host: john, mcmanus, take us from d-day and the battle at normandy through the battle of the bulge. guest: to give you the highlights of it, when you talk about omaha beach, getting ashore was really the hardest part. after that you see a pretty steady advance inland for about the next week. utah was almost the opposite. not a getting ashore was easy because utah beach was under intense artillery fire on d-day and days thereafter. but the hard est part was advancing and this was a bitter campaign during the summer of 1944. the british and canadians were stalemated so the allies spent the better part of 1944 pinned into normandy fighting this battle of attrition with the germans. and time wasn't necessarily on their side to a great extent. they really needed to break out and to match the soviet advances that you had in eastern europe at the same time. so, the allies also launched an invasion of south france which is not well known but was planned from operation over-lord that there would be a complementary invasion of southern france along the rive riviera beaches. churchill was agai

host: john mcmanus talking about the 65th anniversary of d-day. those that would like to get involved the numbers are on the screen. host: by all means give us a call there. and we would like to hear from you especially. john, you talked about the gathering of the leaders of what used to be known as the allies. there is also a story in the "philadelphia inquirer" that talks about americans and germans who were bitter enemies during the d-day invasion, and they have been gathering in somewhat smaller ceremonies. what is the significance of these meetings between the former allied troops and their german enemies? guest: i would argue that they are as significant or perhaps even more significant than the meetings between old allies. the reason i believe that is because to some extent the normandy invasion and campaign that followed was about transforming germany. the allied leaders had decreed that they would never end the war until there was unconditional surrender by nazi germany and that really meant de natzify natzif natzifying germany. in the lo

and for the sixty fifth anniversary of d-day, we will talk to john mcmanus, author of "the americans at normandy." >> today, the labor department reported in 9.4% unemployment rate for last month. that is half of a% higher than -- that is half a percentage higher than in april. it is an hour and 15 minutes. >> i would like to welcome the chairman for holding this meeting. they will brief us on the most recent unemployment data. this morning's release reported may job losses totaling 345,000 . almost half the losses in recent months, but an unemployment rate of 9.4%, a jump of have of a percentage from the previous month. workers at part-time workers who cannot find full-time employment, the unemployment rate jumps to 16.4%, the highest rate since the government started collecting this information in 19 and -- in 1994. it was announced that the initial jobless claims for the week ending may 30 foul. -- fell. c-span2. >> the consumer index experienced a small uptick and the european central bank held rates steady yesterday. signaling expectations that the global economy may just had bo

. >> and we'll talk to john mcmanus, the author of "the americans at d-day and the americans at normandy." >> there is still time to get your 2009 u.s. congressional directory with information about the cabinet and the nation's governors, plus district maps. it's $16.95 online at c-span.org/products or call 1-877-on-c-span. >> president obama and german chancellor angela merkel held a news conference yesterday in dresden, germany. during the conference, they talked about climate change and the 65th anniversary of d-day. today president obama will speak in france at a commemoration of the anniversary. >> good morning, ladies and gentlemen. we are lucky to have the american president with us here for the first time after meeting with us at the nato summit. we will visit a little bit of dresden, and later we go to the former concentration camp. i believe this is a trip of a highly symbolic nature. let me just remind all of us of the visit to buchenberg we will take later in the day. it is so important that the american president makes his first stop here in dresden. this is a highly symboli

and for the 65th anniversary of d-day, we'll talk to john mcmanus, the author of "the americans at d-day" and the americans at normandy. >> how is c-span fund snd >> private -- c-span funded? >> private donations. >> public television. >> i don't know where the money comes from. >> federally. >> contribution from donors. >> how is c-span fund snd 30 years ago america's cable companies created c-span as a public service. a private business initiative. no government mandate. no government money. >> "new york times" columnist david brooks speaking about president obama. mr. brooks was at the national conference of the american advertising federation as the keynote speaker at the "new york times" luncheon. this is 20 minutes. >> i never get tired of looking at that. we're about to hear from one of the nation's most respected and well liked journalists. he certainly has a lot to talk about these days. when our nation's 44th president took office on january 20, he was faced with a litany of issues and challenges so vexing that he must occasionally wonder why he campaigned so hard for the job.