Day 1 of Trump New York hush money trial

The historic criminal trial against former President Donald Trump is underway in New York. Ahead of jury selection, the judge said what evidence will be allowed — and what will not — during the trial.

Trump, who is in the courtroom, is on trial in Manhattan for his alleged role in a hush money scheme to silence his alleged mistresses before the 2016 election. No former US president has ever faced criminal prosecution. Trump has pleaded not guilty and has denied the affairs.

Here’s what has happened in court so far: 

 Evidence that will be allowed: 

What will not be allowed: 

What comes next: Jury selection is expected to begin soon and will continue until a panel of 12 New Yorkers and six alternates are seated. Prospective jurors will be vetted through a questionnaire that could signal political views. They will be asked a wide range of questions, including where in the city they live, where they get their news, whether they’ve ever attended a rally for the former president and whether they have had any affiliation with groups such as the Proud Boys or the QAnon movement. Read more about the process here.

One of the biggest takeaways from today's legal proceedings so far is that former President Donald Trump "had to sit and listen to prosecutors essentially turn his own words into weapons against him," New York Times reporter and CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman said.

Haberman, who was in the courtroom, pointed to prosecutors bringing up Trump's social media posts against Michael Cohen from his time in the White House and the Access Hollywood tape.

Earlier today, Judge Juan Merchan reiterated his past ruling preventing prosecutors from playing Trump’s Access Hollywood tape to the jury. But he clarified that the prosecutors could introduce the exact words that Trump said and an email related to the tape, as long as jurors do not hear the recording itself.

##Analysis#

Judge Juan Merchan held to his previous ruling on what prosecutors will be allowed to introduce about Michael Cohen's 2018 guilty plea to campaign finance violations. 

It's a key question because Cohen's credibility is going to be one of the biggest issues for the jury in this case. Trump's attorneys are planning to try to discredit Cohen, who is a central witness for the prosecution. And prosecutors want to include tweets Trump sent about Cohen from 2018. Those tweets include those supporting Cohen and then criticizing him after he flipped.

The judge is nuanced because he did not rule that the tweets could be introduced in the prosecution's direct case, but said it was an "academic" argument because Cohen's credibility would be raised during the defense cross-examination. Merchan reminded the prosecution that they cannot tie Cohen's guilty plea to Trump. But he will allow testimony of Cohen's guilty plea with the proper foundation.

Merchan says he can still revisit the prior ruling, but he doesn't know what's going to happen at trial. "I think this portion of the roadmap is pretty clear" about what the prosecution can and cannot do. Merchan says he does not want a jury to think that because Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations that, therefore, Trump is guilty of that, and he says the prosecution has said they are not going to argue that.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass had asked the judge to clarify that they can discuss Cohen's guilty plea to campaign finance violations, arguing that it shows why Cohen "changed his tune."  Trump attorney Todd Blanche argued that the former president's attorneys don't intend to bring up Cohen's guilty plea on campaign finance violations, but Merchan is skeptical about raising some of Cohen's crimes but not others. He says that can happen, but typically it involves different crimes on different days, which is not the case here.

Blanche responded that Trump "is not charged" with any campaign finance crimes, saying the robbery conspiracy example is not applicable here.

On the first morning of his trial, Donald Trump has spoken just three barely audible words into the record.

He said "Yes" three times as he was read his so-called "Parker warnings," which advise defendants that they are entitled to assist in their defense by being present in court, but can lose that privilege if they voluntarily absent themselves from the trial or they are removed from court for reasons of misconduct. 

Court will be on a lunch break until 1:30 p.m. ET.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche argued in court that the three Donald Trump social media posts that prosecutors are pointing to do not violate the gag order.

While the prosecutor was reading the posts, Trump could be seen leaning forward with his elbows resting on the defense table.

Blanche said the witnesses frequently make statements about Trump. "It’s not as if President Trump is going off and targeting individuals. He’s responding to salacious repeated .. attacks by these witnesses," the attorney argued.

The judge is yet to rule on the matter.

"We think that it is important for the court to remind Mr. Trump that he is a criminal defendant. And like all criminal defendants he’s subject to court supervision," Prosecutor Chris Conroy says.

Here's what evidence is allowed:

National Enquirer stories attacking Trump’s opponents will be allowed: Merchan will allow a series of stories from National Enquirer that attacked Trump's opponents during the 2016 election cycle to be used as evidence. He noted that the district attorney's office has demonstrated there was an understanding that certain things would be done and wouldn't be done at AMI, which owned the National Enquirer. The National Enquirer stories were the result of an August 2015 meeting at Trump Tower among David Pecker, Michael Cohen and Trump where they devised the “catch and kill” plan to help Trump.

Prosecutors are introducing a motion to sanction Donald Trump for his social media posts they allege violate the judge's gag order.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy told the judge they are seeking permission to hold Trump in contempt for violating the gag order and sanction Trump $1,000 for each of the three posts that violate the order.

Conroy also said that prosecutors want the judge to take down the three posts and to remind the defendant that "further violations could result in jail time."

They also note they want to include his post from this morning, too.

He said it was posted at 9:12 a.m. this morning and it is "entirely possible that it was done while in this courthouse."