good morning. coming up on "early today" -- >> they were willing to sacrifice everything for the greater good of humanity. thank god that they did. >> 70 years ago today, the largest amphibious invasion in history began exactly at 6:30 in the morning right here on omaha beach. this morning we'll look at the enormity of d-day on the world. back here at home, open fire at seattle pacific university. we have the latest. plus a rare glimpse of nancy reagan honoring her beloved ronnie. and king james is carried from the court. and a deadly storm hits arkansas. it's friday, june 6th. "early today" starts right now.

good morning, everyone. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. 70 years ago today more than 160,000 american and allied troops stormed the coast of normandy, france. it was a sneak attack that liberated the country from nazi occupation. it marked the beginning of the end of world war ii. nearly 4500 sacrificed their lives. president obama will join world leaders to honor d-day veterans and recognize the enormity of what took place on that hallowed ground. >> what more powerful manifestation of america's commitment to human freedom than the sight of wave after wave after wave of young men boarding those boats to liberate people they had never met. normandy, this was democracy's beachhead. and our victory in that war decided not just a century but shaped the security and

well-being of all posterity. we worked to turn old adversaries into new allies, we built new prosperity, we stood once more with the people of this continent through a long twilight struggle until finally a wall tumbled down and an iron curtain too, and from western europe to east, from south america to southeast asia, 70 years of democratic movements spread. and nations that once knew only the blinders of fear began to taste the blessing of freedom. >> nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is in normandy, france. andrea? >> reporter: betty, president obama came here saying that omaha beach, normandy was democracy's beachhead and this group of veterans, the small group of survivors, now 70 years later, saved the world, not only savingvoking a time when men of courage took to the air, the

parachutes dropped, the 13,000 paratroopers that went in before dawn and then the thousands who came to those rough seas. he talked about the courage that they exhibited and also brought together this generation of soldiers, those who were here today, heroes themselves, also following in the footsteps and said the important thing is for us to keep telling the story of those who served on d-day and made america safe for democracy. betty? >> andrea mitchell there. just prior to the d-day invasion, general dwight d. eisenhower reminded allied soldiers that the eyes of the world are upon you as they embarked on what he called a great crusade. >> soldiers, sailors and airmen of the allied expensery force you are about to embark upon the great crusade toward which we have driven these many months. 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, you will bring about the destruction of the german war machine, the elimination of nazi tyranny over people and security for ourselves in a free world. your task will not be be an easy one. your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. he will fight savagely. the tide has turned. the free men of the world are marching together to victory. i have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. we will accept nothing less than full victory. good luck and let us all beseek the blessing of almighty god of this great and noble undertaking. >> a quick program note for you. join brian williams this evening on "nightly news" for an exclusive interview with president obama following today's d-day ceremonies. seattle has been rocked by a deadly college shooting. one person who was not a student was shot to death.

three are wounded including a victim who remains in critical condition. the gunman opened fire at seattle pacific university thursday afternoon. police say he walked into the foyer of a campus building with a shotgun and knife and began shooting. officials are praising quick thinking students who subdued the shooter as he tried to reload his weapon. a student security guard used pepper spray to stop the suspect. a 26-year-old man, not a student at the campus, has been taken into custody. it has been an annual tradition for the former first lady for the past decade, but it is the first time the public has been granted a glimpse into this very private moment. nancy reagan visited her late husband's california grave site yesterday to mark the tenth anniversary of president ronald reagan's death. mrs. reagan watched as flowers were laid at his grave. the couple had been married for over half a century when president reagan passed away after a long battle with alzheimer's disease. want to shift gears now. it was a hot one in san antonio for game one of the nba

playoffs. the heat was on, literally, the air conditioning at the at&t center was on the fritz. sending temperatures soaring and causing fans, well, to fan themselves. the spurs and heat got off to a strong start, though. mano ginobili hit some threes. with minutes left in the fourth, james, king james cramped up big time and had to be carried off the court. the spurs managed to capitalize and take game one 110-95. game two is on sunday. southwest missouri, high winds, rains and localized flash flooding made for treacherous driving conditions. powerful storms in northeast arkansas are being blamed for two deaths there. wind gusts were so powerful, they sent this four-wheeler flying. that is something you don't see every day. bill karins is here with more on the storms. that's incredible. i have no idea how strong the wind has to be to pick something up. >> like a chain off the back --

>> so maybe it got caught. >> something else was attached to it that went airborne and it literally is hanging. regardless, it is an incredible feat of strength. this was a big wind event. we call it a derecho, a weather word that describes a long lasting thunderstorm, has to go 250 miles and cause widespread wind damage. this was a huge one. went 1,000 miles, all of those blue dots show you where we had wind damage reports from kansas all the way to northern georgia. in the west, another warm day yesterday. little cooler for the coastal sections as has been the case of late. it doesn't look like we're going to see much in the way of any changes. so far this june, we haven't had a drop of rain in any of the major cities anywhere. five dry days in a row, make it six today. even when the pacific northwest is looking this dry, it is kind of -- at least get some showers every now and then, even in june. friday forecast, looks a lot like yesterday, coastal clouds early in the day, hopefully get sunshine in the afternoon, l.a.

to san diego. the northwest is looking pretty nice and very seasonable. that's your national forecast. >> beautiful weather. just perfect. >> yeah. >> nonstop nice. >> yeah. who is complaining, right? >> a record day for guns at u.s. airports. we'll explain. hillary's infamous teenage-like moment with barack obama. those details next. [ telephone ringing ] ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] is your morning trying to tell you something? ♪ maybe we should have gotten him one?

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home of the belmont stakes. good race coming up this weekend. >> reporter: good morning, betty. you're right. you weren't even alive the last time there was a triple crown winner. i unfortunately was already an old guy. quiet around the oval early this morning. you would expect that. chrome out for an early jog, the final tuneup before tomorrow's run at horse racing history. and even though things aren't really exciting here right now, there is a buzz around belmont. >> california chrome shines bright in the kentucky derby! >> it has been a whirlwind ride. >> every place i go, he's on the front page of the papers. on television shows all over the country. i mean, i've never seen a horse get this kind of publicity in a long time. >> reporter: because that horse, california chrome, is in a position to do something that hasn't been done in a long time, win the triple crown.

>> confirmed has a nose and comes to the wire. >> reporter: the last was affirmed in 1978, one of 11 horses to win all three races. but with decisive wins in the derby and preakness, chrome comes to new york as the odds on favorite to join that exclusive club. >> he's getting bigger. he's getting stronger. he's ready to run. he's ready to rock and roll. he's our rock star and he's ready to rock. >> reporter: but other stars have faded. big brown in 2008, i'll have another two years ago. jockey victor espinoza was one win with a away in 2002, but his ride stumbled out of the gate. he'll get a second chance this weekend. >> i'm very confident right now. i mean, after i work him, i get a little bit more confidence. i think he's going to run good. >> reporter: and it will take a big ride for chrome to race him to history. and, again, chrome with an early morning jog, nowhere near full

speed, but made three trips around the track, looked very good. looked like he is ready for the race. and most agree he is, in fact, going out as a 3 to 5 favorite to win, not only the final jewel, but the entire triple crown. >> save up the energy for the big race. thanks for making me younger than what i really am. always appreciate that, jay. have a good one. nbc is the only place to watch tomorrow's belmont stakes. coverage begins live at 4:30 eastern on this nbc station. prerace coverage at 2:30 eastern on nbc sports network. captured. after a 24-hour manhunt, canadian officials arrested a man suspected in the killing of three canadian mounties and wounding two others. one resident watched it all unfold, tweeting, the s.w.a.t. team arrived at my house and unloaded and started screaming in my backyard for him to surrender and he did. i watched it happen. it is a new record, the tsa found 18 guns at airport checkpoints nationwide on

wednesday and that brings the year's total to 800. senator bernie sanders and john mccain have agreed to the frim work of a new bipartisan deal that would bring big changes to va hospitals. it would reduce the wait times, allow some vets to use private care, and pump hundreds of millions of dollars into hiring new doctors and nurses. the plan will be debated next week and then sent to the house. and we are getting a sneak peek at hillary clinton's new memoir "hard choice oz choices " this is the back cover. she talked about her encounter with barack obama at the 2008 democratic national convince saying we stared at each other like two teenagers on an awkward first date, take a few sips of chardonnay. really? all right. the book comes out next week i'm sure we'll hear more about that. and in health news, some scientists believe transplanting human cells into pigs could help them treat human diseases. researchers at the university of missouri say the pigs' ability to accept human transplants is a

major step forward for stem cell studies. pigs were used in the research instead of other animals like mice because pigs are anatomically more similar to humans. "early today" is brought to you by vagisil, the experts in intimate health. time to get down to business. investors are anxiously awaiting may's employment numbers. that will be released later this morning. reuters surveyed economists who are expecting 218,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate to move up 6.4%. according to various reports, there is a growing trend among people getting married to sign social media prenups. really, huh? in the age of facebook, twitter and instagram, couples are taking precautions to protect themselves from potentially embarrassing stories or photos. technology. it is being built as the world's tallest roller coaster and coming to orlando, florida, soaring 50 stories in the air, the tower style coaster will

include a restaurant, a lounge, and an observation deck. developers hope to have the attraction done by the end of 2016. just ahead, game of thrones just knocked off tony soprano. we'll explain. incredible weather images that got our attention. "early today" is back in a moment. . my skin is not perfect. and instead of getting stressed about it, you can just perfect it. new revlon age defying cc cream perfect those little fine lines, the dark spots, the uneven skin tone... correct. protect. perfect. revlon.

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>> love that song. this morning on "today," grammy nominated singer sara bareilles rocks the "today" plaza with a special performance. you don't want to miss it. to sports, the tampa bay rays had a moment of silence for former adviser and baseball legend don zimmer who died on wednesday. in the game, the rays fought to avoid a tenth straight loss, but miami emerged beating their fellow floridan team. here is something i have never seen ever. aoki gets hit in the head as the catcher throws back to the pitcher. >> he looked stunned for a second, but got up and brushed it off. too bad getting hit head in the ball didn't get him to first. this knocks a triple into the gap putting points on the board for st. louis. kansas city hits back and is able to get the win at home, 3-2. reminder, that game two of the stanley cup finals are saturday night at 7:00 p.m. eastern, here on nbc. just ahead, it is tom cruise

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looks like we're about to board. mm-hmm. i'm just comparing car insurance rates at progressive.com. is that where they show the other guys' rates, too? mm-hmm. cool. yeah. hi. final boarding call for flight 294. [ bells ring on sign ] [ vehicle beeping ] who's ready for the garlic festival? this guy! bringing our competitors' rates to you -- now, that's progressive. look at that. >> wow. >> straight from the cloud to the ground, right alongside this guy's vehicle. captured all on camera, of course. they say you're safe in a car,

but i wouldn't want that happening to me. this is a prettier side of weather events. this downtown atlanta, after the thunderstorms blew through. what a beautiful sunset and the rainbow at the same time. look closely, it is almost a double rainbow too. as far as the forecast in the west, no rainbows, you need rain for that. clear skies in many areas, interior sections of clouds along the coast. hot in the desert areas. not a lot of changes even the beginning of next week. >> that atlanta rainbow, so beautiful. >> so many pictures of it. downtown atlanta, no one could believe it. entertainment news for you now. it is tom cruise versus the tearjerker, "the fault in our stars." the teenage romance based on john green's best-selling book is predicted to beat tom cruise's sci-fi action flick "edge of tomorrow" and contender for number one against disney's "maleficent" that debuted last weekend at $64 million. actress evan rachel wood is

being sued for $30 million for leaving the -- the sequel. she may be hating this. woods says the lawsuit is preposterous and a bullying tactic from financially troubled producers. game of thrones has whacked tony soprano's biggest series audience. 18.4 million viewers, 200,000 ahead of the american mob boss. >> you're happy about this. >> i am. i love game of thrones. that is my show. >> sopranos is the top of my list. >> can you believe it? >> i've never seen an episode of game of thrones. >> you need to start. never too late. i'm betty nguyen. this is "early today." we hope it is just your first stop of the day today on nbc. [ male announcer ] not all toothbrushes are the same. oral-b pro-health toothbrushes have crisscross bristles that remove up to 90% of hard to reach plaque. feel the difference.

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70 years ago today, more than 150,000 allied troops landed in normandy in an attempt to liberate france from nazi occupation. this radio broadcast was made asking americans to join him in a prayer. >> almighty god, our sons, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, to struggle to preserve our republic, our religion and our civilization and to set free a suffering humanity. give strength to their arms,

steadfastness in their faith. 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 cause our sons will triumph. they will be without rest until the victory is won. the darkness will be wrapped by noise and flame. men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war. for these men are drawn from the ways of peace. they fight not for the lust of

conquest, they fight to end conquest. they fight to liberate. they fight to let justice arise among all thy people. they earn but for the end of battle, for they return to the haven of home. some will never return. embrace these, father, and receive them thy heroic servants, into thy kingdom. >> that was fdr on this day in 1944. tonight, in a primetime special, four world war ii veterans describe the terrifying moments as they landed in german occupied normandy. watch brian williams' reporting "journey to normandy" at 8:00, 7:00 central here on nbc. i'm betty nguyen. thanks for watching "early today." have a great friday.

. good friday morning. it's 4:30. i'm sam brock. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's check the forecast with christina loren. >> we're going to crank up the heat as we head into the weekend. get ready. it's going to come on strong and we'll take you to the forecast and tell you how you can keep cool. there's always a way across the bay area. first, let's check on your drive. it's friday. probably light. hopefully it will stay that way. mike? yes. we're