GEOFF BENNETT: Jury selection for the criminal trial of music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs started today in New York City.

The rapper and producer faces multiple charges, including racketeering, conspiracy and sex trafficking.

Prosecutor's alleged Combs was the mastermind behind a yearslong operation to sexually abuse women.

He denies any wrongdoing and rejected a plea deal that could have resulted in a lighter sentence.

He faces life in prison if convicted.

We're joined now by Gina Barton, investigative reporter for USA Today.

Thanks for being with us, Gina.

So jury selection started today.

What are you hearing from your colleagues in the courtroom about how hard it's going to be to find people to serve on this case?

GINA BARTON, USA Today: The judge has estimated that it'll only take three days to pick a jury, but from how slowly things are going, it may take longer.

They're interviewing each juror separately and individually.

They have 150 people that they called in.

One of them, they spoke to a single person for about 25 minutes.

So it could take quite a while to find 12 jurors and some alternates.

GEOFF BENNETT: And the complication is that there are very few people who don't know who he is or at least know something about this case?

GINA BARTON: There are so many people who know about the case, who are familiar with Sean "Puffy" Combs, who have seen the video of him allegedly attacking his former girlfriend Cassie in a hotel hallway.

And they're also asking jurors if they have ever been sexually assaulted or know anyone close to them who has been sexually assaulted, because they want jurors who are going to be objective and not have any thoughts about victimization coming in.

And, as you know, about 25 percent of women have had some sort of experience with sexual assault or sexual harassment.

So that's another challenge.

GEOFF BENNETT: His 17-page indictment, as I understand it, has been updated three times since September.

What federal charges is he facing as of now?

GINA BARTON: As of now, he's facing five different charges.

There is RICO, which is racketeering.

There's sex trafficking and then also bringing women across state lines for sex trafficking and for sexual exploitation and victimization.

So there are a couple of different charges under each of those umbrellas.

The important thing to point out is that the RICO charge, or the racketeering charge, also includes all sorts of other alleged conduct, arson, kidnapping, a whole bunch of other acts that could be considered crimes if he's found guilty.

GEOFF BENNETT: And who are the witnesses we're expecting the government to bring?

GINA BARTON: I think, for sure, we're going to see at least two women who are charging that Combs sexually assaulted them.

One of them would be his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, who we have talked about is seen in that video.

Another one we believe is Dawn Richard, who was on one of the seasons or a couple of the seasons of "Making the Band" on MTV.

And she was in a group called Danity Kane and also a trio called Diddy-Dirty Money.

She filed a pretty extensive civil suit against him.

And from what I'm reading in the criminal court documents, she's very likely to be a witness.

There are two -- going to be two other victims testifying.

We don't know their names yet, but I would assume that they are probably also going to be alleging some sort of sexual assault or abuse.

GEOFF BENNETT: And just last week, Sean Combs rejected a plea deal.

He says he's innocent.

What are we expecting the gist of the defense strategy to be?

GINA BARTON: From what we have been able to find out in reading through the court records and going to some of the hearings, I think the only defense that he will be able to present is consent, because he's got these women saying the sexual encounters happened.

They seized lots of video evidence from his homes.

So I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of these incidents are on video.

And so all the experts I have talked to in the past week have said that his defense is likely going to be consent.

And then one of my colleagues who was in court for our hearing last week heard them talking about swingers.

So, it sounds like the defense might say that Sean "Puffy" Combs was involved in kind of an alternative, fringe sexual lifestyle with his girlfriends, trading partners, but that it was all consensual.

GEOFF BENNETT: Gina Barton, investigative reporter for USA Today.

Gina, thanks again for your time this evening.

We appreciate it.

GINA BARTON: Thanks for having me.