Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton says it's time for a woman in the Oval Office, music to her mom Hillary Clinton's ears.
In a wide-ranging interview on MSNBC's "NOW with Alex Wagner" Clinton was asked about getting a woman elected president, as her mother tried to do in 2008 and is expected to in 2016.
She said: "We need women who are at the head of a boardroom, like at the head of the White House, at the head of kind of major scientific enterprises so that little girls everywhere can then think, you know what? I can do that, I want to do that, I will do that."
She also said that Hillary Clinton is planning to continue tweeting, but that her mom is still a bit too stiff for Twitter.
"She still like treats them all with this like a great kind of, you know, so much thought goes into them," said Chelsea Clinton. "I think that's so sweet, as her daughter, because everything that she's ever done in her life has been so kind of deliberate and intentional and full of so much energy and effort. But I hope she can also relax a little bit and enjoy the cadence of Twitter, of...just responding to things."
NEW YORK, NY--June 14, 2013--Chelsea Clinton sat down with Alex Wagner today in Chicago, Illinois during MSNBC's "NOW with Alex Wagner". Chelsea spoke about the work of the Clinton Global Initiative, women's rights and Hillary's new Twitter account saying her mother needs to "relax a bit and enjoy the cadence of Twitter."
Transcript below - if used, please credit "NOW with Alex Wagner"
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: It is such a pleasure to be here in Chicago participating as a private citizen, as a co-host of CGI and as a representative of what we are officially renaming the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
I'm also a very proud mother, because Chelsea's role is expanding and this is truly a labor of love for our entire family. We are so excited and thrilled to have this be a full partnership among the three of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX WAGNER, MSNBC HOST: Sly and the Family Stone may have written the song, but for the Clintons, it truly is a family affair as they work together to address the world's most pressing concerns.
The family's youngest public service ambassador, Chelsea Clinton, has taken up issues of youth empowerment, education, public health and most notably, gender equity, an issue that remains as important as ever, even in America, which ranks a disappointing 78th in the world when it comes to women in government and where women still earn an estimated 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man.
Joining me now is Chelsea Clinton of the Clinton Global Initiative.
Chelsea, welcome to the program.
CHELSEA CLINTON, CGI: Thank you, Alex.
WAGNER: Thanks for coming on. And congratulations on having an incredible -- I mean, CGI, I feel like, is going to take over the world. At one point it will be renamed CGI Earth because of the extent to which you guys are involved in so many places around the world and doing really important work, I might add.
CHELSEA CLINTON: Well, thank you. I think there is so much vibrancy this year. And I think that one of the reasons there's so much vibrancy is not only because it's a beautiful day here in Chicago, but also because people now are coming together, not only to make new commitments, but talking about the work that they already have done together across the private sector and the (inaudible) sector and the public sector.
And there's nothing that kind of is more invigorating than real progress. And I know you saw some of that in Baltimore.
WAGNER: Baltimore was incredible and actually really emotional. And we'll -- we're going to be talking -- we're going to be playing the interview where I spoke to your dad, President Clinton, about that project in particular.
But one of the issues that CGI, I think, has been so powerful on and your advocacy has been so meaningful, the issue of women and gender equity.
And we talked a lot last week about a Pew study that came out, showing that four in 10 households with children under 18 now have a female breadwinner. And on some level that was great news, right? It is great that women are economically empowered on that level.
But then you sort of dig deeper into the statistics and two-thirds of those households have single women at the head of them. And if you have a single mother as the head of your household, she is making $23,000 a year, which is not a lot of money. Married heads of household, women who are part of a married couple and head of the household, the chief breadwinner, are making $80,000.
To say that life is difficult for single mothers in this country is a vast understatement.
And my question to you, is what do we do to make life better for single women?
CHELSEA CLINTON: Well, I read that same study and I think that finding the right answer to that question not only to ensure that life is better for those single mothers but that also life is better for those children is a real existential question that we all have a stake in answering, because it really is about our future.
I mean, yesterday, at CGI, my mom talks about the work that she hopes to do and is planning to do. And one of her real areas of focus will be around early childhood education because the kids who grow up in the single mother households, many of those women, as was also true in the Pew study, are working two jobs to even make that $23,000 a year, will spend significantly less time with their kids than I was blessed to spend with my parents when I was a little kid.
And so when I walked into kindergarten, I had heard more than 33 million words probably spoken. Whether a single mother's kid walks into kindergarten, particularly the single mom who is working two jobs, those kids will have heard less than 6 million words. So it's really just a huge call to action because those neural networks can never be really kind of caught up.
And that's not the kid's fault and it is not the mom's fault, because single mothers are the hardest working part of our country. So we need to figure out ways to make it easier for them to really earn a living wage for their family, to spend more time with their kids and that their kids get the opportunities that every child deserves.
WAGNER: In your mom's speech yesterday, she also said when women participate in the economy, everyone benefits, because there is truly a ripple effect. I mean, it is not just good for to us have gender equity. It is actually beneficial to the GDP.
CHELSEA CLINTON: So when women's participation in the labor force increased from 37 percent in 1970 to 48 percent in 2009, we added more than $2.5 trillion to our GDP, just from women's increased participation. This is not, as my mom frequently says, just the right thing to do. It is the smart thing to do.
WAGNER: Yes. When we talk about women's participation and women's involvement in the world, I must bring up the fact that your mother -- she graced us all -- everyone is thrilled that she is now on Twitter. She has one of the -- in my humble opinion, one of the best Twitter bios on the Twittersphere.
Were you involved in the writing of that Twitter bio and did you counsel her? Was it -- because you know, sometimes people get on Twitter and they sort of think that they just need to crunch words together, and take the vowels out and that's how you write a 140-character message.
And it's like, no, no, no, there is sort after modus operandi on Twitter.
And have you been advising her at all, given your status as, I think, one of the world's 140 best tweeters?
CHELSEA CLINTON: Oh, gosh. Well I deserve no credit at all on her biography. That was completely her own doing.
WAGNER: Really?
CHELSEA CLINTON: But we have definitely talked about her tweets. She either just has sent or will soon send her third. And she still --
(CROSSTALK)
WAGNER: You heard it here first!
CHELSEA CLINTON: She still like treats them all with this like a great kind of, you know, so much thought goes into them.
And I think that's so sweet, as her daughter, because everything that she's ever done in her life has been so kind of deliberate and intentional and full of so much energy and effort. But I hope she can also relax a little bit and enjoy the cadence of Twitter, of everyone (inaudible), just responding to things.
(CROSSTALK)
WAGNER: #realtalk.
CHELSEA CLINTON: Exactly. She'll get there.
WAGNER: I -- you were talking -- you were speaking -- in an interview earlier today, you were talking about women needing more public role models. And this is, I think, the 5th anniversary of your mother's "Shattering the Glass Ceiling" speech.
Do you think we need -- and I'm not naming names -- do you think we need a woman in the White House? Do you think America needs to sort of achieve that milestone, being the leader in the globe that we are today?
CHELSEA CLINTON: I think that we need women role models everywhere. I think that it's really hard to imagine yourself as something that you don't see. I think it is great that you have your own show. There are going to be more little girls who think that they can grow up one day and have their own show on television because of you.
Like I think that we need more movies made about women who are rock star scientists and more television shows made about women who are explorers and not just men who are traipsing off into the jungles.
And absolutely, we need women who are at the head of a boardroom, like at the head of the White House, at the head of kind of major scientific enterprises so that little girls everywhere can then think, you know what? I can do that, I want to do that, I will do that.
WAGNER: And before we go, Chelsea, speaking of traipsing off into the -- a global Voyager, you just came back from Burma, which is a place that I hold dear to my heart.
How was that trip for you?
CHELSEA CLINTON: It was really inspiring. There clearly is such a sense of like we now can write our own future. And we at the Clinton Foundation want to do whatever we can to help the Burmese people write the future that they want for themselves and their children.
And so we're going to work with them on areas of public health, and we're going to encourage some of our CGI members to make commitments that can really help hopefully kind of ricochet forward some progress in health and development more broadly, and education.
And it's certainly a place that's really close to our family's heart, too, I mean, given my mom's relationship with Aung San Suu Kyi, it's very much a family commitment that we are making to Burma.
WAGNER: I would like to suggest that you take an extra large rolly bag that I can stuff myself into. And if you are looking to adopt older people, I would like to volunteer.
If not, we'll just wait for CGI Earth and I will continue to be a global citizen following your moves.
Thank you so much, Chelsea Clinton, CGI. Congrats on all the work.
CHELSEA CLINTON: Thank you very much.
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