Please let me go home. Please, I'm not who you think I am.
I'm really not who you think I am.
Please. Please. I'm not a spy.
You are a spy. I'm not a spy.
Please let me go home. Try again.
I am not a spy. I am a businesswoman.
I work for Rink Petroleum and Gas.
Please call them. I work for Rink Petroleum.
You are here to sabotage our nuclear ambitions. Yes?
I am not a spy! I am not a spy!
Try again. I am not a spy.
You are a spy. I am not a spy.
Don't lie to me!
I am not a spy.
It is through the grace and munificence of our glorious Dear Leader
that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
has pardoned the American imperialist
for her hostile acts against our socialist nation.
Keep your head down. Don't say anything till we make the swap.
In case Kim Jong here changes his mind.
Exchange.
Right face!
I don't understand.
You don't understand what?
All the rules say to leave me, that one life
is not worth blowing operational cover.
You got that right.
If we have to lose someone for the greater good, we will.
So why did you do it?
Well, I didn't do it.
He did.
Once he found out where you were, there was no stopping him.
He petitioned the Senate, the State Department.
We didn't need the publicity so I figured we better do something
or he's gonna invade this goddamn rice-paddy republic himself.
You okay?
Yeah.
Hey.
Good morning. Happy anniversary.
You want me to make you breakfast?
How about pancakes?
Your cooking?
You're joking. You like my cooking.
Germans don't joke.
Burt likes my cooking.
Get your bugs off the table.
They're spiders. They're bugs.
Fold the next layer back as you did the two before it.
Turn the napkin over. Fold both sides back,
and over one another about a third of the way.
Check for symmetry and press the fold down well.
Are you doi ng this on company time?
And insert your favorite silverware... It's my anniversary.
And I want it to be perfect.
But that is not sexy.
No, but it is utilitarin.
And utilitarian is the new sexy.
I ran the trace. First name Usam, last name Utsaev.
Any verifiable hits? One.
Hey, Francis, do me a favor and stick that in the safe till tomorrow.
Mata Hari here's got a big night tonight.
Yes, sir. Right away, sir.
"Sir"? Do I look like a "sir" to you?
From head to toe.
I'm surprised he didn't call you "Your Majesty."
I like the ring of that. I think I'd prefer "Your Majesty."
Was I ever that young?
Younger.
Walk me out.
How did the Oval Office briefing go?
Oh, you know. The usual.
President wants to know what's happening in Russia
the day before it happens. How about you? I heard that interview went well.
Fingers crossed.
You sure about this?
You know, once you start pushing paper, there's no turning back.
I had the strangest feeling when I was out last time.
I was homesick. Homesick?
Can't you take something for that? Sir! Sir!
We got a walk-in. A defector, 10 minutes ago.
Here? I guess he's not buying our cover.
Did you get his bona fides? He's Russian.
He says he's FSB but won't give us any more.
He's a strange guy. How's his English?
Passable. Not great.
But if it got down to the subtleties of English nuance...
Ted, Mike's gonna be waiting for me. Yeah, and I got a plane to catch.
Come on, Salt.
No one can sort out a nutjob from the real thing faster than you.
I got 25 minutes. I got 26. Let's go.
Yeah, okay. Well, we'll decide when we know more.
Who called Counterintelligence? Not me.
Hey, Ted. We're crashing the party.
Peabody. Salt.
Please remove the hood.
Microphones are on.
Checking levels.
Bseline recorded.
Neural scan is up. Ready to go.
Ev. Mm. Yeah.
Commencing audio and visual recording.
Testing earpiece.
Interview has commenced at 1442.
You're married.
A husband must be a distraction
for a female intelligence officer.
Well, we're here to talk about you.
So, what is your name?
My name is
Oleg Vassilyevich Orlov.
I have cancer.
I'm moved.
A defector with cancer.
Are you selling secrets for chemo or are you afraid of dying?
If I have gained anything by damning myself,
it is that I no longer have anything to fear.
Russia is also dying.
But unlike me, she's not dead. Oleg Vassily Orlov,
shows up in 1993 in Novosibirsk Oblast, Siberia.
He was on Victor Barisovsky's staff there.
He checks out as FSB, Ev.
Scan says he's truthful on the cancer.
Prior to '93?
Russia was once strong, poWerful...
Nothing. He doesn't eXist.
And she Will be again when things have been set back
on the correct path.
I have somewhere I need to be, Mr. Orlov,
so if you wouldn't mind getting to the point.
I came here to tell you a story.
I don't like stories.
But I'll listen anyway.
In English, please.
Others are listening.
1975.
The Cold War.
In a gymnasium in Grozny,
a Soviet Olympic wrestler
named Sasha Fyorodovich Chenkov
meets for the first time
the only female chess grand master of her era;
Anka Nurekyova.
Within a month, they Were married.
And within a year, a child.
One month more,
the child was back in the same hospital,
sick with fever.
And within days after that,
the child suddenly was dead.
Yes, a child Was dead.
And, yes, a child was buried.
But the Chenkov baby Was alive
and became the property of another man.
A master spy Who had devised the greatest plan
a Russian patriot could ever invent.
A plan to destroy America.
It had all started
with an American named Lee Harvey Oswald.
In 1959, he emigrated to Russia.
Three years later, he returned home.
But the man who came back to America
was in fact a Russian spy named Alek.
On November 22nd, 1963,
Alek became the first success of the neW program
and a hero of the Soviet Union.
The spymaster Was now given the go-ahead
to create many more like Alek.
Scores of agents, males and females,
to be substituted for Americans.
I pledge allegiance to the flag...
At an abandoned monastery,
Chenkov and other boys and girls learned English
long before they learned Russian.
Drilled in idiom,
idiosyncrasy and
ideology.
And by methods of rigorous physical and psychological programming,
the spymaster made warriors of iron.
Unquestioning and unbreakable.
Who crossed first?
Who crossed last?
You're killing me, man.
When does the good fairy come in?
Never.
It's a story without hope.
Chenkov was matched with the child of a visiting American family.
There was an accident. The family died.
Chenkov was sent to America
to live a complete lie
and to patiently await the day to attack from within.
Day X.
The long-awaited mission is here.
Chenkov will travel to New York City
to kill the president of Russia
at the funeral of the American vice president.
Chenkov is KA 12.
"KA." Cold War legend.
Highly trained Russian sleeper agents
inserted into American society to sabotage and assassinate.
Supposedly they'd wait years to strike. Decades, even.
Mm. Supposedly.
What, you don't believe in moles? I believe in moles, all right.
Just not the bogeyman.
Especially if the plan is to kill their own president.
This guy's selling smoke.
Wrap it up, Ev.
So a Russian agent is going to kill the Russian president? Is that it?
Mm-hm. Okay.
Thank you very much.
And what would you like in return for that information?
I simply wish to help you do
what you need to do.
You're good.
The KA program is brilliant bullshit.
But I'm officially off duty,
so you can tell the rest of your little story to one of my colleagues.
Salt. Yes?
The name of the Russian agent is Salt.
Evelyn Salt.
My name is Evelyn Salt.
Then you are a Russian spy.
Truthful.
So far the fMRI scan registers truthful on everything he's said.
Ted?
Call Protective Services, make sure they find my husband.
I need to get to the phone. Not after the neural scan.
I can beat that thing five times out of six.
I am trained to, and so is he.
I need my phone. I need to call my husband.
Let me call my husband. Let me see it.
There's a reason he mentioned my wedding ring, Ted.
They don't just blow up their cover
they blow up their whole cover life. You know that.
Do you remember Henley's wife? Yes, I do.
Speaker.
Please leave a message after the tone. Thanks. Bye.
Honey, it's me. Please call me as soon as you get this.
Okay, sweetheart? As soon as you get this.
Godspeed, Comrade Chenkov.
Someone interrogate that piece of shit. Someone who enjoys getting answers.
Look, Ev, try to stay calm.
I'm not a goddamn Russian spy. I didn't say you were.
Let's go up to my office, we can sort this out.
No, no. We gotta go to a secure location. Now.
All right.
Doesn't get any more secure than this.
Ev? Five minutes.
Call Protective Services, find Mike. I will.
This is bullshit.
Give us a sec, we'll be right in.
I know we're heading into your jurisdiction.
I'm just asking for five minutes. No.
If I have to. You can't have five minutes. I have to talk to her.
She's scared. Don't you see that? I don't care.
There is a mole in Russia house, Ted. There is a mole. I am sure.
Please step in the elevator.
--Russian president, okay? So I'm gonna ask you to step out of my way.
What the hell is that?
Sir.
I gotta pee.
Where do you think he went?
No one saw him coming out the front.
Jesus Christ. Here he is again.
No sign of him so far on the street.
It's two minutes ago, before lockdown.
Anything clean on him? We just got a match, sir.
It's May Day, 1981.
There's Brezhnev. And there...
Orlov. That's him.
He used to be a heavyweight once upon a time.
Get that photo out. Every ticket counter,
airport, train station, taxi dispatcher, the whole nine yards.
Get me Medford on a secure line. Yes, sir.
Top-right screen. Is that live? Yes, sir.
Where is she going? Track her.
No one may leave the building.
Rink Petroleum, Security.
Yes, you have a woman to your left, behind you. Evelyn Salt.
We lost the visual on her. Damn it. Where'd she go?
We are on security lockdoWn.
Dave? It's Evelyn, is Mike there?
No, I'm sorry. He left after lunch.
Hey, happy anniversary, huh?
The stairwell.
Second floor. What's on that floor?
It's empty, a security buffer. Isolate and seal it.
Get her records to my handheld.
East corridor.
Notifying Metropolitan Police.
Kill the power to the elevator doors.
We got her.
Locking down all floors.
Security Protective Service responding to threat.
All right. Get a tactical team to meet me on the south stairwell.
Yes, sir. Director Medford, sir.
Get me a side arm.
I'll call her back.
Shit. Lost visual.
Where is she, Albert? Talk to me.
Come on.
North hallway.
There, interrogation room, bring it up.
Switch down, switch down.
Have you found him?
What the hell are you doing, Ev?
This doesn't look good.
Let's do it. Move.
There's a tac team coming at you in 30 seconds.
Get your panties off the camera.
Get where We can see you so you don't get hurt.
Have you found my husband? These boys aren't fooling around.
Please. I can't help you unless you talk to me.
Call me when you find Mike.
SWeeping corridors outside the elevator.
Put the masks on.
Situation is hot.
Open the door about tWo feet. We 're gonna gas her.
Tac team in position. Waiting for a go.
Is that absolutely necessary?
What, you want me to shoot her?
Get a medical team in place now.
We're ready.
Now.
Okay, on my count.
Three, two, one. Go.
Jesus Christ.
Where is she? Come on, guys.
Find her, Albert. Now. Suspect has escaped.
There. Bring that up.
Stay with her, she's crossing the street.
Pan the goddamn camera.
Back that up and zoom in.
We're looking for Michael Krause.
Freeze.
We're looking for her husband, Mike.
What the hell are you doing, Ev?
Wait, when was that? No. No message.
Let's switch to the exterior cameras.
Michael Krause left his office at the Smithsonian an hour ago.
Salt's apartment is 20 minutes away.
We can cover it, but she won't go there.
She will if she's serious about Mike. This stays in-house.
Okay.
Taxi!
U Street. I'll tell you when to stop.
Hi, this is Mike. Please leave a message after the tone.
He's one of the world's top arachnologists, Ev,
and as such, enjoys pretty much unrestricted access
to the borders of North Korea.
So brush up on your bugs and get to know him.
He's the perfect cover to get us inside.
Mike?
Mike? Honey?
Hey, baby. Hey, baby.
It's all right. Shh.
It's okay. Where's Daddy? Where's Daddy?
Come on. Come on.
Check for back eXits.
Go! Go!
Bedroom, clear!
Kitchen is clear.
Office, clear!
Living room, clear!
Everybody out. Sixty seconds.
Come here.
What are you doing?
She's not here. No sign of the husband either.
Did it ever occur to you that that Russian was lying?
Why'd she run? I don't know.
Because you were gonna lock her up? See it from her perspective.
Maybe her husband is in some real danger.
Maybe, God forbid, Salt is who she says she is.
"Maybe" is your department.
Mine is catching her so we can find out.
Protocol is clear. We bring her in or we bring her down.
Do you have any idea who this woman is?
What she's done for this country? Does that mean anything to you?
Should it?
Is your mom home? No.
No? Can you do me a favor? Yeah.
Hi. You baby-sit Burt for me?
Oh, yeah. Yeah? Here's some money for food.
Hi, Burt.
What you doing? You doing homework?
Yeah, math.
Algebra. I hate math.
Hi. Nice to see you again.
You talking to me? Yeah, I've seen you here before.
Yeah, I-- Yeah, I come here a lot.
You?
Oh, I'm working here.
At the museum.
I'm an arachnologist. A what?
A spider hunter.
You look like one.
There are 40,000 species of spiders in the world.
And that one is mine.
You discovered it.
Inside North Korea.
I named it Terrijoolsima peterbesti.
Do you get that?
No. Should I?
Peterbesti? I named it after Pete Best.
The first drummer before Ringo.
Best never was a famous Beatle,
but now he's a famous spider.
I got her.
She's heading north towards the Metro station.
Ev!
She's eastbound, in the Penn Quarter Mall.
Excuse me.
Will do. Headed there noW.
There she is.
All teams, southbound toward the bridge. Box her in.
Circle around!
Salt! Stop!
Keep her in your sights! Coming up behind you!
Fuck!
Keep back! Hold your fire!
Salt! Down!
Salt!
Spread out!
Salt! Don't shoot! Don't shoot, I'm innocent!
On the ground. Now! Please don't. No!
Down! Salt! Do it now! On the ground!
I have to find my husband.
Why'd you run? To find my husband!
That's not a reason. Don't shoot.
Stay back! Last chance.
I'm innocent. Somebody is setting me up!
Don't make me put you down. Put the gun down!
Give yourself up! Come on, Ev.
Do what he says. We'll sort this out, I promise.
I gotta bring you in, Salt. It's over. Face down.
Somebody's going to try to kill the Russian president.
Do something about that! That's what you should worry about.
There's nowhere to run! Quit now!
No, I didn't do anything.
Get back! No!
She's on a blue semi. Route 1, heading north.
Get a roadblock in place now.
Metro Police on alert.
There she is. On the tanker.
Stop. Stop!
Ev!
You, my friend, have got a mole in your group.
We don't know that yet. I'd say she's a trained goddamn liar
and everything she's said has been to protect her cover.
Well, why don't you tell me how you really feel about it?
Get up on the shoulder! Get up on the shoulder!
Okay, take it down.
Shit!
Okay.
Ted, I know you're her friend,
but we gotta drop a net on New York.
We gotta do it now. Let's go!
Notify the Secret Service on Matveyev's detail.
Tell them Salt might be coming their way.
And if she is, Orlov may not be far behind either.
You seen this?
Salt spent time in Russia as a kid.
She was in a car accident with her parents in '88. They both died.
They were teachers at the U.S. Embassy for the American children of the staff.
That's why we put her on Russia in the first place.
We need to get on a plane to New York, tonight.
Send everything we've got on Orlov to N.Y.P.D.
And here in New York City, security has been beefed up
and preparations are continuing well into the night
for the funeral of Vice President MaxWell Oates.
Among the dignitaries attending the service at St. BartholomeW's Church
is Russian president Boris Matveyev,
who arrived here in Manhattan earlier this evening.
Public transportation will experience delays, with subway closures and...
Evelyn.
Look at me.
If there was a way, I would kill them.
You shouldn't have come here.
What do you mean? I don't understand.
Now they know who you are.
Who?
Evelyn.
Who?
I would accept anything about you,
but I need to know.
So look at me. Look at me.
Just tell me, okay?
Just tell me.
I work...
I work for the CIA.
So you see, there's...
There's no future for us.
You're not safe with me.
I don't wanna be safe.
I know you,
and I wanna be with you.
I want to spend the rest of my life with you.
Okay?
Okay. Okay.
Welcome to New York, Miss Hernandez. One night, a deluxe room.
Do you need any help with your luggage?
Nope, I got it. Thanks.
I'll put these in the closet, sir?
Yeah, fine.
I do solemnly swear
that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
That I will faithfully discharge
the duties of the office on which I'm about to enter.
the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.
So help me God. So help me God.
A solemn day here in New York City.
The funeral of Vice President Maxwell Oates,
a former five-term U.S. senator and Cold War warrior
whose greatest legacy may be as architect
of the new era of Russian-American relations.
Russian president Boris Matveyev
has journeyed from Moscow to be an honorary pallbearer
to the man he's called his greatest friend in the West.
What's the security perimeter?
We're two deep inside and we own this entire block.
And those are Secret Service agents, not CIA.
So relax. That's real funny.
Didn't know you guys told jokes.
Detail, halt.
Forward, march.
Due to the funeral, the 51 st Street station is closed.
Repeat: Due to the funeral, the 51 st Street station is closed.
What--? Hey, what's going on?
Hey! There's smoke.
Step back, step back. Everybody, move out of the way.
Eleanor. Good to see you.
Thank you.
Boris. Mr. President.
Hello.
Please be seated.