"How Do You Think He Does it...?"
What are you doing?
I'm just looking at the bedroom of a small boy.
We've got to finish the renovation on the apartment and then sell it.
We need a house with a pile of leaves in front on a flat street where he can ride a bike.
You didn't speak at the burial.
Yeah.
You were going to say a few words.
I know.
What's going on?
I just don't know what to say.
Every time I think of something, it's reductive.
Well, I think everyone would like to hear from you before they leave.
I've put something aside to give you.
Mrs. Skinner.
Nancy.
Nancy.
I have to tell you I may have contributed to Charlie's heart attack.
I may have caused it.
There was a story Charlie wanted me to do and I didn't want to do it.
And he got angry and -
Are you talking about the Princeton student?
Am I - Yeah.
He didn't want to do that story either.
He was praying you were gonna fight him on it.
The last seven weeks were hell for him since Leona sold the network to Pruit.
He wasn't angry that you guys were fighting him.
He was counting on it.
He loved you, Don.
And he was so proud of you.
I doubt you killed him.
That had to be hard to say to me and I appreciate it, but I don't care.
I care what you did for him while he was alive.
Anyway, this is silly, but I want you to have it.
Thank you.
Excuse me.
Sure.
How you doing?
My grandfather died.
Well, you know, kid, I'm sorry, but I've got my own problems.
My Best Friend died.
Wait a second - You think there's a chance we're talking about the same person?
You know we are.
Where's Your Brother Bo?
He's probably in the garage.
He's always there.
He's got a band.
Would you take me to him?
Sure.
Bo.
Hey.
Hello.
The place looks great.
Thanks.
We're pretty good.
Not great, but maybe one day.
Yeah? You mind?
No.
That's right, you play guitar on the side.
I'm a news anchor on the side.
Listen, can I ask you something?
Sure.
Was he -
Between the time he had the heart attack and the time he died, do you think he would have been in a lot of pain?
You know - That's exactly the kind of question he'd have asked.
PAUSE
They'd have sedated him.
You think he was scared?
PAUSE
I Wasn't There.
When it happened, I Wasn't There.
PAUSE
I know a song you like.
If you love somebody enough
You follow wherever they go
That's how I got to Memphis
That's how I got to Memphis
If you love somebody enough
You'll go where your heart wants to go
That's how I got to Memphis
That's how I got to Memphis - Can you play that thing?
Yeah.
Go to The Five.
I know if you'd seen her,
You'd tell me
'Cause You are My Friend
I've got to find her
Find out the trouble she's in - Jim Harper's Here.
If you tell me she's not here
I'll follow the trail of her tears
That's how I got to Memphis
That's how I got to Memphis
She would get mad and she used to say
She'd go back to Memphis someday
That's how I got to Memphis
That's how I got to Memphis
I haven't eaten a bite I haven't slept three days or nights
That's how I got to Memphis
That's how I got to Memphis - Here comes a fancy solo.
Hit it! Go!
Oh, yeah.
Oh, damn.
Oh, that's sweet.
Whoo!
Thank you.
I've got to find her
And tell her that I love her so
I'll never rest
Till I find out why she had to go
Thank you for your precious time - Whoo!
Please forgive me if I start to cry
That's how I got to Memphis
That's how I got to Memphis.
Will, MacKenzie says it's time to head back to the studio.
Thank you.
I know your parents' divorce has been tough.
I know you talked to your grandfather about it a lot.
I'd be good at that, too.
Or if you just want to play music.
Thanks.
Come on, Ned.
- Wonderful service.
- It was, wasn't it? - I'm so glad you came.
- Oh, God There he is.
Will.
By any chance, did you tell anyone about the pregnancy? No, absolutely not.
You're not supposed to do that - till after the first semester.
- Trimester.
Tess, Kendra, Tamara, and Martin tricked me into telling them.
Congratulations, you guys.
That's gonna be one good-looking kid.
And then they might have told some people.
- Will, could I have a word? - Yeah.
You know what I always thought would be fun if I was a parent? You teach your kid something wrong like wood comes from birds and you see how long you can keep it going.
They're all grown up and at a dinner party and people are admiring the table and your kid says, "It took a lot of sparrows to make that table.
" But people have different parenting styles.
There's no right way or wrong way.
Maybe there's a wrong way.
- What was that? - We should go to the car.
You're not going to be reductive.
- Are you sure you don't want to say anything? - Yeah, I'm good.
Okay.
Excuse me! Excuse me.
Excuse me, everybody.
- Shh, shh, shh.
- I just want to say People I've been trying to piece together what happened last Monday night.
People have been giving me their accounts.
Seems everyone feels responsible for Charlie dying and, of course, that's ridiculous.
It was Sloan.
Charlie Skinner was crazy.
He identified with Don Quixote, an old man with dementia who thought he could save the world from an epidemic of incivility simply by acting like a knight.
His religion was decency.
And he spent a lifetime fighting its enemies.
I wish he could be here to learn the name of his successor like I just did.
Our new boss, the new president of ACN, is MacKenzie McHale.
So this fight is just getting started.
'Cause he taught the rest of us to be crazy, too.
You were a Man, Charlie.
You were a great, big Man.
Name that tune.
Play a little more.
Tom T.
Hall.
"That's How I Got to Memphis.
" You do play a little guitar on the side.
I do a little news anchoring on the side.
Since when do you listen to country? My grandson Bo, Katie's oldest, has a garage band.
Ask me what instrument he plays.
- Guitar.
- All of them.
Seriously, he's a savant.
You put an instrument in his hands, give him a day, and he can play it.
So I was at their house last weekend and I wander out to the garage and see Bo teaching "That's How I Got to Memphis" to his friends.
And I ask him, "What's a kid from New Rochelle doing singing about Memphis?" He said, "Memphis is a stand-in for wherever you are right now.
That it really means that's how I got here.
" - Will.
- Yeah? You did a five minute and 20 second block on the weather tonight.
Weather rates.
- I saw you're speaking at Northwestern.
- Yeah.
- To journalism students.
- Yeah.
Are you going to tell the kids that weather rates? - What do you want from me? - The news.
I've got the second highest rated newscast on cable.
I don't give a shit.
I know that, Charlie.
That's why I have to.
Have you ever thought about having kids? You mean adopting? Adopting, abducting.
Meeting somebody, getting married.
Whatever it takes.
I haven't considered abducting anyone, - but I've thought about the others.
- And? Well, first of all, I'm now in my 50s and I need to consider that I'm gonna die and will my kid be old enough to handle it when I do? There's no age at which you're okay with your father dying.
But there's a difference between being an adult and dropping a piano on a kid.
You don't look to me like you're gonna die anytime soon.
And if you got hit by an ice cream truck, they'd still have you as a father for a while.
Yeah, I'm not sure that's a prize.
Why? I've read plenty of experts who say that whatever undiagnosed shit my father has can be hereditary.
Your father's an alcoholic, you're not.
I'm talking about He's obviously lived his life with some kind of severe depression.
Your depression isn't chemical.
- Who says I'm depressed? - I do.
Will, you're so much better than the show you're doing.
I'm tired of this.
It's the second highest Highest rated hour of congratulations.
Palm Sunday mass in St.
Peter's Square, Benedict tells tens of thousands of people, as well as the rest of the world, about the recent petty gossip His words That he's been subjected to.
That he's been subjected to.
Petty gossip.
He's talking about proven allegations that priests have been raping children and that bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and maybe even this pope have been protecting the children? No, the priests.
Benedict fails to mention that in his sermon, which is bad enough, but you failed to mention that in your report Monday.
And that's inexplicable to me.
Bill Donohue Yeah, you don't want the Catholic League mad at you.
Nobody does.
The president in his first visit to Afghanistan as the president meets with Hamid Karzai.
And then I couldn't believe the words that came out of your mouth next.
"We'll have two top campaign strategists here in the studio to debate the war right after this.
" - They were good guests.
- What in the hell are we doing having two campaign hacks from the D-triple-C and the RNC on our air debating America's longest war when you know as well as I know that they know exactly as much as what's printed in their talking points? Who would you have preferred? Anybody from AEI, Brookings, Heritage, Cato.
Anybody from State or Defense.
Anybody from House or Senate Foreign Relations.
At the very least you could get the guy who wrote the talking points.
There's a midterm election coming up.
In six months.
So why do you book a red guy and a blue guy? For the fight.
I'm starting to enjoy our postshow drinks less and less.
- I'll back off.
- Thank you.
- For tonight.
- I'll take what I can get.
And remember what I said.
You said a lot of things.
Being a father.
It lives up to the hype.
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