1 00:00:07,354 --> 00:00:10,270 [suspenseful music] 2 00:00:10,357 --> 00:00:14,405 ♪ ♪ 3 00:00:14,492 --> 00:00:16,885 People in the 1950s had very little idea 4 00:00:16,972 --> 00:00:20,150 of what the CIA was or what it did. 5 00:00:20,237 --> 00:00:23,675 The original mission was to know the world, 6 00:00:23,762 --> 00:00:26,547 to gain knowledge of what was happening abroad. 7 00:00:26,634 --> 00:00:30,551 It was an all-male, all-white environment. 8 00:00:30,638 --> 00:00:34,729 The Georgetown set, pipe-smoking WASPs 9 00:00:34,816 --> 00:00:37,428 who believed they controlled the world 10 00:00:37,515 --> 00:00:40,344 and could mold it to their will. 11 00:00:40,431 --> 00:00:42,302 It's really hard to overstate 12 00:00:42,389 --> 00:00:43,956 the sense of panic that Americans 13 00:00:44,043 --> 00:00:48,003 were thrust into when the CIA was being formed. 14 00:00:48,091 --> 00:00:49,918 Given the Cold War mindset, 15 00:00:50,005 --> 00:00:51,964 it was a huge panic that Americans were feeling 16 00:00:52,051 --> 00:00:53,574 about the Soviet Union. 17 00:00:53,661 --> 00:00:57,056 There was a sense that a nuclear attack from Moscow 18 00:00:57,143 --> 00:00:58,405 could happen at any time. 19 00:00:58,492 --> 00:01:03,802 ♪ ♪ 20 00:01:03,889 --> 00:01:07,110 Cuba's Fidel Castro emerged triumphant after two years 21 00:01:07,197 --> 00:01:08,720 of guerrilla warfare against... 22 00:01:08,807 --> 00:01:10,156 When Castro took power, 23 00:01:10,243 --> 00:01:13,028 that kind of changed everything. 24 00:01:13,116 --> 00:01:15,292 Because he was starting to build up power, 25 00:01:15,379 --> 00:01:18,208 the United States felt threatened. 26 00:01:18,295 --> 00:01:21,863 This literally could be it. 27 00:01:21,950 --> 00:01:24,692 [speaking Spanish] 28 00:01:26,651 --> 00:01:30,002 There is fear about what Castro is going to do. 29 00:01:30,089 --> 00:01:33,223 Tremendous paranoia and near panic. 30 00:01:33,310 --> 00:01:36,487 The CIA did not want a Communist beachhead 31 00:01:36,574 --> 00:01:38,489 90 miles from Key West. 32 00:01:38,576 --> 00:01:40,839 This was a time in our history 33 00:01:40,926 --> 00:01:44,190 when the world came closest to nuclear Armageddon. 34 00:01:44,277 --> 00:01:47,019 This island nation could be used 35 00:01:47,106 --> 00:01:48,107 to launch missiles. 36 00:01:48,194 --> 00:01:51,589 ♪ ♪ 37 00:01:51,676 --> 00:01:55,462 The message had come-- there's no living with Castro. 38 00:01:55,549 --> 00:02:01,381 The CIA is going to hire the mafia to kill Castro. 39 00:02:01,468 --> 00:02:03,644 They made a deal with the devil 40 00:02:03,731 --> 00:02:06,821 to get this job done. 41 00:02:06,908 --> 00:02:10,869 If this comes out, what will this do to our image 42 00:02:10,956 --> 00:02:12,784 in the eyes of the world? 43 00:02:12,871 --> 00:02:15,961 What cannot happen is that it gets found out. 44 00:02:16,048 --> 00:02:19,791 ♪ ♪ 45 00:02:19,878 --> 00:02:21,227 [muffled gunshot] 46 00:02:21,314 --> 00:02:23,273 It's an incendiary fuel that's going to blow 47 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:30,410 ♪ ♪ 48 00:03:43,004 --> 00:03:45,616 One of the most difficult things in telling this story 49 00:03:45,703 --> 00:03:49,489 is that almost everybody lies. 50 00:03:49,576 --> 00:03:53,711 When you have a world of liars, fabricators, 51 00:03:53,798 --> 00:03:56,322 half truths, what is the truth? 52 00:03:56,409 --> 00:03:59,630 [soft dramatic music] 53 00:03:59,717 --> 00:04:02,459 A lot of the story as I've pieced it together 54 00:04:02,546 --> 00:04:05,679 relied on documents that I could find. 55 00:04:05,766 --> 00:04:07,551 The National Archives has released 56 00:04:07,638 --> 00:04:10,336 thousands of previously classified documents. 57 00:04:10,423 --> 00:04:13,078 They describe decades of spying and surveillance, 58 00:04:13,165 --> 00:04:15,341 assassination plots, and tension among 59 00:04:15,428 --> 00:04:17,343 U.S. intelligence agencies. 60 00:04:17,430 --> 00:04:20,433 In 2017, documents became available 61 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:22,740 that provided a lot more detail 62 00:04:22,827 --> 00:04:24,959 about what was going on 63 00:04:25,046 --> 00:04:26,961 in the attempts to kill Castro. 64 00:04:27,048 --> 00:04:29,137 ♪ ♪ 65 00:04:29,224 --> 00:04:31,705 There's literally thousands of documents-- 66 00:04:31,792 --> 00:04:37,407 Senate hearings, FBI documents, even testimony. 67 00:04:37,494 --> 00:04:39,626 Telling this story, it's almost like 68 00:04:39,713 --> 00:04:42,455 you're putting together a jigsaw puzzle. 69 00:04:42,542 --> 00:04:44,936 Declassified documents is the gift of history 70 00:04:45,023 --> 00:04:46,372 that keeps on giving. 71 00:04:46,459 --> 00:04:49,244 The CIA has held on to so many records. 72 00:04:49,332 --> 00:04:51,377 We have these incredible reports 73 00:04:51,464 --> 00:04:55,294 that were far more detailed than anybody knew. 74 00:04:55,381 --> 00:04:58,341 This is in the CIA memo. It's not in a CIA memo. 75 00:04:58,428 --> 00:04:59,472 It's in the-- 76 00:05:04,259 --> 00:05:07,001 In the CIA memo, Eisenhower states, 77 00:05:07,088 --> 00:05:08,568 "I want him sawed off." 78 00:05:08,655 --> 00:05:10,527 ♪ ♪ 79 00:05:12,050 --> 00:05:13,530 Oh shit. 80 00:05:13,617 --> 00:05:16,446 [suspenseful music] 81 00:05:16,533 --> 00:05:20,624 The government is supposed to pride itself on democracy, 82 00:05:20,711 --> 00:05:23,801 checks and balances, freedom of the press, 83 00:05:23,888 --> 00:05:29,415 and yet so much of this story is about concealing 84 00:05:29,502 --> 00:05:32,331 and about trickery and about the surface 85 00:05:32,418 --> 00:05:34,115 being different than the agenda 86 00:05:34,202 --> 00:05:37,075 that's going on underneath it. 87 00:05:37,162 --> 00:05:39,599 It took almost 50 years for the CIA 88 00:05:39,686 --> 00:05:42,733 to even acknowledge that they indeed hired 89 00:05:42,820 --> 00:05:46,432 two gangsters to kill Fidel Castro. 90 00:05:48,173 --> 00:05:51,306 It is the job of journalists and historians 91 00:05:51,394 --> 00:05:55,180 to illuminate what we as citizens 92 00:05:55,267 --> 00:05:58,662 need to know about what the government 93 00:05:58,749 --> 00:06:01,055 has done in our names. 94 00:06:01,142 --> 00:06:05,799 There are mysteries that still remain, 95 00:06:05,886 --> 00:06:07,714 but I think all the secrets are out. 96 00:06:07,801 --> 00:06:11,675 ♪ ♪ 97 00:06:11,762 --> 00:06:14,460 When does the CIA become a player 98 00:06:14,547 --> 00:06:18,464 in what's happening in Cuba? 99 00:06:18,551 --> 00:06:21,249 It does start to take shape long before 100 00:06:21,336 --> 00:06:25,079 Fidel Castro has arisen. 101 00:06:25,166 --> 00:06:27,778 [upbeat Latin jazz music] 102 00:06:27,865 --> 00:06:34,915 ♪ ♪ 103 00:06:37,614 --> 00:06:39,267 In the '50s, people who lived 104 00:06:39,354 --> 00:06:41,879 in New York and Chicago in the winter time, 105 00:06:41,966 --> 00:06:44,969 they didn't go to Las Vegas. They went down to Havana. 106 00:06:45,056 --> 00:06:48,538 ♪ ♪ 107 00:06:48,625 --> 00:06:51,279 Havana, Cuba, really starts to take shape 108 00:06:51,366 --> 00:06:53,934 as a gambling Mecca. 109 00:06:54,021 --> 00:06:56,546 [spirited orchestral music] 110 00:06:56,633 --> 00:06:59,679 High style gets aboard for a flying trip to Havana, Cuba. 111 00:06:59,766 --> 00:07:02,377 It's only 90 miles from Miami. 112 00:07:02,465 --> 00:07:04,728 Caribbean island. Good cigars. 113 00:07:04,815 --> 00:07:06,686 The good life. 114 00:07:06,773 --> 00:07:08,645 It was easy to get to, 115 00:07:08,732 --> 00:07:11,474 and people from all over the world came there. 116 00:07:11,561 --> 00:07:14,128 [upbeat Latin jazz music] 117 00:07:14,215 --> 00:07:16,043 My parents would go party in Cuba. 118 00:07:16,130 --> 00:07:17,305 It was like a cool place-- 119 00:07:17,392 --> 00:07:19,351 open gambling and drinking, 120 00:07:19,438 --> 00:07:21,135 and where all these rules were over here, 121 00:07:21,222 --> 00:07:22,397 they didn't have any of that over there. 122 00:07:22,485 --> 00:07:24,051 ♪ ♪ 123 00:07:24,138 --> 00:07:27,925 Shows were so, you know, lewd. 124 00:07:28,012 --> 00:07:31,189 Anything was possible in Havana. 125 00:07:31,276 --> 00:07:35,106 It's a very sensual and seductive place. 126 00:07:35,193 --> 00:07:36,890 If you wanted something naughty, 127 00:07:36,977 --> 00:07:38,718 it was pleasure island. 128 00:07:38,805 --> 00:07:40,938 ♪ ♪ 129 00:07:41,025 --> 00:07:43,070 What happens in Havana stays in Havana. 130 00:07:43,157 --> 00:07:47,031 ♪ ♪ 131 00:07:51,165 --> 00:07:54,038 All bets down. 132 00:07:54,125 --> 00:07:56,780 From really about '52 to '58, 133 00:07:56,867 --> 00:08:02,525 the mob essentially controlled the tourism market in Havana. 134 00:08:02,612 --> 00:08:04,309 Long before Vegas has them, 135 00:08:04,396 --> 00:08:06,703 they have these thriving casinos. 136 00:08:06,790 --> 00:08:09,227 And the mob is in there in full force 137 00:08:09,314 --> 00:08:10,620 with a golden goose. 138 00:08:10,707 --> 00:08:12,273 [bright jazz music] 139 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:16,756 It became the place of which they had always dreamed, 140 00:08:16,843 --> 00:08:19,759 where they could promote all kinds of vice, 141 00:08:19,846 --> 00:08:23,284 break every American law without worrying 142 00:08:23,371 --> 00:08:24,285 because they weren't in America. 143 00:08:24,372 --> 00:08:27,027 ♪ ♪ 144 00:08:27,114 --> 00:08:29,900 The mob's infiltration and control in Havana 145 00:08:29,987 --> 00:08:31,989 couldn't have happened without Meyer Lansky. 146 00:08:32,076 --> 00:08:37,995 ♪ ♪ 147 00:08:38,082 --> 00:08:40,606 Meyer Lansky was a very high-profile 148 00:08:40,693 --> 00:08:43,783 mob syndicate leader out of New York. 149 00:08:43,870 --> 00:08:48,483 He was involved in developing Las Vegas, casinos in Florida. 150 00:08:48,571 --> 00:08:50,660 Lansky had cultivated a relationship 151 00:08:50,747 --> 00:08:51,922 with Fulgencio Batista, 152 00:08:52,009 --> 00:08:55,708 the repressive dictator of Cuba. 153 00:08:55,795 --> 00:08:57,928 Batista says he is a friend of the people 154 00:08:58,015 --> 00:09:00,800 as his soldiers patrol the streets to establish 155 00:09:00,887 --> 00:09:03,629 what he calls disciplined democracy. 156 00:09:03,716 --> 00:09:06,458 In the 1950s, the Batista regime 157 00:09:06,545 --> 00:09:09,461 started really investing in casinos, hotels, 158 00:09:09,548 --> 00:09:12,029 and gambling establishments. 159 00:09:12,116 --> 00:09:15,728 And he started making deals with mafia bosses. 160 00:09:17,425 --> 00:09:20,603 So Battista literally paid Meyer Lansky a salary 161 00:09:20,690 --> 00:09:23,867 to be the gambling czar of Havana. 162 00:09:26,130 --> 00:09:28,001 Lansky knew that the first thing 163 00:09:28,088 --> 00:09:31,135 that needed to be done was to make 164 00:09:31,222 --> 00:09:33,267 all the other heads of the mob 165 00:09:33,354 --> 00:09:35,313 feel that they had a piece of it. 166 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,403 Otherwise, they would assert their selves in it 167 00:09:38,490 --> 00:09:41,841 through violence and thuggery. 168 00:09:41,928 --> 00:09:44,452 Everyone was going to get their piece of the pie-- 169 00:09:44,539 --> 00:09:46,759 a casino, a club. 170 00:09:46,846 --> 00:09:49,327 This is what was so wonderful about that metaphor 171 00:09:49,414 --> 00:09:50,545 in "Godfather II." 172 00:09:53,157 --> 00:09:56,203 The scene on the rooftop, the mafiosi 173 00:09:56,290 --> 00:10:00,512 who were there with a cake which is the island of Cuba, 174 00:10:00,599 --> 00:10:02,514 and he literally cuts up the pieces 175 00:10:02,601 --> 00:10:04,647 and hands it to all the mafiosi. 176 00:10:04,734 --> 00:10:07,345 This is what Lansky was doing in Havana. 177 00:10:07,432 --> 00:10:10,609 We have now what we have always needed, 178 00:10:10,696 --> 00:10:13,481 real partnership with the government. 179 00:10:13,568 --> 00:10:15,527 A smaller piece. 180 00:10:17,050 --> 00:10:20,053 The idea was there's plenty for everyone. 181 00:10:20,140 --> 00:10:22,839 New York interests are involved in Havana, 182 00:10:22,926 --> 00:10:24,841 Las Vegas interests. 183 00:10:24,928 --> 00:10:26,843 And then you have the Chicago Outfit. 184 00:10:26,930 --> 00:10:28,627 [dramatic jazz music] 185 00:10:28,714 --> 00:10:31,674 [gunfire] 186 00:10:34,241 --> 00:10:37,767 And those guys in Chicago ran things a little different 187 00:10:37,854 --> 00:10:39,377 than the Five Families in New York. 188 00:10:39,464 --> 00:10:42,423 ♪ ♪ 189 00:10:42,510 --> 00:10:45,165 [indistinct chatter] 190 00:10:47,994 --> 00:10:50,127 The Chicago Outfit has essentially monopoly 191 00:10:50,214 --> 00:10:53,217 over organized crime in the Chicagoland area. 192 00:10:53,304 --> 00:10:57,700 This was a multi-billion dollar criminal enterprise. 193 00:10:57,787 --> 00:11:00,050 The boss of the Chicago Outfit at the time 194 00:11:00,137 --> 00:11:02,705 was Sam Giancana. 195 00:11:02,792 --> 00:11:04,837 Giancana is put in as the operating boss 196 00:11:04,924 --> 00:11:07,100 of the Outfit, which is essentially 197 00:11:07,187 --> 00:11:10,190 the organized crime equivalent of a CEO in a corporation. 198 00:11:10,277 --> 00:11:13,759 He runs it on a day-to-day basis. 199 00:11:13,846 --> 00:11:17,371 The Outfit really had control over what was 200 00:11:17,458 --> 00:11:20,635 West of the Mississippi, including Las Vegas 201 00:11:20,723 --> 00:11:22,420 and then of course Havana. 202 00:11:22,507 --> 00:11:25,118 [upbeat Latin jazz music] 203 00:11:25,205 --> 00:11:27,686 ♪ ♪ 204 00:11:27,773 --> 00:11:30,036 The Chicago mob had interests 205 00:11:30,123 --> 00:11:32,473 in some of the casinos, some of the nightclubs, 206 00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:34,475 some of the prostitution, 207 00:11:34,562 --> 00:11:37,130 some of the live sex shows that are going on in Havana. 208 00:11:37,217 --> 00:11:42,179 ♪ ♪ 209 00:11:42,266 --> 00:11:47,097 My father Sam had some stuff doing in Cuba. 210 00:11:47,184 --> 00:11:51,057 Meyer Lansky and he turned out the best of friends. 211 00:11:51,144 --> 00:11:53,756 They were involved in a couple of hotels down there. 212 00:11:53,843 --> 00:11:55,845 Did you ever go to Havana as a teenager? 213 00:11:55,932 --> 00:11:57,803 No. I want to go now. 214 00:11:57,890 --> 00:11:59,674 [relaxed acoustic music] 215 00:11:59,762 --> 00:12:03,896 To see the people and the food and walking through the hotels 216 00:12:03,983 --> 00:12:09,206 that my father and his gang were involved with-- 217 00:12:09,293 --> 00:12:13,471 I just crave going down there. 218 00:12:13,558 --> 00:12:16,300 [upbeat Latin jazz music] 219 00:12:16,387 --> 00:12:19,477 ♪ ♪ 220 00:12:19,564 --> 00:12:21,871 One of the people the Chicago Outfit 221 00:12:21,958 --> 00:12:27,050 relied on down in Havana was Santo Trafficante. 222 00:12:27,137 --> 00:12:29,443 Trafficante spoke Spanish. 223 00:12:29,530 --> 00:12:31,881 Most of the mobsters did not. 224 00:12:31,968 --> 00:12:33,883 So Trafficante was always there 225 00:12:33,970 --> 00:12:37,451 as the translator dealing with the Cuban connections. 226 00:12:37,538 --> 00:12:41,020 [birds chirping] 227 00:12:41,107 --> 00:12:43,109 Santo Trafficante Jr. 228 00:12:43,196 --> 00:12:45,285 grew up in Tampa, Florida, 229 00:12:45,372 --> 00:12:48,158 in a neighborhood that was predominantly Cuban. 230 00:12:48,245 --> 00:12:51,814 That's why he spoke Spanish, understood the culture. 231 00:12:51,901 --> 00:12:54,817 And eventually, he's involved in the casino industry 232 00:12:54,904 --> 00:12:56,731 and some of the more illicit activities 233 00:12:56,819 --> 00:12:57,994 that were going on in Havana. 234 00:13:01,301 --> 00:13:04,957 This mode of business is extraordinarily profitable 235 00:13:05,044 --> 00:13:06,567 to the mafia and Batista. 236 00:13:06,654 --> 00:13:09,570 The money did not trickle down to anyone. 237 00:13:09,657 --> 00:13:13,444 The Cuban people were not happy with that arrangement. 238 00:13:13,531 --> 00:13:16,142 [soft dramatic music] 239 00:13:16,229 --> 00:13:19,537 ♪ ♪ 240 00:13:19,624 --> 00:13:22,366 [speaking Spanish] 241 00:13:29,199 --> 00:13:35,945 ♪ ♪ 242 00:13:57,009 --> 00:13:59,359 An unequal society had developed 243 00:13:59,446 --> 00:14:02,101 where a certain small percentage of people 244 00:14:02,188 --> 00:14:04,234 had all the power and all the money, 245 00:14:04,321 --> 00:14:08,020 and the campesinos didn't get much education. 246 00:14:08,107 --> 00:14:10,196 There was a high level of illiteracy. 247 00:14:10,283 --> 00:14:12,416 They didn't own the property they lived on. 248 00:14:14,635 --> 00:14:17,682 [speaking Spanish] 249 00:14:53,370 --> 00:14:55,981 [speaking Spanish] 250 00:15:07,688 --> 00:15:10,735 [speaking Spanish] 251 00:15:25,445 --> 00:15:28,492 [gunshots] 252 00:15:36,282 --> 00:15:39,242 [eerie music] 253 00:15:39,329 --> 00:15:46,075 ♪ ♪ 254 00:15:47,076 --> 00:15:50,122 [speaking Spanish] 255 00:16:09,011 --> 00:16:11,709 It was a show of military authority 256 00:16:11,796 --> 00:16:14,103 that kept people in their place, 257 00:16:14,190 --> 00:16:15,582 and Batista was a big part of that. 258 00:16:15,669 --> 00:16:18,672 ♪ ♪ 259 00:16:18,759 --> 00:16:22,981 Batista was an American-backed dictator. 260 00:16:23,068 --> 00:16:26,637 We didn't care about his repressive ways in Cuba 261 00:16:26,724 --> 00:16:31,076 because he was in the pocket of the United States, 262 00:16:31,163 --> 00:16:33,513 both in terms of U.S. foreign policy 263 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,473 and American business interests. 264 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:37,865 Batista orders the suspension 265 00:16:37,952 --> 00:16:39,867 of all civil rights. 266 00:16:39,954 --> 00:16:41,565 Nothing is to be broadcast or printed 267 00:16:41,652 --> 00:16:43,088 that is displeasing to Batista. 268 00:16:43,175 --> 00:16:46,004 ♪ ♪ 269 00:16:46,091 --> 00:16:50,139 Many Cubans felt really cut out of democratic life, 270 00:16:50,226 --> 00:16:52,271 which they thought they deserved. 271 00:16:52,358 --> 00:16:56,145 This led to the emergence of dissident groups. 272 00:16:56,232 --> 00:16:58,886 One of them was led by Fidel Castro. 273 00:16:58,973 --> 00:17:01,889 [bright acoustic music] 274 00:17:01,976 --> 00:17:04,022 ♪ ♪ 275 00:17:37,490 --> 00:17:40,580 Fidel Castro was a reluctant revolutionary. 276 00:17:40,667 --> 00:17:43,017 I mean, he was a lawyer. He was a civil rights lawyer. 277 00:17:44,497 --> 00:17:48,458 He ran for political office in the early 1950s 278 00:17:48,545 --> 00:17:52,418 as a senator, and he was probably going to be elected 279 00:17:52,505 --> 00:17:55,987 until Batista rolled into Havana 280 00:17:56,074 --> 00:17:59,425 and took over the country in a coup d'état. 281 00:17:59,512 --> 00:18:02,776 It threw a wrench into Fidel Castro's career, 282 00:18:02,863 --> 00:18:07,303 and so it laid the groundwork in many ways for Fidel Castro 283 00:18:07,390 --> 00:18:09,392 as this figure who was determined 284 00:18:09,479 --> 00:18:12,351 to take down Batista. 285 00:18:12,438 --> 00:18:15,224 He went to the hills to join guerrilla groups. 286 00:18:19,532 --> 00:18:21,404 Castro and the revolutionaries 287 00:18:21,491 --> 00:18:25,582 starts to develop power away from Havana, 288 00:18:25,669 --> 00:18:27,758 but you're not going to get this in a newspaper 289 00:18:27,845 --> 00:18:29,629 or a television news report. 290 00:18:33,242 --> 00:18:35,679 I grew up on a farm just north 291 00:18:35,766 --> 00:18:39,335 of where Fidel Castro set up his revolution. 292 00:18:39,422 --> 00:18:42,381 At first, it was sort of like a Robin Hood story. 293 00:18:42,468 --> 00:18:44,862 We had about 35 families, 294 00:18:44,949 --> 00:18:49,388 and some of the older kids would tell us, "You know what? 295 00:18:49,475 --> 00:18:51,782 "We're going to own all this. 296 00:18:51,869 --> 00:18:53,827 "Fidel is going to take it all away from you, 297 00:18:53,914 --> 00:18:57,614 and he's going to give it to us, to the poor people." 298 00:18:57,701 --> 00:19:01,661 I took that lightly, and they took it lightly too. 299 00:19:01,748 --> 00:19:03,533 They never thought it would happen either. 300 00:19:03,620 --> 00:19:06,100 [soft dramatic music] 301 00:19:06,188 --> 00:19:09,191 Castro was from a wealthy family 302 00:19:09,278 --> 00:19:10,975 and was well-educated, 303 00:19:11,062 --> 00:19:14,239 but everyone else was the peasantry. 304 00:19:14,326 --> 00:19:16,720 And this is partly why those in power 305 00:19:16,807 --> 00:19:18,243 couldn't take it seriously. 306 00:19:18,330 --> 00:19:20,376 How could farmers and campesinos 307 00:19:20,463 --> 00:19:23,944 rise up and take down the most powerful military 308 00:19:24,031 --> 00:19:26,295 in the Caribbean? How could that be possible? 309 00:19:26,382 --> 00:19:28,558 ♪ ♪ 310 00:19:28,645 --> 00:19:31,213 The CIA and the mob had put in all their chips 311 00:19:31,300 --> 00:19:33,650 with Fulgencio Batista. 312 00:19:33,737 --> 00:19:37,088 But the mob did not have what the CIA had, 313 00:19:37,175 --> 00:19:39,046 which was spies and people 314 00:19:39,133 --> 00:19:40,744 out gathering information about what was 315 00:19:40,831 --> 00:19:43,790 really happening politically in Cuba. 316 00:19:43,877 --> 00:19:45,139 They were blind. 317 00:19:55,715 --> 00:19:57,935 ♪ ♪ 318 00:19:58,022 --> 00:20:00,154 Before he took power, Castro remained 319 00:20:00,242 --> 00:20:03,636 an obscure figure to the CIA. 320 00:20:06,291 --> 00:20:08,337 The American media would seek out 321 00:20:08,424 --> 00:20:10,817 Fidel Castro in the mountains. 322 00:20:10,904 --> 00:20:14,168 All the people of the Sierra Maestra are with us. 323 00:20:14,256 --> 00:20:16,910 This is only the beginning. 324 00:20:16,997 --> 00:20:20,305 "The New York Times" reports that there's a sizable group 325 00:20:20,392 --> 00:20:23,569 up there in the mountains. 326 00:20:23,656 --> 00:20:26,746 But the CIA, being the CIA, said to Eisenhower, 327 00:20:26,833 --> 00:20:30,576 "This is not a problem. We can handle this." 328 00:20:32,709 --> 00:20:34,624 "Don't worry, we'll come up with a solution." 329 00:20:34,711 --> 00:20:36,713 That's what essentially they tell the president. 330 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:38,976 "We've got it. We've got a handle on it." 331 00:20:39,063 --> 00:20:41,674 And actually, they don't have an answer for it, 332 00:20:41,761 --> 00:20:43,633 and they're not really sure what the right answer is. 333 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:45,678 ♪ ♪ 334 00:20:45,765 --> 00:20:47,941 Really what it is is about the blindness 335 00:20:48,028 --> 00:20:49,726 of those in power. 336 00:20:49,813 --> 00:20:53,512 It's about the hubris and the belief 337 00:20:53,599 --> 00:20:56,820 that your power is so supreme 338 00:20:56,907 --> 00:20:59,344 that you don't see your vulnerability 339 00:20:59,431 --> 00:21:00,606 until it's too late. 340 00:21:00,693 --> 00:21:03,174 ♪ ♪ 341 00:21:03,261 --> 00:21:06,177 Many of the early CIA leaders came 342 00:21:06,264 --> 00:21:10,181 from a background in which if you made a mistake, 343 00:21:10,268 --> 00:21:12,749 there was always daddy to pick you up and fix it. 344 00:21:12,836 --> 00:21:15,404 So they thought that was true in the world, 345 00:21:15,491 --> 00:21:17,449 that whatever happened, they'd be able 346 00:21:17,536 --> 00:21:19,233 to control the blowback. 347 00:21:19,321 --> 00:21:24,369 ♪ ♪ 348 00:21:29,896 --> 00:21:32,203 And the mob is stuck in denial. 349 00:21:32,290 --> 00:21:35,119 They put everything behind the man in power, Batista. 350 00:21:35,206 --> 00:21:37,556 And so the mob didn't care about what was 351 00:21:37,643 --> 00:21:39,558 really happening politically. 352 00:21:39,645 --> 00:21:42,213 In the late 1950s, there was always money 353 00:21:42,300 --> 00:21:45,216 to be made from corruption in Cuba. 354 00:21:45,303 --> 00:21:47,914 [upbeat Latin jazz music] 355 00:21:48,001 --> 00:21:52,876 ♪ ♪ 356 00:21:52,963 --> 00:21:56,793 There are still whole loads of Americans coming down 357 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:01,885 to enjoy the lush, tropical sexiness of Havana, 358 00:22:01,972 --> 00:22:05,497 including celebrities, 359 00:22:05,584 --> 00:22:07,543 be it a Frank Sinatra 360 00:22:07,630 --> 00:22:09,632 or a young JFK. 361 00:22:09,719 --> 00:22:12,156 ♪ ♪ 362 00:22:12,243 --> 00:22:15,377 In the '50s, John F. Kennedy comes to Havana. 363 00:22:15,464 --> 00:22:17,901 I mean, he's like a brand-new senator 364 00:22:17,988 --> 00:22:21,818 known for having an interest in women, 365 00:22:21,905 --> 00:22:25,561 and he was sniffing around at the local talent. 366 00:22:25,648 --> 00:22:28,781 And he puts out the word, probably through an underling 367 00:22:28,868 --> 00:22:31,610 who goes to the mobsters and says, you know, 368 00:22:31,697 --> 00:22:33,960 "The Senator would very much like it 369 00:22:34,047 --> 00:22:38,356 if you could maybe possibly connect him with a young lady." 370 00:22:38,443 --> 00:22:41,054 Trafficante would say, "We can do that." 371 00:22:41,141 --> 00:22:43,753 [eerie music] 372 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:46,059 ♪ ♪ 373 00:22:46,146 --> 00:22:48,192 They set John Kennedy up in a room 374 00:22:48,279 --> 00:22:51,064 that had a two-way mirror. 375 00:22:51,151 --> 00:22:52,675 He had a three-way, 376 00:22:52,762 --> 00:22:56,635 him and two other Cuban prostitutes. 377 00:22:56,722 --> 00:22:58,768 Trafficante was on the other side of the mirror 378 00:22:58,855 --> 00:23:01,205 with another gangster. 379 00:23:01,292 --> 00:23:03,512 The other gangster says, "Hey, we should be 380 00:23:03,599 --> 00:23:05,383 "filming this 'cause this would make 381 00:23:05,470 --> 00:23:07,385 tremendous blackmail material." 382 00:23:07,472 --> 00:23:10,823 Well, they didn't have a camera. 383 00:23:10,910 --> 00:23:14,523 But the idea of sex, that anything goes, 384 00:23:14,610 --> 00:23:19,353 was part of the debasement of Cuban society, 385 00:23:19,441 --> 00:23:23,967 and it had moral implications for the Cuban people. 386 00:23:24,054 --> 00:23:26,883 [gunshots] 387 00:23:26,970 --> 00:23:30,452 Summer 1958, Castro records his broadcasts 388 00:23:30,539 --> 00:23:32,628 for the Rebel Radio. 389 00:23:32,715 --> 00:23:34,107 His men now will come down from the mountains 390 00:23:34,194 --> 00:23:36,806 and fight on the plains. 391 00:23:36,893 --> 00:23:38,938 Castro's revolutionaries started out 392 00:23:39,025 --> 00:23:41,158 in the eastern part of the island. 393 00:23:41,245 --> 00:23:43,421 Amazingly, in a very short time, 394 00:23:43,508 --> 00:23:45,467 they had come very close to Havana. 395 00:23:50,776 --> 00:23:54,084 Batista had an army, but it really was 396 00:23:54,171 --> 00:23:57,174 mainly used for rounding up dissidents 397 00:23:57,261 --> 00:23:59,959 and torturing people in prisons. 398 00:24:00,046 --> 00:24:02,832 They weren't prepared to fight real battles. 399 00:24:02,919 --> 00:24:04,921 Castro's revolutionaries were. 400 00:24:05,008 --> 00:24:06,966 [gunshots] 401 00:24:07,053 --> 00:24:09,926 [dramatic jazz music] 402 00:24:10,013 --> 00:24:11,536 ♪ ♪ 403 00:24:11,623 --> 00:24:13,625 On New Year's Eve and on into New Year's Day 404 00:24:13,712 --> 00:24:18,804 of 1959, the revolution was arriving. 405 00:24:18,891 --> 00:24:21,503 Tanks and soldiers were rolling into Havana. 406 00:24:21,590 --> 00:24:23,940 ♪ ♪ 407 00:24:24,027 --> 00:24:26,464 When the revolutionaries arrived 408 00:24:26,551 --> 00:24:29,249 from the Sierra Maestra, there was no opposition. 409 00:24:29,336 --> 00:24:30,773 The opposition picked up and left. 410 00:24:30,860 --> 00:24:32,949 ♪ ♪ 411 00:24:33,036 --> 00:24:37,388 Actually, Batista evacuated, ran away, 412 00:24:37,475 --> 00:24:39,651 and Castro happened to just drive 413 00:24:39,738 --> 00:24:42,480 into town in a Jeep with about 40 people, 414 00:24:42,567 --> 00:24:44,830 and there it was to take. 415 00:24:44,917 --> 00:24:47,398 [cheering] 416 00:24:47,485 --> 00:24:49,835 New Years Day 1959, 417 00:24:49,922 --> 00:24:51,576 the news spreads through Havana-- 418 00:24:51,663 --> 00:24:54,013 Batista is finished. 419 00:24:54,100 --> 00:24:56,886 With Batista in flight to the Dominican Republic, 420 00:24:56,973 --> 00:24:58,844 the celebrating soon turns to mob action 421 00:24:58,931 --> 00:25:00,063 and looting. 422 00:25:00,150 --> 00:25:02,239 [sirens wailing] 423 00:25:02,326 --> 00:25:05,547 The situation before long is completely out of hand. 424 00:25:05,634 --> 00:25:08,245 Mobs loot and pillage. Gangs roam the streets. 425 00:25:08,332 --> 00:25:10,639 Anarchy reigns. 426 00:25:13,293 --> 00:25:15,905 They have that scene in "Godfather Part II." 427 00:25:15,992 --> 00:25:18,342 People started to flood into the casinos, 428 00:25:18,429 --> 00:25:19,909 and they dragged the slot machines 429 00:25:19,996 --> 00:25:23,086 out into the street, 430 00:25:23,173 --> 00:25:26,393 and they started brush fires using gambling tables. 431 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,048 [people shouting indistinctly] 432 00:25:29,135 --> 00:25:32,312 The mafiosi were thinking, "How do I get out of here?" 433 00:25:32,399 --> 00:25:34,793 [car horn blaring distantly] 434 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:38,101 They realized their lives were in danger. 435 00:25:38,188 --> 00:25:40,146 It was a full-fledged uprising. 436 00:25:40,233 --> 00:25:43,149 [people shouting indistinctly] 437 00:25:43,236 --> 00:25:45,848 [tense music] 438 00:25:45,935 --> 00:25:52,985 ♪ ♪ 439 00:25:56,859 --> 00:25:59,601 [speaking Spanish] 440 00:26:16,530 --> 00:26:17,793 The same way that a heroin addict 441 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,360 goes cold turkey, the mob had to go cold turkey 442 00:26:20,447 --> 00:26:22,145 over the Havana casinos. 443 00:26:22,232 --> 00:26:24,626 Many people were surprised when it fell as fast as it did, 444 00:26:24,713 --> 00:26:26,540 none more so than the mafia. 445 00:26:26,628 --> 00:26:29,805 ♪ ♪ 446 00:26:29,892 --> 00:26:32,982 The people of Cuba see that it's happening, 447 00:26:33,069 --> 00:26:35,158 the revolution is here, and there's 448 00:26:35,245 --> 00:26:37,508 a spontaneous outbreak of joy. 449 00:26:37,595 --> 00:26:40,206 [bright acoustic music] 450 00:26:40,293 --> 00:26:42,818 ♪ ♪ 451 00:26:42,905 --> 00:26:45,429 Every town and hamlet cheering welcome 452 00:26:45,516 --> 00:26:47,300 greeted the revolution. 453 00:26:47,387 --> 00:26:54,438 ♪ ♪ 454 00:27:20,290 --> 00:27:27,514 ♪ ♪ 455 00:27:27,601 --> 00:27:30,213 [soft dramatic jazz music] 456 00:27:30,300 --> 00:27:37,089 ♪ ♪ 457 00:27:37,176 --> 00:27:38,787 Well, this is the spontaneous, 458 00:27:38,874 --> 00:27:40,484 unrehearsed enthusiasm 459 00:27:40,571 --> 00:27:43,356 greeting the Cuban premier, bearded Fidel Castro, 460 00:27:43,443 --> 00:27:45,315 visiting the big town. 461 00:27:45,402 --> 00:27:49,667 Only a few months after the success of the revolution, 462 00:27:49,754 --> 00:27:53,236 Castro was invited to come to the United States 463 00:27:53,323 --> 00:27:56,282 by the American Newspaper Guild. 464 00:27:56,369 --> 00:27:58,676 He's on "Face the Nation." 465 00:27:58,763 --> 00:28:00,852 He's talking to Ed Sullivan. 466 00:28:00,939 --> 00:28:03,333 You are in the real American tradition 467 00:28:03,420 --> 00:28:05,857 of a George Washington, 468 00:28:05,944 --> 00:28:08,686 of any man who started off with a small body, 469 00:28:08,773 --> 00:28:10,993 fought against a great nation, and won. 470 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:13,517 ♪ ♪ 471 00:28:24,136 --> 00:28:26,486 He was not invited on a state visit 472 00:28:26,573 --> 00:28:28,401 by the Eisenhower Administration, 473 00:28:28,488 --> 00:28:30,664 which, of course, had opposed his revolution. 474 00:28:58,910 --> 00:29:01,043 Fidel Castro had his admirers. 475 00:29:01,130 --> 00:29:03,349 Many people in the U.S. saw him as a young Kennedy. 476 00:29:03,436 --> 00:29:05,569 He was extremely charismatic. 477 00:29:05,656 --> 00:29:08,790 And I think there were people who thought that change 478 00:29:08,877 --> 00:29:11,009 was necessary and that Castro seemed 479 00:29:11,096 --> 00:29:14,012 to have the backing of the Cuban people behind him. 480 00:29:14,099 --> 00:29:15,927 So I think there were a lot of people 481 00:29:16,014 --> 00:29:17,668 who thought that this could portend 482 00:29:17,755 --> 00:29:20,236 a good future for Cuba. 483 00:29:20,323 --> 00:29:23,543 [cheering] 484 00:29:23,630 --> 00:29:26,068 The CIA actually took the opportunity 485 00:29:26,155 --> 00:29:29,245 of Castro's visit to try and recruit him. 486 00:29:29,332 --> 00:29:33,815 They wanted him to purge Cuba of all the Communists. 487 00:29:33,902 --> 00:29:35,817 Fidel made the point to the CIA 488 00:29:35,904 --> 00:29:37,688 that they were overly concerned 489 00:29:37,775 --> 00:29:39,429 about Communism in Latin America 490 00:29:39,516 --> 00:29:41,344 and what they really should be concerned about 491 00:29:41,431 --> 00:29:43,563 was inequality. 492 00:29:43,650 --> 00:29:47,219 The U.S. government was prepared to try 493 00:29:47,306 --> 00:29:49,918 and offer him some aid, 494 00:29:50,005 --> 00:29:54,009 but the Cubans did not come to beg for money. 495 00:29:54,096 --> 00:29:57,229 The revolution was proud. It was young. 496 00:29:57,316 --> 00:30:00,102 Fidel was not gonna continue the same relationship 497 00:30:00,189 --> 00:30:04,541 that previous sycophantic-type leaders of Cuba had had. 498 00:30:04,628 --> 00:30:06,456 [soft dramatic music] 499 00:30:06,543 --> 00:30:09,024 It was clear that the United States 500 00:30:09,111 --> 00:30:12,766 was not going to be able to control Fidel Castro, 501 00:30:12,854 --> 00:30:15,334 which scared the shit out of the CIA. 502 00:30:15,421 --> 00:30:18,250 ♪ ♪ 503 00:30:18,337 --> 00:30:20,209 [tense jazz music] 504 00:30:20,296 --> 00:30:23,560 Back in Cuba, Castro clamps down. 505 00:30:23,647 --> 00:30:27,129 ♪ ♪ 506 00:30:27,216 --> 00:30:29,218 The mafia was losing its assets. 507 00:30:29,305 --> 00:30:31,394 Their casinos had been expropriated. 508 00:30:31,481 --> 00:30:33,918 They'd been kicked out of their hotels. 509 00:30:34,005 --> 00:30:36,007 They'd all been forced to flee back to Florida. 510 00:30:57,289 --> 00:30:59,074 That was something that the mobsters 511 00:30:59,161 --> 00:31:01,946 particularly resented, 512 00:31:02,033 --> 00:31:03,382 and they were gonna want revenge. 513 00:31:03,469 --> 00:31:06,429 ♪ ♪ 514 00:31:06,516 --> 00:31:10,172 Lansky gets off the island pretty quickly. 515 00:31:10,259 --> 00:31:12,609 Santo Trafficante gets left behind, 516 00:31:12,696 --> 00:31:14,828 and he gets arrested by military police. 517 00:31:14,916 --> 00:31:20,182 ♪ ♪ 518 00:31:20,269 --> 00:31:23,098 Trafficante is put in the Trescornia Detention Center. 519 00:31:23,185 --> 00:31:24,882 ♪ ♪ 520 00:31:24,969 --> 00:31:27,363 Castro announced to the public, 521 00:31:27,450 --> 00:31:31,062 I'm not only aware of the gangsters in Havana, 522 00:31:31,149 --> 00:31:34,283 I'm inclined to want to execute them. 523 00:31:34,370 --> 00:31:35,501 [cheering] 524 00:31:35,588 --> 00:31:38,504 [gunshots] 525 00:31:38,591 --> 00:31:43,596 ♪ ♪ 526 00:31:43,683 --> 00:31:45,511 Trafficante was understandably nervous 527 00:31:45,598 --> 00:31:47,731 when he was hearing these firing squads going off. 528 00:31:47,818 --> 00:31:50,255 [gunshots] 529 00:31:50,342 --> 00:31:52,388 ♪ ♪ 530 00:31:52,475 --> 00:31:55,913 So the story is that Santo Trafficante's lawyer 531 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,176 Frank Ragano comes to see him. 532 00:31:58,263 --> 00:32:01,136 And Ragano says, "Well, I'm gonna try 533 00:32:01,223 --> 00:32:03,573 "to set up a meeting with Raul Castro 534 00:32:03,660 --> 00:32:06,141 to get you out of here." 535 00:32:06,228 --> 00:32:09,579 Supposedly, a $1 million cash payment 536 00:32:09,666 --> 00:32:14,149 was delivered to Raul Castro, and Santo Trafficante 537 00:32:14,236 --> 00:32:16,151 was released for that reason. 538 00:32:16,238 --> 00:32:22,113 ♪ ♪ 539 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,246 [bright acoustic music] 540 00:32:24,333 --> 00:32:26,378 When Santo Trafficante leaves Cuba 541 00:32:26,465 --> 00:32:27,989 and comes back to the United States, 542 00:32:28,076 --> 00:32:30,295 he sets up operations in Miami. 543 00:32:30,382 --> 00:32:32,863 He's really still fixated on this concept 544 00:32:32,950 --> 00:32:34,821 of getting back into Cuba 545 00:32:34,908 --> 00:32:36,736 and getting those casinos running again. 546 00:32:36,823 --> 00:32:38,782 ♪ ♪ 547 00:32:38,869 --> 00:32:41,045 [bright jazz music] 548 00:32:41,132 --> 00:32:43,874 Back in Chicago, Sam Giancana 549 00:32:43,961 --> 00:32:45,789 was so angry about what happened 550 00:32:45,876 --> 00:32:48,096 with their casinos in Havana. 551 00:32:48,183 --> 00:32:51,403 And I guess my father was in a bad mood. 552 00:32:51,490 --> 00:32:55,755 I mentioned that Fidel Castro was very sexy 553 00:32:55,842 --> 00:32:57,844 because he was just what I thought I would like, 554 00:32:57,931 --> 00:33:00,108 a little rough on the edges. 555 00:33:00,195 --> 00:33:03,241 My father just tore into me 556 00:33:03,328 --> 00:33:07,289 and said, "Don't you ever bring that man's name up 557 00:33:07,376 --> 00:33:09,291 in this house again." 558 00:33:09,378 --> 00:33:12,207 And his temper showed no end. 559 00:33:12,294 --> 00:33:16,602 And I'd seen him get enraged. 560 00:33:16,689 --> 00:33:21,955 If some man aggravated him, his temper just blew up. 561 00:33:22,043 --> 00:33:24,262 [explosion] 562 00:33:29,702 --> 00:33:32,009 In the last year of Eisenhower's presidency, 563 00:33:32,096 --> 00:33:35,621 there was a huge explosion of a French ship 564 00:33:35,708 --> 00:33:38,146 called "La Coubre" in Havana Harbor. 565 00:33:38,233 --> 00:33:41,279 [sirens wailing] 566 00:33:42,672 --> 00:33:46,067 It was a horrendous tragedy. 567 00:33:46,154 --> 00:33:48,721 75 people on the docks were killed 568 00:33:48,808 --> 00:33:50,375 and on board the ship. 569 00:33:50,462 --> 00:33:53,944 More than 200 Cuban dock workers were injured. 570 00:33:54,031 --> 00:33:56,164 Smoke billows around the helicopter on which 571 00:33:56,251 --> 00:33:58,862 Castro himself is surveying the scene. 572 00:33:58,949 --> 00:34:02,344 Castro's reaction to the explosion of the ship 573 00:34:02,431 --> 00:34:05,303 was to blame it on the United States. 574 00:34:05,390 --> 00:34:07,131 Castro says the ship has been blown up 575 00:34:07,218 --> 00:34:09,394 by United States agents. 576 00:34:09,481 --> 00:34:12,702 US-Cuban relations were spiraling downward. 577 00:34:14,486 --> 00:34:17,794 From then on out, it was low-intensity warfare 578 00:34:17,881 --> 00:34:20,579 against the Cuban Revolution. 579 00:34:20,666 --> 00:34:23,626 At the time, with Cold War mania 580 00:34:23,713 --> 00:34:28,065 and paranoia, there is a lot of fear 581 00:34:28,152 --> 00:34:30,198 about what Castro is going to do. 582 00:34:30,285 --> 00:34:32,852 Will he embrace the Soviet Union? 583 00:34:32,939 --> 00:34:34,593 Will he become Communist? 584 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:37,074 [tense music] 585 00:34:37,161 --> 00:34:39,642 In the 1950s, there was a sense 586 00:34:39,729 --> 00:34:44,299 of tremendous paranoia and near panic. 587 00:34:44,386 --> 00:34:46,910 There was a sense that a nuclear attack 588 00:34:46,997 --> 00:34:50,174 could happen at any time. 589 00:34:50,261 --> 00:34:52,481 Newspapers were even printing little clocks 590 00:34:52,568 --> 00:34:55,353 about how many minutes it would take 591 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:57,964 a Russian missile to destroy New York. 592 00:34:58,051 --> 00:35:01,098 Our cities are prime targets for atomic attack. 593 00:35:01,185 --> 00:35:02,839 It's estimated over 4 million 594 00:35:02,926 --> 00:35:04,449 will die in New York City. 595 00:35:04,536 --> 00:35:07,887 [explosion] 596 00:35:13,415 --> 00:35:15,243 Eisenhower was under pressure. 597 00:35:15,330 --> 00:35:18,246 You have this island nation so close 598 00:35:18,333 --> 00:35:21,597 to the United States that could be used 599 00:35:21,684 --> 00:35:23,512 to launch Soviet missiles. 600 00:35:23,599 --> 00:35:26,036 You're going to just let this happen? 601 00:35:26,123 --> 00:35:28,517 This is our backyard. 602 00:35:28,604 --> 00:35:30,562 [tense jazz music] 603 00:35:30,649 --> 00:35:33,130 The CIA officers in that era believed 604 00:35:33,217 --> 00:35:35,741 that they knew more than anybody 605 00:35:35,828 --> 00:35:37,308 about how intense the threat was. 606 00:35:37,395 --> 00:35:39,789 And therefore, they were motivated 607 00:35:39,876 --> 00:35:43,140 to do absolutely whatever was necessary to defend 608 00:35:43,227 --> 00:35:45,795 against this threat. 609 00:35:45,882 --> 00:35:48,406 Allen Dulles was in charge of the CIA, 610 00:35:48,493 --> 00:35:51,583 looking out to protect America's interests 611 00:35:51,670 --> 00:35:54,107 in a very dangerous world. 612 00:35:54,195 --> 00:35:56,849 Dulles was the scholarly, 613 00:35:56,936 --> 00:36:00,331 pipe-smoking master spy. 614 00:36:00,418 --> 00:36:03,247 Allen Dulles was the dominant figure 615 00:36:03,334 --> 00:36:05,597 in the early age of the CIA. 616 00:36:05,684 --> 00:36:08,948 It was actually the golden age for covert action. 617 00:36:09,035 --> 00:36:10,776 [soft dramatic music] 618 00:36:10,863 --> 00:36:12,735 Allen Dulles comes from 619 00:36:12,822 --> 00:36:14,650 a politically-connected family-- 620 00:36:14,737 --> 00:36:16,521 grandfather, secretary of state. 621 00:36:16,608 --> 00:36:18,436 Brother becomes secretary of state. 622 00:36:18,523 --> 00:36:20,656 These are connected people. 623 00:36:20,743 --> 00:36:22,527 ♪ ♪ 624 00:36:22,614 --> 00:36:24,312 Allen Dulles was fascinated 625 00:36:24,399 --> 00:36:27,140 with what we now call intelligence ever since 626 00:36:27,228 --> 00:36:28,751 he was a little boy. 627 00:36:28,838 --> 00:36:32,189 He discovered the novel "Kim" by Rudyard Kipling. 628 00:36:32,276 --> 00:36:34,626 It became his favorite book. 629 00:36:34,713 --> 00:36:36,889 "Kim" is written in 1901, 630 00:36:36,976 --> 00:36:39,849 and it's often considered the great novel 631 00:36:39,936 --> 00:36:42,460 about what it is to become a spy. 632 00:36:42,547 --> 00:36:45,681 You have this young guy who literally is gonna 633 00:36:45,768 --> 00:36:47,465 make a name for himself. 634 00:36:47,552 --> 00:36:49,467 One of the things that he learns 635 00:36:49,554 --> 00:36:52,383 is what he calls the great game, 636 00:36:52,470 --> 00:36:54,516 and the great game is the power 637 00:36:54,603 --> 00:36:57,823 of having information. 638 00:36:57,910 --> 00:36:59,956 "Here was a new craft that a man 639 00:37:00,043 --> 00:37:02,306 "could tuck away in his head; 640 00:37:02,393 --> 00:37:04,352 "and by the look of the wide world 641 00:37:04,439 --> 00:37:07,659 "unfolding itself before him, it seemed 642 00:37:07,746 --> 00:37:11,228 that the more a man knew, the better for him." 643 00:37:11,315 --> 00:37:14,927 Information. Everything. 644 00:37:15,014 --> 00:37:16,668 And that's what he discovered. 645 00:37:16,755 --> 00:37:18,279 From the days of Socrates, 646 00:37:18,366 --> 00:37:20,846 mankind has been seeking knowledge. 647 00:37:20,933 --> 00:37:24,285 Intelligence is nothing really other than information 648 00:37:24,372 --> 00:37:25,808 and knowledge. 649 00:37:25,895 --> 00:37:31,814 ♪ ♪ 650 00:37:31,901 --> 00:37:35,426 Dulles was very aware of what the Soviet intent was, 651 00:37:35,513 --> 00:37:38,299 and he was determined to stop it. 652 00:37:38,386 --> 00:37:40,997 ♪ ♪ 653 00:37:41,084 --> 00:37:44,130 [case beeping] 654 00:37:44,217 --> 00:37:51,268 ♪ ♪ 655 00:38:02,235 --> 00:38:05,978 The CIA knew quite rightly that the United States 656 00:38:06,065 --> 00:38:08,981 was a colossus that bestrode the world, 657 00:38:09,068 --> 00:38:11,897 and they saw themselves as the force that would slay 658 00:38:11,984 --> 00:38:15,510 the beast of Soviet Communism. 659 00:38:15,597 --> 00:38:20,036 Dulles was intensely interested in cultivating 660 00:38:20,123 --> 00:38:22,865 the public image of the CIA 661 00:38:22,952 --> 00:38:26,782 as this shadowy super force 662 00:38:26,869 --> 00:38:30,394 that could accomplish miracles. 663 00:38:30,481 --> 00:38:32,962 It was Allen Dulles who was the head of the CIA, 664 00:38:33,049 --> 00:38:37,096 but right below him was Richard Bissell. 665 00:38:37,183 --> 00:38:40,491 Rick Bissell was regarded as a genius, 666 00:38:40,578 --> 00:38:42,275 a product of great wealth, 667 00:38:42,363 --> 00:38:44,495 educated at Groton and Yale 668 00:38:44,582 --> 00:38:47,193 and the London School of Economics. 669 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:52,024 Bissell was a man who wasn't the traditional spy. 670 00:38:52,111 --> 00:38:54,375 He believed in the high-tech aspects of it. 671 00:38:54,462 --> 00:38:57,552 He thought in big terms. 672 00:38:57,639 --> 00:39:00,293 He's reported as a guy who couldn't sit still. 673 00:39:00,381 --> 00:39:02,600 He was always pacing in his office. 674 00:39:02,687 --> 00:39:04,689 And when he had to sit at meetings, 675 00:39:04,776 --> 00:39:07,866 he would compulsively bend and re-bend paper clips 676 00:39:07,953 --> 00:39:10,478 or crush pieces of paper up into tiny balls. 677 00:39:15,004 --> 00:39:18,573 Eisenhower and Allen Dulles had become strongly convinced 678 00:39:18,660 --> 00:39:20,096 that Fidel Castro was a mortal threat 679 00:39:20,183 --> 00:39:22,577 to the United States. 680 00:39:22,664 --> 00:39:24,796 They didn't want a Communist beachhead 681 00:39:24,883 --> 00:39:27,712 90 miles from Key West. 682 00:39:27,799 --> 00:39:30,541 And to avert that, they had to do something. 683 00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:36,460 Eisenhower was a passionate supporter of covert action. 684 00:39:36,547 --> 00:39:37,809 There were all sorts of ideas-- 685 00:39:37,896 --> 00:39:40,551 commando raids, sabotage, and arson. 686 00:39:40,638 --> 00:39:42,205 And Eisenhower said, "These are not 687 00:39:42,292 --> 00:39:44,076 "going far enough. 688 00:39:44,163 --> 00:39:48,777 I want things that might be more drastic." 689 00:39:48,864 --> 00:39:50,474 In memorandum of conference with the President 690 00:39:50,561 --> 00:39:54,435 dated May 13, 1960, Eisenhower states, 691 00:39:54,522 --> 00:39:56,001 "I want him sawed off." 692 00:39:56,088 --> 00:39:58,613 [tense music] 693 00:39:58,700 --> 00:40:00,223 The meaning of that would have been 694 00:40:00,310 --> 00:40:02,747 very clear to everyone who was present. 695 00:40:02,834 --> 00:40:05,750 Eisenhower was a tough guy behind that smile. 696 00:40:05,837 --> 00:40:10,233 This became Allen Dulles's responsibility to carry out. 697 00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:13,236 He asked his Covert Operations Director Bissell 698 00:40:13,323 --> 00:40:16,457 to take on the project. 699 00:40:16,544 --> 00:40:19,198 Bissell proposed in a written memo 700 00:40:19,285 --> 00:40:23,464 to Dulles "the elimination of Fidel Castro." 701 00:40:23,551 --> 00:40:26,771 Well, Dulles, perhaps a little more politically savvy, 702 00:40:26,858 --> 00:40:28,599 suggested "elimination" had more 703 00:40:28,686 --> 00:40:31,080 than a tinge of murder in it 704 00:40:31,167 --> 00:40:34,387 and edited that to say, "the removal 705 00:40:34,475 --> 00:40:37,478 of Castro from power." 706 00:40:37,565 --> 00:40:39,262 And that's when the ball started rolling. 707 00:40:39,349 --> 00:40:45,747 ♪ ♪ 708 00:40:45,834 --> 00:40:48,967 The whole strategy by the CIA was two-tiered. 709 00:40:49,054 --> 00:40:52,318 It was, one, to try to assassinate Castro, 710 00:40:52,405 --> 00:40:55,713 and then also to plan for an invasion 711 00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:58,847 by an army of Cuban exiles 712 00:40:58,934 --> 00:41:00,326 that would establish 713 00:41:00,413 --> 00:41:04,896 a new American-friendly government in Havana. 714 00:41:04,983 --> 00:41:07,420 Dick Bissell tells the vice president 715 00:41:07,508 --> 00:41:09,727 that the CIA is gonna need 716 00:41:09,814 --> 00:41:14,950 500 trained Cuban exiles to do the job. 717 00:41:15,037 --> 00:41:18,301 So hundreds of Cuban exiles are being trained 718 00:41:18,388 --> 00:41:19,694 in an invasion plan. 719 00:42:12,442 --> 00:42:16,228 While all these Cuban exiles are being trained in Florida 720 00:42:16,315 --> 00:42:19,449 and Latin America, CIA officials 721 00:42:19,536 --> 00:42:22,800 had gotten the approval of President Dwight Eisenhower 722 00:42:22,887 --> 00:42:25,760 to go ahead with this assassination attempt 723 00:42:25,847 --> 00:42:28,153 against Castro. 724 00:42:28,240 --> 00:42:30,460 President Eisenhower was adamant 725 00:42:30,547 --> 00:42:32,462 that there would be no fingerprints 726 00:42:32,549 --> 00:42:34,116 on the Castro plot. 727 00:42:34,203 --> 00:42:35,987 For the CIA, the big question was, 728 00:42:36,074 --> 00:42:39,687 how do we do this so that the President could 729 00:42:39,774 --> 00:42:43,560 plausibly deny that he approved the attempts 730 00:42:43,647 --> 00:42:46,171 to kill a foreign leader? 731 00:42:46,258 --> 00:42:49,653 "Plausible deniability" means even if people 732 00:42:49,740 --> 00:42:51,089 don't believe you when you say 733 00:42:51,176 --> 00:42:53,048 you're not involved in this operation, 734 00:42:53,135 --> 00:42:55,877 there's no clear evidence. 735 00:42:55,964 --> 00:42:57,835 They wanted somebody else to do it 736 00:42:57,922 --> 00:43:00,577 as opposed to the government. 737 00:43:00,664 --> 00:43:02,884 They want a middleman, if you will. 738 00:43:02,971 --> 00:43:05,060 [Morse code beeping] 739 00:43:05,147 --> 00:43:07,453 So the plan to get rid of Castro 740 00:43:07,540 --> 00:43:09,630 goes down the hierarchy of the CIA, 741 00:43:09,717 --> 00:43:12,110 from Dulles to Bissell 742 00:43:12,197 --> 00:43:15,070 to Head of Security Shef Edwards 743 00:43:15,157 --> 00:43:19,074 In the CIA memo dated August 1960, 744 00:43:19,161 --> 00:43:21,163 Bissell asked Sheffield Edwards 745 00:43:21,250 --> 00:43:22,599 "if Edwards could establish contact 746 00:43:22,686 --> 00:43:24,514 "with the U.S. gambling syndicate 747 00:43:24,601 --> 00:43:27,299 that was active in Cuba." 748 00:43:27,386 --> 00:43:32,783 Bissell is gonna hire the mafia to kill Castro. 749 00:43:32,870 --> 00:43:34,742 The idea of the mafia 750 00:43:34,829 --> 00:43:37,745 created a great cover for the CIA. 751 00:43:37,832 --> 00:43:42,401 The mafia had a grievance against the Cuban Revolution. 752 00:43:42,488 --> 00:43:46,318 If they were identified as the assassins of Fidel Castro, 753 00:43:46,405 --> 00:43:48,625 everybody would go, "Oh, yeah, sure, that makes sense." 754 00:43:48,712 --> 00:43:50,496 [suspenseful music] 755 00:43:50,583 --> 00:43:51,933 But government shouldn't be assassinating 756 00:43:52,020 --> 00:43:54,326 foreign heads of state to start with. 757 00:43:54,413 --> 00:43:56,502 But if you've already crossed that line in the Rubicon 758 00:43:56,589 --> 00:43:57,808 and now you've decided 759 00:43:57,895 --> 00:43:59,810 to become partners with the mafia, 760 00:43:59,897 --> 00:44:02,073 it's a whole different operation. 761 00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:04,641 [gunfire] 762 00:44:09,559 --> 00:44:10,995 The CIA can't be seen 763 00:44:11,082 --> 00:44:12,823 directly dealing with the mafia. 764 00:44:12,910 --> 00:44:15,391 So what they have to do is use a cutout, 765 00:44:15,478 --> 00:44:20,178 somebody that they know knows mafiosos. 766 00:44:20,265 --> 00:44:22,746 Shef Edwards told Bissell that he had a friend, 767 00:44:22,833 --> 00:44:25,401 a private investigator through whom syndicate elements 768 00:44:25,488 --> 00:44:27,838 in Cuba could be reached. 769 00:44:27,925 --> 00:44:31,842 That was the path to Robert Maheu. 770 00:44:31,929 --> 00:44:36,978 Now, Bob Maheu had been an FBI agent in the 1940s. 771 00:44:37,065 --> 00:44:39,284 And then during the '50s, he had gone 772 00:44:39,371 --> 00:44:42,287 into private practice as a private investigator in DC. 773 00:44:42,374 --> 00:44:46,204 He had several clients, and one of them was the CIA. 774 00:44:46,291 --> 00:44:48,946 So he could be trusted. 775 00:44:49,033 --> 00:44:50,469 The mission, should you decide 776 00:44:50,556 --> 00:44:53,472 to accept it, is to put them out of business permanently. 777 00:44:53,559 --> 00:44:56,258 ["Mission Impossible Theme" plays] 778 00:44:56,345 --> 00:44:59,565 Robert Maheu claimed that he was the inspiration 779 00:44:59,652 --> 00:45:01,698 for "Mission Impossible"-- 780 00:45:01,785 --> 00:45:07,182 very popular, very suave 1960s spy show. 781 00:45:07,269 --> 00:45:09,706 ♪ ♪ 782 00:45:09,793 --> 00:45:12,883 And one of his big clients becomes 783 00:45:12,970 --> 00:45:17,670 Howard Hughes, the wealthiest man in the United States. 784 00:45:17,758 --> 00:45:19,803 Obviously, working for Howard Hughes, 785 00:45:19,890 --> 00:45:22,110 he was somebody that had a lot of access. 786 00:45:22,197 --> 00:45:24,329 Remember, if you get around powerful people, 787 00:45:24,416 --> 00:45:26,549 you're going to get information. 788 00:45:26,636 --> 00:45:29,552 [indistinct chatter] 789 00:45:29,639 --> 00:45:31,206 [soft dramatic music] 790 00:45:31,293 --> 00:45:33,251 Sheffield Edwards from the CIA reached out 791 00:45:33,338 --> 00:45:35,993 to Bob Maheu and said, "Hey, this is something 792 00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:38,169 we want to do." 793 00:45:38,256 --> 00:45:40,519 Maheu was reluctant to get involved in this 794 00:45:40,606 --> 00:45:42,608 because, hey, we're talking about assassinating 795 00:45:42,695 --> 00:45:45,002 the head of a government. 796 00:45:45,089 --> 00:45:48,658 But the argument was made, "Hey, this is a war. 797 00:45:48,745 --> 00:45:50,225 "You're doing this for your country. 798 00:45:50,312 --> 00:45:52,227 This is a patriotic thing for you to do." 799 00:45:52,314 --> 00:45:55,665 ♪ ♪ 800 00:45:55,752 --> 00:45:57,972 Patriotism justifies people 801 00:45:58,059 --> 00:46:01,714 doing all kinds of things-- 802 00:46:01,802 --> 00:46:04,326 in this case, to have a murder arranged. 803 00:46:04,413 --> 00:46:07,459 ♪ ♪ 804 00:46:07,546 --> 00:46:09,984 Maheu is conflicted. 805 00:46:10,071 --> 00:46:12,421 Here he is a good Catholic boy, 806 00:46:12,508 --> 00:46:15,119 went to Holy Cross. 807 00:46:15,206 --> 00:46:20,777 Can I kill Fidel Castro in all good conscience? 808 00:46:20,864 --> 00:46:24,868 And he ultimately decides that if he had been able 809 00:46:24,955 --> 00:46:27,436 to kill Hitler in World War II, 810 00:46:27,523 --> 00:46:29,873 he could have saved lives. 811 00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:32,267 So he says yes. 812 00:46:32,354 --> 00:46:34,791 ♪ ♪ 813 00:46:34,878 --> 00:46:37,098 People had no idea that this sort of stuff 814 00:46:37,185 --> 00:46:38,708 was going on. 815 00:46:38,795 --> 00:46:41,711 The activities of the CIA must be secret. 816 00:46:41,798 --> 00:46:44,888 People really thought that the FBI, 817 00:46:44,975 --> 00:46:48,283 the CIA were slaying the dragons of evil. 818 00:46:48,370 --> 00:46:50,372 [gunfire] 819 00:46:50,459 --> 00:46:53,984 They were presenting a public image of rectitude 820 00:46:54,071 --> 00:46:56,204 and always being on the right side of the law. 821 00:46:56,291 --> 00:46:58,597 ♪ ♪ 822 00:46:58,684 --> 00:47:01,644 So the United States being involved in assassinating 823 00:47:01,731 --> 00:47:04,603 a head of state at the height of the Cold War, 824 00:47:04,690 --> 00:47:07,780 this thing's fraught with peril. 825 00:47:07,868 --> 00:47:14,787 ♪ ♪ 826 00:47:14,875 --> 00:47:19,140 Maheu himself was nervous about the whole operation. 827 00:47:19,227 --> 00:47:21,142 ♪ ♪ 828 00:47:21,229 --> 00:47:23,840 Maheu voiced concerns with the CIA contacts, 829 00:47:23,927 --> 00:47:26,060 like, "Are you really sure 830 00:47:26,147 --> 00:47:29,237 this is the direction you want to go?" 831 00:47:29,324 --> 00:47:32,980 If this comes out, what will this do to our image 832 00:47:33,067 --> 00:47:36,026 in the eyes of the world? 833 00:47:36,113 --> 00:47:38,942 But the CIA at that time was so arrogant 834 00:47:39,029 --> 00:47:40,770 that it didn't even think about 835 00:47:40,857 --> 00:47:44,382 the operation falling apart. 836 00:47:44,469 --> 00:47:48,212 So Maheu sets up a meeting with his connection 837 00:47:48,299 --> 00:47:51,433 to the mafia, Johnny Roselli. 838 00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:53,609 ♪ ♪ 839 00:47:53,696 --> 00:47:56,046 Who is Johnny Roselli? 840 00:47:56,133 --> 00:47:58,440 I would say that the answer to that question 841 00:47:58,527 --> 00:48:01,573 depends upon who's asking it. 842 00:48:01,660 --> 00:48:03,053 In terms of all of the characters 843 00:48:03,140 --> 00:48:05,316 throughout this story, Johnny Roselli, 844 00:48:05,403 --> 00:48:09,451 the gangster, is at the root of everything. 845 00:48:09,538 --> 00:48:11,627 Roselli would team up with the CIA 846 00:48:11,714 --> 00:48:13,542 to create one of the strangest 847 00:48:13,629 --> 00:48:15,283 and most illegal chapters 848 00:48:15,370 --> 00:48:19,722 in the history of the United States. 849 00:48:22,029 --> 00:48:26,029 in the history of the United States.