Let's get ready to rock and roll. Tally
Atwater Affiliate Promo. Take one.
Okay, people, let's get it
together. Let's do it.
We need Tally on one.
I wanna hear the announce.
We'll take the announcement. Tally?
Testing one, two, three.
This is Tom Orr.
Testing one, two, three.
You know those faces,
you remember those stories.
They were the men and women
who made I.B.S. News...
Okay, that's enough on Tom Orr.
Let's go to Tally.
Hey, kill the music, guys.
Tally, could you give us
a level on your mike, please?
- What we in the news business...
- One second. Mike, raise her beam.
Again, Tally,
testing one, two, three.
What we in the news business
can never forget...
You're picking' up shadow on her face.
Tally, I need to see you at camera here.
Add some side light, please.
What we in the news business
can never forget...
is we're only as good as
the stories we tell.
Guys, you still got the shadow.
A little more fill, please.
If you could talk a little about how
you got started. A few bio-bites.
Let's see.
I guess I always pretty much
knew what I wanted to do.
Sallyanne knew what she wanted. And
what she wanted was to be number 1.
- In neon lights.
- The sister comes down to two bites.
There's something cute about how you
got started. You went to college?
I tempted, waited tables. The minute
I was old enough, I dealt craps.
I wanted deal baccarat, because
you could make more money on tips.
But where we were living, in a
little mining town in the West...
you had to be connected
to deal baccarat.
And the only person I was connected
to was my little sister, Luanne.
I was going to community
college at night...
doubling up on communications courses,
making up for lost time.
Everyone said...
"You wanna get a job in television...
you have to make a demo tape."
So, I made a demo tape.
You might ask, "Out of the thousands of
women that send tapes, why hire Sally?"
I sent it to thirty-seven stations.
W.M.I.A. Miami...
was the only answer I got. So I said
I said good-bye to Luanne and got...
on the American connection to Dallas
with a four hour lay-over to Miami.
I wanted it to be four days,
I was so scared of getting there.
So, you're Sally.
- Thally Atwater.
- That's Sally with an "S", right?
- Do you thing Im overdressed?
- No. Not in the least.
I didn't know if it'd be...
you know dressy or... cool...
Warren? Ms. Atwater is here.
Okay, go up those stairs and
Warren's in the control booth.
- Hey. I'm Ned.
- I'm Sally.
You majored in communications.
Yeah, Vic, listen. On that Coco
Plum housekeeper murder...
- Wrap Patti, go to Rob.
- Patti, wrap it up.
- For now, Rob. Back to you, Stewart.
- Thank you, Patti, for that report.
You, over here.
Rob, you're running long.
Further developments as they occur at
the situation at Tamiami Middle School.
Further developments as they occur at
the situation at Tamiami Middle...
A thirteen-years-old still holds his
math class hostage with an A.K.
More coverage at six from the award-
winning Channel Nine News Team.
This is Rob Sullivan with his touchy,
feel tag. Good-bye. Be of good cheer.
I might get sick.
Get me the six o'clock report.
- Come on.
- About the Anders sentencing today...
Coming, sweetheart?
...is by calling attention to public
servant violating the voter's trust.
No, Harvey, we play it straight.
"Harvey Harris reporting from the
Courthouse where the Seminole School...
Principal was found guilty of banging the
tenth grade class president. No more.
That accident in Homestead...
- Sweetheart, will you keep up?
- Sally.
- Excuse?
- Sally. Not "sweetheart."
Got it. Vic. Sally.
Sally's our new desk assistant.
Do not call her "sweetheart."
- There's got a kid trapped.
- No kid. Dad, Mom, Grandma in one car.
The driver, his wife or
girlfriend in the pickup.
- There's some discrepancy there.
- Run that discrepancy by me.
Lady calls, says the woman in the
pickup was her "husband's whore."
Warren? Trish again on two.
Trish?
Yeah, we'll send you references.
Weren't you and Trish... You know,
if you don't mind my asking?
- I do mind. Who you got on Homestead?
- Nobody. Unless you unfired Trish.
We don't usually wear out
credentials in the newsroom.
Oh, I'm sorry.
- Oh, that's good.
- I'm sorry.
I'm from Nevada.
Okay, here's the rundown.
- We'll have the kid hostage story live.
- No. It'll be "What-does-it-all-mean?"
Have Lou do it.
Consuela's doing the P.B.A. Endorsing
the mayor for second term.
Bury that before the first commercial.
Harvey's doing Anders, and there's the
Coco Plum housekeeper killing.
Lead with that. Because...
Come on. Let's have it.
The golden rule of local news.
"If... it...
bleeds, it leads."
- Your predecessor...
- Trish...
Trish didn't think the desk had a
whole lot to teach her. How 'bout you?
- I think the desk can teach me.
- What?
- Everything.
- Everything?
So... that later when I'm...
So when I'm ready,
I'll be able to do a story.
Excuse me a second.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
This is a great honor...
...already a seasoned newswoman.
She covered crucial...
Crucial California Youth
Forum Elections?
You might ask, "Out of the thousands of
women that send tapes, why hire Sally?"
Because I'm Sally,
and I'm going to be a star.
If it is to tell me I have a lot to
learn, I already know that.
- I'm going to learn it.
- Noted.
Meanwhile, you answer the phones,
work the data-base...
get the reporters what they need...
addresses, numbers.
Who, what, when, where.
And you see that Mister Coffee machine
over there? I like it strong.
Lleana, cancel my dinner.
We're gonna have to go late.
You used to cover the White House.
- You'll tell me you watched me?
- You asked George Bush how...
as former C.I.A. Director, he didn't
know Noriega was on the C.I.A. Payroll.
Bush said, "No questions at photo op."
And you put the whole thing on the air.
- It was in a course I took.
- You still get the coffee.
- I could probably get the coffee.
- Good.
Otherwise you'd just have the shortest
career in W.M.I.A. Channel Nine History.
News Heartbeat of the American
Riviera. Sugar, no cream.
You always wear that much makeup?
Turning to the weather front, looks
like scorchers stacked up over Florida.
Newsroom.
May I have your name, please?
And what is the name of the hospital?
Does this person have a name?
No, I am trying to help you.
No, ma'am. I do not remember
Miami before there were Haitians.
Thank you, ma'am.
Happy Halloween to you, too.
- You're getting' the hang of it.
I am, yes.
Actually, I've been getting the
hang of it since at least July.
- Here you go, Warren.
- Thanks. Good, Ned.
This is not a criticism,
it's more of an observation.
- You don't have a weather person.
- I fired her. I don't like it.
But having the anchor do the weather
reduces his credibility as anchor.
- Credibility? Rob?
- If you wanted someone to do it...
...you think you might be ready to...
...take in a little more...
...responsibility?
- Exactly. I'm already.
You know what you are ready for?
You can stop tomorrow morning on your
way in. My cleaning. Shun Lee.
You want a ride home?
Otherwise I've just had the shortest
career in the History of W.M.I. A...
- News Heartbeat of American Riviera.
- The ride home is optional.
I opt no, thank you.
- You want Rob to wear that?
- You know, weather is sponsored spot.
What if it's not raining, Dan?
Any other costume ideas on tap?
I was thinking maybe
big sunglasses if... Shit.
Warren, Three has happy weather.
Three? The night
the Gulf War started...
they led with a Bal Harbour Winter
Wonderland Shopathon.
And Three is the top-rated station in
this market. What could it cost to try?
- It would could cost you nothing.
- Give me a second.
- I said I wanted them boxed.
- They still don't come boxed.
- I was watching the news last night...
- Is that unusual?
...and I have an idea about something.
I was rethinking the weather spot.
Yeah, everybody is.
I could do the desk and the weather...
...same salary.
- If I could restate my point...
- I got it. Salary to one side, Sally.
- I did some weather in Reno.
I wanted to hire regular weather,
an Arnie Poole type.
San Francisco's got Arnie Poole.
We've got Rob.
- All I ask to let Rob try this.
- The weather in Reno. Let's see.
They must get some
genuine weather there, huh?
- Oh, big time.
- You prove me wrong, I'm easy.
Dan...
meet our new weather person.
Really? Really?
This is Dan Duarte, our station
manager and my boss.
I go through life with a smile,
try to spread a little goodness.
You know, some people in this
business get jaded because...
it's always the same awful stories.
And it is the same stories.
But they're happening to
different people.
Our new weather gal seems
to be under the weather.
Thirty seconds, Rob.
Focus on spreading that goodness, Rob.
What is this? Okay, come on.
Let's get up.
- Now, what is it?
- Oh, I can't do it.
Now, you've done this before.
If you're Sally,
I want you in makeup now, please.
Not now. Wait outside.
- Say, "Sally Atwater." Say it.
- Thally.
Thally.
- Say it.
- Thally Atw...
- No, I can't do it!
- Then don't do.
You don't have to do it.
- Yes, I do.
- What?
- Yes, I do.
- Okay. I'll get you through it.
I'm your floor manager. You're gonna
be on camera two the entire time.
Okay, everybody, happy weather! In
fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve...
Okay, everybody...
Keep on your toes.
Let's do this one for Uncle Dan.
Rob, check the prompter.
And now with the weather, here's Sa...
Tally Atwater. Tally?
It's your new name. It's easy to say.
don't look at me, look at the camera.
You got twenty-nine
seconds to commercial.
Talk straight into the red light. You
will find you've got a new best friend.
Tally?
Come on, baby.
Thanks, Rob.
How long was that? Okay, we need to
lake thirty seconds off the close.
What an idea.
We will want these, because it's
heat, heat and more heat.
Oh, another good idea, Dan.
We're looking at an expected high
of ninety-eight.
- Sunglasses don't look silly on Seven.
- Will she come out next with a banana?
When the sun goes down, look for a
balmy low of eighty-six.
- Pick it up.
- More high pressure moving in means...
Pace yourself.
don't look at me.
Look at the camera.
And so the five-day
forecast is more...
...more, more hot, hot, hot. Thtay...
Stay inside, cuddle up and
enjoy the air conditioning. Rob.
You made your point, Warren.
This is a non-starter.
She eats the lens.
This is Rob Sullivan saying,
for Adela Syms and myself...
and all of us here at Channel Nine
News good night. Be of good cheer.
Won't want this.
Will need these.
Not to worry, Dan. Uncle Rob was
there to step in if it got any worse.
- Good job, Sally.
- I was betting she'd pee on air.
- I've never seen anything like it.
- We'll do it again tomorrow, okay?
You don't have to put up
with him, Lu.
Luanne, I hear it. I hear it.
No, it is not the guy from
the sweepstakes.
Nobody but you believes in the guy from
sweepstakes. It's like the tooth fairy.
Wait, don't hang up!
I wanna talk to you.
- You're feeling sorry for yourself?
- What are you doing here?
N.B.C.'s million dollar baby
and how she got there.
No Miami Herald, no Washington Post,
no Wall Street Journal?
You getting a cheap rush from this?
You know the demo tape I sent you?
I faked it.
I didn't do any of those things. I
went to East Reno Community College.
I wasn't valedictorian. I didn't
graduate. I rented a cap and gown.
I did the camera myself.
I even threw the confetti myself.
No crucial California Youth Forum
Elections? Big time weather?
Once when I was working at...
Cal-Neva, there, it got snowed in.
And a Reno station asked for
some report...
phone reports, and I did one.
It was forty seconds long.
- I know all that. I checked it out.
- So, fire me.
If you're hungry enough to fake it,
you might be hungry enough to do it.
- The weather is not gonna work.
- You don't think I know that?
You come across on camera.
I'm giving you a shot as reporter.
That's what I came by to tell you.
You thought I came by to
fuck you, didn't you?
Lu! I think I just got promoted.
Actually, this is a set-aside.
Harvey's Belle Glade piece tells
me a story. Yours doesn't.
Miami's beautiful people
got an eyeful today...
- What's the story?
- The story is...
The fashion industry comes
to South Beach.
It came. It went.
We did that story. It's gone.
Now let's lay in B roll and see
if we can't salvage this thing.
Some of the finest cigar makers
exiled from Cuba...
are making profitable businesses
here in Little Havana.
As I quickly learned,
it's not as easy as it looks.
What's the story here? Is it the Cuban?
Or are you getting cute with the cigar?
This is Tally Atwater, Channel
Nine News, in Little Havana.
The Cuban, of course.
Then you should've found out that this
particular exiled cigar maker...
is not from Havana,
but a Batista officer.
- Just do it better.
- Right.
Harvey's truck is down.
On his way to...
How long would it take us
to get to Miami Beach?
I thought we're doing
this bullshit boat show.
- This' a much better story. How long?
- Half an hour.
Vic... Yeah, Tally.
Listen, Ned and I are moments
from this Harvey story.
- Harvey's truck is down.
- I'm covering till he gets here.
But if he doesn't get here you'll
need an on-camera reporter.
You've never done a live feed. You
don't even know what the story is.
Get the boat, get the cable, get the
balconies. Get the spokesman.
Then tell me what the story is.
Okay, show me what you got.
Get in there.
Jam the damn mike in his face.
Hey, wait a minute!
- We have to make a positive I.D. First.
- How do you do that, Sheriff?
- Metro-Dade, missy.
- How do you make a positive I.D.?
I know she's never done a live feed.
So, if she can't cut it, I'll do it.
- We can call this one Juan Doe.
- His name is Juan Doe?
Or is that your way of suggesting that
this particular John Doe...
or unidentified person, or
was Spanish speaking?
Cute, missy. I'm gonna ask y'all to
bear with us and be patient here.
- First thing, stay upwind.
- Which way is upwind?
Away from the sting. Floaters stink
because their stomach's full of gas.
That's what brings them up. Sometimes
they pop. We can shoot right here.
But they're over there...
Raul Sota, Domingo Katz. Colombians.
Deck hands on the S.S. Bolivar out of
Barranquilla. They jumped ship.
I called the harbor master. Calling
the harbor master what reporters do.
- Raul Sota and Domingo Katz.
- We're still too close.
The storm that slammed
into Miami yesterday...
Forget yesterday. Yesterday's
history. News happens today.
- Forget yesterday. Today, okay.
- Shoulder facing camera so Ned can...
- I'm gonna faint. Where's upwind?
- Not where you're at. Vic?
Are you with me?
How much time have we got?
A minute and twelve seconds to come
up with the lead-in, okay?
This isn't about lipstick. This is
about them. Two guys jumped ship...
for the land of plenty, and they
drown 25 feet from getting it.
People like Sota and Katz don't
get taught how to swim.
That's what this story's about,
not makeup. Vic? One minute.
- In the blue water off Miami today...
- Miami Beach today.
Raul Sota, Domingo Katz. What did
they die for? What did they want?
In the blue water off
Miami Beach today, divers...
Hold the divers. Lead with Sota and
Katz. I'll tell you what to say.
- I know what to say.
- Well, then say it!
Raul Sota and Domingo Ka...
25 feet from the big enchilada.
25 feet from the promise land.
25 feet from walking down Colliens
Avenue and a job bussing dishes.
- Did you want something that bad?
- Ten seconds.
- Answer me. Do you?
- Yes!
- Then show me.
- She's on in seven seconds. Six.
- Tell me a story.
- Five. Four. Three...
Two men drowned today off Miami Beach.
Raul Sota and Domingo Katz...
didn't belong in the luxurious cabanas
that line this beach. They jumped ship.
They wanted to come to America.
And they died...
25 feet from what they must have
seen as the promised land.
Were these men seeking asylum?
All we know is that a pilgrimage...
to El Norte that began in
Barranquilla, Columbia...
spelled death today for
Raul Sota and Domingo Katz.
This is Tally Atwater
on Miami Beach.
Girl's got chops.
Thank you.
I was wondering if you could say that.
- It was nice work on the aliens.
- Thanks.
It made me reflect on
how many of them...
every day, actually get in.
Food for thought.
I'd never thought of it that way, Rob.
A little advice from Uncle Rob?
Watch Warren. Don't let him
bring you along too fast.
You feel you need a mentor...
- Roberino.
- Thanks.
On tonight's Assignment Earth,
"Selling Dirty Air."
When Oriana Fallaci interviewed
Fidel Castro, she did it in Spanish.
Before you set up your
one-on-one with Fidel...
you might wanna get a new
jacket, or two.
We have a consultant that
we use, Inez Cifuentes.
We have a budget for it. We don't
want the look to get in the way.
Warren said to keep a little edge.
It's a when-did-you-stop-beating-
your-wife kind of deal.
Diaz isn't doing to admit
he's taking money from Cali.
If you can get him not answering the
question, then you've told the story.
Another thing, if...
Well, that's nice.
Edgy enough for you?
Inez, you can do something
about the hair?
I'm not cutting my hair.
Ned, run, get ahead of me.
Excuse me.
Toda la familia...
How do you answer allegations that
you profited from drug money?
That is no longer an issue.
Isn't it true that your campaign
received sizable contributions...
Do you have vaginal or
clitoral orgasms?
Isn't it true you prefer fellatio
although you're a practicing lesbian?
Would you like to clear
up these allegations?
Tell him I got the mother
of the sex-change boy.
Because Donahe has the sex-change boy.
I know she's a second-tier get.
I also she's available.
200 years of a free press and we've
down to the sex-change boy?
There's nothing big here.
Just get me into Havana on Thursday.
Three, two, one.
Behind those smoked glass windows
in downtown Miami today...
I bet that one's yours.
- You win.
- Got it?
Asshole Diaz.
Tally Atwater, Joanna Kennelly.
Joanna's my ex-wife.
Well, one of them.
The one that left me in Washington,
not in New Orleans.
- Joanna's on her way to Havana.
- Why don't you come with me?
- Do you expect to talk to Diaz?
- Let me show the beauty of news.
- I wanted to get him on camera. I did.
- Of course you did.
Get plenty of ambient noise, okay?
And balloons.
- How would you do it?
- Oh, perfectly.
I love balloons.
- Here, look at this.
- Congressman!
Is it true you prefer fellatio?
Watch this.
And you dissolve from the window...
to you, like this.
And then...
I'm gonna lay in the sound.
Behind those smoked glass windows
in downtown Miami today...
is Congressman Jorge Diaz...
So...
- You and Joanna...
- Joanna...
thought I was a Capitol Hill insider,
which, at the time, I was.
We were a cute couple on the
Sunday shows for a while.
But being around in the
morning isn't my long suit.
So, you got your questions...
you got your ambient noise
at the rally.
I don't imagine
it's your long suit either.
Maybe not.
So we keep it loose...
and we keep it open.
And if we get lucky...
gold.
Okay, here you go.
You and Joanna have any children?
- No. Iris and I had...
- Iris?
My first wife. We had a little girl.
She lived a week. Eight days.
You have family?
- My sister.
- You close?
I raised her,
after my mother died.
Our mom totaled the car
on Mount Rose Highway.
She always wanted to sing in a
lounge, but she never did.
She had this whole Patti Page set.
She was okay.
Look...
I've been here before.
So have I.
Newsroom.
Just a minute.
- For you.
- For me?
This is Tally.
I'll call you when I get home.
- I need to take a few days off.
- Something wrong?
- No, nothing's wrong.
- But you have to take some days off.
It's personal, okay?
Lt's okay.
It's gonna be all right, Luanne.
I'll get the money. I'm here.
It's not about economic chaos
or political uncertainty.
- Today at six, The Channel Nine...
- About that Omega Seven story.
The Omega Seven parole hearing?
Let Steve do it.
And if Tally's back tomorrow,
she can do an action wrap-up.
I wouldn't count on that.
You want me to get Accounting
to wire her the cash advance?
No, I'll take care of it.
Tell Dan I hear Arnie Pooles
contract's up in San Francisco.
And I just might get
him a new weatherman.
One seventy-five.
It's not my problem if her boyfriend
skips out on her and steals her money.
- I want the rent now.
- I'll get it to you tomorrow.
I need it in full. I told her that,
or else I gotta get the marshal in.
- I'll get the rest of it tomorrow.
- Tomorrow's today. Pay up or out.
How much?
- What are you doing here?
- I'm on my way to San Francisco...
to buy Dan some happy weather.
How much?
She's five fifty short.
The extra goes on account. Let's go.
Did you interview you any
celebrities, Sallyanne?
Come on.
- You get a rush out of humiliating me!
- I didn't come here for a rush.
- The what did you come here for?
- I had a hunch.
You had a hunch you'd walk in here and
get the story on me and my sister.
I have no interest in your sister.
I just met her a few minutes ago.
Why don't you get her in depth?
Washing her underwear in the sink?
Look, you asked for cash,
I provided it. Over and out.
You provided it?
What exactly do you take me for?
- Wait a minute.
- You come here and spreads bills...
around like you picked me up in some
bar, in front of that asshole!
- You have no business here!
- Hold on. You work for me.
You announce you're taking off, forget
about the part, if it's okay for me...
shoot off a fax demanding cash.
And you figured you'd do me this
big favor and Id owe you.
- Well, that was my mistake.
- Every girl I grew up with...
- ended up thinking she owed some guy.
- This doesn't interest me.
I was gonna get us out of here.
I told Luanne, "We'll get an apartment
on the Upper West Side"...
because I read some magazine that said
Diane Sawyer lived there.
I didn't know the upper side west side
of what. I just knew...
I had to get us there.
That's what happens. Some guy comes
along and no more Upper West Side.
- Does that interest you?
- That interests me.
I need another couple of days...
to make sure she's all right.
If that's okay with you.
It's perfectly okay with me.
This is the final boarding call for
flight 804 to San Francisco.
All remaining passengers
should board now.
- So, take as long as you need.
- I didn't want you to see any of this.
So what?
He completely ignored the fact that
this is a society divided by fear...
...hatred and violence.
- Not true.
We haven't discussed...
"Promises and pie crust are made to
be broken, "Jonathan Swift once said.
And the President's environmental
package resembles cherry pie crust.
South Vietnamese planes struck
the wrong target here today.
Their own village. Napalm burned
civilians running for their lives.
Here's what we don't know, on this day
where over 200 US Marines were killed.
With the death toll still rising.
There was no perimeter defense set
up that might've stopped the bomber.
We don't know what roll these
Marines were supposed to play here...
why they were even here. And so,
at the end of this terrible day...
what we do know is that over 200
Marines died without knowing why.
This is Warren Justice, I.B.S. News,
Beirut, Lebanon.
Warren Justice stepped down today as
Chief White House Correspondent.
An award-winning journalist, Justice
has been a prominent figure at IBS...
So, what's is it like
working at the network?
You think you'll get to the network and
look back at everybody that made...
you eat it and say, "Up yours."
But it's not like that.
- What is it like?
- It's hard.
It's fun.
- Then why did you leave?
- It stopped being fun.
Tell me about these dumb contests
you used to enter with Tawney Buchner.
- Why don't you tell me why...
- How about the contests?
The contests.
Miss Stateline, Miss Truckee,
Miss Tahoe, Miss Sierra Logger.
- I'll tell you a secret.
- Id keep Sierra Logger a secret.
No. The secret is, in not one of
them did I finish in the top five.
So, what's you do for talent? Did
you by chance sing, "Feelings"?
No. For your information, I did not
by any chance sing "Feelings."
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear the unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach
The unreachable star
This is my quest
To follow that star
- Phone sex is on the rise.
- Yeah? Warren won't touch that.
- Alaskan wolves.
- As in the slaughter of?
We have tape of a wolf
caught in a trap.
You got tape on that?
Run it at six.
Metro-Dade reports tourist robbery
complaints are up eight percent.
It's a story this town's
talking about.
Correction. It's not a story
his town wants to talk about.
I don't think Tally's her pulse on the
finger of the community the way I do.
I think you mean finger on the
pulse of the community, Rob.
Anyway let's get people talking about
it. Harvey, you get into that.
It's your first step towards the Peabody
Award. Somebody makes me happy.
Wait! Here's a cross-dresser
from Tallahassee who gets all the...
to the finals in Miss Florida contest.
- Boring.
- Tally, maybe you wanna handle that.
- You'd do a real in depth piece on it.
- I think I'll pass.
Think, "Cross-dresser from Tallahassee
who dreams the impossible dream.
You cannot be trusted.
Okay, anything else?
- So, this is where I live.
- It's...
- What?
- 502, vehicle registered to...
Skylight Limo.
- You keep this on all the time?
- I find it soothing.
The sound of human iniquity.
You know what a 502 is?
D.W.I., driving while intoxicated.
Skylight Limo's the one the rockers
use. Probably a drug bust.
Controlled substances.
Tally Atwater reporting live.
You better get going.
The night we did the Diaz story,
in the editing room...
I didn't know you then.
I'm not gonna be the guy that goes,
"No more Upper West Side." So?
First on the scene? One-on-one with the
lead guitar? Isn't that what you want?
What do you want?
I knew you'd go.
This is Tally Atwater saying Happy
New Year form W.M.I.A. Channel Nine...
News Heartbeat of
the American Riviera.
You give us thirty minutes,
and we give you Miami. Yel mundo.
- We're back in Times Square...
- Have you ever met Bucky Terranova?
Agents are for babes,
Tal, not for grunts.
He's coming Miami next week
for a panel.
So is Joanna Kennelly.
Tally, you and Warren...
you guys aren't having a...
you know... thing, are you?
That's what I thought.
The usual deal is
somebody ends up crying.
Nobody is going to end up crying.
And it's usually not Warren.
Happy New Year to all of you!
Okay, you got the baby?
Oye... you got me, okay?
Fernando, you were convicted in
July of armed robbery...
- your third felony conviction.
- No... fourth.
So you get free baby clothes, toys,
diaper service for a year, all for...
- what are you calling the baby?
- Fernandito.
And so, Fernando Buttanda heads
north for Holmesburg Prison...
leaving behind wife, Augustina,
and their five children in Cuba.
- Here's something from the booth.
- And Rosario Mota...
who at 12:02 this morning,
gave birth to Fernando, Junior...
Miami's first baby of the new year.
- Sad story, Tally.
- It is, Rob.
One with a New Year's twist. I was
just informed that the local...
merchants association decided that
because of the unusual circumstances...
the first-born layette should be
awarded instead to Tiffany Policek.
Very nice.
- You might've cleared this with me.
- Back to the two-shot.
Tiffany was the second. The layette
was supposed to go to the first-born.
Well, I think I see the
merchant's point, Tally.
- I'm not surprised you do, Rob.
- Happy New Year. Go to commercial.
No go. It's thirty seconds
till the credits.
Buttanda is an habitual offender. The
woman has 2 children out of wedlock.
- After all, what?
- Guys, cut it out.
- I don't think we need to go into that.
- You got two cameras on 'em.
- Get one on something else.
- What else is there?
Lt's a runaway train.
In the spirit of the new year and
the whole idea of first-born...
I'm sure W.M.I.A. would
be delighted to...
honor Miami's true first-born,
Fernandito Buttanda.
- She can't do that.
- She just did.
- Fifteen seconds to credits.
- That's all. I'm Rob Sullivan.
Tally will surely join me in
saying, "Be of good cheer.
And Happy New Year from all of us
on the Channel Nine News Team."
Go. Matte it.
We gotta hold this for fifteen.
Fill in mikes.
- This the last time you sit here.
- I didn't know you'd been appointed...
- Commissar of Public Morality.
- He's a criminal and she's a whore.
Well, only whores have
babies out of wedlock?
- Warren, your protge is out of line.
- Protge? Does that mean whore, too?
Tally, shut up and smile. Rob,
we're still on air. Keep smiling.
- Warren, we've gotta talk.
- She doesn't have the maturity.
- You're pushing her too fast.
- Your protge doesn't have maturity.
If you think that pompadour gives you
maturity, you need professional help.
That's enough, Tally. Rob, handling the
unexpected is what we call television.
- She has no right...
- To what? Tell the truth?
Or change copy to something safe?
She's off reservation.
And it's up to you to go...
To what? Rope her in? Cut her down to
size? What size do you want? Your size?
Warren, I'm warning you.
- That's a wrap. Thank you.
- This is unbelievable!
Childish and amateurish behavior. They
would've fired her in Saint Louis.
- Right, Rob, though shop, Saint Louis.
- I'm taking this to Dan!
If you don't, I will.
Listen, next time you want to
embarrass the station, quit first.
- You want me to quit?
- Yeah, that's what I want.
You don't go around changing
station policy on air!
- I'm the one who has to...
- This is a team!
But I'm not part of the team, am I?
I'll always be written off as the
News Director's protge.
So, fine! I'm capable of finding a job
where I am nobody's protge.
Feliz ao nuevo.
You're right.
My sister has a baby. Her live-in
has a record. That make her a whore?
- Right again.
- He's just stupid.
He's an anchor.
- Mister Terranova, one photo, please.
- Joanna Kennelly?
- Mister Terranova?
- Tally?
Joanna Kennelly. We've met before. Hi.
- Have you know Bucky for long?
- No, I don't actually know him.
But you want to. Bucky, come here.
Tally Atwater, Mister Bucky Terranova.
"News Heartbeat of
the American Riviera.
You give us thirty minutes,
we'll give you... el mundo"?
I was wondering when
you'd walk into my life.
Oh, please.
I'm gonna need a suite at the Wilshire
and a floor pass at the Forum.
Just tell' em it's for the day that the
Lakers play the Phoenix...
- Suns.
- Suns. No, I'll call you back.
"Sex and Drugs: The Downside of
Basketball's Instant Millionaires.
- A Joanna Kennelly in-depth Report."
- Those millionaires will love you.
You still got a nice ass.
But it's not this year's ass, is it?
Not even last year's.
I am seven years and three
dozen asses back.
The next time I see you...
it'll be four dozen.
Unless you're gonna tell me
this one's different.
Wait a minute.
- Has somebody finally got to you?
- This is not what you think.
Just good friends.
That is novel.
What's it feel like?
It feels good.
You gonna go with her when
she makes her move?
You need a year or two in a major
market. Preferably at an O and O.
What's your feeling
about Philadelphia?
A large city in Pennsylvania.
I can put you there.
- It's a number four market.
- It's do-able.
They're looking for a fresh face.
Lucky timing.
Your vice is full of money.
Anybody ever tell you that?
- I was having...
- I know. I know where you're going.
I bet he said your voice
was full of money.
That's what he always says.
He's famous for it.
He even said that to Joanna.
It's actually not even his line.
It's from a novel.
"Her voice was full of money. That
was the inexhaustible charm...
that rose and fell in it."
Hemingway, right?
F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Cheap shot.
It's the right move.
Nobody ever called Bucky dumb.
I guess it's even the right time.
We had some fun, you and I.
didn't we?
What is it you want?
- You know what I want.
- You wanna go to Philadelphia.
So, he says to me...
"If you need a mentor...
Roberino."
Roberino?
Will do me a favor?
don't ever say that again.
You could come with me.
First prize: A week in Philadelphia.
Second prize: Two weeks.
It's an old joke.
- Ive already been where you're going.
- You could go back.
- Why not?
- I already told you.
All you told me is that
it stopped being fun.
It was a good run while it lasted.
Then I made a mistake.
What kind of mistake?
I had and trusted a source. I went
with the story and I got burned.
The source did what sources do.
I missed the signals.
You're allowed to make a
mistake once in a while.
Not really.
If you chose not to play on the
team... you can't afford mistakes.
Why didn't we do this before?
Because it was always gonna be
this hard to stop.
You know, we have some time
before you go.
I don't wanna go.
Sure you do.
You know something?
I never got a...
What've you got here? For me?
Miss Sierra Logger. Okay.
You better go.
Go.
Up next, shocking new information
about a nursing home sex scandal.
Stay with us.
We'll back in a moment.
John, whoever wrote that copy about
the nursing home should be fired.
It's silly, it's wrong,
and I won't say it.
Then wing it. You're up to speed on
this story. A real warhorse, Marcia.
We'd get together for a drink so you
two kids could get to know each other.
Sure.
Would you mind having your guest move?
She's in my eye line.
- I'm sorry.
- Oh, here we go again.
John, have you any idea
how little coverage...
we actually devote to substantive
discussion of public policy?
You an issues wonk, too, Tally?
- I agree it's an important point.
- What is?
The need for substant...
Bucky told me.
- Bucky? Bucky who?
- Bucky Terranova, my agent...
said that Tom Orr told him...
- Tom? You know Tom?
- Well, not exactly. But...
Tom is just about
the worst offender.
Well, I have two charity
auctions to attend tonight.
Is that actually a
banana daiquiri?
Spring break, Lauderdale.
Good night, Tally.
- Ready, B.T. One.
- Time again for 90 Years Young.
Today we're blessed with twins.
Roxy and Ruby Temple down in
South Kendall at the Clearview Home.
- It's a cute segment.
- What's cute about it, Dan?
...long life to the active things
they did in their younger days.
Is it cute to be nice to people just
because they are older than you?
Will it be cute when you're 98,
fighting to hang on to your dignity...
and there's Rob Sullivan out of the
blue with some cheap birthday cake...
- calling you a beautiful youngster?
- I don't wanna argue about this.
There are people fighting out
there for this spot!
And any time I have a spot that
advertisers are willing to fight for...
then this is a good spot.
Is that how we're programming news?
Asking the advertisers what they want?
Say an advertiser wants a laugh-track.
What about that, Dan? No problema?
- Like it or not, this is a business.
- Yeah, it's a business.
The entertainment business. The hell
with the news and with the truth.
- Where have all the good times gone?
- Philadelphia.
Off this ambulance drivers' strike,
we'd get into the crisis in emergency...
Emergency rooms are so crowded,
hospitals are turning ambulances away.
They don't have the beds.
- What hospitals, Tally?
- County General, for one.
Queen of Angels? Saint Matthews?
How many hospitals?
You said hospitals, plural.
Which hospitals? When? How many
people turned away? Why?
I have a call in to the
Paramedics Association.
When you have the statistics, you
should reintroduce. Shall we move on?
If you could find him, Lleana,
I only have a minute.
I saw on the weather channel it's
ninety-five there.
Actually I just didn't wanna forget
what your voice sounded like.
No, I haven't forgotten
what you look like.
Stop right there. We have to feed.
I miss you too.
Rape has become an ugly
fact of life in Philadelphia.
And in just a moment, we'll be
hearing Tally Atwater on that subject.
Some statistics may convey
the idea, Marcia.
According to recent studies, the
median age of men who commit rape...
in Philadelphia, is twenty-three.
Half have a prior arrest record.
Nine percent of these had been
previously arrested for rape.
Sobering. But don't you think,
Tally, that statistics can seem...
in the face of real human outrage,
worse than irrelevant?
Right, Marcia.
Coming up next, Bernie Plant,
with the weather.
You want some coffee or something?
Well, I thought I owed you a talk.
We've got these marketing consultants.
They run focus groups. They invite...
20 citizens in for cold cuts,
see what they like and don't like.
I thought it might be constructive to
know what they had to say about Tally.
Very helpful, John.
I don't like her. I hit the
refrigerator when she comes on.
- She looks like...
...a bush league Marcia.
If you ask me, it's her hair.
Why is it women always
go with the hair?
- Hair is character.
- Nobody from nowhere.
Well, that's enough of that.
Tally, I hired you.
You have real potential. But there's
a feeling that you're not making...
- Contact.
- Right.
I wanna leave this on a positive note.
What you ought to do is talk to the
consultants who run these deals.
And just see what
they have to say. Okay?
Is something up?
Anything wrong?
No reason at all. I just...
Why should anything wrong? I'm
so busy. And I just hit a break.
You busy? You hit a brake?
- Well, I saw these consultants.
- Consultants on what?
- I had a makeover.
- A makeover? What do you mean a...
It seems that I was a little
too edgy for Philly.
Marcia couldn't be nicer.
- She's a super girl.
- Super? Marcia McGrath?
Tal... you okay?
Anything I can do?
No, everything's great.
It's just that I...
It's just that I...
I...
wanted to say hi.
You wanna say hi again, I'm here.
Habla inglese?
- Bucky Terranova.
- So, Warren, how long has it been?
R.F.K. Stadium, owner's box,
Redskins-Giants.
I wanted to leave Washington. You said,
I didn't handle people on the way down.
So, what brings you to Miami?
- Stone crab?
- Try again.
The fact is, Warren, I have a client
in a certain amount of distress.
A client with whom you have
a special relationship.
And it occurred to me, you might want
to be up there for a period of time.
- Last I heard, I still had a job here.
- I see that it keeps you very busy.
What if I can arrange a leave? Wait a
minute. I'm seeing daylight on this.
I bring Mel Casey from
Atlanta to sub for you.
He's got a young wife, only wants
the spot jobs. But it's his life.
You've already laid this on Dan,
haven't you?
You two could use a timeout.
This isn't about you and me.
She's in trouble. Think it over.
What's up?
I was just wishing I was driving
down the Keys with you...
and we were already picking up
Havana on the radio.
- How long can you stay?
- Long enough.
Oh, hey, what the...
- John, long time, no see.
- Warren?
John and I covered the D.E.A.
Together in New Orleans.
I just left my appointment book
here. And I'm on my way.
- I didn't think you were coming back.
- I think he figured out, Tal.
Tally, Warren.
Fabian, here you are, back home in the
town where you were discovered...
Everybody loved that piece.
We got a huge response.
I mean, considering...
How about that guy who chose to
murder that woman?
That was a terrific idea.
It just wasn't...
It wasn't quite executed...
You and your children have been
here for seven weeks now.
I was...
I was really off that day. But there
is some good stuff with her children.
- I... I...
- The S.R. O Housing Corporation...
of course being the
city agency responsible...
- You didn't get to the children.
- I don't need to.
- No, but it's good.
- It's shit.
- It was what?
- It was all shit.
Why she was in the hospital?
Why couldn't she get her kids back?
Did you listen to one word
that woman was saying?
Or were you too busy worrying
about impressing the viewers?
Who the hell is this?
What the hell happened to you?
- Where's Tally Atwater?
- You tell me. You invented her!
Well, I did one lousy job!
You come, take one look at Marcia and
you fold. If I was into inventing...
- Id have invented somebody tougher.
I'm exactly the way you made me.
Do it this way! Do it that way! I don't
even know how to do it without you.
Bullshit. I dressed you, I pointed you
toward the camera, but you did it.
You told the story. You know how to do
it. You're gonna doing it on your own.
- I can't.
- Look at this.
- The network...
- don't even talk...
...twenty million people are gonna
be depending on you.
- I don't care.
- Before they trust you they've to...
know you're listening to them! To do
that, you must know who you are!
You see?
It's not all Marcia McGrath country up
here. So, give them Tally Atwater.
When I asked you how long you could
stay and you said, "Long enough"...
how long is that?
- When we're not together...
...everything shuts down.
As Councilman, you were influential
in securing the permits and waivers...
that allowed Patriot Hill
to begin construction.
Yes, I cut through some of the
red tape for the developers.
When Patriot Hill was still
called Dog Bottom...
these same developers bought up the
neighborhood for dog bottom prices.
- They also are in business.
- Big business, from what I understand.
Evacuations continue at the Holly
Ball, the scene of a suspicious fire.
- Tally, what's the latest?
- Whether the chandelier went down...
before or after 9-1-1 got
called nobody is saying.
But this has to be one of the
most incendiary affairs of...
what social register types here
call "The Season."
The Holly Ball is one of our prettiest
and most traditional events.
How do you suppose such
a thing happened?
A kid with too much time and
nothing to do with it.
Bored silly. And dressed to kill.
- Is that your opinion, Tally?
- No, that is observable fact.
- Thank you, Tally.
- Bucky.
Right, she is looking good.
Id like to sit down with you
sometime this week.
So, the ratings are up.
The research says it's Tally.
I owe you one. I hadn't factored
she was gonna need her hand held.
You make your living off of
people that need their hands held.
- She can go all the way, can't she?
- Assuming she doesn't go wiggy again?
Does a first-rate job, makes a few
breaks for herself. I.B.S. is the shot.
Unless Wendy Chan shows more
than she's been showing'.
- How long?
- A year, two years, eighteen months.
Timeout to decode.
You up for the duration?
No comment, read yes.
Miami know this?
Dan and I don't put each other
on speed dial.
If Dan hears you're even thinking,
you've seen your last moon over Miami.
From the point of view of the guys,
you don't exactly read user-friendly.
- You left too much scorched earth.
- What is this, Bucky? Tough love?
Try Pete Raymond.
The last time I saw Pete Raymond...
I told Id be interested in watching
him cover his own retirement.
That's funny. But you see the problem.
I got it. I didn't mention to Tally
I was seeing you today.
Still doing it your way, I see.
Tell Merino if he wants to keep her
happy, there's a cameraman in Miami.
He's a good man.
- What are you doing here?
- Old Warren pulled a few strings.
- Really?
- That's right.
Hell of a temptation, Warren,
having you back on the market.
Never though you'd leave Miami. But,
end of the day, you're a hard news guy.
- We did a five-parter on nannies.
- Five-parter on nannies.
- Right off the charts, response-wise.
- That right?
Okay, you don't do nannies.
You don't take prisoners.
You ought to pitch somebody
you don't have a history with.
There's a hot young kid at Four in
Baltimore. Cord Otavio.
Hold all my calls. So, tell me
something about yourself...
Warren.
You first, Cord.
I talked to Bucky today, mentioned
your being here. He already knew it.
Asked how you were.
So, how are you?
I never thought an eclipse would get
to be my idea of a good time.
- You know what I wish?
- That this eclipse would move faster.
I wish you didn't have
to go back to Miami.
It's Warren Justice calling for
Pete Raymond again.
Not Mister Warren. Mister Justice.
If Mister Raymond doesn't know who I
am, he doesn't have to call me back.
Another blue heaven morning here at
Radio Rock It Sock It Philadelphia.
Channel Seven. They got the babe
that makes me shout.
Talking 'bout Marcia, I am not.
Ooh, Tally, what you got?
Marcia, you may be overreacting.
She takes my broadcast with
which I am identified...
and for which I am responsible
and she makes my broadcast...
and by extension, me, the object
of vulgar innuendo.
The object is not you, it's me.
- Lf you wanna talk about the DJ...
- Forget about the DJ.
We've got an election coming up here.
Marcia knows more about politics...
than the polls do. So, I offered her
Senior Political Correspondent and...
Director of Campaign Coverage. I don't
know whatever the title she wanted.
And she passed.
I want you to take over
some of her duties.
Is that what this is all about?
Is she staying?
She has an offer in Cincinnati.
Anchor.
It's nice market for her.
You don't use hypo-allergenic?
My red twenty-eight.
You should use twenty-nine.
A quick comb-out and I'm ready to go
on air tomorrow night in Cincinnati.
Quelle irony. I was offered a job
in W.M.I. A this week.
Chris Reiss phoned me to come in
and co-anchor with Rob Sullivan.
- Chris Reiss?
- From Chicago. Dynamite news guy.
What's he doing at M.I.A.?
Getting along with Dan, which is more
than Warren ever bothered to do.
Miami's a little Chiquita banana for
me, but Chris is shaking things up.
I actually considered blowing off
Cincinnati, streaking my hair...
and going down to work with Chris.
But, you get to be 42, you know what
it costs to jump off high board.
You didn't know it was Chris
who replaced Warren?
- What does it take to jump off?
- You beet to be 42, you won't ask.
It's not your fault, you know that.
It's not anybody's fault.
This is the way it works.
Actually, I'm forty-four.
Not even Bucky knows that.
- Been a while, Buford.
- Good times.
Good times.
You're looking for a job, aren't you?
Shit, Warren, you got a habit of
calling' a horse's ass a horse's ass.
We got some folks around that
shop just don't appreciate that.
You mean like Gabe Lawrence,
Vice President of Info-tainment?
Yeah, what was it you said about
Gabe's Granada coverage?
Blood, sweat and Perrier.
He never made in invasion. It coincided
with a periodontal appointment.
The flossers are in charge, now.
I'm just a noble, fuckin' savage they
trot out to the affiliate meetings.
Are your sources at the
Pentagon still good?
- Think so, why?
- You might ask 'em about SOUTHCOM.
1999 we got to give back the Panama
Canal. And I can't. See that...
happening' without a whole bunch of
people running' lot of plays.
- This intuition or you hear something'?
- The usual people are interested.
You got anybody on it?
Old Gabe don't think there's a story.
You go down there, you'd own it.
I kind of wanted to stay
around here for a while.
She worth it?
Deep down, she wants
to shoot up the town.
- I'm always good for lunch.
- You've heard all my stories.
- Take care of yourself.
- You, too.
- Ive been trying to call you all day.
- I should tell you, I went up to NY.
- To do what?
- You should've been up there.
There was this street fair, on one
of the incredible New York days.
- See anybody you know?
- All these little kids running' around.
- What?
- Anything happen up there?
I got a cab driver that could
find Penn Station.
Wait a second now.
- Is there something you don't tell me?
- You ask a lot of questions.
I don't get a lot of answers.
Reporters think the job in Washington
is cover their bets. Warren didn't.
He was there to tell the story, which
didn't make him widely popular.
Did he ever tell you
why he left the network?
He said he made a
mistake on a story.
He trusted the source and
he shouldn't have.
He trusted the source because
I was the source.
I took a year off from the bureau
to run briefings for State.
Warren and I had a deal. I did what I
had to do, he did what he had to do.
I never dreamed for a minute
he'd buy that story.
- But he did?
- Yeah, he did.
In the overall scheme of things, it
shouldn't have mattered. But it did...
matter because the network was looking
for an excuse and now they had one.
They saw him as a wild card to begin
with. He and Buford Sells had lunch.
"Play it the network's way or take the
highway." And Warren took the highway.
Buford used to be his best friend.
So, you see, it took a lot for
him to ask Bu for a job.
You do a lot for a lot of people.
There can't be many who don't owe you.
Now you're going to collect one.
You're gonna collect it for me.
No way! I'm not gonna do it!
You do this to me, Terranova!
You tell me I gotta hire this guy!
I don't have to hire these guys!
I worked with Warren for the D.E.A.
He almost got me killed. Not now!
Whatever is good for the Governor.
I'll make myself available.
We do a series of backgrounders on
the news before it becomes news.
The Governor hanging his re-election
campaign on prison reform.
McBrides up twenty-four points
in the polls because...
the public thinks cutting inmate
privileges is the tough way to go.
- We ask questions.
- We?
You and me.
- Why didn't you ask me how I saw it?
- Well, how do you see it?
You talk to the warden.
You talk to the guards.
McBride thinks he's being tough?
My bet is he's just being butch.
The you'll do it?
- We could see each other all day long.
- You want something, you don't give up.
- There's something else I want.
- Already got me doing one thing I don't want.
What other things you got in mind?
Marry me.
What?
Marry me.
I been married.
Twice. Bad idea. Twice.
I want you around in the morning.
You already have me in the morning.
How, I don't know, but you do.
I wanna know you're legally
required to be there.
...with the power vested in me,
I now pronounce you man and wife.
You may kiss your bride.
Getting the Rotary-lunch speech
from the warden won't do it.
But if we'd show how McBride's reforms
are affecting just one inmate...
A Day in the Life,
then that would tell the story.
- You listening to me or not?
- I thought this was our night off.
My wife, the candy ass.
Did our night off end at midnight?
Remember Fernando Buttanda? The father
of the New Years baby. Miami. Layette?
Rob and I fighting on the air?
They sent him up here.
To Holmesburg.
He's the Day in the Life.
Full screen headline:
Governor Signs Prison Reform Act.
Cut to McBride.
Smash into his campaign bites.
"Holmesburg is a prison. It's not
a resort. Holmesburg works."
- We show the jump in the polls.
- Then we have this one prisoner...
and the effect on him when McBride
take out the TV sets and laptops.
And also defunded all rehab
and vocational training.
- What else?
- What do you... what else?
I just get the sense you may be
coming down heavy on McBride.
Is it heavy to say that McBride has
been pedding nitro to get re-elected?
Do I think the crime issue is
manipulated for political ends? Yes.
- Then what are we talking about?
- Do many people wanna hear this?
Not necessarily.
- John's concern is...
- I know what's John's concern is.
I think John's feeling is...
He wants us to tell the viewers
what he thinks they wanna hear.
Did you ever entertain any idea you
didn't get from a focus group, John?
You stake out the moral high ground.
Everybody else gets altitude sickness.
You think I want this kind of shit?
You think I even wanted this project?
She wanted it. She's the one who's
out there on the line.
And the only reason she's out there is
to give you something to do!
Actually, I've got something to do.
You thought he'd show up?
He cooled down? Lt's a great story.
He's a professional.
Inspiring stuff like that?
Let's go in and set up.
Warren Justice for Colonel Peters.
Barry?
Long time, right. Are you still
covering Panama for the Pentagon?
Oye me. I was working in the
infirmary all day with...
- I don't know how to say, los locos?
- The disturbed.
And I like it. And then
they go and shut down the program.
And when they shut down the gym,
like they say they're going to do...
everybody in here is going to be loco.
Disturbed.
Actually, I'll be in Washington later
today. Maybe we could just...
sit down and chew the fat.
About this and that.
Specifically?
I'll call you when I get there.
If you need anything more, this TV
is light duty, so call me.
Thank you so much.
You were so helpful.
You get over there!
They'll let you out?
...all units, especially those in
vicinity of Holmesburg Prison.
Prisoners took control of the gym
and 2 cellblocks. 10 to 12 hostages.
...crew from Channel Seven had
been filming when riot broke out.
You throw the power, the guards are
dead. Stop chicken shitting around.
- The Governor doesn't want...
- What's he got to do with this?
- The Mayor and the Commissioner...
- Get the Commissioner on the phone!
Anything on the Channel
Seven News Crew?
Gary Logan, I.B.S. The warden's
gonna be briefing me...
Warden. Excuse me, Warden.
There's a Channel Seven reporter
still inside. Is he alive?
We won't know until we go in.
I'm getting something on the line.
It may be Tally trying to feed.
- Is Ned shooting this?
- Somebody is. Roll a protection copy.
Tal?
Are you there?
Tal, it's me. Are you there?
Can you hear me?
- Tal, can you hear me?
- I hear you!
Stay against the wall.
Watch your back.
Okay, you've got one thing going
for you. You've got the camera.
Whatever you do, do it on air.
It's the only weapon you've got.
You're their chance to tell the world
what's going on. Use the camera.
I'm not on air!
They don't know that.
Before they do, you will be.
Keep it out there. It's going to
protect you. Keep it in his face.
Who the hell are you?
Four, three, two, one!
Holmesburg Prison, live. Come on,
just say it where it will be heard.
- This is Tally Atwater live from...
- Tape it. It's not gonna be perfect.
First of all, we demand
full TV back!
- They're feeding. They can see us.
- You're now feeding live.
We'll try now to go to Tally Atwater
for a Channel Seven exclusive report.
This is Tally Atwater reporting
live in Holmesburg Prison.
At approximately four
fifteen this afternoon...
the whistle sounded that all across
this country means, "Guard in Trouble."
Can you tell us what
precipitated this incident?
Okay, Warren,
coming back in thirty.
Tal, in thirty seconds,
you're back on air.
There's something happening' in C-block.
I'm gonna try and get closer.
- How are you doing'?
- I'm so tired
You know what I keep
thinking about?
That time you tried to teach me
to bone fish in the Keys.
- I was really terrible, wasn't I?
- Well, you were okay.
Ten seconds.
Tal, the TAC teams are here.
They're taking up positions.
As you know, Channel Seven's
Tally Atwater...
and cameraman, Ned Jackson
remain inside Holmesburg Prison...
where they have been reporting
exclusively...
...for WFIL.
- Merino.
The Team was inside the prison
interviewing inmates for a special...
report when the riot broke out.
The network wants to go live,
national.
It's your show.
Let's try to go live, once again, to
Tally Atwater. What can you tell us?
We've been told that tactical assault
teams are taking up positions...
outside, even as I speak. Should
there be an onslaught, prisoners...
What the hell? Tal! Can you hear me?
- Goddamn it!
- What's going on?
We lost her.
- Warren, what's happening?
- Tally, are you there? Do you hear me?
We're here in Holmesburg Prison,
where the SWAT team has come in.
Philadelphia, hang on. New York, what?
They don't have audio either.
When we do, we'll let you know.
If we get it, when we get it, we're
gonna go national. That's right.
You wanna hold in New York City?
Civil rights attorney...
prisoner's advocate,
Gary Mandinak.
Gentlemen, thank you for joining
us at this very late hour.
- Is it, is it her?
- Wait a minute.
We got something.
- Fernando?
- Tal, can you hear me?
Open this door!
Open it! Open it!
Tal, can you hear me?
Are you okay?
I'm okay.
I'm okay.
Fernando?
Can I talk to you?
Question. Are you now saying that you
have this situation under control?
- Under control.
- How is that possible?
They're claiming control...
ask her about it.
Tally, we're getting word that the
situation there is under control.
You're feeding live, Tal. National.
- Well... the inmates have the control.
- Which inmates?
Or... more accurately one
group of inmates has control.
This has not been good news
for other inmates.
Of the 8 men have been killed today,
none, repeat none have been guards.
One of the eight dead inmates...
one was apparently shot by tower
guard. The other seven...
were victims of continuing racial
vendettas here...
No more gang shit, Tally.
Fernando, how much more time do
you have left on your sentence?
Ah, madre. I got fifteen months,
and then I come up for parole.
You know what's going to happen when
the guards come in. You'll end up dead.
I could end up dead
on Biscayne Boulevard.
It's two AM. The riot has been
underway for close to ten hours.
We're back live with W.F.I.L.
Philadelphia Tally Atwater...
who is inside Holmesburg Prison.
Tally's been keeping us informed
from her bird's eye view of the riot.
- What's the mood?
- Describe the scene. Can you, Tally?
The mood here, Tom, is ominous.
Inmates are prepared...
for what they believe will be the
final assault. Probably before dawn.
- They give indication they'll fight.
- Are they armed?
Because to fight is a way of life,
life learned on the streets.
To see the faces inside this
prison, is to remember that...
on such streets crime is just
a way of taking care of business.
This is Tally Atwater
inside Holmesburg Prison.
Get it down?
You're watching live footage of
the riot at Holmesburg Prison.
W.F.I.L. 's Tally Atwater and
cameraman, Ned Jackson...
are inside the prison,
as you see by these...
dramatic pictures that we're getting.
The TAC team has entered the prison.
In the next minutes and hours,
the matter will be resolved.
Now the question is,
how high the price?
Can you hear me, Tal?
You see anything?
I guess... Turn around.
don't get shot, guys.
Stand by. We've lost Tal. When we
get her back, we'll let you know.
Twenty-four hours ago,
I came to Holmesburg Prison...
to report on how Governor George
McBride new "get tough" prison policies
were affecting one convict.
It was meant to be A Day in the
Life of Fernando Buttanda.
Fernando Buttanda was not a good
man by society's standards.
He was not even a good man
by his own standards.
Recently, however, in a job-training
program here at Holmesburg...
Fernando began to learn
nursing skills.
He volunteered to work
in the prison hospital...
at some risk to himself,
with violent patients.
He was good at it.
He liked doing it.
A month ago, Governor McBride,
who is campaigning for reelection...
on the pledge to "reform" other
Pennsylvania prisons...
as he "reformed" Holmesburg,
canceled this program.
"A prison is about punishment."
He added, "it's not"
about another chance."
During the next weeks, we'll hear a
lot about what prisons should be.
A lot opinions as to why this riot
occurred, in this place, at this time.
Many fixes will be proposed,
many answers formulated.
Inside Holmesburg Prison last night,
answers were harder to come by.
What we do know is that
fifteen prisoners died...
including Fernando Buttanda.
This is Tally Atwater, W.F.I.L.
News, Holmesburg Prison.
Thank you, Tally. And we'll be
recapping all of Tally's coverage...
You were good.
No... you were great.
Tally Atwater for Mark Lindner.
This is as far as I go.
One floor up,
the first door on your left.
Miss Atwater, I'm Mark Lindner.
It's good of you to come and see us.
- Would you like coffee, a soft drink?
- No, thank you, I'm fine.
Karen, you know what call to put
through. This is Buford Sells.
- How do you do? Lt's a real pleasure.
- And Gabe Lawrence.
- How are you?
- Have a seat.
For better or worse, we're the Three
Musketeers who run the News Division.
That was quite a job
you did for us at Holmesburg.
Don't get up.
- So.
- So.
- Well, tell me what they said.
- Washington Bureau...
weekend anchor, evening news.
I said Id think about it.
- Can I help you?
- We'll wait.
- Sure.
- Weekend anchor?
What's to think about?
Well, actually what I think is,
we make a pretty good team.
It's no good that way.
We tried. It doesn't work.
- We did Holmesburg. It worked.
- No, you did Holmesburg.
And you did it yourself.
And you were terrific.
I think there's a story in
Panama nobody's telling.
I have a hunch that some people would
like to see us get into a war...
'cos they're not that enthusiastic
about turning over the Canal in 1999.
We can do Panama.
- Networks aren't interested.
- We can make them interested.
I can go into Panama City, spend a
few days, pick up a local crew...
and head out.
You already set this up.
Yeah. Ive gotta do this by
myself. Do you see that?
- Wasn't the idea for us to be together?
- It was.
But it can't be me putting wine on ice
while you wrap up the evening news.
And it can't be you turning down a
story 'cause you don't wanna leave me.
Do you wanna be with me?
So much that it hurts.
I don't wanna be anywhere I can't see
you, touch you, hear your voice...
or tell you a story,
or see this great smile.
But I've got a narrow but very
definite window of opportunity.
And if I can get this...
- And if...
...we get lucky...
...gold!
- Do you really want this?
- You made me want it.
Flight 811 to Miami,
Belize and Panama...
is in its final boarding process.
Passengers should be aboard.
We haven't had enough time.
Every day we have is one day
more than we deserve.
I'm gonna tell you the best
story you've ever heard.
Uh, darling?
Oh! Been a while since I've done this.
Have fun.
Stay upwind.
...to explore possible
repercussions to our economy.
Meanwhile the dollar continued its
freefall against the yen and the mark.
We'll be discussing this latest run
on the dollar tomorrow night...
on American Notebook with Treasury
Secretary, Willis Barry.
This is Tom Orr.
I'll see you then.
- Tally, how are you?
- Go on, sit down, He won't bite.
don't get too attached to that chair.
You know, I call it home.
Have you got the uplink?
We're gonna try out a new stringer. Just
chat him along. We've got some minutes.
Satellite time costs money, boys!
Run him out here.
Here he is.
That has to be the dirtiest excuse
for a reporter I have ever seen.
My God, it's the anchor person.
New hairdo, I'll bet.
Shoe shined.
Hey, Buford, get the hell outta here.
I wanna talk to my wife alone.
- Miss me?
- Occasionally.
When are you coming home?
I got a few more days in the
boonies. Then I can wrap this up.
- Did you get it?
- Yeah, I got it. I nailed it.
- You look so good.
- I'm sort of glad I can't see you.
The mind...
it's a wonderful, dirty thing.
But wait.
Just one more thing I wanted
to tell you.
God, I'm having' fun.
Okay, first of all...
I'm gonna try not to cry.
This is for Warren, who couldn't
quite make the party...
but is definitely on his way back
home from what he calls hog heaven.
Ned, who is one of two people who
knows what I look like in the morning.
Where is he? Ned?
What are you doing?
Usually, for these farewell bashes,
I only budget domestic bubbly.
To repeat, reports are sketchy.
But we're receiving word that in the
remote Darien section of Panama...
a freelance news crew came under
heavy fire within the past 24 hours.
The group included
at least one American.
- We don't know if the survivors...
- Enough of Bulgarian bullshit!
Ive liberated the hard liquor!
We can now confirm by this startling,
unedited footage that the American...
is former I.B. S newsman,
Warren Justice.
There he is. He's okay.
Get down!
Lt's now definitely confirmed that
at least two crew members survived.
- He's okay. He made it.
- We're trying to technically...
enhance these pictures so we can
confirm exactly what we are seeing.
We still don't know what
motivated this attack.
Information is contradictory...
but it appears to indicate
that an ambush took place...
at this remote airstrip near the
Colombian border in southern Panama.
We are hearing via telephone hook-up
with sources in Panama...
that Justice was investigating
reports about the arming of groups...
violently opposed to the turning over
of the Panama Canal.
Excuse me.
We have now confirmed that the
American traveling with this group...
former I.B.S. Newsman, Warren Justice,
was killed today in Panama.
Warren Justice was a seasoned
journalist and a good friend.
As we continue...
to sort this out,
we'll take a short break...
to allow our stations
to identify themselves.
We'll have more on this breaking
story in Panama when we return.
This is the I.B.S. Evening News,
I'm Tom Orr.
Questions emerging from information
uncovered by former I.B.S. Newsman...
Warren Justice, before
his death in Panama...
are beginning to seem
uncomfortably close to home to...
some people in Washington.
This network is just now editing tape
obtained by Justice before his death.
Information in this tape seems
to change the face of...
You know those faces.
You remember those stories.
They were the men and women
who made I.B.S. News this year...
number one in five of your
twelve top markets.
Next year, you can count on this:
We're going to be even better...
because the I.B.S. News Team just
acquired a stealth weapon.
You may not have caught
her on W.M.I.A.
You may have missed her
at W.F.I.L. News.
But none of us will soon forget her
award-winning coverage...
of the riots of Holmesburg Prison.
What we in the news business
must never forget is...
we are only as good as
the stories we tell.
She arrived in our business from
Small town, U.S.A.
You can say that Sallyanne knew
what she wanted, to be number one.
And Sallyanne, as her family
like to call Tally...
wouldn't take no for an answer.
Everyone said...
"You want a job in television?
You have to make a demo tape."
So... I made a demo.
Why hire Sally? Because I'm Sally,
and I'm going to be a star.
So, she walks into my office
that first day in Miami.
Skinny.
God-awful clothes.
Not much going' for her. Wanting
to be anybody but herself.
And I make her get my shirts and
I make her get the coffee.
I shoot down all of her stories.
But she was tougher than me.
She was already something.
She was already the sun and the
moon, all by herself.
We at I.B.S. Hold a special
place in our hearts...
for that honored handful of
news men and women...
whose lives and careers, in the course
of bringing home the news...
have been cut tragically short.
We salute them.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to
begin a new generation at I.B.S.
Tally Atwater.
Panama turned out to be
a big story for I.B.S.
It didn't start that way.
It started with one reporter...
who had a hunch.
He had a hunch. And he went alone.
And he did all the leg-work.
And, at the end of the day,
he got it.
Which is what going this
is all about.
I didn't always think that. I thought
if I ever stood up at something like...
that, it would be about glory or,
showing people.
It's different.
I know that now.
I'm only here for one reason.
To tell the story.
My husband told me that,
not so long ago.