president biden s message at normandy today freedom isn t free and democracy is not guaranteed. the lead starts right now world leaders take the stage marking 80 years to the de since d-day. but it is the current conflicts that are top of mind, ukraine s war with russia israel s war with hamas, both entering new territory today, one of president biden s top advisers, admiral john kirby we will join us from france plus steve bannon ordered to report to prison by july 1. bots donald trump s former chief strategist thinks he can fight this with time i m on the clock for an appeal all victory to maga. we re going to win this. we re going to win at the supreme court. and more importantly, we re going to win on november speaking of election day, now, less than five months out is the entire republican party ready to fall in line behind donald trump? i ll ask virginia governor glenn youngkin s, who will be here on the lead? welcome to the lead, i m, jake tapper today, world leaders
to call on the american battle monuments commission to place flowers that she paid for on her father s grave at normandy. people walk into the center the terrorists, they see these flowers and they know that there s somebody at home, it s still cares and it worked beautifully for 60 plus years. it was almost seamless we contacted the a bmc filled out a form, sent them the money, and then they took it from there. but nine years ago, the a bmc shut down the flower fund encouraging families to instead go directly to florists overseas. if you contact the floors by phone, there s definitely language barrett because most people in those countries don t speak english very well. the other than deal still take a picture and send it to us. but the price is higher for nearly a decade. rondi elliott and other goldstar children the children of these men, had been on a mission of their own to get that flowers program back up and running. they now have
connection. they had to their fallen loved ones graves fill the land stones mark the grades and memories float all around the cemetery s of normandy where a handful of beach sand reveals a name corporal frank elliot just another fallen soldier to some. but the world to rondi elliott. only 1-year-old when her father corporal frank elliot, was killed this one picture of my father and me. the only picture i have lots together 80 years later that photo and a handful of letters between her father and mother are the only artifacts she has to remember him by i started to read them and they were fantastic. they were so beautiful and that s, that s when i first felt like i knew my dad for years, rondi elliott was able
some high-profile help. i think it s minimal cost to the government minimal work for the government. i suppose who some administrative costs and they battle monuments, but i can t imagine very much it even if it was a lot of pain they did give their lives for the country. let me sit least we can do it would seem to me, but it just doesn t seem to me that step much work and even if it was a lot of work i mean, just consider the sacrifice that was a lot of work to there s also a bill in congress with support from both with parties to restart the flower program all rondi elliot s parents had were letters to bridge the ocean between them but for rondi elliott, all she has is flowers. people who have family members overseas in foreign cemeteries. we cannot go there yeah, easily i ve only been twice to visit my father s grave and many people in my
situation can t go at all they can afford it. and these men bought us our freedom and we feel like they should be honored and we paid for that freedom to we paid for it by living a lifetime without her fathers and our mothers paid for it by living in a lifetime without their husbands and our thanks to rondi elliott we reached out to the a bmc, the american battle monuments commission for a comment on the record as to why they would end this service for goldstar families they would not give us one, but maybe you ll have better luck. here s the email info at a bmc.gov. that s info at ab mc mc.gov. maybe they ll tell you why they ended this service for goldstar families. and just minutes, donald trump will headline his first major events since last week s criminal conviction beyond maga world, how much support does he still have within the larger republican party? i ll ask a member in good standing, virginia governor