Thirteen Days Page #8

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 disperses, the President rummages

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 proffered smokes.

THE PRESIDENT:

We knew it was coming. I tell you,

Kenny, these brass 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 confidentially 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 throngs 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, saturnine.

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 standing

in the doorway 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.

GROMYKO:

Mr. President, this will never be done.

You need not be concerned.

The President hides his fury masterfully, and gazing over his

glasses, asks:

THE PRESIDENT:

So I do not misunderstand you: there are

no offensive weapons in Cuba.

A beat. And Gromyko's response is flat, sure, steady:

GROMYKO:

No, Mr. President. We have sent

defensive weapons only to Cuba.

Kenny's blazing eyes could drill holes in the back of

Gromyko's head. His gaze swings to the PRESIDENT'S DESK.

BENEATH THE DESK sit the BRIEFING BOARDS with the evidence.

INT. WEST WING HALLWAY - NIGHT

Kenny emerges from his office. The Soviet delegation

disappears down the hallway with Rusk. Kenny turns as Bobby,

haggard, comes up from the other direction.

Bobby gestures to the vanishing delegation, now being

HARANGUED OC by the press.

BOBBY:

What happened?

The President comes out of the next door down the hall, the

Oval Office. He turns and sees Kenny and Bobby. He's livid.

THE PRESIDENT:

Lying bastard. Lied to my face.

BOBBY:

We're split down the middle. If I held

a vote I think airstrike would beat

blockade by a vote or two.

THE PRESIDENT:

I want a consensus, Bobby. Consensus.

Either air strike or blockade.

Something everyone'll stand by even if

they don't like it. I need it by

Saturday. Make it happen.

BOBBY:

What if I can't?

KENNY:

We go into this split, the Russians will

know it. And they'll use it against us.

The prospect disturbs the three men.

THE PRESIDENT:

Have you cancelled Chicago and the rest

of the weekend yet?

KENNY:

You don't show for Chicago, everyone'll

know there's something going on.

THE PRESIDENT:

I don't care. Cancel it.

KENNY:

No way.

The President spins on him, unsure he heard correctly.

KENNY (CONT'D)

I'm not calling and cancelling on Daly.

You call and cancel on Daly.

THE PRESIDENT:

You're scared to cancel on Daly.

KENNY:

Damn right I'm scared.

The President pauses, looks at Bobby. Bobby shakes his head:

don't look at me.

THE PRESIDENT:

Well, I'm not.

BOBBY:

Then you'll call, right?

INT. HALLWAY - SHERATON-BLACKSTONE HOTEL - NIGHT

SUPER:
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19TH. DAY 4

THEN SUPER:
CHICAGO

Kenny threads his way through the host of SECRET SERVICE

AGENTS and ADVANCE MAN cramming the hallway on the floor of

the hotel they've taken over. From one of the rooms emerges

Salinger.

SALINGER:

Kenny, all right. What's going on here?

There's rumors going around an exercise

in the southeast is related to Cuba.

I'm the Press Secretary. I can't do my

job if I don't know what's going on. So

what's going on?

KENNY:

What are you telling them?

SALINGER:

The truth:
I don't know.

KENNY:

(deadly serious)

Tell 'em you've looked into it, and all

it is is an exercise. And Pierre --

(beat, loaded)

The President may have a cold tomorrow.

Kenny stares at him, and the light dawns on Pierre.

Something big is going on and he's been cut out of it. He

stalks off.

SALINGER:

Damn it, Kenny. Goddamn it!

INT. RECEPTION HALL - SHERATON-BLACKSTONE - NIGHT

A big 100-dollar-a-plate dinner is in full swing to a dinner

band's tunes. The President and Chicago MAYOR RICHARD DALY

make the rounds among the fund raising CROWD. Kenny follows

them at a respectful distance, greeting old cronies.

Suddenly a MESSENGER hustles over to Kenny, hands him a note.

Kenny makes eye contact with the President, nods and leaves.

INT. HOTEL ELEVATORS - NIGHT

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