In a Charlie Rose interview airing tonight, Bashar al-Assad reportedly denies that he had "anything to do" with chemical weapons attacks on his own people—and a new report in German newspaper Bild am Sonntag suggests he might not be lying. Citing radio messages intercepted by German intelligence, the paper says Syrian forces have been asking for Assad's permission to use chemical weapons for the past four-and-a-half months, but have been repeatedly denied, Reuters reports. Therefore, say intelligence officers, the attacks may have gone ahead without his approval. (More Germany stories.)