[ti:US Lawmakers, Obama Officials Debate Iran Deal] [ar:] [al:In The News] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]Secretary of State John Kerry debated with members [00:05.41]of the U.S. Senate Thursday in the first public hearing on the Iran nuclear deal. [00:11.43]Mr. Kerry met with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington. [00:16.22]During the hearing, Senator Bob Corker said [00:19.98]the deal falls short of ending Iran's nuclear program. [00:24.23]Mr. Kerry disagreed. In his words, it is "fantasy, plain and simple," [00:31.01]to think the United States failed to wait for a better deal in negotiations. [00:36.60]Iran and six other countries -- Britain, China, France, Russia, Germany [00:43.84]and the United States reached the agreement last week. [00:47.69]The U.S. Congress has until September 17 to approve or reject the deal. [00:54.24]President Barack Obama has promised to veto a rejection. [00:59.63]U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter [01:04.20]made an unannounced visit Thursday to Baghdad, Iraq. [01:08.23]The American defense chief praised Iraqi counterterrorism troops, [01:13.59]as he watched them carry out exercises at a firing range. [01:18.12]Mr. Carter also was to meet with top Iraqi officials, [01:23.11]including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the country's defense minister, [01:28.55]as well as U.S. commanders. [01:31.13]U.S. scientists said Thursday that they had discovered a planet [01:36.83]similar to Earth around a distant sun-like star. [01:41.14]The planet is about 60 percent bigger than Earth. [01:45.42]It was discovered using NASA's Kepler space telescope. [01:50.51]The planet circles a star that is similar in size and temperature to the sun. [01:56.64]Astronomer Jon Jenkins said of the discovery, [02:00.68]"In my mind, this is the closest thing we have to another planet like Earth."