Obama nominates first woman to second term cabinet

>>> on the heels of criticism, president obama plans to nominate a woman to head the interior department . we just learned this morning she's the ceo of the outdoor equipment giant rei. her name is sally jewel. here she is two years ago at an east rim event with the president.

>> the america's great outdoor initiative has a really important initiative to build a vision for the future. it is my great honor and president to introduce the president of the united states , barack obama .

>> i want to thank sally for the terrific introduction. i asked her if she brought me any gear. she said that the secret service wouldn't let her.

>> jill started her career, though, at mobile oil . here's why that's important. the on shore and offshore acreage managed by interior account for 30% of u.s. natural gas output, 30% of the country's oil production , and up to 40% of u.s. coal production. let me bring in political strategist and co-founder of impact d.c. angela rye, and we're also joined by republican strategist david winston . good morning.

>> good morning.

>> let's start with the optics of this, angela . how important was it for the president to name another woman?

>> i think extremely important, chris. it's very important that this cabinet in particular reflects the diversity of america. when you look at what the mission is of the department of interior , the fact that native peoples are a portion of their mission, it's important not only a woman, but a woman from washington state is in this role.

>> she is a washington woman. the controversies -- the biggest controversy to deal with, david, is land management related to oil and gas rights. i mean, generally, we're going to make a broad statement here, republicans tend to be oil industry promotes, environmental activists tend to be democrats. is this someone who both sides might feel understands their position?

>> i think that opportunity certainly is there, but obviously it's going to depend in terms of what he initial decisions are. at this point, one of the things that's clearly occurring and keeping this economy afloat has been the expansion of natural gas development. that's been critical in terms of keeping this economy treading water. i think what's going to be interesting to see is what her decisions are in terms of dealing with land management . you see that about 2/3 of the country supports expanded use in terms of land and natural gas exploration. obviously with concerns in terms of conservation and the environment. but ultimately people are looking at what is her role going to be in terms of helping the economy.

>> we are looking at record-high gas prices for this time of year. and at a time when the debate continues to be hot over drilling. there were some duelling estimates in the past few days of potential revenue, if oil and gas leasing on federal lands got expanded. and the argument by republicans is this could mean billions in new tax revenues, significant job creation. how big could the fight be given that sally jewel, that sally jewel could be in the middle of?

>> well, i think it could be huge, but the most important thing is having a partner who understands both sides of the issue. she certainly is well-positioned, given her background on both aspects, whether it's the oil industry or this conservationist industry with rei being a billion-dollar company that is owned by a co-op of -- a million members. so i think that when you look at her ability to understand buy-in, by being managed by so many different players, she certainly will be well-positioned to not only know both sides, to negotiate the nuances of both sides, and i think that that's a really important factor, especially when you consider what's happening on capitol hill , where we are having a really tough time seeing any negotiations happening, because people just don't understand.

>> a couple other things about her, david, she is a former banking executive, although she's an engineer by training. angela mentioned she's a westerner and most interior secretaries tend to be from the west because so much of the land is out there. rei, as a company under her, has focused a lot on sustainability. this position does need senate confirmation . do you think there will be a night.

>> i don't think that's clear yet. we need to see what her focus is going to be. it's clearly a position that republicans are concerned about as expressed earlier. so i mean, i think at this point, let's see how this conversation and this discussion develops. but again, republicans, as you stated up front, republicans are concerned in terms of this position, in terms of what it means, in terms of energy resources for the country.

>> thanks both of you.