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Judy Woodruff from NBC News stands and asks U.S. President Jimmy Carter "Mr. President, why have you permitted the taking of the hostages in Iran to continue to monopolize your time and your attention, when there are other international crises that are equally important to the security of this country and when your preoccupation with what has happened in Iran only seems to make the Iranian leaders more stubborn?" President Carter responds "There is no way that I could possibly confine my activities or my attention to one single facet of American life or diplomacy to the exclusion of others. It has been a major preoccupation of mine and the American people that these hostages are held. But, we've had to deal with simultaneous domestic and international problems concurrently. We have, for instance, met, I think as forcefully as is practicable and advisable, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, mounting economic sanctions against the Soviet Union, marshaling support of other nations for the boycott of the Olympics, letting the Soviets know, with 104 members of the U.N. condemning their action in the invasion of Afghanistan. I've spent a great deal of time the last couple of weeks, for instance, continuing our negotiations for peace between Israel and Egypt and the establishment of autonomous government in the West Bank and Gaza area. I've worked on inflation problems in our nation and also on the problem of employment and the dealing with the diplomatic relationships of a routine nature with other countries. So, we have an ongoing program in this government that is being well cared for. It's unfortunate that the hostage situation has been the human kind of concern that has been dominant in our consciousness even when we were doing our duties in other matters."