anniversary of the d-day landings in normandy. we're going to go live to france with the very latest as ceremonies on the sacred day are set to kick off any moment now. plus, we're learning more about the gop's playbook following donald trump's historic felony conviction. what republicans now say they are vowing to do as payback. and also ahead the white house is hitting back at "the wall street journal" over its piece about president biden's mental fitness during high pressure meetings. we'll dig into the growing backlash straight ahead. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this thursday, june 6th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us, and today does indeed mark 80 years since allied forces stormed the beaches of normandy as they pushed to liberate france and then western europe from german forces during world war ii. the sun rose this morning at omaha beach shortly after 6:00 a.m. local time ahead of today's anniversary proceedings nearby. president joe biden is there where he's expected to deliver remarks and join other world leaders in recognizing this somber day. the 80 oogt anniversary of d-day falls at a time when multiple conflicts rage across the globe including europe's largest land war since world war ii. joining us now live from normandy is nbc's jay gray. jay, good to see you this morning. it is a sacred place where you are and have the good fortune of covering a presidential visit there some years ago. it will always stay with me. give us a preview, if you will, as to what we can expect this morning. >> reporter: jonathan, as you talked about dignitaries, world leaders here. but it's clearly those they've come to honor who are the most important guests on this day, the men who stormed the beaches, the fighter pilots, those onboard the ships just off the shoreline here, and those marked by these whitehead stones, the ones who never left. they line up in formation and most can't march or stand at attention anymore. still they move through this battlefield turned graveyard memorial, a visit that brings with it memories of their first trip here 80 years ago. >> i'm reliving on d-day. staff sergeant jake larson landed on the beach his unit peppered with machine gunfire as they scrambled to combat positions. larson somehow making it across the sand without taking a hit. >> how do you explain something like that? my buddies are buried here. i'm 101 years old. it won't be long and i'll be joining them. >> reporter: one of the reasons for many it's so important to be here, a chance to say one final good-bye and to honor those who never left. >> we lost so many men it's unbelievable, and your own people should know about this. and they really don't. i guess i had to say something. >> reporter: so they share their stories, take pictures, though most will tell you they don't care much for all of the attention. and even though they are, many refuse the label of hero. >> i'm not a hero at all. those guys have sacrificed their life are heroes. i'm a result of their being heroes. >> reporter: truth is they're all heroes remembered for their service, courage, and sacrifice. yeah, look, what an amazing honor and privilege it's been to spend some time with these men over the last week. and i was struck by what one of the d-day survivors told me, was pointing out at the white cross with tears in his eyes he said these guys were 17, 18, 19 years old. they never had a chance to have a family, but because of them i had a family. i lived this wonderful long life because of their sacrifice, a sacrifice clearly that's being honored here today, jonathan. as you talked about a very special place and this a very special time. >> really moving report there from nbc's jay gray live from normandy. jay, thank you so much. of course there is another war in europe that cast a shadow over the anniversary. during an appearance on right-wing network real america's voice republican senator tommy tuberville weighed in on russia's invasion of ukraine and said this. >> how many tv clips have you seen of a battle in ukraine? zero in the last six, seven, eight months. it's one-sided. putin just kind of sitting back watching what's going on and wondering, hey, when y'all come over we'll draw a line here. he doesn't want ukraine. he doesn't want europe. he's got enough land of his own. he just wants to make sure he does not have united states weapons in ukraine pointing at moscow. >> joining us now editor at the insider michael weiss. you've covered ukraine since its first moments and one of the dynamics that presented itself some on the right -- some republicans seem at times to parrot kremlin talking points of senator tuberville right there. >> even the kremlin doesn't say there's no footage of battlefield combat. i can send the senator kinetic activity on both sides. they were desperate for things like javelin, anti-tank missiles. we have seen a rapid uptick in security assistance brokered on two things, one russian atrocities. there's a story on cnn just this week about men in detention under russian occupation who have been raped or threatened with rape, mass sexual violence. this is the kind of thing russia is doing to civilian tuesday say nothing of those who are actually serving in ukraine, which is a large part of the country. the second is every time we've sent a bullet russia says it's going to be world war 3, we're going to reduce europe to radioactive, and it's been now a week since ukraine has been rather effectively using the multiple launch rocket systems against kharkiv, and the result is, well, we're here commemorating normandy and we're not talking about the onset of a third world war yet. he's wrong if he says putin has no designs on ukraine. this war was launched as a war of conquest. he wants to completely take over the entire country. those goals and strategic ambitions have not changed. >> while you were talking we showed footage of these russian battles in ukraine. give us an update where things stand in the conflict right now. a lot of it is focused on kharkiv of late. >> the offensive in kharkiv according to ukrainian forces have mostly sputtered out thankfully largely as a result of this restriction that has been lifted to allow ukraine to start firing into kharkiv -- i'm sorry, into bellgorad. they had to wait until these guys came across the line. kharkiv has been stabilized but not yet settled. the situation is trickier. i was talking to general ben hodges last night who says sources he's had for 20 years including in ukrainian special ops have told him that the real window of opportunity that the russians have, which is half a year of reduced or no security assistance because of the congressional supplemental that had stalled for that length of time, they really did not seize the opportunity to push forward and make dramatic breakthroughs. there were tactical successes, avdivka, et cetera, but they haven't demonstrated they would like to conquer more territory in the way they would like. i'm not trying to present a rosy situation here. you're talking the ukrainian situation is difficult if not grim, but then again the russians have not managed to capitalize on that state of affairs in a way i think vladimir putin would have liked. >> lastly and briefly we're going to hear from president biden and other world leaders talk about the fight for democracy. it's going to shadow this conflict. do you think european resolve is going to continue? >> european resolve actually for the first time in my life concerns me a lot less than american resolve. i've traveled through europe ostensibly in the last year. i was just in estonia. there's a good piece in the atlantic about this. the phrase existential crisis keeps coming up. for europeans they're worried because they are the frontier. they're the ones who will be attacked and conquered and occupied first. even in world war 2 pearl harbor was attacked but we didn't have continental soldiers positioned in the united states the way europe had been occupied. in the first time in my lifetime we're no longer inhabiting what i would call the post-war era. we're possibly now in an interwar era the way we were between world war i and world war ii. that's how the europeans are talking about things. you look at some of the dynamics in play in countries such as germany which went from quivering about sendal battle helmets to ukraine and now discussing openly about sending cruise missiles to ukraine what i see happening european union and nato allies on the continent are essentially preparing the next conflict. they may not be able to sustain themselves on american leadership but i think europeans are really for the first time in a long time worrying that a europe free is not something we'll take for granted. >> the re-election looms. terrific analysis as always michael weiss from "the insider." still ahead as mention we'll bring you full coverage from normandy where president biden is set to speak just a short time from now, plus updates from other stories including the updates from the trial as prosecutors called three now witnesses to the stand. plus senate republicans blocked the bill that would have guaranteed access to contraception nationwide. what that could mean for the fight over reproductive rights heading into the fall. those stories and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. sports and weather when we come right back a year after a heart attack, mike's feeling like himself again. but even though time has passed, his risk of a second attack hasn't. mike is still living in the red. with a very high risk of another heart attack or stroke. he doesn't know with his risk factors his ldl-c (bad cholesterol) is still too high - the recommended level is below 55. are you living in the red? get in the know. learn how to get a free ldl-c test at attackheartdisease.com. if you have chronic kidney disease you can reduce the risk of kidney failure with farxiga. because there are places you'd like to be. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, urinary tract, or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com. we'll have more from normandy throughout the morning, but now we turn to some of the morning's other headlines. day four of the hunter biden gun trial will resume this morning in a delaware courtroom a day after the prosecution called three new witnesses to the stand. hunter biden's ex-wife and an ex-girlfriend both testified about his substance abuse. the jury then heard from the man who sold hunter biden the gun at the center of this case. the defense tried to portray the gun seller as willing to cut corners to make a big sale. the prosecution could rest its case as early as today. the president's son faces three charges tied to the possession of a gun while using narcotics. he has pleaded not guilty. members of his family were again present for the proceedings yesterday including first lady dr. jill biden. as expected the senate yesterday in washington did not garner enough votes to pass a bill that would protect access to contraception. a procedural vote on the right to contraception act failed with only 51 senators voting in favor. it needed 60 votes to pass. maine senator susan collins was the only republican to join democrats in voting for the bill. republicans have argued that the legislation was unnecessary claiming access to contraceptives is not at risk and that democrats were only using the vote as a messaging tool for the upcoming election. senate democrats are using the weeks leading up to the second anniversary of the dobbs decision to hold several votes on reproductive health. majority leader chuck schumer has announced plans another procedural vote next week on a bill which would codify protections for ivf. he spoke on the senate floor yesterday as to why the vote was needed. >> there's the more devious claim that the right to contraceptive act is much to do about nothing, that it's unnecessary, that birth control could never possibly fall under risk. well, remember people said the same thing about roe, that it could never be overturned. and then tragically, unfortunately, it was because donald trump and the republican senate filled the supreme court with maga radicals who followed through with the hard right's goal of eliminating freedom of choice. and who knows how far the hard right will go. a few years ago it was roe. a few years num now it could be something else. justice thomas himself opened the door to undoing protections for birth control in his dissenting opinion in dobbs. we are kidding ourselves if we think the hard right is done with their attacks on reproductive rights. still ahead, we'll turn to sports and a preview finally of the nba finals. it tips off tonight. plus last night's showdown in major league baseball between shohei ohtani and the pirate's rookie pitching sensation. and the stunning slight for the women's times at the french open. those highlight and a check on the forecast when we come right back. n we come right back ♪ ♪ have you always had trouble losing weight and keeping it off? 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-who are you? i'm your inner child. get in. ♪ ♪ [ engine revving ] listen. horsepower keeps you going, but torque gets you going. ♪ ♪ [ engine revving ] oh now we're torquin'! the dodge hornet r/t. the totally torqued-out crossover. i thought i was sleeping ok... but i was waking up so tired. then i tried new zzzquil sleep nasal strips. their four—point lift design opens my nose for maximum air flow. so, i breathe better. and we both sleep better. and stay married. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. and now it's versus ohtani. it's an incredible show to watch him any time, but now the fans are into every pitch and especially a team like the dodgers and especially this guy at the plate. the reaction is incredible here. how do you like this show? >> that's fun. pirates star rookie paul skenes went right after shohei ohtani in the first inning of the game in pittsburgh fanning the los angeles dodgers superstar on three straight, 100 plus mile per hour pitches, but ohtani got his revenge, boom, sending another fast ball from skenes over the wall in center field. ohtani would add a single off skenes, but pittsburgh had the last life. pittsburgh beats the dodgers 10-6. oklahoma now is on the cusp of its fourth straight women's college world series title. the sooners teed off winning game one of the best of three championship series 8-3. oklahoma is now 6 and 0 against texas in ncaa tournament games. only one team in the past decade in 2021 has come back to win the championship after losing game one. >> now to paris and the quarterfinals at the french open. 17-year-old mira andreeva stunned to become the youngest grand sem finalist in three decades, playing in her only sixth major she'll face another surprising contender today, 12th ranked italian jasmine paulini who knocked out number 4 to reach the first grand slam. after what seemed like an interminable break the nba finals finally tip off tonight in boston with the top seeded celtics hosting the dallas mavericks in game one. to the celtics seeking an nba franchise record 18th title will of course be led by its stars jason tatum and jalen brown who are looking for redemption after falling just short of the trophy two seasons ago and porzingis should be back tonight for boston. luka doncic and kyrie irving should make good on their partnership after he was traded to dallas from the brooklyn nets. time now for the weather, and let's bring in meteorologist angie lassman for the forecast. >> i have a feeling we all know where you're going to be at 8:30. >> i can't stay up for it. i'll watch like the first quarter and i have to go to bed. game one i've got to sleep. >> if you see jonathan a little sleepy tomorrow you know why. 27 million people under heat alerts. it's been oppressive out west and it's going to stay that way across much of the southwest here not just today but through tomorrow, too. we likely will see some records being broken. las vegas one of those spots we could potentially see a record. 111 what we're expecting. the current record set at 110. even more impressive for phoenix 113 would be that record high that would blow away the record for the state. grand junction headed for triple digits, and we kind of see a bit of relief here into early next week. still into the triple digits for a lot of spots. meanwhile east coast the rain working through this system. this is going to be a couple days with spotty showers. not expecting a whole lot in the way of severe weather, jonathan, but be impactful for the morning commute. angie lassman, thank you as always. next up here we'll dig into new reporting how some republicans are pushing for pay back following former president trump's conviction in new york last week. we'll take a look how things are starting to play out in capitol hill when we come right back. o hill when we come right back "all eyes on me" performed by gi-yan ♪ all eyes on me brand new drip is what they see ♪ ♪ these diamonds, diamonds on my teeth ♪ ♪ brand new whip is what they see, yeah ♪ ♪ in my bag like a bunch of groceries ♪ ♪ all this cheese and greens just come to me ♪ ♪ look at me on the go