Obama Gives Lieberman a Talking To

obama's on a mission to clean up the white house. he's not taking any flack. sen. joe lieberman, who supports mccain, had criticized obama's awesome speech at the AIPAC forum and his stance on iran. obama didn't support lieberman's amendment last year. sen. harry reid also spoke to lieberman. btw, lieberman's step son supports obama.

tapper: They shook hands. But Obama didn’t let go, leading Lieberman - cordially - by the hand across the room into a corner on the Democratic side, where Democratic sources tell ABC News he delivered some tough words for the junior senator from Connecticut, who had just minutes before hammered Obama's speech before the pro-Israel group AIPAC in a conference call arranged by the McCain campaign.

Watch video of the encounter on the Senate floor HERE.

The two spoke intensely for approximately five minutes, with no one able to hear their conversation. Reporters watched as Obama leaned closely in to Lieberman, whose back was literally up against the wall.

Neither party is officially talking. But while Lieberman spokesman Marshall Whitman says the conversation was "a cordial and friendly discussion" and Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton says it was "private and friendly," Democratic sources tell ABC News that the conversation was a stern rebuke to Lieberman for his criticism of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee as had just happened on the conference call, as well as a discussion about how far Lieberman is willing to go in his advocacy of McCain, and the tone of the campaign.

"It's one thing to support McCain," said one Democratic source, "but many think Uncle Joe has gone too far."