never ever been more stark than it is today. that's because of thousands of miles away from our shores, president biden today marking the 80th anniversary of the d-day invasion that pivotal turning point in the fight against the nazis in world war ii. he did so with more than two dozen heads of state and government leaders. president biden making the case that we must honor the legacy of those who laid down their lives in the fight against fascism by today supporting ukraine in its war against an aud democrat. he argued for everyone to resist the tide of authoritarianism. watch. >> we're living in a time when democracy is more at risk across the world than any point since the end of warld were ii since the beaches were stormed in 1944. now we have to ask ourselves. will we stand against tyranny, against evil, against crushing brutality of the iron fist? will we stand for freedom? will we defend democracy? will we stand together? my answer is yes. >> the specter looming over president biden's remarks, of course, his own need to defend democracy here at home. against an ex-president who has shown he can't begin to comprehend any cause bigger than his own. the guy who prefers the company of autocrats like vladimir putin over the leaders of our allies, the guy that could not be bothered to leave the hotel to pay his respects to the americans who died fighting for this country during world war i because he didn't want to get his hair wet. the guy who called americans who lost their lives serving their country, quote, losers and suckers. in contrast to donald trump, who refused to embrace nato in his speech five years ago, president biden offered a a full-throated defense of that alliance, which has been the lynch pin of our national security for decades now. >> america's unique ability to bring countries together is an undenial source of our strength and our power. isolationism was not the answer eight years ago. and it's not the answer today. we know the dark forces that they fought against. they never fade. aggression and greed, the desire to dominate and control, to change borders by force, these are perennial. the struggle between a dictatorship and freedom is unending. >> president biden taking part in what has become a national tradition when leaders or presidents taking the opportunity of an the anniversary of d-day to be there to show respect, to reaffirm our basic democratic values and principles. but this year with the stakes of the 2024 election not just about policy, but about whether we remain a democracy with all that in question, today's also a moment to reflect and call out what the choice will be and what we as a country deserve. according to a new message from liz cheney, in a video she posed this morning, she draws a contrast between former presidents and the ex-president who threatens to send the country sleep walking into dictatorship if reelected. waft that. >> today we give thanks for all that was gained on the beaches of normandy. we remember what was lost with respect, admiration, and love. this freedom and these hopes are what the heroes of d-day fought and died for. >> america deserves a president as good and steadfast as our nation. a president of character. driven by a noble purpose, one who honors the sacrifices of our troop. not a man consumed by spite, revenge and self-pity. >> a country to cross roads in its own tug of war between democracy and autocracy. president of history, ruth is here. plus former white house communications director scaramucci join us. and the co-founder of american veterans for ukraine, paul rite cough is here. i want to ask that we put the picture up of president biden because humans behind him, future generations, we don't always get to see that. i imagine american presidents will go and honor d had of day and be at the cemetery, but they won't get to give the speech in front of those folks, some whom fought. >> they are almost all gone. 80 years ago today, 19-year-olds, some 17 and 16-year-olds stormed the beaches of normandy, thousands died. they saved the world. they stood up for freedom and against tyranny and reflecting on that now is so important. especially for the younger generation that sometimes forgets. i think about my grandfather who served three years in the south pacific. they stood up to fight tyranny. it's important to remember they didn't do it alone. there were thousands of canadians with them, the french were there, ands it was an alliance. and we have an alliance again today. that was an important part of the possessage of d-day. we are aligned against tyranny. we had our greatst generation. ukraine now has theirs. they are defending democracy. and we have to stand with them now because every generation has a test. that was their great fight. this one maybe ours. >> the interesting thing about tieing it to ukraine is that ukraine, i led with that idea of a tug of war. ukraine encapsulates the tug of war. the vast majority of americans stand with ukraine in their fight, but not a large swath of trump's base. >> and they are out of touch. there's a line here. to quote your old boss, you're either with us or against us. and if my grandfather and all those world war ii vets already gone heard that we were thinking about appeasing the russians, that we were quibbling about fighting against the russians to defend europe, they would find it unbelievable. so it's a call of our patriotism. it's a call for unity. for america to show how we can bring people together and set is an example. and right now, we have to refer to our last example to the greatest generation from before. >> anthony, you are part of an effort now to tell the truth about the trump -- you have been doing it since you left, but the trump white house, i used to make it relative, grab them in the you know what was the worst thing he did. stop doing that. but i really did think that a circuit breaker for his support among republicans would be when he was reported first in the atlantic and then corroborated multiple other books and by other journalists to truly believe and to have said that men and women who die serving our country are suckers and losers. to have queried john kelly about anyone who died. to have such puzzlement at that. and then to tell mark milley he didn't want to see anyone wounded serving the country, that nobody wants to see them up here. i think that was the quote. i really thought that that disdain and animosity toward the men and women of the military would do two things. one, turn off veterans from supporting him ask liking him. they didn't do that. they showed up in some disproportionate numbers, and turn republicans away from him and it didn't do that. why not? >> there's a lot of reasons why not. it has to do with the way they perceive him. they perceive him as a grievance, avatar for their anger, so those issues about the military or other issues that you and i in a bush campaign, that would have been game over in 2004 as an example, but today there's a very large group of people unfortunately that have these per seethed issues about the country and they see him as an avatar of their anger. so when donald trump said i could shoot people on fifth avenue, i can say nasty things about our veterans, and he said it directly to general kelly who are has confirmed that. and obviously, they lost their son robert in afghanistan, so you have to think of the horror of that gold star family member has to hear that from donald trump. but the answer the answer is all secondary to whatever their anger is about the country right now. we have to fix that, by the way. we can't hate those people. we have to bring those people back into the social contract with us. >> but how do you fix them? i don't recommend we hate those people, but how do you help people that must hate themselves? to want sunshine to serve as commander-in-chief who think they are suckers and lose terse they get injured or die serving the country. >> it's a terrible thing. i think that the president, president biden has actually done a great job for these people. president trump may identify their grievances and may push buttons of their anger, but if you think of the reshoring, the manufacturing, the infrastructure deal, you think of the microprocesser foundsers that are going into the united states, he has such a case to make for these people coming back to the democratic party. their grandparents may have voted for franklin roosevelt, london johnson, and he's got to make that case. he has to press that case alongside the values of the democracy. i think he will win because of that. but you're not going to get some of those people back. you and i both know that. we can scratch our heads about it. we say it's ridiculous. that they would take that from donald trump, who is now a convicted felon. but they are there. i have met with those people. no matter what you say to them, they will cut you off. wants to demolish the democracy. they cut you off. >> when you have a moment so steeped in what people think makes us a great friend and partner, our role on d-day, my son was 7 or 8 when he became obsessed and fixated. he started building recreations of it during the pandemic. and would spend hours before he knows everything that there was to know and measure what was age appropriate to know. saving private ryan is sort of imprinted in the minds of anyone who was sort of growing up and that was the first visual they had of this story they heard. it's so central to the character of the nation. i wonder what role sort of being reminded of our history and the things that make us feel like a great ally and friend plays in fighting back this wave of authority tasmism that has engulfed the really party and threatens the country. >> there's lessons in the selfless heroism of those young men, many have never been out of the country. and they came and fought and many were sacrificed. and this campaign led to the liberation of france, but there's another lesson. what happens when you have is a dysfunctional aud democrat who has full power who thinks he has all the answers about military strategy is in fact this dealt a pretty bad blow to german air defense and also naval strategy through the destruction of the courts. and there was such discontent with hitler, who continued to meddle and think he was the genius that just a month later toward the end of july, this was when german military officials had an assassination plot against hitler that it didn't work, but it came close to working. so there are lessons about investing and having systems where you have destructive individuals with total power who cost lives, but not their own people as well as many, many millions of others. >> you want to show you how the biden campaign sought to take some of the things we're talking about and put it in a political message. >> it's somebody who gives a [ bleep ]. i served in the marine corp. >> i served in the 1990s into 2014. >> i was a navy pilot for ought years. >>s this is the first time i'm shaking the hand of a president of the united states. it was impactful the to me to see an individual that supports troops when we return hole. >> i see a man in joe biden who accepts accountability and responsibility and when i see his predecessor donald trump, i see a man who is only in this for himself. >> who criticizes veterans, who doesn't see it important to go to the funeral. >> donald trump has zero accountability in his life. >> he's a draft dodger. simple as that. >> i think the election is the difference between authority tasmism and democracy. and i came to see if a president that cares about maintaining democracy. >> donald trump is not fit to be commander-in-chief. he's not fit to lead a squad. he's definitely not fit to be president of the united states. >> we have two candidates running again for president who are veterans themselves. i think that's important because veterans issues will be a focus. they will be a weapon, they will be a chew toy. and this is a very important political battlefield. the fight for veteran voices not only as advocates on behalf of the campaigns, but independent voters. 50% of my generation are independent. these are the folks up for grabs in places like michigan and arizona. those are the folks that can be moved by patriotism. and by the threat that dth presents as commander-in-chief, his characters, those issues will resinate with a certain number of voters. you'll never get to trump's base. don't waste your time. but there's the battle for the middle. and that battle cannot only be focused on veterans but used by veterans to move the middle. and i think those are the folks that are movable. it's a smart political play. it's smart for biden to hit first on it. hillary didn't do that. trump had the upper hand because he kept pressing it over and over again. it's a smart move for biden to do that now. >> the power of the the ad is these men and women, these veterans speaking in their own words, but in terms of available material, this is the atlantic reporting. when trump cancelled a visit to the american cemetery in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision saying the helicopteren couldn't fly and secret service wouldn't drive him there. neither claim was true. he rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would be dishevelled in the rain. according to four people of firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. in a conversation with staff members on the morning of the visit, trump said, quote, why should i go to that cemetery. it's filled with losers, end quote. in a separate conversation, trump referred to the 1800 marines who lost their lives as suckers for getting killed. this is who he is. it's reporting that's been corroborated by further journalists and authors of books. i take both of your point and paul's about the trump base, but i think veterans issues are something that when i was working on campaigns animate a larger swath of the country. most americans see themselves as people advocates and protecters of the men and women in the military. nz it certainly was a powerful thing to before. it made voters to protect our freedoms at home. i don't know that's ever been more tangibly important and relevant. what do you see is the way to make sure people understand trump in his own words on veterans. >> i was debating whether to bring this up to you, but who i'm named after was on that beach 80 years ago. he was part of the army corp. of engineers. he assaulted omaha beach and built the pontoons and platforms to get the heavy equipment on to the beach. he was wounded. he survived the wound. went on to fight in the bat of the bulge. he's a decorated hero. i think he would turn in his grave hearing donald trump talk about these people. and i'll say something to you that i would like the biden campaign to really think about. men like my uncl survived normandy, came back to america and you know what they said? they said i'm so blessed to live an ordinary life in america in a free country. and we've got to get the biden campaign to get out there and find people, my uncle is now deceased, he tied in 2005 on memorial day, but we have to get people like him and like those people in that ad to get out there and explain to people what the danger is and donald trump is tipping you off. with all of this disrespect for you and the cause of freedom. they have to do that. and they have to do more of those ads. >> i think i can't believe you were debating, i'm so happy you shared that with me and your uncle would -- i think about a the flag. like how far we have come. the flag used to be such a sacred thing. when mine gets wind whipped, we run to the store. so much has been desecrated in the name of the tribalism and nativism that serve ises up donald trump's ego. and i wonder, andive i'll fwif you the last word before we take a break, what is the most effective way to keep everyone animated, make sure voters know they have all the agency, voters hold all the cards. this is a depressing thing to be reminded about when we talk about donald trump. they are suckers for getting killed. but the good part of that story is nobody has voted yesterday p. it's how my college girlfriends used to date. but the idea that we can just take this one metric, who would be an honorable commander-in-chief seems so clear. >> yeah, and you only have to look at the history of how autocrats treat their militaries and trump has been -- the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general milley, who has not given to hyperbole, he said he knows he's on a list. he thinks he will be imprisoned if trump comes back. and when you have autocrats who don't have to answer to any parolmentment, they don't have to absentee to anyone and don't care about their people, the tragedy of the strong men is that he despises his people. he thinks everybody is a dupe, so he treats his military like he doesn't care what happens to them. the same holds with putin today. so there's a profound lack of respect that these people show to the people. and the reason the gop is working so hard to take our vote away is because they fear us, just as trump fears people, so does the party that's made itself his personal tool. that shows us that we have power. we have agency. and they are afraid of our power. >> when we come back, another moment we have to show you from today's events. president zelenskyy meeting with a veteran. who was said with a standing ovation gathered in normandy today. plus poking holes in the story of justice alito and his wife who is fond of flags. and did he in turn lie to congress about it all? and later in the broadcast, more fallout from speaker johnson's new addition to the intelligence committee. there's brand new reporting on how the speaker of the house blind sided members of the committee in exchange for putting trump's in new positions of power. all those stories and more when "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere today. continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere today. introducing, ned's plaque psoriasis. he thinks his flaky red patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. otezla can help you get clearer skin. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. serious allergic reactions can happen. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla. t-mobile "savings", take one. focus. here's the line... 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[ applause ] >> you have seen it four times. i have never not cried. i thought this would be the non-crying time, but it wasn't. it's an extraordinary moment there. president zelenskyy embracing a veteran. if you couldn't hear all that, it ends with the veteran saying i'm praying for you. president zelenskyy thanks the veteran and the veteran turns around and thanks him. the veteran fought against tyranny during world war ii. and then zelenskyy turns and thanks him for keeping europe safe, for savi