The Ides of March Page #8

What are you gonna do?

You're either gonna hire him

for yourself,

or you're gonna work it

so if you can't have him,

the other team can't either.

This is a win-win situation for me.

And you come work for me, great.

Paul doesn't have you.

Then again, Paul fires you,

I don't want you, fine.

Paul still doesn't have you.

Either way, I win.

And the moment l got you

to sit down in that chair...

- I knew I'd won.

- This is--

It's my life

that you're talking about.

It doesn't make me happy

doing this kind of things.

Don't think it gives me any pleasure.

No, I'm sorry for you.

I really am.

Take care of yourself.

The third floor. l'm coming to you.

Nothing.

No. No, ma'am.

She's not breathing.

I don't know.

Fifteen minutes.

Do you know her?

She's gone.

I'm sorry, what?

Oh, yes, now,

I can hear them now.

We're on the third floor.

Yes.

Yes, ma'am.

Um...

Where are you?

lt's, uh, lt's 4-something.

and they're gonna close up

in a few minutes.

Stephen, it's Ben.

Uh, listen, what the f***?

Jesus, um. What are you gonna do?

Stephen, um, l just heard from Ben.

Please don't do anything

f***ed up.

Goddamn it, you motherf***er,

pick up the phone.

Don't do this.

l'm not going away.

The coroner stated that based on

the evidence founded by the police

in that hotel room,

that this was an accidental overdose,

a lethal cocktail

of alcohol and prescription drugs.

Cincinnati's police Chief Darryl Matthews

has called for a full investigation

pending a toxicology report,

which could take up to two weeks.

Just a terrible, terrible situation

for the former senator,

now DNC chairman, Jack Stearns

and his family.

I want on the ticket.

You need me on that ticket,

and you could use my delegates.

And you need them

before Tuesday.

Make a fine story on

the Sunday-morning news cycle.

So l expect to hear from you

by noon tomorrow

or l endorse Pullman

and take that Cabinet seat.

Anything else you wanna

talk about, Stephen?

- The entire staff is...

- We're in a state of shock.

We send our condolences

to Jack and Joanna Stearns

and their entire family.

Of course,

our hearts go out to them.

It's hard to imagine

what they must be going through.

What we know right now is that

it appears to have been a drug--

An accidental

prescription overdose.

- Ida?

- Is suicide ruled out?

We have no reason to believe--

I don't think we have any information yet,

but obviously there will be

a full investigation.

We just wanted to say

that our hearts go out,

our prayers go out,

to the entire family.

She really is--

She was part of our family.

Yeah.

Did you know her well?

Not well, but l did know her.

And what l saw was

a hard-working young woman

with a great spirit.

It's just a sad day

for the campaign.

And it's a sad day for

those of us who know Jack.

Governor, how long has

she interned for you?

Uh... You wanna...?

Yeah.

She had only been

on the road with us

for a few weeks.

Maybe four weeks,

I think. I can check.

Will you be continuing

with your schedule today?

Yes, we will most certainly

stay on schedule.

Seems like you have something

you wanna talk to me about.

Does it seem that way?

If you have something...

if you think you have something

you wanna get off your chest,

then why don't you?

How about l do the talking

and you do the listening?

Okay.

As of tomorrow, there's gonna be

a few changes to your campaign.

Paul's out. I'm your

senior campaign manager.

I'll draft a statement.

"The campaign got to a point

where we needed to make changes."

- You can put your own words in there.

- Why would l do that?

Because you wanna win.

Because you broke

the only rule in politics.

You wanna be president?

You can start a war,

you can lie, you can cheat,

you can bankrupt the country,

but you can't f*** the interns.

They'll get you for that.

What do you think

you have, Stephen?

- A troubled young girl tells you a story.

- A troubled young pregnant girl

- Is that what she told you?

- who needed cash for an abortion.

What did you do?

You give her money?

Maybe she needed cash and you were

the perfect guy to hit up.

- Is that your best play?

- You need a job that bad, Stephen?

You come in here with your dick in your hand?

You got nothing.

Then how did l get in here?

You're right, Mike, there's nothing.

There's no voice messages, no texts,

no e-mails, no pictures, no tape.

And yet I'm standing right here.

Yeah, well go home.

She left a note.

- How would you know that?

- I was cleaning up your mess.

I took her phone,

and l found a note.

- I thought it was an accident.

- I don't know MIke.

You're gonna have to tell me.

You're the last person she called.

Note says she's pregnant,

got an abortion,

and doesn't wanna hurt you.

Then why would she leave a note

that could only do that?

Because she's 20.

- What do you want?

- Paul's gone. Today.

I set a meeting with you and Thompson,

and You promise him the ticket.

You get 356 pledged delegates,

you get North Carolina,

you take office,

and you make right what

so many people have made wrong.

- All the things we both believe in.

- Well, I don't believe in extortion.

I don't believe in tying myself

to you for the next eight years.

Four years.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Huh.

What were you doing

in her room?

Housekeeping,

before you made Page 1 .

No, you were fired, you were out.

What were you doing in her room?

I was fixing a situation.

I got a call, Someone from the hotel

thought l could help and called.

So you were off the campaign,

but you thought it was important

to fix things?

It was your voice

the other night on the phone.

You were f***ing her.

What'd you do, Stephen?

- I lent her money and gave her a ride.

- I bet you did.

There's no note.

- Okay Mike, there's no note.

- Show it to me.

You think I brought it here?

That's how people get hurt.

Okay, let's play this out.

You're not wearing a wire,

because everything you suggested

is illegal.

And you wouldn't fare too well

in federal prison.

You were f***ing her,

and she told you about her situation.

There are no records or conversations

between the two of us,

and since she's had an abortion,

there's no DNA evidence.

So if there's no note...

then it's your word

against mine.

Your word.

A fired, disgruntled employee.

Or a sitting governor.

There's no note.

It's your call, governor.

- Paul, you got a minute?

- Yeah.

How much could

a big shake-up like this,

days before the Ohio primary,

hurt a campaign?

l asked Paul Zara how his firing

could actually help the candidate.

The governor and l felt that

in light of these changing numbers

that it was best to put

a new face on the campaign.

Stephen is very talented,

uh, very smart.

You always hear people talk

about events out of sequence,

the order of things.

There is no greater grief

than a parent

laying their child to rest.

She was a little girl trying to make it

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