'CBS This Morning' previewed an interview with Syria's President Bashar Assad that Charlie Rose conducted in Damascus.
In the interview, Assad denies his administration used chemical weapons and criticized U.S. foreign policy. At one point, he compares President Obama's policies to the policies of former president George W. Bush.
Refuting John Kerry's claims that he has seen evidence that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its own people, Assad said, "We have the precedent of Colin Powell ten years ago when he showed the evidence [that Iraq had WMDs], it was false and it was forged."
He also threatened full retaliation if the U.S. strikes Syria.
"You should expect everything... expect every action," Assad said. "Not necessarily from the government."
He said the United States' credibility was at an "all-time low."
"What do wars give America?" Assad said. "No political gain, no economic gain, no good reputation. United States is at all-time, credibility is at all-time low. So this war is against the interests of the United States."
After Rose asked whether chemical weapons were worse than nuclear weapons, Assad sneered and said, "I don't know, we haven't tried either."
The full interview with Assad will air Monday night on PBS, at 9 PM EDT.
Watch clips of the interview below and check out the full interview on PBS.
Assad criticizes Obama:
Assad denies his administration used chemical weapons:
Assad threatens retaliation:
Here's more on the interview and the situation in Syria from the AP:
WASHINGTON — Syrian President Bashar Assad has warned there will be "repercussions" against any U. S. military strike launched in response to a chemical weapons attack in his country.
"You should expect everything," Assad said in an interview with CBS taped in Damascus. "Not necessarily from the government. It's not only the government ... in this region. You have different parties, you have different factions, you have different ideology."
Asked if he was making a threat of a direct military response to any such attack, Assad was vague, saying at one point, "I am not fortune teller to tell you what's going to happen."
President Barack Obama is seeking authorization from Congress to launch what the administration says would be a limited-scope attack against Syria in reprisal for Assad's purported use of chemical weapons. Assad has denied it and argued in the interview broadcast Monday on "CBS This Morning" that Washington has presented no evidence to substantiate its allegations. In London Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry reasserted Washington's argument and said that the evidence is sufficiently strong to be accepted as evidence in a court of law.
In the CBS interview, Assad said his forces were not in the area of the chemical weapons attack Aug. 21, saying "our soldiers in another area were attacked chemically. ... But in the area where they said the government used chemical weapons, we only had video and we only have pictures and allegations. We're not there." Kerry said that Assad's denial is "contradicted by fact."
Asked if chemical warfare could be one repercussion from an American intervention in Syria, Assad told anchorman Charlie Rose: "That depends if the rebels or the terrorists in this region or any other group have it. It could happen. "
"You are going to pay the price if you are not wise with dealing with terrorists," he said.
Assad also said the current incident brings to mind memories of the arguments for intervention that President George W. Bush's administration made over a decade ago in connection with President Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
Assad said Kerry's statements reminded him about "the big lie" that Secretary of State Colin Powell said to the United Nations about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.
Assad also said the majority of Americans "don't want a war anywhere, not only against Syria." He said the first question the U.S. lawmakers should ask themselves is , "What do wars give America?" He said Washington's credibility is "at an all-time low."
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