CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Jeff Merkley

Interview

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Joining us now is Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley. He serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator, the President is now saying Soleimani targeted four embassies. Have you seen any intelligence to back up that claim?

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): Absolutely not. When there is a specific threat, you see intelligence which says these are the type of information we're getting and these types of matters, these sorts of things that were mentioned. This is how we've reinforced it by checking on other sources. Embassies did not come up at all in the briefing we received.

I must say as I thought a lot about the briefing we received, the picture that you walk away with is General Soleimani was somebody who traveled the region as a general, planning on ways that the Quds Forces, the Iranian militias could be exercise influence and take actions. And that's what he's done year after year after year. So you can say he's always planning, always thinking.

And thus we had him coming back from meeting with Hezbollah and -- well, he may have been discussing future activities. But there was no decision, no target, no time, no acting force, no details and certainly no mention of any detailed or any type of planning about embassies.

So I think this is a pretty much an effort to take a generalized understanding that Soleimani is someone who planned as a general attacks on the United States, does it year after year after year or attacks in the region and try to give the sort of specificity probably weaving it out of whole cloth that would justify the assassination.

COOPER: If -- I mean, that's certainly the portrayal of General Soleimani as, you know, a thug and a killer who -- you know, he's a state actor, but that's -- this is what he does, he plots attacks against U.S. interests, against -- certainly against U.S. personnel in Iraq for years when there were more American forces there and perhaps even now. Why wouldn't -- why isn't it then OK to say, well, OK, he's planning some sort of attacks or some sort of actions that are in the best interests of the United States, therefore he's a legitimate target.

MERKLEY: Well, under international law the idea that someone is about to do something very specific, and you can stop that from happening, is a vision that involves something specific, not just that someone is a general and execute or works out plans for the future. Our generals all the time are planning contingency plans and alternatives for the future.

What we do know is that in the past because he had been so central in leveraging influence in the region, he's been in our scope, if you will, for a long time. But the reason that the United States might have hesitated under former presidents from assassinating him was a sort of interest that we have in the region would not be served by doing so. And by that I mean killing him has reversed the Iranian protests against the Iranian government into protests against the United States.

Of course we've been trying to -- we've been hoping that the Iranian citizens would revolt against their government. It has proceeded to completely undermine the government in Iraq because we did not ask their permission. We violated their sovereignty. We embarrassed the government.

Now the parliament has voted to send us out of the region. It proceeded to interrupt the collaboration against ISIS, our top priority. And by us being reduced and our influence in Iraq, it increases Iranian influence, which is exactly what Iran wants.

First they wanted to get rid of Saddam Hussein. We did it for them. Then they wanted a reason to pressure Iraq to push the Americans further out of the region and now we've given them that excuse. So it's hard to see how any considered strategy would result in deciding to take this action.

COOPER: "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting, "Mr. Trump after the strike, told associates he was under pressure to deal with General Soleimani from GOP senators he views as important supporters in his coming impeachment trial in the Senate, associates said." I mean, if there is any sort of personal, political calculations at the President's decision, how would that influence the way you see this?

MERKLEY: You know, I've been asked this over the last several days and each time I said surely I would like to believe that no president would ever conduct a military operation to influence politics, including an impeachment trial in the Senate.

[20:40:04]

And I must say I kind of dismissed that possibility until the President himself brought it up and said that this was something important to senators that he needs their support in the impeachment trial. I -- it's a very disturbing connection that I would certainly hope would not be the case, but it's the President himself who's raised it.

COOPER: Yes. Senator Jeff Merkley, appreciate your time. Thank you.

MERKLEY: You're welcome. Thank you.

COOPER: Thanks. President Trump has spent years calling Hillary Clinton crooked, of course triggered cries of lock her up. Now, a review by the President's own Justice Department is winding and he's likely not going to like its findings. That's ahead.

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