staffer. >> he was not yet a famous author. he was a promising rising author. he was working on his first book. he was looking for a job that would help pay the bills to essentially promote his writing career. stewart, despite his sinister appearance, did give him a job. he became a clerk in stuart's office. at that time, it wasn't unusual because the senate only met a few months out of the year and they often hired reporters and correspondents as clerks for mutual beneficial experiences for both of them. he did not prove to be a particularly good senate employee. >> betty koed sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. listen to c-span's q&a and all our podcasts on our free c-span now app. >> c-span where history unfolds

daily. in 1979 c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and today we continue to take you to congress and other public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the country. c-span. powered by cable. >> president biden and first lady jill biden greeted canyon president ruto and his wife as they arrived for a state dinner at the white house, theixth and largest state dinner of the biden presidency with an estimated 0 guests in attendance. it is also the first state dinner in 15 years for an african leader.

>> president biden any message to the people of iowa that suffered terrible tornadoes?

>> president ruto do you have a message for the people of haiti? >> thank you. >> president biden, nikki haley says she is voting for trump. what do you say? >> >> now i look at the menu for the state dinner featuring a three course meal. the dinners declaration includes a pairing of fuchsia and purple african orchids and american roses to symbolize enduring friendship between the u.s. and can't yet. >> good afternoon, everyone.

susie and i are so excited for this state dinner. because it is the beginning of summer. for the first course we chose a tomato stew, a green stew marinated with vidalia onions, wonderful cucumber, and wonderful white balsamic vinegar. it is very reminiscent of what the summer is supposed to be. monday is memorial day. so we are welcoming the beginning of the summer with a chilled tomato soup with sourdough crisp and olive oil. the olive oil is from california. the tomatoes are from ohio. we have purveyed most of our produce from around the country. for the main course, we are doing vegetable swirls. we are doing lobster, a great

combination, and in some short where -- short rib that has been marinated and lightly smoked sitting on a wonderful blend of kale and roasted corn with wonderful corned purée and roasted turnips, sweet potatoes, and squash. we want to to have both red meat and seafood and we have to make sure we take care of our guests that are vegetarians. we also have wonderful dishes for them. >> welcome, all of you. it is so exciting to have you here today. we are excited to share with you that desert for this dinner. we made a homemade white chocolate basket. inside it is a nectarine paste that we made with nectarines and puréed it into a compote.

we also have a banana ganache. on top we have a fresh raspberries, peaches. surrounding the white chocolate basket is fresh raspberries. fresh strawberries. blackberries, and blueberries. in the crust we have the u.s. flag and in the canyon flag. -- kenyan flag. we also have limited biota flowers and an orange marmalade flower.

chatter] exit guests at the state dinner arriving at the white house

included members of congress and nbc news anchor lester holt, national urban league president mark morreale and former president bill clinton alongside former secretary of state hillary clinton and also in attendance was the howard university gospel choir. country music star brad paisley provided the evening's entertainment.

>> miss stephanie. >> you saw the menu on tv this morning. . the menu. >> what would be the word of the day? [laughter] [indiscernible]

>> bradley and andrew benjamin bradley. >> the honorable michael mccaul and miss catherine mccall. mr. tracy bar caught.

ms. tracy donovan. mr. franklin and dr. guzman. the honorable brian nelson, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. the honorable rufus gifford and dr. steven.

welcome, cordova. ms. tonio boyd.

miss catherine womboi. miss elizabeth coscay. ms. labrata muhabi. mr. andrew awili.

mr. augustine. acting secretary of housing and urban development. mr. kevin young and miss cora. mr. kenneth and misses gina cooper. miss tina and mr. cornell belcher.

sarah biden and judy. miss ruth and mr. anthony. the honorable andre dickens and tracy wilson.

bishop daughtry and miss daughtry chambers. the honorable lisa jackson and miss alicia willed her. dr. valerie montgomery rice and mr. melvin rice. the honorable mark and miss michelle wheeler.

the honorable keisha bottoms and langston bottoms. >> i asked my son if he was going to hold my hand, he said absolutely not. >> mr. lester holt and misses karen holt. >> i do not get out much. >> mr. doug mcmillon and misses shelley mcmillan.

miss wawa and annie gathru. mr. damien hewitt and miss melissa hewitt. dr. gretchen and andrew will:.

the honorable stephen k benjamin and d andre benjamin. mr. allen. miss british a anderson and miss lisa walker. mr. ed meyer and miss amy ward meyer. the honorable veronica escobar and miss lisa escobar.

dr. elizabeth's beer and dr. andrew spear. mr. everett kelly and miss liz kelly. the honorable cavalier johnson, mayor of milwaukee and miss dominique johnson. miss kimberly williams paisley and mr. brad paisley. >> i'm excited, it is great.

it will be great. that's a good question. i'm going to start with american saturday night and then all bets are off. you never know. absolutely, good and bad. i think part of country music is dealing with it in a way that other formats don't, so it is great. have fun. >> mr. kendall martin. the honorable mr. smith and misses spears.

mr. brad smith and miss carolyn and brown. dr. shaw and misses shaw. we honorable mr. john bellinger and miss don belanger. the honorable benjamin cardin and miss cardin.

the honorable william jefferson clinton, or the second president and the honorable hillary clinton, 67 secretary of the united states. >> thank you. >> the honorable cory booker and miss caroline booker.

>> this is when we show them how sexy we are. [laughter] >> i'm with the greatest woman in the world, my mother. >> is this your first state dinner? >> thank you, thank you everybody.

>> the honorable vice president harris and mr. douglas.

miss melinda gates and mr. rory gates. mrs. denise and reverend henry. the honorable dr. elizabeth randle, deputy security advisor and dr. jeffrey randall. mr. alex soros and misses aberdeen. miss araya and miss naroji.

mr. david and miss krystle campbell. the honorable bill burns, director of central intelligence agency and miss elizabeth burns.

the honorable jon bascom, undersecretary of affairs. the honorable ryan montoya, director of scheduling and miss joel perry. the honorable deb and miss naomi

jermaine. the honorable benjamin, white house communications director and mr. dean lieberman. miss simone townsend and mr. sean townsend. the honorable mr. johnson and miss tony johnson. miss didi and dr. dallas lea. the honorable cedric richmond and racquel richmond.

dr. francis draper and mr. andre draper.

[indistinct chatter] >> the honorable joshua, legal advisor to the security council and ms. moon. the honorable rafael warnock, united states senator and miss donna burke.

mr. john hope brian and misses ryan. the honorable christian, director of digital strategy and miss erica. the honorable dr. brainard, director of the national economic council. general charles brown, chairman

of the joint chiefs of staff and miss sharon brown. >> thank you, great gown. >> mr. darnell and miss michaela cole. >> it is from a sudanese friend of mine. she gave it to me. yeah, i'm really excited and happy to be here. >> what are you going to say to the president? >> i'm going to think about it. it must be really tough because

of the things that they juggle, i'm curious about that. my boyfriend darnell, i'm from ghana and it would be amazing to meet the president of kenya. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> the honorable gregory meeks, united states representative and miss simone marie meeks. >> i come from queens. we have everyone there. >> miss nelson.

miss linda lipson and stevens stole. the honorable white house press secretary. >> a friend of mine made this dress. >> oyeh bassu and miss bassu.

>> and now a photo opportunity for the bidens and their guests of honor in front of the white house staircase before being escorted to the dinner. ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ >> as is custom we will hear the toast from president biden and president ruto, highlighting the

alliance. the last time a kenyan leader was honored was 2003. no african nation has had one since george w. bush hosted ghana's president in 2008. >> welcome to the white house. the white house never looked this good. [applause] >> there's a bright light in the white house tonight, impressive and accommodating. jill and i are honored to have you here, representing the members of the african diaspora. one just left. you have been very gracious.

you met the president this morning, he was here a while ago. what i would like to do, president ruto, we share a strong respect for the history we can access together. president carter was the first president to host leaders of kenya at an official breakfast -- excuse me, dinner. and he said -- your counterpart said that he called the two nations neighbors and like neighbors -- i've got to get his quote right. like neighbors he said, we do not share borders, but we share beliefs in democracy, dignity, and equality and we want to share that with everyone here. these shared beliefs give our nations strength and let me end with a toast, an irish toast if

you do not mind an irish toast. made the road rise to meet you, may the wind always be at your back and the sunshine warm on your face. may the rains fall softly until we meet again, may god hold you in the palm of his hand. to kenya. enjoy your dinner.

>> thank you, thank mr. president. i thank you, mr. president for your invitation for me to undertake this visit. we have received the hospitality of the american people. it has been exceptional. the openness, goodwill and generosity of the american people greatly enhances our appreciation of your achievements and in keeping this nation as a thriving global powerhouse and it magnifies our

experience of the beauty, of the greatness of this land. we are proud of the robust economic security, people to people ties between our two nations and their shared values, which form a very strong bond of friendship between us. we gather here on behalf of the people of our nation to further strengthen friendship, solidarity and mutual endeavors that have united us for many decades. this partnership has cap a strong.

in our pursuit of friendship, we take a firm stance for democracy in a world where troubles have shaken the faith of many. for security as the he encz in of freedom for all of creation -- hope, trust, enterprise and innovation. and for prosperity, for the ultimate good of our nations and our people, so richly deserve. i am encouraged by our achievements over the past 60

years which have given people hope, saved lives, increased wealth in investment and made the world more integrated and secure. what we have accomplished is nothing short of phenomenal. we can now face a complex and challenging future with great confidence in the knowledge that our collective commitment to our shared values and as long as we hold our ground and stay the course we will deliver to our people a world in which it is safe to dream, to work and to prosper.

madame first lady, you have been so kind. we have shared your home for days and have been treated with manifest generosity. this is a warm, wonderful, beautiful place and we are blessed to have been privileged to visit. it is now my daughter to ask you ladies and raise your glasses and join me in a toast to the well-being and long life of president joe biden and first lady, jill biden. for the continued security of the people of the united states and the interring bonds of friendship, and solidarity of

kenya and the united states. to the president. starting today at three: 30 p.m. eastern, highlights include independent presidential candidate robert f. kennedy, jr. followed by vice presidentia debate featuring former republican presidential contder vivek ramaswamy at 8:00 eastern. former president and presumptive nomineeonald trump will speak before the delegates. sunday at 9:00 eastern, the party announces its presidential nominee for the november election. the libertarian national convention come alive today at 3:30 p.m. on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile video app, and live at c-span.org. >> saturday, president biden

will be in new york to give the commencement address to the u.s. military academy, west point. it will be his third commencement address to the academy but his first as commander-in-chief payment watch live at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile video app, or online at c-span.org. >> book tv every sunday on c-span two featuring leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. at 4:30 p.m. eastern, jordan mason universities brian taplin argues government regulation of the housing industry has caused prices to skyrocket in his book. at 8:00 eastern, pitr prize-winning historian stephen hahn, explai why it is rooted in american history and informs current issues. want to book tv every sunday on c-span two and find a full

schedule on your program guide or watch online any and book tv.org. >> this year, c-span celebrates 45 years uncovering congress like no other. since 1979, we've been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balance, unfiltered coverage of government, taking you to where the policies are debated and decided with the support of america's cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting, powered by cable. >> auto policy experts from western states joint science and environmental professors from iowa state university and the university of colorado boulder to testify on climate change and how certain regions of the country are affected by water scarcity. the senate budget committee hearing runs one hour and a half.