possible, stop and think of these men. these men waged war so that we might know peace. they sacrificed so that we might be free. they fought in hopes of a day when we'd no longer longer need fight. we are grateful to them. gentlemen, i want each of you to know your legacy is in good hands. in a time it has never been more tempting to pursue narrow self-interest, to slough off common endeavor, this generation of americans, a new generation, our men and women of war, have chosen to do their part as well. 70 years ago today 160,000 allied troops storpd a heavily stor stormed a heavily fortified beach. aircraft bombarding nazi positions in wave after wave. the cost was immense. the 9,000 allied men lost their lives. but their valor opened the gate

to europe and eventually to the end of world war ii. this morning we pay tribute to those who lived and those who made the ultimate sack rifice i service to their country. good morning, everyone. it is friday, june 6. d-day. with welcome to "morning joe" a special edition here. with us on set pulitzer prize winning historian jon meacham, mark halperin, richard haass, and in washington pulitzer prize writing columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson. it's good to have you all along with joe and me. i want to start in normandy, france, where msnbc contributor mike barnicle and nbc's tom brokaw have been watching the events unfold and, tom, did -- actually, mike barnicle start to for us if you would. help us recognize the magnitude

of this moment in history. >> well, mika, i don't know any of us can fully grasp the magnitude of it. it is almost incomprehensible what happened here, the courage, the carnage. but it is always a humbling experience to be here. i've been here several times for various anniversaries, the 40th, 50th, 60th. it is a cathedral of heroes out here on this lawn behind us. over 9,000 headstones, stars of david, men from all of the then 48 states, men from all different religions. many of them killed here on june 6, 1944. but others ckilled elsewhere in battled throughout france and europe. tom, i'm sure, i know for you, too, it is humbling to be here. >> we live in an age of exaggeration, mike, where everybody is a superstar, everybody is a celebrity, everybody is a legendary figure of some kind.

we just put those labels on quickly. this event was so important, and there had never been anything like it before. there never will be again. the enormous cost in terms of human lives, the audacity of this kind of an invasion and the consequence of it. it was the beginning of the end of hitler's deranged dream of world power. we've been talking about this. it's very hard to find words that can be adequate to what happened here. so i always tell people when you come to normandy, find a moment by yourself and stand at the head of one of these rows and then walk slowly down them. read the names. that's what you need to know because from there it opens up to all that happened afterwards and the sacrifices made and those who survived come here and say silently, i hope i did you proud when i went home. i had to live my life for you, the ones they lost. so it is a religious moment in so many ways.

>> it is, tom -- i was with you ten years ago and it is an extraordinary thing to behold. and i've told everybody that just walking along the cemetery looking out over the channel on a late june night is one of the most unbelievable moments of my life. the thing, though, that shocked me, you talked about how it was like a religious experience, it was also deeply emotional. 60 years removed and i'd like you to talk about this because you've been back so many times. i would find myself in the streets with old gis that storpd the beaches and parents and grandparents of young french children who walk up and they would introduce themselves to these men, these old men, and say, you are free today because

of what he did 60 years ago. now they'll be saying because of what he did 70 years ago. talk about the emotional outpouring and how even 60, 70 years later tears will flow not only from the faces of these old gis but also from french parents that weren't even alive when this happened. >> well, i don't want to overstate the attitudes of all the french for americans but anyone who has been a tourist in france will know you're not always quite as welcome in parts of this country. it's a kind of down the hill attitude. that's not true here. you come here and it is -- to use stephen ambrose's sturm, a band of men and brothers. they still do generation to generation what americans did and live with the sacrifices because it's not the just it this cemetery, there are others and there are memorials along the way and they have an appreciation and an

understanding of the commitment that the united states made and gave all those lives, and it went well beyond just the men who died in the first wave. as i've been saying recently, you have to think about those who came after, those who were up and down that beach under fire trying to identify those who had fallen, the engineers trying to build the bridges and the ability to get to the highlands and the breakout took until late july. it didn't happen in just one day. this was ferocious fighting that went on through the summer. and the french were here, there were 2,000 of them who died during the course of that fighting as well. so, you're right, joe. when you come here, it has not been lost generation to generation. >> you know, joe, you have been fortunate. you have been here, and it's unrealistic but it would be the wish that every american could come here and see what you have seen, what we have seen, witnessed this, witnessed this emotion because behind us over

9,000 of these headstones this is who we are. this is who we are. this is our country. this is what we did and this is what we do still. >> mike, i've never walked on any ground that i thought was more sacred. my children are still in school, my young children, or else i would have been there. mika's children in school or she would have still been there. i'm taking my children there later this year because, you're right, every american should go there, and i wanted, mike, for you to comment on how the frienh and this area felt about americans and still do and just the remarkable outpouring of emotion because ten years ago when we were there it was a very difficult time between the united states and france, and i found it interesting even in paris, you know, chirac and bush were pounding heads and it was a low point of our relationship

since the war. i even had people in paris come up to me saying, we love your country and we thank your country for all it has done for us. we just can't stand your president. but it was actually the warmest reception that, as an american, i'd ever had in paris. and there is something about this date. something about this remarkable moment in both countries' h histories that actually show that much more binds france and america together than either side would like to admit. other days of the year. >> well, i mean, you're right. tom alluded to this, the difference between being in paris, metropolitan paris, and on the normandy coast. it's still significant. in paris they like you if you have the american express card. along the normandy coast they like you because you are an american. there are two major roads in

this area. one is a fairly new superhighway for france, a four-lane highway that runs up the coast past where we are right now. there's an intennell road right along the coast they call it the d-day road and, joe, mika, everyone there in fork, to this day, this week, this morning, if you take that road you will see more american flags, the stars and stripes, than you will see french flags. you will see people standing at their driveways waiting for an american replica of a jeep to pass by with americans so they can wave and say thank you. they are still enormously grateful here. there is a village called st. mary's -- the name of st. mary's about 45 minutes from here. tom mentioned this as well. it's another american cemetery. there are over 4,500 americans, mostly tankers from patton's third army buried there. if you go there, you realize

looking through the register of graves an astonishing fact in that american cemetery. ins tentally the american cemeteries are american property cared for by america. there are 20 sets of brothers buried side-by-side in that cemetery. americans who came here, fell from the sky, landed on the beaches, tlif delivering the gi freedom. jon meacham, churchill said, of course, of raf, in the battle of britain in 1940 that as long as great britain existed as a country, people would look back and say this was their finest hour. that certainly can be said of the young men who charged the beach that day 70 years ago, could it not? >> well, what churchill and britain did in 1940 in standing alone against hitler when hitler had essentially taken over europe, americans helped finish it four years later and

churchill's line was men will still say this was their finest hour. he was convinced that we were part of a long, overarching story and that britain in its role in standing alone was going to stand out. and really this is the hours, the hinge of history. it's the moment at which -- the moment franklin roosevelt at the sided at tehran in 1943 to go and authorize and push ahead for this operation really was the moment we became a superpower. he sided against churchill, supported stalin in opening a second front. churchill called what happened at normandy the most difficult and complicate d operation that has ever taken place. and it was politically, militari militarily, culturally one of the largest events really in human history. >> richard haass, also just a back story that we americans don't talk about as much, stalin

was pushing furiously for fdr to open this second front because the shrussians were bleeding. millions were dying, and churchill had no problem with the russians and stalin taking the brunt of this war which they did. i mean, extraordinary costs for the russians. this, though, was fdr understanding. he need ed to open a second front. >> there was always a question of when and not if and obviously the brits wanted to delay it as long as possible. stalin wanted it as soon as possible and fdr essentially thre threaded the needle and this is what was decided upon. two things worth noting, one is the war ended less than a year later. it was about ten months later. so this really was tom who said the beginning of the end. this was the transition point in many ways for world war ii and it was ten months later that the the entire war was over. the other is it begins today

because you have putin there. it reminds people of how much of the history is complicated, the idea you have people fighting together but the suspicions were enormous. here it was world war ii already the post-world war ii tensions were beginning to emerge. here we are today celebrating the 70 years later and what do you have? american/european frictions about how to deal with russia, putin wanting a large role. it's interesting. history doesn't repeat itself but as mark twain said it rhymes. we're hearing a little bit of rhyme. >> it seems to rhyme actually every ten years, mark halperin. i can tell you ten years ago on the 60th anniversary, again, it was u.s./europe relations were as fraught and torn as they've been. >> and i was there on the 50th with president clinton, it was the same dealing with the aftermath of the cold war and how to deal with with a new alliance. this is obviously what we're commemorating today, a special

moment in had history. a lot of special places with special meaning. into your a place with such special meaning. the talk about the people, you've done the most important job in america, bringing to lich the generation. who are some people there today, some veterans today you've spent time with that you want to highlight in terms of their story and how they're reacting today in terms of what's going on? >> well, you know what, mark, i first came here for the 40th anniversary and it was the beginning of the idea of writing my book and i keep thinking every tenth year, well, there can't be any more stories, but, in fact, there are. and we've got them playing out on "nightly news" tonight and on the "today" show this morning. one of my favorites is tom blakey, a guy from if ft. gibson, texas. he saw a guy when he was a teenager jump out of an airpl e airplane. said i want to be a paratrooper. jumped in on the 82nd. found himself in a cemetery. had his little cricket with him that he could signal, formed up a team. they had a strategic bridge to hold. they managed to do it, but he

shot his first german. and he could see the guy go down. came back after fighting the war, and as he described himself, i was a mean s.o.b., tom. i was mean. i was hard. but he was a successful businessman and i went through life, as he described it, making a ton of money, brokaw. i made a ton of money. and i said, i've heard, however, that you have the boy it in your head. he said, i never stopped thinking about that first german, and he had a way of living with me that was so uncomfortable and made me mean. i didn't tell anybody about it. then his wife died. he went to work for the world war ii museum in new orleans. and after about three months, his children said you've changed. and he thought about it. the boy in his head was gone because he was able to describe on a daily basis to the people who came to the museum why they fought and why it was important, and if he had not killed that young german he would have been killed by him.

and he's a different person. he's here now. the see rhett service detail for the president wanted to have their picture taken ep with him yesterday. 93 years old. the same weight as he was then. he was the one who wanted to jump out of the airplane, not the tandem, brokaw. i want to go on my own. i said, you can't get out of a chair. you can't jump out of the airpla airplane. so he comes back and revisits. i think we also have to say quickly let's remember this was a huge turning point. this war was fought all over the world. we can't forget those who were fight i fighting in the pacific. the italian campaign ended just days before, that was a brutal, brutal campaign that had gone on. the submarines, the people in the skies, there's never been anything quite like this magnitude. finally, i've been in the british embassy in tehran, and they have the place settings still in place in the original dining room table of where they all gathered and then they walked me down to the small ante

room where roosevelt and stalin had their conference with churchill outside pacing up and down smoking on a cigar desperate to get in, and they didn't let him in and they struck the deal that led to d-day. >> what incredible stories. tom brokaw, mike barnicle. we'll have much more from both of you thought the morning on this 70th anniversary of d-day. mike will tell us the story of the bedford boys and how their story epitomizes the ultimate sacrifice made by entire families and communities and actually mike wrote essays on the 50th anniversary. we've put them back up on our website and we're tweeting them because they crystallized these very, very beautiful, sometimes very simple stories of young men who were called to action and how their contributions really changed history. we do have some other news to turn to this morning. the taliban is providing news, details about the nearly five years bowe bergdahl was held in captivi captivity.

now in separate conversations with "time" magazine, two militant commanders describe the moments leading up to the american soldier's release. they assigned a cameraman to capture the handover and gave bergdahl a custom made local tunic as a sign of respect. one said, quote, we wanted him to return home with good memories. the taliban members involved in the swap have reversed mess anna messages to deliver. the group's leadership is celebrating a, quote, historic moment, saying the deal amounts to official u.s. recognition of the taliban status. when asked if the exchange would inspire future kidnappings, the commander laughed saying, quote, definitely. it's better to kidnap one person like bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people. it is encouraged our people. now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird. >> richard haass, not the exactly the statement this administration would want but

certainly one that many foreign policy experts feared would come out of this deal and certainly something that dianne feinstein, jay rockefeller, most of the democrats the on the intel committee were pushing back furiously on several years ago when they first heard about this. >> look, this was a costly decision. you could argue it was justified or not, but it was obviously costly both in the sense of the american troops who lost their lives looking for the soldier as well as for what it will do for afghanistan. what i think it does and it would have happened anyhow but it reinforces it, the taliban now, like it or not, continues to be and will be even more so a major player in the future of afghanistan. you have this new government that's going to emerge in a couple of weeks. the taliban had the ethnic collections with the largest ethnic group in the country. they're supported obviously out of pakistan so the struggle for afghanistan is not over and what you see is the taliban essential

ly getting well in had this. this reinforces the sense that they are one of the central participants in this story. >> so administration officials say they were hesitant to inform congress as the deal was coming together because the taliban had threatened to kill the american captive if news leaked out ahead of time. the white house insists that they were well aware of the framework of the ex change for quite some time. still, president obama is being forced to defend the deal and also how he presented it to the public. >> with respect to how we announced it, i think it was important for people to understand that this is not some abstraction. this is not political football. you have a couple of parents whose kid volunteered to fight in a distant land, who they hadn't seen in five years, and weren't sure whether they'd ever see again. and as commander in chief of the united states armed forces, i am

responsible for those kids. i make absolutely no apologies for making sure that we get back a young man to his parents and that the american people understand that this is somebody's child. >> gene robinson, chime in on the president's defense of his presentation the. and do you agree with it looking back now? i'm talking about the rose garden ceremony and everything that ensued after in had terms of how they framed this. >> well, you know, i think i wrote in my column this morning that rose garden ceremonies are supposed to be safe and predictable. this one was not. i think the optics of that were questionable, but i think the president makes a good point, and it's interesting that on my paper's ed page it this morning,

charles krauthammer and i, who never agree on everything, wrote essentially the same column independently saying this had to be done. you have to get him home, and then you adjudicate it later and we negotiated with terrorists but, guess what, everybody negotiates with terrorists all the time, israelis do, the french do. everybody says they don't and it's certainly distasteful but it was necessary. and then we both go on it to say this is the kind of deal, one for five, that gets made because of the value we put on human life versus the value that others might the put on human life be and it's not equal. and these are unpleasant facts but they're facts and so i think the president made the decisions

that he had to make and i think -- and i understand his defense. >> more to come on this later as we well. >> can i just say what gene just told me makes me very sad because up until this point i thought charles krauthammer was always right. the. >> it's amazing. >> he is agreeing with you. >> he is sometimes right. >> he wasn't this morning. >> oh, stop. >> david wrote the same column. >> interesting. >> that doesn't surprise me. still ahead on "morning joe" much to do today. mike myers is here to discuss his directorial debut. alan mulally may be stepping down as ceo of ford. what's next for him. up next the story of the bedford boys, how one small american town sacrificed all in the normandy invasion. but first, bill karins with a check ahead on the weekend. bill?

good morning, guys. this weekend forecast looking very nice in the northeast and the mid-atlantic, but in the middle of the country we're continuing to struggle with daily thunderstorms. these pictures from yesterday were incredible. this wind storm went for 1,000 miles. look what it did to this four-wheeler. it actually lifted it off the ground and somehow it attached itself to the top and the side of the house. also in atlanta as the storms passed through, it left this beautiful scene at sunset yesterday. a full rainbow right over the downtown area. absolutely gorgeous. there's 1,000 pictures out there that everyone was taking. let me take you into what happened. a big storm system that went yesterday from kansas all the way down to atlanta. you just tracked it all the way. it had a lot of wind reports. this is a long line of intense thunderstorms. it went 1,000 miles and all those little blue dots is where the wind damage occurred. a huge, huge area. this morning we're still watching storms in texas and

oklahoma. that's where we could see severe storms and later today we'll watch everyone from arkansas, mississippi, alabama, north flori florida, southern georgia for the chance of severe storms. not too many tornadoes but that wind damage can do its damage. so the weekend forecast looks like this. gorgeous day today. new england, mid-atlantic. as we go through the weekend we continue to trend a nice mid-atlantic in the northeast but stormy weather continues in the midwest right through sunday where we'll deal with a flash flood threat. they need the rain, they had a drought in texas and oklahoma. you don't want this much all the time. beautiful sun rise. the low humidity. what a gorgeous weekend heading your way, new york city. you're watching "morning joe." this is a view...

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almighty god, our sons, pride of our nation, this day set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion, and our civilization and to set free a

suffering humanity. give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, st d 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 thigh grace and by the righteousness of our cause our sons are will triumph. >> that was a portion of president franklin delano roosevelt's d-day prayer read on the radio june 6, 1944. thousands of men made the ultimate sacrifice 70 years ago to help put the allies on a path to victory. one small town in virginia, though, hit hard losing 19 boys by day's end. mike barnicle has the story of

the group that will forever be known as the bedford boys. all facing west toward the beach where they landed, the channel they crossed, and the land that they left to come and help rid the world of the it terror that was hitler's third reich, 0 omaha beach, the american cemetery, normandy. 172 acres, 9,386 headstones bleached white by sun, wind, and time. >> normandy eastward to the mouth of the sense with a tremendous roar of battle. >> 150,000 allied soldiers, they came ashore at 6:30 on the morning of 6 june 1944. the noise stunning. the carnage horrific. the bravery constant.

omaha beach was a fortress, machine guns had clear and interlocking fields of fire from cement pill boxes, men dropped in the water, caught in this a buzz saw of bullets as soon as the gates opened. some drowned, others barely made it ashore. men like lawrence brannon never forget. >> i got this about noon or a little later. i laid on that shelf right down there until 8:00 that night and watched it, i saw it, saw it all. i saw a boat with 300 guys in it burn up. they can't get out. >> brannon, 94 now, is from morris town, tennessee. his days forever shaped by what happened here 70 years ago. >> the first battalion hit right down there. germans couldn't go -- they killed 800 of them right against that. everybody was floating out 200 yards in the water when i went out that night.

they moved them out of the way for us to go back out. it was just hell, really. you know? i actually saw i'd say over 2,000 people killed that i could see. i lived 1,000 years that day. >> at day's end, more than 1,500 american soldiers had been killed. one of them was private ray stevens of bedford, virginia, the town of 3,200 folks. private the stevens and his twin brother, roy, belonged to company "a," 29th infantry. they were only two of 30 young men from bedford who hit the beach 70 years ago with the 29th. by dusk, 19 would be dead. two sets of brothers would perish in the campaign. one small town still carrying history's heartache. the monuments of history are all

still here. where american rangers scaled a 100-foot-high sheer cliff to capture a german gun emplacement. the hedge rows thick, dangerous, and ever-present. the villages still lacking much the same as they did when the allies came calling. and the largest of the cemeteries, the one that sits on the bluff above the beach where world war ii and europe began to end. omaha beach, where those who died in europe serve as a dale kri reminder of the horror of war and the price of freedom and democracy. and it is here no matter the season, no matter how many years pass, the sun still sets on sacred ground where heroes look west toward home toward america. >> and mike barnicle standing by, it's hard to imagine that

town on that day and the days after that to lose so many of their own. >> oh, mika, 70 years later it's incomprehensible to think how parents could deal with such grief and in such a small environment, 3,200 people in 1944 in that town. so many served and so many died but, again, as we said earlier, this is who we are as a country. it certainly is who we were, and the entire country went to world war ii. whether you went overseas or whether you stayed in the united states working in an industry related to the war and nearly every industry was related to the war effort, we all served and it's very, very different today. >> jon meacham? >> mike, the enormity of that loss, how did the word get back to bedford? how long did it take? the only thing president roosevelt said in public that day was to pray that prayer we

heard a moment ago. as june unfolded, as the summer unfolded, how did the enormity of that loss sink in at home? >> well, i think the scene in "saving private ryan," oddly enough, the telegrams sent out from the war department, it would be at least ten days to two weeks before the word got back to that small town about the casualties. in my own family, oddly enough, my uncle gerald, who was killed at midway, the battle of midway june 6, 1942, his mother, my grandmother, they did not find out about his death until early in july, right before the fourth of july and then it was only a telegram enlisting the fact he was missing in action. and another couple of weeks, well into july, he was clearly declared dead by the war department.

>> mike, incredible piece. we're going to continue our coverage. still ahead this morning, chris matthews and walter isaacson will be here in our 7:00 hour. up next, pope francis continues to change the way the vatican operates shaking up one of its most important agencies. plus, an internal investigation finds no evidence of the conspiracy at gm over a technician switch recall. but has the automaker learned from its mistakes? we'll be right back with much more "morning joe." ♪ ♪ make every day, her day with a full menu of appetizers and entrées crafted with care and designed to delight.

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time to take a look at the morning papers, the "los angeles times," bernie sanders and john mccain announce add bipartisan deal on legislation aimed to improve health care for veterans in response to the v.a. scandal. the new deal will allow vets to seek care from private doctors when facing long wait times at v.a. facilities and expand the authority of the secretary of the v.a. to fire staff for errors on the job and establish 26 new v.a. facilities in 18 states. the v.a.'s acting secretary said yesterday an additional 18 vets in arizona whose names were kept off an official v.a. appointment list have died.

>> and this this from the "boston globe," pope francis is cleaning house when it comes to the financial watchdog agency. yesterday the pontiff fired the entire all italian board of the financial information authority. the agency was created in 2010 to supervise and regulate the financial activities. four new board members were announced from itly, switzerland, singapore and the u.s. >> that is a decisive move. >> professionalizing. >> the "detroit free press," general motors is shoug to learn from its mistakes after a scathing internal report on why the automaker waited more than a decade to recall deadly ignition switches. the ceo mary barra says she has fired 15 people over the defect. nbc's tom kocostello reports. >> reporter: the deeply troubling findings from former u.s. attorney. >> what volukas found in this situation was a pattern of

incompetence and neglect. >> reporter: incompetence and neglect that likely contributed to the death of sadie. >> she was so full of life, looking forward to what was happening next for her. >> reporter: a nursing student, sadie was killed four years ago in her chevy cobalt in na nashville, one of 54 crashes that gm acknowledges but both the government and consumer advocates say the number could be far higher. >> just looking at claims on these vehicles there have to be at least 500 deaths and injuries associated with the ignition switch defect. >> reporter: barra says the culture delayed in recalling 2.6 million cars with ignition switches that shut down the engine and air bag. >> repeatedly individuals failed to disclose krcritical pieces o

information that could have fundamentally changed the lives of those impacted by the faulty ignition switch. >> reporter: five employees have now been reprimanded, 15 fired including design engineer ray degiorgio. he order add design change to the ignition switch in 2006 yet did not change the part number or note fay existing car owners of the defective switch. in a wrongful death lawsuit degiorgio denied ordering the change. >> i am not aware of this change. >> reporter: the report found his actions prevented investigators for years are from learning what had actually taken place, but the report also says gm fwm first learned problems with the prototype switch back in 1999. >> what will frustrate a lot of people about the findings of this investigation is we don't know exactly why these individuals decided not to raise their hand and do something about this defective ignition switch. >> i want to believe that they're going to do something different, that they will act with honor, and they will act with integrity and they will do

everything they can to change the culture. >> all right. up next, what does a european male model and the kentucky coal industry have in common? a lot apparently. >> i am very confused. what are you talking about? we asked people a question,

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alright, that should just about do it. excuse me, what are you doing? uh, well we are fine tuning these small cells that improve coverage, capacity and quality of the network. it means you'll be able t post from the breakroom. great! did it hurt? when you fell from heaven (awkward laugh) ...a little.. (laughs) im sorry, i have to go. at&t is building you a better network. some politics as we take a live look at capitol hill on this beautiful day in washington, d.c. senate candidate alison lundergan grimes opposes new regulations for power plants, but she has a little bit of a

problem when it comes to the optics of her message. >> what do you mean? >> well, the kentucky democrat put an ad pledging to save the state's coal industry. >> look at that guy. look at that. that guy probably was born in danville or south of danville. south of danville. >> southwest. >> it's an image of a miner with a hard hat, dirty hands. >> i bleeds bluegrass blue. >> i was going to say i think he's probably a kentucky wildcat. >> no, it turns out -- >> you think he goes big blue or is a louisville fan? >> no, please -- >> i bet his grandmother went to school in bowling green. >> i'll bet. >> he's actually a male model. >> what? from lexington? >> from europe. >> guthrie. >> and the image was taken -- i have no problem with this by a ukrainian photographer. very cool. >> what? so you're saying that guy is not from -- >> this is a putin thing? >> you're going to tell me, joe, this is the fist political ad that has images versus reality?

>> is this guy not from kentucky? you say he's from europe. >> what's the problem with this? >> i'm not saying there is one. >> go to the image to find the same would-be miner dressed as a doctor or carpenter ready for his next project. >> i happen to know he speaks only -- >> a stihl chainsaw and plays a convincing engineer and a young student hard at work. >> it's the village person. >> he's also featured as a patriotic soldier. they could raise questions about grimes' authenticity. who put this story in our newscast? it's silly. >> too bad senators don't run with running mates, he would make an ideal running mate. the. >> ideal. >> he would be ideal. >> this is dumb. >> what do you mean it's dumb? >> okay, you really want to go through all the candidates on the right and left who use images versus reality. >> you're the one who went negative on the ukrainian photographer. >> eugene, help me out here.

>> this is no big -- >> just responding. >> i want an investigation immediately on all the political ads that have ever used photos. that said, don't use a stock photo. >> exactly. >> that said, don't do it. everybody does it, come on, because it's cheap, right? it's cheaper than, you know, a professional photo shoot. >> i would guess the candidate and the candidate's campaign manager probably not really happy with the advertising agency that pulled that little trick out. >> no, they're not happy. >> it's one thing if you say put us an ad together. it's different from a florida candidate who had to rent little chin for his campaign brochure. >> i think phone calls are being made. i think discussions are being held. i think e-mails are going back and forth. >> it's an important issue. >> they're probably not thrilled with it. >> they updated it and it has a different model dressed as a miner. >> where is he from? >> they used an american photographer. i do not know why. now we're against you krapian

photographers? >> you probably see g.i. >> i don't think that's -- >> let's not waste more time. coming up, he was hired to change the culture of soccer in america. very upbeat about his team's chances in this year's world cup, right? maybe. that's next on "morning joe." america's newest real estate brand is all ready the brand of the year. berkshire hathaway home services.

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all right. when it comes to the u.s. men's chances in this year's world cup tournament the new coach of the team has one message. >> go get them. let's go. >> no. the. >> win one for the gipper. >> no, he says don't bother. >> what? >> jurgen klinsmann a former german soccer star brought on to coach this year's team has a brutally honest message ahead of the games. in an interview with the times klinsmann is quoted as saying we cannot win this world cup because we are not the at that level yet. oh, my god. for us, we have to play the game of our lives seven times to win the tournament. realistically it's not possible. i just -- >> wow. >> okay. klinsmann was also criticized for cutting star landon donovan from the team. it didn't the matter to

klinsmann who made his decision while watching donovan playing in the mls. quote, i watched the games. what was i supposed to say? that he was not good? he was not good. not then. no way. so we had to wait. the first match of the world cup begins in brazil six days from now. don't bother. team brazil faces off against croatia. >> this is interesting because germans are usually known for their diplomacy. >> not quite win one for the gipper. >> no, it's not. >> the the thing is he's a great coach from a great soccer tradition and he does know they would have to play seven extraordinary games. the group play, it's the group of death. i mean, yeah. >> just say play the seven games of your life. thank you, gene robinson, great column. brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. coming up at the top of the

hour, chris matthews joins our special coverage of the 70th anniversary of d-day. we'll take you live to normandy where the president will be meeting with 17 different heads of state and the taliban is talking again providing even more details about the transfer of bowe bergdahl to u.s. special forces. we'll tell you what they're saying in just a moment. and then can california chrome complete the trifecta and take home the first triple crown since 1978? we go live to the belmont stakes. all that and more ahead on "morning joe." and just give them the basics, you know. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired. i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners,

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♪ 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 movement spread. and nations that once knew only the blinders of fear began to taste the blessings of freedom. president obama just over an hour ago in normandy, france, because 70 years ago today 160,000 allied troops stormed a heavily fortified stretch of beach in normandy. it took 5,000 ships, 13,000 aircraft bombarding nazi positions in wave after wave. >> the cost was immense, 9,000 allied men lost their lives, but their valor opened the gate to europe, and eventually the end of world war ii. this morning we pay tribute to those who lived and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country.

>> welcome back to "morning joe." mark halperin and jon meacham still with us. joining the table the president and ceo of the aspen institute, walter isaacson. in washington the host of msnbc's "hardball" chris matthews. and in normandy, france, mike barnicle, nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director be and host of "the daily rundown," chuck todd. also with us pulitzer prize winning author rick atkinson out with a new book "the guns at last light." we'll start with you, mike barnicle, and take us through the story tellers there as we look back in time. >> thank you, mika. this remains, as we spoke earlier, just a staggering experience, a humbling experience to be here. rick, you've covered in great reportorial depth the entire scope of world war ii and yet here, this beach, this coastline, from utah but especially omaha beach, but

especially omaha beach in the epic of world war ii, place it within that epic. >> well, if you can imagine07 years ago today the weather is not nearly this nice. there are 156,000 soldiers, american, british and canadian, trying to get ashore. the seas are very high, the winds are high. there are lots of germans here. there are 200,000 sailors and seamen who have brought them here secretly. the germans don't know we're coming until it dawns and they look out there and see this armada, this staggering flotilla of ships. this, omaha beach, is the tough youest of the five. none of them were easy. omaha soon became known as bloody omaha partly because the germans had tougher defenses here, they moved in more reinforcements than partly because there are cliffs here. by the end of the day there are 500 dead american boys on that

beach. they're lying on their backs, toes pointed to the full moon. it's the beginning of the liberation of europe, but it's been a very hard day for everybody. to total casualties on d-day about 12,000, that includes wounded, missing, and about two-thirds of those, a little more that two-thirds are americans. so that's the way the liberation of europe begins in earnest. it's really the rise -- the lifting of the curtain on the last act of that great drama that we call world war ii. >> and, chuck, the president of the united states, you know, tried to place this day 70 years ago in context with a very moving speech, i thought. >> you know, it's hard -- just li listen to those numbers. more americans basically died on that day than in iraq and afghanistan combined. and that's what's so staggering, just how many forces, how many soldiers, that were being

ordered to their deaths. i mean, you know, and i understand seeing what michael was sharing that photo of eisenhower and how he broke down in front of veterans and eisenhower couldn't bring himself to come here, how much trouble he had because he knew the invasion he ordered, he was the only way it was successful is if there were thousands of soldiers that sort of paved the way with their lives. >> and, joe, the emotion that chuck just spoke of is 70 years later it's here not only on the faces of veterans, the dwindling few veterans who are still with us 70 years later but among anyone who comes here, that emotion is there. >> no doubt about it. with the name eisenhower was mentioned, obviously showing extraordinary leadership throughout the war, but this was one of his finest hours, talk about how jon meacham, if anybody today, 70 years later looks back and just assumes that

it was just in the stars of the united states was going to be victorious on this day. the ike prepared for failure. >> he prepared for failure. he prepared a press release taking responsibility entirely upon himself. he said that he thought the weather and conditions had been optimal but if the landings failed it would be his responsibility alone. he put that release in his wallet and blessedly didn't have to use it. one of the great hours and examples a responsibility in positions of power. >> chris matthews, what is it about this this day, the longest day, the day that mike barnicle in interviewing a vet said he was lying on the beach and it seemed like he saw 1,000 years pass that day. what is it about june the 6, 1944, that draws us all together as a country? >> well, we're the good guys. and i think that's the big one.

we're the good guys. other countries don't go into other countries like france and liberate them and then leave. when you win a war against an adversary and take casualties like you've been describing, you take something back. you take the country you've liberated to yourself and we walked out of france. i remember that great scene when de gaulle in the 1960s told us he was quitting nato, the military force, and to get out of europe basically. get the headquarters out of paris and lbj said does he want us to take the cemeteries with us? that was a great lbj response, but it was a negative or nasty way of saying, you know, we're the good guys. we saved your butt. you were collaborating with the germans. you signed the dishonorable peace. and if it wasn't for de gaulle, you wouldn't be anything right now. and yet we saved you, walked away and gave it all back to you. name another country that's ever done that. we did that for france. >> we were better than the french. >> walter isaacson -- >> and they don't like to know it but it's true.

we saved them. >> walter, talk about this day. a city that you know a lot about, new orleans, has an extraordinary d-day. >> we have a great d-day museum there, with the landing crafts were built and invented, but it also as a sense, as chris said, a great day for the united states the but general montgomery who really commanded the british commander who commanded the land troops, it was a great day for an alliance of good people and it was a great noble alliance and i think it ties us together as a nation in a way that nothing else could. and i hope as i go back to the d-day museum in new orleans people will remember not just through the last veteran being alive but to the generations with wha this meant. >> mike barnicle, we look at these pictures of these young men storming the beaches of normandy and it ten years ago on the 60th anniversary i asked so many of them what were you thinking? what were you -- what was going

through your mind? i guess trying to figure out whether they were having ex crises when they were approaching it. and all said to a man, they said, you know what? we weren't thinking. we were 18 years old. we want ed to get on the beach. we wanted to get up the cliffs. we wanted to kill the germans, and we wanted to stay alive. that was it. it's amazing what they did. >> yes, it was, joe. and it is, indeed. we have a latter day collection of heroes who are unknown because less than 1% of us now serve. and that year in those pictures that we're looking at the entire country went to war with those men. and at 18 and 19 coming in half a mile or a mile ride onto the beach in the higgins boat, more or less 95%, 99% were thinking how -- courage -- the definition

of corniurage is how do you mas your own fear to the cause of the day, to the cause of the moment? but off of what chris was saying why we were here and we came here, this is who we are as a country. and my great refwret as a parent when i look at my children 19, 20 years of age thinking, wow, how different their lives are than the lives of the 20-year-olds we just saw, my great regret is we don't teach the american story well enough in our schools. this is history. this is who we are. it's who we were that day and it's who we are today. europe not going to find better portrayals of what happened that day than what you've done, rick, in the trilogy on the war and i don't know what you think about the boys serving today, the boys and women serving today but the boys then. >> thanks for that, mike. you know, stalin said that one death is a traj at thigetragedy.

a million deaths a casualty. you recognize the miracle of sing la singularity of death. you see their name, you see the rank, the regiment, the division, the date of death and the state they're from. that's the only information given here and you can construct a universe out of all 9,300. >> i did it myself. first of all you see it is the american melting pot the of that time. it is german-americans, irish-americans, italian-americans, jewish-americans, and then you look at the dates and you see people that -- how many of them died on d-day. and then you see the ones that died on the fourth of july and you see the ones that died on christmas day. don't forget they were sort of makeshift hospitals around here and you do -- i found myself doing just that. you construct, like, oh, my god, i can't believe that. i can't believe that and you do find yourself connecting to people you don't know. >> and if you know a little bit about the history of the campaigns here, you know the

date of death and the unit, you can surmise how they died. >> by the way jon meacham? >> churchill said famously that americans can always be counted on to do the right thing after we've exhausted other possibility. the one thing we need to remember we only declared war on germany after germany declared war on us. on the 11th of december, 12th december, four days after pearl harbor. the isolationist forces in the united states through 1941 were quite strong. franklin roosevelt, two of his greatest achievements, slowly trying to move the country to a place where we would have the political willingness and the wherewithal to do something like operation overlord and what i love to ask rick atkinson we

started -- i think i'm right that our military was something like 18th or 19th in the world when france fell. just the immense buildup and evident it took to get to a position of strength in order to make victory possible in '44. just how much did we have to build and how quickly. >> well, you're right, 190,000 in the u.s. army when war began in 1939. we rank 17th or 18th in the world in terms of combat power right behind that perennial powerhouse romania. the army builds to 8.3 million by 1944. it's a 44 fold increase in that short period of time. 16.1 million americans in uniform by 1944. it's a country of 130 million then. about a million left alive out of that 16 million. they're leaving us at a rate of

1,600 a day. to come to a place like this to get omaha beach and utah and to be with the brits at juneau and sword and gold suggests the great alliance that the nation required in order to turn out the bullets and the planes and the ships and so on. to launch that kind of expeditionary warfare is really unpre unprecedented in the history of warfare. >> chris matthews, let me follow up on what mike barnicle said earlier about this country. and john was saying we were slow getting into the war. and i actually see that as a virtue. we are slow to anger. when we go to war, we go to war. you do not see scenes before world war ii like you saw at the

start of world war i where people with were streaming out into the streets celebrating the beginning of the great war. we streamed out into the streets after the job was done, and i can say even after ten years of the ugliness of the iraq war and the afghanistan war if you want to see the character of men and women, there are thousands of stories. and you know them very well. you've been up to walter reed. you've read letters from men and women serving from their parents serving, chris. there is a direct line from the character of the men and women of normandy beach all the way through the men and women who are serving this country proudly in uniform today whether they agree with their commander in chief, whether it's a republican or a democrat, they put on the uniform. they salute the flag, and they do their jobs. >> you and i are both nationalists, i can tell if yesterday. and i think we have the same gut

feeling about the kcountry and know that and i think one of the great things about eisenhower and we didn't appreciate it at the time, the wonderful way he connect connected as a soldier with his troops, the 0th anniversary on the cliffs where make and rick are now and chuck and he was talking about the character of the troops. we know that wonderful scene because we've seen it on the news reels and him meeting with the troops before he went in and the wonderful meeting of the general at the time, commander of the whole operation meeting face-to-face with soldiers who may get killed and he didn't have that attitude of we're probably going to take this number. he said, good luck, buddy. good luck, soldier. wishing each one of those soldiers to get through the next day because the american attitude is if we're really lucky we won't take any casualties. it's very positive and the next day ike said i didn't have a plan to get them off the beach. i had a plan to get them on the

beach. they had to come up with a way to get off the beach. it was the ingenuity of the captains and the majors and sergeants to get up over the cliffs and through the hedge rows. they had to forge these hedge cutters with equipment they had, with the tanks they had and the sf steel and they found a way as individual soldiers and officers to get through the enemy lines. so ike had complete faith and the luck, if you will, but the ingenuity of the american fight ing man. it's an amazing story of leader connecting with troops. it's just -- and very american. it's very american. >> it is very american and i think that you look at those cliffs and what chris just talked about is what's so remarkable. you do hear so many stories of hell is raining down from above, leaders of young men looking left, looking right, trying to figure out in the middle of hell how do i get my young men to

follow me up those cliffs? and chris is exactly right. it was ingenuity that got them up those cliffs. >> there's an ingenuity even during battle. they face all the hedge rows, as chris was saying. and they don't know how to get through them because they're hedge rows they hadn't planned pr for. and they create these cutters to put on the front of the tanks. it was a very american form of ingenuity and innovation. >> mark halperin, would you like to go to normandy and talk to mike barnicle? >> we've seen a series of american presidents go on all the anniversaries and give these big speeches. if you look at the text of them, there's lots of commonality. what struck you today about how president obama framed not just the history but current relevance to america's role in the world? >> you know, i think he did an admiral job. it's a difficult job. the air is thick with emotion here. it always is every day, but

certainly on these big anniversaries, the 70th, 60th, 50th. i think it was important for the president to put an exclamation point on the line we have to tell these stories. we have to tell their stories. 70 years from now, 700 years from now. to the earlier point you just raised about, you know, the young men who were here and many of them died here and climbing the cliffs on the 50th anniversary i was fortunate enough to be introduced to the son of the colonel from the 25th rangers who climbed those cliffs. the rick, was it colonel rudder? >> yes. >> i met his son and i asked -- i asked the boy if it his dad ever talked about that day, and he said, no, very rarely did he talk about that day but he would often mention one distinct memory that he had about that day, and this gets to, again, who we are and what we think

about. colonel rudder said it went through his mind that largely a young german force here at that time, very young or very old with some combat ready veterans in the middle, but very young or very old. that was basically what the german army was coming town to at that point in the war, the colonel was thinking about the 18 and 19-year-olds up top of point du hawk looking at the rangers climbing up the cliff and the colonel was thinking to be in there at 18 from berlin thinking they're coming up the side of this cliff after me? he said they must have been petrified. >> incredible. jon meacham, real quick. >> to go to what joe and chris are talking about the night of d-day eleanor roosevelt woke roosevelt up. he sits up in bed smoking and the only question he has is i

wonder how linakka will come out, a fellow he knew from hyde park. the president of the united states was making that human connection to an american soldier. >> all right, rick atkinson, thank you very much. your book is the "guns at last light." chris matthews we'll see you tonight on "hardball." chu chuck, thank you as well. you'll have live coverage of the d-day ceremonies at sword beach at 9:00 a.m. and still ahead broadway celebrating a year of a achievement and we have an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at this year's tony awards. >> i have to say chris matthews -- >> is the best. >> "hardball." >> oh, my lord. >> last night at 6:59 and i went running around looking -- >> trying to find -- >> i don't watch tv at night. i don't have time. i have kids but i saw it was 6:59. i want to hear what chris has to say. >> he's really good.

he's been on fire. and then some 15 million people are expected to watch the belmont stakes tomorrow to possibly see the first triple crown winner in 36 years. dylan dreyer is standing by for us at belmont park. plus much more from today's ceremonies in normandy. we'll introduce to you a man who fought the d-day invasion all because he lied about his age so he could serve his country. you're watching "morning joe." ♪

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♪ soldiers, sailors and airmen of the allied expeditionary force, you are about it to embark upon the great crusade. 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 teyrann over europe and security for ourselves in a free world. your task will not be an easy o one. your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. he will fight savagely. the tide has turned. the free mench the world are marching together to victory. i have full can 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 receive the blessing of almighty god upon this great and noble undertaking. that was a portion of then general dwight eisenhower's message to the troops hours before they departed for the invasion of normandy. joining us now in normandy is bill caldwell, landed on the beach 70 years ago.

bill lied about his age to join the armed forces. why don't you tell the story. you're 15 years of age growing up in hazzard, kentucky, most kids are delivering newspapers, mowing lawns. what did you do at 15, bill? >> well, at 15 my cousin came home on it furlough, just got his license for fighter pilot. after spending 30 days with him i was going to be a fighter pilot, i thought. so he told me how to get into the service. so i went to the board and i said, do you need a bully catcher? so the guy looked up, how old are you, son? i said 18 today, sir. that was august 7, 1943. a couple weeks later, i was in the service taking the oath to defend my country and be a good soldier. >> and you ended up in the 101st airborne. the take me to late afternoon, late evening, early morning, 5 june, '44, 6 june '44.

>> just before i was ready to hit the silk, jump, i heard the jump mafser say look to your right, look to your left. one of you will not see daylight and i couldn't get that out of my mind. and i landed about 20 miles in. i should have been about two miles. >> the wind threw you off? >> so i was close to the ditch. i got in the ditch and stayed there all night because i wanted to see daylight. and about daylight, maybe 7:30, 8:00, whatever, i heard a noise. so i used my little click-click and nothing happened. i waited probably four or five minutes and i heard the noise again. so i clicked again and i got a click-click back. i knew it was an american. two guys from the 82nd airborne

division. we were inland. they were lost like myself. so we'd to decide which way we had to go, i was going to get back up to the beach with our outfit. in the meantime we had three or four more guys drift in that first day, and we ended up with with seven of us. and we hooked up with the free french and they said we have to to travel at nighttime because there's too many germans. they were heading back for berlin. so we traveled at nighttime, took us about five days to get back up to my unit and then i joined my unit up here at the beach. they were still trying to fulfill their mission and colonel cole did not have enough trappers to get the job done. we were told there was about 1,800 ss troops on this section

that we were supposed to have cleared by 8:00 on june the 6th. it did not happen until about four or five days later because more troopers came in and he was able to accomplish it. >> so at that point in time you were 16, 16 1/2? >> 16 and 4 months. >> so how does a 16-year-old boy who becomes a man, 16-year-old boy becomes a man in a matter of seconds jumping out of a plane into a war, how did you handle the fear that you had, that you must have had? >> well, it wasn't easy. the fear i had most of all that first and second day is the second day i put down my first enemy german, and i had been taught by a chryistian mother that you never murder. you never murder. and that's what i thought of as soon as that had happened. >> you carry that with you

still? >> i carry that with me -- no, not really now, but i it did then. >> we have someone else joining us right now from new orleans. the site of a great world war ii museum. now from that city professor of u.s. military history at missouri university of sicience and technology john mcmanis. he's the author of "the dead and those about to die: d-day at home you a beach." mr. mcmahnus, a few hundred yars behind us, tell us a bit about that outfit and what entailed with them that day. >> yeah, the big red one had fought in the mediterranean, north africa and sicily and they were thought of by senior leaders like patton and eisenhower as a go-to unit to gain objectives, a real fighting unit. off the line they were a bit of

a handful, drinking and carousing, getting into trouble. but they were a natural choice to lead what figured to be perhaps the toughest part of the whole invasion and that was the invasion of omaha beach and omaha beach they suffered really pretty heavy casualties. they run into a terrible slaughter house in the first three hours on d-day morning. >> mr. mcmanus, was there an int intelligence failure? there was an intelligence failure clearly on both sides. the germans unaware of where the landing was going to take place, but were the allies told that they were really no hardened combat veterans among the germans that they would be confronted with along onmaha beach and this entire landing but indeed there was of. there was a very hardened military unit among the german army who fought in russia here that day. had arrived within a couple of weeks i guess.

>> sefrlt hundred arrived at omaha beach in particular. the german commander along the northern coast believed the invasion had to be stopped right at the line. they had been fortifying omaha beach heavily in the weeks leading up to d-day, but the average soldier and the average small unit commander by june 6 doesn't really know they are there. and on top of that the preinvasion bombardment on omaha beach did next to nothing. when the soldiers went ashore they were not going in to a very good situation which is one of the reasons you have this terrible slaughter initially. >> mike barnicle, talk about, if you will, for people that haven't been over to normandy, about the graveyard right town the road from the american cemetery where you are right now. the german cemetery that is the final resting place for young german children because they

certainly are at a fighting age, many of them had already been killed. the young german children who were manning a lot of those p l pillxs and also, of course, the older people in their 40s, late 40s and 50s that were left to fight and defend. >> yeah, joe, the german cemetery is about a half hour drive from the big american cemetery here. as light and as brilliant the as the american cemetery that you can see behind us is, the german cemetery is dark, it's within a who will load out area, a beautiful setting but the stones are dark and as you look at them as you pass from stone to stone, as you do here, you look at the names, the ranks and the ages and the preponderance of the

casualties there. i think there are about 6,000 or 7,000 in that cemetery, the ages mainly are 18 or 19 year years, 45 and 46-year-olds. the army, the german army at that stage in the war so who will load out fighting in france that there wasn't much left in between. >> have you been -- >> so bill colwel, it's an honor to be here with him. mika? >> thank you so much for your service. john mcmanus, thank you. mi mike. great interviews. still ahead on "morning joe" hillary looks to put the benghazi issue to rest plus the lessons learned from losing to barack obama in 2008. new details from her forthcoming memoir next. keep it right here on "morning joe." ups is a global company, but most of our employees

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did you see this? it's a video just leaked that shows president obama lifting weigh weights, doing lunges and using an elliptical machine at his hotel gym. here is the video.

this is it. of course later that same day the white house released their own version of the video. take a look. ♪ macho man [ applause ] >> that makes more sense now. all right. hillary clinton's forthcoming book tour is bound to make headlines. it's also aimed at sending a clear message. if she chooses to run, she'll be ready. "the new york times" reports her entire book tour is being staged to challenge the notion she is if physically unfit to be commander in chief. meanwhile cbs news has an early look at her miemoir, on the benghazi attack, an issue they are eager to address, she writes, quote, there will never be perfect clarity on everything that happened. it is unlikely that there will ever be anything close to full agreement on exactly what happened that night, how it happened, or why it happened, but that should not be confused with the lack of effort to

discover the truth or share it with the american people. ly clinton also writes about what it was like meeting with barack obama before the 2008 democratic convention, the passage reads in part, quote, we stared at each other like two teenagers on an awkward first date taking a few since of chardonnay, both barack and i and our staffs had long lists of grievances. it was time to clear the air. one silver lining of defeat that i came out of the experience realizing i no longer cared so much about what the critics said about me. hillary's book "hard choices" comes out next tuesday. we'll have more excerpts from it ahead on "morning joe." what do you think, mark halperin? >> if she wants to run for president she has to reintroduce herself to the country and seem new and exciting and diffuse the criticism. it'll make her a happier person and much more effective president. >> what do you think of the rollout? >> i think it's masterly done.

richard haass, at dinner looks great, is sharp on the game. she knows how to laugh and be funny about things. >> a good sense of humor. >> she's not defensive. this is going to be a great r l rollout both for the book and reintroduce her to the campaign. she is certainly healthy enough. >> formidable. >> formidable. she is formidable for sure. coming up, it's been a long road back for the auto industry and now 0 ford's ceo, alan mulally is leaving the company, leaving it in great shape. we'll get his secret to ford's turnaround in a bit. he's going to join us. first, one of the most exciting moments in sports and this year the triple crown is on the line. dylan dreyer looking very ready for belmont. >> wow. >> keep it here on "morning joe."

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all right, 46 past the hour. look at that. beautiful shot of belmont park. i wonder how the weather will be. it's a big one. it's been 36 years since the world of horseing saw a triple crown winner. tomorrow california chrome has a chance to make history. let's bring in nbc's dylan dreyer live from the belmont stakes in new york. dylan, i'm serious, you are pulling that off. i could not the do that. you look great. tell us what we're going to be looking at, california chrome is the big story. i'm wondering what the weather factors may be. >> it's sunny and it reflects off my hat, this is my third excuse for wearing a hat. so it's been awesome following the triple crown but i am here

at belmont park for the 146th running of the belmont stakes, the final leg of the triple crown and the longest race in the triple crown events. now it's nicknamed the test of the champion. 1 1/2 miles stands between california chrome and the elusive triple crown. several horses have come close winning two of the three races but only 11 have swept the kentucky derby, the preakness and the belmont stakes. will california chrome be number 12? and could he be the first triple crown winner in 36 years? there will be a lot of people watching on saturday to find out. ♪ belmont park, where legends are made but more often dreams are dashed. when california chrome steps into the starting gate saturday, he'll be the favorite, but history says the odds are against him. four times in the last 12 years the winners of the kentucky derby and preakness stakes have lost their bids for the triple

crown at the belmont. one of the reasons? the course itself at a mile and a half the belmont is longer than both the preakness and the kentucky derby. >> california chrome reaching for the wire! >> that extra quarter mile can spell trouble for horses like california control running that distance for the first time. >> it's about the jockey knowing when to ask the horse for what it has left and seeing how much the horse has left on a track like this. >> california chrome's jockey says he's ready to take the 3-year-old colt to the next level. >> whatever i tell him to do, he's ready to do it. >> while all eyes are on the favorite contenders like wicked strong, commanding curve, and ride on curlin will be pushing to detail california chrome's date with destiny. >> he's ready to run. he's ready to rock 'n' roll. he's our rock star and he's ready to rock. >> now if you're looking for some sort of sign if this could be california chrome's year, how about this for a coincidence. 1973 the triple crown winner

secretariat won the kentucky derby from the number five post position. he won the preakness from the number three post position. and at the belmont stakes he won from the number two he won from the number 2 post. california chrome has drawn all three of those same positions. it will be interesting to see if that sort of play as role in this race. guys? >> dylan dreyer, thanks so much. have fun there.

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a lot going on. broadway prepares for its biggest night ever. >> it's that time of year ago. the tony awards. we're here at with our backstage pass showing you how it's done. here you go.

after doing it for so many years, how do we keep it pressure and exciting as you do? >> by making a new show every year and not just going back to the play book. >> we have different things this year, we have sting on the play book, we have jennifer hudson. >> what does this mean for you to be here? >> well, it's my first time. >> once you're here, the excitement. i got here and i teared up, seeing the big "tony" award up there. >> what has this nomination meant for your show? >> i had no idea we'd be here and we pinch each other constantly to remind us of that fact. >> other than yourselves and each other, who are you most rooting for? >> shakespeare. >> i think it's like a new app

for broadway. i really like wait they've done it. i'm rooting for them, i suppose. >> you never know what's going to happen or whose going to win so you got to watch. tune in sunday night. >> this is an incredible week in new york city. we're talking about the tony awards, we've got the belmont, we're remembering 1976, secretariat. >> stanley cup, the rangers with the stanley cup, governors ball, which is a great music festival. >> oh, my lord. >> and don't bring up the yankees. >> can i make an appeal? it's for the kids. mark halpern needs a ticket to the tonys. and if you care about america, you care about the future, please help mark halpern. >> he wants to do a two-fer.

he wants to go to the tonys and the belmont stakes. >> is that asking for too much? >> big weekend in new york but also we're recognizing a momentous day in history. up next, 70 years ago, the allied forces stormed the beaches of normandy, forever changing the course of history. in about 30 minutes we'll get a better look at the economy with the may jobs report coming out. but mike myers is stepping out of the lime light for his directorrial debut. get more clean water to everyone. who's going to take the leap? who's going to write the code? who's going to do it? engineers. that's who. that's what i want to do.

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>> whenever you doubt that courage and goodness is possible, stop and think of these men. these men waged war so that we might know peace, they sacrificed so that we might be free, they sacrificed the day so that we may no longer fight. the legacy if s in your hands. for at a time when it's never

been more popular to pursue self-pursuits, this generation has chosen to do their part as well. >> 70 years ago today, 160 allied troops stormed a stretch of beach in normandy france. it took 5,000 ships, 13,000 aircraft bombarding nazi position in wave after wave. the cost was immense. 9,000 allied men lost their lives, but their valor opened the gate to europe and eventually to the end of world war ii. this morning we pay tribute to those who lived and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. good morning, everyone. it is friday, june 6, d day. welcome to morning joe, a special edition here. with us on set we have pulitzer prize winning historian john meacham, good morning joe contributor mark halperin,

richard haase and eugene robinson. it's good to have you all along with joe and me. i want to start in normandy france where mike barnicle and tom brokaw have been watching the events unfold. tom and -- actually, mike barnicle start for us, if you could. take a few moments to help us recognize the magnitude of this moment in history. >> well, mika, i don't know that any of us can fully grasp the magnitude of it. it is almost incomprehensible what happened here, the courage, the carnage. but it is always a humbling experience to be here. i've been here several times for various anniversaries, the 40th, 50th, 60th. it is a cathedral of heros out here on this lawn behind us, over 9,000 headstones, stars of david, men from all of the then

48 states, men from all different religions, many of them killed here on june 6, 1944 but others killed elsewhere in battles throughout france and europe. but, tom, i'm sure, i know for you, too, it is humbling to be here. >> well, we live in an age of exaggeration, mike, where everybody is a superstar, everybody is a celebrity, a legendary figure of some kind. we just put those labels on quickly. this event is so important. there was never anything like it before, there never will be again. and the enormous cost in terms of human lives, the audacity of this kind of an invasion and the consequence of it, it was the beginning of the end of hitler's deranged dream of world power. we've been talking about this. it's very hard to find words that can be adequate to what happened here. so i always tell people when you come to normandy, find a moment

by yourself and stand at the head of one of these rows and then walk slowly down them, read the names, that's what you need to know because from there it opens up to all that happened afterwards and the sacrifices that made. and those who survived come here and say silently, i hope i did you proud. it is a religious moment in so many ways. >> it is. >> it is. tom, i was there with you ten years ago, and it is an extraordinary thing to behold. i've told everybody that just walking along the cemetery, looking out over the channel on a late june night is one of the most unbelievable moments of my life. the thing, though, that shocked me, you talked about how it was like a religious experience.

it was also deeply emotional. 60 years removed. i'd like to you talk about this because you've been back so many times. i would find myself in the streets with old g.i.s that stormed the beaches and parents and grandparents of young french children who walk up and they would introduce themselves to these men, these old men and say you were free today because of what he did 60 years ago. now they'll be saying because of what he did 70 years ago. talk about the emotional outpouring and how even 60, 70 years later tears will flow, not only from the faces of these old g.i.s but also from french parents that weren't even alive when this happened. >> well, i don't want to overstate all the attitudes of french towards americans, but as

anyone who has been to france knows you're not always as welcome in this country. that's not true here. you come here and it is to use stephen ambrose's term, a band of brothers and sisters. they feel extraordinarily grateful. and it not just these sacrifices, there are memorials along the way. ne ha they have an appreciation and an understanding of the commitment that the u.s. gave. you have to think about those who came after, those who were the brave registration people who were up and down those beaches to try to identify them and the breakout look until late july. it didn't happen just in one day. this was ferocious fighting that went on through the summer. and the french were here, there

were 2,000 of them who died during the course of that fighting as well. so you're right, joe, when you come here, it has not been lost generation to generation. >> joe, you've been fortunate, you've been here and it's unrealistic but it would be the wish that everybody american could come here and see what you have seen, what we have seen, witnessed this, witnessed the emotion because behind us over 9,000 of these headstones, this is who we are. this is who we are. this is our country. this is what we did and this is what we do still. >> mike, i've never walked on any ground that i thought was more sacred. my children are still in school, my young children, or else i would have been there, mika's children are in still or she would have been there. i'm taking my children there later this year because, you're right, every american should go there. and i wanted, mike, for you to

comment on how the french in this area felt about americans and still do. just the remarkable outpouring of emotion. ten years ago when we were there, it was a very difficult time between the united states and france. and i found it interesting even in paris, chirac and bush were pounding heads and it was one of the low points in our relationship since the war and i even had people in paris coming up to me saying we love your country and we thank your country for all it has done for you, we just can't stand your president. it was actually the warmest reception as an american i'd ever had in paris. and there is something about this date, something about this remarkable moment in both countries' histories that actually show that much more bind france and america together

than either side would like to admit other days of the year. >> well, i mean, you're right. tom alluded to this, the difference between being in paris, metropolitan paris and being on the normandy coast, it's still significant. and paris, they like you if you have the american express card. along the normandy coast they like you because you are an american. there are two major roads in this area. one is a fairly new super highway for france, a four-lane highway that runs up the coast from aboutport st. bison but there's an internal road right along the coast, the they call it the d-day road and joe, mika, everyone there in new york, to this day, this week, this morning, if you take that road, you will see more american flag, the stars and stripes than you will see french flags. you will see people stand being

at their driveways waiting for an american replica of a jeep to pass by with americans so they can wave and say thank you. they are still enormously grateful here. there is a village called st. mary's about 45 minutes from here. it's another american cemetery. there are over 4,500 americans, mostly tankers from patton's third army buried there. and if you go there, you realize looking through the register of graves an astonishing fact, in that american cemetery -- incidentally the american cemeteries are american property cared for by america. there are 20 sets of brothers buried side by side in that cemetery, americans who came here, fell from the sky, landed on the beaches, delivering the gift of liberty. >> and john meacham, four years before the d-day invasion, churchill had said of the r.a.f., the battle of britain of

1940 that as long as great britain existed as a country, he could look back and say this was their finest hour. that certainly can be said of the young men who charged the beach that day 70 years ago, could it not? >> well, what churchill and britain did in 1940 in standing alone against hitler, when hitler had essentially taken over europe, americans helped finish it four years later. and churchill's line was "men will still say this was their finest hour." he was convinced we were part of a long arching story. really this is the hours, the hinge of history, the moment that roosevelt decided to go and authorize and push ahead for this operation really was the moment we became a super power.

he sided against churchill, supported stalin in opening a second front. churchill called what happened at normandy the most difficult and complicated operation that has ever taken place. and it it was politically, militarily, culturally one of the largest events in history. >> just a back story that we americans don't talk about as much, stalin was pushing furiously for f.d.r. to open this second front because the russians were bleeding, millions were dying and churchill had no problem with the russians and stalin taking the brunt of this war, which they did. extraordinary costs for the russians. this was f.d.r. understanding he needed to open a second front. >> it was always a question of when and not if.

the brits wanted to delay it as soon as possible, stalin wanted it as soon as possible and f.d.r. threaded the needle and the war ended about ten months later. i think it was tom who said the beginning of the end. this was the transition point in many ways for world war ii and it literally was ten months later that the entire war was over. it's actually interesting now today because you've got putin there. it reminds people how much of the history is complicated, you have people fighting together but suspicions were enormous. here it is world war ii, already post world war ii tensions were beginning to emerge. 70 years later what do you have? american-european frictions how to deal with russia. history doesn't repeat itself.

>> we do have other news to turn to this morning. the taliban is providing details about the nearly five years that bowe bergdahl was held in captivity. in separate conversations with "time" magazine, two commands are describe the moment of the release. they gave bergdahl a custom-made local tunic as a sign of respect. one said "we wanted him to return home with good memories." the taliban members had rehearsed messages to deliver to their american counterparts. they say the group's leadership is celebrating an historic moment saying the deal represents an admission of the taliban status. when asked if the exchange would inspire future kidnappings the commander laughed saying, quote, definitely. it's better to kidnap one person

lying bergdahl than kidnap many useless people, now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird." >> not a statement that the administration would want but one many foreign policy experts feared would come out of this deal and certainly that dianne feinstein, jay rockefeller, most of the independents were pushing back furiously several years ago when they first heard about this. >> this was a costly decision. you could argue whether it was justified or not but it was costly in the sense of the american troops to ho lost their lives looking for the soldiers, as well as what it will do for afghanistan. what it does and it would have happened anyhow but it reinforces it is the taliban will continue to be a major player in afghanistan. the taliban had the ethnic

collections with the largest ethnic group in the country. they're supported obviously out of pakistan. so the struggle for afghanistan is not over. what you see is the taliban essentially getting well in this. this reinforces the sense that they are one of the central participants in this story. >> still ahead, mike meyer is here with a preview of his detecti directorial debut. and then ford -- i'm just going to say it, the latest f-150 is hot. don't get the double cab, though, because that's not a truck, it's a car. ford's ceo alan mulally prepares to turn the keys over to his number two. he joins us next. up next, the story of the bedford boys, how 19 boys all from one virginia community made the ultimate sacrifice 70 years

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almighty god, our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon the mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion and our civilization and to set free a suffering humanity. give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts,

steadfastness in their faith. 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 cause, our sons will triumph. >> that was a portion of president franklin delano roosevelt's d-day prayer read on the radio. one small town in virginia was hit especially hard, losing 19 boys by day's end. mike barnicle has the story of the group that will forever be known as the bedford boys. >> all facing west toward the

beach where they landed, the channel they crossed and the land that they left to come and help rid the world of the terror that was hitler's third reich, omaha beach, the american cemetery, normandy, 172 acres, 9,386 headstones bleached white by sun, wind and time. >> normandy eastward, shook with a tremendous roar of battle. >> reporter: 150,000 allied soldiers. they came ashore at 6:30 on the morning of 6 june, 1944. the noise stunning, the carnage horrific, the bravery constant. omaha beach was a fortress. machine guns had cleared in interlocking fields of fire from

cement pill boxes, mens dropped in the water, caught in a buzz saw of bullets as soon as the gates opened. some drown, others barely made it ashore. men like lawrence brannon never forget. >> i got this about noon or a little later. i laid on that shelf right down there until 8:00 that night and watched it. i saw it. saw it all. i saw a boat with three other guys in it blown up. they couldn't get out. >> reporter: brandon, 94 now, is from morristown, tennessee, his days forever shaped by what happened here 70 years ago. >> the first battalion hit right down there. the germans killed 800 of them right against that. everybody was 200 yards out in the water when i went out that night. they moved them out of the way for us to go back out. it was just -- it was heads to

tail really. i actually saw i actually saw over 2,000 people killed that i could see them. i lived a thousand years that day. >> at day's end, more than 1,500 american soldiers had been killed. one of them was private ray stevens of bedford, virginia, a town of 3,200 folks. private stevens and his twin brother, roy, belonged to company a, 29th infantry. they were only 2 of 30 young men from bedford who hit the beach years ago with the 29th. by dusk 19 would be dead. two sets of brothers were perish in the campaign, one small town still carrying history's heart ache. the monuments of history of all still here. pointe du hawk where american

ragers scaled a high cliff to capture a german gun engagement, the villages still looking much the same as they did when the allies came calling, and the largest of the cemeteries, the one that sits on the bluff above the beach where world war ii in europe began to end, omaha beach, where those who died in europe serve as a daily reminder of the horror of war and the price of freedom and democracy, and it is here no matter the season, no matter how many years pass, the sun still sets on sacred ground where heros look west toward home, toward america. >> and mike barnicle standing by, it's hard to imagine that town on that day and the days after that to lose so many of their own. >> oh, mika, it's 70 years

later, it's incomprehensible to think how parents could deal with such grief in such a small environment, 3,200 people in 1934 in that town. so many served and so many died. but, again, as we said earlier, this is who we are as a country. it certainly is who we were. and the entire country went to world war ii, whether you went overseas or whether you stayed in the united states working in an industry related to the war and nearly every industry was related to the war effort, we all served and it's very, very different today. >> john meacham. >> mike, the enormity of that loss, how did the word get back to bedford? how long did it take? the only thing president roosevelt said in public that day was to pray that prayer we heard a moment ago. but as june unfolded, as the summer unfolded, how did the

enormity of that loss sink in at home? >> well, i think the scene in "saving private ryan" oddly enough, the telegraphs getting isn't back to the war department, it would be at least ten days to two weeks before the word got back to that small town about the casualties. in my own family, oddly enough my uncle gerald, who was killed at mid way, the battle of mid way of june 6, 1942, his mother, my grandmother, they did not find out about his death until early in july, right before the 4th of july, and then it was only a telegram insisting or listing the fact he was missing in action and then it was another couple of weeks before he was clearly declared dead by the war department. >> coming up, may jobs numbers

are out. we'll bring them next. also, you know him from "wayne's wor world, austin powers and shrek, but it's a different story that brings mike meyers from out behind the cameras. keep it here on "morning joe."

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all right, we got some numbers. the may jobs report has just been released. here with the numbers, scott wapner. >> plus 217,000 jobs. that was a little bit better than the expectations. consensus was looking for about 215,000, at least between 210 and 215. so at least it seems to be a little bit better than expectations there. the unemployment rate stays at 6.3% and that's been really closely watched because of the participation rate. those people actually out in the workforce looking for jobs. i wouldn't have minded seeing that tick up a little bit. maybe -- the expectation was 6.4. so it stays at 6.3, which is exactly where it was last month. you want to see more people back in the workforce, at least looking for a job.

so we stay at 6.3. it is a business of a downer if you look at what we did last month, washwe did 288,000 jobs but not bad. >> no too bad. we're oaf 200,000. that obviously is a really good benchmark for us. you're right, now knot as great as last month. a printy good recovery from a flat first quarter, right? >> absolutely. i mean, the expectations are is that the economy is improving, the labor market continues to improve. auto sales have been very strong lately, manufacturing seems to be picking up as well. so i think there were some expectations that you're going to get that spring or at least early summer at this point snapback in the economy after we were all snowed in and it had a dramatic impact on the economy. things seem to be improving a bit. >> scott, let me explain something. scottie, we always have to apologize to people we throw to and your name, scott, is

coincidence. so mark halpern asked me what i had tavern green. and he asked what i had for my appetizer and i said a little scottie. >> it was a nice segue. >> mark actually has scotch as a main course at lunch. >> okay, you all are weird. scott wapner, thank you. >> have a good weekend. >> pretty good numbers. again we need to stay over 200,000 new jobs. >> let's have 4% growth. >> what? >> let's have 4% growth. >> we were at 0.1. i would setting for 2.5. it's been a long, hard slog. a long, hard time. >> it's been five years since we've seen him in a movie and

now -- >> oh, yes! let's go reds! >> now he's making his directorial debut and mike myers is here to tell us about the unlikely subject of his new documentary. i really hope he takes that scarf off. >> keep it on. we'll be back. ♪ ♪ you probably know xerox

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berkshire hathaway home services. good to know. i drove into los angeles and there was a motel vacancy sign. it was a two-story hotel around a swimming pool. i later found out it was a hollywood landmark hotel. i checked into high room, took a little acid, which is sort of what we all did then. now here i am high as a kite, loving the world, and i think i

hear a girl being raped around the swimming pool. so you run downstairs to separate these two people and the girl went crazy, punched me, because they were making love, they weren't fighting. i'd now been in l.a. for 24 hours, i'd been beat up twice. this is not going well. i came down in the morning, i could hear that same voice of the girl because i never saw her that night. she called me over and said are you the guy i hit last night? i said yeah. and she was janice joplin. she introduced me to the guy she was with, jimi hendrix. jimmy hendrix said are you jewish? i said yeah. he said you should be a manager. i said said great. who should i manage? he said alice cooper. >> that is a scene from the

documentary. where should we begin with mike myers. >> so happy to see a fellow red. my parents are from liverpool, england. my dad literally talked like the beatles. people would knock on the door just to hear him talk. and say it "it's been a hard day's night." i've been a life long liverpool fan. >> we had no idea. >> both my parents fought in world war ii. my mom was in the royal air force, my dad was in the royal engineers. when you see those movies with the covered map of england, my mom was one of those ladies. my dad was in the second wave of market garden. >> and they were in -- so they

were living in liverpool when the war broke out? >> yes, and they enlisted, both lied about their age and fought for britain against fascism. these were things that we talked about at my dinner table, which was keeping fascism at bay. >> wow. >> john meacham and i were talking about 1940 -- >> world war ii people are the best generation hands down. i give it up. i have the love and respect. >> we were talking about d-day today, talking about how much we owed to the people who stormed the beaches of normandy. and churchill was right, 1940, people like your parents, that was their finest hour. >> if you appease you sit on the back of a tiger with a bag of meat and when you run out of meat, you become the meat. churchill was a big hero in our house.

>> if it hadn't been for the british and england in the 1940s -- >> and from canada. it was utah, omaha, gold, juneau sword, right? >> and that's what every canadian told me ten years ago when i was there. >> that's the second time today somebody owes me five bucks because i knew you were going to say that. >> this is one of the smoothest transitions in the history of morning joe. let's go from d-day to superman. >> sure. i'd never been in a film and lawrence michaels said there's a problem with alice cooper, you have to talk to his manager. i was like, okay being i never

met a manager before, i was a punk rocker. shep gordon comes in. he's bald with a pony tail and a satin tour jacket. i said i wanted 18 and he said "how about something from the new album." i said how about no. he said have you heard the song? it's a great song. i also know alice is only on stage for 8 seconds. and i just thought you're probably right. he's the most reasonable person i've met and we've been friends for 20 years and i've been begging him for 20 years please let me make a documentary about you because that's what i thought i would do. i got hired for second city on

my last day of high school. i thought hivi was going to cre a canadian neomovement. >> a lot of people aspire to that. >> i do. >> this guy lives the forrest gump life and he stumbles on to jimi hendrix and janice joplin. >> i don't think the hippies get the love. definitely a hippie. he got a degree in social work and he had a chinese to be a parole worker or prison guard.

he said, well, let hug it out. he's an ethical hedonist, a progressive capitalist, he's literally the most kindest and nicest person and i just wanted to make a film for two things for this -- i have two kids now. i just had my second kid eight weeks ago. >> oh, congratulations. >> thank you so much. >> fantastic. i thought it was going to be good. i didn't know it was going to be this good. and i started later in life. and it's the happiest time in my life. these kids are fantastic. it's around that time i thought i wanted to get the message out there that fame is not the end of what you should do. creativity is. i always make things. in many ways fame is the industrial disease of creativity and if you don't pay attention, it can actually have reproductive harm and that's really kind of the point of this film and there's a way to make a lovely living in this business and still be a human being.

his contracts are all win-win contracts, shep, and he's just -- i just want that message out for people. >> why did he resist and how did you convince him? >> he's modest. i just -- i hounded him. when i get fixated on something, i'm a force of nature. and he got sick and i caught him at a vulnerable moment. i think he was medicated when he said yes but i'll take it. two weeks into it literally his intestines exploded. he had the heart attack of the intestines. i turned to my wife, i said, well weeks have our ending. he survived it, which is great for the film. he's a great guy. >> the film look really great and beautifully done. you're so interesting, i'm going to forgive you for ordering a coke. who orders a real coke? i don't get it.

>> somebody who grew up in ironically scarborough. and i used to call myself, look, i'm just joe scarborough. there's a guy named joe scarborough on tv. i go get out of town! >> cheers. bottoms up, that's pure sugar. it's very bad for you. >> it is very bad for me. i on do it when i get very, very early in the morning. >> fair enough. >> this is very exciting. do you have a favorite movie, a favorite project that you've been involved in where -- where maybe it wasn't the one that brought you the most fame but something that you've done that you're the most proud of? >> i was in a movie called 54, i got to play steve rubel. and a fascinating character, how i knew i could play him was that he used to guard the door at 54 and if people weren't beautiful, they couldn't come in. and they said would you let yourself in?

and he said, oh, of course not. and i went, oh, i can play that. >> sounds like your favorite production might have happened along with the first one eight weeks ago. >> and how old is your older child? >> two and a half. spike. my dad's name. it a common liverpool name, spike. my dad was the biggest liverpool fan in the world. and i tried to get his ashes bury in anfield bullpen it's a very long process. >> and mike myers is going to be on a stamp in canada. >> are you really? >> i am, yes. >> look at that! >> oh, look at that! >> really, you have a storied career. enjoy that coke. "super mensch" is out this friday. >> i was going to wear a fur coat. >> it's out nationwide -- >> today in fact.

today june 6, d-day, it is in the theaters. >> oh, there you go. mike myers. thank you very much. we'll be back with more "morning joe" in just a moment. great to meet you. ♪ no more mr. nice guy kes undes that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ my mom works at ge. how can a tablet replace start with the best writing experience. make it incredibly thin. add an adjustable kickstand, a keyboard, a usb port, and the freedom of touch.

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here with me, the president of ford motor company, not for long, alan mulally. why? let me just tell you, this is my baby. ford makes a good truck. >> i brought you a little present. "a ford built tough" necklace. >> i love it! thank you. >> we have other autos companies struggling right now. where do you see things going? >> as you know, it was a complete family, served customers around the world. i am so pleased the position ford is in now, they are profitably growing, we have a great transition plan, a great

new ceo in mark fields, the culture is in place and i'm looking forward to them take them forward. >> number three on fo"fortune's 500." it's easy to celebrate success but to keep it -- and this economy is changing and hasn't maybe even found its momentum yet. >> that's an important point. in the u.s. we're expecting an expansion around 2.5% to 3%. clearly that's good but we're also coming back from the deepest recession we've ever been. around the world business is growing around 5.5%, which is great. i think this continuing focus on economic development and also independence and security are two of the biggest issues we face as an history. >> mark fields takes over or what are we going to look at in

terms of changes? >> one of the great things about mark is he's proven leader and he's helped create the plan and ford will stay laser focused on producing the best cars and trucks in the world. >> alan mulally, thank you so much. and i appreciate the dog tag. congratulations for your success with the company. a lot of jobs obviously in detroit and a good truck doesn't always hurt. it's good to you have on today. thank you so much. that's all for us on "morning joe" this morning. we want to say a quick thank you to kamal and the team putting together the governor's ball. and that's coach mitchell, the best track coach in the world and the two athletes of the year from bronxville. thanks for joining us. obviously a big day in history. our thanks to mike barnicle, chuck todd and tom brokaw in formed

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