President Obama was in Minneapolis, MN today to tout his latest economic plan- to create a job bank for veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. But with this morning's disappointing jobs numbers, he didn't dwell on the numbers and took a broader approach to economic recovery.  CNN's Brianna Keilar traveled with him to the Honeywell factory which employs dozens of veterans for the president's speech.

Also, take a peek from the  full story from our friends at CNN wires:

(CNN) - President Barack Obama hit the road for campaigning and fundraisers Friday, arguably the worst day so far in his re-election bid due to a disappointing employment report that brought sharp Republican attacks led by certain GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

In a visit to a Honeywell International plant in suburban Minneapolis, Obama announced new efforts to help war veterans find work back home using the skills they learned in the military.

He also urged Congress to establish a Veterans Jobs Corps modeled on the Civilian Conservation Corps of decades past.

However, the employment report earlier Friday that showed lower-than-expected growth of 69,000 jobs last month and a rise in the unemployment rate to 8.2% provided Romney and Republicans an opening to ratchet up their incessant criticism of Obama's economic policies.

For the complete story, click here.

The Obama re-election campaign is glossing over the off message positive comments former President Clinton made about presumptive Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, during an interview on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight Thursday.

They are instead focusing on one line where Clinton described the tactics some private equity investors use.

"Invest in a company, run up the debt & force people to lose their retirement and fire them," a senior campaign official pointed out in paraphrase.

However, Clinton was making a comparison of two kinds of investors. Those who buy, strip and destroy companies for profit, and others also driven by profit, but with the goal of making the companies better, even though they too can fail with equal consequences.

In the interview the former president said Romney's time at Bain Capital formed a "good business career," and he referred to that career as "sterling."

Asked by CNN to comment on a message that runs counter to the campaigns attack on Romney's record, the official insisted the key point was Romney was "good at making money for himself and his partners."

President Obama will focus on jobs Friday continuing to press Congress on his so-called "to do" list. Friday’s item: pushing for the establishment of a Veterans Job Corps. At a Honeywell International plant in a Minneapolis suburb, he will make his case that the country needs to "honor our commitment to returning veterans," according to a White House release.

Friday’s “to-do list” event is just a 2 hour diversion from what could be seen as the president’s main event – raising money. The president's campaign could earn more than six and a half million dollars from fundraisers in both Minneapolis and Chicago also on Friday.

Full schedule after the jump
FULL POST

There were smiles, laughter and tears - but little politics - when former Presidents George W. Bush and his father, George H. W. Bush, joined current President Barack Obama at the White House for the unveiling Thursday of the younger Bush's official portrait.

(CNN) - President Obama will focus on jobs Friday continuing to press Congress on his so-called "to do" list. Friday’s item: pushing for the establishment of a Veterans Job Corps. At a Honeywell International plant in a Minneapolis suburb, he will make his case that the country needs to "honor our commitment to returning veterans," according to a White House release.

Friday’s event coincides with the release of the May unemployment numbers. Economists will be closely watching the jobs numbers after two months of slowdown in the sputtering U.S. economy.

Mr. Obama announced his plan to establish a jobs program for veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars earlier this year. Currently the unemployment rate for veterans is 9.2%, more than a full percentage point higher than the overall unemployment rate which stands at 8.1% for April. The so-called Veterans Jobs Corps would be similar to a 1930's government program, the Civilian Conservation Corps. It is designed to put veterans to work building infrastructure like roads and bridges. FULL POST

Thursday two former presidents, two former first ladies, the current president and the current first lady (phew) will be in the White House for the unveiling of the official portrait of George W. Bush. The two Presidents Bush will be attending but WH spokesman Jay Carney Wednesday didn't think that talk of politics would dominate the presidents time together. At the briefing saying, "[T]here is so much shared experience between so far the men and one day the men and women who hold this office that there is much to talk about that is - that they hold in common. So there's not a lot of need to talk about where they - where they differ."

The presidents and first ladies will have lunch in the Red Room which is closed press. The unveiling is in the East Room at 1:25 ET.

Full schedule after the jump
FULL POST

By CNN's Sally Holland

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Barack Obama broke out his pens Wednesday to sign legislation reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, which makes it easier for U.S. companies to sell their goods overseas by providing financing for exports.

In a rare bipartisan vote, Congress passed the legislation in mid-May.

"There are a number of things that my administration can do on our own and we're gonna keep on doing them, but it gets a whole lot easier if we get some help from Congress, and this is a great example and great model of what can happen," said Obama at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building signing ceremony.

The Export-Import Bank, which dates back to the Roosevelt administration, is tasked with providing loans and other support for both large and small businesses to ply their products outside the U.S. borders. These loans are generally considered to be more risky due to the volatility of the overseas marketplace.

In the Senate, the reauthorization passed by a vote of 78 to 20. One of those "no" votes came from Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah.

"We need to end the corporate welfare that distorts the market and feeds corny capitalism," Lee said on the Senate floor on May 15. "The corporations that largely benefit from the Ex-Im Bank should have no trouble marshaling their resources to compete in today's economy."

The legislation Obama signed allows the bank to approve new financing until September 2014. It also permits the bank to increase its lending limit to $120 billion immediately. In the longer term, that limit can be raised to $140 billion if the bank submits a business plan and continues to maintain a low default rate on its loans.

During the signing ceremony, the president listed other goals he would like Congress to work toward, including providing a $3,000 credit for Americans who refinance their homes, supporting clean energy, and working to create a better job market for veterans.

Also on his congressional "to-do" list is help for small businesses.

"Congress still has the opportunity to do more to help small-business owners, who create most of the new jobs in America so we want to give them a tax break for hiring more workers and providing those workers higher wages," he said.

According to a White House fact sheet on the bill signed Wednesday, Export-Import Bank authorizations last year reached $32.7 billion, "supporting $40 billion in export sales and 290,000 American jobs at more than 3,600 U.S. companies."

The president used 10 pens to sign the export-import legislation, a common White House practice that allows each of the pens to be either displayed or distributed as a souvenir.

CNN Producer Scott Spoerry contributed to this report.

By CNN's Bob Kovach

(CNN) - The White House was in damage control Tuesday evening after words that President Obama used at a ceremony honoring 12 Americans with the Medal of Freedom sparked outrage.

The trouble came when he paid tribute to Jan Karski, the former Polish officer who escaped Nazi imprisonment and provided firsthand accounts to the Western Allies of atrocities. Karski received the award posthumously.

"Before one trip across enemy lines, resistance fighters told him that Jews were being murdered on a massive scale, and smuggled him into the Warsaw Ghetto and a Polish death camp to see for himself. Jan took that information to President Franklin Roosevelt, giving one of the first accounts of the Holocaust and imploring to the world to take action," Obama said.
FULL POST

Hurricane season starts on Friday. Sorry Florida. So to prepared, President Obama will attend an annual hurricane preparedness briefing in the Situation Room.

The President will then head to the EEOB to sign the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. In a released statement the administration claims, "this important step will help American businesses create jobs here at home and sell their products around the world – all at no cost to taxpayers."

In the East Room later in the evening, the President will make remarks and host a Jewish American Heritage Month reception.

The full schedule after the jump
FULL POST

WHITE HOUSE (CNN) - President Obama honored a dozen heroes from all different aspects of life to the White House and presented them with the highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom. The group of honorees included signer and songwriter Bob Dylan, former astronaut and senator John Glenn, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and legendary women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt. Three recipients were honored posthumously, including the founder of the Girl Scouts Juliette Gordon Low.

Obama commented that all 13 individuals were personal heroes in his life. He mentioned reading novelist Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon as a teenager and listening to Dylan’s music when he was in college. He praised John Doar for his work as a Justice Department official who enforced civil rights in the 1960s. “I think it's fair to say that I might not be here had it not been for his work,” the president said.

He also mentioned how the winners had impacted his family, particularly his daughters’ lives.

“Everybody on this stage has marked my life in profound ways.  And I was telling - somebody like Pat Summitt - when I think about my two daughters, who are tall and gifted, and knowing that because of folks like Coach Summitt they’re standing up straight and diving after loose balls and feeling confident and strong, then I understand that the impact that these people have had extends beyond me,” Obama said. “It will continue for generations to come.”

For more of the story, check out what our friends at CNN wires wrote here.