The Newsroom (2012–2014): Season 3, Episode 3 - Main Justice - full transcript
When the team attends the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, Mac makes an unexpected acquaintance and Will gets a surprise.
Sync by Diemust44
♪ If today ♪
♪ Any shock
they would try to stem ♪
♪ 'Stead of landing
on Plymouth Rock ♪
♪ Plymouth Rock
would land on them... ♪
♪ In olden days
a glimpse of stocking ♪
♪ Was looked on
as something shocking ♪
♪ But now God knows ♪
♪ Anything goes ♪
♪ Good authors, too,
who once knew better words ♪
♪ Now only use
four-letter words writing... ♪
What the fuck is going on?
- They're taking our hard drives.
- Is it Neal's story?
They've got a warrant
to search the hard drives.
- Is this for real?
- What's your name?
- My name?
- Yeah.
It's spelled arrest me
or go fuck yourself.
- We've been raided.
- It's Saturday night and you got the graveyard shift.
What would I find if I stop and frisk you,
Snoop Dogg?
Unless that warrant says you can
stick your hand in my pockets,
you're gonna find yourself in a conversation
about illegal search and seizure.
All right, back off.
Everybody just cooperate.
- My password's N-Y...
- I don't need your password.
- That's a comfort.
- Please stand away from your desk.
Do you know where
Neal Sampat is?
What are my rights
in this situation?
You don't answer and you don't get
to keep asking that question.
Actually, she does,
but nobody has to answer.
So just turn down
the temperature a litt...
- This is a fucking outrage, Molly.
- Okay.
And this is a fucking warrant
from a federal court, Mac.
And we are the physical manifestation
of the will of that court.
The fuck are you,
Marley's ghost?
You kiss your sources
with that mouth?
Don, please stay where you are.
I'd like to make sure my
phones aren't being tapped.
They don't have permission
to tap our phones.
Then I guess this
would be the first time
the FBI has used
a warrantless wiretap.
Can I save you guys some time?
Neal is a smart guy and there's
no way he left a trail
to a government source on something
that can be seized by the government.
I've got privileged stock
information on my computer.
I see one of you guys
buy a speedboat...
They're just doing their jobs.
And I'm doing mine.
Charlie.
It's Charlie Skinner.
Give me LA control, please.
Please put the phone down,
Mr. Skinner.
Don, Jim,
power up our control room.
- Yeah.
- Gary, grab a camera.
- Can you get me wired?
- Guys!
It's Charlie in New York.
We're gonna be breaking
in live in three minutes.
Do you have the first idea how
any of this equipment works?
I don't know how electricity works.
Just start pressing buttons.
We don't know how
to broadcast anything.
Charlie was on the phone
with Domino's Pizza.
We're not broadcasting
anything.
Just get an in-house feed
up on the monitors.
Don't make things
harder on yourselves.
I think I'm making
things harder for you.
Come on, Mac. We've been friends forever.
I'm coming to your wedding.
Well, I haven't gotten your RSVP yet,
Molly.
So how'd you like
your name chyroned?
This is now out of control.
It's not hard to promptly RSVP.
- It's a common courtesy.
- 90 seconds.
They're bluffing.
Hook me up, quick.
Come on, guys.
Find some lights.
See, I don't think there's
gonna be an on-off switch.
- Check it out.
- What did you press?
It's an on-off switch.
What is on our air?
Red Carpet Roundup.
We need a studio feed.
Can I just say that this network's
Saturday night programming is...
- Maybe now's not the time. But I do agree.
- Yeah.
How have neither of you
in all this time
absorbed any of
the technology involved
with broadcasting the news you,
you know, do?
Well, I can't speak for Don,
but my experience is...
Shut up.
Do we have sound?
Can anybody hear me?
We're gonna need your first
name for the banner.
Is it Kip?
Your lack of cooperation
will be noted for our report.
I hope that doesn't
leak to the press.
- Oh, I'm gonna make sure it does.
- I'm being cooperative.
Can it be noted that some of
us are being downright docile?
- So it's Kip?
- Rodger with a D.
- We're gonna misspell it.
- $210 a plate, Molly.
It's nice to have a head count.
He's not made of money.
I do fine.
We can afford it.
- We're up.
- That's nice, Gary.
Yeah, start on the windbreakers
and then come over and frame up
Special Agent Levy
for the hero shot.
There's a typo.
You left out the R.
- Where?
- It says "beaking news."
Calm down.
Can she hear you on the IFB?
No. Please, please,
pretend you can hear me.
- Copy, I can hear you.
- She did it!
- She felt my vibe.
- I think she can really hear you.
- It says "baking news" now.
- Fuck!
- 15 seconds.
- Good talking to you, Molly.
You and your men continue your
government raid of an American newsroom.
I'm gonna go executive
produce a special report.
Stand them down.
Stand down.
Everybody stand down.
LA control, keep your air.
They're stopping!
Shh.
We did it.
Freedom won and not
a bullet was fired.
Let this day
be recorded in the all...
Your fly is unzipped.
I'm not sure how I feel
about new confident Maggie.
She's looking good.
I can still hear you.
Do you think there's
any chance she's...
I'm not pretending.
Seems like lately a lot of people have
been playing fast and loose with the law.
I didn't break any laws.
It was a solid warrant and they had
a solid reason for seeking it.
I'm not at all convinced
we're the good guys.
- Where was he supposed to go?
- The source?
Where was he supposed to go?
The police?
He's not supposed to go anywhere
with classified information.
That was the Assistant
Attorney General,
the US Attorney
for the Southern District,
and the Deputy Director
of the FBI on the phone.
And?
We've negotiated
a one-week ceasefire.
Friday night we'll all meet
up at Main Justice in DC
and try to dig our way
out of this.
I'm not holding
this story for a week.
- Holding the story for a week isn't a problem.
- It's a problem for me.
Doesn't it take at least a
week to vet 27,000 documents?
If you put the same scrupulous
attention into vetting this story
as you did with Genoa,
you should be done in no time.
You are sitting
at the loser table.
- At your wedding, what else is available?
- There goes your plus one.
All right, look,
what I need is an assurance
that it's safe for Neal
to come out of the dark.
The government is not going to
make a move on either of you
until Friday,
and then hopefully never.
- They're still walking out of here with...
- Shh, shh, shh.
Agents Levy, Hutchinson,
thank you very much.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
You're getting the fish
and the fish is gonna suck!
You're talking about
your own wedding.
- She's got a point.
- Where's Neal?
- I don't know.
- Come on.
- I don't know where he is.
- Good.
- You did something right.
- He's safe.
What?
He's safe.
That's all I know.
And don't ask me about it again,
okay?
Yeah.
Can I speak with you?
I'm not sure I like
the deal you just made.
I don't care.
How do you know he's safe?
It's a premonition.
Did you...
Fucking hell.
- Did you tell him where to go?
- No.
- Did you give him money? A bus ticket?
- No.
What happens Friday night?
The investigators are
gonna ask you and Neal
to tell them everything you can
without revealing the source.
If they can connect the dots without
the identity of the source, great.
If they can't?
I don't know a district court
judge who's ever let a reporter
keep his source when national
security was involved.
And who decides if national
security is involved?
- The judge.
- You see my problem?
The judge is the one
who's supposed to decide,
not Matthew Broderick in WarGames,
not Neal, and not me.
- That's a prosecutor talking.
- Yes, it is.
And how are we supposed
to be in DC Friday night?
- We do the news here at 8:00.
- The meeting's at midnight.
All right,
obviously we'll talk more before then.
But for now just go drink... Home.
Just go home.
That stunt with the cameras,
that wasn't cool.
Neither am I.
All right.
We give them
everything they want,
and in exchange we get
to not go to jail?
We also get to run the story.
We get the guidance
we need to run the story
without risking national
security or anyone's life.
Good night.
I'm only going to ask you once.
Do you really know
the identity of the source?
- Yes.
- That was stupid.
That was something I would do.
They're not gonna lock me up.
I'm too big to jail.
Until about half an hour ago,
I thought they wouldn't raid a newsroom.
They've got his hard drive
now and if there's anything
on there that shows
he's aided and abetted,
then you and Neal are in two
very different situations.
He used an air-gapped computer,
remember?
- And where is he?
- I don't know.
- Are you lying to me?
- No.
You know,
since it's not possible
for everyone to like you,
I really think...
I wasn't trying to get
the FBI to like me.
They just happen to be
the only ones in the room
authorized to do
what they're doing.
Why do we have a loser table?
- Your friends.
- All right.
Hi. I have here
an EPA report that's been...
- Hi.
- Hi.
I have here an EPA report
that's been embargoed.
- How did you get it?
- It doesn't matter.
The Scripps Institution
of Oceanography in San Diego
measured the levels
of carbon dioxide
atop Mauna Loa,
a volcano in Hawaii,
and found that it's passed
a long-feared milestone,
400 parts per million,
which is a concentration
not seen on Earth
in millions of years.
Here's what happened.
You started talking
about CO2 levels
and I started thinking about
other things in my head.
CO2 is a gas.
The Scripps Institution
of Oceanography,
which is made up
of professional scientists,
measured the level of CO2
in the air and found...
The Mets need speed. The Mets need power.
The Mets need pitching.
That's what I'm thinking
about right now.
Living things need oxygen
to stay alive.
- I want a hot dog right now.
- Look...
Have you come to me for help?
- Have I...
- Come to me for help?
- No.
- What can I do for you?
I'd like some advice.
What's another word for advice?
- Look...
- You showed a lot of wisdom coming to me for help.
- I don't need help.
- Great.
- I need help.
- Hit me.
Yeah,
I think you know what I meant.
Yeah, I think I did.
This is an embargoed
EPA report.
- How'd you get it?
- Doesn't matter.
The last time the levels were this
high was three million years ago.
- We survived it then, right?
- No, there were no humans.
It wiped out all the humans?
There were no humans before,
you moron.
Talking like that is no way
to get me to help you.
The last time the CO2
level was this high,
the climate was far warmer,
the ice caps were smaller,
the sea levels
60-80 feet higher.
Scientists believe
that humanity
is precipitating a return to those conditions,
only this time...
- Billions of people are in harm's way.
- Yes.
I would take any one of the three...
Speed, power, or pitching.
And this is my problem.
- That environmental stories aren't exciting?
- Right.
I've been doing a dramatic
rendering of that problem.
This report says the world
is coming to an end.
I am preparing an interview
for Will to conduct on Friday
with the the Deputy Assistant
Administrator of the EPA.
On Friday when everybody
watches the news.
Mac's put it in the B block.
When I asked her what story
she felt was going to trump
the end of the world,
she said, "I don't know,
but I'm sure something will come up."
So you want this to feel more
like a Jim Harper segment
and less like
a Maggie Jordan segment?
Just say yes.
- Yes.
- Have you marked this up?
Yeah.
There's nothing
unimportant in there.
Then what was the point
of highlighting it?
To amplify its importance.
And how much time do we have to tell our
audience about the end of the world?
- Four minutes and 10 seconds.
- Who's the interview with?
The Deputy Assistant
Administrator of the EPA.
We can't get
the head of the EPA?
There is no head of the EPA.
Tell me when you're done
reading the report
- so I can explain it to you.
- I'll be able to understand it.
- Without Neal here to help?
- I know how to use a dictionary.
Without Neal here to show you?
Looking forward
to working with you.
I'm dreading it.
Have a good day.
How'd you get the report?
Ahem, CO2 means two parts of oxygen
for every one part of carbon.
I know that.
Wait... Yeah, I know that.
- Yeah, I'll let him know.
- Thanks.
Ahem.
Reese and Mrs. Lansing are on
their way down to see you.
- They're coming down here?
- Yeah.
You sure they didn't
want me to come up there?
No, they're on their way.
Everyone knows
something's going on.
We just don't know what.
Yeah, I know.
Just show them in
when they get here.
They're here.
Thank you.
Leona, I didn't know you
knew where my office was.
I followed Reese.
I'm assuming you didn't
come down to tell me
- you found $4 billion in the glove compartment.
- Well, I tried.
The glove compartment may be the
only place I haven't looked.
Where do you look for that kind of money,
just out of curiosity?
We offered shares
to a special investor
to buy up a portion of the company and
dilute the ownership stake of the twins,
but we hit a roadblock
with the board.
We thought about changing the bylaws,
but the lawyer said it wouldn't hold.
We tried banks and hedge funds,
but they know we're
already too leveraged.
I have a $58 million
Jackson Pollock,
$140 million yacht.
It's not nearly
enough collateral.
Boy, listen closely,
you can almost hear someone singing
"Brother,
Can You Spare a Dime?"
- Yeah, I know.
- I had a perfectly good idea.
- No, you didn't.
- What was it?
Poison them.
Poison my half-brother and sister.
Just go Shakespeare
on their ass.
- I know people, you know people.
- I don't know people.
All right, well,
there's no such thing as a bad idea.
Yes,
there is such a thing as a bad idea.
Horizontal stripes.
That.
I think I know what's coming.
- Charlie.
- Yeah?
Randy and Blair, but especially Blair,
and mostly Blair,
have to be stopped from selling
their shares to Savannah.
The only way to raise
the money before they...
Is to spin off ACN.
Yeah.
The buyer is a man named Lucas Pruit.
He's 43 and lives...
In Palo Alto.
No wife, no kids.
Stanford '92.
Harvard MBA.
Goldman for five years
as a tech analyst,
then he left to start
his own company.
Yeah,
I don't know what they do.
They made a WiFi accelerator.
He's the 1,398th richest
person in the world.
Can I ask some questions?
- Did they try to dilute the twins' ownership stake?
- Yes.
- Changing the bylaws?
- Lawyer said no.
Offering long-term
contracts and platinum...
They tried everything.
What about selling another division?
Why us?
Tax consequences.
We were the right price.
- And...
- It's a trophy sale.
Yeah.
Owning a news network's
cooler than owning a location
detection software company.
Would you coven of knee-jerk,
lefty bigots
not condemn the man until
after he's said hello?
I know he's committed the unpardonable
crime of making a lot of money,
but perhaps in spite of his talent,
hard work,
and enormous accomplishments,
he's still a decent guy.
Yeah,
whose ideas are worth listening to.
Yeah. Wait, what?
- He has ideas?
- Yeah.
So here's what I need us to do.
What you need us to do or what
the Lansings need us to do?
At this moment,
what the Lansings want is what I want.
They spent the last year doing
nothing but standing by us
when it made a lot
more sense to not.
Not to.
Not to stand by...
To not stand by...
- I'm saying it would have made more sense...
- Find your way home.
- ...to dump us.
- I agree.
And since the alternative
to selling ACN to Pruit
is ACN being dissolved
by Savannah Capital,
- we're gonna love his ideas.
- Sure.
Saturday night at
the Correspondents' Dinner.
We're not going to
the Correspondents' Dinner.
- We are now.
- I can't.
The Justice Department
is Friday night
and the Correspondents'
Dinner is Saturday.
We can't go because last year he railed
against the Correspondents' Dinner
and said
we'd no longer be going.
- Where?
- To the Correspondents' Dinner.
- Where did you rail against it?
- On TV.
- What network?
- This one. My show.
I think I remember now.
"ACN won't be attending
the Saturnalia of incestuous ingratiation"...
- Oh, brother.
- ..."that does little to instill confidence
in the public that the press
isn't ensorcelled by the powerful."
I think I was trying
to quit smoking that week.
Well, don't do that again,
'cause that was some huckleberry-bad writing.
- What do you want us to do?
- Go anyway.
Yeah, you got to eat it.
Hope nobody remembers
your on-air
bacchanal of
boisterous buffoonery
'cause Pruit wants to meet you.
And Leona says
he wants to be charmed.
- What do I do?
- Be the charming one.
- And what do you do?
- Clean up when she goes berserk.
I do not go berserk,
you addle-minded bit
of American tripe.
This is a sad day for dignity.
I'll need a dress.
This is the part
I keep tripping on.
- What's that?
- I'm still looking at your contract.
45K. 45 large,
my young friend.
45 Grover Clevelands.
Grover Cleveland's
on the $1,000 bill?
Back when we printed them.
They're not in circulation anymore,
but imagine 45 of them.
That'll give you a sense of my
annual salary beginning Monday.
It's not Jim Harper money,
but it'll pay the rent.
As long as I don't pay
any other bills.
It's more than 45
with the incentives.
I know,
but I'm not counting my chickens.
- Do you feel like...
- Just my Clevelands.
Okay.
- What were you gonna say?
- Nothing.
- What?
- The incentives.
James, they're not incentives,
they're bonuses.
- For page views.
- Yeah.
The more page views you get,
the more money you're paid.
Welcome to capitalism.
We're happy to have you.
They're bonuses,
they're not incentives.
- Hallie, look.
- What?
- If you're okay with it, be okay with it.
- I am.
If you were,
then you wouldn't need to call it something else.
It says bonuses right there.
I'm not the one calling it something else.
If you're writing about
a cabinet secretary
who testified in front of the
House Oversight Committee,
are you more likely to write about
the content of the testimony
or "Cabinet Secretary
Blasts Darrell Issa"?
Your hero is Will McAvoy,
right?
- He's getting there.
- Your hero is Ed Murrow, right?
- Yeah.
- Will is paid millions of dollars a year
and Murrow was paid the equivalent
of millions of dollars a year
for the same reason anyone in the
private sector is paid anything...
Their ability to make
money for other people.
Will doesn't get paid
per view or per story.
That's either heart-stopping
naiveté or denial.
Our rundown meetings don't include
a discussion of what's grabby.
And after a week of covering Boston,
you're now in fourth place.
And Charlie makes sure we don't care.
That's my point.
I understand how market
forces work in the news,
but journalists have always been the
people pushing back against them.
And now you're being
incentivized to...
My incentives are no different than
a reporter at The New York Times.
If those reporters were being paid
per person reading their story,
the front page of the Times
would look a lot different.
And because it doesn't
look a lot different,
there are a lot fewer people
reading their stories.
Who, Hallie,
gives a genuine shit
how many people are reading a
story if the story is hyped?
Someone who gets paid
per page view.
Your confidence in my integrity
moves me in ways I don't
even know what to do.
- Don't take this job.
- This is an exciting startup founded by people...
- Who are self-serving tools.
- That's exactly what they say about you.
And you don't think that has something
to do with why they want to hire you?
Hmm?
Someone who just got fired from ACN
for tweeting a snarky joke?
I think my talent has something to
do with why they want to hire me.
Of course your talent
is why they want to hire you,
but are you the only talented
person that they interviewed?
I'm the most talented person
that they interviewed.
- I believe that.
- You believe they want to hire me
because I have
an ax to grind with ACN,
which, for the 100th time,
I do not.
You know a lot of things,
Hallie, because of me.
You know a lot about Genoa.
You know a lot about private
behavior in the newsroom.
- Look...
- And you know some things about Neal.
Not everything,
but you know some things.
And it's really dangerous.
You think I'd tell secrets?
Things you've told me in this room?
What's your bonus again?
- Holy shit.
- I was kidding.
The only way for you to get out
of this conversation alive
is to roll over, turn off the light,
and go to sleep.
- I was kidding.
- Do what I said.
We're not supposed
to go to bed mad.
Honey,
it would take a Bradley Fighting Vehicle
to move me to mad from my
current level of furious.
So turn off the fucking light,
go to sleep,
and we'll try this
again tomorrow.
Okay.
Don't go to sleep.
We're gonna talk about this.
Okay.
They should be here any second.
You're the first person
I've ever met named Wyatt.
It's a family name.
How'd you like to have
Earp as a last name?
That had to be tough on the playground,
hmm?
Maybe that's how
he got so tough.
Am I making you nervous?
No.
Sometimes people
get nervous around HR.
I don't get nervous.
You know who gets nervous?
Criminals.
Come on in.
Gary Cooper, Alex Thacker,
this is Wyatt Geary
and he is the new VP of
Human Resources for AWM.
- Please have a seat.
- There are no chairs left.
- Alex, HR received a complaint from you.
- That's right.
And it was kicked down the chain
from Charlie to Mac to me.
So why don't you
tell us what happened?
It's in the report I wrote
that's in front of you.
Yes, I want them to tell me
in their own words.
- Don, it's really nothing.
- I have no doubt.
- It's not nothing.
- Okay.
You asked for 20 seconds
of copy for Elliot
on Justin Bieber visiting
Anne Frank's house.
Why, you know,
in the world would I do that?
Because Bieber signed the
guestbook on his way out
and wrote
"Hopefully she would have been a Belieber."
And then you and Elliot got drunk and
you told him you'd give him $100
if he could read the story off
the prompter without laughing.
Once again,
this is the new HR rep for our parent company.
The copy should have been assigned to me,
but Gary assigned it to Stacey.
Once I give it to Gary,
Gary gets to make that call.
Based on merit,
not based on who
he prefers to sleep with
at any particular moment.
I'm not sleeping and I've
never slept with Stacey.
That may or may not be,
but probably is a lie.
What we know for sure
is Gary flirted with me,
hit on me, took me out five times,
slept with me twice,
and then dumped me in a pile with the rest
of the staffers he's used for his pleasure.
I can't emphasize this enough...
This is the new HR rep.
And I'm fine with all of that.
- So we're cool.
- No.
What I am not fine with is being
passed over for an assignment at work
because I exercised poor
judgment in my personal life.
I gave it to her because she's
better at this kind of thing.
What kind of thing?
The intersection of pop
culture and the Holocaust.
- That might sound crazy.
- It did.
Look, I've gone out with several
of the women in this building.
Maybe you don't understand
what HR does.
You're saying Stacey is a
better writer than I am?
- She's a different writer than you.
- Different?
Like I'm tired of this one,
so I'll try a different one?
I told Gary to give it to Stacey, all right?
He is covering for me.
I told him to give it to her because
she is a better writer than you are.
Well, what am I supposed to do?
Write better.
That's it.
Thank you both.
Thank you.
All right.
Close the books on that one.
Fraternization between
superiors and subordinates
exposes the company
to all kinds of problems,
- including the one you just saw.
- And we don't tolerate it.
- You're the EP of the 10:00 hour.
- I am.
- Which is sometimes anchored by Sloan Sabbith.
- Yes.
So if you and Sloan Sabbith
were in a relationship,
there's a chance we'd have to move
one of you to a different bureau.
- DC or LA.
- Yeah, but we're not.
- Are you sure about that?
- Am I sure?
- Yes.
- Yes.
Because then lying about it
would make it worse.
Mm-hmm.
I can see that.
My predecessor was pretty relaxed
about this kind of thing.
And we're already in a tricky spot
with Will McAvoy marrying his EP.
But no one's gonna
mess with Will,
so I guess my point is if you're
going to date a subordinate,
you better have
stronger ratings.
I don't see our ratings going up any time soon,
so I guess I'll just keep the
company directory in the drawer.
- Okay.
- Okay.
Can you tell me how to get
to Sloan Sabbith's office?
Back to the elevators
and it's on 22.
Thank you.
Welcome to the company.
Ahem.
We're not dating.
Okay.
Hey.
Ahem, "What forms of alternative
energy are real options
to replace coal and gasoline,
and why are they taking so long
to assume sizable parts
of the marketplace?"
- Great question.
- Yeah, you wrote it.
I thought the idea
was to figure out a way
to capture people's
attention with the report
and the interview
with the head of the EPA.
You said he was the Deputy Assistant
Administrator of the EPA.
So let's be sure we identify him,
you know, right.
Yeah, but I think that's
the least of our problems.
No, it's not.
It's just the first of our problems.
And I'm saying the guy has a job and
a title and can we not hype it up?
I have confidence in the graphic,
but where I need your help...
Is in hyping it up.
The air has a very dangerous
level of poison gas in it.
Why do we have to write Will
questions like it's a sex test
in Sex, you know,
Magazine or something?
- Sex Magazine?
- Yeah, I couldn't think of a real...
We've switched sides.
Yesterday you told me I was boring you.
I was wrong.
"China's demand
for coal is increasing
as it continues to urbanize
and industrialize,
but so has its demand for
solar power and wind energy."
- That isn't even a question.
- No, look.
"Your thoughts?"
I want to hear his thoughts.
I came over and told you
about the EPA report
- and the interview Friday with Richard Westbrook.
- Yeah.
You told me I was boring you.
I asked for help.
You gloated.
And then what?
Did you know there are
online news outlets
that offer bonuses to their
reporters for page views?
- Yes.
- I didn't know that.
That's because you live
in the time of King Arthur
along with Don, Will,
and Charlie.
I don't live in the time
of King Arthur.
You live in the time
of King Arthur.
You don't see
an immediate danger
in offering cash
for trash on a news site?
I understand.
Thank you.
You were a dick to Hallie.
- No, I wasn't.
- Tiny bit dicky?
What am I supposed to say
when she comes home
with a contract for a job at a
new website called "Carnivore"?
"Congratulations."
I said congratulations.
I supported her ass off.
- And then?
- I saw the contract.
- And you were a dick.
- I wasn't.
A little bit Dickensian
in your special way
that says,
"I love you, but you suck."
She got fired.
She was humiliated.
And I'm sure
you were there for her,
but I'm also 100% certain
there was something in your voice that said,
"You deserved it."
Ahem,
I don't want what I'm about to say
to be misconstrued
as agreeing with you,
but I'll try to be conscious
of that and do better.
Good.
Who are you bringing to
the Correspondents' Dinner?
I met a really nice guy on
the train back from Boston.
Guess what he teaches
at Fordham Law School.
- What?
- Ethics.
Leave it to you to find
the only person in the world
who can make money
being ethical.
I know.
How did you get the EPA report
and the exclusive interview?
This was really
the best place to meet?
- Yeah. Were you followed?
- No.
- You were followed.
- By who?
Me,
just to show you that I can.
Just stand up a second.
You asked for the meeting.
Please.
We've known each other since we
were too young to rent a car.
That's the only reason
I'm here.
If anyone knew I was,
I'd be asked to hand over my badge and my gun
and I would never in my
life be able to get a job
that required trustworthiness.
Can you think of a job
that doesn't?
- No.
- So there we are.
We found some compelling
evidence on Neal's hard drive
that he helped his source transfer
the docs from the SIPRNet.
How compelling?
If you're able
to contact him...
I don't know if you are...
but if someone is able
to contact him,
they should tell him
to come in.
He needs a lawyer
and he needs to cooperate.
To commit the crime
you're suggesting,
Neal would have had to have had
knowledge he was committing a crime,
knowledge he couldn't
possibly have had
when the source contacted him.
A reporter you'd be
willing to work with
can't tell the difference between
a credible source and a fugazi?
Yes, I'd be willing to work
with Dan Rather and CBS News.
We don't want Neal.
We want...
We have to have his source.
This is a bad guy.
And what are you gonna do
to Neal to get his name?
We're not gonna throw
a bag over his head.
But you are gonna threaten him with
conspiracy to commit espionage.
It's not gonna be
an idle threat.
Our experts were very impressed
with his technical
sophistication.
You can bring him in
or we can kick his door down.
Okay.
You know you just revealed to me that you
knew he helped with the document transfer.
Yeah.
Trust.
Thanks for meeting me so late.
What's going on?
I want to ask you something and I
want you to tell me the truth,
but I don't want you to tell
me any more than you're asked.
All right.
Is anyone in touch with Neal?
Through an uncle who talks to his cousin?
Anything?
Yes,
somebody's in touch with Neal.
Get a message
to him to come in.
Friday night in DC
at Main Justice.
He'll have immunity
at the meeting.
What about after the meeting?
No reporter's ever been charged
under the Espionage Act.
All right.
Okay.
Anzar Tsarnaev,
the father of...
- Stand by, G7 and 7A.
- Standing.
...will be traveling from
Russia to the US this week.
Meanwhile,
Jahar remains hospitalized
- and no date yet has been set for his arraignment.
- Go 7.
Today the federal government
released a startling finding
on the level of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere.
We'll have EPA Deputy Assistant
Administrator Richard...
- Ready SOT-4.
- Ready.
- But first, ACN's Maggie Jordan filed this report.
- Go SOT-4.
A grave warning
today from scientists
at the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration.
The world has passed
a long-feared milestone.
- Mr. Westbrook?
- Yeah.
I'll take you
to the studio now.
Okay.
...reaching a concentration
not seen on the Earth
for millions of years.
Scientists took this reading...
Will, we're running light.
- Can you tease the interview out another 40 seconds?
- Yeah.
30 seconds.
- How are you? I'm Will.
- Nice to meet you.
So there won't be
any hard questions.
I'm just gonna ask you
to expand on the report.
Pretend you're an expert
witness and I'm your lawyer.
- Sounds good.
- In 10.
- Here we go.
- Stand by, camera one.
...the 450 parts per
million will soon be crossed.
The question remains,
how will we respond?
And joining us now in studio
is Richard Westbrook,
Deputy Assistant
Administrator of the EPA.
- Welcome.
- Thank you.
Mr. Westbrook,
you've spent most of your professional career
as a climate scientist
in the public sector.
Yes, 10 years as a supervisory
management analyst
in the Office of
Environmental Information.
And before that,
I was a program specialist
in the EPA's Resource
Management Division.
And you have a PhD in climate
science from Stanford.
Yes, and another in chemistry
with a masters in biology.
Okay. Tell us about the findings in
the report that was just released.
The latest measurements
taken at Mauna Loa in Hawaii
indicate a CO2 level
of 400 parts per million.
Just so we know
what we're talking about,
if you were a doctor
and we were the patient,
what's your prognosis?
1,000 years? 2,000 years?
A person has already
been born who will die
due to catastrophic
failure of the planet.
What did he just say?
- Okay, can you expand on that?
- Sure.
The last time there was
this much CO2 in the air,
the oceans were 80 feet
higher than they are now.
Two things you should know...
Half the world's population
lives within 120 miles
of an ocean.
- And the other?
- Humans can't breathe under water.
You're saying
the situation's dire?
Not exactly.
Your house is burning to the ground,
the situation's dire.
Your house has already burned to the ground,
the situation's over.
So what can we do
to reverse this?
- There's a lot we could do.
- Good.
If it were 20 years ago
or even 10 years ago.
But now... No.
Can you make an analogy
that might help us understand?
Sure.
It's as if you're sitting in your car
in your garage with the engine
running and the door closed
and you've slipped
into unconsciousness.
And that...
That's it.
What if someone comes
and opens the door?
- You're already dead.
- What if the person got there in time?
- You'd be saved.
- Okay.
So now what's the CO2 equivalent
of the getting there on time?
Shutting off the car
20 years ago.
You sound like you're
saying it's hopeless.
Yeah.
Is that the administration's
position or yours?
There isn't a position
on this any more than
there's a position on the
temperature at which water boils.
The administration...
Let me try to... Your administration...
And don't forget
I need you to stretch 40.
...clean coal,
nuclear power,
raising fuel economy standards
and building a more efficient
electrical grid.
- Yes.
- And?
That would have been great.
Let's see if we can't
find a better spin.
People are starting
their weekends.
The report says we can release
565 more gigatons of CO2
without the effects
being calamitous.
It says we can only
release 565 gigatons.
So,
what if we only release 564?
Well, then we would have a
reasonable shot at some form
of dystopian,
post-apocalyptic life.
But the carbon dioxide
in the oil
that we've already leased
is 2,795 gigatons.
So...
What would all this look like?
Well, mass migrations,
food and water shortages,
spread of deadly disease,
endless wildfires.
Way too many to keep
under control.
Storms that have the power
to level cities,
blacken out the sky,
and create permanent darkness.
Are you gonna get in trouble
for saying this publically?
Who cares?
Mr. Westbrook,
we want to inform people,
but we don't want
to alarm them.
Can you give us a reason
to be optimistic?
Well, that's the thing, Will.
Americans are
optimistic by nature.
And if we face
this problem head on,
if we listen to our
best scientists,
and act decisively
and passionately,
I still don't see
any way we can survive.
Okay, Richard Westbrook,
Deputy Assistant
Administrator of the EPA.
- Thank you for joining us.
- Thanks for having me.
This is News Night.
We'll be back right after this.
Herb?
Yeah, yeah.
We're out.
Is this a tactic,
making us wait?
Have you done this?
Look, US, US, US, US.
We're on the same team.
But, yes, it's a tactic.
When we meet Pruit tomorrow night,
let's not mention this.
He's gonna find out
sooner or later.
I want it to be later,
after his check clears.
- Maybe he's...
- Don't get up.
I'm Barry Lasenthal,
Assistant Attorney General
for National Security.
- You're Rebecca Halliday?
- Yes, sir.
You've let your clients know there'll
be no record of this meeting?
- Yes.
- I wish there was.
- What's that?
- I said I wish there was.
Do you mind if I ask why
you're sitting so far away?
I do mind.
Would you like to register a complaint?
Reporters having their asses
hauled into the Justice
Department doesn't sit well...
I'll see that your concerns make
it straight to the children
of undercover agents who've been killed
when their identities were made known.
You're bringing out your queen a little early,
aren't you?
Mr. Lasenthal,
our intention is to work with the FBI
or any relevant officials
as we've always done in the past
to ensure the story
is responsibly reported.
But it'll be reported.
Not my pig, not my farm.
I don't know that expression.
He's saying someone else
is handling the story.
See,
Will is from Nebraska, too.
But I wasn't recruited
by Nebraska,
so I played fullback at A&M.
And we lost to Nebraska
all four years I was there.
Whew.
The story is someone
else's concern.
But I can tell you if you report
news that was gathered illegally,
you'll face criminal fines in an
amount that will bankrupt you.
They understand that.
Let's begin.
My problem is what's
on that flash drive.
- Let's begin.
- Are you running this meeting?
- When I need to.
- How about we cool it, okay?
You want to see what
information we can give you
without us naming the source,
and that's fair.
But any conversation
has to start
with our knowing that Neal
Sampat is safe from prosecution.
He is safe from prosecution.
We need that in writing.
Neal Sampat is in Maracaibo,
Venezuela.
He flew there yesterday from Calgary
International Airport by way of Cuba.
Not for nothing,
but this is a building full of lawyers
who'd have no problem making
that look an awful lot to a jury
like tradecraft from a
dark-skinned young man.
Now maybe it's just
a coincidence,
but in all three
of those pictures,
he's looking over
his shoulder a little.
He'll be doing that
for the rest of his life.
- That's his punishment.
- Punishment for what?
I don't believe what...
His punishment?
Punishment for what?
We're a couple of inches
away from being able
to show he induced his source
to commit a felony.
You're a long way off
from demonstrating
that he had knowledge
he was committing a crime.
Closer now that he's vacationing in a
country with no extradition treaty.
Jesus Christ,
you scared the shit out of this kid.
I've seen some things,
you know?
I have been around,
but we've got to work on getting him back now.
Counsel, ask your questions.
What time did Mr. Sampat
first make contact?
Monday evening, April 15.
A week ago Monday.
Where was he at the time?
His desk at ACN's
New York bureau.
The source made contact with Mr. Sampat,
not the other way.
My next question was
how was contact made.
and asked for his
encryption key.
- And what was his response?
- To give it to him.
And then the source asked for
a higher level of encryption?
I won't answer that
at this time.
Did Mr. Sampat tell you
the name of the source?
- Yes.
- Did he tell you anything else about the source?
- Yes.
- Will you tell us the name of the source?
- No, sir.
- Will you tell us anything else about the source?
- No.
- Well, you've got a problem.
For one thing,
it's a myth that the First Amendment
protects you in situations like this.
Branzburg v. Hayes...
Justice Powell made it clear
the exception exists.
Not clear enough.
A laptop computer was purchased
with your American Express card
at the Best Buy at 44th
and 5th in Manhattan,
but the signature on the receipt
doesn't match your handwriting.
You gave your credit card
to Neal Sampat
to buy an air-gapped computer,
right?
This ends our cooperation.
What I think is this is
exactly where you were going.
See, what I think is that either to
protect Neal or be a hero or both,
you engineered this whole thing
so that Neal was cleared out
and you were left
holding the bag.
But you forgot what else
was in the bag.
This receipt.
Who's the source, Will?
No one has to know
you gave him up.
No one has to know it was you.
- I'll tell you what, Mr. Lasenthal.
- Yeah?
- You're bad at this.
- Is that right?
You come in here
like Brian Dennehy.
You're at the other end of the table
'cause it's some Jedi mind shit
you were taught at a three-day
seminar in Hilton Head.
I was the one most apt
to cooperate.
The agents must have
reported that to you.
That's the signal
I was sending you.
But you insulted our lawyer
and you insulted my producer
who happens to be my fiancée,
which you also know.
And you insulted
Charlie Skinner,
which your people would have told you
wasn't gonna make any of us happy.
And you threatened
to bankrupt us
and to have
the same PR operation
that got 38 people killed
turn Neal into a radical.
Yeah, I moved the pieces so
they'd end up looking like this.
Except Neal's supposed
to be in a Super 8
in Bayonne, New Jersey,
and not South America.
And I did it because,
while I have no doubt
that you'd shake Neal up and down
until he gave you the source,
which would never happen,
your jaw-dropping
government overreach
simply won't extend to putting a
TV star in jail for contempt.
You bungled this and I
can't help you anymore.
That's it.
I fucking hated
losing to Nebraska.
I'd have thought you'd
have gotten used to it.
I... Look, I get it.
These days I look in the
mirror and I have to admit
I'm not the strapping young Muslim
Socialist that I used to be.
Time passes,
you get a little grey.
Hey.
Uh, Hallie Shea, Jim Harper,
this is Jack Spaniel.
- Nice to meet you.
- It's nice to meet you.
How'd you two meet?
It was on a train
coming back from Boston.
Maggie overheard a man
talking to a reporter,
but passed on the story
because she didn't like
that she slid down
in her seat to get it.
The man she overheard was
so impressed by her ethics
that he gave her an exclusive.
I teach ethics,
so I was vocationally
attracted to the situation.
And the story you got in exchange was
that the world was coming to an end.
Pretty good for a Friday.
It almost sounds like something
you read in a tabloid.
Hey,
nothing's wrong with tabloids.
Elvis ever comes back,
you're not gonna read about it in The Washington Post.
Good point.
We are gonna get
something to eat.
Oh, okay.
Was that for me,
the ethics parable?
I hadn't heard that story
until just now.
Charlie wants to see
everyone in five minutes
in the kitchen in the west
side of the building.
Okay.
You're the one
who asked how they met.
I sent in at least three jokes
that would have killed.
Those guys never use my jokes.
You know why?
- I do.
- Speech writer snobbery.
I think it's something else.
Mmm, taste this.
It's fantastic.
What is it?
I don't believe it.
He's here.
Sir,
you really have to try this.
Delicious, right?
Don, Sloan.
What a coincidence
seeing you together.
Not really.
The whole staff is here.
It's a little bit more
unusual that you're here.
I'm a vice president at the seventh
largest media company in the world.
- Wyatt thinks we're dating.
- You and him?
- Me and you.
- Are you serious?
- Yep.
- Don and me?
Have you Googled
my romantic history?
I date guys called
Mr. Chairman.
I date first round draft picks,
high second round
if it's a skill position.
You think I'm dating the EP
of a 10:00 PM newscast
that barely outrates
a rerun of Just Shoot Me?
I absolutely do.
And I'm gonna nail you.
Charlie wants to see
everyone in the kitchen
in the west end of the
building in five minutes.
Okay.
See ya.
- Was that too much before?
- That was way, way too much.
Excuse me.
Excuse me,
do you happen to have any Schweppes Bitter Lemon?
- Yes, ma'am.
- You have Schweppes?
It's Canada Dry, I think.
My boss has to have Schweppes.
Do you happen to know if there's a
nearby liquor store or a grocery store?
I think you'd have
to ask someone else.
They can carbonate lemon juice.
Your boss won't know
the difference.
- He will.
- He sounds like a dream come true.
- He's actually a...
- Charlie Skinner?
- Mr. Pruit.
- Lucas.
You're the man
I've been waiting for.
I looked for you
in the ballroom.
I had to step out for a
while to take a call.
- I knew I'd see you here.
- It's no problem.
I just looked for you
in the ballroom.
- I'm sorry about that.
- No, no need.
Like I said,
I had to take a call and I knew I'd see you here.
- Not a problem.
- What are you drinking?
Unflavored Absolut Vodka with a
capful of Schweppes Bitter Lemon
poured over ice
in a rocks glass.
They don't have
Schweppes Bitter Lemon.
It eludes me why that should ever be the case,
you know?
- It just eludes me.
- I'll go out to a store.
- Gwen.
- Yeah?
I'm not insane.
Just enjoy the party.
Thank you.
I don't think
she's gonna work out.
We'll make sure our
refrigerators are stocked.
Leona told me I'd be meeting
you in the ballroom
and then I'd be talking
to you here at the party.
That was the plan.
But then, unfortunately,
I had to take a call...
Work related?
The call.
Was the call...
No, it was my daughter,
as a matter of fact.
So we've met and now we're here
and I'm looking
forward to talking.
As I understand it,
you're our last best hope
for the network
to stay on the air.
If I was a man with no choices,
I'd kill myself.
Well, I guess that means I have a choice,
so...
Would you like to talk about
my intentions for the network?
Yes, sir, I would.
My name is Lilly.
- Pleased to meet you.
- You're MacKenzie?
ACN.
You're the one who decides
if and when to air a story?
I'm sorry,
can I ask what this is about?
I spoke to someone
who works for you.
About what?
I spoke to Neal.
- Are you saying...
- I'm the source.
Prove that.
38 people died in a riot in Kundu
because of disinformation we planted.
- Okay.
- Three of them...
- I sent Neal 27,000...
- Stop talking.
Let me tell you
what we're about.
Let me tell you what I'm about.
Disruption.
I can see fear in your eyes.
There almost always is.
What's an example of disruption as
it would apply to a news network?
User-generated content.
Crowdsourcing the news.
I'll tell you, Lucas,
we just had in Boston...
Boston was a bad instance
of crowdsourcing,
but it was still disruption.
Why one channel?
Why not 500?
With no cost for content.
No cost for content
on the other 499?
- I'm just trying...
- I'm not talking about guys with head-cams in Syria.
I don't know. Maybe I am.
A disaster channel.
A stalker channel.
I just did three. Now you.
A channel where professionals
investigate and report the news.
Danny Glover just came to mind.
We could have a channel
devoted to people who
are stalking Danny Glover.
- You think I'm kidding.
- No, I don't.
- They're gathering.
- Thanks.
I have to step away
for a few minutes,
but I'm looking forward
to talking more about this.
No, you're not,
but you will anyway.
Yeah.
You're at a party with nothing but
reporters and government officials.
They don't know
they're looking for me.
Why hasn't the story aired yet?
You said we.
"We planted disinformation."
- You work for BCD?
- Yeah.
They're looking for someone
inside the Pentagon.
When is the story running?
- It's going to be reported.
- It's been a week.
We promised some people
we'd hold a moment.
- The government.
- We have to work with them on national security.
They're gonna tell you
everything is national security.
Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday.
If I don't see the story
on your air by Wednesday,
- I'm uploading it myself.
- You can't do that.
I'll just dump it
on Gwyneth Paltrow's blog.
We don't know everything
that's in it yet.
We have to work
with the government.
I don't like that you're
working with the government.
We don't want to get
people killed.
What about...
What about them?
A lot of people
are sacrificing for you.
I expect your
cooperation in return.
You'll have my cooperation
for 96 hours.
That should give you the time
to do what you need to do.
- Mac.
- Yeah?
Charlie's gathering everyone in the
kitchen on the west side of the building.
Okay.
The man had made his peace
with the end of the world.
- Hi.
- Did you know the interview was gonna be like that?
- Um, Mr. McAvoy.
- That's not what we were expecting, was it, Maggie?
- No.
- After 20 years at the EPA... Hi...
400 parts per million was about all
his sense of logic could handle
- and his mind packed up.
- I saw the interview, too.
When we went to commercial,
I asked him if he'd changed his behavior at all.
- He said he stopped buying lottery tickets.
- Mr. McAvoy.
- I understand his frustration.
- Sir!
Guys, I'm sorry,
could you give me just a second?
I'm here all night.
Just a second.
That's a subpoena in your pocket,
right?
Sir, my name is Eli Shapiro.
I work for the US
Department of Justice.
- They sent an intern.
- I'm Rebecca Halliday.
- You're supposed to give that to me.
- Oh.
Uh, Mr. Mc...
- I'm sorry.
- Go ahead. Don't be nervous.
Mr. McAvoy,
this is a subpoena for you to be sworn in
before an investigative grand
jury at 1 St. Andrew's Plaza,
Monday,
April 29 at 10:00 AM.
You think it's possible I'm not
as big a TV star as I thought?
♪ If today ♪
♪ Any shock
they would try to stem ♪
♪ 'Stead of landing
on Plymouth Rock ♪
♪ Plymouth Rock
would land on them... ♪
♪ In olden days
a glimpse of stocking ♪
♪ Was looked on
as something shocking ♪
♪ But now God knows ♪
♪ Anything goes ♪
♪ Good authors, too,
who once knew better words ♪
♪ Now only use
four-letter words writing... ♪
What the fuck is going on?
- They're taking our hard drives.
- Is it Neal's story?
They've got a warrant
to search the hard drives.
- Is this for real?
- What's your name?
- My name?
- Yeah.
It's spelled arrest me
or go fuck yourself.
- We've been raided.
- It's Saturday night and you got the graveyard shift.
What would I find if I stop and frisk you,
Snoop Dogg?
Unless that warrant says you can
stick your hand in my pockets,
you're gonna find yourself in a conversation
about illegal search and seizure.
All right, back off.
Everybody just cooperate.
- My password's N-Y...
- I don't need your password.
- That's a comfort.
- Please stand away from your desk.
Do you know where
Neal Sampat is?
What are my rights
in this situation?
You don't answer and you don't get
to keep asking that question.
Actually, she does,
but nobody has to answer.
So just turn down
the temperature a litt...
- This is a fucking outrage, Molly.
- Okay.
And this is a fucking warrant
from a federal court, Mac.
And we are the physical manifestation
of the will of that court.
The fuck are you,
Marley's ghost?
You kiss your sources
with that mouth?
Don, please stay where you are.
I'd like to make sure my
phones aren't being tapped.
They don't have permission
to tap our phones.
Then I guess this
would be the first time
the FBI has used
a warrantless wiretap.
Can I save you guys some time?
Neal is a smart guy and there's
no way he left a trail
to a government source on something
that can be seized by the government.
I've got privileged stock
information on my computer.
I see one of you guys
buy a speedboat...
They're just doing their jobs.
And I'm doing mine.
Charlie.
It's Charlie Skinner.
Give me LA control, please.
Please put the phone down,
Mr. Skinner.
Don, Jim,
power up our control room.
- Yeah.
- Gary, grab a camera.
- Can you get me wired?
- Guys!
It's Charlie in New York.
We're gonna be breaking
in live in three minutes.
Do you have the first idea how
any of this equipment works?
I don't know how electricity works.
Just start pressing buttons.
We don't know how
to broadcast anything.
Charlie was on the phone
with Domino's Pizza.
We're not broadcasting
anything.
Just get an in-house feed
up on the monitors.
Don't make things
harder on yourselves.
I think I'm making
things harder for you.
Come on, Mac. We've been friends forever.
I'm coming to your wedding.
Well, I haven't gotten your RSVP yet,
Molly.
So how'd you like
your name chyroned?
This is now out of control.
It's not hard to promptly RSVP.
- It's a common courtesy.
- 90 seconds.
They're bluffing.
Hook me up, quick.
Come on, guys.
Find some lights.
See, I don't think there's
gonna be an on-off switch.
- Check it out.
- What did you press?
It's an on-off switch.
What is on our air?
Red Carpet Roundup.
We need a studio feed.
Can I just say that this network's
Saturday night programming is...
- Maybe now's not the time. But I do agree.
- Yeah.
How have neither of you
in all this time
absorbed any of
the technology involved
with broadcasting the news you,
you know, do?
Well, I can't speak for Don,
but my experience is...
Shut up.
Do we have sound?
Can anybody hear me?
We're gonna need your first
name for the banner.
Is it Kip?
Your lack of cooperation
will be noted for our report.
I hope that doesn't
leak to the press.
- Oh, I'm gonna make sure it does.
- I'm being cooperative.
Can it be noted that some of
us are being downright docile?
- So it's Kip?
- Rodger with a D.
- We're gonna misspell it.
- $210 a plate, Molly.
It's nice to have a head count.
He's not made of money.
I do fine.
We can afford it.
- We're up.
- That's nice, Gary.
Yeah, start on the windbreakers
and then come over and frame up
Special Agent Levy
for the hero shot.
There's a typo.
You left out the R.
- Where?
- It says "beaking news."
Calm down.
Can she hear you on the IFB?
No. Please, please,
pretend you can hear me.
- Copy, I can hear you.
- She did it!
- She felt my vibe.
- I think she can really hear you.
- It says "baking news" now.
- Fuck!
- 15 seconds.
- Good talking to you, Molly.
You and your men continue your
government raid of an American newsroom.
I'm gonna go executive
produce a special report.
Stand them down.
Stand down.
Everybody stand down.
LA control, keep your air.
They're stopping!
Shh.
We did it.
Freedom won and not
a bullet was fired.
Let this day
be recorded in the all...
Your fly is unzipped.
I'm not sure how I feel
about new confident Maggie.
She's looking good.
I can still hear you.
Do you think there's
any chance she's...
I'm not pretending.
Seems like lately a lot of people have
been playing fast and loose with the law.
I didn't break any laws.
It was a solid warrant and they had
a solid reason for seeking it.
I'm not at all convinced
we're the good guys.
- Where was he supposed to go?
- The source?
Where was he supposed to go?
The police?
He's not supposed to go anywhere
with classified information.
That was the Assistant
Attorney General,
the US Attorney
for the Southern District,
and the Deputy Director
of the FBI on the phone.
And?
We've negotiated
a one-week ceasefire.
Friday night we'll all meet
up at Main Justice in DC
and try to dig our way
out of this.
I'm not holding
this story for a week.
- Holding the story for a week isn't a problem.
- It's a problem for me.
Doesn't it take at least a
week to vet 27,000 documents?
If you put the same scrupulous
attention into vetting this story
as you did with Genoa,
you should be done in no time.
You are sitting
at the loser table.
- At your wedding, what else is available?
- There goes your plus one.
All right, look,
what I need is an assurance
that it's safe for Neal
to come out of the dark.
The government is not going to
make a move on either of you
until Friday,
and then hopefully never.
- They're still walking out of here with...
- Shh, shh, shh.
Agents Levy, Hutchinson,
thank you very much.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
You're getting the fish
and the fish is gonna suck!
You're talking about
your own wedding.
- She's got a point.
- Where's Neal?
- I don't know.
- Come on.
- I don't know where he is.
- Good.
- You did something right.
- He's safe.
What?
He's safe.
That's all I know.
And don't ask me about it again,
okay?
Yeah.
Can I speak with you?
I'm not sure I like
the deal you just made.
I don't care.
How do you know he's safe?
It's a premonition.
Did you...
Fucking hell.
- Did you tell him where to go?
- No.
- Did you give him money? A bus ticket?
- No.
What happens Friday night?
The investigators are
gonna ask you and Neal
to tell them everything you can
without revealing the source.
If they can connect the dots without
the identity of the source, great.
If they can't?
I don't know a district court
judge who's ever let a reporter
keep his source when national
security was involved.
And who decides if national
security is involved?
- The judge.
- You see my problem?
The judge is the one
who's supposed to decide,
not Matthew Broderick in WarGames,
not Neal, and not me.
- That's a prosecutor talking.
- Yes, it is.
And how are we supposed
to be in DC Friday night?
- We do the news here at 8:00.
- The meeting's at midnight.
All right,
obviously we'll talk more before then.
But for now just go drink... Home.
Just go home.
That stunt with the cameras,
that wasn't cool.
Neither am I.
All right.
We give them
everything they want,
and in exchange we get
to not go to jail?
We also get to run the story.
We get the guidance
we need to run the story
without risking national
security or anyone's life.
Good night.
I'm only going to ask you once.
Do you really know
the identity of the source?
- Yes.
- That was stupid.
That was something I would do.
They're not gonna lock me up.
I'm too big to jail.
Until about half an hour ago,
I thought they wouldn't raid a newsroom.
They've got his hard drive
now and if there's anything
on there that shows
he's aided and abetted,
then you and Neal are in two
very different situations.
He used an air-gapped computer,
remember?
- And where is he?
- I don't know.
- Are you lying to me?
- No.
You know,
since it's not possible
for everyone to like you,
I really think...
I wasn't trying to get
the FBI to like me.
They just happen to be
the only ones in the room
authorized to do
what they're doing.
Why do we have a loser table?
- Your friends.
- All right.
Hi. I have here
an EPA report that's been...
- Hi.
- Hi.
I have here an EPA report
that's been embargoed.
- How did you get it?
- It doesn't matter.
The Scripps Institution
of Oceanography in San Diego
measured the levels
of carbon dioxide
atop Mauna Loa,
a volcano in Hawaii,
and found that it's passed
a long-feared milestone,
400 parts per million,
which is a concentration
not seen on Earth
in millions of years.
Here's what happened.
You started talking
about CO2 levels
and I started thinking about
other things in my head.
CO2 is a gas.
The Scripps Institution
of Oceanography,
which is made up
of professional scientists,
measured the level of CO2
in the air and found...
The Mets need speed. The Mets need power.
The Mets need pitching.
That's what I'm thinking
about right now.
Living things need oxygen
to stay alive.
- I want a hot dog right now.
- Look...
Have you come to me for help?
- Have I...
- Come to me for help?
- No.
- What can I do for you?
I'd like some advice.
What's another word for advice?
- Look...
- You showed a lot of wisdom coming to me for help.
- I don't need help.
- Great.
- I need help.
- Hit me.
Yeah,
I think you know what I meant.
Yeah, I think I did.
This is an embargoed
EPA report.
- How'd you get it?
- Doesn't matter.
The last time the levels were this
high was three million years ago.
- We survived it then, right?
- No, there were no humans.
It wiped out all the humans?
There were no humans before,
you moron.
Talking like that is no way
to get me to help you.
The last time the CO2
level was this high,
the climate was far warmer,
the ice caps were smaller,
the sea levels
60-80 feet higher.
Scientists believe
that humanity
is precipitating a return to those conditions,
only this time...
- Billions of people are in harm's way.
- Yes.
I would take any one of the three...
Speed, power, or pitching.
And this is my problem.
- That environmental stories aren't exciting?
- Right.
I've been doing a dramatic
rendering of that problem.
This report says the world
is coming to an end.
I am preparing an interview
for Will to conduct on Friday
with the the Deputy Assistant
Administrator of the EPA.
On Friday when everybody
watches the news.
Mac's put it in the B block.
When I asked her what story
she felt was going to trump
the end of the world,
she said, "I don't know,
but I'm sure something will come up."
So you want this to feel more
like a Jim Harper segment
and less like
a Maggie Jordan segment?
Just say yes.
- Yes.
- Have you marked this up?
Yeah.
There's nothing
unimportant in there.
Then what was the point
of highlighting it?
To amplify its importance.
And how much time do we have to tell our
audience about the end of the world?
- Four minutes and 10 seconds.
- Who's the interview with?
The Deputy Assistant
Administrator of the EPA.
We can't get
the head of the EPA?
There is no head of the EPA.
Tell me when you're done
reading the report
- so I can explain it to you.
- I'll be able to understand it.
- Without Neal here to help?
- I know how to use a dictionary.
Without Neal here to show you?
Looking forward
to working with you.
I'm dreading it.
Have a good day.
How'd you get the report?
Ahem, CO2 means two parts of oxygen
for every one part of carbon.
I know that.
Wait... Yeah, I know that.
- Yeah, I'll let him know.
- Thanks.
Ahem.
Reese and Mrs. Lansing are on
their way down to see you.
- They're coming down here?
- Yeah.
You sure they didn't
want me to come up there?
No, they're on their way.
Everyone knows
something's going on.
We just don't know what.
Yeah, I know.
Just show them in
when they get here.
They're here.
Thank you.
Leona, I didn't know you
knew where my office was.
I followed Reese.
I'm assuming you didn't
come down to tell me
- you found $4 billion in the glove compartment.
- Well, I tried.
The glove compartment may be the
only place I haven't looked.
Where do you look for that kind of money,
just out of curiosity?
We offered shares
to a special investor
to buy up a portion of the company and
dilute the ownership stake of the twins,
but we hit a roadblock
with the board.
We thought about changing the bylaws,
but the lawyer said it wouldn't hold.
We tried banks and hedge funds,
but they know we're
already too leveraged.
I have a $58 million
Jackson Pollock,
$140 million yacht.
It's not nearly
enough collateral.
Boy, listen closely,
you can almost hear someone singing
"Brother,
Can You Spare a Dime?"
- Yeah, I know.
- I had a perfectly good idea.
- No, you didn't.
- What was it?
Poison them.
Poison my half-brother and sister.
Just go Shakespeare
on their ass.
- I know people, you know people.
- I don't know people.
All right, well,
there's no such thing as a bad idea.
Yes,
there is such a thing as a bad idea.
Horizontal stripes.
That.
I think I know what's coming.
- Charlie.
- Yeah?
Randy and Blair, but especially Blair,
and mostly Blair,
have to be stopped from selling
their shares to Savannah.
The only way to raise
the money before they...
Is to spin off ACN.
Yeah.
The buyer is a man named Lucas Pruit.
He's 43 and lives...
In Palo Alto.
No wife, no kids.
Stanford '92.
Harvard MBA.
Goldman for five years
as a tech analyst,
then he left to start
his own company.
Yeah,
I don't know what they do.
They made a WiFi accelerator.
He's the 1,398th richest
person in the world.
Can I ask some questions?
- Did they try to dilute the twins' ownership stake?
- Yes.
- Changing the bylaws?
- Lawyer said no.
Offering long-term
contracts and platinum...
They tried everything.
What about selling another division?
Why us?
Tax consequences.
We were the right price.
- And...
- It's a trophy sale.
Yeah.
Owning a news network's
cooler than owning a location
detection software company.
Would you coven of knee-jerk,
lefty bigots
not condemn the man until
after he's said hello?
I know he's committed the unpardonable
crime of making a lot of money,
but perhaps in spite of his talent,
hard work,
and enormous accomplishments,
he's still a decent guy.
Yeah,
whose ideas are worth listening to.
Yeah. Wait, what?
- He has ideas?
- Yeah.
So here's what I need us to do.
What you need us to do or what
the Lansings need us to do?
At this moment,
what the Lansings want is what I want.
They spent the last year doing
nothing but standing by us
when it made a lot
more sense to not.
Not to.
Not to stand by...
To not stand by...
- I'm saying it would have made more sense...
- Find your way home.
- ...to dump us.
- I agree.
And since the alternative
to selling ACN to Pruit
is ACN being dissolved
by Savannah Capital,
- we're gonna love his ideas.
- Sure.
Saturday night at
the Correspondents' Dinner.
We're not going to
the Correspondents' Dinner.
- We are now.
- I can't.
The Justice Department
is Friday night
and the Correspondents'
Dinner is Saturday.
We can't go because last year he railed
against the Correspondents' Dinner
and said
we'd no longer be going.
- Where?
- To the Correspondents' Dinner.
- Where did you rail against it?
- On TV.
- What network?
- This one. My show.
I think I remember now.
"ACN won't be attending
the Saturnalia of incestuous ingratiation"...
- Oh, brother.
- ..."that does little to instill confidence
in the public that the press
isn't ensorcelled by the powerful."
I think I was trying
to quit smoking that week.
Well, don't do that again,
'cause that was some huckleberry-bad writing.
- What do you want us to do?
- Go anyway.
Yeah, you got to eat it.
Hope nobody remembers
your on-air
bacchanal of
boisterous buffoonery
'cause Pruit wants to meet you.
And Leona says
he wants to be charmed.
- What do I do?
- Be the charming one.
- And what do you do?
- Clean up when she goes berserk.
I do not go berserk,
you addle-minded bit
of American tripe.
This is a sad day for dignity.
I'll need a dress.
This is the part
I keep tripping on.
- What's that?
- I'm still looking at your contract.
45K. 45 large,
my young friend.
45 Grover Clevelands.
Grover Cleveland's
on the $1,000 bill?
Back when we printed them.
They're not in circulation anymore,
but imagine 45 of them.
That'll give you a sense of my
annual salary beginning Monday.
It's not Jim Harper money,
but it'll pay the rent.
As long as I don't pay
any other bills.
It's more than 45
with the incentives.
I know,
but I'm not counting my chickens.
- Do you feel like...
- Just my Clevelands.
Okay.
- What were you gonna say?
- Nothing.
- What?
- The incentives.
James, they're not incentives,
they're bonuses.
- For page views.
- Yeah.
The more page views you get,
the more money you're paid.
Welcome to capitalism.
We're happy to have you.
They're bonuses,
they're not incentives.
- Hallie, look.
- What?
- If you're okay with it, be okay with it.
- I am.
If you were,
then you wouldn't need to call it something else.
It says bonuses right there.
I'm not the one calling it something else.
If you're writing about
a cabinet secretary
who testified in front of the
House Oversight Committee,
are you more likely to write about
the content of the testimony
or "Cabinet Secretary
Blasts Darrell Issa"?
Your hero is Will McAvoy,
right?
- He's getting there.
- Your hero is Ed Murrow, right?
- Yeah.
- Will is paid millions of dollars a year
and Murrow was paid the equivalent
of millions of dollars a year
for the same reason anyone in the
private sector is paid anything...
Their ability to make
money for other people.
Will doesn't get paid
per view or per story.
That's either heart-stopping
naiveté or denial.
Our rundown meetings don't include
a discussion of what's grabby.
And after a week of covering Boston,
you're now in fourth place.
And Charlie makes sure we don't care.
That's my point.
I understand how market
forces work in the news,
but journalists have always been the
people pushing back against them.
And now you're being
incentivized to...
My incentives are no different than
a reporter at The New York Times.
If those reporters were being paid
per person reading their story,
the front page of the Times
would look a lot different.
And because it doesn't
look a lot different,
there are a lot fewer people
reading their stories.
Who, Hallie,
gives a genuine shit
how many people are reading a
story if the story is hyped?
Someone who gets paid
per page view.
Your confidence in my integrity
moves me in ways I don't
even know what to do.
- Don't take this job.
- This is an exciting startup founded by people...
- Who are self-serving tools.
- That's exactly what they say about you.
And you don't think that has something
to do with why they want to hire you?
Hmm?
Someone who just got fired from ACN
for tweeting a snarky joke?
I think my talent has something to
do with why they want to hire me.
Of course your talent
is why they want to hire you,
but are you the only talented
person that they interviewed?
I'm the most talented person
that they interviewed.
- I believe that.
- You believe they want to hire me
because I have
an ax to grind with ACN,
which, for the 100th time,
I do not.
You know a lot of things,
Hallie, because of me.
You know a lot about Genoa.
You know a lot about private
behavior in the newsroom.
- Look...
- And you know some things about Neal.
Not everything,
but you know some things.
And it's really dangerous.
You think I'd tell secrets?
Things you've told me in this room?
What's your bonus again?
- Holy shit.
- I was kidding.
The only way for you to get out
of this conversation alive
is to roll over, turn off the light,
and go to sleep.
- I was kidding.
- Do what I said.
We're not supposed
to go to bed mad.
Honey,
it would take a Bradley Fighting Vehicle
to move me to mad from my
current level of furious.
So turn off the fucking light,
go to sleep,
and we'll try this
again tomorrow.
Okay.
Don't go to sleep.
We're gonna talk about this.
Okay.
They should be here any second.
You're the first person
I've ever met named Wyatt.
It's a family name.
How'd you like to have
Earp as a last name?
That had to be tough on the playground,
hmm?
Maybe that's how
he got so tough.
Am I making you nervous?
No.
Sometimes people
get nervous around HR.
I don't get nervous.
You know who gets nervous?
Criminals.
Come on in.
Gary Cooper, Alex Thacker,
this is Wyatt Geary
and he is the new VP of
Human Resources for AWM.
- Please have a seat.
- There are no chairs left.
- Alex, HR received a complaint from you.
- That's right.
And it was kicked down the chain
from Charlie to Mac to me.
So why don't you
tell us what happened?
It's in the report I wrote
that's in front of you.
Yes, I want them to tell me
in their own words.
- Don, it's really nothing.
- I have no doubt.
- It's not nothing.
- Okay.
You asked for 20 seconds
of copy for Elliot
on Justin Bieber visiting
Anne Frank's house.
Why, you know,
in the world would I do that?
Because Bieber signed the
guestbook on his way out
and wrote
"Hopefully she would have been a Belieber."
And then you and Elliot got drunk and
you told him you'd give him $100
if he could read the story off
the prompter without laughing.
Once again,
this is the new HR rep for our parent company.
The copy should have been assigned to me,
but Gary assigned it to Stacey.
Once I give it to Gary,
Gary gets to make that call.
Based on merit,
not based on who
he prefers to sleep with
at any particular moment.
I'm not sleeping and I've
never slept with Stacey.
That may or may not be,
but probably is a lie.
What we know for sure
is Gary flirted with me,
hit on me, took me out five times,
slept with me twice,
and then dumped me in a pile with the rest
of the staffers he's used for his pleasure.
I can't emphasize this enough...
This is the new HR rep.
And I'm fine with all of that.
- So we're cool.
- No.
What I am not fine with is being
passed over for an assignment at work
because I exercised poor
judgment in my personal life.
I gave it to her because she's
better at this kind of thing.
What kind of thing?
The intersection of pop
culture and the Holocaust.
- That might sound crazy.
- It did.
Look, I've gone out with several
of the women in this building.
Maybe you don't understand
what HR does.
You're saying Stacey is a
better writer than I am?
- She's a different writer than you.
- Different?
Like I'm tired of this one,
so I'll try a different one?
I told Gary to give it to Stacey, all right?
He is covering for me.
I told him to give it to her because
she is a better writer than you are.
Well, what am I supposed to do?
Write better.
That's it.
Thank you both.
Thank you.
All right.
Close the books on that one.
Fraternization between
superiors and subordinates
exposes the company
to all kinds of problems,
- including the one you just saw.
- And we don't tolerate it.
- You're the EP of the 10:00 hour.
- I am.
- Which is sometimes anchored by Sloan Sabbith.
- Yes.
So if you and Sloan Sabbith
were in a relationship,
there's a chance we'd have to move
one of you to a different bureau.
- DC or LA.
- Yeah, but we're not.
- Are you sure about that?
- Am I sure?
- Yes.
- Yes.
Because then lying about it
would make it worse.
Mm-hmm.
I can see that.
My predecessor was pretty relaxed
about this kind of thing.
And we're already in a tricky spot
with Will McAvoy marrying his EP.
But no one's gonna
mess with Will,
so I guess my point is if you're
going to date a subordinate,
you better have
stronger ratings.
I don't see our ratings going up any time soon,
so I guess I'll just keep the
company directory in the drawer.
- Okay.
- Okay.
Can you tell me how to get
to Sloan Sabbith's office?
Back to the elevators
and it's on 22.
Thank you.
Welcome to the company.
Ahem.
We're not dating.
Okay.
Hey.
Ahem, "What forms of alternative
energy are real options
to replace coal and gasoline,
and why are they taking so long
to assume sizable parts
of the marketplace?"
- Great question.
- Yeah, you wrote it.
I thought the idea
was to figure out a way
to capture people's
attention with the report
and the interview
with the head of the EPA.
You said he was the Deputy Assistant
Administrator of the EPA.
So let's be sure we identify him,
you know, right.
Yeah, but I think that's
the least of our problems.
No, it's not.
It's just the first of our problems.
And I'm saying the guy has a job and
a title and can we not hype it up?
I have confidence in the graphic,
but where I need your help...
Is in hyping it up.
The air has a very dangerous
level of poison gas in it.
Why do we have to write Will
questions like it's a sex test
in Sex, you know,
Magazine or something?
- Sex Magazine?
- Yeah, I couldn't think of a real...
We've switched sides.
Yesterday you told me I was boring you.
I was wrong.
"China's demand
for coal is increasing
as it continues to urbanize
and industrialize,
but so has its demand for
solar power and wind energy."
- That isn't even a question.
- No, look.
"Your thoughts?"
I want to hear his thoughts.
I came over and told you
about the EPA report
- and the interview Friday with Richard Westbrook.
- Yeah.
You told me I was boring you.
I asked for help.
You gloated.
And then what?
Did you know there are
online news outlets
that offer bonuses to their
reporters for page views?
- Yes.
- I didn't know that.
That's because you live
in the time of King Arthur
along with Don, Will,
and Charlie.
I don't live in the time
of King Arthur.
You live in the time
of King Arthur.
You don't see
an immediate danger
in offering cash
for trash on a news site?
I understand.
Thank you.
You were a dick to Hallie.
- No, I wasn't.
- Tiny bit dicky?
What am I supposed to say
when she comes home
with a contract for a job at a
new website called "Carnivore"?
"Congratulations."
I said congratulations.
I supported her ass off.
- And then?
- I saw the contract.
- And you were a dick.
- I wasn't.
A little bit Dickensian
in your special way
that says,
"I love you, but you suck."
She got fired.
She was humiliated.
And I'm sure
you were there for her,
but I'm also 100% certain
there was something in your voice that said,
"You deserved it."
Ahem,
I don't want what I'm about to say
to be misconstrued
as agreeing with you,
but I'll try to be conscious
of that and do better.
Good.
Who are you bringing to
the Correspondents' Dinner?
I met a really nice guy on
the train back from Boston.
Guess what he teaches
at Fordham Law School.
- What?
- Ethics.
Leave it to you to find
the only person in the world
who can make money
being ethical.
I know.
How did you get the EPA report
and the exclusive interview?
This was really
the best place to meet?
- Yeah. Were you followed?
- No.
- You were followed.
- By who?
Me,
just to show you that I can.
Just stand up a second.
You asked for the meeting.
Please.
We've known each other since we
were too young to rent a car.
That's the only reason
I'm here.
If anyone knew I was,
I'd be asked to hand over my badge and my gun
and I would never in my
life be able to get a job
that required trustworthiness.
Can you think of a job
that doesn't?
- No.
- So there we are.
We found some compelling
evidence on Neal's hard drive
that he helped his source transfer
the docs from the SIPRNet.
How compelling?
If you're able
to contact him...
I don't know if you are...
but if someone is able
to contact him,
they should tell him
to come in.
He needs a lawyer
and he needs to cooperate.
To commit the crime
you're suggesting,
Neal would have had to have had
knowledge he was committing a crime,
knowledge he couldn't
possibly have had
when the source contacted him.
A reporter you'd be
willing to work with
can't tell the difference between
a credible source and a fugazi?
Yes, I'd be willing to work
with Dan Rather and CBS News.
We don't want Neal.
We want...
We have to have his source.
This is a bad guy.
And what are you gonna do
to Neal to get his name?
We're not gonna throw
a bag over his head.
But you are gonna threaten him with
conspiracy to commit espionage.
It's not gonna be
an idle threat.
Our experts were very impressed
with his technical
sophistication.
You can bring him in
or we can kick his door down.
Okay.
You know you just revealed to me that you
knew he helped with the document transfer.
Yeah.
Trust.
Thanks for meeting me so late.
What's going on?
I want to ask you something and I
want you to tell me the truth,
but I don't want you to tell
me any more than you're asked.
All right.
Is anyone in touch with Neal?
Through an uncle who talks to his cousin?
Anything?
Yes,
somebody's in touch with Neal.
Get a message
to him to come in.
Friday night in DC
at Main Justice.
He'll have immunity
at the meeting.
What about after the meeting?
No reporter's ever been charged
under the Espionage Act.
All right.
Okay.
Anzar Tsarnaev,
the father of...
- Stand by, G7 and 7A.
- Standing.
...will be traveling from
Russia to the US this week.
Meanwhile,
Jahar remains hospitalized
- and no date yet has been set for his arraignment.
- Go 7.
Today the federal government
released a startling finding
on the level of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere.
We'll have EPA Deputy Assistant
Administrator Richard...
- Ready SOT-4.
- Ready.
- But first, ACN's Maggie Jordan filed this report.
- Go SOT-4.
A grave warning
today from scientists
at the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration.
The world has passed
a long-feared milestone.
- Mr. Westbrook?
- Yeah.
I'll take you
to the studio now.
Okay.
...reaching a concentration
not seen on the Earth
for millions of years.
Scientists took this reading...
Will, we're running light.
- Can you tease the interview out another 40 seconds?
- Yeah.
30 seconds.
- How are you? I'm Will.
- Nice to meet you.
So there won't be
any hard questions.
I'm just gonna ask you
to expand on the report.
Pretend you're an expert
witness and I'm your lawyer.
- Sounds good.
- In 10.
- Here we go.
- Stand by, camera one.
...the 450 parts per
million will soon be crossed.
The question remains,
how will we respond?
And joining us now in studio
is Richard Westbrook,
Deputy Assistant
Administrator of the EPA.
- Welcome.
- Thank you.
Mr. Westbrook,
you've spent most of your professional career
as a climate scientist
in the public sector.
Yes, 10 years as a supervisory
management analyst
in the Office of
Environmental Information.
And before that,
I was a program specialist
in the EPA's Resource
Management Division.
And you have a PhD in climate
science from Stanford.
Yes, and another in chemistry
with a masters in biology.
Okay. Tell us about the findings in
the report that was just released.
The latest measurements
taken at Mauna Loa in Hawaii
indicate a CO2 level
of 400 parts per million.
Just so we know
what we're talking about,
if you were a doctor
and we were the patient,
what's your prognosis?
1,000 years? 2,000 years?
A person has already
been born who will die
due to catastrophic
failure of the planet.
What did he just say?
- Okay, can you expand on that?
- Sure.
The last time there was
this much CO2 in the air,
the oceans were 80 feet
higher than they are now.
Two things you should know...
Half the world's population
lives within 120 miles
of an ocean.
- And the other?
- Humans can't breathe under water.
You're saying
the situation's dire?
Not exactly.
Your house is burning to the ground,
the situation's dire.
Your house has already burned to the ground,
the situation's over.
So what can we do
to reverse this?
- There's a lot we could do.
- Good.
If it were 20 years ago
or even 10 years ago.
But now... No.
Can you make an analogy
that might help us understand?
Sure.
It's as if you're sitting in your car
in your garage with the engine
running and the door closed
and you've slipped
into unconsciousness.
And that...
That's it.
What if someone comes
and opens the door?
- You're already dead.
- What if the person got there in time?
- You'd be saved.
- Okay.
So now what's the CO2 equivalent
of the getting there on time?
Shutting off the car
20 years ago.
You sound like you're
saying it's hopeless.
Yeah.
Is that the administration's
position or yours?
There isn't a position
on this any more than
there's a position on the
temperature at which water boils.
The administration...
Let me try to... Your administration...
And don't forget
I need you to stretch 40.
...clean coal,
nuclear power,
raising fuel economy standards
and building a more efficient
electrical grid.
- Yes.
- And?
That would have been great.
Let's see if we can't
find a better spin.
People are starting
their weekends.
The report says we can release
565 more gigatons of CO2
without the effects
being calamitous.
It says we can only
release 565 gigatons.
So,
what if we only release 564?
Well, then we would have a
reasonable shot at some form
of dystopian,
post-apocalyptic life.
But the carbon dioxide
in the oil
that we've already leased
is 2,795 gigatons.
So...
What would all this look like?
Well, mass migrations,
food and water shortages,
spread of deadly disease,
endless wildfires.
Way too many to keep
under control.
Storms that have the power
to level cities,
blacken out the sky,
and create permanent darkness.
Are you gonna get in trouble
for saying this publically?
Who cares?
Mr. Westbrook,
we want to inform people,
but we don't want
to alarm them.
Can you give us a reason
to be optimistic?
Well, that's the thing, Will.
Americans are
optimistic by nature.
And if we face
this problem head on,
if we listen to our
best scientists,
and act decisively
and passionately,
I still don't see
any way we can survive.
Okay, Richard Westbrook,
Deputy Assistant
Administrator of the EPA.
- Thank you for joining us.
- Thanks for having me.
This is News Night.
We'll be back right after this.
Herb?
Yeah, yeah.
We're out.
Is this a tactic,
making us wait?
Have you done this?
Look, US, US, US, US.
We're on the same team.
But, yes, it's a tactic.
When we meet Pruit tomorrow night,
let's not mention this.
He's gonna find out
sooner or later.
I want it to be later,
after his check clears.
- Maybe he's...
- Don't get up.
I'm Barry Lasenthal,
Assistant Attorney General
for National Security.
- You're Rebecca Halliday?
- Yes, sir.
You've let your clients know there'll
be no record of this meeting?
- Yes.
- I wish there was.
- What's that?
- I said I wish there was.
Do you mind if I ask why
you're sitting so far away?
I do mind.
Would you like to register a complaint?
Reporters having their asses
hauled into the Justice
Department doesn't sit well...
I'll see that your concerns make
it straight to the children
of undercover agents who've been killed
when their identities were made known.
You're bringing out your queen a little early,
aren't you?
Mr. Lasenthal,
our intention is to work with the FBI
or any relevant officials
as we've always done in the past
to ensure the story
is responsibly reported.
But it'll be reported.
Not my pig, not my farm.
I don't know that expression.
He's saying someone else
is handling the story.
See,
Will is from Nebraska, too.
But I wasn't recruited
by Nebraska,
so I played fullback at A&M.
And we lost to Nebraska
all four years I was there.
Whew.
The story is someone
else's concern.
But I can tell you if you report
news that was gathered illegally,
you'll face criminal fines in an
amount that will bankrupt you.
They understand that.
Let's begin.
My problem is what's
on that flash drive.
- Let's begin.
- Are you running this meeting?
- When I need to.
- How about we cool it, okay?
You want to see what
information we can give you
without us naming the source,
and that's fair.
But any conversation
has to start
with our knowing that Neal
Sampat is safe from prosecution.
He is safe from prosecution.
We need that in writing.
Neal Sampat is in Maracaibo,
Venezuela.
He flew there yesterday from Calgary
International Airport by way of Cuba.
Not for nothing,
but this is a building full of lawyers
who'd have no problem making
that look an awful lot to a jury
like tradecraft from a
dark-skinned young man.
Now maybe it's just
a coincidence,
but in all three
of those pictures,
he's looking over
his shoulder a little.
He'll be doing that
for the rest of his life.
- That's his punishment.
- Punishment for what?
I don't believe what...
His punishment?
Punishment for what?
We're a couple of inches
away from being able
to show he induced his source
to commit a felony.
You're a long way off
from demonstrating
that he had knowledge
he was committing a crime.
Closer now that he's vacationing in a
country with no extradition treaty.
Jesus Christ,
you scared the shit out of this kid.
I've seen some things,
you know?
I have been around,
but we've got to work on getting him back now.
Counsel, ask your questions.
What time did Mr. Sampat
first make contact?
Monday evening, April 15.
A week ago Monday.
Where was he at the time?
His desk at ACN's
New York bureau.
The source made contact with Mr. Sampat,
not the other way.
My next question was
how was contact made.
and asked for his
encryption key.
- And what was his response?
- To give it to him.
And then the source asked for
a higher level of encryption?
I won't answer that
at this time.
Did Mr. Sampat tell you
the name of the source?
- Yes.
- Did he tell you anything else about the source?
- Yes.
- Will you tell us the name of the source?
- No, sir.
- Will you tell us anything else about the source?
- No.
- Well, you've got a problem.
For one thing,
it's a myth that the First Amendment
protects you in situations like this.
Branzburg v. Hayes...
Justice Powell made it clear
the exception exists.
Not clear enough.
A laptop computer was purchased
with your American Express card
at the Best Buy at 44th
and 5th in Manhattan,
but the signature on the receipt
doesn't match your handwriting.
You gave your credit card
to Neal Sampat
to buy an air-gapped computer,
right?
This ends our cooperation.
What I think is this is
exactly where you were going.
See, what I think is that either to
protect Neal or be a hero or both,
you engineered this whole thing
so that Neal was cleared out
and you were left
holding the bag.
But you forgot what else
was in the bag.
This receipt.
Who's the source, Will?
No one has to know
you gave him up.
No one has to know it was you.
- I'll tell you what, Mr. Lasenthal.
- Yeah?
- You're bad at this.
- Is that right?
You come in here
like Brian Dennehy.
You're at the other end of the table
'cause it's some Jedi mind shit
you were taught at a three-day
seminar in Hilton Head.
I was the one most apt
to cooperate.
The agents must have
reported that to you.
That's the signal
I was sending you.
But you insulted our lawyer
and you insulted my producer
who happens to be my fiancée,
which you also know.
And you insulted
Charlie Skinner,
which your people would have told you
wasn't gonna make any of us happy.
And you threatened
to bankrupt us
and to have
the same PR operation
that got 38 people killed
turn Neal into a radical.
Yeah, I moved the pieces so
they'd end up looking like this.
Except Neal's supposed
to be in a Super 8
in Bayonne, New Jersey,
and not South America.
And I did it because,
while I have no doubt
that you'd shake Neal up and down
until he gave you the source,
which would never happen,
your jaw-dropping
government overreach
simply won't extend to putting a
TV star in jail for contempt.
You bungled this and I
can't help you anymore.
That's it.
I fucking hated
losing to Nebraska.
I'd have thought you'd
have gotten used to it.
I... Look, I get it.
These days I look in the
mirror and I have to admit
I'm not the strapping young Muslim
Socialist that I used to be.
Time passes,
you get a little grey.
Hey.
Uh, Hallie Shea, Jim Harper,
this is Jack Spaniel.
- Nice to meet you.
- It's nice to meet you.
How'd you two meet?
It was on a train
coming back from Boston.
Maggie overheard a man
talking to a reporter,
but passed on the story
because she didn't like
that she slid down
in her seat to get it.
The man she overheard was
so impressed by her ethics
that he gave her an exclusive.
I teach ethics,
so I was vocationally
attracted to the situation.
And the story you got in exchange was
that the world was coming to an end.
Pretty good for a Friday.
It almost sounds like something
you read in a tabloid.
Hey,
nothing's wrong with tabloids.
Elvis ever comes back,
you're not gonna read about it in The Washington Post.
Good point.
We are gonna get
something to eat.
Oh, okay.
Was that for me,
the ethics parable?
I hadn't heard that story
until just now.
Charlie wants to see
everyone in five minutes
in the kitchen in the west
side of the building.
Okay.
You're the one
who asked how they met.
I sent in at least three jokes
that would have killed.
Those guys never use my jokes.
You know why?
- I do.
- Speech writer snobbery.
I think it's something else.
Mmm, taste this.
It's fantastic.
What is it?
I don't believe it.
He's here.
Sir,
you really have to try this.
Delicious, right?
Don, Sloan.
What a coincidence
seeing you together.
Not really.
The whole staff is here.
It's a little bit more
unusual that you're here.
I'm a vice president at the seventh
largest media company in the world.
- Wyatt thinks we're dating.
- You and him?
- Me and you.
- Are you serious?
- Yep.
- Don and me?
Have you Googled
my romantic history?
I date guys called
Mr. Chairman.
I date first round draft picks,
high second round
if it's a skill position.
You think I'm dating the EP
of a 10:00 PM newscast
that barely outrates
a rerun of Just Shoot Me?
I absolutely do.
And I'm gonna nail you.
Charlie wants to see
everyone in the kitchen
in the west end of the
building in five minutes.
Okay.
See ya.
- Was that too much before?
- That was way, way too much.
Excuse me.
Excuse me,
do you happen to have any Schweppes Bitter Lemon?
- Yes, ma'am.
- You have Schweppes?
It's Canada Dry, I think.
My boss has to have Schweppes.
Do you happen to know if there's a
nearby liquor store or a grocery store?
I think you'd have
to ask someone else.
They can carbonate lemon juice.
Your boss won't know
the difference.
- He will.
- He sounds like a dream come true.
- He's actually a...
- Charlie Skinner?
- Mr. Pruit.
- Lucas.
You're the man
I've been waiting for.
I looked for you
in the ballroom.
I had to step out for a
while to take a call.
- I knew I'd see you here.
- It's no problem.
I just looked for you
in the ballroom.
- I'm sorry about that.
- No, no need.
Like I said,
I had to take a call and I knew I'd see you here.
- Not a problem.
- What are you drinking?
Unflavored Absolut Vodka with a
capful of Schweppes Bitter Lemon
poured over ice
in a rocks glass.
They don't have
Schweppes Bitter Lemon.
It eludes me why that should ever be the case,
you know?
- It just eludes me.
- I'll go out to a store.
- Gwen.
- Yeah?
I'm not insane.
Just enjoy the party.
Thank you.
I don't think
she's gonna work out.
We'll make sure our
refrigerators are stocked.
Leona told me I'd be meeting
you in the ballroom
and then I'd be talking
to you here at the party.
That was the plan.
But then, unfortunately,
I had to take a call...
Work related?
The call.
Was the call...
No, it was my daughter,
as a matter of fact.
So we've met and now we're here
and I'm looking
forward to talking.
As I understand it,
you're our last best hope
for the network
to stay on the air.
If I was a man with no choices,
I'd kill myself.
Well, I guess that means I have a choice,
so...
Would you like to talk about
my intentions for the network?
Yes, sir, I would.
My name is Lilly.
- Pleased to meet you.
- You're MacKenzie?
ACN.
You're the one who decides
if and when to air a story?
I'm sorry,
can I ask what this is about?
I spoke to someone
who works for you.
About what?
I spoke to Neal.
- Are you saying...
- I'm the source.
Prove that.
38 people died in a riot in Kundu
because of disinformation we planted.
- Okay.
- Three of them...
- I sent Neal 27,000...
- Stop talking.
Let me tell you
what we're about.
Let me tell you what I'm about.
Disruption.
I can see fear in your eyes.
There almost always is.
What's an example of disruption as
it would apply to a news network?
User-generated content.
Crowdsourcing the news.
I'll tell you, Lucas,
we just had in Boston...
Boston was a bad instance
of crowdsourcing,
but it was still disruption.
Why one channel?
Why not 500?
With no cost for content.
No cost for content
on the other 499?
- I'm just trying...
- I'm not talking about guys with head-cams in Syria.
I don't know. Maybe I am.
A disaster channel.
A stalker channel.
I just did three. Now you.
A channel where professionals
investigate and report the news.
Danny Glover just came to mind.
We could have a channel
devoted to people who
are stalking Danny Glover.
- You think I'm kidding.
- No, I don't.
- They're gathering.
- Thanks.
I have to step away
for a few minutes,
but I'm looking forward
to talking more about this.
No, you're not,
but you will anyway.
Yeah.
You're at a party with nothing but
reporters and government officials.
They don't know
they're looking for me.
Why hasn't the story aired yet?
You said we.
"We planted disinformation."
- You work for BCD?
- Yeah.
They're looking for someone
inside the Pentagon.
When is the story running?
- It's going to be reported.
- It's been a week.
We promised some people
we'd hold a moment.
- The government.
- We have to work with them on national security.
They're gonna tell you
everything is national security.
Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday.
If I don't see the story
on your air by Wednesday,
- I'm uploading it myself.
- You can't do that.
I'll just dump it
on Gwyneth Paltrow's blog.
We don't know everything
that's in it yet.
We have to work
with the government.
I don't like that you're
working with the government.
We don't want to get
people killed.
What about...
What about them?
A lot of people
are sacrificing for you.
I expect your
cooperation in return.
You'll have my cooperation
for 96 hours.
That should give you the time
to do what you need to do.
- Mac.
- Yeah?
Charlie's gathering everyone in the
kitchen on the west side of the building.
Okay.
The man had made his peace
with the end of the world.
- Hi.
- Did you know the interview was gonna be like that?
- Um, Mr. McAvoy.
- That's not what we were expecting, was it, Maggie?
- No.
- After 20 years at the EPA... Hi...
400 parts per million was about all
his sense of logic could handle
- and his mind packed up.
- I saw the interview, too.
When we went to commercial,
I asked him if he'd changed his behavior at all.
- He said he stopped buying lottery tickets.
- Mr. McAvoy.
- I understand his frustration.
- Sir!
Guys, I'm sorry,
could you give me just a second?
I'm here all night.
Just a second.
That's a subpoena in your pocket,
right?
Sir, my name is Eli Shapiro.
I work for the US
Department of Justice.
- They sent an intern.
- I'm Rebecca Halliday.
- You're supposed to give that to me.
- Oh.
Uh, Mr. Mc...
- I'm sorry.
- Go ahead. Don't be nervous.
Mr. McAvoy,
this is a subpoena for you to be sworn in
before an investigative grand
jury at 1 St. Andrew's Plaza,
Monday,
April 29 at 10:00 AM.
You think it's possible I'm not
as big a TV star as I thought?