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THE PRESIDENT The thing is, Acheson's right. Talk alone won't accomplish anything. Kenny considers the President, his face straight as he says: KENNY Then let's bomb the shit out of them. Everyone wants to, even you, even me. (there's a point) It sure would feel good. The President sees what Kenny's saying: it'd be an emotional response, not necessarily the intelligent one. BOBBY Jack1, I'm as conniving2 as they come, but a sneak3 attack is just wrong. KENNY He's right. And things are happening too fast. It smells like the Bay of Pigs all over again. Bobby picks up some reconnaissance photos on the coffee table. BOBBY As if dealing4 with the Russians wasn't hard enough, we gotta worry about our own house. THE PRESIDENT Tonight, listening to Taylor and Acheson, I kept seeing Burke and Dulles telling me all I had to do was sign on the dotted line. The invasion would succeed. Castro would be gone. Just like that. Easy. The President is rendered mute by a wave of pain. Kenny and Bobby aver5 their eyes. When it passes, the President is hushed, grave. THE PRESIDENT (CONT'D) There's something...immoral7 about abandoning your own judgement. Kenny nods, moved. The President reaches out for the reconnaissance photos Bobby's flipping8 through. Bobby hands them to him. The President looks them over. And when he speaks, there's humility9. And resolve. THE PRESIDENT (CONT'D) We can't let things get ahead of themselves. We've got to control what happens. We're going to do what we have to make this come out right. EXCOM is our first weapon. (beat) We'll resort to others as we need 'em. EXT. AIRPORT - BRIDGEPOINT, CONNECTICUT - DAY SUPER: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17TH. DAY 2 A LONG SHOT of an ENORMOUS CROWD thronging10 a bunting-trimmed platform. The President, barely recognizable at the distance, and a cluster of political VIPS wave from it, smiling. Kenny steps INTO FRAME, back here at the fringes of the crowd. THE PRESIDENT (O.S.) Doesn't anybody in Connecticut have to work today? The crowd goes nuts. Kenny paces, checks his watch, impatient to be done with the necessary diversion. Kenny gazes off to his right and spots Scotty Reston, along with half the White House press corps11 suckered along. Scotty catches Kenny's look. Kenny turns away, but Scotty comes weaving over. The President continues on, but all we hear is Scotty and Kenny. RESTON Kenny! What happened? They didn't let me up front, said the President was on the phone the whole time. KENNY He was. RESTON Yeah? Who was he talking to? Acheson? Come on, O'Donnell, everyone's wondering what's going on. What's Acheson doing in town? And don't give me some bullshit about DNC think tanks. Acheson's Mr. Cold War. KENNY Why don't you ask him yourself? You can have him on the way home. RESTON I'm giving you a chance here: talk to me. You can influence how this thing unfolds. But Kenny stands there, mute. Reston just shakes his head, knowing for sure something's up. He turns and heads back for the press corps. EXT. STAIRS TO AIR FORCE ONE - DAY Kenny and the President climb the stairs to the Presidential plane, the crowd cheering him. He gives a final wave. THE PRESIDENT Let's get out of here. KENNY Cheer up, you've neutralized12 the entire White House Press Corps for a day. INT. GEORGE BALL'S CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY EXCOM meets in George Ball's small conference room at the State Department. Bobby, in shirtsleeves, paces at the head of the table, very, very alone. All eyes are on him. BOBBY 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. McNamara squirms. The others react in frustration13. CIA chief JOHN MCCONE, sharp, tough, conservative, is harsh. MCCONE Sometimes there is only one right choice, and you thank God when it's clear. BOBBY 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. ACHESON Bobby, that's naive14. This is the real world, you know that better than anybody. Your argument is ridiculous. MCCONE You weren't so ethically15 particular when we were talking about options for removing Castro over at CIA. And there's nothing Bobby can say to that. He props16 himself up on the table, stares at it as if there's an answer in its shiny surface somewhere. There is only the reflection of his own face. BOBBY I can't let my brother go down in History like a villain17, like a Tojo, ordering another Pearl Harbor. McCone, Acheson, and Taylor share a look. The last resistance to airstrikes is crumbling18. Finally, Bobby looks up at McNamara. BOBBY (CONT'D) Bob. If we go ahead with these air strikes... (beat) There's got to be something else. Give it to me. I don't care how crazy, inadequate19 or stupid it sounds. (beat, pleading) Give it to me. McNamara suffers under the gaze of everyone at the table, weighing the situation out. And finally he ventures. MCNAMARA Six months ago we gamed out a scenario20. It's slow. It doesn't get rid of the missiles. There are a lot of drawbacks. (beat) The scenario was for a blockade of Cuba. SUPER: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18TH. DAY 3 INT. OVAL OFFICE - DAY Kenny enters the office from his side door in the middle of a debate. Military uniforms dominate the room: General Taylor, General Sweeney, and a host of briefing officers. GENERAL TAYLOR The situation is worse than we thought. We count 40 missiles now, longer range IRBMs. They can hit every city in the continental21 U.S. The President stares out the window at the Rose Garden, his back to Air Force Chief of Staff GENERAL CURTIS LEMAY, 60. Beetle-browed, arrogant22, the archetypal Cold War general. Yet there is something about him, his intelligence perhaps, that suggests he's playing a role he knows and believes in. The only other civilians23 in the room are Bobby, Bundy and McNamara. The pressure from the military is almost physical. LEMAY Mr. President, as of this moment my planes are ready to carry out the air strikes. All you have to do is give me the word, sir, and my boys will get The President continues staring out the window. Kenny eases over to the desk, leans on it, arms folded, interposing himself between the President and the soldiers. Bobby joins him, side-by-side. THE PRESIDENT How long until the army is ready? GENERAL TAYLOR We've just begun the mobilization under cover of a pre-arranged exercise, sir. We're looking at another week and a half, Mr. President. LEMAY But you can begin the strikes, now. The plans call for an eight-day air campaign. It'd light a fire under the That makes the President turn around, stare at LeMay. THE PRESIDENT General LeMay, do you truly believe that's our best course of action? LEMAY Mr. President, I believe it is the only course of action. American is in danger. Those missiles are a threat to our bomber25 bases and the safety of our nuclear deterrent26. Without our deterrent, there's nothing to keep the enemy from choosing general nuclear war. It's our duty, our responsibility to the American people to take out those missiles and return stability to the strategic situation. The Big Red Dog is digging in our back yard, and we're Taylor steps in softly, smoothly28: good cop to LeMay's bad. GENERAL TAYLOR Sir, we have a rapidly closing window of opportunity where we can prevent those missiles from ever becoming operational. The other options... He spares a look at McNamara, who watches the fireworks, arms folded, serious. GENERAL TAYLOR (CONT'D) ...do not guarantee the end result we can guarantee. However, the more time that goes by, the less reliable the choice we can offer you becomes. The President, partially29 defused, looks from Taylor to McNamara. LeMay steps forward, softer now, sincere. LEMAY Mr. President, the motto I chose for SAC is 'Peace is our Profession.' God forbid we find ourselves in a nuclear exchange. But if launched, those missiles in Cuba would kill a lot of Americans. That's why I'm being such a pain in the ass about destroying them. Destroying them immediately. Hell, even Mac agrees. Bundy is uncomfortable. Everyone turns to him. He nods. Kenny realizes he's been co-opted by the military. McNamara does too, lets out a deep breath. The President eyes Bundy, then paces out from behind his desk, walks up to LeMay. THE PRESIDENT General, what will the Soviets31 do when we attack? LEMAY Nothing. Kenny, Bobby and the President look at each other, unable to believe what they just heard. THE PRESIDENT Nothing? LEMAY Nothing. Because the only alternative open to them is one they can't choose. His pronouncement hangs there in the air: ominous32, dangerous. THE PRESIDENT Those aren't just missiles we'll be destroying. We kill Soviet30 soldiers, and they will respond. How would we respond if they killed ours? No, they will do something, General, I promise you that. And I believe it'll be Berlin. INT. WEST WING HALLWAY - DAY LeMay walk out of the Oval Office with Taylor, Carter and their staffers. LEMAY Those goddamn Kennedys are going to destroy this country if we don't do something about this. There are dark looks on the faces of the other officers. They agree. INT. KENNY'S OFFICE - DAY As the meeting next door disperses33, the President rummages34 through Kenny's jacket which hangs on Kenny's chair. Kenny, bemused, holds out the package of cigarettes the President is looking for. KENNY I was hoping LeMay pushed you. I wouldn't mind going a few rounds with him. The President glances up, takes the proffered35 smokes. THE PRESIDENT We knew it was coming. I tell you, Kenny, these brass36 hats have one big advantage. We do what they want us to, none of us will be alive to tell 'em they were wrong. Bobby, Rusk and Sorensen enter from the hall. SORENSEN Mr. President, Gromyko should be on his way by now. RUSK We need to go over what you're going to say. BOBBY 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. THE PRESIDENT We keep 'em in the dark as long as we can. But I sure as hell am going to test him. INT. WEST WING HALL - DAY Kenny comes out of the bathroom, and is buttonholed by the crewcut, bullet-headed Press Secretary, PIERRE SALINGER, in the crowded, busy hallway. SALINGER Kenny, I'm getting funny questions from the guys in the press office. As Press Secretary, I need to know. What's going on? Kenny wheels back into his office. It's filled with people. But he bends confidentially37 to Pierre's ear. KENNY They're planning to shave you bald next time you fall asleep on the bus. (off Pierre's get-serious look) Sorry, Pierre, Gromyko just arrived. INT. KENNY'S OFFICE - DAY The Press Corps throngs38 Kenny's tiny office, pushing and shoving for a vantage at the side door to the Oval Office, waiting for the Gromyko photo-op. Kenny stands shoulder-to shoulder with Reston and Sorensen near the door. RESTON Are they going to discuss the military exercises going on in Florida? Kenny doesn't even blink, but Sorensen does a poorer job at hiding his reaction. KENNY Come on, Scotty. This meeting's been on the books for months. It's just a friendly talk on U.S.-Soviet relations. Fortunately, the conversation is cut short as a dozen FLASHBULBS suddenly go off on a dozen cameras as the reporters crush in on the Oval Office, and Reston is swept forward. KENNY'S POV: over the reporters. The President, unsmiling, enters the room beside Soviet Foreign Minister, ANDREI GROMYKO. Gromyko pauses for the photos: grim, dark haired, saturnine39. RESUME Kenny reacts. At last, the face of the enemy. INT. OVAL OFFICE - NIGHT The CAMERA picks up the darkened windows: the meeting has gone long. The CAMERA MOVES PAST Kenny and Sorensen standing40 in the doorway41 to Kenny's office, FINDS the President in his chair across from Gromyko on the sofa. Rusk, Ambassador ANATOLY DOBRINYN, and two INTERPRETERS around them. THE PRESIDENT So that there should be no misunderstanding, the position of the United States, which has been made clear by the Attorney General to Ambassador Dobrynin here, I shall read a sentence from my own statement to the press dated September 13th. (beat, reading) Should missiles or offensive weapons be placed in Cuba, it would present the gravest threat to U.S. national security. The President stares at Gromyko as the translator finishes translating. Gromyko sits there, enigmatic, cold, unreadable. The translator finishes, and Gromyko stops him with a gesture so he can answer in his own accented English. 点击  收听单词发音
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