>> 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 in the broadcast, the races are heating up.

We talk with District 7 Democratic primary candidate Rebecca Bennett about her race to try to unseat Republican Tom Kane Jr.

Plus, a panel of strategists give their take on the hottest congressional races and other news of the day.

And speaking of those headlines, how are you handling the stress that can come from the constant news cycle?

We'll get you some tips to help you cope.

But first, New York Penn Station could be closed to NJ Transit riders for four hours before the start of each of the eight World Cup games that will be held in New Jersey.

Those games are scheduled between June 13th and July 19th, with some being played on the weekends, but many during the week.

That news comes from NorthJersey.com that spoke with an NJ Transit official on the condition of anonymity.

According to NJ Transit documents obtained by North Jersey, trains must present, excuse me, train riders must present their World Cup games.

World Cup tickets in order to gain access to Penn Station at 32nd and 33rd streets.

Riders trying to get to Amtrak and Long Island Railroad trains will be directed to other entrances, but NJ Transit riders without a ticket to the match will lose all access to Jersey-bound trains for those four hours before the game.

We reached out to the spokespeople for the New York/New Jersey Host Committee and NJ Transit.

Neither would confirm the report.

The host committee representative told us they're working closely with FIFA and their regional transportation partners on a mobility plan.

The NJ Transit rep told us they're committed to safely transporting 40000 fans to and from the matches while minimizing the impact to regular riders to the greatest extent possible.

Both said a plan is still being finalized and will be announced in the coming weeks.

Close to 6,000 layoff notices have been filed by major companies in New Jersey since the start of the year.

Nearly 1,000 of those jobs were on the chopping block in March alone.

That data comes from the state's warrant notices, which have to be filed by any company that employs 100 or more people and plans to fire at least 50 of them.

The largest number of layoff notices came from health care companies and banks.

But some good news.

New Jersey added about 6000 jobs in January.

The majority of them private sector jobs.

The unemployment rate in the state is 5.2 percent.

Coming up Democratic candidate Rebecca Bennett joins us to discuss her primary race for the seventh congressional district.

That's next.

Major funding for NJ Spotlight News is provided in part by NJM Insurance Group serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

It started as a crowded field of candidates in the primary race for congressional District 7.

But it's down to just four Democrats now vying to take on Republican incumbent Tom Kane Jr.

this November.

The primary elections will be held on June 2nd.

I'm joined now by one of the candidates in the race Rebecca Bennett whose resume includes former Navy helicopter pilot an officer in the Air National Guard a healthcare industry leader and a mom of two.

Rebecca welcome to the show thanks for being with us.

Thanks so much for having me on excited for the conversation.

Why do you believe that you are the best Democratic candidate to take on and I imagine you believe you can beat Congressman Tom Kane Jr.

Yeah well you know I just put back on me I'm a former Navy helicopter pilot I served in the military for over 15 years and I led missions people on teams all over the world.

From there I moved into health care where I've been working in the private sector ever since.

I've worked in a bunch of different areas of health care to include women's health which is near and dear to my heart.

I'm also a mom to two girls and I'm raising my girls here in the district.

And I understand the challenges that we're facing in this district because my family is dealing with them too.

And all those things combined uniquely position me on being able to build the coalition that we need to be able to flip the seat.

You know we need to be able to get Democrats engaged and motivated and excited.

We also need to be able to appeal to independent voters and center right Republicans.

And my background as a military veteran, private sector leader and mom uniquely positioned me on being able to do that.

And I'll also just add we need to be able to raise the resources we need to be able to in order to flip the seat and be able to communicate with voters.

I'm very proud to share that I raised over two point six million dollars so far without taking any corporate PAC money.

And that's come from over 13 individual 13000 individual donors across the district.

You said you wanted to ask you this.

You said you wanted to address the needs of the voters in the district.

What do you believe those needs and concerns are.

Yeah you know all here.

I'll say here we've got to walk and chew gum at the same time.

So what I hear most from people on the ground is we've got to hold this Trump administration accountable for its corruption and its lawlessness.

But we also have to solve the issues that we are facing.

And what I hear top of mind from everyone is cost of living.

You know we are living through an affordability crisis right now.

Everything is more expensive.

Child care elder care groceries housing energy health care.

And you know I could go on and on and on.

But we're not seeing solutions to those problems.

And so I rolled out a really robust policy platform to address those issues and to actually make people's lives better.

So those are the things that we've got to focus on in office.

What specific policies would you advocate for in the health care space as someone who's worked across a range of sectors in the health care industry to bring those costs down and to increase access to health care.

Yeah absolutely.

You know I'll say for me there's a couple of things here.

So number one we've got to make sure that we are getting the subsidies back or the Affordable Care Act to make sure we're bringing those health insurance premiums down and also looking to undo some of the cuts that got put into effect for Medicaid.

Tom King Jr.

was the deciding vote on the one big beautiful bill which means that tens of thousands of people in our district are losing access to their health insurance either because they can't afford their premiums or because of Medicaid cuts.

And we know that that is just going to make the cost of health care go up for all of us because people are going to wait until they get sicker.

They're going to go to the emergency room, which is the most expensive place to get care.

So that's number one is make sure that we're undoing those cuts.

And then looking at the more proactive of what can we do to actually make sure our health care system works better for all of us.

I believe we need a public option to be able to give people choice.

And we also need to make sure we're protecting against people with pre-existing conditions.

You know as a mom who's had two kids and I'm also a veteran to both of those things would have previously prevents me from being able to get access to care.

So we've got to make sure that everyone has access to quality affordable health care and no one's going broke because of their medical bills.

Of course Affordable Care Act does address that.

I just want to switch gears as a former Navy helicopter pilot.

I don't know if you would have any intention of sitting on the Armed Forces Committee but I have to ask do you believe that the U.S.

made the right move in the way that it attacked Iran.

Yeah you know I would love to sit on the House Armed Services Committee.

I was a helicopter pilot.

I was also an experimental test pilot and so led the development of technology for both the United States and partner nations.

And what I'll say about what's going on in the Middle East is that any time we are going to go put American service members in harm's way there needs to be a clear motivation clear objectives and a clear exit strategy.

We're not seeing any of that from this administration.

And so it is incredibly upsetting just about how cavalier this administration has been about the loss of American life and what we're seeing in the Middle East.

And so we need to make sure we're working towards sustainable long term peace in the region.

One of the issues that a lot of voters are kind of arguing about here and in your district is whether or not there should be any conditions over the U.S.

support of Israel.

Do you believe conditions should exist in that allyship.

You know I've seen firsthand how important Israel is as an ally to the United States.

And I do believe that we need to have a two state solution.

I think that we need to support Israel as an ally and they need the resources to be able to defend themselves.

And so to me it's about working towards that long term peace in the region.

And what we're seeing from our leaders in this administration is that they do not understand the severity and the stakes of what we're talking about.

It's why it's important we have people with a seat at the table that understand the stakes and the gravity of what we're doing so we can really work towards that long term peace and rebuild in the region for a long term peace in the region.

Here at home you say that one of your key priorities is keeping communities safe.

One way you'd like to do that is gun safety reforms.

Those have been deadlocked on Capitol Hill for four years if not decades.

What reforms would you push.

And do you believe you could make any progress there.

Yeah.

You know this is one that is also deeply personal for me.

I train people on how to use weapons of war.

I flew with weapons of war on my aircraft in the military.

And I'm a mom to two girls.

And every day when I send my girls off to school I make sure to leave on a really positive note because I know they may not come home at the end of the day.

And that is the reality that so many families are facing in this country.

And it is unacceptable.

And so this is absolutely something that I want to champion and to work on getting meaningful legislation passed.

I think there's a lot of common sense things that most of us agree on like background checks and red flag laws.

And so absolutely we'll continue to push on that because I want families to be able to live and live free and feel safe in their communities.

You say common sense reforms.

How would you would you attempt to reach across the aisle.

Because right now there are a lot of folks who say those are not common sense that those are restricting their Second Amendment rights.

Just a couple of seconds left.

Yeah you know I would say on that day this is how I've led my entire life which is country over party and service over self.

And so if I can find people to work on being able to find meaningful solutions to something like background checks and red flag laws to solve our gun violence epidemic then I will absolutely work with them.

All right.

We have to leave it there.

Rebecca Bennett, democratic primary candidate in district 7.

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

>> Thank you.

>> The 7th congressional district race is one of just many heating up around the state.

We've got primary races in the 11th and 12th as well as some head-to-head battles against several congressional incumbents.

Here to talk about those races and all the politics of the day is Republican strategist Jeanette Hoffman and Democratic strategist Dan Bryan.

Thank you both for being here.

Let's get right into Congressional District 7.

We just heard from Rebecca Bennett.

Dan, I know you're working as a consultant on her campaign.

How do you believe she stacks up against the others, which once was a crowded primary field, now down to just three opponents in that race?

Yeah, listen, it's still a real primary with a bunch of good candidates.

Selfishly, I do think Rebecca Bennett is the best candidate.

But really, the story of CD7 is that we have an incredibly vulnerable Republican incumbent in Tom Kane Jr.

He's been totally incapable of standing up to Donald Trump in any way, shape, or form, whether it's health care, whether it's the disastrous war in Iran, and he's totally silent, can't stand up for him.

And I think the residents of CD7 have seen that, and I think they're ready for change this November.

Jeanette, do you agree with Dan's assessment?

And to just add to that question, one of the things that we've heard many Republicans in the district ask for is pushback on this Roxbury warehouse that was purchased by DHS.

He's been pretty quiet there.

Do you think that makes him as vulnerable as Dan says?

I don't think Tom Kane is vulnerable at all.

I mean, listen, we heard this two years ago when far left candidate Sue Altman tried to run against him and she couldn't even touch him.

Listen, this district has gotten significantly more Republican since it was when Tom Malinowski represented the district.

And I think that's why former Congressman Malinowski didn't even decide to run in that district.

And he decided to run in the District 11 special election, which he lost.

>> I think he's done a great job.

He's been a volunteer fireman.

You can see him volunteering at soup kitchens.

He does a great job with constituent services.

I think he'll be just fine.

But of course he's not taking anything for granted.

>> And do you think that Roxbury issue hurts him at all, Jeanette?

>> I think it's going to come up.

I certainly think immigration is issue.

I don't think it hurts him.

He's going to talk about all the issues of the day.

It's certainly very early right now.

It's only April.

We have a long ways to go until November.

>> Let's take a look at the primary race -- excuse me, it's no longer primary race.

Let's take a look at the race in congressional district 11 where we have Joe Hathaway up against Democrat Annalilia Mejia.

They had a debate last week.

Dan, I just want to get your assessment of the debate.

First of all, how do you think Mejia did?

Listen, she's a, although she's been in and around politics for a long time, she's a political newcomer and I think she did very well.

I think she answered the questions.

I think she made her views very clear.

You know, there is a sense out there that, oh, maybe she's, you know, not right for the district.

I think what she's making clear is that the things that she cares about, whether it's healthcare, whether it's standing up to the Trump administration, whether it's standing up to ISIS overreach, are the things that the district cares about.

I think that's one of the reasons you see all of the early vote numbers so heavily in favor of Ana Olia over the Republican Joe Hathaway right now.

Looks like it's going to put this race out of reach for the special election in April.

We do know that there are 60,000 more Democrats in that district than there previously were, favoring now, CD7 favors now the Republicans.

We know that 11 favors Democrats.

We're going to get into the specifics of some things that they talked about during that debate.

But just overall your sense of how Joe Hathaway who's he's a councilman and former mayor and Randolph but new to the I'd say national kind of stage.

How do you think he did.

I think he impressed a lot of people.

I personally was very impressed by his first performance as a new candidate on the congressional stage.

Listen, he's a moderate Republican.

He would represent this district very well.

I will acknowledge, as you said, Joanna, it's 60,000 more Democrats and it was redistricted to be more Democratic while CD7 was districted to be more Republican.

So he definitely has an uphill battle.

But I think a lot of people looked at him and said, wow, he is actually more moderate and fits this district better.

I know one moderate Democrat said this is going to be the first time I'm going to contribute to a Republican candidate because, on the other hand, Anna Lilia Mejia is so far left and has no business actually representing anybody in Congress with some of her anti-Semitic statements that she made.

Well, let's get into that because she really tried to make the distinction.

He's called her anti-Semitic because of her criticism of Israel's government.

She has said, look, I can be critical of a government without being anti-Semitic.

And then there was this moment, which since then, Joe Hathaway has tried to get a lot of play out of, but let's hear what she had to say.

If that's the worst thing that I could be accused of, then I will stand with it because I believe we have to fight for the freedom and justice of every human being.

Anti-Semitism is a bad thing to be.

If you couldn't hear it there Hathaway saying it being called anti-Semitic is a pretty bad thing to be accused of.

Dan what do you make of that comment.

Was that poor wording.

Was that the truth coming out.

What do you make of that.

Yeah.

Listen it is an incredibly charged issue obviously.

And I think the wording probably could have been better.

What I think what on a Lillia is is trying to lay out here is that she can be fully supportive of Israel and of Jewish people without supporting the Israeli government.

And Benjamin Netanyahu and frankly I think that's where the vast majority of Americans are right now as well.

I think the wording there could have been better is actually in political playbook this morning that you know the attacks on her saying that she's OK with being called anti-Semitic is taken wildly out of context.

Right.

Obviously it's a very charged issue and the wording there could have been better.

But I think the distinction she is trying to draw there is that she can be critical of the Israeli government with that while still standing firmly with Jewish people.

Jeanette your thoughts.

Well I think it goes far beyond just this statement.

I mean listen first of all to say if that's the worst thing you can say about me, that's a pretty bad thing to say about anybody, someone who wants to be a member of Congress at a time where incidents of anti-Semitism across the globe are among the worst in history.

So number one that's a horrible thing to say and is disqualifying.

But number two, she has a history of saying things that are just not supportive of the Jewish community in New Jersey and across America.

She was at a forum during the Democratic primary for the special election where she was asked to raise her hand if she thought Jewish people had the right to self-determination in Israel.

She was one of only, I think, two candidates that did not raise her hand.

So, if she believes that Jewish people do not have the right to self-determination in Israel, I don't believe she has the right to represent any Jewish people, or anyone, therefore, in Congress.

All right, we're going to switch off of the 11th Congressional District and look at a recent poll that came out evaluating Governor Sherrill's performance so far.

We're very early in her term, so no surprise, she got some pretty high ratings, 58%.

Jeanette, I'm going to throw this one to you first.

What's your assessment as a Republican of how the Governor has handled the position so far?

Yeah, I think that's about right.

I mean, listen, she's new on the job, and I think people are just saying, "Hey, you know, she's pretty much doing what everyone said they voted for her to do."

You know, her first budget address was pretty smooth, no major tax increases.

She said what she was going to do on day one, and that's freeze energy rates.

We'll see when we get our energy bills in the next couple of months if she's actually achieved that.

I mean, that might change her approval ratings.

But, you know, listen, at a time when most of our news is pretty nationalized, she hasn't really made any waves or caused any reason for people to not approve of her.

So I think that's pretty much on the mark right now.

Dan, we do see that many voters, including Democrats, want her to work with President Trump, some say when it's appropriate or at times.

Do you think that she's come out too hard, too aggressive against the Trump administration?

Or are you happy with the tone and tenor so far of her messaging?

Yeah, listen, I do think that there's a general kind of view out there that the government in New Jersey should be working with the Trump administration when they can.

I think the difference between the first Trump administration and the second one is just there's so few opportunities to even work together now.

I mean things are so far off the rails and what he does and says on a daily basis in an administration and the sheer corruption and the scale of the corruption and just the chaos coming out of Washington is outrageous.

So I think people can say yes I would like that.

I would like the governor to work with the Trump administration with the understanding is there's not much to work with right now.

So I think Jeanette did have it right there when she said you know given that the daily news cycles are so dominated by Washington right now people that are kind of felt pretty good about Governor Cheryl when they voted for her when she took office are pretty much still feeling where they are right now and I think that's going to continue for a while.

I think she's stuck to the right policies.

She's doing things that are popular.

She's running what she calls a ruthlessly efficient and competent government.

I think that's smart.

I think sticking to the kind of popular kitchen table issues is great.

And of course she did make news saying that she is going to move to Drumthwacket one of only I think three governors who has actually lived in the governor's mansion.

But we have to leave it there.

Jeanette Hoffman Dan Bryan thank you both for joining us.

Thanks for having us.

Thanks so much.

From war overseas to rising prices at home it can feel like the headlines just keep coming.

For many people that constant stream of news can take a real toll.

Experts say this kind of headline stress is becoming more common especially in a 24 24/7 news environment enabled by social media.

That can leave us feeling overwhelmed anxious even physically drained.

Joining us now is Dr.

Gina Radice-Vella, Chief Psychologist at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, which is part of Hackensack Meridian Health.

Doctor, thanks so much for coming on the show.

I just wonder if you can give us a few practical pointers for when we hit those feelings of overwhelm, just based on all the information we take in on a daily basis.

Absolutely.

You're so right.

We are constantly inundated with news information coming from our phones, from the TV, from the radio.

It can feel really hard to feel like we can get a break from that.

So, my first advice is always for people to check in with themselves, identify what they're feeling in their body, know their signs of stress, and know what they're going to do to help them alleviate those symptoms of distress.

We want to look for symptoms of not sleeping well, being a little more irritable, on edge with our loved ones, that physical exhaustion, difficulty, or changes in our appetite.

We want to know our triggers and our signs, and then know what we can do to identify and treat them.

- Okay, let's say that someone kind of goes through that checklist and says, "Yeah, I'm at like peak stress point.

What do we actually do to calm our nervous systems, to kind of reset or to better equip ourselves to handle the kind of constant input?

Absolutely.

So tune out those stressors and tune into what makes us feel good.

Know our pleasurable activities, what we enjoy, what makes us feel better, taking a walk outside, enjoying a cup of coffee with our loved one.

Do more of that and less of what's making us stress.

It can be hard, especially I'll speak for myself and my colleagues, right?

Sometimes we can't turn it off.

But are there moments where we need to detach, where we need to separate from that input?

Absolutely.

This is all about balance, right?

We have to be in tune to what's going on in the world.

That's important for our safety as well.

But we have to know when too much -- when it's too much.

So being able to detach, to turn off, those things are really important.

I tell people, identify a time in the day when that's going to be your time to look into the news and be intentional about it.

Also, be intentional about where you're getting your news information from.

There are so many sources of information.

We know that.

And they're not all equally reputable.

Find one maybe two trusted news sources credible news sources and stick with those.

Everything else turn off those notifications turn off those tabs and just and just pay attention to what matters and in a balanced way.

Yeah we know some of those companies will create click bait type headlines right to get you going to kind of get you hooked and to get you to read the story.

What happens when our kids come home and they ask us about events in the news or even perhaps maybe walk in the room and see the headlines for themselves.

How do we talk to our kids our children about this.

This is the hard thing.

We want to be mindful of what is getting to our children.

And also we want to be able to turn the script into a way that we know they're going to be able to receive and understand.

So this first is from a developmentally appropriate age.

Right.

So we want to give them information based on what they can handle given their age.

We also want to be mindful of we want to try if we can, though I know this isn't always possible, we want it to come from us first.

We want to control the narrative, what they're hearing, that when they hear it from their friends or when they see it on social media, they already have the context to understand it.

And they also have the psychological safety of, yeah, my parents talked to me about that.

And it seems really scary right now.

But they said it's going to be okay.

And I could trust that.

We want to provide them with that.

That's what's important.

We want to make sure that we have that source of security and safety before other people, you know, get to them and ignite those fears that they might have.

How do we tell our parents?

Go ahead.

No, I think it's really important, too.

I think a lot of times as parents, we want to assure our kids that everything is going to be fine and that they don't need to worry.

Right.

That's our job as parents.

But I also think sometimes we have to, you know, toe the line of being truthful as well.

It is really scary.

There is a lot going on.

It's OK that you're feeling nervous and worried right now.

And this is what we can do to make you feel safer.

Or this is what we're doing to stay in control.

We want to balance truth and also their feelings.

You just raised an interesting point that sense of control.

Sometimes we don't feel that sense of control.

How do we know when we have it.

How to exert it especially when we feel powerless.

Yes absolutely.

And I think this is what really exacerbates the anxiety and the mental health issues that we're seeing with the news.

The constant stream of news that we're getting that is so much that we don't have control over.

So I always tell people, let's shift it to where we do have control.

Focus on how much information you're getting, where you're getting that information, but also what you can do to make yourself feel better.

Take care of yourself.

Eat good foods.

Get good sleep.

Go outside.

Go on those walks.

Do things that make you feel good and give you that sense of Gina Radice-Vela.

Thank you so much for being with us today.

Appreciate it.

Thank you for having me.

And a quick programming note before we leave you tonight.

All this week in our usual news time slots, we're bringing you episodes of our special digital documentary series here at NJPBS called Painting Community.

The series tells the story of the artists behind the murals we see in many of our neighborhoods and their vision to not only beautify the streets of New Jersey, but to start conversations that help bring communities together.

From Atlantic City to Asbury Park, Jersey City to New Brunswick, Painting Community explores just how transformative the arts can be in communities across the state.

You can learn more about the project at mynjpbs.org.

And that's going to do it for us.

I'm Joanna Gaggis for the entire NJ Spotlight News Team.

Thanks for being with us.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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