Barack Obama actually said...

"I, unfortunately, gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically. And I could have calibrated those words differently."

"The fact that this has become such a big issue I think is indicative of the fact that, you know, race is still a troubling aspect of our society."

"There are some who say that as president I shouldn't have stepped into this at all, because it's a local issue."

"At the end of the conversation, there was discussion about -- my conversation with Sergeant Crowley, there was a discussion about he and I and Professor Gates having a beer here in the White House."