Itself, would have been a huge story. As election coverage overwhelms the news cycle, one of the biggest drug busts in u. S. History is under way at an abandoned missile silo in rural kansas. At the time, i dont believe anybody else in the country knew what was going on here. They were probably watching the election results. It truly is very similar to the breaking bad tv series. They had the capability of making 21 million dosage units. The biggest story can no longer become the biggest story in a matter of seconds. Candidates sprint for the finish. Well, it is a blitz indeed. Everybody knows it is so close. Gore and bush trying to get the most mileage out of the time remaining. Each stumping in the battleground states which could well determine the outcome of tomorrows election. There was kind of this pent up partisan fervor. Give us a chance to restore honor to the white house. There was a red and blue thing going on at the time. I was told to ditch the jacket, roll up the sleeves, and we were full bored into president ial politics. It was going to be a turning point in america in some form or fashion. I think people sensed that. Thank you. While gore and bush continue to battle it out on the campaign trail, dea agents are moving in on a tiny town in kansas. The assistant chief mike baker stopped and told me there were a lot of activity without state cars. And he had stopped several of those vehicles for speeding, and he identified them as dea agents. Told me that they were up near the missile base watching it. We didnt know at the time if they were on surveillance or what they were doing. We knew they were around. We knew there was quite a few of them. These concrete bunkers for these Atlas Missile silos, in way theyre a good location for drug traffickers because youre so far away from the neighbors theres no odors. Out there in the flat plains of kansas, you can pretty easily see if someone is following you in a vehicle. I was pretty aggressive to find out what theyre doing. They eventually told me that i needed to leave. I was not to interfere with their investigation. But people were speculating. There was some rumors that there could be some drug activity, but nothing that would indicate what was coming. Watch out for the power of Hillary Rodham clinton being elected senator from the state of new york. 1300 miles east of kansas, the media and new york focuses on one of the most anticipated senate races of 2000. Nine months earlier, Hillary Clinton had made her intentions public. I am honored today to announce my candidacy for the United States senate from new york. A lot of people were skeptical of the idea of a first lady running for senate. That race was supposed to be the greatest senate race of all time because her initial opponent was rudy giuliani. Arkansas is the place for them. I dont think its new york. I think that new yorkers are going to end up voting for the senate for someone who has lived here. Hillary had no ties to new york. She was a chicago girl. I may be new to the neighborhood, but im not new to your concerns. Hillary clinton did come into that campaign with not just carpet bagging, but all the baggage, if you will, coming from bill clintons presidency. She had some very high negatives. The parallel to that of course is in 2016 she is the most unpopular candidate ever to run for president other than one person, donald trump. In missouri, three weeks before election day, a plane crash has thrown another hotly contested senate race into chaos. It is with Great Sadness that we report that earlier this evening a plane believed to be carrying governor mel carnahan, his son roger, and his Senior Campaign adviser went down in jefferson county. There were no survivors. Jefferson county sheriff says several witnesses reported seeing the twin engine cessna flying low and later heard what they thought was a crash and explosions. Carnahan has a wife, two grown children, and four grandchildren. Republicans were making some noise about this, whether or not mel carnahan was to be taken off the ballot. Mel carnahan is running against John Ashcroft in one of the most watched senate races in the country. 2000 was quite a year. Had some interesting quirks. I guess you could consider electing a dead man an interesting quirk. One state over in kansas, the Drug Enforcement agency prepares to launch one of the biggest busts in history. In dea we always try to work with the state and local police as much as possible. But when you have a case as big as this one, sometimes we wait until the last minute just so somebody doesnt accidentally say something. We didnt start the coordination with the local police there until we were getting ready to conduct the raid. The deas target suspected drug manufacturer William Leonard pickard. William Leonard Pickard was truly an anomaly. This was a man who was a buddhist monk. He had a masters degree from harvard, was a vegetarian. Just not what you typically picture as a drug lord, especially one who is producing over 90 of the worlds supply of lsd. With lsd, it is considered more dangerous than a meth lab as far as chemical contamination. We didnt want to execute a raid on the location for safety reasons. We preferred to do a ruse and get him out of there. With the help of an inside informant, the dea lays a trap for pickard. It was arranged for pickard to come pick up the lab. We arrived in a ryder truck. We didnt want to reveal the dea was on to the case, so we arranged to have two Highway Patrol officers pull over both the ryder truck and the surveillance vehicle that pickard was driving. One way we did underestimate pickard is we didnt know he was a marathon runner. He started to race away, but then he jumped off road and ran into the kansas woods. So now we had a manhunt. Were waiting for governor bush, but obviously hes going to speak after Vice President gore. After all of the shouting and all of the scandal, we can begin again. Drive into the future with the democrats going in the right direction. By this time tomorrow, the candidates will be back in their home states waiting for the results, but until then it is a nonstop day campaigning the battleground states. It was becoming clearer and clearer that this was going to be a closed race. Pushing signs rapidly. Theyre going out in truckloads. Lets not forget it wasnt just bush and gore. Lets have affordable tax cuts for middleclass working families. Hillary clinton was running for u. S. Senate. Another headline would have been the death of a senate candidate, a governor, three weeks before the election. Theres just so much going on. Your vote is going to make a difference. One of the things ive seen in over 30 years in this business is things move so fast. Today its george w. Bushs past thats being looked at. In the final frenzied push to the bushgore faceoff, a past scandal emerges, something that could break the dead heat. On the thursday night before the election, there came a 30yearold story about george w. Bush being arrested for driving under the influence. They want to know if theres more to this, george w. Bushs 1976 dui arrest in which he paid 150 fine and had his license suspended in maine for a time. It was so close to the election there was no real polling on its effect. There was no measuring what impact would be. Were going to take a break from decision 2000 to give you some of the other headlines outside the president ial race. Of course the one were all talking about is mel carnahan. In missouri, the death of mel carnahan three weeks before the election triggers a crisis. Under missouri law, its too late. Too close to election day to take carnahans off the ballot, so it will remain, leaving open the possibility that his name could win. Many republicans may challenge saying you have to be an inhabitant of the state when elected and how can a dead man be an inhabitant of the state. 14 days before the election, the new governor of missouri offers to appoint carnahans grieving widow. It is my intention to ask Jean Carnahan if she would fill that spot. A lot of the political process rubbed off on her. I mean, she had just spent eight years in the governors mansion. Missourians will reaffirm their belief in selfgovernment by going to the polls to vote. My husbands name will be on that ballot. Everything in our lives changed. We had to plan for three funerals that week, and then we had, of course, to make the decision as to whether we were going to accept the offer. When i think about dad, the thing ill always remember more than anything else before he walked out in the morning before he went to work, hed say dont let the fire go out. Robin carnahan in her eulogy said her dad would always keep the fire going on at night to keep the house warm. So im here to say, dad, we promise. We wont let the fire go out. As you know, this has been a very difficult time for me and my family. I made a commercial. I didnt know even then whether or not i was going to accept or not. And the fellow who was making the commercial said, well, why dont you make one in which you say, yes, youll do it. Then well write one. No, with the support of my family, i decided to do what i think mel would want me to do, what he wants all of us to do, to keep fighting with all the strength we can muster for the values and ideals that he lived for. We read one that said yes. Then we stopped and had a bite to eat. We went back and he said, well, are you ready to do the next one . And i said, no. I think well just go with the first one. In any other election where you didnt have bush v. Gore and Hillary Clinton would be the first most important story by a long shot. If and when his wife will actually be appointed to that job. It felt like the third most important story. Ive been told theres an ongoing federal investigation, and theyve asked for our cooperation by not commenting. Even farther from the media glare in tiny wamego, kansas, a suspect in a massive dea drug bust is on the run. Dea summons local Law Enforcement to assist in the manhunt. The chief of police came across the police scanner. All Police Officers and all reserve officers. I figured that someone had walked away from the nursing home next door. When i first drove up, i realized the dea probably wasnt here to help locate someone who walked away from the nursing home. When we went to the hospital that night, they briefed us. And at that time, i believe we were told how big it was. One of the dea agents turned around a asked who i was with, and i introduced myself. I said, hi, im mark portel with the wamego times. He essentially said, oh, bleep, the bleeping media. He was a brilliant chemist. Very similar to the breaking bad tv series except in this case a card was producing lsd instead of methamphetamine. Lsd is much more complicated than methamphetamine. Thats enough lsd to get every man, woman, and child in the entire western hemisphere high. I feel less empathy for the card than i do your common criminal because he had the opportunity, you know, harvard education, wealthy family, but he also had a great cover for his drug trafficking. He was a drug policy analyst from the university of california in l. A. He was so smart he went over to czechoslovakia. He found an old formula and he smuggled that into the United States. Thats what enabled him to have such a huge production capability. The dea mobilizes its forces to track down the card. We started canvassing the town, walking, going door to door, trying to find out where hed went. He wasnt found that night even with the helicopter. There were 50 Law Enforcement officers and hounds searching the kansas woods for him. At the time, i dont believe anyone else in the country knew what was going on here. They were probably watching the election. I still dont think people realized how big of an event this was. I didnt even want to do my work outside that night, knowing that somebody could be out there. Most of the town knew there was a bad guy running loose, but thats all they knew. Olay total effects vitamin enriched to revive skin and fight 7 signs of aging your Old School Dance moves might show your age, your skin never will olay. Ageless. Its too close to election day to take carnahans name off the ballot. You have to be an inhabitant of the state when elected and how can a dead man be an inhabitant of the state. Two men were seen leaving this missile site. Election night 2000. In every way and sense a barn burner. You can see the lines of people waiting to vote. Nothing is easy for governor george w. Bush of texas or Vice President al gore. Wow, that was fast. Look at that. November 7th, 2000, an election day like no other begins. Among the high profile races, the first lady of the United States, new york senator. Hillary clintons run has been full of twists and turns. Since the beginning of the campaign, her expected opponent was rudy giuliani, but six months prior to the election he drops a bombshell. When i was first told i had cancer, i thought this was going to be a much easier decision. In giulianis place steps rick lazio, a moderate congressman from long island. Today, i announce im a candidate for United States senate of new york. At the time, it was a Remarkable Campaign not just because the first lady was running for the senate, but also because it was at that point the most Expensive Senate campaign in all of history. Im willing to say we will neither raise nor spend a dime of soft money. If my opponent is willing to do the same. Anybody who followed that election in 2000 cant forget that first debate. Lets just get this deal done right now. Right here. Here it is. Lets sign it. Its the new york freedom from soft money pact. He confronts her to try to get her to sign a pledge about money and politics. Im asking you to sign it. Ill be happy to when you give me the signed letters sign it right here. Well shake on this, rick. He walks across the stage. He thought he was looking tough and confrontational. Why dont you show some leadership. He kind of towered over her. He wagged his finger at her. It looked like somebody trying to intimidate a much shorter woman. It was perhaps the most embarrassing gaffe ever seen in the televised public debate. In new york city, the initial reports say voting has been brisk, turnout high. As the polls open on election day, clinton has surged to a tenpoint lead. Meanwhile in wamego, kansas, a massive manhunt is under way as the dea tracks a fugitive drug lord. So now it turned into a manhunt reminiscent of the fugitive. Over 50 local and national Law Enforcement officers scour the countryside. We were out there for a long time, checking people, walking through neighborhoods looking. The deas november 7th takedown of pickards lsd empire began months earlier when todd skinner turned informant. Todd skinner was also from a very wealthy family, and he had convinced his mother to buy this decommissioned missile silo as a front to produce springs for their Spring Company in oklahoma that his mother owned. Instead it was turned into an underground palace for drug experimentation and sex and that type of stuff. He spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. He put italian marble floors in the missile silo. They had a lot of exotic animals in there. Todd skinner was kind of known throughout the community as a real flamboyant fellow. He was very unusual. Living out there at the missile base, there was curiosity as to what went on out there. Skinner was arrested. He contacted dea headquarters through his attorney to try and get an immunity agreement, and he ended up as an informant against pickard. 18 hours after pickard escapes from authorities, Law Enforcement gets a tip from a farmer about four miles away. We started going door to door through town, walking to neighborhoods, talking to people. Then a few miles southwest of the town of wamego, a local farmer found an individual in one of his vehicles. In florida, the polls have barely been open and the first reports of voting irregularities begin to surface. I got a call from my sister early in the morning who lived in boca raton, florida, at the time and who said i think the ballot here is very confusing. I just looked at it and looked at it and looked at it. It took me about 10 to 15 minutes to try to make sure i voted for al gore. We didnt have a name for it at that point, but it was called the butterfly ballot. They had that socalled butterfly ballot where a lot of people presumably voted for al gore, but the way it was actually done they voted for pat buchanan. There was nothing we could do about it. I went to the garage. I walk over and founhim in my truck. I politely asked him, what the hell are you doing in my truck. The first rule of being a viking. Is that teamwork is important. Remember to do the little things. Help each other out. And the second rule of being a viking. Theres more than one way to win. Vikings war of clans play free now. Im dara brown. The chicago cubs are headed to the world series. Were going to win this election, and were going to win the future for american families. There were so many headlines that could have come out of november 7th. The death of a senate candidate, a governor, by itself that would have been a huge story. Obviously, we thought we would have a president. Thats a pretty big headline. Hillary clinton, that she put her hat in the ring to run for senate from new york, but then the biggest story can no longer can become the biggest story in a matter of seconds. As the election dominates the headlines, the manhunt for drug fugitive William Leonard pickard stretches into its 18th hour. Law enforcement receives a tip off. I had no idea that i would be involved. When we got through eating dinner, i went to the garage. I walk over and found him in my truck. And i politely asked him, what the hell are you doing in my truck. And he wanted to go to manhattan. I said, yeah, i can take you to manhattan, but i have to tell my wife. Instead of talking to her, i talked to the police and they immediately came out. Well, this fugitive took off running when he heard the police cars siren. But this time it was a flat field. One of them raced in the vehicle and cut him off, and finally he threw his hands up and said,