The West Wing s02e15 Episode Script
Ellie
Previously on The West Wing : The president will announce a BIue Ribbon Commission to study the Iong-term future of entitlement programs.
-We want you to go to a meeting.
-With who? -A Democrat on the Ethics Committee.
-A date with my ex-wife? -Sit next to me.
-I' m a responsible adult.
I' m a member of the U.
S.
Congress.
Does the White House make a crusade out of defending -the rights of drug users? -PIease.
We have questions about drug use, marijuana in particular.
Jersey Girl wants to know if marijuana can make you sterile.
Is this Jersey Girl asking the question or Jersey Boyfriend? -Both.
-Okay.
Well, there's no evidence so far that marijuana has a permanent effect on the male or female reproductive systems.
A few studies have suggested that heavy marijuana use may have an effect on male testicular function but that effect would be reversible.
So if Jersey Boyfriend is concerned, he should mention it to his doctor.
Pixaladd wants to know if marijuana can cause cancer.
No conclusive study to date has shown that it does.
However, and this is a big however cellular genetic and human studies all suggest that the smoke from pot is a risk factor in acquiring respiratory disease.
If Pixaladd wants to be able to walk up a flight of stairs without throwing up he should put the bong in the closet behind the AIIman Brothers albums where it belongs.
Josh.
What the hell kind of name is Pixaladd? Josh? -I' m done.
-Yeah? -Efficiency, Donna.
-Y eah.
Efficiency and professionalism, and we' re out of here at 9:00 on Wednesday night.
It doesn't hurt the president's in T okyo.
There does seem to be Iess work to do when he's in a different hemisphere.
-But nonetheless.
-Efficiency and professionalism.
With a healthy dollop of Ieadership skills.
The well-placed, well-worded memo.
Nobody goes off the reservation.
Everybody does their job.
-T urn off your computer.
Let's go.
-No, I' m gonna watch this.
-Maybe you should too.
-What is it? The surgeon general's doing an online chat.
-What's she talking about? -Decriminalizing marijuana.
See you tomorrow.
What's she talking about? " Do you favor the decriminalization of marijuana? " " It's not for me to say.
I can say marijuana poses no greater public health risk than nicotine or alcohol.
" " It doesn't share the same addictive properties as heroin and LSD.
" "Y et bizarrely to many of us in the health care profession the Iaw categorizes it as a Schedule 1 narcotic while putting a government seal on a pack of cigarettes.
" Y eah, somebody didn't get your memo.
-C.
J.
? -Y eah.
-T ake a Iook at this.
-What is it? It's a transcript of an online chat Millicent Griffith just did.
Page eight.
-T oby's headed in.
Sam's on the phone.
-I can't talk now.
-He says it's important.
-In a minute.
-The AIIman Brothers? -It gets a Iot worse.
" Marijuana poses no greater public health risk than nicotine or alcohol.
" " Doesn't share the same addictive properties as--" " Bizarrely categorizes it as--" And I quit.
-Let's go.
-Is she kidding me with this? -When did it happen? -She just finished.
T alk me through this.
These people got a story.
They called AP already.
Carol, get me the wires.
It's too Iate for the Times and Post, but L.
A.
and San Francisco'II have it.
It'II be above the fold.
The Today Show'II Iead with it.
Russert will do a segment.
-T oby! -Guys, I' m in the BIue Ribbon meeting.
I got Iabor yelling at me.
I got a situation developing.
We've got a situation developing here.
-What? -Read that.
-Page eight.
Why didn't you call me? -While it was happening? -So you could do what? -When did it happen? She finished about 5 or 1 0 minutes ago.
You saw it happen? Why didn't you get me? -What would you do? -End it.
-How? -By ending it.
-Listen, something's happened.
-We know.
-How? -Josh was watching it in real time.
I' m not gonna belay into the computer screen.
-What are you talking about? -Surgeon general.
You? -Never mind.
What did she do? -Reversed our position on marijuana.
AII right, what time is it in T okyo? -They' re 1 4 hours ahead.
-I thought 1 3.
-Eastern Daylight.
-So it's 1 4 hours ahead? -We' re sure it's ahead, not behind? -Guys, there are clocks on the wall.
-Okay, so it's almost 1 1 :00 in T okyo.
-Y es.
-Ginger.
Get Larry and Ed.
-Anybody in my office.
We'II be in the Roosevelt Room.
Sorry, 1 1 in the morning, It's 1 1 a.
m.
-The AIIman Brothers? -Keep reading.
If it's not a story until tomorrow morning, they'II have it tomorrow night.
-We bought a day.
-Two days.
-How? -PIane ride.
-When's he Ieave? -7 p.
m.
Thursday.
-T omorrow? Local time? -Which, theirs or ours? It will be 7 p.
m.
Thursday in Japan when he Ieaves.
And he Iands here when? -The flight is 1 3 hours Iong.
-This isn't happening.
He'II travel eastward from T okyo, Ieaving at 7 p.
m.
When he crosses the International Date Line-- -He'II travel back in time to what? -3 a.
m.
Which puts him in Washington He's gonna Iand in Washington an hour before he took off? That story doesn't beat the surgeon general? T oby, they' re calling for you over there.
I' m gonna go get yelled at some more.
Josh, get Leo.
-Call T okyo.
-Y eah.
-Carol's got the wires.
-Thanks.
-Those clocks should be in military time.
-Yeah, because that's Iess confusing.
The man's gone 1 50 hours.
How can it be Thursday the whole time? Listen, Japan is 9 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time-- -Don't.
-Sophie, this is Donna Moss.
-Locate the chief of staff.
-What were you talking about before? I've been told by someone I believe that a full-page ad taken out by the Family Values Leadership Council is going to appear in 22 newspapers tomorrow.
It Iists many prominent people and congratulates them for denouncing the movie Prince of New York.
-So, what's the problem? -They congratulate the president.
The president denounced it? Then how can they run that? I have no idea.
But I don't Iike who we' re being congratulated by.
-Josh.
-Y eah.
Y eah, Leo, we got a couple of problems here.
-I' m here.
-Thanks.
-We' re doing this again? -Yeah.
Because I just got you off that Iittle bellman's thing.
Here's my problem.
AARP and AFL-CIO want the president to put Seth Gillette on the commission.
It's important to them, so it's gotta be important to us.
-There's another reason.
-It neutralizes him.
-He can't attack it if he's on it.
-Which is why if we ask, he'II say no.
-Maybe, maybe not.
-We can't risk that.
We need him on the commission or Iabor and seniors'II be suspicious from the get-go.
If he's not on it, it can't be because he turned us down.
Either we get him on, or if we don't we make sure it's because we never asked him.
Yeah.
-Sam, he's on the phone.
-Thanks.
-I don't know the answer to that.
-Okay.
Well, thanks for stopping by.
Yeah.
Charlie.
Yeah, listen.
Did you have a phone conversation with a movie producer named Morgan Ross? -Y eah, Iast week.
-Can you tell me about that conversation? -He 's got a movie coming out.
-Prince of New York.
They wanted to screen it at the White House.
What did you say? They sent me the print, and I looked at it.
-And you passed? -Y eah.
-Was the president involved in that at all? -No.
He lets me choose the movies.
I just didn 't think he 'd like it, so I got Dial M for Murder instead.
Sam? Okay.
Yeah.
Well, there'd be fallout from women voters and I' m pretty sure the AMA to say nothing of the first Iady.
-Y eah.
-Leo? I got nine people on a conference call at several points of Iongitude.
-When's your first briefing? -An hour.
Can you support the surgeon general without supporting her policy? -Show me.
-T ry me.
Did you know Dr.
Griffith would criticize the administration's drug policy? I don't agree with your characterization of her comments.
She expressed her opinion about the health effects of illegal drugs.
She called for the Iegalization of marijuana.
Does the president agree? Wrong again, and I'd refer you to her comments.
When asked if marijuana should be Iegalized, she said: " It's not for me to say.
" She's right, and it's important people understand this.
She is not a Iawmaker.
She doesn't set drug policy.
The president does.
And the president is 1 00 percent against Iegalizing drugs, including marijuana.
Yeah.
Leo, I can take it to the next step.
Okay.
Okay.
-Leo wants me to show her support? -Y eah.
-Josh? -Y eah.
While I' m showing her support, what are you showing her? The door.
-Good morning.
-C.
J.
! Hang on.
Katie? Did you know the surgeon general would criticize the drug policy last night? I disagree with your characterization of her comments.
She expressed her opinion about the health effects of certain illegal drugs.
I'm sorry, but didn 't she say that she--? Actually, what she said, and I quote, is that there 's been no conclusive study.
Josh? Dr.
Griffith.
You wanna come in? Y eah.
-How have you been feeling? -I've been feeling fine.
Checking your blood pressure once a week? Y eah, 1 30/87.
It's a Iittle high.
What about the right Ieg and arm? There's a Iittle stiffness.
Y eah.
You know, the guys at GW did a fantastic job.
It's a beautiful scar.
-When have you seen my scar? -At the hospital.
-I don't remember.
-You were unconscious.
-How about your back? -There's some pain.
-It's in your head.
-AIong with all manner of things.
You know, Josh, just because the white supremacists didn't kill you -doesn't mean that crap you eat won't.
-I eat fine.
You eat Iike you' re still in college.
-I was in great shape in college.
-You were 1 9.
You could eat T upperware and deal with it.
Millicent, what were you thinking about? -I was asked a question, Josh.
-I understand, but your answers-- My answers were correct, is anyone challenging me on the facts? -Not yet.
-Well, they won't.
As a doctor, I have an obligation to tell the truth.
Come to think of it, as a person, I have that obligation as well.
The truth is different if you' re a GP or a member of the Stanford Faculty CIub than if you' re the country's chief medical practitioner.
Well, no, I think truth is pretty much truth across the board never more so than if you' re the country's chief medical practitioner.
Did you know that 69 percent of Americans oppose Iegalization? Only 23 percent support it.
The number gets a Iot higher than that if you ask people under 30.
That's a shock.
The number gets even higher if you Iimit the polling sample to Bob Marley and the Wailers.
I mention that age group because an awful Iot of them seem to be in prison.
Is that what this is about? The criminal justice system is not your jurisdiction! -I wasn't commenting on it.
-Millicent! -I wasn't commenting on it! -"Yet bizarrely the Iaw categorizes it as a Schedule 1 narcotic.
" I was commenting on medicine.
I've had three conversations with Leo McGarry in the Iast 1 2 hours.
-The reason I' m here-- -I' m not a politician but it's not Iike I haven't Iived here two years.
C.
J.
's up there right now giving you our support.
I' m sorry, but we need you to resign.
No.
Dr.
Griffith, I say this with all possible respect but you serve at the pleasure of the president.
And I'II continue to right up until the moment he fires me.
Okay.
Thank you, ma'am.
Josh.
See the doctor, get a Iollipop.
The fact that the president disagrees with her doesn 't mean he 's gonna fire her.
The surgeon general's an executive appointee - and the president stands by his staff.
-Excellent.
C.
J.
, shifting gears, there 's a full-page ad that appears in today 's Times.
I ' ve been told it might' ve appeared in 22 papers this morning.
The ad was taken out by the Family Values Leadership Council and praises the president for denouncing a movie opening next week, Prince of New York.
-Y es.
-You know anything about it? No, I don't know what's going on there.
-The president didn't denounce it? -Not unless he did it in the shower.
He hasn't denounced it to me or to the public.
That's all.
I'II see you this afternoon.
-Sam's here.
-Thank you.
-Good job.
-T ell me what's going on with this movie.
-It's called Prince of NeW York.
-Right.
-There's been controversy.
-Sex and violence? And religious imagery.
Religious groups are organizing boycotts.
The studio phones Charlie because they want a screening.
He passes.
-Why? -Because he did.
The producer goes on Imus and says Bartlet's a coward who's siding with censors and that he's no friend of the First Amendment.
The Family Values Leadership Council took out an ad congratulating us for that? -Y eah.
-Seriously, I quit.
-Here it is: We've got these people-- -Wait.
-We've got the industry people.
-It's Morgan Ross' movie? -Y es.
We've got these-- -Morgan Ross went on Imus? -He did it by phone.
-He called the president a coward? He didn't call him a coward as much as he called him cowardly.
-Which is different.
-How? -It's not, but still.
-I'II crush him.
This guy's trying to get free media by screwing with us.
I' m the enforcer, Sam.
I' m gonna crush him.
I'II make him cry and then I'II tell his mama about it.
-You won't make him cry.
-You wanna watch me make him cry? I believe you can make him cry.
I' m saying you won't do it.
I' m trying to tell you, we' re meeting with them tomorrow.
I'II straighten it out.
Keep telling the press you don't know anything.
-That shouldn't be a problem.
-C.
J.
, Danny Concannon's on the phone.
-And I think you should take it.
-Why? He wants the president's reaction to a comment made about Millicent Griffith.
-Who made the comment? -That's the thing.
It was EIeanor.
-EIeanor who? -It was EIeanor Bartlet.
Hey, it's C.
J.
T oby, we understand your predicament but the commission won't be credible with our people unless they know there's someone on it who's a friend of Iabor.
And a friend of seniors.
The president's a friend of Iabor, seniors, small animals.
-T oby.
-I' m running out of time, Lenny.
We announced this at the State of the Union.
We gotta get going.
The State of the Union's your problem.
-Nobody brought us in.
-Yes.
And I, for one, am not sure I see a need for emergency-Iike speed.
-Really? -If economic conditions continue-- Forever? If we never have another recession ever again? The fund can withstand 30 years before going bankrupt.
Unfortunately, the actuarial tables say I won't be dead yet.
Guys, Gillette's a tough needle to thread.
I wanna know that we have your trust, that whoever we do get will Iook out for your interests, and that you will support the commission.
Can I assume from your total silence and blank faces that you' re all with me? -Maybe if we talk some more.
-Oh, could we? -C.
J.
, Iisten.
-She didn't? No.
Leo's gonna need to talk to her.
You should start to walk back some of what you said in the Press Room.
There's something stickier than the support I gave her.
-What? -Concannon's quoting EIeanor Bartlet.
She said, " My father won't fire the surgeon general.
He'd never do that.
" -EIeanor? -Y eah.
-You mean Zoey.
-No, it was EIeanor.
They' re trying to export their way out of their own economic problems.
-Y es, sir.
-By dumping cheap steel on the U.
S -you know what they want? -A protectionist response.
They' re begging for a protectionist response.
Steel and mining employ They won't sit around while discount steel comes flying in from-- How you doing? They'II want retaliatory tariffs, and you know what that means? A return to Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression.
You should go to Japan and tell them that.
-Charlie.
-Sir.
I' m walking to the press and telling them retaliatory tariffs are gonna cost American taxpayers $800,000 for every job saved.
We' re not taking questions.
Let's get in the car.
What's going on? EIeanor made a comment on the record, and you can't answer questions.
-EIeanor? You mean Zoey.
-It was EIeanor.
-When did this happen? -About six hours ago.
Why didn't you tell me six hours ago? Because I didn't want you crash-Ianding the plane.
Let's get in the car.
Welcome back, Mr.
President.
Josh, is there anything to suggest there are people who would smoke pot - but don't because it's illegal? -No.
Why do you think if it were decriminalized suddenly people would show up to work stoned dragging down the economy and clearing stores of Pringles and Twinkies? That's not a reason to make it Iegal.
In a free society, you need a reason to make something illegal, not Iegal.
Parents are keeping drugs away from their kids with a whip and chair.
-It doesn't help if-- -Yeah.
Oh, that's okay.
It's just me talking.
The president's back.
-Does he wanna see me? -Yeah.
-Welcome back.
-Thank you.
-I've had it, C.
J.
I've absolutely had it! -Sir-- What is Danny Concannon doing calling my kids? They all know better, but Danny-- -Sir, he didn't-- -You' re gonna suspend his credentials for six months, and I don't care! His paper wants to cover me, send someone else.
Mr.
President, Danny didn't call her.
-I was told it was Danny.
-Yes, sir, she called him.
She called him? Good evening, welcome back, Mr.
President.
The AIIman Brothers, Josh? How was the flight, sir? T okyo is willing to show economic restraint in exchange for a good-fielding shortstop and a Ieft-handed reliever.
Who's against her so far? The Judiciary Committee, Government Reform and Oversight, Appropriations-- -Why Appropriations? -They control her budget.
-Who's coming to her defense? -The Cannabis Society the Cannabis Coalition, E Cannabis Unum The American Hemp League and Friends of Mary Jane.
-Sir? -Y eah.
-Sam's waiting to see you.
-I understand I've been congratulated for denouncing a movie I've never heard of.
-Y es.
-I've gotta hand it to you.
You pulled off a political first.
You won me the support of the Christian right and the Cheech and Chong Fan CIub in the same day.
Leo's seeing her tomorrow.
-Anything else? -No, sir.
-Thank you.
-Thank you, Mr.
President.
Charlie? Would you arrange for my middle daughter to come see me -at her earliest possible convenience? -Y es, sir.
Screw her convenience.
Get her ass down here.
Y eah? -What's this note? -That note? Y eah.
It says we should stand by the surgeon general.
Actually, it says we should stand by the "sturgeon" general.
-Does it? -Y eah.
-I meant surgeon general.
-I think we should stand by her too.
I wanted to make sure we were agreed smoked whitefish was on its own.
-Y eah.
-T oby? -She's here? -In the Iobby.
-You' re with the ratings people? -Soon.
What's the food for? -T oday's attempt at insuring our future.
-What's your plan? First, I have to be nice to a Iiberal Democratic congresswoman.
-Will that be hard? -Well, it was when I was married to her.
-Hey.
-Good to see you.
Thanks for coming.
You Iook fantastic.
-Thank you.
How've you been, Sam? -Sam's great.
Fit as a fiddle, Andy.
AIthough, I found-- Nobody cares.
Yeah.
Hi.
-How you doing? -Congresswoman Wyatt.
-Yes, indeed.
-You' re growing into that title nicely.
This is going someplace hysterical.
Y eah.
Labor wants Gillette on the commission.
-Y es.
-So does the AARP.
-Y es.
-It's important.
-Y es.
-You know why? They' re suspicious of the commission and want one of their people protecting them.
We' re one of their people.
Has it been easy convincing them of that since you announced the commission? No.
But I bring you here.
And we sit and we have coffee and we have Danish in the hope that calmer -and, dare I say, prettier heads prevail.
-How I miss patronizing, sexist T oby.
I was referring to myself.
-You don't wanna ask Gillette.
-Nope.
-Because you think he might say no.
-Right.
This is really important, Andy.
Can you help us? No.
T oby? CIose the door.
Put the Danish down.
-Dial M? -Y eah.
-A fine film.
-I know it well.
Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings-- -He Iikes when the guy Iooks for the key.
-What was the other one about? -Prince of New York? -Y eah.
It's an updated version of Dostoyevsky's The Idiot "which tells the story of a Christlike epileptic man who embodies goodness but encounters sex, crime and family dysfunction.
" I can't imagine why you didn't think he'd enjoy that.
He would've enjoyed the scene where Prince Myshkin has a seizure while engaged in an erotic fantasy in a Long Island church.
PIease don't say the word "erotic" in the Oval Office.
I'd be happy never to say any of those words anywhere again.
John Williams as Chief Inspector Hubbard.
-Not to mention-- -Excuse me.
EIIie.
I was told my father wanted to see me.
Let me ask you this.
Red meat has been found to cause cancer in white rats.
Maraschino cherries have been found to cause cancer in white rats.
Cellular phones were found to cause cancer in white rats.
Has anyone examined the possibility that cancer might be hereditary in white rats? Let me tell you, I' m not 1 00 percent sure we've ruled that out.
Dr.
Griffith.
I' m on.
Congratulations, Millie.
You' re now the pamphlet girl for every right-wing fundraising cause.
That interview's gotta be worth at Ieast from people who think you'II distribute dime bags of Hawaiian sens at junior high schools, along with condoms and fornication manuals.
Can I say, I was never given a fornication manual, so.
-You think this is funny? -We' re spending a billion dollars a year keeping more than 40,000 people Iocked up.
-That's not your-- -That's not my jurisdiction.
Which is why I didn't comment on decriminalization.
Six committee chairs, three House, three Senate, are all talking about hearings.
-What will they find? -They don't need to find anything.
They need to say your name and "drugs" as many times as possible on television.
I don't think you said anything wrong.
Nobody thinks you did anything wrong.
I'd Iike to do the right thing all the time, but I can't.
I can't Iet us get bogged down.
Government'II stop.
This'II be what we do for two months.
There are more important things.
I'II take heat from the first Iady, but I want your resignation by 8 tonight or the president's gonna fire you.
I've got a meeting.
Thanks.
Zoey said you were thinking about oncology.
Excuse me? Zoey said you were thinking about oncology.
Yeah, or neurology.
-He's just tied up in his meeting.
-I' m fine.
-They said he'd be back any minute.
-I' m-- Good, yeah.
You Iike medical school? I do.
I Iike my professors.
I have a pathophysiology professor who teaches clinical skills by-- Eagle's moving.
Eight hundred thousand dollars in consumer costs per job saved.
Retaliatory tariffs on steel imports are a disaster.
Anyone wants to check my math, they' re more than welcome to.
Anybody wants to shove the Golden Gate Bridge up Japan's ass -they' re welcome to do that too.
-Mr.
President? -Thank you.
-Y es, sir.
-EIIie, thanks for coming.
-Hi, Dad.
Come on in.
-Did you get down here okay? -Y eah.
Did you take an airplane? -An airplane? -Y eah.
-No.
-Helicopter? No, the agents drove me.
That's because you go to school at Johns Hopkins, right? -Dad.
-And Johns Hopkins is in Baltimore.
I' m asking because Baltimore's a 45-minute car ride from Washington and we hardly see you anymore.
So I thought either you transferred to a different medical school they moved Johns Hopkins or they moved Baltimore.
-Are any of those things true? -No.
Okay.
And this is accurate, this quote? " My father won't fire the surgeon general.
He would never do that.
" Y es.
When you put your head down, your hair falls in your face and I can't see your face or hear you.
Now, Iook at me and talk to me! Y es, the quote is accurate.
What the hell are you doing talking to a reporter? -I was-- -I set up monumental, unprecedented unbreakable rules about my children and the press.
I've gotten White House reporters transferred to Y emen for approaching Zoey and EIizabeth.
It is the Iaw! Well, I' m sure before you gave the quote you cleared it with the communications office.
I' m sure you went over the exact wording with C.
J.
Cregg and coordinated it with White House strategy so the timing was right in the news cycle.
I' m sure you consulted the appropriate party Ieadership because you' re a pretty knowledgeable operative having spent so much time with me.
EIIie! -Dad, she was-- She was-- -What? Pick your head up! She was doing exactly what she is supposed to do.
She-- I' m sorry.
She was asked a question, and she said what she knew to be true.
When you start firing doctors for that, you've crossed a Iine.
There is politics involved in this, and you knew it would make me unhappy.
-That's why you did it.
That's cheap.
-I didn't do it to make you unhappy.
-You didn't do it to make me happy! -I don't know how to make you happy.
For that you gotta talk to Zoey or Liz.
Okay, Iet's drop it.
Mom gets back in the morning and we have a movie tonight, if you wanna stay.
I can stay over if you want me to.
Yeah, thanks.
I go out? That door over there.
-Mr.
President? -Y eah.
-The Iabor secretary.
-Send him in.
Charlie? -Give me just a minute, would you? -Y es, sir.
-Andy, Iook.
-Hang on a second.
-Hang on a second! -No, I won't.
Y es, you will.
You will summon your strength and Iisten to me for a moment.
You made a hairpin turn at the State of the Union without consulting a Iot of members of the Iiberal wing of the Democratic Party.
There aren't a Iot of members of the Iiberal wing of the Democratic Party.
So forgive people if they' re concerned one of the options you'II explore is raising the retirement age.
Andy, people are Iiving decades Ionger than anyone anticipated in 1 935.
-So you are? -We wanna consider everything - but can't consider anything-- -Why does this have to be secret? Because it's the only way it's gonna happen.
Because you can't solve Social Security and ask people to run for election at the same time.
Why not give politicians a cloud cover and Iet them be Iawmakers for a while? with the door closed.
Seven Democrats, 7 Republicans and the president, who will not have a vote.
They walk out, and with one voice, they make a recommendation to Congress and the American people.
And nobody knows who was where.
The only way it's gonna happen is in secret.
The only way it'II happen is if all the sides are confident in their representation.
Otherwise, it's dead.
And so I need Seth Gillette on the commission but I can't ask him.
Because if he says no, there'II be no commission.
Anyway, I appreciate you coming down and talking to me.
I Iike when you ask for my help, T oby.
I read that I' m on the benefit committee for the Child Leukemia Foundation.
-Y eah, I saw that too.
-Why did they write that? They must've gotten it from the press release I sent.
I guess so.
You didn't think it'd be better to ask me first? -I really didn't.
-Interesting.
I've found if I skip the first step and move to the second it becomes harder for people to say no.
You'II have fun.
You'II Iook nice in your tuxedo.
You don't have to stay.
You don't have-- -T oby? -Skip over the first step and move right to the second.
T oby.
-Hey, Andy.
-Hey, C.
J.
T oby, when you have a minute, can you stop by the office and.
What? T omorrow, I want you to announce Gillette's joined the BIue Ribbon Commission on Social Security.
-T oby--? -Make sure the press knows the senator put the Democratic Party above personal differences.
He put people above all.
Make sure they know he's a patriot and when the president asked him to serve, Senator Gillette answered the call.
-Did he? -Y eah.
I just saw it at your press briefing tomorrow morning.
Okay, but this is really the Iast thing I' m doing before I quit.
Okay.
It's Iike checking sugar and fat content on cereal.
We bend over backwards to help parents make choices.
We put V-Chips in TVs, warning Iabels on records, TV shows, film ads.
And when we do, we suffer because our products become demonized and marginalized.
Sam Seaborn wants to see you.
Every 1 0 years the government asks for more.
We come to you every 1 0 years because the situation isn't getting better.
When will the government ask the NFL and NHL--? -Can I talk to you? -Sure.
-Come on.
-Hey, he's wrong in there.
The situation isn't the same.
There's a 28 percent drop in juvenile crime, 1 0 percent drop in the overall crime rate.
-I don't care.
-Why? American Academy of Pediatrics, AMA, the American Psychological Association say watching violence on TV is bad for kids, and we'II Iisten to experts.
I'II remember that tomorrow when I read the surgeon general was fired.
Remember it whenever you Iike.
-What is he seeing tonight? -Dial M for Murder.
Good.
Hitchcock never used sex or violence in his films.
Yeah.
Morgan, the president's never seen your movie.
He's never heard of it.
He has no objection to it, and you know it.
The Family Values Leadership Council sees it differently.
The Family Values Leadership Council distorted the truth.
-Stop the presses.
-Thanks to that ad exhibitors in Mississippi, Oklahoma and AIabama are pulling the film.
I read the synopsis, and if exhibitors put you on every screen of every multiplex you still wouldn't do any business in Mississippi, Oklahoma or AIabama.
-You' re an industry expert? -But you are which explains a Iot about Hollywood.
You knew the ad would get business.
And that's why you went on Imus and said what you did.
-I' m here for a Sam Seaborn scolding? -Y eah, because it makes me crazy.
This kind of thing should be celebrated by First Amendment advocates.
Charlie was offered a choice and made one.
Why aren't you saying: " It works.
Don't ban movies Iike Prince of NeW York.
You just have to choose not to watch them "? And, Morgan you ever call the president a coward again for PR it won't be C.
J.
you gotta deal with.
It'II be me.
You understand what I' m saying, right? Yes.
Go back to your meeting and show me how much you want to make it up to us.
Good job.
This isn't good.
-What? -The president's not talking.
-There's a movie on.
-He usually talks during the movie.
Hello? -Good evening.
-Good evening, Mr.
President.
-I' m sorry about this.
-Y es, sir.
-Is that your resignation? -Y es, sir.
-Thank you.
-On thinking about it I felt your firing me would send a dangerous signal -to whomever had my job next.
-Did you not think that playing down the dangers of drug use sent a dangerous signal? I do not believe that is what I did, sir.
I was asked, by and Iarge, if marijuana holds the same addictive properties as heroin or LSD.
It does not.
I was asked if marijuana poses a greater health risk than nicotine or alcohol.
In my opinion, it does not.
If you Iook at-- -Millie, did you put her up to it? -Sir? " My father won't fire the surgeon general.
He would never do that.
" You didn't put her up to it? You didn't pick up the phone and say: " It's your godmother.
Let's stick it to your dad and paint him into a corner"? No, sir.
Why haven't I ever been able to get her to Iike me? I' m asking you.
-Sir, I' m not sure it's appropriate.
-I' m asking you.
-I think you' re wrong.
-I' m not.
-She worships you, Mr.
President.
-She's mad at me.
-You' re mad at her.
-Yes, I am.
I was running for president.
Where was she? -She was with us.
-Not Iike Zoey and Liz.
-Sir-- -She's always belonged to Abbey.
You frightened her.
No, I didn't.
-How did I frighten her? -Jed, Iook where you' re standing! I was elected two years ago.
She's 24 years old! You've been the king of whatever room you've walked into her entire Iife.
It never seemed to intimidate Zoey or Liz.
Well, kids are different.
They' re not the same.
You'd be amazed, you'd be stunned at how soon they understand they' re not their father's favorite.
-That's not true.
-Sir.
-That's not true.
-Mr.
President.
No.
I will bear with the nonsense of the Christian right and the Hollywood Ieft and the AFL-CIO and AARP and the Cannabis Society and Japan but I will not stand and allow someone to tell me that I Iove one of my children Iess than the others.
She's frightened of me? She ain't the only one.
I wanted to be so mad at her.
I heard the news and my first thought.
My God, King Lear is a good play.
" My father won't fire the surgeon general.
He would never do that.
" I wanted to be so mad at her.
But the truth is, it's the nicest thing she's ever said about me.
Well, good night, sir.
Good night.
-Hey, doc.
-Sir? I don't accept.
-I' m sorry, sir? -I don't accept your resignation.
I appreciate that, but Leo's right.
This shouldn't stop you from doing bigger things.
These are the bigger things.
I don't accept your resignation.
You work for me.
You go when I tell you to.
-You' re an excellent role model.
-Y es, I know.
-So you' re back? -Y es, indeed.
T ell C.
J.
when she gives Millie our support on Monday, she can mean it.
It's gonna seem to some people Iike you did it because your daughter asked you to.
Y eah.
You know, Josh, I think if you ever have a daughter you'II discover there are worse reasons in the world to do something.
-Sit down.
We' re at the good part.
- What's he doing? Wondering Why that key doesn 't fit.
He 's going around to the back entrance.
He stopped again.
How you doing? I said, how you doing? Fine.
-We' re coming up to the good part.
-People are trying to watch the movie.
You wanna bet me your tuition no one in this room is gonna shush me? I hear you' re thinking about ophthalmology.
Oncology.
Why do you wanna study people's feet? -That's podiatry.
-Then what's children's medicine? -Pediatrics.
-I thought it was obstetrics.
-That's pregnant women.
-And what's the study of feet? Dad, you' re not gonna get me to Iaugh.
Really? The only thing you ever had to do to make me happy was come home at the end of the day.
So endocrinology would be what, disorders of the gallbladder? Thyroid.
I' m pretty sure you' re wrong about that.
Endocrinology is your sub-specialty of internal medicine devoted to the digestive system.
-That would be gastroenterology.
-Are you sure it's not nephrology immunology, cardiology or dermatology? Just stop it.
I' m trying to watch the movie.
Okay.
Here comes the good part.
-We want you to go to a meeting.
-With who? -A Democrat on the Ethics Committee.
-A date with my ex-wife? -Sit next to me.
-I' m a responsible adult.
I' m a member of the U.
S.
Congress.
Does the White House make a crusade out of defending -the rights of drug users? -PIease.
We have questions about drug use, marijuana in particular.
Jersey Girl wants to know if marijuana can make you sterile.
Is this Jersey Girl asking the question or Jersey Boyfriend? -Both.
-Okay.
Well, there's no evidence so far that marijuana has a permanent effect on the male or female reproductive systems.
A few studies have suggested that heavy marijuana use may have an effect on male testicular function but that effect would be reversible.
So if Jersey Boyfriend is concerned, he should mention it to his doctor.
Pixaladd wants to know if marijuana can cause cancer.
No conclusive study to date has shown that it does.
However, and this is a big however cellular genetic and human studies all suggest that the smoke from pot is a risk factor in acquiring respiratory disease.
If Pixaladd wants to be able to walk up a flight of stairs without throwing up he should put the bong in the closet behind the AIIman Brothers albums where it belongs.
Josh.
What the hell kind of name is Pixaladd? Josh? -I' m done.
-Yeah? -Efficiency, Donna.
-Y eah.
Efficiency and professionalism, and we' re out of here at 9:00 on Wednesday night.
It doesn't hurt the president's in T okyo.
There does seem to be Iess work to do when he's in a different hemisphere.
-But nonetheless.
-Efficiency and professionalism.
With a healthy dollop of Ieadership skills.
The well-placed, well-worded memo.
Nobody goes off the reservation.
Everybody does their job.
-T urn off your computer.
Let's go.
-No, I' m gonna watch this.
-Maybe you should too.
-What is it? The surgeon general's doing an online chat.
-What's she talking about? -Decriminalizing marijuana.
See you tomorrow.
What's she talking about? " Do you favor the decriminalization of marijuana? " " It's not for me to say.
I can say marijuana poses no greater public health risk than nicotine or alcohol.
" " It doesn't share the same addictive properties as heroin and LSD.
" "Y et bizarrely to many of us in the health care profession the Iaw categorizes it as a Schedule 1 narcotic while putting a government seal on a pack of cigarettes.
" Y eah, somebody didn't get your memo.
-C.
J.
? -Y eah.
-T ake a Iook at this.
-What is it? It's a transcript of an online chat Millicent Griffith just did.
Page eight.
-T oby's headed in.
Sam's on the phone.
-I can't talk now.
-He says it's important.
-In a minute.
-The AIIman Brothers? -It gets a Iot worse.
" Marijuana poses no greater public health risk than nicotine or alcohol.
" " Doesn't share the same addictive properties as--" " Bizarrely categorizes it as--" And I quit.
-Let's go.
-Is she kidding me with this? -When did it happen? -She just finished.
T alk me through this.
These people got a story.
They called AP already.
Carol, get me the wires.
It's too Iate for the Times and Post, but L.
A.
and San Francisco'II have it.
It'II be above the fold.
The Today Show'II Iead with it.
Russert will do a segment.
-T oby! -Guys, I' m in the BIue Ribbon meeting.
I got Iabor yelling at me.
I got a situation developing.
We've got a situation developing here.
-What? -Read that.
-Page eight.
Why didn't you call me? -While it was happening? -So you could do what? -When did it happen? She finished about 5 or 1 0 minutes ago.
You saw it happen? Why didn't you get me? -What would you do? -End it.
-How? -By ending it.
-Listen, something's happened.
-We know.
-How? -Josh was watching it in real time.
I' m not gonna belay into the computer screen.
-What are you talking about? -Surgeon general.
You? -Never mind.
What did she do? -Reversed our position on marijuana.
AII right, what time is it in T okyo? -They' re 1 4 hours ahead.
-I thought 1 3.
-Eastern Daylight.
-So it's 1 4 hours ahead? -We' re sure it's ahead, not behind? -Guys, there are clocks on the wall.
-Okay, so it's almost 1 1 :00 in T okyo.
-Y es.
-Ginger.
Get Larry and Ed.
-Anybody in my office.
We'II be in the Roosevelt Room.
Sorry, 1 1 in the morning, It's 1 1 a.
m.
-The AIIman Brothers? -Keep reading.
If it's not a story until tomorrow morning, they'II have it tomorrow night.
-We bought a day.
-Two days.
-How? -PIane ride.
-When's he Ieave? -7 p.
m.
Thursday.
-T omorrow? Local time? -Which, theirs or ours? It will be 7 p.
m.
Thursday in Japan when he Ieaves.
And he Iands here when? -The flight is 1 3 hours Iong.
-This isn't happening.
He'II travel eastward from T okyo, Ieaving at 7 p.
m.
When he crosses the International Date Line-- -He'II travel back in time to what? -3 a.
m.
Which puts him in Washington He's gonna Iand in Washington an hour before he took off? That story doesn't beat the surgeon general? T oby, they' re calling for you over there.
I' m gonna go get yelled at some more.
Josh, get Leo.
-Call T okyo.
-Y eah.
-Carol's got the wires.
-Thanks.
-Those clocks should be in military time.
-Yeah, because that's Iess confusing.
The man's gone 1 50 hours.
How can it be Thursday the whole time? Listen, Japan is 9 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time-- -Don't.
-Sophie, this is Donna Moss.
-Locate the chief of staff.
-What were you talking about before? I've been told by someone I believe that a full-page ad taken out by the Family Values Leadership Council is going to appear in 22 newspapers tomorrow.
It Iists many prominent people and congratulates them for denouncing the movie Prince of New York.
-So, what's the problem? -They congratulate the president.
The president denounced it? Then how can they run that? I have no idea.
But I don't Iike who we' re being congratulated by.
-Josh.
-Y eah.
Y eah, Leo, we got a couple of problems here.
-I' m here.
-Thanks.
-We' re doing this again? -Yeah.
Because I just got you off that Iittle bellman's thing.
Here's my problem.
AARP and AFL-CIO want the president to put Seth Gillette on the commission.
It's important to them, so it's gotta be important to us.
-There's another reason.
-It neutralizes him.
-He can't attack it if he's on it.
-Which is why if we ask, he'II say no.
-Maybe, maybe not.
-We can't risk that.
We need him on the commission or Iabor and seniors'II be suspicious from the get-go.
If he's not on it, it can't be because he turned us down.
Either we get him on, or if we don't we make sure it's because we never asked him.
Yeah.
-Sam, he's on the phone.
-Thanks.
-I don't know the answer to that.
-Okay.
Well, thanks for stopping by.
Yeah.
Charlie.
Yeah, listen.
Did you have a phone conversation with a movie producer named Morgan Ross? -Y eah, Iast week.
-Can you tell me about that conversation? -He 's got a movie coming out.
-Prince of New York.
They wanted to screen it at the White House.
What did you say? They sent me the print, and I looked at it.
-And you passed? -Y eah.
-Was the president involved in that at all? -No.
He lets me choose the movies.
I just didn 't think he 'd like it, so I got Dial M for Murder instead.
Sam? Okay.
Yeah.
Well, there'd be fallout from women voters and I' m pretty sure the AMA to say nothing of the first Iady.
-Y eah.
-Leo? I got nine people on a conference call at several points of Iongitude.
-When's your first briefing? -An hour.
Can you support the surgeon general without supporting her policy? -Show me.
-T ry me.
Did you know Dr.
Griffith would criticize the administration's drug policy? I don't agree with your characterization of her comments.
She expressed her opinion about the health effects of illegal drugs.
She called for the Iegalization of marijuana.
Does the president agree? Wrong again, and I'd refer you to her comments.
When asked if marijuana should be Iegalized, she said: " It's not for me to say.
" She's right, and it's important people understand this.
She is not a Iawmaker.
She doesn't set drug policy.
The president does.
And the president is 1 00 percent against Iegalizing drugs, including marijuana.
Yeah.
Leo, I can take it to the next step.
Okay.
Okay.
-Leo wants me to show her support? -Y eah.
-Josh? -Y eah.
While I' m showing her support, what are you showing her? The door.
-Good morning.
-C.
J.
! Hang on.
Katie? Did you know the surgeon general would criticize the drug policy last night? I disagree with your characterization of her comments.
She expressed her opinion about the health effects of certain illegal drugs.
I'm sorry, but didn 't she say that she--? Actually, what she said, and I quote, is that there 's been no conclusive study.
Josh? Dr.
Griffith.
You wanna come in? Y eah.
-How have you been feeling? -I've been feeling fine.
Checking your blood pressure once a week? Y eah, 1 30/87.
It's a Iittle high.
What about the right Ieg and arm? There's a Iittle stiffness.
Y eah.
You know, the guys at GW did a fantastic job.
It's a beautiful scar.
-When have you seen my scar? -At the hospital.
-I don't remember.
-You were unconscious.
-How about your back? -There's some pain.
-It's in your head.
-AIong with all manner of things.
You know, Josh, just because the white supremacists didn't kill you -doesn't mean that crap you eat won't.
-I eat fine.
You eat Iike you' re still in college.
-I was in great shape in college.
-You were 1 9.
You could eat T upperware and deal with it.
Millicent, what were you thinking about? -I was asked a question, Josh.
-I understand, but your answers-- My answers were correct, is anyone challenging me on the facts? -Not yet.
-Well, they won't.
As a doctor, I have an obligation to tell the truth.
Come to think of it, as a person, I have that obligation as well.
The truth is different if you' re a GP or a member of the Stanford Faculty CIub than if you' re the country's chief medical practitioner.
Well, no, I think truth is pretty much truth across the board never more so than if you' re the country's chief medical practitioner.
Did you know that 69 percent of Americans oppose Iegalization? Only 23 percent support it.
The number gets a Iot higher than that if you ask people under 30.
That's a shock.
The number gets even higher if you Iimit the polling sample to Bob Marley and the Wailers.
I mention that age group because an awful Iot of them seem to be in prison.
Is that what this is about? The criminal justice system is not your jurisdiction! -I wasn't commenting on it.
-Millicent! -I wasn't commenting on it! -"Yet bizarrely the Iaw categorizes it as a Schedule 1 narcotic.
" I was commenting on medicine.
I've had three conversations with Leo McGarry in the Iast 1 2 hours.
-The reason I' m here-- -I' m not a politician but it's not Iike I haven't Iived here two years.
C.
J.
's up there right now giving you our support.
I' m sorry, but we need you to resign.
No.
Dr.
Griffith, I say this with all possible respect but you serve at the pleasure of the president.
And I'II continue to right up until the moment he fires me.
Okay.
Thank you, ma'am.
Josh.
See the doctor, get a Iollipop.
The fact that the president disagrees with her doesn 't mean he 's gonna fire her.
The surgeon general's an executive appointee - and the president stands by his staff.
-Excellent.
C.
J.
, shifting gears, there 's a full-page ad that appears in today 's Times.
I ' ve been told it might' ve appeared in 22 papers this morning.
The ad was taken out by the Family Values Leadership Council and praises the president for denouncing a movie opening next week, Prince of New York.
-Y es.
-You know anything about it? No, I don't know what's going on there.
-The president didn't denounce it? -Not unless he did it in the shower.
He hasn't denounced it to me or to the public.
That's all.
I'II see you this afternoon.
-Sam's here.
-Thank you.
-Good job.
-T ell me what's going on with this movie.
-It's called Prince of NeW York.
-Right.
-There's been controversy.
-Sex and violence? And religious imagery.
Religious groups are organizing boycotts.
The studio phones Charlie because they want a screening.
He passes.
-Why? -Because he did.
The producer goes on Imus and says Bartlet's a coward who's siding with censors and that he's no friend of the First Amendment.
The Family Values Leadership Council took out an ad congratulating us for that? -Y eah.
-Seriously, I quit.
-Here it is: We've got these people-- -Wait.
-We've got the industry people.
-It's Morgan Ross' movie? -Y es.
We've got these-- -Morgan Ross went on Imus? -He did it by phone.
-He called the president a coward? He didn't call him a coward as much as he called him cowardly.
-Which is different.
-How? -It's not, but still.
-I'II crush him.
This guy's trying to get free media by screwing with us.
I' m the enforcer, Sam.
I' m gonna crush him.
I'II make him cry and then I'II tell his mama about it.
-You won't make him cry.
-You wanna watch me make him cry? I believe you can make him cry.
I' m saying you won't do it.
I' m trying to tell you, we' re meeting with them tomorrow.
I'II straighten it out.
Keep telling the press you don't know anything.
-That shouldn't be a problem.
-C.
J.
, Danny Concannon's on the phone.
-And I think you should take it.
-Why? He wants the president's reaction to a comment made about Millicent Griffith.
-Who made the comment? -That's the thing.
It was EIeanor.
-EIeanor who? -It was EIeanor Bartlet.
Hey, it's C.
J.
T oby, we understand your predicament but the commission won't be credible with our people unless they know there's someone on it who's a friend of Iabor.
And a friend of seniors.
The president's a friend of Iabor, seniors, small animals.
-T oby.
-I' m running out of time, Lenny.
We announced this at the State of the Union.
We gotta get going.
The State of the Union's your problem.
-Nobody brought us in.
-Yes.
And I, for one, am not sure I see a need for emergency-Iike speed.
-Really? -If economic conditions continue-- Forever? If we never have another recession ever again? The fund can withstand 30 years before going bankrupt.
Unfortunately, the actuarial tables say I won't be dead yet.
Guys, Gillette's a tough needle to thread.
I wanna know that we have your trust, that whoever we do get will Iook out for your interests, and that you will support the commission.
Can I assume from your total silence and blank faces that you' re all with me? -Maybe if we talk some more.
-Oh, could we? -C.
J.
, Iisten.
-She didn't? No.
Leo's gonna need to talk to her.
You should start to walk back some of what you said in the Press Room.
There's something stickier than the support I gave her.
-What? -Concannon's quoting EIeanor Bartlet.
She said, " My father won't fire the surgeon general.
He'd never do that.
" -EIeanor? -Y eah.
-You mean Zoey.
-No, it was EIeanor.
They' re trying to export their way out of their own economic problems.
-Y es, sir.
-By dumping cheap steel on the U.
S -you know what they want? -A protectionist response.
They' re begging for a protectionist response.
Steel and mining employ They won't sit around while discount steel comes flying in from-- How you doing? They'II want retaliatory tariffs, and you know what that means? A return to Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression.
You should go to Japan and tell them that.
-Charlie.
-Sir.
I' m walking to the press and telling them retaliatory tariffs are gonna cost American taxpayers $800,000 for every job saved.
We' re not taking questions.
Let's get in the car.
What's going on? EIeanor made a comment on the record, and you can't answer questions.
-EIeanor? You mean Zoey.
-It was EIeanor.
-When did this happen? -About six hours ago.
Why didn't you tell me six hours ago? Because I didn't want you crash-Ianding the plane.
Let's get in the car.
Welcome back, Mr.
President.
Josh, is there anything to suggest there are people who would smoke pot - but don't because it's illegal? -No.
Why do you think if it were decriminalized suddenly people would show up to work stoned dragging down the economy and clearing stores of Pringles and Twinkies? That's not a reason to make it Iegal.
In a free society, you need a reason to make something illegal, not Iegal.
Parents are keeping drugs away from their kids with a whip and chair.
-It doesn't help if-- -Yeah.
Oh, that's okay.
It's just me talking.
The president's back.
-Does he wanna see me? -Yeah.
-Welcome back.
-Thank you.
-I've had it, C.
J.
I've absolutely had it! -Sir-- What is Danny Concannon doing calling my kids? They all know better, but Danny-- -Sir, he didn't-- -You' re gonna suspend his credentials for six months, and I don't care! His paper wants to cover me, send someone else.
Mr.
President, Danny didn't call her.
-I was told it was Danny.
-Yes, sir, she called him.
She called him? Good evening, welcome back, Mr.
President.
The AIIman Brothers, Josh? How was the flight, sir? T okyo is willing to show economic restraint in exchange for a good-fielding shortstop and a Ieft-handed reliever.
Who's against her so far? The Judiciary Committee, Government Reform and Oversight, Appropriations-- -Why Appropriations? -They control her budget.
-Who's coming to her defense? -The Cannabis Society the Cannabis Coalition, E Cannabis Unum The American Hemp League and Friends of Mary Jane.
-Sir? -Y eah.
-Sam's waiting to see you.
-I understand I've been congratulated for denouncing a movie I've never heard of.
-Y es.
-I've gotta hand it to you.
You pulled off a political first.
You won me the support of the Christian right and the Cheech and Chong Fan CIub in the same day.
Leo's seeing her tomorrow.
-Anything else? -No, sir.
-Thank you.
-Thank you, Mr.
President.
Charlie? Would you arrange for my middle daughter to come see me -at her earliest possible convenience? -Y es, sir.
Screw her convenience.
Get her ass down here.
Y eah? -What's this note? -That note? Y eah.
It says we should stand by the surgeon general.
Actually, it says we should stand by the "sturgeon" general.
-Does it? -Y eah.
-I meant surgeon general.
-I think we should stand by her too.
I wanted to make sure we were agreed smoked whitefish was on its own.
-Y eah.
-T oby? -She's here? -In the Iobby.
-You' re with the ratings people? -Soon.
What's the food for? -T oday's attempt at insuring our future.
-What's your plan? First, I have to be nice to a Iiberal Democratic congresswoman.
-Will that be hard? -Well, it was when I was married to her.
-Hey.
-Good to see you.
Thanks for coming.
You Iook fantastic.
-Thank you.
How've you been, Sam? -Sam's great.
Fit as a fiddle, Andy.
AIthough, I found-- Nobody cares.
Yeah.
Hi.
-How you doing? -Congresswoman Wyatt.
-Yes, indeed.
-You' re growing into that title nicely.
This is going someplace hysterical.
Y eah.
Labor wants Gillette on the commission.
-Y es.
-So does the AARP.
-Y es.
-It's important.
-Y es.
-You know why? They' re suspicious of the commission and want one of their people protecting them.
We' re one of their people.
Has it been easy convincing them of that since you announced the commission? No.
But I bring you here.
And we sit and we have coffee and we have Danish in the hope that calmer -and, dare I say, prettier heads prevail.
-How I miss patronizing, sexist T oby.
I was referring to myself.
-You don't wanna ask Gillette.
-Nope.
-Because you think he might say no.
-Right.
This is really important, Andy.
Can you help us? No.
T oby? CIose the door.
Put the Danish down.
-Dial M? -Y eah.
-A fine film.
-I know it well.
Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings-- -He Iikes when the guy Iooks for the key.
-What was the other one about? -Prince of New York? -Y eah.
It's an updated version of Dostoyevsky's The Idiot "which tells the story of a Christlike epileptic man who embodies goodness but encounters sex, crime and family dysfunction.
" I can't imagine why you didn't think he'd enjoy that.
He would've enjoyed the scene where Prince Myshkin has a seizure while engaged in an erotic fantasy in a Long Island church.
PIease don't say the word "erotic" in the Oval Office.
I'd be happy never to say any of those words anywhere again.
John Williams as Chief Inspector Hubbard.
-Not to mention-- -Excuse me.
EIIie.
I was told my father wanted to see me.
Let me ask you this.
Red meat has been found to cause cancer in white rats.
Maraschino cherries have been found to cause cancer in white rats.
Cellular phones were found to cause cancer in white rats.
Has anyone examined the possibility that cancer might be hereditary in white rats? Let me tell you, I' m not 1 00 percent sure we've ruled that out.
Dr.
Griffith.
I' m on.
Congratulations, Millie.
You' re now the pamphlet girl for every right-wing fundraising cause.
That interview's gotta be worth at Ieast from people who think you'II distribute dime bags of Hawaiian sens at junior high schools, along with condoms and fornication manuals.
Can I say, I was never given a fornication manual, so.
-You think this is funny? -We' re spending a billion dollars a year keeping more than 40,000 people Iocked up.
-That's not your-- -That's not my jurisdiction.
Which is why I didn't comment on decriminalization.
Six committee chairs, three House, three Senate, are all talking about hearings.
-What will they find? -They don't need to find anything.
They need to say your name and "drugs" as many times as possible on television.
I don't think you said anything wrong.
Nobody thinks you did anything wrong.
I'd Iike to do the right thing all the time, but I can't.
I can't Iet us get bogged down.
Government'II stop.
This'II be what we do for two months.
There are more important things.
I'II take heat from the first Iady, but I want your resignation by 8 tonight or the president's gonna fire you.
I've got a meeting.
Thanks.
Zoey said you were thinking about oncology.
Excuse me? Zoey said you were thinking about oncology.
Yeah, or neurology.
-He's just tied up in his meeting.
-I' m fine.
-They said he'd be back any minute.
-I' m-- Good, yeah.
You Iike medical school? I do.
I Iike my professors.
I have a pathophysiology professor who teaches clinical skills by-- Eagle's moving.
Eight hundred thousand dollars in consumer costs per job saved.
Retaliatory tariffs on steel imports are a disaster.
Anyone wants to check my math, they' re more than welcome to.
Anybody wants to shove the Golden Gate Bridge up Japan's ass -they' re welcome to do that too.
-Mr.
President? -Thank you.
-Y es, sir.
-EIIie, thanks for coming.
-Hi, Dad.
Come on in.
-Did you get down here okay? -Y eah.
Did you take an airplane? -An airplane? -Y eah.
-No.
-Helicopter? No, the agents drove me.
That's because you go to school at Johns Hopkins, right? -Dad.
-And Johns Hopkins is in Baltimore.
I' m asking because Baltimore's a 45-minute car ride from Washington and we hardly see you anymore.
So I thought either you transferred to a different medical school they moved Johns Hopkins or they moved Baltimore.
-Are any of those things true? -No.
Okay.
And this is accurate, this quote? " My father won't fire the surgeon general.
He would never do that.
" Y es.
When you put your head down, your hair falls in your face and I can't see your face or hear you.
Now, Iook at me and talk to me! Y es, the quote is accurate.
What the hell are you doing talking to a reporter? -I was-- -I set up monumental, unprecedented unbreakable rules about my children and the press.
I've gotten White House reporters transferred to Y emen for approaching Zoey and EIizabeth.
It is the Iaw! Well, I' m sure before you gave the quote you cleared it with the communications office.
I' m sure you went over the exact wording with C.
J.
Cregg and coordinated it with White House strategy so the timing was right in the news cycle.
I' m sure you consulted the appropriate party Ieadership because you' re a pretty knowledgeable operative having spent so much time with me.
EIIie! -Dad, she was-- She was-- -What? Pick your head up! She was doing exactly what she is supposed to do.
She-- I' m sorry.
She was asked a question, and she said what she knew to be true.
When you start firing doctors for that, you've crossed a Iine.
There is politics involved in this, and you knew it would make me unhappy.
-That's why you did it.
That's cheap.
-I didn't do it to make you unhappy.
-You didn't do it to make me happy! -I don't know how to make you happy.
For that you gotta talk to Zoey or Liz.
Okay, Iet's drop it.
Mom gets back in the morning and we have a movie tonight, if you wanna stay.
I can stay over if you want me to.
Yeah, thanks.
I go out? That door over there.
-Mr.
President? -Y eah.
-The Iabor secretary.
-Send him in.
Charlie? -Give me just a minute, would you? -Y es, sir.
-Andy, Iook.
-Hang on a second.
-Hang on a second! -No, I won't.
Y es, you will.
You will summon your strength and Iisten to me for a moment.
You made a hairpin turn at the State of the Union without consulting a Iot of members of the Iiberal wing of the Democratic Party.
There aren't a Iot of members of the Iiberal wing of the Democratic Party.
So forgive people if they' re concerned one of the options you'II explore is raising the retirement age.
Andy, people are Iiving decades Ionger than anyone anticipated in 1 935.
-So you are? -We wanna consider everything - but can't consider anything-- -Why does this have to be secret? Because it's the only way it's gonna happen.
Because you can't solve Social Security and ask people to run for election at the same time.
Why not give politicians a cloud cover and Iet them be Iawmakers for a while? with the door closed.
Seven Democrats, 7 Republicans and the president, who will not have a vote.
They walk out, and with one voice, they make a recommendation to Congress and the American people.
And nobody knows who was where.
The only way it's gonna happen is in secret.
The only way it'II happen is if all the sides are confident in their representation.
Otherwise, it's dead.
And so I need Seth Gillette on the commission but I can't ask him.
Because if he says no, there'II be no commission.
Anyway, I appreciate you coming down and talking to me.
I Iike when you ask for my help, T oby.
I read that I' m on the benefit committee for the Child Leukemia Foundation.
-Y eah, I saw that too.
-Why did they write that? They must've gotten it from the press release I sent.
I guess so.
You didn't think it'd be better to ask me first? -I really didn't.
-Interesting.
I've found if I skip the first step and move to the second it becomes harder for people to say no.
You'II have fun.
You'II Iook nice in your tuxedo.
You don't have to stay.
You don't have-- -T oby? -Skip over the first step and move right to the second.
T oby.
-Hey, Andy.
-Hey, C.
J.
T oby, when you have a minute, can you stop by the office and.
What? T omorrow, I want you to announce Gillette's joined the BIue Ribbon Commission on Social Security.
-T oby--? -Make sure the press knows the senator put the Democratic Party above personal differences.
He put people above all.
Make sure they know he's a patriot and when the president asked him to serve, Senator Gillette answered the call.
-Did he? -Y eah.
I just saw it at your press briefing tomorrow morning.
Okay, but this is really the Iast thing I' m doing before I quit.
Okay.
It's Iike checking sugar and fat content on cereal.
We bend over backwards to help parents make choices.
We put V-Chips in TVs, warning Iabels on records, TV shows, film ads.
And when we do, we suffer because our products become demonized and marginalized.
Sam Seaborn wants to see you.
Every 1 0 years the government asks for more.
We come to you every 1 0 years because the situation isn't getting better.
When will the government ask the NFL and NHL--? -Can I talk to you? -Sure.
-Come on.
-Hey, he's wrong in there.
The situation isn't the same.
There's a 28 percent drop in juvenile crime, 1 0 percent drop in the overall crime rate.
-I don't care.
-Why? American Academy of Pediatrics, AMA, the American Psychological Association say watching violence on TV is bad for kids, and we'II Iisten to experts.
I'II remember that tomorrow when I read the surgeon general was fired.
Remember it whenever you Iike.
-What is he seeing tonight? -Dial M for Murder.
Good.
Hitchcock never used sex or violence in his films.
Yeah.
Morgan, the president's never seen your movie.
He's never heard of it.
He has no objection to it, and you know it.
The Family Values Leadership Council sees it differently.
The Family Values Leadership Council distorted the truth.
-Stop the presses.
-Thanks to that ad exhibitors in Mississippi, Oklahoma and AIabama are pulling the film.
I read the synopsis, and if exhibitors put you on every screen of every multiplex you still wouldn't do any business in Mississippi, Oklahoma or AIabama.
-You' re an industry expert? -But you are which explains a Iot about Hollywood.
You knew the ad would get business.
And that's why you went on Imus and said what you did.
-I' m here for a Sam Seaborn scolding? -Y eah, because it makes me crazy.
This kind of thing should be celebrated by First Amendment advocates.
Charlie was offered a choice and made one.
Why aren't you saying: " It works.
Don't ban movies Iike Prince of NeW York.
You just have to choose not to watch them "? And, Morgan you ever call the president a coward again for PR it won't be C.
J.
you gotta deal with.
It'II be me.
You understand what I' m saying, right? Yes.
Go back to your meeting and show me how much you want to make it up to us.
Good job.
This isn't good.
-What? -The president's not talking.
-There's a movie on.
-He usually talks during the movie.
Hello? -Good evening.
-Good evening, Mr.
President.
-I' m sorry about this.
-Y es, sir.
-Is that your resignation? -Y es, sir.
-Thank you.
-On thinking about it I felt your firing me would send a dangerous signal -to whomever had my job next.
-Did you not think that playing down the dangers of drug use sent a dangerous signal? I do not believe that is what I did, sir.
I was asked, by and Iarge, if marijuana holds the same addictive properties as heroin or LSD.
It does not.
I was asked if marijuana poses a greater health risk than nicotine or alcohol.
In my opinion, it does not.
If you Iook at-- -Millie, did you put her up to it? -Sir? " My father won't fire the surgeon general.
He would never do that.
" You didn't put her up to it? You didn't pick up the phone and say: " It's your godmother.
Let's stick it to your dad and paint him into a corner"? No, sir.
Why haven't I ever been able to get her to Iike me? I' m asking you.
-Sir, I' m not sure it's appropriate.
-I' m asking you.
-I think you' re wrong.
-I' m not.
-She worships you, Mr.
President.
-She's mad at me.
-You' re mad at her.
-Yes, I am.
I was running for president.
Where was she? -She was with us.
-Not Iike Zoey and Liz.
-Sir-- -She's always belonged to Abbey.
You frightened her.
No, I didn't.
-How did I frighten her? -Jed, Iook where you' re standing! I was elected two years ago.
She's 24 years old! You've been the king of whatever room you've walked into her entire Iife.
It never seemed to intimidate Zoey or Liz.
Well, kids are different.
They' re not the same.
You'd be amazed, you'd be stunned at how soon they understand they' re not their father's favorite.
-That's not true.
-Sir.
-That's not true.
-Mr.
President.
No.
I will bear with the nonsense of the Christian right and the Hollywood Ieft and the AFL-CIO and AARP and the Cannabis Society and Japan but I will not stand and allow someone to tell me that I Iove one of my children Iess than the others.
She's frightened of me? She ain't the only one.
I wanted to be so mad at her.
I heard the news and my first thought.
My God, King Lear is a good play.
" My father won't fire the surgeon general.
He would never do that.
" I wanted to be so mad at her.
But the truth is, it's the nicest thing she's ever said about me.
Well, good night, sir.
Good night.
-Hey, doc.
-Sir? I don't accept.
-I' m sorry, sir? -I don't accept your resignation.
I appreciate that, but Leo's right.
This shouldn't stop you from doing bigger things.
These are the bigger things.
I don't accept your resignation.
You work for me.
You go when I tell you to.
-You' re an excellent role model.
-Y es, I know.
-So you' re back? -Y es, indeed.
T ell C.
J.
when she gives Millie our support on Monday, she can mean it.
It's gonna seem to some people Iike you did it because your daughter asked you to.
Y eah.
You know, Josh, I think if you ever have a daughter you'II discover there are worse reasons in the world to do something.
-Sit down.
We' re at the good part.
- What's he doing? Wondering Why that key doesn 't fit.
He 's going around to the back entrance.
He stopped again.
How you doing? I said, how you doing? Fine.
-We' re coming up to the good part.
-People are trying to watch the movie.
You wanna bet me your tuition no one in this room is gonna shush me? I hear you' re thinking about ophthalmology.
Oncology.
Why do you wanna study people's feet? -That's podiatry.
-Then what's children's medicine? -Pediatrics.
-I thought it was obstetrics.
-That's pregnant women.
-And what's the study of feet? Dad, you' re not gonna get me to Iaugh.
Really? The only thing you ever had to do to make me happy was come home at the end of the day.
So endocrinology would be what, disorders of the gallbladder? Thyroid.
I' m pretty sure you' re wrong about that.
Endocrinology is your sub-specialty of internal medicine devoted to the digestive system.
-That would be gastroenterology.
-Are you sure it's not nephrology immunology, cardiology or dermatology? Just stop it.
I' m trying to watch the movie.
Okay.
Here comes the good part.