Watch: Syrian President Bashar Assad warns of retaliation for U.S. Strike – Credit: CBS This Morning
WASHINGTON – Syrian President Bashar Assad warned the U.S. will have “repercussions” for any military strike launched in response to a chemical weapons attack, while President Barack Obama prepared his final public arguments for such strikes before Congress holds its first vote on the issue this week.
READ MORE: Russia to push Syria to surrender chemical weapons
Obama took the rare step of scheduling six network interviews Monday evening before addressing a skeptical public with a prime-time speech from the White House on Tuesday. With Congress back from holiday on Monday, its first vote on authorizing strikes on Syria is expected as early as Wednesday.
Assad, in an interview with American journalist Charlie Rose, warned the U.S. that his turbulent region is an “area where everything is on the brink of explosion. You should expect everything.” He added, “You are going to pay the price if you are not wise with dealing with terrorists,” he said.
Video: Charlie Rose phoner on Assad interview
Assad also denied that his troops used chemical weapons, and he said there is no conclusive evidence about who is to blame in the Aug. 21 attack that the U.S. says killed more than 1,400 people. The United States, citing intelligence reports, says the lethal nerve agent sarin was used.
Parts of Sunday’s interview in Damascus were broadcast Monday morning on CBS. The full Assad interview was set to air at 0100 GMT on Rose’s program on PBS.
READ MORE: Kerry reasserts Syria charge despite Assad denial
In London, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was unmoved by Assad’s denial, saying he would be confident going into any courtroom with the evidence gathered by the United States that Syria’s government used chemical weapons against its people.
“What does he offer?” Kerry asked. “Words that are contradicted by fact.”
Kerry said that if Assad wanted to defuse the crisis, “he could turn every single bit of his chemical weapons over to the international community” within a week. But he said that Assad “isn’t about to do it.”
Video: U.S. government releases video evidence of Syria chemical attack
The foreign minister of Russia, a key Syria ally, on Monday said Moscow will push Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control. Sergey Lavrov said if such a move would help avert a possible U.S. strike on Syria, Russia will start work “immediately” to persuade Syria to relinquish control over its chemical arsenals.
Lavrov said that he has already handed over the proposal to his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem and expects a “quick, and, hopefully, positive answer.”
Obama is arguing that strikes against Syria are needed for the United States’ long-term safety and that hostile nations such as Iran and North Korea need to be reminded of U.S. military might. He had a difficult time last week trying to win support from the international community during his visit to a G-20 summit in Russia.
A resolution in the Senate would authorize the “limited and specified use” of U.S. armed forces against Syria for no more than 90 days. The measure bars American ground troops from combat.
Despite public backing from leaders of both top political parties to strike, almost half of the 433 current members in the House of Representatives and a third of the 100-member Senate remain undecided, an Associated Press survey found.
Public opinion surveys show intense American skepticism about military intervention in Syria, even among those who believe Syria’s government used chemical weapons on its people.
Video: On Monday, Deputy US National Security Advisor Tony Blinken laid out the fundamentals of the administration’s case for intervention in Syria
Meanwhile, Russian and Syrian foreign ministers said they will push for the return of United Nations inspectors to Syria to continue their probe into the use of chemical weapons. The chemical weapons inspection team took samples from the Aug. 21 attack several days after it occurred, and they are being analyzed now.
Lavrov said a U.S. attack on Syria will deal a fatal blow to peace efforts.
The United Nations secretary-general said again Monday that a solution to the Syria crisis should be a diplomatic one.
Associated Press writers Nedra Pickler, Philip Elliott and Donna Cassata in Washington and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed.
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