certainly, america does lead and we would lead nato as well. but this is where we need those countries involved in nato to come together and make sure they have the commitment. this is very important. they have every one of our nato allies understands the significance of russia invading ukraine. i was at the munich security conference. i do believe they understand the importance of this. and so i do feel that we can come together and it will take american leadership. those troops that belong to nato, they certainly do appreciate the great perspective and leadership that comes from the americans fighting man and woman. senator. it was announced that iowa s governor kim reynolds is going to deliver the republican response after joe biden s state of the union address. i know you did this in 2015. in your camo heels. you had just been elected as the
it has moved eastward, which vladimir putin has said from his perspective is a threat toe him with troops surrounding him even more. let s get to the military position. because this is the interesting part of it. you have got the break away provinces here which by the way the most significant combat power for the ukrainians is in this region donbas region down here the two break away into new independent states right down here there has been fighting there since 2014 ongoing. this is crimea as steve mentioned which was seized in 2014 as well. you also have you have sea, air and land. this is where vladimir putin would have a lot of advantage. he could succeed the only port available to ukraine. there is also significant surface to surface missiles. we go backwards to the other area if we could baltic sea. client of belarus they have been doing so-called military exercises for weeks which have now been extended. so, if traditionally you think
notably belarus still a client state of it russia. we will learn more about why they are significant because ever thage not around after the soviet union fell obviously. nato came about after the end of world war ii. nato has expanded since then. that s what vladimir putin claims is a threat to his existence. meant to hold back soviet expansion. the one entity that has expanded nato expanded. this is what vladimir putin looked at in 2004 into the baltic states into he is stonia, latvia and lithuania on the border of russia. what vladimir putin is claiming right now is should ukraine attempt to join nato which they have put in an application for, that would be right on russia s doorstep. so,. steve: he wants a buffer. he wants a buffer. right now traditionally nato has been centered in the western part of europe.
if there is a widespread invasion we could see martial law here. back to you. ainsley: let s bring in iowa senator joni ernst. good morning to you. yes. good morning, ainsley. hello. ainsley: well, it seems that, senator, that we had we knew this was going to happen. these are democrats, joe biden s secretary of state blinken said putin planned all along to invade. james clapper said we should have taken action sooner. listen to some of these soundbites and get your reaction on the other side. now that we have heard it directly from president putin himself, it confirm what is we have been saying. that he did not send more than 150,000 troops to the ukrainian border because of the denying military exercises or threaten ukraine. or stop fabricated genocide by ukraine or any other manufactured reason. his plan all along has been to invade ukraine to control
begins we do that. but it takesge to do it. the president has yet to do that. steve: senator sorry, he is running for senate. general, the president about, i don t know, four or five weeks ago mentioned you know will if there is a minor incursion, we seal what happens. it s not an all-out war yet with ukraine. maybe it is that minor incursion and maybe that explains why the president is just taking baby steps when it comes to sanctions they have taken baby steps because of weakness. they walk around with football cleats on. they don t really know what game they are playing in right now and it s very, very serious. i don t mean to sound flippant but the whole idea is we have an imbalance in our national security. here at home and in our foreign policy. and, yes, they are both connected. here at home we should have woke up today with a reversal in our