Truth Page #11

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JOSH:

Just because some guys on the internet

have a problem with our reporting-

BETSY:

It's not just guys on the internet.

ABC News is going after this.

Nightline specifically

66.

MARY:

You mean they're going after Dan.

A beat. Schwartz looks to Betsy.

BETSY:

Yes.

SCHWARTZ:

Tell them about the superscript.

BETSY:

It's the little "th" that pops up

after you type a number like 111th

MARY:

I know what it is, what about it?

BETSY:

Bloggers are saying it's a big red

flag this was done on a computer.

They say it didn't exist on

typewriters in the 1970's.

LUCY:

One of our examiners raised that

concern as well.

Mary shoots her a glance.

MARY:

Emily Will, yeah, but Matley said

they did have them and she deferred

to him.

SCHWARTZ:

They will kill us on that. They

will kill us on that alone.

JOSH:

I don't understand, what do they

want?

MARY:

They want us to say we're wrong.

Because if we're wrong, all the

questions we asked about the

President's service go away.

They're all looking at her now.

67.

MARY (CONT'D)

Look, we have the document examiners.

We have Bob Strong, who worked at

Guard headquarters and says the memos

are written in the vernacular of the

Guard at the time. And we have Bobby

Hodges, Killian's commanding officer,

who confirmed both the content of

the memos and that they reflected

Killian's state of mind at the time.

We have this story.

BETSY:

Make sure. Reconfirm with everybody.

SCHWARTZ:

And find us another goddamn "th" in

the official record, okay? I wanna

ram it down their throats.

INT. CBS NEWS -- MAKE UP ROOM -- AFTERNOON

Dan, getting made up for the news. Mary pokes her head in.

MARY:

You've heard?

DAN:

Yes. And it's bullshit, pardon my

French. People have been attacking

me for thirty years, it's not going

to start bothering me now. Are you

okay?

Mary nods. Then:

MARY:

We're gonna be in a fight here, Dan.

DAN:

I still got a few good ones left in

me.

MARY:

You get your contract sewn up yet?

DAN:

I got the President of the news

division his job here, I'll be fine.

(MORE)

68.

DAN (CONT'D)

Now give me something to hit back

with.

INT. 60 MINUTES -- CONFERENCE ROOM -- AFTERNOON

STACKS of boxes on the center table. All of them labeled

BUSH GUARD RECORDS. Smith, Colonel Charles, and Lucy stand.

COLONEL CHARLES:

We need to find that "th"...

He pulls off the top of the first box...

INT. JOSH HOWARD'S OFFICE -- EVENING

Josh, at his desk. ON TV - Dan giving the news:

DAN:

--Killing 9 people and wounding 180.

Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian

terrorist group claimed responsibility-

Josh changes the channel to ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT.

PETER JENNINGS:

--Several document experts contacted

by ABC News have raised serious

questions about the authenticity of

these new memos...

INT. MARY'S OFFICE -- EVENING

Mary, dialing her phone. ABC also on her TV:

PETER JENNINGS:

And then there's this, the little

superscript "th". That's something

very few typewriters could do in

1972-

Mary MUTES Jennings as the phone rings. Through the line:

GENERAL HODGES (O.S.)

You have reached Robert Hodges, please

leave a message.

69.

MARY:

General Hodges, this is Mary Mapes,

we need to get in touch again as

soon as possible. Please call me.

She hangs up. Rises and goes out her door to

INT. 60 MINUTES OFFICES -- BULLPEN

Walking past the desks, she notices she's drawing the stares

of a few co-workers. She's the woman who did this. She

heads to

INT. 60 MINUTES CONFERENCE ROOM -- NIGHT

Her team still goes through documents. Smith sees her come

in. Shakes his head. Mary pulls up a chair to help...

TIMECUT TO:

LATER. The group continues to sift through papers. ON TV -NIGHTLINE.

A woman being interviewed, the graphic reads

Marjorie Connell - Jerry Killian's Widow

MARJORIE CONNELL (O.S.)

Number one, he would not have typed

because he did not type. Number

two, the wording is very suspect to

me. I just can't believe that this

is my late husband's words-

MUTED. They look up. Josh, holding the remote. Pissed.

JOSH:

Staudt was already out of the Guard.

MARY:

What are you talking about?

JOSH:

(holding it up)

The CYA memo dated August 18, 1973 "

Staudt has obviously pressured Hodges

more about Bush." Staudt left the

guard in 1972. So how the f*** could

he still be pressuring?

A beat.

70.

MARY:

Listen. When a commanding officer-

JOSH:

The bloggers are having a field day

with this!

MARY:

When a General leaves his posting

and goes to work for Conoco on the

same base he still wields an enormous

amount of influence there. Doesn't

matter when he left. Back me up,

Roger.

COLONEL CHARLES:

She's right.

Josh stares at them.

JOSH:

Forgive me if I don't think everyone's

going to see it the way you do.

Silence as this sinks in. On TV Gary Killian - Son of Jerry

Killian is speaking. Almost to make a point, Josh UNMUTES:

GARY KILLIAN:

-It was not the nature of my father

to keep private files like this, nor

would it have been in his own interest

to do so.

Josh throws the remote on the table and stalks out. A beat.

SMITH:

This is bad...

COLONEL CHARLES:

No. When they start asking to talk

to our source? Then it will be bad.

LUCY:

They're coming for us, Roger.

Silence. The Colonel looks back down to his stack of papers

and stops.

COLONEL CHARLES:

I got one.

71.

Everyone looks it him.

MARY:

What?

COLONEL CHARLES:

(staring at the page)

I... have a superscript "th". Here.

And they're moving towards him now, taking the paper from

him. Looking to see, a superscript "th", plain as day.

MARY:

Josh!

Josh rushes back in. Mary holds up the page for him to see.

MARY (CONT'D)

Call Dan, tell him we just got in

the fight.

EXT. WEST 57TH STREET -- MORNING

The sun shining as it rises...

INT. DAN'S APARTMENT -- MORNING

Dan sits at his kitchen table. Drinking his coffee watching

GOOD MORNING AMERICA:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOLOUS

CBS is still standing by its story

and in fact they're also pointing to

another source, a Colonel Robert

Hodges, who was an immediate superior

to Mr. Killian.

INT. MARY'S OFFICE -- MORNING

Mary typing feverishly. Her TV plays the same broadcast.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOLOUS

They said they read these documents

to Colonel Hodges and he said "that

sounds like what Killian was telling

me at the time". Hodges is not

speaking to anyone else yet.

72.

MARY:

(shouting at the TV)

Because we can't get him on the

f***ing phone!

INT. DAN'S APARTMENT -- MORNING

CHARLES GIBSON:

Has it come to this, though, George?

You were talking about the fact we've

all become experts on documents in

the last few days. Has it come to

this, that, that questions get raised?

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