>> i'm monica malpass on "inside story." the horror of the florida school massacre is bringing renewed calls for gun control, but will it ever happen? let's get the inside story. good morning, and welcome to "inside story." let's meet our insiders today, and they are terry madonna, franklin & marshall analyst. thank you so much for being here. ed turzanski, foreign policy analyst. thank you, ed. we appreciate you coming. donna gentile o'donnell from a nonprofit organization. thank you for being here. and jan ting, law professor. welcome again to you, sir. glad to have you, as well. let's reflect on -- now we've had many school shootings. this is nothing new, but it is as horrible every time as the last time from columbine, sandy hook, and now this is the third worst in the country, parkland, florida. in fact, multiple shootings just this year. can we ever get some reform that the nra can live with but

parents and students can also feel good about going to school with? >> well, first of all, there's no constitutional right to an assault weapon. where this comes from, i don't know, but these are the things that are clear. the nra has a ton of republican congressmen and senators on the payroll. they've given them boatloads of dough, and it's blood money. it is blood money. there's be nen in this country. those kids in sandy hook, when they got slaughtered, that should've been the signal, and now 18 more school shootings? thousands -- i mean, we are a national disgrace on thee. the people in washington today have blood on their hands and they need to be held accountable. we untangle e politics of this, ed? because it really is a quagmire at this point. >> well, first of all, we get clear about the use of terms. "assault weapon" has -- that's a term of art that has to do with the appearance of the weapon, not the way it fires. so that language kind of pollutes the argument there.

stop and think that...not that long ago, the democrats controlled the white house, the congress, and 60 votes in the senate. they could've done whatever they wanted, but they didn't in large part because this is an issue that is much more complex than just guns. >> and now the reverse case with the republicans. >> but in this case, the questions we ought to be asking is, "why is it that this man was flagged to the fbi?" everybody at that school said, "oh, i knew he would do this someday." and we put data points together to go after terrorists, but we're not doing it to pick up indidu in large part, it's because the law isn't there to help the fbi. >> so, quickly, what can wdo today and tomorrow? >> so much for "see something, say something." everyone saw something, everyone sa something, and nothing

happened. so, and, you know, and the fbi is saying, "well, we don't have the resources to track downocia" the guy was using his own name on social media saying that, "i'm gonna be a professional school shooter." the other thing that's noteworthy is, speaking of sandy hook five years ago, when that massacre happened, there was a similar massacre in a school in china and the same number of victims, and the onlys very hard to get a gun. and so, the perpetrator -- the mentally ill perpetrator had to use a knife, and he stabbed all his victims, but you know what? they all lived. they saved them all. that's the difference, and use -- access to guns is what resulted in the deaths at sandy hook. >> the debate over gun control is absolutely predictable that both sides would harden the lines and take the positions that they're taking. in reality, what we have to do,

particularly with mental-health problems and when you have this situation in schools, we need much earlier detection. we had some of that. they need to be selected for counseling. we need to do a lot more monitoring and tracking and making sure that these situations don't happen in the first place. >> early intervention. >> and that means we've got to get all the parties involved -- i mean political parties -- and sit down and figure out a way to approach this that doesn't violate the constitution. >> but, you know, every mass shooting, we hear the same thing. everyone says the same thing. >> but nothing happens and then the same thing with gun control. >> go ahead, donna. >> something did happen, terry. one of the things that happened was that there was a piece of legislion that was signed by president trump. no press, no attention, and what it did is it repealed a very important provision that gave access to data on social -- anybody who was getting any kind of federal support -- social security, disability,

related to a mental-healthnot ba firearm. he eliminated with a signature that provision. no pr-- now, this is a president who loves to sign things and show everybody and make a big deal out of it. he didn't make a big deal out of this, and now he's calling for thoughts and prayers. >> we're gonna have to move on. last comment. >> this shooter could legally buy a firearm, but he could not legally buy a beer. something wrong with that, and it should be an easy correlation to say, "if you can't buy a beer, you can't buy a firearm." >> we're having the same discussions we have after every horrible incident. the very same discussion. >> all right, let's talk about redrawing the congressional map for pennsylvania. this has gone back and forth. probably a half a dozen maps have now been submitted. between the legislature, the governor has his own version. the supreme court is the one that ordered the current map to be gerrymandering and favoring the republicans. they have a deadline approaching quickly -- within hours. what's going to happen? because if they don't make a decision between the governor and the legislature, the

supreme court certainly will and they, too, have been elected to positions, so of course it's already being called partisan. >> right, well, look, the maps have already been submitted. they were submitted -- they had to be submitted by friday the 15th of february. the supreme court in its per curiam order, going back to january 22nd, said, "on february 19th, we will make a map public." >> right. >> now, it's the supreme court. they could postpone that deadline. they have several options. they could pick a map, and as you accurately pointed out, there are several. get on the supreme court website and try to figure them all out. they could select a map, not write one of their own -- which they did back in 1992 -- or they hnical experts. they could write a map of their own. >> right. >> the republican leaders in the legislature have said, "if they draw the map, we're gonna go back to court, into the federal court, and argue that they exceeded their authority, that it belongs to the legislature and the governor." >> so, this is just gonna go

around and around? and how does it impact the may primaries? >> it's not gonna go around and around. ed and i were talking before. this threat of a legal challenge in federal court -- that's not going anywhere. i think the most likely scenario is the supreme court is gonna make their own map. map making is easy now, right? a few clicks of the mouse, and you can do it very quickly. and they picked their expert already -- nathan persily, who usedo be a law professor at the universityf pennania. i met him on many occasions. and so i think the supreme court is ready to go. they're ready to draw their own map. i think th and so the governor is willing to say to the supreme court, you know, "let's see what you got." >> yeah, but here -- look, this issue should've been resolved by the united states supreme court decades ago. and, remember, political gerrymandering has not been ruled unconstitutional by thes.. in fact, in a pennsylvania case, vieth vs. jubelirer, that had

to do with the 2001 map, the court deferred. the supreme court of the united states deferred -- not judicable. now, there are several cases there's a high probability the supreme court of the united states will finally make a ruling on political gerrymandering. >> but that won't affect the pennsylvania case which hinges on the pennsylvania constitution. >> i understand. unless they cite the p.a. -- the federal constitution in a sense which might affect the pennsylvania maps because obviously the pennsylvania redistricting can't violate the u.s. constitution. >> it somehow has to line up. all right, let's talk about senator pat toomey who, last week, called out the philadelphia sanctuary-city stature. he actually filed some legislation to have an immigration bill that does target all sanctuary cities across the united states, but of course he's from our area knowing that would specifically also be a problem for one hand, but others say thate that is harboring criminal where do you think it'go

come down to on that issue? puteell, it's unfortunate it's over immigration, what to do about daca. but toomey was onto something, and i think he actually got 55 votes... >> yeah, that's right. >> ...which means he pulled some democrats over. >> right. >> and the unfortunate thing about immigration, people keep on saying, "well, why don't you do one-offs? just deal with daca. just deal with the border." >> one issue at a time. >> it doesn't work. that'sot the way l is done, but toomey, i think, is onto something. this is -- the public is not in favor of sanctuary cities except in some largely blue democratic cities and states. california is the outrider herng to pull the money which is going to be the bottom line on it if they take away the funding for cities. >> a couple of thi derstand why senator toomey feels

compelled to work against a city that he represents as part of this commonwealth. that's first. >> but he doesn't think he's working against it. >> let me finish, ed. what he needs to do is go back and read what judge baylson said the last time there was a prosecution case again the city based on sanctuary cities. baylson laughed them out of the courtroom. he literally laughed and said, "you g talking about." >> so what? he's a republican judge! i mean, he's a conservativemabli don't think that -- >> toomey is -- this is the worst kind of political posturing, and i've -- and frankly, he needs to turn his attention back to assault he biggest beneficiaries from the nra. that's where he needs to spend his time. >> nobody studies voting patterns in pennsylvania like senator toomey. i mean, he just won a razor-thin election, and he won it on the issue of sanctuary cities. >> as a republican, so he's gonna play that card.

>> he waged a vigorous, noisy campaign against sanctuary cities. as ed suggests, his view is he's defending the people in philadelphia in challenging the sanctuary-city policy. >> i'm so sorry, terry. we had the lowest crime rate in philadelphia in 40 years with the exception of some murders that are largely committed and they're involved in drug trafficking, and they don't have to do with immigrants. >> this issue is gonna play out in the 2018 midterm elections. in our own state, it took senator casey's likely opponent congressman lou barletta about five seconds to issue a press release condemning senator casey's vote. he was in the -- what, 44, 45 votes that were, you know -- individuals in the senate who voted against it. this is gonna be a pretty big issue, and like it or not, the guy sitting across from me is right. in the polls that have been done, the voters in the country are not in favor of this.

they're not in favor -- >> and pat toomey and joe manchin are the last ones who put their names to a meaningful gun-control measure. and they both paid a political price. >> it's not meaningful unless it turns into something. it was political posturing then. it's political posturing now. >> so, it's his fault if he does it, and it's his fault if it doesn't? >> no, he could do more, ed. he could do a heck of a lot more. >> you're being very unfair. >> no, i think not. >> all right, let's move on and talk about the first medical marijuana dispensaries in the state of pennsylvania. it's been a two-year process to get the regulatory infrastructure going to, of course, approve the doctors who are gonna be the practitioners, to certify the patients who can get it because of 17 different, serious medical conditions, and of course then launch a whole industry, and they have just opened the first six dispensaries. tell me what you think on -- the endgame is going to be the net result for the state of pennsylvania? good news? bad news? >> well, i think it's good news certainly for the people that need medical marijuana for relief of pain. i'm happy that the process is set up. it certainly is gonna genera some business activity in the

commonwealth. so, that's a welcomed development, and i hope the state is collecting some tax revenue. >> anything you want to add, terry? >> well, yeah. i mean, there's a board that oversees all of this, and they had an expert come in and testify that -- guess what -- we ought to start to think about something that the current law prohibits. you know what this is? smoking it. >> recreational. >> well, you would do it through medical mari-- you know, it'd be medical marijuana. >> rather than pills, it would be smoked first. >> yeah, you could smoke it, and some -- the opponents argue, "uh-oh. this is another step towards the legalization of recreational marijuana." >> there's also one important bipartisan action that is underway in washington, and that is to move marijuana from a schedule i to a schedule iii drug. this is the basis for the justice department driving a whole bunch of initiatives that have been negatively positioned toward medical marijuana and marijuana in forms in other

states. so, when that happens, that's gonna make -- a lot of people will be breathing a sigh of relief that this important medical development can move forward safely. >> i don't think it's a serious threat from the federal government towards medical marijuana in pennsylvania. it's clearly directed at recreational marijuana -- a development which we've all been observing, and, you know, the country hasn't turned into a bunch potheads, but i think the reality is the need for tax revenue at the state level is so enormous that a lot of elected officials see an opportunity, and they're probably right to raise a whole bunch of tax revenue from this industry. >> raise that issue. as jan accurately points out, during the course of the legislative maneuvering that finally led to pennsylvania's law, you know, setting up medical pot, as we often call it. >> we're gonna take a break. we'll have much more "inside story" coming your way right after this. stay with us. >> 6abc's "inside story" is

presented by temple university. ♪

♪ >> welcome back to "inside story." a controversial case with a local rapper, meek mill, who's serving time behind bars for violating parole. according to , the sole witness to testify against him is being accused of lying. jan, what do you think is the outcome? is he gonna get off? >> i think the most interesting

aspect of this case is that the discovery that the new district attorney has a list of what he considers unreliable cops, and this sole witness against meek mill is on larry krasner's bad list. so, i think the outcome is the d.a. certainly seems to be on the side of meek mill, and so we'll have to see how that turns out. >> all right, meantime, new jersey has a new governor, murphy, and he is going to maybe change up the way charter-school expansion is done or not done and reappropriate some of that money. do you think in the end that the schools are gonna be happy with how it all turns out? he's got other priorities like restoring voter rights for parolees and things on the list, but schools definitely made it up there. >> yeah, well, look, the public schools are gonna -- many people in public schools don't like school choice, don't like charter schools. you see where we're heading with this. they argue that it siphons off money. in fact, in pennsylvania, there's a situation now where public schools are concerned about money being siphoned off for -- and it's not completely democrat versus republican, but

it's pretty heavily that way with republicans in rural and small towns in particular, more likely to favor school choice, and i'll tell you what -- there are parents irrespective of party in school districts that aren't doing so well that make the same kind of argument that they need school choice. they need charter schools. >> so, what's the answer, donna? how do we fairly appropriate the money when there's a limited pot to choose from? >> so, full disclosure -- my husband represents a lot of charter schools, and when he was in the legislature, as a democrat, introduced the first charter-schools bill. having said that, i think it's really important to remember parents need to have some measure of choice, and charter schools are public schools. there's a misconception out there that somehow charter schools are not, and they are. so, in philadelphia, we have over 60,000 kids in charter schools. we have thousands and thousands more on waiting lists. i don't know the stats in jersey, but the one thing that i do know is that the thing that

parents want the most is safety for their kids. the second thing that they want is a caliber of quality in education. >> those are basic needs. >> notably in philadelphia, charter schools get 20% less per student. the school district takes 20% to "manage all of that." well, you know what? charter schools are already at a financial disadvantage in philadelphia, and they meet a lot of parental and student need that has not been met before those charter schools existed. what the governor in jersey's gonna do, i'm not sure. >> all right, speaking of schools, a new setup in the philadelphia area. the src school-formed commission is gone. the mayor is setting up a task force to look for people to nominate 27, then he'll pick 9 to be the new school board. get that in place very soon so that -- rather, a 13-member panel -- so that they can start making decisions for the upcoming school year. in the end, does philadelphia, when it gets control, have some ability to reshape and make school better here? >> it depends on whether they can pay the bills.

>> simple as that may seem. >> it really is. i mean, it's a question -- "you pay, you say." so, it's fine to get control, and i think that schools are one of those institutions where you want local control, but -- >> they have some impressive names on the list. >> oh, s-- no, no. we're not doubting the quality of the people the mayor wants to appoint. that's -- this will be fine. the question will be, "how will you attend to the financial needs of the schools when harrisburg is less likely to be impressed by something that they don't control?" >> right. well, that's what got them to the src in the first place 15, 20 years ago. they weren't able to pay the bills so well, and the state took over 'cause they didn't want to dump money -- >> and, by the way, the public does want choice, and they want it not just in public schools, but they'd like to hold onto some of their own money when they send their children to parochial schools and other non-public schools. >> all right, let's talk about some new changes to the sex-offender registry in pennsylvania, because things are

changing. the law has made a few mistakes. first, they had megan's law, then they had a tighter version of that, and now courts are looking to unroll some of that, and maybe 10,000 parolees could be off the list of registrants. >> courts have ruled that the new law -- the new, stricter law -- can't be applied retroactively, and it's been a five-year duration since the new law came into effect. so, a lot of people have been added to the list under the stricter standards based on what they had done, and now the court is saying, "well, you know what? you can't really do that." and so, that potentially results in the removal of thousands of people from the sex-offender list going forward. >> so, where's the balance there, jan? how do you protect children from predators, but at the same time give predators or alleged predators from way back their rights to live a life, as well? >> i think the process has worked out okay. i mean, i think it's right to tighten the standards, but i think it's also right to say, "we're gonna tighten the standards only prospectively. we're not gonna go back and add

people to the list based on these new standards which weren't in effect at the time that they were on." and i think there were a lot of -- the new standards include, i think, a lot of offenses that would not be characterized as sexual offenses. >> last word to you, terry. >> well, here's the point -- we were talking about the horrible situation in broward county in florida, and we're back, in a sense, in the same kind of dilemma. how much control? how much should we know? "lists" or mental-health problems -- what do we do about them at the same time we protect the constitutional rights of our citizens? what is that balance? inevitably, when you get the sex offenders, when you get the situations like -- >> mental-health issues. >> yeah, exactly. we're stuck in that same thing, and, you know, if we lived in a totalitarian society, we could resolve this pretty easily. >> but we don't. so therein lies the rub. all right, inside stories coming your way right after a break. stick around. ♪

>> 6abc's "inside story" is presented by temple university. ♪ >> time for inside stories of the week, and let's start with ed. >> monica, last week, at the union league, more than 500 people heard jefferson beauregard sessions iii -- jeff sessions the attorney general -- say, "the civil war wasn't about states' rights or agriculture. it was about the evil of slavery." he thanked god for lincoln getting rid of it, and the people of the north supporting him, and then extending a hand of friendship to the south. meaningful words. >> and he's from the south, so there you go. all right, terry. >> and jeff sessions is absolutely correct. all right, if you're in a third party or an independent, you're gonna celebrate because in a settlement reach with the courts, if you want to run statewide in pennsylvania now, you don't need 2% of the votes cast in the previous election. now, imagine that -- 65,000, 70,000 signatures on a petition.

you need -- the magic number is only 5,000. so, i think we're gonna have a lot more folks running for office in the state of pennsylvania. >> all right, jan. >> the deadlock over daca in the u.s. senate is not the end of the story. the issue of what to do about these illegal aliens who were brought to the u.s. as children moves onto the u.s. house of representatives, where only a simple majority is necessary, not the supermajority as in the senate. so, if they can pass something that has the support of the president, there'll be intense pressure on the u.s. senate to act to provide the only form of relief that's politically available for these folks. >> all right, we'll be watching. donna? >> this was a sad week for democrats in philadelphia. we lost two leaders who could not have been more different. peter buttenwieser was a national leader and probably the most influential figure in electing barack obama president. and rosanne pauciello, a ward leader from south philly, who came up the hard way, was a charter member of the tough broad club. these are people who were leaders over the course of a

lifetime among democrats, and we will miss them. >> all right, and thanks to all of our insiders for being here. we appreciate your time. thank you so much for watching. hope you have a great week ahead. we'll see you right back here next sunday morning. ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm nydia han with gray hall. coming up next on "action news" a massive fire rips through a building in philadelphia's olde city section. we have details on the battle to contain the fire and reaction, from residents. plus president trump took to twit tore criticize the fbi for how it handled a tip that may have prevented a deadly school shooting in florida. and crews rescued a teenage boy from the wind cave overnight we will tell you why

it took crews hour to get him free. those stories, the accu weather forecast and more next up, on "action news". blank blank z2p9hz z5yz

y2p9hy y5yy "action news", delaware valley's leading news program, with gray hall, nydia han, and meteorologist chris sowers. good afternoon, it is sunday february 18th aim nydia han along with gray hall.