Jay Karner News Today

Black america in the aggregate is better off now than it was when i came into office. the jobs that have been created, the people who have gotten health insurance, the housing equity that has been recovered and the 401(k) pensions recovered, a lot of those african-americans are better off than they were. >> joining me now jay karner and april ryan. you just saw the question of the president. shes also author of the presidency in black and white. and april, since you asked that question, let me a...

Like trayvon martin. >> jay, that was an incredible moment and a personal moment. did he think about that before or did it just come off the cuff? >> erin, i advised him on a lot of things and things he should say in press conferences and speeches, but when it came to matters like that, he used his own judgment and tended not to listen to his advisers at all and what he said there was completely from the heart and completely thought-through. i think what april said is exactly right in the sense ...

Women into other areas in that room. and in 2014, were talking about president kennedy and were looking at 2014 and we just had this happen. there is still a long way to go. >> i guess it is true. there is a part of me that just thinks, oh, goodness. it is a bummer we need to point that out. >> erin, we have to bring you along. come on. we have to bring you along. >> erin. >> go ahead, jay. >> and there were times, and april remember this is, in a briefing, when i would look at the front row, th...

She was the one that wasnt on the list. she got in there unscripted, which was -- which was the special one. >> the special one. >> that is what im saying. you didnt know in advance. >> i didnt. >> but jay, the white house defended this move of calling on all women. the quote was they had a unique opportunity to highlight the number of women that cover the president. and that is a good thing. and im torn on it. do we need to highlight the number of women that cover the president, are we past tha...

>> and miss obama talked about an incident when she went to target and the only person who came up to me in the store was a woman who asked me to take something off the shelf. these kind of things happen in life, so it isnt anything new. jay, have they made a concerted decision to make this personal to make race a core and critical focus of the rest of his presidency? >> i dont think it is a decision in the sense that they had a meeting and they thought, okay, now were going to approach it this ...

A leader in the house of represents on the republican side and said i dont agree with him on a lot of things but what he just said was incredibly profound and effected me. i think when he is best able to use the platform of the presidency to talk about these issues in a way that everybody can hear and not just one race or the other. >> so it is an interesting point and a hopeful point that youre making, jay. but april, what do you make what -- it is under me right now. polls. 6% race relations s...

"out front" tonight, pay to play. tonight the obama administration facing tough questions about rewarding big donors with plush ambassadorships. heres jen sake being questioned by reporters. >> how much does it cost to be named ambassador in the united states. >> jonathan carl, always a tv question. we dont determine -- >> its serious. >> im not. it is a serious question. we dont name ambassadors from the state department. the white house names ambassadors so i would certainly point you to my ol...