The West Wing s04e19 Episode Script
Angel Maintenance
Previously on The West Wing: Steve, Betsy, Julie, Julia There are some 120 news outlets covering the hour-to-hour movements of the president.
Only the cream of the crop ride here.
The rest are in the zoo plane.
- Have you decided on a press policy? - I don't decide that for our armed forces.
We're gonna have a dabba-do time.
Unless there are any updates, I'll see you on the plane.
Because it's 18 hours from Manila, it's 9:25 p.
m.
Eastern.
- It should be 10:25.
- We left Manila at 3:25 today.
- We left Manila at 3:25 yesterday.
- In Manila, it was yesterday.
- Was it? - Well, no, actually, it was tomorrow.
But it's 9:25 right now, Eastern.
Agreed? I've agreed that it's 9:25.
I'm just saying it should be 9:25 in the morning.
But it's not.
You can just look out the window and check.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Lieutenant Colonel Caplan.
Colonel Weiskopf told you that we were beginning our initial descent but Andrews approach has asked us to make a left turn at Valhalla Vector maintain our altitude, and proceed along jet route five.
We assume there's a problem on the ground and just as soon as they have it figured out, they'll wave us on in.
He's saying the deadline for Colombia's recertification is midnight.
- Yes, sir.
- Didn't I sign those papers already? Yes, but the statute requires you have a briefing on the current drug situation.
- We'll do it in the car on the way in.
-Just to check: They'll tell me the narcotraficantes run the parliament, but we should recertify them as an ally in the drug war.
It's pro forma.
Better than having them as an enemy in the drug war.
- You mean calling them an enemy.
- I did.
- You gotta be briefed in person - Sir, Colonel Weiskopf to see you.
- The deadline for that is today, right? - Yes, sir.
- Jessie,"left turn, maintain altitude"? - Would you excuse us, please? Leo, hang on a second.
- What's the problem on the ground? - No problem on the ground, sir.
When we deployed hydraulics, our nose-wheel light didn't illuminate.
Chances are, it's a problem with the light itself.
But we have no way of knowing if our front wheels locked.
An F-16's been scrambled from Durbin Air Base.
It'll be here in 22 minutes.
- Then what happens? - They pull alongside to get a visual read.
- Then what? - If we don't have our wheels? - Yeah.
- There are a number of options.
- Keep me briefed? - Yes, sir.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, Mr.
President.
Listen.
We've got a problem up here.
Listen to me.
Are you listening? It's something that sounds worse than it is.
I can't tell you how many times this happens.
It's a 30-cent piece of plastic.
It should cost more, don't you think? A friend of mine landing a Beechcraft at Teterboro puts down the gear the wheels fall right off the plane.
He ditched it.
You got more of these stories? Oh, yeah, a thousand of them.
Seriously, man, if they dug a grave for me every time I lost an indicator light I've got a plane full of reporters up here.
- C.
J.
will know what to do.
- Sir? - Well, we're gonna give it a try.
- Good evening, Mr.
President.
Charlie, stay in here, would you? Here's what's going on.
The light that indicates that the landing gear is locked didn't go on which usually indicates a light problem.
But what they're gonna do is, they've sent a fighter jet to fly up alongside and get visual confirmation it's down, and then we land.
- Here's the tricky part.
- Here's the tricky part? The press can't know this is going on.
There are two issues: One is that the Nikkei's about to open, the other is national security.
We can't broadcast that Air Force One is up in the air and can't land.
They said it's a ground problem.
We'll stay with that.
What'll we say when they see an Air Force fighter out their window? - That's gonna take some thought.
- Okay.
Thank you.
Can you give me some tarmac jargon about what's happening on the ground? We shouldn't give them too many details.
Let's say a runway incursion.
A maintenance truck caused a fuel spill on the runway they want us to use.
- Are you all right? - Yeah.
Ed, Larry, can you talk to Will for a second? Anybody notice Chris has been on the phone for 20 minutes but hasn't spoken? - Hang on.
- Who remembers Dial-A-Joke? C.
J.
, what's going on? A maintenance truck caused a fuel spill on our runway a few minutes ago and they're cleaning it up.
- C.
J.
I don't know how long it's gonna take.
That was a stringer we use on the lvory Coast.
He's got double confirmation of friendly-fire deaths in Kundu a few hours ago.
- Thanks.
Signal, this is C.
J.
Cregg.
I need you to page Leo McGarry with a call holding.
Does it feel like there's still too much regulation? No.
I'm not saying"is there," I'm saying"does it feel like there is.
" Stop thinking like a Republican.
- I am a Republican.
- And that's fine.
I have nothing with that, I really don't.
I'm just saying stop thinking like one.
It's thinking like one that's gonna get this bill passed.
If it feels like, in the toxic provision, there's too much regulation It's cleaning up Chesapeake Bay.
It's not regulation, and regulation is what congressmen do.
Not Republican congressmen.
We look out for local business.
When the Chesapeake turns fluorescent colors, local business will have a bigger concern.
- That's why I support this bill.
- And why the president's signing it.
- You skipped where the majority votes.
- I'm asking you again, does it feel too? - No, it doesn't feel too regulated.
It doesn't have the texture of the je ne sais quoi - Hey, shut up.
of big government Let's get back to work.
What does"Chesapeake" mean? "Big Shellfish Bay.
" - You never spent any time there? - No.
It's incredibly beautiful.
- Josh.
- You ever been there? Chesapeake Bay? No.
There was a fuel spill on the ground at Andrews.
They've gotta clean it up before he can land.
Man, after an 18-hour flight? I'm heading back to my office.
Why don't you move onto point/nonpoint source pollution and storm runoff.
Back in a few minutes.
They've got a problem with landing gear.
- I know, I wrote the note.
- You wrote"landing geak.
" They've got to stay, check it out.
- They're saying it's nothing, right? - They're saying it's a light.
I want the president to look at the Medicaid rules.
- I'll fax them there.
- Josh.
- Congressmen.
- We had a meeting canceled.
Yeah, they spilled something on the runway.
"Runway incursion," it's called.
Nothing like flying 8000 miles, then circling the parking lot.
- You were with Landis? - I'm sorry? You were working with Tom Landis? - Donna - You want me to fax those? - And get C.
J.
on the phone.
- Yeah.
That's an R.
It's a K.
- Chesapeake Bay cleanup.
- We talked about this.
- It's nothing.
Chesapeake Bay cleanup.
- He's a vulnerable Republican.
- You're giving him his seat.
- It's a bipartisan bill, a victory for us.
An environmental bill.
The Republicans hate it.
It's very regulatory.
I don't care, his name is on it.
He's delivering Chesapeake Bay to Maryland.
They will reelect him.
I appreciate your thoughts.
You know what some Hill Democrats call the Bartlet reelect? "The lonely landslide.
" There's a sentiment that the president wanted a Republican congress - That's absurd.
- Why help one of the most vulnerable Republicans? - You're for divided government.
Divided government's what we got.
We should go on a hunger strike? No, but do you wanna take back the House? If Hill Democrats don't think your hearts are in it Then what? There's a reason they're calling it a lonely landslide.
I mean we've talked about this.
- Anyway, look, have a good night.
- Good night, congressmen.
Toby, they just told me.
Donna's getting C.
J.
on the phone.
- I sent Will in my place.
- It's not like they won't fix it.
- You don't have to feel guilty about it.
- No, thank God I sent Will in my place.
How long before they know? They're about five minutes away.
That's about all the time C.
J.
's got to work with because there's a wire-service guy at Andrews right now who records the wheels' downtime.
Pretty soon, he'll say, "Show me the spill.
" A wire guy on the ground? Toby, 20 White House reporters are about to see a supersonic fighter jet 200 feet outside their window.
It'll be a story, but he'll be down by then.
A couple of hours ago, we lost five guys in friendly fire in Kundu.
- What happened? - A platoon of infantrymen called in an air strike during live fire training.
There was a GPS error, and they became the target.
- Oh, God.
- I need you to talk to Mark Richardson.
Right away.
He's speaking at Brookings tomorrow and he's coming out against U.
S.
involvement in Kundu.
- We knew he felt that.
- We didn't know he was saying so at the Brookings Institution, so let's see what we can do.
Okay.
Called in an air raid, and the computer hit them as a target.
How would you like to have to be the guy who explains that? Were Simmel and Segal giving you a hard time about the Chesapeake cleanup? - They're not big fans of mine.
- I meant the nuisance of circling when I said,"Thank God I sent Will instead of me.
" - Not the other thing.
- I knew what you meant.
It's gonna be on the right side of the plane, and we'll be near Harper's Ferry.
Blue Ridge Mountains, what can we look at? - At night? - Any lights, fireworks? It's Wildflower Week at Shenandoah National Park.
Lilacs, ochre, crimson.
- Do they light up? - We're nowhere near that park.
- I was looking at Blue Ridge Mountains.
- A festival of lights? - Or astronomy? Is there a comet? - C.
J.
, Will.
Yeah, it's confirmed.
Five infantrymen.
They're on their way back.
- Have the families been notified? - No, I'm gonna do that on the ground.
Will, I was supposed to get a Colombia recertification briefing in the car.
- Can you do it up here? - You don't want someone from State? The statute says it's gotta be in person.
Yeah, I can do it.
What are you certifying? That Colombia's an ally in the drug war.
- So, what's the plan? - Looking for something in the mountains.
- At night? - Something with lights.
- Is that gonna work? - I don't see how it possibly can fail.
All right, let's get this over with and land.
- It's time.
It's a minute away.
- Okay.
- Good luck.
- Did you say,"good luck"? - Yeah.
- You're doing it.
I screw with them all the time, they won't buy it from me.
Or from anybody.
The plane will be close.
It's not worth a try? Look at my face.
- It's not worth a try? -"Look at my face"? - Listen - I'm going.
Hey, listen, everybody.
We're about to go by something incredible.
You hardly ever get to see this.
It's out the left side.
- What is it? - You gotta come over to the left side.
- Everybody over here.
- What are we over? The Blue Ridge Mountains.
There's a festival of lights and bonfires here that accompanies the"wildflower renaissance" with lilac and ochre.
That you can see from 33,000 feet? Yes.
It's arranged in a pattern that befuddles astronomers to this day.
- We should be coming up on it any - Oh, my God! What? Of course, on the right side of the plane is an F-16 Falcon.
What the hell's going on? - She's on our wing.
- Have we been attacked? Is that one of ours? What's going on? Signal, this is C.
J.
Cregg.
Shut off the phones in the press cabin.
There's a problem with the plane's landing gear.
- Is it down? - Sorry, sir, we don't know yet.
- Why not? - There's no moon.
It's tough to see.
- What's next? - We do a flyby at Andrews, take a look.
- How close do we fly to the tower? - Pretty close.
- At what altitude? - Pretty low.
We can't stay up here for a couple days and wait till there's a moon? We'll let the boys in the Falcon poke around a bit first but I want to - What else? We're gonna have to refuel pretty soon.
- Larry, go back and mention that to C.
J.
- Yes, sir.
- No one's in a position to file right now.
- Not in a position to? Air Force One isn't landing and has a military escort.
You'd file that, not mention the landing gear? We'd mention the gear, along with the maintenance truck.
The truck was to avoid panic.
You were gonna know the truth at the end.
I won't broadcast that the president's plane is in distress.
It creates very real security concerns and happens to be a world-market event.
- It is a market event.
- The story's embargoed.
If a cell phone appears, the phone will be confiscated by a steward.
- They wanna refuel.
- They wanna refuel.
How do they do that? Instead of an F-16 coming up next to us a KC-10 is gonna, well, land on top of us.
They know how to do it.
- They're gonna do a midair refueling.
- What does that mean? It means they think we're gonna be up here a little while longer.
How long can they stay up there? Theoretically, they can get refueled for months.
- I don't see that happening.
- Me neither.
The Falcon will give them a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
And if it's thumbs-down, they lay down foam? You guys shouldn't be talking about it out there.
You want me? You had a conversation with Simmel and Segal a little while ago? - About the Chesapeake cleanup.
- They're pissed as hell that Tom Landis is working in the Roosevelt Room.
- He didn't storm the gate.
They would've preferred that to your opening it.
The House is angry we didn't take back the House.
It was their fault, not ours.
Stopping all bipartisan legislation is like saying,"Let's blow up the place.
- Maybe voters will hire us to rebuild it.
" - I'm with you.
But I need you guys to make a small change to Chesapeake.
- We're finishing it.
What do you need? - The caucus chair and the DCCC want revenue enhancements, a dedicated levy from local businesses and binding targets on all the nonpoint source stuff.
Okay.
It's about three ways of saying a brand-new tax on local business.
Yes.
I'm fine with that.
I'm for it.
But Tom's gotta take this back to Republicans.
And we have to take it to Democrats.
It's reasonable.
We put the same provisions in Superfund.
Super.
What's going on up there? Margaret, get me the Sit Room.
The F-16's having trouble seeing the gear because it's a moonless night.
They just took on another four hours' worth of fuel.
On one.
Major.
Are we comfortable any longer with the plane up there by itself? I agree.
And there's gonna be a wire-service reporter on the ground at Andrews who's gonna start seeing something.
Have them spill some fuel out there.
Please, on a runway we're not gonna need.
The president.
At least all our friends are gonna have some company now.
with their missiles armed.
- I'm Toby Ziegler.
- He's waiting for you.
You can go in.
Thank you.
Congressman, I have some bad news.
One of your constituents died today.
Gunnery Sergeant Harold Dokes from Bedford-Stuyvesant.
It was a friendly-fire accident.
Five guys reported fire, and a computer popped their coordinates and their bodies are being flown here now.
What did you wanna talk to me about? Your speech at the Brookings Institution.
Are you opposing intervention in Kundu because it's black kids who are doing the dying? I oppose intervention in Kundu because I'm waiting for intervention in Brooklyn.
But the fact that this is immediate The mass slaughter of tens of thousands of Africans, which calls for - I understand what it You ever been to a maximum-security prison? Maximum, no.
The black kids are dying there too.
- The lives we're saving in Kundu - I wasn't elected by the lives we're saving in Kundu.
I was elected by the lives doing the saving.
But you agree there are moral imperatives? If there are moral imperatives, you've got to tell me we're gonna get everybody beginning with the Saudis.
Obviously, we need votes from the Black Caucus next week.
Are you telling me it isn't in the interest of black America? It is in the interest of working-class America, black, Latino and even white to be able to choose between more than a McDonald's or a Marine uniform.
- How is opposing the Peacekeeping Bill? - I'm not opposing the bill.
The Black Caucus will stand behind it, but with a proposed amendment.
- Doing what? - Reinstating the draft.
The kids in my district will live longer if their fortunes are tied more closely to the fortunes of the kids in Josh Lyman's district.
You wanna draft a million middle-class kids out of spite? I don't wanna draft anybody out of anything.
I'm just trying to promote some patriotic unity.
Bill! - Yes, sir.
- Find out when the president expects to call the parents of Sergeant Harold Dokes.
I'll be next.
- Yes, sir.
- You want a drink? Thank you.
You know what gripes my ass? How you doing? - Good.
- If anything ever happened to me chances are it's when I'm next to you, and I'm gonna be an"also dead.
" "Senior Bartlet advisor Joshua Lyman killed by a pack of wild dogs.
Also dead, Diane Moss.
" I'm not feeling useful right now.
- I should know how to do more here.
- No one's feeling useful right now.
No, you're doing things.
You're doing something right now.
- What are you doing right now? - What are you doing now? Nothing.
This is my point.
How come you go out with so many Republicans? - I don't.
- You do.
Cliff, Commander Wonderful Dr.
Free-Ride.
- I don't know.
I got a good response to the ad I put in Roll Call.
"Seeking 30-something male into emotions to recommit.
" I can do more.
I wanna learn how.
Do you know how to lock the landing gear? No.
- Let's go.
You got the? And the? - Here.
- Thank you.
- What does the foam do, exactly? - On the runway? - Yeah.
It's flame-retardant.
For fire.
But it's not impact-retardant, is it? I mean, the plane would still coming out of the sky at some velocity, have to land on concrete.
You can take this back to the office.
Any movement? - No.
- He knows about the kid from Bed-Stuy? Yeah, he's got a long list of kids from Bed-Stuy.
The Black Caucus will back the bill if we back reinstating the draft.
- He's going through with that stunt? - Yeah.
The Left's come full circle, hasn't it? By the way, draftees aren't as well-trained.
It's why there were so many casualties in Vietnam.
- Right.
Also, the Vietcong.
- Plus that.
- What if we said we'd allow debate? - It's a stunt, and Kundu is for real.
We can't get involved.
Talk to OMB and find out what we can give him.
Wake somebody up, I gotta go meet with Nancy.
Is cocaine production in Colombia up or down? It's up 200 percent.
And how many of our extradition requests have been honored? None.
- None? - No, there was - Yes, none.
- Any good news? - Anything we can hang our hat on? - Their attorney general reported that their narcotics people stole $2 million of antidrug money.
- That's good news? - Usually, they don't report it.
What did they spend it on? If you tell me cocaine - No, sir, vacations.
- So I recertify them in recognition that they took our money and went to SeaWorld.
- And reported it.
- All right, leave that stuff with me.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
You want one? - You want a beer? - No, thanks.
- It's gonna be fine.
- What do you mean? - I know you're afraid of flying.
- I'm not.
- I can tell.
- Four hours of fuel they took.
- You know it was there? - He's afraid of flying.
- I'm not.
- It's okay, you're afraid of flying.
I am not.
I'm not afraid of flying.
- I experience flying.
- Why sign up for the Air Force Reserve? For a lot of reasons, and one was the romance of flight, but I got over that.
I never thought that would happen.
But these guys practice hard landings all the time.
This isn't a big deal.
- Hey, everybody.
How's it going in here? - Good.
- How's it going up there? - I don't know why it's taking so long to clean fuel up off a runway.
It must be - Can't use another runway? - Guess not.
How about landing at Dulles? I'm sure that's what they're gonna do if they You know.
I wanna read over what we got, but we're all done here except the Caucus chair wants to add revenue enhancements.
- The chair wants revenue enhancements? - Yeah.
- A tax on local business.
- A dedicated levy.
- That's a tax.
- Yeah.
- From the Caucus chair or the DCCC? - Both.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wants a tax? We can find more offsets.
There's a way to do this.
You guys wanna pass this or not? Of course.
Whatever Republican votes we may lose we'll make up on the other side.
- It's not gonna get out of Committee.
I'm sorry.
Yes, it will.
You gotta find more offsets and more ways to bury them.
It's 18 million to clean up Chesapeake Bay.
It's nothing.
- It's watershed management.
- Yes.
Leo wants you to call these members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
They just walked off the Kundu Peacekeeping Bill.
And to work with Airlift Ops on Angel maintenance procedures.
We're gonna need it when they land.
What are Angel maintenance procedures? Angel is the code word for Air Force One.
- I didn't know that.
- C.
J.
's gonna be answering questions about maintenance procedures.
She'll need briefing.
Why didn't I know that Ops calls the plane Angel? I usually deal with them.
All right, well, deal with them now.
- No, not on this.
- Yeah.
I talk to them about people's luggage.
We don't have a luggage problem.
Call your guys at Airlift Ops.
Say they gotta educate the press secretary on maintenance procedures as soon as Angel's on the ground.
Karen.
Make these phone calls for Josh, please.
Leo, how many times has the Black Caucus, on retreats, at dinners? There was a dinner two years ago where the vice chairs pulled a map of Africa.
They wanted Africa as a priority.
Now they're making me look like an idiot.
- Mark's got a tough district.
- Now they want Brooklyn as a priority.
When did they become Smoot and Hawley? Hang on a second.
Jessie Weiskopf's coming down, and he ain't smiling.
Sir, they can't get a visual read.
We'll go ahead with the flyby at Andrews.
- Okay.
And how long will this take? - About an hour and 15 minutes.
- An hour and 15? Where are we? - Over central Tennessee.
They took us off the jet routes.
All right.
Pretty soon, though, we gotta stop just flying around.
- This is qualifying as space travel now.
- What's going on? The Falcon couldn't get a visual read, so we'll buzz the tower at Andrews.
Weiskopf says it's gonna be an hour and 15.
I'm gonna call the families from up here, of the five guys.
- We'll send up the numbers.
- Thanks.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
They're gonna fly by the tower at Andrews.
My question about the foam is that the steel is still landing on concrete.
They have their back wheels.
Can you get me C.
J.
? - Will.
- Yes, sir.
I'm gonna call the families now.
They'll send up some information.
- Can you help me out? - Yes, sir.
Just give this to C.
J.
You should read it on the way.
Yes, sir.
Do me a favor, find out what happens if I don't certify Colombia.
Find out what happens if I decertify Colombia.
- Really? - If I'm up here, I should do something.
- Yes, sir.
- The flyby's gonna take an hour and 15.
- Would you tell C.
J.
? - Yes, sir.
C.
J.
? If there is an issue of national security - There is.
- Isn't it a national issue for everyone? Meaning, turn on the phones.
Ask Steve what time it is.
It'll crack you up.
How is it a threat to anyone on the ground? Air Force One doesn't break all by itself.
Somewhere, they're talking about the possibility the plane was sabotaged.
- By screwing with the wheel? - If the problem's a leak in hydraulics they recycle the gear, the plane'll blow up.
No, you're right, I should definitely let you use the phones.
We're gonna do a flyby at Andrews.
This thing's almost over.
What are you doing? - Hey.
- What are you doing? - Did OMB have anything? - Budget doesn't have what Mark wants.
He can call OMB himself.
Leo, let's say we study some version of his amendment.
- We'll look ridiculous.
- It's not ridiculous.
- It's a stunt.
- It is, but it's not ridiculous.
- We say we're gonna study the draft - There'll never be a draft.
He wants the debate.
We want our peacekeeping appropriation.
- Everyone's happy.
- Hardly anyone's happy.
The president's gonna study, reinstate We're for peacekeeping in Kundu.
- Mark's point is who - I know Mark's point.
- People who got nowhere else to go.
- They go for advancement.
The five guys on their way home didn't advance very far, is Mark's point.
It was a computer error, Toby.
Yeah, I know.
Find out what"considering the amendment" has to look like in order for the Black Caucus to stay on board.
I will.
Thank you.
Decertifying Colombia triggers automatic economic or trade sanctions.
- We lose some money.
- Yes.
The State Department feels the president's credibility with his legislature is based on his ties with the U.
S.
, which would be significantly damaged.
Right, but I'm more concerned with our credibility.
He told me at the Summit of the Americas that he'd work toward crop diversification.
Did he mean opium and coca? They asked that I remind you that his opponent in the last election took campaign cash from the cartels, and if we weaken the president we could get a reactionary.
- He's not helping us so why should I give him political cover? Listen, I'm serious.
What would happen if I don't recertify Colombia? Well actually, you can't.
- I can't what? Can't not recertify.
They'll be automatically recertified.
Why? - Because the deadline was midnight - It has to be delivered.
- The actual paper? - That's what the Counsel's - This is how the world works? - How recertification works.
I want this plane to land! Did it work? - All right, thanks.
- Thank you, Mr.
President.
You wanted to see me? The Chesapeake cleanup isn't gonna happen.
- At all? - It's not gonna come out of Committee.
Because of the revenue enhancements? - I think a little of everything.
- What happened? They weren't wild about it in the first place.
Deaver didn't like that Landis was working so closely with you.
Those two idiots told the Republicans? They were already pissed at him.
He's vulnerable, and they want his seat.
We take back the House, there's any number Mileage standards reauthorize CWA, many things we can do that help the environment more.
Should the president open a pizzeria while Republicans have Congress? We've got peacekeeping appropriations next week.
I don't wanna get into it over $ 18 million for Chesapeake Bay.
We're gonna lose an ally in Landis.
One way or another, I think we're gonna lose Landis.
I say the two parties can't get together on anything.
The pizzeria thing was funny.
Thank you.
- I was just coming down to see you.
- I just needed Leo for a second.
Angel has maintenance every day whether the plane's flying or not.
Every 154 days, the plane's completely taken apart and put back together again.
fuel is sealed in a tank truck, guarded by sharpshooters.
One hour before wheels-up, Air Force specialists analyze fuel for purity and the right levels of octane and water.
The wiring is shielded to protect it from a thermonuclear blast.
To sabotage it, you have to get by or join the maintenance crew, which takes 12 years after a 2-year check.
- What do they think happened? - A light didn't work.
- Why? - I asked them.
- What did they say? - That sometimes lights don't work.
Okay.
- Hey.
Air Force One gonna land? - Pretty soon.
Can I just ask, out of curiosity, what point was Hoynes alerted? As soon as Andrews waves off the plane.
Would you guys mind? Could you give us the room for a second? What? Democrats want a tax on clams? It's not the Democrats, it's the Republicans.
- It's not gonna happen.
- What do you mean? It's not gonna get out of Committee.
The White House will pull its support.
But there's room in the EPA and Interior budgets.
- Room for everything but my name? - Yeah.
You guys are really gonna go after the seat next time? So are the Republicans, Tom.
You'll probably have a primary challenge.
If you keep squeezing out the liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats That's who's beatable.
If I'm running scared, I run to the right.
That's where the money is.
This was something that was never in my lap the right way.
A friend of mine's a comedian.
He was doing his standup here in town.
People from the German Consulate came down to see him and they came backstage afterwards, and they said to him: "How come we don't have anyone as funny as you back home?" My friend said, "Because you killed them all.
" Well, that's a bit of an overstatement.
- Isn't it? - Maybe.
Thanks for the work.
You should really come to Chesapeake Bay.
It's incredibly beautiful.
I will.
- He said I should come in.
- Yeah.
"The president does not think we should reinstate the draft nor does he intend to do so but he respects Chairman Richardson as a leader and is eager to hear what he has to say and to engage in thorough debate.
" - What's that? - What C.
J.
will say tomorrow for the votes of the Black Caucus on peacekeeping in Kundu.
- It's not gonna screw you too much? - No, it'll screw us the regular amount.
This isn't new.
The Union Army had a draft that you could buy yourself out for for $300.
The money came in handier than the soldiers.
Yeah, but I don't think that was my point.
If you have money, you have a greater life expectancy.
You're gonna have better health care, better shelter, better lawyers.
And if you've got today's equivalent of $300 you get to be united behind the war effort without actually fighting the war.
And you're one of my constituents too, so I shouldn't have to tell you that.
You don't, congressman, I was just on the job tonight.
What was your lottery number? One twenty-five.
It was the last six months of the draft.
It went up to 90 that year.
But I didn't have the 300 bucks.
I'm gonna call Sergeant Dokes' family now.
- I'd like to stay, if you don't mind.
- No, but stay standing.
Yeah.
- Are we near the tower? - Gear's down.
- What? - They got the indicator light.
They recycled the gear, and the light went on this time.
We're landing.
I was the one who said it first.
Signal, this is C.
J.
Cregg.
Please turn the phones back on in the press cabin.
We're landing.
We got an indicator light.
You should feel free to file.
Thank you all very much.
- Thank you, C.
J.
- Thank you, C.
J.
- C.
J.
, thank you.
- Thank you, C.
J.
Thank you.
- You heard? - Yeah.
Sit down.
Why did you ask about the front wheel before asking if it was the front wheel? If you have the rear wheels, you can try a hard landing to come down hard on the back wheels to whack the front into place.
- To whack it into place? - Yes.
- I'm happy I didn't have that information.
- Hit it wrong, the plane breaks in half.
- It just suddenly worked? - The gear? - Yeah.
- Yeah.
I'm not sure I'm good at living in a world where that's possible.
But you are.
I imagined myself destitute, I imagine myself unlucky in love but I never imagine my life would be in danger with uncommon frequency.
- Feels a little good, doesn't it? - No.
- Yes, it does.
- I'll make jokes when this is over.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Colonel Weiskopf.
From the hollering, you've heard we have an indicator light on our landing gear and we are cleared for landing at Andrews Air Force Base.
Our total flight time has been 22 hours and 13 minutes, using three flight crews.
We will have traveled 10,700 air miles on our return trip a significant portion of that over West Virginia and Tennessee.
White House staff informs us that, while airborne, three pieces of legislation have been negotiated and initialed by the president.
We've had an engagement, a birthday, Colombia was recertified in our drug war.
I hope you won 't consider this time we've spent together a waste.
And now I'm being handed Hang on just one moment Ladies and gentlemen, they're gonna move us to runway three-niner.
There's a strong wind shift under 10,000 feet, so Andrews has asked us to abandon our descent and maintain our current altitude.
I'm sure we'll be down in no time now.
Only the cream of the crop ride here.
The rest are in the zoo plane.
- Have you decided on a press policy? - I don't decide that for our armed forces.
We're gonna have a dabba-do time.
Unless there are any updates, I'll see you on the plane.
Because it's 18 hours from Manila, it's 9:25 p.
m.
Eastern.
- It should be 10:25.
- We left Manila at 3:25 today.
- We left Manila at 3:25 yesterday.
- In Manila, it was yesterday.
- Was it? - Well, no, actually, it was tomorrow.
But it's 9:25 right now, Eastern.
Agreed? I've agreed that it's 9:25.
I'm just saying it should be 9:25 in the morning.
But it's not.
You can just look out the window and check.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Lieutenant Colonel Caplan.
Colonel Weiskopf told you that we were beginning our initial descent but Andrews approach has asked us to make a left turn at Valhalla Vector maintain our altitude, and proceed along jet route five.
We assume there's a problem on the ground and just as soon as they have it figured out, they'll wave us on in.
He's saying the deadline for Colombia's recertification is midnight.
- Yes, sir.
- Didn't I sign those papers already? Yes, but the statute requires you have a briefing on the current drug situation.
- We'll do it in the car on the way in.
-Just to check: They'll tell me the narcotraficantes run the parliament, but we should recertify them as an ally in the drug war.
It's pro forma.
Better than having them as an enemy in the drug war.
- You mean calling them an enemy.
- I did.
- You gotta be briefed in person - Sir, Colonel Weiskopf to see you.
- The deadline for that is today, right? - Yes, sir.
- Jessie,"left turn, maintain altitude"? - Would you excuse us, please? Leo, hang on a second.
- What's the problem on the ground? - No problem on the ground, sir.
When we deployed hydraulics, our nose-wheel light didn't illuminate.
Chances are, it's a problem with the light itself.
But we have no way of knowing if our front wheels locked.
An F-16's been scrambled from Durbin Air Base.
It'll be here in 22 minutes.
- Then what happens? - They pull alongside to get a visual read.
- Then what? - If we don't have our wheels? - Yeah.
- There are a number of options.
- Keep me briefed? - Yes, sir.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, Mr.
President.
Listen.
We've got a problem up here.
Listen to me.
Are you listening? It's something that sounds worse than it is.
I can't tell you how many times this happens.
It's a 30-cent piece of plastic.
It should cost more, don't you think? A friend of mine landing a Beechcraft at Teterboro puts down the gear the wheels fall right off the plane.
He ditched it.
You got more of these stories? Oh, yeah, a thousand of them.
Seriously, man, if they dug a grave for me every time I lost an indicator light I've got a plane full of reporters up here.
- C.
J.
will know what to do.
- Sir? - Well, we're gonna give it a try.
- Good evening, Mr.
President.
Charlie, stay in here, would you? Here's what's going on.
The light that indicates that the landing gear is locked didn't go on which usually indicates a light problem.
But what they're gonna do is, they've sent a fighter jet to fly up alongside and get visual confirmation it's down, and then we land.
- Here's the tricky part.
- Here's the tricky part? The press can't know this is going on.
There are two issues: One is that the Nikkei's about to open, the other is national security.
We can't broadcast that Air Force One is up in the air and can't land.
They said it's a ground problem.
We'll stay with that.
What'll we say when they see an Air Force fighter out their window? - That's gonna take some thought.
- Okay.
Thank you.
Can you give me some tarmac jargon about what's happening on the ground? We shouldn't give them too many details.
Let's say a runway incursion.
A maintenance truck caused a fuel spill on the runway they want us to use.
- Are you all right? - Yeah.
Ed, Larry, can you talk to Will for a second? Anybody notice Chris has been on the phone for 20 minutes but hasn't spoken? - Hang on.
- Who remembers Dial-A-Joke? C.
J.
, what's going on? A maintenance truck caused a fuel spill on our runway a few minutes ago and they're cleaning it up.
- C.
J.
I don't know how long it's gonna take.
That was a stringer we use on the lvory Coast.
He's got double confirmation of friendly-fire deaths in Kundu a few hours ago.
- Thanks.
Signal, this is C.
J.
Cregg.
I need you to page Leo McGarry with a call holding.
Does it feel like there's still too much regulation? No.
I'm not saying"is there," I'm saying"does it feel like there is.
" Stop thinking like a Republican.
- I am a Republican.
- And that's fine.
I have nothing with that, I really don't.
I'm just saying stop thinking like one.
It's thinking like one that's gonna get this bill passed.
If it feels like, in the toxic provision, there's too much regulation It's cleaning up Chesapeake Bay.
It's not regulation, and regulation is what congressmen do.
Not Republican congressmen.
We look out for local business.
When the Chesapeake turns fluorescent colors, local business will have a bigger concern.
- That's why I support this bill.
- And why the president's signing it.
- You skipped where the majority votes.
- I'm asking you again, does it feel too? - No, it doesn't feel too regulated.
It doesn't have the texture of the je ne sais quoi - Hey, shut up.
of big government Let's get back to work.
What does"Chesapeake" mean? "Big Shellfish Bay.
" - You never spent any time there? - No.
It's incredibly beautiful.
- Josh.
- You ever been there? Chesapeake Bay? No.
There was a fuel spill on the ground at Andrews.
They've gotta clean it up before he can land.
Man, after an 18-hour flight? I'm heading back to my office.
Why don't you move onto point/nonpoint source pollution and storm runoff.
Back in a few minutes.
They've got a problem with landing gear.
- I know, I wrote the note.
- You wrote"landing geak.
" They've got to stay, check it out.
- They're saying it's nothing, right? - They're saying it's a light.
I want the president to look at the Medicaid rules.
- I'll fax them there.
- Josh.
- Congressmen.
- We had a meeting canceled.
Yeah, they spilled something on the runway.
"Runway incursion," it's called.
Nothing like flying 8000 miles, then circling the parking lot.
- You were with Landis? - I'm sorry? You were working with Tom Landis? - Donna - You want me to fax those? - And get C.
J.
on the phone.
- Yeah.
That's an R.
It's a K.
- Chesapeake Bay cleanup.
- We talked about this.
- It's nothing.
Chesapeake Bay cleanup.
- He's a vulnerable Republican.
- You're giving him his seat.
- It's a bipartisan bill, a victory for us.
An environmental bill.
The Republicans hate it.
It's very regulatory.
I don't care, his name is on it.
He's delivering Chesapeake Bay to Maryland.
They will reelect him.
I appreciate your thoughts.
You know what some Hill Democrats call the Bartlet reelect? "The lonely landslide.
" There's a sentiment that the president wanted a Republican congress - That's absurd.
- Why help one of the most vulnerable Republicans? - You're for divided government.
Divided government's what we got.
We should go on a hunger strike? No, but do you wanna take back the House? If Hill Democrats don't think your hearts are in it Then what? There's a reason they're calling it a lonely landslide.
I mean we've talked about this.
- Anyway, look, have a good night.
- Good night, congressmen.
Toby, they just told me.
Donna's getting C.
J.
on the phone.
- I sent Will in my place.
- It's not like they won't fix it.
- You don't have to feel guilty about it.
- No, thank God I sent Will in my place.
How long before they know? They're about five minutes away.
That's about all the time C.
J.
's got to work with because there's a wire-service guy at Andrews right now who records the wheels' downtime.
Pretty soon, he'll say, "Show me the spill.
" A wire guy on the ground? Toby, 20 White House reporters are about to see a supersonic fighter jet 200 feet outside their window.
It'll be a story, but he'll be down by then.
A couple of hours ago, we lost five guys in friendly fire in Kundu.
- What happened? - A platoon of infantrymen called in an air strike during live fire training.
There was a GPS error, and they became the target.
- Oh, God.
- I need you to talk to Mark Richardson.
Right away.
He's speaking at Brookings tomorrow and he's coming out against U.
S.
involvement in Kundu.
- We knew he felt that.
- We didn't know he was saying so at the Brookings Institution, so let's see what we can do.
Okay.
Called in an air raid, and the computer hit them as a target.
How would you like to have to be the guy who explains that? Were Simmel and Segal giving you a hard time about the Chesapeake cleanup? - They're not big fans of mine.
- I meant the nuisance of circling when I said,"Thank God I sent Will instead of me.
" - Not the other thing.
- I knew what you meant.
It's gonna be on the right side of the plane, and we'll be near Harper's Ferry.
Blue Ridge Mountains, what can we look at? - At night? - Any lights, fireworks? It's Wildflower Week at Shenandoah National Park.
Lilacs, ochre, crimson.
- Do they light up? - We're nowhere near that park.
- I was looking at Blue Ridge Mountains.
- A festival of lights? - Or astronomy? Is there a comet? - C.
J.
, Will.
Yeah, it's confirmed.
Five infantrymen.
They're on their way back.
- Have the families been notified? - No, I'm gonna do that on the ground.
Will, I was supposed to get a Colombia recertification briefing in the car.
- Can you do it up here? - You don't want someone from State? The statute says it's gotta be in person.
Yeah, I can do it.
What are you certifying? That Colombia's an ally in the drug war.
- So, what's the plan? - Looking for something in the mountains.
- At night? - Something with lights.
- Is that gonna work? - I don't see how it possibly can fail.
All right, let's get this over with and land.
- It's time.
It's a minute away.
- Okay.
- Good luck.
- Did you say,"good luck"? - Yeah.
- You're doing it.
I screw with them all the time, they won't buy it from me.
Or from anybody.
The plane will be close.
It's not worth a try? Look at my face.
- It's not worth a try? -"Look at my face"? - Listen - I'm going.
Hey, listen, everybody.
We're about to go by something incredible.
You hardly ever get to see this.
It's out the left side.
- What is it? - You gotta come over to the left side.
- Everybody over here.
- What are we over? The Blue Ridge Mountains.
There's a festival of lights and bonfires here that accompanies the"wildflower renaissance" with lilac and ochre.
That you can see from 33,000 feet? Yes.
It's arranged in a pattern that befuddles astronomers to this day.
- We should be coming up on it any - Oh, my God! What? Of course, on the right side of the plane is an F-16 Falcon.
What the hell's going on? - She's on our wing.
- Have we been attacked? Is that one of ours? What's going on? Signal, this is C.
J.
Cregg.
Shut off the phones in the press cabin.
There's a problem with the plane's landing gear.
- Is it down? - Sorry, sir, we don't know yet.
- Why not? - There's no moon.
It's tough to see.
- What's next? - We do a flyby at Andrews, take a look.
- How close do we fly to the tower? - Pretty close.
- At what altitude? - Pretty low.
We can't stay up here for a couple days and wait till there's a moon? We'll let the boys in the Falcon poke around a bit first but I want to - What else? We're gonna have to refuel pretty soon.
- Larry, go back and mention that to C.
J.
- Yes, sir.
- No one's in a position to file right now.
- Not in a position to? Air Force One isn't landing and has a military escort.
You'd file that, not mention the landing gear? We'd mention the gear, along with the maintenance truck.
The truck was to avoid panic.
You were gonna know the truth at the end.
I won't broadcast that the president's plane is in distress.
It creates very real security concerns and happens to be a world-market event.
- It is a market event.
- The story's embargoed.
If a cell phone appears, the phone will be confiscated by a steward.
- They wanna refuel.
- They wanna refuel.
How do they do that? Instead of an F-16 coming up next to us a KC-10 is gonna, well, land on top of us.
They know how to do it.
- They're gonna do a midair refueling.
- What does that mean? It means they think we're gonna be up here a little while longer.
How long can they stay up there? Theoretically, they can get refueled for months.
- I don't see that happening.
- Me neither.
The Falcon will give them a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
And if it's thumbs-down, they lay down foam? You guys shouldn't be talking about it out there.
You want me? You had a conversation with Simmel and Segal a little while ago? - About the Chesapeake cleanup.
- They're pissed as hell that Tom Landis is working in the Roosevelt Room.
- He didn't storm the gate.
They would've preferred that to your opening it.
The House is angry we didn't take back the House.
It was their fault, not ours.
Stopping all bipartisan legislation is like saying,"Let's blow up the place.
- Maybe voters will hire us to rebuild it.
" - I'm with you.
But I need you guys to make a small change to Chesapeake.
- We're finishing it.
What do you need? - The caucus chair and the DCCC want revenue enhancements, a dedicated levy from local businesses and binding targets on all the nonpoint source stuff.
Okay.
It's about three ways of saying a brand-new tax on local business.
Yes.
I'm fine with that.
I'm for it.
But Tom's gotta take this back to Republicans.
And we have to take it to Democrats.
It's reasonable.
We put the same provisions in Superfund.
Super.
What's going on up there? Margaret, get me the Sit Room.
The F-16's having trouble seeing the gear because it's a moonless night.
They just took on another four hours' worth of fuel.
On one.
Major.
Are we comfortable any longer with the plane up there by itself? I agree.
And there's gonna be a wire-service reporter on the ground at Andrews who's gonna start seeing something.
Have them spill some fuel out there.
Please, on a runway we're not gonna need.
The president.
At least all our friends are gonna have some company now.
with their missiles armed.
- I'm Toby Ziegler.
- He's waiting for you.
You can go in.
Thank you.
Congressman, I have some bad news.
One of your constituents died today.
Gunnery Sergeant Harold Dokes from Bedford-Stuyvesant.
It was a friendly-fire accident.
Five guys reported fire, and a computer popped their coordinates and their bodies are being flown here now.
What did you wanna talk to me about? Your speech at the Brookings Institution.
Are you opposing intervention in Kundu because it's black kids who are doing the dying? I oppose intervention in Kundu because I'm waiting for intervention in Brooklyn.
But the fact that this is immediate The mass slaughter of tens of thousands of Africans, which calls for - I understand what it You ever been to a maximum-security prison? Maximum, no.
The black kids are dying there too.
- The lives we're saving in Kundu - I wasn't elected by the lives we're saving in Kundu.
I was elected by the lives doing the saving.
But you agree there are moral imperatives? If there are moral imperatives, you've got to tell me we're gonna get everybody beginning with the Saudis.
Obviously, we need votes from the Black Caucus next week.
Are you telling me it isn't in the interest of black America? It is in the interest of working-class America, black, Latino and even white to be able to choose between more than a McDonald's or a Marine uniform.
- How is opposing the Peacekeeping Bill? - I'm not opposing the bill.
The Black Caucus will stand behind it, but with a proposed amendment.
- Doing what? - Reinstating the draft.
The kids in my district will live longer if their fortunes are tied more closely to the fortunes of the kids in Josh Lyman's district.
You wanna draft a million middle-class kids out of spite? I don't wanna draft anybody out of anything.
I'm just trying to promote some patriotic unity.
Bill! - Yes, sir.
- Find out when the president expects to call the parents of Sergeant Harold Dokes.
I'll be next.
- Yes, sir.
- You want a drink? Thank you.
You know what gripes my ass? How you doing? - Good.
- If anything ever happened to me chances are it's when I'm next to you, and I'm gonna be an"also dead.
" "Senior Bartlet advisor Joshua Lyman killed by a pack of wild dogs.
Also dead, Diane Moss.
" I'm not feeling useful right now.
- I should know how to do more here.
- No one's feeling useful right now.
No, you're doing things.
You're doing something right now.
- What are you doing right now? - What are you doing now? Nothing.
This is my point.
How come you go out with so many Republicans? - I don't.
- You do.
Cliff, Commander Wonderful Dr.
Free-Ride.
- I don't know.
I got a good response to the ad I put in Roll Call.
"Seeking 30-something male into emotions to recommit.
" I can do more.
I wanna learn how.
Do you know how to lock the landing gear? No.
- Let's go.
You got the? And the? - Here.
- Thank you.
- What does the foam do, exactly? - On the runway? - Yeah.
It's flame-retardant.
For fire.
But it's not impact-retardant, is it? I mean, the plane would still coming out of the sky at some velocity, have to land on concrete.
You can take this back to the office.
Any movement? - No.
- He knows about the kid from Bed-Stuy? Yeah, he's got a long list of kids from Bed-Stuy.
The Black Caucus will back the bill if we back reinstating the draft.
- He's going through with that stunt? - Yeah.
The Left's come full circle, hasn't it? By the way, draftees aren't as well-trained.
It's why there were so many casualties in Vietnam.
- Right.
Also, the Vietcong.
- Plus that.
- What if we said we'd allow debate? - It's a stunt, and Kundu is for real.
We can't get involved.
Talk to OMB and find out what we can give him.
Wake somebody up, I gotta go meet with Nancy.
Is cocaine production in Colombia up or down? It's up 200 percent.
And how many of our extradition requests have been honored? None.
- None? - No, there was - Yes, none.
- Any good news? - Anything we can hang our hat on? - Their attorney general reported that their narcotics people stole $2 million of antidrug money.
- That's good news? - Usually, they don't report it.
What did they spend it on? If you tell me cocaine - No, sir, vacations.
- So I recertify them in recognition that they took our money and went to SeaWorld.
- And reported it.
- All right, leave that stuff with me.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
You want one? - You want a beer? - No, thanks.
- It's gonna be fine.
- What do you mean? - I know you're afraid of flying.
- I'm not.
- I can tell.
- Four hours of fuel they took.
- You know it was there? - He's afraid of flying.
- I'm not.
- It's okay, you're afraid of flying.
I am not.
I'm not afraid of flying.
- I experience flying.
- Why sign up for the Air Force Reserve? For a lot of reasons, and one was the romance of flight, but I got over that.
I never thought that would happen.
But these guys practice hard landings all the time.
This isn't a big deal.
- Hey, everybody.
How's it going in here? - Good.
- How's it going up there? - I don't know why it's taking so long to clean fuel up off a runway.
It must be - Can't use another runway? - Guess not.
How about landing at Dulles? I'm sure that's what they're gonna do if they You know.
I wanna read over what we got, but we're all done here except the Caucus chair wants to add revenue enhancements.
- The chair wants revenue enhancements? - Yeah.
- A tax on local business.
- A dedicated levy.
- That's a tax.
- Yeah.
- From the Caucus chair or the DCCC? - Both.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wants a tax? We can find more offsets.
There's a way to do this.
You guys wanna pass this or not? Of course.
Whatever Republican votes we may lose we'll make up on the other side.
- It's not gonna get out of Committee.
I'm sorry.
Yes, it will.
You gotta find more offsets and more ways to bury them.
It's 18 million to clean up Chesapeake Bay.
It's nothing.
- It's watershed management.
- Yes.
Leo wants you to call these members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
They just walked off the Kundu Peacekeeping Bill.
And to work with Airlift Ops on Angel maintenance procedures.
We're gonna need it when they land.
What are Angel maintenance procedures? Angel is the code word for Air Force One.
- I didn't know that.
- C.
J.
's gonna be answering questions about maintenance procedures.
She'll need briefing.
Why didn't I know that Ops calls the plane Angel? I usually deal with them.
All right, well, deal with them now.
- No, not on this.
- Yeah.
I talk to them about people's luggage.
We don't have a luggage problem.
Call your guys at Airlift Ops.
Say they gotta educate the press secretary on maintenance procedures as soon as Angel's on the ground.
Karen.
Make these phone calls for Josh, please.
Leo, how many times has the Black Caucus, on retreats, at dinners? There was a dinner two years ago where the vice chairs pulled a map of Africa.
They wanted Africa as a priority.
Now they're making me look like an idiot.
- Mark's got a tough district.
- Now they want Brooklyn as a priority.
When did they become Smoot and Hawley? Hang on a second.
Jessie Weiskopf's coming down, and he ain't smiling.
Sir, they can't get a visual read.
We'll go ahead with the flyby at Andrews.
- Okay.
And how long will this take? - About an hour and 15 minutes.
- An hour and 15? Where are we? - Over central Tennessee.
They took us off the jet routes.
All right.
Pretty soon, though, we gotta stop just flying around.
- This is qualifying as space travel now.
- What's going on? The Falcon couldn't get a visual read, so we'll buzz the tower at Andrews.
Weiskopf says it's gonna be an hour and 15.
I'm gonna call the families from up here, of the five guys.
- We'll send up the numbers.
- Thanks.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
They're gonna fly by the tower at Andrews.
My question about the foam is that the steel is still landing on concrete.
They have their back wheels.
Can you get me C.
J.
? - Will.
- Yes, sir.
I'm gonna call the families now.
They'll send up some information.
- Can you help me out? - Yes, sir.
Just give this to C.
J.
You should read it on the way.
Yes, sir.
Do me a favor, find out what happens if I don't certify Colombia.
Find out what happens if I decertify Colombia.
- Really? - If I'm up here, I should do something.
- Yes, sir.
- The flyby's gonna take an hour and 15.
- Would you tell C.
J.
? - Yes, sir.
C.
J.
? If there is an issue of national security - There is.
- Isn't it a national issue for everyone? Meaning, turn on the phones.
Ask Steve what time it is.
It'll crack you up.
How is it a threat to anyone on the ground? Air Force One doesn't break all by itself.
Somewhere, they're talking about the possibility the plane was sabotaged.
- By screwing with the wheel? - If the problem's a leak in hydraulics they recycle the gear, the plane'll blow up.
No, you're right, I should definitely let you use the phones.
We're gonna do a flyby at Andrews.
This thing's almost over.
What are you doing? - Hey.
- What are you doing? - Did OMB have anything? - Budget doesn't have what Mark wants.
He can call OMB himself.
Leo, let's say we study some version of his amendment.
- We'll look ridiculous.
- It's not ridiculous.
- It's a stunt.
- It is, but it's not ridiculous.
- We say we're gonna study the draft - There'll never be a draft.
He wants the debate.
We want our peacekeeping appropriation.
- Everyone's happy.
- Hardly anyone's happy.
The president's gonna study, reinstate We're for peacekeeping in Kundu.
- Mark's point is who - I know Mark's point.
- People who got nowhere else to go.
- They go for advancement.
The five guys on their way home didn't advance very far, is Mark's point.
It was a computer error, Toby.
Yeah, I know.
Find out what"considering the amendment" has to look like in order for the Black Caucus to stay on board.
I will.
Thank you.
Decertifying Colombia triggers automatic economic or trade sanctions.
- We lose some money.
- Yes.
The State Department feels the president's credibility with his legislature is based on his ties with the U.
S.
, which would be significantly damaged.
Right, but I'm more concerned with our credibility.
He told me at the Summit of the Americas that he'd work toward crop diversification.
Did he mean opium and coca? They asked that I remind you that his opponent in the last election took campaign cash from the cartels, and if we weaken the president we could get a reactionary.
- He's not helping us so why should I give him political cover? Listen, I'm serious.
What would happen if I don't recertify Colombia? Well actually, you can't.
- I can't what? Can't not recertify.
They'll be automatically recertified.
Why? - Because the deadline was midnight - It has to be delivered.
- The actual paper? - That's what the Counsel's - This is how the world works? - How recertification works.
I want this plane to land! Did it work? - All right, thanks.
- Thank you, Mr.
President.
You wanted to see me? The Chesapeake cleanup isn't gonna happen.
- At all? - It's not gonna come out of Committee.
Because of the revenue enhancements? - I think a little of everything.
- What happened? They weren't wild about it in the first place.
Deaver didn't like that Landis was working so closely with you.
Those two idiots told the Republicans? They were already pissed at him.
He's vulnerable, and they want his seat.
We take back the House, there's any number Mileage standards reauthorize CWA, many things we can do that help the environment more.
Should the president open a pizzeria while Republicans have Congress? We've got peacekeeping appropriations next week.
I don't wanna get into it over $ 18 million for Chesapeake Bay.
We're gonna lose an ally in Landis.
One way or another, I think we're gonna lose Landis.
I say the two parties can't get together on anything.
The pizzeria thing was funny.
Thank you.
- I was just coming down to see you.
- I just needed Leo for a second.
Angel has maintenance every day whether the plane's flying or not.
Every 154 days, the plane's completely taken apart and put back together again.
fuel is sealed in a tank truck, guarded by sharpshooters.
One hour before wheels-up, Air Force specialists analyze fuel for purity and the right levels of octane and water.
The wiring is shielded to protect it from a thermonuclear blast.
To sabotage it, you have to get by or join the maintenance crew, which takes 12 years after a 2-year check.
- What do they think happened? - A light didn't work.
- Why? - I asked them.
- What did they say? - That sometimes lights don't work.
Okay.
- Hey.
Air Force One gonna land? - Pretty soon.
Can I just ask, out of curiosity, what point was Hoynes alerted? As soon as Andrews waves off the plane.
Would you guys mind? Could you give us the room for a second? What? Democrats want a tax on clams? It's not the Democrats, it's the Republicans.
- It's not gonna happen.
- What do you mean? It's not gonna get out of Committee.
The White House will pull its support.
But there's room in the EPA and Interior budgets.
- Room for everything but my name? - Yeah.
You guys are really gonna go after the seat next time? So are the Republicans, Tom.
You'll probably have a primary challenge.
If you keep squeezing out the liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats That's who's beatable.
If I'm running scared, I run to the right.
That's where the money is.
This was something that was never in my lap the right way.
A friend of mine's a comedian.
He was doing his standup here in town.
People from the German Consulate came down to see him and they came backstage afterwards, and they said to him: "How come we don't have anyone as funny as you back home?" My friend said, "Because you killed them all.
" Well, that's a bit of an overstatement.
- Isn't it? - Maybe.
Thanks for the work.
You should really come to Chesapeake Bay.
It's incredibly beautiful.
I will.
- He said I should come in.
- Yeah.
"The president does not think we should reinstate the draft nor does he intend to do so but he respects Chairman Richardson as a leader and is eager to hear what he has to say and to engage in thorough debate.
" - What's that? - What C.
J.
will say tomorrow for the votes of the Black Caucus on peacekeeping in Kundu.
- It's not gonna screw you too much? - No, it'll screw us the regular amount.
This isn't new.
The Union Army had a draft that you could buy yourself out for for $300.
The money came in handier than the soldiers.
Yeah, but I don't think that was my point.
If you have money, you have a greater life expectancy.
You're gonna have better health care, better shelter, better lawyers.
And if you've got today's equivalent of $300 you get to be united behind the war effort without actually fighting the war.
And you're one of my constituents too, so I shouldn't have to tell you that.
You don't, congressman, I was just on the job tonight.
What was your lottery number? One twenty-five.
It was the last six months of the draft.
It went up to 90 that year.
But I didn't have the 300 bucks.
I'm gonna call Sergeant Dokes' family now.
- I'd like to stay, if you don't mind.
- No, but stay standing.
Yeah.
- Are we near the tower? - Gear's down.
- What? - They got the indicator light.
They recycled the gear, and the light went on this time.
We're landing.
I was the one who said it first.
Signal, this is C.
J.
Cregg.
Please turn the phones back on in the press cabin.
We're landing.
We got an indicator light.
You should feel free to file.
Thank you all very much.
- Thank you, C.
J.
- Thank you, C.
J.
- C.
J.
, thank you.
- Thank you, C.
J.
Thank you.
- You heard? - Yeah.
Sit down.
Why did you ask about the front wheel before asking if it was the front wheel? If you have the rear wheels, you can try a hard landing to come down hard on the back wheels to whack the front into place.
- To whack it into place? - Yes.
- I'm happy I didn't have that information.
- Hit it wrong, the plane breaks in half.
- It just suddenly worked? - The gear? - Yeah.
- Yeah.
I'm not sure I'm good at living in a world where that's possible.
But you are.
I imagined myself destitute, I imagine myself unlucky in love but I never imagine my life would be in danger with uncommon frequency.
- Feels a little good, doesn't it? - No.
- Yes, it does.
- I'll make jokes when this is over.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Colonel Weiskopf.
From the hollering, you've heard we have an indicator light on our landing gear and we are cleared for landing at Andrews Air Force Base.
Our total flight time has been 22 hours and 13 minutes, using three flight crews.
We will have traveled 10,700 air miles on our return trip a significant portion of that over West Virginia and Tennessee.
White House staff informs us that, while airborne, three pieces of legislation have been negotiated and initialed by the president.
We've had an engagement, a birthday, Colombia was recertified in our drug war.
I hope you won 't consider this time we've spent together a waste.
And now I'm being handed Hang on just one moment Ladies and gentlemen, they're gonna move us to runway three-niner.
There's a strong wind shift under 10,000 feet, so Andrews has asked us to abandon our descent and maintain our current altitude.
I'm sure we'll be down in no time now.