Original subtitles

Previously on The West Wing:

You're scared of Babish.

Oh, like you're not.

Oliver, I'm going to tell you a story

and then I need you to tell me whether or not

I've engaged 16 people in a massive criminal conspiracy

to defraud the public in order to win a presidential election.

BABISH: Have you ever signed any document

in which you were asked about your health

and did not disclose you have MS?

No.

Toby...

Yeah?

Why are you lying to me?

Charlie...

When Zoey and Ellie went to college

they would have had to fill out a health form.

Because she was 17, a parent had to sign it.

And she left off the MS?

Yeah.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Did anyone see you come here?

I really don't know.

Why not?

I really wasn't paying that much attention.

I wish you would.

I walked from my office to your office.

Was there press outside your office?

Not at 5:30 in the morning, no.

When did you find out about the President's MS?

Last night when Leo told me.

Who else was there?

Nobody.

Nobody else was in the room? No.

Have you ever lied about the President's health?

Should I have my lawyer here?

I'm your lawyer.

You're the President's lawyer.

I'm the White House Counsel, C.J.

Have you ever lied about the President's health?

When did he tell you?

I'm sorry?

When did the President tell you?

Six days ago.

And Josh?

Two days after that.

Toby? Two days before he told me.

C.J., have you ever lied about the President's health?

And Leo he told more than a year ago.

Yeah. And I've had this for six hours now

so maybe giving me some room wouldn't be totally out of line.

You know what I'm saying, Oliver?

C.J., I'm going to have to ask you some questions

and the less you can be pissed at the world for no particular reason

the better, I think.

I don't know you.

I'm sorry? I was told to report to you.

I don't know you. You've been here what...?

Three months.

Three months

so why should I trust you?

I don't care if you trust me or not.

Imagine my shock.

I got better things to do with my imagination.

I think this is going really well so far, Oliver.

It's almost hard to believe that four different women

have sued you for divorce.

Well, you can do that if you want, C.J.

I've been through it

a couple times with Josh and Toby, but sooner or later

you're going to have to answer questions.

Either to you or...? A grand jury.

Compelled by?

A Justice Department subpoena.

Well, I have to tell you

it'll be the first time I've been asked out

in quite awhile, so...

It's entirely possible

that the President has committed multiple counts

of a federal crime to which you were an accomplice.

That much has sunk in in the last six hours.

Has it? Yes.

So why don't you knock off

the cutie-pie crap and answer the damn question.

What was the question?

Have you ever lied about the President's health?

What is your answer?

Many, many times.

( footsteps )

Mr. Connelly?

Yes.

I'm Donna Moss. I'm Josh Lyman's assistant.

He's tied up with Mr. McGarry for just a couple more minutes.

I hope you don't mind waiting.

No.

Does anybody know if it's going to rain this afternoon?

They're asking me.

The paper said mid-afternoon.

So we know it won't be that.

Call the Navy Yard for me, would you?

Yeah.

( laughter )

Donna.

Yeah.

Have you seen C.J.?

No. What's so funny?

Ed just got a fax from...

I'm sorry.

Ed just got a fax from

a man named Byron Talmadge.

He's the Associate Administrator

of NASA's Office of Space Cadets.

Flight.

Office of Space Flight. The OSF?

What'd the fax say? A huge Chinese satellite

is going to come crashing to Earth

and we don't know where

and we don't know when. Seriously?

Yeah, it's right here in the fax.

A satellite is... crashing to Earth

and NASA sent us a fax?

Yeah.

This is for real? Yes.

A satellite is going to crash into the Earth?

( laughing ): Yes.

Why are you laughing?

We thought it was funny.

I'm an assistant. What am I supposed

to do with this information?

The fax was for C.J.

Just give it to her when you see her.

Donna, they say it's not going to rain this afternoon.

Well, that's a relief.

All right, hear me out on this, okay? Yeah.

We want to see some polling.

Why?

'Cause we need to know

what to do next.

We know what to do next. No, we don't know

which is the more insurmountable problem--

the perception that...

( knocking )

We'll call back.

( sighs )

The perception that he's not physically up to the job

or that he lied about it.

There's no way to gauge public opinion on this

until the issue occurs.

Public opinion is going to be shaped by the reaction of the press.

All public opinion is shaped by the reaction of the press

but the fundamental foundation already exists

in their current perception of the President...

Josh, how the hell are you going to take a poll without...?

We can do it. Leo...

I don't trust any of our people

and even if I did, what kind of questions could they ask

that won't trip an alarm?

Josh trusts Joey Lucas.

From California?

Yeah, she's flying in right now.

What did you tell her?

I told her we were commissioning a poll

to explore attitudes towards subsurface agricultural products.

Subsurface agricultural...? Underground.

What the hell...? We think Americans

are eating more beets.

Beets?

Yeah.

All right.

Okay?

Yeah.

Toby

you want to talk about when we tell Sam?

I wouldn't do it right now.

Why?

His head is in the SME speech for Chicago...

The thing... Hang on.

His head is in Chicago

and that's where we need it.

Would you want to write the speech

with this other thing around your neck?

No.

The President wants him to know

by the end of the day.

The end of the day then.

LEO: Okay.

Anything else?

No. Thanks.

Thank you.

Thanks.

When does she get here?

Six o'clock.

You do this carefully.

No kidding.

You trust this person?

I got to trust somebody right now.

Good, 'cause I don't trust anybody right now.

DONNA: Josh.

Yeah.

A fax was sent to the press office

from the Office of Space Flight at NASA.

A Chinese satellite called Zodiac

has fallen out of its orbit

and will be falling to Earth

at an unspecified time and place.

What are you telling me for?

What am I telling you for? Yeah.

This giant thing is falling to Earth.

They're watching it on radar.

Isn't there something we do?

Like what?

Like sound the alarm, I don't know.

Sound the alarm?

There is no alarm.

There's really not.

Martin? Yes.

Sorry to keep you waiting. Oh, that's okay.

Come on back. Josh...

The fax is for the press office. Give it to them.

The deputies are at breakfast

and I don't know where C.J. is.

Uh, Martin, you can have a seat in my office.

C.J.'s meeting with Babish.

I'll be inside.

You're not concerned about this?

No.

I apologize again.

No, that's all right.

I assume you know why I'm here.

I don't, actually.

Mac Sheridan was going to talk to you first.

I have a call to return to Mac.

I should wait until he talks to you.

Why don't you talk to me now?

The case is running out of money.

Which case?

The U.S. v... You're kidding me.

No.

Martin, we spent $13 million the first year

$23 million the second.

Where's the money going?

Outside counsel and staff, depositions, expert witnesses

processing, database, research.

Yeah.

We have 31 lawyers on a case

against five tobacco companies, just one of which has 342.

We won't count the 13 subsidiaries

that have mounted their own defense.

Tobacco has spent $380 million to the government's

$36 million.

So when I come here asking for money

it's not 'cause the Justice Department

blew its allowance on video games.

I should have let Mac talk to you first.

Aren't you allowed

to transfer funds...?

Yeah, that's what we've been doing.

We've been transferring money

from Commerce and Health and Human Services

to pay for the lawsuit

but then the House passed HR-260

and now the Committees... Yeah.

You understand?

Yeah, let me run it by Leo.

This is a fight worth winning.

You don't have to convince me.

These people perpetrated a fraud against the public.

I'm sorry?

I said they perpetrated a fraud against the public.

The tobacco companies?

Yeah.

Well, I'm going to talk to Leo

and I'll tell Mac you were here.

Thank you.

C.J.: Let me just finish this.

He was hemodynamically stable with a blood pressure of 140/80.

Cholesterol level is 185.

The QRS interval on the EKG is slightly long

but otherwise good.

The President is pronounced

in excellent physical health.

What was that, March of last year?

Yeah. How many times

have you done that?

I'd have to go back and check.

Estimate.

If that was March

of last year, then that was his fourth physical.

Then there were a couple times during the campaign

and after the shooting...

Yeah?

And the time he rode

his bicycle into a tree.

When he sprained his ankle.

Yeah.

Tell me how it works.

What do you mean?

When the President has a physical.

The President's physician-- right now

it's Admiral Leonard Morrow-- the President's physician calls

and gives me a short statement including vitals.

And then you make a statement to the press.

Yeah.

Do you speak to the President

before you make a statement?

Yes. Why?

Because of doctor-patient confidentiality.

There's only so much you're going to get from the doctor.

So what do you ask the President?

I say, "Is there anything I should know about your health

that the doctors won't tell me?" I'm going to ask you something.

What? Do you say, "Is there anything I should know?"

Or do you say, "Is there anything I need to know?"

What does it matter?

Which do you say? What does it matter?

"Is there anything I need to know"

implies you only want to know enough to face reporters

while maintaining deniability.

It's an expression.

Did you use it?

I really don't remember, I don't.

I don't choose my words that carefully.

With the President?

You think I was speaking

to the President in code?

No, I was just asking.

( knocking )

Yeah.

Excuse me.

C.J., this is a note from Donna Moss.

She wanted you to see it right away.

Thanks.

The sky is falling down.

how large it should be, how small it should be

what share should be received by whom--

all of this, my friends, is the wrong debate at the wrong time

over the wrong issue. Yes.

We need to get back to fundamentals.

Where is that? Where is what?

"We need to get back to fundamentals."

It's not in the speech.

I'm saying it. We need

to get back to fundamentals.

( knocking )

Excuse me.

Think about fundamentals.

Ready for some good news?

Yeah.

Not out here.

This is going to be a front page story tomorrow.

There's a front page story tomorrow

I don't know about yet?

You're going to know about it in two hours.

But I'm going to know about it now, right?

CBO's going to issue a new estimate of the surplus.

They're projecting it down? Yeah.

We don't have as much money as we thought? No.

That's great news. It's not great news Yeah.

that we have less money. I'm saying... Yeah.

'Cause the floor fight's going to be easier.

How much less money? When they project eight years out

It's $200 billion less.

Nine years out

it's $400 billion less.

That is great. Yeah.

It's not great that we have...

Sam, we get why it's great.

I can't even tell you how much this helps.

I'm drafting the SME speech for Chicago and I can really...

That's why we're telling you.

There's a line that ATJ and the Progressive Caucus

want in the Chicago speech.

I got it here.

"We want a real tax cut for working families

"to help them pay for higher education

"and housing, while our opponents want to help the rich

pay for bigger swimming pools and faster private jets."

No, I don't think so.

They want it in. No, no, no.

Why not? Well, for one thing, it's very bad writing.

Change the writing.

Summer homes and sports cars.

The poetry's not my problem.

They want it in Chicago.

Tell them to do their own speech.

This one's for the President.

You want to tell them that?

No.

Okay.

We have less money?

Isn't that great?

Yes, it is. Thanks.

C.J., are you aware that a year ago January

the President had an attack?

I am now.

You were there when he collapsed.

I was outside the room.

But you went into the room

when he was unconscious.

Yes. What made you go into the room?

The sound of a Steuben glass pitcher

crashing to the floor.

What did you think had happened?

I didn't know.

Well, what did you think?

Well, at first glance, I thought he might have a virus

contracted from a rare African tsetse fly

possibly Tropical sprue.

I'm not an expert, but I did meet a man once in India.

Yeah. It could be anything

with these Presidents.

James Polk had diverticulitis.

Yeah? Couldn't digest nuts. I'll tell you what else.

One in 40 American men wear women's clothing

and we've had well over 40 Presidents.

Yeah. I'm just saying

one of these guys was dancing

around the Oval Office in a prom dress.

Now, let's get to the bottom of that.

C.J. Yeah.

In my entire life

I've never found anything charming.

Really?

You announced to the press it was the flu.

Yes. Who told you to say it was the flu?

I wasn't told to say it was the flu.

I was told it was the flu.

Who told...? I'm not getting into that!

I'm not getting into who said what.

We can do that at the next

of what I'm sure will be many sessions.

Okay.

Do you know what time it is?

It's five past noon.

I'd like you to get out

of the habit of doing that.

Doing what?

Answering more than was asked.

Do you know what time it is?

Yes.

We'll take a break

and meet again later today.

Hey.

You see this?

That was nice.

We got good reviews on the commencement speech.

Yeah? From Leonard Wachtel, of all places.

You got a second? He calls you and me

the Batman and Robin of speech-writing.

Well, I don't think he does.

He doesn't, but he should, 'cause that's what we are.

Okay.

We're Batman and Robin.

Which one's which?

Look at me, Sam. Am I Robin?

I'm not Robin. Yes, you are.

Okay, well, let's move off this.

You bet, little friend.

Listen, we're really not Batman and Robin.

No, we'll keep those identities secret.

I'm Bruce Wayne and you're my ward.

Toby... Dick something.

Jane Gentry and Richard Will

came to see me with some news.

The CBO's projection... Really?

Yes. Has us $200 billion lower

eight years out.

That's fantastic news. Yes.

When is this real?

This afternoon.

The projections are lower?

Measurably lower.

I'm so happy I could spit.

This is really the first administration in history

to favor slower economic growth.

I favor it when it gives us a bat and a ball on tax cuts.

Yeah.

We offer them a deal.

We lower the bottom rate

from 15 to ten percent, but we stand our ground

on no tax cut in the top bracket

and you know why?

Because it turns out

we might not be able to afford it.

Isn't it great?

Yeah, it's Christmas in Paris

but there's a line ATJ and the Progressive Caucus

want me to put in the draft for Chicago.

What?

That we want to do great things

but our opponents want bigger swimming pools

and faster private jets.

Their private jets are too slow?

Toby... Change the writing.

It's not the writing.

I know.

Listen.

Yeah?

Nothing.

Okay.

Don't worry about it.

So...

I have to go to a meeting.

You should talk to somebody at ATJ or the Caucus.

Okay, I'm going to do that then.

Yeah. Okay.

Hey, Donna.

Hey, Charlie.

Is there

anything you need?

Nope. Just came in to say hi.

How you doing?

Good.

So, NASA's OSF tells us

that the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base

believes that a Chinese satellite

has fallen out of its orbital... flight plan.

The last detection the 30th had

placed it in what they call a "degrading orbital path"

and it's now dropped off their radar

suggesting it's begun a rapid fall

towards the Earth's atmosphere.

Cool. No, it's not.

What's the matter with you people? What'd I do?

A thing the size of a garbage truck

is going to be in a 2,000-mile-an-hour free fall

and no one knows where it's going to hit.

I'm voting for Zurich.

Charlie... I've had it up to here

with the Swiss. You don't...

Hang on. Excuse me.

Good afternoon.

Welcome back, Mrs. Bartlet.

Thank you.

A couple of reminders.

You're at the Board

of the Children's Cancer Fund at the Sheraton.

That's at 3:00.

Before that, I want to be...

Yeah, you're going to read

at the Head Start program in Southeast.

Welcome back, Mrs. Bartlet.

That's a snappy suit, Bobby.

I got a medevac helicopter named after me.ay?

Yeah?

An AS335 F1 Twinstar named Abigail.

I got to break a bottle of cider over its nose.

Charlie. Welcome back, ma'am.

Thank you. Where's the President?

He's waiting for you inside.

Thank you.

( door opens )

Hey.

Hi.

Welcome back.

How come I just found out about this?

How was the flight?

Jed.

How come I just found out about this?

When Leo talked to you on the plane

he thought you already knew.

You think I'm saying this is Leo's fault?

I'm asking, how come you didn't tell me last week?

And I'm saying we still do this.

We're husband and wife and parents

and before we launch into palace intrigue

we do "Welcome back. How was the flight?"

What happened?

One of the forms Zoey had to fill out for Georgetown

asked for a family medical history.

Yes.

Did Leo tell you the rest?

Not after he realized that you hadn't told me already

which is a subject, I assure you, we'll be

returning to in a moment.

Zoey wasn't 18 yet

when she started.

A parent had to sign the form.

Did you sign it?

No, you did, hot pants.

I signed it?

It's going to be okay.

Why didn't you tell me on the phone?

Look.

We talk on the phone

three times a day!

'Cause I didn't! 'Cause that's...

'Cause I didn't.

I talked to Zoey this morning.

She's going to ace her finals.

She told me.

I hate Ellie's boyfriend.

She told me.

I need you to speak to the White House Counsel, Abbey.

I know.

Hey.

The First Lady's back?

Yeah.

I was talking to her on the phone

and I mentioned Zoey's application

without realizing the President hadn't told her yet.

Why hadn't the President told her yet?

What do you want from me?

$30 million.

No.

Martin Connelly

who's an Assistant Attorney General

in the Civil Division

says they're out of money.

On the suit? Yeah.

They're always out of money.

We don't give them enough.

We passed a law last summer

that says they can transfer funds from Commerce

from Health and Human Services.

They can take it from Veterans' Affairs up to what?

I think $12 million.

Yeah, but the problem is the law says

that those transfers are subject to approval

by various House Committees, each of which has a chairman

elected with the $8 million tobacco spent

in the last election

and even if the transfers were approved

it wouldn't matter

'cause $12 million isn't going to get it done.

Neither is $30 million.

Then let's give them more.

No. 'Cause we're going to lose. Why?

So you give them enough to win.

We'd have to liquidate the Grand Tetons.

They're saying $30 million

and I think it's a steal at twice the price.

Well, staff it out to some people

and report it to me in what...?

Two, three days?

Good.

I'm going out to the airport.

All right.

Do a job.

Yeah.

Hi.

Hey, Sam.

Henry, Helen.

Hey, Bruce.

How you doing, Sam?

Lewis. We just have a few minutes, right?

There's a caucus.

Well, you've already heard the good news.

The CBO, when they project eight years out

has the budget surplus coming in

$200 billion lower than we thought.

That's great.

Yeah, okay, there's something wrong

with all of us, but that's for a different time.

What I wanted to mention was Jane Gentry and Richard Will

say you guys want a line in the Chicago draft.

"Jet planes and swimming pools."

Yeah, that "our opponents want to help the rich

pay for bigger swimming pools and faster private jets."

Yeah, hit them hard.

Well, we are hitting them hard

but I'm not going to use the line.

Why not?

First of all, it's bad writing. What's wrong with it?

It sounds like it was written by a high school girl.

Is there something wrong with the way a woman writes?

There usually is when she's in high school.

Sam...

It's not the writing.

Come on, Henry.

"Faster private jets and swimming pools"?

We can take out the heavy bats now.

And do what with them?

The line works.

So does "How 'bout dem Cowboys?"

when you're playing a club in Dallas

but the line isn't going to change the mind

of anyone who doesn't already agree with us.

Sam, are you in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy?

I am not.

I am in favor of tax cuts

for those for whom it will do the most good

and that's a tough enough battle

and it looks like all of a sudden, we've got a fair fight.

But I'm not talking about policy.

I'm talking about rhetoric

and the men you work for

need to dial it down to five.

Henry, last fall, every time your boss

got on the stump and said

"It's time for the rich to pay their fair share"

I hid under a couch and changed my name.

I left Gage-Whitney making $400,000 a year

which means I paid 27 times the national average in income tax.

I paid my fair share

and the fair share of 26 other people

and I'm happy to

'cause that's the only way it's going to work

and it's in my best interest that everybody

be able to go to schools

and drive on roads

but I don't get 27 votes on Election Day

the Fire Department doesn't come 27 times faster

and the water doesn't come out of my faucet 27 times hotter.

The top one percent of wage earners in this country

pay for 22% of this country.

Let's not call them names while they're doing it

is all I'm saying.

HELEN: You're not using the line? No.

Or anything like it? No.

And I hope you'll make it clear to your people

that this had nothing to do with diluting our position or cozying up to Republicans.

No, why would they think that?

We've got a caucus.

I know plenty of women who can write, Helen.

I know women

who can blow the walls off brick buildings.

This sounds like a girl.

MAN ( over PA ): ...Airlines flight 1106 now arriving from Los Angeles.

JOSH: Joey!

Joey...

how you doing?

Hey.

I'm Josh Lyman.

Dale Bracket.

What happened to Kenny?

He's on vacation.

So, you're the substitute interpreter?

Yeah.

You came here to pick me up at the airport?

Not exactly.

Dale, I'm going to ask you

to wait over here, okay?

Uh, Joey, you're going to read my lips

and if I can't understand what you're saying

you'll write it down, all right?

Okay.

Excuse us.

Dale?

Yes.

Pretty good-looking for an interpreter

wouldn't you say?

He's good-looking for anybody.

Dale Bracket?

Yes.

He's not a television detective?

We can't talk about this in the car?

I'm sorry?

We can't talk about this in the car?

You're not getting in the car.

Why?

'Cause you're getting back on a plane

in an hour and ten minutes.

All right, if we sit like this

can Dale Bracket, PI, read my lips?

No.

Okay...

You're not talking to me

about an agriculture poll.

No kidding.

You guessed that?

We think we're eating more beets?

Well, we are, but... that's not important.

What's important?

Hi, what can I get for you?

Uh, cranberry juice and club soda

and, um, I'll have a large glass of ice water.

I told Leo McGarry that we could trust you

and Toby backed me up.

What's important?

Eight years ago, the President was diagnosed with an illness

that was never disclosed.

Yes.

What is it?

WAITRESS: Cranberry and club

and a large glass of ice water.

( knock on door )

BABISH: Yeah.

Excuse me, the First Lady.

Thank you.

Oliver.

Good afternoon, Mrs. Bartlet.

How are you? I'm fine, thank you.

I haven't been in this office since you moved in.

It looks great.

Thank you.

I haven't come in here

because it seems like every time I do

there's a new White House Counsel.

I think Leo keeps them in the basement

like those two ladies in Arsenic and Old Lace.

Yeah?

Anyway, the President is very glad you're here

particularly in this time of nonsense.

Ma'am, would you mind

if I asked you a few questions?

I'm not as experienced in this as the senior staff.

I've read a book about Daniel Webster.

I've read a book about Benjamin Disraeli.

It seems the little experience I do have is with dead lawyers.

Just out of curiosity, ma'am, how'd they die?

If you're under the impression

you're the fifth White House Counsel

instead of the first White House Counsel

because of me, you're mistaken, Oliver.

I wasn't under that impression, but I think we should stick

to the matter if it's all right with you.

You want to ask me some questions?

Yes, ma'am.

About Zoey's health form?

Yep.

It was a form.

It asked for, among other things

the family's medical history.

It was left blank.

It was a form; it was one of many forms.

I signed it without reading it.

Was anyone else in the room when you signed it?

It was over a year ago. I really don't remember.

Was the President in the room? I really don't remember.

You understand that when I ask the President that question, he's going to tell the truth.

And I imagine the President

will also resent your implication

that I didn't just do the same.

So the President wasn't in the room when you signed it?

I don't remember; he doesn't remember.

Mrs. Bartlet...

Oliver, you have kids, there are forms.

School trips and soccer

and band uniforms and report cards

and notes to get out of gym.

You've signed those forms for your kids.

Their mother usually signs them.

And so do I

and by the way, when you're the daughter

of the Governor of New Hampshire

and the President of the United States

there's a lot more forms on top of that.

I understand. Do you?

Yes, but a lawyer half my size

while cross-examining you during deposition

will the say the following.

He will say, "Mrs. Bartlet, do you have an MD from Harvard?"

Yes.

"Are you board certified in Internal Medicine?" Yes.

"Are you board certified in Thoracic Surgery?" Yes.

"Are you an Adjunct Professor of Thoracic Surgery

at Harvard Medical School?" Yes.

"Are you on the staff

of Boston Mercy Hospital and Columbia Presbyterian?" Yes.

"Have you been practicing medicine for 26 years?" Yes.

"Are you not able to recognize a standard medical history

when it is put in front of your face?"

I didn't read it. I didn't think it was important.

"What else have you signed without thinking it was important? Prescriptions?"

No.

"Patient instructions?"

No!

"So just this?"

Oliver, I am not

an expert on the diseases

of the central nervous system

but I can tell you that MS is not hereditary.

The President's condition

has absolutely no relevance to Zoey's health status.

Well, now you're changing your story, Mrs. Bartlet.

No, I'm not.

Did you sign it because you were absentminded

or did you sign it because you knew best?

I signed it 'cause...

I just signed it.

It was a form

and I think making a big thing out of it

is what makes it into a big thing.

Really?

And I'm not 100% sure

that that's not what you're going for.

Why would I want to make it a big thing?

Because defending the President in prime time

looks good on a resume.

Well, I've got a pretty good-looking resume

already, Mrs. Bartlet

and it's not a big thing because I say so, ma'am.

It's a big thing.

You're going to get all the questions

I just asked you and quite a few more

and then they're going to ask the President

if he was in the room when you signed it

and that's when he's going to give everyone's favorite answer

from a President who has just announced he has MS:

"I don't remember."

When are you going to go public?

Probably in a week.

They're still strategizing.

Probably a live interview on the networks?

Yeah.

Jim Lehrer, Tim Russert, Barbara Walters...

you... somebody...

the President sitting in a den.

Yeah.

Followed by a live conference.

They're working on the strategy.

"I regret that I concealed my condition from the public.

"I regret the appearance that I tried to deceive the voters

in order to win an election."

Yes.

And if we don't make it a big thing

they won't make it a big thing?

Mrs. Bartlet, I'm not sure you have an appropriate appreciation

of the size of what happens next.

JOEY: When are you going public?

JOSH: Probably in about a week.

A week? Yeah.

How? We're deciding.

Probably a live interview

followed by a press conference.

So we need to know what we're talking about.

Joey, we need you to put a poll in the field.

You got to come up with a model that gets us the answers we need

without asking the questions we can't ask.

You got to come up with a model by yourself.

You got to break down the results by yourself.

Not even the callers

can understand the questions they're asking

and you got to do it all in 96 hours.

Is what I'm describing possible?

We make it a Governor.

A Governor?

Of an industrial state.

I-I...

The Governor of an industrial state.

Michigan.

And you give him a degenerative illness?

Joey, you understand

that before this is over, we're probably all going

to be spending some time in front of a grand jury.

You can do this?

No problem.

MAN ( over PA ): Los Angeles passengers

pre-boarding for flight number 1217...

That's your flight.

Josh... Yeah?

How's the President?

He's fine.

He's fine.

I'll tell him you asked.

96 hours?

Yeah.

I have to go to work now.

DONNA: The Chinese Embassy won't even

admit it's their satellite.

We know it's their satellite.

We've been looking at it for seven years.

It's like looking through a telescope

and knowing Mars is Mars.

Donna, please tell me you didn't call the Chinese Embassy.

I didn't call the Embassy.

People called the Embassy.

It's not like this isn't cause for concern.

That's right. That's right.

The Chinese news networks aren't reporting it

'cause they won't admit it's happening.

Why do you suppose the American news networks aren't reporting it?

That's a fascinating question to me.

To all of us.

We don't even know what kind of satellite it is.

Could be anything.

Communications. That's right.

Weather. Yep.

Could be a spy satellite.

Could have plutonium. That's right.

Plutonium?

Yeah.

Plutonium.

Well, nuclear reactors on a satellite

aren't that common, but you never know.

No, I suppose you don't.

ABBEY: Hey, Donna.

Good evening, ma'am. Welcome back.

Thank you.

How was the trip?

Well, I got a medevac helicopter named after me.

Hello, how are you?

I'm fine, but there's a giant object

hurtling its way toward us

at a devastating velocity.

Tell me about it.

( knocks )

C.J.

Good evening, ma'am.

Can I talk to you for a second?

Sure.

( sighs )

How was your day?

Well, I got pretty well bitch-slapped

by the White House Counsel, ma'am, how about you?

I wanted to be here when you were told.

I didn't know they were going to tell you last night.

You know, Leo called me into the Oval Office.

It was about 11:00

and I was standing with Toby when Leo called me in

and Toby said, uh...

"I'll be right here in my office when you're done."

I... I didn't know what he meant or why he said it.

Yeah.

Babish said there's a difference between asking the President

"Is there anything else I should know?"

And, "Is there anything else I need to know?"

He seemed to think

"need to know" implies I know something already

but I don't want it confirmed in order to maintain...

deniability.

Well, he's a lawyer, C.J.

He's vetting; it's his job.

I told him I couldn't remember which one I say.

There were a lot of things I couldn't remember.

Abbey...

...during the campaign, we were in Manhattan, Kansas

at a Sheraton or a Marriott--

I can't remember--

but we were in Manhattan, Kansas

and I came to your suite early to tell you

we'd be doing Nightline that night

and we had to get to an ABC affiliate

and I think by then, the two of you

were so used to people walking in and out of your room

that you didn't hear me open the door

and I was almost sure I saw you giving the President

an injection of something.

It was Betaseron.

It reduces the frequency of the attacks.

When the President has his physical

and I do the release

I only ever ask, "Is there anything else I need to know?"

( knocking )

Come on in.

She's in.

What's she going to do?

"If the Governor of a major industrial state

"had a degenerative illness

"which he hadn't disclosed during the election

"but has yet to impair his job performance

would you still support him?"

Which governor?

Michigan.

Well...

then we'll wait.

Yeah.

Listen, about this Justice appropriation...

You're going to do a report?

Yeah.

Then can I read the report

before you ask me to green light

another multimillion-dollar battle

that'll have no support in Congress?

Yeah.

I just brought it up

because this assistant AG, Martin Connelly

when he left my office this morning

he turned and said

"They perpetrated a fraud

against the public."

And the look on his face when he said it...

They want to get these people.

We're not big tobacco.

Yeah.

He's expecting me.

Okay.

Good evening, Mr. President.

Leo, how could you tell Abbey about the health form

before I did?

I didn't know you hadn't told her.

My wife and I are fighting battles

on several fronts at the moment, including one with each other.

Can you and I be men?

Can we have a bond?

We're putting a poll in the field.

How?

We're using a woman Josh and Toby trust

named Joey Lucas.

I met Joey Lucas.

She's basically giving MS to the Governor of Michigan.

How's he going to feel about that?

Don't worry about it.

This is a bad idea.

We've got to do it.

I'm coming clean. I'm doing it voluntarily.

Anyone finds out

it's going to look like I did it 'cause a poll told me to.

Then it'd be a good idea if nobody found out.

( heavy sigh )

All right.

Why don't you get Sam.

So...

Yeah.

I think I may have offended...

Oh, God. Yeah.

Who?

Well, I met with some of the staffers

for Americans for Tax Justice and the Progressive Caucus.

And you think you may have

offended them?

Yeah, and girls, possibly.

Were you right?

Yeah. Toby, it's class...

That's all you need to tell me.

I trust you.

Sam? Yeah.

Come see the President and me a minute, would you?

Yeah.

TOBY: Sam? Yeah?

I'll be here in my office when you're done.

Yeah, okay.

C.J.

Hey.

You walking?

Yeah.

I met with Joey Lucas today.

I heard.

So now the President's got Leo worried

it's going to look like we announced it

'cause we took a poll.

What do you think?

( chuckling )

What?

The President and Leo are worried about that?

Yeah.

( chuckles )

What?

You guys are like Butch and Sundance

peering over the edge of a cliff

to the boulder-filled rapids 300 feet below

thinking you better not jump

'cause there's a chance you might drown.

The President has this disease

and has been lying about it, and you guys are worried

that the polling might make us look bad?

It's the fall that's gonna kill you.

Us.

What?

You said...

"It's the fall that's gonna kill you."

You meant "us."

Where you going, C.J.?

I'm going home.

No, I meant... I know what you meant.

I want to sleep for a while.

I'm going home.

You know, uh...

Donna got hold of this fax

that was sent to the press office

from the OSF at NASA.

What, something falling out of the sky?

Yeah.

We get that fax once a week.

Yeah, but Donna doesn't know that.

She thinks it's an emergency.

And you didn't want to tell her?

No, 'cause the other way

you get a day's worth of entertainment

without leaving the office.

She doesn't know that these things

fall out of the sky all the time...

once every ten days, as a matter of fact.

Since the first year

we started putting manmade objects in space

17,000 have come back, and remarkably

not one person has been hit.

So I suppose there's an argument to be made

that we're due.

Yeah.

You picked me right up there, Josh.

See you tomorrow.

Yeah.