anniversary of d-day and right now president biden is in normandy, france with veterans and world leaders to commemorate the turning point in the war. you are watching "fox and friends first," i'm carley shimkus. >> todd: i'm todd piro. today the world will pause to honor u.s. and allied forces who stormed the beaches of normandy in 1944, leading to defeat of nazi forces and liberation of western europe. lucas tomlinson will walk us through today's ceremony. >> lucas: president biden and first lady just arrived on the beaches of normandy, 80 years ago, troops landed to begin to defeat berlin and nazi germany. here is president biden, he will be meeting some of the last surviving members and biden says, today we remember all the americans who laid down their lives on d-day to end tyranny and ensure flame of liberty would burn bright around the world. 73,000 of those who landed in france were young american soldiers, they faced 50,000 germans. the battle began with paratroopers jumping out of a thousand planes before landing and each man carried up to 80 pounds of weapons and ammunition, 6000 vessels, the larmgest assault from sea in history. the germans were convinced this was not the main effort and nazis withheld sending critical reinforcement. british historian andrew roberts says the commanded commander dwight eisenhower was smoking 80 cigarettes per day. if it would have failed it would have postponed western europe by a year, guys. >> carley: that is amazing, so many brave allied service members posed as nazi sympathizers and convinced hitler d-day would be four hours north near belgium and it was going to be in normandy, france. this is 80th one, last major com com commence commencement, it is a final thank you and farewell, as well. lucas tomlinson amen. >> todd: what i find fascinating is that the decoy you mentioned, they use michael jordan of generals, general patton as decoy, up in the north to distract germ knowas and make them think that would be the l landing spot. this amazing assault on the germans. the germans were there in pill boxes and able to shoot down upon 18-year-old boys storm ing the beaches with pounds and pounds of equipment on their back, so many cut down once the boats opened up. it is tough to think about that bravery happening in today's day and age. we know our brave men and women put their lives on the line. so many were draft coming out of a random farmhouse in nebraska to go to a foreign land. in many instances, their first combat and to have that happen and still win is remarkable and testament to this generation. >> lucas: the decision by eisenhower to go forward with this invasion, if it had failed would have setback the war. incredible decision to go forward with the invasion. just the size, over 150 allied troops, 73,000 american soldiers, had never been attempted before by the u.s. military. it was critical to establish this second front. there was pressure on churchill downs church /* -- the shortest distance between england and fr france, we are grateful for the sacrifice of the soldiers. >> carley: a lot of reflection on the bravery of the men who faced almost certain death and went willing to fight for freedom today in france. let's bring in grace curly. grace, those soldiers landed on normandy certain they would die, hoping they would not and bravely fought for freedom. how are you reflecting on this today? >> oh, carley, what you said about it being 80th anniversary and a final goodbye, it is true. i encourage people to listen to fdr's pray er and his appeal to american people to pray not just on d-day, telling them magnitude of this and sacrifice those men were making temperature is moving and inspiring. it really gives you pause. you have to reflect and think about where we're at as a country and as a world and appreciate sacrifice those men made. the bravery is astounding. >> todd: other news, former president trump has narrowed down his vp search. take a look at the list, burgum, rubio, vance, stefanik, those are ones we know about. grace, does anyone bring donovan schultz a vote he wouldn't otherwise have on this list? >> really good question, i know that byron donalds has been vocal and he was in philadelphia reaching out to the black community. the longer it goes on, it feels like donald trump is having fun making these people wait with baited breath. >> carley: name that is not on the list is nikki haley, although donald trump did say she would be on the team in some capacity, not sure if the campaign team or a part of the potential administration if he wins in november. we'll wait and see on that front. several new polls just came out. quinnipiac poll latest georgia polling has trump at 49%, biden 44%. 5 plus to trump there. there is another poll that shows unbelievably staggering drop in black, latino and asian support for joe biden. the biden campaign has continued to dismiss polls saying it is too far out. when people focus on the election, a lot of people will come back to the biden camp. what do you think about that? >> that is a risky gamble. i was thinking about this yesterday. there are reports about where trump is going, going to california, sending surrogates to philadelphia to talk to black voters and i think that what donald trump knows from 2016 and watc watching hillary clinton campaign. you can't rely on polls. it is great to see for republicans that maybe they are wide widening, you can't give up on the ground game and assume people are going to vote for you. you have to make your case and best pitch why you are a better fit for this country and why you will deliver results. that is what trump is trying to do and it is a smart move. >> todd: ground game, get out there. thank you. what name did i tell you before we went to the show today? >> carley: you are in agreement byron donald would be interesting choice. >> todd: thieves try to ransack a store in nashville, shoppers were having none of it. >> robbers are stuck inside the store. >> todd: who people there going to tell the story. >> carley: they locked the thieves inside the store. we'll monitor president biden's trip to france and jonathan gilliam will tell us what the mess age should be. that is next. missing out on the things you love because of asthma? 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(♪) her uncle's unhappy. i'm sensing an underlying issue. it's t-mobile. it started when we tried to get him under a new plan. but they they unexpectedly unraveled their “price lock” guarantee. which has made him, a bit... unruly. you called yourself the “un-carrier”. you sing about “price lock” on those commercials. “the price lock, the price lock...” so, if you could change the price, change the name! it's not a lock, i know a lock. so how can we undo the damage? we could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. their connection is unreal. and we could all un-experience this whole session. okay, that's uncalled for. >> todd: back with a fox weather alert. two-year-old boy dead and his mother in critical condition after ripping through their detroit suburb. that tree crushed their home. unreal. >> carley: people near d.c. are hurt and in maryland, six people trapped in their home from fallen trees. five were taken to the hospital. we're monitoring extreme heat across the west. senior meteorologist jace /* janice dean has the forecast. >> janice: temperature above average and this trough over the east and area of low pressure across the great lakes bringing potential for stronger storms today. that is setup over next couple days. heat alefrt in toward south wests and texas. hit potential record highs in phoenix, los angeles las vegas, tucson, reno, nevada. we are worried about people who have respiratory issues, young and elderly. forecast highs today, 110 in las vegas and 110 in fephoenix. it will continue on friday, not lessening until we get toward the end of the weekend and early next week. heat alert for texas. starting to calm doup for south texas and the big bend of texas. look at temperatures today, above 100. you have humidity, moisture from gulf makes it feel warmer than that. quick look at radar, showers and thunderstorms for eastern third of the country, including new york. that is persistent through the next couple days. >> carley: we are waiting president biden's arrival at normandy. this ceremony marks 80th anniversary of d-day. president biden will join french president emmanuel macron for a wreath laying. president biden will deliver remarks. bring in former fbi special agent jonathan gilliam. jonathan, as someone who served in uniform, what goes through your mind when you reflect on d-day and what the brave men did that day? >> jonathan: when we look at the point where joe biden will be speaking at, those were rangers that assaulted that 100-foot cliff and i graduated from ranger school and many of the lessons i learned in ranger school came from those individuals from that legacy, same thing with the seal teams and those men in vietnam and all through the different battles and wars they fought in. these legacies that we follow and the lessons that we learn are paid for in blood and paid for in sacrifice by people who had a calling and answered that calling to serve others and to ensure freedom, not only for the united states issue but for allies around the world. when i think about what they did, what this nation was made of, men and women who worked in factories, their sole life was to make a tank or airplane or widget that troops could use and troops at young ages going out and fighting true facist and tyranny. it fills me with inspiration. to know that legacy is in me. but same time, it's a very disheartening thing because of what the united states and allies have become. so politicized and divicive, dod that is scared of starting anything against an enemy they could easily conquer. we've become a weak, divided nation and many allies have become weak and divided and many politicians you will see there today are just using this for politics and that is a very sad issue when you look at the men that are there, that are left, and what they did to save freedom. that part is disheartening. >> carley: these service members, young men, 19, 20, 21 years old, whole lives ahead of them, answered the call to near certain death and did it wi willingly. so much went wrong on d-day, especially with the paira troopers. they were asked to wear heavy gear around their legs and some drown when they dropped into the water and others missed their landing spot. this mission we are honoring and celebrating the victory of today was almost a failure. could you imagine trajectory of history if it was? >> jonathan: interesting thing about history, history sometimes is actually a clear reflection of the men who sacrificed and actu actually went in there and through failure and through their sheer determination to push forward, they set the standard for the rest of history. again, going back to my experience in the seal teams, the udt were born from these experiences and born from failures and out of that, these incredible warriors were born from these individuals being drown and all these different incidents that happened. that was the thing about the united states military. when something went wrong, they learn from it and got better. you were talking about the mock invasion or the diversion. imagine how hard it would have been to lead that as a general knowing that you weren't the actual invading force that you were drawing them away from the men that would actually go in and in normandy, these are hard choices to make. in the end, these tactics achieve a strategic goal and in the case of world war ii, we defeat enemies and eliminate enemies and that is where we need to get back to, to that legacy with our department of defense. >> todd: awaiting president biden's arrival on the screen, i believe that is the actor tom hanks, who made that seminole picture in "saving private ryan" and scenes were so real, veterans had trouble watching it. it was reminder of the hell they went through. i want to focus on something you touched upon and again, want to focus on the bravery of the men that day, 80 years ago. if d-day happened today, would the outcome be the same or is the 18 year old in 1944 too far removed from the 18 year old today? >> jonathan: reliance on technology is too great. i think a lot of training that occurs now is dependent on technology and training they had back then, mission they carried out were based on grit and determination and great strategic and tactical planning and also department of war at that time, not department of defense, which is progressive movement. department of war was dead set on victory and eliminating an enemy and that is the difference now. not saying the united states military is not great and vast, it is all voluntary, but reality is what made up those individuals and what led them to success was not a clear reliance on technology. technology played its part, but the individuals themselves had a vision, they had dedication and they carried that out. politics out of the way, dei, all that stuff, did not exist then. and the goal was to make a military fighting force as vicious and determined as they possibly could and this is the result you get from that. i don't know if that exists now. >> todd: i'm not questioning the bravery of brave men and women who sign up for our country today, they are heroes, i'm comparing how we are with society. >> carley: jonathan, there is war in europe right now, war in the middle east and how do you feel about president biden's choices he's made during his time in office as commander in chief and where do you think that will leave us for joe biden or donald trump? >> jonathan: as incredible men get wheeled up on stage, they did not play the part of warriors. joe biden plays the part of commander in chief, he neither commands near is he chief in charge of anything because they don't finish anything. what happened in afghanistan was polar opposite of what you see here. that is not fault of troops. you are right, men and women that volunteer to do things, as long as they keep politics out of it, i stand behind those individuals. what we saw in afghanistan was leadership failure. that is key to this, from top down and bottom up, these individuals you see on the screen now were in it to win it. what we have now is politics and we have leadership decisions made by a commander-in-chief, made by political generals and admirals and spokes persons that used to be admirals. you are listening to things that are political in nature and so contrived it is almost embarrassing when you hear them say it. these are facts, not just saying stuff based on my opinion. when you listen, you can tell spirit and understanding of who individual were, it is just not there. there is no reason to make up a script when standing in front of these individuals. that man you see coming across the stage, be speaking to him and about him and rest of the individuals up there, that is what is needed. >> carley: the veterans you see in wheelchairs now, yesterday they lined up to lay roses on utah beach and they were interviewed and one said, i did my best on d-day like other people did, i'm sorry, i am not famous, i don't want to be. another said, we can never repeat it, all those kids who lost their lives here, i'll bet average age here is 21 years old during the d-day invasion. you know my friends, they were 18, i was 18. another who is a canadian pilot said for a 19-year-old, which i was then, it is important, i wasn't afraid. this is something we had planned for many years and to be involved in it in a meaningful way. they embraced this challenge. this one soldier said he wasn't afraid. >> todd: one thing that stands out, when you talk to these men, they remember those that died that day. they remember the fellow 18 and 19 year olds. they remember their names. they have become close with their families. after all these years, to still have that memory and pain in your heart really does say something. carley hit it off the top today, this is last time these individuals are going to be here. they are all 98 years old or older, unless they lied at 16 years old, and some of them did. i am 16, i have mental fortitude that says i want to die for my country. unreal. this will not happen again. everybody watching neateds to watch this and have this moment in their head and realize that what these guys did is something that we can never quantify. >> carley: jonathan, as we look at these world war ii heroes on the screen getting wheeled in to be honored, they will remember their friends who died on this day 80 years ago, you reflect on the state of our military today and recruitment is down and has been for many years. number of reasons floated as to w why. why do you think that is and where does this leave us? >> jonathan: it has been politicized and this has to stop, i think many conservative families in this country tell their children not to serve because of who the leader is in this country or they don't agree with politics of the left. i agree, i don't like the left, i think they are marxist, reality is leftism has gotten into military because conservatives have pulled their children out of military or that dream or calling. conservatives need to be telling their children that service is a part of who they are, this nation was built on people who served. >> carley: it was and i want to take a pause momentarily to tell everybody i'm sure they see on the screen, president biden and gifrt lady have arrived and will be greeting veterans at this welcome procession for u.s. ceremony on d-day in normandy. >> todd: please continue your answer to carley's question. >> jonathan: i believe that is something that needs to occur. if somebody is liberal and feel like they are called to service to serve for the right, reason, i'm behind them as long as they leave politics out of it. conservatives need to realize their service means everything to this country and one day their children may be a general or commander-in-chief and it is their turn to set things right and back to way it should be, military built on individuals qualified for the job because they show they have the grit and determination to make it through training because they are the best of the best and that is something we need to get back to. none of these individuals, showed up because of politics, they showed up because of service, a calling and because other individuals in this world were not free and they were called to serve their freedom, as well. todd, let me say one thing, i grew up extremely poor. one point, my family, i have three sisters and a single mom, we had outhouse and pump water. but my mom had the opportunity to take us out of that because we live in this country and this country was built by men like this. and george washington and the founding fathers were the same way, had the same outlook and dedication to defeating tyranny and to serving freedom. that is why i was able to do the things i did in my life because i had a mom who cared and because individuals like this that gave us the opportunity to be free. >> todd: and that is america. jonathan gilliam, thank you for your story and thank you for sharing that personal account and for honoring these men we see on our screen and all the men who stormed the beaches of nor