The Newsroom (2012–2014): Season 2, Episode 1 - First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All the Lawyers - full transcript

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If Ben Furusho
hadn't broken his ankle,

if Jim Harper hadn't gone
to New Hampshire to cover for him,

if Jerry Dantana hadn't been brought up
from D. C. to cover for Jim,

if Mike Tapley had been used on the panel

instead of Cyrus West, do you think that...

- Genoa.
- Say again?

The name of the black op was Genoa,
not Geneva.

It's a kind of a jib or foresail on a boat.

Did I say, "Geneva"?

No, but Matt typed it in his notes just now.

Mark. And he's right, I did.



- How did you know that?
- Well...

I don't like to talk about it, but I know things.

Ever since I was a boy.

People have called it a gift,
but it's really more of a burden.

- You want to stop screwing around?
- I can see his fingers on the keyboard.

He typed "Geneva." We work in television.

- There's no reason we can't have jokes.
- You work in television.

- I'm a litigator at Lowell Tiller.
- Genuflect when you say that.

And there are a lot of reasons
we can't have jokes.

Should I list them?

You went on the air with a story
that alleged the US used nerve gas...

It was a mistake.

- ...during an operation, which is a war crime...
- On the enemy.

We had two eyewitnesses
and a three-star general.



...and a doctored interview
and a producer who says that News Night

- conspired with the Pentagon...
- That's why we fired him.

- ...to cover up Operation Geneva.
- Genoa.

Fuck me!

Well?

Would one of you fuck Miss Halliday, please?

- That was a little funny.
- Finally.

Did you take calls from the DOD
asking you not to run the story?

That happens all the time.

The entire population
of the Pensacola Minimum Security Prison

is people who did things
that happen all the time.

- We ran the story.
- Then you retracted it?

- Of course we retracted it.
- At the urging of the DOD?

- Absolutely not.

- Excuse me.
- Come on in.

Maggie Jordan,
this is Rebecca Halliday, our lawyer.

These are her associates Bob, Tom and Curt.

- Ross Kessler.
- Mark Gage.

- Ken Weinraub.
- What do you got?

Looks like Romney's
gonna add an event in Charlotte at 8:00.

He's gonna go on around 8:15.

We'll cut in if he's saying something,

- otherwise we'll stay with Sandy.
- Got it.

Maggie Jordan is Margaret Jordan?

- Yeah.
- What happened to her hair?

- I don't know. Women try things.
- What the hell happened to her hair?

Look, she went out on a story.
She went to Uganda.

It got real very fast
and she came back a little messed up.

Well, if this goes to the next level,
she better get un-messed up in a hurry

because she's a character witness

and she looks like
the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Counsel, if what happened to her
happened to you,

you'd kill yourself for the rest of your life.

You would sit in the middle of a room
and cry forever.

A year ago, she looked like this.

Now she looks like that.
What happened to her in Africa?

- It doesn't matter.
- Can I decide that?

- I'm her lawyer.
- I'm her lawyer.

And your lawyer. And MacKenzie's.

And everybody's.
And if you don't let me do my job...

You're gonna do what? Jump up
really high in the air and swat my chin?

I have the confidence of a tall man.

Lose.

I was going to say, "lose."

And no one responsible for Genoa
will ever work again,

including, and especially, the anchor
and executive producer of the broadcast.

- If Jim Harper hadn't gone to...
- No.

Let me finish the question.

We don't have that kind of time.

No, if Jim hadn't gone to New Hampshire,
if Dantana hadn't come up to cover for him,

if West hadn't been on the drone panel,

if 17 different things hadn't conspired
in just the right order,

we wouldn't be sitting here.

Fourteen months ago, you went on the air

and called the Tea Party
"the American Taliban."

- I did.
- And?

The Taliban resented it.

Fourteen months ago, you went on the...

We're starting at the beginning.

Fourteen months ago, you went on the air

and called the Tea Party
"the American Taliban."

Yeah.

What happened then?

- A lot.
- For starters?

The president of AWM
got kicked out of the Capitol Building.

- Have they started yet?
- No, sir.

I was at the Jefferson.
I couldn't get a cab.

You can pick up your ID right there.

There's supposed to be a card for me.

I don't see the ID here.

Reese Lansing, AWM.

- I don't see your name, sir.
- Lansing. Reese Lansing.

I don't have a Lansing here.

Maybe there's a typo. Can you look under...

Everyone's accounted for.

This is a Judiciary...
Yeah, I see people I know there.

It's okay. I'm the president of AWM.

I can't let you in without ID.

- Who do I speak to?
- About what?

- About getting in the door?
- Me.

I honestly don't mean to be rude,
but you're the man with the clipboard,

and I need to speak to
the chairman or ranking member

of the House Judiciary Committee.

And what's standing
in between you and doing that?

You.

Okay.

It wasn't an oversight. It was deliberate.

- Those two words are antonyms.
- Are you telling me...

Who'd have thought that
calling Tea Party congressmen

"the American Taliban"
would have consequences?

Are you saying...

There was absolutely
no way to see this coming.

The consequence was
that you were left off of a guest list.

For SOPA! Not the Met Gala.

It almost seems like
when we called them "the American Taliban,"

- they minded.
- Stop.

Are you telling me AWM
was left out of a meeting

with the US House of Representatives
because of the show last week?

Oh, don't be silly.

Wait. Yes, that is exactly
what we're telling you.

Do you know how much we lose
every year to piracy?

- No.
- No, me neither.

It could be 10 billion. Could be 100 billion.

- Let's just assume it's 10 billion.
- Okay.

I want the 10 billion!

We own intellectual property,

and I want the fucking pajama people
to stop stealing it.

Let's try to get to the bottom of exactly

why they minded being called
"the American Taliban,"

'cause I don't get it.

- Is your suit mildewing?
- Yes, it is.

AWM doesn't just create content.

We own the physical lines
and ISPs that bring it to you.

SOPA would allow you to sue us
just for pointing you

toward a bootleg Chili Peppers track.

- Doesn't that screw you on both ends?
- Yeah.

That's sort of why we wanted
to help write the law.

But three members of the Judiciary Committee

ran and won with Tea Party support.

- And kicked AWM out of the country?
- Yep.

They misinterpreted
the Taliban comparison

and heard it as some kind of, I don't know,
insult or whatever.

You know, when he said it two weeks ago, I...

I smiled.

I thought, "Let the chips fall where they may."

You know what I'm thinking now?

I don't.

Chips are falling.

People are mad at him, Charlie.

They're gonna be mad at you, too.

Fuck them.

I don't know.

The rebels just took Tripoli.

Wait, what?

When roughly nine hours ago,
rebel forces swarmed the Bab al-Azizia,

Muammar Gaddafi's compound
and less a presidential palace

than a military fortress
and the symbol of his reign.

After a siege of several hours
and an extended gun and mortar battle,

Gaddafi's compound fell.

And while there's celebration in the streets,
no one at this hour knows the whereabouts

of the now deposed strongman
who ruled Libya for 42 years.

We go live to ACN's Shannon Hammid,

who is standing outside the compound
just south of Tripoli's city center,

where it's a few minutes after 2:00 a.m.

- Shannon?
- Go six. Ready, SOT one.

- Will, this is a jubilant day in Libya.

- While there remain

a few isolated patches of fighting

in the Gaddafi loyalist suburbs,

the gunfire that you hear
is largely celebratory.

- SOT one.
- You can see some of the rebels

- on their way to the compound.
- 45 back.

We got to pull the Strauss-Kahn package.

- Why?
- We blew the fact check.

We say the French police
charged him with attempted rape.

The French police
are investigating him for attempted rape.

We push play on that package in 90 seconds.

- Is it on camera or VO?
- VO.

Show it to me. Sixteen.
Get Ryan on the phone.

Use a landline. Jake, let's go.

- Fifteen seconds live.
- Sixteen's up.

- Play it.
- Package goes in 60.

Did you know that in '91,

20 Kuwaitis died
after being hit by falling bullets

while celebrating the end of the Cold War?

I didn't.

The law of averages caught up to them.

Yeah.

118 people treated at a Los Angeles hospital

for injuries sustained from random falling...

- Shut up!
- Copy that.

Right there.

In three, two...

Shannon, at this hour,
do the rebels know

anything about where
Colonel Gaddafi might be?

- That's their frustration, Will. He's vanished.
- Answer the phone.

But he's believed to still be in Tripoli?

Nobody knows for sure.

Ryan, hey, it's Jim.

I'm putting you on speaker
at New York control.

Play it.

- What's going on?
- Where are you?

- Benihana with my kids.
- Get to a quiet place. Hurry.

- Thirty seconds.
- Play it for me.

But there's more
trouble ahead for the French diplomat.

Strauss-Kahn still faces
a civil suit here in New York.

And in an unrelated case,
French police have charged him

with the attempted rape
of writer Tristane Banon in 2003.

Ryan?

- You there?
- I'm sorry. Yeah.

Say "are investigating charges
of attempted rape brought by..."

Are investigating charges
of attempted rape brought by...

- Two-tenths over.
- A little faster on my cue.

Say it like a phrase. Stand by.

Shannon Hammid reporting live,
on this historic day from Tripoli.

Turning now to Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Today, New York Supreme Court judge
Michael Obus

dismissed all charges
against the former IMF chief

after the prosecution cited problems
with the accuser's credibility.

- Roll 16.
- On my cue, Ryan.

A smiling and visibly
relieved Dominique Strauss-Kahn

walked out of the courtroom a free man today,

more than three months after the former head
of the International Monetary Fund

was arrested and charged with sexual assault.

But there's more trouble ahead
for the French diplomat.

Strauss-Kahn still faces
a civil suit here in New York.

- And in an unrelated case, French police...
- Go.

Are investigating charges
of attempted rape brought by...

...writer Tristane Banon in 2003.

In addition, despite the Manhattan District...

- Go back to your kids.
- 55 back.

This graphic isn't loading.

- What?
- G-9 isn't loading.

Yeah, I've got a switcher problem.

- Are you kidding?
- None of the...

Shit, I'm losing the board.

- Stay cool.
- We've got to reboot.

There go the monitors.

We've got green.
Is the mainframe down?

The whole board's down.

7:00 a.m.,
waking up in the morning

Gotta be fresh, gotta go down...

Listen up. We're gonna bypass the switcher.

Hard-patch the camera output
to the one by 10.

- 30 back.
- Is this affecting our air?

It will in 20 seconds. Heads up.

You're gonna come back
with only one camera.

We can't roll the graphics
without the switcher.

Can we route them to the desk monitor?

- They'll be hard cuts.
- Do it.

Partying, partying, yeah
Partying, partying, whoa...

Pull your shot back
so we can see the monitor.

Mike, go wide and get the monitor.

Will, your graphics
aren't gonna be full screen.

They're gonna be on the monitor behind you.

I don't have a monitor behind me.

Turn to camera three.

- In three, two...
- Now you do.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn
had spent 50 days under house arrest

as well as four days in jail on Rikers Island.

Today, he is free to go home to France.

We'll be back after this.

That's optimistic.

- Good show.
- Thanks.

- Seamless.
- Thank you.

Like running on autopilot. I don't even think...

- We blew the fact check and there's a virus.
- Fix it.

- Yeah.
- So you ready for this?

Ben Furusho bet another embed
on the Romney bus

that he could jump from the second floor
of the Nashua Holiday Inn

and land in the pool.

- And?
- He broke his ankle in two places.

These guys are drunk every night.

They're 23, they're on a bus in Nashua.

- They're drunk in the mornings, too.

You need to send someone on the road

for a couple of weeks
until Ben can hobble again.

Send whoever you want to punish.

Partying, partying, whoa...

- Can I...
- No.

- You got a minute?
- Yeah.

Yeah, I'm just gonna change.

Remind Sloan
we've got the draft in 10 minutes.

Hey, money skirt.

- The day will come...

...when we have an HR rep
who cares what goes on, on this floor.

And on that day, sir,
I will dance upon your grave.

Reciting stock quotes and wearing a skirt?

How much time do I have
to formulate a comeback?

That was it. The first thing
out of your mouth is the comeback.

You wasted yours
on a question about comebacks.

Fantasy football draft starts in 10 minutes.

I know. I'm the commissioner.

- Your parents must be proud.
- They are.

- I was elected unanimously.
- You were unopposed.

Just like when you were
elected class treasurer.

- That was an important job.
- It wasn't.

Why does it have to be like this?

Because you're a nerd and I'm a nerd,

and you make nerds look bad.

No, I make nerds look good.

I've been meaning to tell you
you've been doing

a perfectly adequate job
filling in for Elliot this week.

There's a wire report
about a drone strike in the FATA

- that killed five suspected militants.
- Excellent.

- You heard me say "suspected," right?
- Talk to your EP.

- Mac.
- Just a minute.

Ben Furusho broke his ankle.

- Is he all right?
- No, he's an idiot.

But let me know who to put
on the Romney bus for a couple of weeks.

- I'll check out what people are working on.
- Sloan, you want me?

- M.J.
- Yeah?

- Is your cousin...
- Crazy?

- Yeah.
- She is.

- She's spamming me to death.
- Why'd you give her your email?

She asked for it,
and I thought it would please you.

Everything I do, I do to please you.

- She's crazy.
- Thanks for the heads up.

So what do you want to do tonight?

What would please you?

Romantic drink? Dancing?

- Romantic bowling?
- What does that look like?

It looks a lot like regular bowling.

- Walk through the park?
- A romantic mugging.

- I know how to defend myself.
- Do you know how to defend me?

- I shout "Run!" really loud.

- I'll see you at home.
- Perfect.

- Have a good show.
- Not a chance.

- Excuse me.
- He'll be out in a minute.

- I'll come back.
- Do I know you?

I'm Jenna Johnson.

- You look familiar.
- I just started as an intern.

Say, "Why is America
the greatest country in the world?"

- Why is America the greatest...
- You're the sorority girl!

- That's what I'm most famous for.
- You hired her?

I'm benevolent.

There are eight Broadway musicals
that have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

In five minutes,
I need you to name them, the composer,

lyricist, librettist and source material, if any.

- I need your...
- Go.

You make the interns learn
musical theater history?

You're welcome, America.

Gaddafi's done.

Hmm. Things you thought you'd never see.

I want to talk to you about
the 9/11 anniversary coverage.

I like how it's coming along so far.
It has a good tone. It looks up.

I'm gonna pull you from the coverage.

Elliot and Sloan will co-anchor in primetime.

Because Reese got kicked out?

- No, it's not Reese.
- Leona?

It's me. I made the decision.

All right.

We're gonna be officially condemned
on the House floor tomorrow.

That's a good use of time.

- And Giuliani pulled out.
- Yeah?

9/11 widows, first responders...

Some 9/11 widows and first responders.

No, I know. It's the critical mass.

The op-eds, the boycotts, the advertisers,

Reese getting kicked out
of the SOPA meeting,

which you know we're gonna read about.

I just think on this one day...

- No, I totally get it.
- Okay.

- Let me talk to Reese.
- It's not Reese.

- Leona.
- They haven't said a word about 9/11.

They've got bigger fish.

For the record,
I compared the Tea Party to the Taliban,

and we were attacked by al-Qaeda.

I don't want to ask people to make
that distinction on the 10th anniversary.

No, we've never gone wrong
getting our enemies mixed up.

It's just not the day to have the argument.

How do you want to handle it?

You'll get the flu around the 9th or 10th.

Okay.

Listen, they'll do it at your desk
under the News Night logo,

but I'm gonna take your name
off of it for the night.

Contractually, I need your permission.

I'm sorry.

No, man. It's the price of doing business.

For what it's worth,
I didn't know you were gonna say it,

- but I was happy when you did.
- Mmm.

Me, too.

All right.

Don't worry about it, Charlie.
I'll see you upstairs for the draft.

All right.

Of Thee I Sing, 1932.

Music by George Gershwin,
lyrics by Ira Gershwin,

book by George S. Kaufman
and Morrie Ryskind.

- Fiorello! 19...
- All right.

I need your suit.

Yeah.

- How's it going?
- Me?

- Yeah.
- Good.

I'm just... You know.

Is this brutally awkward?

No.

'Cause I was thinking
if we could just say so and name it,

then we could go back to the way things were.

Yeah.

So...

I don't want to go back
to the way things were.

I meant being friends
and it not being awkward.

It was always awkward.
That's the way things were.

You want to say it wasn't a big deal?
Okay, we're friends.

But you're also staff and at some point,
this conversation is inappropriate.

I don't understand what you're saying.

It's only awkward because you want it to be.

That's a big accusation.

All right. We'll try again tomorrow.

You blew the fact check on DSK.

- I know.
- Okay.

Yeah?

- I'll go.
- Where?

- New Hampshire. I'll cover for Ben.
- Why?

I've never been on the road with a campaign.

I didn't know you wanted to.

Wait 10 months till he's the nominee.

- I'd like to go now.
- Nothing to cover.

- Of course there is.
- There isn't.

It's the same three rallies
and three diners a day.

Ben puts down a stand-up at each of them.

When was the last time
you saw any of them on the air?

- I don't know.
- Send Martin.

I'd really like to go.

You're the senior producer here.

- That's great.
- No, I'm saying

you're gonna be fighting it out with stringers

- to get access to low-level staff.
- I know what they do.

Romney's not McCain,

if you've got some vision
of kicking it in the RVwith the candidates.

- I don't.
- You're gonna be bored...

Mac, fire me or send me to New Hampshire!

Sorry.

What's wrong with you?

I just want to get out of town
for a couple of weeks.

Mmm-hmm.

You know when you blew it with Will,
you went to Peshawar.

There aren't any Taliban fighters in Concord.

It'll just be two weeks.

You should bring Jerry Dantana up from D.C.
to cover for me.

Five suspected militants were killed
by a US drone strike in the FATA.

The unmanned Predator drone
fired two missiles

at a vehicle driving on a main road
in North Waziristan.

Is it illegal? Yes. Is it immoral? You bet.

Are we going to investigate it? Of course not.

Jerry, you're gonna
drive me crazy with the drone shit.

- I'm gonna have one target your car.

That's my other line.

But sorry for annoying you with the news.

- Jerry Dantana.
- Jerry.

It's MacKenzie in New York.

Oh, hey.

Cats and kittens, grab your mittens.

It's Will McAvoy and Van Morrison

taking you through the night
and Into the Mystic.

- Why didn't you tell me?
- Let's take some calls.

Who do we have on the line, Freddy?
It's MacKenzie from Midtown.

You're talking to the Nightbird.

Why didn't you tell me
you were taken off the 9/11 anniversary?

What are you doing up this late,
MacKenzie from Midtown?

Charlie just called me
to ask how you were handling it,

and I said, "Handling what?"

It was the right thing to do, caller.

Bullshit.

Freddy, you better grab
that seven-second delay.

- Knock it off.
- Let's not make it a big deal.

- You're okay with this?
- I am.

- Can I go back to sleep?
- You're in bed?

It's the middle of the night.

Why is there music playing?

Same reason your night-light's on right now.

All right.

All right.

Hey, how you doing?

- Hey, excuse me.
- Yes, sir?

- Are you the lead advance?
- Yes, sir.

I'm Jim Harper.

I'm gonna fill in for Ben Furusho
for a couple of weeks.

- How's Ben doing?
- His ankle's broken, but he'll be okay.

I just drove up from New York.

Do I have time to check in
and drop off my stuff?

- Sure, we'll wait as long as you want.
- Thanks.

That was sarcastic?

No, I'll just tell the governor
not to start speaking until you get there.

- Got it.
- So you're with ACN?

- Yeah.
- I'm sorry, but the bus is full today.

- You'll have to drive.
- There's...

There's, like, 40 empty seats.

I wasn't wild about
the "American Taliban" broadcast.

Dude, you can't keep me off the bus
just 'cause you didn't like our reporting.

- I can.
- Come on.

Man, I've been driving all night.

Then you better get some gas.

What's Obama got it at, 4.50 a gallon now?

Morning!

You could have checked into the hotel first.

I can do that tonight.
You heard about the latest drone strike?

We reported it at 10:00.

Yeah, but that's all we did.

You and Sloan Sabbith
are gonna get along very well.

You're gonna meet Will now, okay?

- We've met.
- He's not gonna remember.

- Will, this is Jerry Dantana.
- We've met.

Of course we have. How you been, man?

We had a long talk the last time he was in D.C.

Great. Jerry's gonna cover for Jim
for a couple of weeks.

- I have no idea why you let him go.
- 'Cause I did.

I'm sure Terry's a good guy
and an excellent senior...

Jerry.

...but I fear change
and that should be respected.

You'll get used to me.

And then Jim will come back
and it'll be a hellscape.

- Why don't we send Harry to New Hampshire?
- Who's Harry?

- He is.
- Jerry.

- See what I mean?
- No, no one does.

- Can I mention something?
- Sure.

I think this network should be doing stories

about the administration's
counterterrorism policies.

And I think while I'm in New York,

it would be a good time
for me to get it started.

It's actually not a great time for me.

But that go-getter initiative you have,
I'm not crazy about that, either.

Remember that long talk we had in D.C.?

Mmm-hmm.

Do you want to lead or do you want to follow?

- He wants to follow.
- And barely that.

- Come in.

It's my office.

Drone strike.

- I don't believe this.
- Drone strike.

- This is Jerry Dantana, who'll be covering...
- There was another one?

- This morning.
- What you got there, hmm?

Drone strike. Drone strike.

Can't understand what you're saying.

You can too understand what I'm... Reuters.

This is what I was talking...

United States Predator drone
strikes vehicle in northwest Pakistan.

- Can I see that?
- It's a blank piece of paper.

I left the wire report in my office

and on the way here,
I decided I wanted a prop.

You didn't think to just
have someone print it out?

A lot of better ideas are coming to me
as I'm standing here,

- but why don't we let the past be the past?
- It was 12 seconds ago.

"Two US officials
identified the target

"of the drone attack
as Abu Hafs al-Shahri, a Saudi national.

- "They declined to provide..."
- They declined to provide

more precise details.

Hold the roll. The government is declining
to reveal highly classified intelligence

and expose the methods
by which we find and kill terrorists?

That is just plain wacky.

- All this is, is a press release.
- It's a blank piece of paper.

No reporter gets to ask,
"Did we kill any civilians?"

Or, "How does Pakistan feel about us

"invading their airspace
to kill people occasionally?"

- Or, "Who authorized the strike?"
- Or, "Who's Abu Hafs al-Shahri?"

He's the head of al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

And the Commander-in-Chief
authorized the strike.

I'd like this for my five minutes tonight.

- It's not an economic story.
- Watch me make it one.

It should be a full panel
right after the A block,

where presumably we'll stay with Libya.

- An ethicist, a military analyst...
- And me.

I'd rather have a human rights expert.
No offense.

- We're not loading the panel to the left.
- Why are we having a panel at all?

- I'll take the economist.
- That happened fast.

You can get in touch with Mike Tapley.

I'd like to use a guy named Cyrus West.

Jim uses Tapley for military analysis.

Yeah, I know,
but I think you're gonna like Cyrus West.

He's a retired Air Force captain,
teaches public policy at the Maxwell School,

and he's a hard-liner on drones.

You're sure you don't want to use Tapley?

Got to start producing sometime.

All right. Start now.

We've got a rundown meeting.

- Drone strike.
- Hey.

Keep your eye on Jerry for me.
I think he wants to win a Peabody.

Mmm.

Who's Jerry?

Okay.

Ben Furusho jumped from the second story
of a Holiday Inn in Nashua.

I've been in that room.
He didn't make it, right?

No, he's out for a couple of weeks.
Jim drove up last night to cover for him.

So say hello to Jerry Dantana,
who most of you already know.

- Hey, Jerry.
- Jim went on the Romney bus?

- He wanted to go.
- Why?

For the experience
and to be a team player.

Couldn't you make the argument
that he just left the team?

You could. Do you want to?

- Not this second, but...
- Seriously, what's going on?

Ben Furusho broke his ankle.
Jim's covering for him for a couple of weeks,

and Jerry's up from D.C. to cover for Jim.

He's gonna produce a panel tonight
in the B or C block.

- B would be great.
- What everyone's asking is

why would a senior producer

- four months before Iowa...
- No. No.

The clock's run out on this conversation.

If I'm gonna sit in on any rundown meetings,

they can't get mired in these kind of detours.

It's like playing golf
behind a foursome of blind people.

Also, Don will be in our rundown meetings.

Charlie wants us doing
more cross-network stories.

So think of 10:00 as our second act.

Or 8:00 as our warm-up.

How should we think about 9:00?

It's Washington. It doesn't matter.

That's not something we think.

They're on speaker.

Huh?

- You guys there?
- Yeah.

The search for Gaddafi continues.

Journalists and dignitaries
are being freed from the Rixos Hotel,

and Mustafa Abdul Jalil
is offering what amounts

to a million and a half dollars and amnesty
to anyone who finds Gaddafi.

- Did he call anyone?
- Did Gaddafi call anyone?

- Jim.
- He hasn't run away from home.

- He called me last night.
- Tamara.

The earthquake was a 5.8 and AP is reporting

it caused a crack in
the Washington Monument,

- which will now be closed indefinitely.
- What else?

PPP has Rick Perry at 22 and Romney at 19.

- Tess?
- Steve Jobs is going to officially resign today.

Let's close with that. Martin?

BP's paid five billion in claims
to compensate victims,

and the deficit reduction committee is
launching a website for public input.

Public input on deficit reduction.
I feel better already.

- Anything else?
- Yeah.

And are you very sure you want to pitch this?

- Yes.
- Bring it.

About 11 weeks ago, June 9th,

the domain name "occupywallstreet"
was registered.

And?

I believe America is on the verge
of starting its own Arab Spring.

Really?

Yeah.

Gaddafi, drones.

Let's keep working the others
and I'll make my first cuts at the two.

It was registered by Adbusters
and they sent out an email saying,

- "America needs its own Tahrir."
- We call them elections.

Hang on.
On July 13th, Adbusters sends an email

to 90,000 people telling them
to gather on September 17th.

That's roughly three weeks from now
at the Charging Bull on Wall Street.

The email goes viral in 15 minutes.

New websites were formed,
and there's been instant

and substantial support
across Twitter and Reddit.

August 2nd,
they staged their first organizing meeting

and have been holding
weekly planning meetings,

which they call "general assemblies."

They always start by making a new language.

Fifty to 100 people have been showing up.

Fifty people out of an email blast to 90,000?

Fifty to 100.

And is there a list
of incoherent and unrealistic demands?

Just one thing, and it's perfectly coherent.

A presidential commission
to get money out of politics.

Come with me.

Here's a fax I get every day.

It's the protests
that are going on in New York,

just New York.

Today, Jews Say No

are protesting the air attacks
on the Gaza Strip.

Topless protestors
are demanding that lawmakers

repeal codes against toplessness.

On the East River,
residents are protesting the building

of a high-rise near a soccer field,

and union members are protesting

the United Brotherhood of Carpenters'
new leadership.

And at any given moment,

a group is protesting ads
in the subway, standardized tests,

horse-drawn carriages and fracking.

I know how much you want this,
and I like how much you're going for it,

but you've gotta wait until something's real.

All right.

- Neal.
- Yeah?

What was it called again?

Occupy Wall Street.

- When's the next general assembly?
- Tonight.

You should go.

Sure.

A minute ago, your issue was with legality.
Now it's with the morality.

I'm able to hold
as many as two thoughts in my head at once.

- The Fifth Amendment...

The Fifth Amendment,
like all the other amendments,

guarantees certain rights to US citizens.

If an American vacationing

in the Khyber Pass
gets targeted by a Predator...

We need to ask, "Are we creating
more terrorists than we're killing?"

We need to ask...

We don't know exactly
what that collateral damage is

because of the lack
of any transparency or accountability.

Now, factor in that the BDA,
the bomb damage assessment,

counts all military-aged males as militants.

But to your second point,
the fact that drones are...

Aren't they cheaper?

I prefer to be arguing the legality
and the morality, but, no, they're not.

An F-16 costs 50 million and a drone costs 30.

But we procure the drones in groups of four,

combat air patrols, or CAPs.

We buy them as a set, so it's 120 million

versus 50 million for the Falcon.

What we should be talking about...

...costs in terms of human lives.

- That's about all I can stand.
- Here we go.

"I've had all I can stands
and I can't stands no more."

- Did you want to jump in, Captain?
- I do.

Because my concern
is with the cost of American lives,

here and in combat.

Sloan, you didn't mention
that a $50 million F-16

has to be flown by a pilot
who is somebody's father

and that he can be shot down by
a shoulder-mounted, point-and-shoot Stinger.

Now, Dr. Cochran,
I can appreciate that you're an ethicist,

but we don't face an ethical dilemma.

Can a drone distinguish between
an al-Qaeda operative and a goat herder?

I don't care and neither should you.

- Get in there, Will.
- And as for the legality,

the authorization
for the use of military force...

Ask him if the AUMF said we were at war
with terrorists or the Pakistani civilians.

...authorized the President
to pursue terrorists

with all necessary appropriate force.

Drones represent the safest form
of lethal action

against terrorist targets, period.

- It's more complicated than that.
- Period.

Ask him about the AUMF.

...AQ and Taliban
senior leadership in Afghanistan,

Pakistan, Yemen,
and the Horn of Africa, period.

Get in.

So, naturally,
here comes the Human Rights Watch...

AUMF.

The United Nations treaty
on international humanism...

The UN gets four blocks of free parking
on the east side of Manhattan, and that's it.

- That's not it.
- Period.

We're going to have to end this there.

This is News Night.
We'll be back right after this.

2:30 back.

I like to use the full range of punctuation,

commas, colons, parentheses.

- He was trying to get noticed.
- No shit.

Why'd Will go quiet? I teed him up...

Will's not your problem.
The panel's your problem.

I'll have a word with him. He's very good.

Use Jim's guys.

Yep. I will.

Two minutes.

- Good?
- What was with "period, period"?

- I meant it.
- Cy, you're a little over-the-top.

Somebody say something?
Did Will say something?

- No, he's still on the air.
- I'm gonna get asked back?

It's not up to me.

All right.

I'm gonna give you a story now.

I'm gonna give you a name to call,

but you have to use me to help you follow it.

What kind of story?

You have to use me to help you follow it.

What kind of story?

The kind that makes careers
and ends presidencies.

Look, man,

I'm trying to help you,
but you've been fucked up since...

I'm trying to help you.

I'm trying to help you.

"Makes careers and ends presidencies."

A black op called Genoa.

That's News Night for August 24th, 2011.

Terry Smith is coming up next
with The Capitol Report,

followed by Sloan Sabbith
filling in on Right Now.

I'm Will McAvoy. Good night.

And clear.

You know what?
I agreed with everything he said.

- How about the way he said it?
- It wasn't my style, but...

The AUMF, you were able to hear me, right?

There didn't seem to be an opening.

You didn't have a problem making one

when you went to break 41 seconds early.

Sorry about that.

- Good show.
- Thanks.

- Good night.
- Good job.

Hey, everyone. Good to see you.

If there are no announcements,
we'll get started.

No announcements?

Okay, I see some new faces,
so I have to say up front,

no police and no reporters.

Everybody?

Dude.

- Me?
- You're wearing ACN credentials.

Yeah, that was pretty stupid.

My name is Neal Sampat, and I'm with ACN,

and I'd love to observe the meeting.

No journalists. No exceptions.

Do you mind if I ask a question?

Question?

Why wouldn't you want to get the word out
about the sit-in on the 17th?

I'm John, and we don't call it a sit-in.

Why wouldn't you want to get the word out?

We do, we just don't need your help to do it.

We want to make sure, no offense,
our message is clear

before it's distorted by the press.

Your message was clear in the email blast.

You want private money out of politics.

- We may want more than that.
- We do want more than that.

Can I ask...

Yeah.

Are you in charge?

My name's Shelly, and no one's in charge.

The findings were bleak,

with results showing
that less than half of high schoolers

were able to correctly identify the century

in which the Civil War was fought.

One in four thought Columbus
discovered the New World

sometime after 1750.

And if the Bill of Rights were abolished,

a third of high school students

wouldn't be able to name
a right they just lost.

Things get worse in Oklahoma...

- They almost always do.
- ...where a majority of high school students

failed the test given to immigrants
seeking to become naturalized citizens.

Three-fourths couldn't name
the first US president...

- Ben Franklin. Nailed it.
- ...and only a third knew

the term length of a House member.

- On that note...
- That's all for Wednesday, August 24th.

I'm Sloan Sabbith, filling in for Elliot Hirsch.

Have a good night.

Good show.

We're clear.

You don't have to say it like that.

I said it the regular way.

- Great show.
- You saw it?

I've got it DVR'd.

Listen, was Will okay on the panel tonight?

Sure.

You and me?

I don't know why he didn't jump in
on the AUMF door the guy opened.

I don't know why he didn't cut him off
or throw it to the ethicist.

He seemed to want to make sure
it was clear ACN is antiterrorist.

Maybe he was just getting out of the way.

Yeah.

- Good show tonight.
- You saw it?

- Keep it up.
- Mmm-hmm.

So...

- Are you talking to me?
- Yeah.

And you know you're not speaking right now?

When you asked me why I was single,

and I said it was because
you hadn't asked me out,

- I thought it was my last day.
- I know.

And, honestly, it just sounded
like a good line.

I hardly ever land those.

I took it as a joke.

- You did?
- Yeah.

I mean, it was. Good.

All right.

All right.

I'm heading home.

I've got a 13-day streak going
of being a good boyfriend.

- What do you get if you hit two weeks?

A healthy conscience.

See you tomorrow.

See you tomorrow.

- Tell me about yourself.
- You tell me about yourself.

I run our show's website,

and I'm trying to get my EP
interested in this story.

Why isn't he interested already?

She. It's not that she's not interested.

She's just waiting for it to happen,

and I'd rather get in on the ground floor.

She doesn't like ground floors?

She doesn't think
there's gonna be a second floor.

That's all right.

I still don't have your last name.

I'm Shelly Wexler.

I'm a PhD candidate in anthropology at NYU,
where I also teach.

Is this your first experience with activism?

When I was a minor, I was arrested in Seattle

at the WTO protests.

By "minor," you mean you were...

Not coal. "Minor," under 18.

Okay,
were you involved in Seattle?

- Were you involved in the...
- In the violence? No.

I'm nonviolent, as is Occupy Wall Street.

"On September 17th,
we want to see 20,000 flood

"into Lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens,

"peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street."

Then what?

We stay until our demands are met,

the arrest and prosecution
of the people responsible for the crash,

the formation of a presidential commission

to investigate corruption in politics,

the ratification of a constitutional amendment

outlawing the legal designation
of "corporate personhood."

You're gonna sleep in a park
until a constitutional amendment

is ratified by three-quarters of the states?

We mean business, Neal.

What's with the hand signals?

It's a Quaker tradition,

and a peaceful way of maintaining order

when your movement has no leaders.

Doesn't a movement need leaders?

We believe in a horizontal structure.

Are you worried that the horizontal structure

is gonna give power
to people who shouldn't have it?

You mean Joel and John?

Shelly, you started off

with one clear and not unreasonable demand,

and now you've got, like, 14 of them,

including arresting Bear Stearns
and the Lehman Brothers.

You doing a story or giving advice?

I haven't been assigned the story,
so I'm giving advice.

And you can't have a protest
unless the media's covering it.

The media is gonna cover it.

But they're gonna cover the drum circles

and crunchy, uninformed college kids
yelling at the earners,

who, coincidently, are the same guys
running Time Warner News Corp.

and AWM.

You don't have the patience
for complicated things.

I do.

Then why do you take Wall Street bullshit

like limited government seriously?

You and I and God and everybody knows

that the banks couldn't survive until lunch

without zero interest loans
from the government

and bailouts when they bet
a hard eight and lose.

There was straight-up fraud
and you covered Casey Anthony.

In our defense,
we were the last ones to do that.

That's a lame defense.

Where was Will McAvoy
when Goldman sold its clients

mortgage-related securities
without disclosing

that the hedge fund manager who chose
the mortgages was betting on them to fail?

Or when Citigroup sold its clients
a mortgage fund

with securities it knew would fail

so the banks could bet against its customers?

Citigroup made 160 million
off its investors losing 700 million.

I expect I'll see your cameras
the first time girls go wild,

but until then, frankly, I just don't trust you

to get a fucking story anywhere close to right,
especially one with distractions.

I want this to succeed.

Then you're on the wrong side of the camera.

Sooner or later, you're gonna want us.

Go back to one clear message,
or you guys are gonna be a joke.

You can bring that up at the next meeting.

I'll show you the hand signal.

- Mmm?
- Sorry. Sorry.

Go back to sleep.

What's going on?

It's okay.

Honey, what are you doing?

I'm just grabbing a couple of things.

I'm gonna be at the Sheraton
on 7th Avenue, okay?

- What?
- It's all right.

- No, no. What's going on?
- I don't want you to...

- I don't want you to get upset.
- Wait.

Did you just say you're going to a hotel?

Yeah, I called Lisa. Everything's fine.

- Wait.
- You can move back into your old place,

but I figured it'd take a few days
and I wanted to give you some room.

You have to slow down and tell me...

I came home and you were asleep,

and I was at the computer
for a little while and I got an email.

Your cousin sent me an email
with a link to a YouTube video.

What does YouTube have to do with...

What's going on?
Why are you going to a hotel?

Why are you packing?
Slow everything down so I can...

...writing her 800-word column

for a newspaper no one's ever heard of,

but I just spent my last $7
having a fight with my best friend,

who, by the way, isn't available at 3:00 p.m.

on a Wednesday to console me
about some guy

because she, too, has a job.

And mostly, when you fall for a guy,

and he's going out with your best friend,

it doesn't work out.

Things get really...

Shit.

Just stand there, okay?

- 'Cause this isn't what it looks...

Why are you laughing?

Oh, if you can't laugh at this...

I mean,

if I weren't a cast member in this story,
I'd think it was pretty funny.

It's on YouTube, Maggie.
You're a news producer.

You didn't think on a busload of tourists,
somebody wasn't gonna record that?

- Please let me explain.
- Nah.

I spent this whole time
thinking I was a bad guy

for not being in love with you,

- but it turns out...
- Don't say that.

I know that Jim was on the thing.

And he heard you say all that.

My cousin told you?

She doesn't like you.

And she has a crush on me.

She's gonna get married
and stab her husband one day,

- but that's beside the point.

- Lisa...
- I didn't tell Lisa about the video.

I just told her it didn't work out.

You should call Jim.

Tell him to get off the fucking bus.

We're trying to do the news.

I should be the one to leave.

Come on. I should really be the one to leave.

Take it easy, Maggie.

Why'd I get hit in my head?

- I want to pursue drones.
- You won't catch them.

- They fly pretty fast.
- Yeah, yeah.

- Jameson rocks?
- Thanks.

I don't think
there's an immoral way to kill terrorists.

- There's an illegal way, and we're doing it.
- I don't care.

'Cause you were
taken off the 9/11 anniversary coverage?

- Yes!
- I knew you were upset.

Of course I'm... Are you kidding me?
I'm flipping out!

- Holy shit, Mac. What the fuck did I do?
- I know. It feels bad.

I used to be exactly the person
that you wanted to see in these moments.

- I don't mean the old days. Like a year ago.
- I know.

- You still are.
- I remind people of the enemy? Jesus!

Every blond-haired guy from Nebraska

reminds people of Muslim extremists.
There's nothing you can do.

- Don't try to make me laugh.
- You can blame it all on me.

If there was a way to blame it on you,

don't you think
I would have done that by now?

I've got Roger Daltrey screaming,
"You better, you better, you bet" in my ear.

Why?

"You better, you better, you bet."
It's about a really... Know British rock.

Why can't there be British rock?

No, K-N-O-W. Know British rock.

"When I say, 'I love you,' you say, 'You better'.

"You better, you better, you bet."

Why is Daltrey screaming that in your ear?

It feels like
the relationship I have with the audience.

You can't believe what this feels like.

As a matter of fact, I can.

- I got that.
- Did you?

Were you really in bed
when I called last night?

Yeah.

It's Pete Townshend.

Townshend wrote the song,
Daltrey's singing it.

When does Jim come back?

Couple of weeks.

Oh, what can possibly happen
in a couple of weeks?

Let's finish our drink.

"When I say, 'I love you,' you say,
'You better."' That person's just mean.

- Are you able to notice the irony?
- I see the irony.

I'm gonna pay for these.
She'll take the Jameson to go.

"I don't really mind how much you love me.
A little is all right."

You get that,
in a completely different context,

Roger Daltrey could be me singing what I'm...

- What I would sing...
- You're saying it works on different levels.

Your relationship with strangers
or my relationship with you?

- The first one.
- I don't think either of us

have the first idea what that song's about.

AUMF.

I've never seen you
leave a rebuttal that fat on the table.

- I don't care whose side you're on.
- I know.

Don't do it again.
And I can pay for my own drinks, pal o' mine.

- Fine.
- Damn right it's fine.

I said, "Fine."

I left my purse up at the office.

And I'll need some cash for the cab.

And for the cab tomorrow morning.

If Ben Furusho
hadn't broken his ankle,

if Jim hadn't gone to cover for him,

if Dantana hadn't come up to cover for Jim,

if Mike Tapley

had been on the panel instead of Cyrus West,

if I'd caught it before instead of after...

God damn it!

You know, nobody believed Genoa at first.

It was impossible to believe.

But piece by piece,

the evidence started coming in
and suddenly it was impossible to deny.

It was the biggest thing
any of us had ever touched, including Charlie.

It was...

The Pentagon Papers,
and we were the only ones who had it.

We average about 1.5 million viewers.

Genoa got 5.5 million.

It was the most viewed program
in the history of cable news.

So, yeah, definitely,

if Ben Furusho had landed in the pool

instead of on the pavement,

we wouldn't be talking right now.

And Will wouldn't be
standing out in the hallway.

He's there, right?

It's because I'm in here.

He's worried he got me in trouble
and not the other way around.

And you've got to admit, for a guy who lives
to be liked by the audience,

he lets us put his life in danger a lot.

When I was little,
I asked my uncle how much a lawyer costs.

He said if it's bad, 300 pounds.

If it's really bad, 400 pounds.

And if it's really bad and you're guilty...

How much do you cost?

1,500 an hour.

It's after midnight. Are you okay?

Yeah.

Let's start from the beginning.

Can you grab some more coffee?
We ran out a while ago.

State your full name
and current occupation, please.

MacKenzie Morgan McHale.

I'm the executive producer
of News Night with Will McAvoy.

And when did you start at this job?