another bus halted by a flat tire was set afire. >> it put the savagery and it puts the brutality on television, it puts this massive resistance on display, not just across the country, but across the world. >> and the governor of alabama, john patterson had said citizens of the state are so enraged, i cannot guarantee protection for this bunch of rebel rousers. >> the whole world is watching. the violence could undermine kennedy's presidential authority. >> jfk says get them off the buses. stop them from demonstrating. >> jack does not want to back the protesters. supporting civil rights would make him very unpopular with southern democrats. >> let's not forget the south is solidly democratic. they call them dixiecrats. but they were democrats. so a big part of the power base for the kennedys rests in the south. >> in a desperate attempt to diffuse the situation, bobby makes a call. >> bobby tried to convince the freedom riders they should hold