CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D), Oregon

Interview

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BURNETT: Ian, thank you very much. And as Ian points out, when it's grassroots, it's much more difficult to control.

OUTFRONT now, the Democratic Senator from Oregon, Jeff Merkley, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

And, Senator, I appreciate your time.

Look, there's been a lot of bloodshed. You heard our Ian Lee who is in Gaza today, say that this is expected to continue tomorrow. Israeli defense forces tonight saying they're going to respond in kind to terror. So, the rhetoric is upping even itself it's still dark. People died today.

Many were injured.

Does President Trump bear some of the blame or not?

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D), OREGON: Well, the situation is certainly horrific. And I think that symbolically this move represents for many Palestinians the end of their hopes for a two-state solution, that they will have someday a land of their own, that essentially, it's been held for a long time, that the movement of the embassy would be part of a coordinated effort with a plan for each population to have their own country. And the Palestinians now see that as -- without America as a fair broker between them, see it as a diminishing or disappearing objective.

BURNETT: So, you know, when Jared Kushner said, we're going to look back and see this as the beginning of peace, this is going to be the day, what's your response?

MERKLEY: Well, there's a lot of bloodshed today. I don't think it will be seen as the beginning of peace. But I do think Israeli has reached the point where it's strong in every conceivable way. It has the world's most amazing military, second to the United States. It has addressed its issues related to electricity and water.

It has just -- in every possible way, high-tech companies being sold for billions of dollars.

BURNETT: Yes.

MERKLEY: I mean, it's an amazing place. So if this isn't a moment for a gesture towards the possibility of two-state solution, I don't know when that moment will ever be.

BURNETT: So, Jared Kushner today when he did address the ongoing violence, was very clear about who was to blame for it. Here's what he actually said in Jerusalem at the embassy in his speech, Senator.

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BURNETT: And, of course at the White House, they were also very direct, explicitly blaming Hamas, the Palestinians, Senator. Of course to many, that's not only subjective, but it's also provocative, and that line that we just heard Jared Kushner say, was not actually in what the White House released and called a transcript of his comments today.

Is it possible that was simply an honest mistake, or did they not want him putting the blame to be in there?

MERKLEY: Well, that's hard to say. But I will say that his inability to articulate the challenge that is faced by people in Gaza is part of the problem. That is, you have a population living in a confined area. It's -- the water systems are completely shattered from the 2014 war. It's impossible to import materials to build an economy or export products.

So, there's an enormous level of desperation. And so, if we want to have any chance of advancing peace, we have to understand the enormous plight that the Palestinian people are in.

BURNETT: Senator, let me ask you directly about the embassy itself, though. You know, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of course, says it's an historic decision by President Trump, and his view of it couldn't be more different than what we're seeing outside.

Here's Netanyahu.

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BURNETT: Senator, what's your bottom line? Do you support the U.S. embassy being in Jerusalem or not?

MERKLEY: I very much -- I have supported it becoming our embassy in Jerusalem, when it's part of a strategy to go forward with two people living productively, peacefully, side by side.

[19:35:00] And I think this is where it -- I mean, we're really talking about where conversations are held, but it's the symbolism of it, and the symbolism really represents to people living in the West Bank and Gaza, that there is no path for them to ever have a land of their own. They have been under occupation. It's an extraordinarily difficult life, and we have, we, the United States, have championed the vision that there would be a brighter future ahead.

And really I'm hoping the president -- our president, can return to championing that vision.

BURNETT: Senator, thank you very much. I appreciate your time tonight.

MERKLEY: You're welcome, Erin.

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