:53:00
What if what is happening
is a series of accidents?
:53:04
Accidents like them
shooting down our U-2?
:53:08
Yes. Accidents like that
:53:10
And the accidents are making the
second letter seem more aggressive
:53:14
and the whole situation
appear worse than it really is
:53:17
"The Gun of August"
:53:18
That's right
:53:20
So we just reject the second letter?
:53:23
No
:53:25
We don't...
:53:26
reject it
:53:27
We accept the first letter
:53:29
and pretend
the second one doesn't exist
:53:34
It won't work
because that's wishful thinking
:53:36
Look, he made an offer. So I...
:53:37
The same wishful thinking, Bobby
that blinded us all these months
:53:40
while the Soviets were sneaking
those missiles in under our noses
:53:44
Ignore the second letter
:53:45
agree to the conditions of the first
:53:47
There is no reason to believe
the Soviets will let it go
:53:49
Max is right. Why will they accept it?
:53:51
It can work
:53:52
If they believe
we're gonna hit 'em hard
:53:56
We've got time for one more round
of diplomacy, and that's it
:53:59
First airstrikes start in 28 hours
:54:02
But we have to make them agree to it
:54:03
So how do we do that?
:54:04
We give them something
:54:06
We tell them
we'll remove the missiles from Turkey
:54:08
Hang on
:54:10
But we don that six months from now
so it appears there's no linkage
:54:13
We also tell them
if they go public about it
:54:16
we'll deny it
:54:17
Right we deny it. The deal's off
:54:18
And we do it under the table
so we can disavow any knowledge of it
:54:21
It's transparent, Kenny
The press will be all over it
:54:24
Six months from now
we're not gonna care, are we?
:54:27
We'll deal with it then
:54:28
At the least, it'll expulse
whether Kruschev has been overthrown
:54:31
We'll know who we're up against
:54:32
I've been thinking about Kruschev
:54:34
And if this is a move to appease
the hard-liners in his government
:54:37
it may be just the bone he needs to
regain control of his own house
:54:41
Whoever carries the message
has to hit the nail on the head
:54:44
If we come across as too soft
they'll push us
:54:47
Too hard, they'll be cornered
and even more dangerous
:54:51
All of you do understand
:54:53
that there is an enormous risk
in offering this deal
:54:56
Because if they turn us down
and we've already told them
:54:58
that we're coming in on Monday morning