Allegations that trump falsified Business Records to bury a story about an alleged sexual encounter with adult film star stormy daniels. The d. A. s office also alleges model Karen Mcdougal received a payment from American Media to silence her about another alleged affair with trump. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts and denied the affairs with these women ever happened. Joining us now, nbc news correspondent yasmin vossoughian, danny cevallos, Criminal Defense Attorney and msnbc legal analyst and rebecca roy fee, a Law Professor at new york law school. So, yasmin, a lot going on in that courtroom today. Reporter a lot of folks are dismissed so far today, 96 walked in, 57 walked out after the two questions that were read by judge juan merchan, can you be impartial, many folks raised their hands, they walked out. Do you have conflicts with this trial, can you sit it out or can you wait it out, for the next six to seven weeks . Many of them walked out as well. Were at 57 having walked out. Thats way more than half. I actually had the opportunity just a couple of minutes ago to speak to a potential juror who in fact raised her hand when asked can you be impartial. And she said no. And subsequently walked out. Take a listen to what she had to say. When did you realize that this was a trial involving the expresident of the United States, donald trump . We were here on tuesday from 9 00 a. M. , but we realized that it is about this case around 4 00 p. M. We went to the courtroom, and we saw donald trump. It is a historical case, and, you know, this is going to define so many things. But at the same time, our job as a juror, right, is to be impartial, like, to be unbiased. So, it was, yeah, it was, you know, weird, like, the whole atmosphere. Reporter jose, first time citizen of the United States. She got her citizenship back in august. This is going to be in november the first president ial election in which she will vote in. This is the first time, jose, she was called to jury duty. And imagine she walks into the courtroom and sees that donald trump, the former president of the United States, is the defendant. Unbelievable. Theyre going for the 42 questions now inside the courtroom, and then theyll move on to the voir dire process in which the prosecution and the defense will ask their own questions, jose. Welcome to america. What is the count now as far as jurors that are seated, those that arent, and what happened to other jurors . So, one of the jurors, juror number two, this morning, came back, she had been seated and she came back today, because she had reservations about being a member of the jury. It was because of her identity, essentially. She had Friends And Family members who were asking her if she was on this jury. And so she reached out to the court to say that she had reservations about serving in this jury pool in this jury, and so she came back this morning, to talk about that, and she was subsequently dismissed. Then judge juan merchan talked about not identifying jurors and being cautious in the way in which we reported the identity of jurors. There is a question and a Jury Questionnaire that asks about your current employer, jose, and your former employer as well. The judge is asking that while that is still submitted into the record, we not report that, for instance, in our own reporting here on television and in papers, folks that are covering this trial, so that we dont reveal possibly the identities of these potential jurors. Also, juror number four is in question because the possibility of not providing valid answers on that 42question questionnaire. Juror number four was supposed to show up to answer some of the questions they had about that, he has not yet shown up, so they decided to move on with the Jury Questionnaire process throughout the day. And theyll revisit it after juror number four shows up. So, rebecca, as we were just hearing, the judge actually scolded the press over its coverage of the jurors. Why is that information so delicate . Well, this really just highlights how difficult it is to pick a jury in this particular kind of case and how to ensure that the safety of those jurors and the anonymity of those jurors is preserved. And so in a case like this, you really need to try to not only not reveal names, but also not reveal identifying details. Now, perhaps the judge is thinking that this was a mistake in including it in the Jury Questionnaire, but at this point, hes keeping the questionnaire and just asking the media to be more careful in its reporting. Danny, so, you know, youve been involved in so many cases. How do you see the unusual or how unusual is what were seeing in this case . What were learning in this case that makes it different, in addition to the fact that were in new york state court, where Jury Selection is really different from places like federal court, where lawyers like me are barely involved, were involved, but we dont do any question, we really only speak when spoken to by the judge in the federal system. In the new york system, there is actual interaction by the lawyers with the potential jurors. And in civil cases, sometimes the judge isnt even in the room during Jury Selection. So, were seeing a very unique process here and the other takeaway that we learned this morning is that when it comes to trump, just because a juror is in doesnt really mean theyre in. They could be back out. What i suspect is happening is once a juror is seated, each side decides first, do we like this juror, and if the answer to that is no, they get to work taking a closer look at their history, their social media, maybe whether they were dishonest about Something Like an arrest record, all things that they might be able to use to bring to the judge and say, hey, even though this might not be the kind of deep dive you would do in a typical dui or robbery case with jurors, we found this potential arrest from 1993, so, judge, lets look into this. Really just because a juror is on the jury at this point doesnt mean theyll stay on the jury. So, we kind of thought that the numbers would remain static and just go up, but now we learned the numbers of jurors can go down as well. So, interesting, and rebecca, if you are called for jury duty, ive been called a number of times, you know, you have to show up, you have to go through the process, it is not really a volunteer situation, you have to do it, right . So, what are the requirements, what is the rules about, for example, if youre a juror, juror number four or any juror and decide not to show up for whatever reason, in other words, what how much teeth is there in you being a juror and what happens if you dont show up . So, youre right, this is a court order, you are required to show up, but there is a difference between the requirement and how that requirement is enforced. So, my my assumption is that there will not be severe punishments for people who dont come and if you dont come, it will be a sign, a symbol to the sides and to the judge that you are not suited to be a juror in this case. And, you know, in many ways this case is proceeding just like any other case. In some ways it is different. Particularly in that the judge is dismissing everyone who says that they cannot be impartial, which is unusual in a case. What exactly, rebecca, is a Sandoval Hearing . A Sandoval Hearing is a hearing in which the judge determines the scope of Cross Examination for a prosecutor, and that is Important Information for the defense going into the case and especially in determining whether or not the defendant is going to take the stand. Because if the defendant takes the stand, then in this situation they know, prior to making that decision, what prior bad acts and particularly potential criminal acts that the defendant has committed in the past will be allowed to come in, and obviously thats an important calculation in deciding whether or not to testify. Yasmin, you know, this juror being asked to be excused, and being excused from the case, you think that this could in some way be a pattern . I mean, i think it is part of what danny was talking about, right, because we started off the day with seven and now were at six and looking at juror number four, that could become five. I think when folks have more time to think about the gravity of this case, and this is what im hearing for a lot of folks in that Overflow Room as well, and think about the commitment that this case is going to take, and what it could really mean for this country, if you think about, this is history in the making, we may lose more, even though we thought this was a considerably quick timeline and we were going to be looking at the arguments on monday. One more thing, jose, i want to say, you did ask rebecca about the Sandoval Hearing, there was a filing by the people for this Sandoval Hearing, basically talking about the evidence that they would put forward if donald trump decided to testify. And all of it was about the establishment of his behavior. So, talking about, for instance, the judgment that came through in the civil fraud trial, his being found liable of Sexual Assault in the e. Jean carroll case as well, the corruption charges, trump organization, Trump Payroll Corporation as well. All of those verdicts to be brought up if, in fact, the former president decides to testify as a establishing a pattern of behavior. So, danny, let me ask you about patterns of behavior, for example, on a case of potential jurors. How much access to information about the jurors do both sides have . They have some limited access to information, but judge merchan indicated today that he might be even curtailing more the Public Information that gets out about those jurors. I believe he said something to the effect of, you know, we dont need to report that somebody has an irish accent, for example. They have information about things like job, other stuff, and then from there really in todays age it really doesnt matter. If you get some basic strands, a name, where somebody works, in fact, just take a law firm, for example, two attorneys on this jury, if you find out the law firm, most law firms, even if they have a sizable new york office, you can scroll through the photos of the bios, find out who that lawyer is pretty quickly, what i imagine many folks have already done if they know the name of the firm and can figure that out, they can glean the rest. So, in a sense, in todays modern era, the information the attorneys get is really just a Starting Point as long as theyre not contacting the juror, the investigation can go right into social media or websites, wherever else. Rebecca, danny, thank you very much. Yasmin, stick with us for any updates throughout the remainder of this hour. Still ahead, a rare and exclusive interview with a top leader of hezbollah, a military militant group backed by iran. What he says hezbollah will do if israel takes action against iran. Back at home, House Speaker mike johnson vows to push through an aid bill for ukraine, even if it costs his job. Well ask congressman adam schiff whether democrats would vote for johnson if his speakership is on the line. Youre watching jose diazbalart reports on msnbc. Le youre watching jose diazbalart reports on msnbc. Find a ted Eye Specialist at isitted. Com. Im an active mom, but when i laughed, lifted or exercised, Bladder Leaks were holding me back from doing the things i loved. Until, i found a Bladder Specialist that offered me bulkamid a lifechanging and fda approved nondrug solution for my condition called Stress Incontinence it really works, and the relief can last for years. Take the next step at findrealrelief. Com to arrange an appointment with an Expert Physician to determine if bulkamid is right for you. Results and experiences may vary. Move beyond the leaks. I have moderate to severe crohns disease. Now, theres skyrizi. Things are looking up, ive got Symptom Relief. 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Now, i work at comcast as part of the team that created our ai highlights technology, which uses ai to detect the major plays in a sports game. Giving millions of fans, like my dad and me, new ways of catching up on their favorite sport. 16 past the hour. Right now on capitol hill, the aid bills that would benefit ukraine, israel and taiwan are going through an important step of the process being considered by the house rules committee. It comes as Speaker Mike Johnson says the hour will vote on the aid this weekend, but he is facing growing pressure from some republicans to step down as House Speaker. Ali vitali is with us this morning. Great seeing you. What is the latest there . Reporter were watching House Lawmakers Go In And Out of votes, trying to gauge where they are on the upcoming votes because while were watching the rules committee, which is going to be intriguing and fascinating for those of us up here on capitol hill in and of itself, were also waiting to see if democrats are considering Crossing Party lines and helping republicans pass the rule that would allow them to get on to this actual bill voting itself. You got to think about the rule as a procedural hurdle that you have to clear in order to actually allow lawmakers to vote on israel, ukraine, indopacific aid, that fourth sort of potpourri of foreign aid related bills that are part of this package created by Speaker Johnson. And for Speaker Johnson, this is not just a moment of Foreign Policy, it is also one of the politics of being the head of a very rowdy and very divergent republican conference, but for johnson, he made clear yesterday the politics are far from mind when hes putting together the considerations for how this is going to go. Listen to the way he seemed to really change his tone and challenge those naysayers within his conference just yesterday. Watch. If i operated out of fear over emotion to vacate, i would never be able to do my job. I can make a selfish decision and do something that is different, but im doing here what i believe to be the right thing. Reporter jose, he says the selfish thing there, johnson is effectively referring to the fact that he could have just not put these bills forward at all. Of course, that would have drawn ire from democrats and members of the republican conference who very much would like to continue their support to ukraine to lend aid to israel and so on. But johnson is now making this decision and it squarely puts his job on the line once again. We already saw congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene saying she doesnt degree with the way hes going about this, she would push a motion to vacate. She added one more ally to her list this week in congressman tom massey, hes important here too, he sits on the all powerful rules committee. Chip roy and ralph norman are probably not going to vote for this rule. That sounds like it may not be a big deal, but the rules committee is a place where typically the majority party, in this case, republicans, should all be voting for what the majority wants, which is to get this rule and this vote on the floor. It is going to be pretty striking to see if thats actually what happens or if democrats have to cross over and help them even get on to this package in the first place. Yeah. Ali vitali, thank you so much. Just on a separate note, i see all those gray clouds and stuff, just get ready to take cover. I am worried that that