Is that going to be a very difficult and potentially fine line for him to walk given that he doesnt want to engage . Its very important to president obama he wants to make sure people understand. Were watching the president arrive. Go ahead. Finish your sentence and well toss over. The president is certainly interested in making sure he can avoid politics here. Thats why one of the people on the stage today is actually a leader of the campus republicans at the university of chicago. President obama is making sure were engaging everybody all along the political spectrum to focus on solving problems. And lets listen in. Heres the president , former president obama. So whats been going on while ive been gone . I it is wonderful to be home. It is wonderful to be at the university of chicago. It is wonderful to on the southside of chicago. And it is wonderful to be with these young people here. And what i want to do is just maybe speak very briefly at the top about why were here and then i want to spend most of the time that were together hearing from these remarkable young people who are i think representative of some amazing young people who are in the audience, as well. I was telling these guys that it was a little over 30 years ago that i came to chicago. I was 25 years old. And i had gotten out of college filled with idealism and absolutely certain that somehow i was going to change the world. But i had no idea how or where or what i was going to be doing. And so i worked first to pay off some student loans. And then i went to work at the city colleges of new york on their harlem campus with some student organizing, and then there were a group of churches out on southside who had come together to try to deal with the eel plants that had closed in the area, and the economic devastation that had been taking place, but also the racial tensions and turnover that was happening in these communities and so they had formed an organization. They hired me as what was called a community organizer. And i did not really know what that meant or how to do it. But i accepted the job. And for the next three years, i lived right here in hyde park, but i worked further south in communities like roseland and auburn gresh sham and west pullman. Working class neighborhoods. Many of which had changed rapidly from white to black in the late 60s, 70s. And full of wonderful people who were proud of their communities, proud of the steps they had taken to try to move into the middle class but were also worried about their futures because in some cases their kids werent doing, as well they had. In some cases these communities had been badly neglected for a very long time. The distribution of City Services were unequal. Schools were under funded. There was a lack of opportunity. And for three years, i tried to do something about it. And i am the first to acknowledge that i did not set the world on fire. Nordy transform these communities in any significant way although we did some good things. But it did cnge me. This community gave me a lot more than i was able to give in return. Because of this community taught me that ordinary people, when working together, can do extraordinary things. This community taught me that everybody has a story to that is important. This experience taught me that beneath the surface differences of people, that there were common hopes and Common Dreams and common aspirations. Common values that stitched us together as americans. And so even though i after three years left for law school, the lessons that had been taught to me here as an organizer are ones that stayed with me. And effectively gave me the foundation for my subsequent political career and the themes that i would talk about as a state legislator and as a u. S. Senator and ultimately as president of the United States. Now, i tell you that history because on the back end now of my presidency now that its completed, im spending a lot of time thinking about what is the most important thing i can do for my next job. And what im convinced of is that although there are all kinds of issues that i care about and all kinds of issues that i intend to work on, the single most important thing i can do is to help in any way i can prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton and to take their own crack at changing the world. Because the one thing that im absolutely convinced of is that yes, we confront a whole range of challenges from economic inequality and lack of opportunity to a criminal Justice System that too often is skewed in ways that are unproductive to Climate Change to issues related to violence. All those problems are serious, theyre daunting. But theyre not insoluble. What is preventing us from tackling them and making more progress really has to do with our politics and our civic life. It has to do with the fact that because of things like political gerrymander our parties have moved further and further apart and its harder and harder to find Common Ground because of money in politics. Special interests dominate the debates in washington in ways that dont matchup with what the broad majority of americans feel. Because of changes in the media, we now have a situation in which everybodys listening to people who already already agree with them and are further and further reinforcing their own realities to the neglect of a common reality that allows us to have a healthy debate and then try to find Common Ground and actually move solutions forward. And so when i saidny twoufr there are red states or blue states, we were all the United States of america that was an aspirational comment but i think its and its one, by the way, that i still believe in the sense that when you talk to individuals oneonone, people, theres a lot more that people have in common than divides them. But obviously, its not true when it comes to our politics and our civic life. And maybe more pernicious is the fact that people just arent involved. They get cynical and they give up. And as a consequence, we have some of the lowest voting rates of any advanced democracy and low participation rates than translate into further gap between whos governing us and what we believe. The only folks who are going to be able to solve that problem are going to be young people the next generation. And i have been encouraged everywhere i go in the United States but also everywhere around the world to see how sharp and astute and tolerant and thoughtful and entrepreneurial our young people are. A lot more sophisticated than i was at their age. And so the question then becomes, what are the ways in which we can create pathways for them to take leadership for them to get involved . Are there ways in which we can knock down some of the barriers that are discouraging young people about a life of service, and if there are, i want to work with them to knock down those barriers and to get this next generation to accelerate their move towards leadership because if that happens, i think were going to be just fine. And i end up being incredibly optimistic. So with that, what id like to do is to have our panelists here today each tell them tell us a little bit about themselves and what ive asked them ahead of time and i did give them the question ahead of time, i asked them to describe for me what it is that they see among their peers that they think discourages voting participation, paying attention to some of the issues, getting involved. Do they have some immediate suggestions of the kinds of things that would get young people more involved and engaged and discover their voices. Once weve gone through the entire panel, then were just going to open it up and were going to see how it works. And hopefully, it will be interesting. Ill find it interesting. Hopefully you find it interesting. All right . So were going to start with kelsey. Thank you, mr. President. And good morning, everyone. It is an absolute honor to be here with you all. My name is kelsey. Im a senior at Loyola University at chicago where ive spent the last four years studying marketing. Ive had the pleasure of being very involved on loyolas campus with a number of things going on. Im looking forward to graduating in less than two weeks and pursuing my masters in Higher Education and student affairs. To answer your question, my passion for working with College Students does stem from the ability to work with activists and work with Community Engagement and really understanding that College Students during that transformative time is the opportunity for students to learn about important issues and really find their voice. Understanding that we cant just get discouraged when something doesnt go our way immediately but being able to work towards that end common goal. Fantastic. Okay. [ applause ] good morning. My name is ramel. I grew up in milwaukee, wisconsin. Im a u. S. Army veteran. I major in sociology with a minor in legal studies at Roosevelt University. Yeah. I work as currently im a Research Assistant at Roosevelt University focusing on communitybased collaborative based research projects. Weve works on projects ranging from landlord tenant issues to Youth Leadership programs and currently were working on a project about the day labor market in chicago. In the city of chicago. Its a pleasure to be here, mr. President. Fantastic. Thank you. [ applause ] good morning. Im tiffany. I was raised on the southside of chicago in a low income household. I graduated valedictorian everyone Scholastic Academy and the top ten from Kenwood Academy. Broncos in the house. I graduated number one from Chicago State University with my bachelorses in chemistry. And graduated from chicago state a second time with my doctorate in pharmacy. Thank you. [ applause ] im currently a Community Pharmacy manager on the southside of chicago. And for the past three years, and im also author of ten tactics to stackal studying, the guide to Elementary School, high school and undergraduate success. Okay. [ applause ] hi. Im max. And you know, you can see what theyve made me follow now. I have been involved in Civic Engagement and civic life here at the university of chicago through the institute of politics which has been a blessing and a fantastic resource to all of us. The summer after my first year here, they gave stipends so that i think the number was 16 of us could go to des moines for the summer of 2015 to either work with certain press agencies or with campaigns. And i think that was an eye opening experience in terms of having to campaign directly and how far you can move the needle by moving one vote in the caucus. Ill have more time on this later. Ive been involved on campus with Student Government and college republicans. Fantastic. [ applause ] hello, everyone. My name is iana watkins. Im the baby of the panel. Im currently a senior at Kenwood Academy high school. [ applause ] yea. And throughout my high school career, ive been involved in numerous student organizations, multiple sports teams, et cetera. And outside of high school, ive been involved in a lot of communitybased organizations to volunteer my time with the youth, as well. And in the fall, i will be attending Queen College in dallas, texas with, multiple scholarships in my name and im also an entrepreneur. I would say, with my own clothing line. Okay. [ applause ] okay. All right. Peace and blessings. Im har sy h patel. I live on the Northwest Side of chicago. I arrived as a proud immigrant around the age of 14 with my mom and sister from india. And attended Public Schools and then went to university of chicago. Both for my undergraduate studies and my masters in urban planning and policy. After graduating from i did become an organizer with somebody in the audience i want to point out a mentor of mine. That led me to sort of run for office and most recently now i work for new america, new america chicago. Im the Deputy Director here in chicago where we sort of do what were doing today. We infuse new ideas, new voices in Public Policy conversation. Im really looking forward to this. Fantastic. Excellent. [ applause ] all right. So as you can see, we have an Extraordinary Group here of sharp young people. But you also notice they kind of avoided my question. So but thats good because it tees up the next segment. And look, in the president ial election, you have maybe half of your peers voting. In midterm elections, about a third of yr peers vote. I suspect that if you ask a lot of young people about a wide range of issues, regardless of where they where they sit ideaologically, they would say, yeah, im very concerned about the economy, im very concerned about foreign policy. Im very concerned about this or that or the other. But a lot of them feel as if their involvement would not make a difference. Its not worth their time. And in fact, theyre discouraged but feel disempowered. Right . So all of you have already shown yourselves to be willing to get out there and be involved. And to make a difference. And im curious as to what is it do you think that prompted you to get involved in some fashion and also, when you talk to your friends, what is it that you think is preventing them from doing so that might make a difference. And we dont have to go in order. So if anybody wants to start and i like that in you. So although i am in high school, you know, a lot of my peers so im a senior. So of course, some of my peers were able to vote this year but overall, im grateful that i have the opportunity to take courses at Kenwood Academy high school tt involve political science, you know, we take africanamerican studies, et cetera but not a lot of schools have that opportunity. So i would say awareness is something that holds a lot of our youth back from getting involved because im privileged so there ever i step up. And i encourage others to get involved and to have a voice. But i think the youth feel like they dont have a voice. So that plays a huge factor as to why the results are the way they are. If that makes sense. Yeah, no, it makes a lot of sense. Do you think as you were coming up, you know, social studies, Civic Education, what kids are getting in the classroom would make a difference . Do you think that it would make more of a difference if young people had the opportunities to volunteer with organizations, to engage in Community Service . You know, what is it you think that would make the biggest difference in young people seeing you know what, if i volunteer for this organization, he might make a difference in my community or if i participate on this issue, somebody might hear my voice and might actually make a difference. What do you think would be most effective in encouraging people . So i feel like in order to encourage the youth, it involves to have strong support system behind it to bring the youth up so for instance, in school, we are taught social studies but we tend to focus on the mathematic science, english, you know, because thats what were always brought up on because the tests exams, et cetera. So soushl studies and Civic Education tends to be pushed to the side. So i feel like it should be encouraged in the School Systems because a majority of our youth are in school, of course. Then from there, build outside programs. So you know, from there, yeah. Come on. Help her out. I agree with ayanna. Since i went to kenwood too, that was kind of the start of me getting my foot in the door to want to expand and do outside things. I think also funding after School Programs and summer programs because i had two to three jobs ever since eighth grade every summer because one, you make money you know . So that was one. But also to help my resume helped me get my feet wet to allow me to see different opportunities to see if i liked being a counselor, if i wanted to be a cheerleading coach, if i wanted to be a tutor. So just trying Different Things every summer helped me to kind of hone in what i want to do with the rest of my life. Then after School Programs too, the funding for that it helps keep the kids off the street. So hopefully in chicago, well have less violence since theyll have something to do and youre also enriching their lives. In school and after school and also in the summer. Fantastic. Okay. Im sorry. Kelsey, didnt you work, was it the bronx that you worked during the summer and what prompted you to first of a describe what the experience was and then give us a sense of what inspired you to do Something Like that. Yeah. So i have been blessed to be involved with alternative Immersion Program which is a program that sends students on trips over spring break and winter break. The spring break of my junior year i spent in the south bronx working with an Incredible Group at an Elementary School out there. We took a group of ten students and were there to enrich the students lives for the week they were there. Whats so unique about the program is we understand the privilege that we have to be welcomed into these communities. We are not there to support that. While we are supporting them, were there to learn from them to understand the experiences these students are having but really to understand just how wonderful so many of these young elementary kids are. I remember the principal at immaculate concession, school we were at saying i hope you realize this is the only week out of the year the students get to finger paint because its too messy with one teacher in the room. It took having a lot of us there making sure they were able to do that. A simple thing but goes to show the impact young people can have in these communities. You were going to say something. Obviously, your service in the military is an example of Public Service that i think thankfully, everybody now appreciates. That wasnt always the case. But what i discovered obviously was that once our veterans take off the uniform, they leave service, sometimes people forget how much talen is there and the need to tap into the amazing young people that have served in our military so that they can work in the community and continued the leadership that theyve shown while they were in the military. Youve been able to make that transition, but talk a little bit about your mindset both when you went into the military and after you left, how did that change your perception in terms of your responsibilities to your community and how you might be able to make a difference. Well, when i joined the military, i joined six months out of high school. I was working fulltime. I wasnt in school. I wasnt in college where i come from, being in college is a big deal. Graduating is an even bigger deal but its all about graduate high school. You know, get a job. Do stuff like that. And i was in the military and i realized theres so much more to that. And that i am being afforded this wonderful opportunity to engage with so many different people from all over the country, have so many different views but we all share the same goal. And i realized that if i wanted to make a larger contribution, i was going to have to go to school. And so thats what i did. I served my initial contract. I received an Honorable Discharge march 2014. I moved to chicago, june 2014. I was in roosevelt august, 2014. I didnt do it which myself whp when i got out of the military i part of this program called veterans upward bound. And its a precollege Readiness Program for veterans that need to brush up on their Academic Skills before they enter college. And that being a part of that literally saved me taking extra courses remedial courses. So i benefited immensely from that. And i was fortunate enough to get a Research Assistant position at roosevelt and that really like that really got me going because i was working with different projects, youth, landlords, i mean, it was amazing because like these are regular folks. And thats something i definitely wanted to get involved in. And to answer your question what i think is preventing youth i believe that i believe we need to connect personal problems with like public issues. I feel like sometimes you know, youre working two jobs and you cant afford daycare. Its not because youre lazy. Theres so if we can establish some sort of connection, demonstrate some sort of connection. Im big on collecting data and numbers and listen, 80 of people are experiencing this in your community. And you just dont know it yet. Wont see it but heres the facts. So i believe that is a huge thing we can do to help that. Look, youre making a terrific point. One of the things that i learned when i was organizing and this is true for i think a lot of young would be dogooders. You know, you show up in a neighborhood and your initial instinct is to tell people what they should be interested instead of spending the First Six Months listeni and finding out what they actually are interested in. And then connecting [ applause ] you know, connecting their immediate needs to the policies that are having influence on those areas of concern. And you know, the more that you can maconcrete for people, the fact that the reason there arent enough after School Promise programs is not just because theyre impossible to set up but have to do with budgets and here are the people who are making the decisions about the budgets. And the reason that theres a lack of child care is not because you know, youre the only single mom who needs child care. Everybody needs child care but there arent enough facilities in place with trained child care providers and this is what a change in Public Policy could do to provide everybody support. Thats when you start bringing people together and their voices are amplified because whats certainly true is o voice by itself rarely changes something. Two voices have a better shot. 20 voices were getting somewhere. And but it begins with that listening process that youre talking about so that people feel like theyre being heard at the outset. So i think thats a great point. Max, the were you somebody who was always interested in politics generally or is this something that kind of came to you and since you know, youve been active in college republicans, two questions around that. Number one, do you feel as if on College Campuses sometimes you know, youre not heard as much as youd like to be . And you know, because i think theres certainly a perception sometimes among young people who are on the more conservative end of the spectrum that colleges are a bastion of Political Correctness and how do you sort of sort through that, but also, have you found ways in which you can connect and have a conversation with the College Democrat and the person who has a different point of view so that we can encourage better conversations and better understanding and hopefully more progress . Yes, so i think being interested in politics, you know, i dont know that i came from a particularly politically active family. My mother was involved in the pta when i was a child. And that. Pta is big, yes. Its real. Pta is a lot of work. You know. In connecticut, it is blood sport. But lets you know, i think that the message that Something Like would send is she didnt need to do that. She did that because the educational system and more broadly the community that was fostered in the town was important to her and something worth giving her time to and something worth going out and no one pays you to do this. You take a great deal of flack. So you know, i certainly honor that commitment. I think you know, in eighth grade, which was your first election, we in social studies were told. Can i just say [ laughter ] im old. You know . Thats but please continue. In eighth grade. Golly. Go ahead. In eighth grade, we were all right. Ill pick a different age to be. We each at the beginning of the year picked a campaign to follow sort of through to fruition and weech week we did a report how the candidate had been featured in the news, any sort of polling information we had accumulated. We never got them back, but you know, it was an interesting process in that it taught to us care about the news at a time when maybe that wasnt something that you went home and watched. And it was something that made you more cognizant of the issues. You know, i was fortunate enough to go to high school in New Hampshire where were pandering to immensely heavily. Even our its just part of the whole ethos every four years they care. But or the people care about what New Hampshire has to say. And i think that one of the things that is a shame in that process is that there is a group that is as active every four years because theyre influential and big in the towns theyre from but you said dont boo vote but dont boo act might be more correct. A lot of people engage four years and sort of gone for the in between period. For some, if youre brought up to believe your opinion is going to count for something then go on to do big things. I had a friend who i went to high school with. Shes i think 20 now and shes a state rep because you know, she ran for an open seat and thats just how it goes up there. Theres a commitment. In terms of being involved in politics, i was fortunate enough to take a year between high school and college and i worked in washington, d. C. In the senate. And thats an eye opening experience because it forces to you confront in a real way what you believe and why. And you gain a lot of information very, very quickly. Im immensely to kelly for the opportunity. And then you know, after coming here, that sort of changed my world view. I thought i would be an economist like i think every first year believes at some level here. And that coupled with my time at the institute of politics which was a good structured force to shows that you know, there was a way, there were many, many venues for us to engage civically. Let me explore things like campaigning in iowa. As for being a republican on a College Campus, yesterday, nbc ran an article about this on their website and it didnt say who we were. It just said the composition was one republican and the rest were democrats or progressives. And i had maybe three people accepted me the article and say is it you. About you,. [ laughter ] but and it is if youre watching. But you know, i would say it depends on the setting whether its something im particularly forthcoming with. At the institute of politics itself, i think most people know at this point and certainly in the beginning of 2016 when caucus season was going on, those of us who had been in iowa and could do caucus math which as you know is not real math but you know, that made you a hot commodity in the room when you would watch the votes tallied. But there were venues certainly where i wouldnt have brought it up or wouldnt have been particularly forthcoming with it. I think people suspected it but you know, i didnt ill leave that to the other Student Government people in the room to confirm or not. But i and i dont necessarily know what i was afraid of but i ink theres a sense that if yo harbo a view that doesnt jibe with the majority view, that you can expect some level of ostraization from certain people or you can expect people to assume the worst aspects of you based on beliefs you may or may not hold. I dont think anyone sitting in this room agrees with their party on 100 of issues 100 of the time for 100 of the people in their party. I might be wrong but if you raised your hand, i cant see you. And so i think that being a republican on a College Campus is in and of itself the sort of honor because you know, most people dont agree with you. When is you engage in the dorms and in the dining halls and with those people able to see you, the person and then you the person with the political views, youre forced to know yourself well and to do soul searching well. And to understand why it is that you think what you think and what parts of your past impact what you believe now and might believe tomorrow. I think the other thing is there is a significant empathy gap. Not just here but everywhere. You know, i think most people havent had in their homes for dinner in a real way somebody who is significantly different from them either politically or raally or for whatever reason ve cloistered ourselves i think thathe liberal bastion of College Campuses certainly can be true. Ive been lucky here. The schools certainly committed to accepting you know our thoughts. But i think a broader societal problem is that as we, if you look at the county map of 2016, mu a lot of counties where secretary clinton won over 80 of the vote and the inverse was true for the president now. But i mean, theres not understanding, were not talking its not just that were reading different news but we dont talk to each other anymore. I think it would be good Civic Engagement at some point will require a level of civility i think. Theres a lot of problems with our. [ applause ] [ applause ]. Theres a lot of problems with our politics that begin at home. I think we blame politicians a lot for the failure of us of each of us to grasp each other well. So youre mentor when you were a senator, dick lugar. Great guy. Love that guy. Ultimately lost his primary for that reason. Because he talked to me. Because people couldnt stand to see their member you know, bridge a gap on a human level. Yeah. And you know, i think thats sad. I think theres both an empathy gap and a lot of people see politics especially in this generation and say this is ugly, this is mean. This is something that you have you know, pretty experienced people doing. And you know, if the country is a ship and politicians are sailors, maybe the boat moves like a degree either way. But i think the lack of results stems from lk of us understanding each other well. Uhhuh. I think marco rubio said it pretty well a couple months ago. You cant really run a country when half of it hates the other. Somehow we have to find ways to bridge that and to meet people who arent like us. Good. Terrific. [ applause ] harish, on this stage other than me, i guess youre the other guy whos run for office. The oldest. I wasnt going to say youre the oldest. Youre the other guy who ran for office. I know you lost but i did too once. Right here in this community. I got some gray, too. But what prompted you to run for office which is a different kind of engagement . And what did you take from the experience . Did you feel discouraged by it . Did you feel like okay, this was fun or if it wasnt fun, then it was worth it, and you would encourage other young people to take their shot . Tell me a little bit about your thought process there. Yeah, and for me, i mean, i want to sort of start with the first time i ever did something that is considered civically engaged. I was an immigrant so i couldnt vote till after iraq war had already started. But the first thing i ever thought im doing thats like for this country was actually protesting the iraq war. Cause i felt passionatelye were in the wrong side of history there. I think you were also at that point. I agreed with you at the time. But so i couldnt vote but i felt like a lot of the times Civic Engagement in its sense gets stuck in the dynamic of voting or electoral engagement. And doesnt always expand. I think we have 0 sort of expand it to maybe what your mother did or being on a board of a nonprofit or there are tough positions to have or its a lot of work there. I would hope moving forward we sort of think about speaking engagement beyond voting. But to directly answer the question around why i went from protesting to working on nonprofit orging to thinking about electoral politics is one of the many routes that im going to engage in. And that happened for me actually happened in 2010. It was after id done organizing that i saw a lot of the jargon that was used against us as young people at that time i didnt understand. So thats why i went back to college to understand some Public Policy language. When i ran, it was to, i dont have my last name patel. Theres not a lotf patels in office. A lot of patels in india though. Im just saying there are a lot more patels than there are obamas. Agreed. I want to be clear. I had a hussein joke but im not going to make it. So i mean, so at some point, i sort of felt that both or more than i dont want to get stuck in this twoparty sort of language but theres a lot of different personalities of cultural politics that young people especially get sort of drawn to and they cant really go beyond the questions youre allowed to ask within. So i wanted to be able to protest and be able to run for office and run a Small Business and do the organizing and be able to figure out which is the most effective way that i want to, one, live my life and be happy but also sort of inspire a whole generation of folks that maybe look like me or come from a muslim background or south asian immigrants. And most young people of color, i want them to feel they can do anything. So that was one of the major reasons. Also illinois has an establishment politics that is really old. Not old in age but old in thinking. Theres a monopoly of power, money, ideas that only come from a few families or sometime a few zip codes. And i wanted to say that its not how we should move forward. Good. Well, i think thats good. [ applause ] a couple of thoughts based on some of the things that folks have said. First of all, you said about there are a lot of different ways to engage i think is important. Because sometimes people think if youre not running for office or its not election day, theres no other ways of getting involved. And the pta is a perfect example of the kind of thing that we want to encourage. There are a bunch of writers out there in social scientists and thinkers that would argue that one of the problems we had with our politics right now is that the mediating institutions, the unions, the churches, the pta groups, the rotary club, a lot of the voluntary organizations that used to exist like sororities and terof fraterniti that used to bring people in to then work on issues that those have declined. And the statistics sole that involved with various to be organizations in their communities than they used to be. And what that means is then people dont have some of the same habits of being together on a common project that they used to. Weve become a more individualistic society. And that i think has some spillover effects when it comes to both political participation but also in terms of empathy because youre interacting with fewer people on a regular basis. The second thing though has to do with how we get information. So i want to throw this out and see what people think. I think a lot of us who have been in politics for a while do see a change from 20 years ago certainly 30 years ago where it used to be everybody kind of had the same information and we had different opinions about it, but there were a common baseline of facts. And that the internet in some ways has accelerated the sense of people having entirely separate conversations. And if this generation is getting all of its information through its phones, that you really dont have to confront people who have different opinions or have a different experience or a different outlook. If youre liberal, then youre on msnbc and conservative youre on fox news. Youre reading wall street journal or the New York Times or whatever your choices are. Maybe youre just looking at cat videos, which is fine. [ laughter ] so one question i have for all of you is, how do you guys get your information about the news and whats happening out there . And are there ways in which you think we could do a better job of creating a common conversation now that youve got 600 cable stations and youve got all these different news outlets that basically are offering one set of opinions and if there are two sets of opinions then theyre just yelling at each other so you dont get a sense that theres actual conversation going on. And the internets worse. Right . Its become more and more polarized. How much do you think that affects how people think about issues and are there ways ha that could be changed given that most of your information and certainly for the younger people coming up behind you even more, theyre getting their information primarily off their phones. So ayanna . I think social media has its pros and cons in situations like in. Foe f instance, when it comes to gaini information about whats going on in the world, its way faster on social media than it is on a news cast. Right. But on the other hand, it can be a down fall because what if youre passing the wrong information or the information isnt presented in a way it should be. So that causes a clash in our generation. I think it should go back to the old school which. No phones. Right. I think phones, social media should be eliminated because the younger okay. Wait, wait, wait. I think i should rephrase myself. I think when it comes to politics and important information, that can influence younger generations it should be organic. So politicians should actually reach out and actually fiscally talk to the community. So it cant be any misconception on the information being passed. Because social media, going to twitter, facebook, anybody can hack your page, that causes a lot of problems. And to go out to the community, the community will feel more welcomed. And i think that goes back to getting involved, because to have somebody shake your hand and to look at you and talk to you, its a more heartfelt feeling to listen to what that person has to say. Thats interesting. I think one of the other things you brought up is going back to the basics and having those inperson confidences. I think one of the things i see the most important is people being able to listen to understand, rather than to listen to respond. There doesnt have to be an immediate response. Lets understand where both viewpoints are coming from. The same applies marriage, by the way. Just a tip for you young people. Listening to understand, not to respond. That will save you a lot of heartache and grief. Sorry. No, youre fine. Just a little tip there. Its just something our generation, we find it easier to hide behind facebook screens, but being able to have those inperson conversations is the only way at the end of the day if werever going to get anything done. I think its important to engage with the leaders of that community, and instead of going in there and thinking because it affects you in another city doesnt mean its going to be the same dynamics in this neighborhood. I think its important to understand that i want to help, but i also need to be humble and listen to people that have lived through it and have more of a clear understanding of whats needed. Dialogue is important. Deliberation is important. You need to critically analyze peoples views, then you can create a plan off of that. I definitely think as far as like where you get your news from, diversity is important. Not every news station that, you know, leans republican is horrible. Its nice to you need to understand how the other side thinks. But yeah, i really believe that not shunning other people that have different views than you, recognizing that you do want to help, but respect the fact that there are people that have been here longer than you that have lived through these issues and you need to work with them instead of outsourcing the help and stuff. Any other thoughts . You got something to say on this . So i think there is there was an interesting president Obama Holding a political roundtable at the university of chicago with young people, having a really fascinating confidence about the future of young people in politics. The president saying that he sees one of his key goals now as helping to s the future leaders of the cotry. And you heard some of the young people there talk about how they think their peers can get more engaged in politics. So were going to break down what we just heard, this really great conversation. Joining me is Kelly Odonnell, mark murray, jonathan capehart, and nbc news contributor josh earnest, press secretary during president obamas second term. Josh, i want to start with you. One of the things that struck me when we began this conversation is we werent going to hear former president obama delve into politics. We saw obama the educator, the professor, and also the community organizer. I think anybody who has been following president obamas career over the last ten years would recognize some of the themes we saw in interaction. A focus on the next generation of americans. A focus on civility and trying to foster the common dialogues that dont make us all agree on the same things but can engage in conversation which were sharing ideas, but also focus on empowering people. If youre willing to show up and do the hard work, you can make a difference in your community and country. These are the kinds of values and themes that haven matanimat president obama to get into politics in the first place. I sort of tracked tend of his presidency. He was clear that he wanted to focus on young people when he left office. He signaled that this was going to be a key focus. Josh, what do you make of this timing . Why now . You know, some of this has to do with president obamas interest in engaging young people. Obviously, his ability to engage young people early in his president ial campaign in 2007 and 2008 are part of the reason were having this confidence about former president barack obama. But part of this is also based on his own passion. He understands that if were going to engage young people, its not just about giving inspiring speeches to large stadiums filled with cheering audiences. Some of this is about making clear to young people, this isnt about looking to people in washington, d. C. To lead the country. This is about us looking to you to tell us which direction this country should go. Theres nobody that has more at stake in american politics than the youngest generation of americans. Jonathan, you wrote today about what youve seen in the first 100 days. The president is trying to get young people engaged. What was your big takeaway as you watched this . I agree 100 with what josh said. The man we were watching on the screen is the man we have seen since he first onto the scene in four with that keynote for the then democratic nominee john kerry. What weve seen since he left office is democrats, just americans in general, have moved through the shock of the election and the surprise of the election and the hurt and pain of the election to the action after the election. The headline in that piece that yoreferenceis, trumps first 100 days and appreciation. Because wha we have seen is people acting on their interests, acting on the interests of fellow americans, acting on the interests of what we are and who we are as a country. So remember that candidate obama and then president obamas mantra was always yes, we can, not, i alone can fix it. We saw that on display in this conversation. Jonathan, i want to go out to mark murray. We got new poll numbers in over the weekend, sort of tracking President Trump as he approaches this first 100 day milestone. It shows his Approval Rating at a new low for this poll. What is your takeaway and set the scene, the backdrop of this first 100 days. As you can see, our poll shows that donald trump is at a 40 Approval Rating. While thats territory that past president s have been in, including president obama, whats extraordinary is its coming in the first 100 days. If you have a comparison, including with president obama, you see his 100 day mark, he was at 61 . George w. Bush, 56 , bill clinton at 52 . This is the honeymoon period, after all. Mark, thanks for that. I want to go to Kelly Odonnell who is standing by outside the white house. We just had an unprecedented meeting at the white house, the president meaning with the u. N. Security council. What was the big takeaway there is . Reporter the president met with the spouses and the ambassador for the u. N. Security council, largely talking about north korea while the cameras were in the room. Theyre having a luncheon. Unprecedented to have this entire group here at the white house. Also, the share of the u. S. Financing of the United Nations considering the number of countries involved. Two quick pointsbout forr president obamas appearance. E, hes going go to germany and making some paid speeches fairly soon. So he wanted to do more homebased, free public o outreach. And also, they make sure to structure it, so the students he interacted with were to be certain he could stay away from criticizing President Trump. Those invited to join him on stage understood that is something the former president did not want to do. Kristen . That panel simply did stay focused on the future of politics. Thanks for a fantastic panel. That does it for this edition of Andrea Mitchell reports. Chris jansing is up next right here on msnbc. Good afternoon. I am Chris Jansing at msnbc headquarters in new york. Right now, president obama returns. What he had to say in his first big public event since leaving the white house. Shutdown showdown. Government funding ends as President Trump hits that 100 day mark. The white house is promising a series of actions, any one of them would be a very heavy lift. And france faceoff. Two candidates head to a Runoff Election after surviving round one there. Why the future of the European Union is on the line. Lets start with president barack obama at this hour, making his first formal remarks since he left the presidency. He took the stage for a forum at the university of chicago. The participants, students of High School Age and up, and he touched on a number of issues, including special interests. Im joined by josh earnest, White House Press secretary under president obama. Good to see you, josh. How are you . He doesnt have a mike on. Were getting him remiked right now. Thats josh earnest, who i worked with for 2 1 2 years in the obama white house. Have we got your mike non yes, can you hear me . Yes, we can. I want to go back to something you were saying. Look, its about the president and his true commi