A.M. Links: Snowden Reportedly in Plea Talks, Bergdahl Fallout Keeps Growing, Friendly Fire Kills Five in Afghanistan

• Edward Snowden is reportedly in talks with U.S.
  officials over a possible deal that would allow him to
  return to the United States.

• The fallout from the controversial Bergdahl prisoner swap
  
  continues to grow this week as lawmakers from both sides of the
  aisle sharply criticize the White House for failing to brief
  Congress on its plan to trade five Taliban fighters held at
  Guantanamo for captured Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

• Five U.S. troops
  were killed on Monday in a friendly fire incident in
  Afghanistan.

• Insurgents have
  taken control of key areas of the city of Mosul in northern
  Iraq.

• Hillary Clinton’s new memoir Hard Choices hits the
  shelves today. Critics have described the book as a “low-salt,
  low-fat, low-calorie offering” and a
  “newsless snore.”

• “During the Obama administration, according to the Pentagon,
  
  police departments have received tens of thousands of machine
  guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of
  camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers,
  armored cars and aircraft.”

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