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>> Tonight, tragedy on the Hudson.

A tourist helicopter crashes, killing six, raising questions about the need to regulate the air space the river.

>> the tragedy is a loss of life.

>> plus the health-care industry is bracing for another hit as new orders from the Trump administration look to revoke legal protections from thousands of Central and South American workers.

>> We are talking about a self-inflicted labor shortage, and it is going to come quickly.

>> Also, don't count them out.

A new AARP New Jersey report finds folks over 50 make up the majority of voter turnout in both state and local elections.

In word cup fever with just over a year to go before the FIFA tournament.

The Meadows chamber gears up for the economic impact.

"NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

♪ Announcer: From NJPBS Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Good evening, and thanks for joining us this Friday night.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

We begin with a few of today's top headlines.

First, a tragedy on the Hudson after a tourist helicopter crashed into the river late Thursday, killing a family of five visiting from Spain, including three young children and their parents.

Both, take executives for Sieme ns, along with a 46 rolled pilot who was a Navy SEALs veteran.

The chopper lifted off from the Manhattan heliport, taking a common route along the Hudson River.

About 16 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft crunched into the water.

A warning -- this video may be disturbing for some viewers.

The helicopter flipped and spiraled before crashing upside down new the Jersey City shoreline, scattering debris across the river.

The aircraft's main fuselage was pulled from the river Thursday night, the National Transportation Safety Board today began their first full day of investigating the crash.

NYPD divers are actively searching for pieces of the helicopter they say have yet to be recovered, including the main rotor, main transmission, roof, and tail structures.

Investigators are asking the public to send photos, video, or any information related to the crash, but declined to give April luminary because for the aircraft's failure.

Helicopter tours have a controversial and deadly history, with calls to end limit the flights.

People have been killed in sightseeing helicopter accidents.

It is an issue that Rob Menendez has been trying to tackle, sponsoring bills that would force the FAA more closely regulate the industry.

And just a month ago, writing a letter to the Trump administration asking for help.

He joins me now.

Thanks for coming in.

Really appreciate it.

Were you at the site yesterday?

Can you share a little bit about what you saw and learned?

>> obviously, I am in Jersey City.

When we got back from Washington, we saw the immense coordination between NY, FD, Port Authority, Jersey City fire .

A lot of activity and a lot of pedestrians who were around.

Briana: It was right by the peer.

>> It is an immense tragedy, especially once we learned about the family that was on board, the children who were on board.

But also, for us in the district , at the shoreline, we deal with helicopters all the time.

But to see where it landed in the closeness to not just the shoreline, but also to critical infrastructure like the ventilation shaft that is used by the Port Authority for the Holland Tunnel -- so things that were in really close proximity to the helicopter.

The tragedy is the loss of life, that this is definitely something to be concerned about.

Briana: I know you've heard from the community since before taking office about those concerns.

There have been calls prior to this and in the wake of it to all out Vana some of these sightseeing helicopters and tours, and the non-essential traffic it brings.

From what you've learned in your time working with constituents on this, how big of an issue is it?

Is there quite a bit of air traffic for these tours?

Chris we have a heliport where a lot of the tours originate from.

That creates a real challenge for residents in the district, because they take off and go all along the water.

You have Jersey City and West Newark.

There has been a lot of outreach to our office.

We had an FAA workshop.

It took months to get the FAA to commit to it.

We felt it was really important to hear the concerns of the community.

We advocated through legislation.

Last month, we sent a letter with 11 other members after the tragic crash at Reagan National, because we have congested airspace.

I have visited the air traffic control tower at Newark.

You have JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, one of the busiest general aviation airports.

And then you have these helicopters, all over densely populated communities.

For us, those three airports are obviously critical, essential.

The helicopters are largely not.

We kept pushing to get better regulation over these non-essential helicopters.

That is what we have been doing.

But all options have to be on the table, including banning air tours.

Briana: We have assemblywoman Ramirez who introduced legislation to say any state owned Heli pads, it would be bound.

There are similar talks on the New York side about banning it from city-owned helipad's.

Are you in conversations with your Conner Prince about that?

>> everything we have done on this issue has been both New Jersey and New York members.

Rihanna -- Briana: It is hard to differentiate when they take off and go over.

Chris we have seen the ability for government is at the local level, because they have the ability to control the heliport's here and in New York.

You have seen success on the New York side of the river with that.

Moving forward, in terms of dealing with the FAA and try to get greater regulation, that would work on a bistate basis.

We have all been working together because this is an issue we hear from all of our residents.

Briana: Where does that stand?

The FAA controls the airspace at 500 feet.

There are folks who say rather than a band, why can't we have more safety protocols?

He recalled the 2018 crash in the Hudson where they change the rules about harnesses and open doors.

Why not something like that?

>> we will consider all options, especially once the investigation is complete and we understand what happened in this specific instance.

We will be pushing for is tailored an approach as possible, trying to be thoughtful, to get the FAA to engage.

It is clear there needs to be greater oversight, rater regulation of non-essential helicopters, not just here, but places out west, like the Grand Canyon's or Hawaii, where you see a high volume of non-essential helicopters.

We will consider all options.

But just given the tragic instances and how close it happened to our shoreline, there is going to have to be a serious conversation with these operators.

If they cannot meet high-end regulations, you have to wonder if they should continue to operate at all.

Appreciate you having me here.

Briana: New Jersey's top federal prosecutor says she is launching an investigation into Governor Murphy and State Attorney General Matt Platkin over immigration enforcement policies.

The acting U.S. attorney made the comments during an interview on Fox News Thursday evening, claiming the investigation should be a warning for everybody.

Her statement comes after reports circulated about a memo from top brass in the New Jersey State police, reminding officers to follow the Attorney General's 2018 immigrant trust directive, which limits the types of assistance local and state law enforcement can provide to federal immigration agents.

There was a suggestion that orders from the Trump administration supersedes state authority.

She was appointed by President Trump month after serving as his personal attorney for several civil lawsuits he faced.

At an unrelated event, Attorney General Plotkin said his office continues to do their job, including working with federal law enforcement, noting the woman has said publicly she wants to politicize her office.

Don't underestimate the power of the over 50 voting block.

They remain the most reliable and influential in state and local elections.

Their turnout rates in nonpresidential elections far exceed those of younger age groups by significant margins, regard list of party affiliation.

According to AARP, in every county review, voters 50 and over represent the majority of turnout, with some counties seeing rates at 70% or higher in off year elections.

The report also finds registered women in that age group far outnumber male counterparts in either major party, highlighting the role of women and older voters in general in the electoral process.

The ARP state director, Chris Modelo, says that legislative and gubernatorial candidates should listen up and pay attention to the issues that matter most to these voters, like property tax relief, retirement savings, and long-term care reforms.

>> it shows that if you want to be elected governor here in New Jersey, you are going to have to understand and really address the concerns of the older voters.

In the garden state.

Because two thirds of the voting block will be 50 and older in this coming election.

Briana: A federal judge on Thursday said she will halt the Trump administration from cutting a humanitarian program to allow about half a million migrants to temporary leave in the U.S., which would set up thousands of people from Cuba, and his whaler, Haiti, and Nicaragua for deportation in about a month.

Those who work in the health care industry say it will take a big hit on the workforce, especially at nursing homes where refugee assistance programs have placed many of the migrants to fill roles that have been chronically understaffed.

Senior correspondent Brian Flanagan takes a look.

>> Where are -- what are we going to do?

>> They fear being deported.

These women too terrified to show their faces were both granted special protection by the U.S. after disaster and gang violence devastated their island nation.

Haiti has since spiraled into a humanitarian crisis.

Haitians who escaped to Jersey or -- took on health care and warehouse jobs, but the Trump administration has revoked the legal status of more than a half million migrants, including humans, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans, urging them to self deport.

>> how do I feel?

I am feeling hopeless.

I can't eat.

I can't sleep.

I am thinking about what can happen, what is going to happen to me.

Because I cannot go back to my country that easily.

It is not livable right now.

>> she received a letter from the Trump administration morning , as a determination of your parole, you may be subject to expedited removal.

In her employment authorization will be revoked unless she submits evidence proving she can stay.

Tempora protected status expires in August with predictable repercussions in the job market.

>> 17,000 K Sheehan came to New Jersey, and the vast majority are working age people who came through these programs.

You start deporting folks, you are talking about a self-inflicted labor shortage, and it is going to come quickly.

It's the Reverend heads a nonprofit that has helped 2000 clients find homes and jobs in New Jersey.

The 750 K Sheehan work mostly in health care.

In fact, almost 8% of health-care workers in the Northeast U.S. are noncitizens, according to a recent study in the journey of the American -- the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The partitions could compromise long-term care, where immigrants play a long -- play a large role.

>> there is 3.4 million immigrants working in American health care, and punishing them means punishing the American people who need to get access to care.

>> since COVID, Jersey's long-term care struggled to maintain staffing levels required by law, despite recent wage increases.

The state evacuated residents early in the pandemic.

Managers fear deportations will have a huge negative impact on the nursing homes workforce.

Many already have shortages.

Critics the folks who manage home care agencies have no idea how they are going to provide that hands-on care without access to Haitian workers.

You know, we often think of a nursing assistant as an unskilled job, what it is actually a very highly skilled job.

>> I help with everything, like cleaning, taking care of them, feeding them.

I find a lot of patients because I also have a grandmother.

So I can say that I love taking care of these people who cannot do it anymore for themselves.

>> but the Trump administration remains intent on achieving high deportation quotas, rarely pausing to focus on individual cases.

We need to get better at treating this like a business, like Amazon prime, but with human beings, said the Arizona -- said the ice director, according to the Arizona mirror.

I ask what it will look like in a few months when we have nursing homes closing down and people are trying to figure out where they can land their relatives who need 24/7 care.

>> a spokesman for the lobby said he does not know whether the deportations would have a major impact or a minor impact without more data.

These workers meanwhile ask the president's help to stabilize Haiti, so they can go home and rebuild.

>> we want to live in our country.

We don't want to stay everywhere .

Men are chasing us.

They don't want us.

>> the deportation issue, like many of Trump's orders, is making its way through the courts.

I'm Brenda Flanagan.

Briana: The biggest event in the world is headed to New Jersey in just over a year.

Reparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup are well underway.

The Meadowlands chamber held their annual tourism conference and expect the global soccer tournament will major cash into the state.

Ted Goldberg reports.

It's the finals was viewed by the same number of people as the last 13 Super Bowl's combined.

So World Cup comes to them Meadowlands, and with it, economic impact for New Jersey.

>> it is a major driver for live tourism.

>> we all have to be ready.

There are going to be 6 million people coming to the city, one thing be celebrated and entertained.

How do they make sure they feel that?

Not that we are competing.

But New Jersey should get it right.

>> The Meadowlands regional chamber hosted its tourism conference, centered on what they are calling the biggest World Cup in history.

>> this is one of the biggest events that has not just ever hit the region, but in the world.

>> this is on a norm is opportunity to showcase the greater Meadowlands.

It is a great place to work.

Great place to do business.

A great place to live.

We have an opportunity to show them what a great place it is.

>> Jim Kerr Coast leads the Meadowlands regional chamber and says there is pony of work to be done over the next year and change.

>> our goal is to make sure every hotel room is filled, and that restaurants, attractions, Main Street businesses, all the communities get to embrace this big game.

Critics do you think our fans are crazy?

Wait until you see some of the European fans.

>> these are memories that we are able to say, we did it.

>> New York New Jersey Stadium, as it will be known, has not always been easy to visit or leave.

Super Bowl visitors may have bad memories of trying to get around into any 14, but they are confident that leaders learned their lessons.

>> New Jersey transit is working to make sure we can get people from place to place, the Secaucus transfer, the sport complex.

>> they have great confidence in Chris and his team.

They are working on it.

They are planning it.

I think they understand this is a time we need to shine.

Critics the NJ transit president says the agency is making progress on building a temporary bus terminal and transit way.

>> we are already ready to award the contract for all of the improvements on what we call the transit way between Secaucus and the Meadowlands.

That contract is underway.

The work will start on it.

Even though there is not going to be a permanent bus terminal, we will have a deployable bus terminal that will be in place by the time the games start.

>> Even though no games are hosted on The Other Side of the Hudson, the Host Committee says these games could go a long way to building up New Jersey's brand.

>> this World Cup is on opportunity for New Jersey to be able to say when we are hosting an event, we can do it ourselves.

It is not necessarily a regional event.

>> this is the first time the World Cup has had this number of matches.

A historic event that New Jersey hopes to be ready for.

NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: Market volatility triggered by Trump Terrace have a lot of people keeping a close eye on the retirement accounts, that there is a large chunk of workers who do not have access to that type of savings.

A bill moving through Trenton would change that by making the state administered retire ready NJ program eligible to private sector workers at businesses with less than 25 employees.

Our budget and finance writer has more as part of our new reporting series under the dome, exploring the state government and its impact on the people who live here.

Thanks for coming in.

Let me start with retire ready NJ.

This is a new initiative.

It is not state-funded, but the state administers it.

What are lawmakers looking to do?

>> they are looking to grow the pool of people who are eligible.

This is for private-sector workers if your employer does not already provide you with some sort of retirement savings option.

And so the law that established this past several years ago.

It set up that this would be available to the employees of companies with 25 or more workers.

The bill that is being considered now in the legislature would lower that threshold, basically take it away, by making companies with 25 or less, but it is really one or more, now have to offer this option to their workers.

That threshold was originally sent because business lobbyists argued that it would be an undue burden on small businesses.

Many of them operate with very few employees and they do not have advanced HR systems or payroll processes that they could just do this.

But now the argument, as we continue to see generally low rates of retirement savings across the board -- that this should be extended to the employees who work for these much smaller companies in New Jersey.

Briana: What is the argument?

If folks have access to an employer plan, they would be more likely to save?

John: That is absolutely at.

There are studies that show that when you can make a payroll deduction and save the money before you even get it in your paycheck, into your wallet, there are studies that show the rates of savings are higher.

Of course, New Jersey is known as one of the highest cost states in the nation.

A lot of these individuals are getting to retirement age, and if they are relying just on Social Security, they may not stretch as far in a state like New Jersey.

The idea of programs like this is, we want to keep people in New Jersey.

Let's say they have deep roots here.

Their grandchildren are here.

If they reach the retirement age and don't have adequate savings, they have to consider possibly leaving the state.

This would be one way for people to save money so they could have adequate resources in their retirement years, in addition to what they might get from Social Security.

Briana: When we are talking about businesses with 25 or fewer employees -- say I have got three people.

What are they saying about whether or not they would be able to handle this type of -- it is a burden.

>> we heard testimony in committee and Trenton to that effect, that for a lot of these really small companies -- this would be a requirement for companies with one or more employees.

They are the ones doing the payroll.

Maybe the owner.

They are not farming it out to some big HR company.

It is another hour in the day that would be taken up in what is a really labor-intensive -- anyone who owns a small business knows they put a lot of time and hours into it.

That is the issue we have to watch as this bill goes forward.

Briana: Does it look like there is support for it?

What is the talk about how many folks in New Jersey are lacking retirement accounts and access to it?

Does it seem like there is really support for it, given that?

John: There is a lot of advocacy.

If you look at a study from a few years ago by the Federal Reserve, it indicated nearly 50% of all families in the U.S. lack retirement savings, lack access to an account.

That is a big portion of the population that is going into their retirement years lacking Social Security, which we have to be a little concerned about as things play out in Washington, D.C. New Jersey is such a high cost state that Social Security might not really make it to the finish line for you to cover your bills on a monthly basis.

Cracks and inflation adds to the high cost of living.

Perhaps that is why there is a spotlight on this.

You can find all of John's reporting, including this and the rest of our under the dome project, on our website.

John, thanks for coming in.

Good to see you.

>> Under the dome is made possible in part by the Corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation founded by the American people.

Briana: That's going to do it for us this week, but make sure you tune into reporter's roundtable this weekend with David Cruz.

He talks with a congresswoman about her recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Plus, all the weak's political headlines.

That is Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m., and David continues his gubernatorial challenger series with one-on-one conversations with the Democratic candidate and Newark Mayor, and the Republican candidate.

Watch it Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 10:00 a.m., right here on NJPBS.

For the entire team, thanks for being with us.

Have a great weekend.

We will see you right back here.

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