>> major funding for NJ spotlight news is provided in fired -- provided in part by NJ in insurance group.

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>> Tonight, a bombshell indictment.

South Jersey democratic powerbroker George Norcross charged with racketeering and extortion.

>> This is a serious deal, going after George Norcross on a Ricoh count.

This is as gnarly as it gets.

>> Also, exploring hate.

An emotionally charged hearing over a state definition of anti-Semitism and its impact on hate crimes and free speech.

Plus, with the budget deadline looming -- >> Other states already have their budgets passed and enacted and we don't even have a bill in New Jersey.

>> Still at an impasse over how to fund NJ transit.

And dangerous heat about to hit the garden state this week.

Temperatures could reach 100 degrees.

>> We are in for a long period of days to a week or more of pretty uncomfortable conditions across New Jersey.

>> NJ spotlight news begins right now.

♪ >> from NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ spotlight news.

Joanna: Hello and thank you for joining us.

We began with a bombshell indictment.

South Jersey democratic powerbroker George Norcross was charged with racketeering today by New Jersey's Attorney General Matt Plotkin.

The 13 count indictment charges Norcross with running a criminal enterprise that used coercion, extortion, and other criminal acts to obtain property on the Camden waterfront and collect millions of dollars in government tax credits.

He is accused of using threatening language to intimidate a land developer, saying he would put a bat over his head, among other things, and allegedly influencing legislation to benefit himself.

Allegedly saying in a recording, this is for our friends.

The indictment names five other defendants involved, including former Camden mayor Dana Redd, George Norcross' brother Philip, his lawyer, and business partner Sydney Brown and John O'Donnell.

>> This indictment alleges that a group of private businessmen used their power to get government to aid their criminal enterprise and further his interests.

Through their alleged acts, the Norcross enterprise was able to obtain rights to build multiple buildings and obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in government issued tax credits, among other benefits.

That stops today.

Joanna: That is George Norcross in the front row staring down Attorney General Platt can.

Norcross is widely considered one of the most powerful nonelected clinical leaders in the state and has led the South Jersey political machine for decades.

Joining me now is Jeff, who has long covered the Norcross machine and was in the room when the indictment was announced.

You saw firsthand, as I just mentioned, George Norcross staring down the Attorney General as these allegations were dropped.

This stems from tax incentives in 2013 under then Governor Chris Christie.

At the time there was very little state oversight.

Can you help us understand lots of these allegations are that George Norcross and five other co-conspirators are being charged with?

>> The Attorney General is saying Norcross has been conducting a criminal enterprise for at least a decade and it had to do with getting control of properties in downtown Camden on the waterfront that were subject to gain from this extraordinary tax break that you mentioned before.

It is Norcross manipulating other agencies, manipulating property owners, manipulating approvals in Camden so he and his business partners could get control of these properties.

Joanna: Then he says, taking it a step further, he profited millions in tax incentives.

And I think he said $100 million more?

What were the numbers?

Jeff: He said him and his business partners got $287 million worth of tax breaks approved.

They have not all received them yet, they get paid out every year incrementally.

Platkin mentioned there are still over $200 billion of these tax breaks that George and his business partners and others associated with him in downtown Camden are liable to get.

They are still eligible for those in the years to come.

Joanna: The Attorney General cited text, recorded phone calls where there are threats of physical violence, other things we can't say on the air.

Really emboldened recordings.

Does it surprise you to see this body of evidence against someone like George Norcross?

>> It does because New Jersey does not have history -- the state of New Jersey does not have a history of going after its own with these sorts of tools.

We have at least three Grand Jury's, I am told, a years long investigation.

This is a serious deal, going after George Norcross on a Ricoh count, extortion, racketeering.

This is as gnarly as it gets.

Joanna: Michael Critchley is representing George Norcross.

They held a press conference after the other press conference.

He calls the charges bogus.

He is also furious the grand jury never interviewed Norcross or the other co-conspirators.

Did you stay for that follow-up and what do you make of their response?

Jeff: I stayed for it.

His attorney is a very great show man and it is standard practice that the target of a grand jury, the target is not really interviewed in front of the grand jury.

That's for the trial.

Their claim is that all this is a vendetta by the Attorney General, that he was embarrassed for other things because his investigation of the tax breaks never yielded much.

They are claiming they never got a chance to address these allegations, which is standard practice from George Norcross and his attorneys.

Joanna: What do you make of him sitting in the front row?

Was that intimidation and could that hurt him down the road in front of the jury?

Jeff: I think it was an intimidation tactic.

The Attorney General indirectly called it an intimidation tactic.

Over 25 years as a reporter in Trenton, I never saw anything that ballsy, and that is George Norcross.

Joanna: Thank you for taking the time today.

In the wake of that other indictment, we have been covering the race for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Senator.

It is now between Democratic primary winner Andy Kim and Republican primary winner Curtis Bashaw, a hotel your and is gay.

There could be a third candidate.

Menendez could run as an independent.

That will depend on the results of his trial, which was placed on hold last week when codefendant Fred Davies tested positive for COVID.

It is expected to resume tomorrow unless others test positive before then.

Senior clinical correspondent David Cruz takes a look at where the two primary candidates stand on the key issues driving the selection.

David: After what ended up being a pretty easy primary for the major party Senate candidates, these stages set for what promises to be a tumult U.S. fall campaign between Democrat Andy Kim, the slayer of the party line, and hotelier Curtis Bashaw, not your standard jersey Republican.

>> I am proud during this month of pride to be the first openly gay person running for the Republican seat in the Senate, and we are going to take our campaign and messages as a political outsider to the voters of New Jersey.

David: Bashaw, a former Trump denier, is now, he says, all in for the former president, whose vulgarities have targeted women, minorities, and the disabled and have made supporting him what many assume is a nonstarter for any candidate in the blue state of jersey.

>> It boggles my mind sometimes.

Why does he want to run for this senate seat?

He is trying to twist himself on on knots in so many ways.

Curtis Bashaw voted for Trump on June 4 for the Republican primary.

He is going to vote for him again in November.

>> The man is vulgar.

He is sexist, homophobic he mocks people with disabilities.

You can't really support that, can you?

>> As I said, elections are binary choices.

I know I can support Joe Biden.

David: Kim also called into question Bashaw's pro-choice stance.

The Republican insists he is pro-choice, despite supporting the recent Dobbs decision, which handed the issue back to the states.

>> You cannot say you are pro-choice if you support the Dobbs decision.

This is about fundamental freedoms.

You either support the freedom of women to make decisions about their own body or you don't.

>> I am a freedom guy.

I believe government shouldn't be coming into our homes and telling us what to do, which is why I don't think it's inconsistent to be pro-choice and also to believe that if there are going to be regulations about something that personal as abortion, that they should be best done at lower levels of the government closer to the communities they are seeking to regulate.

David: Kim's -- Biden says Bashaw has been a failure and today's New Jersey might not be as hospitable to Trump.

But endless rest mucin says Bashaw will have to walk a fine line as far as Trump is concerned.

>> Republicans are going to train candidates, don't distinguish yourself too much from Donald Trump because he is the standardbearer and you don't want to make it hard to get back to him.

You don't want to incur his wrath.

That may work in other places but not New Jersey.

David: Hovering over all of it like a dark cloud is the possibility that the incumbent may yet enter the race as an independent.

Both camps dismissed the Menendez candidacy right now but an acquittal, as unlikely as that may be, could change things significantly.

I am David Cruz, NJ Spotlight News.

Joanna: The Senate is once again considering a bill that would create a statewide definition of anti-Semitism.

The bill had a hearing in March but that ended abruptly before anyone had a chance to testify.

Those who support the bill say the state needs to take a stronger stance to deter anti-Semitism, which has seen a dramatic rise since October.

Those opposed say it limits free speech and conflates criticism of Israel with criticism of Jews.

Today's hearing was held virtually but that didn't stop it from getting heated and demonstrating how contentious this issue has become.

Ted Goldberg covered it as part of our series, exploring hate.

>> it has nothing to do with protected free speech.

>> Yeah right.

Ted: A Senate hearing on adopting a new definition of anti-Semitism started passionately and never let up has more than 600 people signed up to speak.

New Jersey is considering a bill that would adopt the definition used by the international Holocaust remembrance alliance.

>> anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are real and they are both on the rise.

Ted: Supporters of the bill say it is sorely needed and Jewish people have seen a surge of anti-Semitism since Israel started fighting Hamas in October.

>> for the past eight months, I was harassed, bullied, disrespected by students and my administration due to systemic anti-Semitic rhetoric that was spread through the whole academic year.

>> I have been told I am really an agent of the Israeli government.

When I was asked why people who voted for me feel betrayed by me, the answer from a former deputy mayor was, she is a Zionist.

>> Jewish and pro-Israel students were threatened and marginalized.

Support for Israel became a litmus test for inclusion in student spaces, such as clubs and chat rooms.

Disruptive protests popped up in the cafeteria, in violation of codes of conduct regarding protesting and causing Jewish students to leave.

David: According to the definition, anti-Semitism would include denying Jewish people the right to self-determination, applying double standards to Israel not given to other democratic nations, and comparing Israel policy to the Nazis.

It doesn't include criticizing Israel, but some think that's not far off.

>> As a Palestinian, the existence of Israel, just like our existence on the land, comes at a cost the indigenous people.

I can criticize my own country but if I criticize Israel, there is consequences.

I feel there should be some equity.

>> Criticism of the nation of Israel, Israeli policies and Zionism, does not amount to criticism of Jews like me or Judaism.

It is constitutionally protected political speech.

David: Others say that won't be an issue.

>> Criticism of Israel per se is not anti-Semitic and governments that use the ihra definition have found it possible to sharply criticized Israeli practices.

Ted: Some found the bills, which would also add anti-Semitism and Islamophobia to state equity and inclusion policies, don't go far enough to fight hate.

>> It is not a complete definition.

Relying on it would be dangerous to the Jewish community and harmful to other committees.

It is particularly flawed because it could place the Jewish people with the state of Israel.

>> Despite my Jewish ancestry and rich family history, I would be categorized as an anti-Semite because I criticize Israel.

According to the IH RA, I am a bad Jew.

>> At Princeton, we have seen disturbing public instances of anti-Semitism, but these bills would do nothing to stop anti-Semitism.

The solution is dialogue.

When we have dialogue, we realize the majority of people who support Palestine are not doing so for anti-Semitic reasons.

They are criticizing Israeli policy.

Ted: The hearing will continue Thursday because so many people wanted to testify.

We can expect the same amount of passion and tension as people debate what constitutes anti-Semitism.

I am Ted Goldberg.

Joanna: The deadline is approaching for lawmakers to finalize the state budget, and negotiations between the governor's office and legislative leadership are underway.

One of the biggest sticking points is how to find NJ transit.

Governor Murphy proposed a 2.5% corporate transit fee on businesses earning more than $25 million in profit.

Those funds would be dedicated to NJ transit.

With two weeks to go, he is adding a new proposal.

I am joined by our budget and finance writer John Reitmeyer.

Great to talk to you.

The governor has proposed a new plan that would be a 100 million dollar purchase of land owned by NJ transit.

Can you help explain this?

John: The idea is you would take money that right now would go into the general fund.

The interesting wrinkle of this new budget proposal, the tax the governor wants to enact on companies that make more than $10 million annual profits every year, that was originally going into the general fund and it would be next year the money would go to NJ transit.

This gets $100 million right away to NJ transit, and it's not a bailout, it is $100 million that would be used to buy properties that right now NJ transit owns and is not using to reach their full potential.

The idea would be that you could create these developments.

That is where the state economic development Authority comes into this.

They would be put in charge of turning these properties, a parking lot or something else near a train station, into a transit oriented development.

That could be residential, mixed-use, which means it would have a retail component, and it would be trying to bring out their potential where right now they might not be getting as much out of them as possible, especially in a hot real estate market.

We are told by state officials they are trying to take advantage of a good real estate market right now.

Joanna: We have heard proposals from advocates saying NJ transit should be leasing its own property, turning those into profitable sites.

I am thinking about Hoboken.

What is the logic in the proposal of the EDA doing that versus NJ transit?

John: It is a good question when you think about NJ transit's core mission.

They are having to get all hands on deck right now given their financial challenges.

It is a transit, train, bus, and light rail company.

The EDA does do development.

You are taking something that might be a side project for NJ transit and giving the responsibility to an agency whose core mission is economic development.

The idea is not necessarily a knock on NJ transit real estate development kit abilities, but you are putting this in the hands of people who do this on a day-to-day basis.

Joanna: A company already struggling to keep operations running.

Two weeks until the budget deadline and this new proposal.

How does this get done?

Does it get done?

Does this add to the criticism that so much of New Jersey's budget is done in closed-door deals?

John: Maybe it's all of the above.

Other states already have their budgets passed and we don't even have a bill yet.

This is a big tax Murphy is asking for and we don't have that legislation yet.

I'm sure the companies that would be hit by this would like to see the moving parts because there are a lot of contingencies.

It could be retroactive to January 1.

A lot has to get done.

There is less than two weeks.

You would think best practice would be to have this on the table for everyone to look at but that's not the way it works in New Jersey.

Joanna: You would think.

Thank you for the insight.

Stocks hit a new record high to start the week.

Here is how markets closed for the day.

>> support for the business report is provided by NJMEP, a partner to New Jersey's manufacturing industry, focused on performance and strategic development.

More on NJMEP.org.

♪ Joanna: You can say goodbye to the gorgeous weather this weekend and say hello to a sheet Delma.

That's what climatologists are calling the intense heat wave that will hit tomorrow through Saturday.

I am joined by New Jersey state climatologist Dave Robinson, who will explain what we can expect.

Great to talk to you today.

We know we are facing a heat Delma.

Explain how hot it is actually going to get.

Dave: We have high pressure settling over the northeastern United States, and at this time of year with the sun beating down at high pressure overhead, we can have temperatures soar.

There will be very little cloud cover, very little chance of precipitation over the next several days and perhaps beyond.

With that, the error settles over the region and temperatures spike.

We may see temperatures -- we will see temperatures in the mid and upper 90's.

In some areas, if it's just right, on a couple of days we will be flirting with the century mark.

In addition, we see the air get a little more stagnant as the heat bakes the atmosphere.

Humidity levels are going to begin to rise as moisture flows off the ocean and up from southern states.

We are in for a long period of days to a week or more Bama of uncomfortable conditions across New Jersey.

Joanna: We have already seen record highs this spring.

Are we looking at record highs this summer and do you envision this being a record high summer overall?

Dave: We may see temperatures hit the 100 degree mark for a day or two.

It's not exceptional but not something you necessarily see every year, for that matter.

This is not to be taken lightly.

It's going to continue for some time.

How long will it last into the summer?

Will the summer be warm?

We are getting off to a warm June.

This June I envision threatening records for among the warmest June on record and we have records back to the late 19th century.

We are getting off on a hot base.

Will it continue?

Quite possibly.

We have had a lot of warm summers since the turn-of-the-century, becoming more common.

Joanna: I read an interesting fact, that heat waves kill more people than any other weather event.

I'm sure you knew.

What can folks do to stay safe this week as we hit extreme highs?

Dave: They should be very cognizant of the temperatures.

You don't want to get overheated.

You want to keep hydrated, keep in the shade as much as possible.

If you are indoors, hopefully you have fans or, better, air conditioning.

You have got to be careful.

If you are an athlete, you can't do your normal workouts.

If you normally work outside, you are going to need longer breaks and get into a comfortable situation.

Hydrate.

This is particularly vulnerable for the young, old, and infirm, but people often forget about the people out there day after day working might be healthy, but in this heat everyone is vulnerable.

Joanna: Dave Robinson, New Jersey state climatologist and our go to resource, thank you so much for the advice.

Joanna: Don't forget to download the NJ Spotlight News podcast so you can listen any.

I am Joanna Gagis.

For the entire team, thanks for being with us.

Have a great night and we will see you back here tomorrow.

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♪