Sorry if this is stupid but HDV is new to me and I am being asked if 1. HDV can be shot at 24 fps; and 2. If it can be edited using FCP 5. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

The answer to both questions is 'yes.'
The JVC shoots 24p, and the new Canon has a form of 24p called 24f.
Getting it in to FCP right now is the biggest challenge, but there are a couple companies beta testing FCP plugins that will get this working correctly in FCP.
If you captured 24p via a Kona, BMC, etc, rather than the m2t, you can work with that even more easily.