The senior members of the White House staff are summoned to the office early in the morning to handle difficult situations: Hundreds of Cubans are on their way across the Atlantic Ocean in search of freedom; and klutzy President of the United States Josiah Bartlet accidentally sprained his ankle riding a bicycle into a tree.

The Vice President refuses to fall in line with Bartlet. Sam discusses the problem of Laurie with Josh and Toby. Bartlet hires Mandy as his consultant.

The president of Indonesia is honored at a state dinner. The staff deals with Hurricane Sarah, a potential teamster strike, and a raid involving children in Idaho while a reporter flirts with CJ.

Toby tries to arrange a proper funeral for a homeless veteran. Josh and Sam try to set up a preemptive strike against Lillienfield, who is attacking Leo because of his prior drug and alcohol problem. CJ tries to get the staff to revisit the hate crimes issue. Bartlet sneaks out to do some last minute shopping.

Bartlet gets closer to making the FEC campaign finance reform-friendly, but his opponents strike back by making Sam's former dalliance with the call girl public knowledge; CJ waits anxiously for the administration's approval rating.