ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm national press club welcome to garrison keillor. [applause] garrison: thank you very much. john, you are much too kind. don't make that mistake again. you will be held to account for it. it is an honor to be here with you and such a great honor that i have gone to the lengths of writing out the speech which i never ever do. reminds me too much of being in college. 15 things that need to change right away is the revised title of my speech. [laughter] garrison: i came up with this because i was thinking about another speech i gave which was a great honor. i was invited to give the baccalaureate address at princeton university. i was up in princeton earlier this week and it all came back to me much too clearly. i wrote this speech. i thought i should say something inspiring to these young graduates, something about life is adversity, it is in struggle that we come to understand ourselves. i thought i should make it funny and so i worked on that end i had a story about the first out house tipping that i experienced in minnesota which i w

well garrison keillor is a storyteller, author, humorist and radio personality. he's best known as the voice on the radio program he created 40 years ago. a prairie home companion is now heard by more than 4 million listeners each week. the program as we know is set in lake woe begin, a fictional town in minnesota. this is the place where children are above average, men are good looking, and women are strong. as a humorist, keeler is often compared with mark twain and will rogers. like mr. rogers, keillor has made multiple visits here to the national press club. he spoke here in 1986, 1987, and he spoke again in 1949. after 21 years, we are so glad that he's back again and clearly he was waiting until minnesotans were more in charge of the place before he was going to come back. keillor is in the nation's capital for performances at wolf trap today and tomorrow, and this summer he hits the road for a prairie home companion's america the beautiful. this is a tour of 30 cities in 36 days. his latest book, the keillor reader, just came out in soft cover and on july

garrison keillor has been at the helm of the variety show since 1974. host will take over after keelor's final show next year. >>> the robot world cup as some people call it. is taking place. more than 300 teens from 47 countries are seeing who built the best robot. service robots rescue robots even soccer robots. it was created to bring scientists and engineers together so they could learn from each other's work. >>> ohio governor john kasich is throwing his hat in the presidential ring governor kasich will become the 16th major gop presidential candidate. kasich is expected to be the last major republican to join the crowded field. >>> happy birthday to "orange is the new black" star diane guerrero and former "snl" cast member jon lovitz turns 58. i'm melissa rehberger, thank you for watching "early today." >>> rethinking immigration policy in the wake of kate steinle's death. today her father testifies before d.c. lawmakers looking to make sweeping changes. >>> and shots fired in a normally quiet bay area neighborhood. why police say the officer felt

garrison keillor: kwame dawes was born in ghana and grew up in jamaica. he has published 13 books of poetry, many books of fiction, nonfiction and drama, and he's the author of the first in-depth study of the lyrics of bob marley. he teaches at the university of south carolina. he says of his poetry, "often i am not writing to describe what i have seen, but trying to voice what the work is stirring in me." "tornado child." tornado child, tornado child. i, i'm a tornado child. i come like a swirl of black and darken up your day; i whip it all up into my womb, lift you and your things, carry you where you've never been, and maybe, if i feel good, i might bring you back, all warm and scared, heart humming wild like a bird after early sudden flight. 'cause i'm a tornado child. i tremble at the elements. when thunder rolls my mother womb trembles, remembering the tweak of contractions that tightened to a wail when my mother pushed me out into the black of a tornado night. i'm a tornado child, you can tell us from far by the crazy of our hair; couldn't tame it

. >> coming up next, garrison keillor, host of npr "prairie home companion" talks about the issues of the day. after that, discussion on foundation work on behalf of american war veterans. former stampers for president george h dubya bush share experiences working in the white house. >> npr's prairie home companion host recently announced he plans to leave the show by 2016 and handing them to mandolin player and singer. he spoke at the national press club in may delivering a speech titled, "15 things that need to change right away" and they include gay rights, the 2016 presidential race. >> welcome to the national press club. my name is john hughes. i am an editor for bloomberg first word. i am president of the club. just for today, i also went to mention, i am a native minnesota andn. our guest today is minnesota's terracing keillor, the greatest american storyteller and host of the long-running radio show "a prairie home companion." i want to introduce our head table. each person should stand briefly as names are announced. from the audience is right, sam husseini communication dire