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 Sunday, June 6 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.
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). Chris Matthews will also talk to several politicians about the life and death of former President Ronald Reagan.
In a special MSNBC Living History Event, Lester Holt will anchor “June 6, 1944: As It Happened” (8-10:00 p.m. ET, June 6th, Sunday). 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.