"From what I gather," Rosen told Anderson Cooper, "every gay person who paid attention to this today felt like we were kicked in the stomach." It was "outrageous" to pick a "divisive figure" such as Warren on a "day of bringing the country together." Warren, she said, uses religion as a weapon against gays.

Panelist Robert Zimmerman agreed that gays should be afforded marriage rights, calling Warren's statements "divisive and ignorant," but said that the inauguration is "much bigger than Rick Warren," and that the goal in including Warren was one of unity. "It's very important to note how the Evangelical community has stood up on issues such as world poverty, or the AIDS pandemic, or the environmental causes. And we're seeing, in fact, progress made in vote after vote to bring the vote around for the rights of gays and lesbians to marry."

"Inauguration Day is not a political negotiation," Rosen countered. "If you want to talk about issues that Evangelicals and progressives can agree on, do that. But what this is, is a symbol to America about the kind of people that we respect and want to be, and the messages that they deliver."

"[At] one time, the Bible was used to justify slavery," she went on. "If this was a preacher out there using moral weapons against African-Americans, we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

"When you have an invocation it's kind of a prayerful blessing with some moral authority talking about the direction of the country and conferring some authority on this president, and I think Rick Warren loses his moral authority when he is completely hypocritical in the way he deals with the issue of gays and lesbians and equality. And I just think, the fact that you have to have this conversation about Rick Warren proves he's a bad choice. That's not what the day is for."

As the move could be construed as "an attempt to reach out to social conservatives, and Barack Obama is the president of all Americans, not just liberal Democratic Americans," countered American Morning host John Roberts, "just to play devil's advocate here...he's giving the invocation here, he's not making policy."

Obama spokesperson Linda Douglass said in a statement:

"The president-elect certainly disagrees with him on [LGBT] issues. But it has always been his goal to find common ground with people with whom you may disagree on some issues."

"I just think that on this day, in this moment," Rosen said, "he could have found, and should have found, pastors and preachers that have a much more inclusive, holistic message for the country."

The following video segments were aired on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 on December 17, 2008, and CNN's American Morning on December 18, 2008, respectively: