The Newsroom s01e08 Episode Script
The Blackout (1): Tragedy Porn
( Theme music playing ) ( Thunder crashing ) Man: I know maybe a dozen reporters, guys you know, too, who tell me they've been pitching you this story for almost a year with no luck.
Yeah, I'm not crazy about being interviewed in print.
Print journalists play it fast and loose with exclamation points.
I love the news becomes I love the news! Suddenly I'm deranged.
- So why now? - Huh? Why are you agreeing to this piece now? - You don't happen to have a cigarette? - No.
- Why now? - Ah, right here.
Why do you want this now? I want some sort of document about what we've been trying to do here.
Like the king at the end of Camelot telling the boy to run behind the lines from village to village telling people about, you know - Camelot.
- Yeah.
I'm asking why you reached out to me.
Because, your recent complications notwithstanding, you cover the media better than anyone out there.
You haven't lost your touch for complimenting and insulting someone at the same time.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
But it wasn't meant as an insult, Brian.
Your life's been in news magazines, - and news magazines aren't - I know.
As many pages long as they used to be.
What kind of access are we talking about? Here's what I'll offer.
You spend a few days here, talk to whoever you want, but it's all off the record.
- Not even background.
- What good does that do me? If I like how it feels, then we go ahead.
But I still get to tell you what can retroactively go on the record from the tryout period.
- You're asking me to audition? - Yeah.
Why would I do that? I can think of some reasons.
Four years ago, you were on the masthead at Newsweek, turning out ten cover stories a year and spending Sunday mornings on TV.
Today you have a blog.
Your fucking disdain for the Internet-- Is matched only by your fucking disdain for the Internet.
You took a buyout when Newsweek was sold to IAC and rolled the money into a start-up, thinking you'd be the next Huffington Post.
How'd it work out? We filed for bankruptcy.
The Sunday Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, GQ, The New Republic, The Atlantic-- Everybody's offered the cover and I get to pick the writer.
I'm going with New York Magazine and you.
So, you okay with the audition? Are you prepared to talk about your Republicanism? You say that like I've got polio.
Are you prepared to talk about having polio? I grew up in a town outside of town outside Lincoln, Nebraska.
My hometown was a road.
I was a college freshman before I met a Democrat.
What about our history? Brian, your problem with me back in the day was that I was a moderate, sane Republican who refused to take a position on anything for fear I would lose viewers.
Just as moderate, sane Republicans on the Hill refuse to take a position for fear they'll lose primary voters.
I had a nightly rundown that went out of its way to avoid reporting the news.
And then Mackenzie McHale came along and I'm attacking my own party for not standing up to its attackers.
Isn't that what you wanted me to do back when you were calling me a coward? Yeah, but that's not the history I'm talking about and you already knew that, so please stop fucking around with me.
One parenthetical sentence in the second graph.
"Full disclosure.
I've been a friend of Mackenzie McHale's - since the late '90s.
" - And you? An email went to 178,000 people and was reported on our own morning show.
That's all you know and that's all you'll report.
That's fine with me.
But that's the last time you'll tell me what I will or won't report.
- I'm not your stenographer.
- Do we have a deal? Yeah, now why do you need someone to run from village to village? Is something about to happen to Camelot? Maybe.
First, you have to learn what our whole philosophy is.
Hang out, we'll talk later.
I have to go to a meeting with Reese Lansing.
What's it about? Suspending our whole philosophy.
Good to see you again, Brian.
( Thunder crashing ) He should be here any minute.
Sorry I'm late.
All right, I'm not gonna tell you what to put on the air.
You're not allowed to tell us what to put on the air.
( Chuckles ) So I'm just gonna tell you the facts.
You got mugged last week.
You got bludgeoned.
- It's Casey Anthony.
- Hang on, wait.
She may just be right.
- We knew we'd take a small hit.
- There's nothing small.
Let me just give you the facts and then invite you to draw your own conclusion.
Nancy Grace averages 283,000 viewers on HLN.
Her time period competitor News Night averages 960,000.
One week ago, HLN begins coverage of the Casey Anthony trial and Nancy's audience increases to 1.
5 million viewers while News Night's audience drops to 460,000, sending you from second to fifth place in the course of five days.
A feat I previously thought was only accomplishable by the New York Mets.
Whose idea was it to not cover the Casey Anthony trial? All: It was mine.
I think the three of you should have a vaudeville act.
I'm not kidding.
I'm gonna send you on a fucking tour.
It was hers.
Mackenzie, I've never seen a more vivid picture of why viewers left, where they went to, and why.
You said why twice.
You chose not to work for PBS.
You chose not to work for NPR.
You have a ratings obligation.
No, you have a ratings obligation.
You're in business with the advertisers.
I'm in business with the viewers.
You just lost their business.
That's all.
Do what you want with the information.
I'll not be taken down by this psychotic cocktail waitress.
That's right, we just keep playing our game, wait it out and just How long can the trial go on? I've seen the witness list.
It'll run around six weeks plus summations plus deliberation.
- We'll never make it.
- That's right, so-- Wait, when you said we wouldn't be taken down by this psychotic cocktail waitress, did you mean we weren't gonna cave or that we were? - You're gonna cover Casey Anthony.
- Bullshit we are.
We have the three-day weekend to gear up for it.
- Charlie.
- Starting Tuesday, you'll lead with her in the A block.
Give it 15 minutes and a five-minute reset on the half hour.
Seriously, I can't tell if you're joking or-- - Did you just hear those numbers? - Yes.
Half our audience changed the channel in one week.
- I understand.
- Do you? - Do I understand math? - Do you understand that it's unprecedented? I'm not gonna argue with you when Will can do it for me.
He's never gonna go for this.
Tell him.
Have marketing promo the living shit out of Casey Anthony.
Oh, my God.
Rename the show Casey Anthony Night with Casey Anthony.
- Will, hang on.
- Right here on the Casey Anthony Network.
- Mac.
- 'Cause any second I'm going to wake up and be back in a room with Don Quixote and the mission to civilize.
- Listen to me.
- No.
How many drinks were thrown in your face because you didn't think people should be watching The Real Morons of South Beach or whatever the hell it's called? - It's not the same thing.
- It's exactly the same thing.
It's just worse.
A child is dead.
A very troubled young mother either did or didn't murder her.
Her parents are waiting to find out if their daughter's going to get the needle.
So thank God for TiVo, otherwise we wouldn't be able to sit down-- - It's news.
- Yeah, say that three times and click your heels.
It's entertainment.
And it's just-- Just this side of a snuff film.
- Sit down, Mac.
- No, I don't want to sit.
- Do it anyway, please.
- 15 at the top, that's a quarter of the show.
- Mac.
- And five at the bottom for a reset? Please sit! - Think I like it? - I know you don't.
It makes me sick.
There isn't enough bourbon in Kentucky.
Okay? We're in the same place on this.
So let's be in the same place on this.
We've had ratings dips before.
First of all, not like this.
Nothing like this.
Second, I want the debate.
The three of us have talked about a new debate format for months and we're not going to be able to do it if they don't give us a debate.
- I just really-- - They're not gonna give us a debate if we're in fifth place.
I want the debate.
I want to fundamentally change the way we interview presidential candidates for their job.
If that means we have to be Jerry Springer for a few weeks, I'm willing to pay that price.
When the going gets tough, the two of you really man up.
Then go with your principles, Mac, but know a ratings hit like this is all Leona needs to fire Will without having to explain why.
- All right.
- You'll do it as classy as you can.
I'll have Will wear a top hat and monocle while he's showing pictures of the wet T-shirt contest.
I'm sorry about the outburst in there.
Yeah, I'm not sure it was all about Casey Anthony.
- How did it go? - He's doing it.
Then he has to disclose that we were-- I told him one parenthetical in the second graph.
That's it.
He needs to be seen as a heavyweight again, Mac.
He's not gonna write a tell-all.
You're fine.
Murrow did Person to Person.
Celebrity interviews.
It was a deal with Paley.
One for them, one for him.
He interviewed Liberace, Mac, just so he could keep going after McCarthy.
Those were puff pieces.
This is poison.
If we're gonna do this, let's not pretend we're not doing this.
- Jim Harper.
- Hey.
- Brian Brenner.
- I know.
I wasn't sure if you remembered.
It's been a few years.
Sure.
It's good to see you.
Are you looking at BigGoverment.
com? - Yeah.
- Don't make me write that you're using Andrew Breitbart to research this show.
No, we're gonna be doing a mock debate at the end of next week.
- A mock debate? - The RNC is looking at Will to possibly host a debate, and Will and Mac have an idea for a new debate format.
We want to show them, so we're each playing a candidate and we're gonna do a mock debate on Michele Bachmann, so - Andrew Breitbart.
- Yeah.
Tell me about this new debate format you guys want.
You know, I'm not really sure what I'm allowed to talk to you about yet.
Do you mind if we wait until I get some instructions? - Sure.
- Thanks.
Hey.
- Hey.
- I heard you were here.
You're not getting out of town for the weekend? - Nope.
How about you? - Yeah.
I'm going to a think tank conference outside Baltimore.
The Institute For Capital Studies and Economic Growth.
- It's gonna be a raver.
- I think it's called a rager.
- Are you sure? - No.
It's either a rave or a rager or a raver.
Don't think the Institute For Capital Studies and Economic Growth's gonna be any of them.
So I stopped in to give you a heads up.
I might need a couple extra minutes Tuesday night.
I don't think I can give it to you.
The House is going to vote up or down on increasing the debt ceiling.
- It's a cosmetic vote, but-- - If it's a cosmetic vote, why-- It's news because first of all, it'll be the first time in history the House lets the US default on its debt.
But moreover, it'll be the first shot in the beginning of a very reckless, extremely dangerous partisan fight that could end in catastrophe.
- Let me explain.
- I can't give you the time.
- If Congress doesn't raise-- - I can't give you the extra time.
Starting Tuesday, I have to cover Casey Anthony.
- I really liked that we weren't doing that.
- I really liked it, too.
By putting the debt ceiling vote in the A block, we'd be sending-- I can't, Sloan.
We lost half our audience last week.
That's not hyperbole.
That's an actual number.
- Half our audience went to HLN at 8:00.
- Half? If we don't bring them home this week, we'll have lost most of them for good and we could lose the debate.
Kenzie, I'm not just trying to get more airtime.
This is an incredibly important-- I had 42 and a half minutes to work with.
I now have 22 and a half.
Do you know how you're gonna budget the 22 and a half? Do you know what Tuesday's news is? We want the debate.
That's the prize.
Those guys are studying on a Friday night of a three-day weekend.
- Okay, next question.
- Congresswoman Bachmann, you're a proponent of reforming Social Security and Medicare.
Can you give us some details of the reforms you have in mind? I'd start by reducing benefits for all but current recipients as part of an effort to reduce the federal deficit.
I'd like to add that President Obama has already transferred over $500 billion out of Medicare and into Obamacare, which I will repeal on my first day in office.
Ms.
Bachmann, are you aware that presidents can't repeal laws? I, Jim, am aware of that, but Where are you getting the quote? BigGovernment.
com.
It's right here.
- Hmm.
- What? Anthony Weiner's Twitter account got hacked.
- Can I suggest a way to turn lemons into lemonade? - Sure.
First you squeeze the juice from the lemons.
Then add sugar and water.
And you're not really into this joke, so I'm just going to say what I really wanted to say.
The Casey Anthony story actually gives us a chance to show how important the debt ceiling story is if we lead with the debt ceiling instead of Casey Anthony.
When do you have to go to your raver? - I've got plenty of time.
- Tea, can I have another? - Yeah.
- Hey, how about Brian Brenner? I've been reading him for years and didn't know what he looked like.
- He's cute.
- Yeah.
- Is he single? - He is.
- Are you interested? - Nope.
That's contempt prior to investigation.
No, it's contempt after thorough investigation.
- You dated him? - I did.
- When? - About six years ago.
That's-- Wait.
- That's-- - Yeah.
Six years ago, you were with the guy you were with before Will.
Yeah.
- But that would-- - Oh, my God, Sloan.
It's like the land where time stands still.
Brian Brenner is the guy I cheated on Will with.
I'd been with Will for a year and Brian started calling me again.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
- Why would he do the piece? - Brian? - Yeah.
- He needs a cover story.
And why would Will have Brian do the piece? That's a perfectly fair question to which I have no answer.
This is really messed up.
Look, I'll do my best to find you the time you need for the story.
We just need to hope there's no new piece of nonsense I have to jam into my 22 minutes of Short Attention Span Theater.
Anthony Weiner accidently tweeted a picture of his groin to 40,000 followers.
( Whimpers ) Weiner: And I don't consider it that big a federal offense, but people want to pay attention to it and I guess I get it.
When you're named Weiner, it kind of goes with the territory.
Have you ever taken a picture like this of yourself? I can tell you this, that there are-- I have photographs.
I don't know what photographs are out there in the world of me.
I don't know what things have been manipulated and doctored.
And we're gonna try to find out what happened.
But the most important reason I want to find out what happened is to make sure Weiner, McAvoy.
Call me.
You're getting terrible advice.
( Turns off video ) Well, the choices are to do something or to do nothing.
If we do nothing, then the audience turns to the nearest guy doing something.
What exactly would our report be? That he's not answering questions very well? - I don't know.
Give me three minutes.
- To report what? I don't know.
But if I do nothing, it's gonna look like I'm protecting a liberal.
Since when did we start caring about what it looks like instead of what it is? Reports on the Tea Party won't have credibility if we're not balanced.
Will, you're the one who said that balance for its own sake doesn't have any place in reporting.
One from column A and one from column B is bullshit.
And boorish behavior isn't the same as taking the US Treasury hostage.
And when the RNC boys come here on Friday, they won't see it the same way.
And you'll explain to them we don't care that he's sexting.
- We care how he votes.
- And they'll understand, give us the debate, let us use the format we want, and we'll all go out for chocolate milk shakes.
Three minutes in the B block, please, after Casey Anthony.
Okay.
I know it seems like a story that only affects but since there's sex involved, we can't deny its national importance.
Especially since we don't know all or even any of the facts.
Three minutes.
I assume you want the pictures.
Good meeting.
I'm pretty familiar with that tone of voice.
- I guess you are, too? - ( Sighs ) I am.
No one's been hitting the Tea Party as hard as you've been.
- Certainly no Republican.
- That's not true.
David Frum, Mark McKinnon, Alan Simpson, Steve Schmidt, Andrew Sullivan.
Okay, but none of them work for Leona Lansing.
I don't know.
I think everybody works for Leona Lansing.
She can't be happy that you're beating up people AWM needs on the Hill.
I'm really not an expert on what does or doesn't make Leona happy.
Has she ever asked you to tone it down? I'm not doing your reporting for you, Brian.
I'm doing my reporting myself.
I'm asking you a question.
I'm not commenting on or off the record about either Leona or Reese Lansing.
- Does she want you fired? - If she wanted me fired, I'd be fired.
All she has to do is buy my contract, which she can do with the money under her sofa cushion.
But then she'd have to explain why she was firing the second most watched anchor on cable and she can't do that.
Is it a coincidence that the tabloid stories about you started right after the election? I don't know.
Do you think she's using her own tabloid magazine to manufacture a reason to fire you? That would be a smart way to do it.
And, of course, if you lost half your audience because your show was too highbrow to cover Casey Anthony, she wouldn't even need to work that hard to do it.
Firing an anchor for losing half his audience isn't unreasonable, if that's what you're asking.
It wasn't and you know it.
You're trying to get me to write this story without your fingerprints on it.
AWM has to do business with Congress and you're making it much harder.
Leona wants you fired, but can't do it unless she can explain it.
She's hoping the tabloid stories build to a critical mass or that your ratings tank.
Say something if I'm wrong, say nothing if I'm right.
For what it's worth, I'd cave, too.
No serious journalist would ever agree to the demands I made on Friday.
So for what it's worth, you already did.
Are you ready to answer questions about the newsletter? - I haven't read it.
- The mock debate's Friday.
No, I'm being Ron Paul right now.
I didn't write it.
I've never read it.
I've never heard it.
It's got my name on it, I've made money from it.
The newsletters would get a standing ovation at a Klan rally, but you should stop asking me questions about them.
- You need a better answer.
- He needs a better answer.
Tell you what question I'd start off with.
- Congresswoman Bachmann.
- Yes? You've said that you were told to run for president by God.
- Please, I don't-- - You have, right? You've said on a number of occasions that God told you to run for president.
I have some clips here if you'd like me to refresh your memory.
- Nope, my memory is fresh.
- Here's my question.
- Good.
- What does God's voice sound like? ( Laughing ) I'm completely serious.
She's saying that God spoke directly to her.
How is this not the first question asked in a debate? How's it not the only question? What does His voice sound like? What did He say exactly word for word? Did He speak in Hebrew? Acadian? Kiswahili-Bantu? And to put it in a medical context, is this the first time you've heard voices? She's claiming to be a prophet.
The whole world is sitting on the edge of their seat.
How is this not the first question we'll ask? First of all, can you stop pointing at me and saying she and her? You're the one who wanted to play a woman.
But tell me why that question is out of line.
Because it's not the best way to demonstrate seriousness of intent and it's not the best way not to insult people.
- Which people? - Christians.
83% of the country.
I'm one of them.
And she's insulting me.
Please, stop pointing at me when you are-- Relax, J.
Edgar.
She's insulting me, she's insulting my family, she's insulting my congregation, and she's insulting my faith.
She's implying that Christians are imbeciles who will believe anything while reducing God to a party hack who endorses political candidates.
Now, maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe this is the first time since Moses that God has given direct instructions to someone other than His son.
But if so, I think it deserves a follow-up.
We're not going to get the debate if we're mocking their candidates.
The whole point of the new debate format is to compel the candidates to tell the truth and make them responsible for their own rhetoric by asking tougher questions than a Match.
com profile.
If she knows what God wants, then I'm voting for her.
If she doesn't, she should stop saying so.
I'm not attacking Christians.
I'm defending them.
- All right.
- Just a moment, please.
- What? - I'm standing up for the tens of millions of Christians who are tired of being represented by having our identity-- There's been an identity theft.
That's it.
That's the one I want.
I think you already know that starting tonight, we're leading with Casey Anthony.
Does anyone have a problem with that? All right, well, we lost almost half a million viewers to Nancy Grace last week.
Does anyone still have a problem with it? We're gonna clear out some of these stories to make room.
"Senate obstruction become worst in US history.
" That's a report by the Alliance For Justice.
The Senate's confirmed a smaller percentage of Obama's judicial appointees than any other Senate and any other president.
No reason to care about that.
"Job situation dire, new stimulus needed.
" This Congress ran on jobs, but they're focused on debt.
According to the payroll company ADP-- I just solved unemployment.
"AFL-CIO sours on Obama.
" We've got an analyst lined up to give a report card on Obama's union relationship.
Will the AFL-CIO still be sour on him tomorrow? - I don't know.
- Let's find out.
All right, to give us a crash course in how best to exploit this tragedy and to erase all boundaries of what should be used as entertainment, I've enlisted the help of a master of the dark arts.
I understand I'm needed.
- Thank you.
- Forget everything you know about the news.
Done.
What's next? I'm Charlie Skinner.
Good to meet you.
Should I just sit here? Sure.
Should I call you Mr.
Hancock? It's Schneider.
- Schneider? - Ezra Schneider.
How the hell many aliases do you have? I beg your pardon? Are you Late For Dinner? Mister, I have no idea what you're talking about.
Charlie.
That has to have been strange for you.
Late For Dinner? - Solomon Hancock.
- Charlie Skinner.
I thought because of the carnation-- Did we say anything about a carnation? No, but it's usually the international sign for-- It doesn't matter.
I'm a busy guy and if you're faffin' me around Would you mind taking the battery out of your cell phone? The walls in the New York Public Library are three feet thick.
That's why we're meeting here.
But I'd like you to take the battery out of your cell phone.
You have reason to believe you're under surveillance? Everyone's under surveillance.
If you've got a cell phone-- It's talk like that that makes me-- Did I or did I not establish credibility on May 1st? You correctly predicted that we'd all be called to work, yes.
Sometimes at the NSA, we download a rolling bug onto smartphones to slave the microphone.
You ever get an unwanted text message? All the time, but they're from my boss.
Here.
I'll never be able to put that back together.
They're coming out with a better model in six months.
That's unusual for the tech industry.
Can you tell me a little about yourself? I started out chasing around a Soviet Pacific Fleet doing signal intelligence cryptology for the Navy.
But when the Berlin Wall came down, my war was over.
So I went into the private sector like everybody else in the '90s, only not for a dot-com, doing data compression for fiber optics.
Then 9/11 happened and I decided it was a good time to get back into public service hunting bad guys.
You're an IT guy.
My title is Assistant Deputy Director of Technology and Systems, Cryptology, and Mathematics at NSA.
I'm gonna have to-- I product test software.
- NSA software? - Yes, sir.
Can you tell me about the software? It's data mining.
One of the ways the NSA was tracking bin Laden, or any terrorist for that matter, was to write code that would sift through millions of electronic communications looking for a needle in a giant haystack.
You know the machine that Batman uses in The Dark Knight to find the Joker, but when Morgan Freeman finds out about it, he says, "I'm quitting because no man should have this much power"? - No.
- No what? - I do not know that machine.
- Well, it exists.
We gave the contract to two defense contracting big boys and it was my job mostly to make sure that they delivered and that it worked.
The project title is GLOBAL CLARITY and it intercepts emails, and texts every day.
- Legally? - By what standard? - The law.
- No.
It involves a significant amount of illegal, warrantless wiretapping of American citizens.
Just to be-- When you say warrantless, are you saying unnecessary? Without a warrant.
Warrantless.
We could hunt for terrorists legally, but due to our bosses' devotion to GLOBAL CLARITY, the NSA has been happily violating the Fourth Amendment, USSID 18, and about a dozen of the NSA's own regulations about spying on Americans.
You've got guys listening in on ex-wives, dropping in on calls from soldiers overseas, checking out what movie stars are up to.
Am I the first person you've talked to about this? No, stop confusing me with Donald Sutherland in JFK.
Well, a second ago, you were Morgan Freeman.
I have testified in front of Congress and to the Pentagon Inspector General.
I got nowhere.
Nobody on the Hill wants to admit it's fucked up because nobody wants to be seen as post-9/11 soft.
Where does AWM come in? Atlantis World Media owns Atlantis Cable News.
- Yeah.
- It also owns the tabloid TMI.
- Yeah.
- The shit that's happening at Murdoch's News of the World in London, TMI has been doing the same thing for years.
- How high does it go? - I don't know.
Does it go as high as Leona Lansing? - No.
- Good.
It goes as high as her son.
TMI is doing phone and computer hacking and Reese Lansing knows? Reese has been ordering it.
- I'm gonna give you-- - Hang on.
I need to digest that.
Reese Lansing is James Murdoch, but Lansing's been ordering it.
Digested yet? These classified? Yeah, because I'm dying to violate the Espionage Act.
These are just transcripts of my testimony before the House subcommittee and the Pentagon.
Vet me, vet the material.
Take all the time you need.
Why are you whistle-blowing? I fought the Soviets.
The way their government made their people live their lives was a very good reason to fight them.
After 9/11, we started doing the exact same thing.
I didn't spend my life fighting Communists to have it come to this.
Report on GLOBAL CLARITY.
And once I see that report, I'll give you what you need to protect yourself from Leona Lansing.
How do you know we need protecting from Leona Lansing? Have you been listening? 'Cause we have.
Don: This woman is the best I've ever seen.
Center screen is Nancy.
These three corners are live feeds of the guest experts.
- What are they experts in? - Agreeing with everything Nancy says.
- But what keeps your atten-- - Excuse me.
This is Brian Brenner, everyone.
It's possible he's going to be writing a feature on 2.
0.
But we're in a tryout period right now.
Everything's off the record.
Go ahead.
What keeps our attention? Is the bottom right corner where they're playing a loop of little Caylee from a home video.
Question: Hell.
Do you think it's as bad as everyone says it is? That was a tribute to Caylee.
But how will they explain the duct tape around the child's mouth and nose? And how will they explain all the lies that Tot Mom told? Now they're not talking about the tattoo on Casey's back, but they put it full screen.
Why? Because Tess was just about to look somewhere else, so they changed the frame to anything that might keep her attention.
He's right.
I was gonna Google Mac's hell question.
Plus tattoo equals bad mom.
No one's ever gone broke in America serving up a woman who makes other women feel superior.
Grace: The series of lies that finally came crashing down around her.
If she would lie about that, why should I believe an accident is true? Don't spend time thinking about her airtight syllogism.
Her EP's showing duct tape and a plastic bag, so you know you're watching the real CSI Miami.
How to make weapons out of home materials found in the home.
About breaking necks.
How can they explain that? They can't explain it, Nancy.
The defense is doing what the defense has to do.
Don: Now, Bill Sheaffer has done his job.
He agreed with Nancy.
We don't need to see his face anymore.
Look how cute Caylee is.
She deserved better than a mom with a tattoo.
She deserved - She deserved - Me.
- Me.
- Me.
Tess, how's that Google search coming? It does look pretty bad.
A lot of fire.
You'll notice little of her coverage in this instance is about the law.
You know, come to think of it, I did notice that.
Don: It's all based on an emotional appeal.
The way she would with a jury if there was no judge there to stop her.
Watch how she breaks down courtroom footage.
Grace: Liz, let's see the video of Tot Mom and Jose Baez back at it in court again today.
Not a good look between a death penalty defendant and the lead defense attorney.
Don: Two seconds.
Two seconds of Casey Anthony walking past her lawyer-- And she'll show it to you in slow motion and from a different angle and at regular speed and from the original angle again.
- What does that remind you of? - Instant replay in sports.
And she looks pretty pissed at her lawyer.
And that's exactly why she's showing it to you so many times.
So you have a chance to draw your own thoroughly uninformed opinion about an utterly innocuous exchange.
She looks pissed.
I wonder if she's sleeping with her lawyer.
I bet she is.
I wonder if that's what she looked like when she killed Caylee.
This is the best TV ever.
I've got to go on my Casey Anthony Facebook page and see if my Casey Anthony Facebook friends just saw Casey Anthony make a Casey Anthony face at her Casey Anthony lawyer.
All right, enough.
Will's a criminal prosecutor.
Maybe he can talk about how our justice system wasn't built to lock up guilty people.
It was built to keep innocent people free, which is something Americans should be proud of and fiercely protect.
No.
He can't ever imply that the viewer doesn't already know everything and that she might be innocent.
If we're gonna cover this, we're gonna cover it our way.
What's the point of covering it at all unless we do it in a way that gets our audience back? A modest proposal.
We could ourselves commit murder on our air.
In your face, Nancy Grace! How do we get the best guests? There's a guy you're gonna have to deal with named Dylan Kagin.
He's like the Broadway Danny Rose of tabloid suffering.
He's an agent? You ever ask yourself why of all the missing kids and murdered coeds, most of them go unnoticed - and some become national scandals? - Sex appeal.
Right, but someone's got to find Lana Turner sitting at the drugstore counter.
Dylan Kagin gropes through the trailer park of American jurisprudence for what he calls "Oh, my God" stories.
Then he drops in on the victims, the accused, the jurors, the cops, whoever he can sell to the press, the networks, and the studios.
He packages the missing white girl.
All right, that'll be the A block.
By 2:00, show me where we are.
The B block's gonna be Anthony Weiner, so, Jim, start putting something together.
All we really have are the pictures and Weiner not answering questions.
- I know that.
- You don't want to wait until we have-- Facts? No, that would be newsy and elitist.
Let's just call them-- The A and the B block-- Let's just think of them as a polished, tightly produced abomination.
I've been sitting here and I'm getting a little sick of this.
- You and me both.
- Jesus Christ.
For a few weeks, we're not gonna ask the country to eat its vegetables.
Why? Because there's a debate we want to do that trumps all of your Sarah Lawrence ethical conundrums.
It shouldn't be too hard to understand.
So get it the fuck together.
He happens to be right.
"War on drugs a failure.
" I know how it feels.
Show me where we are at 2:00.
- Charlie: Can I see you a second? - Mackenzie: Yeah.
- Do you mind if I sit in on-- - Yeah, sorry, no.
Not sure that's the best way to get good press.
May 1st, the night we got bin Laden, I got a call from an anonymous source at 7:30 telling me the White House would send an email blast to all the news agencies in 90 minutes, and obviously it turned out he was right.
He was demonstrating his credibility.
His name is Solomon Hancock.
He works in software engineering at the NSA and he handed me a stack of documents, transcripts of his testimony describing illegal surveillance.
We have to start vetting him and the documents.
It's gonna take at least a few days, but that's part one.
What's part two? If we air his story, he'll give us evidence that TMI's been doing the same thing as News of the World.
- Hacking? - Everything.
- TMI's been hacking? - Hancock says he's got the proof.
Jesus Christ.
How high does he say it goes? Reese.
- Let's get on with the vet.
- I'll have Jim run it.
- Is he up for this? - He is, Will.
I taught him how to do the news.
I taught them all how to do the news.
Can you give us a second? I'm done.
Why did it have to be Brian? Because I own him now.
He needs a cover story.
If he writes a negative one, he'll get slammed with the whole soap opera of our history.
Are you lying right now? - Anything else? - Yeah.
Sloan says on Thursday, the House is gonna vote to default on our loans, leading to a global economic meltdown.
Should I put that before or after Anthony Weiner in his underwear? I'm sure you'll figure it out.
Will: That's all for us tonight.
Tomorrow we'll be bringing you all the highlights from day seven of the trial and Detective Yuri Melich, the first officer to interview Casey Anthony in 2008.
Terry Smith is coming up from Washington with the Capital Report.
I'm Will McAvoy.
Good night.
( Music playing ) Reporter: Will McAvoy, your new choice for Casey Anthony coverage.
- They're coming home.
- Yeah? We promo'd the hell of it.
We got 150,000 viewers back.
That's toasters, furniture, food, clothes, kids' clothes, vacation plans.
Our heads are above water now, so do not stop.
- We won't.
- How about this heat? - Yeah.
- 9:00 in the morning, it's already 87.
It's gonna hit 98.
That would beat the record for this day - that was set in 1933.
- Yeah.
- You're looking at me funny.
- Yeah? - I know you hate this.
- I'm looking at you the regular way.
- If you say so.
- I do.
There are also tornado warnings.
- Reese.
- What? - Nothing.
- All right, so it's gonna get up to 98.
That's a record.
And there are tornado warnings for New York City.
Well, you know, Aunt Bee, tornados are just God's way of destroying property and killing people.
People like hearing about extreme weather.
We're not doing a fucking weather report, okay? We're not coming up with some "Tornado Watch" graphic.
We're a serious news organization.
Tonight we'll be reporting on the killer cocktail waitress and the congressman-- - Is Mac bitching at you? - Not nearly as much as she should be.
I came in here to tell you you got back 150,000 viewers you lost while you were trying to be above it.
We'll be sure not to try that again.
we have power outages.
Wait a second.
Wait a second.
I don't want to go all conspiracy theory on you, but I think the heat might be related to power outages.
- Take it easy.
- Say hi to your mom.
Will do.
Visiting hours will be Tuesday and Friday.
Don't be nervous.
We got 150,000 viewers back last night.
Mostly women.
- I know.
- I was telling her.
You know, it's gonna get up to 98 degrees.
Next person who tells me about the damn weather Do you know what you're doing here? I've been asked to tell you about the weather.
Does it feel to you like anyone in this room is in the mood for a joke? It absolutely does not.
We want you to lead the vetting of this source.
He's telling us about illegal surveillance at the NSA.
He's also telling us that TMI is in the same game as News of the World.
Jesus.
We're looking at a couple of scenarios, Jim.
One is that we're sitting on a scoop that could shake up the NSA and maybe have the country take another look at the Patriot Act.
But the TMI element, doesn't that-- And another is that someone's trying to discredit us by having Will get Dan Rather-ed.
You'll need to file a couple of hundred Freedom of Information Act requests and you'll need to get into this guy's personal life and you'll need to do it all without raising any flags at the NSA.
Are you up for this? - Yeah.
- We don't need it fast, we need it right.
- But we need it fast.
- I'll start mapping it out.
Jim, since the day you started working here, I never felt the need to remind you about confidentiality and I don't feel that need now.
Okay.
- Gotcha.
- Oh, God.
- You feel like being interviewed? - You read my mind.
I can't think of anything I'd rather do right now than be interviewed by my ex-boyfriend, except maybe eat my desk.
- It seems like a bad week to be here.
- It is.
I came here to write a story about how Will and News Night changed overnight.
- And then you changed overnight.
- Look.
- It's the old Will all over-- - These are extraordinary circumstances.
That's what everyone says when they abandon their principles.
I'm no longer required to live up to your standards.
- Fair enough.
- Thank you.
What's so special about this debate? If we get what we want, no one will ever go back.
We'll have changed the debates forever.
And your concern is that if your ratings are low, you'll lose leverage? - Yes.
- Is that your concern or Will's concern? Will's concerns are my concerns.
'Cause another way of looking at it is that he lost his invisible friends to Nancy Grace and he's using the debate as an excuse to dumb the show down.
That's a pretty bold statement from a guy who's auditioning for a job.
He's gonna give me the job.
And it's not like I don't know why.
- Do you? - I do because I'm not a fucking moron.
The email that was read by everyone in the world, "I cheated on Will," you were talking about me, right? - Yes.
- You were seeing Will while we were together? If you count drunk dialing me at midnight and saying, "Just come on over and crawl into bed" as being together, then yes.
- I count it.
- Then yes.
You cheated on me with Will? Let's be as clear as anyone has ever been about anything.
I cheated on Will with you.
And I'm paying the price.
I work 30 feet from the life I could have had if I hadn't been so stupid.
And you're looking at the life you could have had if you hadn't been a douchebag.
How's the interview going so far? Is douchebag one word or two? ( Tapping on glass ) Come in.
- Sorry, I can come back.
- No, what do you need? Ahem, well, there's a story I'd like to pitch.
Brian, this is Neal Sampat.
Neal writes Will's blog.
- Will doesn't write Will's blog? - Will can't find Will's blog.
Neal wants to be a producer, so from time to time, he pitches stories.
What do you got? You know what a troll is, right? A tiny creature that stands under a footbridge and makes you answer a riddle before you're allowed to pass.
- They're not real, man.
- I know that.
He means the other kind of troll.
You don't know the first clue what he means.
I mean the other kind of troll.
A little backup would have killed you? Sorry, Internet trolls.
It's a play on a fishing term.
People who go to message boards and try to hijack the conversation by being incendiary.
- What about them? - Turns out they have their own websites.
Like an online clubhouse.
And to be accepted into the group, you have to be able to point to a successful incident of trolling, a recent time when you made a whole bunch of posters lose their minds.
Or better yet, got the site monitor to shut down the board.
Actually, I like it.
And it's not about Bigfoot.
Write this down, News Night is gonna break the story on Bigfoot.
We're not.
Don't write that down.
Will they talk to you? They won't talk to a reporter, but I thought maybe I'd try to get in there.
Undercover? Aren't you gonna have to say you trolled something? I'm not gonna have to say it, I'm gonna actually have to do it.
To who? Well, I don't want to ding on an innocent person for a story, so I'm gonna have to do it to one of us.
You can't be anonymous on our website.
No, I mean do it to us on another website.
- What would it be? - I don't know yet.
Come back when you know, but you've made it past the first hurdle.
Thank you.
- Sloan.
- How's her mood in there? It's not good, but let me ask you something.
For the sake of a story, how would you feel about me going on the Internet and saying vicious things about you that might get an argument started about misogyny? - What kind of vicious things? - I don't know.
- What would the general area be? - I really don't know.
- Something about the way you look? - Like what? - I'd be making it up.
- What would you be making up? It wouldn't be true.
It'd be something like-- Something along the lines of she screwed her way to the top and she's got a big ass.
Only it would have to be-- Listen to me, Sampat.
- Do I? - Of course not.
Okay.
- I can do it? - You cannot.
If you want, you can say that I made it to the final round of the K through six regionals in the Scripps Howard Spelling Bee.
That's not gonna help me.
You know, a lot of guys like women with big-- Do they really? Never mind.
I don't know what you're talking about and I have my own problems.
- Jim.
- Yeah? I got a woman on the phone who says she's got some tweets from Anthony Weiner and wants to talk to us.
- What are you telling me for? - Seniority? Well, I'm handing her off to the next most senior person.
Kendra, take the Weiner girl.
- Gary, take the Weiner girl.
- Tess.
- Tamara.
- We were hired as interns the same day.
I was hired in the morning.
You were hired after lunch.
Take the Weiner girl.
- Please, don't make me take the Weiner girl.
- Respect the seniority.
Who do I have seniority over? Maggie.
- Can people still see me? - On five.
Hi, this is Margaret Jordan.
I'm an associate producer at News Night.
Okay, can you spell that for me? Okay, wait.
Hang on.
I-- No, you're gonna get a chance.
Uh, well, you certainly seem to want to share your story.
You really can't just drop in on a doctor.
- What if it's an emergency? - You go to the emergency room.
They don't have psychiatric emergency rooms.
They should.
You're a good reason why.
- You want a piece of me? - Seriously? - No.
- Yeah.
Does he look over at the red light? Does he look every few minutes? If I was your therapist, I'd definitely look every few minutes.
Hey, hey, you can't do that.
It's okay.
He likes me.
- Will.
- I'm sorry.
- I'm with a patient.
- I really just need a second.
I'm glad to see you back here, but you need to come during your appointment.
I could be dead by then.
Are you having suicidal thoughts? - No.
- Then why did you say that? - Just to get your attention.
- I'm going back to my patient.
Listen to me.
I've been paying 250 a session for four years without showing up to a single session.
You owe me $100,000 worth of therapy.
I'll forgive the debt, we'll be totally square, just give me one minute.
I'm sorry.
I'll be just a minute.
Wow, you caved for the money.
I'm kind of disappointed.
I didn't cave for the money.
You're getting the sessions you paid for.
You seem like you're in pain.
- He is.
- He said in pain, not a pain.
Oh, never mind, then.
What is it? I'm doing all these things that are wrong because of ratings, and I'm making the staff do things that they don't want to do, I'm cursing them out, I'm ignoring incredibly important news stories, and I'm betraying the trust of people who respect me.
And I did it all in the blink of an eye.
- That can be traumatic.
- No, I'm fine with all of that.
Here's my thing: New York Magazine is gonna do a story on my show and I get to choose the writer.
And I could have chosen anybody and I chose Mackenzie's ex-boyfriend.
Of course.
- The one she cheated on you with? - Yeah.
- Why? - That's what I came here to ask you.
You're holding your hand over the candle.
What do you mean? You're holding your hand over the candle because you think the trick is not minding.
Ah.
So if I just get through this, I'll be fine.
- No.
- Why? Because the trick isn't not minding.
The trick is forgiving Mackenzie.
It would be easier to hold my hand over the candle.
I know.
Well, you've been no help at all, but thanks.
Sorry to barge in.
You know, while you're working your way through this, you're hurting Mackenzie.
I know that.
Show up for your appointment.
I'm not doing it on purpose.
Maggie.
Yeah.
- Sandy? - Yes.
- Margaret Jordan.
We talked on the phone.
- Nice to meet you.
- You got here okay? - Yes.
I have a receipt for the cab.
Who do I give that to? I'll take it.
So, you got some tweets from Congressman Weiner.
And I've got copies of them right here.
"'I like the cute new pics of you.
Where'd you get those abs?" Weiner: "Glad you like them.
When do I get to see your swimsuit shot?" Sandy: "When are you coming to see me? Or just coming?" Weiner: "Make me an offer.
" Sandy: "My door's always open.
Get it?" Weiner: "What's your plan for us?" Sandy: "To get us in the mood, we watch The Daily Show and Colbert.
Then when we're really hot, we go to the bookstore and replace all the copies of Glenn Beck books with The Audacity of Hope.
Or, if that's not your thing, we can just get drunk and fuck.
" Why are you doing this? Because the world needs to know what kind of guy he is.
It sort of seems like you were a willing participant.
I didn't know about the other women.
- Did you know he was married? - Of course.
I just didn't know about the other women.
I was fooled and I think the world needs to know what kind of guy he is.
By any chance, have you heard of a guy named Dylan Kagin? He's gonna be my agent.
Sandy-- Can I call you Sandy? Sure.
Sandy, the congressman is in a lot of trouble.
He got himself into it and he's probably not gonna be able to get out of it.
Are you sure you want to pile on? I think people need to know what kind of person he is.
All right.
Would you like to be on our show tonight? That's the thing.
I'm doing Access Hollywood, ET, and Fox.
The big three.
No problem.
We can do a pretape in a few minutes.
Oh, you're a lifesaver.
I was hoping you'd say that.
No kidding? Stay here and I'll talk to my EP and we'll get this going.
Could I possibly get a decaf latte? You cannot possibly get that, but I'll have someone bring you a coffee.
Well, I left it for you on the left side of the desk.
And, yes, I signed it.
I don't know anything about it.
Leona! A word? Okay, ask her to show it to me on the plane.
Let's not stand in the street.
Charlie, with that bow tie, you look like a balloon salesman.
No, I get in the car and get out a minute later, it looks like we're talking about a problem or making a drug deal.
Just a minute.
We're gonna stand here, smile and nod, and do this and laugh.
We know where the tabloid stories are coming from.
They're coming from reality.
Only if you define reality as fantasy.
And they're appearing in a magazine you own.
How would it look if I had one of our news magazines go soft on our flagship anchor? We're calling TMI a news magazine? People need to know if Taylor Swift is happy.
- I provide a public service for hundreds of thousands-- - The public's grateful.
What did I tell you the day after election night? Friend to friend, I'd stop coming after Will in the tabloids.
I told you to get him to lighten up on the Tea Party or a context would be created whereby his firing would look reasonable.
- You need to hear me.
- I don't think I do.
The 112th Congress wasn't even seated and he took the Tea Party out for a walk on the 9/11 Responders Bill.
Congress, Democrats and Republicans, spent eight years using 9/11 as a justification for everything from tax cuts to a foreign invasion.
So Will questioned their change of heart when it came to the police and firemen's unions.
You made them look like hypocrites.
By rolling tape.
House Financial Services, insider trading, Keystone XL, Joe Walsh, Allen West, Paul Ryan, and who am I forgetting? Oh, yes.
Charles and David Koch.
Keep smiling.
We lost a couple of awfully helpful tax loopholes that were tailored to assets overseas.
And the FCC won't even let us bid on the coming spectrum auction because they want a full report on whether or not we're skirting antitrust.
So what was your request again? You don't want to do this.
I don't.
I really don't.
But I have to and I will.
And friend to friend, you let him know that he is one tabloid fuckup and a ratings point away from having his own podcast.
I have to make my plane.
Fly safe.
- Unless there's a rally-- - I'm sorry, I've got to-- - Listen.
- Sloan.
Unless there's a rally in the next 90 minutes, the Dow's gonna close down about 2.
5%, S&P and NASDAQ will close down 2.
3.
- Let me tell you why.
- I don't own a lot of stock.
- Let me tell you why.
- I really can't-- Stop avoiding this! I just got off the phone with these guys.
Listen to these quotes.
These aren't from liberals.
These are hard-core Wall Street guys who, whatever the world may think of them, know what they're talking about and so do I.
Jamie Dimon at Chase says, "Voting against raising the debt ceiling would be a moral disaster.
" The Barclays guys say, "This debate is detached from reality.
" My Goldman source says, "If the House Republicans continue this debate, I hope they're willing to mark the end of the dollar as a global reserve currency.
" Please notice that he didn't say if the House Republicans don't raise the debt ceiling.
He said if the House Republicans continue this debate.
That's all it takes.
Just the uncertainty.
That's why the Dow's gonna close down 230 points today.
Because just the debate, just the doubt, just the possibility that the House Majority might commit the most self-inflicted damage to the country since the secession of the South has caused billions in value to disappear.
Sloan, I understand.
I swear to God I do.
But you can't say the same thing in the C block? Don't pretend you don't know that most people watch 10 minutes of news.
- The first 10 minutes.
- The vote isn't until tomorrow night.
And it's only the first vote.
You said yourself it was cosmetic.
Why do we have to feature it tonight? We should have been featuring it weeks ago.
Why do we have to feature it tonight? To give time for the people to call their congressmen and say, "If you fuck with the full faith and credit of the US Treasury, you're fired.
" To give time for the people to jam the phone lines of the district offices.
To give the people time to say, "I'm a fiscal conservative and you've got to put the pin back in the grenade right now.
" That's why.
I'm gonna do everything I can.
Please do.
Don't worry about it.
She's just frustrated because she can't get the word out that this is a global emergency unless you let her.
Appreciate your clearing that up.
You know what, Mackenzie? I'm not the one who put me here.
Say what you want about me, but I wouldn't have done that.
Does Will have the questions? Tess is giving him some cards now.
- Is that lighting okay for you? - Yeah.
- How are we Chyroning her? - I was gonna ask you.
Figure it out later.
- Sandy.
- Yes? My name's Mackenzie.
I'm the executive-- I'm the executive producer of News Night.
- Can you hear me okay? - Yes.
Okay.
Thanks for being patient with us.
Will's just throwing on a jacket and tie and we'll be able to do this.
- Real easy.
- You got it.
Hi, I'm a big fan.
- Hmm? - I'm Sandy.
How do you do? - Are we ready for the pre-tape? - Yeah.
- Just count me down.
- Will.
Yes, I'm sure I want to do this.
God, please give me a sign I'm not doing a big thing badly.
Herb: We just lost power.
Jake: The whole building just lost power.
Mackenzie: I didn't know He had that kind of comic timing.
Yeah, I'm not crazy about being interviewed in print.
Print journalists play it fast and loose with exclamation points.
I love the news becomes I love the news! Suddenly I'm deranged.
- So why now? - Huh? Why are you agreeing to this piece now? - You don't happen to have a cigarette? - No.
- Why now? - Ah, right here.
Why do you want this now? I want some sort of document about what we've been trying to do here.
Like the king at the end of Camelot telling the boy to run behind the lines from village to village telling people about, you know - Camelot.
- Yeah.
I'm asking why you reached out to me.
Because, your recent complications notwithstanding, you cover the media better than anyone out there.
You haven't lost your touch for complimenting and insulting someone at the same time.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
But it wasn't meant as an insult, Brian.
Your life's been in news magazines, - and news magazines aren't - I know.
As many pages long as they used to be.
What kind of access are we talking about? Here's what I'll offer.
You spend a few days here, talk to whoever you want, but it's all off the record.
- Not even background.
- What good does that do me? If I like how it feels, then we go ahead.
But I still get to tell you what can retroactively go on the record from the tryout period.
- You're asking me to audition? - Yeah.
Why would I do that? I can think of some reasons.
Four years ago, you were on the masthead at Newsweek, turning out ten cover stories a year and spending Sunday mornings on TV.
Today you have a blog.
Your fucking disdain for the Internet-- Is matched only by your fucking disdain for the Internet.
You took a buyout when Newsweek was sold to IAC and rolled the money into a start-up, thinking you'd be the next Huffington Post.
How'd it work out? We filed for bankruptcy.
The Sunday Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, GQ, The New Republic, The Atlantic-- Everybody's offered the cover and I get to pick the writer.
I'm going with New York Magazine and you.
So, you okay with the audition? Are you prepared to talk about your Republicanism? You say that like I've got polio.
Are you prepared to talk about having polio? I grew up in a town outside of town outside Lincoln, Nebraska.
My hometown was a road.
I was a college freshman before I met a Democrat.
What about our history? Brian, your problem with me back in the day was that I was a moderate, sane Republican who refused to take a position on anything for fear I would lose viewers.
Just as moderate, sane Republicans on the Hill refuse to take a position for fear they'll lose primary voters.
I had a nightly rundown that went out of its way to avoid reporting the news.
And then Mackenzie McHale came along and I'm attacking my own party for not standing up to its attackers.
Isn't that what you wanted me to do back when you were calling me a coward? Yeah, but that's not the history I'm talking about and you already knew that, so please stop fucking around with me.
One parenthetical sentence in the second graph.
"Full disclosure.
I've been a friend of Mackenzie McHale's - since the late '90s.
" - And you? An email went to 178,000 people and was reported on our own morning show.
That's all you know and that's all you'll report.
That's fine with me.
But that's the last time you'll tell me what I will or won't report.
- I'm not your stenographer.
- Do we have a deal? Yeah, now why do you need someone to run from village to village? Is something about to happen to Camelot? Maybe.
First, you have to learn what our whole philosophy is.
Hang out, we'll talk later.
I have to go to a meeting with Reese Lansing.
What's it about? Suspending our whole philosophy.
Good to see you again, Brian.
( Thunder crashing ) He should be here any minute.
Sorry I'm late.
All right, I'm not gonna tell you what to put on the air.
You're not allowed to tell us what to put on the air.
( Chuckles ) So I'm just gonna tell you the facts.
You got mugged last week.
You got bludgeoned.
- It's Casey Anthony.
- Hang on, wait.
She may just be right.
- We knew we'd take a small hit.
- There's nothing small.
Let me just give you the facts and then invite you to draw your own conclusion.
Nancy Grace averages 283,000 viewers on HLN.
Her time period competitor News Night averages 960,000.
One week ago, HLN begins coverage of the Casey Anthony trial and Nancy's audience increases to 1.
5 million viewers while News Night's audience drops to 460,000, sending you from second to fifth place in the course of five days.
A feat I previously thought was only accomplishable by the New York Mets.
Whose idea was it to not cover the Casey Anthony trial? All: It was mine.
I think the three of you should have a vaudeville act.
I'm not kidding.
I'm gonna send you on a fucking tour.
It was hers.
Mackenzie, I've never seen a more vivid picture of why viewers left, where they went to, and why.
You said why twice.
You chose not to work for PBS.
You chose not to work for NPR.
You have a ratings obligation.
No, you have a ratings obligation.
You're in business with the advertisers.
I'm in business with the viewers.
You just lost their business.
That's all.
Do what you want with the information.
I'll not be taken down by this psychotic cocktail waitress.
That's right, we just keep playing our game, wait it out and just How long can the trial go on? I've seen the witness list.
It'll run around six weeks plus summations plus deliberation.
- We'll never make it.
- That's right, so-- Wait, when you said we wouldn't be taken down by this psychotic cocktail waitress, did you mean we weren't gonna cave or that we were? - You're gonna cover Casey Anthony.
- Bullshit we are.
We have the three-day weekend to gear up for it.
- Charlie.
- Starting Tuesday, you'll lead with her in the A block.
Give it 15 minutes and a five-minute reset on the half hour.
Seriously, I can't tell if you're joking or-- - Did you just hear those numbers? - Yes.
Half our audience changed the channel in one week.
- I understand.
- Do you? - Do I understand math? - Do you understand that it's unprecedented? I'm not gonna argue with you when Will can do it for me.
He's never gonna go for this.
Tell him.
Have marketing promo the living shit out of Casey Anthony.
Oh, my God.
Rename the show Casey Anthony Night with Casey Anthony.
- Will, hang on.
- Right here on the Casey Anthony Network.
- Mac.
- 'Cause any second I'm going to wake up and be back in a room with Don Quixote and the mission to civilize.
- Listen to me.
- No.
How many drinks were thrown in your face because you didn't think people should be watching The Real Morons of South Beach or whatever the hell it's called? - It's not the same thing.
- It's exactly the same thing.
It's just worse.
A child is dead.
A very troubled young mother either did or didn't murder her.
Her parents are waiting to find out if their daughter's going to get the needle.
So thank God for TiVo, otherwise we wouldn't be able to sit down-- - It's news.
- Yeah, say that three times and click your heels.
It's entertainment.
And it's just-- Just this side of a snuff film.
- Sit down, Mac.
- No, I don't want to sit.
- Do it anyway, please.
- 15 at the top, that's a quarter of the show.
- Mac.
- And five at the bottom for a reset? Please sit! - Think I like it? - I know you don't.
It makes me sick.
There isn't enough bourbon in Kentucky.
Okay? We're in the same place on this.
So let's be in the same place on this.
We've had ratings dips before.
First of all, not like this.
Nothing like this.
Second, I want the debate.
The three of us have talked about a new debate format for months and we're not going to be able to do it if they don't give us a debate.
- I just really-- - They're not gonna give us a debate if we're in fifth place.
I want the debate.
I want to fundamentally change the way we interview presidential candidates for their job.
If that means we have to be Jerry Springer for a few weeks, I'm willing to pay that price.
When the going gets tough, the two of you really man up.
Then go with your principles, Mac, but know a ratings hit like this is all Leona needs to fire Will without having to explain why.
- All right.
- You'll do it as classy as you can.
I'll have Will wear a top hat and monocle while he's showing pictures of the wet T-shirt contest.
I'm sorry about the outburst in there.
Yeah, I'm not sure it was all about Casey Anthony.
- How did it go? - He's doing it.
Then he has to disclose that we were-- I told him one parenthetical in the second graph.
That's it.
He needs to be seen as a heavyweight again, Mac.
He's not gonna write a tell-all.
You're fine.
Murrow did Person to Person.
Celebrity interviews.
It was a deal with Paley.
One for them, one for him.
He interviewed Liberace, Mac, just so he could keep going after McCarthy.
Those were puff pieces.
This is poison.
If we're gonna do this, let's not pretend we're not doing this.
- Jim Harper.
- Hey.
- Brian Brenner.
- I know.
I wasn't sure if you remembered.
It's been a few years.
Sure.
It's good to see you.
Are you looking at BigGoverment.
com? - Yeah.
- Don't make me write that you're using Andrew Breitbart to research this show.
No, we're gonna be doing a mock debate at the end of next week.
- A mock debate? - The RNC is looking at Will to possibly host a debate, and Will and Mac have an idea for a new debate format.
We want to show them, so we're each playing a candidate and we're gonna do a mock debate on Michele Bachmann, so - Andrew Breitbart.
- Yeah.
Tell me about this new debate format you guys want.
You know, I'm not really sure what I'm allowed to talk to you about yet.
Do you mind if we wait until I get some instructions? - Sure.
- Thanks.
Hey.
- Hey.
- I heard you were here.
You're not getting out of town for the weekend? - Nope.
How about you? - Yeah.
I'm going to a think tank conference outside Baltimore.
The Institute For Capital Studies and Economic Growth.
- It's gonna be a raver.
- I think it's called a rager.
- Are you sure? - No.
It's either a rave or a rager or a raver.
Don't think the Institute For Capital Studies and Economic Growth's gonna be any of them.
So I stopped in to give you a heads up.
I might need a couple extra minutes Tuesday night.
I don't think I can give it to you.
The House is going to vote up or down on increasing the debt ceiling.
- It's a cosmetic vote, but-- - If it's a cosmetic vote, why-- It's news because first of all, it'll be the first time in history the House lets the US default on its debt.
But moreover, it'll be the first shot in the beginning of a very reckless, extremely dangerous partisan fight that could end in catastrophe.
- Let me explain.
- I can't give you the time.
- If Congress doesn't raise-- - I can't give you the extra time.
Starting Tuesday, I have to cover Casey Anthony.
- I really liked that we weren't doing that.
- I really liked it, too.
By putting the debt ceiling vote in the A block, we'd be sending-- I can't, Sloan.
We lost half our audience last week.
That's not hyperbole.
That's an actual number.
- Half our audience went to HLN at 8:00.
- Half? If we don't bring them home this week, we'll have lost most of them for good and we could lose the debate.
Kenzie, I'm not just trying to get more airtime.
This is an incredibly important-- I had 42 and a half minutes to work with.
I now have 22 and a half.
Do you know how you're gonna budget the 22 and a half? Do you know what Tuesday's news is? We want the debate.
That's the prize.
Those guys are studying on a Friday night of a three-day weekend.
- Okay, next question.
- Congresswoman Bachmann, you're a proponent of reforming Social Security and Medicare.
Can you give us some details of the reforms you have in mind? I'd start by reducing benefits for all but current recipients as part of an effort to reduce the federal deficit.
I'd like to add that President Obama has already transferred over $500 billion out of Medicare and into Obamacare, which I will repeal on my first day in office.
Ms.
Bachmann, are you aware that presidents can't repeal laws? I, Jim, am aware of that, but Where are you getting the quote? BigGovernment.
com.
It's right here.
- Hmm.
- What? Anthony Weiner's Twitter account got hacked.
- Can I suggest a way to turn lemons into lemonade? - Sure.
First you squeeze the juice from the lemons.
Then add sugar and water.
And you're not really into this joke, so I'm just going to say what I really wanted to say.
The Casey Anthony story actually gives us a chance to show how important the debt ceiling story is if we lead with the debt ceiling instead of Casey Anthony.
When do you have to go to your raver? - I've got plenty of time.
- Tea, can I have another? - Yeah.
- Hey, how about Brian Brenner? I've been reading him for years and didn't know what he looked like.
- He's cute.
- Yeah.
- Is he single? - He is.
- Are you interested? - Nope.
That's contempt prior to investigation.
No, it's contempt after thorough investigation.
- You dated him? - I did.
- When? - About six years ago.
That's-- Wait.
- That's-- - Yeah.
Six years ago, you were with the guy you were with before Will.
Yeah.
- But that would-- - Oh, my God, Sloan.
It's like the land where time stands still.
Brian Brenner is the guy I cheated on Will with.
I'd been with Will for a year and Brian started calling me again.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
- Why would he do the piece? - Brian? - Yeah.
- He needs a cover story.
And why would Will have Brian do the piece? That's a perfectly fair question to which I have no answer.
This is really messed up.
Look, I'll do my best to find you the time you need for the story.
We just need to hope there's no new piece of nonsense I have to jam into my 22 minutes of Short Attention Span Theater.
Anthony Weiner accidently tweeted a picture of his groin to 40,000 followers.
( Whimpers ) Weiner: And I don't consider it that big a federal offense, but people want to pay attention to it and I guess I get it.
When you're named Weiner, it kind of goes with the territory.
Have you ever taken a picture like this of yourself? I can tell you this, that there are-- I have photographs.
I don't know what photographs are out there in the world of me.
I don't know what things have been manipulated and doctored.
And we're gonna try to find out what happened.
But the most important reason I want to find out what happened is to make sure Weiner, McAvoy.
Call me.
You're getting terrible advice.
( Turns off video ) Well, the choices are to do something or to do nothing.
If we do nothing, then the audience turns to the nearest guy doing something.
What exactly would our report be? That he's not answering questions very well? - I don't know.
Give me three minutes.
- To report what? I don't know.
But if I do nothing, it's gonna look like I'm protecting a liberal.
Since when did we start caring about what it looks like instead of what it is? Reports on the Tea Party won't have credibility if we're not balanced.
Will, you're the one who said that balance for its own sake doesn't have any place in reporting.
One from column A and one from column B is bullshit.
And boorish behavior isn't the same as taking the US Treasury hostage.
And when the RNC boys come here on Friday, they won't see it the same way.
And you'll explain to them we don't care that he's sexting.
- We care how he votes.
- And they'll understand, give us the debate, let us use the format we want, and we'll all go out for chocolate milk shakes.
Three minutes in the B block, please, after Casey Anthony.
Okay.
I know it seems like a story that only affects but since there's sex involved, we can't deny its national importance.
Especially since we don't know all or even any of the facts.
Three minutes.
I assume you want the pictures.
Good meeting.
I'm pretty familiar with that tone of voice.
- I guess you are, too? - ( Sighs ) I am.
No one's been hitting the Tea Party as hard as you've been.
- Certainly no Republican.
- That's not true.
David Frum, Mark McKinnon, Alan Simpson, Steve Schmidt, Andrew Sullivan.
Okay, but none of them work for Leona Lansing.
I don't know.
I think everybody works for Leona Lansing.
She can't be happy that you're beating up people AWM needs on the Hill.
I'm really not an expert on what does or doesn't make Leona happy.
Has she ever asked you to tone it down? I'm not doing your reporting for you, Brian.
I'm doing my reporting myself.
I'm asking you a question.
I'm not commenting on or off the record about either Leona or Reese Lansing.
- Does she want you fired? - If she wanted me fired, I'd be fired.
All she has to do is buy my contract, which she can do with the money under her sofa cushion.
But then she'd have to explain why she was firing the second most watched anchor on cable and she can't do that.
Is it a coincidence that the tabloid stories about you started right after the election? I don't know.
Do you think she's using her own tabloid magazine to manufacture a reason to fire you? That would be a smart way to do it.
And, of course, if you lost half your audience because your show was too highbrow to cover Casey Anthony, she wouldn't even need to work that hard to do it.
Firing an anchor for losing half his audience isn't unreasonable, if that's what you're asking.
It wasn't and you know it.
You're trying to get me to write this story without your fingerprints on it.
AWM has to do business with Congress and you're making it much harder.
Leona wants you fired, but can't do it unless she can explain it.
She's hoping the tabloid stories build to a critical mass or that your ratings tank.
Say something if I'm wrong, say nothing if I'm right.
For what it's worth, I'd cave, too.
No serious journalist would ever agree to the demands I made on Friday.
So for what it's worth, you already did.
Are you ready to answer questions about the newsletter? - I haven't read it.
- The mock debate's Friday.
No, I'm being Ron Paul right now.
I didn't write it.
I've never read it.
I've never heard it.
It's got my name on it, I've made money from it.
The newsletters would get a standing ovation at a Klan rally, but you should stop asking me questions about them.
- You need a better answer.
- He needs a better answer.
Tell you what question I'd start off with.
- Congresswoman Bachmann.
- Yes? You've said that you were told to run for president by God.
- Please, I don't-- - You have, right? You've said on a number of occasions that God told you to run for president.
I have some clips here if you'd like me to refresh your memory.
- Nope, my memory is fresh.
- Here's my question.
- Good.
- What does God's voice sound like? ( Laughing ) I'm completely serious.
She's saying that God spoke directly to her.
How is this not the first question asked in a debate? How's it not the only question? What does His voice sound like? What did He say exactly word for word? Did He speak in Hebrew? Acadian? Kiswahili-Bantu? And to put it in a medical context, is this the first time you've heard voices? She's claiming to be a prophet.
The whole world is sitting on the edge of their seat.
How is this not the first question we'll ask? First of all, can you stop pointing at me and saying she and her? You're the one who wanted to play a woman.
But tell me why that question is out of line.
Because it's not the best way to demonstrate seriousness of intent and it's not the best way not to insult people.
- Which people? - Christians.
83% of the country.
I'm one of them.
And she's insulting me.
Please, stop pointing at me when you are-- Relax, J.
Edgar.
She's insulting me, she's insulting my family, she's insulting my congregation, and she's insulting my faith.
She's implying that Christians are imbeciles who will believe anything while reducing God to a party hack who endorses political candidates.
Now, maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe this is the first time since Moses that God has given direct instructions to someone other than His son.
But if so, I think it deserves a follow-up.
We're not going to get the debate if we're mocking their candidates.
The whole point of the new debate format is to compel the candidates to tell the truth and make them responsible for their own rhetoric by asking tougher questions than a Match.
com profile.
If she knows what God wants, then I'm voting for her.
If she doesn't, she should stop saying so.
I'm not attacking Christians.
I'm defending them.
- All right.
- Just a moment, please.
- What? - I'm standing up for the tens of millions of Christians who are tired of being represented by having our identity-- There's been an identity theft.
That's it.
That's the one I want.
I think you already know that starting tonight, we're leading with Casey Anthony.
Does anyone have a problem with that? All right, well, we lost almost half a million viewers to Nancy Grace last week.
Does anyone still have a problem with it? We're gonna clear out some of these stories to make room.
"Senate obstruction become worst in US history.
" That's a report by the Alliance For Justice.
The Senate's confirmed a smaller percentage of Obama's judicial appointees than any other Senate and any other president.
No reason to care about that.
"Job situation dire, new stimulus needed.
" This Congress ran on jobs, but they're focused on debt.
According to the payroll company ADP-- I just solved unemployment.
"AFL-CIO sours on Obama.
" We've got an analyst lined up to give a report card on Obama's union relationship.
Will the AFL-CIO still be sour on him tomorrow? - I don't know.
- Let's find out.
All right, to give us a crash course in how best to exploit this tragedy and to erase all boundaries of what should be used as entertainment, I've enlisted the help of a master of the dark arts.
I understand I'm needed.
- Thank you.
- Forget everything you know about the news.
Done.
What's next? I'm Charlie Skinner.
Good to meet you.
Should I just sit here? Sure.
Should I call you Mr.
Hancock? It's Schneider.
- Schneider? - Ezra Schneider.
How the hell many aliases do you have? I beg your pardon? Are you Late For Dinner? Mister, I have no idea what you're talking about.
Charlie.
That has to have been strange for you.
Late For Dinner? - Solomon Hancock.
- Charlie Skinner.
I thought because of the carnation-- Did we say anything about a carnation? No, but it's usually the international sign for-- It doesn't matter.
I'm a busy guy and if you're faffin' me around Would you mind taking the battery out of your cell phone? The walls in the New York Public Library are three feet thick.
That's why we're meeting here.
But I'd like you to take the battery out of your cell phone.
You have reason to believe you're under surveillance? Everyone's under surveillance.
If you've got a cell phone-- It's talk like that that makes me-- Did I or did I not establish credibility on May 1st? You correctly predicted that we'd all be called to work, yes.
Sometimes at the NSA, we download a rolling bug onto smartphones to slave the microphone.
You ever get an unwanted text message? All the time, but they're from my boss.
Here.
I'll never be able to put that back together.
They're coming out with a better model in six months.
That's unusual for the tech industry.
Can you tell me a little about yourself? I started out chasing around a Soviet Pacific Fleet doing signal intelligence cryptology for the Navy.
But when the Berlin Wall came down, my war was over.
So I went into the private sector like everybody else in the '90s, only not for a dot-com, doing data compression for fiber optics.
Then 9/11 happened and I decided it was a good time to get back into public service hunting bad guys.
You're an IT guy.
My title is Assistant Deputy Director of Technology and Systems, Cryptology, and Mathematics at NSA.
I'm gonna have to-- I product test software.
- NSA software? - Yes, sir.
Can you tell me about the software? It's data mining.
One of the ways the NSA was tracking bin Laden, or any terrorist for that matter, was to write code that would sift through millions of electronic communications looking for a needle in a giant haystack.
You know the machine that Batman uses in The Dark Knight to find the Joker, but when Morgan Freeman finds out about it, he says, "I'm quitting because no man should have this much power"? - No.
- No what? - I do not know that machine.
- Well, it exists.
We gave the contract to two defense contracting big boys and it was my job mostly to make sure that they delivered and that it worked.
The project title is GLOBAL CLARITY and it intercepts emails, and texts every day.
- Legally? - By what standard? - The law.
- No.
It involves a significant amount of illegal, warrantless wiretapping of American citizens.
Just to be-- When you say warrantless, are you saying unnecessary? Without a warrant.
Warrantless.
We could hunt for terrorists legally, but due to our bosses' devotion to GLOBAL CLARITY, the NSA has been happily violating the Fourth Amendment, USSID 18, and about a dozen of the NSA's own regulations about spying on Americans.
You've got guys listening in on ex-wives, dropping in on calls from soldiers overseas, checking out what movie stars are up to.
Am I the first person you've talked to about this? No, stop confusing me with Donald Sutherland in JFK.
Well, a second ago, you were Morgan Freeman.
I have testified in front of Congress and to the Pentagon Inspector General.
I got nowhere.
Nobody on the Hill wants to admit it's fucked up because nobody wants to be seen as post-9/11 soft.
Where does AWM come in? Atlantis World Media owns Atlantis Cable News.
- Yeah.
- It also owns the tabloid TMI.
- Yeah.
- The shit that's happening at Murdoch's News of the World in London, TMI has been doing the same thing for years.
- How high does it go? - I don't know.
Does it go as high as Leona Lansing? - No.
- Good.
It goes as high as her son.
TMI is doing phone and computer hacking and Reese Lansing knows? Reese has been ordering it.
- I'm gonna give you-- - Hang on.
I need to digest that.
Reese Lansing is James Murdoch, but Lansing's been ordering it.
Digested yet? These classified? Yeah, because I'm dying to violate the Espionage Act.
These are just transcripts of my testimony before the House subcommittee and the Pentagon.
Vet me, vet the material.
Take all the time you need.
Why are you whistle-blowing? I fought the Soviets.
The way their government made their people live their lives was a very good reason to fight them.
After 9/11, we started doing the exact same thing.
I didn't spend my life fighting Communists to have it come to this.
Report on GLOBAL CLARITY.
And once I see that report, I'll give you what you need to protect yourself from Leona Lansing.
How do you know we need protecting from Leona Lansing? Have you been listening? 'Cause we have.
Don: This woman is the best I've ever seen.
Center screen is Nancy.
These three corners are live feeds of the guest experts.
- What are they experts in? - Agreeing with everything Nancy says.
- But what keeps your atten-- - Excuse me.
This is Brian Brenner, everyone.
It's possible he's going to be writing a feature on 2.
0.
But we're in a tryout period right now.
Everything's off the record.
Go ahead.
What keeps our attention? Is the bottom right corner where they're playing a loop of little Caylee from a home video.
Question: Hell.
Do you think it's as bad as everyone says it is? That was a tribute to Caylee.
But how will they explain the duct tape around the child's mouth and nose? And how will they explain all the lies that Tot Mom told? Now they're not talking about the tattoo on Casey's back, but they put it full screen.
Why? Because Tess was just about to look somewhere else, so they changed the frame to anything that might keep her attention.
He's right.
I was gonna Google Mac's hell question.
Plus tattoo equals bad mom.
No one's ever gone broke in America serving up a woman who makes other women feel superior.
Grace: The series of lies that finally came crashing down around her.
If she would lie about that, why should I believe an accident is true? Don't spend time thinking about her airtight syllogism.
Her EP's showing duct tape and a plastic bag, so you know you're watching the real CSI Miami.
How to make weapons out of home materials found in the home.
About breaking necks.
How can they explain that? They can't explain it, Nancy.
The defense is doing what the defense has to do.
Don: Now, Bill Sheaffer has done his job.
He agreed with Nancy.
We don't need to see his face anymore.
Look how cute Caylee is.
She deserved better than a mom with a tattoo.
She deserved - She deserved - Me.
- Me.
- Me.
Tess, how's that Google search coming? It does look pretty bad.
A lot of fire.
You'll notice little of her coverage in this instance is about the law.
You know, come to think of it, I did notice that.
Don: It's all based on an emotional appeal.
The way she would with a jury if there was no judge there to stop her.
Watch how she breaks down courtroom footage.
Grace: Liz, let's see the video of Tot Mom and Jose Baez back at it in court again today.
Not a good look between a death penalty defendant and the lead defense attorney.
Don: Two seconds.
Two seconds of Casey Anthony walking past her lawyer-- And she'll show it to you in slow motion and from a different angle and at regular speed and from the original angle again.
- What does that remind you of? - Instant replay in sports.
And she looks pretty pissed at her lawyer.
And that's exactly why she's showing it to you so many times.
So you have a chance to draw your own thoroughly uninformed opinion about an utterly innocuous exchange.
She looks pissed.
I wonder if she's sleeping with her lawyer.
I bet she is.
I wonder if that's what she looked like when she killed Caylee.
This is the best TV ever.
I've got to go on my Casey Anthony Facebook page and see if my Casey Anthony Facebook friends just saw Casey Anthony make a Casey Anthony face at her Casey Anthony lawyer.
All right, enough.
Will's a criminal prosecutor.
Maybe he can talk about how our justice system wasn't built to lock up guilty people.
It was built to keep innocent people free, which is something Americans should be proud of and fiercely protect.
No.
He can't ever imply that the viewer doesn't already know everything and that she might be innocent.
If we're gonna cover this, we're gonna cover it our way.
What's the point of covering it at all unless we do it in a way that gets our audience back? A modest proposal.
We could ourselves commit murder on our air.
In your face, Nancy Grace! How do we get the best guests? There's a guy you're gonna have to deal with named Dylan Kagin.
He's like the Broadway Danny Rose of tabloid suffering.
He's an agent? You ever ask yourself why of all the missing kids and murdered coeds, most of them go unnoticed - and some become national scandals? - Sex appeal.
Right, but someone's got to find Lana Turner sitting at the drugstore counter.
Dylan Kagin gropes through the trailer park of American jurisprudence for what he calls "Oh, my God" stories.
Then he drops in on the victims, the accused, the jurors, the cops, whoever he can sell to the press, the networks, and the studios.
He packages the missing white girl.
All right, that'll be the A block.
By 2:00, show me where we are.
The B block's gonna be Anthony Weiner, so, Jim, start putting something together.
All we really have are the pictures and Weiner not answering questions.
- I know that.
- You don't want to wait until we have-- Facts? No, that would be newsy and elitist.
Let's just call them-- The A and the B block-- Let's just think of them as a polished, tightly produced abomination.
I've been sitting here and I'm getting a little sick of this.
- You and me both.
- Jesus Christ.
For a few weeks, we're not gonna ask the country to eat its vegetables.
Why? Because there's a debate we want to do that trumps all of your Sarah Lawrence ethical conundrums.
It shouldn't be too hard to understand.
So get it the fuck together.
He happens to be right.
"War on drugs a failure.
" I know how it feels.
Show me where we are at 2:00.
- Charlie: Can I see you a second? - Mackenzie: Yeah.
- Do you mind if I sit in on-- - Yeah, sorry, no.
Not sure that's the best way to get good press.
May 1st, the night we got bin Laden, I got a call from an anonymous source at 7:30 telling me the White House would send an email blast to all the news agencies in 90 minutes, and obviously it turned out he was right.
He was demonstrating his credibility.
His name is Solomon Hancock.
He works in software engineering at the NSA and he handed me a stack of documents, transcripts of his testimony describing illegal surveillance.
We have to start vetting him and the documents.
It's gonna take at least a few days, but that's part one.
What's part two? If we air his story, he'll give us evidence that TMI's been doing the same thing as News of the World.
- Hacking? - Everything.
- TMI's been hacking? - Hancock says he's got the proof.
Jesus Christ.
How high does he say it goes? Reese.
- Let's get on with the vet.
- I'll have Jim run it.
- Is he up for this? - He is, Will.
I taught him how to do the news.
I taught them all how to do the news.
Can you give us a second? I'm done.
Why did it have to be Brian? Because I own him now.
He needs a cover story.
If he writes a negative one, he'll get slammed with the whole soap opera of our history.
Are you lying right now? - Anything else? - Yeah.
Sloan says on Thursday, the House is gonna vote to default on our loans, leading to a global economic meltdown.
Should I put that before or after Anthony Weiner in his underwear? I'm sure you'll figure it out.
Will: That's all for us tonight.
Tomorrow we'll be bringing you all the highlights from day seven of the trial and Detective Yuri Melich, the first officer to interview Casey Anthony in 2008.
Terry Smith is coming up from Washington with the Capital Report.
I'm Will McAvoy.
Good night.
( Music playing ) Reporter: Will McAvoy, your new choice for Casey Anthony coverage.
- They're coming home.
- Yeah? We promo'd the hell of it.
We got 150,000 viewers back.
That's toasters, furniture, food, clothes, kids' clothes, vacation plans.
Our heads are above water now, so do not stop.
- We won't.
- How about this heat? - Yeah.
- 9:00 in the morning, it's already 87.
It's gonna hit 98.
That would beat the record for this day - that was set in 1933.
- Yeah.
- You're looking at me funny.
- Yeah? - I know you hate this.
- I'm looking at you the regular way.
- If you say so.
- I do.
There are also tornado warnings.
- Reese.
- What? - Nothing.
- All right, so it's gonna get up to 98.
That's a record.
And there are tornado warnings for New York City.
Well, you know, Aunt Bee, tornados are just God's way of destroying property and killing people.
People like hearing about extreme weather.
We're not doing a fucking weather report, okay? We're not coming up with some "Tornado Watch" graphic.
We're a serious news organization.
Tonight we'll be reporting on the killer cocktail waitress and the congressman-- - Is Mac bitching at you? - Not nearly as much as she should be.
I came in here to tell you you got back 150,000 viewers you lost while you were trying to be above it.
We'll be sure not to try that again.
we have power outages.
Wait a second.
Wait a second.
I don't want to go all conspiracy theory on you, but I think the heat might be related to power outages.
- Take it easy.
- Say hi to your mom.
Will do.
Visiting hours will be Tuesday and Friday.
Don't be nervous.
We got 150,000 viewers back last night.
Mostly women.
- I know.
- I was telling her.
You know, it's gonna get up to 98 degrees.
Next person who tells me about the damn weather Do you know what you're doing here? I've been asked to tell you about the weather.
Does it feel to you like anyone in this room is in the mood for a joke? It absolutely does not.
We want you to lead the vetting of this source.
He's telling us about illegal surveillance at the NSA.
He's also telling us that TMI is in the same game as News of the World.
Jesus.
We're looking at a couple of scenarios, Jim.
One is that we're sitting on a scoop that could shake up the NSA and maybe have the country take another look at the Patriot Act.
But the TMI element, doesn't that-- And another is that someone's trying to discredit us by having Will get Dan Rather-ed.
You'll need to file a couple of hundred Freedom of Information Act requests and you'll need to get into this guy's personal life and you'll need to do it all without raising any flags at the NSA.
Are you up for this? - Yeah.
- We don't need it fast, we need it right.
- But we need it fast.
- I'll start mapping it out.
Jim, since the day you started working here, I never felt the need to remind you about confidentiality and I don't feel that need now.
Okay.
- Gotcha.
- Oh, God.
- You feel like being interviewed? - You read my mind.
I can't think of anything I'd rather do right now than be interviewed by my ex-boyfriend, except maybe eat my desk.
- It seems like a bad week to be here.
- It is.
I came here to write a story about how Will and News Night changed overnight.
- And then you changed overnight.
- Look.
- It's the old Will all over-- - These are extraordinary circumstances.
That's what everyone says when they abandon their principles.
I'm no longer required to live up to your standards.
- Fair enough.
- Thank you.
What's so special about this debate? If we get what we want, no one will ever go back.
We'll have changed the debates forever.
And your concern is that if your ratings are low, you'll lose leverage? - Yes.
- Is that your concern or Will's concern? Will's concerns are my concerns.
'Cause another way of looking at it is that he lost his invisible friends to Nancy Grace and he's using the debate as an excuse to dumb the show down.
That's a pretty bold statement from a guy who's auditioning for a job.
He's gonna give me the job.
And it's not like I don't know why.
- Do you? - I do because I'm not a fucking moron.
The email that was read by everyone in the world, "I cheated on Will," you were talking about me, right? - Yes.
- You were seeing Will while we were together? If you count drunk dialing me at midnight and saying, "Just come on over and crawl into bed" as being together, then yes.
- I count it.
- Then yes.
You cheated on me with Will? Let's be as clear as anyone has ever been about anything.
I cheated on Will with you.
And I'm paying the price.
I work 30 feet from the life I could have had if I hadn't been so stupid.
And you're looking at the life you could have had if you hadn't been a douchebag.
How's the interview going so far? Is douchebag one word or two? ( Tapping on glass ) Come in.
- Sorry, I can come back.
- No, what do you need? Ahem, well, there's a story I'd like to pitch.
Brian, this is Neal Sampat.
Neal writes Will's blog.
- Will doesn't write Will's blog? - Will can't find Will's blog.
Neal wants to be a producer, so from time to time, he pitches stories.
What do you got? You know what a troll is, right? A tiny creature that stands under a footbridge and makes you answer a riddle before you're allowed to pass.
- They're not real, man.
- I know that.
He means the other kind of troll.
You don't know the first clue what he means.
I mean the other kind of troll.
A little backup would have killed you? Sorry, Internet trolls.
It's a play on a fishing term.
People who go to message boards and try to hijack the conversation by being incendiary.
- What about them? - Turns out they have their own websites.
Like an online clubhouse.
And to be accepted into the group, you have to be able to point to a successful incident of trolling, a recent time when you made a whole bunch of posters lose their minds.
Or better yet, got the site monitor to shut down the board.
Actually, I like it.
And it's not about Bigfoot.
Write this down, News Night is gonna break the story on Bigfoot.
We're not.
Don't write that down.
Will they talk to you? They won't talk to a reporter, but I thought maybe I'd try to get in there.
Undercover? Aren't you gonna have to say you trolled something? I'm not gonna have to say it, I'm gonna actually have to do it.
To who? Well, I don't want to ding on an innocent person for a story, so I'm gonna have to do it to one of us.
You can't be anonymous on our website.
No, I mean do it to us on another website.
- What would it be? - I don't know yet.
Come back when you know, but you've made it past the first hurdle.
Thank you.
- Sloan.
- How's her mood in there? It's not good, but let me ask you something.
For the sake of a story, how would you feel about me going on the Internet and saying vicious things about you that might get an argument started about misogyny? - What kind of vicious things? - I don't know.
- What would the general area be? - I really don't know.
- Something about the way you look? - Like what? - I'd be making it up.
- What would you be making up? It wouldn't be true.
It'd be something like-- Something along the lines of she screwed her way to the top and she's got a big ass.
Only it would have to be-- Listen to me, Sampat.
- Do I? - Of course not.
Okay.
- I can do it? - You cannot.
If you want, you can say that I made it to the final round of the K through six regionals in the Scripps Howard Spelling Bee.
That's not gonna help me.
You know, a lot of guys like women with big-- Do they really? Never mind.
I don't know what you're talking about and I have my own problems.
- Jim.
- Yeah? I got a woman on the phone who says she's got some tweets from Anthony Weiner and wants to talk to us.
- What are you telling me for? - Seniority? Well, I'm handing her off to the next most senior person.
Kendra, take the Weiner girl.
- Gary, take the Weiner girl.
- Tess.
- Tamara.
- We were hired as interns the same day.
I was hired in the morning.
You were hired after lunch.
Take the Weiner girl.
- Please, don't make me take the Weiner girl.
- Respect the seniority.
Who do I have seniority over? Maggie.
- Can people still see me? - On five.
Hi, this is Margaret Jordan.
I'm an associate producer at News Night.
Okay, can you spell that for me? Okay, wait.
Hang on.
I-- No, you're gonna get a chance.
Uh, well, you certainly seem to want to share your story.
You really can't just drop in on a doctor.
- What if it's an emergency? - You go to the emergency room.
They don't have psychiatric emergency rooms.
They should.
You're a good reason why.
- You want a piece of me? - Seriously? - No.
- Yeah.
Does he look over at the red light? Does he look every few minutes? If I was your therapist, I'd definitely look every few minutes.
Hey, hey, you can't do that.
It's okay.
He likes me.
- Will.
- I'm sorry.
- I'm with a patient.
- I really just need a second.
I'm glad to see you back here, but you need to come during your appointment.
I could be dead by then.
Are you having suicidal thoughts? - No.
- Then why did you say that? - Just to get your attention.
- I'm going back to my patient.
Listen to me.
I've been paying 250 a session for four years without showing up to a single session.
You owe me $100,000 worth of therapy.
I'll forgive the debt, we'll be totally square, just give me one minute.
I'm sorry.
I'll be just a minute.
Wow, you caved for the money.
I'm kind of disappointed.
I didn't cave for the money.
You're getting the sessions you paid for.
You seem like you're in pain.
- He is.
- He said in pain, not a pain.
Oh, never mind, then.
What is it? I'm doing all these things that are wrong because of ratings, and I'm making the staff do things that they don't want to do, I'm cursing them out, I'm ignoring incredibly important news stories, and I'm betraying the trust of people who respect me.
And I did it all in the blink of an eye.
- That can be traumatic.
- No, I'm fine with all of that.
Here's my thing: New York Magazine is gonna do a story on my show and I get to choose the writer.
And I could have chosen anybody and I chose Mackenzie's ex-boyfriend.
Of course.
- The one she cheated on you with? - Yeah.
- Why? - That's what I came here to ask you.
You're holding your hand over the candle.
What do you mean? You're holding your hand over the candle because you think the trick is not minding.
Ah.
So if I just get through this, I'll be fine.
- No.
- Why? Because the trick isn't not minding.
The trick is forgiving Mackenzie.
It would be easier to hold my hand over the candle.
I know.
Well, you've been no help at all, but thanks.
Sorry to barge in.
You know, while you're working your way through this, you're hurting Mackenzie.
I know that.
Show up for your appointment.
I'm not doing it on purpose.
Maggie.
Yeah.
- Sandy? - Yes.
- Margaret Jordan.
We talked on the phone.
- Nice to meet you.
- You got here okay? - Yes.
I have a receipt for the cab.
Who do I give that to? I'll take it.
So, you got some tweets from Congressman Weiner.
And I've got copies of them right here.
"'I like the cute new pics of you.
Where'd you get those abs?" Weiner: "Glad you like them.
When do I get to see your swimsuit shot?" Sandy: "When are you coming to see me? Or just coming?" Weiner: "Make me an offer.
" Sandy: "My door's always open.
Get it?" Weiner: "What's your plan for us?" Sandy: "To get us in the mood, we watch The Daily Show and Colbert.
Then when we're really hot, we go to the bookstore and replace all the copies of Glenn Beck books with The Audacity of Hope.
Or, if that's not your thing, we can just get drunk and fuck.
" Why are you doing this? Because the world needs to know what kind of guy he is.
It sort of seems like you were a willing participant.
I didn't know about the other women.
- Did you know he was married? - Of course.
I just didn't know about the other women.
I was fooled and I think the world needs to know what kind of guy he is.
By any chance, have you heard of a guy named Dylan Kagin? He's gonna be my agent.
Sandy-- Can I call you Sandy? Sure.
Sandy, the congressman is in a lot of trouble.
He got himself into it and he's probably not gonna be able to get out of it.
Are you sure you want to pile on? I think people need to know what kind of person he is.
All right.
Would you like to be on our show tonight? That's the thing.
I'm doing Access Hollywood, ET, and Fox.
The big three.
No problem.
We can do a pretape in a few minutes.
Oh, you're a lifesaver.
I was hoping you'd say that.
No kidding? Stay here and I'll talk to my EP and we'll get this going.
Could I possibly get a decaf latte? You cannot possibly get that, but I'll have someone bring you a coffee.
Well, I left it for you on the left side of the desk.
And, yes, I signed it.
I don't know anything about it.
Leona! A word? Okay, ask her to show it to me on the plane.
Let's not stand in the street.
Charlie, with that bow tie, you look like a balloon salesman.
No, I get in the car and get out a minute later, it looks like we're talking about a problem or making a drug deal.
Just a minute.
We're gonna stand here, smile and nod, and do this and laugh.
We know where the tabloid stories are coming from.
They're coming from reality.
Only if you define reality as fantasy.
And they're appearing in a magazine you own.
How would it look if I had one of our news magazines go soft on our flagship anchor? We're calling TMI a news magazine? People need to know if Taylor Swift is happy.
- I provide a public service for hundreds of thousands-- - The public's grateful.
What did I tell you the day after election night? Friend to friend, I'd stop coming after Will in the tabloids.
I told you to get him to lighten up on the Tea Party or a context would be created whereby his firing would look reasonable.
- You need to hear me.
- I don't think I do.
The 112th Congress wasn't even seated and he took the Tea Party out for a walk on the 9/11 Responders Bill.
Congress, Democrats and Republicans, spent eight years using 9/11 as a justification for everything from tax cuts to a foreign invasion.
So Will questioned their change of heart when it came to the police and firemen's unions.
You made them look like hypocrites.
By rolling tape.
House Financial Services, insider trading, Keystone XL, Joe Walsh, Allen West, Paul Ryan, and who am I forgetting? Oh, yes.
Charles and David Koch.
Keep smiling.
We lost a couple of awfully helpful tax loopholes that were tailored to assets overseas.
And the FCC won't even let us bid on the coming spectrum auction because they want a full report on whether or not we're skirting antitrust.
So what was your request again? You don't want to do this.
I don't.
I really don't.
But I have to and I will.
And friend to friend, you let him know that he is one tabloid fuckup and a ratings point away from having his own podcast.
I have to make my plane.
Fly safe.
- Unless there's a rally-- - I'm sorry, I've got to-- - Listen.
- Sloan.
Unless there's a rally in the next 90 minutes, the Dow's gonna close down about 2.
5%, S&P and NASDAQ will close down 2.
3.
- Let me tell you why.
- I don't own a lot of stock.
- Let me tell you why.
- I really can't-- Stop avoiding this! I just got off the phone with these guys.
Listen to these quotes.
These aren't from liberals.
These are hard-core Wall Street guys who, whatever the world may think of them, know what they're talking about and so do I.
Jamie Dimon at Chase says, "Voting against raising the debt ceiling would be a moral disaster.
" The Barclays guys say, "This debate is detached from reality.
" My Goldman source says, "If the House Republicans continue this debate, I hope they're willing to mark the end of the dollar as a global reserve currency.
" Please notice that he didn't say if the House Republicans don't raise the debt ceiling.
He said if the House Republicans continue this debate.
That's all it takes.
Just the uncertainty.
That's why the Dow's gonna close down 230 points today.
Because just the debate, just the doubt, just the possibility that the House Majority might commit the most self-inflicted damage to the country since the secession of the South has caused billions in value to disappear.
Sloan, I understand.
I swear to God I do.
But you can't say the same thing in the C block? Don't pretend you don't know that most people watch 10 minutes of news.
- The first 10 minutes.
- The vote isn't until tomorrow night.
And it's only the first vote.
You said yourself it was cosmetic.
Why do we have to feature it tonight? We should have been featuring it weeks ago.
Why do we have to feature it tonight? To give time for the people to call their congressmen and say, "If you fuck with the full faith and credit of the US Treasury, you're fired.
" To give time for the people to jam the phone lines of the district offices.
To give the people time to say, "I'm a fiscal conservative and you've got to put the pin back in the grenade right now.
" That's why.
I'm gonna do everything I can.
Please do.
Don't worry about it.
She's just frustrated because she can't get the word out that this is a global emergency unless you let her.
Appreciate your clearing that up.
You know what, Mackenzie? I'm not the one who put me here.
Say what you want about me, but I wouldn't have done that.
Does Will have the questions? Tess is giving him some cards now.
- Is that lighting okay for you? - Yeah.
- How are we Chyroning her? - I was gonna ask you.
Figure it out later.
- Sandy.
- Yes? My name's Mackenzie.
I'm the executive-- I'm the executive producer of News Night.
- Can you hear me okay? - Yes.
Okay.
Thanks for being patient with us.
Will's just throwing on a jacket and tie and we'll be able to do this.
- Real easy.
- You got it.
Hi, I'm a big fan.
- Hmm? - I'm Sandy.
How do you do? - Are we ready for the pre-tape? - Yeah.
- Just count me down.
- Will.
Yes, I'm sure I want to do this.
God, please give me a sign I'm not doing a big thing badly.
Herb: We just lost power.
Jake: The whole building just lost power.
Mackenzie: I didn't know He had that kind of comic timing.