>> From NJ PBS studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Brianna Vannozzi.

>> Hello, and thanks for joining us tonight.

I'm Joanna Gaggis.

Brianna Vannozzi is off.

>>> Coming up, World Cup fever.

We'll get you the latest on the top matches, the transit plans, and the most important question, are tickets still available?

Plus, June is recognized as Pride Month.

I recently spoke with the head of Jersey Pride about this being a time for celebration and a continued push for equal rights, but first, Dr.

Adam Hamowy joins us to talk about his big win in the congressional district 12 primary race and concerns over his controversial past times.

That's next.

Funding for NJ Spotlight News provided by the members of the New Jersey Education Association and RWJBarnabas Health.

Learn more at rwjbh.org.

In a crowded primary race to replace retiring Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, one candidate pulled ahead of the pack with a clear victory.

He's a former army physician credited with saving the life of U.S.

Senator Tammy Duckworth on the battlefield.

But his former ties to a convicted terrorist have raised a lot of questions in recent weeks.

He joins us now to talk about his big win and those growing concerns.

Dr.

Hanley, thank you for being with us today.

Congratulations on your big win.

It was a crowded field of 12 candidates, 13 on the ballot.

What do you believe made you stand out as the winner?

- Well, I ran on healthcare, not bombs, unrigging the economy and abolishing ICE.

And in the beginning, a lot of people were telling me that these issues wouldn't resonate.

But by the time we were done, everyone of my opponents was saying the same thing.

So I think Democrats are looking for candidates who will be bold fighters and will call out this rigged system.

And that's what I did.

When you say rigged system, explain what you mean.

Well, I mean, the system is set up so that, you know, the corporations benefit, the billionaires are benefiting, and people are working 40 hours a week doing everything right.

And yet every year they're falling behind.

And this is what the problem is, is that people are struggling, and it's getting more difficult, and no one is fighting for them.

- What are the changes specifically that you would like to see made?

When it comes to healthcare, we'll talk specifically Medicaid, Medicare.

- Well, I support passing Medicare for all.

I mean, I am someone who's been working in the system for years, and every year it gets more difficult.

I'm fighting with insurance companies so that my patients could get the care they need.

I'm fighting with them so that they could get prescriptions.

And what we're seeing is patients are going into debt just to be able to afford their healthcare, and they're choosing between their rent and their medical bills.

And what we need is a universal healthcare system where people don't have to make these to worry about this, and businesses don't have to be worried about the extra expense of providing insurance for their employees.

I mean, this is something that is a human right and we are far behind other developed countries who are providing this for their people.

You will now go on to face Republican Greg Mele.

This is not his first run, but I believe his first time with significant backing as the candidate.

Two independents also are in the race.

How will you differentiate yourself in this race come as we head into the midterms?

I'm going to continue fighting for the issues I've been fighting all along.

These are issues that resonate just not with Democrats, but with all Americans.

We are tired of seeing trillions of dollars being spent on, you know, forever wars.

Our country is not any safer for them.

We need to take some of this money that we're spending overseas on funding atrocities and wars that are illegal and immoral, and spend that in our communities where we need it, for health care, for education, to rebuild our roads and bridges.

This is what Americans want.

This is what people in New Jersey want.

- We have to point out your win comes amid growing concerns over ties that you have to someone named Omar Abdelrahman.

And he is a man who is known as the Blind Sheikh.

He was convicted of orchestrating the bombing plot against the UN, contributing to a terrorist plot against the World Trade Center in the 90s.

You testified as a character witness for him at his trial.

How do you explain that?

So let me clarify, I did not testify as a character witness.

I was a witness for the defense and that was on events that happened.

These smears by MAGA are getting more absurd by the day and they're just kind of, you know, they're getting, you know, they're just growing based on like facts that really don't exist.

When Trump's allies are beginning to tear you down, you know that you're doing something right, and when you get labeled as the anti-APAC candidate and you call out fascism, then, you know, this is what happens.

What MAGA leaves out curiously is that I spent almost 20 years in uniform, you know, and serving this country.

I was a combat surgeon in Iraq.

I saved hundreds of American lives.

I treated the victims of terrorism on 9/11 on ground zero, and I'll never forget that day.

So more than 30 years ago, I, like many others in New Jersey, met this man, and he was one of the few religious figures in the area.

Of course, I condemned his rhetoric and actions, but I was in the military when this happened, during the trial and afterwards, and I was trusted with sensitive roles afterwards as well.

My patriotism and record of saving lives is clear, and I'm not getting distracted by, you know, these smears because this is the kind of anti-Muslim attacks from the right that don't work anymore.

I'm building a movement to deliver health care, not moms, to unrig the economy and to win New Jersey, you know, a system where everyone could thrive.

And to be fair, the concerns are not just coming from the right.

Yes, New York Congressman Mike Lawler has said that he would, if he were to be elected, he would open a full investigation into your relationship.

And I just want to point out, yes, he was your opponent, but Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp has called this out.

And Congressman Josh Gottheimer in the 5th Congressional District has said that he sees some of this as concerning as well.

So there is concern growing among Democrats as well.

And I just want to point out that the former U.S.

attorney at the time, Andrew McCarthy, said that you did not have to come, you were not subpoenaed to testify, that you chose to testify for the defense.

Do you deny that?

I, you know, I swore an oath as an officer of the United States Army to defend and to protect the Constitution of the United States.

And I believe in a system of justice and laws that exist.

So I went and I testified under oath about events that happened.

And I stand by that.

And if we don't believe in this system, then we're going to continue in this path of fascism and authoritarianism, and we're going to lose our democracy.

Our system was set up so that everyone could have a fair trial.

I went and testified 15, 20 minutes in a trial that lasted weeks.

And if my opponents are going to make normal actions a crime, then this is already concerning, especially when I see Democrats beginning to take MAGA and far right speaking points.

- This all comes at a time when there's just growing controversy and disagreement here at home over U.S.

involvement in conflict overseas in Iran, in Gaza.

What is your position on the U.S.

's involvement in the war in Iran and its support of Israel?

- Well, I see the war in Iran as both illegal and immoral.

On the first day of the war, we bombed a school that was filled with young girls.

And what we've seen decade after decade is that we get involved in these wars that we are creating and we are not making this country any safer.

We are not making more friends.

We're creating more hatred.

We are losing our allies.

And the only people we are serving is the military industrial complex, the defense industry, who are making billions off of these wars, and we are stealing from our communities that really need these funds.

We should be spending this to be able to rebuild, to build our schools, to be able to build our roads and bridges, to fix our health care system.

So I'm against these forever wars.

I'm against funding atrocities and genocide overseas.

And I think, you know, Americans have clearly said that they are against this as well.

Do you see any path for bipartisanship in Congress, if you were to make it there, for how the U.S.

approaches these types of wars?

Do you think that there's any shared opinions there between Republicans and Democrats?

Absolutely.

I mean, you know, Americans, you know, from, from both parties are looking for us to be able to invest in our communities, to be able to invest in housing, to invest on our own infrastructure.

And they're tired of supporting, you know, you know, wars and, you know, like supporting the APAC candidates who are trying to take these funds and put them overseas.

All right.

Dr.

Adam Hamilway, Democratic candidate and congressional district 12.

Congratulations on your win.

Thank you so much for taking some time to talk to us today.

Thank you very much.

Governor Sherrill and the New York, New Jersey host committee announced today that they're giving away 770 free tickets to the World Cup in partnership with several different sponsors throughout the state.

The tickets will be distributed among different community groups like New Jersey youth soccer players, pediatric patients, and frontline health care workers, just to name a few.

And they'll be given out for five group stage matches and two knockout round matches to promote access to the entire tournament.

Governor Sherrill said during the announcement that quote, "We want the experience to be accessible and affordable for as many New Jerseyans as possible."

She added that these tickets come at no cost to taxpayers.

So with the first game just days away, what can we expect both on and off the field from transportation to the actual matchups?

I recently spoke with Steve Politti, sports reporter and columnist with NJ.com.

He's got the latest on what teams to watch out for and how this could all go for New Jersey.

Steve, great to talk to you.

We have focused so much on the state's preparedness to host this World Cup.

We're gonna get into that, but I want to just first start with the more fun side of it, right, which is the matches that we're gonna see.

Talk us through who, what teams are actually coming here to New Jersey.

Yeah, I mean, it's gonna be thrilling.

We've got eight games in New Jersey, starting with one of the earliest ones.

I think that's, it's gonna be a good one.

Brazil, Morocco sort of gets started with one of the traditional favorites, one of the powerhouses of international soccer.

Can't wait to see that game.

Morocco is very good as well, so that'll be a good test for them.

There's a chance that, you looking at the teams that have a chance to win, France is another team that'll be here.

They play Senegal early on in the, in the, sorry, can't call it MetLife Stadium.

In New York, New Jersey Stadium, as FIFA requires us to say.

Come on.

That'll be an interesting game.

We know what it's really called.

We do know what it's really called.

I do.

It's funny, on the parkway, they're calling it, if you look at one of the signs over the road, they call it New Jersey, New York Stadium, which I think is just hilarious.

But they can't, they whatever they put up there, we know it's met live stadium.

But yeah, then we I mean, just you look at some of the other matchups, it gets interesting that you get to see Senegal is training at Rutgers University.

They are the very talented team, a lot of people think they could be a dark horse.

You know, they're going to be playing here.

I mentioned France, Norway has one of the more colorful figures in international soccer as one of their best players.

I think people will be interested to see them play.

If you are a soccer nerd, I don't think you could have done much better than the teams that are coming here.

I remember that this was a big point under the Murphy administration, them trying to secure some big games for New Jersey.

Of course, doing that in the hopes that it translates to ticket sales.

We don't know a whole lot yet though, right, in terms of how many tickets have sold, how many are still available?

Yeah, FIFA keeps it very close to the vest.

It's become one of the more controversial storylines heading into the World Cup, the way FIFA's practices have sort of held tickets back.

A lot of fans believe they're buying for one tier ticket, ended up with tickets someplace else.

Obviously, the resale market is still insane.

The prices are, you know, several hundred dollars, no matter which game you're looking at.

I will be very curious as the games get closer, what will happen if FIFA will have to dump some of those tickets.

You know, there are 80,000 seats in the stadium.

So you would think that at least for this market, I don't know about every market, but for at least this market, you're going to have all every one of them filled.

- When it comes to New Jerseyans, and I'm going to ask you to speculate for a minute, but you know, there might be folks who haven't bought a ticket yet and are kind of just waiting to see how all of this goes.

Of course, we have the final here, right?

Just from your best guess, do you think this builds momentum as we go if things run according to plan as NJ Transit and the governor and the host committee hope it does?

- I think so, and that's a great point.

I think a lot of people wanna do the wait and see part of this.

I do think all of the transportation, all of the concerns, all of that negative buzz going in, if you're a casual soccer fan, casual sports fan, I've heard from a lot of people who are just like, you know what, I'm gonna take a pass on this.

I'm gonna watch it on TV.

Maybe if those first two games, first game go well, and people see that it's getting, that they're pulling off and it's been a good experience and there's a lot of excitement about it, and the tickets aren't as expensive as they are now.

You know, I could certainly see then more fans wanting to get there, wanting to see it.

But right now, I mean, it's just, it's cost prohibitive just to get there.

You know, it's like a $90 NJ Transit ride, you can't drive.

It's $250 to park at American Dream.

I can only imagine what the Uber prices are going to be when, you know, people get outside the stadium and they try to log onto their app and get one.

to see what that's like.

There are so many questions that I don't think people have the answer to heading into this thing to really know what the experience is going to be like for fans.

It could be chaotic or it could run smoothly, but I know that bus service will be available for those who want to get in and out of New York with no interruption because we know the trains will be blocked for hours before the game as well as hours after I should say hours before the match as well as hours after the match.

Let me just ask you this big picture.

FIFA as an organization kind of coming into New Jersey, coming into the New York area, New Jersey.

What concerns have you heard raised just in terms of safety, in terms of human rights concerns?

We know that this isn't all just fun and games.

I don't think there's anyone who would say FIFA is one of the more corrupt sports organizations in the world.

There's a reason that the World Cup was in Qatar last time around.

Human rights violations there are notorious.

There are reports now that FIFA is not going to let you bring a bottle in so you can have water inside the stadium.

They're all about maximizing every single penny from this thing, from that standpoint.

They've taken control of the stadium, they've taken control of the operations.

Yeah, but this is what you have to do.

These are the people you have to shake hands with and get in bed with.

If you want to have the World Cup in your backyard, that's what New Jersey's done.

They are here now.

There's no way around it.

You know, FIFA is a big storyline and it's part of this thing.

A whole lot has to go right for this to go right, right?

Yes, indeed.

Yes, indeed.

It really is.

I'm kind of curious to see if New Jersey pulls it off.

Obviously, we've had plenty of big events in that building in the past.

You know, Taylor Swift concerts every weekend.

There are one or two NFL games.

It's not like we're unaccustomed to hosting huge crowds in the Meadowlands.

We've just never done it like this, you know, without having a parking lot, with having so many people coming from outside the area.

I think that's gonna be my first thing.

I'm just curious.

I just really wanna see what happens.

Can we make this work?

- I think we are all asking the same question.

We're all gonna be watching closely, but Steve Politti, sports columnist and reporter for nj.com.

We appreciate your insight.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Thousands of people filled the streets in Asbury Park this weekend for New Jersey's largest and oldest LGBTQ+ Pride celebration.

Now in its 34th year, Jersey Pride kicked off a months-long celebration of community while they continue to fight for equality.

Joining me now to talk about the legacy and history of the Pride Festival in New Jersey is Laura Popal, president of Jersey Pride.

Laura, it's great to have you with us.

I know you are fresh off of this year's Pride Parade.

Can you tell us about it?

What was the theme?

Sure.

So this is our 34th year and each year we try to choose a theme that is really reflective of how things are in the community, how things are in the state and the country.

So this year our theme is "Exist, Resist, Persist."

And really the idea is that pride is a celebration but it is also a protest.

It's always had that dual nature.

Its genesis were the Stonewall riots in 1969.

But each year we try to celebrate the community.

We provide visibility for the community within the broader, in our case, Asbury Park and New Jersey society.

And so we've always been able to really celebrate and bring together lots of different groups, lots of different aspects of the LGBTQ world.

But this year, with everything going on at the national level, it's really important that we're able to acknowledge that we do exist despite every effort to erase us, particularly the trans members of our community.

It's important to encourage and to provide hope by letting people know we can resist.

This does not have to be the state of affairs.

We have been protesting since 1969, and we're going to persist at this.

No matter what they throw at us, we will continue to be out there demonstrating that we deserve these rights, we belong.

And we know that there are lots of allies out there.

They showed up in mass.

So we are not alone.

We work with our allies and it was a great day.

I want to ask you, you know, not everybody is familiar with what happened in 1969 in the Stonewall riots.

Can you just explain, give us a bit of historical context there?

It was a police raid in New York of the Stonewall Inn, which has since been declared a national park.

But again, that designation was stripped by an administration that has been, as I said, trying to erase all evidence of the LGBTQ, particularly T, community.

And we fought back to get that replaced.

But it was about the community that was in the bar at the time, which was a lot of members of the trans community, our black and brown brothers and sisters, as well as LGBT, well, lesbians and gay men, protesting and saying, "No, we're allowed to be here," even as the police were dragging us out of the bar.

And so after that event, there started being Pride events throughout the country, and it's slowly grown.

So originally, you saw them in the larger cities, New York, San Francisco, but in 1992, New Jersey started, Jersey Pride started it the first statewide event and since then there have been over the past 30 some years dozens of pride events that have come up.

Jersey City it just had its 25th, Newark has a pride event, Montclair has a pride event, so there some of the South Jersey shore towns are now having pride events.

So we are everywhere and we are standing up within our communities and making sure our voices are heard and recognizing each other and celebrating.

You said that right now there's an effort to erase the, in particular, trans community, but of course you're mentioning the efforts still to fight for rights for LGBTQ folks, but I just want to ask you this, we have seen this Trump administration scale back funding for pretty much all DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion types of programs.

Has that had a trickle down impact on you here in New Jersey and specifically your organization?

So when we started back in 1992, and I've been here with Jersey Pride since the beginning, we actually came from a political legacy ourselves.

The original Jersey Pride was a committee of the New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition, which had just in 1992 culminated in a statewide effort to get the law against discrimination amended to include sexual orientation.

And at that point, it was signed in January by then Governor Florio, and the energy within the community was tremendous.

And we were only the fifth state to have an amended lab that actually acknowledged sexual orientation.

And yet pride events were happening in nearby Philadelphia and nearby New York, which meant people were crossing the river to go to pride events that were being held in states that didn't have amended laws against discrimination.

We were ahead even at that point in terms of our legislative victories and we wanted to celebrate in the Garden State itself.

And so we had our our event then.

The thing about New Jersey is that we're within the New York market in terms of outreach.

So when we look for advertisers for our pride guide when we look for sponsors we're within a New York market.

And yet Asbury Park is far enough away that we were not getting a lot of uptake from the kind of major sponsors that some other prides would get.

However there was a lot of community support for what we were doing.

And so we built at that time from the ground up a sponsorship sponsorship opportunities and advertising and other outreach that was at a much more granular level.

And we've continued to build that through the years.

And so those relationships are longstanding and they've been very successful for us and for the other organizations.

They're very happy with working with and building that allyship with New Jersey, with Jersey Pride.

And so our event, you know, we reached out to our, to those allies, to those sponsors, same way we've done every year, and they came back.

And so we have enjoyed an experience that is unlike some of the other prides that legitimately are struggling because of this.

I just want to ask in the short time we have left, what rights are you still fighting for for those in the LGBTQ+ community?

Well, there's been a lot of progress here in New Jersey for equal rights for both based on sexual orientation and based on gender identity, but then those rights are being eroded.

So some of what we are fighting for is to make sure that we don't book laws that are on the books aren't being rolled back.

So that's really an important piece of it.

But also there are national laws that are going through and you'll see school districts where they will try to push through book bans on books that are related to many different topics, but certainly LGBTQ topics.

And so at a very local level, we're fighting to make sure that we are our rights are not being eroded and they're not being eroded in specific ways like book bans.

But gender affirming care, an incredibly important topic and one that largely affects the trans community but has impacts on others as well.

That's something that we continue to fight for both at a local and at a federal level.

But then as if federal legislation is being introduced that can trickle down to the state we need to be paying attention to that as well.

So it becomes that much more important that we vote in these midterm elections and in in all elections we should be voting and making our voices heard.

We know the politicians know that we exist and but we have the power to do something by voting and I we at Jersey Pride are doing everything we can to make sure people feel comfortable doing so.

All right Laura Popol, President of Jersey Pride, thanks so much for coming on today.

Oh my pleasure, thank you.

That's going to do it for us tonight.

I'm the entire team here at NJ Spotlight News.

Thanks for being with us.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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