Madam Secretary (2014) s05e19 Episode Script

- Damn it.
- Agendas? - You left them in the printer.
- Thank you.
This is your Sunday look? Elegance has no schedule.
- Cookie? - Oh, yes.
- I'll take a cookie.
- Mike? - No.
- How about in a circle? - Yeah.
- Excuse me.
Sorry.
Uh, yeah.
- Uh, right there next to the secretary.
- Yeah.
I got you.
Who put their bag there? - (PHONE RINGING) - It's Mike B's.
Next time you got to pee on the chair.
(PHONE RINGING) Hey, Jeff.
Yeah, okay, I'll let her in.
No, no, no, no.
I'll let her in.
You have to go upstairs.
- Oh, that's right.
Stevie.
- (TIMER BEEPING) - Come on.
- Yes.
I'm right here.
Time to go into exile.
I didn't make up the rules about White House employees staying out of campaigns.
- And the two of you, shoo.
- Guys, did neither of you hear the timer? Oh, shoot, sorry.
You put me on cleanup duty.
- Hey, guys, - Ah.
A presidential campaign - is about to kick off in our living room.
- Ah.
- A little excitement.
- I'm very excited.
(JASON WHOOPS) - HENRY: Ooh, there we go.
- Great British Baking Show? You kidding? It's Shark Week.
Okay! People! - Now that everybody's here - That's my seat.
I would like to call to order the first official Elizabeth McCord kitchen cabinet.
- Yeah! - I like it.
JAY: And just as a reminder, you're all here voluntarily outside your government duties.
That means that nothing we talk about tonight, by law, can be discussed at the State Department.
No accidental breakroom check-ins.
No e-mails from State.
- Nothing.
- MIKE: And now I will turn this meeting over to the next president - of the United States, Elizabeth McCord.
- Aw.
(ALL CHEER) Thank you, everyone.
Oh! And I have to thank Stevie, especially for those cookies.
- Yes, thank you, Stevie.
- Thank you, Stevie.
I made them, too.
Can we have an oven on the tour bus? - No.
- Not really.
But sort of.
That would be Okay, forget it.
Number one topic tonight is the launch of the campaign, which we think will be in two weeks.
- Ten days.
- So - Ten days.
- Ten days.
Are we, uh, sure the speech is ready? It's a masterpiece.
I made a few tweaks.
JAY: That brings me to our next topic, defining everyone's role in the campaign.
Most of us will have the same title we now have at State.
With a much higher level of intensity.
This isn't gonna be some cushy conference in Geneva, people.
This is the longest marathon of your lives, running uphill the whole way with this woman's campaign agenda carved into your foreheads.
You got me? Are we joining a cult? - MATT: It sounds like a cult.
- Right? - (PHONE RINGING) - It's a team, and we're all in it together, so for now rest up, get your annual checkups and dentist appointments out of the way, and try and enjoy the calm before the storm.
The fight of our lives.
Uh, excuse me.
Mom, security said that Russell Jackson's here.
Oh.
We've got room for him if he wants in.
We-we do? Let's take five.
MATT: Yeah, hey, there's-there's more cookies in the kitchen.
- Oh, there's cookies? - MATT: Yeah.
Hey, Russell.
Didn't realize I was crashing a party.
You're always on the guest list.
RUSSELL: An article's coming out in the next few days in the Washington Chronicle alleging an intimate relationship between Elizabeth and Conrad during their days at CIA.
- What? - MIKE: Okay.
- Who's the source? - MIKE: No, who's the reporter? Some stringer named Terrence Robinson.
We don't know where he's getting his info.
Well, that is straight-up defamation.
MIKE: No, this is good.
That means they have nothing in their oppo file if they're making stuff up this early.
Unless they're not making it up, - which we'll talk later.
- They're making it up, Mike.
All right, well, the Chronicle called the White House for comment, and we declined.
Most likely they'll be reaching out to you next.
Well, I absolutely want to comment.
Well, that's up to you and your team.
Obviously you've got more at stake with your campaign coming.
MIKE: That's why we're not giving this any oxygen.
But it's a complete load of crap.
Ignore it, it's one news cycle.
Answer it, it follows us the rest of the campaign.
JAY: What if we do some digging into the reporter? - Discredit the article as blatantly biased.
- MIKE: Sure, wage war on the press ten days before we announce.
It's a brilliant strategy.
Not answering makes it look like we have something to hide.
Okay, we push the announcement three days until the air is clear.
In the meantime the only thing you talk about is policy, okay? Let's get back to the meeting.
Let's go, people! ELIZABETH: "She's not likable.
" "I don't want to have a beer with her.
" (SIGHS) "I hate her voice.
" I mean, these are the things that I was ready for, but "she slept her way to the top"? What century are we in? It just means they're terrified.
No.
This works, Henry.
This taps right into America's id.
And it works with women just as well as men.
Well, can you find out where it's coming from and shut it down? (CHUCKLES): I mean, there were always these stupid jokes at CIA about Conrad and me.
Isabelle and I used to laugh about 'em.
We have to tell the kids.
Yeah, we do.
(ELEVATOR BELL CHIMES) (SNIFFLES) Morning, ma'am.
ELIZABETH: Morning.
Hey.
I saw your draft of the Global Climate Migration Agreement.
You must have been up half the night.
I'm all right.
You don't seem lit up by the thrill of negotiating shelter for the displaced people of the next hundred years.
Thrill got dampened by this.
From East Asia and Pacific Affairs.
Oh, what the hell? We knew China was trying to break into the private jet industry.
A custom jet for General Bo Htun? Hey, what's going on? China just violated economic sanctions against Myanmar.
By selling a private jet to the military leader of one of the poorest countries in Asia.
You know, why hide the corruption? It's so much easier this way.
A total slap in the face right when we're negotiating the deal.
It's China.
They're doing it because they know we need them on the Climate Migration deal.
One jet sale is worth it to threaten the whole deal? I want to put out a statement.
Strong.
- Don't hold back.
- On it.
There is the larger issue.
Yeah, I know.
Myanmar is all but getting away with the Rohingya massacre.
They've met none of the demands of repatriation, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people still stuck in camps in Bangladesh.
And the world is moving on, playing politics, selling jets.
It's Rwanda all over again.
Nina, get me our U.
N.
ambassador.
NINA: Of course, ma'am.
PETER: I share your outrage.
The Rohingya massacre is one of the worst human atrocities in the last 20 years.
And President U Khaing? Might as well be back under house arrest.
He's completely under the thumb of the generals.
Who are getting away with murder in a private jet.
Thanks, Jen.
We can step up the sanctions.
Because it worked so well the first time? If you really want to go rogue, we can call an international criminal tribunal at the U.
N.
Prosecute Bo Htun and his cronies for violations to the Geneva Convention and crimes against humanity.
Well, I like the sound of that.
It's only been done once before, with Bosnia.
Miloaevic weaponized mob violence - against a Muslim-ethnic minority.
- So there's precedent.
We can point up the parallels.
Does this pass at the U.
N.
? It could take years.
And even if we get some convictions, we'll have no way to enforce the sentences.
It would put the regime on notice.
Show 'em that the rest of the world hasn't looked away.
If the resolution passes, and for that we need China.
You get the other members.
I'll work on China.
- Thank you, Peter.
- JAY: So, Nina, I'm sure you're aware the State Department is about to undergo some changes.
You mean the secretary's about to announce her presidential run, which is so exciting.
I can't discuss that, but, yes, it's very exciting.
The secretary would like the incoming team to have some continuity for the transition.
We were hoping that you would be willing to stay.
Of course.
I'd be honored.
Deputy Secretary Cushing, right? Actually, the deputy secretary has chosen to retire, and Deputy Secretary Bailey will step in for the remainder of the Dalton administration.
Oh.
You'd report to him in your current capacity.
He's already agreed based on the secretary's recommendation.
Wonderful.
Uh, thanks, so I'll fill you in more in the coming days, - but if you'll excuse - Sure.
Uh, Daisy? - Can I grab a moment? - Is it me, or did this coffee take a serious nosedive? Blake abdicated coffee duties.
Can he take over for the campaign? Uh, sorry.
I forgot about the rule.
We're expecting a call from the Chronicle asking for comment on an article alleging the secretary had a previous intimate relationship with the president.
Uh say that again? Before he was the president.
Our answer is "no comment.
" You realize it's gonna sound like she did have an intimate relationship with the president.
I do.
Talk to Mike B.
Wait, so did she? CHEN: Elizabeth.
I'm gonna miss these conversations.
I'm calling to discuss your troubled neighbor.
You'll have to be more specific.
Myanmar, the Rohingya people.
Tanks are still torching whole villages, soldiers killing mothers in front of their children, more than 700,000 forced from their homes.
The economic sanctions are clearly failing.
- Mm.
- We believe the time has come to step up our efforts, and I hope President Li will join the United States in calling for a U.
N.
special tribunal to charge General Bo Htun and his regime with violations of the Geneva Convention and crimes against humanity.
As troubling as Myanmar's actions have been, China sees this as a domestic response to a dissident uprising.
It's not our concern.
Can I speak frankly, Ming? I think your regime is afraid that joining a call for a U.
N.
tribunal to prosecute the violation of human rights might bring a little too much attention to China's mistreatment of its own minority Uyghur population.
That is frank.
Right now the United States sees a difference between your unlawful detention of a persecuted minority and Myanmar opening fire on women and children.
But if China continues to violate the economic sanctions by selling private jets to generals in Myanmar, then we may become more concerned about the human rights abuses in China.
It's always impressive, the amount of strength leaders wield when they're about to leave office.
I'll have plenty of strength in my next office.
But I'd much prefer to work with you, Ming.
I can discuss the idea of a tribunal.
But I suggest you take a less threatening approach in your new office.
Whatever that might be.
Damn.
Way to sweeten the moral authority with a little raw power.
Felt like it was getting through.
- Sorry to interrupt, ma'am.
- What's up? We knew you'd want to see this.
MATT: Callister's announcing his campaign.
America, America, your soul is on the line.
While Washington plays world cop, pouring our nation's blood and treasure into every broken-down, lawless country in the world, the American dream at home is dying.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Uh, taxed taxed to death, invaded by every criminal, every drug dealer, every gang member flooding over our nation's borders.
- (CROWD BOOING) - MAN: Kick them out! OWEN: People who don't speak our language, people who don't respect our flag, people who don't respect our god.
MATT: What is that? Is that a campaign announcement or a call to revolt? that they don't know who they are messing with.
- (APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) - We, the people, will rise to show them who the real Americans are.
CROWD (CHANTING): We will rise! We will rise! When Owen Callister is president, there will be no more surrender.
We will rise.
He raised over a million dollars in less than an hour.
KAT: I say, bring it.
We can fight that.
Yeah, except I just finished begging China to help us fight nationalism around the world.
CROWD: We will rise! We will rise! And now it's running for president.
We will rise! We will rise! We will rise! Hey.
Hey, Mom.
Is it game night, or? No.
Uh, Dad said that you wanted to talk to us about something.
Yes.
Um (UNDER BREATH): Oh, God.
Uh, right.
Hold There you are.
Perfect timing.
- Kids are all here.
- I-I'm sorry.
I-I can't I can't do this tonight.
You heard Callister's announcement.
Callister, this stupid article it's just all so ugly, and I'm Is something, uh wrong? ALISON: What's, uh, going on? - Oh, hi, guys.
HENRY: Uh, Mom's just really tired.
Let's just do this some other time, okay? Oh, sure.
Yeah, that won't leave us lying awake in bed all night, wondering if she has cancer.
Okay.
Um there's this article coming out in the next few days, and it's going to imply that when I was at the CIA It's a hit piece accusing Mom and President Dalton of having an affair 20 years ago.
- It's not true, no, it's not true.
- It is not true.
What?! Who's behind it? W-We don't know.
ALISON: How can they just say that - with no proof? - Isn't that slander? - Libel if they publish it.
- Look, we just want you guys to know that it's gonna be out there - for a few days.
- That's disgusting.
We're not responding, so it just goes away with the next crisis, and I am so sorry.
You do not have to apologize to us.
Wait, wait.
So you're just gonna let them say that? I'm gonna get attacked a lot.
(SCOFFS) Just means they're nervous about me.
HENRY: Callister's speech will probably dominate the news anyway.
Yeah, well, that's the real scandal.
Thank you.
ALISON: If it makes you feel any better, no one at my school follows the news.
NINA: So, um, Kat, you know how the secretary was asking us to propose ideas for workplace improvements at State before things, you know, change over? I do.
Well, I was doing some research into the so-called "potty parity initiative," the move to create an equal number of bathrooms for men and women in all federal buildings.
Mm-hmm.
It died in committee.
I'm familiar.
Once again, gender neutral bathrooms, and we'd never have this problem.
Oh, well, one day.
You were saying? So I was thinking, uh, maybe a half-step would be to get tampon dispensers in all the women's bathrooms.
- Oh.
- Um, not free tampons, although that would be good, too.
Yeah.
No, that's doable.
I'll, uh I'll take it to the secretary.
Thank you.
Oh, and also, um Jay mentioned I would be staying on with the transition team for Acting Secretary Bailey? - Yup, yup, yup.
- I'm super grateful for the opportunity, and please pass that on to the secretary.
- Okay.
- But I'd like to request a transfer.
Oh.
Can I ask why? I know it's only hearsay, but I've heard I've heard some things from women who have worked for Deputy Secretary, and I'd rather not put myself in a position where I'd be reporting directly to him.
Thank you for letting me know.
I will take it from here.
So China's a no-go for the U.
N.
tribunal.
I just spoke to Chen yesterday.
He seemed open to it.
That was before Owen Callister made his campaign announcement.
- They're waiting for the dust to settle.
- What speech? How much dust could it have kicked up? I guess you haven't seen his poll numbers this morning.
Look, maybe he appeals to a fringe group, but he can't possibly get a majority.
Poland, Hungary, Russia.
Why not here? He convinces just enough voters that he's the savior of the working class.
So Callister comes out as the dark knight, and that's it? We let Myanmar go unpunished? Well, there are other ways of getting the world's attention.
I'm listening.
So far, our reports have talked about killings and atrocities.
Let's call it what it is.
Genocide.
We couldn't even call Rwanda genocide - at the time.
- Yeah, but that's been revised now.
That could help us.
And it sends a message to Callister, too.
We don't target minorities here, and we don't tolerate other countries murdering them.
Exactly.
I'm gonna bring it to the president.
Thank you, Peter.
- I really appreciate it.
- Thank you, ma'am.
I waited in a stupidly long line for what's supposed to be the next Cronut.
Uh, Mike Barnow, ma'am.
Thanks, Blake.
This is to keep you off-line for the next two days, possibly the week.
The article came out? Drops within the hour.
Stay inside, don't look at any memes or tweets, and for God's sake, don't read it.
Why would I do that? Hey, Richard, can you reschedule my lunch today? Something came up.
Sure thing, Dr.
McCord.
Thanks.
(COFFEE MACHINE HISSING) - Henry.
- Isabelle.
- So good to see you.
- You, too.
How long has it been? Oh, gosh, uh, - Elizabeth's last birthday dinner? - Oh.
God, I'm the worst.
No, I think we hold that honor I mean, we keep talking about seeing you - and then there's always - Oh, I-I know.
Work is so crazy.
I've been buying this house - up in Maryland.
- Oh, uh, well, that's great.
Yeah, it's no horse farm in Virginia.
But you got to retire somewhere.
Listen, by the time we get all three kids through college, I don't know if we're retiring with a farm.
(CHUCKLES) Oh, you know what? Just coffee, thank you.
Somehow I think you two are on to bigger things before you're done.
Well, we're hoping to stay in government.
- Mm-hmm.
- But, um articles like the one that came out today don't exactly help.
Thank you.
I almost called Bess as soon as I read it.
- She doesn't know I'm here.
- Oh.
(CLEARS THROAT) Listen, I've got to ask you.
Do you know anyone from your time together at CIA who would have done this? Someone who wants to take Elizabeth down? You know, people knew Bess was my friend.
They didn't talk about this stuff around me.
You never heard rumors? Personally? No.
(INHALES SHARPLY) Sometimes the Company is like high school with encryption.
Somebody wanted to look important to a reporter, at some dinner party, Elizabeth is right to let it evaporate.
Yeah.
Our kids read about this.
Henry, you know there's nothing to it, right? People used to call them "the Honor Twins.
" Elizabeth and Conrad.
Yeah, not a great reflection on the rest of us, but, yeah, there it is.
Hmm.
(PANTING): So I think I know the source of the story.
The one we're not talking about? I reached out to Isabelle - this afternoon.
- Henry.
I just wanted to get her take on it.
How is that ignoring it? She completely denied ever hearing the rumors.
You told me that you two used to joke about it.
So you think Isabelle's the source? - Why would she lie about the rumors? - I I-I don't even know what to say, I Look, I don't want to be right, but if she had something to do with it, maybe we could, I don't know, - could ask her to - She's not gonna admit to it if she did do it.
It doesn't make any sense.
I think she's resentful of your success.
You never know how that's gonna affect people.
Look, I know we were supposed to ignore it.
But after I read the article - (SIGHS) - Is it bad? Uh, it's all "alleged" and "rumored.
" So, as long as there's no evidence to back it up Are you-you asking me - if I had an affair with Conrad? - No.
Of course not.
(CLEARS THROAT) See, this-this is how it works.
This is the poison.
- I don't doubt you.
- (PHONE RINGING) But you were halfway around the world, i-it was a rough time for us - Nothing happened! - I know.
- Ever.
I - I know.
Yeah.
Um well, that's odd.
Let him in, Matt, thank you.
Governor of Massachusetts is here.
Governor Hayes.
U-Uh, please come in.
Thank you.
I'm sorry to stop in unannounced.
Oh, it's yeah, hi.
(CHUCKLES) I, um was hoping to discuss your future plans.
Off the record.
As a conservative governor of a progressive state, I've come to appreciate the values of my party that bring people together: an equal love of liberty and the rule of law, patriotism, personal responsibility, merit, and honor.
Those are admirable values.
I don't believe Owen Callister represents those values.
I'm not the only member of the party who found his remarks yesterday hateful, divisive, fearmongering.
Well, he is polling pretty well.
Well, with a certain section of the American people.
We believe another candidate can bring those people back to the center.
Elizabeth, I'm here tonight to ask you to seek the nomination of the Republican Party for president.
Wow.
That's (CHUCKLES) Can I-I speak frankly, John? Please.
I-I work for a president who turned his back on both parties.
Why come to me? Because you're a worthy candidate.
Well, I appreciate that.
I do.
But I got to tell you, when I look at your party's current platform, I-I I mean, I-I'm about to host a global conference on climate change, and your party can't even agree that climate is changing.
We need to evolve.
We'd see your candidacy as an opportunity to do that and, at the same time, come back to the party of Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower.
A square deal and a strong national defense.
I think you fit that platform.
And it's a platform we believe the majority of Americans will vote for.
Well, that's inspiring.
And flattering.
But if you're so alarmed by Owen Callister, why not denounce him? Where are the public statements? We don't want to alienate the people Callister's talking to.
We want to reach them.
We think we can do that with you.
(CHUCKLES) Well, Governor, you, uh you have given me a lot to think about.
Thank you.
My pleasure.
Hope you'll say yes.
MIKE: What is there to think about?! For starters, the fact that she's aligned with a president who won as an Independent.
For the first time in history.
The chances of that happening a second time are about the same as my son's chances of getting into Harvard.
Well, the governor makes one good point: if I join the GOP ticket now, we have a better chance of knocking Callister out early.
What if the governor represents a small faction of the party and you don't win broad support? And then we're dead in New Hampshire.
Have you forgotten who you're working for? Um, Elizabeth schooled America about nationalism, and her, and her popularity went up five points.
This country's totally ready to be spanked by Hot Mom.
(SIGHS) JAY: What do you think? I think that I do line up with some GOP policy positions.
I think privatization is sometimes more efficient than government bureaucracy, and I'm all for a strong military.
And I think we do all win when the government steps back and allows responsible businesses to thrive.
But I don't think that that means that corporations should pay a lower tax rate than schoolteachers.
Of course not.
You can There's always a way to frame it.
What happens when I make wealth disparity my key issue? - (KETTLE WHISTLING) - Or declare that the days of undermining democracy by gerrymandering are over? You will trade horses like every other politician.
She's not every other politician.
One bonus: I make this call tomorrow, I am pretty sure this whole affair story goes away a lot faster.
Okay, that is exactly the kind of political gamesmanship that I hate.
I know that both parties do it.
But the GOP has a much darker history of playing up wedge issues like same-sex marriage just to fire up voters.
When I went to Camp David to think about the candidate I want to be, none of that was on the list.
Seems like you know your way forward on this, ma'am.
Let's not make any decisions tonight.
(SIGHS): Yeah.
Let me, let me just, let me just say this: no one gets to shape this country by being the noble candidate who lost.
We get past the primary and get the GOP machine behind us? Guarantee we win this thing.
Hey, is anyone gonna say anything? Like what? "Congratulations on your affair with the president"? Wait.
We don't really think it happened, do we? I think it's none of our business, and, no, I don't think it happened.
Did you see Carrot Top's tweet? You follow Carrot Top? - BOTH: Good morning.
- Ma'am.
- Morning.
- Good morning.
Here's your schedule, and muffin's on your desk.
Okay.
Can I see you in my office, Nina? Thank you.
Listen, Kat shared with me your concerns about working with Deputy Secretary Bailey.
Oh, gosh, it's really not that big of a deal.
(CHUCKLES) It-it is, and-and I'm grateful that you brought it to me.
Um look, I'm, I'm happy to transfer you wherever you want to go, but for the sake of everyone else working with the deputy secretary, I wonder if you would tell me a little bit more about what you know.
Well, I don't, I don't really want to get anybody in trouble just based on gossip.
Oh.
Well, trust me, I can appreciate that.
But I'm trying to gather any information I can to pass it to the Office of Civil Rights for review.
Well, from what I've read, um, most of those incidents have already gone to OCR.
Can I ask where, where you read this? Uh oh, gosh.
Um, okay.
There's a document that goes around between women federal employees.
Mostly lower level.
Just a private thing, warning each other of which men to avoid being alone with.
And the deputy secretary is in it? Yeah, um, mostly groping and lunging and some weird comments.
If I assure you that I will protect the identities of the accusers, would you be willing to share that document with me? Thank you.
For what it's worth, the president isn't in it.
And I'm really sorry about that article, ma'am.
ELIZABETH: Isabelle.
Bess, oh, my God.
How good to see you.
How have you been? A little rocky lately.
Did you repeat any of the rumors about Conrad and me? What, you think I'm the source? Henry said he talked to you.
Why, why would you say you hadn't heard anything? He showed up, he You know what, can we get in the car? - I-I'm freezing.
- Sure.
Henry he showed up out of nowhere.
He's obviously stirred up from reading about his wife sleeping with her boss.
(CHUCKLES) - When your friend's husband asks you if it's true, you don't feed the fire.
- This whole thing - Yeah.
Do you have any idea who it could've been? I mean, it could've been a lot of people, Bess.
(CHUCKLES) Weren't that many people out to get me.
Maybe not out to get you, but if they were asked? They all had eyes.
Whether anything happened or not, he clearly favored you.
Wait Look, I know you didn't cross any lines.
I-I mean, I don't even think there's anything wrong with how you benefited from it.
- Uh - Wow.
- So you think that I - No.
I'm-I'm not - used Conrad - No, I'm not saying you didn't earn everything that you've achieved, and believe me, I will be first in line to vote for you.
I know it's totally unfair to you, but it's not hard for people who saw your dynamic with Conrad to think there could have been something to those rumors.
The foreign aid bill before the Senate this morning generated heated debate.
OWEN: I am absolutely opposed to increasing our foreign spending, particularly at a time when the chief diplomat representing the United States to the rest of the world, Elizabeth McCord, brings such a shameful example of moral turpitude and corruption HENRY: Hey, Jace.
I was hoping for a sit-down with Secretary McCord sooner than later.
There are a few initiatives I'd like to go over with her.
Well, there's another matter we need to discuss first, Deputy Secretary.
Hey.
Let's keep it Steven, at least until I'm out of the bullpen.
(CLEARS THROAT) Uh, if you could take a look at this.
Mm-hmm.
What? You want to tell me what this is? It's an anonymous document maintained by female employees of the federal government warning each other of other employees who have made them feel unsafe.
(CLEARS THROAT) Here we go.
Deputy Secretary, you should know that Secretary McCord and I take these allegations very seriously.
I suggest you do so as well.
And, uh, you want to hear my side of the story, or have you done away with due process? Oh, all of these allegations will be investigated fully if you decide to take this position.
What are you implying? I am openly informing you that if an investigation confirms any of the actions as described in this document, then you will not become Acting Secretary of State.
Furthermore, those determinations will most likely follow you in your next career, so you may want to think carefully about your next move.
You know, I get that the rules have changed.
But you need to look at my record.
No one has been a bigger champion of women in this department.
And I have taken bullets for this country, and now you're telling me that you're gonna run me out of town on at dawn because a few women have no sense of humor? It's a shocking violation, isn't it? To be confronted by something so unwelcome and dis-empowering at work? I'm pretty sure every woman in this document knows exactly how you feel.
(FOLDER LANDS) ELIZABETH: Sir, I'd like to ask if we can turn up the heat and call the Myanmar attack against the Rohingya people what it is: genocide.
I think I know the answer to this, but why now? Because Myanmar getting away with turning tanks on its own people makes it a lot easier for the next regime to give it a try.
Because we should have moved on it when we had the chance.
All good points.
But genocide, once proven, brings a legal obligation to prevent and punish.
If we intervene in one situation, there are dozens of others all over the world - that clamor for the same recognition.
- I know.
Yeah, it's the same thinking that made us avoid intervening in Rwanda.
There are other terms you can use that don't bring the same burden of intervention but would still shame the Chinese for sitting it out.
That saves you from starting a mess with China that I would rather you didn't inherit from me.
(LAUGHS SOFTLY) It's no guarantee that I'm gonna inherit anything from you, sir.
Don't tell me you're letting that ridiculous article get to you.
It's my family I'm worried about.
Well, I'm willing to make a statement - about the damn thing if it'll help.
- No, thank you, sir.
But you decided to stay out of it, and I'm gonna follow your lead.
I hope Lydia isn't too upset? One thing we learned about this job is that you need to keep yourself separate from the office.
They are two different things.
Conrad, do you think? When we were at CIA, did you favor me? Of course.
You were smart, diligent, and you knew how to think for yourself.
What kind of boss would I be if I didn't favor that? Perfect.
Thanks, Kayla.
I'll circle back ASAP.
If that's a masseuse, can you see if she'll do campaign stops? What makes you think I'm booking a masseuse? You said her name was Kayla.
ELIZABETH: Hey.
Sorry I'm late.
Hey, you want my beer? - MIKE: Suck-up.
- Uh, no, um, I'm fine.
Look, I've been thinking about the GOP offer Before you finish that thought, I just got off the phone with the Democratic Party chairman's office.
- They want to talk.
- What? So we can hear what the other side has to say.
You greenhorn idiot.
- Mike.
- You just gave Callister every reason - to call her a superficial party hopper.
- I just gave a candidate - the opportunity to consider her options.
- Guys, enough.
Enough.
This whole routine between the two of you, undercutting, the jockeying for position, this has got to stop.
This is exactly what George Washington hated about a two-party system.
Two sides trying to dominate each other.
What does he know? He had wooden teeth.
He was right.
And so is Jay, by the way.
My political identity is tied to Conrad's.
I'm an independent.
It's who I am, and it's how I'm gonna run.
I'm gonna call Governor Hayes, tell him we're declining his offer.
Either of you have a problem with that? - No, ma'am.
- Good.
I've also accepted an interview tomorrow morning where I'm gonna put these affair rumors to rest, among other things.
Love it.
Can we go over some talking points? I don't need talking points.
I was there.
Guys, this is gonna be a long, hard road, but it's the road I want to be on.
So you either get on it with me or get out of the way.
Okay? Great.
Thank you.
Oh, my god.
Hey, did you see Bailey's resignation? Are you kidding? I killed trees and printed it out for everyone.
Hey, it's pretty decent, right? Wait, are we talking Bailey's resignation? So, you think he wrote it? "I regret the part I played in a system designed to silence and dominate half the world's population.
" - He didn't write it.
- (LAUGHS): No.
But I love whoever got him to sign it.
- I know.
- Uh, good morning.
Hey, Nina, can I see you for a minute? Sure.
And, uh, the secretary's interview might go long.
You were able to move the meet and greet with the new FSOs? - Yes, to Thursday.
- Good.
So, do we know who wrote that memo? I think the deputy secretary saw the error of his ways.
What? It could happen.
(LAUGHS) KAT: Undersecretary Thompson.
- Yes.
- This is Nina Cummings.
She'll be your new administrative assistant.
And, Nina, Undersecretary Thompson will be stepping in as acting secretary once we begin the transition.
It's an honor.
I-I so admire your work - with the Bureau of African Affairs.
- Thank you, Nina.
- I look forward to working with you.
- Me, too.
Oh, that reminds me, um, OMB approved a line item - for tampons in the bathrooms.
- (GASPS) - Nina's idea.
- Hey.
- Look at that.
- Oh.
(LAUGHTER) Policy in action.
- Yes.
- That's right.
What else can we get? - Um, equal pay.
- Yes.
(LAUGHTER) PRODUCER: In five, four, three Secretary McCord, I'm gonna get right to it.
Are you running for president in the next election? Well, right now I'm pretty busy representing our country to the rest of the world.
JANE: I want to get to your work as Secretary of State, but first let's go back to your time at the CIA.
Uh, you were an intelligence analyst working with Conrad Dalton in Iraq? Yes, that's right.
You worked closely with President Dalton.
I was a member of an incredible team.
There was a great deal of mutual respect.
JANE: There have been rumors lately, uh, that your relationship with President Dalton was a more intimate one during those years? Those rumors are not true, and the people spreading them are the same people who are trying to distract Americans from the real threats we face.
Like the rise of hatred and intolerance.
These people want us to be scared and suspicious of anyone who looks, speaks, prays differently than people we know.
Because when we're scared, that's when they take power.
This is happening all over the world.
Last year, Myanmar unleashed a campaign of ethnic cleansing on an entire population of Muslim citizens in retaliation against a handful of Muslim dissidents.
And right now they're getting away with it.
It's the same hate and fear that drove extremists to attack the White House over an immigration policy.
And it's the same hate infecting every line of Senator Callister's campaign announcement.
You made a speech several months ago, uh, calling nationalism the greatest threat to humankind.
I did, but what's happening now is even more scary.
Extremists aren't just attacking the White House from outside, they're trying to move into it.
If we vote hatred into our highest office, I don't think we survive that.
Not intact.
What would you say to the many Americans who support Senator Callister's message? De Tocqueville called our early democracy "the great experiment.
" And I love that because it reminds me how fragile we are.
Every generation gets to choose whether or not this experiment continues.
That means not giving in to the weaknesses that make us fragile as people and as a country, not listening to those who tell us to blame others when we feel shut out.
And that can be such a tempting message, especially when you're down, but it's a false one and a dark one.
All I can say is, however I continue to serve our country, I will never stop fighting to save this great experiment.