The West Wing s04e23 Episode Script
Twenty Five
Previously on The West Wing: I'm gonna go and put some water on my face.
You're sad.
And you're angry.
And you're not warm.
- My water broke.
- You'll see one of your kids in 15 minutes.
Bookbag's been taken.
I have an agent down.
We're black.
Go to black.
Zoey Bartlet is missing, and there's a dead agent at the scene.
My husband's been having some empty-nest problems.
Jerry's been sighing all week.
Has the president? Jed's been sighing.
He's been sighing in all kinds of dead languages.
Those pearls really are beautiful.
Thank you.
Yeah.
The men are not taking this very well.
Fellas, you know, we're all having a good time over here.
We're having a good time here too.
Doing what? Talking about the too rapid passage of time and, you know, grieving.
He's gonna schedule nine White House visits to France over the next three months.
He's accepting every invitation.
He's gonna be a judge at the Cannes Film Festival.
I told you it was this one.
The day we brought her home from the hospital.
Tell me that wasn't a month ago.
What is she doing graduating summa cum laude from something.
- Remember the ride home? Scariest drive of your life.
Seven miles an hour with the hazard lights on all the way home.
From what I remembered, did we have baby seats then or did we just hold on very tight? Yeah, we had the .
Hey, honey, were there baby seats when Jackie was born? Yes, of course there were.
There were baby seats, indoor plumbing.
That was 21 years ago.
I can't remember our hotel from last night.
I wore all of my jewelry to the hospital when George was born.
- I don't know why.
- To show off.
- Okay, Harbor Patrol's got the Potomac? - Yes, sir.
- Forensics! - Wes, what the hell is going on? - She's been taken.
- What are you talking about? - How many? - 188, 24 stat! - What are you talking about? - Zoey's been taken.
We had her in the bathroom.
She's gone.
- She's messing with you.
- No.
- Local news over there.
- Doesn't matter! We move them away.
She's messing with you.
She's at a Baskin-Robbins with her girlfriends.
- You gotta call these people off.
- They shot one of my agents.
Molly's dead.
They shot Molly.
Molly's dead? - They couldn't - Charlie.
- Couldn't have gotten far.
- Stay here.
- My car's around the corner.
- We need to stay here.
They're gonna need to talk to us.
Get off of me! They've already dropped a net on the city.
They've already dropped a net.
They aren't getting anywhere.
We were the last people to see her go in the club.
They're gonna wanna have a word with us.
Metro Police have roadblocks around Georgetown.
They've closed down the Key Bridge, Memorial Bridge and Route 29.
FBI's putting up a command post at OEOB? - Yes.
- CIA and Diplomatic Security are briefed? Right now, and they're wired to the Ops Center.
We're gonna begin questioning Do you have my older daughters? Do you have Ellie and Elizabeth? Yes, sir.
There's no need to keep this a secret.
We wanna get it out there quickly and massively.
- Mike, turn the lights on? - Secret Service put themselves on the police frequencies, so anyone with a scanner has it.
Major, I need C.
J.
Cregg.
Are we being attacked? - We don't know.
- Tell me what you think.
I think we're being attacked, but this is gonna take some time.
- How much? - Forty-five minutes to assemble and evaluate known threats.
An hour to crosscheck with the Secret Service list.
- Two hours for interviews at the club.
- Related incidents? We don't believe the three high-profile abductions last week are related.
- Mexican CEO, two DEA agents in Peru.
- Patterns? INS says three separate groups of Qumari nationals 17 people all together, flew back today.
Eleven out of JFK and six out of Dulles and traffic lights went out at Wisconsin and M four minutes after Wes Davis called in to the AOP.
- What is it they're gonna want? Bahji prisoners freed? We get out of Qumar? We get out of Kundu? They'll let us know, sir.
- In a typical kidnapping - It's not a typical kidnapping.
Wait.
Nancy, what did you say? Is there anyone here who thinks this sounds like a typical kidnapping? Could it have been more low-tech? A plan based on knowing when someone needs to use the bathroom? - 17 Qumari nationals leave the country? - Out of 10,000 in the U.
S.
Every car rental agency is out of vans and U-Hauls? It's graduation weekend.
Every kid in the mid-Atlantic is moving right now.
We shut down the airports.
Either they didn't know we were gonna do that, or they didn't care.
Either way, Mike, does this seem like a James Bond operation to you? - I don't know what it is yet.
- I wanna stop hearing that answer soon.
Union Station too? We shut down Union Station? Yes, sir.
I'm gonna check on Abbey.
Leo, whoever took her doesn't know what they're doing.
It was an absurd kidnapping.
She's not gonna turn up in a Bahji camp.
She'll turn up in the back of a muffler shop.
Well, I'm looking at Syria moving 20,000 troops closer to Lebanon today and Pakistan testing a long-range missile so I'm not sure about that.
I was there at the arboretum, but I didn't see her.
- I don't understand.
- This part doesn't matter.
- We don't know what matters.
- You're right.
I'm sorry.
We went there together we hopped the wall and when we realized that Zoey was also there, I stayed with Agent Reed.
We buried a bottle of champagne out there three and a half years ago to celebrate graduation.
- Where's"out there"? - At a spot in the Asian garden.
- How much champagne she have? Maybe a third of the bottle.
I don't know.
Charlie, there was no evidence of a struggle at the club.
None.
All she had to do was press a panic button, and she didn't do that.
I found it on the ground.
It's graduation night.
She's going to France.
They didn't try anything? Vicodin, Valium, ecstasy? Ecstasy.
- Jean-Paul! - You need to sit down, son! Hey.
She said you wanted her to take ecstasy with you.
Did you give some to her? - He's out of it.
- Did you give her ecstasy? Just tell me! Wait, wait.
This guy isn't .
Look at me for a second.
Yeah, this guy isn't high on X.
Get me a paramedic! What's your dealer's name, huh? Who gave this to you? Give me a name.
Listen to me.
You're gonna be fine.
You are the key witness to the end of the world.
Come on, we're gonna keep you alive.
You have to tell me who gave this to you.
- What's wrong with him? - I don't give a damn.
- Get a blood sample to the lab.
- Yes, sir.
- All right, you guys are done.
- Listen, I .
I don't know what to say about Molly.
Go back to the White House, Josh.
Stand your post.
No law-enforcement issues from the podium.
Refer them to the FBI.
Crime scene's still secured.
No press on the scene.
- I heard there was.
- It was local news at the party.
- C.
J.
Excuse me, Carol.
- Yes, sir.
Do not get into a discussion of the president's emotional state.
Pivot whatever you get to commander in chief.
Congressional leadership's been notified.
- We'll have statements in an hour.
- Carol gave me that.
We're in control.
The government is functioning.
This is the most important press conference of your life.
- Has anyone heard from Toby? - You haven't? I saw him this morning, then he went with Andy to the house.
I have to write a statement, and I don't know where to start.
- He'll answer his page.
- Listen.
- Yeah.
- Nothing.
What? - There's no vice president.
- What's that to do with this? Do we expect him to get a call and say, "We don't negotiate with terrorists"? One step at a time.
- Good luck.
- Thanks.
- C.
J.
- C.
J.
At 11:21 p.
m.
, Special Agent Wesley Davis of the U.
S.
Secret Service called in an AOP, which means: -"Attack on the principal.
" - C.
J.
As I said, they're obviously examining any tape from security cameras from the club, but we don't have a photograph of what she was wearing.
I'm gonna repeat again what witnesses have told us.
Black pants, black high-heeled boots, a black tank top over a red tank top which makes it appear, from a distance, the black top has red piping.
Walking in the club, she was wearing a multicolored silk jacket but it appears she may have taken it off.
I know this feed is being carried live by all the networks.
I wanna remind the directors to keep the 800 number to keep the tip line bannered on your air, please.
Two more questions.
Surely he's not reacting as if this is someone else's kid? Is there a concern she's being raped? Lyle, for the sake of a number of distraught people I ask you not to publicly speculate.
Katie, then I've gotta go.
Any concern that this could exacerbate his MS? No.
Thank you.
I'll brief again in an hour.
When will you release the name of the agent? As soon as we can locate her family.
- C.
J.
- C.
J.
- Where have you been? - All of Northwest is shut down.
Pennsylvania Avenue and Connecticut Avenue are shut down.
I wouldn't be surprised if Pennsylvania and Connecticut were shut down.
There are no cabs.
The Metro's closed.
Metro Police took me to 18th Street.
It took me 15 minutes to get in with a hard pass.
Where have you been? - I won't repeat that.
Got a statement? - Here.
You have 100 messages.
How do you want them? In your hand for a moment.
"In this difficult time, we are grateful for the support of the American" We're not asking for fruit.
It's gotta say: "Our youngest daughter has been abducted.
She will be found, brought home safely, and her abductors caught and punished.
" "While we work for her return the world community must know this country will not be taken hostage that our efforts toward peace and freedom continue unabated.
" Good.
- How is he? - I haven't seen him.
- What about Abbey? - Somebody's looking.
- They want a doctor to see him.
- He won't let them sedate him.
It's a waste of time.
I don't want that leaked.
- It's not for a sedative.
- MS? Yeah.
Where's Leo on the stock exchange? We haven't had time to talk, but if we don't have her by 6 we gotta recommend that Leo instruct the Treasury to suspend trading.
That the president instruct the Treasury.
There is no mechanism, none.
There is no mechanism for presidential recusal.
Leo can't give an order to the Treasury secretary.
- The Treasury secretary can't follow it.
- All right.
I heard the briefing on the radio.
You did great.
For the rest of the night, they get their information from us, not the agencies.
- Josh? - I've started the calls.
you've gotta call.
You'll need a posse.
State calls the ambassadors.
Will, sit in on all the meetings tonight in the counsel's office, report to Josh quickly.
He won't have time for a memo.
Well, let's go.
Oh, hey .
This is .
By the way, this is .
The babies were born.
- What babies? - The twins.
Andy had the babies.
- That's where I was.
At the hospital.
- Oh, my God.
- Are you kidding? - No.
- It just happened 10 days early.
- Are they okay? Yeah, they're great.
Six pounds, 1 ounce.
Each.
God.
Mazel tov, Toby.
- Mazel tov.
- Toby.
No, wait, wait.
Do they have names? The boy does.
He's named after Andy's grandfather.
What's his name? - Huck.
- Huck.
What a great name for a boy.
- We've gotta get back to work.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Toby .
Okay.
Okay.
This is high.
I'm a little concerned.
You and me both.
Mr.
President, they've located Molly O'Connor's parents.
They're on the phone now.
How many people are in the building? - Including press? - Not including.
Not many.
Anyone who left town can't get back.
- Why did people leave town? - It's the weekend.
They went crazy.
- We'll need people.
- Do you know how many faxes we've gotten and how many of them are from your insane groupies? The Lyman ho's have chosen this time to let you know via fax: "Should you need physical comfort during this horrible time .
" Read that.
Do you like that? Is that what turns you on, you sicky? - I didn't write this.
- They must sense it in you.
- What are the others? - I just picked them up.
It's more thoughts and prayers, good wishes.
- That's nice.
- And bus-station skanks.
Do you need help with these calls? Yeah, but you gotta sit with Babish and his guys.
Spreklettes of Ames, lowa, hope we don't exploit this to make another argument about guns.
The Spreklettes of Ames have weighed in.
- The speechwriting interns are here.
- They got in? - They've been here.
- On a Saturday night? - It was a character-building exercise.
- You hear that? These interns, they can talk on the phone? Yeah.
They gotta talk to congressmen.
They'll - Hang on.
- They can do it, but you should - Hang on.
- What? This is one tank top on top of another tank top.
This is a Polaroid of Zoey.
That's a ransom note.
- Sir.
- Blood tests? They found GHB, gamma hydroxybutyrate.
It's degreasing solvent mixed with drain cleaner, and in low doses - In low doses, it's a date-rape drug.
- Yes, sir.
- What about the boy? - He'll be conscious in an hour or so.
Where is it? This is the translation.
We think this is Zoey? It's a fax-quality picture, but the left shoulder - Where was it faxed from? - A Kinko's in Dover.
A security camera got a partial license plate.
It's a minivan rented to a Shahab Kaleel, and there's an FBI APB out.
"Release Uzma Kalil, Ahmed Mansour and Barmak Essa from the Islamabad maximum-security prison.
The president will announce on television that the U.
S.
will abandon its presence in Qumar.
" Now, analysts say Qumar's mufti made a call for martyrdom operations last week using phrasing almost identical to the next passage and named those three prisoners.
Two years ago, a Bahji cell kidnapped the sons of the prime minister of Eritrea in exchange for close to 100 of their prisoners.
Where are you? I wanna prepare to attack the following targets: The Bahji C3l: Communications, Command, Control and Intelligence.
I wanna move the C-130s and the Blackhawks and move the Washington carrier group into the gulf to strike three Bahji camps in Qumar.
- I believe we can't move yet.
This will escalate.
This will get worse before it gets better.
Sir, that boy's gonna be conscious in an hour and we have a chance of finding the dealer once he is.
We're gonna find the dealer, Nancy, but he's gonna be dead when we do.
- Move the 5th Fleet into the gulf.
- Yes, sir.
No, and I think we should be careful about saying that but certainly, it's easy to imagine how this escalates to a military situation under any number of scenarios.
Thank you, and we'll be coming back to you.
We've been, from time to time, showing you home-movie footage in the corner of our screen.
I don 't have the dates in front of me, but it looks like she can 't Huck? Yeah.
That's nice.
I like that.
It's her grandfather's.
Hey.
Hey.
The house.
What happened? What happened? Did you propose? Yeah.
We tabled it, though, because, you know .
- You had to go to the hospital.
- Yeah.
Was there time to tell her you bought the house? Yeah, I told her about the house.
What'd she say? - This really doesn't feel like the night .
- What did she say? She said no.
Well, I mean, that'll change, right? Hey, let me ask you something.
When Jenny was pregnant with Mallory, you were nervous, right? - Yeah.
- Yeah, me too.
Every father.
Yeah.
But I think I was nervous for a different reason.
What? I think I was nervous I wasn't gonna love my kids the way other fathers love theirs.
Why? I don't know.
lf, for nine months, you're hearing how this is gonna change your life, and: "You've never loved anything like this," and,"My God, the love" and,"Nothing is gonna be important anymore .
" It just never felt to me like I was someone who had the capacity for those feelings.
Plus, you know, I .
I like what's important to me.
I want it to stay important.
I wanna be able to do it well.
What do you mean, you don't have the capacity? Anyway, I was just curious.
Of course you're gonna be a great father.
Of course you'll love your kids how you're supposed to, the way other fathers My God, Leo we look around, we see that's not true, not automatic.
I'm not talking about everybody.
I'm talking about you, and I'm telling you, it's a mortal lock.
It's guaranteed.
Toby, what went on at the house? With the Capitol area virtually sealed off all air traffic has been grounded.
Mrs.
Bartlet? Ma'am? Mrs.
Bartlet? I'm gonna make a direct appeal.
They'll turn on the cameras when I go into the briefing room.
- You can't.
- I'm the mother.
- You can't.
- I don't know why I waited.
I screwed up.
- Let's sit down.
- Get away from me.
You can't go in the press room.
It'll - I've seen mothers do it.
- Abbey.
- You can't go in the press room.
- I'll make a direct appeal.
I don't know why I waited.
I've seen mothers do it.
- Mrs.
Bartlet! - Mrs.
Bartlet! Guys, give her a break.
It can be seen as negotiating with them and could undermine the military threats the president is making and if the goal is to destabilize our government they'll see you and know they're succeeding.
You can't go in the press room.
I know.
I'd just seen other mothers do it.
I screwed up.
Abbey, come sit on my couch for a minute.
I'm gonna call the doctor.
- Tell him I want whatever Zoey got.
- Come sit on my couch.
It's Amy.
Yeah, she's all right.
She's fine.
If you could just step into the press secretary's office.
Thank you.
Mr.
President, have Leo meet with the Qumari ambassador.
Have him do it before the sun comes up.
Try the diplomatic route before this gets out of hand.
- Before it gets out of hand? Sir, I wanna put the planes in the air now.
If we're gonna end up striking bases later on in Tamar and Laddi we'll need some element of surprise.
Chairman, do I have to remind you that Qumar is an ally? You don't.
But I ask, what good is an ally if their citizens are capable of waging war on their own? Excuse me, sir.
We have a problem.
One? There's an airplane up there.
Captain, give us the controller's transmission, please.
- Yes, sir.
- An unidentified Beech Baron 58.
It's a twin-prop plane.
It's over Richland, Washington and it hasn't acknowledged communications from Air Traffic Control.
They're 90 miles from the Saw Mill River Nuclear Reactor.
Beech 0827, do you respond, over? Beech 0827, this is Air Route Traffic Control Center, Seattle.
Do you respond, over? - We scrambled the jets? - Two F-15s from Portland.
They're over water.
They have clear shots.
When do you want the order, - Sixty, 50? - I'm sorry, Mr.
President, which target? - The nuclear plant.
- How far away do I wait? Has the transponder been dialed to 7700? Negative.
No signal.
Seventy-seven hundred's an emergency frequency? If you lose your radio, you set your transponder to 7700.
Seventy-five hundred means you've been hijacked.
- These guys aren't signaling anything.
- Fellas, we've got confusion in here.
When do I give the order? Beech 0827, this is Air Route Traffic Control Center, Seattle.
Seventy miles.
But they're gonna be over population in about a minute.
- Talk to me.
- General .
Beech 0827, this is U.
S.
Air Force F- 15 56.
I'm a half-mile back on your right side, and I have missile lock.
Switch to frequency 12 1.
5 and stand by for slow flight.
Yeah, this is Beech 0827.
Sorry about that.
We were having a problem with the With the thing.
- Mr.
President.
- I know you wanna get the planes in the air.
I wanna think about it a minute, okay? Of course, sir.
I don't know what to do about the military options.
Nancy's making good points.
Sorry about the confusion.
I know we practiced that.
We're doing fine.
I don't think so.
I need you to tell me now.
- Do you think she's already dead? - I absolutely do not.
If they show me a picture of her alive and say to aim missiles at Tel Aviv, they're counting on me But you wouldn't.
I might.
There are people around you who won't let you.
How about a knife to her throat, get out of Saudi Arabia? - You shouldn't think of images like that.
- All I can think of are images like that.
- Sir - Leo, please listen to me.
Did Fitz give me target recommendations a little while ago? Yes, sir.
He wants to attack a base I don't remember having the conversation or what targets he wants to hit.
- Did I green-light the targets? - Of course not.
Mr.
President, no one is expecting you to keep the U.
S.
out of a war tonight.
Me and Nancy and Fitz are standing right next to you.
When you get information, you don't need to remember it.
And we're standing right next to you when you give orders.
You're not gonna hurt anybody.
I know it's a strange time to bring this up but I forecasted this once.
I made up a scary story a few years ago for Zoey so that she'd take her protection seriously, and I went too far.
And I scared her.
And she cried.
This was the story.
Leo, the people you just named don't have the legal authority to stop me from doing certain things.
And some of them would go to jail if they didn't follow my orders.
Very quietly I want you to assemble the Cabinet.
I want you to call the speaker of the house.
Is she asleep? Yeah.
Mr.
Ziegler? You know, these people went home last night.
I can bring the babies in there.
You can have Oh, no.
Thank you.
No.
That's okay.
Okay.
Yeah, sure.
Right over here.
There we go.
They need to be fed soon, so I'll come back.
Thank you.
I didn't realize babies come with hats.
You guys crack me up.
You don't have jobs.
You can't walk or speak the language.
You don't have a dollar in your pockets, but you got yourselves a hat.
So everything's fine.
I don't wanna alarm you or anything but I'm Dad.
And for you son for you, this'll be the last time I pass the buck but I think it should be clear from the get-go that it was Mom who named you Huckleberry.
I guess she was feeling like life doesn't present enough challenges to overcome on its own.
And, honey, you've got a name now too.
Your mom and I named you after an incredibly brave .
An incredibly brave woman really not all that much older than you.
Your name is Molly.
Huck and Molly.
So, what do I do? Well, you're gonna need food and clothes and doctors and dentists and there's that.
And should you have any questions along the way I'm gonna be doing stuff like this Huck, because you're leaking a little bit out of your mouth there.
You holding my finger, son? Hey, Molly your brother's holding my hand.
You wanna hold my hand? This isn't gonna mean anything to you, but Leo was right.
Leo was right.
- Mr.
Ziegler? - Yeah.
It's so nice when they look at you like that, isn't it? Yeah.
Oh, look how sweet they are together.
They've been showing home videos on the news.
I don't know why they do that.
I have to get back to my office now.
Mr.
Ziegler, would you convey to the president and Mrs.
Bartlet that the prayers of everyone in this hospital and everyone are with them tonight? Of course I will.
They'll both appreciate it.
I'm writing down my pager number if Andy needs me or if they do anything new.
- New? - Yeah.
Like what? You never know.
Oh, thank you.
- Charlie's on his way.
- Thanks.
I think you should sleep for a few hours.
I'll sleep when he sleeps, but you should sleep for a few hours.
- I'll sleep when you sleep.
- Well, interesting.
We'll have a small band of dedicated people who can't lift their arms.
Yes, sir.
I guess if I told you to get some sleep, it wouldn't do much good.
I'm fine.
Tell the staff secretary's office I'm gonna freeze all nonessential paper for executive signature.
All nonessential executive orders.
All nonessential correspondence.
All legislation.
You understand? Until when? Until further notice.
I need you to get a federal judge here right away.
Yes, sir.
Donna's paging Toby.
I just ordered Charlie to have the staff secretary's office hold all nonessential paper for executive signature.
Why? It's one in a series of steps I'm taking tonight to temporarily but dramatically downsize the scope of the Oval Office.
- Why? - The Cabinet's meeting in a few minutes.
Leo .
He's invoking the 25th Amendment.
He's invoking 25.
- Really? - Yes.
- Is his mind made up? - He's with the Cabinet now.
Where did everyone come down? Josh and I were on the fence.
We don't know what Will thinks.
Of the president temporarily handing power to his political enemy? I think it's a fairly stunning act of patriotism.
And a fairly ordinary act of fatherhood.
Yeah, I do too.
Hey.
The president's gotta leave the West Wing.
- Why are you out of breath? - I ran very fast and there were obstacles.
- Babies okay? Yeah.
They're great.
And if somebody was hurting them I'd drop napalm on Yellowstone to get them to stop.
Letting prisoners out would be nothing and I've known my kids for about 45 minutes.
He's invoking the 25th.
- He is? - Yes.
Good.
"availing myself of the constitutional option offered to this office by Section 3 of the 25th Amendment which permits, through written declaration to temporarily transfer all powers of the presidency to the next in the constitutional line of succession.
" It's just that we're elevating the most powerful Republican in the country.
That's just a political reality.
It's just a political reality.
The article doesn't require the unanimous consent of the Cabinet but I want it.
I want it as clear as can be that this administration stands squarely behind and shoulder to shoulder, with the acting president.
We're gonna be handing the Republicans the election.
Yes, we are.
It doesn't say,"I can't handle this.
" It says,"I am handling this.
" It does.
Mr.
President, my concern is this: If you and the acting president were to give contradictory orders Leo McGarry would be put into an impossible position which could lead to extraordinary chaos.
I won't be giving any orders.
But if you did I think there are those in this room, myself included who would wanna follow those orders.
And now we have two governments.
Leo would know what to do.
Would he? Yes.
What if he changes his mind and starts giving orders? Leo will know what to do.
Secretary of Commerce? - Aye.
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs? Aye.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development? - Aye.
- Secretary of Health and Education? Aye.
- Secretary of Agriculture? - Aye.
- Secretary of the Treasury? - Aye.
Secretary of Defense? Aye.
- Secretary of State? - Aye.
- Secretary of Labor? - Aye.
Secretary of the Interior? Relax, everybody.
Breathe regular.
You too.
- Mr.
Speaker.
- Leo.
Let's go inside.
- How's Mrs.
Bartlet? - Well, she's very upset.
- Yeah.
- Mr.
Speaker C.
J.
, Josh, Toby, Will Bailey.
They're just getting this news, and they're among the first.
They haven't put anything together, but we'll do a joint press conference in probably two hours, and in that time, you will receive your briefings - What was the Beech Baron doing? - Sorry? - What were the guys in the plane doing? - They were frat guys, they were drunk.
They were playing chicken.
- Really? - Yeah.
- With the Air Force? - What? - Playing chicken with the Air Force? - Yes, sir.
Unidentified aircraft get one warning.
I don't care if my mother's onboard that plane going to visit her mother.
- Mr.
Speaker.
- Mr.
President.
If the gun that killed Molly O'Connor was bought through a loophole so help me God, Glen Excuse me.
Madam Justice Sharon Day.
- Come in.
- Mr.
Speaker? - Yeah.
- You need to resign.
- Does he? - Yeah, it's against the law to work for two branches at the same time.
- You got some paper? - Hang on.
If you resign from Congress, you can't just go back.
You have to be elected again.
I was gonna have to be elected again in two years anyway.
Witnesses.
- Huck? - And Molly.
Nice.
So, what do you know now that you didn't know before? Babies come with hats.
Yeah.
They also come with those little theft-protection devices little LoJacks on their ankles so they can't be boosted from the hospital.
Man, don't ever let them take it off.
There's no one in this room who wouldn't rather die than let you down, you know.
All right, let's get organized.
I've got two letters.
One removing me from power, the other reinstating me.
I'll sign the first.
The justice will swear in the speaker, and Leo's right the first thing is, how do we announce this? Well, the president and the speaker have to make it clear someone is in charge.
I'd argue we first have to make it clear to the world that there's someone in charge.
- Make it clear to Bahji.
Franz Ferdinand who was the nephew of the Austro-Hungarian emperor was killed by a group called the Black Hand.
And because they were a Serbian nationalist society the empire declared war on Serbia.
Then Russia, which was bound by a treaty, was forced to mobilize which meant that Germany had to declare war on Russia.
Then France declared war on Germany, and that was World War I.
Because the emperor's nephew was killed.
Now I thought you all had some good ideas but somebody should make it clear to those in this room that someone is in charge.
Glen, they've been up all night.
You're relieved, Mr.
President.
You're relieved, sir.
Swear him in.
Will you place your right hand on the Bible? Raise your left hand toward God and repeat after me.
l, Glenallen Walken, do solemnly swear l, Glenallen Walken, do solemnly swear that I shall faithfully execute the office of president of the United States.
that I shall faithfully execute the office of president of the United States.
And I will, to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
And I will, to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
You're sad.
And you're angry.
And you're not warm.
- My water broke.
- You'll see one of your kids in 15 minutes.
Bookbag's been taken.
I have an agent down.
We're black.
Go to black.
Zoey Bartlet is missing, and there's a dead agent at the scene.
My husband's been having some empty-nest problems.
Jerry's been sighing all week.
Has the president? Jed's been sighing.
He's been sighing in all kinds of dead languages.
Those pearls really are beautiful.
Thank you.
Yeah.
The men are not taking this very well.
Fellas, you know, we're all having a good time over here.
We're having a good time here too.
Doing what? Talking about the too rapid passage of time and, you know, grieving.
He's gonna schedule nine White House visits to France over the next three months.
He's accepting every invitation.
He's gonna be a judge at the Cannes Film Festival.
I told you it was this one.
The day we brought her home from the hospital.
Tell me that wasn't a month ago.
What is she doing graduating summa cum laude from something.
- Remember the ride home? Scariest drive of your life.
Seven miles an hour with the hazard lights on all the way home.
From what I remembered, did we have baby seats then or did we just hold on very tight? Yeah, we had the .
Hey, honey, were there baby seats when Jackie was born? Yes, of course there were.
There were baby seats, indoor plumbing.
That was 21 years ago.
I can't remember our hotel from last night.
I wore all of my jewelry to the hospital when George was born.
- I don't know why.
- To show off.
- Okay, Harbor Patrol's got the Potomac? - Yes, sir.
- Forensics! - Wes, what the hell is going on? - She's been taken.
- What are you talking about? - How many? - 188, 24 stat! - What are you talking about? - Zoey's been taken.
We had her in the bathroom.
She's gone.
- She's messing with you.
- No.
- Local news over there.
- Doesn't matter! We move them away.
She's messing with you.
She's at a Baskin-Robbins with her girlfriends.
- You gotta call these people off.
- They shot one of my agents.
Molly's dead.
They shot Molly.
Molly's dead? - They couldn't - Charlie.
- Couldn't have gotten far.
- Stay here.
- My car's around the corner.
- We need to stay here.
They're gonna need to talk to us.
Get off of me! They've already dropped a net on the city.
They've already dropped a net.
They aren't getting anywhere.
We were the last people to see her go in the club.
They're gonna wanna have a word with us.
Metro Police have roadblocks around Georgetown.
They've closed down the Key Bridge, Memorial Bridge and Route 29.
FBI's putting up a command post at OEOB? - Yes.
- CIA and Diplomatic Security are briefed? Right now, and they're wired to the Ops Center.
We're gonna begin questioning Do you have my older daughters? Do you have Ellie and Elizabeth? Yes, sir.
There's no need to keep this a secret.
We wanna get it out there quickly and massively.
- Mike, turn the lights on? - Secret Service put themselves on the police frequencies, so anyone with a scanner has it.
Major, I need C.
J.
Cregg.
Are we being attacked? - We don't know.
- Tell me what you think.
I think we're being attacked, but this is gonna take some time.
- How much? - Forty-five minutes to assemble and evaluate known threats.
An hour to crosscheck with the Secret Service list.
- Two hours for interviews at the club.
- Related incidents? We don't believe the three high-profile abductions last week are related.
- Mexican CEO, two DEA agents in Peru.
- Patterns? INS says three separate groups of Qumari nationals 17 people all together, flew back today.
Eleven out of JFK and six out of Dulles and traffic lights went out at Wisconsin and M four minutes after Wes Davis called in to the AOP.
- What is it they're gonna want? Bahji prisoners freed? We get out of Qumar? We get out of Kundu? They'll let us know, sir.
- In a typical kidnapping - It's not a typical kidnapping.
Wait.
Nancy, what did you say? Is there anyone here who thinks this sounds like a typical kidnapping? Could it have been more low-tech? A plan based on knowing when someone needs to use the bathroom? - 17 Qumari nationals leave the country? - Out of 10,000 in the U.
S.
Every car rental agency is out of vans and U-Hauls? It's graduation weekend.
Every kid in the mid-Atlantic is moving right now.
We shut down the airports.
Either they didn't know we were gonna do that, or they didn't care.
Either way, Mike, does this seem like a James Bond operation to you? - I don't know what it is yet.
- I wanna stop hearing that answer soon.
Union Station too? We shut down Union Station? Yes, sir.
I'm gonna check on Abbey.
Leo, whoever took her doesn't know what they're doing.
It was an absurd kidnapping.
She's not gonna turn up in a Bahji camp.
She'll turn up in the back of a muffler shop.
Well, I'm looking at Syria moving 20,000 troops closer to Lebanon today and Pakistan testing a long-range missile so I'm not sure about that.
I was there at the arboretum, but I didn't see her.
- I don't understand.
- This part doesn't matter.
- We don't know what matters.
- You're right.
I'm sorry.
We went there together we hopped the wall and when we realized that Zoey was also there, I stayed with Agent Reed.
We buried a bottle of champagne out there three and a half years ago to celebrate graduation.
- Where's"out there"? - At a spot in the Asian garden.
- How much champagne she have? Maybe a third of the bottle.
I don't know.
Charlie, there was no evidence of a struggle at the club.
None.
All she had to do was press a panic button, and she didn't do that.
I found it on the ground.
It's graduation night.
She's going to France.
They didn't try anything? Vicodin, Valium, ecstasy? Ecstasy.
- Jean-Paul! - You need to sit down, son! Hey.
She said you wanted her to take ecstasy with you.
Did you give some to her? - He's out of it.
- Did you give her ecstasy? Just tell me! Wait, wait.
This guy isn't .
Look at me for a second.
Yeah, this guy isn't high on X.
Get me a paramedic! What's your dealer's name, huh? Who gave this to you? Give me a name.
Listen to me.
You're gonna be fine.
You are the key witness to the end of the world.
Come on, we're gonna keep you alive.
You have to tell me who gave this to you.
- What's wrong with him? - I don't give a damn.
- Get a blood sample to the lab.
- Yes, sir.
- All right, you guys are done.
- Listen, I .
I don't know what to say about Molly.
Go back to the White House, Josh.
Stand your post.
No law-enforcement issues from the podium.
Refer them to the FBI.
Crime scene's still secured.
No press on the scene.
- I heard there was.
- It was local news at the party.
- C.
J.
Excuse me, Carol.
- Yes, sir.
Do not get into a discussion of the president's emotional state.
Pivot whatever you get to commander in chief.
Congressional leadership's been notified.
- We'll have statements in an hour.
- Carol gave me that.
We're in control.
The government is functioning.
This is the most important press conference of your life.
- Has anyone heard from Toby? - You haven't? I saw him this morning, then he went with Andy to the house.
I have to write a statement, and I don't know where to start.
- He'll answer his page.
- Listen.
- Yeah.
- Nothing.
What? - There's no vice president.
- What's that to do with this? Do we expect him to get a call and say, "We don't negotiate with terrorists"? One step at a time.
- Good luck.
- Thanks.
- C.
J.
- C.
J.
At 11:21 p.
m.
, Special Agent Wesley Davis of the U.
S.
Secret Service called in an AOP, which means: -"Attack on the principal.
" - C.
J.
As I said, they're obviously examining any tape from security cameras from the club, but we don't have a photograph of what she was wearing.
I'm gonna repeat again what witnesses have told us.
Black pants, black high-heeled boots, a black tank top over a red tank top which makes it appear, from a distance, the black top has red piping.
Walking in the club, she was wearing a multicolored silk jacket but it appears she may have taken it off.
I know this feed is being carried live by all the networks.
I wanna remind the directors to keep the 800 number to keep the tip line bannered on your air, please.
Two more questions.
Surely he's not reacting as if this is someone else's kid? Is there a concern she's being raped? Lyle, for the sake of a number of distraught people I ask you not to publicly speculate.
Katie, then I've gotta go.
Any concern that this could exacerbate his MS? No.
Thank you.
I'll brief again in an hour.
When will you release the name of the agent? As soon as we can locate her family.
- C.
J.
- C.
J.
- Where have you been? - All of Northwest is shut down.
Pennsylvania Avenue and Connecticut Avenue are shut down.
I wouldn't be surprised if Pennsylvania and Connecticut were shut down.
There are no cabs.
The Metro's closed.
Metro Police took me to 18th Street.
It took me 15 minutes to get in with a hard pass.
Where have you been? - I won't repeat that.
Got a statement? - Here.
You have 100 messages.
How do you want them? In your hand for a moment.
"In this difficult time, we are grateful for the support of the American" We're not asking for fruit.
It's gotta say: "Our youngest daughter has been abducted.
She will be found, brought home safely, and her abductors caught and punished.
" "While we work for her return the world community must know this country will not be taken hostage that our efforts toward peace and freedom continue unabated.
" Good.
- How is he? - I haven't seen him.
- What about Abbey? - Somebody's looking.
- They want a doctor to see him.
- He won't let them sedate him.
It's a waste of time.
I don't want that leaked.
- It's not for a sedative.
- MS? Yeah.
Where's Leo on the stock exchange? We haven't had time to talk, but if we don't have her by 6 we gotta recommend that Leo instruct the Treasury to suspend trading.
That the president instruct the Treasury.
There is no mechanism, none.
There is no mechanism for presidential recusal.
Leo can't give an order to the Treasury secretary.
- The Treasury secretary can't follow it.
- All right.
I heard the briefing on the radio.
You did great.
For the rest of the night, they get their information from us, not the agencies.
- Josh? - I've started the calls.
you've gotta call.
You'll need a posse.
State calls the ambassadors.
Will, sit in on all the meetings tonight in the counsel's office, report to Josh quickly.
He won't have time for a memo.
Well, let's go.
Oh, hey .
This is .
By the way, this is .
The babies were born.
- What babies? - The twins.
Andy had the babies.
- That's where I was.
At the hospital.
- Oh, my God.
- Are you kidding? - No.
- It just happened 10 days early.
- Are they okay? Yeah, they're great.
Six pounds, 1 ounce.
Each.
God.
Mazel tov, Toby.
- Mazel tov.
- Toby.
No, wait, wait.
Do they have names? The boy does.
He's named after Andy's grandfather.
What's his name? - Huck.
- Huck.
What a great name for a boy.
- We've gotta get back to work.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Toby .
Okay.
Okay.
This is high.
I'm a little concerned.
You and me both.
Mr.
President, they've located Molly O'Connor's parents.
They're on the phone now.
How many people are in the building? - Including press? - Not including.
Not many.
Anyone who left town can't get back.
- Why did people leave town? - It's the weekend.
They went crazy.
- We'll need people.
- Do you know how many faxes we've gotten and how many of them are from your insane groupies? The Lyman ho's have chosen this time to let you know via fax: "Should you need physical comfort during this horrible time .
" Read that.
Do you like that? Is that what turns you on, you sicky? - I didn't write this.
- They must sense it in you.
- What are the others? - I just picked them up.
It's more thoughts and prayers, good wishes.
- That's nice.
- And bus-station skanks.
Do you need help with these calls? Yeah, but you gotta sit with Babish and his guys.
Spreklettes of Ames, lowa, hope we don't exploit this to make another argument about guns.
The Spreklettes of Ames have weighed in.
- The speechwriting interns are here.
- They got in? - They've been here.
- On a Saturday night? - It was a character-building exercise.
- You hear that? These interns, they can talk on the phone? Yeah.
They gotta talk to congressmen.
They'll - Hang on.
- They can do it, but you should - Hang on.
- What? This is one tank top on top of another tank top.
This is a Polaroid of Zoey.
That's a ransom note.
- Sir.
- Blood tests? They found GHB, gamma hydroxybutyrate.
It's degreasing solvent mixed with drain cleaner, and in low doses - In low doses, it's a date-rape drug.
- Yes, sir.
- What about the boy? - He'll be conscious in an hour or so.
Where is it? This is the translation.
We think this is Zoey? It's a fax-quality picture, but the left shoulder - Where was it faxed from? - A Kinko's in Dover.
A security camera got a partial license plate.
It's a minivan rented to a Shahab Kaleel, and there's an FBI APB out.
"Release Uzma Kalil, Ahmed Mansour and Barmak Essa from the Islamabad maximum-security prison.
The president will announce on television that the U.
S.
will abandon its presence in Qumar.
" Now, analysts say Qumar's mufti made a call for martyrdom operations last week using phrasing almost identical to the next passage and named those three prisoners.
Two years ago, a Bahji cell kidnapped the sons of the prime minister of Eritrea in exchange for close to 100 of their prisoners.
Where are you? I wanna prepare to attack the following targets: The Bahji C3l: Communications, Command, Control and Intelligence.
I wanna move the C-130s and the Blackhawks and move the Washington carrier group into the gulf to strike three Bahji camps in Qumar.
- I believe we can't move yet.
This will escalate.
This will get worse before it gets better.
Sir, that boy's gonna be conscious in an hour and we have a chance of finding the dealer once he is.
We're gonna find the dealer, Nancy, but he's gonna be dead when we do.
- Move the 5th Fleet into the gulf.
- Yes, sir.
No, and I think we should be careful about saying that but certainly, it's easy to imagine how this escalates to a military situation under any number of scenarios.
Thank you, and we'll be coming back to you.
We've been, from time to time, showing you home-movie footage in the corner of our screen.
I don 't have the dates in front of me, but it looks like she can 't Huck? Yeah.
That's nice.
I like that.
It's her grandfather's.
Hey.
Hey.
The house.
What happened? What happened? Did you propose? Yeah.
We tabled it, though, because, you know .
- You had to go to the hospital.
- Yeah.
Was there time to tell her you bought the house? Yeah, I told her about the house.
What'd she say? - This really doesn't feel like the night .
- What did she say? She said no.
Well, I mean, that'll change, right? Hey, let me ask you something.
When Jenny was pregnant with Mallory, you were nervous, right? - Yeah.
- Yeah, me too.
Every father.
Yeah.
But I think I was nervous for a different reason.
What? I think I was nervous I wasn't gonna love my kids the way other fathers love theirs.
Why? I don't know.
lf, for nine months, you're hearing how this is gonna change your life, and: "You've never loved anything like this," and,"My God, the love" and,"Nothing is gonna be important anymore .
" It just never felt to me like I was someone who had the capacity for those feelings.
Plus, you know, I .
I like what's important to me.
I want it to stay important.
I wanna be able to do it well.
What do you mean, you don't have the capacity? Anyway, I was just curious.
Of course you're gonna be a great father.
Of course you'll love your kids how you're supposed to, the way other fathers My God, Leo we look around, we see that's not true, not automatic.
I'm not talking about everybody.
I'm talking about you, and I'm telling you, it's a mortal lock.
It's guaranteed.
Toby, what went on at the house? With the Capitol area virtually sealed off all air traffic has been grounded.
Mrs.
Bartlet? Ma'am? Mrs.
Bartlet? I'm gonna make a direct appeal.
They'll turn on the cameras when I go into the briefing room.
- You can't.
- I'm the mother.
- You can't.
- I don't know why I waited.
I screwed up.
- Let's sit down.
- Get away from me.
You can't go in the press room.
It'll - I've seen mothers do it.
- Abbey.
- You can't go in the press room.
- I'll make a direct appeal.
I don't know why I waited.
I've seen mothers do it.
- Mrs.
Bartlet! - Mrs.
Bartlet! Guys, give her a break.
It can be seen as negotiating with them and could undermine the military threats the president is making and if the goal is to destabilize our government they'll see you and know they're succeeding.
You can't go in the press room.
I know.
I'd just seen other mothers do it.
I screwed up.
Abbey, come sit on my couch for a minute.
I'm gonna call the doctor.
- Tell him I want whatever Zoey got.
- Come sit on my couch.
It's Amy.
Yeah, she's all right.
She's fine.
If you could just step into the press secretary's office.
Thank you.
Mr.
President, have Leo meet with the Qumari ambassador.
Have him do it before the sun comes up.
Try the diplomatic route before this gets out of hand.
- Before it gets out of hand? Sir, I wanna put the planes in the air now.
If we're gonna end up striking bases later on in Tamar and Laddi we'll need some element of surprise.
Chairman, do I have to remind you that Qumar is an ally? You don't.
But I ask, what good is an ally if their citizens are capable of waging war on their own? Excuse me, sir.
We have a problem.
One? There's an airplane up there.
Captain, give us the controller's transmission, please.
- Yes, sir.
- An unidentified Beech Baron 58.
It's a twin-prop plane.
It's over Richland, Washington and it hasn't acknowledged communications from Air Traffic Control.
They're 90 miles from the Saw Mill River Nuclear Reactor.
Beech 0827, do you respond, over? Beech 0827, this is Air Route Traffic Control Center, Seattle.
Do you respond, over? - We scrambled the jets? - Two F-15s from Portland.
They're over water.
They have clear shots.
When do you want the order, - Sixty, 50? - I'm sorry, Mr.
President, which target? - The nuclear plant.
- How far away do I wait? Has the transponder been dialed to 7700? Negative.
No signal.
Seventy-seven hundred's an emergency frequency? If you lose your radio, you set your transponder to 7700.
Seventy-five hundred means you've been hijacked.
- These guys aren't signaling anything.
- Fellas, we've got confusion in here.
When do I give the order? Beech 0827, this is Air Route Traffic Control Center, Seattle.
Seventy miles.
But they're gonna be over population in about a minute.
- Talk to me.
- General .
Beech 0827, this is U.
S.
Air Force F- 15 56.
I'm a half-mile back on your right side, and I have missile lock.
Switch to frequency 12 1.
5 and stand by for slow flight.
Yeah, this is Beech 0827.
Sorry about that.
We were having a problem with the With the thing.
- Mr.
President.
- I know you wanna get the planes in the air.
I wanna think about it a minute, okay? Of course, sir.
I don't know what to do about the military options.
Nancy's making good points.
Sorry about the confusion.
I know we practiced that.
We're doing fine.
I don't think so.
I need you to tell me now.
- Do you think she's already dead? - I absolutely do not.
If they show me a picture of her alive and say to aim missiles at Tel Aviv, they're counting on me But you wouldn't.
I might.
There are people around you who won't let you.
How about a knife to her throat, get out of Saudi Arabia? - You shouldn't think of images like that.
- All I can think of are images like that.
- Sir - Leo, please listen to me.
Did Fitz give me target recommendations a little while ago? Yes, sir.
He wants to attack a base I don't remember having the conversation or what targets he wants to hit.
- Did I green-light the targets? - Of course not.
Mr.
President, no one is expecting you to keep the U.
S.
out of a war tonight.
Me and Nancy and Fitz are standing right next to you.
When you get information, you don't need to remember it.
And we're standing right next to you when you give orders.
You're not gonna hurt anybody.
I know it's a strange time to bring this up but I forecasted this once.
I made up a scary story a few years ago for Zoey so that she'd take her protection seriously, and I went too far.
And I scared her.
And she cried.
This was the story.
Leo, the people you just named don't have the legal authority to stop me from doing certain things.
And some of them would go to jail if they didn't follow my orders.
Very quietly I want you to assemble the Cabinet.
I want you to call the speaker of the house.
Is she asleep? Yeah.
Mr.
Ziegler? You know, these people went home last night.
I can bring the babies in there.
You can have Oh, no.
Thank you.
No.
That's okay.
Okay.
Yeah, sure.
Right over here.
There we go.
They need to be fed soon, so I'll come back.
Thank you.
I didn't realize babies come with hats.
You guys crack me up.
You don't have jobs.
You can't walk or speak the language.
You don't have a dollar in your pockets, but you got yourselves a hat.
So everything's fine.
I don't wanna alarm you or anything but I'm Dad.
And for you son for you, this'll be the last time I pass the buck but I think it should be clear from the get-go that it was Mom who named you Huckleberry.
I guess she was feeling like life doesn't present enough challenges to overcome on its own.
And, honey, you've got a name now too.
Your mom and I named you after an incredibly brave .
An incredibly brave woman really not all that much older than you.
Your name is Molly.
Huck and Molly.
So, what do I do? Well, you're gonna need food and clothes and doctors and dentists and there's that.
And should you have any questions along the way I'm gonna be doing stuff like this Huck, because you're leaking a little bit out of your mouth there.
You holding my finger, son? Hey, Molly your brother's holding my hand.
You wanna hold my hand? This isn't gonna mean anything to you, but Leo was right.
Leo was right.
- Mr.
Ziegler? - Yeah.
It's so nice when they look at you like that, isn't it? Yeah.
Oh, look how sweet they are together.
They've been showing home videos on the news.
I don't know why they do that.
I have to get back to my office now.
Mr.
Ziegler, would you convey to the president and Mrs.
Bartlet that the prayers of everyone in this hospital and everyone are with them tonight? Of course I will.
They'll both appreciate it.
I'm writing down my pager number if Andy needs me or if they do anything new.
- New? - Yeah.
Like what? You never know.
Oh, thank you.
- Charlie's on his way.
- Thanks.
I think you should sleep for a few hours.
I'll sleep when he sleeps, but you should sleep for a few hours.
- I'll sleep when you sleep.
- Well, interesting.
We'll have a small band of dedicated people who can't lift their arms.
Yes, sir.
I guess if I told you to get some sleep, it wouldn't do much good.
I'm fine.
Tell the staff secretary's office I'm gonna freeze all nonessential paper for executive signature.
All nonessential executive orders.
All nonessential correspondence.
All legislation.
You understand? Until when? Until further notice.
I need you to get a federal judge here right away.
Yes, sir.
Donna's paging Toby.
I just ordered Charlie to have the staff secretary's office hold all nonessential paper for executive signature.
Why? It's one in a series of steps I'm taking tonight to temporarily but dramatically downsize the scope of the Oval Office.
- Why? - The Cabinet's meeting in a few minutes.
Leo .
He's invoking the 25th Amendment.
He's invoking 25.
- Really? - Yes.
- Is his mind made up? - He's with the Cabinet now.
Where did everyone come down? Josh and I were on the fence.
We don't know what Will thinks.
Of the president temporarily handing power to his political enemy? I think it's a fairly stunning act of patriotism.
And a fairly ordinary act of fatherhood.
Yeah, I do too.
Hey.
The president's gotta leave the West Wing.
- Why are you out of breath? - I ran very fast and there were obstacles.
- Babies okay? Yeah.
They're great.
And if somebody was hurting them I'd drop napalm on Yellowstone to get them to stop.
Letting prisoners out would be nothing and I've known my kids for about 45 minutes.
He's invoking the 25th.
- He is? - Yes.
Good.
"availing myself of the constitutional option offered to this office by Section 3 of the 25th Amendment which permits, through written declaration to temporarily transfer all powers of the presidency to the next in the constitutional line of succession.
" It's just that we're elevating the most powerful Republican in the country.
That's just a political reality.
It's just a political reality.
The article doesn't require the unanimous consent of the Cabinet but I want it.
I want it as clear as can be that this administration stands squarely behind and shoulder to shoulder, with the acting president.
We're gonna be handing the Republicans the election.
Yes, we are.
It doesn't say,"I can't handle this.
" It says,"I am handling this.
" It does.
Mr.
President, my concern is this: If you and the acting president were to give contradictory orders Leo McGarry would be put into an impossible position which could lead to extraordinary chaos.
I won't be giving any orders.
But if you did I think there are those in this room, myself included who would wanna follow those orders.
And now we have two governments.
Leo would know what to do.
Would he? Yes.
What if he changes his mind and starts giving orders? Leo will know what to do.
Secretary of Commerce? - Aye.
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs? Aye.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development? - Aye.
- Secretary of Health and Education? Aye.
- Secretary of Agriculture? - Aye.
- Secretary of the Treasury? - Aye.
Secretary of Defense? Aye.
- Secretary of State? - Aye.
- Secretary of Labor? - Aye.
Secretary of the Interior? Relax, everybody.
Breathe regular.
You too.
- Mr.
Speaker.
- Leo.
Let's go inside.
- How's Mrs.
Bartlet? - Well, she's very upset.
- Yeah.
- Mr.
Speaker C.
J.
, Josh, Toby, Will Bailey.
They're just getting this news, and they're among the first.
They haven't put anything together, but we'll do a joint press conference in probably two hours, and in that time, you will receive your briefings - What was the Beech Baron doing? - Sorry? - What were the guys in the plane doing? - They were frat guys, they were drunk.
They were playing chicken.
- Really? - Yeah.
- With the Air Force? - What? - Playing chicken with the Air Force? - Yes, sir.
Unidentified aircraft get one warning.
I don't care if my mother's onboard that plane going to visit her mother.
- Mr.
Speaker.
- Mr.
President.
If the gun that killed Molly O'Connor was bought through a loophole so help me God, Glen Excuse me.
Madam Justice Sharon Day.
- Come in.
- Mr.
Speaker? - Yeah.
- You need to resign.
- Does he? - Yeah, it's against the law to work for two branches at the same time.
- You got some paper? - Hang on.
If you resign from Congress, you can't just go back.
You have to be elected again.
I was gonna have to be elected again in two years anyway.
Witnesses.
- Huck? - And Molly.
Nice.
So, what do you know now that you didn't know before? Babies come with hats.
Yeah.
They also come with those little theft-protection devices little LoJacks on their ankles so they can't be boosted from the hospital.
Man, don't ever let them take it off.
There's no one in this room who wouldn't rather die than let you down, you know.
All right, let's get organized.
I've got two letters.
One removing me from power, the other reinstating me.
I'll sign the first.
The justice will swear in the speaker, and Leo's right the first thing is, how do we announce this? Well, the president and the speaker have to make it clear someone is in charge.
I'd argue we first have to make it clear to the world that there's someone in charge.
- Make it clear to Bahji.
Franz Ferdinand who was the nephew of the Austro-Hungarian emperor was killed by a group called the Black Hand.
And because they were a Serbian nationalist society the empire declared war on Serbia.
Then Russia, which was bound by a treaty, was forced to mobilize which meant that Germany had to declare war on Russia.
Then France declared war on Germany, and that was World War I.
Because the emperor's nephew was killed.
Now I thought you all had some good ideas but somebody should make it clear to those in this room that someone is in charge.
Glen, they've been up all night.
You're relieved, Mr.
President.
You're relieved, sir.
Swear him in.
Will you place your right hand on the Bible? Raise your left hand toward God and repeat after me.
l, Glenallen Walken, do solemnly swear l, Glenallen Walken, do solemnly swear that I shall faithfully execute the office of president of the United States.
that I shall faithfully execute the office of president of the United States.
And I will, to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
And I will, to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.