(around 6 min) A vase of flowers is on the table. There is a cut to a closeup of Senator Ashton. On the cut back, the vase of flowers is on the floor.
The Senator has been keeping his diary for 35 years, which, at one page per day, would add up to around 12,785 pages, but the size of the single 5" x 8" tome that is seen apparently represents a one-year volume, so it could hardly be of such great consequence.