'Time' Reporter Reviews Top Stories of 2000
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The beginning of the new year is a time to look forward and a time to look back at the year that just ended. Joining us now from New York is "Time" magazine writer Frank Pelligrini. He is joining us to talk about the magazine's top news stories of the year 2000. Frank, good morning, happy new year to you.</s>FRANK PELLIGRINI, "TIME" REPORTER: Happy new year to you, Daryn.</s>KAGAN: Let's get right to it. We are going to kind of cut this list to the top five. First, start with the Human Genome Project. This seemed like big scientific news. But ever here, as did a big deal about this at CNN, it didn't seem to take the public's imagination.</s>PELLIGRINI: No, it was sort of a -- it was kind of a one-shot deal, when the race was over, the race was over. But this is something -- I mean, you is have to draw the distinction between stories that capture the imagination, and that really effect mankind. And this is one of those stories that is going to be coming back and back in our world over and over again. It was really an example of how the private sector and the government can compete and work together and make some real scientific leaps that really will change the way we look at ourselves for centuries to come.</s>KAGAN: On to a story that could change under a Bush administration, that is what is happening with Microsoft.</s>PELLIGRINI: We are not sure if he is going to wade right into that case. But certainly, this was the biggest antitrust case since AT&T; and since Standard Oil before that, and this is a historic moment in the new economy, and technological revolution that we've had. And I tend to think that he will probably leave it alone for a while, but we've had a precedent here that we are going to remember for quite some time.</s>KAGAN: That will actually tie in to number 2, but first, number 3, probably what, at the time, we thought was going to be the biggest story of the year, and that was Elian Gonzalez; that seems like 10 years ago by now.</s>PELLIGRINI: It was ages ago in familiar state. But that was a story that, really, it was a soap opera for all of us. I don't think it really affected anyone across the country, but it was an object of fascination. The way Al Gore handled it may have actually cost him Florida in the end, or at least that's one of the many things that may have cost him Florida in the end.</s>KAGAN: On to the economy, the Nasdaq, the markets, and the economy, as I said, boy, talk about what a difference a year makes.</s>PELLIGRINI: Yes, that was the bursting of the bubble. This is a lot of people, a lot of money came out of a lot of pockets this year. This was the end of the dream, in terms of the free money, the free venture capital, the free stock prices going up, where all you have to do was buy low and stock would go through the roof. And now we are back to reality, and it has been quite an instructive year when it comes to the way we invest and the way we think about investing.</s>KAGAN: And then, finally, of course, this must have been easy in editorial meetings what the top story of the year was, it had to be the presidential election.</s>PELLIGRINI: Yes, a no-brainer, not the national crisis it was billed to be for a while, but certainly a great show, a great 24-hour story for 36 days. And this was the election that we weren't sure if anybody really cared about, and suddenly we had another month, and it became such an object of fascination. And it is something that hasn't happened in 124 years, and yet we found ourselves with centuries old problem, in a modern era that was didn't -- we were surprised to find the problems that we found this year.</s>KAGAN: Frank Pelligrini, when actually we buy the magazine, what are we going to see that is different, that we haven't read about?</s>PELLIGRINI: Well, we got a whole package on the end of the new economy this week. This is your time to figure out what to do with your money next year.</s>KAGAN: We can all use a little bit of help on that. Frank Pelligrini, from "Time" magazine, thank you very much. Happy new year. Thanks for stopping by on the holiday.</s>PELLIGRINI: Happy new year to you. My pleasure.