State of Affairs

Previously on State of Affairs...

What can I do for you, Senator?

The investigation into the convoy attack is wrapping up.

There's something in that report that could hurt you.

Did you tell anyone about Fatah?

No, but I know who took the photo.

A former guard at Midnight City.

I sold the photos to the Krieg group.

The hell are you doing?

Charleston, the bullets that killed Aaron

came from a CIA-registered weapon.

I know for a fact that gun belonged to Nick Vera.

I told you, alchemy shots

on an empty stomach is a bad idea.

The Egyptian secret police are not gonna mess with an American.

You're not in America.

Taxi!

Taxi!

Do you know who I am?

The subcommittee report is still sealed,

but the portions that were leaked...

Can be contained, David. Must be.

Not indefinitely, ma'am,

and certainly not in this day and age.

Most of the portions that were leaked are incidental findings.

I mean, the biggest bombshell being that Aaron was killed

by a CIA-registered weapon.

Registered to Nick Vera, and before we get in the room,

who is he?

It's a case officer. He's a Langley shooter.

Expect the Agency to be cagey

about giving up a lot of information about him,

at least until they have their own house in order.

I don't care about the housekeeping of the CIA.

I want to know the source behind the leak.

Look, this leak could be considered

a blessing in disguise.

At least we'll be prepared when the full report gets released.

You've all read the leaked sections

from the subcommittee's report re:

The attack on my convoy in Kabul.

Somebody tell me, who is Nick Vera,

and why were there bullets from his CIA-issued weapon

found in my son?

Don't go in that convoy unprotected.

Better to have it and not need it.

Uh, Vera's former special ops.

He's been with us since '07.

Had three years in Iraq,

and Force Recon with General Appleby,

and four in Afghanistan.

He worked for JSOC.

Was he a part of the assault team that ambushed us?

Ma'am, I can only offer a most strident no

when it comes to that question.

Where is Vera right now?

We're in the process of locating him.

I've tasked near east division.

I've also reached out to JSOC.

What are you doing?

Director Navarro, you have a phone call.

You'll excuse me.

I'd like to clear the room.

Charleston.

Nick Vera, you know him?

Yes, ma'am.

I wouldn't call us friends,

but we were stationed together in Afghanistan working ops.

I was his targeting analyst.

Your impression?

Is it possible he was aiding Fatah?

Ma'am, I do not believe he killed Aaron.

But his gun did.

You know Vera.

Find him.

Yes, ma'am.

Madam President,

- we have a situation. - What is it?

Egyptian police just informed us Omar Fatah's

kidnapped an American journalist.

Dash.

What up, D?

What's going on?

- Nick's gone. - Yeah. No kidding.

Word's all over the building.

He caught wind of the leaked report and bugged out. Huh?

He didn't run.

You want to tell me what that means?

You want to pass your next Agency polygraph?

Charlie, I don't mind deep water, but I do mind drowning.

Then don't ask. Just do.

I need you to compile everything you can on Nick.

Official and unofficial.

Classified and unclassified.

All right. You got it.

Charlie.

I put it together a while ago,

when he first got here.

Huh.

Anything scandalous?

Not unless supplying militant opium farmers

in Noor Gal with stolen weapons is shocking to you.

Not where Nick is concerned.

Charlie, can we take a beat as friends just for one second?

Are you gonna get hurt by that report

and what it might contain about Nick?

I can't tell you that.

Because I care about you,

and I'm not gonna let you lie for me.

POTUS has me on the hunt for him.

What do I do?

You mean what do we do?

We find him.

K and 13th street near Franklin Square.

That's where he was taken.

Taken from where?

My car.

We got a footage of the Fatah kidnapping.

36 hours ago this man, Thomas Logan,

a reporter for WNR, was abducted by Omar Fatah.

- Where? - Cairo.

- Is he asking for ransom? - No.

Have they killed him?

Earl?

Do you know who I am?

It's not a kidnapping.

You will help share my message with the world.

Fatah's granting an interview.

There's over 90 minutes of raw footage

currently being authenticated.

It'll be uploaded to the server shortly.

Fatah wouldn't risk this kind of exposure

unless it served him somehow.

Where's the journalist? Logan?

He lands at Dulles at 09:30.

Has he agreed to a debriefed?

Well, remarkably he has.

Now FBI's gonna handle interdiction,

but I want you on hand

because of your targeting history with Fatah.

- Yes, sir. - Let's get to it.

All right, Kurt and Maureen, take Logan's background,

prior interviews, Middle East contacts, everything.

Lucas, coordinate with the Cairo station.

Fatah's trail will be cold, but see who's talking.

Dash, reach out to your buddies at the OGC.

Come up with some legal strategies on this tape.

Charlie,

I think I know why Fatah might be crawling out into the open.

I've been tracking chatter from...

from militant groups online.

They've been referring to "Ar Rissalah,"

which translates as "the message in Arabic."

For the past 36 hours, that chatter's gone off the charts.

- Off the charts how? - It's more than quadrupled.

Most of the sites are, like,

radical versions of fanboy pages dedicated to Fatah.

Stay with it; If the chatter hardens into anything else,

like a timeline for an attack, let me know.

You got it.

__

There were 12, maybe 13 armed men.

Do you know the type of weapons?

He seems really relaxed for a guy who was almost beheaded.

They had AK-47s.

Uh, some had pistols, except Fatah.

He was unarmed.

Impossible.

- Fatah would have had a weapon. - Are you certain?

He's a tactician; He doesn't draw a breath

unless he's thought about the one to follow it.

There were a lot of guns...

He's being hunted.

The hunted make mistakes.

They were very cordial, for the most part.

I even gave the driver my cell phone as a token of gratitude.

Why would you do that?

AC/DC.

I had some music on my phone.

Not a lot of Muslim metal fans, I imagine.

He must have played Thunderstruck

about a dozen times on the ride back.

It stuck in my head 'cause I thought

it might be the last song I'd ever hear.

I still thought Fatah was gonna kill us.

Sir, may I go in there?

Yeah, go ahead.

I knew I wasn't gonna make it through this interview.

This is Charleston Tucker from Central Intelligence.

Who is "us"?

You said, "I still thought Fatah was going to kill us."

Me and my cameraman, Al.

He's a local hire I use...

Al what?

I don't get that specific in that part of the world.

Just Al.

Why would Fatah choose you?

Why would the most dangerous man alive

choose a stranger from a DC Network affiliate?

I'm a trusted freelancer,