Interview With Texas Congressman Ron Paul
O'BRIEN: Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is trailing badly in the polls. He has not broken 2 percent in national polls. He's tied for dead last in the Republican field. Whether he's running to actually win, or if he just wants to get his message across, it is a message that certainly is setting him apart from the pack. Dr. Paul, a former obstetrician, basically wants to remake his party. Here's the rest of our interview.</s>O'BRIEN: You have called for abolishing Social Security, CIA, Homeland Security, and -- and actually a -- kind of a long list of other things that most people would consider to be fairly entrenched in our society. Regardless of what happens to your campaign, do you think any of those things on that list I just read could have traction?</s>PAUL: I have never voted once to spend one penny out of Social Security. I want to make the system work while it's there. It's not ideal. It's not part of the Constitution. But I say that the only way we can tide our people over who are dependent -- we have taught them to be dependent. We don't want to throw them out on the street. And we can save hundreds of billions of dollars if we give up on our American empire, bring these troops home, actually cut the deficit and take care of these people. So, there's no way I -- that's not the reason I'm running for the presidency. I mean, theoretically, yes, they should not have been started. But I'm the one that has the answer on how we can take care of these people, since I have never spent any of those trust fund's money anyway.</s>O'BRIEN: Is there a point you have considered at which you will call it quits, if in fact the numbers don't start coming in, the number of people who say they're going to vote for you? I mean, it is, you know, 1 percent, 2 percent, 5 percent when you get to Iowa and you get to New Hampshire? Is there a point where you say, you know, if you don't start getting the numbers, you have got to be out of the race?</s>PAUL: I haven't thought much about that, because when I started, early on, I had no idea what would happen. And it's about 100-fold greater than I ever dreamed of. And we're -- we are growing on an exponential curve. If you look at our supporters and if you look at the money, it's unlike the other campaigns. And they are going down. So, I think -- I think you have to reassess a campaign continuously. But we have some early primaries coming up, and I predict those numbers that you just quoted aren't going to be accurate.</s>O'BRIEN: If you weren't in the race, who would you vote for?</s>PAUL: I have no idea, because I said I would vote for anybody who would change this policy in the Middle East and bring our troops home, and have a non-interventionist foreign policy. And, so far, I have not met anybody. And I'm also very interested in monetary policy and fiscal conservatism. And, right now, I don't see that. I think the Republican Party has lost their way. I think they are a big- government policy. The neoconservatives have taken over. The old, traditional conservative Republicans of the old right, they have -- they have lost -- they have lost their impact. And I'm trying to revive that.</s>O'BRIEN: If you pull up articles on you consistently, you'll see, on occasion, but consistently, there are a lot of people that describe you as a flake. And that's a quote. That's not my word. That's their word in the article. What do you make when you read something like that about yourself?</s>PAUL: Well, that and radical and extremist and all that. I think they're in charge. I think anybody who believes you can print money out of thin air and think the dollar is going to maintain its value and not cause economic harm, I think that's a flaky idea. It's pretty bizarre to me. And I think a $500 billion increase in the national debt, that's flaky. I think an American empire is flaky and weird and not wise. It's unconstitutional. So yes, it's terminology. They're playing on words. But right now, our campaign is growing, because most Americans consider what's going on in Washington pretty flaky, and they want some changes made.</s>O'BRIEN: Right now looks like you've got some momentum. Dr. Ron Paul, the congressman, thank you for talking with us. And presidential candidate, I must add. Thank you for talking with us this evening. We certainly appreciate it, sir.</s>PAUL: Thank you.</s>O'BRIEN: Another issue in the race for the White House is the environment, an issue that 360, of course, follows closely. Last month Anderson and Dr. Sanjay Gupta and wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin looked at the effects of climate change in a four-hour documentary called "Planet in Peril". Now we want you to take part in the discussion by sending in questions for our panel of experts. Here's one that caught our eye.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, I'm Elvira (ph) from Japan. Today, let me show you my indie (ph) bag. I always carry my shopping bag with me so I don't have to ask for plastic bags when I go to supermarkets or bakery. Being Japanese, I can eat almost anything using chopsticks. So again, I have to ask for plastic forks or disposable chopsticks. Here's my question. Do I really need to do these things? I feel like what I'm doing is too small. I won't have any impact on protecting our environment. How much impact will it have if each individual becomes eco-friendly person? Here's one more thing left in my bag, my favorite book.</s>O'BRIEN: Great book. It's easy to submit a question. Just go to CNN.com/360 and click on the "send a question" link. We hope to hear from you, too. Now, here's John Roberts with a look at what's coming up on Monday on "AMERICAN MORNING".</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING": Thanks, Soledad. Monday we bring you the most news in the morning, including a way you can extend your weekend. And we're not just talking about turning the clocks back an hour. It's a new Web site selling excuses in case you don't feel like showing up somewhere on Monday morning. Everything from "my back hurts", "my grandma died" to "I have jury duty". The question is, can you get away with it? Find out Monday morning on "AMERICAN MORNING", beginning at 6:30 a.m. Eastern -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: And still ahead on 360, a major scare at the nation's largest nuclear power plant. A worker, a bomb, a very tense situation. Also ahead, the agency in charge of keeping dangerous products off store shelves under fire again. This time for allegedly taking trips paid for by the companies that are supposed to be monitoring. We're "Keeping Them Honest", coming up next.