Episode Summary:
As the White House comes to grips with the revelation of the NASA-shuttle leaker, Lou (Janeane Garofalo) persuades Josh, who persuades Santos, that the sagging Santos campaign must clean house. Meanwhile, CIA conspiracy theorist Charles Frost gets a dressing down from Kate about his “ambush” of C.J.; and Bartlet and Abbey meet Ellie’s fiance, a research scientist Bartlet calls “fruit-fly guy.”
Script:
THE WEST WING 7x05 - "HERE TODAY" WRITTEN BY PETER NOAH DIRECTED BY ALEX GRAVES Transcribed by Soundman for www.twiztv.com. Send feedback to [email protected]. TEASER FADE IN: INT. - C.J.'S OFFICE - NIGHT C.J. is at her desk. Toby is also in her office. C.J. You would not believe the day I've had. I'd tell you about it if I could talk about it, but a bunch of stuff happened today that I can't talk about so I guess I should stop talking about it. She walks out into Margaret's office and hands a folder to Margaret. She walks back into her office. C.J. But the truth is I'm so strung out and wired on caffeine I can't even tell what room I'm in. TOBY C.J. She gets up and closes the doors. C.J. Let's open that bottle of champagne you gave me for my birthday. Maybe the alcohol will balance out the caffeine. TOBY C.J., the leak... She gets a bottle of champagne and two glasses out of her closet. She brings them over to her desk. C.J. Let's have a toast. One final toast before I leave the White House for my perp walk in leg irons. Here, you open it. I'll put your eye out. TOBY C.J. C.J. Fine, I'll open it. But just, uh, listen to what I have to say. Leo's in trouble. TOBY I know. C.J. You do? TOBY I got a lawyer. He comes and sits down next to her. C.J. What? TOBY I got a lawyer. She looks up as though she knows what he is going to say. He clears his throat. TOBY I did it. C.J. looks at him for a moment before setting the champagne bottle down. She gets up and walks behind her desk and picks up the phone. C.J. Call the White House Counsel's office, send someone over immediately. She hangs it up. TOBY I just didn't want you to think... C.J. We really can't have any further conversation without Counsel present. She walks over to the window. She sits on the windowsill and we see that she is trying to hold back tears. For a long period of time, neither says anything to each other. She walks over to her bookshelf behind the desk and fiddles with some things, trying to distract her attention. We hear a knock on the door and ASSOCIATE WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL MIKE WAYNE comes to the door. MIKE WAYNE Oh, excuse me. I was told to come right in. C.J. Mike, is it? WAYNE Uh, sorry. Mike Wayne, Associate Counsel. Mr. Ziegler. Toby nods to acknowledge his presence. C.J. Toby, would you tell Mike what you just told me. Toby stands. TOBY I was the one who leaked the information about the classified military space shuttle to Greg Brock of the New York Times. C.J. Where is Oliver Babish? Wayne looks stunned. WAYNE Out to dinner. I'll need the key to your office. Toby walks over to the door before Wayne stops him. WAYNE Where are you going? TOBY The key's on my desk. WAYNE I'll have to ask you to accompany me directly to the Roosevelt Room. You'll need to wait there quietly while I retrieve your key, lock your office, and post a uniformed Secret Service agent at the door. That needs to happen right now. SMASH CUT TO: MAIN TITLES. END TEASER. * * * ACT ONE FADE IN: INT. - MAIN LOBBY - WHITE HOUSE - NIGHT We see a shot of people leaving through the main entrance. We cut to a shot of the lights being turned out in the Communications office. The only lights on are in Toby's office. CUT TO: INT. - ROOSEVELT ROOM - NIGHT Wayne and Toby come to one of the doors to the Roosevelt Room. There is a group of some sort meeting there. WAYNE We're going to need the room. WOMAN There was nothing on the schedule. WAYNE Yeah. We're going to be needing the room. WOMAN Sure. Absolutely. They get up, pack up their things, and leave. Wayne begins shutting the doors. WAYNE I'll be back as quickly as I can. I'll have to ask you not to speak to anyone, about anything, in my absence. Every conversation you have from this point forward only increases the witness list. He shuts the last door on his way out. CUT TO: INT. - SANTOS PLANE - NIGHT Santos and Helen are sitting next to each other and they are talking. HELEN Watch a movie. SANTOS We land in 40 minutes. HELEN Watch part of a movie. SANTOS I have to eat my vegetables. HELEN It's something we can do together. SANTOS Our own machines, our own headphones; how are we doing it together? HELEN It'll be a shared experience. You remember those? SANTOS I have to scan the stump speech for racial code words. HELEN Really? SANTOS Yeah. This black professor's saying the section on immigrants "who do work Americans won't do" is code for "the black underclass is lazy." HELEN He's got a point. SANTOS No he doesn't. HELEN You're not going to solve interracial sensitivity in the next 40 minutes. SANTOS Honey, I have to do this. She slumps her head and pretends to snore. HELEN All work and no play. SANTOS Are you calling me a dull boy? HELEN I'm sorry, were you saying something? SANTOS Just try not doing that in front of the electorate. HELEN Come on, the headphone thing should be a plus. You hate in when I get loud. SANTOS You're just going to get louder. You're not going to fool me. HELEN I thought you liked it when I got loud. SANTOS In this, as in all things, context is king. HELEN Fine. She sticks out her tongue as she lays her seat back. SANTOS Try not doing that in front of the voters either. CUT TO: INT. - HALLWAY - OUTSIDE SIT ROOM - NIGHT Mr. Frost is waiting outside the Sit Room. Kate walks in and they begin talking. KATE Charles. FROST Commander. KATE You're a hard man to find. FROST You can't be too careful. KATE You can, actually. FROST Whom will I be addressing in the Sit Room? KATE That would be no one. You're not going in the Sit Room. You're going to tell me what you have to say, then I'm going in. But first, you can't stalk the White House Chief of Staff. FROST She wouldn't return my calls. KATE She's a little busy helping to run the free world. I doubt she calls her mother back. FROST Her mother is dead and her father's Alzheimer's so bad, you'd have no idea whether she called or not. KATE Do you try to come off this creepy? 'Cause, I've got to tell you, as a strategy for getting people to like you, it leaves a bit to be desired. Do you have any idea how thoroughly I could get you bounced over this? FROST I was right, wasn't I? KATE "Thank you, Commander Harper, for letting me keep my job, which means everything to me, as you can tell by the way I dress." FROST I was right. KATE Before we discuss how right you are, were, or have ever been, I need a solemn vow you will never ambush a senior White House official again. He says nothing. KATE I'm waiting. FROST Fine. KATE Thank you. Now, let's discuss this assassination in Kazakhstan. CUT TO: INT. - MARGARET'S OFFICE - NIGHT Margaret walks to C.J.'s door and speaks to her. MARGARET I reached Oliver Babish. He says you owe him a raspberry panna cotta cheesecake. C.J. He'll live. MARGARET Longer, probably. It's morning in Jerusalem. You wanted to call about the Farad funeral. C.J. Right, right. C.J. walks out of her office. MARGARET So, you want me to... C.J. Yeah, let's do that. MARGARET I didn't want to. I tried not to say anything. C.J. I'm sorry? MARGARET The Committee. I hope my testimony didn't do anything to make things more difficult for you. C.J. Don't worry about it. MARGARET If I caused you any problems... C.J. I'm sure you didn't. MARGARET I'll place that call. CUT TO: INT. - ROOSEVELT ROOM - NIGHT Toby is seated alone in the Roosevelt Room. Ed and Larry walk in to try to talk to them. He is very curt with them. ED Toby, you got a minute? TOBY No. LARRY We just wanted to get your take on these OMB numbers. TOBY Go away. LARRY Ok. Alright, we'll leave them on your... TOBY Go! CUT TO: INT. - SANTOS PLANE - NIGHT Josh and Lou are walking to their seats. LOU What's wrong with the word vigorous? JOSH It sounds like we're taking a shot at Bartlet. LOU We're not running against Bartlet, we're running against a Methuselah Republican. JOSH Vigorous isn't the opposite of old, it's the opposite of vigor-less... ness. It's going to come off like we're referencing the MS. LOU That's a win-win in my book. JOSH Look, Arnold Vinick isn't some old feeb, doddering from one campaign stop to the next. He's got more energy than I do. LOU He is inconveniently spry. JOSH Use that. LOU What? JOSH Spry. It's a word that's only used to describe old people. Ever hear of anybody under the age of 70 being called spry? It says "old guy versus young guy" without even mentioning age. Ned walks up and hands them a sheet of paper. NED We just got the new tracking numbers. Nine and holding. Josh and Lou both grunt at the number. NED Couple weeks ago you were doing cartwheels about being only nine down. JOSH Well, that was a couple weeks ago. NED With the margin of error it could really be just six. LOU When the polls spit out the same numbers, day in and day out, it's time to stop talking margins of error. JOSH Nine points is nine points. NED That's what I thought then, but you were all so happy. LOU So, basically, you've been wrong about this twice now. He gets up and leaves. CUT TO: INT. - ROOSEVELT ROOM - NIGHT Toby is seated at the table. He takes a card out of his wallet and picks up the phone. He dials. TOBY Alana. Toby Ziegler. As my attorney, you should probably know that I just confessed to C.J. Cregg that I was behind the leak. Babish and Wayne walk in. TOBY I'm about to be debriefed by White House Counsel. BABISH You left him in a room with a phone? TOBY I'll talk to you tomorrow. He hangs up. BABISH Toby. TOBY Oliver. BABISH Who were you talking to? TOBY My attorney's voice mail. WAYNE My instructions were that you sit quietly. TOBY I'm pretty sure I used my indoor voice. BABISH Who else have you called or spoken to since Mike's been gone? TOBY No one. Ed and Larry. BABISH Who? TOBY They stuck their heads in, wanted to run something by me, I told them to go away. BABISH Did you discuss the leak or the investigation in any way? TOBY We didn't discuss anything. I was curt and dismissive, as instructed. BABISH Yeah, I'm going to need their full names and extensions. He hands Toby a pad of paper. TOBY They were here maybe ten seconds. BABISH Mike's going to need to speak with them. Toby takes the pad and writes on it. He hands it back to Oliver, who tears off the sheet that Toby wrote on and hands it to Wayne. BABISH Thanks. Wayne takes the paper and leaves. BABISH You're in some trouble. Um... and I'm personally truly sorry about that. TOBY Thank you. BABISH Unfortunately, that is of incidental concern in my capacity as White House Counsel. You've put this administration into some difficulty. So my immediate professional concern is whether you put the President into jeopardy as well. So I'm gonna have some questions for you. Get comfortable. We're going to be here a bit. FADE OUT. END ACT ONE. * * * ACT TWO FADE IN: INT. - ROOSEVELT ROOM - NIGHT Toby is talking with Babish. BABISH Were you the sole individual involved in leaking this? TOBY Yes. BABISH Did anyone instruct you to leak this information? TOBY No. BABISH Anyone suggest you leak it? TOBY No. BABISH Hint? TOBY No. BABISH Nudge, wink? Did anyone employ nonverbal means of any kind to suggest in an explicit or implicit action that you leak this information? TOBY No. It was conceived and executed solely on my own. BABISH Did you tell anyone you were planning on leaking this? TOBY No. BABISH Discuss that you were considering doing so? TOBY No. BABISH Did you speculate to anyone that an individual might be inclined to contemplate making such a leak? TOBY We're going to be here for quite a while, aren't we? BABISH I need you to answer the question. TOBY No. I didn't speak to anyone at anytime of any scenario involving myself or someone else thinking, planning, dreaming, or having an out-of-body experience related to the making of this sort of leak. BABISH That's cute, the out-of-body thing, but I don't recommend it with the FBI, the Congressional Committee, the Federal Prosecutor, or any of the people who'll be following me. CUT TO: INT. - HALLWAY - WHITE HOUSE - NIGHT Bartlet and Abbey are coming back from the lobby. ABBEY That was lovely. BARTLET Hmm. I have to call Zahavy. ABBEY I don't blame him for not wanting to go to Farad's funeral. I wish you didn't have to go. Isn't that what Vice Presidents are for? BARTLET No. ABBEY Then what good are they? BARTLET The two I've had, and enduring mystery. God, I'm exhausted. ABBEY You haven't forgotten that Ellie and Vic are coming by? BARTLET No. Our daughter's getting engaged to the fruit fly guy. ABBEY He's a research scientist. Stop making him look like something out of a horror film. They have walked through the hallway, into the Oval Office, and out onto the portico. They are walking toward the Residence. ABBEY Did you know that fruit flies reproduce at a prodigious rate? BARTLET Well, you've been whining about more grandchildren. ABBEY I meant that they're more than just unusually enthusiastic. BARTLET All right. ABBEY In fact, they make bunnies look like dysfunctional prudes. BARTLET That's our daughter you're talking about. ABBEY Indeed. BARTLET Yeah, how about that? ABBEY Are you...? BARTLET A little, how about you? ABBEY Astonished, actually. BARTLET Why? Did you and she never discuss...? ABBEY Oh, no. There are some things that are outside even the mother-daughter bond, at least for us. Did you and she...? BARTLET We always adhered to a strict "Don't ask, don't tell" policy; clung to it, actually. ABBEY She is one's daughter. And she wants her to be happy in whatever. BARTLET Of course, true to herself. ABBEY There's nothing wrong with that inclination. BARTLET Nothing, whatsoever. ABBEY But God Herself strike me dead, it is not to be denied that I am not unhappy that my daughter is straight after all. BARTLET At least straight enough to be marrying the fruit fly guy. CUT TO: INT. - SANTOS PLANE - NIGHT Josh and Lou are seated next to each other. Josh has his chair reclined and seems to be sleeping. Ned, Ronna, and an intern named ZEKE come up to talk to Lou. RONNA Someone in the Texas AG's office has obtained the complete medical records of 120 women who had abortions in three of the clinics there. LOU Please tell me one's not in Houston. RONNA And in San Antonio. NED The pretext is looking for unreported cases of sexual abuse and statutory rape. ZEKE But it's an obvious smokescreen. RONNA We fooled with some language. LOU We're not commenting. NED We have to. LOU This is a state matter. ZEKE From the Congressman's home state. LOU I'm familiar with the bio, thanks. RONNA It violates the spirit of Roe. LOU How important is Texas? NED Pretty important. LOU No, not pretty important. With Vinick's lock on California, this is the whole b.o.w. They look as though they don't know what she is talking about. Josh answers, seemingly talking in his sleep. JOSH Ball of wax. LOU Why wade into an issue that's not going to get us any voters who weren't going to vote for us already? NED Because all it costs us is people who weren't going to vote for us anyway. JOSH We don't need those people to vote for us. We need them to stay home. RONNA Single-issue pro-lifers don't like Vinick anymore than they like us; why energize them? LOU Let's let this particular sleeping dog lie. NED That's crazy. We're Democrats; we have to come out strong on a woman's right to choose. LOU Have you ever had an abortion? NED That's a little personal, don't you think? LOU Don't talk to me about what we have to do on this subject. Josh opens his eyes as though he has been woke up. NED Whatever you say. Josh squints his eyes and turns to Lou. LOU I was thinking while you were asleep. JOSH I wasn't asleep. LOU Oh, really? With the drooling, the twitching, and muttering to yourself, which might otherwise be described as schizophrenic episode, I go with "You were sleeping." JOSH Okay. LOU The campaign's stagnating because the poll numbers are. JOSH Doldrums, horse latitude; it's still mid-August. Wind'll pick up. LOU You and I need to be a stiff wind that blows through the staff and carries a bunch away. JOSH Way to stick with the meteorological metaphor. Still, it's a little hysterical. They get up and start walking. LOU This group isn't cutting it. JOSH We're fine. LOU Last week the Advance team went to Springfield, Illinois for an event in Springfield, Missouri. JOSH Every campaign has a few bumps. LOU We need more experienced hands. Look around you; we're a little heavy on the wide-eyed and dewy. JOSH We've got a young staff. Guess what: we're Democrats. They have walked into the coffee area. Josh gets a cup and pours some coffee. LOU Well, Vinick's got grownups. We're running a children's crusade. JOSH It got a virtual unknown the Democratic presidential nomination. LOU Well, now it's got him consistently tracking nine points down which is, I believe, a loss and not a small one. JOSH We start firing people, it's going to look like the campaign's in trouble. LOU The campaign is in trouble; it'll look like we noticed. First pass of the staff list. She hands him a piece of paper. JOSH That's a lot of names. LOU Anyone you want to fight for? JOSH Ned. LOU He's not built for this. JOSH He's been with the Congressman forever. Santos will never let me can him. LOU That's why he's got to go: it'll kill morale if you fire all these people and keep him. JOSH So we don't fire anyone. LOU Keep whistling past the graveyard, but it'll be your future gets buried when you preside over a 49-state wipeout. CUT TO: INT. - HALLWAY - WHITE HOUSE - NIGHT Kate and Margaret are walking and talking toward C.J.'s office. MARGARET Can't leave before the boss leaves. You? KATE Time and assassinations wait for no one. MARGARET Pithy. KATE I'm thinking about putting out a line of twisted samplers. MARGARET When's your turn? KATE With the committee? Supposedly Friday, but if they took all day with you... MARGARET I'm really looking forward to things getting back to normal around here. They stop in front of the Communications office and Kate sees that several people, either Secret Service or FBI, are packing up the contents of Toby's office. They walk off and we focus on Toby who is seated in the Roosevelt Room. BABISH Did you have any private conversations with the President regarding the existence of a military shuttle? TOBY No. BABISH Participate in any group discussions on that subject that included the President? TOBY No. BABISH Did you have any internal White House conversations with anyone at any time about the United States possessing a classified military space shuttle? Toby pauses for a moment. TOBY Yes. BABISH With whom? He doesn't answer. BABISH Who did you talk about it with? TOBY C.J. Cregg. CUT TO: INT. - SITUATION ROOM - NIGHT Kate is seated at the table with Hutchinson, Slattery, and Sliger sitting across from her. We do not see their faces while they speak. KATE Frost thinks... HUTCHINSON Yeah. I know what Frost thinks; about everything. If it rains on a picnic, Frost thinks Al Queda seeded the clouds. SLATTERY Why do you keep him in the job? SLIGER He's a good analyst. Good analysts spend a lot of time being wrong. HUTCHINSON Funny, at Defense Intelligence we like our guys to be right. Different strokes. SLIGER Are there Islamic extremists who dream of a new China-to-Spain caliphate? Sure. HUTCHINSON Do we think they're going to start by assassinating the Palestinian Chairman and the president of Kazakhstan? I mean, come on. CUT TO: INT. - C.J.'S OFFICE - NIGHT C.J. is standing in her office. She opens one of the doors so that she can see into the Roosevelt Room where Toby and Babish are talking. She walks over to the door to Margaret's office and opens it. She speaks to Margaret. C.J. Margaret, will you call Leo for me? She sits down at her desk. CUT TO: INT. - ROOSEVELT ROOM - NIGHT Babish and Toby are talking. BABISH When you spoke to Greg Brock of the New York Times, you were aware you were speaking on the record? TOBY I'm the White House Communications Director. I have a rough understanding of the protocol involved when speaking with journalists. BABISH So that'd be a yes? TOBY That would be an of course. BABISH And your intention in conveying this information to Greg Brock was for it to be published in his newspaper? TOBY Yes. BABISH You were aware this information was classified? TOBY Excuse me? BABISH Answer the question. TOBY You're asking me if I new the military space shuttle was classified; one of the most closely held pieces of information I've encountered in my seven and a half years in the White House, which no one would so much as hint at, much less acknowledge, much less ever actually discuss, which revelation of same caused a governmental security crisis, international consternation and the launching of three separate investigations; you're asking me realized it was classified? Yeah, I had a vague inkling. BABISH Were you personally authorized to have this information? While he is speaking, Toby's lawyer, ALANA WATERMAN, comes in. ALANA WATERMAN Alana Waterman, Mr. Babish. I'm Mr. Ziegler's attorney, and as such I must inform Counsel that my client will not be answering any further questions. TOBY It's okay, thanks. ALANA No, it's most certainly not okay and you're not to say anything else. TOBY You know, I'm really getting fed up to here with lawyers ordering me around. BABISH You probably should have considered that before passing state secrets to New York Times reporters. Which brings up, did you leak to anyone other than Greg Brock? ALANA Do not answer that. TOBY No. ALANA If I may have a word in private with my client. BABISH I'll be right outside. He gets up and leaves. TOBY I really appreciate your concern but I am taking full responsibility and I am prepared and ready to face the consequences. ALANA Well that's very noble and very stupid. TOBY Thank you. ALANA You have to listen to me know. If you were truly the only one involved... TOBY I was. ALANA Well, then that's unfortunate because it means that you have no bigger fish to turn over to the prosecutor which is what he and the Congress will be looking for and obviously would have been the best and fastest way to make a deal. TOBY I don't care about that. ALANA Well, it's my job to. And we're not starting with a lot of bargaining chips and we have less every time you open your mouth. TOBY I'm not looking to cut a deal. ALANA Oh, really? Because the last time I checked, the sentencing guidelines, even for someone who is a first-time offender, were 63 to 78 months jail time. TOBY 63 to 78. How do they come up with those numbers; pick out of a hat, dartboard? ALANA You have an obligation to... TOBY Please don't bring up my kids! ALANA When you hire somebody like me you take on a responsibility to my reputation. If you decide you want to go down in some quasi-orgasmic blaze of self-pity and self-destructive self-aggrandizing attempted glory, all anyone's going to say is "How did Alana Waterman, that smart, tough, savvy Washington infighter, let her client do something so crushingly, boneheaded moronic as to get himself six years in jail?"! Now, you have a decision to make. If you want me to continue as your attorney, when the White House Counsel reenters the room, you either decline to answer any further questions or you watch me walk not only out of this room, but off the case. She signals for Babish to come back in. He does and he again sits across from Toby. BABISH Who was it that first informed you of the existence of a classified military space shuttle? He stands up and walks to the back of his chair and then again to the front. He sits. TOBY I decline to answer on the advice of counsel. BABISH Please wait here. He gets up and leaves again. TOBY Well, you certainly earned your fee today. ALANA I'm deeply gratified that you decided to heed my guidance. TOBY No, I just meant it was the first time tonight he used the word "please." FADE OUT. END ACT TWO. * * * ACT THREE FADE IN: INT. - HALLWAY - WHITE HOUSE - NIGHT We see the agents are still packing up things from Toby's office. Ed and Larry are outside the Communications office and are watching what is going on. C.J. walks past them. C.J. If you gentlemen are done for the night you should probably go home. They turn and attempt to go through the doorway they were standing in. They bump into a man carrying several boxes on a dolly. CUT TO: INT. - SITUATION ROOM - NIGHT Kate, Hutchinson, Slattery, and Sliger are still seated around the table. C.J. comes in and sits next to Slattery, across from Kate. KATE C.J. C.J. Catch me up. HUTCHINSON Commander Harper has been entertaining us - well, given the hour, I'm not sure "entertaining" is the right word - with her theory on this assassination in Kazakhstan. C.J. Mr. Secretary, through no fault of your own, your customary default acerbity, which some might characterize as snide but which I never fail to find delightful, is, perhaps, not the right tone for my particular mood this particular evening. Now would you catch me up? KATE Assassination's been a historic tactic of Russian security services. I feel there is reason to look in there direction. C.J. The Russians and Kazakhs are allies. KATE Kazakhstan has been cozying up to Beijing. SLATTERY They recently announced the establishment of a strategic partnership. KATE This is on top of the oil pipeline the Kazakhs have already agreed to build to China. SLATTERY When they announced this alliance, they took pains to stress that it wasn't directed at any third party. KATE Doth protesting, perhaps a bit much. HUTCHINSON Are you buying this? SLATTERY We're catching her up. KATE Moscow's not thrilled with this budding relationship. Not only is it competitive with Russia's own oil interests, but it's emblematic of China's growing dominance in the region. C.J. Who takes over in Kazakhstan with Issanov dead? SLATTERY Constitutionally, Prime Minister Tarmov. SLIGER Who has ties that go back to Moscow from the USSR days. KATE It's Russia's interests that are most directly served by removing the sitting President. C.J. What will the Chinese do? KATE That's the question. C.J. Russia and China, eyeball-to-eyeball in Central Asia? KATE Over oil. HUTCHINSON With 900 U.S. Marines stuck right in the middle. CUT TO: INT. - SANTOS PLANE - NIGHT Santos and Helen are seated next to each other. Helen has a pair of headphones on and is watching a scary movie on a personal machine. She speaks loudly. HELEN Oh, God! This is very scary. Josh comes in. JOSHC Congressman, you got a minute? SANTOS Yeah, sure. Josh comes in and closes the door. He sits across from Santos. JOSH What's she watching? SANTOS The latest Rob Zombie film. JOSH She seems to be enjoying it. She screams and covers her eyes with her hands. Josh smiles. JOSH I guess. SANTOS You a big Rob Zombie fan? JOSH I prefer his earlier, funnier movies. Lou and I have been discussing the staff. SANTOS What about it? JOSH Making some changes. HELEN Are you kidding me? Josh looks at her. SANTOS She's not talking to you. JOSH The campaign's not hitting on all cylinders. It could be time for a mid-course correction. SANTOS How many people are we talking about? JOSH About 45. HELEN You can't be serious. She looks at him to indicate that she was talking to him this time. HELEN You can't do that. SANTOS It's a lot of people. HELEN It'll look like panic. JOSH We can bring in more operatives with experience and savvy. HELEN Have we been turning them away? "I'm sorry, you can't work for us. You have too much experience and savvy."? JOSH We need to make some changes. SANTOS Are we panicked? JOSH No. Of course not. SANTOS Well, you're running this thing. It is a big layoff and it's going to get noted in the press, but if you think it's needed... JOSH I do. One of the people is Ned Carlson. HELEN What? JOSH I know he's been with you a long time. I'm sure he was a real asset in the Congressional office. HELEN You can't fire Ned. JOSH But he is not cut out for this: the pace, thinking fast on your feet. SANTOS Send him back to the Congressional office and we will get him something in the administration once we're in. HELEN Matt. He stands from his seat. SANTOS Anyone not getting the job done is going to go. JOSH Do you want to be the one to tell him? SANTOS You can take care of it. He leaves, leaving Josh and Helen alone. JOSH Mrs. Santos. He gets up to leave. CUT TO: INT. - C.J.'S OFFICE - NIGHT C.J. is at her desk and Babish is seated across from her. He has a pad of paper in his hand and he is talking to C.J. BABISH That's as far as I got before his attorney intervened. C.J. Do you feel you got the whole story? BABISH Toby mentioned he discussed the military shuttle with you. C.J. He did. BABISH Did you direct him to leak the information? C.J. I did not. BABISH Urge it? C.J. No. BABISH Subtly hint? C.J. Absolutely not. Why, did Toby give any indication that I had? BABISH Nope. His account matches yours. It's important that everyone's stories are in sync. C.J. They are. That's because it's the truth. BABISH Have you discussed this with anyone since Mike and you last spoke? C.J. No. BABISH No comment about what's been going on in the Roosevelt Room or Toby's office? C.J. Of course not. BABISH And others you've encountered will so testify? C.J. Yes. BABISH Spoken to anyone outside the building? C.J. No. BABISH And the White House phone logs will so confirm? C.J. I placed a call to Leo McGarry. BABISH For what purpose? She doesn't answer. BABISH For what purpose, C.J.? C.J. I didn't reach him. BABISH But had you, was your intention to discuss the fact that Toby Ziegler was the White House leak? C.J. I didn't reach him. BABISH He and you should be very glad about that. What, if any, message did you leave? C.J. I told Margaret not to leave any, that it wasn't anything important. BABISH Were those your exact words? C.J. I don't know, I... I may have said not to even mention that I had called. BABISH You have between now and tomorrow morning, when I imagine the first question will come about this, to consider whether you had a particular reason to phone Leo McGarry this evening other than discussing courses of action in dealing with this news regarding Toby Ziegler, which might, to outsiders, appear to be consideration of a cover-up. It's time to tell the President. They stand. C.J. What will be the recommendation of the Counsel's office? BABISH The same as yours. He leaves. CUT TO: INT. - SITTING ROOM - RESIDENCE - NIGHT Bartlet and Abbey are sharing a toast with Ellie and her fiance VIC FAISON. BARTLET Congratulations. ABBEY Oh, I want to see that ring. Oh, its lovely. ELLIE You don't think it's too big? ABBEY There's no such thing, dear. BARTLET Almost got you a rebate there. VIC FAISON I only wish I could have afforded an even bigger one. ABBEY Well, I want to hear all about the proposal. Tell me everything. VIC We went for a mountain bike ride to a secluded spot in Rock Creek Park. We did it there. ABBEY Oh. VIC Or, I did it there. ABBEY Romantic. ELLIE Very. The two of us and my Secret Service detail. BARTLET When are you thinking about having the wedding? ELLIE As soon as possible. BARTLET We don't want to distract from the election, of course, but anytime after that could work. A White House wedding at Christmas? ABBEY I don't think she wants that. BARTLET What? ABBEY To do it here. BARTLET What could be more wonderful? ABBEY Oh, no. Undoubtedly a White House wedding would be very beautiful and terribly romantic, but inevitably it would be quite a bit of a spectacle. And of all of us, Ellie has been the one to shy away from the spotlight. [to Ellie] Why don't you consider having the wedding after your father has left the office entirely? BARTLET Sure, if you want to turn your back on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. ABBEY Hopefully, the wedding is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. BARTLET You would seriously consider not getting married in the White House? ABBEY Well, you could do something very private at the farm. ELLIE Where, at the moment, is the less pressing concern. There's another consideration that may need to take precedence as far as scheduling goes. They look at her for a moment. ELLIE And... why we... might not want to... wait. They look as though they realize what she is saying. ABBEY Oh. BARTLET Well, we should probably get right on to scheduling that, then. Nancy comes in. NANCY Sorry for the interruption Mr. President, ma'am, Ellie. ABBEY Nancy, this is our... new son-in-law to be, Vic Faison. As he is introduced, Vic looks as though he wishes the floor would swallow him up. He is obviously embarrassed. NANCY Nice to meet you. Congratulations. ELLIE Thank you, thank you so much. NANCY Sir, C.J. and Oliver Babish would like to speak with you. BARTLET Of course. Excuse me, please. He gets up and leaves. As he does, Abbey reaches over and takes the champagne away from Ellie. CUT TO: INT. - ROOSEVELT ROOM - NIGHT Toby is talking with Alana. TOBY Self-aggrandizing and self-destructive? ALANA I was trying to make a point. TOBY Quasi-orgasmic might have been a bit much. ALANA A little colorful rhetoric; occupational hazard. Why'd you do it? TOBY To save lives. ALANA Your brother was an astronaut. TOBY Astronaut's lives in the short term. Start a discussion about whether we want to extend mankind's capacity for warfare into the heavens. ALANA The weaponization of space. TOBY I believe in an open society. You debate these things in the light of day. That's what's supposed to happen in a democracy. ALANA Yes, global pacifism, freedom of information; these are things that people will rally around. We can get a lot of lefty support; college campuses, Hollywood... TOBY Good, help defray my legal expenses. ALANA I'm serious. TOBY So am I; I know what you charge. ALANA A couple of well-placed editorials, some cable news spots, public demonstrations; this could be very helpful. Certainly not going to hurt, huh? TOBY Will it keep me out of jail? ALANA There's a lesser criminal statute, 35 U.S.C. 799, which makes it a misdemeanor to disobey a regulation set forth by the NASA administrator. The penalty is likely a fine, no more than a year's jail time. He smirks at her. ALANA Yeah, I know. It's a little pie-in-the-sky around the edges. Toby notices, through one of the doors, that Bartlet is walking toward the Oval Office. TOBY Keep thinking, counselor. It's what you're good at. We see Bartlet walk into the Oval and an agent shuts the door behind him. CUT TO: INT. - OVAL OFFICE - NIGHT We see the scene through a window over the President's desk. C.J. and Babish are waiting in the center of the room when Bartlet comes in. He walks over and stands in front of them. We see Babish begin to speak, but hear no audio. We zoom in as we see him and C.J. talking to Bartlet. FADE OUT. END ACT THREE. * * * ACT FOUR FADE IN: INT. - OVAL OFFICE - NIGHT C.J. and Babish are talking to Bartlet. BARTLET Toby? Is it possible to be astonished and, at the same time, not surprised? BABISH I've debriefed him, sir. It seems to have involved no one else. C.J. Obviously there'll be a partisan push to probe past Toby and cause us and the Santos campaign more difficulty. The fact that there's no there there should limit the other side's ability to get traction. BARTLET The political fallout is not my first concern. BABISH We should move quickly, sir. C.J. Oliver's pointed out that not only do we not want the appearance of a cover-up, we don't want the appearance of, even for a moment, having considered anything but full and immediate disclosure. BARTLET I'll make a statement. And Toby... C.J. I'll take care of that, sir. BARTLET No. Bring him here. BABISH Respectfully, Mr. President, you should not be in the same room with Toby Ziegler. He's radioactive, sir, potentially toxic to the Presidency. BARTLET Thank you for your counsel, but I have to do this myself. BABISH Then I'm going to have to insist on being present. He looks unsure for a moment, and then nods his head. BARTLET Give me a moment. C.J. Thank you, Mr. President. BABISH Thank you, sir. They leave, presumably into C.J.'s office. CUT TO: INT. - SITUATION ROOM - NIGHT Kate comes out of the Sit Room and is startled to find Frost waiting for her outside. KATE God! See, this is what puts people off: lurking. No one likes a lurker. FROST How'd it go in there? KATE For your theory? Not well. I think there's a better one. FROST It can't be better if it's wrong. KATE Good night, Charles. She begins to walks away. FROST The pattern is so patently obvious children, even kindergartners would see it. I'm trying to save everyone's jobs, okay? What?! She turns. FROST All right, your theory; what is it. Tell me. She comes back down the steps to talk to him. KATE It's a pretty scary scenario, actually. It leads to Russia and China on the brink of confrontation; two neighboring nuclear power, India and Pakistan forced to pick sides; Japan and the United States being drawn in against their will. It's your basic horror show, World War III nightmare. FROST Very cool. You want to grab coffee? She looks stunned at his attitude. CUT TO: INT. - SANTOS PLANE - NIGHT The plane has landed at it's destination and the staff is getting off. We see Ned and Ronna walking, one in front of the other. Josh calls to Ned. JOSH Ned, hang on a minute. He steps aside and lets the other people move past him. Josh walks over to him. NED What's up? Josh sits one side of the aisle and Ned sits across from him. NED Am I in trouble? JOSH You know, this kind of thing is never easy but we've decided to make a change. NED Sorry? JOSH We're shaking up... the staff and you're one of the people we're going to let go. I'm sorry. NED You're joking. JOSH I'm not. NED You're firing me? JOSH It's reassignment; back to the Congressional office. NED No, um, you don't fire me. Does the Congressman know about this? JOSH He signed off on it, yeah. NED Well, due respect, I'm really going to have to hear it from him. JOSH He's going straight to the meet-and-greet, and then, I really hope, straight to bed. NED Well, he's going to need to find some time. Ned stands, as if to leave. JOSH Listen to me. He sits back down. JOSH Talking to the Congressman is not going to change anything. I want to thank you for all your hard work. NED Screw you. He gets back up and grabs his things. NED You know, you can fire as many of us grunts as you want, but if you want to know why this campaign is floundering, look in the mirror. He walks away. CUT TO: INT. - C.J.'S OFFICE - NIGHT C.J. is in her office and Kate comes to the door to speak to her. KATE C.J., did something break in the leak investigation? Since I'm supposed to heading it... C.J. I really can't talk about this right now. KATE I feel like I owe you an apology. C.J. You don't. And I really can't discuss this right now. She walks away, putting her jacket on as she walks to the Roosevelt Room. When she enters, Toby and Alana both stand. C.J. The President wants to see you. Just Toby. ALANA I'm afraid I have a problem with that. C.J. I'm sure I didn't just hear you invite yourself into the Oval Office. ALANA You're hearing me request that the courtesy of an invitation be extended to Mr. Ziegler's attorney... Toby begins to leave. ALANA [cont.] ... or my clients not going anywhere. TOBY It's okay. ALANA Toby! TOBY It's all right. Go home. He leaves the Roosevelt Room and he and C.J. walk to the door of the Oval Office. C.J. knocks and Bartlet answers. BARTLET Yeah. She opens the door and they go in. Bartlet and Babish are waiting for them. TOBY Mr. President. BARTLET Toby. TOBY I was hoping we would be able to speak in private. BARTLET Your actions have pretty much made that impossible. I haven't had much time to absorb this news, so I'll apologize in advance if I express any half-formed thoughts. But the one thought that hits the hardest is that this was somehow inevitable; that you've always been heading for this sort of crash-and-burn. That self-righteous superiority; not that you were smarter than everyone; that you were purer, morally superior. TOBY Due respect, sir, I don't think I'm morally superior to everyone. BARTLET No, just to me. He steps toward the center of the room and takes a letter out of his coat pocket as he does. TOBY Sir, I've drawn up a letter of resignation. Bartlet steps toward the center of the room as well. BARTLET What is that, the third one? Rip it up. TOBY Sir? BARTLET I can't accept your resignation. I have to fire you. For cause. He looks at Babish as he steps back toward his desk. He takes his tie off as Babish speaks. BABISH You'll need to turn in your credentials. A guard will come to escort you from the building immediately. You may not take anything out with you. All of your personal effects will be sent to your home after Counsel's staff has cataloged the contents of your office. Bartlet has come to the window behind his desk. TOBY Thank you, Mr. President. He turns and walks to the door. Babish follows him. Bartlet turns and speaks to Toby. BARTLET Toby. Toby turns just as he has reached the door. BARTLET When you walk out of here, there'll be people out there, perhaps a great many, who'll think of you as a hero. I just don't for a moment want you thinking I'll be one of them. Toby turns, snobbishly it seems, and leaves. Babish follows him into the Outer Oval Office. CUT TO: INT. - SECRETARY'S OFFICE - OEOB - NIGHT C.J. walks into the office and speaks to a secretary. The print on the door reads "Office of the Vice President," and beneath that, "Chief of Staff." C.J. Hey. Is he in? The secretary gets up and leads C.J. into another office. SECRETARY C.J. Cregg to see you. C.J. Thanks. CUT TO: INT. - WILL'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS C.J. walks in and speaks to Will, who is seated at his desk and is watching the news. She looks as though she is seriously trying not to cry. C.J. Hey. WILL Hey, what's up? C.J. I'm offering - well, not so much offering as dragooning you to be the new White House Communications Director starting immediately. Congratulations. I'll smooth things over with the VP but first you should know the President's making a statement in, uh, three or so minutes in which he'll announce that Toby Ziegler has been fired for an egregious national security violation. WILL [whispering] Toby. C.J. Said termination taking place within an hour of Mr. Ziegler's confession of responsibility for this act. Will stands and puts his jacket on. WILL Uh, does the President want me to help with the statement? C.J. I think he's got a pretty good handle on what he's going to say. White House Counsel sealed Toby's office so feel free to use Annabeth's old one for the time being, which, come to think of it, used to be yours. Funny how things work out. WILL Not so funny, really. C.J. Yeah, not so much. She turns and leaves. CUT TO: INT. - OUTER OVAL OFFICE - NIGHT Babish and Toby are waiting as cameramen are getting set up for the President's statement. BABISH Rough in there. TOBY To be expected. BABISH I thought he'd thank you for your service. TOBY He's angry. BABISH Someone should thank you for your service. A guard comes into the office. GUARD Mr. Ziegler. I'll need your hard pass, sir. Toby takes out his pass and gives it to the guard. GUARD If you'd come with me. They walk out of the office and Babish stands as Toby walks out. We hear the President begin his address. BARTLET Good evening. Less than an hour ago White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler confessed to making an unauthorized disclosure of classified national security information to a reporter from the New York Times newspaper. We follow several shots of Toby being escorted from the building as we hear Bartlet give his speech. BARTLET This admission was promptly brought to my attention and Mr. Ziegler was immediately fired from his position in this administration effective at once. He's been relieved of his credentials... We see on a TV screen that Bartlet is wringing his hands. The audio begins to fade as we continue to follow Toby. We see C.J., who is watching the address from the Oval Office, beginning to cry. We see the guard lead Toby out the side door to the White House. The door is closed behind them as the guard opens the door to a car that is waiting. Toby gets in, the guard shuts the door, and the car drives off. DISSOLVE TO: END TITLES. FADE TO BLACK. THE END. * * * The West Wing episode 7.05 "Here Today", original air date 23 October, 2005.