INT. DICK HIBEY'S OFFICE -- DAY

Richly appointed. A scotch and cigar feel. Attorney DICK

HIBEY (50's, bearded) rises as Mary enters.

HIBEY:

Ms. Mapes. I'm Dick Hibey. What

can I do for you?

MARY:

Oh, I think you know.

Hibey smiles, gestures for her to sit. Noticing:

HIBEY:

You knit?

MARY:

You don't expect a woman like me to

knit.

HIBEY:

No. But it's good. Helpful.

2.

MARY:

You mean it blunts my radical feminist

agenda?

HIBEY:

Do you have a radical feminist agenda?

MARY:

You meet a lot of radical knitters?

Hibey smiles politely at the joke. Then:

HIBEY:

Do you have a substance abuse problem?

MARY:

I'm working on developing one.

HIBEY:

I'm serious.

MARY:

So am I.

Hibey's not smiling anymore.

HIBEY:

You came to me, Ms. Mapes. If you're

not up for this-

MARY:

I've been in news for twenty years.

I've won two Emmys, I broke Abu

Ghraib, I've done jail time for not

revealing sources. I have neither a

radical feminist agenda nor a

substance abuse problem, although

right now I'm gonna take a xanax

because this is really freaking me

out - do you have any water?

A beat. Hibey rises and pours Mary a glass of water from a

pitcher on the side table. Handing it to her.

HIBEY:

You're going to have to be ready for

questions like that.

MARY:

I'm up for this.

3.

Hibey retakes his seat. Sizing her up.

HIBEY:

There's an interesting reoccurring

theme in the stories you cover.

People abusing their power.

MARY:

I don't like bullies.

HIBEY:

Tell me about your work.

She looks at him.

MARY:

You want to know if I'm responsible

for what happened.

HIBEY:

Aren't you?

MARY:

I did my job, believe me.

HIBEY:

I don't have to believe you. What

matters is that they believe you.

Now tell me about your work.

Mary takes a deep breath.

MARY:

I'm the producer. I find the story,

I put the team together, I write and

cut the piece. I work at 60 Minutes.

HIBEY:

And what's that like?

And as Mary smiles at the thought, we CUT TO -

INT. CBS NEWS -- EDITING -- EVENING

Cramped and dark. A large screen shows a photograph of NAKED

PRISONERS from ABU GHRAIB.

An EDITOR manipulates a computer program, and one man's crotch

is blurred out with a field of squares...

4.

New York City - April 2004 - Six Months Earlier

COLONEL CHARLES (O.S.)

They're really gonna run it this

time?

Mary sits behind the tech along with COLONEL ROGER CHARLES

(former military 50's crewcut) and a pregnant DANA ROBERSON.

MARY:

They're going to run it.

COLONEL CHARLES:

Because you said that last week-

MARY:

They're going to run it, Roger.

TECHNICIAN:

You want me to paint them out like

this?

Mary looks up to the screen to see what the tech is doing digitally

painting out men's penises image by image. One

man's crotch blurred out with a field of squares.

MARY:

Jesus, no, it looks like his genitals

were attacked by mad cubists. Maybe

you could just darken the area?

The Technician hits a few keys. A beat.

MARY (CONT'D)

Okay, now it just looks like there's

a black hole there.

DANA ROBERSON:

From which no light can escape.

COLONEL CHARLES:

They're really going to run it?

Because Sy Hersh has this and he's

going to write a story about how

we've sat on it for three weeks-

MARY:

Dana, tell Roger they're going to

run it, then hit him with a large

blunt object for me, will you?

(MORE)

5.

MARY (CONT'D)

(checking her watch)

I gotta go grab him, can you finish

this?

The Colonel nods. Mary rises as we CUT TO -

INT. LINCOLN CENTER -- NIGHT

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