White House Announces Special Guest, Costume Characters at Easter Egg Roll with Daily Talent Updates to Follow

The White House

Office of Media Affairs

Beginning today and continuing throughout the week, the White House will be announcing this year’s Easter Egg Roll talent.  Each day this week, look for new talent updates on the Let's Move! twitter account, @LetsMove, and on the Let's Move! Facebook page: www.facebook.com/letsmove.  In case you missed it: here’s a video of someone special on an Easter Egg hunt!

The Easter Egg Roll takes place Monday, April 1st, on the South Lawn of the White House, and is focused on promoting health and wellness with the theme, “Be Healthy, Be Active, Be You!”  The event will feature live music, sports courts, cooking stations, storytelling and, of course, Easter egg rolling.

This year’s special guest is Robby Novak, better known as “Kid President.”  Watch Kid President announce the Easter Egg Roll ticket lottery.

The ostume characters from children’s shows and movies that will take part in the Easter Egg Roll include:

AbraKidabra -- Bugs Bunny -- Daffy Duck -- Finn from Adventure Time -- Jake from Adventure Time -- Abby Cadabby -– Scooby Doo -- Arthur -- Buddy from Dinosaur Train -- Cat in the Hat -- Clifford the Big Red Dog -- Curious George -- Daniel Tiger -- Martha from Martha Speaks – Maya – Miguel -- Princess Presto –- Sid the Science Kid -- Super WHY!  -- WordGirl -- Smurf – Smurffette -- Papa Smurf -- Vexy from "The Naughties" Smurfs 2 movie -- Hackus  from "The Naughties" Smurfs 2 movie --

Charlie Brown -- Snoopy  -- The Racing Presidents–George -- The Racing Presidents-Tom -- The Racing Presidents-Abe -- The Racing Presidents-Teddy—The Racing Presidents-Taft -- Smokey Bear -- Woodsy Owl  -- Sponge Bob -- Dora the Explorer -- Geo from Team Umi Zoomi --

Milli from Team UmiZoomi -- Jake from Jake and the Never Land Pirates -- Sofia The First -- Domino the Great -- Captain Barnacles Bear from The Octonauts -- Lt. Kwazii Kitten from The Octonauts -- Papa Bunny -- Mama Bunny -- Junior Bunny --

Babar -- Badou -- Witzy the Duck -- Twig from the Wompkees -- Olive The Osterich --  Miffy the Bunny -- Power Panther -- Mr. Potato Head -- Mrs. Potato Head -- Wow Wow Wubzy -- Captain Planet -- Mike the Knight -- Barney -- Talking Tom -- Talking Ben -- Pac-Man -- Little Olivia -- Clicky  -- Maisy -- Nutbrown Hare -- Fairy Twinkletoes -- Minion Tim from Despicable Me 2 -- Minion Jerry from Despicable Me 2 -- Belt from The Croods -- Doki the Dog –- Washington Kastles -– Power Rangers

This will be the 135th annual White House Easter Egg Roll with more than 30,000 people visiting the South Lawn for games, stories, and, of course, the traditional egg roll.

Souvenir White House Easter eggs first became an annual keepsake in 1981, when President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan hosted a hunt for wooden eggs that bore the signatures of famous people.  The tradition continues this year with four colorful eggs and the official First Dog “Bo” egg.  These collector’s eggs are available to view or purchase at http://easter.nationalparks.org/.

To learn more about the Easter Egg Roll visit www.whitehouse.gov/eastereggroll. Tune in for live streams from the South Lawn all day on April 1st, 2013 on http://www.whitehouse.gov/live. You can also join the conversation online using the hashtag #EasterEggRoll and get the latest updates by visiting Let’s Move! on Twitter and Facebook.

www.whitehouse.gov/eastereggroll

President Obama signs proclamations establishing five new national monuments that celebrate our nation’s rich history and natural heritage.

Yesterday, President Obama celebrated Passover and touched upon the powerful symbols that it represents, and the inspiration it provides to him and to all people seeking a more just and peaceful future.

President Obama welcome 28 new American citizens to our nation of immigrants and called for reforms to our immigration system that will help harness the talent and ingenuity of all those like them who want to work hard and find a place here in America.

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McCain 'cautiously optimistic' House would follow Senate on immigration

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is "cautiously optimistic" that if President Obama and the Senate can agree on an immigration reform plan, legislators in the House will follow suit.

McCain, in an interview with Univision set to air on Sunday, was asked what would happen if House Republicans voted against immigration reform.

"Well, I hate to obviously predict what might happen," McCain, a member of a bipartisan group of senators in the Senate that unveiled a framework for passing immigration reform, said.

McCain added that he is "cautiously optimistic that with the President and the Senate basically acting together that that would be sufficient to have the House, to agree with that, if it’s reasonable with the majority of the American people."

But McCain cautioned that the consequences of the House rejecting an immigration-reform plan are hard to imagine.

"So it’s hard for me to predict," McCain continued. "But I think you, I know what you’re referring to, and that is the election results with a smaller number of our Hispanic/Latino citizens that are voting for Republicans. We understand that."

Both Republicans and Democrats have expressed interest in passing immigration reform. A major sticking points in negotiations so far, however, has been whether to include a pathway to citizenship for immigrants living in the country illegally. The immigration framework crafted by McCain and seven other senators includes a pathway to citizenship as long as border security is first strengthened.

McCain said he is not sure whether there will be enough votes in the Senate to pass a reform plan that includes a pathway to citizenship.

"You know, I don’t know yet, because we haven’t finished the package. I know that the attitude of the American people is that," McCain said. "And I think that there’s a realization on my side of the aisle that we need to have this resolved. And that people should have a pathway to citizenship. But look, I’ve lost before and so for me to predict would be premature. But I do think that the attitude overall of the American people and members of the Senate is significantly improved to the point where I am cautiously optimistic."

Also on Friday, Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) said a secretive bipartisan group of House members is close to unveiling an immigration reform agreement. Becerra has reportedly participated in the group’s negotiations.

"The reality is that we are on the cusp of actually having an opportunity to put forward a bipartisan proposal in the House of Representatives," Becerra said.

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Gore presses Obama to ‘follow through’ on climate change promises

President Obama "has to follow through" on his commitment to address climate change, even if it means using executive powers to get around congressional gridlock, according to former Vice President Al Gore.

Obama should "move boldly" on the agenda he articulated in his second inaugural address, which included strong words about addressing climate change, Gore said in an interview on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."

While efforts to tackle climate change would run into GOP opposition in Congress, Gore said the president had ample powers to bear from the executive branch in addressing the issue.

"There are some actions he can take that do not require congressional approval," he said. "There is a law on the books that requires the EPA to regulate pollution. The Supreme Court has agreed with the obvious interpretation that global warming pollution is pollution. It's been applied to new coal plants. It should be applied to all facilities."

After taking his oath of office for a second term, Obama vowed the U.S. would "respond to the threat of climate change," and jabbed at climate skeptics blocking such efforts.

"Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms," he said. "The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it."

Gore said he believes Obama has found a "new firmness" entering his second term when it comes to dealing with GOP opposition, which made itself evident during his standoff over the "fiscal cliff" at the end of 2012.

"I think that he's learned a great deal during his first term. I don't want to sound patronizing in saying that. I've learned a great deal from watching his first term," he said. "But I think that you already see a greater depth and sophistication in his approach."

Accompanying Obama's new resolve is a "wariness" by Republicans to stand in the way of all his efforts, he argued.

"There is a new awareness, that the American people don't want gridlock. They don't want sclerosis," he said. "They don't want this hyper-partisanship."

On other issues, Gore said that the influx of corporate money into the political process has "functionally corrupted" democracy, and called for comprehensive campaign finance reform.

"The Congress now finds it virtually impossible to pass any kind of reform unless they first get permission from the special interests who are most involved with the issue involved and who finance their campaign," he said. "And that's pitiful."

Gore also defended the sale of his TV news network, Current TV, to Al Jazeera America. He called the new owners a "highly respected international news gathering organization."

"I think the net result, it's going to be very positive for the American media landscape," he said.

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