khrushchev not 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 had to do something about castro. >> when kennedy comes to the presidency he's briefed on the fact there was a plan in place to topple castro. >> but the plan that's presented to him is not what he wants. it's 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 can't be associated with this. i want something that's believably cuban. >> this is ron oppen in miami. i'm standing in one of the many anti- castro recruiting places scattered throughout the city. >> they were into communism and we found there's something against castro, we learned where there was a recruiting center and we 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

khrushchev was not 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 had to do something about castro. >> when kennedy comes to the presidency, he's briefed on the fact there's a plan in place to topple castro. >> but the plan that's presented to him is not what he wants. it's 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 can't be associated with this. i want something that's believably cuban. >> this is ron hoffman in miami standing in one of the many anti-castro recruiting places in the city. >> they were into communism and we found there's something against castro, we learned where it was a recruiting center and we just approached them and joined. we had no 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 again

khrushchev not 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 he's briefed on the fact there was a plan in place to topple castro. >> but the plan that's presented to him is not what he wants. it's 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 can't be associated with this. i want something that's believably cuban. >> this is ron oppen in miami. i'm standing in one of the many anti- castro recruiting places in the city. >> they were into communism and we found there's 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 again

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 we're grinding up missiles like sausages. we'll bury you. americans took it seriously. >> the toughness of the khrushchev speech did as some propaganda fuels of the fire that's 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 u-2. >> i'm 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 u-2 spy plane had been shot down in the soviet union. >> khrushchev made the wreckage a public exhibition. to the soviet union, this

khrushchev not 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 he's briefed on the fact there was a plan in place to topple castro. >> but the plan that's presented to him is not what he wants. it's 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 can't be associated with this. i want something that's believably cuban. >> this is ron oppen in miami. i'm standing in one of the many anti-castro recruiting places in the city. >> they were into communism and we found there's 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 agains

khrushchev not 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 he's briefed on the fact there's a plan in place to topple castro. >> but the plan that's presented to him is not what he wants. it's 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 can't be associated with this. i want something that's believably cuban. >> this is ron often in miami standing in one of the many anti-castro recruiting places in the city. >> they were into communism and we found there's something against castro, we learned where it was a recruiting center and approached them and joined. we had no 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 cast

khrushchev not 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 he's briefed on the fact there's a plan in place to topple castro. >> but the plan that's presented to him is not what he wants. it's 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 can't be associated with this. i want something that's believably cuban. >> this is ron often in miami standing in one of the many anti-castro recruiting places in the city. >> they were into communism and we found there's 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

the other question is what is khrushchev -- gorbachev thought of in russia? >> well, for gorbachev, that was maybe a moment of triumph with the crania. and he would publicly and said i told you so. i told you you didn't listen to me 23 years ago. if it happened. maybe it didn't happen in 1991 and the reason this happened because of the disillusionment of the soviet union have been in such an awful way and the people were put in the situation where they had to face facts because gorbachev was advocating and so that was his last kind of position. so that is on gorbachev. in terms of belarus and belarus being possibly the last european dictatorship, if you are in a position of hooton who runs quite authoritarian machines themselves, i don't think that the way that vocation is the dictator really registers much and influences your decision did not matter. in terms of other reasons, it is first about geopolitical reason. certainly been on the border with the e.u., which nato, certainly been one of the corridors for a supply of russian gas to europe with ukraine of

. >> the architect of the crisis, khrushchev. >> as the head of the soviet union, khrushchev was ideological. he believed the future belongs to communism. he said, america needs to be contained and the only way to do it is create crises all around the american empire. >> that very historian you just heard in the documentary clip. really a pleasure to have you here with us, live in studio. such an interesting time in our world, such an interesting relationship between those two countries, especially when you see what's going on right now. the soviet union, the united states, fearful of one another, exaggerating one another's powers. it must have been a very strange time to live in that kind of tone. >> well, part of it is that neither country, nor their citizens, knew exactly what was going on. what makes this period so very dangerous and the story so dramatic is that you normally expect countries to be less willing to take risks when they feel vulnerable. but in that era, both the united states and the soviet union took enormous risks. the united states tried to overthrow castro in the bay o

on russia than darker i think if he is took place mainly under republican presidents i mean nikita khrushchev around the white eisenhower gorbachev and ronald reagan even putin and bush how do you explain that initial hawkishness of war since that reflects the more realist power based view of the world the republicans have that they prefer to see the world in terms of one to the picture of. political value so they want they want to cooperate with countries that are. going to be friendly towards the united states and share their humanitarian values just as they see it so i think there's always that. tension. which seems to work as you say with time after time to kind of weaken or undermine the relationships even between clinton and yeltsin which was a strong relationship but still there was this constant feeling from the american side that yeltsin was kind of letting them down during the two thousand and twelve presidential campaign mitt romney famously sad that russia was america's top geopolitical foe and i think back then many treated it as a as a gaffe by the i think most recently some peo

. >> khrushchev calls west berlin a cancerous sore. >> lines are now drawn. >> 25 russian ships en route to cuba on 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. ♪

. >> khrushchev calls west berlin a cancerous sore. >> lines are now drawn. >> 25 russian ships en route to cuba on what may be a collision course. >> no way of knowing whether western civilization will live or die. >> i think unless something is

some of you may be old enough to remember that in the 1950s the soviet leaders, nikita khrushchev said that the united states, we will bury you. we didn't mean that literally we were told in retrospect. it will ultimately outstripped the united states economically in the soviet union had been able to sustain the rates of economic growth that it achieved in the 20s, 30s and 1850s after world war ii, that would've happened. but it couldn't because it had moved to a different stage of economic development with a different kind of society. at this stage russia had reached in 1991 it could get the easy benefit from a large surplus population that china could. they need a different things. it needed skilled people. it needed secure property rights. it needed innovation. it needed a welcoming atmosphere for foreign investment in the russian government that emerged under boris yeltsin and now under vladimir putin failed to provide those things and was able to avoid even feeling pressure to provide them because of the energy wealth that permitted economic growth in russia without the things tha

. >> khrushchev calls west berlin a cancerous sore. >> lines are now drawn. >> 25 russian ships en route to cuba what may be a

some of you may be old enough to remember that in the 1950s the soviet leader nikita khrushchev said of the united states we will bury you. he didn't mean that literally so we were told in retrospect. he meant that the soviet union would ultimately outstripped the united states economically economically and if the soviet union had been able to sustain the rates of economic growth that it achieved in the 20s, 30s and 1950s after world war ii that would have happened but it couldn't because it had moved to a different stage of economic development with a different kind of society. at the stage russia had reached in 1991, it couldn't get the easy benefit from a large surplus rural population that china could. it needed different things. it needed skilled people. it needed to secure property rights. it needed innovation. it needed a welcoming atmosphere for foreign investment. the russian government that emerged first under boris yeltsin and now under flat amir putin failed to provide those things. vladimir putin failed to provide those things. it failed pressure to provide them because

. >> khrushchev calls west berlin a cancerous sore. >> lines are now drawn.

. >> khrushchev calls west berlin a cancerous sore. >> lines are now drawn. >> 25 russian ships en route to russia to what they be a collision course. >> no way of knowing whether western civilization will live or die. >> i think unless something is

went to five cities for thirty days and russia then was then awakening from stalin's terror it was the khrushchev there and there was something i didn't speak a word of russian i knew very little about it but there was something that resonated and i went back to indiana and i hadn't even known that they had a major russian studies program and so it began one thing leading to another on the columbia for a ph d. on to princeton professor and then beginning in the seventies. living as best i could in moscow two or three months a year until eight hundred eighty two when the soviet authorities wouldn't let me reenter the country. when he came to power in eighty five returned my visa from eighty five to the nineties i was living there with my wife katrina vanden who were the editor of the nation and eventually our daughter nico very often in the late ninety's know i was at a rip less frequently but people have said and it's true that though i am a passionate american patriot i do have two countries because our special much time in russia develops from many friends and it all began either by accident or

the five cities for thirty days and russia then was then awakening from stalin's terror it was the khrushchev there and there was something i didn't speak a word of russian i knew very little about it but there was something that resonated and i went back to indiana and i hadn't even known that they had a major russian studies program and so it began one thing leading to another on the columbia for a ph d. on to princeton professor and then beginning in the seventies. living as best i could in moscow two or three months a year until nine hundred eighty two when the soviet authorities wouldn't let me reenter the country much off when he came to power in eighty five returned my visa from eighty five to the nineties i was living there with my wife katrina vanden who with the editor of the nation and eventually our daughter niko very often in the late ninety's know i was at a rip less frequently but people have said and it's true that though i am a passionate american patriot i do have two countries because our special much time in russia develops from many friends and it all began either by acci

. >> as they headed the soviet union, khrushchev was very ideological. he believed that the future belonged to communism. he said, america needs to be contained and the only way to do it is to create crises all around the american empire. >> don't miss "the sixties" only here on cnn. >>> coming up, we're monitoring a very dangerous weather situation. take a look at the ominous pictures coming in from omaha, nebraska, as it is about to get slammed. ♪ [ male announcer ] momentum has a way of quietly exploding onto the scene. ♪ the new ram 1500 ecodiesel. with 28 highway miles per gallon, 420 pound-feet of torque. ♪ guts. glory. ram. ♪ ♪ humans. we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back, offering exclusive products like optional better car replacement, where if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask an insurance expert about all our benefits today, like our 24/7 support and service, because at liberty mutual insurance, we

khrushchev was on a roll until he met john kennedy in the cuban missile crisis. after that his stock goes down. >> so interesting to think about this episode airing, especially when you see crimea, ukraine, russia, putin flexing his muscles, and in his comments about hillary clinton, it's so interesting when you think of the people in america that were alive then and what they must be thinking when they watch this news emerge now. >> that's why george herbert walker bush didn't really celebrate when the soviet union broke up in '91. history plays weird games on you. you're starting to see putin reconstruct the soviet union, but also george kennedy talking about containing of the soviet union. he called it traditional russian expansionism. we were calling it the communist red blob. kennen in said, no, russia is also expansionistic. you're seeing that go on now with putin. >> one provocative question that's raised in this episode that will have a lot of people thinking is when touching on the vietnam war. would history have played out differently if jfk had not bee

he's using the foreign policy playbook of one nine hundred sixty one and of course that dates back to khrushchev to a completely different era under the entirely different russia you know patrick really what the problem is here is that victoria you want to jump in here but you know victoria nuland had a plan and it's in tatters and this is why this white house in is so furious right now and then you have these. nato countries we just before we started record this program slovakia and the czech republic say they don't want any foreign troops on their soil they're not even speaking from the same hymn page go ahead patrick in new york. thank you. a couple of points drawing from a position of as near as i can to objectivity i hold a candle for either side ok. i can't see that it's or you will in the face of all these charges of russian aggression. i cannot see it's arguable that putin has behaved well with with restraint and actually rather cleverly the day he announced he would. take up talks with the new government in kiev i thought you know the the western powers were pushing and pushing and in s

he's using the foreign policy playbook of one nine hundred sixty one and of course that dates back to khrushchev to a completely different era under the entirely different russia you know patrick really what the problem is here is that. you want to jump in here but you know victoria nuland had a plan and it's in tatters and this is why this white house in is so furious right now and then you have these. nato countries we just before we started record this program slovakia and the czech republic say they don't want any foreign troops on their soil they're not even speaking from the same hymn page go ahead patrick in new york. thank you. a couple of points drawing from a position of as near as i can to objectivity i hold a candle for either side ok. i can't see that it's or you will in the face of all these charges of russian aggression. i cannot see it's arguable that putin has behaved well with with restraint and actually rather cleverly the day he announced he would. take up talks with the new government in kiev i thought you know the the western powers were pushing and pushing and in search of

he's using the foreign policy playbook of one nine hundred sixty one and of course that dates back to khrushchev to a completely different era under the entirely different russia you know patrick really what the problem is here is that we're going to want to jump in here but you know victoria nuland had a plan and it's in tatters and this is why this white house in is so furious right now and then you have these. nato countries we just before we started record this program slovakia and the czech republic say they don't want any foreign troops on their soil they're not even speaking from the same hymn page go ahead patrick in new york. thank you. a couple of points drawing from a position of as near as i can to objectivity i hold a candle for the other side ok. i can't see that it's or you will in the face of all these charges of russian aggression. i cannot see it's arguable that putin has behaved well with with restraint and actually rather cleverly the day he announced he would. take up talks with the new government in kiev i thought you know the the western powers were pushing and pushing and

he's using the foreign policy playbook of one nine hundred sixty one and of course that dates back to khrushchev to a completely different era under the entirely different russia you know patrick really what the problem is here is that. they want to jump in here but you know victoria nuland had a plan and it's in tatters and this is why this white house in is so furious right now and then you have these. nato countries we just before we started record this program slovakia and the czech republic say they don't want any foreign troops on their soil they're not even speaking from the same hymn page go ahead patrick in new york. thank you. a couple of points drawing from a position of as near as i can to objectivity i hold a candle for neither side ok. i can't see that it's or you will in the face of all these charges of russian aggression. i cannot see it's arguable that putin has behaved well with with restraint and actually rather cleverly the day he announced he would. take up talks with the new government in kiev i thought you know the the western powers were pushing and pushing and in search