The president's Friday in Minnesota

9:14 a.m. After a night at the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel, President Obama and his motorcade, which included an ambulance and a massive Suburban, sped through the Twin Cities suburbs as onlookers snapped photos.

9:30 a.m. The motorcade arrived at Minneapolis North WorkForce Center on Plymouth Avenue in north Minneapolis, where the president surprised a Project CARE class, which provides young mothers training in customer service and sales occupations followed by paid internships.

Accompanied by U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez and U.S. Sen. Al Franken, Obama was told that the class is the best the teacher has ever taught.

"How 'bout that? Way to go, guys!" Obama said.

By way of introduction, Obama then said: "I'm Barack Obama. I'm the president."

"Of the United States," Franken added. Franken departed to attend a memorial for late U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar.

9:58 a.m. Over at Minneapolis' Lake Harriet Band Shell, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar addressed the 3,500 people with tickets waiting to see the president. About 7 minutes into her speech, the crowd became distracted. "Oh, I guess someone's arriving," Klobuchar said, as the motorcade pulled around.

Amid an overcast sky, with Lake Harriet as a backdrop, the president opened with praise of the Jucy Lucy burger he had at Minneapolis' Matt's Bar on Thursday and the ice cream cone he had from St. Paul's Grand Ole Creamery. "Very tasty," he said.

Making a reference to both "A Prairie Home Companion" and the Affordable Care Act, he said: "Here in Minnesota, you can now say that the women are strong, the men are good-looking, the children are above average and 95 percent of you are insured."

10:50 a.m. After a 35-minute speech, which Obama concludes with, "I am not going to get cynical; I'm staying hopeful, and I hope you do, too," the president spent 10 minutes shaking hands and greeting people. The crowd not waiting to interact with the president was held in place until the president left.

11:07 a.m. The president's motorcade departed and so the crowd.