Evening star., 1961-02-08

IS IulIy secure. Will De pleaSeC
If that is the result. If it is not
I think it is important that WI
I know about 1t, and ] will say
that we will then or that I will
, then take on responsibility oi
passing on to the Congress this
collective judgment as to oul
position, and what needs to b
t done.
Conclusion Premature
So that without getting into
the discussion of these stories
. this morning, I do want to say
THAT 1t is my information that
these studies are not complete
and therefore it would be pre-
mature to reach a judgment
as to whether there Is q gap
or not a gap.
@. Mr.. President. could you
tell us what you think about
the wisdom or the idea of these
background briefingS where
Government officials do not
identify themselves as distin-
guiShed from this type of wide
open news conference?
A. Well, they are hazardous
in many cases. and believe
Mr.. Mcnamara might agree
with that. On the other hand,
we will say that they are i'm
portant too. I hope it would
be possible to work out some
satisfactory system where re-
porters who are charged with
covering matters which are
particularly complicated, where
they would have a chance to
discuss with the responsible
official on a background basis
so that their stories would be
more accurate.
Meetings "UsefuI"
We have, 1 believe, there
have been such conversations
in this administration already
and they have been, I think,
useful. This one, evidently a
controversy has arisen from it,
but I hope that it will be
possible for the responsible
ofticials and the reporters who
are particularly concerned with
that area. to work out ground
rules so they could be con-
tinued.
@. Mr.. President. in keeping
with your statment about
NATO. could you tell us how
you would look upon a heads
of-government meeting Of the
NATO Council in the near
future?
Not Under Study
A. Well. 1 would not be able
to get you a response to that.
There is a planned meeting ]
believe at Oslo, of the foreign
ministers, in May. and I have
seen newspaper reports that it
might be turned into a heads
of-state meeting. But I must
say that there has been no
judgment reached; ! think 1t is
fair to say that the matter Is
not yet under consideration.
@. Mr.. President, you said
during one Of your recent mes
Sages that this Nation was
rapidly approaching its hour OF
maximum danger or parallel to
that. I have forgotten the
exact words. Some people have
suggested that perhaps you
were painting the picture
blacker than it is for shock
purposes. Would you perhaps
spell out this morning what you
have in mind, and whether you
really sincerely feel that we are
approaching this peril as you
said?
A. I sincerely believe what
said in my state-of-the-U -Union
address about our position In
the world. I hold this office
for the next four years and
believe that the next four years
will be years in which this
country and its capacity to
meet its position and security
will be strongly tested. I think
that anyone who looks at the
globe and looks at the increas-
ing power of the Communist
bloc, the belligerency which
marks the bloc. particularly the
Chinese Communists, I would
say would come to the conclu-
sion that we are to be severely
tested in the next four years.
| New Orleans Case
! @. Mr.. President, three
months ago a Federal court in
New Orleans ordered two pub
lie schools there desegregated
Since then, what is apparently
an organized campaign Of in
timidation has kept most white
children out of those schools
and effectively frustrated the
court order.
During the campaign, you
spoke Of using your moral au-
thority as President in the civil
rights field. Can you tell Us
what you plan to say or do to
help the New Orleans families
who evidently want to obey the
Constitution, but are afraid to
do SO?
A. I will, at such time as
think 1t is most useful and
most effective. I will attempt
to use the moral authority or
position Of influence Of the
presidency in New Orleans and
in other places.
Getting Careful Study
I want to make sure that
whatever I do or say does have
some beneficial effect and,
therefore, it is a matter which
we are considering.
@. But you do not have any,
thing to say specifically about
New Orleans today or about
what has happened there? For