Truth Page #5

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SUPERIMPOSE -August 2004. Every last name on the board has

a line through it. Mary sits, staring at the names. Trying

to find a way in.

INT. DAN'S APARTMENT -- NEW YORK CITY -- NIGHT

Dan, getting dressed for a black tie event. Mary talks to

him through his speaker-phone, INTERCUT:

MARY:

It's like they were given talking

points. He was a great guy and no

strings were pulled.

DAN:

Devil's advocate? What if no strings

were pulled?

MARY:

You know who else was in the 147th?

Lloyd Bensten's son, John Connally's

son, both Sid Adger's sons, H.L.

Hunt's grandson, and the heirs to

the Sakowitz fortune. But I'm sure

it's just a coincidence.

DAN:

So what's our next move?

Mary shakes her head. Staring at the names.

MARY:

I have no idea.

INT. MARY'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT

Late. Wrolstad snores lightly. On Mary. Can't sleep. The

TV plays. A SWIFT BOAT AD. A montage of older VETERANS

speaking to the camera, with a background of military images.

VETERAN 1

I served with John Kerry.

28.

VETERAN 2

I served with John Kerry.

VETERAN 3

John Kerry has not been honest about

what happened in Vietnam.

VETERAN 4

He is lying about his record.

VETERAN 5

John Kerry has not been honest...

VETERAN 6

And he lacks the capacity to lead.

VETERAN 7

When the chips were down, you could

not count on John Kerry.

VETERAN 8

John Kerry is no war hero-

The PHONE RINGS. Wrolstad stirs in the bed next to her.

WROLSTAD:

Who's that?

MARY:

My secret lover. Go back to sleep.

Wrolstad grunts and rolls over. Mary scoops up the receiver.

MARY (CONT'D)

Hello?

SMITH (O.S.)

You ever hear of Linda Starr? Runs

a website, clearing house for anti-

Bush stuff. She's hinting documents

are going to be floated soon.

MARY:

What kind of documents?

INT. JOSH HOWARD'S OFFICE -- EARLY MORNING

Josh drinks coffee as an ASSISTANT pokes her head in.

29.

ASSISTANT:

Mary Mapes is on the phone.

INT. MARY'S KITCHEN -- DAWN

Mary, bleary, handwritten notes in front of her, fixing a

bowl of Cheerios for Robert across from her. INTERCUT:

MARY:

I think we got something. Anti-Bush

internet rabble-rouser. I talked to

her for three hours, but she put me

in touch with her source, a Colonel

who says he may have access to missing

documents from Bush's purged Guard

file. I got Mike Smith talking to

him right now.

Robert looks at his bowl.

ROBERT:

Milk?

Mary retrieves a carton of milk from the fridge.

JOSH:

Get a look at those documents. And

do some background, make sure the

Colonel isn't nuts.

INT. AUSTIN DINER -- DAY

Mary sits in a booth across from reporter JIM MOORE. Steaming

cups of coffee in front of both of them.

JIM MOORE:

Colonel Burkett is nuts.

MARY:

Oh, good.

JIM MOORE:

But he's also on the level.

MARY:

You're sure?

JIM MOORE:

He's a whistle-blower.

(MORE)

30.

JIM MOORE (CONT'D)

And whistle-blowers are consistently

unbalanced, angry grudge-holders.

That's what makes them want to blow

their whistles in the first place.

(leaning forward)

He claims he was there for the

scrubbing.

MARY:

The scrubbing?

JIM MOORE:

Of Bush's Guard file. 1997, Burkett,

George Conn, a couple other people

say that a bunch of Bushies went

down to the Guard Headquarters in

Austin and made certain unfavorable

parts of his file disappear. You've

seen the official record right?

Holes in it big enough to drive a

truck through.

MARY:

So you believe him.

JIM MOORE:

Enough to devote a hundred and twenty

pages in my new book to him.

He takes a sip of his coffee.

JIM MOORE (CONT'D)

You're going to want to be careful

with this. The administration doesn't

take kindly to this type of reporting.

MARY:

I didn't exactly make friends with

them on Abu Ghraib-

JIM MOORE:

This is different. You're talking

about screwing with the man himself.

MARY:

The President.

31.

JIM MOORE:

After I did my first book on Bush?

My name mysteriously popped up on

the terrorist no-fly list. Now, I

can't hop a puddle jumper without a

strip search. They don't forget.

INT. MARY'S HOUSE -- FRONT HALL -- DAY

Mary coming home, hears SMITH'S VOICE coming from the kitchen:

SMITH (O.S.)

...Then you gotta know about the

1996 Telcom Act...

INT. MARY'S KITCHEN -- DAY

Smith sits across from Robert, who is interviewing him.

SMITH:

See, the rules were no company could

own more than one TV station, radio

station, or newspaper in the same

market - so no one could have a

monopoly on the flow of information.

But the '96 Act eliminated the cross

ownership ban and now TV News is

controlled by only five corporations

GE, Disney, Time Warner, NewsCorp,

and Viacom - which owns CBS. And

all of these mega-corporations rely

on what?

Robert just stares at him.

ROBERT:

I'm seven.

SMITH:

On corporate tax breaks and favorable

government legislation! That means

the government controls the financial

well-being of the very institutions

that are supposed to report on them!

At best it's collusion. Can you

still report the news? Sure. As

long as it doesn't get in the way of

the golden rule - thou shalt always

protect the company.

32.

MARY:

Ever think maybe you're just paranoid?

Smith turns to see her standing there.

SMITH:

Once. But I dismissed it as paranoia.

(rising)

We have a problem. Burkett's talking

to other outlets. New York Times,

Vanity Fair-

MARY:

You gotta get him to meet with us

and bring the documents.

SMITH:

He does that, he loses all his

bargaining power. He wants money.

MARY:

We don't do that.

SMITH:

He's worried he's going to have to

relocate after this. He's worried

this will put him in danger. Sh*t,

he's worried his phone is tapped.

MARY:

Aren't you?

SMITH:

Mary, if these really are missing

pieces of a sitting President's

military record, we are talking about

the Holy Grail of documents. If we

won't pay, someone else will.

Silence. The clock ticks. Mary, slowly:

MARY:

Tell Burkett we don't believe him.

SMITH:

But we do believe him.

33.

MARY:

Tell him if he wants to keep us on

the hook, he's going to have to show

us something to prove his story.

Smith stares at her.

MARY (CONT'D)

You get me in a room with those

documents, and I will close him.

EXT. WHATABURGER -- DAY

Deep Texas. A burger chain. The sign blares WHATABURGER!

SUPERIMPOSE -September 2004. Mary and Smith pull to a halt

in front of the bright orange restaurant. After a bit:

MARY:

You figure they really have to have

confidence in their burgers to name

a restaurant that.

Smith nods. Then:

SMITH:

How early are we?

A beat. They exchange a glance, thinking the same thing...

TIME CUT TO:

Mary and Smith, now EATING BURGERS. Smith, mouth full:

SMITH (CONT'D)

These are really good.

Mary nods. Scanning the people outside.

MARY:

What do they look like?

SMITH:

The Burketts? I don't know.

MARY:

Then how do we recognize them?

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