Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Previously on Designated Survivor.

My sources say MacLeish overrode the FBI

preventing them from taking Lozano alive.

I mean why would he go out of his way to silence a man

who attempted to murder the president?

JACK: I've brought this to show the White House

that any effort to interfere

in the second amendment rights, will fail.

I know you're facing an uphill climb.

- What if we get help? - And what's in it for Hookstraten?

- Think about it. - Vice president.

Kimble, I'm not in a position to make promises right now.

I would be very grateful down the line.

That's all I need to know, Mr. President.

MAN: The yeas are 51, and the nays are 49.

- It passes. - We won! Congratulations.

JASON: These look like the bombs used to blow up the Capitol.

There's enough explosives in hereto blow up three Capitals.

(CAR HONKS)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(SPEAKING IN ARABIC)

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

(SPEAKING IN ARABIC)

It is necessary to take precautions.

All right, I understand. Thank you for seeing me.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, just...

Easy, easy. Just so I can see, okay?

And take notes. That's it.

I'm old, you understand. I need... Okay.

(HELICOPTER HOVERING)

Do you know who this man is?

Nestor Lozano. He shot our president.

I was told by friends of yours he was in contact with AI Sakar...

the group that blew up the US Capitol.

(SPEAKING IN ARABIC)

AI Sakar blew up nothing.

They didn't?

So... who did?

You don't know?

(SPEAKING IN ARABIC)

The American Satan has enemies everywhere.

So tell me, why would AI Sakar take credit knowing the U.S. military

would never stop hunting them down?

(SPEAKING IN ARABIC)

He paid them.

He paid AI Sakar?

HANNAH: These aren't army surplus explosives, Foerstel.

These are battlefield ready.

Yeah, we're assessing it now.

- What about N\/\NS? - And N\/\NS?

So far no known terror organization's matched those initials.

We also found a motion sensor

with a limited-range transmitter attached to it,

so whoever's watching this place is within 2O miles.

The nearest town to you is Driggs, population 600.

Yeah, we're headed there next. What about the silo?

We'll maintain aerial surveillance and we'll assemble a team to go in.

- Not until I give you my word. - We need to seize this ordnance.

But we'd also need to figure out why this is here.

Until then, we can't tip our hand.

- Foerstel? - Affirmative.

All right, we'll be in contact when we get to Driggs.

- TOM: Good morning. - EMILY: Good morning.

I have some good news, looks like the House is gonna pass

-the gun control bill. - Speaker Hookstraten came through.

She still has a little bit of work to do with the Republicans,

but she's assured me that she'll get there.

Aaron's gonna give me an update of the vote count this afternoon.

TOM: Okay, great.

We should talk about the vice presidency, though.

There's a growing buzz of a quid pro quo in the works.

I was absolutely clear. I made no promises.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

I know, but we need to manage expectations.

I'd like to be clear when I speak to Aaron this afternoon

-that we're keeping our options open. - Okay, fine.

Unbelievable! I was looking for these all last night.

Look, I want us to stay focused on the Supreme Court, right now.

Absolutely. Julia Rombauer's waiting.

Great.

- Julia. Please come on in. - Mr. President.

'Getting an Y Sle - No! ep?

But I managed to go six weeks without it so far.

Wouldn't want to break the streak now.

Your nine Supreme Court nominees, all vetted by the working group.

I can't believe this hasn't leaked.

I can't believe we've gotten this far.

It's all because of Julia.

Meaning, I can still be intimidating when I want to be.

No, it's a testament to your leadership skills.

When I was an associate professor at Columbia, Julia was in charge.

She was my role model. She's the reason why I wanted

to become president of the university one day.

Well, it's good training.

If you think national politics is tough, try academia.

(LAUGHS)

We're meeting with the Senate leadership in 2O minutes.

Assuming we get a consensus,

the plan is to announce the slate to the press tomorrow night.

Well, I've kept the leadership informed throughout the process.

In principle, they agree to the idea of four progressives

to satisfy the Democrats,

four conservatives to satisfy the Republicans,

and a ninth judge, a true

and impartial Independent, like Tom here.

Now I just need to get them to sign off on the actual names.

And then go through the formal confirmation process.

Yes, but that should be reasonably assured

with full support of both parties going in.

Let's hope you're right.

I haven't worked this hard to be wrong.

Joanne, get me actual numbers on the families who were impacted

by the proposed estate tax changes. I want something more than estimates.

JOANNE: Will have it on your desk by this afternoon.

I never liked "impacted" as a verb.

Geez. Get out.

The only things that should get impacted are teeth.

Now.

Good to see you, too. What, you didn't miss me, huh?

I didn't notice.

I've been working on a story, Seth.

Yeah, for the New York Standard.

- That's a pretty good forgery. - Funny.

Fact is, they sent me to Middle East in Asia

to look into AI Sakar.

See, I would never publish a story so impactful,

without giving you a chance to comment first.

Can we dispense with the dramatic pause?

AI Sakar didn't blow up the Capitol.

They didn't have the money. They didn't have the people.

They didn't have the smarts to take it out.

You guys were played.

- According to whom? Unnamed sources? - No, I'll name them.

Meantime, you got today to get back to me with a response,

because this is going out tomorrow.

Tell the Secretary of Commerce we need more diversity

for the young entrepreneurs presser next month. Thank you.

- Hey. - Hey, what's up?

So, major flag for you. Abe Leonard's running with a story

that AI Sakar didn't blow up the Capitol.

What? That's crazy. We have the FBI, the CIA,

and half a dozen agencies on record saying they did.

Yes, I know and the last time Leonard ran with a story

that I thought was crazy and then POTUS confirmed it. Remember?

I mean if he's right about this, that means our SEALs took out

the wrong guys and the real Capitol bombers are still out there.

Okay, slow down. Do you have anyone at Teen Mode

you can reach out to, see how real the story is?

Abe's not at Teen Mode anymore.

He's writing for the New York Standard

which has an audience 25 times the size.

- And you haven't seen the story? - No, he wanted the reaction

to the allegations first.

- I'll flag POTUS. Yeah? - Em?

I don't want the White House embarrassed by this.

Especially now, things are finally going our way.

You and me both.

TOM: Good afternoon.

I want to take a moment to thank you all,

and congratulate you on accomplishing

something that's never been done before.

Seating nine justices to the High Court at the same time.

This is an act of bipartisan cooperation

that I believe will go down in history.

So congratulations to you all.

Let's get started. Senator Hunter.

Mr. President, I appreciate you including us in the process,

and I commend Ms. Rombauer for her extraordinary leadership.

We believe you have come up with a well-balanced slate,

including a chief justice who can act as an impartial,

-potentially deciding voice. - Thank you.

I think we might've a bit of a problem there, Mr. President.

What kind of problem?

I'll let my distinguished colleague from Montana explain.

Thank you. Mr. President, my staff has been looking

into your choice for chief justice, Judge Borda,

and we've made some disturbing discoveries.

These names have already been approved by a working group

from within your own party.

Well, nevertheless, this nominee clearly shows liberal bias.

Senator, it's too late to pull this kind of stunt.

No, we have an agreement.

Our third branch of government needs to be reinstated.

Oh, yes, sir, but you already have a Senate,

one with a Republican majority.

And I'm saying we need to start with a list of five justices

acceptable to us and then go forward from there.

- That is not what we agreed to. - We have the votes.

Sir, my approach will get you a speedy confirmation.

Otherwise...

we might be forced to hold up all your nominees.

Mr. President, Senator Bowman might still be smarting from his loss

-on the gun bill... - I object to that.

But if we go with his formula, our side will filibuster.

- Then, I guess we're done here. - I guess we are.

Everybody please, take your seats. Please take your...

I said take your seats now!

I'm sorry for losing my temper, but I have lost my temper.

Shame on you, Senator Bowman. Shame on you.

Our nation is in crisis.

Do you have any idea

how many cases are on the current docket

that can't be resolved because we don't have a Supreme Court?

One hundred twenty-six issues that go to the core of our democracy.

Civil rights, immigration, campaign finance reform.

Without a court to adjudicate the laws of this land,

we are a broken government, sir.

Now this was a fair deal.

Every single person in this room has something to claim victory over.

I'm not gonna let you hijack that, sir.

If you're willing to play politics with people's lives, trust me,

I am more than willing to walk down that hall to my press room,

and call you out in front of the entire world,

for trying to hold our justice system hostage...

at a time when we need it most.

I would think twice, Senator. I would seriously think twice...

before making yourself the poster child of obstructionism.

Excuse me, Mr. President.

But doing whatever I can to ensure a fair and balanced court,

hardly makes me an obstructionist.

Point of fact, it's doing exactly what I was appointed to do.

Gentlemen, this is obviously a very emotional issue.

Everyone in this room knows how hard you've worked on this, Mr. President,

but in the interest of all those involved,

would it be too much to ask for you to

put forward another name for that ninth seat?

No, I can do that.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

For a second, I thought it was all gonna fall apart.

Who the hell says it hasn't?

We need to find a name that son of bitch can't say no to.

Not a lot of street life here.

Not a lot of anything.

Still, they get visitors.

New Mexico.

JASON: Georgia.

HANNAH: Texas.

People drive a long way to get to the middle of nowhere.

- MALE VOICE: Hi. - HANNAH: Hey.

I hear a storm's coming.

Really? We haven't watched the weather report in a while.

So what brings you to Driggs?

We're just heading up the mountain.

- You take care now. - JASON: Okay you, too.

Wow, if that was a test, I think we just failed that one.

Well, we're marked now.

New York plates.

Hey, Jason.

What about Semegran?

Yeah, he's got the qualifications, but he's 64 and smokes two packs a day.

Just can't believe one man would exploit constitutional crisis

-for political advancement. - He knows the list was balanced

and that I wasn't trying to push a political agenda.

He's trying to put himself at the center of his own damn party.

How'd Bowman get so powerful? Didn't he lose

-the Senate vote to you? - Yeah.

He managed to win over a block of conservative senators,

which consolidated his power,

making him the darling of the far right.

So, when he claims he wants a balanced court,

what he's really saying is he just wants a court that agrees with him.

- You cannot let him win this, Tom. - I'm not planning on it.

- Hello? Hello? - Oh! Hey.

HANNAH: Hi.

- You folks need some menus? - Sure.

- Sure, thank you. - MAN: You're welcome.

- Can I ask you a question? - MAN: Yeah sure.

- Is there any ski area around here? - You see any mountains nearby?

No, we just see a lot of cars with out of state plates.

Just curious.

You're talking about the True Believers.

- The what? - Well, that's what we call them.

They get together on a private property

three or four times a year, maybe. They stick together.

They pay cash, though. No credit cards.

Strange bunch.

So, what exactly do they do out there?

Nobody knows, really. A bit of camping.

You know, they light bonfires.

- How do you know they light bonfires? - Well, you can see the glow.

Where exactly is this property?

Well, it's a huge spread. Used to belong to the Air Force.

Oh...

- Where the missile silos are. - Hmm.

I'm former Air Force.

E-5 with the third bomb wing at Clarington.

- For real? - Yes, sir.

Well, man, I miss those Stratoforts.

They moved them all up to Minot years ago.

We keep thinking they might reopen the base.

You hear trucks moving through at night occasionally, choppers too.

(JASON CHUCKLES)

Ah, who am I kidding? Air Force is never coming back.

- Yeah. - So tell us, what's good?

Hanna“ and Sherbume put us 2D votes on top.

The gun bill will pass.

You think Kirkman's gonna come through with VP?

Well, I'm meeting with Emily Rhodes, today.

That's the next thing on the agenda.

ABE: Knock, knock.

Come on in, Abe. You know my new strategist?

Aaron Shore.

- Abe Leonard. - Hey.

- It's a pleasure. - Pleasure's mine, Mr. Shore.

I've been wanting to ask you why you jumped off the good ship

Kirkman as chief of staff?

It was amicable.

Well, you didn't answer my question.

And I don't intend to. I'm happy with my current position.

He's good. Is it all right if he hears this?

I trust him, if that's what you mean.

Okay, 'cause I got a few torpedoes to fire at his old boss.

Abe, you are aware that I am allied

with the president on this gun legislation.

Yeah, smart move, too, setting yourself up as a moderate

alternative to Bowman, but...

this isn't about politics, this is about our old friend,

the late vice president, Peter MacLeish.

MacLeish?

I heard you delayed his confirmation vote as VP.

Who told you that?

Does it matter? What I want to know is why.

My sources say you were waiting for some evidence from an FBI agent?

We're getting into matters of national security, here.

Yeah, I'll make it easy for you. Her name is Agent Hannah Wells.

Does that name mean anything to you?

I can't comment.

- Can't or won't? - You're crossing a line, Abe.

All right, look, if I'm wrong, just tell me so, but...

I'll use your denial in my story.

I refuse to comment on an ongoing investigation.

That'll work.

Be seeing you.

That guy's dangerous.

Which is why I keep him close.

-(PHONE RINGING) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Yes, Agent Hannah Wells, please.

JOHN: Mr. Shore.

- What do you want? - It's what you want.

You called Hannah Wells twice in the last three hours.

How did you know that?

She's on administrative leave, her calls get bounced to me.

Whatever it is, you can say it to me.

You know, we'd get along a whole lot better

if you just accept the fact

-that we're on the same side. - Now we're on the same side?

You interrogated me like I was some sort of criminal.

You want me to apologize for that? You more than anybody should

appreciate the magnitude of what we're dealing with here.

So, you want to tell me what you know or not?

JOHN: Abe Leonard knows that Agent Wells tried

to delay Vice President MacLeish's confirmation vote.

Speaker Hookstraten tell him?

According to Aaron Shore, Leonard tried to get her to confirm.

- And did she? - No. She refused to comment.

But, Mr. President, bottom line,

we can't allow Leonard to go public with what he knows.

It could completely derail our investigation.

- What do you suggest? - I'm suggesting we bring him in.

On what grounds?

Someone's feeding him classified information.

And we need to find out who.

If he refuses to give up his sources, we get him on contempt.

Lying to a federal officer is a felony.

Absolutely not.

We're not arresting reporters for doing their job.

This is not a First Amendment issue.

This is an issue of national security.

If Leonard publishes, the people behind this conspiracy

are gonna go dark and we're never gonna find them.

Mr. President, we don't have a choice. We have to bring him in.

Director Foerstel, we always have a choice.

I'm afraid we're gonna have to let this one ride out,

see what Leonard comes up with.

Price of living in a free society.

EMILY: So how's it going over there with Hookstraten?

AARON: Not bad. Could be better if she heard from POTUS.

EMILY: What do you mean?

AARON: She delivered on her promise with the gun bill,

so we feel the president should deliver on his.

Oh, the president didn't promise the Speaker

-anything more than gratitude. - What, are you kidding me?

No.

- If this bill passes... - When it passes.

If it passes, then the White House will definitely owe the Speaker

-a debt. - Well, yeah, the VP slot.

It's a possibility, Aaron. It's not a certainty.

Well, that's not her understanding, Emily.

Well, then she wasn't listening.

Well, she's gonna be very disappointed to hear that.

Well, the Speaker's a big girl.

And backing the bill made sense for her without quid pro quo.

She's drawn moderates and independents into her corner.

Now suddenly, Bowman

has serious competition within his own party.

Well, getting his bill outta the Senate

was largely due to her efforts.

It was a big factor, but it wasn't the only factor.

Are you really going to play hardball on this?

Absolutely. It's my job to protect the president.

You know that better than anyone. We've gotta keep our options open.

Get the bill passed and we can talk again.

(CAR HONKING)

(PHONE RINGING)

Bad news, Abe. New York kicked this back.

What?

They like the direction you're going, but they say it's not enough.

Not enough that AI Sakar didn't blow up the Capitol?

- It's conjecture. - I got named sources!

- Yeah, two terrorist leaders. - Yeah, exactly.

Who I risked my life to get to, by the way.

I know. And it's excellent color, but it's not news.

New York says these terrorist groups all hate each other.

Of course they'd say AI Sakar didn't do it.

What about Mohammed Sherif fingering Nestor Lozano

as the middleman?

I've run with far less in the past.

I know. Shoddy sourcing is what got you fired off The Herald.

You got another shot here. Don't blow it.

Unbelievable.

Calm down.

I'm the one who hired you for this assignment, remember?

My ass is on the line here, too.

Look, if this checks out, I'll back you all the way,

but New York is right on this.

You don't have enough to challenge the White House narrative.

What's the big picture behind your story?

Because I don't see it here yet.

There is a connection between MacLeish and Lozano,

and this FBI Agent Hannah Wells was on to it.

So go find her. Connect the dots. Get me domestic sources on the record

and I'll get you on the front page.

But until then... dig deeper.

HANNAH: Trucks on the road at night. That could be transport

moving munition in and out of the silo.

And don't forget the helicopters.

Jason, no credit cards.

They don't talk to locals. This is it.

- We found a cell. - Yeah, most likely.

- Uh, excuse me. - Yeah.

Sorry to bother you. We are looking for a local campground.

Stranger here myself. Sorry.

Shoot. Because the...

the guy at the restaurant said that if we headed

-down this road... - I told you, I can't help you.

Okay, thank you for your time.

Oh! Look at this.

- So sorry, my goodness, I apologize. - It's okay.

HANNAH: Have a nice day.

I saw that.

Good job.

Yes, we are that desperate.

ABE: What the hell?

Where is this from?

Wait a minute.

L 90f you.

I'm sorry, but my meeting

with the secretary of energy ran over.

I hope you haven't been waiting too long.

There are worse places to wait.

- Does it go away? - Does what go away?

Being here.

The awe of it all.

No.

Not for me.

(LAUGHS) When I signed on,

I tried to read every book about the White House I could.

Did any of them explain why this office is oval?

Most people think the architect did it,

so that when foreign leaders came to visit the White House,

they'd be disoriented, but the truth is

it goes all the way back to Washington.

His house in Philadelphia,

he was the one who wanted the walls to be built like this.

Once an architect, always an architect.

Got that right.

- EMILY: Mr. President. - Emily, come on in.

Any word from Bowman?

Yes, but unfortunately, not what we want to hear.

He said no to Clemens?

Okay, on to plan B.

Plan B?

Julia, the president and I were speaking earlier about a name

we haven't brought up, a name we think

Bowman would be hard pressed to say no to.

- Who? - You.

What?

(STUTTERS, LAUGHS)

I'm not a judge.

Neither was Earl Warren when President Eisenhower appointed him,

and he was an outstanding chief justice.

Also, you clerked for Justice Gray.

Alex tells me that some of the opinions you wrote,

are mandatory reading for constitutional law.

Tom...

- I'm flattered. - Julia, I'm not trying to flatter you.

I honestly think you'd be the best person for the job.

Look, before you say no, just tell me you'll at least think about it.

JASON: There's a series of vehicles

heading to the property with the silo.

Whatever the hell they're doing...

they're definitely doing it out there.

What's with the book?

Well, there's no author and no copyright.

It's obviously self-published, but listen to this.

"All democracies, from Ancient Athens to the Roman Republic

"to the city states of the Renaissance end,

"and they end the same way.

"As a corrupt alliance of extreme wealth and centralized power.

"Ordinary citizens are deprived of liberty, what's rightfully theirs

"is taken away, and their children are sent to die in rich man's wars."

This is a manifesto, Jason.

This is a manual for a new American order.

I mean, look at this,

"Pax Americana. An American empire to replace our own

"constitutional government." And check this out.

HANNAH: "No victory without sacrifice."

It repeats over and over in the book.

- N-V-W-S. - Yeah.

We got to get back to that property.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Come in.

- Am I interrupting? - No, no, please.

- Tom, I need to tell you something. - What is it?

I can't be your ninth judge.

Okay, why not?

The fact is I have early onset dementia.

What?

I started noticing symptoms about a year ago.

Small things, names, dates.

I suddenly couldn't remember.

Oh, my God.

I, uh...

I, I don't know what to say.

Do your kids know?

Yes.

I believe in what we're doing, Tom.

I want to see it through.

I have to.

Just can't be with me on the bench.

Of course.

I'm sorry, Julia.

I am so, so sorry.

HANNAH: Silo property is coming up.

JASON: Looks like we have some company.

- Good afternoon. - Hi.

You two lost?

- No, I don't think so. - You must've missed the signs then.

This is private property.

No, the map says that this is public land.

Yeah, it's not anymore.

What are you guys hunting?

If you circle back, there's a sign around two miles down the road.

Should lead you back to the highway.

Appreciate it.

Whatever it is they're doing out here,

they're willing to kill for it.

(DOOR OPENING)

I've got it.

If we can't get through Bowman, we go around him.

Explain it to me.

(TIRES SCREECHING)

(CAR HONKING)

HANNAH: We think there are about 25 to 30 of them.

They also have armed lookouts posted.

JOHN: The sat survey's showing

ten to 12 vehicles parked at a cleared area.

It's almost like they're waiting for something.

Those license plates come back?

- Yeah. They're all bogus or stolen. - HANNAH: You're kidding.

And we don't have ears on any of these people.

We have no idea who they are.

Yeah, they don't seem to be into anything electronic.

No cell phones, no radio chatter.

No, they're very old school when it comes to infrastructure.

Signs and countersigns, very analog when they want to be.

We're going to have to observe them up close and personal.

- No unnecessary risks, Hannah. - Just the necessary ones.

We're putting together a task force at Grand Forks, FBI and ATF,

but that's still over an hour's flight from you.

HANNAH: HI tell you when to send them.

Until then, keep them the hell away from here.

TOM: Please don't get up.

Thank you all for coming back on such short notice.

I assume you have another name to put forward?

Actually, we've chosen not to provide any more names.

But I'll let Professor Rombauer explain that. It was her idea.

Thank you, Mr. President.

The problem before us has been finding a ninth judge,

a deciding voice that can preside over split decisions.

But it's worth noting that in recent history only a quarter

of Supreme Court cases have come down to a single vote.

A far greater number have been unanimous.

So...

rather than delay...

the wheels of justice any longer

debating the merits of a potential chief justice,

we propose to proceed with the eight

already considered and approved.

I'm sorry, professor, but the Constitution

sets out the number of judges at nine.

Actually, Senator, the Constitution does not specify a number.

That's up to Congress. In fact, when the Supreme Court began in 1789,

there were only six judges, then seven, then nine, then ten.

The number have fluctuated over the years.

Intriguing. So...

we leave it to the next president to pick a chief justice.

Not necessarily,

but our nation needs a Supreme Court up and running quickly as possible.

Senator?

Okay.

I can wait you out, sir.

Mr. President, looks like you've got a deal.

Thank you, Senator. Thank you, all.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Well done. I'll buy you a beer.

Look, as I said, the president had an extremely successful meeting

with congressional leaders about the Supreme Court,

and he'll be addressing the nation later today.

Okay, that's all I have for now. Thank you, everybody.

Let's get a better answer for Gary on the tax policy question.

I just said we can e-mail him by the end of the day.

Just pick somebody and have something in writing we can forward...

You think you can intimidate me?

- What are you talking about? - Tell your boss

to get the FBI to lay off.

Abe, seriously, I have no idea what you're talking ab...

Crap. You're having me followed.

You're delusional.

All it means is I'm getting closer to the truth, doesn't it?

That's what it means.

Will you excuse us for a second?

Abe, seriously, you should see somebody.

- Come on. - SETH: This is paranoid.

Are you kidding me? Really? Nice try, Seth.

Great. Just back off.

ANCHORWOMAN: In what is being called a master political stroke...

...a short cut around the expected party battles and culture wars.

The courfs most urgent cases can now be dealt with.

ANCHORMAN". The country will likely have to wail until the next election

for a chief justice, but in the meantime,

President Kirkman has fulfilled his promise

to restore the nation's highest court.

- To you. - To the court.

I can't thank you enough.

Mr. President...

it was my honor.

(CLOCK CHIMING)

Oh, God...

is that really the hour?

I gotta get back to New York.

I've got a con law class in the morning.

Wonder what we're gonna talk about.

Julia.

Remember me like this.

(PHONE RINGING)

Yeah?

MALE VOICE: You're interested in Nestor Lozano. So are we.

- Who is this? - MAN: A friend.

Yeah, I don't have any friends.

MAN: The same friend who sent you that link about Hannah Wells

and Speaker Hookstraten.

Okay, you've got my attention.

MAN: In front of the Roosevelt Island footbridge. One hour.

- Whoa, hold on, pal, listen... - MAN: One hour.

(CRICKETS CHIRPING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

- I count 35 to 40. - Damn!

Jason, I don't think these are just bonfires.

I think this is a landing zone.

And I'm picking up a chopper.

Oh, my God!

What?

It's Lozano.