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supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front-row seat to democracy. >> senators ben cardin and john cornyn talked about u.s. support for ukraine and the recently passed ukrainian democracy lent-lease act. the legislation which passed with bipartisan support will like it easier for the u.s. to provide further military equipment and you medicare and aid to ukraine in a more timely manner. the lent-lease act was first used in 1941 in support of great britain's offense against germany prior to u.s. entry into world war ii. this atlantic council discussion is about 50 minutes. >> good morning. welcome to the atlantic council's front-page event -- will the united states again be the arsenal of democracy -- a conversation on lend lease for

ukraine. i am pollock, on the board of directors for the atlantic council and also on the council of the brent scowcroft center on international security. the atlantic council's front-page series is our premier live ideas platform for global leaders, the perfect setting for today's event. we are so that all of you could join us. today, the atlantic council has the distinct honor of hosting u.s. senator ben cardin of maryland and senator john cornyn of texas, leading voices in congress on lend-lease legislation for ukraine. both senators are two of the original cosponsors of the ukrainian democracy defense lend-lease act of 2022. that was the recently passed, -- that was recently passed

unanimously by the senate. the bill harkens back to president franklin delano roosevelt's world war ii area -- world war ii area lend-lease policy that help the allies defeat nazi germany. if signed into law by president biden, the bill will allow the united states to send more quickly weapons and supplies to ukraine so it can better defend itself against russia. helping you create defeat putin is a smart way to defend our baltic nato allies from his revisionist objectives and blatant, brutal aggression, as we have witnessed. gentlemen, thank you for your work on this crucial legislation and also, thank you for taking time to join us this morning. like many of you, i have been closely following russia's war in ukraine. when we talk about support for ukraine, i have to say it is becoming more and more obvious that speed matters. time is of the essence.

after failing to take kyiv, russia is opening two fronts in eastern and southern ukraine. most analysts except -- expect these two battles to be brutal campaigns. moscow does maintain advantages in aircraft, tanks, artillery and rockets. to counter this, the u.s. must quickly get ukraine tanks, fighter jets and bombers come along-distance drones and ammunition. we have seen what they can do on the ground. getting ukraine weapons it needs to defeat moscow's offense of is paramount to ukraine's efforts to defend its territory and safeguard european security. congress has correctly recognized that a successful defense of ukraine is in u.s. interest and has appropriated more than $14 billion for ukraine. support for ukraine has become a

bipartisan issue on capitol hill, but the aid needs to be sent quickly underwrite efficiently if it is going to provide maximum benefits to the ukrainian cause. that is why the lent-lease act of 2022 that senators cardin and gordon champion -- cornyn champion is so important. this event is hosted by the eurasia center end the scope cropped center -- and the scow croft center. i want to thank john and barry, the senior director of the center. thank you for your leadership and for your supporting ukraine in their fight. it is time for me to turn the floor over to our moderator, tom ward, a nonresident senior fellow at the center for

strategy and security and also the director of forward defense practice, a dhs project which addresses threats to homeland security. tom has been the council's intellectual lead on lend-lease and is the perfect person to moderate. let me remind everyone that this event is public and is on the record. we encourage our audience on zoom to direct any questions to the senators using the q and a tab at the bottom of your screen. we will be collecting questions throughout the event and tom will post them to the senators towards the end of the conversation. we encourage our online audience to join the conversation on twitter by following @ acscocroft and @aceurasia.

tom, over to you and thank you, again, senators, for joining us. we are very privileged to have you both. tom: thank you, ambassador and welcome everyone to today's discussion -- will the united states again be the arsenal of democracy, a conversation on lend-lease for ukraine. it is my privilege to introduce senators john cornyn and ben cardin. senator cornyn has served in the senate since 2002 and is in his fourth term. he is a member of the committees on finance, judiciary and intelligence, a native of san antonio and has served the people of texas for more than four decades. senator ben cardin is the senior senator from maryland. he has served in the senate since 2006.

he is a member of committees on small business, environment and public works, finance and foreign relations. he is chair of the commission on security and cooperation in europe, known as the helsinki commission. a third-generation verlander, he has served the people of maryland in the house and senate for 35 years. as the ambassador just said, today's discussion is on the record. it is being recorded. and we will be taking questions from the audience using the q&a cab at the bottom of your screen. let's start. senators, you were the lead sponsor and cosponsor of the ukraine democracy lend-lease act of 2022. yesterday's historic boat in the house sends the bill to the president's desk and re-creates one of the most important military assistance programs in

history that helped lead directly to the defeat of the nazi regime in europe in the 1940's. let me address the first question to senator cornyn. what led you to introduce this bill for lend-lease for ukraine? sen. cornyn: in the senate and congress, it helps to have historical president -- precedent. looking toward lend-lease in world war ii and its decisive impact on the outcome of that work, it was important to send a message to the world that americans -- democrats, republicans -- are united together in our support for the ukrainians' defense of it sovereignty and territory. it was important to send a message to vladimir putin and our allies in nato and europe that we are committed to working together hand in glove with them

to support ukraine's defense. but the way to get things done in washington is to have a good dance partner. and i am honored to have been cardin, mike -- then -- ben cardin, my friend, help me lead the way. when it passed the senate, i asked the center, how do we get this through the house? and he said i will call my friend, house leader steny hoyer. and that is that we get things done and i can't think senator cardin enough. tom: senator cardin, what will lend-lease do? sen. cardin: john, thank you,

thank you to the atlantic council. the work you do is critically important. we need to have more discussions about what mr. putin is doing in russia, the impact not just on ukraine, but on the security of europe and the u.s. joe, we very much appreciate this opportunity. the topic today is about will the u.s. again be the arsenal for democracy? -- today is about, will the u.s. again be the arsenal for democracy? the lend-lease legislation that is not going on to the president will help us answer that question by saying yes. thanks to the work of senator john cornyn, we have that legislation no available for the president sign it for us to be able to use it. it is a major step forward for the u.s. to be that arsenal of democracy. why? because it allows us to use our

military equipment inventory to help ukraine. we can now make that available. the president can use the authority that he has under existing law and now under this act once he signs the bill, to streamline the process to make our military inventory availability ukraine. that is critically important. this legislation will allow us to timely provide necessary defense equipment for ukraine to defend itself against putin's aggression. and it shows u.s. leadership. so, it is a clear message to our nato allies that they need to step up more as we look to how we can make sure ukraine is successful in this military operation mr. putin initiated. it is going to be a long campaign. this legislation gives us the capacity to provide long-term

support to ukraine. but this is an easy decision. it is good versus evil. i congratulate senator cornyn for not only initiating the legislation, but also funding the strategy to get it passed. when you need to get legislation done, you need to work in a bipartisan way. support for ukraine is bipartisan in the u.s. congress. senator cornyn used the bipartisan support to get this cast in record time and now we can get critical equipment to ukraine in record time. tom: what would you like to see president biden do with the authority your bail will give him? sen. cornyn: what has been so challenging about all this is that nobody knows how long it is going to last, least of all vladimir putin. he thought, i think, that he

would walk into kyiv like the taliban walked into afghanistan. at that would accomplish his goals. boy, was he surprised. he was surprised by the grit of the ukrainian people and he was surprised by the charismatic leadership of president zelenskyy, who i think of as a modern-day reincarnation of winston churchill when it comes to rallying the people not only of his country, but around the world, for the cause of the ukrainians. senator cardin is right, the president has existing authorities. but one of the problems is getting this equipment to the ukrainians fast enough. that is the message we have heard. and now that they have begun to flow, and i think the biden administration has done a good job, although we all wish it

could have been done faster, getting these weapons to the iranians. -- to the ukrainians. it is not just cutting the red tape that is so important here, it is the message that it sends, one of bipartisan unity in support of our allies in ukraine , as well as our nato allies obviously, we all know know americans will fight in this war on ukrainian soil, but it is really important to send vladimir putin the message that his tactics have backfired on him and rather than divide nato and europe, he has unified nato and europe as well as the rest of the freedom-loving world tom:

the historic residents you mentioned that the out set -- the outset struck many of us as we were listening to that debate in the house. not many of us remember, many learned in history, the vote on lend-lease in the 1940's was 60-30 and the senate yet now, in 2022 on ukraine, thanks to your efforts in senator cardin's and others to vote for lend-lease for ukraine was unanimous in the house, and 470 -- unanimous in the senate and 417-10 in the house. why do you think there is greater unity and support for ukraine? sen. cornyn: i am a big fan of andrew roberts' book on winston churchill. i think it is "walking with destiny."

i happened to be listening to an audio version of that and the lend-lease, which are remembered but did not recall top of mind, was discussed, and its importance in throwing a lifeline to britain when they were hanging on a different. and without lend-lease, they would have fallen to the nazis. if it has happened once, it can happen again, and maybe we can adapt this historic program that saved britain and our allies in world war ii, to current circumstances with ukraine. i wish i could claim the brilliance of an original idea, all i could do is come up with something that had been done before and could be adapted to current use. and i couldn't be happier about the way this has been dealt with in congress, and the message it

sends, and the strong bipartisan support for the alliance, for ukraine and in opposing russian aggression. tom: senator cardin, what is your viewpoint on the importance of bipartisanship and the message it sends to ukrainians and vladimir putin? sen. cardin: well, we have to acknowledge that mr. putin has unified not just the u.s. congress and the u.s. public, but the global community. he pointed out by his unprovoked attack, the manner in which he pursued the military campaign, violating every international commitment including all commitments under the helsinki act, committing war crimes. as for us to be able to see that in live coverage unified americans in the global community.

that is one of the reasons why you saw the vote at 417-10 in the house and unanimous vote in the senate -- there is strong commitment to recognize that what is happening in ukraine will clearly spread to moldova and georgia, europe and the u.s. so, this is now the front line of defense for democratic states and i think bipartisan support in the u.s. senate recognizes that, on foreign policy issues, we are always stronger when we are united and we are united against mr. putin. and we recognize that what the ukrainians are doing is our front-line defense to save democratic states in europe and around the world. speaker pelosi: senator -- tom: senator cornyn, how would you assess the military aid sent by the u.s. so far, and i would be -- i would it be expanded to

some of the items the ukrainians have asked for so far, fighter-bombers? what direction would you like to see the kinds of assistance that is offered go under this bill? sen. cornyn: if i could summarize, i would say we need to do more, faster. and that is what this legislation authorizes the president to do. president biden should get a lot of kudos for where we are today, along with secretary austen and secretary blinken, the message they sent the russia. but we did not know how long this was go to last. it could have been over in days or hours. but now that the ukrainians have shown determination to defend the country and demonstrated the failures of the russian strategy , and the weakness of not only their technology and weapons,

but also there resolve -- also their resolve, using conscripts to go to ukraine and take over the country, i think we are in a much better place than we have been. and by demonstrating our willingness to provide whatever the ukrainians are trained to use and if they are not trained, we will provide that training along with the most advanced weapons we can, it would be foolish not to think about what president putin might do. you remember the issue of the migs in poland and whether they would be transferred early on in the confusion around that, i'm glad to see the confusion lifted ended clear message sent by this legislation, and by what the administration is doing. the worst thing we could do is

cause confusion or, by our own dear craddick incompetence, limit what the ukrainians can use. -- by our own in competence, limit what the ukrainians can do. putin can claim authority, but we have called his bluff and are in the process of providing everything the ukrainians can use, now that they have shown willingness to fight. tom: thank you. i remind everyone in our audience we will be taking questions from the q&a cab. we have several that have come in and i will turn to those. senator cardin, the president proposed a supplemental of 33 billion dollars for ukraine including $20 billion of additional defense eight to run

through the end of the current fiscal year, september 30, 2022. what do you think congress' reaction is going to be to the supplemental request for additional late for ukraine? speaker pelosi: i am in agreement with senator cornyn. democrats and republicans will do everything we can to make sure the ukrainians have what they need to defend themselves. it is a comprehensive strategy. it started with sanctions against mr. putin and his oligarchs as well as russia's economy for his unprovoked attack. it is not just u.s. sanctions, but u.s. leadership with our traditional partners in the global community. we have provided humanitarian assistance for those impacted by this tragedy, including displaced individuals and refugees. we have provided that humanitarian aid and will continue to provide that humanitarian assistance.

it is helping to accumulate evidence to pursue war crimes against perpetrators of these atrocities, and we are involved in that come as we should become a with the international community. and we will continue to do exactly that. and we will provide the necessary equipment for ukrainians to defend themselves. the priority now is for the air defense systems, because we know russia is using the air to attack the ukrainian people. it will also be antitank, because they are still using tanks in ukraine itself. it will be conventional weapons and ammunition. all of that costs money and all of that needs to be funded so, the president made his request thursday, yesterday, with the amount you referred to, $20 billion for the military, over $30 billion totally. i know our committees will

consider that and i am confident there will be strong, bipartisan support to provide necessary u.s. funds to meet these commitments. we want to make sure it is enough, we want to make sure it is in the right areas and want to make sure we send a clear message to our allies that they also need to step forward and help the ukrainian people. because literally, their democracy and sovereignty is at stake by what is happening. tom: senator cornyn, what is your sense about how the supplemental request will be received on capitol hill? sen. cornyn: i agree with everything senator cardin just said. tom: couldn't be more clear. let me focus on what direction we think the conflict and u.s. support for ukraine's defense is going to go in the future. where do you think, senator

cornyn, the u.s. should go next? where does this go from here? sen. cornyn: as the war has extended far beyond the time anybody thought it would, and let's emphasize mr. putin has to be the most surprised and disappointed of all given the current status of the conflict, unfortunately, time is probably on putin's side given the terrible attrition tactics russians are known for, the brutality, the war crimes committed against innocent civilians, i am sure he will continue to do everything he can to destroy the cities in ukraine, particularly eastern ukraine, the don't boss -- don nbos area, and kill

innocent civilians. he is a dangerous man. and they continue to raise the specter of nuclear weapons use, which would be a tragedy. but i think as the ukrainians continue to fight and as i have shown -- as they have shown the will to fight, this boils down to, will putin break there will? i don't think he will. as long as the ukrainians have the will to fight, we will continue to increase the flow of weapons needed. but i am concerned when i hear about weapons that have been transferred not only from the u.s., but also our allies in nato, and stockpiles being depleted. mr. putin's stockpiles have to be depleted as well, and with some of the sanctions that are eliminating or making much

harder the technology transfers russia needs in order to build its weapons, we have our own challenges with supply chains and stockpiles. but congress is going to do what it can, which is provide the funds both for humanitarian relief and military equipment. we will continue to do everything we can to urge the industrial base in the u.s. to ramp up efforts to make sure that not only we have what we need to defend against future threats, but that we continue to supply ukraine with what they need and have been trained to use. tom: senator cardin, same question. where do you see the conflict going and where should the u.s. go next in our efforts to support the ukrainians in their defense against russian aggression? sen. cardin: tom, it is important question and i think

we have to take direction from president zelenskyy. he is the person who is providing the extraordinary leadership in this fight against russia. as mr. zelenskyy said, is looking -- he is looking for a diplomatic end to this atrocity. but you can't believe one word putin said. he uses misinformation as allies as well as his arsenal to try and bring down, craddick states. so yes, we are hopeful there will be a way to end the military atrocity mr. putin is causing. we want to make the cost as high as possible for mr. putin so that he needs to recognize it is in his interests to remove his troops from ukraine. that is why sections are so important. we have to double down and make those sanctions hurt even more. we cannot lose our resolve and mr. zelenskyy made that clear to us, and continue to go after

those responsible. we have to make sure ukraine has all it needs to defend itself, so that russia knows that they are going to lose this campaign. we have to provide humanitarian aid to those directly impacted by these atrocities and yes, we have to provide defense capacity to other countries in the region that are at risk. i met yesterday with the president of georgia. believe me, georgia recognizes that if -- recognizes that ukraine is not the only objective of mr. putin. he would like to take back the republics of the former soviet union as well as beyond that. we have to be concerned about georgia, moldova and the eastern front of nato. our nato allies feel very much threatened and saw the use of energy as a weapon against poland this week by mr. putin.

we have to be prepared to help defending our allies and non-nato allies to make it clear we are in it for the long-term so that we can defend the micros in your -- defend democracy in your. tom: let me turn to a couple questions, i will ask senator cornyn. do use epi martina, a correspondent for a leading italian newspaper, asks what is the u.s. strategic goal? what should we be trying to achieve strategically? what would you recommend to the president ought to be our strategic aim in this conflict? sen. cornyn: i remember president reagan being asked what the goal would be in the event of a contest between other nations of the u.s., and he said our strategy is, we win, they

lose. in this case, the goal is for the ukrainians to be able to restore sovereignty to their country and to defend themselves against russian aggression. anything less is going to just encourage mr. putin. maybe he will take a bite, as he did in eastern ukraine in crimea in 2014. but because he did not see a stiff resistance either from ukraine or the rest of the free world, including other nations in europe, he thought he could get away with it again. i mentioned the bad signal sent by our departure from afghanistan and the taliban walking in. i honestly believe mr. putin thought that might possible. we have to remember that he does not judge the risk and benefits

of this as a normal person would. he called the fall of the soviet union one of the greatest geopolitical consequences in history, so he wants to restore the russian empire. and he will do it bit by bit, right by bite -- bite by bite, as long he is allowed to. the story is ukrainian sovereignty and i agree with senator cardin that this is not so much our call as it is senator -- as it is president zelenskyy's call and the people of ukraine. we are there to support them, but it is ultimately their call. tom: that is the question from another audience member -- if this is going to be a negotiated peace, how do we stop it from being appeasement?

and i think you said that this is president zelenskyy's call. at what stage do you think there will likely be serious diplomatic negotiations from the russian side that might >> unfortunately, putin is driven by ideology. he has to be embarrassed, by the poor performance of the russian military. the fact that many of their weapons have not operated as they thought they would. so it has been largely ineffective. one of the most dangerous people in the world is someone who is in a corner. sen. cornyn: and does not have any way out. president zelenskyy is trying to think of way of how to achieve their goals which is to restore ukrainian sovereignty, while giving president putin some way

out of this, where he can save face. this is the reason why putin is so dangerous. although it is not part of their doctrine to use it tactical nuclear weapons in a situation like this, he does have them. they keep mentioning them. that would be a tragedy for everyone involved. it is a very delicate matter. but it is going to have to be dealt with. i agree, with what ben said, this looks like it is going to continue for some time. >> senator cardin, one of our questions asks about the role of civil society and nongovernmental organizations in terms of providing aid to ukrainian refugees and other kinds of humanitarian assistance. as chairman of the house safety commission, can you speak to what you have seen of the contributions of civil society

to aiding ukrainian people during this tragedy of war against them? sen. cardin: one of the most frequent questions i get from organizations in our communities and from individuals is how can they help? we have such an interest among the american people and the global community to do things they can do to be positive in regards to helping in ukraine struggles. i agree with senator cornyn, what is an outcome? an outcome is for ukraine to maintain its sovereignty and for russia to remove its troops. that is what we are aiming at achieving. we need to rebuild one of the parts of the president bidens message yesterday, we are going to go after the oligarchs, those that we have individually sanctioned and use those resources to help rebuild ukraine. it is also accountability. those responsible for the war

crimes need to be held accountable. our ngo's and private sector can help us maintain that focus. at the end of the day, it is about protecting ukraine's sovereignty, rebuilding ukraine and holding those responsible for the atrocities accountable. that is were crimes and financially. that is where we are going to need the private sector community to help us maintain that focus. it is not acceptable to target russian troops to be removed. there must be accountability for what has happened. yes, we need your help in regards to the amount of humanitarian needs, refugees and displaced individuals are going to need your help. there will be a role for the ngo's in the private sector to play. as we try to bring a successful end to this atrocity. >> senator cornyn, let me take this to you, as senator cardin just mention the private sector. one of our questions gets down

into some of the technical issues of what arsenal of democracy is going to mean. it will mean ramping up production lines of javelin missiles. i saw a note were president biden may be headed down to one of the factories in the south that makes those missiles in coming days. we are tracking european atlantic council, the problems the stinger missile lines were shut down, and may now have to be started up again. for the private sector to respond to the call in your bill, it will take investment, support financially from the federal government and from the congress, but, this really is what made lend-lease act in the 1940's so fantastic. to the point where bombers were rolling off production lines one every hour. this was the measure of what the arsenal of democracy is. how do you think senator cornyn, how do you think the u.s.

congress will encourage private companies to ramp up some of these production lines that are going to be necessary to meet ukraine's defensive needs? sen. cornyn: the first thing we need to do, or the next thing we need to do is pass the supplemental appropriation. then, i am glad to hear president biden is going to be making a trip down to some of the private sector companies that are responsible for making these weapons and the ammunition and other things that ukrainians need to defend themselves. this raises another issue and that has to do with the supply chains. one of the things we are dealing with now, next week, we will be voting on a number of aspects of the so-called china bill, it's called america competes. to me, the most important part of that, is to restore america's

capacity to manufacture the most advanced semi conductors in the world. i'm not a specialist in this area. i asked my staff, can you give me a book called semi conductors for dummies? or something that i can educate myself on, so i've learned a lot about this. the fact is, we make 0% of the advanced semi conductors in the world here in the u.s. this is a real threat to our economy and our security. one of the things we have done in the senate and working with the house is to provide incentives to help those most advanced semi conductors, which run everything from our cell phones to the f-35's and joint strike fighters, who have that capacity and supply chains here. covid-19 exposed a lot of those

warner abilities, whether it is with personal protective equipment or advanced semi conductors. so, we have some work to do, ourselves to play catch up, to be able to meet those production you have talked about in world war ii. world war ii was a worldwide war. aliso far, we are hoping -- at least so far, we are hoping to be contained to just ukraine, but it can easily spread. that depends on mr. putin's decision. it also raises one other question. we all recognize, we are going to have to ramp up our national security capability to deal with challenges, not only in russia and europe, but also in asia. president xi, is looking at all of this and wondering what that means for his announced

attention to -- intention to unify taiwan and the people's republic of china. we need, not only the funding from congress to deal with that, but we need a global strategy to deal with these challenges because this -- these are not isolated events. if you think about what is happening in ukraine, but we also know there's important and dangerous things happening in iran and north korea and the threat of invasion of taiwan that would be disruptive economically and a threat from a security standpoint. this is a taste of what the future looks like. everybody, from our industrial base, to congress, to all americans are going to have to ramp up and contribute more to this effort to deter people like mr. putin, and potentially president xi. but also the -- those in iran

and north korea. this is another one of the consequences of what president putin has brought. maybe not what he intended to do but what he has done. we need to respond accordingly. >> thank you very much for your leadership on this issue, for your important and stirring words today. let me turn it over to my colleague. to deliver some closing remarks. again i would like to thank our distinguished senators for their leadership. >> yes, thank you. thank you senators cornyn and cardin, for your insight on the need for the united states. democratic against ukraine russian aggression, this is our fight.

it is not helping some other country somewhere else do their thing, this is about us too. my name is barry pavel. i formally served in the defense department as a senior director for defense policy and strategy for the national security council staff for president bush and president obama. russia's war on ukraine is in another crucial phase. ukraine's victory in the battle of kiva has caused russia to refocus on defeating the army in the east. a military victory there and across ukraine southern coast could really open the way for further russian attacks, not just on ukraine, including kyiv, but also on moldova and our allies, romania or. so, this is a critical issue for us.

the united states and our allies. i have to say, the land lease bill will play a critical role. it will show congress support for increased weapons deliveries. it will speed up u.s. government bureaucracy to get ammunition and weapons to ukraine faster. it will send a message to ukrainians that they can count on us, for the long-term. it will strengthen ukraine's hand in negotiations by demonstrating the depth of u.s. support. it will encourage other nato allies to do the same and it will send a message to russia and china that the u.s. cannot produce them in support of democratic nations -- can out produce them in support of democratic nations. we know the bill will go to president biden's desk and his order congress to appropriate an additional $33 billion for ukraine. the question is, whether this will be enough.

we have stocks of javelins getting low, stingers which are critical for shooting down russian helicopters and helicopters -- are out of production. we will see if the u.s. is ready to take the next step that president roosevelt took in 1940, turning the united states into the arsenal of democracy. in the 1940's the u.s. are produced everyone in the world, including world war ii adversaries at the time, nazi germany and japan combined. this is a fantastic effort, we are to have these senators leading the way. please stay with us at the atlantic council as we continue to develop this specific policy recommendations to help the u.s. to lead this effort. with our allies, to contribute further to ukrainian self-defense against russia. thank you, very much everyone for joining us. this was a great discussion. have a great rest of your day.

>> c-span's washington journal, every day we will take your calls, live, on the air, on the news of the day. and we will discuss the policy issues that impact you. coming up on saturday, we discuss elon musk and the future of twitter. what is acquisition means for the company and larger issues of free speech. then it is our cram the exam special with teachers, they will discuss the upcoming exams placement u.s. government exam. watch washington journal, live at 7:00 eastern saturday morning on c-span or on c-span now. our free mobile app. join the discussion with your phone call, facebook comments, text messages and tweets. on saturday, the daily show host trevor noah headlines the first white house correspondents association dinner since 2019.

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>> c-span is your unfiltered view of government we are funded by these television companies and more including comcast. >> do think this is just a community center? it is way more than that. comcast is partnering with a thousand community centers to create wi-fi enabled places so students from low income families can get the tools to be ready for anything. >> comcast support c-span is a public service along with these television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. we are back with randy weingarten from the american federation of teachers. let's begin with congress yesterday. the education secretary was testifying before lawmakers about presidents budget request for 2023. what did you hear that you liked from the education secretary? guest: the education