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>> Tonight on NJ Spotlight News, and energized rally in Trenton.

Environmental activists demonstrate outside the Statehouse: Firs -- calling for clean energy bills to combat climate change.

Longtime Hudson County Commissioner Bill O'Day launches his bid for Jersey City Mayor.

The candidate list continuing to still two years away.

>> Have to make all the good things benefit the people.

>> A possible cease-fire.

Israel and Hamas inch closer to a possible cease-fire in exchange for the release of hostages.

Will a deal be reached?

>> Looks like something is developing toward a deal that will include a Cease Fire and the release of somewhere between 50 and 80 hostages.

>> Maternal health becomes a centerpiece of Tammy Murphy's Senate campaign to unseat and battle U.S.

Senator Menendez.

>> What is harder to see is how some of the program she has championed, what they have done yet because not all of them have come to fruition.

>> NJ Spotlight News begins now.

♪ >> From NJPBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Brie the Vannozzi.

>> Thanks for joining us this Monday night.

Lawmakers are back in Trenton today for the first time in months.

They were greeted by environmentalists who were all in on getting the stay closer to 100% clean energy.

Protesting at the Statehouse in a call for more clean energy policies and decrying any legislation that slows New Jersey down from getting there.

Brenda Flanagan reports.

>> When I say climate, you say justice.

Claimant.

>> Justice.

>> Environmental advocates want a law that sets hard deadlines for well-defined renewable energy standards in New Jersey and they made their case to lawmakers considering a bill that would require 100% clean electricity from suppliers within a dozen years.

>> As you are building the future, don't build it dirty.

Make it squeaky clean.

>> Maria Lopez Nunez lives near New Jersey's largest garbage incinerator in Newark.

And environmental injustice community where one in four kids suffers from asthma.

She supports the bill which requires electricity suppliers to provide increasing amounts of clean energy.

80% by 2027.

80 5% by 2030 and 100% by 2035.

The mandates would replace Governor Murphy's current executive order.

>> The Executive Order is only the rule as long as that executive is the executive.

There are no guarantees the next governor will be as green as the current governor.

>> The bill set standards for how much clean energy should be generated in state versus but from outside.

>> 65% in state generation target.

I understand folks think this might not be enough but it is a massive increase from our current level which is only 25%.

>> For environmental justice warriors, the bill is a game changer.

>>>> It will literally save lives.

The burdens of pollution is proportionately harmed communities of color.

>> There are health disparities in the knitted states rooted in race and income and pollution from the energy infrastructure contributes to these health disparities.

>> Advocates told the Senate environment and energy committee the bill should impact more than just greenhouse gases.

They asked for a clearer definition of clean energy as close to zero as possible for pollutants like particulates.

They don't want power companies to buy their way out with carbon offsets.

>> There are some key things you need to fix so it is consistent with the intent of the law.

Otherwise we are creating massive loopholes.

>> Business representative asked for more clarity and pointed to Orsted's recent cancellation of its two offshore wind projects.

They're worried about moving jobs out of state and meeting the growing need for power.

>> We don't think it is feasible.

What we will ask this community to do is pause.

Let's take a step and plan things better.

Let's take the step to analyze cost better.

We will eventually have a D carbonized in clean energy future.

Setting artificial deadlines does not work.

>> The committee took in all of that information and decided not to vote today.

They're going to make amendments and they rescheduled a vote for December 18.

>> The race is on in Jersey City.

Longtime County legislator Bill O'Day this weekend declared his candidacy to be the city's next mayor had the lifelong resident made his pitch to an enthusiastic crowd filled with hundreds of supporters pledging to bring affordability and to hold developers accountable to the community.

He joins what is likely to become a crowded field of contenders a week after former Governor Jim McGreevy his bid.

David Cruz was there.

>> Our city.

>> Bill O'Day kicked it old-school in announcing his candidacy for mayor at the catering hall formerly known as casino in the park.

Back in the day like in the 1980's when O'Day was just starting, if you wanted to show out you pack to show out you packed the casino in the park.

Saturday's alliance with hundreds in attendance billing outside at a lot of that Oldfield.

>> This is a little bit of the old school feeling to this.

Take it to the streets.

Grassroots.

>> O'Day's political career began in 1981 as a City Councilman's a.

He served on the Council himself for eight years.

And as city Council Commissioner since 1997.

Off them with a democratic organization backing but frequently as his own man.

Bill O'Day as the sibling of NJ Spotlight News reporter Calin O'Day whose name has been mentioned for mayor almost every four years since.

Former mayoral candidate Lou Mentos says have the back to the future fives were a good sign for the campaign.

>> I like what I see today.

I see the melting pot of Jersey City.

You see people from every different neighborhood.

Every part of the city.

Essential to a campaign.

Two campaigns eating out two years before the election day.

>> Nine of the 12 mayors in the county have endorsed the other guy.

What does that say to you and what should that say to the residents?

>> What it says to me is that I think they should worry about their own town.

Not worry about Jersey City.

What it says to the residents is we will decide our own destiny.

We are not going to let the folks from the outside decide.

That is why you have so many people here.

>> Former Governor Jim McGreevy announced his run for mayor earlier in a small restaurant with not nearly as many supporters but noticeably more press.

>> I'm proud of the fact mayors have endorsed me because I have been a mayor.

No disrespect to the Commissioner but Bill has been a councilman.

He has been a Commissioner.

He has been in the legislative branch of government.

Being a mayor is very different.

At the end of the day, you get things done or you don't.

>> With election day almost two years away, McGreevy and O'Day figure a new battle in the inner-city where economic development has been slow to catch on.

Pam Johnson heads the inside violence coalition of Hudson County.

She supports our day but she says any candidate hoping to be successful here but are due more than talk.

>> You cannot speak to an audience of people who other than your name never have seen your face and cannot connect you to a body of work in a particular area.

That is important.

Consistency.

Establishing trust within neighborhoods is very important.

The messenger has to stand behind his message.

>> Other candidates are likely to jump into this race.

Downtown councilman James Solomon among them.

Jersey City has a rich history of stalking horse candidates.

The field could eventually be quite crowded.

Just like the good old days.

>> Unrest over the Israel Hamas conflict is mounting at home.

Today pro-Palestine supporters made their way to the Statehouse in Trenton carrying signs.

Some showing the faces of civilian Palestinian children who have been killed in the war since it began more than a month ago.

Lobbying state lawmakers for more local support to New Jersey's Muslim community.

This weekend the Palestinian-American community Center held a press conference highlighting the plight of health care workers in Gaza for operating under deadly conditions.

Has reports show another deadly Israeli airstrike hit a northern Gaza hospital where many were sheltering.

The Hamas run health ministry inside Gaza says more than 13,000 Palestinians have been killed or just under half her children.

All a response to a surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 in which 1300 Israelis were killed.

Today it appears Israel and Hamas are inching closer to a deal that will release some of the hostages captured the militant group.

As Israeli families wait in agony to know whether their loved ones are live.

A board member of the Union of journalists in Israel and the executive director of 972 magazine based in Tel Aviv has been writing about and covering the war and he joins me now.

Welcome back to the show.

I appreciate you taking some time to talk.

Let me ask you about this deal we are all learning about potentially for a temporary cease-fire in order to allow at least some of the hostages in Gaza to be released.

What can you tell me about what your outlet is reporting and what we know?

>> So far, we don't know much that is verified.

There is a lot of rumor going on the last few days.

It looks like something is developing toward a deal that will include a cease-fire and the release of somewhere between 50 and 80 hostages.

Probably some women and their children and all the children held.

That is quite likely.

With or without the release of some Palestinian prisoners who are women and children.

Still, the noise around this deal is very tense.

We have accusations coming from both sides.

Until we actually see coming out, it is hard to be sure of anything.

We keep hearing from the entire military and political leadership in Israel that this will take campaign as far as they are concerned is going to go on for at least months ahead.

I'm not certain that is the case.

That is what they are aiming.

We will see three or five days of Cease Fire.

There will be more fighting after the.

>> Since we last spoke which was a couple days after the Hamas attack October 7, at least in the West there has been a rise of resistance against U.S. policies backing Israel in the war in an effort to elevate Palestinian lives.

I'm curious if any of that resistance is on the ground in Israel or if those folks are more isolated in those beliefs.

>> In Israel, we have two populations.

You have Palestinian systems.

The vast majority are opposed to the war but are being brutally oppressed by the Israeli police.

People are being arrested not only for going on a small silent vigil but even for publishing I cry for the people of Gaza or stop the war now.

Defend all civilians can get people arrested and spend a considered number of days in jail.

The number of Jewish Israelis actively opposed to the war, we saw the first actual demonstration of a few hundred people this last Saturday.

It is very small.

>> I'm wondering about you as a journalist how difficult it has been to report on the conflict both personally but also to get the information you need, to verify it and to perhaps even backlash.

>> I think it is really important for me to say as someone who leads a media outlet shared by Palestinians and Israelis, we have people reporting in Gaza.

The most important thing is our concern for the people there.

We have had one previous contributor that wrote one piece for us in the past that was killed together with his entire family.

Our current contributors, we are calling every morning to see they are alive.

Some of them we have lost touch with for a few days.

We are trying to get a hold of them.

They might have run out of battery because there is no electricity but we don't know what happened to them.

Everything else in terms of our journalism, fact checking, reporting, personal fears is really marginal compared to the concern to Gaza journalists.

Dozens of whom have been killed.

.

Some of them with their entire family so far.

>> And Israeli journalist based in Tel Aviv.

Thank.

You for joining me -- thank you for joining me.

A bombshell conclusion today to an investigation into Clark Township officials.

The state Attorney General's office is criminally charge a long time Mayor's Albano Corso with official misconduct, forgery and falsifying records alleging the 63-year-old mayor used his public office to benefit his private landscaping company.

Accusing him of submitting false and fraudulent paperwork for nearly two dozen towns to help his company improperly remove hundreds of underground storage tanks.

Clark officials have been under investigation since 2020.

That is when a whistleblower within the police department captured secret recordings of the mayor and top police brass using racial slurs and disparaging remarks about black people and women in the police force.

Then allegedly paid nearly half $1 million in hush money to cover it up.

Attorney General Matt Plotkin said the state found no criminal misconduct in the racism probe.

These charges are separate but the police department remains under the control of Union County and prosecutors today called for Clark's police chief and others to be fired.

The state's members are lining up to endorse Tammy Murphy in her mid--- her bid for the U.S. Senate to Mikey Cheryl, Franklin, Donald Norcross, Bill Pascoe, Josh Gottheimer are all backing the first lady as she looks to take the seat currently held by embattled senior Senator Bob Menendez.

It is a snub vote to the Democratic House colleague Andy Kim who was first jump in the race.

As Murphy's campaign gets underway, it is clear a cornerstone will be her efforts on maternal health.

Today the first lady unveiled a new push to give pregnant people access to do was.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis reports.

>> And I'm proud to say we have introduced legislation that guarantees patients have the legal right to have a doula with them in and birthing centers before, during and after labor >> At a roundtable this morning first lady Tammy Murphy introduced new legislation that will expand duel access in hospitals around the state, a key element in her nurturer NJ initiative that is work to increase the use of doulas, especially for women of color or maternal death rates are staggering.

>> I think this bill will help a lot because I come across different policies in different hospitals.

I have been told you not need to be here at the C-section when that is when I am a lot more effective.

Some uniformity, some clarity going forward will help a lot.

>> The bill will require hospitals to create a liaison for patients and to clearly post their access rules within their hospitals.

It has the support of several health care organizations around the state who applaud the Murphy administrations expansion of doulas along with the expanded Medicaid coverage.

>> I have seen how labor support can effect -- can affect a pregnant person, affect their confidence.

>> We have been working on training doulas in committee program since 2016.

We have trained over 160 who have witnessed over 600 births.

We are proud of that fact.

This bill allows us to take the next step in working with our hospital partners and connecting them with different groups in the community that are working with doulas to develop templates to ensure doulas have access to all women in labor.

>> For the maternal health champions in the room, the messages familiar even if the numbers are still startling.

>> Black women in New Jersey are nearly seven times more likely than white women to die from maternity related complications.

While Latino mothers are a 3.5 times or likely to die.

Meanwhile, black babies are more than three times more likely than white babies to die before their first birthday.

>> With Carrie Murphy's announcement she is running for the U.S. Senate seat Senator Bob Menendez currently holds, her message rang a bit different today.

>> In New Jersey, I have spent almost six years listening to mothers who have lost their babies or their nearly their own lives.

At the beginning of my husband's administration, we were 47th in the nation for maternal mortality rates.

I am proud to tell you as of their last publication, we are at 27.

>> Is it appropriate to be holding a state event like this when you are running for the U.S. Senate?

>> This is something I have been working on for six years.

I would say today is a big deal.

This is a big step.

Moms and babies have been dying in New Jersey.

We are brick by brick slowly moving the needle.

>> As for events like this, the first lady says her regardless of her status as a candidate, you can expect to see her out here doing many more.

>> Tammy Murphy's use of the administration and office of the first lady is under the microscope now she is a political candidate especially as her signature issue nurture NJ becomes a main pillar of her Senate campaign.

A health care writer looked into where Murphy has made progress and where others say her work has lacked.

Good to see you.

It makes sense given the first lady's work this would be a key platform issue for her going into the campaign but you dug into it a bit and I'm curious what you found.

Folks who criticized her work and folks who praised it.

>> I think it is important to acknowledge off the bat the first lady its enormous marks all around for bringing maternal health and particularly the racial disparities and outcomes, the fact that black moms have such poor outcomes compared to whites, bringing that to the table.

Bringing the coalition building is important.

What it is harder to see is how some of the programs she has championed -- what they have done yet.

Not all of them have come to fruition.

There are many things that have been done.

Insurance has been extended.

Doulas have been trained but there is a lot of work that has been going on outside of the Murphy -- that she did not have direct hands-on that is also improving hospital outcomes.

Reducing C-sections.

There are a lot of different players in this space.

It is a little too soon to say exactly how much it is going to impact things.

Clearly we are heading in the right direction.

>> You can pick any topic where there are grassroots efforts on it and a celebrity or someone of notoriety comes in, champions the effort and suddenly it is a thing.

Of course credit goes where it goes, but are there grassroots efforts that perhaps she has looked over as first lady or she is accused of looking over?

>> One of the things that struck me is this project by the Mount Zion church in Trenton.

Rooted in Trenton.

This is a group they had a press conference in October of last year to announce a project that would be a birthing center and education center primarily aimed at black women in Trenton.

There is no place to give birth in Trenton city.

This clearly filled the need and seem to check all kinds of boxes.

Oddly enough to me I thought, the first lady was not at the event and I have been told she sort of stayed silent on this.

When I asked her about it, she said in an email response it is very much part of what they are trying to do.

She sees part of the solution.

There is a little bit of wait and see from some of the leaders on doing the work on the ground as to what that support looks like long-term.

>> Very quickly, there was a flashpoint this weekend over and add the state began airing.

What was it and what was the contention?

>> The question was the state has invested money in ads for maternal health improvements that featured the first lady's voice.

There were questions raised about this.

I was told by the governor's office Saturday morning the ads predate her announcement and they pulled them out of an abundance of caution and will be using other voices.

Stay tuned on that as well.

>> State money being used for an ad where she is featured 2 -- >> In the political campaign.

>> Thank you as always.

>> Thank you.

>> In our spotlight on business report, stocks edged up slightly to start Wall Street short holiday week.

Focus turns to whether the Federal Reserve is finally done raising interest rates.

Here is today's closing trading numbers.

♪ And finally, today marks transgender Day of remembrance which honors members of the LGBTQ+ community who lost their lives to violence and hate.

The trick -- the tradition began in 19 at nine as a way to pay homage to Rita Hester, a transgender black woman brutally killed in her Boston home a year prior.

Since then, advocates and allies across the world hold vigils to commemorate Hester and other individuals who have suffered because of their gender identity.

Data from the human rights campaign shows at least 14 trans people have been murdered in the U.S. in 2023.

In Asbury Park tonight, the Black Bird community center on Adkins Avenue is hosting an event open to the public.

Organizers say it is important to highlight given the important climate pointing to a pervasive lack of acceptance.

The visual will honor members of those lost while also encouraging people to help the part of the solution.

That does it for us tonight.

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

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

We will see you right back here tomorrow.

>> New Jersey education Association, making public schools great for every child.

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We support our communities through NJM's corporate giving program supporting arts and culture related and nonprofit organizations that serve to improve the lives of children my rebuild communities and help to create a new generation of safe drivers.

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♪