ROBERT SIEGEL, Host:
From the Capitol terrace, he moved inside for lunch with congressional leaders, former presidents, and others. And from there, a procession down Pennsylvania Avenue, to Mr. Obama's new home and office, the White House.
MELISSA BLOCK, Host:
And our co-host Michele Norris joins us from along President Obama's parade route. She's just west of the U.S. Capitol, outside the Canadian Embassy on Pennsylvania Avenue. And Michelle, you're overlooking the inaugural parade right now. Tell us what you see.
MICHELE NORRIS: I am. Right now there's a lull in the action. Right in front of this building, we've had a number of military bands go by and we're waiting to see most of the states. They all sent entertainers and equestrian crews and bands. But the big news is actually, Melissa, just a few blocks away from me, where the presidential motorcade has already moved passed the Canadian Embassy and where President Obama and Michelle Obama hopped out of the car, walked, it looked to be about a block or two stretch of the parade route, to the delight of the crowd, and probably the great heartburn of the secret service agents that are protecting them. But they walked hand-in-hand, waved for a while, it looks like it's that stretch that's near the Department of Justice and the old post office building. And then now they're back in that motorcade and they're inching, moving very slowly, closer to their new home.
BLOCK: Uh-huh. No sign of the daughters Malia and Sasha walking along with them.
NORRIS: No, they were, from what I can see, again this is a bit a ways from me, I'm seeing this on Jumbotrons, I just saw the two of them, the daughters at this point are still in the car. Now in the past presidents have, I believe, gotten out of the car more than once. So, you may see them, all four of them, the new first family, jump out again along the parade route. But certainly when they get closer to the White House where they will view the rest of the parade in this very elaborate viewing stand that is positioned right in front of the White House and they view the parade behind this sort-of Plexiglas glass partitioned viewing stand right there in front of the White House in Lafayette Square.
BLOCK: Michelle, tell us about the mood from where you are right now.
NORRIS: Well, it's celebratory. I mean it's what you would expect at a parade. And you felt that all day long. When I say all day, I mean all day, beginning in the very early, early hours of the day. I was making my way through Washington about 4:30, 5 this morning. I have never seen so many people out, in force, in this city that early in the morning. It looked about like what it does at about 4:30 in the afternoon. People already making their down to the mall. And Melissa, I've covered a lot of inaugurations, but one thing that struck me, is that there are a lot of people that you don't normally see at inaugurations. A lot more families. A lot more young people. A lot more people of color - not surprising given what we've seen today, with this historic breakthrough.
BLOCK: Sure. Your impressions, Michele? You watched the swearing-in up close during NPR's live coverage of the event. What do you take away from today?
NORRIS: Well, I was 100 feet away. It really was a wonderful vantage point. What I noticed in the president is a very somber tone. He's not the person that you saw on the campaign trail. The fiery rhetoric seems to be toned down a bit, a bit closer to the ground. The only thing that really struck me, is the, again, the first family. There was this moment - a little moment, if you hadn't really paid attention you might have missed it - but when he walked forward with his family to take the oath of office, the two girls were behind him, and they were literally skipping up to the podium. It was just a sweet little moment that came out.
BLOCK: OK, Michele, thank you.
NORRIS: Thank you, Melissa.
BLOCK: That's our co-host Michele Norris. She's out along the parade route, watching as it moves up from Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol toward the White House.