women definitely in washington and on the campaign trail. last hour president obama kicked off a white house forum on women and he spoke about the gender gap and the battle over the women's vote. >> 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 block. women are not an interest group. you shouldn't be treated that way. >> so this follows republican national committee chair reince priebus disputing that there is a gop war on women to begin with and his words touching off a mini firestorm. >> you will get your head slammed on the ground after your nose is broken, that's a good injure -- >> unfortunately, that is the wrong sound bite, not reince priebus. that is the attorney representing george zimmerman.

we apologize for that mistake, but president obama's deputy campaign manager, stephanie cutter has fired back at reince priebus and what he said about basically making up the war on women as something that the media has done and comparing women to caterpillars saying comparison of republican attempts to limit women's access to mammograms, cervical cancer screenings and contraception to a war on caterpillars shows how little regard leading republicans including mitt romney have for women's health. rnc communications director sean spicer tweeted, from vogt women to caterpillars, oh how far the mighty have fallen. we talk about the political power panel. erin mcpike, democratic strategi strategist, robert zimmerman and former bush white house aide. >> i want to start with you. as all of this is going on. sean spicer of the rnc has this statement on today's jobs report

that we'll talk about more and also about women as well saying wives are worried about shrinking wages and rising prices as they try to make ends meet. mothers fear for their children's futures as the national debt skyrockets and college becomes unaffordable. businesswomen are frustrated by the regulations that make it impossible. >> so does it hinge now on women and defining what their issues are for either side? >> in large part, yes, and here is why. women make up 52% of the electorate. so they vote at a higher rate than men do, and that will be important. you can't necessarily win the election without getting a very big amount of women to vote for you. now republicans know that they have a problem with women at this point. there have been lots and lots of meetings with the republican party in d.c. in the last couple of months because they have to figure out a new way to talk about it so we're not hearing them talk about contraception

anymore, they're veering away from social issues and they have a new offensive this morning to talk about how unemployment has grown since president obama took office for specifically women. >> i want to make sure that everyone knows the sound bite that we were trying to play for everybody and has the context properly. this is reince priebus and the analogy to caterpillars. let's listen in. >> the democrats said we had a war on caterpillars then every mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that republicans have a war on caterpillars, then we'd have problems with caterpillars. the fact of the matter is that it's a fiction. >> so, joe, that's the proper sound bite there and chris alisa of "the washington post" talked about how they're seizing every opportunity to drive an issue wedge between republicans and women and it's working. how can republicans reverse the narrative and do so in a way that's effective for them? >> well, you make a great point, thomas.

that's right. right now there is a gap and a lead. president obama's leading certainly among women over governor romney for the moment and on our side, republicans have to work very, very hard to win back women and to make the narrative about how to put women and families back to work and how the current economy hurts women and children. i think governor romney will be successful at doing that. republicans know that democrats do not have a good story to tell on the economy which is why they're seizing on the fact that republicans presently have a problem with women. they keep hammering at that home and they want to get to the soer point. >> i want to ask the republican national committee, and so far we've received no response. the president weighed in on the 80-year ban on women at augusta yesterday. from his press secretary jay carney saying women should be admitted and mitt romney also agrees with that. take a listen. >> i'm not a member of augusta.

i don't know that i would qualify. my golf game is not that good, but certainly if i were a member, and if i could run augusta which is not likely to happen, but think, i would let women in augusta. >> we're awaiting for the rnc and hearing from augusta at how they want to fire back on the questions of whether they'll allow women into augusta. they've been to this rodeo before. they've been around the horn on this one, but i want to say this is significant because romney became ceo of ibm and each of the past four ceos have been offered membership there. she says she's still going to take clients there and go to augusta, but how do you think that this changes the point of view when president obama and mitt romney are trying to talk about women's issues and here they are agree ppg. >> it's irrelevant they're agreeing. let's be clear, the policy at augusta is a disgrace and it reflects how akronisticly they

are, and for women and young girls and besides, the head of ibm not even being invited into the order of green jackets and nobody looks good in a green jacket anyway. despite mitt romney's declaration of support for women to play at the masters, he still has failed to step up on behalf of women, and not supporting the lilly ledbetter law and contraceptive rights for women and federal rights stripped from planned parenthood. >> as we debate as we ramp up to the general election. president obama spoke at a fund-raiser last night mentioning mitt romney by name and mocking him for calling the budget marvelous. why has the obama camp decided they can't wait and they have to go for romney now while the primary is on? >> because at this point we have six and a half months left until the general election and you're seeing the obama campaign go into a number of swing states and try to define mitt romney before he can pivot himself to the general election.

that's an important thing in politics to start to define your opponent before he or she has a chance to. right now president obama is beating mitt romney in a number of those swing states, but they need to keep that up because once the republican primary is over, mitt romney will be able to recover some ground because he's not in the inter-party battle that has newt gingrich and rick santorum haranguing him about a number of issues in his personal background. he can consolidate the party and put out more of his personal story and that will help him regain some ground in the polls so the obama campaign doesn't want to do that. they want to start defining him so president obama can keep his lead. >> you want to jump in? >> before the gas prices rise because certainly the president won't want to talk about the rising gas prices this summer. >> joe, that's a good try. >> it's true. >> the bottom line is this, this week was very defining because rather than keeping the focus on the economy the focus was on the ryan budget plan and the efforts

by mitt romney and the republican leadership to support a policy that's going to increase, more tax cuts for the top 1% and take it from middle income people and social security recipients and student loan recipients. that's the debate right now. >> what it's really about is how do we keep people who are risk takers who have small businesses afloat so they can hire more folks, get more people off the unemployment rolls. >> we tried for years and it didn't work well for the country. >> good friday and good debate here. thanks so much. i appreciate it. there is good news for the country this morning and we'll talk about the unemployment rate. it did fall once again, inching closer to 8% with clear job gains, but it also means tepid news for the bobama administration because of the caveat. total jobs added hit 120,000, well off the predictions that we've been hearing from economic experts heading into today's report. when president obama spoke about this report just in the last

hour. take a listen. >> we welcome today's news that our businesses created another 121,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate ticked down, 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. >> cnbc contributor ron insana joins me. predictions say it should be closer to 200,000 jobs gained in the month of march. why were the predictions so bloated and what does it tell us about what to expect for the spring into the summer? >> the trend growth over the last months has been in excess of 200,000 jobs. retail trade shed a relatively large number so that helped bring that number below expectations. it was not a great number and it was not a horrible number, but it was well below it was anticipated and the stock index futures was traded until 9:15 this morning and they traded down 100 points and it was so far below consensus, but we saw

the prior two months revised upward, so the data were not all that bad and they showed slowing momentum in the recovery and the slowdown in china at the same time. >> let's go through the fine points and good gains and manufacturing and job losses in construction and retail and we saw african-american employment rate tick back up to 14%, but we also see this small gain in public sector employment after a long string on losses in that one. >> overall the concern is export growths from the united states to places like europe and china might be slowing down and that will strain the economy. retail was very bloated and coming out of the holiday season so there might have been a strange statistical quirk, at least more reality injected into what the retail environment looks like. high-end retail doing very well,

lower end, middle end doing okay, but i think the biggest concerns are really now centered around export growth, europe and say slowing china. europe is in a recession right now given all of the problems they have and we've seen this play out in 2010 and 2011. i don't think we'll get the same degree probably that we saw last year on the employment front. this could be just a brief pause, but it is a number that may be concerning to the federal reserve which has promised to keep interest rates lower. >> ron, very quickly, though, for the holiday no domestic market activity for today. so the report having impact next week? >> we saw stock index futures trade around the number and it indicated a 100-point drop in the dow. mndz will be a catch-up day. unless there's good news about china, about europe and something else, it could be a rough monday. i should point out that the bureau of labor statistics did not reveal any data for the unemployment rate for caterpillars. as far as that goes, that's at least one area that we don't

have to talk about on monday. >> caterpillars turn into birth flies and fly away. >> like the economy. >> cnbc contributor ron insana, thank you very much. we want to bring in cnbc and msnbc con tributor jared bernstein. today democrats can say the unemployment rate is down and the economy is falling short of the growth, the expectations we all wanted. whose argument is the strongest? >> well, look, whenever you have a monthly anomaly like this, one smart thing to do is to try to figure out whether, in fact, this is the beginning of a new trend or whether it's a one-off blip in this case in the wrong direction. one of the things i did this morning, remember, march gives you the data for the first quarter of the year. >> uh-huh. >> and because of the noise you heard ron mention some of the statistical anomalies. those have to do with seasonal adjustments and the fact that this has been the fourth warmest winter on record. there you go. if you look at those monthly

numbers you can see the deceleration at the end of the graph. i gave this to your crack staff 25 minutes ago and i appreciate they were able to get it up so quickly. if you look at the quarterly data, though, and you smooth out those monthly blips month to month, there you see a very clear step function. >> right. >> we're adding 200,000 jobs a month, so the final question to answer your question is we simply can't know. one month doesn't a trend make. the underlying trend as you saw in the quarterly data has been positive. my priors is the underlying growth is probably around 200,000 than 120, but we'll see. >> jared, as you point out, baby stepping in the right direction is great, and as we look at it overall in the larger picture and when we get to the general, president obama set the bar wanting the unemployment rate at 8%. with this record of growth, will it be there? >> well, i think, as i just said if you look at those quarterly

numbers under the trend, that the trend remains his friend, as we say. it's all about momentum for the president in this regard, and the level of unemployment is still going to be too high towards the end of this year. >> all right. so you don't think it's going to be at 8% then? >> i think it could be around eight or it could be a little lower. the main thing is it's moving in the right direction. if it reverses courses and goes the other -- if the momentum is going the wrong way it hurts him a lot, but i think it's the trend that matters here less than the levels. >> msnbc contributor jared bernstein, thanks so much. i will talk to labor secretary hilda solis later this hour. developing right now the santorum campaign just released a statement saying the presidential candidate's daughter has been taken to the hospital. we'll bring you more details on this break news here on msnbc. they have names like idle time books and smash records

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if you'd been paying attention to watt establishment wanted i don't think rick santorum would have been in this race. if newt gingrich were out we'd be beating mitt romney pretty badly in some of these states and, rick's the guy, and rick's the only conservative in the race. let's throw our support behind rick. >> it was on "jansing & co," for getting newt gingrich out of this race. and they're brushing aside the talk of a possible exit from the nomination fight. lued huddling closely to plot a successful way forward, i'm looking forward to getting back on the campaign trail monday after family time for easter holiday. nbc political reporter domenico

montanaro. we have news that santorum's daughter has been taken to the hospital. what more on that front? >> we know he's come off the campaign trail because his daughter bella has a chromosomal disorder and his wife has done the majority of care for bella as santorum has been off the trail. he's home this weekend for the easter break and it's just another reminder of some of the complications that she's had and as a parent, certainly can sympathize with the santorums and certainly a difficult time for them. >> as we talk about what's taken place with rick santorum taking a break and saying he was doing so for the easter holiday, it got us thinking around here this morning rick perry took a break after iowa, and then he revealed to everybody that he was going to be coming back on twitter showing that picture of him in

his running shoes saying there was more to be done. we've heard about this push to get gingrich out of this race. are we expecting a moment like that from rick santorum where he comes back stronger, more gathered to keep pushing forward or do you think this break will give him pause for concern especially now that he may have more of a family dynamic to consider with his young child? >> well, you wonder if he would re-think his campaign considering what had happened on tuesday with wisconsin, but his -- his campaign stresses that he is home for easter. he's a devout catholic, and he took from holy thursday off through sunday, and he's going to be in pennsylvania on monday. they said they are not getting out and in fact, he met with conservatives. yesterday at his home, they requested a meeting and it was more of a pep rally from our reporting. it was sort of let's chart a way forward and part of that charting of the path forward is trying to get newt gingrich out of the race and trying to get the texas republican party to change its rules on how it

allocates delegates from proportional to winner take all. both of those things are very unlikely to happen. newt gingrich said yesterday he's not getting out and not going to be encouraging his delegates to vote for santorum and while they might be inclined to go and try to change those rules, they need a waiver from the republican national committee and sources inside the rnc tell us that that is not likely to be granted. so this seems like something they're going try to push, but unlikely to happen. >> domenico, great to see you this morning. thank you. you can get the very latest 2012 news from our political unit at firstread.msnbc.com. so apparently what happens in vegas, well, it ends up on youtube. this is reportedly a federal employee has taken to youtube to rap about excessive spending and government investigations. wait until you see it for yourself. plus president obama and mitt romney agree on at least one thing that augusta national

should admit women, but that the 80-year-old no-women policy is not likely to change any time soon. we'll talk about that and much more right after this. [ female announcer ] water was meant to be perfect.

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[ 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. e.p.a. estimated 36 miles per gallon highway. welcome back, everybody. the masters golf tournament is officially under way. the golfer's skills on the green are competing with air time with a controversy over whether women should be allowed to become members of augusta and reignited because of this women, virginia romedy who has taken over the helm of longtime tournament sponsor ibm. it's good to have you here because within the golf community there is this sense about what the rules are at augusta and what the gender policies are outdated and then there are some people, certainly the members of augusta and the men running this is a this is our tradition and we're not going change our rules now. >> yeah. this tournament is all about tradition and some of the traditions are great.

you have $3 beers and $1 sandwiches and the meter board done by hand, but this tradition is untanible and you're starting to see cracks, saying they're cop contentious, you have president obama talking about it. you have mitt romney talking about it. this pressure is mounting and i don't see it going away when it stops. >> here's how he responded. >> once again, that deals with a membership issue and i'm not going to answer it. >> this is not the first time at the rodeo on this issue. they've been around the horn and have been confronted by it and had members leave over this policy. so do you think that they're going wait for this heat to die down? obviously, it's a white-hot spotlight right now, but does the controversy go away? >> the members hosting this tournament, they're immune to the economic pressure brought

about these things. 2003 was the famous example of criticism of it, and they said we won't have commercials on the telecast. they pressured the network, so they're not immune to that, but at the same time they're not immune to embarrassment and golf has notoriously been behind the curve of issues. jackie robinson played baseball in 1947 and lee elders was in the masters and it was 1975. i don't think they're a generation behind, and it will change we just won't get a press release and they won't make a big deal with it does. >> it will be under the radar. we'll see. i don't know who will be a good candidate, whether it's annika sorenstam and condoleezza rice, and we'll go there and they'll be wearing a green jacket. >> mike, good to have you here. thank you. "mrs. kennedy and me." it's a memoir by a secret

service agent, a charming story about protection and love. does she or doesn't she? this woman claims she has the mega millions winning ticket and why she says she can't come forward with it. no way. marty doesn't have a big hole in his head. i got mixed up with some bargain brand cooking spray. look the only way to go is pam. works 70% better than the bargain brand. why you gotta rub it in, pal? pam helps you pull it off.

what happens in vegas apparently ends up on youtube? the government services administration, thanks to the video you see right here. the agency was already under fire over wasteful spending at a las vegas conference back in 2010, but the controversy is flaring up again after this video was leaked by congressman darryl issa. it shows an agency employee rapping about massive overspending and not getting caught. ♪ post my picture on gnc website ♪ ♪ i swear obama ♪ because i buy everything the

office can't afford ♪ ♪ i donate my vacation, love to the nation ♪ ♪ i'll never be under oig investigation ♪ >> kelly o'donnell joins me. while that might be creative and the undertones and what it means to the taxpayers of this country is cringe-worthy and the video won an award. tell us who is behind this video and what it means for the future of gsa? >> well, it's a cautionary tale about talent shows and things they're intended to try to build morale in the office when someone uses the creativity you pointed out to perhaps spoof their office and the net effect of that is that it appears to be disrespectful to the taxpayer, questionable use of time and resources the taxpayer pays for. the administration had spent $800,000 on travel and food and beverages related to kind of getaways that are part of,

again, team building, award ceremonies and that sort of thing and when that was put under review it found that they weren't following the proper rules for procuring and buying things using government money and the irony of that is the gsa, part of its mission is to help the federal government spend its money wisely. so this became part of an official investigation and that video became part of that as well and so congress is overlooking that and made these reports available. the gsa has said this is indefensible and appalling and they are going to take steps that have been outlined in the summary report to try to curtail this. things like putting a clampdown on these getaways and so forth, and of course, the top person at gsa lost her job almost immediately. there is a significant fallout here, thomas united states because there is a concern to see even if it was meant for fun, how terribly wrong that could be and how embarrassing

for the administration. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell. great to see you. thank you. here's a look at other stories topping the news. just a short time from now the family of george zimmerman will launch a website to help raise money for his legal defense. the volunteer who shot and killed an unarmed teen trayvon martin. zimmerman has not been arrested and charged for killing martin. his lawyers say he's been convicted by the media. >> "the orlando sent nal" reports the night trayvon martin was killed, zimmerman was one of 1,093 residents with permits to carry conceal handguns. they can legally carria i concealed weapon. u.s. coast guard has fired canons at a japanese ship which has been drifting after the deadly tsunami. they sunk the ship from to prevt

from becoming a threat. the coast guard warned mariners to stay away from the site of the wreckage. saints coordinator gregg williams, on it, williams can be heard urging his players before a game to use rough tactics on specific opponents to knock them to the sidelines. >> kill the head and the body will die. we've got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill frank gore's head. >> he's been suspended for the season for his role in the bounty program which paid players who injured opponents. a minnesota waitress wins her fight to get an anonymous $12,000 tip returned back to work. the waitress at the frying pan restaurant found the cash in a to-go box where she works. she tried to return the box to

the customer, but the customer refused. the police told her she could have it back in 60 days, but then police as part of a drug investigation, the pate res said justice has now been done. she gets it back. self-proclaimed mega millions winner mirlande wilson claims she lost the ticket. her winning ticket was not a part of her mcdonald's employee pool. lottery officials say the winner has until september 28th to claim the record setting prize. her name evokes the iconic images of camel on the, the condition ken white house and the tragic, tragic time in american history. now we're getting a new view of jacqueline kennedy from one of the people who knew her best. clint hill was the secret service agent who ump jed on the back of president kennedy's convertible after the shots rang out in dallas on that day in 1963. now he's written a memoir titled "mrs. kennedy and me" about his

time at jackie kennedy's side. former secret service agent clint hill joins me. it's an honor to meet you in person, and you've been a fascinating witness to our history, a tragic day in our history and the book is a fascinating read. i want to point out that you say in the book because of the angle, the weather, where we were, everything, i did all that i could, but i still feel guilt. all these years later you still feel guilt that you could have done more that day? you were riding on the fender of the car following the convertible. >> that's correct. i was in the car behind the president's vehicle in the left hand side and there is still that sense because i was the only agent in that group who had a chance to do anything, and i failed to do what i thought i should have done which was get there faster than i did. >> mr. hill, is the guilt more professional guilt or personal guilt, too, because of how you felt about the kennedy family? >> both, i suppose.

personal guilt because of the relationship i had with mrs. kennedy and the president and professional guilt for letting the organization down and the american people down. >> you were a witness to something that few americans really know all of the details of what happened that day. there was a private viewing for president kennedy with just family. what happened during that private viewing? >> it was only for mrs. kennedy and the president's brother robert. she asked that we open the casket so that they could view the president. nobody else was there except the honor guard and they very kindly stepped back and turned around, and the military aide to president kennedy and i opened the casket and made sure that it was okay and then mrs. kennedy and the attorney general robert kennedy approached the casket to view the president. >> mrs. kennedy asked you for scissors and then you heard something, correct?

>> she asked me to get some scissors and i knew what she was going to be doing and i could hear the clip, clip, clip of the scissors. i knew she was cutting a lock of his hair and that when they were finished viewing and the casket was closed she handed me the scissors which i took back to the office and noticed on the tip of one of the blades of the scissors was chestnut-colored hair. >> you were in personal situations with the kennedys, good times and bad with the first lady. would you consider yourself to be a friend and a confidant as well as a secret service agent? >> i was with her because she and i were together a lot, just the two of us, and she confided in me in a lot of situations, and i confided in her, too. she held my secrets as well as i hers, and we became very good friends. we were very professional and

very good friends and she always called me mr. hill, and i called her mrs. kennedy and we were quite knowledgeable about each other and what we liked and didn't like. >> one thing i was fascinated by in the book is mrs. kennedy was very concerned about the privacy of the family and the young children moving into the white house and about her getting her own personal mail and you were willing to have the mail addressed to you so that she would be able to give your name to certain family members so that she would be able to get mail in a more timely fashion? >> when they first came into the white house and they went to palm beach the first christmas they were having trouble getting her mail from her friends and members of her family. so to make it easier, i suggested that maybe they just put my name along with hers on the envelope and we could seek -- because i knew i warrant going to be getting mail personally, so i could go to the post office and they set aside all their mail, and i'd pick out the ones that had my name on it and they were special to her and i would give these to her every

day. >> your code name was dazzle. >> yes, they gave me the cose name dazzle. i don't know why, but they did. >> former secret service agent clint hill and author of "mrs. kennedy and me." it really is a fascinating read, sir. thank you. we want to know more of your story and you can find out more on his story tonight on nbc "nightly news". women are not an interest group. you shouldn't be treated that way. >> the white house holds a forum on women and the economy. this morning the president wants to make sure that everyone gets their fair shot. labor secretary hilda solis joins me live to talk women and jobs, but first, melissa harris berry will be sounding off on the so-called war on women. s yo. and who doesn't want 50% more cash? ugh, the baby. huh! and then the baby bear said, "i want 50% more cash in my bed!"

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today about this movie. a newly edited version of the film has been given now a pg-13 rating. you may recall that the mpaa had said the profanity in the film earned it an r rating prompting teachers and anti-bulling activists to get that reduced to pg-13. now the film will be wide released with the rating of pg-13. president obama makes his case to america's women, speaking to women's forum, he made a powerful pitch to female voters. take a listen. >> for the first time in history, young girls across the country can see three women sitting on bench of the highest court of the land. as long as i've got the privilege of being your president, we're going to keep working every single day to make sure those doors forever stay open. >> joining me now is melissa harris perry host of "the melissa harris perry" show on

msnbc. it was by american women for american women. is he winning the case of why pick me for president? >> well, look, he certainly has real accomplishments and he pointed out that he had two opportunities to put someone on the supreme court. he chose women in both cases. he talked today also about the fact that the very first legislation that he signed into law was the lilly ledbetter equal pay act or fair pay act, so he has real contributions, but the fact is he is being best served by his opponents. it's really the republicans' positions in this primary that are providing an opportunity for president obama to appear to be really the choice for american women. >> reince priebus, as i'm sure you've heard this week, called the gop war on women fiction. saying this this is just made up by the media. so according to the gutmacher institute 90 abortions were signed into law and this was after republicans took over the house saying that we needed to get america back to work. we need jobs. we need jobs.

so abortion restrictions are under consideration now in nine states. can you call it fiction when you look at the numbers and legal records of what has been done since republicans kind of swept back in 2010? >> i think the nature -- the part of it that i would agree is fiction is as the president said today, there is no single position on abortion on american women and there is no single position on political parties among american women. we're not an interest group and more than half the population. so in that sense it obviously is an attack on reproductive rights and there is a strong plurality of women who says those reproductive rights and freedoms are critical. what i don't think clearly is not a fiction where he's absolutely wrong is this idea that somehow this just happened, and that this is just a result of normal governing. clearly, the state level republicans in state after state after state in this country made a decision that instead of focusing on issues of politics

and issues of the economy that they would instead focus on issues primarily concerned with women's bodies. >> do you think that will tone down as we ramp up to the general or do you think this will stay in this buzz-worthy area? >> i don't think mitt romney has any interest in running against president obama on a platform that is going to divide american women in that way. i think mitt romney would rather have this fight on the economy. >> melissa harris-perry, thank you. you can watch "the melissa harris-perry show" saturday and sunday at 10:00 a.m. on msnbc, the place for politics. we're back after this. crisp, cl. that's why there's brita, to make the water we drink, taste a little more, perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced filtration system of brita. [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices.

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my grandmother had a high school education. she got a job at a local bank, and she was smart and tough. 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. 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. >> president obama there sharing a part of his family history, just a short time ago. also highlighting the opportunities for women in america at a white house forum dedicated to expanding economic options for women in the workplace. labor secretary hill dal solis led one of the sessions at the white house ood and joins me now. secretary, it's great to have you here with me this morning. today's economic forum for women is a big event. what were the key messages when we talk about education, the ability to get a position where women can excel internally and really make a mark going forward for their careers? >> i think the president is correct when he's saying everyone should have an equal opportunity to fulfill their full potential and women, as you know, are making up a larger part of the workforce, well over half. and women are becoming more and better educated but women still

hit the glass ceiling in terms of representation at the very highest levels in corporate america and federal government. so the president knows we have more to do and encouraging women to get into the nontraditional fields and science and technology and math, very, very important and making investments so that women vum career choices but also workplace choices like workplace flexibility, women are now having to take time off in many cases to take care of a child or a loved one. and sometimes there are employers that don't necessarily want to go about allowing them to take time off. so that hurts not only her but it hurts the employer because productivity goes down. when you keep employees available in those positions and give them flexibility so that they can take care of loved ones, productivity goes up and the proof is in the pudding. statistics show that. >> secretary solis, i want to switch gears and talk to you about the big jobs report out today because 8.2% is the unemployment rate now. 120 jobs added.

this was short of expectations. the predictions at 200,000 for the month. there wasn't this resounding cheer from economic experts this morning and the reality is that 12.7 million people still are unemployed. so secretary, how long is the nation going to be burdened with unemployment hovering above 8%? >> well, i look at each report month by month, and all i can do is look back to see what the results were and in the last 25 months, we've seen 4 million private sector jobs added. this report also shows that we still have job growth in areas like manufacturing, leisure, hospitality and in health care and education. so the we know we still have a long way to go. there's no doubt about it, we're not going to be satisfied until we put every person back to work that wants to work. >> again, it was 120,000 jobs added for this month. what are the future projections to get president obama to the 8% benchmark that he gave himself for re-election? >> i'm not going to give an opinion on that.

what i can tell you is that the president is making investments rights now so that we can prepare 2 million skilled workers to receive credentials at community colleges. investment and training, making sure we're connecting with businesses because there are over 3 million jobs that the private sector is looking to fill. we need to make sure we're making the connections and also giving opportunities for small businesses to start up, to give tax credits investments so they can do that and hopefully hire more people up and use our unemployment insurance system in a more flexible way, allowing people to start up their own businesses by using the ui fund to do that and making available work sharing so people can get on the job training with an employer or perhaps even preventing layoffs by using the ui fund to help employers use that to help subsidize some part of that salary for that week. while those people are still on the job. so there are different mechanisms we're looking at to help our economy and we're hoping we can get the full support of everyone, the public

and inincluding congress. >> labor secretary hilda solis, thanks for your time this morning. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >> absolutely. that's going to wrap things up for me today. thanks for your time. i'll see you back here on monday at 11:00 a.m. eastern every weekday morning and i'm filling in at 2:00 p.m. for tamron. follow me at twitter @thomas a. roberts. "now" with alex wagner comes your way next. ♪ why do you whisper, green grass? ♪ [ all ] shh! ♪ why tell the trees what ain't so? ♪ [ male announcer ] dow solutions use vibration reduction technology to help reduce track noise so trains move quieter through urban areas all over the world. together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything. [ all ] shh! [ male announcer ] solutionism. the new optimism.

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the white house is cautioning americans to not read too much into any one jobs report. while the gop is cautioning the country not to think too much about the war on women and caterpillars. it's friday, april 6th and this is "now." joining me today bloomberg business week editor josh terangle, catherine crier, author of "the patriot acts," the esteemed martin bashir of msnbc and the always