let's use this opportunity now that we've been attacked with 320 munitions to really go after and disable a significant portion of iran's military and war making capability but i think inside the israeli war cabinet with the focus being on hamas, finishing off the hamas leadership, with sinwar still at large with more than 100 hostages still being held, including importantly five american hostages we believe still to be alive in hamas's hands potentially in those tunnels with other bodies of americans who are killed not being returned to israel, and with hezbollah, a very capable terrorist military on israel's northern border, with that as an iranian proxy, i think the netanyahu government said let's focus on our own borders, on our own security, and let's leave the reckoning with iran for another day. >> indeed. thank you so much, jeremy, and a quick update from the courthouse. we just learned a second alternate juror has just been

seated in the trump criminal trial. that does it for us. that means that there are four left that they need and could happen very quickly. "chris jansing reports" starts right now. good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. high emotions and high stakes at donald trump's manhattan trial. one potential alternate quickly dismissed after saying donald trump's new york hush money case has already made her too anxious. with a jury in place, a second alternate just chosen. can lawyers find four more to make the cut today and get to the heart of the case on monday? the challen j made in court. and the pressure on both legal teams this weekend, so much to do with opening statements expected to start as soon as monday. i'll talk to a seasoned jury consultant and a former federal prosecutor next. and no comment from israel, the eerie silence hanging over

the middle east right now after israel carried out a military strike against iran. plus, the last minute save by democrats for house speaker mike johnson's foreign aid bills as pressure ramps up inside his own party. >> we only control one chamber and i barely have control of that. >> can mike johnson pull this off and at what price? we're live from capitol hill. we begin with another dramatic and intense day at donald trump's hush money trial, with several potential jurors becoming quite emotional, including a tearful woman who says she has a criminal record and a possible alternate being challenged even as we speak. with the jury seated and two alternates now picked, just four more new yorkers need to be selected to end jury selection and move on to the main event, meaning there's just one final weekend to prepare for the trial like no other. in just three days, donald trump will likely face what he has fought for so many months to

avoid, judgment. it will be an intense weekend for the lawyers putting the finishing touches on opening arguments, tweaking strategy, and for the defense preparing a client who is famously uncontrollable and who has spent this week as "politico" puts it, having to sit and listen to strangers insult him, quote, trump has heard himself described by a those under consideration as racist, sexist and a narcissist. he's been presented with a social media post calling for officials to lock him up. he's been told to his face that he's very selfish and self-serving. with the prosecution about to make its case and the judge planning to rule on whether trump broke the gag order, the opinions of would be jurors are just the beginning. nbc's vaughn hillyard reports from outside the courthouse. i also want to bring in former federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst, paul butler, jury consultant, alan turnen halftimer is with us as well. apparently the pressure is

getting to some people. there's a little drama going on right now with the challenge. get us up to speed on what's happening. >> reporter: chris, we knew coming into this that there would be intense focus, intense pressure on the individuals that would ultimately become the jury , but what we have watched play out here especially over the course of just these last couple of hours is just the amount of weight it is bearing on some of these potential jurors. two of them openly crying in front of the more than 100 others inside that courtroom upon being questioned about their own positions as it relates to donald trump and their own past experiences. and three individuals citing anxiety as reasons why they do not believe that they would be able to move forward and be jurors as part of this process. just look at some of the responses that played out. one potential juror, a female saying, quote, i have really, really bad anxiety, and people have found out where i am. i don't think i'll be able to be completely here and fair. another juror, a female juror

saying, quote, i have to be honest, i feel so nervous and anxious right now. i'm sorry. i thought i could do this. i wouldn't want someone who feels this way to judge my case. i thought i could do this. she was in tears upon leaving the courtroom. another juror saying can i approach the bench to talk separately with the judge. i feel like through this line of questioning i'm getting anxiety and self-doubt. this is the level of pressure and the focus with donald trump sitting 30 feet away from them that these potential jurors are facing. for those filling out this jury box, there's little reason to believe over the course of the next six, eight weeks of this trial that those individuals will be feeling that not only inside of the courtroom but as you noted, these are family members and friends and colleagues who are becoming aware that these individuals are playing such a critical role in the trial, not only of former president, but a presumptive republican nominee to be the next one as well. >> alan, that leads me to the obvious question there, so many

people who believes cases are won and lost in jury selection. this case couldn't be any bigger. can the mood in a room, can these kinds of exchanges make the job harder for someone like you or the lawyers? >> the good news is the judge is dismissing jurors that have a clear bias, and the way he did it with the self-removal, just to get everybody to say who can't be fair and impartial, i can't do this, they're gone. and then there's more questioning that goes into the process and more jurors are removed. it's really winnowing everything down. you don't want distracted jurors, jurors who have anxiety, jurors who aren't going to be able to give 100% of their commitment and focus, they're going to be removed. it's a little unnerving to see it unfold in court, but i think with the process it seems as though donald trump may not have a lot of supporters in new york county, he's in the process of getting a jury of his peers. that's all you can ask for from

the defense perspective. >> so there was a juror, let me tell you specifically that i mentioned, who said, alan, that to his face, donald trump was very selfish and self-serving, but got on the jury because they had run out of challenges, so is that the risk you take every single trial? >> sure, you have to be wise and use your strikes intelligently, and there must have been something else about that juror that the defense thought was acceptable, and maybe they just thought, yeah, okay, we appreciate your candor and we believe this juror can compartmentalize and isolate that perspective, and maybe there's something else about this juror's profession or their experiences or their beliefs that make the defense team think despite that, this juror is going to do their best to be fair and impartial. most jurors do. i think that's an encouraging sign for the defense and for all these jurors. it seems like they're going to do their best and they're going

to put anything they have aside and focus on the evidence and the arguments and render a fair decision by starting out neutral. >> paul, what's your reaction to what's happening inside that courtroom? i mean, again, these are not people who at least initially are going to be on the jury. these are alternates, and what are the chances that an alternate would ever even statistically get into the jury room, the deliberation room? >> yeah, so part of that is how long the trial lasts. this is a six-week trial. that's how long it's expected to be. that's kind of long. it wouldn't be surprising if one of the regular jurors has some kind of emergency where she has to step down. that's why there are six alternates here. and the concerns that these people are expressing, they're not unusual in high profile cases. jurors often have strong opinions. chris, i've never seen anything quite like the level of these concerns and the emotion here

but look, the anxiety these jurors have, it's not just speculative. there's so many people that come into donald trump's legal and political travails who have had their lives destroyed. >> i understand two more alternates have just been seated, so that would be four. so there are only two to go. it looks like we potentially might be on track to get tlooebs at least the opening started, to get the real trial, the meat of the trial underway on monday. so alan, can i run through some things quickly, and get your quick reactions to things that we know about this jury, the main jury pool, not the alternates and see what you think. for example, 8 out of the 12 say "the new york times" is one of their main sources of news. they all live in manhattan, but does that tell you as a jury consultant something? >> well, it certainly shows to me this is a cross section of new york, and it's representative. i think it's encouraging that

they made it that far along in the process, and what i'd be interested in for both sides is what arguments are going to resonate with this jury? because everything leading up until now was more hypothetical in terms of arguments and case strategy, but now you have an audience, and so each side now wants to tailor their case to make arguments that resonate with the members of the jury and it seems like a well to do juror, jury that consists of people that productive members of society, maybe they don't pay such close attention to the cases that involve donald trump, and they haven't been paying that much close attention to this one but they're well informed. it looks like it's going to be a good jury on the surface. >> let me go back to vaughn, because i understand you have some new information about what's happening inside. >> reporter: we've got two additional alternate jurors there, so what we have left are two open slots, chris, with 12 individuals who have gone through the extensive questioning process here. so the question is are they able

to slot in two of these 12 individuals here before lunchtime and could we potentially in the matter of minutes even fill out the rest of the jury box? that is the outstanding question here at this time, chris. they're currently going through one juror b 647 about an apparent social media post, showing this individual at an anti-trump rally in new york city. they're looking to question that potential juror. all they need is two individuals out of this last dozen that are standing here. we may have a good shot at it before lunchtime, chris. >> 2 of the 12 jurors actually so far are, alan, lawyers. i think that raises a lot of eyebrows, presumption being that you don't want necessarily lawyers on a jury. is it clear to you who that might favor in this case? >> it really isn't, and it's so interesting because a lot of times when you let a lawyer on, you're hoping that the other

side might burn a strike on the lawyer because both sides really face a risk in having a lawyer. it's almost as if they're trying the case to two people. i'm sure there are other strong personalities, but both sides want someone -- you want to be able to explain to your jury what the case is about. you don't want the lawyer on the jury explaining to the other jurors what it's about. it's risky. the foreperson is not a lawyer, so that might make the deliberation more thorough and broad, but it's always a risk, and so it's very interesting. maybe it helps trump's team because you want -- you want a wild card. i'm not convinced that -- i find it hard to believe that he's going to be found not guilty on all 34 counts, so it's a win for the defense if there's a hung jury, and so you want some wild card, you want some fireworks in the deliberation, and maybe if there's a couple of lawyers in there, maybe that's the angle the trump team is taking. >> let me go back to what we might be seeing starting on

monday, okay, paul? so trump's lawyers asked for the names of the prosecution's first three witnesses in court yesterday, and i want to read for you what happened. look, i got to be honest, that's a courtesy that we normally extend. mr. trump has been tweeting about the witnesses. we're not telling who the witnesses are. i'm sorry. the court says, i can't fault the people for that. then todd blanche, trump's lawyer says, what if i commit to the court and the people, the people of course being the prosecution, that president trump will not tweet about any witnesses. the court, that he will not tweet about any witness? mr. blanche. well, the court, i don't think you can make that representation. how do you navigate a client like donald trump, paul? >> it's virtually impossible. you tell him that if he continues to talk on social media about witnesses like michael cohen and stormy daniels

that not only is he liable for a thousand dollars an insult, he could actually go to jail. in new york the judge is allowed to sentence up to 30 days for each contempt of court finding. so maybe that will make a difference for trump. i doubt that it will, if we think about a thousand dollars, that might be chump change for trump. it might actually be worth it for him if he's able for just a thousand dollars to insult people like michael cohen and stormy daniels. so jail will be the real disincentive, and i wouldn't, if i were trump, i wouldn't play with judge merchan on that scoreboard. >> so before we go, paul, i want to play something for you because it gives us some insight from what is called the prosecution's star witness, michael cohen, who went live last night on the social media app, tiktok, and here's what he said. >> but i promise you that the

prosecutorial team, they're really something special. this is -- and i've -- listen, as i'm sure you -- you got to all be aware, you know, i've met with many different prosecutors, whether it's mueller, the new york a.g., now here the manhattan d.a., including, for example, the prosecutors for the various different congressional committees and so on. this manhattan d.a. prosecutorial team, they're something special. i've never seen people more prepared than they are for this specific case. >> there's been some talk i've read, paul, about how they don't have the resources that donald trump's team has. having said that, take us inside because you've been there. you've got now just a couple of days, saturday and sunday to prepare for monday, what are those folks doing, both sides,

to get ready for this trial? >> you already have your opening statement written, you're practicing it. you want to tell the jury a story. >> are you tweaking it based on who the jurors are now? >> absolutely. so you've got engineers. you've got lawyers. chris, when i was a prosecutor doing public corruption cases, i never wanted lawyers on my jury for the reasons that alan described, the concern is that other jurors will look to them as experts on the law rather than the judge. the prosecution is also worried that lawyers will have too high a standard about what proof beyond a reasonable doubt is. there's the same concern about scientists. there's an engineer on the jury. so yeah, you're tweaking your opening statement based on who these people are. and, again, six new jurors have been selected today. there's going to be a lot of investigation, googling, looking at social media for these six new folks over the weekend to see if there are any biases that

have been missed during this voir dire process. just because we have 18 today doesn't mean that on monday morning they're going to be those same 18 who hear the opening statements. >> paul butler just raising the stakes even more. paul, vaughn hillyard, alan, thank you all very much. in 60 seconds, growing fears after israel retaliates against iran, but will tehran strike back again, or can a wider conflict be avoided? we'll go live to the region next. he region next every day, more dog people, and more vets are deciding it's time for a fresh approach to pet food. they're quitting the kibble. and kicking the cans. and feeding their dogs dog food that's actually well, food. developed with vets. made from real meat and veggies. portioned for your dog. and delivered right to your door. it's smarter, healthier pet food. get 50% off your first box at thefarmersdog.com/realfood

to give your teeth a dentist clean feeling. start with a round brush head. add power. and you've got oral-b. round cleans better by surrounding each tooth to remove 100% more plaque. for a superior clean. oral-b. brush like a pro. an uneasy silence in the middle east could be speaking volumes today. overnight israel carried out a limited strike inside iran, capping an unprecedented week of direct attacks between the two countries who have long been engaged in a proxy war, but when israel's president put out a video address earlier today, he didn't even mention the strike.

prime minister netanyahu hasn't commented either, nor have leaders in tehran who just days ago vowed a severe response to even the tiniest attack from israel. nbc's raf sanchez is reporting from tel aviv, nbc's gabe gutierrez is in washington. also with us, retired colonel jack jacobs, msnbc military analyst. so raf, what do we know about the impact of this strike, and what, if anything, can we make of the silence from the major players? >> reporter: well, chris, i think this silence is very, very telling. it appears to be an indication that neither side wants escalation at this point. we heard a little earlier today from the iranian president. he is a hard-liner. he's one of the iranian leaders who said last week that even a small israeli attack would trigger immediate and massive iranian retaliation, and instead, chris, he got through that speech without even mentioning this strike in isfahan. as you said, we did not hear

from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu over the course of the day. we're not expecting to at this point, and that appears to be a calculation on the israeli side to give the iranians an off-ramp here. the israelis appear to be saying or indicating that if they don't gloat, if they don't crow, if they don't rub iran's face in this strike, that the iranians may have enough space to choose not to retaliate without losing face. as you said, this strike did not happen in a vacuum. april 1st israel allegedly attacking the iranian embassy compounds in damascus killing seven senior members of iran's revolutionary guard corps, and then on saturday, iran retaliating, that unprecedented barrage of 350 cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, drones, almost all of them shot down, not just by israel but also by the united states and allied

nations. in terms of what we know about the strike, it happened at about 4:00 a.m. local time, the main target appears to have been an iranian military base near the city of isfahan. that's a couple of hours south of deran. tehran. a source familiar with the situation tells me it was a limited strike, and in the hours afterwards israel was assessing the effectiveness of it. i will say, chris, it is calm. it is quiet on this shabbat night here in israel, heading into passover, and it is very, very notable that the israeli military has not imposed new restrictions on the civilian population, which is an indication that israel's government is not expecting retaliation at this time. >> raf sanchez in tel aviv, thank you. so gabe, the biden administration we know is frustrated by israel striking the iranian consulate in syria without warning. what did the u.s. know about this new attack and what's the

message for the israelis today? >> a source familiar with the matter tells nbc news that israel did notify the u.s. that a response was coming, but so far very little has been said by the white house, by the national security council. all we've heard from the biden administration is secretary of state antony blinken earlier said he had no comment on the actual strike, but take a listen to what he did say. >> the united states has not been involved in any offensive operations. what we're focused on, what the g-7 is focused on -- and again, it's reflected in our statement and our conversation -- is our work to deescalate tensions, to deescalate from any potential conflict. >> reporter: again, chris, that's a word we've been hearing over and over again, deescalation. again, we have not heard yet from the white house at this point. it appears that u.s. officials at this point are waiting to see what israel says about this strike and going forward, what

iran's response may be. but so far they're extremely cautious, chris. >> so we wait. so colonel, do you think israel's response was limited enough that both sides can now back away after showing, look, here's your warning. we have the ability to strike you. >> i don't see how it could be even more limited than it was. clearly calculated to reduce tensions, but to demonstrate that israel has the capability of doing and will do whatever it wants to do to defend itself. i think it's interesting that we consider it in juxtaposition with israel's defense of the attack by the iranians with the 350 munitions last week. it demonstrates two things, first of all, that israel can defend itself passively and the response yesterday demonstrates that israel will not stand by

and let itself get attacked again because the next time f it does happen again, an attack coming from iran, iran won't like the results. israel really has a tremendous offensive capability aircraft that can get into iran under radar, can fire at targets inside iran from great distances, outside of iran and so on, and so it's not surprising that it's now quiet. it doesn't mean it's over yet because we have to remember that iran's proxies, particularly hezbollah, sometimes runs its own course, but for the time being is an enormous sound of a sigh of relief in the middle east, chris. >> is that what you see as the biggest threat right now if one of iran's proxy forces in lebanon or syria strikes israel? >> yeah, that's a real problem because although we always say that these are proxies, and iran controls them, they don't control them. they arm them. they train them. they have a great deal of

influence on what takes place, but anybody who has been involved in a large-scale organization, particularly a large scale bureaucratic organization knows that no matter what the order is at the top, anything can possibly happen at the bottom of the food chain, and all it takes is one mistake by one person who didn't get the word, wants to do his own thing, that's all it's going to take to turn this whole place into a tinderbox. so that's why there is some relief, but at the end of the day, there are lots of players, a lot of independent variables here, and lots of things that can happen outside of the control of both israel and iran. colonel jack jacobs, gabe gutierrez, guys, thank you so much. appreciate it. and up next, house democrats move to save speaker mike johnson's foreign aid package, but will they also help save his job? plus, only two more

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don't wait- call today. swooped in to save republican speaker mike johnson's foreign aid bills while he faces a revolt from members of his own party. a final vote is expected tomorrow with johnson acknowledging head on the fracture within his party.

>> we only control one chamber, and i barely have control of that. i can't -- the senate won't advance our legislation and the president won't sign it. if i don't have republican votes that means we have to have democrat votes. >> nbc's ryan nobles is reporting from capitol hill. also with us, elise jordon former aide to george w. bush, in the white house and state s department. she's also an msnbc political analyst. good to see you both. ryan, this is unfolding in a rare way. what happens next? >> reporter: yeah, i think that's a pretty fair assessment of the way this is all going, chris. it took democratic votes to do a procedural step called the rule, which i know is inside baseball, but it demonstrates how difficult it has been for speaker mike johnson to govern his own conference and get all the republicans in line.bl yes, he has a super slim majority. that makes every single thing he does that much more difficult, but the idea that he would need this level of democratic support to push something through

demonstrates just how difficult his position is at the top of this republican conference, and so the question now remains is his job in trouble? and you're getting a wide range of opinions from republicans on that topic. take a listen. >> it seems as though the coalition to proceed onto this foreign aid bill doesn't include house conservatives, and i think that's going to rile a lot of republican voters. everybody's dissatisfied is going to be dissatisfied at this point. i don't think it gets any worse or any better. >> ourny hard-liners make it clr that you have to rely on democrat votes to even allow the process of democracy to continue, well then you lose all leverage. >> and the simple reality now, chris, is that there are three conservative republicans that have signed on to this motion to vacate. that would be the vehicle that would call up a vote and put speaker johnson's job in jeopardy. it doesn't take that many in order to topple him from his job, so if this actually becomes

a privilege resolution, which means they would have to vote oo it, that would require democrats in order to save his job. yes, that's possible. democrats have left that open as a possibility, but it would be very difficult for him to be the republican speaker of the house if he got the job with help froi democrats. so johnson's situation is very difficult. it's tenuous at this point. but the one thing we have to point out, chris, is that he knows that, and he said that he still believes that this foreign aid package, which includes funding for ukraine, was worth putting his job on the line, and that's the position he finds himself in right now. >> i mean, honestly, elise, it kind of seems like if you say, you know, somebody's endangered and the house speaker in one sentence, it's repetitive. i mean, we know that's where we are. but is congressman crenshaw right? is there blame to go around, or is something else at play here? >> i think there's plenty of blame to goat around. they aren't governing right now or making an attempt to govern. we have some people -- this

mirrors what happened with senator langford and immigration bill. he put forward real reforms and then republicans tank the reforms, the border reforms. that's what's happening right now. you have some congressional members who are not serious, and they're hi jacking the process, andki then you have other congressional members who have legitimate questions about the ukraine aid.gi 60 billion more, it'sai not enoh to decisively end the war. it's going to keep russia, you know, at bay, but it's not -- it's not a true strategy, and i don't think they're wrong for demandingey that. >> don't go anywhere, but i want to go to yasmin vossoughian because i understand, is it possible, yasmin, that we actually have a full jury now? >> reporter: we got it, judge juan merchan saying it himself inside the courtroom, s chris. we have our full panel. this is, chris, i feel like an incredibly historic moment if we think about ibit, right? the first former president, ex-president of the united states to be tried criminally in the united states of america.

the jury is set. the people in this jury is set. let me take you through kind of the makeup, chris, of this jury so we can kind of remind folks who will be really kind of knowing the future of this president, right? we have on this jury right now seven menig and five women. that will be the jury that will be in the jury box. then amongst the alternates, we have five women and one man. we just added two more alternates to the jury box in the last 20 minutes or so, and a jury has, in fact, been impanelled. let me talk you through some of what these folks do for their vocation. we have a sales worker, an investment banker, an attorney, a security engineer, a teacher, a software engineer, a litigator, a wealth manager, a speech therapist, a product development manager, a physical therapist. that is the jury box, and then we have the alternates. we have an asset manager,

someone who is unemployed, an audio professional, a contract l specialist, a creative operations for a clothing company, and an estimator, a project manager for a construction company. a really unbelievable moment, chris, i should say in that courtroom justul now as they ha now impanelled this jury. and by the way, let's remind folks, chris, how quick this process went, right? day one, when we were out here, we projectedn this thing was going to take at least two weeks. we thought it would, and in fact, now we are, what, four days in and they have already impanelled a jury.av that means that we are looking towards monday for opening arguments, that is an ha unbelievable time line to think about, and i got to say, chris, now i'm looking at -- there is a man on fire, chris, in the middle of a square in front of me where protesters were standing. an individual has now set

himself on fire, and i am looking at this now. we don't have cameras trained on this individual, but it is unbelievable to see, chris. my gosh. >> is it over in an area, yasmin where -- >> he has now collapsed. he is about -- he is about 50 feet away from me, chris. he has now collapse on the ground. we have security running to this man, trying to put h their coatn him to put the flames out. he has set himself on fire and is now shaking it seems as the fire is being put out by security personnel who have surrounded this individual. they have now put the fire out, chris, as this man is just lying there, it seems having lit himself on fire in this very moment, and i want to reiterate to folks that are watching this, we don't know if this has any connection to what just took place in the courtroom behind us with this jury now being

impanelled, but it was an awful sight to see, chris, that this man setting himself on fire. >> well, as you say, we don't know what happened there, yasmin. we don't knowen if this was a suicide attempt, we don't know, so let's not -- i don't want to speculate, but the headline here -- and i'm sorry you had to see that, by the way. what an awful thing for anybody who was down there, but seven men, five women on the main jury, five women, one man on the alternate jury. i want to go back to paul butler and pick up on something you were saying before. to quote judge juan merchan, we have our full panel. does that necessarily mean that at, whatever, 9:30 on monday morning, the openings will begin? >> not necessarily. means that we have 18 people right now at about 1:40

on friday. the trial will go forward on monday, but there still got to be the sandoval hearings. part of it depends on how long that hearing takes. and as i've mentioned before, there's six new folks on the jury, so over the weekend both sides will be poring over their social media, googling them, trying to find anything that might suggest some bias that was overlooked in the voir dire process. remember on thursday we started out with seven juror, and we ended up with only five of those who are now impanelled to serve. so i do think that the trial is -- the jury selection process went very quickly. the judge runs an efficient, orderly courtroom, so almost certainly the trial will start at some point early next week. >> all right, let me go back to yasmin vossoughian, and yasmin,

listen, there's a lot of intensity inside the courtroom, and now it seems like there's plenty of intensity outside the courtroom. >> reporter: there is.e there is. i just want to kind of give you an update, i know that we're following what's happening inside theth courtroom. i do want to give you an update out here, seeing chris, because i do think it's important. as you mentioned, as i talked about earlier, we have no idea if what just took place in front of me has any connection to what happened inside that courtroom over the last couple of days anv the ongoing hush money trial with the former president of the united states. but i wanthe to reiterate to fos what i just saw, which is an individual setting himself on fire just about 50 feet away from me. as we learned thatt a full jur had been impanelled in the hush money case involving a former president of the united states. he is currently moving, as security professionals and now new york fire department and nypd have allyo showed up in foe to put the fire out. the fire has now subsequently

been extinguished. he is moving hisxt limbs, his as and his legs, but i'm not sure how ibu can describe to you jus how large, chris, this fire was. it was startling to see out of the corner of my eye as i was speaking to you on camera reading through the jury that had been impanelled and the individuals as i was describing to you their vocation out of the corner of my eye, seeing this fire completely light up the center square. therehe is an area just to my right, which is an area that they have cordoned off for protesters. that is an area that had been filled with protesters, for instance, back in april when the former president was originally arraigned. on monday, when this trial got up and going, this area was also full of protesters as well on both sides, by the way, both after anti-trump and pro-trump protesters. since monday, there have been fewer and fewer people, and quite honestly, in the last day or so, there have been maybe

one, maybe two, maybe three with a t random flag walking around thisa cordoned off area. this man, this individual was in there honestly on his own with maybe one or two other individuals, 20 or 25 feet away from him as he set this fire himself on fire. we now have ems who have taken the individual away. they're obviously tryingvi to g him medical attention as quickly as possible, and again, i want toos reiterate to you because we're following this breaking news, this historic moment in this jury has been impanelled in this hush money trial involving the former president of the united states and setting the stage for what willing the next six weeks as we watch all of this evidence come out throughout this trial, and then subsequently within that very moment an individual just 50 feet away from all of this press and from this courthouse behind me t setting himself on fire and the fact that we really don't know if there is any

connection between that individual and what happened and what is continuing to happen inside the courthouse behind me. >>rt it was really important fo you to set that scene, yasmin, that the number of protesters -- because we saw a fair number, right, the first day, but this was not someone who was in the middle of a crowd of people. this is not someone who was in the middle of a protest. >> no. >> this was an individual, and it sounds like -- because you saw it as it was unfolding, that the response was very quick. it does not sound, from what you've observed, that there was any o kind of security situatio potentially that was created there? >> reporter: no, i mean, let's be clear. the security situation down here is seincredibly high, right? because the former president of the united states along with secret service arete inside tha building. so they already have a very high security situation happening here. there was no threat really to

the crowd around this area. this individual was standing in the middle of this square on his own. as i mentioned, there may have been two other individuals that were walking about within that area about 20 to 25 feet away from him. so the moment it happened, audibly i heard screams from the right of me as i was on air with you talking about the jury, in which folks were saying he has set himself on fire, a man is on fire. at that point, chris, i saw the security personnel that we've been seeing out here all week long racing towards the entry area of this square, and to be clear, again, this area is cordoned off for protesters, right?ed so if you are here to protest, you can be in that area. to get i to where we are, you he to have an official press pass as well, so security is incredibly tight in all of these different sections that they had set up because of the former president being in the courtroom behind t me. so there was really no issue when it came to security. it was more controlling the

situation, making sure this individual did not do further harm to himself and/or other individuals that could have been in the area. >> and because we keep hearing the sirens, i just want -- people who may be joining us, i want to give you a chance to reiterate the gentleman now who was moving, was taken by emergency personnel, presumably emts, and he has left the area of the courthouse? >> reporter: he has left the area of the courthouse. so for folks that are just joining us, while we were getting this breaking news that a jury had, in fact, been impanelled, a historic moment for this country, the first ex-president of the united states to be in criminal court will likelyfi be facing opening arguments sometime next week. we have a full jury in place, we also saw just 50 feet away from where i'm standing an individual setting himself on fire in an area cordoned off for protesters. again, we don't know -- and i don't mean to keep repeating myself, i do think it's porn. we don't know if there's any

connection between that individual and what is taking place in the courthouse behind us. if i get any information on that, i certainly will be relaying it to all of you. nonetheless, the individua has now been taken to a hospital. we don't necessarily know how he's doing, if in fact, he's going to survive his injuries, but igo will tell you, i mean, that fire, those flames reached about 20 feet in the air. it was a fairly large fire, this man setting himself on fire in the middle of the square just 50 feet away from where we are, chris. >>wh yeah, we did after he was removed briefly see the smoke and so you could see that it was indeed. let me just again give the context of the week or have you give thek context of the week. we have seen in the past and certainly some of the early y days, for example, for arraignments, large groups of people came out on both sides. there may have been some yelling back and forth or whatever, but through this week from what i've read and what i've heard you and others report, there have been

no real problems around the courthouse, right? >> reporter: no, and i'll tell you, so if we think back to the arraignment in april of 2023 when former president donald trump was first arraigned, this area was filled with protesters. if you remember marjorie taylor greene came to this area as well. she was kind of swarmed by press along with protesters showing her supportth for the former president of the united states. that was probably the biggest crowd that p i had seen in this area since this whole thing began. day one there were a significant or a more so significant amount of protesters in this area. i would say maybe 50 protesters are so. since then, we have seen a depletion of protesters in the area in which this individual eventually set himself on fire just about five or so minutes ago. maybe on tuesday there were possibly 10 to 15 individuals. in the last few days since we've been here, chris, today maybe one, two, or three stragglers with flags in support and/or

against the former president of the united states.f so it has been a fairly quiet place, a fairly quiet area. again, this cordoned off area, mainly for protesters since the beginning of this jury selection process. so this individual setting himself ondi fire in the middlef the square was really not surrounded by anyone else. he had one to two individuals who were in the square nearby about 20 to 25 feet away. the only people that are really here is us, is the press, and there is a huge press presence here, i would say, which is to be understood, and then it's the large amount of security. there are barricades on either side of this street where i'm standing. there are barricades on this side of hogan place along with a block down on the other side of hogan place. so if you want to get, chris, into that cordoned off area where this individual set himself on fire, you're either there f to protest and/or you he a a press pass to get into this

cordoned off area where i'm standing, and you are a member of the press. so again, to reiterate, there has not been a huge presence when it comes to protesters, and we don't know if there's any connection between the individual who just set himself on fire and what happened in the courthouse behind me. the impaneling of a jury of the former president of the united states. >> i want to bring in cedric alexander, a law enforcement analyst. cedric, look, we have heard from the beginning as people ask questions, reporters ask questions of new york city officials, if they were prepared for this trial, obviously nothing has ever happened like this before, a former president going to trial. if there is a city in new york that believes it is ready to respond to any eventuality, arguably it is new york city. it is manhattan. they know what it is to have big events. this has not been a big event. what do you make of the response thato you saw here and do you imagine that fairly quickly we'll knowai exactly what happed

here? >> well, unfortunately someone did harm to themselves that is of great magnitude. imagine someone setting themselves on fire. what is of importance here, there was a lot of law enforcement and emergency personnel within the area in and around the courthouse. so your response time was certainly very quick. that particular time of day in new york city in manhattan. so you're going to hear over the next h couple of hours that pern will be identified. there probably will be a press conference to inform the public and the rest of the country what happened and occurred here just moments ago, ago but to be able somewhat be those reporters, your reporters being there on the scene and actually witnessing that horrific event is certainly, i think, very --

is going to be a major concern over the next number of weeks as this trial goes on. and some things you can predict, some things you cannot. and this is one of the mass events which we would never have predicted someone would make such a drastic move. that's where we are, and we have to be prepared for the thing that will come along the next number of weeks. >> are there likely things that investigators will look at, for example, is it someone that wanted to bring attention to something that in any other circumstance might have been a private situation, but they know they literally do have the attention of the world with all the media that's there? >> well, certainly can be. we certainly don't know yet if there's any nexus to this individual who set themselves on fire, whether they were going to do this anyway or this is just their way of somehow protesting one way or another the trial that's going on.

who knows. i think instead of me trying to speculate this, i think over the next couple of hours, we're certain we'll have a much better idea of who this person is and maybe get a sense of their motivation. but from the description that was given by your reporter there on the scene, this is someone it appears that's going to be severely injured and to be able tond acquire any information fr that person is probably going to take a while. but that does not mean there's still going to be an ongoing investigation. there's a lot of cameras in that particular area where they are at this very moment, and they will be able to track that individual, where he came from, where he was going, even around the time he showed up on the scene. i think there's a lot of information that's going to be forthcoming in order to answer some of these questions. we're trying to explore here, me chris. >> let me also bringyi in forme atf special agent jim kavanaugh,

and where does the investigation go from here. cedric is right. in addition to media cameras, there are lots of cameras in the area. there will be plenty for officials to work with. >> i have worked these case where is guys burn themselves up, blow themselves up, strap bombs on them. what you have is the light motif underlying this is going to be suicide. the reason for, you know, choosing the trump trial as the locale is attention, certainly he wants attention, so it's a violent crime. it's tied to probably a suicidal ideation. is the person as cedric was discussing, could they be directly wanting to protest something for president trump, against president trump, or another world issue, we have

plenty going on, you can pick and choose, y gaza, ukraine, et cetera. what you got to understand is just like in washington, the white house, people do these kind of things in front of the white house, in front of the capitol because they are magnets that attract people that have, you know,ra causes in their min or sometimes are disturbed and they want that attention factor. they want to be a part of the whole. they want to get there and cause a commotion. the trump trial is also a location like that now. that's what's different. the trump trial is a place that can draw people that can do, you know, a vulgar thing to themselves. it's a t sad sad case. let's hope the person lives. be tremendous injuries, but it may not be a mystery. they might have left a note. because like i say, the light motif of this is suicide. most people that will burning themselves up are not planning

to live through it, and there could very well be a suicide note posted online, at their home, that they sent to somebody else, in their pocket, you know, who knows. >> so if you can stay around, and cedric as well. i want toce get back to what ju happened in that courtroom and bring in msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin, and msnbc contributor, and "new york times" investigative correspondent sue craig. both inside to watch the proceedings. let me ask you first, and obviously were you aware inside of what was happening outside? >> right at the end, chris, we became aware. so there was a little bit in the overflow courtroom that we had, in fact, picked a jury of six jurors and six alternates. there started to be murmuring that there wassome who outside the courthouse has essentially self-emulated. i was sent video from one of our

nbc news colleagues and as other people in the courtrooman saw their own footage, there began to be gasps and a hush fell over the crowd, so we were aware of the incident outside the courthouse. just at the very t last moments before coming out and coming to see you. this is obviously a much different conversation than i think sue and i anticipated we would be having with you, even as recently as five minutes ago, chris. >> you know, right as we learned that they had a jury, right, that the jury was impanelled, that's exactly the moment it started tot spread through the overflow room. the judge did not mention it. they're going to be back this afternoon as far as i understand. it happened right at that moment. it was just unbelievable news that spread right through the courtroom. >> you're absolutely right on the timing because we went to yasmin vossoughian to ask her about merchan saying we have our full panel, and she noticed it was happening out of the corner of her eye and was able to narrate it in a realtime, and

again, we don't know exactly what the motivation is here, and we're not going to speculate on that, but we do want to get back to the very big news inside. and let me get your impressions now that there is a panel. we have the 12 jurors. we have the six alternates, lisa. what stood out to you from the time you spent in the courthouse today? >> i would say, chris, this is a day i would characterize is about pressure and feelings and anxiety. if that's been building all week, we really saw that come to a head today. we saw least four jurors essentially say today that they could notto serve because their anxiety or their nervousness. one of them was someone who said that her father had a relationship with someone who previously, aso high profile person who had a relationship with former president trump and whenor questioned by the defens that person just felt the pressure was too much forst the.

she burst into tears. she said, i don't know that i can do this. i feel sokn anxious and nervous right now. and that's when she was brought over to a side bar for further questioning. and we saw that also today in the questioning with a prospective juror who revealed herself to have been convicted felony in another state, and even said, look, i don't know why i'md, here. i don't think i'm eligible to serve, but in the course of revealing why, her voice broke. she was tearful. she was not embarrassed per se, but it was clear that the source of her conviction was a real issue of pain for her. and so this was just a really emotional day for prospective jurors, and then to have it culminate with this, this incident here outside, i can say all the people in the courtroom i think we are, if not rattled, sort of made more sober by the events of today, the emotions and the rawness and the vulnerability that prospective

jurors showed us today and the incident outside that brought home to many of us the same fear and anxiety that many of the prospective jurors are feeling. is this a safe environment. can this be a place, even, where a former president can get a fair trial. i will tell you, a reporter from another publication said to me, i don't know even know if the secret service is going to allow him back here. some of us weren't sure we were going to't continue this afternn or even if judge merchan knew what had gone on. it'swh not clear to us what's going to happen when we convene from the break or how the proceedings will happen. >> i think what sue just raised may be the biggest question right now. just reading it, i was not in like you were, but just reading our document that our producers continue to add to, i felt an intensity, it felt very emotional. we said that at the top of the hour about sort of the mood and

what it was like. and we had been asking for several days and seeing that as people have more time to think about the weight of what is going to happen at this trial, the stakes that are a part of this trial, what it would mean to them emotionally, right? and now this. >> keep in mind, the people who got to the jury box that were being questioned, they already had the opportunity to say no thanks, i'll pass, and they got up there and they -- one of them, you know, she was choked up. it was very emotional. and she just said, i can't do it. you know, they're subject to, you know, the jurors are asked these questions, i think at that point there's an awareness that this is going to be tough. and then they're questioned by donald trump's lawyers, and you don't think that it's, you know, it's going to be tough. some of the questions are really

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