father frank pavone joining us live at 45 past the hour. >>> turning to the man who is the center of the syrian crisis, bashar al assad, rose to power in 2000, succeeding his father who ruled syria with an iron grip for 30 years. one of the few westerners who is well acquainted with assad says, when he first took over, expectations ran high, that he would bring about some positive reforms in his country. shedding new light on the ophthalmologist turned tie rant. "the fall of the house of assad," a professor of middle east history in san antonio is joining us now. welcome. great to have you here today. >> good to be here with the trinity alone. >> yes, indeed. one of the fee people in the west who has had a chance to spend significant time with assad. when you first met him in 2004, when you were interviewing him for a book back then, give us more of a profile, of assad at that time. >> he was someone who was unassuming, he was unpretentious, he was always very polite and punk actual, and that's the profile that emerged when he came to power in 2000. and i think it was a profile that