"Good morning and thank you for having me," a prospective juror boomed, shaking a sleepy courtroom to attention and drawing a chuckle when he revealed he served as a court security officer.

The man proudly declared he's "born and raised" in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, and has been in law enforcement for 34 years, assigned by the New York State court system to the Court of Claims.

He said he's a New York Rangers season ticket holder and does not have a smartphone.

"I still use a flip phone," he said.

He also said the only news he gets is from the Daily News and the New York Post.

A prospective juror with an MBA in finance told the court that he follows Trump on Truth Social but takes no part in political rallies for or against the former president.

"Except for following Michael Cohen or someone like that, I don't follow any anti-Trump organizations," the man said.

"I do not have any beliefs that would prevent me from being fair or impartial," he said.

A woman from the Upper West Side whose husband served as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn said she read "the first ten pages or so of 'Disloyal,'" Michael Cohen's book. The woman, who works in publishing, quickly added, "for business reasons."

Another prospective juror, a woman who lives in Greenwich Village, said she read Trump's "Art of the Deal," decades ago.

Trump appears to be actively listening to many of these responses. At one point he called over a court security officer to ask him something.

Attorneys assessing the newest group of prospective jurors are questioning a woman who works at a big law firm, who said she discussed the Trump hush money case "at length" with her coworkers.

The woman said she has both criminal and civil law experience and has "discussed the legal merits of the this case with many co-workers."

Asked by the judge whether she could be fair, the woman pledged to "put that aside" but added "it's hard to un-ring a bell."

The woman, who lives with her fiancé on the Upper East Side, said she took part in the women's march.

She also said she discussed a book by Mark Pomerantz, who had been hired by then-district attorney Cy Vance to work on the Trump investigation. The book was critical of decisions Bragg made about the case, but the prospective juror sought to assure Judge Merchan she could put anything she has heard or read about the case aside.

"I will follow your instructions," the woman said.

Nine additional prospective jurors from the second group of 96 were excused after they signaled they could not serve for other, unexplained, reasons.

Fifty-seven of the 96 in the second pool of prospective jurors have now been excused.

The remaining 39 are now giving their responses to the seven-page questionnaire.

Following the departure of Juror No. 2 this morning after she expressed concerns about her ability to serve, the court must now seat six jurors and six alternates. The court deferred dealing with the potential issue over Juror No. 4.

Former President Trump's attorney Emil Bove began his cross-examination of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker by seeking to painting Pecker and Trump's "mutually beneficially" relationship as one that had nothing to do with the election but rather had been underway for years under a "standard operating procedure."

"Seventeen years of providing President Trump with a heads-up about potentially negative publicity?" Bove asked Pecker.

"That's correct," Pecker said.

Bove asked Pecker about the first time he ever provided Trump with information -- which Pecker testified was in the 1990s and related to a negative story about Marla Maples, Trump's ex-wife.

"Fair to say that predated the Trump Tower meeting by a long time?" Bove asked of Pecker and Trump's relationship.

"Yes," Pecker said.

"A lot of interactions?" Bove asked.

"Yes," Pecker responded.

Pecker also testified about buying and suppressing stories for other individuals, such as one for former Rep. Rahm Emanuel for $20,000.

Bove also sought to show that kind of relationship between publishers and politicians was normal, saying there was "nothing wrong about" it.

"You are aware many politicians work with the media to try to promote their image?" Bove asked.

"Yes," Pecker responded.

"That's standard operating procedure?" Bove again asked.

"Yes," Pecker said.

"And sometimes when politicians are doing that, that is to try to win elections?" Bove continued.

"Right," Pecker responded.

"Nothing wrong about that?" Bove asked.

"No," Pecker responded.