story on the cambridge analytica controversy. and a look at the future of driverless cars with michael faron of the george washington university center. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016]] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] host: good morning on this saturday, march 31. welcome to the "washington ournal." the president and the first lady news out of for the white house for syria. the president frozen more than $2 million in funds for recovery there. and it was during this month, march of 1971 that the u.s. congress endorsed the 26th amendment to the u.s.

constitution. that lower the legal voting age from 21 down to 18. and some say it should be lower than that, even 16. want to get your thoughts on whether the voting age in this country should be lowered to 16 at the federal level. if you are 21 years or younger, call 202-748-8000. you're 20-50, 202-748-8001. and if you're older than 50, it's 202-748-8002. if not by phone, you can weigh in at social media. twitter.com/cspanwj is our twitter handle. leave comments and post at facebook.com/cspan. good morning. the filmmaker and activist michael moore is one who thinks the voting age should be lowered to 16. he recently posted this tweet. if there's one thing we've learned since parkland, other countries do it. we should too, says michael moore. melinda fike vote in "teen

vogue" recently. she is the leader of the berkeley california vote 16 campaign and a high school junior. she where is it doesn't promote civic engagement but gives teenagers the right to vote the matters that directly affect them. robert wrote recently the opposite direction. he wrote in the federalist why it's time to raise the voting age back to 21.

host: lots of comments coming in on facebook. the question is should the voting age be lowered? deborah, you are up first from ohio on our 50 or older line. caller: good morning. i am a school teacher and have watched children -- host: deborah, are you still there? caller: i am. i'm sorry. you went silent and i was looking at the television. host: ok. well keep going. keep going. >> i watched children handle requirements of school, you know, where they are teachering -- teaching prealgebra in fourth grade, the demands and the rigors of deep thinking has come into play more than the lower schools, middle schools and also

high school. who areel like children responsible are showing themself as great thinkers. sure. they have an opinion. they can see things plainly. the march this past week of the gun violence and they formulated together and came together. sure. i think they should be lower to 16. host: deborah, let me run by you that last line by robert's column. they have more opportunity to come out from the tutelage of parents and teachers and actually think for themselves. he says this doesn't really begin until maybe 21 that they can start thinking for themselves. they've had world experiences,

that kind of thing. what do you think? caller: the experience of the world versus the experience of school, yes and no in some aspects but the exposure that they're getting now in terms of being able to visit, go to work with their parents, so on and so forth, yes, broadness is a way, but you know what? the way that things are running now, there still seems to be more broadness in thinking so much i don't know if this is because you're a child or an adult. i think it's an experience of choice. and if we gave them more choice, they can be just as broad in their thinking as those who are in blases -- places of government. host: let's move on. clairemore, oklahoma, on our 50 and older line. it's jim. jim, good morning.

what do you think? caller: i think it's the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard in my life. host: how come? caller: for several reasons. to drink is 21 because of the maturity level of people younger han that for a reason. the crime has less severe penalty because of lack of maturity and knowledge. so why in the heck would anyone think in the -- there would be possible for them to make an intelligent decision about something as important as leading our country? liberals control most of the school systems. and so it would be another attempt from the liberals to control their minds instead of people getting out of the world experience in life and be on -- able to make mature decisions about something as important as leading the country. host: ok, jim.

jim, thank you for your thoughts. we want to hear from other folks. we have a little graph here, cities. there are several cities in the -year-old do have 16 voting levels. they include maryland, greenville. the berkeley unified school district board of directors elections in berkeley, california. those who are 16 and vote in those places as well. j.d. where is at facebook that maybe it would be better to get rid of an elect roll college. and sherry where is until a person has the ability to stand on their own two feet, they don't understand the struggle are going through just to see themselves and take care of others. i say it should be a minute malm -- minimum of 25. james where is this is the same

idea written by a liberal, right? - host: one more here from robert. he writes yes, of lower the following as well, the drink age, the gun ownership, age of he says all of that should be lowered as well as the voting age if you're going to do that. david is calling from springfield, vermont, 50 or older. ood morning. caller: we need to have a discussion in this country about what age we're going to decide that young people were going to give the responsibility of being recognized as responsible adults and we need to do exactly what

robert said and i agree with him. if we're going to make the age of 21 the age that we recognize they're mature enough to buy a long gun and a handgun, then that should be the age that they shouldn't be able to join the army until then. be responsible to drive a 3,500-pound vehicle. until then, to be able to vote then, to be able to drink then. all those things we need to decide what we're going to agree on in this country needs to be the age that we decide that they're mature enough to be considered adults and they should be able to exercise every single right and privilege of every single other american citizen in this country that has the ability to exercise their right and privilege that it is and we need to make all those things applicable to that age. host: thanks for calling. 16-year-old can be "tried as adults in the court of law and they should have a voice? the making of the law." several callers so far.

50 or older. u're between 22 and 50, call 202-748-8001. and if you are 21 and younger, 202-748-8000. we're asking whether the federal voting age should be lowered to 16 from the current 18. we have tony on the line from denver on that 50 or older line. ood morning, tony. caller: they cited that author had cited the concern that people that are maybe 16, 17, 18 might be prone to elect celebrity or elect huckster or i can't remember his exact term. host: used car salesman, they said. caller: all right. that might have been true and i might have even have that concern five years ago.

but i think our generation, my generation, has let down these kids by re-elected one. we elected that car salesman. so we've kind of let those kids down. so i'm not sure if that fear holds. the second concern that i would have is everybody is chiming in saying every right has to be set at exactly the same age. and there's nothing that says that every right, the right to drives the right to have a gun, the right to votes the right to drink, all have to be at the at the same time. if we thought collectively that the kids had an insight into the government and they were paying attention, then i would absolutely encourage a younger voting age. if we thought that that would be a counterbalance to my generation that's kind of put us into the present jam that we're in. so, those are my comments.

host: don't you think some young folks have that sentence in fact, maybe many of them do? caller: based the comments they've made in the last month around a very contentious concern of gun safety, yes. i would say they're as logical or more logical than people in my generation. we have been told, oh, if you ban an automatic rival, they're coming after your guns. they're going to come after all your guns. nobody's coming after everybody's guns. that's not even the -- that's not even true. and the kids seem to understand that. my generation doesn't. we seem to be the ones that are willing to listen to those types of arguments and say oh, yeah, oh, yeah, you know. we're going to lose our guns. oh, immigrants are stealing our jobs. they're killing people. well, the youth seem to know

none of that's true. maybe they are better for our society than my generation. host: carol lowe where is i really think that 16 is too long. kids are easily influenced and they can be led along the wrong path. and david roth where is that 16, too long to vote can't imagine marketing candidates to youngsters. they post a list of legal voting ages by countries. we'll pore through some of that as we go through the segment. countries whose voting ages that are 16 including ecuador, cuba, brazil and austria. those are 16. however, this age has been criticized due to the fact that use of this age has not gotten n the world of employment --

ralph calling now, 50 or older, augusta, georgia. good morning. caller: i'm just wondering have anybody seen their program "are you smarter than a fifth grader?" these young people cannot think for themselves? i see our congressmen phoning in lockstep. regardless, look at the last few regulation that they have passed. it does not support the people but yet instilled, them voting in lockstep. are you not listening? hat's all i have to say. host: brian is calling. how old are you? caller: i'm 36. host: go ahead. caller: look no further than the

president's twitter and he can't even spell proper english, proper grammar. so when they say that -- when -- when they hold the esteem intelligence in such high regard, i think they should vote -- but what i want to say, now when you look at kids that are 16 years old, they have the internet from the womb. they have the same source of information that we all use and they're a lot more precision in using it in what is that the older generation even my generation that came about with the internet, we don't particularly know. they have a better nose for the stuff that's fake, false, things of that nature. so i think they should be able to vote. i think there's issues that concern them to be tried as an adult at 16. there's a lot of things that they should be able to have a voice on. host: ok. marlin where is in twitter. i know 16-year-olds that have 90. faculties in 80 and

let them vote. countries whose legal voting age is 17. sudan, indonesia, greece, and east texas imor. these are countries whose legal voting age is 18 as we take another call. back to that 50 or older line. it's keith from stafford, virginia. good morning, keith. caller: hey, good morning. how are you? >> doing fine, sir. how are you? caller: i'm doing well. i want to say thank you for c-span. my comment, 16 is too long to vote in our country, it's too many variances of a 16-year-old. at 18, you graduate high school

and you are basically considered an adult and things of that nature. you can join the military on your own. marine, 29 was a years. and as an 18-year-old, you can lead a baton into -- platoon into battle. that gives an 18 plenty of responsibility to be able to and maturity level to be able to vote and make a decision and there's much variance between an 18-year-old and a 21, 2-year-old. there are some very immature 22-year-old who is don't really care about politics themselves. just take a number or a party and they might vote. i think 18 is good. 16 in this country, may be a bit too long. host: keith, when did you first start voting? 20 in my oted about

20 20's. host: what was it about that age that led you to the snols what brought you there at that point? caller: well when i was 18, i knew i could vote, but it really wasn't -- i still considered it a very adult thing to do. and in my years, i wasn't running to the polls. personally, i wasn't very political. in my 20's, that was the first time that i actually took notice and voted. host: ok. thanks, keith. let's hear from jim. leesburg, virginia. lots of calls on this 50 or older line. we welcome the younger folks to call in as well. jim, go right ahead. caller: jim, yes. i've got my daughter who is a millennial or gen x or whatever. the world has changed. i grew up in the heart of blue collar america and these kids

don't know what work is. they get up and play their video games and still live with mom and dad at 22. every 16-year-old that i knew in my blue collar town couldn't wait until they're 18. there's a difference between a right and a privilege. driving, drinking, privileges. my second amendment is a right. so you can't just start talking 16-year-olds. and you can start be drinking at 18 if you're in the military. on base, we could go get a beer in the -- i'm sorry, i can't think of it. host: let me jump in with that pushback from melinda fike from berkeley, california. she wrote that lowering the voting age doesn't just promote civic engagement but gives teens who are paying attention on the

right to vote on matters that affect them. caller: most adults these days couldn't name probably their governor or even their senator or congressman let alone their county or city school board or city council person in this day and age. so civic engagement in this country is not saying a whole lot. and back to the voting age, i think it should go to 25 as far as i'm concerned. you need to get a little life and wisdom. to me growing in blue collar, america. a lot has changed. i grew up and never had a problem with the weapon being around. but my daughter is to me growin she's scared the boogeyman because of the media and this

other thing and tony said automatic weapons. tell tony to google how many people are killed by automatic weapons and every gun out there is a semi-automatic weapon. so people need to rise up a little bit when they call in to c-span. they might misspeak. as far as immigrants taking jobs. i worked in construction and 80% of the people come from south and central america. host: a couple of other age brackets want to talk about the country whose legal age is 19. south korea is the only one who is 19. 20 and above has a list that includes taiwan and bahrain. those state who is can vote when 21 years old or older is 21,

samoa, tonga, singapore, malaysia, kuwait, jersey and cameroon. the united arab emirates as the oldest legal age in the world, 25 or older, notwithstanding the legal voting age. voting is a constitutional rights. - right. sigmund freud with a c where is at twitter. people should not be able to vote until they can pass a reading and general skills proficiency test and removed themselves from public welfare role. there ain't a 16 awake on a saturday morning anywhere in america. so that's a call for those you, younger age brackets to go ahead and take part of this program. we do want to hear from them. shawn from sarasota, florida, 50 or older. go ahead, shawn.

caller: good morning. think voting age should be 21 because of the fact that people's brains actually don't get fully developed until at least that age. and when you're young at 16, you think you know everything and you don't. host: all right. caller: and i'll leave it at that. host: all right, shawn. jack, 50 or older from oklahoma. good morning. caller: yeah. how are you doing this morning? >> good morning, jack. aller: yeah. the kid sound like they're really intelligent but i've never heard one of them say why we have a second amendment. they want to talk about musket, right to bear arms, but we have the right to bear arms to fight tyranny. and that's when our government turns against it.

and how are we going to fight it with a musket? do these kids actually know what they're talking about? thank you very much. host: let's move on to greg. greg is 28 from baltimore? caller: correct. host: good morning. what would you like to say? should the voting age be lower, down to 16? caller: well i just called in. i think the real problem is as jim was saying before that most people don't know their governor, don't know their state senator there. are some people -- most adult -- i don't know if lowering the voting age is really relevant. and i think the real root of the question is -- the real problem is most people don't have enough knowledge of civics and how government works. i think that needs to be addressed first. host: greg, when did you start voting and are you a regular voter? caller: i am not.

i never really cared about politics until i moved here to baltimore from new york. because it's so close to washington, d.c. i started listening to c-span on the radio and started coming -- and started hearing about and, you know, washington, d.c. and the hearings and stuff. so started to try to learn more and i realized all these issues that -- now i'm becoming more about it and in the next election i'll vote. host: did you get a good civics education in school, do you think? caller: not at all. and i had zero -- and about it actually a big thing because i heard on your c-span, senator graham was promoting his book and i just bought it and i'm going through it right now and that's one area of a huge improvement. i think that definitely, there should be mandatory civics classes like there was in the 1960's. i think that is a huge area of

improvement. host: thanks for calling. jim from ohio. the age 22-50. caller: there's been a number of excellent made in the last few calls. the one, the facetious point is in younger people were interested in civics, they would be storming the gates on your phone lines. the brain development calls. we're not very science literate in this country. and in the last few years, we have learned that brain development in the frontal lobe area doesn't fully occur until some time in the 20's. a couple of callers that you called that are up in their 20's sound a whole lot on the ball with regards to civics requirements and their maturity. i think there's a lot of arrested development in this

country. the young people will walk around with their face on their cell phone and it's not only the young people. but we have a lot of things contributing to a lack of maturity. the living at home has been mentioned and other things. but probably it's time to reconsider even the age for going into military service. i think we would have a lot better probably qualified people in that area if we waited until the -- maybe the mid 20's also. so i guess i'm going to cast my vote for the people that should stay at least 21. and hopefully, some of the things that we know about the brain development should factor into these discussions a little bit more than they do. host: and that's kenny from consist, missouri. 22-50. how old are you, kenny? caller: 44. host: go ahead, sir. should the voting age be lowered down to 16, kenny? caller: yes. host: how come? caller: i do believe it should. host: tell us why.

caller: just for the simple reason why you got people talking about frontal lobe maturity. these kids are going through real lives. we should incentivize them through civics tests that they want to vote at 16 first and foremost. there's not going to be 100% of 16-year-olds voting. there's going to be a small percentage voting. for the ones that are engaged, let them pass the test. let them have a voice. as people remember where i went to school, you start taking that round that time and you are engaged and they're pure. what you see is an attack on the purity of these kids and it's unfortunate that, you know, some of these old farts don't really want to realize, you know, their time has passed. we got to give it up to tease kids and allow them to lead. host: do you have any young folks in your life? caller: yeah. i got a 25-year-old daughter

that just graduated from law school. we should encourage that. we should encourage the civics process and we sit here and try to discourage it. you're talking about, you know, they try to impact a lot and it's just unfortunate. host: ok. appreciate you calling. kenny, we'll do this for about a half-hour more. more information about who votes and what numbers come from the pew research center. they took a look back at the 2016 election and broke it down by generation. theory here are the votes and shares of votes. host: a couple more twitter comments here. dawn is writing as a teacher, i

see a lot of mature thinkers at 14. yet lowering further, you rose the line between a child and a adult that is scary. and ann where is kids complaining about guns yet they're the ones that are shooting each other. and back to facebook this morning. the voting should not depend on age and should depend on how informed you are. so many deadweight voters investing the election -- and john where is absolutely not. 16-year-olds are some of the most ill informed people in our country. they don't pay taxes and they don't know anything. baltimore, robert, 22-50. good morning, robert.

caller: hello. how are you today? host: good. how old are you, robert? caller: 43. the voting age should be lowered o 14. people like nancy pelosi and these congressmen staying until they grow and die. they do not speak to our generation. they speak to the generation that came before us. and they need -- only young people needs to -- who are affected by these laws prior to -- should go ahead and vote. they should run for congress and senators as well. there's enough men and the old people out. and some people who are old enough for president should run for president and they should change the law that going to

have an easier time lowering it to 14. but they need to -- everybody, you know, the democracies don't include the 16-year-olds and none of them people, sandy hook, columbine and the school in parkland, florida, they wouldn't be there. they would be at home with their amilies. host: there is some other news out there this morning that went to put out for you. "washington journal" and others reporting that the president is freezing funds for syria. president trump froze more than $200 million in funds for recovery efforts in syria as his administration reassesses washington's broader role. --

host: china froze e ports to north korea. he is trying to halt all exports f petroleum ex sports. it shows how china raised pressure on pyongyang over its nuclear program -- host: "new york times." trump lacking leverage on north korea aims itself. they write here that south korea settled disputes with the trump administration with the steel tariff and the revision of the free trade agreement. with those sum bling blocks cleared, they hope they can focus on the more pressing crisis of north korea and nuclear weapons. as it turns out, south korea was celebrating too early. -

host: you know why he said? because it's a very strong part. bang to our question. should the voting age be lowered to 16? sarah is calling from new hampshire, 50 or older. what are your thoughts? caller: good morning, thank you. yeah, i don't think so. like these other guys who are saying about the brain being rewired as an adolescent. i appreciate the -- these youngsters, their fervor, there's a lot of emotionalism going on here. but this is a preventable thing, the parkland thing. and taking away a constitutional right is not going to prevent crime. it does not impact crime. i would give these kids a for

effort. i give them a d in history because they don't understand the constitution, how we came to it. some of them are only first, second generation americans. my answer cysters fought in the french and indian war at the revolutionary war right up the coast of iraq and afghanistan. the constitution is a sacred piece of paper that separates us from the rest of the world. it's been whittled away we the patriots act both left and right. and it's important for people to understand that without that piece of paper, we're china. we're russia. so my answer esters fought for t. my father was murdered. i've had to live with that my

entire life. but it was a criminal that killed my father. it was not a law-abiding citizen. and the law-abiding citizen has a right to defend their home and theirselfs and i think that's -- you know, you start whiting away what, about religioned from? -- freedom? you cannot be practicing without he constitution. the last election, i had to debrief my son all the information he was getting on -line. i'm like that cannot be true. you need to research that. people can say whatever they want to and throw it out there. it doesn't mean it's true.

and they lack the maturity to see that information. host: would your son agree with that? caller: well, he found out afterwards, you know. now we have this investigation, cambridge analytica, you know, the troll farm and all this other stuff going on. yeah, kids are easily influenced. now when i was 16, i was working. i was on my own. t today, you know, i have my -- the youngsters are staying in -- they're supposed to be adults. they're in their 20's and they're still at home. and the constitution is still relevant and we're still fighting for it reform sarah, thank you for telling the story of you and your family. jacqueline where is at twitter -- no. let kids be kids. they've got plenty of time to be adults. responding to the question there

whether the voting age should be lowered to 16. donna where is that without 16-year-old people and younger, we would still be under british rule. and juanita where is leaders of marge for our lives should listen to this. it is a path to chief the goal. not even this progressive liberal thinks a 16-year-old should be able to vote yet. at that age, they're still an influence by their parents' political views. and olivia, letting kids off campus during lunch at school, high school, quit treating them as babies -- host: and priscilla is on the line from durham, north carolina, 22-50. good morning. caller: good morning. host: how old are you, priscilla ? caller: i am 40. host: you are 40. let me ask you first.

are you a regular voter and what do you think about the age of 16? like the start voting caller before in my 20's. and i am a regular voter. host: tell us your thoughts about that age 16, the idea that's out there. caller: me personally are conflicted with it because like the caller from missouri said, a lot of 16-year-olds in this present day are active and they are knowledgeable of what's going on in the white house and in congress more so than a lot of adults. i mean, look at the current president and all the it's belief that he's throwing around the world -- dist belief that he's throwing around the world and those 16-year-olds were not ble to vote.

when i think about 16-year-olds, i think about fresh ideas, fresh mindsets. some of them are influenced by their family background, but some of them are coming out with a lots of ideas of their own to research and enlightened. they are awoke and they know what is going on. and like the caller said, not every 16-year-old and not 40-year-old is going to be voting. they are knowledgeable after what's going on. let's give them a chance to speak because it's their future that we're controlling. host: priscilla , do you have kids? caller: yes, i do. host: what will they say? have you talked about this issue with them? caller: yes. i have a 16-year-old. and he's very knowledgeable. i am an activist myself and we currently talk about the things that affect him like gun violence and not making enough money on a paycheck to buy just

regular school clothes by himself. we talked about not having the freedom to go outside and worry about being in your own neighborhood. we talk about how you would get back and forth to a job site and things of that nature. and how the school system doesn't have the school book to teach a lot of stuff because the school system don't have the money and the funds to public school books. so we talk about a lot of things that affect the world and most importantly, we talk about what we would like to see the future world to be like. host: thanks for calling, priscilla. jen where is i can see both sides here. it gets people engaged sooner and headaches what you learn in kiki atore realistic -- twitter where is this. i paid taxes at 15.

yes, they do pay taxes. and vivian where is i was more concerned that i could drink rather than i could vote. and don where is. i agree with the speaker that said the age of military enlistment should be raised. i would recommend 20. bob is out in grand junction, colorado this, morning. 50 or older line. good morning, bob. what do you think? should the voting age be lowered to 16? caller: i spent years as a high school teacher. so i have direct experience with these students. host: um-hmm. caller: and i -- when i saw your topic, i started to laugh. host: how come? caller: because the fact is the classes that i taught, the students weren't even sfobble do their homework. host: what did you teach? caller: i taught lower level math at high school. host: ok. caller: i have 50% to 70% failure rates because the students didn't care. i can appreciate the fact that some of the students that i do substitute, the advanced

placement kids, they're good enough to understand. but a majority of the students at the school where i worked, they would be marked out -- walked out just because their friends walked out. and at 16 and many states, students can't even have full-time jobs. so, are you going to change compulsory education to school down to 16 so they can get full-time jobs? and also, they're not even responsible when they sign contracts until they're 18. does that law get changed too? i admit that there are some that i see that were responsible to vote but most of them, they're not even responsible enough to put their phones away in class. and even pay attention to what goes on. so, let them get to where they're 18 and they're much, much older and maybe we also need to change the -- to -- age of driving to 18 because there's so many more deaths from

driving. they're not even responsible enough to be great drivers. so thank you so much for your time. host: bob, can you wait? caller: yes. host: what is your sense of civic education at that high school level? how did it work at your school what do you think in general? are kids learning enough in school about government and politics and policy? caller: well, they are required to take -- in most schools and i came from california. but in most schools, they're required to take two classes of that. now that was not my area of expertise. ok? host: ok. caller: but i know that i teach now at a university and we are -- we do current events every day. and most of my university students don't even know what's going on in the business world and i can rarely have a current event conversation with them because they live -- many of them still live in their own little world, which you're supposed to when you're younger.

the world revolves around your friend and your school that sort of thing. we need to give them an opportunity to be able to grow up to where they don't have the responsibility of doing this. i think sometimes we give them too much responsibility at a young age and put too much pressure on them and that's maybe why we have a high rate of suicide among our students. host: words to bob there in grand junction, colorado. appreciate your appreciation in the program. alexandria where is at twitter. many countries have whole junior congresses where children are able to speak and hear on political matters that impact them. the voting age should be junior representatives. we have this chart are the institute of politics at harvard's kennedy school. it's a survey of young americans attitudes towards politics and public service. at last chart here. i want to let you know about. at the top, 14% of young americans headed in the right direction at this moment. fear outpaces hope 67 to 31%.

you can show the blue bars represent hopefulfulness. red, fearfulness. we're talking about young americans here from the ages of 18 29. 31% are hopeful. 67% are fearful. that fearful continues on whether it's male, female, different age brackets within that 18-29, white, black, hispanic. here's where it changes. 17% of young democrats are hopeful. independence, 30% of young independence are hopeful. 69% are fearful. harvard's kennedy institution of politics there. pat hanging on the line from pennsylvania. 22-50. good morning. caller: hello, good morning. i really loved bob, the

teacher's explanation. in life, everything is a legal agreement. and when you're 16, you can't have too many legal agreements. i've been involved with elections ever since i was a kid. i actually done judge of elections and other, you know, i've been at the polling places. i've talked to voters. and i've seen the youngsters, how confused and upset they can get. i believe that life is a bunch of obligations and correct me if i'm wrong. the founding fathers originally stated that you had to own land. and that included women before you could vote. am i right on that? host: keep going, pat. caller: well, i believe that the expressay are trying to themselves, but i believe that

they need to know more about obligations and responsibility. and the legality of being in life before they can get the right to vote. and citizens classes are an excellent idea. i believe we need to make it civics ectful to be a and be able to vote but it should wait until you're either 21 or keep it at 18 so that we have people who are truly responsible citizens have an understanding about the legality of being a good citizen. host: thank you. more of the news out there today. "new york times" where is that the u.s. says it can finance 100 miles of border wall. trump administration said yesterday that they could immediately fund 100 miles of new and replacement border fencing.

the replacement fencing includes 28 miles in the san diego region and a new 30-foot high barrier in california that extends for two miles in new mexico. the border patrol will replace 20 miles of barriers that are intended to stop vehicles with new fencing to prevent people from cross intrigue the united states. of came from a briefing border protection. "the times" also had this story. bills too large to veto include bigger problems. president trump insisted he will never again sign a huge catch-all bill. he probably has little choice if he wants to keep the government open in the future. the steady deterioration of the appropriations process makes it unlikely that this president or any future president will ever receive the annual spending bill the old-fashioned way --

host: that's in the "new york times." and the "hill" where is the g.o.p. tax message is hitting a snag. the hill says more than three months after the passage of the republicans tax cut law, a new survey suggesting now that many people don't think they're getting bigger paychecks which could cut into the sport for republicans in this fall's midterm elections. they're talking about a cnbc poll stating that 33% of working adults reporting having more take-home pay for the new law. these to the phones for final 10 minutes. barbara from west virginia.

50 or older. should the voting age be lowered to 16, barbara? caller: absolutely not. pardon me. do you realize it's kind of ironic. there are teenagers who are opening like the tide laundry pods and eating that stuff so that they will get a high. can you imagine somebody voting after they've eaten one of those pods? now, i realize they're not all teenagers, but the majority of them are. and you want those to make the laws of this country? and who would influence their votes? hillary clinton claims that all the white women were influenced by their husbands or their boyfriends or their children or

whatever. who do you think would influence these teenagers? it would be the ungodly movie tars who have the morals of an alley cat or some sports figure who probably had beaten up their live-in girlfriend or whatever. and those are the ones that people want to vote and make the laws in this country? it's absolutely ridiculous. please. no. no. no. host: thanks for calling, barbara. one of our last chances here for hose 22-50 to call -- 21 and under left. willy, savannah, georgia, 50 or older. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you this morning? >> doing fine sir. how are you? caller: what a topic for you to have on c-span this morning. i'm 70 years old. and i do believe the young folks

in this country need to be given chance to participate in this democracy. laura ingraham from fox news says that lebron james should shut up and dribble and then she said that the result i'm not going to college. one of the second richest guy in the united states, one of them, warren buffett never went to college but look at him today. i believe these young men and women who are trying to push the -- for the second amendment that were written in 1787 and now, no one in the united states get a ay -- and the constitution was amended 27 times. i do believe the young people in this country and the young folks around, especially from florida, the way these young folks are

speaking out and the course that they're being taught in these schools, a lot of them are journalists. i think they need to be given the chance to participate in this democracy. i do believe. i'm 70 years old. i've been voting a long time. a long time. and i've heard this caller before saying that the teacher out of colorado. he's so far off the scale. if you tell these young folks and take time to help them do what they need to do, i believe, i believe that you can change minds and change ideas when these young folks get a chance to vote. and i believe changing it, change the constitution, 27 times, the constitution of the united states have been amended. they wrote the document and in september 17, 1787. host: over this past hour, we've heard arguments from the other side ranging from brains are not

fully developed at that young age. they can't put their cell phones down. they haven't paid bills. they haven't paid taxes. that kind of thing. what do you make of those arguments? caller: i think the argument ing -- arguments are wrong. look at the young folks out of that high school down in florida. look the young folks that march on washington a few weeks ago. look at the young folks that are making an impact in this society. let's think about -- i'm 70 years old. my son is a school teacher in jacksonville, florida. a school teacher. he is teaching school. he came out of the city of savannah during the time when things were pretty tough. but if you work with the young folks and talk to the young folks, i think the mindset of some of us older guys need go back and say what did we do when

we're 16? what did we do when we were 15? i think the young folks are pushing the needle and they're pushing the needle in the right way. they're doing it very peaceful and laura ingraham just got through attacking the young man from parkland high school and now she's coming back and apologizing. host: willy, i'm going to let you go. jenna is 22 years old from webster, new york. good morning, jenna. how are you? caller: good, how are you? host: good. so at 22, tell us your history so far in this area. have you gone out to vote if caller: yes. i voted in my first presidential election this past voting term or whatever. and i don't know. all these conversations have really been kind of annoying me this morning, just coming from someone who is of the age group that you are talking about. i do not think that it should be lowered to 16. i do agree that, you know,

people are not as aware politically as they should be at seen but it should not be lowered from 18, especially as a sibling of someone who is 18 years old and registered in our u.s. military. it's important that he has a voice for who his commander-in-chief is and who is making decisions for what he's doing for our country. host: jenna, you use the term aware. what is your own sense of your own sense of awareness about things political and how did you got there? -- get there? caller: i'm a history major and finishing up my undergraduate degree. personally from being a history major, i am more aware. but from all of the people that i know, the people that i surround myself with, we are all always talking about politics, you know? what's going on in the world? we're very interested in talking about what impacts we can have

on the world. and i can tell you from someone who has recently graduated from high school, i'm so proud of how loud these kids are and the impact that they are having already just on fighting for what they believe in and what they know should be right. host: what do you want to do with yourself in the future, jenna? caller: i do believe that i have a future in politics. i'm holding on getting involved in a congress -- somewhere in congress locally just to start from there, you know, looking into grad school, something like that. but it is definitely very important to, you know, just be contributing to the world that you live in. and i know that's not something that everyone does and even knowing people who are significantly older than me. like friends of my parents. they have no idea what's going on and i talk to them and they

just completely unaware, just to use the word aware again. and it just amazes me how people can say oh, you know, millennials, gen x, we have no idea what's going on but there are plenty of 50-plus year olds that have no idea what's going on. host: thank you. let's hear from a person who is 50 or older. it's julius roberts in arizona. good morning. caller: hey, good morning, world. this is mr. roberts from arizona. this is a very, very important item. very important subject for people, especially younger people because they don't seem too hopeful about how our politics have been going. let's get back to 1630, ok? w, older people, military, militarized people were, i guess they were obligated on account

of their attention and their way of life to instill slavery in this country, 1630, ok? of a longa hell of a long timel time ago, but this country was built by slaves. title think it was a good idea that it was done so. immigrants that were abused and are being abused nowadays all over the world, wouldn't you have a more moral, more humane, and more caring -- and now getting to the item of abortion -- why do you think all of these abortions come about? because on account of the , let's see,malais even 16-year-old kids, they have emotional desires and stuff, but they do not have a way to earn a living. people need to decide how to fundedliving, how to be

properly for schools, and it is terrible to say that they can be killed no matter -- and something is going on. i believe there is a way that people can be programmed to do things that way, and it is all from voting. voting is important. they should be allowed to vote because they should be allowed to think, ok? thinking is a very important item in this whole conversation about what is what. host: thank you very much for calling from arizona. we appreciate all of your participation throughout this us that were on the question of whether the voting age should be lowered to 16. coming up after a short break, we will have a conversation with the root's kirsten west savali over the continuing stories that now raised over police shootings in baton rouge and sacramento most recently. what has and has not changed since ferguson? later, the national journal's

brendan bordelon will be here following the facebook story. we will be right back. ♪ ," highay night on "q&a school students from around the country were in washington, d.c. for the annual united states senate youth program. we met with them at the historic mayflower hotel where they shared their thoughts about government and politics. >> i am really passionate about it is unfair that some hundred thousand men, women, and children's lives hang in the balance because our congress cannot find a solution. it is a human rights issue. >> an issue that is important to me is climate change. the notion that we are one of the only countries in the world not in the paris climate accord is a tragedy. every other country in the world has recognized, change and has taken steps to address it, and currently, we are not on course with other countries. >> we are the richest nation in

the world, yet we have citizens who go bankrupt trying to cover basic health care costs. i think that is an outrage and that we should be ashamed. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q&a." monday on "landmark cases, griswold v. connecticut, where griswold of planned parenthood challenged the use of birth control. the supremess, court established a right to privacy that is still evolving today. our guests are a law professor from george mason university and a law professor at temple university. mondaylandmark cases" and joined the conversations. is landmark

cases. follow us on c-span. we also have a "landmark cases" companion book, a link to the interactive constitution, and a "landmark cases" podcast at c-span.org/landmarkcases. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1970 nine, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. today, we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >> "washington journal" continues. houston,ning us now in texas is kirsten west savali, associate edir