Good morning. Its 11 00 a. M. Eastern, and 8 00 a. M. Pacific. I am jose diazbalart. We begin with the latest of day two of the criminal trial against former president donald trump. Hes charged with 34 Felony Counts and accused of falsifying Business Records related to a hushmoney payment to Stormy Daniels. Trump who is the presumptive nominee for the president is coming facetoface with jurors that will decide his legal fate. We heard from trump this morning before he headed into court. I should be right now in pennsylvania, in florida, in many other states, north carolina, georgia, campaigning. The judge should recuse himself. Also this morning, prosecutors asked the judge to both fine trump and hold him in contempt for recent social media posts accusing him of violating his gag order. And joining us, msnbc legal contributor, and a civil rights attorney and former prosecutors and msnbc legal analysts and served as a prosecutor in the bill cosby case. Yasmin, get us up to speed of what is happening in the courtroom. Reporter they are going through the answer and question period in the Jury Selection, reading their 42 answers to the questions on the Jury Questionnaire. We have 12 initial jurors that passed the initial phase of the process, and what that means is once they fill a jury box of 18 people, then they move on to the next phase called voir dire. They get to ask then their own questions, for instance in the parameter of what the judge laid out, and they cant say im a republican or did you vote for trump or biden, but they do get to ask their own set of sub questions. One of the attorneys could say i dont want one of these Potential Jurors to be part of the jury, and they dont have to have a reason. They can do that ten separate times, but then they need to also have specific reasons outside of those ten separate times. They will keep doing that, jose, until they reach 12 Potential Jurors. Thats the magic number to fill the box. One more thing, the one question a lot of folks are getting stuck on and why many are getting excused, and so far today we are looking at six being excused as Potential Jurors. Just today alone in the last 90 minutes or so it was can you be impartial based on your personal or religious views, and they are answering now saying they can not be impartial. And one more note of trumps demeanor on the inside, his eyes are closed and hes leaning to the left a little bit and quiet and his arms are crossed as well, and lisa ruben giving us some of those notes from inside the courtroom. And its a quiet morning and waiting to reach that number 18 to start the voir dire section. What do you make of them asking them to fine trump on the gag order issue . Reporter yeah, no court is in session on wednesdays, so they amended that to say it was going to be the 23rd of april at 2 00 p. M. In the afternoon, they are going to talk about a possible violation of the gag order and then the judge will issue his decision on that. That will set the stage, jose, as to how they are going to go when it comes to the gag order. If you remember, he was fined, i believe, twice, with judge engoron, so we will see how it goes. What is your thoughts about them waiting to address the gag order . Its reasonable, jose, and its part of the process. What the prosecution has asked is for judge merchan to hold donald trump in Contempt Of Court. In order to be held in Contempt Of Court you have to violate an order or do something in front of the judge that is contestimony chew wus. The prosecution could say, your honor, issue an order for a rule to show cause, which means have the judge issue an order telling donald trump he has to appear at a hearing, an evidentiary hearing set at a later date to be able to show cause, to be able to prove to explain why he should not be held in Contempt Of Court. Its part of the process, and during the hearing on april 23rd, the prosecution will present the evidence of donald trump violating the gag order and donald trump can refute it or not, and in the end the judge will issue the ruling. The key is what yasmin says, how much does judge want to set the tone, and a lot of people are scoffing that 1,000 isnt a lot, but lets be clear, it can start at 1,000 and it could include incarceration, and we dont go zero to 60, theres a process, and this is how the process works. You want the process to work properly so nothing hapgs on Appellant Review to say that the judge did something wrong. For somebody that has worked on a high profile trial, how difficult is it that somebody can look at the jury and be objective when the defendant has been so much in the headlines and in part of, i guess, peoples everyday discussions . Its difficult but not impossible. Extensive Media Coverage and Public Opinions can always influence Potential Jurors, right . It instills in them the preconceived notions, and jurors are just like you and i. Some of them will not be able to sit through the facts and make the decision, the facts they hear on tv and the facts they hear on the Witness Stand and some are going to be able to, and thats why the Jury Selection is a process. Its a process where the judge has to maintain order and allow the attorneys to actually go through and ask questions, questions that really counter or allow them to identify those preconceived notions. You know, asking them about their media exposure, which we see in this case. We also had to ask the questions of the cosby Potential Jurors. Their existing opinions and the ability to set aside the biases and the ability to comprehend the legal principles alongside with their Life Principles but only considering the information from the Witness Stand. Thinking back on your experience, for example, the cosby case, is it not human nature to simply have an opinion based on a preconceived concept of what that person is or who that person is . Absolutely. But again, The Jury Process is not asking them to put all of their preconceived notions to the side, its asking them to put it to the side just while making this decision, so everything the Potential Jurors or the sitting jury, which they will ultimately decide on, everything they know about trump they have to put it to the side and only make their factual findings based on the evidence that comes in during trial and can make their finding as to guilt or innocence based on the facts they found and the law the judge ininstructs them on. Everybody comes with the preconceived notions, but are they able to impartially view the evidence in the trial, and thats the key there. Just looking over from our producers in the courthouse, some of the Potential Jurors answering the questions are essentially saying we are regularly part of the conversation that goes on in Many American households, one saying that they have read the Art Of The Deal, and another saying they watched cnn and msnbc, lawrence odonnell, and tell us a little bit about some of those answers that we have been seeing to the questionnaire . Reporter so this is, i think, why the process gets so complicated, jose, right . Because you get further and further down the road and then certain answers are given that are problematic. This is seat number 15, and as i mentioned, they have to get to the magic 18 number before they can move on to the next portion which is voir dire. One of the Potential Jurors giving the answer is i read Art Of The Deal and are part of the Republican Party and have Family Members that do fundraising for the gop, and they followed trump on twitter when, in fact, he was president. If you think about kind of the complications that that poses to the people, to the prosecution in this individual being a member of the jury, and obviously you would imagine that todd blanche or the former president as the defendant would want somebody like potential juror number number 15, being a member of the jury. Hes not been excused and lived in Lower Manhattan for a long time and is from boston. He has not yet been excused, but i imagine that is somebody who the prosecution, who the people will focus in on during the voir dire section to draw out more of their potential problematic presence on a jury that will eventually be seated in the trial, jose. You wrote its not hyperbolic to say Jury Selection is the most important part of the trial. What are the stakes in the process . Because if you dont seat the right jury, and i used right in quotes in my piece, jose, then you lost the battle. You want the type of juror that yasmin just talked about, and the reason i was nodding along, its an art form. As a trial lawyer, what we do is you develop a conversation when you move on to the individualized questioning that happens in front of the other prospective jurors, and say i am the d. A. , jose, and i will dig deeper with the jury that i know will be, quote, pro trump. Why . Because i can look at the Body Language and the nodding of the heads and the vocal agreement, i can say jury number 112, do you agree with what jury 15 just said . Then i traded a pro cause challenge, and its a Pretty Amazing thing. You have a grid in front of you, and i am old school. Its a grid you draw out by hand and you have the names internally, and publicly its not available, right, and you have all the information coming from the Jury Questionnaire being answered out loud, and you have to move and navigate your way through the answers so you dont have to waste time going through 96 plus or 100 something. Jose that is really important, too. We know thousands of subpoenas were released excuse me, sent, to get people to show up yesterday, and think about how many dont show up . You have not a lot showing up, that should show up, and the ones that show up are there to do their civic duty or want to get on this jury for this high profile trial, and you have to weed those out, and its a science and art form and luck and magic and experience. You have to count on your experience as a trial lawyer to read instinctively tell you in the way they are moving and answering. All the benefits of old school, doing things by hand. Thank you all so much for being with us this morning. Up next, Steve Kornacki is at the big board to break down what the demographics of new york can bring to that Jury Selection. And then more than 300 missiles and drones sent to israel, and now the new warning from irans president today. You are watching jose diazbalart reports on msnbc. V. Visit purple. Com or a store near you. Nothing dims my light like a migraine. With nurtec odt, i found relief. The only Migraine Medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one. To those with migraine, i see you. For the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of Episodic Migraine in adults. Dont take if allergic to nurtec odt. Allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. Most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. Its time we all shine. Talk to a Healthcare Provider about nurtec odt from pfizer. Sometimes your work shirt needs to be for more than just work. 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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. 19 past the hour. We are following news on capitol hill, and a second member of congress has showed support for ousting Speaker Johnson. Moments ago Speaker Johnson responded to this. I am not resigning. It is, in my view, an absurd notion that somebody would bring a vacate notion. Its not helpful to the cause. Its not helpful to the country. It does not help the House Republicans advance our agenda in the best interest of the American People here. I will tell you i am not concerned about this. I am going to do my job. Joining us from capitol hill, jake sherman, founder of Punchbowl News and msnbc political contributor. There seems to be a lot of absurdity. What is the latest on this . Lets take for a second how unusual it is for a speaker of the house to have to come out and say hes not resigning. When you have to say you are not resigning thats probably not a great sign. Tom massey, as you noted, has become the second member to say he would support a motion to vacate, and there are procedural hurdles, and if somebody triggered the motion, which we should note, Marjorie Taylor greene has not asked for a vote yet, and before that motion there could be a motion to table which they could set aside that motion with the house of representatives, and its over the aid package that johnson tried to push through this week. He put this off for a long time and now you can see why he put it off. Jake, explain to us a little bit the structure that exists so there has to be a motion triggered to vacate, and then there will be other motions to nullify that motion . Where does this end up . What is that process as far as time wise . Marjorie taylor greene, or any member of congress can go to the floor at any point and trigger this motion to vacate. That would set off a 48hour clock if the leadership wanted 48 hours, they are afforded 48 hours, two legislative days, effectively, to delay the vote. Theres one motion here and its a motion to table. Somebody that supports johnson can motion to table and that would set aside the motion, and that would be considered at a simple majority of those voting, and it would be around 218, 214, and it depends on the attendance, and if that passes, that motion to table, johnson survives, and that would have to happen almost certainly with democratic votes. Lets put it this way, jose. Mike johnson is in a very perilous situation. This is a very highwire act as ukraine aid is related to the taiwan aid and hes doing so with the Republican House conference that is not totally behind him. What about the aid to israel and what about the aid to ukraine and taiwan . The speaker said hes will be to do piece by piece on this. Yes, we expect four votes on this that would create a single package that would send aid, and that will probably not definitely, but probably will happen by friday evening if they get the text of the bill out today. Its based on our reporting at Punchbowl News, its our theory this will come to the floor this week and they will try to do it this week. Theres a lot of hurdles and we detailed them in the news this morning, just the process of getting democrats onboard and its far from a certainty at this point. While this is happening, the house is preparing to vote or sending the articles of impeachment for Alejandro Mayorkas to the senate . Yeah, we expect Senate Democrats to dispense the articles and in a stroke of fortune or misfortune, however you want to look at it, hes testifying about the budget, and he deals with a whole host of priorities around the globe and he Needs Congres