The West Wing 2x14

1. Previously on The West Wing:

2. Five U.S. DEA Agents have been abducted in Colombia.

3. The government has no control over the region.

4. There is no law

5. and they're going to shoot these guys

6. in the head and then have a parade.

7. In three hours, I want to be ready to kick in the back door.

8. When do I see numbers?

9. There's a 17% response rate.

10. When do I see numbers?

11. You'll have the numbers

12. in five minutes.

13. It might take a little longer now.

14. You're mad at me.

15. We had a deal.

16. Abbey...

17. When did you decide

18. you were going to run

19. for a second term?

20. Mr. President.

21. It was just three hours ago I gave the State of the Union.

22. Yeah.

23. You believe that?

24. What are you doing? It's freezing out here.

25. I'm not allowed to smoke inside anymore.

26. I thought you were allowed to do

27. pretty much whatever you want.

28. Up to the point where you accidentally burn holes

29. in priceless antiques.

30. You should stop smoking. Why?

31. You'll live longer.

32. I smoke two cigarettes a day.

33. It's a bad example.

34. For who, Russian spy satellites?

35. George Bernard Shaw said

36. "You don't live longer. It just seems longer."

37. I'm not sure it was Shaw.

38. I'm not sure it was either.

39. Is it time?

40. Yeah.

41. Ten-hut.

42. Where are we?

43. Sir, a C-141 with two Delta Force teams has been in the air

44. for 85 minutes.

45. Tell me what happens when I give the order.

46. They'll enter Colombian airspace.

47. At the same time, a 19-man unit

48. a Special Forces Alpha Team

49. that's already on the ground at Tres Encinas

50. will head to Villacerreno.

51. What do they do when they get there?

52. They'll hike 11 miles into the jungle and hold still.

53. Why?

54. It'll be daylight by then.

55. Nineteen guys are going to have

56. to lie facedown in the jungle till sunset?

57. That's when the hostages are going to be moved.

58. And that's when we go.

59. They're moving the hostages from where to where?

60. From the Tasco outpost

61. to the Frente command center.

62. On foot? Yeah.

63. 10.7 kilometers down the road

64. there's a plateau called Mesa del Oro.

65. That'll give the Deltas maximum maneuverability.

66. The code name's Cassiopeia?

67. Yes, sir.

68. Mickey, you look like you want to say something.

69. Yes, Mr. President. I, I think you should wait.

70. For what? To see how negotiations continue with Guerra.

71. Guerra wants Aguilar out of a Colombian prison.

72. Are there any other circumstances under

73. which he's going to give these hostages back?

74. Possibly. Crap.

75. We know if we keep talking, we don't the risk

76. of these hostages getting shot during the rescue.

77. What difference does it make if they're shot during a rescue

78. or at Frente command at Villacerreno?

79. I believe we can keep them alive longer

80. if we let them be taken to Villacerreno.

81. Are we going to keep them alive longer, or is it just

82. going to seem longer?

83. Sir?

84. I've been given reason to believe

85. they'll be tortured at Villacerreno.

86. They're U.S. drug agents.

87. They know things these people want to know.

88. Sir, the C-141's approaching Colombian airspace.

89. Go.

90. It was second in length only to his inaugural address

91. and 75 minutes longer than Washington's first address

92. to Congress...

93. Officer Sloan, would you be willing to go

94. on television tomorrow?

95. They knew how many words there were. In the speech?

96. Yeah.

97. About 8,700?

98. Yeah.

99. Would you be willing to go on TV?

100. I think I'd really rather just go home.

101. This is going to be part of the news cycle

102. by tomorrow night, whether you go home or not.

103. And how do you know that?

104. Roughly the same way I knew there were 8,700 words in the speech.

105. I have some experience at this.

106. What'll happen?

107. You'll do a quick satellite interview.

108. "What was it like being at the State of the Union?

109. Did you meet the President?" "It was a thrill and an honor."

110. Talk about your act of heroism

111. that brought you to the attention of the White House.

112. "Well, I really wouldn't call it heroism, but..."

113. "Now, I understand you had some trouble back in the early '80s?"

114. "I'm glad I have a chance to talk about that..."

115. And you tell your story just like you told it to me.

116. Do I wear my uniform?

117. Coat and tie.

118. Carol?

119. Yeah?

120. Would you make sure Officer Sloan

121. gets back to his hotel? Yeah.

122. I'd like to thank all our guests tonight.

123. Henry Shallick, David Satch

124. Toby Ziegler, Bob Woodward, Jeff Greenfield

125. CJ Cregg.

126. And of course, the White House

127. for allowing us to broadcast live on this historic night.

128. You've been watching a special expanded edition

129. of Capitol Beat.

130. I'm Mark Gottfried.

131. Have a good night.

132. We're out. That's it.

133. Great job, everybody.

134. You said 20 minutes. I was called in for a meeting.

135. It's now 40 minutes. I was called in for a meeting.

136. At midnight?

137. It's not midnight everywhere in the world, Mark.

138. What's his story? He's innocent.

139. You just decided? No, a grand jury, a DA

140. and a civil court judge decided 17 years ago.

141. Nobody brought charges. The civil suit was dismissed.

142. Then why on his record...?

143. The Detroit Police Department cited him

144. for excessive force to calm down the black community.

145. It was a robbery; they were climbing through windows and jumping over walls.

146. The guy's leg was already fractured when Sloan got there.

147. He's going to do your show tomorrow morning.

148. Is he doing everybody else's show, too?

149. No. Why not?

150. Because you waited 40 minutes.

151. Hey.

152. Hey.

153. Bill Dryer from Gillette's office called.

154. He wants to have a meeting with you.

155. Dryer?

156. Gillette.

157. Well...

158. I'll bet he wants a meeting with me.

159. Yeah.

160. It's not going to happen. Toby.

161. It's not going to happen.

162. We got enough input from him

163. during the six weeks we were writing the thing.

164. I don't need to hear his... He's very upset.

165. What? I know...

166. More, I think, than we calculated he was going to be.

167. We've upset him? Yeah.

168. Well, we're going to have to learn to live with that pain.

169. Look... He's not the President of the United States.

170. He's a junior Senator from North Dakota where nobody lives

171. 'cause it's too cold, and they don't have a major sports franchise.

172. Do I need to lay out the ways in which this man

173. is important to us? Nope.

174. He is adored by the left.

175. Stop laying out the ways.

176. He is our link to the environmentalists.

177. Stop laying out the ways.

178. Toby, asking for this meeting isn't out of line

179. and you should take it.

180. In fact, you should take it tomorrow morning at 7:30 at the Hyatt.

181. You set it up already?

182. Just the time and place.

183. And you expect me to explain myself to him?

184. Yes, yes, I do.

185. Fine.

186. C.J.

187. 7:30. Yeah.

188. The Post is calling it "sleek, challenging, and oftentimes witty."

189. Not unlike myself.

190. Who is Jack Sloan, and why am I just hearing about this now?

191. Sloan was one of the invited guests.

192. He was the police officer.

193. The one we stuck in over the weekend? Yeah.

194. And what happened?

195. A long time ago, he was cited

196. by the Detroit Police Department

197. for excessive force. Against a black suspect?

198. Yeah. C.J.

199. Toby... How was this guy not vetted?

200. 'Cause he wasn't. 'Cause it was last-minute.

201. What are you doing about it?

202. Mark Gottfried's going to interview him in the morning.

203. It's a bad idea. Why?

204. Why? Yes.

205. 'Cause blacks aren't going to react well

206. to our supporting a brutal cop.

207. He's not a brutal cop. Says you.

208. Says me, a grand jury

209. two judges, the district attorney

210. and common sense. C.J.

211. It's going public anyway, Toby.

212. Gottfried got the story on his own.

213. Fine. Where's Josh?

214. He went back to the phone banks.

215. Is the electricity back on? No.

216. Then what's he doing there?

217. Hoping the electricity goes on.

218. Well, that ought to do it.

219. Josh. Yeah.

220. Can I tell you something about women?

221. Oh, God, please don't.

222. We like to be wooed. Donna...

223. She wants you to ask her out, Josh. She really doesn't.

224. You're missing the signs. I'm really not.

225. I know a thing or two about the ways of love.

226. No, you don't. You're missing the signs.

227. I'm thinking of firing you.

228. You fired me twice already tonight.

229. I'm impervious. Among other things.

230. Josh. Yeah?

231. Let's pack it in.

232. We'll start over tomorrow night.

233. Why? It's already 9:30 in California...

234. The power isn't on.

235. We're missing half the window.

236. Joey... Pack it in.

237. Okay.

238. Folks, we'll start over tomorrow night.

239. See you.

240. Take it easy.

241. Good night.

242. So, you have to wait another day.

243. I'm not good at waiting.

244. No kidding. Donna...

245. Why do you expect our internal polling

246. to be any different than any other polling?

247. We've got dial groups. We've got CNN, USA Today.

248. We've got Gallup.

249. Why is our poll going to be any different?

250. We're asking different questions.

251. I'll get your coat.

252. By the way, right there?

253. Back when she said, "see you"-- that was a sign.

254. You're fired.

255. Impervious. Yeah.

256. Mr. President?

257. Yeah.

258. You understand we've got heating inside, right?

259. This isn't cold. It's crisp.

260. No, it's cold.

261. Well, you're a big wussy.

262. Knight to King-4.

263. It'll leave the Bishop open.

264. You're going to sacrifice the Bishop for the Queen's Rook.

265. Where?

266. Four moves down.

267. Oh.

268. Abbey's pretty pissed at me.

269. How bad?

270. Pretty bad.

271. King's Knight-3.

272. You know, I have this image in my mind

273. of the dead soldiers coming back from Vietnam...

274. the caskets coming off the plane...

275. but I don't know from where.

276. Television.

277. The caskets coming off the plane?

278. Yeah.

279. Are they down? Yeah.

280. The Deltas landed in Tres Encinas.

281. Alpha moved out, and they'll be in Villacerreno at 0700.

282. Where they wait.

283. Yeah.

284. I'll see you in the morning.

285. Thank you, Mr. President.

286. Thank you.

287. MRS. Good morning, Charlie.

288. Good morning, Mrs. Landingham.

289. Did you ever solve the mystery?

290. Of the $500 check?

291. Yeah.

292. Yes I did. I solved the mystery.

293. Well, what was it?

294. I'm a mystery solver.

295. That's wonderful, sweetie. What was it?

296. Mrs. Bartlet wrote the check to a woman

297. she read about in the paper

298. who's now living in a battered women's shelter.

299. You know why the woman never cashed the check?

300. Because it was from the First Lady

301. and she had it framed instead?

302. Yep, that was the mystery.

303. It's a good one.

304. Does the President know he has breakfast with Josh and Sam?

305. He's on his way. Good.

306. It was a good mystery.

307. I just think you solved it fast

308. because I loosened the ketchup bottle for you.

309. Okay.

310. Okay.

311. Can I tell you something strange?

312. Sure.

313. All last night at the phone banks

314. Donna was telling me I should ask Joey Lucas out.

315. You should.

316. Fine, but that aside

317. what do you make of Donna being the one pushing it?

318. I don't make anything.

319. You wouldn't think she'd be jealous?

320. She goes out with guys. Are you jealous?

321. No. See?

322. I don't get jealous.

323. So...?

324. I don't like it

325. and usually do everything

326. within my considerable capabilities to sabotage it...

327. Yes.

328. Which is why it's curious

329. that Donna would do nothing to discourage

330. in fact, do everything to encourage a date

331. with Joey Lucas, who, quite frankly, is

332. a very attractive woman.

333. Josh? Yeah.

334. Your voice just got really high at the end of that.

335. Yeah, sorry.

336. Hey.

337. Good morning, sir.

338. Thanks for having breakfast with me.

339. Did you order something?

340. No, sir. We were waiting for you.

341. Billy! You want scrambled eggs?

342. Yeah, thanks.

343. Yes, sir?

344. Can we get these guys some scrambled eggs?

345. Yes. Anything for you, sir?

346. No, I'm fine.

347. Then we're fine, too.

348. Sir, we're fine. No.

349. Bring them some food, would you?

350. Yes, sir.

351. You guys understand

352. I can't discuss with you any rescue mission

353. that may or may not be in play right now?

354. Of course.

355. I'm assuming State has people negotiating with Nelson Guerra.

356. Nelson Guerra wants me to tell President Santos

357. to release Juan Aguilar from prison.

358. I wouldn't make that phone call with a gun to my head.

359. I have a gun to my head and I'm not making that phone call.

360. I inherited a war on drugs from a President

361. who inherited it from a President

362. who inherited it from a President before that.

363. I'm not a hundred percent sure

364. who we're fighting, but I know we're not winning.

365. Ten years ago we spent $5 billion fighting drugs

366. and we did such a good job

367. that last year we spent $16 billion.

368. 60% of federal prisoners are in jail on drug charges

369. as opposed to 21/////2% that are there for violent crime.

370. We imprison a higher percentage of our citizens than Russia did

371. under Communism and South Africa under apartheid.

372. Somewhere between 50 and 85% of the prison population

373. has a drug or alcohol abuse problem.

374. We've tried "Just say no."

375. I don't think it's going to work.

376. I'm mentioning this because I'd like you to give me any thoughts

377. you might have on the subject.

378. Thank you, Mr. President.

379. Thank you, sir.

380. Hello.

381. What are you doing here?

382. I came in early. Bonnie.

383. I've been here for an hour.

384. Yeah?

385. Are we releasing the names of the agents

386. or are we not releasing them?

387. Yeah.

388. You've got to give me another chance.

389. At what?

390. At meeting the President.

391. You met the President last night.

392. I was wearing a bathrobe.

393. You sat in paint.

394. I was singing and dancing.

395. You were happy.

396. I threw my drink up in the air.

397. Yeah, but not that much of it landed on your head.

398. I looked like an idiot and it's your fault.

399. How is it my fault?

400. You arranged the meeting over my express wishes.

401. I'm not the one who got you

402. jumping around like Joey Heatherton.

403. You have to do something for me.

404. Arrange another introduction?

405. You have to arrange another introduction.

406. Last night you were scared to meet him.

407. And I'm still scared to meet him

408. but I'll overcome that in order to erase the humiliation

409. that I've brought upon myself and my father.

410. You're just in your own little Euripides play

411. over there, aren't you?

412. Please arrange another introduction.

413. Fine.

414. Really?

415. Yes.

416. Thank you.

417. You should've given me a heads-up

418. on the Blue Ribbon, Toby.

419. Seth...

420. You should've given me a heads-up.

421. It happened five minutes

422. before the man walked into the House chamber.

423. You're a junior Senator from North Dakota

424. and you don't get script approval on the State of the Union.

425. Whatever language you may have couched it in

426. it was not an insignificant change.

427. Seth...

428. You started off

429. with "We will not cut Social Security, period"

430. and wound up with "We're announcing the formation

431. "of a bipartisan Blue Ribbon Commission

432. to study new options with regard to Social Security."

433. What exactly is the danger in studying new options?

434. What's the danger in the White House

435. getting behind my reform bill?

436. Diverting general revenue

437. into the trust funds is not reform.

438. It's the only Social Security reform bill

439. supported by any Senate Democrats.

440. How many votes did you get for it last year?

441. If the White House had...

442. 18.

443. The White House never...

444. 82 U.S. Senators think your reform bill sucks.

445. So unless you have a plan for picking up a majority

446. I don't know what's so wrong

447. with saying we're open to hearing new ideas.

448. And compromise essential Democratic Party principles

449. to cut a Social Security deal with the Republicans?

450. It's simply not what we're doing.

451. If your commission recommends raising the retirement age one day

452. reducing benefits one dollar, reducing COLAs

453. if your commission recommends

454. partial privatization of Social Security...

455. Are there cameras on someplace?

456. I will condemn it as the act of a group intent

457. on destroying Social Security.

458. And ruling the galaxy.

459. Oh, you think this is a joke?

460. You think I won't publicly condemn a member of my party?

461. The President's not a member of your party.

462. He's the leader of your party.

463. And if you think demonizing people

464. who are trying to govern responsibly

465. is the way to protect our liberal base

466. then speaking as a liberal, go to bed, would you, please?

467. You're running to the right on the environment.

468. We admonished environmental terrorism.

469. Please...

470. You're in favor of it?

471. It was a cheap shot

472. and you lost a lot of friends.

473. We made more than we lost.

474. And then you go on TV this morning

475. with this ridiculous defense of a cop

476. who kicked the crap out of a black kid

477. 'cause you guys don't want to admit

478. you screwed up in the vetting

479. and he never should've been invited in the first place.

480. Seniors, environmentalists

481. African-Americans...

482. You tell me which you think has a greater chance of happening.

483. My reform bill getting passed

484. or the President getting reelected

485. without the three groups I just mentioned?

486. You just named three groups that will never desert the President.

487. Not unless I run as a third-party candidate, no.

488. Those 18 votes are looking a little bigger now, aren't they

489. you patronizing son of a bitch?

490. I was just thinking about this cartoon I once saw.

491. A bunch of tiny fish are swimming

492. through the leaves of a plant.

493. But then one of the fish realizes that it's not a plant

494. it's the tentacles of a predator.

495. And the fish says, "With friends like this, who needs anemones?"

496. Come at us from the left, and I'm gonna own your ass.

497. Carrie, if you would

498. ask someone in my office for the notes on the noon speech?

499. Women in the Arts?

500. Yeah. Yes, ma'am.

501. And would you pack a sweater for the plane?

502. Yeah. Hey, Charlie.

503. Good morning, ma'am. You heading out?

504. Not till tonight. Chicago, then Seattle.

505. I wanted to check to see

506. if I had your permission to draw $500 in cash

507. and walk it over to that woman in the shelter.

508. Oh, I appreciate that. Thank you.

509. Is there anything else I can do for you?

510. No.

511. Thank you, ma'am. Hey.

512. Good morning, sir. I'll be in the office.

513. What was that about?

514. Charlie's going to bring cash over to Jane Robinson.

515. You're packing already?

516. Yep.

517. You're not leaving till tonight, right?

518. Yeah.

519. Men and women are completely different in this regard.

520. When was the last time you packed a suitcase at all?

521. I don't know.

522. I just had breakfast with Sam and Josh.

523. Toby's having breakfast with Seth Gillette

524. who's every bit as pissed at me as you are.

525. Abbey, can we...?

526. Guys, can you give me a minute?

527. We didn't get a chance to talk again last night.

528. I don't think we should.

529. Talk? No.

530. Ever?

531. Oh, if wishing made it so, Jed.

532. I don't think it's a good idea

533. for us to talk about this now.

534. Why?

535. Because you've got to focus on Colombia.

536. I can do two things at once.

537. You don't have two things at once.

538. You have 92 things at once

539. and one of them is five hostages in Colombia.

540. Yes, and I'd like to go about my day

541. without this black cloud around me, so I'd like to talk now!

542. And I'm saying this is

543. a longer conversation than that

544. and I don't want you all over the place

545. and we can talk about it later and you should focus.

546. What are you, my Zen master?

547. Can I be in charge of my own mind?

548. Let me tell you something, jackass!

549. Get as chippy as you want if that makes you feel better.

550. I am your wife. I love you.

551. You have a crisis. You have to deal with it.

552. When it's done, we'll talk.

553. I feel better already.

554. I'm on hold.

555. I'm on hold.

556. I'm on hold.

557. I'm in some hellish hold world of holding.

558. Josh? I'm on hold.

559. They'll call us and tell us when the power's back on.

560. They did call us.

561. What happened? I'm on hold.

562. I'll wait with you.

563. That'll be a lot of fun.

564. So you never told me why this poll is different.

565. Hmm?

566. You never told me why you're interested

567. in these particular numbers.

568. There are five Congressional districts

569. that are concerning me.

570. Which districts?

571. Kentucky 3rd, that's Louisville...

572. and Jefferson.

573. Yeah, Louisiana 4th, Missouri 9th

574. Missouri 6th and Ohio 12th.

575. What's with those five districts?

576. The President last night announced a crime package

577. that would, among other things...

578. require a five-day waiting period for a background check.

579. The five Congressmen in those districts...

580. are sitting on the fence.

581. Right. So you want to know

582. how the crime package polled

583. in those five districts. Yes.

584. If it polled well, you've got your gun law. Probably.

585. If it tanked, you've got

586. to shut up or lose five Democratic House seats.

587. Why do you ask me the question

588. when you're going to have the conversation by yourself?

589. Do you want me to hold the phone for a while?

590. I can hold the phone.

591. Take the phone.

592. Give me the phone.

593. Why are you trying to fix me up with Joey Lucas?

594. I think you'd make a nice couple.

595. Fine.

596. If you got married

597. you'd be Joshua and Josephine Lucas-Lyman.

598. You wouldn't have to get your towels remonogrammed.

599. Thank you.

600. The power's back on.

601. Excellent.

602. Yes.

603. What do we do now?

604. We wait.

605. How you doing, Ainsley?

606. My mouth is dry, my hands are moist and I have to pee.

607. Okay.

608. Hey, you ready?

609. Yes.

610. You sure? Yes.

611. Let's go.

612. Call it off.

613. Here we go.

614. No, really. Ainsley.

615. I'll meet him another time.

616. What other time? A better time.

617. What's a better time? Tomorrow.

618. Don't you have to absolve yourself

619. of the humiliation visited on your family

620. and the House of Atreus?

621. Yes, but I believe I'm going to compound the humiliation.

622. It'll never happen. Really?

623. No, it probably will.

624. Hey.

625. Is he coming?

626. He's stopping in

627. on his way from the thing.

628. How you doing, Ainsley?

629. I'm concerned about peeing on your carpet.

630. Okay. Well, now I am, too.

631. Tell her it's going to be fine.

632. Your skirt's on backwards.

633. May I use the bathroom?

634. Yes.

635. Thank you.

636. Ainsley...

637. Hey.

638. Good evening, Mr. President.

639. Is she here?

640. Ainsley Hayes? Yeah.

641. Yes, sir.

642. Where is she?

643. She's in the closet, Mr. President.

644. Why?

645. She thought it was a bathroom.

646. Why is she still in there?

647. That's kind of hard to say, sir.

648. Why don't we get her out here?

649. Yeah.

650. Ainsley?

651. Yes?

652. Ainsley, why don't you come on out of there?

653. How you doing?

654. We met last night.

655. You were singing and dancing in a bathrobe.

656. Yes, sir.

657. Why were you in the closet?

658. I had to pee.

659. They won't let me smoke inside, but you can pee in Leo's closet?

660. Mr. President... I appreciate

661. your coming to work for me, Ainsley.

662. You're an exceptionally bright young woman.

663. Is your father proud of you?

664. Yes, sir.

665. I'll bet he is.

666. Listen... Mr. President.

667. Sam.

668. What happened?

669. Charlie, get the door.

670. What happened?

671. Mr. President...

672. Did we lose the hostages?

673. The hostages weren't there.

674. What are you talking about? Oh, God.

675. What are you talking about?

676. The radio communications

677. we'd been intercepting on the Siglnt were wrong.

678. When the Deltas got to the area, it was a dry hole

679. and that's when... No.

680. one of the two Blackhawk helicopters was shot down

681. by a shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missile.

682. How many guys were on the Blackhawk?

683. The pilot, the engineer and seven Deltas.

684. So I've got nine more guys now on the ground

685. we've got to get back.

686. Mr. President...

687. Sir, the second Blackhawk went in and recovered the bodies.

688. They're dead.

689. Yes, sir.

690. I want the President of Colombia on the phone.

691. I want a translator in this room right now.

692. Damn it!

693. Damn it!

694. Sir...

695. How the hell did that happen?

696. It was bad intelligence.

697. You think?

698. The Frente left behind a radio and a soldier at the outpost

699. and they were deliberately sending misinformation.

700. We've never anticipated the possibility

701. that somebody might try that?

702. Sir... We weren't prepared

703. for someone to try and out-fox us

704. with a stratagem so sophisticated

705. it's an entire generation beyond

706. "Hey look, your shoelaces are untied"?

707. Is that how I just lost nine guys

708. to a damn street gang with a ham radio?

709. They lured us there

710. so that they could kill nine American soldiers.

711. Where are the bodies?

712. They're on their way back.

713. Where?

714. Dover

715. around 4:00 a.m.

716. Mr. President?

717. We have a secure connection.

718. Is somebody translating on the other end?

719. Yes, sir.

720. Mr. President

721. this is the President of the United States.

722. Good evening, Mr. President.

723. Mr. President, 90 minutes ago

724. the United States invaded Colombian airspace.

725. Two Blackhawk helicopters

726. went into Tres Encinas with 20 Delta Commandos

727. on intelligence that the hostages were being moved.

728. One of the Blackhawks was shot down.

729. There were nine military fatalities.

730. I'm terribly sorry to hear that, Mr. President.

731. I'd like to ask for your assistance

732. in confirming that the five hostages are still alive.

733. The hostages are alive.

734. How does he know that?

735. How do you know that?

736. We have confirmation

737. that we're transmitting to you through channels.

738. Mr. President?

739. Yes.

740. I respect and appreciate your diplomacy

741. in not yet asking me to release Juan Aguilar from prison.

742. I'm not going to ask you, Miguel.

743. I'm willing to do it at this point.

744. Say that again?

745. I'm willing to let Aguilar out

746. in exchange for the hostages if you ask me to.

747. Well, I appreciate your making that offer

748. but I don't think that's a very good idea.

749. I agree with you

750. but I'm making the offer and I'm leaving it up to you.

751. Okay.

752. Thank you, Mr. President.

753. Thank you, Mr. President.

754. Wait, Toby...

755. Hang on a second, Sam.

756. You give in to terrorist demands and that's the ball game.

757. I understand the principle

758. but there are real lives at stake.

759. Oh, it's easy to stick to principle

760. if nothing's at stake, Sam.

761. Well, sir, let's argue about principles

762. after these five guys get home.

763. Juan Aguilar runs

764. one of the largest drug cartels in the world.

765. Sir... He has produced $15 billion

766. worth of cocaine in two years.

767. He's murdered or ordered the murder

768. of eight Supreme Court Justices

769. a pro-extradition Prime Minister

770. and three Federal Police Officers in Bogota.

771. And from his prison cell

772. I guarantee you

773. he orchestrated the kidnapping

774. of five U.S. DEA agents and the killing of their rescuers.

775. I believe he did as well, Mr. President

776. which is all the evidence you need

777. that it couldn't matter less

778. whether Juan Aguilar is in prison or not.

779. I'm not letting him out.

780. I'll share a cell with him before I let him out.

781. I want military options.

782. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

783. Thank you, sir.

784. Thank you, Mr. President.

785. Yeah.

786. Joey says it's probably just another hour.

787. She'll bring the numbers here?

788. Yeah.

789. Josh, how is this not a no-brainer?

790. Colombia?

791. Yeah.

792. You say get them home?

793. Of course I say get them home.

794. Who doesn't say get them home?

795. That should be the person

796. who has to make the phone call to the families.

797. And who calls the families of the nine commandos who just died

798. trying to save five guys

799. it turns out we could have freed six hours ago?

800. That's not a good enough reason.

801. The good enough reason is

802. you give in to terrorists

803. it gives them an incentive to keep terrorizing.

804. Not negotiating with them

805. hasn't given them much of a dis-incentive.

806. How do you know?

807. You don't think they're going to kidnap another five people

808. tomorrow morning and demand 12 months of free cable?

809. So you give them free cable.

810. How about the keys to the Situation Room?

811. You draw a line.

812. Where?

813. She said about an hour?

814. On the early numbers?

815. Yeah.

816. Yeah.

817. Do we know where they are?

818. They were moved about 60 miles into the jungle at Villacerreno.

819. What would it take to get them back?

820. Alive?

821. Yeah.

822. Mr. President, um...

823. What would it take to wipe them out?

824. The Frente?

825. Yeah.

826. What would it take?

827. Mr. President

828. for the kind of victory Americans are used to

829. the kind of victory Americans demand from a war

830. you need a ten to one ratio.

831. It was only after we built up a ten to one ratio

832. in the Gulf that we felt comfortable making a move.

833. The Frente has 20,000 well-armed, well-trained soldiers, each of whom has

834. a financial stake in heroin and cocaine.

835. We need to put 200,000 to 300,000 men into a jungle war

836. and I think we'd lose as many as half.

837. Half.

838. Yes, sir.

839. You really got to ask yourself

840. what's the point in being a superpower anymore.

841. I wanted to bring that book for the Governor.

842. The Truman biography?

843. Yeah, and you've got a sweater for the plane?

844. Yes, ma'am.

845. And you guys should both take sweaters.

846. And then there's the repacking.

847. Good evening, Mr. President.

848. First there's the preliminary, or the dry run.

849. Then there's the actual packing.

850. Abbey, you're just going away for two days, right?

851. Guys.

852. Right?

853. What happened?

854. It was an ambush.

855. Oh, God.

856. A guy with a shoulder thing shot down a Blackhawk.

857. Everybody's dead.

858. Nine guys.

859. Meanwhile, they've moved the hostages

860. 60 miles into the jungle

861. where we'd need a pair of tweezers to get them out.

862. You want me to stay?

863. No.

864. I can stay.

865. No.

866. I didn't make the decision to run again.

867. I wouldn't do that without you.

868. Oh, we don't need to talk about that now.

869. When, Abbey? Jed...

870. I didn't make the decision to run again.

871. Yes, you did.

872. If we're going to talk about this, let's talk about this.

873. The moves over the last few weeks

874. the changes in last night's speech...

875. this whole place is in reelection mode.

876. That's what we do, Abbey— we run for things.

877. From the day a Congressman is sworn in

878. he's got to raise $10,000 a week so he can get reelected.

879. A President gets to govern for 18 months.

880. We try to get people to vote for us

881. and, in the process

882. we hope the people force us to do good things.

883. We had a deal.

884. Yes, we had a deal.

885. Yes, Jed.

886. Look at me!

887. Do you get the you have MS?

888. Abbey...

889. Do you get that your own immune system is shredding your brain?

890. And I can't tell you why.

891. Do you have any idea how good a doctor I am

892. and that I can't tell you why?

893. I've had one episode in two years.

894. Yes, but relapsing/ remitting MS

895. can turn into secondary progressive MS—

896. oftentimes ten years after the initial diagnosis.

897. Which is exactly where we'll be in two years.

898. Do you know what that's going to look like if it happens?

899. I know what it's...

900. Fatigue

901. an inability to get through the day.

902. Look...

903. Memory lapses, loss of cognitive function

904. failure to reason, failure to think clearly.

905. And I can't tell you if it's going to happen.

906. I don't know if it's going to get better.

907. I don't know if it's going to get worse.

908. But we had a deal

909. and that deal was how you justified

910. keeping it a secret from the world.

911. It's how you justified it to God.

912. It's how you justified it to me.

913. Mrs. Bartlet?

914. Yeah.

915. You sure you don't want me to stay?

916. Yeah.

917. Okay.

918. Have a good trip.

919. Call me when you get there.

920. I will.

921. I love you.

922. I love you, too.

923. Son of a bitch.

924. I'm sorry.

925. Five-day waiting period— that's all.

926. A person can't wait five days to buy a gun?

927. Someone needs a gun right now

928. right this second, isn't that something

929. the public should be concerned about?

930. On the other hand, taking the feelings

931. of gun owners into account, if you've got to shoot somebody

932. it probably isn't something that can wait.

933. Yeah.

934. You mind if I take off?

935. What time is it?

936. 2:00 a.m.

937. All right, we'll call that a full day.

938. But come in early tomorrow.

939. Yeah.

940. You all right getting home?

941. Yeah. Good night, guys.

942. Good night.

943. They're just preliminary numbers.

944. They're not going to change.

945. No.

946. A five-day waiting period.

947. It tested well nationwide.

948. Yeah.

949. 58 percent.

950. I didn't need nationwide.

951. I needed those five districts.

952. Now we're going to have to dial down

953. the gun rhetoric in the Midwest.

954. Why not dial it up?

955. Because these numbers just told us that...

956. You don't know what these numbers just told you.

957. I'm an expert.

958. I don't know what these numbers just told you.

959. We know.

960. Really?

961. Numbers don't lie.

962. They lie all the time.

963. They lie when 72 percent of Americans

964. say they're tired of a sex scandal

965. while, all the while, newspaper circulation

966. goes through the roof for anyone featuring the story.

967. If you polled 100 Donnas

968. and asked them if they think we should go out

969. you'd get a high positive response.

970. But the poll wouldn't tell you it's because she likes you

971. and she knows it's beginning to show

972. and she needs to cover herself with misdirection.

973. Believe me when I tell you that's not true.

974. You say that these numbers mean dial it down.

975. I say they mean dial it up.

976. You haven't gotten through.

977. There are people you haven't persuaded yet.

978. These numbers mean dial it up.

979. Otherwise, you're like the French radical

980. watching a crowd run by and saying

981. "There go my people.

982. I must find out where they're going so I can lead them."

983. Yeah.

984. We'll go through the rest of the numbers in the morning.

985. Okay.

986. Good evening, sir.

987. Hey, Charlie.

988. You shouldn't be out here without a coat.

989. I'm okay.

990. Mr. President?

991. Yeah.

992. Is there anything I can do for you?

993. No. Thank you.

994. Hey.

995. I checked outside.

996. I thought you'd be having a cigarette.

997. Let me tell you something, Leo

998. after heroin and cocaine, tobacco's next.

999. Great.

1000. Another criminal empire we can give birth to.

1001. There'll be speakeasies all over Chicago

1002. where you can get smuggled cartons of Marlboro Lights.

1003. I fought a jungle war.

1004. I'm not doing it again.

1005. If I could put myself anywhere in time

1006. it would be the Cabinet Room on August 4th, 1964

1007. when our ships were attacked

1008. by North Vietnam in the Tonkin Gulf.

1009. I'd say, "Mr. President, don't do it.

1010. "You're considering authorizing a massive commitment of troops

1011. "and throwing in our lot with torturers and panderers

1012. "leaders without principle and soldiers without conviction

1013. with no clear mission and no end in sight."

1014. This war is at home.

1015. Its casualties are in our prisons and not our hospitals.

1016. The amount of money

1017. the American government is spending in Colombia

1018. is the exact same amount

1019. American consumers are spending buying drugs from Colombia.

1020. We're funding both sides of this war

1021. and we'll never win it that way.

1022. Leo, I can't possibly reverse...

1023. No one...

1024. I can't possibly reverse our position on negotiating.

1025. No one's going to know.

1026. You don't make another phone call.

1027. That happens someplace else.

1028. Santos is going to be the one to let him out.

1029. There were just 14 people in the room

1030. who heard Santos make me the offer.

1031. Those 14 people keep bigger secrets than this.

1032. You know what Truman Capote said

1033. was the bad part about living outside the law?

1034. What?

1035. You no longer have the protection of it.

1036. What's to stop me?

1037. 200 CIA operatives, Black Ops

1038. 200 guys with no wives, no kids, no parents...

1039. I send 200 operatives down there.

1040. Monday morning, I read in the paper Juan Aguilar is dead.

1041. What's to stop me?

1042. We lost this one, Mr. President.

1043. It was bad intelligence

1044. and we lost this one.

1045. It was the Queen's Rook.

1046. That's why I couldn't trade the Bishop.

1047. It was over six moves ago.

1048. Arrange for their immediate release.

1049. Yes, sir, Mr. President.

1050. If they so much as experience turbulence on their way out...

1051. Yes, sir.

1052. I want to go to Dover later tonight.

1053. Yes, sir.

1054. Thank you.

1055. Thank you, Mr. President.

1056. Folks, take your seats please.

1057. The briefing will start now.

1058. Folks, can you take your seats?

1059. Good evening.

1060. Thank you for coming back so late.

1061. I want now to fill you in on some events

1062. that have taken place in the last 24 hours.

1063. When I'm through, there will be representatives

1064. from the Pentagon, State Department

1065. and Justice Department who will continue with your questions.

1066. Yesterday, at approximately 8:00 p.m. Eastern time

1067. five agents from the DEA were taken hostage

1068. in the Putumayo region of Colombia by members...

1069. Let's hang on a second...

1070. Hostages are out.

1071. I'll call their families after this.

1072. whose name we're not releasing at this time.

1073. President Miguel Santos, acting on his own authority

1074. has informed the President that he will release the hostage

1075. if the President...

1076. Left wheel, halt.

1077. Forward, march.