Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post reports that Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl is backing away from his earlier story meeting with President Barack Obama on immigration:

Earlier this week, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) caused a stir when he was quoted saying that President Obama personally told him the administration will not support stricter border enforcement until Republicans back broad immigration reform. The White House denied the claim. Now Kyl is saying that's not what he meant.

Kyl was quoted: "The president said the problem is if we secure the border, then you all won't have any reason to support comprehensive immigration reform. In other words, they're holding it hostage."

In an interview with National Review, Kyl explained:

Kyl tells us that the comments were "taken a bit out of context," and that the "they" he was referring to was the Left, "the president's base," and not the administration. "I did not try to start a fight. This meeting happened a month ago and we were talking in the context of his political problems. He was talking about how they think that if we secure the border, you guys [Republicans] won't have the incentive to work on comprehensive immigration reform."

Is this a sign that Republicans want to tamp down the immigration fire that they've been stirring up?

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' husband, NASA Astronaut and U.S. Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, makes a cameo on The Colbert Report as Stephen goes to astronaut training. It wasn't that long ago that Colbert was referring to Giffords as "Miss Pink Sweaters Set" after she stood in the way of having part of the space station named after him...

Arizona Democrats are opening up field offices in Oro Valley and Green Valley this weekend.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Attorney General Terry Goddard, who is seeking the governor's office, will stop by the opening-day festivities tomorrow. Details from the press release:

The Pima County Democratic Party is pleased to announce that the Northwest Field Office and Democratic Club of the Santa Rita Area will both be celebrating their Grand Openings this Saturday. Attorney General Terry Goddard and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will speak at both openings to help kick off what is promising to be an exciting campaign season!

Democrat Rodney Glassman will be attending a Tucson debate with his fellow contenders for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican John McCain, says campaign spokesman Blake Morlock.

The other three Democrats in the race—investigative reporter John Dougherty, former state lawmaker Cathy Eden and labor organizer Randy Parraz—have been planning debates without input from the Glassman campaign, which declined to work with the other candidates in putting together the forums.

Dougherty's campaign announced the finalized plans for the forums last night. You can find details here.

Morlock says the Glassman campaign has not yet decided whether to attend the Yuma debate with the other candidates.

Stateside Presents concert promoter Charlie Levy pens an op-ed in the Arizona Republic urging artists to perform in Arizona rather than boycott the state:

While I respect the intentions of the artists protesting what they find to be an unjust law, the practical effect of the boycott is resulting in exactly the opposite of their good-willed intentions.

By not performing in Arizona, artists are harming the very people and places that foster free speech and the open exchange of ideas that serve to counter the closed-mindedness recently displayed by the new law.

The people who will feel the negative effects of the boycott the deepest are local concert venues, including non-profit art-house theatres, independent promoters, fans and the people employed in the local music business. If the boycott continues, it is all but guaranteed that some of these venues will be forced to close their doors.

Think of it this way: What if otherwise outspoken and inspirational activists like Martin Luther King Jr. had turned their backs on the state of Alabama and its citizens because they didn't agree with the discriminatory practices of its government during the critical years of the civil-rights movement? What would have happened if they had chosen to boycott Alabama rather than speak out, organize and effect change?

U.S. Sen. John McCain has announced that he's ready for two debates against Republican challenger J.D. Hayworth next month.

The debates are scheduled for July 16 on Phoenix TV station KTVK and July 17 Tucson station KUAT-TV, Channel 6. Arizona Illustrated host Bill Buckmaster says he's "delighted" that KUAT will be hosting the Tucson debate.

McCain has been hammering Hayworth hard in recent weeks, with the latest round focusing on J.D.'s appearance on an infomercial that promised "free government money." Hayworth said in a statement yesterday that his participation in the ad was "a mistake."

McCain seems to be planning on diminishing Hayworth as much as possible before they meet in a debate. How long before McCain starts mentioning Hayworth's relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramhoff?

Here's the release on the debate from Team McCain:

If you're planning on attending Song-Poem Night at Bookmans, as mentioned in the initial version of this week's Soundbites, you should alter your plans a bit.

The event will take place tomorrow night, Saturday, June 26, not tonight, as it said at first in Soundbites. It'll be at the Grant location starting at 6 p.m.—but if you're bringing a poem to be set to music, get there at 5 p.m. to pre-register. More info here.

We apologize for the error.

Tonight at the Loft Cinema: Best Worst Movie, with director Michael Paul Stevenson on hand to talk about the film. And if that's not enough to get you out of the house, Troll 2—the best worst movie that Best Worst Movie is all about—shows at 10 p.m. tonight and tomorrow. Details here.

The best film critic in Arizona, James DiGiovanna, tells us this week in Tucson Weekly:

The idiosyncratic weirdness of Troll 2 makes it watchable, but the exploration of the people behind that weirdness makes Best Worst Movie riveting. It says something important about art that small-town nobodies, deranged egoists and several people who would likely be labeled as mentally ill if they ever received medical attention could come together and make an intensely interesting, if in some ways incompetent, film like Troll 2, while in Hollywood, high-paid consultants and multi-million-dollar executives churn out flavorless crap that will be forgotten two weeks after the last misleading advertisement stops running.

You can watch Best Worst for sheer entertainment value, but it also excels as a quiet commentary on what it takes to make something rough and original in a copycat business run by smooth-edged clones.

Read the whole review here.

The Arizona Guardian rolled out a new polling series this week. Among the results: Arizona Democrats don't know who they're voting for U.S. Senate primary.

Details of the poll are available to subscribers, but here's the breakdown of the numbers:

Rodney Glassman: 12 percent

Cathy Eden: 6.5 percent

John Dougherty: 3.4 percent

Randy Parraz: 2 percent

Undecided: 76 percent

The numbers are more or less in line with a Rasmussen poll released earlier this week.

Magellan Strategies polls the Arizona Senate race between Republicans John McCain and J.D. Hayworth. The news is not good for Hayworth:

Among likely Republican primary voters in Arizona, Senator John McCain leads former Congressman JD Hayworth by 23 points, 52% to 29%, 14% support “another candidate” and 5% are undecided. These numbers are based on a Magellan Strategies automated survey of 1,139 likely Republican primary voters on June 22nd. With two months to go before the August 24thprimary, it is clear that John McCain is in a strong position, especially among a vital voter subgroup, seniors. Voters that are 65 and older will constitute 45% of the overall Republican primary vote, and John McCain currently enjoys a 32 point lead over JD Hayworth, 55% to 23%. JD Hayworth’s strongest base of support is coming from male voters aged 18 to 54, but John McCain still leads among the voter subgroup, 41% to 38%.

2012 GOP Nomination Ballot Test
Among likely Republican primary voters, Mitt Romney leads Sarah Palin 29% to 18%, followed by Newt Gingrich with 16%, Mike Huckabee with 14%, Ron Paul with 5%, Tim Pawlenty with 3%, Rick Santorum with 2% and 14% of respondents are undecided.