i'm facing charges of leaking grand jury material and perjuring myself over it. i'm not a victim." but in explaining her overarching theory, this is what she said. >> it began with a group of state prosecutors and judges passing pornographic, racially-offensive, and religiously-offensive e-mails amongst each other. >> so, it's not about the charges, it's about people hiding pornographic e-mails. is there any way in which this makes sense? is this a diversion? is it a threat? other names could be connected to this. is there anything that makes sense about what she came out and said this week? >> well, i just find it confusing. judge carpenter has not entered an order freezing those e-mails. there's no such order. she hasn't filed a petition with him to release the e-mails, which he hasn't ordered they cannot be released. it's a very circular argument that she's making, and the final piece of it is, i don't see, even if you accept her argument, any evidence that risa vetri ferman, the respected female district attorney, would be part of a conspiracy to cover up pornographic e-mails. it just doesn't make any sense. >> i think her argument is at war with itself. >> mm-hmm. >> that's basically what jim just said. and this gives you a good idea why lanny davis walked away from her as a client. lanny davis usually comes in when a democrat is in a very vulnerable position. you can make an argument that there is some sort of partisan witch hunt going on. and lanny davis walked away from her. i think there's a reason. you just saw why. >> so, you note that judge carpenter said, "i haven't gotten a request." but castille, who used to be the head of the state supreme court, said she could release these e-mails if she wants to. her office says she's preparing a request. if she puts in that request, i would imagine they'll say, "fine, go ahead." >> right. >> what happens next? so, fine, she can release the e-mails, which she's been asked to do repeatedly by press outlets and has not done. >> and she has released some of them. she has done that. >> eight. eight names. >> months ago. right? >> yeah. >> and one of them being former justice mccaffery... >> mm-hmm. >> ...and others who lost their jobs. >> right. >> so, again, there's no consistency in the argument, because, first of all, she's saying she can't do something that she clearly can do, and has done. it just doesn't make any sense. >> and even the press conference, as i watched it, i just found the whole thing to be bizarre. her tone, intonation, the things she was saying. and even the statement that we just heard seemed to write the title for a book that has never been written. so, she kind of wanted, i believe, to cast herself as a victim. >> exactly. >> but what she needed to do was explain away the challenges against her as a criminal defendant. and that's what, i think, ultimately, she needed to use the press conference for. >> she's obviously not listening to her lawyers. >> what she's saying, "if i go down, i'm taking more people with me. it has nothing to do with the charges, but i'm taking other people, too." >> absolutely. that's where she's at. "i'm not a victim," but at least you're portraying yourself as a victim. it's an all-boys network. come one. risa ferman is excellent. she's a female. she's not in the all-boys network. the bottom line, as a psych nurse, for me, she has some mental-health issues. let me be real clear. because i'm totally confused about where she's coming from, and i don't know what's going on. >> i feel bad for chuck ardo, her press secretary, who's a good guy, and experienced. >> good guy. mm-hmm. >> when they called the press conference, which the attorney general called and said she would do it, not the other way around, the press calling for it, chuck said she would answer questions. >> and then she didn't. >> and she didn't. and was asked, after the press conference, "what about that?" and he said, "i didn't know that she wasn't going to answer questions." >> you're a lawyer. how do her lawyers, who must have seen that statement, let her go out there and make that statement? >> well... [ chuckles ] lawyers don't have total control over their clients. >> that's what i was saying. >> all you can do as a lawyer is advise your client. >> that's what chuck ardo's saying. [ laughter ] >> ultimately, the client makes the decision. and you can guess from looking at that footage that, perhaps, she didn't follow the advice of her lawyers. >> and that's what i said earlier. she's not listening to her lawyers. she's doing her own thing. >> that's been a consistent thread through this whole thing. >> that's who she is, though. that's what she's about. >> i do leave some room for the idea that people don't want to see her successful. people want to see her fall. but that's called politics in pennsylvania. >> exactly. >> this is what it is. i think she's got to draw a distinction between the ethical versus unethical things that people are doing versus the legal versus illegal things that people are doing. >> look at what ed rendell said, which i think captured the whole thing. just do the job. if you do the job, you're gonna probably be fine. and proof's in the pudding. the first year, she did the job, and her ratings were high. people liked her, people generally agreed with her positions, and she was popular. she got distracted from the job and got into this whole series of things, and that's what's led her down this rabbit hole. >> let's talk about what could happen here if this were to wend its way through the courts. how long of a time line are we looking at if nobody else intercedes, if there's no other action, the charges go forward, the case goes forward? what are we looking at? >> well, you mean in terms of a trial? >> yeah. >> i mean, it could be many months. you've got discovery that would have to be provided to the defense, her attorneys. there'll be legal challenges filed to challenge the charges and have a judge possibly try to throw them out. they can take months of hearings, opinions written. so, you know, if you avail yourself of all your rights as a criminal defendant, you can delay a case, you know... >> until the election next year. >> ...not indefinitely, but for quite a while. >> g.o.p. state officials, a year ago, made an effort to get impeachment proceedings going. that's one thing the legislature could do, but they'd need a house vote, a two-thirds vote in the senate in order for this to all go forward. is impeachment an option? >> well, the governor has said she should stand down. so, if there is impeachment, there may be more than one party involved in trying to make all that happen. there's no doubt that she is in a very bad position. as a result, the office is in a bad position. when the governor himself says, "you need to go because the office can't function. i'm not saying you're guilty, i'm just saying the office can't function." i think that's a terrible position to be in. and then add to that the very real concern that the democrats want to hang on to that seat, don't want this wounded attorney general that the republicans can run against in the general election. and all of a sudden, lots of forces are starting to come on her. crossing the streams, in a way. >> and then there's one other option that many people think could be the one it comes down to, which is her getting her license suspended. there's a man named gene stilp who has lodged a complaint with the state supreme court. they could come out and find there's something here. she wouldn't have her license. it would be suspended. and, technically, they could move to -- >> terry madonna made that point on this stage. >> is that where this is going? but it's a process that's secret. nobody knows. they could speak tomorrow, they could speak months from now. >> well, first of all, under the commonwealth attorneys act, which created the elected attorney general's office, you must be a licensed lawyer to hold the office in good standing. i've handled disbarment cases and represented lawyers in those situations. the first step is a suspension of the license, and that happens very quickly. that's only about a 10-day period. >> wow. >> then disbarment is a longer process. we have due process. you have a hearing if you want to challenge it. so, if the court wanted to suspend her license, they could do it pretty quickly. then there'd be a legal question, does that mean she can no longer serve if it's suspended? clearly couldn't serve if you're disbarred. >> right. >> so, you would have a question on the suspension. >> let me go back to what we said weeks ago with kathleen kane because of all the people leaving, and the man driving the mercedes. or, you know, she was -- just so many things going on. but common sense is, when we say you need to leave or whatever, that's one thing. but when your boss, the governor, says it's done -- and ed said it already. it's done. she's not hearing that. so the legislator is meeting. they're meeting, okay? and they're gonna make a serious decision about this. and guess what? democrats want her to move out, too. so, it really does not look good. there could be impeachment, as far as i'm concerned, looking on my side of the aisle and your side of the aisle. >> i mean, there is a higher duty, when you're holding this office -- not to sound like a cliché, but -- to the people of the commonwealth. >> right. >> and you can criticize rob mccord, but he did the right thing. >> yes, he did. >> he resigned. you can criticize ernie preate, but he did the right thing. he resigned. because it's a distraction. you can't do the job. every case you bring is gonna be questioned if you're under indictment yourself as a prosecutor. >> that's right. >> it just seems so clear that the right thing to do is to serve the people of the commonwealth, let that office get back to functioning properly. >> doug, you are out there running for political office. you have people in your ear all the time. she has to have some people coming to her and saying, "please, listen to me. don't make them drag you out of here by your hair, kicking and screaming." is there any chance she does just say, "okay, fine, i'm leaving"? >> well, my hope would be that she does. i think we know how this ends. and even as we've discussed already this morning, six million ways to die. choose one. and all of these things are happening at some point along the line, so i don't think that she can reasonably take a look at this and think that it ends well. but she can, again, do the best thing for the commonwealth, for the people who put her in office. and i think that, ultimately, there are people in her ear telling her just that, and i think, in the end, that'll win out. >> but she's not waiting -- i mean, to me, she doesn't care about us. the people in this state. because you wouldn't let it go on this long. >> but the governor has to care, and party leaders have to care, so they have to be thinking, "once she's gone, who takes that seat?" we've heard a number of names. we've heard your name. jim eisenhower as somebody who could be an interim pennsylvania attorney general. what are you guys hearing? who do you think? lynne abraham is now publicly saying it's something she'd consider doing. is there anybody who we think has an inside track or is the likely person? >> it's your side of the aisle. >> i think it's jim, but i don't know. >> i can tell you the way to probably not get the appointment is to campaign for it publicly. that never works very well, and certainly not anything i'm doing. ultimately, it's up to the governor. the person would have to be confirmed by the senate, which is controlled by the republican party. convention -- it's happened before. other elected officials, including attorney generals, have left office and been replaced with an interim. the convention is that you have to promise not to run for the office yourself. and anyone who would be under consideration would have to make that promise to be confirmed. >> all right. well, i'm sure we'll continue to talk about this for the weeks to come. let's take a little turn and talk about katie mcginty who's running for senate, and got a big boost this week when ed rendell came out and said he was going to chair her campaign. we haven't seen him chair a campaign or head up a big political effort since 2008, when he was out front in the state for hillary clinton. what does this mean for katie mcginty? she goes up first against sestak, and then against toomey. does it make a difference for her that she's now got him squarely behind her? >> oh, yeah. it makes a big difference. i think she did a good job in hooking this up. that's my line. look, he was dnc chair, he was the governor, he was the mayor. he still has a long list of folks he can call to help him and get some things done, and toomey's aware of that. let me make it clear, 'cause i'm on his side of the aisle. and so this will be an interesting match, let me say that. >> i think that, you know, one of the things that people say about the kane situation is the damage that it's done to women in office or running for office, and i think katie mcginty is the perfect antidote to that. she's incredibly qualified, she's got great judgment, she's already put together a good team, she's got support from governor rendell and others. so, the lasting effect of a poor elected official, i think, can be quickly addressed by the mcginty campaign, and has been. >> toomey's got a lot of money. he's got ads up. is rendell enough to combat that? >> i think he absolutely is. and another thing i think's really good about having rendell's support is that he's not the kind of guy who gives it easily and freely and frequently. he's always been cautious about how he supports folks, and even as a candidate myself, he said something polite about me, and that went a very long way. >> [ laughs ] >> it's bringing credibility to a campaign. so, when he creates a line of accountability by publicly saying, "i'm not only endorsing her, but i'm actually putting my name on the ship that we're floating," i think it goes a long way to funders and other political insiders who are gonna be necessary to see her be successful. >> very quickly, all week long, we've been talking about the pope coming to philadelphia. we're now getting more details. there are gonna be traffic blocks. within them, there will be security zones. within them, there will be smaller zones that you've got to get in through a fence. the mayor's saying this is sane and safe. other people are saying, "you're screwing this up." who's right on this argument right now? >> the archbishop was at the union league this past week, where there was an overflow crowd. >> mm-hmm. >> he gave a wonderful presentation on the world, meaning of families. and he said, "look, right now we have sold more passes for the event itself than anywhere else in the world. please come. it's going to be fine. these are prudent measures that we're going through. it may be a bit inconvenient, but it is going to be a wonderful opportunity to showcase the city. please do come." we have to be careful about not talking this event down and scaring people off. so, that was the archbishop's message, and i think he's spot-on. >> i happen to live right in ground zero, so to speak. >> good luck to you. >> and i'm disappointed that anybody would complain about that. i mean, this is one of the greatest events in the history of the city. >> absolutely. >> and it's receiving international attention. and i travel a lot around the country -- people are talking about it all over the country. not just the pope's visit, but how much time he's gonna be in philadelphia, and the symbolism of being here where the country was founded. it's a wonderful, wonderful thing for the city. get over it, people. >> so, they bellyaching is -- 'cause the mayor said that the press is making this worse than it needs to be. is he right? that it's bellyaching that's unnecessary? >> well, you guys aren't helping. [ laughing ] i mean, let me be real clear. and it's not the mayor's fault. but let me -- there's other organizations that are involved in this. this is the fbi, the secret service. ed knows what i'm talking about more than i do. bottom line is that, you know, everybody's involved. it's gonna be a good thing. we keep down-- you know, we're getting really negative about this and scaring people off. >> and there's nothing like a five-mile walk from camden. >> well, you know what i mean? i'm gonna do it every day. >> at independence mall, when the pope speaks, he will be using the lectern that abraham lincoln used for the gettysburg address. it's on loan from the union league. everyone's pitching in. this gonna be a great thing. >> all right, we got to take a short break. and you can tell me during the break. we'll come right back to more "inside story." >> "inside story" is presented by temple university. temple fuels students with academics and opportunities to take charge. plugged into the city, powered by the world. temple.edu/takecharge. >> welcome back to "inside story." i'm tamala edwards. let's talk a little bit about vice president joe biden. reports have surfaced that he is thinking seriously about whether or not to get into the race for the democratic nod for the white house. he's in south carolina right now, has told supporters to reach out and seize their grassroots support, and has also supposedly let operatives know, "could you put together an infrastructure if we decide to do this?" the thought is that he'll make a decision in the next six weeks. should he do it? >> i think it's something he should consider, absolutely. i mean, he has a very distinguished career, he has the resume, he has the credentials, he has the experience to be a good candidate. but i think the bigger story here is the fact that there seems to be discontent amongst the democratic party that the two options that are on the table are enough. and they seem to be looking for a third. so if it's not him, i think they'll still be looking to see who else is out there. >> ooh, i'm glad you said it. [ laughs ] >> well, there are actually four options on the table for the democrats. >> but nobody's talking about jim webb and martin o'malley. >> that's right. and those two would beg to differ. but i think doug's right. be foolish for the vice president not to look at this very seriously, because hillary clinton, if she survives the process -- it's not at all certain. she's in some real trouble right now, with the fbi taking possession of the server and thumb drive. if she makes it through, she's going to be a compromised candidate, and i think the democrats understand that, and that's why you have this biden talk. >> you know, jim, the numbers from gallup out this week say 45% would like to see him run, 47% say don't. it's split down the middle. >> right. >> what do you do, as a candidate, when you've got "it could go either way"? >> well, i think a couple things. i think the death of his son may play into it, in terms of his thinking. >> right. >> there was a story in the new york times last week that a number of his closest advisors don't want him to run because they don't want him to tarnish his legacy. they care about him. but, you know, ultimately it's up to him. i know he's a very loyal democrat, and he's been very close to hillary clinton over the years. and i'm sure he would factor in not only can he win, but what damage would he do to the party with a protracted primary? that would certainly be an issue. >> let's talk about something we're seeing on the campaign trail. bernie sanders, out in seattle this week, was about to speak to a crowd, and we saw two advocates from black lives matter come up on the stage and pretty much shut it down. they didn't let him finish speaking. they told the crowd they wanted 4.5 minutes of silence for michael brown, and they got into a back-and-forth with the crowd. and, doug, i know that a lot of your support has come from millennials, and a big question is coming up -- is this the way to do things? on one hand, bernie sanders came out. he now has a criminal justice platform, racial justice is an issue. jeb bush, hillary clinton have met with these advocates. but some people say they don't like it, and the crowds are getting testy with these advocates. is it the right thing to do to disrupt? >> i think it's a big risk to do it that way. i do think there's value in the protest. i think there's value in the disruption. but there has to be a purpose for the protest. when you get out there and you stop everything and you disrupt people's experience and people say, "okay, well, what can we do for you?" then there has to be an agenda, an actionable agenda, and i think that's what's missing. if they're not careful, i think the black lives matter can go the way of occupy movement. there's no leadership, there's no hierarchy, and there's no deliverable, and so people don't know how to help you. and so they have to be much more clear, and even stop disrupting and find someone that you can support. >> exactly. >> and i think that's the next step. >> we've heard for a long time, for blacks in the political parties, the republicans ignore us and the democrats take us for granted. they have at least gotten people on the left, you know, saying, "you're gonna have to talk about this," and they've made candidates on the right... to a certain extent, have they exposed this, that the black vote gets taken for granted and we're not gonna let it happen this time? >> i think they have. and, again, i think there's value in doing that, but it can't be the only thing. there has to be a next step. now that we've shone a flashlight on this, and we've shown you where the problem is, now the problem has to be fixed. the attention is only one part of it. >> let me just say this real quick. the bottom line is, when jeb bush met with them -- and i know this for a fact -- they really didn't have "what do you want us to do?" i mean, he asked, "how can we help? give me some of your ideas." they weren't clear. and, doug, you're absolutely right. what are your goals and objectives other than just interrupting when somebody's speaking? they were not clear at all. that's my issue. and they can end up, like, non-existent. and let me be clear, also, on the republicans have had an agenda under this new chairman. they've been doing a lot of things. they have folks across the state in each and every state working before elections with african-americans, latinos, people of color. so, it's not like we're not listening. >> one thing i keep hearing is that they want people to take responsibility for their part. they wanted hillary clinton to take responsibility for president clinton's sentencing mandates that led to so many people being in jail for a long time. is that ever going to work, trying to get somebody to take responsibility for something you don't like? >> well, i think that can be an important thing, and president clinton, of course, himself has recently said that it was a mistake. >> right. >> and admitted that. so, okay, that's a good point. i don't know that it moves the ball very far, and there has been reform in the federal sentencing guidelines in the last couple of years, spurred by republicans and democrats who looked at those guideline numbers -- i worked with them when i was a federal prosecutor, and changed them and reconfigured them a bit. so, you know, admitting that there was an error 20 years ago i think has some value, but it doesn't really move the ball that far. >> all right. >> i don't know what responsibility means, though. i mean, take responsibility -- >> responsibility means i've got to take a break, and we'll come back to you. >> that's a very responsible thing to do. >> we'll be right back. >> well played. "many patients and their doctors unfortunately are not aware of the options available to patients with bone cancer. patients with bone cancer deserve a specialist too. "the advantages of being treated at cancer treatment centers of america is that we have all the specialists under one roof to take care of every aspect of that patients cancer care. we want our patients to survive their cancer but we also want them to maintain independence and quality of life is so important. >> "inside story" is presented by temple university. temple fuels students with academics and opportunities to take charge. plugged into the city, powered by the world. temple.edu/takecharge. >> welcome back. time for our "inside story"'s inside stories. we will start with you, jim. >> tam, one of the great things about the pope's visit, it's gonna shed light on some of the great things happening in philadelphia. sister mary scullion, a tireless advocate for homelessness reform, is going to have a major role during the pope's visit. and kudos to her and her project. >> all right. ed. >> tianjin is philadelphia's sister city. 35 years ago, we became sister cities. in fact, 10th and arch, you've got that welcoming arch, the only one like it in the country. two massive explosions in tianjin this week. 50 people dead. mayor nutter has expressed condolences. expect more people in civic space to be talking about providing some sort of material help for the aftermath of those explosions. >> video was awful. okay. doug? >> i had a very encouraging meeting yesterday with a top jim kenney staffer. and it was very interesting to see their express commitment to not only minority inclusion in boards and commissions around the city, but also, in addition to ethnic, gender, ideological, geographic, and every other kind of diversity for different boards and commissions, commissioner seats and lower entry-level positions around the city. >> we'll have to talk to you at some point if you're gonna take one of those seats. let's end with renee. >> i want to say that -- we're always talking about education. let me say, drexel university has a program called liberty scholars. they take 15 high-school graduates every year and pay for their tuition 100%. then they give them a mentoring program. so we need to say thank you, drexel, because that's excellent, to pay for 15 high-school graduates, their tuition for school. and it's renewable every year. >> all right. way to go. and thank you for joining us here on "inside story." it's been great to have this panel. a lot to get to. we'll see you back here next week. >> i'm eva pilgrim coming up next on "action news," developing an indonesia airline carrying 54 people have van vanished. three people are hurt when the air balloon hits power lines in lancaster county. are you ready for football? the eagles going head to head with andrew luck and the colts. we have live team coverage those stories and more next on "action news." >> good afternoon, sunday, august 16 i'm eva pilgrim, nydia han is off, here's some of the stories we're following on "action news." philadelphia police are searching for two suspects who stole a medical transport van with two patients inside. a man is fielgt for his life after -- fighting for

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