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The U.S. Department of Commerce reported today that retail sales are up for the tenth straight month. Sales in April rose half a percent. Host Michel Martin and NPR's Senior Business Editor Marilyn Geewax discuss what these retail sales figures mean for the economy this summer and for the country's long term fiscal health.

ENTER TEASER

"Given the ongoing threats facing the United States, as well as the leadership transitions at other agencies like the Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency ... continuity and stability at the FBI is critical at this time," Obama says.

The president will ask Congress to keep Robert Mueller in his job for an extra two years, the White House announced Thursday. FBI directors typically cannot serve any longer than 10 years.

A new bill would create private companies to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But the government would continue to guarantee mortgages.

It's graduation time and commentator Ursula Goodenough shares part of a speech she gave to students at the University of Southern California. Her advice? Embrace the concepts of courage, community and play!

Fireballs seemed to be flying over the city as lightning hit electric lines.

Wounded soldiers often spend months in physical therapy rebuilding their strength; soldiers with traumatic brain injuries face an equally grueling challenge. Computerized mental exercises may be exhausting, but doctors and patients hope they will improve focus and memory.

Robert Siegel talks with electrical engineering and computer science professor Ruzena Bajcsy about one of the inventors of the C.C.D. — the charged coupling device. Scientist Willard Boyle's creation is found in bar code scanners, digital photography, medical endoscopes and the Hubble Space Telescope. Boyle, who won a Nobel Prize for his invention, recently died at age 86.

The stated reason for the hearing was so Senate Democrats could explore with energy executives why their industry, with its huge profits from higher gas prices, should still benefit from $21 billion annually in tax breaks. But it was also about political posturing by all sides.