Perspective, you have to empathize. That is what will make it the ideal provider for veterans who have gone to combat and sacrificed. Announcer sunday night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspans q a. Announcer thursday, paul ryan headlined the Memorial Foundation dinner in new york city. The annual event raises funds for catholic charities, that support needy children. And in president ial election years, usually features candidates from both parties. This is 25 minutes. Lets talk about paul ryan, speaker paul ryan. Certainly a familiar name and face. You know the basic story, wisconsin native, worked for a Construction Company for his inndfather, meteoric rise washington, Vice President ial candidate, chairman of the house ways and Means Committee i mean most young congressmen would be content to handle only means or ways. Not paul ryan. We have a little bit of history, right . Remember that night a few years ago, you, me, mitt in ohio. Kind of dreamy. We will always have akron. I want to leave it at that. Yeah, akron. You know what clevelands motto is . At least we are not akron. [laughter] but beyond all the washington turmoil, paul is a Public Servant that works tirelessly to create opportunity and improve life for all americans. And that is why the work of the alfred e. Smith foundations work resonates with him so strongly. And i guess this is the right time to tell you, paul. I know you thought you are invited to be the keynote speaker, this is actually an intervention. [laughter] the cardinal has secured new identities for you and your lovely family. We have a nice place in north dakota where nobody in washington can find you. So right after the dinner we , will whisk you away, you do not have to deal with that anymore. Toore we do, we would love hear some words from you. Please welcome paul ryan. [applause] speaker ryan thank you. Thank you. We will always have akron. We will always have akron. [laughter] speaker ryan enough with the applause, you sound like the cabinet when donald trump walks in the room. We might as well get off to it. You know what i find amazing about this, is i do not think i have seen this many new york liberals, this many wall street ceos in one room since my last visit to the white house. [laughter] speaker ryan um. [applause] speaker ryan first off, i want to say good evening. Cardinal doland, your eminence, he and i go back a long way. He was our bishop in milwaukee, so we have a great past. And we in wisconsin like you and we adore Cardinal Doland. [applause] speaker ryan governor cuomo, mayor deblasio, speaking of my buddies, and chuck and kristin could not join us tonight because they are literally voting right now and they will have a budget vote, should have had it about nine minutes ago, so knowing the senate has not the senate, it has not happened yet. I want to thank patricia heaton. Patricia and i do go back a long way. Because she is a hollywood republican. [applause] [cheers] speaker ryan a hollywood republican. That is an oxymoron. [laughter] which clearly was the word that Rex Tillerson was searching for. [laughter] [applause] [cheers] you know, i want to say that you all look great. Everybody looks great. We feel right at home, because this is exactly what our dinner parties in wisconsin look like. [laughter] you know this is really our , favorite time of year, we love it. October. We have deer season, the leaves are changing, the beaches are empty, or as Chris Christie calls them, perfect. [laughter] [cheers] speaker ryan now, i want to promise you, because i have heard some stories about how the dinner went last year, i want to put your mind at ease. You can relax. I know last year that donald trump offended some people. I know his comments, according to critics, went too far. Some said it was unbecoming of a public figure. And they said that some of the comments were offensive. Well, thank god he has learned his lesson. [laughter] [applause] speaker ryan a lot of people, they ask me, you know what is it like to work with an abrasive new yorker with a loudmouth . But once you get to know him, Chuck Schumer is not that bad. [laughter] i know why he has been so hard on the president , it has nothing to do with ideology. You see, chuck is mad that he lost his top donut. [applause] [ohs and awes] speaker ryan look, chuck, he is 66 years old. Which makes him part of the democratic leadership youth movement. [laughter] now he is not even here, so i feel like i need to apologize for the last joke. At one point, i did want to repeal it replace him but i could not get into the senate. When you look at where we are this year, think about it for a second. Think about all that has happened since the last dinner. It has been almost one year ago that on november 8, countless shocked americans broke into tears over the election results. Enough about the press [laughter] speaker ryan the truth is, the press absolutely misunderstands and never records the biggest accomplishments of the white house. Look at all of the new jobs the president has created, just among the white house staff. [laughter] and when you read the papers tomorrow, everyone is going to report this thing different. Breitbart will lead with, ryan slams the president amongst liberal elites. The New York Times will report, ryan defends the president , saying that hillary one. And the president will tweet, 300,000 and no mention of my name. [applause] speaker ryan but you are probably looking at this, i have seen that guy on tv before and i kind of know who he is but a lot , of you do not know me. Let me give you basic facts. Lets call it my top 10 facts. They all must be true because you can find them on the internet. Number one, like you of heard, i am from wisconsin. Wisconsin is a fantastic place to visit in the fall. Looking back, someone probably shouldve told Hillary Clinton that. [laughter] [boos] [applause] speaker ryan just saying. Speaking of which, i got a copy of her new book. This thing sums up politics perfectly. She took eight months writing 10 hours a day to explain what happened in 512 pages. The president explained it in a tweet. I won. [laughter] speaker ryan fact number two, you know, we have primaries in the Republican Party these days. My primary opponent in 2016 was endorsed by sarah palin. And i am really not that mad about it because we have a lot in common. We both lost for Vice President. We both debated joe biden. And given the current investigations, i too can see russia from the house. Speaker ryan by the way, i laughs. Do really appreciate these i usually do not get them unless i am actually debating joe biden. Very much appreciate that. Fact number three, with all of the experts, the pollsters, they all say your popularity has gone down because of my relationship with donald trump. Some people disapprove of the way that i defend the president , others say i do not defend him enough. Fortunately the media understands all of this, and they choose to ask me only questions on policy and issues. That number four, and john give you a little sneak preview let , the cat out of the bag on this, it is true, i once drove the Oscar Meyer Wiener mobile. Which basically meant people were constantly laughing at me. It was perfect preparation for being in congress. [laughter] speaker ryan you know we call the wiener mobile in wisconsin . A chick magnet. [laughter] speaker ryan it is. Fact number five. [laughter] speaker ryan i am a proud member of this church. You know, the Catholic Church actually has a lot in common [applause] speaker ryan this church has a whole lot in common with washington, d. C. Either place, it takes about seven years for somebody to get confirmed. [laughter] speaker ryan i really wish chuck were here at this moment right now. The only basic difference between a catholic mass and a filibuster is that one ends with wine, of wine sip of and the other ends with an entire bottle. [laughter] speaker ryan number six, as a practicing catholic, i believe in miracles. In fact i have actually seen miracles. In 2015, i saw joe biden give a twominute speech. [laughter] speaker ryan in 2012, and there were three witnesses who saw this, i found mitt romney with a hair out of place. [laughter] speaker ryan i believe in miracles. Then again, i also believe in brian kelly when he became the head coach of notre dame. Year, notre dame football and Cardinal Tim Dolan had a lot in common. Both made thousands of people stand up and say, jesus christ. [applause] speaker ryan go irish. [applause] speaker ryan you know fact , number seven, when people ask me if i believe everything i see on facebook, i answer nyet. [laughter] speaker ryan here is one that is kind of interesting, fact number eight. The fact that you learn when you are speaker, i am now second in line of succession since steve bannon has resigned. [laughter] speaker ryan very cool. Very close. Fact number nine, every morning i wake up in my office, and i scroll twitter to see which tweet that i will have to pretend that i did not see later on. [laughter] speaker ryan fact number 10, every afternoon, former Speaker John Boehner calls me up. Not to give advice, just to laugh. [laughter] speaker ryan actually, it was john boehner who was the one who tried to convince me to take this job as speaker. And in fact, and this is a true story, like all the other ones i have told, he even got Cardinal Dolan to call me to convince me to take this job. God may forgive you, cardinal, but i will not. [laughter] [applause] speaker ryan talk about pulling the ultimate catholic guilt card. You may remember this. It got a lot of press at the time, but john retired after he got an official visit to address congress with the pope. It was a special moment for all of us in congress as catholics, of course it was a very special moment for john boehner. We know how emotional he gets and he decided right then and there to hang it up. So Cardinal Dolan, tim my , friend, i need you to hurry up and become the pope so i can invite you to congress and get the hell out of there. Please, work on that. [applause] actually we we , have some other things in common. In november a few years ago Cardinal Dolan himself ran for , office in the 2007 United States conference of catholic bishops, but he lost. So cardinal, join the club. [laughter] speaker ryan it was left january, january 20, that Cardinal Dolan gave the benediction at president trumps inaugural. Recited a prayer from the book of voices. It is a book that nobody in washington is familiar with. [laughter] speaker ryan actually there was just this kind of awkward moment one when the cardinal talked about the infallible, almighty, supreme being. The president stood up and took a bow. [laughter] speaker ryan both president s, actually. [laughter] speaker ryan the truth is, no one is infallible. We all make mistakes, and we all learn. I personally have learned so much in congress. For example, i learned that tweeting after midnight is a really bad idea. [laughter] speaker ryan whether you are president trump, or especially anthony weiner. [laughter] [applause] speaker ryan or ted cruz for that matter. Oh. You know, at one point the president actually insulted me. I know that sounds kind of surprising. He described me as a boy scout who is boring to talk to. It did not hurt my feelings. What hurt was when my wife agreed with him. [laughter] speaker ryan i got to say, i really have learned so much. I have learned that in catholicism you are guilty until proven less guilty. [laughter] speaker ryan i learned that god is always listening, as is vladimir putin. I learned how dc works. I play the good cop, Mitch Mcconnell plays the bad cop and bob mueller plays the really bad cop. I learned how to handle insults. Steve bannon said that i was born in a petri dish at the heritage foundation. [laughter] speaker ryan this is amazing. No one knew steve believed in science. [laughter] [applause] speaker ryan and most important thing i have learned of all, i am learning that becoming speaker of the house is a stepping stone to becoming exspeaker of the house. [applause] [laughter] speaker ryan but just because i am speaker, you did not have to invite me. And im honored that you did. And that is because, this is really a magnificent event. People, republicans and democrats, citizens and catholics, have watched this dinner on tv for years. We need an event like this, more now than ever. It is an opportunity to come together in support of a truly homeeous mission, to bring hope to the neediest children in the archdiocese of new york. Earlier today, Cardinal Dolan brought me over to the foundling, where they are doing just incredible work to help underserved families rebuild their lives. Quick a greater sense of dignity and hope. We can achieve so much, and we can achieve so much when we tackle poverty eye to eye, soul to soul, person to person. As catholics, we call this solidarity in subsidiary. We are not yet through the worst Hurricane Season, so we need to be thinking about other citizens who live beyond these boroughs. It is the worst Hurricane Season in recent memory. An inferno has blackened the homes and hillsides across northern california. Dozens of people are still hospitalized after the massacre in las vegas. So much has been taken. I think back a few weeks ago. I went down to houston, and i was on my way to a shelter and the sun was barely up. It was the crack of dawn, and it was already as humid as can be. And you could almost feel the exhaustion in the air. But we get there, and i have to tell you, the shelter was alive. It was full of life, and hope, and prayer. 38 counties in texas, people just out of their homes. And there were volunteers from seemingly everywhere. People from the south, the midwest, people from the northeast. People were telling me they felt that they had to be there, they did not care how long it took. They would stay and do whatever was needed. They just got up and came. It was truly something. So yes, much has been taken. But not our spirit. Not our nations resilience, not our faith. So in these moments, when people are suddenly isolated and separated from everything they know, it is those unspoken bonds between us. It is that common humanity which brings us together and lifts us up. A lot of people are hurting tonight. Please keep them in your prayers. May they in the fullness of time find comfort and renewal. Thank you for having me. God bless you and your families, this archdiocese, and god bless the United States of america. Thank you. [applause] archbishop dolan all right folks. , it is the bottom of the ninth, here i am. Mi right . Toare close to, we are close three quarters of a century. This celebrated evening has been one of joy, civility, most of the time, unity, patriotism, friendship, grateful memories, and charity. You know what . Those are all virtues. And this event is really all about virtue. The virtue of a wonderful politician named Alfred Emanuel smith, Whose Service to god, this state, this city, was legendary. The happy warrior who stopped smiling only for a few moments, when confronted with rejection and bigotry because of his own ethnic background and deep catholic faith when he ran for president. The virtue of john castle, who this evening received the award named after that happy warrior. The virtue of patty heaton, whose joy and commitment to god and country is so luminously radiant. Thank you, patty. The virtue of a National Leader admired by all sides for his own patience, determination and sense of duty, whose own faith and patriotism, love of family and loyalty to friends, and i am sure honored to be one of them, is so uplifting speaker paul , ryan. The virtue of the alfred e. Erdoes,ard, led by mary home, thethis abundance of civil and political, philosophical and communications leaders, and of all of you folks whose generosity has made this the most successful nonpresident ial Campaign Year ever, bringing us close to 3. 5 million for direct service [applause] Cardinal Dolan direct service to women and children, of all faiths or none all, in this grand city. And right now, everybody, we summon the virtues of humility and gratitude, as i thank all of you, and as we all praise our god from whom all blessings flow. So good night and god bless. And safe home. Thank you. [applause] [background chatter] friday, cspan sat down with Hillary Clinton to discuss her new book, what happened . The 2016 about president ial campaign. The media needs to do its own soulsearching. I do say that. One of the things about cspan im not just laddering you, but you guys flattering you, but you guys let people draw their own conclusions. I understand the pressure the print is under and certainly online. An dollars,t to get or they have got to get ad dollars, or eyeballs or clicks. The election was a big deal. Now we see what happens when somebody is not vetted. And we talked about the hollywood access tape. How much continuing coverage did you give to the 12 women who followed up with personal stories . Not much. It was always on to something new. I think the Trump Campaign did a really good job in changing the subject all the time. Announcer 1 you can watch our entire hourlong interview with Hillary Clinton at 2 15 p. M. And 11 05 p. M. On book tv. A concert is underway at texas a m university to raise money for all of the areas recently affected by hurricanes. President trump and the five former u. S. President s are scheduled all to take part. Their portion of the event is expected to begin shortly, and we will return to the stage when that happens. While we are waiting for that to start, on friday, First Lady Melania Trump donated her thegural down to smithsonian. It will now be on display in the first ladies exhibit. This is 15 minutes. We know what is right just one life we will keep this world from pushing us around ground and our and we wont back down hey baby aint no easy way out ladies and gentlemen, please welcome mr. John gray, director of the Smithsonian National museum of american history. [applause]