soledad: right now on "matter of fact." do you have fights in the family? >> oh, golly. soledad: does it get ugly? sisters on different sides of the political aisle. can they put civility above sibling rivalry? plus, should there still be a pathway to employment for people who fail drug tests? >> over the last couple of years we've seen the failed drug screen percentages almost triple. which has been a huge impact as we try to staff openings. soledad: and unequal pay for equal work. companies need to understand how to better support women. i'm soledad o'brien. welcome to "matter of fact" from

new york city. when the 116th u.s. congress convenes on january 3, it will have the largest number of women ever elected. more than 120 women will join the house and senate. and it's not just in politics where women are closing the gender gap. today women make up 47% of the u.s. labor force. that's up from 30% in 1950. but when it comes to men understanding what women experience on the job, there's still a long way to go. just ask daniel stapleton. he took a company survey about how his female co-workers are treated at work and the results shocked him so much that he started a new company with one of his colleagues. it's called in her sight. and i recently spoke with daniel and ursula mead about how they're working to get companies to better support women at work. tell me the story of how the company started. >> it started early on, ursula and i worked at a company together and it was a company that cared a lot about their employees.

one of the ways they showed that was by doing surveyed to see how everyone was feeling. so one of those surveys was given to us, and it was specifically about women in the workplace. everyone in the company took it. after we took the survey, we were kind of comparing notes on our responses. ursula and myself and a couple women who sat near me. and it was an interesting kind of moment. of course it's not a revelation that people are having different experiences. in life. soledad: it was to you. >> but there was a bit of a -- soledad: what was your reaction? give me an example of some of the questions that were different answers that you were giving than from what you were giving. >> it was to the level of, i was not switched onto the idea. one of the questions was what is the percentage of leadership that is women? i said 50-50. because why wouldn't it be? soledad: and when you stopped laughing, ursula. >> yeah. so there was a lot of differences. in how we had answered these questions. that got a spark going.

soledad: what were the other questions? just throw them out there. >> there were things about people being heard in meetings. things about, you know, our opinions -- is your work being valued. those type of general employee surveys. soledad: was daniel an outlier in this or did you feel like he was consistent with all the other men within the company? >> so i think that we saw then and we continue to see in the work that we do today that there are some big blind spots for men as a whole and the issues that women face. there are always a few who have either tuned in a little bit earlier or are more aware and i can remember a few voices that sort of were laughing with us who were other men. but for the most part, it was eye-opening for a lot of people. including the company as a whole. it was an experience that changed the culture and it changed the people. soledad: oprah would say it was the ah-ha moment. and it led to you starting the company. >> yeah. it didn't happen immediately.

it mostly led to me just kind of being more aware of this and observing this in my life in the company and elsewhere. soledad: you pulled 1,200 women and asked them if they had male allies at work. what was the response and were you surprised by it? >> i was. so the response was close to 50% were not sure if they had male allies at work. they didn't know. they might. they might not. soledad: that's sad. >> it is. i think we talk a lot about how to engage men, whether to engage men. and i think that stat said to us, we need to do a better job of engaging men. soledad: one thing i realized early on working in a big office was that if i could get a guy to kind of say the thing that i was saying, it often took my message much farther. i always appreciated that but there was a bit of a rub, right? like, what's the line between someone speaking up for you or

speaking for you. >> we tend to think of it as redirecting attention. as much as possible. in those type of situations. how can you -- if you get the attention, how can you guide it back to, like, oh, so ursula was saying this. or that's the idea that ursula had just had about this. sort of just making sure that you're always redirecting to the person who deserves the credit for whatever's being said. soledad: sometimes i would feel like, as long as it gets done, who cares about the credit. >> i think that works up to a point. that's also part of the progress that we're making. soledad: how does harassment connect to all of this? is it just because women are not in the 50-50 power structure? is it a simple -- as simple as that? or is it more complicated? >> harassment has been something that we've started to measure more on our site. so we collect data on how women are feeling about their workplaces and how supportive they are. women are 50% of the work force and talent pool.

this is not some small segment of people coming out of universities and programs that they're looking to hire. companies need to understand how to better support women. soledad: hopefully they'll get it. ursula mead and daniel stapleton. so nice to have you guys. thanks so much. appreciate it. next on "matter of fact," with more and more employees failing drug tests, what role should companies play in keeping workers clean? >> so we're going to give them a second chance? soledad: plus when politics and family collide. >> i don't understand many days why she is a republican, and under this administration. >> you know why. soledad: and what's more >> you know why. soledad: and what's more patriotic?r prestige creams not living up to the hype? one jar shatters the competition. olay regenerist hydrates skin better than creams costing over $100, $200, and even $400. fact check this ad in good housekeeping. olay.

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their bottom line, about 75% of people with substance abuse disorders are employed, either full-time or part-time. according to the national institutes of health. so, should corporate america play a role in keeping their employees clean? as correspondent jessica gomez tells us, one manufacturing company in indiana is trying an innovative approach. reporter: wayne county, indiana. dotted with factories. and farms. a place where hard work is just a way of life. >> i grew up doing chores. i grew up having responsibilities. because nothing was for free. reporter: for 48-year-old shawn, a machine operator at belden, inc., work ethic is everything. but after 23 years at the plant, which manufactures high-end broadcast cables, shawn is not running his machines. he's cleaning. >> i haven't been on my machine

in eight weeks. in a way it's kind of driving me crazy. reporter: shawn failed a routine drug test after a minor forklift accident. the company's normal procedure up until this year -- termination. but instead of firing him, belden sent shawn here, to centerstone of indiana, for substance abuse treatment. and they're footing the bill. >> you have depression and anxiety issues too. reporter: a bill shawn never could have afforded on his own. >> i do something every day. i'm either in therapy every day for two hours, or i go to a.a. meetings. >> we are thrilled to be coming to the table. employment for our folks is key. reporter: wayne county, like much of indiana, relies heavily on its manufacturing labor pool. increasingly impacted by addiction. the overdose death rate here increased by more than 60% last year alone. >> over the last couple of years we've seen the failed drug screen percentages almost

triple, which has been a huge impact as we try to staff openings. reporter: so last february belden created the pathways to employment program. not only paying for substance abuse treatment for employees, but for applicants as well. those the company would like to hire but who fail a pre-employment drug screen. >> we're going to give them a second chance, but it's an exchange for them maintaining a clean lifestyle, coming to work every day, wanting to help themselves, but we're going to give them hope to do that. reporter: belden says shawn can have his old job back when centerstone feels he's ready. and he passes a series of drug tests. so far, so good. >> they have something to look forward to. it's apparent to them that people in the community are also invested in them. when you have that to look forward to, it's a motivator. reporter: the program, costing belden an average of $16,000 per person, is so unique it's drawing the attention of

national and state leaders. indiana's drug czar recently visiting the company to learn more. >> companies don't last that long unless they're good at adapting. as the world in which they operate changes. and here what they've done is come up with a creative way to adapt to a work force-related issue that's been confounding a lot of people. reporter: the county's second largest employer, belden is a place where multiple generations of families make a living. and most here, like louis, know someone impacted by addiction. hubble's sister, who used to work at belden, died of a heroin overdose six years ago. >> she went from a very vibrant, mother of three children, absolutely in love with her job, in love with her -- family, very strong, very bubbly, to someone who we didn't know. reporter: hubble often wonders whether the promise of treatment

and a job would have kept her off the streets and alive. >> if this works, and if we can save just one person's life, like it could have saved my sister's, it's all worth it. absolutely all worth it. >> i wish more companies would give people second chances. reporter: a second chance, shawn says, has helped put his life in perspective. >> being sober, it's a good feeling. you feel like you have more control of your life. you feel like your dreams are more realistic. reporter: in richard monday, indiana, for "matter of fact," i'm jessica gomez. soledad: an update on shawn. the company says he's back working on his machine. of the 26 belden employees who entered the program, 11 have graduated and are operating machinery. eight dropped out and the others are in treatment. announcer: when we come back, they're identical twins. but not when it comes to politics. how did these sisters end up on opposite sides?

and why does benjamin franklin begin trending around this time every year?

soledad: when two sisters from michigan decided to both run for political office in the midterms, it made national headlines. not just because they're sisters. but because they're twins. and from different political parties. when i spoke to monica sparks and jessica anne tyson before the election, they were both confident of victory. but only one was successful. monica, a democrat, was elected a kent county commissioner for

district 12. still, these sisters say they won't let their politics divide their family. welcome, ladies. so nice to have you. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. soledad: monica, the democrat. we put you on the left of me. >> thank you very much. soledad: jessica anne, we put you on the right as a republican. thank you for your outfits. very helpful to everyone trying to figure out who's who, since you're identical twins. you each take a little bit of a different tact in your bios. how do your politics differ? >> so, i am a proud democrat. i love saying that i stand with the party of l.b.j., j.f.k., m.l.k., civil rights, and liberty for all. but she's going to tell you the same thing. >> absolutely, i am. absolutely. our parents raised us to be pro-constitution. we love our country. together, i would say that we love our country. some things that are happening, you know, we both agree, you know, aren't necessarily the way that we would like to see things. but we believe in america.

we believe that it is the greatest country on the planet. so we are very pro-u.s.a. soledad: when your sister criticizes trump, there's not a lot of black republicans, percentage-wise in the country, is that a problematic criticism for you? >> it's fair. it's a fair criticism. i want to say this. that i believe that as a republican, as a republican i am proud of my party. soledad: you guys talk about your childhood a lot. and it was very rough. your mom was an addict. there was a point where you were separated. you went to different families to be cared for before you came back together. to be adopted. you've said that that separation was very, very painful and that sometimes you get that same feeling politically. how do you mean? >> we do. this has been very rough for us. i want to go back to addressing what you said about being a black republican.

i as her sister have to listen to a lot of the rhetoric and things that people say, oh, she's a coon, she's an uncle tom. aunt gentlemen mimea. all the things -- jemina -- jemima. all the things they're upset she chooses to be part of that party. this is a democracy. we do live in america. so, i would like people to stop pitting families and pitting people against people. i don't understand many days why she is a republican. and under this administration. i do understand -- >> you know why, cissy. i'm a republican under this administration because i was a republican under the obama administration. i was a republican under the bush administration. >> that's fair. >> i'm a republican. i can't separate being a republican from being the president. he happens to be in power. so if he is the one in power, ok, great. i'm going to try to advance all of those republican causes.

but if -- >> all of them? >> the majority. the ones i agree with. how about that? >> ok, ok. soledad: do you guys have fights in the family? >> oh, golly. soledad: how many? does it get ugly? >> yeah. kind of -- yeah. i guess you could say that. our mom never allowed us to argue. so we would have heated, spirited debates and if we disagreed, we had to get something called the ensingepeedia. i know young people don't really know what that is. soledad: there used to be a thing. >> exactly. and the dictionary. we would have a day to figure out our points and then decide what we were going to talk about and then she would present her case, i would present my case. and then we would rebuttal each other. and we had to come to a solution. mom never, ever let us leave without coming to a solution. even if we agreed to disagree. so i think that that probably helps us in our political life right now. because there are many things we don't agree on.

soledad: monica and jessica anne, nice to have you both with me. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. announcer: coming up next, why the government is telling more people to get moving. and did one of our founding fathers really want a turkey to be the national symbol of america? >> he found the bald eagle to be a bird of badit )s not over yet.

we )re preparing you for )cyber monday ) deals! plus- did your thanksgiving week include air travel trouble? the way you can get your airline )s attention with one quick note to washington! today in the bay. soledad: now to a weekly feature we like to call, we're paying attention, even if you're too busy. americans need to get moving. that's according to the department of health and human services. they released new physical activity guidelines which call for 2 1/2 hours of moderate arobic exercise each week for adults. they say adults should be spending two days a week doing strength training exercises. according to their studies, only about 1/4 of adult men hit that target right now. even fewer adult women. the department says that inactivity is costing more than $115 billion a year in health

care spending. adding more exercise could help adults manage chronic health conditions like type 2 diabetes, dementia and depression. and it doesn't take much to make a difference, even a single workout can provide immediate health benefits. >> when we return -- is that an eagle or a turkey on the great seal of the united states? soledad: we want to dispel one of the most famous american myths that resurfaces every year

soledad: finally. as you're finishing off the last of those thanksgiving leftovers this weekend, we want to dispel one of the most famous american myths that resurfaces every year. that founding father benjamin franklin wanted the symbol of america to be a turkey instead of a bald eagle. historians say that's fake news. so, where did this tall tale come from? according to the franklin institute in philadelphia, it stems in part from a letter that franklin wrote to his daughter, where he criticized the design

of america's great seal. first adopted in 1782, the seal included the now iconic image of an eagle carrying a scroll in its beak with our national motto , that of many, one. the eagle is holding in its claws 13 arrows representing the original colonies and an olive branch. franklin wrote that in the first drawing the eagle looked like a turkey and he went on to write that he found the bald eagle to be a bird of bad moral character and that the turkey, even though it's silly, was a bird of courage. franklin was on first design committee which also included thomas jefferson and john adams. in the end, the secretary of the continental congress, charles thompson, used ideas from three different committees to come up with the great seal. that's it for this edition of "matter of fact." we will see you back here next week from washington, d.c. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

♪ robert handa: hello and welcome to a special edition of "asian pacific america." i'm robert handa, your host for our show here on nbc bay area and cozi tv. today, we help join the fight against hunger. today's show focuses on the annual food drive as nbc bay area kntv and telemundo 48 ksts team up with safeway's "feed the need" food drive for a campaign to end hunger, a drive which started yesterday, november 17th, and will continue all the way through christmas day. last year, the food drive collected more than 350,000 bags at safeway stores across the bay area, amounting to more than 4 million pounds of food for those in need. starting now and through december 25th, anyone can go visit one of the 170 participating safeway stores