morning. the washington post s eugene robinson, thank you, my friend. and thanks to all of you for getting up with us on this thursday morning. morning joe starts right now. 225 came here. after two days of fighting, only 90 could still bear arms. behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. before me are the men who put them there. these are the boys. these are the men who took the cliffs. these are the champions who helped free a continent. these are the heros who helped end a war. that was ronald reagan in 1984, iconic d-day speech, about the brave young men who climbed the cliffs of pointe du hoc, to reach a suspected german gun in placement 100 feet up. that is where we begin this morning. normandy, france, for the 80th anniversary of the d-day landings, the invasion that propelled the end to world war ii. right now, president biden is meeting with global leaders and the veterans who sacrificed their li