Hillary Tells Bill To Back Off On Bosnia

Former President Chided For Trying To Defend Wife's Statements; "Yes Ma'am," He Replies





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Bill Muddies Hillary's Blunder

Bill Clinton has again overshadowed his wife and knocked her campaign off message. This time he spoke out about her Bosnia blunder. But instead of helping, he made matters worse. Jim Axelrod reports. | Share/Embed



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(CBS) "She started talking about Bosnia, and she misstated the circumstances under which she landed in Bosnia," Bill Clinton said Thursday. "And you woulda' thought, you know, that she'd robbed a bank the way they carried on about this."

It's the last topic the Clinton campaign wants to talk about - ever. But there was former President Bill Clinton yesterday in Indiana raising his wife's trip to Bosnia in 1996, CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod reports.

Last month on St. Patrick's Day Hilary Clinton spoke about it.

"I remember landing under sniper fire," she said.

Watch Clinton's St. Patrick's Day remarks.
A week after she said that, CBS News ran a video disproving it. The next day Clinton admitted she misspoke.

And the former president said: "She took a terrible beating in the press for a few days because, she was exhausted at 11 o'clock at night and she started talking about Bosnia and she misstated the circumstances under which she landed in Bosnia," he said. "Did you all see all that?"

The fact is, she didn't talk about it "exhausted at 11 o'clock at night," but at 9 a.m., after a day off, Axelrod reports.

Read more about the exchange.
Check out Sharyl Attkisson's full account of the 1996 Bosnia trip.
Bill Clinton might have thought twice about his line of defense.

"And some of them, when they're 60, they'll forget something when they're tired at 11 at night, too," Bill Clinton said.

Watch Bill Clinton's complete remarks.
Hillary Clinton's best-known ad this campaign has been about her ability to think straight in the middle of the night. Remember, "It's 3 a.m….?"

Bill Clinton's outbursts have overshadowed his wife at several key points this campaign - and knocked her campaign off message.

Remember when he had an outburst while talking to a reporter?

Which is why those Clinton supporters who've been wishing someone would muzzle him would like what Bill Clinton says his wife told him.

"Hillary called me and said, 'you don't remember this, you weren't there,'" he said. "'Let me handle it.' I said, 'yes ma'am'!"

Asked about it today, Sen. Barack Obama obeyed a cardinal rule of politics: Don't kick your opponent when they're already kicking themselves.






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