Cuba in what may be a collision course. No way of knowing whether western civilization will live or die. I think unless something is done, humanity will destroy itself. Early on in the 60s, you have this backdrop of tension. You have capitalism versus communism and it was palpable fear. In the United States and in the soviet union that the two sides were going to get into a nuclear war. Temper of the world is crisis. Architect of the crisis, khrushchev. As the head of the soviet union, khrushchev was very ideological. He said, America Needs to be contained and the only way to do it is to create crises all around the american empire. Khrushchev came to the u. N. In 1960s and said were grinding up missiles like sausages. Well bury you. Americans took it seriously. The toughness of the khrushchev speech did as some propaganda fuels of the fire thats raging between moscow and washington. To see if the soviets were Building Nuclear weapons, more importantly, missiles to launch them at the United States. We were flying a spy plane over the soviet union called a u2. Im bill fox. Cable editor for the united press international, new york. A single engine u. S. Air force plane with a man aboard missing today not far from the soviet border in the rugged mountains in southeastern turkey. To a stunned and startled audience, khrushchev announced that an american u2 spy plane had been shot down in the soviet union. Khrushchev made the wreckage a public exhibition. To the soviet union, this wreckage was a National Cause against the boundaries. And so, out comes the cover story. The department has been informed by the nasa. A u2 Weather Research plane piloted by a civilian has been missing since may 1. Eisenhower had said, no, that didnt happen, et cetera, et cetera. He had been drawn into a trap. It was by khrushchev. The soviet leader was able to show not only had they shot down the plane but they had the pilot. Francis gary powers, an ordinary man caught up in extraordinary circumstances and in a wa magnified by them. I realize that i have committed a grave crime and i realize that i must be punished for it. The evidence of espionage, currency, presumably for the spy to buy his way to freedom. And the spys last resort, a poison needle with which to kill himself instantly if captured and threatened with torture. No one wants another pearl harbor. This means that we must have knowledge of military forces and preparations around the world. The safety of the whole free world demands this. Our government was in effect admitting we had previously lied and that we had committed espionage. Admissions no nation had ever made before. How will this mission affect the United States do you think . I feel it gives the americans a black eye all over europe. I think we ought to sink one of those submarines that are spying off cape canaveral. I dont think we should admit it. We have a right to protect ourselves. The shoot down was such a big event that it basically torpedoed detente. It torpedoed the chance to have a peaceful period, and actually, it was the beginning of the scariest part of the cold war. Americas public mood was one of demoralization and theres the feeling that we can do better. And thats when the election of 1960 comes along. I think the question before the American People is, are we doing as much as we can do . Are we as strong as we should be . Are we as strong as we must be if were going to maintain our independence . Kennedy was a cold warrior more than eisenhower was, really. I want people in latin america and africa and asia to start to look to america. To see how were doing things, to wonder what the president of the United States is doing and not to look at khrushchev or the chinese communists. Kennedy did run to the right of nixon and he was saying that they were letting the russians get ahead of us in missiles. It frightens people. Its not true. But it frightens people and its very effective in the campaign. I believe the soviet union is first in outer space, you said to khrushchev, you may be ahead of us in rocket thrusts, but were ahead of you in Color Television. I think that Color Television is not as important as rockets. The missile gap was a total lie. We out missiled them at that time better than 100 to 1. If eisenhower came forward and said this kid is not telling the truth, it would have been a different election. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty. Kennedy in his inaugural speech did not have a single mention of domestic issue. He came to the presidency thinking his job was to run the cold war. To defeat the russians. I do not shrink from this responsibility. I welcome it. A vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye care experts at bausch lomb. As you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. Ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. Ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. Now thats a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. Help protect your eye health. Say hi rudy. [ barks ] [ chuckles ] id do anything to keep this guy happy and healthy. Thats why im so excited about these new milkbone brushing chews. Whoa, im not the only one. Its a brilliant new way to take care of his teeth. Clinically proven as effective as brushing. Ok, here you go. Have you ever seen a dog brush his own teeth . The twist and nub design cleans all the way down to the gum line, even reaching the back teeth. They taste like a treat, but they clean like a toothbrush. Nothing says you care like a milkbone brushing chew. [ barks ] could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Mmmhmmm. Everybody knows that. Well, did you know that old macdonald was a really bad speller . Your word is. Cow. Cow. Cow. C. O. W. E. I. E. I. O. [buzzer] dangnabbit. Geico. Fifteen minutes could save you. Well, you know. If you had left new york by car at seven minutes past 1 00 this morning, by 2 55 you could have made philadelphia. 95 miles in an hour and 48 minutes. In that same time this morning, a man went around the world. The spaceship was built in russia. When the russians put yuri into space, it was another sense of america being knocked back on its heels. Were behind. Khrushchev greeted the hero saying now let the capitalist countries try to catch up. For the russians to be the first to put a man in space, dealt a real blow not only to American Pride but restarted the whole question about whether the u. S. Government could protect the American People. Gagarins spaceship weighed five tons, biggest payload to push into orbit weighed a few 100 pounds. If you can put a man into space, you can put Nuclear Warheads into space and lots of them and then were in trouble. This is norman cal in moscow. The people that work back here in the kremlin are convinced that the balance of power in the world shifted in their favor and they have stepped up the activities all over the world, not only in berlin but also in latin america. A great jam of camera men here now. An absolute mad house here. The first historic meeting between premier khrushchev and premier castro is now over. My father first met fidel castro in 1960 in the United Nations. They became heroes in the soviet union. It was like the day of challenged goliath. The year since he took power, fidel castro has become an enemy of the United States. In cuba, you have fidel castro whos tying himself to the soviet bloc. Which seems to be threatening the United States by the possibility that theyre going to export communism to other south american countries which are in many instances antiamerican. Khrushchev is saying that you have to understand that cuba matters a lot to us. Dont mess with cuba. Khrushchev was not just using rhetoric. The eastern bloc was supporting castro with military assistance. Many Latin Americans were shocked to find out how much communist equipment castro actually has. The sense was that kennedy has to do something about castro. When kennedy comes to the presidency hes briefed on the fact theres a plan in place to topple castro. But the plan thats presented to him is not what he wants. Its a huge invasion on a noisy beach. It is going to look like a u. S. Invasion of cuba so he says to the cia we cant be associated with this. I want something thats believably cuban. This is ron often in miami standing in one of the many anticastro recruiting places in the city. They were into communism and we found theres something against castro, we learned where it was a recruiting center and approached them and joined. We had no idea it was the cia. Since 2 00 this morning, men and boys have been filing through this door behind me anxious to join the fight in cuba against Fidel Castros government. They were mainly cuban exiles. They hated castro. They thought that they could mount a small scale invasion to gather and until it ended up overthrowing the regime. Cuban business men, doctors, men who once drove taxis, always hoping the muscle of the United States would sustain them. We thought the United States being behind this operation, there was no way we were going to lose, and we were wrong. Small force of invaders landed at a semi isolated resort on the south coast of cuba at the bay of pigs. Castro raced toward the scene. The showdown came at dawn, and moving 20 miles inland and those able to move beyond the beach were trapped in swamp or high growth. Long live the revolutionary forces which are shooting down yankee planes and are smashing the invaders of the land. The castrocontrolled Television Network is parading prisoners captured on the beaches before the cameras for public interrogation. A writer called the bay of pigs the perfect failure, a tragedy on the beach and in washington. Out of the news of this week, the attempt of cuban exiles to reestablish a foothold in their homeland. A tactical failure that became a strategic defeat for cuban democracy and american prestige. Lets ask the falls squarely on the government of the United States. United states has committed no aggression against cuba. And no offensive has been launched from florida or from any other part of the United States. The american role is immediately exposed. No one believes that this isnt happening with some american help. The leader of the free world has been humiliated on its own doorstep. Castro prevailed over kennedy at least for a moment and will take a long time to destroy that image. It was a calamity. Kennedy was totally misinformed by american intelligence about the strength of the anticommunist movement and the fact is when the poor people arrived on the beaches in cuba, they were decimated. Only landing themselves, stewart, how large were they actually . Best indications, walter, there were about 300 men armed only with the weapons they could carry. Unmistakably clear, walter, from all the evidence available that the cia planned this operation. It was the cia that established the revolutionary counsel by saying to the dissident factions, get together or else. Today in his News Conference the president acknowledged the failure and took the responsibility for it. Detailed discussions are not to conceal responsibility because im the responsible officer of the government. Victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan. The russians i think see this as evidence of a young, feckless, inexperienced president. Kennedy privately goes around saying, how could i be so stupid . Hes full of self recrimination. Kennedy listened to the experts, cia, military, little bit too much and they were wrong. The lesson he learns from this is not to trust the cia. vo after 50 years of designing cars for crash survival, subaru has developed our most revolutionary feature yet. A car that can see trouble. And stop itself to avoid it. When the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tested front crash prevention nobody beat subaru models with eyesight. Not honda. Not ford or any other brand. Subaru eyesight. An extra set of eyes, every time you drive. After the bay of pigs, kennedy was more anxious than ever to meet with khrushchev because he knew that he had screwed up. There he is, president kennedy with mrs. Kennedy. He thought the meeting in vienna would straighten all that out. In fact, it made it much worse. Vienna was at the romantic best, almost enough it seemed to remove a bit of the chill from the cold war. It began with a Police Escort leading mr. Kennedys limousine to the embassy. Nikita khrushchev was waiting, also, for talks to explore such issues as berlin, Nuclear Testing and disarmament. What do you think about this meeting between the young president and khrushchev . Well, i think it was long overdue because the world needs peace and the world needs disarmament. For khrushchev, it is a chance to test the new president on a subject of berlin, khrushchev is tough and blunt. Khrushchev said west berlin is a bone in my throat. And we must extract it. Berlin, of course, is divided at the end of world war ii but berlin is 110 miles inside of the east german zone. Khrushchev is threatening to force the integration and take over west berlin and kennedy says to him, berlin is part of our western commitment and world war ii. Dont challenge us there. After two days, the talks end. Kennedy did not do well. He allowed himself to be caught in an ideological argument with khrushchev. He was warned against it. He did it anyways and khrushchev bullied him and pushed him around. Khrushchev has made the first move in the chess game. And the president knows it. As he leaves, he says, its going to be a cold winter. Kennedy thought there might be a basis for dealing with the soviets. Instead he gets the berlin crisis. In july, 1,000 east germans escaped into west berlin every day. Now in august, theyre coming out at the rate of 2,500 a day. As a result of khrushchevs threats and demands. East germany is being bled of the best trained people. I went to berlin to cover the bureau and the nbc news desk in new york called in the middle of the night and said what is this about closing off the border at the gate . At 2 00 a. M. , the communist regime issued a ucase. Noast german going to west berlin without special dispensation. The sound of jackhammers erupts in the night. Suddenly east German Police appear tearing up the sidewalk and the street. A small crowd gathered and the east germans were unrolling barbed wire and i thought, my god, this is you know, unbelievable. The president was in hyannisport and told him that the commissions finallying began to seal the border against the east germans and east berlin earls. Across streets, all along the 25mile border between east and west berlin. Telephone lines to west germany are cut. The flood of refugees is dammed up. West berlin is isolated. Communist country like east germany cannot exist with an open border. It must be able to lock people in and make them work until communism succeeds. President kennedy decided on thursday to send johnson to berlin because mayor brant had written a letter warning that the citys rotting morale required bold and quick treatment. And the United States wants you to know that the pledge he has given to the freedom of west berlin and to the rights of western access to berlin is firm. Is khrushchev entirely convinced that our words have meaning . And if he is not, what can we do short of war to convince him that they do . Soldiers arrived after a 110mile road trip across east germany. Soviet person radio described the arrival of additional American Forces as a challenging military act. The berliners know that western strength is their only protection. There are all sorts of people who say send the tanks in, knock the damn wall down. Kennedy, no. He understands this solves his problem. Will khrushchev try to take over the rest of berlin if hes putting up a wall . Will he risk a war with us . No. The wall saves us from that kind of conflict. After the berlin crisis, khrushchev tests the Largest Nuclear device ever. He basically is going to say to the americans, you cant scare me. Im going to scare you. The west has nuclear jitters. People worry about fallout, about war. Khrushchev has turned testing into a weapon of terror. There was tremendous anxiety and fear that if you got into a nuclear war it was going to mean the devastation of civilization. It was the apocalypse. Let us face without panic the reality of our times. The fact that atom bombs may some day be dropped on our cities and let us prepare for survival by understanding the weapon that threatens us. The threat of nuclear war was the center of many of our lives. The fallout shelter could save your life in a nuclear war. The family room of tomorrow. Its a truly shipshape room only 8 x 12 feet in size but with an amazing amount of storage space. Seems unless we control the use of such a thing as that all the civilization built up over the many thousands of years will just be washed out. It gives you quite a scare to think of Something Like that happening to us. We were close to nuclear war in 1961. And as jfk said to his brother bobby, you know, we have had a good life. But our children, what if theres a nuclear war and our children die . Thats how close war felt. Whos going to do it . Whos going to make it happen . Discover a new energy source. Turn ocean waves into power. Design cars that capture their emissions. Build bridges that fix themselves. Get more clean water to everyone. Whos going to take the leap . Whos going to write the code . Whos going to do it . Engineers. Thats who. Thats what i want to do. Be an engineer. Energy lives here. As he said he would, mr. Khrushchev has exploded his giant bomb in cynical disregard of the United Nations. Kennedy recognizes t