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Briana: Tonight, abortion pill access.

In a resounding unanimous decision today the Supreme Court upholds access to the abortion pill.

>> 60 plus percent of abortions in this country are medication abortions at this point.

Briana: After more than a year in custody Evan Gershkovich is indicted on espionage charges and will face trial in Russia.

>> Unfortunately he is going to trial.

Briana: Also, the never ending question of how to fund New Jersey transit will come down to the politically charged corporate transit fee.

And honoring the best of Jersey.

The New Jersey Hall of Fame opens at the end of the month, but we got a sneak peek of all the icons from Sinatra to Springsteen.

"NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

♪ >> fromNJ PBS Studios this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Good evening and thanks for joining us.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

We begin with the unanimous decision by the Supreme Court to maintain access to the abortion pill, mifepristone, rejecting a lawsuit from doctors who challenge the FDA approval of the medical -- medication, which last year was used in 2/3 of abortions in the U.S., meaning it will remain widely available to the public including by mail.

In writing the opinion, Brett Kavanaugh said while plaintiffs have sincere legal, moral, ideological and policy objections to abortion and the FDA's regulations of it, the federal courts are the wrong forum for addressing the plaintiffs' concerns about FDA's actions.

The case put abortion access back in the spotlight for the first time since the conservative majority voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, considered a major setback for the antiabortion movement.

But is this the end?

A professor of law joins me to help answer that question.

Appreciate your insight on a day like this.

How likely is it that other plaintiffs will have challenges despite this ruling?

Guest: I would say it is 100% likely and largely because we know 60% plus of abortions in this country are medication abortions and if you are part of an organization of folks trying to make it impossible or more difficult to get an abortion in the U.S., then you have to attack medication abortion, and this is the way to do that.

Even though this was a resounding loss, we already had states trying to intervene that have successfully intervened, so we will see what happens with that.

There might be other folks who decide, I will bring yet another case to figure out how to make an occasion abortion inaccessible.

Briana: The court said this group did not have legal standing, that is why we are throwing this out, but did it rule on the safety of the pill, morality, or any issues that were also at the center of this lawsuit?

Kim: Not at all.

Any lawsuit starts with the question of standing.

You have to be someone who has a legally recognizable interest in a particular set of circumstances.

Here we had people who are health-care providers who have nothing to do with abortion, they don't provide them, they don't prescribe mifepristone.

They had a tenuous claim that they might at some point find themselves in a position to provide care for somebody who had had a medication abortion and shows up in an ER and needs help.

The court said, there are already federal laws and state laws that protect people who have conscious objections from having to do them.

There was also an organizational plaintiff, they said, you don't have a deep enough interest in what is happening in this case to show you would be injured if mifepristone stays on the market.

Briana: Yet Justice Kavanaugh said, this can still be presented, these concerns, to the president, Congress, the FDA, there is nothing stopping you from presenting concerns to citizens.

What does that mean moving forward?

Kim: If you think you are cut off from access to the courts, which I do not think will be the case.

We still have states that have intervened in this lawsuit, if you can't get to it that way, go to Congress.

Maybe they can pass a bill or law that makes it harder to access medication abortion.

If Congress will not do something, maybe you go to the president and seek an executive order.

All of this raises huge questions about separation of powers.

Is each branch of the federal government staying in its lane?

The Supreme Court said, if we don't have a real case, then it is not in our lane and we can deal with it, so you can go through the political process or let the FDA do its job.

Briana: What role if any does state law have on access?

The New Jersey Attorney General said we will continue to be a progressive state.

But how does state law impact access?

Kim: We saw Louisiana deciding to make mifepristone, the primary drug used in medication abortion, to make it a controlled substance, as a way to make having access to mifepristone even more difficult.

We might see other states go down outline.

We are already seeing states making it difficult for people to mail pills or travel across state lines to get pills.

State law will be involved.

Briana: Kim, thanks so much.

Kim: Thank you.

Briana: In a significant blow, wall journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will stand trial on espionage charges and pressure.

They finalize his indictment and for the first time publicly accused Gershkovich of working with the CIA.

The New Jersey native was arrested in March 2023 and has been wrongfully detained in Russia for more than a year.

Gershkovich, the U.S. and Wall Street Journal have vehemently denied the charges.

Today the Journal said their churn -- reporter is facing a false and baseless charge and sham trial.

An assistant editor at the Wall Street Journal joins me now from Washington, D.C.

Appreciate your time on a day like this.

The Journal put out a statement that this was expected but no less disappointing.

How did we get here?

Paul: Evan has been in a pretrial detention prison for 18 months.

Unfortunately the movement is that he is proceeding to trial on these baseless charges.

Briana: What has reaction been like from you, colleagues, friends and family?

Paul: It was a moment we hoped to avoid.

It does not stop the process.

A hostage negotiator said this would not stop or stall their efforts.

We have added some urgency to those negotiations so he can come home.

Briana: I was monitoring that hearing with Roger Carson's.

Do you get a sense that a swap of some type is on the table, or how much of a setback is this in terms of negotiations?

Paul: We don't see that much into it.

It is classified, not something journalists are directly engaged in.

It is done by governments.

We have seen over the last seven or eight months, various moments where we thought a swap might be possible.

Did not turn out to be the case.

We know the government is working on it.

We see activity.

It is unclear how much progress.

Briana: The Kremlin did say nothing would happen until a verdict came down.

We have that verdict.

What can you tell us about what a typical process might look like and whether or not Evan will have any due process?

Paul: It is pretty vague.

We learned -- we did not learn when he might be moved or when a trial would start or how long a trial would go on.

It may be a while.

It is unclear to us.

If he goes to trial, we expect him to be convicted.

It will not be a defense as you or I know it.

In these cases in Russia the conviction rate is unanimous.

That is what we expect to come out of this process.

Once again, very vehemently, it is baseless.

He is not a spy and works for the Wall Street Journal.

Briana: If convicted, what sentence might he faced?

Paul: Up to 20 years.

Briana: It is significant that the Kremlin for the first time accused him of working for the CIA.

What does that say to you about where this trial is headed?

Paul: It tells us how extraordinarily manipulated this has been, stifling freedom of the press in Russia, trying to gain leverage over the U.S.

When you look at details today, it becomes even more crystal-clear this is not about anything Evan did.

It is about the Kremlin's calculations vis-à-vis the U.S. Briana: Paul, thank you so much.

Paul: Thank you for all the support.

Briana: With the clock ticking toward a budget deadline transit advocates ramping up pressure on lawmakers to take action on the governor's proposed corporate transit fee which would tax state businesses with highest income to provide a dedicated source of funding for New Jersey transit as it stares down a massive budget gap next year.

It comes amid calls for a different controversial source for that revenue.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis reports on the likelihood that any tax could be passed before the June 30 deadline.

>> Tax the rich, not the poor.

Joanna: Advocacy groups increasing calls for the governor and legislature to act in these last days of budget negotiations there would calls for the proposed corporate transit fee to be dedicated as a permanent funding source for NJ transit.

>> New Jersey transit, which is not a business, a public service, should not be funded on the backs of working families.

Joanna: The corporate transit fee would increase the corporate business tax by 2.5 percent for businesses that profit more than $10 million a year.

It comes on the heels of Governor Murphy eliminating the previous corporate business tax and companies profiting $1 million a year.

Riders are facing a 15% fare hike that starts next month.

>> A lot of our residents rely on transportation to get to Metropolitan job areas.

Without transportation, they can't get their.

They are already suffering from inflation, high taxes, so they cannot afford to pay for the kind of change and enhancements we need to this train system.

Joanna: Upgrades aside NJ Transit's budget is facing a $800 million shortfall.

>> Assets mean nothing if we are not supporting the people who ride them and the service that makes it functional.

Joanna: Advocates say timing is critical because end date -- NJ Transit's budget needs to be determined by April.

with1/3 of their budget looming as a deficit, the system could crumble if this funding source is not dedicated now.

>> If we don't have this, where will the money come from?

There is no plan B. Joanna: But there is another idea, raising sales tax back up to 7%.

Assembly Republican leader John DiMaio says no.

>> We need to be more efficient and how we run operations.

We want to audit their operations and see what they are doing before they come looking for money.

The governor this year took money out of places where money should not go from.

I am sure in the budget document there were priorities of his own hidden.

Joanna: One of Murphy's priorities widely criticized today is the Turnpike expansion near the Holland tunnel.

Mayor Ravi Bhalla one of its loudest critics, saying they could be rerouted to NJ Transit.

>> We have a governor who has a $11 billion boondoggle to expand the New Jersey Turnpike.

You have $11 billion in your back pocket that could be used to eliminate a 15% fare hike.

What sense does that make?

Making it harder for mass transit and easier to drive a car.

Joanna: Business and industry advocates decried the corporate tax saying it will hurt New Jersey's economy and competitiveness with other states.

In spite of the fact most businesses that would be taxed do not reside in New Jersey.

Timing is an issue because both the legislature and governor's office will face elections next year.

>> This is the year to get the heavy lifting done.

Joanna: Plus as negotiations go, governors likely earned goodwill with the assembly president and speaker bypassing their bill.

>> Assuming he is flexible, did his part, he gets his peace important to him, to find transit.

Joanna: Lawmakers have 18 days to decide and no sponsor or bill has been introduced.

Briana: For years testing has shown water underneath joint base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in the pinelands contains toxic cancer-causing chemicals, sometimes hundreds of times higher than state standards and federal health warnings.

It is the result of contamination from firefighting foams used in emergencies and drills on the base for decades.

The Forever Chemicals also surround communities.

Those neighbors were invited to an open house to share concerns, ask questions about what is being done, and how it could affect their health.

Ted Goldberg reports.

>> it is nice to feel safe living next to the bases, but at the same time, something like this, it is a Catch-22.

Ted: That Catch-22 being people who live near joint base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst may have been exposed to cancer-causing chemicals for decades.

An open house in Pemberton last week tried to answer questions from people ranging from curious to concerned.

>> Do I have people I love who are sick right now with big illnesses?

Yes.

Do we know why?

I don't know.

Nobody seems to know.

But I saw some things on the boards today that were concerning.

Ted: What stood out to you?

>> Thyroid cancer, kidney cancer.

My husband has had run-ins with them.

>> I have a dog, he is 12 years old.

He has a large tumor.

He has been drinking the tap water since he was a puppy.

I can't say that contributed, but something like that happens, who knows what happens to us.

Ted: For decades the military used a special foam to fight fires on base which contained two types of PFAS which leeched into the public water supply.

The CDC connected those chemicals to cancers, birth defects and other health problems.

The Air Force tested well water for people who live close to the base in 2016.

More recently they started tracking PFAS levels in nearby creeks and streams.

>> They will possibly expand into the residents Wells.

Looks like it will be a long process at this point before we get to knowing anything, unless I decide to have something done on my own.

>> It is a national issue.

I would imagine there are few bases not dealing with this.

Ted: State standards for drinking say anything more than 13 or 14 parts per trillion is dangerous.

While recently announced federal rules are a stricter four parts per trillion.

When they tested seven years ago, results were up to 100 times those levels.

That led to pressing questions from the 45,000 people who live or work around the base.

>> We are listening to their concerns, where they live, what issues they have, and explain what PFAS is, how does it migrate, how it could be affecting them.

>> It is unique.

This is an emergent contaminant in the remedial investigation phase.

This event is to address people's drinking water wells.

Joanna: The military -- Ted: The military and EPA are working to clean up contamination at the joint base.

PFAS are a big concern in recent years, only after proliferating so many parts of our daily lives.

>> rugs, carpets, everything has it.

It is in so many areas that regulation has not caught up with it yet.

Ted: It is not just the joint base.

Multiple bases in New Jersey and nationwide are cleaning up PFAS pollution.

The Murphy administration sued the military over the problem in 2021 and that case is ongoing.

In Pemberton Ted Goldberg "NJ Spotlight News."

>> Support for the medical report provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

Briana: In our spotlight on business report tonight, stocks were mixed as investors weigh cooling inflation data and the Federal Reserve's pullback on rate cuts.

Here is where the markets closed.

>> Support for the business report sponsored by Newark's arts and education district and Halsey, a neighborhood built on heart and also.

2024 Halsey hest schedule.

-- fest schedule.

♪ Briana: Finally tonight, how about this for a summer attraction?

There is now a place you can sing karaoke with Frank Sinatra, interview stars like Danny Devito, and blast into space with astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly in the same afternoon.

The New Jersey Hall of Fame is getting a high-tech permanent home honoring its hundreds of inductees and their contributions to the state.

And in true Jersey pride the center is located inside a mall.

Raven Santana got a sneak peak before it opens to the public at the end of the month.

>> You want to learn about Jon Bon Jovi's speech, it will pop up on the screen.

Raven: This touchscreen one of many interactive activities at New Jersey's Hall of Fame at the third floor of the American dream mall in East leather furred -- East Rutherford.

>> We have never had a permanent home and this is it.

Raven: The general manager and the executive vice president gave me a private tour of the 10,000 square-foot state-of-the-art attraction that cost $20 million.

It highlights more than 200 inductees with various achievements.

>> We go from the artist, Jack Nicholson, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra and then artists, authors, philanthropists, people who have done great things in New Jersey.

Wellington, bringing the Giants to New Jersey, Leon Hess.

It is very diverse and inclusive.

Raven: The entertainment and learning center allows guests the opportunity to interview holograms of inductees like Danny DeVito in this late-night jersey television studio.

If you have wondered what it is like to sing with a musical artist, the Hall of Fame allows you to experience to join a New Jersey legend on stage.

>> We have eight permanent exhibitions and they are super immersive.

Everything from virtual reality tours with inductees.

So you can see the same corners they hang out that you might frequent, same stores you might shop at.

We also have an immersive 4D simulator experience where we learn stem contributions some of our inductees have made.

You get to go on a virtual reality tour in a model T of space, and interact with the Kelly Brothers, Buzz Aldrin, Albert Einstein, and Thomas Anderson -- Thomas Edison.

>> We talked about the educational value.

When you think about going to the moon, it is how they got there, the science behind.

When we talk about Bobbi Brown Condit --, -- Brown, it is about the ingredients that go into her makeup products.

Raven: They want people to find a hero to identify with, especially students.

>> We will have a program based on schoolkids to be inspired by our Jersey inductees.

We will go to the community and bring kids to our program.

Starting in the fall we will have program designed for sponsorships and give tickets to the kids in the school to experience New Jersey.

Raven: For those interested in visiting -- >> To walk through the whole Learning Center it will take 45 minutes.

For out-of-staters, it will cost$25.

In-stateers, $19.99, with special fees for -- admission for kids in groups.

Briana: Don't forget to download the "NJ Spotlight News" podcast to listen anytime.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

Have a great evening.

See you tomorrow.

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♪