INT. A BEDROOM IN THE ST. CHARLES HOTEL - NIGHT

A small room, two beds, in disarray: newspapers, overflowing ashtrays, whiskey bottles empty on the floor. Latham and Schell stand at a table strewn with the remnants of a poker game. Bilbo lies on one of the beds. All three are in their shirtsleeves. Seward is at the table. 43.

           ROBERT LATHAM

• so the total of representatives voting three weeks from today is reduced to 182, which means 122 yes votes to reach the requisite two- thirds of the House. Assuming all Republicans vote for the amendment...?

Seward nods, less assertively than Latham would like.

ROBERT LATHAM (CONT'D) Then, despite our abstention, to reach a two-thirds majority we remain 20 yeses short.