Welcome to the beat everyone.

I'm Ari Melber and the news is here.

Very important four words that we heard from this judge presiding

over Donald Trump's criminal trial.

We have our jury. That's today and it's actually faster than many

expecting. We'll get into why, but those words have legal force. That's not

an observation. It's not a commentary. It's not an op-ed in a newspaper about the trial.

It is the presiding judge formalizing that they have gone through the process with total fairness to the defendant,

even losing some jurors, which I can tell you about today as well,

but we have our jury.

That's after just three days of jury selection.

Twelve New Yorkers are now on this jury sworn in to decide the fate of Donald Trump.

And I can tell you as a legal fact that these 12 people will hear the evidence and then make

a decision. And if one of them becomes somehow

unavailable or unable to continue their duties

an alternate will step up into that box of twelve and continue on

there are precedence and practices here, which is why they have

substitutes. They've been through this before. It's not just 12 and if somebody goes away

it falls apart. Indeed, tomorrow they're going to pick the rest of these alternates for however long that takes

a day or two or three but it shouldn't take all that long on this pace.

Five women, seven men in the 12th.

We do know their professions, an investment baker, a speech therapist, an engineer,

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