they need assistance. >> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy, and here are the stories we're following for you. veterans, dignitaries and world leaders pause to remember the courage and the sacrifice of the d-day invasion of france. >> whenever the world makes you cynical, stop and think of these men. stop and think of these men. >> president obama honoring the americans who landed in normandy 70 years ago. and behind the scenes, an

unexpected meeting between the president and russian leader, vladimir putin. western powers are tackling dozens of conflicts around the world, from ukraine, to syria and nigeria. but today, they pause to honor the battle that brought them together. it was 70 years ago, the d-day landing in france. this morning, a huge ceremony took place on the beach, marking the beginning of the allied triumph over germany in world war ii. francoise hollande, queen elizabeth and vladimir putin. earlier, president obama spoke at the ceremonies at the american cemetery. >> these men waged war so we might know peace and sacrificed so we would be free and fought so we would no longer have to fight. we are grateful to them.

gentlemen, i want each of you to know that your legacy is in good hands. >> the battle for normandy began in the early morning hours of june 6th. the allied paratroopers jumped behind the invasion beaches to protect the soldiers onshore from the germans. they discovered the enormous invasion fleet approaching the coach. utah beaches and omaha. and gold and juni and sword beaches. aljazeera's dana lewis is at sword beach where the ceremony was just held. and the scene of today's memorial could not be more different than it was on that day 70 years ago. >> that's an understatement. there were fireworks here a few years ago, and you could magnify that by 1,000, and imagine the sights and sounds here in the early morning hours as the british soldiers were coming to sword beach, which was more

lightly defended than other ones, but not long after leaching the beach, they had to fight hard with the canadians they had to go to the city which was destroyed in the days following d-day. here you had this tremendous armada off the beach, the largest ever put together. u.s. warships, british warships, firing the big guns, trying to take out the german positions, and softening up the beaches they called it for americans going into omaha and utah and the canadians to juni and the british on gold and sword. but that largely failed, so when the u.s. soldiers came on the beaches here, they hit the booby traps in the water, and the landmines and blew up the ships and lost a lot of vessels. soldiers went in the water with 60 to 80-pound back fac and a lot of them drown. they have never got on the beach. they were tossed by 6-8-foot

swells. they were sick, praying and scared. and some of them, as they gotoff the ships, they were taken down by the heavy german gunfire almost immediately. and that of course as the u.s. paratroopers hours earlier had tried to get behind the german gun positions, they launched early in the morning, the famous band of brothers, the screaming eagles, the 101st airborne came m and their aircraft came under fire, and they were scattering, the guys dropped off miles and miles from the air zones where they needed to be, but somehow the individual soldiers stood up and got brave and courageous, and charged up the hills and they were able to take the gun positions. these were the first steps in the sound in a battle over the months ago. we heard president hollande speaking very passionately today. not only here but at the american cemetery, where he said

thank you, america, we will never forget. and every man on this beach, no matter what he did, where he went, was a hero in their eyes. this was the liberation of france, and you will hear from town to town, as we have been traveling, people cheering, with british and american flags, cheering and even directed up as american soldiers, driving world war ii vehicles that they have spent thousands of dollars restoring, and this was liberty. this is not a sad moment for them. this was liberty and the nazis were forced out of their country because of the tremendous effort by the allies, and many fought many -- thought in the early hours of that assault that it was failing, a debacle. >> and many say that gauze of the individual courage of each soldier that you've been transcribing, dane a i know that you spent the week in france, do

you get a sense that time has dulled the horrors of the war? >> i don't think it has dulled it at all. some of the items that we have been running in the last couple of days, they talk about their experience, and it brings them to tears. they have lost pretends and loved ones, and they come to the gravesites and these guys look for names, the people that they fought with, shoulder to shoulder. and these tours are heartbreaking in a way, because they say this is the last gathering, the last tour, the final farewell, because these guys are all 91, 93, and 94, and probably aren't going to make it back here again most of them. >> a personal journey for those guys. dana, thank you. d-day was the beginning of the battle for normandy.

it was almost three months before the allies were able to break through the german lines, but on june 6th alone, troops took part in the invasion, and of that number 73,000 were americans. 2500 of them were americans. s who died. many of them are buried just inland of omaha beach. and mike viqueira is there. >> just about under 10,000 of them -- i'm sorry, stephanie, and we were talking about numbers with dana, and you were talking about veterans. just under 10,000 americans died here in the -- on d-day 70 years ago today. and in the ensuing weeks in normandy. they are buried here behind me. i don't know if you've ever been here, and for anybody that

hasn't, it's a moving trip. today, a picture of tranquility as president obama and president hole an delivered marks to a massive assembled crowd. they were you have all ages, young and old and in particular the veterans that you were just talking about. if this invasion happened 70 years ago, in this age of cynicism we had, it would not have been ten minutes into it that it would have been called a deckacle. and president obama gets off script and he said he was coming in on marine one and shared a personal moment with the staff. his grandfather fought in patton's army, and he said if there was anyone he would love to have right now, his late grandfather. it was a moving day, 70 years after the carnage of d day. >> in the background of all of this, news had a has been made. despite earlier, we're hearing that president obama did speak with russia's president, vladimir putin, and what can you

tell us about that conversation? >> yeah, all of the speculation that had come forward, all of the suspicion really of some of the european leaders, as the president has struggled to keep unity with the allies, he said everybody has to be marching in lockstep and confronting vladimir putin, and insisting that there was no formal meeting between president obama and vladimir putin. even though they were going to be in the same venue. but turns out that they didn't have a formal meeting. the white house gets around that with an informal meeting, 10-15 minutes, and we're waiting for the details, but the two men did speak, according to white house aids, and it's safe to assume that they did talk about ukraine. i would be surprised if anything concrete came out of it. but this is the first time that they have seen each other since the crisis began.

they have spoken on the phone many times, but the lines of communities have gong cold. this is the first, and a lot of people are hoping that this is the first step in the resolution of that conflict. >> 10-15 minutes. it's rubbing elbows. v day is being observed state side. veterans are making their way to arlington national cemetery for the changing of the guard in virginia. aljazeera's robert ray joins us from new orleans, he's at the national world war ii museum there, and robert, what's happening today? >> a lot of things happening at the museum. a museum that many don't know is here. it's a sprawling campus, opened 14 years ago, and i'm joined by two important guests, one of the

historians, one of these gentlemen, he flew above the beaches of normandy on d-day. and you were 19 years old and what was that like? >> well, it was cloudy, and we didn't have much interference that day. it was one of our lightest missions. >> you did what, 30 missions, you were telling me earlier, but what was it like the day of the storming of the beach? over 6,000 americans passed your soldiers, you guys perhaps changed the world that day, emotionally 70 years ago today, what is it like for you? i feel great. i feel glad that i did it. we had to do it. i was drafted at 18 years old. and i just did what we had to do. >> you flew from england. you were with the allied forces, and you guys won that day.

>> yes, i was in the 91st bomb group, out of cambridge, england. -- >> and you were what's called a gunner on one of the big planes that flew about 10,000 feet above the beaches? >> in between 10 and 12,000. >> unbelievable, sir, and it's a great honor to meet i, a pleasure, and i want to ask owen a question real quick. you may not realize this, but the boats that are in all of the motion pictures, that stormed the beaches, owen, tell me about those. >> a lot of people know them as landing craft, and they were invented here in new orleans by jackson higgins, and he made thousands and thousands of them here, and we deployed them in the england and the pacific theater, and by the time we got boots on the ground, we got them done, and that's why the national world war ii museum is

here in new orleans. >> appreciate the insight. and sir, an honor to meet you and thank you for serving the country and helping the world. >> glad to meet you. >> have a good day, and stephanie, thank you from the world war ii museum. >> that's exactly why our guests called it the country's war, and not just the military's war. robert at the d-day museum. the unconventional battle to defeat the german forces that took place far from the battlefield. and next, an update on the american economy. the latest unemployment numbers are out. you're watching aljazeera america.

>> the labor department released it's may jobs report this morning, and the numbers are significant. it shows the national unemployment rate holding steady at 6.3%, and employers added 17,200 jobs during the month,

and the workforce includes 38.5 million people, all time high, and that means that the u.s. has finally regained all of the jobs lost in the recession. while the recession ended five years ago, many are still feeling it's effects. >> downtown bristol, rhode island, appears to be thriving, home to historic buildings, and boutiques and fancy restaurants. but some residents say that the picture-perfect seaside town somebody becoming a community of extremes. those who can afford stately mansions and those who visit what was once a factoryry to get food at the local factory. michelle has been looking for work for three months, and her husband, a construction worker, has been getting less work at low pay. >> it seems that every year, it has been a little less, a little longer, and a lot of competition out there, everybody vying for the same jobs. >> judy works two jobs, making

$12 an hour at each. last year, she got a raise of 10 cents an hour. sometimes she needs help to make ends meet. with a number of manufacturing and fishing and construction jobs shrinking over the years, many have resort $20 low wage jobs. trouble for the middle class. a recent settled found that there are 2 million fewer jobs in well paying industries since the recession, and 1.85 million more low wage ones. >> there's really a 1-2 punch that they're facing. and wages across the board, even high positions are stagnant over the recovery. >> this food bank provides free meals to pantries all over the state of rhode island. and in the last five years, the number of people they serve has nearly gobbled. that in a time when unemployment

in the state has gone down. the food bank is taking part in a national study that will look at, among other things, how many people receiving assistance here are working full-time. >> we know that it's over half. exactly how many is hard to tell. many are families with children, where the adults are working, but at low wage jobs, so they are not earning enough to be able to afford rent, utilities and food through the entire month. >> and when working people are struggling to make ends meet, it's the american middle class that suffers. >> that was chris reporting. a shooting on the campus of seattle pacific university has left one dead and three injured. a gunman opened fire in a building at the small christian college. he was wrestled to the ground by students and held there until officers arrived. the shooter was not a student at the school. he's under arrest and will be

charged with murder. a canadian man charged with going on a rambo style spree is under arrest. he killed three members of the royal canadian mounted police and shot two others in new brunswick. he was carrying a number of high-powered weapons. sylvia burwell is expected to be sworn in monday as the new health and human services secretary. she will be helping with the floor afford. she replaces kathleen sebelius, who resigned in april. big task already burwell will be to smooth out the law. in. >> california chrome has a lot of people in the horsing world counting on him for betting on the ponies, because a lot of people who used to bet the tracks have turned to other places to gamble. >> shines bright in the kentucky

derby... >> since he followed through at the preakness, this three-year-old colt has captured the attention and won the hearts of horse lovers. if he wins again on saturday, california chrome will be the first triple crown champion in 36 years. >> i'm learning to bet, but i'm not a better and i'm not going to actually bet. but i'm hoping he wins. >> california chrome's co-owner, steve colburn, has bet his own money on the horse when he defied odds of 200 to 1. >> he loves people, and we have all of america on our side, other than the people that have the horses running against us. >> coburn and his gins partner are rare breeds in the sport of kings, without much personal

wealth, they bought his mother and paired her for less than $11,000. as the triple championship, california chrome could be worth $10 million or more. to these enthusiasts, the thrill of a good race is attractive, but as a betting proposition, the horses are suffering from serious competition. as americans find more legal ways to gamble at casinos and even online, betting at the tracks has fallen by more than one-third in the past ten years. attendance is down just as much, and without enough revenue from wagering, the racing industry is seeing more tracks shutting down. this race, and the story behind california chrome is teaming nowhere people to take a chance and lay a bet. >> you get the facility, and it's sad to see. some days you come here and there are 6, 700 people. and next saturday, there won't be. it will be packed to the rafters.

>> california chrome's long-term racing future may be hardtop predict. but if he wins on saturday, he'll join just 11 other triple crown champions in the history books. >> more than 100,000 fans are expected to jam belmont park for saturday's race. with the forecast for the big race and the weather across the nation, how's it looking? >> it's looking fantastic, and today is going to be more pleasant. but all in all, blue skies will continue to stick around much of the northeast as we get to the weekend. showers in new england. and nothing to write home about. as the high pressure continues to build in. and very comfortable as you step outside. this will be the case as you go to saturday. the temperatures are cooler and we're going to make it into the 70s widespread across the area, into the low 80s in philadelphia and dc. and then by saturday, temperatures will start to peak,

83° in the new york city area. and we'll feel the warming trend as we get to the weekend. the southwest has been baking, the heat will continue to build in phoenix and las vegas. triple digits today. and then by the time we get to the late part of the weekend, sunday to monday, we have an excessive heat watch in place because we're expecting temperatures to rise from 102 up to 120 once you get into death valley. so dangerously hot conditions, and if you live in this area, you definitely want to stay cool and ride rate yourself. drink a lot of water. a little bit east, we have a lot of moisture in place, helping to fuel the storms firing here. in oklahoma and parts of arkansas, that will continue through the evening hours, and strong to severe storms. we have a severe thunderstorm watch, and it will expire quickly in the next 30 or 40 minutes or so, and then as you get to the east, no severe storms in place, but flooding

has been occurring, so a lot of active weather taking place in the central plains, and it's all in association with the cluster of storms that continues to push off to the east. lots of rain associated with it, and rainfall, and we'll have to watch the storms closely over the next few hours. >> that's what we'll do, and coming up next on aljazeera, it was an enigma. how did the allied forces know so much about their scheme not opponent on d-day? >> during the war, allied code breakers played an essential role in the preparation for the d-day invasion of normandy.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy, and here are the headlines at this hour. it is the 70th anniversary of the d-day landing in france, d-day, the beginning of the allied powers over germany in world war ii.

commemorating the battles. and many eyes are on president obama and vladimir putin. despite no direct talks, they did speak on the sidelines of today's ceremonies, and officials say that it was just an informal talk. one of the most important contributions of d-day took place far from the beaches in secrecy. seek see gave the allies an edge. >> leslie park may not look like one of the most important sights of world war ii, but it was here is that german intelligence helped draw up plans for the invasion of normandy. tight with security, few knew the big picture. but she monitored german ships and helped to coordinate the massive effort. just 25 on d-day, she held the fate of tens of thousands of allied soldiers in her hands. >> we waited for so long for

this moment. it's very exciting. it was going to happen at last. but we did realize that it would be a lot of casualties. >> to minimize those casualties, they facing the an enormous task. breaking german coded radio messages. germany's encoding devices, enigma machines, were clacking away, tuesday in normandy alone, each sending several messages in a random code that germany thought was unbreakable. each had crucial information on german plans and information. but what aid off hitler didn't know, britain had a revolutionary machine to crack codes. how it involved the 82nd airborne. >> they're about to land and drop into this area, which is clear of german troops, and then

enigma shows them moving german troops in there. you have the 82nd airborne from landing in a hornet's nest. >> and then six days before normandy, they go online with a more sophisticated machine, speeding up the process by 50%, coal office, the first modern computer. and they can hardly believe what was accomplished. >> i look and say, did i do that? you did it because you had to do t. >> leslie was considered so important that it remained a secret for decades after the war. and it was only in recent years that the code breakers gained recognition for what they did. some say that they cut the length of the war by a full two years. it may look unassuming, though that's sort of the point, hiding out in plain sight. but still, the men and women who worked here during world war ii,

played a vital really inn curing our allied victory and changing the course of history. aljazeera. >> thank you for watching aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. "the stream" is next. head to aljazeera.com. hi, i'm lisa fletcher, and you are in "stream", we're here to talk about why the global fight for one of the most intelligent animals isn't over year. and why are the u.s. and russia the only countries in the world who's militaries use dolphins? are questions of ethics changing as public expectations shift in the wake of the cove and black fish? we discuss right now. ♪