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First Read's Morning Clips

A roundup of the most important political news stories of the day.

OBAMA AGENDA: Justices split in health-care challenge

Here's Pete Williams' take on Wednesday's King v Burwell oral arguments:

The U.S. fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria is increasingly reliant on Iranian fighters just as the administration is coming under pressure to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions, writes the New York Times.

How did the Netanyahu speech play at home? The Washington Post: "According to polls carried out by Israeli TV news channels Wednesday, the day after his high-stakes speech to Congress, Netanyahu’s address had only a modest influence on the Israeli electorate."

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon. “Once we reach that understanding, once this hysteria is out, once this fear mongering is out, then we can have a deal, and a deal that is not going to hurt anybody,” he said.

CONGRESS: “They can never take … OUR FREEDOM”

The Washington Post looks at the House Freedom Caucus, the group of conservatives causing headaches for John Boehner. But leader Rep. Jim Jordan says there's no effort underway to oust the Speaker.

Roll Call: "For Hoyer and McCarthy, the Floor Dance is Getting Tense"

The president’s war authorization bill is in big trouble on Capitol Hill, reports POLITICO.

OFF TO THE RACES: Q-poll: Walker and Bush leading the GOP pack

A new Quinnipiac poll shows Scott Walker narrowly leading Jeb Bush in a nationwide poll of GOP voters, 18 percent to 16 percent. Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee are next, at eight percent each.

CHRISTIE: "For more than a decade, the New Jersey attorney general’s office conducted a hard-fought legal battle to hold Exxon Mobil Corporation responsible for decades of environmental contamination in northern New Jersey. But when the news came that the state had reached a deal to settle its $8.9 billion claim for about $250 million, the driving force behind the settlement was not the attorney general’s office — it was Gov. Chris Christie’s chief counsel, Christopher S. Porrino, two people familiar with the negotiations said," according to the New York Times.

CLINTON: She tweeted last night that she's asked the State Department to release her emails.

From the New York Times: "An aide who had been with the Clintons since the 1990s, Justin Cooper, registered the domain name, clintonemail.com, which had a server linked to the Clintons’ home address in Chappaqua, N.Y. Obtaining an account from that domain became a symbol of status within the family’s inner circle, conferring prestige and closeness to the secretary."

And the House Committee on Benghazi says it has issued subpoenas for Clinton's emails related to the attacks.

The Associated Press: "Hillary Rodham Clinton's use of a private email address and private computer server for official State Department business heightened security risks to her communications, such as the inadvertent disclosure of sensitive information and the danger from hackers, several information security experts said." Also, the White House counsel was reportedly not aware of her email habits.

The Washington Post ed board: "Her decision to exclusively use a private e-mail account while secretary suggests she made a deliberate decision to shield her messages from scrutiny. It was a mistake that reflects poor judgment about a public trust."

Former Vilsack adviser Matt Paul will manage her Iowa campaign.

CRUZ: His book will be published on June 30, the AP reports.

RUBIO: He unveiled his new tax code overhaul effort yesterday.

WALKER: NARAL Pro-Choice America is taking on Scott Walker's record on abortion with a full-page ad in the Des Moines Register.

And around the country...

IOWA: A 2016 number to remember: About 39,000 Iowans would be affected by a Supreme Court decision gutting subsidies.

MARYLAND: Rep. Chris Van Hollen says he's running for Senate.

UTAH: Mitt Romney wants a presidential primary in Utah, not a caucus, reports the Salt Lake Tribune.

PROGRAMMING NOTES.

*** Thursday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: Tamron Hall speaks with NBC’s Rehema Ellis and Defense attorney Jon Sheldon about The Boston Bomber trial, Civil rights attorney John Burris to discuss the report by the Department of Justice concerning police tactics in Ferguson MO., Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York Linda Sarsour about two new Muslim holidays added to the Public School calendar, and MSNBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald about the latest on the controversy surrounding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of her private email account while in office.

*** Thursday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Senator John McCain, Congressman Xavier Becerra, Congresswoman Terri Sewell, Bloomberg’s Jeanne Cummings