CNN "The Situation Room" Transcript: Middle East and Election

Interview

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KEILAR: Sara Murray with Donald Trump in New Hampshire, thank you so much, Sara.

I want to get reaction now to Trump's latest attacks and counterattacks from one of his Republican rivals.

Senator and presidential candidate Rand Paul is joining us live from his home state of Kentucky.

Senator, thanks so much for being with us during this holiday break.

And, you know, listening to Donald Trump go after Bill Clinton, of course, it reminds us that you went after him as well. What is your reaction to Donald Trump's criticism of Bill Clinton, saying that he's fair game?

And I just have to say this. Do you think that Trump is just jumping on the Rand wagon, so to speak?

(LAUGHTER)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I don't think it's Hillary's fault that her husband was -- had serial infidelities.

I do think, though, that there is some question that has to do with the law. The law is pretty specific on how you treat women in the workplace. And I think, if you have an intern and you have a much older man who is their superior, and they're having a liaison at the workplace, I think most people in any corporation in America would be fired. So, I think what Bill Clinton did with Monica Lewinsky, even

though it was consensual, it would cause him to be fired from any major corporation in the country. And so I think that is a legitimate discussion. But I don't think it's Hillary's fault that she's married to a man that does this.

But it's a question about what kind of laws we should have and how you should treat women in the workplace.

KEILAR: Do you see, politically, any downside to criticizing or slamming Bill Clinton in this way?

PAUL: No.

Like I say, I don't think it's Hillary's fault. But Bill Clinton is who he is. And there are laws that we have and there are social norms. And I think we have actually improved the social norms, where men are not allowed to pray on women at the workplace. And I do think that the way Bill Clinton treated Monica Lewinsky, that kind of behavior wouldn't be tolerated in any corporation in America. And he kind of got a free pass from most of the media on it as it went through the first time.

But, like I say, this isn't Hillary Clinton's fault. But the thing is, is that if she's for workplace equality and if she's for changing the laws to make it better for women, then she needs to -- there is going to be this distinction brought up or this problem or irony brought up that her husband seemed to be a great abuser of women in the workplace.

The other problem she's going to have is, she's taken donations from some countries that have some of the worst rights, records with regard to women, Saudi Arabia, Brunei. They stone women to death in these countries. They whip women who have been raped for being raped.

I mean, she has got to explain why she takes money from these groups and why she hasn't returned it. So, yes, she does have a women's problem and I think it's not apparent yet because she gets kind of a pass from some in the media. But, boy, she's going to have some explaining to do if she's the nominee and if we have a nominee that will challenge her on these issues.

KEILAR: I do want to get your opinion of this Virginia Republican Party loyalty pledge that they have instituted. Donald Trump has attacked this. Do you think this pledge is a good idea?

PAUL: I haven't seen the pledge, but I do think that, in some ways, we all run as Republicans. We do some have loyalty to the party. But I haven't seen the pledge.

I do think, though, that we benefit. When I ran in a primary, I took a pledge to support the eventual nominee, because you know what? If I won the primary, which I did win my primary, I needed the support of all those who didn't support me. But whether or not it needs to be some kind of written oath or pledge, you know, I don't have a strong opinion because I haven't looked at the oath.

KEILAR: OK. I want to turn now and talk about some really interesting polling that we have gotten.

I do want to note that this polling happened before this news on Ramadi. But this is about the war on terror and really where Americans feel that the country is in keeping them safe from it.

Our new CNN/ORC poll released today shows only 51 percent of Americans believe the government can prevent a terrorist attack.

Do you think Americans should be that concerned?

PAUL: Well, you know, I think that terrorist attacks are very difficult to prevent, and there are some that may well be nearly impossible to prevent. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't do more. I actually think we should do more.

I think we should have more scrutiny of those who travel to our country. All of the hijackers on 9/11 came here legally. They came here with visas, but I don't think we adequately police our visa system. I don't think we have adequate background checks on people before they come here.

I also think we should do more, but it makes a difference whether you do the right thing or not. I think toppling Assad in Syria will make ISIS stronger. However, I think that Russia already has a big presence. And then I think we should have a conversation with Russia and see where our interests coincide. If there was a peace or a ceasefire in Syria, I think that would go a long way towards stabilizing the region so ISIS can be wiped out.

But it's going to take a coalition of all the surrounding countries and I believe ultimately, Muslim boots on the ground. So while I'm for doing more, it's not with American troops on the ground. It's more with Arab boots on the ground.

KEILAR: I want to talk to you, finally, about your campaign and where you see it going at this point in time. You've been struggling to get some of that enthusiasm that I know that you would like to see that would boost your poll numbers, especially as you look toward another debate, the possibility of being on an undercard debate if that continues. Where are you on that?

PAUL: Well, you know, the good news is the last two national polls, one by CNN and one by another organization today, CNN's poll showed me in sixth place. The national poll today showed me in fourth place or fifth place, one point out of fourth place. So by the criteria we have now, I would make it, and I think that's only fair.

I do think, though, that it would be a mistake to exclude Jeb Bush or to exclude people who have nationwide campaigns, have raised significant amount of money and have a ground game in the early primary states.

So I will continue to argue that people who have legitimate nationwide campaigns shouldn't be excluded and that it is a big deal. It's a huge deal for, you know, to exclude Christie or to exclude Bush from the stage. I think, really, in the end makes it almost impossible to rebound from that. So I will make the argument that the debates need to include everybody that has a legitimate national campaign.

Look, the pollings have been -- polling has been notoriously wrong recently. In Kentucky, they were off 13 points one week before. So I think we ought to base it on the elections, letting voters have a chance and not pre-deciding the outcome by covering only those who have higher numbers in polls that still include a lot of undecideds and still include a lot of people going back and forth and up and down. I don't think there's rhyme or reason to the polls. So I think we ought to be really, really careful about pre-deciding any elections.

KEILAR: All right. Senator Rand Paul, thank you so much and a happy new year to you if we don't see you before 2016 begins.

PAUL: Thank you. Happy new year to you guys, too.

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