Anchor Robin Meade

This is the day … an historic event for the United States. The nation’s first African American president will be sworn in. I think it’s fair to say, no matter who you voted for in the election, this is indeed a monumental occasion.

Are you in D.C.? Are you there in spirit? Share your thoughts on this momentous occasion.

All morning, we’ll bring you the latest on the pre-inauguration events. Then, starting at 11am eastern here on HLN, I’ll be anchoring special coverage, including the live swearing-in.

I’d like to know your thoughts today about the inauguration of Barack Obama.

Does it carry a certain meaning for you … for your family?

As you watch today’s coverage, what will you be looking for? The people? Maybe the faces … the expressions in the crowd?

Or perhaps it’s Obama’s speech that’ll capture your attention?

And … what do you want to tell President Obama today?

I’d love to read your comments on the air - so post away below! And if you’re watching the inauguration … from work, from home, or perhaps if you’re there in person … we’d love to SEE your reaction. Send in your iReports to cnn.com/robin

Sports Anchor Rafer Weigel

Imagine being named after a man and growing up idolizing him. Imagine meeting that man face-to-face for your job.

A young Rafer Johnson meets with Bobby Kennedy during a People to People Ambassador Programs trip to Washington, D.C. in the 60’s.

To me, that man is Rafer Johnson. My parents named me after Johnson nine years after he won an Olympic gold medal in the decathlon and one year after he was with Robert Kennedy when Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador hotel.

Five years ago—almost to the day—I tracked Rafer down for my first assignment as a freelance reporter for the L.A. Times. I wanted to meet the man who moved my parents enough to give me such a weird name and find out what was so special about him.

I came away from that interview thinking he was the most impressive man I had ever met.

Johnson and Kennedy talk business.

It’s not his athletic achievements that make Rafer special. It’s his service. He’s helped start dozens of charities including the Special Olympics. Now he’s taking 2000 students to Washington for the inauguration through another charity, People to People.

Rafer and I met at the King Memorial Wednesday. The first thing he told me was he had enjoyed following my career and that—like me—he had the article I had written about him on his wall. It blew me away a bit. My article next to his gold medal and pictures of both Kennedy’s and other high profile people?

I wanted to talk with Rafer about what it meant to see a black man become President. Rafer had a front row seat during the civil rights movement and was the victim of a lot of discrimination the rest of us could only imagine.

Rafer himself was a man who broke color barriers. He was the first African American to win the Sullivan Award for Amateur Athlete of the year in 1960. He marched with activists and was very close to Robert Kennedy—an equal rights advocate. He even gave up a lucrative job to campaign for the Senator.

When Kennedy died, some of Rafer’s dreams died with him. It was Johnson who grabbed Sirhan Sirhan’s gun. After that day, he and many lost faith that there could ever be true change in this country and that whites and blacks could ever be on equal ground in his lifetime.

At 73 years old he’s seeing that day come about with Obama’s election by an overwhelming majority. And instead of just reveling in it, he’s using this moment to further his calling of service by bringing young people to the historic moment who wouldn't have been able to come on their own means.

For that I admire the man even more.

I suppose that’s why I busted up a bit when he told me he was proud of me at the end of the interview. It had never happened to me before—an interview subject getting ME emotional. I’m supposed to be the one who gets THEM to cry on camera.

But no, that was me at the end of the interview being overwhelmed, as I’m sure he and those 2000 students will be on Tuesday.