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BRIANA: Tonight the jury in the federal corruption trial against Bob Menendez have been seated.

The prosecution begins to let -- let out his case.

SUE: opening arguments are not evidence, as the judge will instruct the jury.

However as you can imagine, everything informs the jurors' perception.

BRIANA: Plus, group of paid workers are trapped in Gaza including two from New Jersey.

>> we feel like we are providing not just medical care, but hope, support.

BRIANA: As proof of the city and Princeton students announced the end of their hunger strike, after negotiations with the University over divestment from Israel progress.

In the road to recovery.

Legislators debate a series of bills that delete the rehabbed industry and put patients first.

>> what is missing?

What is missing is the input of the people who lived through this.

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.

Opening arguments begin today in the federal corruption trial of U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez after the jury selection process officially wrapped up this morning with a dozen jurors and six alternates sworn in to begin weighing the charges against the senator and his codefendants.

Menendez and his wife are accused of accepting lavish gifts from three New Jersey businessmen, including thousands of cash, gold bars and a luxury car.

In exchange, prosecutors say, for the senator process willingness to use his official position to benefit those men, and the governments of Egypt and Qatar.

The jury of six men and six women were chosen over a three day vetting process.

This is the second federal bribery case against Menendez in the decade, but the powerful third-term Democrat has plead not guilty and today his defense team laid out how they plan to prove it.

Cameras are not allowed inside the courthouse.

But over Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan was and she joins me from outside with the latest on opening statements.

Good to see you.

A long day.

How did the prosecution lay out their case?

Reporter: They took advantage of this opening argument to frame their entire strategy for the jury.

They painted Bob Menendez as a corrupt government officials.

They say that he put greed over his duty to the public service, that he used his power, his position, as a member of the U.S. Senate, essentially to keep his wife happy and to put his power up for sale.

They say that they will be able to point to quid pro quo's, this for that, where he did something in exchange for a gold bar or for cash.

And they said they have the proof, they have the text messages and they will be able to make this case.

They also say that his wife, Nadine, acted as a go-between.

She essentially would bring communications back and forth and carry bribes back and forth.

So it looks as if the prosecution sees them working together as a couple and that is not exactly the way the defense sees it.

BRIANA: Nadine Menendez has been expected to be a key figure in the casebook for the prosecution and the defense.

How did Menendez's attorneys counter that?

Reporter: they say that Nadine is the love of Bob Menendez's a life that he was bowled over, that he sank to her in front of the Taj Mahal when he got down on one knee and handed her an engagement ring.

But they also say that Bob Menendez had no idea there were gold bars locked in Nadine's bedroom closet.

They say they thought any gold she had was from her family and that she essentially needed the money because she was behind on her mortgage and had other debts .

And that she wants to her friends, the New Jersey businessmen and she was the one who got this entire alleged record organized.

But she put into motion these quid pro quos, and that she essentially had Bob so blindsided by love, I guess, that he wasn't able to figure out what was going on.

They even put up a map of "where's Waldo comes to see you know where you have to find Waldo in the jury, when the prosecution talks to you about all the gold and cash, we want you to ask "where's Bob because of the text messages and emails involve Nadine but they don't involve Bob Menendez.

They say he is innocent and they will prove it.

BRIANA: Did they attempt to explain his international dealings with the governments of Egypt and Qatar?

We can't forget that charge of acting as an unregistered foreign agents, it's a great charge against him.

Reporter: they say he was doing official duties, that this was nothing out of the ordinary, something that a U.S. senator on the Foreign Relations Committee will do, essentially just his normal regular, doing his job.

"Bob doing his job."

BRIANA: Brenda Flanagan for us in Manhattan, great work.

Judge Sidney Stein made two significant pretrial rulings about the experts Menendez's defense team is allowed to use during the trial, striking his attorneys request to have a psychiatrist testify about the senior senator's alleged generational trauma that led him to hoard money in his.

-- in his home, and put parameters under use of an accountant to speak to his spending habits.

I am joined again by you in, attorney and former federal prosecutor, for more on how much weight those decisions hold, and today's opening statements.

Good to see you again.

I am curious about the significance of these opening arguments, and how much value they have when the jury is weighing the case.

Guest: well, there is of course the mix of opinion about that.

Generally speaking, opening arguments are designed to serve as providing the jury with a roadmap.

Both parties have an opportunity to share with the jury can expect to hear.

And also to frame what they want them to take away from the trial.

Now, from a purely legal standpoint, opening arguments are not evidence, as the judge will instruct the jury at the conclusion of the trial.

However, as you can imagine, everything informs a jurors perception, whether or not it comes from a lawyer or a witness.

So there is some importance I think in terms of creating expectations.

But from a trial that will consume the better part of a month, there are some who will say the jury will not remember much that you don't need to devote too much energy to it.

But it certainly is an opportunity to lay out what each side believes will be forthcoming.

BRIANA: There were a couple of pretrial decisions judge Sidney Stein made yesterday.

One could potentially poke a hole in the defense strategy, which is about the psychiatrist that Menendez's attorneys wanted to bring forward to essentially give a reason as to why he would have stashed lots of cash in his home for and how significant a blow is that?

GUEST: Fairly significant, because the design of that element of the defense was to help explain from an expert standpoint, why this particular defendant would be keeping that much money at home alone with the gold.

It was a fairly sophisticated argument in terms of dust from ago, a psychiatric standpoint, explaining intergenerational trauma, and the two traumatic family events in the senator's life that purported to explain why he conducted himself in that respect.

So there will certainly be other efforts, I imagine, from the defense to try to go about that.

But the expert testimony has been excluded.

The judge found there wasn't significant scientific basis for that and it would be relying on inadmissible hearsay so the testimony was excluded.

BRIANA: It didn't stand up, according to the judge, I should clarify that she cannot testify, this psychiatrist.

His team though, is also anticipating bringing aboard a CPA and accountant to help talk about some of the financial transactions, what rule with the accountant today, and is that a key to the case that they will present?

GUEST: I think it certainly is a prominent factor in terms of having an independent third-party review the senator's spending habits and basically compared inflows to outflows.

What the defense wanted to have a car was for the accountant to opine on whether or not the senator engaged in loveless living from it that aspect of the testimony was precluded by the judge.

BRIANA: So it remains to be seen just how significant a role the accountant will play.

Brian Whistler, thank you so much, we will be chatting with you again soon.

GUEST: Great to see you.

BRIANA: 19 American medical aid workers are trapped in Gaza, unsure of when they will be able to return home.

They are traveling with the Palestinian medical organization volunteering for two weeks in the hospital in Khan Younis to provide emergency medical care.

They say they were blocked from leaving Gaza as Israel took control of the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Among them are a doctor and pharmacist from New Jersey.

Ted Goldberg spoke with one of them from Gaza.

>> I heard about what is happening here, I had skills are to be useful and are needed.

Reporter: Items's day job is working as a plastic surgeon in Princeton.

>> My practice now is mostly elective.

I do take some ER calls but it is nothing compared to what I see here.

Reporter: But he hasn't been in Khan Younis north of Rafah for the last two weeks, volunteering to help those injured in Israel's war against Thomas.

>> The bombing that happens all day long intensifies around dawn.

I usually get up around 5:00 or 5:30.

Most of the time -- sometimes I get a little nap after that, but sometimes I can't.

Reporter: He was scheduled to leave on Monday.

But with no safe way out, he stuck around until he and other doctors can be safely replaced.

>> we are told every day that it will be the day after tomorrow.

I don't believe that anymore.

Reporter: Reporter: The war between Israel and Hamas has led to more than 70100 and 35,000 killed in Gaza.

When he wants to get back home to family, he is not 100% comfortable with leaving behind his patients until another doctor can take his place.

>> We feel like we are providing not just medical care, but hope and support.

We are assuring them that people care and we will continue to do that until we have a safe -- we say we don't just want to leave, we want a safe corridor for medical supplies and food.

>> This can easily be taken care of with one fund, how are we not protecting American citizens abroad with our colleague and partner, Israel?

Reporter: She is friends with the doctors, with another New Jersey medical worker stuck in the Rafah area.

>> I cannot believe this is not an issue for the American public.

Everybody went nuts when Brittney Griner was struck in Russia.

Reporter: The plight of the doctors is for getting attention.

This woman is hopeful she can come home soon.

>> I am made a promise to my kids and my family that I will be safe and there will be back to them.

My daughter's graduation from Rutgers is next Tuesday and I promised her to celebrate her success together.

>> The more attention that it gets, the better the outcome will be.

What they have done is a tremendous sacrifice going into a war zone like that, being willing to use their gifts and their talents and their resources on behalf of a population that is absolutely devastated.

Reporter: One of the nurses says working during the war has left him tired despite his experience dealing with, trauma in the U.S. Army.

>> I am happy to be here with these people, I am honored to be able to take care of them.

I want to go home and see my family.

But I am going to miss everyone here and I hope to come back so , it is inconvenient, but compared to what they are going through, this is not.

Reporter: Unlike many of the doctors he serves with, Hamwi is not Palestinian but Egyptian -Syrian.

>> But that shouldn't matter, right, I have worked in other places around the world where I have no ethnic connection to them at all.

We're all human beings.

We all have families, and we all have lives that we want to live to its fullest.

Reporter: And these doctors hope that after saving lives in Gaza, they will be freed to live their lives back home here in New Jersey.

For NJSpotlightNews, I am Ted Goldberg.

BRIANA: The student-led hunger strike at Princeton University is over, bringing to a close nearly two weeks where the group consumed nothing but water in protest over the war in Gaza.

In a statement, the students said their decision came after meeting with the university's administration to discuss their demands for disclosure and divestment from Israel, along with amnesty for protesters who were arrested in April.

The hunger strike was part of a larger pro-Palestinian sit-in and protest that began at Princeton April 25.

On Monday night, the university's president sent a letter to the campus community warning all demonstrators they needed to clear the encampment that's been set up on cannon green for the last several weeks .

That is so the school can prepare for end of year events.

Big changes are on the horizon for New Jersey's addiction recovery industry.

Lawmakers consider the series of bills to reform our treatment centers operate and how services are provided, after the state watchdog this Winter issued a report on widespread fraud and unethical conduct within the recovery world.

Advocates are mostly behind the overhaul, but they want to know why the policy was drafted without input from those who know the addiction recovery process best.

>> These are three dozen people who die each year, three people out of 3000.

And it is not because of a lack of resources or awareness.

What is missing?

What is missing is the input of the people who have lived through this.

Reporter: Advocates from the drug and alcohol recovery space joined a reform and federal relations hearing to challenge a package of 10 bills up for a vote which would make major changes to addiction and recovery support systems in New Jersey.

>> they are trying to win the war without talking to soldiers who are walking off the field.

Reporter: at one of the bills would change in fear recovery specialists, requiring them to have a GED or high school diploma, which clinicians and peer support personnel in the room said would do irreparable damage to the supports that exist for those struggling with addiction.

>> In the field, we have many folks who would be pushed out of the field or not be allowed to enter the field if that part of this regulation remains in place.

>> have requirements like a GED or no criminal history, there will be a note --.

I do know how to say that.

peers, we have this experience for a reason.

So now we're happy to share again evidence on how effective you are putting tears.

Reporter: the package of bills came as a reaction to a recent state commission of investigation report called "the dirty business of getting clean," that highlighted some predatory practices in the recovery field, including some who use illegal marketing schemes to profit off of a patient, a method called patient brokering or body brokering.

One bill would tighten regulations and penalties around that.

>> We know many times it has happened.

People think they are, to a program such as carrier and the end of out of state.

The book plane tickets and they are on a plane to Texas and different areas.

We are hopeful for that, that there will be some change.

Reporter: But another bill raised concern that would create stronger regulations around sober living homes and halfway houses.

>> One of the's greatest needs in the state of New Jersey is recovery housing.

This would set back recovery housing 10 years.

>> I think there is a lot of not in my back yard feelings that come into play when you try to open these homes and without the advocacy works, I worry that we run a risk.

Reporter: As the advocates spoke, they heard something unusual from a bipartisan committee, unanimous support for the bills, and for listening to their feedback.

>> Based on the report, we felt it necessary or leadership felt it necessary to address some of these issues.

What I do want to say is that everyone has heard you.

>> The definition of the need to be updated.

I think those can and will remain.

>> Chairman Atkins -- >> Yes.

Reporter: The bills were all released from committee by chairman Atkins and all the committee members, for missing to keep working with these groups to adjust language.

It's a start, say these advocates.

>> I was frustrated to see it released.

However, I am thrilled at the committee's response to our showing and I really do think that if it has to exist, we will be able to revise it significantly.

Reporter: those revisions promised to take place before the bills advance any further.

In Trenton, I am Joanna Gagis, NJ Spotlight News.

>> Support for the medical report is provided by Horizon Blue Cross Shield of New Jersey.

An independent Licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield association.

BRIANA: in our Spotlight on Business Report place where , a people of all ethnicities and gender identities can feel safe and empowered to do their work.

Ecospace launched a coworking office this week in Newark.

It's the group's second location now in the heart of Brick City, designed with multicultural and LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs in mind.

Raven Santana takes a look.

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] Reporter: Welcome to Ecospace, Newark's newest the working space and start up incubator, located on Broad Street.

The founder and CEO says that shared space is designed to be inclusive for entrepreneurs of color and LGBTQ plus business people.

>> I think there is an invisibility cloak around those who identify as queer or non-by married or femme-identifying.

When you enter a space, you feel like you have to value build in front of the eyes of people who may not have the same unique experiences as you.

So for me, every thunder gets to not could switch to feel your authentic self.

Reporter: The project which received more than a $200 million grant to build the space is also part of the audible's business attraction program which commits to providing opportunities to business owners less likely to have financial support.

>> It will help to serve as a gathering space, a sense of community.

There will be event space, not just co-working space, but the opportunity for people to have exhibits and events and workshops and provide support for entrepreneurs.

So it's not just to get them here and sign the lease and keep them open, it is how do we continue to invest in their growth?

Audible provides mentorship, coaching matches our executives with these founders, as well, again, to ensure their growth.

Reporter: The nearly 30 different spaces that vary in size, range from anything, like this so no desk here for $30 a day, to a midsize office for more than $2000 a month.

>> when it comes to the opportunities here, they are definitely flexible.

You can start out as a day member.

A day spacer can rent out a space for $30 a day and have access to conference room credits.

We do scale up to our suite, so our suites start off at $2000 or suite and they're pretty large.

And when it comes to access to suites, you also have longer working hours.

So even though we close at 6:00 and open at 10:00, you can stay here as long as you need.

When it comes to our larger headquarters, that is when it gets bigger.

So when it comes to those pricings that is actually based on the audible attraction program that is offered.

Reporter: This CEO of a data scientist company is not the first businesses to occupy Ecospace.

He has about 14 people on his team, and explained what attracted him to Ecospace.

>> We didn't want to have to deal with -- I have many different responsibilities, I didn't want to have two make sure there is coffee here, I didn't want to have to do with receptionists and all those things.

We wanted a turnkey solution that would allow us to focus on building our business and growing jobs here in Newark.

There is a lack of people of color or diverse backgrounds in technology, and we want to encourage that environment and space where they can feel comfortable.

.

Reporter: This is Ecospace's second location.

The third floor completion was part of phase one.

The CEO says the other two floors will be fully renovated during phase two, which is projected to be done into a.

For NJ Spotlight News, I am Raven Santana.

BRIANA: In Wall Street, stocks popped today after the April inflation report shows inflation pressures eased, with prices now up 3.4% from a year ago.

It's better than it was.

Here's how the markets closed.

♪ >> Support for the business report is provided by Riverview Jazz, presenting the 11th annual Jersey City Jazz Festival, May 29 to June 2.

Event details including performance schedules and locations are online at jerseycityjazzfestival.com.

♪ BRIANA: And that does it for us tonight.

But, don't forget to download the NJ Spotlight News podcast so you can listen anytime.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

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

Have a great evening.

We will see you back here tomorrow night.

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

Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of major, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

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More information is online at njrealtor.com.

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♪