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What Exactly Did McCain Say?

John McCain, who was profiled on "60 Minutes" yesterday, has been heavily criticized for suggesting that "there are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods today."

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On Friday, "60 Minutes" put out a press release suggesting that McCain would reveal in his interview with Scott Pelley that he "REGRETS HIS REMARKS ON SECURITY IN BAGHDAD, SAYING HE MISSPOKE."

Following the lead of the press release, media outlets have largely treated McCain's comments on "60 Minutes" as an acknowledgment by the senator that he misspoke about the level of safety in Baghdad.

I'm not sure that the interview itself bears out that interpretation, however. Here's the relevant exchange:

PELLEY: You mentioned in an interview that General Petraeus sometimes goes into Baghdad in an unarmored humvee, and that there were neighborhoods you could walk through without being concerned for your safety.

MCCAIN: There is no unarmored humvees, obviously that's the case. I'm trying to make the point over and over and over again that we are making progress. And there are signs of progress. But it's long and it's hard and it's tough.

PELLEY: You were a little annoyed with yourself, I think.

MCCAIN: Of course I'm going to misspeak and I've done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do in the future. I regret that when I divert attention to something that I've said from my message but you know that's just life, and I'm happy with frankly with the way I operate, otherwise it would be a lot less fun.

McCain clearly said he was wrong about the unarmored humvee, but it's unclear, to me at least, whether or not he was trying to back off his much more widely criticized comments about the level of safety in Baghdad.

You can watch the full piece by clicking on the video box.

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