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Briana: tonight on "NJ Spotlight News," bowing out.

Senator Bob Menendez it says he will not seek reelection in the Democratic Senate primary.

>> I'm hopeful my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election.

Briana: One-on-one with the state attorney general after he and the DOJ file and a stoic lawsuit claiming Apple is a smartphone monopoly.

>> Apple has followed the Microsoft playebook in ways that hurt consumers.

Briana: Also, warning about senior scams.

>> Technology is moving so fast that old folks can keep up with it.

>> To do what we did is amazing and I'm proud of this group and I wouldn't do it with another group.

Briana: Hopes are still alive for the Lady Tigers of Princeton.

"NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

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

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

I am Briana Vannozzi.

The Garden State's longtime senior U.S.

Senator is bowing out of the Democratic primary, but he is keeping the door open to run as an independent in November.

In a nearly 10-minute long video posted to social media last night, Bettel Senator Bob Menendez says he is hopeful he will be exonerated during his corruption trial that begins in May, allowing him to pursue the candidacy in time for the general election.

Menendez is facing 18 federal counts including charges of bribery and obstruction of justice for taking cash and other items in exchange for doing political favors.

Had he entered the Democratic primary, he would have faced a highly competitive race against First Lady Tammy Murphy and sitting Congressman Andy Kim.

Instead, as Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports, Menendez risks becoming a spoiler for the party.

Sen. Menendez: I will not file for the Democratic primary this June.

Brenda: incumbent Senator Bob Menendez, pushed by a looming corruption trial and pending primary, announces he will skip the ballot.

But jerseys and senior senator is keeping his political options open even as he fights federal charges that he and his wife accepted gold bars, wads of cash, and a luxury car in return for favoring foreign interests.

Sen. Menendez: I am hopeful my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election.

>> I hate to be the killjoy, but I really think this is Menendez trying to stave off his political expiration for a few more months.

Brenda: Political observers say Menendez's adamant refusal to get out of the way and is potential to be a spoiler is giving his party and election migraine.

This is the senator's second corruption trial.

His first ended in a hung jury, where he vowed political revenge.

>> The Democratic party are biting their nails a little bit at the thought of a vindictive Bob Menendez hanging around, the ghost of New Jersey corruption past shadowing their every move.

Brenda: Menendez faced almost certain elimination in the upcoming U.S. Senate primary he is pulling in single digits against Democrats First Lady Tammy Murthy and Congressman Andy Kim, who derided the senator's independent Democrat declaration as selfish.

>> He is trying to soften the blow in terms of what is the actual truth, which is he will be running against Democrats.

So he can use all the semantics he wants to try to make himself feel better about this, but what he is doing would be counter to the Democratic Party that he has been a member of.

>> Frankly, he should be thinking about his legacy and what he wants New Jersey to be like in the future and what -- and allowing the voters to make a choice based on the candidates that are campaigning, that have full teams out there, that are putting their vision forward for New Jersey.

Brenda: Murphy posted on X, "SE n. Menendez continues to place himself above New Jerseyans and the Democratic party as a whole.

He should have the privilege of serving in the Senate in any capacity."

It is tasty campaign fodder for New Jersey Republicans, who have not won a senate seat here since 1972.

>> a campaign with a third party candidate siphoning but some Democrats, it is still an uphill climb.

>> Here is a state that is supposed to be calm waters, calm blue waters, no one has to spend a dime.

It's not even on the radar.

And now it is on the radar.

Brenda: That could force Democrats to spend more protecting the New Jersey seat and their party's razor thin margin in the Senate.

More than half his caucus has asked Menendez to resign.

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman reposted the video with this potshot, "dibs on your parking space."

>> He refocused us on the news, which is not just that he is threatening to play the spoiler, but also that the incumbent U.S.

Senator is now saying he is not running for reelection.

Brenda: Menendez's corruption trial slated to begin May 6 -- he has until June 4 two file as an independent.

I am Brenda Flanagan, "NJ Spotlight News."

Briana: In a sweeping federal lawsuit on Thursday, the Department of Justice and 16 states including New Jersey accused Apple of creating a monopoly in the smartphone industry, alleging the tech giant tightened its grip on the market by violating antitrust laws, not by staying ahead of the competition.

The suit cites specifics like purposely blocking third-party mobile software from its devices so you cannot FaceTime or use an Apple watch with an android, which keeps customers from switching to other providers while paying higher prices.

The lawsuit, filed in Newark, is considered the government's most significant challenge to Apple's reach.

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Plotkin was tapped to be the case on behalf of the states.

He joins me now.

Thanks so much for your time.

You know as well as I do that the courts have cited largely with Apple in previous cases.

What makes this lawsuit different?

>> Well, I think as Attorney General Garland said yesterday, this is one of the largest cases ever filed by the department of justice and state attorneys general.

If you look at the complaint, you can see the conduct Apple has engaged in has excluded other businesses in ways that violate our laws and stifle innovation.

And what that has resulted in is consumers paying more for an inferior product.

Briana: Give us an example if you can.

>> sure.

Apple has limited third-party apps, they don't allow third-party app stores on the platform, they take extraordinary fess from app -- fees from app developers.

Tap to pay is only for Apple wallet, not true for other platforms.

You cannot use cloud-based apps, which allow you to do a lot of different things without using up the hardware you have, so you don't need this super expensive phone Apple wants you to buy.

All of this is laid out in the complaint, but the upshot is their practices over the past two decades have resulted in consumers paying substantially more for their products than they otherwise would have to, and if you think about that come in 2007, you take the price of an iPhone in 2007 and adjust it for inflation, it would cost $450 today when an iPhone costs over $1500.

Briana: This is a private business, though, yes?

Hasn't the Supreme Court in the past said that private businesses are allowed to deal with other companies as they see fit and set the terms that they want to do business with them?

Does and does not include Apple and how it decides -- does that not include Apple and how it decides to work with hardware, software developers?

>> Well, they can operate in a way that excludes -- they can't operate in a way that excludes businesses that violates antitrust laws.

The clearest example that Apple knew as well as Microsoft in the 1990's when they weren't allowing iTunes and third-party-develop platforms on the Windows platform.

When the Department of Justice and state attorneys general filed suit and won that case, where Apple was a witness, Apple was able to develop the iTunes store the Windows platform, iTunes went to the iPod, which was a huge success, and now the iPhone.

Fast-forward a couple decades later and Apple has followed the Microsoft playbook in ways that violate our laws and hurt our consumers.

Briana: I think the way you put it yesterday is Apple is using rules made by Apple for Apple.

What does the lawsuit seek aside from damages?

What are you looking to have Apple duty just the structure of its market?

-- do in adjust the structure of its market?

>> The exact steps Apple will have to take will play out as we litigate this case.

There are a number of things Apple could do and as shown in other markets they can do but has chosen not to do that would give consumers more choice, like allowing third-party app sores on the platform, allowing super apps where you can do multiple things in one application, like send messages and purchase products.

They restrict those types of apps on the platform.

There is a lot of things they can do, and it would allow Apple to innovate the same way when Microsoft had to allow Apple onto its platform, we saw the development of Apple and other companies that grew into large American media Enterprises.

Apple is stifling that type of innovation right now.

Briana: Mr. Attorney General, thank you so much for your time.

>> thank you.

Briana: There's been an alarming rise in fraud scams across the U.S., and according to the FBI, Americans over the age of 60 are increasingly the victims.

Federal investigators have new data showing fraud committed online and over the phone is adding up to nearly a billion dollars in losses each year.

You have likely been on the other end of one of those calls.

The report also finds New Jersey ranked fifth in the nation in overall losses.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis visited a senior center in South Jersey where members of the FBI warned the community how to be on the lookout.

Joanna: A group of Special Agents from the FBI and IRS spoke to a room full of seniors today about fraud schemes that are growing more sophisticated by the year, targeting seniors who cannot keep up with the trickery and changing technology.

>> What they try to do is take advantage of time and opportunity.

How fast can I get you to give your things so I can get off this phone before you realize what the hell just happened?

They will never ask you for credit-card information or debit card information, period.

Joanna: They know seniors are vulnerable and are more likely to be polite and more likely to have assets that can be exploited.

>> You won the European lottery, congratulations.

You have to pay European taxes first, and by the way, European law prevents us from taking your taxes.

What are they looking for?

That advance fee.

There is multiple iterations of it.

That is a classic example.

Joanna: Rich give many examples of the telephone in email scams that ask for money upfront, often playing on emotions like excitement or fear, or worse, romantic schemes that can last years where fraudsters continually find themselves in need of financial support.

What's worse, AI is making it possible to do this even when you don't speak the same language.

>> Now what you can do with AI is a speak the native language of the fraudster and it can translate into perfect English and you can even build a voiceover where it will -- you could be on the phone and it will have someone with perfect American English accent.

Joanna: One attendee just dealt with this one a supposed woman calling the wrong number launched a phone relationship that ended with death threats went he asked to Facetime.

>> The technology is changing so fast and a lot of us old folks and cannot keep up with it.

Joanna: Emails can be even trickier.

>> I got an email from Netflix.com.

This is a screenshot from my personal iPhone.

It says I'm suspended due to payment error.

Huh, that looks pretty professional, right?

It took me a minute to figure it out.

Joanna: Which gives pointers like hovering your mouse over the center name and emailed to see the drawdown that indicates where the email is actually coming from.

Avril says one of her closest friends gave away her life savings in a fraud scheme and she herself almost fell victim to a timeshare scheme that offered to pay her exorbitant fees.

She called her son first, one of the lessons of today.

>> It is important to call your son or your daughter or somebody you trust, because they can look at it with a fresh outlook.

And therefore you will not fall victim to the scam.

>> Is a shame it has come to that in this world, but you really have to be aware, and so many seniors are not real computer savvy.

So this is a good education for a lot of them.

Joanna: But it is not just seniors who are vulnerable.

Sometimes calls can come in from legitimate numbers.

The biggest take away for all of us, be aware of scams that create a false sense of urgency and it never make a payment in a nontraditional way.

I am Joanna Gagis, "NJ Spotlight News."

Briana: In our "spotlight on business" report, making LGBTQ+- owned businesses more visible in the state.

A Republican lawmaker, one of them few openly gay members of the legislature, his spearheading a bill to permanently create a state certification process for LGBTQ+ business owners, giving them the potential to win funding, contracts, and other programs offered by state agencies.

Despite getting widespread support, there were some unlikely critics of the bill.

That didn't deter the assembly man, who said this legislation is deeply personal.

He joins me now to explain why.

Why was this bill so important to you?

There is already a state certification process that Governor Murphy made possible under an executive order.

So why was this important for you to get through the legislature?

>> Well, all of us in the LGBTQIA community are grateful for the governor for putting that legislation through, but I think we want to codify it, we want to make sure that it is going to stay when the governor leaves, and make sure that the next governor does not change.

Briana: What about it for you personally made this a charge you needed to take up?

>> So I think we have been working very hard for the last 40, 50 years in New Jersey trying to have an equal playing field.

We certainly address this with minority, women, veterans.

It seemed to be logical to bring in the LGBTQIA+ community to be in the same category.

Briana: There was criticism from one of your colleagues, assemblyman Brian Bergen, who said I'm all for making sure opportunities are there, but this bill is largely symbolic and doesn't in fact advance these opportunities.

What do you make of that, and is there any merit to it?

>> Certainly every individual in the assembly is the same as me, representing 200,000 people and everyone has a right to express their opinion.

In this particular case I think it is clear as we look back in my lifetime that we weren't being treated equally, that we were afraid to go out and be seen.

And we are not there anymore.

We just want to make sure that as we continue that we are recognized and that we have made sure that there is no discriminatory action taken against us.

I don't think it was symbolic.

I think it was a good program, and once it is in place, in a few years you will be able to see how many businesses there are owned by LGBTQIA+ community, how much taxes they pay, how many employees they bring in.

I think it is a good measure, it's long overdue, and we are very grateful, and I certainly am that members of the assembly, only 8 voted against it.

Briana: What does it give the businesses that they cannot already access?

I know you say it create an even playing field, but are their contracts and straight grants and funding that wasn't already there at their disposal?

>> No.

This simile gives the ability for the state -- this simply gives the ability for the state long-term to assure that if you are saying you are an LGBTQIA -owned business, they are able to codify that, similar to what we do for other categories.

Briana: Has the governor indicated he will sign it?

>> I don't know.

I passed by the governor yesterday with a smile as we sent the SS New Jersey into dry dock but I have not spoken with him.

I know he has been supportive of our family in the past.

Certainly during Pride month up to his home, so I'm pretty sure the governor is going to sign it, since it was his legislation that created it in the first place.

Briana: So it awaits the governor's signature.

Thanks so much for coming on the show.

>> thank you.

Briana: Turning to Wall Street, stocks fell today, but the major averages still had a winning week.

Here is how the markets closed on this Friday.

>> Support for the business report provided by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, announcing its Expo March 26 and 27 at Harris in Atlantic City.

Details online at njchamber.com.

Briana: Tune in to "NJ business beat" with Raven Santana this weekend.

She looks at the economic impact of the World Cup, talking to business leaders about what the next two years of preparation look like and how the state stands to benefit.

Watch it Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday morning at 9:30 on NJ PBS.

Briana: And finally, it wasn't the Cinderella story we hoped for, but the March magic is not over.

St. Peter's Peacock suffered a tough loss in last night's NCAA tournament at the hands of Tennessee, ending their return to The Big Dance that just two years ago had the whole country Googling to learn who these underdogs from Jersey City were.

Now all eyes are on the Princeton Tigers women's team, who begin their NCAA tourney this weekend.

Ted Goldberg has the story.

Ted: As St. Peter's put its dancing shoes back on, hundreds of students, alumni, and fans gathered on campus.

Confident that their peacocks could once again strut their way to another deep run in the NCAA tournament.

>> The peacocks got this in the bag, man.

Going to get the win over Tennessee.

Let's do this thing.

>> I think it is going to go OT.

>> let's go peacocks!

Ted: The executive chef remember the last time St. Peter's shocked the world, all of two years ago.

>> Last time it was in Philly.

Hopefully it is good luck.

We believe in our players.

They are amazing kids.

Ted: Despite a tough start against Tennessee come these fans and state allowed throughout the game --these fans stayed loud throughout the game.

Booing any Tennessee bucket and sharing for anything positive toward St. Peter's.

Unfortunately for the peacocks, there would be no magic this year, as St. Peter's bows out of The Big Dance in its first game.

>> To make it back here after what we did is amazing, and I'm just proud of this group.

I wouldn't do it with another group.

Ted: A group that looks radically different from just two years ago.

Every player except one is gone from the 2022 team, and the Head Coach left soon after to coach Seton Hall.

>> I am glad we made it.

The guys fought hard and everything, but I'm glad I got to experience a real March Madness run.

>> It was my freshman year, so it was a great experience coming from England seeing that was a great experience in college and we are proud of them for getting this far.

We are so proud of them.

Ted: Even if the game didn't go their way, fans tell me they had a great time supporting their peacocks.

>> I'm feeding tons of people here love feeding these kids.

>> A lot of fun.

In the beginning all of us were achieving, matching headbands and pompoms, all screaming and taking pictures.

It's really fun.

>> I love the spirit of the school, and every year with my team, so it makes it even better so you have a lot of energy on the team.

We just love the men's basketball team because we are underdogs.

Ted: New Jersey's tournament hopes now lie with the Princeton women.

The Tigers are no strangers to March Madness, winning a tournament game each of the last two years.

Starting guard Madison Saint Rose can't wait to tip-off tomorrow.

>> Being able to experience that same kind of energy and excitement is amazing.

I still feel the same way now, extremely excited.

A bit nervous, but nerves are always good.

Seeing all these upsets and how these teams have shocked the world and a lot of people didn't expect them to win, that is really motivational because I feel like we can do that as well.

Ted: Saint Rose and Princeton take on West Virginia Saturday night in Iowa, with the New Jersey basketball fans watching from back home.

For "NJ Spotlight News," I am Ted Goldberg.

Briana: That is going to do it for us, but make sure to tune into "Reporters Roundtable" this weekend.

The marathon court hearing on Congressman Andy Kim's lawsuit to dismantle the party line.

A panel of local reporters break down this week's political headlines f Sunday at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday morning at 10:00 on NJ PBS.

Then David continues the conversation over the controversial party lines is, talking to the Democratic Party chair.

Saturday night at 6:30 and Sunday morning at 10:30 on NJPBS.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

For the entire news team, thanks for being with us, enjoy the weekend.

We will be back here on Monday.

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