CHILEKASI ADELE: INSIDE THE NASSAU COUNTY SEAT OF MINEOLA – LIES A LOCAL NEWSPAPER… THAT PACKS A PUNCH.
GRANT LALLY: “Things can go on, and a lot of media are just oblivious to it.”
ADELE: GRANT LALLY IS THE PUBLISHER OF THE NORTH SHORE LEADER… IT’S BEEN AROUND FOR 78 YEARS… MOST PEOPLE WOULDN’T KNOW THE NAME… BUT THEY ALMOST CERTAINLY KNOW – ITS BIGGEST – SCOOP – YET.
GEORGE SANTOS: “There’s no secrets in this place! It’s amazing how you all know what goes on…”
LALLY: “And we kept on hearing strange stories about things that he was doing – or not doing, and claiming he was doing, that were clearly fake.””
ADELE: GRANT’S TALKING ABOUT GEORGE SANTOS. THE MAN EXPELLED FROM CONGRESS LAST DECEMBER – ACCUSED OF FINANCIAL WRONGDOINGS… HIS PRE-ELECTION LIES THE HEADLINES IN NEWSPAPERS ACROSS THE COUNTRYCOUNTRY, PICKED UP BY MANY. BUT BUT THE LEADER HAD THE STORY FIRST – LALLY SAW IT A MILE AWAY. (PUNCH THIS!)
LALLY: “I thought he was a complete weirdo, right from the start. I caught him lying to me within one minute of sitting down.”
ADELE: GRANT KEEPS OLD EDITIONS OF THE PAPER – HE SHOWED US MULTIPLE STORIES PUBLISHED BEFORE SANTOS’S 20-22 ELECTION – EXPOSING HIM. BUT *NO ONE* NOTICED BEFORE THAT.
LALLY: “here, you have a federal election going on – and it was essentially ignored.”
ADELE: “Those pieces of good journalism bring us to today – February 13th. Where voters in parts of Nassau County and Queens will help decide in places like this – who’s going to replace Santos. And they’re braving the elements as well.”
JOHN POLCARI: “Maybe it’s time for some change, and the only way to do that is through the voting booth.”
ADELE: JOHN POLCARI — YEAH… THE SNOW’S NOT STOPPING HIM… HE WANTS CHANGE…
POLCARI: “I think it’s time people stepped up and expressed their dissatisfaction with the way things are going”
ADELE: ONE OF THE CANDIDATES – ESTABLISHED DEMOCRAT TOM SUOZZI… WAS OUT AND ABOUT IN GLEN COVE… WAVING TO POTENTIAL VOTERS… HE PAINTS HIMSELF AS A MODERATE.
TOM SUOZZI: “I’m saying let’s change what’s happening in Washington, DC. Enough with the extremism, enough with the finger pointing”
ADELE: THE NIGHT BEFORE – HIS CHALLENGER, NASSAU COUNTY LEGISLATOR MAZI PILIP – ATTEMPTED TO RALLY THE TROOPS. SHE’S A NEWCOMER TO NATIONAL POLITICS – BUT SOMEONE WHO TALKS TOUGH.
MAZI PILIP: “Tomorrow, February 13 – you gonna remember this day, because Mazi Pilip – will knock you DOWN!”
ADELE: IN THE END – IT WAS SUOZZI THAT WAS STILL STANDING. HIS MESSAGE – ONE OF BIPARTISANSHIP.
SUOZZI: “The people are watching. They want us to start working together. So the message is very clear – either get on board, or get out of the way.”
ADELE: AND FOR PILIP – A PROMISE TO GET BACK UP… NO DEFEATIST ATTITUDE TO BE FOUND…
PILIP: “We are fighters. Yes we lost – but it doesn’t mean we are gonna end here.”
ADELE: GRANT LALLY’S PAPER ENDORSED PILIP… BUT REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME – “THE LEADER” *LED* OOOOOOOOH THE CONVERSATION…
LALLY: “We identified a fraud, and called him out a good month-plus before the election – enough time for people to start talking about it. And, in the end we were proved right – even beyond our expectations.”
ADELE: AND NOW – THIS DARK AND TURBULENT CHAPTER OF THIS CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT’S HISTORY… IS CLOSED. ON LONG ISLAND, I’M CHILEKASI ADELE… N-C-C NEWS.
