Good afternoon, everybody. Have a seat, please. I apologize for interrupting your meeting. First of all, I want to thank you for coming to the White … - Jimmy Carter

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Good afternoon, everybody. Have a seat, please. I apologize for interrupting your meeting. First of all, I want to thank you for coming to the White House to interview our people and to let me see some old friends. Jody 1 began this program at the beginning of this year over some opposition of mine, because I thought it would be too time-consuming, and I was afraid we couldn't get enough benefit from it and understanding of what we are doing in the White House. This is the 16th meeting we've had so far, more than 450 editors and others from around the country. Jody tells me every State except three-we haven't had anybody yet from Hawaii or Alaska or, just because of scheduling, Vermont--but 20 percent of the newspapers in the United States have had editors here at the White House this year to talk to me personally and to ask questions in an unrestricted way. It's been a very helpful thing for us in telling the American people accurately what we are doing, what our problems are, what our achievements have been, what our plans are for the future. As has been my custom, I'd like to take about 5 minutes to outline present circumstances, what's going on right now, and then spend the other 25 minutes answering your questions.