veteran about getting soaked in the rain. frank devita. thank you, frank. thank you very much. you look so comfortable up there under shelter as we re getting drenched. you re very smart people. my goodness. roberto costa, national political reporter for the post, my dear friend. he s the moderator of washington week on pbs. take me inside the white house. the president bailing on saturday s event. was it poor planning? i mean, the weather? i m sure they could have organized a motorcade in time. stephanie, when you look at this trip, you see a president who s isolated not only in terms of logistics and planning for these events but isolated ideologically and politically with the macron speech about nationalism and many western european leaders railing against the rise of nationalism.
is home after spending the weekend in paris. he was there with other world leaders to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of world war i. the president, however, managed to make both days of solemn and somber remembrance about him, thanks in part to the weather. frank devita, thank you, frank. thank you very much. you look so comfortable up there under shelter as we re getting drenched. you re very smart people. the president on sunday joking about veterans who fought an actual war staying dry while he had to stand outside in a little rain. and on saturday it was rain that prompted him to skip a planned visit to a cemetary outside of paris. all the other world leaders managed to get there. the french army responded, tweeting out this picture with a caption that roughly translates to, the rain isn t serious. stay motivated. i m joined by hans nichols.
we begin in paris where world leaders gathered over the weekend to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of world war i. president trump did not attend several of the major events. on saturday the president and first lady for scheduled to visit a cemetery. however, the commander in chief cancelled that visit, citing the weather as the reason. he did speak, though, at a different american cemetery on sunday and had this message for a world war ii veteran in attendance. frank devita. thank you, frank. you look so comfortable up there under shelter as we re getting drenched. you re very smart people. the weather didn t stop other
down. the president it s true, they all believed it. those who died, the brave. yes. yes. i ve got friends out there. and it was our own tom brokaw who coined the phrase the greatest generation. tom is reunited with a man of many many of his friends who have come back to normandy and shares this story of frank devita to stormed the beach aboard a u.s. coast guard boat. he passes on his memories to four generations of his family. all of these people what an honor. it s an honor for them to have you as a father or grandfather and i think the other important thing is it s an honor for them to come here, that you went back, survived the war and turned out this wonderful family.
reporter: it was an emotional jushy back to omaha beach where i caught up with frank devia and four generations of his family. all these people came here for me? what an honor. it s an honor for them to have you as a father and a grandfather and i think the other important thing is it s an honor for them to come here that you went back survived the war, and turned out this wonderful family. yes. what s the lesson for these generations of the devita family to come here and revisit it? love your freedom, because that s what we thoughtfought for. we fought for the freedom. now he feels a duty and honor to speak for the men who died that day. these kids were 18 19 years old. they re never going to see their son play little league baseball. they re never going to walk their daughter down the aisle. they re never going to hold their grandchild in their arms.