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This is 5G built right. Good morning. I'm Jane Pauley, and this is Sunday morning. Just 17 days until Christmas, and while shopping for gifts may be our top priority right now, buying everyday necessities is a year-round concern, which helps explain the rapid rise of a type of store offering big savings. But this morning, a closer look. Are these savings really a deal or no deal?

Alison Aubrey reports our cover story. There are more than $30,000 stores nationwide. That's more than Starbucks and McDonald's combined. But is there a hidden cost to these bargain retailers? They tend to highly saturate areas. And at what point is enough enough?

The rise of the dollar store and why some cities are pushing back ahead on Sunday morning. When it comes to the legends of comedy, few, if any, have the longevity of Mel Brooks. We know him not just for his hilarious work, but also for his long marriage to another legend, the late actress Anne Bancroft. Mel Brooks. We'll talk about both with Ben Mankiewicz. This is Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. I don't know who's handsomer.

The 2,000-year-old man is 93. When did you know that you were funny? In school, I guess.

My neck still hurts from being taken by the neck to the principal's office. Taking on his own movies. Do you think Blazing Saddles could get made today? I don't know. I don't think so because I went too far. And talking the love of his life. And I scream out, Anne Bancroft, I love you. She said, who are you? I said, I'm Mel Brooks.

At home with Mel Brooks later on Sunday morning. For the record, she's a singer and songwriter who has achieved success at a remarkably young age. Her name is Billie Eilish. And this morning, she's invited our Gayle King into her private studio. In this bedroom, Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas recorded one of this year's biggest albums. She's the youngest person ever nominated for all four major Grammys.

And did we mention she's only 17? I loved singing and I just loved performing. But you didn't think you'd be this.

I didn't think it was possible. The phenomenon that is Billie Eilish coming up on Sunday morning. Rena Ninen will catch up with retired NFL star Rob Gronkowski. Rita Braver visits with our longtime Sunday morning colleague Eugenia Zuckerman. Bill Flanagan takes a stand for Baby Boomers. Plus Steve Hartman and more.

All coming up when our Sunday morning podcast continues. You've seen them. Dollar stores dot the landscape. They offer bargains to be sure.

But overall, are they a deal or no deal? A question which helps explain why Fort Worth passed new restrictions on them just this past week. Our cover story is reported by Alison Aubrey of National Public Radio. Moville, Iowa is part of the nation's breadbasket. So it's a bit of a surprise that it's not easy to buy fresh food in this town of 1600. In 2016, the discount retailer Dollar General opened next door to the local grocer. When Dollar General first come in right away, we our business probably dropped 15, 20%.

Chet Davis is still in the grocery business. But he says his Moville location just could not compete. It's one example in a nationwide controversy about the increasing influence dollar stores can have not only on where we shop, but also on what we eat.

Moville's Dollar General does not sell fresh fruits or vegetables or meats, but it does have lower prices on just about everything else. Some people might look at this situation and say dollar stores are selling what people want at cheap prices. That's competition.

Competition is good, but we're not talking competition where we're on an even playing field. So the volume that they buy, you're under their thumb. With the grocery closed, most of Moville now drives 30 minutes to Sioux City for a head of lettuce. And down the road in correctionville, the local grocer also closed after Dollar General opened there too. In the struggle between Main Street and corporate America, the concern was once Walmart. In town after small town, Main Street is going out of business. Stunned by a huge and controversial discount retailer, shopkeepers call the merchant of death. Today, the focus is on dollar stores.

Consider this. There are now more dollar stores in the US than Starbucks and McDonald's combined. 30,000 of them. As many brick and mortar retailers struggle, dollar stores have quietly expanded to nearly every town in America and bargain hunters love them. I'm just delighted.

I get happy every time I come here. I feel like, oh, somebody is going to change the price any minute now. There are three major chains, Family Dollar located mostly in cities, Dollar Tree, the only store where everything is actually a dollar and Dollar General.

Now the largest retailer in the country when it comes to the number of stores, 16,000. Our stores have that option available to be able to run in, get it and really get out. I'm looking over your shoulder here. These cards, two for a dollar?

Absolutely. Reading cards, two for a dollar. Dollar General spokesperson Crystal Gusemi says they've added a thousand new stores over just the last year. Our core customer has about a $40,000 or less total household income and we know that they are shopping us from very rural areas to metropolitan areas all over the country. In many communities, the dollar store is a real asset, a convenient place to grab detergent or batteries. But in some small towns and urban areas, the dollar store is also the closest thing to a grocery store and this can be a problem. If you could talk to the executives of dollar stores, what would you say to them?

Shame on you. You're killing America just so you can get richer. Wow, that's a pretty strong statement. They have a model that is a brilliant model to make quick bucks off the backs of our health. For years, Barry Popkin has warned Americans about the dangers of too much sugar and soda. Now, the professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is concerned about dollar stores.

They're adding a thousand a year. At a time when poor diets are linked to nearly 900 deaths a day in this country, Popkin says look at what dollar stores sell. Rows and rows of sugary drinks, candies and processed foods high in salt and fat. Increases the risk of heart disease mortality, cancer mortality, diabetes, obesity. This is the worst food that can be bought eating. So is this exacerbating the health problems of the demographic that's shopping there?

Yes, it's adding to the health crisis that lower income America faces. And that's black, Hispanic and white America all shop in these stores. Consider DeKalb County, Georgia, near Atlanta. How many dollar stores do you have here in DeKalb County? Currently, we have a total of 68 family dollar Dollar Tree and Dollar General stores within this district.

County Commissioner Lorraine Cochran Johnson says 25% of people in DeKalb County live in a food desert. That's a low income area with limited access to supermarkets. She worries there are just too many dollar stores in these neighborhoods.

They tend to highly saturate areas. When you look at the pattern of growth of the dollar store, as well as the areas that have the highest levels of obesity, hypertension, high blood pressure, there is a direct correlation. You see that in your data?

We see that in the data. That's one reason why Fort Worth, Tulsa, Birmingham, New Orleans and Kansas City, among others, have already passed restrictions on where new dollar stores can open. And as you might imagine, dollar stores oppose these measures. Ultimately, when you stifle competition, the customer hurts the most.

And I think it gives us an opportunity to provide economic impact through jobs and to be able to really help the communities. As for the impact the stores have on what we eat, the big three chains say they're not grocery stores. But Dollar General's Crystal Gusemi says their stores do offer healthy options. So we've got frozen vegetables. We have all natural chicken from Tyson. So the healthy options sort of sit side by side with some really not as healthy items. There's curly fries underneath the broccoli cuts.

There's breaded butterflies, shrimp. It goes back to the customer's choice to be able to make their decision. And we have the options that should they want to be able to eat helpfully, they can do so with Dollar General's help. Dollar General is adding fresh produce to some of its stores.

But so far, that's only three percent. As for its competition, Dollar Tree, which also owns Family Dollar, the company declined our request for an interview. But in a statement, points out they, quote, complement and operate side by side with grocery stores.

Back in western Iowa, grocer Chet Davis has one last store open in the town of Kingsley. But it's unclear for how long Dollar General is building a new location here, too. Are you worried? Oh, definitely. You are essentially asking people to come into your store and pay a little extra so that you can stay in business. Is that a hard sell for people in your community? Oh, that's definitely a hard sell. Oh, that's definitely a hard sell because everybody's trying to save some money. It's up to the people of the community to really think hard and decide what they want.

It's completely up to them. And now a page from our Sunday morning almanac, December 8th, 1941, 78 years ago today. A moment of déjà vu for Representative Jeanette Rankin of Montana. Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor just the day before, killing more than 2,400 U.S. service personnel and civilians. In his defiant Day of Infamy speech before Congress, President Franklin Roosevelt demanded action.

I ask that the Congress declare a state of war. Unanimous approval of a war declaration would have seemed assured, if not for the presence of Representative Rankin. The first woman ever elected to Congress and a lifelong pacifist, she'd been one of just 50 members to vote against entering World War I back in 1917. Now, in a case of history repeating itself, Rankin voted against war for a second time.

Only this time, she stood alone. Booed off the House floor, Rankin briefly took refuge in a telephone booth. Like a cornered rabbit, wrote the Washington Post. Jeanette Rankin chose not to run again in 1942 and devoted the rest of her life to pacifist causes, including opposition to the Vietnam War.

She died in 1973 at age 92, her controversial reputation for standing on principle intact. One of Washington's biggest mid-term money men. List for me the two Senate races where you think Republicans have the best chance of taking a Democratic seat away. Nevada, New Hampshire. Not Georgia. Well, Georgia's right up there, but New Hampshire is a surprise. In New Hampshire, people really just kind of don't like Maggie Hassan. For more from this week's conversation, follow The Takeout with Major Garrett on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Former New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski, Gronk as we know him, disappointed countless fans back in March when he took early retirement from the NFL. But he has his reasons, as he explains to Rita Nynan. What's your strategy when you put together a puzzle? Do you have a strategy?

So I started off with the borders first and I started going by the colors. Then when I started getting pieces together, started figuring out strategies, how to go quicker, how to figure it out, it just started clicking. Rob Gronkowski knows something about making things click. For nine seasons, he was a huge star for the New England Patriots, catching touchdown passes from Tom Brady. Pass. What a catch. Gronkowski touchdown.

He won three Super Bowls along the way, and at six foot six, more than 260 pounds, his bruising style made him undoubtedly one of the best to ever play the game. Right here. Yeah, I got one.

Yes. So it's a bit surprising to find him doing an intricate jigsaw puzzle. You know, just lowered my stress levels, just the way that, you know, I was feeling, you know, I just, you know, just always anxious, always going. And I just needed to finally find some downtime to just relax. Now he has all the downtime he wants. Earlier this year at just 29, Rob Gronkowski retired, walking away from football to focus on his physical and mental health.

Before, I was just kind of foggy a little bit. And that's when I knew that, you know, you know, football was, you know, doing all that, all the damage. I just knew I had to get away from the game of football and start working on my mental and well-being, for sure. Part of his new life is events like this fitness competition in Tampa.

If anyone needs any lotion rubbed on them during this, let me know. Well, we met up with Rob, his father Gordy, and his brothers. Four of the Gronkowski boys played in the NFL while the oldest, Gordy Jr., played professional baseball. What was it like growing up with you guys? You want to see? Oh, sorry. Oh, my God.

Dad, tell him to calm it down. The Gronkowski's are very aware of their wild and fun-loving reputation, but Gordy Sr. says that image is only part of the story. When people think Gronkowski family, they think athletics, sports, NFL, but you're saying that academics matter. Yeah.

Academics is always first. I mean, we actually said, hey, you're not going to play in the game if you don't get the stun. That discipline translated into success on and off the field for all the boys. Rob has had a hand in countless side ventures, endorsing products, appearing in movies, and there's even a new sports game show on CBS. His party-loving persona, Gronk, is everywhere. He was always being positive, and I'll tell you, there were so many times that he drove me crazy.

His mother, Diane Walters, says that Gronk has always been Gronk. Like, I had the five of them, and he was the character. What was it like raising five boys? Were they always in the sports? You know, I always don't remember. It was such a blur. Yes, we did football, basketball, baseball, hockey.

They did golf. And when all her sons went pro, she watched them on TV, sometimes with a lump in her throat. And to this day, I still, like, as soon as something happens on TV, I go, oh my gosh, his poor mother. As soon as I see somebody hurt, because I know I was in the situation over and over and over. Tackle came in very low, and Gronkowski is hurt, as you can see there by the look on his... Yeah, to watch your kid, because you focus on your son the whole time.

You know, you don't focus on where the ball is. You focus on your son, and then if you see him get hit, and then you're just like, oh my gosh, my son's hurt. You know, it's like, oh my gosh, my son's hurt. If you see him get hit, and then you're just like, please get up. You know, it's tough.

Don't get me crying. They're going to check on him. He got up a little woozy. During his years in the NFL, Rob Gronkowski sustained a laundry list of injuries. By his count, 20 or more concussions. Gronkowski definitely wobbly right now. So after yet another injury during the last Super Bowl, which his team won, he walked off the field for good. I just wasn't feeling like myself anymore.

That's basically the main reason. The lifestyle all caught up to me, and I was just fighting my way through the last two years. I mean, it wasn't enjoyable anymore, so I just knew that's when it's time to go and walk away. When you say you felt like you were fighting at it, what was the it? What were you fighting it? Like, my body, my mind, mentally and physically. You know, just fighting every day to get through, and I just love the juice, you know. Now his fight is to put his body back together again. This is turmeric roots right here, so. From shots of fresh turmeric and ginger.

Oh wow. To physical therapy and training. I felt good after about two hours of doing the puzzle. And those jigsaw puzzles, which he says are an important piece of his recovery.

Just started improving my, you know, problem solving skills too on top of it. You know, it was crazy. My brain was just clicking. It was just going.

It was all on wheels. The risk of traumatic brain injury that NFL players face is well documented and Gronkowski is very aware of the realities. If you go look at a picture of me literally from seven months ago, my head is like swollen. Like I was feeling back here and I had like like I'm talking like like liquid just on my brain.

You could push it in and it was like pushing like a jelly doughnut in. That just freaks me out hearing you say that. Yeah, you know, I'm not sitting here saying every day I'm waking up and feeling unbelievable, but I'm saying like from where I was, I'm improving a lot every week.

And if I stay on the right track, I keep on improving. Despite the painful cost of playing, he's quick to defend the game of football, though he does have one suggestion to make it safer. Have every player sit out one game a year. Just to give them an extra week of recovery.

I mean, because it's a vicious game. Let me tell you, one extra week of rest is is huge. Let's see it.

Whoa, there we go. As for himself, like he dropped back. Rob Gronkowski says he's happy with the changes he's made in his life as he continues to put the pieces back together. What are you proudest of in your road to recovery? Just the steps I make every week.

You know, sometimes, you know, there's no progress made that week. But the steps I'm just keeping on fighting. Just keep on going. Keep on doing the right things.

You know, go back out, you know, get myself feeling good again and go back out and enjoy myself. It happened this past week. The merger of CBS with fellow media company Viacom to form a new corporation, Viacom CBS. Thank you to everybody who actually made this happen. Viacom CBS chair Sherry Redstone and CEO Bob Bakish made it official Thursday morning. Ringing the Nasdaq opening bell with the help of stars from both sides of the family. CBS This Morning's Gayle King. The Late Show's Stephen Colbert. The Daily Show's Trevor Noah.

Even SpongeBob SquarePants. Together with Joe Iannello, the chairman and CEO of the CBS side of the company, the new team leads a corporation that combines the CBS Television Network, CBS News, CBS Sports and Showtime. With the MTV Networks, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Paramount Studios to name just a few of our many brands. All told, Viacom CBS lays claim to 22% of the television audience with some 140,000 classic TV episodes in the bank.

As for what's next, as we say in the broadcast business, stay tuned. Longtime friends of Sunday morning surely remember our Eugenia Zuckerman, who shared her love of music with us for many years. More recently, fate has dealt Eugenia a challenge, which she's facing with her customary grace and courage, as we hear from Rita Braver.

Eugenia Zuckerman is an internationally acclaimed flutist. I really fell in love with it. It became my friend. It became my constant companion.

And if she looks familiar... Eugenia Zuckerman is here to talk about him. Well, it may just be because she spent more than 20 years... Have you ever conducted and sang on the same day? Yes, it's wonderful.

You just stay in the theater. Reporting scores of stories about music for Sunday morning viewers. Did you find that the operatic voice could be as expressive? Well, I must admit, before I did this, I had a problem with operatic voices. I wanted to be a person who could bring them into that world, let people know how gorgeous the music is.

Pack your bags, get on the train, get on the plane. And she didn't shy away from raising sensitive issues with artists like singer-songwriter Judy Collins in 1999. You worked hard and you drank hard. I drank hard, I partied hard.

I have been able to stay away from a drink a day at a time for 20 years now. Do you remember that exchange with her? I certainly do because she was a close friend. She's somebody who was very open and talked about difficulties in her life very openly.

Today, it's Zuckerman who's speaking out about the difficulties in her own life. I think I was in denial. I was in denial and the denial was at that time helpful. What happens if I can't play the flute?

What will happen to me? What was happening was that she was experiencing the early signs of Alzheimer's disease. It was her daughters Ariana and Natalia who started the search for a diagnosis. It wasn't just that she forgot, but it had been like she'd never heard the story before. And things like that were concerning. And I just said, mom, I think there's something going on and it could be anything.

Why don't we go figure it out? And she actually just was relieved. And two years ago, when Zuckerman actually got the diagnosis, confirming that her memory really is fading, she did not despair. I went home with Natalia. We were laughing on the subway as we always were. And I sat down at my desk and just looked at the wall for a while. And then, I don't know why, I picked up a piece of paper and a pen and I started writing.

Writing what would become a new book of poems, describing her experiences with Alzheimer's. What's that word? It's so absurd. It's a place where I need to go today, but I can't find my address book no matter where I look. Please don't let this be my nasty fate to forget appointments and what they're for. Come on, bud. Priscilla, come. Zuckerman's husband of nine years, Dick Novick, says her memory comes and goes. Good stuff, dudes. You're like a walking dictionary. She'll forget a word.

You'll supply it. Yeah, it's a funny new role for me. Case in point, Zuckerman played one of her favorite pieces for us by heart. But then... Who's the composer? The composer was, just a second.

Can we go back? Composer was Debussy. And now it's my great pleasure. And when she recently appeared as guest of honor at the Alzheimer's Association Gala in New York. I am in awe of your generosity and your help in making this horrible, difficult... That's my husband. Disease, yes.

I have trouble saying disease. I know when she's been nervous to present at some of these Alzheimer's Association benefits and stuff, and what if I forget what I'm doing? That's pretty much why you're there.

And as Eugenia Zuckerman recently celebrated her 75th birthday, she has kept her sense of humor and her dignity. It does seem like you still take joy in so many things. Oh, there's so much to take joy in. Come on. Here I am in this beautiful, wooded place. And the animals that I love and the people in this area are fantastic. Well, I'm lucky.

I feel very lucky. Now streaming. I used to believe in progress. That no matter what we do, we just end up back at the start.

We're in crazy time. The Paramount Plus original series, The Good Fight, returns for its final season. The point isn't the end. The point is winning. There are bad people in the world. The best way to protect the good people is to convict the bad. So here's to us. The Good Fight, the final season, now streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus.