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And by the PSEG foundation.

BRIANA: Tonight on NJ Spotlight News, new details emerge in embattled U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez's federal bribery case.

Allegations of a $35,000 diamond engagement ring, pushing a COVID-19 testing lab, and talk of a "007 phone."

his team is now invoking the swift defense.

>> Obviously, Taylor Swift didn't take to support and defend the constitution of the United States and act in the best interest of constituents that elect you.

BRIANA: Plus, the state parole system is under scrutiny after a new report says it's flawed.

>> Is like going for the firing squad.

You don't know what will happen.

You're going into plead for your life.

BRIANA: BRIANA: Also, major changes in store if you test positive for COVID-19.

Quarantine days may be over.

>> I taking away all the precautions at the same time, what we are messaging is that we are willing to risk some people's lives.

BRIANA: And a huge sigh of relief in Atlantic City.

The doors will remain open at its harm reduction and needle exchange center after a three-year battle.

>> it's a landmark ruling because it marks a turn in how New Jersey is addressing the overdose crisis.

BRIANA: 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 Wednesday night, I am Briana Vannozzi.

As embattled senior Senator Bob Menendez inches closer to his May federal corruption trial, prosecutors now say they have a trove of new details to prove he was part of an elaborate bribery scheme.

No court filing this week, prosecutors alleged Menendez did not just get cash, gold bars and luxury car, but also a diamond engagement ring for his future wife, all part of an extensive list of bribes he and Nadine Menendez allegedly took in exchange for his political influence.

According to the document, it didn't end there, the couple allegedly conspired to bilk New Jersey towns during the pandemic in this scheme involving a COVID-19 testing lab that was paying Nadine Menendez.

Who, according to the court filing used a phone the couple , dubbed "007" in an apparent reference to the James Bond character.

There's also more details about the money investigators found during a raid on Menendez home.

Thousands of dollars of cash stuffed in boots and in bags.

Prosecutors say all of this is evidence and proving Menendez was aware of a corrupt quid pro quo.

It comes of the U.S.

Senator's defense team is requesting for his indictment to be dismissed.

Going so far as to invoke none other than Taylor Swift in your argument.

Here to help us make sense of it all is a former assistant U.S. attorney.

Chris, thank you so much for giving us a few minutes of your time.

So these are not new charges, but this is a new filing.

What is the difference there and why are we seeing prosecutors continually do this in the case?

Guest: The most recent filing is in response to the various motions brought by the multiple defendants in the case that basically cover the motion to sever the case that pertains to Senator and Mrs. Menendez, a motion to dismiss the case for failure to state claims and the charges, a motion to suppress evidence that was seized in various locations that was searched by the government, a Frank Scarry motion which is an allegation that the government intentionally withheld material information, and finally, a change of venue motion.

So the flurry of activity that you see is the government's omnibus response to all of that and then the various replies that the defendants have put in in reply to that response.

BRIANA: So by divulging, let's say, the money involved with this alleged diamond engagement ring or cash that was found during the first raid of the home, money in boots and in bags on top of code hangers, these are details the prosecutors are saying are reasons for why these should not be dismissed?

Guest: Yes.

Of course, the defense council and the defendants would love to have these charges thrown out.

I think it's highly unlikely under these circumstances because the indictment is sufficiently detailed and pled.

And that is a decision for a jury to determine.

They want that thrown out because it is quite nefarious allegations made, and the government came back and sprinkled in some additional facts that were not in the indictment just to reinforce the fact that they have probable cause and that there is no grounds to dismiss, no grounds for a hearing and all the other arguments that the defendants are making.

So it's an interesting tactic.

Oftentimes defense council will try to through charges out, but doing so, they are highlighting what the defense will be a trial , in effect giving a leg up to the government in advance before you even get to the point of presenting to a jury.

BRIANA: That was my next question, what does it tell us about what we can expect for the trial in May?

Guest: I guess what I can tell is the big centerpiece in the defendant' arguments, is that the actions taken, there was no sufficient quid pro quo, In other words, there wasn't anything of value received in exchange for taking official action or inaction.

They are basically saying there is no agreement that forms the basis of the corrupt bribery scheme.

And in the case of Senator Menendez, he is coaching the defense under the speech and debate clause of the U.S. Constitution, saying that these are all acts I am immune from taking.

I don't think that is the case if you can prove a corrupt arrangement, which is the purpose of the indictment, then you can lose that immunity.

The other defendants can't bring those arguments.

So that is the centerpiece -- there is no specific quid pro quo.

Even though there were things of value received, it was not because Senator Menendez and his co-conspirators were on the take.

BRIANA: Mm-hmm.

And finally, help us understand why the defense team is invoking Taylor Swift in this latest defense filing -- -- she is everywhere, you can't make it up -- essentially equating that what they did was no different than asking a celebrity to intervene to help in an outcome of a situation.

Guest: Yes, I don't have much to add to that other than obviously Taylor Swift didn't taken both to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and act in the best interest of constituents that elect you.

So I guess that is all I have to say about that.

It is cute.

You often see things like that in filings.

Judges are trained to kind of see past that and really just study the objective criteria that is necessary to determine whether a motion ought to be granted or not.

So the next step will be oral argument.

Then I am sure there will be some extensive coverage in that regard and will what the court does.

BRIANA: Former U.S. attorney Chris Carr machine -- Chris Gramiccioni, thank you.

International efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas fell apart today after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly pulled his negotiating team from the mediation, blaming what he called Hamas's delusional demands in a post on social media site, X.

In a dramatic read, Israeli forces were able to rescue two hostages in Gaza.

In the process, the Gaza Health Ministry says the military operation killed more than 60 Palestinians, including women and children.

The latest offensive by the IDF is escalating frustrations here at home.

According to NJ Advance Media, two activists managed to work their way into an event at the governor's mansion under night, confronting both Governor Murphy and first lady Tammy Murphy face to face, calling on them to disband the New Jersey Israeli Commission.

The governor apparently texting staffers he was, quote, "white-hot mad" over the incident.

It's not the first time political events have been interacted by Pro-Palestinian protest.

Today the Rutgers chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine held a rally in opposition to the recent air strikes in Rafah causing Palestinians today to flee the southern city, where some 1.4 million people have been seeking refuge.

Ted Goldberg is at the rally now with the latest.

Ted.

Reporter: as Israel considers a ground invasion in Rafah, some students at Rutgers are calling for their school to divest from Israel.

>> Run away.

You can't hide.

[chanting] >> You are committing genocide!

[APPLAUSE] >> There is blood on your hands.

Governor Murphy, there is blood on your hands.

Jonathan Holloway.

There is blood on your hands!

[chanting] Reporter: Israeli leaders say Rafah is a stronghold for Hamas, but the Rutgers chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine say this could lead to a genocide.

>> This is a systematic extermination of the Palestinian people through bombing, invasions and man-made famine.

Anybody paying attention?

The ruling is editions of the United States are complicit in this genocide!

>> Shame!

>> Long live the intifada!

There is only one solution!

Intifada revolution!

[chanting] Reporter: Students for justice and Palestine wouldn't speak to us directly for this story, they have had a tumultuous relationship with Rutgers, and were temporarily suspended for the protest earlier this year.

Today's protests featured artwork created by children in Gaza, inspired by the war over the last four months.

Different student groups spoke today, drawing a crowd and criticizing Israel and America's relationship with them.

>> Back them unconditionally as they continue to profit over weapons sales that slaughter children.

>> shame!

>> Send that the American ruling class uses is that as an economic foothold in the Middle East.

>> Palestine will be free!

[chanting] Reporter: Four unions representing faculty at Rutgers have called for a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza, though not all of them have called for divestment.

In response to this story, Rutgers told us that members of the university community who want to see divestment should submit divestment request, which are then considered by the University's committee on investments.

BRIANA: Thank you, Ted.

Lawmakers are being urged to revamp the state's parole parole system, which a new report from the New Jersey office of the Public Defender calls fundamentally flawed and broken.

The office finds inmates have a lack of legal representation at all stages of the Pearl process , and they are being denied parole despite having near-perfect records, or they get the approval revoked not because they have committed any crime, but because they are unable to find stable housing or a job.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports.

>> The parole board has more power than the judge, the jury, the prosecutor, the police officers.

Reporter: He and other members of the "returning citizens the port group" remember how they felt standing before Jersey's oral board with no lawyer, no advocate, not even a copy of the evidence in their file.

>> It's like going in front of the firing squad.

You don't know what is going to happen.

You're going into plea for your life.

>> Personally, I felt like I was going to die in prison.

Reporter: Raymond Jackson served 25 years and had a sterling prison record volunteering with aid groups, hospice and father to care programs.

His parole got denied.

>> It's absolutely a Dice roll.

No if, ands or buts about that.

It's just how they feel that day.

>> They don't have Council.

It really is an adversarial proceeding.

Reporter: Joel Russo is an assistant public defender who wrote the latest revised parole project report on the system.

It shows that despite an exhibition of release, only 53% of cases were granted parole in 2020, 40% in 2019, 43% in 2018.

He calls the process a stacked deck.

For example, the board doesn't share confidential reports with defendants.

>> You are being deprived access to the information that the promo board is using against you , including, for example, psychological reports.

Reporter: The report notes board members don't take age into account, but should because older parolees really reoffend.

Instead, the board weighs intangibles like a defendant" remorse, including complaints that they haven't apologized to victims.

Problem is, they can't.

>>.

>> Is against the rules and negligence for you to write and make an accession of remorse.

Yet they use this as an excuse to deny guys parole.

>> The parole board has too much power.

Reporter: He served for 30 years.

He gave reasons some defendants got denied parole -- no home address, no idea card.

And if the board thinks applicants might commit more crimes if released, it can add extra years called Hits to an inmate process sentence.

>> You are giving people not one hit, not two hit, not three, but sometimes four and five hits.

The legislature needs to address this in equity, this injustice that has been going on too long.

>> It is very defeating to go before the parole board and get a substantial hit and knowing that you are not going to be able to be seen for potential release for years to come.

That is very, very defeating.

Reporter: Russo says the report also shows in equities black inmates comprise 59% of New Jersey population, but only 15% state wide when parolees are accused of violations, the only proceedings where they can get a lawyer, 73% of those sent back behind bars are people of color.

What does it say about the system?

>> That it is broken and needs to be reimagined.

Those are the stories we hear over and over again.

Reporter: New Jersey's public defender says she is well aware of the grassroots push to keep inmates locked up in the name of reducing crime.

She says it shouldn't be a choice of prison or parole.

>> There needs to be some fundamental change to our current parole system.

Things like having to go Council when you are going up for April decision.

Things like really investing in reentry.

Reporter: Her office sent a copy of the report to the board, which told us the state parole board is unable to offer comment, as the revised report is currently under review by the board.

The Public Defender will now get to work drafting legislation designed to enact some of the reforms recommended in the report and hopefully, fix the system.

In New York, Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

BRIANA: A years-long legal battle over a needle exchange program in Atlantic City is over.

.

The oasis harm reduction center will stay open, and its future is now protected, after a settlement with the city.

It declared the city Council's recent ordinance to remove the noodle exchange from the town, null and void.

As a senior correspondent David Cruz reports, it is a major victory for harm reduction advocates statewide.

>> This is what we need, this is what we need more of this is what works.

Everyone in New Jersey is better off because of this decision.

Reporter: Jenna of the New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition, is among the many advocates calling the settlement of the -years-old suit with the city of Atlantic City a game changer for those suffering from drug use disorders, their families, and the people who dedicated themselves to helping them.

>> This is a chronic health condition that deserves long-term health support.

And so, everyone in New Jersey is better off when people struggling with their drug use have safe, evidence-based places to get support.

Reporter: The South Jersey AIDS Alliance had filed suit in 2021, after the city Council tried to shut down oasis, a harm reduction center, HRC, that offers clean needle exchanges, and other services.

But Georgette of the alliance, which runs the center, said the parties worked together on the settlement, which the city approved in late January and a judge OK'd last week.

She said the result will mean more HRC's across the state.

>> 30 sites overall, that's between fixed sites Lego leases, which people come to us -- like oasis which people come to us, mobile sites, and mail delivery.

Reporter: She says oasis sees just over 1000 clients a day.

A clear indication that the need remains high.

There have already been over 250 suspected overdoses in the state this year.

But advocates note that New Jersey is one of the few states showing a reduction in 2023 over the previous year.

Which they attribute to service providers like oasis.

>> New not only provide a harm reduction center that gives out Narcan and syringes, we also have case management for folks who are HIV-positive.

We have nursing services for HIV testing, hepatitis C and STI testing.

Reporter: The city's hand was forced when the legislature passed a law in 2022 that gave the state authority to determine whether and where HRC can open.

Officials in Atlantic City say they have contended all along that their opposition to oasis was more about the need to share the burden of providing services.

Councilman Colleen Shabazz says, expanding the number of sites and spreading them around is welcome.

>> I hope that happens sooner rather than later, because as an elected official, I see the problems that the drug situation brings on our families, on our cities, on our communities.

So we need that sooner rather than later.

Our position is that Atlantic City shouldn't be the only help point, because it is not just an Atlantic City problem.

It's a state problem, in fact, it's a national problem.

Reporter: And New Jersey has taken one step towards becoming part of the solution, even if it took a couple of years to get pointed in the right direction.

I am David Cruz,, NJ Spotlight News.

BRIANA: The days of isolating after testing positive for COVID-19 may soon be over.

According to the Washington Post, the CDC is considering easing its guidelines for how long people should quarantine after receiving a positive test for the virus.

Under the newly proposed recommendations, Americans will no longer have to isolate 5 days before returning to work or school.

Instead, they can return to their routines, depending on symptoms, and they can get back out in the public once they are fever free for at least 24 hours without medication.

It's a huge shift as the pandemic recedes.

For more on what this means, I am joined by Montclair State University epidemiologist, Stephanie severa.

I want to taake about where we are seeing this shift in the rational behind how long we need to isolate, what constitutes needing to isolate.

What has changed?

Guest: I think there are two things that have really changed.

One is that in the last peak of COVID we saw, hospitals essentially were not overwhelmed the blue had seen in previous COVID seasons.

So from a capacity perspective, our hospitals were not at maximum or over maximum capacity to deal with people fewer people were hospitalized and deaths are down.

The other aspect of this is, people simply aren't testing as much.

We know that people are out and about living their lives and they aren't necessarily adhering to the guidelines that currently exist.

BRIANA: but we still have such a low uptake of folks who have gotten boosters, who continue to get boosters.

Early at the point, from a public health standpoint, that we have reached enough immunity that this is a safe way to go?

Guest: I would argue from a public health perspective, this actually is not the best way to provide guidance.

I know people will make the comparison to cold and flu and that we don't enforce isolation for people with the flu for five days.

My counterargument for that is, maybe we should.

We could reduce a lot of death and illness and impact -- negative impact on the economy, if we asked people with these highly contagious respiratory illnesses to isolate, or at the very minimum, mask win if they have to go to school or work.

BRIANA: We know it would severely cut down on the amount of varices being shared among us in the workplace and at schools when people take those precautions.

So does it raise an eyebrow than, that so far, at least in the preliminary information we have that there is no talk about mask-wearing during that time after testing positive, but being asymptomatic?

Guest:>> Absolutely.

One of>> the things that has gotten lost in the conversation is that the isolation period went from 14 days to 10 days to five days.

But the recommendation and the guidance was to continue to wear a mask for an additional five days after you got out of isolation.

So the fact that the conversation about masking when ill has dropped off, is really concerning because we are putting people who are going to be spreading their virus back out into the world with no precaution.

BRIANA: I am also thinking, Stephanie, about places like nursing homes and other medical facilities where you have these medically frail and vulnerable patients what do you think about these recommendations being used there?

does that put these folks at greater risk, went New Jersey anyway is still dealing with some of those repercussions?

Guest: Absolutely.

What we may need to see is a sort of tiered or differential guidance for different locations.

In medical spaces where individuals may be medically frail or at higher risk, we need to have a different set of precautions in place.

BRIANA: The CDC, I don't have to tell you, spaced a lot of scrutiny when they change the guidelines, specifically down to the five days of isolation.

There were folks who accused the agency of looking at the economy and getting people back to work as the real metric there.

Is there room for that argument to be made here?

Based on where we are now?

Guest: There are some arguments to be made about the impact that this has on individuals and families, so thinking about whether to keep a child out of school for five days and isolate and the impact that we have on parents.

Some of this is reflecting the reality of what we have seen.

But there needs to be a balance.

I think taking them away entirely ignores the risk for some individuals.

BRIANA: Stephanie Silvera is an epidemiologist with Montclair State University, thank you so much.

Guest: Thank you.

♪ BRIANA: In our Spotlight on Business Report tonight, there is no love for ride-share drivers on this Valentine's Day, at least that is what Uber and Lyft workers argued during a national strike by thousands of ride mailing and delivery workers.

They are demanding higher pay, changes to their working conditions, and improved safety conditions.

In our area, the stoppage affected passengers looking for rides midday at Newark and Philadelphia international airports.

But there were protests at 10 major airports across the country to do, including in Chicago, Miami, Austin and Pittsburgh, the drivers say they are being mistreated by the app.

Having to work 80 hours a week, in some cases, to get by.

For their part, Uber and Lyft maintained they pay fair wages and are working to improve the driver experience.

Earlier this month, LYFT began guaranteeing drivers will get 70% of their fares each week.

Still, though, if you are looking to order take-out for your Valentine's dinner, you might want to have a backup plan.

Food delivery drivers say they are planning to turn their apps off from 5:00 to 10:00 PM tonight as part of the protest.

On Wall Street, stocks bounced back after taking a hit from yesterday's inflation data.

Here's how the markets closed today.

♪ That's going to do it for us tonight, but don't forget to download the NJ Spotlight News podcast so you can listen anytime.

I am Breana Vannozzi.

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

Happy Valentine's Day!

!

We will see you back here tomorrow.

♪ ANNOUNCER: New Jersey Education Association -- Making public schools great for every child.

And RWJ Barnabas health.

, Let's be healthy together.

♪ ♪