Obama makes surprise appearance at White House briefing to address Gates incident.

The President spoke with the arresting officer, Sgt. Crowley, this afternoon by phone and reiterated to him what Obama said yesterday: that from what he knows Crowley is an exemplary police officer.

Obama conceded that his comments at Wednesday night's press conference "ratcheted up" the situation.

The President also reiterated that he thinks both sides "overreacted." While he suggested that he regretted having "ratcheted up" the situation, Obama rejected the idea that he should not have commented on it because it was merely a local issue.

The President said that Crowley joked about whether Obama could get the press off his lawn.

More here.