Designated Survivor (TV Series)

Two Ships (2017)

Adan Canto: Aaron Shore

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Quotes 

• Tom Kirkman : Who on board the ship would have known about the surveillance activities?

  Admiral Chernow : The captain, the XO, the operations officer.

  Tom Kirkman : But not a junior lieutenant?

  Admiral Chernow : Oh, no, sir.

  Aaron Shore : [entering]  The Saudi ambassador says Kunami's willing to allow the rescue of the Verona crew in exchange with the lifting of the prohibition on its uranium program.

  Tom Kirkman : Well, now we know what they're willing to trade for. Our ship for a potential weapons program. Not acceptable.

• Aaron Shore : The USS Verona, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, collided with a sanitation barge off the coast of Kunami.

  Tom Kirkman : What was one of our warships doing in enemy waters?

  Aaron Shore : It was en route to Bahrain for joint military exercises with the CMF. A storm disabled its radar and nav systems. She drifted off course.

  Tom Kirkman : So let me get this straight. A $6 billion warship's response to inclement weather is to run into a floating garbage truck? You know what I think?

  Aaron Shore : Yeah. That for $6 billion, the thing should be able to levitate.

  Tom Kirkman : Damn right.

• Tom Kirkman : Anything from the Kunami ambassador?

  Emily Rhodes : He put out a statement accusing us of a hostile incursion into their territorial waters.

  Tom Kirkman : For what, running into a hundred thousand tons of their trash?

  Emily Rhodes : He says that was divine providence. He's consulting with the emir.

  Tom Kirkman : Casualties?

  Admiral Chernow : Sixteen dead. Dozens injured, sir. Well, the Verona's incapacitated. We'll have to tow her out. But we will need Kunami's cooperation.

  Aaron Shore : Well, we may need a show of force to get that. We're talking about a renegade regime that's been under military and economic sanctions for over a decade.

  Tom Kirkman : Where is our closest fleet?

  Admiral Chernow : Well, the best case, the Fifth is eight hours out. Kunami we can handle, but they're not the only problem, sir.

  Tom Kirkman : Right. Other hostile nations in the Middle East are watching. Son of a bitch. This can go global quickly.

  Admiral Chernow : The problem is the Verona is loaded with technology we have to keep out of Kunami's hands.

  Tom Kirkman : First and foremost, we've got 300 Americans stranded in hostile waters, many of them injured. We need to bring 'em home. Admiral, deploy the Fifth.

• Ambassador Darzi : You want to violate our sovereign waters again. In exchange for what?

  Aaron Shore : The thanks of our grateful nation.

  Ambassador Darzi : So the sanctions, the resolutions...

  Aaron Shore : Are for a later discussion. This is a humanitarian rescue mission.

  Ambassador Darzi : Yes, I'm certain a U.S. destroyer finds itself in our waters for humanitarian reasons.

  Aaron Shore : How it got there is irrelevant.

  Ambassador Darzi : I will tell you what is relevant, Mr. Shore. We would not even be having this conversation if a Kunami warship were stranded ten miles off the coast of New York City. Do you know why?

  Aaron Shore : Mr. Ambassador...

  Ambassador Darzi : Because your Navy would have sent it to the bottom of the Atlantic.

  Aaron Shore : I'm obligated to inform you a refusal to let us rescue our men will be deemed a hostile act.

  Ambassador Darzi : I am obligated to inform you that the emir is not prepared to let a second U.S. ship infringe upon the sanctity of our territorial waters.

• Tom Kirkman : Admiral, what's the update?

  Admiral Chernow : That's Kunami's fleet. Five ships and counting.

  Tom Kirkman : Tell me about the formation.

  Admiral Chernow : It's a classic blockade. Our ships won't be able to get anywhere near the Verona without running it.

  Emily Rhodes : And risking a war.

  Aaron Shore : It doesn't make sense that the emirate would want to do that.

  Tom Kirkman : What they want is to make us sweat. Our ship is at the mercy of a regime that is desperate to prove its own legitimacy to its people. And we have a crew that expects us to rescue them when apparently there's no easy way to do that. Admiral, contact Captain Griffin. We need to let him know that we haven't abandoned him.

• Aaron Shore : Kunami's just officially cut all diplomatic ties.

  Lyor Boone : They're posturing, sir. Time is on their side.

  Tom Kirkman : Because the casualties are on ours. If they catch us blinking first, they'll have us over a barrel.

  Lyor Boone : Oh, no. I-I wouldn't count on them blinking at all, sir.

  Tom Kirkman : Why not?

  Lyor Boone : Because Kunami's an unstable regime. If the emir lets an American fleet tow the Verona out while he sits on his hands, he may as well send out invitations to his own coup.

  Tom Kirkman : Then we're gonna have to find a concession we can live with.

  Aaron Shore : I'll have Secretary Moss ask Cairo to open a back channel with the emir, find out what he really wants.

• Ambassador Darzi : The USS Verona, which has been crippled by an act of God, was in fact sent by America to spy on our peace-loving nation. As an instrument of such treachery, it is now the property of the Kunami people.

  Aaron Shore : [watching on TV]  Well, I guess we know what Kunami wants.

  Tom Kirkman : Yes. Our ship.

• Tom Kirkman : Admiral, honestly, how far out is the Fifth Fleet?

  Admiral Chernow : Three hours. The choppy water's slowing the fleet down. We can have a strike package there in minutes.

  Emily Rhodes : Sir, there's an optics difference between using force to rescue a ship on a peaceable mission and one that was spying.

  Tom Kirkman : Right now, I don't care about the optics. I care about the crew.

  Aaron Shore : Well, sir, I have to advise you if we start launching missiles at their ships, the Verona's a sitting duck.

  Emily Rhodes : And the clock is ticking. We don't want force to be our primary option. We need to keep moving on the diplomatic front.

  Tom Kirkman : You're right. I want both of you to reach out to the Foreign Relations Committee. See how much room we've got to maneuver.

  Emily Rhodes , Aaron Shore : Yes, sir.

• Senator Ray Damone : You can't be serious.

  Aaron Shore : We're not talking about the elimination of sanctions, Senator. We're talking about loosening them.

  Emily Rhodes : Our proposal allows only for a civilian-enrichment program.

  Aaron Shore : And a strict monitoring regime would be in place.

  Senator Cowling : A regime whose success will depend on Hassan's agreement to abide by the very norms he's shown nothing but contempt for.

  Senator Ray Damone : But you're asking us to believe he's turned over a new leaf.

  Tom Kirkman : [entering]  No, Senator. We're asking you to help us bring the Verona home; 300 of our sailors, many of them wounded, none of whom deserve to be abandoned.

• Aaron Shore : Mr. President, Senator Cowling just got back to me. Congress won't allow loosening the sanctions. She's urging the administration to find a diplomatic solution.

  Tom Kirkman : It doesn't help us now, but she's right. We need to find another way.

  Lyor Boone : Sir, if I were advising the emir, I'd say he's playing it perfectly; castigating America for violating his country's sovereignty.

  Emily Rhodes : Knowing that we can't use force without looking like we've wildly overreacted to a problem they think we've created.

  Tom Kirkman : We didn't create a monsoon out at sea.

  Lyor Boone : He's got wiggle room, sir. We don't. This crisis is tailor-made to enhance his prestige.

  Tom Kirkman : Admiral, do we have enough data to re-create the Verona's collision?

  Admiral Chernow : Yes, sir. We'll get right on it.

• Aaron Shore : You're watching a re-creation of the collision, sir.

  Tom Kirkman : Based on what?

  Admiral Chernow : Enhanced satellite imagery and data from the ship's AIS. The Verona was traveling 160 degrees southeast at roughly fifteen knots. The barge was heading northeast at twelve knots, four points off the port quarter.

  Emily Rhodes : If everyone held course, it would've been a near-miss.

  Admiral Chernow : The barge suddenly veered to four points off the starboard bow and increased its speed to eighteen knots.

  Tom Kirkman : That proves that the barge ran into our ship on purpose.

  Admiral Chernow : Well, given the barge's sudden change in speed and direction, that would be my conclusion, Mr. President.

  Aaron Shore : Ambassador Salini's on his way to discuss sanctions.

  Tom Kirkman : We'll be discussing something else.

• Aaron Shore : Kunami can't afford to go to war with us, sir.

  Lyor Boone : Which is why they'll drag in other countries. You know, we fire on them, they fire on our client states; Israel, Turkey.

  Tom Kirkman : Pulling in Syria and Iran, forcing us to negotiate.

  Emily Rhodes : And the Verona and its crew will be lost.