The key is to get the exact meaning of "attribution".

English, please.

that's what the attribution refers to

How do I know? Prove it.

Let me get it straight. Exactly WHO does it refer to? Bill Clinton? the journalist who asked the question, or Yelsin?

the journalist....

Are you sure?

yup. That translated sentence is equivalent to what came out of Yeltsin's mouth, and he was speaking to those journalists or whoever seated.

According to Oxford dictionary, the correct usage of "attribute" is as follows:

btw, attribution may also be translated as “属性” in Chinese.

（以下出自95年版的Longman字典）
attribute:
1. to say that a situation or event is caused by something: The fall in the number of deaths from heart disease is generally attributed to improvements in diet.
2. to say that someone was responsible for saying or writing something, painting a famous picture, etc.（就是lz你给出的）
3. to say that someone or something has a particular quality -- attribution

I'm afraid I can't follow your logic.
So if Bill Clinton was addressing one of the journalists at that time, He can't have been talking about journalists themselves, it wouldn't make any sense if he had. He must've been suggesting that you (the journalist) make sure you get right exactly where the quotation comes from when writing it down.

yeah, of course Clinton has to remind the journalists, or else they might report that Bill Clinton was the one being referred to.

Since it was Boris Yeltsin who said it, "attribution" should've been referred to Yeltsin, not the journalist.

he was saying that the journalists are a disaster....