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THE WEST WING
"WAR CRIMES"
TELEPLAY BY: AARON SORKIN
STORY BY: ALLISON ABNER
DIRECTED BY: ALEX GRAVES


TEASER

FADE IN: INT. THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS ROOM - DAY
SUNDAY
From T.V. screens to cameras to more T.V. screens, we follow several reporters
as they
head inside to take their seats. From a nearby television, we hear sounds
from a football
game. A briefing is about to start. And as the Press Corps takes its respective
seating,
C.J. enters and goes behind the podium. She speaks while getting settled.

C.J.
Okay.

CHRIS
C.J., do we know what kind of gun it was?

C.J.
Which gun?

CHRIS
The first gun.

C.J.
It was a .38 pistol. Okay, here are a few confirmations and a few more
details. The
shooting took place approximately 15 minutes into the 9:00 service at United
Baptist
Church in Abilene, Texas. [notices a familiar man seated in the middle row
to her left]
Will Sawyer, is that you?

WILL SAWYER
Yes.

C.J.
You back in the country?

WILL
Yeah.

C.J.
You working for the San Francisco Chronicle now?

WILL
No.

C.J.
Then you want to get your ass out of their chair?

Laughter. WILL SAWYER stands up.

WILL
There's assigned seating?

C.J.
You see the little brass plaques with the names of media outlets on the
front of the
seats?

WILL
I thought that meant they made a generous contribution.

C.J.
Find a seat in back.

Will does, and C.J. continues.

C.J.
Fifteen minutes into the service, Daryl Bechtell, B-E-C-H-T-E-L-L, walked
into the
sanctuary. Reports indicate he was looking for his estranged wife. He fired
off a
round -- that was from the .38 -- missing his wife and hitting Harold Winter
in the
left shoulder. Mr. Winter is 65 and currently undergoing surgery at Abilene
Regional
Medical Center.

Carol quietly enters the room.

C.J. [cont.]
Mr. Bechtell fired off anywhere between two and four more rounds at that
point -- reports
differ -- as the crowd began to scatter. That's when Ron Cahrl pulled a nine
millimeter
Glock from under his suit coat and fired off three rounds in the direction
of Mr.
Bechtell. It's unclear which of those rounds struck Melissa Markey.

STEVE
Confirmation on her age?

C.J.
She's be nine years old tomorrow.

STEVE
Can you speak to what either Daryl Bechtell or Ron Cahrl might be charged
with?

C.J.
No. The Abilene Sherrif's Office will address that. I can tell you that
Mr. Bechtell's
gun was registered and that Ron Cahrl had a license to carry a concealed
weapon.

ARTHUR
Doesn't Texas law prohibit carrying a weapon in a church or synagogue?

C.J.
Again, I'll have the Sheriff's Office speak to that, but I'll tell you that
it only
prohibits it if the church or synagogue posts such a prohibition in plain
sight.

Carol takes this time to give C.J. a note.

REPORTERS
C.J.!

C.J.
Hang on. [reads the note] Well... Melissa Markey died.

SMASH CUT TO: MAIN TITLES.
END TEASER
* * *

ACT ONE

FADE IN: INT. WHITE HOUSE LOBBY - DAY
Sam and Donna are standing in front of the doors.

SAM
If you don't understand a question, say so. They'll repeat it. Or they'll
rephrase it.

DONNA
Yeah.

SAM
There's nothing wrong with not understanding the question.

DONNA
Right.

SAM
There's nothing wrong with saying 'I don't recall.'

DONNA
I appreciate this.

SAM
Yeah. Don't you want to go to this with Josh?

DONNA
He's pissed at me.

SAM
No, he's not.

DONNA
He's... Yeah, he is.

SAM
He didn't say anything.

DONNA
He doesn't say anything.

SAM
All right.

DONNA
Anyway, I appreciate this.

SAM
[as he sees Charlie passing by] Charlie, hang on a second. [to Donna] You're
going to be
sitting in a room. It's going to feel like you did something wrong. But
guess what?

DONNA
What?

SAM
You didn't! So, you got a cab up front?

DONNA
Yeah.

SAM
Come back when it's over?

DONNA
Thanks. [leaves]

Sam follows Charlie.

CHARLIE
You make a pick?

SAM
Oakland over Dallas!

CHARLIE
Okay.

SAM
It's a lock.

CHARLIE
Okay.

SAM
Everybody's staying away 'cause they want to keep Oakland down the road. But
if you're
like me, you're not as impressed with the pre-season hype. You pick the
Raiders at home,
and you bank on them not being a prohibitive favorite going into the playoffs.

CHARLIE
Okay.

SAM
You think I should take Tennessee over Detroit?

CHARLIE
I didn't say that.

SAM
You said it with your eyes.

CHARLIE
Okay.

SAM
I'll take Tennessee over Detroit.

CHARLIE
I'm writing it down.

SAM
Write it down. Wait. No. Give me Oakland over Dallas.

CHARLIE
Okay. They stop in front of the opposite White House entrance.

SAM
Except make it New Orleans over Atlanta.

CHARLIE
The first games are about to start.

SAM
New Orleans over Atlanta!

CHARLIE
I'm writing it down.

SAM
Write it down. [leaves]

The doors open. Bartlet and Abbey walk inside.

CHARLIE
Good afternoon.

ABBEY
Hi, Charlie.

CHARLIE
How was church?

BARTLET
[mumbles] It sucked.

ABBEY
It was fine. [to Bartlet] Stop it!

BARTLET
It sucked!

ABBEY
[sighs] You're talking about church.

BARTLET
Oh, like I'm not already going to hell.

CHARLIE
[follows them a pace behind] What was the problem?

ABBEY
He feels the homily lacked penache.

BARTLET
It did lack penache.

ABBEY
It was a perfectly lovely homily on Ephesians 5:21. "Husbands, love your
wives, as Christ
loved the church and gave himself up for her."

BARTLET
Yeah. She's skipping over the part that says, "Wives, be subject to your
husbands as to
the Lord, for a husband is the head of a wife as Christ is the head of the
church."

ABBEY
I do skip over that part.

BARTLET
Why?

ABBEY
Because it's stupid!

They walk in THE OVAL OFFICE.

BARTLET
Okay.

ABBEY
"Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up
for her, that
he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by washing of water with the word
that he
might present the Church to himself in..." something.

BARTLET
[behind his desk, puts on glasses] "In splendor." And I have no problem with
Ephesians.
And any time you want me to cleanse you with the washing of water, you know
I'm up for it.

ABBEY
Then what is your problem?

BARTLET
Hackery!

Abbey waves her arms at him and walks out to the PORTICO. Bartlet follows.

BARTLET
This guy was a hack! He had a captive audience! And the way I know that is
that I tried
to tunnel out of there several times. He had an audience and he didn't know
what to do
with it.

ABBEY
You want him to sing "Volare?"

BARTLET
Couldn't have hurt. Words...

ABBEY
Oh, God, no.

BARTLET
Words, when spoken out loud for the sake of performance, are music. They
have rhythm,
and pitch, and timbre, and volume. These are the properties of music, and
music has the
ability to find us and move us, and lift us up in ways that literal meanings
can't. Do
you see?

ABBEY
You are an oratorical snob.

BARTLET
Yes, I am. And God loves me for it.

They stop and face each other.

ABBEY
You said he was sending you to hell.

BARTLET
For other stuff, not for this. You can't just trod out Ephesians, which he
blew, by the
way, it has nothing with husbands and wives, it's all of us. Saint Paul
begins the
passage: "Be subject to one another out of reverence to Christ." [passionately]
"Be
subject to one another." In this day and age of 24-hour cable crap, devoted
to feeding
the voyeuristic gluttony of the American public, hooked on a bad soap opera
that's
passing itself off as important, don't you think you might be able to find
some relevance
in verse 21? How do end the cycle? Be subject to one another!

ABBEY
So... This is about you.

BARTLET
No, it's not about me! Well, yes, it is about me, but tomorrow it'll be
about somebody
else. We'll watch Larry King and see who. [shouts] All hacks, off the
stage! Right now!
That's a national security order.

ABBEY
I'm going to the Residence. I'm taking a bath; I'm turning on Sinatra.

BARTLET
How does Mrs. Sinatra feel about that?

ABBEY
Peace be with you. [turns to leave]

C.J. comes outside behind Bartlet.

BARTLET
[sings] You make me egg foo yung...

C.J.
Good morning, Mr. President.

BARTLET
[turns to her, sings] You make me feel there are songs to be sung...

ABBEY
[to C.J.] He's feisty. Please, don't ask him about church.

C.J.
[quietly] No, I won't. I'm sorry, Mr. President, Melissa Markey died.

BARTLET
[smile fades away] Yeah, okay.

Abbey approaches him.

BARTLET
Ah, damn. Charlie, can I see Leo?

CHARLIE
Yes, sir.

ABBEY
She would have lost too much blood at the scene, Jed. She didn't have a
chance.

BARTLET
Yeah.

ABBEY
All right... I'll be over in the Residence. I've got to see Babish this
afternoon.
[pats him on the shoulder and leaves]

BARTLET
Okay. [walks with C.J. quietly] When do you think I should go in there?

C.J.
I'd wait a couple of hours till we hear some more facts.

BARTLET
You'll talk to the sheriff's office and...

C.J.
Yeah.

BARTLET
I guess the DA.

C.J.
Yeah, but you don't want to walk too far into that.

BARTLET
Yeah.

Leo is waiting by the entrance to Oval Office.

LEO
Good morning.

BARTLET
You heard?

LEO
Yeah.

BARTLET
C.J. thinks I should wait a few hours.

LEO
I would.

BARTLET
Yeah.

C.J.
Thank you, Mr. President. [walks off]

BARTLET
Be subject to one another, Leo. What can I do to be of subject to you?

LEO
I'm fine.

BARTLET
Yeah?

LEO
I've got Margaret.

BARTLET
Okay.

They walk back in THE OVAL OFFICE. Bartlet sits behind his desk. Leo sits
hear him.

LEO
I think you should send Hoynes to Texas.

BARTLET
He's not going to want to do it.

LEO
What do you care?

BARTLET
What are you doing today?

LEO
I'm meeting with Adamley.

BARTLET
What about?

LEO
He wants to talk to me about the War Crimes Tribunal.

BARTLET
Keep me out of it, all right?

LEO
Yeah.

BARTLET
You think I should send Hoynes to Texas?

LEO
Yeah.

BARTLET
All right, get him over here.

LEO
Now?

BARTLET
Yeah.

LEO
[stands] Thank you, Mr. President.

CUT TO: EXT. THE HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE BUILDING - DAY

CLIFF [VO]
This proceeding is known as a deposition. The person transcribing a deposition
is a
House reporter and although she's not a notary public you were just sworn
in by a notary
public and were placed under oath. Do you understand?

CUT TO: INT. A ROOM IN THE BUILDING - CONTINUOUS
A long table is occupied by many people, Donna and Cliff sit opposite each
other.

DONNA
Yes.

CLIFF [VO]
Because you were placed under oath, your testimony here today has the same
force and
effect as if you were testifying before the committee in a courtroom. Do
you understand?

DONNA
Yes.

CLIFF
This committee has been granted authorization pursuant to House Resolution
173, my name
is Clifford Calley. I'm Majority Counsel for the House Government Oversight
and Reform
Committee. Would you state your full name for the record, please.

DONNA
Donnatella Moss. D-o-n-n-a-t-e-l-l-a M-o-s-s.

CLIFF
At this point I'd like the record to indicate that the Majority Counsel has
met the
witness socially on several occasions, and without objection, I'd like to
proceed.

WOMAN
No objection.

CLIFF
Counsel?

COUNSEL
No objection.

CLIFF
I'd also like to express the Committee appreciation to the witness appearing
on a Sunday.
Ms. Moss, are you here voluntarily or as a result of a subpoena?

DONNA
A subpoena.

CLIFF
No need to thank me. [beat] Donna, this is going to be easy, you can
laugh. Were you
recently asked to help organize documents pursuant to this Committee current
investigation?

DONNA
Yes.

CLIFF
Would you describe how that works?

DONNA
On instructions from Joshua Lyman and the White House Counsel's office,
I took over a
storage room at the OEOB and began sorting through any interoffice or
interdepartmental
documents, both from the campaign and from the West Wing.

CLIFF
And for the record, the campaign you're referring to is...

DONNA
Bartlet for America.

CLIFF
How'd you guys do?

DONNA
[very seriously] We won.

CLIFF
Okay. [beat] My colleagues are going to ask you some questions. Then we'll
get back to
me and finish up.

DONNA
Okay.

MAN
Ms. Moss? Do you keep a photo album?

DONNA
No.

MAN
Okay. Do you keep...

DONNA
I'm sorry. Uh... I keep photographs, I don't have them in an album.

MAN
Okay. Do you keep a scrapbook?

DONNA
No.

MAN
Do you keep letters, notes, or other correspondence you receive from people?

DONNA
Sometimes a birthday card or a letter from my father.

MAN
Do you keep a diary?

DONNA
No.

MAN
Okay. Do you receive gifts from anyone who's currently...

CLIFF
I'm sorry, hang on. [to the transcriber] Would you read that back?

TRANSCRIBER
"Question: Do you keep a diary? Answer: No. Question: Okay. Do you receive
gifts from..."

CLIFF
[looks at Donna] Okay. Okay, go ahead.

MAN
Do you receive gifts from anyone who's currently working at the White House?

FADE OUT.
END ACT ONE
* * *

ACT TWO

FADE IN: INT. C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY
Thunder rumbles. It already started to rain. C.J. is not in her office. Will
Sawyer is.
He is sitting behind C.J.'s desk and is playing with some of her
things. Seconds later,
C.J. enters and sees him.

C.J.
How are you doing?

WILL
Good.

C.J.
You're sitting in my chair.

WILL
It didn't have a plaque on it.

C.J.
[chuckles] Oh, I've missed you.

WILL
Yeah. [stands and finds another chair across C.J.'s desk]

C.J.
Well, you've been gone three weeks.

WILL
I've been gone two and a half years.

C.J.
Really?

WILL
Yes.

C.J.
So what happened? I thought you were our man in Myanmar.

WILL
I got kicked out of Myanmar.

C.J.
Well, is there a third world country you haven't been kicked out of?

WILL
Hey, I've been kicked out of plenty of industrialized nations, too.

C.J.
Why'd they kick you out?

WILL
Well, first of all, they didn't kick me out exactly. In fact, they love me
in Myanmar.

C.J.
What happened?

WILL
They put a bounty on my head. [C.J. laughs.] It's not funny. The Myanmarese
government
is built on narcotics trafficking. Myanmar, Thailand, Laos. I was this close
to the story.

C.J.
Yeah?

WILL
I had interviews with Pau Jiasheng, Pau Yujiung, Li Zuru. I was tight with
narco-barons.

C.J.
Until?

WILL
The Myanmarese army...

C.J.
Put a bounty on your head.

WILL
Yeah.

C.J.
How'd you know?

WILL
The State Department came and got me.

C.J.
Oh. That had to be embarrassing in front of your narco-baron friends.

WILL
Anyway... I'm assigned to the White House Press Corps until they can find me,
you know,
a reporting job.

C.J.
No. No offense taken.

WILL
Thanks.

C.J.
Why did you want to see me?

WILL
I have a quote if you want to comment.

C.J.
What is it?

WILL
Toby Ziegler says, "If the President wins reelection, it will be on the Vice
President's
coattails."

C.J.
"If the President wins reelection, it will be on the Vice President's
coattails"?

WILL
[consults his notepad] I think that's, uh... yeah.

C.J.
He said this to you?

WILL
No.

C.J.
Where'd you get it?

WILL
The person he said it to.

C.J.
Will, do me a favor. Give me a little time to check it out, would you?

WILL
Yeah. [stands]

C.J.
You've been gone two and a half years?

WILL
Yeah.

C.J.
Seemed like less than that.

WILL
People lose all track of time and space when I'm not around.

C.J.
Yeah.

Will takes his jacket and leaves. Out in the hallway, he looks left, right,
and walks off.

SAM [VO]
It's 30 billion in School Modernization Bonds.

CUT TO: INT. THE ROOSEVELT ROOM - DAY
Sam is meeting with Congressional Aide TERRY BECKWITH. Ginger walks in with
a tray and
two coffee mugs.

SAM
Thanks, Ginger. Thank you.

GINGER
Sure.

Ginger puts down the tray on the table and exits.

SAM
It's 30 billion in School Modernization Bonds.

TERRY BECKWITH
Interest-free?

SAM
Interest-free for school districts. We're estimating it will help build and
modernize
7,000 schools nationwide. There's another 1.5 billion for urgent repairs
targeted to
high-need districts.

TERRY
Like roof repairs?

SAM
Roof repairs, heating and cooling systems, electrical wiring. The point is
we think we
need the Congressman's vote to get it out of the full Appropriations Committee
and on the
floor.

TERRY
He'll be with it.

SAM
That's what I thought.

TERRY
He's just looking for the President's support on a bill that he'll be
sponsoring.

SAM
What's it called?

TERRY
It's called the "Legal Tender Modernization Act."

SAM
Which provides for?

TERRY
The elimination of the penny.

SAM
I'm sorry?

TERRY
It would permanently halt production of the penny.

SAM
Why?

TERRY
I'm glad you asked.

SAM
Yeah.

TERRY
Last year, the U.S. Mint cut 14 billion pennies and shipped them off to the
Federal
Reserve, which dumped them in our laps. They're worthless.

SAM
Well, they're actually worth one cent.

TERRY
The dollar has the buying power today that the quarter had 30 years ago. The
penny's
buying power shrunk to nothing.

SAM
Well, that's not true. You can get yourself a gumball.

TERRY
No, you can't. They cost a nickel.

SAM
Really?

TERRY
[sighs] I'm gonna need to give the Congressman a good reason why the White
House won't
support the bill if they won't support the bill.

SAM
Oh, don't make me give you a good reason.

TERRY
You want your $30 billion in school repairs?

SAM
Well, we're already well on our way with 140 million pennies.

TERRY
Sam...

SAM
I'll get you a good reason.

CUT TO: INT. THE OVAL OFFICE - DAY
Bartlet is at his desk looking at a piece of paper. He calls.

BARTLET
Charlie!

Charlie opens the door and walks in.

CHARLIE
Yes, sir.

BARTLET
You took Indianapolis?

CHARLIE
Yes, sir.

They continue, but we follow a MOVING SHOT out into the Outer Oval Office. The
Vice
President arrives, and Nancy takes his coat.

BARTLET [OS]
You didn't want to take Kansas City over Arizona?

CHARLIE [OS]
No, sir.

BARTLET [OS]
Kansas City's got three players out of Notre Dame.

CHARLIE [OS]
Yes, sir.

BARTLET [OS]
You always go with the team who's got the most players out of Notre Dame.

CHARLIE [OS]
That's a heck of a system, sir.

BARTLET [OS]
What's your system?

CHARLIE [OS]
I compare the team's record to the record of its opponent.

BARTLET [OS]
That's a little simplistic, isn't it?

CHARLIE [OS]
Yes, sir.

After she hangs the coat, Nancy stands by the door.

NANCY
Excuse me, Mr. President?

BARTLET
Yeah?

NANCY
The Vice President.

BARTLET
Thank you.

Charlie takes his leave. Bartlet and Hoynes meet and shake hands.

HOYNES
Hey, Charlie.

CHARLIE
Good afternoon, sir.

BARTLET
Hey, John.

HOYNES
Good afternoon, sir.

BARTLET
Do you know this church?

HOYNES
No.

BARTLET
The United Baptists Church in Abilene?

HOYNES
No.

BARTLET
Listen, you feel like having a beer with me?

HOYNES
No, I'm fine.

BARTLET
On Sundays, when we got back from church, my father would let my brother
and me split a
beer. It got to be a habit.

HOYNES
You mind if I split some water with you?

BARTLET
Nancy? [to Hoynes] I need you to go to Texas, John. [Nancy walks up.] Nancy,
could I get
a cold beer and some ice water?

NANCY
Yes, sir.

BARTLET
And close the door please. [sits] Nancy does what she was told.

HOYNES
You want to send me to Texas?

BARTLET
It's what Texans do. [beat] You know, a decade ago, we passed a few national
gun control
laws, and the gun lobby turned its back on Congress and started focusing on
the states.
[Hoynes sits] The NRA systematically worked the legislatures to weaken
conceal-and-carry
laws, the effect of which is to increase gun sales and pad its own membership.

HOYNES
Well, I don't necessarily agree with that, but...

BARTLET
The National Conference on State Legislatures is meeting this weekend at
the Convention
Center in San Antonio.

HOYNES
And you want me to go to Texas and speak for you.

BARTLET
Yeah.

HOYNES
'Cause that's what Texans do.

BARTLET
[pause] It's also what Vice Presidents do.Nancy comes in and serves them
beer and water.

BARTLET
Thank you, Nancy.

HOYNES
Thank you, Nancy.

CUT TO: INT. NORTHWEST LOBBY - DAY
GENERAL ALAN ADAMLEY is patiently waiting before Leo walks up.

LEO
Alan.

ADAMLEY
Hey!

They exchange big smiles as they shake hands.

LEO
Come on back.

Into the HALLWAY they go and head for Leo's Office.

ADAMLEY
Thanks for taking the time.

LEO
No, no. [beat] So how did it go?

ADAMLEY
It was a good trip. I met with, uh, Hassan, and I met with the Aviation
Prince.

LEO
You know what we need in this country?

ADAMLEY
An Aviation Prince.

LEO
That's right.

ADAMLEY
Well, let me tell you something. Sultan Bin Abu Azir ain't what he used to
be. Last time
I was in Kuwait, he gave me a gold inlay Gadara sword, originated from the,
uh, Binhalmar
tribe.

LEO
What'd you get this time?

ADAMLEY
Nothing.

LEO
You want to go down the Situation Room, and blow them off the face of the
earth?

ADAMLEY
Yeah.

LEO
[smiles] So...

ADAMLEY
The, uh, NSC Communications Office cabled me a draft of the President's
radio address
for next weekend.

LEO
Alan, it's a...

ADAMLEY
[reads from a file] "At the close of the last World War, our nation was
instrumental in
the creation of both the United Nations and the Nuremberg War Crimes
Tribunal. Now, at
the dawn of the millennium, we cannot betray that tradition of moral
leadership."
He's made up his mind.

LEO
It's an early draft. It's not a big thing.

ADAMLEY
Well, I know that Hutchison and Berryhill are for it, but to me, to
Fitzwallace, the
Pentagon, the House and Senate Armed Services, and the House and Senate
Foreign
Relations, it's a thing of catastrophic proportions.

LEO
Let's go inside and talk.

CUT TO: INT. TOBY'S OFFICE - DAY
Amidst the bright Communications Bullpen, Toby's office is a lot darker. With
his feet
up, Toby is sitting on his couch reading a newspaper. C.J. walks in the
bullpen and puts
a file on a desk. She was just about to leave when she sees Toby. She walks
inside.
Toby becomes flustered, a bit nervous.

C.J.
Hey.

TOBY
I-I-I'm not here.

C.J.
I called you at home. I had you paged.

TOBY
Yeah.

C.J.
I didn't know you were here.

TOBY
[covers his face with the newspaper] I'm not.

C.J.
I think the jig is up.

TOBY
Clearly, I'm here, but I-I-I'm not open for business. I heard the President
was meeting
with Hoynes, so I-I-I wanted to see how-how it goes.

C.J.
Listen...

TOBY
And I see you picked Chicago over Cincinnati so let me explain to you why
your money's
gonna be in my pocket.

C.J.
If the President wins reelection, it's gonna be on the Vice President's
coattails?

TOBY
[pause] You want to know what's weird? I-I-I just said... that exact same
thing a couple
of days ago.

C.J.
I know. You know how I know? Will Sawyer just told me.

TOBY
Will Sawyer's in Myanmar.

C.J.
He got kicked out of Myanmar. He's in the room now.

TOBY
C.J., I said it... I said it at that W.A. meeting. I said it a the end of
the meeting.
We were talking about areas where Hoynes is polling stronger than... It
was...
[awkward chuckle] I said to our own... [pauses and sighs] Do I have a little
time?

C.J.
A little.

TOBY
Thank you.

C.J.
You're here now?

TOBY
[chuckling] Yeah.

When C.J. leaves, Toby calls.

TOBY
Ginger?

She walks up.

TOBY
[stands] I want you to page every junior staffer and senior assistant who
works in the
West Wing, every single one. I want them to assemble downstairs in the mess
in two hours.

GINGER
What if...?

TOBY
If they can't be here in two hours, then they don't need to come in tomorrow
morning.

CUT TO: EXT. WASHINGTON, D.C. - DONNA'S APARTMENT STOOP - DAY
The thunder rumbles lightly. It's raining hard, and passersby have their
umbrellas up.
A black car is parked in front of Donna's apartment, and someone is sitting
on her stoop.
From up the street, Donna walks up slowly and sees him. It's Cliff. He's
been waiting for
her to come home.

DONNA
Hey.

CLIFF
How you doing?

DONNA
How'd you get here before me?

CLIFF
I drove.

DONNA
Should you be here?

CLIFF
No.

DONNA
Then what...?

CLIFF
I need to know why you lied before.

DONNA
When?

CLIFF
Donna...

DONNA
I didn't lie.

CLIFF
I saw your diary. When I was over that night. You keep a diary. Why'd you
say you didn't?

DONNA
I don't keep a diary.

CLIFF
I saw it.

DONNA
You didn't 'cause there is no diary.

CLIFF
Donna. [stands] It's me and you. Now what's in it that you had to lie to
the Committee?

DONNA
It's me and you? You're lead counsel for the Committee investigating me,
my friends, my
boss, and the President of the United States.

CLIFF
That's right.

DONNA
And I thought you were a little bit smarmy with your "Donna, it's okay. You
can laugh.
You're just..." Was that charm?

CLIFF
Tell me what...

DONNA
There is no diary.

Donna starts up the stoop. Cliff interrupts.

CLIFF
18 U.S.C., 1-0-0-1. Lying to Congress: 10,000 dollars and not more than five
years in
prison.

DONNA
Cliff...

CLIFF
18 U.S.C., 1-5-0-5. Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies,
and
committees: Not more than five years. Two U.S.C., 192. Contempt of Congress:
A thousand
dollars and imprisonment in a common jail for not more than 12 months. It
was a perfectly
innocent mistake. Now let me talk to your lawyer and help you walk this back.

DONNA
Just out of curiosity, what would you say? [beat] That you thought you saw
a diary while
you were hunting around for your boxer shorts? [pause] You shouldn't be here.

They part ways. Donna runs up her stoop and goes inside her apartment. She
shuts her
umbrella and the door as well.

FADE OUT.
END ACT TWO
* * *

ACT THREE

FADE IN: INT. COMMUNICATIONS BULLPEN - DAY
Josh is leaning by Sam's doorway. He looks at his watch. Sam is sitting by
a desk in
the bullpen.

JOSH
Why?

SAM
Why?

JOSH
Yes.

SAM
Because this country is populated with unbalanced people. Many of whom find
their way to
Washington. As if the continent funnels them into this one spot.

JOSH
He wants to abolish the penny?

SAM
He doesn't want to abolish it, as much as he wants to give his boss a reason
why we can't.

JOSH
Well... it's stupid.

SAM
Yeah, but the thing is it isn't really.

JOSH
Really?

SAM
It turns out the majority of pennies don't circulate. They go in jars and
sock drawers.
Two-thirds of the pennies produced in the last 30 years have dropped out of
circulation.

JOSH
You've been reading about this?

SAM
It's interesting.

JOSH
No, it's not.

SAM
[stands] The Mint gets letters with pennies taped on notebook paper. Letters
from
citizens who found the pennies on the street and mailed them back to the
Treasury to
help pay down the debt.

JOSH
It's almost hard to believe that plan hasn't worked.

SAM
It's also bad for the environment. Production requires the mining of millions
of tons of
copper and zinc each year.

JOSH
Zinc?

SAM
In 1982, they changed the composition to 97.5% zinc and only 2.5% copper.

JOSH
Sam?

SAM
I'm turning into one of the funnel people.

JOSH
Yeah.

SAM
[pause] Donna thinks you're still pissed at her.

JOSH
I'm not. I wasn't before. When did she tell you that?

SAM
Before she left. [sits]

JOSH
You've heard from her?

SAM
No.

JOSH
She should be done by now.

SAM
Here's a riddle. What is the most ubiquitous man-made object in America that
does not
interact with any mechanism or machine?

JOSH
The penny?

SAM
Then penny. You can't even throw it in a tollbooth. Well, except for Illinois.

JOSH
Why can you use it in Illinois?

SAM
That's an interesting question.

JOSH
No, it's not. [walks off]

CUT TO: INT. THE PRESS ROOM - DAY
C.J. finds Will in the room.

C.J.
Hey.

WILL
Hey.

C.J.
I'm gonna have something for you soon. Toby's talking to some people.

WILL
Okay.

C.J.
Hey, are you a king?

WILL
No.

C.J.
Somebody said you were hanging out with some tribe, and they made you a king.

WILL
I'm a god.

C.J.
Oh.

WILL
I'm the only white man to ever witness the sacrificial rites of the Bau
tribe of Fiji.
I was almost a victim myself, until they made me The Supporter of the World.

C.J.
How'd you swing that?

WILL
Using my Palm Pilot, I convinced the Bau I had the power to make the gods'
writing appear
at will, and more significantly, predict the next day's weather.

C.J.
So you're a god?

WILL
I'm the god of Good Harvest and the Land of the Dead.

C.J.
I gotta go there and bring my laptop. It quacks when I have e-mail.

WILL
No, you're too tall.

C.J.
What would happen?

WILL
They would paint your face and [points] other body parts black [C.J. looks]
so as to
resemble a warrior ornamented for feast or combat. Then you would be garroted
by a length
of boar tripe.

C.J.
Yeah. No, good safety tip.

WILL
Alan Adamley here?

C.J.
Yeah.

WILL
Why?

C.J.
He's meeting with Leo McGarry.

WILL
Why?

C.J.
I don't know. Listen, you made a joke before.

WILL
Yeah.

C.J.
About being assigned to the White House until you could get a real reporting
job.

WILL
Yeah.

C.J.
Was it a joke?

WILL
Yeah.

C.J.
Okay. I'll have something for you on the other thing soon.

WILL
Thanks.

C.J. walks off.

CUT TO: INT. THE OVAL OFFICE - DAY
Bartlet and Hoynes are still conversing. Between them is the Seal on the
carpet.

HOYNES
That's not true.

BARTLET
John...

HOYNES
It is not true, Mr. President. Twenty-nine states have "shall issue" laws.

BARTLET
And if you look at the state of New Jersey, which has a "may issue" law-if
you look at
changing that one word...

HOYNES
Look, I'm not saying...

BARTLET
Changing that one word means law enforcement can decide who gets a concealed
weapon and
when and where they can carry it. Texas has a "may issue" law in front of
a legislature
right now, and you going down there...

HOYNES
Me going down there is suicide, sir, and you know it.

BARTLET
It's counter-scheduling. You go in front of an unfriendly audience. You tell
them
something they don't want to hear-it shows you have courage.

HOYNES
So the editor of The New York Times will think I have courage, while the
people who
decide elections...

BARTLET
You're a hero in Texas.

HOYNES
I was a hero in Texas.

BARTLET
Texans don't like that you have the courage of your convictions?

HOYNES
They're not my convictions. They're yours.

BARTLET
[beat] Oh, yeah. I forgot.

Bartlet stands and paces. Hoynes sighs and clears his throat. He stands as
well.

HOYNES
Mr. President, we're not gonna get anywhere by treating gun owners like
psychopaths,
and particularly in the South, where guns are a tradition and a heritage
that's passed
on from father to son. You can't...

BARTLET
That's not good enough.

HOYNES
Sir?

BARTLET
A tradition that's passed on from father to son? We tamed the frontier,
John. We did that
already.

HOYNES
The NRA is gonna say you're taking advantage of the shooting in Abilene. That
you like it
when these things happen, 'cause it gives you a chance...

BARTLET
Let them stand in this room and say that. On this day. Let them stand in
this room.
I like it?! She was nine years old!

Charlie knocks and walks in. He gives Bartlet a note then leaves. Bartlet
reads it.]

BARTLET
Green Bay lost. [beat] She was nine years old.

HOYNES
You know, last month in Idaho, a man killed six members of his family,
including his
pregnant wife. And you know why the liberal intelligentsia didn't go
crazy? Because he
did it with an ax. [beat] You think we need ax control?

BARTLET
Well... that is an excellent point. I never saw it that way.

HOYNES
I'm playing devil's advocate.

BARTLET
Tighter ax control.

HOYNES
You come down on firearms, you come down on tobacco, you come down on alcohol,
but you
let Griffith run around talking about legalizing marijuana.

BARTLET
She didn't...

HOYNES
Sir?

BARTLET
You know what? Last year, gun deaths? 30,708. Alcohol deaths? 35,450. Tobacco
deaths?
400,000. Marijuana deaths? Zero. This guy, the second shooter-Rambo? He's
gonna get
nothing. He's gonna get a parade. You know why? There was no sign posted in
the church
saying you can't carry a concealed weapon. [beat] I'm just playing devil's
advocate.
She was nine years old.

CUT TO: INT. LEO'S OFFICE - DAY
Leo and Adamley are now seated and talking.

LEO
Two things: One, technically, it's not just a court for war crimes.

ADAMLEY
Technically?

LEO
And two, the President hasn't made up his mind yet.

ADAMLEY
The UN has.

LEO
The UN made up its mind in 1948, when they recognized the crime of genocide.

ADAMLEY
Yes...

LEO
A crime so immense as to exceed the jurisdiction of any single court or
government. Alan,
systematic extermination of civilians, enslavement, torture, rape, forced
pregnancy,
terrorism-doesn't the world need a permanent standing body...?

ADAMLEY
National sovereignty is at stake. Americans are answerable to no one but
their own
government and their own laws.

LEO
Yeah.

ADAMLEY
And people need to be reminded that the UN is not a democratic
organization. There's no
input in its deliberations by any...

LEO
Come on. The court is designed with plenty of safeguards, to say nothing of
if we don't
subject ourselves to the treaty, it'll encourage other countries...

ADAMLEY
Sure.

LEO
And you don't think that'll undercut the UN's campaign against war crimes?

Suddenly, Sam knocks and pokes his head in.

SAM
Excuse me. Excuse me, General.

ADAMLEY
Hey, Sam.

SAM
Margaret wasn't out here.

LEO
What do you need?

SAM
No, if you're in the middle of something, I can come back.

ADAMLEY
We're eliminating genocide. What are you doing?

SAM
Eliminating the penny. So I'll come back.

LEO
Yeah.

ADAMLEY
See you later.

Sam closes the door. We follow him out to the HALLWAY where he meets Donna. She
just got
back and a bit in a hurry. They walk.

SAM
Hey.

DONNA
Hi.

SAM
How'd it go?

DONNA
It went fine.

SAM
Just background, right?

DONNA
It was fine. Is Josh in his office?

SAM
He's around someplace.

DONNA
Thanks.

SAM
[pause] Do you know the only thing pennies interact with are those
coin-wrapping machines
people buy to get rid of pennies, which kind of proves the point.

DONNA
What point?

SAM
I don't know. It went okay?

DONNA
Fine.

They reach JOSH'S BULLPEN AREA just as Sam walks off. Donna stops. She looks
toward her
desk and sees her boss. With courage, she approaches. Josh immediately sees
her.

JOSH
How'd it go?

DONNA
I really need to talk to you for a second.

JOSH
What happened?

DONNA
I need to just... Can we go in your office?

They head for his office. Ginger passes by.

GINGER
Hey, how'd it go?

DONNA
Fine.

When they both get in JOSH'S OFFICE, Josh closes the door.

JOSH
What happened?

DONNA
I was asked if I kept a diary, and I said no, only I do keep a diary.

JOSH
Why did you say you didn't?

DONNA
I don't know.

JOSH
What do you mean you don't know?

DONNA
Nothing in the diary is relevant. I'm the only one...

JOSH
Is there anyone else in the witness list who knows you keep a diary?

DONNA
Well, there's nobody who knows I keep a diary, except the thing is... Cliff
saw it.

JOSH
[beat] What do you mean?

DONNA
Cliff came to me after the deposition and told me he saw the diary when he
was in my
apartment.

Josh walks around behind his desk. He knows they're in trouble.

DONNA
I swear it wasn't premeditated. Nothing in it was material. Nothing in it
was...

JOSH
You don't get to decide that! You don't get to decide what's material and
what isn't,
Donna!

DONNA
Please keep your voice down.

JOSH
This is how it happens. They got nothing on the President with MS. They're
trolling,
then you go in and hand them a...

DONNA
I know.

JOSH
You were subpoenaed! You were under oath! You answer the damn question!

DONNA
I screwed up.

JOSH
YOU THINK?!

Donna, in shock, does not respond. Josh sits and touches his head.

DONNA
What should I do?

JOSH
Do nothing. Do absolutely nothing.

Donna quietly leaves and closes the door.

FADE OUT.
END ACT THREE
* * *

ACT FOUR

FADE IN: INT. HALLWAYS OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE MESS - DAY
Toby walks down the hall. The chatter of staffers gets louder as he approaches
the
WHITE HOUSE MESS. When he walks in, Toby sees 30-40 staffers sitting and
standing on
one side of the room. Ginger is standing in the middle of the group near
the back.

STAFFER
Shhhhh.

The group quiets down. They all look pretty somber, like they're anticipating
a severe
tongue lashing. Toby sits down on the edge of a table, facing the group,
and hesitates
for a few moments before speaking.

TOBY
There's an old saying: "Those who speak, don't know; and those who know,
don't speak."
I don't know if that's true or not, but I know that by and large the press
doesn't care
who really knows what as long as they've got a quote. Last Friday, we had
our Week Ahead
meeting in the Roosevelt Room. Some of you were there, most of you weren't,
but I'm
talking to all of you now. Bruno Gianelli and I were leading a discussion
about whether
or not the President should stop in Kansas on his way back from the West
Coast, and I
remarked that the Vice President is polling better than the President right
now in the
Plains states...

Sam walks into the room. He stands in the doorway, looking far more stern
than Toby.

TOBY [cont.]
...and that if the President is re-elected, it's gonna be on the Vice
President's
coattails. That remark made its way to a White House reporter... We're a
group.
[chuckles cheerlessly] We're a team. From the President and Leo on through,
we're a
team...We win together, we lose together, we celebrate and we mourn
together. And defeats
are softened and victories sweetened because we did them together...And if
you don't like
this team... then, there's the door... It's great to be in the know. It's
great to have
the scoop, to have the skinny, to be able to go to a reporter and say,
"I know something
you don't know." And so the press becomes your constituents and you sell
out the team...
So, an item will appear in the paper tomorrow, and it'll be embarrassing to
me and
embarrassing to the President. I'm not gonna have a witch hunt. I'm not
gonna huff and
puff. I'm not gonna take anyone's head off. I'm simply gonna say this:
you're my guys.
And I'm yours... and there's nothing I wouldn't do for you.

They all look pretty deflated and chastised. Toby stands up and walks out. Sam
walks with
Toby back upstairs.

SAM
That was unexpected.

TOBY
[sighs] Yeah... You're a good deputy, Sam.

SAM
What do you mean?

TOBY
That.

SAM
[chuckles] You won money on football today, didn't you?

TOBY
Yeah, but I mean it anyway. What can I do for you today? How can I help you
out?

SAM
You can give me a reason why the White House can't support the elimination
of the penny.

TOBY
This is the Legal Tender... Huckleberry Bill?

SAM
Modernization Bill, yeah.

TOBY
We can't support it 'cause it'll never get to the floor.

SAM
Why not?

TOBY
Where's the Speaker of the House from?

They've reached the STAIRS up to the main level.

SAM
He's from Illinois, which, by the way, is the only state where you can put
pennies in
a toll machine. Why is that, do you suppose?

They pause in the middle of the stairs.

TOBY
It's because...

SAM
It's 'cause Lincoln's from Illinois! And... so is the Speaker.

TOBY
Yes.

SAM
Well, that's a good reason. Well, it's a dumb reason, but it's good enough,
right?

TOBY
Sure. They start walking up the stairs again.

SAM
Thank you.

TOBY
Yeah.

SAM
And thanks for the other thing.

TOBY
Yeah.

CUT TO: INT. C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY
C.J. breezes into her office, passing Will who's perched on the edge of
Carol's desk.

C.J.
Hi.

WILL
Hi.

She walks behind her desk and starts shuffling papers around. He stands up
and leans in
the doorway.

C.J.
What do you need?

WILL
You called me.

C.J.
Yes, I did... Well, Toby made the remark in response to some new polling
data. It was
offhand. Obviously, he meant it as a joke. He regrets it.

WILL
Okay.

C.J.
He'll be happy to go on the record with you.

WILL
[shrugs] Nah, that's all right.

C.J.
What do you mean?

WILL
I don't need him.

C.J. walks toward him having gathered up the papers she needs. They walk
out into the
HALLWAY.

C.J.
You're not gonna let Toby explain himself?

WILL
I'm not writing it.

C.J.
Why not?

WILL
[mildly indignant] It's not news.

C.J.
Really?

WILL
Yeah.

C.J.
[surprised and pleased] Okay.

WILL
I'll see you in there.

He turns to walk away. She keeps walking, with a happy yet puzzled look on
her face, but
then she turns around.

C.J.
You weren't joking before, were you?

WILL
When?

C.J.
When you said...

WILL
No.

C.J.
[walks toward him a little bit] Why do you think the White House is a bad
beat?

WILL
I don't like being a stenographer. And I don't like writing gossip.
[walks toward her a little bit] I read a column last week where a lady
bemoaned the
decade of scandals she's had to cover, as if the news was to blame for the
quality of
journalism. I don't know if there's ever been a more important time to be
good at what
I do. Can you imagine how much I don't give a damn about what Toby said to
a staffer?

C.J.
Yeah... All right.

She walks away, but just before she opens the door to the Briefing Room,
she turns around.

C.J.
You can sit anywhere you want.

She goes into the Briefing Room. He walks back down the hallway, his hands
in his pockets.

CUT TO: INT. LEO'S OFFICE - DAY
The camera pans up on the globe by the desk. Adamley is sitting on the
sofa. Leo is
walking over to his chair.

LEO
139 countries have signed. 35 have ratified. Once 60 ratify, that's the ball
game. You
want to be left out? [sits]

ADAMLEY
Absolutely. And I'll tell you what else. This is gonna raise nineteen kinds
of hell in
Congress.

LEO
What doesn't?

ADAMLEY
There're already extreme Republicans who are attaching amendments to bills
cutting off
military aid to any NATO member that signs the treaty...

LEO
That won't happen.

ADAMLEY
...and committing the U.S. to forcibly rescue any American soldier held and
tried in such
a court. Leo, this commits the United States to a scenario...where we'd be
invading
Holland!

LEO
How much of this is about hedging our bets?

ADAMLEY
It's not about...

LEO
[hollering] Look, we set up Nuremberg! We set up the Tokyo War Crimes
Trial. And that was
fine until we realized the Cold War threat was gonna take precedence. So
when the German
rocket scientists came here to help us get into space...

ADAMLEY
Oh, please...

LEO
...we looked the other way, while SS officers followed right behind, protected
by
American intelligence services, 'cause they were gonna help us with the
Communists. Oh,
please, Alan...So how much of this is hedging our bets?

Adamley clears his throat. Leo watches, curious, as Adamley picks up a file
from the
coffee table.

ADAMLEY
Remember Operation Rolling Thunder?

LEO
Yeah. I think I do, yeah.

ADAMLEY
[opens the file] September 1966?

LEO
Yeah.

ADAMLEY
You were piloting an F-105 Fighter Chief. This was our first unit, 355th
Tactical Fighter
Wing out of Thailand.

LEO
Yeah.

ADAMLEY
I was Forward Air Commander. I gave you your directions. [reads from file]
"From I.P.,
heading 273 for 10.5 miles. Your target is north-south running bridge over
river, one
kilometer to the tree line running east-west."

LEO
[impatiently] Yeah?

Adamley shakes his head "No." Leo shakes his head in confusion.

LEO
[defensively] It was a military target.

ADAMLEY
It was a civilian target. It was a dam. There were eleven civilian casualties.

Adamley slaps the file down on the table. Leo sits frozen and silent for a
long time.
The reality of Adamley's words slowly sinks in. He looks increasingly stunned
and shaken,
struggling to make sense of what he's just heard.

LEO
Why did you tell me that?

ADAMLEY
Because you could be charged and tried for a war crime.

Leo still can't believe what he's heard. He sighs deeply, overwhelmed,
and puts his hand
up to his face. Eventually he looks up at Adamley again.

LEO
[angrily] Why did you tell me that?!

ADAMLEY
[coolly] All wars are crimes.

Adamley sighs. Leo leans back slowly in his chair, shaking his head, and
stares at
Adamley.

LEO
We've been here awhile.

ADAMLEY
Yeah. [stands up, buttoning his jacket]

LEO
Maybe we'll call it a day.

ADAMLEY
Yeah.

LEO
I'll get you some time with the President this week.

ADAMLEY
I appreciate that.

LEO
[stands and sighs heavily] Thank you.

Adamley looks a bit uncomfortable as he starts to leave.

ADAMLEY
Thank you. [leaves]

Leo stands stiffly in the middle of his office, looking somewhat
disoriented. He stares
out the window and rubs the back of his neck.

FADE TO: INT. THE OVAL OFFICE - DAY
Bartlet and Hoyens are seated on the sofas facing each other. They're both
leaning
forward.

BARTLET
Can I ask you a question, just out of curiosity?

HOYNES
Yes, sir.

BARTLET
If guns are meant to deter the threat of crime, what's the point of concealing
them?
I mean, wouldn't you want the criminal to see that you've got a gun?

HOYNES
[puts his glass down on the table] I suppose you would.

BARTLET
Then what's the answer to that?

HOYNES
I really don't know.

BARTLET
You don't know?

HOYNES
No, sir. I suppose the concern has more to do with the threat to the Second
Amendment.

BARTLET
We can't all just agree it's a stupid-ass amendment that was written before
there were
street lamps, much less police forces, and move on?

HOYNES
[wearily] Sir...

BARTLET
There's no need for a citizen militia.

HOYNES
I agree with you.

BARTLET
Then say so.

HOYNES
Forty percent of Americans have a gun in their home.

Bartlet stands up, walks across the office, and sits on the edge of his desk.

BARTLET
Only 16% believe gun ownership is an absolute right. Only 9% believe it's
an absolute
wrong. There's a middle. We can win them!

HOYNES
[testily] Not when we're running the MS defense, Mr. President!

BARTLET
Which we wouldn't have been doing if...

HOYNES
If what, sir?

BARTLET
Nothing.

Hoynes stands up.

BARTLET
[fuming] You outed me, John. With that trip to Nashua, with the oil
companies. You wanted
people to start asking questions.

Hoynes walks toward Bartlet until he's only a few feet away.

HOYNES
[angry] I needed to start running because nobody told me I wasn't! And you
announced it!
And I found out on television!

BARTLET
[yelling] So did my wife.

HOYNES
[yelling] This whole thing was mismanaged, sir!

BARTLET
Look...

HOYNES
[yelling] It was blown!

BARTLET
Yes, it was.

HOYNES
Yes, it was!

They glare at each other for several long moments.

BARTLET
It's not easy being my Vice President, is it?

HOYNES
[sighs] No, sir.

BARTLET
I wouldn't think so. [walks around behind his desk and leans on it] But it's
the only way
you're gonna get the nomination. You know that, right? If I win.

HOYNES
Yeah. And the only way you're gonna win is if I'm on the ticket. You know
that, don't
you, sir?

BARTLET
Yeah.

Hoynes starts to leave.

BARTLET
You'll go to Texas?

HOYNES
[nods] I want a seat at the table.

BARTLET
Yeah.

CHARLIE
[knocks and enters] Mr. President?

BARTLET
Yeah?

CHARLIE
They're getting ready for you in the Briefing Room.

BARTLET
Thank you.

Charlie goes back to his desk, but leaves the door open. Bartlet and Hoynes
aren't
looking at each other.

HOYNES
I'll be back in my office. Is there anything else, sir?

Bartlet is buttoning up his shirt cuffs. He has a stern look on his face.

BARTLET
No.

HOYNES
Thank you, Mr. President.

Hoynes leaves. Bartlet finishes straightening his shirt and grabs his suit
jacket off
the back of one of the chairs. As he leaves the Oval Office for the briefing,
thunder
rumbles outside and rain coats the windows.

FADE TO: EXT. PARK IN WASHINGTON, D.C. - NIGHT
The rain has stopped. Josh and Donna are sitting on a park bench next to a
large, elegant
fountain. They seem very tense and uncomfortable. Suddenly, Cliff appears
from behind the
fountain. Josh sees him, stands up, and walks over to him. Donna watches
them for a
moment, but then she looks away.

JOSH
There's a coffee shop across the street. You can read it there. You've got
an hour.
I haven't read it, but if anything bothers you, you'll issue a subpoena in
the morning.
You'll have it back before the end of the day. If not, that's that.

CLIFF
Yeah.

JOSH
If I read any of this in the newspaper, or anything happens I don't like,
I've got the
entries for October 4th and 5th.

CLIFF
What's October 4th and 5th?

JOSH
[pointing] You.

CLIFF
[nods] That's fair. Thank you.

Donna is sitting stiffly on the bench, staring straight ahead. Josh gives
Cliff the
diary. Cliff takes it and walks away. Josh stands still for a few moments,
watching
Cliff. Then he turns around, walks back to the park bench, and sits down
next to Donna.

JOSH
[shivering, sighs] It's starting to get cold already.

Donna looks at him, her eyes slightly downcast. He puts his arm behind her
on the back of
the bench, although she's not sitting close enough to him for his arm to
really be around
her shoulders. It's a slightly awkward, but well-intentioned, gesture.

JOSH
It's gonna be fine.

Donna looks at him blankly, like she'd like to believe him. Josh looks like
he's trying
to convince himself, but he hasn't quite succeeded yet. And so they sit,
side by side,
and wait.

DISSOLVE TO: END TITLES.
FADE TO BLACK.
THE END
* * *

The West Wing and all its characters are a property of Aaron Sorkin, John
Wells
Production, Warner Brothers Television, and NBC. No copyright infringement
is intended.

Episode 3.05 -- 'War Crimes'
Original Airdate: November 7, 2001, 9:00 PM EST

Transcribed by: Giorgio, Irene, and Amanda
March 4, 2002