senate youth program discuss their visit to washington dc on q&a. follow by a u.k. general election debate with all seven party leaders, including prime minister david cameron and opposition leader ed miliband. ♪ announcer: this week on "q&a," the senate youth program held at the renaissance hotel in washington, d.c. brian: catherine, give us your name and your school and your state and city. catherine: my name is catherine hitchcock, and i go to signature school in indiana. brian: so tell us about this program and how you got here. catherine: for those, especially those interested in public

service, about showing them about public life close-up and inspiring them to work together and hopefully get involved in our future. katherine: what did you have to do? to get to the finalist round, we had to write an essay about a political question, and then in the finalist round, we had to take a political knowledge test, right another essay, and go through another. brian: dan, tell us about you. dan: this is an opportunity for people who are really interested in government to see it firsthand and to really find out all of the back working, the behind the scenes things that go on in government. we see these political figures on tv, but we do not really see

the people who have the backstage responsibility to really make it all work so this program exposes us to that. brian: so what did you do to get selected? dan: well, being also from indiana, like katherine there was an assay, an interview, a test. it was a pretty rigorous process, but i survived. brian: thank you both. these folks have been here for a week. excuse me. this is a hearst foundation program. we will ask you folks to take a seat, and then we will start moving around the audience and ask them to get involved. the first is, tell us somebody that said something this week that you will always remember and i will go to the firsthand up here, and give us your name and please stand up. jacob: my name is jacob pierce,

from atlanta, and i think the thing i will remember the most from this week is yesterday when we met president obama, the president of the united states, he said to us, do not worry so much about who you want to be. worry more about what you want to do. matriculated through college, i think that is something we should all remember. brian: what is your interest? jacob: i want to get into economics and help poor communities or communities of color to improve their lives so what i want to be, i am not entirely sure yet. brian: anybody else want to tell us about somebody met, somebody you heard from? please stand so we can all see you. britt: i go to wichita east. i think was stuck with me was when senator joe manchin came

tuesday with us, and he said people do not care how much you know until they know you care, and that really struck a chord with me, because people are always trying to prove how smart they are, how much better they are, how much more they know. like if you ever watch cable tv and pundits going after each other, but really, all of that stuff is not really important until he actually care about what we are doing, care why we are here like politicians are here, to serve the people, and really, all of their knowledge does not mean anything to the american people unless they put it to good use, caring for our country. brian: next. yes, sir. please stand over here so we can see you. charlie: charlie. i go to school in connecticut. talking about the modern space race between companies, because i think there are a lot of people that think america is

losing its dominance in space, and it is a matter of changing times and to have him have such confidence in the american ability to be able to innovate and be a leader in space is inspiring and made me have more say for what we are doing in the country. brian called what is your intention? charlie: i want to be a comedian, host of the tonight show. brian: can you show us at this moment any particular comedic talent. charlie: you put me on the spot here. [laughter] uh this is tough. this is really tough here. come back to me. brian: no problem. next year. let's get a hand back here. please stand and tell us who you are. maria: i am maria and one of the most important moments this week has been meeting our senator, cory booker, who was

mayor of a town really close to me, and he started to rebuild that community. it is newark, new jersey and he did not view the issues as modular. he said that all had to be worked on simultaneously to make real change. brian: why did you get involved in this? maria: last year, i joined to the junior state of america, a debate and political activism organization, and it has really taught me you can make a difference, even if you are a high school student. brian: what is next for you? maria: i thought i wanted to explore law, but my opportunities have opened up after this week. brian: tell us why. maria: journalism is one thing i had never really considered, but after this week, it is something i have been thinking about a lot.

brian: you just broke the hearts of all of those deans at law schools who are having a hard time getting students. yes, sir. victor: the most memorable moment of this week was hearing senator cory gardner in our lunch, say you need to be firm in your principles but flexible in the details, because i think it really reflects the solutions, the harsh polarization we are seeing across our country and the methodology that if all of the senators, if all of the congressmen and women can adopt we can really come together as a country and solve many of our pertinent issues. brian: what is your intent? victor: i want to pursue medicine and become a public servant because i can use my talents and make an impact on committee and help others. brian: next pre-yes, sir?

nathaniel: what we want to do. it is subject to change. we are not going to limit our success in one field. brian: so who is the one individual you will most remember? nathaniel: it is probably senator joe manchin. he said it is public service not self-service. brian: next. kate: i am from arkansas. my favorite quote came from the secretary of the senate, julie at his she said remember to be humble and have a strong work ethic, because the people that you meet on the way up, you will meet again on the way down. brian: you have a document here that you have a lot of notes. do -- does everyone have that? kate: all of the people are so great we want to take everything in. brian: how many pages do you have? kate: a lot. one for each speaker.

on this page, judge robert h hendry says we probably will not learn to love each other, but we can learn to follow the law, a collection of the wisdom of the ages. brian: next. amanda: my name is amanda from kimberly, idaho, and this is an incredible opportunity to hear from major garrett the chief white house correspondent for cbs news, and he talked a lot about goal setting and how it is important for your life. he also said it is important to flexibility and not get disappointed in yourself if you're at a different place than you thought you would be 10 years for -- from now so for a group of ambitious people, i think that is something we will all be able to use in the future. brian: and what are your plans? amanda: i definitely hope to be in public service sunday, particularly interested in

international relations, so i'm hearing from state department leaders and those who have galvanized my desire. ryan: next. yes, sir? dallas: i am dallas from the great state of tennessee. brian: what high school? what town? dallas: morristonwwn and we were talked to about how the world bank is helping the world reduce poverty as well as bring about great social change in the world. brian: what are your plans? dallas? to get involved in business as well as science and law. brian: do you have any idea where you are going to school? dallas: hopefully the university of pennsylvania. brian: coming back to washington, d.c.? dallas: that is my hope.

guest: the one speaker that really stood out to me so far was senator susan collins from maine. yesterday, she told us we have no right to complain if we are going to sit on the sidelines which i think is going to make total sense. if you're not going to get out then you cannot whine that the government is not doing what you want because you have not told them. brian: so as you have watched the speakers this week, how many of them spoke without notes or without a script? jesse: i think quite a few. i would definitely say a majority because oration skills are difficult to acquire but very important. brian: and what do you intend to do? jessie: i intend to figure that out. brian: you mean this did not do it this week? jessie: i am only 18 and have time to figure that out.

brian: next. jonathan: the government parliamentarian. our government currently, although we are diverse, not a lot of people of color join our government and do public service. brian: what are your plans? jonathan: i want to be president of the united states. brian: have you picked the year? jonathan: yes. i plan to be in 2032, when i am 35, when i can actually run. brian: yes 20 32. i am not sure i will be around, but if you make it congratulations. all right, back here. yes, sir. john: my name is john. brian: who impressed you?

john: our senators. senator in half -- inhoff. it is kind of cool to see these two pretty important people in the senate, they took their time to spend time with these kids. brian: what did you learn from the parents on the dobbs show? john: he is not a huge fan of john kerry. he is really interested in what is going on in syria. his people are giving him updates. the troop movement into greek -- in tikrit. he is still interested in the goings-on overseas. brian: thank you, sir.

yes, ma'am? let me just have you do this. ioana: i was also interested in the talk about the government shutdown and how people were unable to cooperate and unable to communicate, and she challenged us to increase our ethical behavior and be far more respect will of others so that when we grow up, our political environment and our humor environment is far more productive. brian: we will have to wrestle that microphone from you. what do you want to do? ioana: i was definitely interested in business and law but i did not know specifically what i wanted to do, and when isaiah human rights lawyers, a

connection between how that can improve the world, i definitely saw better connections that i can make, and especially in the field of economics. i started thinking more on an international and international level. brian: thank you. we are going to try to work our way in the back. all of these mentors back here in the back. you think you are -- [laughter] you think you are going to get away with sitting there and not telling us anything? tell us. >> i graduated quite a few years ago. the military mentors, there are 17 of us, and we are here to be responsible for the students. the delegates are extremely impressive people.

they are here to teach us, and then we are here to teach them as well, so there is a mentorship aspect to it, and we are here for their day-to-day, making sure they get to meet the people that are on the schedule. brian: so they kept the schedule very strictly, from the military standpoint. guest: not from the military standpoint but i think from their schedule. brian: we do not see a lot of navy people. there is one back here. we must include the navy in this. yes, sir. tell us about yourself. lieutenant mendoza: i graduated quite a long time ago. i am a navy nurse station in okinawa, japan. brian: what have you done? lieutenant mendoza: introducing them to various aspects of public service. brian: what surprised you in watching this 104 group move

around this week? lieutenant mendoza: how dated the military mentors are and the generational gap of knowledge. how old we are, sir. brian: thank you very much. we have had the navy and the air force. i have to do the marines, and we will get back to our students. sorry, coast guard and, sir. tell us, major. captain: i did not know this. it was on a voluntary basis. all of us, all of the mentors are just fortunate to have this opportunity to do this. brian: i did not get your name. captain: smith.

based in north carolina. brian: what did you learn from this group of students? captain: they are reaffirming what we do. just a lot of talent. preceding generations sometimes cast aspersions on the following generations. i remember they called us the me generation, but when you see the talent, you know that we are going to be all right. and we have an obligation as mentors to make sure we foster and nurture this talent, and the future that will help us and hopefully to great success. brian: how did you get to be so tall? major smith: -- brian: let's go to some substance besides what you have been picking up from people that spoke. i would like to turn the issue to the fact that there was just

a poll this week while you were here that suggests from the university of chicago and another that americans have the lowest feeling, positive feeling towards their president, towards their congress, and towards their supreme court than they ever have in history. congress is down to 5% people who really think they are doing a good job. the president is about 11%, and this is in court is i think about 23%. what is the reason why americans feel so strongly that the government is not doing what they want them to do? yes, sir. please stand, turn around here and tell us who you are. ian: i am ain, and i go to sacred heart. there was something that major garrett said. it is not just the candidates. they are in office for a reason. the voters put them in office, so he was talking about cable

news and all of the political commentary, and if you are a republican, you can just watch fox news, and you can reaffirm your bias, and if you're a democrat, you can watch msnbc and reaffirm your bias, and when we go to the voting polls, all we see are these extreme candidates, so while we have these low reflections on the government, the reelection rate is about 95%. so in actuality, we are all just blaming it on everybody else but not our own candidate, because we are imbued with their own biases and not looking at the other side of the issues. brian: what do you do to get your information? where do you go? ian: personally, i go to the bbc. i think it has a more neutral position towards the issues in america, as well as the magazine as one of my favorites. brian: not many people your age

read the economist magazine, which i am sure they are excited about. this young lady, as i understand, is giving a speech tonight. would you please stand and face over here so we can see you? could you give us your name? what speech are you giving tonight? muna: i and the keynote speaker with some of the philosophies that i follow. brian: you are not going to give away your speech. the question was, why do people dislike this town so much? muna: we had the honor of hearing from a senator from colorado and he talked about up close, and this week, we got a chance to meet people from behind the scenes. without a chance to meet the president.

we are seeing the associate justice later on today, and i realize that once we humanize people, the people we see in the press and on tv and on fox news, once we put a face on them and see them move around like a normal human being, it is harder to make unfair criticism because we have seen them first hand, it really is hard to hate up close. brian: interesting. it is hard to hate up close. i want to go to a gentleman who is also giving a speech tonight. guest: i am from madison wisconsin. i want to say hello to all of the c-span watchers, all three of them. brian: a comedian.

vishal: please do not edit me out. brian: no, we do not edit anyone out. vishal: they are doing a fantastic job. we had two or three rounds of elections, a few candidates for each lecture, and we gave stump speeches, and ultimately, the delegates voted or who they preferred to be there speaker or the final day, and i was lucky enough to be selected. brian: why do you split along gender lines? vishal: i have no idea why. brian: ok, what is your reason for them being so disliked in the opinion polls? vishal: they were saying they are less popular than cockroaches, and i think for very good reason, some people have mentioned the

politicization of media, and a think congress we have a lack of true statesman. as much as i might disagree with him, senator john mccain did something very impressive last year. he committed to the veterans affairs reform bill, reading the torture report, maintaining how staying away from torture is essential to the character of our democracy. i think we are at a point where we a people willing to cross the aisle, willing to make decisions with people whom they may not often agree with. that is essentially what we need to maintain the security, the integrity of our nation as we go along. brian: how long is your speech tonight? vishal: i was told it should be 10 minutes or less. we will see what happens. there will be a recap of the week. i will aim to put in some roast like humor, if you will, and hopefully we will capture the audience's attention and my

speech will not be a sure cure for insomnia. brian: like c-span. vishal: ouch. brian: i cannot believe i did that. all right, here are some people who have been nodding their heads. please stand up. jordan: i go to school in madison, alabama. i think a lot likevishal said, it is not so much that you have extreme is a that you have people with far right or far left views, people throughout american history have had strong views, but the issue we really here today is that people are grandstanding, and they won't come together, and we used to have political leaders to come to the table and negotiate, and today, we are not seeing that so much, and we really need more of those statesmen to come together and solve those problems even when we have strong and very differing views. brian: who impressed you this week?

jordan: i think senator collins. particularly with the government shut down last year, and she was talking about how people have to come together, how they have to solve those problems even when they disagree and that when she made a stand and said we need to come together, other members of the senate very much came out in support of what she was doing and thanked her for that effort. brian: right here, you are shaking your head in agreement with the gentleman over here. serene: there are two thoughts that came to mind up on here your question. we all have biases. and i think that is a major problem that all of us have, and it is hard to overcome that, but second, recently i got asked in a college interview if

compassion can be a detriment, and i thought really hard about that and i thought individually, we all have our passions, things that really matter to us, and they are very diverse. that is why we get elected. that is how we stand out, but when we are try to make legislation and change, it is hard to make sure that our passions are along with those around us. it is not necessarily a bad thing that we are not getting as much done in congress, because the fact that people are asked -- as they can be inspires people to also understand their views, and it allows us to open more doors to understanding for those things that are there. brian: ok. at this table. my goodness. robert: i am robert pickering from mississippi. and the person that really touched me this week was senator collins this week.

i think she said congress may not be the cause of instability and polarization, but it might be a symptom. it is the communities across the nation, again with the confirmation bias, we also have to realize we cannot just blame it on other people. it is ourselves. what we have realized is there are some great people with completely opposite views that we have, but we cannot let different views stop us from reaching across the aisle and trying to reach a compromise. brian: why -- that to the question about why people feel so strongly negative about this down. robert: i believe it is from the political ovation of the media. again, with major garrett, and senator isakson said you can't beat up anybody and get on tv, but the challenge for many people is trying to do something good and great and get an equal amount of coverage. we see a great deal of beating up politically smear campaigns

because it is effective. people pay attention to a negative a lot more often, but president obama yesterday said there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic for the future. i mean we are living longer. the standard of living is still rising. there are plenty of signs that show us we should be optimistic and hopeful for what is to come. brian: next. who has got their hand up? yes, sir. stand over here so we can see. elisha: my name is elisha from ironton, ohio. i believe the reason have such a negative view on people in washington d.c., is because you are many times politicians are playing the blame game. people are playing the blame game. no one is taking responsibility to work together to make a difference in our nation. it is always if you are a republican it is a democrat's

fault. if you are a democrat, it is a republican's fault. a failure to govern this is all of our faults, that we are not coming together for the betterment of the people and for our nation. brian: what if you're running for office, and the district you're running for does not want you to compromise? elijah: that is to open at. i think for the betterment of the people and the nation, you have to compromise. brian: what if you do not get elected because you do not compromise? elijah: than you do not get elected. if you devote yourself to one extremism and one believe and not be open to the possibility of working together to make a better change for our nation, then you should not be in public service. if you're not willing to go out of your way to help others and to devote yourself to your nation and everyone and not just your party, not just republicans, not just a mcgrath either you basically do not

need to be in government. you do not need to be in public service. every single one of the 103 delegates here have proven they want to do public service, not for themselves, but for the betterment of society. they want to come together to make sure every human is equally treated, to make sure every human, every citizen in our nation gets the exact same treatment that they should, and they are going to devote themselves to doing that by compromising and working together. you should not have one party ideologies tucked in your head so you can get reelected. reelection is not the reason to go into public service. brian: those of you have asked just joined us on -- have just joined us on "q&a," this group has been in town for a week. they look so bright and cheery this morning, even though they have been up all night all week, but they have been meeting with a lot of very famous people in this town and we are try to

find out from them what impact it has had. -- we are trying to find out what impact it has had. yes, sir. when your hands up, and we will get you as quickly as possible. thomas: i am thomas from stuttgart, germany. i think the reason for people to dislike washington d.c. is because of the failure of obama to lead and the failure of congress to lead the country according to the american views which was demonstrated in the last election. brian: so you just demonstrated that you can knock both sides and get away with it. thomas: yes. i think i have been exposed to a lot of different viewpoints, and that has been enlightening to me to have discussions with people that i usually do not have discussions with and really learn about government and how it works, and it really has been

an enlightening experience for me. brian: let's switch to the use of the media, because a lot of people are saying young people are abandoning television and spending all of their lives on twitter and facebook and whatever app suits you. i want to ask, tell us about your own particular use of media to get your information somebody that we have not heard from yet. yes, sir. what is your name, and where are you from? turnaround for the hammer. caleb: i am from virginia, and the personal use of media involves around news these days. they say it is a dying industry, but it is still the most reliable source of media. personally, i do not really like watching tv news networks and the 24 hour news cycle because of what we talked about, the polarization and the partisanship of the media outlets themselves. we see a lot of bias on a lot of

commentary happening, and i think many of us in our generation, we are just getting exhausted by that. we want to see people come together. we do not want to see the arguments as much, and by reading our news we do not necessarily feel as attacked watching it. brian: you know, all of my life, we have had clashes between people who do not agree, and now that you have choice on television, what is wrong with that? caleb: what is wrong with choice? brian: what about relying on me to tell you i am fair, balanced and objective? caleb: the democratic republic themselves stand on the fact that factions and dissidents within a society is good. other differing opinions help provide a different perspective that might have a better answer to the problem then you yourself, so when you only go to

one news source, and you only choose to go to a news source that might push one side of the aisle, they are only reaffirming your values, but they are not necessarily opening your eyes to a different perspective. brian: what is your first choice when you want your news in the morning? caleb: the new york times or bbc news. brian: next. emily: i am from illinois. barack obama provided us with a quotation, you're entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts, and that is something else that major garrett provided to us. there is so much commentary in the news, and it is the 24 hour news cycle. it is great for social movements

and it is hard to get facts because everyone is providing their own commentary, and people do not always get the straight facts, the heart news. a lot of it is soft news, so you might receive different facts anything almost in contracts to what caleb was saying, when you do have one person, fewer choices, they are more likely pressured to report straight facts rather than their own commentary. brian: what proof do you have of that? emily: i do not have any solid proof, but many are aware of this problem, and i think we search out new sources that are relatively unbiased. bbc news is a great example. i think a lot of us have bbc up on our phones. that is what we check. brian: what makes you think that the bbc is unbiased?

if you go to great britain, you will find an enormous amount of people who think it is not unbiased. emily: that is a great point. i think coming from an american standpoint, they are not citizens of our nation for the most point, and they can look at it with an objective point of view. and they have such a wide range of reporting, and it is great to get all of your stories from one source, and then you can go and compare it to another source, and it is really up to people today to do further research. brian: so which one of the networks do you want us to shutdown? emily: i think i should keep that to myself. brian: do you think the government should shut them down? emily: no, i do not think so. it should be free. let the american people decide what is credible to us. what we want to listen to. maybe not everybody is making

the greatest choices in what they are listening to. maybe they are not listening to straight facts. we have freedom of press. brian: thank you. who is next? i want to get another. i will be back to you. yes, sir. nick: i go to school in washington. i enjoy pbs npr, and al jazeera america. they give more in-depth reporting, i think. that is when the problems i see. there is a lack of depth in reporting. i think one of the most egregious examples of this was during the boston marathon bombings when you saw the news networks just totally in chaos and there were so many incorrect facts reported, and major garrett, when he was here, he spoke on the demand for immediacy in reporting today and how that can create a really negative impact in the media and i just, when i go to my new sources now, i do not want to

try to find who has got the information right now, who has got it first. i want it to be well thought out, well researched, and i wanted to be accurate. major garrett says we are going to be second and right before we are first and wrong, and i think that is more of what we need from the media today. brian: where do you get your information first in the day? nick: i go to twitter first. it is interesting to see how one story is reported 10 different ways, but i like twitter because you can see how a lot of the traditional media outlets are adapting. we maybe do not sit down and watch a cable news program, but you can see a one minute clip, and then you can elect to read the story, so it is really interesting to see from twitter how different outlets are adapting and creating new types of content for the readers of today.

bryan: i am confused. listening to the folks over here, they want to reduce the number of sources so we are not confuse with the facts, and you are saying you want to look at 10 different things on twitter. help us out. what are we supposed to do, and what network do we want to shutdownni? shutdown? nick: we do not want to shut them down. but all go to a news outlet that reaffirms what we believe, so especially if you go on facebook or twitter, and there are ads and you say like if you support president obama, and all of a sudden you start getting stories on your news feed that show headlines that would get you excited that reaffirm what you believe in, and they make it so that you see the news and the events happening in the way that you want to see it, so i think that is important, to get a diverse amount of news media outlets, so make sure the ones you are looking at are not just

the ones that i going to make you feel good about how you believe. brian: yes, sir. you had your hand up and wanted to contribute. what is your name? matthew: my name is matthew, and i go to school in columbia, maryland. brian: where do you go for your news? matthew: i have a couple including al jazeera. brian: who owns al jazeera? matthew: a family from qatar. brian: why would you trust them? matthew: it is more than the traditional news agencies in situations like countries in syria and libya and throughout the arab world. brian: there are at least three different services, including outages your america. which one of those has the truth? matthew: i think they are all

marketed to different audiences so i think al jazeera in rebecca has a different slant, and they are trying to influence people there with a qatar bias. at the same time if you look at the united states relations, we you qatar as a major ally in terms of defense in the region so i do not necessarily disagree with everything the royal family does, but i do recognize that bias. brian: thank you very much. what about over here? do you have a joke yet? i have to check with you. i should not do this. >> i do not if i have one that is good for the c-span of viewership. brian: david: that's david?

david: when you have twitter shrinking things down to 140 characters, it sort of provides information where everything has to be brief, so you have to boil it down to the core, and sometimes to get viewer attention, you have to make it very polarized, and that is another reason why i guess we hate washington, and we hate the news area well, i am not saying we hate the news. -- i am not saying we hate the news. my parents or -- are chinese, so we watch the chinese government news, and with the commendation of the japanese and the nhk and some american sources. brian: so when you watch central chinese television news, how much of it do you believe? david: none of it. it depends. for example, when i watch a

particular news story china will be blaming america, america will be blaming china. brian: do you ever find americans blaming americans because they are americans? david: yes. they have their own bias. there are their own cultural values that are deeply reflected in their news stories. brian: who haven't we talked to question mark yes, ma'am? ashton: i am ashton, from arkansas. the people in washington are working and making progress towards actually doing something, but having social media and sources like twitter and facebook, i can get comments from barack obama and secretary john kerry and just see what they are doing, the work they

are getting done every single day, which just provides a look for me to see that work is getting done, and we are making progress toward something. brian coleman what is your first choice for news? ashton: like was said earlier, i like going to twitter. seeing able to see a link and watch a short, brief clip, it is beneficial and helpful. brian coleman how do you know if someone is telling the truth? -- brian: how do you know if someone is telling the truth? ashton: finding the commentators --, denominators. morgan: i go to school of the arts in west palm beach florida and i think it is interesting to note how social media has changed government. yesterday, when we heard from major garrett, he explained to us when barack obama announced

his plan for free committed to college, he did not do that by posting a video to the white house facebook page. he went around the press altogether so it is interesting as time goes on to see how social media continues to change the relationship between the press and the government. brian: which media personality probably the highest-paid person in radio television news and information lives and operates out of palm beach, florida? morgan: i know oprah winfrey has a house in palm beach.

gerald: would it be rush limbaugh? brian: it would be. brian: what about your first service of news -- source of news? gerald: we are doing some media outreach to south dakota, and it is very interesting to get that regional perspective on things happening in minnesota and the area. brian: how do you know someone is telling the truth? gerard: you cannot know. brian: how do you find the facts yourself? gerard: i look for an outside perspective. as someone with an interest in journalism, i would like to think that we should look at the facts first and forming opinions second so the economist comes to mind because they are outside the u.s., so they report with an outside perspective areas --

perspective. they give you the facts. brian: i want to ask you a question and be up to show the hands. how many in this room use in your studies wikipedia? put your hands up. that did not exist when i was your age. it shows you how much things change. who had their hand that back here? yes and we have heard from you. i want somebody who has not talked, please. i am sorry. it takes so long to get here. trevor: my name is trevor from south carolina. brian: so where do you go for your news? trevor: i like a broad variety of news outlets. i do use twitter because contrary to popular belief, politicians, a lot of them do tweets. talking with someone from secretary kerry's indications

and his media team put a lot of work into every tweet. they proofread and reread and try to get the most accurate information out to best represent secretary kerry. brian: so whenever you see a tweet from the john kerry office, you believe it? trevor: that is what secretary wants to get out. brian: believing it and what it wants to get out are two different things. where do you come down on those? trevor: i do believe that the secretary would not give wrong information, because that is not something he would do, and he would try to get it out as best as possible to what he knows. brian: how can you tell if someone is telling the truth? trevor: you can look them in the eye. brian: do i look like i am telling you the truth? trevor: yes, sir, and there is also a polygraph.

[laughter] [applause] brian: that is the best answer of the day. somebody who has not talked. your name, please. mara: i have resources. i am a megan kelly fan. i am a person who likes to go to television news mostly. and i think it is good to see both of them that the stories and figure out how they kind of meat in the middle. that is usually where i find the truth lies. brian: why are you a megan kelly fan? mara: she is very strong. i think she reports the news with a lot of passion and conviction, and i think she is someone who is more bipartisan

than other reporters he would see on fox news and msnbc or cnn. brian: in the remaining time we have, i would like to switch to one last topic. i want you to kind of a race everything we have talked about -- kind of erase everything we have talked about. who you consider to be the most important mentor in your life. somebody who has made a difference in your life, and why. then -- ben: i know it will sound cliché, but the most two important mentor is in my life are my parents, undoubtedly. brian: what would they know about having that kind of influence? ben: my parents have strong views, and they like to express their views, and they taught us from a very young age that it is

important to express your views but one of the most important things they taught me is it is ok that you disagree as long as you make your point and do so in a respectful way. in my house, we can have a discussion on almost any topic and as long as i tell them what i think in respectful ways, they will listen. they will argue back, and it has allowed me to develop my views in such a way that i am no longer rate to express what i think about an issue, but i am also much more open to listening to it people have to say about different issues, it is helping me to grow a lot as a person, especially in regards to an event like this, where i'm coming into contact with people who have their different views from me. i can sit at a table with people who have use way to the left and way to the right of me, but we still have an element of friendship in our discourse. brian: yes, ma'am. catherine: i am from pittsburgh, pennsylvania, and i go to north allegheny high school. brian: your mentor.

catherine: my sister lily. brian: why: -- why question? catherine: we have a passion for making a difference in this world. brian: you can also for a teacher in this is that is somebody you want to honor. yes, ma'am. pagie: i am from delaware. aside from my family, the mentors in the youth program in delaware, like a ymca program where remodel the legislature and that is where i found my passion, politics, one of our interim directors and my delegation advisor catherine. they have just done so much to foster the use -- youth, that we have a forum for debate, that

we can come together as a state and discuss politics. the amount of faith they have had in us adjust that they have been there to tell us you are going to be the future of the country. you are going to be the ones to help change the world. i love that they have been there, both of them, for a very, very long time, just helping teenagers in delaware, and there are others like them throughout the country. brian: next. turn around so we can see you. deanna: i want to think the teachers. i would not be here with so many amazing people in this room without them. we are not going to make a difference, or that people belittle us because we are teenagers, but they have challenged me to ask questions to learn to learn from my peers, to be able to form my own

opinion and soak up the knowledge, and one of the speakers actually said knowledge is power so i really realize that through my teachers, and i would not be here today if it was not for them. brian: yes, ma'am. kristen: my sister. she has supported me and what we do. brian: are you fraternal twins? kristen: people always get us confused. she is not really interested in politics, so i kind of go to her and get a different side of the politics i am interested in. brian: thank you very much. yes, we might as well do right here.

jocelyn: i want to give a shout out to my ap biology teacher and another teacher who have expanded my knowledge of science and personal development, but they really helped me to get here and get exposure to the real world. obviously, coming from a state like texas, which has a lot of standardized education, being able to immerse in culture and with the educational endeavors it is extremely important to become an involved citizen, so i thank them for all of their work. brian: thank you. quickly over here. we are running out of time. elizabeth: i go to sheridan high school, and i think for me, my mentor would be my grandfather who was an immigrant from ireland nearly 60 years ago and he has taught me the value of hard work. his first job was moving boxes at a bank, and his final job at

the bank was vice president which is amazing and also as a naturalized immigrant, he has taught me about the importance of being involved in government and voting. he is probably one of the most informed people i know. brian: yes? jenna: i think my most important teachers have been my social studies teachers. never focusing on the ordinary people living in really extra maritimes, and we have to their memory and respect them, so that is what they have really impacted on me. brian: one more, and then we have to shut it down. yes, ma'am. soniya: we were immigrants and

when we came to united states my mother worked as a single mother working while she went to obtain a degree. she has taught me not only had to go against the racial stereotype not only race but being a woman, a woman in the workforce. she has taught me to be a determined individual and how to look at the world from a different perspective and how to accept everyone for their true character and not just the area types. brian: this is the hearst foundation sponsored senate program for youth. we have been listening to some of the 104 delegates from each state, two from each state, and to some of the mentors. thank you for being here. thank you. we are out of time, and you all did a great job. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer: four free transcripts, or to give us your comments about this program visit us at q&a.org. "q&a" are also available as

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