coming up on "early today," a developing story in the middle east. u.s. warships on the move preparing to intercept a convoy of iranian ships suspected of carrying weapons to yemen. lawyers for convicted bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev prepare to plan for his life as the trial moves into the penalty. one of the nation's most popular ice cream makers pulls all its products from store shelves over listeria concerns. plus a man clings to the hood of an suv through seven towns. a live update on the royal baby watch and jon stewart reveals the date of his last "daily show." "early today" starts right now. good morning and thanks for joining us today.

right now tensions are building in a high-stakes operation in the waters near yemen. u.s. and allied warships poised and at the ready ready for a potential standoff on the high seas. senior defense officials tell nbc news an iranian convoy appears to be on its way to yemen. those ships are expected to be carrying weapons for the houthi rebels who seized large parts of yemen from its exiled, u.s.-backed president, but there are forces waiting for them. in addition to the u.s. coalition -- in addition to the u.s., i should say, a coalition of warships from egypt, saudi arabia and the united arab emirates have a blockade in place to intercept any armed shipments. potential military confrontation could not come at a worse time as the u.s. and other countries try to reach a final agreement on iran's nuclear program. the penalty phase of the boston bombing trial begins today. the same jury that convicted dzhokhar tsarnaev for the boston marathon bombing will now decide whether he receives life without parole or death by lethal injection. this penalty phase comes just a day after the 2015 boston marathon took place.

nbc's tracie potts is live in washington. what can we expect in court today? >> we can expect to see over the next few weeks, betty, a lot of survivors on the stand talking about why they think dzhokhar >> prosecutors will say that he helped the plan it and he deserves the ultimate punishment. they must now decide if he lives or die. >> he saw so many people and could have walked away. >> not everybody in boston agrees. >> it does not seem to detour anybody from doing what they do. >> the parents of richards revolve asking to spare his life and saying that the continued pursuit of that punishment can

have the most day of our lives. >> many survivors could be skauled to testify. >> i they it should be taken into account by the jury and the februaries. >> polls show a slight majority here against the death penalty. they're unlikely to take the death penalty off the table. >> it could be a uphill battle because they need one juror to say no and the death penalty goes away and he gets life in prison without parol. >> thank you tracey. also this morning, total recall. ice cream giant blue bell is pulling all products from stores. the reason? they could be contaminated with listeria. here is nbc's kirk gregory. >> reporter: blue bell began

recalling products last month after three deaths in a kansas hospital were linked with contaminated ice cream. after stepped up testing, in late march more bacteria was discovered in half gallon containers of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. monday the company announced the wide sweeping recall of products made at all blue bell facilities nationwide. it includes ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbert and frozen snacks. >> we're heartbroken of this situation and apologize to all of our loyal blue bell fans and customers. >> blue bell products are distributed to retail outlets across the country including food service accounts, convenience stores and supermarkets in 23 states as well as international locations. >> our entire history has been dedicated to making the very best and highest quality ice cream we possibly could. we're committed to fixing the problem. >> reporter: consumers who have purchased blue bell products are urged to return them for a full refund. the company is still trying to

track down the course of the listeria contamination. kirk gregory, nbc news. now to a new piece of the puzzle in a mysterious death of a man in baltimore in police custody. police have released surveillance video from street cameras of 25-year-old freddie gray being arrested and placed in a police van a week ago. there's still a fog over what happened next. sometime between this moment and his arrival at the police station gray's spine was nearly severed. six officers have been suspended but deny using or witnessing any force. an investigation has been launched and authorities have promised an independent review. nbc's tom costello reports. >> tell the truth and stop the lies! freddie gray didn't have to die! >> reporter: for a second day in baltimore a demand for answers into how 25-year-old freddie gray suffered a fatal spinal cord injury while in police custody. it happened just after 8:40 a.m. on sunday, april 20th. >> get off me.

>> reporter: cell phone video provided by the victim's attorney purports to show officers arresting gray and then loading him into a van. police say at 8:42 a.m. he asked for an inhaler. at 8:46 a.m. the van's driver radioed that gray was becoming irate. the van stopped and he was placed in leg irons. at 8:59 the van requested another driver come and check on gray. at 9:24 police called for paramedics who rushed him to the hospital where he remained in a coma until he died. >> our information is he basically had his neck broken and his spine was almost completely severed. >> reporter: this is only the most recent case of alleged police brutality here. a "baltimore sun" investigation found over the past four years more than 100 people have won court judgments or settlements related to police brutality. the mayor was deliberate in her comments. >> he received significant injuries and succumbed to those injuries. >> this could be homicide at the hands of police. >> we will go where the information takes us.

>> reporter: baltimore police released video of the arrest from street surveillance cameras but don't appear to capture the moment mr. gray was injured. >> to mr. gray's family, i extend my condolences. to the citizens of baltimore, we will get better. >> that was nbc's tom costello reporting. to a massive pileup in wyoming. more than 60 vehicles involved in a fiery crash leaving one person dead. a 22,000-gallon tanker truck carrying hazardous material caught fire. the pileup started when two semis collided creating a chain reaction of collisions. a driver from canada was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide. more than 20 people were injured. it will be any day now in the u.k. excitement is building as the world awaits the arrival of william and kate's second royal baby. if the little one decides today is the day, he or she will share a birthday with a very important relative. nbc's annabel roberts is in

london. good morning to you. can you feel the anticipation there. >> reporter: that's right, betty. there's quite a buzz here, especially as you said. queen elizabeth's 89th birthday. there's a 40 gun salute and the gun has a quiet day and cancelled the engagement and spendsing it with her sons. what special day could it be than the birth of the great grandchild. it's still midday and 12 hours to go. fingers crossed. is it a boy or is it a girl? i think that they don't know. it's very british to want to not know the baby. the public seen certain that it's a girl. all sorts of names are in the mix, but top of that list is

alice. could we see princess alice born on the queen's birthday? if that happens they stand the lose $750,000 they would have to pay out to the hunters that bet on that. >> well we know that it will be a happy surprise for the royals. let's get a look at the weather. meteorologist bill karins is here. i have to show you these pictures and chris works for nbc and in washington dc and took photos from her hospital. it was a gorgeous scene. no one got hurt but pretty good storms. now the next spot and it's done here just over southern california and it's an upper

level low and it does not have any moisture at this time and it's going to move eventually to the southern half of the country and we may spark the showers and storms and now the storm system will start to move to the gulf and as it does that it will pull the moisture up from the gulf at the same time we have a cold front that's coming down and a classic severe set up here and along the frontal boundary we could see the significant weather as we go into wednesday and super cell forms and besttoday. that's not too bad. the temperature in the valleys 70s or 80s. coastal is 60s or 70s.

>> looks like we're getting the rumbling with the april showers is this year? >> yeah, we're getting into the heart of the season. you can tell. now, coming up the last day to see john stewart. the final day of his show is taping. the wrong place to ride in a car doing 85. you're watching early today. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time. and 2% back at the grocery store. even before she got 3% back on gas all with no hoops to jump through. katie used her bankamericard cash rewards credit card to stay warm and toasty during the heat of competition. that's the comfort of rewarding connections. apply online or at a bank of america near you. fame change me? not so much. i have to stay true to who i am. almay smart shade makeup gets me. and my skintone. perfectly. underneath, i'm still carrie from checotah, oklahoma. smart shade's biggest fan!

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was sparked by the supporters and 12 brother were also sentenced to 20 years. how much is she really improving. bobby brown's wife is opening up about christina's help. she said that she has made it out of i cu and started a

rehabilitation. it came after bobby brown claimed that she is awake and improving. sissy houston says and saying that her grand daughter has irreversible brain damage and not responsive. that's when the man jumped on to the hood and the ride lasted through seven towns and troopers finally stopped it. the driver is facing several charges. john stewart has revealed the time "daily show taping ". >> my last program will be august 6th. i will be wearing a suit and more than likely be showered. i am sorry i will be wearing overalls and not showered. >> the contest is being held for

tickets to the final taping. now let's get down to business with landon. >> good morning to you. stocks rallied on monday and recovering the looses and positive earning reports to stimulate the economy. it's another busy day for earnings and we hear from the likes and yahoo and twitter unveils a new feature to send a direct message without having to follow them first. it's not automatic that you still have to opt into the service. twitter is also filing for a trademark on the term tweet storm or a link to series of tweets. say good-bye to mac-n-cheese. they're replacing them with natural sources and the change is going to take affect in january. just ahead a stunning announcement from roseanne.

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this morning on "today," how some neighbors are taking matters into their own hands in the midst of california's water crisis. is their drought shaming helping or just plain mean?

jeff rossen investigates. now to the sports headlines. now to sports, game two of the nba play-offs in the windy city. derrick rose playing in his second play-off game in nearly three years. he dropped 15 points, nine assists. jimmy butler topped all scorers and dropped 31 and grabbed nine boards. bulls win it 91-82. they take a two-game lead on the series. president obama welcomed the college football national champions to the white house monday. the ohio state players and coaches gave our 44th president the official game ball and a jersey with his name and the number 44 on it. look at the scary moment on the baseball diamond yesterday. it happened during the cubs-pirates game. it fan behind home plate was struck in the head with a foul ball. as you can see, the ball was caught by the net, but the fan was too close to the net for it to absorb the contact. the incident resulted in a 23-minute delay. the fan was taken off on a stretcher and to the hospital.

hopefully she is okay. another foul ball to show you. the nice ball girl finds an adorable young fan in the front row to give it to. what's he do? he throws it back. not to worry though. she gives it to him again because, well, i guess she's so nice. little guy wanted to show off his arm, i suppose. now to the polo field. instead of galloping horses, the players ride segways. britain ordered the first international segway polo tournament, described as a mix of polo and hockey. players scoot around on scooters and zip down the field at speeds close to 13 miles an hour. it's kind of gross. why your next beer could be made with sewage water. why willie nelson's latest product may leave people with the munchies. you're watching "early today."

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now for some entertainment news. comedian and legend roseanne barr revealed in an interview she's going blind. barr suffers from macular degeneration and glaucoma. she is noticing a decrease in her mission. country music star willie nelson announced plans to roll out his own brand of marijuana called willie's reserve. >> why hasn't this been done already?

>> exactly. it will be grown and sold in colorado and washington where recreational pot use is legal. warner brothers released dates for the next three lego films and a batman themed movie coming out in 2017. "the lego movie" last year raked in a record $468 billion worldwide. check him out in this 1993 music video. yep, that's him. 26 greeceased up and dancing. >> that's not him. >> yep. you can not just unsee that video. >> you can, but if we looked like that maybe we would put leopard prints on.

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leading the news, in the "new york daily news," oregon brewers prepare to turn wastewater into beer. an oregon environmental panel approved the use of recycled sewage water which the group says will be increasingly necessary due to dime clat change. experts say it takes five barrels of water to make one barrel of beer. how will the sewage water beer be received? in the "huffington post" boy sleeps through kidnapping found safe in car that was stolen. it happened in northern california. the car was left running in front of the family's home. an amber alert issued. the car was found a short time later with the 8-year-old boy still asleep inside. >> wish my kids would nap like

that. >> very lucky. some other stories we're following this morning. more than 5 million hens will be destroyed in iowa after confirmation of a second outbreak of bird flu in the state. there are also cases at 50 sites in seven other states. officials say despite the aggressive nature of the virus, there is no threat to humans or the food supply. in hong kong, a humanoid robot stole the show. han can hold simple interactive conversations. visitors can only manipulate facial expressions via a smart phone app making him smile, wince and frown. today sotheby's will auction off a perfect white diamond. the rare jewel is one of only six d grade flawless 100 karat diamonds auctioned in the last 25 years. it is expected to go from anywhere between $19 and $25 million. here is a different type of fast food for you.

competitive eater molly schuyler won the big texan state ranch dinner challenge on sunday. how did she do it? the 120-pound contestant ate three 72-ounce dinners in 20 minutes. each included a baked potato, shrimp cocktail, salad and dinner roll. check out these reactions. >> i don't know how that's humanly possible. >> swallow. eat a piece, swallow it, eat a piece, swallow it. the deputy that shot and killed a suspect will be arranged today. he apologized and saying that he meant the use his taser. happy birthday to whose the boss star and singer pop is 6 and queen elizabeth turns 9 today.

thanks for watching "early today."