"Previously:" "India sent troops to Kashmir's neutral zone." " Last night?" " It wasn't ready for press." "You could have told me." "I flatly denied it." " I met with Secret Service agents." " Why?" "Time to talk about some letters." "We received two death threats." "I think we're looking for two teenage boys." "Two politicians are arguing." "One shouts, "You're lying!" The other one says, "Yes, but hear me out. "" "We have time for one more question." "I didn't answer the last one yet." "Suzanne, there is an answer, but you won't like it." "You ready?" "The current crop of 18- to 25-year-olds...  ... is the most politically apathetic in American history." "In 1972, half of that age group voted." "Last election, it was 32 percent." "Your generation is less likely than any previous one to contact public officials, attend rallies or work on campaigns." "A man once said this: "Decisions are made by those who show up. "" "Are we failing you, or are you failing us?" "A little of both." "A guy showed me a report...." "We're moments away." "I'm going to get the door." "...61 percent of you agree with the statement, "Politicians  failed my generation. "" "When asked how older generations see you, you said:" ""Lazy and unfocused. "" " What source?" " The Center for Policy Alternatives." "C.J. will have copies." ""... determined and independent. "" "I want to continue, but there was some debate among my staff if I should take off my jacket or not." "Some thought it would fit with the folksy atmosphere." "Others thought it not presidential." "Read nothing into it other than I've been talking for two hours under these hot lights." "Thank you." "All that ambition doesn't translate into political action." " Where's Toby?" " Why?" " He's got a phone call." " From who?" " Peter Jobson." " Give it to me." "And the benefits are going more and more to the elderly and..." "Thank you." "Toby." "Josh." "Leo." "What's that?" " The signal." " Thought it was for the other thing." " It's for this thing now." " When did that happen?" "Who cares?" "It's for this now." " We're totally out of the woods?" " Go tell the president." "Entitlement payments will crowd out investment in infrastructure...  ... and education, to say nothing of general quality of life." "So college students today are faced with...." " Follow me." " What?" "I have a..." " I have a tip." " You do?" "Yes, and I'm going to give it to you before the others." "Are we being watched right now?" " No." " Why talk this way?" " I have news." " What?" "Acknowledge I'm doing a nice thing." " What's the news?" " A peace offering of sorts..." " What news?" " Call your science editor." "It's about the space shuttle Columbia." "...Generation X advocacy group Third Millennium 53 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds believe the soap opera General Hospital will outlast Medicare." "This, from a generation convinced the generation before them has ransomed its future." "That's why my daughter Zoey is always mad at me." "This is the part where Zoey tries to hide under a seat." "Don't worry, sweetie." "I'll bring out the baby pictures any second." " Gina!" "Straight to the car." " He's not working the rope line?" "He wants to watch softball." " They show softball on TV?" " Yeah." " The president watches it?" " He likes to unwind watching sports." " Softball?" " Whatever's on." "It was the first time anyone wrote it down." " Did you hear that?" "He used it." " Yeah." " He used what I told him about." " Yeah." " You were right." " What do you mean?" " It doesn't go away." " Class dismissed." "God bless you, and God bless America." "Here we go." "He's not working the rope line, Mike." "Straight to the car." "I've got Bookbag." "Baby pictures he's heckling me with, and Visa card bills." "He's walking the rope line." "Ever a chance he'll walk past a crowd?" "Charlie!" "I saw something." "By the way, Charlie apologized to me." "I saw something." " What's going on?" " One second, Leo." "That was the SA-6, right?" "Surface-to-air?" "Thank you." "In Kuwait, a Nighthawk didn't return." " From where?" " A three-hour patrol of the no-fly." " Iraq." "We have an F-117 down in Iraq." " Along with a pilot." " How much of this is confirmed?" " None of it." " How much time?" " Ten minutes." " Ten, then I'll bring the president." " Confirm in 10." "If the event's over by 10, I can be back here at 11." " That means?" " You can watch girls' softball." " Did you just snicker?" " No, sir." "You did." "When you said, "girls' softball," you snickered." " No, sir." " Yes." "As if to say something was wrong in my wanting to see a girls' softball game." " You seem excited." " They're ready, Mr. President." "Thanks, Phil." "I am excited." "At the end of a long day, you sit back and watch sports." "It's what men do." " They watch girls' softball?" " When it's what's on." "It's that or cricket." "I'm an educated man but when someone explains cricket, I want to hit them with a teapot!" " Morning." " Morning." "So, softball." "Sacramento State vs. University of the Pacific." " A clash of titans." " Don't spoil my fun." "I'll get to the end of the day, sit..." " And watch girls' softball." " That's right." " Morning, sir." " Hey, Steve." "Mikey." " Have I gotten any names right?" " No, but you came close." " Morning." " Morning, everyone!" "Let's get right to it." "It's a town hall meeting broadcast live." "For rehearsal, Carol will moderate." "She'll be to your right." " You'll have water and a glass." " I speak facing the audience, right?" "How do I know?" "I've done it 2 to 300,000 times before." " Why didn't Columbia land?" " Sir?" "The shuttle didn't land." " I don't know." " Ask Toby." " Why would Toby know?" " His brother's on that flight." " A payload specialist." " I didn't know." "He's up there with four Japanese newts." "He wants to see how absence of gravity affects their inner ears." " Know what he calls them?" " Astro-newts?" "Exactly." "Ask him why it didn't land." " Here we go!" " Mr. President, the first question..." "Sorry." "C.J., you say I have a pitcher of water and a drinking glass." "And the water gets into the glass how?" "It'll go like this:" ""Your administration has pursued a policy of what?"" ""Constructive engagement toward China, a Communist country that has imprisoned dissidents?" "Oppressed its blah, blah, blah." "But your administration has refused to engage Cuba." " Why the double standard?"" " Interesting." "Thanks." "We need an answer on Cuba and we need an answer on farm loans." " Students won't ask about Cuba." " Faculty will." "I didn't know you had a brother on the space shuttle." " I didn't know you had a brother." " I do." "Know why the shuttle didn't land?" "Did you know the shuttle was meant to land and didn't?" "Something going on on the shuttle?" " I'll find out." " Thanks." " And write me an answer on Cuba." " Okay." "Did you get me a meeting with the vice president?" " You won't be happy." " Jogging!" " Yes." " We couldn't just sit in chairs?" "It's the only time he could see you." "Order pasta." "Nothing like a meeting you gotta carb up for." " You should be at town hall prep." " I'm going." "They started 10 minutes ago." " Where's my chair?" " Let's go." " Where's my chair?" " What chair?" " The chair I sit in." " It's at the shop." " Shop?" " You said a wheel wobbled." "You call maintenance for a screwdriver." " I sent it to the shop." " We have one?" "It's not so much a shop as it is my friend Curtis." " He's fixing my chair?" " I'm throwing him some work." "How much is he charging the federal government?" " He said he'd have to look at the job." " At his shop." "More than 40 million Americans lack insurance, most of them children." "In the first year of your presidency, you proposed no new solution." "Can we expect action, or will your administration nibble at the edges?" " I wouldn't say we've nibbled." " Don't repeat." "It'll be a sound bite." "If we don't have a solution, at least we can acknowledge the problem." "I agree that too many Americans don't have the health care they deserve." "It's intolerable that most are children." "We can and must do more." " Sir?" " Hang on." "Now can I blame Congress?" "Knock yourself out." "Mr. President, I need you in the Situation Room." " Mr. President." " Is the pilot alive?" "He had an ejector seat onboard." "Aegis systems on the North Dakota...  ...picked up a tracking signal in the Fao peninsula." " The middle of nowhere." " Who's out there?" " The Iraqi R.G. will patrol the area." " Somebody's within 10 miles of him." "Our guy is 10 miles from the Iraqi Republican Guard?" " It's whoever gets there first." " You got a rescue scenario?" "The 16th Special Operations Group out of Hurlburt Field." " They use the Pave Hawks?" " And the MH-53J." "These specially-equipped helicopters fly treetop altitude at 180 knots." "Can I suggest, rather than a military rescue plan...?" " Please." " A call to Ambassador..." " You want to check with the embassy?" " Three hours on diplomatic solutions..." "How about I drop you and your American warplane in the middle of a desert?" "Then tell me if we have time to find a diplomatic solution before we get you." " What's his name?" " I'm sorry, sir?" " The pilot." "What's his name?" " Captain Scott Hotchkiss." " Where's he from?" " Rhode Island." " How old is he?" " Twenty-six." "Rob told me last week the Iraqi government has put out a bounty, the equivalent of $14,000 for any American plane shot down or any American soldier captured." " He was patrolling the no-fly zone?" " Yes, sir." " He had not engaged." " No, sir." "Phil, if it ends up Fitzwallace has to call this kid's parents I swear to God, I'm invading Baghdad." " Get him back." " Yes, sir." " Yeah?" " Oh, C.J." "Iraqis shot down a Nighthawk in the no-fly zone." " Is the pilot alive?" " Yes." "He's caught between Republican Guard divisions." " Pentagon team's coming to brief you." " Is there a rescue mission?" "The president gave the order an hour ago." "If Iraq shot down an F-117, they'll want to tell the world." "The press will have the news before you've finished whatever you're doing." "A problem when conducting a covert mission in the age of instant news." " Understand what I'm telling you?" " Yes." "Because there was a problem a few months ago with India-Pakistan." "You were uncomfortable lying to the press." "I wasn't lying to them." "You lied to me, which made me look like an idiot." "Well, I'm not lying to you now." "Four MH-53J Pave Lows with guys from the 16th Special Ops are out flying under radar." "We'll pay a price for misleading the press." " I don't care." " I understand." " An F-117?" " You should go to your briefing." " An F-117's a Stealth Fighter?" " Yeah." "We'll be talking about how they shot one down?" " That's for sure." " I set a meeting with Hoynes." " When?" " In an hour." "We're jogging." "Listen." "Don't tell him why it's bad for us." "Tell him why it's bad for him." " Don't worry about the meeting." " See me after." " An F-117?" " Yeah." " A Stealth Fighter?" " Yes." " How was it seen?" " I'm sure they're looking into it." "In its defense, it is a generation behind the B2 Spirit." "A Stealth Fighter should be stealthy, or we should call it something else." " Hello." " Hi." "One of the payload bay doors would not close." " I'm sorry?" " Specifically, the starboard door." " If your ass isn't off my desk, stat..." " This is his fourth shuttle mission." "Dr. David Ziegler holds degrees in physiology and biology." " I know more about him than about you." " A door wouldn't close?" "The mission commander at NASA, Peter Jobson said a power unit jammed." "They need to fix it." " They didn't wanna land till morning." " It's morning on the shuttle." " At Edwards." " It's morning now." "EVA's taking them a little time." "Well, it's a red-letter day for U.S. aviation, isn't it?" "Jobson was calm." "Said it's a minor problem." "C.J. will need the briefing room." "Let's move prep when the president's free." "We're working out an answer on Cuba." " Also on teachers." " Okay." "Sam?" "Keep in touch with Peter Jobson." "Let me know when it lands, would you?" "Yeah." " Toby?" " Yeah?" " CNN's got the Nighthawk." " Thank you." "The S  L industry was deregulated by a Democratic Congress flooded with S  L donations, a banking industry disaster that cost $500 billion." " The point?" " We're no better with money." "Most Democratic Party soft money is from corporations, not labor unions." "Over 100 businesses gave both parties more than $125,000 last election." "Gave it to both parties!" "That isn't free speech, or political values, Mr. Vice President." "I don't know how, but we've legalized bribery." "We've got two corporate parties, one pro-life, one pro-choice." "When I said, "What's your point?" I meant, "What's your point?"" "We've noticed an increase in racquetball and poker games with Democratic opponents of campaign finance reform." "There are many Democrats against finance reform in Washington." " Can we stop running a second?" " Yeah." "You're backing the wrong horse." "You read the same polls I do." "The president's gone up nine points in three weeks." "Fifty-one percent job approval." "On TV tonight, he'll pick up five more." "That's 56 percent and a 14-point bump in a month." "That's daunting..." "Hang on." "If we bring this pilot back alive, that's 10 points." "And we have a rating in the 60s." "Now Democratic congressmen are paying to be seen with the president." "You're looking around the racquetball court saying, "Where'd everyone go?"" "You've had experience battling Bartlet when he's right and when he's popular." "Why would you try it when he's both at the same time?" "You know something, Josh?" "I wonder if I'd listened to you two years ago, would I be president right now?" "You ever wonder that?" "No, sir." "I know it for sure." "I'm done." "Thank you for your time, sir." "Good afternoon." "A U.S. Air Force F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighter aircraft flying a routine patrol from Al Jabar Air Force Base in Kuwait was shot down over the southern no-fly zone in Iraq." "We don't know the condition of the pilot." "We know the plane's ACES ll zero/zero ejector seat was activated." "General Richmond and General Clancy will talk more about that." " Danny." " Is a rescue underway?" "Scenarios are being contemplated." "I won't speculate." "We've spoken with the Iraqis, seeking a diplomatic solution." " There have been no military moves?" " No." " Chris." " Walk us through...." "To tag Congress as obstructionist, you have to list your accomplishments." "Expanding coverage for poor children." "Making health care portable." "Also list this year's agenda." " You know what's hard, C.J.?" " Sir?" "I'm rehearsing without the pitcher and the glass, and it's weird." " What if he takes his jacket off?" " No." "It'll look staged." " Not if he does it right." " What, throw it over his shoulder?" "Maybe." " Can we get him wired?" " No." "With the mike, stool and jacket I can do the meeting and then a couple of sets at the Copa." " Hey." " My musical director, Zoey Bartlet." " Working?" " Deciding if I take my jacket off." " Know what I think?" " I couldn't care less." " Come with us tonight." " I was..." "Dad, are you sweating?" " I'm fine." " Are you sure?" "You took your pills?" "Fine." "Go ahead, collapse." "Are you channeling Mom?" "Come to Virginia tonight." " I can watch on TV." " It's not like being there." "You'll talk about me and my face will turn red." " It's just gonna be awful." " Bonus." "Then it's settled." "Charlie wanted to say something during prep." " I'm going to see Mom." " You'll come?" " Yeah." " Thanks." "All right, everyone, we're done." "Thanks." "Thank you, Mr. President." " You wanted to mention something?" " I'm sorry?" " Something to mention." " No, sir." " You sure?" " Yes, sir." "There was just a misunderstanding." "I was thinking it might not be a bad idea to have a signal worked out." "For what?" "Good news about the pilot if it comes while you're on TV." " What kind of signal?" " Something like this:" " Just very subtle, very simple." " What is that?" "It's departure." "It's a safe departure." " Want a different one?" " That one's good." " Should I spread it around?" " It'll get around by itself." "But if you want to help, that's okay." "Thank you, Mr. President." "Hey, Josh." " What's going on?" " I just talked to Hoynes." " Is he in?" " He's onboard." "You did a good job." "Good." "Josh." "Did you happen to say that if Scott Hotchkiss comes back alive, there'll be a 10-point bump?" "I did." "I gotta tell you, if the president heard that, he'd be out of his skin." "Don't do that, even in private." "The guy's been blown out of the sky." "He could be injured." "For sure, he's in a desert with no water." "We're not the only ones looking for him." "If they get him, and all he gives them is name, rank and serial number they'll beat him." "They're gonna torture him." "Not to mention 80 guys who'll get shot at if they're picked up below radar." "You're right." "The president's joked around, but he's living and dying with each hour." "He'd be offended to know you discussed a political upside." "As a guy who flew planes in the war, I was offended too." "Yes, sir." " Okay." " Okay." "You did good." "But you can be a person." " I apologize." " Your apology's accepted." "What are you doing?" " It looked like you wanted to hug me." " Man, did you read that wrong." "Okay." "Sam was here before." "We've got some kind of signal?" "For if we know something during the town hall." " It'll be days." "What's the signal?" " It's this here:" " What's that?" " The signal." " Looks like a hip-hop gesture." " It's a plane taking off." " Doesn't look like a plane taking off." " This is bad, this is good:" " I got it." " You don't have to be a cryptographer." "I really do apologize." "Thank you." " Zoey, can I talk to you in here?" " Yeah." " I wish you hadn't done that." " You chickened out." "I didn't." "It's inappropriate." "I don't have the same relationship with your father that you have." "It's not out of line to put your two cents in." " We're using your office..." "Keep fighting." "I just need to find something." "I wasn't out of line to stick up for you." "You were chicken." "I work in a building with the smartest people in the world." "Donna!" " Hi." " How you doing?" "We should get something temporary, so that won't happen." " I wish you wouldn't do that anymore." " Okay, but you're wrong." "I'll see you later." "Come in." "What do you know?" " Listen..." " Sam?" "No, it's not..." "Cathy's getting Peter Jobson on the phone." " He'll tell you about this." " Sam?" "There was a screwup when they closed the door." "They did a manual winch op, disconnecting the motor from the door." "As a result of that or something else, the two OMS engines are failing." "OMS is the Orbital Maneuvering Systems." " Do you know if they have primary RCS?" " That's what they're trying now." "If it were at a certain level, they'd call the president." " Yeah." " Seriously." "Anyway, Cathy's getting Peter Jobson." "Before, when you first asked me the reason I reacted the way I did...." "I was just embarrassed, 'cause honestly I forgot he was up there." "They switched his mission order around a few times, and I lost track." "Toby, Peter Jobson's on 05." "Thank you." "Admiral Fitzwallace phoned." "He's on his way over." " Would you like anything?" " No, thanks." "What was Zoey talking about before?" " It was nothing, sir." " What was it?" "There's a report that's been sitting on your desk for a few weeks." " It has?" " My desk, really." "So I was reading it." "In prep, you've been having discussions about youth participation in politics." "What's the report?" "It's from the Center for Policy Alternatives." "Some things in it hit home." "I mentioned it to Zoey." " Mr. President, Chairman Fitzwallace." " Thank you." "Charlie, put it in my briefcase." " Yes, sir." " Thanks." " Charlie." "Mr. President." " Do you have any news?" "I think I will in just a minute." "They'll put the call through here." "Mind if I wait with you, sir?" " How are you feeling?" " I feel fine." " Yeah?" " Yeah, I feel fine." "The eagle on the seal in the carpet...." "He holds arrows in one talon." "An olive branch in the other." "Mostly, the eagle faces the olive branch." "But when Congress declares war, the eagle faces the arrows." "How do they do that?" "Do you think they've got a second carpet sitting around in the basement?" "I don't know." "Maybe this piece in the middle cuts out." " I honestly don't know." " Chairman?" " Your call." "The blinking light." " Thanks." "I'll stop bugging you in just a minute." "Yeah?" "Thanks." "I have Captain Scott Hotchkiss on the phone." "He's cleared Iraqi airspace and he's on his way to Tel Aviv." "Fitz." " Congratulations, sir." " The kid's okay?" "He's got a sprained ankle." "Well, that's a job awfully well done, Mr. Chairman." " Thank you." " I owe you." "That's not how it works." "I'll check out that thing with the carpet." " Talk to the pilot." " Seriously, I'll get you an answer." "Captain Hotchkiss, this is President Bartlet." "How's your ankle?" "Good." "Before you say more, give me your parents' phone number." "I never get to make this call." "Radar officers monitored Hotchkiss...  ... as his plane went "feet dry" south of the 33rd parallel." " C.J." " Katie." "Did we use Saudi Arabian airspace?" "With permission?" "We flew secretly on the way in." "They were told on the way out." " Is that when the British were told?" " Yes." "Folks, it's after 7." "Most of us have to get to Arlington." "This will all be covered at the Pentagon briefing which will begin 30 minutes after our return." "That's all for now." "Excuse me." " Nice!" " Congratulations." "Thought I'd see "Saudi Arabia" spelled with a Y." "I can spell better than you think." " One L in "Tel Aviv. "" " Okay." "In the office." "I did the right thing." "Your nose is out of joint, and I don't care." "You told me you were working on a diplomatic..." "Did you think I was gonna fork over the frequency we're transmitting on?" "You could have said, "We're not ruling anything out." "I won't let you take me down that path. "" "If I misdirected the Iraqis half a beat, it was absolutely worth it." "That's a no-brainer." "Only 50 people can't understand why I lied." "They all work in the White House press room." "You didn't have to call on me." "Everyone was gonna ask that." "You knew what your answer was gonna be." "You called on me." "Yes, I did." "You wouldn't do that to a less supportive journalist?" " I chose you." " I'm not staying in the penalty box." "I've covered the White House for years." "With The Washington Post, Time, and The Dallas Morning News!" "You can't mess me around like this!" "I gotta say, that was a turn-on." "Though I don't know why you were most haughty on The Dallas Morning News." "The buses are leaving." "The buses are leaving." " Girls' softball?" " Women's." "It'll be great." "I'm watching a live sports event tonight." "And when those teams get together, it's a barnburner." "You won't spoil my good time." "Sir, I think we both know from experience that's not true." "You need to be in the car." " See me walking out?" " You're arguing with a senior citizen." "I'm leaving." "Sam has notes on Cuba and farm loans I want you to look over in the car." "All right, I'll be at the car in just a second." "Thank you." "Toby?" "Toby?" " Excuse me, Mr. President." " You can't see them." "They're over Australia now." "I just spoke to the mission commander." "They're trying firing an RCS." "The Reaction Control System." "It's actually 40 separate engines." "If it doesn't work, there's 39 other things to try." "There's redundancy after redundancy built in." "For good measure, Atlantis is warming up on the launch pad." "It could dock with the Columbia in two hours." "We can do that now." "The shuttle opens cargo bay doors after leaving the atmosphere." "That lets the heat out." "Once the doors close, they have a short window to get back before it overheats." " They'll open those doors again." " How?" "Same way they closed them." "With a five-dollar wrench." "When we're done tonight, you should fly to Edwards Air Force Base meet it when it lands, stop being an ass and talk to your brother." "Mr. President?" "I appreciate your trying to be a comfort, and that you have some understanding of the situation with my brother but it was supposed to land 19 hours ago." "Obviously there's a problem." "It's space travel, and I don't believe any problem is minor." "The shuttle flies itself, Toby." "No, it doesn't, Mr. President." "No." "It doesn't." "Thank you very much." "That was a joke about politicians." "Two politicians are arguing." "One shouts, "You're lying! " The other says, "Yes, but hear me out. "" " We have time for one more question." " I didn't answer the last one yet." "We're moments away." "I'm gonna get the door." "A man once said this: "Decisions are made by those who show up. "" "Are we failing you, or are you failing us?" "A little of both." "A guy named Charlie Young showed me a report that said 61 percent of you agree with the statement:" ""Politicians have failed my generation. "" "When asked how older generations see you..." " What source?" " Center for Policy Alternatives." "C.J. will have copies." ""... determined and independent. "" "If I take my jacket off, will you read nothing into it other than I've been talking for two hours under these hot lights?" " Follow me." " What?" " Where's Toby?" " Why?" " He's got a call." " From?" " Peter Jobson." " Give it to me." "Toby." "Josh." " Gina!" "Straight to the car." " He's not working the rope line?" "He wants to watch softball." " They show softball on TV?" " Yeah." "And the president watches it?" "They tell me we're out of time." "I want to say that this evening I was called both a liberal and a populist." "A man in the back called me a socialist." "I hadn't heard that for a while." "Actually, I'm an economics professor." "My ancestor, Dr. Josiah Bartlet was the New Hampshire delegate to the second Continental Congress." "The one that sat in session in 1776 and announced that we were no longer subjects of King George III but rather a self-governing people." ""We hold these truths self-evident," they said." ""That all men are created equal. "" "Strange, but it was the first time anyone wrote it down." "Decisions are made by those who show up." "Class dismissed." "Thank you." "God bless you, and God bless America!" "Here we go." "He's not working the rope line, Mike." "Straight to the car." "I've got Bookbag." "He used it." "You're looking to thank me." "You had nothing to do with it." " I accept your apology." " Toby, walk with me." " What do you got to say for yourself?" " About what?" "Baby pictures he's heckling me with, Visa card bills." "He's walking the rope line." "Ever a chance he'd walk past a crowd?" "Charlie!" "I saw something." "By the way, Charlie apologized to me." "I saw something." "Gun!" "Get down!" "Stay down!" "We got people down!" "We need help down here!" "Keep them down!" "Who's been hit?" "Who's been hit?"