FBI/NYPD anti-terrorist officer 'Hub' Hubbard (Denzel Washington) is called into investigate when a Brooklyn bus is bombed. The perpetrators are demanding the release of Sheik Ahmed Ben Talal, who has been kidnapped by US General William Devereaux (Bruce Willis). Hub focuses his initial search on Brooklyn's Arab community, but is shadowed by CIA operative Elise Kraft (Annette Bening), whose contact in Palestine intimates that the real problem lies elsewhere. Before Hub or Kraft can act, however, the FBI headquarters are also bombed, and Deveraux imposes a state of martial law.