Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco announces he is dropping out of race

Come along for a ride on the Spin Petrol. We'll be looking... At least you guys are reading. Again, he's loving that. So, I can't say that much. Poison. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Got one more. Can you make it jump? One. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.

Set up that one. Well, thanks for coming here. I thought it would be best to talk to you about this in a setting outside the state house so that we weren't mobbed. And, of course, you all know Diane by now. And Marie Tracy and Marcy and Rob, my son-in-law. I wanted to tell you of course what you already know. And that is I'm going to withdraw from the race room for governor. You know, when I started 25 years ago, I mean, it wasn't my goal to be even in the legislature before that. Or far from my mind was saying, Client to be governor. Rather was to, once I got into the legislature too, you know, I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed public service. And I enjoyed helping people. And I found that to be very rewarding. So, I was lucky enough to move to the Senate. Lucky enough to be a minority leader for three years. So, for a few of you who were there at that time, Brenda probably was. In those days. And I think she remembers that. And I had a good time doing that under Tom Kane's governorship. And then I was very lucky. And I used to say, timing is everything. That we took the majority. And I got to be Senate president. Again, not really specifically with any goals in mind other than being the Senate leader and being able to have an impact on people in New Jersey, a positive one through legislation. I'd already learned, of course, how much of an impact we could have. So, that's why I chose not to go to Congress. So, a lot of people advised me to run for Congress in the when Matt Ranolva retired, which was 1992. Because then you have a bigger base from which you can run for

something else. That was my thought. My thought was to be the best Senate president I could be. I have the best legislative record I could put together with my colleagues. And that meant helping people, helping people in a lot of different ways, helping children, helping families. And that's all happened. Actually, I've been very, I've been blessed that way. That it has all played out the best possible way politically through public service. And I'm very proud of that record. And I always used to say constantly that this was my last year. I've had a great career. And I say that today. Because it is my last year. But it's a year that I'm acting governor. And so it's even a better year. And while I worked very hard the last four years, particularly to put myself in a position to run for governor, I spent a lot of time and talked to a lot of people.

And received great deal of encouragement. I could not have expected to have as much support as I have even as of today. And I do have a lot of support today. Nevertheless, I think this is the best decision for me and my family. And quite frankly, probably for the party. But I mean, this is really a personal thing with me. I am not able to do as acting governor what I really wish to do. I think I can accomplish in this year more than the next governor will accomplish over a period of two or three years. Because of the two hats I wear, because of the experience I have, because of the know how I have them, and because I'll be free to really try to put together the kind of initiatives I think New Jersey needs. And that's always been my goal. I was not running for governor to run for another day. I wasn't running for governor to run for another spot beyond that. I wasn't running for governor to build a career.

I wasn't running for governor to have more power. I was running for governor because I thought that I was the best candidate of the candidates to bring New Jersey to a higher level, to bring new all New Jerseyans as best we could to the goal of prosperity, to build a world class education, to help build schools continue to follow through on that, to clean up our water, to deal with open spaces over a period of even more years, to provide for seniors, to do all the things that I've laid out legislatively and more. I believe I'm best prepared to do that, but I'm not going to do it because I don't want to be bogged down. These past several weeks, almost seemed like several years, quite frankly, have really dealt a blow to me and my family. And I think it's been too difficult. It interferes with my life, my frankly.

I mean, I think I need to be more focused on government. And I just don't think that the timing is right here. I want to have a governor who obviously shares my views and concerns and my ideas, but it isn't going to be me. It's much of what I have read, particularly the editorial comment, has been devastating to me personally. I've never been a public service for profit in any way. In fact, one would argue that it hurt me that way, but that's okay. I mean, that was always okay with me, so I enjoyed it. I've never done anything to hurt anybody. I've never, in any way, I've always put really people first. I think it was Ray Lesleyak, actually,

and one of Ron's articles that mentioned that maybe I was too trusting or something like that. And maybe I am. And maybe that was part of it. But I know that I've done everything in every way, right and proper. I'm not a perfect lawyer. I'm certainly not a perfect father or a perfect husband. I'm sure of that. But I am what I am. I've done public service. I've been the best possible legislator I could be. And I think I put people first. And so therefore, I am going to recommend to the county chairman and to my committee on vacancies that Bob Franks be appointed in my place. He does share my ideas and goals. I know him very well. You all know that. He's my running mate for 13 years. And for the party, for the people of New Jersey, more importantly, I think Bob Franks

is the person that I would like to see be governorate. And I'll work towards that end. So, you know, I thought that this group of people should hear this firsthand. I don't want to, I don't want to belabor the point, but that's basically what it is. I've just had it with respect to the campaign and I want to be a governor that has done something for New Jersey when I leave. Do you feel relieved now that you know your family around? Well, I'm sure on that right moment. But I'm sure I will. I will to the start extent. I still have all these responsibilities. And I don't want anybody to think this is a tragedy in any way. I mean, this is politics. There's life after politics. This was potentially an opportunity that, for the first time, I was not able to perhaps reach.

But I'm sure there'll be some relief from the campaign end, but I'll still be pretty active as a legislator governor. Can you go outside about the timing of this? You just announced you just got extra money for your campaign. Why are you doing this now? Yeah, I didn't just get extra money for the campaign. I potentially did. Why am I doing it now? Because I've been mulling this over for a couple of days and I thought that now rather than next week is better. I want to give the person who takes my place every opportunity to win the primary. And by the way, this is not about winning or losing. I believe strongly I would have won the primary. In fact, I think I would have won easily. And I'm confident that I would have won easily. This is not about worrying about losing the primary. And I really believe I would have been very competitive in the general election. I mean, you can't make predictions in this business. But I know the people in New Jersey, I know how they think.

I know how a lot of the special interests think the people that make a difference in New Jersey. And I've been working with people, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. I believe it would have been a competitive race. This is not about worrying about losing a race. This is not about that at all. Was there anything that you announced been on Sunday or since then that you took the scales where people that didn't show off work and started about the money that didn't arrive? The thing about had nothing to do with that. And let me clear that up. There are 14 senators that weren't supporting me. In fact, many of them have called me. This is not about that at all. Just the opposite, quite frankly, they have called me to encourage me to stay in the race. This is not about losing county support and none of the county chairman. I know that there were some comments by Bill Datt in the newspaper. But by and large, the majority of the county chairman are behind me as of this moment. This is not about losing support.

This was never about that. I don't know how many people were there on Sunday. There were different vary numbers. It was Sunday afternoon, two to four, book dough college on a beautiful Sunday. That had nothing to do with it. I can produce 1,000 people in Scotch planes if we wanted to produce numbers. But that wasn't about numbers. It was about an announcement. And so it had nothing to do with that day. Did you get a sense that all of it might be more stories coming out than more front page headlines? No, it's not about that either. No, it's about just deciding that I could not really run this race the way I wanted to on the issues. And still be the kind of governor I wanted to be in 2001. I said in February that I wanted to accomplish a great deal during this year. This is a window of opportunity for me. I historic window of opportunity. And what I said that day, I really met in order for me to accomplish what I said fourth on that day in the assembly chamber. I can't do both. When you talk to your family,

what is their reaction? They've always been very supportive. No one's encouraged me to do this. This is my own decision. They've supported me either way. I mean, we're pretty tight. We're very close. It's taking a toll on them. I'm sure it's well as taking a toll on perhaps even other members of my family. My sister's, for example. But more importantly, we're together on this issue. And I want to stay together on this issue. The most important thing is putting your family first. And that's what I'm doing right now. I'm going to talk to a few Republicans who are so disappointed in the way news has come out about you. It's obviously caused a situation. They called it dirtier than the Assembly floor select campaign in 96. Well, at least there. There were two people. No, that was one of my, you know, I never dreamed it would be like this.

With me only as opposed to three people. Me only as the target maybe targets not a good word. But me, the focus on me, always on the front page above the fold, no matter what. I mean, I thought some of these stories were non-stories. Could you honestly look a college kid in the face? A young Republican or a young Democrat who comes up to you and says, I want to run for the Senate. I want to run for governor. I want to run for Congress. Could you honestly say to that person, yes, go ahead? I certainly would talk about it first. But then I would encourage people to get into public service. Because I'm afraid that because of this, a lot of people are going to be discouraged from running for office. Now, legislatively, I mean, I've had a great 25 years in my district's various districts with my various running mates. And so I, you know, I'm not regretting that at all. I mean, I think that it's public service,

particularly at the legislative level, is very rewarding because you can actually help people in many different ways. And I've been able to do that. And so I'll be able to point to that later. And hopefully a lot more by the end of this year. Do you think you are indeed, do your character has been assassinated in effect? Well, I think that I had a little work to do to, much of what was, many cases, what was printed, were editorialized on particularly, there were misstatements or inaccuracies, there were just plain facts that were totally fabricated, in some cases, and on some of the radio, you know, a couple radio stations. Yeah, I've kind of, you know, I've got to rebuild that part of it because, you know, outside the people that know me, you know, people might be skeptical. I mean, I can do that. I mean, I certainly, that's one of my goals is to demonstrate to people that,

I am not a profit-taking person in any way in this role. I've never approached this office in that way. And nothing, no one could ever point, never benefited in any way from anything that has been printed in that, except that it's always been printed in a way that's made me look less of a person than I really am, I believe. So, you all have to speak to other people about that. I saw it, I saw your wife, I am not in your debt, I'm shaking her head at the appropriate moments. You care to say anything about what you felt is coming through? So, can you just, from the time of the rally of the day, just take us a little more in terms of how you came to your decision to drop out after that? No, there's no magic to this, Ron. I came to a decision and thought this was in the best interest of my family and me.

I mean, this is not the end of the world. As I said before, the tragedy is something happening to your family in the tragic way. That would be tragedy. This is politics. I have other opportunities, I'm sure, after I finish this. And of course, there was no guarantee here. So, I know that it was not like I was going to stay in the state senate because I would not have regardless. Well, since the filing deadline changed, you can run against Joe Saliga now. I thought about that. I thought about calling him this morning. But it's not April 1st, so. What are you mad? Are you hurt? What are you after the polls gone on? Sure. You could probably say all above, but I'm pretty hurt about a lot of what was printed, cartoons and some of the other stuff that I've seen. And I thought I'd gotten used to the cartoons,

because there's been plenty of them. But, you know, when you're, it's trying, it's demonstrating to people who don't know me something that I am not. And that's what bothers me when I let it bother me. But I'm hurt. But I'll be fine. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You know, I think I said at the beginning, and I'm not only fingers at discrep at all, you know that. I mean, I think I said at the beginning, you know, if I could just be treated equally, I said, that's one thing I said. Again, I'll say there are a lot, you know, some of the stories were non-stories, I was disappointed in that there. I don't know if I, you know, I'm not going to suggest that I was single now, because I really don't know. I don't, I've tried to recall some of the other races over the years, and I just couldn't remember whether anything was as frenzied as frenzied as this one

has been the last several weeks in terms of the desire to have another story and another story and another story about anything. Certainly Tom, I don't recall that at all with Tom Kane. I'm sure he had an IPO or an IPO once or twice in his lifetime. And the same thing with Christy Whitman. I, you know, I just don't recall the, I remember some stuff, but not the securulation. But, of course, that's a role, really. I mean, I'm focused on me and what's best for me and what's best for me is doing this today. So what now? What are you going to do? Going to be the best acting governor we've had in 100 years. Are you going to be for Bob Frank, so you get involved in that campaign? Yes, Bob is, as I said, my former running mate and a friend of mine and I think he is the right person to continue the job. I mean, I really believe that I can help him win.

Do you have any concern about from Washington or about the fact that Democrats had four times as much money as Republicans and importantly? Yes. I wasn't concerned about that. That was not a factor. Did anybody from Washington express concern to you? Not to me personally, but we have a great deal, great many commitments for, we got started later, of course, than they did, but we have. We'll be in the game with money. There's no question about that. We will raise a lot of money also, enough to win this race. There have been complaints that the money was not being raised and that people were concerned that you were ragged and that that's why I wasn't coming in. People didn't think you could do that. I don't know who's complaining, but that's, I didn't hear any of that. Just the opposite. We're raising a lot of money right now. Go ahead. And I've been doing that the last couple weeks. How does this work? Everything transfers over to Republicans, including the additional money from the bill passed on Monday? No, I don't think so. I don't think it does. I'm not sure exactly, but I don't think it does at all.

We're doing this with Christie Whitman, isn't it? You see, you're making a distinction between news reports and the editorials and the... Well, I mean, yes, I do. I do. Well, I do, maybe I shouldn't. But I mean, if you have a news report that has facts in it, and then you draw inappropriate inferences and assumptions and conclusions from that news article, I say the editorial payments are much worse. But the facts that you described in some of these stories also talk about you double-deal-in on the job. These facts claims. Right. That's why I said a lot of facts were... Absolutely inaccurate. The facts are also inaccurate. Particularly in that one. And I have a lot of proof of that. And that's what it was so upsetting to me. I mean, Scotch Plains was my home. And I've done a lot for Scotch Plains as has my dad and anybody that walks around Scotch Plains

and asks about that would tell you that. And the facts is outlined in the New York Times were not accurate. Just because somebody writes a letter doesn't mean it's true and doesn't mean that there isn't a clear explanation for some of the parts of that letter. Was there a way for you to prove the inaccuracy of the articles? I mean, you would come out and you'd say it's not true. It's absolutely false, it's a lie. It depends on the article. Well, it depends on the article. I mean, some of them were, in fact, factually accurate. I mean, a question of what happened. It's the conclusions that are drawn from them that, you know, we're really, I thought, devastating to me personally. I've been personally. This morning. No, not really. Did you see anybody before today? When did you make the decision? Yesterday, last night.

Did you tell anybody last night? What did you say? What she said? What did you imagine what Jeff said? What did she say? She said what she always said. That is, I'll support you no matter what decision you make. Governor, what is, what's Governor Whitney? And so did Jeff. I was worried about him. And you assumed it all. Everyone said that it's either going to be a curse or a blessing. Right. In your estimation, I would assume you'd say it's going to have to be a curse. No, it's a great honor to be acting governor. That part is not, it's certainly not a curse. But do you think it would have been different if the governor filled out her term and then you ran or? I don't know. I mean, I can't not only be speculating, it might have been, for a while, I thought that you all were trying to level the playing field. That this was an advantage that I shouldn't have because of some quirk in the Constitution. So in the beginning, I thought, well, you know, I understand. This is probably a way of not having Don DeFrancisco have too much of an advantage

because it really is a very good position to be in. I mean, as I move around the state, I could see how people look at you differently when you're called governor. And so it's a great honor. So I thought, well, maybe that was the reason. But then as a continuum, I wasn't sure he would. So do you think it's been a curse then? No, I wouldn't say I wouldn't use that word. No, the campaign has been difficult. Now, you know, I'm not going to blame you all for that or blame anybody. I'm saying right now that at this moment in time, this campaign is not for me and not for my family. And I'm just, I'm more interested in that than I am in prolonging this beyond 2001. Governor, you said this was your last year. Is it you saying for politics?

Like to politics? Yes. Other than maybe I could you say I could run against Joe Solinger? Yeah, I had not intended to run again from the state Senate in any way. I've been there a long time. And so, yeah, that would be it. I mean, run for another month or another month or so. Can I talk about your future at all after you're run? I wouldn't have a clue. My future right now is continuing to do the work that we put into place as acting governor until January. I mean, actually, they're until January. So, I have quite a bit of time to get some legislative initiatives passed and deal with a couple of our cities we're working on issues in Camden and Newark. We're doing a kids needs program that, you know, I was in Newark again yesterday working on those programs, working on a clean water package on smart growth incentives. So, I want to make sure we accomplish and reach the conclusion on all of these issues. And if I do that, I'll do a lot more than the next governor could do in the first couple

of years. Governor, you said you thought you would win. And the English poll published actually was a week ago. Some days showed that two-thirds of the voters out there hadn't heard anything about this. But you could say that by dropping out now, you'll always be referred to as who resigned after questions were raised about his ethics, and that you won't have an electoral victory to vindicate you and say that you won't believe it. Well, I'm certainly concerned about that, but I'm going to deal with that now. I think most people, as we know, most people probably don't know about a lot of this stuff. And I think that I can overcome this because I haven't done any wrong. Everything I've done has been right, proper. And so I come into it with that. So I think that that's short-lived. I think that that perception of short-lived and I think it will be outweighed by what I can do and accomplish. Governor, earlier in this news conference, Comparison was made to Zimmer, Torcelli, raised in 1996.

And you said you didn't realize it was going to fall, come on, you didn't fall. What makes it so far? I'm trying to understand what's happened to you. And we've talked about the media a little bit, but when the last story came out, there was one on the front page of the New York Times last week, you did point finger at McGreeby Democrats. Oh, yeah, it definitely did. And in other instances, with other stories, I don't remember you saying it specifically, but people close to you have insisted that this was coming out of the Shundler camp. Where was it coming from? Which either, both? It could be both. Clearly, the Scotch plane stuff came from the Democrats, my view. That doesn't mean Democrats didn't give it to Shundler for all I know. I don't understand that part of it, but I know that it came from the Democrats.

It was old news. It was refuted. It shouldn't have been played the way it was played. It wasn't a front page story. It shouldn't have been a front page story, I should say. And so I know that we came from a Democrats and Scotch plane. You know the two of the leadership of the county who happens to be a friend of Jim McGreeby's. You all know. Do you know that any earlier stuff came from the Shundler camp? I don't. I mean, I'm sure that it did. I'm sure that it did. I'm sure there were private investigators all over Scotch planes in the first couple of months. I mean, I know. People told me. When you say this hurt? They were hired by the Shundler camp and by Jim McGreeby. When you say this hurt, you've had it over the camp. What specifically hurt? And give us some specific about why what's that? Well, what's damaging is when I read about my character, my integrity, you know,

in a way that is totally not accurate. When I read about the fact that from some greed standpoint, I have profited or I prevented kids from having a soccer field or I, you know, did all these bizarre things. That hurts. That hurts a lot in a town where I actually did a lot, just the opposite. Where I dedicated 16 years and people will tell you that, but, you know, that's, that's not news. I don't think the party is damaged in any way. It's not at all. I think they certainly, a lot of party people felt that, you know, that I could win this election. But I don't think the party is damaged by me. I mean, I think I've felt a lot more for the party than anybody else. And what I'm going to do would reflect on the party.

I think that's a positive thing. Anything I do positively, whether it be prescription drugs for seniors or property tax relief, will benefit the party. So, you know, I don't know what I'm not worried about that. I don't think they're worried about that either, quite frankly. Governor, the choice of Bob Franks, there was some discussion earlier last year, here before about speaker Collins making her run. You thought that Bill Gormley, people know Bill Gormley would like this out. Did you talk to him yet then? Did you think about them? Why did you set a law of Franks? Well, I don't know that I settled on Bob Franks to the exclusion of other people. I can tell you that. But no one else can get in the race. Jack Collins is a friend of mine if he wanted to be in this position. I certainly would give it serious consideration. I did get a feeling from him that he was in no way interested in even coming even close to being in this room with you people talking about it. So, I got a strong feeling that way.

And Gormley? I would think I would have known if he wanted to get into this race. Jack, you could be either of them that they can be racing. So, what was their reaction? Gormley or Thomas? I talked to both of them. And what was the reaction you got from them? Anything that they could do to help me, they would be gladly. And they would gladly do. So, Collins offered to be here with us, with the family. If I thought that was appropriate. He would drive over here. That would just talk to them in a while. He would pull to the town and do it also. Have you told a lot of party members to disappoint her? No. No. Some. I'm not a lawyer. And what's the, in general, what's the reaction to them about Bob Franks? I've generally been positive. I haven't had anybody say, oh no, we can't do that. Do you know if that law were to be challenged? You just signed a lot of changes in primary date.

Could anything change, if it's challenged depending on how the courts rule, could be changed? No. Nobody could drive, the committee on vacancies could drive somebody else. No, we're very confident about the fact that the law is the law of the past. Yes. You've mentioned your family several times and would like to prevent them from getting further hurt. And there's speculation that most of the negative stories have dealt with your business dealings. And then the opposition may have maybe moving towards more personal issues. I heard that for months. I'm so proud for it. No, I think. No, we've discussed that part of it. They heard that, unlike me, that the girls can get on the internet and read all that stuff. And they've heard this for months and months. It's not a surprise that we're in like that. And that's not the reason why.

I mean, it's just been too much for us. And regardless of what kind of story it was, I'm not sure it's wise. I know it's not wise continue. Could you give me some proof to not go through the weekends again? Last weekend? I didn't. No, I really didn't give me any sort of not doing that. Can you see the mall you have for several days? Or were you thinking about this on Sunday? No. Not on Sunday. What did you start? Yesterday, really. Is it more bad news coming from me? About you. You should tell me. No, it's not just about that. No, no, no. This is not about that. As I said, I've heard these rumors for months and months. This is not about something that I've heard it's coming tomorrow. No, not at all.

We're here for now. Thanks, Governor. What will you say should have been your legacy? Your signal accomplishment over the previous nine days? Well, I think it's broader than that. I think hopefully I'll have a legacy of helping the people of New Jersey and some very sensitive areas, like children's issues, particularly family issues, open spaces, clean water, prescription drugs for seniors, family leave act, because it was a bill that I sponsored back in 1989. The children's fund that I started around the same time that has given out a lot of money for medical bills for children in difficult situations. I mean, I think I could probably come up with a long list of initiatives that I'm very proud of.

I mean, I think it's a matter of, did you have an impact? Did you ever have an positive impact as a legislator on the state of New Jersey? And I think at least in my case, I'll be able to say I made a difference, hopefully a huge difference in the lives of people in New Jersey. That's the best that you can hope for, and that will be very rewarding. I get a lot of friends. I think friends are important, and I'm a loyal friend to my friends, and hopefully I leave a lot of friends behind. Thank you. Thank you. I'll start back in 1989. Children's fund that I started around the same time that has given out a lot of money for medical bills for children in difficult situations. I mean, I think I could probably come up with a long list of initiatives that I'm very proud of. I mean, I think it's a matter of, did you have an impact? Did you ever have an positive impact as a legislator on the state of New Jersey? And I think at least in my case, I'll be able to say I made a difference,

hopefully a huge difference in the lives of people in New Jersey. That's the best that you can hope for, and that will be very rewarding. And I've made a lot of friends. I mean, I think friends are important, and I'm a loyal friend to my friends, and hopefully I leave a lot of friends behind. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Marie's the oldest. Tracy's the second oldest. It's 3231 and 28. Marcy. Marie, Tracy, Marcy. Tracy, Tracy, Marcy, Tracy. Marie, Marcy, Tracy. Yeah. Thank you all. And we're starting once again. Oh, I'm sorry. Rob. What's your name? I'm Marcy. Now, you all know that I had a golden retriever, because it was on the Christmas card there. But we had to put him down.

We had one of the hardest things that we had to do, and so we have a puppy who's upstairs. So another golden retriever. There's all the hardest things we're doing. Are you going to move in here then? No. Hey, yeah, maybe once in a while, but no, no. So there's a bed now. There's a bed now. No, no, no. That's a joke that I know. There's a bed now. You can ask me this. What was the name of your dog? It's not like people make a beautiful dog. We had to do one. Max. Max. Yeah. Max. It was the old one. Yeah. It was the old one. The dog named it Maxie. Wow. See, Rob? Pardon? See, Rob? Did you all win? Uh, no, actually. Thank you. So it's very delicious. Very nice. Did you all have lunch? No. Yeah. Very nice. Very nice. Very nice. Very nice. Very nice. Very nice. Very nice. Very nice. Very nice. Very nice. Very nice. Very nice.

Very nice. Very nice. Very nice. Excellent. I dont think it's real good. I dont think it's real good. I dont think it is real good, entreotado. I dont think it's real good. I dont think it is real good. I dont think it is real good. I dont think it is real good. I dont think it is real bad. Is it real good? The dancing. It's the dancing. Okay. All right. That's enought. I'm good. All right. Is it real good. What do you do? I'm in the middle of the floor. What do you do? I'm in the middle of the floor. I'm in the middle of the floor. And you don't think he's a boy. Cover you. What? He's talking to me. Sorry. The consequences. Let's go. mon por. Am you all right? Don't turn with you. Am you all right? Nothing. Are you? No. Don't turn, I do whatever. Are you all right? 尖尖-to-ģiega. Strem. Are you all right? Anything? Yeah. Everyone is fine. Everyone is fine. She is a different sister. that's true. Something of that. Well, that's 996-2210.

Hackensack University Medical Center. Where with you for life? Hackensack University Medical Center is the only hospital in New Jersey. Ranked by US News and World Reports, America's Best Hospitals and Six Categories. Hi, folks. Welcome to the Metal Hands. Homecoming tonight for the New Jersey Devils Game 3 of this eastern conference final series. There's this perception that because the devs got that split in Philly and lost game 2, the flyers now have momentum. Well, the devils aren't necessarily buying into that. You got to look at it this way. Had the devils lost the first game and won the second game, what would the perception have been then? I mean, a split is a split. Bottom line is this series is now 1-1. The devils have the home ice edge. And they've got a chance to retake control of the series if they win here tonight.

This is a situation where Coach Larry Robinson excels. Calming nerves. And there will be nerves tonight. It's only natural. Game 2 is still fresh in these players' minds. What the devs need tonight is a case of convenient amnesia. You look around the locker room and guys have been much worse. I think Donald made a good point. You know, it's good to get it out of the way I guess. Game 2, then whether it be game 5 or 6. I just think we want to get back to playing that game. I think we lost that a little bit last game. And we've got to stay out of some of the scrubs they've been trying to have there. And just be disciplined to play our game. And I think if we do that, we're going to be right. Their game is defense. Philly's done a great job to this point. Getting the puck to Marty Brodour. Game 2, those pucks went in. Look for defense with a capital D tonight. And you might want to have a paramedic standing by. You don't expect anything different from their hot club. They're going to come out hard again.

And there's this style. They're pretty aggressive, hot club. Dan McGillus just steamrolled them. We could expect that. You know that they're going to come out hard. Play physical. That's their hockey. And I don't think we shy away from that. Here comes Scott Stevens. And we have some big boys too. And we got to do the same. You know, guys like Bobby O'Leake and Jason are not in Randy's. They have to dump the puck and go after it or dirty and try to do the same thing. But you know, we have a plan. That plan is win tonight, win home games, and go to the finals. Well, this is what we wanted to do. It's coming back and getting on my side of anage. And that's what we did in winning one game over there. And we got to take advantage of the situation now. Having the home ice. We get to make that to our advantage and use that the best we can with the line jazze. Obviously, it's going to help us getting the matchups we want. Like I said, you know, you still got to come through New Jersey. Yeah, that they do. The flyers have to win a game in this building or they're not going to win this series. And you know, a lot has been made in the series to this point about the rough stuff.

And let's be frank here. I mean, it's been physical because the referee has allowed it to be physical. And the devil say they want to try to shy away from the rough stuff tonight because they feel at some point, the refs are going to start tightening things up and calling more penalties. And when that time comes, they don't want to be the ones headed off to the penalty box. A penalty box, I should say. So look for a calmer tamer devil's team tonight. And the flyers, maybe the ones taking the penalties. Let's get Philly's perspective on this thing tonight in News 12's George Falkowski now. If there's a secret to getting more shots on the devil, the flyers apparently know what it is. But even if they know the secret, they're not letting on. I'm not sure we figure out anything special. It's just that maybe the other teams they played, they like to make more plays and, you know, make more perfect plays than we do. Well, I don't know for onto something. We're just playing our game and we're trying to, you know, make sure we get it deep. We're just going to have to make sure we keep getting pucks at net. That's where we're effective is when we just get, you know, we have people driving in that. We get it on that. We shoot from all angles.

And we try and create some ugly goals and that's what we have to continue to do. As for the style of play in game two, a lot of folks would call it mean, chippy, nasty, some would call it dirty. The flyers, well, they just call it play off hockey. It'll be rocking. It's a great atmosphere and, you know, this media, or this media build up and everything just intensified everything. This is just hard hockey right now. It's just guys playing physical and it's not a big deal. We're doing both teams are trying to do what it takes to win and that's cool teams have to play physical the way. You know, guys are out there banging. I don't mind that. You know, it's part of the game. So everybody's having fun and, you know, everybody's having a good time with these playoffs. So hopefully we can keep it going. Looks like they're having a blast covering the flyers. I'm George Falcowski news 12 New Jersey sports. The Devils hope the fun stops tonight. A couple other local sports notes. The Biggie Spaceball tournament continuing today over in Bridgewater. Both Rutgers and Seton Hall on the field will have results for you at 10. Carney's Matt Smith pitched the Newark Bears to a victory today against the Bridgeport Bluefish up in Connecticut.

And in basketball, the Knicks are back home. Game six tomorrow night at the Garden with the Miami Heat. The Knicks have got to win or else. See the, uh, get the job done and go home. So we obviously want to keep playing. And, uh, I think it's going to have a lot of character. I think we're going to bounce back and, uh, play well at home. We've done it in spurts. But now it's time for us to, uh, to grow up and just do it. Instead of one time do it on a consistent basis. Hopefully the team will come out tomorrow and, uh, do what you have to do to win. Yeah, the Knicks are facing elimination. Certainly dire straits for them if they don't get it done tomorrow night at the Garden. Nothing, uh, so a dire for either of the teams involved here tonight. It's just game three. We're still early in this Eastern Conference finals. But the Devils can, uh, retake control of things if they get it done here tonight. And we'll be back at 11 o'clock with all the extensive post game reaction for you. So we'll see you then back to you.

All right. Thank you, Kurt. Coming up on the evening edition. We have all the business news of the day, including our closing numbers from Wallstream. Plus, we'll tell you what AT&T is offering to their customers. We're free. Stay with us. This is News 12, New Jersey. We're closer to you. Got yourself into too much credit card debt. Why not point and click your way out of debt with a second mortgage from ditec.com. Whether you have equity or no equity, good credit or not so good credit, ditec has a second mortgage with absolutely no closing cost to help you lower your monthly payments now. So point and click your way out of high interest non-tax deductible credit card debt at ditec.com. Or call us at 1-800-71-FIX. In America, you are not required to offer food to the hungry or shelter to the homeless. There is no ordinance forcing you to visit the lonely. In fact, nowhere in the Constitution does it say you have to provide anything for anybody.

Thank you for all you've given. Imagine what more could do. There's a place where you get great prices on all brand names of mattresses. Whether you need a lean, a set of trends, or even the king. At Rockaway Bedding, you get it all. This is a free bed frame, free delivery over your new mattress and free removal of your old mattress. Nobody else does all that. Visit Rockaway Bedding or call 1-800-TRI-A-BED. Rockaway Bedding, the nice people in the mattress business. Rockaway Bedding, yeah. This portion of News 12 New Jersey is being brought to you by Rockaway Bedding. Go to the Rockaway Bedding store nearest you or call 1-800-TRI-A-BED. Now for a look at business news. Federal anti-trust enforcers are trying to stop the merger of World Common Sprint.

They say the $115 billion buyout would violate antitrust laws. The Wall Street Journal reports a formal recommendation was sent to the Justice Department's antitrust chief Joel Klein. He has asked the two companies to meet with him next week. You have internet access at home. You have it at work. How about on the road? Well Sprint PCS has a service for some extra cash from its cell phone customers. But now AT&T is offering it for free to its digital cell phone customers. Services actually not that new. It's a relaunch of what AT&T offered about three years ago except the old mobile internet service was expensive and had been limited to simple text functions. New Jersey based Lucent Technologies is looking to expand its global operations. The company planning to hire about 2,000 people in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Lucent is concentrating its recruiting efforts through the website mksearch.com. The telecom company has about 150,000 employees worldwide. Well do you know the difference between libel and slander? Well it appears there isn't one in New Jersey anymore. A state appeals court made a ruling today essentially blurring the legal distinction between the two.

So what does it mean for future cases in New Jersey? John sure a columnist and president of New Jersey Policy Perspective which does research on state issues joins us now. Hi John. Hi Laura. John certainly this is not a simple issue. So first for the folks at homes and for my sake too. What is or what was the difference between libel and slander cases? Well back when I was in journalism school they taught me that if it's spoken it's slander and if it's written it's libel. But it's gotten a lot more confusing than that. And really what they're saying is that if something is set on the radio or television that's the same as putting it in print in a newspaper. Because an awful lot of people are going to hear it probably more than in the newspaper these days. This case is interesting because it stems from a campaign in Camden County where the candidate for sheriff had radio ads against him basically accusing him of committing a crime. He went to court and he sued and he won $200,000 from a jury who said he was slandered. Now the judges are saying well it's not quite that simple. Well how do you think that this ruling is going to affect cases in the future? Apparently most cases already have been saying you need to use the tougher libel standard instead of the slander standard.

So it might not have too much of an impact but it certainly seems to say that if you have had something nasty set against you on the radio or TV or in a political campaign. And you want to get financial awards as a result of that you better prove that you actually had damages. In this case the guy was elected sheriff by a landslide so the court said well there's no real damage here. Now as a reporter I'm interested in knowing what effect do you think this is going to have on the media? Probably not a whole lot of effect on the media because if anything it makes it a little easier to defend yourself if you're sued. Because if someone accuses you of libel they have to prove that they actually were damaged. Where there were certain kinds of slander in the old days where all they had to prove was that you called somebody a criminal or a sex scene or said they had a terrible disease. And they could win an award even if they didn't prove anybody was actually damaged in the process. So it makes it a little easier for the media but it really reflects the way the courts have been ruling already for a number of years. All right John sure thanks for breaking it down for us. Thank you. Still more to come on the evening edition after the break. Mark Murphy will be back without the check of the weather.

Plus summer is here and that means it's time for the return of the Mochemobile. Stay with us. Lots of us who knew Jersey remember when our shore was at brightest spot in the old east coast. And now it is again because it's so clean. That's why I'm hoping that John Corzine will succeed me in the United States Senate. John has the independence of the strength to take on the polluters and he will owe anyone anything except the people of New Jersey. The best way to protect our beaches and oceans is to put John Corzine in the U.S. Senate. On the next morning edition. Hi everyone, I'm Meezard Tour de You. You might think radio shows went out with Orson Wells. I'm his famous war of the world. They're still around. We're going to have some radio actors in the studio to give us a taste of what they do. Esther Pierre will be in Red Bank kicking off the weekend by cruising to the oldies.

Weather, headlines and traffic starts at 5.30. Watch the morning edition on News 12, New Jersey. We're closer to you. Now through Memorial Day, cash in with special limited time deals on some award winning knee signs. Like the Nissan Ultima, the luxury driving experience full of options you can afford. Now with 2,400 in total savings. For the Nissan Quest, a best overall value of the year. Now with integrated video cassette player included. Get to a Nissan dealer for special offers, including 2,400 in ultimate savings. Before May 31st, Nissan driven. Say goodbye to Chi Chi's old menu. And say hello to the 50 great tasting new recipes on our incredible new menu. Chi Chi!

Just waiting to taste our great new food. Do you have a festival meeting or event New Jersey needs to know about? Make it a community 2000 message. Send the info to this address and keep it tuned to News 12, New Jersey. A line of strong showers that could be kicking up severe weather across New Jersey. We'll have it throughout the evening hours. This, Northeastern radar satellite composite, does show a line of showers across Northwestern New York. That's 12 hours ago. I'll put this into motion. We'll see how that moves across New York. Northeastern Pennsylvania by the end of it, warring Sussex, Western Paseya counties being affected. And that's just going to continue to move east across the northern part of New Jersey as we go through Thursday evening. Doppler picking up a few of the stronger more prominent cells. This yellow square showing rotation with that particular cell. Hale with this diamond. That triangle, some tournatic activity. The entire line of showers is what's moving through New York, Pennsylvania, and the northern portion of New Jersey throughout the evening. The closest shot does pick up a couple of the more significant cells.

As you can see, Western New Jersey with this yellow square, they're picking up some rotation with that cell. That diamond again, Hale, and it shows the projection of those two cells over the upcoming 60 minutes. That red cone, the first 30 minutes, the yellow area, the following 30 minutes, that hour. Along with that, the National Weather Service and Mount Holly and Brookhaven in Long Island, they've issued a severe thunderstorm watch from middle sex over to 100 in and all counties north. Very easy to see where that severe weather is and what part of New Jersey it will be affecting. It's a culprit, it's a cold front we've been looking at for the past day and a half. That's moving across New York, Pennsylvania, skipping across the northern part of New Jersey. A warm, moist air south of it, cool, drier, north of it, the battle zone being that frontal system. And we saw what it's kicking up. Strong winds along with rain, hail, and lightning are possible in and around this area, traveling across the U.S. Do take a look at where you'll find the warmth, that's down south.

Up north you'll find a bit of the cooler temperatures while here in New Jersey. It's a mostly cloudy sky you can look forward to with showers on Friday. The temperatures getting considerably cooler than they have been lately. All that with periods of showers throughout the day, the outlook for all of New Jersey, Variably cloudy skies. By the way we're dressed, we are all ready for spring. It is that time again, time to much on the much-mobile. This year, News 12, New Jersey's own hot dog, Tony Caputo, will be riding high with one of the biggest hot dogs in the state. And recently, the mother of all dogs was unveiled. The Weakquake High School band invaded the star ledger newsroom to introduce one of New Jersey's hottest dogs. Like the Stanley Cup, it is marched with pride only once a year. The most coveted prize for big eaters throughout the state. The much-mobiles eight-foot-long hot dog. Our mission was clearly shown by our guest munchers, who will join us on this year's trips. Leave no played unturned.

Hey, everything needs a bit more pepper sauce. Hot dog hamburger, relish, whatever we go up with on it. We'll do it. Much-mobile veteran and star ledger reporter Peter Jettavish will once again lead us into eating euphoria. Some of the old standards, but a lot of new categories, based on recommendations from readers and emails. So, a lot of good eating, and maybe some bad eating ahead of us. And so the march continued. The band led our munchy dog to its final destination. A new and improved munch-mobile band. Same great smile, though. Then, the moment of truth. The hot dog was raised to its final destination. And here in New Jersey, it means summer has officially begun. You're ready to go. You're ready to eat right now. My place empty. Where's the food? Oh, it was there, all right. Hundreds of foot long. Some filled their plate. Others could only wait in the long lines, but all we're doing so in praise of the eighth footer. Let the summer eating season begin munch-mobile style. You know, I'm going to be eating a lot of these this year.

I better hold off. In Newer, Tony Caputo. News 12, New Jersey. Pink Tony and the rest of the munch-mobile crew will hit the road next Thursday. First on the menu. Some back-road munchables while driving to the shore. Munch-mobile will air every Thursday here on News 12, New Jersey. And appear each Friday in the star ledger. Taking a look at what we're working on for the night edition. We'll have a wrap-up and analysis of tonight's debate here on News 12, New Jersey. Between Jim Florio and John Corazine. Plus, prom season students will learn who among them is one of contested. Create a public service announcement about not drinking and driving on prom night. And graduation night for some inner-city kids in a special program designed to give them an alternative to life on the streets. But that'll do it for this hour. I'm Walter. And I'm Laura Jones for everyone here at News 12. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next time.

On the next Jersey's talking. So who's going to be a celebrity, a sports legend, someone that you would really like to talk to. If you had the chance, well, you do have the chance because they'll be right here every night. So tune in. Call up to meet people from Steve Allen to Rick Sarong to Valerie Harbor to you name it. I might even get to ask a few questions myself.

Jersey's talking. Tonight at eight. On News 12, New Jersey. Hi, I'm Dr. Brian Vinnick. Join me in all of my guests, some furry, some not so furry, every weekend as we bring you the pet stop. Whether you're companion, a scaly or shaggy, fuzzy or feathered, we'll answer all your questions on the health and well-being of pets. We all love our pets, so let's take some time out each weekend to meet at the pet stop. Watch the pet stop, weekends on News 12, New Jersey. From News 12, New Jersey, a community 2000 message. Stay tuned to your community. Watch for community 2000 messages right here on News 12, New Jersey. We're closer to you. Coming up next on News 12, New Jersey. Candidates for New Jersey's US Senate seat face off in a News 12, New Jersey debate.

Hundreds of drums filled with toxic chemicals have found buried in Bergen County, now environmentalists have a big headache on their hands. And fire rages out of control in New Mexico. What's in place to make sure that doesn't happen here? That and more is next on the Night Edition. 24 hours every day, New Jersey's own news network. This is News 12, New Jersey. Now, the Night Edition. Hello, everyone and welcome to the Night Edition. I'm Kate Epstein, and tonight Virgin Instrafasi. Thank you for being with us. US Senate hopefuls Jim Floreo and John Corzont debated earlier tonight. Right here on News 12, New Jersey will have the highlights from that in just a minute. But first severe weather made its way across the state tonight. Mark Murphy has been following it all night in the News 12 Weather Center mark. Kate, it's been pretty busy. We'll see it winding down overnight, getting into early Thursday morning, but we do have some lingering showers. Some of those cells, well, they could be strong. I've got national radar satellite composite. New Jersey with a little bit of rain. Well, that's not really the case. I'll go ahead, put some motion into this and we'll watch 12 hours of weather move across a good part of Northern New Jersey.

At the end of this, a lot of those heavy cells across Long Island, west across New Jersey, flesh, blood warnings were issued throughout the evening hours, as well as severe thunderstorm watches. A little bit closer, rain associated with this. Not really the story, but some areas a little bit more than an inch. I was talking about it winding down. I'll have more a little bit later on this hour and our top story tonight, Mark, a lively and at times heated exchange in our News 12 studios tonight. Democratic Senate hopefuls Jim Florio and John Corzine went head to head in their final televised debate. John Corzine and Jim Florio heading into the second and final of two scheduled televised debates. Corzine with no political experience, but a man who most analysts agree beat expectations in earlier debates. And Florio, New Jersey's former governor, who is for all intents and purposes out to prove he deserves a second chance. It didn't take long before the firing squad took aim.

You've criticized Mr. Corzine's proposal to invest a portion of the trust fund in the stock market. We learned now that you've spoken favor of that plan yourself about a year ago. The transcript that came out clearly indicates that I misspoke and I've gone forward to talk about the fact that I don't think it's a good idea today. I have not thought it's a good idea in the past. Some are wondering if Corzine's liberal attitude is good for New Jersey, but Corzine says his so-called liberal ideas, like his focus on education, are in the center of American thought. Well, I think it is an agenda that meets the needs of the people of New Jersey and I think it will be a winning agenda in the fall. Which begs the question many continue to ask, how important is money when it comes to winning this election? Corzine, a multi-millionaire, spending the lion's share in this campaign. John and I differ as to whether there should be limits on expenditures. He obviously feels there should be none. I happen to think that that is an absolutely essential important part to being able to preserve this sense of self-democracy. I think it is very difficult to say that we need limits because people can find ways to circumvent that and it becomes an incumbent protection facility.

And I think people who come from the outside need to have a chance to operate. And if you don't have good ideas, you don't work. Money doesn't determine winners.