The West Wing 2x4

1. Previously on The West Wing:

2. I don't know these people.

3. You will.

4. Which one is Toby?

5. I am.

6. And which one are you?

7. I'm Josh.

8. My name's Charlie Young.

9. I'm Donna Moss. Who are you?

10. I'm just guessing. I'm pretty drunk.

11. Which one is Josh?

12. It's C.J. Cregg.

13. Toby Ziegler, C.J. Cregg, Sam Seaborn...

14. You got to be a little impressed

15. I got those names right just now.

16. Two minutes to air.

17. Hey, Sam.

18. Hey, Mark.

19. You done?

20. Yeah.

21. It's not going to be Wengland.

22. What happened?

23. He's stuck in Denver.

24. I wanted Wengland.

25. Did you get Stackhouse?

26. Couldn't get Stackhouse

27. couldn't get Santana, couldn't get Monroe.

28. Who'd you get?

29. A woman named Ainsley Hayes.

30. Aimsley?

31. Ainsley, with an "n."

32. I don't know her.

33. I got a new producer. He brought her in.

34. Tell me she's not one of his...

35. She is.

36. I thought that was over.

37. No, no, it's not.

38. She's got blonde hair, long legs

39. and she's a Republican.

40. She's in show business.

41. Yeah.

42. A young, blonde, leggy Republican.

43. Yeah.

44. I thought it turned out they didn't know anything.

45. They don't.

46. Sam. ! Yeah.

47. Ainsley? Yes.

48. Mark Godfried.

49. Ainsley Hayes.

50. So, we'll be starting here in about a minute

51. I understand you've never done TV before.

52. No, not as such, no.

53. Not as such— what does that mean?

54. It means no, I haven't done TV before.

55. Okay, well, can I give you a little friendly advice?

56. Yes, I would appreciate it.

57. Don't overreach.

58. Don't overreach?

59. Don't try to do too much.

60. Don't try to know more than you do.

61. My show's not the place for you to become a star.

62. You'll be opposite Sam Seaborn.

63. He's done the show a couple dozen times.

64. The White House wouldn't keep sending him

65. if he didn't keep wiping the floor

66. with whoever's in your chair.

67. I've seen him.

68. Don't be scared.

69. I'll try.

70. I'll take some of the punches for you

71. if it gets out of hand

72. but if you don't get too far from the talking points

73. I'm sure somebody gave you that...

74. Yeah. You'll be fine.

75. Thirty seconds.

76. Are we starting with the education package?

77. Yeah.

78. You owe me 20 bucks on the 'Skins.

79. In the Green Room, man.

80. I'm Sam Seaborn.

81. Ainsley Hayes.

82. 20 seconds.

83. You bet with George on the Skins?

84. Over, under. How's Josh?

85. He's good.

86. Ten seconds.

87. Here we go. Remember what I said.

88. Yeah.

89. In five, four, three...

90. Capital Beat, with Mark Godfried.

91. Tonight from the right

92. Republican political analyst Ainsley Hayes.

93. And from the left, White House Senior Advisor Sam Seaborn

94. with Chris Isan at the Pentagon and Marjorie Clark in New York.

95. Good evening.

96. Before we get to Chris and Marjorie

97. tonight on the Capital Beat

98. the House is expected to vote next week

99. on President Bartlet's $1.5 billion education package.

100. Sam Seaborn, why is this bill

101. better than its Republican counterpart

102. that the President vetoed last year?

103. Because it buys things that teachers need, like textbooks.

104. In a fairly comprehensive study that was done

105. an alarmingly high number of teachers—

106. 40% of the teachers in Kirkwood, Oregon, for instance—

107. and Kirkwood, Oregon being a fair model

108. for public school districts across the country—

109. 40% of the teachers in Kirkwood, Oregon

110. report not having sufficient

111. textbooks for their students.

112. The package offered by the Republican-controlled Congress

113. offered a grand total

114. of zero dollars for new textbooks.

115. Ainsley Hayes, is that true?

116. No, it's not.

117. Is Sam Seaborn lying?

118. "Lying" is an awfully strong word.

119. Do you... Yes, he's lying.

120. And we should tell the truth

121. about education.

122. If you're... The bill contained

123. money for new textbooks—

124. also computer literacy, school safety, physical plant.

125. The difference is we wanted to give the money

126. directly to communities

127. and let them decide how best to spend it

128. on the off-chance that the needs of Lincoln High in Dayton

129. are different from the needs of Crenshaw High

130. in South Central L.A.

131. Sam, why did the President veto the bill?

132. Because it guaranteed by law

133. that 95% of the money go directly into the classroom

134. and bypass the pork barrel buffet

135. which is troubling to this president because

136. he doesn't work for the students

137. and he doesn't work for the parents of the students.

138. He works for the teachers' union.

139. Here comes the old...

140. The bill contained plenty of money for textbooks, Mark

141. and anyone who says otherwise is flat-out lying.

142. I mean, we should tell the truth about this.

143. Textbooks are important

144. if for no other reason

145. than they'd accurately place the town of Kirkwood

146. in California, and not Oregon.

147. And we're in business.

148. We'll be back with more Capital Beat after this.

149. We're out.

150. I'm sorry. Did I overreach?

151. Hey, Sam. ! Yeah.

152. This one might know something.

153. Yeah.

154. Please, oh, please, let them not be watching.

155. Toby, come quick.

156. Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl.

157. Ginger, get the popcorn.

158. C.J.: There will be photo-op in the Mural Room

159. in a half hour with President Bartlet and President Nimbala

160. of the Republic of Equatorial Kuhndu

161. who's representing the African nations.

162. Uh, C.J., is it the goal of the summit

163. to get the drug companies to lower their prices

164. or is the goal to get the African countries

165. to honor U.S. patents?

166. The goal of the summit is to get a step closer

167. to solving 26 million African AIDS victims.

168. We're counting on the drug companies

169. we're counting on the African nations

170. we're counting on the global health community

171. and they're counting on the White House

172. to help broker a solution.

173. Is the White House prepared

174. to declare war on the drug companies?

175. Well, it sounds like you already have

176. so if we need a button man, we'll call you.

177. Thank you, everybody. Half hour in the mural room.

178. We're going to need to be in three groups.

179. Yeah.

180. You know what you might have mentioned?

181. It was a 14-minute briefing.

182. I'm really going to get reviews?

183. You might have mentioned that the same drug

184. that cost $10.80 in Norway, where nobody needs it

185. costs $90.00 in Burundi, where everybody needs it.

186. There's nothing keeping these people here but goodwill, Toby.

187. They can charge what they want for their products.

188. Sounded to me like we intended to be soft on the drug companies.

189. Toby, I don't think anybody expects this White House

190. to be anything but tough

191. on American companies showing a profit.

192. Damn right.

193. Where was the '92 World Copyright Conference?

194. Geneva. Thank you.

195. C.J.: Sam, I've really got to admire

196. the way you came into work this morning, head held high.

197. And I appreciate your being the one person

198. who's managed to abstain from heckling me.

199. No problem. There's a whole bunch of women over there.

200. Why don't you ask them whether Geneva's

201. in Switzerland or Oregon?

202. Okay. Go to my office.

203. Me and you, 20 Questions

204. short answer, general knowledge test

205. right now— I'll spot you two questions.

206. For how much money?

207. Go to my office.

208. I'm going to his office.

209. She's making the chicken sound now.

210. Go to my office.

211. A drug they've got to buy from us

212. for four dollars a unit

213. they can get generic from Pakistan for 40 cents.

214. That's not the only bargain in Pakistan, Toby.

215. My girlfriends and I

216. go for the spring fashions.

217. It shows.

218. C.J.

219. He just made a little dig about my clothes

220. and that's what's going to be with me the rest of the day.

221. C.J., I wanted to introduce myself.

222. I'm Bill Kelley from the Cleveland Courier. Hi.

223. They're breaking me in to cover for Tom Johnson.

224. I've been sitting in the back. Welcome.

225. Can I ask you something?

226. That's what I'm here for.

227. Do you know anything about

228. Bonamo Energy selling drilling equipment to Iraq?

229. I'm not going to wave you off the story

230. but I can't tell you anything about it.

231. If they were selling the Iraqis

232. drilling equipment, that would be in violation

233. of sanctions, wouldn't it?

234. Grand jury investigations are secret, Bill.

235. I can't tell you any more about it.

236. I understand. Nice meeting you.

237. Nice meeting you.

238. Bill.

239. Yeah?

240. Nothing, just...

241. nothing.

242. Okay.

243. Then you've got guys like Mbeki who turn around

244. and say that AIDS isn't linked to HIV

245. it's linked to poverty.

246. It is linked to poverty.

247. Would you to show you the list of dead millionaires?

248. He was saying that prostitutes, migrant laborers, the ill-educated

249. and victims of sexual abuse are more likely...

250. Leo, AIDS is caused by HIV.

251. You just named a group of people that have

252. a higher mortality rate across the board.

253. Morning, Charlie. Good morning, Mr. President.

254. Where are we?

255. We're all set, sir, whenever you're ready.

256. Thank you.

257. With the health minister

258. trying to clear up his comments.

259. They have a health minister

260. who doesn't think AIDS is connected to HIV.

261. He was clearing up the comments.

262. Hey, did you see Sam get pureed last night on Capital Beat?

263. I didn't see it, but I have heard tell.

264. He got diced and sliced by a woman named Ainsley Hayes.

265. She's been writing some columns.

266. I know, I had Charlie pull them for me.

267. Where's she been?

268. She was clerking for Dreifort.

269. We should hire her.

270. That'd be funny.

271. No, I mean it. Mean what?

272. We should hire her.

273. Well, you mean as a joke on Sam?

274. No, not as a joke, I mean we should hire her as a reality.

275. We should hire her.

276. She's a Republican.

277. So are half the people in this country.

278. Well, that half lost...

279. She's smart. She's not just carping.

280. She feels a sense of something.

281. Of what? Mr. President.

282. Yeah... of duty, of civic duty.

283. How many pieces by her did you read?

284. Three.

285. And you're certain of her sense of civic duty?

286. I can sense civic duty a mile away.

287. Good morning.

288. Good morning, everybody.

289. Good morning, Mr. President.

290. Good morning, sir.

291. You can tell your caption editors

292. that Bartlet's the third guy from the right.

293. Thank you, sir.

294. Presidents Bartlet and Nimbala will take

295. just a few questions.

296. President Bartlet. Katie.

297. This is a summit among leaders

298. of American pharmaceutical companies and the AIDS-ravaged

299. African nations that President Nimbala is representing here.

300. Is there a political upside

301. to only having President Nimbala at this photo-op and not

302. the pharmaceutical companies?

303. Yes, Katie, I'm trying to shore up the sub-Saharan vote.

304. Are you considering asking Congress

305. to forgive existing debt?

306. It's an international health crisis.

307. There's nothing I'm not considering.

308. Arthur.

309. President Nimbala, what's the best you could hope

310. to come away with from this summit? What's a home run?

311. A miracle.

312. There are people who make miracles in the world.

313. One of them lives right here in the U.S.

314. He realized that vital elements could be harvested

315. from the stalk of the wheat.

316. In his hands, India, which at the time had been ravaged

317. by drought and overpopulation.

318. In his hands, the wheat crop increased from 11 million tons

319. to 60 million tons annually.

320. That's right; his name is Norman Borlaug, by the way

321. and he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.

322. C.J.: Thank you, Mr. President

323. President Nimbala. Thank you, everyone.

324. I think you're absolutely right

325. about the kind of miracle we need.

326. I think we're going to make a lot of progress

327. in the next couple of days.

328. I hope so, Mr. President.

329. My country is dying.

330. It was called dwarf wheat, which produces heavy yields

331. without its stalk falling over from the weight of the grain.

332. Was it a hybrid?

333. What am I, Farmer Bob?

334. It was wheat and it was more than there used to be.

335. Okay.

336. And hire that girl.

337. What girl?

338. Ainsley Hayes.

339. No.

340. Why?

341. 'Cause this is one of those things

342. you're excited about after breakfast

343. that you forget you told me to do by lunch.

344. It's not one of those.

345. It is one of those.

346. Leo, hard as you might try

347. the Republican Party isn't going anywhere.

348. We don't know that for sure, sir.

349. They could all end up moving to Vancouver.

350. I don't think so.

351. Me neither, but being in power

352. means everybody else can take a seat for four years.

353. Charlie, I want to hire a woman

354. whose voice I think would fit in nicely around here.

355. She's a conservative Republican.

356. You think I should do it?

357. Absolutely, Mr. President

358. 'cause I'm told that theirs is the party of inclusion.

359. See, Charlie just made a joke to you

360. in the Oval Office.

361. That's how bad an idea it is.

362. Leo.

363. Seriously, Mr. President

364. if you want to do this, it's not an uninteresting notion.

365. Let's just do it in a more high-profile place:

366. put a Republican in the Cabinet.

367. We might do that, Leo.

368. A hundred million Republicans—

369. we might hire as many as two of them.

370. But for now, hire this girl.

371. To do what?

372. I don't know. She's a lawyer.

373. Put her in the Counsel's office.

374. You really want me to do this?

375. Yes.

376. What if she doesn't want to work here?

377. Appeal to her sense of duty.

378. Smooth it over with the staff.

379. Really, I don't want to hear from them.

380. She can always have my job, you know.

381. Yes, she can.

382. Thank you, Mr. President.

383. Thank you.

384. And Charlie.

385. Yes, sir?

386. When they close the book on me and you

387. it will say that at this moment, you were not there for me

388. and for that, obviously

389. there'll be some kind of punishment.

390. Well, you could sing Puccini again for me, Mr. President

391. and we could call it even.

392. Ainsley ( on TV ): And anyone who says otherwise is flat-out lying.

393. Here it comes.

394. Does anybody have...

395. Shh! Shh!

396. Ainsley ( on TV ): Textbooks are important

397. if for no other reason

398. than they'd accurately place the town of Kirkwood

399. in California, and not in Oregon.

400. Oh, I could watch that a hundred times.

401. Does anybody know how to work Caller I.D.?

402. Oh, how can you not know how to use a telephone?

403. I've been paying attention to other things.

404. Well, pay attention to that

405. because Bruce's friend is going to call you.

406. The agent? Yep.

407. I don't need an agent.

408. I need a Caller I.D. tutorial.

409. You need an agent. You're going to be a star.

410. Used to be you had to sing and dance.

411. You are going to get a lot of work

412. ripping these people to shreds and looking good doing it.

413. That's an actual job now?

414. That's him.

415. Let's see. I push this button...

416. the phone number appears...

417. Ainsley?

418. "202-456-1414."

419. Is that the agent?

420. It's the White House.

421. Hey, Sam.

422. Excuse me?

423. What?

424. Did you say something to me?

425. I-I said, "Hey, Sam."

426. Really?

427. Yeah.

428. 'Cause it sounded like maybe you might have made a wisecrack

429. about Oregon and California.

430. Sorry. Out of luck.

431. Hey, C.J.

432. Hi, Donna.

433. Just getting here?

434. Yeah.

435. It's late for you.

436. I got lost.

437. Where?

438. On the way to work.

439. When? Now! This morning.

440. You got lost on your way to work?

441. Good morning, Carol.

442. Morning, Carol.

443. It's 8:15.

444. We'll do messages in a minute.

445. You got lost on your way to work?

446. Don't make fun of me.

447. I wouldn't worry about that.

448. I didn't sleep much last night.

449. How much? None. Not at all.

450. You slept none? Not at all?

451. Sam... I am today particularly excited

452. about you being the spokesperson for the President.

453. Let me ask you something.

454. I was talking yesterday

455. to a reporter who's new in the room

456. and he asked me a question, and-and my answer...

457. Let me ask you something.

458. C.J.?

459. Yeah?

460. You know you haven't asked me anything yet, right?

461. Yeah.

462. Yeah, listen. Never mind.

463. C.J.?

464. Seriously, forget about it.

465. What was your question?

466. The two of you

467. come take a walk with me.

468. What's going on?

469. I wanted to tell you this out where there were people

470. so you wouldn't scream about it.

471. Scream about what?

472. The woman who was

473. on Capitol Beat with Sam Sunday night.

474. What about her?

475. I'm offering her a job.

476. Where?

477. Here.

478. Are you kidding? No.

479. Are you kidding? No.

480. Are you kidding?

481. No.

482. What made you think

483. I wouldn't scream where they are people?

484. I took a shot.

485. Leo! Leo!

486. Shh! Outside.

487. I don't feel that I've honed in on this.

488. Oh, a lot of people in Africa

489. with HIV.

490. Right.

491. American companies hold the patents

492. on the medicines they need.

493. Most people in most African countries

494. can't afford to buy the drugs at these prices

495. so they buy them on the black market.

496. In violation of U.S. patents

497. and international treaties.

498. Yes. How prohibitively priced are the drugs?

499. Costs about 150 bucks a week.

500. That's not totally off the charts.

501. A police officer in Kenya makes $43 a month.

502. Do good in there.

503. This isn't about prof...

504. Man 2: Sir...

505. This isn't about profit...

506. Sir, you have

507. interrupted me again.

508. My apologies, Mr. President.

509. How can you tell us

510. this isn't about profit maximization?

511. Why do you sell Emperex

512. for half the price in Norway

513. than you do in my country?

514. That's not the issue.

515. Let's make it the issue. Toby...

516. Let's make it the issue for the moment.

517. You can't compare prices worldwide, Toby.

518. Excuse me, sir?

519. Yes.

520. I was the one who asked you

521. the question, and I'd appreciate it

522. if you direct your answer to me.

523. President Nimbala...

524. when you sell to small pharmacies

525. as we do in Norway, a different price is set.

526. Norway...

527. Norway, $10 per unit U.S.; my country, $23 per unit U.S.

528. Retail markup, taxes, pharmacy discounts...

529. These things vary widely.

530. Not to mention we don't even know

531. if the drugs are getting to your citizens.

532. You're implying corruption and incompetence.

533. We do have reports of that, Mr. President.

534. You talk to me about corruption?

535. What are your annual sales of Fluconazole alone?

536. A billion dollars.

537. I don't understand your point, sir.

538. I think President Nimbala's saying

539. there's more money in giving a white guy

540. an erection than curing a black guy of AIDS.

541. Sir, my company

542. has given away over $120 million worth

543. of free drugs a year

544. including free doses of Xyclacinth

545. which is one of two drugs in your country

546. curing eye infections right now.

547. They're not dying from eye infections, Alan.

548. Well, they're not dying 'cause of me either, Toby

549. and I'd like not to be talked to this way.

550. Alan, if it was 26 million Europeans dying

551. we'd have had a solution yesterday.

552. How much would it cost for you to provide free drugs

553. to the Sahelese Republic, Kenya

554. and the Republic of Equatorial Kuhndu?

555. I have no idea.

556. Why not? We're talking about 130,000 patients

557. 200-milligram pills, three times a day, every day.

558. What's the "x" factor?

559. We don't know how long they'll live.

560. We're nowhere.

561. Let's take a break.

562. Leo, she's here. Yeah?

563. Should I send her in?

564. Yeah.

565. Do you want me to stay here?

566. Why?

567. In case something should happen.

568. What would that be, exactly?

569. I'll bring her in.

570. Thank you.

571. Ainsley.

572. Mr. McGarry.

573. Leo's fine.

574. Yes, sir.

575. Were you offered coffee

576. or something to drink?

577. Yes, the woman who works out there

578. who I imagine is your secretary

579. offered me coffee or a soft drink.

580. Okay, so...

581. She was also kind enough to ask for my coat.

582. Excellent, and...

583. She seems to be a very good secretary.

584. Well, she'll be happy to hear that.

585. She's standing right outside the door.

586. Ow.

587. So, I have to tell you

588. I've never seen Sam Seaborn get beat

589. the way you beat him on Monday.

590. Yes, well, Mr. McGarry...

591. Leo.

592. Yes, sir, I've been thinking about that

593. ever since your office called me on Tuesday

594. and I have something to say on my own behalf

595. if you'll permit me a moment to say it

596. and I understand if you won't

597. but I would really appreciate it if you did.

598. I didn't really follow that, but whatever.

599. I think that it is wrong for a man in your position

600. to summon someone to the White House

601. to reprimand them for voicing opposition.

602. I think that that is wrong

603. and it is inappropriate.

604. It's inappropriate, and I'll tell you what else...

605. It's wrong? Yes.

606. Except you weren't summoned here to be reprimanded.

607. Then if you'll permit me, why was I summoned?

608. You have an interesting conversational style

609. you know that?

610. It's a nervous condition.

611. I used to have a nervous condition.

612. How did yours manifest itself?

613. I drank a lot of scotch.

614. I get sick when I drink too much.

615. I get drunk when I drink too much.

616. Well, Mr. McGarry... Leo.

617. Yes, sir, I'll ask again.

618. For what purpose was I brought here today?

619. So I could offer you a job.

620. I'm asking because I do not think that it is fair

621. that I be expected to play the role of the mouse

622. to the White House's cat in the game of...

623. you know the game.

624. Cat and mouse?

625. Yes, and it's not like I'm not...

626. The fact that I may not look

627. like some of the other Republicans

628. who have crossed your path

629. does not mean that I am any less inclined toward...

630. Here it comes.

631. Did you say offer me a job?

632. Yes. Associate White House Counsel.

633. You're to report to the Deputy White House Counsel

634. who reports to the White House Counsel, who reports to me.

635. I'm sorry. A job in this White House?

636. You want a glass of scotch?

637. Yes, please.

638. C.J.?

639. Yeah.

640. C.J., see a sleep doctor, take a pill, do something.

641. I rode the life-cycle this morning for an hour and a half.

642. If it was a real cycle, I'd have been in Belgium by now.

643. C.J., what did you want to ask me the other day?

644. Sam, if I talked to you about it

645. you could be subpoenaed.

646. Don't worry about it.

647. It could cost you, and...

648. Don't worry about it.

649. I do worry about it.

650. There's no problem.

651. I just need some sleep.

652. What can I bring into the room

653. about the conference?

654. The sessions are productive.

655. Progress is being made.

656. These kind of things take time.

657. All the parties are optimistic.

658. Are any of the parties optimistic?

659. No.

660. C.J.?

661. Yeah.

662. Did you say something to me?

663. No.

664. 'Cause... I thought you might've said something to me.

665. I have always been a Republican.

666. My father

667. is a Republican.

668. His father was State Chairman

669. of the North Carolina Republican Party.

670. Yes.

671. When I was young, I was a Young Republican.

672. Ainsley, even if you hadn't already told me all of this—

673. you know, many, many times—

674. I would know it anyway because I have this FBI file.

675. You have my FBI file?

676. Yes.

677. You have my FBI file? Yes.

678. I have an FBI file?

679. Ainsley.

680. Mr. McGarry, I loathe

681. almost everything you believe in...

682. Where are you going?

683. I'm not going anywhere. I'm standing up

684. which is how one speaks in opposition

685. in a civilized world.

686. Well, you go, girl.

687. I find this administration

688. smug and patronizing, and under the impression

689. that those who disagree with them

690. are less than they are, and with colder hearts.

691. I don't think that's true.

692. How many people on your staff

693. assumed that I was ambitious, mean, and stupid?

694. None.

695. C.J. Cregg thinks you kill your pets.

696. You don't do that, do you?

697. No, I don't kill my pets.

698. I don't have any pets.

699. I was thinking about getting a pet...

700. but that doesn't matter.

701. The point is... Ainsley.

702. Don't you want to work in the White House?

703. Oh, only since I was two.

704. Okay.

705. It has to be this White House?

706. Ainsley... Mr. McGarry...

707. The President likes smart people who disagree with him.

708. He wants to hear from you.

709. The President's asking you to serve...

710. and everything else is crap.

711. Think about it overnight.

712. Come back here

713. at 6:00 tomorrow and give me your answer.

714. Margaret!

715. How you doing?

716. Show Miss Hayes out, would you, please?

717. This way.

718. No, you're listening to me

719. but you're not understanding me.

720. No, I'm disagreeing with you.

721. That doesn't mean I'm not listening to you

722. or understanding what you're saying.

723. I'm doing all three at the same time.

724. You've got to get out of their face, Toby.

725. They can get up any time they want

726. and we don't have anything they need.

727. They need patent treaties to be enforced.

728. And they are going to be enforced.

729. The pharmaceutical companies

730. got half the House of Representatives elected.

731. Congress is going to get serious about this.

732. The pills cost them four cents a unit to make.

733. You know that's not true.

734. The second pill costs them four cents.

735. The first pill costs them $400 million.

736. They also enjoy unprecedented tax breaks

737. foreign tax credits

738. research and experimentation exemptions

739. and expensing of research expenditures

740. to say nothing of the fact that business is pretty good

741. so they're going to cover their bet.

742. Tell me about Nimbala.

743. They didn't have cheese.

744. What is it? It's boysenberry.

745. A boysenberry Danish?

746. It's new.

747. Tell me about Nimbala.

748. He's a good president, Josh.

749. He was a great soldier, a brilliant commander.

750. He led his people for 28 years.

751. He can't get ahead of the curve.

752. He's cursed by geography.

753. If the ground won't grow anything

754. you don't have an economy.

755. Still, he stands in a room

756. and he talks about Norman Borlaug.

757. He came here himself, Josh.

758. He didn't send delegates.

759. Maybe it's because he doesn't have any.

760. I think he's holding his country together with both hands.

761. Then let's make sure

762. we send him back with something, is my point.

763. Fellas.

764. They're ready. Yeah?

765. Yeah.

766. Folks, please take your seats.

767. C.J.: Good afternoon.

768. Guess what.

769. The audit figures released yesterday

770. by the Senate Finance Committee confirmed earlier reports

771. released by the Congressional Budget Office

772. regarding the increased

773. budget surplus projections.

774. The CBS projection actually increased the surplus amount

775. from two trillion over the next ten years to 2.2 trillion.

776. This exceeds even the most

777. optimistic estimates published last year

778. by the White House Budget Office, of 300 billion

779. and the CBS projection last quarter of 900 billion.

780. Needless to say, these figures...

781. Are you new, too? Excuse me?

782. Are you new, too?

783. It's my fourth day.

784. Uh, no.

785. Maybe you can help me, then.

786. I'm trying to get somewhere with drilling equipment

787. that might've been sold by Bonamo Energy to the Iraqis in violation of sanctions.

788. Now, I asked C.J. about it

789. and she said there's a grand jury investigation

790. and she's not allowed to talk.

791. If you ask me, she was acting

792. a little bit... I don't know

793. but I hear she hasn't been able to sleep

794. and maybe that's because...

795. She told you there was a grand jury investigation?

796. Yeah.

797. Miss Hayes.

798. Yeah. This way.

799. responsible for a large portion

800. of the surplus- to-debt reduction.

801. With regards to the progress made here

802. at the White House summit for African AIDS relief

803. all parties are optimistic

804. that an agreement will be reached soon.

805. I think there's

806. a more fundamental problem than marginal cost.

807. We've been at this for four days

808. and I still think we haven't talked about

809. the fundamental misunderstanding in Africa

810. over the basic facts of AIDS.

811. I don't think there's a misunderstanding.

812. A week ago you people stood up

813. and said that AIDS

814. has only a casual relationship to HIV.

815. I'm not certain

816. to whom you refer when you say "you people"

817. but it was President Mbeki of South Africa who said that

818. and not anyone in this room.

819. I think Mr. Damson

820. has brought up a hard truth that should be faced.

821. What's that?

822. If tomorrow we made AIDS medication free

823. to every patient in your country

824. as much as they needed

825. for as long as they needed it

826. it would likely make very little difference

827. in the spread of the epidemic.

828. Why?

829. Anti-HIV drugs are a triple cocktail.

830. It's a complicated regimen that requires

831. ten pills to be taken every day at precise times.

832. Two protease inhibitors every eight hours

833. two combination RTI pills every 12 hours.

834. What's the problem?

835. They don't own wristwatches.

836. They can't tell time.

837. We agree something must be done

838. but we don't think we're culprits

839. and we don't think there is an easy or obvious solution.

840. And we think you should be aware of the dangers involved

841. in some of the proposals made here today.

842. Mr. President, may we speak with you alone, please?

843. Ainsley?

844. Could you give me just a moment, please?

845. Sure.

846. Thank you.

847. Excuse me.

848. I was going to see Leo McGarry.

849. He asked me come back and see him again at the end of the day.

850. I'm Ainsley Hayes.

851. It's good to meet you.

852. I'm not taking the job, C.J.

853. Well, okay.

854. I just wanted to...

855. Okay.

856. C.J., Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

857. says you can be prosecuted for even confirming

858. a grand jury's been in panel.

859. How'd you know?

860. A reporter in your press room who hasn't read

861. the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

862. Well, someone's going to tell him eventually.

863. Who told you?

864. One of the witnesses who was called.

865. What could happen?

866. 18 months. Medium security.

867. C.J., I'm kidding.

868. You didn't break the law.

869. Attorneys and jurors are under a gag order.

870. Witnesses are free to say whatever they want.

871. And anyone is free

872. to repeat what they've said.

873. You know, I'm not sure that laying low

874. and hoping nobody noticed was the best strategy here.

875. Next time you should really run it by someone

876. in the Counsel's Office.

877. Anyway, I should go see Leo.

878. Yeah.

879. President Nimbala.

880. I'm going to put a deal together

881. and I want you to agree to it.

882. What am I agreeing to?

883. I can get them to lower their prices

884. but you have to commit your military

885. your Customs Bureau and your Ministry of Health.

886. You have to commit them to stopping

887. the influx of black market HIV drugs

888. from Korea and Pakistan

889. and from wherever else they're coming.

890. 35.8% of our adult population is infected.

891. 60% of our hospital beds are occupied

892. by people who are HIV-positive.

893. Our Institute of Policy Analysis says in the coming decade

894. 50% of all households in my country

895. will have at least one member infected with HIV.

896. To think I would care about international patent law

897. at a time like this is unrealistic.

898. Mr. President

899. the U.S. Department of Commerce

900. will put your country on a watch list.

901. That's the first step toward trade sanctions.

902. Our Congress could end all aid to your country.

903. If you can agree to what we're saying

904. in exchange for which, we believe

905. we can get Congress to forgive the debt

906. on all your past development loans

907. and we believe the Export-Import Bank

908. will offer a billion dollars in loans

909. to finance the purchase of American AIDS medication.

910. Congress won't approve the loan.

911. Congress won't have to, sir.

912. The Treasury and the State Department will review it.

913. But if we spread the loans out

914. over several countries in your region on a case-by-case basis

915. and if none of the loans exceed a hundred million dollars

916. we don't need Congressional approval.

917. That law might change soon.

918. It's a terrible thing to beg for your life, terrible.

919. My father...

920. Proud.

921. Proud.

922. My father was a proud man.

923. He built homes.

924. He wouldn't like

925. what I came here to do.

926. Yes, he would, Mr. President.

927. I swear to God he would.

928. Thank you, sir.

929. Go tell Leo.

930. Hi.

931. Hi.

932. You know, something you forgot to mention

933. about the 95% of the money

934. going straight into the classroom

935. past the pork barrel buffet

936. was that the school only got the money

937. if they agreed not to distribute condoms.

938. Well, that's a reason to veto it

939. because the thing our public schools need

940. more than anything else right now are free condoms.

941. I'd definitely make that priority one.

942. He's not here.

943. You look familiar to me.

944. You're Aimsley Hayes.

945. Ainsley, with an "n."

946. She works here now.

947. What?

948. Leo hired her.

949. What are you talking about?

950. Leo hired her. He told me and C.J.

951. He was waiting to tell you and Toby.

952. What was he waiting for?

953. How the hell do I know, Josh?

954. Waiting until he hired me

955. which he hasn't done 'cause I'm not taking the job.

956. You're not taking the job?

957. No, but thank you for talking to me instead of about me.

958. Hang on, I'm still back on "he offered you the job"

959. but you're not taking the job?

960. No, man, why participate in the process

961. when you can get a job commenting on it?

962. You think because I don't want to work here

963. it's because I can get a better gig on Geraldo?

964. I think...

965. Gosh, let's see if there could possibly be any other reason

966. why I wouldn't want to work

967. in this White House.

968. This White House that feels

969. that government is better for children than parents are.

970. That looks at 40 years

971. of degrading and humiliating free lunches handed out

972. in a spectacularly failed effort

973. to level the playing field

974. and says, "Let's try 40 more."

975. This White House that says

976. of anyone that points that out to them

977. that they are cold and mean and racist

978. and then accuses Republicans of using the politics of fear.

979. This White House that loves the Bill of Rights

980. all of them, except the second one.

981. This is the wrong place

982. to talk about guns right now.

983. I thought your column was idiotic.

984. Imagine my surprise.

985. But for a brilliant surgical team

986. and two centimeters of a miracle

987. this guy's dead right now...

988. from bullets fired from a gun bought legally.

989. They bought guns, they loaded them

990. they drove from Wheeling to Rosslyn

991. and until they pulled the trigger

992. they had yet to commit a crime.

993. I am so off the charts tired of the gun lobby

994. tossing around words like personal freedom

995. and nobody calling them on it.

996. It's not about personal freedom

997. and it certainly has nothing to do with public safety.

998. It's just that some people like guns.

999. Yes, they do.

1000. But you know what's more insidious than that?

1001. Your gun control position

1002. doesn't have anything to do with public safety

1003. and it's certainly not about personal freedom.

1004. It's about you don't like people who do like guns.

1005. You don't like the people.

1006. Think about that the next time you make a joke about the South.

1007. Where's Leo?

1008. What?

1009. Where's Leo?

1010. We don't know.

1011. Charlie, you seen Leo?

1012. 600?

1013. Yes, sir.

1014. Television and radio?

1015. They've got 'em.

1016. When do I see pictures

1017. and who's going to tell me

1018. what I'm looking for?

1019. Ten minutes in the situation room.

1020. I want Fitzwallace and Nancy.

1021. Donna, tell C.J. it's an open lid.

1022. She knows.

1023. They're coming back.

1024. Leo.

1025. Excuse us.

1026. Excuse me, everybody.

1027. Could we have the room a moment, please?

1028. Sam.

1029. Mr. President, three hours ago

1030. there was a coup in your country.

1031. The AFRC has taken the capital.

1032. Where are my children?

1033. We're finding out.

1034. The information's coming very quickly

1035. from our people in Angola and Sudan.

1036. Mr. President

1037. I think you should sit.

1038. No, thank you.

1039. I'll go now.

1040. No, no, sir, my State Department

1041. is offering you asylum in the U.S.

1042. Thank you, Mr. President, but I have to go home.

1043. You can't go home. You can't go home.

1044. I am the leader.

1045. They have the capital.

1046. They have the radio station.

1047. They have the television station.

1048. Are there Americans on the ground?

1049. I'm evacuating the embassy.

1050. Did they close the airport?

1051. Yes.

1052. They will want to arrest me.

1053. They will want to put me on trial

1054. to trade my return

1055. for the safe departure of the Americans.

1056. I don't need to trade you.

1057. If they won't give me the Americans

1058. we'll go and get them ourselves

1059. and they know that

1060. and they'll let them go.

1061. I'd like to call my embassy.

1062. Your embassy is in exile, Mr. President.

1063. They will shoot you

1064. the moment you step off the plane.

1065. Thank you.

1066. Please tell me what is in that message.

1067. We think your brother and your two sons

1068. are already dead.

1069. We think your wife is being hidden in Kenya.

1070. You understand, don't you

1071. why I can't offer military assistance?

1072. Yes.

1073. Ned, sit with me for a moment.

1074. Sit down, sir.

1075. and you know they just wanted

1076. to hire her so they could say they did.

1077. Ugh. "Look at us. We hired a Republican.

1078. "Look at how bipartisan we are.

1079. "We didn't even notice

1080. that she looks like a Gap dancer."

1081. That's right!

1082. Bruce was just telling me.

1083. I couldn't resist.

1084. So they tried to hire you.

1085. Tell me about the look on McGarry's face.

1086. What?

1087. When you said no.

1088. I, um... couldn't see him.

1089. He had to...

1090. He was called into...

1091. What's wrong?

1092. Nothing.

1093. He had to...

1094. Something happened...

1095. Oh, damn, I wanted you

1096. to say it to his face.

1097. I wanted to see...

1098. I hate these people.

1099. Did you meet anyone there

1100. who isn't worthless?

1101. Don't say that.

1102. Did you meet anyone there

1103. who has any...?

1104. I said, don't say that.

1105. Say they're smug and superior.

1106. Say their approach to public policy

1107. makes you want to tear your hair out.

1108. Say they'd like high taxes and spending your money.

1109. Say they want to take your guns and open your borders.

1110. But don't call them worthless.

1111. At least don't do it in front of me.

1112. The people that I have met

1113. have been extraordinarily qualified.

1114. Their intent is good.

1115. Their commitment is true.

1116. They are righteous, and they are patriots.

1117. And I'm their lawyer.

1118. You ever read Paul Erlich's book?

1119. The Population Bomb?

1120. Yeah. He wrote it in 1968.

1121. Erlich said that it was a fantasy

1122. that India would ever feed itself.

1123. Then Norman Borlaug comes along.

1124. See, the problem was that wheat is top-heavy.

1125. It was falling over on itself

1126. and it took up too much space.

1127. The dwarf wheat...

1128. Guys, it was an agricultural revolution

1129. that was credited with saving

1130. one billion lives.

1131. Thanks.

1132. It happened.

1133. They executed him in the airport parking lot.

1134. Okay.

1135. I'll see you Monday.