Bruno still can't find any mention of the damning Vinick connection, and is starting to seem baffled by Josh. Bob is relentless, wanting Vinick to make a statement in order to get the debate coverage off the news. Bruno is still holding out for Josh to blow his proverbial wad, so that they can condemn an attack. He also thinks that the president will say, "Accidents happen." His reasoning is that since this happened during his term, he'll feel like he needs to say that, which will then protect Vinick's views.

1:28AM, and Bartlet is sitting with his head in his hands. He asks C.J. if she's spoken to the Red Cross, which she did 20 minutes ago. He tells her that they need more potassium iodine for the shelters, and she assures him it's already done. He's clearly feeling guilty for sending in the engineers, and grasping at anything else he can come up with that will be helpful. It turns out he's at the table in the sit room, and they get an announcement about the valve. The engineers have opened the valve; however, the other valve is still stuck and continuing to send steam into the auxiliary building. Harry points out he didn't ask them to fix that since they'd been in there 17 minutes, two longer than originally planned. Unfortunately, C.J. and the FEMA head point out that the danger of explosion is still too high, and that it's better to go with the guys who are in there than expose two more engineers. It's another five to ten minutes. After much worried staring around the room, Bartlet tells Harry to ask them to try and open the other valve. Just then, Kate enters and asks for the President. He and C.J. follow her out of the room.