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Hundreds of pages of transcribed interviews reveal that IRS employees in Washington were involved at an early stage in the improper targeting of Tea Party groups — but at least so far the trail stops well short of the White House.

Based on interviews with two longtime IRS employees working in the Cincinnati field office, there's no smoking gun, no direct connection to the Obama administration or even any indication that those involved in the flagging of conservative groups had political motives.

The Boston Bruins have taken the lead in the NHL's Stanley Cup championships, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 Monday night in Boston. Interestingly, last night wasn't a tense, drawn-out reprise of Games 1 and 2 and did not require an overtime.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, data mining and privacy issues are in the news. But we want to talk about some data that could affect your life in ways you might not have considered. We're talking about your credit reports and we'll talk about how errors can appear and cost you plenty, and what to do about that. That's coming up later in the program.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. If you are a parent, you might be breathing a sigh of relief or already tearing your hair out trying to find things for the kids to do. Yes, it's that time. It's summer. One thing you'll probably want them to do, though, is keep reading. So our moms roundtable will pass on some of their tried and true methods for getting even reluctant readers to keep reading through the summer. That's coming up later in the program.

Who are you going to call for help when it comes to figuring out your health insurance?

Next year, when insurance marketplaces open under the federal health law and many job-based and individual plans have to meet new standards for coverage and costs, chances are that lots of people are going to need a hand navigating the system.

Depending on where they live, some will probably have an easier time of it than others.

U.S. officials say the Taliban has agreed to begin long-stalled negotiations with the Afghan and American governments at the group's new political office in Doha, Qatar.

The talks with the U.S. could begin in days, NPR's Scott Horsley tells our Newscast unit. He says the milestone agreement comes after months of "diplomatic spadework."

What started as small protests about higher bus fares has swelled into nationwide, massive anti-government demonstrations in Brazil.

Last night, reports O Globo, more than 100,000 protesters filled the streets of Rio de Janeiro, while an additional 65,000 hit the streets of São Paulo. Nothing tells the story quite like this video of the streets of Rio posted by Lucio Amorim on Twitter:

Earlier this year, the U.S. government accused China's military of running a massive cyberspying campaign to steal business secrets from American companies.

"We've made it very clear to China and some other state actors that, you know, we expect them to follow international norms and abide by international rules," President Obama told ABC News in March.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. A special odor is added to natural gas. You know that smell meant to warn you of possible trouble? Last weekend New York officials added an odor to mask the odor. They were fixing a pipeline in Harlem and didn't want a flood of 911 calls over gas leaks that weren't considered dangerous because they were in the open. So they masked the smell by adding cinnamon to the gas. We have no word if area coffee shops sold out of rolls. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning, I'm David Greene with congratulations to Laura Gramble. She graduated from Indiana University. To celebrate, mom ordered a cake - Indiana red and white with a photo of Laura's face. And one more request, a graduation cap made of icing. The baker evidently misheard and drew a cat, instead, on Laura's head; pink nose, white whiskers. The Gramble laughed it off and kept the cake from the bakery. Laura says they must have thought she was going to become a veterinarian.

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

At a ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday, NATO officially handed over security of Afghanistan to the country's forces. It marked the first time the whole nation has been under Afghan control since the coalition invaded to oust the Taliban in 2001.

From Brussels, Teri Schultz filed this report for our Newscast unit:

"Afghan forces are now leading security operations all over the country, as NATO-led forces gradually drop back into a supporting role in the remaining, most difficult, districts.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some other news. Authorities in New York have announced the arrest of eight men and one woman who operate several 7-Eleven convenience stores in New York and in Virginia. They're accused of staffing their stores with undocumented workers and then stealing those workers' wages.

From member station WNYC, Ilya Marritz has details.

In a 45-minute interview with PBS' Charlie Rose, President Obama defended a government program that collects vast data about the electronic activity of Americans.

Obama rejected comparisons to the Bush-Cheney administration, saying his administration had implemented new safeguards to protect Americans' privacy.