>> and all it takes is one sure. >> i think that's 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, a manhattan judge throughout emotion to dismiss the charges in the case involving hush money payments during the 2016 campaign that trial is now set to begin march 25 thanks for watching the whole story.

>> every day in every state across the country are political system is bankrolled by an army of fundraising so it's pulling in millions of dollars a race. sometimes it looks like you might imagine knocking on doors, calling every name in the phonebook. and emails, so many emails but for all those little fish throwing $100 to their local race, it's the whales. those campaign fundraisers really need powerful, rich individuals and companies. and when they donate 25,000, 100,000 million, they want a favor or ten 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 curtin within unrepentant ego, a political corruption, crime spree in a set of unprecedented audio recordings that china bright light on the inner working of american political power. ladies and gentlemen, meet rod blagojevich >> and was early morning >> because i used to >> get up every morning and turn on the sixth of cloud news then, you know, like you can awake him up and then you're like, whoa, wait, what oh, outside of a boy of inches house, they got cameras, they got cars. >> and then they march amount annuli. >> 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 is 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 have a chad, 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 backroom 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 away for nothing. another quote, i've got this thing and it's bleeping golden. >> i've got this thing and i'm just not given an out. >> i've got this thing and it's in gold. yeah >> i'm not just giving it up for nothing >> was there a second? then >> they're 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 will go to his also found guilty of extorting of hospital. you can't write this stuff. >> he is an arrogant thanks that, you know, he's mullet proof. 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 low with the goya 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 murkier than we'd like to thank this is where the rod will go of its 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, right? 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. we're 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, the 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 in history, even 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

going a paper. when you go fishing, like give you are prosecutor, you cannot be in illinois and not get something illinois 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 convictions for corruption, including nearly 30 chicago alderman, eight state legislators to us congressmen. and before rod came onto the scene, three governors 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 wink and nod town. it's a shot and a beer town >> a lot of it has to do with

family relationships because a lot of the political leadership in 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. i've met a girl in 6 march 1988. she was wearing a red dress and she happened to be the daughter of a old-fashioned chicago political ward boss. and she's my wife, patti. we fell in love patti 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 kind of 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 when it comes time to meet the

parents, that dick mel was the father-in-law and powerful city council chieftain in a shrine to work together to for disgraced city back together. so they're all part of it. all for free. >> 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 male could see a guy that eventually if he doesn't write, i could sort of passed the mantle toward rod was an immediate >> hit with illinois voters who sent him first to the 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 be a headline wars vegas >> that's what i want to do. >> they had the biggest entertainers in america >> vegas's always >> marketed itself on its naughtiness the only way you find out what you can do is if you do it it's unlike anywhere else in the world. >> vegas, the story of sin city if sunday at ten on cnn >> and my simple world, there are only three things that matter. and human beings. first, that would be kind, kind second, that'd be honest. and third, that would be hard work is very simple we're every are in the world when you come to

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>> 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 could 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 >> so wearing a to 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. >> you know, he really became known as dick mills, son-in-law, first. and i know we hated that >> he didn't know how to both be his own man and not let dick nell overshadowed would 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, they were

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 grand. 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. health care for kids is a good idea when he said free rides for seniors on public transportation that resume yet with black people specifically, laguardia, which 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 that 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 it lower-income illinois ian's hardest and rod 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 mass as he was on our team and to the aristocracy into the political elites. he was this guy that was taking their resource this is in 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 for to lose support, right? >> but some of these people that you were relying on, like chris, kelly, were were karanth, right turned out that chris had problems in his own personal entries 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 where you want to get more. you've got to pony up a lot of people in play have scalpel like tendencies men, 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 so machine to do it. >> you can't trade official actions as a governor can exchange for campaign contributions are jobs. i mean, there's one simple word for that it's called graft >> graft is simply the use of political power and authority in exchange for personal gain to 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, another 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 who have 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 only those projects were for a kickback 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 >> he 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 appoints these individuals to the various boards. >> the feds were wondering the same thing over the course of their investigation. their suspicions proved to be spot on >> candidate john >> edwards cheated on his cancer-stricken wife, had a baby with his girlfriend, and

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hello, v0 to three-to-one, three-to-one today manu raju on capitol hill. >> andhis is cnn >> closed captioning is brought to you by audio book network. authors tell your story, produce an audio book with us. >> what earn more profits and find a new audience for your published book, produce an audio book he handle narration, production, and digital distribution, color scan, the qr code. now >> out of the public eye, rods fundraising goons, chris kelly 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 is the money rolled in, their role in rods administration only grew, which had his father-in-law, dick male feeling as though he'd been served divorce papers as dick mill famously said he got

replaced by a trophy wife or trophy wives, those were the people who were getting the love that he should have gotten and wasn't getting >> we all notice 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's don't talk to my boss. i'm the boss now, we'll dig melanie, fill in it 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, you can know 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 the 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 robber goya, which have selling borden commission seats within state governor permit. >> that was had a falling out with his son-in-law, the governor. this is a family so. >> your father-in-law, dich mal 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?

>> i remember 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. teddy was clever enough to accuse chris kelly, not directly me, 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 cause 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 defining moment change has come to america >> now that senator barack obama is president elect barack okay, obama, someone will have to take over as 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 fire were a motive >> 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 gotta here. you were 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 us 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 want to get the f ada here, it's because those fbi people and my prosecutors 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 that they were determined 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. >> no, it's the organ 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, set >> 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 >> you know, a taping, you so yet can say that out loud, right? >> breaking news, the illinois governor charged with plotting to sell barack obama's former senate seat, illinois governor rod let go well, if it was arrested tuesday morning by federal authorities in charge with corruption i do >> do you noted china gets you down why? why >> candidate john edwards cheated on his cancer-stricken wife, had a baby with his girlfriend, and then tried to pass it off as a campaign staffers kid. >> we're here your side of the story. did your intimate relationship with him begin that night? yes. how did you end

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relief. absolutely. free text sorry, w to 369369. today laura coates live tomorrow at 11 eastern on cnn a, day after being arrested on corruption charges, illinois governor rod blagojevich walked out >> of his house and headed back to work >> all in all rod blagojevich was facing 24 charges connected to for specific events, the attempted sale of obama's senate seat withholding legislation that would benefit a children's hospital and race track in an attempt to get political contributions 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 going attain your i don't believe there's any cloud that hangs over when getting back to that. can what 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 to go of it in two of his criminal trial 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 that is what happens is this horse trading. and if you really listen to this income untaxed, what you heard

was talking with various people, getting annoyed, talking about nonsense, and then the end, nothing really that was ever acted on 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, dwight eisenhower is about to win the nomination to become the republican president. errol warn, the governor of california's withholding to 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 of 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 that money and their power gave me to fight an established system that served itself on the backs of the people. and when you do that and 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. why >> wasn't hiding any of it? but these 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. and please say that i'm not competing for the patient proclamation. a lot taller than me and i never did anything is greatest. you're also not

talking about them i. mean the emancipation cross, i'm not governor >> a boy which tried to sell the appointment to the senate seat vacated by president elect obama. the conduct would make lincoln 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, co-head said, well, i think he would take issue with everything you just said, you know, he has a reputation for being acquire boy, for being 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 in the lone vote and rods favor his sister-in-law, deb mail 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 rob, the guy of itch you are a charming dude with the best that i hear, i'd ever so i want this to be real, that some challenges ahead, but i'm going to trust them the truth. and is it says in the bible, the truth shall set you free. >> ride, look away just kept talking. >> oh, are you want to get on tv? come on it. >> i think he was able to warm himself a little bit with the public, better to be seen as a klutz than occurred sure. >> everyone loves a good laugh, but over saturating the takao circuit may have had unintended consequences. as david

letterman told rod 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 for 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. a yell out. i didn't do it when letterman said that the louder you yelled at, the more it made him think you were guilty i mean, i didn't convince him, but i think i convinced donald trump. that's fine. i got invite as leverage promise, 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 we'll had to someone who became almost a parody of themselves. and by the time that trial came around, he really was his own worst enemy. we court. >> he thought that the court of public opinion, because save him what he had disturbed forces that decided it was around for you. don't poke the beds fell, just don't do it. >> this case, it's never going to be soft >> when you some answers let's do this >> we saw something finish which you started >> true, detective? night country streaming exclusively on max dark holding me back

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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 boy. 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 done was actually illegal in that first trial, the jury deadlocked on everything except for lying to the fbi, convicted of lying fbi, do you they acknowledging he lied to be fbi? no. no >> i don't i'll >> tell you about there 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 the issue was 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. who was a lot of witness testimony? >> governor for this to begin, i feel what the government did in the second trial is they paired down there their case, and they believe that everything was in the tapes and they needed to make this trial how a lot simpler. >> but you understand it's very important for me to make a lot of money i need the independents. i need freedom he was swearing a >> 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 pursue that 90 death senate seat. >> and i think that was more influential in the jury's decision than 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, attempt it's an extortion solicitation of a bribe racketeering, conspiracy to commit bribery, and conspiracy to commit extortion >> rhomboid, which was convinced acted on almost all counts and sentenced to 14 years >> adding i obviously, a very disappointed in the outcome. i frankly, i'm stunned >> when did you realize oh, i might actually be going prison from the beginning. really. >> i knew i was a dead man really. yeah, one because he has 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. shows corrupt liars are lucky. dueling was outlawed because i had to challenge them to adore rapists and murderers gets 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 they 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 taken 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 with 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 sale it does not >> matter if rod blagojevich actually won the argument and got the money or 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 did 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 for 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 bus after he was sent to prison, padding for claimed his innocence and she did try and

go to any leader her 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 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. >> in knighted states of scandal with jake tapper. new episode next on cnn >> to be a 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 >> if advanced lung cancer has you searching for possibilities, discover a different first treatment, immunotherapies work with your immune system to attack cancer, but up devo plus year-boy is the first the nation of two immunotherapies for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has

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to republican control of the senate. stop garvey. adam schiff for senate. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message. this election is about who shares your values. let me share mine. i'm the only candidate with a record of taking on maga republicans, and winning. when they overturned roe, i secured abortion rights in our state constitution. when trump attacked our lgbtq and asian neighbors, i strengthened our hate crime laws. i fought for all of us struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living. i'm evan low, and i approve this message for all of our shared values. free text dra w. 2369369. today, by more than liebermann at the pentagon. >> this 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, but goya, which was on fox news every day we know that president trump is a kind of man. he's compassionate, he's always been kind to my family. >> and when you speak on fox news, you have a direct connection with donald trump today, the president sprung from prison. former illinois governor rob blagojevich's was convicted after attempting his own quid pro quo. >> yes. we have commuted the sentence of rough i watched his wife on television quote, i watched his wife on television. yes. end quote how did how did that happen? >> i think he just saw he would tell me he liked the fact that i was fighting back. i remember saying something like a forensic goes through 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 were heartbreaking because in spite of everything, i love him and he's been good to me in so many ways. and, you know, he's going to tough road for my wife. our lives could have 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 put in prison for practicing your politics prisoner scene also mandela was a political prison. political prisoners have no due process.

i was thrown in prison 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 mitt 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 view 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 elements, we can only hope that rides 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 ain't this isn't some sort of mystery gosh, i didn't know i had no idea. it's so great. >> really.

>> i think most of us have some guts sense of when we're beginning to get in trouble. >> i don't leave mitch 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. does 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 than that in

retrospect >> 00 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 at 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 and graft easily sneak into our political system behind ambition and enormous egos this politicians or the public feel the same day he does then another rod blagojevich is just around the corner. >> anyone break a law across the 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 you. enjoyed it. >> you're all right. i wish you the vast will see you how it ends up. who care through, what do you throw me back in prison? no, but i mean, he can't hurt me