good morning. 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific. i m jose diaz-balart. just moments ago, you saw it here on msnbc, president biden delivering an address defending democracy and freedom at the pointe du hoc ranger monument in normandy, france. 80 years ago there at pointe du hoc, u.s. army rangers scaled the 100 foot cliffs overlooking omaha and utah beaches on d-day. it is about seven miles west of the normandy american cemetery, also where in 1984 then president ronald reagan delivered one of his moment memorable speeches. before the speech today, president biden met with ukrainian president zelenskyy, announcing a new $225 million military assistance package for ukraine. joining us now, richard haass, president emeritus of the council on foreign relations and elise labbott. wondering your thoughts on this speech the day it was delivered, what it means for the history of the world, what we witnessed there 80 years ago. well, jose, what happened 80 years ago, in no sm
poised to give a consequential speech on the world stage, returning to the beaches of normandy again this morning to deliver remarks on the threats against democracy and freedom at home and overseas. now, this speech coming just hours after president biden met with ukrainian president zelenskyy in paris announcing $225 million in new aid and apologizing for the political gridlock in washington that delayed that package. nbc s kelly o donnell is traveling with the president in france. also with us, david ignatius, foreign affairs columnist for the washington post, nbc news military analyst, retired colonel jack jacobs and presidential historian mark updegrove. it s great to have all of you with us. kelly, set the stage for us as we await the president. reporter: well, it is a spectacular setting. when you see how the white house has set up the president s lectern on the cliff. this is a cliff that 80 years ago american army rangers scaled that cliff using knives and pieces
second world war. my father was studying electrical engineering at the university of minnesota when he was summarily dragooned into the army, eight weeks from graduation. sent off to the pacific to fight in the with the army in new fwin y guinea in the philippines. hated getting dragged out of school, hated the army, hated getting shot at, got out of the army, the instant he could when the war was over, and yet when he got to be my age, all he would talk about was how proud he was in having saved the world. having saved the world. he and his generation had done exactly that. and so now today, president biden calling on this generation, the next generation to uphold what those generations before did, dating back 80 years ago, d-day, the turning point in world war ii. that s going to do it for us today. thank you so much for being part of our coverage this morning. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now.