joining us to talk about the domestic agenda, melody barnes, thank you for joining us. >> it's my pleasurer having me. >> day three of education nation. want to get in education in just a moment. but first, though, jobs. this is what the president told high schoolers in denver yesterday after. i want to sign this jobs bill so we can start putting people to work. i've already got the pens all ready and every one of you can make it happen by sending a message to congress that says, we have heard this line a couple of times now, pass this jobs bill. the new york times reporting that the senate wants to tackle china and currency manipulation there first. why is the senate not taking the jobs bill seriously? >> the senate is taking the american jobs bill seriously. congress is because the american people are. we know that the number one thing on everyone's mind is creating and saving jobs. that's why the president sent the american jobs act to congress. that's why he is going around the country talking about it. and was in your clip you can see the enthusiasm around this. in fact one of the pro

. >> joining me now, melody barnes, director of white house domestic policy council.hanks for joining me tonight. >> it's a pleasure. thanks for having me. >> first to eric cantor's objection. has the president said this 155-page bill is take it or leave it, he will not accept any adjustments or negotiations on it? >> what the president has said and what the president has done, he's talked to business leaders. we've talked to economists. we've talked to the american people as we've gone all over the country to find the best ways to put millions of people back to work to save millions of jobs. we've put together ideas that have been supported by democrats and republicans in the past. as recently as just a few months ago this past december. we accumulated a bipartisan set of ideas. we put together a package to pay for those ideas so we can put people back to work. this is about getting our economy going. this is about sending teachers back into the classroom and firefighters and cops back into our neighborhoods to keep our communities safe and our economy growing and ge

so melody barnes was there, valerie jarrett was there, secretary of hud donovan was there and others,y answering some hard questions from the internet audience about, one, you know, what is hud doing around fha and not just african-american homeowners, but how will fha look going forward and how is this bill going to affect it. those kind of questions. it was a total and complete shock when valerie -- melody barnes introduced the president to come forward. he wasn't scheduled to be there. i think one, it showed the real emphasis the president has now on making sure that he is the head messenger on this bill, that he's not allowing other surrogates to be in front of him on this. we know that he's going to be in ohio, which is also my home state, that's in a great need as it relates to jobs. he's going to be in north carolina. i don't think we've seen him really be on front of an issue like this from a message standpoint since the health care bill and i think many of his supporters are happy to see him, not just being willing to be on the front end of it but challenging the gop to step

with me now, melody barnes, the president's domestic policy advisor. thanks for joining us from inside the briefing room. >> thanks for having me. >> i want to ask you about a challenge from your own base. you have andy stern, the former president of sciu, former long-time supporter, members of the jobs panel and also the bowles-simpson commission, and he challenged the president already, writing in "new york times" he's erred on the side of trying to reason with unreasonable people which seems to be the wrong strategy. there is not a clear understanding in most people's minds of what is his philosophy. in republicans there is a clear understanding. what do you say to that? >> i would say to andy and the american people and congress, who will be there tonight, listen to what the president has to say tonight, because the president will tell the american people and he will tell congress i'm going to send you the american jobs act. it is my idea, it is my set of ideas, my plans, for how we can make sure that american people are working, creating and savin

that american jobs act forward, asking congress to act, that's another important step forward. >> melody barnese for us at the white house, melody, thank you very much. again, a quick reminder to all of you. we will be getting the best political team on television set for you at 6:00 tonight eastern time, and then, of course, the president's address to the joint session of congress 7:00 eastern. now this. >> if i had just gotten here i would have been surprised but having been here for six month it's not. this is pretty muff the stone ages where we are. >> we're learning what some american soldiers already know, that some people around the world don't even know what happened on 9/11. coming up, what happened when a journalist shared the pictures of the september 11th terrorist attacks in remote parts of afghanistan, also homeland security says chatter is starting to build ahead of the weekend's anniversary. what they are doing to keep americans safe. wherever, whenever you want.is one log in lets you monitor all of your balances and transfer between accounts, so your money can move as fast as y

out and it was a while ago, a year or so ago, i had asked two leading women in the white house, melody barneshere was a problem and both side not really. melody was the first woman to be invited to play golf with the president after that. but what do you make of the fact this has come up again? >> the charge it is an old boys' club. it is compared to what proposition? was w, clinton administration t reagan administration? all previous administrations have been an old boys club to some extent. >> wouldn't you argue that all of them have been. kind of, yeah. they don't change that much. >> it is compared to what proposition. if we are going to be fair we have to put it in context. this is the president that appointed two women to the supreme court. that is relevant in the criticism as well. there is clearly, we are always in the process of forming a more perfect union. >> larry somers, one of the top economic advisers to the president who is gone. he gets a lot of play in the book. he is quoted as telling the former head of the o and b we are home alone. there's no adult in charge. so both of t

melody barnes is president of the domestic policy council.ill talk a little bit about the jobs plan tonight. i was looking at "usa today", the newspaper, "usa today.", did a big spread talking to average americans on the speech about the president's speech tonight. i like to share a quote from one. people they spoke to. todd, from san francisco. voted for president obama but i don't know if the words are there. i think he gives a fabulous speech. i don't think he is too ibt lex wall but nobody seems to be listen. why is tonight different and why should we be listening this time? >> jenna, thanks so much for having me on this afternoon. i think the reason tonight is so important because the president is going to say too congress and the american public that next week he will send forward the american jobs act. in fact after he sends that piece of legislation forward, he wants congress to act. the time for talking is over. the time for partisan bickering is over. it is incredit whether i important that congress act on this piece of legislation