a shadow war now in full view. israel vowing to strike against iran after this weekend's unprecedented attack.

but just how hard will they hit back? we're live in the region as they brace for the response. as donald trump's historic hush money trial gets under way, one of the biggest hurdles could be seating a jury. day one wrapped with dozens of jurors dismissed. breaking overnight, the body of a fourth victim recovered after the tragic bridge collapse in baltimore. the latest on salvage operations as the fbi opens a criminal probe into the deadly crash. the iphone loses its throne. how apple lost its spot at the top of the smartphone makers. and could ticketmaster finally face the music? why the doj is targeting them. and is there any doubt? the indiana fever captures caitlin clark. her reaction as the hype in the hoosier state hits a fever pitch.

it's tuesday, april 16. "early today" starts right now. good to be with you this morning. i'm frances rivera. we begin with the latest in the trials of donald trump, the presumptive republican nominee took his seat as a defendant in his first criminal trial. jury selection has begun in new york for his hush money case. brie jackson joins us now. finding an impartial jury for this historic trial will not be easy. >> reporter: it certainly won't, good morning, frances. we saw evidence of that on day one. and the first batch of 96 potential jurors, more than half of them were excused after they said they could not be fair or impartial. the rest were asked about their backgrounds and their media preferences. no jurors have been selected yet. mr. trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. prosecutors accuse him of trying to buy the silence of adult film star stormy daniels. mr. trump maintains that he never had a sexual relationship with daniels.

but he is accused of doctoring records to cover up payments to her. the former president has repeatedly attacked this case as election interference. >> it's a scam. it's a political witch hunt. it continues, it continues forever. i'm not in georgia or florida or north carolina campaigning like i should be. it's perfect for the radical left democrats. that's exactly what they want. >> reporter: in a recent poll of registered voters, more than half said these hush money charges against trump are at least somewhat serious, and a nbc news poll suggests if mr. trump is convicted before the election it could give president biden a boost. now this trial is expected to last six to eight weeks. and mr. trump must be in the courtroom every day or a warrant could be issued for his arrest. frances? >> trump already concerned he could miss the graduation, high

school graduation of his youngest son. new this morning, congress could soon vote on aid for foreign allies. house speaker mike johnson announced a new plan to replace the security package. he plans to split up the funding for israel, ukraine and taiwan into three separate votes instead. it's unclear if the strategy will work in the house, where johnson may face pushback from members of his own party. turning to the boiling tensions between israel and iran as the world is cautiously waiting on what an israeli official calls a quote, imminent response after iran's drone and missile attack over the weekend. benjamin netanyahu summoned his war cabinet for the second time in 24 hours to weigh options. western allies, including the united states are urging restraint. for more on all of this, nbc's claudio lavanga joins us. does the biden administration expect israel to respond to the attacks? >> reporter: good morning, frances. well, it does, according at

least to four officials who spoke to nbc news. the u.s. does expect israel to retaliate, even though they say any action will be limited in scope and will probably target israeli military forces and/or iranian-backed militias outside of iran. they also said that they don't know what this official said, told them, they don't know when the attack's going to happen, but it could happen at any time. and also that the u.s. will not participate into any such actions, but they do expect to be informed by israel about it beforehand. all this information was confirmed and corroborated by another official, this time from israel who said that an attack by israel against iran in retali retaliation into iran's attack last weekend was im niminent. iran said it is not planning to take any further action for now unless of course israel

retaliates. in that case, iran says they will strike back again, but this time they said more decisively, frances? >> claudio, thank you. the biden administration is facing more pressure over the war in gaza. protests were coordinated across the united states monday by a group calling for the u.s. to stop sending weapons to israel. one protest blocked the brooklyn bridge in new york. police say a demonstration near chicago's o'hare airport called substantial delays for travelers. and multiple arrests were made on san francisco's golden gate bridge. the supreme court is allowing idaho to enforce a ban on transgender care for teens. it's similar to laws enacted in more than 20 conservative states. however, the idaho law cannot be applied against the plaintiffs who challenged it.

the body of the fourth victim in the baltimore bridge collapse has been recovered. the victim's identity has not been made public at the request of family. it comes as the fbi launches a criminal investigation into the cargo ship that caused the collapse. here's nbc's tom llamas with more. >> reporter: the fbi opening a criminal probe into the catastrophic baltimore bridge collapse that left six construction workers dead. federal agents boarding the container ship dali, the 985-foot vessel that slammed into the spfrancis scott key bridge last month, sending it slamming into the patapsco river. they will look into the critical events leading up to the disaster. a key question, according to two senior law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation, did the crew have prior knowledge of any potential mechanical problems that would have made the vessel unsafe for

the harbor? the moments after it left the port of baltimore captured on this live stream, showing the lights flickering on and offer beoff abou before the crash. >> the families are very happy and appreciative to the federal criminal investigation that was announced. >> reporter: attorneys representing two of the construction workers killed in the bridge collapse and the sole survivor announcing their own investigation. >> they died while pursuing the american dream. but this was all preventible. that is why we've been brought in to investigate and find out what has happened and give these families a voice. because the thing that's getting lost right now is the voice of the victims. >> reporter: revealing harrowing new details about how they say julio cervantes suarez, the construction worker who survived that fall to the water made it out alive. >> he survived because his

window was manual. he was able to roll down the window and escape. you can imagine how frightening that is. and then he was able to hang onto some drifting steel and survive. >> our thanks to tom for that report. the armorer for the movie set of "rust" getting the maximum sentence for her role in the death of the cinematographer. she was found gyuilty of the death of halyna hutchins in 2021. she made an emotional plea in court. more trouble for chiefs star rashee rice. two dallas residents are suing the kansas city receiver and teddy knox for more than a million dollars in connection to last month's crash that injured them and at least five others. the lawsuit claims the

plaintiffs were severely injured in the crash that resulted from an alleged high-speed race. rice also faces eight felony charges and potential team and league discipline. storms and severe weather once again raising warnings across the plains. this was the scene in arlington, virginia where there was large hail monday afternoon. concerns continued as much of the region is waking up to another morning of potentially dangerous weather. let's bring in angie lassman who's tracking that system. >> reporter: we once again have the chance for strong storms as the system works its way through the day today. notice this morning a tornado watch already in effect across portions of the plains. we've got strong thunderstorms working through that region thanks to this rapidly-intensifying storm system that's going to be not just a problem today but impacts tomorrow. notice the heavy rain that we'll watch working into the midwest. isolated flash flooding in that area. but the severe weather is what we're most concerned about,

cedar rapids to quincey but as far south as little rock and cincinnati. the biggest threat is the hail. but of course we don't want to rule out the potential for strong tornados. ef-2 or higher, from quincey to kirksville. we are not done with the system just yet tomorrow. it pushes east into the ohio valley and later in the day we'll see the impacts out toward the east coast. severe weather a potential for tomorrow. louisville, columbus and detroit have the best chance. hail, tornados and wind gusts on the table for folks there.e mid omaha and up through minneapolis. plenty of sunshine on tap in green bay with highs into the low 60s. and that's a look at your forecast, frances. back to you.

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...while the flexdisc contours to it. so the five blades can get virtually every hair in one stroke. for the ultimate gillette shaving experience. the best a man can get is gillettelabs. apple has lost its spot as the world's biggest phone seller. but first a jolt from tesla. they are laying off more than 10% of its workforce. >> good morning, frances. a memo seen by cnbc was sent by elon musk. after review of the organization, tesla would reduce head count by more than 10% globally. that's around 14,000 jobs. according to the memo, tesla had to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increase productivity to prepare for its next phase of growth. the news comes as tesla is

facing tougher competition, particularly from chinese ev makers as well as softer demand. the news also comes after tesla missed expectations in terms of sales for the first quarter. the first fall in sales since the height of the pandemic four years ago. and the tesla shares were down 5% yesterday off the back of the news. now on to smartphones. samsung has regained its spot as top phone maker after losing it to apple last year, according to data from research from idc. apple smartphone shipments dropped around 10% globally compared to last year. that's the biggest drop in iphone sales with all the supply chain problems in that period. apple now has a 17% market share against around 20% for samsung. and we know that they're facing tough competition from chinese, they're facing difficulties in the chinese markets as well.

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what was at that? >> coordinates, sir. >> coordinates? to what? >> a secret research facility. it was a black site, sir. somebody 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 that the john wick actor will voice shadow the hedgehog. sonic's anti-hero counterpart has been a staple of the series since his introduction in 2001. the film has been featuring ben schwartz as sonic and idris elba as knuckles. more familiar voices. jim carey who returns. the main live action villain. >> and perfect for a pre-christmas, preholidays event with the family. now to childish gambino seemingly breaking his promise to be right by your side until 3005. one of the records will be a soundtrack to the upcoming film bando stone and the new world, while the other is a reworked

version of his covid-era album. he has earned five grammys. i mean, music won't be the same without him, but he's such a creative guy. i'm sure he'll put all those creative juices toward something else. >> you need a memorial service, though. >> two more albums. now to possible government intervention for desperate concert goers. t"the wall street journal" reported that a suit will allege that the company which merged with ticketmaster in 2010 has leveraged its dominance in a way that undermines competition for ticketing live events. last year congress held hearings over alleged anti-competitive practices by the company following ticketmaster's widely-publicized crash during presales for taylor swift's eras

tour. here we go. i mean, it's about time, i think, so many of us have so many stories to tell. >> and so many people rejoicing at this news, because they've been slighted by ticketmaster. >> as long as we see a difference, some action there, right? >> exactly. when we come back, duke university is facing a campus shakeup after affirmative action ends a scholarship. and john sterling announces his final home run with the yankees. s final home run with t yankees. anti-dandruff shampoo made with only nine ingredients - no sulfates, silicones or dyes and packaged with 45% less plastic - giving you outstanding dandruff protection and leaving hair beautiful and moisturized. major dandruff protection, minimal ingredients. job done. new head & shoulders bare. (oven ding audio mnemonic) tyson boneless buffalo bites and hot wings

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has been announced it will be replaced in august. it will be identical to the original. team usa is finalizing its basketball team for the 2024 paris olympic games. sources told espn the roster will include heavy hitters like lebron james, stephen curry and joel embiid. john sterling is retiring after 36 years with the team. sterling will be recognized with a pregame ceremony this weekend at yankee stadium. this weekend at yankee stadium. rs...yeesh. but who has the time to clean? that's why i love my swiffer wetjet. it's a quick and easy way to get my floors clean. wetjet absorbs and locks grime deep inside. look at that! swiffer wetjet. infused with vitamin b3 and hyaluronic acid, pain means pause on the things you love,

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>> just a week after wrapping up her historic college basketball career, career caitlin clark went number one overall to the indiana fever at monday's wnba draft. angel reese came off the board a few picks later, taken seventh overall by the sky. kamilla cardoso was the third pick. the choices rounded out with cameron brink and rakaaya jackson. and the dallas wings selected jc sheldon of ohio state. before clark was officially drafted last night, she sat down with our stephanie gosk and spoke about her much-anticipated wnba debut. >> reporter: at the wnba draft, the stars of college basketball get a ticket to the pros. >> women work just as hard as the men. i'm just happy to be in this position. >> reporter: how exciting is it to start your profession alg career with this kind of energy

around the league? >> it's honestly incredible. >> i was just excited to get leer an here and get it started. >> reporter: at the front of the line, caitlin clark. >> this is something i wrote on a piece of paper in second grade. >> reporter: her record-breaking final season in the ncaa turbo charging interest in the women's game. the indiana fever is first up in the draft. i heard that season tickets are going like blazes in indiana. have you heard that rumor? >> i have heard that rumor. i don't know the exact numbers, but i think they're selling pretty well. >> reporter: she's just that much fun to watch. every time you go to take one of those logo threes, i think to myself, she's not going to make that. >> you don't have kch dconfiden me, come on. >> reporter: i should have confidence, and then you make it. what goes through your mind before you make that shot? >> i think the biggest thing is

confidence. >> reporter: she's also unflappable, or seems to be, even on "saturday night live." >> caitlin clark. >> thanks for having me. >> reporter: her poise and skill creating legions of young fans. all the little kids, most of them little girls who are so inspired to play basketball because of you. what does that mean to you? >> i think that's the reason you do it, to see them scream your name or have your jersey on. that's something that never gets old. >> reporter: the jersey is going to change, but the excitement isn't going anywhere. nbc news, brooklyn. >> the fans will follow. thanks for watching "early today." i'm frances rivera. have a great tuesday. see you rit back leer early gh

awaiting imminent attack. an israeli official says