last journey iyowa

Vocaloid Voyage

Translations and sharing, last journey / iyowa feat. v flower & hatsune miku (english translation).

I have a strong feeling that this and Angel Care are related, but can’t say for sure. Before Golden Number I considered every song to be unrelated, so I enjoyed translating this. Have fun dissecting the lyrics!!

English Lyrics

あなたに会いに行こうと思った。 愛を燃やした煙でトリップしているまま、 華やいでる桃色の世界を薄目で見る朝 死んだ体が歩き出して なけなしの日常を喰らってから 半分くらい期待しながら ここまで来たの。 I thought I’d stop by to see you. While tripping on the smoke of our burning love, I looked with half-opened eyes at the morning of this cheerful pink-tinted world When the dead body started walking, it devoured what little daily life I had I made it here because I had halfway expectations 店頭の花が黒い 花屋の横の道 通ってさ、 電灯の熱をつたい 夜が明けるのを待ってんだよ。 I walked down the road by a flowershop that had black flowers in front As I waited for the break of dawn, I felt the warmth of the lights near me. 灰になったじゃん あなた、灰になったじゃん。 腐りかけの体の臭いが染み付いた そんなラストジャーニー You turned to ashes. You really turned to ashes. The scent of your decaying body lingered on our last journey 灰になったじゃん だって、灰になったじゃん。 文句があるならむかえに来て。 今すぐに、熱いキスをして。 You turned to ashes. You turned to ashes, after all. If you have complaints, then come for me. Give me a passionate kiss right now. 携帯の充電が切れて どこに向かうにもしるべが無くて困んだよな。 冷え込んでる錆色の世界で少しだけ眠る。 Your phone died, and you didn’t have friends you could go to, so I was worried. I’ll get a bit of rest in this freezing, rust-colored world. みんな案外、冷たくて。 なけなしの居場所すらさらってってさ、 からまってない愛情が欲しくって ここまで来たの。 Surprisingly, everyone’s gotten cold. Our little home was blown away, but I made it here because I wanted an unravelled love 重い体で You were heavy でも、灰になったじゃん。 あなた灰になったじゃん なぐさめにもならない夢にすがっている そんなラストジャーニー But you turned to ashes. You really turned to ashes I clung onto a dream that wouldn’t ever comfort me on our last journey 灰になったじゃん。 だって、灰になったじゃん 文句があるならむかえにきて。 今すぐに「愛してるよ」って言って。 You turned to ashes. You turned to ashes, after all If you have complaints, then come for me. Say “I love you” right now. 夢は終わりだ。 逆回しの時計が動いて 肺に空気ためて名前を呼ぶんだ。 涙はもう止まんないんだよ だんだん弱くなる鼓動と つめたくなるほほが愛おしかった。 だいすきよ This dream’s over. The backwards clock started to move as I called your name at the top of my lungs. The tears won’t stop Even when your heartbeat weakened and the warmth left your cheeks, I still cherished you. I love you.

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• Illustrator
• Producer on NicoNico
• Producer on YouTube
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Affiliations [ ]

• Studio Gohan

External links [ ]

Official [ ].

• Apple Music
• VOCALOID Collection

Unofficial [ ]

• ニコニコ大百科: nicopedia(2)
• VOCALOID Database
• UTAITE Database
• 萌娘百科: Moegirlpedia
• ニコニコ動画: niconico video
• VOCALOID Lyrics Wiki
• Wikipedia (Japan)

iyowa ( いよわ ) (born September 23, 2000) is a Japanese music producer and illustrator.

Iyowa's first exposure to music composition began when he was in third grade in elementary school, through using the music creation function in the Nintendo DS software Daigasso! Band Brothers DX . Around the time between his upper grades elementary school and middle school, he learned about VOCALOID from Kagerou Project . [1]

Iyowa made his debut as a VOCALOID producer in his second year of high school (2018) with the song 終末のお天気 (Shuumatsu no Otenki) , and attracted a significant amount of viewers with each of his releases. His songs are characterized by the use of release cut piano, abrupt modulations, and heavy use of high-pitched tones and dissonance.

His 16th work, 1000年生きてる (1000-nen Ikiteru) , which is also a submission into the VOCALOID Collection -2020 Winter- contest, eventually won the 5th place in the TOP 30 Ranking. [2] In December 2021, his 2nd full album "わたしのヘリテージ (Watashi no Heritage" ranked 4th in the Oricon Indie Albums Ranking. [3]

Discography [ ]

Compilations [ ], references [ ].

• ↑ 新進気鋭のボカロP・ちいたな＆いよわとVOCALOIDとの出会い、クリエイター奨励プログラムの説明etc… 「週刊ニコニコインフォ 第18号』レポート！ - Nico Nico News
• ↑ VOCALOID Collection Japan
• ↑ 週間　インディーズアルバムランキング - Oricon News
• 1 Hatsune Miku
• 2 VOCALOIDs
• 3 HATSUNE MIKU EXPO 2024 North America

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The 15th official Pokémon feat. Hatsune Miku Project Voltage song and music video – “Journey’s Prequels, Journey’s Traces” by iyowa – is now available, check it out here

The Pokémon Company is continuing to promote its extensive and official collaboration with Hatsune Miku! Read on below to learn more:

たびのまえ、たびのあと / いよわ feat.初音ミク（Journey’s Prequels, Journey’s Traces / Iyowa feat. Hatsune Miku ）

いが　よわい　から いよわ　です　　　　　▼

ポケモン feat. 初音ミク Project VOLTAGE 18 Types/Songs https://www.project-voltage.jp/

/ pokemikuvoltage

【Streaming / Download】 https://karent.jp/album/4030 (2/28 24:00～) 【Off Vocal】https://www.project-voltage.jp/music….

©2024 Pokémon. ©1995-2024 Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc. ©Crypton Future Media, INC.

Music : いよわ Lyrics : いよわ / Project VOLTAGE

In 1996, it started as a game software , Pokémon . In 2007, it started as singing voice synthesis software, Hatsune Miku. The two contents that connect and enrich both the real world and the virtual world are collaborating, and together with unique creators,Challenge new expressions. Like 18 different “types”, cool, cute, mysterious, interesting… various music and illustrations,I’m waiting for you. The first world where dreams and adventures, the future and sound intersect. Raise the voltage and enjoy. “Pokémon feat. Hatsune Miku Project VOLTAGE 18 Types/Songs” has started!

ポケモンと初音ミクのコラボ企画「ポケモン feat. 初音ミク Project VOLTAGE 18 Types/Songs」が始動！ 『ポケットモンスター』シリーズのゲームサウンドを用いて、初音ミクが歌う18曲のMVが、9月29日（金）から順次公開されるよ！ くわしくはこちら！ https://t.co/CeN1yUbaSF #ポケミク #初音ミク pic.twitter.com/0kI6wX6quw — ポケモン公式 (@Pokemon_cojp) August 31, 2023

Source: The Pokémon Company and Project Voltage

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Iyowa - last journey / Hatsune Miku ・flower）

• Thread starter fivian_clark
• Start date Jun 18, 2020
• Music Releases & PVs

fivian_clark

did i post this in the right place? sorry if I didn't, I'm new to the forum  

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Last Journey

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Last Journey

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iyowa – Journey’s Prequels, Journey’s Traces Lyrics (English + Romaji)

◆ Song title: Journey’s Prequels, Journey’s Traces ◆ Artist: iyowa ◆ Release date: 27.02.2024

◆ English translation ◆ Music video

Romaji lyrics

Yumemiru uroko wa Nemaki o kita mama Hone mo takara mo motte inakute mo Shinjite kurenakya Shinde shimau wa! Madobe ni narabeta Furui yakusoku ga kuchiru hodo Akubi suru aida ni hi ga tatte Doku mo kusuri mo nakunatte nda yo

Kao o oboete Na o yonde Waraiatte ite mo Bango-jun ni inakunaru Muda ga nakute kekkō Sore demo Daiōjō no sūpāsutā Rokkun・rōru wa kattanda to Oshiete kureta aitsu wa genki ka na

Yumemiru uroko wa Hana o soeta mama Are mo kore mo satotte shimattara Manpuku sugite shinde shimau wa! Dāsu de kazoeta hayari no kioku wa Futashika ni bēru no mukō de waraunda Omae no omokage ga attatte

Yumemiru uroko wa Futsū no wagamama Sakasa ni noboru hiyadama sura Ohisashiburi Hada de wakatta! Shitaku wa kore kara Shioki mo kore kara Zutsūyaku Iiwake mo jiki ni totonotte Shareta serifu o kangaeteta yo

English translation

The dreaming scales, Still in their nightclothes, Even without bones or treasure, If you don’t believe in them, They’ll die! Lined up by the window, Old promises rot away, While yawning, days pass, Both poison and medicine vanish.

Remembering faces, Calling out names, Laughing together, Yet disappearing in numerical order, Efficiently, without waste, Even so, The superstar of longevity, Rock and roll emerged victorious, Wondering if that person who taught me is doing well.

The dreaming scales, Accompanied by flowers, Once everything is understood, Too full to live, they’ll die! Counting in dozens, memories of trends, Beyond the uncertain veil, they laugh, Even if there’s a trace of you.

The dreaming scales, Just ordinary selfishness, Even the cold sweat climbing upside down, Long time no see, Felt on the skin! Preparations are underway, Punishments too, Headache pills, Excuses soon ready, Thinking of witty lines.

Back to romaji lyrics

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Mandisa remembered. Fans, music industry, friends pay tribute to 47-year-old singer

Grammy-award winning musician and "American Idol" alum Mandisa was found dead at her Nashville home on Thursday.

The 47-year-old Christian singer dazzled audiences when she hit the stage of "American Idol" in 2005 and made it through to the final nine. From there she released her debut album, but dealt with pain from the loss of a beloved friend and having a personal crisis of faith. Her journey through heartache and depression to finding her faith again inspired many that were going through similar situations.

"Mandisa was a voice of encouragement and truth to people facing life’s challenges all around the world," was written on an Instagram post announcing Mandisa's death.

Since the news of her death, family, fans and friends in and out of the music industry, have paid tribute to the singer.

What happened to Mandisa?

On Friday, The Media Collective, Mandisa's rep, issued this statement confirming her death, but did not disclose how the songstress died.

"We can confirm that yesterday Mandisa was found in her home deceased. At this time we do not know the cause of death or any further details. We ask for your prayers for her family and close-knit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time."

Mandisa's story and journey to 'Overcome' touched many

Mandisa crisis of faith was an inspiration not only for an album, but inspired others who were going though hardship. Fans shared their stories on the Instagram post announcing her death.

"I’m devastated 💔💔💔 Overcomer help me healed when I loss my daughter at 16. She gave hope even when she didn’t have any to give herself. Mandisa is truly one of God’s Devine. I hope she finally has the peace she struggled so long to find. We have truly really loss one of God’s truest and purest creatures… I love you now and forever on Mandisa. God speed on your journey to heaven….," wrote user keishacraftsmith.

Other's shared how her music and writing helped them through some of the toughest times in their lives. Actress Candace Cameron Bure shared broken heart emojis under the post, while Christian rap artist Wande offered condolences.

Fellow Christian musician and friend Colton Dixon, shared memories of being on the road with Mendisa and Toby Mac.

"Mandisa is the sweetest, kindest soul that  @anniedixon__  and I have met on the road. After hearing she went to be with the Jesus last night I was reflecting this morning on the times we had together," Dixon wrote.

Singer and songwriter Matthew West paid tribute to his longtime friend and collaborator with lyrics from their song "Only the World", stating that they "hit differently" now that Mandisa was gone.

"I am so incredibly saddened to hear about the loss of my friend Mandisa. I will always cherish the memories of times we spent together hosting award shows, going on tour, and most of all helping her tell her story in the songwriting room," West also wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts also paid tribute to the late singer.

"My heart is heavy hearing about Mandisa. Incredibly blessed that she was there my first day back on ⁦ @GMA ⁩ following my long medical leave. Her beautiful music & spirit lifted me and countless others," Roberts wrote on X.

Fellow musician Don Moen provided a statement to The Tennessean, saying Mandisa was not only a powerhouse of a talent, but that she also possessed a genuinely kind spirit.

"We ministered together several times, she sang background vocals on my album 'Thank You Lord' and joined me on several tours," the statement read. "On one particular tour, notes kept appearing in everyone's bunk on the bus or in their instrument cases. These were encouraging messages like: 'You are blessed and highly favored,' or 'You're such a blessing on this tour.' Only at the end of the tour did we discover it had been Mandisa. Whether behind the scenes or center stage, her presence always brought joy and hope.

Where was Mandisa from?

Mandisa was born in California, but her home was in Tennessee.

She graduated Fisk University in Nashville in 2000 and was a member of the famed Fisk University Jubilee singers. She called Tennessee home after her graduation, through her "American Idol" tenure, a Grammy win, multiple albums and until her death on Thursday.

More From Forbes

Why every entrepreneur needs an exit strategy.

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When I began my journey, selling my business was the last thing on my mind.

When I began my entrepreneurial journey, selling my business was the last thing on my mind. However, as time passed, I understood the importance of an exit strategy for ensuring sustainability and success. Here's my story.

The Initial Phase: Starting and Growing

As a serial entrepreneur, nothing thrills me more than starting and growing a business. The satisfaction that comes from seeing an idea transform into a thriving enterprise is unparalleled. However, like many entrepreneurs, I was caught in a cycle of creating a business, nurturing it to success, and then losing interest when things became mundane.

The Problem: The Fading Passion

The pattern was clear. I'd be all in during the early days, driven by excitement and passion. However, as the years passed, the repetitive, managerial aspects would kick in, leading to a gradual decline in enthusiasm. As my interest waned, the business would suffer, eventually prompting me to move on to another venture. This cycle was exhausting, and I knew something had to change.

The Revelation: There's More Than One Way Out

It was during a funding round in 2020 that I had an epiphany. While discussing my plans to take my business global with potential investors, I was repeatedly asked, "What's your exit strategy?" To my surprise, I didn't have one.

For a long time, I had the misconception that no one would be interested in acquiring my business. Why? Because I considered my business as "boring." However, as I soon learned, stable and straightforward businesses are precisely what investors seek: low-risk, easy-to-manage entities that promise consistent returns.

JPMorgan Joins Goldman Sachs In Serious Bitcoin Halving Price Warning

Google makes a major new sale offer to pixel 8 buyers, second trump juror dismissed as judge restricts press, shifting perspective: from entrepreneur to investor.

Those pivotal conversations in 2020 marked a turning point in my entrepreneurial journey. They shifted my mindset from viewing myself as a business owner to an investor. I realized that not only was I the main investor in my business, but my business was also a valuable asset. The transformation in my mindset was profound. I transitioned from "I am my business" to “I own this asset”, recognizing my venture as a distinct asset, separate from my identity.

The Takeaway

Every entrepreneur should have an exit strategy. Whether it's a sale, a merger, or a succession plan, understanding your endgame can provide direction, offer motivation, and, most importantly, ensure you maximize your returns.

If you're an entrepreneur with a business generating over 2M in annual revenue and haven't yet considered an exit strategy, it's time to start. After all, being prepared for the end often means making the most of the journey.

To a brighter, freer entrepreneurial future!

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Imperfect but uplifting, Nats’ World Series victory lap arrives at last

The five years since their World Series title have not been easy for the Washington Nationals.

Instead of a victory lap in the season after their title, they got a global pandemic . Instead of many more years of contention with a talented core, they slid swiftly into a rebuild and picked that core apart. The contracts they gave beloved stars did not yield on-field production . The contracts they did not give other beloved stars led to painful partings . Some wounds were self-inflicted. Others were unavoidable.

So it was a pleasant surprise Saturday afternoon when the skies remained clear and the sun was warm, creating a perfect setting for an imperfect celebration of the championship that altered this city’s baseball history .

It was imperfect because it was, in some ways, painful.

The Nationals scheduled the celebration to coincide with a visit by the Houston Astros, whom they beat in that 2019 World Series. The Astros have fared much better than the Nationals since losing that Series, playing in two more and winning in 2022 . Several of their key stars from 2019 remain in Houston uniforms. Their presence at Nationals Park on Saturday was a reminder of just how good the Nationals had to be to beat them. But it also offered a reminder that the Nationals’ decline was not a natural byproduct of their success.

The celebration also was imperfect because it was incomplete.

Had they been able to celebrate their title fully in 2020, most key members of the 2019 team still would have been in Nationals uniforms and could have participated. But most stars from that team were playing elsewhere Saturday. Those who could return were the retired ones — Adam Eaton, Brian Dozier, Aníbal Sánchez, Kurt Suzuki, Howie Kendrick, Javy Guerra — or current team employees Ryan Zimmerman, Sean Doolittle and Gerardo Parra, who are now focused on the Nationals’ next generation.

“I think everyone [missed out], even around the city and stuff. You win the World Series, and all of a sudden everything is shut down,” Dozier said. “That affected a lot of things around the stadium, season tickets, everything.”

Stephen Strasburg was not in attendance, either. He just recently agreed to the terms of his retirement after a lengthy dispute with the team. The Nationals invited him to Saturday’s celebration, according to team officials. They said the World Series MVP chose not to attend.

“I think the guy should be celebrated and thought of as an icon and a legend around here. I think he is. I think most people still think that way about him. They should,” Zimmerman said. “So hopefully, now that this is all resolved, we can properly celebrate him at some point. That’s above my pay grade, though.”

And like Strasburg, whose legacy changed forever because of that World Series run, the members of the 2019 Nationals in attendance Saturday offered reminders of why that title is worth celebrating now and always. To varying degrees, it changed their lives forever.

Dozier, for example — the dancing, shirtless heart of the 2019 Nationals — has had three kids in the five years since the title. The reunion gave them a chance to see parts of their father’s life that they did not get a chance to experience. And the World Series, he said, gave him the freedom to experience parts of their lives he might not have experienced otherwise.

He remembered signing with the New York Mets for the covid-shortened 2020 season in which his family could not be with him. When he got home, Dozier’s daughter asked him never to leave again. So even though he had an offer to play for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021, he decided to retire. He had done what he wanted to do.

“We got to experience the ’19 season,” he said. “So I hung ’em up early.”

Zimmerman had done almost everything he could for the Nationals by the time they made the World Series. But now, as he paces the clubhouse and mingles with front-office members in his new role as an adviser, he does so as a World Series champion. Few players spend their entire careers with one team. Even fewer are raised in an organization with no past to lean on and help build the history that future generations will rely on.

“To bring a lot of these guys back who have accomplished a lot in this game, played for a long time, this is what organizations hope they can do,” Zimmerman said. “You hope you’re successful and you have good teams and you can do this type of stuff — celebrate and create history, want people to stay and play here, be a part of this organization. This has been the first time we’ve been able to do this.”

Five years ago Saturday, the Nationals were still in the season-starting slump that famously left them 19-31 . And of everyone in their clubhouse, no one’s fortunes changed more because of the months that followed than Dave Martinez’s. On Saturday, Martinez recalled moments early in that season in which players would come to his office, telling him they hoped he wouldn’t be fired . A few months later, he was a World Series champion. How did that title change his life?

“Well,” he chuckled, “I’m still here.”

“The reason we do what we do is for that moment,” he added. “… It’s been an incredible adventure in this game, and I’m looking forward to what’s to come next.”

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The Olympic Torch Relay Began in Nazi Germany

After a torch-lighting ceremony this week, the Olympic flame began its long journey from Olympia to Paris

Daily Correspondent

Anticipation is building ahead of the Summer Olympics , which are set to begin in Paris in late July. But long-standing Olympic traditions are already underway: This week, the Olympic flame was lit during a choreographed ceremony in Olympia, Greece. The torch is now making its way to Paris, where it will arrive in time for the opening ceremony on July 26.

The history of the tradition is complicated. While it was inspired by ancient Greek practices, the relay was first held in Germany, where the Nazis employed it as a propaganda tool. Today, these dark roots are no longer associated with the event, which is meant to “represent the host country and the spirit of the Games,” according to the International Olympic Committee . The connection to ancient Greek traditions remains. 

At Tuesday’s torch-lighting ceremony, actors dressed in long black and white gowns gathered in front of spectators. Greek actor Mary Mina, who performed the role of “high priestess,” lit the torch in front of the ruins of the temple of Hera. (Traditionally, a parabolic mirror is used to kindle the fire by concentrating the sun’s rays. But because the weather was overcast, Mina used a backup flame from a fuel-filled torch instead.)

Mina then lit a torch held by Greece’s Olympic rowing champion, Stefanos Ntouskos. He passed the fire over to Laure Manaudou, France’s three-time Olympic medalist in swimming, who then transferred it to Margaritis Schinas, vice president of the European Commission.

The Olympic flame for #Paris2024 is lit! #Paris2024 | @Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/1odw4ga9G0 — The Olympic Games (@Olympics) April 16, 2024

From there, the flame began its 11-day relay across Greece. This will end on April 26 at Athens’  Panathenaic Stadium , which hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896. After spending the night at the French Embassy in Athens, it will be carried onboard the Belem , a three-masted ship that dates to 1896, for a journey across the Mediterranean.

It’s scheduled to arrive in Marseille, France, on May 8. The next day, a runner will take the flame to the top of the Velodrome stadium, according to Reuters ’ Karolos Grohmann. From there, the torch will go on a 68-day relay through France, ending in Paris at the start of the Games.

While simply lighting the torch in Paris would be easier, the “pageantry at Olympia” provides an “ineluctable link between the modern event and the ancient Greek original on which it was initially modeled,” as Nicholas Paphitis writes for the  Associated Press .

The ancient Olympic Games began in 776 B.C.E. in Olympia. They took place every four years until around 393 C.E., when they were banned by the Roman emperor  Theodosius I , a Christian who viewed them as a type of pagan celebration. 

But while the torch-lighting ceremony draws inspiration from ancient Greece, its history is more closely connected to Nazi Germany . In 1931, the International Olympic Committee awarded the upcoming 1936 Games to Berlin. When Adolf Hitler became Germany’s chancellor in 1933, he initially didn’t want to host the Summer Olympics, describing the Games as “an invention of Jews and Freemasons,” according to  History.com . He later changed his mind when he realized the Olympics would shine an international spotlight on the Nazi party.

The torch relay was the brainchild of  Carl Diem , the primary organizer of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, who imagined a parade of more than 3,000 runners carrying a flame from Olympia all the way to Berlin. Diem was not a member of the Nazi party—but the Nazis made his vision a reality.

“Whether or not Diem meant it to, a torch relay fit neatly within Nazi propaganda,” wrote Max Fisher for the Atlantic in 2012. “Beginning the relay in Greece and ending it roughly 1,500 miles away in Berlin reinforced the idea of a shared Aryan heritage between the ancient power and the new one.”

Director Leni Riefenstahl filmed the lighting ceremony on July 20, 1936, for a propaganda film called Olympia . However, she was unhappy with the ceremony’s aesthetics and staged a second one after the Games ended.

The ancient Greeks performed similar rituals at other events but did not stage a torch relay for the Olympics.

“To the ancient Greeks, fire was a sacred element, and perpetual fires were maintained in front of their main temples,” according to  Olympics.com . “During the ancient Olympic Games, a flame burned permanently on the altar of the sanctuary of the goddess Hestia; additional fires were lit at the temples of Zeus and Hera.”

The modern torch relay, meanwhile, has evolved over the years. Since its debut in 1936, the torch has embarked on increasingly complex journeys. It reached the  summit of Mount Everest in 2008, and it even went on a spacewalk outside the International Space Station in 2013.

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Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.

Chris Paul said he isn’t retiring, but is there any future with the Warriors?

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Chris Paul is 11 hours from his 19th NBA season ending. He’s less than a month from turning 39. He takes a seat in the third row of Golden 1 Center after the Golden State Warriors’ morning shootaround in Sacramento. Later that night, the Sacramento Kings blow them out 118-94, an elimination that also throws into question Paul’s immediate future.

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But this much is clear: Paul is not retiring. He will play a 20th NBA season somewhere.

“I’ll talk to my wife and my kids, my family, my support system, see what it looks like,” Paul told The Athletic . “But this isn’t (the end of my career). I know it for sure.”

Paul remains under contract for the Warriors next season, but there’s a necessary caveat. All $30 million of his deal is non-guaranteed. Part of the Warriors’ reasoning behind the Jordan Poole for Paul trade last offseason was the financial flexibility it would provide this summer. The Warriors can use it as a trade vehicle or wipe all $30 million off the books before it guarantees on June 28.

Those options and decisions will be explored in the coming weeks. But Joe Lacob and the Warriors’ ownership group have already indicated a desire to avoid the second apron and even duck the luxury tax entirely, resetting the repeater clock. Salary slashing is needed for that goal. Tuesday’s elimination — capping a turbulent 46-win season that finished with the 10th seed and zero playoff home dates — would only seem to accelerate that desire for a financial pullback.

So Paul’s future with the Warriors is as uncertain (and perhaps more unlikely) than any other player who left the locker room late Tuesday night.

“I haven’t thought about it,” Paul said. “I’m too in it. I was in the gym at 8 a.m. this morning, lifting and getting ready for this game. When it’s time for that, Mike (Dunleavy) and Steve (Kerr), we’ll have a conversation and see what it looks like. But I loved it. It’s honestly — this is my fifth year living without my family — I probably saw them more than any other year.”

That’s because of the proximity to Los Angeles, but also because of Kerr’s open culture. Families are welcomed into the interior of the Warriors’ building and around the team more than is typical in the NBA.

“That’s probably what I appreciated the most out of everything is just the communication of letting me know when days are going to be off,” Paul said. “Then your family can fly on the team plane like, I ain’t seen that. I’m grateful to Steve for that.”

When Paul went searching for a temporary place to stay in San Francisco after the trade, his wife helped him find a high-rise. Soon after moving into it, he discovered another notable tenant lived a floor below. He had moved into Draymond Green ’s building.

“Luckily it’s nice enough that you can’t hear the person below,” Paul said.

Paul’s inner circle showed varying forms of shock and apprehension after he joined the Warriors, his heated conference rival the previous decade. There’d been so many competitive dust-ups and heated playoff nights between the sides. But Paul embraced it quickly, believing in the shared traits between the sides.

“I didn’t expect it to be bad,” Paul said. “When the trade happened, I was excited, I was energized. It’s been really cool to see all the basketball knowledge, the way different guys approach every day. When people ask about my experience here, I tell them I sort of got a chance to peek behind the curtain.”

The Warriors faced the Utah Jazz at home on a Sunday toward the end of the season. They faced the Lakers on Tuesday in Los Angeles. After the Utah game, Paul, Green and Klay Thompson — who all have homes in L.A. — chartered a plane down a day before the team. Trevor Ariza happened to be in town. Paul told Ariza to hop on their plane.

Ariza was a part of those Houston Rockets teams that the Warriors eliminated in the Western Conference finals twice. He knows how heated the rivalry became between Paul and the Warriors, how much Paul stewed over the losses, and how the Warriors taunted after the wins.

“He was sitting in the plane like, ‘Man, I would have never thought. …'” Paul said. “‘I would’ve never thought we’d all be on here together.'”

Paul and Green didn’t envision it, but they embraced it once it arrived on their doorstep. Literally. Green took the elevator a floor up and went over to Paul’s house on several occasions throughout the season, watching other NBA games, college, NFL — talking basketball schematics, life, family, kids, future.

“I’m thankful and honored, happy as hell I got the opportunity to play with him this year,” Green said. “It’s not something in a million years we ever imagined. Other than winning, it couldn’t have gone better. Built a relationship that’ll go beyond whether he’s here next year or not and whether I’m here next year or not. I haven’t come across many, if any, guys like him.”

Paul also built a relationship with Thompson. Paul accepted a reserve role in the third game of the season, coming off the bench for the first time in his 19-year career, a move that Kerr said sent a message to the rest of the roster about sacrifice. Thompson accepted a bench role in February for the first time in more than a decade. The two then connected a second-unit duo. Kerr tied their minutes together.

Paul told Thompson several times throughout the season that he’d get on his boat for a ride across the San Francisco Bay. They had to cancel once because of bad weather. This past week, before the last game of the regular season, Paul and Moses Moody rode across the water with Thompson to the game.

“Really cool,” Paul said. “It’s always going to be a little choppy when you get to the deep water, but…”

Then Paul went bigger picture.

“I got so many (former teammates) in my career that, like, I have no relationship with,” Paul said. “Don’t really care to or anything like that. Or people who don’t like me or whatever. That don’t keep me up at night. But I’m grateful that I got a chance to be here with these guys. Me and Steph were already connected. Me and Dray definitely, you know, got a real connection now. And somebody I’m grateful that I really got a chance to know is Klay.”

Paul understands the business better than just about any other current player. He knows his contract setup, the Warriors’ tax crunch and will be in on the conversations that dictate his 2024-25 NBA home. Some paths could theoretically bring him back on a cheaper deal. He says he loved his time with the Warriors on a personal level.

But there’s the basketball side that also complicates the equation. Paul isn’t necessarily ready to just accept a lower-usage backup point guard role for the final seasons of his career. He remains of the belief that he can still run a team on a high-minute basis. Paul averaged 26.4 minutes per game this season. He’d been at 32 the last couple of seasons and averaged 34.6 for his career, never dipping below 31. All his counting stats were career-lows.

“I try to do the most with the opportunity that was given,” Paul said. “For me, it’s always been about winning, whatever that looks like. But I know I got a lot more to give to the game. The situation is what it is. But I’ve loved every bit about (this season). I’ve loved every bit of it. Getting a chance to compete with these guys.”

As the Warriors shifted around the rotation repeatedly this season, Paul fit perfectly as Stephen Curry ’s backup point guard. They performed better as a team without Curry than they had in several seasons. But Kerr struggled to find usable lineups with both Curry and Paul on the floor because of the size disadvantage, especially with Thompson also out there.

“It’s a difficult situation for him that he handled beautifully,” Kerr said. “He’s always been the starting point guard for his team. But you look at our team and we’re pretty small. Even though he’s one of our best players, if we want to throw our best players out there — and he’s one of them — you start adding up Chris, Steph, Klay, it’s not the ideal roster for him.

“But he was fantastic for us because he became our backup point guard. As I’ve said many times, our non-Steph minutes were the best they’ve ever been because of Chris’ leadership.”

Not the ideal roster for him . That’s the subsection of that Kerr quote that probably hits the hardest. Paul, on a reasonable deal, still makes plenty of sense for the Warriors as a backup point guard to stabilize them with Curry out. But he still desires more and his on-court impact and production and market could justify that, making a reunion unlikely.

“You saw tonight, (the Kings’) size and physicality overwhelmed us,” Kerr said. “When you look at the combinations that we have out there, it usually kind of separates Steph and Chris and Klay. So there’s not as many minutes as Chris would like.

“But the way he handled it this season was incredible. He’s so professional. Such a great mentor for the younger guys. One of the great pros I’ve ever been around. I love coaching Chris and I really hope we bring him back.”

(Top photo: Sean M. Haffey / NBAE via Getty Images)

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Anthony Slater is a senior writer covering the Golden State Warriors for The Athletic. He's covered the NBA for a decade. Previously, he reported on the Oklahoma City Thunder for The Oklahoman. Follow Anthony on Twitter @ anthonyVslater

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The Opening Days of Trump’s First Criminal Trial

Here’s what has happened so far in the unprecedented proceedings against a former u.s. president..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

It’s the first day of the Trump trial and just walking out the door in my house. It’s a beautiful day, 6:11 AM. The thing that keeps running through my head is it’s kind of amazing that hundreds of jurors are going to show up at the Manhattan courthouse. And some of them are going to know what they’re there for — probably talking to their friends, their relatives about it.

Some of them are going to learn this morning talking to other jurors in line, asking what all the fuss is about. But I really do imagine that there’s going to be at least one potential juror who, headphones on, getting into court. Here they’re going to be there for the first criminal trial of Donald J. Trump. And just, I mean, how would you react?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.” Today, what it’s been like inside the lower Manhattan courtroom, where political and legal history are being made? My colleague, Jonah Bromwich, on the opening days of the first criminal trial of a US President. It’s Thursday, April 18.

Is that his mic? Hi, there.

Hello. How are you?

I’m doing good.

OK. Thank you for coming in, Jonah —

Thank you for having me.

— in the middle of a trial. Can you just explain why you’re able to even be here?

Sure. So we happen to be off on Wednesdays during trial, so.

We being not “The New York Times,” but the courts.

That’s right.

Which is why we’re taping with you. And because we now have two full court days of this history-making trial now under our belts. And the thing about this trial that’s so interesting is that there are no cameras in the courtroom for the wider world.

There’s no audio recordings. So all we really have is and your eyes and your notebook, maybe your laptop. And so we’re hoping you can reconstruct for us the scene of the first two days of this trial and really the highlights.

Yeah, I’d be happy to. So on Monday morning, I left the subway. It’s before 7:00 AM. The sun is just rising over these grandiose court buildings in lower Manhattan.

I’m about to turn left onto Center Street. I’m right in front of the big municipal building.

And I turn onto Center Street. That’s where the courthouses are.

I’m crossing.

And I expected to see a big crowd. And it was even bigger than I had anticipated.

Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Now, I finally see the crowd.

You have camera banks. You have reporters. You have the beginnings of what will eventually become a protest. And you have this most New York thing, which is just a big crowd of people.

[CHUCKLES]: Who just know something is going on.

That’s right. And what they know is going on is, of course, the first trial of an American president.

All right, I’m passing the camera, folks. Camera, camera, camera, camera. Here we go.

Let’s start with Sharon Crowley live outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan.

I want to get right to ABC’S Aaron Katersky who’s outside of the courthouse.

Robert Costa is following it outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Bob, I saw the satellite trucks lined up all in a row. Good morning.

Talk to us how we got here exactly.

So this is the case that was brought by the Manhattan district attorney. So prosecutors have accused Donald Trump of covering up the actions of his former fixer, Michael Cohen, after Cohen paid hush money to Stormy Daniels. Stormy Daniels had a story about having had sex with Donald Trump, which Trump has always denied.

Cohen paid her money, and then Trump reimbursed Cohen. And prosecutors say that Trump essentially defrauded the American people because he hid this information that could have been very important for the election from those people when he reimbursed Cohen.

Right. And as I remember it, he also misrepresented what that reimbursement was. Claimed it was a legal fee when, in fact, it was just reimbursing Michael Cohen for a hush money payment.

Exactly, yeah. He definitely didn’t say reimbursement for hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. It’s a cover up case. It’s a case about hiding information you don’t want people to see.

Right. And of course, the context of all this is that it is in the middle of a presidential election. It’s 2016. Trump wants to keep this secret, prosecutors allege, so that the American public doesn’t know about it and potentially hold it against him.

Right. And prosecutors are telling a story about election interference. They’re saying that Trump interfered with an election. And Trump himself is also using the phrase “election interference.” But he’s painting the trial itself as election interference as he now runs again in 2024.

Fascinating.

And because we’re in Manhattan, and because the jury pool is going to be largely Democratic, and the judge is a Democrat, and the district attorney is a Democrat, Trump keeps claiming he cannot get a fair shake. This is democrat central. And in democrat central, Trump doesn’t have a chance.

OK. So, what happens once you actually enter the courthouse?

Outside, there’s all this fanfare. But inside, it’s a little bit business as usual. So I go up to the 15th floor, and I walk into the courtroom, and I sit down, and it’s the same old courtroom. And we’re sitting and waiting for the former president.

Around 9:30, Trump walks in. He looks thin. He looks a little tired, kind of slumping forward, as if to say with his body like let’s get this over with. Here we go.

The judge walks in a little bit after that. And we think we’re all set for the trial to start, but that’s not what happens here. And in fact, there are a series of legal arguments about what the trial is going to look like and what evidence is going to be allowed in.

So, for example, prosecutors ask that they be allowed to admit into evidence headlines from “The National Enquirer” that were attacks on Trump’s 2016 opponents — on Ted Cruz, on Marco Rubio, on Ben Carson.

Because prosecutors are in some sense putting Trump’s 2016 campaign on trial. These headlines are a big part of that because what prosecutors say they show is that Trump had this ongoing deal with “The National Enquirer.” And the publisher would promote him, and it would publish damaging stories about his opponents. And then crucially, it would protect Trump from negative stories. And that’s exactly what prosecutors say happened with Stormy Daniels. That “The National Enquirer” tipped Cohen off about Stormy Daniels trying to sell her story of having had sex with Donald Trump, which he denies. And that led to the hush money payment to her. So what prosecutors are doing overall with these headlines is establishing a pattern of conduct. And that conduct, they say, was an attempt to influence the election in Trump’s favor.

And the judge agrees. He’s going to admit this evidence. And this is a pretty big win for the prosecution. But even though they win that one, they’re not winning everything.

They lose some important arguments here. One of them was that after the Access Hollywood tape came out, there were allegations of sexual assault against Donald Trump. And you know this, Michael, because you reported two of them — two of the three in question at this very trial.

Prosecutors had hoped to talk about those during trial in front of the jury to show the jurors that the Trump campaign was really, really focused on pushing back against bad press in the wake of the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump seemed to describe sexual assault. That was a big problem for the campaign. Campaign did everything it could to push back, including against these allegations that surfaced in the wake of the tape.

But the judge, saying that the allegations are hearsay — that they’re based on the women’s stories — says absolutely not. That is incredibly prejudicial to the defendant.

Interesting.

And that Donald Trump would actually not get a fair trial were those allegations to be mentioned. And so he will not let those in. The jurors will not hear about them.

So this is a setback, of course, for the prosecution, a victory for Trump’s legal team.

It’s a setback. And it also just shows you how these pre-trial motions shape the context of the trial. Think of the trial as a venue like a theater or an athletic contest of some sort. And these pre-trial motions are about what gets led into the arena and what stays out. The sexual assault allegations — out. “The National Enquirer” headlines — in.

OK. And how is Trump sitting there at the defense table reacting to these pre-trial motion rulings from the judge?

Well, as I’ve just said, this is very important stuff for his trial.

Right. Hugely important.

But it’s all happening in legal language, and I’m decoding it for you. But if you were sitting there listening to it, you might get a little lost, and you might get a little bored. And Trump, who is not involved in these arguments, seems to fall asleep.

Seems to fall asleep — you’re seeing this with your own eyes.

What we’re seeing, overall, including our colleague, Maggie Haberman, who’s in the overflow room and has a direct view of Trump’s face — I’m sitting behind him in the courtroom, so I can’t see his face that well.

You guys are double teaming this.

That’s right. I’m sitting behind him, but Maggie is sitting in front of him. And what she sees is not only that his eyes are closed. That wouldn’t get you to he is asleep.

And we have to be really careful about reporting that he’s asleep, even if it seems like a frivolous thing. But what happens is that his head is dropping down to his chest, and then it’s snapping back up. So you’ve seen that, when a student —

I’ve done that.

(CHUCKLES) Yeah. We all kind of know that feeling of snapping awake suddenly. And we see the head motion, and it happens several times.

Lawyers kind of bothering him, not quite shaking him, but certainly trying to get his attention. And that head snapping motion, we felt confident enough to report that Trump fell asleep.

During his own criminal trial’s opening day.

Does someone eventually wake him up?

He wakes up. He wakes up. And in fact, in the afternoon, he’s much more animated. It’s almost as if he wants to be seen being very much awake.

Right. So once these pre-trial motions are ruled on and Trump is snapped back to attention, what happens?

Well, what happens in the courtroom is that the trial begins. The first trial of an American president is now in session. And what marks that beginning is jurors walking into the room one by one — many of them kind of craning their necks over at Donald Trump, giggling, raising their eyebrows at each other, filing into the room, and being sworn in by the judge. And that swearing in marks the official beginning of the trial.

The beginning is jury selection, and it’s often overlooked. It’s not dramatized in our kind of courtroom dramas in the same way. But it’s so important. It’s one of the most important parts of the case. Because whoever sits on the jury, these are the 12 people who are going to decide whether Trump is guilty or whether Trump is innocent.

So how does jury selection actually look and feel and go?

So, jury selection is a winnowing process. And in order to do that, you have to have these people go through a bunch of different hurdles. So the first hurdle is, after the judge describes the case, he asks the group — and there are just short of 100 of them — whether they can be fair and impartial. And says that if they can’t, they should leave. And more than half the group is instantly gone.

So after we do this big mass excusal, we’re left with the smaller group. And so now, jurors are getting called in smaller groups to the jury box. And what they’re going to do there is they’re going to answer this questionnaire.

And this part of the process is really conducted by the judge. The lawyers are involved. They’re listening, but they’re not yet asking questions of the jurors themselves.

And what’s on the questionnaire?

Well, it’s 42 questions. And the questions include, their education, their professional histories, their hobbies, what they like to do whether you’re a member of QAnon or Antifa.

Whether you’re far left or far right.

That’s right. Whether you’ve read “The Art of the Deal,” Trump’s book, which some prospective jurors had.

Right. It was a bestseller in its time.

That’s right. And some of it can be answered in yes/no questions, but some of it can be answered more at length. So some of the prospective jurors are going very, very fast. Yes, no, no, no, yes.

Right. Because this is an oral questionnaire.

That’s right. But some of them are taking their time. They’re expanding on their hobbies. So the potential juror in seat 3, for example, is talking about her hobbies. And she says some running, hiking. And then she said, I like to go to the club, and it got a huge laugh. And you get that kind of thing in jury selection, which is one of the reasons it’s so fun. It’s the height of normality in this situation that is anything but normal.

Right. The most banal answer possible delivered in front of the former president And current Republican nominee for president.

Well, that’s one of the fascinating parts about all this, right? is that they’re answering in front of Trump. And they’re answering questions about Trump in front of Trump. He doesn’t react all that much. But whenever someone says they’ve read “The Art of the Deal —” and there are a few of those — he kind of nods appreciatively, smiles. He likes that. It’s very clear. But because there are so many questions, this is taking forever, especially when people are choosing to answer and elaborate and digress.

This is when you fall asleep.

This Is. When I would have fallen asleep if I were a normal person.

And by the end of the day. Where does jury selection stand?

Well, the questionnaire is another device for shrinking that jury pool. And so the questionnaire has almost these little obstacles or roadblocks, including, in fact, a question that jurors have seen before — whether they would have any problem being fair and impartial?

Hmm. And they ask it again.

They’re asked it again. And they’re asked in this more individualized way. The judge is questioning them. They’re responding.

So, remember that woman who said she liked to go to the club got a big laugh. She reaches question 34. And question 34 reads, “Do you have any strong opinions or firmly-held beliefs about former President Donald Trump or the fact that he is a current candidate for president that would interfere with your ability to be a fair and impartial juror?” She said, yes, she does have an opinion that would prevent her from being fair and impartial. And she, too, is excused.

So that’s how it works. People answer the questionnaire, and they get excused in that way, or they have a scheduling conflict once they reach the jury box. And so to answer your question, Michael. At the end of day one, given all these problems with the questionnaire and the length of time it’s taken to respond to and people getting dismissed based on their answers, there is not a single juror seated for this trial.

And it’s starting to look like this is going to be a really hard case for which to find an impartial jury.

That’s the feeling in the room, yeah.

We’ll be right back.

So Jonah, let’s turn to day 2. What does jury selection look like on Tuesday?

So when the day begins, it looks almost exactly like it looked when the day ended on Monday. We’re still with the questionnaire, getting some interesting answers. But even though it feels like we’re going slow, we are going.

And so we’ve gone from about 100 people to now there’s about 24 the room there’s 18 the jury box. And by the time we hit lunch, all those people have answered all those questions, and we are ready for the next step in the process.

Voir dire. And what it is the heart of jury selection. This is the point where the lawyers themselves finally get to interview the jurors. And we get so much information from this moment because the lawyers ask questions based on what they want out of the jurors.

So the prosecution is asking all these different kinds of questions. The first round of wajir is done by a guy named Joshua Steinglass, a very experienced trial lawyer with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. And he’s providing all these hypotheticals. I’ll give you one example because I found this one really, really interesting. He provides a hypothetical about a man who wants his wife killed and essentially hires a hitman to do it. And what he asked the jurors is, if that case were before you, would you be able to see that the man who hired the hitman was a part of this crime?

And of course, what he’s really getting at is, can you accept that even though Michael Cohen, Trump’s fixer, made this payment, Trump is the guy who hired him to do it?

That’s right. If there are other people involved, will jurors still be able to see Donald Trump’s hands behind it all?

Fascinating. And what were some of the responses?

People mostly said, yes, we accept that. So that’s how the prosecution did it.

But the defense had a totally different method of voir dire. They were very focused on their client and people’s opinions about their client.

So what kind of questions do we get from them?

So the lawyer, Todd Blanche, is asking people, what do you make of President Trump? What do you think of President Trump?

And what are some of the responses to that?

Well, there’s this incredible exchange with one of the jurors who absolutely refuses to give his opinion of Donald Trump. They go back and forth and back and forth. And the juror keeps insisting you don’t need to know my opinion of him. All you need to know is that I’m going to be fair and impartial, like I said. And Blanch pushes, and the guy pushes back. And the only way the guy budges is he finally kind of confesses almost at the end that, yes, I am a Democrat, and that’s all we get.

And what ends up happening to this potential juror?

Believe it or not, he got dismissed.

[LAUGHS]: I can believe it. And of course, it’s worth saying that this guy and everybody else is being asked that question just feet from Trump himself.

That’s right. And you might think you were going to get a really kind of spicy, like, popcorn emoji-type exchange from that. But because these are now jurors who have said they can be fair and impartial, who, to some extent, want to be on this jury or at least wouldn’t mind being on this jury, they’re being very restrained.

Mostly, what they are emphasizing — much like that guy just described dis — is that they can be fair. They can be impartial. There’s one woman who gives this really remarkable answer.

She says, I thought about this last night. I stayed up all night. I couldn’t sleep, thinking about whether I could be fair. It’s really important to me, and I can.

What ends up happening to that particular juror?

She’s also dismissed. And she’s dismissed without any reason at all. The defense decides it doesn’t like her. It doesn’t want her on the jury. And they have a certain number of chances to just get rid of jurors — no questions asked.

Other jurors are getting dismissed for cause — I’m doing air quotes with my hands — which means that the lawyers have argued they actually revealed themselves through their answers or through old social media posts, which are brought up in the courtroom, to be either non-credible, meaning they’ve said they can be fair and they can’t, or somehow too biased to be on the jury.

Wait, can I just dial into that for a second? Are lawyers researching the jurors in real time going online and saying — I’m making this up — but Jonah Bromwich is a potential juror, and I’m going to go off into my little corner of the courtroom and Google everything you’ve ever said? Is that what’s happening in the room?

Yeah, there’s a whole profession dedicated to that. It’s called jury consultant, and they’re very good at finding information on people in a hurry. And it certainly looked as if they were in play.

Did a social media post end up getting anybody kicked off this jury?

Yes, there were posts from 2016 era internet. You’ll remember that time as a very heated one on the internet, Facebook memes are a big thing. And so there’s all kinds of lock him up type memes and rhetoric. And some of the potential jurors here have used those. And those jurors are dismissed for a reason.

So we have these two types of dismissals, right? We have these peremptory dismissals — no reason at all given. And we have for cause dismissals.

And the process is called jury selection. But you don’t actually get selected for a jury. The thing is to make it through all these obstacles.

You’re left over.

Right. And so when certain jurors are not dismissed, and they’ve made it through all these stages, by the end of the day, we have gone from zero juror seated to seven jurors who will be participating in Donald Trump’s trial.

Got it. And without going through all seven, just give us a little bit of a sketch of who so far is on this jury. What stands out?

Well, not that much stands out. So we’ve got four men. We’ve got three women. One lives on the Upper East Side. One lives in Chelsea. Obviously, they’re from all over Manhattan.

They have these kind of very normal hobbies like spending time with family and friends. They have somewhat anonymous jobs. We’ve got two lawyers. We’ve got someone who’s worked in sales.

So there’s not that much identifying information. And that’s not an accident . One of the things that often happens with jury selection, whether it be for Donald Trump or for anyone else, is the most interesting jurors — the jurors that kind of catch your attention during the process — they get picked off because they are being so interesting that they interest one or the other side in a negative way. And soon they’re excused. So most of the jurors who are actually seated —

Are not memorable.

Are not that memorable, save one particular juror.

OK. All right, I’ll bite. What do I need to know about that one particular juror?

So let me tell you about a prospective juror who we knew as 374, who will now be juror number five. She’s a middle school teacher from Harlem. And she said that she has friends who have really strong opinions about Trump, but she herself does not. And she insisted several times, I am not a political person.

And then she said this thing that made me quite surprised that the prosecution was fine with having her on the jury. She said, quote, “President Trump speaks his mind, and I’d rather that than someone who’s in office who you don’t know what they’re thinking.”

Hmm. So she expressed approval of President Trump.

Yeah, it was mild approval. But the thing is, especially for the defense in this trial, all you need is one juror. One juror can tie up deliberations in knots, and you can end with a hung jury. And this is actually something that I saw firsthand. In 2019, I was the foreperson on a jury.

How you like that?

Yeah. And the trial was really complicated, but I had thought while we were doing the trial, oh, this is going to be a really easy decision. I thought the defendant in that case was guilty. So we get into deliberations, but there’s this one juror who keeps gumming up the works every time we seem to be making progress, getting a conversation started.

This juror proverbially throws up his hands and says, I am not convicting. This man is innocent. And we talked and we talked. And as the foreperson, I was trying to use all my skills to mediate.

But any time we made any progress, this guy would blow it up. And long story short, hung jury — big victory for the defense lawyer. And we come out of the room. And she points at this juror. The guy —

The defense lawyer.

The defense lawyer points at this juror who blew everything up. And she said, I knew it. I knew I had my guy.

OK. I don’t want to read too much into what you said about that one juror. But should I read between the lines to think that if there’s a hung jury, you wonder if it might be that juror?

That’s what everyone in the courtroom is wondering not just about this juror, but about every single person who was selected. Is this the person who swings the case for me? Is this the person who swings the case against me?

These juries are so complex. It’s 12 people who don’t know each other at the start of the trial and, by the end of the trial, have seen each other every morning and are experiencing the same things, but are not allowed to have talked about the case until deliberations start. In that moment when deliberations start —

You’re going to learn a whole lot about each other.

That’s right. There’s this alchemical moment where suddenly, it all matters. Every personality selected matters. And that’s why jury selection is so important. And that’s why these last two days are actually one of the most important parts of this trial.

OK. So by my math, this trial will require five more jurors to get to 12. I know also they’re going to need to be alternates. But from what you’re saying what looked like a really uphill battle to get an impartial jury or a jury that said it could be impartial — and Trump was very doubtful one could be found — has turned out to not be so hard to find.

That’s right. And in fact, we went from thinking, oh, boy, this is going awfully slowly, to the judge himself saying we could be doing opening arguments as soon as Monday morning. And I think that highlights something that’s really fascinating both about this trial and about the jury selection process overall.

One of the things that lawyers have been arguing about is whether or not it’s important to figure out what jurors’ opinions about Donald Trump are. And the prosecution and, I think, the judge have really said, no, that’s not the key issue here. The key issue is not whether or not people have opinions about Donald Trump.

Right. Who doesn’t have an opinion about Donald Trump?

Exactly. They’re going to. Automatically, they’re going to. The question is whether or not they can be fair and impartial. And the seven people we already have seated, and presumably the five people that we’re going to get over the next few days and however many alternates — we expect six — are all going to have answered that question, not I hate Trump; I love Trump, but I can weigh in on the former president’s innocence or guilt, and I can do it as fairly as humanly possible.

Now, Trump is not happy about this. He said after court yesterday, quote, We have a highly conflicted judge, and he’s rushing this trial.” And I think that he is going to see these beats of the system the criminal justice system as it works on him as he is experiencing it as unfair. That is typically how he talks about it and how he views it.

But what he’s getting is what defendants get. This is the system in New York, in the United States. This is its answer to how do you pick a fair jury? Well, you ask people can you be fair? And you put them through this process, and the outcome is 12 people.

And so I think we’re going to see this over and over again in this trial. We’re going to see Trump experience the criminal justice system.

And its routines.

Yeah, openings, witnesses, evidence, closings. He’s going to go through all of it. And I think, at every turn, it makes sense to expect him to say, well, this is not fair. Well, the judge is doing something wrong. Well, the prosecutors are doing something wrong. Well, the jury is doing something wrong.

But at the end of the day, he’s going to be a defendant, and he’s going to sit, mostly silently if his lawyers can make him do that, and watch this process play itself out. So the system is going to try and treat him like any other defendant, even though, of course —

— he’s not. And he is going to fight back like no other defendant would, like no other defendant could. And that tension, him pushing against the criminal justice system as it strives to treat him, as it would anyone else, is going to be a defining quality of this trial.

Well, Jonah, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Of course. Thanks so much for having me. [MUSIC PLAYING]

PS, have you ever fallen asleep in a trial?

I have not.

[CHUCKLES]:

Here’s what else you need to know today.

It’s clear the Israelis are making a decision to act. We hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible and in a way that, as I said —

During a visit to Jerusalem on Wednesday, Britain’s foreign Secretary left little doubt that Israel would retaliate against Iran for last weekend’s aerial attack, despite pressure from the United States and Britain to stand down. The question now is what form that retaliation will take? “The Times” reports that Israel is weighing several options, including a direct strike on Iran, a cyber attack, or targeted assassinations. And —

Look, history judges us for what we do. This is a critical time right now, critical time on the world stage.

In a plan that could threaten his job, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson will put a series of foreign aid bills up for a vote this weekend. The bills, especially for aid to Ukraine, are strongly opposed by far-right House Republicans, at least two of whom have threatened to try to oust Johnson over the plan.

I can make a selfish decision and do something that’s different, but I’m doing here what I believe to be the right thing. I think providing lethal aid to Ukraine right now is critically important. I really do. I really — [MUSIC PLAYING]

Today’s episode was produced by Rikki Novetsky, Will Reid, Lynsea Garrison, and Rob Zubko. It was edited by Paige Cowett, contains original music by Marion Lozano, Elisheba Ittoop, and Dan Powell, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly Lake.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.

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• April 15, 2024   •   24:07 Iran’s Unprecedented Attack on Israel
• April 14, 2024   •   46:17 The Sunday Read: ‘What I Saw Working at The National Enquirer During Donald Trump’s Rise’
• April 12, 2024   •   34:23 How One Family Lost $900,000 in a Timeshare Scam
• April 11, 2024   •   28:39 The Staggering Success of Trump’s Trial Delay Tactics
• April 10, 2024   •   22:49 Trump’s Abortion Dilemma
• April 9, 2024   •   30:48 How Tesla Planted the Seeds for Its Own Potential Downfall
• April 8, 2024   •   30:28 The Eclipse Chaser
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Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Jonah E. Bromwich

Produced by Rikki Novetsky ,  Will Reid ,  Lynsea Garrison and Rob Szypko

Edited by Paige Cowett

Original music by Dan Powell ,  Marion Lozano and Elisheba Ittoop

Engineered by Chris Wood

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music

Political and legal history are being made in a Lower Manhattan courtroom as Donald J. Trump becomes the first former U.S. president to undergo a criminal trial.

Jonah Bromwich, who covers criminal justice in New York, explains what happened during the opening days of the trial, which is tied to Mr. Trump’s role in a hush-money payment to a porn star.

On today’s episode

Jonah E. Bromwich , who covers criminal justice in New York for The New York Times.

Background reading

Here’s a recap of the courtroom proceedings so far.

Mr. Trump’s trial enters its third day with seven jurors chosen.

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The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state criminal courts in Manhattan. More about Jonah E. Bromwich

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