House of Cards

Supporting my efforts to reform the Democratic Party...

and to restore integrity to the Oval Office.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to complete the work I set out to achieve.

It has become clear that my candidacy has become

a distraction rather than a solution...

that controversy has trumped the issues.

And for that reason, I am ending my bid...

to be the Democratic nominee

for president.

That was Heather Dunbar from her campaign headquarters in Washington.

With Dunbar out, that leaves President Underwood

as the presumptive nominee.

The focus now is on who President Underwood's running...

Good morning.

Good morning.

Mommy?

Hello, darling.

- I want breakfast. - You want breakfast?

- Where's Daddy? - He's getting ready for work.

I'm gonna cut your hair.

- No! No! No! - I'm gonna cut your hair.

- No! No! No! No! - What do you mean "no"?

No!

I'm gonna make you a little bald boy.

- No! No, shave Mom's head, not mine! - Shave Mom's head? Okay.

- No! No! - I'll shave Mom's head.

- No. - I'll shave Mom's head.

We've been moving so quickly.

Maybe we should take a step back. Think this through again.

We can't afford to be weird with each other, Claire.

Weird? What do you mean?

I saw you in the bathroom... looking at me.

It's not the first time.

Sometimes I want to say something, I just don't know what to say.

- It's uncomfortable. - Maybe it will always be like that.

But we have to separate that out. It can't affect our plan.

Because that's the one thing... that we have figured out.

When Walker and Vasquez... betrayed us,

pulled the Secretary of State right out from under my feet,

there was no room for doubt, and you made me remember that.

We took a path...

a difficult one, because we had no guarantee where it was going to lead us.

It took a steel goddamn stomach,

and so has everything else we had to do since.

So don't worry about you and me now.

Find your steel, Claire.

Thank you all very much for coming.

Have you seen this?

ICO. Islamic Caliphate Organization.

Ahmed and Yusuf Al Ahmadi.

They've been smart about keeping split up. If one dies, the other takes over.

But they're holding a planning session in northern Syria.

Both are there right now.

I got my ass handed to me over the Jordan Valley.

I'm not gonna launch a missile strike

unless I believe that there's an overwhelming national security threat,

and I'm just not convinced that they pose one.

The president believes ICO to be a serious threat.

We believe they are actively recruiting American citizens.

Accordingly, the government is requesting a Section 702 upstream surveillance order.

- Domestic surveillance. - Monitoring traffic, not individuals.

Approach the bench.

The FISA Court. Classified rulings behind closed doors.

Not even these men know we have a lawyer in there this morning.

ICO already has three oil fields under their control.

They made a fortune selling crude when Russia cut down production.

It's blowback, sir. It's our responsibility to address it.

If we launch strikes, we radicalize even more extremists.

Sir, their army will grow.

The Ahmadis are former Baathists with strong business ties.

We can cut the head off before they get bigger if we strike now.

If the threat level increases, we'll reassess.

Sir, we have a very limited window.

General, the president's made his decision.

Thank you very much, gentlemen.

I have rubber-stamped some borderline requests, Steve, but this is very...

I know. I was surprised, too. But it's straight from the White House.

Well, this is going to take some time. I have to do a proper review.

This gun was illegally obtained by a career criminal

at a gun show where background checks aren't mandatory.

This gun killed Officer Dempsey's partner at a routine traffic stop.

This one was ordered on the Internet. No background checks.

This gun killed Bob and Sue Grant's 14-year-old son.

And this is the gun that killed Agent Edward Meechum.

Not many Secret Service agents buried at Arlington.

I'd say he earned his place.

I took it for granted, how important he was to me,

how much I leaned on him.

It's clear to me now, now that he's gone.

I don't wanna make the same mistake with you, Donald.

- How do you mean? - I didn't realize how much I lean on you.

The way you handled everything after I was shot, it was masterful.

Well, I... I guess I kept my head above water.

Claire told me how supportive you were, what a natural leader you proved to be.

I want that by my side, Donald,

the same way that Meechum was, as my running mate.

You want me on the ticket?

A heartbeat away from the presidency is a serious matter now.

Conway is a tough opponent.

I never expected you'd want me. I thought I was just a placeholder.

No, we can win, Donald. You and I, together.

I don't know, Frank.

You need someone who's hungry for this. I'm not a great campaigner.

- Vermont doesn't help you. - You have a deep sense of duty,

like all the men and women here who served their country,

and that's far more important to me than strategy.

To be honest, I don't know if I want it, Frank.

When I had to take over, the stress, the responsibility...

Two weeks as president was about as much as I can handle.

I'm disappointed, Donald.

But I understand.

And I won't pressure you.

Should we do this?

Okay.

Do you have other folks in mind, if it isn't me?

Well, we should probably reach out to the leadership,

and get their advice.

But you're right.

Whoever it is, they need to be hungry for it.

All of these deaths could have been prevented.

And that's why

I'm working with a coalition of senators to introduce a law

that will extend background checks

to all gun transactions, including gun shows and online sales.

And let me be clear, this is not an assault on gun ownership.

It's an assault on illegal gun ownership.

I'll now take questions.

The next President of the United States,

the love of my life, the best father a mother could hope for,

my husband, Will Conway.

Conway! Conway! Conway!

Hello, New York!

He's ahead by double digits in every battleground state.

The RNC is raising two-to-one what we have.

- This guy is a rock star. - We need our own rock star.

Who are you thinking of, Mr. President?

Donald Blythe.

Don't you think there's a more strategic choice?

I am being strategic.

Look, it's one thing that Dunbar's dropped out,

but we have to get her supporters.

And Donald Blythe, he oozes integrity.

He can help us get all of those disillusioned people back into our camp.

What about moderates in the general?

- We need somebody from a swing state. - With deep fundraising pockets.

Well, look, we can sell Donald's experience.

He's filled the shoes. I see no reason to change horses midstream.

- He doesn't check off enough columns. - We want a fighter, not a professor.

I agree, sir. We can do better than Blythe.

Well, I am hard-pressed to come up with anyone better

than a man who actually knows what it's like to sit at that desk.

We can offer you some names.

- He'll be devastated. - Let me talk to him.

No, it's better that I do. Let me talk to him.

We'll get you that list right away.

Well, all right. If you can come up with some alternatives,

I'm certainly willing to listen. Thank you all very much.

And I believe the best government is that which governs least.

That's not a new idea. It's an old one.

The founder of our party, Jefferson, said it.

We need to make it new again.

We need a government that doesn't interfere with people's lives,

with their liberty, with their pursuit of happiness.

Isn't that what we need to protect?

Yes. And that's where President Underwood is failing us the most.

Doug, where are we on the...

FISA Court could take a while. The judge was reluctant.

- I should set up a meeting anyway. - I've never liked this plan, sir.

I don't think we should do anything until we get the court ruling.

Plan A is in motion, let's let that pan out first.

If plan A works, then fine, Pollyhop is no longer a problem,

but if it doesn't, I need to start laying the groundwork.

- Macallan could take some convincing. - We don't know this man...

Yeah, we don't absolutely need to widen the circle right now.

We do, sir.

Just to get this sort of surveillance operational can take weeks.

Yeah, but Doug is right. We don't know him. He's a stranger to us.

He is the top data scientist in the country, maybe the world.

- He was exploring behavior adoption and... - Stop.

We are talking domestic surveillance, LeAnn.

And the only theory I'm interested in is risk versus votes.

And he gets us the votes.

Didn't you hear the leadership? They said Conway is destroying us.

Macallan reverses that, he wins us the election.

"ICO occupies Kurdish stronghold."

How many of you have heard of ICO?

They're Muslim extremists taking over oil fields in Syria.

The media is barely covering them

because the White House is turning a blind eye.

As the Governor of New York...

I can't turn a blind eye to terrorism

because it's been right here on our doorstep.

You know what I did when 9/11 happened?

I joined the Air Force because I wanted to serve my country,

just like my grandfather did

when he boarded a transport ship on this very dock

and sailed to the Pacific to fight the Japanese.

When my children grow up...

Charlie and Lily...

I wanna be able to... to look them in the eye...