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First Read's Morning Clips

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

OFF THE RACES: The 10 who made the cut

Here's who will be on the primetime debate stage on Thursday night: Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Chris Christie and John Kasich.

Some of the candidates left out of the major debate are crying foul, writes Andrew Rafferty.

This is not a great story for either candidate. From the Daily Beast and Vocativ: "More than 60 ultra-rich Americans have contributed to both Jeb Bush’s and Hillary Clinton’s federal campaigns, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data by Vocativ and The Daily Beast. Seventeen of those contributors have gone one step further and opened their wallets to fund both Bush’s and Clinton’s 2016 ambitions."

BIDEN: Driving Biden coverage today, via the New York Times. Some friends "fret that Mr. Biden, as well known for his undisciplined, sometimes self-immolating comments as he is for his charm on the trail, could endanger Mr. Obama’s own legacy by injuring Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy and causing his party to lose control of the White House."

BUSH: He released his personal financial disclosure last night, showing that he earned more than $1.8 million from speaking fees since the beginning of 2014 and about $7 million from his consulting and strategy firm. More from the AP: "The filings reveal that Bush has benefited from business relationships with some of the same people who now back his campaign. Bush reported earning an estimated $121,889 from Clinical Medical Services Inc., a Puerto Rican home health care services company. Raul Rodriguez, president and chairman of the company, appeared on a list released last week of million-dollar donors to the super PAC supporting Bush."

More from the Wall Street Journal: "For more than seven years, nearly the length of his two gubernatorial terms, Mr. Bush, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, spent as much as half of his working hours advising Lehman and later Barclays, which bought the collapsed investment bank’s U.S. business. He wasn’t an employee of the firms, said people familiar with the matter, but was paid to attend meetings, dinners and conferences where he spoke to clients and bank executives on such subjects as health care, education, immigration and energy—matters he has started taking up this year with voters. Mr. Bush earned about $1.3 million a year at Lehman and some $2 million from Barclays, his campaign said."

Here's a good roundup of his statement on women's health last night, the cleanup and the battle with Hillary Clinton.

CLINTON: Breaking overnight from the Washington Post: "The FBI has begun looking into the security of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s private e-mail setup, contacting in the past week a Denver-based technology firm that helped manage the unusual system, according to two government officials. Also last week, the FBI contacted Clinton’s lawyer, David Ken­dall, with questions about the security of a thumb drive in his possession that contains copies of work e-mails Clinton sent during her time as secretary of state." NBC's Pete Williams confirms the story.

Notes Msnbc.com’s Alex Seitz-Wald: “Now, the gloves are off. Clinton’s team is going out of their way to scold, mock, shame, and slam Republican candidate by name. Gone are the veiled shots and subtle contrasts — instead, what’s in are the hit-you-over-the-head attacks on GOP presidential hopefuls.”

JINDAL: Bobby Jindal's superPAC is broadcasting an ad in Iowa during the GOP debate after missing the cut for the primetime debate.

WALKER: His superpAC is announcing a $7 MILLION ad buy in Iowa, writes CNN.

TRUMP: One of us(!) crunched the numbers from a new NBC/SurveyMonkey poll to find out just where Donald Trump's support is coming from.

Msnbc.com’s Jane Timm notes: “In the three days since his campaign insisted he’d be staying under the radar in order to prepare for Thursday’s Republican presidential debate, Trump did seven interviews.”

OBAMA AGENDA: Selling the Iran deal

He's going to full-court press to try to push the Iran deal in Congress. From the New York Times: "President Obama is rolling out a campaign of private entreaties and public advocacy over the next several weeks to build support in Congress for the nuclear deal with Iran, an effort to counter a well-financed onslaught from critics who have promised to use a monthlong congressional recess to pressure lawmakers to oppose the accord. In a speech at American University in Washington on Wednesday, Mr. Obama will seek to explain and defend the international agreement reached last month, which would lift some sanctions in exchange for restrictions on Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon."

In a lengthy interview with The Atlantic, John Kerry calls the Iran nuclear pact "as pro-Israel as it gets." MORE: "The ayatollah constantly believed that we are untrustworthy, that you can’t negotiate with us, that we will screw them,” Kerry said. “This”—a congressional rejection—“will be the ultimate screwing.”

The Washington Post reports on "impressions of an NSC bureaucracy whose size has come to symbolize an overbearing and paranoid White House that insists on controlling even the smallest policy details, often at the expense of timely and effective decisions."

CONGRESS: McConnell promises no government shutdowns

Via Roll Call: Mitch McConnell is promising no government shutdowns in September. “Let me say it again: no more government shutdowns,” the Kentucky Republican said, when asked how he intended to adhere to his pledge made numerous times. “We have divided government. … At some point we’ll negotiate the way forward.”

PROGRAMMING NOTES.

*** Wednesday's "News Nation with Tamron Hall" line-up: Today on News Nation, Tamron Hall speaks with Democratic Strategist Robert Zimmerman and Republican Strategist Matt Schlapp about Thursday night’s Republican candidate debate, MSNBC’s host of Hardball Chris Matthews, Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin, and Senator from Maryland Ben Cardin about the Iran nuclear deal, and NBC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pete Williams on the FBI looking into security of Former Secretary of State Clinton’s email server.

*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell will interview Sen. Tim Kaine, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the Washington Post’s Carol Leonnig, Anne Gearan, David Ignatius and Chris Cillizza and University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono.