State of Affairs

Previously on State of Affairs...

You texted me that, didn't you?

Do you have any idea what I thought when I saw this photo?

Who gave you the photo, Kurt?

Calling Krieg a private military company

is like comparing a stealth bomber to a paper airplane.

Victor Gantry. Pleased to meet you, Kurt.

I'm not taking you anywhere.

I am.

Everyone lies, Charleston.

It's always those closest to us whose betrayal we can't see.

Ar Rissalah is here.

In the wake of the terror attack

that claimed the life of United States Senator Kyle Green,

the Payton administration is being excoriated

for its failure to protect the country...

Seven members of Ar Rissalah's American cell

have been apprehended,

but their leaders are still at large.

Where are Fatah and Hakam?

And why does President Payton allow the terror network...

Seven American citizens held without due process...

The constitution and the rule of law.

Must be impeached.

We are at war.

I stand firm in my belief

that an attack by Ar Rissalah

does not warrant an assault

on our constitution.

No American, regardless of race, religion,

or national origin should be subjected

to profiling or discrimination

because of the threat this country faces.

But let me be clear.

If you are a member of this wretched organization,

if you persist in waging war

against this nation,

even as a citizen of these United States,

will will hunt you down,

and we will end with swift and just measure

your campaign of terror against this country.

Payton is a tyrant!

Impeach her!

- The threat is real. - Impeach her!

Payton is a tyrant! She must go!

But the road to safety is as well.

You're throwing away the constitution!

You're a dictator!

Impeach her!

We will stand firm in the face of these ideologies.

- We will not... - Madam President, quickly.

Flybird is on the move.

Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.

Negative sentiment is stockpiling,

and it's spilling over onto your administration.

You know, your critics think that you use the CIA

as your personal royal guard.

That's absurd.

Is it?

You've used the Agency to get things done.

I mean, good things,

like Boko Haram and the kidnapped girls.

But we've also stepped over the line a few times,

like the harassment of Professor Ahmadi.

I wake up every morning terrified, David,

just terrified that the next bomb is gonna go off

in a crowded subway,

or God forbid, in the middle of a spelling bee.

I'd rather push hard than not at all.

Yeah, of course, and if we were getting results,

I mean, it would be no harm, no foul,

but all we have now are American terrorists.

We have no bombs.

And compound that with the horrific murder

of a well-respected U.S. senator

and an Ar Rissalah attack at an agency safe house,

and, ma'am, we're dealing with the appearance of impropriety

that could very well bring down your presidency.

Assign an independent investigator.

Give them unfettered access to the Agency.

If the CIA is clean, well, and then they're clean.

If not,

you need to let them burn.

If we do this, we have to control it.

What are you thinking?

I'm thinking I owe Senator Burke a big favor.

Here's what's happening, Kenneth.

You and the six others we have here

were planning a terrorist attack.

You were sent into action by the known terrorist group

Ar Rissalah, a group already responsible

for the death of a CIA employee and a United States senator.

You will be charged with treason and conspiracy to commit

a terrorist act,

which will either put you in prison for the rest of your life

or on a table waiting for death by lethal injection.

Tritonal and tungsten were found

in your apartment, on your clothes.

Those are bomb-making materials.

So where are the bombs, Kenneth?

We know what you were all instructed to do,

so tell us.

Where are the bombs?

We are your brothers,

your sisters, your fathers,

your children.

We are the friend you invite over for fellowship...

The co-worker you confide your deepest secret...

The doctor you entrust with your life.

We are everywhere.

Not this again.

Come on.

Our disciples are everywhere.

We have been waiting for a moment such as this,

and now we have arisen.

Five days, and we're still in the same damn place

looking at the same damn things.

We're working hand-in-hand with the Bureau.

Nick Vera's intel from the Philippines isn't helping.

The Ar Rissalah seven haven't acknowledged the photo

of Sheikh Hakam.

They haven't admitted to the activation.

Nor have they turned over the locations

for the bombs or the lab.

You mean "labs."

Yes, there could be more than one bomb-making facility.

And Nick Vera?

He's next to Omar Fatah.

As soon as he has eyes on Sheikh Hakam, we strike.

No matter what happens, Charleston,

Fatah is not walking away from this.

I understand, Madam President.

I know you do.

Make sure Nick Vera does.

I know you don't like him, ma'am,

but he is risking his life for this.

As is every other soldier in every hot spot in the world.

And, Charleston, I want to know the moment we have a lead

on finding those bombs.

Of course, Madam President.

Charlie, we are banging our heads against the wall here.

Please tell me there's some news.

No news.

There's got to be something here.

We've watched these interviews a million times.

We've got to hit reset and frame this stuff fresh.

The missing link.

What missing link?

These seven, what's the connection?

Most of them are young, disaffected.

Let's go back to the beginning and find out how they met,

how they were recruited.

They weren't,

not in a conventional sense.

I mean, they all just sort of drifted toward Ar Rissalah.

But how exactly?

I mean, we know that Stacy Dover used social media

to get her orders.

Maybe these seven found each other the same way:

Loners, losers, outcasts.

They found a commonality.

We find out how they met,

how they communicated with Al Moosari,

it will lead us to the bombs.

But we better find it fast.

If there's anything we've learned,

it's when one member goes down, another pops up in its place.

I'm on it.

__

Tell your men to put down their guns.

Take it easy.

Relax.

Get down your guns.

Take it easy. No, no, no, no, no, no.

This way.

Okay.

Go, go, go.

No, down. Put it down. Put it down.

Who was that?

I admire what you're doing, ma'am,

opening up an investigation into the CIA.

A lesser president would use a terrorist threat to close ranks.

Well, as I am already being accused of using the CIA

to my own ends, now is not the time to be secretive,

Senator Burke.

As representatives of this democracy,

we need to be able to shine a light inside

from time to time.

Well, you have my support.

I'll do whatever you need to make it work.

Excellent.

We'll hold a joint presser tomorrow,

announce the commission effective immediately.

One request, ma'am.

I don't support Senator Owens running this commission.

He's an empty suit.

No one would believe he's got the temperament.

He sure as hell doesn't have the political balls

to go 12 rounds with the CIA.

So who?