where the hell are you?
jesus christ, guys. what the hell's khruschev thinking?
complete snowjob. and then we went out and told the country they weren't putting missiles into cuba. by the way, you realize we just lost the midterms.
you mean there's something more important than votes? didn't think i'd live to see the day, ken.
how long until they're operational?
they lied to us. two weeks ago dobrynin told me to my face khurschev had no intention of putting missiles into cuba. they said themselves, this is our backyard.
it will be munich all over again.
damned if we do, but if we don't, we're in a war for sure somewhere else in six months.
he's right, jack. taylor is saying we may have some time. we've got to use it.
what about the allies? congress? i think we may need to start letting key people know. and they're all scattered across the country for the campaign. we're going to need to get the u.n. staff in and warmed up. jesus.  i don't even know if we've got secure communications with half our embassies since that the soviets got that cryptographer of ours.
 i know. cia and the military fucked us on the bay of pigs.
we got a bunch of smart guys. we lock 'em up together in there, kick 'em in the ass til they come up with options.
i'll do it.
it'll be the principals, a couple of the key guys from each department: the executive committee of the national security council. we'll call it excom.
i think we should bring in dean acheson. he was fighting soviets while we were still working the wards in boston.
screw secrecy. you try having that fat ass sit on your lap all the way from foggy bottom.
everybody agrees the diplomatic route is out. it's too slow, and they'll have the missiles finished.
jack, i'm as conniving as they come, but a sneak attack is just wrong.
as if dealing with the russians wasn't hard enough, we gotta worry about our own house.
no. no. no. there is more than one option here. if one isn't occurring to us, it's because we haven't thought hard enough.
you're talking about a sneak attack! how'll that make us look? big country blasting a little one into the stone age. we'll be real favorites around the world.
i can't let my brother go down in history like a villain, like a tojo, ordering another pearl harbor.
bob. if we go ahead with these air strikes.  there's got to be something else. give it to me. i don't care how crazy, inadequate or stupid it sounds. give it to me.
there's still no sign they know that we know about the missiles. been a lot of cloud cover; probably think we aren't getting any good product.
what happened?
we're split down the middle. if i held a vote i think airstrike would beat blockade by a vote or two.
what if i can't?
then you'll call, right?
bring him back.
we believe that a surprise attack would be counter to what the united states stands for. we believe that an attack leaves us no room for maneuver, and the inevitable soviet response will force us into a war we do not want. a war that, this time, will really end all war.
goddman stevenson. jesus. peace at any price. you'd think nobody learned anything from world war two.
we have to pull him. he's not going to be able to handle the soviets in front of the u.n. zorin will eat him alive.
he wants to talk to lemay again.
we're getting the soviet response.
admiral anderson, if the ships do not stop, what exactly are our rules of engagement?
what happens if the ship doesn't stop for inspection or want to be towed?
and what happens if the ship ignores the warning shot?
course that's for morale. the missiles only take five minutes to get here.
it's an accident. they must not have gotten their orders yet. let 'em go.
what happened to speak when spoken to?
we're going to have to stop a ship eventually, show the quarantine's got teeth, or we'll prove mccone right.
lemay.  he's history.
rescind the order. can all the chiefs. put nitze, gilpatric and the undersecretaries in charge.
mcnamara won't be able to handle them. it's too much for one man.  . with all due respect to our heroic fifth column.
adlai's too weak! we have to convince jack to pull him, get mccloy in there.
zorin will eat him alive!
what's gotten into you?
oh, still sore about this.
my father --
he better. because nobody thinks he's up to this. nobody.
i make the call, and adlai is out. mccloy goes in.
john? it's bobby. get ready to send your staffer in. he's going to be coming out.
john, i'll get back to you.
i think.  this may be our first real message from khruschev.
by the way, scali, your activities now fall under the secrecy codicils of the national security act. sorry, no pulitzer.
where've you been? we've been trying to find you all morning.
we just got a second letter from khruschev. the deal's off.
we're getting everyone together as fast as we can.
they want us to take our missiles out of turkey along with the no invasion pledge. it looks like fomin was a ploy after all, and they were just stalling for time.
it gets worse.
kenny! we need to talk.
and?
the jupiters are obsolete. they were supposed to have been dismantled last summer anyway --
all right, so maybe we overestimated how reasonable this trade would look. okay? you happy? so now what?
and if there has been a coup and there is no acceptable political solution?
he gets it, but he's pissed.
making the second letter and the overall picture look worse than it really is.
 we accept the first letter and pretend the second doesn't exist.
what do you want? a good-bye kiss?
i don't know if i can do this.
take a left.
we gave so much to get here. i don't know. sometimes i think what the hell did we do it for?
you know.  i hate being called the brilliant one. the ruthless one. they guy who does the dirty work. the one everybody's afraid of.
i hate it. i'm not smart, you know. and i'm not so ruthless.
slow down. smell that?
just wanted to see for myself. they're burning their documents.
they think we're going to war. g-d help us, ken.
ambassador dobrynin, we are aware that at this moment your missiles in cuba are at the brink of operational readiness.
they are a vital threat to my country. if launched, they would kill 80 million americans.
my brother, my friends, my countrymen and i cannot and will not permit those missiles to become operational. i promise you that.
if the missiles do not become operational, if you remove the missiles, then there will be no war. at this moment, the president is accepting the terms of secretary khruschev's letter of friday night. if the soviet union halts construction immediately, removes the missiles, and submits to u.n. inspection, the united states will pledge to never invade cuba or aid others in that enterprise.
the united states cannot agree to such terms under threat. any belief to the contrary -- -- was in error.
however, while there can be no quid pro quo on this issue, the united states can offer a private assurance.
our jupiter missiles in turkey are obsolete, and have been scheduled for withdrawal for some time. this withdrawal should be completed within, say, six months.
of course, any public disclosure of this assurance would negate the deal and produce the most stringent denials from our government.
yes.
of course. our pledge can be relayed to any government official secretary khruschev sees fit to satisfy.
with the caveat that it is not made public in any way, shape or form. and we must have an answer tomorrow at the latest. i cannot stress this point enough.
tomorrow.
we're out here.
he didn't have to worry about nuclear weapons.
how does a guy get a rep like that?
kenny. it's over.