RUSH EXCERPT:
TRUMP: "So, I repeat again, the senator from Kentucky is now working for Vladimir Putin."
[clip ends]
GEIST: "Senator, context around that. The vote was around putting them into nato. What is your reaction to senator McCain's characterization of your objection?"
PAUL: "I think he makes a really, really strong case for term limits. I think maybe he's past his prime, maybe he's gotten unhinged. I do think that when we talk about nato, there can be a rational discussion about the pros and cons of expanding it. We currently have combat troops in six nations. We have troops actively stationed in probably a couple dozen others. We have a $20 trillion debt. One of my favorite articles of the last couple years is one that talked about the angry McCain's. If we put active troops in combat where McCain wants us to be, they put an angry McCain on the map. It's virtually everywhere. His foreign policy would greatly endanger the United States and overextend us. There has to be the thought whether or not it's in our national interest to pledge to get involved with war if they have an altercation with anyone. There's also another argument, when you ask the people only about 40% or slightly less are slightly in favor of this. They are close to Russia and close to being like Ukraine in the transition from Europe to Asia. Perhaps it would be good to be like Switzerland and trade with both. So, there's a lot of considerations but to call someone somehow an enemy of the state or a traitor might be considered by most reasonable people over the top."
HALPERIN: " Senator, you called John McCain unhinged. He said he was past his prime. Why do you think so many other senators voted in favor of this measure if it is crazy?"
PAUL: "There's a bipartisan consensus that the whole world should be in nato. If we have Ukraine in nato, we would be at war now because Russia has invaded both of them. I think having former satellites or former parts of the soviet Union is nato is provocative. You have to decide in advance whether you are ready go to war. If you are ready to send a million troops to Ukraine and fight World War III, you are going to do it without my support."
HALPERIN: "Do you think Albania and Croatia should have been allowed in nato in 2009?"
PAUL: "It's a debate in how big it should be and whether or not it's more provocative than good. There's a debate the president brought up, we seem to be paying for all of it. When there's a war fought, our soldiers fight it and our dollars pay for it. The soldiers they have are hardly an asset to our national security. Really, our decisions need to be about our national security. I don't think it enhances our security to have them part of nato."