chapo's prison cell shows the drug lord moments before he vanished. nbc's mark potter got a look inside the tunnel he used to break free. >> the thing that's so impressive here is how sophisticated this is how well built. you can see the beams, these are steel. there are wood beams. there's electricity, there's a winch, there are lights and there's a stairway that goes down here to a very very deep trench and a tunnel that then heads out toward the prison. >> and the mystery meeting. why is ted cruz meeting with donald trump today? >> ted cruz called me and i don't know why i'm meeting him, to be honest but i do have respect for him. good day, i'm luke russert in washington, d.c., in for andrea mitchell. president obama is expected to

speak one hour from now. he's on a mission to sell the historic iran nuclear deal announced just yesterday in vienna, but it could prove difficult. the deal has its fair share of opponents here in washington and around the world. the deal's chief critic israel. lester holt spoke a short time ago with israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu. >> mr. prime minister i'd like to begin by asking you about your conversation with president obama yesterday. can you give us the essence of what you told him? >> well you know i respect president obama and we can respectfully disagree. i thought and i said that this deal poses a great danger to israel. i believe it poses a great danger to america and the world. when you let the number one terrorist regime in the world have a sure path to the bomb and hundreds of billions of dollars with which to finance its terrorism around the world, that's not good for any of us.

>> do you think that the relationship between israel and the u.s. has been fractured? do you feel the president has betrayed you on this issue? >> no. look i think we have a disagreement and i appreciate the alliance with the united states, the support that we receive from the president, the congress and the american people but we have a real disagreement. we think this is not merely a threat to us we think it's a threat to you as well. you know just five days ago, the so-called moderate president of iran was at a rally in tehran in which they burnt american flags chanting "death to america." iran has killed more americans than anything other than al qaeda. iran is building intercontinental ballistic missiles not to reach us they already have those missiles but to reach every part of the united states. and the supreme leader of iran says just the other day, he said the battle against the united states will continue even after the deal. you know for them we're the little satan. you are the great satan.

and now i think they're being empowered to conduct that battle and i think that this is bad for us, for you and the world. >> are you going to continue to make that point to members of the u.s. congress? will you be lobbying congress to reject this deal? >> look i'm making that point to anyone who will listen. i'm making it to you now. and i have to tell you it's not just my private one. we had a session in which i and the opposition leader the leader of the labor party, expressed our disapproval, our opposition to this deal. this cuts across israel. it's not a partisan issue in israel. it shouldn't be a partisan issue in the united states. let me tell you something else it cuts across arabs and israelis in the middle east. most of the arab leaders, whether privately or publicly think that this is very dangerous to them too. i would had aviezdvise this. it doesn't happen very often in history, but when arabs and

israelis agree, it's worth paying attention. >> but those in congress who call themselves friends of israel, will you be making a special appeal to them? >> i'm making a special appeal to everyone who is concerned with the future of our world, because i think that iran is different. it is a zealot country. it is a country that is governed by a group that believes in militant islamic fundamentalism. it has killed a lot of americans. it's killing everybody in sight in the middle east. it's in yemen, it's around our borders. it's got a terror network that encompasses 30 countries. it's curious in our agreement, the head of this terrorist arm, sanctions are removed -- some of the sanctions are removed from the head of the terrorist force that propels this terrorism around the world. i think this is a big mistake. and i think that iran has here two paths to the bomb. one is if they keep the deal and

the other is if they cheat on the deal. they can cheat because inspections are not instantaneous anywhere any time as the foreign minister of iran zarif said correctly. in fact you don't have inspections within 24 hours, you have 24 days before you can inspect any site that you find suspicious in iran. 24 days. can you imagine giving a drug dealer 24 days' notice before you check the premises? that's a lot of time to flush a lot of meth down the toilet. >> you've made it clear that israel is not bound by this agreement. so what does that mean in practical terms? do you reserve the right to attack unilaterally to take some kind of military action? >> well it means that when you have a regime that calls for our destruction, including in the last few days that says they'll wipe israel off the face of the earth, we'll take whatever measures are necessary to defend ourselves. but i think they're not merely

targeting us. remember we're for them just the small satan. >> the president has stated that you don't want iran to have any nuclear capabilities at all. his point is that involves eliminating the presence and knowledge of nuclear technology and his argument is that's not going to happen. does that make sense? >> look i think there's a difference. you can have a pilot, but without a plane he can't fly. and i think iran has been left a plane -- a big airplane with which to fly. in ten years, all the limitations on production of centrifuges will effectively disappear. they'll be able to produce a tremendous number of fissile material for an endless number of bombs so i think that's very dangerous. i think a better deal is possible. i think the biting sanctions that were applied in 2012 have been effective. i think tougher sanctions, certainly maintaining these sanctions would have forced iran to choose. they had to choose basically

between lifting the sanctions and rolling back -- truly rolling back their nuclear capability and not for a temporary time but forever. they were given both. effectively they were given both, a relief of the sanctions keeping their infrastructure and allowing them to expand in a few years. the hard liners in iran have been given a tremendous victory. they have been given their cake and can eat it too. >> do you think the president is being naive, based on the arguments you're making? do you believe he is being naive? >> i think we have an honest disagreement. i think the question is really what's the nature of this iranian regime. and i thought that the right deal would have lifted the restrictions on iran's nuclear program only if we saw perceptible change in iran's behavior. that's essentially what i said in my speech before the u.s. congress. but in fact there is no linkage to iran's change of behavior.

they can continue their regional aggression, their terrorism worldwide, their subversion in so many countries in so many lands. in fact they're going to get hundreds of billions of dollars to fuel their terror and military machine. and they don't have to change anything. they're even going to get their arms embargo lifted within a few years. so in fact there's been a kind of reverse linkage. iran gets to maintain all its aggression and terror and they get to basically an open -- open or rather unrestricted use of most of their nuclear infrastructure within about a decade. that's a mistake. and i think -- i think we simply disagree on this. but it's not only me. it's so many of the arab leaders here. and israel and the arab countries, our fate is directly most directly affected by this deal. but so is your fate because, remember, iran says our real goal, our real nemesis, our real enemy is the united states of

america. and to give the preeminent terrorist regime of our time access to nuclear weapons down the line access to the capacity to make a very large or nuclear arsenal with zero breakout time in a few years and money to finance terrorists today, i think that's a big, big mistake. >> well prime minister netanyahu, i want to thank you very much for your time. it was good speaking with you, sir. >> thank you very much. appreciate it. >> that was lester holt with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. be sure to tune in tonight to nbc nightly news for much more on this story. on capitol hill this morning vice president joe biden met with house democrats about the iran nuclear deal a meeting that lasted over 80 minutes. he emerged walking alongside nancy pelosi. >> tell us what you said. >> it took me a long time. >> give us the thumbnail.

>> i'm joined now by congressman adam schiff who was there in that meeting. he is the top democrat on the house intelligence committee. congressman, thanks for being on the show. >> you bet. >> so you were in the room. you were a very important member on this story on this deal with iran. what was the vice president's message to the caucus? >> well his message was that in his view this is a good agreement, that it's a comprehensive way to cut off iran's pathway to the bomb and that it's better than the alternatives. i think it was certainly a message that was well received by the caucus. there are, nonetheless, many of us myself included who are still very much undecided on the deal and taking time to go through it quite methodically as well as talk to other experts about how these provisions will be interpreted, how they'll be applied and what as a practical matter they'll really mean in terms of our access to suspect sites, the impact of the end of the embargo on weapons and

ballistic missile technologies and other key provisions of this agreement. >> did biden allude to a possible loss of life if this deal were to be knocked down? >> well i don't remember that specifically, but it was obviously a wide-ranging and long conversation. he did talk about the prospect of sanctions falling apart in the case in which congress rejects the deal the difficulty in keeping the sanctions regime together. and that certainly is a certain. i think if europe is behind this and the united states congress rejects it it will be tough to maintain sanctions, let alone increase them. and that's one of the most profound questions here, which is a lot of us have some serious problems with this agreement. the question is when you compare it to the alternative, how does it stack up. and that alternative is a bit impawnim

imponderable. there are no absolute answers. >> it's certainly murky territory to say the least. in terms of what you need to be sold on to support this deal i read through your statement and you said you wanted to inspect it more closely. you mentioned that you don't necessarily see a enclosureclear path in terms of alternatives. what do you think that you and your colleagues will need to ultimately hear specifically for you guys to support this deal which will come under a lot of scrutiny over the next 60 days and into september and will be a political football because we've seen where the republicans have been on this issue, especially after speaker boehner invited netanyahu to give a joint address to congress opposed to this deal. >> for me a lot of it comes down to how workable is this agreement in practical terms. for example, there are limitations on the kind of research iran can do on advanced centrifuges. this is key because the more advanced the centrifuges, the quicker they can spin them up

the faster they can get to a bomb. and that is in terms tied to the inspections and how readily we can gain access to suspect sites. i'm less concerned, frankly, with those timelines when it comes to enrichment activity because if uranium is present, we can detect it even after the 24-day period that iran plays rope-a-dope with us. but if they're doing research and development on centrifuges, if they're doing other possible military applications those things will be easier to conceal. so what are the limitations, how practical are the enforcement mechanisms, how quickly can we get into those sites, how realistic is it if as we expect iran cheats in small increments to stab back these sanctions. that's a big part of what i want to get to the bottom of. >> congressman, you heard benjamin netanyahu's interview with our own lester holt and he has lines such as iran sees us

as the little satan and you're the big satan, the united states. under this deal iran can have their cake and eat it to. that the money they will go from this sanction relief will go to funding terrorism in the middle east. do you think politically democrats can hold together over this august recess where this issue will be front and center in a lot of town halls, especially with the lobbying that groups that are friendly to israel netanyahu will do in the united states? >> you know i think and i hope that on an issue of this kind of surpassing importance and for many of us i think this will be the most important vote we cast in a decade in terms of our national security that we'll put all other considerations aside. and that means the outside groups that are going to be pressing people for or against, the administration's wishes the wishes of party, all those considerations i think should be put aside in favor of a rational thoughtful and sober analysis of what's in this deal and what are the alternatives.

i'm certainly going to be looking to people i respect out in my district and elsewhere for input on this but i'm not going to be subject to much pressure on it and i don't think others are either. this is something where at the end of the day we're going to have to live with the consequences and we have to make sure we get it right. >> congressman adam schiff thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. take care. >> thank you. keep it here on msnbc. when the president comes to the east room to make his comments on the iran deal we'll of course bring that to you live in the 1:00 hour. up next the getaway, though. new video from inside the prison just before mexican kingpin "el chapo's" escape. and still ahead, board meeting. what's on the table when donald trump and ted cruz meet today? i'm sure some interesting books. this is "andrea mitchell reports," only on msnbc. but to get from the old way to the new you'll need the right it infrastructure.

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right now the manhunt is widening for the drug kingpin known as "el chapo," the leader of the sinaloa cartel escaped from a maximum security prison over the weekend. we're now getting a new look at the moment when he vanished and the tunnel that he used to make his daring getaway. look at that. nbc's mark potter has more from mexico. >> reporter: hi, luke. the tunnel that authorities say that chapo guzman used to escape from the prison behind me extends out all the way to a house a mile from here. we got a chance to go in that tunnel last night and it was quite impressive. we were really struck by how well it was put together. this was clearly done by engineers, mining engineers, people who knew what they were doing and who had the money, the wherewithal and the time to do it. this was not a fly-by-night operation. again, a mile long.

and it afforded guzman the opportunity to not have to walk out of prison. he got to ride out of jail. this video released by the mexican government shows "chapo" guzman on a security camera in his cell on saturday the night he escaped, just before 9:00 p.m. he can be seen pacing going in and out of the shower stall where the tunnel entrance is. finally he bends down goes out of the camera's view and disappears. tuesday mexican authorities recorded video of the tunnel entrance and then went into the tunnel itself where an old motorcycle with a cart can be seen on a set of tracks. mexican officials tell nbc news "chapo" laid on that cart and was pulled through the tunnel carrying the billionaire drug lord to this partially constructed house about a mile away. what's most impressive is how well this tunnel is built. there are steel beams, there's wood, electricity. this is a generator to run all the lights we're told. this is an electrical panel. if you look over here this is

the equipment that's used to bring the mud up. over here more equipment and then over here is the main tunnel the main shaft going down to the tunnel heading over toward the prison. following his escape the chicago crime commission once again named guzman public enemy number one. >> with a very powerful drug leader like "chapo" guzman when they are repatriated with their cartel cartel, oftentimes there is hell to pay. >> reporter: guzman's sinaloa cartel dominates the drug trade in the u.s. u.s. officials say its tentacles reach from the mountains of western mexico into more than a thousand u.s. cities distributing heroin cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. now "chapo" could be right back where he left off, overseeing day-to-day operations. >> it is tremendously significant to the united states and our safety and well being. >> reporter: many blame guzman's sinaloa cartel for the current heroin epidemic raging in the united states, an epidemic

that's getting worse. that's another reason that he is seen clearly as most wanted now in both mexico and the united states. luke back to you. nbc mark potter, thank you so much. criminal profiler and author of "the profiler" pat brown joins us now to talk a little about this. thank you for being on the show. >> thanks luke. >> so he's done this before. he was on the lam for over a decade previously. somebody of this significance who has this large well-funded cartel presumably at his disposal where does one begin to search for an individual like this? >> well, he is obviously so well protected. he has so much money and so many people working for him, probably more than the government of mexico himself. he has quite an operation. it almost comes to the point where you hope somebody else will take him down outside of law enforcement. but law enforcement, yeah they're going to have to work obviously with really those

tentacles they talk about coming to the united states, they'll have to work with all the law enforcement tentacles as well. >> in terms of where the future goes in tracking him down how much role do you think the u.s. can have? obviously the last time he was apprehended there was a big push to try to get him extradited here because of this literal fear, that mexico is incapable of keeping him in jail because of his influence within that country. how much can the u.s. be involved in this and how much do you think the mexican government could be receptive to the united states' intervention? >> obviously the u.s. would like to get him and would have liked to have gotten him last time and get him here. of course we lose our prisoners here, as we've seen. guzman would have been a little less connected to his home base if he had been put away in our penitentiary. so obviously they would have liked that. the problem now is that mexico is double embarrassed because they decide oh we can take care of this.

we can keep him in prison and has proven obviously they did not have any control over this whole situation. so now they look pretty bad. obviously the u.s. would like to probably help out and maybe -- hopefully they can and there can be some cooperation, but the u.s. has to look at their own problems. if he has tentacles all over the united states, what are we doing north of the border for people working south of the border so we have our own issues. >> absolutely the heroin epidemic to name a few. it's something we'll keep an eye on. pat brown, thank you so much for being on the show. we appreciate it. take care. trumps the competition. a new poll shows a close race for republican rivals. we'll talk about that when we get back. this is msnbc. welcome to fort green sheets. welcome to castle bravestorm. it's full of cool stuff, like my second in command... and my trusty bow. and free of stuff i don't like. and in my castle we only eat chex cereal. chex cereal. it's full of delicious crunchability.

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respect for him. i respect the fact that along with a couple of others he came out and he came out very strongly and agreed with what i said on illegal immigration. he came out very strongly and he came out early, and i respect that. i like him. he called me he wanted to meet. we are going to meet. what it's about, i have absolutely no idea, mark, i'm i'm sure you'll be the first to know and figure it out. >> that was donald trump on "morning joe" talking about this afternoon's highly anticipated meet-and-greet shrouded in mystery with rival republican presidential candidate ted cruz. yes, indeed. just moments ago cruz spoke with our capitol hill team and said that he is a big fan of donald trump. >> i think donald trump is bringing a bold brash voice to this presidential race. one of the reasons you're seeing so many 2016 candidates go out of their way to smack donald trump is they don't like a politician that speaks directly about the challenges of illegal immigration.

they don't like a politician who speaks directly with sanctuary cities, about law enforcement and safety and security issues that are raised. >> joining me now for our daily fix, chris cillizza and jean cummings political editor for "the wall street journal." welcome to you both. chris, i'll start off with you. trump/cruz, is that the ticket in 2016 my friend? >> oh man. i would pay a pay-per-view fee to see that meeting. >> what's cruz trying to do here? what's the play? >> look ted cruz is being, i think, quite smart politically speaking in not being the guy bashing donald trump. why? because he doesn't think donald trump is going to go the distance here. he believes that eventually the donald trump boom will sort of fade but what he wants is the people attracted to donald trump's messages brash, bold were the words cruz used to port right over to ted cruz. what he doesn't want to do is

alienate those folks. he wants them to eventually once trump either drops out of the race doesn't ultimately run or fades, for those people to jump on him as the guy who can carry the message they like but can also sort of be a top tier or second tier candidate. >> and, jean to be the trump whisperer is not that bad of a extras gee because look at the polls right now. we have donald trump in the republican field, 17% topping bush and walker and cruz and rubio. against hillary clinton, he obviously does not do as well. but in terms of what chris was saying, that if donald trump does run out of gas at some point and ted cruz has shown an ability to raise a lot of money, to garner a lot of that grassroots conservative support, do you see sort of cruz saying you know what that's a slice of the electorate that is certainly not sold on what we know is the top tier of jeb, marco and walker. is this somebody who i could

benefit from? these voters are ripe for the taking. this slice of the electorate does not really have a home quite yet. who knows if they stay with donald trump to the end. >> absolutely. this whole race is about coalition building. >> right. >> because there's so many of them. and so each plank, each group that you can bring into your fold is going to help you build enough supporters to survive in this very diverse candidate field. and they are, i think, in addition to getting his supporters to come over i think for cruz it wouldn't hurt to have a billionaire in his pocket. trump has plenty of money and endorsement from him, a big check from him would also be nice if we're partly into the race and he needs a boost. >> for all the talk of change after 2012 when we saw bachmann, herman cain it's the same story in '16. there's this dissatisfied group of voters that don't trust the top tier quite yet. we'll see when they come over.

yesterday donald trump spoke with our own katy tur about his financials, something we all find interesting because he is a billionaire. he played this and we'll get to you guys on the other side. >> financials come tomorrow or the next day. way ahead of schedule. you know you're entitled to two 45-day -- >> extensions. >> and i didn't do any. >> you're not going to. >> i don't think so. i mean everybody tells me the accountants, the lawyers, they say they're just about ready. so i'm going to do them actually prior to the 30-day. isn't that impressive? >> is this sort of the anti-rich guy here chris? he's trying to come across as not only am i going to beat the deadline, i'm more than happy to be open. the lawyers are ready. you know investigate me all you want i'm on your side. >> i think he recognizes luke that until he produces this financial report there will still be many people particularly in the media in the republican field, who will think he's not really running.

so i think he wants to do this as a sign this time i'm serious. now, my guess, and it's a guess, is when we do get the financial disclosure this will not be a fountain of transparency by donald trump. my guess is there's going to be very wide variances in terms of what he owns on privately held companies that we're not able to dig into as much as we'd like. so i worry that we're sort of ramping up for al capone's vault and we're going to get al capone's vault. not as much as we think is in there is going to be in there. >> jean do you think we'll get al capone's vault? >> yes. and what will be hard to figure out is how much money did he give up with all the endorsements that he's lost. >> that will be really interesting. espn, nbc, nascar just to name a few. chris, jean, thanks for being on the show. we appreciate it. and now a turn of turns of donald trump to pluto. phone home. what did nasa learn about the

dwarf planet after its historic fly-by? we'll tell you after a short break. pluto next on msnbc. e is anne. i'm one of the real live attorneys you can talk to through legalzoom. don't let unanswered legal questions hold you up, because we're here we're here and we've got your back. legalzoom. legal help is here. ♪ ♪ ♪ you're only young once. unless you have a subaru. (announcer) the subaru xv crosstrek. symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 34 mpg. love. it's what makes a subaru a subaru. i am totally blind. and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424.

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one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. that's the first step in getting data. >> okay. copy that. we are in lock with telemetry with the spacecraft. >> nasa style celebration last night as the new horizons spacecraft phoned home safe following its historic fly-by of flute owe. nasa took this photo after a nine-hour journey over 3 billion miles, the spacecraft is sending back a trove of measurements and observations from its close observation of pluto, considered a dwarf planet.

>> it revolves around the same sun but it also crosses the orbit of neptune for 20 years. no other planet does that. that's embarrassing. if you're a planet you should not be crossing other people's orbits. >> oh tom. nbc's tom costello covers nasa and joins me now. that was a great interview lester had with that gentleman. i was part of a facebook group when i was in college that said i remember back when pluto was a planet, that's how old i am. but now it's gotten this iconic status after this nasa mission. what have we learned? pluto is all the rage. >> you've got donald trump and al capone's vault and you've got jeb and hillary. are you ready to have your mind blown? >> let's do it. >> because that's what we're in for here. think about these numbers. you just rattled them off so casually. nine-year, 3 billion miles this thing has traveled all the way to the outer stretches of the

solar system. and now what are we waiting for? we've got this first image. this was the zoom-in as it was starting to do the fly-by. we're waiting on the fly-by imagery. that actually happened yesterday, but it takes so long for these images to transmit to earth. in fact they started transmitting last night. by the time they all transmit to earth in their high res definition, it will take 16 months for all of them to get to earth. so what we're going to learn is more about the composition of pluto, about the valleys, about the mountains, about the composition in terms of whether it has any atmosphere at all. we know that there's methane and we know that that's ice. so now we're going to learn more of the fine details. keep in mind what's been accomplished here. we've sent a human object all the way, 3 billion miles to the other side of the solar system and now we're going to see what's in the coldest, darkest reaches of that solar system. >> the word "awesome" is overused, but this is in fact an

awesome event, not only for nasa but i would argue just mankind. >> humankind. >> extraordinary. how are we able to do it? to me the first thing i thought of is how is this craft able to have the energy to go that far? is this solar powered, does it run off of gravity? you certainly don't have gas for 3 billion miles. >> there is no atmosphere in space, so when you take off on a rocket and you break the surly bonds of earth, once you've done that, there's nothing to stop it. it is a constant movement. here's what's interesting. this was the fastest rocket nasa has ever launched. 32,000 miles per hour as it sped through space. and then it got the sling shot action around jupiter, propelling it on towards pluto. so also on board are these radio isotope thermal generators. that's what's helping the spacecraft make minute moves and

it's using plutonium pellets to generate heat. but the bottom line is this is a complete, intact vehicle that is self-propelled at this point and it has enough of this we expect, this kind of plutonium-based energy to keep it moving for the next 20 years or so. >> and real quickly, this is your beat, nasa. and nasa has had some tough encounters over the last few years. they faced a lot of budget cuts. they haven't had a lot to put forward such as look at what we are still capable of doing. how big was this for nasa? >> i think if you talk to most people who observe space and are passionate about space, they say this is what nasa should be about. we've done low earth orbit for the past 30 years in terms of the space station and in terms of the shuttle, but going deep going big, exploring, finding out what is in our solar system this is what nasa should be about.

they want their next big mission to be mars but in the interim, it's these missions that tell us more about the neighborhood we live in and then hopefully, hopefully we'll get some clue as to whether anybody else has ever lived in this neighborhood or might be holding out and peeking around the corner and hiding. you know there's a lot to be excited about. >> that is the next chapter, other life forms. >> are you excited now? are you pumped? >> your enthusiasm is infectious, my friend. we'll be right here and see it. tom costello nbc news. you can check out tom's reporting for the rest of the day. be well, my friend. let's go to colorado where there's a pivotal moment in the shooting trial. after 11 weeks of testimony, the jury has begun deliberating the fate of james holmes accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 others in a shooting spree at a screening of batman back in 2012. holmes has pled not guilty by reason of insanity. his defense lawyers say he suffers from schizophrenia. prosecutors have argued holmes carefully planned the attack. they are seeking the death

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from the deserts of the southwest to factory towns in the northeast, an estimated 45 million people in the united states live below the poverty line. in a new project, the geography of poverty, msnbc analyst and photographer matt black are traveling to some of the country's most impoverished communities to show you the faces of poverty, some of which you might see every day. the first chapter of the series just out today explores the southwest, including the rio grande valley in texas. tremayne lee has been traveling to some of these communities and joins me now from new york. before we get to your report today, what is the genesis of

this project? what are you trying to accomplish here? >> reporter: ultimately -- thank you for having me first of all, luke. ultimately we're trying to highlight the faces of the poor in this country. so often people see the poor as some other people in some far-off land. but really they are neighbors, they are family they are people in inner cities across this country but also rural communities and native american reservations. they are black and white, hispanic. and folks are really trying to pull together some semblance of what we've always described as the american dream, homeownership, spending your kids to college. a full belly or at least a full pantry. this is what we're trying to do. we've teamed up with matt black. if you're not familiar with matt black, he's been covering these issues for over 20 years and his work is absolutely stunning. >> tremayne one thing that i think we do in the media all too often is that we showcase examples of extreme poverty so that the public ends of viewing

that as that's what poverty is it's always these extreme circumstances. but there's a lot of poverty that we see every day but perhaps not notice. whether it's somebody working two or three jobs just to simply put a little bit of food on their table, keeping the lights on who are perpetually stuck in an impoverished state. what do we know about who the poor are in this country. we have 45 million people living below the poverty line. what did we find out about them during this project? >> reporter: 45 million is a staggering number but that does not include countless millions who are distancing right above that poverty line. you're talking about a family of 4 making less than $12,000 a year. after the great recession we saw an expansion of poverty from cities into the suburbs. when you look at these numbers, some of them are stark, but these are folks who are working hard every single day. there's the old stereotype of the welfare queen or poor people being lazy. poor people are some of the hardest working people in this

country for dollars. many in all parts of this country are working hard and aren't getting a living wage. folks who are working at fast food restaurants who are also taking long commutes from their homes to where they may work taking one or two buses or public transportation. sometimes hours. getting back to take care of children who are hungry oftentimes. and so we are kind of still dealing with these stereotypes of who the poor are, but the poor are a vast number of folks in this country. again, we see them every single day working hard but they're still struggling. >> sure. people who live in food deserts people who do not have access to transportation. there's just a whole bevy of reasons why so many people are stuck in this vicious cycle. tremayne, how can people get involved in this project and find out more? we really want this to be a collective experience and not just interact with these aimimages but you get involved. >> go to msnbc.com/geography of

poverty. there you'll see our first installation which takes a deep dive into the southwest and look at the town of brownsville, just a stone's throw from the mexican border. but on our site you can go and look at interactive maps. you can punch in your county and see what the poverty rate is there. you can examine photos. again, matt black's amazing photos that really show in stark detail the faces and the geography of the poor and where folks are living and how they're struggling and surviving. living and sometimes dying. but again that's msnbc.com/gee jaef jaef -- geography of poverty. >> of course you can join the conversation on this important issue this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. eastern on twitter. tweet your questions to @tremaynelee using the #geographyofpoverty. in just a few minutes president obama will come to the east room of the white house to hold a press conference.

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it's one of the most glamorous nights at the espy awards and tonight caitlyn jenner will receive the arthur ashe courage award as she makes her first public appearance less than two months after reintroducing herself on the cover of "vanity fair" but espn's decision to honor jenner who won the gold metal in the 1976 decathlon has not come without controversy. ronan is covering the espys for us. the producer of the espys has had to defend their decision to honor caitlyn. they say she is what the arthur ashe award is all about but there's some in the athletic community who say that she should not necessarily be front and center here there are more

deserving athletes. we've heard bob causeostascostas' infamiliarous rant about the topic. what's been the reaction? >> reporter: it's interesting, most of the dissent has come from the sports journalism community rather than athletes themselves bob costas. but dan patrick came out and said something, frank deford all to the same effect. bob costas' phrase that went everywhere was a crass exploitation play saying they could have found someone more connected to the current sports world and current sports acheechlt.a achievement achievement. you narrated this is more about sports and transcending sports. the actual history of the award bears that out. this is an award that went to michael sam when he wasn't being celebrated per se for his basketball achievements it went to robin roberts, it went to nelson mandela just for using rugby as a platform for racial

dialogue. so the history of this really does back up that narrative espn is putting forward. >> you have talked with some of the athletes who will be honored tonight at the espys. what did they have to say about this decision? >> reporter: one of caitlyn jenner's fellow award resipcipients is danielle green. she talks about what veterans like hersz, she's not only a veteran but a former division i basketball player she talks about what she fought for when she lost an arm. >> as a soldier, as a veteran, we allow people like caitlyn to live her life the way she needs to live it. >> you're fighting for the rights of americans to express themselves. >> yes that's what it's about. i think it's great that the espy awards are acknowledging her, you know, just being her. and i think this is going to be great for that population. >> reporter: and, you know i

think that all of those sports journalists journalists, many of them had a thoughtful take. i was in touch with bob costas he is a colleague of ours. he said i don't want to be a part of this particular part of the news cycle because it's not about him. but the fact is those concerns aren't even coming up from the athletes that i've been in touch with out here. >> enjoy the land of fame and success, my friend. appreciate you reporting on this matter. >> good to see you. >> that does it for "andrea mitchell reports." andrea will be back tomorrow. thomas roberts continues our coverage as we await the president's news conference coming up. hi everybody, great to have you with me. i'm thomas roberts. we have special coverage this hour on msnbc live. president obama defending the deal with iran. right now we are awaiting the president in the white house east room where any minute he will hold a news conference

about that historic nuclear deal brokered with iran. after an early morning announcement. he got a head start making his case yesterday with "the new york times" thomas freedman. >> what we've been able to do is assure that iran will not get a nuclear weapon and that was always the premise, tom. >> reaction to the deal in tehran last night, cheer and chanting seen in the streets. here in the u.s., iranian americans see a glimmer of hope. >> the world won't look at iran as this negative place or this negative country. >> at the very least a glimmer of hope for the people of iran. >> but it is congress. president obama still needs to sell on this deal. lawmakers have 60 days to review it. republicans so far united against it while most democrats are taking a wait-and-see approach. today the deal's fiercest critic israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu doubling down on his opposition. >> i thought and i said that this deal poses a great danger

to israel. i believe it poses a great danger to america and the world. when you let the number one terrorist regime in the world have a sure path to the bomb and hundreds of billions of dollars with which to finance its terrorism around the world, that's not good for any of us. >> okay. let's get into this. joining me now is peter alexander and capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell, host of "the last word" lawrence o'donnell, msnbc contributor and washington editor at large of the atlantic steve clemons and political analyst and "washington post" columnist eugene robinson. i want to start at the white house. peter, this is the 60-day strategy that the president has to sell this now to congress. what is the obama administration's strategy? >> yeah that 60-day period is the period during which time congress can review this agreement, this historic agreement right now. first the deal now the debate and ultimately the defense over the course of the next hour for president obama. he will be taking questions from

reporters. and the focus for this administration and for this white house will be as much on those republicans, those recalcitrant republicans and perhaps more so specifically on those senators and house democrats, the ones who they will need to sway in order to override a veto but also on the american public at large. it will take 13 senate democrats, 44 house democrats to override a veto. there's a great sense here that that will not happen that would be a long shot but the priority is trying to get the american public to believe this was the best available option to the u.s. >> so the will of the people. lawrence, let's talk about this. democrats are skeptical. republicans seem to be cemented in opposition. peter said recalcitrant. so why are neocons so against this deal? >> well look they are on a straight line of being wrong about every single thing that's come up in the 21st century in foreign policy.