David Palmer on Day 2

This is a description of David Palmer's actions on Day 2.

4:00am-5:00am
Mike Novick approached Palmer, who was working in one of the District offices. He asked Palmer to follow him to the conference room, but Palmer refused until Mike explained why. He told Palmer that some members of the cabinet felt he was unable to continue his duties due to his actions over the past hours, and a meeting had been called. Palmer then agreed to go, and upon arrival in the conference room found the monitors filled with images of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, led by Vice President Jim Prescott. Prescott explains that a query into Palmer's ability to lead is being raised as the general feeling of the Cabinet is that Palmer has acted radically and temprementally since the crisis of the day began, and so the 25th Amendment was being invoked. Palmer said that the 25th Amendment was reserved for times when the President was ill or incapacitated, but Prescott said that his interpretation was valid. He went on to say that the military action needed to be taken against the contries who supported the Cyprus recording as Jack Bauer was clearly not going to get the evidence to them in time to disprove its legitimacy. Palmer said that even if they did not agree with his decisions, that doesn't mean he is "disabled". Secretary of State Alex said that Palmer should be allowed to defend himself, and convinced Palmer to stay and rebuttle his case. Palmer agreed to stay on the condition that Prescott would resign if Palmer was found to be fit for the Presidency, to which Prescott agreed.



As the case went underway, Prescott asked Ron Wieland to speak. He explained about how Palmer locked him up and kept him under guard for several hours when Wieland began to snoop around about a possible nuclear threat on the West Coast. Prescott infered that Wieland felt it to be a violation of his personal rights, to which Wieland agreed. Before he could continue, Palmer interrupted, asking if Wieland was harmed or threatened, which Wieland truthfully said he was not. Palmer said that Wieland was locked up because if news got out about the threat, panic would spread and people might get hurt. Palmer then went on to say that surely hundreds of American lives were worth more than a few hours of Wieland's first amendment rights, to which Wieland agreed once more. However, Wieland told Prescott that he felt Palmer was not in control. Palmer responded that he was trying to balance public safety with Wieland's rights. Prescott thanked Wieland, and he left. He then said that he had someone else to testify who would be ready in a few moments.

During the break, Mike left the room to fetch a glass of water for Palmer. When he returned, Palmer infered that Mike knew about the case. He asked how long he had known, and Mike said it was a few hours. Palmer was hurt that Mike told him nothing in all that time, then realized that Mike was a part of the organization, and he was on Prescott's side. Mike tried to explain that he was on Palmer's side, but this could be a good thing as a way of correcting the mistakes of the day. He begged Palmer to reconsider his position, but Palmer rebuked him for refering to him as "David", instead of "Mr. President".

Prescott returned and explained that he was bringing in Roger Stanton as a witness, upon news of which Palmer was clearly worried. Stanton appeared on the screen, and apologized for appearing tired. He went on to say that he was tortured under orders of Palmer for several hours on the District Headquarters complex. Palmer asked him why he was tortued, and he said it was because Palmer thought he was witholding information about the nuclear threat. Palmer angrily responded that the truth would come out, exposing Stanton. Stanton went on the say what happened to him throughout the day, explaining Palmer's firing of Eric Rayburn as an action because the President was unwilling to use military action. He also said that Palmer acted terrified and erratic throughout the day. Stanton said that Palmer merely wanted to prove to himself that Americans were behind the bomb so that military action would not have to be taken. Palmer heaved a deep sigh as Stanton continued with his accusations.

A video of Stanton's tortue was shown, to which members of the Cabinet winced. On the video, Palmer entered and Stanton confessed to knowing about the bomb. In the conference room, Palmer demanded that the video proved that Stanton knew about the bomb. However, Stanton insisted that he only confessed to knowing to stop the torture. Palmer said that Stanton told him about the Coral Snake team which helped to stop the threat. Stanton feigned ignorance, and Palmer told Prescott to play the rest of the tape. He innocently said that there was no more tape, despite Palmer's claims that he was in the room for another ten minutes. Palmer insisted that the tape must have been sabotaged, and asked how else he could have known about the location of the bomb. Stanton tried to convince the Cabinet that one of the intelligence agencies found the bomb, and it was not from him. Palmer turned to Mike and asked him to verify his story, but Mike said that he was not in the room, and can only say what the President told him. Palmer looked back at him, clearly feeling a pang of betrayal as Prescott thanked Stanton and ended his video feed.

Prescott offered Palmer a chance to present any evidence he had, but Palmer said that the evidence that had been presented so far was inaccurate and incomplete; Stanton helped to bring a nuclear weapon into the US, and he had proof to show it, but had no time to prepare it. Palmer agreed that his behavior was extreme, but he was responding to extreme conditions. Palmer said that if the evidence was uncovered that proved the countries to be innocent, it would be seen as one of the most dispicable acts in history. Prescott recieved a note that told him that Jack had arrived with the evidence that proved the forgery of the Cyprus recording, and it was being verifed at CTU whilst they spoke. Prescott called for a moment's break whilst the evidence was collaborated.



Prescott informed Palmer that the jet fighters had refuelled, and action needed to be taken now. Palmer said that waiting a few more minutes would be the difference between peace and war. CTU called the President, and Ryan Chappelle and Jack Bauer explained that the chip had been too badly damaged to prove anything, but he had been captured and tortured several hours before by men who wanted the chip, proving it was of immense value. Palmer said that he needed something concrete, and Jack said that he was following a lead to the man who created the audio file. Palmer asked how sure Jack was that the recording was faked, and he told Palmer that he was absolutely sure. Palmer thanked him and hung up. Palmer turned back to the Cabinet and explained that the evidence he hoped for was unavaliable, but other leads were being following. Prescott rebuttled that the window for a surprise attack was closing. He said that the vote had to be taken now, and Palmer agreed. A voice poll was tallied by Mike Novick, with seven votes in favour of Palmer, and seven votes against. The final member of the Cabinet to vote, Secretary of State Alex, had the deciding vote, which he decided to sway in favour of Prescott. Prescott concluded that Palmer would have the opportunity to appeal the decision in four days time in front of Congress. In the meantime, he had to be removed from the decision making process, being taken to a holding room by Secret Service agent Aaron Pierce. Before doing so, he glared at the members of the Cabinet who had betrayed him, then left the room. Moments later, Jim Prescott was sworn in as the Acting President.