December 16, 2008
Posted: 04:20 PM ET
From CNN Producer Eric Marrapodi 
Wireless carriers in the D.C.-metro area are preparing for a massive cell phone traffic gridlock on Inauguration Day.
 WASHINGTON (CNN) — Hundreds of thousands of Americans are planning to converge on the National Mall to witness the historic moment when Barack Obama takes the oath of office and becomes the nation's first African-American president. But if they plan to share pictures or video of the moment Obama utters "so help me God," with friends and family using their mobile phones, they may have to wait. And wait… and wait… and wait. The cell systems around the National Mall will be overloaded if the expected record crowds actually materialize, according to a spokesman for CTIA, the association representing wireless carriers. All those phone calls, texts, picture and video messages will hit a log jam. "It'll be like everyone leaving the beach at the same time after the Fourth of July," said Joe Farren. "All roads will come to a standstill." Filed under: Inauguration November 5, 2008
Posted: 07:05 PM ET
From CNN Producer Eric Marrapodi 
Before stepping on stage Tuesday night to address his supporters; the nation; and to a certain extent, the world, Sen. Barack Obama took a moment to pray with a conservative evangelical pastor.
(CNN) — Before he delivered his victory speech on Tuesday night in Chicago, President-elect Barack Obama took a call and bowed his head in prayer. Dr. Joel Hunter, pastor of Northland Church in Orlando, Florida and Otis Moss Jr. from Mount Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio joined him in that prayer. Speaking with CNN today by phone, Dr. Hunter says the prayer was intensely personal and private but did say “I prayed for his family and for him and for the country. I had no agenda other than trying to create an environment in which he felt the presence and could receive wisdom from God.” Dr. Hunter, a conservative evangelical who delivered a prayer at the Democratic National Convention this summer, says the President-elect “…feels the weight of this responsibility. He [Obama] doesn’t take upon himself of having to have all the answers but he certainly realizes the huge challenges this nation faces. He feels the personal weight of the potential to guide us through these difficult times. I don’t think he’s oppressed by it though.” Dr. Hunter says he thinks it set in for Obama last night and led to the sober tone of the victory speech. Filed under: Barack Obama |
 
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