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Good Thursday morning to you. I am Casey Hunt, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Our meeting with veterans of the D-Day invasion, those who survived, those who remain with us who survived that landing on Omaha Beach made an incredible personal and courageous sacrifice
that day for all of us. There you can see the President and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, meeting with those veterans. Now most of them over 90, just a few still remain with us. President Biden is expected to speak soon from the beaches of Normandy, France. 80 years ago today, those beaches were the scene of the largest amphibious invasion in military history. Listen to Franklin Roosevelt praying with the nation as the D-Day mission was unfolding. Almighty God,
Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
More than 70,000 American troops joined allied forces for Operation Overlord on June 6th, 1944. 2,500 U.S. soldiers died that day storming the beaches. 29,000 more were killed during the Battle of Normandy that followed. The sacrifices of America's greatest generation led to the downfall of Hitler's Nazi Germany. When President Biden speaks this morning, he'll honor those heroes.
A speech focused on democracy planned for tomorrow on the French coast. Leaders across the democratic West, forged in the crucible of D-Day, have been warning that history can have a way of repeating itself as a ruthless dictator wages an unprovoked war in Eastern Europe today with democracy on the line. Eighty years ago, American General Dwight Eisenhower used these words to inspire the Allied troops to storm the beaches of Normandy. The eyes of the world are upon you.
The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
All right, our panel is here this morning. Let's bring in CNN Politics White House reporter Stephen Collinson, retired Air Force Colonel, CNN Military Analyst Cedric Layton, Margaret Taleb is a senior contributor to Axios, and CNN Senior Reporter Isaac Dever is here with us as well. He covers the...
about President Biden very closely. Let's please make sure that we continue to watch what President Biden is doing right now as we discuss here. And Stephen, let me start with you, something that you wrote about this day. In your new CNN piece, you write, "At no point since June 6th, 1944, has the unshakable US leadership of the West
and support for internationalist values been so in question democracy facing its sternest test in generations from far-right populism on the march on both sides at the Atlantic Ocean geopolitical empires like Russia and China are meanwhile resurgent and threatening to obliterate the global system dominated by Western values that has prevailed since World War two at tell us a little bit more about how you're viewing this day yeah I'm I think we've been living in the world that these
brave soldiers forged ever since the end of the Second World War. It was the world that was built by Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, the structures of Western-led democratic countries, the US support for Europe in the Cold War, which the Allies, another conflict that the Allies eventually won nearly 50 years after the end of the Cold War. So that world is now a lot less certain than it used to be.
As I wrote there, there are challenges from autocracies yet again on the European continent with Russia resurgent, a major land war on the fringes of the European continent. China is challenging the US-led world order.
And there are threats to democracy at home, both in Europe and in the United States. We've seen what's happened since the 2020 election here. There's a European Union election on Sunday that is going to probably see gains for far-right parties that are very much sort of resonating the same rhetoric as the America First, Donald Trump movement here.
It could well be a turning point. And as these old soldiers fade, the memories of what this event stood for, D-Day, and what it's meant, and the legacy it built, are becoming less and less prevalent.
Our old soldiers, we're seeing some of them now. We're very lucky to have these remaining few still with us as we mark what is likely the last significant 80th commemoration of D-Day. Cedric Layton, Stephen notes kind of how this has all changed. I want to remind everyone what Ronald Reagan, of course, the Republican Party for so much of my career was always
centered itself as the party of Ronald Reagan and one of the things that he warned us about when he was president of the United States in 1984 was isolationism, which is of course, as Stephen notes, resurgent here, potentially around the globe. Here was Ronald Reagan in 1984. We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars. It is better to be here ready to protect the peace
than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with expansionist intent.
Reagan speaking from the same site where Joe Biden, President Biden tomorrow will speak about the importance of democracy, Cedric. That's right, Casey. And that site is actually Pointe du Hoc, where the Rangers attacked the Nazi positions at a particularly really difficult area because of the huge cliffs that were there. And the isolationism that Reagan spoke about is really the type of thing that
I think affected a lot of the people during the World War II generation because what they were looking at was they had been isolated because of tendencies in US politics during the 1920s and 30s, but then they had to respond to a threat. And that threat, in a world that wasn't as connected as our world,
was still felt even here on the shores of the United States. Reagan's generation ended up recognizing that and Reagan saw his opportunity as being a way to really not only remind people of the fight against Nazism but also the fight at that time against communism. And he saw those tyrannies as being in essence somewhat equal in the sense that they were both repressive tyrannies and he
wanted to make sure that the world was basically free of those and that's that's why he made the remarks that he did. Isaac de Vere, you of course have covered President Biden day in and day out as president of the United States. What does this day, this moment mean for him? He has said through his time running and starting out in January of this year when he gave that speech at Valley Forge that he sees preserving democracy as the work of his presidency.
And here he is as, I think it's fair to say, likely the last president who will have been alive during D-Day, right? Who grew up in that world that Stephen was saying that was built by these soldiers and those leaders.
trying to defend it and trying to say this is the world that we should keep living in. It is to him not an issue of politics per se, although of course it is being litigated in the 2024 campaign, but to him this is about something bigger
And of course, that's the weird thing about this election is that we're not talking about tax policy or what might happen with this regulation or that regulation or any of the normal things that we talk about in the campaign. We're talking about what kind of America we want to be living in and what kind of world we want America to be functioning in. And those are very different visions that are coming from Joe Biden and Donald Trump. A world, of course, that we owe to the men
that we are seeing here on our screens, those veterans who stormed the beaches at Omaha Beach 80 years ago at the start of the D-Day invasion that ultimately led to the liberation of France and the world from Hitler and the Nazis. Ahead here, President Biden's message to America's allies from the hallowed shores of Normandy, plus filmmaker, legendary filmmaker Ken Burns joins us to talk about the historical significance of this day.
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I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. What are some of the social service agencies that have supported you and your family growing up? That's Dr. Robert Waldinger. He's a psychiatrist, a professor, and a Zen master. What kind of relationships actually help us maintain happiness? And what should we do in those moments where we have setbacks and things that don't work out? Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome back to CNN This Morning. Today marks 80 years to the day that Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy. That historic operation had actually been delayed by a day after weather forecasters had noticed an approaching storm. The choppy waters and low visibility would have made the amphibious assault
nearly impossible. It is a much different story this morning, a cool clear day on the shores of Normandy, France, and that is where we find CNN senior correspondent Melissa Bell. Melissa, you are in a remarkable spot, if we can bring Melissa up, there she is, actually out on the waters. Set the scene for us and tell us what would these men have seen on that day?
This, Casey, is one of those amphibious vehicles that allowed them
allowed the men 80 years ago today to make their way towards the beach and take those faltering steps towards what would be the liberation of France and of Europe. You can see we've got a couple of French policemen here on our duck with us. But this is the water, these are the waters just off of Gold Beach. That was the beach onto which mainly British servicemen made their way. Juno is down there.
Omaha down there where the American servicemen had such tremendous losses on that day eight years ago. And as you can see, all along this coast, the turnout's been really extraordinary. You can see a ceremony going on there in Arromanches, led by serving servicemen now. And a huge turnout. The people have come not just with amphibious vehicles like these,
but with the kind of jeeps that were used 80 years ago to transport the men, the weapons, the equipment all across Normandy. And I think one of the things we've seen at the hearts of these celebrations is a reminder of the extraordinary logistical feat that was Operation Overlord. As those men...
came onto the beach, it was also what the parachutists had done behind the lines, the cutting off with remarkable efficiency and coordination amongst allies. Remember, armies of different countries to cut off the German resupply routes once D-Day had happened, the communications that would allow, have allowed them
to fend off this Allied assault on what was occupied France. It was on these kinds of boats, Casey, that they came very early that morning, as you say, 24 hours after they were meant to come because of the inclement weather, and
staggered onto these beaches in what would have been bloodied waters. Just extraordinary scenes that played out here 80 years ago. What we have today are some 200 of the World War II veterans who actually served and they've brought with them, of course, as you'd imagine, Casey, extraordinary stories of what they lived and emotion about the fact that they've been able to come back here today.
Melissa, can you give us a little bit of a sense of what we're seeing behind you? We see French flags, American flags flying what appear to be perhaps tanks. Forgive me, I can't see it quite well enough. I mean, what is the scene in front of you?
Let me get out of the way to show you. You can see there all the many flags, for instance, on that another duck and amphibious vehicle. And all across this countryside, the houses have been decked out in American flags, in French flags, in Canadian flags, British flags. Their servicemen are carrying out a ceremony.
to those who fell 80 years ago. What we see every five years when this is marked in this part of the world, and remember the huge cost of course to the civilians here, what it meant for this part of France, liberated as it was on that day and in the days that followed for the civilians,
what it would have represented to see these allied soldiers coming on against the odds and reclaiming this part of France. This is marked every year. What is going to be different this year, Casey, is we're going to have an international ceremony down in Omaha Beach later today that's going to be attended not just by the heads of state of the allied nations that are normally here, but President Zelensky as well. And that's an important reminder of one of the threads of today, that what's being fought in Ukraine, and we're going to hear this from President Biden, is very much in line with what happened on these beaches eight years ago, Casey.
All right, our Melissa Bell for us with some remarkable reporting. Melissa, thank you very much. Coming up next here, President Biden about to speak at the D-Day ceremonies in Normandy. Stay with us. Their road will be long and hard, for the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again.
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to one of the last remaining veterans of D-Day. This, of course, a day when we are honoring all of them. You can see many of them there as they have, of course, reached their later years. We are lucky to have as many of them with us as we do. Our panel is back. Margaret Tallev, you have traveled with presidents to mark this occasion in years past.
Your reflections on what a moment like this means. It's incredible that we still get to have these people in our lives. And if you ever have a chance to go to the American Cemetery and Memorial there at Colville-sur-Mer, it's breathtaking how revered and cared for each and every spot in that cemetery is.
and how the kind of architecture and structure of the memorial grounds compares with the cliffs and the bluffs out to Omaha Beach, the rugged nature of the place and what it meant to come on shore in that invasion.
and what happened in the months that followed. And you know, I was doing a little homework, a little history homework as we've been watching these images. The Gallup poll, one of the things that's so great about the Gallup poll is that it's existed an awfully long time, including way back when. Gallup actually surveyed Americans
not long before the D-Day invasion about World War II and found that four out of ten Americans said they didn't actually have a clear idea of what the U.S. was fighting for. We look back on it now and think that this moment must have had such clarity, such unanimity that the
Those Americans at that time in our country were like, yeah, let's do it. But actually, there was a lot of confusion then among a segment of the population about why this was in the U.S. interest, what objectives could be accomplished, how long it would take to do it. And I think you're going to see President Biden and Vladimir Zelensky at Normandy together. You're going to see Russia excluded from this event.
The lessons of 1944 and the fact that there was public confusion or consternation even at the time about the right course and what it would mean is really, really important to remember. We're looking at challenges to democracy around the world now, not just in Ukraine, all across Western Europe in terms of moves by the far right.
elections in Mexico and India that could have profound implications for tests of democracy, for how quote unquote democratic leaders will use their power to sustain their power. It's a big moment. And it's a reminder of while we may not have had unified clarity going into that day, these men had a
incredible clarity of purpose as they stormed the beaches that day. Margaret Tallow, very grateful to have you on the program this morning. Thank you very much. Coming up next, we are just moments away from President Biden delivering remarks from Normandy. We're going to bring those to you live. Plus, the man who made the definitive documentary on almost every war in American history, Ken Burns, joins us to reflect on this 80th anniversary of D-Day. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise and tolerance
and goodwill among all thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. 104 years ago. I don't believe you, man. 104. Ready? One, two, three. Oh, boy. You got it. You got it. Hey, Josh, how you doing, man?
104 years old, standing up to shake the hand of his commander in chief, 80 years after he was part of storming the beaches at Normandy. We are marking, of course, the 80th anniversary of that day. We are awaiting President Biden. He's going to deliver remarks at any moment at the Normandy American Cemetery in northern France.
on this, as we've noted, 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. About 73,000 U.S. troops took part in that invasion on June 6, 1944. Some 2,400 Americans died that day, and many of them are buried at the cemetery where the president is about to speak. The White House releasing a presidential proclamation yesterday that read, in part, quote, "On the 80th anniversary of D-Day, may we thank these service members for their bravery and sacrifice. May we honor their heroism, which liberated a continent
and saved the world. And may we recommit to the future that they fought
and which many died for. Our panel is back and we are also joined by CNN chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour. She is live for us in Normandy on this very solemn day. Christiane, good morning to you. Very grateful to have you and your perspective, your reflections on this day and what it means as we face a very uncertain future across the world.
Absolutely, Casey. As you said, here thousands and thousands of Americans who stormed those beaches on that day 80 years ago and in the other battles of World War II after D-Day are buried. This is the American cemetery at Colville-sur-Mer and there will be the joint American-Franco celebration and commemoration
today. So you'll have President Biden. He will be welcoming the French president, given that this is the American cemetery. There will be a flyover, fly past of C-130 aircraft. There will be the national anthems of both countries. The French president will make a short speech and deliver what's called the Légion d'honneur. It's a particular honor, perhaps a little bit like the Medal of Freedom in the United States, to a number of surviving American vets.
President Biden will deliver remarks perhaps in about a half an hour from now. There will be the invocations, there will be again more flypast prayers and taps and the kinds of things that actually we've seen in so many of these years. I've been doing these commemorations since 1994, the 50th and then the 55th, the 60th, the 65th and on and on. And it's truly an amazing, amazing
atmosphere to witness. I just spoke to a 101 year old veteran, Jake Larson, who I spoke to five years ago and he promised me five years ago that he would come back and he did. He's still alive. Unbelievable. And he talked about the fear, the sheer fear of being, you know, disgorged onto that beach when
10,000 people in one day were either killed, wounded or went missing. The most incredible endeavor. And President Biden will talk about how this is the battle of a lifetime for democracy, to defend the democracy and freedom that they died for, but also to defend the one that is at stake right now in Europe. Who knew that there would be a raging war in Europe on the
80th anniversary of D-Day. And so he's going to talk all about the stakes that we all face, the existential stakes with Russia's invasion of Ukraine now into its third year. And I just read a little bit from President Reagan's unbelievable speech that he made on the 40th anniversary
here in 1984 and he said essentially that liberation had come finally to Europe, that it had been prayed for. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history and indeed unparalleled. It was called Operation Overlord. They tricked and deceived the Nazis into coming aboard in a place where the Nazis thought they would not be.
And they fought and did something absolutely heroic that no one could imagine even today was possible. And that's what's going to be celebrated and marked all throughout this day and through these ceremonies. A really remarkable moment. Christiane, you mentioned the ongoing land war in Europe.
Noteworthy that we expect the Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelensky's presence here and it was apparently requested that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, not appear. Of course, at the time there was significant involvement from the Soviets at the time and he has attended in the past, is my understanding, not welcome there today.
Well, let me put that into perspective as well. I was actually here, as I said, at the 70th anniversary, 2014, and in fact, the main celebrations took place on the beach below where we are now. The Queen of England was here, the German Chancellor was here, obviously the President of the United States was here, Barack Obama, but also Vladimir Putin. He had been invited
in remembrance and in gratitude for what the Soviet troops actually did do. They came storming in through the, you know, up into the center of Europe, helped liberate Europe. They lost 20 million people, a huge sacrifice in World War II. And at that time, Russia was meant to be an ally. Now, of course, it did come some two months after Putin had annexed
Crimea, the beginning of Putin's land grab in Europe that at the time the leaders hoped would stop at Crimea and actually be repelled. And so I remember them taking him off into some fancy lunch and trying to have a peace gathering whereby they tried to bring the beginnings of the Minsk Accords, so to speak, which was meant to deliver peace between Russia and Ukraine. Obviously it didn't work out and it failed and we saw what happened
with the full-scale invasion some two years ago, now into its third year. So Putin did not come five years ago because, again, in the full throes of his invasion of eastern Ukraine and Crimea, and he certainly was not welcome this year. But again, to go back to Ronald Reagan in 1984, then at the height of the Cold War, in that phenomenal speech he delivered from Pointe du Hoc, which is the top,
of the massive cliff that the army rangers, the American army rangers scaled and you know they were just mowed down by German Nazi fire and yet they kept going and anyway Reagan went back and gave the speech there to commemorate and at that speech he talked about the Soviet troops who had helped liberate Europe but who as he said stayed in Central Europe and never went back, unwanted, uninvited.
And he talked about the countries of Eastern Europe at that time that were still after World War I, were then swept up into what they called the Soviet bloc, the Warsaw Pact. All those countries which are now free and want to become part of NATO and many of them are part of NATO. There's so much resonance and even at that time, at that speech 40 years ago, Ronald Reagan
said that we have to have peace through strength and that he was looking for a sign from the Soviet Union that they too would want some kind of peace. And it's really remarkable that at the end of Reagan's second term he found that partner for peace in Mikhail Gorbachev, the last of the Soviet Union presidents and leaders.
And then for a period of years there was a rapprochement obviously between what became Russia and the West. And then Vladimir Putin came to power and showed that his philosophy, his politics was aggression, was imperialism, was again trying to dominate parts of the world, of this continent that he believed were rightly his or rightly belonged to Russia. And that's where we are today.
Really remarkable way to lay out the stage and the stakes of all of this. Our Christiane Amanpour, always incredibly grateful to have you and your perspective on this historic day. Thank you very much.
Coming up next here, President Biden in France for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. We are going to make sure we bring you his speech live. You are looking, of course, at some of the last surviving veterans of that day. But coming up here, we're going to get some unique historical context on Normandy, the events of D-Day, when we are joined by award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns. Their road will be long and hard.
For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again. Welcome back to CNN This Morning as we mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of France that began the liberation of that country and of Europe and the world.
from Nazi tyranny. Joining us live from Walpole, New Hampshire to reflect on this momentous day is the award-winning director and filmmaker Ken Burns who of course produced "The War." It's simply called "The War," the definitive documentary outlining what happened
in the course of World War II. Ken, I'm so grateful to have you on the program. I'd just like to start with your reflections as we see what are really our final remaining veterans, those courageous men who stormed the beach that day.
You know, Casey, thanks for having me. This is one of the most important days in American history. It's certainly one of the most important days in world history. This is the greatest cataclysm in the history of the world. More than 60 million people were killed. This is the greatest invasion in the history of that. And we began our film at the end of the 90s to air in 2007 because we were learning that we were losing 1,000 veterans of the Second World War a day in America.
I am sorry to say that that number is way, way down. And there are only a handful of people who have that direct memory, and we wanted to find out.
what it was like this day, you cannot imagine the scope. It is beyond our kind of comprehension. And the thing that matters to me most is that we were there not for empire. We were there to acquire territory. The farm boy from Nebraska is not there to get something. He's there for an idea, which is to liberate people from authoritarianism.
to liberate people from tyranny, the people who had taken over Europe. And it's one of the most magnificent moments in human history. And what happened that day is beyond comprehension. There are three phases. First, the airborne gets dropped behind, the 101st and the 82nd. Then there are over 11,000 bombers that are supposed to soften up German targets. Then there's going to be in phase three, five
beach landing the British are gonna take gold and sword the Canadians are gonna take Juno and have a pretty hard time a bit Utah Americans are there for Teddy Roosevelt junior with just a a cane marches ashore its Omaha that's the big problem it's a wide beach it's the biggest beach
The tanks that are set off just go right to the bottom of the sea. A lot of the LSTs are swamped. I mean, the heroism of the people that then, in the face of withering fire, get up on that beach and begin to move. Someone just said, you know, Americans began to improvise that day. The ships were ordered to stay out at a certain length so they wouldn't run aground. They moved in so that their guns could break up the German emplacements.
Enlisted soldiers and officers alike began to take matters into their own hands. And somebody said, look, we're getting murdered down here. Let's go up there and get murdered. And opened up a beachhead in the thing. It is you cannot overstate. And all you have to do is look at all those crosses.
All of the Americans that were left there to understand the significance of this moment and this day and the fact that the chances are that there'll be anyone left in a few years who was there who can remember it is it is a sad moment and I think forces us now to invest even more energy as forces of authoritarianism are again and on the eastern borders of Europe again threatening us.
It is a remarkable way to think about it. In fact, I actually just this week lost my 98-year-old grandfather. He was not in Europe. He actually fought in the Philippines. He earned a Purple Heart there. And I think I was struck
both personally when our family went through this loss, but also now looking at these men here, that people who are my age, I'm not yet 40, are gonna be the only ones that really have, we're gonna be the last ones that have the opportunity to have a personal connection to people who were there
that day. And I'm just interested to know your reflections on what that means for how we need to talk to the upcoming generations that are not going to have the opportunity to understand just what those stakes were, just what these men and women, some of them, went through and fought for
in this just absolutely momentous, cataclysmic world event. It seems like a really significant loss. It is indeed. And I think we live in perilous times, not just because of the rise of authoritarianism, Casey, but also because we are all now with social media kind of independent free agents. And the thing that we practiced in the Depression and then perfected in World War II was shared
sacrifice. And that's what those men, those old men now who can need help, some in wheelchairs, some, you know, with canes. They were 19 years old. I've got a 19 year old daughter right now. And I want her to understand that at 19 people were risking their lives or one.
5,300 boats in that armada. There were 176,000 soldiers. There were 2,000 landing boats. And the sheer scope of this thing is so important to understand and then to personalize, to say it isn't just
arrows on a map, but their individual lives, like your grandfather, like my father, like other people who were involved in these things, and that we have so few of these great patriots. I mean, this is the moment when the greatest generation's
Reputation is cemented. They had survived the depression and all the hardships, and that practice permitted them to say, it's not about me, it's about us. And, you know, us is the tiny, lowercase, two-letter, plural pronoun that also, when it's capitalized, is the U.S.,
And that's what my entire professional life has been about. And in that space, in that sacred space, is the story of the better angels of humanity. And I can't think of anything than what it would be for a 19-year-old kid to get off a landing boat and make it up there and
and eliminate that pillbox, destroy those guns, and make an inroad into Europe so that on June 6, by the end of August, you are in Paris, and you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. There's not a better story in the history of the world than this one.
Yeah, it's absolutely incredible. Ken, we went back to see how this was being written about from a leadership perspective at the time. And back in 1944, just a month or so after this invasion in foreign affairs, they wrote about
the differences between, among the European and American leaders at the time. And they say that it has repeatedly been pointed out France was far less fortunate than Great Britain or the United States in her political leadership.
The men who were patriots first and politicians second were rare, almost non-existent again in France. The salvation of Great Britain and the United States has been that at critical moments in their history, a benign political providence has provided leaders who were not only intelligent but courageous. Courageous. How important is that kind of courage on the world stage today?
Oh, it's hugely important. We see almost in a daily, hourly fashion the way in which partisanship and the idea of my way or the highway rules most of our discussions. And we applaud now as a rare event when people set aside the label R or D and do something together when this is
entirely what happened here. Franklin Roosevelt went to the industrialists who were angry at him because he had promoted all these social classes that were lifting people out of the depression. And he said, I need you to make 50,000 planes. And they said, we can't do more than 2000. He said, I need 50,000. He got
50,000 planes that year. And so there was a sense of cooperation, a sense of in it together. And so freedom, Casey, at the end of the day, that's what you're talking about, is that freedom is not just what I want. It's what we need. And sometimes they're in conflict with one another. That Iowa or Nebraska farm boy does not need to be at Omaha Beach that morning 80 years ago.
But that's what we needed. And that kid was able to do that. And so many lost their lives to see that sea of crosses is to understand the essence. I'm working right now on a history of the American Revolution where all of these things first began to coalesce of the idea that we weren't just separate, but we could be one thing.
And that's, you know, if there's ever a sterling example of one thing, something we need desperately today, not just in the United States, but in the world, is the forces of democracy to come up and say, this is how you do it. Authoritarians always get the first jump.
And then it takes a little bit longer for the unwieldy democratic processes to work. But when they work, there is not a force in the world that can resist them. That is the lesson of D-Day. And that is the lesson for us to take back to our own lives and our own actions and to begin to realize there are things bigger than my political beliefs. There are things bigger than, you know, what I want.
They're things that we need, and right now we need to celebrate democracy and the overthrow of authoritarian rule.
Really, just really remarkable way to put it. Ken Burns, do please stay with me. I'd like to give you the last word in just a few moments as we approach the top of the hour. But our panel is also here. Cedric Layton, I know you had family members who were involved in this war effort. Your final reflections as we wrap up here. Yeah, Casey, one of the things, my dad was involved on the intelligence side. He was an Army Intelligence NCO at the time. And one of the things that he noted was how...
quickly the radio traffic blossomed and all the networks came up in terms of the logistical networks on the German side, on the French side, on the British side. And everybody was talking about D-Day. As soon as all of these things happened, all of the movements occurred with the flotilla of ships, the over 7,000 ships that showed up, the over 14,000 airplanes,
All of that became part of a major logistical movement. And as Ken was mentioning, there are so many different aspects to this. This was a major logistical feat, major intelligence feat. And we actually had insights on the intelligence side
that gave us the plans of what the Germans were going to do and gave us the plans for their fortifications. And that made a huge difference. It made a big difference to many of those men that we're seeing now who were there that day. Isaac DuVert, you cover President Biden so closely.
Again, as we wrap up here, the sticks for him. Well, look, remember the portrait in the Oval Office that Biden put there in the center spot is of FDR. He sees a lot of connection to him, both in terms of the fight for democracy and in terms of the economic programs that he's won, the new New Deal, essentially, in his mind. But the points have been made by Ken, by you and about your grandfather. This
These people, this is not a theoretical exercise for them. The fading memories of World War II and of the Holocaust, we see things that are coming back now in ways that reflect that we are starting to forget about it. A lot of people have not had that direct experience. You go back to Hannah Arendt talking about the banality of evil. This is what happened then
It's real. It happened with human beings. Human beings haven't changed that much. And it's one of the things that we are facing as a country and as a world is whether we're going to repeat, whether, as Biden says, history just rhymes, right? Quoting that Irish poem. What we're going up against here in this moment for America and the world is something that we all need to grapple with because that is not, it's only 80 years ago.
It's really not that long. And here we are again. No, again, I only just lost someone in my life who was able to participate in who fought for us. Stephen, we're going to go back to Ken Burns here. So briefly, your reflections on this day. I think to Isaac's point, when the witness of history fade away, it's easier for the malevolent forces to pervert history. And while history seems like linear history,
D-Day was not always assured to be a success. Dwight Eisenhower carried a message in his wallet that said that he would deliver in the event of a retreat, which said, "If there is any blame, it's all basically on me." And that kind of leadership is, I think, what we've been somewhat lacking in recent years.
Very interesting. All right, Ken Burns, like I said, I want to give you the last word here as someone who has devoted a significant portion of their life to helping us all remember these days. What would you leave us with? So I'll leave you with that day Americans woke up, found out what was going on, and that night President Roosevelt gave this prayer. Almighty God, our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic,
our religion and our civilization and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true, give them strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard for the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed,
but we shall return again and again. And we know that by thy grace and by the righteousness of our clause, our sons will triumph. Yeah, really remarkable moment, Ken. And actually, I'm so glad that you brought us there. Thank you for your time today. We actually have that prayer that he offered on that day, and we're going to leave you with that this morning. Almighty God, our sons, pray to Bar Nishan.
This day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
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