WASHINGTON -- President Clinton said Thursday that he plans to invite "some high-level folks from the entertainment industry" to the White House in effort to put together a "national campaign" to combat violence among school children.

Clinton made the remark to NBC's Katie Couric during an interview for the Today Show slated for air this morning. Clinton said the entertainment industry must have a "big part" of solving the problem of youth violence, but also cautioned that the gun industry also has a role in finding a solution to the problem, according to an Associated Press account of the interview.

Since the horrific shooting of 13 people at a Colorado High School, Republicans and Democrats have jousted over placing blame on the fire arms or entertainment industries.

Parties pick targets

Generally, the Democrats are pointing fingers at the gun industry and Republicans at the entertainment industry. But Clinton indicated that there is plenty of blame to go around and warned against politicizing the issue.

''It would be a mistake for the people who don't want to offend the (National Rifle Assn.) to blame Hollywood and the people that don't want to offend Hollywood to blame the NRA,'' Clinton said.

This week Clinton unveiled a comprehensive bill aimed at curtailing the availability of guns to young people.

Entertainment industry lobbyists and Capitol Hill staffers are preparing to hear as early as this morning the official word that the White House will indeed convene a summit within the next two weeks to examine the impact of media violence on the behavior of the nation's children.

The White House is expected to issue invitations to representatives from all segments of the industry ranging from studio execs to video game producers.

Mixed feelings

In early discussions with the White House, entertainment industry lobbyists said they would refuse to participate if representatives of the gun lobby were included at the summit. Studio, television and Internet industry lobbyists say they are willing to discuss the potential impact of media violence on kids, but insist that removing guns from the hands of children should be a much higher priority.

Entertainment industry lobbyists huddled Thursday with Motion Picture Assn. of America prexy Jack Valenti to strategize on the best way to handle the current political backlash against the industry.

Four members of Congress formally requested the summit Wednesday, during a press conference in which they placed at least some of the blame for the murder of 13 people and the suicide of two students on the entertainment industry.

Although the bipartisan group was careful to assess blame on the gun industry as well, members insisted that the entertainment industry needs to shoulder some blame for a "culture of carnage," which they said is saturating television, computer and movie screens.

In latest development on Capitol Hill, the Judiciary Committee canceled a hearing it had scheduled for Monday on the connection between violent kids and violent media. Instead of holding a hearing, Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Ut.) will testify at a Commerce Committee hearing Tuesday on "marketing violence" to young people. Valenti is also expected to testify at the hearing.