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Length: 2:36
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: There are two prominent members of
Congress in the Middle East. House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi is in Beirut, Lebanon this morning, planning a
stop in Syria tomorrow. And Senator John McCain is
leading a Republican delegation in Iraq. Now in Iraq,
Senator McCain says Americans aren't getting the full
picture of what's going on there. He visited a
Baghdad market yesterday wearing a bulletproof vest,
surrounded by heavy security. Still, Senator McCain
says he sees improvement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: Things are better and
there are encouraging signs. I have been here many
years--many times over the year. Never have I been
able to drive from the airport. Never have I been
able to go out into the city as I was today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: CNN's Michael Ware is live for us in Baghdad
this morning.
Good morning to you, Michael.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning,
Soledad.
That's right, there is the Republican congressional
delegation here in Iraq. Potentially, they're here to
view the impact of the surge, or the Baghdad security
plan, and essentially to sell its merits. To say
that, yes, it is having an impact and to take that
message home to an American people desperate to hear
of signs of progress.
Unfortunately, they chose a very poor way of
displaying those signs of change and the signs of
progress. The fact that Senator McCain and a
delegation can drive from the airport and walk around
parts of Baghdad wrapped in a heavy security envelope
is not new. Generals and American representatives
have been doing such things throughout the war.
Indeed, it's the old reinvented as new and is in no
way a sign of the real progress of the surge, which
the senators should be talking about.
O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a question. There was a
report that said you were heckling and you were
laughing during the senator's press conference. Is
that true?
WARE: Well, let's bear in mind that this is a report
that was leaked by an unnamed official of some kind
to a blog, to somewhere on the Internet. No one has
gone and put their name forward. We certainly haven't
heard Senator McCain say anything about it or any of
his staff have come forward to say anything about it.
I did not heckle the senator. Indeed, I didn't say a
word. I didn't even ask a question. In fact, when I
raised my hand to ask a question, the press
conference abruptly ended.
So what I would suggest is that anyone who has any
queries about whether I heckled, watch the videotape
of the press conference.
Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Michael Ware is in Baghdad for us this
morning.
Thank you, Michael.