The Newsroom (2012–2014): Season 1, Episode 9 - The Blackout, Part 2: Mock Debate - full transcript

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Backup generators
should have come on already.

Maybe itjust needs a minute.

It doesn't just need a minute.
It's an emergency generator

that's supposed to make a seamless handoff,

so if this happens during a show... Herb?

Power's out in the whole building.

It's been explained to me 19 different ways

how we can never lose power in the studio.

What about all the redundancies?

There was a round of budget cuts
before you got here,

and they cut some of the redundancies...



Don't say it.

...because they thought they were redundant.

Okay.

- That's a good sign, right?
- Those are battery powered.

- When should I start to worry?
- I'd have started already.

Electricians are on their way.

We lost power in the studio.

What makes you say that?

Everybody, listen up. It's the whole building.

We've sent for maintenance
to check on our generator.

They should be here in a minute.

They've got to walk up 25 floors.

Okay, they should be here
in a couple of hours.

Neal, I want you to be in charge



of rationing battery life
for laptops and cell phones.

- I have a question.
- Yes?

What if the power doesn't go back on?

I don't think that's a realistic possibility.

I don't mean ever.

I mean what if the power
doesn't go on by show time?

Do we have a contingency?

No.

Mac?

A miracle.

A miracle happens.

We become a team again.

We all hate this, right?

We're gonna hate it more
after 10 minutes of no air conditioning.

No, not the power outage.
We hate what we're doing.

We hate that we're covering
Casey Anthony and Anthony Weiner.

We hate that we have to
do it to save the ratings,

we hate that we have
to bump important stories,

and we're starting to be
not very pleasant people to be around.

Guys, this is real.

I'm not making this up.

Just a minute ago,
when I was prepping for a pre-tape

with that idiot
who's still sitting in the studio...

- Are you talking about me?
- No!

Yes. When I was prepping
for her pre-tape, I said,

"God, please show me a sign

"that I'm not doing a big thing badly."

And right that second, all the power went out.

And so obviously I thought,
"There's my answer."

Raise your hand
if Mac's freaking you the hell out right now.

No, listen to me!

Just tell us how we do the show
if the power doesn't...

By being a team again.
And that was God's plan.

Keep God out of this
and talk more about electricity.

We do the show outside, right in the plaza.

- How?
- Yeah, we can do this.

What do we need? A desk, a camera,

some microphones,
and a way to beam a signal into space.

The grips take apart the anchor desk.

And carry it down 25 flights?

You bet your ass they do.

We can use
a single tripod-mounted handheld.

We park a sat truck out there.

That's right.

Run the video and graphics
through Washington.

Yes!

I'm in your sight line the whole time,

in your ear and standing next to camera.

I'll have a laptop with
a constant iNEWS connection.

How do we get power to
editors to run the Avids?

What did they do in Apollo 13?

They shut down all the power
in the command module

and siphoned it into the LEM.
I don't think that's gonna work here.

What would they have done
if there was a hardware store in space?

- Buy a generator.
- We're gonna buy two.

One goes in an Avid bay
and the other stays downstairs.

- What time does the sun set tonight?
- 8:37.

Why in the world would you know that?

One of those things.

We'll need HMIs with gels for the top half hour

and incandescents for the bottom half.

We need the NYPD for security

and we need to trust each other.

Does anybody think we're not good enough

- to pull this off?
- No!

Should I still be sitting here?

I'm so sorry, Sandy.

I know you had your heart set
on entertaining us

with private details of
a man you were sexting with

and maybe a Playboy spread,

but we're not able to do pre-tape.

So if you want to do the show,
you're gonna have to do it live.

I already committed to Fox,

and no offense, but it's a bigger audience.

Shoot! Does anybody think we can't do this?

- No!
- This is a blessing in disguise.

I say the power going out

is the best thing that ever happened to us.

I say the power going out

is what is gonna save this...

Son of a bitch!

You're a freaking riot, you know that?

I meant to tell you,

you should use the word "bombshell" more

in the Casey Anthony coverage tonight.

Sandy, you're back in business.

- Great.
- Let's go.

Bombshell after bombshell today
in the trial of Casey Anthony

for the murder of
her two-year-old daughter Caylee.

Casey's brother, Lee Anthony, took the stand

to testify about the events
of the night of July 15, 2008,

when Caylee was reported missing.

- Watch and listen. It's riveting stuff.
- Roll five.

When you asked your sister,

"Why won't you allow us to see Caylee?"

What do you recall her saying?

I told Detective Edwards that she said...

I'm paraphrasing...

"Because maybe I'm a spiteful bitch."

Lee Anthony described
his odyssey that month

trying to find his missing niece.

Oddly, he was never questioned

about the defense's claim he molested Casey.

For the latest, we're joined live from Orlando

by ACN's Selena Machado.

Can you describe
how you're feeling right now?

- No.
- Selena, how did Casey

seem today during her brother's testimony?

Well, her demeanor was different with Lee

than it was with her mother.

The normally outspoken
Democratic New York congressman

is suddenly tongue-tied and evasive.

Here he is again today
with The Today Show's Luke Russert.

- Roll 16.
- That's not a picture of you?

You know, I can't say with certitude.

My system was hacked.
Pictures can be manipulated.

Pictures can be dropped in and inserted.

Someone committed a prank on me.

Somehow got access to my Twitter account

and right away put up a picture

that made fun of the name Weiner.

Hey, we can be doing
mock debate prep during this.

Hey, debate prep.

You don't have to watch this.

We don't know for sure
what happened here.

I spoke earlier today with Sandy Witless,

- a bartender...
- Whiddles, like carving wood.

Excuse me, Sandy Whiddles,
a bartender here in Manhattan

who had been tweeting
with Congressman Weiner

for the past several months.

- Here's that interview.
- Roll 22.

Thank you for speaking to us, Sandy.

Thank you.

When did you become
a Twitter follower of the congressman?

Let me say first that
I was more than a follower.

We had a relationship,
which is obvious when you read the texts.

Okay, and how long
has this Twitter relationship...

- Does he usually smoke at his desk?
- For about five months.

I have copies of the texts right here.

I know you're eager to read the tweets.

We'll get to those in a moment.

Okay, because I...

Did the congressman ever
talk to you or tweet to you

anything that he was working on
in one of his committees?

No. I have copies of the tweets right here.

Two minutes and 20 seconds in the C block
to educate the public on

the most irresponsible economic inaction
in my lifetime.

I know, it's all upside down
because of Casey Anthony.

Once ratings are back up...

We're committing journalistic malpractice.

Fortunately, there's no such thing.

How great would it be if there was?

I can understand your frustration.

- What's your thing again?
- It's a website for trolls.

They get together and
talk about their conquests.

And I want to produce a story,
and Mac's given me the go-ahead

- to go to the next level.
- Go on the website.

Yeah, but I can't get in the conversation

till I can point to another website
and show how I've...

- Been an asshole?
- Yes.

I have to go onto a message board
and disrupt the conversation

to the extent that havoc ensues.

Then I can go on the troll website
and brag about it.

But you don't want to do
something or say something

- that would hurt someone you don't know.
- Right.

You want to say things that would hurt me.

Yes.

What website?

Yes, it's a financial news aggregate blog
and discussion forum

that attracts an intelligent level of debate.

And the commenters have
a very high opinion of your analyses.

So you'd like my permission to...

Jump in there and invent heinous
and incendiary lies about you,

end the intelligent debate,
and start a whole new one

about, say, whether or not you're a whore.

My dad and his friends are economists, too.

So with Father's Day just around the corner,

this'll save me
the trouble of shopping for him.

I know.

Just print out the whole whore debate
and put it in a nice frame for him.

It would be my first story,

and I really think it's a good one.

I think so, too.

Just let me know when it's over.

- You're the greatest.
- I really am.

This is Hang Chew's.

The staff adopted it as their hangout

'cause they get cheap food
and drinks until 9:00.

- Can you spell that?
- N-I-N-E O-C...

Okay.

Is it important that
you treat me like I'm an asshole?

I wouldn't say important so much as

- it just sort of feels right.
- I know you'd agree it would be better

- to keep our personal past out of this.
- Yeah.

That said, I'd like to point out
that you broke up with me, too.

- Listen, Brian...
- I broke up with you, we got back together,

and then you broke up with me.
Those are the facts.

I sure hope we're on the record for this.

And during the second act,
you were with Will behind my back.

Once again,
I was with you behind Will's back.

Yeah, and it makes me feel great
when you say that,

but I do think we should stick to the story.

The story is this. Will is a heavyweight,

and for a long time
he was pretending to be a lightweight.

Because lightweights get higher ratings.

Yes.

Will's a lonely guy, isn't he?

- Is he...
- He's lonely.

He doesn't care about ratings
because of the money.

He cares about ratings because the audience

makes him feel less lonely.

What are you planning
on writing about, Brian?

I don't know yet.

I have to talk to Sloan.
Excuse me one second.

He is a lonely guy.

I don't know if that started around the time

I told him I'd been sleeping with you,

but I'll bet it didn't help.

Governor Pawlenty, the possibility exists

that New Hampshire
will become the 23rd state

to pass right-to-work legislation.

As president, would you support
a federal right-to-work law?

- You should have this.
- Give me a second.

Try, "For much of my life,
my father was a Teamster truck driver."

"My brothers and sisters were in unions.

- "I was in a union."
- "We grew up in a blue-collar town.

"We live in the United States of America."

Governor, we know where we live.
Would you support...

People shouldn't be forced to belong to

or be a member of any organization.

Yes, I strongly support
right-to-work legislation.

That's what an answer sounds like.

- Can I talk to you a sec?
- Yeah.

Just the fact that they're debating

- whether or not to raise the debt ceiling...
- I'm trying.

I need to find a Casey Anthony guest
no one else has,

and hopefully I won't be able to do it.

I'll be rooting against you.

Good.

- You doing all right over there?
- With him?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

'Cause you give me the signal
and I can just get in there and...

- You know.
- What?

- I don't know.
- Okay.

- Debt ceiling.
- Yeah.

Just hang in there one more day.

It's not one more day. It's another month.

The mock debate's tomorrow.

And once that's over, we need
the numbers to protect you from Leona.

Not if Charlie's guy can do it for us.

And if he doesn't turn out to be credible?

Then... I don't know.
Let's take it one day at a time.

And get a guest that's promotable.

What are the flowers?

Nothing.

- Who are they from?
- I don't know.

They didn't come with a card?

- They did.
- The card wasn't signed?

- It was.
- Was it another threat?

- No.
- What am I missing?

Do you really want this
on your plate right now?

The flowers aren't for me, they aren't from me,

they're just living in my office
for a little while.

Can you be satisfied with that?

- Are they for me?
- Let's go.

- Speaker Gingrich.
- Yes?

As a candidate for the Republican nomination
for president,

you signed a fidelity pledge
promising to be faithful to your wife.

- Now hold it right there.
- Didn't you also make that same pledge

at your three marriage ceremonies?

I find it absolutely disgusting
that the liberal media...

- Fine.
- No, that would be his answer.

I know. Are these guys
gonna be ready for tomorrow?

- Absolutely.
- We blow the mock debate,

we've been doing Casey Anthony
and Anthony Weiner for nothing.

They understand.

The debate is the only reason
we're scared of the numbers.

- Right.
- The only reason.

Right.

We need a Casey Anthony guest
no one else has.

Let me start here.

By any chance does anyone
know anyone who knows anyone

who knows Casey Anthony?

Who?

My roommate Lisa
went to high school with her.

- Are you kidding me?
- No.

Why didn't you... Get her on the show.

She's already been approached by everyone,
including the agent.

- Dylan Kagin.
- She doesn't want to talk.

- Convince her.
- She really doesn't want to talk.

Be a producer. Do you want me to talk to her?

No, I can do it.

When you've got her booked,
let me know so they can start the promos.

Do whatever you have to do.

Okay.

I like it. I do. But does it say Tonys?

Well, it's the Tonys.

You're gonna be the youngest person there
by about 50 years.

You know what I mean, right?

I think it looks spectacular on you.

It's so hard.
I'm just not sure it's for the Tonys.

- What about Galliano?

We stopped carrying Galliano

after he, you know,
came out in support of the Holocaust.

I mean, I don't agree with him,
but that's no reason to condemn him for life.

If only the Germans had
had the same attitude.

I told you on the phone...

- I know, that's why we came in person.
- We?

- I'm just here in charge of morale.
- I'm with a customer.

Go ahead. We're not in a hurry.

We're actually in a huge hurry.

And I'm actually at my job,
where I work on commission.

And I'm with a customer,
so I'll be done when she's done.

- Is that her?
- You mean the only person in the store?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

Miss, I'm just a random heterosexual guy

from off the street,
and I think that dress looks great on you.

Don't even look at anything else.

Buy that dress and wear it out of the store.

He's just a... Don't worry.

It would have meant more
if you'd said you were gay.

- Why is that?
- Lisa, I think I'm gonna try on the Di Santo.

Sure. Can I get you another glass of wine?

I'd love that. Thank you.

They're counting on me.
You'd be a big exclusive.

It's what's called a "get." It's promotable.

And we need things that are promotable

so we can get daytime viewers
to stay with us for the story.

Not for nothing, but you've never used
any of those words before.

Well, sure, I have. But not in that order.

Guys, it makes me sick.
It's an unspeakable horror that's happened.

It's not a television show,
and I'm not joining the cast.

And by the way, a week ago you guys
would have said the same exact thing.

- A week ago we weren't...
- This is bananas!

Well, the bodice hugs your body perfectly.

Look how it shows off your legs. See that?

- I do.
- You just got two inches taller.

Okay, but the big question...

Does it say Tonys?

- Miss.
- Oh, God.

That dress screams Tonys.

You're gonna win in that dress.

Oh, God, no. I'm not a nominee.

That's how good the dress is.

You wear that dress, and they'll just start
throwing Tony Awards at your head.

You, I promise, will have skull contusions
if you wear that dress to the Tonys.

I'd be terrible at this job.

Yeah, I have a McQueen that you may love.

And you know what?
If you take it right now, it's on the house.

- I'm afraid it's not.
- Well, then it's on me.

- It's $11,000.
- For a dress?

Once again, I work on commission.

That's three times what I paid for my car.

- Let me know if you need any help in there.
- Thank you.

A week ago, we weren't screwed.

I knew her, that's it.
We cut third period together.

Will's gonna treat you very gently.

While he asks what?
Did she kill children during Spanish?

- You can provide insight...
- No, I can't.

No, I can't. I can't provide insight.

I have no earthly idea how she...

How this could have happened.

I can't provide insight and
I can't stand the people who think they can.

Lisa, I need a little help with these buttons.

Sure.

You know what these pants cost me?

- $30.
- That's right.

And they look just as good
as the ones that cost $40.

You think they're kissing in there?

Do you think they're kissing in there?

If I was a woman,
I'd spend the whole day kissing other women.

I don't understand gay men
or straight women.

You know you're talking out loud, right?

Take a look.
I think it's whimsical and romantic,

but it's still chic.

- I love it.
- Look how it defines your waist.

- I love it!
- We have a winner.

- Can we accessorize?
- No, I'm sorry, miss.

We need to speak to Lisa for just one minute.

You can browse in the accessories section,
and we'll give her right back to you.

This isn't her fault, it's ours.

- Please patronize this store.
- What?

Take a look at the jade earrings,
and I'll be right with you.

- Okay.
- Am I not making myself clear?

Lisa, look at me.

You know that there is
no way we'd be asking you

to do something like this
if it wasn't important.

We got ambushed by the trial
at the worst possible time.

There's a new debate format we want to
show to reps from the RNC tomorrow.

And if we can't keep the ratings going up,
it's not gonna matter.

We've been working on this for months,
and it's important.

And it's a good thing for everybody.

We can debate
whether the ends justify the means...

Will and MacKenzie are counting on you?

I don't have anything to say.

You won't be asked anything
you don't know the answer to.

Okay, what do I do?

Come to the newsroom at 7:00 tonight.

Oh, thanks. I owe you one.

I owe you more than one.

Let's go.

I don't know if it was clear

from my e-mails and phone calls,

but I've been wooing you.

Still trying to get that second first date.

And yet, I can tell from
the way you're staring at me

right now that this isn't the best moment.

You see that? I was able to tell
without your saying anything.

Our minds are in sync.

But there's not an ounce of quit in me,

- so I'll woo you when...
- What the hell are you doing?

All right, then. 7:00, it's a date.

Not really. I'm not crazy.

Thank you.

- Yeah?

You wanted to see me?

It's 100 degrees outside.
You're wearing a jacket?

Because it's Ice Station Zebra in my office.

- If you have any fresh fish you need to store...
- Those are yours.

They were delivered for you this morning.

Jim signed for them and looked at the card,

which you can see isn't in an envelope.

Jim signed for them?

He said Maggie didn't see. She wasn't around.

Maggie and I have broken up a lot
in the last year and a half.

I've...

I've gotten that sense.

- When we break up...
- You go out with other women.

Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?

- I'm not judging you.
- Then we get back together.

Do you tell the other women

that you've gotten back together
with your girlfriend?

We're talking about people that
I've been on one or two dates with.

Does Maggie know that
you've been out with other women?

No.

Does Gina know that you're with Maggie?

Jenna.

Jenna. These are from... Her name is Jenna.

You remember when I didn't care at all

about the lives of the people
who worked here?

- Yeah.
- Those were the days.

- Time to go.
- Yeah.

I can't walk through the newsroom with these.

- I'll take care of it.
- Thanks.

- Hey, Don.
- Yeah?

I'm doing the right thing, right?

To do a little wrong to do a big right.

Get the debate.

- Was that Shakespeare?
- Almost.

- Okay.
- And I'm doing the right thing?

No. You're either lying to Maggie
or you're lying to Gina.

Jenna. And I just backed you up
with almost Shakespeare.

You couldn't throw me a bone?

I've got to go.

- That was a cliché.
- I know.

But if you stand in the rain without a jacket,

you're gonna get a cold.

And if you have a physically abusive father

who abandons you and your family,

you're gonna be 1,000 times
more sensitive to betrayal

than the average person
who's already extremely sensitive to betrayal.

I miss encyclopedias.

I always wanted to have
a full set of encyclopedias.

You know, you pull down "S" off the shelf,

flip to a page, you read about, I don't know,

Salic law and
why a woman can't inherit the French throne.

- You can google it.
- That's my point.

You have to know what you're looking for.

You can't browse for anything anymore.

Anyway, last night I was looking up
signal intelligence intercepts

and whether they leave a fiber-optic footprint.

Is it important that I know what that meant?

No. We've got a whistleblower who's
giving us a big story and we have to vet him.

But what happened was,
I was reading about fiber-optic footprints

and a couple of clicks later, I was on

a relationship advice website
called Help Me Rhonda.

A woman wrote to Rhonda
saying that her husband was cheating on her

and Rhonda suggested that
the woman had to examine

what her role was in the cheating.
It made me crazy.

Do you think it could possibly
have been the woman's fault?

Are we saying that now?

What I don't believe is that a couple clicks

took you from fiber-optic footprints
to Help Me Rhonda.

If you went to a relationship
advice website, just say so.

It was the middle of the night.

There was nothing else to read.

Except the entire rest of the Internet.

Do you and Rhonda honestly believe
that I share some of the blame

or even a small part of the blame
for MacKenzie cheating with Brian?

- Do you?
- No.

Fine.

'Cause that's about
the dumbest thing I've ever read.

And I'll tell you what else,
I don't even think Rhonda's her real name.

- Yeah, look...
- Maybe it is.

I don't know. But she's a moron.

You weren't part of the equation.

Ruined a perfectly good Beach Boys song.

Wait, what do you mean?

I can't really assess someone I haven't met.

Then why did you say it?

Because I can assess someone I haven't met.

My father left me volumes on the two of you.

I had to get an extra filing cabinet.

How was I not part of the equation?

MacKenzie got dumped by Brian.
She got rejected.

People react to that in different ways.

When Brian started calling her again,

she saw the chance to get un-rejected
and she took it.

You weren't even part of the equation.

But once she got un-rejected, she realized

that she wasn't in love with Brian
in the first place,

that she was in love with you,
and she confessed the whole thing.

- Not right away.
- Who cares about not right away?

When she thought
you were going to propose to her...

Do you remember when I came in here
yesterday without an appointment

and interrupted your session
with another patient?

I do remember that. It was yesterday.

And you said that
the trick was to forgive MacKenzie.

- Yeah.
- I actually know that.

Intellectually, in my brain,
I know MacKenzie deserves to be forgiven.

I understood everything you said.

I understand she's taken every punishment
I've given her,

including having Brian hang around the office
and write his story.

I understand
she's completely devoted to the show.

I understand mistakes.
I understand time has passed.

I understand all of that.
So why can't I forgive her?

Because you weren't rejected.

You were betrayed.

How's it going, Sampat?

Well, the problem with people
who post on EconomyBrain

is they're not easily distracted.

Damn those economists
and their adult attention spans.

They're not making it easy for me.

But a popular discussion at the moment

is a recent article
projecting US credit rating fallout

as a result of the debt ceiling standoff.

Yes, I heard that on the news.
No, wait, I didn't.

I heard about Casey Anthony instead.

Well, that's where I jumped in.

I said if I can balance my checkbook,

why can't the government balance its budget?

Mary, Mother of God,
am I sick of that insane analogy.

Balancing your checkbook
is to balancing the budget

as driving to the supermarket
is to landing on the moon!

See?

- I got you a little upset.
- Yes.

So once they were hooked on
telling me how stupid I am,

- I steered things in your direction.
- How?

- You really want to know?
- No.

- Good.
- Tell me anyway.

I said the media and government
are in a conspiracy cahoots...

- "Conspiracy cahoots"?
- I have to sound authentically moronic.

How are the media
and the government in a conspiracy cahoots?

By shoving your breasts in our face.

- Many angry posters came to your defense.
- Good.

- So I created a second user account.
- Of course.

And asserted it wasn't your breasts
that were so compelling,

- it was your blatantly slutty body movements.
- What evidence do you use...

I posted a link on your Wikipedia page
detailing your rise

from small-town stripper to
big-time financial news reporter.

My Wikipedia page doesn't say that.

Check again.

You're going to see an emotional response

on my face and
a physical response directed at yours.

It worked.

After two hours, I had economic PhDs
posting in all caps.

And then the site administrator
froze the thread.

All right.
And this is enough to get you accepted

- into the fraternity of the pitiful?
- Almost.

There's a sort of pledge process
for the fraternity of the pitiful,

and this will get me to level one.

Once I do that, I can get to level two

and swim with the professional trolls.

You're gonna be a good reporter.

And I like that someone
is working on news stories.

Well, for what it's worth,
I could really get behind a government

that was in a cahoots conspiracy to
shove your breasts in our face.

Re-edit my Wikipedia page!

Soon.

He's on his way.

All right, what do you know so far?

You got Lisa for tonight.

They've already started promo-ing it.

What do you have on the NSA source?

He's not rock solid.

- Shit.

He didn't do well on
his latest psych assessment.

Oh, Christ.

They lowered his security clearance.

He also violated a restraining order.

- An ex-wife?
- Yeah.

And he was arrested for solicitation in 1979.

If you had this guy on a witness stand...

I wouldn't put him on a witness stand.

Wait a minute.
He didn't score well on his psych exam,

but they didn't fire him.
They just lowered his security clearance.

Yes, he's stalking his ex-wife and,
yes, he tried to pick up a hooker,

but that doesn't mean
he's lying about the NSA.

All we have are the transcripts
of his testimony

and his testimony doesn't
mean anything to me yet.

Keep working.

- Excuse me.
- Which one of us?

Both.

- I'm gonna speak in code.
- Why?

Because neither of you can suggest to a guest

what they should say on the air.

- Okay. I understand.
- You do?

We've got Lisa. We've promo'd her.

- She's done her job.
- She still has to show up.

But you don't care
what she says once she does.

I don't.

So, do me a favor. This is for me.

Get some statistics on the number
of missing children cases this year?

Yes, please. And leave them for me
in the hair and makeup room.

- You understood that?
- Yeah, I cracked your code.

- Hey.
- Hi.

Jim, tell her she needs
a little blush to accentuate

those gorgeous cheekbones.
She refuses to listen.

I'm not auditioning for
Dancing With the Stars.

My cheekbones are fine.

She's fine.

Could you give us the room a second?

We're in a Vulcan mind-meld again.

I can tell this is a bad time to ask...

Maggie's my best friend.
She's actually my only friend, I think.

And I'd chop off my ears before I'd hurt her.

You're basing this all on the premise that...

Don's a good guy who's not in love with her.

She knows it.

You're on deck, pal.

I've been on deck for a year.
I'm nobody's second choice.

Neither am I.

- Well, I... I wasn't implying...
- Hey.

- How are you doing?
- Fine.

Listen, why don't you take a look at this?

You can take that out there
with you if you want.

Keep it right on the desk.

Will and MacKenzie won't mind?

I'll see you after.

- I was gonna say...
- I want to learn this.

Please. Yeah.

Thank you.

You don't have to
say anything you don't mean.

Okay.

I'm joined now by Lisa Lambert,

a friend of Casey Anthony's from high school.

- Good evening, Lisa.
- Good evening.

- Did you know Casey well?
- I didn't.

And neither did any of the other people
showing up on TV claiming they did.

But you took classes with her?

Yes.

Did she ever lose her temper?

Yeah, and when she did, we all said,

"Oh, my God,
she's gonna kill her baby one day."

Fair enough. Let me ask you...

There were 80 million children
reported missing last year.

Actually, I think you mean 800,000.

Yes.

80 million would be way too many.

And I understand.
But this one involves a murder.

Olivia Garcia was one-year-old

when she mysteriously died
at her babysitter's house.

But Olivia Garcia had brown skin,
so we're not that interested.

Same with Triumph Skinner,
a seven-month-old

African-American who
was rushed to the hospital

with a crushed skull.

For some reason,
he's not keeping Nancy Grace up at night.

Where are you getting these facts?

Google.

Jariel Alexander died

after being knocked unconscious
by his mother's boyfriend

and scalded with boiling water

after soiling his pants at dinner.

But Jariel's mother isn't pretty,
so what do we care?

I think you're making a very good point.

Then I'd like to make one more.

What if Casey Anthony
had wanted an abortion?

- She didn't want an abortion!
- Don't.

She told you that?

No, I haven't spoken to her in years.

- I'm just asking.
- Is this you?

- No.
- Do the people who care so deeply

about the life of
a microscopic piece of biology

with no ability to experience

physical or emotional suffering

care at all about a two-year-old
who was born to a mother

who didn't want the child
and was unable to care for her?

Help her out of this.

Lisa, I just want to be clear for the viewers

that you're not saying
Casey's only two options

were abortion or murdering a toddler.

I'm saying that there's an un-discussed

and unappreciated cruelty

in forcing a child to be born to a mother

who doesn't want the child

and isn't capable of raising the child.

Okay, let's get back
to what Casey was like in high school.

Where's a power outage
when you really need one?

What's wrong?

- You all right?
- Yeah.

- How'd they know where you work?
- Her Facebook page.

- Shut the page down.
- I'll take care of it.

Hey.

- Is she all right?
- Where's Lonny?

You shouldn't be out alone.

- You all right?
- Yeah.

Are you mad I didn't tell you
I was gonna do that?

No.

I know you're pro-life.

I'm not pro-throwing
a brick through a window.

There are gonna be local news trucks here
any second.

- Get her out of here.
- You, too.

Is that your boss? The owner of the shop?

I'm gonna talk to her.

This should have been me and not you.

Come on. Let's go.

Teddy, is there something
different about these pants?

Different from what?

Every time I wear that suit, I mean every time,

I put both my legs into one side of the pants.

One side of the pants?

I stand up, I put one leg into one side,

and then I take my other leg
and I'm certainly aiming

for the other side of the pants, but I get stuck.

And I'm asking if there's something,

not so much wrong,
but different about those pants.

You can't put your pants on,

and you think
there's something wrong with the pants?

All right, get out.

- Adam Roth is here.
- Yes.

- Adam!
- Rock star.

- How you doing, man?
- I'm good.

- How's Emily?
- The whole family's great.

David got into Stanford,
so thanks for the recommendation.

I wrote him a pretty bad recommendation.
I'm surprised they took him.

They must not care that much
about what you think.

- This is my partner at the RNC,

- Tate Brady.
- Nice to meet you.

- How do you do?
- Excellent.

Charlie Skinner, MacKenzie McHale,
this is Adam Roth.

Will talks about you
like you were bunkmates at summer camp.

Well, we were,
but the summer camp was the White House

and there was no bunk or sleep of any kind.

I was Bush 41's body man right out of college,

and Will was writing greeting cards

or something in the communications office.

I wrote serious policy speeches.

For the Muncie Chamber of Commerce.

- They were good speeches,

and the president adopted Will

as the fourth son he never had.

The president knew my name,
and that's thanks to Adam.

I'm sorry. This is his partner Greg Brady.

- Tate.
- I'm sorry, Tate.

Everybody sit down.
Anybody need coffee or anything?

- I'm okay.
- I'm good.

So we're glad to see
your numbers rebounded from last week.

We hadn't been covering Casey Anthony

and half our audience went to HLN.

But we started covering it,
and things stabilized.

Well, good, because we were
about ready to offer a debate to Nancy Grace.

So the rules of the debate are pretty simple.

There is some room for you to
make a few choices, but not much.

Everybody gets an opening statement.

Everybody gets at least two questions
with 60 seconds to answer

and it's up to you
whether you want to offer someone a rebuttal.

We had something different in mind.

What'd you have in mind?

Adam, how many hours did you and I spend

talking about how flawed the debates were?

Especially the primary debates?

A lot of hours.

Well, now you and I are
in a position to do something about that.

Follow me.

The questions have to be tougher.

They have to be able
to square their campaign rhetoric with facts.

They have to be stopped
when they're not answering the question,

and they have to be called out
when their answers contradict the facts.

Guys, get in place.

Our job is to find the two candidates

who'll give the voters
the best competing arguments,

and I don't believe we're seeing that.

We have to put the candidates
on a witness stand.

- Would you have them swear an oath?
- Just let 'em do it.

If baseball players testifying about steroids

in front of a House Subcommittee
are subject to perjury,

I don't know
why presidential candidates aren't.

But I'm not reaching for the stars,
I'm reaching just an inch higher.

Welcome to Princeton University
in Princeton, New Jersey,

for the fifth debate
in the 2012 Republican primary race,

cosponsored by Atlantis Cable News
and the Republican Party of New Jersey.

At which point we'll explain the rules,
which is there are no rules.

I question a candidate until I'm done.

They can each make an opening statement.

Beginning with you,
Congresswoman Bachmann.

Hi, my name is Michele Bachmann.

I'm a former federal tax litigation attorney,

the owner of a successful company,
and also a member...

Hang on. Is that supposed to be
a Michele Bachmann impersonation?

No, nobody's doing impressions.

This isn't an SNL sketch.

These people have spent two months
studying stump speeches,

interviews, on-the-record statements,
previous debate performances

in order to come as close
as possible to answering

our questions the way the candidates would.

After the opening statements,
we'd move to questioning.

Senator Santorum,
you said that your campaign

is about freedom, and that 20 years from now,

you don't want to be
telling your grandchildren

how America once was free.

Name three freedoms you had the day before

President Obama was sworn in
that you don't have now.

ObamaCare, to begin with.

ObamaCare is the most egregious...

Have you had to change doctors?

- May I finish?
- No, sir.

- Have you had to change doctors?
- No.

Has anyone in your family
had to change doctors?

Has there been any change at all
in health care for you or your family?

I'm talking about ObamaCare now.

My question was
name three freedoms that you had

the day before the president was sworn in
that you don't have now.

Mr. Speaker, you just said
that if you're elected,

the price of gas will be $2.50 a gallon.

How does the US President
control the price of oil?

Governor, you've said that as president

you will never apologize for America.

This question is in two parts.

Name an instance in which the president

has apologized for America,

and can you imagine no instance

in which a US president
should apologize for America?

Mr. McAvoy, I find it reprehensible

that the liberal media would try to
pit Republicans against one another.

And I, for one, won't stand by
while it happens.

This is the Republican primary, Mr. Speaker,

and you're running for the nomination.

It wasn't my idea to pit you against anyone.
It was yours.

Congressman Paul,
I'd like to discuss the newsletters

you wrote and sold starting in the 1990s.

I've already said
everything I have to say.

I never wrote those letters
and I never even read them.

They had your name on them.

They had your signature on them.

You made money from them.
And in 1996, you defended them

to the Dallas Morning News.

- I don't like pretending...
- Stop. Everybody, stop.

There's no need to go along any further.

I see where you're going.

- Adam.
- Listen...

Is there someplace we can talk privately?

Take my office.

Adam.

I think they really liked it.

You did a good job, everybody.
Give me a minute.

- I told you, this guy...
- This guy what?

Wasn't on the team.

- He's on the team, okay?
- Hang on.

The team I'm on is the voters'

and smart, qualified people
disagreeing about issues.

Your plan was to
embarrass the candidates.

I want candidates
who can answer those questions.

And if they know they're going to be
held responsible for the nonsense

they're shouting on the stump,
they'll be forced to stop shouting nonsense.

- This guy has lost his mind.
- He hasn't.

Adam, this is exactly
what we always talked about.

This is what we dreamed of.

We said we need real campaign reform

and a way of letting Americans hear
the two best competing arguments.

Nobody could stand up
to that kind of questioning.

- You think that was brutal questioning?
- It really wasn't.

And you honestly believe the candidates
would submit themselves to this?

- They should welcome it.
- I don't believe what I'm hearing.

Any candidate who can handle a cross

is gonna find himself
at the top of the polls in the morning.

And we should welcome it
'cause it'll clear out the clown car

and give us a serious discussion
among serious candidates.

The only person
who would welcome it is him.

This is about him. He wants to look tough

by making the candidates look like idiots.

No, he doesn't. I have known this man
for 25 years and I vouch...

I don't care what you vouch for.

I am not allowing the goddamn press

to make fools out of our candidates.

I'll remember that the next time you bitch
about how the press never vetted Obama.

We're not agreeing to this format.

You are going to abide
by the rules that we give you,

and I don't want MacKenzie McHale
producing it for you.

What are you talking about?

I want the old Will McAvoy.

Not the thing she turned you into.

I know all about that lady.

- Get out.
- Will, come on. You need the debate.

Of course he can use MacKenzie.

These guys have been compromising
and compromising all week

so we could host a debate that
made some sense and did some good.

Well, I'm sorry to hear that,

because it was all for nothing.

- We need ACN.
- No, we don't.

They've got the independents.

He's not the only anchor at ACN.

- Don Keefer.
- Yeah?

How would you and Elliot Hirsch
like to have one of the debates?

Eat me.

- Mr. Skinner, I'm trying to be as...
- When Don says, "Eat me,"

that's usually the end of the conversation.

Sloan Sabbith.

- You want to be a star?
- Me?

- Yeah.
- Fuck you.

I hate these guys.

I don't know why you don't.

And I'll be in the car.

I'm really sorry.

I can't be out of work.

- Tuition at Stanford is...
- No, I know.

It was good seeing you.

You, too.

All those things we talked about...

Yeah.

Don't let 'em push you around.

You take it easy.

I'm sorry, everyone.

We lost the debate.

I'm sorry.

We've got about an hour to air.
Let's put it together.

He'll cave.
He'll agree to the debate on their terms.

- No, he won't.
- You romanticize Will.

That mock debate was about him.

He was the star. He attacked his...

He didn't attack anybody.

He asked questions that
the candidates should be able to answer

and that the voters should
be able to hear them answer.

He didn't cower and he wasn't Ed McMahon.

Thinking there was even a remote chance...

- Maybe it was naive.
- It wasn't naive, it was hubris.

It was gutsy, and you're just jealous.

Jealous of what? You know, fuck you, Mac.

I've spent this week letting you kick my ass

from here to the Chrysler Building
because you were selling out

every 15 minutes to get your hands on
something you didn't get.

And you were embarrassed by it
in front of me.

He doesn't want you.

Please don't talk about my personal life.

I'm sort of a key player in it.

Is it all right if I talk about my personal life?

Yes, I broke up with you. I'm the first guy ever

to break up with a woman.
And then I came back.

Also unprecedented. Did he come back?

I don't know yet.

Seriously? After four years?

In Cast Away, Helen Hunt got
remarried in less time than...

I never would have gone
with the Casey Anthony story.

I don't care how much
of my audience I was losing.

And he's gonna cave on the debate, too.

- Are you sure about that?
- I am absolutely sure about that.

You know what I like about Will?

He's not absolutely sure about anything.

He struggles with things.

He's never certain he's right,
and sometimes he's not.

But he tries hard to be.

He struggles with things.

God!

Will, are you all right?

Could somebody help Will put his pants on?

I don't think this is gonna work out.

- The story?
- Yeah.

That's Will's call.

Excuse me.

How's it going there?

There's something off with these pants.

I think maybe considering
everything that's gone on here

this week, you should reconsider
having Brian write the piece.

Can you handle him being here?

I can handle him being here.

- But I think...
- I brought him in here to punish you.

- I know.
- I think I may have also brought him in here

- so you could see a side-by-side comparison.
- You're an idiot.

- Hey, these are really hard pants.
- Not the pants.

I have cooperated with
and been the engine behind

an instant dismantling of everything
we've built and everything we stand for.

I've ignored serious stories
so we can get down in the gutter

with the Casey Anthony circus
and the Anthony Weiner distraction.

And I've done it all
while Brian's been standing

over my shoulder, because you put him there.

And you pass on the debate
because that guy insulted me?

Who are you?

I don't know where your head is at,
at any given moment!

I am this close to losing it! I think I have!

I think it's happening right now!

- Settle down.
- I will not settle down!

I should, though.
I should settle down.

Remember your first day here, the BP spill?

Yeah.

Remember when I said
throw out the rundown?

- Yeah.
- Did you think that was cool?

Yeah.

Throw out the rundown.

Wait, no.

We still need the numbers.
We've got to protect you from Leona.

Yeah, I can't live with a 15-year-old girl
being the toughest guy at my desk.

- Are you talking about Lisa?
- Yeah.

- She's 26.
- They all look 15 to me. Sloan.

- Are you sure about this?
- Not at all.

- Yeah?
- If I ask you the right questions,

can you talk about the debt ceiling
for two segments tonight?

- I don't even need the questions.
- Get ready.

Can you handle Brian being here
a little while longer?

I can handle anything.

- Jellyfish.
- I don't like jellyfish.

- Brian.
- Yeah?

Just write the truth, okay?
Just write the truth.

We're throwing out the rundown
and leading with the debt ceiling.

- You get all that?
- Yeah.

Is it working?

No. They're laughing at me.

They think I'm a small-time troll.

- That's got to hurt.
- It does.

It's too bad you're not the guy
who left the death threat for Will.

That's a dangerous area.

Yeah.

Jim?

Yeah?

Whatever happened with you and Lisa?

She doesn't want to go out with me.

I gave it a try.

A try?

Yeah.

"Gather ye rosebuds."
You know what that means?

It's the first half of the first line
of a poem by Robert Herrick.

What's the second half?

"While ye may."

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may."

I'm gonna.

"Then be not coy, but use your time,

"And while ye may go marry:

"For having lost but once your prime,

"You may forever tarry."

I won't.

Okay.

- First we have to do the show.
- Yeah.

You're 100% sure?

It was a year ago.
It was over a year ago.

He was the new guy in the office,

and Don and I were in a terrible place.

So I had a stupid crush on him
for five minutes.

He was nice to me
even though I was mean to him,

so I thought maybe he liked me, too.

But that's just over,

and he's really trying hard with you.

- So if you like him...
- Of course I like him.

There's no way to
fix the air conditioning.

Your choices are 90 degrees or 30 degrees.

- Who's here at midnight?

- Hello?
- Hey, it's Jim.

- Come on up.

We never got to the God question.

Bachmann said that God told her to run,
and Maggie wanted Will to ask her

what God's voice sounded like.
I think it would have sealed it for us.

If every network said,
"We're not playing by your rules.

"You're playing by ours,"
we'd raise the level of debate overnight.

It wasn't as crazy as it sounded.

It was exactly as crazy as it sounded.

- Good luck.

- Hi.
- Hi.

- I wanted to talk to...
- Hey, man.

Hey, Don.

I did... I didn't know that you'd...

Maggie talked me into it.

I'm sorry?

You don't have to pitch me.

Maggie talked me into it.

- Let's go for a walk.
- Listen...

Let's go.

Nice ending, don't you think?

He had a whole speech he didn't get to use.

Don?

What is it?

He said, "I wanted to talk to..."

And then I cut him off.

What are you...

Lisa wasn't the one he came here to see.

I don't...

He signed for the flowers.

What?

I have to explain something.

Congresswoman Bachmann,
to you.

Elvis or Johnny Cash?

Oh, that's really tough.

That's really... Both. Both.

Both?

Yeah, I've got Christmas With Elvis
on my iPod.

All right, now we know
what's on the congresswoman's iPod.

This is Lonny.

- Lonny, it's Neal.
- Yeah?

I'm sorry to call you so late,
but I need to tell you

about something that's
on my computer right now.

I've been working on this story,
and without going into detail...