Length: 2:35
LARGE (30.1 MB)
-----
SMALL (3.1 MB)
The first report is a straightforward recap of President Bush's arrival in Iraq and the expected meetings and events during his trip. Just before the end of the program, a quick report about the incident at the press conference that was about to become the shoe heard 'round the world.
WOLF
BLITZER: As we told you at the top of the hour,
President Bush right now on a surprise visit to Iraq.
It's his fourth and final trip to the country as
President of the United States. Let's go to Baghdad.
CNN's Michael Ware is standing by. It caught all of
us by surprise, Michael. What has happened, what's
going on?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf,
President Bush arrived a few hours ago, sort of late
in the afternoon local time. He was greeted on the
tarmac by his war commander, General Ray Odierno and
by U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. He was then greeted
by the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and the
country's two vice presidents after having flown from
the international airport to the presidential palace.
We understand that he's now moved to the prime
minister's residence where we're awaiting a ceremony
to mark the signing of the SOFA, or strategic
framework agreement, and the status of forces
agreement, which effectively marks the beginning of
the end of the American phase of the war in Iraq --
Wolf.
BLITZER: And do we have any idea how long he's
staying there? Is he spending the night? Is he coming
right back to Washington, going any place else?
WARE: I think you'll have to ask the White House
press pack about that because they're the only ones
who are allowed within cooee [Aussie
slang for a loud shout] of any
of the events that are taking place here in Baghdad.
Certainly we had rumors that President Bush was
coming yesterday. We heard about it. Today he indeed
arrived. I suspect it will be a brief visit, as they
have been in the past. Yet, this is the first time
that President Bush has actually set foot off a U.S.
military base here in Iraq. Now, indeed, he was at
the heavily-protected presidential palace and is now
indeed in the Green Zone. So it's not as though he
were, say, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
who visited earlier this year, who rather than taking
a Blackhawk, drove from the airport, didn't go into
the Green Zone, walked the streets of Baghdad, and
went and prayed at a shrine.
Nonetheless, the president is marking this as a
farewell tour as he puts an endnote on his presidency
and his involvement as commander-in-chief in this war
and he's heralding the agreements as a way forward
for Iraq to a free society -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Michael Ware will stay on top of this story
for us. Michael, stand by, thank you.
Length: 1:31
LARGE (17.1 MB)
-----
SMALL (1.9 MB)
WOLF
BLITZER: Welcome back. President Bush made a surprise
visit to Iraq this morning, the fourth and final trip
of his presidency. Let's go to Michael Ware, he's our
man in Baghdad right now. Michael, what do we know?
MICHAEL WARE: Well, Wolf, the most extraordinary
thing, you may or may not believe this -- we're
getting reports from the press pool that flew in with
President Bush, and apparently just a short, short
time ago at a press conference with Prime Minister
Maliki, an Iraqi man stood up in the press conference
and threw a shoe at President Bush. By the reports
we're getting, it just sailed past his head, and
while the man was dragged out of the room, President
Bush is said to have remarked that, "This was a size
10 shoe he threw at me, you may want to know," even
as the man was heard screaming in the hallway.
So this is all during President Bush's farewell trip,
as it's billed, to Iraq, where he's celebrating the
SOFA agreement struck between Baghdad and Washington
to see the US troops go home -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Wow, that's -- that's -- I'm sure that the
videotape, we'll get that pretty soon. Any idea when
we'll get that video?
WARE: No, we're all waiting with bated breath. Now,
we haven't seen many pictures coming out of the trip,
but given this was at a press conference, keep your
fingers crossed. Let's hope we'll see something very
soon -- Wolf.
BLITZER: I'm sure we will and we'll bring it to our
viewers, Michael, as soon as we get it. Michael Ware
is our man in Baghdad, he's going to continue to
cover President Bush's surprise visit to Iraq
today.