trump is at camp david

for an all-important meeting with some of the leaders of the republican party -- paul ryan and others -- trying to talk about what their agenda should be for 2018 going into the midterm elections, which, of course, they'd like to have a strong showing in -- so would democrats. they are focusing, as we hear, on infrastructure, and that's gonna take bipartisan support. he did cut infrastructure in his own budget by $55 billion, but he's hoping private sector will, obviously, make up the difference. will you meet him in the middle on infrastructure? >> well, one of the things i'm hoping is that when we see the president's budget for this year, it won't have the devastating cuts to amtrak, to regional rail, to roads and bridges and tunnels and harbors that was in the last budget. there were dramatic cuts to funding for housing and for transportation infrastructure. that's also a subcommittee on which i serve. i'll meet him halfway if he meets us halfway and if we see genuine investment in infrastructure. my concern is that some of the early plans that are being floated would simply reward investors and privatize infrastructure, leading most

current roads to change to being toll roads, for example, and privatization of our harbors and our highways. they attempted, in the last year, to privatize air-traffic control for the whole country. that got rejected on a bipartisan basis by congress. i do think there's a path towards bipartisan infrastructure programs, but it is gonna require us working together. >> like all americans, you travel the trains, rails, roads, and airports, and they are literally crumbling. do we have time for this back-and-forth dance? don't we need to get something moving, even if it is privatization, even if it is state control? whatever it takes, shouldn't we start rebuilding, like, now? >> we are years past the point where we should have been investing significantly. i was a cosponsor of a bipartisan bill six years ago that would have done comprehensive tax reform and used the money coming back to our country that's been held overseas by american corporations for decades as a way to finance that infrastructure. that opportunity was missed in the tax bill that was just signed into law. that's not what's gonna happen

with those dollars. so one of our challenges is will we do it solely with deficit financing? i am concerned and have been concerned about our debts and deficits, which are steadily growing. >> mm. will the balance of power in the senate, being as it is, be helpful or will that be harmful not only to democrats also leading into the midterms, but trying to get some of these bills passed and make actual change for everyday americans? >> i do think that we are closer than ever. it's now 51 republicans to 49 democrats. i participate in several different groups and efforts that try to build bipartisanship. i'm the cochair in this congress of the bipartisan weekly prayer breakfast, which is a great hour. it's every wednesday morning. it's two dozen senators. we meet to just be with each other, talk with each other, witness with each other about our faiths and our backgrounds, and it helps build bridges of understanding in a time when the senate is, sadly, pretty divided. >> and because it's divided, in your opinion, and the president has his own challenges coming forward,

do you think democrats are spending too much time because they may literally smell blood, an impeachment process possibly in the offing, or any chance of them regaining power in washington and miss an opportunity here to get things done? >> what i hear from delawareans every week is, "i want you to work across the aisle." that's why i've introduced dozens of bipartisan bills in the last congress -- frankly, every year that i've been a senator since 2010. several of them got signed into law by barack obama in his last year. i was just on the phone yesterday with the republican chairman of the foreign relations committee. we're working hard on two bills together, and i said to him, "bob, this is the bill we're gonna get donald trump to sign into law this year." i can't talk about the details yet. i believe it's gonna be in the administration's budget, and i think it's gonna make significant improvement in how we do development financing for the united states government. >> and do you think that they'll make another attempt at getting changes to obamacare, at building the wall? these were two huge campaign promises that the president made, he hasn't had success with in large part because of

democratic feelings about that. do you think there will be more attempts on that this year? >> i expect the president to continue to try and build a wall with mexico. i'll remind you, that's opposed by republicans who represent border areas as much as it is opposed by democrats, because actually building a 2,000-mile physical concrete wall impedes property rights for some border property owners and is not a wise expenditure of public funds. there are other ways we can strengthen our border. will hurd, a republican congressman from the el paso area, who i was actually talking to about this on wednesday, a former cia officer, has some, i think, very smart ways that we could, in a bipartisan way, invest in border security without building a 2,000-mile concrete wall. >> we'll have to leave it at that. senator chris coons, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. happy new year, too. >> happy new year. >> more "inside story." our insiders coming up right after this. stick around. >> 6abc's "inside story" is presented by temple university. ,000 deaths in america last year.

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for $34.90 more per month. welcome back continue on side story let's meade our insiders this week they are nelson deet as former judge, welcome to you. >> georgeio always good to have you back. david dix governmental affairs covered coordinator and jesse, communications executive. let's react quickly what senator coons said about student loan forgiveness. you know issues that may need

to be work out. >> biggest issues is over a trillion dollars of student loans and it is a bubble ready to break. similar to the mortgage bubble >> um-hmmy feel there has got to be something that happened because students cannot declare bankruptcy as a result they carry that. that effects their entire career whether it is loans, whether it is apartment leasing, whether it is a mortgage, it effects them completely. it is pretty dangerous. >> but you are encouraged bye-bye pennsylvania partisan ship she was able to show showing that, bill off. >> yes someone known work ago cross aisle. he mentioned off camera he worked with senator toomey, mentioned word bipartisanship during three or four times building bridges. refreshing to hair. >> these days and times. >> yes. >> let's talk about some new politicians. we have new folks, in the philadelphia and greater philadelphia area who are now serving. district attorney larry contracts inner took the oath this past week. known as a civil rights lawyer but taking on a new role. been a little controversial. folks in multiple communities are interested to see what he actually gets accomplished.

he specifically has promised many things to the african-american community. david what do you expect to see happen. >> i'm excited. his inaugural speech was on point, on message and one that reflect direction of the district attorney's office that the city of philadelphia can get behind. i was little discouraged to not see participation of fop president john mcnesby and he has walk away from the d.a.'s office. they will need to work together, as opposed to being, polar opposite, and the fact he was not willing to at least attend the inaugural event was disheart evening for me. >> to show his point of view there have been multiple lawsuits when mr. contracts inner was an attorney against philadelphia police. >> yes. >> right, will, mr. contracts inner was an civil rights attorney who often times sued the police department and won. now, he is our district attorney. he is some one we have to get behind to ensure that law and order is justly and fairly distributed. >> he like the line when he said he wanted to trade jail for schools. who doesn't want to build more schools, and can that happen.

>> apple pie and candy, too. listen, actions speak louder then word. i think we have to see. he has said, trying to move, i think saying the right things. he wants to work with everyone including the police. we need to see it in action there was a small protest but a vocal protest, black lives matter activists, concerning, at the inaugural at the speech or outside of that speech regarding a shooting i believe in one part of the city. might have been germantown. i could be wrong. they want to see what will do you. we are holding you accountable this is where we have to check out the facts. >> absolutely, we will have to see. >> we will see. >> all right. >> lex luther has taken over justice league to use a common book analogy. let's wait and see what happens. >> yes. >> it has been really, you know, not taken care of which is the bail issue. people should be given bail for right reasons. unfortunately, people are incarcerated on bail issues which are not basis of bail. people held over for trial

people are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. i'm hoping that is one area that, you know, i think it is sort of common to all of us, but hold people accountable, if they obviously need bail. >> to your point about actions speaking louder than word, district attorney contracts inner is some one whose actions have been consistent and in line with our best hopes, wishes for d.a.'s office. i'm excited to see him there on the opposition, john mcnesby is some one who called black lives matter activist rabid animals. >> we're talking about actions here. >> yes, build communities. >> a lot of ago money from both sides. >> yes. >> yes. >> on both side. >> let's talk about pennsylvania governor race for folks stepping up on the republican side and some, dates coming up that will matter, february 10th is when there is going to be an endorsement vote. when parity could get behind one of them and get money behind them as well. of course may 15th is primary what do you think will happen.

>> tomorrow we will have the first of three, tomorrow caucus interviews around the state where those four candidates will appear, only three are appearing, we will start that process. we will see if there is an endorsement. is there anti endorsement move , because we have four strong candidates. we will see what happens. >> all right. >> what do you hope to see happen. >> it is really interesting and i now val has to be switzerland in some respect as a state party chair but is there sort of, you know, little model who these folks are. scott wagner is in other trump ian or paul from pittsburgh there is a woman, laura ellsworth hoist much more what we consider moderate the only female, right now in the primary race. and, i think if she raises money watch out. she, to me at this point, would be the one that governor wolf would not want to see in a general election. >> do you think he is threatened governor wolf. >> that might be true. governor wolf does have to run a strong reelection campaign. as much as they have to be neutral in this regard it seems scott wagner is out pacing the field.

he is hit a million-dollar state a ad buy, intention to state on television. that is something his opponent will not match. it will discontinuing wish him in the primary which will lead them to an all york primary. >> i don't think it math hours wins the republican nomination one of the big issues that may , work for our popular was the fact that he returned, the education money toward what was rendell period. and therefore, that was the big issue when he won the election begins corbett, corbett reduced that education funding. >> he was also able in the primary to distinguish himself by putting money in early, creating advertising campaign early and distinguish himself from the opponent. >> let's talk about rebecca reinhart, first female, in that position as well. promised to go audit spending and to be more proactive not just reactionary but pro active and maybe be more efficient and effective and have a role where she tells, folks maybe what it would be a better twi streamline government. do you think that is property role, is this something you are looking forward to. >> well, you know, reinhart is

known, another nutter member and kenney group and she's part of that relationship. she has taken issue don't necessarily attack this administration but attack, as you can see, the parking authority which is, run by republicans. she's looking for areas where she does not have in anyway conflict was her relationship i'm a inform county controller i think what she's proposing is g controller should be active. what concerns me is she comes from the mayor's office. controller need to be independent. i wonder how independent she can be. some of those ideas good are. >> for objectivity. >> she wasn't elected -- she may have been in the nutter administration and kenney administration but she was elected by young, up and coming millennial group of millennials. she won handily. she does have a mandate. i'm very optimistic. whether they are looking at parking authority, cbh community, behavioral health and dhs there are things to look at, pha and she has a real opportunity to make a name for herself. >> i echo jeff's encouragement i think, particularly with her

early announcement, you know, top level, support staff that she has add diverse staff including african-american men , women. that is something i have not seen in fill before and i'm encouraged by her leader in that regard. >> lets talk about the mayor of allentown ed pawlowski, 54 counts begins him for alleged conspiracy, bribery, attempted extortion lying to the fbi those are some of the counts, innocent until proven guilty. jury selection is starting january 16th in a week and a half. he is still going to stay in the job. some folks say he should take time and enjoy fight that case , and step down. what would you like to see happen there. >> i think i don't know howie effective he can be on behalf of the city when you need head fighting these charges. to the extent he is innocent until proven guilty. i hate to tell him to resign. i just don't necessity how he can do his job fighting these charges if you look at some of the things they are saying on the tapes they are pretty dam ming. fifty-four counts. i think bows thing for him to be to resign and let somebody else do that job. >> other folks say he listened fully to the tapes there are also some, you know, innocence

proven there, by some of the contractors who say we just liked that he rebuilt allentown. >> mayor pawlowski said play all of the tapes. he has been standing in court, you know, having a campaign plan, having a campaign strategy in front of everyone talk about all of the good work she has done in the third largest sit tonight commonwealth there good work that has been done. it looks like he may have, went to trial, let the trial play out and let the result of that trial be determining whether he stays in as dually elect mayor or not. >> many other politicians have stayed in office, as you know, court case where is playing out that had their names on it >> look urn. >> would are one here in philadelphia, state representative vanessa brown who has add a case for more than three years and state in the seat. so, there is any number of, interesting seats. >> this trial begins january 16th, and it is supposed to go according to the people, six weeks. that just stays in the news cycle. that is not helpful for the democrats, frankly in this particular case because it re enforces fairly whether or not, he is not from

philadelphia but the trial is going to be in philadelphia, federal trial. >> yes. >> corruption, corruption, corruption. >> indict him before they fire him. people of allentown has seen a difference, they have got an a reen, they have hotel, they have some things, they have the water abe they brought some economic energy to the city, so, obviously, they believe, that they should give him a chance. if he are he can beat the case if he can't beat the case, he is gone. we have a number of upcoming election twenties 18, uphill battle for some local republicans. thirteen congressional district seats, to be specific , for special election , just in the 18th district that they traditional republican strong holds, how do you think that will end up going. >> i'm involved in that race. rick ciconeys our candidate there. there is two million-dollar in independent expenditures for him just in the last few days have been announced in addition to the half million-dollar, war chest we're expecting him to sit on. that is an hour 11th seat, that is on the scale, it is r plus 11-points. trump carried it. every reason this think we

will win that seat for cicone. >> it is important that republicans win that seat from a national, that is a march 13th special election. if the democrats, they have a strong candidate from what i gather connor lamb who is a former assistant u.s. attorney and more registered democrats, although, as he said is it is conservative and it went for trump, that is going to be a look at what is to come, this november, outside of pittsburgh. >> conner lamb has distinguished himself as a candidate. i don't think anyone gave that seat a chance for democrats initially but with the nomination of cicone and lamb i think you have a battle tested race that could be a prediction for other races throughout the year. >> what are you predicting because some folks say trump coattails may not be the best won at the moment others disagree at that what people don't realize is that there are more, republican governors then democratic governors and everybody is talking about 30 seats that the democrats could win. i don't believe that it is that strong an opportunity,

because of the general feeling throughout the country. so there are republicans seats that will be republicans, no matter what it is just a republican primary that will decide who. i think the democrats are going to win more seats because everybody is trying to run against trump but i don't believe, that the opportunity is as strong as it appears. >> it is an anomaly, special election, coming off the heels of the resignation of his former congressman and you have a very strong democratic candidate. do in the be surprised if the election is much closer then we expect. >> speaking of jerry, a mmend the supreme court up hold the congressional map that is in place, which is said to favor gop candidates problem with that.ave a >> commonwealth crt t supre c now, supreme court is five-two democrats, and, so predict that it won't be the same, district as at the end of the year. >> that will be appealed if the democrats owe turn the commonwealth court decision that will be assure shourdly appealed to the federal court.

question is we're running out of time. these elections to have happen watch the wisconsin case, wisconsin supreme court case to see what will happen whether nor or later. >> what hangs in the balance there. >> it is, supposedly jerry mannederd seat that will, inform, i think, pennsylvania, among the rest of the states whr it is partisan or not is one thing whether it is constitutional, yes. >> it was a bill done in the bipartisan way in harrisburg, had democrats, before to draw these lines, and, the idea that you will take politics out of politics, it is something that will not be done. politicians have been drawing seats, since the foundation of our republic. it is nothing new. this is a ploy by democrats that they are happy that they are not in power to use this as nasative narrative. we win because we run good candidates, we raise good money and some other states have more democrats like maryland. because they dit there. this is as old as republic. politicians are in the best position to decide when lines

should be drawn whether than pulling ten names out of the phone bike and have them do it we will leave it at that. we will be right back after this.

>> 6abc's "inside story" is presented by temple university. ♪ >> time for "inside stories of the week," and let's start with jeff. >> 2018 is a big election year, one in which many of our pennsylvania delegation will not be up for re-election because so many have decided to step down. just this past week, house transportation and infrastructure committee chair, a very important position in pennsylvania -- bill shuster from central pennsylvania decided he was not gonna run. we already have charlie dent deciding he's not gonna run for re-election. we have tim murphy in the pittsburgh area, and we also have lou barletta running for senate against casey. this is not good in terms of pennsylvania's clout in washington. >> mm. nelson. >> well, there were 312 homicides this year, which is higher than the year 2012. but what people are not talking about is there were 1,300

opioid deaths in the city of philadelphia. it's so important that we take care of these individuals in the proper way and provide the appropriate remedy for medicine and protection. >> all right. val. >> monica, i was initially encouraged when governor wolf commissioned an investigation into allegations of impropriety in the lieutenant governor's staff -- the lieutenant governor in his treatment toward his staff and his wife's treatment toward his staff, but then they did that investigation, the report he's keeping to himself. i did a right-to-know request and asked that that be released. that was denied, and i just think it's not good for transparency for a report like that to stay secret. >> all right. david. >> this week i'm encouraging all of our viewers to stay woke and don't fall victim to the divisive rhetoric that we've heard surrounding the district attorney's office. we have a district attorney who's put civil rights and fairness at the precipice of his actions, and i'd like to follow him in that, and i don't want to get away from whether black lives matter more than blue lives. i want to get into the victims, which are the real lives we should be looking to protect. >> all right. thank you so much.

that's "inside story." we appreciate all of your time and effort and happy new year to you, and thank you so much for watching, as well, right here on "inside story." we hope you have a terrific week ahead. we hope you stay warm, if that's possible, and we'll see you right back here next sunday morning. thank you again. ♪ . coming up next on action news, a water main break turns the vine street expressways way into a skating rink. philadelphia firefighterings mourns of loss of one of their own as he tried to save others in a house fire >> there's new must not millionaire out there today, just one winning ticket for last night's powerball.

those stories the accu weather forecast and much more up next on action news. ,000 in america last year. we need to stand up and say enough. the only way this problem is going to be solved is if we raise our voices. choose help over helplessness, hope over hopelessness. make sure that the lives we've lost will not have been lost in vain. addiction is a disease. when you ask for help, help is there for you.

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