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

RWJ Barnabas Health.

Let's be healthy together.

And Orsted -- committed to delivering clean, reliable American-made energy.

♪ Briana: Tonight on "NJ Spotlight news," flu cases surge, New Jersey is experiencing a very high rate of the flu cases, nearly doubling this season.

Plus, progress in pet -- in Paterson -- a new statistics showing complaints against its police force are down significantly.

Also, a litany of executive orders by the president.

How are New Jersey Republicans reacting?

>> I didn't think the President is acting as a President should and taking action on the issues he promised the people.

Briana: And, I.C.E.

fears.

Social media posts about fake immigration crackdowns are scaring off customers for one local restaurant on her.

>> I was in shock because I knew the truth.

But reading to the comments I was, like, Wow people are believing him.

Briana: NJ Spotlight News begins right now.

♪ ANNOUNCER: From NJPBS studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News" With Brianna Vanozzi.

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

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

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

First, there's a surge in flu cases across New Jersey.

Doctors and hospitals say they are being inundated with patients reporting the same miserable symptoms.

New Jersey is one of just six states, including New York City, currently experiencing very high flu activity, according to the CDC, that's the highest level that can be designated.

Flu season typically peaks between December and February, but state health department data shows we experienced a second surge of flu cases this year.

One that we didn't see last year.

Flu cases nearly doubled, from roughly 7000 in mid-January, to more than 13,000 at the beginning of the month.

And it's not just here.

The CDC says flu levels are elevated around the country with more hospitalizations, and deaths.

The outbreak is wreaking havoc on schools.

There were 60 schools flu outbreaks this January.

Compare that to six last year.

So if your kid is homesick, you are not alone.

Also, doctors say it is not too late to get a flu shot.

Also, tonight, nearly two years after the state Attorney Generals Office took control of the Paterson Police Department there he appears to be a shift in the culture there.

The number of complaints filed by the public against police officers decreased by 43% last year, down from 117 in 2023 to 67 now.

That is according to the Paterson Police Department's internal affairs summary and first reported by North Jersey.com.

The reports show that 2024 was only the second time in 15 years that fewer than 100 complaints were filed against police there.

It also revealed a significant uptick in the number of internal affairs cases where allegations of wrongdoing resulted in suspension or other discipline against officers.

The head of the Paterson police officers union, though disagrees about what is causing this shift and pointed to past leadership regimes and their "aggressive discipline programs and could not look good on paper but ended up being reversed after officers part of finding them.

And state Attorney General Matt Platkin hasn't been shy about taking on the Trump Administration -- today he traveled to Boston for hearing in the lawsuit he's leading challenging president Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship, along with Attorney General from 18 other states.

It is one of just a handful of lawsuits trying to stop the executive action, which would end at a medic citizenship to children born on U.S. soil, whose parents are in the U.S. illegally, or here temporarily.

The hearing comes after two federal judges already blocked the order in two separate, but similar lawsuits.

First by a judge in Maryland, who issued a nationwide pause.

Then last night, a Seattle federal judge also put the order on hold.

The lessons argue the president as crow moon is unconstitutional , and flies in the face of the 14th amendment for political reasons.

As the White House tries to tamp down on unlawful immigration, it has maintained that children of noncitizen should have access to the protections of the constitution.

Attorney General Platkin today criticized President Trump for using his powers like a king.

>> Because when we talk about the rule of law, it can sound like an abstract concept, but it means the president, as powerful as he may be, is not a can.

And he cannot rewrite the Constitution overnight with a stroke of a pen.

He has to be subject to the guardrails put in place in our constitution and in our laws.

And those laws bind democratic Presidents, Republican Presidents, and everyone in between.

That is what the rule of law means.

BRIANA: with President Trump in the White House and GOP control of Congress, Republican leaders in New Jersey feel stronger than ever that can turn this blue state red.

From planned visits by prominent national figures to big campaign war chests that will help fund the party's candidates Republicans see real inroads , here for the first time in a long time, especially with the governor seat up for grabs.

New Jersey Republican State Committee chairman Bob Hugin joins me to talk about that and the local effects of President Trump's executive orders.

Bob, go to talk to you.

First and GOP primary debates, pretty fiery.

A lot of shouting, bickering.

Where did you make of it?

Did anyone stand out to you?

Guest: I think the Republicans, as far as I am concerned, snickered a little bit too much.

But the substance was good -- I would secure the border, improve the economy, make it safe for people, get rid of people who are criminals in our country and let's secure the border.

So, all and all, a good week for Republicans.

Briana: Do you think voters were able to parse through the shouting to get those messages?

Guest: Yeah, I think it's always hard.

The unfortunate part of these situations, we are so far before November, that who was these things than people who have already made up their mice, hard-core Democrats or Republicans?

So I worry about turnout.

We had 64%, the lowest turnout in our presidential history in in New Jersey.

Which was still very good compared to 41% for gubernatorial races, and 27% turnout in 2023 for all the state Senate and assembly races.

So, the big issue I worry for democracy is, we need people to go out and vote, and vote in primaries and in general elections.

I don't think either of the debate helped us in that regard.

Briana: Is the party shifting its Ground Game?

You're talking about voter apathy, what seems to be voter apathy this last go-around, however you want to characterize it.

Are you all shifting your Ground Game?

Guest: No, no, no, I think the Ground Game for both parties has been a fundamental part of the arsenal for the last 20 years.

Elections really are about turnout and who comes out of it.

It is a combination of policy, the quality of the candidate, but also the issues, right, what are the issues that get people out to vote?

I think that gubernatorial elections, people do, not to lose more than they do in nine gubernatorial elections, because they know the governor can change their life.

The governor can affect the education system of their kids.

The governor can affect their taxes.

The governor can affect their safety.

We do believe the gubernatorial race matters, but we have to make sure we have the best candidates on both parties for the state to get the state governed well, and we have to have people discuss the issues that people care about and get out to vote for.

Briana: Will shift gears to the federal government.

Obviously, a slew of have come out, 49 as of this morning, since Inauguration Day.

Immigration, you mentioned.

Transgender issues, everything from offshore wind.

Did anything you I'll catch you by surprise?

Seems like some folks in the administration even were caught by surprise by one or two.

Guest: I am interested which ones you think were by surprise.

I do think the President is acting as a President should and taking action on the issues he promised the people -- secure the border, deport criminals, get them out of -- BRIANA: the federal spending freeze?

Guest: one thing about President Trump, he is a supreme negotiator.

He will give you some morning to say, if you don't negotiate, I will put tariffs in place.

If you negotiate, I'll take them off.

I think one of the things he is great at, both internationally, foreign policy, and domestically, negotiating, he keeps people an edge.

They don't know what to expect and how he will operate.

He doesn't operate in the way traditionally presidents and and negotiators operate.

I think unfortunately, for the last 30 years, we've had more of conventional politicians and and administrators.

And we have failed all those people -- all those people has failed to really reform the system that we need, so I'm open to a new way of doing things.

Although it may not be exactly as I do them, but I do think we need real reform in our country.

We need somebody in the president who is going to do what he says is going to do.

And so far, he is doing what he said he would do So, at having been surprised by much.

Not always easy to surprise me, but I am sure he will surprise me down the road.

Briana: Bob Hugin is the chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee.

Thanks so much.

Guest: Great to be with you.

Briana: Just one day after the president signed an executive order restricting transgender girls and women from participating in women's sports, the NCAA updated its policy , limiting competition in women's sports to, quote, student athletes assigned female at birth only, adding a student athlete assigned male at birth may not compete for an NCAA women's team.

But it does allow for athletes to participate in men's sports competitions, regardless of their sex assigned at birth.

The executive order threatens to withhold federal funding from any schools that don't comply.

NJ Spotlight News reached out to a handful of New Jersey's colleges and universities that compete at the NCAA level, to see how they are handling the change.

Only records responded, saying they follow NCAA rules and guidelines and they're monitoring the executive orders.

Meanwhile, New Jersey has set itself up as a haven for transgender right through its own series of executive orders.

But advocates say given the amount and extent of federal action looking to roll those back, the state should do more to protect them.

Ted Goldberg reports.

>> The state of affairs for my patients and beyond is absolute panic.

Reporter: Dr. Jonathan Keith said gender-affirming care is literally a life or death issue, and when transgender people couldn't schedule surgery during Covid the consequences were dire.

>> the family picked up and said the patient was in critical care in the ICU after attempting suicide.

Another phone call I got during that time period was from the East Orange Police Department asking my medical records to identify a body they found, which was my patient.

Reporter: Recent executive orders from the Trump Administration attempts to ban gender-affirming care for anyone 18 or younger.

>> I have had my surgery and I've been on hormones.

Having that taken away from me would be stripping me of my autonomy and taking away a lot of the things that have given me affirmation and joy in my life.

Reporter: Sam is a 21-year-old college student trans man who's , and a taken testosterone for about a year now.

Thanks to another executive order that says people can't change their birth sex, he has run into roadblocks while trying to switch over his legal documents and birth certificate.

But he is happy he can get his surgery so that his buddy would match his gender identity.

>> May have been more social and more communicative and more open and more, just loving in my life, because I found the ability to love myself in my presentation.

Reporter: Health care for transport people was one of those issues at the Republican debate for the governor's race?

>> I don't care what you do when you are an adult.

18, I don't care.

But when you are a minor, that is abuse to a child, in my opinion.

>> First of all, there is a huge difference between sexual orientation, sexual preferences, and mental illness.

So, number one, we have to end the Trans-ing of children.

Reporter: fellow candidates and didn't agree with restricting access to care, but they were on the same page regarding banning transgender athletes from college sports.

>> There's not supposed to be an harassment or prejudice or discrimination.

>> We must surely have a heart.

That doesn't mean we should allow biological males to play in sports as women.

>> NCAA, by its own admission, is only servicing 10 transgender athletes.

For us, that makes clear with the point here is, and it appears that the point is the cruelty.

Reporter: On the state level, Governor Phil Murphy had previously signed executive orders on his own, protecting our sister gender-affirming care and the providers who offer it.

>> We have used the bully pulpit.

We have been effective at that.

We will use the legal levers for sure,.

>> What we're seeing now from the Trump Administration is an attack on a vulnerable community for their own political purposes.

Reporter: of course, the next governor could rescind those protections with executive orders of his or her own.

And there is no law in place to protect health care providers if that happens.

Senator Andrew Zwicker has sponsored and cosponsored bills that would protect in providers who offer gender-affirming care or reproductive health care.

>> Obviously the political climate in the last few weeks has continued to get worse and worse and worse.

So the importance of this bill has only heightened.

Reporter: The New Jersey Hospital Association president and CEO says New Jersey hospitals are dedicated to serving the health needs of all communities in the state, including the LGBTQ community.

"We are reviewing the executive order and its impact on the Trans community.

We are evaluating the services we can provide while complying with the order.

The ACLU is suing over the executive orders, so it might take a long court battle to the side with the future is for Trans health care in New Jersey- for NJ Spotlight News, I'm Ted Goldberg.

BRIANA: a business partner in Hudson County says a fake video of an I.C.E.

raid at one of his restaurants is scaring customers away and threatening his livelihood.

The owner of La Papusa Loca says he was shocked to see the viral video on TikTok falsely claiming federal immigration agents apparently rendered of customers at the popular eatery.

It comes as rumors about ice activity in other communities from Wildwood to Princeton are affecting businesses where many Latino residents shop and eat.

Raven Santana has the story.

>> I was in shock, because You know, but I knew the truth, but in reading through the comments, I was like, wow, people are believing him!

Reporter: elio barrera, one of the owners of the restaurant, says he is still in disbelief at the video that made his New York location to go from this to this overnight.

>> to see our max capacity full and then to only see 4 tables, you know, it's very scary.

Reporter: That's because of video posted to TikTok a week and a half ago falsely alleged that I.C.E.

had raided and arrested customers at the restaurant as per location in Union City.

The videos which has since been taken down, reached more than 1.4 million views at one point.

In it, a voice in Spanish continues to describe a scene that he says never happened. "

yesterday at 6:00 p.m., there was chaos at pupusa No.

2 in New Union City.

Everything seemed normal and everyone was enjoying the evening and then all of a sudden I.C.E.

raided the whole restaurant.

Everybody was told not to move."

Reporter: he says in the 36 years that the first papoose a look at location is open, they have never had issues except when a rent hike made the pavusa location in Union City financially impossible to stay open.

That location closed on December 28th, 2024, weeks before the TikTok video was posted.

He also points out that at no point is there any video of ICE agents entering or exiting the business.

Still, since then, more videos like this have surfaced.

>> You know, I need people to be more aware of what is actually happening before they believe like TikTok, Instagram.

Being in involved in a situation like this, I see that it has a very dark side.

Reporter: since the video has gone viral, he has been just lost customers, he said he has also lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

>> Of had to cut my personnel.

That is what I am also here more, too, because it's like my staff have been here for so many years.

They have been here even when my grandparents came here.

So it sucks to see.

Because they have never experienced something like this either.

It is obviously sad and upsetting that, you know, I have to cut their hours and days.

I don't want to do that.

>> it's so easy to share and re-share information that may be dated or may not be accurate.

Reporter: This is the manager of member empowerment at the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant justice.

Martinez, who is aware of the falsity affecting barrera 's business, says with immigrant communities already fearful of I.C.E.

spreading, misinformation , can do even more harm.

Which is why she stresses that community members make sure to check the boxes with the Salute acronym before spreading what could turn out to be false information.

>> Salute stands for size -- how many agents is it?

Letter a four action.

Are they harassing people of the street?

Location.

Say they are in n Newark, wouldn't that street?

Uniform.

What are they wearing?

The exact time and date this is happening.

And then the equipment.

That will outline the information that we need as advocates so we can go into rapid response.

Reporter: barrera says while he was unable to reach the use of a post of the original video, he was able to have TikTok remove it.

He is now planning to hold an information session at his restaurant for community members and other business owners to educate them on their rights and the importance of not spreading misinformation.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Raven Santana.

BRIANA: the economy and affordability were all to talk during the second day of the annual walk to Washington, hosted by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

Gubernatorial candidate laid out there vision for the Garden State's economic future, with an emphasis on support for small businesses.

But candidates did spar when it came to taxes.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis was in Washington for the marquee event, where candidates tried to stand out amid a crowded field.

>> The discussion today is going to be solely focused on the New Jersey economy.

And having the business committee enhanced to make sure the economy grows.

Reporter: "It's the economy, stupid."

That might as well be the campaign slogan of each of these 7 gubernatorial candidates who participated in the forum this morning.

>> We have to invest in small businesses.

We have to be an innovation economy.

We have to give credits and breaks to small businesses for hiring more workers.

Give them an opportunity to expand from city to city.

>> Shall me a state that doesn't have a Department of Commerce and will show you a state of that is perceived as not being pro-business.

Under Governor Jack Ciattarelli, we will reestablish the Department of Commerce.

>> Less red tape.

Lower taxes, more affordability and lower costs for people.

>> The way you reduce costs is to reduce red tape.

We need to streamline and bring that back off of businesses.

>> We need to reduce the state income tax.

We need to have more benefits for small business.

>> We need to get government out of the way.

That's the problem in New Jersey.

You've got not only the highest corporate taxes, we have an enormous spending problem.

>> A business action center.

I'd like to make it more muscular.

A dashboard so there is transparency of where you are in the permitting process.

>> We do have to invest in our workforce.

We have the best schools in the nation, but we have to make sure the training students are receiving much of the jobs needed.

Reporter: If you close your eyes you might not know whether you are listening to a Democrat or Republican, because the messaging were so similar.

Until it came to the corporate business tax and whether that should be reduced or eliminated.

>> We absolutely have to cut the corporate business tax.

>> We got to eliminate on day one, the Corporate transit fee.

Reporter: It was tacked onto the corporate business tax in 2024 to help fund the NJ Transit system.

Democrats on the panel wouldn't disparage it.

>> The climate that we would need to create would be to fund our transit system.

>> If revenue in the state is wrong to a point where we can take care of ourselves, and, yes, we can begin talking about reducing the corporate business tax.

>> No corporations or businesses want to pay for it.

It's important that we have reliable transportation.

>> Taxing people out of the state is no way to raise more money for things like transit.

Reporter: And then there was this moment, when a radio talkshow host laid out his vision for New Jersey.

>> If we will have any new departments in government, there is only one, we need NJ DOGE.

Would need to be on the phone with Elon Musk and say whatever you doing federal-aid at right now, -- Alright all right.

[crowd booing] >> Folks, this is not the forum for bullying.

>> Elon Musk is not going to be on my cabinet.

I can tell you that right now.

[LAUGHTER] Let me tell you why.

I am not going to bring national politics into Jersey.

Jersey is its own environment.

Reporter: Speaking of the environment, Steve Sweeney broke from his party's traditional views on energy production.

>> Maybe I was wrong.

We need gas.

We need pipelines.

We need all the above we need nuclear.

A few years ago once they tried to shut the nuclear industry down.

Can you imagine where we would be?

It was 43% of our energy -- if we weren't able to keep it open?

Energy is another huge cost-driver for manufacturers and businesses in the state.

Reporter: And if the debate made think of candidates couldn't be civil on the stage together, today they stayed on message.

>> You will see tax cuts, you will see family and property taxes down.

>> It's great to see another Republican candidate.

[LAUGHTER] >> Not where DOGE is!

[LAUGHTER] Reporter: A lighthearted moment in what is already shaping up to get it ready to fight for New Jersey governor.

In Washington, D.C., I'm Joanna Gagis, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: That will do it for us this week.

But before we go, on Monday we are partnering with the record Institute for health and the League of Conservation Voters for a conversation with several of the gubernatorial candidates.

We will talk public health and all things environment.

So tune in Monday at 1:00 p.m. for the livestream on the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

I'm Briana Vannozzi, for the entire team, thanks for being the best, have a great weekend.

We'll see you right back here on Monday.

♪ ANNOUNCER: NJM Insurance Group, serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

And by the PSE&G foundation.

>> look at these kids.

What do you see?

I see myself.

I became an ESL teacher to give my students what I wanted when I came to this country.

The opportunity to learn, to dream, to achieve.

A chance to be known, and to be an American.

My name is Julia Torriani Crampton, and I'm proud to be an NJEA member.

♪ >> Public service is what we do.

At the PSEG foundation, you volunteer hours, partnerships, and our other contributions.

We are committed to empowering communities.

We work hand-in-hand with you, our neighbors, to educate young people, support research, environmental sustainability and equitable opportunities, provide training and other services all over New Jersey and Long Island.

Uplifting communities -- that's what drives us.

The PSEG foundation.

♪