BRIANA: Tonight on "NJ Spotlight News," supporting our veterans.

Change was promised after a scathing report about veterans homes.

But when will the overhaul begin?

>> As much help as can be given to the veterans I think is imperative.

BRIANA: Plus, pro-Palestine supporters hit the streets, demanding a Cease Fire, saying enough is enough as the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to rise.

>> There is a lot happening on the ground and these civilians are paying the price.

BRIANA: Also, ready to run?

Speculation surfaces that First Lady Tammy Murphy is putting plans in place for a potential political run to replace the state's embattled senior senator.

And history in the making.

The first openly LGBTQ woman is elected to New Jersey's state legislature.

>> We need to look at each other and reach across the isle and try to have a dialogue that is not filled with vitriol.

BRIANA: "NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

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♪ From NJPBS, this is "NJ Spotlight News."

BRIANA: Thank you for joining us this Friday night.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

As New Jerseyans salute those who kept America safe, when he are wondering when the state will return the favor.

It has been months since a scathing Justice Department report uncovered failures at government-run veterans homes.

The governor and lawmakers pledged to overhaul the system, but families of veterans essay reforms have been slow to take place, and they want more immediate action.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports.

>> I find that there -- the veterans have been forgotten.

Brenda: Kim Clover is an Air Force nurse that recently retired after 24 years of service.

At a Veterans Day event, she talked about crucial health care reforms desperately needed by military vets, especially those in hospitals and retirement homes.

Kim: But he that can be the intermediary person to speak for especially older veterans unable to verbalize their concerns and go out there and get them the health care that they need.

>> What we found during the pandemic and at other times is people did not know who to call or where to get information.

Families were calling and saying, what is going on?

Brenda: Congressman Gottheimer would place a federal advocate in every veterans home across the country.

After the Covid crisis in Paramus and Menlo Park yielded one of the highest death tolls for veterans facilities in the nation, advocates including the Department of Justice have demanded better communication.

Rep. Gottheimer: This will be a voice for our veterans, ensuring they have access to someone that can immediately help them with concerns.

Dianne: I think it would have made a big difference because they would have been able to be the voice those people did not have.

Jay: we still have a long way to go to give us platinum level care for veterans.

Brenda: VFW spokesman Jay box well says an investigation at the Paramus and Menlo Park homes found they violated constitutional rights through September of 2022.

They call for vast improvements in medical care and management, and threatened a lawsuit.

Lawmakers began drafting bills to reconfigure the Department of veterans and military affairs.

Sen. lagana: it is a two-step process where we will have a new department only dealing with nursing homes.

We are going to have an advocate making sure that that commission is doing its job, basically.

Brenda: Meanwhile, negotiations continue between the Murphy administration and the Department of justice, after federal investigators discovered an ongoing risk of serious harm at two of New Jersey's three veterans homes.

The deadline for mediation established by the feds expired a couple of weeks ago.

Sen. Cryan: they see as taking action and are giving us the opportunity to move forward.

Brenda: Senator Joe Cryan chairs the veterans and military affairs committee.

He says legislation to create a new cabinet-level department for veterans is too complex to draft in time for the Legislature's lame-duck session.

Sen. cryan: there is a high degree of expectation of a federal monitor.

Negotiations -- we do not want it to be for the lame-duck.

Brenda: He expects draft legislation and hearings after the holidays, in January or February.

Sen. Cryan: this is a "how they make the sausage" kind of thing, but there is a lot of federal dollars involved, and making sure they stay active and are done properly.

That is one of the tricks of getting this right.

Jay: there are focus groups and different groups of individuals that are working on specific parts of the realignment.

Everybody from the executive branch, the folks on the legislative side.

Brenda: Box well says it is worth the time.

I am Brenda Flanagan.

"NJ Spotlight News."

Briana: No sooner did legislative elections and then a next campaign cycle began.

On Thursday, Jim McGreevey announced he is reentering politics, wanting a bid to be the next mayor of Jersey City, nearly 20 years after a stunning resignation from the state' is top office when a lawsuit threatened to expose an extramarital affair agreed he had with a man he appointed to a homeland security post.

The former governor sat down with senior political correspondent David Cruz for this episode of Chat Box, to talk about this campaign and what he wants a second chance.

David: The scandal, we should say, and I was covering that -- it was more than "I am a gay American."

You tried to make your lover the head of Homeland Security.

Jim: That is not true.

David: The feds were investigating aspects of your administration.

Jim: They are two separate things.

One, he was counseled to the governor.

Only in security was in the Attorney General's office.

David: A paid job within the administration.

Jim: Actually, we lifted and heightened it to focus on the importance of counterterrorism.

But I said only in New Jersey can you have a gay lover on the payroll and that not be enough.

But candidly, it was inappropriate.

It was no longer something apologized for.

It was something I took ownership of.

Just want to be clear, if I can finish, that yeah, he advised on a whole series of issues, including counterterrorism.

Including economic development.

Including the business community.

So I want to own it.

But again, I apologize for it, and -- David: You want to own it, but for what exactly it was.

Jim: Yes, for what it was.

David: Fair enough.

There were federal investigations.

Jim: Chris Christie one of the toughest prosecutors of white-collar crime in the history of the state.

And I think he is tough, but fair.

And clearly, I think that whoever is governor can be the focus of investigations, both state investigations or federal investigations.

In fact, I think Governor Christie said that Jim McGreevey -- I think he actually said on tape that Jim McGreevey has never taken a dime in his life.

David: You mentioned that somebody said, who is this guy?

Do you feel a little bit like that is a your for people?

Who is this guy?

What do you say to "who is that guy"?

Jim: To the young folks?

Just -- I had a state trooper a couple of months ago, and we were talking, and he said -- we kept going back and forth.

Finally he said, you work in Trenton was to mark what did you do?

-- you worked in Trenton?

What did you do?

I said, I was governor.

I think that is a blessing, because, candidly, it is an opportunity to set yourself and your vision for the city.

David: You had former Senate President Steve Sweeney, Senator Brian stank, another political luminary.

Are you the establishment candidate and is that a look for someone in Jersey city?

Jim: I don't think I am establishment.

David: You have nine of the 12 Hudson mayors.

Jim: At the end of the day, and less you are registered in voting in Jersey City, you cannot vote in Jersey City.

I think I would want to be the candidate that people have trust is going to work really hard on working class family issues, that is going to make sure, that is going to work diligently to clean up the streets, safe and clean streets, striping, cleanliness, street paving, try to do something about the traffic, try to do something about the parking, and affordability.

Briana: You can see David's full interview with the former governor on "Chat Box" this weekend Saturday and Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, first lady Tammy Murphy has not even declared her candidacy, and she has already gotten endorsements to run for embattled U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez's seat.

In a statement on Thursday, a U.S. senator described Murphy as a qualified, driven person, saying the first lady has been a force within the governor's administration, arguing she spends more time in Trenton than some elected officials who are paid to be there.

Murphy has not confirmed whether she will run for the seat.

But according to reports from "NJ globe," a political website in her name was registered last week, and social media pages for her campaign are in the works.

If she does enter the race, she will face progressive activist Larry Hamm and sitting Congressman Andy Kim, who tossed his hat in the ring the day after Menendez was indicted.

If elected, Murphy would be New Jersey's first female U.S. senator and the only first lady to win an election to that seat.

Democrats this week held onto a hotly contested state Senate seat, reelecting incumbent bingo Powell for a landslide, for a third term in office in the Jersey shore's 11th district.

But voters also flipped the two a simile seats and made history by electing the first openly LGBTQ woman to the New Jersey legislature.

In a race where polenta -- parental notification policies for transgender and non-binary students loomed large.

The simile woman elect Peter Paul joins me now.

The woman elect, it is great -- assemblywoman elect, congratulations is in order.

This was a long, hard fight for you all in the 11th district.

And you were pinned as really the underdogs, because of the Republican advantage, given the split district.

>> Yes, we were.

Thank you for having me on.

As you can see, I am losing my voice a little bit after the long campaign.

It was a long campaign.

We had a tremendous team behind us.

It was a team that really worked together, almost like a family, because we all believed in the same thing.

We all believed in our messaging.

We all believed in the fact that we were telling the right things and speaking about the right things, moving forward.

It was a tough election.

But it was well worth it at the end.

We kept our eye on the prize.

Briana: What are you going into Trenton hoping to do?

You obviously have a long career as a former county prosecutor, Eunice a pull judge.

Of course, lots of talk about you being the first LGBTQ member there.

What is your hope when you had to Trenton?

Luanne: You know, being the first LGBTQ plus out lesbian elected to the legislature was really -- it is part of who I am, being gay.

But it was not the issue that really thrust me into politics, except on election night I do have to say that several people came up to me with tears in their eyes and thanked me for putting myself out there and running.

In fact, one particular story stands out.

A fireman who had tears in his eyes and came up to me and said he traveled hours to help get us elected, and me in particular, because his 15-year-old son came out to him earlier this year.

That is what I want to bring to the legislature, is not just LGBTQ+ equality, but across the board -- we are facing a lot of anti-Semitism in today's world.

We need to reach across the isle and try to have a dialogue that is not good with the trio.

-- with vitriol.

We need to do the work that is necessary or constituents.

Briana: Civility, at the end of the day, one out.

Do you think that is what it is?

How do you begin to bridge that vied when the rhetoric has become so heated and intense?

Luanne: Well, I think Senator gopal has established a template on how to reach across the aisle.

That is why he asked both Dr. Margie Donelan and myself to run, because he realized that we believed in the same thing.

Being a prosecutor, being a judge, you come to realize that communication, community -- all of that makes a big difference.

Coming across as being adversarial all the time, it really just polarizes the situation.

We are going to follow what Senator Gopal has mapped out in terms of civility and reaching across the aisle.

Briana: Senator elect luanne pet erpaul winning in the 11th district.

Thank you for your time.

Palestinian demonstrators rallied on Thursday outside the offices of two New Jersey Congress members, part of a national shutdown day where protesters from across the country held events elevating their calls for a cease-fire in Gaza.

They marched outside the Newark office of U.S.

Senator Cory Booker and at a Patterson office, carrying Palestinian flags, and signs reading "Cease Fire now."

protesters say the conflict has reached a critical point, pointing to records from the health ministry inside Gaza showing more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army since the war broke out on October 7.

Palestinian Americans who live in New Jersey shared stories of family members who have been killed or stuck in Gaza.

For more on the growing calls to end the war, I am joined by Rania Mustafa, the Executive Director of the Palestinian-American community center in Clifton.

Thanks so much for joining me.

I want to talk to you first about these increased calls now, and the demonstrations that have been happening, with I will say really cries for a cease-fire.

What is the message that your organization and a lot of others are hoping to get across?

Rania: I think our biggest message is that enough is enough.

There have been over 10,000 people that have been killed of them, over 4000 children.

We are trying to appeal to people's humanity and say that enough is enough, and we need a Cease Fire now.

Briana: When we heard from folks at some of these protests, they shared very vulnerable and very powerful words about the grief that is really taking over the community.

How are you helping others during this time, and what are they coming specifically to your organization for?

Rania: There have been several things we have been helping people with.

The first as a community center is we have been trying to provide spaces of community healing through various programs and our events, and just being together as a community.

We have been working tirelessly on making sure that people are educated and truly understand the Palestinian narrative.

Briana: I am curious to know what you feel is the biggest piece of this information, and what you want the public at large to know about how Palestinian Americans, not just in New Jersey but everywhere, how they are feeling right now?

Rania: I think the biggest misinformation that is out there is that there are so many civilians on the ground.

As you mentioned earlier, we had a silent rally yesterday where several family members came up to share their stories.

These are mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, children, babies, teenagers that are literally being killed or starved to death.

This is not some sort of human shield theory.

That is 100% false.

That is not what is happening.

These are civilians being targeted by Israeli airstrikes.

There are a lot of were crimes from barrel bombing, carpet bombing, white phosphorous.

A lot is happening on the ground.

These civilians are paying the price.

Briana: Please go on.

Rania: In terms of how our community is feeling, we feel very abandoned.

I think for so long.

Now we are in a place where our community is little -- literally grieving, is being actively murdered, and we are not getting the attention or the advocacy that is needed in order to end this.

At the end of the day, it does not take much.

It takes someone recognizing someone else's humanity, and it is difficult that we are put in these positions where we have to explain to people why we are human and why we deserve life.

I honestly don't wish that position on anybody, where you have to make your appeal that I am human and I deserve life and I am not lesser than anyone else.

That is a very difficult position to be with them.

I think our community as a whole has been really struggling with that.

Briana: Ronnie Mustapha is the Executive Director of the Palestinian-American community center in Clifton, on calls for a cease-fire.

Thank you so much for sharing those thoughts with us.

Rania: Thank you for having me.

Briana: The FBI led manhunt in Middlesex County is over.

Federal authorities say Gregory Getman, a 47-year-old man wanted in connection with the January 6 attack on the U.S. capital, turned himself in this morning.

To the Monroe Township Police Department.

He fled his home in hell Metta on Wednesday when FBI agent survived to serve him a federal warrant, running into a wooded area behind his house, setting off a frantic search.

Ted Goldberg has the details.

>> Is different when it is in your own backyard.

I do think it was a relief.

I see a lot of positive comments now on social media.

People are very appreciative.

Ted: You don't always see positivity on social media, but that is what happened when a 48 hour manhunt ended after former New Jersey national guardsmen Gregory Getman turned himself into Monroe Township police.

The FBI tried to arrest him on Wednesday, alleging that he pepper spray Capitol Police during the January 6 riot.

He allegedly ran into the woods behind his home in Helmetta.

>> The woods are quite dense and several acres.

Being born and raised here, there is trails back there.

Growing up, it was kind of a standard that you know the trails back there.

Ted: The mayor says the FBI told him Getman would likely stay local, keeping residents on edge and Wednesday morning.

>> The FBI reassured us through the entire search that the authority was in safe hands.

The prosecutors and police work elaborately and were in constant collaboration with myself and the administration here, to make sure the residence were kept safe.

Ted: The FBI says Getman turned himself in peacefully.

He refused medical treatment.

He is being held until a court appearance in D.C. on Monday.

Getman admitted to being in the capital on January 6 during an interview with USA Today earlier this year, but said he did not break any laws.

Ian: Over two dozen New Jersey residents, former New Jersey residents or current New Jersey residents, were charged with a whole gamut of charges.

From trespassing to seditious conspiracy.

Ted: Ian is a contributor to "NJ Spotlight" who has written about January 6.

Getman is charged with assaulting officers, obstruction of law enforcement, and other federal charges.

Ian: It sounds like this is one of the bad actor spectrum.

People who were assaulting officers certainly are taken more seriously and are being charged and sentenced.

Ted: Getman's arrest comes nearly three years after January 6, and the FBI continues arresting and charging people who were there.

Ian: People forget the magnitude of this investigation.

Over a thousand people have been charged.

That is a lot of work.

That is a lot of shoe leather.

That is a lot of interviewing.

Ted: The FBI still has a long list of suspects and some of them have awards for information leading to their arrest.

In Helmetta, I am Ted Goldberg.

Briana: In our spotlight on business report, residence in Salem city are handing their drinking water system over to a private company, voting overwhelmingly on Tuesday in favor of selling the municipal water and sewer management utilities.

The controversial plan passed despite low turnout, with 61% of the vote.

New Jersey American water will by the municipal utility for $18 million.

It is promising to pump about 50 million dollars more into info structure upgrades over the next decade.

Salem city officials say they had no choice but to sell.

The water system is plagued by debt and failed to meet new state standards, including having high levels of the toxic chemical PFNA.

Private utilities typically charge higher rates than towns and pass the cost on to customers.

American water says rates will stay the same for the next two years, then increase by 3% during each of the next three years.

On Wall Street, stocks opened fire today.

Here is a look at where trading numbers ended for the week.

>> Support for the business report provided by the New Jersey tourism industry Association.

They will host their New Jersey conference on tourism November 30 through December 1 at resorts Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.

NJTIA.org for event information.

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

She looks at the process of starting a business in New Jersey and the support entrepreneurs can access in the state.

She also talks to new business owners about the movement from idea to grand opening.

Watch it on Saturday morning on NJPBS.

♪ That is going to do it for us tonight.

This weekend, be sure to tune in to Reporters Roundtable.

David Cruz talks with Republican Senator John Remnick -- Jon Bramnick about lessons learned from the recent elections.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

For all of us, thanks for being here.

Have a wonderful weekend.

We will see you on Monday.

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