Syrian President Chats With Charlie Rose, Denies Everything
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad sat down with Charlie Rose for an extended interview on Sunday morning, his first with an American network since Barbara Walters was beyond charmed with the “mild-mannered” dude in December 2011.
Speaking on Sunday with Bob Schieffer on Face The Nation, Rose discussed his meeting with Assad and says the leader “denied that he had anything to do with the attack.” Not only that but:
“He denied that he knew, in fact, that there was a chemical attack, notwithstanding what has been said and notwithstanding the videotape. He said there’s not evidence yet to make a conclusive judgment.”
However, according to Rose, Assad has made at least one conclusive judgment: he believes Americans should absolutely not intervene in Syria. If an intervention occurs, Assad suggested there might be “some kind of retaliation.”
Excerpts from the interview will air Monday morning on CBS This Morning with the entire interview airing Monday night on The Charlie Rose Show on PBS.
Meanwhile, President Obama will sit down and discuss his Syrian intervention plan with six television networks Monday night. This is following White House chief of staff Denis R. McDonough’s news rounds Sunday morning in which he made the case for authorizing an airstrike against Assad’s forces.