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America has been victimized again.

Last night's terrorist attack in San Antonio was the latest in this series of bombings

that began 11 weeks ago in ten different cities.

Over 900 have been killed thus far.

While no one claims responsibility for this wave of death,

evidence points to Islamic militants.

Here in Los Angeles, the mood is tense and fearful.

The Department of Homeland Security urges all citizens to report without delay

any suspicious persons or activities.

A department spokesperson says, "We don't want to start a witch-hunt,

but we'd rather err on the side of caution than become the next target."

He said that the vigilance of the public is our best line of defense against attack.

Stop, stop, stop. Open the doors.

Please, I have to get to work.

I'll be late for work.

Please, open the door.

Come on, man, open the door.

Open the door! I can't believe you... I can't believe you didn't open the door!

I have as much right to be on the bus as you!

Our country is under siege. You're the National Security Advisor, Karen.

I'm surprised by your resistance.

These places you keep building are nothing more than concentration camps.

Detention facilities.

The criteria for determining who should be detained are very reasonable.

This revised plan of yours justifies locking up every American who prays towards Mecca.

That's an exaggeration.

The American Muslim community is our greatest asset.

They provided law enforcement with hundreds of tips.

Not one member has been implicated in the attacks.

So far.

Mr. President, the people are losing faith in our ability to protect them.

We've got to do something about this now.

And locking up more Muslims will not make them safer.

No, Karen, but it will make them feel safer.

What about the civil unrest your plan will create?

- There will be riots, demonstrations... - Security has its price.

So does freedom, Tom.

I don't see how I can sign off on something like this.

Three months ago I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.

And what about preserving, protecting and defending the American people?

All of these measures are legal.

Blake has been all over this with the Attorney General.

There is a precedent in wartime. Lincoln suspended ha be as corpus, Roosevelt...

Yes, I know this. And Roosevelt imprisoned over 200,000 Japanese Americans,

in what most historians consider to be a shameful mistake.

I'd ask those historians how many of those Japanese Americans

were thus prevented from perpetrating acts of sabotage in this country.

I realize that what I'm proposing has its challenges,

but we cannot continue to keep our heads buried in the sand.

- Mr. President. - Yeah.

- Another attack? - Los Angeles, a bus.

- How many casualties? - 23 so far, including the suicide bomber.

We're still certain this Assad is behind these attacks?

He arrived in the US three days before the first bombing in San Antonio.

Let us not forget Assad has been calling for the destruction of the US for the last 20 years.

Mr. President, my analysts believe Assad's organization cannot survive without him,

and once he's dead, the attacks will stop.

So this assumes the success of the operation to terminate Assad.

CTU estimates successful probability at 75%.

- I think that's very generous. - It sounds like you're anticipating failure.

I fully acknowledge, sir, that this is our only option,

but I am fervently advocating contingencies.

Contingencies are well and good, Tom, but CTU needs to eliminate Assad.

That's all there is to it.

God knows we're paying a steep enough price to get him.

I told you 20 times, don't send out a report without a certified header.

This makes 21. You should update your count.

Do you - I'm just curious - ever open your mouth without sarcasm spilling out of it?

- Are we done here? - I'm just telling you to be careful,

or you'll be back selling ladies' shoes in Beverly Hills.

You're settling well into middle management.

- What's your problem with me? - I liked you as an analyst. You were good.

As a boss, bit of a bore.

Right.

What's going on?

Talk to your boyfriend. Guy's on self-destruct.

You promised you'd get along with Milo.

I'm sorry, darling, that's a promise I just can't keep.

Morris. Morris!

I had the same problem with department heads. I learned to fit in.

- There's no reason why you can't. - I don't happen to be a pretty lady.

- What are you talking about? - You're a hottie.

- No, I'm not. - Yes, you are. Deal with it.

- We're at work. - So?

- It's unprofessional. - Are you saying you don't like it?

No. I just came to see if you got a request from Homeland on the priority channel.

No.

Why did they send it only to me?

I don't know.

- Just try to get along. - Because you asked, I will.

Nadia, I got a weird request from Homeland.

They want to set up a channel. I wanted to clear it with you.

- You're cleared. - They want it formatted to military specs.

I'm coordinating an assault with Cobra helicopters.

- When? - 30 minutes.

- But assault on who? - Assad.

What? We don't know where Assad is.

- We will. We have a lead. - No. If we did, I'd know about it.

- We found a way to get Assad's location. - How?

- Jack Bauer. - Jack's in a Chinese prison.

Not anymore. President negotiated his release two days ago.

- Jack's coming back? - Yes.

Why did the Chinese let him go? Why today? Does it have to do with the attacks?

- How do we think he'll lead us to Assad? - I can't talk about this yet.

Why not? Can Bill Buchanan talk about it?

He's meeting Jack at Point Mugu Naval Air Station.

Now open that military channel and put it through to the conference area.

The president must have given up a lot to make this happen.

I wish he were coming back under different circumstances.

We don't know what his state of mind will be.

If he doesn't cooperate, we need to be prepared.

Mr. Buchanan, I need your signature on this release document.

Take those cuffs off him.

Jack.

It's OK. Come with me.

Please convey to your president that Mr. Bauer never broke his silence.

He hasn't spoken a word in nearly two years.

Your president has paid a high price for Mr. Bauer's freedom.

What he wants from him must be very important.

President Palmer wants to speak to you himself as soon as we debrief.

I'm sorry, Jack. How could you know? Wayne Palmer is president.

He's the one who negotiated your release.

I can't even begin to imagine what you went through over there.

But there's a reason you're here now.

The last 11 weeks, our cities have been targeted by a series of terror attacks -

buses, trains, shopping malls.

The last one was 15 minutes ago here in Los Angeles.

It's Hamri Al-Assad.

Assad's here, Jack.

Four days ago, one of Assad's men contacted us.

He said he'd give up Assad for $25 million.

But he's demanding something more than money.

He wants you, Jack.

He wants you dead.

It's Abu Fayed.

He wants his pound of flesh for what happened in Beirut.

We offered him other alternatives. We did everything we could think of, Jack.

But he would only agree to give us Assad in exchange for you.

He's demanded our surveillance protocols, which means we can't risk an extraction.

Once he has you, you'll be on your own.

You understand what this means, Jack?

We're asking you to sacrifice yourself so we can eliminate Assad.

- Audrey. - I can't hear you, Jack.

Audrey.

Audrey doesn't know you're back.

My daughter?

Kim doesn't know either.

You keep it that way.

I know what's being asked of me, Curtis. You don't need your firearm.

Before we do this, I would like to clean up.

We've got an area set up for you and brought you some new clothes.

Bill.

- We have Jack. - Good.

I thought I was prepared, but he's worse than I expected, much worse.

I know how hard this must be for you,

but everything depends on this operation.

I understand.

I know you do.

I wish I were there with you.

You're where you need to be.

I miss you.

I miss you too.

I have to take Jack to the drop point now. Bye.

LA has been added to the list of major cities hit by terrorist attacks.

The Department of Homeland Security raised the threat level to red,

the highest since the department was formed.

FBI will handle the searches outside the city. Focus on the main grid.

- Nadia, I need to talk to you. - Finish that up and check back with me.

- Did you put the military channel through? - Yeah.

I tried to locate Bill or Curtis to find out about Jack. There's a block on their status rosters.

I told you, I can't talk about this.

You've only been here a couple months so you don't know me well.

If you did, you'd know how much Jack Bauer means to me. Sooner or later I will find out.

- Tell me. - I don't have authorization...

Why don't I call Division and tell them about when you left the Jarvis firewall unsecured?

If it weren't for me, you would have been fired over that.

We were contacted four days ago by a man named Fayed.

He offered to give us Assad's location for a list of demands. One of them was Jack Bauer.

- Jack? Why does he want Jack? - Retribution.

Retribution for what?

Fayed's brother was in the cell that bombed our embassy in Lebanon in 1999.

Jack was sent to grab him and get names of other members.

Fayed's brother died while Jack was interrogating him.

- Now he wants Jack dead. - That's right.

And you're really gonna just deliver Jack over to the terrorist to be killed?

- Nadia... - We need to stop Assad.

We can grab Jack once Fayed gives us Assad's location.

Fayed can detect our surveillance.

We gave Fayed access to our satellite coverage, radio frequencies and air corridors.

He'll give us nothing till he's free and clear with Jack.

How do we even know he'll do what he says?

We don't.

I'm calling Karen. She'll talk to the president.

Don't you get it? Karen already knows. So does President Palmer. He authorized it.

Look.

I'm sorry about your friend, but there's nothing you, I or anyone can do.

Right now, this is our only way out of this crisis.

If we want these attacks to stop, Jack Bauer has to be sacrificed.

- I only got half those upgrades. - You'll get the rest.

I needed them ten minutes ago. Don't expect Chloe to keep running interference.