That's how CBS News' Sharyl Attkisson remembers it. Attkisson was with Hillary Clinton on the now-infamous 1996 trip to war-torn Bosnia, which Clinton claimed had occurred after "landing under sniper fire" and running "with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." According to Attkisson (and confirmed by other reports, and Clinton, who said she "misspoke"), there was the possibility of sniper fire, and a steep descent to minimize the time an aircraft is in range, and everyone was wearing helmets and bulletproof vests. But, said Attkisson:
In reality, we had no known incidents of enemy fire on our aircraft. Mindful of the fact that we were with the First Lady, and that she was venturing farther inside Bosnia than her husband the President had ever gone, reporters kept a close eye to the crowds and never entirely went off-guard.
However, the mood upon first landing at the Tuzla airport was light. Children were there on the tarmac to greet the first lady, Chelsea was by her side, Bosnian dignitaries had gathered: It felt safe.
Here's the CBS News report:
This has, of course, become the major gaffe of the day, awarded "four Pinnochios" by the Washington Post. Plus, there's the added glamour of Sinbad's involvement. There's no question about it: This is a black eye moment for Clinton, and not exactly what she needed right now. Which is a shame, because instead of focusing on the fact that as First Lady she traveled to war-torn Bosnia, which did happen, the focus is on her erroneous and misrepresentative assertion of sniper fire, which didn't happen. Instead of scoring points for the fact that "it took some guts for her to go," she's losing points for exaggerating the gravity of the situation, and by extension her own bravery in freely entering it.
A larger question raised by this example is how the media — and the voters — view moments of misspeakery, to coin a phrase. Earlier this month, John McCain made an erroneous comments about Iran training al Qaeda in Iraq that he wrote off as misspeaking rather than not knowing, and that explanation was accepted by a number of media outlets, and as a misstatement, dismissed as a nothing goof rather than a serious gaffe. Barack Obama's "typical white person" comment trying to explain his grandmother's responses came under fire, prompting his campaign to clarify what might have been "misconstrued" and the candidate himself clarified his statement on CNN following. Obama also said initially when the Wright controversy flared that he had not been aware of the more controversial comments; that seemed to shift somewhat as it became clear that, per WaPo, "he was more aware of the potentially inflammatory nature of his Wright's sermons than he previously acknowledged" (he got two Pinocchios for that). Now these are not analogous examples — one is an exaggeration (and partial invention) of a personal experience, one is an incorrect statement of fact, one is a blunt and ill-chosen phrase, one is a slight slide toward an acknowledgment of greater awareness. They all required re-framing by the candidates, and protestations about what they really meant, or why it was no more than a brief "blip." Some are blips, some are not, and often that's not always apparent at the moment. It's useful, though, to remember that it happens across the board — and useful, then, to be aware of how we evaluate each misstatement as it happens. Most useful, perhaps, would be to put 'em all in context, and be aware of what isn't being discussed while we're discussing the Gaffe of the Day. That's not to say that all of these examples aren't important — Hillary's Bosnia gaffe goes to her claim of experience as First Lady; McCain's Iran-Iraq gaffe goes to his claim of foreign policy supremacy; Obama's statements regarding Rev. Wright's comments goes to the question of what Obama knew about Wright when he appointed him to his campaign religious committee. But sometimes, they distract from things that are more important. So it's useful to look at them against each other, and in context.
Update: A corollary from all of this: It's never presidential to be dissed by Sinbad.
CBS News Video Contradicts Clinton's Story [CBS News]
Not The Safest Trip, But No Sniper Fire [CBS News]
Clinton Camp: Hillary Misspoke About Her Role In Bosnia [HuffPolitics]