Gotham Tonight - Episode 6

Show transcript follows. View the video here.

• Mike Engel: Recently-elected District Attorney Harvey Dent has already begun waging his war on crime. The first assault made his opponent in the race for District Attorney, Roger Garcetti, surrender unconditionally and turn state's evidence against the head of the Falcone crime family. This testimony paved the way for what will be Dent's first major battle, the trial of Sal Maroni. Will Gotham's White Knight broaden the front on his war on crime to benefit the city? Or will he only dedicate himself to conflicts that make for good headlines?
  
  Good evening, I'm Mike Engel, and this is Gotham Tonight. We're joined tonight by District Attorney Harvey Dent, who has graciously taken time out of his busy schedule to not only answer my questions, but uh, yours as well. So let's start, shall we?
• Harvey Dent: Why don't we start with the question that you posed in your opening, Mike? Am I an advocate for Gotham, or — or just a publicity hound?
• Engel: Well, that's not exactly how I put it, but —
• Dent: If I was after headlines, Mike, I would do more press, wouldn't I? I mean, weren't you the one who was criticizing me for not doing any interviews during the election?
• Engel: Well, that's true, yeah.
• Dent: Okay then, here's an answer to your question. Whatever decisions I make as District Attorney will be made with Gotham's best interests in mind. The moment I fail to do that, no matter the circumstances, is the moment I become everything I stand against.
• Engel: Corruption, brutality, total disregard for the law.
• Dent: To name a few, yes.
• Engel: Well, couldn't you ascribe those qualities to the Batman?
• Dent: Batman? Isn't that a little off-point?
• Engel: No, I disagree, actually. I'm dumbfounded, personally, by the notion that a man who continues to take the law into his own hands, making a mockery of it altogether, is tolerated by both the public and the authorities. I guess the question we all want answered is, "Will you make this a priority, to bring him to justice?"
• Dent: Well my priority is to help this city, uh, return to a time where it didn't need a Batman. When the streets were safe, and the institutions of government were right-minded.
• Engel: That sounds like good spin.
• Dent: It's not spin — you don't just decide one day to go, uh, put on a disguise and go fight crime. A dysfunctional society dictates that response, so if you want to get rid of the Batman, then curing what created him is the best way.
• Engel: I understand that. But what if you sanction a vigilante to act as a guardian for society, I mean — someone who willfully breaks the law, then aren't we in fact sanctioning lawlessness and chaos in this city?
• Dent: If the Batman bent the law to achieve some personal gain, you would have a much easier time, uh, to get people to agree with you, Mike. Batman's actions thus far have been everything but personal. They've benefited the city entirely.
• Engel: How do we truly know what he's after, if we don't get an opportunity to ask him?
• Dent: Well, let's just say, there are plenty of other people who are acting out of personal gain that I'm more interested in getting to know.
• Engel: You mean people like Sal Maroni, I assume?
• Dent: Yes.
• Engel: Well since the trial's in progress, Mr. Dent, we obviously understand you can't discuss the details of it at this point. So, I'd like to open up the conversation to, uh, a couple of callers at this point, if you don't mind.
• Dent: Sure thing.
• Engel: So on line 1 we have Marcia Dolinsky from uptown. Marsha, you on the air?
• Marcia: Yeah, hi Mr. Dent. I'm a huge supporter of yours..
• Dent: Thank you, Marcia.
• Marcia: Uh — I used to live in The Narrows, and I was fortunate enough to make it out okay during Dr. Crane's chemical attack. Now I hear Crane may be out there spreading the toxin again. What can you do to stop this?
• Dent: Well, what I will do is re-open the investigation into Crane's whereabouts. If Crane is dead like the authorities say, then we need to find a body. I don't think you will, so, uh, I'm inclined to believe he is out there, and finding him will be imperative.
• Engel: Now, Dr. Crane's alleged poisoning of the drugs in Gotham is, uh, clearly just another fence in, uh, what we're seeing as a series of really bizarre, sensational crimes being perpetrated these days. How do we counteract something that appears to have no known motive?
• Dent: Well, as demented as it may be, uh, I think the motive is to hurt people. And that's why this crime will be stopped, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.
• Engel: Caller 2, Brendan Palmer from Riversouth, you're on the air.
• Brendan: Yeah, hi, uh — I'm a cop, 16th precinct, and you talk about bringing criminals to justice. How are we, the police, how are we gonna do that? When you've got your hands wrapped around our throats? You locked up six of my friends already with your IA crap...
• Dent: Well, tell me their names. Tell me their names and I'll tell you why I prosecuted them. I understand that a decrease in manpower makes it harder for you to do your job. But, working with a group of individuals who break the law instead of enforcing it — that makes your job impossible. And to be honest with you, Officer Palmer, I feel a lot safer knowing that someone like yourself, whose name hasn't shown up in a file on my desk, is out there on the streets protecting me. You're a good cop.
• Engel: Albert Rossi and two others were apprehended by the Batman before they could assault voters at a local polling station. You're putting Rossi on the stand tomorrow, to testify that he was a go-between for Sal Maroni and Roger Garcetti. Now, effectively tying the mob to the corruption within Gotham PD, as well as the violence against your own campaign for District Attorney...
• Dent: Well, that's the aim.
• Engel: Aren't you opening up old wounds, I mean, from previous Internal Affairs investigations? I mean, that convicted huge numbers of the police department...
• Dent: Mike, my intention is not to cast suspicion over the entire Gotham Police Department. But when the corruption is so widespread, you have to go down there and dig deep and root it out. Sal Maroni's conviction tomorrow — hopefully — will be the beginning of the end of that process.
• Engel: What is your working relationship with the police department right now?
• Dent: Commissioner Loeb was initially....[shrugs] critical of my position. But now our offices are working close together, and there are several other police officials who are out there doing a good job, whom I trust.
• Engel: Like, Lieutenant Jim Gordon, and his uh, Major Crimes Unit that we're hearing about now.
• Dent: We haven't had uh, a chance to meet yet, Lt. Gordon and I, but uh, I am familiar with his work, particularly in cracking down on the city's money-launderers, which my office is aggressively prosecuting. And I anticipate sitting down with him soon.
• Engel: Will you discuss his rumored relationship with the Batman that we're hearing about?
• Dent: [smiles] Mike, you're obsessed. Next caller!
• Engel: Um, I'm sorry to interrupt right now, but we've been informed of some breaking news, uh, here in Gotham. My colleague, Lydia Filangeri, is reporting outside Gotham National Bank, where we're hearing six men have apparently robbed $68 million out of the bank's vault. Lydia, what is the situation down there? Doesn't look like you're close to the bank.
• Lydia Filangeri: That's right Mike, we're a couple of blocks away from Gotham National. Authorities still have a perimeter set up around the area, because the bank robbers apparently used grenades to intimidate the hostages into submission. Now there's fear more explosives may be inside.
• Engel: What is the status on the six bank robbers at this point?
• Filangeri: Five out of six of them are dead inside the bank. Four took gunshots to the body, and one was hit by a school bus that the last robber then used to get away with the money.
• Dent: [low] Any identification on the perps?
• Engel: Lydia, have any of the assailants been identified at this point? Do we know?
• Filangeri: No, there's been no reports on what the bank surveillance footage reveals, but according to eyewitnesses, each man wore a clown mask. So there's been no identification thus far. We're still waiting to hear more.
• Engel: Okay, Lydia, we certainly thank you. Please keep us updated.
• Filangeri: Of course.
• Engel: We'll be tracking that story on Gotham Tonight. Well, Mr. Dent, you certainly have your hands full in this city. We certainly wish you all the luck and uh, we appreciate you being here tonight.
• Dent: Mike, putting pressure on the criminals so they think twice before committing awful crimes like this — that's our goal. Luck is our last resort.
• Engel: We thank you for coming on. And thank you for watching. Please join me next time for an interview with Mayor Anthony Garcia, who will detail his plans to clean up this city. What will his relationship be like with Harvey Dent? How will he administrate the police, and will he vow to incarcerate the Batman, or allow him to roam the streets taking the law into his own hands? We'll find out on Gotham Tonight. Good night everyone - please, stay safe.

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