Designated Survivor (2016) s02e03 Episode Script
Outbreak
1 Previously on "Designated Survivor" I think the White House Counsel's office has been vacant for far too long.
I would be honored to work for you, sir.
A silent alarm was tripped at a private residence in Rockville.
Damian: Who lives there? Charles: The First Lady's mother.
It sounded like the place was being torn apart.
And I want a detailed report of everything that Lloyd touched, got it? Tom: My family? He's coming after my family? The FBI conducted a drone strike.
I can now confirm that Patrick Lloyd has been neutralized.
Damian: They found Lloyd's computer.
He was uploading something to the cloud when the bomb hit.
Do you know what it was? [Vehicles passing, man shouts indistinctly.]
- [Woman vocalizing.]
- Lainie: Yes, I told him.
But you know men and their boats.
[ Jackson crying .]
I'll call you back, Jess.
What's wrong, honey? My mom.
Ma'am? [Gasps.]
[Horn honks in distance.]
Hey, Mom, is something wrong with the coffee? Yes.
I didn't make it.
Come on.
I told you You can use the kitchen any time.
Someone else's kitchen.
Someone else's coffee.
Eva, it's only been a weekend.
It's gonna take you some time to get settled.
Besides, the White House has 132 rooms, so if you're not happy with the one you're in You're so sweet.
And a wonderful host.
I just want to go home.
Mom, your house is still an active crime scene.
Your son's bedroom is an active crime scene.
My house is just a place some lunatic broke into, and he's dead.
And I'm not.
I promise you, I give you my word we'll get you home as soon as possible.
Until then, know you have the run of the place.
And I appreciate it.
Why do I get the feeling that my mom likes you better? Because she likes me better.
[Telephone rings.]
Yeah? I'll be right there.
[Indistinct conversations, telephone ringing.]
- Woman: Mr.
President.
- Okay, what do we got? 32 cases in the past 24 hours in South Carroll Parish.
That's 12 fatalities.
- Which means thousands are infected.
- So, what's the CDC saying? - Is this as bad as Liberia? - Worse.
It's Influenza "A," likely avian origin.
Highly contagious.
Short incubation period facilitates the spread.
Could this be the superbug you've been worried about? Well, I might have an answer for that if the CDC had some money for infectious-disease research.
Just like when we were teaching at Columbia.
Always trying to squeeze blood from a stone.
But that was for faculty pensions.
This is about lives.
Show me.
[Computer beeping.]
This flu appears to be an H7N9 subtype.
Like the Yangtze Delta flu.
And no one here has immunity.
How fast will it spread? Our simulation says the H7N9 will appear in surrounding states in 36 hours.
In 72 hours [Computer pinging.]
that's what it will look like.
Oh, my God.
Emily: We have a shot at containment because the area is so isolated.
They didn't even have state roads in some parts until the '70s.
The FAA shut down all airports in a 200-mile radius.
Same for NHTSA and highways.
And I told Governor LaSalle that we're at his disposal.
Okay, good.
Aaron, I'm gonna want you to be the liaison between World Health Organization and the UN.
We also need to notify the Canadian and Mexican authorities.
HHS has activated the Strategic National Stockpile of vaccines and antivirals, so hopefully one of them will match this flu strain.
Emily, bring Seth up to speed.
As soon as word leaks out, panic's gonna spread like wildfire.
- Let's get on it.
- Yes, sir.
100 years ago, the Spanish flu wiped out 5% of the world's population.
How bad is this? I'll give you a call when I have boots on the ground.
All right.
Tammy.
Be careful.
Yes, sir.
Seth: So I just got off the phone with an infectious-disease specialist at the CDC.
This bug is a rapidly mutating pathogen that accelerates its host's lytic cycle.
English? Uh, it makes your cells explode.
Maybe don't tell the press that.
Yep.
Hey, um, did you leave me a blueberry muffin? I did.
That was really nice.
Yeah, I picked out all the blueberries, so don't make it a big deal.
Well, I won't now.
Oh, uh, that zoologist from the National Museum wants to come by The guy who's naming the animal after the president.
He wants a photo op.
Bringing an alien species into the White House while we're fighting a possible pandemic that originated with animals is a great idea.
Hey, I just work here.
Hey, new girl.
You getting up to speed? Trying.
It's a little, uh Intimidating? That's the word.
Just remember it's another office building.
Whose halls were walked by Lincoln, FDR, and Kennedy.
You'll get used to it.
- [Sighs.]
Really? - No.
We're starting you slow, though.
Right.
The Emmitt Akin statue.
Yes, a simple Confederate monument located on federal property.
Some want to keep it.
Some don't.
Well, a federal statue means federal issue.
This is really important to the president.
I thought you were starting me slow.
It is slow.
Woman: How dare you?! That is racist! Man: I've been telling you for an hour, it is not racist! - [Indistinct shouting.]
- People, can we just? [Whistles.]
No! We were making progress here.
Look, Emmitt Akin was the Mayor of Chattanooga.
He's an historic figure to many Tennesseans.
That is the Southern Legacy Foundation's whole point.
He was also a slave holder who fought to preserve an oppressive institution.
The erection of his statue post-Reconstruction is seen by many as a monument to Jim Crow.
The statue's smack dab in front of the old federal courthouse.
It's an official endorsement of racism.
So we've agreed on a middle ground To find a less-trafficked area for the statue that still honors Tennessee history while respecting the sensibilities of those who find it a reminder of a painful past.
The only party we haven't heard from is Reverend Dale.
[Murmuring.]
I have spent my life leading protests.
But this issue has caused me great consternation.
The statue is an emblem of a dark period in American history.
It enshrines racism.
So it is easy to view it as a symbol of injustice.
But I see it as a reminder, and our past must not be whitewashed.
The statue must not be moved.
- Man: There you go.
- He doesn't want it touched, either! - Thank you! - Have you lost your mind?! [Indistinct shouting.]
[Computer beeping.]
- It makes no sense.
- Nope.
Lloyd's on the run for six months, and the last thing he does before he holes himself up in a bunker is trash the First Lady's mother's house? Why? Because he wanted to show your president that he could get to his family? Or and, uh, just spit balling here because he was a psychopath.
Personally, I'm much more interested in what he was trying to upload.
Look, Lloyd sent that file across three continents four times before I located it in a cloud account on an Australian server.
It's so corrupted that I need to write a program just to render it.
Yeah.
No problem.
Glad you're on it.
Yeah.
So, you must miss London, huh? Always.
How long you here for? Well, that depends on Hannah.
I can't tell my government the threat he posed is over until your government says it is.
And you being the lead investigator, you're "your government.
" My government says to keep digging.
See you later! [Sighs.]
Much.
[Siren wails.]
Evidence-response team tagged everything Lloyd touched.
Why? He was throwing a tantrum.
What if he wasn't? Whatever he did, he always had a method.
Lloyd was meticulous.
He cut a clear pathway through the house and never doubled back.
[Pottery shatters.]
Every drawer in here is tossed except for the desk.
Did he run out of time? Or he wanted to lead us here.
It's a medical record from 1987 for a heart-transplant operation for Andrew Booker.
That's the First Lady's father.
Why would Mrs.
Booker leave a 30-year-old file just randomly lying on top? He left it here.
He wasn't looking for something.
He was leaving us something.
But why would he give a toss about Andrew Booker's heart? I don't know.
But I'm gonna find out.
- [Groans.]
- [Radio chatter.]
[Patients coughing, moaning.]
[Monitors beeping.]
Aaron: 10 more dead? And 11 more in the ICU hanging on.
The mortality rate of the patients in the hospital will be about 40%.
Have we made any progress? No.
The viral gestation cycle is short.
The patient's lungs are damaged, and the oxygen loss leads to organ failure.
What about our antiviral stockpile? The South Carroll Parish strain is resistant.
What about creating a new vaccine? Even if you threw every brain from the CDC at it, it would take months.
But I do have an idea.
We're all ears.
I read an abstract recently about an experimental cancer drug called Extasis with interesting antiviral properties that seem to reduce the ability of viruses with a genome similar to the H7N9 to replicate.
So not a prevention but a treatment.
That sounds promising.
Where do we get it? A guy named Carlton Mackie.
He heads up this cutting-edge pharma firm in Delaware called Benevax.
We're on it.
Meantime, we need to widen the quarantine to neighboring counties.
This thing's getting away from us.
[Indistinct conversations.]
What kind of PR bump do you think the president will get off of an animal? A small one.
I'd prefer a constellation, but, uh, this is what you get when you de-fund NASA.
I'm gonna ask people to just keep your voices down and, please, don't get too close to the terrarium.
From the Amazonian rainforest, I present Hylidae kirkmanus.
- [All murmuring.]
- [Frog croaks.]
What is it? Where is it? No, no, no, no, no, no.
You can't name that thing after the president.
We already have.
Don't you have something better? Like a Like a crested eagle or a panther? It's not a flea market, Mr.
Boone.
Well, see, a flea would be better 'cause then, no one would see it.
- You understand? - Okay, sorry.
Dr.
Chen, I think what Lyor is trying to say You and Kermit need to leave right now.
Oh, we can't Oh, don't move.
That's not gonna be possible 'cause it's already travelled 6,000 miles in the last 3 days.
If I move it before it habituates to its new surroundings, it it could die of shock.
Well, so could the president.
Uh, so how how long, uh, does he have to stay here? It's a hermaphrodite, so it's not a "he.
" Well, this gets better and better.
Well, I can move it tomorrow.
Great.
Thank you so much.
Well, what about a picture with the president? No, no, no.
We'll see if, uh, he's available in the schedule.
No, no, he's not gonna be available for that ever.
- [Frog croaks.]
- [Sighs.]
[Indistinct shouting.]
[Muffled shouting.]
[Sighs.]
Is Reverend Dale in there? I was hoping to meet him.
[Shouting continues.]
I'll come back.
[Shouting continues.]
- Man: Oh, my God! - Lyor: Hey.
How's this thing going? - Good.
- Man: Screw you! Woman: Screw you, too! Yeah.
Sounds good.
It's a contentious issue.
Do you like frogs? Frogs? Exactly.
No one does.
So, uh, your thing The, uh, Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights groups are watching how we handle this.
A test case.
I know.
Emily told me.
Did she mention the dovetailing optics? - Sorry? - The outbreak.
South Carroll Parish is 76% African-American.
So people of color are dying in one part of the country while racist monuments are protected in another? No bueno.
I'm on it.
Man: You are racist! Woman: No, you're racist! Yeah.
[Chuckles.]
[Indistinct shouting.]
Dr.
Bruner is right.
Extasis could work on H7N9.
That's great.
Carlton, that's excellent news.
You're suggesting an un-tested off-label use not approved by the FDA.
If it doesn't work, if it kills someone, Benevax's liability could be catastrophic.
I understand, which is why I had the White House counsel's office draw this up.
It's an indemnification.
I appreciate that, Mr.
President.
But it will take my lawyers weeks to vet this.
We don't have weeks.
We We have hours.
People are dying.
Carlton, I'm asking you to trust me.
All due respect, sir, I have an obligation to my shareholders, and I don't satisfy that obligation by saying someone from the government said, "Trust me.
" [Chuckles.]
Even if that somebody is the president.
I respect that.
Honestly, I-I do.
But there are times in our society where we have to act in faith on behalf of the greater good.
And unfortunately, this is one of them.
I have 10,000 doses in our Atlanta storage facility.
Which may be enough to contain this.
I can have HHS expedite the transfer - to South Carroll Parish.
- Okay.
Carlton, thank you.
I-I know this isn't easy.
Mr.
President.
- He did not look happy.
- No.
Neither do the families in Louisiana who are burying their loved ones.
The First Lady's father died in 2002.
Why would Lloyd leave us a breadcrumb trail to an old medical document? Because if we find it, it's evidence, and we're obligated to investigate it.
Evidence of what? And that's assuming it's not a plant.
There's only one way to find out Talk to the First Lady.
What are you gonna tell her? As little as possible.
I don't want to drag her into this if I'm following a Lloyd fabrication.
Okay, so this is an invoice for my mom's trip down the Danube with her friend Marlene a couple years ago.
Another old utility bill.
She stockpiles them.
Don't ask me why.
Agent Wells, is this really necessary? Yes, ma'am.
It is.
I'm sorry.
We have to vet everything that Patrick Lloyd touched.
We need to close the loop.
Wow! That's weird she kept this.
What is it? It's the insurance form for my dad's, um, heart transplant.
He had a transplant? Yeah, it was one of the first in the DC area, actually.
I-I was only about 10.
I don't remember a whole lot, but I-I do remember he was far down on the recipient list, and then at the last minute, you know, it all came together.
Wow.
Yeah.
- [Siren wails.]
- [Radio chatter.]
[Indistinct announcement over P.
A.
.]
Excuse me.
Did the medication come yet? Yeah.
What? He did what?! Son of a bitch.
What do you mean Carlton Mackie didn't deliver the medicine? He reneged, sir.
He found another buyer.
Pharmacies whose clientele are willing to pay 2 grand a dose.
So the residents of South Carroll Parish will not get the medicine they need, while the residents in Cameron Parish will.
Emily: Yes, sir.
It's all about the money who has it, who doesn't.
It's like Katrina on steroids, Mr.
President.
Not if I can help it.
Tell Kendra I'm gonna need her in federal court as soon as possible.
Yes, sir.
Yeah, it's the president.
Kendra: I'm sorry, your honor.
It's your motion, Ms.
Daynes.
Yes, for specific enforcement of a contract.
There's no contract here, judge.
Just a handshake extracted under duress in the Oval Office by the leader of the free world.
That's not the contract at issue.
I'm listening.
It's a compulsory contract.
The Defense Production Act requires businesses essential to the national defense Like drug manufacturers To sign agreements when necessary for the national defense.
Rafer: "When necessary.
" Mr.
Mackie has already made Extasis available to the population.
Kendra: To the rich.
And the rich are predominantly white.
Socioeconomic status is a proxy for race here.
That's not Benevax's concern.
But it's the government's.
South Carroll Parish, a black community, has 95% of the cases.
The president can decide how to distribute a drug during a public health crisis and at what price.
Why should he be allowed to substitute his judgment for the private sector's? Freedom of contract is a hallmark of our democracy.
But not when the government is facing down a public-health emergency.
Mr.
Mackie, you will relinquish 10,000 doses to the federal government now.
[Gavel bangs.]
Charles: Whoa, this is weird.
What do you have, Chuck? I rendered the top two inches of that document Lloyd uploaded.
It's a nine-digit number.
- What's it for? - No idea.
But you can also make out a date.
- June 3, 1987.
- 1987 again.
That's the year of the First Lady's father's transplant.
Almost to the day.
The transplant was June the 9th.
That document still could have been a plant.
Maybe, but it's real.
The First Lady confirmed it.
Chuck, where were Bethesda-Sinai's records pre-2000 haven't been digitized.
The hard copies are in a storage facility in Virginia.
- I'm texting you guys the address.
- Nice.
See if you can render the rest of that document.
Yeah, that's the plan.
What's up with you guys? What? I don't know what you're talking about.
[Computer beeping.]
[Indistinct conversations.]
Hey, I'm hearing you're a pretty good lawyer.
Thanks.
It It went well.
- Good.
Um - And the statue thing? - You're killing it, right? - Right.
Good.
Because we are unconquerable.
The crème de la crème.
The ne plus ultra.
- Kendra? - Yes? That door.
Right.
Thanks.
[Chuckles.]
Man: Come on, stop with that! [Indistinct shouting.]
The proposal on the table is a compromise solution.
The statue will be moved from the courthouse to the Chickamauga National Forest.
Reverend Dale? I appreciate your efforts at conciliation, Ms.
Daynes.
But I still remain fundamentally opposed to the relocation of that statue.
[People murmuring.]
At least we know the price for the great Tramer Dale selling out.
A trip to the White House.
Young lady you mean well.
You declare this is racist and that is racist.
But you are young, white, and living in America.
You don't know what it's like to walk in my shoes.
And I won't always be around to tell you, but that statue will.
It stays.
Tom: How's it going down there? Tammy: The drugs arrived late this afternoon.
My team spent the rest of the day titrating the proper dose.
You think it's gonna work? I don't know, sir.
We're administering it now.
[Sighs.]
I don't even have the words.
Sir? To tell you how grateful I am.
The greatest enemy we face these days is one we can't even see, and I send you down there behind enemy lines.
And you go.
Without hesitation, no questions asked.
Do you know why I do it? Why? Because I know that you would.
I'll update you in the morning.
Thanks, Tammy.
Bye.
[Vehicle beeping.]
I already reconnoitered the place.
Crap security, and no one on site.
You sure you don't want to go the subpoena route? Well, they're medical records.
It would take months to get through the HIPAA regulations.
The enduring charm of American bureaucracy.
Let's head around back.
I cut a hole in the fence.
Oh, subpoena, huh? I didn't say I needed one.
[Train whistle blowing.]
We should find the main office.
There's got to be a computer here with a directory.
It's alphabetized.
Floors are organized by month and year.
Is that a light on? Hannah! [Explosion.]
[Breathing heavily.]
[Alarm blaring.]
[Both grunting, coughing.]
Do you guys want to tell me what you're doing on private property after hours? - No.
- Want to start again? 'Cause right now I got you on B&E and torching the place.
That supposed to impress me, Agent Wells? No, it's just to show you that we're working a federal investigation and that I don't have to answer any of your questions.
Well, this isn't federal property.
Well, I am.
So call the White House and verify my credentials.
I'm still gonna need a statement from both of you.
We'll send one over.
You good? Yeah.
Hanging around with you should qualify me for hazard pay.
I've been shot, knocked unconscious.
Not stabbed, though.
No, not yet.
[Chuckles.]
Seth: As of 8:00 a.
m.
, we have a total of 74 fatalities attributed to the virus.
There are 64 in South Carroll Parish, 8 in Cameron Parish, and 2 in Wilkinson County, Mississippi.
[Indistinct shouting.]
It spread to Mississippi? Yes, we have a small cluster of cases in Mississippi and Texas.
So it's a full-blown epidemic.
No.
According to CDC parameters, this is still a localized outbreak.
That crossed state lines.
That the federal government, in concert with local and state authorities, is aggressively containing.
[Indistinct shouting.]
- Seth's good.
- Yep.
- The virus is better.
- Yep.
The NAACP wants to know why eight times as many people have died in a black parish than a white parish.
- That's a fair question.
- [Scoffs.]
I'm saying the president needs to devote more resources Look, we have the CDC, HHS, NIH, FEMA I don't think we can contain this with acronyms, Emily.
Good morning, doc.
Did you get any sleep? No, sir.
You? No, not really.
How are we doing? The Extasis is working, sir.
It dramatically reduces the viral load so that the body's immune system has a fighting chance.
The patients that we've administered it to are recovering.
Thank God.
The problem is we don't have enough.
- Not anymore.
- Well, we lost a lot of time.
We had to chase that son of a bitch into court.
Yes, sir, and this virus is moving much faster than we thought.
We need more medicine.
Unfortunately, Mackie gave us everything that he had.
10,000 doses, right? That's correct.
I don't think that's all he had.
Why? This medication is extremely expensive to develop.
10,000 doses is simply not a cost-effective production, especially for a company that invests as much into R&D as Benevax.
Right.
We'll look into it.
I'll get back to you as soon as we can.
Emily, I want On it, sir.
[Croaking.]
So this is the famous Kirkman toad? South American tree frog? Yes.
Yeah, it's not a particularly robust example of the genus.
I don't think you're qualified to opine about its robustness.
It's spindly.
[Screeching.]
And now it's not spindly.
It's a fight-or-flight response.
Maybe if you stop staring at it I don't think it's smart enough to view me as a threat.
Yeah, brain-to-body mass, frogs are very low on the evolutionary scale.
They're stupid, even by the modest standards of amphibians.
Do you need to be here? - Tasty, though.
- Yeah.
I sampled the related frog, xenopus levis, on safari in Angola.
And I must tell you they go wonderfully with tamarind.
You're a total disgrace.
Seth: Excuse me, Kendra.
The Congressional Black Caucus wants an update on the statue negotiations.
Update.
Right.
[Aquarium sliding.]
[Frog croaking.]
Lyor, can I borrow you for a minute? I'm just offering another perspective.
By accusing us of all of profiting from slavery? Well, you have.
- Richly.
- How dare you! You You and the Progressive Committee You wouldn't be in business without the historic oppression of African Americans.
- You'd be saving the whales.
- That's slander.
And, Reverend Dale, I've admired you since reading "Hear the Trumpets Blow," but without slavery, you're preaching in a one-room church and selling raffle tickets to keep the heat on.
Let me tell you something, son And the Southern Legacy Foundation? Well "Southern Legacy.
" Who the hell do you think you are? A cynical and sad human being.
And I am not prepared to continue with him in the room.
- Get him out of here! - That's right.
Please, just get him out of here! [Indistinct shouting.]
Thank you, Lyor.
You're welcome.
Did you and Damian break into a storage unit? We were following up on a lead regarding Patrick Lloyd.
[Sighs.]
With a burglary.
Aaron, I can't get into the details.
Hannah, you answer to me.
And you answer to the president.
Your point being? That this is about his family.
And until I know exactly what I'm dealing with You don't want to expose me.
Yeah.
Okay.
All right.
I'll trust you on this, Hannah, and I'll run interference, but what I can't do is run interference for someone who works for another government.
Surveillance cameras on the factory across the street caught him breaking through that fence.
He can answer for that, or he can leave.
All right.
I'll tell him.
Reverend Dale, this is a great honor for me.
The honor is mine, sir.
Tom: I also wanted to thank you for your willingness to compromise on the statue.
In the end, we moved it to an area that was less trafficked.
I know that's not what you wanted.
No, sir.
I believe we sanitize history at our peril.
It's nice when it's history we don't like.
But not when it's something we do.
Yes, sir.
It's a dangerous precedent we set here today, sir.
I don't disagree with you, but sometimes, compromise seems to be the only way to move forward.
Yeah.
Well, you can thank your pistol of a young lawyer here for bringing me around.
She reminded me that there's no virtue in absolutism.
Old lions like me can be stubborn.
Yet they still roar.
Mr.
President.
Reverend, please.
Reverend Dale, may I lead you out, sir? No.
But you may walk with me.
How'd you turn them around? I unified them by giving them a common figure to hate.
Huh.
Sadly, I'm starting to realize that that's one of the great secrets of good governance.
Sir, Carlton Mackie's in the West Wing.
Want me to bring him in? No, he doesn't set foot in the Oval Office ever again.
Excuse me.
[Indistinct conversations.]
You recognize this? It's a bill of lading from the United States Postal Service for the shipment of 30,000 doses of Extasis to a warehouse in Jacksonville.
You're in violation of a court order.
No, sir.
Court order covered exactly 10,000 doses.
Because you misled us.
You allowed us to believe that's all you had.
You failed to acknowledge the 30,000 doses that you were holding in reserve.
I provided an amount I was told was sufficient.
Which very well might have been if we didn't have to hunt you down to get it.
Lives are at stake here, Mr.
Mackie.
I understand that, which is why I'm making additional doses available.
So you and your company can line your pockets.
Respectfully, sir, it is not that simple.
Extasis is an experimental drug.
Our patent is pending.
But now the drug is in circulation, meaning every lab in America will be reverse-engineering it by Monday.
We spent $1 billion in R&D on this drug.
If that investment is gone, so is my company.
That is absolutely ridiculous.
You're gonna peddle some kind of corporate doomsday scenario while the country is really dealing with one?! Pharmaceutical companies have made billions upon billions of dollars profit every year on the backs of the American people with the understanding that if there is ever a crisis A real emergency You people would finally step up and do the right thing and make a sacrifice! It isn't just my sacrifice.
We have heart-disease drugs in the pipeline, diabetes drugs.
Whatever happens with this outbreak, if we go bankrupt, more people will die from the drugs that we do not develop than from this bug.
I took an oath to protect the American people.
My job is to save lives now, today, and I will not let you get in the way.
I know what you think of me, sir, but I am not a racist I'm a capitalist.
Yet the fact still remains the community that is suffering from this right now is made up of minorities.
And I want to help them.
But I don't run a charity.
So pay me what I deserve or have me arrested for contempt of court, but your lawyers better be ready for a fight.
In the meantime, Mr.
President, I have a business to run.
Just like you.
[Door opens, closes.]
He's got us, sir.
By the time we get our hands on his supply, it'll be a drop in the bucket.
Get me Reverend Dale.
See if the old lion has one roar left in him.
Equal treatment for all people.
A principle for which so many have fought and died.
But Carlton Mackie doesn't believe in that.
He believes only the rich should benefit from the healing powers of modern medicine.
The rest of us can be left to sicken and die.
Like the good people of South Carroll Parish.
Do you know what you've done? Yes.
I've ruined your reputation.
But I'm gonna give you a chance to get it back.
Today, Carlton Mackie will be providing Benevax's entire stockpile of Extasis to the government.
And a grateful nation is in his debt.
To me, this is not just responsible corporate citizenship.
This is what it means to be an American a great American.
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press, it is my privilege to introduce Carlton Mackie.
[Applause.]
The most powerful man in the world sucking up to the guy who lied to his face and tried to shake him down.
You know what you call that? Leadership.
Damn straight.
- [Camera shutters clicking.]
- Carlton: Thank you.
One-way ticket and 12 hours to leave the country? Your government's pretty ungrateful.
Yeah, in England, you'd get a-a ceremony, right? In England, I'd be knighted.
Well, we don't think much of burglars here, I guess.
Yeah, well, I don't think much of not finishing a job.
I'll keep you posted.
Don't worry.
Wells.
No, I'm gonna walk you out.
I'm touched.
Don't be.
They wanted me to make sure you got in the cab.
Charles.
Cheerio, mate.
Seth: Hey, slow down.
24 hours on the button.
If that thing's still here, I'm gonna frog-walk it down Pennsylvania Avenue myself.
That's a little harsh.
Well, you want to write a release about a swollen, sexually ambiguous toad named after the president, whose defining characteristic, by the way, is that it expectorates on its insect prey? Not so much.
- [Frog croaking.]
- Hey.
Dr.
Chen was just filling me in on our little friend here.
Yes, indeed.
He's incredibly resilient.
Can fight off a wide variety of enemies, holds his ground.
It's fiercely protective of its family.
And doesn't even sleep much.
I think he's a perfect namesake.
We thought so, too, sir.
Seth, why don't you get the White House photographer? Hylidae kirkmanus is ready for his close-up.
[Chuckles.]
Yes.
While we're young, Seth.
America's waiting.
[Chuckles.]
[Croaking continues.]
Just beautiful.
A defense-department purchase order.
Yeah, for a contractor called Icarus Astrotech.
First Lady mentioned that her mother was a government secretary.
- Where did she work? - D.
O.
D.
Contract Oversight Services.
Her department would have handled Icarus bids.
And which Icarus employee signed this? Contracts officer named Eric Little.
Still works there, actually.
So the First Lady's dad gets a heart transplant around the same time that her mother is handling the paperwork for a defense contract.
Why does Patrick Lloyd want us to know this? [Sighs.]
Chuck? Look, there's a difference between correlation and coincidence.
Tell me what you correlated.
[Sighs.]
I looked into Eric Little.
In 1987, he was on the board of the hospital where Alex's dad got his transplant.
- A bribe? - If you're reaching, yeah.
So let's play this out.
The First Lady's mother gives inside info to a government contractor in order to win a bid.
So the First Lady's father could move up the transplant list? It's a pretty circumstantial case.
[Sighs.]
Which is why we need to speak to Eric Little.
Eric Little's address.
Reston, Virginia.
Hey.
You coming? Tammy, it's Tom.
Can you hear me? We got the rest of the medication, sir.
We're administering it as we speak.
Is it working? I think we might have this bastard on the run.
That is fantastic news.
Your country owes you a great debt.
Not just me, sir.
All of us.
The doctors and the nurses and all the volunteers who've stayed up for 48 hours trying to beat this thing.
Tammy, what's wrong? You don't look well.
- It's not what you think.
- What is it? It's kidney failure.
What? How? I had to test out the antiviral on myself to determine its toxicity, and I knew the quickest way to do it.
Turns out the proper dosage is only one milliliter, not two.
I want you out of there.
I'm bringing you back to Walter Reed.
You're coming home.
No, Mr.
President.
- I'm not asking.
- I know, sir.
But we're still fighting here.
A good soldier doesn't leave the field early.
She stays until the last shot is fired.
It's what you would do.
You told me yourself I have to see this through, sir.
I'll check in with you in the morning.
Tammy: Two Air Force muscleheads are telling me I got to get on a plane, that they're gonna carry me out if I resist.
That's called kidnapping.
Well, you're gonna have to take that up with a higher authority.
Wait a second, I am that higher authority.
Come on, Tammy.
They were following orders.
They were trying to help.
Yeah, I suppose.
The doc says you're gonna make a full recovery.
I didn't get the job done.
I am a soldier who left the field of battle before the battle was won.
Think of it like this.
I'm a general who refuses to leave anyone behind, and I outrank you.
Now, I want you to behave yourself.
Listen to the nurses and do what they tell you because if I have to come back, it is not going to be pretty.
Yes, sir.
She's gonna need some more Jell-o.
[Knock on door.]
Looks about right.
I hear you're off to a pretty good start.
Oh, no, I guess.
Maybe I'm just off.
You negotiated a settlement for the Emmitt Akin statue.
That no one's really happy with.
You went to court to get medicine distributed to sick people.
A bunch of whom died because we didn't get it there fast enough.
[Sighs.]
See, firing on all cylinders.
Feels like the whole job around here is just putting out fires.
Is it always like this? No.
Usually, the flames are much higher.
[Sighs.]
Tom: Did you get a chance to talk to the reverend? Yes, sir.
And I shook his hand.
It's one of the many things I'll get to tell my grandchildren.
[Chuckles.]
He's seen so much.
I can't help but wonder what he honestly thinks about where we are.
What about you, Mike? What do you think about where we are? Sir, this country's constitution originally said I was 3/5 of a person.
That's where we started.
But I'm more interested in where we're headed.
We need to do better.
Yeah.
But we've also come a long way.
My great-grandfather was a sharecropper, and my dad was an auto mechanic.
And I'm in the Oval Office talking to the President of the United States.
[Chuckles.]
You didn't mention your grandfather.
What happened to him? He was a drunk.
Progress can sometimes skip a generation.
[Scoffs.]
Yeah.
[Sighs.]
It's 2017.
We should be talking about anything and everything but this.
But we're not, sir.
And as long as we're having the conversation, you're the person I want to be having it with.
You've got the boat pointed in the right direction.
Thank you, Mike.
Well, here's to hoping one day, we can all learn to row together.
It's all we can do, sir.
Yeah.
All this stuff happened 30 years ago.
How did Lloyd find out about all of it? He's definitely looking for something to compromise the president with.
Well, he found a vulnerability.
One that he's making us investigate.
He knows law enforcement can't bury it.
- Yeah, the problem with transparen - Shh.
[Door creaks.]
Eric Little.
I would be honored to work for you, sir.
A silent alarm was tripped at a private residence in Rockville.
Damian: Who lives there? Charles: The First Lady's mother.
It sounded like the place was being torn apart.
And I want a detailed report of everything that Lloyd touched, got it? Tom: My family? He's coming after my family? The FBI conducted a drone strike.
I can now confirm that Patrick Lloyd has been neutralized.
Damian: They found Lloyd's computer.
He was uploading something to the cloud when the bomb hit.
Do you know what it was? [Vehicles passing, man shouts indistinctly.]
- [Woman vocalizing.]
- Lainie: Yes, I told him.
But you know men and their boats.
[ Jackson crying .]
I'll call you back, Jess.
What's wrong, honey? My mom.
Ma'am? [Gasps.]
[Horn honks in distance.]
Hey, Mom, is something wrong with the coffee? Yes.
I didn't make it.
Come on.
I told you You can use the kitchen any time.
Someone else's kitchen.
Someone else's coffee.
Eva, it's only been a weekend.
It's gonna take you some time to get settled.
Besides, the White House has 132 rooms, so if you're not happy with the one you're in You're so sweet.
And a wonderful host.
I just want to go home.
Mom, your house is still an active crime scene.
Your son's bedroom is an active crime scene.
My house is just a place some lunatic broke into, and he's dead.
And I'm not.
I promise you, I give you my word we'll get you home as soon as possible.
Until then, know you have the run of the place.
And I appreciate it.
Why do I get the feeling that my mom likes you better? Because she likes me better.
[Telephone rings.]
Yeah? I'll be right there.
[Indistinct conversations, telephone ringing.]
- Woman: Mr.
President.
- Okay, what do we got? 32 cases in the past 24 hours in South Carroll Parish.
That's 12 fatalities.
- Which means thousands are infected.
- So, what's the CDC saying? - Is this as bad as Liberia? - Worse.
It's Influenza "A," likely avian origin.
Highly contagious.
Short incubation period facilitates the spread.
Could this be the superbug you've been worried about? Well, I might have an answer for that if the CDC had some money for infectious-disease research.
Just like when we were teaching at Columbia.
Always trying to squeeze blood from a stone.
But that was for faculty pensions.
This is about lives.
Show me.
[Computer beeping.]
This flu appears to be an H7N9 subtype.
Like the Yangtze Delta flu.
And no one here has immunity.
How fast will it spread? Our simulation says the H7N9 will appear in surrounding states in 36 hours.
In 72 hours [Computer pinging.]
that's what it will look like.
Oh, my God.
Emily: We have a shot at containment because the area is so isolated.
They didn't even have state roads in some parts until the '70s.
The FAA shut down all airports in a 200-mile radius.
Same for NHTSA and highways.
And I told Governor LaSalle that we're at his disposal.
Okay, good.
Aaron, I'm gonna want you to be the liaison between World Health Organization and the UN.
We also need to notify the Canadian and Mexican authorities.
HHS has activated the Strategic National Stockpile of vaccines and antivirals, so hopefully one of them will match this flu strain.
Emily, bring Seth up to speed.
As soon as word leaks out, panic's gonna spread like wildfire.
- Let's get on it.
- Yes, sir.
100 years ago, the Spanish flu wiped out 5% of the world's population.
How bad is this? I'll give you a call when I have boots on the ground.
All right.
Tammy.
Be careful.
Yes, sir.
Seth: So I just got off the phone with an infectious-disease specialist at the CDC.
This bug is a rapidly mutating pathogen that accelerates its host's lytic cycle.
English? Uh, it makes your cells explode.
Maybe don't tell the press that.
Yep.
Hey, um, did you leave me a blueberry muffin? I did.
That was really nice.
Yeah, I picked out all the blueberries, so don't make it a big deal.
Well, I won't now.
Oh, uh, that zoologist from the National Museum wants to come by The guy who's naming the animal after the president.
He wants a photo op.
Bringing an alien species into the White House while we're fighting a possible pandemic that originated with animals is a great idea.
Hey, I just work here.
Hey, new girl.
You getting up to speed? Trying.
It's a little, uh Intimidating? That's the word.
Just remember it's another office building.
Whose halls were walked by Lincoln, FDR, and Kennedy.
You'll get used to it.
- [Sighs.]
Really? - No.
We're starting you slow, though.
Right.
The Emmitt Akin statue.
Yes, a simple Confederate monument located on federal property.
Some want to keep it.
Some don't.
Well, a federal statue means federal issue.
This is really important to the president.
I thought you were starting me slow.
It is slow.
Woman: How dare you?! That is racist! Man: I've been telling you for an hour, it is not racist! - [Indistinct shouting.]
- People, can we just? [Whistles.]
No! We were making progress here.
Look, Emmitt Akin was the Mayor of Chattanooga.
He's an historic figure to many Tennesseans.
That is the Southern Legacy Foundation's whole point.
He was also a slave holder who fought to preserve an oppressive institution.
The erection of his statue post-Reconstruction is seen by many as a monument to Jim Crow.
The statue's smack dab in front of the old federal courthouse.
It's an official endorsement of racism.
So we've agreed on a middle ground To find a less-trafficked area for the statue that still honors Tennessee history while respecting the sensibilities of those who find it a reminder of a painful past.
The only party we haven't heard from is Reverend Dale.
[Murmuring.]
I have spent my life leading protests.
But this issue has caused me great consternation.
The statue is an emblem of a dark period in American history.
It enshrines racism.
So it is easy to view it as a symbol of injustice.
But I see it as a reminder, and our past must not be whitewashed.
The statue must not be moved.
- Man: There you go.
- He doesn't want it touched, either! - Thank you! - Have you lost your mind?! [Indistinct shouting.]
[Computer beeping.]
- It makes no sense.
- Nope.
Lloyd's on the run for six months, and the last thing he does before he holes himself up in a bunker is trash the First Lady's mother's house? Why? Because he wanted to show your president that he could get to his family? Or and, uh, just spit balling here because he was a psychopath.
Personally, I'm much more interested in what he was trying to upload.
Look, Lloyd sent that file across three continents four times before I located it in a cloud account on an Australian server.
It's so corrupted that I need to write a program just to render it.
Yeah.
No problem.
Glad you're on it.
Yeah.
So, you must miss London, huh? Always.
How long you here for? Well, that depends on Hannah.
I can't tell my government the threat he posed is over until your government says it is.
And you being the lead investigator, you're "your government.
" My government says to keep digging.
See you later! [Sighs.]
Much.
[Siren wails.]
Evidence-response team tagged everything Lloyd touched.
Why? He was throwing a tantrum.
What if he wasn't? Whatever he did, he always had a method.
Lloyd was meticulous.
He cut a clear pathway through the house and never doubled back.
[Pottery shatters.]
Every drawer in here is tossed except for the desk.
Did he run out of time? Or he wanted to lead us here.
It's a medical record from 1987 for a heart-transplant operation for Andrew Booker.
That's the First Lady's father.
Why would Mrs.
Booker leave a 30-year-old file just randomly lying on top? He left it here.
He wasn't looking for something.
He was leaving us something.
But why would he give a toss about Andrew Booker's heart? I don't know.
But I'm gonna find out.
- [Groans.]
- [Radio chatter.]
[Patients coughing, moaning.]
[Monitors beeping.]
Aaron: 10 more dead? And 11 more in the ICU hanging on.
The mortality rate of the patients in the hospital will be about 40%.
Have we made any progress? No.
The viral gestation cycle is short.
The patient's lungs are damaged, and the oxygen loss leads to organ failure.
What about our antiviral stockpile? The South Carroll Parish strain is resistant.
What about creating a new vaccine? Even if you threw every brain from the CDC at it, it would take months.
But I do have an idea.
We're all ears.
I read an abstract recently about an experimental cancer drug called Extasis with interesting antiviral properties that seem to reduce the ability of viruses with a genome similar to the H7N9 to replicate.
So not a prevention but a treatment.
That sounds promising.
Where do we get it? A guy named Carlton Mackie.
He heads up this cutting-edge pharma firm in Delaware called Benevax.
We're on it.
Meantime, we need to widen the quarantine to neighboring counties.
This thing's getting away from us.
[Indistinct conversations.]
What kind of PR bump do you think the president will get off of an animal? A small one.
I'd prefer a constellation, but, uh, this is what you get when you de-fund NASA.
I'm gonna ask people to just keep your voices down and, please, don't get too close to the terrarium.
From the Amazonian rainforest, I present Hylidae kirkmanus.
- [All murmuring.]
- [Frog croaks.]
What is it? Where is it? No, no, no, no, no, no.
You can't name that thing after the president.
We already have.
Don't you have something better? Like a Like a crested eagle or a panther? It's not a flea market, Mr.
Boone.
Well, see, a flea would be better 'cause then, no one would see it.
- You understand? - Okay, sorry.
Dr.
Chen, I think what Lyor is trying to say You and Kermit need to leave right now.
Oh, we can't Oh, don't move.
That's not gonna be possible 'cause it's already travelled 6,000 miles in the last 3 days.
If I move it before it habituates to its new surroundings, it it could die of shock.
Well, so could the president.
Uh, so how how long, uh, does he have to stay here? It's a hermaphrodite, so it's not a "he.
" Well, this gets better and better.
Well, I can move it tomorrow.
Great.
Thank you so much.
Well, what about a picture with the president? No, no, no.
We'll see if, uh, he's available in the schedule.
No, no, he's not gonna be available for that ever.
- [Frog croaks.]
- [Sighs.]
[Indistinct shouting.]
[Muffled shouting.]
[Sighs.]
Is Reverend Dale in there? I was hoping to meet him.
[Shouting continues.]
I'll come back.
[Shouting continues.]
- Man: Oh, my God! - Lyor: Hey.
How's this thing going? - Good.
- Man: Screw you! Woman: Screw you, too! Yeah.
Sounds good.
It's a contentious issue.
Do you like frogs? Frogs? Exactly.
No one does.
So, uh, your thing The, uh, Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights groups are watching how we handle this.
A test case.
I know.
Emily told me.
Did she mention the dovetailing optics? - Sorry? - The outbreak.
South Carroll Parish is 76% African-American.
So people of color are dying in one part of the country while racist monuments are protected in another? No bueno.
I'm on it.
Man: You are racist! Woman: No, you're racist! Yeah.
[Chuckles.]
[Indistinct shouting.]
Dr.
Bruner is right.
Extasis could work on H7N9.
That's great.
Carlton, that's excellent news.
You're suggesting an un-tested off-label use not approved by the FDA.
If it doesn't work, if it kills someone, Benevax's liability could be catastrophic.
I understand, which is why I had the White House counsel's office draw this up.
It's an indemnification.
I appreciate that, Mr.
President.
But it will take my lawyers weeks to vet this.
We don't have weeks.
We We have hours.
People are dying.
Carlton, I'm asking you to trust me.
All due respect, sir, I have an obligation to my shareholders, and I don't satisfy that obligation by saying someone from the government said, "Trust me.
" [Chuckles.]
Even if that somebody is the president.
I respect that.
Honestly, I-I do.
But there are times in our society where we have to act in faith on behalf of the greater good.
And unfortunately, this is one of them.
I have 10,000 doses in our Atlanta storage facility.
Which may be enough to contain this.
I can have HHS expedite the transfer - to South Carroll Parish.
- Okay.
Carlton, thank you.
I-I know this isn't easy.
Mr.
President.
- He did not look happy.
- No.
Neither do the families in Louisiana who are burying their loved ones.
The First Lady's father died in 2002.
Why would Lloyd leave us a breadcrumb trail to an old medical document? Because if we find it, it's evidence, and we're obligated to investigate it.
Evidence of what? And that's assuming it's not a plant.
There's only one way to find out Talk to the First Lady.
What are you gonna tell her? As little as possible.
I don't want to drag her into this if I'm following a Lloyd fabrication.
Okay, so this is an invoice for my mom's trip down the Danube with her friend Marlene a couple years ago.
Another old utility bill.
She stockpiles them.
Don't ask me why.
Agent Wells, is this really necessary? Yes, ma'am.
It is.
I'm sorry.
We have to vet everything that Patrick Lloyd touched.
We need to close the loop.
Wow! That's weird she kept this.
What is it? It's the insurance form for my dad's, um, heart transplant.
He had a transplant? Yeah, it was one of the first in the DC area, actually.
I-I was only about 10.
I don't remember a whole lot, but I-I do remember he was far down on the recipient list, and then at the last minute, you know, it all came together.
Wow.
Yeah.
- [Siren wails.]
- [Radio chatter.]
[Indistinct announcement over P.
A.
.]
Excuse me.
Did the medication come yet? Yeah.
What? He did what?! Son of a bitch.
What do you mean Carlton Mackie didn't deliver the medicine? He reneged, sir.
He found another buyer.
Pharmacies whose clientele are willing to pay 2 grand a dose.
So the residents of South Carroll Parish will not get the medicine they need, while the residents in Cameron Parish will.
Emily: Yes, sir.
It's all about the money who has it, who doesn't.
It's like Katrina on steroids, Mr.
President.
Not if I can help it.
Tell Kendra I'm gonna need her in federal court as soon as possible.
Yes, sir.
Yeah, it's the president.
Kendra: I'm sorry, your honor.
It's your motion, Ms.
Daynes.
Yes, for specific enforcement of a contract.
There's no contract here, judge.
Just a handshake extracted under duress in the Oval Office by the leader of the free world.
That's not the contract at issue.
I'm listening.
It's a compulsory contract.
The Defense Production Act requires businesses essential to the national defense Like drug manufacturers To sign agreements when necessary for the national defense.
Rafer: "When necessary.
" Mr.
Mackie has already made Extasis available to the population.
Kendra: To the rich.
And the rich are predominantly white.
Socioeconomic status is a proxy for race here.
That's not Benevax's concern.
But it's the government's.
South Carroll Parish, a black community, has 95% of the cases.
The president can decide how to distribute a drug during a public health crisis and at what price.
Why should he be allowed to substitute his judgment for the private sector's? Freedom of contract is a hallmark of our democracy.
But not when the government is facing down a public-health emergency.
Mr.
Mackie, you will relinquish 10,000 doses to the federal government now.
[Gavel bangs.]
Charles: Whoa, this is weird.
What do you have, Chuck? I rendered the top two inches of that document Lloyd uploaded.
It's a nine-digit number.
- What's it for? - No idea.
But you can also make out a date.
- June 3, 1987.
- 1987 again.
That's the year of the First Lady's father's transplant.
Almost to the day.
The transplant was June the 9th.
That document still could have been a plant.
Maybe, but it's real.
The First Lady confirmed it.
Chuck, where were Bethesda-Sinai's records pre-2000 haven't been digitized.
The hard copies are in a storage facility in Virginia.
- I'm texting you guys the address.
- Nice.
See if you can render the rest of that document.
Yeah, that's the plan.
What's up with you guys? What? I don't know what you're talking about.
[Computer beeping.]
[Indistinct conversations.]
Hey, I'm hearing you're a pretty good lawyer.
Thanks.
It It went well.
- Good.
Um - And the statue thing? - You're killing it, right? - Right.
Good.
Because we are unconquerable.
The crème de la crème.
The ne plus ultra.
- Kendra? - Yes? That door.
Right.
Thanks.
[Chuckles.]
Man: Come on, stop with that! [Indistinct shouting.]
The proposal on the table is a compromise solution.
The statue will be moved from the courthouse to the Chickamauga National Forest.
Reverend Dale? I appreciate your efforts at conciliation, Ms.
Daynes.
But I still remain fundamentally opposed to the relocation of that statue.
[People murmuring.]
At least we know the price for the great Tramer Dale selling out.
A trip to the White House.
Young lady you mean well.
You declare this is racist and that is racist.
But you are young, white, and living in America.
You don't know what it's like to walk in my shoes.
And I won't always be around to tell you, but that statue will.
It stays.
Tom: How's it going down there? Tammy: The drugs arrived late this afternoon.
My team spent the rest of the day titrating the proper dose.
You think it's gonna work? I don't know, sir.
We're administering it now.
[Sighs.]
I don't even have the words.
Sir? To tell you how grateful I am.
The greatest enemy we face these days is one we can't even see, and I send you down there behind enemy lines.
And you go.
Without hesitation, no questions asked.
Do you know why I do it? Why? Because I know that you would.
I'll update you in the morning.
Thanks, Tammy.
Bye.
[Vehicle beeping.]
I already reconnoitered the place.
Crap security, and no one on site.
You sure you don't want to go the subpoena route? Well, they're medical records.
It would take months to get through the HIPAA regulations.
The enduring charm of American bureaucracy.
Let's head around back.
I cut a hole in the fence.
Oh, subpoena, huh? I didn't say I needed one.
[Train whistle blowing.]
We should find the main office.
There's got to be a computer here with a directory.
It's alphabetized.
Floors are organized by month and year.
Is that a light on? Hannah! [Explosion.]
[Breathing heavily.]
[Alarm blaring.]
[Both grunting, coughing.]
Do you guys want to tell me what you're doing on private property after hours? - No.
- Want to start again? 'Cause right now I got you on B&E and torching the place.
That supposed to impress me, Agent Wells? No, it's just to show you that we're working a federal investigation and that I don't have to answer any of your questions.
Well, this isn't federal property.
Well, I am.
So call the White House and verify my credentials.
I'm still gonna need a statement from both of you.
We'll send one over.
You good? Yeah.
Hanging around with you should qualify me for hazard pay.
I've been shot, knocked unconscious.
Not stabbed, though.
No, not yet.
[Chuckles.]
Seth: As of 8:00 a.
m.
, we have a total of 74 fatalities attributed to the virus.
There are 64 in South Carroll Parish, 8 in Cameron Parish, and 2 in Wilkinson County, Mississippi.
[Indistinct shouting.]
It spread to Mississippi? Yes, we have a small cluster of cases in Mississippi and Texas.
So it's a full-blown epidemic.
No.
According to CDC parameters, this is still a localized outbreak.
That crossed state lines.
That the federal government, in concert with local and state authorities, is aggressively containing.
[Indistinct shouting.]
- Seth's good.
- Yep.
- The virus is better.
- Yep.
The NAACP wants to know why eight times as many people have died in a black parish than a white parish.
- That's a fair question.
- [Scoffs.]
I'm saying the president needs to devote more resources Look, we have the CDC, HHS, NIH, FEMA I don't think we can contain this with acronyms, Emily.
Good morning, doc.
Did you get any sleep? No, sir.
You? No, not really.
How are we doing? The Extasis is working, sir.
It dramatically reduces the viral load so that the body's immune system has a fighting chance.
The patients that we've administered it to are recovering.
Thank God.
The problem is we don't have enough.
- Not anymore.
- Well, we lost a lot of time.
We had to chase that son of a bitch into court.
Yes, sir, and this virus is moving much faster than we thought.
We need more medicine.
Unfortunately, Mackie gave us everything that he had.
10,000 doses, right? That's correct.
I don't think that's all he had.
Why? This medication is extremely expensive to develop.
10,000 doses is simply not a cost-effective production, especially for a company that invests as much into R&D as Benevax.
Right.
We'll look into it.
I'll get back to you as soon as we can.
Emily, I want On it, sir.
[Croaking.]
So this is the famous Kirkman toad? South American tree frog? Yes.
Yeah, it's not a particularly robust example of the genus.
I don't think you're qualified to opine about its robustness.
It's spindly.
[Screeching.]
And now it's not spindly.
It's a fight-or-flight response.
Maybe if you stop staring at it I don't think it's smart enough to view me as a threat.
Yeah, brain-to-body mass, frogs are very low on the evolutionary scale.
They're stupid, even by the modest standards of amphibians.
Do you need to be here? - Tasty, though.
- Yeah.
I sampled the related frog, xenopus levis, on safari in Angola.
And I must tell you they go wonderfully with tamarind.
You're a total disgrace.
Seth: Excuse me, Kendra.
The Congressional Black Caucus wants an update on the statue negotiations.
Update.
Right.
[Aquarium sliding.]
[Frog croaking.]
Lyor, can I borrow you for a minute? I'm just offering another perspective.
By accusing us of all of profiting from slavery? Well, you have.
- Richly.
- How dare you! You You and the Progressive Committee You wouldn't be in business without the historic oppression of African Americans.
- You'd be saving the whales.
- That's slander.
And, Reverend Dale, I've admired you since reading "Hear the Trumpets Blow," but without slavery, you're preaching in a one-room church and selling raffle tickets to keep the heat on.
Let me tell you something, son And the Southern Legacy Foundation? Well "Southern Legacy.
" Who the hell do you think you are? A cynical and sad human being.
And I am not prepared to continue with him in the room.
- Get him out of here! - That's right.
Please, just get him out of here! [Indistinct shouting.]
Thank you, Lyor.
You're welcome.
Did you and Damian break into a storage unit? We were following up on a lead regarding Patrick Lloyd.
[Sighs.]
With a burglary.
Aaron, I can't get into the details.
Hannah, you answer to me.
And you answer to the president.
Your point being? That this is about his family.
And until I know exactly what I'm dealing with You don't want to expose me.
Yeah.
Okay.
All right.
I'll trust you on this, Hannah, and I'll run interference, but what I can't do is run interference for someone who works for another government.
Surveillance cameras on the factory across the street caught him breaking through that fence.
He can answer for that, or he can leave.
All right.
I'll tell him.
Reverend Dale, this is a great honor for me.
The honor is mine, sir.
Tom: I also wanted to thank you for your willingness to compromise on the statue.
In the end, we moved it to an area that was less trafficked.
I know that's not what you wanted.
No, sir.
I believe we sanitize history at our peril.
It's nice when it's history we don't like.
But not when it's something we do.
Yes, sir.
It's a dangerous precedent we set here today, sir.
I don't disagree with you, but sometimes, compromise seems to be the only way to move forward.
Yeah.
Well, you can thank your pistol of a young lawyer here for bringing me around.
She reminded me that there's no virtue in absolutism.
Old lions like me can be stubborn.
Yet they still roar.
Mr.
President.
Reverend, please.
Reverend Dale, may I lead you out, sir? No.
But you may walk with me.
How'd you turn them around? I unified them by giving them a common figure to hate.
Huh.
Sadly, I'm starting to realize that that's one of the great secrets of good governance.
Sir, Carlton Mackie's in the West Wing.
Want me to bring him in? No, he doesn't set foot in the Oval Office ever again.
Excuse me.
[Indistinct conversations.]
You recognize this? It's a bill of lading from the United States Postal Service for the shipment of 30,000 doses of Extasis to a warehouse in Jacksonville.
You're in violation of a court order.
No, sir.
Court order covered exactly 10,000 doses.
Because you misled us.
You allowed us to believe that's all you had.
You failed to acknowledge the 30,000 doses that you were holding in reserve.
I provided an amount I was told was sufficient.
Which very well might have been if we didn't have to hunt you down to get it.
Lives are at stake here, Mr.
Mackie.
I understand that, which is why I'm making additional doses available.
So you and your company can line your pockets.
Respectfully, sir, it is not that simple.
Extasis is an experimental drug.
Our patent is pending.
But now the drug is in circulation, meaning every lab in America will be reverse-engineering it by Monday.
We spent $1 billion in R&D on this drug.
If that investment is gone, so is my company.
That is absolutely ridiculous.
You're gonna peddle some kind of corporate doomsday scenario while the country is really dealing with one?! Pharmaceutical companies have made billions upon billions of dollars profit every year on the backs of the American people with the understanding that if there is ever a crisis A real emergency You people would finally step up and do the right thing and make a sacrifice! It isn't just my sacrifice.
We have heart-disease drugs in the pipeline, diabetes drugs.
Whatever happens with this outbreak, if we go bankrupt, more people will die from the drugs that we do not develop than from this bug.
I took an oath to protect the American people.
My job is to save lives now, today, and I will not let you get in the way.
I know what you think of me, sir, but I am not a racist I'm a capitalist.
Yet the fact still remains the community that is suffering from this right now is made up of minorities.
And I want to help them.
But I don't run a charity.
So pay me what I deserve or have me arrested for contempt of court, but your lawyers better be ready for a fight.
In the meantime, Mr.
President, I have a business to run.
Just like you.
[Door opens, closes.]
He's got us, sir.
By the time we get our hands on his supply, it'll be a drop in the bucket.
Get me Reverend Dale.
See if the old lion has one roar left in him.
Equal treatment for all people.
A principle for which so many have fought and died.
But Carlton Mackie doesn't believe in that.
He believes only the rich should benefit from the healing powers of modern medicine.
The rest of us can be left to sicken and die.
Like the good people of South Carroll Parish.
Do you know what you've done? Yes.
I've ruined your reputation.
But I'm gonna give you a chance to get it back.
Today, Carlton Mackie will be providing Benevax's entire stockpile of Extasis to the government.
And a grateful nation is in his debt.
To me, this is not just responsible corporate citizenship.
This is what it means to be an American a great American.
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press, it is my privilege to introduce Carlton Mackie.
[Applause.]
The most powerful man in the world sucking up to the guy who lied to his face and tried to shake him down.
You know what you call that? Leadership.
Damn straight.
- [Camera shutters clicking.]
- Carlton: Thank you.
One-way ticket and 12 hours to leave the country? Your government's pretty ungrateful.
Yeah, in England, you'd get a-a ceremony, right? In England, I'd be knighted.
Well, we don't think much of burglars here, I guess.
Yeah, well, I don't think much of not finishing a job.
I'll keep you posted.
Don't worry.
Wells.
No, I'm gonna walk you out.
I'm touched.
Don't be.
They wanted me to make sure you got in the cab.
Charles.
Cheerio, mate.
Seth: Hey, slow down.
24 hours on the button.
If that thing's still here, I'm gonna frog-walk it down Pennsylvania Avenue myself.
That's a little harsh.
Well, you want to write a release about a swollen, sexually ambiguous toad named after the president, whose defining characteristic, by the way, is that it expectorates on its insect prey? Not so much.
- [Frog croaking.]
- Hey.
Dr.
Chen was just filling me in on our little friend here.
Yes, indeed.
He's incredibly resilient.
Can fight off a wide variety of enemies, holds his ground.
It's fiercely protective of its family.
And doesn't even sleep much.
I think he's a perfect namesake.
We thought so, too, sir.
Seth, why don't you get the White House photographer? Hylidae kirkmanus is ready for his close-up.
[Chuckles.]
Yes.
While we're young, Seth.
America's waiting.
[Chuckles.]
[Croaking continues.]
Just beautiful.
A defense-department purchase order.
Yeah, for a contractor called Icarus Astrotech.
First Lady mentioned that her mother was a government secretary.
- Where did she work? - D.
O.
D.
Contract Oversight Services.
Her department would have handled Icarus bids.
And which Icarus employee signed this? Contracts officer named Eric Little.
Still works there, actually.
So the First Lady's dad gets a heart transplant around the same time that her mother is handling the paperwork for a defense contract.
Why does Patrick Lloyd want us to know this? [Sighs.]
Chuck? Look, there's a difference between correlation and coincidence.
Tell me what you correlated.
[Sighs.]
I looked into Eric Little.
In 1987, he was on the board of the hospital where Alex's dad got his transplant.
- A bribe? - If you're reaching, yeah.
So let's play this out.
The First Lady's mother gives inside info to a government contractor in order to win a bid.
So the First Lady's father could move up the transplant list? It's a pretty circumstantial case.
[Sighs.]
Which is why we need to speak to Eric Little.
Eric Little's address.
Reston, Virginia.
Hey.
You coming? Tammy, it's Tom.
Can you hear me? We got the rest of the medication, sir.
We're administering it as we speak.
Is it working? I think we might have this bastard on the run.
That is fantastic news.
Your country owes you a great debt.
Not just me, sir.
All of us.
The doctors and the nurses and all the volunteers who've stayed up for 48 hours trying to beat this thing.
Tammy, what's wrong? You don't look well.
- It's not what you think.
- What is it? It's kidney failure.
What? How? I had to test out the antiviral on myself to determine its toxicity, and I knew the quickest way to do it.
Turns out the proper dosage is only one milliliter, not two.
I want you out of there.
I'm bringing you back to Walter Reed.
You're coming home.
No, Mr.
President.
- I'm not asking.
- I know, sir.
But we're still fighting here.
A good soldier doesn't leave the field early.
She stays until the last shot is fired.
It's what you would do.
You told me yourself I have to see this through, sir.
I'll check in with you in the morning.
Tammy: Two Air Force muscleheads are telling me I got to get on a plane, that they're gonna carry me out if I resist.
That's called kidnapping.
Well, you're gonna have to take that up with a higher authority.
Wait a second, I am that higher authority.
Come on, Tammy.
They were following orders.
They were trying to help.
Yeah, I suppose.
The doc says you're gonna make a full recovery.
I didn't get the job done.
I am a soldier who left the field of battle before the battle was won.
Think of it like this.
I'm a general who refuses to leave anyone behind, and I outrank you.
Now, I want you to behave yourself.
Listen to the nurses and do what they tell you because if I have to come back, it is not going to be pretty.
Yes, sir.
She's gonna need some more Jell-o.
[Knock on door.]
Looks about right.
I hear you're off to a pretty good start.
Oh, no, I guess.
Maybe I'm just off.
You negotiated a settlement for the Emmitt Akin statue.
That no one's really happy with.
You went to court to get medicine distributed to sick people.
A bunch of whom died because we didn't get it there fast enough.
[Sighs.]
See, firing on all cylinders.
Feels like the whole job around here is just putting out fires.
Is it always like this? No.
Usually, the flames are much higher.
[Sighs.]
Tom: Did you get a chance to talk to the reverend? Yes, sir.
And I shook his hand.
It's one of the many things I'll get to tell my grandchildren.
[Chuckles.]
He's seen so much.
I can't help but wonder what he honestly thinks about where we are.
What about you, Mike? What do you think about where we are? Sir, this country's constitution originally said I was 3/5 of a person.
That's where we started.
But I'm more interested in where we're headed.
We need to do better.
Yeah.
But we've also come a long way.
My great-grandfather was a sharecropper, and my dad was an auto mechanic.
And I'm in the Oval Office talking to the President of the United States.
[Chuckles.]
You didn't mention your grandfather.
What happened to him? He was a drunk.
Progress can sometimes skip a generation.
[Scoffs.]
Yeah.
[Sighs.]
It's 2017.
We should be talking about anything and everything but this.
But we're not, sir.
And as long as we're having the conversation, you're the person I want to be having it with.
You've got the boat pointed in the right direction.
Thank you, Mike.
Well, here's to hoping one day, we can all learn to row together.
It's all we can do, sir.
Yeah.
All this stuff happened 30 years ago.
How did Lloyd find out about all of it? He's definitely looking for something to compromise the president with.
Well, he found a vulnerability.
One that he's making us investigate.
He knows law enforcement can't bury it.
- Yeah, the problem with transparen - Shh.
[Door creaks.]
Eric Little.