>>> SOLDIERS, SAILORS, AND AIRMEN OF THE ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, YOU ARE ABOUT TO EMBARK ON THE GREAT CRUSADE WE HAVE DRIVEN THIS MANY MONTHS. THE EYES OF THE WORLD ARE UPON YOU. THE HOPES AND PRAYERS OF LIBERTY LOVING PEOPLE MARCH WITH YOU. IN COMPANY WITH OUR BRAVES ALLIES AND BROTHERS IN ARMS IN OTHER FRONTS YOU WILL BRING ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GERMAN WAR MACHINE AND THE IMPRESSED PEOPLE OF EUROPE AND SECURITY FOR OURSELVES IN A FREE WORLD. >> THAT IS GENERAL DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER. HIS MESSAGE TO ALLIED TROOPS ON THE EVE OF WHAT WOULD BE ONE OF THE MOST PIVOTAL MOMENTS OF THE 20th CENTURY, THE STORMING OF THE BEACHES OF NORMANDY THAT PAVED THE WAY FOR LIBERATION AND FRANCE AND ALL OF EUROPE EVENTUALLY. PRESIDENT BIDEN IS IN FRANCE SET TO DELIVER REMARKS IN NORMANDY TOMORROW TO COMMEMORATE THE 80th ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY. JOINING US IS A HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR OF LAW AT COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL AND THE AUTHOR OF THE NEW BOOK "LIGHT OF BATTLE EISENHOWER D-DAY AND THE BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN SUPER POWER." GOOD MORNING. YOU HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE VERY INTERESTED IN THIS SUBJECT AROUND THE TABLE SO WE WILL PASS IT AROUND. BUT YOU GOT ACCESS TO ARCHIVAL MATERIAL THAT WE HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE. YOU FEEL LIKE YOU KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT D-DAY, ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE THAT INTERESTED IN IT AND YOU READ EVERY BOOK AND WATCH ALL OF THE DOCUMENTARIES BUT TELL US WHAT NEW LIGHT YOU SHED ON THIS. >> I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT LIGHT I SHED ON IT WAS THE LIGHT ON THE COMMANDER, HIMSELF. YOU KNOW? DWIGHT EISENHOWER IS THIS RECEIVED FIGURE WHO, YOU KNOW, HAS THIS -- HE IS OUR GRANDFATHER IN SOME WAYS AND HIS PRESIDENCY WAS CERTAINLY DEFINED BY BEING A TRYING TO LOOK BORING. YOU KNOW? THE TWO MILLION OR MORE STORIES THAT COME OUT OF D-DAY. THE ONE I THINK IS THE MOST DRAMATIC AND ALMOST RELATABLE TO US TODAY IS THE MAN OF THE MIDDLE WHO HAD TO STRUGGLE THROUGH IT ALL AND TO PROJECT OPTIMISM EVEN THOUGH AT ALL TIMES HE KNEW IT WAS ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE, THAT, YOU KNOW, EVEN ON THE EVE OF BATTLE, HIS CHIEF OF STAFF PREDICTED THERE IS MAYBE A 50/50 CHANCE OF IT SUCCEEDING AND HAD IT FAILED, WHAT WORLD WOULD WE LIVE IN TODAY. >> THAT IS A UNIVERSE WE DON'T WANT TO CONTEMPLATE AT THIS POINT. >> ABSOLUTELY. >> YOU TALK IN THE BOOK THE PLANNING OF D-DAY WHICH IT'S BEEN WELL-DOCUMENTED. THE FACT THEY PULLED IT THIS ALL WHEN YOU CONSIDER IT ALL FEELS IMPOSSIBLE. THE HEAD FAKE THEY CONVINCED HITLER THEY WERE COMING SOMEWHERE THEY WEREN'T. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE EARLY STAGES OF THE IDEA AND HOW OUTRAGEOUS IT MUST HAVE SOUNDED TO SO MANY PEOPLE? >> IT SOUNDED OUTRAGEOUS PEOPLE AND ESPECIALLY THE BRITISH WHO AT THAT PARTICULAR TIME WERE THE FREE ENTERPRISE IN THE WORLD AND THE AMERICANS CAME IN IN 1942 HERE IS HOW WE ARE BEAT HITLER AND THE BRITISH SAID, YOU'RE NOT. WE CAN TELL YOU ALL OF THE REASONS YOU CAN'T DO THAT AND WHY IT'S A AND WHY WE'LL ALL BE OFF IF WE START PURSUING SOME BRITISH IMPERIAL INTERESTS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN IN THE MEANTIME. SO THE PLAN HAD BEEN SHELVED FOR YEARS, DEFERRED, DEFERRED. AND FINALLY AT A CONFERENCE IN CAIRO, CHURCHILL AND ROOSEVELT MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME AND HAVE A SHOWDOWN AS TO WHETHER FINALLY LAUNCH THIS CROSS-CHANNEL INVASION. AND AS A STUDENT OF DIPLOMATIC HISTORY, I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER READ PROCEEDINGS FROM A SUMMITA YOU HAVE 60-YEAR-OLD MEN ON THE VERGE OF A FISTFIGHT ON WHETHER OR NOT THEY SHOULD CONTINUE TO PURSUE INTERESTS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN OR PURSUE THIS HIGH-RISK BUT HIGH-REWARD OPERATION IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL. AND FINALLY THEY DECIDE TO CONDUCT OPERATION OVERLORD. BUT THE FIRST THING DWIGHT EISENHOWER SEES AS THE GENERAL AND A STUDENT OF MILITARY HISTORY IS IT'S JUST WAY TOO SMALL. THIS COMPROMISE IS SHORTCHANGING WHAT THEY NEED. AND ULTIMATELY, HE HAS TO DOUBLE THE SIZE OF THE INVASION, WHICH BECOMES PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST SENSITIVE DIPLOMATIC THINGS HE HAS TO DO, RIGHT AS HE GETS THE JOB, BUT HE ULTIMATELY PULSE IT OFF, CONVINCES THE BRITISH TO GO ALONG, TO NOT ONLY GO ALONG WITH THE INVASION, SUPPORT IT, BUT TO EXPAND IT, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY SPENDS THE NEXT FIVE MONTHS GETTING EVERY DETAIL IN PLACE AND HOPING THAT EVERYTHING THAT HE DOES AND THAT EVERYONE HE'S LEADING TO DO WILL ULTIMATELY COME OFF WHEN THE TIME HAS COME. >> SO PULLING THIS BOOK TOGETHER, AND THE RESEARCH THAT YOU DID FOR THE BOOK AND THE RESEARCH THAT YOU HAD ACCESS TO, YOU'VE GOT DWIGHT EISENHOWER, A CAREER MILITARY MAN. HE KNOWS, FROM THE MOMENT THAT GENERAL GAVIN AND THE 82nd JUMP OUT AT 1:00, 2:00 IN THE MORNING, HE KNOWS THAT WHEN THEY LAND ON "UTAH" AND "OMAHA," THERE'S GOING TO BE A TERRIFIC CASUALTY RATE. WHAT IMPACT DID THAT HAVE ON HIM? >> IT HAD AN ENORMOUS IMPACT, AND THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S ADMIRABLE ABOUT HIM. THE NIGHT BEFORE THE INVASION, JUNE 5th, HE GIVES THE ORDER TO GO, THERE ARE PREDICTIONS, HE'S ESSENTIALLY BETTING ON THE WEATHER AT THAT POINT. AND PERSONALLY GOES TO SEE OFF THE 101st AIRBORNE. AND HE'S NOT EVEN RECOGNIZED RIGHT AWAY. HE GOES UP IN A VERY UNMARKED CAR, JUST STARTS WALKING BETWEEN THESE YOUNG MEN WHO ARE YOUNGER THAN HIS SON, WHO IS GRADUATING FROM WEST POINT THE NEXT DAY. THEY'RE ALL PAINTED UP, LIKE IN WAR PAINT. THEY LOOK LIKE COAL MINERS AFTER A SHIFT. AND HE WALKS FROM MAN TO MAN, JUST, WHERE ARE YOU FROM? YOU KNOW, WHAT DO YOU LIKE DOING? DO YOU LIKE FISHING? AND YOU KNOW, HE MAKES A POINT, AS HE SHAKES EACH MAN'S HAND TO LOOK THEM IN THE EYE, KNOWING, AND HE'S BEEN TOLD, THAT ANYWHERE FROM A QUARTER TO HALF OF THEM ARE GOING TO BE KILLED. AND HE KNOWS THAT EVERY OTHER HAND HE'S SHAKING IS A YOUNG BOY WHO'S NOT GOING TO HAVE A FUTURE, BUT WHO'S THERE TO DO WHAT HE'S ORDERED THEM TO DO, BUT TO ULTIMATELY, TRY TO SAVE THE WORLD. THAT'S LITERALLY WHAT WAS AT STAKE. >> WE ALL KNOW THE STORY THAT EISENHOWER PREPARED THE LETTER IF IT HAD BEEN A FAILURE. WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN PLAN "B." JUST SAY IT HADN'T WORKED, YOU SAID IT WAS AT BEST A 50/50 CALL, WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED THE NEXT DAY? WHAT WOULD ROOSEVELT AND EISENHOWER HAVE RECOMMENDED? >> WELL, WITH EISENHOWER WOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED AND WE WOULD BE TALKING ABOUT HIM THE WAY WE TALK ABOUT GENERAL McCLELLAN, PROBABLY, BUT THE LIMITS ON ALLIED STRATEGY AT THAT POINT WOULD BE PRETTY SEVERE. ESSENTIALLY, THE ALLIES WOULD HAVE TO RETURN TO THE MEDITERRANEAN AND PURSUE GREAT BRITAIN'S ESSENTIALLY LONG-TERM STRATEGY OF EXPANDING ALLIED INFLUENCE IN GREAT BRITAIN, USING THEIR SUPERIOR AIR AND NAVAL POWER TO TRY AND STRANGLE GERMANY, BUT ULTIMATELY, LEAVING THE HARD THE GROUND FIGHTING IN EUROPE TO THE RED ARMY. YOU WOULD HAVE HAD A WORLD WHERE RUSSIA WAS ESSENTIALLY THE ONLY COUNTERBALANCE TO NAZI GERMANY, WHETHER OR NOT THEY WOULD HAVE CUT A SEPARATE PIECE AFTER SEEING THE ALLIES FAIL SO COMPLETELY, I THINK, IS NOT HARD TO IMAGINE UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. AND WE WOULD BE LIVING IN JUST AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WORLD TODAY, WITH PROBABLY THE BRITISH EMPIRE STILL AS THE PREEMINENT POWER IN THE WORLD, RUSSIA, MAYBE EVEN NAZI GERMANY OR SOME VERSION OF NAZI GERMANY IN PLACE FOR MANY, MANY MORE YEARS IF NOT DECADES. >> KATTY, SO FASCINATING TO HEAR MICHEL DESCRIBE FIGHT, THE DISCUSSION BETWEEN CHURCHILL AND FDR IN CAIRO OVER WHETHER OR NOT TO DO THIS AND HOW TO DO IT GIVEN THAT CHURCHILL HAD SPENT SO MANY YEARS WRITING LITERALLY LOVE LETTERS TO FDR TO COURT HIM, BRING HIM INTO THE WAR, AND ULTIMATELY PEARL HARBOR GETS THE UNITED STATES INTO THE WAR, BUT THAT RELATIONSHIP SO CENTRAL TO THE STORY. >> SO CENTRAL. AND NONE OTHER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AN AMERICAN AND BRIT WAS THAT BETWEEN PATTON AND FIELD MARSHALL MONTGOMERY, WHO WAS ACTUALLY MY HUSBAND'S GRANDFATHER. AND I WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT THAT RELATIONSHIP, BECAUSE I THINK WHEN EISENHOWER APPOINTED MONTGOMERY TO BE THE ARCHITECT OF D-DAY, IT DIDN'T MAKE PATTON VERY HAPPY. ACTUALLY, THEY HATED EACH OTHER. AS TOM WOULD TELL YOU, MONTY WAS A PAIN IN THE REAR END. HE WAS A MARTONNETTE TYPE GRANDFATHER AT BEST. BUT DID THAT RELATIONSHIP, DID THE DIFFICULTIES PEOPLE HAVE, PATTON AND MONTY, MAKE ANY IMPACT ON THE PLANNING FOR D-DAY. >> WELL, IT CERTAINLY GAVE EISENHOWER PLENTY OF REASONS TO SMOKE NOR CIGARETTES. HE GOT HIM TO ABOUT THREE PACKS A DAY, BUT HE DIDN'T CHOOSE MONTY. HE ACTUALLY ADVOCATED FOR A DIFFERENT BRITISH GENERAL AND MONTY WAS ESSENTIALLY FOIST UPON HIM. AND A MOMENT AGO, I SPOKE ABOUT EISENHOWER CONFRONTING THE ORIGINAL D-DAY PLAN WAS ESSENTIALLY TOO SMALL. AND HE NEEDED TO ESSENTIALLY DOUBLE THE PLAN, BUT TO DO THAT, HE NEED BRITISH BUY-IN. AND THE BRITISH WERE IN NO MOOD TO EXPAND OPERATION OVERLORD. AND AFTER BERNARD MONTGOMERY IS ESSENTIALLY APPOINTED TO LEAD INITIALLY, JUST THE CANADIAN AND BRITISH FORCES, EISENHOWER INVITES HIM TO HIS HEADQUARTERS, RIGHT AFTER CHRISTMAS, AND ESSENTIALLY GIVES HIM A BIG BEAR HUG, AND SAYS, BERNARD MONTGOMERY, I WANT YOU TO LEAD NOT JUST THE BRITISH COMPONENT OF THIS OPERATION, BUT THE AMERICAN ONE AS WELL. EISENHOWER, MIND YOU, DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE THAT OFFER, BUT HE DID ANYWAY, AND BERNARD MONTGOMERY HEARTILY AGREED IN BEING THE ARCHITECT OF OPERATION OVERLORD AND THEN AT THAT POINT, EISENHOWER SAID, AND DON'T YOU THINK THIS OPERATION IS JUST A BIT TOO SMALL, CERTAINLY FOR SOMEONE LIKE BERNARD MONTGOMERY, AND SO BERNARD MONTGOMERY IN ESSENTIALLY DECEMBER, JANUARY OF 1994, BECOMES THE FACE OF THE EXPANDED D-DAY OPERATION, WHICH IS ULTIMATELY CRUCIAL TO GETTING THE BRITISH BUY-IN THEY NEED. AND AGAIN, THAT SORT OF POLITICAL TOUCH THAT I THINK WE REALLY UNDERESTIMATE WITH SOMEONE LIKE DWIGHT EISENHOWER, ULTIMATELY ENDS UPPING CRUCIAL TO SUCCESS. >> 80 YEARS AGO RIGHT NOW, THINKING ABOUT THOSE YOUNG MENS GETTING READY TO JUMP OUT OF THOSE PLANES AND GO DO WHAT GENERAL EISENHOWER ASKED THEM TO DO. WE'LL HAVE FULL COVERAGE OF THE PRESIDENT'S VISIT AND SPEECH THERE. THE NEW VISIT TITLED "THE LIGHT
