Fox Set to Air Dennis Kucinich Interview With Bashar al-Assad

The rumors are true: On Wednesday night, during a special two-hour edition of Special Report with Bret Baier, Fox News will air an exclusive interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The interview is conducted by FNC senior corresspondent Greg Palkot and former Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a Fox contributor. 

Michael Clemente, the executive vice president for news at Fox, said in a statement that the interview came together on Sept. 7, when "Kucinich advised me that he believed he could secure an interview" with Assad. Kucinich and Assad have a relationship dating back several years, and Kucinich took a 2011 trip to Syria. After that meeting, Kucinich said he was mistranslated by Syrian state-owned media as saying that Assad is "highly loved and appreciated."

The interview itself was recorded Tuesday with the help of a Syrian camera crew. No restrictions were placed on the kinds of questions that could be asked, according to Fox. Interestingly, Clemente notes in his statement that the former Democratic congressman and presidential candidate "was not there in the capacity of a journalist nor was he representing FOX News in that role."

Assad also granted an interview to Charlie Rose earlier this month. But much has changed since then, particularly after the Russian proposal to secure Syria's chemical weapons as a means of avoiding an American air strike.