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The Amanpour Hour
D-Day: 80 Years Of Defending Democracy; Interview With Actor Tom Hanks; Interview With Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown; Interview With D-Day Veteran Jake Larson; Interview With NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Christopher Cavoli; Witness To Nazi Atrocities. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired June 08, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:59:46]
KARA SWISHER, PODCAST HOST: It's exciting, but it's frothy. Everyone's buying these chips because it's the only place to get these chips.
It reminds me of Cisco in the beginning of the early Internet, which was the place that made routers and stuff. Of course, Cisco is not what it used to be.
And so Nvidia they've got to really grow their review.
CHRIS WALLACE, CNN HOST: So in 15 seconds is this going to blow up and be a bubble and that stock which has just soared, going to go down?
SWISHER: It's hard to bet against it right now, because all investors, when they're investing in AGI are investing in Nvidia. So we'll see.
WALLACE: All right. No investment advice.
SWISHER: No, no. I don't.
WALLACE: Gang, thank you all for being here. And thank you for spending part of your day with us.
We'll see you right back here next week.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to the program everyone. I'm Christiane Amanpour in Normandy, France.
And this week we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings -- a turning point in history and a triumph of democracy over tyranny.
I'm sitting at the American cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer which overlooks the Normandy beaches which the allies invaded on June 6, 1944. This led to the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control.
It's a reminder of the ultimate sacrifice that millions of people made to uphold democracy and to fight barbaric authoritarianism.
Today with war raging again in Europe threatening democracy again, the legacy of D-Day is more important than ever. In his speech from the cliffs overlooking the Normandy beaches, President Biden touted the dangers of isolationism and the need to stand up to dictators.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: every marine who stormed these beaches decided a feared dictator who had conquered a continent had finally met his match. Because of them, the war turned. They stood against Hitler's aggression.
Does anyone doubt that they would want America to stand up against Putin's aggression here in Europe today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: With more than 9,000 us soldiers laid to rest behind me. I spoke with a living legend here at the Normandy American cemetery.
He is 101-year-old Jake Larson, a World War II veteran and one of the few surviving D-Day soldiers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE LARSON, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: I'm going to, be 102 in December.
AMANPOUR: Wow. What is the secret of your health and longevity.
LARSON: I'll have to say, don't die.
AMANPOUR: It's a good one, don't die.
You probably didn't know whether you will survive 80 years ago today. Did you know then what you were fighting for?
LARSON: Oh, would definitely. That we knew every one of us.
AMANPOUR: Tell us.
LARSON: Every one of us was prepared to give our life to kick Hitler's ass out of Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: And you must stay with us because we'll have much more of that conversation later in this hour.
But the actor, Tom Hanks has been pivotal in bringing Second World War stories to life and immortalizing the legacies of heroes like Jake, who fought to save Europe from tyranny.
We probably all remember Tom Hanks playing Captain Miller there in the harrowing depiction of the D-Day landings in "Saving Private Ryan", 26 years ago.
The TV series he co-created "Band of Brothers", captured the trauma and camaraderie of soldiers fighting on the western front. And his latest with Steven Spielberg, "Masters of the Air" on Apple TV.
On the anniversary of D-Day here in Normandy, he joined me to talk about this time 80 years ago and why it's so important to remember the price of freedom and to tell those stories to future generations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Tom Hanks, welcome.
TOM HANKS, ACTOR AND FILMMAKER: Christiane, how nice to see you.
AMANPOUR: And here you -- this is almost --
HANKS: What a day.
AMANPOUR: -- your home as well.
HANKS: What a day.
AMANPOUR: I mean, you've done so much on World War II. I just want to know what it feels like to be here on the 80th. It may be the last of these reunions.
HANKS: I don't -- I mean, I -- we -- if you do the math, if you were -- say you were 17 years old and you were making your first trip into combat on June 6th of 1944, you would do the math, you're now 97 years old.
[11:04:46]
HANKS: That they're here -- I mean, the first thing I say to any of the veterans that I happen to meet is, don't get up, you know, because, you know, they're more or less wheelchair-bound.
But there they are resplendent in their patches and their hats and their caps, and the memories, and I ponder what these last 80 years have been for them.
I want to ask them. What's the most extraordinary thing you've witnessed since that day? And there's an awful lot to take note of. But would any of it have happened if this day had not been?
AMANPOUR: Well, I wonder, you know, since you lead me straight into that question. It's probably -- OK, bar the Cold War, when there wasn't a raging war in Europe, it's probably the most difficult, most existential crisis for everybody since their sacrifice, with Russia having invaded Ukraine with a literal raging war in Europe.
HANKS: I never thought there'd be a land war in Europe in my lifetime once again, because it had proven to be so disastrous for all of humanity the last time somebody tried that.
It's funny how often it comes out of the ego of one human being. One guy back in the 1930s says, no, I'm going to solve all these problems because I know what works and what does not work. I think -- you know, look, I'm a lay historian and I'm as opinionated as any knothead that you're ever going to come across. But there was this thought that America -- particularly America, was lazy, was divided, was undisciplined, that couldn't get its act together, wouldn't -- that would never band together in order just to do the right thing by choice.
And when I'm here, I think of a bunch of kids -- it was a young force that came here. They were somewhere between -- if you were 25 years old, they called you pops or they called you the old man.
And they -- and they were - - they left absolutely all of the comforts of a very comfortable America, safe America on the other side of the ocean. And they put themselves here for what? Because it was the right thing to do.
And they were not defending the status quo. They were not gaining territory. They were not here for riches. They were not here to conquer anything. They were really here in order to mend the future, if I can coin a word that has just come out in a book that I read not too long ago.
AMANPOUR: Can I ask you something? Because one man is doing it again, Vladimir Putin. He hasn't been invited. He was you know, 10 years ago, but this time not. Do you think -- when you think about it, Americans would do this again? British would do it again? I mean, we're in the fight of our lives again.
HANKS: Well, you don't have to go back very far to believe as early as 1939 and 1940 and big parts of 1941 there was a huge vocal section of the United States of America that said, no way. Charles Lindbergh led the America First. There were literally Nazi party rallies in Madison Square Garden, in which Adolf Hitler and George Washington -- their images were up on stage at the same time.
It wasn't until, of course, that we were attacked that everybody kind of, like, wised up and realized that something very venal was going on in the world.
You can't help but wonder, where would we be right now? And I have absolute 100 percent faith in the American people and the concept of what is right and what is wrong.
And if something as definitive as what happened in Europe back then, I don't think there'd be any question that it would take time, that it would not be overnight.
It would be thought out and it would be, I think, taking into account all the lessons that were learned of what happens when you don't do it right over a long course of time.
AMANPOUR: Can I ask you, I walked over there, I looked at the beach, it's Omaha Beach, the cliffs that those boys had to scale.
You did that film, "Saving Private Ryan". I know you're an actor, but everybody says it's one of the most realistic depictions of what happened that day.
Can you recall what it was like actually filming that and putting yourselves in their boots for that period of time?
HANKS: Well, of course, you know, part of it is glamorous fun, you know. But at the other time, as soon as the camera started rolling and everything started happening there was a tactile quality to the confusion.
There is a moment when, of course, as actors, we're just pretending. But there comes a moment where the reason we're there is to capture the truth as the film rolls, and to be cold, wet, scared, and have it be awfully noisy for an awful long time.
It's also our job as lay historians, because for good or for bad, that movie is a document that has to accurately reflect the tenor of that day. And I'd like to think that we did.
AMANPOUR: Yes.
HANKS: And hearing it from a number of people who said, as confusing as that is, well, multiply that by -- we did not have the smell of cordite or burning flesh or, you know, blood on the sand, but we did have some version of that, the -- how -- whatever you can get out of a motion picture. I think we captured it.
[11:09:44]
AMANPOUR: Finally, do you worry about the United States in case there -- in terms of its commitment to democracy and freedom and everything these people died for, if there's another Trump presidency?
HANKS: I think there's always a reason to be worried about the short- term, but I look at the longer-term of what this -- what happened.
I think there is an ongoing -- look, our Constitution says, we, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union -- that journey to a more perfect union has missteps in it. And we know.
We -- I can catalogue them as much as you can, and you're a professional journalist, and I'm just a guy that makes movies and reads books.
AMANPOUR: And a historian.
HANKS: And -- ok. And a lay historian, I'll take that too. Over the long-term, however, we inevitably make progress towards, I think, that more perfect union. That's what it was.
And how does it come about? It comes about because -- not because of somebody's narrative of who is right or who is a victim or not. It comes out of the slow melding of the truth to the actual practical life that we end up living.
It comes down to the good deed that is practiced with your neighbor, with your local merchants. And I will always have faith that the United States of America and the western societies that have adopted more or less the same sort of democracy cannot help but turn towards what is right.
AMANPOUR: Tom Hanks, thank you so much.
HANKS: Pleasure to talk to you.
AMANPOUR: Thank you.
HANKS: What a day. What a day.
AMANPOUR: What a day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: And Tom Hanks has been here throughout the many days of these commemorations.
And when we come back, I asked the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General C.Q. Brown, if people genuinely understand how real the risk of another world war is. Our exclusive conversation next.
[11:11:26]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
AMANPOUR: Welcome back to our special D-Day coverage and 80 years of defending freedom and democracy.
We turn now to exclusive conversation with America's top military official, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General CQ Brown.
He spent four decades of his life in uniform as an airman. And he's taken charge as the established world order faces arguably its biggest tests since World War II.
I asked him about the legacy of D-Day and the challenges America and the West confront today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Chairman, General C.Q. Brown. First of all, congratulations.
GEN. CHARLES Q. BROWN, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
AMANPOUR: Welcome.
BROWN: Thank you.
AMANPOUR: What does it mean to you to be here?
BROWN: It just makes me think about the work that those that, you know, young people like we have today that were here 80 years ago and what they were able to do, not just for Europe, but just for the world. And having a chance to meet a couple of them this morning, just
completely impressive. And it's been -- you know, I've had a long time of fascination with D-Day and Normandy growing up. And so, being here is a blessing.
AMANPOUR: And what sort of nugget did you take away from one or two of them that you talked to today?
BROWN: Well, just, you know, their stories and having read their stories of -- you know, a number of them that were 17, 18 years old, some that actually forged their mother's signature so they could join.
But then, not only what they did here for D-Day, but then they had full careers after that and they -- how they continued to serve, not just in uniform, but continued to serve the nation.
AMANPOUR: General, you are in the midst -- we're all in the midst of a raging war in Europe unlike anything in 80 years. We've not had this kind of war.
This celebration of the heroism and the eventual success and the liberation, the defense of democracy. Did you ever think that you would in your career be here when it's at stake and at risk again in such a real form?
BROWN: No, not at all.
And you know, this is why it's so important that we pay attention and realize why we're here today is to prevent and think about what could happen in the future. And the work for those -- that were done 80 years ago is a reason why we can --
(CROSSTALKING)
AMANPOUR: President Zelenskyy's here. He's obviously very grateful for everything America has done in terms of arms supplies and support.
But it is still very much on a knife's edge. The delay in getting American weapons, seven months, gave Russia a head start, and is -- you know, the crossing of the line into Kharkiv.
What do you think is going to happen in that battlefield in -- you know, now, in the next weeks and months?
BROWN: Well, you know, I can't predict what's going to happen. But I do know that, you know, when, Ukraine's been provided capability, they've been able to do and work and defend themselves against this supposed, you know, more capable larger military.
AMANPOUR: General, there's been a lot of talk about how much further NATO will go in supporting Ukraine. You know, the French president said that there probably should be NATO boots on the ground in terms of trainers. And you yourself were quoted as saying, it's just a matter of time. It's inevitable that that's going to happen.
Do you stand by that? And do you think Americans will be -- BROWN: You know, when I made that comment about being inevitable, it's
after the fact you know, if you go back to we were supporting Ukraine with trainers before this conflict started.
[11:19:41]
BROWN: When this conflict is over, I would expect when we go back to your training. At the moment, you know, putting trainers into Ukraine doesn't necessarily -- it creates more risk really for NATO and NATO partners.
But we --
AMANPOUR: So, that's off the table at the moment?
BROWN: For us, it is.
AMANPOUR: Obviously, General, we know that, you know, the Nazis, they murdered in the death camp 6 million Jews. It was the most horrendous barbarity that people can even digest.
Now, we see anti-Semitism rise again in Europe, in the United States and elsewhere. At the same time, there's horrors being committed in Israel. And you took your position just before October 7th as the chairman. And then this terrible war in Gaza.
What is America -- what would be best for America and for the world to try -- in that conflict right now, even when not in Europe, but what do you think needs to happen?
BROWN: Well, you know, one of the things that we've got to continue is to allow countries to defend themselves, whether it be Ukraine or Israel. At the same time, we've got to make sure we're paying attention to the civilian population and the impact to that civilian population.
I mean, that's something that as a military member and having, you know, worked in combat and led combat operations, you've got to take care of the combat aspect of it, but you've also got to make sure you're paying attention to the civilians.
AMANPOUR: Because they say to me, when I talk to them, that the ratio between what they claim is Hamas and civilians is acceptable. They point to what the U.S. did in Iraq or Afghanistan.
And of course, as you know, and CNN has done investigations, U.S. weapons have been used even in some of the latest horrors in terms of the attack on the shelter in Rafah.
What is appropriate when you're going after a terrorist organization with an air force, for instance?
BROWN: Well, you know, I can't speak for, you know, what the Israelis are doing, but I'll just tell you from my experience, you know, during a Defeat ISIS campaign, you know, our goal was to be as precise as possible, to minimize any type of civilian casualties, but also realizing that there is that potential.
Now, you have to also look at your adversary. And Hamas, in this case, has surrounded themselves with civilians, which increases the risk to the civilians. And that's something we try to -- again, when we execute, as we talk to our partners and execute together and when they're executing, we talk to them about how best to minimize this --
AMANPOUR: Do they listen?
BROWN: They do. They do listen and they adjust based on the conversation.
AMANPOUR: Mr. Chairman, General C.Q. Brown, thank you for being with us.
BROWN: Thank you, Christiane. My pleasure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: And coming up next World War II veteran turned TikTok star. My interview with one of the few remaining heroes, 101-year-old Jake Larson, who joined me here in Normandy to recount his story of bravery while fighting against the Nazis right here 80 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARSON: I don't think I was a hero I was just like anybody else. We were all in this together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:22:43]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program.
I'm at the Normandy American cemetery and Memorial where more than 9,000 U.S. soldiers are buried. Many of them died liberating this region and other parts of Europe from the Nazis.
Those battles which started with the landing of allied troops on the beaches just behind me mark the beginning of the end for Hitler, but only a small fraction of those who fought for freedom 80 years ago are still alive today.
My next guest is the 101-year-old veteran Jake Larson, who landed on Omaha Beach, surviving D-Day and other battles miraculously unscathed.
Known as Papa Jake now on TikTok, he passes down his D-Day stories to the younger generations with almost a million followers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Jake Larson, it's great to see you again. It was five years ago we first met here. And now, how old are you? JAKE LARSON, D-DAY VETERAN: I'm going to be 102 in December.
AMANPOUR: Wow. What is the secret of your health and longevity?
LARSON: I'll have to say, don't die.
AMANPOUR: It's a good one, don't die.
You probably didn't know whether you would survive 80 years ago today, did you, when you landed on Omaha?
LARSON: God, no. I was afraid of those landmines they put in the beach there. We were getting small arms fire, but I was afraid to step -- I'd step on one of those mines.
The Germans had -- I told you, that time it was a million mines. And when they started taking them out of there, they found 1.5 million.
AMANPOUR: Wow. You were one of the lucky ones.
Did you know then what you were fighting for?
LARSON: Oh, definitely. That we knew, every one of us.
AMANPOUR: Tell us.
LARSON: Every one of us was prepared to give our life to kick Hitler's ass out of Europe.
AMANPOUR: And you did.
LARSON: And we did. We lost quite a few of -- I lost friends. Everybody lost friends.
[11:29:52]
LARSON: But we were soldiers. We were prepared to give our life.
AMANPOUR: And now, you, obviously a father, a grandfather, a great grandfather, and your great grandchildren and your grandchildren are making you into a social media star. You're on TikTok, Jake, since we last met.
LARSON: I don't know how that happened.
AMANPOUR: How did it happen?
LARSON: It's crazy.
AMANPOUR: And you go by Papa Jake. You have an actual name.
LARSON: Yes.
AMANPOUR: And why do you do it?
LARSON: You know, it's not me, it's my granddaughter. She put me on TikTok with her when COVID started.
I said, what the hell is that TikTok. She said, oh, it's just a little story telling thing, she says. And I put a couple of your stories on my TikTok.
She came back within a week and says, Papa, I'm taking you off of my TikTok. I'm going to put you on your own. I said, you're opening a can of worms here.
(CROSSTALK)
LARSON: Why are you putting me on by myself? She says, because you showed me up on mine. It took me 10 months to get 10,000 viewers. You got that in a week.
AMANPOUR: And how many do you have now?
LARSON: Well, the last time I looked 800,000. It's just on the verge of a million.
AMANPOUR: Yes, it is just on the verge of a million. And, Jake, what stories are you telling? What would you want young people to know?
LARSON: I'm telling the stories of my life. And, I -- I'm a unique person. When I was 15 years old and my cousin, Chick (ph), was 15 years old, he said, we didn't have any money. We're going to high school with no money. So, he said, let's join the National Guard. I said, we got to be 15 or 18.
He says -- I said, we're just 15. He says, let's go to the armory anyway, and tell them we want to join. And we'll look them straight in the eye and say -- when they say, how old are you? We'll say 18, 18.
So, we went to the National Guard. And there was a huge captain sitting there. He looked up and said, what can I do for you, young men?
Young men, see? Wow. And I'm thinking, 18, 18. And he says, what year were you born? Wow. So, I said, 1919, sir. Sign right here. That's the only thing he asked. We both got into the National Guard at 15.
AMANPOUR: Today, it's 80 years since what you all did so heroically.
LARSON: I don't think I was a hero. I was just like anybody else. We were all in this together. I'm not a hero. I'm a -- people keep calling me hero.
I changed that word. I took the O off of a hero. I had a TO there that people say, well, what's a here to? I says, I'm here to tell you that heroes are up there. They gave their life. They gave their life so that I could make it.
My God, I had a -- I got a wife, I got children, I got two boys and a girl, I got nine grandchildren, I got 11 great grandchildren, I've got a grandson that's a grandfather. And I'm still going. Crazy.
AMANPOUR: Will you come back again?
LARSON: Oh, God yes, I'd come back again, just to honor all those that gave their life so that I could be here.
AMANPOUR: Jake Larson, thank you.
LARSON: Well, thank you, Christiane.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: It's always good to get a hug from a hero.
Now, coming up on the program, America's top general in Europe, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Christopher Cavoli of NATO on why so much what was fought for back then is still on the line today.
[11:34:53]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:39:45]
AMANPOUR: Welcome back to our special program here in Normandy as we remember D-Day and 80 years of defending democracy. Its lessons of courage and cooperation are as vital as they've ever been.
Christopher Cavoli is the top U.S. general in Europe and NATO's supreme allied commander. He says the shared history that unified Europe and the United States still holds today as war rages with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
And I spoke with General Cavoli at a critical time for NATO as the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined the commemorations with its future membership on the agenda at July's NATO summit in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: General Christopher Cavoli, welcome to the program.
GEN. CHRISTOPHER CAVOLI, SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER, EUROPE AND COMMANDER, U.S. EUROPEAN COMMAND: Hi. Thanks.
AMANPOUR: How do you evaluate, though, what's happening? I mean, you're overseeing and basically fighting, in certain ways, the first raging war in Europe since World War II.
CAVOLI: So, it's a very serious situation, obviously, right? We've seen large-scale aggression, state on state, returned to the European continent that hasn't been here for decades. For 80 years, it hasn't been here, really because of the NATO alliance. And so, it's a very serious situation.
AMANPOUR: Are you surprised by the amount of stress that NATO is getting?
CAVOLI: No, not at all.
AMANPOUR: I mean, obviously Ukraine is getting a lot of stress, and Ukrainians are dying, and Ukrainians are fighting. But you're trying to provide the weapons and as much help as you can. And yet we see that there's -- Europe has not been able to produce enough quantity to be able to give Ukraine what it needs, or even, they say, the defense secretary, to actually defend Europe at the moment. Are you surprised by that shortfall?
CAVOLI: Well, if I can start with your first question, you know, I'm not surprised at the amount of stress NATO is getting. Not at all.
NATO's been there the whole time. NATO's been waiting -- AMANPOUR: But did you expect to be facing off against Russia?
CAVOLI: Well, no.
AMANPOUR: 80 years later?
CAVOLI: We didn't expect to do that. We thought we were going to be in a better place over the last 35 years. We hoped for the best. But the alliance has always been ready for this. And the alliance is returning to its roots of collective defense, territorial defense, very firmly planted on the eastern flank of NATO right now.
AMANPOUR: So, there is something like 90,000 forces, right, that are undertaking exercises right now?
What should an adversary, the current one, take away from that?
CAVOLI: The adversary would see a large military force that's under a cohesive, unified command that's able to move quickly across the continent to the point of need. And that's something they should take note of.
AMANPOUR: Do you feel, like many do who I talk to that Europe, the United States, should be preparing for a great power war?
CAVOLI: Well, the military should always be preparing for war. That's the way we keep the peace.
AMANPOUR: It's more imminent than it's ever been?
CAVOLI: Well, I think you know, serious times, as we said a minute ago. But the alliance is reacting exactly as the alliance should, by focusing on its readiness, by focusing on its plans, and being able to deter any conflict.
I mean, you know, the question of great power conflict in Europe is a crucial one, and it's really our job, my job, to make sure it doesn't happen.
AMANPOUR: And do you think that the seven-month delay of American weapons to the front in Ukraine -- well, do you think the Ukrainians can recover from that?
CAVOLI: Yes. Yes.
AMANPOUR: How?
CAVOLI: They're recovering from it right now. First of all, we had things stacked up ready to ship. So, as soon as we got the authority to ship things into Ukraine, we began to do that, again, within a couple of hours, literally.
And so, a vast quantity of stuff has been moved in in a very short amount of time, and it's making a difference on the battlefield, as you can see.
In addition to that, the Ukrainians -- the Ukrainians understood. They're keen observers of U.S. politics and western politics in general. They understood what was going on and they cleverly and strategically husbanded their resources and managed their operations accordingly.
AMANPOUR: Let me ask you, because -- I'm going to paraphrase what but General Eisenhower said in his broadcast on June 6, 1944, you know, we are coming to liberate you and also to prepare for the liberation of all occupied territories.
And there're certain polls and surveys that suggest that Europeans are not quite sure whether they can depend on America like they did 80 years ago, not just because of what we're seeing in Ukraine and the troubles and the stresses on the military, but also because of isolationist politics, because of an America First, about harking back, you know, I mean, Trump is merely a reincarnation of stuff that happened before the Second World War.
Do you -- how should people feel about America's commitment and ability and desire to keep defending them?
CAVOLI: Yes. So, the fact that the SACEUR, the Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, is always an American is just one small representation of how committed we are to this cause.
The United States has always been here. It's always been a member of NATO. It always will be a member and we're right here.
[11:44:49]
We have thousands of soldiers that we deployed over here at the initiation of the war in Ukraine so that we could help our European allies to deter any further aggression.
And as our allies have generated force, we've been able to pull some of those guys back. But the fact is, when the U.S. is needed, the U.S. is there.
AMANPOUR: All right. General Cavoli, thank you very much indeed.
CAVOLI: Thank you so much.
AMANPOUR: Appreciate it. (END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: And coming up on our special report from my archives -- frozen in time. The untouched ruins of a French village stand as a dark reminder of Nazi atrocities here in France 80 years ago.
[11:45:27]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program.
For decades, Normandy, where I am this week has been transformed into a living memorial with ceremonies and parades. The brave forces that stormed these beaches on June 6, 1944 are honored and remembered.
But as the allies landed on this coastline, many communities throughout Europe was still facing unimaginable horrors at the hands of the Nazis.
From my archive this week remembering one of those small villages here in France I visited with the survivors of Oradour-Sur-Glane, who recounted the atrocities and the enduring scars left behind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: They say the sun rarely shines on Oradour-Sur-Glane. Here, the rain and the tears mix freely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes me want to cry. British infantry man, Jim Muggleton (ph) landed in Normandy 50 years ago 500 kilometers away, an SS unit was storming through the tiny village of Oradour, trying to reinforce German troops on the coast with orders to terrorize the countryside on the way.
And so on June 10, 1944 the Nazis rounded up all the civilians on the village green. They separated the women and children from the men, locking about 190 men in the village bonds.
Marcel (INAUDIBLE) was 20 then. He was one of only six males survivors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "We were over there. They were here, five soldiers with machine guns. We heard a shot outside, an order, and all of a sudden they started firing. I was lucky. Very lucky that day or two bullets in my legs, two in my thighs. I was among the first to fall. All the others fell on top of me. They protected me.
AMANPOUR: Then the Germans covered their victims with straw and wood and set the fires that would eventually destroy the whole village. Somehow, Marcel and five others managed to escape. Today, a plaque commemorates what they did.
The women and children were not spared. In the village church, some as young as this one were being shot and burned too. In all, 205 children were killed, nearly 300 women. Only one managed to escape somehow scrambling through a window above the altar. She too is remembered forever.
Jean L'Amour (ph) is guardian of this village turned museum he was lucky back in 1944.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was not yet born. My mother was pregnant with me. On Jun 10, my parents were invited to a wedding in the next village. The left here an hour before the (INAUDIBLE) arrived.
They left behind my grandparents and great grandparents and my sister was 4 years old. We never saw them again.
AMANPOUR: All that's left of Jean's family is this memorial in the cemetery. Because everything was burned, there are no remains, just a few bones and the ashes of an entire village mixed forever.
It was in March 1945, nearly a year after the massacre, that General De Gaulle (ph) came to this village and described it as a symbol of the misery of this country. He insisted then that it should remain as it is as a lesson, as a warning that something like this should never happen again.
And so nothing has changed. Rusted cars parked 50 years ago, a bicycle, a sewing machine and signs showing what once was a cafe and a butcher's shop.
No one lives here. It's meant to be a warning, but humanities thirst what the inhuman has not been quenched. You don't have to search far to see that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what's going on in the world right now in Rwanda and Bosnia and all the other hotspots that -- we've got to change. Now, for future generations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: We must change now for future generations, the words of that horrified visitor I met in Oradour still ring true today. And the need to prevent these atrocities has never felt more urgent than now, more than two years into Putin's war in Ukraine and as Israel's war in Gaza, in response to the October 7th atrocities approaches its eighth month.
We'll be right back.
[11:54:37]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program.
This D-Day 80 years on from that pivotal turning point in history, how many of the few remaining survivors thought that we would be fighting another existential war in Europe. As Ukrainian freedom fighters battle Russian invaders, this anniversary we ask whether democracy can survive.
[11:59:50]
AMANPOUR: And the answer, of course, is yes, as long as we're prepared to fight for it as everyone here has told us.
Like those brave fighters who sacrificed everything 80 years ago, and whose memory and heroism we honor at the cemetery in which so many of them have been laid to rest.
That's all we have time for this week. Don't forget, you can find all of our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/podcast, and on all other major platforms.
I'm Christiana Amanpour in Normandy, France.
Thank you for watching and see you again next week.
