alternates in the trial. the pool is now down to 16. they have been questioned. judge merchan wants to see five more alternates today. opening statements can come on monday. if those spots are not filled from this pool, another group of 96 will be brought in. the process restarts. vaughn hillyard is outside the courthouse. back with us is former u.s. attorney and former deputy assistant u.s. attorney general harry litman and catherine christian. the lawyers are considering who they want to strike from the 16 who have been interviewed. >> reporter: right. inside the courtroom, judge merchan announced there's a delay of taking a lunch break. instead, the defense team and the prosecuors are going to go through the striking the challenging process here.