Mr. Kantor. No; I was the only person on the trip for Scripps-Howard.
Mr. Griffin. Did you ask for any particular person? Was it a station-to-station call?
Mr. Kantor. It was a station-to-station call, and the switchboard operator gave me a man by the name of Charles Egger, who is managing editor of Scripps-Howard.
Mr. Griffin. After you had completed that telephone call, what did you do?
Mr. Kantor. I walked into the hall where I saw two Texas Congressmen who were on the trip, Representatives Henry Gonzalez and Albert Thomas, standing together. They were immobile, and they were standing against a wall. I asked them for whatever they could tell me. Henry Gonzalez appeared to be unable to speak. At least he did not speak. And Albert Thomas told me that a brain surgeon had been brought in for the President.
That was the first I knew that the President had been hit in the head. It was at that point, when Malcolm Kilduff, who was in charge of press arrangements for the White House on the trip, came behind me and just touched my back as he passed by, and he said, “Come with me, I have an announcement to make.”
Mr. Griffin. Where did you go?
Mr. Kantor. I followed him out of the emergency door and on to the grass. He was accompanied by Merriman Smith, who was incessantly asking for whatever news there was without waiting to go where Kilduff was going, and another man with him was—I am sorry, I have forgotten his name——
Mr. Griffin. I think it is actually in one of your earlier interviews. We will get to that later.
Mr. Kantor. All right. At any rate, I was directly behind Kilduff, who was moving rapidly. And we went on to the grass and up a little hill and around the corner of the hospital, moving from west to south.