Transcripts For CSPAN2 New Jersey State Of The State 20240713

[background noises] Lieutenant Governor alder, lieutenants weiner, as majority leaders grind bergen greenwell. Members of the 219th legislature including that rocking escort group that came in with me, chief justice rovner, associate justices of the Supreme Court, judge grant, members of the cabinet, former governors florio different tesco and cody. Charlie and sam thanks for bringing the first lady. [cheering] the state leaders, veterans, members of organized labor, honored guests and my fellow new jerseyans. Five weeks ago today, our state was shattered by the gunfire of antisemitism and hate. In jersey city, the heralded police protected us. Joseph seals and three innocent people were murdered. And what we now know was an act of domestic terror, fueled by a vicious and unjustifiable hate. This was an active hate against the jewish community, and Law Enforcement, but it impacted everyone. Hundreds of schoolchildren and their educators were held in lockdown including in a Catholic School across the street. Worried parents feared the worst. Africanamerican residents hid in their homes. Without the tremendous response of everyone and Law Enforcement, i shudder to think how much worse that day could have been for jersey city and for our state. If ever there was a time for us to recognize the bravery and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, it was that day. We have several honored guests with us today. And through them we have the opportunity to give our thanks to our entire Law Enforcement community for their heroism, selflessness, sacrifice, and service on one of our most trying days. I would like to ask laura seals, the widow of detective joe seals chief, deputy chief please stand. [applause] thank you, december 10 also highlighted how close knit are tremendous communities of faith are. All of us, regardless of where we worship or what dame we call our creator, were affected that day. One of my heroes senator Robert F Kennedy quoted the greek playwright escalates on the evening of the assassination of doctor Martin Luther king jr. In those words still give us comfort and i quote and even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart. Until in her own despair, against our will, comes wisdom for the offer grace of god. Over the past weeks, we have been brought together as one new jersey family. First and shock it, than in mourning, and now and our commitment to stamping out antisemitism. I want to be clear, we are committed to ensuring that our communities of faith have the resources they need to be safe. I will probably sign legislation to provide additional security aid for our houses of worship, and to expand the definition of and penalties for domestic terrorism. [applause] i think both sides of the isle for the support in a particular i think gary scher for chipping this cause. Thank you gary. [applause] the scar of antisemitism on our state is still fresh. The grief of four families is still fresh. Let us commit to using this new year, to heal the rifts in our society. This is new jersey, when someone tries to pull a subpart they only ever succeed in bringing us closer together. [applause] and i know we will heal. We gathered today at the dawn of a new year, and a new decade. The days and months before us are filled with potential and bursting with opportunity. And yet even as the new year unfolds, our mission does not change. That together we must build an economy and a state that works for every new jersey family. Our values have not shifted, we are on the side of the middleclass and all of those working someday to get there. We have taken all the tough fights that matter. We are working to change the culture here in trenton, and we are putting the needs of our families ahead of the wellconnected and entrenched special interest. [applause] and our work will not slow down. So joining together, we must continue to make Smart Investments for our collective future. Restore fiscal responsibility, in change trentons culture. Looking out, this is a room that is packed with people who are proud to call themselves new jerseyans. We find commonality among so much, our history. Like the state of the first game of College Football was played. And to that end, i see one favorite son who has come back to intensify the jersey pride we feel along the banks. Lets welcome home of the Rutgers University scarlet knights, greg. [applause] and for the gentleman to his immediate right, i would also like to thank ruckers plate president bob his years of Outstanding Service during state Flagship Institution of Higher Education. Thank you bob. And i am watching closely as run hers undertakes its next great president because in so many respects, as rectors go, so goes new jersey. The dawn of a new decade is a time of optimism. But we also find it a time of growing anxiety. However, more than ever, we must stay true to our promises and hold firm to our commitments. That we have our already done so. Over the past year, by working together we have made new jersey a better more hopeful place to call home and we will continue to do so and because of this i am proud to report that the state of our state is stronger and fairer than ever before. [applause] now some might say to years into this journey we are halfway through, i am leaning toward saying we are a quarter of the way through. [cheering] but thats another speech, for another day. [cheering] [applause] but in just two years new jerseyans are seeing results, because we are doing what we were all sent here to do. We are investing in them. We every family worries how they will make ends meet our how they can cover an unexpected expense. That is why we are raising the minimum wage to 15 an hour. [applause] , its why we expanded tax breaks for working families, why where. [applause] why were attacking the sources of high property taxes and why we are providing more Property Tax Relief than ever before. Too many families wrestle with how they balance work and family. Particularly in the moment of need. So we expanded paid family leave and guaranteed the right to earn sick leave. [applause] some families are military families and are anxious about their futures and whether they may be soon deployed. We owe it to them and the veterans who preceded them to create a state where their place is secure and where they feel supported. [applause] all our families lives sleep over the cost of Health Insurance coverage. How to pay their medical expenses or about the financial turmoil of an unde unexpected accident or illness will occur. We are protecting the Affordable Care act which has protected millions of our residents. [cheering] i remain incredibly proud of the work we have done to protect the tenants of daca, and to establish the state based Health Exchange which will go online later this year. [applause] but the simple fact is that despite this progress, the cost of healthcare is still too high. Our residents are families, and our businesses all struggle with the high cost of coverage. The cost of medications, high deductibles, outofpocket expenses, and more. With implemented smart policies like the historic reforms speaker coughlin and senator joe vitale sponsored to protect consumers from surprise, outofnetwork bills. Amen. [applause] but we can do more. So i am establishing an office of Health Care Accountability and transparency in the Governors Office to work across state agencies and lead critical efforts to read dues Consumer Healthcare costs. Making insurance more affordable and improve improve price transparency. [applause] and to ensure the facts for the department of banking and insurance to work with this new office to track the actual cost residents pay for the Healthcare Services that they receive. And then armed with this data, we will make smart decisions to limit Cost Increases, set new standards for quality and transparency. We have some of the nations, frankly the worlds leading hospitals and healthcare facilities. We are home to groundbreaking research and treatments. We need to ensure that these are accessible to everyone. We will also seek to better integrate behavioral and physical healthcare. Especially. [applause] especially for our young people. It will allow us to better identify and treat court youth healthcare needs like anxiety, depression, and suicide. This will also be a powerful tool to further combat our Opioid Epidemic as well as the broader fights against addiction and Mental Health illnesses that when left untreated lead to tragedy. The preliminary numbers suggest new jersey saw a 3 decrease in the number of individuals lost to opioids last year, after three years of double digit increases. This is not a number to celebrate, 3021 lives lost is still 3021 precious lives to many. But it should give us a measure of confidence that our targeted evidencebased, and datadriven whole government approach is the right one. And we will continue the strong partnerships, the first lady has created across the state. Government officials and legislators, healthcare practitioners, faith leaders, and Community Activists to combat our black infant and maternal infant crisis. Amen. [applause] she will not stop, we will not stop until new jersey is a safest state in the entire nation to give birth. [applause] so, to be clear we cant do all of what i just set alone. We need are hospitals and providers, insurers and consumers to join us in these efforts. I am proud we are fighting the Trump Administration to block women from receiving Vital Information that is critical for them to make important decisions. [applause] together we can protect funding for planned parenthood in womens healthcare. [applause] we ended the Prior Administrations eight year long effort to start these critical facilities. But this must go beyond just providing funding to make up for the loss of title x money. Its about protecting a womans fundamental, and constitutional right to full reproductive freedom. [applause] lets commit to codifying womens full reproductive rights in state law. [applause] at a time when these rights are under attack nationwide, lets make it clear where new jersey stands. [applause] our families worry about their childrens futures and whether they can afford one. So together we have expanded prek and made a Stem Education more widely available. We have become the first states in the history of our nation to make Arts Education available to every single child and our Public Schools. [applause] and it gets better. Today, our Public Schools are ranked as the very best in the entire United States of america. [applause] [applause] [applause] flat us thank our Public School educators and educational support, professionals who do this outstanding work every single day. [cheering] [applause] but we are not done. In this 401st year since the first day africans arrived on the shores of this continence, we are committed to furthering the work of the commission and the n je j Stakeholder Group to ensure that the africanamerican story is made real. Not just for our students, but for our educators as well to the new amistad journey program. [applause] likewise, with the rise of antisemitism we renew our commitment to the mission of the new Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education as well. [applause] we are putting a College Education back within reach. We have open the doors to a tuition Free Community College Education to thousands of eligible students. [applause] and we have also put in place safeguards to combat college debt. And for those who want the opportunity, we have reinvested in Workforce Development and apprenticeships like never before. [applause] we are building a new jersey where everybody belongs and everyone matters. We are seeing the reinvigoration of our cities, from newark to kansas to trenton to patterson to elizabeth to Atlantic City. In fact, Atlantic City just saw its a prove this in many months. [applause] [inaudible] proof that our collaborative and cooperative approach to internal Atlantic City around is the right path to take. That we owe a tremendous gratitude to Lieutenant Governor and her team and the department of Community Affairs for this project. [applause] [applause] expecting chance of sheila, sheila. Our people once new jersey to stand at the forefront of the national fight for justice. So we will Work Together to allow the expungement of records whose residents have been held back because of past convictions. [cheering] we have given residents on parole or probation right to vote. [cheering] [applause] and, we are giving our proud immigrant community the ability to earn a drivers license. [applause] [cheering] we received the farreaching and transformative recommendations of the criminal sentencing and disposition led by former chief justice and former president of noble child chip. And i also want to thank senders cunningham and ms. Powell for serving on the commission. [applause] lets all of us, recommit to acting its recommendations which include the elimination of mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. [applause] lets lead the way for creating safe communities, and neighborhoods through a criminal Justice System that lives up to that allimportant word, justice. And lets do this not just because its the right thing to do, which it is, but because our state will only be stronger and better when everyone is a full participant in our economy, our democracy, and our society. [applause] i have also spoken often about wealth disparity as a persistent issue that separates and segregates our communities. It harms predominately black and latino families and prevents our state from fulfilling its potential. These disparities have deep roots and complex causes. Overcoming them will require us to leave behind always of thinking so we can ensure, bless you, that no residents get left behind. We dont miss a thing up here. [laughter] so im not bases im creating a new task force, government officials academic officials, faith leaders, to address wealth prosperity from all angles and all causes. [applause] their work will better support our work enclosing these gaps and ensure that the communities have historically been left behind can help us lead. Our residents have felt marginalized and left out. We work to renew their faith that they have a place in our family. And specifically for our lg pt q plus community we want to make sure they never fear for who they love, how they identify, or who they are. [applause] amen. [applause] [applause] despite the n action in washington, new jersey is now leading the nation in sensible gun Safety Measures and our communities are stronger and the gun lobby is weaker. [applause] and we did that together. Likewise we know Climate Change is real, instead of denying reality we are acting on it. To win the next generation we are working to be the first state in america to incorporate Climate Change education across our k12 state education standards. [applause] and we are going to make the fight against Climate Change the cornerstone of an innovative technology. Two years ago we took office, new jerseys clean energy was stalled. Today we are on our way to an ambitious goal of 7500 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2035. Now thats a big deal,. [applause] thats enough energy to meet half of nude jerseys entire retail needs. It would remove billions of tons of fossil fuel from our air and it will create tens of thousands of good paying union jobs. [applause] [cheering] and into weeks, i will unveil new jerseys new Energy Master plan, our comprehensive roadmap for arriving at our goal of a one 100 Clean Energy Economy by the year 2050. We are working to protect every school in new jersey from the dangers of lead. I amen. [applause] i applaud and many legislatures by the way for their partnership to fasttrack the elimination of lead Service Lines in the city of newark. But we all know this is a statewide problem. It extends far beyond just lead an old water lines as well. Lead paint is a much bigger problem amen. [applause] and its not just that challenge it is our suburban and Rural Communities as well. When i propose my plan for taking on her lead crisis and all the ways that it manifests itself, i did not shy from acknowledging that will require significant investment. This is an acknowledgment shared in this chamber as well. We will need funds to replace old lead lines and remediate paint in homes. We will need to mobilize union workers, plumbers commerce pipefitters, remediation experts, carpenters, and laborers among so many other tradespeople. Lets Work Together now to come onto an agreement on what this investment needs to be so that we can put it before the voters this november and we can invest in our communities that much faster. [applause] over the past two years, since the beginning of our administration and our Work Together, our economy has responded by adding and supporting more than 72000 private sector jobs. In 2019 we set and reset record lows for unemployment since the state began keeping records in 1976. Wages are increasing, more people are entering our workforce. This is all good news. But none of this progress happens by accident. Economic progress does not happen on its own. Social progress does not happen on its own. They only happen when we Work Together. And when we put the people we serve ahead of everything else, we did not achieve this despite our progressive economic policies, we achieve this because of those policies. [applause] and yet, we are not done, we are not spiking any footballs. Many of our residents are anxious about their place in an increasingly unsettling climate. A stronger state is more resilient. More fiscally responsible, and better prepared for any weakening in the economy. And by the way more capable of protecting families by giving them the tools and opportunities they need, not just to get by, but to get stronger. Changing the culture also means at least stop digging the hole deeper. We camped to lose sight of what makes us stronger and fairer. Smart policymaking, and staying true to growing and strengthening our middleclass. These are the key lessons that we learned the hard way in the Great Recession. We built a surplus the state has not seen in years. We are watching literally every penny. Lester took the steps necessary to ensure that we made the first honesttogoodness deposit into our Rainy Day Fund in more than a decade. [applause] i finally got the attention of the cpas with that one. [laughter] and we are working in partnership with our public workforce defined hundreds of millions of dollars in healthcare savings and efficiencies without scapegoating them. And to them i say thank you for your partnership. [applause] there are still more opportunities for partnership. Especially with our educators in esps who have experienced unfair and unsustainable Consumer Health care Cost Increases under chapter 78. I look forward to looking with labor leaders and legislatures in this new session to provide them relief. And just as we did in collaboration with state workers, we will reduce healthcare costs without sacrificing healthcare quality while at the same time generating Additional Savings for our property taxpayers. And lets not forget, that the overwhelming number of our educators and esps, are themselves new Jersey Property taxpayers. [applause] this is the kind of a win win win approach we need. As we continue taking on the root causes of our high property taxes and sink to bring we have restored more than 500 million in formula based aid to our Public Schools. And every new dollar in state aid is a dollar that is by property taxpayers. In working with Lieutenant Governor and the senate we have renewed a commitment to shared services. For the past two years, at our request, mayors each a democrat and republican have served as our administrations shared services ours. And they have worked hard to bring communities to the table together. And today, we have more shared Service Agreements under consideration than ever before. 980 at last count and still more coming in. [applause] and at the same time, to help these communities to enhance both capacity and capabilities of the department of Committee Affairs to provide greater inhouse assistance. And that we have unveiled innovative programs to spurn more towns and School Districts to look at new ways to Work Together. I think we can all agree, our collective tax on task is to fix the gimmicks and transient and not raise property taxes that hit the middle class the hardest. [applause] now some entrance and claim the best way to make our state stronger is to undo commonsense middleclass building accomplishments that we have all made together. They want us to make the same false and failed choices made a decade ago. Trenton tried their way, and history is clear. That way failed. New jersey hobbled its way through economic recovery because their choices failed to create jobs, and failed to increase incomes. They failed to keep new jersey from falling behind. Together we must choose differently. I am going to fight every day for the middleclass values that build to new jersey in the first place. Its why i am not giving up the fight for a millionaires tax that can ease the property tax burden. [applause] [applause] a billionaires taxable ease the property tax burden literally on millions of middleclass families and seniors. And it will do more to help fund our Public Schools. Overwhelming majorities of residents of all political levels support this. We should too. The millionaires and corporate ceos made out just fine in the last recession and i assure you, they will again when the next one hits. Thanks to the federal tax system, the richest 400 americans now, pay a lower tax rate than the nations middleclass. That is the first time that has ever happened. The answer to ensuring we come out of any recession stronger than when we went in is not to tell the middleclass of the most vulnerable perhaps another day. But not now. That choice was made in the last recession. And the middleclass paid the price. And we lagged in no small parts because we were stuck in an oldfashioned belief that when the job is lost in recession, all a worker has to do is wait things out to get it back once the economy recovers. The Great Recession proved the fallacy and foolhardiness of that way of thinking. Many of the jobs lost never return. And more workers were left without the skills necessary for the new jobs that beckoned. We will not repeat that mistake. We will make new jersey and National Leader and a welcoming and maintaining the jobs of tomorrow. We have been ranked literally the smartest state in the nation. That is good news. I have met many ceos incorporate board chairs whose first question about new jersey is whether we have the home grown workforce they need. And then on the flipside, i have talked with new Jersey College graduates afraid they cannot find the employment they once with the skills they have. For us to succeed, we need to close this gap. I directed our jobs and Economic Opportunity council to generate a plan to do just that. I think Higher Education secretary, education commissioner, labor commissioner and eda ceo and members of my policy staff amongst so many others. Today i am proud to present this plan which we are calling simply jobs nj and tomorrow i will visit the East Brunswick campus to further highlight this new effort. [applause] jobs nj is how we ensure our state prospers in good times and how it overcomes tough times. It is a way to ease the anxiety so many feel as they wonder how the future will work for them and not against them. Jobs nj is has a Clear Mission. To better align or Education System to meets the future needs of our both employers and workers. And do better at matching our workers with potential employers. Jobs nj will clear a path to ongoing job training so residents can continue to learn and competes as the needs of them appointment evolves with new technologies and new economic realities. It will also close longstanding structural and Racial Equity gaps that have kept some of our residents from jobtraining. It skills development. Whether they come from historically underserved communities or their new immigrants, or they were formerly incarcerated individual reentering the workforce. It will also help the differently abled to be full and equal participants in our economic future. And importantly, jobs nj will dovetail with our nonstop efforts to make our state the home for the leaders in the innovation economy. [applause] last month, with great pride, i announced for new appointments of the Economic Development Authority Board and they are with us today. Congratulations ladies. [applause] they mirror our state inexperience, diversity and recognize the Economic Development is not onesizefitsall, but the unique needs of each business and each Community Must be given full consideration. We now know that some Companies Receive tax credits they did not deserve, and took credit for jobs they did not create. They did not just hurt their own reputations by the way, they hurt the reputations of the many more good corporate actors who have done exactly what they said they were going to do. I have now spent more than a year working alongside the Senate President and speaker and many of you, actually to create a new system of incentives, one complete with transparency and safeguards in commonsense caps. Once again i firmly believe that a targeted and responsibles Senate System is important to our economic future, period, we all share this view when we should have gotten this done. Unfortunately the legislative session ended yesterday without a final agreement on tax incentives. But today starts a new legislative session and i am just as determined to start the job as i did yesterday. And i was on october 1, 2018 when i first put forward the case of a new way of doing things. [applause] [applause] lets get this done now. There are thousands of jobs, overwhelmingly union jobs, just waiting for us to do so. Lets send a clear and unmistakable message to our people that we can successfully tackle the big issues. And that we can put the interests of our taxpayers ahead of the special interest. And i look forward to our continued partnership to fix nj transit. As you have heard me say many times, we will fix nj transit if it kills me and it mites. At the end of the day, we still must answer to the commuters whose train was canceled or whose buses overcapacity. And i wont be happy until he bat a thousand. But lets be clear, this series of reforms we are undertaking to change and j transit fundamental operations and the hundreds of millions of dollars in state budget investments we have restored, are unquestionably improving things. They clearly show the cancellations are down, and ontime performance is up. [applause] this past year, we saw the first three classes of prospective new rail engineers complete their classroom work. And one week from today i will celebrate another. A significant step in restoring the completed ranks of licensed professionals we need to keep the lines running. Nj transit is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in new rolling stock, railcars, locomotive engines, and buses, to update its fleet for increased commuter comfort and greater reliability. These steps as we all know, our long longoverdue. The Prior Administration left nj transit to weather on the vine. They allowed the ranks to be depleted. I want to think in particular the union men and women who have hung in there despite extraordinarily difficult conditions. [applause] amen. [applause] soon, nj transit will announce a ten Year Strategic Plan and beyond that a five year capital plan to guide the agency through this new decade. These arent just by the way new plants, its actually the first time that these have ever been done. [applause] if a Transit System doesnt know where its going, its never going to get there. [laughter] that is what our strategic and capital plans will change. In a few weeks i will be back to present my fiscal 2021 budget and i will certainly have more to say about nj transit then. But lets be honest, it will take more than just dollars and cents to raise nj transit to where we know it can be and where are commuters needed to be. It will also take a Clear Mission and a clear vision. For the first time, nj transit will now have both. And by the way, all of us will have a new set of standards by which we can track its progress. All of what we have accomplished, is changing the trajectory of our state. But i was also elected to move the needle here in trenton and to change a culture that many new jerseyans feel is out of step with their lives and behind the times in which we live. Thats why all we have done to restore fiscal responsibility has mattered so much. Increasing her surplus, putting away funds for a rainy day, honestly making our pension payments. This is changing the culture. But we can and must do more to gain the trust of our residents and to decrease their rightful cynicism. In the coming weeks i will propose a series of ethics reforms, among other things to strengthen the financial disclosures, titan pay to play requirements, expand transparency, and increase awareness generally to the goingson here in trenton. [cheering] its been more than a decade since executive and legislative branches undertook comprehensive ethics reform. Its time now for us to look at it new. With the whole of government approach that ensures we all live under the same laws and we play by the same rules. And nothing, i repeat nothing will exemplify that need to change the longstanding culture than the sexism and abuse that still creeps across these hallways at conferences and in media rooms. [applause] we all must be disgusted by the stories which women, by the way the entire spectrum of race, age tell about their mistreatment by men if not empowered and protected by trentons culture. For too many years, to me people in power have turned their eyes away from behavior they knew was not only happening, but was pervasive in trenton. We know that trenton is often resisted change. And this is a most egregious failure. So today i am calling for all of us to Work Together to tear down the existing system and replace it with one that treats everyone with equal dignity, and respect. I am calling it my pharmacy governments. [applause] amen. [applause] [applause] i am calling on my partners and government to join me in this mission. And im calling on those who stood idly by and have allowed this behavior to flourish to start speaking up and speaking out whenever they witness and injustice. So my fellowmen, we can and must do better. Not just by changing. [applause] not just by changing our own behavior, but making the conscious choice to not take nor the behavior of others. [applause] and for the women listening, we will listen and we will act. Our administration has enacted several groundbreaking reforms to make our system survivor focused, instead of geared to the protection of abusers. Under attorney general has cleared new directives for investigating crimes of Sexual Assault, ensuring greater empathy for and support of survivors. [applause] we updated the states discrimination and Sexual Harassment policy so they lean more directly in support of state employees who have experienced Sexual Harassment or discrimination. [applause] i signed the Sexual Assault victims bill of rights, and just yesterday i signed both a series of bills to protect survivors and encourage people to speak up and legislation to create a new commission on campus Sexual Assault. [applause] this is progress, but it is not nearly enough. We can all point to the number of women serving in the legislature, in the cabinet, and other important positions in our government and claim misogyny net no longer exist. We can believe all we once that this is a problem somewhere else in government. And we would be fooling ourselves to think that. Misogyny is alive and well. But together, we can change that. We can do this, we must do this, and we must do this together. [applause] [applause] [applause] [cheering] two years ago, we began the journey to renew our new jersey values. We began an journey to restore investment in our people, restore sense of fiscal responsibility and change trentons culture. We are taking on challenges which developed and deepened across a generation. As past leaders neglect of the problems facing ordinary new jerseyans while taking care of the special interests and the wellconnected. If not frankly just taking care of themselves. Putting self interest before the common good. The next day headline before the longterm work. Those were deliberate choices and because of that, the challenges left to us will be entry and wont be solved overnight in effect we cant. And we owe it to the people of new jersey to be honest about that. The easy way out would be for us to continue pursuing shortcuts that could paper over our problems and make us feel good in the shortterm. But i refuse to let our problems become bigger. Where others have focused only on the next election, we are focused on the next generation. [applause] i am proud that we have made headway in attacking her challenges fairly and honestly. Today and together not only are we making different choices, we are making better choices. And at no point have we sat back and claimed mission accomplished. I am not going to lose sight on who it is we have to look out for. In our effort to make new jersey stronger, we will not and never leave out our middle class, or those striving as i was growing up, to join its ranks. Our job is to lift new jersey up and to make it stronger. And fairer, and more resilient to the unknowns of tomorrow. So our residents can feel more secure, not just in their futures, but also in their childrens. We are now two years into this journey together, and look how far we have come. And yet, we have so much more to do and so much more to fix. And as we continue to do so, we will continue to be who we said we would be. And we will keep making new jersey stronger and fairer for everybody who calls our state home. Thank you, may god bless us and the people represent and continue to bless the great state of new jersey and the great state of america. [applause] [cheering] [applause] toward iran and the international response. On tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case concerning the federal convictions of two people involved in the 2013 new jersey bridgegate scandal. One of them, bridget kelly, i a former deputy chief of staff to the then governor chris christie. Who worked in the port house was convicted on similar charges. Originally officials claimed the reason for the lane closure was a traffic study but really it was revealed the real reason was payback against a local new jersey mayor who refused to endorse governor