>> phil murphy is the new man in trenton. let's get the inside story. ♪ good morning, everyone. i'm matt o'donnell. it is sunday, january, 21, 2018. this is one of the few shows today that you will watch where we're going to talk maybe a little bit about the eagles, but mostly about other things, so enjoy, please. with us this morning, donna gentile o'donnell, non-profit executive. morning, donna. brian tierney, marketing executive. good morning, brian. jim eisenhower, attorney. >> good morning, matt. >> and attorney jan ting. good morning to you as well. >> hey, matt. >> all right, so let's get into it. democrat phil murphy is now the governor of new jersey and with majorities in both houses in the state legislature in trenton, his party now enjoys full control. murphy, a former goldman sachs executive and u.s. ambassador to germany during the obama administration, has never held elected office.

now is his chance. so, donna, will democratic control in the garden state be the biggest thing to kind of jump-start his agenda? >> i think it will be pretty meaningful. he's got a big, big lift in jersey after chris christie and a lot of the disasters that he left behind. there's a big lift that still has to be done in atlantic city, notwithstanding the things that have already happened. but i think, importantly, because of the change in federal taxation and because of the tax structure in new jersey, he is gonna have more limited bandwidth in terms of what he can do, so it's gonna require a lot of creativity. it's a good thing he's got a deep, financial background because he's gonna need it, but i'm optimistic because he's an optimist. >> tax issue -- he wants to raise taxes on wealthier people, brian, to pay for education and other things. could that be something that can bite him in the long run or... >> well, new jersey's taxes are way too low. [ laughter ] and that's kind of why they're

in this spot, right? new jersey's in horrible financial shape. the democrats own the whole thing now, you know. they own the governorship, the assembly, as well as the state senate, they also have two u.s. senators, so it's all about them, and now's the hard part, because, frankly, the problem is that there is kind of a "good boy, old boy" system over in new jersey where nobody wants to be honest and say, "we can't afford this, we can't afford these pension re-raises, we can't keep paying for all --" so all these things are coming home and my prediction is that they raise taxes and kick the can down the road and complain about it. >> the good news for murphy, i think, is i would expect he's gonna have a decent honeymoon. i think people in new jersey were just so sick of the governor and just happy to see chris christie go, and just the contrast of murphy to christie is in his favor -- fresh face, no more chris christie, and i think that could really work to his advantage if he acts quickly. >> anyone who's as rich as a goldman sachs partner has to be an optimist, so that's

understandable, but i think the problems, as brian suggested, in new jersey are just overwhelming. i mean, the pension system is this dark cloud hanging over the state, property taxes are too high, and the new tax bill is going to make them more painful than ever. the transit system is a mess, so there are just enormous problems. the schools are underfunded by their own admission, they're missing their targets all the time on school funding, so it's like one problem after another, and i really think they're in a desperate hunt for revenue. where do you get revenue? that's what this marijuana thing is all about. it's about marijuana. it's not that they're all potheads over there. it's that they're hungry for revenue -- some of them are. >> and that's not a bad thing. >> one more thing on phil murphy -- could he end up being the most prominent anti-trump governor in the country? he's been very well understood as saying, "i'm gonna go after this administration." >> i think that's very possible.

he doesn't shy away from a fight. that's clear based on the campaign that he ran. and i think challenging -- i mean, there's a whole interesting phenomenon going on with localism and states, so governors, ags, mayors -- our mayor -- i mean, our mayor has been one of the most vocal opponents of this president, and it's important because people are looking for that caliber of moral and ethical leadership and i think it adds up. >> but i also think, if i was governor murphy, and they must know each other -- i'm sure they do, obviously, because of the whole new york circle, investment banking, et cetera, et cetera, those relationships -- it would be a mistake, if i was advising him, to kind of take on trump right away. first, let's get what we need to get done. don't make more enemies. if you're thinking of running for president immediately, then i guess that's a good thing. you saw cory booker's terrific "stage performance." that was the most fake outrage i've ever seen, i felt like -- >> oh, i think he was outraged, but... >> i would say to him, "cory, stop. let's take it again. a little less passion, give me a little more empathy." it looked like he was -- it looked like community theater

to see cory booker do that. it looked like community theater. >> we mentioned governor christie, one of the most unpopular governors in the country. he left office with a really unusual distinction. he's the first elected governor in new jersey over the last 20 years to not break a leg during his administration, which spanned eight years. >> and those legs were stressed. >> maybe if he had broken one, he might have had a different administration. >> will they suddenly -- will democrats suddenly miss having someone to blame? >> mm-hmm. >> and what is governor christie gonna do next? >> i think he is, based on what i've seen with the opioid ads -- i mean, chris christie never evinced any compelling interest in humanitarian crises. all of a sudden, opioids became a big deal for him, and then he's on tv all the time... >> spending state money. >> ...spending state money on psas by most estimations, you know, up to near about $3

million. he's building a platform to identify himself as the humanitarian face of the opioid crisis, and he will use that to recruit clients to sue pharmaceutical companies. >> interesting. >> so, going back into private practice. >> who cares what chris christie does, really? >> and then there's that. >> does anyone have any interest in what he does next? >> either that or he'll become a sports-radio announcer. >> there was talk that he wanted to do that, but... >> that hasn't panned out, either. you know, the book hasn't panned out. i mean, he's tried a number of different things, but... >> hard to be a cowboys fan in new jersey. >> also, you know, anger only takes you so far, and i think people just got tired of this man screaming at people, screaming at people, screaming at people. i mean, it works for a while, and it is comical to see these ads. i mean, these ads -- how many millions of dollars, with him in the front of it, hugging people, looking like he really cares? >> he could reinvent himself. it's been done before in politics. >> it's been done before, yeah. but he won't have really the platform to do it, and i think, you know, he tried, he thought he was going to washington, and then, all of a sudden, he realized, "wow, kushner really remembers the fact i put his father in jail.

i thought for sure this was going to work out. i thought for sure," you know. >> all right, conversation with the governor every year for the last six years, about -- i've had the honor to interview the governor of pennsylvania on behalf of the greater philadelphia chamber of commerce. this year's conversation happens during an election year for governor wolf, takes place on wednesday. what should i ask? what would be the biggest pressing issue that you would like to hear from the governor on wednesday? >> i think it would be useful to get his take on whether or not he feels like one of the two chambers will go democratic, given the wave of interest, nationally. i mean, we're seeing amazing things happening. >> you're talking about in washington? >> no, i'm talking about in harrisburg. >> 'cause that would be almost unheard of. >> right, so is this the moment? is this the opportunity? does he have a chance of getting at least one chamber to be on the same side as -- with him? >> mm-hmm. >> because that was the biggest challenge that he's faced for his governorship, is that both chambers are controlled. >> i -- oh, go ahead.

>> matt, i would say -- i would ask him, if he gets re-elected, if he's fortunate enough to be re-elected, if you do something bold in the second term and take on campaign-finance reform in pennsylvania. we have some of the absolute weakest and worst laws when it comes to campaign finance. we've got an unlimited contribution rule, we got individuals contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to candidates, and it's polluted our system. and he's a guy that didn't need that 'cause he has personal wealth. tough issue to take on, a good one to take on in your second term, so i'd give that a shot. >> i'd ask him, you know, "what is he gonna --" it seems like he's made some progress from the first two years of his term where he was really having a hard time in terms of dealing with the legislature, but assuming that the republicans keep the house and the state senate, what's he gonna do to be more rendell-like to reach across the aisle? because that's an area that -- you know, sometimes these guys get elected as chief executives of governor, and they act like they're the king. they're not. you don't get anything done unless you can walk across the

aisle and find that common ground, so what's he gonna do to try to do that, assuming the republicans keep the house and the senate? >> donna's the first person i've ever heard who talked about a democratic takeover in harrisburg. >> me too. >> it's so, so beyond the pale. >> we're living in unusual times. >> brian's scenario is much more realistic. the anomaly is having a democratic governor in a republican state, that's the anomaly, and so, really, the dilemma is, how do you work in that environment? he's becoming a better student of that, i think, as we go along. i think he needs to participate in philadelphia's struggle in this opioid crisis and be more of a player and carve out a role for himself. there's plenty of things he can do. i think he's probably gonna get re-elected, if only because the republicans don't really have an obvious challenger. >> we'll see. i wrote them all down. we'll ask him on wednesday. thanks so much to our panelists. now, philadelphia's having a pretty good week, you know? our football team is in the nfc championship -- they play

tonight -- and amazon announced that the city is one of the finalists -- 20 finalists out of 238 -- for h2, which is the second headquarters for amazon. the nearby cities of pittsburgh, new york, and newark, new jersey, are also on the list. jim, what is the biggest selling point right now for philadelphia to be the finalist for amazon? >> our people. our people. we've got great people, we've got great educational institutions, we got people who are educated and hardworking, and we got a great lifestyle. it's a great place to live, and it's affordable. all of those things -- >> as opposed to d.c., new york. >> yeah, d.c.'s way too expensive and too crazy. new york is also, even more so. >> mm-hmm, mm-hmm. >> who wants to live in newark? [ chuckles ] so, i think we've got it all. we've got the best people, the best location, and i think we got a real shot at this. >> i want to just say a word about the team that the mayor

assembled, using greater select, matt cabrey, harold epps. they put a war room together. the package that they assembled was unbelievable. i mean, i have never seen a city government initiative that was so complete, so thoughtful, so engaged, reaching out to people. i mean, if you look at the videos that they constructed, they had everyone from todd carmichael, the founder of la colombe, to osagie imosogie, one of the most significant venture capitalists in our region. it was amazing. >> you know, i was in atlanta recently, and the cab driver was there, saying that he had two government officials in atlanta -- this was about three weeks ago -- they think they're gonna get it. he overheard them. >> georgia tech being a big draw. >> atlanta's incredible. you know, mercedes-benz, there's infrastructure there, all those sorts of things. i think washington's an interesting thing. he owns the "washington post," that d.c. area and power. pennsylvania -- what do we have going for it? higher ed, transportation, easy getting around, affordability.

plus, you'll be hiring from delaware, new jersey, and pennsylvania. so, you basically have six u.s. senators that you're impacting. which, when you look at amazon's bigger issues, as it relates to washington, d.c., and taxation, et cetera, et cetera -- not a bad thing to have. >> clearly, amazon is looking at the east coast. i mean, the majority of the 20 are along the east coast, so that fits into amazon's priorities. and i agree. we're so well-located. we're approximate to other metropolitan areas. you can draw people from new york. you can hire people from washington. so, we're well-positioned for that, and it's a combination of all the things that amazon has said they're looking for -- the infrastructure, the low-cost housing, transportation -- it's all there. >> jeff bezos has a house in d.c. three of the locations that made the cut are all in the d.c. area. >> he owns the "washington post." >> you've mentioned that. i mean, are these sings that they're sort of saying, "listen, we're gonna pick d.c."? >> i think they're -- i do think suburban d.c. has a lot going

for it because of the things -- he actually took over two museums and he's combining them into a home in the kalorama circle area. but i think pennsylvania gives you, because of the tri-state area, a lot of the benefits without being so obvious as being in d.c. >> but one of the big problems, having lived in d.c., is the dysfunctional city government. seriously. >> it's a really good point. >> and it's been that way since marion barry and it still is. it's a disorganized city, poorly run, and i think that's a factor for a company. >> real quick on this one -- philadelphia is going after the opioid makers. the city of philadelphia filed a lawsuit this week, demanding drug companies that make these powerful drugs to pay for treatment costs and to reimburse the city for the money it spent dealing with the addiction epidemic. it also said that the city saw 1,200 fatal overdoses last year, 1/3 more than the previous year. jim, i know your firm's involved in this suit. we're gonna exclude you from this conversation. brian, jan, donna, what do you think about -- is this gonna be effective? >> i -- oh, i'm sorry, jan.

you go ahead. >> we've all seen on tv these pictures that the money was just too good in the opioid business and everyone had their hand in the pie, making as much money as they could as fast as they could. so, i think the city's on the right track here. somebody needs to be held to account. >> yeah, and also, when you go into the sackler galleries at the metropolitan museum or the victoria & albert in london or in washington, the smithsonian, that's purdue pharma, that's the privately owned family -- that's the people -- that's the house that oxycontin made. that's the house of addiction. and i think that's an interesting thing. the museums are happy to take the sackler money. at the same time, the money comes from really -- from horrible things. i mean, these people knew what was going on, so i'm so glad that cities like philadelphia are starting these lawsuits because somebody has to be held accountable. then we go on to that, then it goes on to heroin, then it goes on to fentanyl, which most of it comes from china. if i was the president, i'd say, "you know when somebody tweets or makes a phone call in china, you must know where this fentanyl is being made, and until you figure it out, we're gonna inspect every box that

comes in from china." >> you think drug companies are scared? i mean, we're talking about companies with massive amounts of money and capital. >> yeah, i think they're worried because there's a critical mass of interest in pursuing this line of inquiry and this line of litigation, so, yeah, they have good reason to be concerned. but i also want to note that, i think we have to be careful because we have a lot of people that are in intractable pain -- end-stage cancer patients, folks like that. we need to temper the need to control with the need to treat and manage. >> 100% agree with that. >> and that's a danger. >> easy to do that. >> agreed. >> "inside story" coming right back. >> 6abc's "inside story" is presented by temple university.

♪ >> back with "inside story." two local congressional races just got a little bit more interesting. radio host michele lawrence will challenge congressman bob brady during the may primary, joining former deputy mayor nina ahmed in the race. could lawrence pose some trouble for brady who's held the seat since 1998? and, of course, he has this federal investigation that's rolling around his office. >> brady's 72 years old. these are two young challengers, both minorities, so on its face you'd think, "this could be trouble for congressman brady." on the other hand, from his perspective, the opportunity to split the opposition vote between two strong candidates

really opens up an opportunity. i mean, i think either one of these challengers could have been a serious challenger, but with two of them, serious challengers, i think brady's in a much stronger position. >> full disclosure, matt -- as i've said on this show before, i represent congressman brady. but, "a", he's given every indication to me that he intends to run and he intends to win, as he's done consistently and with the support that he's had in the district for many, many years. >> there are two challengers that are announced. there's, i think, gonna be one more challenger, and that's the deputy mayor of labor in the kenney administration, who is 30 years old, a comer. guy's got a lot of energy. i think this primary's gonna be wide open. i think brady, assuming that he runs again, it's gonna be probably the most significant challenge that he has faced. >> i think if three get in, he's got even more of a chance at making sure he wins. >> brady says, "the more, the better," for sure. >> absolutely. divides it up.

they all have access to that poll, too. >> sure. senator pat toomey has endorsed his republican counterpart, congressman lou barletta, in the race for the senate seat held by democrat bob casey. barletta announced his campaign team is assembled. he has $1 million in cash. casey has a little bit more -- $8.6 million in cash. we've seen sort of like a camaraderie between the two senators in pennsylvania -- typically they've been different parties, typically they haven't gone and endorsed people of their own party, just to play nice with each other. how much is toomey's endorsement gonna mean for barletta? >> i think it's a big deal that toomey's endorsing him. i think, you know, in the old days before everything was a constant campaign, you governed, which encouraged that bipartisan relationship, and then you fought for whatever seat it was you were going to fight for, so this is kind of returning to that orientation, but i also think that, although barletta

has a really good story to tell, casey has been very effective on a number of different fronts. i think that's going to continue to be true and a lot of people have taken note of the fact that he has really found a new oppositional voice that nobody ever heard from bob casey before. >> i think the fact that barletta, though, is endorsed by toomey helps clear the field a bit, that it's going to be barletta on that. so, that really is very helpful to him. i think, in the end, though, casey, just -- partly it's the name, partly he's not an angry kind of a liberal guy, he's more of a -- >> he's been trying. >> yeah, but i think he plays well in the state, so i think he's tough to beat. >> barletta was already the front-runner for the republican nomination, so i think the endorsement by toomey, it doesn't add anything to the pie. the big question is whether toomey is going to help barletta raise money because, as you suggest, barletta needs money to make this race a serious race. if he's going to play a role in fundraising, that's a big plus for barletta. if outside money is going to come in and see this race as a serious challenge, that gives

barletta a chance. >> i think casey's done an excellent job in transforming himself more to be a progressive democrat and one of the more articulate, but not angry, opponents to president trump. and the question for barletta is, is the trump effect still here in pennsylvania, or are we tired of it? >> i think that this race will be a referenda on trump. i think the next go-around, both in terms of the senate race and the congressional races, will be a referenda on trump. >> president trump was in pennsylvania this past week. he spoke at a pittsburgh-area factory, touting his tax-cut law and praising republican rick saccone, who is running for an open and reliably republican house seat in the nearby congressional district, the 18th. now, some have presented this as maybe president trump wasn't doing something that is going to benefit him in the long run because it's a traditionally republican seat, and he appears with the republican and if he loses, it's going to make president trump look toxic to

other candidates. now, this is the first special election to take place this year. was it a bad idea for president trump to do this? >> i think if you're trump, this is a good one to show up in. it's a very reliable republican seat. there is the issue of the congressman who resigned and the scandal tied to that and all that sort of thing. but i think if he's gonna put his capital out, which he's going to have to do, not a bad place for him to do it, and he looks great. he's so thin now. >> but the concept of republican reliability is a concept that is really losing its -- >> that's what they said about alabama. >> alabama. >> and virginia. >> and virginia. >> alabama was particularly a bad candidate. >> well, but in wisconsin, there was a state senate candidate. trump won her district by 17 points and, as a democrat, she beat a very popular incumbent. so the notion of republican reliability -- trump has put all of that at risk. >> and this is another race where there's a sex scandal. right? that's why the seat's open. >> the former candidate, yeah. >> trump needs a victory in a special election, and this is actually a good one for him to partake in. >> so maybe 18th is still red.

is pennsylvania still red right now? what's your sense? >> i think it is. i think there's -- what jim carville said years ago about it being, you know, pittsburgh and philadelphia and alabama in the middle is kind of -- he meant it pejoratively, when carville said that 30 years ago, but i think it's a working-class, it's a lean-republican kind of state. >> yeah, but trump is no ronald reagan. >> we got to go. >> it's a critical swing state. we're going to see everybody in pennsylvania. >> inside stories of the week coming up. ♪

>> 6abc's "inside story" is presented by temple university. >> insides stories of the week. we start with donna. >> so, former mayors oftentimes will go and teach. former governor and mayor rendell to penn and taught for a number of semesters. former mayor street is teaching at temple. he's been teaching since he left office. former mayor michael nutter has been teaching at drexel, and the word is he's no longer at drexel, so there's a story

there, we just don't know what it is. >> my inside story is meryl levitz, who runs "visit philly," has done such a masterful job, announced her retirement at the end of this year. she's a friend, at times a client, but tourism, individual tourism was up 30% across the country, in the last 20 years, it's up over 100%. the biggest night is saturday night. congratulations, meryl. >> job well done. jim? >> matt, you may have heard that the philadelphia eagles are playing a game today. i wore my eagle tie. every time i've worn this tie, on this tv show, on a sunday which the eagles have played, they have won. you heard it first here! >> oh, boy! >> go eagles. >> jan? >> amazon holds the solution to the public pension crisis. what can stop politicians from kicking the can down the road? the answer is amazon saying, "we're not going to chicago because they have a public pension crisis. we're not going to own that. we're not going to go to newark because they have a public pension crisis that's out of control." and i think when the message goes out that, "oh, you're going

to lose business because you can't manage your pensions," the solution will present itself. >> interesting. all right, real quick. who thinks the eagles will win? actually, raise your tie if you have one. [ laughter ] there you have it! eagles. go eagles. enjoy the game. thanks for watching "inside story." have a great sunday, everyone. we'll see you next week. i'll see you monday morning. we're on early -- 4:00 a.m., "action news mornings." we'll see you then. have a great day, everyone. >> is that a regular thing now? 4:00 a.m.? i'm nydia han with gray hall. coming up on "action news" eag also game day is here, just a matter of hours, eagles will take on the minnesota vikings to determine which team is heading to the super bowl. plus the game is hours away but party has already started, we will hear from fans who arrived early to show off their eagles prime. and all of those fans expected at the game we will tell what you local businesses say about added security measures being put into place.

those stories and your game day 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 january 21st, i'm nydia han with gray hall.