Waco (TV Mini Series)

Stalling for Time (2018)

Glenn Fleshler: Tony Prince

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Reporter : Do you know the mood within the compound?

  Tony Prince : Well, our intel is saying that people are starting to question their loyalty to Koresh.

  Reporter : How many people are still inside?

  Tony Prince : We estimate 130.

  Reporter : Is there any concern for the possibility of a mass suicide?

  Tony Prince : All possibilities are a concern.

  Reporter : Have you been talking to the White House about what's going on?

  Tony Prince : Yes. They-they are apprised of the situation.

  Reporter : Sir, what do you think it will take for them to come out?

  Tony Prince : Apparently, a sign from God.

• Tony Prince : Lack of electricity makes them less comfortable and more willing to compromise.

  Gary Noesner : Under normal circumstances, yes. But these people, they already know how to live with nothing. All you're doing is pissing 'em off.

• Gary Noesner : You know, sir, with you talking to Mitch and I separately, it feels like we're operating at cross purposes here.

  Tony Prince : It's been nine days. How much longer do I let this go on?

  Gary Noesner : As long as it takes.

  Tony Prince : Do you know what this is costing taxpayers?

  Gary Noesner : God damn it, I'm not worried about taxpayers right now.

  Tony Prince : Gary, we need to bring this to a resolution.

• Gary Noesner : Koresh has been bullied his entire life.

  Tony Prince : Here we go.

  Gary Noesner : The more you let HRT do what they did last night, the more he's gonna dig in. He's let people out. That shows he's willing to work with us. But we've gotta meet that with positive reinforcement, not punishment. You wanna train a dog to fetch your newspaper? Do you kick him in the balls every time he brings it back to ya? No. I'm sorry, Tony. We both want the same thing. You know that, right? But in order to get it, we gotta turn the power back on!

• Gary Noesner : Do you realize I'm getting all my information about what we're doing from the Branch Davidians?

  Mitch Decker : Maybe you should move in with them.

  Gary Noesner : [angrily pounding the tabletop]  God damn it! Why did you send that damn tank in there?

  Mitch Decker : Because when I went to pick up those people, I noticed several vantage points where they could hide and fire on our agents. I had to mitigate their strategic advantage.

  Gary Noesner : Oh, you didn't try to "mitigate their strategic advantage". You're trying to irritate them into coming out! It's not a winning strategy!

  Tony Prince : What's not a winning strategy is "waiting for a sign from God."

• Tony Prince : I'm tired of buying you time. You need to tell them to come out. It's been seventeen days, Gary.

  Gary Noesner : I've been pushing 'em.

  Tony Prince : Not hard enough. I'm under an awful lot of pressure to get them out. I have the Attorney General and every politician in Washington breathing down my neck! I want them outta there by tomorrow morning!

  Gary Noesner : I can't give 'em a deadline. I've tried that before. It doesn't work out. Now, time is on our side...

  Tony Prince : Time is not on our side. Now, give them the deadline. Now.

  Gary Noesner : No. I won't do that.

• Tony Prince : Get Koresh on the phone.

  Gary Noesner : Whoa, Tony. What are you doing?

  [Prince dials the landline] 

  Gary Noesner : Hey.

  David Koresh : [in the compound, he answers the ringing phone]  Hello?

  Tony Prince : David?

  Gary Noesner : Yes?

  Tony Prince : This is Tony Prince, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI. If you don't come out of there by morning, certain actions will be taken against you and your people. That's not a threat, it's a promise.

• Gary Noesner : Sir, I apologize for my outburst, but I'd... I'd really appreciate if you'd reconsider your ultimatum.

  Tony Prince : Gary, please sit down.

  [he does so] 

  Tony Prince : How many kids do you have?

  Gary Noesner : Three.

  Tony Prince : I have two myself. Your wife, uh... she understands the job?

  Gary Noesner : Well, she was a secretary in the Bureau when we met, so she gets it.

  Tony Prince : Oh. My wife, she... she pretends to get it. But she doesn't. Where did you grow up?

  Gary Noesner : Atlantic Beach, Florida. Now, uh, sir, I'd really like to...

  Tony Prince : What? Move this conversation along? What if I just wanna sit here and talk? For hours? What if we just talked and talked, but then, after all that, I decided not to give you the response you came in here looking for? That would be frustraing, wouldn't it?

  Gary Noesner : Sir, one of the main principles I try to teach my students who want to be negotiators is to never, ever start a clock, because it gives the person on the other end the opportunity to make the wrong decision.

  Tony Prince : We're not in a classroom here, Gary. And the principles that you apply to hypothetical situations, well... they don't always work. We're at an impasse here. And your "trickle, flow, gush" theory, albeit a good one, well... that doesn't seem to working, either.

  Gary Noesner : So what's your plan, then?

• Tony Prince : It's time to apply pressure. Decker wants to start implementing psy-ops to get them out.

  Gary Noesner : You wanna psychologically torture them?

  Tony Prince : It's not torture. It's a safe way to push them.

  Gary Noesner : This is not an FBI-sanctioned strategy. You do understand that, right?

  Tony Prince : Don't think I haven't thought this through. I'm in a difficult position here, Gary.

  Gary Noesner : All right, so, uh, you know, just for shits and giggles, let me get this straight. You wanna take a guy that we're fairly certain is unstable to begin with, and you're gonna attempt to drive him crazy with psychological pressure, in hopes that somehow that will suddenly make him more reasonable?

  Tony Prince : You've been requesting an open flow of communication since you got here. I just gave it to you.