Strong second in iowa. According to a new nbc poll. He can sustain that momentum . With the first Republican Debate ten days away, well talk to the partys chairman in a live interview. And tough landing. A plane battered by high winds wobbles its way to the rund way before safely touching down. Nerves were frayed but that crew is being traysed edpraised for their skills today monday, july 27 rnlgth, 2015. From nbc news this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on a monday morning. Ten days away from the first republican president ial dpeebebate. Donald trump is near the top of every poll you see. Well talk about the state of the race with Republican Party chair who joins us exclusively this morning. But first todays top story, the familiar live Bobbi Kristina brown announcing her death six months after she, just like her mother, was found unresponsive in a bathtub. Weve been following this story. Good morning. Such a sad story. Heartbreaking. You can see the reaction from people on social media alone. Bobbi kristina was rushed to the hospital on january 31st and never regained consciousness. This morning the medical examiner says it will take time to zermdetermine the cause of death. This morning friends, family and fans are mourning the loss of 22yearold Bobbi Kristina brown. The only child of superstar Whitney Houston and r b singer bobby brown. The Houston Family announcing she died on sunday releasing a statement saying in part, she is finally at peace in the arms of god. Browns death comes nearly six months after she was found unresponsive at her home near atlanta. Police say a friend discovered Bobbi Kristina face down and unresponsive in her bathtub january 31st the for months her family kept vigil as she was put on a ventilator, moved to a Rehab Facility and finally placed in hospice care. As the daughter of two stars, 10yearold Bobbi Kristinas childhood was documented in a reality show about her father bobby brown. Fight at 14, her parents divorced. Five years later, houston was found dead in a bathtub at a befr i had hills hotel. Soon after, Bobbi Kristina spoke with Oprah Winfrey. Does it seem real . Sometimes, no. Sometimes its so surreal that, you know, i still walk in the house, mom . A year ago she said she married nick gordon, a controversial couple her mother had taken gordon in when he was younger and he was often seen as Bobbi Kristinas adopted brother. Really, really very happy. Last month browns conservator sued gordon for 10 million accusing him of physically abugs brown and improperly withdrawing 11,000 from her bank account after she was in a coma. Now that she is not here, i am my mother. I am my mother. I am her child. Hours after Bobbi Kristinas death was announced, dionne warwick, a cousin of Whitney Houston, appeared on watch what happens live. She will be missed, thats for sure. Shes a good girl. Shes in much better hands now. Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding that incident that led to Bobbi Kristinas death. No funeral planned as of yet. Perhaps well get more answers now. Thank you very much. All right. Thanks. Big news this morning for anyone who owns a dodge suv, ram pickup, or older model jeep cherokee. The federal government is slapped Fiat Chrysler with the largest fine ever in the wake of a string of recalls. The company is being forced to buy back some cars that admits are defective and potentially dangerous. Nbcs tom costello has more on this. Tom, good morning. Hi, matt. Its a 70million fine. If you didnt add in the fines and penalties, it could add up to 105 million, thats a record. But this is what is really unusual. Fiat chrysler buying back half a million vehicles that it has already recalled. The national Highway Traffic Safety Administration is imposing the fines and penalties because of what it says the company what it calls the companys lax attitude and notifying customers of the recalls and in fixing the cars that were recalled. The vehicles included in the buy back are the dodge suv and ram pickups built between 2008 and 12. Owners are more than a million jeep cherokees from the 1990s that are prone to catch fire will be able to trade in vehicles for above market value or receive a financial incentive. In a statement, Fiat Chrysler agrees to the record penalties and says we also accept resulting consequences with renewed reso many of to improve our handling of recalls and reestabilsh the trust our customers place in us. Matt . Tom, what if you own one of the cars and we can put that list back up that is involved in this buy back program. What do do you . Go to your local dealer to get the ball started. But give them a few days. They may not have all the detail right away. Just two days ago the Company Recalled more than a million cars and trucks that could be prone to cyber hacking. But todays fine and the report of national Traffic Safety administrations effort to get far more aggressive in investigating automotive defects and holding automakers accountable after they took heat for taking so long on the gm switch ignition recall that killed more than im sorry, killed more than 100 people. Exactly. All right. We want to put that information on our website as well. Tom, thanks very much. In the president ial race, donald trump is riding the wave to a lead of a crowded republican field. Two new nbc news marist polls have him at or near the tom in New Hampshire and iowa. Were going to talk to the republican chairman about the state of the race in a moment. But first, lets get to nbc National Correspondent peter alex ander. Good morning. Good morning. Another day, another new poll with donald trump in the lead. While the National Polls are usually driven by name recognition, these new polls matter because the voters in iowa and New Hampshire, of course, the first two states to weigh in on a president ial race, theyre paying attention and trump is hovering at the top. We want to take back this country. We have to take it back. Call of the trump insurgency, the brash billionaire in first place of New Hampshire rendz far ahead of jeb bush. And in iowa, trump has erased scott walkers lead. His surge up ended the republican field ten days before the partys first debate. With rivals complaining Trumps Campaign is light on specifics and heavy on controversy. I think hes appealing to the dark side of american politics. He is not Offering Solutions to hard complicated problems. Reporter Trumps Campaign hasnt identified a policy director and the website makes no mention of his policy positions. Critics highlight trumps past registration as a democrat and public statements in support of universal health care. Liberal on health care. We have to take care of people that are sick. Reporter trump faces a big hurdle. 44 of Iowa Republicans view him unfavorably, a3 in New Hampshire. Looking to breakthrough in a new ad, new Jersey Governor Chris Christie blasted president obamas nuclear deal with iran. Top priority is to protect the United States of america. And im the only one in this race that has that responsibility. Hillary clinton still defending her use of personal emails. The fact that s. That what she had done is criminal. I mean what she has done is criminal. The facts are pretty clear. I did not send nor receive anything that was classified at the time. Reporter the controversy could be taking a toll n iowa, 56 of voters say they view clinton unfavorably, in New Hampshire that number is 57 . This morning president obama criticized several republican candidates, donald trump among them and Mike Huckabee who this weekend said the iran deal will take the israelis and march them to the door of the oven. The president set it was part of a general pattern considered ridiculous if it werent so sad. And he added president ial debates deserve better. Savannah . We turn to the chairman of the national committee. He joins us exclusively. Good morning you to. Good morning, savannah. To briefly recap and i wont go into everything, since trump launched the run he insulted the mexican people. He has questioned the war hero status of john mccain. He called his opponents everything from stupid, dummy, idiot. He gave out the cell phone number of one of his rivals. Why do you think republicans are responding to him . He is zooming ahead in every single poll. Well, first of all, i think you recognize this is very early. But i also think that hes speaking out to people that are really frustrated with washington, frustrated, i think, in many cases with both parties. And so i think theres an element of that. I think there is an element of that in both parties. I think you see Bernie Sanders at 35 on the democrat side and, you know, quite frankly, you know with, 16 candidates and 16 choices, i think that youre going to see a lot of different people surge and move ahead, move behind. I think even donald trump had recognized that. And so its going to be a long process. I think weve got a varsity squad on the field. And what im excited about is the fact that a lot of our candidates are already beating Hillary Clinton in the important states. Thats important, sa van yashgs because Hillary Clinton is at 100 name id and our candidates are already beating her. I want to get to Hillary Clinton. Let me stay on trump for one second. Do you worry that there might be long term damage to the Republican Party brand . I mean hes got an unfavorability rate among general election voters anywhere between 57 , 59 depending on the poll. So people general election voters think Republican Party equals trump, is that bad news for you . Well, i actually dont think people think that. I think that all these candidates speak for themselves and its a long process. Its going to be, what, 15, 16 more months until november. I dont see that, savannah. I think people understand that everyone speaks for themselves. And im not worried about that. I do agree that tone matters and how you speak matters. Its kind of like what our moms told us. Sometimes its not what you say, its how you say it. And that is very clear. I think most people understand. That. Last thing on this. Do you fear an independent run from donald trump . Most political analysts say if he ran an independent campaign, it would peel off enough republican votes to assure a Hillary Clinton victory. Do you have to tiptoe around him to make sure that doesnt happen . No. I dont think so. I think every candidate my job is not to call balls and strikes but to treat everyone respectfully and fairly. But certainly i think our candidates should pledge not to run as a third party candidate. I dont see that happening. I think everyone understands that. If Hillary Clinton is going to get beat, shes going to get beat by a republican and most people that run for president run to win. And if our candidates want to win, then theyll have to run as a republican. And i dont fear that. I think that i think youve even seen donald trump watch that backward the last few days. You have a slast 16 candidates. Many, many of them experienced, qualified, thoughtful, have the policy positions and many of them are worried about getting on to that prime time debate stage. Have you heard complaints about the fact that only 10 of them are going to be able to be in that top tier debate . Well, i mean its really clear for everyone to understand if you go back to the beginning, back to 2008, back to 2012, we had 23 debates and a traveling circus. No control over the moderateors. We have taken control of the debates. Well have fewer debates. We have some say over who the moderate moderateors are. Not completely, but. Some and well have a definite calendar. Heres the other thing that people need to understand. Every candidate is going to be able to compete on debate night. And it was announced that there is going to be two rounds of debates. There is an early debate and then a debate a couple hours later featuring the top 10. So all 16 are going to be debating on debate night. Its just that, savannah, i think people understand we cant fit 16 candidates on a stage. So were splitting up the debate in the two different heats. With all of the candidates vying because they do want to be on that main debate stage zshgs that mean Hillary Clinton is getting a free pass this summer . She can go about her business because the republicans are all having to battle to get on to that stage . Yeah. You know what . Thats not bad to have a battle instead of a coronation like Hillary Clinton. Its interesting, everyone is so curious about how the debates are going to work on the republican side and no ones asking the question, you know, when is Hillary Clinton going to debate Bernie Sanders . There is no interest on the other side as far as whats happening. I think the interest on our side just gives us a leg up and as i said earlier, youre seeing it now. People across the country know that one of the biggest problems Hillary Clinton has with americans is trustworthiness. Its why our candidates with a lower name id are already beating Hillary Clinton in important states across america. So im excited about whats going on. I think the debates are going to be great. Everyones going to have an opportunity. And i look forward to a really great political season for our party. And were just getting started. Thank you for your time today, sir. Appreciate it. Thank you, savannah. Whether you said we still have 15 or 16 months to go, you go wow. We really do. Thats a long time. In the meantime, funerals are being held for the two women killed in last weeks Movie Theater shooting in louisiana. As the gunmans troubled history of Mental Illness raises questions about how he was able to legally buy the gun he used in that attack. Nbcs reporter is in lafayette. Gabe, good morning you to. Good morning. Eyewitnesses are telling police this in recent weeks the gunman was spotted in three other theaters throughout the state and in lake charles and baton rouge and here in lafayette. Still no word on exactly why he settled on this one. Reporter they have gone out for a night at the movies. But this morning their community is preparing to lay them to rest. Its unexplainable. Its a lot of hurt and a lot of sadness. Reporter Julian Johnson was 33, a musician and a mom. Macy breaux was 21, a radiology student that was planning her wedding. They are deaths have hit hard. Every parent has dropped their kids off at the movies. Not thinking Something Like that is going to happen. Today investigators are Digging Deeper into the path of the gunman, john rusty houser, following a divorce and losing his home to foreclosure, detectives say he planned a rampage meticulously, writing in his journal the exact date, time, and movie, trainwrekck. What clicked for that to happen . We talk to friends and family lead us in that direction. Atf investigators say houser legally purchased the gun last year in alabama. But in 2008, Court Records show his family had him committed against his toll a hospital in georgia. Obviously, somebody with this kind of history never should have been able to buy a gun. Reporter following the Virginia Tech massacre, 40 states including georgia authorize or require the reporting of Meantal Health records to a federal data base for background checks. Its not clear why housers involuntary hospitalization did not turn up in the federal data base. There is still more that can be done. There is absolutely no reason we cant have all of these in the system. Three of the people who were wounded in the shooting remain hospitalized. U. S. Congressman tells nbc news that his cousin was among those people who was shot. She is expected to fully recover. Gabe, thanks very much. Lets turn to tameron now. A new wildfire raging out west. Good morning, everybody. Four fighters injured, one seriously in that wildfire that is threatening 150 homes in northern california. The fire is only 15 contained. Fuelled by heavy drought stricken timber. Very, very aggressive fire. Dry fires are burning much quicker than they normally do. Dozens of homes remain under a mandatory evacuation. 3 c3 resulto herido, el piloto perdio the plane reported losing engine power a half mile away from the airport. It was a terrifying landing for a commercial airliner. Klm passenger jet landing during a Violent Storm in amsterdam. The jumbo jet rocked from side to side, tilting sharply at one point, struggli