Madam Secretary (2014) s06e01 Episode Script
Hail to the Chief
1 I don't know.
I feel like I feel like these shoes are at a different party.
You know? One where fun goes to die.
So less corporate, more red carpet? I think so.
Great.
Thanks, Roxanne.
I really appreciate you jumping in.
Ali usually helps me with big events, but she's doing an internship abroad and No problem.
Okay.
These should put the fun in fundraiser.
Oh, yeah.
See? Now, look.
This is why women have a thing about shoes.
They do? Well, that's news to me.
Oh, hey, handsome.
I love you in that old thing.
- It never gets old.
- That's why it's a classic.
It certainly is.
Okay, I got to go over and work on my remarks.
No, d-don't touch.
All right.
Good seeing you, Roxanne.
Well, I think we got a winner.
What do you think? ROXANNE: Yeah.
There's just one other wardrobe issue we should discuss moving forward.
It's about your husband.
DAISY: So you'll at least want to get a drive-by with Senator Wagner.
He has a sweet tooth, so target the dessert table.
And, uh, Senator Langston might be a little harder to pin down.
Oh, Sydney and Louise Winters's winery had a great harvest coming off an award-winning year, so you can lean on them to up their grant.
ELIZABETH: Just for one night, can we not think about fundraising or votes? Come on.
This event actually has the potential to be fun.
You might be in the wrong profession, ma'am.
I said "one night," Blake.
I'm not having a vocational crisis.
- Good to know.
- But this is Henry's night to shine, so I am perfectly justified staying out of the spotlight.
Yes, ma'am.
Oh, it's the McCords, in glamorous formal wear.
- I feel itchy.
- Oh, you feel itchy? Well, y-you look really g that looks great.
You have on writer's face.
What No, I had writer's face before.
This is public remarks face.
- Oh.
Well, okay.
- (CLEARS THROAT) - Let's do this.
- Okay.
ELIZABETH (QUIETLY): Thank you.
(LAUGHS): Okay.
(EXHALES) ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, President Elizabeth McCord - and First Gentleman Dr.
Henry McCord.
- ("HAIL TO THE CHIEF" PLAYING) (INDISTINCT CHATTER) Madam Secretary, it's a pleasure to see you.
- And you, too, Madam President.
- (CHUCKLES) Is Minister Chen playing nice on the Taiwanese negotiations? Oh, I've got his number.
I think he misses you.
- (BOTH CHUCKLE) - Excuse me.
- Hi, you.
- MIKE: Senators Windbag and Expediency are here as expected.
(QUIETLY): Good to see you.
Good evening, Mike.
Not if we can't get your wildly unrealistic, giving-me-palpitations legislative meatball - over the finish line.
- Thank you.
You have votes to whip, lady.
I mean, Madam.
- President.
- I was sort of hoping - to take the night off.
- (LAUGHS) So, Wagner likes to feel important.
So just act like you're there seeking his brilliant counsel and actually give a crap - about his spectacular blowhardery.
- (OVERLAPPING GREETINGS) That and he likes to brag about bringing home the bacon to his constituents.
Langston is an idealist but responds to power, so just pummel her.
Isn't it a bit unseemly for the president to pummel? Failure is unseemlier, and your hundredth day in office looms.
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) Now, see, that's something that we can all reach consensus on.
We ought to chocolate-cover every bill - that comes to the floor, Madam President.
- (LAUGHS) Thanks for coming out tonight, Senator Wagner.
Any chance to hear that scholarly husband of yours talk.
Well, that's nice to hear.
Be even nicer to hear if I had your support for the ESI bill.
I support the infrastructure piece, but some of my colleagues and I have concerns about the education handouts.
Well, we can't have next-gen infrastructure without innovations in science, and we can't lead in science without investing in education The hip bone's connected to the thigh bone.
I've heard your pitch, ma'am, but the people of Alabama don't care about the body politic.
They care about runaway spending.
Do you think that those concerns might be allayed if we make sure contracts for rebuilding Alabama's schools only go to local construction companies? That might be just the chocolate fix they need, Madam President.
PATRICIA: Before you all knew him as the First Gentleman of the United States, he was known in many circles for other things.
Fighter pilot, religious scholar, acclaimed author, White House advisor.
Clearly, he did the best he could with the limited talents he had.
(LAUGHTER) Please welcome Dr.
Henry McCord.
(APPLAUSE) (CAMERA CLICKING) Thank you, Patricia.
Thank you very much.
Well, it's true, I've had a blessed and weird life and I've pursued some challenging paths.
But what you probably don't know is that I could never have been any of those things without poetry.
I mean, here I was, this goofy, working-class kid from Pittsburgh without a single interesting thought in my mind.
And then, in high school, I had this great teacher, Mr.
Eastman, who made me read Gerard Manley Hopkins and Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes and Blaise Pascal.
These were theologians, philosophers, innovators and artists.
And suddenly, my mind caught fire.
I the way they used words just lit up my imagination and expanded my concept of the divine.
They ignited all my passions and put them in one place.
In his poem "High Flight," John Gillespie Magee Jr.
wrote, "Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.
" When I read that passage, I instantly knew two things: I wanted to study theology and I wanted to fly.
(LAUGHS SOFTLY) Artists have inspired me to do everything that's meaningful in my life.
I may have even leaned on a little Keats and Shakespeare when I was wooing my beautiful wife.
(MURMURING, APPLAUSE) There is nothing that drives our world-leading economy like creativity, and there is nothing that drives creativity like the arts.
It is vital that we foster them and invest in them.
- (APPLAUSE) - Thank you very much.
(MOUTHS) Don't tell people this, but Thomas Aquinas walks into a bar I'm so sorry to pull rank, but the first gentleman is needed for an emergency dancing situation, - and it can't be helped.
- Sorry.
Can't say no to the chief.
- Well, hello.
- Hello.
We haven't danced like this since the inaugural ball.
We haven't danced at all since then.
Well, there was that midnight Macarena moment.
(LAUGHS): Okay, that was fun.
- (CHUCKLES) You know, sometimes I just can't believe this is all real.
Right? The only way I know this isn't a dream is because I can still work my phone.
What? You can't work technology in your dream.
- You're crazy.
Yes, you can.
- No.
You can't.
- I can.
Yes, I can.
- No, you can't.
It's scientifically proven.
- Oh, yeah? What who are the scientists - Yeah.
that did this experiment? Well, I'm going to get somebody on it.
(BOTH LAUGH) I love you, Henry McCord.
I love you, Madam President.
HENRY: You can't beat this commute.
(LAUGHS): No.
From now on, let's only have jobs that are in our house.
I agree.
Well, I go left here.
Okay, have a good day.
Keep an open mind.
About what? Anything that comes up.
Elizabeth It's just all-around solid advice.
I love you.
- Uh - Morning, Dr.
McCord.
Good morning, Evan.
Last night's speech already paying dividends.
- Well, let's hear it.
- Two more senators and five House members signed on to your increased NEA-funding push.
My kind of dividends.
And you're confirmed for Colbert this afternoon.
Cool.
And terrifying.
Flying out of Andrews at 1300.
Um, and Jason's definitely coming with, right? I'll make sure he's got a seat.
And you have a visitor.
HENRY: Roxanne.
- This is a surprise.
- Really, Dr.
McCord? I convinced the commander in chief.
Meet your new wardrobe.
MIKE: Oh, hey.
Good timing.
I know I haven't brought this up lately, or today, but this is day 98, which means only two more days - until I can quit.
- I know.
I know, Mike.
Do you, though? Yes.
I-I have your shortlist on my desk.
Actually, here it is again, because I fished it out from the pile and gingerly blew the dust off of it.
You haven't brought any of those people in.
I will.
Yes, you will, because the leader of the free world would not go back on her word.
No, she wouldn't.
Look, I don't want the job Jay Whitman rejected.
I want the job you promised me: counselor to the president.
Behind the scenes, under the radar.
Cracking heads and crushing enemies.
But you're so good at being my chief of staff.
Acting chief of staff, and of course I'm amazing at it.
But I hate it.
It's all relationships and people.
So many people in person.
Well, I'm gonna need some more time.
No.
No, that was not the deal.
I agreed to filling in for the first 100 days.
We shook on it.
Don't punish me because Jay had a mental breakdown.
It wasn't a breakdown.
- Total breakdown.
- It was love.
What's the difference? The kid walked out on his dream job.
For what? A chess player? - To be happy? - From Holland? - That's sexy.
- To start a family? To not end up alone? (GROANS) Oh, what's that? Clearly, things you don't care about.
- Yeah, and I cannot care about those things - Exactly why you are perfect - for this job.
- when I have the job that I want.
Okay, I hear you.
- Until then? - Whip count is 58 after you secured Langston and Wagner last night.
- Well, that's great.
- It's great-adjacent.
We're still two votes shy of a filibuster-proof majority, so start thinking about which kid you're willing to sacrifice.
Good morning, ma'am.
- Good morning.
- Lemon poppyseed.
What did you call me? - You really need to calm down.
- And see? He's back to being an assistant.
Uh, ROTUS.
Receptionist of the United States.
- That's worse.
- That's a promotion.
That's how she gets you.
Okay.
Ma'am, Ephraim Ware and FBI Director Banks are in your office.
They say it's urgent.
More urgent than passing the most ambitious legislative tour de force - of the century? - Morning.
New intel on the Knights of Western Freedom or? No, ma'am.
It's Iran.
That's never good.
Madam President, yesterday morning, I received a call from my counterpart in Mossad.
During an Israeli counterintelligence operation, agents came across court documents from Senator Beauregard Miller's divorce on a VAJA server.
- Which documents? - Same ones about Miller cheating on his wife, fathering a child with one of his staffers that were leaked to a reporter during the campaign.
And Mossad thinks the Iranians hacked them? Yes, ma'am, and the Bureau's own metadata and friends at code analysis confirm Iranian origin.
MIKE: Let's not panic.
Valerie Guillen, from The Chronicle, she broke the story.
What does she have to say? She's not giving up her source.
But she denies receiving the documents from the Iranians.
She could have gotten them through a third party.
If I may, ma'am.
Our working theory is that Iran targeted Miller's campaign because of his aggressively anti-Iranian positions, and because he was a harsh critic of your role in landing the Iran peace deal.
Okay, now we can panic.
I want to know exactly what happened, and who in the Iranian leadership was responsible.
Thank you.
- We're on it.
- You bet, Madam President.
Gather the NSC.
I want CYBERCOM to draw up severe countermeasures.
If it gets out that Iran tried to tank your biggest rival's campaign in order to help you, it could taint the legitimacy of your election.
This is much bigger than my election.
Our democracy was attacked by a foreign power, and we have to defend it at all costs.
ELIZABETH: Really, the the AC is up full throttle? Afraid so, ma'am.
Whew.
Oh, my God.
What is that smell? - Is somebody sick? - No, no, no, I think somebody left some, uh, egg salad on the, uh under the seats last night.
They're working on it.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna go check.
DAISY: Here's some good news, ma'am.
I just heard that Sprinkles is going to name a cupcake after you.
(CHUCKLES) Polls are that bad? Ma'am? (SIGHS) If the cupcake thing is the good news No, actually, Hubbard dropped a point or two today.
You held.
So I'm only fourpoints behind Hubbard? Yes.
And Miller's spread is all over the place, depending on the poll.
Give me Quinnipiac.
Fourteen.
Geez! He got that big of a bump from The View? - Well, he made salmon tacos.
They look good.
- MIKE: Hello? - Welcome to the best day of your lives so far.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER) What is that smell it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
I got a tip from my Chronicle guy.
Story breaks tomorrow.
Miller cheated on his wife and secretly fathered a child with one of his staffers.
- What? Wow.
- Wait-wait-wait, wait-wait.
Wait, did I say staffers? Sorry, I meant intern.
- BLAKE: Wow.
- MIKE: Hey.
Is there more, Mike? Why, yes.
Yes, there is.
There is a tape of him making a deal with his deputy chief of staff to claim paternity.
DAISY: Holy crap.
- Are you sure? - (LAUGHING) Above the fold tomorrow.
- This is it for him, right? - Oh, absolutely.
Now it's just a five-point spread with Hubbard.
I thought it was four.
The-the point is, it's winnable.
- We're in this thing.
- Sorry.
Who do we think leaked this? Oh, I have no idea, but I want to kiss them straight on the mouth.
I never do this, let's do this.
Let's do it.
- No, Mike - Bring it up.
No.
It's sad and sordid.
You're right.
You're right, we'll take a moment.
Celebrate when the smell goes away.
Be thinking about VPs.
No more eggs on the bus, people! So the idea is, you cannot have high-tech infrastructure without some serious science behind it.
And you can't have the best scientific minds without education.
Basically, human infrastructure begets physical infrastructure.
Okay.
I got to say, I rarely hear the word "begets" outside of the Bible.
- (LAUGHTER) - Um So so go back.
What is "human infrastructure"? Do we have to make human pyramids? Do I have to take iron supplements? - What is a human? - Well, only if your doctor tells you.
I You are a doctor.
Of-of philosophy.
Uh, and a-a fighter pilot, uh, an ethics advisor to former President Dalton, a religious scholar, an author.
Now you're championing, uh, arts in education.
There's a word for guys like you: - annoying.
- (LAUGHTER) I mean, you're married to the president, for Pete's sake.
Why can't you just finally retire? Well, I-I-I can't because what I really want is to have my own talk show.
- Really? - (LAUGHTER) Really? You might be disappointed, because here are some words you rarely hear on a talk show: "I read your book on St.
Francis.
" - (CHUCKLES) You're the guy, thank you.
- Yeah, you're welcome.
I had no idea that St.
Frankie - was such a playa.
I mean - (LAUGHTER) The guy the guy partied.
Yeah, well, once you start talking to birds, you know - Yeah.
- (LAUGHTER) This is funnier if you're Catholic, by the way.
(LAUGHTER) (CHUCKLES): I-I thought you were gonna say - it's funnier if you're a nerd.
- That, too.
Okay, so, uh you're pretty busy.
I happen to know, uh, your wife, uh, has a few obligations of her own.
How do the two of you manage to make time to see each other? Well you know, it's tough.
And sometimes it feels like we can go weeks without, - you know - Oh, I know.
Yeah.
- No - (LAUGHTER) - Oh.
Oh, boy.
- Really? Weeks? - Wow.
No.
- Oh, boy.
Oh, boy.
(BOTH CHUCKLING) Seriously, though, uh (LAUGHTER) Cohabitating with the first female president, uh, I mean, she's off on Air Force One all the time; that makes the White House your personal man cave.
So, we wanted to help you out.
We-we got we got you a present.
- Here-here you go.
- (LAUGHTER) - There it is.
We got you - Oh, wow.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) - Wow.
- We got you your own We got that Your-your own FGOTUS beer helmet.
Oh, that's just what I need, yeah.
Uh, now if you if you push, uh, the button - ("HAIL TO THE CHIEF" PLAYING) - (LAUGHTER) There you go, see? Classy.
There you go.
We also (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) You should know we also made we also made a nuclear version, but you can only push the button once.
(LAUGHS) - There you go.
First Gentleman of these United States, Dr.
Henry McCord, everybody.
Give it up for the FGOTUS! - (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) - We'll be right back.
Thank you, sir.
Whoo! KOHL: Attack option one: A DoS strike shutting down Iranian government websites and disabling the civilian Internet.
Option two: Knock out the power grid.
And all comms, radio, phone and satellite.
Option three: A direct attack on the Revolutionary Guard.
We fry every piece of military hardware with a data connection.
From SRBMs to main battle tanks.
Any of these would send a clear message.
Prepare to execute all three.
KOHL: Yes, ma'am.
ELIZABETH: Susan, I want to follow with sanctions that go right up to the line of what we can do given the peace deal.
I'll have a plan on your desk in two hours.
If I were to declassify all of this would there be any operational risks? AMELIA: Mossad says it was a pure hack.
No human assets in play.
The Israelis are good with declassifying.
Thank you, everyone.
OTHERS: Thank you, Madam President.
Brief Daisy.
I'm holding a press conference in an hour.
Let's just take a beat.
- No.
No political considerations.
- This could kill the ESI bill, hobble your administration before it's out of the gate.
- The American people deserve to know, Mike.
- And they will.
Just give it a few days.
Get ESI on the books.
Brief Daisy now.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) (CAMERAS CLICKING) Good afternoon.
Earlier today, I received an intelligence briefing about the discovery of a hack by the government of Iran last year that resulted in confidential information about Senator Beauregard Miller being leaked during the presidential campaign.
(REPORTERS SHOUTING) ELIZABETH: And that's why on my first day in office, I will bring Congress my education, science and infrastructure plan.
- (CROWD CHEERING) - So please join me.
And let's get it done, America.
- Thank you so much.
Thank you, everybody.
- (APPLAUSE) Show me the way Every day I want you Ugh, these ribs are so good, I might have to move here.
It may not be a problem.
What now, Chicken Little? The scandal didn't hurt Miller in the polls.
He could eat a baby on national television, and his base wouldn't care - as long as he panders to their fears.
- Well, - I've been thinking about a major speech.
- On what? Your opponent knocking up interns? Unity.
(LAUGHING) I'm telling you, it's what people want.
It's what they're yearning for, more than anything.
No, it's what they say they're yearning for, but really, they just want to bash each other's heads in.
Do a speech on that.
It might actually be a crowd-pleaser.
Oh, my God.
- The mac and cheese - Okay, I'm glad you're enjoying your lunch, - but we need to talk VPs.
- Oh! I've been thinking about that, too.
Me, too.
Todd Everlane, progressive young mayor of Austin is trending.
Gets the youth vote and whatever, but also Texas.
Yeah.
Susan Thompson, strong in foreign relations, uh, making a name for herself at the State Department.
- You like her.
- Yeah.
I love her.
Okay.
(QUIETLY): I was thinking Carlos Morejon.
You were thinking that right about the time the gummies kicked in? Why is it crazy? Because he would never leave his party.
- He wouldn't have to.
- And you guys are on the opposite sides of, I don't know, everything? - Not everything.
We - I-I also have it on really good authority that he's on the top of Miller's shortlist for VP, like, the tippy-top.
No.
Carlos is principled.
- He'd never do it.
- That's adorable.
But nobody says no.
They all act like they will, but no politician's ego ever met a principle it couldn't crush.
Which is why I'm already gathering oppo to wound Morejon before they can even announce.
We just have to hope it's enough, and that's way too much mac and cheese.
MALE ANCHOR: that an attack by a foreign power threw the election in her favor.
She spent years improving diplomatic relations with a sworn enemy of the United States.
This was a direct attack on our democracy.
Those responsible must be held accountable, even if they reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
For the sake of the nation, we will leave no stone unturned in our investigation into President McCord's campaign for any sign of collusion with the Iranian regime.
- (REPORTS CLAMORING) - Hey, here's a neat feature.
- (TV TURNS OFF) - Oh.
I can't believe Mike was right about this.
We shouldn't have had that press conference.
I didn't think that people would be willing to use this as a pretext to go after us.
Mike's trying to find a way around this investigation, but I think that we should fully cooperate, don't you? - I think that if - I mean, we have nothing to hide.
And I don't want to give even the slightest appearance of a cover-up.
- True, but if you - Right? How do you win a fight where your opponent is willing to hit below the belt and you're not? (SIGHS) Henry? Oh, you're really asking? (LAUGHS): Yeah.
Get out of the ring.
Focus on the fight that you really care about.
- The ESI bill.
- Yes.
Don't let anyone distract your team from getting it over the finish line.
Well, now this investigation is providing enough cloud cover for some senators to waver.
It's gonna be tight.
All the more reason to stay on point.
Give the public something else to talk about.
Yeah.
Maybe they'll be too busy talking about our sex life.
- Okay.
- (LAUGHS) That is so not what I said.
Colbert jumped on a moment and he twisted it around - Trust me, I know.
- (STAMMERS) But you did hesitate.
I was thinking.
About how we did have more sex before the election? We've had plenty of post-election sex.
Are we losing steam? No.
We've got steam.
We have w-we've got plenty of steam.
We're fine.
Is there maybe a power imbalance? Like, you can't take charge with your commander in chief? I mean, on some subtle, - psychological level.
- (CHUCKLES) My subtle psyche can boss yours around any day.
I find it sexy that you're my commander.
Please tell me what to say.
MALE ANCHOR: Senate intelligence committee chairman Mark Hanson has officially opened an investigation into the McCord campaign.
ELIZABETH: Good morning.
Not for your legislative agenda.
The Iran scandal's blowing up.
(EXHALES) You know, even Nixon accomplished lots of big stuff during Watergate.
Title IX, opening China, creating the EPA.
Yeah, but all anyone remembers is Watergate.
All right, Nixon's not the best example, but why am I worried about your feelings? I don't know, maybe because you made me take a job I didn't want, and now I'm managing a crisis I told you not to create, and if ESI gets flushed as a result, every dinner party I attend for the rest of my natural life, I'm gonna have to hear theories about how I should've saved your presidency over a scandal that never should have happened.
(QUIETLY): Feel better? Little bit.
Good.
Because we are getting ESI done.
I want you to make me appointments - with all the undecided senators.
I - No, no, no.
POTUS gives marching orders, POTUS doesn't march.
When the president shows up at your door, that is the nuclear option.
It shouldn't be used lightly.
Okay.
How about this idea? - Okay.
- I was thinking about leaning on tech CEOs from states with wavering senators, - That I like.
Yes.
- That I can - Madam President, excuse me.
- Yeah.
This was Senator Miller five minutes ago.
MILLER (ON IPAD): Now we know why I lost the election.
Because Elizabeth McCord colluded with the Iranians to sabotage my campaign.
Her election is illegitimate and so is her presidency.
- I support my colleague - (MOANS) Chairman Hanson's righteous investigation - into this grievous matter.
- (REPORTERS SHOUTING) If he were any more righteously grievous, - his hair would catch fire.
- DAISY: This just put the scandal on steroids.
Look, as long as he's with us on ESI, Miller can call me a war criminal.
No distractions.
Let's get to work, okay? (WATER RUNNING) Interesting place to meet.
Well, thought it might be best to do this privately.
I appreciate that, I guess.
I hear you're considering joining Miller's ticket.
Considering.
He has not asked.
(WHISPERS): Miller? - (SIGHS) - He rode a wave of nationalist bullpucky, picking up right where Callister left off, with his disgusting attacks on migrants, the media.
He's not fit to be president.
- He won the nomination.
- That doesn't mean that honorable people should get behind him and validate his worst impulses.
I get on that ticket, I can mitigate those impulses.
I can be the adult in the room.
It's my way - of serving.
- That's the bar? Serving by keeping an unfit president in line? Come on, Carlos.
Wouldn't you rather be on a ticket you really believe in? What are you talking about? I want you to be my vice president.
You must be joking.
I'm not.
My position on immigration alone would make it unt We worked together on immigration.
That was an extreme circumstance.
Land mines.
You discovered that I have a soft spot in me - when it comes to children.
- You also broke with Callister to support the sanctions on Poland.
No.
No.
This would not work.
This is crazy.
Why? You and I have more in common than you and Miller.
His politics will divide this country even further.
But you and I can show America that people can disagree and still work together and get things done.
I'd never give up being a Republican.
I'd never ask you to.
I wouldn't support all of your policies.
All I'd ask is that you hear me out.
And I'd do the same with you.
And when we disagree? You'll never have to publicly support a policy you don't believe in.
As long as you don't publicly disagree, either.
Look, I-I'm truly honored for this offer, Elizabeth, but no matter how you spin this, I would still be abandoning my party.
No, I appreciate the courage that it took you to ask me, but I'm not that courageous.
(SIGHS) Good luck out there.
You, too.
Yeah.
(GRUNTS) ELIZABETH: All I ask is that you lean on Senator Sheehan, Zack.
Okay, thanks for your time.
Who's next? Ma'am, General Kohl wants you to know the countermeasures against Iran have begun.
Tell him I want a progress report in an hour.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Sixty.
- We got to 60.
- What? Wait.
How? Son of a bitch Girardi came around after getting beaten like a redheaded stepchild by Kristi Daniels.
Not an hour after you talked to her, she threatened to pull LCD and battery production out of Florida.
- Boom! - (LAUGHS) Mmm.
Doesn't this make you want to just stay being chief of staff? Have you no shame, Madam President? - No.
- It's a big deal, Bess.
- I know.
- Especially with all the Iran noise.
- I know.
- Mmm.
Thanks, Mike.
(EXHALES) Hey.
This is a surprise.
I've got 15 minutes till my next meeting.
Yeah, I got ten.
I love this jacket.
Oh, well, it's a two-button basket weave wool, which is very versatile.
Are you mad at me about Roxanne? I just thought she had some neat ideas, and y-you can always say no.
But you do look good.
How good? Follow me, FGOTUS.
Yes, ma'am.
Well, I hope that was fun, because the good times are over.
I was gone, like, ten minutes.
Miller's threatening to withdraw his support.
That leaves us with 59 votes.
And with that stupid investigation going on, the lack of his vote looks like retribution.
Okay.
I'll get into it.
- No, I'm on it, I'm on it.
- No.
- I have to do this myself.
- Madam President, I really wouldn't.
I I know.
I'm supposed to give the marching orders and not march, I go that, and I've been doing it, but now it is time for the nuclear option.
I'm not I don't disagree, it's your shirt's on inside out.
I'm I'll call the motorcade.
Thank you.
Valerie Guillen, the reporter at The Chronicle who originally broke the Senator Miller scandal is refusing to give up her source, - but she denies receiving - TAYLOR: Senator Miller, I'm so sorry to interrupt.
The president just ELIZABETH: Senator.
- Got a minute? - Oh.
Madam President.
Of course.
ever since President McCord's press conference (CHUCKLES) Four TVs.
Thorough.
I like to stay on top of current events.
- Yeah.
- Ma'am, would it be wrong to tell you how ravishing you look? You mean because I'm your president, or because it's creepy? Well, I just want to get a good look at you because the Oval Office ages you, especially with that whole Iran business.
You won't look the same come next year.
I got to give you credit.
You are just as vulgar in private as you are in public.
Why are you here, ma'am? I need your vote on ESI.
There are 40 other senators that you could be begging to flip their vote, and you chose me? Those 40 others are opposed for ideological reasons.
You supported the bill up until an hour ago.
And you expect me to be your white knight when your administration's under a cloud.
You must be pretty desperate, ma'am.
Prostrating yourself instead of dispatching your little pit bull, Barnow, like you did to get the Iran deal done.
Losing hurts, doesn't it? You accused me of collusion with Iran.
I wanted to tell you face-to-face, that's not true.
Well, forgive me if I'd rather wait for the results of the investigation.
I know you've been cozy with Iran for years.
Sometimes I wonder just how cozy you got with Minister Javani.
God, how low can you go? The lies you've been spewing about that deal these past years have done nothing for American security - I resent that, Madam.
- Too bad.
Get your facts straight.
Now, I'm not here to relitigate that deal.
What do you want? My reputation back! Committee assignments.
That's up to your party.
I want to be right by your side for the bill signing, and I want to be the first person whose hand you shake and thank, and then I want you to personally lobby Ramirez and Hopkins to restore my committee assignments.
- (CLAPPING) - MIKE: Well done, Madam President.
That's how the sausage gets made.
Enough to make me want to go full-on vegan.
You got it done.
Next order of business, updated shortlist of the new chief of staff options.
- Who do you like? - (SIGHS) - I like this.
- (GROANS) I-I don't want to break in anyone new.
Tell that to Jay.
- You got to let that go.
- If you will let me go.
(SIGHS) Ever since Gordon died, I've been reevaluating things.
He was the only totally pure and honest part of my life, which, being in D.
C.
, isn't saying much, but still.
I just accepted him for who he was.
If he if he took a crap on my bath mat or tried to hump the golden across the street, I just, I always knew he was being true to himself, in the moment.
It was his most profound gift to me.
A lesson in how to live, and I'm-I'm trying to honor that.
Look, I would I would stand in front of a bullet train for you, Bess, which I can now with the infrastructure part of the ESI bill, but I have to trust my gut on this.
Okay, I'll stop begging.
Thank you.
Aren't you gonna miss this office? Oh, I'm not giving this up.
The new guy can get another one.
I was here first.
(SNAPS FINGERS) What? You just made me realize who I want to replace you.
(SIREN CHIRPS) Congrats on your first victory with the ESI bill.
You get two more, tops, and that's if this Iran investigation doesn't cripple you.
It's good to see you, too, Russell.
Lawn looks nice.
Yeah.
Carol fired the gardener so I'd have something relaxing to do.
It's supposed to be Zen or something.
Nobody tells you about weeds.
Do you realize what a pain in the ass they are? They never stop.
They're like lobbyists.
Well, then, I'll get right to the point.
I'm sorry to drop in unannounced but I knew that if I gave you a heads-up then Carol would run interference.
Oh.
You want me to do something stressful.
Just temporarily.
I want you to step in as my chief of staff for a transition period.
I know you've already given eight years of this job to Dalton, and you may be over it, but this moment in time is going to determine how effective I am going forward, and I really need you.
Don't answer, because I-I I know you got to talk it over with Carol, and if it's "no," I understand.
I had to ask.
(CAR DOOR CLOSES, ENGINES STARTING) Carol?! Call the gardener! ELIZABETH: I also need to thank Senator Beauregard Miller whose decisive vote made this day possible.
Senator, your bold leadership on this historic bill will always be remembered.
Thank you, and thank you to everyone who came together to get this done.
(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING) (CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING) MIKE: And that right there is how you do the first 100 days in office.
Congratulations, Madam President.
It's a momentous victory.
Well, I couldn't have done it without the both of you.
- Well, that's true.
- Especially you, FGOTUS.
It's been a pleasure making history with you.
(LAUGHS) Okay.
Enjoy it while it lasts, 'cause this Iran debacle is gonna be a nightmare.
They are gonna pull out all the stops, milk every bit of lifeblood out of it.
Drink, Russell? Just a small one.
Well, I want to taste it.
Thank you.
Unto the breach.
- Oh.
- Hear, hear.
Oh, I'm taking my office back.
What? I was here first.
(SIGHS) ELIZABETH: The American Experiment is about giving everyone a way forward even when we disagree.
In fact, disagreement is the hallmark of our democracy.
We respect our Constitution by respecting our fellow citizens, even when we don't get everything we want, even when we disagree passionately.
That is democracy.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Now one of my opponents, he hasn't liked what he's been reading about himself lately, so he's lashed out at the media in ways that I believe undermine freedom of the press, which is enshrined in our Constitution.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) ELIZABETH: And he has engaged in attacks personal attacks against his opponents that are not only irrelevant to important policy debates, but are meaningless distractions that are beneath the dignity of the office we seek.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Anyone running for public office who tries to bully his opponents is not just disrespecting them, but disrespecting America and the rights and values that we stand for.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Anyone who questions our basic freedoms because they don't like what's coming out about themselves in the press isn't just disrespecting our Constitution.
He is rejecting it.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Eroding our core values and rights will lead us down a dark road toward autocracy.
Democracy means that we stand united, even when we sit on different sides of the aisle.
We fight for what we believe in, but we fight fair.
With decency and dignity and respect.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Now I realize I realize that these are just words.
So how can I put these words into action? - MAN: How?! - (LAUGHTER) Well, I'd like to introduce you to my running mate.
I am humbled and honored that he decided to join me, especially because he and I have been known to be political rivals.
Well, we fought for what we believe in, and we fought through our differences, and we got things done.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) And we will continue to rise above our differences on behalf of all Americans.
I am so proud to introduce the next vice president of the United States, Senator Carlos Morejon.
Who can I believe in? I'm kneeling on the floor There has to be a force Who do I phone? The stars are out and shining But all I really want to know Oh, won't you Show me the way Every day I want you
I feel like I feel like these shoes are at a different party.
You know? One where fun goes to die.
So less corporate, more red carpet? I think so.
Great.
Thanks, Roxanne.
I really appreciate you jumping in.
Ali usually helps me with big events, but she's doing an internship abroad and No problem.
Okay.
These should put the fun in fundraiser.
Oh, yeah.
See? Now, look.
This is why women have a thing about shoes.
They do? Well, that's news to me.
Oh, hey, handsome.
I love you in that old thing.
- It never gets old.
- That's why it's a classic.
It certainly is.
Okay, I got to go over and work on my remarks.
No, d-don't touch.
All right.
Good seeing you, Roxanne.
Well, I think we got a winner.
What do you think? ROXANNE: Yeah.
There's just one other wardrobe issue we should discuss moving forward.
It's about your husband.
DAISY: So you'll at least want to get a drive-by with Senator Wagner.
He has a sweet tooth, so target the dessert table.
And, uh, Senator Langston might be a little harder to pin down.
Oh, Sydney and Louise Winters's winery had a great harvest coming off an award-winning year, so you can lean on them to up their grant.
ELIZABETH: Just for one night, can we not think about fundraising or votes? Come on.
This event actually has the potential to be fun.
You might be in the wrong profession, ma'am.
I said "one night," Blake.
I'm not having a vocational crisis.
- Good to know.
- But this is Henry's night to shine, so I am perfectly justified staying out of the spotlight.
Yes, ma'am.
Oh, it's the McCords, in glamorous formal wear.
- I feel itchy.
- Oh, you feel itchy? Well, y-you look really g that looks great.
You have on writer's face.
What No, I had writer's face before.
This is public remarks face.
- Oh.
Well, okay.
- (CLEARS THROAT) - Let's do this.
- Okay.
ELIZABETH (QUIETLY): Thank you.
(LAUGHS): Okay.
(EXHALES) ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, President Elizabeth McCord - and First Gentleman Dr.
Henry McCord.
- ("HAIL TO THE CHIEF" PLAYING) (INDISTINCT CHATTER) Madam Secretary, it's a pleasure to see you.
- And you, too, Madam President.
- (CHUCKLES) Is Minister Chen playing nice on the Taiwanese negotiations? Oh, I've got his number.
I think he misses you.
- (BOTH CHUCKLE) - Excuse me.
- Hi, you.
- MIKE: Senators Windbag and Expediency are here as expected.
(QUIETLY): Good to see you.
Good evening, Mike.
Not if we can't get your wildly unrealistic, giving-me-palpitations legislative meatball - over the finish line.
- Thank you.
You have votes to whip, lady.
I mean, Madam.
- President.
- I was sort of hoping - to take the night off.
- (LAUGHS) So, Wagner likes to feel important.
So just act like you're there seeking his brilliant counsel and actually give a crap - about his spectacular blowhardery.
- (OVERLAPPING GREETINGS) That and he likes to brag about bringing home the bacon to his constituents.
Langston is an idealist but responds to power, so just pummel her.
Isn't it a bit unseemly for the president to pummel? Failure is unseemlier, and your hundredth day in office looms.
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) Now, see, that's something that we can all reach consensus on.
We ought to chocolate-cover every bill - that comes to the floor, Madam President.
- (LAUGHS) Thanks for coming out tonight, Senator Wagner.
Any chance to hear that scholarly husband of yours talk.
Well, that's nice to hear.
Be even nicer to hear if I had your support for the ESI bill.
I support the infrastructure piece, but some of my colleagues and I have concerns about the education handouts.
Well, we can't have next-gen infrastructure without innovations in science, and we can't lead in science without investing in education The hip bone's connected to the thigh bone.
I've heard your pitch, ma'am, but the people of Alabama don't care about the body politic.
They care about runaway spending.
Do you think that those concerns might be allayed if we make sure contracts for rebuilding Alabama's schools only go to local construction companies? That might be just the chocolate fix they need, Madam President.
PATRICIA: Before you all knew him as the First Gentleman of the United States, he was known in many circles for other things.
Fighter pilot, religious scholar, acclaimed author, White House advisor.
Clearly, he did the best he could with the limited talents he had.
(LAUGHTER) Please welcome Dr.
Henry McCord.
(APPLAUSE) (CAMERA CLICKING) Thank you, Patricia.
Thank you very much.
Well, it's true, I've had a blessed and weird life and I've pursued some challenging paths.
But what you probably don't know is that I could never have been any of those things without poetry.
I mean, here I was, this goofy, working-class kid from Pittsburgh without a single interesting thought in my mind.
And then, in high school, I had this great teacher, Mr.
Eastman, who made me read Gerard Manley Hopkins and Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes and Blaise Pascal.
These were theologians, philosophers, innovators and artists.
And suddenly, my mind caught fire.
I the way they used words just lit up my imagination and expanded my concept of the divine.
They ignited all my passions and put them in one place.
In his poem "High Flight," John Gillespie Magee Jr.
wrote, "Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.
" When I read that passage, I instantly knew two things: I wanted to study theology and I wanted to fly.
(LAUGHS SOFTLY) Artists have inspired me to do everything that's meaningful in my life.
I may have even leaned on a little Keats and Shakespeare when I was wooing my beautiful wife.
(MURMURING, APPLAUSE) There is nothing that drives our world-leading economy like creativity, and there is nothing that drives creativity like the arts.
It is vital that we foster them and invest in them.
- (APPLAUSE) - Thank you very much.
(MOUTHS) Don't tell people this, but Thomas Aquinas walks into a bar I'm so sorry to pull rank, but the first gentleman is needed for an emergency dancing situation, - and it can't be helped.
- Sorry.
Can't say no to the chief.
- Well, hello.
- Hello.
We haven't danced like this since the inaugural ball.
We haven't danced at all since then.
Well, there was that midnight Macarena moment.
(LAUGHS): Okay, that was fun.
- (CHUCKLES) You know, sometimes I just can't believe this is all real.
Right? The only way I know this isn't a dream is because I can still work my phone.
What? You can't work technology in your dream.
- You're crazy.
Yes, you can.
- No.
You can't.
- I can.
Yes, I can.
- No, you can't.
It's scientifically proven.
- Oh, yeah? What who are the scientists - Yeah.
that did this experiment? Well, I'm going to get somebody on it.
(BOTH LAUGH) I love you, Henry McCord.
I love you, Madam President.
HENRY: You can't beat this commute.
(LAUGHS): No.
From now on, let's only have jobs that are in our house.
I agree.
Well, I go left here.
Okay, have a good day.
Keep an open mind.
About what? Anything that comes up.
Elizabeth It's just all-around solid advice.
I love you.
- Uh - Morning, Dr.
McCord.
Good morning, Evan.
Last night's speech already paying dividends.
- Well, let's hear it.
- Two more senators and five House members signed on to your increased NEA-funding push.
My kind of dividends.
And you're confirmed for Colbert this afternoon.
Cool.
And terrifying.
Flying out of Andrews at 1300.
Um, and Jason's definitely coming with, right? I'll make sure he's got a seat.
And you have a visitor.
HENRY: Roxanne.
- This is a surprise.
- Really, Dr.
McCord? I convinced the commander in chief.
Meet your new wardrobe.
MIKE: Oh, hey.
Good timing.
I know I haven't brought this up lately, or today, but this is day 98, which means only two more days - until I can quit.
- I know.
I know, Mike.
Do you, though? Yes.
I-I have your shortlist on my desk.
Actually, here it is again, because I fished it out from the pile and gingerly blew the dust off of it.
You haven't brought any of those people in.
I will.
Yes, you will, because the leader of the free world would not go back on her word.
No, she wouldn't.
Look, I don't want the job Jay Whitman rejected.
I want the job you promised me: counselor to the president.
Behind the scenes, under the radar.
Cracking heads and crushing enemies.
But you're so good at being my chief of staff.
Acting chief of staff, and of course I'm amazing at it.
But I hate it.
It's all relationships and people.
So many people in person.
Well, I'm gonna need some more time.
No.
No, that was not the deal.
I agreed to filling in for the first 100 days.
We shook on it.
Don't punish me because Jay had a mental breakdown.
It wasn't a breakdown.
- Total breakdown.
- It was love.
What's the difference? The kid walked out on his dream job.
For what? A chess player? - To be happy? - From Holland? - That's sexy.
- To start a family? To not end up alone? (GROANS) Oh, what's that? Clearly, things you don't care about.
- Yeah, and I cannot care about those things - Exactly why you are perfect - for this job.
- when I have the job that I want.
Okay, I hear you.
- Until then? - Whip count is 58 after you secured Langston and Wagner last night.
- Well, that's great.
- It's great-adjacent.
We're still two votes shy of a filibuster-proof majority, so start thinking about which kid you're willing to sacrifice.
Good morning, ma'am.
- Good morning.
- Lemon poppyseed.
What did you call me? - You really need to calm down.
- And see? He's back to being an assistant.
Uh, ROTUS.
Receptionist of the United States.
- That's worse.
- That's a promotion.
That's how she gets you.
Okay.
Ma'am, Ephraim Ware and FBI Director Banks are in your office.
They say it's urgent.
More urgent than passing the most ambitious legislative tour de force - of the century? - Morning.
New intel on the Knights of Western Freedom or? No, ma'am.
It's Iran.
That's never good.
Madam President, yesterday morning, I received a call from my counterpart in Mossad.
During an Israeli counterintelligence operation, agents came across court documents from Senator Beauregard Miller's divorce on a VAJA server.
- Which documents? - Same ones about Miller cheating on his wife, fathering a child with one of his staffers that were leaked to a reporter during the campaign.
And Mossad thinks the Iranians hacked them? Yes, ma'am, and the Bureau's own metadata and friends at code analysis confirm Iranian origin.
MIKE: Let's not panic.
Valerie Guillen, from The Chronicle, she broke the story.
What does she have to say? She's not giving up her source.
But she denies receiving the documents from the Iranians.
She could have gotten them through a third party.
If I may, ma'am.
Our working theory is that Iran targeted Miller's campaign because of his aggressively anti-Iranian positions, and because he was a harsh critic of your role in landing the Iran peace deal.
Okay, now we can panic.
I want to know exactly what happened, and who in the Iranian leadership was responsible.
Thank you.
- We're on it.
- You bet, Madam President.
Gather the NSC.
I want CYBERCOM to draw up severe countermeasures.
If it gets out that Iran tried to tank your biggest rival's campaign in order to help you, it could taint the legitimacy of your election.
This is much bigger than my election.
Our democracy was attacked by a foreign power, and we have to defend it at all costs.
ELIZABETH: Really, the the AC is up full throttle? Afraid so, ma'am.
Whew.
Oh, my God.
What is that smell? - Is somebody sick? - No, no, no, I think somebody left some, uh, egg salad on the, uh under the seats last night.
They're working on it.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna go check.
DAISY: Here's some good news, ma'am.
I just heard that Sprinkles is going to name a cupcake after you.
(CHUCKLES) Polls are that bad? Ma'am? (SIGHS) If the cupcake thing is the good news No, actually, Hubbard dropped a point or two today.
You held.
So I'm only fourpoints behind Hubbard? Yes.
And Miller's spread is all over the place, depending on the poll.
Give me Quinnipiac.
Fourteen.
Geez! He got that big of a bump from The View? - Well, he made salmon tacos.
They look good.
- MIKE: Hello? - Welcome to the best day of your lives so far.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER) What is that smell it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
I got a tip from my Chronicle guy.
Story breaks tomorrow.
Miller cheated on his wife and secretly fathered a child with one of his staffers.
- What? Wow.
- Wait-wait-wait, wait-wait.
Wait, did I say staffers? Sorry, I meant intern.
- BLAKE: Wow.
- MIKE: Hey.
Is there more, Mike? Why, yes.
Yes, there is.
There is a tape of him making a deal with his deputy chief of staff to claim paternity.
DAISY: Holy crap.
- Are you sure? - (LAUGHING) Above the fold tomorrow.
- This is it for him, right? - Oh, absolutely.
Now it's just a five-point spread with Hubbard.
I thought it was four.
The-the point is, it's winnable.
- We're in this thing.
- Sorry.
Who do we think leaked this? Oh, I have no idea, but I want to kiss them straight on the mouth.
I never do this, let's do this.
Let's do it.
- No, Mike - Bring it up.
No.
It's sad and sordid.
You're right.
You're right, we'll take a moment.
Celebrate when the smell goes away.
Be thinking about VPs.
No more eggs on the bus, people! So the idea is, you cannot have high-tech infrastructure without some serious science behind it.
And you can't have the best scientific minds without education.
Basically, human infrastructure begets physical infrastructure.
Okay.
I got to say, I rarely hear the word "begets" outside of the Bible.
- (LAUGHTER) - Um So so go back.
What is "human infrastructure"? Do we have to make human pyramids? Do I have to take iron supplements? - What is a human? - Well, only if your doctor tells you.
I You are a doctor.
Of-of philosophy.
Uh, and a-a fighter pilot, uh, an ethics advisor to former President Dalton, a religious scholar, an author.
Now you're championing, uh, arts in education.
There's a word for guys like you: - annoying.
- (LAUGHTER) I mean, you're married to the president, for Pete's sake.
Why can't you just finally retire? Well, I-I-I can't because what I really want is to have my own talk show.
- Really? - (LAUGHTER) Really? You might be disappointed, because here are some words you rarely hear on a talk show: "I read your book on St.
Francis.
" - (CHUCKLES) You're the guy, thank you.
- Yeah, you're welcome.
I had no idea that St.
Frankie - was such a playa.
I mean - (LAUGHTER) The guy the guy partied.
Yeah, well, once you start talking to birds, you know - Yeah.
- (LAUGHTER) This is funnier if you're Catholic, by the way.
(LAUGHTER) (CHUCKLES): I-I thought you were gonna say - it's funnier if you're a nerd.
- That, too.
Okay, so, uh you're pretty busy.
I happen to know, uh, your wife, uh, has a few obligations of her own.
How do the two of you manage to make time to see each other? Well you know, it's tough.
And sometimes it feels like we can go weeks without, - you know - Oh, I know.
Yeah.
- No - (LAUGHTER) - Oh.
Oh, boy.
- Really? Weeks? - Wow.
No.
- Oh, boy.
Oh, boy.
(BOTH CHUCKLING) Seriously, though, uh (LAUGHTER) Cohabitating with the first female president, uh, I mean, she's off on Air Force One all the time; that makes the White House your personal man cave.
So, we wanted to help you out.
We-we got we got you a present.
- Here-here you go.
- (LAUGHTER) - There it is.
We got you - Oh, wow.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) - Wow.
- We got you your own We got that Your-your own FGOTUS beer helmet.
Oh, that's just what I need, yeah.
Uh, now if you if you push, uh, the button - ("HAIL TO THE CHIEF" PLAYING) - (LAUGHTER) There you go, see? Classy.
There you go.
We also (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) You should know we also made we also made a nuclear version, but you can only push the button once.
(LAUGHS) - There you go.
First Gentleman of these United States, Dr.
Henry McCord, everybody.
Give it up for the FGOTUS! - (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) - We'll be right back.
Thank you, sir.
Whoo! KOHL: Attack option one: A DoS strike shutting down Iranian government websites and disabling the civilian Internet.
Option two: Knock out the power grid.
And all comms, radio, phone and satellite.
Option three: A direct attack on the Revolutionary Guard.
We fry every piece of military hardware with a data connection.
From SRBMs to main battle tanks.
Any of these would send a clear message.
Prepare to execute all three.
KOHL: Yes, ma'am.
ELIZABETH: Susan, I want to follow with sanctions that go right up to the line of what we can do given the peace deal.
I'll have a plan on your desk in two hours.
If I were to declassify all of this would there be any operational risks? AMELIA: Mossad says it was a pure hack.
No human assets in play.
The Israelis are good with declassifying.
Thank you, everyone.
OTHERS: Thank you, Madam President.
Brief Daisy.
I'm holding a press conference in an hour.
Let's just take a beat.
- No.
No political considerations.
- This could kill the ESI bill, hobble your administration before it's out of the gate.
- The American people deserve to know, Mike.
- And they will.
Just give it a few days.
Get ESI on the books.
Brief Daisy now.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) (CAMERAS CLICKING) Good afternoon.
Earlier today, I received an intelligence briefing about the discovery of a hack by the government of Iran last year that resulted in confidential information about Senator Beauregard Miller being leaked during the presidential campaign.
(REPORTERS SHOUTING) ELIZABETH: And that's why on my first day in office, I will bring Congress my education, science and infrastructure plan.
- (CROWD CHEERING) - So please join me.
And let's get it done, America.
- Thank you so much.
Thank you, everybody.
- (APPLAUSE) Show me the way Every day I want you Ugh, these ribs are so good, I might have to move here.
It may not be a problem.
What now, Chicken Little? The scandal didn't hurt Miller in the polls.
He could eat a baby on national television, and his base wouldn't care - as long as he panders to their fears.
- Well, - I've been thinking about a major speech.
- On what? Your opponent knocking up interns? Unity.
(LAUGHING) I'm telling you, it's what people want.
It's what they're yearning for, more than anything.
No, it's what they say they're yearning for, but really, they just want to bash each other's heads in.
Do a speech on that.
It might actually be a crowd-pleaser.
Oh, my God.
- The mac and cheese - Okay, I'm glad you're enjoying your lunch, - but we need to talk VPs.
- Oh! I've been thinking about that, too.
Me, too.
Todd Everlane, progressive young mayor of Austin is trending.
Gets the youth vote and whatever, but also Texas.
Yeah.
Susan Thompson, strong in foreign relations, uh, making a name for herself at the State Department.
- You like her.
- Yeah.
I love her.
Okay.
(QUIETLY): I was thinking Carlos Morejon.
You were thinking that right about the time the gummies kicked in? Why is it crazy? Because he would never leave his party.
- He wouldn't have to.
- And you guys are on the opposite sides of, I don't know, everything? - Not everything.
We - I-I also have it on really good authority that he's on the top of Miller's shortlist for VP, like, the tippy-top.
No.
Carlos is principled.
- He'd never do it.
- That's adorable.
But nobody says no.
They all act like they will, but no politician's ego ever met a principle it couldn't crush.
Which is why I'm already gathering oppo to wound Morejon before they can even announce.
We just have to hope it's enough, and that's way too much mac and cheese.
MALE ANCHOR: that an attack by a foreign power threw the election in her favor.
She spent years improving diplomatic relations with a sworn enemy of the United States.
This was a direct attack on our democracy.
Those responsible must be held accountable, even if they reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
For the sake of the nation, we will leave no stone unturned in our investigation into President McCord's campaign for any sign of collusion with the Iranian regime.
- (REPORTS CLAMORING) - Hey, here's a neat feature.
- (TV TURNS OFF) - Oh.
I can't believe Mike was right about this.
We shouldn't have had that press conference.
I didn't think that people would be willing to use this as a pretext to go after us.
Mike's trying to find a way around this investigation, but I think that we should fully cooperate, don't you? - I think that if - I mean, we have nothing to hide.
And I don't want to give even the slightest appearance of a cover-up.
- True, but if you - Right? How do you win a fight where your opponent is willing to hit below the belt and you're not? (SIGHS) Henry? Oh, you're really asking? (LAUGHS): Yeah.
Get out of the ring.
Focus on the fight that you really care about.
- The ESI bill.
- Yes.
Don't let anyone distract your team from getting it over the finish line.
Well, now this investigation is providing enough cloud cover for some senators to waver.
It's gonna be tight.
All the more reason to stay on point.
Give the public something else to talk about.
Yeah.
Maybe they'll be too busy talking about our sex life.
- Okay.
- (LAUGHS) That is so not what I said.
Colbert jumped on a moment and he twisted it around - Trust me, I know.
- (STAMMERS) But you did hesitate.
I was thinking.
About how we did have more sex before the election? We've had plenty of post-election sex.
Are we losing steam? No.
We've got steam.
We have w-we've got plenty of steam.
We're fine.
Is there maybe a power imbalance? Like, you can't take charge with your commander in chief? I mean, on some subtle, - psychological level.
- (CHUCKLES) My subtle psyche can boss yours around any day.
I find it sexy that you're my commander.
Please tell me what to say.
MALE ANCHOR: Senate intelligence committee chairman Mark Hanson has officially opened an investigation into the McCord campaign.
ELIZABETH: Good morning.
Not for your legislative agenda.
The Iran scandal's blowing up.
(EXHALES) You know, even Nixon accomplished lots of big stuff during Watergate.
Title IX, opening China, creating the EPA.
Yeah, but all anyone remembers is Watergate.
All right, Nixon's not the best example, but why am I worried about your feelings? I don't know, maybe because you made me take a job I didn't want, and now I'm managing a crisis I told you not to create, and if ESI gets flushed as a result, every dinner party I attend for the rest of my natural life, I'm gonna have to hear theories about how I should've saved your presidency over a scandal that never should have happened.
(QUIETLY): Feel better? Little bit.
Good.
Because we are getting ESI done.
I want you to make me appointments - with all the undecided senators.
I - No, no, no.
POTUS gives marching orders, POTUS doesn't march.
When the president shows up at your door, that is the nuclear option.
It shouldn't be used lightly.
Okay.
How about this idea? - Okay.
- I was thinking about leaning on tech CEOs from states with wavering senators, - That I like.
Yes.
- That I can - Madam President, excuse me.
- Yeah.
This was Senator Miller five minutes ago.
MILLER (ON IPAD): Now we know why I lost the election.
Because Elizabeth McCord colluded with the Iranians to sabotage my campaign.
Her election is illegitimate and so is her presidency.
- I support my colleague - (MOANS) Chairman Hanson's righteous investigation - into this grievous matter.
- (REPORTERS SHOUTING) If he were any more righteously grievous, - his hair would catch fire.
- DAISY: This just put the scandal on steroids.
Look, as long as he's with us on ESI, Miller can call me a war criminal.
No distractions.
Let's get to work, okay? (WATER RUNNING) Interesting place to meet.
Well, thought it might be best to do this privately.
I appreciate that, I guess.
I hear you're considering joining Miller's ticket.
Considering.
He has not asked.
(WHISPERS): Miller? - (SIGHS) - He rode a wave of nationalist bullpucky, picking up right where Callister left off, with his disgusting attacks on migrants, the media.
He's not fit to be president.
- He won the nomination.
- That doesn't mean that honorable people should get behind him and validate his worst impulses.
I get on that ticket, I can mitigate those impulses.
I can be the adult in the room.
It's my way - of serving.
- That's the bar? Serving by keeping an unfit president in line? Come on, Carlos.
Wouldn't you rather be on a ticket you really believe in? What are you talking about? I want you to be my vice president.
You must be joking.
I'm not.
My position on immigration alone would make it unt We worked together on immigration.
That was an extreme circumstance.
Land mines.
You discovered that I have a soft spot in me - when it comes to children.
- You also broke with Callister to support the sanctions on Poland.
No.
No.
This would not work.
This is crazy.
Why? You and I have more in common than you and Miller.
His politics will divide this country even further.
But you and I can show America that people can disagree and still work together and get things done.
I'd never give up being a Republican.
I'd never ask you to.
I wouldn't support all of your policies.
All I'd ask is that you hear me out.
And I'd do the same with you.
And when we disagree? You'll never have to publicly support a policy you don't believe in.
As long as you don't publicly disagree, either.
Look, I-I'm truly honored for this offer, Elizabeth, but no matter how you spin this, I would still be abandoning my party.
No, I appreciate the courage that it took you to ask me, but I'm not that courageous.
(SIGHS) Good luck out there.
You, too.
Yeah.
(GRUNTS) ELIZABETH: All I ask is that you lean on Senator Sheehan, Zack.
Okay, thanks for your time.
Who's next? Ma'am, General Kohl wants you to know the countermeasures against Iran have begun.
Tell him I want a progress report in an hour.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Sixty.
- We got to 60.
- What? Wait.
How? Son of a bitch Girardi came around after getting beaten like a redheaded stepchild by Kristi Daniels.
Not an hour after you talked to her, she threatened to pull LCD and battery production out of Florida.
- Boom! - (LAUGHS) Mmm.
Doesn't this make you want to just stay being chief of staff? Have you no shame, Madam President? - No.
- It's a big deal, Bess.
- I know.
- Especially with all the Iran noise.
- I know.
- Mmm.
Thanks, Mike.
(EXHALES) Hey.
This is a surprise.
I've got 15 minutes till my next meeting.
Yeah, I got ten.
I love this jacket.
Oh, well, it's a two-button basket weave wool, which is very versatile.
Are you mad at me about Roxanne? I just thought she had some neat ideas, and y-you can always say no.
But you do look good.
How good? Follow me, FGOTUS.
Yes, ma'am.
Well, I hope that was fun, because the good times are over.
I was gone, like, ten minutes.
Miller's threatening to withdraw his support.
That leaves us with 59 votes.
And with that stupid investigation going on, the lack of his vote looks like retribution.
Okay.
I'll get into it.
- No, I'm on it, I'm on it.
- No.
- I have to do this myself.
- Madam President, I really wouldn't.
I I know.
I'm supposed to give the marching orders and not march, I go that, and I've been doing it, but now it is time for the nuclear option.
I'm not I don't disagree, it's your shirt's on inside out.
I'm I'll call the motorcade.
Thank you.
Valerie Guillen, the reporter at The Chronicle who originally broke the Senator Miller scandal is refusing to give up her source, - but she denies receiving - TAYLOR: Senator Miller, I'm so sorry to interrupt.
The president just ELIZABETH: Senator.
- Got a minute? - Oh.
Madam President.
Of course.
ever since President McCord's press conference (CHUCKLES) Four TVs.
Thorough.
I like to stay on top of current events.
- Yeah.
- Ma'am, would it be wrong to tell you how ravishing you look? You mean because I'm your president, or because it's creepy? Well, I just want to get a good look at you because the Oval Office ages you, especially with that whole Iran business.
You won't look the same come next year.
I got to give you credit.
You are just as vulgar in private as you are in public.
Why are you here, ma'am? I need your vote on ESI.
There are 40 other senators that you could be begging to flip their vote, and you chose me? Those 40 others are opposed for ideological reasons.
You supported the bill up until an hour ago.
And you expect me to be your white knight when your administration's under a cloud.
You must be pretty desperate, ma'am.
Prostrating yourself instead of dispatching your little pit bull, Barnow, like you did to get the Iran deal done.
Losing hurts, doesn't it? You accused me of collusion with Iran.
I wanted to tell you face-to-face, that's not true.
Well, forgive me if I'd rather wait for the results of the investigation.
I know you've been cozy with Iran for years.
Sometimes I wonder just how cozy you got with Minister Javani.
God, how low can you go? The lies you've been spewing about that deal these past years have done nothing for American security - I resent that, Madam.
- Too bad.
Get your facts straight.
Now, I'm not here to relitigate that deal.
What do you want? My reputation back! Committee assignments.
That's up to your party.
I want to be right by your side for the bill signing, and I want to be the first person whose hand you shake and thank, and then I want you to personally lobby Ramirez and Hopkins to restore my committee assignments.
- (CLAPPING) - MIKE: Well done, Madam President.
That's how the sausage gets made.
Enough to make me want to go full-on vegan.
You got it done.
Next order of business, updated shortlist of the new chief of staff options.
- Who do you like? - (SIGHS) - I like this.
- (GROANS) I-I don't want to break in anyone new.
Tell that to Jay.
- You got to let that go.
- If you will let me go.
(SIGHS) Ever since Gordon died, I've been reevaluating things.
He was the only totally pure and honest part of my life, which, being in D.
C.
, isn't saying much, but still.
I just accepted him for who he was.
If he if he took a crap on my bath mat or tried to hump the golden across the street, I just, I always knew he was being true to himself, in the moment.
It was his most profound gift to me.
A lesson in how to live, and I'm-I'm trying to honor that.
Look, I would I would stand in front of a bullet train for you, Bess, which I can now with the infrastructure part of the ESI bill, but I have to trust my gut on this.
Okay, I'll stop begging.
Thank you.
Aren't you gonna miss this office? Oh, I'm not giving this up.
The new guy can get another one.
I was here first.
(SNAPS FINGERS) What? You just made me realize who I want to replace you.
(SIREN CHIRPS) Congrats on your first victory with the ESI bill.
You get two more, tops, and that's if this Iran investigation doesn't cripple you.
It's good to see you, too, Russell.
Lawn looks nice.
Yeah.
Carol fired the gardener so I'd have something relaxing to do.
It's supposed to be Zen or something.
Nobody tells you about weeds.
Do you realize what a pain in the ass they are? They never stop.
They're like lobbyists.
Well, then, I'll get right to the point.
I'm sorry to drop in unannounced but I knew that if I gave you a heads-up then Carol would run interference.
Oh.
You want me to do something stressful.
Just temporarily.
I want you to step in as my chief of staff for a transition period.
I know you've already given eight years of this job to Dalton, and you may be over it, but this moment in time is going to determine how effective I am going forward, and I really need you.
Don't answer, because I-I I know you got to talk it over with Carol, and if it's "no," I understand.
I had to ask.
(CAR DOOR CLOSES, ENGINES STARTING) Carol?! Call the gardener! ELIZABETH: I also need to thank Senator Beauregard Miller whose decisive vote made this day possible.
Senator, your bold leadership on this historic bill will always be remembered.
Thank you, and thank you to everyone who came together to get this done.
(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING) (CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING) MIKE: And that right there is how you do the first 100 days in office.
Congratulations, Madam President.
It's a momentous victory.
Well, I couldn't have done it without the both of you.
- Well, that's true.
- Especially you, FGOTUS.
It's been a pleasure making history with you.
(LAUGHS) Okay.
Enjoy it while it lasts, 'cause this Iran debacle is gonna be a nightmare.
They are gonna pull out all the stops, milk every bit of lifeblood out of it.
Drink, Russell? Just a small one.
Well, I want to taste it.
Thank you.
Unto the breach.
- Oh.
- Hear, hear.
Oh, I'm taking my office back.
What? I was here first.
(SIGHS) ELIZABETH: The American Experiment is about giving everyone a way forward even when we disagree.
In fact, disagreement is the hallmark of our democracy.
We respect our Constitution by respecting our fellow citizens, even when we don't get everything we want, even when we disagree passionately.
That is democracy.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Now one of my opponents, he hasn't liked what he's been reading about himself lately, so he's lashed out at the media in ways that I believe undermine freedom of the press, which is enshrined in our Constitution.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) ELIZABETH: And he has engaged in attacks personal attacks against his opponents that are not only irrelevant to important policy debates, but are meaningless distractions that are beneath the dignity of the office we seek.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Anyone running for public office who tries to bully his opponents is not just disrespecting them, but disrespecting America and the rights and values that we stand for.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Anyone who questions our basic freedoms because they don't like what's coming out about themselves in the press isn't just disrespecting our Constitution.
He is rejecting it.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Eroding our core values and rights will lead us down a dark road toward autocracy.
Democracy means that we stand united, even when we sit on different sides of the aisle.
We fight for what we believe in, but we fight fair.
With decency and dignity and respect.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Now I realize I realize that these are just words.
So how can I put these words into action? - MAN: How?! - (LAUGHTER) Well, I'd like to introduce you to my running mate.
I am humbled and honored that he decided to join me, especially because he and I have been known to be political rivals.
Well, we fought for what we believe in, and we fought through our differences, and we got things done.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) And we will continue to rise above our differences on behalf of all Americans.
I am so proud to introduce the next vice president of the United States, Senator Carlos Morejon.
Who can I believe in? I'm kneeling on the floor There has to be a force Who do I phone? The stars are out and shining But all I really want to know Oh, won't you Show me the way Every day I want you