you. that's all for today. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." it's monday, july 27th. coming up on "early today," the latest nbc news poll puts donned -- donald trump at the top of the field in two key states and the race tightens for hillary clinton. new developments in the search for two teens went missing in the small boat off the coast of florida. nearly six months after being found unresponsive in a bathtub bobbi kristina brown has died. "new york" magazine shows 35 of bill cosby's accuser and why chrysler is buying back some of its vehicles. good morning i'm melissa ray

rehberger. it's still early in the 2016 race for the white house. trump leads the pack in massachusetts and in iowa placing second. hillary clinton continues to lead big in iowa but her margin over bernie sanders is smaller in new hampshire. kristin welker has more. >> /* >> reporter: donald trump known for his brash style and controversial comments is surging according to the latest nbc news polls and a seven-point lead over jeb bush and in iowa two points behind scott walker but 44% of iowa's republican voters view him unfavorably. that number jumps to 53% in new hampshire. >> i believe in what we're doing and what we have to do. >> reporter: and democratic front-runner hillary clinton, again, tried to turn the page. away from her e-mails and back to policies. >> we need to have a democratic president in the white house. >> reporter: but on saturday,

she was forced to defend the use of a private e-mail account when she was secretary of state. >> but secretary clinton, doesn't the fact we are having this debate underscore the fundamental problem of using a private e-mail service when you were secretary? >> not at all. no. because this would be the same debate if it were -- since the vast majority of everything that i sent and received was already on the state department system, the unclassified state department system. >> reporter: the new nbc news marist poll shows the e-mail flap could be taking a toll. while clinton is leading sanders and 20% of iowa's democrat voters view her unfavorably and that number gets higher in new hampshire. 23%. to what extent do you worry with the e-mail issue with secretary clinton in a general election? >> i think with republicans, it would hurt her a lot. >> i don't think it would hurt her at all. >> reporter: trump has repeatedly slammed clinton for the e-mail issue but set his sights squarely on his republican challenges.

>> i'm not thinking about hillary but a man weak on immigration and jeb bush and a guy like walker who, frankly, his state is having tremendous difficulty. do you want to comment on donald trump? he is campaigning here today? coming up on "today," an exclusive live interview with republican national committee chairman reince priebus. this morning president obama is in ethiopia for part two of his visit. he was in kenya over the weekend. the president spent the last few days pushing for democratic progress but now he's in a private country where the prime minister got 100% of the vote in the last election tracie potts. >> that's right. he's having a news conference today in ethiopia with that prime minister.

take a look pictures coming to us from africa where president obama and the prime minister are talking about issues they discussed privately earlier. president obama arrived in ethiopia several hours ago. he got the red carpet treatment and a military guard escort in a country not the same type of crowds we saw on his visit earlier. the focus today is likely to be a meeting with the african union and other countries about the situation in south sudan and whether or not they'll come up with a peace keeping agreement august 17th. the u.s. is there, the white house said to put pressure on the process. they want peace in that region in eastern africa because we poured $40 million into humanitarian efforts. this morning a search is underway off the coast of central florida and rescuers are

scanning the ocean through the night and trying to find two 14-year-old boys who went missing at sea on friday. their single engine boat turned up yesterday cap-sized. a vigil was held last night at their high school in jupiter, florida. their neighbor joe namath asked for prayers. their family remains optimistic. >> austin is sharp on the water and perry is as sharp as can be. these two fine fellows. >> we don't know how much water they have but we promise they are strong and know what they are doing out there. >> the families are offering $100,000 reward for anyone who finds the children. bobbi kristina brown the only daughter of whitney houston and bobby brown has died at the age of 22 and hospitalized nearly six months after being face down and unconscious in a baseball duty in her atlanta area home. nbc's gabe gutierrez takes a look back at her life.

♪ ♪ >> reporter: the only child of whitney houston and that documentary in a show about her father bobby brown. bobbi kristina brown when her parents divorce ed headlines of domestic violence and drugs. five years later houston was found dead in a beverly hills hotel. authorities ruled it an accident listing heart disease and cocaine use as a contributing factor to the death of whitney houston. soon after, bobbi spoke with oprah winfrey. >> does it seem real? >> sometimes, no. sometimes, it's so surreal that still walk in the house and, like, mom? >> reporter: a year ago she said she married nick gordon. >> being a newlywed really is a beautiful, beautiful thing. >> reporter: in the tabloids, they were a controversial couple. her mother had taken gordon in when he was younger and he was often seen as bobbi kristina's adopted brother.

her father later said they were never legally wed. a friend discovered bobbi kristina face down and unresponsive in her bathtub. for months her family kept vigil as she was put on a ventilator and moved to a rehab facility and finally placed in hospice care. >> now that she is not here, i am my mother. i am my mother and i am my mother's child. >> i think in the end, bobbi kristina brown will be remembered largely in context of her mother but hopefully she will be remembered as the light of her mother's life. >> reporter: bobbi kristina brown was just 22. gabe gutierrez nbc news atlanta. funerals will take place today for two of the victims in that movie theater shooter in lafayette, louisiana, last week. both mayci breaux and jillian johnson were killed in a screening of the movie "trainwreck." we're learning more about the

shooter 59-year-old john houser. the court documents show houser made threats to his family and back in 2008 he was involuntarily committed to a hospital in georgia. on sunday, bobby jindal said houser should have never been able to buy a gun. >> one of the disturbing patterns we have seen is a history of mental illness and being able to get these guns that should never have happened. he should have never been able to buy that gun. >> reporter: nbc is investigating reports that houser visited three other movie theaters in the past three weeks. police are searching for a motive for that shooting. new york magazine is shining a new light on the bill cosby rape controversy. the cover is simple yet powerful. in black and white 35 accusers are sitting in a row and all were interviewed for the piece. perhaps the most dramatic part is the empty chair at the bottom

right. within hours of the cover's release #theemptychair was tweeted. bill cosby has denied all sexual assault allegations and never been criminally charged. bill karins is here with a look at the weather forecast. >> some areas are too hot and some are too wet. areas in the west would love to get a month of rain like indianapolis has had. we did see a few showers move through. coolest weather in the country is located in the northwest. enjoy that refreshing air mass while you have it. showers heading montana and north dakota. indianapolis picked up an inch of rain yesterday and now they have pretty impressive totals. the month of july alone they've seen 13 inches of rain. their records go back to about the mid to late 1800s. this is the wettest month

they've ever reported. going back over 130 years. that's impressive stuff and impressive record. the heat dome continues to be the story. s it hot and humid and it will stay that way. it's not record heat but it's above average that continues. so heat advisory from central louisiana all the way up north there. kansas city, st. louis heat advisory as far as how hot heat indexing peek inging peaking at 110. 109 in shreveport is the highest. the heat spreads to the east coast and it looks like a heat wave and record heat possibility for new york city and d.c. everything in the west you're the best. looking at a nice day.

temperatures in the 80s just a passing shower or two. the heat will be the story this week if there's any big weather story. >> thank you. new report in the hunt for a lion on the streets of milwaukee. plus it may look like a scene out of a movie but this vertical takeoff actually happened at an air show. details in two minutes. my advice? look on the bright side... with aveeno® skin brightening scrub. it has moisture rich soy and gentle exfoliators for brighter more radiant skin. aveeno®

naturally beautiful results®. when you fall in love, everything is brighter, bolder more intense revlon ultra hd™ lipstick while traditional lipstick is wax-based, our unique gel formula delivers lightweight, high-definition color in one smooth swipe.

revlon. love is on. stories making news. milwaukee police are still on high alert after video of an apparent lion sighting went viral last week. over the weekend a police officer spotted a cat-like animal at a nearby creek but unfortunately they were not able to find the lion and according to the milwaukee zoo none of its lions are missing. tragedy in baltimore. two women were killed early sunday when a 37-foot boat struck a concrete pillar. six other people were injured in

the crash. two women killed. fiat chrysler hit with a record 500 million dollar fine for failing to address a safety defect in a timely fashion. the company agreed to buy back ram trucks with defective steering parts and older jeeps with rear mounted gas tanks. owners will be able to trade in their vehicles for more than the market value or have chrysler pay to have them repaired. a buy back of half a million vehicles. check this out footage of a fighter jet taking off and flying straight up as if it was launching into space. it happened a the air show in england. the takeoff seems to start normally until they cause the plane to fly vertically. in france a hot air rose to new heights. they broke the record for the most hot air balloons in the

sky. 433 balloons took to the sky. the cutest social media battle ever. plus major league baseball has been around since 1869. would you believe this play from yesterday has only happened one other time since then? sports is next. i'm jerry bell the second. and i'm jerry bell the third. i'm like a big bear and he's my little cub. this little guy is non-stop. he's always hanging out with his friends. you've got to be prepared to sit at the edge of your seat and be ready to get up. there's no "deep couch sitting." definitely not good for my back. this is the part i really don't like right here. (doorbell) what's that? a package! it's a swiffer wetjet. it almost feels like it's moving itself. this is kind of fun. that comes from my floor? eww! this is deep couch sitting. [jerry bell iii] deep couch sitting! [ female announcer ] when you're serious about fighting wrinkles, turn to roc® retinol correxion®. one week fine lines appear to fade. one month deep wrinkles look smoother. after one year, skin looks ageless. high performance skincare™ only

from roc®. to feel this special... you need to eat this special. ♪ start your day... with 150 nourishing calories in a bowl of special k. eat special, feel special. i already feel like we're the most connected but i think this solo date will seal the deal. sure! i offer multi-car, safe driver, and so many other discounts that people think i'm a big deal. and boy, are they right. ladies, i can share hundreds in savings with all of you! just visit progressive.com today. but right now, it's choosing time. ooh! we have a winner. all: what? [chuckles] he's supposed to pick one of us. this is a joke, right? that was the whole point of us being here.

this morning, on "today,"

just how safe is your car rental? a new hidden camera investigation finds that some rental companies are exploiting a dangerous safety loophole. let's head to betty nguyen for sports. red sox and tigers. david ortiz was able to get the ball going. he had a career day. big papi delivered not one, but two three run home runs and drove in a career high seven runs. red sox win it 11-1. a very rare sight on the baseball field. fourth inning, due to great awareness the mariners got their 11th triple play in team history. this one stranger than most. it was a 3-6-2-2 triple play the first in the majors since 1955 and the only second one in history to happen in the game. nothing but net. that is not a term you hear in baseball, right? but that is exactly what mike trout did.

bottom of the sixth trout takes a 3-2 pitch and hits it deep into center field for a grand slam. the ball actually lands in a fan's homemade net! that says trout fan. i guess you could say they were fishing for trout. angels beat the rangers 13-7. 102nd tour de france goat to brett swain. the first english rider to win the prestigious bike race twice. his first was back in 2013. last week we showed you steph curry's daughter showing off her moves. yesterday, devon still had a video of his daughter leah and looks like we could have a little dance battle on our hands. take a look. >> yes, i will. thank you for watching me. i challenge you to do the whip! ♪

melissa, i'm sending it back to you. just ahead, tom cruise says he wants to bring maverick back. plus, did adam sandler's flick have what it takes to stop on the antman at the box office? find out next. [music] no, no, no, no people are both soft and strong... yey! which is why our products are too. angel soft.

♪ hi! what happened to your hair? i got it. walgreens has all you need to keep it all under control. from a little touch-up... come on, guys! to finding that perfect finishing touch... to making memories at the touch of a button. all without missing a beat. walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy.

♪ how's it progressing with the prisoner? he'll tell us everything he knows very shortly, sir. as you were... where were we? 13 serving 14! service! if your boss stops by, you act like you're working. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. in entertainment news, at the box office, "ant" edged out pixel which brought in 24 even

and "minions" in the third place spot with 20 million. >> it's like 4:32 in the morning and i can't sleep. am i going to do everything right? am i going to say the right things? do i project the right image? i just hope i get it right. with that, caitlyn jenner premiered "i am cait." jenner met her mother and sister for the first time as cait. she talks with the parents of a transgender teen who committed suicide. at the new "mission impossible" tom cruise hinted at the premiere as a "top gun" sequel saying he would like to get back into the jets one more time. well, comedy duo these two plan to end their sketch show at the end of the season to pursue other projects.

hacking one problem for one city according to the site 100,000 people in ottawa are subscribe subscribers. >> if that it is true that is 1 in 5 people in ottawa. that is half the population there. if you look in ottawa, look to your left and look to your right and both of those are on ashley madison.com and so are you! everybody is looking at each other in ottawa. >> how can that many people in ottawa be on there? half the married couples in the world are in ottawa? >> i'm melissa rehberger. this is "early today" we hopes it your first stop on nbc. daddy gator couldn't push the throttle on his little boat any harder if he tried. he's beached here, gazing out on an unforgiving landscape. for while the people who come in

here use quilted northern, a toilet paper that works so well they completely forget their experience... daddy gator sees all and forgets nothing. "i've got to motor out of here," he thinks. "this is no place to raise a child." quilted northern. designed to be forgotten. to feel this special... you need to eat this special. ♪ start your day... with 150 nourishing calories in a bowl of special k. eat special, feel special.

a 600 pound man bikes coast-to-coast. he decided to bike 32 miles across the country after separating from his wife and journeying it on fat guy. which is his blog. he started in massachusetts in june and hopes to make it to orange county, california, by the end of the year. from ksdk.com, 5-year-old opens business to give back. only 5 years old. in st. louis, missouri, a.j. siegen started a car wash dubbed the car wash and he got help from family and friends.

all of the money, though, raised will be donated to christmas in july, a local shop that gives needy families store-like shopping experience. the president of syria made a surprising announcement yesterday. he admitted the country's military doesn't have enough troops to fight against rebel forces in the ongoing four-year civil war. the syrian government controls only about 25% of that country. the lack of manpower kept the army from recovering more territory. the boy scouts of america are set to vote today to lift the ban on openly gay troop leaders. it will allow them to select troop leaders base order their similar believes. the organization's chairman former defense secretary robert gaits has been pushing for this change. gates said in a speech in may, quote, any alternative will be the end of us as a national movement. china set to lift its ban on video game consoles. a new winner at the annual

ernest hemmingway look-alike contest in florida. charlie boys took home the trophy after 15 years of trying. paula deen's husband contested in the contest and he came in fifth. have you ever wanted to build your own plane? red bull plane here is just that but they don't fly very well. >> it might do let's better than. >> look at the crowd! >> this is huge. they build homemade flying machines and launch them off a pier to see if they can fly. can you see they pretty much crash into the water. celebrating birthdays today

taylor schilling is 23 and alex rodriguez is 40 and maya rudolph is 43.

brave firefighters injured this weekend battling the growing "lowell fire" near lake tahoe. how one man is doing this morning after suffering this weekend battling the growing lowell fire near lake tahoe. how one man is doing after suffering serious burn injuries. she was last seen playing at her santa cruz apartment complex, now than eight-year-old girl is missing with the police department sklg asking for any help possible to find her. a deadly car crash in vallejo prompting all sorts of questions after a man collides into a row of parked cars. a good monday morning, i'm sam brock. a warm welcome back to laura garcia-cannon. >> thank you very much. monday after vacation always so exciting. 4:30. quite early, but i'm hap