juror and i think that's the the hope to trump hangs onto that he at least reaches somebody who ends up city in that jury. >> do you think that he will be found guilty in this trial? >> i shutter if he doesn't get found guilty because i think that sends a message that if you're in power, you can try anything to stay in power this federal case is one of four criminal trials. the former president has been seeking to delay, but just days ago, manhattan judge, threw out a motion to dismiss the charges in the case involving thank hush. money payments during the 2016 campaign, that trial is now set to begin march 25. thanks for watching the whole story

need powerful, rich individual goals and companies. and when they donate 25,000, 100,000, 1 million, they want a favor or tan it should be obvious that that's corrupt, but with a wink and nod, political deals to the bribery line every single day. and we may never have noticed that if a certain illinois governor hadn't flung back the curtain within

unrepentant ego, a political corruption crime spree in a set of the unprecedented audio recordings that shined a bright light on the inner workings of american political power. ladies and gentlemen meet rod blagojevich >> it was early morning because i used to get up every morning and turn on the 06:00 news. then, you know, like you can to wake him up and then you're like, whoa wait, what >> oh, outside of a boy of inches house, but they got cameras. they got cars then, they march amount and that's a governor joe. >> breaking news. the illinois governor, rod blagojevich,

charged with plotting to sell barack obama's former senate seat >> remember this guy? he sure hopes he do. governor rod blagojevich went down in a blaze of infamy for one of the largest political corruption scandals of our time. >> the governor was allegedly trying to sell the illinois senate seat vacated by president elect obama. in fact, part of the governor sales pitch, who's at the seat still had that new obama smell >> appointing someone to the senate is a rare opportunity. >> when the will of the >> people is swapped wholesale for a gubernatorial power trip will go up, which had the sole authority to place whomever he wanted straight into the halls of the us senate. and he was not shy about wanting a little something in return. >> with the >> fbi recording his phone calls for the first time since nixon, the public was able to listen in on raw back room politics and there's nothing quite like hearing it from the horse's mouth the criminal

complaint quotes blagojevich's saying the senate seat was a valuable thing. you just don't give it away for nothing. >> another quote, i've got this thing and it's bleeping golden i've got this thing >> go >> and i'm just not given an off >> i've got this thing and it's gold. yeah >> i'm not just giving it up for nothing >> was there a second then there? >> racking up a staggering 24 criminal charges. governor blagojevich's actions essentially boiled down to four things extortion, bribery corruption, and wire fraud. >> and it wasn't just about the senate seat we're going which was also found guilty of extorting a children's hospital. you can't write this stuff. >> he's an arrogant punk who thinks that he's bulletproof. well, he's not he was convicted on 18 total charges and sentenced to 14 years, the longest sentence ever handed down to a governor >> people

>> loathe logo image for the way he politics, but was what he did. so blatantly criminal because the truth is that the line between what's illegal and what's allowable as much much murkier than we'd like to thank. >> this is where the rod will go. even story gets interesting. >> let me reassert to all of you, wants more that i am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing. >> was rod a corrupt politician or just a politician operating in a corrupt system that's still thrives to this day >> so, governor, thanks for doing this. thank you. so >> you've been out of prison now for almost two years, little over two years. and you're still very outspoken about how you feel like the case against you was unjust there isn't really an argument about what you said, right? it's on tape. the question is whether it was illegal and whether it was morally wrong >> look, if you're saying do we have a fundraising system in america that you could argue is

legalized bribery. i think there's truth to that. but did i do anything other than that standard that every other person in politics does. from president biden on down i did the same as them and nothing worse. there is this real problem in american politics today. where prosecutors are weaponizing themselves, criminalizing routine and legal practices and government, politics. and i think it's wrong when they do to bill clinton. it's wrong. i think when they did it to president trump because i have strong views on that and i know it was wrong when they did it to me >> okay. well, that's one factor let's talk about the chicago in illinois system because you're hardly the first governor and history unit in recent history to go to prison what's the situation here that causes this to happen? >> well, i think it's time honored here and there's a long history in chicago politics, illinois politics were pretty much everybody gets rich chicago politics it's like go into a paper. when you go

fishing, like give, you are a prosecutor, you cannot be in illinois play and not get something. >> illinois is steeped in a rich history of political corruption that dates back a century to the prohibition era when bootlegging gangster such as al capone bought off politicians and police departments, keeping them drunk on power and also just drunk and rides lifetime illinois has developed a rap sheet that any mobster would be proud of. >> more than 1,700 convicted shins for corruption, including nearly 30 chicago alderman, eight state legislators to us congressmen. and before rod came onto the scene, three governor in an odd way, the very people who should hate the idea of corruption or kind of proud that this is al capone, illinois chicago is a winking nod town it's a shotgun, a beer town >> a lot of it has to do with family relationships because a lot of the political leadership pippin, chicago and illinois or

family related, there's the daily family. madigan. all of these families sort of become part of this mafia. a political mafia. and they're the ones who make the rules i didn't come from that. i had to marry into it and met a girl 6 march 1988 she was wearing a red dress and she happened to be the daughter of a old-fashioned chicago political ward boss she's my wife, patti, we fell in love >> paddy will go evich is a loyal wife. she is a tough customer and she's the daughter of dick male. she's complicated that budding relationship between those two is how rod goes from this. nobody politically finding a way to embed himself >> into one of these big political families in chicago. they had so much power i don't think it was some great surprise that like, you know, when it comes time to meet the parents that dich mal was the father-in-law and powerful city

council chieftain in a shrine to work together to participate city back together. so they'll all part of it very offline, afraid. >> dick mill was a guy who always had her voice in the backrooms. he was a powerbroker in that kind of chicago classic sense before politics, it was a nice relationship, but for the most part, respectful. and then because i was in the family and i was actually pretty good at helping her dad. local politics, knocking on doors and trying to get him votes. there was an opportunity to run for office in rod blagojevich. mel could see a guy that eventually if he doesn't write, i could sort of pass the mantle toward rod was an immediate hit with illinois voters who sent him first at a state house in 1992 and then to the us congress. in 1996. >> dig mill says, i can see you being governor and i gotta be honest, i'm sure if i'm looking at it from dig males position, he's saying, man, if i can elect this guy governor, i can run the whole state to

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family, did he had a real working class chip on his shoulder and his two heroes, we're elvis and richard nixon, both because they >> were guys who came from the wrong side of their tracks and fought their way up. and we're kind of distain by the elites in fact, if those two gritty 20th century icons fought their way into a single person, you might actually end up with rod blagojevich for better >> and for worse? >> the rod blagojevich that i first met was youthful he was energetic. he had this kind of maine, a black hair that was super thick and you can tell it just filled with hair product >> the hair. >> so i conic and its own right that it became a comedy staple on every late night show up >> that's also wearing a to pay >> it's huge infatuation with all this presley >> his charisma was disarmed

but the. elvis of illinois was >> itching to lose his colonel parker because despite the many benefits of dick mills patronage rod was still in his shadow. >> he really became known as dick mills, son-in-law, first and i know he hated that. he didn't know how to both be his own man and not let dick nell overshadow. >> the only way for rod to survive outside of his father-in-law's machine was to create his own cash flow. so his first step was to hire two of chicago's most bare knuckle political fundraisers chris kelly and tony rescue chris, kelly and tony roscoe could generate big bucks. they were fundraisers, they were donors. >> you know, let's just call them what they were there were influence peddlers. >> they wound up >> being able to shake the bushes here and help rod raise money they promised access and favors if blagojevich's one and

they got results, were dick mills, good old boys would fetch $2,000 at a time. kelly and rascoe would shake loose 50 grant all that money plus rods appeal to voters who had felt ignored by the entrenched chicago political dynasties well, it proved to be an unstoppable combination he ran on some >> things that were uniquely important to black people and health care for kids is a good idea when he said free rides for seniors on public transportation, that resonated with black people specifically blagojevich's became governor in 2003. >> graduations governor may god bless how do you view your time as governor apart from the >> scandals, how do i say this in a way where i don't sound like a guy without any humility but i truly believe i was a great governor. i can't think of any governor in my life that

did anything for anybody i knew. they can walk around and say, you know what? thank you. governor, my daughter had health care through you, free public transportation for seniors and disabled? i did that because they raised the sales tax, which hurts working people and poor people and seniors with the legislature raising taxes that hit lower-income illinois ions hardest and rods striking back with policies to offset that, it's no surprise that his populist >> agenda made him a lot of enemies amongst the big political families to the people in the masses. he was on our team and to the aristocracy into the political elites. he was this guy that was taking their resources and giving him to the peasants. and so he became robin hood >> i knew the reality that i'm going to have resistance from the old guard, the old ward bosses, the vatican's daily to some extent my father-in-law. and so the goal was raised money now and raise a lot of it. so that you can afford to make enemies and you can afford to lose support, right? >> but some of these people that you were relying on like

chris, kelly, were were corrupt right >> it turned out that chris had problems in >> his own personal business and he was found guilty of those things. doesn't do with me, but like a lot of the people in the world of fundraising or not necessarily, they are not upstanding individual there now. yeah. no, they're not >> what's the saying? ignorance is not a defense. >> tony rascoe and chris kelly started compiling this list of different entities that were stay contractors and hit all of those people up for money, probably with rods assistance. hey, you got to contract. you want to keep it? >> were you >> want to get more. you've got to pony up a lot of people in play have scalpel like tendencies when they fundraise. >> and >> rod was probably more of a meat cleaver kelly and rascoe, we're using government levers to squeeze anyone they could for a campaign contribution kickbacks like a cushy job or a fat contract. a little light extortion such as holding up

teachers funds. they had deep pockets to fill and a financial machine to do it. >> you can't trade official actions as a governor can exchange for campaign contributions or jobs. i mean, there is one simple word for that it's called graft. >> graft is simply the use of political power and authority in exchange for personal gain the state, the obvious, appointing unqualified people to stay positions because you want to use the government as a vending machine for your political campaign? that's completely illegal. the mo was to make money from every state petitioner possible and small-town hospital ceo, pam davis, looked like just another easy mark. in this case, the >> whole shakedown process is recorded by the hospital executive who is getting shaken down >> oh god, i've never wire i don't care the governor really

wasn't on my radar at all until i experienced an extortion attempt through one of his colleagues. >> pam's hospital system wanted to build a new facility in plainfield, illinois. seems pretty straightforward, but there were red flags right away when she went to get government approval for the project. >> in my case, the governor had appointed individuals to this board we're either contributed money to his campaign. so they bought their way on, or individuals that were controlled by the governor and other individuals and would approve for only those projects where a check back was going to be given. >> turns out the board was willing to approve the hospital. all she had to do was use builders and lenders who were in their pocket and pad the contract. so the board could take let's call it a transaction fee for their trouble it became clear to me that this was a major extortion attempt and i was furious. so i called the fbi the fed set her

up with a wire so they could listen in on her meetings with board members and get the dirt straight from the source >> she'd be meeting with these players and they would be basically laying out the whole scheme to her the contract would be padded by roughly $10 million. so that that money would go then to the various players. at one point, i decided, i wonder if this goes up to the governor because the governor appointed it's these individuals to the various boards >> the feds were wondering the same thing over the course of their investigation. they're suspicious gins proved to be spot on via headline or las vegas that's what i want to do. >> it's unlike anywhere else in the world >> vegas, the story of sin city next sunday at ten on cnn it's

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get a free line of unlimited intro for a year when you buy one unlimited line. plus, get the new samsung galaxy s24 on us. sp two to 31 1231. now the lead with jake tapper, cnn with days of four out. >> of, the public eye rods fundraising goons, chris, kali and tony rascoe felt safe to strong arm money from donors across illinois. but unbeknownst to them, the fbi was following their every move as part of a far-reaching corruption investigation into the blagojevich's administration as the money rolled in, their role in rods administration only group which had his father-in-law, dich mal feeling as though he'd been served divorce papers. is dick mill famously said he got replaced by a trophy wife or trophy wives. those were the people who are getting the love that he should have gotten and

wasn't getting >> we all noticed you got here because of dig male rod says i got my own team and so don't talk to dig male. not only does he not do what you want to do, but he say don't talk to my boss. i'm the boss map. well, dig mill any fill a net and dig male is not the type to be like. so mad talk to privately now wears his heart on his sleeve, his anger on his sleeve he can love you today. and if you start hating you tomorrow we can pull the switch just like that >> and mel becomes more and more resentful of being cast aside. and so that fueled this tension in that family to the point where it eventually exploded that explosion came in 2005. and though it may not have aired on reality tv, it was still inextricably linked to garbage >> robin oakley, which flows down this landfill, which dich mal was a part owner of rod

said that this was for environmental issues. >> what did he want you to do? >> leave it alone. and i had learned that it was operating in violation of environmental laws. i had knowledge of that. ultimately, i decided i had a duty that i had to shut it down and then he made some accusations that really unleash the furies. dick mild called a press conference and basically accused robin boyd, which have selling borden commission seats within state the government that will set a falling out with a son-in-law. the governor has a family at war so your father-in-law, dick male, >> accused chris kelly of selling political favors for campaign contributions of 25 to $50,000 at a time. tell me about where were you when you heard that he was leveling this accusation? >> he remembers vividly it was early january of 2005, and this was the consequence of be shutting down his landfill the very next day, he called a press conference, that he was

clever enough to accuse chris kelly, not directly mean, but that's me i don't think he envisioned that it would turn into something that would also be land me in prison. but i know he did this to hurt me politically and caused me problems with the fbi. >> males allegations backed rod into a corner, giving the fbi room to prosecute his inner circle until in 2008, the fed secured a secret wiretap on the governor himself. feeling the squeeze rods started looking for some kind of escape route. and then a golden opportunity landed right in his lap >> at this the fight moment change has come to america >> now that senator barack obama is president elect, barack obama, someone will have to take over his senate seat this is the governor's decision it is not my decision. the criteria that i would have for my successor would be the same criteria that i'd have if i were a moment. senator >> obama becomes president obama. he resigns his senate

seat. according to the law here in illinois. you as the governor get to name his replacement now, you're excited about this and you say on tape, i'd like to get the god of here and you're talking about options for yourself, is that i mean, i'd like to get out of here. you are sick of being governor. >> that's absolutely the things i was saying. of course, and i was looking at all kinds of options so he attempted to trade obama's seat for a golden parachute >> he begins to be heavily courted by all sorts of people who would love to be that you are hi, senator. >> they saw something really valuable here. a very valuable bargaining chip that could elevate his power in some way or benefit them monetarily when i said i wanted to get the fit here is because those fbi people and my prosecutors will all over me and it's the sort of thing when that stuff's >> thrown around you, you know, that stuff swirling around, you. and it's there, it's everywhere and it was just very clear to me did they will

determine to get me no matter what, i guess one question i have is knowing that they were looking at you. why did you talk about this stuff that way? >> look, i had 2896 days in prison to ask myself 1,000 questions, including that. but you know what, what what's the alternative? i have all my staff and lawyers, we all go to saunas and get naked and talk to each other son. he's got wires on them. >> know what's the order or you just don't say anything where you just say like this seat is very important and we want to make sure the best person gets it. and separately, i am thinking that i'd like to not be governor of illinois anymore. >> well said. >> i don't make a habit of telling politicians how to avoid jail time. >> but here's the thing. being more cautious could have gotten rod everything he wanted and kept him out of prison. but caution is not really in rods dna i've got this thing and

i'm just not given up. nothing >> he had known a taping, you can say that outlet right. >> breaking news, the illinois governor charged with plotting to sell barack obama's former senate seat, illinois governor rod let go if it was arrested tuesday morning by federal authorities in charge with corruption i >> do you note china gets you doubt why >> why? >> next, on a new episode, scandal, almost as daunting is actually hiking the appalachian trail. the bottom line is, i've been unfaithful it's even messier than you thought. >> in knighted states of scandal with jake tapper. new episode next on cnn headline or las vegas that's what i want to do. >> it's unlike anywhere else in the world

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less than $20, go to deal dash.com and see how much you can save king charles wins, they get on cnn >> a day after being arrested on corruption charges, illinois governor ron will goya walked out of his house and headed back to one park all in all, rod blagojevich was facing 24 charges connected to for specific events. the attempted sale of >> obama senate seat, withholding legislation that would benefit a children's hospital and race track in an attempt to get political contribution and the attempted extortion of a highway contractor >> i personally think he should at least step aside if not resign. >> my husband is an honest man. and i know that he's innocent. >> he thought that he had the moral high ground. >> do you think the cloud that hangs over you is gonna take your pin? >> i don't believe there's any

now that things are getting back to that. i think there's none of its sunshine hanging over me. he didn't >> show any of the humility or anything. you just can't stick your finger in the eye of the federal government let me reassert to all of you wants more that i am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing, then i'm confident that at the end of >> the day, i will be properly exonerate. >> i represented route boy in two of his criminal trials. i mean, he wanted to fight his case. he believed he was innocent and he was working to that end to try and prove his innocence. anyone who believes that this was a selling of some senate seat doesn't understand politics every single day. in politics thanks. that is what happens is this horse trading. and if you really listen to this in context, what you heard was talking with various people, getting annoyed, talking about nonsense. and then the end, nothing really that was ever act. and

>> later, rod blagojevich, his lawyers would argue that what ron did specifically with the senate seat was no worse than when president eisenhower appointed earl warren as chief justice of the supreme court back in 1952, white house eisenhower is about to win the nomination to become the republican president. earl warren, the governor of california's withholding the delegations votes. governor warren tells eisenhower, i'll deliver the delegation for you on one condition. i want to be the next chief justice of the supreme court. i, the great war hero, shakes hands, says, you gotta deal. he wins one year later, earl warren is the chief justice the united states supreme court >> rod wanted a political appointment from obama. and for that, he was prepared to trade obama's old senate seat, which is actually legal otherwise eisenhower would have gone to jail and americans would not have liked ike do you see yourself as somebody who was just trying to function and perhaps an inherently corrupt but legal system and that

theoretically almost any politician could be snagged the way you were. >> absolutely of course i do. except i'm giving me higher marks because i was using that money that and power gave me to fight an established system that served itself on the backs of the people. and when you do that, you a lot of people off. any want to get ready yet, but do you think that you're earth hear about it like more? outspoken about it? >> well, i wasn't hiding any of it, but these were day because it's legal and that's how you govern. abraham lincoln was able to get the 13th amendment passed in congress, which ratified the emancipation proclamation, freeing slaves. he had to make political deals with members of congress to get the votes to pass it. that's how you get things done >> you're not comparing yourself to it by no means. please say that i'm not competing for the page brock much a lot taller than me and i never did anything is greatest. you're also not talking about them. i mean, emancipation course, i'm not governable a boy which tried to sell the appointment to the senate seat vacated by president elect obama. the conduct would make

blinken rollover in his grave you're very critical of pat fitzgerald >> he's an evil guys are wicked guys as council, and he deserves to get an kicking. and he's a big coward. anyway, go ahead. >> well, i think he would take issue with everything you just said. he has a reputation for being acquire boy for being you know, when upstanding moral person, he sees himself as i am trying to uphold some basic standards for our politicians. >> that's how he views governable goya, which has been arrested in the middle of what we can only describe as a political corruption, crime spree >> we had a political and public narrative that we had to overcome. and when the entire potential jury pool believes that your client is guilty before they've even heard the evidence. you're going into the trial, like if it's a basketball game, you're losing 100 to nothing or it's like if you're a governor and you're getting impeached 114 to one.

and the lone vote and rods favor his sister-in-law, deb mel down from office and eager to prove he was not a crook rod knew exactly where to plead his case >> please. welcome to the program >> governor ron ligo evich you are a charming dude with the best that i hear. i'd ever i want this to be real, that some challenges ahead, but i'm going to trust in the truth and is it says in the bible, the truth shall >> set you free, ride, look away just caps. talking. >> oh, are you want to get tv come on in >> i think he was able to warm himself a little bit with the public, better to be seen as a klutz than a crock. >> sure. >> everyone >> loves a good laugh, but over saturating the takao circuit may have had unintended consequences. as david letterman told right? proud when he appeared on the late show in 2009, the more you talked and the more you repeated your innocence, the more i said to myself, oh, this guy's guilty so during the

period from your impeachment to your trial and you're sentencing or you did a lot of media appearances. what was the strategy behind that? >> my feeling was, look, i didn't do any of that stuff. and what does somebody do? it was being lied about. but you have a tremendous desire to get onto the highest mountain and yell out. i didn't do it with letterman said that the louder you yelled at, the more it made him think you were guilty yeah. >> i mean, i didn't convince him, but i think i convinced donald trump. that's how i got invite has leveraged premise, right >> i have great respect for your tenacity for the fact that you just don't give up but rod, your fire >> what i saw over the course of rods career was a guy who started off as kind of a charming rogue and a guy who really did give voice to concerns that people had to someone who became almost a parody of themselves. and by the time that trial came around

he really was his own worsening enemy. >> you've got he thought that the court of public opinion could save him what he had disturbed forces that decided it was around for you? don't hope the beds fell, just don't do it >> to be a headline. wars vegas >> that's what i wanted. >> they had the biggest entertainers in america >> vegas's always marketed itself on its naughtiness and the only way you find out what you can't do is if you do it it's unlike anywhere else in the world, >> vegas, the story of sin city thanks, sunday at ten on cnn >> sorry, throat got your mucinex is the suits or throat medicated drops. you need they formulated for rapid relief that lasts and lasts get mucinex instance su it's come

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but. >> i, get brought a verdict today in a notorious case that federal prosecutors did not want to hear. rod blagojevich was convicted today on only one count >> when the jury was hung in all but one of the charges against boko, a, and without unanimous consent, the result was a mistrial on the remaining 23 charges the jerry like a lot of people to this day just could not agree on whether what he'd done was actually illegal in that first trial, the jury deadlocked on everything except for lying to the fbi if convicted of lying, the fbi do technology lied to the fbi? no. no. >> i don't. i'll tell you about it was about how much of your associates that were fundraising for you, the degree to which you knew what they were doing? >> yeah, it was issue as i said, i didn't as a practice track fundraising. and who got contracts? i didn't i didn't look into who got contracts. i

wasn't interested in. i 27,000 contributors. i wasn't tracking who gave me money, who got what >> the first trial was too confusing for the jury. and they had a lot of paper documents. it was a lot of witness testimony governor. >> thanks for this to begin. i feel great >> what the government did in the second trial is they pare down their, their case and they believe that everything was in the tapes and they needed to make this trial lot simpler. >> right. but you understand it's very important for me to make a lot of money. i need the independents i need freedom it swearing a lot the whole world pass me by and i'm stuck in a job as governor now. and upset and not >> appreciative of the position that he had i got to catapult by going to shoot at age 90 dead senate seat >> and i think that was more influential in the jury's decision then anything. it made him look bad.

>> breaking news right now, we're jury has reached a decision convicting blagojevich on 17 counts of corruption wire fraud, bribery, attempted storage, and solicitation of a bribe, racketeering, conspiracy to commit bribery, and conspiracy to commit extortion >> rhomboid, which was convicted on almost all counts and sentenced to 14 years >> adding i this they are very disappointed in the outcome i'm i frankly am stunned >> when did you realize oh. i might actually be going to prison from the beginning. really >> i knew as a dead man really, yeah. why? because they have so much power, resources, and, you know, it wasn't really surprised when i got 14 years justification to the judge was you treated this like a golden globe boxing match? but i shows corrupt liars are lucky. dueling was outlawed because i had a challenge him to adore rapists and murderers get so much less time. that's why this system is so long and so broken.

>> let me offer you an alternate theory. sure. my alternate theory is that the entire system of justice that we have in this country depends on prosecutors and police who are incentivized to get convictions period. what do you think of that? >> well, i think you're almost right i never took a penny gnomon says i did. i keep saying that because it's so important. i mean, i don't want people to thank that i was some one of these corrupt politicians that was taking cash but remember, even though he never actually got that envelope full of money, that was because the feds closed in before the senate deal was done. the offers being considered campaign contributions or a lucrative job in a non-profit? >> the fact of accepting them that would have been simply illegal, hence, the charge of conspiracy to commit bribery which he was definitely guilty of rods argument is no cash changed hands. but prior to that, there had been plenty of money changing hands. there's

ample evidence these government positions, these government contracts, they were effectively for saying it does not matter if rod blagojevich actually won the argument and got the money for the donations he was seeking. it's the ask if something goof sit up, but the burglary or the robberies interrupted. it doesn't make it less of an intended burglary robbery he had his day in court that 14 years was what the system gave him >> so you went to prison for almost eight years, 2896 days and let me tell you what gets you through prison when you have to face something like that, it's love and its faith love my daughters and my wife, you know, when i was arrested within days, the vagus as makers had nine to one that she was leaving so in that sense, i've been so lucky and blessed after he was sent to prison, padding for claimed his

innocence, and she did try and go to any leader that >> she could find to have him either pardoned or commuted. >> and when all else failed, patty blagojevich's knew exactly who to appeal to next next on a new episode of scandal, almost as daunting is actually hiking the appalachian trail. the bottom line is, i've been unfaithful flower it's even messier than you thought. >> united states of scandal with jake tapper, new episode next on cnn, gayle king and charles barkley are shaking things up on cna. >> thank you. >> us tonight. >> i'll give opinion i'll be opinionated. >> do you make your comment about the warriors last night? i don't believe everything you read on the internet, king charles, wednesday at ten on cnn >> alexis show alternate routes technology that's written for the road ahead >> but lexis in x that's how

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ less than $20, go to he'll dash.com and see how much you can save >> vegas. the story of sin city next sunday at ten on cnn after rod goes to prison patty was essential in keeping their life

together >> more than anything else, maybe she got in donald trump's year trump had a connection with the garbage because rod was on the apprentice and patty by goya, which was on fox news every day you know, we know that >> president trump is a kind man thanks compassionate. he's always been kind of my family. >> and when you speak on fox news, you have a direct connection with donald trump >> today, the president's sprung from prison former illinois governor rod blagojevich's was convicted after attempting his own quid pro quo. >> yes. we have commuted the sentence of rod. i watched his wife on television, quote i watched his wife on television. yes. and cooke how did how did that have been? >> i think he just saw he would tell me he liked the fact that i was fighting back. i remember saying something like friends that goes for what you're going through and earn a corner. they can't even move and you're out there throwing punches i think he liked that. i'm so grateful to him sometimes things happen

in life or god intervenes in the most unbelievable ways. >> trump blagojevich, fox news i'm not sure how much god played a role in any of this. when rod came home from prison after eight years, his daughters had grown up how are your relationships with them? >> they're good. i'm i'm getting to know them. are family was broken for a long time the difficulties that i talked about with my father-in-law, those are heartbreaking because in spite of everything, i love him and he's been good to me so many ways. and, you know it's been a tough road for my wife. our lives could've been so much simpler, so much better >> understandably, ride looks back on the time away from his family with regret, not for what he did, of course, but that he was sent to prison in the first place. but what else would you expect from rod? >> i am a political prisoner. i was wouldn't prison for practicing your plot prisoner, seeing also mandela was a political prison. political prisoners have no due process.

i was thrown in present and spent nearly eight years in prison for practicing politics for seeking campaign contributions without a quid pro quo, you do have an obligation to at least admit what you did wrong and he refused to do that in your creating a whole new alternate universe of facts and that may be big in politics today, but it's still frankly, just >> a reporter asked you if you wanted to say sorry to the people of illinois and you said sorry for what? do you still feel that way? >> very much so i've done a lot wrong criminal, none. >> you and your defenders argue that the persecution, prosecution of you is about the criminalization of politics. in other words, there is horse trading that goes on in politics. >> you do >> me this favor. i'll do you this favor and that's all you were doing and that it's legal. but they made it out to be illegal. >> first of all, it's not illegal. you can argue whether we should improve our laws. that's a valid thing. i would

think there's otter wound to improve the fundraising laws but that's not illegal at all and it's a common practice. now, ultimately, after i've been in prison for four years, the appellate court reverses that big lie of the sale of the senate seat. and they said it's routine political log rolling and look, that's partially true. the court did vacate the conviction related to obama's senate seat, but they never said he did nothing wrong. the court said there was a jury instruction issue and they upheld the remaining 13 counts. >> so >> contrary to his claim, he has not been exonerated and for the love of elvis, we can only hope that rods crimes are not routine if there is a big lie, it's that he's a victim, especially since every other charge was upheld, including the extortion of a children's hospital gandhi, he this isn't some sort of mystery gosh, i didn't know. i had no idea. it's so gray really.

>> i think most of us >> have some guts sense of when we're beginning to get in trouble. >> i don't leave a has ever done any reflection on right and wrong extorting a hospital, never occurred to him that that might harm the citizens that he was elected to protect he has no ability to look at anything but himself. that's it. that's it. >> what's the worst thing that can be said about you? that's accurate in your view. other than you were stupid to say that stuff share. >> look, >> i've been accused of being a narcissist am i plead to a misdemeanor on there. okay >> i think my judgment of some people was way off. i think i should have been a lot more vigilant and see some of the warning signs. i knew they were aggressively out there raising money and i didn't slow it down because i wanted to raise the campaign money i could have

been more vigilant on that in retrospect. >> oh close, but no cigar whether or not rod trusted the wrong people, he set them loose on illinois because they brought him the most money. whether the rules on political fundraising or flimsy guardrails the best you can still drive between the lines. it's arrives tail is a cautionary wanna camera grabbing over the top example of how bribery, extortion can in graft easily sneak into our political system behind ambition and enormous egos. and if politicians or the public feel the same way he does, then another rod blagojevich is just around the corner >> anyone break a law cross land or take a penny. okay. but i never said i wasn't at thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you very much >> awesome. yeah. thanks collegewide is your all right. i wish you the best we'll see