Day 1 of Trump New York hush money trial

Donald Trump stood and turned around when he was introduced as the defendant, giving the prospective jurors a tight-lipped smirk, according to pool reports.

Many prospective panelists who just filed into Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom, and sat in the back rows, stretched their necks and lifted their heads to get a look at Donald Trump once in their seats.

One woman in the second row from the back giggled and put her hand over her mouth, looking at the person seated next to her with raised eyebrows.

There was no discernible reaction from potential jurors when Merchan said the name of the case, the People of the State of New York v. Donald Trump.

Several of the potential jurors seated in the jury box also appeared to frequently stare at Trump while the judge introduced the case.

Judge Juan Merchan told the group of potential jurors: "The name of this case is the People of the State of New York v. Donald Trump."

He went on to explain the case: "The allegations are in substance: that Donald Trump falsified business records to conceal an agreement with others to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial unfolding in New York Monday, citing the ongoing nature of the trial and Trump’s position as the presumptive GOP nominee for president.

In contrast, Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden would focus instead on his responsibilities as president.

Remember: CNN has reported earlier that Biden and his campaign were not planning to weigh in on Trump’s trial today, keeping to their normal stay-quiet strategy on Trump’s legal cases.

Biden is not expected to use his predecessor’s historic criminal trial in his arguments against him, officials said, and the campaign also is not planning to use Trump’s legal woes as a fundraising tool for their own supporters.

A group of potential jurors are being sworn in right now.

The judge has introduced himself to the jury and informed them some of them will be selected and he will explain what the trial is and what his role will be and what their role will be. He thanked the jurors from participating, telling them trial by jury is a "cornerstone" of our judicial system.

The first set of potential jurors, consisting of 96 New Yorkers from Manhattan, are entering the courtroom. 

They have not yet been sworn in.

Judge Juan Merchan has rescheduled the April 24 hearing on social media posts that prosecutors allege violate the gag order against former President Trump.

The hearing will now take place on Tuesday, April 23rd, at 9:30 a.m. ET.

There will not be court on Wednesday, as per the trial schedule previously laid out. 

Lawyers on both sides will gain valuable information about potential jurors based on their answers to a list of questions, but that’s not the only thing they will be assessing in the courtroom, a CNN legal analyst says.

This could include everything from how they dress to their mannerisms, he added.

Honig said the lawyers also have the names of all of the potential jurors and they are allowed to search them on social media.

“Think about how revealing someone’s Facebook page or Instagram page can be about them,” he said. “So I guarantee they are going through those now.”

Judge Juan Merchan said there are 96 jurors ready to be brought into the courtroom.

There are 200 jurors total in the courthouse, he noted.