The West Wing (1999–2006): Season 2, Episode 4 - In This White House - full transcript
After a Republican commentator trounces Sam on television, President Bartlett decides to hire her over the objections of the staff. Josh and Toby mediate a conference between U.S. drug companies and an African President whose country is dying of AIDS.
Previously on The West Wing:
- I don't know these people.
- You will.
- Which one is Toby?
- I am.
- Which one are you?
- I'm Josh.
- My name is Charlie Young.
- Donna Moss. You?
I'm just guessing. I'm pretty drunk.
Which one is Josh?
- C.J. Cregg.
- Toby Ziegler, C.J. Cregg, Sam Seaborn.
- Yeah.
- You gotta be impressed...
...I got those names right.
- Sam.
- Mark.
- You done?
- Yeah.
- It's not gonna be Wengland.
- What happened?
- He's stuck in Denver.
- I wanted Wengland.
- Did you get Stackhouse?
- Couldn't get him or Santana, Monroe...
- Who'd you get?
- A woman named Ainsley Hayes.
- Aimsley?
- Ainsley, with an N.
- I don't know her.
- A new producer brought her in.
- Tell me she's not...
- She is.
- I thought that was over.
- No, it's not.
She's got blond hair, long legs,
she's a Republican, so she's...
She's in show business.
A young, blond, leggy Republican.
- I thought they didn't know anything.
- They don't.
- Sam.
- Yeah.
- Ainsley?
- Yes.
- Mark Gottfried.
- Ainsley Hayes.
We'll be starting here
in about a minute.
- I understand you've never done TV.
- No, not as such. No.
- "Not as such"? What does that mean?
- It means, no, I haven't done TV.
- Can I give you a little friendly advice?
- Yes, I would appreciate it.
- Don't overreach.
- Don't overreach?
Don't try to do too much,
don't try to know more than you do.
My show is not the place
for you to become a star.
You'll be opposite Sam Seaborn.
He wouldn't keep coming...
...if he didn't wipe the floor
with everyone.
- I've seen him.
- Don't be scared.
- I'll try.
- I'll step in, take punches for you...
...if it gets out of hand, but if you don't
go far from the points, you'll be fine.
Thirty seconds.
- We start with the education package?
- Yeah.
- You owe me 20 bucks on the Skins.
- In the Green Room, man.
- I'm Sam Seaborn.
- Ainsley Hayes.
- Twenty seconds.
- You bet with George on the Skins?
- Over/under.
- How's Josh?
- He's good.
- Ten seconds.
- Here we go. Remember what I said.
- Yeah.
In five, four, three....
Capital Beat, with Mark Gottfried.
Tonight, from the right, Republican
political analyst Ainsley Hayes.
And from the left, White House
senior advisor Sam Seaborn.
With Chris Eisen at the Pentagon
and Marjorie Clark in New York.
Good evening. Before we get
to Chris and Marjorie...
...tonight on the Capital Beat, the
House is expected to vote next week...
...on President Bartlet's
$ 1. 5-billion education package.
Sam Seaborn, why is this bill better
than its Republican counterpart...
...that the president
vetoed last year?
Because it buys things that
teachers need, like textbooks.
In a fairly comprehensive study,
an alarmingly high number of teachers...
...40 percent of the teachers
in Kirkwood, Oregon, for instance...
...and Kirkwood being a fair model for
public school districts in the country...
...40 percent of teachers
in Kirkwood, Oregon...
...do not have sufficient
textbooks for students.
The package offered by
the Republican-controlled Congress...
...offered zero dollars
for new textbooks.
- Ainsley Hayes, is that true?
- No, it's not.
- Is Sam Seaborn lying?
- " Lying " is an awfully strong word.
- Do you...?
- Yes, he's lying.
And we should tell
the truth about education.
- If you're gonna call...
- The bill had money for textbooks.
Also, computer literacy,
school safety, physical plant.
The difference is we wanted
to give the money to communities...
...and let them decide how
to spend it on the off-chance...
...the needs of Lincoln High
in Dayton are different from...
- ... Crenshaw High in South Central L.A.
- Why did the president veto the bill?
Because it guaranteed by law that 95%
of the money go into the classroom...
...and bypass the pork-barrel buffet,
which troubles the president...
...because he doesn't work
for the students.
- That's untrue.
- He doesn't work for the parents.
He works for the teachers union.
The bill contained plenty
of money for textbooks...
...and anyone who says
otherwise is lying.
We should tell the truth about this.
Textbooks are important.
If for no other reason
than they accurately place...
...Kirkwood in California, not Oregon.
And we're in business. We'll be back
with more Capital Beat after this.
We're out.
I'm sorry, did I overreach?
- Hey, Sam.
- Yeah.
- This one might know something.
- Yeah.
Please let them not be watching.
Toby. Come quick.
Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl.
Ginger, get the popcorn.
There'll be a photo op
in a half-hour with President Bartlet...
...and President Nimbala
of the Republic of Equatorial Kuhndu...
...who's representing African nations.
Is it the goal of the summit to get
drug companies to lower prices...
...or is the goal to get African
countries to honor U.S. patents?
The goal of the summit is
to get a step closer...
...to solving 26 million
African AIDS victims.
We're counting on the drug companies,
on African nations...
...on the global health community.
They're counting on us for a solution.
Will the White House
declare war on drug companies?
It sounds like you have.
If we need a button man, we'll call you.
Thank you.
Half-hour in the Mural Room.
Carol, they'll need to be
in three groups.
You know what you
might have mentioned?
A 14-minute briefing,
and I get reviews?
The same drug that is $10 in Norway,
where nobody needs it...
...costs $90 in Burundi,
where everybody needs it.
Nothing keeps these
people here but goodwill.
They can charge what they want.
It sounded like we will
be soft on drug companies.
Nobody expects us
to be anything but tough on...
- ... American companies showing a profit.
- Damn right.
Where was the
'92 World Copyright Conference?
- Geneva.
- Thank you.
I really admire the way you came
to work this morning head held high.
I appreciate you being
the only one not to heckle me.
No problem. There's a bunch of women,
why don't you ask where Geneva is.
Go to my office.
Me and you, 20 questions,
general knowledge test.
- Go.
- I'll spot two questions.
- For how much money?
- Go to my office.
I'm going to his office.
- She's making the chicken sound now.
- Go to my office.
A drug they gotta buy
from us for $4...
...they can get generic
from Pakistan for 40 cents.
That's not the only bargain in Pakistan.
My friends and I go for spring fashions.
It shows.
- C.J.
- He made a dig about my clothes.
That'll be with me for the day.
I wanted to introduce myself.
I'm Bill Kelley from the Cleveland Courier.
They're breaking me in...
- ... to cover for Tom Johnson.
- Welcome.
Can I ask you something?
Do you know anything about Bonamo
Energy selling drilling equipment to Iraq?
I won't wave you off the story,
but I can't tell you anything.
If they were selling them, that would
be in violation of sanctions, right?
Grand-jury investigations are secret,
I can't tell you any more.
- I understand. Nice meeting you.
- Nice meeting you.
- Bill?
- Yeah.
Nothing, just nothing.
Then you've got guys like Mbeki
who say that AIDS isn't linked to HIV...
...it's linked to poverty.
- It is.
- Do you want a list of dead millionaires?
He was saying prostitutes,
migrant laborers, the ill-educated...
...and victims of sexual abuse
are more likely...
Leo, AIDS is caused by HIV.
You named a group of people
that have a higher mortality rate.
- Morning.
- Good morning, sir.
- Where are we?
- They're all set.
Thank you.
The health minister
was clarifying his comments.
They have a health minister who
doesn't think AIDS is connected to HIV.
He was clearing up the comments.
Did you see Sam get puréed
last night on Capital Beat?
I didn't see it,
but I have heard tell.
He got diced and sliced
by a woman named Ainsley Hayes.
She's been writing some columns.
I had Charlie pull them for me.
Where's she been?
- She was clerking for Dreifort.
- We should hire her.
- That'd be funny.
- No, I mean it.
- Mean what?
- We should hire her.
You mean, as a joke on Sam?
Not as a joke. We should hire
her as a reality. We should hire her.
- She's a Republican.
- So's half the country.
That half lost, so...
She's smart, not just carping.
She feels a sense of something.
- Of what?
- Mr. President?
Of duty. Of civic duty.
- How many pieces by her did you read?
- Three.
- You're sure of her sense of civic duty?
- I can sense civic duty a mile away.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
Good morning, everybody.
- Good morning, Mr. President.
- Good morning, sir.
You can tell your caption editors,
Bartlet's the third guy from the right.
Thank you, sir. Presidents Bartlet
and Nimbala will take questions.
- President Bartlet?
- Katie.
This is a summit among leaders
of American pharmaceutical companies...
...and AIDS-ravaged African nations that
President Nimbala is representing here.
Is there a political upside
to having President Nimbala here...
...and not the pharmaceutical
companies?
Yes, I'm trying to shore up
the sub-Saharan vote.
Mr. President, are you considering
asking Congress to forgive existing debt?
It's an international health crisis,
there's nothing I'm not considering.
- Arthur.
- President Nimbala, what's the best...
...you hope to come away with from
this summit? What's a home run?
A miracle.
There are people who
make miracles in the world.
One of them lives right here
in the U.S.
He realized that vital elements could
be harvested from the stalk of the wheat.
In his hands, India,
which at the time...
...had been ravaged
by drought and overpopulation...
...in his hands, their wheat crop
increased from 11 million tons...
...to 60 million tons annually.
That's right. His name is
Norman Borlaug, by the way...
...and he won
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.
Thank you, Mr. President,
President Nimbala. Thank you, everyone.
I think you're absolutely right
about the kind of miracle we need.
I think we're gonna make a lot
of progress in the next couple of days.
I hope so, Mr. President.
My country's dying.
It was called dwarf wheat,
which produces heavy yields...
...without its stalk falling over
from the weight of the grain.
Was it a hybrid?
What am I, Farmer Bob? There was
more wheat than there used to be.
And hire that girl.
- What girl?
- Ainsley Hayes.
- No.
- Why?
This is a thing you're excited
about at breakfast...
...that you forget
you told me to do by lunch.
- Not one of those.
- It is one of those.
Hard as you might try, the
Republican Party isn't going anywhere.
We don't know that,
they could move to Vancouver.
- I don't think so.
- Me neither.
But being in power means everybody
else can take a seat for four years.
Charlie, I wanna hire a woman whose
voice would fit in nicely around here.
She's a conservative Republican,
you think I should do it?
Absolutely, Mr. President, because I'm
told that theirs is the party of inclusion.
See? Charlie just made a joke
to you in the Oval Office.
- That's how bad an idea it is.
- Leo...
Seriously, Mr. President, if you wanna
do this, it's not an uninteresting notion...
...just do it in a high-profile place.
- Put a Republican in the Cabinet.
- We might.
A hundred million Republicans,
we might hire as many as two of them.
- But for now, hire this girl.
- To do what?
I don't know. She's a lawyer,
put her in counsel's office.
- You really want me to do this?
- Yes.
- What if she doesn't wanna work here?
- Appeal to her sense of duty.
Smooth it over with the staff.
I don't wanna hear from them.
- She can always have my job.
- Yes, she can.
- Thank you, Mr. President.
- Thank you.
- Charlie?
- Yes, sir.
When they close the book
on me and you...
...it will say at this moment,
you were not there for me...
...and for that there'll be punishment.
Well, you could sing Puccini for me
again, Mr. President. We'll call it even.
...and anyone who says
otherwise is lying.
- Here it comes.
- Does anybody know...?
Textbooks are important.
If for no other reason
than they accurately place...
...Kirkwood in California,
not Oregon.
Oh, I could watch
that a hundred times.
Does anybody know
how to work caller ID?
How can you not know
how to use a phone?
- My attention's been elsewhere.
- Pay attention to that because...
- ... Bruce's friend is gonna call you.
- The agent?
I don't need an agent,
I need a caller ID tutorial.
You need an agent,
you're gonna be a star.
Used to be you had to sing and dance.
You are gonna get a lot of work
ripping these people to shreds...
...and looking good doing it.
That's an actual job now?
That's him.
Let's see. I push this button...
...the phone number appears.
Ainsley?
202-456-1414.
Is that the agent?
It's the White House.
- Hey, Sam.
- Excuse me?
- What?
- Did you say something to me?
- I said, " Hey, Sam. "
- Really?
It sounded like you might have made a
wisecrack about Oregon and California.
Sorry. Out of luck.
- Hey, C.J.
- Hi, Donna.
- Just getting here? This is late for you.
- I got lost.
- Where?
- On the way to work.
- When?
- Now! This morning.
- You got lost on your way to work?
- Good morning, Carol.
- Good morning, Sam. It's 8: 15.
- We'll do messages in a minute.
- Lost on your way to work.
- Don't make fun.
- I wouldn't worry about that.
- I didn't sleep much.
- How much did you sleep?
- None, not at all.
You slept none, not at all?
I am today excited about you
being the president's spokesperson.
Let me ask you something.
I was talking yesterday to a reporter
who's new in the room...
...and he asked me a question,
and in my answer....
Let me ask you something.
You know you haven't
asked me anything yet, right?
- Yeah, listen, never mind.
- C.J.?
- Forget it.
- What is it?
The two of you.
Come take a walk with me.
- What's going on?
- I wanted to tell you with people...
- ... around so you wouldn't scream.
- Scream?
The woman who was on
Capitol Beat with Sam Sunday.
- What about her?
- I'm offering her a job.
- Where?
- Here.
- Are you kidding?
- No.
- Are you kidding?
- No.
- Are you kidding?
- No.
What the hell made you think I wouldn't
scream where there are people?
- I took a shot.
- Leo!
Outside.
I haven't honed in on this.
- A lot of people in Africa with HIV.
- Right.
American companies hold
the patents on medicines they need.
Most people in most of Africa can't
afford them so they buy them...
- ... off the black market...
- Violating U.S. patents and treaties.
How prohibitively priced are
the drugs?
- About 150 bucks a week.
- That's not totally off the charts.
A police officer in Kenya
makes $43 a month.
Do good in there.
- This isn't about profit...
- Sir.
- This isn't about profit...
- Sir, you have interrupted me again.
My apologies, Mr. President.
How can you tell us this isn't
about profit maximization?
You sell Emperex for half the price
in Norway than you do in my country.
- That's not the issue.
- Let's make it the issue.
Let's make it the issue
for the moment.
You can't compare
prices worldwide.
Sir, excuse me, sir.
I was the one
who asked the question...
...I'd appreciate it if you directed
your answer to me.
President Nimbala,
when you sell to small pharmacies...
...as we do in Norway,
a different price is set.
Norway....
Norway, $10 per unit U.S.
My country, $23 per unit U.S.
Retail markups, taxes, pharmacy
discounts, these things vary widely.
Not to mention we don't know if
the drugs are getting to your citizens.
You're implying corruption
and incompetence.
We do have reports of that,
Mr. President.
You talk to me about corruption?
What are your annual sales
of fluconazole alone?
- A billion dollars.
- I don't understand your point.
I think President Nimbala's
saying there's more money...
...in giving a white guy an erection
than curing a black guy of AIDS.
Sir, my company has given away...
...over $120 million worth
of free drugs a year...
...including free doses of Xyclacinth,
which is one of two drugs...
...in your country curing
eye infection right now.
They're not dying
from eye infections, Alan.
They're not dying
because of me either, Toby.
I'd like not to be talked to this way.
If it was 26 million Europeans dying,
we'd have had a solution yesterday.
How much would it cost
for you to provide free drugs...
...to the Sahelese Republic, Kenya
and the Republic of Equatorial Kuhndu?
I have no idea.
Why not? We're talking about
130,000 patients, 200mg pills...
...three times a day, every day,
what's the X factor?
We don't know how long they'll live.
We're nowhere.
Let's take a break.
- She's here.
- Good.
- Should I send her in?
- Yeah.
- You want me to stay here?
- Why?
- In case something should happen?
- What would that be exactly?
- I'll bring her in.
- Thank you.
- Ainsley?
- Mr. McGarry.
- Leo's fine.
- Yes, sir.
Were you offered coffee
or something to drink?
The woman out there, who I imagine is
your secretary, offered me coffee.
She was also kind enough
to ask for my coat.
- Excellent.
- She seems to be a very good secretary.
Well, she'll be happy to hear that,
she's standing right outside the door.
So I have to tell you...
...I've never seen Sam Seaborn get
beat the way you beat him on Monday.
Yes, well, Mr. McGarry...
- Leo.
- Yes, sir.
I've been thinking about
that since your office called...
...and I have something to say.
I understand if you won't let me,
but I would appreciate if you did.
I didn't really follow that,
but whatever.
It is wrong for a man
in your position to summon someone...
...to reprimand them
for voicing opposition.
I think that is wrong,
and it is inappropriate.
It's inappropriate,
and I'll tell you what else...
It's wrong? That's fine, except you
weren't summoned to be reprimanded.
Then why was I summoned?
You have an interesting
conversational style, you know that?
- It's a nervous condition.
- I used to have a nervous condition.
- How did yours manifest itself?
- I drank a lot of Scotch.
- I get sick when I drink too much.
- I get drunk.
- Well, Mr. McGarry...
- Leo.
Yes, sir. I'll ask again. For what
purpose was I brought here today?
So I could offer you a job.
It is not fair that I be expected
to play the role of mouse...
...to the White House's
cat in a game of...
- You know?
- Cat and mouse?
Yes. And it's not
like I'm not, you know....
The fact that I may not look
like the Republicans who have...
...crossed your path does not mean
that I am any less inclined toward...
Here it comes.
- Did you say, " Offer me a job"?
- Yes. Associate White House counsel.
You'd report to the
deputy White House counsel...
...who reports to the White House
counsel, who reports to me.
I'm sorry, a job in this White House?
- You want a glass of Scotch?
- Yes, please.
C.J.?
See a sleep doctor.
Take a pill. Do something.
I rode the Lifecycle this morning
for an hour and a half.
If it was a real cycle,
I'd have been in Belgium by now.
What did you wanna
ask me the other day?
- If I tell, you could be subpoenaed.
- Don't worry.
- It could cost you...
- Don't worry about it.
I do worry about it.
There's no problem.
I just need some sleep.
What can I bring into the room
about the conference?
The sessions are productive.
Progress is being made.
These kind of things take time.
All the parties are optimistic.
Are any of the parties optimistic?
- No.
- Okay.
C.J.?
- Did you say something to me?
- No.
Because I thought you
might have said something.
I have always been a Republican.
My father is a Republican.
His father was state chairman
of the North Carolina Republican Party.
When I was young,
I was a Young Republican.
Even if you hadn't already
told me this many, many times...
...I would know it anyway
because I have this FBI file.
You have my FBI file?
I can't believe that.
You have my FBI file?
I have an FBI file?
- Ainsley...
- Mr. McGarry, I loathe...
- ... almost everything you believe in.
- Where you going?
I'm standing up, which is how one
speaks in opposition in a civilized world.
- You go, girl.
- I find this administration smug...
...and patronizing and under the
impression that those who disagree...
...are less than them,
and with colder hearts.
That's not true.
How many people on your staff assumed
that I was ambitious, mean and stupid?
None.
C.J. Cregg thinks you kill your pets.
You don't do that, do you?
No, I don't kill my pets.
I don't have any pets.
I was thinking about getting a pet...
The point is...
- Ainsley.
- Yes, sir.
- Don't you wanna work here?
- Oh, only since I was 2.
- Okay, then.
- It has to be this White House?
- Ainsley...
- Mr. McGarry...
The president likes smart people
who disagree with him.
He wants to hear from you.
The president's asking you to serve.
And everything else is crap.
Think about it overnight.
Come back here at 6:00 tomorrow
and give me your answer.
Margaret!
How you doing? Show Miss Hayes out,
would you, please?
This way.
You're listening,
but you're not understanding.
I disagree with you.
That doesn't mean I'm not listening to
you or understanding what you're saying.
You gotta get out of their face.
They can leave.
We don't have anything they need.
- Patent treaties need to be enforced.
- They will be.
The drug companies got half
the House of Representatives elected.
Congress is gonna get serious.
The pills cost 4 cents a unit to make.
You know that's not true.
The second pill cost 4 cents.
The first pill cost them
$400 million.
They also enjoy unprecedented
tax breaks, foreign tax credits...
...research exemptions
and expensing of research expenditures.
And business is pretty good,
so they're gonna cover their bet.
- Tell me about Nimbala.
- They had no cheese. It's boysenberry.
- A boysenberry Danish?
- It's new.
Tell me about Nimbala.
He's a good president, Josh.
A great soldier,
brilliant commander.
He led his people for 28 years,
he can't get ahead of the curve.
He's cursed by geography.
If the ground won't grow anything,
you don't have an economy.
But still he stands in a room
and he talks about Norman Borlaug.
He came here himself, Josh.
He didn't send delegates.
I think it's because
he doesn't have any.
I think he's holding his country
together with both hands.
Then let's make sure we send him
back with something, is my point.
- Fellas?
- Yeah.
They're ready.
Yeah.
Folks, please take your seats.
Good afternoon. Guess what?
The audit figures released yesterday
by the Senate Finance Committee...
...confirmed earlier reports released
by the Congressional Budget Office...
...regarding the increased
budget surplus projections.
The CBO's projection increased
the surplus from 2 trillion...
...over the next 10 years
to 2. 2 trillion.
This exceeds even the most optimistic
estimates published last year...
...by the White House Budget Office
of 300 billion.
And the CBO's projection
last quarter of 900 billion.
Needless to say, these figures....
- Are you new too?
- Excuse me?
- Are you new too? It's my fourth day.
- No.
Maybe you can help me.
I'm trying to find out about drilling
equipment that might've been sold...
...by Bonamo Energy to the Iraqis
in violation of sanctions.
I asked C.J. about it, and she said
there's a grand-jury investigation...
...and she's not allowed to talk.
If you ask me, she was acting
a little bit, I don't know....
I hear she hasn't slept
and maybe that's...
She told you there was
a grand-jury investigation?
- Yeah.
- Miss Hayes?
- Yeah.
- This way.
...responsible and put a large portion
of the surplus to debt reduction.
An update on the summit?
With regards to the progress made here
at the summit for African AIDS relief...
...all parties are optimistic that
an agreement will be reached soon.
I think there's a more fundamental
problem than marginal cost.
We've been at this for four days,
and I think we haven't talked...
...about the fundamental
misunderstanding in Africa...
...over the basic facts of AIDS.
There's no misunderstanding.
A week ago you people stood up
and said that AIDS has only...
...a casual relationship to HIV.
I'm not certain to whom you're
referring when you say, "You people. "
But it was President Mbeki
of South Africa who said that...
...and not anyone in this room.
I think Mr. Damson has brought up
a hard truth that should be faced.
What's that?
If tomorrow we made AIDS medication
free to every patient in your country...
...as much as they needed for as long
as they needed it, it would likely...
...make very little difference
in the spread of the epidemic.
Why?
Anti-HIV drugs are a triple cocktail.
It's a complicated regimen
that requires 10 pills...
...to be taken every day
at precise times.
Two protease inhibitors
every eight hours...
...two combination
RTL pills every 12 hours.
What's the problem?
They don't own wristwatches.
They can't tell time.
We agree that something must be done,
but we don't think we're culprits...
...and we don't think there
is an easy or obvious solution.
And we think you should be
aware of the dangers involved...
...in some of the proposals
made here today.
Mr. President, may we speak
with you alone, please?
Ainsley.
Could I...? Could you give me
just a moment, please?
- Sure.
- Thank you.
Excuse me.
I was going to see Leo McGarry.
He asked me to come back and
see him again at the end of the day.
- I'm Ainsley Hayes.
- It's good to meet you.
I'm not taking the job, C.J.
Well....
Okay.
I just wanted to...
Okay.
C.J., Rule 6E of the Federal Rules
of Criminal Procedure says you...
...can be prosecuted for even confirming
a grand jury's been impaneled.
How did you know?
A reporter in your press room, who hasn't
read Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Well, someone's
gonna tell him eventually.
Who told you?
One of the witnesses who was called.
What could happen?
Eighteen months, medium security.
C.J., I'm kidding.
You didn't break the law.
Attorneys and jurors
are under a gag order.
Witnesses are free
to say what they want.
And anyone is free
to repeat what they've said.
You know, I'm not sure that laying
low and hoping nobody noticed...
...was the best strategy here.
Next time you should really run
it by someone in the counsel's office.
- Anyway, I should go see Leo.
- Yeah.
President Nimbala.
I'm gonna put a deal together
and I want you to agree to it.
- What am I agreeing to?
- I can get them to lower their prices.
But you have to commit your military,
your Customs Bureau...
...and your Ministry of Health.
You have to commit them to stopping
the influx of black-market HIV drugs...
...from Korea and Pakistan...
...and from wherever else
they're coming.
35.8 percent
of our adult population is infected.
Sixty percent of our hospital beds are
occupied by people who are HIV-positive.
Our Institute of Policy Analysis says in
the coming decade...
...50 percent of all households
in my country...
...will have at least one member
infected with HIV.
To think I care about international patent
law at a time like this is unrealistic.
Mr. President,
the U.S. Department of Commerce...
...will put your country on a watch list.
That's the first step
toward trade sanctions.
Our Congress could end
all aid to your country.
Or you can agree
to what we're saying.
In exchange for which we believe we
can get Congress to forgive the debt...
...on all your past development loans,
and we believe the Export-Import Bank...
...will offer a billion dollars
in loans to finance the purchase...
...of American AIDS medication.
- Congress won't approve the loan.
- Congress won't have to, sir.
The Treasury and the State Department
will review it...
...but if we spread the loans out
over several countries in your region...
...and if none of the loans
exceed $100 million...
...we don't need
congressional approval.
That law might change soon.
It's a terrible thing to beg for your life.
Terrible.
My father....
"Proud. "
Proud.
My father was a proud man.
He built homes.
He wouldn't like what
I came here to do.
Yes, he would, Mr. President.
I swear to God he would.
Thank you, sir.
Go tell Leo.
Hi.
Hi.
Something you forgot to mention
about the 95 percent of the money...
...going into the classroom
past the pork-barrel buffet...
...was that the school only got money
if they did not distribute condoms.
That's a reason to veto it.
The thing our public schools need
more than anything are free condoms.
I'd definitely make that priority one.
- Where's Leo?
- He's not here.
You look familiar to me.
You're Aimsley Hayes.
- Ainsley, with an N.
- She works here now.
- What?
- Leo hired her.
- What?
- Leo hired her.
He told me and C.J.,
he was waiting to tell you and Toby.
- What was he waiting for?
- How the hell do I know, Josh?
Waiting until he hired me,
which he hasn't done...
- ... because I'm not taking the job.
- You're not?
No. But thank you for talking to me
instead of about me.
Hang on, I'm back on he offered you
the job, but you're not taking the job?
Why participate in the process when
you can get a job commenting on it?
You think I don't want to work here...
...because I can get
a better gig on Geraldo?
Gosh, let's see if there could possibly
be any other reason why I wouldn't...
...want to work in this White House.
This White House that feels government
is better for children than parents.
That looks at 40 years of degrading and
humiliating free lunches handed out...
...in a failed effort to level the playing
field and says, " Let's try 40 more. "
This White House that says of anyone,
that points that out...
...that they are cold and mean
and racist...
...and then accuses Republicans
of using the politics of fear.
This White House that loves
the Bill of Rights. Except the second one.
This is the wrong place
to talk about guns right now.
- I thought your column was idiotic.
- Imagine my surprise.
But for a brilliant surgical team
and 2 centimeters of a miracle...
...this guy's dead right now, from
bullets fired from a gun bought legally.
They bought guns. They loaded them.
They drove from Wheeling to Rosslyn.
Until they pulled the trigger,
they did not commit a crime.
I am tired of the gun lobby tossing
around words like " personal freedom"...
...and nobody calling them on it.
It's not about personal freedom,
and it has nothing to do with safety.
It's just that some people like guns.
Yes, they do.
But you know
what's more insidious than that?
Your gun control position doesn't have
anything to do with public safety...
...and it's certainly
not about personal freedom.
It's about you don't like people
who do like guns.
You don't like the people.
Think about that the next time
you make a joke about the South.
Where's Leo?
- What?
- Where's Leo?
We don't know.
Charlie, you seen Leo?
We got a situation.
- Six hundred?
- Yes, sir.
- Television and radio?
- They have them.
When do I see pictures
of what I'm looking for?
Ten minutes in the Situation Room.
I want Fitzwallace and Nancy.
We're getting in
the early CIC report.
- Donna, tell C.J. it's an open lid.
- She knows, they're coming back.
Leo?
Excuse us. Excuse me, everybody.
Could we have the room
a moment, please?
Sam.
Mr. President, three hours ago
there was a coup in your country.
The AFRC has taken the capital.
- And my children?
- We're finding out.
The information's coming very quickly
from our people in Angola and Sudan.
Mr. President, I think you should sit.
No, thank you. I'll go now.
No, no. Sir, my State Department
is offering you asylum in the U.S.
Thank you, Mr. President,
but I have to go home.
You can't go home.
You can't go home.
- I'm their leader.
- They have the capital.
They have the radio station,
they have the television station.
- Are there Americans on the ground?
- I'm evacuating the embassy.
- Have they closed the airport?
- Yes.
They'll want to arrest me.
They'll want to put me on trial.
You should trade my return for
the safe departure of the Americans.
I don't need to trade you.
If they won't give me
the Americans, we'll go in.
- They know that and they'll let them go.
- I'd like to call my embassy.
Your embassy is in exile, Mr. President.
They will shoot you
the moment you step off the plane.
Thank you.
Please tell me what is in that message.
We think your brother
and your two sons are already dead.
We think your wife
is being hidden in Kenya.
You understand, don't you,
why I can't offer military assistance?
Yes.
Sit with me for a moment.
Sit down, sir.
And you know they just wanted
to hire her so they could say they did.
" Look at us, we hired a Republican,
look how bipartisan we are.
We didn't even notice
that she looks like a Gap dancer. "
That's right.
- Ainsley.
- Hey.
- Bruce was telling me.
- I couldn't resist.
- So they tried to hire you?
- How did McGarry's face look?
- What?
- When you said no.
I couldn't see him.
He had to....
- He was called into...
- What's wrong?
Nothing. He had to....
Something happened...
I wanted you to say it to his face.
I wanted to see...
I hate these people.
Did you meet anyone
there who isn't worthless?
- Don't say that.
- Did you meet anyone there...?
I said, don't say that.
Say they're smug and superior.
Say their approach to public policy
makes you wanna tear your hair out.
Say they like high taxes
and spending your money.
Say they want to take your guns
and open your borders.
But don't call them worthless.
At least don't do it in front of me.
The people that I have met
have been extraordinarily qualified.
Their intent is good.
Their commitment is true.
They are righteous.
And they are patriots.
And I'm their lawyer.
You ever read Paul Ehrlich's book?
- The Population Bomb?
- Yeah. He wrote it in 1968.
Ehrlich said that it was a fantasy
that India would ever feed itself.
Then Norman Borlaug comes along.
The problem was that wheat is
top-heavy. It was falling over on itself...
...and it took up too much space.
The dwarf wheat.
Guys, it was
an agricultural revolution...
...that was credited
with saving 1 billion lives.
Thanks.
It happened?
They executed him
in the airport parking lot.
Okay.
I'll see you Monday.
- I don't know these people.
- You will.
- Which one is Toby?
- I am.
- Which one are you?
- I'm Josh.
- My name is Charlie Young.
- Donna Moss. You?
I'm just guessing. I'm pretty drunk.
Which one is Josh?
- C.J. Cregg.
- Toby Ziegler, C.J. Cregg, Sam Seaborn.
- Yeah.
- You gotta be impressed...
...I got those names right.
- Sam.
- Mark.
- You done?
- Yeah.
- It's not gonna be Wengland.
- What happened?
- He's stuck in Denver.
- I wanted Wengland.
- Did you get Stackhouse?
- Couldn't get him or Santana, Monroe...
- Who'd you get?
- A woman named Ainsley Hayes.
- Aimsley?
- Ainsley, with an N.
- I don't know her.
- A new producer brought her in.
- Tell me she's not...
- She is.
- I thought that was over.
- No, it's not.
She's got blond hair, long legs,
she's a Republican, so she's...
She's in show business.
A young, blond, leggy Republican.
- I thought they didn't know anything.
- They don't.
- Sam.
- Yeah.
- Ainsley?
- Yes.
- Mark Gottfried.
- Ainsley Hayes.
We'll be starting here
in about a minute.
- I understand you've never done TV.
- No, not as such. No.
- "Not as such"? What does that mean?
- It means, no, I haven't done TV.
- Can I give you a little friendly advice?
- Yes, I would appreciate it.
- Don't overreach.
- Don't overreach?
Don't try to do too much,
don't try to know more than you do.
My show is not the place
for you to become a star.
You'll be opposite Sam Seaborn.
He wouldn't keep coming...
...if he didn't wipe the floor
with everyone.
- I've seen him.
- Don't be scared.
- I'll try.
- I'll step in, take punches for you...
...if it gets out of hand, but if you don't
go far from the points, you'll be fine.
Thirty seconds.
- We start with the education package?
- Yeah.
- You owe me 20 bucks on the Skins.
- In the Green Room, man.
- I'm Sam Seaborn.
- Ainsley Hayes.
- Twenty seconds.
- You bet with George on the Skins?
- Over/under.
- How's Josh?
- He's good.
- Ten seconds.
- Here we go. Remember what I said.
- Yeah.
In five, four, three....
Capital Beat, with Mark Gottfried.
Tonight, from the right, Republican
political analyst Ainsley Hayes.
And from the left, White House
senior advisor Sam Seaborn.
With Chris Eisen at the Pentagon
and Marjorie Clark in New York.
Good evening. Before we get
to Chris and Marjorie...
...tonight on the Capital Beat, the
House is expected to vote next week...
...on President Bartlet's
$ 1. 5-billion education package.
Sam Seaborn, why is this bill better
than its Republican counterpart...
...that the president
vetoed last year?
Because it buys things that
teachers need, like textbooks.
In a fairly comprehensive study,
an alarmingly high number of teachers...
...40 percent of the teachers
in Kirkwood, Oregon, for instance...
...and Kirkwood being a fair model for
public school districts in the country...
...40 percent of teachers
in Kirkwood, Oregon...
...do not have sufficient
textbooks for students.
The package offered by
the Republican-controlled Congress...
...offered zero dollars
for new textbooks.
- Ainsley Hayes, is that true?
- No, it's not.
- Is Sam Seaborn lying?
- " Lying " is an awfully strong word.
- Do you...?
- Yes, he's lying.
And we should tell
the truth about education.
- If you're gonna call...
- The bill had money for textbooks.
Also, computer literacy,
school safety, physical plant.
The difference is we wanted
to give the money to communities...
...and let them decide how
to spend it on the off-chance...
...the needs of Lincoln High
in Dayton are different from...
- ... Crenshaw High in South Central L.A.
- Why did the president veto the bill?
Because it guaranteed by law that 95%
of the money go into the classroom...
...and bypass the pork-barrel buffet,
which troubles the president...
...because he doesn't work
for the students.
- That's untrue.
- He doesn't work for the parents.
He works for the teachers union.
The bill contained plenty
of money for textbooks...
...and anyone who says
otherwise is lying.
We should tell the truth about this.
Textbooks are important.
If for no other reason
than they accurately place...
...Kirkwood in California, not Oregon.
And we're in business. We'll be back
with more Capital Beat after this.
We're out.
I'm sorry, did I overreach?
- Hey, Sam.
- Yeah.
- This one might know something.
- Yeah.
Please let them not be watching.
Toby. Come quick.
Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl.
Ginger, get the popcorn.
There'll be a photo op
in a half-hour with President Bartlet...
...and President Nimbala
of the Republic of Equatorial Kuhndu...
...who's representing African nations.
Is it the goal of the summit to get
drug companies to lower prices...
...or is the goal to get African
countries to honor U.S. patents?
The goal of the summit is
to get a step closer...
...to solving 26 million
African AIDS victims.
We're counting on the drug companies,
on African nations...
...on the global health community.
They're counting on us for a solution.
Will the White House
declare war on drug companies?
It sounds like you have.
If we need a button man, we'll call you.
Thank you.
Half-hour in the Mural Room.
Carol, they'll need to be
in three groups.
You know what you
might have mentioned?
A 14-minute briefing,
and I get reviews?
The same drug that is $10 in Norway,
where nobody needs it...
...costs $90 in Burundi,
where everybody needs it.
Nothing keeps these
people here but goodwill.
They can charge what they want.
It sounded like we will
be soft on drug companies.
Nobody expects us
to be anything but tough on...
- ... American companies showing a profit.
- Damn right.
Where was the
'92 World Copyright Conference?
- Geneva.
- Thank you.
I really admire the way you came
to work this morning head held high.
I appreciate you being
the only one not to heckle me.
No problem. There's a bunch of women,
why don't you ask where Geneva is.
Go to my office.
Me and you, 20 questions,
general knowledge test.
- Go.
- I'll spot two questions.
- For how much money?
- Go to my office.
I'm going to his office.
- She's making the chicken sound now.
- Go to my office.
A drug they gotta buy
from us for $4...
...they can get generic
from Pakistan for 40 cents.
That's not the only bargain in Pakistan.
My friends and I go for spring fashions.
It shows.
- C.J.
- He made a dig about my clothes.
That'll be with me for the day.
I wanted to introduce myself.
I'm Bill Kelley from the Cleveland Courier.
They're breaking me in...
- ... to cover for Tom Johnson.
- Welcome.
Can I ask you something?
Do you know anything about Bonamo
Energy selling drilling equipment to Iraq?
I won't wave you off the story,
but I can't tell you anything.
If they were selling them, that would
be in violation of sanctions, right?
Grand-jury investigations are secret,
I can't tell you any more.
- I understand. Nice meeting you.
- Nice meeting you.
- Bill?
- Yeah.
Nothing, just nothing.
Then you've got guys like Mbeki
who say that AIDS isn't linked to HIV...
...it's linked to poverty.
- It is.
- Do you want a list of dead millionaires?
He was saying prostitutes,
migrant laborers, the ill-educated...
...and victims of sexual abuse
are more likely...
Leo, AIDS is caused by HIV.
You named a group of people
that have a higher mortality rate.
- Morning.
- Good morning, sir.
- Where are we?
- They're all set.
Thank you.
The health minister
was clarifying his comments.
They have a health minister who
doesn't think AIDS is connected to HIV.
He was clearing up the comments.
Did you see Sam get puréed
last night on Capital Beat?
I didn't see it,
but I have heard tell.
He got diced and sliced
by a woman named Ainsley Hayes.
She's been writing some columns.
I had Charlie pull them for me.
Where's she been?
- She was clerking for Dreifort.
- We should hire her.
- That'd be funny.
- No, I mean it.
- Mean what?
- We should hire her.
You mean, as a joke on Sam?
Not as a joke. We should hire
her as a reality. We should hire her.
- She's a Republican.
- So's half the country.
That half lost, so...
She's smart, not just carping.
She feels a sense of something.
- Of what?
- Mr. President?
Of duty. Of civic duty.
- How many pieces by her did you read?
- Three.
- You're sure of her sense of civic duty?
- I can sense civic duty a mile away.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
Good morning, everybody.
- Good morning, Mr. President.
- Good morning, sir.
You can tell your caption editors,
Bartlet's the third guy from the right.
Thank you, sir. Presidents Bartlet
and Nimbala will take questions.
- President Bartlet?
- Katie.
This is a summit among leaders
of American pharmaceutical companies...
...and AIDS-ravaged African nations that
President Nimbala is representing here.
Is there a political upside
to having President Nimbala here...
...and not the pharmaceutical
companies?
Yes, I'm trying to shore up
the sub-Saharan vote.
Mr. President, are you considering
asking Congress to forgive existing debt?
It's an international health crisis,
there's nothing I'm not considering.
- Arthur.
- President Nimbala, what's the best...
...you hope to come away with from
this summit? What's a home run?
A miracle.
There are people who
make miracles in the world.
One of them lives right here
in the U.S.
He realized that vital elements could
be harvested from the stalk of the wheat.
In his hands, India,
which at the time...
...had been ravaged
by drought and overpopulation...
...in his hands, their wheat crop
increased from 11 million tons...
...to 60 million tons annually.
That's right. His name is
Norman Borlaug, by the way...
...and he won
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.
Thank you, Mr. President,
President Nimbala. Thank you, everyone.
I think you're absolutely right
about the kind of miracle we need.
I think we're gonna make a lot
of progress in the next couple of days.
I hope so, Mr. President.
My country's dying.
It was called dwarf wheat,
which produces heavy yields...
...without its stalk falling over
from the weight of the grain.
Was it a hybrid?
What am I, Farmer Bob? There was
more wheat than there used to be.
And hire that girl.
- What girl?
- Ainsley Hayes.
- No.
- Why?
This is a thing you're excited
about at breakfast...
...that you forget
you told me to do by lunch.
- Not one of those.
- It is one of those.
Hard as you might try, the
Republican Party isn't going anywhere.
We don't know that,
they could move to Vancouver.
- I don't think so.
- Me neither.
But being in power means everybody
else can take a seat for four years.
Charlie, I wanna hire a woman whose
voice would fit in nicely around here.
She's a conservative Republican,
you think I should do it?
Absolutely, Mr. President, because I'm
told that theirs is the party of inclusion.
See? Charlie just made a joke
to you in the Oval Office.
- That's how bad an idea it is.
- Leo...
Seriously, Mr. President, if you wanna
do this, it's not an uninteresting notion...
...just do it in a high-profile place.
- Put a Republican in the Cabinet.
- We might.
A hundred million Republicans,
we might hire as many as two of them.
- But for now, hire this girl.
- To do what?
I don't know. She's a lawyer,
put her in counsel's office.
- You really want me to do this?
- Yes.
- What if she doesn't wanna work here?
- Appeal to her sense of duty.
Smooth it over with the staff.
I don't wanna hear from them.
- She can always have my job.
- Yes, she can.
- Thank you, Mr. President.
- Thank you.
- Charlie?
- Yes, sir.
When they close the book
on me and you...
...it will say at this moment,
you were not there for me...
...and for that there'll be punishment.
Well, you could sing Puccini for me
again, Mr. President. We'll call it even.
...and anyone who says
otherwise is lying.
- Here it comes.
- Does anybody know...?
Textbooks are important.
If for no other reason
than they accurately place...
...Kirkwood in California,
not Oregon.
Oh, I could watch
that a hundred times.
Does anybody know
how to work caller ID?
How can you not know
how to use a phone?
- My attention's been elsewhere.
- Pay attention to that because...
- ... Bruce's friend is gonna call you.
- The agent?
I don't need an agent,
I need a caller ID tutorial.
You need an agent,
you're gonna be a star.
Used to be you had to sing and dance.
You are gonna get a lot of work
ripping these people to shreds...
...and looking good doing it.
That's an actual job now?
That's him.
Let's see. I push this button...
...the phone number appears.
Ainsley?
202-456-1414.
Is that the agent?
It's the White House.
- Hey, Sam.
- Excuse me?
- What?
- Did you say something to me?
- I said, " Hey, Sam. "
- Really?
It sounded like you might have made a
wisecrack about Oregon and California.
Sorry. Out of luck.
- Hey, C.J.
- Hi, Donna.
- Just getting here? This is late for you.
- I got lost.
- Where?
- On the way to work.
- When?
- Now! This morning.
- You got lost on your way to work?
- Good morning, Carol.
- Good morning, Sam. It's 8: 15.
- We'll do messages in a minute.
- Lost on your way to work.
- Don't make fun.
- I wouldn't worry about that.
- I didn't sleep much.
- How much did you sleep?
- None, not at all.
You slept none, not at all?
I am today excited about you
being the president's spokesperson.
Let me ask you something.
I was talking yesterday to a reporter
who's new in the room...
...and he asked me a question,
and in my answer....
Let me ask you something.
You know you haven't
asked me anything yet, right?
- Yeah, listen, never mind.
- C.J.?
- Forget it.
- What is it?
The two of you.
Come take a walk with me.
- What's going on?
- I wanted to tell you with people...
- ... around so you wouldn't scream.
- Scream?
The woman who was on
Capitol Beat with Sam Sunday.
- What about her?
- I'm offering her a job.
- Where?
- Here.
- Are you kidding?
- No.
- Are you kidding?
- No.
- Are you kidding?
- No.
What the hell made you think I wouldn't
scream where there are people?
- I took a shot.
- Leo!
Outside.
I haven't honed in on this.
- A lot of people in Africa with HIV.
- Right.
American companies hold
the patents on medicines they need.
Most people in most of Africa can't
afford them so they buy them...
- ... off the black market...
- Violating U.S. patents and treaties.
How prohibitively priced are
the drugs?
- About 150 bucks a week.
- That's not totally off the charts.
A police officer in Kenya
makes $43 a month.
Do good in there.
- This isn't about profit...
- Sir.
- This isn't about profit...
- Sir, you have interrupted me again.
My apologies, Mr. President.
How can you tell us this isn't
about profit maximization?
You sell Emperex for half the price
in Norway than you do in my country.
- That's not the issue.
- Let's make it the issue.
Let's make it the issue
for the moment.
You can't compare
prices worldwide.
Sir, excuse me, sir.
I was the one
who asked the question...
...I'd appreciate it if you directed
your answer to me.
President Nimbala,
when you sell to small pharmacies...
...as we do in Norway,
a different price is set.
Norway....
Norway, $10 per unit U.S.
My country, $23 per unit U.S.
Retail markups, taxes, pharmacy
discounts, these things vary widely.
Not to mention we don't know if
the drugs are getting to your citizens.
You're implying corruption
and incompetence.
We do have reports of that,
Mr. President.
You talk to me about corruption?
What are your annual sales
of fluconazole alone?
- A billion dollars.
- I don't understand your point.
I think President Nimbala's
saying there's more money...
...in giving a white guy an erection
than curing a black guy of AIDS.
Sir, my company has given away...
...over $120 million worth
of free drugs a year...
...including free doses of Xyclacinth,
which is one of two drugs...
...in your country curing
eye infection right now.
They're not dying
from eye infections, Alan.
They're not dying
because of me either, Toby.
I'd like not to be talked to this way.
If it was 26 million Europeans dying,
we'd have had a solution yesterday.
How much would it cost
for you to provide free drugs...
...to the Sahelese Republic, Kenya
and the Republic of Equatorial Kuhndu?
I have no idea.
Why not? We're talking about
130,000 patients, 200mg pills...
...three times a day, every day,
what's the X factor?
We don't know how long they'll live.
We're nowhere.
Let's take a break.
- She's here.
- Good.
- Should I send her in?
- Yeah.
- You want me to stay here?
- Why?
- In case something should happen?
- What would that be exactly?
- I'll bring her in.
- Thank you.
- Ainsley?
- Mr. McGarry.
- Leo's fine.
- Yes, sir.
Were you offered coffee
or something to drink?
The woman out there, who I imagine is
your secretary, offered me coffee.
She was also kind enough
to ask for my coat.
- Excellent.
- She seems to be a very good secretary.
Well, she'll be happy to hear that,
she's standing right outside the door.
So I have to tell you...
...I've never seen Sam Seaborn get
beat the way you beat him on Monday.
Yes, well, Mr. McGarry...
- Leo.
- Yes, sir.
I've been thinking about
that since your office called...
...and I have something to say.
I understand if you won't let me,
but I would appreciate if you did.
I didn't really follow that,
but whatever.
It is wrong for a man
in your position to summon someone...
...to reprimand them
for voicing opposition.
I think that is wrong,
and it is inappropriate.
It's inappropriate,
and I'll tell you what else...
It's wrong? That's fine, except you
weren't summoned to be reprimanded.
Then why was I summoned?
You have an interesting
conversational style, you know that?
- It's a nervous condition.
- I used to have a nervous condition.
- How did yours manifest itself?
- I drank a lot of Scotch.
- I get sick when I drink too much.
- I get drunk.
- Well, Mr. McGarry...
- Leo.
Yes, sir. I'll ask again. For what
purpose was I brought here today?
So I could offer you a job.
It is not fair that I be expected
to play the role of mouse...
...to the White House's
cat in a game of...
- You know?
- Cat and mouse?
Yes. And it's not
like I'm not, you know....
The fact that I may not look
like the Republicans who have...
...crossed your path does not mean
that I am any less inclined toward...
Here it comes.
- Did you say, " Offer me a job"?
- Yes. Associate White House counsel.
You'd report to the
deputy White House counsel...
...who reports to the White House
counsel, who reports to me.
I'm sorry, a job in this White House?
- You want a glass of Scotch?
- Yes, please.
C.J.?
See a sleep doctor.
Take a pill. Do something.
I rode the Lifecycle this morning
for an hour and a half.
If it was a real cycle,
I'd have been in Belgium by now.
What did you wanna
ask me the other day?
- If I tell, you could be subpoenaed.
- Don't worry.
- It could cost you...
- Don't worry about it.
I do worry about it.
There's no problem.
I just need some sleep.
What can I bring into the room
about the conference?
The sessions are productive.
Progress is being made.
These kind of things take time.
All the parties are optimistic.
Are any of the parties optimistic?
- No.
- Okay.
C.J.?
- Did you say something to me?
- No.
Because I thought you
might have said something.
I have always been a Republican.
My father is a Republican.
His father was state chairman
of the North Carolina Republican Party.
When I was young,
I was a Young Republican.
Even if you hadn't already
told me this many, many times...
...I would know it anyway
because I have this FBI file.
You have my FBI file?
I can't believe that.
You have my FBI file?
I have an FBI file?
- Ainsley...
- Mr. McGarry, I loathe...
- ... almost everything you believe in.
- Where you going?
I'm standing up, which is how one
speaks in opposition in a civilized world.
- You go, girl.
- I find this administration smug...
...and patronizing and under the
impression that those who disagree...
...are less than them,
and with colder hearts.
That's not true.
How many people on your staff assumed
that I was ambitious, mean and stupid?
None.
C.J. Cregg thinks you kill your pets.
You don't do that, do you?
No, I don't kill my pets.
I don't have any pets.
I was thinking about getting a pet...
The point is...
- Ainsley.
- Yes, sir.
- Don't you wanna work here?
- Oh, only since I was 2.
- Okay, then.
- It has to be this White House?
- Ainsley...
- Mr. McGarry...
The president likes smart people
who disagree with him.
He wants to hear from you.
The president's asking you to serve.
And everything else is crap.
Think about it overnight.
Come back here at 6:00 tomorrow
and give me your answer.
Margaret!
How you doing? Show Miss Hayes out,
would you, please?
This way.
You're listening,
but you're not understanding.
I disagree with you.
That doesn't mean I'm not listening to
you or understanding what you're saying.
You gotta get out of their face.
They can leave.
We don't have anything they need.
- Patent treaties need to be enforced.
- They will be.
The drug companies got half
the House of Representatives elected.
Congress is gonna get serious.
The pills cost 4 cents a unit to make.
You know that's not true.
The second pill cost 4 cents.
The first pill cost them
$400 million.
They also enjoy unprecedented
tax breaks, foreign tax credits...
...research exemptions
and expensing of research expenditures.
And business is pretty good,
so they're gonna cover their bet.
- Tell me about Nimbala.
- They had no cheese. It's boysenberry.
- A boysenberry Danish?
- It's new.
Tell me about Nimbala.
He's a good president, Josh.
A great soldier,
brilliant commander.
He led his people for 28 years,
he can't get ahead of the curve.
He's cursed by geography.
If the ground won't grow anything,
you don't have an economy.
But still he stands in a room
and he talks about Norman Borlaug.
He came here himself, Josh.
He didn't send delegates.
I think it's because
he doesn't have any.
I think he's holding his country
together with both hands.
Then let's make sure we send him
back with something, is my point.
- Fellas?
- Yeah.
They're ready.
Yeah.
Folks, please take your seats.
Good afternoon. Guess what?
The audit figures released yesterday
by the Senate Finance Committee...
...confirmed earlier reports released
by the Congressional Budget Office...
...regarding the increased
budget surplus projections.
The CBO's projection increased
the surplus from 2 trillion...
...over the next 10 years
to 2. 2 trillion.
This exceeds even the most optimistic
estimates published last year...
...by the White House Budget Office
of 300 billion.
And the CBO's projection
last quarter of 900 billion.
Needless to say, these figures....
- Are you new too?
- Excuse me?
- Are you new too? It's my fourth day.
- No.
Maybe you can help me.
I'm trying to find out about drilling
equipment that might've been sold...
...by Bonamo Energy to the Iraqis
in violation of sanctions.
I asked C.J. about it, and she said
there's a grand-jury investigation...
...and she's not allowed to talk.
If you ask me, she was acting
a little bit, I don't know....
I hear she hasn't slept
and maybe that's...
She told you there was
a grand-jury investigation?
- Yeah.
- Miss Hayes?
- Yeah.
- This way.
...responsible and put a large portion
of the surplus to debt reduction.
An update on the summit?
With regards to the progress made here
at the summit for African AIDS relief...
...all parties are optimistic that
an agreement will be reached soon.
I think there's a more fundamental
problem than marginal cost.
We've been at this for four days,
and I think we haven't talked...
...about the fundamental
misunderstanding in Africa...
...over the basic facts of AIDS.
There's no misunderstanding.
A week ago you people stood up
and said that AIDS has only...
...a casual relationship to HIV.
I'm not certain to whom you're
referring when you say, "You people. "
But it was President Mbeki
of South Africa who said that...
...and not anyone in this room.
I think Mr. Damson has brought up
a hard truth that should be faced.
What's that?
If tomorrow we made AIDS medication
free to every patient in your country...
...as much as they needed for as long
as they needed it, it would likely...
...make very little difference
in the spread of the epidemic.
Why?
Anti-HIV drugs are a triple cocktail.
It's a complicated regimen
that requires 10 pills...
...to be taken every day
at precise times.
Two protease inhibitors
every eight hours...
...two combination
RTL pills every 12 hours.
What's the problem?
They don't own wristwatches.
They can't tell time.
We agree that something must be done,
but we don't think we're culprits...
...and we don't think there
is an easy or obvious solution.
And we think you should be
aware of the dangers involved...
...in some of the proposals
made here today.
Mr. President, may we speak
with you alone, please?
Ainsley.
Could I...? Could you give me
just a moment, please?
- Sure.
- Thank you.
Excuse me.
I was going to see Leo McGarry.
He asked me to come back and
see him again at the end of the day.
- I'm Ainsley Hayes.
- It's good to meet you.
I'm not taking the job, C.J.
Well....
Okay.
I just wanted to...
Okay.
C.J., Rule 6E of the Federal Rules
of Criminal Procedure says you...
...can be prosecuted for even confirming
a grand jury's been impaneled.
How did you know?
A reporter in your press room, who hasn't
read Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Well, someone's
gonna tell him eventually.
Who told you?
One of the witnesses who was called.
What could happen?
Eighteen months, medium security.
C.J., I'm kidding.
You didn't break the law.
Attorneys and jurors
are under a gag order.
Witnesses are free
to say what they want.
And anyone is free
to repeat what they've said.
You know, I'm not sure that laying
low and hoping nobody noticed...
...was the best strategy here.
Next time you should really run
it by someone in the counsel's office.
- Anyway, I should go see Leo.
- Yeah.
President Nimbala.
I'm gonna put a deal together
and I want you to agree to it.
- What am I agreeing to?
- I can get them to lower their prices.
But you have to commit your military,
your Customs Bureau...
...and your Ministry of Health.
You have to commit them to stopping
the influx of black-market HIV drugs...
...from Korea and Pakistan...
...and from wherever else
they're coming.
35.8 percent
of our adult population is infected.
Sixty percent of our hospital beds are
occupied by people who are HIV-positive.
Our Institute of Policy Analysis says in
the coming decade...
...50 percent of all households
in my country...
...will have at least one member
infected with HIV.
To think I care about international patent
law at a time like this is unrealistic.
Mr. President,
the U.S. Department of Commerce...
...will put your country on a watch list.
That's the first step
toward trade sanctions.
Our Congress could end
all aid to your country.
Or you can agree
to what we're saying.
In exchange for which we believe we
can get Congress to forgive the debt...
...on all your past development loans,
and we believe the Export-Import Bank...
...will offer a billion dollars
in loans to finance the purchase...
...of American AIDS medication.
- Congress won't approve the loan.
- Congress won't have to, sir.
The Treasury and the State Department
will review it...
...but if we spread the loans out
over several countries in your region...
...and if none of the loans
exceed $100 million...
...we don't need
congressional approval.
That law might change soon.
It's a terrible thing to beg for your life.
Terrible.
My father....
"Proud. "
Proud.
My father was a proud man.
He built homes.
He wouldn't like what
I came here to do.
Yes, he would, Mr. President.
I swear to God he would.
Thank you, sir.
Go tell Leo.
Hi.
Hi.
Something you forgot to mention
about the 95 percent of the money...
...going into the classroom
past the pork-barrel buffet...
...was that the school only got money
if they did not distribute condoms.
That's a reason to veto it.
The thing our public schools need
more than anything are free condoms.
I'd definitely make that priority one.
- Where's Leo?
- He's not here.
You look familiar to me.
You're Aimsley Hayes.
- Ainsley, with an N.
- She works here now.
- What?
- Leo hired her.
- What?
- Leo hired her.
He told me and C.J.,
he was waiting to tell you and Toby.
- What was he waiting for?
- How the hell do I know, Josh?
Waiting until he hired me,
which he hasn't done...
- ... because I'm not taking the job.
- You're not?
No. But thank you for talking to me
instead of about me.
Hang on, I'm back on he offered you
the job, but you're not taking the job?
Why participate in the process when
you can get a job commenting on it?
You think I don't want to work here...
...because I can get
a better gig on Geraldo?
Gosh, let's see if there could possibly
be any other reason why I wouldn't...
...want to work in this White House.
This White House that feels government
is better for children than parents.
That looks at 40 years of degrading and
humiliating free lunches handed out...
...in a failed effort to level the playing
field and says, " Let's try 40 more. "
This White House that says of anyone,
that points that out...
...that they are cold and mean
and racist...
...and then accuses Republicans
of using the politics of fear.
This White House that loves
the Bill of Rights. Except the second one.
This is the wrong place
to talk about guns right now.
- I thought your column was idiotic.
- Imagine my surprise.
But for a brilliant surgical team
and 2 centimeters of a miracle...
...this guy's dead right now, from
bullets fired from a gun bought legally.
They bought guns. They loaded them.
They drove from Wheeling to Rosslyn.
Until they pulled the trigger,
they did not commit a crime.
I am tired of the gun lobby tossing
around words like " personal freedom"...
...and nobody calling them on it.
It's not about personal freedom,
and it has nothing to do with safety.
It's just that some people like guns.
Yes, they do.
But you know
what's more insidious than that?
Your gun control position doesn't have
anything to do with public safety...
...and it's certainly
not about personal freedom.
It's about you don't like people
who do like guns.
You don't like the people.
Think about that the next time
you make a joke about the South.
Where's Leo?
- What?
- Where's Leo?
We don't know.
Charlie, you seen Leo?
We got a situation.
- Six hundred?
- Yes, sir.
- Television and radio?
- They have them.
When do I see pictures
of what I'm looking for?
Ten minutes in the Situation Room.
I want Fitzwallace and Nancy.
We're getting in
the early CIC report.
- Donna, tell C.J. it's an open lid.
- She knows, they're coming back.
Leo?
Excuse us. Excuse me, everybody.
Could we have the room
a moment, please?
Sam.
Mr. President, three hours ago
there was a coup in your country.
The AFRC has taken the capital.
- And my children?
- We're finding out.
The information's coming very quickly
from our people in Angola and Sudan.
Mr. President, I think you should sit.
No, thank you. I'll go now.
No, no. Sir, my State Department
is offering you asylum in the U.S.
Thank you, Mr. President,
but I have to go home.
You can't go home.
You can't go home.
- I'm their leader.
- They have the capital.
They have the radio station,
they have the television station.
- Are there Americans on the ground?
- I'm evacuating the embassy.
- Have they closed the airport?
- Yes.
They'll want to arrest me.
They'll want to put me on trial.
You should trade my return for
the safe departure of the Americans.
I don't need to trade you.
If they won't give me
the Americans, we'll go in.
- They know that and they'll let them go.
- I'd like to call my embassy.
Your embassy is in exile, Mr. President.
They will shoot you
the moment you step off the plane.
Thank you.
Please tell me what is in that message.
We think your brother
and your two sons are already dead.
We think your wife
is being hidden in Kenya.
You understand, don't you,
why I can't offer military assistance?
Yes.
Sit with me for a moment.
Sit down, sir.
And you know they just wanted
to hire her so they could say they did.
" Look at us, we hired a Republican,
look how bipartisan we are.
We didn't even notice
that she looks like a Gap dancer. "
That's right.
- Ainsley.
- Hey.
- Bruce was telling me.
- I couldn't resist.
- So they tried to hire you?
- How did McGarry's face look?
- What?
- When you said no.
I couldn't see him.
He had to....
- He was called into...
- What's wrong?
Nothing. He had to....
Something happened...
I wanted you to say it to his face.
I wanted to see...
I hate these people.
Did you meet anyone
there who isn't worthless?
- Don't say that.
- Did you meet anyone there...?
I said, don't say that.
Say they're smug and superior.
Say their approach to public policy
makes you wanna tear your hair out.
Say they like high taxes
and spending your money.
Say they want to take your guns
and open your borders.
But don't call them worthless.
At least don't do it in front of me.
The people that I have met
have been extraordinarily qualified.
Their intent is good.
Their commitment is true.
They are righteous.
And they are patriots.
And I'm their lawyer.
You ever read Paul Ehrlich's book?
- The Population Bomb?
- Yeah. He wrote it in 1968.
Ehrlich said that it was a fantasy
that India would ever feed itself.
Then Norman Borlaug comes along.
The problem was that wheat is
top-heavy. It was falling over on itself...
...and it took up too much space.
The dwarf wheat.
Guys, it was
an agricultural revolution...
...that was credited
with saving 1 billion lives.
Thanks.
It happened?
They executed him
in the airport parking lot.
Okay.
I'll see you Monday.