. >> ted sorenson remembers how close it came to war. >> i was asked to try my hand at the kind of ultimatum or warning letter that would recede an air strike. i found that we could not write a letter that would strive history. >> in the end, they called for a blockade of cuba and he went on television to announce his decision. >> i call upon chairman can recollect rushov to end this provocative attempt. >>> the tapes are the basis of a new book called the 14th day which says the president continued to worry about how to verify that the missiles in cuba were in fact, gone. just two months after the cuban crisis, president kennedy said the problem is the two nations had so little communication. >> one mistake can make this whole thing blow up, one major mistake by mr. krushov or us here. that's why it's much easier to make speeches about some of the things we autoto be doing. i think that anybody who watches and looking at the fatality list on atomic weapons and sees the communists have a twisted view of the united states and if we don't comprehend them that's what makes life in the 60s hazar