"Jim, we both know that you've been one of the most outspoken opponents... to my decision to call off this attack." "If you have something to say, I would expect you to bring it to me first." "Does the president have any idea what's going on?" " I don't think so." " Let's keep it that way." "Thank you for assembling at such short notice." "I'm sure you're all wondering why I've invited you here." "It is my sincere belief, based on his response to today's events..." "David Palmer is unfit to continue as president of the United States." "Looks like you've had quite a day." " I didn't kill anyone." " " I know you didn't."" "We know Gary Matheson killed his wife." "We're looking for him now." "So you're off the hook for everything that happened this morning." "I thought I made myself clear, Tony." "We're past Bauer." "No, sir." "You are." "I'm not." "If you're not comfortable with me making my own decisions here..." "I suggest you relieve me of my duties right now." " That won't be necessary." " Thank you, sir." "Don't thank me." "I just don't have anyone to take your place right now." " No!" " Give me that!" " "Kate, are you all right?" - "Yeah." "They've got the chip."" "All I want is the chip!" "You come in here, I'm gonna smash this thing." "I'll put it right under my foot." " At least let me know who I'm speaking to." " "Doesn't matter who we are."" "Only thing that matters is we got something you want." "Something your girlfriend was about to pay us a lot of money for." "Listen to me, both of you." "About five hours ago, a nuclear bomb went off." "I'm sure you know about that." "The chip you have has information about who's responsible." "It's vital to our investigation." "The man you assaulted was a foreign intelligence agent." "He was bringing the chip to my office." "I'm gonna give you one chance to get out of this." "Give me the chip back, and I'll let you walk, no questions." " "Think we don't know you're setting us up?"" " Kate, get back." "What are you doing?" "They killed Yusuf." "They were about to kill me." "We're about to go to war against three countries who are not responsible for today." "The only way I can stop it is by getting the president that chip, so right now..." "I'm going to do everything I can to get it back." "Please, Kate, I need your help." "Get in touch with C.T.U., please." " I'm gonna give you 30 seconds to open that door." " Give it to him." "Are you crazy?" "This is the only thing keeping him..." " from killing us like he killed Rouse." " You got 20 seconds." " We're supposed to trust you?" " Right now, you don't have another choice." " Give it to him." " No way!" " He's serious." " So am I." " He's gonna kill us if you don't open the door." " He'll kill us if I do!" "Against the wall!" "Now!" "Where's the chip?" "I-I dropped it." "Don't move." "Kate!" "Kate!" "Get me some wire, so I can tie these guys up." " What about the chip?" " I got it." "I got this Pentagon briefing stating that our bombers... aren't going back to their bases." "Do you know anything about this?" "I understand they're in a holding pattern awaiting refueling." "I ordered them back to their bases." "Yes, sir, I know." "That's why I'm here." "Could I ask you to come with me for a minute?" " Come with you where?" " Just down the hall to the main conference room." "What's going on, Mike?" "Please, Mr. President, come with me." " You're ordering me to the conference room?" " No, sir." "Of course not." "I'm sorry." "I'm... asking." "It's very important, sir." "Mike, I'm the President of the United States." "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what this is about." "Mr. President... it seems there are a number of people, cabinet members... who question whether you're fit to continue as chief executive of this country." "And these people are in my conference room?" "In a manner of speaking, sir, they are." "Well, then, let's go see them." "Mr. President." "So now I see why I had such a hard time reaching you today, Jim." "You were busy." "I apologize if this comes as a surprise, Mr. President." "This is a unique situation in the history of our country... calling for unique measures." "Let's skip the sound bites and cut to the chase." "What's going on here?" "Mr. President, we are invoking the 25th Amendment." "Who's "we"?" "I think there's a general feeling that... some of the decisions that have been made today..." "Hold on a minute, Mr. Vice President." "With all due respect, sir, most of us here... are scrambling just to understand today's events." "I think it's way, way too early to be referring..." " "to a "general feeling"about anything."" " Fair enough." "For the record, let me review the relevant portions of the 25th Amendment." "Section Four states that "whenever the vice president..." ""and majority of the cabinet determine the president..." ""is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office... the vice president shall immediately "take office as acting president."" " "Is everyone clear on that?"" " The 25th Amendment was designed for situations... where the president is ill or incapacitated." "The language speaks for itself, Mr. President." ""Unable to discharge "the powers and duties ofhis office."" "The reason for the disability isn't limited to any particular cause." "The attorney general agrees with this interpretation." "And just what exactly is my supposed disability?" "It seems clear to me, Mr. President... that the stress of today's events has overwhelmed you." "An atomic device has been detonated on American soil today." "We have clear evidence which countries are responsible... along with details of the terrorist group they sponsor." "The evidence implicating these countries is not clear, Mr. Prescott." " "Far from it."" " The Cyprus audio has been... independently verified by every intelligence group we have." "I have reason to believe that those agencies are mistaken." "Because of this lone C.T.U. Agent, Jack Bauer?" "Yes." "Mr. Bauer believes that the Cyprus audio is a forgery." "He also believes that he will soon have proof." "He's been telling you that for hours, Mr. President." "You still don't have the proof." "If military strikes do not occur imminently... casualties to American soldiers will increase by tens of thousands of lives." "That analysis is undisputed." "The risk of attacking innocent countries is unacceptable." " We have to be sure." " Everybody "is" sure, Mr. President." " "Everybody but you."" " Well, as it happens, I'm the only one who counts." "This meeting is over." "Mr. President, one way or another, there "will" be a vote." "I think that you should be heard before that vote is taken." "You don't like one of my policy decisions." "The 25th Amendment does not give you the right to reverse that policy... under the pretense of saying I have a disability." "Mr. President, I agree." "What I intend to show is a pattern of erratic... and irrational behavior on your part since the start of this crisis." "Seen in that light, your refusal to authorize military action... is simply another symptom of your disability." "Listen to me." "All of you." "I know you're not in the same room with me... but you can see and hear me plainly enough." "Take a good look." "Do I seem scared?" "Am I breaking into a nervous sweat?" "Am I babbling?" "At a loss for words?" "Is my voice shaking?" "Can any one of you look me in the eye and tell me I'm disabled?" "Mr. President, the issue is not... your demeanor over the past few minutes... but your actions over the past 20 hours." "Mr. President... the vice president has raised serious questions, and in my opinion... it would be a mistake to ignore them." "For my own part, I'm confident that if you explain yourself... with your usual candor and clarity... all questions will be resolved to the satisfaction of everyone here." "Mr. Prescott, there seems to be a collective feeling... that a discussion is called for." "In the interest of putting this behind us..." "I'll agree... on one condition." "When it's over, if I'm supported... you tender your resignation as the vice president of this country." "Very well, Mr. President." "I agree." "I, uh, suggest we all take a few minutes to compose ourselves... and, uh, then get on with the... proceeding." "Let's not mince words, Mr. Secretary." "You mean the trial of David Palmer." "The problem here is that they don't correspond." "I need them to." "Ryan, can I have a word with you, please?" "Give me a minute." "I got a message the president called off the military offensive over an hour ago." " Who told you this?" " Someone at D.O.J." "Someone I trust." "I wouldn't worry about it." " Is it true?" " Yes." " And you knew about it?" " I did." "And you didn't tell me?" "Why are you so determined to keep my people processing intel... on an operation that's been scrapped?" "Because there's a strong possibility the White House will reinstate the attack order." "Doesn't make sense." "Why would the president reverse his orders twice?" "Just keep your people on a war footing." "Tony, phones are up." "I've got Jack Bauer on line two." " Where is he?" " He's at Kate Warner's house." " What's he doing there?" " I don't know, but he has the chip." " Conference the call into my office." " Okay." "Jack, it's Tony." "What are you doing at Kate Warner's house?" "You were supposed to bring that chip here over an hour ago." "We ran into some interference." "Yusuf Auda is dead." " What happened?" " I don't have time to explain... but he's the only reason why we've still got this chip." "I'm trying to read it now." "I've put it in a flash-card adapter..." " but something's not working." " Jack, this is Michelle." "Just give me a minute." "You may be able to override the reader function manually." "I'll talk you through it." "Good." "Tony, while she's getting set up, I need you to do a couple of things for me." "I want you to run a background check on the name, "Peter Kingsley."" "It's probably an alias, but we might get lucky." "I want you to cross-reference it with every major player in the oil industry." " Peter Kingsley?" "Why?" " I'll explain it to you later." "I need you to get in touch with the president." "Tell him we've got the evidence he needs." "I told him, and I just found out that he's called off the military strikes." " Good, then we've got some time." " Not necessarily, Jack." " Chappelle just told me that he expects the order to be reversed." " Why?" "He didn't get specific, but something's going on in Washington." "Something we're not supposed to know about." " Michelle, are you ready for me?" " Yeah." "I've asked someone to join us." "Most of you know Ron Weiland." "Ron is one of the most respected national affairs correspondents in the country." "He had a very interesting experience earlier today." "Ron." "I was sent to cover President Palmer's environmental speech... when I began to sense a bigger story." "There were rumors of a terrorist attack on the West Coast... possibly involving a nuclear device." "Naturally, I kept asking questions." "Next thing I know, I was called in to talk to the president." "He asked me to keep the story under wraps until later in the day... and then he would give me an exclusive." " And what did you say?" " I told him I'd think it over." "But as I was leaving, I was grabbed by a Secret Service agent and hustled into a room." "I was kept there under guard for several hours." "Did you feel this was a violation of your First Amendment rights... as a journalist as well as an American citizen?" "Of course." "Ron, were you harmed in any way or threatened?" " No, sir." " Did you understand the reason for your being detained?" "I assume it was fear if word got out of a nuclear threat, panic would strike." "People might get hurt." "Do you think the lives of thousands of citizens... is less important than a couple of hours of your First Amendment rights?" "No, I don't." "But under the Bill of Rights, that decision was mine, not yours, Mr. President." "Did you get the feeling that things were a little out of control..." " in the Palmer administration?" " You're putting words in his mouth." "I did have the sense that President Palmer was not in control." "I was trying to balance the need for public safety against Ron Weiland's rights." "I offered Ron a deal, and he turned me down." "Nothing was "out of control."" "I might add, I had legal precedent for my action." "Thank you, Mr. Weiland." "I'd like to call someone else to testify." "He should be ready in just a few moments." "Control C.X. Dash five, then hit enter." " Done." " Anything?" "I think it's reading it." "No." "All I'm getting are numbers and symbols." "Jack, take out the chip, make sure the leads are exposed." " Damn it!" " What is it?" " The chip is damaged." " How badly?" "I'm not sure." "Part of the microprocessor is gone and the leads that were connected to it." "Whatever data you have, send it to my screen." "I'll run it through the retrieval program." "Will you be able to access a complete audio file?" "If it's on there, I'll find it." " I.T., this is Berman." " This is Almeida." "Listen, send two of your guys up here right away, would you?" " They're all doing M.I. for Chappelle." " I don't care what they're doing." " I need two I.T. People up here right away." " Chappelle specifically..." "Just do it." "I've got to go, all right?" "Almeida." "Tony, hi, it's Kim." "Look, I haven't been able to reach my dad." "Is he available?" "Kim, we're in the middle of something really important right now." " Can I have him get back to you?" " Tony, please, it'll just take a minute." "Okay." "Okay, just hold on." "Are you getting it?" "Yeah, I got it, Jack, but you were right, the data's pretty scrambled." "Hey, Jack." "I just assigned two I.T. People to help Michelle with this." "We should be able to get through in about 15, 20 minutes, tops." " Okay, good." " Also, I got Kim on the line for you." "Thank you, Tony." "Kim, I got your dad on the line." "Go ahead." " Dad?" " Sweetheart." "Tony told me you were alive." "I've been trying to reach you." " Are you still at the sheriff s station?" " They're taking me to... the Mathesons' house, to pack up my things." " I'm glad you're okay." " Me, too." "When I thought you were gone, I, um..." "I just miss you, Dad." "I miss you so much." "I missed you too, honey." "I just wanna come home." "You'll be home soon enough." "I promise, okay?" "Okay." "Hey, Dad?" " Yeah?" " I love you." "I love you too, baby." "I'll see you soon, okay?" "Bye." "You knew about this, didn't you, Mike?" "How long have you known?" " That doesn't matter, Mr. President." " It matters to me." " How long?" " A couple of hours." "You were part of it, weren't you?" "When all is said and done..." "you're on Prescott's side." "No, sir." "I'm on your side and always will be." "This could be a good thing, a chance to correct a mistake of historic proportions." "David, I'm begging you... reconsider your position on this." "I'm the president, Mike." "You don't call me by my first name." "Yes, sir." "Okay, it's transmitting." "Gentlemen, I'm sorry for the delay." "The man you're about to see is not entirely well." "In fact, it's taken a great deal of courage for him to join us at all." "Roger Stanton, head of the National Security Agency." "Roger, thank you for speaking with us." "Yes, of course." "I'm sorry if I seem a bit tired." "You see, I was tortured for several hours at the Operations Complex... by order of the president of the United States." "And why were you tortured, Roger?" "Because you thought I knew more than I was saying about the location of the nuclear bomb." "As if the head of N.S.A. Would withhold information from the president." "You're lying, Roger." "This may work for a while... but eventually, the truth will come out." "I have nothing to fear from the truth, Mr. President." "As briefly as possible, Mr. Stanton, tell us what happened to you today." "I arrived at the O.C. Around noon... to find that my Assistant Director, Eric Rayburn... had been dismissed by the president." "What was the reason given for Mr. Rayburn's firing?" "Eric wanted to bring the military into the equation right away." "The president was-was reluctant to even contemplate..." " "the use of military action."" " That's not true." "For the next few hours, I worked with the president as best I could." "He was indecisive, erratic and... as I said... terrified to even think of military engagement." "Then, a little after 6.'00 this evening, I was arrested on a charge of treason." "I was taken to a small, windowless room." "The president entered, and accused me of knowing..." " "more about the bomb than I was telling him."" " Is that true?" "Of course not, but... in fairness to the president, I think he genuinely believed it to be true." "But why would he hold such a belief?" "David Palmer is a decent man." "Maybe he's too decent for the times we live in." "He wanted to avoid war at any cost." "If he could prove to himself that Americans... were behind the bomb, then he'd have a good reason... not to use military force against any foreign country." "I just heard you ordered two I. T.s onto some kind of retrieval project." " They were working military intel." " Jack Bauer has a chip." "It contains an audio file that we expect will prove... that the Cyprus audio was indeed forged." "Where is this chip?" " It's been damaged." " Damaged?" "Jack sent us the data, but it's pretty messed up." "The audio file needs to be reconstituted, which is gonna take a little time." " How long?" " However long it takes." "It should take about 15 minutes, sir." "Division." "Mr. Chappelle's office." " I need to get a message to the vice president." " Right away, sir." "Ready to tell me everything I need to know?" "Continue." "We knew about the bomb weeks ago." "Enough!" "This should end this discussion here and now." "Yes." "I had Roger Stanton tortured." "It was a horrible thing to do, and God knows I hated doing it... but just as I suspected, he knew about the bomb." " You've just seen it for yourselves." " Iwas strapped to a chair... and thousands of volts of electric current... passed through my body every few seconds." "I'm not proud of it, but I dare say I did what most of you would've done." "I cracked." "Told the president what he wanted to hear..." " that I knew about the bomb." " You told me more than that, Roger." "You told me about the Coral Snake team." "You told me that the bomb was at Norton Air Field... information that we corroborated very quickly." "I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. President." "Mr. Prescott, play the rest of the tape." " There is no rest of the tape." " What?" " "That's all I have."" " Well, that can't be." "I was in that room for another 10 minutes." "Well, this is all that was transmitted by the O.C., Mr. President." "We did ask for everything." "There must be some kind of mistake, or deliberate sabotage." "Mr. Stanton had a whole lot more to say than what you've just seen on that tape." "Mr. President, couldn't Agent Simmons verify what you've been telling us?" "No." "I sent him out of the room... but the fact remains that Roger Stanton told me about the Coral Snake team." "He told me about the location of the bomb." "Where else could that information have come from?" "We have many intelligence agencies, Mr. President... thousands of agents combing the planet." "Could've come from anywhere." "I just know it didn't come from me." "That's a lie and you know it." "Tell them, Mike." "I only know what the president told me." "I wasn't in the room." "Mr. Stanton, thank you again." "Legally, you'll remain in custody... as President Palmer has ordered, until this matter is resolved." "I understand." "Mr. President... if you have any evidence you'd like to present, please do so now." "The testimony that's been presented here so far is inaccurate and incomplete." "Roger Stanton is directly responsible for placing a nuclear weapon on U.S. Soil." "I have evidence that proves it, but you've given me no time." "While my behavior may have been extreme..." "I was just responding to the extremity of today's events." "Make no mistake." "If we unleash our military power on nations that later prove innocent... it will rank as one of the most despicable sneak attacks in history." "Any chance for peace in the Middle East will vanish forever." "Even if it costs American lives in the future... we must delay the attack until we are certain of our ground." "Excuse me, Mr. President." "I just received an urgent message... from C.T.U. Division Chief Ryan Chappelle." "Apparently, Jack Bauer has evidence... he claims will prove the Cyprus audio was forged." "Please, please, everyone, just... shh-shh... please, settle down." "The evidence is being reviewed at C. T.U. Right now." "Mr. Chappelle says that the analysis should be complete within the next few minutes." "Considering the potential impact that this, uh... this evidence will have on these proceedings..." "I think it's incumbent upon us to wait." "Well, yeah, I'm looking at it right now." "We can't configure it either." "Okay, did you try running it through the default mode?" "Yes." "The audio files are gone." "There are just some markers that repeat, that's all." " All right." "Thanks, Jason." " All right." "He didn't find anything either?" "Well, what have you got?" " The chip was more compromised than we thought." " Do you have the audio file?" "Michelle was able to recover some information worth following up on." "Repeating code fragments." "It may tell us who programmed the information." "Did you find the audio file or not?" "That's all I need to know." "No, we didn't." "So, Bauer wasted our time." "" Come on."" "Kate?" "Kate, are you all right?" "Everything..." "That's happened today... every-everything that's still happening..." "I keep thinking it's all my fault." "Come here." "We would never have found the bomb in time if it wasn't for you." "But my sister was the one behind the bomb." "She helped those fanatics." "Yes, but you're not your sister." "I should've seen something was wrong before it got this bad." "Because of what she did, it could start a war." "I could've stopped it." "I could've stopped it." "No, Kate, you couldn't have." "There are things in this world that are just out of our control." "Sometimes, we like to blame ourselves for them... so that we can try and make sense out of it." "Come here." "There was nothing you could've done." "Sorry." " Yeah?" " Jack, it's Tony and Michelle." "Excuse me." " You got the audio file?" " No." "What do you mean, "No"?" "Are you telling me that there's no audio file on that chip?" "If there were, they were destroyed when the chip was damaged." "Look, Jack, uh, Chappelle's phoning the president." "He wants you on the call." " Yeah, I bet he does." " Also, uh, some of the information..." " Michelle was able to recover may be worth looking into." " What kind of information?" "Identical code fragments at the tail end of several data streams." "What are you talking about?" "What kind of fragments?" "What are the fragments for?" "Nothing." "That's the point." "It's junk code." "Programmers and hackers sometimes embed it into their programs... as a... marker, a signature." "Michelle was able to trace the sequence back to a hacker named Alex Hewitt." " He's got a file with the F.B.I." " Are you telling me you think..." " this is the technician that created the Cyprus audio file?" " Yes." "Chappelle's not gonna let us follow up any more leads." " You're gonna have to talk to this guy on your own." " What's his last known address?" "210 Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood." "Okay, I got it." "I'll get back to you." "All right." " I'm sorry, I've got to go." " Where?" "We got something off the chip... not what we were looking for, but it's a lead." "I'm going to have to follow it up." "As soon as you're ready to leave, one of the officers will take you back to C.T.U..." " so you can be with your father." " Thanks." "Okay." " Jack?" " Yeah?" " Be careful." " Thanks." "I will be." "The airborne squadrons have been in a holding pattern... ever since President Palmer called off the attack." "They've just refueled." "If we want to resume the operation, we need to come to a conclusion now." "A few more minutes." "This is the difference between peace and war, Mr. Prescott." "It's also a pattern that's been recurring over the last few hours..." "Everything will change once Mr. Bauer calls." "It just never quite happens." " Yes, what is it?" " C.T.U." "Jack Bauer and Ryan Chappelle are on the line." " This is President Palmer." " Mr. President, this is Ryan Chappelle." " Hello, Ryan." " I have Jack Bauer on the line as well." "He'll give you an update." "Mr. President, I found the chip, but unfortunately, it's been very badly damaged." "Is it in good enough shape to prove that the Cyprus recording was forged?" "Sir, in its present condition, I'm afraid it doesn't prove much of anything." " Can it be repaired?" " No, sir, I'm sorry." "But we have been following other leads." "About an hour ago, I was captured and tortured by men who wanted the chip." "They work for a man named Peter Kingsley." "I believe he's part of the group that was behind the bomb." " I think they've been manipulating today's events to start this war." " Why?" "To improve the value of their oil contracts in the Caspian Sea... and to control the oil coming out of the Middle East." "But I need something concrete." "I need evidence." "Mr. President, I understand." "Right now I'm checking up on an address of a man... who we believe engineered the Cyprus recording for Kingsley." "I'm sorry, sir, but it's the best we've got." "Everything you've seen... are you absolutely convinced that the Cyprus recording was forged?" "Yes, sir, absolutely." "All right, Jack." "Thank you." "The evidence I was hoping for is not yet available..." " "but I believe it will be in the near future."" " When, Mr. President?" " I don't know." " "Meanwhile, the window..."" "for a surprise attack is rapidly closing." "It's time to vote." "Mr. Vice President, if you could indulge me for one minute." "Mr. President... this Bauer thing is an illusion... a mirage." "Every time you get near it, it moves further away." "For your sake, for the country's, authorize the attack." "All this will just go away." "And a lot of people..." "Americans and non-Americans... will die for no reason." "We don't know that, Mr. President." "Let's get on with the vote." "Members of the cabinet, you've been presented with the evidence." "You know what's at stake." "Those of you who believe the president is able to continue in office, vote yes." "Those of you who believe he isn't, vote no." "Mr. Novick will conduct a voice poll." "The accumulated numbers will be reflected up on the screen." "Mr. Novick?" " "Ms. Secretary of Transportation," how do you vote?" " Yes." " "Mr. Secretary of the Treasury?"" " No." ""Yes."" " Almeida." " Tony, it's Jack." "I'm about half a block from Hewitt's loft." " Has the F.B.I. Sent over his file yet?" " Yeah, we just got it." " What do I need to know?" " The State Department recruited him right out of Cal Tech." "He revamped their entire technical surveillance program." "Then he got caught manipulating intel on some files that he didn't have clearance for." "He tried to kill himself in custody." "Spent a year in psychiatric prison in Augusta before being released last September." " " No connection to Kingsley?" - "No, not that we can find."" "Okay, as soon as I get Hewitt, I'll get back to you." "Oh, and Tony, any word on what's happening with the president?" " No, not yet." " "Okay, thanks."" "Mr. Secretary of Defense, how do you vote?" "Yes, I believe the president should stay in office." "Mr. Secretary of Agriculture?" "No." "Mr. Secretary of the Interior?" "No." "Mr. Secretary of State, the vote is seven for and seven against." " Yours is the deciding vote." " I'm aware of that." "I've never met a man that I respected more than you..." "Mr. President, never." "But we are talking about tens of thousands of American lives." "I'm compelled to vote no." "Mr. President, you see the results?" "You'll have an opportunity to appeal this... in four days in front of Congress." "In the meantime, I must ask you to remove yourself... from the decision-making process." "Please take the president to a holding room." "Will you please come with us, Mr. President?" "Mr. President, I'm not a lawyer, sir, but as far as I can tell... the Constitution's been followed." "I've got no choice but to ask you to come with us." "I'm sorry, sir." "I do solemnly swear... that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States... and will, to the best of my ability... preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." "So help me God." "Alex?"