ANNOUNCER: funding for NJ Spotlight News, provided by members of the New Jersey Education Association.

Making public schools great for every child.

RWJ Barnabas Health.

Let's be healthy together.

New Jersey realtors.

More information is online at njrealtor.com.

And, Orsted, committed to delivering clean, reliable American-made energy.

♪ BRIANA: tonight, taking on Trump.

From firing educational records to Medicaid cuts, New Jersey's Attorney General sounds off on the state's legal battles against the president as the policies.

>> those laws are in place for a reason.

Briana: Plus, Governor Murphy abolish of the County line by approving a redesign of the state's primary ballot system.

>> We are a must in uncharted territory.

It will be interesting to see.

Briana: And another measles death with cases on the right in the U.S., as markets in New Jersey are going unvaccinated.

And open for business.

American Dream Mall is ordered to pay millions in fees to surrounding towns after losing a bizarre tax site.

-- tax fight.

"NJSpotlightNews" starts right now.

♪ ANNOUNCER: from NJPBS Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Briana Vannozzi.

Good evening and thanks Briana: For joining us this Friday right Brian night.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

First, President Trump campaigned on boosting job growth in the U.S. there what do the numbers show?

The first full U.S. jobs report under this administration is out today, showing the market is still pretty solid, with employment holding steady there than the total number of jobs added is lower than expected, indicating there could be trouble ahead.

According to the report, the U.S. economy added 1000 jobs last month, extending a stricken job growth.

Economists, though, forecast 160,000 jobs would be added in February.

The unemployment rate inched up just slightly to about 4%, but the report was based on surveys taken during the second week of February, before our good fortune of those firings and buyouts and hiring freezes at federal agencies, indicating a decline of just 10,000 federal workers.

Economists say that impact may not fully serviced in data until sometime this spring.

The County line in New Jersey is officially dead.

Governor Murphy on Thursday quietly signed the bill redesigning the state's primary ballot system, which has long been criticized for giving an advantage to political party bosses and the candidates they endorse.

county clerks to print what's known as office block ballots, gripping candidates by the position they are seeking, rather than the candidate party.

It comes after a contentious lawsuit brought last year by then Congressman Andy Kim, who was facing first lady Tammy Murphy for the Democratic nomination for Senate.

In a social media post, he and other progressives said this Bill, quote, falls short of what voters deserve, arguing it still benefits powerful party organizations because that allows running mates to be grouped together, increasing their odds of getting a better spot on the ballot.

The new design will be rolled out in time for this year's June 10 primary.

>> Advocates definitely have been saying that they think this is an effort for lawmakers to try to put a thumb on the scale to put any influence they can to help them get reelected, since they can't have the County line again, you know, a judge ruled that it's not a fair system.

Briana: Briana: And a possible second measles death has been reported in the U.S., after a New Mexico resident tested positive for the virus following their death.

The largest outbreaks are unfolding in New Mexico and Texas, but they have also popped up in New Jersey and the tri-state.

According to the Department of Health, as of February 28, there are still three confirmed cases here.

The original patient is in unvaccinated child who had recently traveled overseas.

The other two infected were unvaccinated people who came in close contact with that first patient.

Experts say it's not uncommon to see sporadic cases of measles reported.

Last year, for example, there were a total of seven confirmed cases of the illness in New Jersey.

But keep what does concern them is a rising number of kids going unvaccinated, mainly on religious grounds.

In the last 10 years, state records show the number of children skipping vaccines through religious exemptions more than doubled to just over 4%.

Vaccine choice advocates say the choice should be left to parents.

Medical professionals though, say it puts the most vulnerable at risk, and is still the best way to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

Attorney General Matt Platkin has turned another lawsuit against the Trump Administration, this time, challenging the firings of federal probationary workers, calling it an illegal mass layoffs.

In a separate lawsuit, he joined a coalition of 20 states fighting the president's attempt to cut federal grants that prepare new teachers for the classroom.

Democratic attorney from across the country have had initial success in their legal suits against this administration, winning temporary relief on issues ranging from ending birthright citizenship, to freezes on public funding.

But Platkin's resistant efforts have not gained him many friends in and he of the Republican party last week introduced articles of impeachment against him, arguing he is more focused on generating headlines than protecting the residents of New Jersey.

Attorney General Matt Platkin joins me now.

Attorney General, good to talk to you.

Where to begin honestly?

Let's talk about this lawsuit challenging the administration over the firing of the probationary workers.

He say that the President overstepped his authority here.

How so?

Doesn't his office have the autonomy to shrink the size of the federal workforce?

Guest: Look, anybody who is trying to root out waste, fraud, and abuse is certainly good to have no argument from me, except when the president is trying to do wholesale reductions in force as he's trying to do through Elon musk, who is the world's richest man and unelected billionaire who is just running roughshod over critical government services.

They need to follow the laws that are put in place for large-scale reductions in force that we don't make mistakes like , so inadvertently firing people who regulate our nuclear Arsenal .

Or people who ensure that planes can land on time or people who provide Healthcare protect our public health.

Or veterans, which he has fired thousands of them.

People who serve this country and have been fired indiscriminately who are performing re really critical roles.

Those laws are in place for a reason and the president needs to follow them just as every , other president who has tried to do large scale reductions in force have done.

Briana: Does your office have it counted how many New Jersey-based federal workers have been impacted?

Guest: Yeah, we put in the complete and it has been hundreds of workers in our state and thousands across the country.

Again, this is about making sure the law is followed and that critical services that the government provides, that nobody disputes --I think everybody believes planes should land safely.

We have seen issues from this administration on that front.

People believe veterans should be treated fairly and yet they've basically ignored the law and hurt people across the board in many ways that make our residence with safe -- less safe.

Briana: What you are seeking is to get these workers back in their jobs?

To prevent other firings from happening in the future?

Both?

Guest: Both.

Not saying the administration has no ability to reduce its size -- it certainly does and, frankly, we are living in an administration, as Governor Murphy has mention, that has fewer public employees today than when he took office.

There is no argument on that effort to ensure we are spending taxpayer dollars well.

It is just that laws need to be followed so that we don't make mistakes, again, like we have a nuclear Arsenal that suddenly has all of the people who are in charge of making sure it's safe fired overnight.

The log needs to be followed.

And for the people that were terminated unlawfully, they are entitled to reinstatement.

Briana: Let me ask you about this other lawsuit, the grant money that provides teacher training specifically, for new teachers to get them into the classroom.

Is it your understanding that these folks who are currently enrolled in programs funded by that many of being pulled out or having their problems cut short?

They will not be able to teach in the fall?

Guest: We have seen programs at Montclair State and TCNJ potentially have to be cut short that are providing critical teacher training programs at a time when we have a national, and a state shortage of teachers in the pipeline.

In no small part because of the attacks on our public educators that was seen in New Jersey and across the country.

Let's be clear about what we are dealing with.

This is the most fundamental assault on public education and families like mine who who participate in the public education system and who rely on it, that we have ever seen in this country.

They are threatening teachers that go to work in rural schools , and urban schools.

They are threatening to end the pipeline for teachers that are trained in math and science and we're talking about winning the economic fight for the next century.

Well, those are pretty important skills.

And most curly, probably, they have threatened funding -- most cruelly, probably, they have threatened to cut funding for kids with special needs.

Families who wake up every day and I've spoken to some of them just hoping to get their kids the care that they are entitled to when they drop their kids off at school.

Briana: I have to ask you about the work you have been doing to push back.

Then you get a group of Republican state lawmakers who filed impeachment articles, saying you are too focused on President Trump, you should be focused on that residents here in New Jersey that you serve.

How do you respond to that?

Guest: I don't spend a whole lot of time paying attention to partisan political attacks, and certainly, we haven't taken our eye off the ball here in New Jersey.

We just announced one of the largest busts of an oak.

In state history 500,000 doses , of heroin and opioids taken off the street.

Gun violence is at historic lows.

We have driven gun violence down to historical lower levels.

We are focused on keeping our residents safe and that is what I do every single day and that's where my attention is paid.

Briana: Is it a coincidence, or connected, the fact that those articles of impeachment were introduced a day after a judge dismissed the federal racketeering charges you filed against George Norcross, of course, a lot to be made there .

Guest: Again, I don't spend time trying to figure out motivations.

Of people who, frankly, don't seem to care that our schools are threatening to be defended, that law enforcement funding has been frozen, that Medicaid was frozen, that our university system and people undergoing clinical trials in cancer and Alzheimer's research were told they could no longer benefit from those treatments because of, frankly, political attacks on our state and on every state in this country.

Whatever their motivation is an, by the way, that case is on appeal, I don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about it.

I wake up every morning and go to bed every night focused on how do I keep the residents of the state safe.

Whether it be against gun and drug trafficking, or social media companies that are hurting our residents, especially our youngest residents, or protecting them from harms flowing from unlawful actions taken by this federal administration.

And by the way,'s we are undefeated in court so far in the first six weeks of this administration, so I think we have a pretty strong record.

Briana: The governor yesterday signed the ballot we design bill.

You had weighed in on this about whether or not the county line should be abolished.

Your job is to be independent of the governor.

But you two were at differences about the county line.

What do you make of the fact that this will be rolled out in time for the June primary well ?

Guest: Look, legislature and governor have acted which is their right, I don't weigh in and make statements outside the context of litigation.

And of course, our bias is to defend statutes, which is what we do regularly.

Last year, as we laid out in the letter, it was a set of circumstances that didn't allow us to defend the statute at issue.

But of course, we look at every case and we've got a pretty strong record of defending statutes and protecting the state's interest.

Attorney Briana: General, good to talk to you.

Thanks for coming on the show.

Guest: Thanks for having me.

Briana: In the latest TYLER: twist from the Trump Administration, the White House on Thursday Paul TikTok is on many goods from Mexico and Canada for one month the significant, walk back gained two days after the supreme fees were put in place, leaving both markets and businesses with whiplash from his back and forth trade policies.

Business owners tell Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan, the chaos is making it tough to operate, and consumer confidence, at least for some industries, appears to be plummeting.

>> They are watching the headlines and its spooking people.

Absolutely.

Reporter: Laura says Jerzy Carcillo's have plunged unexpectedly, a crisis in consumer confidence that mirrors the stock market's a reaction to President Trump's roller coaster TERRELL: policy.

The Dow rose and fell as the president imposed, dropped or delayed tweets are different goods from China, Canada, and Mexico.

>> Obviously February, the uncertainty of the markets, no one is shopping.

They are feeling the pain already.

Reporter: She says tough issues on auto parts could push prices up between 2000 to $12,000.

Tweets on Lumber could hurt too.

>> We end guy who makes up the country that is going to be paying for this.

Reporter: He is an Ocean County builder who predict TODD:'s on Canadian lumber and other construction supplies will definitely impact homeowners who could sign the excellent contracts only to find prices soaring.

>> It will really be dramatic.

If I had to take a 25% hit, I couldn't build a home.

The margins just aren't there Sock, then things would get delayed.

>> Our country is being ripped off by everybody.

That stops now.

Reporter: Trump today threatened to hit Canada with higher Turkish is dairy and lumber, the latest salvo in this turbulent trade war, prompting targeted nations to launch their own counter sanctions.

>> Canada has been ripping us off for years on TODD: is for lumber and dairy products, so that is not going to happen anymore.

We -- they will be met with the exact same tariff, unless they drop it.

>> What we are going through right now is horribly distractive.

Even if the TODD: is already in place, what President Trump is creating is a highly uncertain environment.

This will by itself be a slowdown on the economy.

Reporter: This professor from records considers the chaos more damaging than the TODD: is -- tariffs.

But top supporters think it's appropriate.

>> Why is it looking for other countries to put purposes of the United States outgoing products to them but we can do it for them?

Reporter: He believes tariffs hold diplomatic leverage of them impact.

>> My personal opinion is that these tariffs will be short-lived.

I think it's a scare tactic, a negotiating tool that the current administration is going to strong arm to get with the country needs.

At least that is my hope anyway.

>> This awesome master plan to negotiate and get what the United States needs -- who knows?

But we are playing with fire, that is for sure.

Reporter: After critics blasted President Trump strong-arm tactics with Ukraine, the president today pushed peace talks with this new threat -- sanctions on Russia and to the Cease Fire and final settlement agreement on peace is reached.

>> President Trump apparently views this as tariffs are a tool that solves any problem that he believes out there can be solved with tariffs.

He has used it to justify what he believes are unfair tariffs from other countries towards us, I will use a tariff to Saxenda.

They are really not an all-purpose policy.

Reporter: Indeed the Wall Street Journal's staff today admonished Trump, noting "he is treating the North American economy as a personal plaything, as markets gyrate with each presidential whim Mister Trump's order needs a legal challenge.

>> Wall Street speaks with a particularly large voice to this president.

Is he losing?

Reporter: The stories change nearly every hour.

I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: Thousands of scientists rallied across the U.S. today, in response to layoffs and funding cuts ordered by the Trump Administration.

The stand up for science protest is drawing attention to what you see as a threat to research of , professors and other scientists turned out in Trenton for the demonstration, calling on elected leaders to use their position and power to challenge the moves by the White House.

Ted Goldberg was there.

[chanting] >> out of the lab.

Into the streets!

Reporter: Hendricks came to protest proposed cuts to research.

Professors, studentss, and -- >> Lab scientiststudents!

Reporter: These mad scientists study all sorts of organisms and animals.

>> I use that one organism to understand daily timing of behavior.

>> We work on the east.

>> I study human diseases in a tiny world.

Reporter: And they are afraid that if the White House has its way, science will suffer.

>>.

>> Critically important to basic or fundamental science.

Being able to do discoveries, screen hundreds of genes and subtypes to understand how we work.

>> We work on very fundamental mechanisms and I know that cancer research these days definitely uses the discoveries that were pioneered in the 1980's.

Reporter: He has studied used for over a decade -- yeast for over a decade.

>> It's not as popular.

I expect it will be on the chopping block by people who don't understand what we do.

Reporter: He studied in Spain, but came over to this country because of things like the National Institutes of Health which faces severe cuts from the Trump Administration.

>> Being a scientist in Spain is like being a bullfighter in Sweden.

I wanted to come to the United States because in this country, science is respected.

Reporter: Records estimates it could lose $57 million from next year's budget if this cuts go through.

And if research suffers, so will people.

>> The genes that cause disease exist in a warm.

We can study the functions in the tiny warm.

When we can't have that basic research from fundamental studies in cells and flies and warms all the way up to human clinical trials, we are not moving forward and we are less healthy.

>> We decimate the infrastructure, then at first the development of drugs at risk, which is going to mean that it will take a much longer time to get to a cure.

Reporter: Rita work that the records Cancer Institute in New Jersey, and says it's important to continue finding critical trials for cancer drugs.

>> We are able to test potential treatments that cure people, that helped them to deal with the symptoms that they have related to their cancers, and to move their science forward so they can continue to do that work and cure cancer eventually, that's the hope.

Reporter: Stand up for science rallies popped up nationwide today, with more than 30 of them bringing together people in the science world to defend their work.

>> Because of people studying how small green algae swim, we now have potential cures for blindness.

>> Medicines, materials, munitions as promised, but something much more valuable and much more powerful -- truths.

>> Our future depends on investing in science education.

Every major breakthrough, whether in medicine, clean energy, or artificial intelligence, begins with students.

Reporter: As we reported earlier, Attorney General Matt Platkin is one of 22 a's suing the Trump Administration over these cuts.

While the less it plays out in court, there could be more protest like this one in the future.

In Trenton, I'm Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: In our Spotlight on Business tonight, American Dream Mall is being ordered to pay millions of dollars to towns.

A Bergen County judge ruled the mall was fully open for business when it opened its doors to the public in 20 19.

Dealing a major blow to American Dreaming's lawyers, who said it never reached 100% occupancy and therefore was never fully open.

That clause enabled the mall to avoid paying $13 million in what is known as payment in lieu of taxes, or pilot fees, to surrounding towns.

Officials in East Rutherford where the mall is based sued the owners in 2023 over those missed payments.

8 other surrounding communities are also owed money.

Attaining 100% occupancy is a benchmark a few miles of reach.

As of July first, American Dreaming was 87% leased.

That will do it for us this week, but before you go, make sure you check out Reporters Roundtable this weekend with David Cruise.

He talks with a guest about which candidate voters know and favor the most in the race to replace Governor Murphy.

Plus, a panel of local journalists talk about all the week's political headlines.

Watch Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday morning at 10:00 on NJPBS.

And on ChatBox and good hit talk to the professor about President Trump's address to Congress, the impact his executive orders and proposed spending cuts could have on New Jersey, and nationally.

You can catch it Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. on NJPBS.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

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

Have a great weekend.

We will see you back here Monday.

ANNOUNCER: NJM Insurance Group.

And by the PSEG foundation.

>> Orsted believes that clean energy is more than just a power source.

It's an opportunity to create stronger economies and communities.

Together, the South Fork wind and sunrise wind projects from Orsted will provide American wind-powered energy for New Yorkers, and support jobs, education, and the local supply chain.

Orsted, committed to a clean-energy future for New York.

♪ >> Public service is what we do.

At the PSEG foundation, or volunteer hours, partnerships and our other contributions, we are committed to empowering communities.

We work hand-in-hand with youth, our neighbors, to educate young people, support research, environmental sustainability, and equitable opportunities, provide training, and other services all over New Jersey and Long Island.

Uplifting communities -- that's what drives us.

The PSEG Foundation.

♪