Hundreds of thousands gathered on the National Mall for the Women's March on Washington to say women will not be silent during President Donald Trump's presidency.
The mission statement of the Women's March on Washington says event participants are "hurting and scared" as Trump takes office and they want a greater voice for women in political life.
Dozens of activists, political leaders, film stars and musical artists took the stage in protest of the new president.
[NATL-DC] PHOTOS: Women's March on Washington Takes Over DC
Trump Can't Miss Marchers on Trip Home From CIA
On his way back from the CIA, President Donald Trump has gotten a first-hand look at the Women's March on Washington.
As the president's motorcade wound through downtown Washington, he passed by hundreds of demonstrators lining the streets.
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Many were holding bright pink signs, and they screamed and chanted as he drove past them in the impossible-to-miss presidential limo. Thousands gathered on the Ellipse are also visible from the White House lawn.
Their roar was also clearly audible to passengers stepping out of the presidential motorcade and back into the White House.
[NATL-DC] PHOTOS: Signs Spotted at the Women's March on Washington
Demonstrators Block Traffic on Way to Ellipse
Seas of demonstrators blocked traffic as they walked from the National Mall to the Ellipse in front of the White House.
On one street, a police car trying to move got stuck in the crowd. Marchers surrounded a float that had several supporters of President Trump on board and chanted, "shame."
Other marchers shouted "black lives matter" and "my body, my choice" as they moved along Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House.
On the other side of the Mall, rally-goers are headed home. The line to get on the escalator at the Judiciary Square Metro station is half a city block long.
Madonna: 'I've Thought a Lot About Blowing Up the White House'
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“Yes, I have thought a lot about blowing up the White House … but I choose love,” pop superstar Madonna said in an F-bomb-laden speech.
She took to the stage just as demonstrators were starting to head toward the Ellipse despite the formal march being called off due to the massive crowd.
It took "this horrific moment" of Donald Trump's inauguration as president to wake up the United States, she said.
Saturday's march means "that we are far from the end" and it is the start of a revolution to fight for the right to be free and equal, she said.
Like-minded Americans need to join together to make it "through this darkness" and show "we are not afraid, that we are not alone."
She followed her comments with a performance of "Express Yourself" and "Human Nature."
[NATL] From Antarctica to Europe: Women's Marches Around the World
Formal March Called Off; Demonstrators Still Encouraged to Head to Ellipse
Though the formal march toward the White House was canceled due to the massive turnout, organizers encouraged demonstrators to march on their own to the Ellipse in front of the White House.
The entire planned route filled with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, said a D.C. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official isn't authorized to speak for the march.
People ended up marching in smaller groups and in all directions on many streets, News4's Julie Carey reported.
Alicia Keys Samples Maya Angelou
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Before singing her own hit “Girl on Fire,” Alicia Keys read from Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise.”
“Out of the huts of history’s shame/I rise,” she read. “Up from a past that’s rooted in pain/I rise./I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide/welling and swelling, I bear in the tide./Leaving behind nights of terror and fear/I rise./Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear/I rise./Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,/I am the dream and the hope of the slave./I rise.”
She continued with Angelou’s theme, weaving the message of the march into her own rhymes.
Scarlett Johansson Touts Planned Parenthood
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Actress Scarlett Johansson shared a personal story about Planned Parenthood.
At 15, when she told her mother she noticed a change in her body, she asked if she’d been to a gynecologist yet. She had. Living in New York City, she had visited a Planned Parenthood there.
Her clinician there offered her safe place and guidance without judgment, Johansson said.
“I’m sure there isn’t one person here who has not been helped by Planned Parenthood directly or otherwise.
Planned Parenthood President: Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights
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Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards addressed Trump's platform to cut off funding to the organization, saying, “For the majority of people in this country, Planned Parenthood is not the problem, we’re the solution.”
"Reproductive rights are human rights,” Richards said. “You need to know that starting this week Congress is going to be moving quickly to try to pass restrictions of reproductive access and we cannot let them. You need to call your member of Congress, call your Senator, and say we will not go back."
She called the march a time to link arms for women's rights.
"One of us can be dismissed, two of us can be ignored, but together we are a movement and we are unstoppable," she said.
Trump’s Motorcade Passes Demonstrators
President Donald Trump got a view of the demonstrators in town for the Women's March on Washington from the window of his limo as his motorcade passed several prominent groups of demonstrators as he returned to the White House from a prayer service.
As he crossed one intersection, cars honked loudly.
Some of the demonstrators held up signs that likened women's rights to human rights -- a nod to a famous speech that former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton gave in China as first lady.
Ashley Judd Recites Poem: ‘I Am a Nasty Woman’
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Actress Ashley Judd excited the crowd reading a poem written by a 19-year-old Tennessee woman, in which she describes how she is and isn’t nasty.
"I'm not nasty like the combo of Trump and Pence being served up to me in my voting booth,” she read. “I'm nasty like the battles my grandmothers fought to get me into that voting booth. I'm nasty like the fight for wage equality."
More Take Metro to March Than Inauguration
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As of 11 a.m., about 275,000 people had taken Metrorail, compared with 193,000 trips taken by the same time on Inauguration Day, when the system opened an hour earlier at 4 a.m., the transit agency said.
Saturday's ridership figures were more than eight times a normal Saturday and busier than most weekdays.
Before the inauguration Friday morning, Metro subway officials said only two of its parking garages and lots were at more than 60 percent capacity. Many garages and lots at the ends of subway lines are at or near capacity Saturday.
In addition, some 1,800 buses were registered to park in the city. Greyhound reported adding more buses from New York. And a commuter rail system in Washington added five times its normal capacity to help deal with the crowds.
Michael Moore Vows to End Trump Carnage, Joins Planned Parenthood
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Filmmaker Michael Moore said he's at the Women's March on Washington “to vow to end the Trump carnage.”
Moore riffed on a phrase from Trump's inaugural address, in which he said he would stop the “American carnage.”
Moore urged attendees to call their members of Congress every day to protest Trump's policies.
“We have to get busy,” he said.
Those concerned about Trump should join organizations like Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and environmental groups, Moore said. He said he joined Planned Parenthood on Saturday morning.
Bowser to Trump: ‘Leave Us Alone’
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The best thing the federal government led by Trump can do is “leave us alone,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said.
She said she's speaking at the Women's March on Washington on behalf of all female elected officials. Women are more harshly and unfairly criticized at every level of government, she said.
Bowser appeared at the rally wearing a pointy-eared “pussyhat.”
“We need every woman and every man to speak up for us,” she said.
In the era of President Trump, Americans must stand up for immigration rights and LGBT rights, Bowser said. They also must fight for climate protection and public education.
Gloria Steinem: Saturday’s Worldwide Mobilization Is the Upside
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Feminist leader Gloria Steinem described Saturday’s worldwide mobilization as “the upside of the downside: This is an outpouring of energy and democracy like I have never seen in my very long life.”
“Sometimes we must put our bodies where our beliefs are,” she told the crowd, labeling Trump an “impossible president.”
PHOTOS: 'United u0026 Empowered:' Here's What Women's March Participants Had to Say
America Ferrera: We Are Under Attack From Trump
“Every single one of us” is under attack by President Donald Trump, actress America Ferrera said at the start of the rally.
She said people are gathered in the capital and across the country to say to Trump, “We refuse.”
The Emmy Award winner and star of NBC’s prime-time sitcom “Superstore” said the marchers refuse to give up their “right to safe and legal abortions” and reject demonizing of Muslims.
The U.S. won't ask LGBT Americans to go backward and won't go from a nation of immigrants to “a nation of ignorance.”
Charlie Brotman Welcomes Women's March to Washington
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Legendary announcer Charlie Brotman called all the women at the march "Charlie's angels" as the rally began Saturday morning.
A day after he didn't announce the inauguration for the first time since 1957, the 89-year-old welcomed the organizers of the Women's March to Washington.
Hillary Clinton Tweets Praise for Demonstrators
Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton tweeted praise for the demonstrators, thanking attendees for “standing, speaking and marching for our values.” It's as “important as ever,” she said.
Clinton also revived her campaign slogan, tweeting she believes “we're always Stronger Together.”
Clinton attended the inauguration Friday.
