ernst will expend with the new congress plans to do. and what it is already doing it will return washington focus to the concerns of the middle-class and away from the demand of the medical class. lieutenant colonel john ernst has dedicated her life to iowa and to our country. serving in the military i went national guard, for more than 20 years and has deployed overseas. senator ernst is focused on growing a vibrant economy and expanding the middle class. >> thank you. everybody, thank you so much. thank you, speaker, and thank you, leader also but i am truly humbled and honored to have this

the announcement i want to make is senator joni ernst will be delivering the response to the state of the union for our side this year. she is a perfect choice. americans voted for change, and the senator ernst will explain what the new congress plans to do. and what it is already doing to return focus to the concerns of the middle class and away from demands the political class. joni ernst has dedicated her life to iowa in the country, serving in the military, the iowa national guard, for more than 20 years, and has deployed overseas. she is focused on growing an economy and expanding the middle class. >> thank you.

it will be given by freshman senator joni ernst of iowa.e hog-tieing -- >> that would make sense. >> there are some that could say she could emerge as a star past gop responders like governor bobby jindal discussed as presidential nominees but not all reaction to senator ernst is positive. a proabortion group sent out a press release calling her window-dressing. nbc's luke russert fired off against military record. joan any ernst meet or i can rise continues. this time last year she was unknown pig farmer. tuesday she will deliver the gop response. we're asking if this conservative women held to different standard than liberal women. go to you, kennedy left came out with fangs before like sarah palin. they find them to be deeply threating. joni ernst as senator brown pointed out earlier made a lot of history. first woman senator from iowa. has mill day remember -- military member. luke russert? >> he had a layover in the middle of country or visited a hog farm? >> what he is doing he is trying to undercut someone left sees as threat. >> we'

it is high-risk, high reward for joni ernst. she has to do a compelling job leave people wanting to hear more from the gop. >> before the president speech, a key republican is dismissing the latest tax plan. tell us about it. >> i spoke with senator orin hatch. he is a critical player. senator hatch is not impressed with the presidents latest proposal. take a listen. >> it's more and more of the same, robbing peter to pay paul instead of helping both peter and paul to survive and help this country be on its way from a physical standpoint. >> senator hatch conceded it will be an uphill fight to reach agreement with the white house on anything with regard to tax reform. he did not take it off the table. a bigger focus might be a business tax reform, but even senator hatch said that will be tough. train will be a likely area of bipartisan cooperation on the hill. >> thank you so much. coming up, more on the state of the union. we will preview tonight's speech and discuss how much of the president's agenda is likely to get done in t

americans voted for change, and the senator ernst will explain what the new congress plans to do. and what it is already doing to return focus to the concerns of the middle class and away from demands the political class. joni ernst has dedicated her life to iowa in the country, serving in the military, the iowa national guard, for more than 20 years, and has deployed overseas. she is focused on growing an economy and expanding the middle class. >> thank you. thank you so much. thank you, speaker, and leader also. i am truly humbled and honored to have this opportunity to deliver the republican address. and it is a long way from red oak to washington, d.c. and growing up on a southwest iowa farm years ago, i never never would have imagined that i would have this opportunity. so thank you. like so many of my colleagues, our folks back home sent us to washington, d.c., with a clear mission, and that mission is to get to work. that mission is to craft and implement good policies, good solutions which will enable us to get america on a better path. and we are anxious to do that. we ar

i'm joni ernst. as a mother, a soldier, and a newly elected senator from the great state of iowa, i am proud to speak with you tonight. a few moments ago, we heard the president lay out his vision for the year to come. even if we may not always agree, it's important to hear different points of view in this great country. we appreciate the president sharing his. tonight though, rather than respond to a speech, i'd like to talk about your priorities. i'd like to have a conversation about the new republican congress you just elected, and how we plan to make washington focus on your concerns again. we heard the message you sent in november -- loud and clear. and now we're getting to work to change the direction washington has been taking our country. the new republican congress also understands how difficult these past six years have been. for many of us, the sting of the economy and the frustration with washington's dysfunction weren't things we had to read about. we felt them every day. we felt them in

i'm jonie ernst. i grew up castrating hogs. i'll know how to cut pork. let's make them squeal. >> it is interesting. that was a great ad. she broke out of a field. robert, out of the state of iowa, what are they hoping to accomplish. it's a tough job. >> what arrived for joni ernst, shooes running in a competitive party. she's a king maker and she's giving the state of the union response. it's like when cathy mcmorris-rodgers gave the response last year. republicans know they have problems to reach out with republican voters. they also believe ernst because she has blue collar roots and has background and appeal, that it's beyond the wealthy and i'm sure that it attacks a lot of republicans. she is the voice they want. >> right. one thing i would note on this, i find it so interesting that the way to attract women is to be symbolic. that they're women. >> that's right. we happen to do our state of the union response. you have to get more into the party response. >> president farena. >> the state of th

joni ernst is his attempt to do that.ect it to be about personality and republican themes and not specifics to the president's speech. >> it is interesting. because the republicans acquired bower and were able to take over -- power and take over the house and the senate based this strategy and being the bad guys essentially, and saying they would give the president nothing. is it making heads spin on capitol hill that suddenly now that they are in charge now they want bipartisanship and warm nl and coziness and such? >> well i think a lot of democrats will say it is facetious. and you do hear that. but what is fascinating, joy, is mitch mcconnell the clever political player the best chess player in politics, he has the vulnerable blue state republicans from 2016 and he realizes that what he did to a great electoral success doesn't work this time around. so whether or not that accounts for any results, we'll see. >> and people talked about mitt romney. and everybody is talking about it now. thank you. >>> and debbie wasser

a pair of joni ernst's shoes was tweeted more than 1,000 time. john sengal whose wife took over his position tweeted, wife is working late tonight. might work ice cream for dinner. >>> breaking news out of paris. four men are facing terror charges. french prosecuteors say the men are suspected of providing logistical support to amedy coulibaly. doulibaly was later shot dead by police. right now it is not clear where the four suspects were involved in plotting the attacks or aware of coulibaly's plans. >>> now to the nfl and the latest on what could be a huge scandal for a super bowl team 11 days from the big game. deflate-gate. espn says 11 of 12 footballs used in the championship blowout were underinflated. if they have less air in them balls are easier to grip throw and catch especially in the rain. the nfl requires each team provide 12 footballs for their own offenses. rules state that each ball must be inflated between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch but according to espn's report 11 balls tested were underinflated by about two pounds pe

because i like joni ernst. it's a tough job. she's never done anything like this.to get ready, right? and she's got on the camouflage high heels. and i think she did fine. now, the best of joni ernst tonight was not about the xl pipeline and we hate obamacare. republicans know this. that's who they are. if she's trying to say to republicans, i'm fighting obama, she did it. but where she started talking about washington dysfunction, i think she hit a big, big talking point in american life. because americans right now, democrat and republican, according to recent polls, nbc, "wall street journal," and more, think that the dysfunction is hurting them. and what you heard from joni ernst is, i'm the kid that worked at the hardee's biscuit line. but i believe you can make it in this country. but washington's got to do something. i think that's a little bit of a shift on the republican rift about big government and government's too much and we shouldn't be -- no, here's joni ernst saying here are certain things that need to be done, and can be done if president obama is

r(m g senator from iowa, joni ernst.guard. #irst w chris mentioned ever to represent iowa in tkn!%ujuáy according to her office, senator ernst plans to tell america that the ljñ republicans leaders in w÷ message you sent in november loud and clear and now she says we're going to get to work toÑ.h/w change the direction of washington and the direction that it's been taking our country. now the republican response to the state of the union from joni ernst. iowa.wÑ we appreciate the pry sharing his. tonight, though, rather than respond to a spee> like to talk about your priorities. i would like to have a conversation about the new republican congress you just elected and how we plany;víç to washington focus on your we heard thep clear.rñ youf and now we'regjia getting to wo change the direction washington has been taking our country. we were raised to live simply. not to rywaste. it was a lesson my mother taught mewú8 every rainy morning. you see, growing5éró up, i ha9f one good pair of shoes. so on rainy school days, my

. >> good evening i'm joni ernst.as a mother, a soldier and a newly elected senator from the great state of iowa, i'm proud to speak with you tonight. a few moments ago we heard the president lay out his vision for the year to come. even though we may not always agree, it's important to hear different points of view in this great country. we appreciate the president sharing his. tonight though, rather than spond to his speech, i would like to talk about your priorities. i would like to have a conversation about the new republican congress you just elected. and how we plan to make washington focus on your concerns again. we heard the message you sent in november, loud and clear and now we're getting to work to change the direction washington has been taking our country. the new republican congress also understands how difficult these past six years have been. for many of us, the sting of the economy and the frustration with washington's dysfunction weren't things that we had to read about. we felt them every day. we fe

did he talk about, i grew up in iowa, the way joni ernst did? >> this is the fourth time the republicans have done a spanish response. and they cut out the biographical parts. in this case it was a different speech. not only was he not only talking about ernst's history as a veteran or something like that, or grandparents growing up in iowa and the farming, he talked about his parents coming from cuba, how they came with nothing but their faith and desire to make a better future for their family. he said that's my family's story, and i know it's yours, too, which is something that ernst, for obvious reasons, didn't do in hers. >> in terms on specific substantive areas, ernst said basically nothing on immigration reform. he did say something. we have to create permanent solutions for immigration systems to secure or borders, modernize legal immigration and strengthen our economy. that is not the top line gop message ascending its base. >> carbello is to the left of the rest of his party on immigration, absolutely. last week, most of the house vot

i'm joni ernst. as a mother, a soldier, and a newly elected senator from the great state of iowa, i am proud to speak with you tonight. a few moments ago, we heard the president lay out his vision for the year to come. even if we we may not always agree, it is important to the hear different points of view in this great kcountry. we appreciate the president sharing his. tonight though, rather than respond to a speech, i'd like to talk about your priorities. i'd like to have a conversation about the new republican congress that you just elected, and how we plan to make washington focus on your concerns again. we a heard the mheard the messa sent in november loud and clear, and now we are getting to work to change the direction that washington has been taking our country. the new republican congress also understands how difficult these past six years have been. for many of us the sting of the e konmy and the frustration of washington's dysfunction weren't things that we had to read about. we felt them

o ernst with the republican response coming up next, after this quick break.r more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know you that former pro football player ickey woods will celebrate almost anything? unh-uh. number 44... whoooo! forty-four, that's me! get some cold cuts... get some cold cuts... get some cold cuts! whooo! gimme some! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. whoo! forty-four ladies, that's me! whoo...gonna get some cold cuts today! nice! gr-reat! a shot like that... calls for a post-game celebration. share what you love with who you love. kellogg's frosted flakes. they're gr-r-reat! no cabout engine size, gues horsepower, or performance. no anthemic soundtracks to stir the soul. just a ram heavy duty that can carry more weight than any other heavy-duty truck. get more facts at ramtrucks.com >>> welcome back to washington. our special coverage of the state of the union address. we're awaiting the republican response to that address. let's go now to capitol hill, chief congressional corr

and this year it is iowa senator joni ernst. me to talk about this is cnn national political reporter peter hamby. i guess first off, who is senator ernst for those who don't know and why was she picked for the rebuttal? >> well if you covered the last campaign joni ernst was a breakout star. >> famous for castrating pigs and -- >> that's right. she ran a tv ad saying i castrate hogs i'll get to washington and cut pork -- >> make them squeal. >> right. she is kind of perfect for the state of the union response. the response does two things. one the opposition party gets to introduce a rising star to the american public and it tells you a little bit about where they stand, especially heading into the next election. in 2006 the governor of virginia democrats chose him to give their speech. in 2009 bobby jindal was chosen to respond to president obama's first address to congress to show that we're a diverse party as well. republicans are still struggling a little bit with women. in the last election they did better than they did in

and i think will be listening for someone like a joni ernst.out health savings accounts things like that. i think you will have to begin, if you're a republican we know you're against obama. the great thing for democrats and republicans in 2016 -- his name is not on the ballot. if you want to compete in that contest, it's your turn to shape the ideas of not only what you're against but what you're for. >> when we return let me for with the president's big night tonight. you're watching "hardball," a place for politics. ♪ [audible safety beeping] ♪ [audible safety beeping] ♪ [audible safety beeping] ♪ the nissan rogue, with safety shield technologies. the only thing left to fear is your imagination. now save up to $1,000 when you finance the 2015 nissan rogue. nissan. innovation that excites. push your enterprise and you can move the world. ♪ ♪ but to get from the old way to the new you'll need the right it infrastructure. from a partner who knows how to make your enterprise more agile, borderless and secure. hp helps business move on all the po

for the republican response. >> senator, do you have any tips for joni ernst tonight?drink lots of water. >> reporter: at 4:35 on the north lawn of the white house, abc's john karl spoke to valerie jarrett. >> he does have a bounce in his step. it is reflected in the fact that the economy is strong, the state of our union is good. >> reporter: that bounce in his step likely the result of recent abc news poll numbers showing the president's approval rating has jumped nine points since november when his party got clobbered in the midterm elections and the republicans took control of both the house and, for the first time in years, the senate. at 7:50, the white house tweeted a picture of obama's suit for the big speech, with the #yeswetan. at 8:00, the white house said that representative foxx was chosen as the designated survivor. the cabinet secretary who will spend the evening at an undisclosed location ready to take control in case anything dire should have happen during the speech. back in 2006 jim nicholson who was the secretary of veterans affairs was the designat

joni ernst, the newly elected senator from iowa. might remember her campaign about castrating hogs and vowing to make them squeal in washington. >> i'm joni ernst. i grew up castrating hogs on an iowa farm so when i get to washington i'll know how to cut pork. >> more importantly, ernst is a combat veteran, and in a minute we'll show you the silent salute she gave to the military but first let's listen to her story of a hard scrabble upbringing on an iowa farm. >> as a young girl i plowed the fields of our family farm. i worked construction with my dad. to save for college i worked the morning biscuit line at hardy's. we were raised to live simply not to waste. it was a lesson my mother taught me every rainy morning. you see, growing up i had only one good pair of shoes so on rainy school days my mom would slip plastic bread bags over them to keep them dry, but i was never embarrassed because the school bus would be filled with rows and rows of young iowans with bread bags slipped over their feet. our parents may not have had much b

after tonight's address newly elected iowa senator joni ernst will deliver the republican response. the tea party response will follow. at the white house andrea mccarren, wusa9. >>> it's no secret the political apparentlies in our country don't always get -- parties in our country don't always get along, but hey, it could be worse. check out this brawl in nepal. politicians threw chairs, attacked the speaker of parliament in katmandu during a debate during a new constitution. nobody was seriously hurt. man, some passion right there. >> brawl in nepal, pretty good writing. >>> up next an update on the stories making headlines tonight. >> including a violent attempt to overthrow the government in yemen. >> the temperature is cooling down out there tonight and a yellow alert is on the horizon. topper? >>> if you're just getting home, let's get you up to speed on what's making headlines around the world. they're taking their seats on capitol hill. the state of the union kicks off in a little more than an hour and a half from now. president barack obama osals which he says will benefit

. >> reporter: freshman senator joni ernst delivered the republican response and painted a different picture.

. >> reporter: in the gop response, senator joni ernst a veteran and republican rising

senator joni ernst had twitter budsing sporting heels with a camouflage print. first lady michelle obama's suit designed by michael kohrs was deemed flawless by some and looked familiar to fans of the hit show "the good wooif." alicia floor rick on the right. michelle obama on the left. >>> let's look at some of the other state of the union stats. the spooech 59 minutes and 57 seconds, six seconds shy of the shortest address in 2013. below the average. president obama's speeches are the second longest in history behind bill clinton. he also received 87 applause breaks, the most interruptions on record is 128 for president clinton's 2000 address. since 1991 an average of around 80. for the first time since 2001 al qaeda failed to get a mention in the state of the union. the president also became the first in u.s. history to use the words transgender or bisexual in a state of the union address. now we want to hear your thoughts on the president's state of the union. how did he do? what was your favorite moment? tweet us your responses @waytooearly. >>> the preside

. >> joni ernst delivered the

at 10:26 joni ernst, sports camouflage heels delivered her republican response. >> and with a little of the union and according to one study only 40% of the idea pros pose proposed in the speech ever becoming law, why do we do this any more? i asked political analyst matt dowd. should we go back to when the president sends a letter? >> it still gets a huge audience and a huge audience of influential people who are supposed to make and divine public policy in washington, d.c. and influence those people and many other journalists around the world cover these things. it's still a moment. >> reporter: it may sometimes be disappointing or dry, but the state of the union is still an important american tradition and, of course if we canceled it, congressman engel would be superbummed. don't mess with the aisle hogs. much more post game analysis coming up on gma first thing in the morning but coming up here tonight on "nightline," bikers swarming the streets of a major american city. why do they do this? we hit the streets alongside them for a firsthand look. no one. wake up! [gasp] oh! you

. >> reporter: republican reaction both if i recall from joni ernst, she did the official response, and from other republicans we talked to a lot of them thought that this was a

. >> reporter: freshman senator joe joni ernst delivered the

. >> the republican response fell to unknown freshman senator joni ernst in contrast with the

. >> reporter: freshman senator joni ernst delivered the republican response and painted a different picture. >> many families feel like they are working harder and harder with less and less to show for it.

. >> iowa senator joni ernst gave the republican response.

i warned you last night about senator joni ernst. she delivered just barrels of lies on the keystone xl pipeline. >> we're working hard to pass the kind of serious job creation ideas you deserve. one you have probably heard about is the keystone jobs bill. president obama has been delaying this bipartisan infrastructure project for years, even though many members of his party, unions and a strong majority of americans support it. the president's own state department has said keystone's construction could support thousands of jobs and pump billions into our economy and do it with minimal environmental impact. we worked with democrats to pass this bill through the house. we're doing the same now in the senate. president obama will soon have a decision to make. will he sign the bill or block good american jobs? >> everything is obama's fault. ernst calls it the keystone jobs bill? give me a break. it's going to create thousands of jobs. it is going to take folks to build it, but they're part time. there's a ton of studies say that minim

a picture of the shoes joni ernst was wearing, camouflage shoes. of the union wasn't without controversy. iowa republican congressman steve keen tweeted, quote, obama converts prosecutorial discretion by inviting a deportable to sit in place of honor at sotu. i should seat with alito. that deportable 20-year-old anna zamora who was granted temporary relief in 2012 and whose parents could be helped by the president's executive action. as for 2016 contenders mixed reaction from temperature's own party. hillary clinton tweeted barack obama pointed way to an economy that worked for all. now we need to step up and deliver for the middle class. former virginia governor jim webb was more defiant, live tweeting the whole thing, not a fan of the middle class lingo, fighting for hard working americans and small business isn't about class. #web2016. the tweet of the night may go to former congressman john dengel wife is working late tonight. might eat ice cream for din know, #yolo. that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. >>> let's dissect all this. i'

you just heard senator ernst will deliver the response. we will hear your comments throughout the evening. next up, remarks from sylvia burwell on the health care law and her purse for congress to find common ground as republican lawmakers work for it through appeal. she spoke for about 35 minutes. >> good morning. welcome, everybody, two new america. before i introduce secretary burwell, who is here to make remarks about the future of health care on a number of dimensions in the new congress and the year ahead, i just want to make a few quick comments about new america and why we are so honored that we are able to host her here today for these remarks. among the founding principles of new america, which is reflected in the book "the radical center" by people who are among the founders of this organization 15 years ago, was a commitment to get beyond traditional partisan alignment and specifically to apply that idea to health care to treat it as a matter of both rights and responsibilities, and something that should be vested in in individ

. >> colonel ernst. >> thank you mr. chairman. gentlemen thank you for being here today. appreciate your continued service to the united states. general odierno thank you for mentioning in your brief the reserve and national guard forces and also senator donnelly for bringing that point up as well. we do feel the impact. we are hurting through sequestration. with respect to the dod and sequestration general you mentioned just this morning that we must appropriately care for our soldiers and our soldiers and their families are bearing the burden of our decisions. we must train, maintain and sustain our force and our equipment. but with sequestration in place we also recognize we have to utilize taxpayer dollars to the best of our ability. could you please give examples to the panel on where we are

last november senator ernst won that seat controlled for years by the democrats. we will have full analysis of the state of the union address and the republican response tonight with senior political reporter scott thuman tonight on abc 7 news at 11:00. developing news out of annapolis tonight. crews are using heavy equipment in their search for a missing annapolis couple and their four grandchildren after a massive fire. i.t. executive don pyle and his wife sandy and four young grandchildren are unaccounted for after a fire destroyed the pyles' mansion along the annapolis waterfront yesterday. fire marshalls say the search of the 16,000 square foot home could take days. >> the standard house of 2500 square feet so you're looking at five standard houses put together. there are a lot of businesses that aren't 16,000 square feettors say it's too early to determine a cause of the fire or to know why no one in the house made a 911 call. in the meantime family and friends are paying their respects. metro officials are in the hot seat speaking for the first time since l

and one of them, i think, is joni ernst, the new new york senator from iowa who is every bit as crazy as palin is but a lot smarter, and at least a u.s. senator. whereas mrs. palin has nod held public office for six years or so. people like her and ben carson who is also crazy, but at least is a medical doctor. but she's been pushed off the stage by people who appeal more to the republican base at this particular moment. >> so what is it that the republican dna that they're drawn to people that you just described? >> that's a really excellent question. i think part of it is the martyr status. that think think by supporting people who are criticized in the mainstream media, even if they're legitimately criticized for saying stupid things wrong things, that this is somehow

joni ernst never mentioned the world.orse the president's executive action. but he did talk in more of a kinder gentler tone that congress should do some stuff on immigration. >> it tells you everything you need to know about the republicans' fundamental challenge. they can't sync their responses to the president's speech last night. it's a remarkable thing. it captures the fact that they're constantly trying to accommodate a very culturally conservative. older white base and at the same time try to move beyond that base to take back the white house. and there's tensions are on vivid display when you look at those two speeches. >> what do we think about when we look forward. it's all about 2016. hillary clinton tweeted she loved the speech. we watched elizabeth warren in case and she said she loved the speech. >> the 2016 mike huckabee or jeb bush all of them said pretty much the same thing, the president is in denial ignoring the results of the election. ted cruz said forget about him. move on. >> and they're arguing for

so our conclusion was ernst and young certainly knew it as of that time and did nothing with it.time? >> they were on premises. they were talking to the lehman people daily. they officed there. >> more of lehman brothers ahead when 60 minutes on cnbc returns. [ticking] okay buddy what's your favorite kind of cheerios? honey nut. but... chocolate is my other favorite... but apple cinnamon is my favorite too... and fruity... oh yeah, and frosted! okay, but...what's you're most favorite of all? hmm... the kind i have with you. me too. well, a mortgage shouldn't be a problem your credit is in pretty good shape. >>pretty good? i know i have a 798 fico score thanks to the tools and help on experian.com. kaboom... well, i just have a few other questions. >>chuck, the only other question you need to ask is, "what else can you do for me?" i'll just take a water... get your credit swagger on. become a member of experian credit tracker and find out your fico score powered by experian. fico scores are used in 90% of credit decisions. in a work, work, work world... take time for sunday. just

ernst and his boss, the president refused to acknowledge is that there are thousands of muslim imams all over the world who do support the violent jihad and some of them are considered leaders in their communities. but let's get right down to it. here's the real reason the he bama administration avoids the islamic jihad label. >> i think the white house and attorney general holder are right to caution about that kind of rhetoric and whole mind set that goes with it it you need to be smarter this time around and understand much of the work is not military. it's not even going to be done by government. it's going to be done by people in these communities and the question is how do you facilitate them without delegitimizing or stigmatizing them. >> wow. mr. ignatius is generally very sympathetic to president obama and apparently believes that only the folks who believe in allah can stop the jihad. the military can't do it. the government can't could it according to

i'm joni ernst. a mother, a soldier, and a newly elected senator from the great state of iowa, i am proud to speak with you tonight. a few moments ago, we heard the president lay out his vision for the year to come. even if we may not always agree, it's important to hear different points of view in this great country. we appreciate the president sharing his. tonight, though, rather than respond to a speech, i would like to talk about your priorities. i would like to have a conversation about the new republican congress you just elected, and how we plan to make washington focus on your concerns again. we heard the message you sent in november, loud and clear. and now we're getting to work to change the direction washington has been taking our country. the new republican congress also understands how difficult these past six years have been. from many of us, the economy and the frustration with washington's dysfunction, we felt them every day. we felt them in red oak, the little town in southwest iowa