senior legal correspondent laura jarrett has late details. >> reporter: donald trump sitting in a manhattan courtroom today watching the process of whittling down a pool of hundreds to a jury of 12 with six alternates, people who will soon sit in judgment of the former president, the first to ever face a criminal trial. >> we're not going to be given a fair trial. it's a very very sad thing. >> reporter: 200 people summoned to the courthouse today, questioned about their backgrounds, media preferences, and views on mr. trump, in deep blue manhattan, many jurors swiftly dismissed for saying they cannot be impartial. the judge driving home the stakes of the unprecedented moment for the presumptive gop nominee, warning mr. trump today, if he fails to show up, he risks arrest. mr. trump has pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts of falsifying business records. a low level felony, but the story prosecutors seek to tell, more sordid and sweeping, previewing their central theme today of a presidential campaign rocked by the release of the infamous "access hollywood" tape, fueling mr. trump's determin

here's laura jarrett. >> reporter: tonight, the prosecution closing out the first week of testimony by offering the jury a peek inside the inner workings of the trump organization from one of the people who knows the former president best. the state briefly calling ronna graff, her longtime assistant. she confirmed contacts were saved on the company's computer system for karen mcdougal and stormy, an apparent reference to stormy daniels. prosecutors say both women were shopping stories of sex with mr. trump ahead of the 2016 election, encounters he denies. >> are you nervous about stormy daniels' testimony? >> reporter: at the heart of the case, a $130,000 payment cohen made to daniels so she wouldn't go public and how prosecutors say that payment was disguised. but graff shed no light on that. graff testified even though she no longer works for the trump organization, the company is paying her legal bills. the jury also hearing from gary farro, who helped facilitate the payment from cohen to daniels, but the day began with them trying to undercut the testimony of david pecker, former

once again tonight, here is laura jarrett. >> reporter: tonight, mr. trump's long-time friend david pecker, the former publisher of the "national enquirer" offering the jury a rare glimpse into the underworld of tabloid tactics, as the state seeks to prove the former president doctored his internal business records to cover up the payoff of an adult film actress just days before the 2016 election. >> mr. trump, what do you think of david pecker? >> reporter: pecker describing a meeting at trump tower in 2015 with mr. trump and his former fixer michael cohen, where pecker says he agreed to serve as the eyes and ears for rumors that could hurt mr. trump, adding, "what i would do is publish positive stories about trump and publish negative stories about his opponents." the prosecution then showing the jury a series of glowing headlines about then candidate trump and derogatory ones making baseless claims about mr. trump's republican opponents, including ted cruz. pecker admitting today the enquirer made up a story about cruz's father and the man who assas

laura jarrett now with late developments. >> reporter: tonight former president trump hit with a $9,000 fine at his hush money trial, with the judge finding multiple violations of the gag order prohibiting mr. trump from attacking witnesses. now threatening to throw him behind bars, saying jail may be a necessary punishment in the future. mr. trump's attorneys had argued it's unfair to hold him accountable for reposting criticism others have voiced, and that certain witnesses like michael cohen frequently attack mr. trump. the presumptive republican nominee later deleting the nine posts about cohen and stormy daniels that landed him in hot water. >> this gag order is not only unique, it's totally unconstitutional. i'm the republican candidate for president of the united states. there is no crime. there is no anything here. >> reporter: the former president joined in court today by son eric, the first family member to attend. the prosecution calling keith davidson, the lawyer who represented daniels and karen mcdougal two women who say they had sex with mr. trump, which he denied. mr. tr

laura jarrett is covering the trial for us. >> reporter: tonight, seven jurors have now been chosen to sit in judgment of former president trump, who left for the courthouse this morning, then closely watching what one juror who was dismissed described as a surreal selection process. >> but it's like oh, this is just another guy. and also, he sees me talking about him, which is bizarre. >> reporter: of those selected so far, a salesperson, an oncology nurse, two attorneys, an i.t. consultant, a teacher and a software engineer. the slow-moving vetting process springing into an animated focus group-like atmosphere. with today's pool of nearly two dozen manhattan residents offering their unvarnished views of the presumptive gop nominee to his face under questioning by the prosecution and defense. one man calling mr. trump, quote, fascinating and mysterious. one revealing he was a big fan of "the apprentice" in middle school. a woman saying, quote, president trump speaks his mind. and i'd rather that than someone who is in office who you don't know what they're thinking. and a fourth persp

laura jarrett has details. >> reporter: tonight, the u.s. supreme court weighing a monumental question that will decide whether the former president goes to trial for plotting to overturn the last election and win. >> i think that the supreme court has very important arguments before it today. >> reporter: mr. trump hoping to persuade the justices to find him immune from federal charges. his lawyers arguing the office of the presidency would be completely hobbled without that protection. >> without presidential immunity from criminal prosecution, there can be no presidency as we know it. >> reporter: the special counsel's office indicted mr. trump on conspiracy and obstruction charges last year, for his efforts to cling to power, accusing the likely gop nominee of pressuring state officials to reverse the election results. actions doj argues were for purely personal gain and cannot be shielded from prosecution. >> there is no immunity that is in the constitution unless this court creates it today. >> reporter: the conservatives expressing co

laura jarrett was in the courthouse and has the latest. >> reporter: tonight prosecutors painting a stark portrait of former president trump in their opening statements during his hush money trial, a case mr. trump has argued is designed to derail his campaign. >> this is done as election interference. everybody knows it. >> reporter: but today prosecutors said it is mr. trump who is guilty of election interference by paying off an adult film star to silence her before the 2016 election. telling the jury, "this case is about a criminal conspiracy to bury a story that could have cost him the presidency and then lying in his business records over and over again to cover it all up." the alleged scheme stretches back to 2015, a meeting at trump tower between mr. trump, his former fixer and attorney michael cohen, and david pecker, the long-time publisher of the "national enquirer." this is where prosecutors say the trio hatched a plot for the tabloid to buy and bury any damning stories about mr. trump, a tactic known as catch and kill. prosecutors say it was the release of the "access hollywo

laura jarrett is at the supreme court. laura, where do things go next in arizona? >> well, lester, the repeal of that 1864 law now appears on track to pass the senate as well and then it would go to the governor for her signature, which means as soon as next week, lester, this law could officially be off the table, but today all eyes on idaho and different state bans growing scrutiny. >> baby losses is so common. it happens to so many familiesm and we're just one of them. >> reporter: when jennifer adkins learned she was pregnant and due on halloween, she and her husband playfully nicknamed the baby spooky, but when she went to a routine doctor's appointment at 12 weeks, her doctor said the baby likely had turner syndrome, a rare chromosomal condition often fatal and likely to put jennifer's own health in jeopardy. >> they said, we're surprised that you're still pregnant. given the severity of what we're seeing on the ultrasound, most people would have miscarried by now. i was just in total, total shock. >> reporter: when she asked about her options? >> they said,

i was reading all yawls notes all week. >> that means my friend laura jarrett was slower to respond to text message. we have been watching this breathlessly but there are a lot of folks not watching it with the same level of detail. if someone was not tuned in all week what would you tell them what the top line of what happened? >> the top line is a man who has no donald trump for the better part of the last 20 years came in and told the jury that they deliberately sat in a room and schemed to try to influence the election and should try to hide information from voters. he said it plainly, he did not sugarcoat it, he did not try to hedge at all. when pressed on cross- examination, he refused and doubled down. he is -- this is a person who is like this tabloid mogul. you might think it is seedy but it is not seedy at all. he is like an affable father. the jury is making eye contact with him. he is completely likable as a witness and also michael cohen. he is not punching back in the same way. he has so many deliverables for this prosecution. >> susanne, on that note about him not being

laura jarrett has the latest, and, again, some of the images in her report are disturbing. >> reporter: tonight, the full jury of 12 people and 6 alternates officially sworn in to hear the hush money trial of former president trump, but it was a chaotic and disturbing scene just across the street from the courthouse steps putting everyone on edge. video capturing a man setting himself on fire in the park area reserved for protesters. bright orange flames engulfing his body shortly after 1:30. >> i heard someone scream, he's going to set himself on fire. i turned around, and i saw a man dump liquid on himself, on his face, and he immediately lit himself with a lighter or something, and everyone was screaming. there were some frantic moments as police looked for a fire extinguisher. >> reporter: police managing to extinguish the blaze after several minutes before an ambulance arrived to take him to the hospital in critical condition. his exact motivation tonight, unclear. but police say they see no connection between the incident and the trial of mr. trump. >> we do not believe he is --

we start now with our senior legal correspondent laura jarrett. she has made her way to that courthouse there in lower manhattan. laura, what are we expecting to see and hear inside that courtroom this morning? >> reporter: well, craig, it was a little over a year ago that donald trump stepped into the courthouse here behind me for his arraignment. today he walks in as a criminal defendant for his opening statements in his first criminal trial. a remarkable moment for mr. trump, for the 12 jurors set to sit in judgment of him, and for the country a remarkable test, as you said, for our legal system as a whole. those 34 counts, technically about falsification of business records, but the story that the prosecutors here want to tell, craig, is far broader than that, far more ambitious. the story that they want to tell, a roadmap if you will that they want to layout today in opening statements is about election interference and they're telling the trump campaign in 2016 was reeling from the release of the "access hollywood" tape and so desperate to ma

laura jarrett is there in position. so laura, set this up for us. what are we about to see? >> reporter: savannah, an unprecedented moment playing out here in lower manhattan. the former president's motorcade just arriving here at the courthouse as he sets to go in for day one of what will be a historic moment for the country, for him, his trial actually quite simple, savannah, as you laid out. 34 felony counts, all having to do with what prosecutors say was an illegal scheme to cover up a hush money payment. we call it the hush money case, but prosecutors have tried to crack it as far more broad, potentially much more significant having to do with what they think is election interference, a scheme to try to hide pertinent information, an alleged affair from the voters in 2016. the former president denies all of the charges. he denies knowing about the scheme. he denies that the affair ever happened. he pled not guilty. he has tried to fight this case tooth and nail for the better part of a year but lost all of his appeals. that's why he's here today for the joining of jury

laura jarrett has that part of the story. >> reporter: tonight mr. trump's long time friend, david pecker, the former publisher of the national enquirer offering the jury a rare glimpse into the underworld of tabloid tactics as the state seeks to prove the former president doctored his internal business records to cover up the pay off of an adult film actres just days before the 2016 election. >> mr. trump, what do you think of david pecker? >> reporter: pecker describing a meeting at trump tower in 2015 with mr. trump and michael cohen. mr. pecker asaid he agreed to serve as the eyes and ears for rumors that could hurt plump. atsdsing, what i would do is publish positive stories about mr. trump and publish negative stories about his opponents. ection exposing a series of headlines about then candidate trump and derogatory comments making baseless claims about his opponents including ted cruz. pecker admitted today and also testifying his company paid a doorman $30,000 for a completely untrue story about mr. trump fathering a child with his housekeep

. >> laura jarrett, danny cevallos. that concludes this nbc special report. we have much more reporting to do on the situation at the courthouse. can you find the latest in our reporting on our streaming network, nbc news now. can you also find all the latest online at nbcnews.com. and, of course, a full wrapup toni >>> we begin our midday newscast with breaking news. san francisco emergency crews are asking you to avoid the area near the panhandle. the san francisco department of emergency management how this posting on x about 45 minutes ago. crews are on the corner of oak and fulton investigating several auto burglaries that happened this morning. if we have updates within the broadcast we will bring those to you live. >>> as you just talk in the special report from nbc news, the full jury has been seated in the former president trump hush money trial and a person in a designated protest area set themselves on fire. at this time we are working to learn more about that incident. trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts the facility was ordered to shut down

this from laura jarrett. keith davidson's disposition on the witness stand is notable, she says.is monotone without a lot of elaboration. avoiding colorful language. for instance, he called the alleged dealings between mcdougal and trump a personal interaction. he is looking at his text messages and asked to explain the context around events he described as bombshell. his voice pattern never changes even when the subject is eyebrow raising. what do you read into that, catherine? >> it means, he doesn't want to be there. he is a witness for the prosecution because they called him. he is not really. he is there under subpoena. he has immunity because in new york state, when witnesses testify in the grand jury, they automatically get what's called transactional immunity. whatever they testify to, they can't be prosecuted for. he also, i believe, asserted attorney/client privilege when asked about conversations between him and miss mcdougal. which means she did not waive her privilege with him. he is just there and just going to answer the questions but not going to give anything mor

senior legal correspondent laura jarrett starts us off tonight. >> reporter: tonight florida's highest court paving the way for a strict abortion ban to go into effect, while also sending the issue back to the voters this november. the conservative court finding the state's constitution does not protect abortion rights, which will now allow florida to ban the procedure as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many women know that they're pregnant. that law signed last year by republican governor ron desantis, now set to go into effect in the next 30 days. >> we are here today to defend those who can't defend themselves. >> reporter: it's all likely to usher in a sea change not only in florida but throughout the south as the state has seen a surge in patients from surrounding states that have passed stricter bans since roe v. wade was overturned. but at the same time the court today also approving key language for a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights after advocates gathered enough signatures for voters to decide the issue this november. >> i feel like women should

here is senior legal correspondent laura jarrett. >> we appreciate everyone being here today. >> reporter: in a tennessee courtroom today, the stories of seven families rocked by loss. >> each of them received a fatal fetal diagnosis. each was told continuing the pregnancy would pose serious risks. >> reporter: women denied a medical exemption under the state's broad abortion ban, forced to go out of state for care, or in one case deliver a stillborn at 31 weeks. all now suing to get clarity on the law. >> none of them wanted to leave their existing child without a mother. >> reporter: the suit in tennessee one of a series across red states asking courts to say who can still qualify for an abortion when the right to one is no longer constitutionally guaranteed. tennessee law allows doctors to use reasonable medical judgment to decide when the procedure is necessary to prevent a patient's death or serious injury. but some doctors say the law is too vague while potentially exposing them to up to 15 years in prison. leaving at least two doctors to join the lawsuit. the state arguing today th

laura jarrett has late details. >> reporter: tonight, a legal fight over abortion in a critical battleground state fanning the flames of a political fire gaining ground towards november. arizona's highest court today backing a law that bans nearly all abortions and carries up to five years in prison for doctors who perform one. the conservative majority on the court reviving an 1864 law that laid dormant for decades under roe v. wade. >> are you kidding me? 1864 was before women even had the right to vote. we are totally going backwards. it's unbelievable. >> reporter: 66-year-old arizona resident beth bauman fighting back tears. >> i'm devastated. i didn't think that they would do this. i really didn't. >> reporter: yet the state's democratic attorney general says she won't enforce the law. >> it is one of the worst decisions in the history of the arizona supreme court. no woman or doctor will be prosecuted under this draconian law. i will fight like hell. >> it does give me comfort. >> reporter: some reassurance in a time of uncertainty, says dr. gabrielle goodrick, who has practiced in th

laura jarrett has late developments. >> reporter: tonight, a full jury of 12 now sworn in in former engineer, retired private wealth manager, speech therapist, physical therapist, someone in trump's hush money criminal trial. after the day began with drama surrounding two jurors dismissed. the full jury now including an investment banker, security engineer, retired private wealth manager, speech therapist, physical therapist, someone in e-commerce, and product development manager. >> supposed to be in a lot of different places campaigning, but i've been here all day on a trial that really is a very unfair trialld not be impartial about mr. trump. and worried about her identity becoming public after loved . the whole world is watching this new york scam. >> reporter: mr. trump arriving with seven jurors sworn in, only to see that number quickly go down to five, after an oncology nurse who said during questioning that no one was above the law. i'm here to just hear the facts, tell the judge today, she had concerns she could not be impartial about mr. trump. and worried about her identity becom

nbc news senior legal correspondent laura jarrett has details. >> reporter: the u.s. supreme court weighing a monumental question that will decide whether the former president goes to trial for plotting to overturn the last election and win. >> i think the supreme court has a very important document before it today. >> reporter: mr. trump hoping to persuade the justices to find him immune from federal charges. his lawyers arguing the office of the presidency would be completely hobbled without that protection. >> without presidential immunity from criminal prosecution, there can be no presidency as we know it. >> reporter: the special counsel's office indicted mr. trump on conspiracy and obstruction charges last year for his efforts to cling to power, accusing the likely gop nominee of pressuring state officials to reverse the election results. actions doj argues were for purely personal gain and cannot be shielded from prosecution. >> there is no immunity that is in the constitution unless this court creates it today. >> reporter: the conservatives expressing concern