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Let's partner for all of it. Learn more@edwardjones.com Jane Pauley, this is Sunday morning. It's Memorial Day weekend when we honor all those who have died in the service of our country is also the unofficial start of summer the season for traveling to interesting places at home and abroad and for anyone hoping to visit a geographical oddity.

The exact center of North America be advised. The location is not so much a bull's-eye as it is a moving target as hourly coward will explain the center of the continent of North America is somewhere in North Dakota but there's disagreement as to exactly where what they think of controversy says about the Muslims. All of the wallboard bolt one is the center of our continent even know and does it matter I had on Sunday morning where any conversation this morning with the great comic Impressionist Rich Little.

He's a man of so many voices. It's hard to keep up the Tracy Smith will try one of her world minus the only thing I worry is the past 16 years Rich Little has been what you might call the impersonator and chief will so how long do you think you be doing this. Well, you know, George Burns should have a ration to get out of bed or get into bed. The imitable Rich Little later on Sunday morning.

Okay okay gotcha gotcha the dols Bob and Elizabeth are celebrated political couple who take the long view. This morning there sharing that view and more with Rita braver. Almost 98. He's one of America's senior statesman from his World War II injuries to his recent diagnosis of cancer. Bob Dole has always faced adversity with courage what's kept you going well were all going to have bumps in the road.

I figured these were my bumps I had on Sunday morning. The grit and gratitude of Bob Dole David Martin takes us to meet America's last surviving World War II medal of honor recipient and more.

It's Sunday morning May 30, 2021 and will be back after this. For some of us visiting geographic use is a bucket list must, but we found one point of interest right smack in the bull's-eye of a debate that may never be resolved. Lee Cowan takes us there or tries to. The prairie grass of North Dakota can look like it's waving hello but even the geeks just fly right. Dakota is not only one of the least visited states.

It's also one of the last on a tourist bucket list and yet porn left out North Dakota may actually be the center of our world since the 30s right yet that has 1931 stone monument to go to population about 2700 marks the area, but some say is the geographical center of our North American continent. That's really fun to say no I'm from North Dakota and felt fine and you can say I limit the geographical center of North America.

That's pretty cool. Kathy Jolson used to be the director of Rugby's geographical center historical Society part of her job was to point wayward tourists to what is now the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant where they could bask in the magnificent significance that is the middle. I think it's in your mind.

Maybe I feel centered in the center.

So how was it determined that this was a common well. Around 1930 employee with the US geological survey simply took a cutout of the map of the North American and then you try to balance it on the top of the pin not the most sophisticated method. Perhaps what do you argue with it for decades. Rugby embraced the designation gave this tiny dot on the Prairie true sense of place after the southern political much apology call the Statue of Liberty, so this matter to rugby the Grand Canyon about that.

That's true.

This is where you live here or fine dining with her because there is this prayer Clay Jenkins humanity scholar and North Dakota native blissfully never questioned rugby's title until will be learned of Hansen's bar and its owner claimed the center of the continent was actually about 100 miles south in the town of Robinson population. About 30 that I was offended. Who is this jerk oneness with this little palms one claim to cosmic say everything because such a stir, the lender meant no harm. It was a simple trivia question that he and a few buddies called into question.

Lots of trial and error, but one night, armed with the globe. Some string and more than a few beers with multiple pieces string. They made the case that the continent center was perhaps not so coincidentally right beneath the bar itself demand what we later at night are far more scientific than no child coming out a cutout balancing. He checked to see if rugby trademark their precious phrase geographical center and it turned out they had door plot, they let it lapse.

So I just got my typed and registered everything and paid the $307.

It was booming on at that point there was registered to Hansen's bar.

Very nice but lost geographical center. What would be deemed to another town in the middle of nowhere. The midpoint meltdown soon got around Prof. in the geography department at the University at Buffalo decided he'd give it a crack was really just pure curiosity on your part. Slowly Prof. Peter Rogerson latitude longitude from around the edges of North America and plugged those Continental coordinates special algorithm that he designed to find the seven, you have to take into account that the Earth's surface is curved and want find that balance point in a proper way the program ran through all the numbers and spot it was again in North Dakota but this time we do not center was near a town actually named center center North Dakota you can't make this up. I plotted the surprise as I couldn't really believe that it happened was very right. I guess we could probably get the phone or ideal site for on the hill, especially the view yeah is it you see you can see forever Dave Berger enrichment both born and raised in center which incidentally got its name because the center of the county decided to celebrate its newfound fame just like every other town had a cold cold line and said what a pretty rock such a thing is a pretty rock and in the coal mine lady called me two weeks later and said I found your rock 30,000 pounds of permanence were pretty confident that this is going to be in the archives. This is a permanent site by some really heavy rock. As for Hansen's bar Bill Bender back down and gave the geographical center trademark back to rugby sortable surrender. Surrender. Surrender. Through it all. Rugby never missed a beat sales T-shirts and shot glasses just kept going as if nothing had ever happened caused a lot of stress for people, but it turned out to be a great year. What do you think this controversy says about the code say anything about the word such that the same zone of the world largest ball of twine.

This is about something of no consequence really that sort of has a lovable absurdity right at the center that if it helps North Dakota even the puny little way for his advice chase after the sinners, while UK confidence to wander after role. Well that is often so why not want to hear yourself and enjoy what one of the least visited states has to offer. The dols former Senators Bob and Elizabeth share a very long personal and political history, and then not done yet by any means is Rita braver discovered in a recent visit displayed when paying homage to Pres. George H. W. Bush, former Sen. Robert Dole of Kansas has always been known for his fortitude.

So it comes as no surprise.

Taking his diagnosis of stage IV lung cancer in stride. How are you doing on doing very well but I have to keep in mind I'm also going to be 98, July so I'm getting to be a senior citizen citizen with a lifetime of public service behind him. Sen. Dole and his wife Elizabeth herself, a former Sen. and cabinet member recently talked with us about his storied career he has these values that I think were foraged in that little town in Russell, Kansas by wonderful, caring, loving family.

Dole was a high school athlete who wanted to be a doctor but World War II intervened. He was a young Army captain advancing against German fortifications in Italy. The Germans got him with machine gun fire date they crushed his right shoulder. His spinal cord was injured and he actually Rita. He lay on the battlefield for 10 hours. Bob Dole lost the use of his right arm and would spend three years recuperating but what she focuses on is the support from his hometown, symbolized by this cigar box my friends in Dawson drugstore Russell, Kansas when I heard that I wanted test the box around It on the counter and asked people give money when you decided to marry.

If he ever say T lock you know you're getting somebody got some limitations. He never said that to me but let me share with you what happened when we were visiting my parents in North Carolina. Bob lift his bedroom and he had a towel over his shoulder, that it been crushed. He walked up to my mother and he said Mrs. Sanford. I think you should see my problem mother looked at Bob and she said Bob that is not a problem.

It's a badge of honor. What that says about the character of both of those dear people that I love so much. You just tell 405 and Elizabeth Dole married in 1975.

He has one daughter Robin from his first marriage. He decided on a life of public service while still recovering from his wounds figured out that the rest of our life is not an option. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1960 US 68 Americans really got 19 six I'm extremely proud to you Sen. Bob go the great state of Kansas as my running mate for victory in 1976 Bob Bob Dole ticket with Jimmy Carter and with them on Dole ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988 when he waits in the Senate 84, becoming party leader final vote 2825 outgoing Majority Leader Howard Baker officially introducing the winter was a mainstreaming public for lower taxes and smaller government, but he worked with Democrats on issues like saving Social Security supporting civil rights act. Both dolls always prided themselves on working across the something that is rare these days. Do you feel like you are in step with today's Republican Party where the parties concerned. It's the divisiveness that concerns me that we gotta get past that Sen. some people were surprised that you supported Pres. Trump's reelection given how different your tone in your approach to life's help he could use Martone a mother I had some good policies.

But Dole quickly accepted the fact that Joe Biden won the election.

Election was over as much is many of us Republican that had gone the other way. Bob Dole has personal experience of losing a presidential election was bested by Bill Clinton in 1996 quickly rallied Bob Dole as a fighter, you can't hold it down is going to bounce back Bob goes on the table a friendly relationship with his former Senate colleague now president Joe Biden call after hearing news of dols cancer always policies that you can't really find some more news decent fine.

That's Joe Les Mr. person made this announcement. I am pleased to be able to star our nation so Pres.

Also don't effort to build the National World War II Memorial. Dole helped raise some $170 million in private funds and would frequently visit the Memorial to great fellow veterans just one of many good works. He carried out after leaving the Senate pledge one time was make a difference in the life of at least one person every day, probably failed part of that are still work and send other Bob Dole plans to keep working at it and I don't go, that's up to our level. I want to try to make on right replanting the hundredth birthday party try to attend if I can.

This morning we honor not just those who died in service to our country, we honor as well. A combat survivor David Martin tells us about the heroes of Iwo Jima and the last man standing.

Herschel Woody Williams is literally one-of-a-kind the age of 97. Here's the last living recipient of the medal of honor for two but it's the way he lived all those years since that really sets them apart. I felt that I owed back more than I could have possibly give you grew up on a farm in West Virginia during the Great Depression there were 11 board of my family. Only five of us survived to adult after Pearl Harbor, he tried to enlist in the Marines but was rejected as too short reading started taking her renders casualties fighting the Japanese across the Pacific height limit was eased and he ended up a Marie what was your first taste of combat like exceedingly scary February 1945, a massive invasion fleet gathered off the Japanese held island of Iwo Jima. We didn't know that they had 22,000 Japanese we know that they had miles of tunnel dug out. A volcano is pictured in the movie letters from Iwo Jima.

The Japanese held their fire until after the Marines have landed, then turned the beach into a slaughterhouse. The beach was full of everything from time blowing up more than 6000 Marines with the perspective of the court would finally Marines made it to the top of Mount Suribachi for the most famous flag raising in American history did you notify Google note did not. I think I had my head buried in the sand flag was a way to run from show to show greater find one. And finally we get this long line of pillboxes reinforced concrete Japanese machine guns inside the pill boxes cut down the advancing Marines to Williams commander turned to him. Do you think you could do something with what you're supposed to do flying through put flame in the pillbox show that you would annihilate everybody within covering fire from four rifleman Williams crawled toward the first pillbox Japanese bullet ricocheted off his point up on top of this pillbox a little bit of blue smoke rolling out of the top, crawled up on top of the pipe that does just about the same shot from my friends or not Williams is credited with taking out seven pillboxes in the course of four hours. That was February 1944 and surrendered in September of that year, Williams was on Guam killing time when he suddenly received a summons to go see the general said what for the good. That's what I thought scared to death him following orders. So I walk walk up to and he said the Uribe order back to walk I'd never heard no such thing existed. The board from client Dale West Virginia found himself at the White House being presented the medal of honor by Pres. Truman.

I never even dreamed of being able to see president of the states standing shaking hands with the you talk about scared moment correct everyone got over the nerves but never the responsibility that comes with the metal especially when he learned that Cpl. worn born holes. Pfc. Charles Fisher to the rifleman who would provided covering fire during those four hours of flaming hell, had been killed. Once I learned that my whole concept of the metal change. I said this metal does not belong to me. It blocks so I wear it in there on. They sacrificed their lives to make that possible. Williams learned what that sacrifice meant to their families at an early age.

Remember the scene from saving Pvt. Ryan with the car drives up to tell her mother, her son is been killed in combat will Woody Williams delivered those Western Union telegrams before he joined the Marie Diablo she just collapsed as an 18-year-old boy what to do didn't do it left no job of making up for now. I left a lasting impression on my mind made me realize what it costs just to have our frequent be who we are. You work for the Department of Veterans Affairs for 33 years afterwards. He set up the Woody Williams foundation to support Goldstar families and design this monument in their honor were all 50 states that require a lot of travel on your part. We try to attend every dedication and every groundbreaking for Covidien at this 90 something would be on the road more than 200 days a year while you drive yourself like that marriage everybody would understand if it begged off.

This is my way of making sure that all Goldstar family members are not forgotten. This past April, Charles Coolidge, the only other living medal of honor recipient from World War II passed away.

The last man standing. Does that add to the feeling of responsibility. Yes, it never wonder what you've been given so long to live. Maybe I'm making somebody else's life a little better a little more meaningful. Williams has led the most meaningful life possible. Although he puts it differently just absolutely the most fortunate person you could play and one more thing we learned about the last man standing is also the pool was 97 in the United States of America. This is intelligence matters with former acting Dir. of the CIA. Michael Morel bridge Colby is cofounder and principal of the Marathon initiative project focused on developing strategies to prepare the United States for an era of sustained great power competition states put her mind to something, we can usually figure it out what people are saying and what we can know analytically and purely as our strategic situation or situations not being matched up with follow. Intelligence matters where ever you get your podcasts form of travel is getting more serious look these days and our faith sanely says it's about time you wanted to hit fast forward or mind on life for as long as the concept of time urge to break the bonds of time is well actually the very first story in 400 BCE, 2500 years old back is a professor of science fiction studies at Georgia Tech. She says those early time travel stories were full of magic, not science buys industrial culture train schedule from station to station ships that had to cross bodies of water and we have to make sure that humans in different parts of the world were telling time in the same way and control over time so that brings us to absolutely 18 Time Machine Wells seen the first automobiles being tested first cycle through a few centuries has turned that first time travel movies behind all this fiction right, not a whole lot author and physicist Brian Greene. I want to understand time travel completely. Don't dumb it down. How does it work you model space-time is a four dimensional housework, differentiable manifold that you can have trajectories of two observers that begin at one moment in time.

Okay were going to some time traveling I'm going to go back a few seconds and we ask that question I want to understand time travel.

Please dumb it down, time travel to the future Israel. You want to see what the earth would be like a million years from now, Albert Einstein tells you how to go about doing it rocketship travel out for six months.

Near the speed of light.

Turn around and come back and went fast enough you will come back one year older. According to your own plot earth will of a thousand or a million or billion or trillion years depending on how quickly you went when you step on the ship. It will be the future you will have leapfrogged traveled into the future and according to Einstein it's not just speed that affects time it's gravity to just ask Scott and Mark Kelly, twin brothers born six minutes apart back in 1964 in 2016 Scott and asked her not return to earth after 340 days zipping around in the international space station when he touched down a few milliseconds to the original six minute each. Scott, in other words, traveled in time because these are two individuals that experience different gravitational field. One was up one was down different strengths of gravity time lapses at different rates.

In fact we do this all the time. Every time we go up in an elevator.

We are traveling through time at a different rate. But what everyone wants to know do you think that we will be able to time travel in the future. I do it's hard to say when exactly how but since it's part of physics as we understand it at some point we will be able to make use of these ideas and travel to the future. Greene thinks traveling to the past like Bill and Ted is much less likely. Which is just fine for a majority of American NRCS news poll to the future is where they want to travel anyway. Our fascination with time travel might help us appreciate something else entirely says science fiction studies professor at least back so easy to always be thinking about memories for sinking forward to accomplish the experience of the here and now in the richness Rich Little has turned his gift for comic impersonation into one very big and seemingly unstoppable career.

He's in conversation with Tracy Smith.

Is it true that when you became a US citizen. The judge asked you to do it in a John Wayne voice now the center Montessori when is John Wayne so I got up there and I said while Lester, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States don't proudly in case you were wondering. Rich Little is alive and well on any given night. Wallace's George Bush senior okay okay gotcha gotcha right now he's in Vegas filling the reduced capacity shows that the factory at the Tropicana, but to Rich Little's been in showbiz longer than some of his audience members have been alive every a supply I did early micro bus stop.

The walls of his home are hung with photos of people he's met along the way.

Some of the biggest names of the last century is sometimes hard to believe that you knew all these people. Yeah it is. It is made.

There's a shot of John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Glenn Ford can't get any bigger than the Canadian born entertainer got his start imitating his teachers at school need sneak into the movies with a tape recorder so he could hear a celebrity voice over and over that once got him kicked out of a theater showing Jimmy Stewart's 1954 film the far country. I told Jimmy about this when I first met him you you… I said you ruptured your children got a hold of me… I caught a shot shot to the movie at my fellow Americans. My name is Hubert H. Humphrey all my name is my name is Rex little boy. I got us by the 1970s become pretty much a stir on TV, especially game shows you what you doing Rich Little's been called Mr. everybody that he says he can actually do about 100 voices really well. Can you do voices for everybody on this wall. Well first of all there's Knowing you will poop sheer burning match, the Braves are playing a game Sean Conroy pulled right and wrong will feel grown so my phone: he's also done just about every president from Richard Nixon to Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George Bush, George Bush, and this summer he'll be in New York appearing in an off-Broadway play as Nixon about what would've happened if he hadn't resigned to have a favorite impersonation. Yeah I would say Ronald Reagan will because he was a great friend got along right together. I was even up in the quarters in the White House for lunch. In fact, when the Reagan left Washington for good home to California. Rich Little was one of the first to greet them when they landed. I think my impression is getting better and better every time I do use her words. All truth is impersonation's haven't always been just when Dean Niven shot this movie.

He was terminally ill with ALS and his voice was barely a whisper. So a lot of what moviegoers heard was actually rich Little I'm sure the size is totally up to date on my somewhat checkered but maybe his best-known impersonation was Tonight Show legend Johnny Carson little was a regular on the show for years and even guest hosted a number of times until the show abruptly stopped calling. What happened with the Tonight Show while I was never quite sure either.

I said something that rubbed somebody the wrong way, or Johnny got tired of me imitating him. I don't know, but suddenly I was a noble, show, and I tried to find out why, but I never really found out they did meet again after Carson retired in a chance encounter in a Malibu restaurant and when he came over to the table. He should rush or are you still are you still impersonating me and I said of course is really well yeah John mean people love. It's one of my best impressions why I thought you are not on the air anymore. Maybe they maybe they forgot me know know know God knew it. All my gosh I'll be doing for years.

Which is true because I'm still going on the world's greatest crossword puzzle addict, died yesterday and tomorrow are going to bury him 8 feet down 3 feet across these days. Rich Little is still keeping Johnny's memory those of dozens of others alive here and hello and after nearly 60 years voices come naturally to have the hard part is to have us trying to have his voice fading away when you get to be as old as I am. It's tougher to get on TV now I'm thrilled to be on the show today because this is probably the first time I've been on on network television in 30 years 30 years. Do you miss yeah I do. I think what happens is when you get older, people don't really want to book you want to show maybe they think you're not funny anymore and I don't know. So this is a big throw from the book was over. Well, I have no doubt it well Lelia that's all folks on this memorial day eve Steve Hartman is looking to reprise the observance he championed last year. 10-year-old Caitlin Sanders city, Maryland, is hard at work practicing the 24 notes this memorial day found all his mouth will I heard you a lot better the terrible Caitlin and her sister Lauren are returning participants in what we hope is becoming an American tradition we started tabs across America last year as a way to safely commemorate Memorial day during the pandemic and the response we got still gives me chills. Almost as much a song precise 3 o'clock musicians from all 50 states played taps in what turned out one of the largest physical attributes of all time roughly 1000 soloists all play. I was quite emotional when I saw the videos GRE Villa Nueva is with taps for veterans and our partner in this wonder how to explain it. I think this comes from an underlying feeling of Americans wanting to be part of something bigger than they are. Yeah, I just decided that's what I need to do Bob Drews of Alabama had never played an instrument before seeing what happened last year you felt compelled to take part this has been practicing every day. Watched families, which is so will critics. But I'm still mode because it means a lot to me the country. Too often this all can answer whatever you please join this month taps across America, the infamous massacre that Took Pl. in Tulsa, OK one century ago holds important lessons for us today as we hear from New York Times columnist Charles blow 100 years ago today in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a black teenage shiner named Dick Roland stepped onto an elevator being operated by a 17-year-old white girl wild allegations about what happened on that elevator between the two teams would lead to one of the most notorious massacres in American history. Roland was arrested the next morning in the Tulsa Tribune printed an incendiary article claiming that the young man had attempted to assault the girl a white mob descended on the courthouse demanding that Roland turned over to the armed, black men showed up to defend rolled in and prevent him from being lynched.

Gunfire erupted it would lead to what would become known as the Tulsa massacre as white people began to shoot black on-site as many as 300 people were killed and 8000 were left homeless is the once thriving, self-sufficient black community of Greenwood, also known as Black Wall Street was reduced to ashes. Rather than remember and atone for this atrocity. Tulsa will begin efforts to embrace the incident from history, but it could not be erased from the memory of those who lived in 2018.

I had the great honor of interviewing Olivia Jake Hooker, one of the last known survivors of the Tulsa massacre. She was a spry 103 years old when I met her she would die just two months later was a little girl at the time of the massacre just six years old and she remembers things as a child, the terror of hiding with siblings beneath an oak dining table as the legs of white terrorists moved around. It was the memory of those men destroying filing or stealing all the beautiful things. The things that represented the reality of black refinement held the possibility of black joy.

They took a hatchet to my sister's piano.

They poured oil all over my grandmother's bed. They took all the silverware that mama had just got for Christmas. If anything looked precious took reflections illustrated clearly to me that this massacre wasn't only about an incident on an elevator or terror and mass murder. It was also about covetousness and spite about the erasure of a black excellence that, but it's very existence poses a fundamental threat to white supremacy, Black Wall Street represented black prosperity even in an age of oppression so white supremacy have to destroy our broadcast writer Tom Harris is retiring this weekend. After 43 years at CBS and more than 1000 Sunday mornings in which he found just the right words to match the memorable pictures in our stories because he spent those years toiling over the keyboard. There are a lot of photos we have to show you Tom were but perhaps that's thing for a man who is dedicated his career to the written word elevating the art of language in a medium not always known for its erudition. Tom Harris has made the Sunday morning stuff. Charles Kuralt, Charles Osgood and Jane probably smarter, funnier and more heartfelt than we might never have been without his wonderful and as much as will miss his work on the yeah will miss his dry humor around the office every bit as much. We wish Tom and his wife Joan and daughter Lindsay nothing but the best. As they authored together this next chapter in their lives. Thanks Tom for all the years and all those words in the post you Tom Harris for being the best there is here air here.

Thank you for listening.

Please join us when our trumpet sounds again next Sunday morning. I drew Barrymore all my goodness, I want to tell you about our new shout to his knees and each episode mean weekly gas and other quirky find inspiring and informative stories that exist because well I and maybe you do to newest interior design trend Barbie car to the right and wrong way to wash her arm. Also getting the things that you just kind of well probably not able to do in daytime television. So watch out. Tristan is ever you get your podcast good news on the got