Episode Summary:
The Bartlet administration reels from press leaks that former Vice President Hoynes (Tim Matheson) is preparing a tell-all book that will embarrass the President and Leo as Hoynes plans to become a candidate for President of the United States. The newsflash first stuns C.J. live on the air as she jousts with acerbic pundit Taylor Reid (Jay Mohr). Josh welcomes the mayor of Washington, D.C., to the White House to discuss school vouchers and also encounters a political firestorm when intern Ryan (Jesse Bradford) proposes closing a military base in a district belonging to a powerful congressman. Toby parleys with trade union bosses who reach an impasse over import safeguards for brassieres.
Script:
THE WEST WING 5X15 - "FULL DISCLOSURE" WRITTEN BY LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, JR. DIRECTED BY LESLI LINKA GLATTER TRANSCRIBED BY SOUNDMAN FOR TWIZ TV.COM. SEND FEEDBACK TO [email protected]. TEASER FADE IN: INT. - STUDIO - TAYLOR REID SHOW - DAY We see Taylor Reid on one of the TV screens. REID We'll be back with White House Press Secretary C.J. Cregg after this. We pan to see that C.J. is on the phone with Toby. She is walking around the set ready to go on the air. C.J. Wait, what was that? You're breaking up on me. TOBY [VO] Hello? Can you hear me now? C.J. Yes. That's much better. So, what's this about the dollar and the yen? TOBY [VO] No. Not the yen. That's Japan. CUT TO: INT. - TOBY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Toby is sitting at his desk while he is talking to C.J. TOBY China's currency is the yuan. CUT TO: INT. - STUDIO - TAYLOR REID SHOW - CONTINUOUS C.J. This isn't PBS, he's not going to ask about the yuan. TOBY [VO] But cheap goods imported from China are what tomorrow's labor protests are going to be about, so we gotta start getting out the message that Chinese... CUT TO: INT. - TOBY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Toby is still on the phone when someone hands him a piece of paper. TOBY [cont.] Hang on a sec. CUT TO: INT. - STUDIO - TAYLOR REID SHOW - CONTINUOUS TOBY [VO] AP is reporting that a Presidential commission is recommending a 50%... CUT TO: INT. - TOBY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS TOBY [cont.] ... increase in cigarette taxes. What the...? CUT TO: INT. - STUDIO - TAYLOR REID SHOW - CONTINUOUS C.J. He's definitely going to as me about that. Give me more. One of the technicians is getting C.J. ready for the show. TOBY [VO] 17 cent increase... raise 3.4 billion a year... 16 billion over 5... C.J. H-hang on. Can you stick it there? Yeah? TOBY [VO] Could buy out 75% of tobacco farmers. CUT TO: INT. - TOBY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Will comes to the door of Toby's office. WILL Did you see Drudge? Will comes over to Toby's desk and starts typing on Toby's laptop in front of him. TOBY Uh, pay them not to grow tobacco... Increase in price of tobacco... CUT TO: INT. - STUDIO - TAYLOR REID SHOW - CONTINUOUS TOBY [cont.] [VO] ... would reduce teenage smoking. CUT TO: INT. - TOBY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Will has pulled up a website that shows an article titled "HOYNES TELLS ALL". TOBY Other recommendations for reducing teenage smo... Toby sees the article and suddenly looks concerned. CUT TO: INT. - STUDIO - TAYLOR REID SHOW - CONTINUOUS MAN In ten, nine, eight... C.J. Toby, I got to go. CUT TO: INT. - TOBY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS TOBY No, wait! CUT TO: INT. - STUDIO - TAYLOR REID SHOW - CONTINUOUS TOBY [VO] Wait! C.J. hangs up her phone. CUT TO: INT. - TOBY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS TOBY Hello? Damn it. Toby hangs up his phone. CUT TO: INT. - STUDIO - TAYLOR REID SHOW - CONTINUOUS C.J. goes on the air on the Taylor Reid Show. REID Joining me now in a rare venture outside the tightly controlled environment of the White House press briefing room is the one and only queen of the Bartlet spinners, Miss C.J. Cregg. C.J., welcome back to the show. C.J. Always a pleasure, Taylor, but if you really think the briefing room is a controlled environment you should try controlling 100 hungry reporters someday. And if I'm queen of anything I want a bigger office. REID Okay, C.J. Tell us about the President's secret plan to raise taxes. C.J. Love to, but it's so secret he hasn't even told me about it yet. REID I'm talking about a secret Presidential commission that wants a whopping 50% increase... C.J. First of all, Taylor, it's not a secret commission. The report was just released and it's on the AP wire. That's how you found out about it and how I found out about it and I promise you the President hasn't even heard of it yet. REID The commission's going to ask the President to raise taxes. C.J. Yes. Among their many recommendations to reduce teenage smoking, they suggested 17 cent increase in the price... REID That's 50%, C.J. That's what I said. C.J. Yes, Taylor, 17 pennies does equal 50% in this little math problem... REID Well, that's not going to stop teenagers from smoking cigarettes. C.J. Raising the price should reduce the demand a bit, but, more importantly, it will raise $3.4 billion a year. That's 16 billion over 5 years, and that would be enough to buy out 75% of the American tobacco farmers. REID You mean pay them not to grow tobacco. C.J. If we reduce... REID Has this President ever met a government handout he didn't like? I mean, how many people does he want to pay to do nothing? Does he not realize the budget deficit is already large enough, and how much taxation does he think we can stand before we reach our breaking point? Has this President forgotten that this country was founded during a tax revolt? C.J., what is he thinking? C.J. Which one of those is your favorite, 'cause if there's one you'd actually like me to answer... REID Come on, C.J. We all know he's never met a tax increase he didn't like. If you don't want to answer the question, we'll move on to something else. This is new. This is from the Drudge Report, Matt Drudge's website, and I'm reading. CUT TO: INT. - TOBY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS REID "The Sunday Times Magazine is going to run an in-depth profile of former Vice President John Hoynes... CUT TO: INT. - STUDIO - TAYLOR REID SHOW - CONTINUOUS REID [cont.] ... who resigned as a result of a sex scandal. Hoynes cooperated with the Times and submitted to a tell-all interview in which he revealed that President Bartlet tried to talk him into staying in office." Is that true, C.J.? C.J. Um, I... REID Was the President trying to orchestrate another cover-up here, C.J.? C.J. Look, I can't respond to every crazy website... REID Did the President tell Hoynes not to resign? C.J. I haven't even read the article. REID Did he or didn't he? C.J. I'm not privy to the private conversations the President has... REID Come on, C.J., this is pretty basic. Did the President tell Hoynes to stick around because he thought he could beat the rap? C.J. I really can't comment on that. REID That's your answer? Your answer is "No Comment"? C.J. stares silently at him. CUT TO: INT. - TOBY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Toby is watching the show. CUT TO: INT. - STUDIO - TAYLOR REID SHOW - CONTINUOUS REID Alright, we got to go to a break. When we come back, more with White House Press Secretary C.J. Cregg. That was a great segment, C.J. Good job. We see a look of defeat come to C.J.'s face. SMASH CUT TO: MAIN TITLES. END TEASER. * * * ACT ONE FADE IN: INT. - COMMUNICATIONS AREA - DAY Toby and Rena are in Toby's office talking. TOBY Is she back yet? RENA Carol said any minute now. TOBY Where are we doing this meeting? RENA Well, the Roosevelt Room is booked and, I'm sorry, but 15 AFL-CIO union reps aren't going to be too comfortable in here. TOBY Who's got the Roosevelt Room? RENA Uh... the Base Closing Commission. We're getting a table and some folding chairs. TOBY Oh, folding chairs. They walk into the lobby. Two union reps, TOM and SHELLY, speak to Toby and shake his hand. TOM Hey, Toby. TOBY Tom. SHELLY Hey, thanks for making the time to see us. TOBY No problem, Shelly. Hey, everybody, sorry I'm late. Uh, hey. He shakes another person's hand. TOBY We're having a little bit of a problem finding a room big enough for us meet. So why don't I work on that for a minute. I'll uh, I'll be right back. He walks off. RENA Uh, so, can I get you anything? Water or coffee? CUT TO: INT. - JOSH'S BULLPEN AREA - DAY C.J. and Toby are walking to C.J.'s office. TOBY Hey, how you doing? C.J. You saw the show. How do you think I'm doing? TOBY You got blind-sided. C.J. I looked like an amateur. Carol, I need an advance copy of the Sunday Times Magazine, now. CAROL I tried already. They don't come out till Thursday. Leo and the President want copies as soon as we get it. C.J. Who does Drudge say wrote the Hoynes article for the Times? TOBY Greg Brock. C.J. The guy that just pulled in from the Paris bureau? Carol nods her head. C.J. Great. He doesn't owe me a thing. CAROL You want me to get him on the phone? C.J. Yeah. CAROL Oh, and I've got Ben holding on line two. C.J. I can not talk to Ben right now. Drudge leaked maybe 50 words out of what's got to be a 5,000-word article and we're already on the ropes. CAROL I've got Greg Brock's voice mail. C.J. I'll do it. She picks up the phone. C.J. Hi, Greg, it's C.J. Cregg. I've been meaning to buy you lunch since you joined the White House press corps. It's a little tradition we have. One I'm trying to start, actually, so why don't you give me a call and we'll, um... Oh, you know exactly why I'm calling. Get back to me fast, will ya? She hangs up the phone. TOBY Are you sure you want to handle this? C.J. Yeah. TOBY Okay. He walks out of the office. CUT TO: INT. - ROOSEVELT ROOM - DAY Josh and Leo are walking through the Roosevelt Room, talking as they walk to Leo's office. JOSH Come on, please. Not the Base Closing Commission. The most ridiculously boring... LEO I need you to sit with them and make sure they don't... JOSH Wait a minute, is this even legal? LEO It's perfectly legal. JOSH Aren't they supposed to be independent or something? LEO Yeah, so's Congress and we talk to them. Look, I need you to make sure that the recommendations the Commission gives the President on what military bases to close are not politically suicidal for us. JOSH Closing any military base is politically suicidal. LEO Right, that's why we let the Base Closing Commission decide on which ones to close. JOSH We're not letting them decide. MARGARET President wants you in the NEC meeting. LEO When? MARGARET Now... ish. LEO We're lobbying the Base Closing Commission, Josh. You're lobbying them, just like everyone else does. Toby walks in. TOBY Hey, I've got 15 AFL-CIO union reps who want to yell at me for sending their jobs to China. LEO So? TOBY So, I need the Roosevelt Room. LEO Josh is in there all day with the Base Closing Commission. JOSH All day? TOBY So move 'em. LEO We're talking two former four-star generals, a former admiral, and a couple of former assistant secretaries of DOD. Will walks in. LEO [cont.] And they're accustomed to a certain amount of style, and we're lobbying them. So they get the Roosevelt Room, massage tables, ESPN, whatever they want. TOBY These union reps are going to be outside tomorrow protesting against us, but if we can at least treat them right, then maybe... LEO Check with Margaret about the Mural Room. WILL The Vice President has it. TOBY For what? WILL He's the Vice President, Toby. I don't have to justify his using a room. TOBY Of course not. For what? WILL Meeting with a bunch of environmental groups. JOSH Environmental groups? That has to be a first for him. TOBY Looks like he's off and running. WILL Looks like Hoynes is too. LEO We don't know that. WILL No, not exactly, not yet. But a come-clean, tell-all interview in the Times is a good first step. LEO The Vice President's campaign for President is not our concern. WILL Look, Hoynes is obviously trying to rewrite history to make himself morally superior to the President. TOBY Right, this from an adulterer, who... WILL Who lied about sex. Everyone lies about sex. That's how his people are going to spin it. JOSH He doesn't have people anymore. WILL We don't know that. I'm just saying, the Vice President's office - I - would like to be included in any strategic discussion about how to respond to Hoynes's campaign, and it is a campaign, to make himself out to be the only honest guy in an administration of liars. LEO Yeah. We'll be sure to call you. Leo walks into the Oval Office. CUT TO: INT. - BASEMENT - WHITE HOUSE - DAY Toby walks up to the meeting room that has been allocated for the meeting with the Union reps. Ed and Larry are standing there. ED Here are the latest numbers on our trade deficit with China. TOBY Don't need them. LARRY You want us to stay for the meeting? TOBY No. This meeting is about politics, facts won't help. He walks into the room. Rena is passing out coffee. TOBY Well, it turns out we're going to have to make due with, uh, folding chairs. TOM That's okay, Toby. Rena here explained the whole thing. TOBY She did? TOM And we told her it's not important where we sit. TOBY No, you're right. It's not. TOM What's important is that you do what we want. TOBY Uh-huh. TOM Or at least treat us with respect. TOBY How am I doing so far? TOM You got two strikes on you. CUT TO: INT. - JOSH'S OFFICE - DAY Josh, Donna, and Ryan are gathering stuff for Josh's meeting with the Base Closing Commission. JOSH Because reviewing a cost-benefit analysis for every military base in the country is as mind-numbing as a Radiohead concert. DONNA Need this? JOSH Uh, yeah. And the one under it. And deciding which military bases we don't need anymore is the most politically disastrous thing you could ever get involved with. RYAN But why close any bases when we've got to train troops to fight terrorists around the world? JOSH Is that everything? DONNA Yeah. JOSH Because terrorists are very well trained for deep snow combat like the Soviets were. So maybe we don't need that base in upstate New York anymore. And maybe we should be expanding our desert combat training bases, because, you know, desert warfare's not going out of style anytime soon. RYAN So it's an efficiency thing? JOSH You're quick. RYAN Since when is efficiency bad politics? DONNA Since any place that loses a base loses jobs. You should have seen my hometown when the Army pulled out. Will walks up as they come to the Roosevelt Room. WILL Josh, got a minute? JOSH Anything to keep me out of that room. You guys go ahead and get organized. WILL What's Hoynes up to? JOSH Don't know. WILL Come on, Josh, you worked for him in the Senate. You know him better than anyone. JOSH Well, turns out, there was at least one side of John Hoynes I didn't know. WILL Do you think he actually believes he can put the scandal behind him? JOSH Maybe he just wanted to do one big interview and move on. Start bringing clients into the law firm. Excuse me, I got to get in there. WILL Base Closing Commission? JOSH Uh, yeah. WILL The Vice President would like to urge you not to close any base in any state with more than one electoral vote. JOSH No problem. Josh goes into the Roosevelt Room. JOSH Good morning, everyone. ALL Good morning, Josh. He whispers to Donna. JOSH [whispering] Get him out of that chair. [louder] The President would like me to go over your list of preliminary recommendations so he could have an idea of what you might have in mind. GENERAL STANLEY Ready whenever you are. JOSH Shoot. STANLEY First on the list is Fort Drum in upstate New York. It's mission is deep snow combat training. The Commission's consensus is that deep snow is no longer a training priority. Next... CUT TO: INT. - MEETING ROOM - BASEMENT - WHITE HOUSE - DAY Toby and the reps are talking. TOM What we're saying is this country is China's biggest customer, so we ought to be dictating the terms of the deal. TOBY Uh-huh. SHELLY Like the evaluation of the yuan... Rena comes up to Toby and whispers in his ear. RENA Margaret says Leo needs you. SHELLY ... low when the dollar is weak. TOBY I know. SHELLY If they let their currency float... TOBY Tell him I can't. SHELLY ... get an export advantage from a weak dollar. TOM Instead, we keep letting them flood this country with cheap stuff made by cheap labor. SHELLY And slave labor. TOM Right, while they buy nothing from us. TOBY I wouldn't call 747s nothing. RENA I did. I told Margaret to tell Leo that you're stuck in here, and she said he said no, you're not. TOBY I'm sorry. Please, uh, the President needs me for something, and, uh... TOM Toby, we're not new in town. You expect us to fall for the old President-needs-us thing? TOBY No. Leo McGarry just ordered me into his office. And as much as I want to try to save your jobs, I have to try to save mine first, if I'm going to be any use to you at all. So... I'll be back, you know... soon. CUT TO: INT. - LEO'S OFFICE - DAY C.J. is standing talking to Leo, who is sitting at his desk. C.J. Was there any discussion of exactly how Hoynes could hang in there? LEO No. We just said we didn't think he had to resign over having an affair. That in this day and age, he could get through something like that. C.J. And you'd help him get through it? LEO I guess. C.J. Guessing's not good enough, Leo. Did you say you'd help him get through it? LEO Yeah. C.J. Did the President say that? LEO Maybe, something like that. I can't remember exactly what he said. C.J. Did you take any notes in the meeting? LEO It wasn't a real meeting. It... Toby comes in. LEO It was kind of on the fly. C.J. Did you discuss any strategy on how to manage the scandal? LEO It never got that far. Hoynes had his mind made up before we said a word. [to Toby] I need you to get the Mayor in here right away. TOBY Which mayor? LEO D.C., the only mayor we can get in here right away. C.J. I need a meeting with the President on this. LEO I can pull a couple of things off his schedule this afternoon. C.J. leaves. LEO The House and Senate just passed the Emergency D.C. Supplemental Appropriation for Snow Removal. TOBY And that's the first bill signing we're inviting the Mayor of Washington to? LEO They attached a school voucher program to it. TOBY Oh. LEO We - I mean you - someone - has to talk to the Mayor before we veto it. TOBY Why, you want to put out a joint statement...? C.J. comes back in. C.J. Because when everyone in the Briefing Room has that Hoynes article, I'm going to be getting bombarded about what Hoynes says you and the President said. And I've got to be sure, word-for-word sure, about what all three of you said and what you didn't say. I can control this story, Leo. I can get us through this, but only if you tell me everything I need you know. LEO You got it. C.J. I should only talk to the press about this once. I don't want to have to go back out there a second saying, "Oh, yeah, Hoynes was right," about this bit and that bit that you guys forgot to tell me. Leo stands up. LEO I understand. C.J. We've got to get our story straight on this today, so... She walks out. LEO She okay? TOBY Well, you know, she got blind-sided by this Hoynes thing on LIVE TV. LEO And that got to her? TOBY Yeah, it did. Toby grabs some stuff and leaves. FADE OUT. END ACT ONE. * * * ACT TWO FADE IN: INT. - BASEMENT - WHITE HOUSE - DAY Toby is in the meeting room still talking to the union reps. TOM Are you saying there's nothing we can do? TOBY I'm saying it's not that simple. Look what happened with the steel tariffs you asked for. It killed more jobs in auto manufacturing than it saved in steel production. Rena walks in and hands a piece of paper to Toby. TOM Well that just means we have to pick our targets more carefully. TOBY We keep picking targets, we're gonna end up in a trade war. TOM We're already in a trade war with China. That's why we gotta make bras our first line of defense. TOBY Bras? SHELLY Chinese bras are killing us. TOBY They are? SHELLY They're flooding Wal-Mart with cheap bras. Domestic producers can't compete. China has tripled its market share in two years. TOBY I assume we're all okay with French bras, right? 'Cause I, for one, really prefer them, and I wouldn't want... TOM This isn't funny. TOBY Of course not. Look, I am with you on this one. I just wish the President could do something [he laughs] about cheap bras. TOM He can. SHELLY HE could activate the textile and apparel import safeguards we got you guys to put in the deal admitting China to the WTO, starting with bras. TOBY Apparel import safeguards? I didn't know about that. TOM Everyone's going to know about it tomorrow when we start burning bras in front of the White House. TOBY I'll be right back. He gets up and leaves. CUT TO: INT. - ROOSEVELT ROOM - DAY Josh is in the Roosevelt Room and he is meeting with the Base Closing Commission. ED Do you have long-run projections for the economies of scale you think are achievable through the net consolidation of troops and material, if all of your recommendations were implemented? Toby comes to the door, knocks, and opens it. Josh gets up and comes outside. STANLEY On page 1,237... 13B shows the aggregate numbers. 13C... TOBY I need Ed and Larry for a thing about bras. JOSH You sure they're the guys for that? TOBY Chinese bras. JOSH Oh, well, they're the experts. TOBY Is Hoynes crazy enough to run? JOSH You want the short answer? Yes. TOBY If this article is his first step on the road to political rehab, what does he do next? JOSH Start putting a staff together. TOBY I better make some calls. JOSH Yeah. Toby walks off. Josh goes back in and speaks to Ed and Larry. STANLEY That's why we want to consolidate these five Air Force bases into three... JOSH Excuse me. I'm sorry. Ed, Larry? Toby needs to talk to you about, uh, China. Now. They get up and leave. Josh goes over and speaks quietly to Donna and Ryan. JOSH I need you two to take over. DONNA You sure? JOSH Just ask, "How much will that save?" every few minutes. And don't you say a word. He speaks to Stanley. JOSH Uh... please continue, General Stanley. Donna and Ryan here will sit in for me. He leaves as Donna and Ryan sit down. STANLEY As I was saying, if we consolidate these three Air Force bases into three, we could upgrade all three of the aircraft maintenance facilities to handle major overhauls. DONNA How much does that save? STANLEY Using CBO's baseline or the DOD projections? RYAN Both. STANLEY Well... CUT TO: INT. - C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY Carol and C.J. are walking into C.J.'s office. They are talking. CAROL Russert's on line three. Time, Newsweek, and, well, everyone's called about the Hoynes article. C.J. Has Greg Brock called yet? CAROL No. And Ben called, said he had tickets to the Kennedy Center this weekend and... C.J. Tell Russert I can't do Meet The Press next week. C.J. picks up the phone and dials. C.J. Hi, Greg. It's C.J., again. Hey, did I mention how useful it is for a reporter to have the White House Press Secretary owe you one? A big one? Carol comes in and waves at C.J. C.J. So call me, or tell me what dark parking garage to meet you in and I'll be right there. Call me. She hangs up the phone. C.J. Now. CAROL Greg Brock is here. He comes into C.J.'s office and Carol goes back to hers. GREG BROCK You have a favorite parking garage for this sort of thing? C.J. Come on in, Greg. Nice to formally meet you. Of course, I've seen you out there in the briefings. BROCK Well, I feel like I know you already. C.J. Really? BROCK There's nothing to do in Paris, so I just sat there, glued to your briefings on C-SPAN every day. C.J. C-SPAN's what's happening in Paris these days. Can I get you anything? Carol, do we have anything? Carol comes to C.J.'s door. CAROL Uh, water. BROCK Yeah, thanks. CAROL It's D.C. water. BROCK I'm good. He pulls out a notebook of some sort as C.J. closes the door. C.J. Every word I'm going to say is off the record, so you're not going to need that. BROCK Okay. C.J. I assume Drudge's quotes from your piece are accurate. BROCK Yeah. I don't know how he does it. C.J. I'm going to need an advance copy of your piece. BROCK So much for beating around the bush, huh? You can get an advance copy of the Sunday Times Magazine Thursday. C.J. Everyone can get it Thursday. BROCK Right. C.J. I wouldn't be talking to you if I needed it Thursday. I need it before anyone else has it. I already got hit with questions about it. I need it now. BROCK Sorry. I never give subjects of an article sneak peeks. C.J. But I'm not a subject of the piece. Am I? CUT TO: INT. - JOSH'S OFFICE - DAY Josh is on the phone when Donna comes in. JOSH Sure. Well, if you hear anything about Hoynes making any moves on staff, just let me know. Okay, thanks. He hangs up the phone. JOSH You left the kid alone with the brass? DONNA Just for a minute. He actually seems to have a feel for that stuff. JOSH He's faking it. If you learn one thing in prep school, it's how to always pretend like you know what's going on. DONNA Rena says Toby's stuck in some Chinese bra thing and can't... JOSH Okay, do the Chinese even need bras? I mean, you know... DONNA No, I don't know, Josh. Some of us are trying to govern here, Josh. Toby asked if you could cover a meeting with the Mayor. I said yes, assuming you're trying to stay out of the Base Closing meeting. JOSH Good call. DONNA Great. Mayor's on his way. JOSH Hey, Donna. Which mayor? CUT TO: INT. - C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY C.J. and Brock are still talking. BROCK I'm not going to play that game - who's in the piece, who's not, what's in the piece, what's not. C.J. I wouldn't be asking you this if Drudge didn't already have it, if he wasn't quoting in online. BROCK Drudge has better sources than you do, like maybe Hoynes's publisher. C.J. Publisher? Hoynes is writing a book? BROCK Just got a $5 million advance. Must be saving some good stuff for it. Wish I could help you out, C.J. He gets up and drops some things to the floor. He bends over and grabs the notebook but does not pick up the disk which fell to the floor. BROCK But, that's just my policy: no sneak peeks. He opens the door and turns back to C.J. BROCK By the way, you think there's any chance I could get an exclusive with the President on his reaction to what Hoynes has to say in my article? C.J. looks down and sees the disk on the floor. It is labeled "HOYNES". C.J. Yeah, there's a chance. But I can't promise it. BROCK Can you promise me he won't give anyone else an exclusive on this? C.J. Yes. BROCK Can you promise me that if he issues a written statement I'll get a copy of it before anyone else? C.J. Yes. He looks down and almost certainly sees the disk on the floor. BROCK You sure you can't promise me an exclusive? C.J. Yeah, I'm sure. BROCK Well... I really enjoyed finally meeting you. He leaves. As soon as he does, C.J. gets up from her seat, grabs the disk, goes to her computer, and puts it in. FADE OUT. END ACT TWO. * * * ACT THREE FADE IN: INT. - C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY C.J. is sitting at her desk reading the Hoynes article. She takes the disk out of her drive and looks at it for a moment before getting up and going into Carol's office. C.J. Can you print copies of this for Toby, Josh, Leo, and the President? CAROL The Hoynes article? How bad is it? She says nothing but goes back in her office. CUT TO: INT. - MEETING ROOM - DAY Toby, Ed, and Larry are sitting at the table talking to the union reps. TOBY So, it's true? We could use the, uh... ED The apparel import safeguards. TOBY We could use that to safeguard American bras? ED Yes, but we can't do anything until you guys file a safeguard petition. TOM Done. LARRY But... TOBY There's another but? LARRY Our trade representative is in Beijing right now working on a deal for exporting American-made cars to China. SHELLY And using the apparel import safeguard against bras could kill the deal on bras? LARRY Exactly. Carol comes in and hands a folder to Toby. CAROL [whispering] The Hoynes aticle. TOM We better talk to the auto workers on this. SHELLY You know what they're going to say. That's not going to make this any easier. TOBY Why don't we take a break, and you guys can talk amongst yourselves about which is more important to you: cars or bras? CUT TO: INT. - HALLWAY - OUTSIDE ROOSEVELT ROOM - DAY Josh is walking and talking with the Mayor of D.C. JOSH We really appreciate your coming in, Mr. Mayor. MAYOR Ah, nice to finally see the inside of the place. JOSH Could you... excuse me for one second? MAYOR Uh, sure. Josh goes in the Roosevelt Room. Ryan is talking to the Base Closing Commission. RYAN But if the port is too shallow for most of the Navy's ships, then why wouldn't you recommend closing the port? JOSH Whose district? STANLEY Chris Finn's. JOSH Because the Base Closing Commission, while independent, is not insane. They're not going to recommend closing a base in a congressional district represented by the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee for Armed Services. Sorry about this. I'm gonna be tied up a bit longer. Don't let Ryan slow you down. STANLEY We also recommend no changes for Port Mugu Naval Air Station... He walks back out into the hallway and starts walking with the Mayor. JOSH This can't be your first time here. MAYOR It is during this administration. JOSH Oh. Carol comes up to him and hands him a folder. CAROL The Hoynes article. They walk into the lobby and head to Josh's office. JOSH So, the President wants to issue a joint statement with you opposing the voucher rider on the snow removal appropriation. MAYOR But I want the money. JOSH Oh, we'll get it for you eventually. We'll just have to go through at least one round of the President vetoing it in order to get them to send us a clean bill with no vouchers attached. MAYOR I want the voucher money, too. JOSH Huh? MAYOR I'd like the President to sign the bill with the vouchers. JOSH Mr. Mayor, he's vetoed every school vouchers bill they've sent him. MAYOR I know, but this is just a pilot program, a little voucher experiment, help pay for maybe a couple hundred kids to go to private school, out of 68,000 in the D.C. public school system. JOSH We're against vouchers, period. And by "we", I mean the entire Democratic Party. You're still a Democrat, right? MAYOR This bill got 4 votes in the Senate and 42 in the House. Look, it wasn't my idea to put Congress in control of the D.C. budget. JOSH Then, help us fight them on this. MAYOR Why don't you help me get some kids a better education? CUT TO: INT. - ROOSEVELT ROOM - DAY Ryan and the Commission are still talking. RYAN But if we bring him in to talk about it, then there's... STANLEY Congressman Finn would not only prevent us from closing the base in his district, he would make it his life's mission to derail the entire process. The next base on our list is 29 Palms Marine Base which is our best training facility for desert warfare... Ryan gets up and leaves. He walks into the Communications office and picks up a nearby phone. RYAN Hi. Could you get me Congressman Christopher Finn, please? ... Ryan Pierce. I'm with the, uh, Base Closing Commission. We pan to see Josh walk through the Communications Office and into Toby's office. He is reading the article as he goes. TOBY Can you believe this guy? JOSH Yeah, I can. This is the Hoynes I know: self-centered, self-important... CUT TO: INT. - OUTER OVAL OFFICE - DAY C.J. comes into the office and speaks to Charlie. C.J. Charlie, they ready for me? CHARLIE Uh, I think they're still reading but you can go in. C.J.? C.J. Yeah? CHARLIE Don't' go on TV with Taylor Reid again unless you're going to tell him what an idiotic, shallow, uninformed, lying punk he is. C.J. I think he knows that. She knocks on the door to the Oval Office and goes in. Leo and Bartlet are seated and they are reading the article. LEO I never said he could "beat the rap." BARTLET I didn't say any of this. CUT TO: INT. - OUTER OVAL OFFICE - DAY Toby and Josh come into the office and speak to Charlie. TOBY We're going to have to get the Mayor on the President's schedule today. CHARLIE Which mayor? JOSH D.C. CHARLIE It's about time. JOSH Huh? CHARLIE No problem. They go into the Oval Office. LEO Oh, for God's sake. I don't remember the exact words I used. BARTLET Weather. I think you said we could "weather this." C.J. How is that different from "beat the rap"? BARTLET It's completely different. C.J. It's not different enough for me to go out there and fight about it. Did you tell him he shouldn't have used White House phones? LEO No. I said "Didn't you know the White House keeps records of all calls?". C.J. Oh, great. That's completely different. Did you tell him we could say this is a right wing conspiracy against the White House? LEO Absolutely not. C.J. Did you tell him he could deny the whole thing? LEO I asked him if he was "in a position to deny it". C.J. Okay, um, couple more things. He says you pressed him for details and he said "It's none of your business"? BARTLET Yes. C.J. Leo, did you say the woman was a "cheap whore", and did you suggest she had "other customers"? LEO No, I said she was a "cheap person" because she sold her story. What kind of person does that? C.J. And Mr. President, did you say "We've got to start attacking her right tonight, right now"? BARTLET No. C.J. Anything like that? BARTLET I think I said something like if we're going to get him through this, we're going to have to start right now. LEO And I said since she sold her story she's not going to have a lot of credibility. C.J. Anything else about the woman? BARTLET Nothing. C.J. You sure? BARTLET Yeah. C.J. I'm done. BARTLET You think he's getting ready to run? JOSH Made some calls. He hasn't made any moves on staff. Got some calls out to the usual suspects in Iowa and New Hampshire, I'm waiting to hear... C.J. He's writing a book. TOBY A book? C.J. Greg Brock told me. Big advance. LEO Then he's definitely running. JOSH He's going to make the book the final word on the scandal, hold his wife's hand on Oprah, and catch the next flight to Iowa. LEO And rewrite history with the book. BARTLET His own version of every conversation we've ever had with him. CUT TO: INT. - LEO'S OFFICE - DAY Leo, Toby, Josh, and C.J. come into Leo's office. Will is waiting for them. WILL We got to take a shot at Hoynes. We got to let him know we have ways of fighting back. JOSH What ways? WILL We need a list. TOBY Of what? WILL A list of all his private, on-the-job screw-ups. Every time Hoynes gave the President bad advice, every mistake he ever made, big and small. LEO That mess he made with Mexico on immigration. JOSH The way he tipped our hand on the Energy bill. TOBY And lost the entire New York delegation on the Transportation bill. WILL We start leaking it to the press, bit by bit. C.J. No, give it to me. I'll fire a warning shot. TOBY You can't do that in the Briefing Room. It'll make it too big a story. JOSH We'll all look bad. C.J. I won't do it in the briefing. They look at her for a second. LEO You'll have the list in an hour. She leaves. As she does, Toby watches her, concernedly. FADE OUT. END ACT THREE. * * * ACT FOUR FADE IN: CAROL'S OFFICE - DAY Carol and C.J. are walking and talking. They are headed toward the Briefing Room. CAROL The first ten pages are legislative achievements. C.J. You mean the ones Hoynes almost screwed up? CAROL Right. And the next section is the bills he really did screw up, and the last 12 pages have all the diplomatic stuff. Toby comes into the hallway and starts walking with them. TOBY He managed to offend 7 South American heads of states in a five-day trip. C.J. Got the China statement? He hands her some papers. TOBY We're going to make a move on bras. You sure you don't want to insert a joke here? C.J. So, we want to scare them on bras to get a better deal on cars. TOBY Exactly, so, go tough on bras but not too tough. And promise me something. C.J. What? TOBY You'll never let them make a list of my screw-ups. They wouldn't have enough paper. CUT TO: INT. - LOBBY - DAY Josh and the Mayor are walking through the lobby and they are talking. MAYOR The President can sign the bill and say he still opposes vouchers. He signs bills with little things in them that he opposes all the time. JOSH We open the door an inch on vouchers, we'd have an open revolt by Democrats on the Hill. They are now outside of the Roosevelt Room. Josh sees something inside. JOSH Uh, I'm sorry... Mr. Mayor. Can you excuse me for a second? MAYOR Sure. I'll wait. Josh goes into the Roosevelt Room. CONGRESSMAN CHRISTOPHER FINN is seated at the table talking with the Commission. CONGRESSMAN CHRISTOPHER FINN 50% of the jobs in my district are dependant on that base - 50%. JOSH Congressman Finn... FINN It's been there since World War II. The town grew up around the base. There is no town without the base. JOSH Congressman, I want you to know you have the President's full support on this. FINN See? President gets it. You can't close this base. Thanks, Josh. STANLEY Josh, we didn't... RYAN Uh, I just thought we should bring... JOSH Can I see you for a second? They go out into the hallway. JOSH Okay, that's it. You're fired! RYAN That's good, okay. Wave your finger in my face, act like you're going to hit me. JOSH Are you out of your mind? RYAN That's good. That's great. Show Congressman Finn you are ready to kill to save his base. Come on, he's going to love you for this. He'll back you up on everything you want the Commissioners to do. And believe me, they're a lot more afraid of him than they are of you. JOSH Just give me your West Wing pass. RYAN Oh, that's good. That's good. Here, here. Does Finn look like he's buying this? JOSH I told you not to open your mouth in that room. RYAN He's going to be grateful to you for the rest of his life for saving his base. You're going to get credit for what the Commission was going to do anyway. JOSH You planned this? RYAN You want me to look like I'm crying? I can do that. I can look like I'm crying. He breathes heavily and begins to fake tears. JOSH Stop. CUT TO: INT. - OUTER OVAL OFFICE - DAY C.J. can be seen on TV, giving a briefing. Josh and the Mayor come in. JOSH He ready for us? CHARLIE Uh, a couple of minutes. They stand for a few minutes. CHARLIE Mr. Mayor, hi, I'm Charlie Young. MAYOR Hey, Charlie. Good to meet you. CHARLIE I'm doing great, just great. I wanted to introduce myself because, well, I'm a big fan. MAYOR Well, thank you. CHARLIE I voted for you both times. MAYOR I hope you're gonna vote for me next time. CHARLIE Every time. CUT TO: INT. - BRIEFING ROOM - DAY We see, on a TV screen, C.J. briefing the press. We pan around to see her at the podium. C.J. No, the President has no intention of starting a worldwide bra war. The reporters laugh. C.J. I really don't think the President would ever start a war that the French might actually win. They laugh again. C.J. points to a reporter. MARK C.J., can you confirm or deny the statements former Vice President John Hoynes has attributed to President Bartlet and Leo McGarry? C.J. Mark, the President... MARK Specifically, did they tell him he could beat the rap and they would help him do it? C.J. Okay, everyone, get this down because I'm only going to say this once; the President and Mr. McGarry feel they have not been accurately quoted... They all clamor for C.J. C.J. Hold on, Mark. They refuse to comment on any part of the conversation they had with the Vice President just prior... CUT TO: INT. - TOBY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Toby is watching the briefing. C.J. [cont.][on TV] ... to his resignation. They believed they were providing advice and support to a friend who came to them with a very serious personal problem... CUT TO: INT. - BRIEFING ROOM - CONTINUOUS C.J. [cont.] ... that was going to affect his work and his family. They believed that conversation was private, and as far as they're concerned, it still is. CUT TO: INT. - OVAL OFFICE - NIGHT Bartlet, Josh, and the Mayor are sitting and they are talking. MAYOR I'm sorry, Mr. President, but we can argue this all night and I'm still not going to change my mind. BARTLET Again. MAYOR I'm not the only one. My school board president has changed her mind, too. JOSH Jany... MAYOR Scott. JOSH She's in favor of vouchers now? She used to rail against them. MAYOR After six years of us promising to make schools better next year, we're ready to give vouchers a try. We're ready to give anything a try. BARTLET You start handing out tuition vouchers for private school, you're sending the message that it's time to give up on public schools. MAYOR With all due respect, Mr. President, no one gets to talk to me about giving up on public schools. I assume I'm the only person in this room who actually went to public school. BARTLET And you couldn't be a better advertisement for them. MAYOR Kids weren't bringing guns to school in my day. BARTLET Republicans want to spend more on D.C. education, they should spend it on public schools. MAYOR We spend over 13,000 per student, that's more than anywhere else in the country, and we don't have a lot to show for it. BARTLET But if we start diverting money away from public schools, that's the end of public education. MAYOR This is extra money Republicans will give me for school vouchers, nothing else. BARTLET They're just using you to try and divide the Party. MAYOR I'm the only mayor in America whose budget is controlled by Congress and the President. And you guys never fail to play political games over the city that I'm trying to run. BARTLET Your Honor, I'm not trying to tell you how to run your city. MAYOR Yes, you are, Mr. President. Congress is too, and I resent it. But this time they want to give me money that might actually help some students. I'm sorry. I don't know how to refuse that. BARTLET This is a pilot program? JOSH Enough money for a couple hundred students. MAYOR I have a few thousand names on the waiting list for vouchers already. Go into any one of my schools, ask kids who want to go to college what they think of vouchers. They'll ask where they can sign up. BARTLET Could you ask Charlie to come in, please? Josh gets up to go to the door. CUT TO: INT. - CAROL'S OFFICE - NIGHT C.J. Am I caught up on phone calls? CAROL You got everybody except Ben. You want me to see if I can get him? C.J. No, thanks. Carol walks off as Toby walks up. C.J. What? Did I screw up the China thing? TOBY No. That was great. Perfect. You going over there now? C.J. Yeah. TOBY I thought maybe I could give you a ride. C.J. No. Thanks, Toby, but I'll be okay. TOBY You sure? C.J. Yeah. I'll see you later. BARTLET [prelap] Charlie, would you sit down, please? CUT TO: INT. - OVAL OFFICE - NIGHT Bartlet, Josh, and the Mayor are seated. Charlie comes over and sits next to Josh. BARTLET Tell us where you went to high school. CHARLIE Roosevelt. BARTLET A public school. CHARLIE Yes, sir. MAYOR Where'd you want to go, Charlie? CHARLIE Gonzaga. A parochial school, near Union Station. MAYOR Why? CHARLIE There's never been a shooting there. They don't even have metal detectors. Almost everyone goes to college. MAYOR Couldn't afford it? CHARLIE Couldn't come close to affording it. BARTLET You know what this meeting's about? CHARLIE Yes, sir. The mayor told me. BARTLET What do you think about trying an experimental vouchers program for D.C. schools? CHARLIE I wish they would have had one when I was in school. BARTLET You planning on telling me that anytime soon? CHARLIE Can't say that I was, sir. BARTLET Your Honor, I'm going to need your help putting out some fires within the Party on this one. They all stand. MAYOR You got it. Thank you, Mr. President. CUT TO: INT. - HOYNES'S LAW FIRM - HOYNES'S SECRETARY'S OFFICE - NIGHT C.J. is waiting to see Hoynes. SECRETARY The Vice President will see you now. CUT TO: INT. - HOYNES'S OFFICE - NIGHT Hoynes is seated at his desk when C.J. comes in. HOYNES Hey, C.J., great to see you. C.J. Mr. Vice President. HOYNES Oh, come on with that title. I think we're back to John now, don't you? How have you been? You look great, just great. Please, sit down. C.J. I don't want to take up too much of your time. HOYNES Hey, I'm the only lawyer here who doesn't have any clients yet, so I got all the time in the world. Sit, please. C.J. You should take a look at this list. He takes out his glasses and reads the paper. C.J. If you're going to continue to try to rehabilitate yourself by throwing mud and lies at the President... HOYNES C.J., you can stop. I get it. You mind if I keep this? C.J. Please do. You can give it to whoever's ghost-writing your book. HOYNES You can tell the President he doesn't have to worry about the book. I'm not going to try to make him look bad. I just wanted to get this scandal behind me, so I can get on with my life. C.J. Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? HOYNES Well... I'm gonna call it Full Disclosure. What do you think? Good title? C.J. Am I going to be in the book? HOYNES Yes. Not mentioning you would be kind of strange, don't you think? I mean, next to the President and the Vice President, you're the most visible person working in the White House. C.J. I'd prefer not to be. HOYNES C.J., you've got nothing to worry about, I promise. C.J. turns to leave. C.J. What are you going to do in the campaign when the stories start coming out? HOYNES Those stories? C.J. No. The other women. HOYNES I haven't decided to run, I really... C.J. Because there have been other women, right? Lots of women, right? Because the way you came on to me... way too smooth, way too practiced. HOYNES C.J., that was ten years ago. I'm sorry... C.J. When you run for President, the press is going to find some of those women. And if you try to attack them, if you get your opposition research team working on them, if you try to destroy them, if you try to say they're all bimbos and liars, then I'll be standing right there with them and I'll be ready to take anything you or your people throw at me, anything. So don't make me tell the truth about you because it will be the whole truth. She leaves. CUT TO: INT. - LOBBY - WHITE HOUSE - NIGHT We see C.J. walk into the building and through the lobby. CUT TO: INT. - JOSH'S BULLPEN AREA - NIGHT We see C.J. come in and head to her office. She goes in and sits down. Toby comes to the doorway. TOBY You okay? C.J. No. TOBY Is there anything I can do? C.J. No. TOBY Okay. C.J. What do I need to catch up on? TOBY President signed school vouchers bill for D.C. C.J. Are you kidding? I leave the building for an hour and he switches parties? You need a press release? TOBY No, it can wait. C.J. Toby? TOBY Yeah? Toby comes in and sits across from C.J. C.J. There is no night of my life I regret more than that one. TOBY You don't have to explain it. C.J. I wish I could, but I can't explain it. I knew he was married. I knew it. I always thought women who did that... If I could take back one moment of my life, it would be getting on that elevator. I'm sorry. TOBY You don't have to apologize to me. C.J. I don't have anyone else I can apologize to. I'll come back to your office in a few minutes and we can work on the release. TOBY Sure. Toby leaves. C.J. sits for a minute and then grabs some papers from her desk. She pulls out her phone and dials. C.J. [into phone] Ben, hi. It's C.J. ... Oh, I guess I've had better days at the office. ... Oh, you know, the usual, and-and then some. ... Yeah, I'd love to. Let me just check the schedule tomorrow when Carol's here, you know, make sure I'm clear that night. ... That sounds great. ... Ben, could you do me a favor? Would you mind talking to me for awhile and letting me just listen? ... I don't know. Whatever you want, just as long as it has nothing to do with my job. DISSOLVE TO: END TITLES. FADE TO BLACK. THE END. * * * The West Wing episode 5.15 "Full Disclosure", original air date 25 February, 2004.