>> that's what i learned. mika says the devil baby looks like you. >> my wife is still angry at me for signing the consent form for colin's baby pictures. stick around. here's chuck. carolina on his mind. president obama takes his pen and phone for a quick trip south. we'll talk to top white house advisor gene spurling about the president's economic agenda, and then we're going to talk to north carolina's republican governor on if he's welcoming the president to the state. plus, trenton makes and the world takes with an unusual national audience, chris christie doesn't shy away from the scandal surrounding him during the state of the state address. did he talk about other issues? i think he did. don't know if the reporters noticed. >> in today's takeaway, add

jerry brown to the list of folks they won't make a run in 2016. good morning from new york. it's wednesday, january 15th, 2014. this is "daily rundown." busy hump day ahead. we'll talk to maria shriver and her report on women's lives in america today, plus tom brokaw will join me. in 13 days, president obama will deliver his fifth state of the union address. facing gridlock in washington and no prospect of that changing dpuring an election year, the president is looking to step up his outside game, moving together with a coalition group with or without congress. >> i've got a pen, and i've got a phone. and i can use that pen to sign executive orders, and i've got a phone that allows me to convene americans from every walk of

life. the nonprofits, businesses, the private sector, universities. >> the president describing life without a working congress. well today, the president travels to north carolina's research triangle where he will tour a manufacturing company and announce steps he's hoping to take with the private sector to boost advanced manufacturing. in a speech at north carolina state university, expect to hear this. >> i'll be traveling tomorrow down to north carolina to talk about a manufacturing innovation hub that we initiated, talked about in our state of the union last year. it's a perfect example of the kind of public/private partnership that can really make a difference. >> yes, 13 days before the next state of the union, the president still trying to implement some policies from the last one, 2013, a rough year for everybody in washington. on thursday, the president and first lady have invited more than 100 college and university presidents to the white house

for a summit on increasing college access for low-income students. and later this month, the administration plans to hold a white house event for corporations that promise to hire long-term unemployed. it's an acknowledgement that for the president, now beginning year six in the white house, largely will have to go around congress to leave an imprint on domestic policy, and all of this is the advisor of john podesta, in fact, in the final years of the clinton administration, he became an expert on the power of the presidency. work-arounds will be needed this time. on tuesday, the senate blocked two proposals to extend emergency benefits. voting against the bill that would have extended benefits through november and paid for it by continuing a pay cut to medicare providers through 2024. and then voted down, 55-45, a three-month extension not paid for at all, at least more than 1.3 million people without jobless benefits until late january when lawmakers could take up the legislation yet

again. by the way, this is the senate. there was no progress on what was going to happen in the house, but we digress. the question is, if congress can't pass unemployment benefits, what will it be able to pass? over the last week, white house aides have previewed the state of the union for a lot of the capitol hill democrats, and that's leaking out, setting an ambitious 2014 agenda. the president wants to focus on economic opportunity, and it begins with calling on congress to raise the minimum wage. >> we've got to keep create jobs that offer new opportunity and make sure those jobs offer the wages and benefits that let you rebuild some security. we've got more kids to educate and families to get covered with health insurance, and an immigration system to fix. so this will be a year of action. >> the president is expected to renew his 2012 call for expanded access to preschool and call for congress to pass immigration reform. democrats are also pressing the white house to call for the child care tax credit and

measures to make college more affordable. the white house, as you heard the president say, chri -- sayi has a resolution for 2014 that will be a year of action. it's an old strategy. turn your weakness into a strength. with it clear that 2014 is shaping up to be an election year, defined by more congressional gridlock and few legislative accomplishments. and though the year of action phrase may be designed to make congress look inactive by comparison, some acknowledge the limits of what a president can do alone when it comes to immigration or jobs programs. still, the white house thinks the last two years have been bad for accomplishing the president's policy goals. wait until he spends his final two years with a republican senate and house, if that happens. john boehner yesterday spoke about his view of what 2014 should be about. >> i think this election -- it's

about two issues. it's going to be about the issue of jobs. obamacare is part of the no-jobs problem. you have the issue of, if you like your health care plan, you can keep it. if these issues -- statements by the president turn out not to be true, why would anyone think his economic policies are going to turn out any differently? >> tonight at 5:00, the president will meet with senate democrats at the white house, and though the president can expect some griping on health care, on trade, by the way, and a lot of unsolicited advice, he knows he is joined at the hip with these senate democrats. their futures are inextricably linked together. joining me now, gene sperling, director of the national economic council, president obama's chief economic advisor, for at least another few weeks. you said the end of february, when we yelled at each other on a sunday a couple of weekends ago. is that right? are you here through the state of the union? >> i think you have it about

right. i think i'll be here for -- through february, and then my successor, jeff, will take over. >> right. let me ask you about this idea of dubbing 2014 a year of action. is that an acknowledgement that 2013 was a year of inaction? is that how we are supposed to write on that tombstone of 2013 in washington? >> no, i think what you're seeing is a commitment to the president to get things done with real people. you know, you're absolutely right. of course, you want to do that as much as possible by working with congress. there's things like bipartisan immigration reform or raising the minimum wage, that you need congress to do, but what the president is saying, we need to judge ourselves by whether we're moving the ball forward and helping grow the economy and give opportunity for middle-class families, families trying to move in. and we have an obligation to do everything we can to help everybody's life get more opportunity to have a stronger

economy, more opportunity. so take our announcement today. this is something where the president in the 2012 state of the union said let's do manufacturing, innovation instituti institution, because they're incredibly important to our economy. he made a legislative proposal. but when congress didn't move, he asked us to look in the departments and say, could we find some money for a competition, and then ask the private sector to match that. as a result of that, by the end of -- within a month, we'll be a third of the way there without legislation, and the announcement today, the federal government's putting up 70 million. but it's being matched by another 70 million, and it includes partners from north carolina state, to john deere. so this is an example of what he's moving forward in manufacturing and innovation agenda. he is using some government

resour resources, existing, but doing it to leverage it, and we could do more with legislation, but he's showing we're making a tangible, concrete difference in creating jobs and innovation, even without a new act of congress. >> let me ask you this. what happened yesterday? unemployment benefits in the longer you go, the less sense of urgency these lawmakers are going to have. they're going back. it's not happening, at least for another couple of weeks. if, say, some 80 senators all saying publicly that they think there should be some form of an extension, how does it not happen at this point? >> well -- >> should democrats have given more to the republicans to try to make this happen? is this a parliamentary issue? is this relationship problems? what is it? >> well, chuck, first thing i want to say is, it's not over yet. and it is urgent. there'll be 2.1 million people who will be hurt by march 31st if we don't at least get this three-month extension. so make very clear this president, this white house, we

do not consider this over yet. and there is a sense of urgency for the 2.1 million americans. the 1.3 million who've already seen their checks cut off, as they go to their second and third week not knowing how to put food on the table or gas in the car, so they can look for a job. if that's not urgency, i don't know what is. >> and let me ask you, "wall street journal" report talking about some issues with free trade agreements. we know the president wants to push some, including the big regional one on the pacific side. the european ones, a little farther -- a little farther away, may not happen in this coming congress. given where the democratic party is today, you were in a clinton administration, you've worked for two presidents that are arguably more pro free trade than where the democratic party itself is. is that a fair statement? >> well, look, i think that there's always, you know, issues on trade, and it has different partners. you know, it's funny, the president is going to north carolina today. you know, mike furman and i met

with the leadership from siemens. they're in north carolina. they had a clear message for us, that the types of things the president's doing makes it more likely they'll make states like north carolina an export hubs to create jobs. when people start looking at the actual job impact, i think we'll get more support for some of the type of agreements, particularly where we're having a higher focus on making sure it protects labor, protects jobs, protects environmental standards. >> but it's an uphill battle? it's san uphill battle, though, isn't it? >> it's always difficult, but it oflten gets done. and the key then, people understand it's part of a pro-growth jobs agenda. i think the manufacturing, innovation institute that the president is doing today, and we'll have two more announcements on in the following weeks, is the type of thing that shows we're about creating jobs here. and one of the positive things you'll hear the president talk about today, we've had more manufacturing job growth in this recovery than any of the previous recoveries and more

american companies thinking about bringing back manufacturing jobs to the united states in any time in my memory. >> and that may be thanks to the energy boom, as well. gene sperling, the white house north lawn. thank you, sir. >> thank you, chuck. up next, some carolina blues as the president gets set to head to the battleground state of north carolina. we're going to talk to the republican governor there, pat mccorey, about the state of his state and the president's visit. and the latest on governor christie's jersey jam. speaking of jams, wait until you see what jimmy fallon and bruce spring steen did last night. first, a look ahead today's politics planner. as we told you, the president is traveling. we have a new poll coming out, nbc/maris coming out this evening on 2016. [announcer] word is getting out. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow.

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president obama is headed to north carolina today to announce the creation of a flu manufacturing institute. it's an effort that's funded, as you heard, by federal dollars and private investments. the choice of location, of course, makes sense politically and economically, along with being a swing state in presidential elections, north carolina in 2014 will be home to one of the races that i think will be known as the best bellwether to figure out which party is going to control the senate. it doesn't have the big names that the other races do, but as north carolina goes, i think so goes the senate, whichever direction. as for the policy going to the tar heel state also makes sense, because it is a national hub for manufacturing and textile productions. but the situation isn't as rosy as it once was in 2012, north carolina slipped from third to fourth on the list of american's largest manufacturing economies, stilled earned $88 billion in

that sector, and 19% of the state's gdp comes from manufacturing, which accounts for more than 10% of its jobs. but, yes, the numbers have slipped in recent years, as it has around the country. while the state held 600,000 manufacturing jobs as recently as 2003, nearly 200,000 lost in the recession and the vast majority have not been replaced. joining me is governor mccrory. good morning, sir. >> chuck, thank you for having me back. we're looking forward to the president coming. >> i was going to say, what do you think of this initiative? are you in favor of it? are you going to go to the event? tell me your reaction to this initiative. >> well, i'm in favor of this initiative. we think there's a manufacturing comeback in north carolina. we're seeing a great deal of interest in manufacturing coming back from china to north carolina. we think we've got the talent to supply those jobs. and i'm supporting the president in his efforts, and i'm going to greet him at airport. i'm going to listen to his

speech at n.c. state. i haven't been invited to the tour, but if the white house invites me to the tour, i'd be glad to tour the great company. >> and the state chipped in money on this, as well, right? you had federal dollars -- >> yeah, yeah, i've committed in my next -- >> yeah. >> -- i've committed in my next budget, i believe, $10 million to support this effort. it's a great cooperative between the private sector and especially our great n.c. state university, a great engineering school, that supplies the much-needed labor for the manufacturing companies throughout the state. >> you think congress should have passed the legislation? this was something the president asked for in the state of the union and wanted this to be codified by congress, so he could do these in more places. they figured out a pilot project created this in north carolina. you think this is something that should be wider? spread? >> i think it's good to try out a pilot program to see what works, and i think north carolina is a great state to try out the pilot program. i'm going to be supportive of the pilot program to see and

measure its results. so if it works here, maybe the rest of the nation can consider it in the future. >> let me ask you about what just didn't happen in congress yesterday. they didn't, at least on the senate side, come to an agreement on extending unemployment benefits. is that -- do you think that's a good idea? you've been tough. you and the republican legislature, have cut benefits back even more than most states on unemployment benefits. so do you think what the u.s. senate did yesterday was the right call? >> well, i need to clarify that. we had the tenth -- approximately the tenth-highest benefits in the nation, and what we did was lower it to what our neighbors were paying in virginia, tennessee, and south carolina. and by doing that, the feds would not allow us accept extended federal benefits. i had to make a tough decision, and my decision was to cut up the credit card. and we owed the federal government $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion. i've lowered that debt to the

federal government to about 1.9, and we hope to pay off that debt three years earlier than planned. i've made the decision to get off the credit card. but i'm willing to work with the president to see what we can do in the future, and congress, and have ongoing talks about the flexibility that states have in this issue. and i believe in flexibility, because each state has its own unique needs. >> let me ask you about another issue that i know has been some petitions. mel watt, now former member, as now been confirmed into a new job dealing with the government agencies having to do with housing, the housing securities area. and you have decided not to call for a special election. essentially, leaving the 12th district without a congressman for -- for essentially a full calendar year. why are you doing that? >> well, it was a very complex decision. i had to look at voter rolls. i had to look at the military votes overseas. we had to look at the schedule of the existing elections.

and part of the problem was, of course, the senate delayed the confirmation of congressman watt, and then congressman watt delayed his acceptance of the job, which threw our whole schedule in a mess. >> but, governor, it's january. >> -- very tough decision -- >> it's january. you have a scheduled state primary -- statewide vote for may. >> yeah. >> and many states -- look, i cover a lot of house special elections, and many governors, to save money, what you're talking about, basically put the special general election on that primary date, and then asked the two parties, for instance, to just do this with the central exitty. -- committee, and then, suddenly, it's not costing taxpayers any extra money. >> my state laws are different than other state laws. every state has different election laws as you well know. my decision was supported by the very liberal editorial page of "the charlotte observer," and also supported by three of the african-american democratic candidates that are running for mel watt's seat.

mel watt is a good friend of mine. i worked with him when i was mayor of charlotte for 14 years and i made the most -- very tough decision, a very difficult calendar. and i think it was the best decision, and three of the candidates running for that seat agreed with me decision, as does a liberal editorial page. there was no easy solution. >> i have to say, i'm dumb founded that, you know, i know people have a low opinion of congress, but to have basically disenfranchise nearly a million people, and not having representation in the u.s. house of representatives, that's -- that is not a healthy thing. for a year. a whole calendar year, governor. >> chuck, i'm sworn to uphold the constitutional laws of north carolina, and i can't change those laws between now and that election. and, again, i have to uphold the election laws, and i made the good decision -- i think the only difference in any other option was about two months.

and, chuck, you know and i know that not much goes on in washington between july and the election anyway, which is a sad commentary on washington politics. >> i know. i guess that's -- >> by the way, senator -- congressman watt's staff will be very active and still his staff will be working on constituent services on one of the oddest congressional districts in the united states of america that goes from charlotte all the way through salisbury, through greensboro. >> well, hey, you want to talk about redistricting reform, we could go on for -- we could go on -- >> yeah, this is one of the wildest ones. it is crazy. it's a crazy district. >> it is. >> what's that? it's been around for several decades. >> i know. you change lanes on 85 and you go into a new district, if i'm not mistaken. >> you got it. >> all right, governor mccrory, thank you for your time. >> have me anytime. thank you very much. well, if it's wednesday, that means we have election results. we now have the match-up for the special election in florida, and it will be a field day for headline writers.

will jolly sink alex, or will sink be jolly over david jolly. plus the latest house democrat to call it quits, two of them, actually. which president's birth play is the topic of a dispute between two states? first person to tweet that correct answer to @chucktodd. [ female announcer ] who are we? we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all... with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. and we're here to help start yours.

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in today's "data bank," we have a few happy couples. hundreds of millions of dollars and big decisions. the number is 45. the percentage of vote that david jolly got in last night's primary in the district. he faced off against alex sink. this district is a swing seat in a swing state, so it will be a national bellwether for all of us to overread before november.

and next up, 15. that's the number now of announced retirements from the 113th congress after jim moran, my congressman, if you're curious, announced he will not run for re-election. new york's bill owens did the same last night. they're the fifth and sixth house democrats to op out of a re-election bid, along with nine republicans. by the way, bill owens, add him to the list of the shrinking middle. the next number is good news for a democrat, but not surprising, 12.2 million. that's how much texas state senator wendy davis said she raised in her campaign for governor. in combination with a bunch of campaign accounts. but davis is about $700,000 ahead of her republican opponent, at least for the fund-raising, greg abbott. the question has been about wendy davis, not her ability to raise money. the question, can she turn money into swing votes? next up, 3. sort of. that's the number of judges who have overturned their state's bans on gay marriage.

either in whole or in part, since december. the late seft a federal judge striking down oklahoma's gay marriage ban yesterday. but he immediately stayed the ruling, pending appeals, and last week, a judge did the same thing in utah, and before christmas, a judge in ohio ruled the state should recognize gay unions on death certificates. all of the rulings are being appealed. hey, guess what, thanks, supreme court, for the no-decision decision you did last year, that's what's leading to the mess. up next, a court decision that could cost the nfl more money. the number is $765 million. a judge says she's not sure if that will cover the medical costs and treatment for players who had concussions. nfl offered the money in a settlement with 4,500 retired players. the judge said she's concerned it won't cover the 18,000 retirees over the 65-year life span of this deal. a lot of people thought the nfl got off easy with that number. guess what? so did the federal judge.

finally, we end with a number that might surprise you. maryland is ranked number one in the nation for having the mo momost millionaires per capita. how about that? maryland edged out new jersey this year. according to the annual ranking by the phoenix marketing international, connecticut, hawaii, and alaska round out the top five. remember, per capita. all according to this new list we released this morning. up next, why it's harder for chris christie to bridge the bipartisan gap. tom brokaw joins me for a reality check on what we've witnessed over the last week. plus, clearing the path for clinton. jerry brown is just the late. potential democrat to say no to a 2016 bid. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. male ann] when you're serious about fighting wrinkles, turn to roc® retinol correxion®. one week, fine lines appear to fade. one month, deep wrinkles look smoother. after one year, skin looks ageless. high performance skincare™ only from roc®.

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of news, legislative goals ahead, you have the governor of alabama, indiana, who, by the way, has a better shot of doing well in an iowa caucus than the governor of new jersey. governor of iowa, he calls it a condition of the state. they don't call it a state of the state. the condition that my condition is in. washington did theirs, and the eyes of the world not on montgomery, pierre, olympia, but instead focused on trenton, and governor christie's latest mea culpa. >> and without a doubt we will cooperate with all appropriate inquiries to ensure that this breach of trust does not happen again. but i also want to assure the people of new jersey today that what has occurred does not define us or our state. >> but yesterday, it did. we said that if christie acknowledged the scandal up top like he did, he risked making it the only headline, and though he mentioned the bridge scandal in the first two minutes of the speech, it dominated the coverage.

"we let the people down." "swagger, jokes, swipes all gone." and the ledger had a nod to the quote "get back to business," it did lead with the mistakes. the record, christie tries to move on. here's where it hurts christie, even if nothing else is uncovered, it's much harder to play the bipartisan card. he can cite pension reform, property tax cap, but to undermine that story, an opponent may simply say, quote, chris christie's top aides created a traffic jam to punish a democratic mayor who didn't endorse him, and everyone in the press, from new jersey to national democrats, and his political enemies, will be waiting for the next shoe to drop. yesterday, another one did. a week ago at the marathon news conference, christie said this about fired aid david wildstein. >> i have had no contact with david wildstein in a long time. a long time. well before the election.

you know, i could probably count on one hand the number of conversations i've had with david since he worked at the port authority. i did not interact with david. >> but the "wall street journal" now has a photo of christie appearing to interact with him on september 11th, 2013. that's the third day of the lane closures themselves. so finally, if you want to talk about salt in the wound, there's this. chris christie's lifelong hero, the boss, teamed up with jimmy fallon, in a parody that has to hurt. ♪ with no place left to go and it was longer than one of my own damn shows ♪ ♪ some day governor i don't know when ♪ ♪ this will all end but till then ♪ ♪ you're killin' the workin' man ♪

♪ who's stuck in the new jersey traffic jam ♪ >> oy. i guess we can laugh about it. joining me, nbc news special correspondent, tom brokaw. tom, you and i talked earlier. i said, we're all in the middle of this, covering this. you're always so good at sort of taking that step back. so take the step back. a week into this thing. where is chris christie? >> well, i think we're waiting to see if there's another shoe to drop. i think that's the real test of all of this. what happens here is that both you have a governor and a state that played to their caricatures, and it really reinforced what a lot of people were waiting to have happen. it's new jersey, the home of the "sopranos" and all of the new jersey politics. he has always been both physically and metaphorically larger than life. if you look at him yesterday in the state of the state address, this guy has been taken down several notches. >> he did not seem himself. >> no, the bravado is gone. i saw him earlier this year at a

private fund-raiser for an environmental group, and he got up and dramatically tore up his speech, and said, this is how i do business, and he owned the room. a lot of high-rollers were there. i do think across the country, however, when they're looking at long-term unemployment, and they're looking at the uncertainty of the obama care, they're going, you got to move on, guys. you can only close those lanes for so long if you're in the national media. i do wonder if this had happened in nevada, whether it would have gotten as much attention. >> or, right, let's say wisconsin, where another potential presidential candidate -- >> yeah, right. >> -- or something like this, there is this idea. you live by the new york media sword and you die by it. and he's played the new york media card -- >> and i've spent a lot of time with him. i must say as a political journalist, and you, as well, he's the kind of guy you wait to come along. >> great theater. >> great theater. and in a democratic state, he's doing extremely well. and he's breaking a lot of the

conventional rules over there to try to get things done. >> you know, one of the -- it's such -- charlie cook wrote this column, a little snarky, who said, whoever thought he would be president, anyway? he was in the skeptical camp. and the whole thing centers, and that's that new jersey will never play in the white house, and the road for the republicans, it's wisconsin, iowa, michigan, ohio, it's the midwest where they have been getting pummelled. >> and that's a suffer sell for him, quite honestly. i did the interview with him two and a half years ago that kind of lit up the fund-raising crowd. it was a private conference in sun valley. we were on stage for an hour. he was as good as anybody i had ever seen. he was also very moderate. he was talking about gun control. he was talking about the need for immigration control. so can he come out of all this and then go into the republican primary -- >> go through that thing? >> and go through the republican primaries and get it. because he's going to have, you know, going to have walker in wisconsin taking a hit at him.

i was watching john thune earlier today on "morning joe" and -- >> it's funny you bring up walker. walker at the white house yesterday. part of the national committee of the association of governor, but scott walker wanted to make it clear he was behind chris christie. here it is. >> i think the bottom line is he stepped up. i think any of us as governors, democrat or republican, if there's a challenge in the administration, you step up, acknowledge it, and dealt with it, in this case, to the extent of replacing staff that he had and move forward. and i think whether it's chris or any other governor, for all of us who are governors, we certainly appreciate people who hold the folks accountable in their administration and look to move on. >> easy for him to say those things, because there's probably no one that stands to benefit from christie following in 2016 than scott walker. >> yeah, we know the scott walkers in the world, they're doing their own negative research going, they've got their own teams going.

here's who we've not heard from, jeb bush. he stayed out of this altogether. >> right. >> which might have been the wisest thing for him to do. >> all of the wall street money -- all of the wall street money, enamored chris christie, they're going to look -- >> yeah, exactly. >> -- look to miami. >> it's great theater, great politics. you know, you've heard me say this 100,000 times, it's the ufo theory all over again. >> yeah, guess what, the unforeseen occurred. great. thank you, tom brokaw. up next, the shriver report. fresh off a meeting with the president, maria shriver looks at us with the ongoing economic challenges for america's women. first, white house soup of the day, mushroom miso. [ male announcer ] the new new york is open. open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here

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disturbing, but maybe a bit hopeful. one in four american families with kids under 18 are headed by a single mother, and almost 41% of the children born in america are born to unmarried women. the latest job report shows unemployment down, but it's the first recovery since 1970 in which women have continued to lose jobs. or not get higher. how are women really doing in this economy, and what are some ways they can help themselves? getting some fascinating facts, insights, and answers from the latest "shriver report," and earlier this morning, i spoke to maria shriver, at the newseum in d.c. and she spoke about how the whole issue is impacting then tire economy. >> if you don't invest in women economically, we can't have a full and robust economy. that's really the headline. the headline is that one in three women in this country are on the brink economically, kind of churning in and out of it.

the other headline of the report is that two-thirds of all minimum-wage workers are women, and 70% of those workers don't even get one sick day off. so it's really a story about the american woman, the struggles that she faces, being a breadwinner, a caregiver and a caretaker, and certainly in those 42 million women and the 28 million women, the children who depend on those women, there are single mothers, but it's a much bhigger story than single mothers. >> and you talk about some of the things that need to be done, and not all of it can be dodge legislatively. >> right. >> a lot of this is cultural. a lot of this has to do with basic business practices by these businesses and how they -- how they treat women in general, but particularly single mothers versus how -- how men are treated in the workplace. >> well, i think what this has to do is it has partially to do with government, partially to do with business, and how business practices are set up, and the

entire american family, only one-fifth of the american families now have a man who goes off to work and a mother who stays home. but it's also really a call-out to women themselves that they need to begin to see themselves as providers first and foremost, not people who get provided for. it's a reality check for women, and it tells them to stay in school as absolutely as long as possible, because there's a direct correlation to your education level and your bank level, so to speak. >> and a phrase in here, "college before kids," that this is something in particular too many young mothers who end up struggling for years to catch up financially simply because they had kids and it got in the way of an education. >> that's right. this is to say to women, look, you have to stay in school as long as possible. but i have to say, chuck, all of the women that i've met, whether they end up in a single situation, because something happened in a marriage or in a relationship, they all said, look, i never planned to be here. this wasn't my plan. >> sure. >> and i planned to get out.

and i think that's really -- and they're looking for ways to get out. looking for ways to better their lives and the lives of their children. >> you know, one of the things that struck me in the report, you were saying one of the things, it's not just government but society in general needs to sort of modernize itself to the reality that there are a lot of single-parent families led by women. should we be accepting that? should -- >> well, that's certainly what our poll said. >> pardon me? >> that's what we polled 3,500 people, and what they came back with, is, yes, the government should modernize its relationship to women. it also says government has a role in encouraging marriage, and that it's certainly easier to raise a child with two incomes, but i think it's also really important to talk about what a healthy relationship looks like -- >> right. >> -- because it doesn't get us anywhere to say to women, stay in a relationship that doesn't work for you. our poll showed that women didn't regret leaving their

marriages. i think what society and the poll responders are saying, look, we can look in the rearview mirror, that won't get us anywhere, or we can deal with the way the american family is today. >> you presented this to the president yesterday. >> yes. >> what did he say? and what did you ask of him? what kind of action would you like to see from him? >> well, i think he -- as he said, look, i'm really sympathetic to these issues. these are issues i've been talking about, i'm the son of a single mother, so i understand the struggles that these millions of women face. i understand how poverty can be ingrained and could be a part of your zip code. and really, my goal is, and i think he's spoken about that economic mobility, and how do we lift families up, how do we encourage people to stay in school, how do we make college affordable? he is going to have a summit in the spring on the american family, and he wants to look at all of the issues about putting women in the center of the economic engine. they are the economic engine. he's going to look at how to modernize programs that do exist

for people who are on the brink. many times it takes hours to just sign up for these, even days, programs. there's a lot that local governments can do to modernize their relationship, modernize the programs. so i think he's going to try to look at all of the different things to try to look at all of these things that are good for women, that are good for men, that are good for democrats, that are good for republicans, that are good for business, and that's good for the public sector, as well. >> what kind of response have you gotten from the business community on this? >> i think the business community is already doing a lot of these things. they are looking for other ways to retain women. that's a very big part of what they are interested in, how to promote them, how to build a culture that promotes men and women with the needs that they have. i think, you know, look at all of us, our face with changing roles, children are faced with having both parents work. businesses are faced with men and women coming in and saying i need flex hours, i'm taking care of a mother, a father with alzheimer's, i need to go to the doctor, i have a kid that's home, i don't have help, and

also with women going out into the workplace there's a society that's come along with that, people who care for their parents, care for their kids, and part of the ten things we say, if you're going to hire somebody to take care of your kids or parents or work in your home, pay them a living wage. offer them sick days. that was the number one thing, people said the biggest single thing that would make a difference is sick days. >> not only that, offer them benefits, too. which is something that these folks don't have and they are also income, their incomes raise their own families. anyway, maria shriver, it's an excellent report, excellent read. thanks for devoting so much energy to this. >> thank you, chuck. you can see all the shriver report findings. trivia time, both north carolina and south carolina claim that andrew jackson is a native son and the white house lists jackson's birthplace as a

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time now for the wednesday ta takeaway. another clinton, another brown, and another bush. potentially all running for the same office, but on tuesday we lost the brown, jerry brown told reporters definitively this time he will not run for president in 2016 and brown now joins what is a growing list of potential -- excuse me here, potential hillary primary opponents who are finding ways of walking away from running. elizabeth warren pledged to serve out a full term, martin o'o o'malley said he wouldn't run. but you have former montana governor claiming he's going to

run. he decided not to run for an open senate seat. last week on msnbc he said he currently has a great life in the private sector and running for president would ruin his life. that doesn't sound like he wants to run either. who's left? all those supposed challengers are looking and finding reasons to walk away. will she really run unchallenged by the left? we are convinced one person will run because of the attention they'll get. right now, money is hillary facing little or no opposition in 2016. pros and cons with that, by the way. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." coming up next, chris jansing. see you tomorrow. in fact, they depend on a unique set of nutrients. [ male announcer ] that's why there's ocuvite to help protect your eye health. as you age, your eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite is a vitamin made just for your eyes from the eye care experts as bausch + lomb. ocuvite has a unique formula that's just not found in any leading multivitamin.

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>> the obamacare ad onslaught is starting to make democrats nervous. the koch brothers plan to help republicans take over the senate. and women for office can change the dynamic and it's a lot more than just about so-called women's issues. plus, lawmakers reading mean tweets people have written about them. >> you are proof that this country has gone to hell in a hand basket. >> yep, you're about as original as an old pair of shoes. >> good morning, i'm chris jansing. right now the president is on his way to north carolina. it's his first trip outside the beltway in 2014. he's trying to put the focus on economy, the manufacturing, and jobs. but back in washington, the deal to help 1.3 million people who are unemployed crumbled. republican senators b