WASHINGTON -- Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain said Monday he stands by radio host Don Imus, who has been suspended for making what his employers called racist comments on the air.

Related: Imus Suspension Right?

"He has apologized," McCain said. "He said that he is deeply sorry. I'm a great believer in redemption."

McCain, whose presidential candidacy has been backed by Imus, said he would still appear on Imus' program.

Imus' radio show originates from WFAN in New York City and is syndicated nationally by Westwood One, both managed by CBS. The show is also simulcast on the MSNBC cable news channel. It reached an estimated 361,000 viewers on MSNBC in the first three months of the year.

Meanwhile, McCain is still trying to explain remarks he made last week in Baghdad when, after wearing a bulletproof vest and surrounded by 100 troops covered by helicopter gunships, he toured a Baghdad market and proclaimed it safe.

He said he would have walked through the Bab al-Sharqi market in Baghdad without the military protection, but the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, had recommended the armed escort.

The congressional delegation said the trips were proof that security was improving in the capital. Some Iraqis in Baghdad said McCain's account of the visit to the market didn't represent the current reality in the capital.

At a news conference Monday in Phoenix, McCain said he talked to many Iraqis in the market who told him that, while they still worried about a sniper operating there, they felt as though things were getting better.

"That place is being rebuilt today and is a functioning market," McCain said. "Of course it isn't entirely safe, but it certainly is a functioning market and progress is being made there."

The senator has also been critical of news media coverage of the war. In an opinion piece written for the Washington Post, he said, "The new political-military strategy is beginning to show results. But most Americans are not aware because much of the media are not reporting it or devote far more attention to car bombs and mortar attacks that reveal little about the strategic direction of the war. I am not saying that bad news should not be reported or that horrific terrorist attacks are not newsworthy."

McCain plans to make a major campaign speech focusing on the war on Wednesday at the Virginia Military Institute.