Also today, marks the 50th anniversary of robert f. Kennedys assassination. He was celebrating a win in the California Democratic primary, at the Ambassador Hotel in los angeles, only to be gunned down moments later. Welcome to this special edition of morning joe, its wednesday, june 6th. With us we have veteran columnist and msnbc contributor mike barnicle. Your piece in the daily beast is amazing, well be reading from it. Nbc News National political reporter, Heidi Przybilla is with us. And author and nbc news president ial historian Michael Beschloss joins us, the author of the forthcoming book president s of war. Out this october. Also with us, columnist and associate editor for the Washington PostDavid Ignatius. Good to have you all on board on this special morning. Joe . So much to talk about today. These two days always obviously collide together on our calendars. This year, a bit more focus on what happened ondown the 6, 1968. But lets start with what happened, on this day in 1944. It is true and it is beyond dispute that america has fed and america has freed more people than any other country in the history of mankind. But so much of that legacy came from what these young boys, these young men, the young women did on june the 6th, 1944, when they scaled the walls of normandy. And liberated, Michael Beschloss, not only europe from hitler. Not only jews from death camps, but also after that, america ratelibeso many millions and millions o refugees across europerom hunger and homelessness. And michael, this was actually the first step for the United States of america, working with its allies, to set up a postwar order that actually led to the freest and also the most peaceful period in, well, ive got to say it again, the history of this world. Absolutely. You are so right. You know this was one of the most important days of the 20th century. Triumph of good over evil. And the other thing was, we were lucky to have fdr as our president in so many ways. But one way was that roosevelt had been through the experience of Woodrow Wilson and world war i, he was assistant secretary of the navy. He saw how wilson had tried to establish american entry into the league of nations and it never happened. So when roosevelt was waging this war, even the very day he was commanderinchief on dday, he was thinking to himself, you know how can i build a, in this case, United Nations so weve got a rule of law in which america helps the world to be a better place after world war ii is won. Michael, you wonder how, you do wonder looking back and reading the old life magazines, the time magazines, old clips from newspapers after dday, you do wonder how fdr, how eisenhower, how they all would have managed this war differently if they were subject to the 24 7 news glare that were subject to today. There was, we always celebrate how wonderful the bravery of our troops on june 6th. But there was a lot of complaining, a lot of grousing in the months that followed, that we werent moving quickly enough across europe. And i just wonder with 24 7 news banners across the bottom of the screen, and fdr having to respond how things would have changed. It really is a lesson to us all. Head down, stay the course, and continue the fight. And roosevelt never had to tweet, thank god for him and thank god for us. He did much better you know, in the fireside chats and the ways he did speak to the public. And i have to also mention, joe, and you know this extremely well, that before dday happened, dwight eisenhower, by hand wrote out this note of what he would say, if the invasion failed. And as you know, they were very worried about the weather. Eisenhower had to figure out, do we go on june 6th or do woe wait two weeks . We now know that had he waited two weeks, there would have been one of the biggest storms over the English Channel. They would have seen for a long time. And the invasion probably would have failed. But before the invasion took place, he writes out this note saying that the invasion has failed, this is what he would have issued if itfail. The invasion has failed and i take the responsibility. Very different from what we so often see today. David ignatius, joseph nye has written a book about the American Century. Wrote it a few years ago. And theres so many debates, even about when the American Century began. Did it begin in the late 1800s . Did it begin in 1917 when we joined forces world war i . Or did it really begin in earnest on this day, when the United States liberated europe and set forth a new world order . But this new world order was one that not only benefitted our allies, not only freed western europe from hunger and the scourge of communism. But also helped the United States of america immeasurably and again i believe is really what started the American Century. I think youre right, joe, i think the American Century emotionally began on this day, june 6, when the ramps of those Landing Craft went down and we saw the soldiers saw as they moved out toward omaha beach, this nightmare of fire. And walked into it. There were 85 machine gun nests on omaha beach i was reading yesterday. Ready to gun down these soldiers as they came out of the craft. I think that image of american and allied bravery coming to the rescue of europe stayed in europes mind through the 40s and 50s and even into our time. That legacy is so precious. This idea of america, the generous, brave nation that comes to other peoples rescue, even when its not necessarily in americas interests, thats sadly whats being tarnished today. But the, you know we all grew up with those images of those brave soldiers and you want to hold on to them today, on the day of the anniversary. You certainly do. And anybody that has not been over to normandy, near or around the anniversary of this special day, take your children, take your grandchildren, it remains one of the most moving things that ive ever done. Mike barnicle, it might surprise some, probably surprise many, i know it has throughout most of my life, that i was inspired to get into politics because of Bobby Kennedy. Bobby, his life, his story for anyone who even reads it today, for 16 or 17yearold that wants to read about Bobby Kennedy today, like i did when i was a junior in high school. You find a man, an extraordinary man, who grew, who was flawed, and but the arc of his life story moved towards justice, moved towards freedom. It moved in the direction that america needed it to move. But the remarkable thing about Bobby Kennedy was that he believed that one man, one woman, could bend history, and he did. We saw it in indianapolis. The night Martin Luther king jr. Died. And i was so moved by an article that you wrote, in the daily beast. I want to read from your incredible column titled what i saw on rfks funeral train 50 years ago today. You write, they had all hoped to find a piece of the American Dream. And now the train with the dead senators casket clearly visible in the last slow rolling car seemed like one more fragment of the shattered hopes of that dream. A dream slowly being dismantled, crushed even, by the horrible reality of another assassination. And a daily death toll arriving from halfway around the world on the very day Robert Kennedy was pronounced dead in Los Angeles June 6th, 1968. On that day, 106 american soldiers and marines were killed in vietnam. It was time in americas life that seems now like distant sky writing, erased by the winds of past decades. Those who have seemed to suffer the most often sacrificed the most. Those who seemed to serve and protect the country in great numbers often find that they are among the first to be put at risk when the economy collapses, a factory closes, an industry moves across the country or overseas. America in 1968, a america in 2018. Same as it ever was. Mike . Yeah, joe, the, this day, june 6, for many reasons, youve mentioned dday, we mentioned robert f. Kennedys death on this day. This is a far different country today than it was in 1968 and certainly a far different country than it was in 1944. Theres one thread that remains the same. And thats the people who serve. The people who served in vietnam, the people who serve in iraq and afghanistan today, the people who came out of the higgins boats on the morning of june 6, 1944. Theyre all americans and americans represent something to the world, unfortunately its, its being altered a bit by the current administration, but as david and michael just pointed out on june 6, 1944, those doors fell down on omaha beach, juneau beach, gold beach, sword beach, along the french coast and america arrived in europe to fight hitler. And we didnt seek treasure or territory, in what we left there, was the fact that we came to help. To help save europe and the world. And we left our dead, not only on omaha beach at the American Cemetery above the bluffs of omaha beach, but throughout europe there are american cemeteries, and we dont remember that enough. And europe doesnt remember that enough. And Michael Beschloss might be able to back me up here. I really dont think we teach our own history to our children. We dont know totally agree. Pardon me . I totally agree with you. Its an incredible story. Robert kennedy was an incredible story. He was a man who evolved in the course of his life and when he died, he had achieved, he had achieved such affection an such popularity, because unlike anybody else who has run for president since, he understood the meaning of loss. He understood vulnerability. And it made him a better man and a better politician. And its quite a day, joe to sit here and remember all of this, a flood of memories. It really is. And David Ignatius, though, just for younger americans, actually just for people that may be 50 years or less, i think it is important to remind people that when mike barn kill says that things are different today than they were in 1968, in many ways though still the same, a few, a few quick points here. One, things were actually much worse in 1968. In many ways, our perspectives are so skewed by whats happened to us over the past 15 minutes that we lose perspective of just how horrific things were in 1968. Not only the assassinations, but the riots, 100 Young Americans as mike said, coming home in caskets, cities, the day that rfk died, cities burning. Chaos in the streets. Chaos on college campuses. Thats one thing to remember. But also, the economic challenges are in many ways the same. When i worked with joe kennedy jr. In renaming, working to rename the Justice Department after Bobby Kennedy, the thing several family members kept asking me, and i thought they thought i might have insight because i was from the south, and it disturbed them. They always asked the question how could it be that the same people that were supporting my father after he died, then supported George Wallace . Well thats really a question thats tough to answer. But i have no doubt in my mind that a lot of those people that voted for barack obama in 2008 and voted for donald trump in 2016, were also kennedy supporters in 1968. Kennedy tapped a yearning for a different country. There was something raw about everything about that year of 1968. But especially about rfks campaign. This had been a man who had shown the toughest side of politics. He was often described in his younger years as a ruthless man. In 1968 when he made the decision to come into the president ial praise, motivated by vietnam, by the civil rights struggles that were sweeping the country. By the way in which america in 1968 was coming apart, Robert Kennedy saw himself as a person who could pull the country back together. And you look at the footage. The campaign was only 81 days. Rfk, the day he died i believe was only 42 years old. He was such a young man. But he was speaking in a language that was so raw. He was not great speeches, almost bleeding before the audience. Talking about his values. About what the country was a moment that if you lived through it, you just never forget it today the Kennedy Family will be at therave site, at the eternal flame in arlington, gather the family to remember. And i hope well all cast an eye over there, also. Yes. And mika, you know, david talked about and others have talked about how Bobby Kennedy had a reputation in younger days of being ruthless. Its one thing that i kept hearing time and again when i would ask people about Bobby Kennedys campaign, what was it like. And i would ask professors in college. And even liberal professors in college. Sometimes would say the same thing. He was a ruthless son of a bitch. And he was a tough guy. But he was something that the Democratic Party so badly needs. He was a tough, tough liberal. And havent been a lot of tough liberals like Bobby Kennedy since 1968. Mario cuomo, when he was governor of new york, he was a tough liberal. And unfortunately for the Democratic Party, there have been too few tough liberals since Bobby Kennedys death. And too much apologizing for the values and the beliefs of that party. You look at what was fought for and what was lost back then. All that is being lost today, kind of whittling away before our eyes, almost subconsciously, its frightening. Were going to hear more from mike barn kill and also tom brokaw coming up on this special day. Marking two major historic events. Now to this President Trump hosted a celebration of the American Flag yesterday at the white house. In place of a visit from super bowl champion philadelphia eagles. The entire ceremony including the singing of the National Anthem and God Bless America lasted about eight minutes. Trump also gave a short speech where he mainly talked about the Unemployment Rate and the state of the economy. Not sure he knows the words to the song, some were wondering, nbc news has learned that trump called off the eagles visit, because he didnt want the optics of having fewer than ten people show up. That correlates with a white house statement from yesterday, which says that the event was canceled because only a quote Smaller Group of players planned to attend and that a deal could not be struck to reschedule. That is significantly different from the president s explanation on monday, that it was because they quote disagree with their president because he insists that they proudly stand for the national an them. No eagle players took a knee during the an them last year. Although yesterday i believe somebody did in the audience at the white house. Here is press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders, who had a really difficult press briefing yesterday. Explaining the white houses position on the matter. This isnt about the National Anthem, its about so few players coming in the end, correct . Certainly the president has been very clear what his position is in regards to the National Anthem. The eagles were the ones that committed to an event on fr. They submitted over 80 members agles franchise for the event alwith over 1,000 fans to participate. And it was the Eagles Organization that tried to change their commitment at the 11th hour. If this once again if this wasnt a political stunt therngs they wouldnt have planned to attend the event and then backed out. They made that change at the last minute, not the president. I dont even know what to say. Joe, in response to that. Im, alex doesnt want me to say anything. So maybe i ought to go to heidi. What do you think . Its just, she was asked a lot of questions yesterday, at the press briefing, were going to get those sound bites, where reporters were asking her, how can we ask you questions, how can you say youre telling us the truth, when everything that you say turns out to be not true . Thats a problem that sean spicer had and at some point when youre in that position, you just have to move on. Because you dont have credibility. That will happen with Sarah Huckabee sanders, too, either she will have to leave or because she loses all credibility. Or she will leave on her own volition. But yesterday, heidi, what we saw was in donald trump, i will say, i am, mika and i have had debates on this. I am a conservative guy. I am a conservative white guy, born in the middle of the century. In middle america. So of course, when i hear the National Anthem, i want everybody to stand up and i want everybody to salute. One thing i do not want, and i understand, i understand the protests as well, because mika and i, unlike donald trump and his enemies that he tries to create. Weve sat and talked through it and weve worked through it, which is something that what a remarkable gesture it would be if the president went to philadelphia and sat and talked to these players. And said, lets figure this out together. Civil respectful dialogue. Instead, weaponizes the national an them and cheapens the whole thing. Thats the problem here. Is that trump has made a political calculation, that having