Liveblogging Pre-Inauguration Festivities

9:57 AM: NBC just asked if someone who knows Washington can estimate the size of the crowd on the mall. I will. Generally speaking, a million people, from what I've learned from previous marches, fill the mall from the Congress to the Washington Monument, with very little space showing on the ground. NBC reports that people have filled the mall from the Lincoln to the Congress (the Capitol building). I think that puts us upwards of 1.5m to 1.75m on the mall, already. And we still have two hours to go. And, mind you, people are on the sidewalks, under the trees, and other places that don't show up on simple photos of the mall itself.

9:53 AM: Just shot a picture out my window. It's a balmy 23 degrees, and so crisp that every chimney stack in the city is smoking.



9:48 AM: The Church service has concluded and the trip to the White House to be greeted by the outgoing President. It's really all starting now. Michelle Obama looks perfect today. Perfect.

9:42 AM: For those of you looking for options to watch the Inauguration online, you can check out this page.

9:34 AM: CNN has a shot of the presidential limousines. I don't think that these are the new ones, I think he'll use the new one after Inauguration. Here's a shot of the new Cadillac limo. UPDATE: National Geographic has a great shot of the limo, as well as pictures from Inaugurations past.

9:31 AM: The NYSE is being opened on the steps on Federal Hall - the location of the first inauguration. The shot is a group of school children filling the stairs and and ringing bells. Cute.

9:30 AM: So I'm going back and forth between MSNBC and C-SPAN this morning. AP reported at 9:15 that the Mall was officially at capacity and closed. Current headlines on Morning Joe: Underground Trains Filled to Capacity. Security Checkpoints Overwhelmed as DC Streets Fill.

9:15 AM: A very good morning to everyone. Sadly I too have lost the battle with this season's flu and have to enjoy today's experience from Baltimore. I'm obviously extremely sad not to have been a part of today's joyful crowd. But at the same time, those of us at home have the benefit of getting a front row seat for everything and a bird's eye view of the scale of today's historic gathering.

I'm a sucker for majesty and pageantry. I'll put our traditions of government and transition of power against any nation's historic traditions - we may be young but we do it better. At least that's what I was taught in civics class back in school. But for so much of my life, DC seemed like an empty Hollywood set. DC's buildings were beautiful, inscribed with uplifting and inspiring quotes, and yet so much of what I saw was an insult to the American people. And as much as I call myself an optimist, I'm still overwhelmed by the power of people to come together and make change. To see the backdrop of Washington DC today - filled with real hope, energy, and optimism - it's something I haven't seen in my lifetime and quite honestly never thought I would see. The people on the mall today don't look like props in a Hollywood movie, they look like passionate and engaged Americans invested in their nation's future. And that's all a credit to Barack Obama and his campaign.

From the start of his campaign, Barack Obama has used long dormant parts of our democracy - fighting for every delegate, getting out and organizing, having people go out into the community and knock on doors and ask their neighbor to get involved. And today is the culmination of that work in reinvigorating democracy. Let us all hope that same energy grows beyond the campaign and the beautiful pageantry and into a newly invigorated government.