nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house tonight to tell us about that. mike? >> reporter: today the white house announced that on wednesday the president will unveil his plan to reduce the national debt. it'll be the opening of a battle that will make last week's fight over spending look like a minor skirmish. now comes the hard part. bringing down the country's soaring debt. today aides say the obama plan will include reform of popular but costly programs for seniors. >> you're going to have to look at medicare and medicaid and see what kind of savings you can get. but in the process of sitting down and talking about our spending and our programs, if there can be a discussion about how to strengthen social security in the future. >> reporter: republicans already have their own plan set for a house vote this week that would dramatically reform medicare and medicaid. >> we've got to get our spending under control because that's the root cause of our problem. yes, if you get deficit reduction and deficit and the debt under control, that's going to help the econo

nbc's mike viqueira reports from the white house. >> reporter: just ten blocks from the white house, a sign of political peril for the president. today in his weekly address, mr. obama warned when it comes to a gallon of gas, there is no quick fix. >> the truth is there is no silver bullet that can bring down gas prices right away. >> reporter: as he kicks off his 2012 run, mr. obama hopes the price at the pump doesn't cost him at the polls. this week he talked tough, appointing a task force to fight fraud and price manipulation in oil markets. >> we're going to make sure that nobody is taking advantage of american consumers for their own short-term gain. >> reporter: but as prices have risen over the last two months, and voters feel more pain at the pump, the president has seen his approval ratings go the other way, dropping from a high of 50% in january. >> higher gas prices unquestionably are a significant contributor to the president's drop in poll numbers. >> reporter: republicans are again on the attack. just as in 2008. hoping to gain political traction by pushing for more dom

>> mike viqueira at the white house.nk you. >>> we just saw the president marking this holy easter day. christians around the world were doing the same. here's nbc's ron allen. >> reporter: this easter, a day filled with the promise of new beginnings, thousands of christians celebrated in jerusalem, where they believe christ rose from the dead. at the vatican, with perhaps 100,000 gathered in a festively adornd st. peter's square, pope benedict was also mindful of recent events. in japan and libya. he prayed for diplomacy to end the conflict. "may those who suffer be given aid," he added. and the vatican is preparing for what may be an even bigger event next sunday, when the pope will bestow the church's highest honor on his predecessor, john paul ii. beatification, a key step toward john paul becoming a saint. at his funeral in 2005, the crowd chanted for sainthood immediately, a process often decades long. john paul was an enormously popular figure, a global icon, after becoming the youngest pope in more than a century

mike viqueira is with us. good morning. >> reporter: they're calling it that deal that they struck late friday night. the biggest annual spending cut in american history. and both sides are taking credit even as they prepare for a much bigger budget battle to come. for washington tourists this weekend, a double treat. a surprise visit from the president at a lincoln memorial still open for business. >> because congress was able to settle its differences, that's why this place is open today and everybody is able to enjoy their visit and that's what kind of future cooperation, i hope we have going forward. this is what america is all about. >> reporter: the deal was made just 90 minutes before the government would have partially shut down. >> the motion is adopted. >> reporter: and the president warned the budget cuts he agreed to will be painful. >> but beginning to live within our means is the only way to protect those investments that will help america compete for new jobs. >> reporter: though there are some

. >> mike viqueira is nbc news white house correspondent. peter mariucci, conservative economist says we have to add 13 million private sector jobs the next three years. that's 360,000 each month in the private sector if we're going to see unemployment down around 6% again. how much pressure is the white house under to keep moving this momentum? >> reporter: they're under a lot of pressure and you have heard from mike morel and other members of his base as well as 13.5 million out of work and those that quit working. they call it the participation rate. off the unemployment rolls and driving down ironically the unemployment rate. but this is being greeted by many not only here at the white house but on wall street as well standing up and cheering. only ticked down 0.1 from 8.nine to 8.10 in the course of a month but represents the last four months ticking down of an entire percentage point. peter ma reesy at the university of maryland and the president a stone's throw at landover, maryland at an event emphasizing fuel efficient trucks at a u

nbc's mike viqueira joins us from the white house. >> reporter: lester, you're right. this time around it's taken longer than usual to stop, but with top-tier candidates finally getting in, including the president, himself, the race to sit here in the west wing come 2012 is finally on. with tax day looming on monday, this weekend tea party-backed anti-tax rallies were held across the country, with some drawing possible gop white house hopefuls from sarah palin in rainy wisconsin -- >> these are the front lines in the battle for the future of our country! >> reporter: -- to donald trump in sunny south florida. >> if i run and win, our country will be respected again. >> reporter: with his built-in celebrity and controversial views on president obama's birth, trump has surprised many by showing early strength in polls. former minnesota governor tim pawlenty is also now raising money for a run. >> have you had enough of $4 a gallon gas? >> yes. >> have you had enough of a federal government that is out of control? >> reporter: and mitt romney, a veteran of the 2008 race,

nbc's mike viqueira is following it all from the white house tonight. >> reporter: the choice facing leaders this week, fund the government by friday night or see part of it shut down. >> i hope we can solve the problem, because frankly, people are looking for a little bit of adult interaction and they are interested in solutions to our debt and to our deficits and not just games. >> reporter: republicans want to slash $61 billion from a more than $1 trillion bill funding the government for the rest of this year. that's too deep for the president and democrats, who have countered with a plan to cut $33 billion. >> we have agreed on a number as to the cut. now we have to agree on the component parts of it and move forward. >> reporter: but after gaining seats in congress on a promise to cut spending, republicans are under mounting pressure from conservatives to reject a compromise and get tough with the president. >> and if liberals in the senate would rather play political games and shut down the government instead of making a small down payment on fiscal discipline and reform, i say

nbc's mike viqueira begins our coverage. he's at the white house tonight. mike? >> reporter: good evening, lester. they are calling it the biggest cut to annual government spending in american history. today, both sides are taking credit, even as they prepare for a bigger budget battle to come. >> this is what america is all about. >> reporter: president obama surprised tourists today at the lincoln memorial, highlighting the end, for now, of the budget crisis. and that the government is open for business. >> because congress was able to settle its differences, that's why this place is open today and everybody is able to enjoy their visit. and that's the kind of future cooperation i hope we have going forward. >> reporter: the agreement was reached just 90 minutes before the government would have partially shut down. even as he hailed the deal, mr. obama warned the cuts would be painful. >> beginning to live within our means is the only way to protect those investments that will help america compete for new jobs. investments in our kids' education and student loa

in the last time that happened was during recei recovery in 19 >> mike viqueira joins us live from the white house. as mentioned, i'm sure the white house wants to hear it over and over, aga good news, but you ha people hesitant to try to get out and find a job, not confident in this recovery. >> reporter: yeah. the white house and the president are quick to point out the fact there's plenty of work to be done, a bumpy road ahead, experts are saying this jobless rate is going to fluctuate up and down. you pointed out there are 13.5 million americans out of work. one economic expert says, look, the economy's now take-off speed but not in full flight. the kind of robust growth that will bring down the unemployment rate in the 6% range where it was at the outset of what everybody's calling great recession. having said all of that, no pessimism allowed here at the white house today. this is nothing but good news, as far as they're concerned, both from an economic and political point of view of truth be told, tamron, the second consecutive month job growth, more than 200,000, that's viewed

nbc's mike viqueira is live at the white house this morning. the president will probably put this as a feather in his cap here. >> reporter: you know, the weather may not say it, but spring is here, and certainly the economy, the green shoots are really starting to sprout. this is unmitigated, unadult rated good news on the jobless front. you talk about symbolism, it's more than that. these are concrete facts. the unemployment rate has dropped a full point in the last four months, and the last two months, it's crossed a 200,000 jobs added threshold, and the reason that number is important economists say, when you get above 200,000, you really start to bring down the unemployment rate. in fact, that's what we have seen in the last quarter, as a matter of fact. let's look at the numbers. down to 8.8%. as you reported the net job gains, 216,000 jobs when you take away losses in the public sector. professional business services added 78,000 jobs. health care was up 37,000 jobs. ditto for leisure and hospitality up 37,000. manufacturing jobs up 17,0

our mike viqueira is at the white house. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it was a day of public acrimony but senintense, sind the scenes negotiations as it approached the 11th hour here in washington last night. a deal was struck. here it is. $38.5 billion cut from spending this year. the president called this the biggest spending cut in the history of the nation. last-minute stumbling blocks included planned parenthood. republicans wanted to cut funding for the organization that provides women's health services including abortion services. republicans were against that. in the end the president forced them to drop that provision. enforcement of regulations governing greenhouse gases. just before 11:00, speaker john boehner met with his house republican caucus. after they signed off on the deal, he emerged before cameras. here's what he had to say. >> all this has been a lot of discussion and a long fight. but we fought to keep government spending down because it really will, in fact, help create a better environment for job creators in our country. >> rep