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>> the house will be in order. >> this year c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like in other. since 1979, we've been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balanced, unfiltered coverage of government, taking you to where the policies are debated and decided all with the support of america's capable company. c-span, 35 years and counting, powered by cable. host: headlines from the major national papers, starting on the front page of ""the wall street journal" this morning despite trump's best efforts, his criminal trial has arrived. to the front page of "the new york times" today, as the court steals, trump beckhams bed lamb. and the new york court delves into new territory.

jury selection in the hush money is set to start. on jury selection, how it will work, ons abc news story on that topic, they note the jury will be made up of only people who live in manhattan, all english speaking, u.s. citizens over the age of 18 who have not been convicted after felony and eligible for jury duty in new york. w york. court officials identify potential jurors from a list of registered voters, taxpayers, drivers license holders, public benefit recipients and others. they will have to be chosen at random. people can volunteer for jury duty but they can't pick what trial they will serve on. the former president of the united states on his truth social page last night previewing today's events, talking about this upcoming trial saying that just four years ago i was a very popular and successful president of the

united states, getting more votes than any sitting president in history. tomorrow morning i will be in criminal court before a totally conflicted judge, a legal system in chaos, a state being overrun by violent crime and corruption and crooked joe biden's henchmen waiting -- rigging the system against this political opponent, me. i will be fighting for myself and more importantly, i will be fighting for our country. donald trump on truth social just a few hours ago. again, the case is set to get underway, proceedings set to get underway 9:30 a.m. eastern and we will show you what pictures there are coming from outside the courthouse. former president entering that manhattan courtroom. we are mostly hearing from you this morning, getting your thoughts on that trial and what it means, especially in light of election 2024. phone lines again, (202) 748-8001 for republicans. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002.

this is rob in new york, line for democrats up first. good morning. caller: good morning. anka began for c-span, you do a great job. my question is rhetorically why is trump fighting it so hard with his lawyers to not have his day in court? you would think that if former president would want his day in court and would want the people to know his version. how do you know when jailhouse trump is lying? when his lips are moving. those of us from new york who have been around the game of especially real estate people in

manhattan and new york city, you just here line after line of bs after bs. unlike many of the good, down to earth people around the country who don't even have it in their mindset to not tell the truth when they interact with other people, when they meet other people, they are who they are. what happens with certain types, especially new york real estate people, unfortunately our former president, it is not in their system to be able to hold an honest, intellectual conversation, so there you go. donald jailhouse trump. host: you are in new york, only a resident of manhattan would serve on this trial. but those who go for jury selection today will get this question from the judge.

can you serve and be fair and impartial? how would you enter that question if you were in that courtroom today? do you think you could serve on the jury in this trial and be fair and impartial? >> my career and my work background actually makes me a disciplined and intellectually honest person. i've been in worse situations regarding insurance legal matters ride dealing with all kinds of people and you have to be straight right down the middle, doesn't make a difference who it is, and i could serve on that jury and be completely independent and open-minded to wherever the facts may lead, yes. host: this is eric out of maryland, good morning. caller: good morning, america.

the question that we have today is the question that every american, everybody in the world today should the asking, is the president or the president of the united states above the law? everybody around trump has consequences for their actions, but up until now, donald trump has escaped every accountability to the law of the united states of america. so i already hope that he will answer for all the crimes he committed, and mostly about the crimes he committed on january 6. thank you very much. host: that is eric in port tobacco, marilyn. this case today now that january 6 for the president's actions that day, this case related to the hush-money payments and falsifying business records, 34 counts that the president is

facing in that new york courtroom. set to get underway at 9:30 a.m. eastern. this is sheila in massachusetts, good morning. caller: good morning and thanks for taking the call. i'm just wondering why these people are this upset over the hush money that the government has to protect congressional people from sexual harassment suits. nobody seems to care that our tax money is used to shut people up. all of a sudden, donald trump's private affairs become everybody's business. we use our tax money to shut people up with nondisclosure agreements and i don't think it is right and we ought to just elect donald trump to get us back on the right track on this country. we are headed to heck in a hand basket. thank you very much. host: that is sheila in massachusetts. this from a usa today story, that front-page story, jurors

being asked to decide whether the real estate mogul donald trump falsify business records in order to conceal or commit another crime, a purpose that turns those acts into felonies under new york law. both sides framing the cases being about election interference, but they are talking about two different elections. alvin bragg has said that the cases not falsifying records in order to unlawfully interfere with the 2016 election. former donald trump attorney michael: paid stormy daniels less than two weeks before the november rate election day and at a time of the trump campaign was still reeling from the october 7 release of the access hollywood tape. donald trump and his lawyers have said the case and all his criminal and civil cases are about the 2024 election, saying they represent an illegal attack on a political opponent and election interference at its best. he posted those exact words to

his truth social media platform as recently as last week, spending a lot of time this past weekend previewing today's case on his truth social platform. we show you one of those posts already. we're asking your thoughts about the case that is set to get underway this morning and that manhattan courtroom on the 15th floor of the manhattan criminal art. new york, democrat, good morning. caller: morning. longtime watcher, first time caller. i know you just reviewed from the paper that it is interference of election, and that is what this whole case is about. who cares about who he has a list of affairs with? the point is he was trying to keep this out of the media so it wouldn't affect the 2016 election, and that in my opinion is nothing but election interference. thank you and have a good day. host: new york, this is willy in

annapolis, maryland. good morning. caller: first of all, i know a person is innocent until proven guilty, but i think if this man is proven guilty, i think he has to do time like anybody else to send a message to all these billionaires and all these people who bow down to vladimir putin, that no one is above the law. particularly other people who are now serving time. i don't think this man should be allowed. i don't care if it is house arrest, two weeks or three, he should serve time for what he is doing because nobody else can get away with something like this. that is all i've got to say. host: t could serve time if convicted, he could just receive probation. a lot of discussion in today's papers about what could happen to the former president if he is convicted. this is the former president this past weekend from saturday at one of his campaign rallies talking about this case, about

the prosecutors in this case saturday evening. from: a few days from now the entire world will witness -- and i'm proud to go to you, have a good time watching. on monday in new york city i will be forced to sit -- i'm not allowed to talk, can you believe it? they want to take away my constitutional right to talk. this has never happened before, by the way. fully gagged before a highly conflicted and corrupt judge suffering from tbs. does anyone know what the ds is? trumped arrangement syndrome -- trump derangement syndrome.

to do anything possible to keep me from running and winning this election. they are losing by so much, they don't know what is happening. i did nothing wrong. from day one, i did nothing. russia, ukraine, every hoax. with all of the things they did, they found nothing, but like all true communists, and we are going communist, don't kid yourself. we are winning this election, this country is finished. host: today, he will be in manhattan, donald trump required to attend this trial, meaning he

will be spending at least four days a week at the defense table, not out on the campaign trail. we will see how much he speaks with members of the media, with the sea will be like. we will show you what we start getting live pictures in about an hour or so from up there in new york. we will be talking about it this morning on washington journal. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. that hush money trial set to begin at 9:30 a.m. eastern. this is joe out of georgia, republican. good morning to you. caller: i love c-span, 30 years. i just want to say i think donald trump is the best leader in history. i think all these trials of election interference, i live in georgia, our town would go 85%-90% for donald trump.

i think trump will be elected, i just bought some from stock. i think he is the best in history. i think you will win a landslide victory and i'm happy to predict a landslide win for donald john trump under great network. host: there was a color from new york, i asked him if he thought he could be on a jury to be fair and impartial. do you think donald trump is going to get a fair and impartial jury out of this case in manhattan? caller:caller: it will be very difficult. new york is extremely liberal. it is an anti-trump state. if he was in my hometown, the case would be thrown out immediately, and it would be hard but i think truly they can find one or two people who will stand up for the ex-president, but it will be difficult because as you know, new york is very liberal and anti-trump but regardless of what happens, i think trump is going to be the next president and i think the stock market break every record

in history. i am fired up and energized by donald john trump. host: we will talk to you next month. this is chet in amsterdam, new york. caller: my intention is to vote for donald trump and biden and trump have made mistakes like a lot of politicians. what would they do if donald trump was found guilty? the nomination is already soda. people know his problems, they know joe biden's problems. we've got to move on with this. i'm going to vote for donald trump but what will happen, you are going to throw him in jail? why don't they go after biden and try to put him in jail for the things that he has done? they've got to move on. we've got a lot of problems in this country and i think donald trump would be good on foreign

policy. i think the people just hate him. they have so much hatred for donald trump even going back to 2016, but the only reason why he got arrested to begin with is people are tired of the rockefellers, the bushes, the kennedys. one family running everything. so we put donald trump in there who was a businessman, he tried to do the nasty could and because he is not -- doesn't cater to anybody, the politicians didn't like him. host: did you vote for donald trump in 2016? caller: yes i did and i voted for him in 2020 and i'm going to vote for him again. host: you still consider yourself a democrat? caller: no, i'm not a democrat. host: you are calling on the line for democrats. caller: i'm sorry, i thought it was 001 for republicans. host: that's the line, we tried to get people to call in on the

line that best fits them. this is judy in north carolina, line for republicans. caller: good morning. i'm scared to death, first time. i am just so sick of the democrats trying to destroy this man. he has done more than anybody else, democrats don't want him up there. he is a good man and if they had gotten hillary, all she had done is they've got biden and his family for all they've done. they would get on hunter biden, they don't do anything with him, and yet trump's kids they tried to destroy. and then just destroying the goodness in this country. the democrats need to wake up and see what they're doing. host: that is judy in north carolina. this is eugene in georgia. good morning. caller: good morning.

i'm happy that this courtroom scene is not going to be on tv. it would be too much for this country to bear. i wish that man would take the stand, but he can't get out of his own way to tell a lie. thank you and i'm glad to be here. host: that is eugene in georgia. donald trump has said that he would testify in this trial. we'll see of course whether that happens in the weeks and perhaps months to come. the trial expected to take maybe six weeks, perhaps more. jury selection at least a week or two if the hush money case for the stormy daniels hush-money payments. this is the column in today's new york times. jessica bennett, that contributing editor in the opinion section writing this. sometimes i lie awake at night wondering whether donald trump is afraid. letitia james, fani willis, e.g.

carol and her lawyers, roberta kaplan and of course stormy daniels. living rent-free into donald trump's mind these days. she says i've never gotten the sense that joe biden or adam schiff or jeb bush ever got into mr. trump's head in the way that other women do. there are certain karmic justice is here, she writes, after mr. trump talked about grabbing women in the access hollywood tape. defeating at the ballot box in 20, maybe what we are seeing now is the grab bag moment, i'll be at more of a slow and steady paycheck your years of uniting women who refuse to do his bidding. he is getting a measure of comeuppance at their hands. this is lester out of tuscaloosa, alabama, good morning. caller: good morning, how are you? host: doing well. caller: great day in america. this reminds me of the o.j.

simpson trial. america would be able to watch a man all his life, he always talked about people. now he's going to come to court, and he committed the crime. if he was so worried about people going against him, why don't you get on the stand and tell the truth for once in his life? trump has always been a hater. trump never cared about nobody but himself and a hope these republicans understand one thing. you look at your god and find out if he would tell the truth for once in his life, america would be great.

host: north carolina, republican, good morning. caller: good morning. on calling that people nto realize that trump has been innocent the whole time they have this witch hunt going on for him. if they would have done the same thing to joe biden, he would have sold us out to china, russia and ukraine. all these black people against trump, he's got nothing against y'all. y'all are in the dark about this mess. host: this is mike in orlando, former, independent. caller: good morning. wow, dishonest donald going to court? it's hard to believe. here is a man that proclaims his innocence, everything he is not

guilty of, so why doesn't he want to go to court? why did he delay this for all this time and even now, still railing against it? it was me, i would want to go to court yesterday, but donald doesn't want to go to court. it is about time he finally pays for all the things he has done wrong. i think about the 1100 people that used to work in this casino that lost a pension fund, or the people who invested in a trump university lost their money, for he stole from his own charity. and let's not forget that he bankrupted the ussr, so this is a great day in america. we used to say nobody is above the law. fantastic day. thank you very much for having me on. host: that is mike in orlando, florida. and here is more from the former street social page. as we said, he's been pushing quite a bit in the lead up to

this trial taking place today. this was with the former president posted on thursday. >> informed that another corrupt new york judge gagged to. that is gagged, like you can't talk. but he gagged me with respect to a case that everyone including the da felt should never have been brought. plenty of people have gagged me recently because when i talk in a new york, i explained to the people and they understand, these cases are all rigged. sounds fair, doesn't it? but it is not. it virtually never happens, it only happens to me because i'm able to tell people what is happening and those people get extremely angry with what is happening. this judge should be recused and the case should be thrown out. he's totally conflicted. there has never been a judge more conflicted than this one. there has virtually never been anything like it. thank you very much. host: that was from thursday.

in today's preview of the trial, usa today talks about his social media and pr campaign leading up to this trial. donald trump keeps antagonizing the judge on social media as part of his apparent strategy to portray the judge who he believes is unfriendly and biased. he calls him a highly conflicted and corrupt judge. his hatred for me has no bounds. he has also targeted the judge's daughter,: or a rabbit trump hater based on her marketing work and posted a follower for it was millions of followers. the gag order was expanded to have a trump from attacking them or their families. the average observer must now after hearing the defendant's recent attack straw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings, even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as

well. that was judge merchan spreading in his gag order decision back in usa today. this is carolyn in san antonio, texas, democrat. caller: good morning. political science is not the study of bugs. i have to say that all my life i've gone to school and i was robbed in a san antonio taco house and was pronounced dead on arrival. host: what do you think of the trial today? caller: the trial today, somebody who knows law knows how to break the law. i believe that america needs to go forward with biden for the simple fact that he is trying to do something to serve the country. when i was born in 1964, the law didn't use people against themselves. all the crime that has gone on in the last 10 years while he was in office had to do with

money. and it needs to be about the people. that my opinion. host: oklahoma city, republican, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: ok. what i would like to say is, and i imagine everybody can agree with me, but the last eight years, that's all you heard is trump, trump. i mean, he is the most talked about man in the world. i mean, do they ever get tired of talking about the man? and i voted for him and i will be voting for him again. thank you. host: this is deborah out of michigan, indian river. independent. go ahead. caller: good morning. host: morning. caller: the young lady that you just had on, i forget what her name was, but i agree with her.

all we've heard for the last 80 years is trump, trump, trump. we need trump back in office to save our country. we are going down the tubes quick and trump is our guy to make it right. host: that is deborah in michigan. ithaca, new york, good morning. caller: good morning, john. i wanted to say something very quickly. i haven't called in a very long time. i have an art background and the new design for your office, the colors, it is just so stark and it is not attractive at all and i wish that you could redesign the office there. it is not appealing at all. host: what are your thoughts on the trial today? caller: i'm sorry, i just needed to say that. i can believe this has gone on for so long. i mean, trump is such a con

artist. it is such an embarrassment to this country. it is so wrong. it is so wrong that this has been going on for so long. and i want to add that mitch mcconnell is the puppeteer behind all this. he is a horrible man who has changed the supreme court. it is just unbelievable that all this has happened. it is so criminal. host: why do you call him a puppeteer? caller: because he supported trump. they didn't impeach him. he's very, very two-faced. he is worse in a way because he is sitting in the background pulling all the strings and you've got this lunatic of a person, a narcissist being let loose and delaying every trial. i mean, these trials should have happened.

i mean, it is scary because our country is -- host: mitch mcconnell said he is stepping down from leadership. there's already jockeying underweight to see who will replace him at the republican leader in the senate. do you think whoever replaces him would be more likely to stand up to donald trump, more likely to be a puppeteer like mitch mcconnell as you describe it? caller: i don't know who would replace him but -- people that, the accountability, he is there now and he's done so much damage. he had pushed supreme court judge right -- you know -- right before biden got in. he went against his own rules. the criminality is right in

front of our eyes. you know, i watches c-span, i love c-span. i --, with jeffrey epstein --, help me there, the guy that -- i'm sorry, i'm getting a little nervous here because i might get cut off by my phone. is it jeffrey epstein? i'm just blanking out now. he, it was a couple months ago when they said names would come out in terms of who he -- people that he was bringing to his place to have sex with the young women. and all of a sudden i did not hear anything. trump was friends with him. ok? they're so -- what i'm trying to get at is there is so much

that's there that should be put out into the public about his background. first of all he is not a republican. he is a closeted democrat and i'm sure he forced women to have an abortion. he is the biggest liar, -- host: got your point. this is stephen massachusetts, republican. good morning brady caller: trumped arrangement syndrome is a serious thing and i'm happy you finally let that woman off the line. i want to talk about election interference and the fact that this originally was going to be a misdemeanor but the statute of limitations went by and everyone , the democrats say why doesn't he want a trial, why didn't they have a trial a long time ago? the democrats waited until

donald trump was running for office. that's why there hasn't been a trial. who would want to have a trial in new york city if you were republican if you were donald trump? our country is making our country look bad. that woman that said the country looks bad. the fact is is -- this has gone on and gone on. it's election interference. in russia, putin killed his opponents. we are a few steps away from that now. we have people running with knives down the streets of l.a., illegal immigrants -- running down the streets of l.a., we are turning into venezuela. we are getting so close to being the third world it's unbelievable. and here you have the person that's running as a republican against the sitting president who previously was -- attacked by the fbi, the nsa and the cia and everyone else and he was in

with the -- the russians. and here we go again. by law he has to be in court every day in new york city. that's the law for this case. so for the next six weeks they are saying he's got a have to -- that isn't under election appearance i can't believe that it isn't. >> started by talking about the misdemeanors versus criminal indictments and the 34 counts criminal indictment focusing on falsifying business records, ruth marcus in today's washington post explains why this has become a criminal case as opposed to a misdemeanor. falsifying business records ordinarily is a misdemeanor under new york law but if that falsification is done with the intent to defraud and steal -- and still another crime that is elevated into a felony. what alleged crimes elevated that conduct, alvin bragg has

identified three. federal election law under which michael cohen was convicted, a new york state election law that prohibits conspiring to promote or prevent the election of any person to public office through illegal means in new york tax law because the payments were grossed up. that's ruth marcus writing about the legal back and forth in today's washington post. the 34 felony count indictments all kinds of records the prosecutor said donald trump falsified as he reimbursed michael cohen for those payments to stormy daniels, 11 invoices, 12 general ledger entries adding those up and you get 34 felony counts. this is ronald in lawton, oklahoma. good morning. >> good morning john, thank you

c-span. it's a great day in america. all the americans crying because of trump, they'll get exactly what they get. so welcome to the world, the real world. all the republicans and democrats you live your life how you want and this is what you get. god is taking over your life. thank you you c-span, goodbye. host: that's ronald in oklahoma. this is robert in texas, independent, good morning. caller: good morning. let's talk for a cup of coffee and sit back and let the american constitution and the

rule of law do what it was intended and let's put our faith in americans, jurors that will court -- that are going to be picked today. we always need to relax and praise that the american system of justice will eventually have it stay and all people are equal under the law. and john, i calling here regularly. i hope people will take politics out of this and just judge our country based on the rule of law as the founders intended and appreciate that our country works. host: