jesus didn't say let's forgive our trespasses as we lethally inject people. >> a lot to take in. >> as we celebrate good economic news, ali velshi pinpointed the question why we had a rebound. natural product of the business cycle, trillion dollars of monetary put up by the fred reserve or $800 billion stimulus. three possible explanations. >> $4 in your white board because really, $4 for a new white board. >> we need a sponsorship. office depot. >> i'll call my people. thanks. let's get to cnn newsroom with carol costello. >> good morning to all of you. i'm carol costello. stories we're watching right now in the newsroom, it is quite possibly the most fun way to waste taxpayer dollars. ♪ donate my vacation

a video-taped rap song by federal employees complete with shades and a ukelele bragging about how they will never be caught wasting your tax dollars. unemployment falls. our expert on everything economic christine romans will break down the numbers for us. the fashion police are more like death squads. why spiky hair cuts, skinny jeans or a t-shirt too tight can be prison or worse. the nfl is violent but kill they'd, take out the acl. pretty damning words from the saints defensive coordinator and all caught on tape. round two at the masters and it's round 12 for the political controversy over whether women should be able to join the club. now it's hit the campaign trail and the the white house. on this good friday a pilgrimage in jerusalem as christians honor jesus for his sacrifice. but we begin this morning with those that kind of disappointing news on the economy. just minutes ago we learned u.s.

payrolls rose by 120,000 jobs last month. far less than expected. the new unemployment rate though slides a bit to 8.2%. christine romans is in new york. christine, help us understand. >> well 8.2% unemployment moving in the right direction. some would say that's because people dropped out of the labor market in the month. if you look at how many jobs were created, the expectation was 200,000. it came in at 120. so not what they were hoping for overall. i want shows you a slowdown here of what had been steady gains, you know, 200,000 jobs created a month. when you look over the past three months the average job creation like 246,000 a month. 120 that's a disappointment. i want shows you that hiring slowed in the month. i want to broaden it just a little bit. this is that horrible route. this is where we lost 8.8 million jobs overall from the peak of the labor market.

this is where we were worried. then things looked up. this is not as good. you want to see that trend going a little bit better. i'll tell you 8.8 million jobs lost overall. we've added back 3.6 million of those now. one of the problems is we had 34,000 jobs lost in retail and that's a pretty good harbinger for how the consumer is feeling, for how the economy is doing. when you have retailers laying off that many people that's a danger sign. but we have seen a slowdown, carol, of the government job loss. that's important to note too. it looks as though those massive job layoffs may be tapering off. health care jobs still adding and manufacturing jobs, carol, again a good month for manufacturing jobs. little more evidence that after all of those millions of jobs lost to manufacturing some of them are starting to come back, carol. >> at least that part is good. the economy, by the way, will be the president's focus in

the next hour. we'll deliver remarks at the white house. he's hosting a forum on women and the economy. his speech is supposed to start at 10:15 eastern. we'll bring to it you live when it does. have you seen it? home made video heard around capitol hill and beyond. we heard general services administration spent $800,000 in vegas for team building. now a gsa made video poking fun at wasting your tax dollars. dana bash shows us. >> reporter: the week started with news that gsa administrator martha johnson resigned after a report detailed excess spending at a training seminar at a lavish las vegas resort back in 2010. this is something you have to see to believe. it turns out at that conference which cost taxpayers $822,000, it was kind of a talent show. the gsa picked the winner of a video contest, an employee from the regional office in hawaii won. take a look at his video and listen for him making fun of

excess spending and saying he would never be under investigation. ♪ the other thing you heard him say every gsa-5 would get a top hat five award. that's an employee entry level. it's a program worth $200,000. and what they did was give out taxpayer funded ipods, electronics and gift cards. meanwhile the gsa held an awards ceremony for that winning video at that excessive las vegas conference. what you're about to see is the deputy commissioner giving out that award. listen to him mocking the oversight of the gsa. [ applause ] >> now there's just a couple of small matters, the hotel would

like to talk to you about paying for the party that was held in the commissioner suite last night. need to take care of that. and eleanor holmes norton called, she has a couple of questions about the proposed pay increase. going against obama's administration about executive pay and incentives. >> we got this video. i'm told they got it from a disk from the inspector general. but his office is now accusing the administration of knowing about this since may of last year for 11 months and just sitting on it. the gsa is responding to all this. they are saying it's another example of lack of judgment exhibited during that las vegas conference two years ago and says that the agency is appalled by this quote indefensible behavior. but there really could be more

out there. our there may be others out there. house transportation committee which is doing the investigating on capitol hill they are demanding more information about it. dana bash, cnn, washington. >> yes they are. the house subcommittee on public buildings will begin hearings on gsa this month. jeff denham has been critical and called the arrogance of over spending. eem join us live at 10:04. as i mentioned before the president will talk about women and the economy in his remarks later this morning. of course, there is a reason for that. women will play a critical role in the upcoming election and at the moment democrats have them. in the past few months women voters have ditched republicans and the presumptive republican presidential nominee mitt romney. cnn wolf blitzer talked about that with south carolina's

republican governor nikki hailey. >> i think women are more thoughtful than that. i think they look at those issues as well as other issues and i think they need the ability to ask him those questions and i think he needs to look them in the eyes and give them the answers because that's what this is about. you don't go and talk to the people that you already have support. you go and talk to the people that have questions and if there are women that are questioning him they should ask him those questions. that's the power of the people. >> if you're wondering what those questions are, those questions be about the birth control issue. what will the president say today? >> reporter: well, the president's message today, carol, is very much tail zwroor this summit. it's about women and the economy. souts the president's economic pitch, but it will be tailored to women. women are a hugely important voter block. when you look at them

traditionally they go for the democratic candidate. to give you a sense in 2008 women made up more than half of the electorate. 53 to 47%. you can see that they are very important. president obama, according to exit polls won women by 13 points. but when you look at one of the latest polls on this issue, a "usa today" gallop poll right now the spread between president obama and mitt romney is even more than that. it's at 18 points and certainly this is something that the white house and the obama campaign, carol while they are challenged when it comes to say white men who don't have a college education, a very tough sell. no coincidence when the president begins fundraisers he makes the pitch on the first bill that he signed into law as president which was an equal pay for women.

>> a marine is one step closer to losing his job. a marine corps board is recommending that sergeant gary stein be booted from the military and given a less than honorable discharge. stein an iraq war veteran posted anti-obama comments on four websites including his own facebook page. marine lawyers say his comments are prejudicial to good order and discipline. his attorneys say he's protect by freedom of speech. they will appeal. also this morning moscow is criticizing the prison sentence handed down a russian arms dealer. a federal judge slapped him with a 35 year term for providing arms to terrorists. he was dubbed the merchant of 2008. bout denies trying to sell arms to colombia guerillas. >> christians and jews celebrating major holidays.

it's good friday when christians believe is the day jesus was crucified. pope benedict txvi leads services. passover begins at sundown tonight. as part of preparation jews empty their houses of leafened bread. the new orleans saints bounty scandal got more controversial. a director was rolling tape. you can hear the coach say we got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill frank gore's head. we want to run sideways. that was one of the nicer comments. we'll have more details four next. and young trendy men are targets of a deadly hunt by vigilantes taking a stand against style. coming your way next. we're america's natural gas

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it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. the university of arkansas has put its head football coach on paid leave. he broke four ribs and hurt his neck in a motorcycle crash on sunday. you know that part. turns out there was a 25-year-old female member of his staff riding along with him. he didn't say anything about that until a police report came out later. the female employee was not hurt. he says he hopes to keep his job and his family. he is married with four children. the new orleans saint cash for bounty scandal got more

controversial thanks to a newly edited audiotape. the person you're about to hear is reportedly greg williams. he was the new orleans saints defensive coordinator at the time. and as you know the league has suspended him indefinitely. he's telling his players in this clip how to hand tell 49ers wide receiver kyle williams. >> we need to find out in the first two series of the game, the little wide receiver number 10, about his concussion. we need to [ expletive ] put a lick on him right now. he needs to decide. he needs to [ expletive ] decide. >> kyle williams father did not take kind try to that. he's kenny williams, the general manager of the chicago white sox and this is what he said about greg williams. quote, it's probably best i'm never in a room with greg williams and wonder if such an order to cross line of

aggressive competitive spirit we all know and love about the sport and links closer to a criminal act and therefore a litigous matter. concussions are a sensitive topic in the league. mark ripkin and others want money and medical care for head injuries. they said nfl knew about the dangers about repeated concussions. the league said new rules and crackdown on hits to head are helping. 190 reported concussions last season in 320 games. fewer than one reported per-game. in 2010 that number was 218. jamal anderson played running back for the atlanta falcons. he knows about concussions and how the game is played. he joins us now for some perspective. okay. you listened to the gregg williams tape. not unusual in your mind? >> there are aspects of the tape -- when i first heard it.

the first reaction i had yesterday was it was all kinds of terrible, terrible timing. when you talk to the nfl and they warn you about the bounties and certain things that you should not be doing and then a week later you deliver a speech where you direct your players to strike a player in the head and take out another player that's uncalled stuff final. we don't want that in football. make no mistake about it you want your defense to be as physical and inti my dating as possible. that aspect of football i don't want to change that. i don't want to change the tough guys coming in. i don't want to change the guys who hit hard, who intimidate other players. i want these guys on my defense. >> they think this is normal stuff. it's an aggressive game. it's violent. people love this. come on, he wasn't just talking about a competitive edge. he was talking about taking people out. >> no question about it. >> permanently. >> i played football since i was 7 years old. i never had a coach direct me to

injure a player on an opposing team. be as physical. hit them in the mouth. strike them in the head over and over, take his acl out. now when you talk about a guy in kyle williams case who was injured, when you take the football field after being injured, concussion once they clear you, you are fair game again. now if you're a key player that they think they can physically try to get to the cause some additional damage to you, it's fair game. now i'm not saying they are trying to hurt you and advocate hurting another player but when a star comes back on the field or a player of impact like me, i'm a target every time i play football. quarterbacks target me every time. the star offensive players are targets every time we take the football field. >> let me run this by you. okay. so you're targeting a player's injured spot knowing -- >> no. >> i'm just saying sometimes knowing that you could hurt this person and take them out of the game permanently. so player gets hurt.

lying on the field. all the players go around and pray over him. >> the thing is -- >> it seems hypocritical to me. >> don't think that speech is normal. it's not. it's normal to direct your team to be as physical as possible to try to get to the other guys and knock them around especially on defense. you want defense to intimidate. you want defensive players to intimidate. some of the best players in football have been some of the scariest guys. great guys off the football field. to be physical, tough, to be leaders. to direct your guys to injure other players you don't want those things. now what i'm talking about is if a guy is coming off of -- kyle williams he was out the week before. he comes back. hey hit him harder today. not directing him to hurt him but hit him -- i'm not saying, talking about me. gregg williams was -- as i said there was all kinds of terrible.

really? strike him in the head? take his acl out. brett favre said it when this scandal broke. i know oil be a target for guys. i under that. for the most part, carol, guys in the nfl don't want to see other players hurt. this is their livelihood. >> james harrison. ndamukong suh. another name that people say these guys really do want to hurt other players and take them out of the game. they would not say that. >> these are two of the more physical and inti my dating players in football who i would both take on my defense not tomorrow, not today, right after we got off set. they are tough guys. they hit hard. obviously you want them to play the game on the up and up, to not be cheap shot artists, to not intentionally hurt people but to intimidate and continue to attack people on sundays in the form and fashion we've grown thereof night, i want that all day long. i don't want you purposely hurting guys. this is not what this is about.

this is guy's livelihood. we want to see the best players run. we want to see guys make catches. we want to see quarterback whose are great players do what they need to do. >> this is a yes or no answer. gregg williams should he be out of the nfl forever. >> when this first broke, i said there's no way i would want to see him suspended indefinitely. but this is -- when you direct your team in the way he did after being warned it's very tough for me. gregg williams is a great defensive coordinator. for a number of years has led a bunch of men on different teams. i never had an opportunity to be coached by him. >> the answer is yes he should be out of football forever. >> no not forever. this is something we need to review in a couple of years to see what's going on. to see if he's improved. it's tough. people say he should never be in football again. i'm not one of those people. >> you're honest. like that.

jamal, thank you so much. fun conversation. the economy may be getting a bit better but that's cold comfort for millions of americans still unemployed. a recent plant opening shows the competition for a job is cut throat these days. ♪ made with only milk... cream... a touch of sugar... and pure natural flavors. ♪ who knew being natural could be so delicious? coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. add your flavor naturally. coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. according to the signs, ford is having some sort of big tire event. i just want to confirm a w things with fiona. how would you describe the event? it's big. no,i mean in terms of savings how would you sum it up? big in your own words, with respect to selection, what would you say? big okay, let's talk rebates mike, they're big

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checking stories across the country, the u.s. coast guard sinks an unmanned. japanese fishing boat off of alaska, ghost ship had been drifting since last year's tsunami. the coast guard said the rusty boat posed a hazard. hundreds of troops return home to a stand ovation. the 45th combat team just got

back from afghanistan and kuwait. others are returning tomorrow. one soldier said the love in the room does not really compare to anything else in the world. and in wyoming the smallest town in america with only one resident, a gas station and three bedroom house has been sold, $900,000 sealed the deal. it attracted bid from people in several other countries. now it's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you today, can mitt romney win women back? suddenly women are hot and not just in that way. every politician who would be president is now trying to get to convince them we care. they are doing it without calling them soccer moms or hockey moms orma ma grizzlies. no they just want us. even if we show up and knock on the manly doors of augusta. >> if i were a member and if i could run augusta which isn't

likely to happen of course i would have women in augusta. >> but that will only take mr. romney so far. the ladies have ditched mitt. according to a u.s. gallop poll obama out paces romney 54% to 47%. it wasn't always that day. as daily beast columnist points out up to three months romney led obama independent women. that was before talk of birth control and transvaginal ultrasound. democrats are doing their best to deep love. president obama will deliver remarks at the white house today, the topic, women. and the economy. the talk back question today can mitt romney win women back. facebook.com/carolcnn. oil read your comments later this hour. the odds are not good for unemployed factory workers but getting better in some places. we'll show you one company investing in america.

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good morning. i'm carol costello. here are some of the stories we're watching right now in the newsroom. ♪ this video, the latest embarrassment for the general services administration. the government agency that's supposed to be safeguarding taxpayer money. days after a report exposed a gsa lavish las vegas junket this video spoof appears. we have some new numbers on the economy to show you and they are surprising even the exerts. last hour we learned 120,000 jobs were created in march. that's far below the 203,000 new jobs expected. the nation's jobless rate however dips to 8.2%. the economy will be the focus next hour at the white house. president obama will be discussing how his administration has helped create

jobs and economic opportunities for women. female voters are expected to play a critical role in the upcoming presidential election. jobs also will be a factor in the november elections of course. the white house has said it's gone out of its way to boost manufacturing jobs. millions were lost in the recession but some are coming back to place like louisville, kentucky. poppy harlow saw that firsthand fierce competition for good paying jobs. >> reporter: for a years this factory plant in louisville was shuttered. they are making water heaters and refrigerators. just recently ge posted to 30 job openings here. 10,000 people applied in just six hours. >> i feel i have at least ten years to offer and i will be able to retire with dignity, you know, as a blue collar worker. >> when the people see this product we're making here, this refrigerator and how good it is and the quality that's in it,

we're going to skyrocket. >> reporter: just a few years ago ge's appliance business was on the table to be sold or spun off. today ge is investing $800 million here in kentucky. why? rising labor costs in china and elsewhere abroad. along with union agreement to cut starting wages. >> your union made concessions. you agreed to lower pay. is it worth it? >> absolutely because of the fact that that's what's great in having a union is that once you start to manufacture and produce and make a quality product then when the time comes around and ge receives the profit from our labor, then they can go back to table. >> we had to do to get jobs in here. >> or the jobs would go away. >> the jobs would have went away. yeah. >> reporter: ge ceo heads president obama's jobs council and has come under pressure to hire more workers in america.

shoo dwoi >> we wouldn't do it if it didn't make good business sense. ge will perform and we won't make products just for the sake of make products. we'll make money. >> reporter: this is an example of creating manufacturing jobs in america. but keep in mind, the united states has lost more than 5 million manufacturing jobs since 2000. >> we haven't hired a lot in the last decade. our strategy the office go to design source itself. now we're saying we want to be manufacturers again. >> reporter: what does it take to get a job here. >> we can teach a lot. we're looking for people who want to engage in the change we're making in manufacturing which is embracing the mine of every operator and getting them involved. how to keep us here with continuous improvement. >> reporter: are these jobs here to stay? >> i mean we're investing over a billion dollars in our factories and products here in this country. that's a huge commitment.

>> that's part of the excitement here we can produce in america. we used to be the leading producer in the world of everything. so i would like to see us get back to that. >> a lot of people would. poppy harlow joins us live from new york. doesn't ge employ more people outside of the united states than here, though? >> reporter: they do. absolutely. look at the latest numbers. employ about 170,000 people outside of the u.s., 131,000 here. ceo, the head of the president's job council has come under criticism for that because of that position under the president. that said i sat down with him a few months ago and he told me look, we're a business. 65% of our revenue comes from outside of the united states. we are going to continue to globalize. at the same time any job in the u.s. is good to see and as you said these are jobs that a lot of people want. i will say they are making these big items like refrigerator, water heaters here in the u.s. because it doesn't make sense to transport them thousands of

miles with high oil and gas prices. ge did tell me when i was down there it doesn't make economic sense for us to bring back jobs make being microwaves or air conditioners or smaller appliance. so you're not going see all those jobs come back here but this is progress. >> okay. every little bit helps. poppy harlow live in new york for us. >> keith olbermann and current tv. it's turning into one nasty war of words. we'll tell you who said what. christians flock to jerusalem to take part in a tradition that's centuries-old and forms part of the foundation of their faith.

the fight is getting analystive between keith olbermann and his former employer current tv. former host is now suing for 50 to 70 million dollars citing a breach of contract. his lawsuit calls the current tv

co-founders and management no more than dilettantes. the network fired back and said he failed to show up for work. the hollywood reporter says the "hunger games" sequel might be delayed. a.j. hammer, host of "showbiz tonight" has the scoop from new york. they are already talking about part two? >> oh, yeah. you know, huge success this film. we'll see what happens here, carol. the cast has signed on ready to go for the sequel but the director of the hunger games is still negotiating the contract. according to the hollywood reporter that's not going too well. gary ross came here as an established film director. but he took a relatively low salary to work on the "hunger games". he got 3 million bucks to direct and partially write the film. it appears he could produce a hit because he negotiate ad pay out of 5% of the profits.

that could be a huge chunk of change. it's taken in over $260 million domestically since it was released just two weeks ago. now he's looking for what's being called a substantial raise. we have seen in the past where other directors have been replaced on successful sequels. different people directed the harry potter films. ross's people are arguing none of those films was as well reviewed as the "hunger games". he's the right person to complete the trilogy. this could slow down production. it was supposed to start shooting in the fall. >> you know, something tells me that he'll probably get what he wants. what do i know. let's talk about jersey shore, because i guess we must and might the situation, see the guy with the stomach. yeah. >> yeah. the abs anyway. huge fan of jersey shore. the situation is out of rehab. he tweeted to his fans writing

about himself in the third person. the situation is home. i just want to thank everyone for their support and words of encouragement. i'm back stronger and better than ever. now we learned that mike the situation sorentino was in rehab last month. it seemed quick. when he went in he told his fans he was dealing with a prescription drug problem due to exhaustion. we have to see what kind of behavior he has next season. hard to imagine the situation not drinking because he was in rehab. snooki not drinking because she's pregnant. what kind of a show will that be? i won't recognize it. >> maybe it will be better. i don't think so. a.j., thank you so much. in the next hour, kim kardashian may be hooking up with kanye west. a.j. is back with more showbiz headlines. just ahead a religious pilgrimage marks a holy week for christians. faithful walk the way of the suffering carrying crosses and honoring sacred events that

unfolded 2000 years ago. and we'll go augusta. round two of the masters in progress this morning. we want to protect the house. right. but... home security systems can be really expensive. to save money, we actually just adopted a rescue panther. i think i'm goin-... shhh! we find that we don't need to sleep that much. there's an easier way to save.

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♪ departure. hertz gold plus rewards also offers ereturn-- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. jerusalem is flood with the faithful for today's religious holiday. cpis are taking to the way of suffering that jesus is said to have walked on his way to crucifixion. jews are preparing for passover.

we go jerusalem. set the scene for us, matthew. >> reporter: ayes big day in jerusalem. for that reason you just mentioned. start of the easter festivities here with thousands, tens of thousands of cpi pilgrims descending on the old city of jerusalem to make the walk that is traditionally believed that jesus made. the road of suffering, various stations along that path that runs through the winding streets of the old city where people, pilgrims often carry wooden crosses themselves march, trying to sort of get in touch with their religious beliefs. many thousands of people there at the moment. the israeli authorities, the israeli police have put checkpoints up at various place around the old city. they say to try and limit the numbers of people going into the area because of the high

turnout, the high numbers of pilgrims that have come to the holy land at this very important time. >> it's a holy day for the jewish religion. tell bus that and how it's being celebrateed. >> reporter: of course easter is linked to passover. it starts at sunset this evening. what will happen there is that people, jews will gather at the western wall, one of the remaining walls of the temple in the center of jerusalem to pray as they begin their passover festivities. passover being marks the exodus of jews from egypt and much celebration, festivities will last for a week. you got these two huge great religions in this city marking these, very important, the most important religious festivities of their respective faiths. >> you can understand why jerusalem is, you know, so important when we talk about it

in political terms and in christian and jewish terms as well. thanks for the great pictures. we appreciate it. many golf fans are making their annual pilgrimage to augusta. round two of the masters is under way. we'll take you there in a few minutes. the next revolution in music is happening here. pandora rocks the big board. for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right,

i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years.

just into cnn, possible big gap for nasdaq. facebo facebook. alison kosik is here to tell us. >> when i was at the new york stock exchange yesterday, we heard rumbles where facebook would list its stock. word got out that facebook was going to list its stock on the other exchange, on the nasdaq. here's what's interesting. the new york stock exchange is,

loves its tradition and usually before a three day weekend they go ahead and have this cheer before the "closing bell" to cheer that there's a three day weekend. one of the old guard walked around the floor yesterday and said stand down that cheer because it looks like they lost that facebook listing and so they that cheer. you know, who could blame them, though? this is facebook ipo is being billed as the ipo of all ipos. there are reports it's going to have the ticker fb on the nasdaq. as you can imagine, this is a huge win for the nasdaq. it's one of the most coveted deals among internet companies, you know, giving prestige, giving the nasdaq bragging rights not to mention all the fees that will go to the nasdaq as well. oftentimes you see the nasdaq and nyse compete over these listings. you really saw that competitive spirit pick up including pandora and linkedin. but nasdaq did get groupon.

when facebook does go public, it could raise up wards of $2 billion. it could be the biggest since google went public in 2004, carol. reports are that facebook's going to go public in may. >> so how much for a share, you think? >> that's anyone's guess. the reality is it's not likely you or i could even get in on this ipo. but facebook employees will be the ones to benefit, not to mention the banks that will underright this ipo. they over shares to their bests, of course. these are these big institutional investors. and demand among them, it's going to be pretty darn high. the ipo is expected to value facebook anywhere from $100 billion, carol. >> wow! took my breath away. alison kosik, live in new york. the head of indiana's department of revenue is quitting after a second multimillion-dollar mistake. his department mistakenly withheld $205 million from county governments. last december indiana learned it

had $320 million it did not know it had. a colorado college student is frustrated he could not pay a $160 speeding ticket all in coins. ft. collins refused to accept a bucket full of change in payment saying it would take too long to count. the 25-year-old later learned the city has a coin-counting machine that could have added up all those coins. and a michigan lottery rirn says they never meant to buy the ticket. the anonymous winner says they bought two tickets instead of one. the minimum prize, $4 million. we're following a lot of developments in the next hour of the "cnn newsroom." let's check in first with drew griffin. >> they were champions last year, but don't expect the uconn huskies anywhere near the finals. the ncaa has said the huskies have flunked out. details next hour. i'm brianna keilar. the battle for a hugely

important voting bloc as president obama makes remarks at a day-long forum about women. see you next hour. >> thanks to you both. also, many of you are talking about the new "titanic" movie, but others are going to go on a titanic memorial cruise 100 years after the famous cries li cruise liner sank. coming up, two sisters will tell us why they're going. you don't want to miss this. they're really great. we'll be back. i get it...guys weekend. yeah! if you're looking for a place to get together, you came to the right place. because here at hotels.com, we're only about hotels. yeah! yeah! noooo. yeah! finding you the perfect place is all we do. welcome to hotels.com

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we asked you to talk about this morning, and you are. and i have some of your responses. the question this morning, can mitt romney win women back? so far most of you are saying no, not a chance. this from paul. after some of his comments, he will never get most of the women's vote. women are a lot smarter than he gives credit. i think he and santorum have a very low respect for women. and this one. no, he has shown his true colors and american women will not be duped again. here's one more. i don't think he can because he makes too many mistakes and women are looking for a more conservative president. hmm. please keep commenting. keep the conversation going. facebook.com/carolcnn, facebook.com/carolcnn. we've learned something that the white house or the man who wants to be in the white house agree on.

both the obama and romney camps think it's time augusta national admit women members. the club is home to the masters, of course, and right now it's strictly a boys club. >> the president's answer to this question is yes. he believes -- his personal opinion is that women should be admitted. i happen to a discussion with him about this, so i know that that's his answer. >> if i were a member and if i could run augusta, which isn't likely to happen, but of course i'd have women in augusta. sure. >> augusta's men-only policy has gotten fresh criticism because ibm's new ceo is a woman, and ibm is a big sponsor of the tournament. augusta has traditionally offered club membership to ibm's chief and its sponsors. patrick snell is in augusta for the masters. so patrick, are people talking about this at all? because i know the game has started, so people have probably paid more attention to that. >> reporter: hi, carol, yes. here at augusta, the focus very much on play day two here of the

season's first major. earlier in the week it was when the chairman, billy payne, took to the podium and said we're not discussing public policy. some reaction, some interesting. first of all, we met a couple who told us that women do support -- there are thousands of women out here on the course. they do support this event, and therefore they should be given the opportunity to become a member if they so choose. but we did -- and the first two people we spoke to this morning were both women, both from augusta, and they both said, look, this is a private club. it's been this way for 80 years, and we certainly do not take offense if women do not get the option to become members here. women play on the course all the time here. they're treated well, they said. and the whole issue of fraternities and sororities is not really highlighted at a younger age when people are at college in this country, carol. so interesting perspective there from the first two women we

spoke to. and i stress, yes, they were both women. carol? >> got ya. i know round two is under way. tell us about the game. who's on the course now and who's topping the leaderboard? >> reporter: well, the overnight leader, lee west wad, england's former world number one, is on the court. he's just gone past us at hole 1. he's approaching the first one. as we speak, i show you the leaderboard now, you're going to see that lee westwood is at 5 under par for the tournament. so he's looking good. he'll be looking to expand on that lead. but he does have company near atop the leaderboard. just let me run through it very quickly. we've got peter hansen, the swede, at 4 under par. the american player, ben crane moving to 4 under as well. and then jason duffner at 3 under and big-hitting left-hander bubba wautson. what about tiger woods? he's teeing off around 1:40 p.m. this afternoon eastern standard time.

a lot of attention on him. solid stuff from tiger. he was at level par after a 72 for tiger woods. and rory mcilroy, the reigning u.s. open champion, he finished very impressively with two straight birdies. he's at 1 under par. he is teeing off in the next hour. carol? >> patrick snell reporting live from augusta, thanks. good morning to you. i'm carol costello. stories we're watching right now in "the newsroom." it is quite possibly the most fun way to waste taxpayer dollars. ♪ donate my vacation ♪ love to the nation ♪ i'll never be under oig investigation ♪ >> a videotaped rap song by federal employees complete with shades and a ukulele bragging about how they'll never be caught wasting your tax dollars. a surprising jobs report hiring slows, but unemployment falls as the economic recovery in danger of stalling. and the jobs report is something the president will likely touch on in just about 15 minutes. when he does, we'll bring it to

you live. but his big item on the agenda is about women and how they're faring in the economy these days. iraqi fashion police are more like death squads. why spiky haircuts, skinny jeans or a t-shirt that's too tight can mean prison or worse for many iraqi young people. two sisters, one luxury liner and an historic voyage. we set sail on the "titanic" memorial cruise. and on this good friday, a pilgrimage in jerusalem as christians honor jesus for his sacrifice. we begin this morning with a new embarrassment that's been dogging the general services administration. have you seen the tape? ♪ every time you see me ♪ rolling on 20s ♪ yeah in my gop ♪ spend it all on fun sno♪ ♪ atm can't touch my guns ♪ every g gets a top hat award ♪ donate my vacation ♪ love to the nation ♪ i'll never be under oig

investigation ♪ >> it is a video made by employees of the general services administration. the agency that's supposed to safeguard the way tax money is spent. just days after we found out the gsa spent more than $800,000 in vegas for team building, this tape goes public. it was shown at that conference, and yes, it makes fun of wasting your tax dollars. the irony of the story just explodes when you realize president obama signed an executive order just a few months ago ordering the government to cut waste. >> one of the commitments that i made to the american people was that we would do a better job here in washington in rooting out wasteful spending. at a time when families have had to cut back, have had to make some tough decisions about getting rid of things that they don't need in order to make the investments that they do. >> congressman jeff dunham is a republican from california. he is going to chair a hearing on the gsa later this month. welco welcome, congressman. >> good morning.

thanks for having me. >> i just want to get your initial reaction when you saw this videotape. >> i was outraged. you know, back in my district, we've got double the national unemployment level, and people are very, very frustrated. and to see this kind of waste, not just the waste, but they're actually bragging about the waste and saying there's never going to be an investigation on this. we've done an investigation. and it goes much deeper than what we're already seeing. >> what do you mean by that? how much deeper? >> well, the director who was turned down for a bonus, we've just found out actually received a $9,000 bonus after this conference. the way that they've spent money not only on this vegas luxurious trip, but all of the gifts that they've given to employees after the fact. and the real question is, this is one region out of 11 in gsa. how many more regions have done this as well as how many other agencies have done this? i mean, we've certainly seen this type of spending elsewhere.

you know, a big part of my frustration is, this is two years later. this happened in 2010. these people should have been fired two years ago. the administration has known about this. it went all the way up to the top. and, you know, we're going to hold a hearing on this and find out not only every detail that was in the investigation, but we actually want to subpoena those that have been involved in this lavish spending and see how far this culture goes within other agencies. >> well, you know, i know the gsa administrator has resigned. some of her top deputies have been fired. what more can you do to recoup the money that was spent in las vegas? that's like more than $800,000 of taxpayer money. >> over $800,000 and as well, the gifts that they gave to employees, another $250,000. we want to see how much deeper this goes, how much more wasteful spending there was out there. and make sure that this doesn't happen again. create the type of transparency that doesn't allow agencies to do this.

>> i was just thinking that is there anything more the government can do to those employees who misuse this taxpayer money? i guess i should say allegedly misused this taxpayer money other than simply being fired? >> well, first of all, it's frustrating that it took two years to fire them. i mean, this is something that -- it was known at many different levels that this happened. it should have -- the firing should have happened a while ago. and, you know, i'm hopeful that the investigation doesn't turn out that over the last two years there's been several other of these types of trips in wasteful spending. but ultimately, we've got to change the culture of washington so that this doesn't happen again in the future. it's one thing to talk about it. but we've got to make sure we've got the systems in place so that this never happens again. people are frustrated -- they're out of work right now, and there are hidden potholes on their roads. and then to find out this type of spending irresponsibly is happening, it's got to stop.

>> congressman denham, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. we have some new numbers on the economy to share. and they're surprising even the experts. this morning we've learned that 120,000 jobs were created in march. that is far below the 203,000 new jobs expected. the nation's jobless rate, however, dips to 8.2%. americans are also feeling the sting of higher gas prices. here's a look at those prices this morning. according to aaa, the national average for regular unleaded is now $3.94, that's up a penny and a half from just a week ago, but it's 18 cents more than what we were paying a month ago. the economy will be the president's focus just minutes from now. he'll speak at the white house where he's hosting a forum on women and the economy. his speech is supposed to begin at 10:125 eastern. when it does, we'll bring it to you live. a marine corps board is coming down hard on a sergeant who posted online remarks critical of president obama. last night the panel recommended

that gary stein be booted from the military and given a less-than-honorable discharge. stein, an iraq war veteran, had posted anti-obama comments on four websites including his tea party facebook page. his attorneys say he was protected by freedom of speech, though. marine lawyers say stein's comments are prejudicial to good order and discipline. what a difference a year makes for the university of connecticut men's basketball team. last year the team celebrated its third national title. on thursday, the school learned it likely will be banned from the postseason next year. uconn can only blame itself for this punishment. drew griffin is here to explain it all. this is surprising. i mean, uconn's a powerful program. >> well, it is surprising in how far the punishment has gone. i think a lot of people thought the ncaa would back off. uconn did bring it on themselves. specifically, the people that run the basketball program and the players themselves. what they didn't do was

graduate. they have a graduation there on the men's basketball program of 25%, carol. 14% if they are black student athletes. the ncaa finally said enough is enough. we're going to come down. and the first punishment goes against uconn. no matter how good they play next year, they are out of the march madness tournament. >> so are other universities looking at this and quaking? >> i think so. you know, everybody wants to make sure they play in that tournament. that's where all the attention is. that's where your recruits are looking to come to the school. they want to be in that tournament. big moneymaker for the schools. so i think it will get the attention of all the other schools. and it's got the attention of uconn. they have changed their program, they say. and are trying to get those kids in class, passing grades and keeping in school until they graduate. >> so, obviously, the ncaa is really serious about this. what did it have to say about -- >> you know, there was a lot of pressure put on the ncaa by the administration. the white house, arne duncan, secretary of education, was looking at basketball games and

really got mad last year and started to put pressure on the ncaa to do something. i didn't think they were really serious about it until i met mark emmert, president of the ncaa. this is what he told me a couple of weeks ago about this. did you need the white house to put pressure on everybody within college sports to get this going? >> well, it certainly doesn't hurt, right, to have an advocate like secretary duncan is a good kind of push. we've got a society that teaches young men, in particular, that if you can play ball, you can dribble, focus on that, that will get you into college. that will get you into the nba. now we need to say, that's important, but it doesn't work unless you have school work alongside it and you're prepared to be a college student. >> that's somewhat new talk from the ncaa. they are getting serious about it. you've got to graduate these kids. and if you're not, you're not going to be in that tournament. >> we'll see what happens next year. who knows? drew griffin, thank you. the new orleans saints' cash for hits bounty scandal just got

more controversial. the edited clip comes from a filmmaker who says he was doing a documentary before a playoff game. the person you're about to hear is gregg williams, the saints' defensive coordinator at the time. the league has suspended him indefinitely. what you're going to hear is he's telling his players how to handle different 49ers players. >> every single one of you, before you get off the pile, affect the head. early, affect the head. continue, touch and hit the head. we need to decide whether crabtree wants to be a [ bleep ] primadonna or he wants to be a tough guy. we need to find that out. he becomes human when we [ bleep ] take out that outside acl. >> the father of one of the targets is furious. kenny williams is kyle williams' father, he's also general manager of the chicago white sox. he had this to say.

quote, it's probably best i'm never in a room with gregg williams and wonder if such an order crosses the line of the aggressive, competitive spirit we all know and love about the sport and leans closer to a criminal act and therefore a litigious matter. christians and jews are marking major holidays today. it is good friday when christians honor the day jesus was crucified. pope benedict xvi leads services at the vatican later today. sunday is easter, the end of the season of lent. the jewish celebration of passover begins at sundown tonight. passover celebrates the exodus of the ancient israelites from slavery in egypt. as part of the preparations, jews empty their homes of bread and burn it in bonfires. any minute now, we're going to hear from president obama. he's expected to speak at the white house about women and the economy, but he is, of course, running for re-election, and that makes his message more important than ever. at least for those women voters he's hoping to get. we'll explain after a break.

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this just into cnn. this is liberty island, of course, you can see near the statue of liberty. there's a rescue going on. apparently a tugboat capsized. they had to rescue three people who were in the water. according to our affiliate there, wabc. those people seem to be okay, but they're trying to get that tugboat out of the water. any new developments in this, of course, we'll take you back to liberty island. also at any moment, we'll hear from president obama in his remarks on women and the economy. of course, there's a reason for that. women will play a critical role of the upcoming presidential

election. and at the moment, democrats have them. in the past few months, women voters have ditched republicans and the presumptive republican nominee, mitt romney. brianna keilar at the white house. so i guess it's no accident that the president is talking about the economy and women. >> reporter: no, no accident. this has been a concentration of the president's, carol, really talking to women. as polls show that he's doing very well with them. and also as the white house and the obama campaign is really dealing with a bit of a deficit when it comes to white males who don't have a college education. that's going to be a really tough voter bloc for them. so there's a number of issues that you've seen, the campaign and president obama concentrate on. contraception is a big one. the white house took what was frankly a blunder in the beginning, a decision on contraception that put them at odds with liberal catholics who are normally in their camp. and then they made an adjustment, and you saw them frame -- democrats really frame

this argument to be about contraception instead of religious liberty, what it was ultimately about. and this is an issue that while republicans were playing to conservatives, you saw it really work against republicans had it came to women. there's also the issue of planned parenthood. you see mitt romney talk about pulling funding for planned parenthood, and this is something that while it plays to conservatives, doesn't really play to women. and also health care. health care, arguably, carol, not -- you know, you can say it's not a popular law, but look at where the obama campaign is really targeting its attention, it's women who are, as they see it, the health care decisionmakers in their families. and so they're really playing to them. they tout the provisions that are popular among women that kids can stay on their parents' insurance plans until they're 26, that there's no preexisting condition exclusion for children, et cetera. and then you even kind of see it in what are, like, these day-of topics. the masters is going on right now. and we see the white house weigh into this debate about whether

women should be able to be members at augusta. jay carney saying yes, they should be. you quickly saw romney and santorum take a position on that, carol. >> we did. and also republicans are seeming to, like, turn the corner and say that women don't care about social issues so much. they care about the economy. why aren't we talking about that? because a lot of women are suffering out there. they don't have jobs. >> reporter: yeah, they are saying that. and for instance, as the president today is making remarks at this forum that is specifically targeting women and the economy, we see republicans, we've seen the rnc, for instance, saying look at the jobs numbers that came out today, which were not a positive sign for the white house and saying oh, yeah, are you really doing something for women and the economy? so they're kind of trying to turn what the president's trying to do on its head. now you have them bickering about whether or not this is political. the white house, jay carney says no, it's not political. republicans say yes, it is political. carol, you and i, we didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday.

this is politics. the obama campaign is seeing a political advantage and they're really trying to widen this gap here. >> brianna keilar, thank you so much. still awaiting word from the president. when he gets there, we will bring his remarks to you live. republicans continually slam the president over the economy. they say he just can't fix it, even though the economy is showing some signs of improvement. is it time for the gop to shift its message, or is it right on target? especially with today's job numbers? the political buzz team will discuss coming up. and how much would you pay for your own town? buford, wyoming, is off the market, but you might be surprised at how much it went for.

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president obama expected at the white house and get behind a podium and talk about women and the economy. when he does, we'll bring his remarks to you live. in the meantime, the mystery deepens over that huge mega millions lottery jackpot. maryland a lottery director faced the media but could not answer that question. is the winning ticket in the hands of a single mother and seven children? the director says he hasn't seen the ticket, you about he also says no one else has come forward. the winning ticket is worth more than $100 million after taxes. the women's coworkers at mcdonald's are demanding a share because they say they pooled their money together for a bunch of tickets. we'll keep you posted. checking stories cross country now, a japanese fishing ship is resting on the bottom of the pacific ocean after the coast guard opened fire and sank it. the boat was swept off the shore of japan by last year's tsunami. officials said the vessel posed a threat to shipping. family and loved ones in oklahoma welcomed home soldiers from the 45th infantry brigade

combat team thursday. they are part of a deployment of 3,000 who left for afghanistan and kuwait last june. another group arrives on saturday. two vietnamese businessmen are the proud owners of buford, wyoming. the mysterious pair bought the town at auction for $900,000. buford is the second oldest town in the state. it's also the least populous in the united states with just one resident who is also the former owner. president obama's verbal attack on the u.s. supreme court's power, it just won't go away. and now the white house is in damage control mode after taking hits from all sides. could this cause the president more problems in the general election? our political buzz team will discuss. bet you think you're pretty quick? yeah, i guess it is pretty quick. jesse?!?

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♪ i'll never be under oig investigation ♪ ♪ a videotaped rap song by federal employees. a surprising jobs report. hiring slows, but unemployment falls. it's down to 8.2%. and on this good friday, a pilgrimage in jerusalem as christians honor jesus for his sacrifice. political buzz is your rapid-fire look at the best political topics of the day. three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. playing with us today on the left, sirius xm political talk show host and comedian pete dominic. in the middle, dino bedala, co-founder of the arab-american comedy festival. and boris epstein, republican strategist and u.s. news columnist and former mccain/padmccain/pai mccain/palin aide. good morning. >> good morning. >> first, the jobs report. it wasn't all that encouraging,

but the economy is still showing signs of improvement overall. republicans keep saying no, it's not, it's tanking. who's right? is it time for republicans or democrats to shift their message? boris? >> the republicans need a more positive message. we do need to point out the shortcomings of the obama recovery, and there have been many. the growth rate has been just over 2%. an historical growth rate since world war ii has been under 5%. ronald reagan reached 7%. while pointing out the shortcomings, we still need to be more positive and promote opportunities for the country to grow. and that's what mitt romney is doing. he's got a 59-point plan that's going to grow the economy to where it should be. if not for the obama mishandling of the recovery that has been honestly way too slow. >> dean. >> i agree with boris. i think the republicans should be more positive, more aspirational. okay, unemployment's come down from 10.2% two years ago, now to 8.2%. but romney could run on this campaign. remember, a chicken in every pot. he could be in a car elevator in

every garage. that's something for all americans that romney can offer. or maybe two cadillacs at every house. or maybe he can shift the message and go with his great strength, which is his hair. he reminds me of woody from "toy story." he should run on that. >> geez, pete. >> i just think that would help him. >> dean, i think he's more guy smiley from "sesame street," more "muppet" like. guy smiley had more of a personality. if republicans shift their message to being positive on the economy, i'm not sure what they can be negative on. republicans seem to love the war and support this war in afghanistan the same way that president obama and a lot of democrats do. so i'm not sure what they're going to shift to. we saw good news last week, by the way, record number of people not filing for unemployment, best in four years. but republicans that aren't living in congress, at least, in reality right now, i don't know what's going to change. >> boris, you are double-teamed today. >> and they're both comedians,

and i'm only an aspiring comedian. it's real hard for me, okay? i'm just trying my best. >> we love you, boris. president obama's verbal attack on the u.s. supreme court will not die. listen to this nasty exchange at the white house press briefing. >> what he said on monday was an obvious misspoken moment, because he talked about the court not being in a position to overturn acts of congress. >> the president will -- >> you're standing up there twisting yourself in knots because he made a mistake, and you can't admit it. >> you're sharing the righteous indignation here. >> i'm just noting you're twisting yourself into knots. >> in answer to a question very relatively briefly, in the context of this case made the statement that there is longstanding judicial precedent which would argue that the court

should not overturn this law. >> so many americans, after hearing that -- oh, i hear president obama is walking out. he's at the white house. he's going to talk women and the economy. sorry, guys. we're going to have to tap in and see what the president has to say. >> thank you so much. thank you. thank you, everybody. thank you. everybody, please, please, have a seat. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. everybody sit down. sit down. i was going to head over here earlier. they said no, no, full of women, and they're still settling down. so what do you mean, settling down? what are they doing over there? just creating havoc. welcome to the white house, everybody. it is a pleasure to be surrounded by so many talented, accomplished women. it makes me feel right at home. although usually i've got my wingman, bo, with me.

i want to thank everybody who's made this forum on women and the economy possible. i thank mika for helping moderate today and proving that on your show every morning that women really are the better half. joe's not denying it. he's not denying it. i want to thank the members of my cabinet and administration who are participating today. and i want to thank all of you who have come today, lending your time and your energy to the critical cause of broadening opportunity for america's women. right now, no issue is more important than restoring economic security for all our families in the wake of the greatest economic crisis since the great depression. that begins with making sure everyone who wants a job has one. so we welcome today's news.

we welcome today's news that our business has created another 121,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate ticked down. our economy has now created more than 4 million private sector jobs over the past two years. and more than 600,000 in the past three months alone. but it's clear to every american that there will still be ups and downs along the way and that we've got a lot more work to do. and that includes addressing challenges that are unique to women's economic security. challenges that have been around since long before the recession hit. that's why one of the first things i did after taking office was to create a white house council on women and girls. i wanted to make sure that every agency across my administration considers the needs of women and girls in every decision we make opinion.

and today we're releasing a report on women and the economy that looks at women's economic security through all stages of life from young women furthering their education and beginning their careers to working women who create jobs and provide for their families, to seniors in retirement or getting ready for retirement. there's been a lot of talk about women and women's issues lately, as there should be. but i do think that the conversation's been oversimplified. women are not some monolithic bloc. women are not an interest group. you shouldn't be treated that way. women are over half this country, and it's work force. not to mention 80% of my household, if you count my mother-in-law. and i always count my mother-in-law.

every decision made by those of us in public life impacts women just as much as men. in this report you all have explains some of what we've done to try to lift up the lives of women and girls in this country. but i'd like to spend some time talking about why we've done what we've done. for me, at least, it begins with the women who shape my life. i grew up the son of a single mom who struggled to put herself through school and make ends meet, had to rely on food stamps at one point to get us by. but she earned her education. she made it through with scholarships and hard work. and my sister and i earned our degrees because of her motivation and her support and her impact. i've told this story before.

she used to wake me up before dawn when i was living overseas, making sure that i was keeping up with my american education. and when i'd complain, she'd let loose with, "this is no picnic for me either, buster." and that's part of the reason why my sister chose to become a teacher. when my mom needed help with us, my grandmother stepped up. my grandmother had a high school education. my grandfather got to go to college on the g.i. bill. my grandmother wasn't afforded those same opportunities even though she had worked on an assembly line, a bomber assembly line in world war ii. nevertheless, she got a job at a local bank. and she was smart and tough and disciplined. and she worked hard. and eventually, she rose from being a secretary to being vice

president at this bank. and i'm convinced she would have been the best president that bank had ever seen if she had gotten the chance. but at some point she hit the glass ceiling. and for a big chunk of her career, she watched other men that she had trained, younger men that she had trained, pass her up that ladder. and then there is the woman who once advised me at the law firm in chicago where we met. once -- she gave me very good advice. that's why i decided to marry her. and once michelle and i had our girls, she gave it her all to balance, raising a family, and

pursuing a career. and something that could be very difficult on her because i was gone a lot. once i was in the state legislature, i was teaching, i was practicing law, i'd be traveling. and we didn't have the luxury for her not to work. and i know when she was with the girls, she'd feel guilty that she wasn't giving enough time to her work. and when she was at work, she was feeling guilty she wasn't giving enough time to the girls. and like many of you, we both wish that there were a machine that could let us be in two places at once. and so she had to constantly juggle it. and carried an extraordinary burden for a long period of time. and then finally as a father, one of my highlights of every day is asking my daughters about their day. their hopes. their futures.

that's what drives me every day when i step into the oval office, thinking about them. every decision i make is all about making sure they and all our daughters and all our sons grow up in a country that gives them the chance to be anything they set their minds to. a country where more doors are open to them than were open to us. so when i think about these efforts, when we put together this council on women and girls, this is personal. that's what is at the heart of all our efforts. these are the experiences, the prism, through which i view these efforts. and that's what we mean when we say that these issues are more than just a matter of policy. and when we talk about these issues that primarily impact women, we've got to realize they are not just women's issues. they are family issues. they are economic issues.

they are growth issues. they are issues about american competitiveness. they are issues that impact all of us. now, think about it. when women make less than men for the same work, that hurts families who have to get by with less and businesses who have fewer customers with less to spend. when a job doesn't offer family leave to care for a new baby or sick leave to care for an ailing parent, that burdens men as well. when an insurance plan denies women coverage because of preexisting conditions, that puts a strain on emergency rooms, drives up costs of care for everybody. when any of our citizens can't fulfill the potential that they have because of factors that have nothing to do with talent or character or work ethic, that diminishes us all. it holds all of us back.

and it says something about who we are as americans. right now women are a growing number of breadwinners in the household. but they're still earning just 77 cents for every dollar a man does. even less if you're an african-american or latino woman. overall, a woman with a college degree doing the same work as a man will earn hundreds of thousands of dollars less over the course of her career. so closing this pay gap, ending pay discrimination, is about far more than simple fairness. when more women are bringing home the bacon but bringing home less of it than men who are doing the same work, that weakens families, it weakens communities, it's tough on our kids. it weakens our entire economy.

which is why the first bill i signed into law was the lilly ledbetter act, the fair pay act. to make it easier for women to demand fairness. equal pay for equal work. we're pushing for legislation to give women more tools to pay -- to fight pay discrimination. and we've encouraged companies to make workplaces more flexible so women don't have to choose between being a good employee or a good mom. more women are also choosing to strike out on their own. today nearly 30% of small business owners are women. their businesses generate $1.2 trillion last year. >> we're going to step away from the president's speech on women and the economy. we think we've got the gist of that. of course, we'll continue to

monitor it if the president says anything else impactful. let's go back to our political buzz panel. i was interested to hear what you especially had to say, boris, about the president talking about women in very personal terms. as you know, republicans are having a woman problem right now. i think that obama leads romney by 20 points in women voters. so the republicans listening to this, what's going through their mind? >> well, first of all, what's going through my mind is i think barack obama is trying out for some comedian gig in the beginning. i think he was pretty good, actually. dean might have a problem with it, no, just joking around. in all seriousness from the republican perspective, we do need to be better communicating to women. but if you look at the numbers, the narrative of oh, we're losing so many women voters is untrue because mitt romney's pool of women right now is actually about two points higher now than it was before the contraception debate started. obama is good on the stump,

there's no question about it. but when you look at what's actually been achieved, men, women, all citizens, the bottom line is the economy. and if the republicans would give the right message on the economy, as we spoke earlier, the message of pointing out the shortcomings but also saying here's what we'll do different, that will be the winner in the november general elections. >> pete, traditionally democrats usually win the majority of women. i mean, mitt romney will win the presidency without a majority female vote, but he has to get some. he has to get a certain number to put him over the top. so, i mean, president obama hopes his message is resonating. how can mitt romney change his message to resonate more with women? >> that was for me or pete? >> pete. that was for pete. >> okay. >> well, i don't -- it's going to be very difficult for him. he's got to come up with a better answer than, i've sent my wife out, and what she reports back to me on what women care about. this is -- president obama and the obama administration are taking a big advantage of the

gallup poll/"usa today" poll that came out on monday that said there's an 18-point percentage gender gap in swing states in the top ten swing states. president obama jumping all over that. look at the optics with all those women standing behind him pointing out obviously the women that he lives with. i relate this this as the father of two daughters and the husband of an awesome confident wife. boris makes the point about all people care most about the economy. that's true. but, see, republicans and certain republican commentators obviously don't seem to understand what it's like to be a woman. not only in america, anywhere. how a woman's reproductive system works. and they are scared. women all over are scared that they're going to institute these laws. 1,100 at the state level. that are going to infringe upon their rights, their reproductive rights. and this is real. and republicans and republican men especially need to start understanding this. >> okay. so dean -- >> real quick, carol. so one point. women are also, on average, more religious than men. and if you look at the

contraception debate from the religious freedom of religion perspective, republicans actually win out with women on those issues. one way or another, it's way too early to tell how women are going to come up with president obama. optics and following closely in those polls almost looks like he's pandering to that group to get more votes. >> you're right, it's a long time till november. pete, dean and boris, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thanks so much. two sisters have waited two years to go on a cruise. the grandmother barely missed a century ago. why they want to go on this particular journey. that's coming up. not ec just like e-ither. or ei-ther. or e-conomical. [ chuckling ] or ec-onomical. pa-tato, po-tato, huh? actually, it's to-mato, ta-mato. oh, that's right. [ laughs ] [ car door shuts ] [ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. now very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 chevy cruze ls for around $159 per month.

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april 15th will mark one century since the infamous luxury liner, the "titanic" sank to the bottom of the ocean. the maiden voyage has a global obsession inspiring divers, authors and filmmakers still shape the events of that chaotic evening and cold morning. the ship described as unsinkable is just another story to some, but for others, it's part of their family history. joining us from london are "titanic" enthusiasts christi ather and her sister. welcome. >> thank you. >> we can't help but notice your outfits. so tell us why you're dressed like that, nancy. >> well, we don't dress like this every day, just so you know. a couple of evenings on the cruise, we are allowed to wear a

period costume for dinner, and that's what -- this is what we're wearing. so this is why we are dressed this way today. we're in costume. >> you look fabulous. you look absolutely fabulous. okay. so this cruise ship that you will be taking to mark the 100-year anniversary of the sinking of the "titanic," christi, does it look just like the "titanic" did? >> a lot of people mistakenly think that it did when actually it looks nothing at all like the "titanic." actually, we found out that our ship does not even travel as quickly as the "titanic" did 100 years ago. they left on april 10th. we are leaving south hampton on april 8th just so we can be at the exact wreck site at the time of the actual tragedy. >> interesting. so what about the inside of the ship, nancy? >> as far as i know, and actually, my sister is the "titanic" enthusiast, so she may be able to extrapolate a little

further. but i think there is going to be some period decor. i know for dinners, probably everything is going to be set as it was in 1912 for the first class, i'm assuming. and the food we will be eating is period-appropriate food. so we're looking forward to that. >> so is it the exact menu, christie? >> i don't believe all nights they will be serving the exact menu, but probably the nights when we are dressed, as we are now, will be the nights when they serve the foods that were very popular 100 years ago including, i believe i did see somewhere pigeon. >> oh, yum. >> some type of pigeon. >> yes. >> we're not too sure about that. >> i know, especially when we now call them flying rats, right? >> yes, exactly. >> exactly. christie, you must be the family historian. so i want to ask you about your grandmother. she had a ticket for the "titanic," and then what happened? >> we have always heard through

family legends that she -- her name was annie johnston at the time -- immigrated from scotland. we heard she did book for passage, but for reasons we're still not quite sure of, she did not get on that ship. and, of course, we are quite thankful for that, because she probably more than likely would have been a third-class passenger. and even though women did fare better during the "titanic" incident, you almost had to be at the right place at the right time to find your way into a lifeboat. and we just don't know if that would have happened with her or not. >> so you still don't have the ticket, because that would be really cool. >> oh, wouldn't that be wonderful? >> it would be very cool, yes. >> we wish, but we do not. >> darn! you know, we could see you on "antiques road show" finding out how much it's worth. >> oh, my gosh. >> oh, i can't even imagine. >> i know. okay. when your cruise ship, not the "titanic," but when it gets to that point --

>> yes, people make that mistake all the time. that makes us a little nervous. >> yes, definitely. but when it gets to that point where the "titanic" actually went down, nancy, i think that would be a little creepy. >> it may be a little creepy, but to be honest, we're not looking at it that way. for us, it's just a wonderful opportunity to memorialize the people that died that night. also, to honor those who survived, but what a horrible tragedy they had to endure. and can you imagine the post-traumatic stress of watching your husband aboard the ship and then, you know, the ship sinking. so i don't think it will be creepy. i think for us, it will be very touching, actually. i think we'll be in tears. >> so what do you hope to take away from it, christie? >> well, personally, i am a third grade teacher of a small

school in western maryland in the usa. and i teach a social studies unit every year on "titanic." and it has always been the favorite unit of all of the children, even those that really aren't big into learning. but some of them have said that they now want to be captains of ships. some of them have brought in magazines and articles about things. and they really never got this interested in any other topics, you know, relating to any era in history. so that's one thing i definitely want to bring back is more information that i can teach the children because even though i think i know a lot about "titanic," i'm finding out that i don't know nearly as much as i ultimately hope to learn. >> well, christie and nancy, it sounds like a fun and fascinating trip. and thank you so much for sharing with us this morning. >> happy to be here. thank you. >> bon voyage.

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checking stories cross country now. the head of indiana's department of revenue is quitting after a second multimillion-dollar mistake. his department mistakenly withheld $205 million from county governments. last december, indiana learned that it had $320 million it did not know about. a colorado college student is frustrated he couldn't pay a $160 speeding ticket all in coins. ft. collins refused to accept a bucket of change in payment saying it would take too long to count it all. the 25-year-old later learned, though, the city actually has a coin-counting machine that would have added up all those coins, but officials forgot to tell him about that. and a michigan lottery winner says they never even meant to buy the ticket. the anonymous winner says they accidentally bought two $10 cash for life tickets instead of one.

the minimum prize is $4 million. cnn newsroom with kyra phillips starts after a quick break. thanks for joining us. all right, let's decide what to do about medicare and social security... security. that's what matters to me... me? i've been paying in all these years... years washington's been talking at us, but they never really listen... listen...it's not just some line item on a budget; it's what i'll have to live on... i live on branson street, and i have something to say... [ male announcer ] aarp is bringing the conversation

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