CNN "The Situation Room"- Transcript: Republican Party

Interview

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Let's get some more now with Republican presidential candidate, the senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul. He's a member of the homeland security and foreign relations committee.

Senator, thanks very much for coming in.

You heard the governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker yesterday say he's dropping out. He hopes other Republican candidates drop out as well, those who aren't doing well to prevent Donald Trump from getting the nomination. Are you ready to drop out?

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, but I think it's important that we do differentiate ourselves from the celebrity that does appear to be dominating the polls. I've been pointing out that I'm a real conservative and that frankly Donald Trump is a fake conservative. I think that's important because most of us who came out of the tea party movement, we were opposed to President Obama's health care plan. Donald Trump was for it. We were opposed to the government stimulus plan. Donald Trump was for it.

And most of us are for property rights. We don't think the government should use eminent domain to take property from small property owners and give it to big corporations. Donald Trump actually supports that. So I don't think there's anything about his positions that are conservative. I think he's an angry individual with a lot of empty platitudes, but I don't think that - I think it's important that actually somebody point out that he's not a conservative.

BLITZER: So why is he in our latest poll at 24 percent and you're at four percent? Why is he resonating?

PAUL: It's going to take time. But I think it is anger. People are angry and so am I. And frankly, I ran for office and the pea party sort of arose because we were angry at Republicans who promised to be conservative and weren't. But that's sort of a little bit of what Donald Trump is. He's a person who promises to be conservative, promises to be against the establishment. But then when you ask him why he gives money to Harry Reid, why he gives money to Charlie Rangel, he says, well, it's because I want them to do whatever the hell I tell them to do. That's what's wrong with government. People buying and selling politicians and thinking they can buy influence up here. I want government to be so small there is no influence to be sold.

BLITZER: He's campaigning as a Washington outsider. You like to think you're a Washington outsider, too, right?

PAUL: Well, you know, I'm a physician. I practiced medicine for 20 years, and I ran because I was concerned that the government was running up so much debt. I still vote almost always against both parties that are running up the debt here. I've never voted for one of these continuing resolutions because it's a collection of all the spending and it continues the problem, continues the accumulation of debt. So yes, I'm one who is an outsider who says it's broken out here and I won't go along just to get along with the system.

BLITZER: Now that you've been a United States senator here in Washington for the past several years, a lot of people out there, voters, presumably, Republicans see you as an insider.

PAUL: Maybe. I think people also see me as someone who is willing to stand up to leadership when leadership is wrong. I stood on the floor of the Senate for ten-and-a-half hours and filibustered against the government collecting our phone records. I stood on the floor for thirteen-and-a-half hours and said, you know what? I think it's important that the president acknowledge that he's not going to kill U.S. citizens without any kind of due process, without a trial.

So I think I am seen as someone who is willing to stand up on principle and stand against the tide. I've never voted for any of the funding bills for any budget that doesn't balance.

BLITZER: The former Texas governor, Rick Perry, dropped out. He was running out of money. Scott Walker dropped out, the current governor of Wisconsin, yesterday. He was running out of money. How is your financial situation? How is your campaign doing as far as money is concerned?

PAUL: Well, we're doing pretty well. We just won an important straw poll in Michigan this last week. We're raising money. We're competing in all 50 states. We've organized 300 colleges. We've organized 15 colleges just in Iowa.

Our strength is among the youth. I think the youth most strongly disagree with President Obama's collecting of all of our phone records and storing them. So we think we have some advantages that the other candidates don't have.

Also when you look at my polling against the Democrats, against Hillary Clinton in a general election, I actually lead her in five states won by President Obama. So I'm the one Republican who can actually gain the independent vote and will go to the cities and try to get the vote that Republicans haven't gotten.

BLITZER: We've got to take a break, but very quickly, a lot of your Kentucky supporters, they want you to focus in on getting re-elected in Kentucky and forget about the presidential campaign.

PAUL: Well, I haven't forgotten about my day job. I am paid by the taxpayers of Kentucky. And I try to be here for every vote. I've made 99 percent of my votes. And I haven't forgotten where I came from or who I represent.

BLITZER: Stand by, Senator, because we have a lot more to discuss. Much more with Senator Rand Paul right after this.

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[18:36:38] BLITZER: We're back with Senator Rand Paul. Senator, would you support a Muslim president of the United States?

PAUL: Well, I think it's important to separate out, you know, what the law is, whether you would personally or what the law should be. The Constitution says there will be no religious test. And when I ran for office there were some people who insinuated I wasn't a good enough Christian to run for office. So I'm pretty sensitive about people saying that your religion is not pure enough.

But I think there's an honest question that voters would have. There's obviously nothing precluding a Muslim from holding office. We do have several Muslims who, I think, are conscientious and well- meaning in Congress and some who I've actually worked on legislation of criminal justice reform.

But I do think there would be some questions to ask. Do you believe literally that a woman should be stoned to death for adultery? Do you believe that when someone steals something, their hands should be cut off? Under strict Islamic law in countries like Saudi Arabia, Brunei, other places, particularly some of these places -- this has been a question with Hillary Clinton. She's taken money from some of these Islamic countries that live under Islamic law, but they aren't very good to women. Women don't have the same rights as men. In fact, for adultery, I think women's testimony counts half as much as men. So you have to have two to three women to testify.

BLITZER: But personally, could you support a Muslim for president?

PAUL: Sure, if they -- if they support the things that made America great, constitutional principles, Bill of Rights. But some of those are inconsistent with the interpretation of the Koran that's being put forward by particularly some folks.

And I think this is a big deal, because we've made this really simple that, oh, Ben Carson is terrible because he said this, but think about what he's saying. In England, for example, 20 percent of the Islamic public in England thought the bombings were OK on the subway. These are important questions to ask if you have someone who's Muslim running for office. Do you think violence is OK? Do you think Sharia Law should be the law of the land? Do you think that the 9/11 bombings were OK?

For goodness sakes, I surely wouldn't vote for any Christian or Muslim that thought, you know, that violence was a way to shape your religious views.

BLITZER: Let me just get you on the record. Was President Obama born in the United States?

PAUL: Yes.

BLITZER: Is President Obama a Christian?

PAUL: Yes.

BLITZER: So you have no doubt about any of that.

Donald Trump has made these statements saying -- and he had that exchange at the debate on childhood vaccinations. Do these childhood vaccinations -- and you're a physician -- cause autism?

PAUL: There's no scientific study showing that there's a relationship between autism and vaccines. I'm a big fan and believe that one of the greatest medical breakthroughs -- and there's a wonderful book about this, about the smallpox vaccine, "The Speckled Monster." And smallpox had a 50 percent mortality. The vaccine was dangerous. It was taken from the pus of live sores from someone recovering from smallpox.

But within a 50-year period, without government mandates, George Washington was telling his wife Martha that "You can't come visit me in the military camps because -- unless you've been vaccinated." So vaccines are a great medical breakthrough.

But at the same time, we shouldn't just close our eyes and say, because they're a breakthrough, that the government really should be mandating 15 of them or that you have to take them all at one time or that we're going to hold you down. So we did chose -- choose to spread out some of our vaccines. I think in a free country that ought to be your option.

And so I worry a little bit about people who are so certain of themselves that they have this authoritarian nature; they're going to tell us all what to do. But by and large, yes, I recommend that people do get vaccinated. And I think it's a good idea to take the vaccines, but I'm also in favor of freedom, as well.

[18:40:16] BLITZER: Do you believe that these vaccines can cause autism?

PAUL: There's no scientific relationship that's been shown in any of the studies.

BLITZER: The bottom line, as a physician, if someone were to come to you, parents -- they have children -- you would recommend that they get a full vaccine program?

PAUL: I recommend that they do. But the thing is, is I also recommend freedom. And so if an individual truly believes otherwise and thinks that it just hasn't been proven yet, I'm not going to hold their child down or hold them down or take their child away from them, because they choose to operate on -- under a different set of beliefs.

BLITZER: But that does carry a risk, that these children who are not vaccinated could come down with the disease, and they could spread that disease.

PAUL: But this is one of the things that, like, the surgeon general does. And really, when we have a surgeon general, you do want them to promote good health, promote having people take their vaccines.

And the thing is, is that when polio came about, just about everybody took the vaccine. And anybody who's old enough to remember someone who got polio really understands the great value and how we wiped out. You talk about a medical miracle. Getting rid of smallpox and getting rid of polio worldwide, or virtually worldwide, for polio is one of the most amazing medical advancements that was seen in my time.

BLITZER: Senator Rand Paul, thanks very much for coming in.

PAUL: Thank you.

BLITZER: As I always tell you, say hi to your dad, as well.

PAUL: Thank you.

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