All language subtitles for Secrets.Declassified.with.David.Duchovny.S02E15.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[David] Tonight on
"Secrets Declassified,"

the shadowy alliances
and deadly partnerships

that were never meant
to come to light.

First, the CIA hires a young
hitman named Saddam Hussein.

- Before he ruled Iraq,
he was quietly recruited

into a CIA-backed
assassination plot.

- Then, the U.S. partners
with a fruit company

to topple a foreign government.

[Dan] They took a boat
that usually carried bananas

and filled it with guns.

- And Allied victory
in World War II

hangs on a deal
between the U.S. Navy

and one of the nation's
most notorious gangsters.

- That man is Lucky Luciano.

- These are some of
the dark deals struck

throughout history
by governments

and the people
who work for them.

It's time to bring them
to light.

♪ ♪

In 2003, after invading Iraq,

U.S. forces
hunt the countryside

for its leader, Saddam Hussein.

Then an explosive
news article drops,

alleging Saddam and the United
States weren't always enemies

but once allies,
bound together in a top secret

CIA plot 40 years earlier.

♪ ♪

- In 1958,
Iraq's fragile monarchy

collapses in a violent coup.

♪ ♪

Bloodshed erupts.

The king is shot, while the
crown prince is executed

and hung from
the Ministry of Defense.

- Iraq comes under
the control of the military,

and the military is
controlled by a general

named Abdul-Karim Qasim.

- For Washington,
this guy is a big worry.

The monarchy was
firmly pro-Western.

Now they wanna know,
will Qasim stick with them

or drift to the Soviets?

[David]
They don't need to wait long

to get their answer.

- Qasim brings in
Soviet advisors.

He starts buying
Soviet weapons.

And he fills key ministries
with Iraqi communists.

Soon, a decision
is made by the CIA.

Qasim has to be removed.

[David]
The question is, how?

- Washington doesn't
want to invade

a sovereign Arab country
to topple a leader,

at least not in 1959.

Because all this
would do is blow up

America's Arab alliances
and stir up even more

anti-Western anger
across the region.

So instead, the CIA turns
to Qasim's enemies inside Iraq,

looking for an ally who
might do the job for them.

[David] One group stands out,
the Ba'ath party.

They're a nationalist
political group

who hate the idea of Qasim
cozying up to Moscow.

- The CIA approaches
the Ba'athists

to quietly pitch
removing Qasim.

And both sides reach
the same brutal verdict.

The surest path to regime
change is assassination.

[Lis] The CIA starts
putting together

a Ba'athist hit team,
six men willing to carry out

this assassination
of the general.

- One of them is a 22-year-old
recently released from prison

associated with another
political murder.

[David] The name
of this would be assassin

is none other than
Saddam Hussein.

- At this time,
Saddam is a wayward student.

But he's already displaying the
traits that would define him.

He's volatile, thuggish,
and burning with ambition.

For several months, Saddam and
his accomplices plan the hit.

They spend hours
mapping Qasim's daily commute

from his home
to the Ministry of Defense.

And ultimately,
they settle on an ambush plan.

- One vehicle will
block the motorcade.

One vehicle will then
block them in and trap them.

They'll open fire, kill him,

and then escape the scene
of the crime.

[David] By early October,
a young Saddam

is ready to make
his first mark on history.

- The plan completely unravels
right from the beginning.

[traffic honking]

[Don]
The car gets boxed in,

so the team is forced to
carry out the attack on foot.

When they reach Qasim's
convoy, stalled in traffic,

accounts claim
Saddam suddenly panics.

He fires too early,
sending bullets

spraying across the road.

Suddenly, the street
erupts into chaos.

Qasim's guards react
and return fire.

- One assassin is killed.

♪ ♪

Qasim's driver
is shot and killed.

[Don]
Qasim himself is hit.

Saddam takes a bullet
to the leg

but still manages
to escape with the survivors.

- At this moment, Saddam
and his conspirators

think it's
mission accomplished.

They got Qasim.

But later,
in a Baghdad safehouse,

they get disastrous news.

Qasim is alive, recovering,
and he's furious.

- It turns out
volatile 22-year-old students

don't make the best assassins.

Now Saddam is a big problem
for the CIA.

[Martin]
If Saddam is captured,

he'll be subjected to torture,

and he'll reveal
the CIA's involvement.

And this, of course,
was supposed to be something

that was happening
without foreign involvement.

- The CIA needs him
out of Iraq and fast.

[David]
Saddam is later smuggled

out of the country
and takes refuge in Egypt.

[Hakeem] In Cairo, Saddam
is put under close watch,

and every so often, he'll slip
into the U.S. embassy

for debriefings.

And even to this day,
whatever they discussed

is still classified.

[David] But Saddam
soon gets another shot

at making history.

- In February 1963,
the Ba'athists

roll out another coup attempt.

And some believe the CIA played
a large role in this coup too.

[David] General Qasim's luck
finally runs out.

In the chaos,
he is captured and executed.

- With Qasim gone,
Saddam can return to Iraq.

And he begins his
rapid and brutal rise to power

from party enforcer to head
of military intelligence.

And in 1979, he's president.

[David]
Saddam's rule influences

the Middle East for decades.

But his covert alliance
with the CIA

remains unknown until
the Second Gulf War.

[Sami] When the U.S.
invades Iraq,

a reporter named Richard Sale
begins to look into the rumors

of a secret
Saddam-CIA alliance.

He speaks to almost a dozen
high ranking officials

who all tell the same
incredible story.

[David]
In 2003, Sale publishes

a bombshell exposé in UPI.

Eight months later,
it's all over

for the CIA's former hit man.

[Hakeem]
U.S. forces dig Saddam Hussein

out of his spider hole
in the Iraqi desert.

It's a humiliating end
for a brutal dictator.

[Sami]
He was a monster,

but we now know
he was a monster

the CIA played a part
in unleashing.

♪ ♪

- Saddam Hussein
isn't the only villain

the U.S. has found useful.

In World War II,
when Allied forces

need to take the island
of Sicily from the Nazis,

they reach out
to a ruthless mob boss

who's already behind bars
to forge a deal

no one was ever meant to see.

♪ ♪

[Sami]
After four years of fighting,

the Allies are desperate
to open a second front

into occupied Europe.

So the top choice for
the second front is Sicily.

It's close to Allied bases
in North Africa,

lightly defended, and is
seen as a stepping stone

to an attack on
the Italian mainland

and the rest of Europe.

[David] As Allied troops train
for their impending assault,

the U.S. Navy
spots an opportunity

to grease the wheels
of this invasion.

- Navy intelligence is aware
that Mussolini, Il Duce,

is not well liked on Sicily.

[Don] Many Sicilians
already resent fascist rule.

The U.S. Navy figures,

if someone can reach out
ahead of time,

basically saying
we hate fascism, too,

we're on the same side,

it could make the U.S.
look good--

like liberators, not just
another occupying force.

[Greg]
So the U.S. wants someone

who has the right connections,
the ability to reach out

and talk to the people.

[Don] The messenger
has to be someone

local Sicilian leaders
will trust,

and crucially, someone who
has the ear of the island's

all-powerful Mafia.

[David] The U.S. knows
just the man for the job.

The problem is,
he's one of America's

most notorious crime lords,

Charles "Lucky" Luciano.

- Luciano runs pretty much
all prostitution in New York,

runs racketeering,
and he does it all from prison.

- He is a violent
and dangerous mobster,

but Luciano could be
just what the U.S. needs

to tip the balance
of the invasion.

[Martin]
He's Sicilian.

He knows people
who still live on that island.

He could function
as the diplomat

who introduces you
to the prominent members

of the Sicilian
mob underworld.

[David] The U.S. military
needs Luciano's help,

but they have very little
to offer in return.

- They can't spring him
from prison.

It's not gonna go over well
to have the president

give a pardon to one of
the most notorious gangsters

in the entire country.

[David] And Luciano also has
one good reason to refuse.

- If word gets out that Luciano
is working with the government,

it'll mark him as a snitch,

a death sentence
for any mobster.

[David] But there's
one small concession

they can make.

- The navy suggests
that Luciano could have

more extensive visiting hours.

This means that his lieutenants

have more face time
with the boss.

He can more effectively run his
criminal empire from prison.

[David]
Luciano agrees to help.

But will he stick to his word?

[Greg] Luciano puts
his network to work.

He talks to his people
in New York.

That opens conversations with
the right people in Sicily.

[Don] A handful of them
are quietly flown

to naval intelligence,
bringing with them

all sorts of information
to aid the invasion.

[Martin] Now they have people
sitting in front of them

who can answer a specific
question of like,

well, what does the beach
look like at Gela?

What road network
should we follow?

Where are Italian military
bases across the island?

- They got all
the intelligence needed

for the most ideal landing
on Sicily.

[David]
The invasion plans are set.

Now they need to make sure
the locals stay friendly.

- Luciano sends a message
through his intermediaries

to the one man who
can keep Sicilians

from turning their guns on
U.S. troops, Don Calo Vizzini.

He's the island's
top Mafia boss

who's word matters
in rural Sicily.

♪ ♪

[David] After weeks
of secret negotiations,

the moment of truth
finally arrives.

[Martin]
Allied landings begin.

Allied forces quickly
press into the interior.

And within the span
of a little over a month,

the campaign on Sicily has
been brought to a conclusion.

- It's all aided
by the Mafia influence,

keeping the towns quiet
and the roads open.

[David] Sicily's capture
gives the Allies

a critical foothold for
an invasion of mainland Italy

that will hasten
the end of the war.

- After the war, Luciano is
rewarded with early release

but only if he agrees to
permanent deportation to Italy.

[Martin]
Luciano, who was previously

looking at dying alone
in a prison cell,

he gets to go back
to his ancestral homeland.

[David] He takes
this story to the grave.

But in 1977,
one journalist gains access

to an explosive report.

- A journalist named
Rodney Campbell comes across

a 101-page summary
of a secret investigation

commissioned into the navy's
pact with the Mafia.

When the findings break,
the press goes wild,

When the findings break,
the press goes wild,

stunned that
the navy secretly partnered

with the mob during the war.

- U.S. intelligence
has cut secret deals

with some of America's
biggest corporations.

In the 1950s, a global banana
giant teams up with the CIA

to overthrow a democratically
elected leader in Guatemala

in a story that truly is...

bananas.

[dramatic music]

- In the 1950s,
one U.S. company

wields huge power in Guatemala.

The United Fruit Company owns
42% of the country's land.

- It also has control
over the infrastructure.

So we're talking
about railways, ports,

and even telephone lines.

[Dan] Its primary business
is growing bananas

and shipping them to the U.S.

And that trade alone
makes up more than half

of the country's exports,
which gives

the United Fruit Company
a stranglehold

on Guatemala's economy.

[David] United Fruit
has so much power

that a new phrase emerges
to describe this nation,

a banana republic.

But in 1951, a serious threat
to its monopoly emerges.

[Greg] Guatemala elects a new
president, Jacobo Arbenz.

He's very idealistic and feels
that the United Fruit Company

is essentially siphoning money
straight out of Guatemala

right into the pockets
of rich Americans.

Arbenz basically goes in
and seizes close to

a quarter million acres
of land

that the company
has been sitting on.

He offers them a very small
compensation for that land,

and United Fruit is
not happy about this.

[David] For United Fruit,
the president's move

is a direct attack
on their power.

So they turn to some friends
in very high places.

- The United Fruit Company
is known for having

powerful connections.

Eisenhower's private secretary
is married

to the United Fruit PR chief.

The U.S. Secretary of State
has represented

the company as a lawyer.

And the head of the CIA
has been on the company board

and owns shares.

[David] United Fruit
heads to Washington D.C.

and starts a massive
lobbying campaign

to remove Arbenz from power.

[Greg] This has
to be framed correctly.

United Fruit knows
that Washington

is not so worried
about bananas,

but what it is worried about--

communism.

♪ ♪

- United Fruit publishes what
it calls a research report.

It's packed with
wild exaggerations,

warning that Guatemala
is becoming a Kremlin outpost

in Central America.

♪ ♪

- They know that it will
send a chill up the spine

of the American government.

- The idea is to alarm
Congress, and it works.

In 1952, the CIA
and United Fruit

launch a joint covert operation
known as PBFortune

to take down Arbenz.

[Dan] The U.S. starts sending
arms shipments

to an exiled
rebel force in Nicaragua.

And the plan is for them
to move into Guatemala,

assassinate more than
50 political targets,

including Arbenz, and to
replace him with a leader

who's more aligned
with the interests

of the United Fruit Company.

- The United Fruit Company
offers up one of its

cargo freighters
for the operation.

[Dan] In New Orleans,
they load the ship--

which, by the way,
is literally a banana boat--

with crates of what they're
calling agricultural machinery.

But it's not machinery.

It's machine guns.

It's weapons.

And they send that
to Nicaragua.

[David] But while
the vessel is en route,

the truth about
its secret cargo spills out.

- The Nicaraguan president
basically boasts about

his nation's part in the coup,

and very soon, rumors
of a U.S.-backed takeover

spread across Central America.

[David]
Before this banana boat

reaches Guatemala,
Washington panics

and quietly
diverts it to Panama,

where the weapons
are locked away.

But not for long.

One year later,
the CIA attempts

a new coup with a new plan.

- The CIA floods Guatemala
with propaganda.

They hire dissident groups
to stage mock uprisings.

[Greg] Basically, they do
anything and everything

they can to make it
look like Arbenz has

lost control of the country.

[David] On June 27, 1954,
under immense pressure

and abandoned by the military,

President Arbenz
finally flees the country.

[Catherine]
The CIA-backed rebels

march into the country,
take control with just 480 men

who are armed with weapons
that were originally shipped

by United Fruit Company.

[David] In the aftermath
of the coup,

Guatemala is run by
a series of brutal dictators,

all loyal to the CIA
and United Fruit.

But the United Fruit Company's
role in Arbenz's downfall

remains a secret.

Then, in May 1977,
the CIA releases

1,400 pages of documents

detailing its role
in the coup.

detailing its role
in the coup.

- These pages reveal,
for the first time,

the CIA's clandestine alliance
with a fruit company.

♪ ♪

- Many legends tell of secret
cities hidden in the jungle.

But in the Vietnam War,
the CIA actually builds one.

It's part of
a secret deal to turn

Laotian farmers
into fearsome warriors

to take on
the North Vietnamese.

[dramatic music]

[Hakeem] During the early days
of the Vietnam War,

the North Vietnamese are using
a vast jungle network

known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail
to move supplies and ammunition

to their forces in the south.

[Don] Much of
the Ho Chi Minh Trail

doesn't actually
run through Vietnam at all,

but through the
neighboring country of Laos.

And this creates real concern

from the international
community

that this will
pull Laos into the war.

[David] To prevent
the bloodshed spreading,

on July 23, 1962,

14 nations, including the U.S.
and North Vietnam,

sign a treaty declaring
Laos strictly neutral.

It demands all
foreign forces withdraw.

[Dan] The problem is,
almost before the ink is dry,

North Vietnam starts
violating the deal.

In fact, they actually expand
the trail farther into Laos.

This creates a real diplomatic
nightmare for the U.S.

The Ho Chi Minh Trail
is giving the Viet Cong

a clear advantage,
but Laos is neutral territory,

so the U.S. government
can't send troops there

to choke off the supply line.

[David] The U.S. is in
a fight with its hands tied.

Their solution is
to make friends

with a remote mountain tribe

who can swing a punch
on their behalf.

- The Hmong people are
an Indigenous farming people

who live in the remote
highlands of Northeastern Laos.

And the war is affecting
their lives daily.

- North Vietnamese forces are
moving through their territory,

turning their villages
and farmlands

into supply routes
for the war.

- Hmong communities are
trying to defend their land,

but the resistance is happening
on a small scale.

I mean, we're talking about
groups of untrained,

badly armed men
protecting their villages

and protecting local routes.

[David]
The CIA spots an opportunity

to team up with the Hmong
to covertly fight

the North Vietnamese in Laos.

- This will not be
an easy deal to make.

The Hmong are
a remote community.

[Martin]
The only way to get to them

is to fly a helicopter in,

and they're very
suspicious of outsiders.

They speak a regional dialect

that some Laotian people
can't even speak.

- To make the deal
with the Hmong,

Washington turns to Bill Lair.

He's a veteran CIA officer
based in Thailand,

and by that point,
Bill Lair has been stationed

in Southeast Asia for years.

He knows everything about
the region's terrain

and its people better than
almost anyone in the agency.

♪ ♪

[David] Lair has already
traveled deep into the jungle

to broker a deal with
the Hmong's resistance leader,

General Vang Pao.

[Don] Lair tells Vang Pao
that the CIA can supply

food, medical kits,
and radios,

and most importantly,
the training and guns

Pao's fighters need.

In exchange, his Hmong fighters

will take on the job no
official U.S. force can touch:

blocking the North Vietnamese
from pushing through Laos.

[David]
The general agrees,

and an alliance is forged.

So the agency sends in
covert operatives

to transform these farmers
into foot soldiers.

[Dan] In just 18 months,
the Hmong force grows

from 9,000 to 30,000 men.

That is about 60% of the entire
Hmong male population.

[Martin] They become extremely
effective at fighting

the North Vietnamese
because they know the trail

better than the Vietnamese do.

This is their land.

This is where they live.

This is where they farm.

This is where they hunt.

- They use the mountain
terrain to their advantage,

launching hit-and-run ambushes,
blowing apart supply columns

all along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

[Hakeem] North Vietnam
knows the U.S. is behind it.

And the U.S. knows they know.

But neither can say a word
because neither of them

is supposed to be
fighting in Laos.

[David]
The beating heart of the CIA

and the Hmong alliance
is a top secret base,

a remote settlement
few outsiders

have ever heard of--
Long Chieng.

- The CIA uses this base
to supply the entire mission.

Long Chieng is 3,000 feet up,
and during the war, it grows

into this vast,
bustling army town

of tens of thousands of people.

This town isn't
marked on any map,

and it never officially exists.

- When North Vietnamese
forces discover

the secret jungle base,
they want it wiped off the map.

So in late 1971, they begin a
huge offensive on Long Chieng.

Outnumbered almost 2 to 1,
the CIA's secret army

now faces its biggest test.

[Dan] This battle
drags on for weeks.

At times, it's unbelievably
vicious hand-to-hand combat

on rugged peaks
right around the base.

The cost to the Hmong is huge.

Then, in mid-January,
CIA-led units

arrive from Thailand
as reinforcements,

and this is the boost
the Hmong need to survive.

They finally manage
to hold the base,

and the North Vietnamese
withdraw.

Long Chieng is never
attacked like that again.

[Martin] This is
a David versus Goliath story

insofar as the Hmong people

fought this dramatic battle
against an enemy

with great numerical
superiority,

and they prevailed.

[David] For years,
what happened at Long Chieng

exists only as rumor.

Then, in 1987,
journalist Christopher Robbins

publishes a book about
the conflict in Laos,

based on interviews
with CIA operatives and airmen

who flew into this city.

And the full story
of this secret army

is finally uncovered.

♪ ♪

- That book reveals that
this wasn't a sideshow

of the ongoing war
in Southeast Asia,

but this was the main effort
to prevent the North Vietnamese

from using the
Ho Chi Minh Trail.

- It's 1953, and the CIA wants
Iran's prime minister gone.

So they hand
a top spy $1 million

and send him to Tehran
to cut a secret deal

with the one man
who can make that happen:

Iran's shah, the king of kings.

[tense music]

[Sami] When Mohammad Mosaddegh
becomes Iran's prime minister,

it's bad news for Britain
and the United States.

Britain controls Iran's most
valuable resource, its oil.

Mosaddegh has promised
to nationalize the industry

and reclaim
that wealth for Iran.

Meanwhile, the United States
is suspicious of Mosaddegh,

seeing him as a potential
Soviet sympathizer.

- Washington
ultimately concludes

that Mosaddegh has gotta go.

He is a threat.

[David]
To bring him down,

the CIA turn to one man,
Kermit Roosevelt Jr.

He's the grandson of former
president Teddy Roosevelt

and a U.S.
intelligence officer

with years of experience
in the Middle East.

[Martin]
It's mid-July.

Roosevelt enters Iran under
the cover story

of being a Canadian
oil tycoon.

He's equipped with
a million-dollar budget,

brought to you by the
Central Intelligence Agency,

so that he can undermine
Mosaddegh's power.

[David] He gets to work
straight away.

[Don] Kermit begins
bribing newspaper editors

and religious figures,
encouraging them

to turn on Mosaddegh in public.

- Kermit comes into contact
with a military leader named

Fazlollah Zahedi,
and he recognizes in him

a potential
replacement leader.

- Roosevelt forms a plan
for a coup to install

Zahedi in Mosaddegh's place.

To pull it off, he will
need one crucial ally--

Iran's monarch, the shah.

[Sami] The shah
is Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,

33 years old, inexperienced,

and largely
a ceremonial figurehead.

But he does have
one critical power:

the legal authority
to remove a prime minister.

- If this is going to
take place without devolving

into a general violent
overthrow of power,

the United States needs
the shah's cooperation

because what the United States
wants it to look like

is that this is something
that happened voluntarily.

[David]
But gaining the shah's support

will be no easy task.

- The shah is incredibly
nervous,

especially about moving
against Mosaddegh,

who still has
enormous popular support.

[David] So Roosevelt
looks for a wedge

he can drive between
the two men.

And he soon finds several.

[Don] Mosaddegh has
humiliated the monarchy,

cutting its power, its budget,

and even exiling
the shah's sister to Europe.

This is the leverage Roosevelt
needs to build an alliance.

Roosevelt sends messages
through royalists

to set up a meeting
with the shah.

[David]
The shah agrees to meet,

but only if Roosevelt
takes great precautions.

- The shah is paranoid
about being watched.

He's convinced
his rooms are bugged.

And what's more,
Mosaddegh has banned him

from meeting foreign diplomats.

[Don] On the night of August
1st, just before midnight,

a government sedan
picks him up.

Roosevelt has to hide
under blankets in the car.

When it stops in the palace
driveway, the shah gets in,

and the two men
begin plotting.

[David] While the shah
is receptive

to Roosevelt's plan,
he's also terrified

what Mosaddegh could do
to the monarchy

if the coup goes wrong.

Before he'll commit,
he makes one impossible demand

of Roosevelt,
a public show of support

from President Eisenhower.

- If the shah is gonna
risk his dynasty,

he wants the American president
to acknowledge the coup.

But this is impossible.

The coup is supposed
to be deniable,

and Eisenhower is deliberately
being kept at arm's length.

[David]
Then, without even realizing,

the president gives Roosevelt
the break he needs.

[Martin]
Eisenhower delivers a speech,

and in that speech,
he goes off script briefly

and describes how
he will not allow Iran

to fall behind
the Iron Curtain.

- Roosevelt jumps on it,
convincing the shah

that the line was
placed in the speech

as a deliberate signal of
American backing for the coup.

And it works.

After weeks of hesitation,

the shah
finally comes on board.

[Martin]
The shah signs a decree

removing Mosaddegh from power.

But loyalists
get word to Mosaddegh

before the police can show up
and bring him under arrest.

[David] Now Mosaddegh
turns the tables.

[Greg] Mosaddegh
goes on the radio.

He puts out the call
to his followers

and effectively says
there is a coup underway.

This has to be stopped.

- To the shah, it looks
like the entire coup d'etat

is about to fall apart,
and it's about to turn violent.

And so he flees Iran.

[David] The CIA
tells Roosevelt to disappear

while he still can.

But instead of
pulling out of Iran,

he pulls out the CIA's
checkbook once again.

- Roosevelt bankrolls
counter protests,

buys loyalty inside
the army and police,

and gets the chosen successor,
General Zahedi,

on the radio,
declaring victory.

[David] The CIA ends up
spending $5 million,

a huge overspend
on Roosevelt's

original $1 million budget,

but it gets the job done.

[Don] After three days
of chaos on the streets,

Mosaddegh finally surrenders.

Once it's clear
the tide has turned,

the shah returns to Tehran
and formally backs Zahedi

as the new prime minister.

[David]
Mosaddegh is imprisoned

while many of his supporters

are rounded up, tried,
and executed.

As for the shah, his gamble

to go all in with the CIA
pays off.

- Ultimately,
the shah comes out of the coup

far more powerful
than he started.

He ends up sidelining
the new prime minister

and governs increasingly
on his own terms,

all the while staying closely
aligned with Washington.

[David]
Meanwhile, Kermit Roosevelt's

secret deal with the shah
stays classified for decades.

- On the 60th anniversary
of the coup,

the National Security Archive
publishes a document

titled "The Battle for Iran."

It reveals the role
of Kermit Roosevelt.

It reveals the role
of Kermit Roosevelt.

- It also clearly states
that the coup was carried out

under CIA direction,
approved at the highest

levels of the U.S. government.

- Some secret deals come
with unusual sweeteners.

But this has to be
the most unorthodox.

When the CIA needs to ally
with China against the Soviets,

they agree to give
the Chinese premier

a red carpet tour of one of
the most restricted buildings

of the United States.

[dramatic music]

[Hakeem] In 1979,
the pro-U.S. Iranian monarchy

is overthrown
in a violent coup.

And overnight, the U.S. loses
one of its most vital

intelligence assets
in the region.

[Dan] The Iranian monarchy
has been hosting

U.S. spy bases in Iran,
right along the border

with the USSR.

And that has allowed the U.S.

to monitor Soviet
missile tests.

[David]
To stay up to speed

on Soviet weapons capability,
the CIA must find

a new spot for its spy bases.

- One possible location is
the mountains of Western China.

It's one of the few places
close enough to Soviet

test sites, where the U.S. can
pick up the electronic signals

from Soviet missile tests.

- The problem is,
Washington and Beijing

have barely spoken
in the past 30 years.

[Sami]
In the late '70s, the U.S.

still doesn't
formally recognize

the People's Republic
of China.

However, China is increasingly
wary of the Soviet Union.

So Washington sees
a chance to leverage

this concern to cut a deal.

[David]
Washington rolls the dice

and secretly contacts Beijing
to float a bold idea:

shared spy stations
inside China.

The Chinese play hardball.

- Now, China doesn't
reject the idea outright,

but in return, they want
a major condition--

formal recognition of
the People's Republic of China

by the United States.

[Dan]
They really have no choice.

And the U.S. have to do what
would have been unthinkable

just a few months prior.

[David]
On January 1, 1979,

the U.S. government
formally recognizes

China's government
for the first time.

- Deng Xiaoping,
China's political leader,

travels to the U.S. to
formalize the new relationship.

From Washington's
point of view,

the spy deal
is basically settled.

Behind the pageantry,
it's just a matter

ironing out a couple
of final details.

- But Beijing has other ideas.

During his visit,
China's leader

makes another startling demand

that jeopardizes
the whole deal.

He wants to visit the CIA's top
secret headquarters at Langley.

[Hakeem]
This is extraordinary.

China's senior leader
is asking for a private tour

of a U.S. facility

that's closed to even
most U.S. officials.

[Dan] For China,
they wanna see firsthand

whether U.S. intelligence
is really

as good as they're saying
it is.

But for Washington,
this is a huge risk.

If the news leaks out
in the U.S.,

the backlash
would be explosive.

[David]
The CIA agonizes

before eventually
agreeing to the visit--

but with one condition.

Nobody must ever know
it occurred.

- The CIA needs to find a small
window in Deng's schedule

when U.S. officials who could
potentially leak this visit

won't be monitoring
his movements.

- And the only opportunity they
see is in the dead of night,

just hours before
he's scheduled to leave.

[David] On the night
of January 31, 1979,

Deng's motorcade quietly
pulls into Langley

under cover of darkness.

- First, he's taken into the
CIA's global command center.

It's a sealed, windowless
space where analysts

track the world in real time.

- Most people who work
their entire lives

in the service
of the U.S. government

never get anywhere close to it.

But they walk Deng
through satellite images

and classified maps,
and they lay out exactly where

joint U.S.-Chinese monitoring
stations could be set up.

- Then he goes
to the seventh floor

and meets with the CIA
director, Stansfield Turner.

- Deng sits down for
a private 45-minute meeting,

and in that meeting,
the deal gets finalized--

joint spy stations in exchange

for unprecedented
Chinese access

to advanced U.S. technology.

[David] Just like that,
one midnight visit

helps two global adversaries
become unlikely allies.

And they get to work
immediately.

- After the deal is made,
U.S. aircraft land in Beijing

carrying crates
of classified equipment.

And by the 1980s,
ten intelligence bases

rise up in remote parts
of Western China.

[David]
These new stations

track Soviet missile tests
over a decade

and yield even better data

than their
Iranian predecessors.

Although their existence
soon hits the headlines,

details of the deal
that made them

stay hidden until a podcast
interview in 2022.

♪ ♪

[Sami] Former U.S. Defense
Secretary Robert Gates

reveals what had never
been public before,

that during the Cold War,
the CIA had given

a secret midnight tour
of their headquarters

to a rival Communist leader

to push this deal
over the line.

- On February 24, 2022,
Russia launches

a massive invasion of Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin is expecting
a quick and easy victory.

But Ukraine has
a surprise waiting for him,

an elite unit of fighters
born out

of a secret deal with the CIA.

[dramatic music]

- After years of living
under Russia's yoke, in 2014,

huge pro-democracy
and pro-European protests

erupt across Ukraine.

President Viktor Yanukovych
flees to Russia,

and a new government
takes power.

[Kavitha] Celebrations
in Ukraine are brief.

And just days later,
Russian troops move into Crimea

and annex the region.

- Shortly after,
Russian military units

disguised as
pro-independence rebels

move in and occupy
eastern sections of Ukraine.

[David] In 2015, a fragile
ceasefire is brokered.

But for many, this invasion
is the first sign

that Vladimir Putin
has set his sights

on reclaiming all Ukraine.

One man is given the task
of ensuring the nation's fate.

- General Valeriy Kondratyuk
is Ukraine's

new intelligence chief,
and he knows

that the nation is toast
if the Russians

really go for
a full-on invasion.

- Many of Ukraine's
top military

and intelligence officials
fled with its president,

destroying key
military databases.

Without those, Ukraine doesn't
know where its units are

or even what equipment it has.

[Kavitha]
To survive a Russian invasion,

Kondratyuk sees
only one option:

find an ally with the resources
to stand up to Putin.

And that means
the United States.

[David]
The problem is,

any alliance is based
on trust.

And when it comes
to Washington,

that's in short supply.

- Washington has
long seen Ukraine's

military intelligence
as corrupt

and compromised
by Russian influence.

Kondratyuk needs to convince
them that he can be trusted,

so he proposes
a secret meeting.

Unexpectedly, they say yes,

and Kondratyuk hops a plane
to Washington.

[David]
As a show of good faith,

Kondratyuk carries with him
an extraordinary gift.

- He brings a cache of
highly sensitive documents

that reveal all sorts
of things about Russia.

It includes details on
Russia's latest weapon designs,

nuclear subs,
and military capabilities.

- When the Americans see
these files, they sit up.

They thought the Ukrainians
were coming to plead for help.

This is proof they have
something to offer in return.

Behind closed doors,
a secret deal is struck.

[Sami] In return for
a continued supply

of high level intelligence
on Russia, the U.S. agree

to covertly help equip
and support Ukraine's defense.

- This new partnership
includes setting up

a network of 12
secret joint bases

along the border to monitor
Russian intelligence.

[David] As signs grow
that Putin is preparing

for an all-out invasion,
in 2016,

this partnership intensifies.

♪ ♪

[Don]
The CIA begins training

a Ukrainian commando force,
Unit 2245.

They're taught
covert warfare techniques.

The unit is deployed
on clandestine missions

deep inside Russian territory.

And to guard against treachery,
it's made up of recruits,

all under 30
with no Soviet ties.

[David] In early 2022,
the fate of Ukraine

rests in the hands
of this secret unit.

- At 5:00 a.m., Russia begins a
full-scale military invasion.

200,000 troops begin
pouring over the border,

and among them
are 18 helicopters

carrying around
300 paratroopers.

[Don] Their target
is Hostomel Airport,

just outside Kyiv.

The Russians need
to secure this runway

to fly reinforcements straight
into the heart of the country,

conquering Kyiv,
and in one fell swoop,

decapitating
the Ukrainian state.

- But CIA intel has
warned Kyiv of this plan,

and at the airport,
Unit 2245 is ready.

[Don] As the
Russian choppers approach,

2245 ambushes them...

♪ ♪

Engaging those that land
in close combat for hours

until Ukrainian
reinforcements arrive.

[David] Over two days
of brutal fighting,

the Ukrainian forces kill
around 300 Russian troops.

Most crucially, they destroy
the airport's runway

beyond use.

Unable to funnel its forces
into the heart of Ukraine,

Russia's plan to rapidly
seize Kyiv collapses.

- The unit almost
singlehandedly prevents

Ukraine from collapsing in the
opening days of the invasion.

[David]
For two years, the details

of this pivotal engagement
remain hidden.

- In 2024,
the secret finally breaks.

"The New York Times" publishes
a major investigation

based off of 200 interviews

with both Ukrainian
and American sources,

including Kondratyuk himself.

♪ ♪

- History is shaped
by terrible conflicts

but also through unlikely
alliances, shadowy pacts,

and strange partnerships
so subversive

that governments will
do anything

to keep their secrets
hidden away.

But even the darkest deals
come to light in the end.