President Obama, First Lady Walk in Parade
BLITZER: Welcome back. You're looking at live pictures of the White House. We anticipate the president of the United States will be walking out of the White House, the north side of the White House, heading over to the reviewing stand to watch this parade. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM on this historic day, the day that has seen a new president of the United States sworn in, a day where Barack Obama spent some time, not only at a luncheon on Capitol Hill, but then making his way over to the White House and getting ready to watch this parade unfold. Soledad O'Brien is here with me, as we watch and we wait to see the president and the first lady. They -- they are getting ready to go out of the White House. They are freshening up a little bit, after what's been an exciting day already. And we hope to see live pictures of them emerge from that door right there. I have to tell you, I have seen a lot of these inaugural events over the years. I know David Gergen has. Gloria Borger has as well. This time, it's different. And it's not just because Barack Obama is the first African-American who is president, but it's different for some other reasons as well.</s>O'BRIEN: You know, I think Colin Powell actually hit the nail on the head, when he was talking to you, Wolf, when he said, you know, it's a new generation, also. And, while we have been talking a lot about the fact that Barack Obama is African-American, there's a lot to talk about. Generationally, he's very different, the -- the fact that the embrace of technology not only gave him a big lead in the race, but it also made him different. And I actually think there was a line about technology in his speech, when he talked about the different ways -- we may use different ways to get out information or something. It was a really, you know, interesting line that, to me, sounded like a shout out to technology, if you will.</s>GERGEN: There is a passing of the torch, generationally, here, because when he -- when they had that lunch in the Oval Office, he was 15 years younger than any other -- anybody else of the -- of the former presidents. Both -- both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are 15 years older than he is. And I -- one of the reasons he connects so well to the young is, he's so much closer, both in age, but also culturally. He understands the music. He gets the -- he has the cultural signals. And he connects well. I think that's one of the reasons he stirs their -- their idealism. His story is one that they can relate to, more than they can relate to a George W. Bush story or...</s>BORGER: I think that's, also, politically, what -- what concerns a lot of Republicans, because a new generation of voters has been engaged. And, very often, where you vote the first time is where you end up voting 20 years from now. And I think that -- the Republicans are concerned that, in fact, he's engaged a whole new generation of Democrats here.</s>O'BRIEN: It was Tom Foreman who said that the Web site, it's up already, and already has streaming video. I mean, it's -- you know, it's a good Web site. It's a different Web site. I mean, one...</s>BLITZER: I suspect that the -- the -- the crowd going to that White House Web site, the traffic will increase dramatically, now that it's the president Barack Obama's Web site at the White House, as opposed to President Bush's Web site at the White House.</s>GERGEN: Right. And it will be interesting to watch the next two or three days, as they start making hard decisions, whether it's about Iraq, or about -- or about the economy, or about stem cell research, how they use that Web site to communicate, and to govern, and to keep this coalition moving.</s>O'BRIEN: The line from his speech, Wolf, is: "Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new." You know, new instruments, new ways of communicating and dealing with...</s>GERGEN: But old values.</s>O'BRIEN: And old values is the next part of that speech.</s>BORGER: But -- but it's also, in a way, Reaganesque. I mean, Reagan did it differently, but he went over the heads of Congress to the American people, spoke directly to the American people. Obama will do that, too, but in a very different way, using technology. But...</s>GERGEN: But what was interesting -- Gloria said -- was just reporting in that how -- how reality is intruding this afternoon with the stock market.</s>BORGER: Down 360 points.</s>BLITZER: Yes.</s>GERGEN: I mean, and it doesn't wait on inaugurations.</s>BLITZER: That's the reviewing stand on the north side of the White House, across the street from Lafayette Park here in Washington. You can see the little pool there. At some point, the president and first lady will walk out of that door. You saw an honor guard and a -- a path that has been created on the North Lawn for them to walk, a very -- there it is right there. You see the blue carpeting that has been set there on the North Lawn of the White House. They will walk down there to the reviewing stand. They will take a seat inside that glass-protected area, and then have a first-row -- front-row seat to all these -- all these participants, 10,000 to 13,000 of them, who have come to Washington to participate and to celebrate this new president of the United States. Once the president is in that reviewing stand, those seats that you see still empty, I'm sure they will all fill up with his invited guests in that reviewing stand right there. That's a beautiful scene, indeed.</s>GERGEN: We don't have any cameras, Wolf -- we don't have any cameras by the West Wing, do we? We can't see if he's in that Oval Office.</s>BLITZER: No, we have no cameras inside.</s>BORGER: Can't peer in there, huh?</s>BLITZER: We have cameras all over the White House outside, but we don't have cameras, unfortunately, inside. We don't know what he's doing.</s>BLITZER: But, at some point, maybe we will get a little briefing from the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs.</s>GERGEN: Well, this new -- this new openness and accessibility, maybe CNN can just put a camera in the Oval Office.</s>BLITZER: No. CNN is good, but not necessarily all that good. We're -- we're going to continue. We're also getting word on a sad story that we were covering earlier in the day. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, unfortunately, took ill. We don't know if it was a seizure, what it was. But he was rushed to a local hospital at that luncheon. He had come up to Capitol Hill to celebrate Barack Obama's inauguration. We're now told by his colleague from Massachusetts, Senator John Kerry, that Senator Kennedy is alert. He's in good spirits, expects to spend the night in the hospital, which is totally understandable. Senator Kennedy, according to Senator Kerry, his Irish is up, which is encouraging to hear for all of us. That's good news, given the fact that Senator Kennedy, as we know, last year suffered a brain tumor, had surgery, and had seizures last year. And let's hope for the best. There, you see the new vice president of the United States and his wife, Jill Biden. They are walking towards the White House from the area of the Old Executive Office Building. They have wrapped up their participation in the parade. And they will be joining the president and the first lady in the reviewing stand as they go forward. I -- I can only imagine, David, what Joe Biden is thinking right now. He's been in Washington for 35 years or so, and now he's the vice president of the United States.</s>GERGEN: Well, you know, there was -- there was a moment when one wondered whether he really wanted to do this. But he's clearly loving it.</s>GERGEN: I mean, he almost has a Teddy Roosevelt kind of quality, bouncing around today. He's got this huge grin on his face. He's enjoying every moment of this to the hilt.</s>BORGER: You know why? He doesn't have to commute anymore.</s>BORGER: He used to take the Amtrak home to Wilmington every night. And now...</s>GERGEN: Well -- well, that's right. If he had been the vice president, he wouldn't be -- I mean, if he had been the secretary of state, he wouldn't be in this parade, right?</s>BORGER: That's right. That's right. He just lives on Massachusetts Avenue now.</s>GERGEN: Why not enjoy it?</s>BLITZER: All right, guys. As we watch Joe Biden and Jill Biden make their way to the reviewing stand, I want to go to Tom Foreman, because he's got something we have been promising our viewers for some time that they would see, the first image from satellite, from a satellite of what happened at that moment when Barack Obama became president. A remarkable shot, indeed, from space, Tom.</s>TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, I think this may be one of the real shots of the day, the thing to look at. Look at this down on the ground. This is the Mall. And these dark masses here that look like anthills down here are the enormous number of people that packed in around here. Over here, right up at the Capitol, you can see all the official seating up there. That's just all dark up in there. We are going to come in very tight on this picture, so you really see it. Every one of those dark, dark little specks there, those are all people. They're wearing all sorts of different colors, but they are all so packed together, it just looks like a mass of ants there. And, as you move away from the Capitol, down the Mall, with each little place, you see another deep clustering of people right in there. Let's go back over to the Capitol for a minute. This is -- I'm going to walk right up here to the screen and show you. This is the Capitol right there. This is where Barack Obama was standing. And all of this is people, a solid, solid mass of people. And, as you work your way down, you start seeing more and more people gathered that way. You can see that they go in clusters here. At every road, they push forward to the barricade. Then you go back to the next one. They push forward. So, it's just as dense back here as it is up there, with these little gaps in between the further back you go. And then, here at the -- at the Washington Monument, look, two enormous clusters of people way back here. This is about a mile-and- a-half...</s>O'BRIEN: Oh, the country now has little girls to watch grow up. What a wonderful thing, I think, for us as a nation to get to experience the White House and -- and all the great stuff about politics that sometimes the folks who are battling it out on Capitol Hill don't really get to experience. We will see all that through their eyes. I think that will be a really wonderful experience, and to see them grow up. I mean, what's better than watching a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old become young ladies? That will be really fun, a real treat. And my kids -- and I know so many others...</s>BLITZER: All right, let's -- let's see if we can hear what they are saying.</s>ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States, the first lady, Michelle Obama, and their children, Sasha and Malia.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hey!</s>MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: We're here!</s>B. OBAMA: Thank you so much. Thank you. It's good to see you, Leo (ph)!</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you?</s>M. OBAMA: I'm doing (OFF-MIKE)</s>BLITZER: All right, so, he's now in the reviewing stand. We see John Podesta there right in the middle. He's -- that's a former chief of staff, but he was leading the transition for Barack Obama, invited guests. What a -- what a hot seat this is, to be in the reviewing stand, together with the president, the first lady, their two daughters, as this parade gets going outside the White House. It's, I would venture to say, David, the hottest seat in town right now.</s>GERGEN: It's a very big honor to be in that. I have -- I have had the occasion to be there before. And it's a -- it's one of those memorable experiences. You just don't forget being up in that reviewing stand. And I -- I'm going to be curious now to see if that pilot of that U.S. Air flight, who was up on the platform this morning.</s>BLITZER: Yes.</s>GERGEN: That was a surprise -- whether he's the kind of person they will have. They will have a lot of personal friends and the John Podestas, people who helped to get them there, who deserve a place on that -- in that reviewing stand.</s>BLITZER: Gloria, they worked hard to reach this moment, and they are finally there.</s>BORGER: Yes. And I think a lot of people who helped him get to this moment are going to be in that reviewing stand. And, of course, you see the vice president over there. And I just keep thinking how different it's going to be to have children, young children, in the White House. And we talk about the president living in a bubble. Well, kids keep you out of a bubble a lot of the time. And I think that's going to be so useful.</s>O'BRIEN: It was also nice to see, when that</s>GERGEN: Yes.</s>O'BRIEN: ... because that can be terrifying. For a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old, that could be really scary. And, you know, their faces will reveal that, and, instead, big grins. I mean, they are so excited. They are so happy. And it sort of -- you know, it makes your heart leap, that they could really enjoy this experience, too, because they are going to see -- the spotlight is on them now. It really is.</s>BLITZER: Some happy, happy friends inside...</s>BLITZER: ... there. He -- there -- there they are. You can see the daughters, the first family.</s>GERGEN: The...</s>BLITZER: They are having a -- a little chat before some of the floats come, before some of those -- those marching bands stop by to entertain the president. Let's listen in right now.