Original subtitles

Mr. President?

Mr. President.

Mr. President.

I Failed

I offered him the deal of the century human history.

He's walking away over one single word

Never should have trusted him

So the car is here ready to take him to the airport,

but it's not over not yet It's over

No world living on hope

Press will know by tonight

So when you recruited me you told me we could make a difference

He told me we could make America safer than when we found her.

It's over

Ask him to come to Washington.

For what? More talk that leads to nothing?

Maybe this place is haunted.

Ask him anyway, sir. Please, in spite of it all.

We have maybe a minute left until he comes out that door,

gets in that car, and he is gone.

Do not let what happened in that house, in that room,

over the last 30 hours destroy our entire future.

All teams, Rawhide has arrived.

He stays with the football.

- Establish position. -The Brits gave it up.

Pictures falling off the walls in the night the ambassador's wife refused to stay

They sold it back to the Icelandic government

Let me get this straight George of all the places on earth

You could pick for a meeting about the fate of the human race.

You picked a haunted house in Iceland.

Not me, sir Secret Service

perfect for security

Nothing around but lava rock in the North Atlantic

Total isolation

total isolation can't blame Nancy for staying home,

but I am blaming you. Yes, sir

Ready to begin?

Copy. All clear.

Hello, how are you good to see you?

Good to see you.

This is George Schultz

Should be in the same area.

We'll share this top floor, Soviets are down the hall,

and here is our conference room.

Any update?

Tight quarters,

I'm surprised you didn't shove me in the basement

You'll be pleased to know sir that the basement in the spirit of this summit status summit

We've been having summits of 40 years.

Nothing changes

Actions speak louder than words that this guy Gorbachev wants to bluster and bullshit

and We'll just walk

Call it a meeting and no press sir

We can say no press but the leaders of the two superpowers with 70,000 nuclear tipped

ICBMs IR BMS air-launched cruise missiles not to mention

5 million active-duty conventional troops at their fingertips are having a

meeting Mr.

President, whatever we call it.

We have two days

Perhaps you'd like to glance at the briefing binders.

What the basement you were saying?

What's in the basement that where you keep the ghosts?

Well in a manner of speaking sir, the CIA

Of course and the KGB together.

Oh, well, that's got a set a world record for awkward

or cooperation

Have you met the CIA and KGB?

George Where's our team? Yes

Quick gentlemen

Max Kappelman

Paul Nietzsche Richard Perle

and Ken Adam

entire State Department entire federal government at your disposal.

You could only find Democrats

I'm actually a Republican sir.

Well that makes two of us

I'm glad you're all here.

I I know you gave up time at home for a weekend and a house in Iceland But hey,

I hear there are ghosts. So...

Should be fun.

Let's talk about how we open this thing.

We've agreed to begin with formal statements, sir

This is our basic boilerplate plus a few other ideas

I'm gonna move up the human rights stuff.

I Strongly suggest we don't poke the bear first thing sir

You read the briefing binders

the Russians are focused on the strategic defense initiative

I think it violates the anti-ballistic missile treaty

But in reality SDI does nothing of the kind and they're violating the ABM already with a radar installation and crossing ours

Being underestimated is a tactical advantage gentlemen

Let's not make that same mistake with the new secretary-general

Gorbachev is relatively young for a Soviet considering the last three died before I could even meet them

I guess he must be well,

yeah, he acted for a while in high school then some in college

- No kidding. - It will not fill like you just stage plays explains

his bombastic speeches all those big hand

At least you have something in common, sir

Yes, except for the fact that we disagree about free enterprise freedom of speech

and freedom of just about any kind

Gentlemen, can you trust an enemy?

since the founding of the Soviet Union

they have concentrated their foreign policy on the coercion of other nations

in no nation

Not a single one that has become communist has ever turned back to democracy

and because of that we face an enemy that is ever Growing

an octopus stretching tentacles and even our own hemisphere

Some of you except for this former Marine

too young to remember the Second World War.

I am NOT a system

no matter fascist or communist

Subjugates every citizen

denying them not just basic rights,

but their God-given free will is a threat not just to one nation

but eventually to all nations

So...

We have rebuilt our military.

We have moved our Pershing missiles into Germany in defense of our NATO allies

We have funded those committed to the cause of democracy and freedom throughout the world.

And now finally we have begun

Scientific work on a missile shield to protect the American people

We have done all this

Even though I have been called a warmonger by the New York Times and even some of our allies

Even though the atomic scientists have the doomsday clock down to five minutes till annihilation we have done all this

Because I believed it would drive the Soviets to the negotiating table

But...

If we fail... if I...

Well, then I will be just a warmonger

I will have endangered the American people

Which is the absolute opposite of our goal

We Must find out if we can trust the Skoruchov if we can make a deal with him

if I can shake his hand at the end of all this as the

Photographers click and flash

If the capitalist press finds out

you brought so many clothes,

they will confuse you with Nancy Reagan.

That doesn't look like Karl Marx a...

"A nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought."

Who?

A quote from the leader of our main enemy

and he addressed the Japanese Parliament's three years ago

Don't get your hopes up Nellie.

It looked promising before in Geneva and it fell apart

"The production of too many useful things

results in too many useless people."

Karl Marx never had to deal with Paris and me Tehran.

Do you not remember?

I wore the same thing twice and their press treated me like a peasant

And the West people are on the streets begging yet.

I'm mocked if I repeat the dress

It'd be hypocrisy,

but I will remind them how sophisticated we are

How we are strong as you will show him in that room.

He gave Reagan the option of London or Reykjavik

He chose not the capital of his main ally

the British But this place

that is equidistant between us

This is a good sign

He chose it

Because the only airport is at their airbase forcing for the first time ever a Soviet premier to land upon NATO military territory

their Electronic warfare teams must have enjoyed themselves immensely

scanning all our communications

He is arrogant and uncompromising

We have survived the bloodletting of the

revolution the Onslaught of the Nazis and the purges of that maniac Stalin.

We will survive electronic warfare teams, my love

I Know we want to accomplish great things for our nation

Accomplish anything if we continue fighting this cold war with the Americans

The soil of the Ukraine is as rich as their Iowa yet

They continue to import more and more of their grain

40 million tons

last year alone

"Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid."

-Tolstoy? -Goethe.

What a dissident reader you've become.

Well, thanks to you, Miliy,

we no longer need to be dissidents about what we read

No heavy coat take the light one

you look like you can't take the cold and you're Russian

Well, I see they made their own border.

CIA on one side, KGB on the other.

That's the spirit of cooperation?

Lao Tzu tells us

the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Mr. President

I'm Margaret Clancy.

How can I help you?

That's your real name?

It is as far as they're concerned, sir

Well, they miss Clancy I'd like to talk to my wife well,

sir The best option is a scrambler ours isn't set up yet

But there is one in the ambassador's residence and if I promise not to tell Nancy any classified nuclear secrets.

Well, sir

That'll be fine for the sat relay the

switchboard at Langley ought to be able to put you through to the Lincoln bedroom

Ronnie You look good on TV

NBC says Air Force One made a textbook landing despite the winds

Service would have brought the car.

It's got better armor

And the ambassador's car is fine.

I mean we

Kicked him out of his residence might as well take his car, too

You're too trusting

They launch a first strike they take out garbage off to seems unlikely Nance

You know, I don't trust the commies

Listen rise a garbage office here

Intelligence reported it as we landed this morning

It's fine we're not doing anything social there will be no pictures of her and him and me and not you no loss of face

I'm sorry, Nance

Don't worry about it.

I've got lots of work to do here

go be great

Yes, ma'am, love you, love you

Yes, would you ask my chief of staff to come by

Yes waker if need be thank you

Cameras just our guy Pete Sousa and one for the Soviets

last time anyone gets this close to the summit meeting

Good to see you, mr. President

And you're early

Who was looking for the advantage?

Well, we are politicians secretary John that we are

but I hope we can be partners in peace and

Begin the work that the world and our people's expect of us on arms reduction

I'm sure we will. Yes.

Did you hear this place is haunted?

I Must be a British joke.

I don't see any ghosts

I'll let you get settled with your staff and then I'll I'll meet you in that room there

How much time do you need half an hour?

Five minutes unless you need more time to recover from your early arrival.

I'll be there

You Did he say reduction he did

He mistranslated the English word for control.

He meant arms control hell of a mistake to make in the first minute, sir

Gorbachev has been in the party and making moves since he was a teenager

He's too good for that.

Yeah

And there have been countless agreements about arms control sir, but...

In all of human history,

there has never been a single pact between peoples on the reduction of arms

This could be historic your legacy

Or it's a movement to throw us off our game.

He's just gonna bullshit for two days

There's an old Russian saying George trust

But verify

so We need a test to see if he's serious about change.

Yes.

I Have the Rostropovich letter in my briefcase upstairs

I Shall we begin

Minister Shevardnadze

Secretary Schultz I

I Never imagined I'd see the controls for 70,000 nuclear weapons in the same room

If you feed apart,

I have always wondered why you Americans call it the nuclear football

Only a weak people need to be afraid of their own creation

Yes, we humans do have a way of making the horrific sound innocuous

For example gulag

Sounds so much nicer than...

inhumane Siberian torture prison

Mr. General secretary

I Have been impatiently awaiting this meeting

in the organizational plan

it would evidently be expedient to devote part of the time to talks held one-on-one and

Part of the time to the exchange of opinions

in the presence of our ministers of foreign affairs.

It's this procedure acceptable to you

Yes, I agree with this as a matter of fact,

that is what we had in mind when we suggested this meeting

With what problems shall we begin our discussions?

It seems to me we have an entire series of problems

I am referring to the problems of intermediate-range weapons space and

Agreements on the ABM defense as well as the proposals on strategic weapons.

Mr. President

I believe it would make sense to first conduct a brief exchange of opinions on the situation in the world

Which has prompted me to appeal to you with the proposal of this meeting

Obviously we would be willing to discuss all questions which

the American side feels necessary to raise.

Thank you, sir.

I Would like to add that in my opinion

We really will have to talk about human rights

Unlike other questions which we have cited

They have great influence on how far we can go in cooperation with the Soviet side

in view of our public opinion

Please continue with your thoughts

Human rights

specifically questions of exit from the Soviet Union

Are ever-present and appeals to my office

specifically, sir. I well

you may know

National Symphony in Washington

Wonderful cherished orchestra has a cellist and conductor.

Mr. Rostropovich

Who hails from the Soviet Union

he left in 1974 I believe

his birthday is

coming up and he has not seen his sister his only family in over 10 years.

I Have his letter here.

Mr. General Secretary from him beseeching you

To let her travel to Washington

For his birthday

We will talk about human rights

But now I would like to express in principle what problems concern the Soviet Union such as arms control

including strategic arms medium-range missiles the ABM Treaty and

The cessation of nuclear testing,

yes, I agree with your approach

However, it is important that you know the force of public opinion in the USA

We are a nation of immigrants

One out of every eight Americans

has some relations with your vast Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

and of course, I I

Understand this national spiritual tie since I as an Irishman feel these ties myself with Ireland

Therefore I see that all Americans are concerned about what is going on in your country because we are all immigrants

And it will be easier to conclude agreements on various arms questions

when public opinion is not angered by

Some events in the countries of their cultural heritage

However, I agree that these problems are secondary as compared with the problems of nuclear arms

Our situation is unique

in human history

Here we are the two of us

sitting together in a room

Deciding whether there will be peace

or war in the world

We Both want peace

But how will we achieve it?

How do we strengthen trust

and reduce suspicion between our two peoples?

I will consider your request

Thank you, mr. General secretary

I may continue

For Pete's sake Austin how many waffles did you have for breakfast

got to take a leak?

Oh Yes, if this is the first time you've seen someone waiting in line

you guys you have to wait in line for a loaf of bread

KGB doesn't wait for bread.

Oh, yeah, no class warfare when you have the only guns and they're aimed at the proletariat

Know Hey you with

NPR and I'm Cleo.

You're the Times London.

Yeah, Alexander. How'd you?

write

Just there. I do that

Well

This is crazy,

- right - what?

The entire world's press corps descends on the tiny

Freezing strategic cornerstone of the North Atlantic only to discover a whole island with no hotels.

No motels.

No bed and breakfast

Not even cars to rent just an old church with cots to sleep in and a complete media blackout of the actual summit

So instead of covering the leader of the free world and the leader of the communist empire alone in a room together for the first

Time in 40 years debating whether we're all gonna die in a mushroom cloud.

We're left here

at a natural hot springs

watching water aerobics

Madam Soviet first lady

The Times I have a question No,

of course, I would be happy to answer any questions,

but I'm not first lady

I'm sure Nancy Reagan appreciates the title,

but in the Soviet Union, we are all truly equal

I'm simply Raisa Gorbacheva.

Ah Yeah, right. Um This is Gorbacheva

How are you enjoying your time here on behalf of the Soviet people?

I am very grateful and

Hope we will become friends

As Chekhov and said we must trust and believe in people

a life becomes impossible

Where is your counterpart mrs.

Reagan, I Don't know.

I Can't imagine leaving my husband at such a critical time in our world's history

Perhaps she doesn't feel well

For Too many years there has been an overly complex mechanism of Soviet American dialogue

in this time this

Mechanism of dialogue has been disrupted several times

and still we are not resolved on the main questions

Even though many many words have been said regarding these questions.

I have been frustrated for many years myself with this lack of progress

So now we find ourselves

in an increasingly urgent situation

And that is why I have suggested this meeting with you

I Was very struck

by your first campaign for the presidency when you suggested a nuclear zero-option

Wonder now if

this was merely rhetoric I

I wonder mr. President because

Despite the millions of protesters for peace in Western Europe

Despite the condemnation of many allies

and the political cost to Chancellor Cole and Prime Minister Thatcher

You have moved intermediate ballistic missiles into Germany

if launched

These missiles are five or six minutes from Moscow

You Would give me five or six minutes to respond to an attack

What do you think would happen?

How am I to respond to such aggression?

Are these the actions of peace?

I Would remind you

That the United States has placed its Persian missiles our IRBMs in West Germany

at the request

of a democratically elected government

and that our number of

108 is less than half of the 279 that you have stationed in Eastern Europe yet

We have nothing similar threatening Washington in five or six minutes threatening the free peoples of Brussels Paris,

Rome and London is threatening,

Washington Mr. Gorbachev such is the nuclear umbrella policy of our security agreements with our allies

an attack on one

Is an attack on all yes,

I am familiar with NATO article 5 however

We have discussed many times the subject of arms control

we have many agreements

Yes, are you suggesting

such a thing in Europe with the IRBMs to limit them to control them -No!

I Am suggesting that the Soviet Union would be willing to remove

our IRBMs I am suggesting that we develop an

Agreement on arms reduction and...

That's nuclear intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Europe can be reduced to zero

We would be open

To discussing such an agreement

Was available for questions

When asked why the first lady was not also available.

She suggested that perhaps health concerns had prevented mrs.

Reagan from making the trip

Samantha I'll need my press secretary as well.

Thank you

And what about the missiles in Asia

IRBMs that have a range of a thousand kilometers or less

our proposal only Concerns Europe

There's a small problem

I am NOT authorized to negotiate the nuclear forces of Britain and France.

Mr. Gorbachev.

I am aware that you are neither mrs

Thatcher nor mr. Mitterrand

So you are saying that your proposal

would include only us and Soviet Union weapons

I am Britain France have the right to keep theirs as a part of their own

defensive posture

I Would hope you'd encourage them to see that by withdrawing our weapons we leave our Warsaw Pact allies

Vulnerable that their NATO weapons are an unaligned threat

and that there is then no deterrence for us.

I Would hope you would help your NATO allies to see that their weapons were no longer necessary

And you won't simply paint over the Soviet flag with an East German flag.

They're black Magically

Soviet missile becomes an East German one.

I Will not

what assurances do we have?

My words and that of the Soviet Union

You'll forgive me. Mr. General secretary

But we have a long history of finding the USSR to be cheating on its international obligations

Including those to the United States

You have a long history of suspicion of us and a history of covert activities in sovereign nations hostile to you

I Was sorry to hear of your recent misfortunes with the Contras

I Hope you will see this proposal as a bold new initiative for peace

You There is a very old Russian saying a proverb

Dovii no probi I

Trust but verify. Yes.

How do you propose we do that?

Perhaps it's as simple as letting American personnel observe their removal of your missiles from Europe

This is not possible

My military will never allow an enemy to observe our most closely guarded technology

How would it be different if you were to observe us we would have the same problem?

but our military is...

Still reports to our civilian leadership to me

Is yours

Trust but verify

Yes

Did you say it we would be willing to discuss such an agreement

No

What about those IRBMs in Asia I

What happened to solidarity, comrade?

From each according to their ability,

to each according to their need.

You do not need to quote Marx to me.

How about life,

liberty, and pursuit of happiness?

You've heard of that one? Yes,

written by a slaveholder.

A conveniently capitalist.

Yeah, well, at least he didn't massacre

20 million farmers like Stalin.

That's enough.

Go upstairs and get me a coffee.

Did you expect me to abandon my Asian allies?

We have no intermediate ballistic missiles in Asia,

at least not ones that are nuclear-tipped.

What do you expect me to withdraw?

I expect the United States to have the same regard

for Soviet concerns as you have for your own.

Are we not mutually assured partners in destruction?

Shall we not be mutually assured partners in reduction?

That's a great turn of phrase.

You mock me?

No, on the contrary, Mr. Gorbachev, I salute you.

You have a better command of English than I ever could of Russian.

Let me ask you this.

What is the difference between Brussels and Tokyo?

Sushi is better in Tokyo.

Well, yes, that's very funny, sir, but no.

I mean, you have suggested that we remove

our nuclear protection of Belgium by

removing our Persian missiles.

Yes. And yet,

we have none protecting our Japanese allies,

but you have ones that could threaten them.

You have 6 ,500 nuclear warheads aboard American submarines all over the world,

more than 800 of which are multiple reentry vehicles,

multiple warheads per missile.

And we know as equally as you do

of the greater accuracy of American missiles.

You're upset that we're good at what we do?

I am explaining that you have submarines

in the Pacific defending Japan.

And you have none threatening it?

The numbers are not equal.

We have more land-based IRBMs.

You have more submarines.

But you expect me to withdraw my Asian missiles

while you offer no compromise,

be it submarine or otherwise.

I am not going to leave our Asian allies,

none of whom have nuclear forces of their own, defenseless.

Yet you are asking me to leave

my Warsaw Pact allies defenseless

while I let your NATO allies keep their nuclear weapons.

I am not asking anything of you, Mr. Gorbachev. You are asking me.

The arrogance of the Americans.

A compromising arrogance.

What are you suggesting?

I am suggesting

that while I have proposed

decoupling the question of your NATO allies

and their nuclear forces from the IRBM equation in Europe,

I have agreed, have I not,

that they are separate from the issue between us.

You are not allowing that Asia is another separate issue.

How am I to compromise with you

when you will do nothing of the sort with me?

It is near the time for the first session this morning to end,

Mr. Gorbachev. Perhaps we should update our foreign ministers.

And in the spirit of compromise,

I will advise Maynard that we wish to pursue...

this deal relevant to the European IRBM reduction.

I'll ask him to have our staff draft some language for it.

With your approval, of course.

This is satisfactory.

We will meet again at 3 p.m.?

Of course.

Stand to, gents.

Gorbachev came to play.

What's going on?

Soviets are saying that they will withdraw their IRBMs from Eastern Europe

if we pull the Pershings.

We're sure?

We have work to do.

No chance the call is going to throw a fit.

He just spent two years,

and every last ounce of political capital

he has to move them in there.

He had a million people on the streets protesting.

We'll worry about him when we have a deal.

For now, let's get started on the details.

A phased withdrawal?

Seems right, but...

First priority is determining how it would be certified.

Doverei, no proverei.

Trust but verify?

Russians will never let a Yankee soldier on their rocket pads to observe.

Never happened.

No. He didn't.

He knows this could be his legacy.

The president's legacy.

Our legacy. There's

plenty of room on this boat for all of our resumes and reputations.

I'll see about getting us some food.

You get to work on a proposal.

Shouldn't the boss be here?

Where is he?

He's doing the smart thing, Pearl.

Resting.

You know something about that.

It's just chicken salad, Fred.

Yes?

How are you?

What is that music?

I tried to find something by Rostropovich,

but they don't have it.

I'm sure he'd play here when you get home.

Well, let's see if I can get his sister out of the Soviet Union for his birthday first.

Gorbachev isn't exactly Gandhi.

Are there reindeer in Iceland?

I'm pretty sure I'm staring at a reindeer.

I don't know.

I'm going to have to inquire about our ambassador.

He shouldn't be hunting the rare, indigenous,

endangered Icelandic reindeer.

Environmentalist lobby will never let me hear the end of it.

Oh, Ronnie.

I don't think the environmentalists vote Republican.

Well, I won 49 out of the 50 states,

Nance.

Some of those votes were Democrats.

Some of them care about the environment.

She told reporters I was ill.

Raisa Gorbachev is just enjoying the spotlight.

You know, they don't even know her name back home in Russia.

KGB cuts her out of pictures before the press.

Well, what they call the press can print it in the paper.

She doesn't exist back there.

That's got to be tough.

I'm not in this for the spotlight.

I know.

There is something weird about reindeer.

Maybe just dead ones.

Santa's all wrong about them.

It's like a...

It's like a menagerie of death in here.

What are you working on?

Oh, uh, nothing.

Just some little stuff my office has been planning.

Listen, I'll tell them to issue a statement that you're healthy.

No, I can take care of myself.

And I've got lots to do here, and

you've got a ballgame.

You stay focused there.

Love you. Okay.

Bye.

♪♪ Aah! Aah!

Sir.

What happened to your shirt?

Chicken salad sandwich.

Come on in. Ah.

Plenty of time for you to change.

Something on your mind, George?

Speak up.

I've been going over the proposal with our team, sir.

It's been a big day already.

You want to quit while we're ahead?

The thought had occurred.

Every missile out of Europe.

That's a hell of a legacy.

Someday you're going to have to explain to me

what legacy means to all you East Coast bluebloods.

That means the next generation is better off...

because of something you did.

I'm sorry, sir. That came out

snarkier than I intended.

I didn't hire you for your suits.

I hired you for your candor.

We're not done yet.

You want to talk about human rights again?

Yeah, I do. Why?

It'll only annoy him that they'll try to avoid it?

Yeah, all the more reason.

If you poke the Russian bear too hard,

he will react poorly.

You trust me, George?

Of course, Mr. President.

Don't give me that salute to the flag answer.

I asked you a question.

Establishment thinks I'm a war monger.

Dangerous.

What's the difference between me and any other chucklehead on TV...

except now I'm in the Oval?

I'm asking why you trust me.

New York boy, Princeton, upper class.

You're part of the establishment.

I trust you because you're right.

It can't just be diplomacy.

The Soviets will not listen to us unless we are strong.

Peace through strength.

We tried everything else.

Engagement, encirclement, low-intensity conflicts.

Nothing worked until your military build-up.

You got us here, sir.

You got them to the table.

If you can't make them see the light,

make sure they feel the heat.

That was a good line.

You tell me if you think we should call it.

If we get right up to that red line.

For now, let's see how far they'll bend.

Let's see how today ends.

If it's a stalemate,

I'll reconsider.

Yes, sir.

We resume this afternoon with our Secretary of State,

George Shultz, and your Foreign Minister, Edward Shepard Monson.

Mr. General Secretary,

we are pleased with the morning's progress.

Our team believes that we can find a way...

to reduce the European IRBMs to zero.

Thank you, Mr. President.

This is very good news.

I wonder if now might be the time

to turn our discussions to human rights.

For instance, Mr. Rostropovich, we are a nation of immigrants.

We take their rights and their families' rights very seriously,

Secretary General.

If we could discuss his sister's visit.

As you stated before,

and as I stated before, we would first like to continue on the subject of arms reduction.

Okay.

We have a further proposal.

Our Foreign Minister and I have been discussing

the nuclear triad, as you call it.

Yes, our strategy relies upon a three-point threat deterrence,

our land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles,

our long-range strategic air command of bombers

with their cruise missiles, and

our submarine-launched missiles.

You have something similar.

We don't have nearly the same numbers

of submarines or bombers.

Our strategy relies almost entirely

on the overwhelming superiority of our ICBMs.

Superiority?

You have a number that's vastly greater than our own.

I might call it redundancy.

We could, however,

reclassify all these weapons as strategic offensive armaments.

In years past,

our predecessors,

going all the way back to the advent of the hydrogen bomb,

have tried to restrain the development of these weapons,

mostly the ICBMs, but also the bombers and other types,

to control the expansion of arms.

Yes? Yes. They have failed.

We have tens of thousands of these weapons anyway,

all pointed at each other.

You propose a new plan for these weapons?

We propose using this morning's European plan as our guide

to reduce these weapons as well.

And, uh, you wanted to quit while we were ahead.

You're not going to let me live that down, are you, sir?

Never. Okay.

Your turn at bat. Swing away.

We agree this would be an admirable goal,

perhaps by as much as one-third.

Or even by half?

Half?

Fifty percent.

That is correct.

In land-based ICBMs?

In all, huh?

All parts of the Triad.

Which would still leave you a significant advantage...

in land-based and mobile-launched ICBMs.

We understand and are prepared to discuss

how this goal could be achieved.

What I'm asking is, is this of interest to you?

It certainly is.

Good.

We are making progress.

Seems like Christmas has come early.

What does your religious holiday have to do with this?

Nothing. I'm sorry.

I forget you're all atheists.

Although, it, uh...

Well, it seems to me that the party is about the same as the church.

You're true believers in the party, right? Sir ,perhaps.

Please, continue with your thoughts, Mr. President.

Well, I mean, you deny religion is hokum,

bunk, nonsense,

and there can't be an almighty party

when there's an almighty God above it,

so your people can't worship.

They, uh, they have to worship the party.

Mm.

To paraphrase the words of our, um,

theology, we believe religion is a false prophet

promising the people things they ought to achieve for themselves.

And yet you make them stand in line for bread and milk and shoes

and then deny them the hereafter that would suggest that their,

well, their suffering is temporary.

They have nothing to look forward to, this life or the next.

No wonder they're so pissed off.

The Soviet people are not pissed off.

Then why do they want to leave?

Why do you have to keep them locked up behind walls

like the one in Berlin?

Why not tear it down?

This is Western propaganda,

your voice of America.

Which you keep trying to jam the signal of.

And we have nothing like it attacking American ears.

You won't even let our movies into your cinemas.

And yet you call this free speech?

Hmm? Open debate?

Well, that's the difference, gentlemen.

The Republican Party doesn't control what goes on the radio or TV.

We don't have our own channel.

If you make something that the American people actually want to watch,

I guarantee they'll play it.

Media companies don't care if you're religious or fascist or nihilist.

They just want to make money.

Yes, the great

American distraction, making money.

And you are trying to distract us from our purpose here.

This is pointless.

I got an intelligence report the other day from our CIA.

They were assessing your economic conditions,

tracking a bread line in Moscow.

There was a guy, Boris,

and he was in front of our agent.

He got so pissed off that he left the bread line.

He said he was going to go find you,

Mr. General Secretary, and bludgeon you with a hammer and sickle.

Well, poor old Boris, he came back about an hour later,

and when our agent asked him why, he said,

the only line longer than the one for bread was the one to attack you.

Ha-ha-ha.

Er, ha-ha.

You see, Mr. President, you're not the only one with public opinion problems.

We both must answer to the people.

Yes, but my people, if they criticize me publicly, don't get sent to the gulag.

True.

And my people can't shoot me.

We must also ascertain throw weight.

The amount of weight a missile itself can carry,

how much a warhead or warheads can weigh.

Your missiles can carry a heavier payload,

so equal number of missiles does not mean equal number of warheads.

Let us discuss it.

Yes, sir.

Hold on, guys.

Perhaps I should become a capitalist,

and I could sell you time in my restroom.

Colonel.

Deep down to comrade.

Any idea why she's looking at the Prose Edda?

The ancient Icelandic text.

Odin, Thor, Loki.

All their culture and religion and things rolled into one.

Why would you possibly know...

Oh, of course. NPR.

Snorri Sturluson.

Snorri... Oh, come on.

That's the author of the Prose Edda.

Snorri. S-N-O-R-R-I.

Snorri Sturluson. Sturluson,

yeah. So ask her. Ask who?

- What? - The not-First Lady of Russia.

She quoted Chekhov.

I expect she's got a reason we're here all looking at the Prose Edda, so ask her.

Mrs. Gorbachev.

National Public Radio.

American National Public

Radio.

Why are we here?

We are here to exchange cultural knowledge,

Miss MPR.

The Prose Edda is a seminal text in Norse history,

and I'm flattered to examine it here,

in the land of ice and fire.

I'm sure you've seen the press release.

Mrs. Reagan is feeling just fine.

A rather terse and unusual pronouncement for a weekend from the administration.

You care to comment?

I'm thrilled to hear Mrs.

Reagan is well.

I only wish she had brought her good health here,

so we could share this incredible honor together,

viewing the Prose Edda.

What's it like staying on a ship,

Mrs. Gorbachev?

Why not a hotel?

I was told it is for security reasons.

But I must tell you,

it is very romantic.

Huh. Romantic.

That's one mental image I won't get out of my head.

They're entitled to their happiness.

Aren't we all?

I'm calling it.

I can't imagine my editor will care.

Saturday afternoon on NPR is always a dead zone.

Let's find a bar. Schnapps.

Fifty percent reduction.

I think that is considerable progress.

Imagine tomorrow, Mr. General Secretary, we will shake hands for the cameras and say deal.

I would like this very much,

but we must still discuss your shield.

The Strategic Defense Initiative.

Perhaps it is too much for this evening.

Mr. President,

you have been saying that you wish to discuss with your allies the...

potential INF implications in Asia.

Shall we adjourn so that you may?

Yes.

We will have an answer quickly.

As we are able to assure you...

that our eastern allies will understand our withdrawals in Europe.

I must warn you,

our NATO allies are less subservient.

Didn't Mrs.

Thatcher thank you personally for modernizing her arsenal?

And that you coordinate your attacks in the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact

so as to avoid duplication.

You seem to know an awful lot.

That is how this game is played,

is it not? But surely all of your intelligence isn't wasted analyzing bread lines.

No, it's not.

We also monitor Russian treaty violations.

More waste, huh?

There have been none.

Trust but verify.

As I have agreed, we will do.

But you can imagine the objections of my KGB.

I doubt I'll have an easy time of it with our Congress.

You have your senators,

I have my generals.

We must convince them that we are strongest together.

Yes, I suppose so.

Too bad we can't just get rid of all of them.

Your senators?

No, the nukes.

We're going to cut them by 50% in the next 10 years.

But that still leaves thousands, tens of thousands, threatening the world.

Who's to say who comes after us?

Perhaps the next General Secretary will want to renegotiate,

wish to build more, not less.

Or the next president.

Traditionally, throughout the history of our republic,

new presidents have upheld the treaties of their predecessors.

But there is no law, they must.

No.

I am not sure then I understand what you're saying.

I'm saying good leaders make things better now.

Great leaders make things better for the future.

I'm saying, why can't we just get rid of all of them?

Every last one of them.

Gosh damn contemptible things,

once and for all. I'm saying,

why don't we make a deal that the whole world can rejoice?

A deal too good for those who come after us to reject or replace or renegotiate.

I'm saying, why don't we just get rid of all of them?

I'm saying, are we going to be merely good Secretary General?

Or are we going to be great?

We would be willing to discuss such an agreement.

All nuclear weapons reduced to zero in ten years.

All. Comrade, let's not be too hasty with the atmosphere of what we have achieved here today.

Perhaps we should break for the evening.

Nuclear. Zero.

Every single nuclear weapon on earth,

gone. Taken out of the silo,

off the sub, out of the bomber, dismantled,

junked, warhead spun down.

In just ten years.

Peace on earth.

Goodwill to all men.

Your Christmas come early.

Amen.

Well, then let's do it.

Yes, let's do it.

It is impossible, gentlemen.

How would we even begin to start...

Well, ask the experts to make the arrangements,

handle the fine print.

You brought your experts,

they're upstairs across the hall from mine.

They have a long night ahead of them.

Yes, I'd say they do.

We will meet tomorrow morning to discuss the terms.

And SDI.

And human rights.

Good night, Mr. General Secretary.

Sleep well, Mr. President.

Good night.

I'm sure we're gonna need you much longer, Tim.

Sorry, sir?

Nothing. Thank you, Colonel.

I'll be out in a minute.

Yes, sir.

They make me do rehearsals every few months.

You wanna know how it works?

How to end the world?

No, thank you, sir.

Well, you're in the line of succession,

George, and I'm not bulletproof.

Try not to get shot again before we get you tomorrow, sir.

Yeah.

I'll assemble our team and get them caffeine,

lots of it, and get them in a room with the Soviets.

Well, get them to zero.

Every nuclear weapon gone from the face of the earth in just a few hours.

Congress is gonna lose their minds.

Joint chiefs do.

And the CIA and the DIA,

and I need to tell our allies.

Yes, do that tonight.

Get Thatcher and Medrano Cole to sign off.

And if they don't?

I don't know, George.

We'll think of something.

But just, you know, get the team into it, okay?

This is a better world.

We can leave America safer than we found her.

Peace on earth, goodwill to all men.

Gorbachev actually said that.

The head of the worldwide communist ply.

They're obsessed 50 years.

They've stayed with geopolitics.

A mutually assured destruction works for a reason.

How the hell are we gonna defend western Europe

when they have overwhelmingly superior conventional forces?

That will just roll downhill.

Thousands of T-72 tanks right through Frankfurt and Paris,

straight to the English Channel.

Does any man here doubt that the world would be safer without nuclear weapons?

Hard to put the genie back in the bottle.

And I've been doing this longer than the rest of you put together.

When we got here, you all thought this was a colossal waste of a weekend.

Wow. Without no denying it.

And yet, the general secretary of the Communist Party...

...of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics...

has just offered us the best deal since Russia sold us Alaska.

Hell, maybe of all time.

Are we going to pass it by?

You've all trained for high-stakes negotiations.

This is it.

This is our Super Bowl.

Are you in, or are you out?

I serve at the pleasure of the president.

I serve at the pleasure of the president.

So, who's gonna lead this moonshot?

Paul.

Have you got the scrambler set up?

You're kidding.

It looks like something out of Get Smart.

Sorry about that, Mr. Secretary.

What's the button for Foggy Bottom?

Four.

This is the secretary.

Get me a line to Ambassador Price in London.

Yes, this is the secretary.

Get me a line to Ambassador Rogers in Paris.

Richard, George Shultz.

Yes, it's late. Sorry.

Listen, you're gonna have to get Helmut up as well.

Call me back when you have him.

The president has an update for the president.

His ears and yours only.

Wake him up.

Holy shit.

Marshal Sergei Akramaev.

Four-time winner of the Order of Lenin.

Veteran of the Siege of Leningrad.

Hero of the Soviet Union.

Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces.

They brought their chairman of the Joint Chiefs to negotiate.

That's not intimidating at all.

Well, I'm glad we voted on you, Paul.

I forgot to call.

You all right?

Ronnie?

I'm just... I'm just tired.

How's the hand?

Fine.

Did I have a TV there, at least?

You need to take your mind off things.

Well, I'm sure there's one around here somewhere, but I

just don't think Icelandic broadcasters have family ties.

They say that Icelanders don't have TV at all on Thursdays.

Something about having time for family and cultural awareness.

Can you imagine a whole country with no TV?

Well, thank goodness it's Saturday.

I know how lonely the job feels,

being responsible for millions of people.

I'm so sorry I'm not there with you.

It was a mistake.

Yeah, it's okay.

I'm just fine.

I love you. Good night.

I love you.

I should have stayed on a boat.

You coming home after me?

We seize the opportunities we have.

How many times did you change today?

Eight. Already.

The models of Milan have nothing on you.

Going back out? Dinner.

With the Prime Minister of Iceland.

How is it with your American?

You must trust and believe in people.

Otherwise...

Life becomes impossible.

You got the KGB report on me.

The hot springs.

What has happened?

I cannot say.

Are you being proud or desperate?

I think he will say we have

something to be proud of.

Good.

Then he will be able to make the changes we need.

And our people will prosper.

You have no doubts?

Not about our nation.

Not about you.

Do you?

What?

You think the KGB is now bugging the Soviet Premier's toilet?

I think the Minister of State Security chose this boat

and not the embassy for our lodging

so that we could not take long walks away from microvolts.

What preys upon your mind, my love?

He seems genuine.

But you're not sure.

I offer him nuclear zero.

But I cannot tell.

I don't think he will give up STI.

I brought it up for the first time at the close of day and the look on his face was clear.

STI is a mirage.

Even his own people don't think it will work.

Don't let it distract you.

Nuclear weapons gave them powered submarines

so quiet we cannot detect them.

The space race gave them computers now so small they fit on a desk.

If we cannot contain this STI,

who knows what terrible inventions they will come up with.

And if we have to take the arms race into space,

our people will starve.

Famine.

Like Stalin's time.

But your reforms, perestroika, glasnost are working.

We just need time.

The one thing we cannot beg, borrow or steal.

Don't let them harm the Rodina.

But even more, my love,

don't let us harm the Rodina,

even with the best of intentions.

Our submarines have the ability to protect our homeland the longest.

Which is precisely why we want them gone in the first round.

Can you not understand?

We must become bolder together.

We think the opposite,

a slow drawdown, several years of confidence-building productions...

in other areas culminating in...

Let it be noted it's the Americans who wish to proceed cautiously for the first time in history.

Why don't we proceed with a different topic?

We proceed to nowhere.

Well, it is supposed to be haunted.

It is the wind from the sea.

I will go out to enjoy it.

The Reagan shot at close range,

attempted by a lone assailant.

Hey, Captain, look what we got for you.

How close are we?

There's a reason they trained the astronauts here, sir.

Might as well be the moon.

How do you tell one mound of lava rock from another?

I meant our team.

Oh, yes, sorry.

Um, they're closing in.

I want it done.

Yes, sir.

I want it done. Thatcher was telling me your theory one time at Checkers.

You heard there's two lads and a pint?

That like two guys and a beer?

She has this theory that everything in the world

is actually decided by two lads and a pint.

Or in her case,

two ladies and a whiskey.

It's not a bad theory.

Can we trust an enemy?

Can we trust Gorbachev?

If so, then in theory we can trust his word

to stick to this plan until we can ink a treaty.

And we can verify it? Yes.

I want you to get me some information on the refuseniks.

Sir?

The refuseniks.

I mean, why do you want that information?

Get me the information.

Yes, sir.

Good morning, Mr. President.

Good morning, Mr. General Secretary.

I understand from my team that we have made some progress,

but not all the progress.

I have instructed them to continue.

As have I, for our side. Good.

Then for the moment, shall we pick other topics?

Human rights. Yes.

I have spoken with my ministers about your maestro in Washington.

They believe he would be a bad person to appease.

He is very prominent, and his case would undoubtedly cause unwanted attention.

Public opinion.

So perhaps now we can discuss the ABM Treaty and your SDI.

Well, first let me just say that we are particularly sensitive...

to the travel rights of the Soviet peoples,

not just Mr. Rostropovich,

and we are concerned especially with those who wish to practice their religion,

enshrined in our Bill of Rights.

There are small numbers of Jewish peoples wishing to emigrate to Israel.

The refuseniks, you call them.

Yes, and there are some Christians, Pentecostals,

who wish to leave as well,

to come to America.

Did you know Jesus was the first socialist?

It's true.

The first to seek a better life for all mankind.

So why would these Christians want to leave my country and go to yours?

You have homeless.

What do you mean?

Your citizens who are homeless have no rights to housing.

We have no homeless in the Soviet Union.

Your murder rates are enormous,

and the less said about your country's long-standing history of racism, the better.

Well, unlike you, we acknowledge we have many faults.

And yet I'm the one that must be lectured on human rights and people without passports.

Well, then I would ask you,

if they may not have the freedom to travel,

why not give them the freedom to form their own political party,

organize their future in your country?

The Soviet people organized this Communist Party.

Seventy years ago.

You think they might like to try something else?

Your own party's been around much longer.

Yes, but Republicans can be voted out of office.

Your backstabbing political gridlock is something you wish us to endure.

No thank you.

Democracy is the worst form of government,

except for all the others.

Churchill had a rather convenient horse in that race, don't you think?

And Lenin, like Marx before him,

suggested that socialism may need to be global to succeed.

And so we see you actively trying to manipulate the elections and futures of nations around the globe.

And you do not.

In Chile, in Iran, in Angola.

And I suppose you were just helping the people of Cuba and Poland and Vietnam to choose their oppressive regimes.

And Germany, when you tore it in two.

You fly your U-2 spy planes over our heads with impunity,

sail your seven fleet around the Pacific as if it were your swimming pool,

and park your submarines within sight of our shores,

and yet you expect my people to trust you.

And seizing our journalist in Moscow only a few months ago,

does that encourage trust?

I returned him!

Despite evidence from my security services, he was a spy.

The United States will remain vigilant and strong to the threats posed by international communism,

by the Soviet Union.

As we will maintain our strength as well,

in defense of socialism desired by billions all around the globe.

To defend those who seek our way of life.

In all your speeches,

you deride us as the evil empire,

to be met by force in every sphere.

I wonder, Mr. President, who it is here that is trying to expand his ideas by force.

You would do well to remember that no such method has ever succeeded on Russia.

Not by Napoleon.

Not by Hitler.

No one.

We are a strong people.

And we have learned that strength is how you win a war.

We're not trying to win a war.

We're trying to end one.

Perhaps a break.

May I speak candidly, Mr. President?

George, we're both exhausted.

Just speak.

Let it go.

Don't blow this deal over refuseniks and Pentecostals and a cellist.

I love classical music.

And I dearly love the freedom that comes with being an American.

But, he said Rostropovich left when,

we all know, he defected.

And if his sister is allowed to defect at a birthday party in Washington,

D.C., it would be a public relations disaster.

Gorbachev

cannot take that risk.

Sir, I'm truly afraid that we could lose this deal.

Well, George, what about the millions of people who'd still be oppressed?

Tell me good news, Democrats.

Sir, I...

Yes, Ken, we all agree that this is a bipartisan effort to avoid World War III.

Just tell us.

The most stealthy, stable, and therefore serious part of the triad is the submarines, sir.

They are impossible to track and therefore cannot be targeted.

They are the absolute last line of defense.

You can't get rid of the subs.

We're close.

Almost there, but...

You're out of time.

Well, all right.

Give me what you got.

I'm giving up the game on the 10-yard line.

We have already agreed

to unilaterally suspend the nuclear testing,

draw down our conventional forces in Western Europe,

offered a 50% reduction in all arms,

and agreed to a nuclear zero future.

And still he tries to distract you with his dissident conductor,

constantly evading STI, constantly.

You must at least consider that he's making you the obstacle

and is not a partner in peace.

We should thank our teams.

They have not reached a final agreement,

but they have come close.

We are indeed very close.

We've reached an agreement in the first five years

to eliminate the SOA category of land-based ICBMs.

And in the next five years to dismantling the remaining IRBMs and cruise missiles?

Yes, which leaves only the submarine-launched missiles.

We must first discuss STI.

In regards to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty?

The ABM Treaty forbids STI.

Well, we disagree.

And anyway, you've already violated the ABM across the Arsk

with your defences around Moscow.

We have no such defences in Washington.

Our defences are exactly matching to the letter

of the ABM Treaty,

and it is not our fault that you chose not to exercise your rights under the Treaty

to build such defences around your capital.

But the ABM Treaty specifically rejects the idea of space-based weapons.

STI is not solely space-based.

How are we to begin to eliminate our strategic offensive arms

if you will have a shield to defend yourself?

You could renege or launch a first strike from a NATO ally,

and we would be defenceless.

You are obsessed with this STI.

What about the people? It will make the people safer for both our nations.

What if some rogue state launches a missile?

The shield will protect us, protect the American people.

You are free to develop your own for your people.

You won't let them leave.

At least you can protect them.

Of course I care about the people.

The Soviet people are my responsibility.

But you cannot possibly believe that their fate is not tied to this shield,

which you have already announced you intend to...

Mutually assured destruction works from the point of view

that each side must be vulnerable,

that the sword of Damocles not only hangs above us

but must remain hanging over us.

Why can we simply not take the sword now?

This is what STI will do.

Men rise from one ambition to the next.

First they seek to secure themselves from attack

and then to attack others.

Machiavelli.

Are you suggesting that we are building a shield

in order that once we have it we can then strike you first with impunity?

Well, why wouldn't you?

Strike the evil empire.

Look.

All you are asking

is that you do not develop this STI

during the ten years that we are eliminating these weapons

so as not to gain an advantage.

This is not an offensive weapon.

It is a shield.

It is a threat.

Mr. General Secretary,

are you coupling the arms reduction to the end of STI?

I am.

It is the position of the Soviet Union that they are the same thing.

After the use of mustard gas in World War I,

we develop a gas mask.

Why would you not want a gas mask?

A shield against nuclear missiles.

We owe it to the world to develop this technology.

The world has gotten along just fine without it.

This is absurd.

And how will you ensure that your allies do not strike us?

I will do everything in my power to get them to give up their nuclear weapons as well.

But do you really believe that their people will let them keep them?

With costs of maintenance and dangers of mistakes

when there is no longer a threat

from the Soviet Union?

I believe it is very difficult for people to give up their weapons of any kind,

including shields.

Gentlemen, I suggest we take a short break, perhaps.

I would like to know if the President is serious about continuing this discussion on STI.

If he is serious about compromise.

Thank you.

The Icelandic Horse Isn't it beautiful?

The Icelandic horse is the only horse in the world that has a fifth gate called the tot.

Amazing. How is it?

I'm still hung over.

I told you to quit on the schnapps.

You did not. Just watch.

You won't even spill your coffee.

Or vodka.

You really think I'm going to blow schnapps chunks?

I can't believe you'd insult Icelandic schnapps by calling it chunky.

Do something. Do something?

- What do you want me to do? - Distract me.

Mrs Gorbachev!

I didn't mean shouting.

I have a question for you.

Of course.

Wonderful. How can I help?

Well, the White House released a statement just before we got in the van.

The First Lady decided to come here to see the famous Icelandic horse.

She's a little late.

Actually, sources say that she's launched a new national campaign for breast cancer awareness.

It's a major new initiative that she hopes can be a model for the world.

What do you say to the American people and

people across the globe

about your own efforts this weekend on behalf of the Soviet peoples?

And not that this Icelandic horse isn't important, but it's not exactly cancer prevention.

Mrs Gorbachev must be livid her spotlight pulled so hastily.

You mess with the bull.

How's it going?

Well, we're at an impasse.

Well, Mars is ascendant, so we have that going for us.

Yes.

They can't afford it.

What?

They can't afford to compete,

not on SDI, not on any of it anymore.

Isn't that what you wanted,

what you've been working towards?

I know.

I've just got to reach him.

I've got to try, Nance.

Can we agree, Mr. General Secretary,

that the issue of submarines can be resolved...

with our considerable engagement and commitment at a later date

and that the main focus of our last discussion should be about SDI?

Yes.

Then I would like to take us back to World War

and the horrifying advent of chemical warfare,

mustard gas and chlorine.

We've been over this before, Mr. President.

And the development in a few years of the gas mask,

of chemical and biological protection suits.

An anti-ballistic missile system,

full of lasers, counter-attack radars, interceptors and satellite weapons is a gas mask.

But the principle is the same.

I return to this session under the impression that...

You were serious about compromise.

What if we gave it to you?

This is not serious.

I will give you the shield.

I will give you SDI.

Your Congress will never allow it.

They will if it's coupled with complete Soviet nuclear disarmament.

Nor will your military.

I have told you, they report to me.

You say nothing of your military-industrial complex.

What does that have to do?

You expect

Lockheed and Northrop and all your other defense contractors...

to simply give up the license to the most

complex and advanced military technology ever developed?

I may not be a capitalist, Mr. President, but I do understand how it works.

We can work that out.

This is a fantasy.

You have come in here with a fantasy.

Or is this some trick?

You can't afford it.

You don't believe me that we won't use it

to protect ourselves and preemptively strike.

I'm telling you that I won't give it up

because of rogue nations.

And I will not have future generations of Americans live in fear.

We will give it to you.

You won't even give us milking machines!

You have a stranglehold on every technology ever created in the West

so tight that you will not sell us

basic agricultural tractors, plows,

milking machines for cows to us.

But you want me to believe

that you will give us the most incredible American science ever created

and that you will be able to do this

over the objections of your Congress and your

companies and your Pentagon

and your citizens and your allies

and that you won't even sell the machines

so that we can produce more milk for our children?

I...

I will look into the milking machines.

I...

Never...

never occurred to me that I might get assassinated.

Not once.

Nancy would bring it up during the first campaign,

but I just never...

I survived that bullet.

It was for a reason, a new mission, a purpose.

So...

What if we agree...

not to deploy the system for ten years?

SDI, you will not deploy it

for the ten years that we are eliminating these weapons.

And you will do everything in your power

to persuade the British and the French

to give up their weapons as well,

or else you'll not extend your shield to them.

It will be very hard.

Many of our allies are under our nuclear umbrella.

As are ours.

We would all be exposed together.

Yes.

Okay, I will talk with our allies.

I don't believe their peoples will wish them to continue

when we have given them up,

such is the peace-loving nature of a democratic people.

Yes.

So...

We will both agree to remove all warheads

over the next ten years.

Nuclear zero.

And, of course, your inspectors trust but verify.

And you can develop SDI in the laboratory.

Not just the laboratory.

I'm sorry.

We will not deploy the system,

but we must be allowed to test the shield

to know if it can work.

You can test it in the laboratory?

Of course, but they must be tested in the real world.

Progress cannot be made in just a laboratory.

You think we could launch a man into space on a rocket

that just worked on a simulation in some

scientist's lab?

So, you will agree we can test the shield?

In the laboratory.

You will have inspectors at our secure sites as well.

We would welcome them to our testing grounds.

You put a man on the moon in less than ten years.

Yes, I was just talking about that.

Develop the atom bomb in under five.

Okay. Do you not see?

See what?

I cannot allow you to field-test a new weapons system.

Shield.

This thing, in the next ten years,

is less time than it took you to put a man on the moon.

I can't understand.

You will have inspectors.

If you're successful,

you could immediately deploy it,

and we would be right back to where we are now.

You could order a strike.

We would be defenseless while you hid behind your shield.

You can test it in a laboratory,

just like any other scientific advance.

And, in the meantime, if in the next ten years

some other state wants to launch a missile against my people,

we won't be able to prove that it would be futile.

Except in some sort of scientific journal.

We will be defenseless.

As would we.

It's one word.

Laboratory. It's one word.

It's one word that changes everything for my people.

And my people.

Another generation lost to the terror and horror

of waiting for the bomb to drop.

Not if the bombs don't exist.

I don't know what else I could have done.

Just say yes.

On this one point,

Mr. President, I cannot compromise.

Where are you going?

President.

Mr. President.

I failed.

I offered him the deal of a century of human history

and he's walking away over one word.

A single word.

Never should have trusted him.

Sir, the car is here.

Ready to take him to the airport.

But it's not over. Not yet.

It's over.

A world living on hope.

Press from all by tonight.

Sir, when you recruited me,

you told me we could make a difference.

You told me we could make America safer

than when we found her.

It's over. Sir.

Ask him to come to Washington.

For what?

For talk that leads to nothing, maybe in places...

Ask him anyway, sir. Please,

in spite of it all,

we have maybe a minute left

until he comes out that door,

gets in that car,

and he is gone.

Do not let what happened in that house,

in that room over the last 30 hours destroy our entire future.

This is the red line, sir.

You ask me to tell you,

well, this is it.

This is it.

You don't want to be seen as a warmonger.

Sir, if we fail here,

there will be war.

And when that war is over,

there will be nothing left on God's green earth

but smoldering, irradiated, lifeless rock.

I know that that is not what they want.

That is not what any sane person wants.

It's not about want,

George. It's about need.

We need peace.

That requires the end of them.

Liberty.

Only liberty equals peace.

Peace.

You didn't come here to negotiate about nuclear weapons.

You came here to try to prove to them

that they are fundamentally wrong.

You came here to end the Soviet Union.

I came here to show him the contradiction.

It holded people at gunpoint

in claiming your utopia is not possible.

No one is safe.

No free citizen anywhere is safe

until a system that is based on

devaluing of individual liberty

that threatens everyone with tyranny is over.

We can talk about arms control,

arms reduction, missile shield,

kingdom come, but if they just admit that they're wrong,

they admit that their perfect

Soviet commune is wrong.

If he admits something is simple,

if people want to leave,

then it's over. It crumbles.

We consign them to the ash heap of history.

George, we just have to show that it's possible.

Last night we had a deal to

rid the planet of nuclear weapons, sir.

Anything is possible.

May I suggest, sir,

that you retry your test with Rostropovich's sister, this time with a compromise?

Why should I compromise when he won't?

Because, sir,

good leaders make the present better,

great leaders make the future better.

He wants to do great things, too, sir.

He needs a partner.

Well?

What's the compromise?

That you'll send her back home.

And it won't be forever, sir,

not if you're right.

Secretary General!

Let Rostropovich's sister come to his birthday in Washington.

Let her leave,

and I give you my word she'll return.

A journey of a thousand miles

doesn't start with the most incredible

arms agreement in history.

It begins with a single step.

If you seek peace,

tear down this wall between us, Mr. Gorbachev.

Tear down this wall,

just this one time,

for this one woman,

and we will meet.

We will talk again.

The world thought it was a failure at the time.

Even I had my doubts.

But a year later,

President Reagan and Mr.

Gorbachev signed the first arms

reduction agreement in human history.

Since then, nuclear weapons...

and have been reduced to less than 10%

of their Cold War peak.

Two years later, the Cold War was over,

and just as President Reagan had foreseen,

the Soviet Union ended,

because our leaders decided

to build bridges instead of bombs.

Rostropovich flew to Berlin,

and with a folding chair and a borrowed cello,

played Bach as the wall came down.

A few years later, Mr. Gorbachev visited me out at Stanford.

I said,

When we first met, the Cold War was at its most dangerous point,

and three years later it was over.

What do you believe was the beginning of the end?

He replied with one word,