Episode Summary:
When five crew members of an airborne Thunderchief are shot down by North Korean jets near the hostile country, President Bartlet dispatches a Navy SEAL team to retrieve them–prompting Leo to recall his own harrowing experience when he was downed as a pilot over North Vietnam. Leo’s good friend and fellow flyer saved Leo’s life and now is in trouble for allegedly paying bribes to defense contractors to obtain military contracts. Meanwhile, C.J. accepts the challenge of dueling on live television with an opinionated, conservative talk show host, Taylor Reid (Jay Mohr). Josh fumes when he briefs the President about a contested tax cut for stay-at-home mothers and is undercut by brash, young intern Ryan (Jesse Bradford). And the commander in chief balks at posing for his official portrait.
Script:
THE WEST WING 5X14 - "AN KHE" WRITTEN BY JOHN WELLS DIRECTED BY ALEX GRAVES TRANSCRIBED BY SOUNDMAN FOR TWIZ TV.COM. SEND FEEDBACK TO [email protected]. TEASER FADE IN: INT. - COCKPIT - BOMBER - NIGHT The bomber is flying through the air. [Transcriber's Note: Because I can't possibly identify the several pilots' voices in this opening segment, they are all simply listed as "PILOT". When it moves down to a new PILOT, that represents a different, although not necessarily new, voice.] PILOT Tango Outlaw 1-6, Raven One approaching An Khe. PILOT Roger One. Operation is in heavy contact at Bravo Romeo 945374. They need FAC ASAP. Fox Mike 45.8. PILOT Coming up on your wing, lead. You drawing targets? PILOT Roger, two. First drop's just beyond the tree line. PILOT I've got it. PILOT Keep up your speed. Don't stop. We hear the instrument panel beeping in one of the bombers. PILOT They just salvoed. PILOT Locked on target. PILOT Raven two locked on target. PILOT We've been hit. PILOT Fire light's on. Can you see, two? PILOT Clear off the wing. You've got two tanks near the fire. PILOT We've lost hydraulics. We see several pilots eject out of their cockpits. CUT TO: INT. - DINNER ROOM - NIGHT TUESDAY NIGHT Leo is speaking at a podium. Many people are seated in the audience. LEO So, so he says, "That's my Mulligan." And I say, "But you've already taken your Mulligan." "Yeah," Kenny says, "but we're playing Texas rules." The audience applauds and laughs. LEO Okay, okay, let's try to forget for a moment his success in the private sector creating jobs and generating enormous tax revenues the President and I get to fool around with. And let's talk about his commitment to his community; Chairman of the Board of University Medical Center, the Opera Society and Symphony, although I suspect the opera thing is more Sally. CEO and Chairman of Mueller-Wright Aeronautics and this year's Chicago Business Conference Humanitarian of the Year. The finest man that I have ever had the great privilege to call my friend, your own Kenneth Sean O'Neal. The people in the audience stand and applaud. The man to Leo's immediate left, KENNETH SEAN O'NEAL, and his wife, SALLY, stand as well. Leo gives Ken a hug. CUT TO: EXT. - STREET - OUTSIDE BUILDING - NIGHT Leo, Ken, and Sally are talking. O'NEAL Thanks for coming, Leo. LEO I wouldn't have missed it for the world. How are Beth and Sandy? SALLY Beth's expecting again, and Sandy is Sandy. LEO How's Ramses coming along? O'NEAL Oh, Armed Services is holding it up again. I'm going to go in and talk to them on Thursday. You free for lunch? LEO If I'm not, I'll make sure I will be. You want me to place a call? O'NEAL To Hunt? No, thanks. LEO Congratulations, Kenny. They hug. O'NEAL Now, you're coming to Hilton Head this summer. No arguments, no lame excuses that you're saving the world for democracy. LEO Saving it from democracy's more what it feels like. I'll see you on Thursday. O'NEAL Thursday. SALLY Bye now. Leo gets into a cab that is waiting by the road. ABBY [prelap] Stop being a baby about this. CUT TO: INT. - RESIDENCE - BATHROOM - NIGHT Bartlet and Abby are in the bathroom talking. BARTLET I don't need a portrait. ABBY Of course you do. BARTLET What, me with my Irish Wolfhound gazing with portent out over the Potomac? ABBY You don't have an Irish Wolfhound. BARTLET My point exactly. The phone starts ringing. Bartlet answers it. BARTLET [into phone] Yeah. ... Sure, send him in. He hangs the phone up. BARTLET Charlie. And when am I supposed to find time to sit for some cut-rate Ruebens while he angles me just so to catch the late afternoon light? ABBY You do know it's not a nude, right? CUT TO: INT. - RESIDENCE - BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Bartlet and Abby walk in. The steward lets Charlie in. CHARLIE Excuse me, Mr. President. Mrs. Bartlet, sorry to bother you. ABBY Oh, no. Come on in, bring your jammies. We're about to start the pillow fight. CHARLIE The General's waiting outside. ABBY Why not invite him in, too? I'll pop some popcorn, we'll watch Patton on cable. Bartlet leaves the bedroom and walks out into the sitting room. CUT TO: INT. - RESIDENCE - SITTING ROOM - CONTINUOUS General Alexander is waiting by the window when Bartlet comes in. ALEXANDER Sorry to disturb you, sir. BARTLET What's happened? ALEXANDER A Navy E-2 Hawkeye providing command and control for the Carl Vinsen Carrier Battle Group went down in the Sea of Japan. BARTLET Any survivors? ALEXANDER Yes, sir. We believe so. We're picking up signals from four of their five GPS locator beacons. BARTLET So we got get them. ALEXANDER They may be difficult to retrieve in their current location. BARTLET Where are they? ALEXANDER Somewhere north of Kimch'ack, 300 kilometers northeast of P'yongyang, in the Republic of North Korea. SMASH CUT TO: MAIN TITLES. END TEASER. * * * ACT ONE FADE IN: INT. - SITUATION ROOM - DAY On a camera, we see Leo outside the Situation room. He opens the door and walks in. He sits next to Bartlet. BARTLET How was Chicago? LEO Quick. Where are we? ALEXANDER An E-2C Hawkeye was being harassed by two North Korean MiGs over the Sea of Japan. The MiGs had made two non-firing passes, one less than ten feet off his wing. LEO The crew make it out? ALEXANDER We've located four of the five crew members and identified two large pieces of wreckage a mile off the coast. LEO Our people are in the water? ADMIRAL MCGILL They were, but now their GPS beacons indicate they're on land. LEO In North Korea. BARTLET What will the crew do? LEO Lay low, stay out of sight, wait for us to come get them. A man, later identified as BARROW, speaks. BARROW We can't go get them. Sending a Special Forces covert retrieval team into North Korea will be seen as an act of war. LEO We're still at war with North Korea. We never signed an armistice. ALEXANDER If they capture our people, they'll be held as POWs. Or worse, they'll deny they even have them. BARROW We can negotiate for their safe return. ALEXANDER Can you guarantee they'll negotiate? BARROW Can you guarantee you can go get them without starting another war? BARTLET Do we have any way of confirming that they're still alive? MCGILL They were in the water, now they're on land. LEO We have any keyhole satellites currently in position? ALEXANDER We're scrambling reconnaissance out of Okinawa and Osan. Should be over the crash site in three hours. BARTLET Call me when you know. Bartlet stands. Everyone follows. ALL Thank you, sir. CUT TO: INT. - WHITE HOUSE LOBBY - DAY C.J. is walking into the lobby. Carol has met her there and is talking to her. CAROL Last night's summaries, the daybook, press guidance from the NSC and the policy shops, State department cables. Legislative Affairs says a new amendment is moving through Ways and Means. Congressman Wendt wants a tax cut for stay-at-home moms. C.J. Too late to slip in incentives for stay-at-home Congressmen? CAROL The President's flying to Wendt's district in South Carolina on Saturday. They want you to read the guidance before the gaggle. Think it might come up. C.J. Really? You think? CAROL So, tomorrow's the big day? C.J. What? CAROL Mystery Ben. C.J. What about him? CAROL He's coming by to say hello. C.J. No, he isn't. CAROL He's in town and he called. C.J. And you gave him an appointment? CAROL He seemed nice. C.J. He is nice. Very nice. Also very married. CAROL Not anymore. C.J. He and Katie split up? CAROL Katie's living in Portland with an orthodontist. C.J. Really? CAROL And Toby and Josh are in your office. C.J. What do they want? CAROL To make fun of you, I think. C.J. And you let them in? CAROL And got them coffee. C.J. walks into her office. Josh and Toby are in there. JOSH We've got a problem with the South Carolina trip. Congressman Wendt, who single-handedly blocked our tax credit to expand child care for working families, is attempting to bind the feet of your entire gender with his paleo-chauvinist stay-at-home tax cut. C.J. I'm going to read the bill and supporting materials now. JOSH What if you just kick up a cloud of dust about the revenue impact and mention he's the Darth Vader of child care? C.J. What if I take a minute to read the bill and supporting materials? JOSH We're already rolling over on the tax side. The indexing provision... C.J. Can I please take a moment to read the bill and supporting materials? She sits down at her desk. Josh sits across from her. C.J. Okay, what? TOBY We think you should go on The Taylor Reid Show. JOSH The chicken thing has legs. TOBY With those pointy little toes. C.J. No. JOSH The Washington Wire has Tyson Foods offering you a lifetime supply of wings and thighs if you'll do a print ad for whole fryers. TOBY And the Reliable Source notes that the Oval Room... JOSH Your favorite restaurant. TOBY ... has a new menu item - an ungodly combination of chicken, avocado, and poached egg called "The C.J. Cregg Egg." C.J. You're enjoying this, aren't you? JOSH Go on the show, call his bluff, show you have a sense of humor. TOBY You could wear a chicken suit. JOSH Take him even semi-seriously, he'll lay off and find another cluck to pluck. C.J. A chicken suit? Will walks in. WILL Josh, Leo's looking for you. Josh gets up to leave. WILL Hey you should read the Wendt Amendment. C.J. I'm trying to read it now. WILL It's pretty narrowly drawn, actually. Not the worst thing. She see it last night? C.J. See what? WILL She doesn't know? C.J. Know what? JOSH Taylor Reid was talking about your spin on the decline of manufacturing jobs and he said... Josh starts laughing and Toby finishes the sentence. TOBY "The tall lady's back to telling tall tales." C.J. The tall lady? JOSH The tall lady. C.J. stands up and calls to Carol. C.J. Carol, call the Taylor Reid Show, book me on the next available slot. [to Toby] I'm gonna reach down and rip off his puny little face. CUT TO: INT. - MARGARET'S OFFICE - DAY Margaret turns the light on in her office and walks into Leo's office. MARGARET You're already here. LEO I came in straight from Dulles. MARGARET At 2:00 in the morning? LEO I need a clean shirt. What happened to the one I brought in the other day? MARGARET It had a hole in the sleeve, so I took it home. LEO To do what with it? MARGARET Sew up the hole. LEO Now you're mending my clothes? MARGARET You want some breakfast? LEO I want a clean shirt. Josh walks in. JOSH You looking for me? LEO You still on good terms with Hunt? JOSH I don't think the Senator's going to invite me down to his ranch to lasso a bull any time soon, but he returns my calls. LEO The LC-104 Ramses project. MARGARET They need you in the Sit Room. JOSH The chopper Mueller-Wright's building for the Army? LEO Hunt's bottling it up in committee. They walk out into the hall and continue talking as they head toward the Sit Room. JOSH Probably because it's being built in 16 different states, none of them named Arizona. LEO Find out what's going on with the Ramses thing, will you? JOSH Wendt has stuck on another one of his "moving America back to the Mamie Eisenhower Era" amendments. LEO What is it this time? JOSH Tax cuts for stay-at-home moms. LEO The President's headed down to his district on Saturday. JOSH Yeah, I don't think the timing's accidental. LEO Okay, pull together a briefing, and I'll get you a few minutes with the President. Josh walks off and so does Leo. CUT TO: INT. - JOSH'S BULLPEN AREA - DAY Donna is seated at her cubicle. Josh walks up and begins talking to her. JOSH Donna! Can you see if Senator Hunt's office can find me a couple minutes this morning? Is Jimmy Olsen with us today? DONNA Ryan! Ryan walks up. JOSH You know who Sam Wendt is? RYAN Democrat from the Oregon Fifth? JOSH Republican from the South Carolina Second, but you were close. He introduced an amendment to use the tax code to subsidize stay-at-home moms. They walk over to the coffee pot. RYAN That's interesting. JOSH No, not really. He kills child care proposals, and tries to get us to print the Ten Commandments on the back of the two-dollar bill. RYAN Be nice to have them wallet-sized. They walk into Josh's office. JOSH Read the different drafts of the amendment. Show how many more women would have benefited from the President's child care tax credit than from Wendt's stay-at-home proposal. Treasury, JTC scoring, and a year-by-year impact on the deficit for a Presidential briefing tomorrow. RYAN I'm going to brief the President? JOSH No, I'm going to brief the President and take credit for all your hard work, but you get to come. RYAN Great. Sure, tomorrow. Uh, JTC is...? DONNA Joint Tax Committee. Ryan and Donna walk out. Donna comes back and stands against the doorframe. JOSH What? It's scut work. DONNA Presidential scut work. JOSH You want to spend the day reading mind-numbing spreadsheets? DONNA Mind-numbing Presidential spreadsheets. JOSH Well, channel your Presidential disappointment into getting me five minutes with Matt Hunt, okay? Please? She leaves. CUT TO: INT. - SITUATION ROOM - DAY ALEXANDER There's no activity of any kind in the crew's location. No vehicles, no movement or troops or equipment. The Hook 112 receivers indicate our people are in this densely wooded area here. There is, however, extraordinary activity out to sea in the general vicinity of the crash site. LEO How long before they figure out our guys made it to shore? ALEXANDER It's hard to say. Right now, it looks as if they're assuming no one got out. BARTLET What's the plan, Admiral? MCGILL A four-man SEAL team will HALO drop over the crash site under cover of darkness. BARTLET HALO drop? LEO They jump out at 40,000 feet, deploy their chutes at 2,000 feet. MCGILL They'll gather the crew, get them into a Zodiac, and head back out to seas 12 miles due east where they'll be met by a Super Sea Stallion rescue chopper. The Sea Stallion will then fly them east 200 miles to the USS Cowpens. BARROW So, your SEAL team, they'll be armed? MCGILL Yes, sir. BARROW And if they run into resistance from the North Koreans, they'll start shooting? ALEXANDER You want them to drop in unarmed? BARROW Mr. President, if the North Koreans discover armed American soldiers on Korean soil... BARTLET We go get 'em. BARROW Mr. President, there are other... LEO We don't leave our people in harm's way, Mr. Barrow. We bring 'em home. Bartlet stands. Everyone follows. BARTLET Admiral, go get our boys. ALL Thank you, Mr. President. FADE OUT. END ACT ONE. * * * ACT TWO FADE IN: INT. - WAITING ROOM - OUTSIDE SENATOR HUNT'S OFFICE - DAY Josh is waiting outside Senator Hunt's office. An assistant speaks to Josh. ASSISTANT The senator will see you now Mr. Lyman. Josh walks back into the Senator's office. JOSH Thank you for seeing me, Senator. SENATOR HUNT You still getting in a little handball now and then, Josh? JOSH As the years go by, I want my sports with a little more leverage, like, say, a racquet. HUNT Well, I'm down at the club most mornings, 6:00 am sharp. JOSH I don't know if my ego could take another shellacking like last time. HUNT So, what can I do for you? JOSH The LC-104 Ramses Transport Chopper program. The DoD already approved the purchase. HUNT At six billion. Now Mueller-Wright says it's going to cost ten. JOSH The Army changed the order. HUNT The upgrades are all subcontractor parts, and the reactive armor was a requirement in the initial RFP. JOSH Well, the Army needs them, and they need them sooner, rather than later. HUNT You going to lecture me on military preparedness, Josh? Josh laughs. HUNT What branch of the service did you serve in? I've forgotten. Why are you here? Kenny O'Neal pick up the phone and call Leo? Josh stands up. JOSH What's your real concern here, Senator? That none of the Ramses project subcontractors are from Arizona? HUNT You tell Leo that the Armed Services Committee is going to exercise its oversight prerogative. Mr. O'Neal is just going to have to wait. Josh walks off. CAROL [prelap] The Taylor Reid Show can get you on tomorrow. They're going to clear... CUT TO: INT. C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY C.J. and Carol are walking through the hallways toward C.J.'s office. CAROL [cont.] ... a few scheduled guests for you. C.J. I'm going to carve him into McNuggets. CAROL They want you there by 11:45 for the noon segment. You're on the air for seven minutes, back by one, just in time to say hello to Ben. C.J. Ask Media Affairs to do a background on Reid's questioning style and a list of recurring topics. CAROL Interior's transferring Ben to DC. He's looking for advice on a place to live. Abbey walks up to the door of C.J.'s office. ABBEY Excuse me, I hope I'm not interrupting. C.J. Oh, no ma'am. Come on in. Carol's just trying to get me excited about an old beau. CAROL He's a Ranger. ABBEY Dashing. CAROL Works with at-risk kids, too. ABBEY Sold. C.J. How are you, Mrs. Bartlet? ABBEY Fine. I just wanted to give you a heads-up, in case anyone mentions it a press briefing. I'm going to start volunteering. C.J. Volunteering, ma'am? ABBEY At the Washington Free Clinic. C.J. You're going to start practicing medicine again? ABBEY I'll just be helping out a bit. I won't be doing any heart transplants. C.J. I'm sorry, ma'am. Are you licensed to practice medicine again? ABBEY I voluntarily chose to stop practicing, C.J. And now I'm choosing to give a few underprivileged toddlers vaccinations. I never said I was hanging up my stethoscope for good. CUT TO: INT. - JOSH'S BULLPEN AREA - DAY Josh is walking toward his office. Donna and Will are following him. JOSH See if Leo's available, and find out if Senator Canton's around. DONNA For a call, or face-to-face? WILL It'll have to be a call. Canton's in Seattle, NAACP convention. What do you need Canton for? Donna leaves the office. JOSH Hunt's threatening to bottle up the Ramses thing. I need a Democrat on Armed Services to run interference. WILL I've been thinking about this Wendt amendment. Maybe we should give it another look. JOSH Tax credits for stay-at-home moms? WILL Might not be such a bad thing. JOSH For the floor wax industry, maybe. WILL Working families are struggling. They need our help. JOSH You already auditioning one-liners for New Hampshire? Ryan walks in as Josh sits down. RYAN I've been reading this Wendt stuff. It might not be such a bad thing. WILL See? What'd I tell you? RYAN A-A major study Wendt commissioned of... 1,364 children showed a clear link between parents' dumping their kids in day care and an increase in hyperactivity, lack of discipline, and violent behaviour. WILL Can I see that? JOSH You're saying Jeffrey Dahmer's only problem was day care? RYAN We're always harping about the root causes of crime and violence. JOSH I work for the federal government. I-I've never heard of Wendt's so-called "Major federal study." WILL Maybe that's because all TV news programs are produced by mothers who dump their kids in day care. JOSH 'Kay, I think we need more women in the workforce, specifically to keep you two out. Ryan turns to walk out. CUT TO: INT. - SITUATION ROOM - DAY McGill is standing in front of a screen. He has an earpiece radio on. MCGILL The MC-130 is approaching the drop zone at 48,000 feet. They'll do a rapid descend to 38,000 for the drop. MC-130 PILOT Carolina to ODS. Confirming traffic lights. COWPENS OPERATOR Location scattered in angle formation east. Mapped on the grid in five. MCGILL That's the pilot confirming the North Korean lights below him. MC-130 PILOT That's affirmative. Same view from the top. Operation Shore Leave to commence at oh-four-hundred-two. ALEXANDER They're waiting for your go, sir. Bartlet nods to Alexander. Alexander nods to McGill. MCGILL That's affirmative. COWPENS OPERATER That's affirmative, Carolina. MC-130 PILOT Roger, ODS. Going dark. COWPENS OPERATOR God be with you. UNIT LEADER Jump permission granted. Units one and two, go. Unit three, go. We see several people from the SEAL team jump from the airplane. CUT TO: EXT. - JUNGLE - NIGHT - FLASHBACK We see a younger KENNY O'NEAL dragging an also younger Leo, who has a broken leg, through the jungle. A heavy rain is falling. We hear distant voices and can see a soldier moving through the jungle. Kenny drags Leo to a spot and leans him against a tree. Kenny also ducks. O'NEAL Shh! We see two soldiers walk by just above the two men's heads. We hear the soldiers speaking a foreign language. When they have passed, Kenny moves over to Leo to look at his leg. There is an open wound. The younger man opens a packet of something and pours it into the wound. LEO I think it's broken. Oh! You got to go. I'll be okay. O'NEAL We bailed pretty close to Rest Camp. We'll head out that way. LEO It's a couple miles. You can't be dragging me all over the jungle. Kenny ties a bandage around Leo's wound. LEO You'll never make it with me along. O'NEAL You're not so heavy, old man. CUT TO: INT. LEO'S OFFICE - DAY Leo is seated at his desk. He is obviously thinking about something. Josh calls to him and we see that Josh is standing in the doorway. JOSH Leo? You got a minute? LEO Yeah, sure. JOSH Hunt isn't going to back off. LEO What's his problem? JOSH He implied you had me inquiring on behalf of Ken O'Neal. LEO I'll call Hunt. JOSH I tracked down Dave Canton. Asked him what had the Chairman so riled up. He said Mueller-Wright circumvented DoD protocol to get the deal approved. LEO There are thousands of procurement regs over at DoD. If somebody at Muller-Wright forgot to do some due diligence, they'll sort it out. JOSH Canton says they never did an AOA. Hunt has an investigation going. He wants subpoenas, hearings. LEO Over an AOA? JOSH Canton says Ken O'Neal is going to be the first witness subpoenaed. LEO Margaret! Margaret comes in. LEO Call Matt Hunt's office. Tell him I'm coming over, now. Leo gets up and starts putting his coat on. JOSH You worked for Mueller-Wright. If they're involved in procurement irregularities, any attempt on your part to impede a Senate... LEO I'm not going to "impede" anything. Thanks. I'll take it from here. JOSH Did you know Senator Hunt in the military? LEO No. He was later. Cambodia and Laos. It was a big war. Leo leaves his office. CUT TO: EXT. - JUNGLE - NIGHT - FLASHBACK We see Leo is still leaned up against the tree. LEO Please. You gotta go. O'NEAL I'm not leaving you, Leo, so forget it. Come on. Kenny drags Leo away from the base of the tree. He then picks Leo up and puts him on his shoulder. Then, he begins walking into the jungle. FADE OUT. END ACT TWO. * * * ACT THREE FADE IN: INT. - SENATOR HUNT'S OFFICE - DAY Leo and Hunt are seated at his desk and they are talking. LEO The Army sped up the timeline because, if you haven't noticed, the threat to our guys has increased. HUNT Are you questioning my patriotism? LEO Cut the crap, Matt. I've got old service ribbons gathering dust in a drawer somewhere, too. HUNT We had companies with lower bids. LEO Airbus. Congress wasn't going to let the Pentagon award a ten billion dollar defense contract to the French. HUNT If Mueller-Wright couldn't make the choppers for the price, then they shouldn't have bid. LEO So, now you're going to drag Ken O'Neal in front of a network perp-walk over a weapons system we have to have that no one else can build? HUNT If Mr. O'Neal is subpoenaed to appear before my committee, it will be to answer legitimate questions about the manner in which Mueller-Wright secured those contracts. LEO You know damn well the charge screams louder than the verdict. If you don't like the price, tell the DoD to renegotiate it. HUNT It's not about price anymore, Leo. It's about process and patronage. LEO You're accusing me of using my influence to get them the contract? HUNT Well, how many years did you work for Mueller-Wright? Was it 10? 12? LEO Don't try to embarrass me and, through me, the President by humiliating an outstanding American patriot. HUNT Well, now who's waving the flag, Leo? Leo stands up. LEO If you're drawing up partisan subpoena lists, Matt, put my name on top. Leo leaves. WOMAN [prelap] When you're talking... CUT TO: INT. - STUDIO - TAYLOR REID SHOW - DAY THURSDAY MORNING C.J. is getting ready to go on the air. A woman is talking to her as she leads her to her seat at the table across from Reid. WOMAN [cont.] ... address Taylor, not the camera. If he points to the Truth Meter... C.J. The Truth Meter? Am I on a game show? WOMAN If he points to the Truth Meter keep looking at Taylor. C.J. If he dunks me in a river and I float, does that mean I'm a witch? She walks over and sits next to Reid at the table. MAN Back in ten. REID God, it's great you could join us. I'm a huge fan. MAN Five, four, three... They begin the show. REID As promised, White House Press Secretary C.J. Cregg has finally agreed to join us. Ms. Cregg, global warming. That's a liberal fantasy, isn't it? C.J. No, it's not. REID Voodoo environmentalism without any scientific... C.J. There are about 16 Nobel laureates, 57 World Bank economists, and 17 scientific studies... REID The World Bank is the U.N. for tree huggers. They think companies that create jobs and help big industry... C.J. That's ridiculous. REID If it's ridiculous you should stop funding them. Judicial nominees. The United States Senate doesn't think it's a good idea to approve of Bartlet's liberal judges that treat the Constitution... CUT TO: INT. - COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Josh and Toby are watching the show on the TV. REID [on TV] ... like it's some kind of beer coaster. C.J. [on TV] The President has nominated dozens of highly qualified... JOSH How's she doing? TOBY I think the Christians did a little better with the lions. They walk into Toby's office. JOSH It's only the first round, she's still testing out her jab. TOBY She better go to her hook soon. JOSH I just got a call from Hunt's office. Apparently, Leo has asked to be subpoenaed for the hearings on the Ramses. TOBY He asked to be subpoenaed? JOSH Hunt's asking for all e-mails within the DoD and Mueller-Wright. He thinks the bid process was rigged. He threatened to subpoena O'Neal. Apparently Leo rose to Ken's defense. TOBY Leo can't testify in front of the Armed Services Committee. Did you talk to him? JOSH I tried. TOBY Does the President know? JOSH Should he? CUT TO: INT. - SITUATION ROOM - DAY Several men are standing around as Bartlet walks in. They begin discussing the situation. ALL Mr. President. BARTLET We get 'em back? MCGILL We got single confirmation bursts from the SEAL team CSELs. They're now with the downed crew from the Hawkeye. BARTLET Are they in the water yet? ALEXANDER No, sir. But they've moved closer to the beach area, stopped in these woods. BARTLET Why? LEO The sun came up. BARTLET So, now what? They just wait around until the sun goes back down? MCGILL Yes, sir. BARROW Let's hope no one decides to go berry picking in those woods today. CAROL [prelap] You sure you don't want anything in it? CUT TO: INT. - HALLWAY - OUTSIDE C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY Carol is seated at her desk. Ben is seated across from her. He is mostly hidden behind the door and we are only able to see his face near the end of the conversation when he leans forward. BEN No. Black's great. [pause] You know, maybe it'd be better for me to wait in the lobby. CAROL No, please. C.J. should be back soon. BEN We met in Principles of Sociology. It was the only class at Berkeley that the Land Management kids and the Poli Sci students took together. CAROL You studied range management? BEN Yeah. Grassland, savanna, shrubland ecology. Thank God the Park Service hired me. I don't know what else my education would be good for. Selling seed catalogues, maybe. I don't know. [pause] I've got a picture of us together in college. Would you like to see it? He gets out the picture and shows it to Carol. BEN It's, a, uh... there. That's right after we started living together. God, she was something in a bikini, huh? She ever tell you about getting arrested for stealing that donkey down in Cabo? We see, on the TV behind Ben's shoulder, that the Taylor Reid Show is about to come back on. CUT TO: INT. - STUDIO - TAYLOR REID SHOW - DAY Reid and C.J. are preparing to return to the air. C.J. You're not giving me a chance to answer. If you just want to bloviate, why don't I leave a cardboard cutout of myself and you can talk all you want. MAN In five, four, three... REID You're doing great. They begin the show. REID We are back with C.J. Cregg, who says she could have sent a cardboard cutout of herself for all we're going to get out of her today. C.J., the First Lady is back to practicing medicine at a Southeast DC clinic. Isn't she breaking her promise to the American people? Didn't she say she wasn't going to practice medicine again after lying to keep her husband's condition a secret from the American voters? C.J. The First Lady is volunteering in a free clinic in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the nation, helping to save children's lives. REID Don't you think the First Lady should try to fix health care in this country as opposed to repairing her own self-image? C.J. She's and M.D., she can fix whatever she damn well pleases, and if it were health care, you'd try and block it. REID That's not true, I'm for sensible health care. I'm just against socialized medicine. C.J. No, you're not. REID Let's talk about how the First Lady lied to the American people. C.J. No, let's talk about your paid speeches to the pharmaceutical lobby... REID It's a free country. C.J. ... and your paid speeches to the HMO and insurance lobby, and how every time health care reform comes up on your show you're miraculously against it. The First Lady is rolling up her sleeves and getting something done, and you're not because you're too busy depositing their checks, and let's talk about who's chicken. CUT TO: INT. - OUTER OVAL OFFICE - DAY Charlie is seated at his desk and Debbie at hers. Toby and Josh are standing and waiting to talk to Bartlet. The TV is showing the Taylor Reid Show. JOSH Well, she won that round on all cards. TOBY How much longer do you think? DEBBIE I have no idea. JOSH Leo knows he can't testify on behalf of a major defense contractor. What's he thinking? TOBY He's not thinking. JOSH How long did they serve together? TOBY Leo and O'Neal? I don't know. Awhile before they were shot down. CHARLIE Leo was shot down? JOSH Over Hanoi. They hid out in the jungle until they were rescued. TOBY Can I get a ballpark on how much longer it's going to be? An era, a Tchaikovsky symphony, a brief Ice Age perhaps? DEBBIE You have some food stuck in your beard. CHARLIE How long was he there for? JOSH Three days. CUT TO: INT. - OVAL OFFICE - DAY Bartlet is seated next to a man named MR. THOMAS. Debbie knocks and comes in. DEBBIE Excuse me, sir. Mr. Ziegler is being rather insistent. BARTLET As he so often is. [to Thomas] Excuse me, Mr. Thomas. Give me some time to think about it. MR. THOMAS Mr. President. Toby and Josh come in as leaves. BARTLET So, what's so important? Someone get the words to "Yellow Submarine" wrong again? JOSH It's about Leo, sir. LEO [prelap] And we still haven't heard from Ken? CUT TO: INT. - LEO'S OFFICE - DAY Leo is seated and Margaret is talking to him. MARGARET I left messages at his office and with his hotel in Chicago. LEO We were supposed to have lunch. Call his office back and find out what meetings he had this morning. Bartlet knocks and comes in from the Oval Office. Leo stands up. BARTLET Got a minute. LEO Yes, sir, of course. BARTLET No word yet on the SEAL team? LEO No, sir, not yet. BARTLET Toby and Josh came to see me about this Muller-Wright thing. LEO I told Josh I'd handle it. BARTLET By going before the Armed Services Committee? LEO Hunt's trying to use my friendship with Ken O'Neal to embarrass this administration. BARTLET And testifying in front of a Congressional committee is going to lessen that embarrassment? LEO Hunt's bluffing. He's upset Arizona manufacturers didn't get any of the contract. BARTLET Well, you were a senior corporate officer at Mueller-Wright for over ten years, right, Leo? You can't testify. LEO It's not going to come to that. BARTLET It opens you up to being called before Congressional committees on a whim. LEO I won't stand by while Hunt slanders a good man's name for political purposes. BARTLET And Josh seems to think that... LEO Josh doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. BARTLET Have you asked Kenny if there's any truth... LEO I've know Ken O'Neal for thirty-five years. I've worked beside him, served beside him... He hasn't done anything wrong. Bartlet nods. BARTLET You can't testify, Leo. LEO I won't desert him, Mr. President. BARTLET Have you asked Kenny if there's any truth to the rumors... LEO I don't have to. Bartlet leaves and Leo sits back down. FADE OUT. END ACT THREE. * * * ACT FOUR FADE IN: INT. - OVAL OFFICE - DAY Bartlet is seated at his desk, Charlie is standing behind him, and Debbie is standing across from his desk. BARTLET Still nothing from General Alexander? CHARLIE No, sir. And Josh is waiting to give you a Ways and Means briefing. BARTLET What Ways and Means briefing? DEBBIE The South Carolina trip, sir. And then you have INS on border security and at 4:00, the National Medal of Arts recipients are coming by. BARTLET You a Crosby, Stills and Nash fan? DEBBIE I've always been more of a Crazy Horse gal, Mr. President. BARTLET Yeah, I could see how that would be. DEBBIE Although I did have a tempestuous affair with a rodeo cowboy during the summer of love that the Hollies played a significant role in. I'll call Josh in. Bartlet and Charlie stare at her as she leaves. Josh and Ryan come in. BARTLET So what's this problem I'm hearing about with Saturday's trip to South Carolina? JOSH Wendt wants a tax cut for stay-at-home moms. Unless you're a poor woman, then, of course, he'd argue you have to work or else you should be denied welfare benefits. Next, he'll try to slip dishwasher subsidies into the omnibus reconciliation bill. Our caucus has been fighting for more daycare, more after-school care, transportation subsidies to make it easier for poor women to get to good jobs. They can't justify spending, uh... RYAN JTC scores it at 11 billion over five years. JOSH ... 11 billion to keep Wilma Flinstone in dinosaur-skin coats while most women are struggling to find someone to take care of their child. BARTLET What's the tax benefit for the typical family? JOSH About $100 a year. RYAN Closer to $300. But that's not the point. A typical family of four making $68,000 can still get $1200 in child care tax credits if the wife decides to work, but if she wants to stay home with the kids we don't help. BARTLET Who's this? JOSH Ryan Pierce. He's interning in my office for a few months... BARTLET Pierce? JOSH ... maybe less. BARTLET Senator Pierce's son? RYAN He's my uncle. BARTLET So, which would you choose, Ryan, daycare tax cut of this? RYAN Daycare, but why should we choose for everybody else? BARTLET What would you suggest? RYAN Tell Wendt you understand that he didn't want to support your child care tax credit when there's no help for stay-at-home moms, so he should find some loophole closers we can agree on to pay for both. He's on Ways and Means. That's where the money is, right? BARTLET Right. Thank you. Josh and Ryan leave. CUT TO: INT. - C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY C.J. and Carol are talking. C.J. That was fun. CAROL You did great. C.J. Sanctimonious little guttersnipe sent a great big fat one, up and over the plate. 'Health Care Reform'? From a guy who's still on the fence about the application of leeches? She makes a batting gesture with the paper in her hands. CAROL He wants you back. C.J. 'Sensible Health Care'? He means a bedpan, a gurney, and a check from the "Your Claim's Been Rejected" lobby. CAROL You missed Ben. He hung around for a while but he had to get back for a meeting at Interior. C.J. How's he look? CAROL If you don't want him, can I have him? C.J. He still have that ruffled hair, Redford in The Way We Were kind of thing going on? CAROL He left you a note and a picture. C.J. comes over to her desk to read the note. RYAN [prelap] He asked a question. CUT TO: INT. - JOSH'S BULLPEN AREA - DAY Josh and Ryan are walking and talking. JOSH And I was answering it. RYAN Incorrectly. JOSH You work for me, you don't correct me in front of the President. RYAN Even when you're giving him wrong information? JOSH Yes. RYAN Really? Josh grabs a large book off the bookshelf and hands it to Ryan. JOSH Xerox this. Front to back, double-sided, and... RYAN Collated? JOSH Yeah. Go wild. RYAN All right. Ryan walks off. DONNA Trouble in mind-numbing Presidential briefing paradise? JOSH Eve Harrington in penny loafers here just corrected me in front of the President. DONNA Where you wrong? JOSH That's not the point. DONNA What is the point? JOSH I'm going into my office now. DONNA Senator Hunt's in there. JOSH Matt Hunt's in my office. Josh walks into his office. JOSH Senator, sorry to keep you waiting. HUNT That's okay. You didn't know I was coming. JOSH What can I do for you? HUNT I, uh... I lost my temper yesterday with Leo McGarry. He accused me of some things, I responded in kind. I want you to keep him from publicly supporting Ken O'Neal. Josh indicates for him to sit and they both do. HUNT Thanks. JOSH Senator, Leo doesn't take directions from me. I can't keep him from making a breakfast order. HUNT I understand loyalty. There are men that I served with that I would do anything for and they for me. But you can't let Leo get involved in this. You know Mark Lofton? JOSH No. HUNT Until six weeks ago, he was a DoD procurement officer making $80,000 a year. He supervised the bid process on the LC-104 Ramses. Now he's a senior vice president of a major defense contractor making over $300,000 a year. Want to guess who he works for? CUT TO: INT. - SITUATION ROOM - DAY Bartlet, Alexander, McGill, and Barrow are standing near the screen. ALEXANDER The Sea Stallion's heading back to the Cowpens. He should be breaking radio silence any moment. BARTLET Do we know if they've encountered any resistance? MCGILL Reconnaissance didn't see anything on their last flyover. PILOT Tigertail 1-1 to ODS, is this channel secure? ODS ON COWPENS Affirmative, Tigertail 1-1. Call in. Over. MCGILL That's ODS on the USS Cowpens. PILOT Tigertail 1-1 en route. Not to keep you in suspense ODS, all five pieces of cargo were secured. Everybody claps. BARTLET Commander, this is President Bartlet. What is their condition? SEAL TEAM LEADER Mr. President, this is SEAL Team Leader. Some bruised egos and a few broken bones but all stable. Unfortunately, we lost a member of the SEAL team, Captain Zeretsky, looks like hypoxia from the jump, sir. ALEXANDER Commander, any unfriendly encounters? SEAL TEAM LEADER Sir, no sir. Heavy water traffic on our way out from the beach, but they were blind as bats. BARTLET Well done, Commander. Thank you. SEAL TEAM LEADER Thank you, Mr. President. BARTLET General, can you get me a number for Captain Zeretsky's family? CUT TO: INT. - HALLWAY - WHITE HOUSE - DAY Josh is walking to Leo's office. He looks very concerned. He walks into Leo's office and speaks to Margaret, who is typing on her computer. JOSH Where is he? MARGARET Out of the building. JOSH Where out of the building? MARGARET Ken O'Neal called. Leo went to meet him. Josh leaves. CUT TO: EXT. - RIVERSIDE - DAY Ken is standing by the riverside as Leo walks up. LEO I was worried about you. O'NEAL Sorry about lunch. I got held up with our General Counsel. LEO I talked to Hunt. I know a bit about what's going on. He's just trying to score cheap political points off of our friendship. Get his face on the cover of the Journal. Leo's phone rings. O'NEAL Go ahead. LEO No. It's just Josh. They sit down on a bench. LEO I'm sorry. I got you into this mess. He wouldn't be making rain out of it if it weren't for me. O'NEAL No, it's not your fault, Leo. LEO I told him if he tried to drag you up in front of Armed Services he'd have to haul me up there first. O'NEAL No. LEO All the times you've come in under budget, all the times you've delivered projects on schedule under impossible deadlines... O'NEAL You can't testify. LEO If it comes to that, I can handle Hunt. O'NEAL You can't testify. I'm going to take the Fifth. I got the subpoena yesterday. I spent the morning with my attorneys. I'm going to assert my Fifth-Amendment right not to answer any questions. LEO Why? O'NEAL We didn't do the AOA. I gave a procurement officer at the DoD a job and I got to a guy on the Defense Policy Board. [pause] Stop looking at me like that. LEO Why not do the AOA? The Army wants the choppers. What, they were going to buy them from the French? O'NEAL We had to have the contract. I'm under a lot of pressure from my board. That Hollander merger was a disaster and the Navy left us holding the bag on the Warrior III missile system. LEO This was about money? O'Neal gets up. O'NEAL I have a responsibility to my employees and to our stockholders. And, yes, I pushed a little harder than I should have. And, yes, I'm going to hang for it. But it wasn't just me. Who do you think was pushing me? My congressman and my senator. Leo gets up and stands by Ken. O'NEAL [cont.] This was a jobs bill for them. [pause] So I paid an advance to a procurement officer I was planning on hiring. Do you think I was the first? It's a revolving door between the Pentagon and the private sector. LEO How much did you make last year? O'NEAL What? LEO How much, Kenny? O'NEAL Mm... just over a million. LEO Nah. How much with bonuses? O'NEAL $11 million. CUT TO: INT. - LEO'S OFFICE - NIGHT We hear Crosby, Stills and Nash singing My Country 'Tis of Thee. We pan around to see Leo sitting in his chair. He has been and still is crying. CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH My country 'tis of thee Sweet land of liberty Of thee I sing Land where my fathers died Land of the Pilgrim's pride Bartlet comes in from his office and sits next to Leo. BARTLET You okay? LEO Kenny did it. BARTLET Josh told me. [pause] We got the Hawkeye crew out. All five of them. We lost one of the SEALs. LEO What's-what's this music? BARTLET Crosby, Stills and Nash came by. They're getting the National Medal for the Arts; gave me this tape. It's beautiful, huh? LEO We were out in the jungle for three days. Kenny carried me on his back; hid me under piles of leaves while he went to find us water. I was delirious, I lost a lot of blood. He could have left me; He should have left me. He begins crying again. LEO [cont.] He never did. We, uh, found a clearing where we could send up a flare and a couple hours later these two Hueys showed up taking all kinds of AK fire. Men died for us. We had a responsibility to live our lives with integrity and honesty to honor their sacrifice. BARTLET [speaks Latin] Corruptio optimi pessima. 'Corruption of the best is the worst.' You've done more, much more, all on your own to honor their sacrifice, Leo. They'd be as proud to know you as I am. Bartlet returns to his office. CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH From every mountain side Let freedom ring CUT TO: EXT. - JUNGLE - DAY - FLASHBACK We see Kenny and Leo near a tree and we hear the approach of a helicopter. KENNY Leo. Leo, come on. They're here. We're going home. CUT TO: INT. - LEO'S OFFICE - NIGHT We see Leo sitting in his chair as he reflects. DISSOLVE TO: END TITLES. FADE TO BLACK. THE END. * * * The West Wing episode 5.14 "An Khe", original air date 18 February, 2004.