SUPER: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25TH. DAY 10.
The West Wing looms behind Kenny and Bundy. Kenny, poker
faced, takes a drag on his cigarette. Bundy nervously flicks
his, looks away from Kenny a beat.
BUNDY
What did you think of Lippman's column
this morning?
KENNY
I think it's a bad idea.
Bundy turns back to him.
BUNDY
Thank God. Look, everyone is furious
about it. We trade away our missiles in
Turkey and we're fucked politically.
Kenny grinds his jaw, but doesn't say anything. He agrees.
Bundy steps up to him, confiding.
BUNDY (CONT'D)
You gotta stop 'em. We know it's Jack
and Bobby's idea - they leaked it to
Lippman. The military guys are going
ape, and they're not alone.
KENNY
Then they should speak up.
BUNDY
Christ, Ken, you know it's not that
easy.
KENNY
Yes it is.
BUNDY
No it isn't. They don't trust the
people that feel this way. But these
people are right. And the Kennedys are
wrong.
(beat)
We need you to tell 'em, Kenny. They'll
listen to you.
Kenny prickles, intense, but Bundy presses on, too wrapped up
in his own thinking to notice.
BUNDY (CONT'D)
Jack and Bobby are good men. But it
takes a certain character, moral
toughness to stand up to --
KENNY
-- You listen to me. Nobody, nobody,
talks about my friends that way. You're
fucking here right now because of the
Kennedys. They may be wrong. They make
mistakes. But they're not weak.
The weak ones are these 'people' who
can't speak their own minds.
BUNDY
You know I don't mean they're weak.
Kenny gets in his face, intimidating.
KENNY
No, they just lack 'moral toughness.'
And you think I'll play your Judas. You
WASPS and blue-bloods never understood
us, thinking we want into your club.
Well we got our own club now.
(beat)
And you guys don't realize fighting with
each other is our way. Nobody plays us
off each other. And nobody ever gets
between us...
INT. PRESIDENT'S BEDROOM - DAY
Kenny throws himself on a chair in the bedroom's sitting
area, newspaper in hand. The President, buttoning his shirt
in a full-length mirror, sees him. There's a TV on. The
President selects a tie from a nearby rack, eyes the paper.
THE PRESIDENT
What's that?
KENNY
Oh, just a bunch of crap about
withdrawing our Jupiter missiles in
Turkey if the Soviets'll do the same in
Cuba.
The President's eyes flick over to him in the mirror.
THE PRESIDENT
I don't want to listen to this again.
KENNY
If we made a trade, we'd be giving in to
extortion, and NATO would never trust us
again. We'll get clobbered in world
opinion.
THE PRESIDENT
It's a goddman trial balloon. Trial is
the operative word, here.
KENNY
Then somebody'd better deny it publicly.
The President turns around, heads over to the T.V. Kenny
folds his arms, disgusted.
THE PRESIDENT
Jesus Christ, O'Donnell, you're the one
saying we need to move forward on a
political solution.
KENNY
Yeah, a good political solution.
ON THE T.V.
Live coverage of the United Nations Security Council
meetings. Holding forth in Russian is VALERIAN ZORIN, 50s,
tough, likeable, the Soviet Ambassador to the U.N. and
chairman of the Security Council. A translator relays the
meaning.
TRANSLATOR FOR ZORIN (O.S.)
We call on the world to condemn the
piratical actions of America...
RESUME
The President's jaw tightens. He turns to Kenny.
THE PRESIDENT
You want to turn up the heat? You call
Adlai. Tell him to stick it to Zorin.
INT. KENNY'S OFFICE - DAY
Kenny, phone to his ear, suffers as Bobby harangues him.
BOBBY
Adlai's too weak! We have to convince
Jack to pull him, get McCloy in there.
KENNY
You can't take him out this late in the
game.
BOBBY
Zorin will eat him alive!
KENNY
Then talk to your brother, goddamn it.
The two of you don't need any advice to
get into trouble.
BOBBY
What's gotten into you?
Kenny throws the Lippman article at him.
BOBBY (CONT'D)
Oh, still sore about this.
KENNY
Something your father would've come up
with.
Silence. Terrible silence. That paralyzes Bobby. Kenny
stares at him. He means it, but regrets it, too.
BOBBY
My father --
KENNY
-- I'm just trying to make a point.
This idea is that fucking bad.
But Bobby gets it. Kenny shifts gears, lets it go.
KENNY (CONT'D)
Adlai can handle Zorin. He knows the
inning and the score.
BOBBY
He better. Because nobody thinks he's
up to this. Nobody.
INT. U.S. OFFICES - U.N. - DAY
The U.S. suite is in frantic preparation, STAFFERS coming and
going. Stevenson takes his phone from a SECRETARY.
ADLAI
Yes?
INT. KENNY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
Kenny turns to gaze at his little T.V. in the credenza, U.N.
coverage continuing, as if he could see Adlai there.
KENNY
Adlai, it's Kenny. How're you doing?
INT. U.S. OFFICES - U.N. - CONTINUOUS
Adlai is packing up his briefcase.
ADLAI
Busy, Ken. What do you need?
INT. KENNY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
Kenny rises from his chair, paces toward the T.V. He pauses.
KENNY
The President told me to pass the word
to you: stick it to them.
INT. U.S. OFFICES - U.N. - CONTINUOUS
Adlai looks around to his own T.V., showing the session going
on downstairs. Zorin, ON CAMERA, dominates the council:
alternately bold, aggressive, and then reasonable. Even in
Russian, with the lagging translation, he's formidable.
INT. KENNY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
Kenny is watching exactly the same performance. Zorin is
masterful. Kenny knows it. And when he talks to Adlai, it's
with the fatalism of a coach knowing he's putting his third
string quarterback in against the all-Pro linebacker.
KENNY
Adlai. The world has to know we're
right. If we're going to have a chance
at a political solution, we need
international pressure. You got to be
tough, Adlai. You need to find it, old
friend.
INT. U.S. OFFICES - U.N. - CONTINUOUS
Adlai watches his Staffers leave his inner office. He hears
Kenny, and everything Kenny is saying.
ADLAI
I hear you. I'm glad it's you calling.
I thought it would be Bobby. If they're
still sticking to their stonewall
strategy, I'll get 'em.
(beat)
Thanks, Ken.