Melissa Fitzgerald & Mary McCormack on CNN's Inside Politics - 8.16.24

DCASTS THAT YOU'VE DONE, MEET THE PRESS CROSSFIRE AND TAYLOR, RIGHT? >> THRILLER READ. >> NOBODY ELSE DID DO IT CHINA KING AT MAJOR INSTABILITY ON THE BORDER, NOT TO MENTION THE 300,000 ETHNIC CHINESE LIVING IN KAZAKHSTAN WHO AREN'T LOOKING PARTICULARLY SAY ALL BECAUSE THE RUSSIANS WANT THE OIL AND ARE WILLING TO FIGHT FOR IT BEST-CASE SCENARIO, I'M RUINING YOUR SATURDAY WORST-CASE SCENARIO TO NUCLEAR POWERS ARE POSITIONING THEMSELVES TO ACTIVELY ENGAGE IN AN ARMED CONFLICT OVER OIL THOSE OF COURSE, WERE CLIPS FROM THE WEST WING, WHICH MADE ITS DEBUT 25 YEARS AGO, CAPTURING THE HEARTS OF FANS AND MAKING THE JOBS OF THOSE OF US WHO WORK HERE IN WASHINGTON, LOOK JUST A WE'D BIT MORE GLAMOUR HAS THAN THEY ACTUALLY ARE. I'M JOINED NOW BY TWO OF THE SHOW'S CAST MEMBERS, MARRIED MCCORMICK AND MELISSA FITZGERALD. THEY'RE ALSO THE AUTHORS OF THIS BOOK, WHAT'S NEXT? NEW BOOK THAT GIVES US A BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE ICONIC SHOW. HI, NICE TO SEE YOU. >> I THINK YOU ARE BOTH MUCH MORE GLAMOROUS THAN YOU APPEAR THAT YOU MAKE IT APPEAR HERE. >> SO I JUST WANT TO SPEAK FOR MYSELF THAT YOU MAKE US LOOK MORE GLAMOROUS. NOT THAT YOU'RE NOT HAIR AND MAKEUP TEAMS? YES. WELL, YOU'RE HERE IN WASHINGTON. AS OF COURSE, TO TALK ABOUT YOUR BOOK, BUT YOU ALSO GOT TO GO TO THE WHITE HOUSE YESTERDAY AND MARY, YOU GOT TO MEET WITH THE PERSON WHO IS IN THE JOB OF THE CHARACTER PLAYING TO MEET WITH JAKE SULLIVAN, WHICH WAS INCREDIBLE. YEAH. HAD HAD ALL KINDS OF QUESTIONS FOR ME. OH, REALLY, NO, NOT REALLY. LIKE WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM. HE'S FINE WITHOUT ME THERE IT IS. THERE'S THE PICTURE KNOW THAT WAS A REAL HONOR. >> BUT WHAT DID THEY WHAT'S SO EXCITING TELL US ABOUT IT. WELL, WE WANT WITH MARTIN SHEEN AND JANET SHANE BE PRESIDENT. AND WE GOT TO MEET WITH PRESIDENT BIDEN AND WE GOT TO WALK HIM OUT TO THE HELICOPTER, WHICH WAS INCREDIBLY EXCITING AND HAD A WHOLE TOUR OF THE THE WHITE HOUSE YESTERDAY. AND IT WAS IT FELT LIKE HOPEFUL TIMES HOW WAS IT TO BE WITH PRESIDENT BIDEN HOME? SO EXCITING, I MADE AND HE'S A HERO OF MARTIN'S. SO I THINK I KNOW MARTIN WAS JUST IN CLOUD CLOUD9. >> I WANT TO READ PART OF AT LEAST ONE OF THE PASSAGES FROM ' THE SCENES LOOK AT ALLISON JANNEY IS THINKING AS SHE DECIDED TO JOIN THE CAST IN ADDITION TO THE CYNICISM WITH WHICH SHE, ALLISON JANNEY TENDED TO VIEW GOVERNMENT WHEN SHE READ THE PILOT POLITICAL SCANDAL IN THE U.s. APPEARED TO HAVE REACHED ITS MOST TOXIC DEPTHS IF ONLY IT SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT THE SCRIPT THEN OR MAYBE SOMETHING ABOUT ALLISON THAT SHE SAW WEST WING AS A HARBINGER OF HOPE COULD THIS PALACE AARON HAD PUT ON THE PAGE, GIVE CIVIL SERVICE AND EXTREME MAKEOVER AS SHE SAID TO US, IT SEEMED LIKE A TERRIFIC WAY TO PUT POLITICS BACK IN A GOOD LIGHT WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT? YEAH, I MEAN, THE SHOW IS ASPIRATIONAL YOU KNOW, IF PEOPLE WERE REWATCH AND REWATCH AND REWATCH BECAUSE I THINK IT DOES REMIND US THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON WHO ARE HERE FOR THE SOMETIMES THAT'S HARD TO REMEMBER, BUT I THINK THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE TO TRY TO DO GOOD FOR THE MOST PEOPLE. >> AND WE SEE THEM EVERY DAY. I LIVE HERE NOW AND I GET TO WORK WITH A LOT OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO WERE DRAWN TO DC AND DRAWN TO WORK IN PUBLIC SERVICE BECAUSE OF THE WEST WING. AND THAT'S SO EXCITING AND THEY ARE THE SMARTEST AND THE HARDEST WORKING. AND IT'S JUST WONDERFUL THAT THEY'RE HERE IN A HOPEFUL WAY. YEAH A GOVERNMENT SHOW HAS NEVER REALLY WORKED BEFORE THE WESTERN I MEAN, AARON REALLY SORT OF WENT OUT ON THE LIMB TO SAY, LIKE, I THINK I CAN DO IT, BUT YOU FOR THAT NO NETWORK HAD EVER APPROVED A SHOW ABOUT POLITICS. >> THEY JUST SAID IN AMERICA IS NOT INTERESTED. YEAH, NO, THAT IS ACTUALLY TRUE AND THEY'VE TRIED AND YEAH, AARON SORKIN IS ONE OF A KIND, I MEAN, SPECIAL TIME IN HIS UNREASONABLY TALENTED HANDS BUT WE'VE CALLED HE'S CALLED THE WEST WING A LOVE LETTER TO PUBLIC SERVICE AND WE SAY THAT IF THE WEST WING IS A LOVE LETTER, PUBLIC SERVICE, THAT WHAT'S NEXT IS A LOVE LETTER TO THE WEST WING, THE ARMY OF PEOPLE TOOK TO MAKE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE INSPIRED, YEAH, THE WING THAT'S OUT THERE, THEY LOVE IT. THAT'S WHE THAT. >> MARY, YOU WROTE IN HERE ABOUT RETURNING TO WORK. THIS JUST BLOWS MY MIND SIX DAYS AFTER YOUR FIRST CHILD WAS BORN, THEIR LONG DAYS? YEAH. THAT WAS CRAZY. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT YOU CAN TELL IT WAS MY FIRST CHILD BECAUSE BY MEMBER TO BE LIKE NO, THAT'S NOT HAPPENED. >> WHAT YOU SAY IN THE BOOK THAT YOU MADE THAT DECISION, MAYBE IT'S NOT JUST BECAUSE IT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD, BUT BECAUSE OF HOW YOU FELT ABOUT YOUR CASTLE CASTMATES? >> YEAH. I WAS REALLY EXCITED I MEAN, FIRST OF ALL, I WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO COME BACK SIX DAYS IN FAIRNESS TO ALL THOSE PRODUCERS ON THE WEST WING, I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A FEW EPISODES OFF WITH YOU'RE THERE IN AND GIRLS WITH DON WELLS, MY NEW BABY GIRL, MARGARET, AND I'M SUPPOSED TO TAKE A BUNCH OF TIME OFF, BUT THEY HAD A CASTING THING WHERE THEY HAD CAST IN AN ACTOR FOR APART AND THEN IT DIDN'T WORK OUT. AND SO THEY NEEDED TO RESHUFFLE ALL THE SCHEDULE. THE BOARD AND SAID CALLED ME AND SAID, HOW LIKE, I'M FEELING FRAYED. SHE'S SO SWEET AND THEY FELT HOW GREAT AND THEY SAID, WE'LL JUST PUT YOU BEHIND A DESK. YOU WON'T HAVE TO MOVE AND SO I BROUGHT HER BACK. I WAS SO EXCITED TO HANDRE AROUND AND EVERYONE JUST PASTOR AND THEN I WOULD BE ONSET BECAUSE SHE WAS BRAND NEW BRAND YOU KNOW, BRAND-NEW AND I WOULD BE ONSET AND THEY'RE LIKE WE SHOULD CUT AND I'M LIKE WHY I GOT THE LINE RIGHT. I'D LOOK FOR SUSAN SCRIPT SUPERVISOR LIKE I THINK I GOT IT RIGHT. AND THEY'D BE LIKELD CUT AND I LOOKED DOWN, I'D BE LIKE, OH YEAH, WE SHOULD DO OR LACTATED JUST HAVE A RACK OF VOWS LIKE 15 BLOUSES. I'D BE LIKE GIVE ME THE BABY. >> OH MY GOSH, MAYBE A SHIRT THAT IT WAS NUTS. THAT IS SO FAMILY GOT ASKED UP. YEAH. >> I JUST ALSO WANT TO ASK QUICKLY ABOUT THE OTHER MESSAGE IN THIS BOOK. >> IS THAT NOT JUST ABOUT THE SHOW, BUT ABOUT THE ACTORS AND HOW YOU'VE ALL IN YOUR OWN WAY STAYED INVOLVED IN POLITICS AND ACTIVE WISAM, YOU CALL YOURSELF AND ACTIVISTS. YES AND I THINK MARTIN SHEEN REALLY SET THAT EXAMPLE FOR US ON THE SHOW. >> I MEAN, AS A MENTOR, AS A GUIDE AND WE ALL ARE AND I THINK THAT'S BEEN THE THROUGH LINE OF OUR FRIENDSHIP, BUT ONE OF THE INSPIRATIONS FOR US TO WANT TO WRITE THIS BOOIS BECAUSE THE FRIENDSHIPS HAVE BEEN, WE COME TOGETHER AROUND, WE'RE IN A TEXT CHAIN WITH EVERYBODY RIGHT NOW. AND HALF THE TEXT CHAIN IS MAKING FUN OF JOSHUA MALINA, THE OTHER HALF THAT A TEXT CHAIN IS FOR US TO COME TOGETHER. SOMEBODY NEEDS SOMEONE TO SHOW UP FOR A FUNDRAISER. CAN SOMEBODY DO THIS PUBLIC VIDEO AND THAT'S REALLY HOW WE WERE LUCKY WE LOVE IT. >> ASKED TO DO A LOT OF STUFF. YOU KNOW, YOU GET A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF CAPITAL WHEN YOU DO IT. ESPECIALLY A SHOW ABOUT POLITICS AND SO, IT'S AN HONOR TO BE ABLE TO SPEND IT TO TRY TO MAKE THE WORLD A LITTLE BIT BETTER ANYWAY, MARY MCCORMICK, MELISSA FITZGERALD, THIS IS THE BOOK I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. GO GET IT. IT'S A LOT OF SCOOPS