a program started by 30-year-old jon feinman with $10,000 of his own money. why lifting weights?n dominator. it's not the traditional mentor/student relationship. we're lift something weights. and it's how can you help outside of the gym. >> reporter: the inspiration was elexson hercules, a former gang member who feinman met. while working for an after-school program. elexson got his ged and a full-time job, but last year, he was killed by a rival gang member while walking home from a store. >> just because he got his life turned around doesn't mean the people they may have crosseded before are going to forgive them for it. >> reporter: feinman helps to find a safe place to take classes and look for johns. they come from neighborhoods like blue hill avenue. 80% of boston's crime happens here. feinman drives his van into these violent neighborhoods every day making sure his students get home safely. >> have a good one, jon. thank you. >> at the end of the day, i don't want to let these guys down. these guys, like, man, like, they did so much for me. >> reporter: for those who exce

and to do that we welcome josh feinman, he's chief economist at deutsch asset and wealth management. >> so you heard what john was just saying. how much better off are we and is the economy doing better and will it continue into the new year? >> i think we're doing quite a bit better and the contrast is pretty substantial, particularly in washington. as you said earlier, we were heading into 2013 with a big fiscal headwind. substantially weakened growth this year, heading into 2014 is very different. the fiscal drag from washington will be significantly attenuated and when you combine that with diminishing headwins in the private sector, a lot of things have been holding us back in this recovery and seem to be diminish asking that should pave the way for stronger growth ahead. >> josh seems to be suggesting that the economy is healing just a bit. is the political climate in washington healing or is it a bit of a mirage? >> only a little bit, tyler. i think the biggest difference between last year and this year is that the economy and the labor market are recovering more substantially

and it begins with a story about richard feinman, the great physicist. feinman, as you know, is a man who in the challenger disaster, he was able to crack it brilliantly in a way that explained everything. he was actually one of the younger scientists at los alamos. he actually would amuse himself in his spare hours by breaking into the safes of the to other scientists -- of the other scientists and leaving little notes behind. [laughter] got to love the guy. he actually spent a year later on when he was at cornell, he took a year off to learn the bongos in brazil. the reason i tell you this isn't just to amuse you, but to give you the idea that this was not finish this was a very energetic and driven guy not given to melancholy. and yet there's a point in his biography where he writes when he came back from loss alamos after he had -- los alamos after he had witnessed trinity and the new era of the atomic age, he writes he was on his way to cornell, and he saw people working on a bridge. and he thought to himself, why are they doing this? don't they und

and it begins with a story about richard feinman, the great physicist.feinman, as you know, is a man who in the challenger disaster, he was able to crack it brilliantly in a way that explained everything. he was actually one of the younger scientists at los alamos. he actually would amuse himself in his spare hours by breaking into the safes of the to other scientists -- of the other scientists and leaving little notes behind. [laughter] got to love the guy. he actually spent a year later on when he was at cornell, he took a year off to learn the bongos in brazil. the reason i tell you this isn't just to amuse you, but to give you the idea that this was not finish this was a very energetic and driven guy not given to melancholy. and yet there's a point in his biography where he writes when he came back from loss alamos after he had -- los alamos after he had witnessed trinity and the new era of the atomic age, he writes he was on his way to cornell, and he saw people working on a bridge. and he thought to himself, why are they doing this? don't they unde