>> Major funding for NJ Spotlight News is fine by NJM Insurance group, New Jersey realtors, the voice of real estate in New Jersey.

More information is online at NJrealtor.com, and by the PSEG foundation.

Briana: Tonight, keeping hope alive.

Hamas releases a propaganda video depicting pleading for release.

The first signs of life in more than a year since taken hostage.

Thus, former U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez is looking to get his corruption conviction tossed.

>> Certainly, time is of the essence.

Briana: Also, the impact of the Trump tariffs on businesses and consumers here in the state.

>> The end result of a tariff is very predictable.

It's going to raise inflation rates and in the United States, consumers are definitely going to end up paying a lot more.

Briana: And winemakers in New Jersey may be the only ones benefiting from the severe drought still plaguing the state's southern region.

>> I guess this is the flipside.

Your lawn might be browned out but you will have some amazing line at your dinner table.

Briana: "NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

>> From NJPBS Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Good evening and thanks for joining us on this Monday night.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

A disturbing propaganda video released by, -- by Hamas shows a kidnapped American alive and pleading for his release.

The heavily edited 3.5 minute long video features the Tenafly native sitting in the dark, speaking in Hebrew and English under distress.

His family says is the first positive sign of life they've received of the now twenty-year old since he was taken hostage in the October 7, 20 23 attack on Israel.

That's why he was serving as an Israeli soldier stationed your Gaza.

In the video, edan urges Benjamin Netanyahu and President elect Donald Trump not to forget about the hostages, saying they are dying of thousand times every day that passes.

In a statement, Netanyahu call the video cruel, psychological warfare, and vowed to bring the hostages home, several of whom, including Edan, are American.

The family is calling on the incoming Trump Administration to begin working on a deal now, before taking office.

Also tonight, justice is served in a decades-old cold case murder.

Law enforcement in Somerset County announced a arrested a 60-year-old Canadian man and charging with the 1997 regulations death of a woman who was just 23 when her body was found dumped off a dirt road near Park in Bridgewater.

Authorities said new technology help them reanalyze DNA gathered from the crime scene at the time, enabling him to make a direct match with Robert Allen crater, a day laborer who has lived in Canada since 2002 but was adopted by American families a child and lived in Middlesex and Somerset County areas at the time of the death.

Colonel Pat Callahan commanded the Somerset County prosecutor's office for staying on the case and never giving up in their pursuit of justice.

>> The women and men in every aspect that you see up here and far beyond the walls of this prosecutor's office that treated her like they were her own sister.

They treated her like they would want a family members killers to be treated and went out and did every single thing that they could do, and that's why we are able to stand here today, 27 years later, to make this announcement.

This is what collaboration looks like in seeking justice for the most vulnerable amongst us.

Briana: And saying goodbye to Newark Trail Blazer.

Mildred Crump, a longtime city Council member and Newark's first Black woman elected as Council President died on Sunday.

She spent her life in public service, becoming Detroit's first black rail teacher before moving to Nur up -- to Newark and earning a Masters degree from Rutgers.

Roughly 30 years later she was elected to Newark city Council and held a seat on and off until 2021 when she resigned for health reasons.

In statements this weekend, the Newark Mayor said Crump's name will rise first as one who defied every barrier to chart her own course and blazed the trail for the rest of us.

The governor called her a model public servant who advocated for the most vulnerable intercommunity.

Mildred Crump was 86 or so.

Former U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez is asking a federal judge to throw out his corruption conviction ingrain him a new trial after it was discovered that jurors were accidentally shown improper evidence while deliberating on his charges.

The request comes two weeks after prosecutors alerted the judge and defense attorneys that they mistakenly gave jurors several pieces of evidence that were not redacted as ordered by the judge.

But argued it didn't warrant a new trial because jurors likely never saw them among the thousands of other documents submitted for evidence.

Defense attorneys for Menendez and his two codefendants disagree.

For more on what could happen next, I'm joined by an attorney and former federal prosecutor.

Good to see you.

Let me ask you, given your background, how does something like this, first of all, happen?

These were documents that were uploaded to a laptop that the jurors used so that they could review evidence.

How does a thing like this happen?

>> Good to see you, thanks for having me.

This kind of thing does happen, certainly, occasionally, given the high volume of evidence that is presented in a White collar case like this.

Certainly prosecutors have to be conspicuous about how they address the evidence because they want to avoid situations just like this.

But certainly in this instance, you have different competing views of what happened, how it happened and the impact of this mistake here.

Briana: Is it a serious breach?

You've obviously been through enough trials, is this something where you could see it warranting renting an entire new trial?

Not just for Menendez, but also the two codefendants.

>> I think this one is significant for a couple of reasons.

Probably the most prominent of which is, does raise constitutional implications under the sixth amendment and under the speech and debate clause in article one of the Constitution.

It sets us up for a much more notable review than the average mistake or evaluation of the trial court of the impact on the outcome.

But as you probably seen, the prosecution has said in effect this is a harmless error, it is inadvertent, it shouldn't have an impact on the outcome, largely because of the high volume of evidence and the overwhelming evidence of guilt as to each of the defendants.

The defense of course is rightly saying, no, this has significant constitutional implications and the prosecution cannot rebut the presumption and prejudice that arises here.

Briana: Because jurors are tasked with taking their time in deliberating, with reviewing each piece -- this is the argument we are hearing from the defense, that essentially assumes that they wouldn't have come across one of these documents, which had already been ordered to be redacted.

So does that strengthen their case, the fact that these prosecutors initially sought to have this evidence included in the case?

>> Yes, it was a heavily litigated matter pretrial.

As the defense has rightly stated, the government said these are critical pieces of evidence, when asked the court to reconsider its redaction decision and retrial.

So it's a very good fat for the defense.

As you noted, jurors under the law are presumed to follow the instructions that are given to them.

There is a presumption that they review the evidence carefully.

The fact that there was a lot of evidence and it's unlikely the jurors sought is probably the not -- probably not the best argument for the prosecution on this.

Briana: The speech and debate clause, essentially this evidence was the one item that tied the Former Senator to the millions of dollars in military aid to Egypt which was the crux of his charge of acting as a foreign agent.

Let me ask you, sentencing is scheduled for the end of January, so how quickly would we need to see the judge make a decision here?

>> Well, certainly time is of the essence.

The court is probably inclined to sort this out in a hearing presentencing.

It's probably unlikely that any jurors would be called to share what the impact was on them because of the Second Circuit's law that is highly disfavored.

I'm not saying it wouldn't happen under any circumstance, but it's pretty unlikely.

But I think the court is obliged to sort out what is the overall impact and there is a lot to sort through here, given the amount of evidence, the number of witnesses and documents juxtaposed with the constitutional issues that are certainly very significant here.

Briana: Brian Whistler, thanks for help in a sort this out.

I'm sure we will be talking soon.

Businesses across New Jersey and the country are preparing for the potential impact of President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on all goods coming into the country.

Aimed at America's top three trade partners, that's Mexico, Canada, and China.

Citing border security and the influx of drugs like fennel as the reason for the penalties.

While some political and economic experts say that taxes are more of a threat to negotiate with those countries that a reality, local business owners tell Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan they aren't taking any chances.

>> I feel scared.

I feel anxious.

Brenda: Marcia says tariffs will impact your company, case medical in Bloomfield.

It buys sheet-metal mainly to manufacture steel and aluminum boxes for sterile medical instruments.

Case medical is already prepping for the President-elect's recent threat to raise tariffs on the U.S.'s three biggest trading partners, 25% each on Canada and Mexico and another 10% on China, which makes the massive machines and use here at case medical.

>> We are looking at whatever we can do to get spare parts so over the next few years we will have everything we need in order to exist.

>> You are stockpiling, basically.

>> We are absolutely stockpiling.

The equipment we can stockpile, when it comes to all materials, that's where it all comes into play.

>> Sheet league she has bought enough to last through next year, but she's worried about 2026.

She's concerned about two contracts with Canada and she's trying to shield her workers from layoffs as troubles and costs arise.

>> Everybody's going to get hurt.

Our customers will have delays and then just the pain trickles down from the industry to the people that are working.

>> She remembers running out of raw material during the first Trump Administration's trade war with China.

It cost case medical 15%-20 5% off their bottom line.

>> We don't know what the future will bring.

We just know what happened previously.

Brenda: She said part of the problem is trumps unpredictability.

On Saturday the President-elect threatened nine developing nations to keep the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency they will face 100% tariffs and should expect to say goodbye to selling to the wonderful U.S. economy.

They can go find another sucker.

>> The whole thing is a little messy right now we don't have a clear-cut picture.

Part of it is meant to be a negotiating ploy as well.

>> A Rutgers professor says Trump is using tariffs as a lever to control issues beyond trade like immigration and drug smuggling.

But The end result -- >> It will raise inflation rates in the United States so consumers will end up paying a lot more.

The firms are fully expecting to pass on the price increases to the consumer.

There is no doubt in their mind about that.

>> It could raise taxes by 17 -- $1500 a year for consumers.

Some businesses actually have urged folks to buy now before tariffs drive up costs.

Many of those goods arrived at New Jersey's bustling ports, cars especially.

>> I understand why tariffs are popular in some circles, but also think re-trade is important for the New Jersey economy and I worry about anything that might make the cost of free trade works offensive.

>> A nuanced terror policy could bring some benefits if it gets nations -- Tara policy could bring an offense if it gets nations to the bargaining table.

>> We are going to do our very best to keep going forward, but the uncertainty for us and for the people we employ is there nonetheless.

Brenda: In the in, it will come down to affordability, especially inexpensive state like New Jersey.

I'm Brenda Flanagan, "NJ Spotlight News".

Briana: Now that the presidential election is roughly a month behind us, we are getting a clearer picture of turnout for this cycle and what it means for New Jersey, which saw the second largest turnout of voters in state history but still had about 250 thousand fewer ballots cast than in 2020.

The numbers offer some hints as to why the presidential race was so close your, a state long considered to be a Democratic stronghold, and offers insight for the upcoming gubernatorial election.

For a closer look I'm joined by Colleen O'Day.

Good to talk to you.

Let me ask you first, what did your analysis specifically of the turnout show you about this election cycle?

Colleen: It was about 7% fewer people who voted this time around then in 2020, the last presidential election.

That was actually to be expected, because in 2020, remember, we were right in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

So some of that drop-off if not much of it was expected, is likely to have been because this time people had to go out and vote.

There also seem to be definitely less of an interest in Kamala Harris.

She did not get as many votes as Joe Biden did four years ago.

His margin of victory was about 400,000 in 2020.

Hers over Donald Trump this time around was about 250,000.

Briana: So less enthusiasm for the top of the ticket, but did that then in turn hurt Democrats statewide?

Colleen: It certainly did not.

It's really what we've seen around the country.

There was absolutely no change in what we expected for example at the congressional level.

Every incumbent won reelection.

Democrats didn't lose anywhere.

We did see that the newcomer in the ninth District had a smaller margin of victory than expected but she still wound up winning.

Briana: So now, especially thinking about the GOP, how are they viewing this data heading into what is going to be a very competitive gubernatorial race in 2025?

Certainly a competitive primary as well.

Are they seeing this as a chance for them to maybe?

?

Flip the governor's mansion Colleen: Absolutely calm some people are saying New Jersey is on the verge of becoming a swing state.

We certainly don't look like a swing state, but given that the Republicans did fairly well, I think they're looking at trying to make a real play for the governorship year.

What seems to be hampering them is that historically speaking, other than in 2021, the party that wins the White House does not win the governorship in New Jersey.

We are one of the few states it has a governor's race the year after presidential election.

That would certainly seem to favor the Democrats.

Donald Trump did not get a whole lot more votes in 2024 then he did in 2020, fewer than what -- fewer than 100,000 Briana: Briana: Votes.

Some have called it a bellwether.

Three years ago when Governor Murphy was running for reelection, again, a very tight race where he won by just three points.

Is this just yet another warning for the Democratic Party that maybe they should?

?

Start paying attention to Colleen: That certainly is another good point.

Governor Murphy actually did exceed expectations among some because we had not had a Democrat who had won a second term in decades since Brendan Byrne had done it back in the 1970's.

In some ways there not terrible news for Democrats, but the idea that you could not get your base out and supporting Kamala Harris in a year when Democrats were saying that abortion was on the ballot and democracy was on the ballot does not bode well for the Democrats and it certainly means I think that they need to take a look and figure out what the strategy is going to be in 2025 forgetting their voters out.

Briana: Thanks, Colleen.

In our spotlight on business report tonight, it's going to cost more to fill up your gas tank starting New Year's Day.

The state Treasury Department today revealed a gas tax will go up an extra 2.6 cents on January 1.

The money goes toward supporting the state's transportation trust fund program, paying for ongoing Road, Bridge, and rail projects.

At 44.9 cents a gallon, that keeps New Jersey among the top 10 states with highest gas tax in the country.

The change stems from an annual review of the tax required by new state law to help the government determine whether the TT F will stay in balance.

If the Treasury Department sees a shortfall, allow triggers an automatic rate hike.

In theory, the law allows for the tax to stay the same or even decrease, based on the review.

Still, New Jersey's average cost for a gallon of gas at $2.98 is lower than the national average, according to AAA, which just hit $3.05.

Finally tonight, much anticipated and badly needed rain finally made its way into our area over the holiday week, helping to ease wildfires.

But it hasn't been enough to pull New Jersey out of extreme drought.

That's been a problem for most of the states' farmers, but a boon to winemakers who been using this historically dry season to their advantage, turning out what they hope to be one of their best harvests ever for breaks.

Raven Santana -- four grapes.

Raven Santana takes a look.

>> Your lawn might be browned out this year but you will have some amazing line and your dinner table.

>> Mike is the owner and like most farmers in Jersey he's been shocked by the extreme drought conditions across the state.

But in his case, he seeing a major benefit.

While the drought is usually hard for most farmers, grapes are the exception, he says.

>> When we have a dry harvest season, which we had this year, it brings on super high wind quality, so it was a great year for us.

Basically creating a trunk and we will replace these two canes with two of these newer shoots.

>> He gave me a tour of the farm located about an hour west of New York City, which he says will receive a big boon from the change in climate.

He explains how the dry season affects quality, not quantity.

>> What that does is essentially, if you it a lot of rain and the harvest, it pulls it up the great fine -- grapevine and swells up the berries.

So you get sort of a thin, diluted wine.

The opposite happen issue, we had almost new rain -- no rain, so they are small, packed with aromatics and a lot of sugar.

So everything this year is really concentrated and really flavorful.

>> The Thanksgiving holiday did bring much-needed rainfall but not enough.

New Jersey is still in drought with most of the southern part of the state in extreme drought in the north facing severe drought.

>> So the crop looked really good going into what we call our harvest season.

Then from August 15 through the end of October, we got a total of two inches of rain on our farm.

It's a fragment of what we normally get.

Normally it would be 10-12 inches.

>> He notes another benefit of the drought, as long as it is not too severe, it also can help grapes to mature faster.

He says customers will be able to taste the difference in some of the winds this summer.

>> It is a long time before these wines will actually hit the shelves.

The whites we will start drinking in summer of 2025.

It will be a great way to get that quality in front of consumers early and hopefully start to build a hype about this amazing vintage that is coming for red wines in particular.

>> You will have to have patience as you may need to wait until 2027 before you can taste the benefits of this year's drought, which he says will give Napa Valley a run for its money.

Briana: That will do it for us tonight.

Before you go, a reminder to download the "NJ Spotlight News" podcast so you can listen to us anytime.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

For the entire team at "NJ Spotlight News" thanks for being with us.

We will see you back here tomorrow night.

Announcer: Funding for "NJ Spotlight News" funded by the members of the New Jersey Education Association, making public schools great for every child.

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