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Former President Barack Obama made his first public remarks since leaving office, speaking to young people at the University of Chicago.

Obama encouraged young people to get involved, not to become "cynical" and give up on the political process.

He said those negative attitudes toward politics are having a "pernicious" effect, leading to "some of the lowest voting rates of any advanced democracy."

"[That] translates into a further gap between who's governing us and what we believe," he said, not mentioning President Trump specifically.

He emphasized that only young people can solve that problem, saying he wants to focus on "knocking down barriers" which prevent civic engagement.

"If that happens, I think we're gonna be just fine," said Obama.

The 44th president also called out "changes in the media," which he argued are preventing Americans from working together to find common ground and solve problems.

"Everybody's listening to people who already agree with them, further and further reinforcing their own realities to the neglect of a common reality," he said.

He looked back on his 2004 comment in which he said there aren't red or blue states, "only the United States."

Obama said that was an "aspirational" statement, but one that he still believes in, explaining that people tend to have a lot more in common when they speak to each other one-on-one.

In an interview last week, his longtime adviser Valerie Jarrett said that Obama was looking forward to getting involved again.

Jarrett said Obama was eager to get back to his community organizer roots and to focus on helping the Democratic Party identify future leaders.

Watch the remarks above.

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Obama Speaks in Chicago: 'There's a Gap Between Who's Governing Us and What We Believe' - Fox News Insider

New York Times

Vacation's Over: Obama Returns to Public Life Next Week New York Times Even as he witnesses President Trump's relentless and chaotic assault on his legacy, Mr. Obama remains stubbornly committed to the idea that there is only one president at a time. Those closest to him say the former president does not intend to ... Obama to make first post-presidency public appearance in Chicago next weekWashington Post After months of quiet travel, Obama to speak in ChicagoCNN Ex-President Barack Obama to hold first public event since leaving office, in Chicago on MondayChicago Tribune Los Angeles Times -New York Magazine -Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription) (blog) -The Hill all 96 news articles »

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Vacation's Over: Obama Returns to Public Life Next Week - New York Times

CBS News

Trump Vows to Unveil Tax-Cut Plan Next Week, Surprising Staff New York Times His announcement surprised Capitol Hill and left Mr. Trump's own Treasury officials speechless as he arrived at the Treasury offices to sign directives to roll back Obama-era tax rules and financial regulations. Earlier in the day, when reporters asked ... Trump takes aim at Obama's ban on "tax inversions"CBS News Trump Starts Taking Steps to Dismantle Obama-Era Financial RegulationsFortune Obama anti-inversion rules at stake in new Trump executive orderWashington Examiner Bloomberg -Daily Caller all 98 news articles »

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Trump Vows to Unveil Tax-Cut Plan Next Week, Surprising Staff - New York Times

Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy in a 2014 file photo.

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File photo

The White House dismissed Obama-era Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and replaced him with the deputy surgeon general.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement Murthy was asked to resign his duties, according to USA Today.

Murthy announced his departure on Twitter.

Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, a nurse, will serve as Acting Surgeon General.

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Surgeon General Vivek Murthy calls America's opioid epidemic the health crisis of our generation. It causes more than 1,000 emergency room visits...

While its unclear exactly when the changeover occurred, Trent-Adams photo had replaced Murthys on the official Surgeon Generals Twitter and Facebook pages on Friday night. One of the first comments on a Facebook photo of Trent-Adams on Friday night was What happened to Dr. Murthy?

Her bio had also replaced Murthys on the Surgeon Generals website.

Murthy issued a statement on his personal Facebook page, writing that he will forever be grateful to our country for welcoming my immigrant family nearly 40 years ago and giving me this opportunity to serve.

While I had hoped to do more to help our nation tackle its biggest health challenges, I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to have served, Murthy wrote.

His post addressed the addiction crisis, which he wrote that we will only be successful in addressing addiction and other illnesses when we recognize the humanity within each of us. In November, he authored a report calling for Americans to view addiction as a chronic illness and not a character flaw.

We have made progress on drug addiction, Murthy said on CBS This Morning in November. How do we keep that progress going? A key part is making sure people have insurance coverage.

Murthy had called gun violence a public health crisis, and the National Rifle Association tried to block his confirmation in 2014. At the time of his confirmation, he pledged to make obesity one of his signature issues.

Murthy, 39, is a native of Britain and a graduate of Harvard and Yale.

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Obama-era Surgeon General replaced - CBS News

Organizing for Action's digital ad campaign is focusing on heavily Latino districts and states represented by Senate and House Republicans. | Getty

By Kevin Robillard

04/21/17 12:27 PM EDT

Updated 04/21/17 12:54 PM EDT

The progressive group that grew out of former President Barack Obama's campaigns is making its first big move since Obama left office, targeting potential swing votes in Congress with digital ads ahead of a government funding fight over President Donald Trump's proposed border wall.

Organizing for Action's digital ad campaign is focusing on heavily Latino districts and states represented by Senate and House Republicans. The aim is to pressure members not to go along with the White House's demand for funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, which the administration has said will cost $21 billion. (Senate Democrats estimate the actual cost is closer to $70 billion.)

Story Continued Below

The Trump White House is pushing for the border wall in a new government funding bill, but Senate Democrats have said they can't support additional cash for one of the administration's biggest priorities. Government funding runs out next Friday, giving both parties little time to find a solution.

The group's ads, which will start appearing on Facebook on Monday, tell users to call their representatives and ask them "not to fund the administration's wall and deportation force." The ads target Nevada Sen. Dean Heller and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, the two Senate Republicans considered most vulnerable to Democratic challengers in 2018.

They'll also run in a slew of districts represented by House Republicans: Arizona Rep. Martha McSally; California Reps. Jeff Denham, David Valadao, Devin Nunes, Steve Knight, Ed Royce and Darrell Issa; Colorado Reps. Scott Tipton and Mike Coffman; Florida Reps. Brian Mast, Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlos Curbelo and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; Pennsylvania Rep. Charlie Dent; and Texas Reps. John Culberson, Will Hurd and Pete Sessions.

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Hillary Clinton carried most of those districts in the 2016 election. Trump carried the districts of Nunes, Tipton, Mast, Diaz-Balart and Dent.

"This administration wants to waste billions of taxpayer dollars on a massive border wall and a cruel deportation force, but only Congress can actually appropriate that spending," Organizing for Action spokesman Jesse Lehrich said. "We want key members to know that if they vote to fund this discriminatory immigration agenda with their constituents' money, they'll be held accountable."

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Obama organizing group pressures GOP on border wall funding - Politico