(CNN)

An emotional Brooke Baldwin apologized Wednesday for suggesting that soldiers who become police officers after returning from war are "ready do do battle" and contribute to the unrest in cities like Baltimore.

"I absolutely misspoke," Baldwin said on CNN's "New Day" Wednesday morning. "I inartfully chose my words a hundred percent, and I just wish, just speaking to all of you this morning ... I wholeheartedly retract what I said. I’ve thought tremendously about this, and to our nation’s veterans — to you, I have the utmost respect for our men and women in uniform, and I wanted you to know that this morning. So to all of you, I owe you a tremendous apology. I am truly sorry."

“You learn as you go,” Baldwin's colleague Chris Cuomo said, giving her a hug.

The on-air apology came a day after the daytime anchor made the remarks while discussing the need for better police training in Baltimore.

"I was talking to the city councilman last week," Baldwin said. "He said, 'Brooke, these people have to live in the community. There’s a lack of emotional investment.' And a lot of young people — and I’ve been talking about this so much. A lot of young people — and I love our nation’s veterans, but some are coming back from war, they don’t know the communities, and they’re ready to do battle."



Her comments sparked an immediate backlash.









Brooke Baldwin basically insinuated that veterans are too damaged to be trusted as police office. — Crash (@CrashDavus) April 29, 2015

Disgraceful: CNN Host Blames Military Veterans For Baltimore Riots [VIDEO] http://t.co/03jTkP0ywZ via @dailycaller pic.twitter.com/YFv9klTmqZ — Alexander Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) April 28, 2015

This is an idiotic, unproductive, and utterly incorrect assertion about veterans. http://t.co/lKWSudUHuLHire veterans. — Logan Dobson (@LoganDobson) April 28, 2015



Baldwin initially pushed back at critics, saying she was merely repeating what she was told by a city official.









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Folks. Please don't misunderstand me. Dear friends/family of mine are veterans. I was repeating a concern vocalized to me lately. That's it. — Brooke Baldwin (@BrookeBCNN) April 28, 2015



Later, though, she tweeted an apology.









I am sorry for what I said earlier about veterans. It was wrong and I apologize to anyone who was hurt by my comments. — Brooke Baldwin (@BrookeBCNN) April 28, 2015



At least 15 police officers were hurt during Monday's riots, police said.

