Charlotte Kramer: Madam President Part 28

Charlotte cleared her throat nervously. "Sorry. Go ahead."

"No, you go ahead," Melanie insisted.

"I was going to suggest that maybe we run through the speech on the teleprompter."

"The news about Warren is going to break before your speech. We need to finalize a statement from you. I started working on something on the plane," Melanie said.

Charlotte sat down to read Melanie's draft. "This is good," she said.

"Do you want to add anything?"

"Should we say a little more about his military service?"

"Sure. I'll add something about his four tours."

"And maybe something about how he'll rest for all eternity with his fellow soldiers?"

"Let's save that for a memorial service or something," Melanie suggested.

Charlotte frowned. "When do you think this will break?" she asked.

"Any second, Madam President."

"The statement is good."

"I'll give it to Sam to get to Marguerite. I'll instruct her to hold it until the second the news breaks."

"Thanks for taking care of that, Mel."

Melanie stepped out of the Oval Office and reviewed the statement one final time before she handed it to Sam. Writing a statement for the president about the death of one of her most beloved friends was the very last thing she'd expected to do on the flight home from Iraq. Melanie grabbed a peppermint out of the candy dish on Sam's desk.

"Do you want me to order you dinner?" Sam asked.

"I won't have time to eat before the speech."

"Take this. You look pale." Sam handed her a Luna bar, which she finished in three bites before returning to the Oval Office.

CHAPTER FIFTY.

Dale Dale closed her eyes and rested her face in her hands. Clare had been arguing with Lucy for nearly five minutes, and it didn't sound like she was going to come out on the winning side. Reluctantly, Dale opened her office door and motioned for Lucy to come inside. Clare looked relieved and mouthed, "Sorry."

Lucy marched inside and stood in front of Dale's desk, crossing and uncrossing her arms while Dale walked around it and sat down.

"I understand that you are frustrated that we've had to limit your access today, Lucy," Dale started.

"You think I'm frustrated?"

Lucy had one hand on her hip, and the other was supporting a giant purse slung over one shoulder. The bag was so heavy that Lucy couldn't stand up straight. She dropped it to the ground with a thud.

"Frustrated is the word I'd use to describe the rest of your press corps, the ones you screwed when you decided that it was acceptable for them to take cabs back to the White House, only to find themselves locked out of the complex by overzealous security goons at the front gate. They pay for those G.o.dforsaken works.p.a.ces beneath the press office because it is their job to cover your boss when she hands out the Teacher of the Year award. But they come here every day in case the world blows up, and today it did, and you f.u.c.ked them over. Frustrated describes their state of mind. I'm enraged. I know that today wasn't a day for us to stay close to the president. I'm not the Fox News bobble-head that you think I am. But I did expect some of the terms of our carefully negotiated access to stay in place when you decided early in the day to allow us to stay."

It was true that Lucy had given Dale an opportunity to pull the plug on the "Day in the Life" production right after the attacks. Dale had decided that it would appear more hysterical to have the entire press corps report that the White House had changed course on a long-planned special. In hindsight, it would have been a much better idea simply to ask Lucy to film the "Day in the Life" on another day.

"Lucy, I'm really sorry. I had not realized the magnitude of the crisis when I said you could stay."

"I'm not done. The fact that you picked us for the interview and then completely abdicated any and all responsibility for us as your carefully scripted day fell apart speaks not only to your profound disrespect for your former peers in the media but also to your complete disregard for making sure that the press has a complete picture of what your boss is going through."

"Lucy-"

"Dale, I know that you were lying to me when I asked you about the president being in the Oval. But I didn't report it. I also know that she did, for a fact, storm out of the PEOC, and I don't blame her. Neither would our viewers. But you didn't deign to level with me, which is fine. That's your choice. And maybe you had all of the access you needed while you were sleeping with the president's husband when you were covering the White House, but some of us still have to work our sources."

"Lucy, I-"

"Let me finish," Lucy demanded. She reached into her oversized purse and pulled out a brown envelope that Dale recognized as the one that contained the copy of the president's speech that Dale had given to Craig. Lucy threw the envelope onto Dale's desk and sat down across from her. "What the h.e.l.l is this, and why was it handed to me? Are you trying to entrap me so your Justice Department can prosecute me along with your suspected leaker or something?"

Dale opened the envelope and saw inside Craig's copy of the president's address for later that night. Her stomach sank. "What? No. That's ridiculous."

"The last administration prosecuted half a dozen journalists. Ask them how ridiculous it sounds."

"I can explain. Just stop yelling at me. Please?"

Lucy leaned back and crossed her legs and stared at Dale as though daring her to speak.

"You're right about a lot of those things, Lucy. Maybe you can cut me a little bit of slack today?" It was a cheap tactic, but she needed Lucy's help, and she'd get it any way she could.

"Dale, I'm sorry about Warren. I can't imagine what you're going through. But somewhere along the way today, you made a decision to stay here, and you also made a decision to allow us to stay. Even before the news broke about the attacks, or Warren, you've treated us with disdain and hostility. I should be specific. You have treated me with disdain. It has felt personal for a while now, and my experience today confirms that. You have a problem, generally speaking, in telling the truth to the people who have the job that you used to have. But you have an extra challenge in treating me with respect. Why is that?"

"It's not you."

"Come on. I saw you rolling your eyes at Brian while Richard and I were doing our phone interview from your office."

"You were sprawled out in my office, with your numbered juices on my coffee table, while the rest of the press corps fought for s.p.a.ce on the floor."

"And you rolled your eyes at the press about what a pain in the a.s.s I am."

"I rolled my eyes at your lack of self-awareness."

Lucy laughed. "My lack of self-awareness?"

Dale worried that she was alienating the person she needed to complete the a.s.signment she'd been given by Melanie and the president. "You can take me out back and shoot me tomorrow, but tonight I need to know where you got that speech."

"I'm guessing that you already know, so before I answer your questions, I need to know that I'm not a p.a.w.n in some sting operation."

"Why would you ask that?"

"We're totally and completely off the record here, right? There are no recording devices, and you are not going to report what I say to your colleagues, are you?"

"I swear."

"A very good source gave me the speech. He's someone I've come to know very well in the last three years, and his information is rock-solid."

"But here you are with it, Lucy. Why didn't you go on the air with your big scoop about what the president planned to say tonight?"

"You tell me."

"There must be something that gave you pause. Why didn't you use the speech?"

"Because it isn't the speech, is it?"

"No," Dale admitted.

"G.o.d d.a.m.n it."

"How did you know?"

"I don't know why I'm telling you this. Pity perhaps, but Craig's been a good source for months. He cultivated us during the impeachment scandal a year and a half ago. He took credit for our selection for the 'Day in the Life.' "

"He did?"

"Yes. He said that he told you it was with us or it wouldn't happen."

"That's not remotely true," Dale insisted.

"He gave us a heads-up about the CNN crew earlier today, about the president leaving the PEOC, and about Warren. I told him I'd use anything that I could verify with a second source. He didn't want me to do that, but I pa.s.sed some of his tips to our Pentagon bureau to see if they could verify them."

"That's why Melanie got the call about the president leaving the PEOC," Dale said.

Lucy nodded.

"And the speech?"

"The speech was too easy," Lucy continued.

"How so?" Dale asked.

"He just called us and said he had something for us, and then he kept calling to see why we hadn't teed it up yet. I told him I was looking for a second source, and he flipped out."

"How did you know that it wasn't the real speech?"

"Because the president isn't stupid enough to give it to someone who would even be thinking about us while dealing with attacks as heinous as today's."

Dale contemplated this. "Was the vice president talking to you today?" she asked.

"She spent five minutes with us. Craig called her and told her that you'd decided to leave us embedded with the staff to record the day's events for history. She spoke glowingly about the president. She said that she saw a human being in there today, someone you'd want to have as a leader. And then she threw us out."

"She said that?"

"Yeah."

"Lucy, I'm not good at this, but I want to apologize."

"That's not an apology," Lucy scoffed.

"I'm getting to it. I am sorry about the way I've treated you guys. I will make it up to you - as in CBS - and I will make it up to you, personally. I promise."

Lucy sighed. "I also know that the president walked into the briefing room so that someone could break the news to you about Warren."

"Craig told you that?" Dale gasped.

"If I'd reported half of what he's told me over the last year, I'd probably have a freaking Emmy."

"Why was he leaking everything to you? I mean, why was he trying to harm the president?"

"You need to ask the White House shrink. People tell us all kinds of stuff, and it's never about us. Usually, it isn't even about the information they're sharing. It's usually about their attempts to manipulate their own circ.u.mstances to their advantage. Last year, Craig told us that it was Melanie who'd gone to the special prosecutor during the Tara Meyers scandal."

"Why was he after Melanie?"

"I don't know."

"But you knew he was using you to sabotage Melanie? Why did you let him use you?"

"I understand very clearly now why you have no friends, Dale. Your people skills are s.h.i.t."

"I didn't mean to suggest that you conspired with him, but you just said that he was telling you things to manipulate the situation. You knew he was lying."

"Now you're twisting my words. You really are cut out for this line of work."

"Lucy, I think we're speaking past each other. I'm trying to get to the bottom of why Craig gave you a bad speech."

"I don't think that's the case, Dale. Once again, you're treating me like a fool. I think that someone, maybe Melanie, has suspected Craig for a long time, and the leaks today were the most glaring clue to date, a sign that the suspected leaker is growing desperate and reckless. So someone decided to give him a b.u.m speech and see what happened to it. Right?"

"I can't say."

"Well, congratulations. You have your leaker, Dale. The day isn't a total loss."

Dale flinched.

"I didn't mean Warren. s.h.i.t. I'm sorry. Can we pick this conversation up another time? Obviously, we have some unfinished business between us, but before I say something that I can't repair and before the network replaces me for going AWOL, I need to find Richard and get back on the air. We're going to report the news about Warren before the president's speech. I'm sorry."

Dale nodded and watched Lucy walk toward the door and hoist her ma.s.sive bag over her shoulder. "Lucy, one more question."