2:00:02
We don't do a deal tonight
there won't be any administration
2:00:04
It's the wrong move, Bobby
and it's not just me who thinks that
2:00:08
Everyone on this so-called EXCOM's
telling you the same thing
2:00:12
Whose side are you on now, Ken?
2:00:15
Oh, goddammit
2:00:19
What if there
hasn't been a coup at all?
2:00:23
What if it's you two?
2:00:25
What is that supposed to mean?
2:00:26
What if it was you two
2:00:28
who invited that second letter by
raising the possibility of a trade?
2:00:39
Mr. President
we have only 30 hours left
2:00:42
and whatever response we send
2:00:43
it'll take several hours
to reach our embassy
2:00:45
and be delievered to the Kremlin
2:00:49
So early tomorrow morning
is the earliest
2:00:51
Kruschev could respond
2:00:54
Which one of you geniuses
is gonna tell me how to
2:00:57
explain it to the world
if we don't make this trade?
2:01:00
So what are we gonna say
to the Soviets
2:01:03
about this offer?
2:01:05
Well, it depends, doesn't it?
2:01:06
Do we really believe
there's been a coup?
2:01:10
What if Fomin wasn't a ploy?
2:01:13
What if his message was real?
2:01:15
What if what is happening
is a series of accidents?
2:01:18
Accidents like them
shooting down our U-2?
2:01:23
Yes. Accidents like that
2:01:25
And the accidents are making the
second letter seem more aggressive
2:01:28
and the whole situation
appear worse than it really is
2:01:32
"The Gun of August"
2:01:33
That's right
2:01:35
So we just reject the second letter?
2:01:38
No
2:01:39
We don't...
2:01:40
reject it
2:01:42
We accept the first letter
2:01:43
and pretend
the second one doesn't exist
2:01:48
It won't work
because that's wishful thinking
2:01:50
Look, he made an offer. So I...
2:01:52
The same wishful thinking, Bobby
that blinded us all these months
2:01:54
while the Soviets were sneaking
those missiles in under our noses
2:01:58
Ignore the second letter
2:01:59
agree to the conditions of the first