LE: "...which effectively marks the beginning of the end of the American phase of the war in Iraq."


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

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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.