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Briana: tonight on "NJ Spotlight News," just a week before the start of Senator Bob Menendez's federal bribery trial, his defense team lashes out at prosecutors, accusing them of revealing sensitive personal information.

>> It's the second I bet this senator has been prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department so that elevates the states.

Briana: Plus, the son of the embattled senior senator squares off against the Hoboken mayor in the first debate, trying to hold onto his seat as the race narrows.

>> I think you had a resounding victory last night and gay people a real reason to vote for us >> my strongest moment or moments was delivering a message of hope and possibility for the eighth district.

Briana: Also, unrest continues on in New Jersey's college campuses.

Rutgers University defends its deal to end their encampment, while pro-Palestinian Princeton students enter the fourth day of a hunger strike.

Governor Murphy calls for a special election to fill a vacancy following the death of Congress men Donald Payne, jr. >> There is not an easy way to reconcile the desire to let the butter make the choice but also to let us make a replacement as quickly as we can.

>> "NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

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

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

I am Briana Vannozzi.

The federal corruption trial against Senator Bob Menendez is turning ugly, and it hasn't even started yet.

Attorneys for the indicted senior senator are blasting prosecutors for allegedly outing his sensitive mental health information after they publicly disclosed letters sent to the judge in his corruption case detailing a psychiatric condition Menendez's defense team says drove him to hoard cash in his home.

According to court documents, Menendez's attorneys plan to call a New York psychiatrist to testify on his behalf and explain how the senator's pastor, but stemming from his family history as refugees from Cuba and his father's death by suicide over gambling debts formed his habit of squirreling away money, specifically hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold bars investigators found in his Bergen County home.

Prosecutors want the judge to block that testimony or allow a private psychiatrist to do their own evaluation.

It is the latest example of the defensive strategy we can expect to see when the trial begins a week from today.

Will the tactics play in the senator's favor?

Attorney and former federal prosecutor Brian Wisler is here to explain.

Thanks for joining us again.

We are one week out from the start of the trial, and it seems we have been getting information in drips about what the defense strategy might be.

Let me ask you about this latest iteration.

What is his defense team concerned about, potential taint to the jury pulled the could be selected by knowing this information about the senator exists?

>> That's exec the right.

In the filing it has been revealed that the government is attempting to prevent the defense from using an expert to describe the basis for the senator's actions precipitated on what appears to be two traumatic events from the past, one related to confiscation of property when the family was in Cuba and also relating to his father's taking of his own leg due to gambling debts.

-- of his own life due to gambling debts.

I think what has transpired is the defense has essentially said that the prosecution made this sensitive information public in contravention of a court order, and therefore the defense is seeking sanctions against the prosecution.

Briana: What does it say about these two teams?

Brian: certainly this is reflective of what is very high-stakes prosecution.

It is the second time this senator has been prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department.

That elevates the stakes.

Clearly the government's position will likely be that they did in fact redact at least in part the firing, which probably in their estimation reveals the intention not to taint the jury pool.

The defense is saying we don't know whether we're going to advance this expert proponent of the defense, and therefore the jury is going to be expecting to hear this type of expert testimony, and if they don't, it will raise questions in the jurors' minds about why the defense wasn't presented.

That is in essence what the defense is advancing.

Briana: What do you make, Brian, of the strategy his defense team, at least from what we know, the court filings that we've been able to see, about the tactic that -- tactics that they are using, both with bringing in potentially a psychiatrist, but also there was talk of bringing in someone to testify that the senator does in fact live within his means, that his lifestyle is not extravagant as has been painted.

What do you make of those strategies?

Brian: expert testimony relating to interfamily trauma that cause this type of behavior is not as common get expert testimony is oftentimes elevated in the minds of jurors as having greater weight.

I think that is what is at issue here, and effort to explain to jurors that there is a plausible basis for these actions.

Briana: Should we expect to see more filings like this when we have a few days left before his trial starts?

Brian: well, look, I think it is certainly more than a live possibility, because this has been a very protracted, high animated pretrial phase.

I think this issue, as with many of these pretrial issues, are set up for purposes of potential appeal.

There will be a lot more to come , possibly pretrial and certainly during the trial, it is going to be very interesting and a lot at stake.

Briana: And we will be coming back to you on that, no doubt.

Thanks so much for joining me.

Brian: Great to see you, thanks for your time.

Briana: While Menendez fights to hold onto his Congressional career, his son is out to prove he can win reelection without the senior senator's Congressman Robert Menendez faced off in a virtual debate hosted by NJ globe against a formidable opponent, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, well funded progressive who took the opportunity to link his appointed to his father's corruption case.

>> I was out there on the front lines into court litigation to abolish the line because it was unconstitutional.

Where was Robert Menendez?

He was silent.

>> That is not saying you have been on the right side of the issue your Ty Clary because you know you haven't.

You called every single party leader when you decided to run for office and sought the line.

>> They came out swinging, duking it out in a debate for congressional district 8, currently held by junior Menendez.

The debate turned to the recent indictment against U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez.

Mayor Bhalla's case for why he should win the seat.

Mayor Bhalla: his father has been accused of being a foreign agent for the Egypt government.

He is not concerned about the fact that he is risking the balance of the Senate by failing to endorse Andy Kim over reproductive rights issues.

>> The Congressman point out that Bhalla's own traditional concerns after his law license was suspended in New York.

, read the decision yourself and what the disk whenever never quite said about his behavior.

That is not me trying to crate an issue where there is none.

>> Each touted their accomplishments, Bhalla his response to climate change in Hoboken, Menendez bringing federal dollars to the district.

This debate stayed civil and substantive.

Both share their views on the role of the U.S. in international conflicts like Israel and Gaza.

Rep. Menendez: we need to support our allies and send a clear message that we will not abandon our allies and we are in this with them to ensure that we have a safer future for all of our global citizens.

Mayor Bhalla: We need to have a more surgical approach to determine whether or not to appropriate foreign aid to any country, and we should not provide foreign aid to governments where we see a human rights record that is not consistent with our values.

>> that Mr. -- that message from Bhalla one that will play well with the pro-Palestinian voters, but the district is largely Latino.

>> I think the mayor was a little more definitive on his foreign policy positions.

Ravi Bhalla was quite clear that he is going to support things that Medicare for all, against the county line, and he has called on Senator Menendez to resign and he thinks that as a created inherent conflicts for the Congressman.

>> But in the evening so, he gave the -- in the end, he gave the w to Menendez.

>> He made a strong case for bringing the dollars back to the district and was pretty clear what he would do and will continue to do in the house.

He talked about standing up for gun control, standing up for women's rights.

>> Each candidate told us he felt like he walked away from the win.

-- with the win.

Rep. Menendez: I think we delivered a resounding victory last night and gay people real reason to vote for us.

Mayor Bhalla: I think my fungus moment or moments was delivering a message of hope and -- strongest moment or moments was delivering a message of hope and possibility for the district.

I bring a track record of success.

>> They now have one month to make their case to voters in a match that without the party line could come down two points rather than a total knockout.

For "NJ Spotlight News," I'm Joanna Gagis.

Briana: Late Friday Governor Murphy ordered special elections to be held to fill the seat of the late Congressman Donald Payne, Jr.

The writ of election calls for a special primary on Tuesday, July 16, and a special general election to be held September 18.

The move was somewhat anticipated given Democrats' thin majority in the house and is he that would otherwise have been vacant till the end of the year.

The catch is candidates have until the end of this week, Friday, May 10, to file petitions if they plan to seek the nomination.

Murphy's decision has put a spotlight on how confusing New Jersey's laws are around Succession for a house he, so we will try to make sense of it with the director of their revenues instituted for New Jersey politics.

I'm grateful to have you because we have been trying to wrap our heads around this.

Let me ask you simply, what are the rules and why can't the governor name a successor like you can for a senate seat.

>> Great question, and this has to do with the house rules.

The house rules say that when someone is succeeded it has to be through a special election.

Whenever there is a vacancy in the house there is a special election.

It is the combination of that rule and New Jersey's rules that slow us down.

New Jersey's rules require a primary election before the general election.

We don't have to just get one election in, which allows a lot of states to fill in two months -- New York went through that with George Santos and history placement.

Our state doubles that amount of time because we have a primary election in general election.

Briana: And so what happens for the June for primary, because Payne's name is on that ballot already and he was running uncontested?

Are you telling me he could potentially win in the June 4 primary and then we're going to still have a special election for the current nominees?

Micah: Very likely that he will win the primary posthumously, and also very confusing because his current term has to be filled -- doesn't have to be.

The governor declined to name a special election for himself when he was elected governor.

But Governor Murphy has opted to have one.

They view it is very important to get the seat filled as quickly as they can.

Don't know what votes could happen in house.

But what is confusing is that there is also the issue of the election for the next full-term, the one where Congressman Payne will win the primary, and that the Democratic Party has to fill a vacancy for that primary, for that nomination, so that they have a candidate to run in the fall.

That will be for the full year term.

We have these processes going on, one for the current term, one for the next term all at the same time.

Briana: They are running parallel fulfill to the end of 2025 and one for beyond that.

Making sure I have my head around that.

Micah: beginning of 2025.

Briana: What does history show is about how often this has happened and why the legislature hasn't taken a stab at rewriting New Jersey's portion of the statute?

Micah: It's a great question and I don't think it will be uncontroversial right now but the way you cover to the primaries to give power to the party to put in a new nominee.

That is going to be controversial right now because we are in an era in our politics where we want to return that power directly to the voters, which means having these two special elections.

That keeps us at the five-month replacement window, the long window we have been in New Jersey.

There is not an easy way to reconcile the desire to let the voters make the choice but also to let us make a replacement as quickly as we can.

That is why -- you asked about historical precedent -- we have not done this in decades.

We have opted to leave that seat vacant for just a couple of months until we can have the full election.

Briana: I want to ask you about front, names we are seeing circulating.

A couple folks from Newark, interesting in and of itself.

What have you heard about the names being pushed to the front of the line for the Democrats?

Micah: Just on Friday night some of the mayors from the district and the chairs of the party, the chair in Essex, the state chair, and the mayors got together and decided that the front runner is the current city Council president in Newark.

She would be a very young member of Congress, 38 years old.

By all accounts is a community leader in Newark and comes out of the Baraka camp and would be close to him, so there would be a partnership there getting things back to the city.

There are other candidates, but it looks like she has catapulted to the front of the line.

Briana: And of course being from Newark, a powerhouse of politics there.

Thank you for helping us wrap our heads around this.

Appreciate it so much.

Micah: Thank you.

Briana: turning to the Middle East, Hamas has agreed to a cease-fire deal proposed by Qatar and Egypt.

The terms are unclear, but both the U.S. and Israeli governments confirmed they are reviewing the details of the plan.

The development came hours after Israel called on Palestinians living in the southern city of Rafah to evacuate immediately.

And as a student-led protests continue on college campuses here in New Jersey and across the U.S. At Princeton and records universities -- Rutgers universities, the administrations are taking heed for different reasons full of Melissa Rose Cooper has the latest.

>> The important thing is to make it clear to the University how sick people are of what they're doing.

Melissa: He is just one of a group of students at Princeton University who for the last four days at had little or nothing to eat as they take part in a hunger strike as a show of solidarity with Gaza.

>> We are trying to make clear how shameful the University's response to the divestment call has been.

The university has tried to make it seem as if our actions in setting up a peaceful area and engaged in a peaceful sit in, make us seem like we are a threat to public savior or causing health and safety risks.

Their refusal to meet with students and seriously negotiate is what is calling the real threat -- causing the real threat.

Alyssa: students -- Melissa: students and some faculty members are calling on the vice president to resign after students were arrested last week.

>> We got a preemptive letter before the encampment even started saying that if you do this, this, and this, you're going to be arrested.

After the events at Cleo Hall, she wrote a letter that was a mischaracterization, calling the students violent, impolite, threatening, which was absolutely not true.

Melissa: One of the students arrested.

>> We are barred from entering campus for meetings.

And we were evicted from housing, but that was later reinstated.

And we have charges of defiant trespassing.

Melissa: Should she says Princeton's actions went too far.

>> Last euro student who stormed the capital and was 0-- Capitol and was part of the insurrection was allowed to graduate.

I'm protesting a genocide that is currently happening in Gaza and I'm not allowed to be part of a larger community.

Melissa: over at Rutgers, the president is defending the University's decision to meet 8 out of 10 demands of students protesting the war in Gaza.

The president stating during the Board of Governors meeting earlier today, "I'm confident in our decisions.

They allow us to maintain a safe and controlled environment to protect Rutgers students and Rutgers property, and to ensure that our students' academic progress, taking finals and completing the semester, was not impeded."

Not everyone agrees.

One senator is calling for legislative hearings to stop the demand from going forward.

>> There is a lot of money appropriated by the state of New Jersey for Rutgers.

Don't you think that taxpayers have the right to weigh in on this issue?

These are pretty simple concepts.

This isn't necessarily about the war, because some legitimately argue that Israel was over-the-top in terms of its response.

That's a legitimate discussion.

But what is not legitimate is the University kowtowing to students and making no domains themselves.

Melissa: Back at Princeton, students say the least of the University can do is have a dialogue with them about their concerns, but they maintain they are willing to continue the strike until the charges against students arrested are dropped, as well as the demands of divestment are met.

A spokesperson for Princeton told us University officials had been in touch with protest organizers to support their freedom of especially.

The school also says they have physicians monitoring the students' health during the strike.

For "NJ Spotlight News," I'm a Melissa Rose Cooper.

Briana: In our " spotlight on business" report, protecting the environment cost big bucks.

The Department of environment pressure testified before the budget committee about the major climate challenges the state agency is facing and the price tag to try and fix them.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports from Trenton.

>> we are living within our means, and in a time where Flat is the new up, I think we are making good use of the resources that this legislature has provided.

Brenda: the commissioner says his department is facing some federal funding cuts at the same time climate change is creating even tougher challenges, like more intense rainfall and frequent flooding.

He says newly updated forecast models show Jersey rainfall is expected to increase by 20 to 50% into the next century.

Assembling budget committee members on both sides of the aisle asked about flooding and flood control.

>> Flooding is a massive issue that caused a tremendous distress to the homeowner and the business owners.

And yet we continue to build build build build build.

>> The largest issue we hear about is flooding the matter where we go there is no one silver bullet that is going to solve our flood control problems.

However, there are a number of advancements that we have made.

Brenda: He says recent rules restricting new development in land require builders to properly plan for stormwater runoff, and the DEP will release rules governing developing along the coast.

But flood control requires towns and counties to collaborate because water recognizes no map.

>> We need to do a better job of looking at that, and words aren't doing enough.

>> Yeah, I agree with you.

I believe it is a failure of government.

I believe it is a failure of local government largely, and the need for regionalization.

Brenda: Next fiscal year the DEP cannot count for millions of dollars in federal stimulus grants.

It is committed to water infrastructure projects to control sewage pollution.

>> If there are any that may be for some reason don't work out, would that money be able to go for further water infrastructure, or how would that work?

Brenda: The money is spoken for, Latourette said, but he explained New Jersey needs a jaw-dropping $30 billion in water infrastructure upgrades.

>> We leave nothing on the table from the feds.

We pursue every penny that is available to us.

And we received the matching funds for that through our general fund probation.

Brenda: The DEP's proposed budget totals $491 million, $22 million less than this fiscal year.

But the department is counting on a modest increase in Stata preparations and adding 14 more staffers to achieve its goals, including in mission control.

>> However, emissions are nonetheless increasing as population grows here and elsewhere.

Brenda: Latourette says the DEP is on track to improve the northern part of Liberty State Park with $35 million in state funding, another $35 million will help plan the first two sections of a Greenway, a non-mild nature trail through 11 counsels up in the coming weeks lawmakers will get to chew over these budget proposals including the DEP's.

But looking further down the road, the potential budget buster could be coping with climate change.

At the state has an X in Trenton, I'm Brenda Flanagan, "NJ Spotlight News."

Briana: On Wall Street, stocks are off to a strong start for the week, building off the surge from last week's session.

Here is how the markets close to this Monday -- closed this Monday.

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

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.

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