we have now the most important relationship in the world and the most complex relationship in the world. i would end on that famous headline that happens to be true. this was the week that changed the world. k.t.: i think this is a profound example of the people who really did work for the men who change the world, and where the giants of american history. the significant impact you have had individually, collectively on not just the united states but on the world is something we should all applaud. it is so significant that i think we will ask them back to do another panel to talk about the relationship of the united states after the nixon presidency. although nixon left office in 1974, he continued to travel to china. he continued personally to write about it, think about it, and expand the relationship. for now, i want to thank admiral john howwe, ambassador to his -- ambassador nicholas howe,

and thank you all for coming. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> here are some of our featured programs this weekend on the c-span network. on c-span 2, book tv is live at the chicago tribune printers row lit fest. today project speakers include senior adviser to present obama, david axelrod, and margaret lazarus the on the last days of the american faithful. that is followed by a book review at 7:30.

on sunday at noon we continue our coverage of the book festival with our three-our in-depth program with pulitzer prize winning author lawrence rice. he will take your phone calls and questions from the audience. following that, scott simon on the book "unforgettable." alice goffet of the results on the war against drugs in disadvantage relationships. on american history tv on c-span 3, join us for several featured programs on sunday. the nasa film "the 40's of gemini 4." world war two photographer tony vacarro about capturing images in the stories behind those images. on american artifacts, we visit with senator lamar alexander as he shares stories about

political momentum in the washington office. veteran journalists bob schaffer, david arnett, and david hume kennely discuss their vietnam experience. get our complete schedule at www.c-span.org. >> each week, american history tv's reel america bring you archival films that value the story of the 20th century. ♪

narrator: june 9 1944. allied troops in normandy have moved inland. the work of the us navy and coast guard and combined allied sea forces has been done. work not without a price in men and materiel. it all began many months earlier

. in chesapeake bay and other sections of the american kos untested sailors and soldiers learned the task from getting from ship to shore. that time, the shore was a friendly one. then, with part of their training finished, they left the united states. late in the winter and all through the spring, great convoys moved eastward across the atlantic. abort all the transports -- aboard all the transports, the troops relaxed and waited for the voyage to end.

♪ along the coasts of great written that spring, -- great britain that spring, training went on. forces practiced landing operations day and night. meanwhile, the larger landing

craft, lst's and lci's, carried on their maneuvers, learn to land at a certain spot at a certain time. through all the days of preparation, live planes, thousands of them, -- allied planes, thousands of them, continue to is often any defenses in air raids.

off the southern coast of england, thousands of ships from all allied nations are preparing for the invasion signal. navy and coast guard crews make last-minute preparations. when the k-rations come aboard, everyone knows that d-day is drawing near. somewhere in southern england troops embark on lcvp's to be

transported off-shore. june 5. the lci's are loaded.

the next time these men step ashore will be on an enemy beach. there is only a little time left to relax. the bombing attacks of the air force are intensified. now the raids are continuous. at ports of embarkation, the troops prepare themselves for their greatest battle. ♪

a coast guard officer briefs his men. all along the coast sailors received their final instructions. at last the ships leave the coastal waters and move out into the channel. the slow lst's loaded with heavy equipment. the transports loaded with men. vast warships screen the ships from any radar.

at 15:30 a convoy of lst's meet, loaded with soldiers, corpsmen and material. d-day approaches and the ships are in their assigned position. for some of them, like the coast guard-manned vessel chase is the fourth invasion in any waters. -- enemy waters. the only planes overhead are friendly.

from the 83-foot coast guard rescue boats to the navy's powerful battle wagon, the invasion fleet is moving towards france. and below decks officers studied the maps that mark the invasion beachheads on the coast of normandy.

♪ [suspenseful music] some of the landing barges are stopped by concrete obstacles built far out into the water by the enemy. offshore, the larger landing

craft approach the beachhead slowly. aboard the lci's, the troops prepare to land. the beach is still empty and the crossfire of german gun still rakes the shore.

out of enemy firing range, the lst's wait to move in until the beaches are cleared. the arrival of motorized equipment marks the end of the first phase of the landing. the lci's, their first loads of men now on the beaches, go out to the transports to carry more men to shore. still waiting beyond gun range the lst's unload supplies on smaller lct's. heavier equipment is transferred to giant rhino ferries

flat-bottomed ferries that will unload on the shore. more transports arrive with thousands of men. defeated and disarmed, the first german soldiers captured in france wait until someone has time to evacuate them. out in the channel, the rescue boats of the coast guard are looking for survivors and aiding damaged vessels.

the hospital ships are waiting for the wounded. from a damaged coast guard lci a wounded man is transferred to another ship. the life-saving blood plasma goes with him. another coast guard-manned lci badly crippled, could not reach the shore and its wounded are removed.

the beach is firmly in allied hands now and the vast extent of the invasion is visible. signs of the fierce battle are everywhere. in many of the few days, damaged ships will be afloat again.

now more and more troops move inland to push the enemy back. the lst's land their cargoes on the beach. barges build especially for the normandy operation are left on the shore to be unloaded.

during the daytime, there are only allied planes in the air. in night german bombers harass the beachhead and drop bombs off shore. out of sunken ships artificial harbors have been built. until a port is one from the enemy, these must handle all allied shipping.

the heavy storm left a trail of damaged ships. once again the landing barges move out into the channel. this time loaded with german prisoners. in england, prisoners board a coast guard transport. and ships which have carried thousands of american soldiers overseas now return westward with a different cargo -- with men who were beaten and captured in normandy. ♪

>> this sunday on c-span, a conversation with a former senator, jim webb. he discusses growing up in a military family and his services in vietnam, politics congress and what he likes about campaigning. >> i enjoy the face to face campaigning. talking to people and listening to what their thoughts are and being able to clarify mine. what i don't enjoy is campaign finance. when i announced my exploratory committee, i said one thing, i will never go anything to ever -- oh -- owe anything to anyone if