mvp but he doesn't stand a chance in the house, not with those girls. >> thanks for joining us at 5:00. lester holt is next. >> bye-bye. tonight historic deal. the nuclear agreement that could change the world. the white house says it will keep iran from getting the bomb. opponents say it will do the opposite setting up a new showdown. crippling floods. a state of emergency in kentucky. at least two dead several missing as a flood sweeps away buildings. we're there on the ground. sole survivor. a plane crash in the pacific northwest kills a couple but sparz their grand spares their granddaughter. tonight her heroic trek to safety. awe-inspiring photos from the

spacecraft. nightly news begins now. announce firstly deal, now the sell. with iran's nuclear program, the obama administration is trying to convince the american congress that there was no better alternative. the u.s. and five other nations struck the deal with iran overnight, offering iran relief from arms sanctions. the distrust of iran in the middle east is planting seeds of doubt. we have coverage from andrea mitchell in vienna. andrea? >> reporter: good evening, lester. after ages of decades calling each other the great satan, iran and the u.s. are now entering uncharted territory. a diplomatic agreement

to reduce iran's suspected nuclear powers. john kerriy repressing their ability to create nuclear weapons. kerry even personally edited the final draft at 3:30 this morning, then called the president in the oval office. >> this deal offers the opportunity to move in a new direction. we should seize them. >> reporter: iran put limits on its nuclear production for ten years and on nuclear fuel and equipment for 15 years. iran promises more access for u.n. suspects at the suspect site. but iran gets hundreds of billions of dollars in sanction rez leaf once it meets those

commitments, perhaps at the end of the year reentry into banking systems, and five teet years from now, an end to the arms embargo. how do you justify down the road taking off the arms embargo and conventional weapons? >> the united states doesn't lose anything andrea, by giving them the opportunity to prove this is a peaceful program. what's the alternative? go to war now? does everybody want to stay automatically? let's bomb iran? is that the alternative? >> reporter: but the deal is a tough sell with tehran as iran's foreign minister says. the u.s. and iran came to this agreement and to try to implement. it's going to be a difficult exercise. >> reporter: and in a call today, president obama tried to reassure israel's prime minister net

netanyahu but didn't get anywhere. an argument that won't end any time soon. >> prime minister benjamin netanyahu issued a statement almost as soon as the ink was dry. >> this is a mistake of stark proportions. >> reporter: he had been criticizing the deal in hebrew english, and even the language of iran. but in tehran they weren't listening. >> we did it we finally did it! >> reporter: nbc's ali arousi was in the crowd tonight. >> reporter: you never see these things. people are overjoyed! >> reporter: but it is real. there is no faith the iran

irani regime can or will change, deal or no deal. >> people are celebrating because they got everything they wanted and the west got nothing at all. >> reporter: netanyahu said as far as the west is concerned, they messed up. >> a deal with the foremost sponsor of international terrorism. >> reporter: israelis worry they'll have to pay the price if this diplomatic gamble doesn't work. >> i think he made a big mistake. obama made a big one. but no one can do nothing. he decided and he was so determined in this mission. >> reporter: the israeli government couldn't stop the deal in vienna but it's hardly giving up. the next step is to use israel's friends and supporters to spike the deal in washington. an official in tel aviv said the next deal will be in

washington. while israel has been by far the most vocal critic arab states especially saudi arabia, are also skeptical. they worry that iran will cheat and that an emboldened tehran will just make the middle east even more chaotic. lester? >> richard engel in tel aviv tonight. i want to turn to chuck todd nbc news political moderator on "meet the press" in our washington bureau. how big is congress into this deal? >> it's pretty deep. it was really hard to find a republican either on the presidential trail or in capitol hill to say anything nice about this deal at all. most of them even criticized reading the deal. that said mich mcconnell admitted that congress' ability to block the intention of the agreement is going to be very hard and here's why. while congress has some oversight on what sanctions the president can turn off, the republican-controlled congress is going to try to do that, try to reject the deal and send it to the president. the president will

veto that bill. then there will be an attempt to override that veto. here's what it would take. all the republicans plus 13 senate democrats and 13 house democrats when you look at the numbers. in all the conversations i had today, it is clear there is 8-10 hawkish senate democrats who will vote with the republicans and try to kill this deal. right now that's it. and the white house is making this argument to any wavering democrat. if congress makes the deal they argue the united states would get the blame for having no more sanctions in place and allowing iran to pursue a nuclear program. >> and chuck, there are people already talking about this as a legacy to the program, but we don't know how the legacy gets written, do we? >> we don't. it may take 10 years. the president himself did an interview with the "new york times" and he compared what he did with iran to nixon going to china. we didn't know nixon going to china was a good thing until almost two decades. we won't know until

almost 10 years, and that is the question. will iran get the bomb? pebbling in several parts of the country. in kansas a giant e-6 tornado touched down wind speeds of 165 miles an hour. no injuries reported and only minor damage. it's kentucky though that's seen the worst of it. at least two dead six are missing, in catastrophic flooding there. meteorologist dylan dryer has more from the ground in eastern kentucky. >> reporter: scenes of destruction in kentucky a house slamming into a bridge as torrential rains and high winds battered the eastern part of the state. at least 60 homes damaged or destroyed by flash floods which struck at random. >> you're looking at 500 homes within the communities that are affected. you may find one home that's been completely demolished with the structure next to it completely fine. >> reporter: the water roared through a mobile home park pretty much wiping out

everything. >> it was all the way to the front porch. i had a chance to get my animals and go out the door, and by the time i got back to town everything was gone. >> reporter: officials said emergency workers were going door to door today looking for people who might still be trapped. almost 20,000 were still without power. the rising waters swept away cars one vehicle hanging precariously over a creek, while others were partially submerged. the storms also hit hard in neighboring indiana. fallen trees, blocked roads and damaged property more than 30,000 homes and businesses without electricity as crews scrambled to fix power lines. in quincy illinois a state of emergency was declared after winds of 70 miles per hour tore through homes and businesses. back in kentucky the recovery effort goes on tonight, with the threat of more rain and more flooding. now, the state police

are only allowing residents and police into the hardest hit residents in kentucky. we're also only an hour away from another line of severe storms about to hit this area. in fact severe flash flood warnings are in effect all across this region. tonight severe storms are likely from pittsburgh to memphis, with winds at 70 miles an hour. more flash flooding as well. tomorrow the threat is going to be less intense and less widespread but the southeast could see some damaging wind gusts and flash flooding tomorrow afternoon. lester? chicago authorities have once again named the drug lord "el chapo" as public enemy number one. mexico is offering nearly $4 million in reward money for his capture, and now we're getting a first look at photos reportedly from inside the tunnel he used to escape from prison. we get more from nbc's mark potter. >> reporter: even though "el chapo" guz man is considered the world's most dangerous drug lords, some of

his people in mexico are praying for him. this woman says he will feed the hungry something the government won't do. back at the maximum security prison outside mexico city a flurry of police activity. after the national and local prison directors were fired in the wake of "el chapo's" brave tunnel escape. so when guz man reached the end of the line and he got to this point in the tunnel, he climbed up these stairs right here 19 meters we're told and he walked into this last room, sort of an anteroom and there was another set of stairs that he climbed up and he climbed into this building and disappeared. >> reporter: this farmer who lived near the house where the tunnel emerged said he never saw anything suspicious. but he did see a white pickup truck go to and from the house regularly, with two men and two women inside. but with guzman's escape deeply embarrassing the mexican government

officials are widening their manhunt. interpol says it's now searching for him in more than 100 countries. mark potter nbc news near mexico city. we have an incredible story of survival to share with you tonight. in the rugged terrain of the pacific northwest, a brave teenager reliving her ordeal after surviving a plane crash and fighting her way back to civilization. here's her amazing tale. >> reporter: it's some of the steepest roughest wilderness in the midwest, and she had been flying over the cascades with her step-grandparents on her way from washington to montana when suddenly the beech aircraft went down. authorities didn't expect anyone to survive until this 911 call from the teenager. >> we crashed and i was the only one who made it out. >> are you injured at all? >> yeah i have a lot of burns on my hand and i'm like kind of covered in bruises and

scratches and stuff. >> reporter: hurt but alive. >> it's a miracle. no question about it it's a miracle. >> reporter: for two days search planes circled, looking for wreckage. >> it can be very much like a needle in a haystack. >> reporter: down below, nobody knew autumn was fighting for her life fighting a river downstream until she hit a hiking path. wet and cold autumn finally reached a highway and was spotted by hikers at the trailhead. they drove her to a convenience store 20 miles away where a reporter helped her call 911. >> she's like a superhero. amazing what she went through at 16. >> her dad couldn't believe she had been found. he brought her the only thing she wanted today, chicken mcnuggets, breakfast at the hospital. doctors here say autumn was incredibly sore as you might

imagine, and exhausted, but nobody would call her weak lester. just 16 years old, so true strength in survival. still ahead tonight, parents, listen up. we begin a special series on kids and screen addictions. yes, it is possible to draw them back. we'll tell you about it. also beachgoers take mercy on one of the fearless creatures of the sea when a great white shark ends up in desperate need of rescue.

we're back now with the new series we're calling "disconnected." it's about our children and how so many of them seem glued to their smartphones, computers and game screens. for a lot of kids the digital world can seem much more compelling than the ones outside their windows. and that has psychologists very worried about where they're heading. here's nbc's tom costello. >> oh man. >> you're not excited? >> reporter: with three kids dinnertime at the nealy home outside chicago can be long. 2 and 12 years old. they struggled to keep technology from invading family time especially with tyler. >> it felt very strange, but i felt like we were losing him in our family. >> reporter: a straight a student and star baseball player tyler also loves his video games, ipod and kindle. but he was still spending three to four hours a day on his devices away from the family. >> he was totaled

distracted. >> yeah, he was totally distracted. >> reporter: and tyler is hardly alone. from cell phones to computer to the internet half of all teenagers sending 50 text messages a day, 300 text az month. and the average teen sends 34 texts each night after going to bed. entire families now text at dinner. psychologists warn concentration, sleep and critical face time all suffer. >> they aren't learning as much social intelligence that come along with having conversations. >> even tyler realized he was digitally hooked. >> you start losing contact with the friends you see every day. >> your time is up. >> reporter: finally mom pulled the plug. no devices for a week and then limits on screen time. >> i began to see him play with his sister. it just really opened up my eyes.

i would hear so much laughter. >> reporter: the advice from the experts limits kids' screen time to two hours a day. there is no substitute for the real world. tom costello nbc news atlanta. >> tomorrow in our "disconnected" series how social media is increasing anxiety. how pressure to get the most texts is hurting kids.

there is late word tonight that closing arguments have concluded in the colorado movie theater massacre trial, which means that after 11 weeks of testimony from over 250 witnesses, the fate of james holmes will be in the hands of the jury beginning tomorrow. holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity for the attack that killed 12 people and injured 70 others nearly three years ago. well it took until the middle of july but snow from this brutal past winter in boston has

finally melted. this time lapse shows snow melting from late march to earlier this month. today the mayor tweeted that finally this pile that once stood 75 feet tall is all gone. when we come back, is pluto a planet or not? we'll try to settle that tonight for the biggest planet in our sat solar system.

===take vo=== the last minute talks to prevent a showdown between police and the city. ===take vo raj=== plus, christmas in july.... the online shopping sale -- making

black friday look like child's play. ===next close=== next. . those of you who remember what it was like waiting for those special family photos to be developed at the neighborhood photomat may appreciate what nasa scientists are going through tonight. they're anxiously waiting to see if the new horizon spacecraft after a 3 billion-mile journey, successfully snapped pictures of pluto during its fly-by this morning. it should know by tonight, but already it's raising the profile of a little dwarf planet in ways previously unimaginable. it wasn't long ago whether scientists debated whether it was even really a planet but suddenly images like this have made pluto our tiniest and most distant of planetary neighbors a very big deal. all the hoopla is hard to explain, even for a

renowned astrophysicist like mr. tyson. previous photos of pluto have been taken from across billions of miles of space. but now, 85 years after it was first discovered pluto is getting its close-up. >> now that we have detailed images and even more details to come you could say, oh look at that shape. how did it get that shape? how did it become that reflective? one of the greatest aspects of what it is to do science is to reach a new vista and then discover that you can now ask questions undreamt of before you got there. >> reporter: at new york's museum of natural history, space enthusiasts got together to discuss the legendary trip. and they talked about whether it was a planet or a dwarf

planet? >> it revolves around the same we do so a planet or not a planet? >> it revolves around the same sun but it actually crosses neptune. no other planet does that. it's embarrassing. if you're a planet you should not be crossing other people's orbit. >> reporter: for those of us who learned about nine planets near the sun, pluto was last the end of the road in part of the neighborhood that was off limits. now the question of what's really out there is finally coming into clear focus. nasa says the new horizon's mission is the first to explore world so far from earth and adds this mission completes its initial survey of our solar system. that will do it for us on this tuesday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us on "nbc nightly news," thanks for watching and good night.

time is running out. a new showdown between police firefighters, and san jose city leaders. right now at 6:00. time is running out. a new showdown between police, firefighters and san jose city leaders. >> once again, it is over pension reform. the clock is ticking to reach a deal or they head back to court. those talks going on behind closed dors right now. robert honda joins us from city hall.

an >> reporter: we hear that things are not going well, but both sides would hike to avoid another court battle. because measure b has taken a toll on the city. thank you for being here. give us an idea of the mood inside optimistic or pessimistic about missing this court deadline? >> for sure we're frustrated. after hundreds of hours, millions of dollars spent in court, losing officers the city has taken this up to the wire and we still don't have a dole. >> reporter: what's the biggest obstacle? >> we're seeing the city hang on to failed measures b it puts cops back in our neighborhoods and begins to restore the services that our neighborhoods and citizens deserve. >> reporter: you hit the