- Alice Rowland: We appreciate your meeting with us again, sir. But the people that I represent...
- Tom Kirkman: I know. They want action, not just words.
- Alice Rowland: What they want is their money back. And as long as I'm their advocate, I don't intend to rest until I get it.
- Tom Kirkman: And I share your desire, which is why I've met with all of you three times over the last four months.
- Alice Rowland: Three times because we're not making any progress.
- Tom Kirkman: It might not seem like it to you, but I promise you, we are making progress.
- Alice Rowland: Not fast enough, sir. The fat cats that got screwed by Barton Cushing will survive. But the beneficiaries of the compromised state pension funds, they need this money to live. They're teachers, firefighters, secretaries...
- Tom Kirkman: The backbone of America. And I am trying to get relief for all of them.
- Alice Rowland: Trying is not the same as getting.
- [realizing her accusatory tone]
- Alice Rowland: I'm sorry, Mr. President. These people don't want to work until they're 75. They want to be able to take a vacation, pay for their healthcare, enjoy their golden years.
- Tom Kirkman: I know you're frustrated. I am, too. But I need you to trust me. And we are closer than you think.
- Tom Kirkman: My point is that this financial scam didn't just hit the rich. It wiped out hundreds of thousands of state employee pensions. $8 billion in savings, gone up in smoke.
- Senator Alan Rouse: You want me to support your pension bailout bill. But my party does not believe in bailouts. We believe in individual responsibility.
- Tom Kirkman: Until it's time to bail out Wall Street or the banks. Then the Republicans are all for it.
- Senator Alan Rouse: You have a sponsor for the bill. A Democratic sponsor.
- Tom Kirkman: We need bipartisan support to get it across the finish line. Come on, Alan. That's why we're here. Government exists to help people who can't help themselves.
- Senator Alan Rouse: That is not government, sir. That i-is charity.
- Tom Kirkman: Fine. Then I'll make a stipulation that the American people are suckers. Come on, how long have we been playing hockey together, three years? I've never even asked you to cross-check someone for me.
- Senator Alan Rouse: I understand. But, sir, this... this is a big ask.
- Tom Kirkman: Then don't do it for me. Do it for your own conscience. Barton Cushing's swindle is gonna cost the American people $31 billion. We're facing a potential run on the banks. Markets are teetering on free-fall. If we don't shore up consumer confidence, we might as well just jump head-first into the abyss.
- Senator Alan Rouse: I'll run it up the flagpole.
- Tom Kirkman: Thank you. I appreciate it.
- Tom Kirkman: Have you made a decision about a lawyer for your mother?
- Alex Kirkman: What about McKinley and Bradshaw?
- Tom Kirkman: They're a great firm.
- Alex Kirkman: Their white-collar practice isn't as big as it used to be, but... Davenport and Williams?
- Tom Kirkman: They got a full acquittal for Senator Downing.
- Alex Kirkman: Yeah, but that place is a Republican stronghold.
- Tom Kirkman: Alex, any one of these firms will do a great job. But you know my recommendation.
- Alex Kirkman: Kendra Daynes.
- Tom Kirkman: Present company excluded, she's the best lawyer I know. With the added benefit that she's easy to find.
- Alex Kirkman: The way she handled Hannah's investigation, it just... it rubbed me the wrong way.
- Tom Kirkman: Wasn't it you who once told me that that's what a good lawyer's supposed to do, rub you the wrong way? That's how you know they're doing their job?
- Carson Kramer: Senator, you've been highly critical of what you term "government handouts". So, what about the pension bailout bill?
- Senator Alan Rouse: Another handout.
- Carson Kramer: But the President's a big proponent.
- Senator Alan Rouse: Yes. And, um, to be frank, I'm not quite sure why. I met with him to discuss it, and he called the American people... suckers.
- Carson Kramer: Excuse me, Senator. He said what?
- Senator Alan Rouse: His exact words were "I'll make a stipulation that the American people are suckers."
- Carson Kramer: Wow. It looks like the President's the one who may need a bailout.
- Senator Alan Rouse: Yes, Carson. I was pretty shocked when I heard that myself.
- Lyor Boone: [watching on TV] That disloyal, treacherous, lying...
- Tom Kirkman: He wasn't lying.
- Emily Rhodes: Sir?
- Tom Kirkman: He betrayed my confidence. He took me out of context. But he wasn't lying.
- Lyor Boone: It doesn't matter. Sir, you have a very distinct brand. You're Honest Tom. Man of the people. If that's compromised...
- Seth Wright: Lyor's right, Mr. President. This goes to your core identity. We can't spin this.
- Lyor Boone: Exactly, 'cause it's a middle finger aimed squarely at your base. And I don't like to traffic in overstatement, sir. If this sticks, it's political Armageddon.
- Lily: [entering] Mr. President, you have calls from the Senate Minority and Majority Leaders, the House Speaker, and the House Minority Leader.
- Lyor Boone: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
- Tom Kirkman: Put them through. One at a time, please.
- Seth Wright: We're working with the British government to investigate M.P. Thorn's murder, and we'll have another update for you as soon as one is warranted.
- [the reporters all clamor at the same time]
- Seth Wright: Yes.
- First Reporter: What about Senator Rouse?
- Seth Wright: I have no comment about Senator Rouse.
- First Reporter: So you're not denying the President said...
- Seth Wright: Once again: folks, the conversation that the President had with Senator Rouse was a private one. You know I don't comment on the President's private conversations.
- Second Journalist: Meaning you're not issuing a denial.
- Seth Wright: How did you just misconstrue everything I just said?
- Second Journalist: How did I misconstrue it?
- Seth Wright: You understand misconstruction, Natalie. I've read your pieces.
- First Reporter: And if you're not commenting on private conversations, can you speak as to the follow-up from Suckergate?
- Seth Wright: Oh, don't call it a "-gate", Carla. It's not a "-gate". Look, the President's record speaks for itself in terms of the esteem that he holds for the American people.
- Lyor Boone: They're calling it Suckergate, sir. Suckergate. There are no good "-gate"s. Not Watergate, not Irangate, not...
- Tom Kirkman: I think we should just go about our business.
- Lyor Boone: All due respect, sir, we can't. This will have a knock-on effect. You need to issue a strong denial.
- Tom Kirkman: I can't.
- Lyor Boone: Yes, sir. You can. If the President says he didn't say something, it was never said.
- Tom Kirkman: I'm not gonna start fighting distortions with falsehoods. Besides, you said I had a good reputation because I was honest. Now you want me to start lying?
- Lyor Boone: Yes. To preserve that reputation.
- Tom Kirkman: You heard what you just said, right?
- Lyor Boone: [leaving the Oval Office] If you'd have told me he was this honest, I never would have taken this job.
- Emily Rhodes: You realize that's bananas, right?
- Lyor Boone: I don't like scruples. They're impractical.
- Emily Rhodes: His scruples are the reason why everyone in this building would run through a wall for him.
- Lyor Boone: Tell me that when our agenda's dead because America thinks the President is an elitist hyprocrite.
- Sasha: Aaron says he'll have an update on the Thorn investigation shortly. And per your request, I moved up your meeting on judicial appointments with Senator Krantz.
- Emily Rhodes: Good. We need a win.
- Sasha: And I want to talk to you about the lobby.
- Emily Rhodes: Okay.
- Sasha: There are candies there. Hard candies. Some might call them "suckers". And so I wondered if I should remove them.
- Emily Rhodes: You're kidding, right?
- Sasha: Right.
- Emily Rhodes: [from her tone, she can tell she's serious] Remove them immediately.
- Senator Linda Krantz: When we had preliminary discussions about judges, the President was in a very different position. His centrist politics were gathering steam. We thought he was a man who should be listened to.
- Lyor Boone: Well, he is. He's the President.
- Senator Linda Krantz: Of a country of suckers.
- Emily Rhodes: Really, Senator Krantz...
- Senator Linda Krantz: I know how that remark played out in my state. Not as bad as my following his lead now will play.
- Lyor Boone: Senator, put politics aside for a second. You're an attorney. You know every name on our list is eminently qualified.
- Senator Linda Krantz: Yes. But so are these.
- [she hands him and Emily each a manila folder]
- Emily Rhodes: None of these people have President Kirkman's endorsement.
- Senator Linda Krantz: Exactly. So none of them are toxic. Let me know what you think.
- Lyor Boone: [Krantz leaves] I think I hate lawyers.
- Alex Kirkman: I think my mother's subpoena is prosecutorial bad face.
- Kendra Daynes: How do you figure, ma'am?
- Alex Kirkman: There's no evidence of any contemporary wrongdoing. And... and this attempt to tie her into some conspiracy involving bribery and Eric Little's recent d- I mean, it's ridiculous.
- Kendra Daynes: Agreed. But you need to keep emotion out of it.
- Alex Kirkman: We're talking about my mother.
- Kendra Daynes: I understand. But John Foerstel is a former U.S. Attorney. He will use your emotion against you.
- Alex Kirkman: As proof that we're trying to hide something.
- Kendra Daynes: Yes. Which is why I'd like to be clinical. Sticking to the four corners of the document is our best hope of quashing the subpoena.
- Alex Kirkman: I need to know my family is protected. And I just haven't seen enough evidence from you that you really understand that.
- Kendra Daynes: I do, ma'am. And I've represented eleven Senators who have been targets of a criminal investigation. Not a single one was indicted. I'm experienced. And I'm good.
- Alex Kirkman: What do you need from me?
- Kendra Daynes: Just your trust. Let me do what I do. And I'll keep you posted.
- Tom Kirkman: I was just explaining to Lyor and Emily how we're friends. And I have to be honest. When among friends, there is an expectation that what one says remains private.
- Senator Alan Rouse: I'm sorry if I violated that expectation.
- Tom Kirkman: Well, you did. And I need you to set the record straight.
- Senator Alan Rouse: Well, I'm sorry, sir. I didn't lie, so I can't issue a retraction.
- Tom Kirkman: I'm not asking you to. I just want you to provide the full context of our discussion. Which was me asking you to sign on to a bill that I thought would be helpful to the average American.
- Lyor Boone: An overture you portrayed as the President's contempt for average Americans.
- Tom Kirkman: Alan, I know you don't believe that, but I can't have the American people believing that, either.
- Senator Alan Rouse: You say you're not a politican, then you coerce me into backing a bill you know is anathema to my party.
- Tom Kirkman: [talking over each other] Asking for your support is hardly coercion!
- Senator Alan Rouse: It is if the person asking is the President, sir. But more to the point, I have an obligation I owe to my constituents.
- Emily Rhodes: Which should include an obligation not to misrepresent the President's words.
- Senator Alan Rouse: I stood up to those words. My office received over 1,500 calls today thanking me for that. I cannot defend you, sir.
- Tom Kirkman: Senator, I'm not asking you for your defense. I'm asking you for your honesty. You're out there portraying me as an enemy of the people. That stops now!
- Senator Alan Rouse: With respect, sir, if you don't want to be the people's enemy, you need to start talking about them as if they were your friends. I'll see myself out.
- Lyor Boone: So, in the last eight hours, we've lost Congressional support for our judicial slate. Your pension bailout bill, that's gone belly-up.
- Emily Rhodes: And the only topic of conversation at the G20 conference is the murder rate in America.
- Tom Kirkman: What's the press coverage?
- Seth Wright: Uh, the "Post" and the "Journal" have hit out at you over Suckergate. The "Times" is running an op-ed on the administration's failure to rein in arms dealers.
- Lyor Boone: We're looking at a perfect storm, sir. So we have to take emergency action. Finding Thorn's killer, that's part of the solution. The other part is cauterizing Suckergate.
- Tom Kirkman: Look, I understand we've taken a hit for this thing...
- Lyor Boone: No, no, sir. It's much more than that. This thing, it's made you radioactive. And the fallout's just gonna get worse.
- Tom Kirkman: Fine. What do you suggest?
- Lyor Boone: [handing him a folder] Oppo research on Senator Rouse. It's a silver bullet. It'll stop the bleeding.
- Tom Kirkman: Lyor, bullets don't stop bleeding. They start it.
- Emily Rhodes: We need to stabilize your base, sir.
- Tom Kirkman: If I go down this road, there's no turning back. We will find another way.
- Lyor Boone: Mr. President...
- Tom Kirkman: We will find another way.
- Tiffany Gimble: Seth? I need a minute.
- Seth Wright: I have nothing else to say about Suckergate, Tiffany.
- Tiffany Gimble: Good. Because I wanted to ask about a subpoena.
- Seth Wright: What subpoena?
- Tiffany Gimble: One a source tells me was issued to the White House in connection with an investigation into Icarus Astrotech.
- Seth Wright: To whom at the White House?
- Tiffany Gimble: You tell me.
- Seth Wright: [with a derisive laugh] You're fishing.
- Tiffany Gimble: I'm going to publish.
- Seth Wright: Publish what? A story about a subpoena issued to an unspecified person in this building?
- Tiffany Gimble: So you're denying it, then?
- Seth Wright: That someone in the White House has been subpoenaed? Categorically.
- Tiffany Gimble: Seth, come on...
- Seth Wright: Go fish.
- Hannah Wells: Darius Cray's boat is moored at the Port of Baltimore. Three days ago, he extended his slip rental for two weeks.
- Damian Rennett: And this afternoon, right after we spoke to him, he filed paperwork with the harbormaster to leave tonight.
- Aaron Shore: How strong a suspect is he?
- Damian Rennett: A flight risk. No alibi. Plenty of motive. Plus we have video of his car outside Charlotte Thorn's hotel two nights before she was killed.
- Hannah Wells: Which means he could have been spoiling for a confrontation.
- Aaron Shore: Is it enough circumstantial evidence for a warrant?
- Kendra Daynes: If you know the right judge. Give me an hour.
- Tom Kirkman: In the end, perception is everything. I've been fighting on behalf of the American people from the second I was sworn in. Now they think I'm fighting against them.
- Mike Ritter: No, they don't, sir. Everywhere we go, you inspire people. But the problem is...
- Tom Kirkman: It's all right, Mike. Finish the sentence.
- Mike Ritter: Sir, when someone takes a cheap shot, you don't respond.
- Tom Kirkman: I don't like mudslinging. It's not who I am.
- Mike Ritter: Don't sling mud, sir. Sling hope. See, that's the fight people want. It's the hope you give them. And sometimes it gets lost under all these attacks.
- Tom Kirkman: You might just have a future in politics, Mike.
- Mike Ritter: [snickering] No, sir. I like my fights where I can see them. Right in front of me.
- Tom Kirkman: Smart.
- Damian Rennett: I know. You're speechless. Just take a moment, you know, gather your thoughts, and when you work out what you're going to say...
- Hannah Wells: You again?
- Damian Rennett: Such a wordsmith. So, it turns out you're only persona non grata on this side of the pond until they need your expertise.
- Emily Rhodes: So, Halloween's just around the corner. You know what I don't like?
- Kendra Daynes: Candy?
- Emily Rhodes: Tricks. I do like treats, though. And a great treat would be confirmation of the President's slate of judicial nominees.
- Kendra Daynes: I laid the groundwork for your meeting with Senator Krantz from the Judiciary Committee. She promised a rubber stamp.
- Emily Rhodes: Good.
- [Seth joins them]
- Emily Rhodes: Hey. Halloween's coming up.
- Seth Wright: [to Kendra] Did she give you the whole "trick or treat" spiel?
- Kendra Daynes: Yes. She doesn't like tricks.
- Seth Wright: No, she doesn't like candy.
- Emily Rhodes: I like candy fine.
- Seth Wright: No. Only Necco Wafers. The pink ones.
- Emily Rhodes: Okay, Willy Wonka, are you ready for your auto exec meeting?
- Seth Wright: Yep. Ready to hawk the President's Clean Air Initiative. Only one problem.
- Emily Rhodes: What?
- Seth Wright: I don't know what the hell I'm doing.
- Emily Rhodes: You're a senior staffer pitching in on the policy side because we're shorthanded. Suck it up.
- Seth Wright: More like I'm gonna blow.
- Emily Rhodes: [joining Lyor] Lyor, did you know that...
- Lyor Boone: If you do the Halloween thing again, I'll murder you with an axe.
- Lyor Boone: We should issue a press release.
- Seth Wright: Yeah. When ballistics is back.
- Lyor Boone: It can focus on the arrest of a notorious arms dealer.
- Seth Wright: Which would step on the arrest of Charlotte Thorn's killer.
- Lyor Boone: Anything to get us off Suckergate. Seth, have you read the papers?
- Seth Wright: [sarcastic] No. I get my news from carrier pigeon.
- Tom Kirkman: I would like to do an OTR.
- Lyor Boone: An "on the road"? I like the impulse, sir. What I don't like is the risk. Just too many variables we can't control. We should do a one-on-one.
- Seth Wright: With Carson Kramer. Same forum as when Senator Rouse made his accusation.
- Lyor Boone: Release the oppo on Rouse right before you go on just to set the stage.
- Tom Kirkman: Lyor, I'm not interested in the politics of personal destruction.
- Lyor Boone: Respectfully, sir, this is not something that...
- Tom Kirkman: Look, if the problem is that I've lost the people, I need to take my argument to the people. Show them that I'm fighting their fight. I want to do an OTR. Shoot for lunchtime.
- Emily Rhodes: Yes, sir.
- Emily Rhodes: Okay, lunch. That gives us three hours.
- Lyor Boone: I want every detail stage-managed. A diner. He'll order a hamburger. I don't want anything foofy on the menu like Dijon mustard or profiteroles.
- Seth Wright: Diners don't have profiteroles.
- Lyor Boone: Yeah, exactly.
- Emily Rhodes: We should hand-pick the audience.
- Seth Wright: Yeah, we'll stock 'em with salt-of-the-earth types. Folks who've been victimized by the pension fraud.
- Emily Rhodes: Kirkman fans.
- Lyor Boone: All right, I'll get started on the vetting. Emily, you're logistics. Seth, do your thing with words.
- Seth Wright: Yeah, I got a word for you.
- Kendra Daynes: Mrs. Kirkman, I wasn't expecting you.
- Alex Kirkman: I thought I should be here.
- Kendra Daynes: Of course. That's absolutely your right.
- [to her assistant]
- Kendra Daynes: Uh, Cindy, make sure there's a chair for Mrs. Kirkman in the gallery.
- Alex Kirkman: Oh, I'd like to second chair.
- Kendra Daynes: [to Cindy again] I'll see you inside.
- [turning back to Alex]
- Kendra Daynes: Respectfully, ma'am, I don't think that's a good idea.
- Alex Kirkman: Well, why not?
- Kendra Daynes: Because this proceeding is about a subpoena issued to your mother.
- Alex Kirkman: Exactly.
- Kendra Daynes: Which is precisely why I recommend against your involvement. Because of your personal interest.
- Alex Kirkman: I appreciate your concern. But I need you to appreciate mine. I can't stand by and watch determinations being made about my family and not participate. If anything went wrong, I would never forgive myself. I'm sure you understand.
- Kendra Daynes: Your Honor, this subpoena is a classic fishing expedition.
- John Forstell: The simple fact that we're seeking documents from the President's mother-in-law does not make it a fishing expedition.
- Kendra Daynes: Thirty years of documents. And in service of a wild theory alleging a convoluted bribery scheme that spans decades. A theory for which Mr. Forstell has no evidence.
- John Forstell: It's called discovery, Your Honor. If we had the evidence, we wouldn't need the subpoena.
- Kendra Daynes: Yes, but we still need probable cause to prove a crime has been committed.
- John Forstell: A crime was committed.
- Alex Kirkman: Thirty years ago.
- Judge Tamara Best: Mrs. Kirkman. Are you also appearing as counsel?
- Alex Kirkman: Yes, Your Honor.
- Judge Tamara Best: So noted on the record.
- Alex Kirkman: A crime was committed thirty years ago. A crime which can no longer be charged.
- John Forstell: The warrant alleges an ongoing conspiracy...
- Alex Kirkman: I know what the warrant alleges.
- Kendra Daynes: Your Honor, I believe my co-counsel's point...
- Alex Kirkman: That this is a malicious prosecution.
- Judge Tamara Best: How is the mere issuance of a subpoena malicious prosecution?
- Alex Kirkman: The suggestion that there was some nefarious pay-for-play scandal involving my mother. That she could be implicated in the murder of Eric Little, a man she hasn't even seen for thirty years.
- Kendra Daynes: Your Honor, can we please get a ten minute recess so I can consult with my co-counsel?
- Judge Tamara Best: I think that would be an excellent idea.
- Kendra Daynes: Mrs. Kirkman, we agreed to keep these arguments technical.
- Alex Kirkman: But not antiseptic. You're not making any headway in there.
- Kendra Daynes: The best basis for quashing the subpoena is its overbreadth.
- Alex Kirkman: I totally disagree. The subpoena is based on investigational subterfuge. Illegal activity.
- Kendra Daynes: Which are arguments I will now have to make now that our procedural tack is out the window.
- Alex Kirkman: Well, then make them.
- Kendra Daynes: I will. But not with you as co-counsel.
- Alex Kirkman: Excuse me?
- Kendra Daynes: Ma'am, I was asked to do a job. And I will do it to the best of my ability. But I cannot do it if you're compromising me.
- Alex Kirkman: Well... that was not my intent.
- Kendra Daynes: But it's your effect. If you want to argue the motion, you're welcome to. But if I'm arguing it, it needs to be without your interference.
- Lyor Boone: [watching Kirkman] I've never seen anyone this good with crowd work.
- Emily Rhodes: That's because it's not work for him. It's who he is.
- Tom Kirkman: Alice, how are you?
- Alice Rowland: Not good, sir. I'm hearing that the pension bailout bill is dead.
- Tom Kirkman: That's not true.
- Alice Rowland: Well, the people I represent want their futures back. Can you promise me that you can still help them?
- Tom Kirkman: Well, I-I can't promise...
- Alice Rowland: Well, then you're right, Mr. President. We are suckers. For trusting you.
- Emily Rhodes: It wasn't that bad.
- Lyor Boone: No, she's right. It was catastrophic.
- Tom Kirkman: Yeah.
- Lyor Boone: So... you've already lost cachet with Congress. Stonewalling your judicial nominees was the canary in the coal mine. Your whole legislative agenda's at risk now.
- Tom Kirkman: It was one word. I was being sarcastic.
- Lyor Boone: Not to put too fine a point on it, but the rule is things last one news cycle or ten. We kill this story today, sir, or it kills us.
- Tom Kirkman: Emily?
- Emily Rhodes: The business community is jumping ship. The media is turning on you. If we wake up tomorrow and Suckergate's the lead, the spiral may be irreversible.
- Tom Kirkman: This is ridiculous. I mean, there has to be a solution.
- Kendra Daynes: Your Honor, the basis for this subpoena is an illegal search.
- John Forstell: Your Honor, the Fourth Amendment has zero applicability to the request for documents connected to a company that Mrs. Booker admitted she received a bribe from. There's probable cause...
- Judge Tamara Best: I'd like to hear Ms. Daynes out.
- Kendra Daynes: Mr. Forstell is right. There is probable cause for this subpoena. But it stems from Hannah Wells, who removed a hospital record from an active crime scene.
- John Forstell: I don't see how that invalidates the subpoena.
- Kendra Daynes: The hospital record was obtained illegally and without a warrant.
- Judge Tamara Best: Fruit of the poisonous tree?
- Kendra Daynes: Yes, Your Honor.
- John Forstell: Hold on. You're complaining about the conduct of Agent Wells? Agent Wells works for the White House.
- Kendra Daynes: But Mrs. Booker doesn't.
- John Forstell: Then why is the White House counsel representing her?
- Kendra Daynes: It doesn't matter who's representing her. What matters is whether her rights were violated.
- Judge Tamara Best: I'm inclined to agree.
- John Forstell: Wait, Judge, there are exigent circumstances. Agent Wells removed that document because she was pursuing Patrick Lloyd.
- Judge Tamara Best: And if you were subpoenaing Patrick Lloyd, I might look the other way. But you're not, and I won't. Motion to quash granted.
- Damian Rennett: Shipping out tonight.
- Hannah Wells: Yeah? Do you need a ride to the airport?
- Damian Rennett: Sure.
- Hannah Wells: You know, I can always call DHS and have you deported again. It's like Uber. With handcuffs.
- Damian Rennett: The ongoing pleasures of American hospitality.
- Carson Kramer: It's been a rough couple of days, Mr. President.
- Tom Kirkman: Yes. Yes, it has. But you won't hear me complain. Not for a second. Because I know that there are people out there who are really having a rough time right now.
- Carson Kramer: Now, I know you want to address Senator Rouse's, uh, incendiary claim that you called the American people "suckers". The floor is yours, sir.
- Tom Kirkman: Thank you. I think that there is something the American people should know about Senator Rouse. And that is...
- Lyor Boone: [watching on TV] Go there. Please go there.
- Tom Kirkman: ...that he is telling the truth.
- Lyor Boone: Oh, my god.
- Emily Rhodes: What is he doing?
- Tom Kirkman: He took my words out of context, but he is quoting me accurately.
- Seth Wright: This is bad.
- Carson Kramer: So you really think the American people are suckers?
- Tom Kirkman: Yes. I guess so. Because they believe in the American dream. This idea that our best tomorrows are in front of us, regardless of what today might be saying. And if that makes you a sucker, then count me in.
- Emily Rhodes: Less bad.
- Tom Kirkman: The great American generations that have come before us...
- Lyor Boone: Bring it home, sir. Bring it home.
- Tom Kirkman: ...have always managed to pull together when times were tough. We cannot be the exception. That's why it is so important that Congress gets behind the pension bailout bill. Too many Americans have had their security and their dreams snatched away from them.
- Lyor Boone: Trending good.
- Tom Kirkman: It's our turn to fix that. So I am promising the American people that I will not rest until that security and those dreams have been restored.
- Lyor Boone: I'm calling our pollsters. Our boss may have just pulled off the great escape.
- Seth Wright: Man, our boss has more lives than a cat.
- Emily Rhodes: Good thing for us kittens.
- Seth Wright: So, since we're not burning the midnight oil...
- Emily Rhodes: Oh, come by anytime. I'll put out a bowl of milk. We can torture metaphors.
- Seth Wright: Sounds good.
- [Lyor enters]
- Seth Wright: Hey.
- [he holds out his hand for a fist bump]
- Lyor Boone: What is it? Is that like a mannequin challenge thing or something?
- Seth Wright: Never mind.
- Tom Kirkman: Thank you for coming. I invited you back here because I wanted to tell you myself how much I respect you.
- Alice Rowland: Well, that respect is mutual, sir. I saw your interview on television. I know what kind of man you are. An honest man.
- Tom Kirkman: Thank you. I appreciate that. I do the best I can, and... and I know you do, too. Your work as a victims' advocate is inspiring. And... and I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to find out what motivated you. And I was surprised to see that you weren't one of the victims. But instead, the wife of one of the perpertrators. Your late husband managed one of the feeder funds and funneled hundreds of millions of dollars back to himself.
- Alice Rowland: Yes.
- Tom Kirkman: So you became an advocate out of a sense of obligation, to those who paid such a high price while your family prospered.
- Alice Rowland: Yes.
- Tom Kirkman: The guilt must be overwhelming. I would expect at times you feel like it's hard to even go on.
- [she nods, but doesn't reply]
- Tom Kirkman: I feel like that every time I walk into this building. And sit in that chair, and have someone call me "Mr. President" simply because I survived. Because I was lucky. You know what people like you and I are supposed to do with that kind of luck?
- Alice Rowland: No, sir.
- Tom Kirkman: Pay it forward. I promise you - in fact, I pledge to you - that I will do everything in my power to try and pay it forward. And I know you will, too.
- Lyor Boone: Our latest, uh, poll numbers.
- Emily Rhodes: Hm. Our boss did okay tonight, huh?
- Lyor Boone: He did okay.
- Emily Rhodes: You think he's weak for not using the oppo, right?
- Lyor Boone: No. I think he's the President.
- Aaron Shore: Why was a Member of Parliament jogging in Rock Creek Park this morning?
- Emily Rhodes: Charlotte Thorn was the British rep at this week's G20 conference. They were touting her as a future PM.
- Aaron Shore: What do we know about this?
- Hannah Wells: Well, right now, not much. One to the head while she was jogging. D.C. Metro says there's no witnesses.
- Aaron Shore: Did she have any enemies?
- Hannah Wells: Oh, plenty. She was outspoken on everything, from women's rights to illegal arms dealing to corporate responsibility. You name it.
- Aaron Shore: Well, we're already fielding calls about safety concerns from jumpy foreign leaders that are threatening to pull out of the G20 conference.
- Emily Rhodes: No. That can't happen. Not when the Kirkman agenda is to take a bigger role on the international stage with the IMF, the environment, arms control. We need this.
- Hannah Wells: All right. I'll keep you posted.
- Aaron Shore: You know, Cray's boat had a $5 million cache of black market munitions. And we think he was making a back-room deal with one of the G20 delegates to arm an insurgency.
- Seth Wright: His arrest was all over the wire, sir. Mumbai is linking him with arming Tamil separatists. The French are blaming him for selling C-4 to Basque insurgents.
- Lyor Boone: And we're the ones who brought him to justice. It's excellent.
- Tom Kirkman: That's burying the lead. What's important here right now is whether or not he was connected to Thorn's murder.
- Aaron Shore: The gun found on him was the same model, same caliber used to kill Charlotte Thorn. We're running ballistics.
- Tom Kirkman: Is Cray talking?
- Aaron Shore: No, sir. He's in recovery and lawyered up. As soon as ballistics is in, I'll let you know.