trump had a connection with blagojevich 'cause rod was on "the apprentice," and patti blagojevich wasws every day. you know, we know that president trump is a kind man, and 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 rod blagojevich, who was convicted after attempting his own quid pro quo. yes, uh, we have commuted the sentence of rod. i watched his wife on television. quote, um, "i watched his wife on television..." -yes. -end quote. how did--how did that happen? i think he just saw--he-- he would tell me he liked the fact that i was fighting back. i remember him saying something like, uh, "you know, i have friends that go through what you're going through, and they're in 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 where god intervenes in the most unbelievable ways. trump, blagojevich, fox news? i'm not sure how much god play

[blagojevich speaking]

if you look at, say, blagojevich, who some remember, he was trying to abuse power to sell what was thenmost of the people said, we don't want that and turned on him. bob menendez beat a case, but is now facing pretty heavy evidence on a second go-around. already, though he's entitled to go through that process, democrats who serve with him and in his home state are already saying, the evidence is bad. if it keeps going, they're not standing by him. nixon eventually lost the party again pre-conviction. what do you seeing, as i put up the chart again, the legal path above, consequences, but on the republican political path below, they go from calling it un-american to saying, actually if you can't agree with the lie about trump when he actually lost, election deniers only, you can't even work in the party. what do you see in that difference? their only loyalty is to their own power. whoever thought the republican party would side with a murderer of dissidents about vladimir putin over people who are fighting for their lives and fighting for their country, which is ukraine. this has turned

and if politicians or the public feel the same way he does, then another rod blagojevich is just aroundhe corner. i didn't break a law, cross the line, or take a penny, okay? but i never said i wasn't a [bleep] idiot. [laughter] thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you very much! -awesome. thank you so much. -yeah, thanks. appreciate it. really enjoyed it. you're all right. i wish you the best. we'll see how it ends up and who cares. that's true. find out-- what are you gonna do, throw me back in prison? -no, but i mean, like, -you can't hurt me, man. tapper: for a country that bills itself as the world's oldest democracy, we sure do love a strongman, and from teddy roosevelt all the way up to our reality tv president, nowhere produces more of them than the empire state. and i get it. in an age where congress' approval rating hovers somewhere around sewer rats, we wanna vote for the politician who can finally just get things done. that was eliot spitzer to a "t." but when new yorkers sent the sheriff of wall street to the governor's mansion, we all learne