awaiting imminent attack. an israeli official says

retaliation against iran could come at any moment. what u.s. officials are saying about the expected scope of the strike. trump in court. jury selection is under way in his hush money case. why seating the jury in the first-ever criminal trial of a former president could take weeks. a bizarre scene in san francisco. a tow truck attempting to haul away a car with a driver still inside. the city attorney thinks it may be the same company he already suspended for scamming drivers. officially gone pro. caitlin clark joins the wnba, as the number one overall pick. the other college stars who are joining her. and the little lambs heading to school, helping young students in pennsylvania become better readers. it's tuesday, april 16. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera. we begin this morning as the world cautiously awaits what an

israeli official calls a, quote, imminent response after iran's drone and missile attack over the weekend. prime minister benjamin netanyahu summoned his cabinet for the second time in 24 hours to weigh options. western allies, including the united states are urging restraint. for more on all this, claudio lavanga joins us. how does the biden administration expect israel to respond to the attacks? >> reporter: good morning, frances. at least according to the four u.s. officials who spoke to nbc news, the u.s. expects israel to retaliate. even though they say any action will be limited in scope and will likely target iranian military forces or iranian-backed militias outside iran. the likely target could be for instance a shipment or storage facility that contains weapons that iran sends or provides through hezbollah. they also said that they don't

flow when the attack is going to happen, even though it could be any time. also they said the u.s. will not participate in any such actions, even though they expect to be informed by israel about any details of this kind of retaliation beforehand. now all this details have been corroborated by an israeli official who spoke to nbc news, saying that a retaliation by israel against iran is imminent. and they expect to coordinate any action with the united states. all of this while iran says that they are not planning to take any further action for now, unless of course, israel retaliates. in that case, iran warns israel that they will strike back again. and this time they said more decisively. >> in an already-tense region. thank you. overnight, house speaker mike johnson announced a new plan to get more aid to israel. after a closed-door meeting, he

plans to split up the funding for ukraine, taiwan and israel for three votes. for more on the u.s. response on israel, here's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: the pressure is mounting on the biden administration over the war in gaza. hundreds of pro-palestinian protesters blocked traffic on new york's brooklyn bridge with several arrests. protesters near chicago's o'hare international airport substantially delayed travelers. and on san francisco's golden gate bridge, multiple arrests after protesters snarled traffic there for hours. the demonstrations come as president biden touts what he calls an unprecedented military effort to defend israel. >> together with our partners, we defeated that attack. >> reporter: in the oval office he met with iraq's prime minister as he tries to deescalate tensions in the middle east. >> we're committed to a cease-fire that will bring the hostages home and prevent any conflict from spreading beyond

what it already has. >> reporter: the president spoke with prime minister netanyahu this week in following iran's attack, urging restraint. a senior official tells us the president told netanyahu to take the win. the u.s. would not participate in offensive operations against iran. >> to ask it bluntly, if israel retaliates against iran, will the u.s. support that? >> i'm not going to get into hypotheticals. we don't want to see a wider conflict. >> reporter: some republican critics argue the biden administration has emboldened iran. >> it's time for the commander in chief to lead allies and partners in an international effort to impose meaningful cost on iran. >> and our thanks to gabe for that report. after about a week's delay, the house is expected today to send its articles of impeachment against homeland security

secretary alejandro mayorkas over to the senate. the articles accuse mayorkas of willfully refusing to comply with the law and breaching public trust. senate majority leader chuck schumer said the gop-backed impeachment amounts to a policy dispute, not high crimes and misdemeanors. the trial is expected to begin wednesday. however, there is a nearly zero chance of a conviction, as there are not the 67 votes required to convict in a democrat-controlled senate. the presumptive republican nominee is now the defendant in his first criminal trial. former president donald trump is expected back in a manhattan courtroom today where jury selection has begun in his hush money trial. laura jarret is following the case. donald trump sitting in a manhattan courtroom watching the process of whittling down the pool of hundreds to a jury of 12 with six alternates. people who will soon sit in judgment of the former president. the first to ever face a criminal trial. >> we're not going to be given a

fair trial. it's a very, very sad thing. >> reporter: 200 people summoned to the crouse, qourthouse, ques about their backgrounds and views on mr. trump. many dismissed saying they cannot be impartial. the judge driving home the stakes for the unprecedented moment for the gop nominee, warning mr. trump if he fails to show up he risks arrest. mr. trump has pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts of falsifying business records, a low-level felony. but the story prosecutors seek to tell, more sordid and sweeping, pointing to the campaign rocked by the release of the infamous "access hollywood" tape, fueling the determination to buy the silence of stormy daniels, directing michael cohen to pay her $130,000 so she wouldn't go public saying she had sex with mr. trump, something he says never happened.

the former president reimbursing cohen with a series of checks, trying to cover it up. >> that was the denied to the voting public. the participant's scheme was illegal. >> reporter: the judge ruled they cannot play the "access hollywood" tape in trial but can say what he said. they expect to highlight how the previous d.a. and federal prosecutors declined to press charges in the case. >> this is a persecution like never before. nobody's ever seen anything like it. and, again, it's a case that should have never been brought. it's an assault on america. >> reporter: the trial, expected to stretch on six to eight weeks and feature testimony from cohen, daniels, members of trump's inner circle like former aide hope hicks and possibly mr. trump himself. >> i would testify, absolutely. >> reporter: the risk of cross

examination substantial. but the more immediate threat, possible violations of the gag order, prohibiting mr. trump from attacking trial witnesses. >> and our thanks to laura for that report. new this morning, the body of a fourth victim in the baltimore bridge collapse has been recovered. the victim's identity has not been made public at the request of family. baltimore's mayor thanked the teams and agencies that helped in the recovery. it comes as the fbi launches a criminal investigation into the cargo ship that caused the collapse. federal agents boarded the nearly thousand-foot ship with search warrants. the investigation will look into events before the collapse and possible mechanical problems. millions of americans face severe weather this morning, and it could stick around for the next few days. nbc meteorologist angie lassman is timing that out for us today. good morning, angie. >> good morning, frances. we've got strong storms on the table once again for the middle of the country. and this morning we're waking up to a couple lines of thunderstorms working through

the plains. but we specifically have a tornado watch in kneeffect for e of these locations. that's what we're going to watch to be the impactful situation. we've got their really strong system that's going to work its way to the east. but the severe risk is going to be iowa to arkansas and portions of illinois. by tomorrow we'll see this expand a little farther to the east. impacting folks across the ohio valley and mid atlantic as we get through the day tomorrow. today here's the risk for severe weather. 25 million people at risk. des moines and kirksville in the bull's eye, but kansas city to st. louis, paducah and chicago have the potential for damagin showers in the forecast for

kansas city and sioux falls. denver hits 66 degrees today. that's a look at your forecast, back to you. >> we talked about theis person so much. one name was on everybody's mind at monday's wnba draft. >> with the first pick in the 2024 wnba draft, the indiana fever select caitlin clark. university of iowa. >> doesn't come as a surprise. just a week after wrapping up her historic cling t toric coll career, caitlin clark went number one. the top five picks were rounded out with the sparks taking brink and jackson. and the dallas wings taking jc shelton. coming up, will live nation face the music over ticket fees? the new anti-trust case from the justice department.

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the best a man can get is gillettelabs. a shocking moment caught on camera in san francisco. dramatic video showing a tow truck driver trying to take a car while someone swas inside. the driver was able to get away, but the tow truck chased them for blocks. >> reporter: confusion on the streets of san francisco as the driver of this truck labeled speciali speciality towing attempts to latch onto a car. >> he went for the car next to it that had people in it and started loading it. they started backing up and he started chasing it with the tow truck. >> reporter: stunned, jeff furland started recording on his phone. >> he continued to chase them backwards with the forks down.

when he went to take off, as soon as he's taking off he's raising the arm. >> reporter: on its website, speciality towing hails as the best towing service you can depend on. but according to official documents, city attorney david chu believes that is the same company he suspended from doing business with the city. though he acknowledges there are several towing companies with speciality in their name. chu's office says the company he suspended quote scammed people out of hundreds of dollars by illegally towing cars and making them hard to retrieve. >> so, assuming this is speciality towing, this is the same towing company that our office previously moved to suspend and debar from receiving city contracts. >> reporter: hi, this is adrian broadus calling back from nbc news again. we called the number on the tow truck seen in the video and the owner of the truk ck for answer.

they said they would call back. as i was attempting to leave a message someone answered. they picked up and hung up so i couldn't finish my message. we just want to know what happened. we want to hear your side of the story. >> reporter: and so does furland who still can't believe what he saw. >> it's hard to figure out the motive for this one, because it's so extreme and unprecedented. >> and our thanks to adrian for that report. still to come, could concert-goers' wildest dreams come true? we'll have more on the latest plans right after this. he lates plans right after this. and thou, our odors stay. it's called odor transfer. left untreated, those odors get trapped inside fabrics and then release smells into your air. eww. you need febreze fabric refresher. its formula is proven to deliver... ... long-lasting odor fighting power, so you can enjoy long-lasting freshness - even hours after spraying. the more everyone sprays... ... the fresher your whole home stays.

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what was it? >> coordinates, sir. >> coordinates, to what? >> a secret research facility. it was a black site, sir. someone worked very hard to keep this hidden. >> my god. project shadow.

>> not content with just being the one. keanu reeves will soon be the voice of the ultimate life form. a source confirmed to variety on monday that the john wick actor will voice shadow the hedgehog in the upcoming sonic the hedgehog three. it has been a staple of the series since 2001. the film features ben schwartz as sonic and idris alba as knuckles. remember he had major voice acting, in "toy story" four. >> he's going to do great at that. i feel like the vibe of what we just saw in that trailer is so similar to his. i think a perfect fit. and now to childish gambino seemingly breaking his promise to be right by your side.

he'll be retiring his hip pop persona. one will be a soundtrack while there is a reworked version of the covid-era album. he has released 12 albums under the gambino moniker. he did always say this wasn't going to go on forever. but it's so sad. i'm a big childish gambino fan. he dabbles in it all. >> it's also going to take some time to get used to. kind of r.i.p. now to a possible government intervention for desperate concert-goers. "the wall street journal" reported monday that the justice department is planning to file an anti-trust lawsuit against live nation, the parent company of ticketmaster, citing people familiar with the matter, the suit will allege that the company, which merged with

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>> reporter: whether four little lambs go to school each spring, the third grade class is a favorite place to visit. they cuddle up and listen to kids, like 9-year-old gracie juarez read out lead. >> the best thing about reading to the lambs is that they never judge of how good you read. >> reporter: what do they do? >> they just listen. >> reporter: the lambs are part of a school program outside of pittsburgh, helping kids become better readers. >> morning, morning. >> >> reporter:superintendent dr. laura jacob got the idea during the pandemic as therapy for children who were struggling to read. lucky for kids, her family has a sheep farm. >> there actually is research that suggests when children have the opportunity to read to animals, it can actually help develop their reading abilities. >> reporter: she says the lambs are just one of the variety of tools the district uses to help

children feel more comfortable and develop the joy of reading. even when a lamb takes a bite out of the book. the kids take it in stride and just keep reading. >> it's hard to catch a bunny. >> reporter: teachers say the children are gaining confidence. >> they're trying to work through difficult words, instead of just waiting for me to jump in and help them out. >> crowd, crowded up there on -- >> reporter: that was really good. with lambs by their side, every page the kids read is a story of success. rehema ellis, nbc news, cole center, pennsylvania. >> that is a happy ending. the pair of vultures here found themselves having too good of a time this weekend. at first they did not appear well when local animal control picked them up. after a slough of tests, they realized the birds weren't sick but drunk.

the vultures had gone dumpster diving and ingested something that got them severely intoxicated. it turns out, the cure for a bird hangover is pretty familiar. after fluids, rest and a big breakfast they recovered and were released back into the wild. let's get a quick check with al roker. he's got a preview of what's ahead on the "today" show. >> this morning, two acting legends stopping by. michael douglas and george takei. but first, let's get comfortable. we're going to celebrate national pajamas day, on the third hour of "today." >> i hope you're

right now at 5:00, stuck for hours. drivers with nowhere to go after palestinian protesters shut down traffic across the b