Return to Transcripts main page
Hala Gorani Tonight
Presidents Trump and Macron Honor D-Day Veterans; Interview with Tim Bouverie, Author, "Appeasement: Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill and the Road to War"; Trump to Begin Five Percent Tariffs on Mexican Imports. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired June 06, 2019 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR, HALA GORANI TONIGHT: On this very day 75 years ago, thousands of men embarked on a mission to the beaches of France that
would eventually change the course of history, freeing Europe from the grip of Nazi control and guaranteeing freedom for future generations. But for
so many of them, their life was the price.
Today, world leaders came together to remember those very men, and to thank them for their sacrifice. Today, we remember the thousands of Allied
troops who risked and lost everything, while celebrating the freedom that their heroism ensured.
Today, we remember D-Day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whose broad stripes and bright stars --
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Once a battlefield, now a memorial for the fallen. It was on the beaches and
hills around Normandy that American and Allied troops launched a major assault on Nazi forces, marking the start of the D-Day campaign.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On this day 75 years ago, 10,000 men shed their blood and thousands sacrificed their lives for their
brothers, for their countries and for the survival of liberty.
BITTERMANN (voice-over): a small number of those who survived the war returned to France today. Some had not been back since the war. It was a
chance for public recognition.
TRUMP: You honor us all with your presence.
(APPLAUSE)
BITTERMANN (voice-over): The D-Day campaign changed the course of the war. French President Emmanuel Macron says it's a sacrifice his country will
never forget.
EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC: We know what we owe to you veterans: our freedom. On behalf of my nation, I just want to say
thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
BITTERMANN (voice-over): Standing side-by-side, the two leaders paused. A moment's silence. A wreath honoring the fallen. From there, the
presidents and first ladies walked to a point overlooking Omaha Beach, the deadliest battlefield for Allied forces during the D-Day invasion. A
military flyover marking the end of the commemorations.
And away from the crowds, Presidents Trump and Macron, along with their wives, walked through the fields of white crosses, each marking a life
lost. One final moment of pause and reflection.
Jim Bittermann, CNN, Normandy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Today is very much about the men whose remarkable courage made D- Day possible. Every year, of course, their numbers dwindle. But as you saw in Jim Bittermann's report, some of the surviving heroes were honored
during today's ceremonies in Normandy.
President Trump gave special mention to Russell Pickett, the last known survivor of the legendary Company A. He was just a teenager when he left
Virginia for the beaches of France. Today, he returned at 94 years old.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Today, believe it or not, he has returned once more to these shores, to be with his comrades. Private Pickett, you honor us all with
your presence.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well the host of "AMANPOUR," Christiane Amanpour, is at the American Cemetery in Normandy.
And you also spoke to a veteran whose story aired just last hour on your program. And it was really, really riveting, hearing him talk about that
day he landed on Omaha Beach, 75 years ago.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. You can imagine. Just sitting here where I am right now in front of all these
crosses, this is the American military ceremony -- cemetery where you just saw the others honored by the presidents earlier today.
And just like Russell Pickett, I spoke to Jake Larson who had a similar experience. And he came over on the first day. He was in one of the first
waves of the landing crafts. He was 15 when he lied about his age to first get into the National Guard and then eventually serve.
[14:05:11] So he was a teenager when he came. He's 96 years old now. And, you know, he had never been back. He couldn't get back because, A, he
didn't have the money. B, the military didn't have his records because all his records were burnt. Can you imagine? In a fire in St. Louis in the
mid-1970s.
So a crowdfunding operation by his neighbors at home. And the people around the country gave him more than $12,000, or around that amount, to
come over here and -- escorted by his sons and grandsons.
And this is what he told me about what he remembers, crossing onto that Omaha Beach just behind me 75 years ago today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE LARSON, D-DAY VETERAN: When I hit the beach, machine guns were opening up and firing at me. And I was (ph) following this loop, what I
call a berm of sand, kind of limestone. That -- it sits in a powder (ph). And oh, it's about six to eight inches high. And it was a protection from
those machine guns.
So I lay behind it, thinking, "How am I going to get out of this plain without being shot at me?" So I reached in my pocket and got a cigarette
out of a waterproof cigarette holder. And I reached for a match, and the matches were wet.
I looked over my left shoulder and there was a G.I. sitting there, not three and a half feet behind me, laying. And I said, "Hey, buddy, have you
got a match?" No answer. I looked again. Under the helmet was no head.
AMANPOUR: Oh my goodness. So this man had been killed?
LARSON: He had been killed. And at that instant, I thanked his soul for inspiring me to beat it to the cliff. I got up and between (ph) those
machine guns that were shooting from two different angles over and (ph) down at me, I made it to the cliff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Christiane, it's just remarkable because this is really history as told by those who lived it. And it's always fascinating. But as you
mentioned, the numbers, dwindling.
But of course, there were speeches. Speeches by Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Donald Trump. And I wonder if there was a message
subtly directed at Donald Trump when Emmanuel Macron says that the U.S. is never greater than when it is fighting for the freedom of others. Let's
listen to a bit of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACRON (through translator): The United States of America, dear Donald Trump, dear president, which is never greater than when it is fighting for
the freedom of others. The United States of America, that is never greater than when it shows its loyalty to the universal values that the founding
fathers defended.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So I wonder. And we saw in a split screen, by the way, Donald Trump with some body language that suggested he might not have been very
receptive to that.
AMANPOUR: Well, look, I don't know, Hala. Because yes, maybe there was a little smile. But who knows what he was thinking. Certainly, the
president came face-to-face for the first time with the real, live heroes of that day. And he clearly was very, very taken by everything that he
saw.
And his speech was really very, very well-written and delivered. And one of the things he said was that he not only paid tribute to the heroes of D-
Day and the whole of World War II, but to the alliance. And he used that word. And the partnership that was forged in the fire of these battles.
And he talked about unbreakable bonds that had resulted from that.
And that is about the most intense way President Trump has ever spoken about the multilateral alliance. And of course, many, many people will
want to read a huge amount into it. We don't know what he'll say tomorrow or the next day.
But for the moment, he really did say that. And that's something that I think a lot of leaders, those who believe in the transatlantic alliance --
most particularly those who believe in multilateralism and the inability to get things done alone, whereas the ability to get things done together -- I
think they'll take heart from that.
GORANI: All right. We'll see what he tweets next. Usually that's where we get our next Trump update, is on that platform. Thanks so much.
[14:10:00] Christiane Amanpour there, live at the D-Day beaches there, covering that special anniversary.
The D-Day landings were the largest amphibious operation in history. Codenamed "Neptune," it consisted of an armada of nearly 7,000 vessels,
along with 11,000 planes, 150,000 troops landing on five beaches on the Normandy coast.
It was brutal. On that day alone, as many as 4,400 troops from the Allied forces were killed. German casualties estimated at between four and 9,000
on that day. Melissa Bell is on one of the vessels used by the Allies.
Talk to us about your day covering this anniversary from that particular vantage point, Melissa.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Hala, you were mentioning those five crucial beaches that turned into the bridgeheads, the points that they
managed to secure fairly early on, that allowed the Allies to secure that victory over Nazi Germany and lead us on to victory.
This was one of them. Gold Beach --
GORANI: Let's talk a little bit about --
(CROSSTALK)
BELL: -- was the one that was used -- this was where the British landed. And this was one of the amphibious trucks that were used all along this
coast on that day. Not so much for the disembarkation of that first wave of men, but for the supplies that needed to follow very quickly afterwards.
This was a sort of marvel of technology in its days. These trucks had only been invented in 1941. And luckily, the Allied forces had adopted them
fairly quickly afterwards.
Because without them, those Allied troops, the ones that had survived that initial landing, the very few men that had managed to live beyond those
first few hours, then, as they made their way further up the beaches, needed, of course, supplies. They needed food, Hala, they needed petrol
and they needed equipment. And these were the vehicles that then landed with them, to come onshore.
First of all, arriving from the seas, these are the vessels that would head out to the boats that came from the United States, full of the rations that
were needed but also from Britain. They were brought to just beyond this port (ph).
This at Arromanches, you can see here -- this was one of the crucial points -- what's left of the artificial port that was created, are these blocks
that are wave-breakers, essentially, Hala.
What the Allies built here, what the British built at this particular beach, was an artificial port (ph), rather like the one that was built at
Omaha, a little further on, by the Americans.
And that was crucial to the Allied success because they hadn't been able to land at those deep-sea ports, because they wanted to take the Germans by
surprise. They landed in places where no one had imagined they might be able to land. Where this, the ocean was simply too shallow.
And so they came up with these very ingenious techniques of bringing the supplies that they needed from the ocean liners that would arrive just
beyond those wave-breakers, and they would bring them in with boats like this.
Just have a look at this technology. It was extraordinary in its days. Here we are, heading out onto the ocean, having headed off on tires. The
tires then lift up. And here we are, headed up into the waves. Seventy- five years on, these vessels still function, thanks partly to the people who are so passionate about what happened that day.
And what we've been hearing today, over and over again, Hala, is that the very many thousands of people who turned out on the beaches here -- you
were talking earlier about that big commemoration at the American Cemetery.
But there have been 280 events held on these Normandy beaches, by people who are passionate about their vehicles, who are passionate about what
happened here that day, who turned out in uniform, who've turned out with their amphibious trucks to remind especially the younger generation of all
those very many sacrifices that were made.
GORANI: Melissa Bell, thanks very much. Not too far from Arromanches there, on the French Normandy coast. A really great perspective there from
that vessel there, on the water now.
Tim Bouverie is a historian and journalist and the author of "Appeasement: Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill, and the Road to War." And he joins me now.
Let's talk a little bit about, first, today, the remembrance on the 75th anniversary. What do you make of how the world is choosing to remember D-
Day in 2019?
TIM BOUVERIE, AUTHOR, APPEASEMENT: CHAMBERLAIN, HITLER, CHURCHILL, AND THE ROAD TO WAR: Well, I think the world's done a fantastic job at it. It's
hugely important. And it's important because -- not just for what it did but because there aren't going to be that many further occasions when all
these veterans are going to be able to gather together.
And I think it was incredibly moving to watch veterans mingle with world leaders, but also world leaders stand together. And if there is one great
lesson from the Second World War, it is that nothing like this should ever happen again. And international cooperation is far better than
international antagonism.
GORANI: Well, we heard Donald Trump, the proponent of America First as his main centerpiece policy, talk about international multilateral cooperation
in this particular speech.
BOUVERIE: Yes. And D-Day was -- and it's very important for everyone to remember this so that you don't get focused on your own nationalities -- a
multi-multinational effort. Aside from Americans and British, there were Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders and Free French who were doing a
vital job behind enemy lines.
[14:15:10] And there is a slightly bitter irony, that if the peace in Europe has been kept since 1945, it is because of NATO and the European
Union, two institutions that Donald Trump has continually attacked. And so that sits a little uneasily with today's celebrations.
GORANI: Let's talk about the complexity of the operation itself. Because this wasn't a given, that it would be successful.
BOUVERIE: Absolutely not. You only have to look at the fiasco which was the Dieppe Raid, which happened in August 1942, when the British tried to
get a foothold on fortress -- Hitler's European fortress and failed miserably.
It could have been cast back into the sea. And Rommel (ph) always said that that was how the Germans were going to defeat it, was by pushing the
Allies back and stopping them on the beaches.
So there was no guarantee (ph) that D-Day had to succeed.
GORANI: So why did it?
BOUVERIE: D-Day succeeded because the Allies crucially managed to have the element of surprise. They were incredibly successful with Operation
Fortitude, this operation which allowed for deceptive operations, which made the Germans think that we might invade Norway or we might attack
across the Pas de Calais. There had been separate operations going on in the Mediterranean.
So the Germans were not expecting the attack in Normandy. And I think that is a large part of the success.
GORANI: There were -- this was, of course, not the end. This was the beginning of a very deadly, very difficult and painful campaign for Allied
forces and for the civilians who were living in that part of France.
BOUVERIE: Absolutely. Twenty thousand French civilians died as -- only part of the Allied bombing, which is something that Churchill initially
thought was unconscionable. He said it must be limited to 10,000.
And D-Day was much more successful than the subsequent operation in Normandy itself, where the Allies really get bogged down in eight weeks of
intense fighting which exceeds the death toll of some of the most famous battles of the First World War, like the Somme and Passchendaele.
GORANI: And why -- was that a miscalculation? Why was it so deadly in the aftermath of D-Day?
BOUVERIE: I don't think that the Allies had either anticipated the extent to which the Germans would resist, or the difficulties of the Normandy
countryside, the bocage, where there are this small patchwork of interconnected fields with thick hedgerows, in which Germans could launch
surprise attacks. This really bogs them down.
Also, the Germans had flooded so much of the area. So that caused problems for the paratroopers on the night of D-Day, but continued to cause problems
for crossing Allied vehicles thereafter.
GORANI: And then in the longer term, up until May of 1945, obviously, when the Allied powers then -- what officially was the end of the war in the
European theater. What was that period like after D-Day? Because it was still a difficult battle.
BOUVERIE: An incredibly difficult battle. And there were setbacks such as the attack on the four bridges over the Rhine at Arnhem, and then obviously
the main German counteroffensive, known in America as the Battle of the Bulge.
But we also have to remember this enormous battle that is going on on the eastern front. If you look at statistics, total military deaths in World
War II, the Russians accounted for 65 percent of them. The British, two percent. The Americans, one percent. This is not --
GORANI: How many million did the Russians lose?
BOUVERIE: The Russians lost around 26 million dead during the --
GORANI: It's very difficult to wrap your brain around that number.
BOUVERIE: It is.
GORANI: Because in -- you know, modern warfare, it's become so technologically advanced. Obviously, civilians suffer a lot. But the
military deaths are usually much smaller numbers.
BOUVERIE: No. And it is the Russians, however insidious the Soviet regime is and however awful what came after the Second World War with the Eastern
Bloc, it was the Russians who paid the ultimate blood price for the defeat of the Wehrmacht.
GORANI: Tim Bouverie, thanks very much for joining us. Appreciate it. Really appreciate having you on the program on this important anniversary.
Still to come tonight, the U.S. and Mexico square off this hour at the White House over immigration as the clock ticks toward more punishing
tariffs from the Trump administration. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:21:08] GORANI: While the U.S. president is in Europe until Friday, he is warning that something pretty dramatic could happen as the U.S. and
Mexico try to reach a truce over immigration and tariffs. Talks are set to resume this hour at the White House.
Donald Trump is threatening to start escalating rounds of tariffs on Mexico if it doesn't do more to curb migrants entering the U.S. at its southern
border.
Global financial markets and even members of the president's own party are rattled about how tariffs would impact businesses and consumers as well.
Paula Newton is covering this story from Mexico City and she joins us now.
We're hearing maybe some -- I don't know, would you call them "hopeful" statements from the Mexican president?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I have to tell you, I've been shocked at how optimistic, you know, the Mexican government has been about this for
the last 48 hours.
We had the president this morning saying, you know, in his words, that he was hopeful they could get to some kind of an agreement, an accord. And
the foreign minister just wrapped up some preliminary meetings this morning. And I want you to listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCELO EBRARD, FOREIGN SECRETARY OF MEXICO: We have some advances. And we are going to return later to continue discussion, the several points
that we proposed. Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: When he's talking about proposing, Hala, what he means is it's a numbers game, right? The United States, now, releasing yesterday those
numbers, 144,000 in the month of May.
TEXT: Trump's Tariff Threat to Mexico on all goods imported from Mexico: June 10, five percent; July 1, 10 percent; August 1, 15 percent; September
1, 20 percent; October 1, 25 percent
NEWTON: When they look at the newly released numbers from Mexico, you're only talking about 16,000 deportations. I mean, when you do the math,
Hala, at the end of the day, you have desperate migrants from Central America that, in droves, still continue to leave their towns and their
villages and their cities, hoping to make that migration northward. And that is the issue with the United States.
Mexico is stretched. They are stretched not just because they don't have the resources or the strategic depth to actually get anything done to
harden up that border to the south. But really, Hala, they also have ideological concerns.
And the president was very clear -- that is President Lopez Obrador here in Mexico -- was clear to say, "Look, we have our red lines and we still want
to treat these people with dignity and this is a humanitarian crisis."
Look, Hala, they're talking at this moment right now. We'll see if they can come to some kind of agreement. Because as you said, if they do not,
five percent tariffs starting on Monday. Many people, many businesses but also those key Republican senators also saying that, "Look, the American
economy just can't take that."
GORANI: Right. Because that was going to be my next question. This impacts U.S. consumers. It impacts U.S. businesses. You have big
companies -- G.M., IBM, Ford -- that have plants and operations in Mexico. This isn't just about punishing Mexico.
NEWTON: It isn't. It is about punishing directly, those businesses. And when you even just take the auto industry in Michigan, for instance, they
are speaking loudly and clearly to the White House and saying, "This will cost us."
If you just take auto parts that are exported by one company, sometimes they are importing from Mexico into the United States, $2 billions' worth
of auto parts in one year. Do the math on just five percent. That is a tax that could be an increase in the cost of cars or a decrease in the
amount of cars that are bought by Americans, and that is the issue.
It's unclear, though, right now, Hala. We are getting very mixed signals from both the president's team in Europe and also from the White House --
that's those staffers that are left behind, dealing with the legal issues right now in D.C.
At the end of the day, the president arrives home in D.C. Friday night. He will be the one who will make the ultimate decision on these tariffs. And
I bet you, Hala, that there are very few people, even in his inner circle, that would put money down on the way he will go with these tariffs on
Monday.
GORANI: All right. Paula Newton, thanks very much. Live in Mexico City.
The Chinese tech giant Huawei has struck a deal to build Russia's first 5G wireless network. It was inked on the sidelines of talks in Moscow between
the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin.
[14:25:09] The deal comes at a critical time for Huawei. The company is obviously now on the frontline in an escalating trade war between China and
the U.S., with the U.S. trying to put pressure on its allies as well. "Do not use Huawei components." The U.S., claiming they are a security risk,
potentially.
Our Fred Pleitgen caught up -- literally -- with Huawei's chairman at a conference in Saint Petersburg.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So how successful has your trip been so far?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK. Thank you.
PLEITGEN: You feeling a lot of heat from the Trump administration right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry. We are sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Washington is urging allies to restrict or even ban the use of Huawei equipment, warning Beijing could use it for spying. Huawei is
denying that it poses a security risk.
Still to come tonight, Donald Trump's European adventure. The U.S. president took the world stage -- took to the world stage in a big way.
How did it go? We will look back.
Plus, Australian police face a backlash over raids that targeted reporters, raids in the national broadcaster's offices. And they are not backing
down. We'll bring you the latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WINSTON CHURCHILL, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER (voice-over): We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall
fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.
BERNARD MONTGOMERY, COMMANDER, ALLIED LAND TROOPS (voice-over): To us is given the honor of striking a blow for freedom, which will live in history.
JIM TUCKWELL, 1ST BATTALION, DORSET REGIMENT (voice-over): No, I wasn't scared. Just thinking, "Will I get through it or not?"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Mass squadrons of bombers and transports led the way, more than 11,000 planes spearheading the attack.
GORANI: Well, they were just young men -- many teenagers, in fact -- when they braved a hail of bullets and other defensed from the Germans, charging
directly into the fury of battle without knowing if they'd ever see their loved ones again. Sacrificing everything to bring freedom to Europe's
shores, oftentimes their lives.
[14:29:57] Today, the world is thanking those Allied troops who stormed the beaches of Normandy, 75 years ago, on the 6th of June, 1944. And they
dealt a death knell to the Nazi occupation, eventually. Each year, though, their numbers dwindle, but dozens of these surviving veterans were honored
at ceremonies in Normandy today. The U.S. president, Donald Trump, praised them as heroes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: To more than 170 veterans of the Second World War who join us today, you are among the very greatest Americans who will
ever live. You are the pride of our nation. You are the glory of our republic. And we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right, I'm joined now by military historian Andrew Lambert to talk more about the significance of this. We showed some file footage there
of some of the young men on their way to the Normandy beaches. What would it have been like on one of those vessels as they headed toward the coast?
ANDREW LAMBERT, MILITARY HISTORIAN: They set off not knowing whether they were going to get there or not. They were delayed on route. They had to
wait for the weather to change. Then they got out of the bigger ships, into the smaller ships. And then as the sun came up, they could see where they
going, and immediately, the guns start firing. And for many of these young men, this is the first time.
Many of those American soldiers, they've come across the Atlantic. They've been to Britain. And this is going to be their baptism of fire, quite a lot
of the British and Canadian as well. So they're young men, how are they going to perform? What's going through their minds? Not am I going to live
through this, but am I going to let my mates down.
GORANI: Yes.
LAMBERT: The camaraderie of these men, which is what the military's building out, you're looking out for everybody else. And at the end of the
day, you want to know that you did your bit and you looked out for everybody.
GORANI: And once they hit the shore and were on those beaches, Omaha being the bloodiest I understand, what was then that like for them? Those first
fighting moments?
LAMBERT: Recovering from the initial shock of live fire, watching casualties, seeing really horrific things right in front of you, and
carrying on doing what you have been trained to do. And that's what the military's been doing all the way through the war, building these people
up, turning civilians into soldiers, mobilizing as effective units of men. No individual soldier marches (ph) on the battlefield.
It's the cohesion of your soldiers against the cohesion of the enemy soldiers. And the army that falls to pieces is the one that loses. So those
guys have got to get their act together. They've got to pull team. They've got to find leaders, not just their officers, their NCOs, even individual
soldiers, who will just give them that little bit of extra encouragement and get them doing the things they've been trained to do.
GORANI: And there were -- the Germans put up a fierce defense on some sections of shore there -- of shoreline. Ultimately, how did it -- why was
it a success? Because it wasn't a guaranteed thing?
LAMBERT: A large part of D-Day is the sheer volume of fire that the allies were able to lay on the beach. And the problem at Omaha is there isn't
enough bombardment from this -- from the sea. The Americans aren't laying down enough heavy bombardment on the British and Canadian beaches.
They've got a lot of ships, and they're firing a lot of very big rounds into the German positions. Even if they're not knocking the Germans out or
killing them, they're putting so much ammunition on top of them, they can't move. They can't see what's happening.
GORANI: Yes.
LAMBERT: And it's only when that barrage lifts, as the British and Canadian soldiers are coming up the beach, that the Germans are able to try and stop
them.
GORANI: How many hours once a young man -- you know, on a beach where it was especially intense like Omaha, how many hours of fighting until they
were able to advance off the beach?
LAMBERT: At Omaha, it's most of the day. So the men that landed early, they're going to be there all day, quite a lot of it under fire. And it's
not until they're able to get up on top of the ridge and clear the German positions, and that takes a long time.
GORANI: And how many died on that day alone?
LAMBERT: Thousands.
GORANI: And today, we are lucky, in the sense that a few hundred of the veterans are still with us. But, of course, eventually it's just the
product of being alive. We all pass away, and they will too. How will it be different to remember this day when they're gone?
LAMBERT: I think we have to look back to 1918 and the celebration of 2018. The centenary of the end of the Great War is -- was without veterans. So we
had voices recorded before. We had -- we had the testimony of men who were there, but they weren't still with us. And that sense of human connection
is broken.
And it moves from being contemporary history to being a historical past. And we do think about these things differently. We're thinking now about --
much more about going forward. A lot of today has been about honoring veterans, but when we get to the 100th anniversary, we'll be thinking about
the future. We'll be thinking about what this means.
GORANI: And for it not to happen again.
LAMBERT: Well, I think that --
[14:35:00]
GORANI: And how we avoid it on this continent, this type of horrible war.
LAMBERT: That's -- yes, that's been the very big takeaway today. And we had the French president trying to use it to leverage the American president
into being more collegial. But of course, this grand alliance of 1944, these are not countries that love each other. The other ally on the other
side of Europe, the Soviet Union has plans to destroy everything in the west. And the British and French are arguing about the outcome of the war.
Not who's going to win, but exactly what the post-war world will look like.
And the French haven't made up their mind about what kind of country they're going to be at this stage. There are still people in France who are
reasonably contempt with what the Germans are doing. There are people who are very much on the other side. So everything is in play. Winning this
battle, getting this bridgehead and allowing the overwhelming power of the Anglo American, Canadian forces to get going in Normandy is really the
turning point of the war.
GORANI: Well, Andrew Lambert, thanks so much for joining us. Really appreciate you having you on the program today.
LAMBERT: My pleasure.
GORANI: Thanks. President trump is now back in Ireland for the second time in 24 hours. His Marine One helicopter touched down in Doonbeg, just a
short while ago. He'll stay at his golf resort there until Friday afternoon when he returns to the U.S. It has been a whirlwind, emotional trip for the
president.
From D-Day ceremonies in Normandy today, where he paid tribute to the power of alliances, to meetings with foreign leaders, including one with the
French president today, to a banquet with the queen earlier this week, on his first state visit to the U.K. Let's take a look back at trump's foreign
foray. First we go to our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, who is in Ireland. Nic?
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, Hala, it began with a sort of bombastic -- it began with the tweets as he was landing in
Britain about the mayor of London criticizing Saadiq Khan. It began by criticizing as well in a newspaper article. Theresa May, the prime
minister, by promoting it, appeared. Boris Johnson, her former foreign secretary, as a potential new prime minister. Criticizing Theresa May over
Brexit.
And then the president sort of shifted sideways as he got into the royal state part of the visit. And he appeared to be on his best behavior,
responding to the etiquette of the situations, before coming here to Ireland, and again, sort of seeming to put his foot in his mouth, in a way,
when speaking with the Irish prime minister, just after arriving, talking about a border wall between the Republic of Ireland and north of Ireland.
And, of course, there isn't one, and the Irish prime minister had to remind him of that. Then, of course, taking off for Normandy. He's back on what
is, in essence, his own beach here at Doonbeg, his golf resort. The links of his gulf resort built on the -- on the sand dunes, right along the
waters edge. It's beautiful. It's the -- it's the west coast of the Atlantic. But there's something that Donald Rtump does bring here, and
that's something we found talking to people here. It's jobs.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTSON: Eric and Don Jr. Trump dropping into their dad's local. A few minutes from his Doonbeg golf resort, lapping up the love.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How does it feel to be in Ireland?
DON TRUMP JR., SON OF U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It's great. Always great to be back here. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I
love seeing all the support coming in today. It's incredible.
ROBERTSON: It became a pub crawl. Tommy Comerford's bar, next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it was a big shock. We really didn't expect this.
ROBERTSON: Really?
COMERFORD: And suddenly, this entourage came in the door, and media, lights, flashlights.
ROBERTSON: The whole town, near enough, came out.
TRUMP JR.: It's everything, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it was a (inaudible) night.
ROBERTSON: Really? Like a big sporting --
RITA MCINERNEY: Yes, it did. It just reminded me of the team coming home, and visiting all the pubs with the comp (ph). And you know, that's what it
kind of reminded me of.
ROBERTSON: Rita McInerney runs a cafe in this tiny village, population 341 last census. Folks here put the flags out for Trump a few days ago, but
support for the American president began a ways back, when he bought the failing Doonbeg Gulf Resort in 2014, saving local jobs.
MCINERNEY: For me, like it's putting my nieces and nephews through college. They both work there. And this great spinoff for me and the cafe, and I own
a grocery store as well. So it's a great spin-off, and as well as the guests.
ROBERTSON: It's keeping your family going?
MCINERNEY: Yes, the 310 people that are -- that are working there as well, they spend in the local economy as well.
[14:40:00]
ROBERTSON: Up and down this main street, Trump is a success story. And as Tommy Comefort (ph) his family have owned this bar for four generations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump took it over before he was president; people said he'd forget about the village. No, he didn't. He actually
added and he has enhanced it.
ROBERTSON: Could you keep your pub going if there wasn't a Trump resort (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not a hope. Not a hope.
ROBERTSON: So of all the special relationships here in Europe, if you like that President Trump has been trying to court, Doonbeg really seems to be a
success for President Trump and the people here really do seem to be paying him in just the way President Trump likes, with loyalty. Hala.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
GORANI: Nic Robertson, thanks very much. Our White House reporter, Stephen Collinson is here in London with us. It's quite a treat, which we
usually speak to each other down the line. You write that President Trump met (ph) the moment when he addressed veterans in Normandy today. What did
you mean?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right Hala. It was a moving moment when he turned to those veterans after thanking them for
their service on behalf of Americans and the rest of the free world effectively. You know this is somebody who's been a divisive figure.
He's sometimes orchestrated (ph) these political settings. But it was almost like the simplicity of his words were really appropriate here. Now,
you know of course Donald Trump is somebody that's been told by European leaders for the last four days; Queen Elizabeth, Theresa May; that this
occasion D-Day is a sign of why we need to stick together, why we need to have alliances.
So this was, you know, not just bidding fair well to the greatest generation as they've called the United States. It was a turning point in
history as your last quest was saying.
I don't know though that if you looked very closely at Trump's speech he provided the -- although he was very sort of complimentary to the alliance
in the second world war, he didn't really provide the answers I think that European leaders would have wanted as they think about how do we take this
transatlantic alliance forward now the memories of the second world war are fading.
GORANI: But has he shifted is position and is now embracing multilateralism or is this something he's saying because it suits the
moment.
COLLINSON: He has a history of saying what people want -- what he thinks people want to hear in the moment and which gets him out of difficult
situations.
If you look at the balance of all the evidence, his explosions, for example in that summit in Canada against German Chancellor, Angela Merkel; his
rhetoric on the fact that national sovereignty should be the basis of international relations, not multinational institutions like the E.U. and
the -- and you know ...
GORANI: His -- his signature policy is America first. So yes.
COLLINSON: Right. Right. So you know one day does not change all of that. European leaders are hoping that what Donald Trump saw in his trip
to Europe, the powerful historical testimony today will perhaps change his view point. But you know somebody -- as somebody who watches the president
every day, I find that very difficult to believe.
GORANI: But also he wasn't entirely out of character the whole time. I mean he called Bette Midler a washed up psycho, he insulted top democrats,
insulted the mayor of London, he -- you know.
So I mean he -- he did stay true to himself on some level and usually these were tweets that he sent out at all hours. So you know we're going to have
to keep an eye on it whether or not he continues to embrace that rhetoric that he ...
COLLINSON: Well -- well given all of that behavior, the fact that British officials are relieved that nothing worse happened during this trip, the
White House is very, very happy. This -- I think you could possibly argue this was the most successful foreign trip that Donald Trump has conducted
as president.
Any other president -- if this was Barrack Obama or George W. Bush, was so hazy on some of the details like for example the NHS' position on the
future trade with the United States. The Irish question on the border. You know we would be talking about what a disastrous trip this has been.
The president doesn't seem to be (inaudible) with all the details but you know it's a sign of how expectations are lower for this president given his
past behavior and his attitude especially towards the allies.
But the fact that he was still welcomed by Queen Elizabeth, by Theresa May, by Emanuel Macron today is still a sign that, you know, not withstanding
Trump's unpopularity; America is still a powerful and vital force for these countries this side of the Atlantic.
GORANI: But in the past we've seen Macron try the red carpet treatment, we've seen other leaders do that and with -- especially for instance with
President Macron where he really, really made a huge effort. He invited him to the Eiffel Tower and the rest of it.
That lasted only a bit and then it -- it -- it -- you know the first crisis the U.S. president, you know, used fighting words again. So it's not a
lasting strategy.
COLLINSON: And there's a clear trend. Trump likes engagement with foreign leaders and he loves the flattery as long as there something in it
politically for him. But you're right, it doesn't linger because Trump gets home and he's worried about his domestic political situations.
[14:45:00]
The one foreign leader who has managed to extract meaningful concessions from a president, perhaps apart from Japans Prime Minister Abe, is Benjamin
Netanyahu.
GORANI: Yes.
COLLINSON: Moving the embassy towards Jerusalem. Recognizing Israeli sovereignty towards the Golan Heights. That gives Trump a clear political
advantage. It helps consolidate his evangelical republican supporters. That is what -- that is where you get things out of Donald Trump. If you
can give him something politically, it works.
GORANI: He didn't wait until he got home, by the way.
COLLINSON: Really?
GORANI: He gave FOX an interview and called Pelosi Nervous Nancy right at the cemetery there. So thanks very much Stephen Collinson for that. It's
great having you in London. Stick around.
COLLINSON: OK. Maybe I'll stay another week.
GORANI: OK. Let's -- that would be good. Still to come tonight, Australian police are on the spot for going after journalist but the police
response is we may not even be done yet. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
In Australia, police are denying accusations. They're waging a war on the media despite two raids that targeted reporters just days apart. On
Wednesday, police ceased documents from the offices of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Sydney and that came on the heels of a similar
raid targeting a print journalist.
Police say the searches were related to an alleged publication of classified material and they added more raids could come down the line.
The ABC executive editor said the raids are nothing less than a war on the press.
I'm joined by our chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter. And this is remarkable because they're saying to the police that this isn't coming from
the government that they are just pursuing this case because there could be some criminal wrong doing involved and they've also said they might go
after the journalist themselves.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this could continue. There could be more raids. This is incredibly unusual behavior. Incredibly
unusual situation to see unfold in Australia or in any democratic country where there are general protections for members of the media that are
reporting in the public interest.
We are seeing an erosion of those norms in Australia this week both in the case involving ABC and the raid you see on screen, as well as the raid of a
reporter who's home was -- was -- was entered by police.
There are two different stories here but both involve a leak investigations. In one case, the ABC case, this involves the Afghan files
reporting back in 2017 about allegations of unlawful killings by troops in Afghanistan. This information was leaked from somewhere by someone.
ABC then broadcast it and I would argue that's in the public interest to know what happened in the name of Australian citizens by military members.
Obviously though, this has been embarrassing for the government so they're trying to find out how the leak happened and that's where we are. It's a
very weird situation to see a news room raided like this in a country like Australia.
GORANI: And so they're not backing down. Are -- is there any recourse for the actual network to -- to fight against this?
[14:50:00]
STELTER: There is a two-week window now. Police have agreed to wait two weeks before looking at any of the materials they obtained in the raid.
This gives ABC a chance to go to court and try to stop this from progressing any further. That's the kind of thing that we all see happen in
the United States and other democracies, when journalists, when news outlets are targeted in this way. But these kind of cases are very rare,
and there are concerns from press freedom groups all around the world about what's happening in Australia this week.
The head of the network saying this is a war on the media. Obviously, Australian officials are disagreeing with that description. But this does
seem like an assault against the people's right to know. Ultimately, this is not about journalists. It's about the public, in this case, the
Australian public, knowing what the government is doing in their name. And, of course, the general attitude toward that would be the more openness, the
more transparency the better.
GORANI: All right, Brian Stelter, thanks very much.
STELTER: Thanks.
GORANI: Still to come, remembering the day the destiny of France, Western Europe, and the free world itself was at stake, a final look at the 75th
anniversary of D-day, next.
(BREAK)
GORANI: Well, reading about the extraordinary courage of the men who stormed Normandy's beaches, 75 years ago, is awe-inspiring enough. But
nothing can top hearing about it firsthand from those men themselves. There aren't many remaining survivors of the allied forces from D-day. And as
their numbers dwindle, it becomes more and more important to preserve their stories for future generations. CNN teams spoke with several veteran in the
Normandy today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD LLEWELLYN, BRITISH D-DAY VETERAN: We opened fire (ph) two hours before the landings, which was about quarter past 5:00 in the morning. And
we had to deal with the guns for a while. And then we, obviously, (inaudible), the noise at that time with all ships started bombarding
targets all the way along the Normandy Beach, and airplanes dropping.
I think there were 900 airplanes above the beaches, dropping bombs, and there were rocket ships close to the shore, firing rockets. So the noise
was just unbelievable. One of the things that I remember afterwards, more than anything else, was the noise.
FRANK DEVITA, AMERICAN D-DAY VETERAN: I had 32 men on the boat, three men got off the boat and made it to the beach, and they were cut down
immediately. Then the bullets started coming into the boat, and we lost about 14 or 15 men from the machine guns. It was a blood bath. We had about
90 percent casualty in the first week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
From the comfort of your living room or wherever you may be watching, it may be hard to imagine just what these men went through, when dawn broke
over Normandy and the battle began. CNN's Nick Glass wraps up our special coverage of the D-Day anniversary, with one final look at those hallowed
beaches and the sacrifices that will forever mark their shores.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
NICK GLASS, CNN JOURNALIST: Sunrise and the sea mist lifting, just about the time the allies landed after 6:30 in the morning. And the utter, utter
is serenity of it now, as we all need reminding, it was all so different on D-Day (ph). The 60 miles of Normandy coast was a killing ground, a terrible
killing ground --
[14:55:00]
GLASS: Day the 60 miles of Normandy coast was a killing ground, a terrible killing ground and the sea green water once a washed with blood. The old
footage, of course, is in black and white. Choppy seas, landing craft, infantry waiting ashore, and hauntingly and anonymously men falling on the
beach.
Could we ever really imagine what it was like? Not perhaps until Steven Spielberg made "Saving Private Ryan." This concrete skeleton is all that
remains of an artificial harbor. As we know, the Americans took their heaviest casualties here at Omaha Beach.
Many troops never reached the shore, killed by artillery and machine gun fastened (ph) in their landing craft; a lot of men simply drowned. On the
beach itself you can find particles of shrapnel, glass, and iron still mixed in with the sand.
75 years on, you just have to climb the bluff above Omaha to be reminded of the cost of the allied landing. Meticulously kept and intensely moving in
its symmetry in the fading evening light, the American cemetery. Thousands and thousands of white marble crosses and their lengthening shadows, over
9,000 of them.
You look at the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc and marvel at the bravery of the American Rangers. How did they manage to scale them with ropes and rickety
ladders under German machine gun fire and a reign of grenades from above.
The Rangers went on to neutralize the German artillery battery. 225 Rangers climbed up, only 90 or so were still standing by day's end. The
relics at Gold Beach are perhaps more visible than anywhere else along the Normandy coast.
The elaborate concrete harbors, one now a roosting spot for a colony of cormorants this is where right in the center of things the British famously
quickly secured the beach head. Total allied losses on day one were as many they estimate as 4,400 dead; 9,000 wounded or missing.
As the Great War poem goes, at the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
GORANI: Nick Glass with that -- with that story for us. Thanks for watching tonight. Stay with CNN, I'm Hala Gorani. Quest means business
(ph) is coming up next.
END
