David McCloskey

Stansfield Turner, who's the director of the CIA at the time, replies very quickly, your mission is approved.

Good luck.

And per that plan...

Mendez is going to depart first and then Ed will follow him.

And the idea here is you don't want both guys to be together.

You want to space it out.

So you're arriving separately, but the weather conspires against them.

Mendez's flight is canceled.

And so he and Ed are going to be on the same flight together.

And, you know, Mendez, this is very interesting because Turner, the head of the CIA, has approved the mission.

But as they're getting ready to go...

They get word that the president, President Carter, is actually going to weigh in and they should hold off as Carter makes a final decision.

He goes for it, doesn't he?

He approves it.

And the cable comes in.

The President of the United States approves your mission.

Good luck.

And Mendez is, I think, struck that he has the personal message from the President.

But he's out the door.

He goes to Frankfurt Airport.