worried about her future. velma hart recently lost her job. we're going to talk to her in a moment. but first, here's cnbc's chief washington correspondent john harwood. john, good morning. >> good morning, carl. velma hart burst into the nation's consciousness by telling president obama directly her frustrations about the economy. now we know that she was under more pressure then than any of us knew. this is the life that velma hart told president obama about this fall at a cnbc town hall. >> i'm one of your middle class americans and quite frankly, i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that i voted for. >> reporter: hart became the face of the president's problem. >> a black lady financial analyst veteran. we have found obama's crypt knight. >> the gap between the promise of his campaign and the reality of his presidency. the self-described finance geek was even signed up as a cnbc contributor. but she wasn't...