Assad: Syria Getting Word From U.S.-Led Coalition About Airstrikes

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Syrian President Bashar Assad says his government is receiving messages about the fight against ISIS from the U.S.-led coalition. Assad said this information is not coming from the U.S. but from third parties, including Iraq.

Assad also denied accusations that his forces have dropped barrel bombs indiscriminately on rebel-held areas. Activists say those bombs have killed thousands of civilians. But Assad dismissed the allegation as a "childish story" in the interview with BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen.

Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, discusses the Syrian president's BBC interview with Here & Now's Robin Young.