An election in limbo . Nobody really knew what was going to happen. Just count the votes and a nation divided. We were going to hold florida unless they sent in federal troops. Happening not in 2020. This is cnns coverage of election 2000. But 20 years ago, bush versus gore, the closest race in modern american political history. I was just seeing my life kind of flash around me. An Election Night like no other. I was operating in an environment of volcanic chaos. Bulletin. Florida pulled back into the undecided column. Launching a war for the white house. The Campaign Chairman comes in and says to you you better get people scrambling for a recount. And that was the holy shit moment. 36 days of political combat at the highest levels. In the end the Supreme Court had the last word. If you were a screenwriter, theyd fire you for this story. So could it happen again . Theres no question it could happen again. We want gore we want gore we want gore. Its after 3 in the morning in 2000. Al gore is inside getting ready to publicly concede the president ial election to george w. Bush. It was total chaos as we were trying to get into the war memorial, pouring rain. The Vice President and liebermans family, the san jec service and the police and everybody. I got on the phone and i said, we havent lost. This thing is too close to call. I was seeing my life flash before me and breaking out in a sweat saying what do we do here . Thats when he contacted david moorehouse. Told him grab the Vice President , get him into a holding room with Joe Lieberman, do not let anybody go out. Everybody freeze. Michael feldman was trying to get ahold of me. He said youve got to stop the Vice President from conceding. The Vice President is walking really fast. Takes me a bit to catch you to hill. I caught up to him. End of the hallway stars that lead to the outside where the stage is. I said mr. Vice president , we have to go to hold. He said this better be good. Before election day of started, the 2000 vote was too close to call. Our polling was showing that it was a dead heat, that was it was basically within the margin of error. For news anchors, Election Night is the super bowl. Were electing the most powerful person in the world. And this election looked like one for the record books. Any journal ist, what you wanted was a great story and this was a great story. Election night for any president ial contest is not routine routi routine. No, its not because its too historic. As the night wore on, this one is different, this one is different. This is a cnn election 2000 special presentation. If youve ever longed pore those nights that you heard about when people stayed up late wondering who their leader was, pull up a chair, this might be it. We started late with the polls closing and watched the clock. This is how a map looks. Governor bush far ahead of Vice President gore. Predictable results in the states first to close their poles. Then earth shattering news. And all together according to senator excuse me, im sorry to interrupt you. Mike you wouldnt do this if it wasnt big. Florida goes for al gore. And it happens like that. Ladies and gentlemen, lets pause right here because this could be decisive in the election. 25 decisive electoral votes, votes that could deliver the presidency for al gore. At the Governors Mansion in austin, there was anguish. There was this pause, it was very quiet. I asked president bush 41 how he was doing . He said not so good right now. What were you guys thinking about the network projections . I think our feeling was that the networks were wrong. Karen hughes wasnt the on one unconvinced. I dont believe some of these states theyve called like florida, i dont believe they have enough evidence to call the state. That states going to flip, i really feel that way. I do remember saying to myself i hope theyre right with this. Basically it was, listens are dont question the decision of the decision desk, florida belongs to gore. But i think, bill, and youre the maven on this, networks do not call unless they have a pretty high degree of assurance, correct . That is correct. We have a pretty high degree of assurance florida has gone for al gore. Then all hell breaks loose. Stand by. Cnn is moving our earlier declaration of florida back to the too close to call column. Beads of sweat start popping out on my forehead. 25 electoral votes in the home state of the governors brother, jeb bush, are hanging in the balance. This no longer is a victory for Vice President gore. Were moving it back into a too close to call oh waiter, one order of crow. I could actually feel sweat as i realized this was wrong, we had to correct it. And so did every other Network Within minutes. Nbc news is now taking florida out of Vice President gores column and putting it back in the too close to call column. Bulletin, florida pulled back into the undecided columncomputcolumncomput. Computer and polling problem. Turn the lights down, the Party Just Got wilder. We dont just have egg in our face, weve got omelet all over our suits. The numbers started to go back and forth and i finally ran out of ways to explain to the audience what was going on. The chaos factor just went through the roof theres always chaos. Now weve reached land where weve never been. Basically the projections are made by exit polling data and also actual vote counts from model precincts. But those numbers were off and they are shared by all the networks. This model had worked in the past. It clearly not only did not work that night but it sputtered and sputtered and sputtered. The models didnt work because florida was a mess. Confusing ballots left voters unsure about whom they had actually voted for. Local Election Officials misreported vote counts and exit poll samples were just not accurate. In your ear are they trying to be calm even though theyre freaking out . Yes, theyre trying to be calm but thats a failure. I was trying to be as transparent as possible. This system is breaking down around me at that point. I know i was thinking we got to find out now where we go next. Those computers, tom, this is the answer, get it right. Coming up al places the call and at one point i believe al said Something Like you dont have to be so snipity about it. [narrator] the shark vacmop combines powerful suction with spray mopping to lock away debris and absorb wet messes, all in one disposable pad. Just vacuum, spray mop, and toss. The shark vacmop, a complete clean all in one disposable pad. d burke i Nothing Happened. Appened. driver Nothing Happened . burke Nothing Happened. driver sure looks like something happened. burke well, youve been with farmers for three years with zero auto claims. driver yeah . burke so you earned your policy perk accident forgiveness. Now instead of this being something, it s driver its nothing burke get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. They should really turn this ride off. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum burke vo start with a quote at 1800farmers in the tubbs fire. The flames, the ash, it was terrifying. Thousands of family homes are destroyed in wildfires. Families are forced to move and higher property taxes are a huge problem. Prop 19 limits taxes on wildfire victims so families can move without a tax penalty. Nineteen will help rebuild lives. Vote yes on 19. In the Early Morning hours on november 8th while thousands gather outside in nashville, Joe Lieberman and his wife are in their hotel room waiting to hear if he will be the nations next Vice President. Somebody had sent an arrangement of flowers to our room, and in coming into the room, she expressed herself expletives deleted, and basically sort of knocked the flowers off the table. Everyone is frustrated. And then shortly after 2 a. M. , it gets worse. Bush wins. Florida goes bush. The presidency is bush. Thats it. The home state of governor jeb bush is going to be a much happier thanksgiving for the bush family. Abc news is going to project that florida goes to mr. Bush. Just stop and absorb that for a second. Weve got the tv on. All of a sudden, which ever network we were watching, you know, i think it was cnn and it was bern add shard shaw broke i said george bush will become the 43rd of the United States. I get a chill when i say it right now. I said ive got to go see al. What lieberman didnt know was that gore had already decided to concede. He placed the call. He just said, governor, put up a fight or whatever he said, conceded, a very short call. I think governor bush just thanked him. There was no love loss between either one of these guys. They didnt like each other, period. It was probably a tensecond call at most. And that was it. At the time he conceded, jeb bush was still over there on his computer and he was like i dont know what theyre seeing, i think its still too close. Were you guys kind of surprised . Sounds like jeb was. I think jeb was. Jeb bush was trying to deliver the state for his big brother. He wasnt the only one scratching his head at gores concession. Our numbers were going back and forth. At headquarters, gores own numbers wizard kept doing the math with no idea that gores motorcade was already on the way for his concession speech. How is it that you guys in the boiler room were not told they were going to concede . I dont know. I think they believed the network news. When tom brokaw and dan rather said that george bush had won, they thought it was game over. But there was a furious scramble to find somebody in the motorcade. Maybe a minute after we left the hotel, my white house pager went off and it was a call from michael hooly. I think my words were where are you guys . He said were at the war memorial. And i asked why. I was obviously incredulous. And he said were about to concede. And i said for what . We havent lost. Something was fishy and it smelled all the way to austin where team george w. Bush nervously waited. Jeb bush looking like his life is passing before his eyes because hes the good brother whose state is going to let down his brother george. And george and laura bush looking pretty like kind of shell shocked a little bit. Finally after 3 a. M. , a second call to bush from gore, who was still hunkered down backstage at the war memorial. The phone rang again, and i heard governor bush in this very incredulous voice saying youre retracting your concession . And, you know, i mean theres no precedent for anything like that. Then at another point toward the end of the conversation, he said i dont care what your little brother says, the networks are all saying now its too close to call. And, therefore, ive got to withdraw my concession. Hell, his brother was the governor. He was like my brother and i was like, hey, ill never forget his facial expression. So he hung up the phone, everybody cheers. Somebody says, wow, you called jeb bushs little brother. Al gore said i didnt call him his little brother, he called him his little brother. It fell to Campaign Chairman bill daly to deliver an unprecedented message, that gore had withdrawn his concession. It was 4 a. M. And gore said to me you do it. I said im not going to do it. Forget about it, im not going to go out there on tv at 2 30 he said you do it. So have i to go out there to a billion people in the middle of the night watching this to figure out who is the president of the United States. This race is simply too close to call. Until the recounts are concluded and the results of florida become official, our campaign continues. [ cheers and applause ] up next, taking the fight to the streets of florida. I wasnt a big fan of al gores, and the prospect of evening the score was an enticing prospect to me. That wall is your everest. But not any more. Today lets paint. Behr. Exclusively at the home depot. Beautiful. But when i started cobra kai, the lack of control over my business made me a little intense. But now i practice a different philosophy. Quickbooks helps me get paid, manage cash flow, and run payroll. And now im back on top. With koala kai. Hey more mercy. Save over 30 hours a month with intuit quickbooks. The easy way to a happier business. I only see one price on my phone bill. Youre on tmobile, taxes and fees are included. Why cant all my bills be like this . I dont know mama. Umph at tmobile, taxes and fees are included. Get 4 free 5g Samsung Galaxy s20 fes with 4 new lines. At visionworks, and we want you to see yourself in your new glasses and think, ooh but if you get home and your ooh is more of a hmm. You have 100 days to change your mind. Thats the visionworks difference. Visionworks. See the difference. Can go your own way its time you make the rules. So join the two Million People whove switched to xfinity mobile. You can choose from the latest phones or bring your own devic, and choose the amount of data thats right for you to save even more. And youll get 5g at no extra cost all on the most reliable network. So choose a data option thats right for you. Get 5g included. And save up to 400 yr on the network rated 1 in customer satisfaction. Its your wireless. Your rules. Only with xfinity mobile. At the Governors Mansion in austin, it was the morning after. How many hours of sleep did you get last night . Not sure. How about you . About three and a half, actually. The one thing that keeps every operative, every person who works on a campaign going, is the knowledge that its over on election day. You know that this thing has an end. Reporter but the election of 2000 didnt end. It just moved to florida, where 25 electoral votes would determine the presidency. We were going to take liebermanns plane. We had a bunch of lawyers get briefed on on the whole thing. And they were going to go off to florida that night, in the middle of the night. I remember telling my wife as i left, early that morning, to get on the plane, that id be home by friday. I was pretty sure id be home by friday. Good idea. Yeah. Reporter in austin, team bush needed a leader. A heavy hitter. The choice was obvious. We have asked former United States secretary of state, james baker, to travel to florida on our behalf. He said, well, joe, how long do you think we ought to pack for . And i said, oh, two or three days. Were going to the sunshine state. By 2 00 that afternoon, i was on an airplane to florida with joe. He has one bag and we get in the plane. Very small plane. Fly off to tallahassee, and he says, okay, brief me. After about 45 minutes, he leans back in the seat, and he says were heading to the Supreme Court. I was absolutely blown away. Supreme court. Supreme court of the United States. I said youre kidding me. And without batting an eye, taking a breath, he said its the only way this can end. Reporter punching heavyweight for the democrats was former secretary of state, ron christopher. We are proceeding in accordance with the constitution of laws, and well continue to do so. Reporter both, statesmen. Both, diplomats. But hardly alike. Never met anybody who had more respect for. But he was an old sanction, bythebook lawyer. Jim baker was that, plus a downinthepit, political, handtohand combat fighter. When i heard jim baker was going to be involved on the other side, this is a guy who comes armed on both sides. And hes got other hidden weapons. Reporter baker and christopher had only one facetoface meeting. At the governors inn in tallahassee. Where it became very clear they were fighting different wars. Secretary christopher laid out a number of ideas about how the uncertainty in florida might be resolved. And secretary baker listened, politely. But simply said, really, i have no idea what you are talking about. Theres no dispute here. Governor bush won the election. Secretary of state Kathleen Harris is going to certify that. And the only thing we are here to discuss that is the terms and conditions under which he is going to concede. Somebody had to win and somebody had to lose. But i heard you came in and were just sort of very like we won. Of course, i did because thats what i believed and, by the way, thats what happened. Reporter baker knew, to win, he needed to get out of floridas courts. If we didnt find a way to get into the federal courts, we were dead meat. Reporter because the florida Supreme Court was dominated by democrats, baker had to make his case to conservatives, who wanted to leave it at the state level. You want to be ideologically pure . Or you want to win . They said we want to win. I said, well, then, dont be criticizing our going to federal court because if we stay with the florida Supreme Court, were going to lose. There was no doubt about it. And if you look at their opinions and the way they screwed us with those opinions, it we wouldve lost. Reporter the gore team complained the odds were against them. Republicans controlled the statehouse, and george bushs brother jeb was the governor. We thought it would be close. Never, in my wildest dreams, did i ever imagine it would be this close. If you own the system, which the governor, at the time, bush, owned, you generally will win. They didnt do anything criminal or inappropriate. But as i said, i think if the democrats controlled the governorship and basically controlled the state, no doubt in my mind, those calls would have been made for the democrat. Jeb was sort of the wizard behind the curtain. Well, hes the governor of the state. Yeah. And there was there was chaos as a result of an election in his state. And he was going to come back and try to get control of this thing. Hes between a rock and a hard spot. I mean, obviously, he wants his brother to win. But he can show no favoritism, in his role as governor of the state. And we werent asking him. I dont believe that he pulled any levers. Reporter or, maybe, he didnt have to. Maybe, it was just understood. No Major Law Firm in florida would work for al gore. Even democratic . Even democraticoriented law firms because everyone was afraid of antagonizing the bush family, antagonizing the governor, and losing important, state business. Did you have any evidence that they had been called by the governor . No evidence that anyone said anything to anybody. Stuff didnt have to be said, right . It was just all obvious. It turned out that the name of the governor of the state of florida was the same name as the name of the person we were running against. You know, and so, nothing had to be said. And im not saying that governor bush did anything wrong. I dont believe he did. I want to be clear about that. But it wasnt a fair process. It wasnt a neutral process. It was a process, that was rigged against us. What was rigged . Kind of, everything. So, we can start with the fact that the person who was in charge of making sure, of directing the counties to do what florida law required, which is a recanvass, a retabulation of their votes in every county, was george bushs campaign chair, Katherine Harris. Reporter up next, the war that wouldnt end. I, hereby, declare governor george w. Bush the winner. Katherine thought that george had won the election. And we were going to fight tooth and nail, hand to hand, and we were going to hold florida unless they sent in federal troops. Anywhere convenience. Everyday security. Bankers here to help. For wherever you want to go. Chase. Make more of whats yours. Hmms and ahhs heard incall. When being a fan on a budget gets tough. Our agents do the legwork,. So saving on Auto Insurance is. Easy usaa. What youre made of, were made for. When my parents bought this [alveta] ihouse. Wo years old i always remember a living room full of people doing political strategizing to ensure equity for all people. [stephanie] yeah. Now, i feel like were having to fight for civil rights all over again. [stephanie] yeah. We have to make a change and this is why its so very important that we vote on november 3rd for the biden harris ticket. [joe] im joe biden, and i approve this message. And sweetie can coloryou just be. Gentle with the pens. Okey. Okey. I know. Gentle. Gentle new projects means new project managers. You need to hire. I need indeed. Indeed you do. The moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database so you can start hiring right away. Claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed. Com home. The lexus es now available with allwheel drive. This rain is bananas. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Look at that embarrassing you. That wall is your everest. But not any more. Today lets paint. Behr. Exclusively at the home depot. In the 2000 election, more than 100 million ballots were cast in 50 states. But the race would come down to a few hundred votes and the authority of one woman. Its exciting to see the process working. Reporter destined for infamy. Am i going to enjoy watching that tennessee robot cry when he hears the results . Yes. Does that make me partisan . I dont think so. Reporter Katherine Harris was the republican florida secretary of state, in charge of the recount. And she was, also, the state campaign cochair for george w. Bush. Whether a what we asked her for was that she would be honest. And what was her response . Thank you. But you walked out of there and you were like forget this. You know . Of course, she was trying to win for george bush. Thats what she was doing. But she was using her power, as secretary of state. As the States Election administration official. To try to produce that result. And that was wrong. My sense is she was trying to do the best job she could. Shed been thrust into this, sort of, involuntarily with a great, big role. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. There was nobody she could call up and say, so, ive got a president ial recount here. What do i do as secretary of state . She was very nervous. She was quite yeah and and my recollection is this max stepanovich was her adviser and he was a solid person. Reporter a wellrespected tallahassee lobbyist with ties to jeb bush and a long history in republican politics. Max duponavich became harriss brain. We are going to be loathed by the media for the rest of our lives and through the lives of our grandchildren. Thats not whats important here today. We are going to elect a president of the United States. Forget all the rest of that stuff. Reporter as americans watched the partisans duke it out, daily, on live tv. Behind the scenes, mack was plotting the republican palgtth victory. I called the senior staff together. And i said were not going to break any laws but i want you to forget about the loss. And we are going to fight them tooth and nail, house to house, hand to hand, and we were going to hold florida unless they sent in federal troops. Reporter he knew exactly what he had to do. Stop recounting votes and preserve bushs electionnight lead, no matter how small. We actually believed the result was right. I said george bush has won this election, and it is our job to make it so. And were going to, rapidly as possible, close off any option, any path, that could be followed that produces any result other than that one. People, appalled, oh, my god, the corrupt bastards. They stole the election. No, we won the election. Reporter no, you didnt, said the democrats, citing a long list of complaints. In broward county, hanging in dimpled chads that left voter intent unclear. In duval, confusing instructions to voters. And in palm beach, the nownotorious butterfly ballot. How would you describe what happened to al gore in florida . He got screwed by a bad ballot in palm beach that the democratic leadership, in that county, signed off on. Reporter the butterfly ballot had punch holes for al gore, an ultra conservative pat buchanan, located dangerously close to each other. Just asking for mistakes. I go tell you that the people came out of the voting booth, in the hundreds, knowing, realizing, that they had punched Pat Buchanans number, thinking it was al gore. Had the butterfly ballot not happened, al gore wouldve been president of the United States. No doubt in my mind. Period. Reporter a big glitch that, after election day, left gore scrambling to fix the unfixable. They had a real argument to make about that ballot, but only before the election. They didnt have it afterwards. The democrats signed off on it. The republicans signed off on it. It was designed by a democratic elections director in palm beach county. He had very few options to fundamentally change the outcome, after that. So how and how hard to fight . Questions that would dog and divide the democrats. When youre in a fight, the first person who stops fighting always loses. And now your copilot. Still a father. But now a friend. Still an electric car. Just more electrifying. Still a night out. But everything fits in. Still hard work. Just a little easier. Still a legend. Just more legendary. Chevrolet. Making lifes journey, just better. d burke lifes journey, i Nothing Happened. Appened. driver Nothing Happened . burke Nothing Happened. driver sure looks like something happened. burke well, youve been with farmers for three years with zero auto claims. driver yeah . burke so you earned your policy perk accident forgiveness. Now instead of this being something, it s driver its nothing burke get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. They should really turn this ride off. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum burke vo start with a quote at 1800farmers dont settle for less. Revitalift triple power with proretinol plus hyaluronic acid and vitamin c. It visibly reduces wrinkles. Firms. And brightens. Now thats triple power. Revitalift triple power moisturizer from loreal. Its not just a sandwich, far from it. Its a reason to come together. Its a taste of something good. A taste we all could use right now. So lets make the most of it. And make every sandwich count. With oscar mayer deli fresh a with spray moppingrk vacmop to lock away debrisuction and absorb wet messes, all in one disposable pad. Just vacuum, spray mop, and toss. The shark vacmop, a complete clean all in one disposable pad. New garlique healthy Blood Pressure formula helps maintain healthy Blood Pressure with a custom blend of ingredients. Im taking charge, with garlique. As days of uncertainty turned into weeks, the bitterness spread. Even outside the Vice President s house. They were there praying and chanting get out of cheneys house. So, they were trying to build the image that we were the ones who were not following the law. Reporter behind the gates, the gore family strained to project normalcy. And as his team huddled inside, it soon became clear that not everyone was in a takenoprisoners mood. Somebody came over to me and said, senator, youre a young man with a great future. And so is al gore. And i just urge you to look at the decisions we have to make in that light. Dont be a sore loser. Yeah, and i was shocked, i must say, by that reaction. Reporter image was key during the recount. And each man stayed true to form. Bush differed from gore, significantly. Because what bush did was to pass the responsibility and authority to me. They were going through the charade of having a transition. Cheney was out there meeting with people, and probably picking the cabinet. Reporter gore, meanwhile, managed every detail of the fight. And the Gore Campaign, you had gore at the naval observatory. He was more of a micro manager. Machines can, sometimes, misread or fail to detect the way ballots are cast. Reporter one of the biggest choices gore had to make, which votes to recount. The final decision, just four out of floridas 67 counties. Why those four . Are not just statewide recount . Those were four counties where we had concrete evidence of errors, inaccuracies, and mistakes on election day. Secondly, the clock was ticking. And we knew that the time we had to get these things counted was limited. Reporter one more thing about the counties the democrats chose, they were heavily democratic. I think the biggest mistake they made, during the whole thing, was to ask for a recount in four democratic counties. That gave us the high ground. They had a good slogan. Count every vote. How can that be fair . Just to ask for a recount in your counties. Our legal strategy was predicated on four counties, believing that, if we went back and recounted those four counties, we would make up the difference. Was that a mistake . Very much, a mistake. The Florida Courts let the recount continue for three crazy weeks. As the tension became surreal. The Gore Campaign refused to accept the vote count on election day. The days have been, largely, the product of lawsuits filed by republicans or erroneous legal opinions for the secretary of state. When the clock ran out on november 26th, secretary of state Katherine Harris, grandly, announced the results. We needed the nation to see that, as far as we were concerned, it was over. George bush had won. Move on. And so, it was important that there be some drama. Reporter and there was plenty of drama. In accordance with the laws of the state of florida, i, hereby, declare governor george w. Bush the winner of floridas 25 electoral votes for the president of the United States. Good evening. Reporter the margin, 537 votes. Secretary cheney and i are honored and humbled to have won the state of florida, which gives us the needed electoral votes to win the election. Reporter and lieberman fired back. This evening, the secretary of state of florida has decided to certify what, by any reasonable standard, is an incomplete and inaccurate count of the votes cast in the state of florida. Part of why i went out, clearly, was to say to the public, this aint over, yet. You know . It aint over till its over. Reporter and it wasnt over. Just halftime. The democrats went to the friendly state Supreme Court and won big. The Circuit Court shall order a manual recount of all under votes. Reporter not only did the court deny bushs victory in florida, but it also ordered a new, statewide recount of disputed ballots. Advantage, gore. Did you believe, at that point, at all, that you might win . Yes. Yes . Yes. Why . Cause we had more votes. We just needed to get them counted. Vice president s residence, on friday night, was a party. Everybody was thrilled about the victory in the florida Supreme Court because we felt that it was the preface to a victory, overall, because it would give us the recount we wanted. Reporter but there was no joy in bushville. Excruciating. Just excruciating. I just remember thinking it it just seemed unfair and arbitrary. It was like being on a treadmill. I mean, we never knew, from day to day, whether we were going to win or whether we were going to lose. Wed lose a case one day. Wed win one the next day. Reporter as baker predicted, from day one, he would have to look to another court for the final outcome he wanted. We felt that we had sound, constitutional arguments, in our favor. I think it was probably the biggest disappointment that ive had in my lifetime, in terms of what the Supreme Court has done. Beautiful. But support the leg when i started cobra kai, the lack of control over my business made me a little intense. But now i practice a different philosophy. Quickbooks helps me get paid, manage cash flow, and run payroll. And now im back on top. With koala kai. Hey more mercy. Save over 30 hours a month with intuit quickbooks. The easy way to a happier business. T mobile has a plan built just for you. We want you to get the value and service you need to stay connected. Saving 50 vs. Other carriers with 2 unlimited lines for less than 30 each. We know that connection is more important than ever. And were here to help, when youre ready to switch. Call 1800tmobile or go to t mobile. Com 55. The lexus es now available with allwheel drive. This rain is bananas. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Look at that embarrassing you. That wall is your everest. But not any more. Today lets paint. Behr. Exclusively at the home depot. The election that should have ended the same day it began is, still, dragging on, one month later. I think 31 days into this, we learned to think that anything is possible. Its like groundhog day. I just remember thinking this is never going to end. Reporter after the florida Supreme Court allowed the recount to continue, the democrats could smell success. But republicans pushed past the florida Supreme Court, to an even higher authority. The u. S. Supreme court has agreed to put a stay on the recount in florida. Reporter on december 9th, in a stunning decision, the United StatesSupreme Court ruled, 54, to stop the count. I am eating lunch in the sports bar when the television flashed across the screen, that the United StatesSupreme Court had issued an order stopping the vote count. My first reaction is that had to be a mistake. Cant be true. Was true. Reporter advantage, bush. And so, the final showdown was set between two superlawyers. Democrat david boyce for gore, desperate to restart the counting. It certainly felt momentous. We knew the stakes were very high. Reporter and republican, ted olsen, who went to work, immediately, to keep the count frozen. I found, literally, a broom closet on the floor beneath where everybody was working, where i could close the door and think and write. Reporter after just 36 hours to prep, olson and boise climbed the marble steps, each ascending into a legal stratosphere no one could have scripted. The time pressures, the fact that this was a political battle, a media battle, and a legal battle, all, taking place, socalled perfect storm. All, taking place in a very short period of time. Reporter for 90 minutes, the two men went at it. Well hear argument on number 00949 george w. Bush and Richard Cheney versus albert gore. Reporter for team bush, olson argued that the Florida Court had changed the rules in the middle of the game, by allowing a statewide recount. If one reads it the way the florida Supreme Court did, the entire process is tilted on its head. You cant have rules that say they must be counted, ballots must be counted, this way before the election. And then, count them differently after the election. Reporter for team gore, david boise countered the high court had no business intervening, in the first place. That is something that has to be decided in the initial instance by the florida Supreme Court, interpreting florida law. The real issue is which court ought to be making that decision . Historically, it was always the state Supreme Court. Historically, the United StatesSupreme Court had never intervened in a president ial election. Reporter but this time, it would. They have reached a decision. That word is imminent. Dont leave cnn. The judge of the Supreme Court of florida is reversed. By a 54 vote, the Supreme Court decided the recount would not continue. It was over and bush had won. News that would, soon, reach republican headquarters in tallahassee. We got a headsup call about ten minutes beforehand that said the opinions coming. Watch your fax machine. Fax machine. Fax machine. I got a call from austin, from governor bush. And i answered the call and i said, congratulations, mr. President elect. We gathered everybody together. To the next president. Everybody fought really hard. They had had done an incredible job. It was an incredible setting. And precisely the outcome we had hoped for. Youre still emotional. Im still emotional about it, sure. You know, its just moments of pure of pure joy. Reporter or devastation, if you worked for al gore. I got on the phone with Vice President gore and started to read him parts of it. We got to the part where the Court Essentially ordered that the recount wouldnt go forward, and that was, you know, a the moment when it was really over. What did you say . I said a series of fourletter words. And im not going to repeat it here because my mom watches cnn. 20 years later, democrats are, still, second guessing. Nick baldic had been on the ground in florida for al gore. If you work in an election like that, and it ends up getting decided by one vote in the Supreme Court. You constantly have to say to yourself, what could i have done . Reporter should democrats have been more aggressive . I think the republicans came to a gunfight with a gun and we came with a knife. Did gores initial concession set him up as a sore loser . Do you regret telling gore to concede in the first place . Yeah. Yeah. Uhhuh. I do. At the point that we recommended that it was over, there was no other option, as long as florida was with bush. Reporter should democrats have made more use of president bill clinton, who was kept on the sidelines by the Gore Campaign . We did not utilize him, to his full effect in this, no question. Anybody else goes through the use bill clinton. Thats all bullshit. Al gore had won the National Popular vote by more than half a million but he lost the two most important votes. The one in the Electoral College and the one at the Supreme Court. Case closed. But even now, the dispute lives on because nobody can prove, for sure, how voters intended to vote. I think more people went to the polls intending to vote for al gore for president than george bush in florida. Yes. I thought george bush had won. Reporter even republican operative agrees. I believe the people who went to the polls that day and voted elected george bush. I believe the people who went to the polls that day and intended to vote, probably, elected al gore. Most elections are screwed up. The presidency of the United States is rarely at risk based upon that. Reporter on january 20th, george w. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd president of the United States. And the 2000 election entered the record books as the closest and most controversial race in modern, political history. So, to this day, you think you won . I think it was fundamentally a tie. I think if we had kept counting, it would have been very interesting. And, maybe, you wouldve won . Well never know. Hi and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and from all around the world. Welcome. Youre watching cnn. Im robyn kcurnow. Live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with robyn curnow. Thanks for joining me this hour. A little more than a week after donald trump announced his coronavirus diagnosis, his doctor has cleared the u. S. President to return to an active schedule. In a memo, dr. Sean conley says mr. Trump is no longer a trsm