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At Least 40 Killed in Israeli Strike on School; President Biden in France for 80th Anniversary of D-Day. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired June 06, 2024 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:15]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

Eighty years ago today, courage and sacrifice triumphed. Tyranny and evil were forced into retreat.

President Biden joining other world leaders at this hour to mark this milestone anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of continental Europe during World War II.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the wartime president of Ukraine, had this heartwarming moment and a hug with one of the Americans who fought at Normandy. President Biden also met with a handful of the last surviving U.S. veterans who stormed those beaches or parachuted behind enemy lines as very young men.

Today, they are all around 100 years old, making this anniversary especially poignant and moving, as the world pays tribute to the Greatest Generation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The men who fought here became heroes, not because they were the strongest or toughest or the fiercest, although they were, but because they were given an audacious mission, knowing -- every one of them knew the probability of dying was real.

But they did it anyway. They knew beyond any doubt there are things that are worth fighting and dying for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And joining us now from the American Cemetery in Normandy, CNN's chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour. Also with us, the historian Douglas Brinkley, retired Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt is with us as well.

Christiane, you and I have covered these milestone anniversaries since 1994. I remember when we were both there. How much do the current global tensions underscore the poignancy of today's ceremony? CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Honestly, Wolf,

I think that's what it's all about, as well as celebrating the heroes that have fallen and who are laid to rest, and also those who have survived and who've come back again.

I spoke to the 101-year-old Jake Larson. We will have a little clip in a moment. But, really, everything today was framed, whether it was in interviews, whether it was in the speeches by Presidents Biden and Macron and the secretary of defense and the others, in -- in the current crisis.

Because who would have thought that, 80 years since D-Day itself and the liberation of occupied territories, that we would be facing a raging ground war in Europe? It's just unbelievable what's going on. It's just unbelievable that in 2024 this is happening after all the sacrifice and after all the years of this international world order that was created by the United States and its allies.

In any event, I want to play for you a tiny sound bite from Jake Larson which sort of sums up the courage, the commitment, the heroism of those who did actually fight. He landed on Omaha Beach 80 years ago today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: Today, it's 80 years since what you all did so heroically.

JAKE LARSON, D-DAY VETERAN: I don't think I was a hero. I was just like anybody else. We were all in this together.

I'm not a hero. I'm a -- people keep calling me hero. I changed that word. I took the O off of hero. I had a T-O there. And people say, well, what's a hereto? I says, I'm here to tell you the heroes are up there. They gave their life. They gave their life, so that I could make it.

My God, I had a -- I got a wife. I got children. I got two boys and a girl. I got nine grandchildren. I got 11 great-grandchildren. I have got a grandson that's a grandfather. And I'm still going.

(LAUGHTER)

LARSON: Crazy.

AMANPOUR: Will you come back again?

LARSON: Oh, God, yes, I'd come back again just to honor all those who gave their life so that I could be here.

AMANPOUR: Jake Larson, thank you.

LARSON: Thank you, Christiane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: Well, Wolf, firstly, 101, nearly 102, he is as sharp as a tack and remembers everything and knows why he was there, knows why he's here today.

But I think most moving about what he said is not a question of survivor's guilt, in terms of the heroes of those who've already given their lives, but what he said in those words was what they all did for all of us, so that we could have the normal lives that he was describing and the freedoms that many of our generation take for granted.

[11:05:18]

So I think what he said was just so remarkable and just so on point.

BLITZER: It's so amazing, Christiane, because, what, 80 years ago, these -- and I will call them heroes -- these heroes were, what, 18, 19, 20 years old, and now those who have survived all these years, they're approaching 100...

AMANPOUR: Yes.

BLITZER: ... or a little bit more than 100 years old.

It's so moving to see these few remaining veterans, and there are fewer and fewer, obviously, every year. Does this year's events feel different for you?

AMANPOUR: It feels different not in the way we commemorated them, celebrated and reported on them together, because it's the same, really. It's these wonderful people who come back to gather, to remember the camaraderie, to remember the unbelievable feats that they undertook, and to remember what it did and what it led to, and for how many decades it led to stability and peace on the European continent.

It's not that so much that's different, and not the speeches so much, but it's the knowledge that, actually, we are witnessing and we are caught up in this terrible war, this unprovoked invasion by Russia on a country, Ukraine, that simply wanted freedom and democracy, and, by the way, whose freedom was guaranteed by the United States and by Russia when Ukraine willingly gave up its nuclear arsenal to Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union.

And so I think that is what is really the difference this time, to know that democracy doesn't come cheap, to know that history is not linear, to know that we cannot take literally anything for granted. Even I have spent my whole career taking it for granted that it would go in a straight line, that, the more we fought, the more that we sacrificed, the more we paid attention, this democracy and freedom would just grow and grow and grow.

But, no, it really is at risk right now, and I think everybody understands that, unless Ukraine is won, then the entire project that these people fought and died for will be at risk. I'm not going to say it would be for nothing, because, clearly, that's not the case, but will be for risk, and democracy will only survive if we fight for it.

BLITZER: Yes, the stakes clearly right now are enormous.

Christiane, thank you very, very much.

I want to bring in the historian Douglas Brinkley and retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt to discuss what's going on.

I couldn't help but notice, General Kimmitt, when we heard that veteran, more than 100 years old, speaking with Christiane, it was so emotional for me, and -- but especially for you.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT (RET.), FORMER U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR PLANS AND STRATEGY: Yes.

BLITZER: Tell us why.

KIMMITT: Well, I think it's emotional for all of us.

What was particularly poignant was having him say what he did and behind him were those rows and rows of graves that were American soldiers who went across the beach that day.

BLITZER: And he called them the heroes. He said he was just doing what everybody was doing. But he was a hero as far, as I'm concerned, as well.

And it was really powerful just to hear his voice, 100 years old, and he was speaking so beautifully.

KIMMITT: Well, I think he was encouraged.

He -- and it's a sad commentary about America is that so many are not encouraged, but this is a man that knew what he fought for, knows what he has today, and is looking forward to his family and his future.

BLITZER: Yes, so, so powerful.

I want to bring in the presidential historian Douglas Brinkley right now.

Douglas, President Biden is tying Russia's war in Ukraine, the largest ground war in Europe since World War II, to the threats Allies faced, what, 80 years ago during World War II. Do you agree with that parallel?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I agree to it to a certain degree.

Look, President Biden gave very appropriate remarks. I think what history is going to remember about this 80th anniversary, it's really our -- one of the last times the world media is getting to say thank you to the 100-year-old veterans, but also just what's going on in the Ukraine.

It's right there. I mean, in France, you're going to have Biden meeting with Zelenskyy. How do you stop that war? How do you prevent Russian aggression of the most heinous kind? And it's curious when listening to Biden, because, in one way, if you're going to write a history of NATO, he's been a president, big-time promoter of NATO his whole life.

He is almost Mr. Atlantic Alliance. As president, you had NATO enlargement, Sweden just recently being added. Yet the specter that NATO could be unraveled, that you might have a more isolationist American president, meaning Donald Trump, who thinks -- sees NATO as for suckers.

[11:10:03]

So, there's a tension here. Biden is coming trying to reassure our Western allies, reassure NATO, certainly Dubai, lateral relations with France, and also try to convince people that don't make the assumption that Trump's coming in and NATO's on the decline.

BLITZER: Interesting.

And, General Kimmitt, what are your reflections on this day?

KIMMITT: Well, I think like, every other soldier and hopefully every other American, the tremendous sacrifice that was made that day.

But I think there's one other issue, and it's brought up both by Christiane and Mr. Brinkley, which is allies matter. I'm wearing the flag of the British Parachute Regiment. They were side by side with us on D-Day, jumping out of the sky, along with our Canadian allies.

We cannot do this by ourselves. And anybody that believes an isolationist America is stronger, I would challenge that. And I think D-Day proves that.

BLITZER: You sound like you're talking about Trump.

KIMMITT: I'm talking about America that believes we're better off isolationist than part of the international community.

BLITZER: Because he's threatened, as you know, to leave NATO if NATO allies don't pay what he considers to be enough as far as defense expenditures are concerned.

KIMMITT: Well, that's true.

But, at the same time, if you take a look at the expenditure increase, that was done during the Trump period, immediate after. Every president since the beginning of NATO has said, our allies don't pay enough. Whether his techniques and his process of doing that was the right way to do it, the fact is, they're now doing it.

And I think we're stronger in Ukraine because of it.

BLITZER: Now this tie that you're wearing, it's a beautiful red tie. Tell us a little bit more. Who gave that tie to you?

KIMMITT: The British Parachute Regiment. It is maroon tie, emblematic of their colors. It's actually red.

The British jumped side by side with us, actually did an air assault into an area that is now known as Pegasus Bridge. They were on the ground very shortly before we were. We could not have done our job in the 82nd Airborne, 101st Airborne if we didn't have the British blocking those routes to prevent other equipment, other tanks and mechanized vehicles from coming in and slaughtering our troops, not only in the fields, but also on the beachhead.

BLITZER: Yes, we had a lot of allies who were working together with us.

KIMMITT: Absolutely.

BLITZER: It wouldn't have worked without those allies as well.

Thanks very much.

KIMMITT: And it won't work now.

BLITZER: Yes, that's why we need those allies.

General Kimmitt, thanks very much. Douglas Brinkley, thanks to you as well.

Also taking part in today's D-Day ceremony, the U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd Austin.

This morning, I had a chance to speak with him about the anniversary and the crisis the world faces right now, including the war in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: On Russia's war in Ukraine right now, Mr. Secretary, President Biden just said that Putin is -- and I'm quoting him now -- "is not a decent man. He's a dictator."

When defending his decision to let Ukraine strike Russian territory with U.S. weapons only near Kharkiv, not far from the border with Russia, what is the red line in Ukraine right now? How far is the U.S. willing to go in letting Kyiv strike deeper into Russia with U.S. weapons when deemed necessary?

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Wolf, our policy using long- range strike weaponry to go into Russia hasn't changed.

But what we have done is provided Ukraine the ability to counterfire, to fire back at those Russian troops that are firing at them and to be able to take out their artillery batteries as they are firing at the Ukrainians. And I think that's going to prove to be very, very helpful to the Ukrainians going forward.

BLITZER: I suspect you're right.

President Biden is expected, as you know, to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy during this trip to Europe after there were some serious divisions here in the U.S. which caused a major delay in supplying desperately needed weapons to Ukraine. So, how can the president promise that U.S. support is ironclad, which

he, of course, did today, when support for the war is waning domestically here in the U.S.?

AUSTIN: Wolf, as I have engaged members of Congress on both sides of -- in both parties, I have seen throughout strong support for Ukraine.

And even though it took a while to get the legislation through, I was confident that the right thing was going to happen, because any time you see that type of support on both sides of the aisle for a cause, Congress will find a way to get things done, which is what they did in this case, because it's the right thing to do.

And Ukraine matters, Wolf, as you know, not just for Ukraine. Ukraine's purposes alone, not for Europe alone. It matters for -- to us, and it matters to the entire globe. So we have to make sure that Putin doesn't have the ability to trample Ukraine, because, as the president said, there's a good chance, almost certain, that Putin won't stop there.

[11:15:15]

He will continue to move forward in other acts of aggression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And you can watch the rest of my special interview with the defense secretary at 6:00 p.m. Eastern later tonight in "THE SITUATION ROOM," right here, of course, on CNN.

And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:11]

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Leaders and veterans from around the world are gathering in France today to mark this, the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of continental Europe in World War II. Changed the course of the war.

Off the coast of Normandy, CNN's Melissa Bell is joining us right now.

Melissa, the historic invasion was actually delayed by some bad weather. The choppy waters and low visibility would have made the amphibious assault nearly impossible, today, a much different picture, clearly.

Set the scene for what the Allied forces faced that day, Melissa.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is, as you say, well, an extraordinary day that we have out here.

And, as you can see, people have come in huge numbers to pay their tribute on the beaches themselves, where those crucial first battles were fought. They have come out with their jeeps, their amphibious vehicles, like the one we're standing on now, one of the Ducks that proved so crucial in resupplying the Allied front lines as the men moved in, but, on that day, very different conditions.

In fact, this was a D-Day that should have happened on the 5th of June. It happened instead on the 6th because of the inclement weather. As they came on shore, it's almost unimaginable what the men would have faced, and, in fact, the extraordinary losses of the Americans on Omaha Beach, some 2,000 men lost in those first few hours on that beach just due east of where we are now -- this is Arromanches, Gold Beach -- speak to the horrors of what they would have been facing.

And I think what we have seen at the heart of these commemorations that we have seen today, for this, what is most poignantly, Wolf, one of the last commemorative events around D-Day, where any living veterans are likely to be able to make the trip, given their age, what we have seen is a great deal of remembrance about the extraordinary logistical operation that was Operation Overlord.

Remember that beyond those first few troops who took those first staggering steps up towards the liberation of France and Europe, there were all of these vehicles that you see here gathered on this beach, not least this Duck that I'm standing on, that allowed until the artificial port that you can just see the remains of off the coast of Normandy there, just at sea, 570 hectares of artificial port that were built in those first few weeks, again, an extraordinary feat of coordination between the 12 armies that took part.

Until that could be built, it was vehicles like this that allowed the allies to come in and out, bringing the equipment from the ships that were offshore all the way up onto the beach and straight to the front lines.

And, really, that is part of what allowed Operation Overlord to succeed as it did, against the odds and despite the losses and with that coordination between Allies at its heart.

When you look back now at what was achieved that day, it seems almost an act of folly that it was undertaken at all. And what you -- when you speak to historians about what unfolded here, what they tell you is that, had it failed, it would have taken probably years for the Allies to be able to attempt anything like it again.

And that's what we have seen at the heart of the commemorative events that involved, of course, the world leaders that we have seen gathered further down on Omaha Beach. But, again, on beaches like this, look at the turnout, people who've come to remember and tell their children of what was achieved here against the odds and in the name of freedom.

From the point of view of the American veterans, the several dozen of them that have been able to make their way back to this continent 80 years on, a lifetime on, Wolf, from these transformative events that they lived 80 years ago, remember that these were boys that were coming to a part of the world that they'd never seen in the name of freedom of the people they'd never met.

Really extraordinary to see them return with all that emotion that they have brought with them, Wolf.

BLITZER: So emotional, indeed.

Melissa Bell, thank you very much.

And, certainly, let's never forget that it was that D-Day invasion, which was so painful, so difficult, that changed the course of the war. And within a year, only about 11 months or so later, the U.S. and the Allies defeated the Nazis, ending World War II, a truly historic moment.

Melissa, thank you very, very much for that report.

There's other important news we're following right now. We're tracking major new developments in Gaza. At least 40 people are dead and others injured after an Israeli airstrike overnight targeted a school run by the United Nations. A journalist working with CNN says the school and its grounds were housing around 20,000 displaced people when at least three missiles struck.

The Israel Defense Forces, the IDF, says it was targeting up to 30 Hamas militants and is not aware of any civilians being killed. The former U.S. State Department Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller is joining us right now.

Aaron, this attack comes, what, less than two weeks after another deadly strike on a camp in Rafah in Southern Gaza. Israel says it's targeting Hamas, but the civilian toll keeps climbing and climbing. What's your analysis?

[11:25:02]

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think, first and foremost, Wolf, it's impossible, I think, to operate in densely populated areas and not harm civilians.

And I think the Israelis believe they identified a Hamas command center with 20, 30 to 40 Hamas fighters. Whether that command center was being used by Hamas willfully embedding humans, civilians in and around their operations center, impossible to say.

The longer the ground campaign continues, the longer the war campaign continues, the greater the odds and the chances of what we have seen time and time again, and that is mass casualty events. It's a fundamental problem, right?

And I don't think there's any resolution to it, Wolf, unless you can figure a pathway out of this.

BLITZER: I want to get your thoughts, Aaron, on Prime Minister Netanyahu's position right now. He's clearly trying to appease his far right political backers in his government, who don't want to end the war until Hamas is completely destroyed.

He's also right now facing an international arrest warrant. There's growing anger from within his own among Israelis who fear that he's failed to free the hostages still being held by Hamas. Is there any scenario, Aaron, where he bows to all this pressure and accepts a deal?

MILLER: There are only several possibilities, Wolf.

Number one, he convinces his two most extremist ministers to accept the deal and basically argues to them, we will never get through phase one. Not to worry. We will continue to operate against Hamas in Gaza. A second possibility is, he has accepted the deal, and the two ministers bolt.

And then Yair Lapid, the head of the second largest party, offers the prime minister a safety net, and you get a sort of government of disunity. A third option is to dissolve the Knesset. Benny Gantz is prepared to offer legislation to do that, and you go to new elections.

So I think the odds, Wolf, of this deal being implemented, I think, are growing increasingly more narrow and small. I mean, Hamas has not accepted it yet. If they had a clean acceptance, then I think the government of Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu would have key decisions to make.

But more than likely, Wolf, Hamas is going to come in with a yes, but. And the Israelis, who have accepted this, according to the administration, and I think this was an Israeli proposal -- it came as no surprise to them -- also have a way of spinning it so as to create doubts in the mind of whether, whatever the Israelis commit to, they're going to observe.

So you have a situation in which neither side, frankly, has the kind of urgency required to move into phase one. The party that has the greatest sense of urgency, Wolf, is the Biden administration. And that's insufficient -- understandable, to be sure, but insufficient to do this deal.

BLITZER: Let me get your thoughts quickly on the tension that's really escalating big time in Northern Israel with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed forces in Southern Lebanon right now.

It seems to be getting worse. Do you anticipate there will be a huge eruption and that there will be a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah?

MILLER: My view is still we can avoid that. The last encounter was in the summer of 2006. So, for 18 years, Wolf, for 18 years, Hezbollah and Israel and Hezbollah backed by Iran have made a judgment that opening up this front in a major way would be too costly, both for Israel and for Hezbollah.

Iran is undergoing a transition now in the wake of the death of President Raisi. I'm not sure the Iranians want a major conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. It could easily, easily draw Israel and the U.S. in.

I'm still hoping, perhaps betting, that the Israelis and Hezbollah will keep this below the threshold of an escalatory ladder that could end up in a confrontation that would wreak havoc, not just in Southern Lebanon and in Beirut, but also in response to Hezbollah's high- trajectory weapons.

And they have something, Wolf, that Iran does not have, which is proximity to Israel. These high-trajectory weapons could be -- could do tremendous damage to the civilian population of Israel. I'm not sure the Israelis want that either.

BLITZER: Yes.

By all accounts, if there were a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon and Northern Israel, it would be much, much worse than the war that's going on in Gaza between Israel and Hamas right now, given the military capabilities of Hezbollah that they have accumulated over these years.