Bill and Hillary Clinton React to Loretta Lynch Meeting

— -- Former President Bill Clinton and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton both expressed regret today about the former president's encounter on a Phoenix tarmac with Attorney General Loretta Lynch earlier this week.

In a phone interview with MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, Hillary Clinton spoke out about the meeting for the first time. Clinton claimed to have first learned about her husband's conversation with Lynch in the news. She echoed what both President Clinton and Lynch have said about the meeting -- that it was a chance encounter and was a simple "exchange of pleasantries."

"The bottom line for me is I respect the professionalism and integrity of the officials at the Department of Justice handling this process," she said.

When pressed on whether the meeting between her husband and Lynch was appropriate, given the ongoing federal investigation into her use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state, Clinton admitted it may not have been a good idea even if the interaction was purely social in nature.

"Obviously no one wants to see any untoward conclusions drawn, and they've said, you know, they would not do it again," Clinton said.

Moments before Hillary Clinton's interview, an aide to Bill Clinton for the first time released a statement to ABC News that expressed the former president’s regret over the decision because of how it has been perceived.

"The President's conversation with the Attorney General was unplanned and was entirely social in nature. But recognizing how others could take another view of it, he agrees with the Attorney General that he would not do it again," the aide said.

Hillary Clinton's comments came after an interview with the FBI earlier today in Washington, D.C., as part of the investigation into her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.