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MSNBC D-day 60th anniversary programming

MSNBC will celebrate the 60 anniversary of D-Day with extensive coverage throughout the weekend of June 5 and 6, including live telecasts of events in France, interviews with veterans, long-form programming devoted to the invasion and special reports, as well as live coverage of President Bush’s address from Normandy.

MSNBC will celebrate the 60th anniversary of D-Day with extensive coverage throughout the weekend of June 5th and 6th, including live telecasts of events in France, interviews with veterans, long-form programming devoted to the invasion and special reports, as well as live coverage of President Bush’s address from Normandy.  The centerpiece of the network’s coverage is a special two-hour program entitled “June 6, 1944: As It Happened,” which will premiere Saturday June 5 at 8:00 p.m. (ET).  In this historically correct re-telling of D-Day, correspondents will contribute reports on the invasion as if it were actually occurring at that moment in time. 

Saturday, June 5th 
The network’s D-Day anniversary coverage begins at 4:00 a.m. (ET) with live coverage of a commemorative ceremony at the American Cemetery in Coleville, France.  Throughout Saturday, the network will carry additional ceremonies, including the inauguration of the British Garden at the Memorial in Caen, during which His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales Prince Charles will meet with selected veterans at 10:30 p.m. (ET). 

MSNBC’s primetime coverage will offer a variety of programs that will provide background and insight into one of the most historic events in world history.

“The Abrams Report” (6-7:00 p.m. ET) will focus on the security, intelligence and secrecy leading up to the attack. 

“Countdown with Keith Olbermann” (7-8:00 p.m. ET) will explore five things you didn’t know about D-Day, including the little-known fact that baseball legend Yogi Berra was a young enlisted Navy sailor who participated in the invasion at Omaha beach.  Olbermann sits down with Berra for a discussion about the invasion and his career.  Berra served in North Africa and Italy before returning to the U.S. and baseball.

In a special MSNBC Living History Event, Lester Holt will anchor “June 6, 1944: As It Happened” (8-10:00 p.m. ET with a re-telecast on Sunday, June 6th, 4-6:00 p.m.  ET).  Several correspondents will contribute to this ambitious reporting of the D-Day invasion by filing live reports from key locations in France and elsewhere – as though the invasion were actually taking place at that moment.  All correspondents are limited in their reporting to the events that were known at that point in the invasion, in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944.  With the benefit of modern technology, the network’s coverage will convey the emotion, drama and the massive coordination required for such an invasion. 

Joe Scarborough heads to Normandy to telecast his program “Scarborough Country” (10-11:00 p.m. ET). Scarborough will visit Omaha Beach and take an emotional journey with several D-Day veterans as they travel from the museum at Caen to Omaha Beach, returning to the site of their stunning victory. 

MSNBC will also re-telecast NBC’s “The Greatest Generation” (11-12:00 a.m. ET).  This powerful one-hour documentary is based on NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw’s acclaimed book about the ordinary men and women who served in World War II and their extraordinary stories of heroism and sacrifice.

Sunday, June 6th
MSNBC’s coverage of the 60th anniversary of D-Day will continue on Sunday with President Bush’s address from Normandy.  The network will cover additional ceremonies throughout the day including the international official ceremony at Arromanches (7:15 a.m. ET) and the British official ceremony (11:30 a.m. ET). 

“Hardball’s” Chris Matthews will interview several guests about the legacy and impact of D-Day, including Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) and several historians, 6-8:00 p.m. (ET).

“Scarborough Country” (10-11:00 p.m. ET) will present additional coverage from France including an interview with Les Brownlee, Secretary of the Army.  Brownlee is a highly decorated retired Army Colonel whose distinguished military career includes two tours in Vietnam.