Transcript for Ron Paul on CNN Early Edition - 12/2

(Subtitles begin at :29 seconds)

BLITZER: Let's talk about the CNN YouTube Debate, there was a comment that John McCain made

about some of your strategies with a really, really dire assessment. I want play this little clip of what he said. Listen to this.

JOHN MCCAIN: Congressman Paul, I have heard him now in many debates, talk about bringing our troops home and about the war

in Iraq and how it has failed. And I want to tell you that that kind of isolationism, sir, is what caused World War II.

You allowed Hitler to come to power with that kind of attitude of isolationism and appeasement.

BLITZER: All right. You were shaking your head as you heard the final, but the comparison to Hitler

and appeasement and isolationism, you had a chance to respond, but I want you to elaborate this morning.

PAUL: Well, first off, Iraq is not Nazi Germany. And besides, I thought it was Hitler that caused World War II,

not the American people, who opposed going in. So it didn't make any sense.

And then he was awfully confused about isolationism versus non-intervention. There is a big difference.

Isolationism isn't what I advocate. I advocate non-intervention, not getting involved in the internal affairs of other nations,

and not pretending a country like Iraq is equivalent to Nazi Germany.

Iraq had no army, no navy, had no weapons of mass destruction, had nothing to do with 9/11, so the comparison makes no sense.

BLITZER: What -- under what circumstances, if you were president, Congressman Paul,

would you intervene outside the borders of the United States in some sort of crisis around the world?

PAUL: When Congress directed me to in the act of war. If our national security was threatened

and we went through the proper procedures,

Congress would say, our national security is involved, it is threatened and we have to act.

And Congress has that responsibility. The president is the command-in-chief, and then he acts.

BLITZER: I guess the bigger point that John McCain was making in that

meeting with U.S. forces there was that the surge --

he had just spent some time in Iraq during the Thanksgiving break,

he says the military surge is working and that it would be a disaster if the U.S. were to pull out right now.

I will play a little clip of what he said after the debate.

MCCAIN: Over in Iraq, the men and women who are serving know what is going on politically here. They pay attention.

And I tried to point out to Congressman Paul that they believe that they are winning

and they don't agree with his description of the motives for which we went to war in Iraq.

BLITZER: All right. You want to respond to him, Congressman?

PAUL: Well, yes, we do disagree on this. I don't believe we went to the war for the right reason

I mean, there were no weapons of mass destruction. It had nothing to do with 9/11.

So we were there for the wrong reason and he doesn't understand the motivations for why they want to come here.

It is not because, you know, we are wealthy and prosperous and free. They come here because we are in their country

And even if there is an improvement, which we all hope there is, we plan to keep 14 bases over there,

a huge Naval base, and we have this huge embassy,

we have a permanent plan to stay there and take over these $30 trillion worth of oil in that region.

And the people in those countries know that and that is why they are very angry. And to deny that is folly.

It just means that we have expanded the opportunity for the terrorists to come here because there is greater motivation.

So I think we are in worse shape than ever before because there are al Qaeda than ever before. There was no al Qaeda in Iraq before,

now they are all over the place, and their numbers are growing.

So if we want to protect ourselves against terrorism, we have to understand what motivates them. Even Wolfowitz admitted this.

He said that the base in Saudi Arabia was an instrumental part of what motivated Osama bin Laden.

So if we ignore that, it is at our own folly.

BLITZER: I think a lot of voters out there will agree with you. The question, though, is this, will a lot of Republican voters agree with you?

Because when you made that point at the debate the other night, about what Wolfowitz has said about the al Qaeda operations

and the U.S. bases that existed in Saudi Arabia before the war in Iraq, you know,

there were some boos that came out from that audience.

So here is the question, are you in step, Congressman, right now, with Republican voters

whom you need to win in Iowa, New Hampshire, and beyond?

PAUL: Well, a poll showed that half of the Republicans in Iowa are opposed to the war and would like to come home.

The real control, in New Hampshire, where I am right now, is by the independents,

the group of people that won the election for McCain a few years ago.

So I would say that since 70 percent of the American people want out of the war and they are tired of it,

the Republicans had better pick somebody who is opposed to war or have a new foreign policy, or they can't win.

And I think the whole sentiment is shifting. The people are sick and tired of the war. We can't even afford it.

We can't even fight the war without borrowing the money from the Chinese. So it doesn't add up.

It really doesn't matter whether I'm right or wrong, the war is going to end because

with the devaluation of our dollar because we just can't keep affording to do this..

This is usually how empires end, by spending too much money maintain their empires.

We are in 130 countries. We have 700 bases around the world.

And it is going to come to an end. I want it to come to an end more gracefully and peacefully,

follow the Constitution and follow more sensible foreign policy.

BLITZER: You made a charge at the debate the other night in which you suggested that, in your words,

millions of acres of eminent domain would be used to build a new international highway from

Canada through the United States, down to Mexico,

suggesting that maybe there was a plan to create some sort of North American Union, similar to the European Union,

which is now being denied obviously by a lot of folks in Washington,

including a spokesman for the Federal Highway Administration, saying -- on Thursday saying:

"There is no such super highway like the one he is talking about. It doesn't exist in plans or anywhere else."

On the basis of what are you making that suggestion, that there is plans under way

someplace to build this kind of super international highway?

PAUL: Well, look up the Web site Security for Prosperity and Peace,

which is a government project, and they talk about the highway.

Texas passed unanimously, in both house and senate, a resolution to put it on hold.

We have a bill in the Congress to stop all of the funding for this particular highway, and I think we have over 50 co-sponsors of it.

To be in denial of this, that this is not planned, they are not going to admit it. It is subtle.

They will say we are just improving highways. But how come they had a meeting in April of 2005

with the president of Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and they talk about these things?

So to be in denial is one thing. I mean, they do believe in globalism, much more so than most Americans.

So I don't think there is any doubt about the plans. It is not going to happen tomorrow or the next day.

But in time this is likely to happen unless we have a shift in foreign policy.

BLITZER: I want to talk a little bit of politics in the brief time that we have left.

The latest Des Moines Register poll in Iowa that is just out today, Congressman,

has you at 7 percent, the same number as John McCain, Huckabee is at 29, ahead of Romney 24, Giuliani 13.

The -- as far as fundraising is concerned though, and this is significant, in the last quarter that ended, you had raised $5 million,

but there is some suggestion in this final quarter of 2007,

you could raise more money than any of the other Republican presidential candidates

given the enormous amount you have raised online.

Is that your assessment right now? Because there is some suggestion you have already raised in this quarter,

what, $8 million, $9 million?

PAUL: Now that is not exactly right because yesterday it went over $10.5 million or $10.4 million.

Our goal was to raise $12 million by the end of the quarter. And there is going to be

another super day sponsored by our supporters, spontaneously

like they did on 11/5, when they raised $4.3 million. And they this one is going to be bigger, and that's December 16th.

So something big is going on. The people are really annoyed with conventional politics

and we are spending this money. We are spending it in Iowa.

So I think those polls are going to continue to shift. Our numbers are going up. And people are just starting

to think about how they are going to vote in these primaries. So who knows exactly what will happen.

But we are pretty optimistic about the position we hold, and we are going to be financed for February 5th as well.

BLITZER: Well, a quick point on that, just to be precise, as of now, how much have you raised in this fourth and final quarter of 2007?

And how much do you expect to raise by the time the quarter, at the end of this year, is already done with?

PAUL: Well, I think it is $10.4 million. It is very close to that. I know it is over $10 million. Our goal was $12 million,

and we have almost a month left.

And we have a big day set. So we are going to be way over our goal of $12 million.

And they could watch our Web site and we run the tab minute by minute.

And, I mean, at this rate, it could be, you know, maybe $14 million or $15 million. It just is astounding. It astounds us.

But it really tells me that although I had a great deal of concerns about the country,

the American people were equally concerned and they are willing to put their money with a candidate.

who is willing to state these positions,

all of these concerns, whether it is the foreign policy and coming home, or the irresponsible spending here,

the terrible policy we have with monetary policy, the protection of our dollar,

and the income tax system that is so, so unliked.

And I want to not just revamp it, I want to get rid of it and not replace it with anything. People are ready for some changes.

BLITZER: Congressman Ron Paul, thanks very much for coming in.

PAUL: Thank you.