>> this is the last week, the weekend before the iowa caucuses. people are going to be caucusing on monday at 7:00 eastern time, and that will be the start of our coverage here on c-span and then at 8:00 eastern time, the republican caucus on c-span and also the democratic caucus, we will have that on c-span2. calling from , republican line, go ahead. caller: i am really for donald trump because i think he has got a backbone and he will stand up and fight for our country and i like how he is standing up for also forans and i am him building the wall and getting the immigrants out of here because this country is getting overtaken by immigrants and we have nothing at our trade and everything with china and

they're getting all of our is goingd i'm glad he to bring back manufacturers here because we really need that. to i really want everybody really focus because he is very good for our country. we don't need a weakling in there like obama, ok? we don't. as far as i am concerned, that guy is a weakling. we need to take our country back. this is gone on too long. i am all for him. >> all right, thank you for the call. independent line, amy, what do you think. do you think it mattered that donald trump skipped the debate? caller: i don't think it mattered, i think it helped him. after watching his event, i was more impressed and he will get my vote. that other than the veterans' talks, which was amazing, i thought that he other the stage with two

guys, mike huckabee and rick santorum, and they have won the iowa caucus before. >> very good that you pointed that out. caller: i'm sorry? >> very good, you have got your facts. caller: it makes them genuine. i loved it. glad i could see it. their thanks for the call permit a couple more tweets. this one is from patricia -- all right, thanks for the call th ere. here are a couple more tweets. been tweeting,'s and kelly o'donnell's said that his campaign has raised $6 billion today. that trumptweeted said that he refused to be called a politician. -- rebeccaa chabad

shabad says illegal immigrants are treated better in many cases under donald trump. just wanted toi say that i don't think it hurt donald trump at all for missing the debate. in fact, i didn't watch one second of the presidential debate. i watched donald trump's rally. i does wanted to say that i think he is great for this country and i think he will do a fabulous job. we need jobs. we need security. and i just think he is a wonderful man and i will be voting for donald trump and i just hope that he wins and this country is just great again. you weresaw that calling on the democrat's's

line, are you voting for donald trump? caller: you betcha. make thisald trump to country great again because i think he will really do just a fantastic job. and as far as our administration that we have now, i voted for barack and i'm so sorry that i obama and i am so sorry that i did and i just hope that donald trump makes the world great again. >> we've got one caller from iowa here, carol. carol, he is making a lot of appearances in your state. what are you thinking? caller: you know, when i heard that donald was going to not go to the debates, i thought, well, that is just bad for his character because i was very hopeful and i thought, we need

somebody so strong to offset what has been going on for the last seven years with the weakness and we just need somebody who is as strong as donald and with enthusiasm because the other one just kind of puts you to sleep. so i thought that that was not good and i was really armed and then i started watching the debates and i was flipping through the channels when i saw he was on and he had his program for the veterans and i was even more excited now. after watching that, it is like, you know what? i am still a trumped supporter and i will be voting on tuesday or, on monday, i am sorry, and i am even more excited about the future, you know? , but heomised change did not say it was going to be good. >> not to take it too off-topic, but we have been hearing a lot

about how difficult it is to caucus. have you caucused before and are you looking forward to it? caller: i have not and i am looking forward to it, yes i am. >> do you think there will be a lot of people out there like you? caller: i do. this country cannot take any more of what we had in the last seven years. i did not vote for obama on the first time or the second time and i've was wondering, what are other people seeing that i am not seeing? i am not a brain surgeon like carson, i am a common person with common sense and i couldn't see how obama got in a second time and those after the first four years. >> all right, thanks for the call from iowa there. republican line from south carolina. caller: hello. >> hello. caller: donald trump did the right thing. fox had him set up from the beginning and him and megyn

kelly did not get along and megyn kelly was very rude to him for the first time so i did believe he did the right thing. you know what, this is the first time i have watched your channel, but you've got to let the nation see what they really want it to see. i shall be watching your station more then fox and i have been a loyal, loyal fox fan for years. i have very upset with them because i thought, why would they do something like this? they did this to get really high ratings and i can't blame them for that but nobody wants to be humiliated and i thought they were trying to do something and now i think as a matter of fact that it helped him and this is the first time that i watched this and i thought, i am going to watch that station, and you know what? i really appreciate y'all showing this. to find any of the pass coverage, just go to our website at c-span.org.

thank you so much for tuning in. vista, arkansas. what do you think about him skipping the debate? caller: it doesn't matter because i am a fan of donald trump. to thanky, i want c-span. i have been a loyal follower of c-span and this is it, this is the reason why i like c-span. this whole discussion and putting on donald trump when you didn't have to, i really appreciate it. year veteran of the air force and i love it. i have just finished this book ,hat he read, i mean, he wrote in 2011, and all of the things that he is talking about is in the book and he is talking about getting jobs, this is the most,

one of the most important things, is we need more jobs and we need them in regards to trade. we need to be strong on the trade and donald trump is for that and so i am thankful that you guys put him on very much. thank you. >> thanks for joining us. faith is calling from pennsylvania on the democrats line. go ahead. caller: i am a democrat and i am voting for donald trump. he has me convinced that he is the best man for the job. >> why is that? caller: well, i listen to him constantly. i am a news junkie because of him. he is a breath of fresh air. he says everything on his mind that anyone else can only think about. had been 24 hours since he put this thing together and he

came up with $6 million for the veterans so that is why i think he should have at least four years. >> all right, thanks, faith. the last call is going to go to bobby in birmingham, alabama. go ahead. caller: every american needs to go out and vote for this man and we are not what you see anyone like him in our lifetime. i have seen a number of billionaires in my lifetime and they are usually horrible, i am thinking of george soros. he doesn't use cue cards, he is not afraid to speak. he is going to get rid of this political correctness. everyone in america needs to remember what that feels like because we have been suppressed or decades, really. it's gotten so bad under obama. what do the pc police think about what i have to say next? this is the best thing that has ever happened and i met him that you are the only person i am going to vote for.

that is a literal fact. i have never voted and i'm not going to vote for anybody after donald trump. holy we can get to terms and see him turn this country around. to goefully we can get terms and see him turn this country around. >> thank you. his ownrump was holding fundraiser for veterans while the gop debate was going on on fox. all of this is right ahead of the iowa caucuses. we are going to talk about david tomorrow morning at 7:45 and then brad zaun is going to join us at eight: 30, and he is an iowa senator and a truck supporter. boblly, bob vander plots -- plaats and the conservatives in iowa caucuses. all of that tomorrow morning on "washington journal."

next we will take a look at another appearance that was but first, going over some of the live coverage we will have on friday, governor chris christie will be joining the folks in iowa at 12:30 on our companion network on c-span2 , and jeb bush will be in 1:45 p.m. on at c-span, and then dr. ben carson will be at three clock p.m. on c-span2. is wrapping his rally up at drake university. we had an earlier rally there by another republican presidential candidate, rand paul. let's see what he had to say. talk. him let him talk. let him talk. -- president paul. president paul.

president paul. president paul. president paul. [applause] any fans of freedom in the house tonight? [applause] you guys arel, if not here to hear from me, i do have a few announcements. one awesome announcement. we are planning on turning out 10,000 college students for rand paul. [applause] right here at drake, we do have a meet up location, this one is at 6:00 p.m., we are going to be right in here, we are expecting tons and funds of folks, grab one of our cards, and if you are not a student, we are trying to build a big coalition. we have at these of volunteer cards, and if you want to help out in the caucus or help us

with phone calls, fill this out and we will get you all set up. if you want to speak, we can even get you set up with that. who is ready to hear from the next president of the united states? [applause] >> president paul. president paul. president paul. >> ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming our next president, mr. rand paul. [applause] mr. paul: thank you, thank you. are there any liberty lovers in the house? [applause] mr. paul: thank you, thank you. welcome to the home stretch. here we come, iowa. i want to tell you why america needs to hear your voice.

we live in a world that is increasingly becoming a more from tradition -- becoming unmoored from tradition, and our way of life. full garrity is accepted as the vulgarity is accepted as the norm. a stranger can no longer wonder awe is as good in on as dead. to think that there is something in our minds that we cannot religiousness. in order to embrace the mystery,

we must be free. without liberty, our senses are dole and dumbed down -- are dull and dumbed down by regulation. of question we face is not the moment but of such a magnitude that we choose today, whether liberty can survive in a democracy unrestrained by a constitution. choosesvilization that to transfer the fruits of labor from one group to another, can such a civilization long endure? what we eventually run out of other people's money? [applause] mr. paul: the american experiment with liberty is not totally won. today, tomorrow, and the day after, we must fight to restrain

big brother. [applause] will you stand together against the rising tide of government excess that threatens to trap us in the clutches of big brother? will you stand with me? [applause] >> president paul! president paul! president paul! mr. paul: liberty is under assault like never before in washington and on the campaign trail, and republicans and democrats alike call out for bigger government. understandsdent who the corrupting influence of big government can stop it. is forright, the call enlarging the military state. on the left, the call is for enlarging the welfare state. and the dirty little secret?

the dirty little secret in washington is that the right and the left always get what they want, more spending. and you, you get stuck with the bill. in washingtonices for more spending are actually right now coming from republicans. recently, ted cruz and marco rubio -- crowd: boooo! they put forward an amendment for military spending of $200 billion. this would add $200 billion to our debt. when i countered them with an amendment that would cut domestic spending in order to pay for it, they refused. the inconvenient truth is that you cannot be a conservative if you are liberal with military spending. [applause]

mr. paul: we do not become a stronger or a safer nation if we borrow from china to inflate our military budget. we stand more on her military budget that russia plus china plus the next eight countries combined. there is waste everywhere. from $43 million to a natural gas gas station in afghanistan to $1 million for a televised cricket game in afghanistan. they don't even have televisions in afghanistan. with thisroblem unholy compromise, the republicans, they get more republicans and they get more military spending but only if they trade democrats a whopping them is expanding. if we want to balance the budget and if we truly do believe in

what we say in, all spending must be restrained. [applause] mr. paul: every republican says they are for balancing the budget but nobody ever does it. introduced three budgets that are balance and i can do it by reducing spending across-the-board. the national taxpayers union is recognizing me as the most frugal lawmaker in washington. spend too much money but they are also carelessly infringing on our civil liberties. both parties are conjuring to an assault on your rights. the right attacks your fourth amendment, the left the texture second amendment, i am the only candidate that stands for the

entire ill of rights -- the left attacks your second amendment, and i am the only candidate that stands for the entire bill of rights. [applause] >> president paul! president paul! president paul! president paul! [applause] terroristsince the attack in san bernardino, the left has called out for more gun control while the right calls out for more people control. the left calls for more bands on gun sales -- bans on gun sales and the right to clamors for our records. i don't know about you, that i would say that our phone records are none of their damn business! [applause] they claim we can't be safe without letting the

government inspect everything, collect all of our records, what there is no evidence that these actions make us any safer. two bipartisan commissions investigated the government's bulk collection of data, and they found absolute zero plots. circuit court, the court just below the supreme court, ruled the collection of your phone records are illegal, and yet some still want to bring it back. marco rubio wants to bring it back. he says you cannot be saved unless we can look at everything from your phone. i say it is wrong and we need to protect your privacy. [applause] mr. paul: no ted cruz, he claims he was with us on reforming the now ted cruz, he claims he was with us on reforming the

nsa, that i think he was talking out of both sides of his mouth. he said he voted for a bill to reform the nsa so he can allow the government to collect 100% of your cell phone records. crowd: booo! if his goal is to protect 100% of your cell phone records, he greatly misunderstands the liberty movement. [applause] i've got a better idea. how about we collect 0% of yourself on records? records?r cell phone [applause] i am president, we will once again respect the fourth amendment with asthma -- protectmuch vigor as we the second amendment. when i am president, we will once again defend the entire

bill of rights from top to bottom. [applause] ted cruz, donald trump, marco rubio -- crowd: booooo! >> boo trump! mr. paul: -- they all tell you that they want to carpet bomb the middle east. ted cruz says he wants to make the sand glow. says the problem is we haven't been willing enough to use our nuclear weapons. i am the only candidate that asks, will indiscriminate bombing of civilians create more terrorists than it actually kills? [applause] i am the only one willing to point out that every

time we have used our military might to topple secular dictators from hussein to results have been chaos and the void is not filled with jeffersonian democracy, but with radical islam. us $4aq war alone cost trillion. we lost 5000 of our finest young men and women. more live with catastrophic injuries. as commander in chief, i will never, never ignore the human cost of war. [applause] crowd: president paul! president paul! president paul! no more war! no more war! mr. paul: i like it.

i like it. the other candidates offer you more of the same. macho rhetoric and fear mongering and perpetual war. marco rubio says we should shun cooking -- shun putin. chris christie says he wants to shut down russian planes flying over syria and iraq. yet no one asks what is next. on the stage, i ask for a reasonable foreign policy were we strand -- where we stand strong enough. we do not want to start world war iii. [applause] mr. paul: when i am president, i will adhere to the reagan doctrine that war should be the last resort, not the first.

[applause] mr. paul: and when i am we will only fight wars that are constitutionally declared i congress. congress.d by [applause] mr. paul: when i am president, we will only use war to defend america, not for regime change and not for nationbuilding. one candidate in particular wants you to give him power. he tells you he is so rich he must be smart. [laughter] >> trump! mr. paul: if you give him power,

he will fix america. but you know, there is another tradition in america, a tradition that believes that power corrupts and that our goal should not be to gain power but to contain power and to limit presidential power. [applause] mr. paul: our founding fathers feared centralization of power. "wherein powere, is centralized, no one is safe in his person or possession." our founding fathers wrote this ofrestrain centralization federal government and trump is ignorant of this tradition. in many cases, he is overly opposed to this philosophy.

he believes that the government has the right to seize your property and give it to a rich crony for eminent domain. it -- thisoor and to is abhorant to anyone. he supported bailing out the big banks. he has used the government to get rich and bully the competition and now he asks you to give him power. boo!: notpaul: this race should be about which candidate, or, this race should be about which government will protect you -- which candidate will protect you from the government. this is not about grabbing the ring of power. having gollum elected is not a good thing. [laughter] [applause] only one inam the

this race who doesn't want power . i want to set you free. i want a government so small, you can barely see it. >> president paul. president paul. president paul. president paul. mr. paul: for several years i have been fighting a law that allows americans to be imprisoned without a jury trial. it was signed by president obama a few years ago. my fear is that one day i president might use indefinite ,etention the same way fdr did

to send japanese-americans to internment camps, or detain african-americans like they did in the old south. power corrupts. as we have seen with an out-of-control irs, using its power to harass and intimidate conservatives for their political beliefs. the irs presumes you are guilty until proven innocent. imagine being detained without a trial because your own government deems you suspect, but does not after. desperate -- does not have to prove it. when i think about indefinite detention i am rim -- reminded of a scene from "to kill a luckily, scout comes to the rescue, as she always does. she recognizes the leader of the mob as a father of a boy in her class. she says, i go to school with your son. he is in my grade, and he has

done well, i beat him up once, but he is ok. tell him, hey, for him, won't you? the little girl broke the angry mood of the mob five personalizing it. mob.ound humanity in a when there is a mob intent on indiscriminate government searches. when there is a mob intent on detention without trial, then someone must stand and shout down that mob. as president, i will not only shout down the mob, i will indefinite detention once and for all. [cheers and applause] senator paul: when anyone says we must give up our liberty for a false sense of security, i

cannot help but think of atticus again when he took the case of defending tom robinson. most of the town but he was wrong. in washington, that sentiment is often true. after my filibuster for the right to be left alone, some said i was the most unpopular man in washington. it felt that way. [laughter] senator paul: but i thought of what atticus said, before i can live with other folks, i have to live with myself. the one thing that doesn't abide with majority rule is conscience. the majority is not always right. in fact, the majority is quite often wrong. as victor hugo said an idea , whose time has come, it is stronger than all armies. for a republican to win again, this is not just about the primary -- we get caught up with a primary and about winning the presidency, which means winning

iowa, which hasn't been easy, for us to win again, we need to be brave enough. brave enough to believe that ideas are powerful, maybe even stronger than armies. [cheers and applause] senator paul: to win, we will need to be a bigger, better, bolder party. we need to welcome people of all walks of life -- black, brown, white, tattoos, without tattoos, with earrings and without earrings. ,veralls institute -- and suits we need to become a bigger, more diverse party. as my dad always says, liberty. as my dad always says liberty brings people together. [cheers and applause]

senator paul: it's the common desire to be left alone that binds us all as unique individuals. after all, big government hurts people from all walks of life, rich and poor. the woman in detroit who wants to run a hair braiding business who was run out of her apartment, and shut down by big government. the developer moving dirt on his own land who is jailed by armed e.p.a. agents. [boos] senator paul the small business : that can't compete with corporations and their armies of compliance officers. the elderly woman using her -- losing her home to eminent domain, also known as donald trump. the teenager from a poor family facing jail time for marijuana, what do these individuals have in common? they are losing their liberty to big government.

today your government has 48 federal agencies from the i.r.s. to the department of education that all have their own swat teams. is that freedom? >> no! senator paul: when i am president, these attacks on your liberty will stop once and for all. [cheers and applause] [chanting president paul] senator paul: the g.o.p. has been the party of emancipation. we are the party of civil rights. we need to be the party of justice. justice begins when the war on drugs ends. [applause]

a generation of young black men have been incarcerated and permanently lost the privilege of voting, and the opportunity of work. the war on drugs has disproportionately incarcerated those who live in poverty in our cities. though blacks and whites use drugs at similar rates, three out of four people in prison are black or brown. we must begin to treat addiction as a health problem, not an incarceration problem. [cheers and applause] senator paul: for five years, i fought for a vote on auditing the fed. [applause]

[crowd chanting] senator paul: when i finally got the vote, ted cruz was nowhere to be found. [crowd boos] senator paul: in fact, ted was the only republican to miss the vote. but even worse, ted maintains that the correct response to the great recession was to have the fed more aggressively lower interest rates, when we all know that artificially low interest rates are the problem, not the solution. [cheers and applause] senator paul: when i'm president, the federal reserve will learn that their days of unlimited power are over.

[applause] senator paul: america has much greatness left in her. we are still exceptional and we are still a beacon for the world. we'll thrive when we believe in ourselves again. i see an america strong enough to deter foreign aggression, yet wise enough to avoid unnecessary intervention. i see an america where criminal justice is applied equally, and any law that disproportionately incarcerates people of color is repealed. [cheers and applause] senator paul: i see an america

with a restrained irs that target and harass american citizens for their political or religious belief and -- beliefs. [cheers and applause] i see a simplified flat tax that unburdens our citizens from the fear and intimidation of the i.r.s. code. [applause] senator paul: i would eliminate the entire tax code, the i.r.s. and unleash the engine of to create jobs and opportunity like never before. [applause] we have the highest corporate taxes in the world. is it any wonder that our companies are leaving our shores. money goes where it's welcome. i would bring corporate

investment back by cutting our corporate tax and immediately bringing home $2 trillion in american profit. [applause] i see our big cities, i see our big cities once again shining and beckoning with creativity and ingenuity with american companies offering american jobs. i have a vision for an america beyond partisan squabbling, beyond petty divisions. with your help, this message will ring from coast to coast. a message of liberty, justice and personal responsibility. a message that can gain support from across the political spectrum. a message that can prevail and win the white house. [applause]

the journey to take back america will not be easy. it will not be without obstacles, but together, we can do what others say is not possible. stand with me now as together we seek a new vision for america. i ask for your vote today for the presidency of the united states. thank you. and god bless. [applause] crowd: president paul president paul president paul

president paul [cheering] >> thank you. everybody, we have five minutes to tell you about the campaign and what happens in four days, if you do not know. on your chair as he saw these cards when you came in. and ie is steve grubbs, am the chief strategist here in iowa for rand paul. we know what we have to do to win. we know that there has been a lot of money spent on television . there have been a lot of phone calls made. let me give you an update on the campaign. we have over 1000 precinct captains helping us out

statewide. but there are 1700 prints things -- precinct who are still looking for more people who will stand up in their caucus who can speak from the heart or read a statement on behalf of rand paul . if you are willing to do that, fill out this card. what are you are in state or out of state, in-state is obviously first preference to if we have a precinct where we do not have someone, one that is unfilled there are tables over here and , want to plug you into a pri -- precinct. fill out this card, and we have seven laptops over there. let's say you don't want to speak at your caucus. you just want to go to the caucus. raise your hand if you have never been to and i will caucus. owa caucus.

look at that. you will make this caucus. here is the tricky thing, this is what throws a lot of people off -- a lot of people think that they go to their caucus where they go to vote in a school board election. not where you go. with the caucus the state , republican party has set up locations in schools and in fire houses, and in all sorts of crazy places across the state. things, either www. your caucus.com and put in your address, or before you leave here today, fill out this card and drop it off with our team. we will call you or e-mail you to verify the -- location of your caucus. you want to make it easy, so you do not miss it. these are your caucuses, 6:30

p.m. on monday night. no later, if you're not ready -- registered to vote. you can register to vote at the caucus. so especially show up at 6:30. maybe you are 17 or you know somebody who is 17 or somebody who lives with you is 17, as long as they are 18 by the general election this fall, they can vote. take them with you. my mother took me to my first caucus at 16 and still doing it 10 years later. [laughter] we are going to leave it at this. we have a chance, very few people in the state of iowa have a chance to make a big difference, not just in the united states, but we have a greater impact in electing the most powerful position in the world than any other group of people.

we have four days to make a dramatic difference for freedom, for liberty, for our children and for the united states of america. thank you for coming. fill these cards out. and let's go, rand paul! [applause]

[indiscernible]

>> can i get a picture? >> unfortunately, we have to go. how are you? thanks for helping. wow, thank you. i appreciate it. we have to do it while walking. we are trying. thank you. , 2.ne photo -- i get a >> can i get a photo? 1, 2, 3. >> all right.

>> we are not doing any more pictures. we have to get outside. senator paul: thank you. sure. thanks for coming out. you.ll, she made calls for senator paul: hey, how are you? >> do you mind of a figure picture with your? -- you?

paul: i we interviewing inside or outside? crowd: president paul. president paul. >> one snapchat outside of the bus. senator paul: thanks. >> i have a question, you were here earlier this year -- >> we don't have time.

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [indiscernible] >> hi, how are you?

announcer: joining us from the campaign 2016 bus is senator rand paul. thank you for being with us -- we appreciate it. senator paul: thanks for having me. announcer: -- host: it is your strategy for the debate this evening on the fox news channel? senator paul: i think it is important for me to get my message out. also the uniqueness of my message. the only fiscal conservative on a stage because i am the only one willing to hold the line on spending whether it isrd, outrageous and wasteful military spending, or whether it is outrageous and wasteful domestic spending. many republicans have gone along with democrats to raise spending because they want higher military spending. the end of trading with democrats and giving them higher

domestic spending. this is why the debt actually doubled under george w. bush, and doubled again under president obama because what is happening is the right and left onto a continuous spending for different reasons, but they get together, and we are currently borrowing $1 million a minute. i think it is a real problem. i think i am the only one who has consistently said, we have to look at all spending to balance the budget. showed your event live on c-span, many viewers with questions. steve is joining us from iowa. are you going to the caucuses? steve: i certainly am. host: who are you supporting? steve: i will support ron paul -- rand paul. host: why? steve: i followed his father for probably the last 20 years. i have thought he was probably by far the best person to help our country, not just in our

financial woes, but to preserve our liberties. i think it has been proven over the past eight years, and perhaps the past 16 that our liberties have been taken from us. i think they might have pushed the overall debt past the point of no return. we might be in a position for the united states that we will have to renegotiate our debt, or do something with that debt. host: we will get a surprise i response. will get a a lot of people are concerned about losing liberties. terrorists cannot beat us in any kind of military battle, but terrorists want to cause. terror, we should not let them cause us to be fearful, we should not give up our liberties. our people do not want government collecting all of our

phone records or credit card statements. we want to be left alone. we think there is a right to privacy that is important. we also do not think the government programs that have done full collection of phone records have made us safer, or have stopped any terrorist plot. we think that our foreign policy ought to be one where we defend america. when we go to war, it is a last resort, not the first. we declare war when we go to war. really we do not get involved with nationbuilding or regime change. throughout the middle east, every time we have tried it, some have this naive notion that somehow thomas jefferson will win the next election of other. we wind up with this chaos and the rise of radical islam and things and of being worse than they were before we got involved. our people want to question our foreign policy and say, has the intervention worked? has it made the region were stable? i think the resounding answer is no. we need to try a new foreign policy.

host: we will go to kentucky, jeremy is on the phone with senator paul. i wanted to thank senator paul for what he has done for the people and the way he supports liberty. not individualism, i think we should not be plotting for every single thing and destabilizing middle eastern countries so we can come in and take all the profits. i want to say i want -- i appreciate what he is doing. senator paul: i appreciate that. i think there is a growing consensus. the interesting thing is -- people who are republicans, independents, and democrats come are coming to this message because frankly the candidate that is most likely to take us back to war in the middle east is actually hillary clinton print hillary clinton with the democrats and marco with a republicans are the most likely

get us back involved in another massive war in the middle east. there is an -- a growing number of americans who say, can we have a strong reagan like defense, and not be so eagerly involved in every evil war -- civil war. we have to think before we get involved. we are trying to take out a ined in syria -- assad syria, my fear is that isis will take over all of syria. there is a growing consensus coming to the belief. host: bill is joining us. bill: hello, good afternoon. what i want to say is, i think rand paul is the most intelligent and the most articulate about identifying the problems and resolutions, the liberties we have lost, the killing of the minds of the ullingl public -- d

of the minds of the general public. and the belief that a smaller government is the way and the means to getting back on track economy ofrade, free supply and demand, and take this mafioso federal government whether you are republican or liberal, or democrat, it is quite clear there is nothing anding done but stealing untruths coming out of washington. job paul is doing a great of making people understand -- how do you pay off the national debt? you stop spending. host: let me ask you, senator, if you thought you would be at

this stage in the campaign at this level based on the message that you are hearing from the viewers and the message you have on the campaign trail. senator paul: i guess you never know what to expect, i was just a small town eye surgeon, never knew that i would run for office. i ran for my office and won a few years ago for the u.s. senate and it has been an amazing journey to be part of the national stage and i'm excited to be part of it. i'm a great fan of our country's history. i'm a huge believer that the founders wanted the government to be very small and wanted our freedom to be very expansive. i continue to believe in that vision of the founding fathers, let's keep government restrained and use the constitution to restrain government. i will be on the national stage saying exactly what i believe that our government should be restrained and constrained by the constitution. host: with the mayor jim gray likely to challenge you in your senate bid, there are some

g.o.p. strategists to not run for president and focus on your own re-election in kentucky. how do you respond to that? senator paul: i always think it is funny when unnamed people tell you what to do because i don't respond to unnamed people. i tried very hard to be a good u.s. senator. i show up for virtually all of my votes. i have a great attendance record and given back $2 million to the taxpayer and to the treasury. i continue to try to have a loud voice across the nation for kentucky. i have opposed the president's war on coal and tried to defend our native industries in kentucky. when it comes to re-election, kentucky voters will look at how hard i tried to protect them from the president's overbearing and overzealous government and

we'll see what happens at that time. but the voters will get to decide and i will continue to show up for my day job and continue to vote in the senate and do the best i can for the people in kentucky. . >> i agree with you on not going to war in the middle east. i am concerned about our friends with israel on how we can help protect them and our friends over there. i'm also concerned with them taking american hostages and how we go about getting them back. senator paul: if you are concerned about the safety and well-being of israel we should want a more stable region. when we toppled saddam hussein in the iraq war that made iran

more of a threat. it emboldened iran. iraq is aligned with iran. i think if you think israel is our friend and you want to have that good relationship and israel to be safe the first thing you want is stability in that region. i think it we topple aside things get worse. if we're only for stability and looking to allow those people to choose something, a better way of life, the best way is not intervening in their civil wars and pick and choose their leaders but defending american interests. the main thing we have to do is not fund isis or their allies delivering weapons to their side of the war. united states, saudi arabia and qatar have been pouring arms into that civil war, giving arms to the allies of isis.

i have said that was a mistake and full hearty from the beginning and it is turning out to be true that i giving these arms, isis snatch them up. isis has $1 billion worth of humvees. they have our tanks. they have $1 billion worth of u.s. cash. isis pays their soldiers with our money they confiscated. we have to have a better foreign policy that defends america and protects american interests. that doesn't always think that toppling dictators makes things better. host: kelly is in this photograph. what has this experience been like for your wife. herew he has been with you as well. senator paul: it is exciting to

have my family with me. i have brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. my dad is going to appear with me sunday night. we will be at the university of iowa. we are looking forward to it. several of the kids will speak in caucuses for me. caucus forspeak in a me. let's go to -- host: let's go to scott. caller: hello. university.ke also a fiscal conservative and wondering how you have a plan to help bring down our national debt. reduce the deficit rather than

creating zero deficit. senator paul: we don't have a great connection. if you could you repeat that. this may have to be the last question. can you repeat the question for me? you going tore bring down our national debt? host: thank you. senator paul: how do you bring down the national debt? the way i look at it. you have to quit adding to the debt. to the annual deficit what we add to the debt, over the last eight years he has added $10 trillion to the debt. you have to have is a compromise between both sides. we have the reverse compromise on the right. they want more military spending. on the left they want more domestic spending. they compromise and everybody gets more spending and you get stuck with the bill.

we have to stop adding to the debt. you have to make a rule that says you can't spend what does not come in. we praying in 3 trillion dollars in revenue. we should make a rule that says you can only spend what comes in. the american people are for it. unfortunate you cannot get enough people in congress to vote for it. that is what we need. congress has not been good at balancing books. you have to balance the annual budget before you can begin to tackle the national debt. if you want to make the national debt smaller. as you hold the line you could pay back some of it if you are running surpluses but what also happen is if you don't add to the dead, as the economy grows the debt will become a smaller percentage of our overall gdp. i think that would be good overall. in the recent years we have gone the opposite way. our overall debt is approaching 100% of gdp and may even exceed

it. that is a real problem. i would send back many powers from the federal government to the states and to the people respectively. i would be one who would veto bills. if you don't send me a budget that doesn't balance i would veto it. if you don't bring me spending bills that lead to a balanced budget i will the teller. president the first to stand up. i would be running for office if i was an absolutely certain i would veto budgets that didn't balance. thank you for having me. you, dojust want ask you think these issues have received the attention with all the attention donald trump has been getting? we get aaul: i think decent amount of air time.

donald trump gets about as much as all the candidates multiplied by 25. there has been a problem and the media succumbs to a celebrity fad and it has been good for the campaign. it has made him harder for other candidates to compete. i do think the mecca people will discover donald trump is not a conservative. he is nearly 70 years old and has never voted in a republican primary before. i think there is a lot of arguments to be said he is not a conservative. he believes in using eminent domain to take private property. he has been for higher taxes. bailing out the banks. you name it. there is a lot of evidence he is not a conservative. the race has been skewed by coverage. we could do a better job but no one asked me. i don't it make decisions on that. we will see what the voters decide. host: we are grateful with your

time. we will let you get ready for tonight's debate. thank you for being with us. thank you.l: had a great time. the c-span buses in des moines, iowa. if you are on the drake campus or in the greater des moines area of the bus will be there for a couple more hours because there is another event happening with donald trump. we will have live coverage. -- let's showhe you the live scene.

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[an audible conversations] -- [inaudible]

[inaudible] >> thank you. >> thank you. enjoy the rest of your time.

>> on the next washington --rnal, david yaps and print yepsen previews the iowa caucuses. brad zaun discusses his endorsement of donald trump. bob vander plot's president and ceo of the family leader and supporter of ted cruz looks at the role of social conservatives in 2016. we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter.

>> at 4:30 eastern time chris christie holding a town hall meeting. 1:40 five jeb bush campaigning in carroll, iowa. later we will join ben carson for a townhall meeting in iowa city, iowa. c-span 3:00 eastern on 2. 2016 is taking you to the iowa caucuses. you livering pre-caucus coverage taking your phone calls, tweets, and texts.

tv event live in its entirety. >> rick santorum held a townhall meeting in iowa. he talked about the definition of marriage, immigration, the health care law and the fight against radical islam. he was it by the winner in the 2012 iowa caucuses by the state republican party in a narrow victory over mitt romney. this is one hour 20 minutes.

rick: hello. hello. how are you? good to see you. thank you. how are you? did you get a good crowd for you today? >> good crowd. rick: all right. thank you. thank you so much. ok. couple minutes yet. hey, guys. rick santorum. nice to see you. >> how you doing? rick: great. how are you? good to see you. you having a good day? >> just finishing up lunch. rick: great buffet, isn't it? >> yeah. rick: hi, folks. rick santorum. how are you? >> how are you? >> nice to see you today. >> good morning. rick: good morning. i think it's afternoon now. hello, ladies. how are you? good to see you. it's my pleasure. rick santorum.

>> good luck. rick: appreciate it. you want to listen to us we're going to be talking to you in a few minutes. good to see y'all. >> hi. rick: how are you? >> good. how are you? rick: you're not eating by myself, i see? >> yes. rick: appreciate it. rick santorum. nice to see you. you having a good day? all right. enjoy the day. >> you too. rick: hi, everybody. rick santorum. nice to see you. good to see you. nice to see you, guys. how are you? rick santorum. good to see you. pretty good chicken, huh? >> not bad. rick: i think it's pretty good. pretty good. nice to see you guys. all right. have a good day. hello, folks. how are you? nice to see you. rick santorum. nice to see you. >> thank you. rick: thank you. nice to see you. you have a good day. come back and visit with us. if you want, we'll be talking

back there. >> ice cream on top. rick: that's pretty intense right there. >> yeah. rick: that's a couple calories. to thicken you up a little. >> yeah. rick: good to see you guys. how are you? take care. all right. all right. hello, everybody. how you doing? hi. good to see you. >> nice to see you. rick: good to see you. thank you for coming out. hi. good to see you today. how are you? sure. anybody that wants pictures we'll do pictures. >> oh, wow. rick: someone will tell you -- there you go. >> wow. thank you. rick: there we go. thank you. turn around. why don't you get in the middle? all right. >> thank you. rick: you bet. you want to do one? sure. all right.

>> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> how are you? >> nice to meet you. rick: louie. rick: hi, louie. good to -- >> louie. rick: hi, louie. how are you, buddy? thanks for coming. >> can we get a picture? rick: sure. >> get somebody to take it >> glad you're here. rick: thank you. thank you. thanks for coming out. what's that? >> you may be in the white house january 21. rick: that would be a good thing. >> well, come on up here. rick: there we go. all right. thank you. hey, guys. how are you? good to see you. well, thank you. thank you. thanks for coming out. how are you doing? >> this is -- rick: hey. good to see you.

>> this is my son, will. rick: hey, will. how are you? >> i'm great. rick: all right. well, thanks for coming out. appreciate it. >> glad to be here. rick: hey, guys. how are you? good to see you. hi. hello. how are you? >> good. rick: thanks, guys, for coming out. i appreciate it. good to see you, buddy. good. hello. thank you for your service, sir. how are you? >> hi, i'm valerie. rick: all right. that would be great. [phone ringing] rick: all right, you bet. thank you. hey, guys. >> good see you. rick: good to see you again. >> i'd like you to meet chris potter with "the pittsburgh post gazette." he's here to -- rick: first pizza ranch experience? >> it is. rick: i hope you're enjoying. >> yeah. do you have a couple minutes afterwards? rick: yeah. good to see you.

thank you. thank you so much for coming out. i hope you're -- >> [inaudible] rick: thank you. sure, let's do that. >> we'll send that off. rick: very good. you're not going to be able to see anything through all these people here, huh? >> last time you were here. rick: well, thank you for coming out. >> hopefully we can go from worst to first. rick: exactly. sure. no, no. it's quite all right. he'll take it. >> i have a little phone. sorry. rick: come on over, buddy. >> oh, ok. you can just get them if you need to. rick: no, we got it. all right. you're welcome. there you go. ok. >> oh, ok. >> thank you. >> good luck.

rick: thank you. ok. all right. very good. how are you, sir? oh, you did? what are you doing? how have you been, buddy? >> good to see you. rick: good to see you. you doing well? >> i was here four years ago at your last event before you won. it was at that christian school. rick: oh, yeah, the big christian school. >> rogers handed me the outline for your victory speech which is still sitting on the top of my desk. rick: is that right? >> yes, it is. rick: oh, that's pretty wild. we didn't come up that until that night. >> sweater vest on. rick: it was the outline. i still have it. we didn't use the term gay mom because --

>> that's the night of the victory. the stuff about your grandfather, going up to the casket. rick: yeah, yeah. >> can we introduce you? introduce everybody? you want me to introduce you? rick: i'm here to watch him. >> what? >> make sure greg -- rick: yeah, sure. well, i'll get started and then i'll just introduce everybody. if that's ok. you can start. >> why don't you let me start? rick: ok. greg: my name is greg, a state representative from harrisburg, pennsylvania. i've known rick since young republicans and came in from pennsylvania last night after we got out of session to go around iowa for a few days, stomping for rick. i was here four years ago and i was telling rick on the way over, five days out or so we were about 7% in the polls, ended up at 25%, ended up winning iowa.

it's great to be back. we have another special guest i've actually known since maybe teenage republicans. ralph reed who was here in -- were you here with pat robertson in -- we worked together for jack kemp in 1988. we were in new hampshire, though. ralph reed from the faith and freedom coalition is here. formerly the christian coalition. but i'm going to -- you're here to hear this guy who believes in the people of iowa, trusts that god has a plan and we're excited about caucusing on monday. so rick santorum. rick: thank you. appreciate it, buddy. thank you. thank you. [applause] thank you much, greg. thank you for being here, for helping us out and ralph, it's great to have you here. ralph was here four years ago as

we were wrapping up the campaign. ralph has been a great leader. you talk about faith and freedom, ralph has been someone who has been a stalwart to keep those front and center and it's a good indicator of who's the right person and the right people that are going to carry the ball forward? so i'm honored that you'd be here with me today, ralph. i thank you for the great leadership you provided, the organization that you built and one of your best lieutenants here in the state of iowa who's also a great leader in the state of iowa as a national committee man from iowa, was also here with you and that's my good friend steve sheppler. steve, thank you very much. [applause] i say this all the time. i mean, i've done over 700 meetings in the state of iowa. over 700 in the past five years. and so i've been all over iowa. and during that same time, steve sheppler was the national committee man through this

entire process, and i have to tell you, i've been to other states. my own home state of pennsylvania and i've seen other national committee men and i've seen how they interact. i don't know of anybody that compares and the amount of time and effort and the mileage traveled, the dedication to the republican party, the dedication to making sure iowa is the first in the nation, caucus, than steve sheppler. i don't think people realize how much work this man does to stay in touch with iowans and how much work he does to make sure iowans have this amazing privilege of being the first to really -- i always say -- set the race. nothing -- as we showed four years ago, nothing matters until iowa votes.

four years ago i was absolutely ignored by the national media. yeah, they included me in the debates. they didn't really want to but they did anyway. there were only six or seven of us then. they could sit us on the stage. they didn't segment the field. although i think they would have wanted to. they wanted to focus on the folks they wanted to talk about. those are the entertaining people, i suspect, that drive eyeballs so they can make money in their media ventures. but we weren't -- we weren't talked about much until iowa voted. and that's why i am so grateful to steve that he continues to fight to make sure that the national media, that the moneyed establishment of the republican party, the power brokers in washington, d.c., don't get to pick, don't get to exclude folks that you, the voters of this country, want to see on the national stage and want to see put forward as your potential nominee. so i think not just iowans but conservatives all over the country owe steve sheppler a real debt of gratitude for

working hard to make sure that iowans and that means voters like yourself who take the time to get to know the candidates, to hear what the candidates believe in, to get a chance to talk to them, see how real they are. you know, there's a lot of things you can do from watching on television and there is another sense you get from actually meeting somebody. that's what iowans bring to the process, and i'm very grateful for that. obviously very personally, but i'm very grateful for steve sheppler for doing that. so give steve sheppler another round of applause. [applause] so i'm here -- i don't know too many other candidates are doing town hall meetings the day of the debate, but i do. people say, how do i prepare for the debate? here you are. welcome to my debate prep. because i don't know of a better debate prep than to talk to

folks out there and answer your questions and i do this, as you know, i traveled around. i'll sit down in a coffee house with four, five people in some of the smaller rural counties of the state. i'll come to pizza ranch and we'll have a larger crowd. sometimes we have bigger crowds than this. and i take the opportunity for you to get a chance to know a little bit about me and what i believe in, the vision for the country and to remind you of something that's very important. and i sort of highlighted this a little bit in introducing steve, but the reality is that this race doesn't begin until you vote on monday.