The Newsroom (2012–2014): Season 2, Episode 4 - Unintended Consequences - full transcript

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My name is Rebecca Halliday.
I'm a litigator at Lowell Tiller.

This is my deputy, Ross Kessler,
along with Ken Weinraub and Mark Gage.

Our firm has been hired by your employer,
Atlantis World Media,

to represent them in a multimillion dollar
wrongful termination suit.

This is not a formal proceeding.
You are not under oath.

Your statements, however, will be recorded

and a full report,
along with part or all of your statements,

may be turned over to
the plaintiff as discovery.

- Do you understand?
- Yes.

This is gonna be simple.

Your testimony revolves around two words.



- It happened.
- It happened.

- The general didn't say that.
- Okay.

And even if he had,
he never said it on the tape.

Whoa, there, little onion.

Okay.

Let me start with a really tough question

and I want you
to take your time and think about it.

- Are you ready?
- Yeah.

- What's your name?
- I'm sorry?

These guys need your full name, address,
and occupation for the records.

Margaret Claire Jordan.

344 East 75th Street, New York, New York.

I'm an associate producer
with ACN, Atlantis Cable News.

- Do you like the East Side?
- Yeah.



I don't know.
I always thought the best thing about it

was you got to look at the West Side.

I'm on the third floor.
My window faces another window.

I just got shown a place on 5th Avenue.
High floor, wraparound terrace.

It was listed at 17 million,

but the broker thinks it's gonna go
as low as 14.5.

They're very motivated.

I looked at the same place,
but I need a bigger ballroom.

On March 22 of this year,

you and Jerry Dantana
conducted an interview

with General Stanislaus Stomtonovich.

- Am I pronouncing the name correctly?
- Yes.

- Those Dutch don't make it easy, do they?
- It's Polish.

I know, but I just have
a thing about the Dutch.

The interview was conducted at his home

- in Silver Spring, Maryland?
- Yes.

Every four years, we give
these guys a gold medal in "flukentot"

when they grew up having
to "flukentot" to school.

- Who?
- The Dutch.

- I'm Dutch.
- Well, then fuck you.

Look, it's not like I don't know
what this is gonna be about

and I also understand the strategy

of trying to rattle someone
before an interview.

That's not what I'm doing.

I'm trying to see if you laugh anymore.

I make these guys laugh all the time. Don't I?

I crack these guys up.

I am known as a funny lawyer.
You should check me out.

I have checked you out, Rebecca,

and you don't handle
wrongful termination suits.

- You're a First Amendment lawyer.
- I am.

And I haven't read the other ones yet,
but they're on the list.

Well, I'd like to once and for all
abudiate the notion that I am messed up.

- Once and for all.
- I understand.

- Thank you.
- But I'm gonna challenge you on "abudiate."

- Yeah, there's no such word.
- Then why'd you use it?

Because I am funny, too.

We are going to expel or dismiss or expunge

the notion that I am damaged.

I'm hardly the only person in my newsroom
who's ever seen a dead guy.

And that part of this case
would be hanging on my...

- I don't know what to call it.
- State of mind.

Seriously, that part of this case
would be hanging on my state of mind

six months later, by the way,
when we interviewed Stomtonovich...

- Dutch son of a bitch.
- ...is insane.

- I'm not kidding.
- I know.

I'm here to help you abudiate.

- That's what we're doing this morning.
- Okay.

So you're gonna have to tell me about Africa.

The fact that you're even asking
implies that it's relevant.

The fact that it's in Jerry Dantana's affidavit
implies it is relevant.

He says that you were on prescription
medications when you came back from Africa,

probably a series of SSRIs,

- serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
- I wasn't.

And that you're in no position

- to say whether Stomtonovich said...
- It happened.

- ...it happened.
- He didn't say it.

What I would do if I were them
is I would put you in front of a jury

and I would make you tell the Africa story

and I would be good and sure
that you broke down while you were telling it.

They're free to try.

Well, I'd like to get
a first look at how it's gonna go.

Gary Cooper and I flew to Uganda.

Is his name really Gary Cooper?

Yes.

I laugh every time I read that.
I can't wait to meet him.

Why did you fly to Uganda?

I pitched a story about
the 100 US combat troops

that were sent to hunt for Joseph Kony,

who's the leader of
the Lord's Resistance Army.

In exchange for access to Camp Kasenyi,

which is our forward
operating base out of Kampala,

the Pentagon's Public Affairs people
wanted us to shoot some film

of soldiers building
an addition onto an orphanage.

That's a sad project when you think about it.

Yeah, I could fall apart any second.

I wasn't baiting you.

When did you and Gary leave?

A year ago September.
The night of September 30.

How do you get to Uganda?

Practice.

You fly to Dubai
and get a connecting flight to Entebbe.

We left straight
from the newsroom right before...

Right before... God,

right before Will

just murderlized this woman from OWS.

Gary and I watched it in the cab.

The new Fox News poll
has the former Massachusetts governor

back in the lead with 23% of Republicans,

followed by Rick Perry with 19%
and 17% for Herman Cain,

reflecting a big boost
for the former Godfather's Pizza CEO.

On the other side of the break,
I'll have one of the early organizers

of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

- We'll be right back.
- Three minutes back.

- We're leaving.
- Souvenirs, let's go. Shout them out.

I would like any traditional tribal weapon,
short spears, hooks, sticks, bows.

They're not gonna let them
pass security with short spears.

And I'll have an intern get you local sticks.

- Who's next?
- A silk kanzu.

- That's a colorful wrap dress.
- Yeah.

Got about two and a half minutes.

I got a lot of friends
who think this is a bad idea.

- How many?
- I don't know, a lot.

It's just that it's a unit of measurement

I hear invoked more and more.
"A lot of my friends."

Mainstream media's been making us
look like idiots since this thing started.

Don't refer to the mainstream media out there.

It always sounds
like a losing team complaining about the ref.

'Cause that's what
you always make it sound like.

Excuse me. One second.

Two minutes.

We've spidered every social networking site
and public board looking for Hamni8.

We've sent an e-mail
to Hamni8 at every public domain,

including the ISPs
most likely to service that region.

We've got some bounce backs,
but no responses.

We're out of here.

What's going on?

Late Wednesday night, they found a tweet
from a user in the area, Hamni8.

A fast series of tweets
where he describes Genoa.

- We think he's describing Genoa.
- He is describing it.

- Jesus.
- He's dead.

- We don't know that.
- What's the other option?

- That he can't afford his cell plan anymore.
- Come on...

In most of the developing world,
phones and plans are extremely expensive

relative to income, and almost all are prepaid.
This was two years ago.

He's standing there
describing gas being dropped on a village.

Then the tweets stop and you think
it's because his cell plan ran out?

Maybe they stopped then
because we were jamming their frequency.

- I'm saying it's years later now...
- Fuck!

- It's just gone.
- I need to get Shelly.

It's time.

What do we do now?

Something's got to fall into our lap.

Something's got to fall out of the sky
and right into our lap.

A preposterous stroke of luck has to occur.

Neal, I meant to tell you.

A guy down at OWS
was telling a campfire story

about working for an NGO
and getting the NGO shut down

by the Pakistani government
because he wrote a report

saying US troops
used chemical weapons on civilians.

You should talk to him.

You can just follow me, okay?

- Wait, what?
- Did that just...

Shelly, wait! Stop!

- What did you say?
- The Pakistanis shut down the NGO.

- She needs to be in the studio.
- No. What was the reason?

He wrote a report that said US troops
were using chemical weapons.

- What's his name?
- I don't know.

Does he tend to hang out in the same place

- in Zucotti Park every night?
- We are not hanging out.

- Neal.
- I understand.

Yes, he's in the same place every night.

- Yes, I can take you there.
- Take her to the studio.

This way.

Okay. Okay.

Thirty seconds back.

And here comes dinner.

- How you doing?
- Good, thank you.

- Yeah, I got it.
- I'm sorry?

I was talking to my producer.

- How do I look?
- Good.

No, producer again.

Is he just screwing with her?

- Come on.
- In three, two...

It's been two weeks
since a group of protesters

began camping out
in Zucotti Park here in New York City.

The Occupy Wall Street movement
has turned to social media

and held marches
through the streets of the financial district.

Here in the studio today is one of the leaders

of Occupy Wall Street, Shelly Wexler.

- Don't take the bait.
- Shelly, thanks for being with us.

It's good to be here,
but I am not one of the leaders of OWS.

- We don't have leaders.
- Is that a good idea?

- Not having leaders?
- Yeah.

Yes, because this way,
everyone's sure to have a voice.

Sounds like a lot of people talking at once.

But tell us in a few words
what OWS is protesting.

We are protesting a variety of issues,

the co-opting of the government by the rich,

the lack of any prosecution for the crimes
that led to the collapse of 2008,

Citizens United, social inequality.

So not any particular thing?

Not one particular thing.

You're protesting against lots of things?

The list of things we're protesting against
is as varied as the protesters themselves.

I've seen protesters holding signs that say,
"We are the 99%."

- Yes.
- I am the 1%.

Some people would say
I'm overpaid, but I'm not.

I'm paid exactly what the market will bear,

which means I'm paid what I'm worth.

So which system would you
replace capitalism with?

We wouldn't...
I wouldn't replace it with any system.

I would make the system fairer.

- By passing new laws?
- Yes.

- It's Congress who does that.
- Yes.

It's legislation like Dodd-Frank
that the banks really fear, right?

Yes.

If your congressman or your senator

or the Chairman of the House
Financial Services Committee

or the Speaker of the House
wanted to hear the demands

of OWS, who would they meet with?

We're not looking for a meeting.

They wouldn't be able to
meet with anyone, right?

Look...

I'm trying to find the virtue
of a leaderless movement

where everyone's voices are heard.

That isn't the point.

We want everyone to look
at Occupy Wall Street

and ask themselves the question,
"Why is this happening?"

I think that's been taken care of.

But what happens after
people ask themselves that?

- Change, we hope.
- How?

The same way change has always happened.

What is your best-case scenario
for how this ends?

- That it doesn't end.
- Oh, God.

- That it doesn't end?
- That's right.

Even if you put the heads of the banks in jail,

overturn a Supreme Court decision,

ensure greater social equality
and give everybody money,

you're still going to be
sleeping in Zucotti Park?

Like most of the media,
I don't think you're taking this seriously.

Is there any chance
that's because you're not?

- Hey, it didn't go that badly.
- Fuck off!

- Come on.
- I am humiliated and in shock.

This whole thing is messed up
and he's a fucking asshole, by the way.

He's not.

Trying to be funny
at the expense of the guest.

I don't think it was as bad as you think it was.

Which way do I go to get out of here?

- No. You need to take me to the guy.
- What?

- The guy in the park.
- You think I'm disposed to doing you a favor?

No, Shelly. Shelly, we need to meet this guy.

- We need to read the report he wrote.
- No.

- Shelly.
- Forget it.

No, I can't tell you what this is about,

but it's way too important
to use as a payback...

I could have gone anywhere.
I did this as a favor to you.

I need you to take me to this guy.

Then we're both having a bad night.

He didn't do anything to you. You tanked.

She's gone.

Good evening.
Welcome to the Radisson Concorde.

Good evening.
We're with the Romney Press Corps.

Three rooms under James Harper,
Hallie Shea and...

You know what? I don't know your first name.

- I'm sorry.
- Stillman's my first name.

- Stillman's your first name?
- Yeah.

- What's your last name?
- Frank.

You sure it's not the other way around?

It's three rooms. Harper, Frank, and Shea.

I'm sorry, I'm not seeing anything.

You said you were with the Romney bus?

Yeah.

The Romney Press Corps is all checked in.

I understand what's happened.

- We got off the Romney bus.
- 'Cause you said you were...

Yeah, we're still covering
the campaign, we're just...

It's not... We're staging a protest.

I don't want to bore you with the details.

It has to do with accountability
and access and just...

So we got off the bus,

and now I understand that the campaign

isn't going to be arranging our hotel.
Does that make sense?

- No, you should explain it some more.
- So we'll need three rooms.

I'm sorry. We're very full
with the campaign staff and the press.

I'm showing I have one room.

That was a predictable plot twist,
don't you think?

Hey, guys. What do you say, Slim Jim?

- Checking in.
- I thought you said the press was checked in.

The press that's on the bus,
the press we're responsible for.

- Not the freedom riders.
- We have a room.

- I have seven rooms.
- Of course.

Six of which I'm willing to rent out
to anyone who says, "Romney rocks."

I'll say "Romney rocks"
if you give me 30 minutes with the candidate.

Why do you keep asking
when you know the answer is going to be no?

So I can say I kept asking.

I hate the press in ways
you can't even comprehend.

I can comprehend the ways.
And hating the press

is an excellent credential for a press officer.

We'll be in the bar or on our half-empty floor.

Two queen beds?

- Can we get a cot?
- Absolutely.

- And some walls?
- It's one night.

- I call the cot.
- Got it.

These things aren't supposed to
happen to me. I went to Vassar.

- Did you like it?
- Yeah.

And Vassar versa, I'm sure.

How long you been keeping
that one in your pocket?

A while.

My friend's plane is about
to take off for Uganda.

Why is she going to Africa?

He. A guy named Gary Cooper.

New York to Dubai to Entebbe.

- Yeah.
- Emirates first class.

It's like flying in the Bellagio.

So you have a comprehensive
understanding of our operating budget.

- I'm just saying.
- Talent and EPs fly first-class,

senior producers fly business,
and Gary and I get duct-taped to the wing.

What time did you land in Entebbe?

Around 8:00 a.m. local time.

We were picked up by a fixer named Ronald.

He works for ACN?

We don't have a bureau in Africa.
He's freelance.

He works for National Geographic Channel,
The Amazing Race, that kind of thing.

The Army doesn't trust us much,

so before we could go to the base in Kasenyi,
we had to go to the orphanage,

which was in the Nakapiripirit District
in the Karamoja region.

Excuse me, how do you spell "Nakapiripirit"?

Two a's and four i's.

It's a four to nine-hour drive
depending on the condition of the roads.

What condition could the roads possibly be

that the drive time
fluctuates four to nine hours?

Sometimes there's mud.
Sometimes there's a genocide.

But there wasn't much of either that day,

so we got there by early afternoon.

Gary rode in back for 100 miles

'cause Ronald told him
he was gonna see drug lords.

Drug lords? You're an idiot.

There were no drug lords.

And I didn't see one animal
I haven't seen in my apartment.

We were met by Lieutenant Bill Casey,

the Community Relations Coordinator
for the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion.

Bill Casey.
I'm the Community Relations Coordinator

- for the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion.
- Maggie Jordan.

Gary Cooper. Nice to meet you, Lieutenant.

Is your name
really Gary Cooper?

You'd think
I'd have gotten tired of that by now.

We didn't have that much time.

We just wanted to get it over with,
so Gary started getting B-roll of the soldiers.

Kids here have either lost their families
to regional conflicts, HIV/AIDS, malaria.

This project lets us give
the kids medical checkups,

books, textbooks.

Right now they've got two rooms,
a classroom and a living quarters.

We're building another two rooms here today.

One of the things
they have there are cattle raiders.

- Cattle raiders?
- Yeah.

They're heavily armed, usually with AK-47s,

and they come and steal your cattle.

And then rape and kill people.

After we'd gotten enough film on the soldiers,
we went inside.

- Asia!
- Good.

- South America!
- Good.

- North America!
- Excellent!

Antarctica!

That's where I'm from.

I'm Pastor Moses.
You must be Maggie Jordan.

- Yes, sir.
- The children are learning geography.

Don't let me stop you.

- No. No, no, no!
- They think the camera's a gun.

- Put the camera down.
- Children.

It's okay. It's okay.

And they thought you were cattle raiders?

Yeah.

And that's it? That's what happened?

- I'm sorry?
- That's what happened?

No.

- What?
- Friday night, the woman from OWS...

- Shelly Wexler.
- She said there's a guy at Zucotti Park

who wrote a report for an NGO in Pakistan

that got the NGO shut down
by the Pakistani government.

The report was
about the US using chemical weapons.

You didn't get
the name of the guy who wrote the report?

She doesn't know the name of the guy,
only where he hangs out in the park.

You should have got her to take you there
after she was done.

Well, that was the idea,
but then after the interview with Will,

she was angry and bolted.

- How angry?
- She punched me in the stomach.

She's probably calmed down by now.

I called her all weekend
and she's willing to negotiate.

- We're not paying her.
- She doesn't want money.

- She wants an apology.
- Apologize.

First of all, I did. Second, she doesn't
want the apology from me.

And third, she punched me
in the stomach really hard.

Who does she want the apology from?

- Will.
- Yeah, that's not gonna happen.

- On air.
- She wants an on-air apology from Will?

- Yeah.
- That's insane.

- She found him smug.
- Me, too.

- He wouldn't have to mean it or anything.
- Forget it.

This is it. The trail is cold after this.

Couldn't you maybe
convince him to take one for the team?

Will is not aware of Genoa.

Do you mind if I ask why not?

- Because.
- Because?

Because I might need him for the red team.

- So you believe it?
- No, I...

No, it's just...

Look, it's a completely unbelievable story,
but I can't ignore evidence.

It's not like I'm in Congress.

If you believe it enough
to be thinking about a red team,

you believe it enough.

You have to talk to Will.

How'd you lose a bus, Jim?

It's a bus.

It's big and it's slow.

And it's a bus.

You let a big bus get away.

- This is a nice picture of her.
- Who?

Maggie.

- I shouldn't have turned around to look.
- Mmm-hmm.

Everybody all right?

I'm good.

That's me.

You paired your phone to the car?

I got here first.

- Hello?
- Hallie, what the hell is going on?

Why is everybody but us
writing about the job speech

Romney's gonna give in Las Vegas?

Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, Evan.

The rest of the press corps
got an advance copy.

- Why didn't you?
- I wasn't on the bus.

You said this stunt wasn't
gonna fuck anything up.

- It won't.
- It just did.

I'm at all the campaign stops
and I'll be in Vegas for the speech.

But everybody else got an advance copy
and they're writing about it.

We look like we're doing this from home.

We've got something they don't.

- What?
- Guts.

I couldn't be less
in the mood for you to be a wise ass, Hallie.

I'm giving you $500 a week plus expenses.

To be fair, you're not giving it to me.
You're paying it to me.

No, if I don't get something back,
I'm giving it to you.

So unless you want to put on heels
and fuck me for an hour,

you need to stop being a little bitch.

- Yeah.
- Tell me if you can't do this

- so I can find someone who can.
- No.

No, I can do this.

You left The Denver Post for that?

Feel free to be superior.

He doesn't set the bar very high.

The world's first fat tax
was announced in Denmark.

- That's mean.
- How?

Taxing people who are overweight?

No, imbecile. It's not a tax on people.
It's a tax on saturated fat.

But you're right, that would have been mean.

About an hour ago on Fox & Friends,

Hank Williams Jr. compared
Boehner and Obama playing golf

to Hitler and Netanyahu playing golf.

Tell me something and tell it to me straight.

Who is Hank Williams Jr.?

He was a country music star
until about an hour ago.

"Pentagon has decided
military chaplains may now perform oral sex."

What?

Give me my real rundown.

Idiots.

"The Pentagon has decided military chaplains
may now perform same-sex marriages."

And, Kendra, I apologize,
but the Washington Post

reported last night that Rick Perry
leases a hunting ranch called Niggerhead.

I accept your apology on behalf
of all the black people in the room.

- I get that that was a thinly veiled...
- It wasn't veiled.

Okay. "Obama defends loan to Solyndra,
calling it a good..."

Stop doing that!

Good morning.

What happened with the tweet from Hamni8?

They can't find Hamni8.
But something else happened.

The woman from OWS
who was on Friday night...

- Has murdered Will?
- She's not happy.

And that's relevant
because she says that a guy

who hangs out in her area at Zucotti Park

has mentioned a report he wrote
for an NGO in Pakistan

about us using chemical weapons.

She was gonna lead
Neal and Jerry there after the show, but then...

- She met Will.
- Yeah.

- Well, fix that.
- How?

You put a help wanted ad in the paper

- for someone who can do your job.
- Good. Anything else?

- I just want to know that it didn't happen.
- That's not easy to do.

You should include in the ad that applicants
need to be able to do hard things.

Got it.

When's Jim coming back
from New Hampshire?

- Soon.
- He gets paid way too much for an embed.

Do you know what we pay embeds?
Some weeks it's in coupons.

I'll see you later.

Kendra, run the meeting.
I'll be back in a minute.

Okay.

Good morning.

- Hi.
- So, great news.

Let me tell you something about liberals.

He didn't paint the word on the rock.

His father didn't paint the word on the rock.

And the word was painted
over after his family leased the ranch.

You're absolutely right
and that's a good point.

But I wanted to talk to you about...
What does that have to do with liberals?

You all should be
asking yourselves if you're condemning him

because he's from the South
and this is a good way

to distance yourselves
from our shared heritage.

Let's talk for a second
about unintended consequences.

- Sure.
- The woman we had on Friday night,

- from OWS, Shelly Wexler...
- Yeah.

Would you be willing to apologize to her?

- Sure.
- On air?

- Absolutely.
- So no?

What were the consequences?

Jerry's been chasing a story for a few weeks

- and I'm not gonna tell you what it is.
- Why?

If I tell you the reason,
you'll be more curious about the story.

But now I'm more curious about the reason.

There's some evidence to suggest

that the Army
is thinking about having different uniforms

for home and away games.

I don't believe that's really the story.

At some point, I might
need you for the red team.

You could have just said that.
I understand that.

- I'm not a child.
- Okay.

- You have to tell me what the story is.
- No!

At least tell me
how it relates to the woman from OWS.

She can lead us to someone
who might be able to help,

but she won't unless you apologize.

Her movement is idiotic
and she's unprepared.

So as a courtesy, I was dismissive.

What does she want an apology for?

- Being smug.
- That... Really?

I know. I've never heard anybody
say that about you before

and I certainly can't identify personally.

You're just chock-full
of beans today, aren't you?

So that's a hard no on apologizing?

I was asked to ask.

Come in.

- Hey, how was your weekend?
- It was good.

It was good and then I saw
Titanic for the first time.

You'd never seen it before?

You know how I am about sad movies

and the title suggested
it wasn't gonna end well.

But I still didn't see it coming.

Mac, what is more important
than the people you...

Kodak is dropping like a sack of flour.

I'll never let go, Kodak. I'll never let go.

But people should really sell their Kodak
stock because by this afternoon...

- I need you.
- That's all you ever have to say.

- Get it together.
- Yeah, all right.

The woman we had on from OWS Friday night

- thought she was mistreated.
- She was.

And it's possible
that she can lead us to information

that can help with a story
I can't tell you about yet.

But to do that, we have to make her happy.

- How can I help?
- Neal's gonna set up a meeting.

And you're gonna...
You're just gonna make her feel

like she's being heard by a financial expert.

You're Sloan Sabbith
and you went to meet her.

- Just lather it on.
- Got it.

Whatever she says,
you couldn't agree with more.

I'm gonna lather up
just to honor the memory of Jack Dawson.

- From the boat?
- Yeah.

Okay, but it's not "lather up," it's...

Don't worry about it. Talk to Neal.

Will McAvoy is an asshole.

I know how you feel.
But the thing is, he's not.

You had a rough time. That's okay.

You've got information that you don't realize

could help Neal and his team
with a story I'm certain,

certain you'd want told.

- What's the story?
- I shouldn't have said that,

because I don't have
the first idea what the story is.

What the fuck is with you people?

She doesn't know what the story is by design.

On a big story,
you want to bring in some people at the end

and run everything by fresh eyes
and let them try to punch holes in it.

They're called the red team.

When's your story supposed to air?

This? Probably never.

You know, I teach three classes on Mondays.

I came up here.
I'm supposed to be impressed?

- No one's trying to impress you.
- Yes, you are.

Because here's what happened.

This woman's here at Shake Shack

because someone asked Will to apologize
and Will said no.

Do you see how
things are worse than they were before?

'Cause before you could assume
that no one ever asked Will,

and now it's pretty clear
that because of the story, he was asked.

- You guys didn't think this through.
- No.

This is exactly why we need a red team.

Shelly, can we just say
that we're honestly very sorry

that appearing on ACN
was an unpleasant experience?

Please, no.

Your apology,
which was meaningless in the first place,

is now just a symbol
of the other guy's refusal to apologize.

This is getting a little nutty.

Shelly, can you just tell Neal
what he needs to know?

And I am supposed to be impressed

'cause here comes your
money honey all solicitous.

- Hey! I can hear you.
- Like I'm a fucking rube

who's never seen a TV star before
or who would even care.

- Listen. Wait.
- I teach college.

Hang on. Let me ask you something
and I'd like an honest answer.

Sure.

- Do you really think I'm a TV star?
- You know...

You called me a money honey
and I made a self-deprecating joke.

I didn't do it in front of a million and a half
people and this isn't a joke to me.

I've got to leave.
You guys are condescending.

Really?
'Cause I'm pretty sure I wasn't just the one

who distinguished myself
from rubes by saying, "I teach college."

Did Will say no when someone said,

"We need you to apologize to Shelly Wexler.

"We badly need you to apologize"?

I wasn't in the room, but I'm sure he said,

"Hell, no, and who the fuck is Shelly Wexler?"

Well, now you know
how much of a prick he is.

Yeah.

No. Sloan was smug.

So there was this kid named Daniel
who was by himself the whole time.

Who's he?

That's Daniel.

His parents are both alive.

I'm a family friend.

His father has a lot of cattle

and there have been
some clashes with Pokot raiders from Kenya.

So Daniel's here to be safe for a few days.

I started talking to him.

Do you want me to read that book to you?

I'm not gonna take it.

You can hold it
and be the page-turner and I'll just read it.

Come on. Scoot over.

"This is the house.

"The house on East 88th Street.

"Mr. and Mrs. Primm and their son Joshua
live in the house on East 88th Street."

I read it to him maybe three times.

Again.

Okay.

- Three times.
- Again.

We've read it seven times now.

Please, just one more.

That's a lot of trust, Daniel.

All right, one more.

"But if Lyle was happy,
he was making someone else unhappy.

"Perfectly miserable, in fact.

"That someone else was Loretta."

"The house on East 88th Street."

"...the voice called out.
Lyle recognized the voice."

"Have you seen a crocodile going past?

"He was wearing a red scarf."

"If Lyle was happy,
he was making someone else unhappy."

"I have no information
about a crocodile wearing a red..."

Scarf.

"There was little they could do,
at least for the moment,

"to prevent Mr. Grumps
from putting Lyle in the zoo."

He's never seen hair like yours.

That color's called blonde, Daniel,

and it's nothing but trouble.

Maggie.

Ronald.

- Yeah?
- Time to go.

No, we can't drive these roads at night.

- It's not night.
- It will be.

When were you gonna tell us
we couldn't drive back?

I just did.

- Lt. Casey.
- Yes, ma'am?

Could we possibly get
a ride back with you guys?

- We're flying out.
- Even better.

We're going to Djibouti.

Is that near where we're going?

No.

You're not a great fixer, you know that?

I don't know how The Amazing Race
is as amazing as it is.

Again.

I don't really understand
your reasons

for not being on the campaign,
but I'm going to have to insist

that you at least be near the campaign.

I am. Everybody's here.
I'm making all the stops,

or at least the ones I can MapQuest.

You can't just follow the bus?

They're making really fast buses now.

Do me a favor.

- Romney gave a statement.
- Yeah?

He called the name of the ranch offensive.

He should be asked about the church.
Can you get a comment from someone?

On that? I doubt it.

Try hard.
Charlie doesn't know what you're doing there.

All right.

- Taylor.
- Jim.

- I need to ask...
- How was your day?

Fine, thanks. I need to ask

about the Governor's response
to Rick Perry's ranch.

There was a statement
in this morning's e-mail,

which you don't get,
so you're free to watch TV.

I know he said he thought it was offensive.

He does and that is the official comment of
the Romney campaign.

And now we are going back to business,
which for me is a glass of red wine right now.

He was a leader in his church in 1977, right?

Do you think I'm gonna talk
about the Mormon Church?

By commenting on the Perry ranch
you already have

because it wasn't until 1978 that Mormons
allowed Mormons to be black.

People of faith are also people of free will

and they are able to disagree
with their church on a number of issues.

The governor was one
of the leaders of his church.

- Did he ever object...
- And Joe Biden is Catholic.

Catholics don't allow women to be priests.
Is Joe fighting a war on women?

Is that the official comment
of the Romney campaign?

You know, go fuck yourself, Jim.

That is the official comment
of the Romney campaign.

All right.

All right, just tell me what you need
to forget I said that.

You're gonna have a 30 minute one-on-one
with the Governor tonight at 10:00.

Thanks.

I, too, believe Will
and Sloan can be a little smug

and I think you guys
are showing a lot of wisdom

by having me be the one to fix it.

You were really the only one left.

- The only guy for the job.
- The only one left.

- The only one who can get it done.
- There was nobody else.

- Nobody but me.
- Left in the office.

- One man...
- There she is. Hey, Shell.

I have another class from 8:00 to 10:00
and this is my only break

and I don't want to spend
that much of it with you,

so let's get this over with.

This is Don Keefer.

I'm the executive producer of our 10:00 hour

Right Now with Elliot Hirsch
and I'll give you a segment.

It'll be a much gentler interview.

And if I came on Elliot Hirsch's show,
would I be able to talk about my treatment?

The treatment OWS got
during the first interview?

You'd be able to talk about OWS,

but I can't produce your revenge fantasy,
if that's what you're asking.

- Please stop arranging meetings.
- Just listen to what...

- It's a very important story.
- Do you know what the story is?

- I don't, but I know it's important.
- How?

- Because Neal says it is.
- And when you say it's important,

what you really mean is that
it's more important than OWS.

- We apologize for anything...
- "We" don't apologize.

- Many of us do.
- Bye.

Oh, Shelly, please take Neal
to see the guy in Zucotti Park.

Let this serve as electroshock therapy.

Every time you want
to look down your nose at someone...

Maybe we're not the ones who need therapy.

Maybe your debilitating
persecution complex could be,

if not cured, then put in remission by
a team of Viennese specialists.

Anything else?

- Nope.
- Wait.

I shouldn't have said that last thing.

Psst.

- Me?
- I'm killing it.

You know why?

Vassar.

Ka-boom.

Sorry.

Can you make it fast?
'Cause I'm a little on fire.

There's no signal in the hallway.

Hey, Mac.
Just one second. They're stepping out.

Taylor just called me.
Did you give away an interview with Romney?

If you could give me just a second?
I don't have the room yet.

You know exactly how fucked up it is
that you gave it away.

And that you gave it to a girl you like.

It's not exactly like that,
but it was definitely wrong

and I apologize and I'll call Will.

- Don't call Will.
- If he finds out another way...

I'll take that chance. I don't know
how to predict his behavior anymore.

Or yours.

And now I've got to pull you off.

- I understand.
- Well, you know, I don't.

Her boss...

Here are my notes. You write it.

I caught Taylor in
an on-the-record moment I could trade

and you were in trouble with your boss.

And, frankly, I didn't like him.

It must save you a lot of time to be able

- to reach that conclusion in 15 seconds.
- It does.

- But he happens to be a genius.
- Okay.

And either you don't know or don't care
how insulting your favor was to me,

but it's either one or the other.

I'm experienced at this, Jim.
More experienced than you.

I got you on the bus.

And then, unbelievably,

- you got us off the bus.
- Yeah.

Yeah, and since you don't know
what the hell you're talking about anyway,

you shouldn't make
a giant assumption that is totally wrong

about my personal life or my professional life.

Every... Both of them.

It was the second one.
It was that I didn't care.

- How insulting it was?
- Yeah.

'Cause but for a couple things
that I didn't foresee,

you wouldn't have found out.

What the hell?

Am I suddenly a fucking receptacle
for every woman who's pissed at a guy?

I did a fast calculation and it was unlikely

he was gonna break news
or be interviewed on camera,

so I didn't think I was
robbing my network of much.

You didn't need it and I did?

In that call from your boss, your...

- I don't know what to call him.
- Evan.

I've always... I hate that name.
I did it because I wanted to.

Everything about it felt right.

But if it was insulting, I still don't care.

I'm going downstairs.

Yeah, I always hated the name Evan, too.

I'm talking about a plan.

This plan has come to symbolize
the struggle for justice in India.

Proponents claim
that it is urgently needed development.

And opponents claim that it will disrupt

underprivileged communities
and service the wealthy few.

What plan am I talking about?

Narmada Dams!

Excuse me.

I'm right. It's the Narmada Dams.

I can't believe
what it takes to get you to apologize.

I have absolutely no intention of apologizing.

But you should enjoy me while I'm here,

'cause as soon as I leave,
so does the attention.

Your movement sucks, Shelly.

I'm sure it looks that way from the outside.

And right there is your problem,
'cause who the fuck cares

what it looks like from the inside?

Slavery, suffrage, civil rights, Vietnam,

what all those things
have in common is there were leaders.

And the only thing
the leaders cared about was getting it done.

And if you guys had leaders
who could find a map with a fuckin' map,

they'd tell you the thing about capitalism
is it's politically accountable.

Did you watch my show tonight?

Did you see anybody courting the OWS vote?

'Cause all eight candidates
for the Republican nomination

said the words "Tea Party" today
in a bite they knew would get picked up.

We're not trying to get anyone elected.

We're just trying to point
so that people will look.

And you're looking
at us and not what we're pointing at.

I was terrible on the show.

I was embarrassed in front of my friends

and my students

and the people in my area at Zucotti Park.

If you had to slap me around, couldn't we
at least have talked about corruption,

financial crimes,

predatory lending,
unlimited campaign donations?

You're not qualified
to talk about those things on our show.

But, yes, I could talk
about those things more on our show.

I slapped you around
to burnish my reputation as a moderate.

You were a handy prop
and I'm sorry I embarrassed you.

I'm not smug.

I'm having a crisis of confidence.

That's a pretty startling admission.

I don't have that many people to talk to.

- That's ironic.
- I know.

- You're not married?
- No.

- Girlfriend?
- Well...

No.

What was the "well"?

I'll take Neal to where the guy usually is.

- We found him already. We tracked him down.
- Are you for real?

The interview was fun for me
and it shouldn't have been.

Well, you know what my mother would say?

I absolutely do not.

Who are you really mad at?

You really want to tug at that thread?

I wouldn't be surprised
if it has something to do with the "well."

Can I audit the rest of your class?

- It's almost over.
- Perfect.

...as she sought exoneration
in the murder of her college roommate in Italy.

And tomorrow morning,
nearly four years after her initial detainment,

Amanda Knox will fly back
to her hometown of Seattle.

- Go.
- 77 up.

- Got that locked.
- Ready 77.

...as the Washington Post
reported over the weekend

that Perry's family ranch,
where the presidential hopeful

has hunted with his family and friends

and to which he has invited
lawmakers, has a name,

and that name is Niggerhead.

What the hell, fellas?

- You want to take it?
- No.

- All right, well, Elliot wrote the copy.
- Oh, fuck you.

- You approved the copy.
- And I approved.

I don't know how
to tell the story without saying the name.

Bullshit. You say the N-word.

N-wordhead Ranch?

Something like that.
What did everybody else do?

- They bit around it.
- Don Lemon said it.

- Don Lemon's black.
- Yeah, I don't know these rules.

The story is about the word
and we decided not to play

a game of Hangman with the audience.

N-head Ranch? Is there a "g"?

- Shut up.

What if it said "motherfucker" on the rock?

It would be a much different story
and one a lot harder to get to the bottom of.

Would you wait for me a minute?
Because that's how long it's gonna take

before Reese calls saying
that the Family Foundation

for the Foundation of Families
is threatening to boycott our advertisers

unless Elliot stops
being Jewish or something.

- Can I ask?
- What?

Other than that, was it a good show?

- Get out.
- All right.

"Upon which was painted
a derogatory epithet for an African-American."

I'm sorry, I nodded off
while you were saying that.

Get out!

- His name is Leon Deit.
- "Deit"?

Rhymes with "beet."

We've been interviewing him
for about an hour and 20 minutes

and we're the first ones
who've spoken to him,

though he doesn't know why we are.

He was working for the Commission for
Human Rights in Conflict Zones

out of Islamabad
and they sent him to interview

some people in Waziristan
who said they'd survived a raid

of what they say were US military forces.

He wrote this report.

He believes that as a result of this report,

his NGO was shut down.

Have you read it?

Name some signs a person would exhibit
if they'd been exposed to sarin gas.

Vomiting, severe muscle twitches,

and then death by choking
on their own vomit.

Read what I've highlighted on the third page.

"Villagers report that many of the dead

"seem to have aspirated into their mouths

"and had been asphyxiated
by their own vomit."

Was it absolutely necessary
for you to tell my boss?

I wouldn't say it was necessary,

but it was what anyone would do in my job.

And the reason you don't know that
is because you've never done this before.

You know, we're doing this thing, Jim.

We're running for president.

It's on.

And it's a big, hard thing

and we understand
that we're gonna have to do it

during a relentless onslaught

of absurd bullshit from you and your friends.

It was just my way of saying that

we're gonna be around for a while.

Perry's done.

It's not the ranch that's gonna get him.

It's his intellect.

Not the world's worst reason
for a Republican candidate to lose.

I wonder if anyone's gonna notice that.

I know I'm gonna
see you somewhere again before November.

Take it easy.

Take it easy, Taylor.

You were lying before.

About the fast calculation you did.

It was a big deal.

I think you got in trouble.

You have to go back to New York.

Yeah.

Well,

I don't like that.

It's all right 'cause I...

I'm the rebound.

And I went to Vassar.

I think that Vassar
has a really strong hold on you

'cause you seem to
have a lot of anxiety about living up...

What, I should have asked this an hour ago,
are we counting as messed up?

What do I... Here's what I'm asking.

What do I have to look like for my testimony

about the interview with
General Stomtonovich to not be discounted?

The way you look right now.
Just the facts, ma'am.

We slept over at the orphanage.

Sometime... I didn't look at my watch,

but the police report
said it was sometime after midnight,

- we heard some...
- I heard. Don't say we.

I heard a popping sound in the distance.

Maybe 100 yards away.

Pop, pop.

Pop, pop.

What are they saying?

It's Lugisu.

There were gunshots.

Do you know Lugisu?

No.

Not in front of the kids.

Pastor Moses's wife Kissa

started quietly waking the kids
and keeping them calm,

making sure they didn't scream.

But then we heard another pop, pop, pop.

What is happening?

It's okay, child.

Ronald was trying to tell them
that this was an orphanage

and there wasn't any cattle.

But he was doing it in Luganda.

Ronald and Gary flew back inside.

Get the children on the bus right now.

Out the back on the bus,
head below the windows.

Where are we going?

We got the kids
out the back door and on the bus.

Seven, eight, nine,

10, 11,

12,

13, 14...

And Pastor Moses did a head count.

Daniel?

Daniel?

What...

He was under my bed.

Daniel.

Come on. We've got to go to the bus.

Daniel, please.

Come on, Daniel. Please, come on.

The frame was maybe
six inches off the ground.

I don't know how he got under there.

It's bolted to the floor.

Daniel, come on.

No, not the front.

Daniel.

Come on, Daniel.

Get back.

Be careful.

Come on, Daniel. Come on.

Come on.

Okay. Okay.

No, come on. Here, get on my back.

Grab on here. Okay.

They speak 1,944 languages in Africa.

I've learned some Luganda phrases,
but I didn't know any Lugisu.

I don't know where
the cattle bandits were from,

so once I got home, it took me a while

to translate what they'd been shouting.

It was, "Give us the camera."

Go, go, go, go, go, go!

Again.

All right.

"This is the house.

"The house on East 88th Street.
Mr. and Mrs. Primm..."

He died right away?

Yeah.

Oh, God.

Okay. Okay.

I can't find a pulse.

His pupils are dilated.

There's no pulse.

Yeah, the hospital said
the bullet hit his spine.

And that's it?

That is it.

We never got to Kampala.

The company brought us back
'cause we had to be debriefed by HR.

Jim Harper, under oath,
is gonna testify to your state of mind.

Is there anything he'll be asked about?

Maggie?

You're back.

I read the HR report.

There's honestly
nothing to ask about.

It was upsetting.
I don't want to minimize it, but...

- Were you sent to a doctor?
- By HR.

- A psychiatrist?
- Yeah, and I'm fine.

The doctor prescribed Paxil,
but I don't take it.

- You don't?
- No.

A psychiatrist examined you

and prescribed a very strong psychotropic
that you're not taking?

I don't need it.

Oh, God, Maggie. That's a terrible answer.

I was there.
It was Stomtonovich, Jerry, and me.

- He never said, "It happened."
- He said that you were in no...

They were there
'cause they spotted us filming the engineers

and I pulled him out
from under the bed forcibly

and his spine ended up stopping a bullet
that was plainly gonna hit me,

so it's obviously something
I'm gonna remember, but...

You know...

What do you want?

He didn't say it. I can testify to that. I'm fine.

"There was little they could do,
at least for the moment,

"to prevent Mr. Grumps
from putting Lyle in the zoo."

He's never seen hair like yours.

That color is called blonde, Daniel,

and it's nothing but trouble.

I'm fine.

Fuck.