joining us from the parade route along the champs d elysees, cnn s melissa bell. good morning. it s interesting that the president has come to power on the america first slogan. this is a reminder that it was the american leadership that defined the last century. reporter: you put your finger on it, christine. you have to understand that with donald trump s victory in the american election, all eyes in europe were very much on what was likely to happen next. and indeed, alarm continued to grow with everything that donald trump had to say about nato, with the retreat behind american borders. and the question for the rest of the world is what is america s role as the leader of the western liberal order? what happens if that goes away? over the last few months, you ve seen the idea that that was necessarily what was going to
at least it was defined by america and has international help and aspirations. thank you very much, jeff zeleny. with all that as the backdrop, the president and first lady attending the bastille day parade in paris this morning, along with the president of france and his wife. they ll watch french and american troops marching side by side marking 100 years since the u.s. entered world war i, turning the tide in that bloody conflict. joining us from the parade route along the champs d elysees, cnn s melissa bell. good morning to you. let s talk about the relationship if you, can real quick, that was described as awkward coming in. macron and trump, would you describe it as chummy so far? reporter: i wouldn t go so far as bromance, but definitely chummy territory. it had been two alpha males squaring off until now. last night what you saw in the press conference, it startled
president of france and his wife, brigitte. they re watching french and american troops marching side by side. also marking 100 years since the u.s. entered world war i, turning the tide in the conflict. joining us from the parade route along the champs d elysees, cnn s melissa bell. good morning to you it. what are we seeing there along the one-mile route? reporter: dave, i have a really good vantage position here on the two presidents. the last 45 minutes, there s been a lot of chatting going on. much to the surprise of the french and european press, as a whole. they continue as they watch the parade together. i think all of europe will be looking forward to the visit which wraps up when the president donald trump flies back to the united states with a renewed sense of hope that perhaps the american president has been convinced of the