the politicians included governors george ryan and jim edgar, mayor jane byrne, alderman ed vrdolyak and senator paul simon. the patronage culture came to light when metra c-e-o alex clifford said he was fired after refusing a patronage request by state house speaker mike madigan. federal prosecutors say state representative derrick smith admitted to accepting a 7- thousand dollar bribe. according to newly filed court documents, smith told f-b-i agents after his 2012 arrest that he took the money to pay campaign workers. prosecutors say smith thought it was from a day care operator who needed a state grant. smith's lawyers are trying to block the admissions from his corruption trial, which starts next month. smith lost in the primary election last month. it took 10 months, but the shedd aquarium has finally named its newest penguin! the chick is named "ruggles"-- in honor of ruggles bay in the falkland islands. that's one of the places where the rockhopper penguins can be found. it took so long to name her, because the shedd didn't find out her gender until last month. coming up ...

. >> as he left office, governor george ryan made a dramatic decision. rocking the justice system in illinois. ryan granted clemency to all death row inmates, saying the system was broken. ryan commuted 167 death sentences, reducing nearly all to life without parole. until 1998 executions were carried out at stateville correctional center, outside chicago. today nearly half its prisoners are in for murder. stateville had a long reputation as a place where inmates challenged guards for control. how that all changed is the big story behind the walls of stateville. >> it's another day in paradise. >> just to let you know, the next couple of days, we're talking about extreme heat. we need to ensure ice is passed out so you guys can keep your fluids nice and cold and for drinking. it's really important to check each other out, make sure you guys are okay. we're looking at 105 heat index plus for the next four to five days. >> the towers. curry. >> sir. >> tower one. >> it's 6:45 a.m. at stateville correctional center. >> tower two, voight. >> officers on the

george, amy, ryan, what do you think? sad, right? >> i know.m some of the others, jon stewart or colbert. >> he influenced so many. boy, that is going to be some fight to fill that seat. >> it is going to be interesting to watch over the next year. >>> down to ginger again and, all of a sudden you're dealing with weather down there heading up north. >> yeah, george. you had 67 degrees, the warmest temperature so far this year but it will become a lot more unsettled. let me tell you, cold behind. you can see as the low pressure system closingen in o the northeast. as we go into the weekend, showers and snow up along the canadian border but most folks will see the rain and then turning colder behind it, way colder. wind cls chills this morning are anywhere from the 20s and teens. places in the 70s now dropped to the feels like 30s. i can tell you from experience it's much colder. your weekend get away is coming up now. >>> it wasn't just rain and storms. we'll look at spring snow next. george and any? >>> coming up on "gma," the man on trial for

george? >> okay, ryan. we're going to hear from the commissioner before that. let's get more on this now from espn's sage steele, the host of "nba countdown." sage, thanks for joining us this morning. so much pressure on the commissioner to take tough action. >> yeah. so much pressure and rightfully so. and he knows that. this is the biggest task of his young tenure. but, george, as far as what we think is going to happen, again, it is speculation at this point, i expect silver to come out and give a full explanation as to what the investigation has entailed so far and what it will continue to entail because this thing is not going away any time soon. as for actions he might take, certainly a suspension. will it be indefinite? will it be a year? will it be a lifetime? we will see. and then a fine. i'm hearing it could be up to $2.5 million. so certainly a seven-figure fine to go along with a suspension, but here's what i really hope happens, george, i hope he comes out and fully explains what his rights are as commissioner, what the rights of the league are and

george? >> okay, ryan, thanks. let's talk to dan abrams and pretty dramatic presentation, effective?an effective and necessary, this is the murder weapon. you have to show exactly how you think it happened but as ryan points out, this isn't an easy case when it comes to intentional murder. after all a heel does seem like the kind of thing you would use to defend yourself. they're trying to piece together evidence which is blood spatter, defensive wounds on him, no significant injuries on her, and eyewitness testimony putting that together and saying, there is nothing else you can conclude but that she intentionally used that as a weapon to kill him and that she was the aggressor. >> also interesting that the prosecution put in that 911 tape even though it could work for the defense, as well. >> the defense has been talking about this 911 tape for awhile now saying wait till you hear the 911 tape. u.s. going to change your view of the case. >> yes. >> i mean, there's no question that the 911 tape is consistent with her account. but there have been many, many people convicted despite t

ryan from prince george's county wrote -- who has aged out of her parents' insurance. ryan was suffering from asthma and a sinus infection but she was unable to afford a doctor's visit on her own. after attending a local affordable care act information session, she logged onto maryland health benefits exchange and was able to go through the entire process and picked an affordable health plan. she is now inshoed and able to get the treatment she needs. ryan is a 26-year-old. under 26 you can be on your parents' policy. you talk about those young people who think they never will need insurance. i was in downtown baltimore over the weekend at a fair where we were enrolling people in the affordable care act. i saw many, many people of ryan's age, young people who were over 26 of age who are there to find out whether this was right for them. when they left, they held an insurance card, they had enrolled because they found out how reasonable the price was for a young person to get comprehensive coverage. now, i can read through a lot more letters. i have quite a few more, but

with a top christie aide about shutting down lanes on the george washington bridge, apparently as political payback. >> if you have not read ryan liz's piece in "the new yorker" this week about new jersey governor chris christie, you must do this this morning. it is such a good read. >> homework during the commercials. >> read it during "new day," not during "early start." >>> all right, this story really interesting this morning, too. a louisiana congressman says he's sorry, he is sorry after a video surfaced showing representative vance mcallister, a married father of five children, kissing a staffer, kissing a staffer who is also married. in a statement, mcallister says he promises to win back the trust of everyone he's disappointed, including his wife, his kids and his constituents. he won't say whether he plans to step down from the post he's only held for four months. consenting adults, perhaps, but he was elected on a platform of family values, and you know -- >> theoretically, a platform of not kissing your staffer in front of a security camera. >> right, exactly. >>> breaking overnight, congratulations to uconn! the hu

ryan. >> reporter: good morning, george. the more you hear, the more shocking it sounds.egedly between clippers owner donald steriling and his former lover. but today some are saying the reason those were released may have something to do with a lawsuit by the sterling family. those controversial recordings believed to be l.a. clippers owner donald sterling telling his former lover, v. stiviano, not to bring black people to his games. >> don't come to my games. don't bring black people and don't come. >> do you know that you have a whole team that's black that plays for you? >> you just -- do i know? i support them and give them food and clothes and cars and houses. >> reporter: sterling who is jewish allegedly also heard on the tape talking about religion and cultural beliefs. >> there's white jews and black jews, do you understand? >> and are the black jews less than the white jews. >> 100% -- >> is that right? >> we don't evaluate what's right and wrong. we live in a culture. we have to live within that culture. >> reporter: over the weekend the president of the clippe

george papandreou. >> gazprom has raised ukraine's heftyices, earning a discount on russian gas supplies. ryan chilcote joins us with a take what this means for ukraine. they have cut the discounts of this is applied when yanukovych made a deal with moscow. basically, december 17 the russians offer the ukrainians $15 billion in aid and the second part of that was a discount of one third off their gas price. what they're saying now is there , so they'reeir debt going to pull the discount. the the way they're going to theythis is because thought they were going to be allied with russia and instead are allied with the west. there's a second discount which russia offered ukraine for permission to house its black sea fleet in sebastopol. if for no other reason, the west is going to have to pay for this because ukrainians don't have the money. so they said ok it will not be that aggressive. they would get the money later. >> to the average man on the street or at home, what does this mean? >> the german city of greece could be a good example of what needs to happen in the ukraine. ukraine isgas and

as ryan pointed out, a lost players are clamoring for expulsion but it is not clear that silver has the power to do that. >> right, george, the court of public opinion has weighed in with a strong voice: they want him out. the constitution does not provide that much power. i look for him to have the suspension and the big fine and continue to put pressure on silver from the other league owners to donald sterling to push donald sterling to get rid of the team. they heard what america has said and donald sterling should not be associated with the league gaining forward. >> sterling is a billionaire, he is 80, and does that treasure make a difference to him? he is a litigious guy. >> that is the fear for the league. the league can take whatever steps in their decision bylaws but the rest of the board of governors, the other owners give the new commission in office only three months as much power a they can but donald sterling can have this in court for some time. to put a parallel to this, an isolation where you take away the money, take away the fans, take away the business sponsors, take away the players and coaches who d

ryan gosling is taken off the table. this is very sad. >> he's got to be pretty warn out at this point. >> what a mahater, huh? >> i'm not against georgel. >> don't say this against a man. gosh knows if it was a woman -- >> let me say, con grat lags to george clooney. do i care? don't -- doesn't do it for me. >> at least this woman is a little more age appropriate. >> i don't know the asange thing. everybody deserves reputation. it just wouldn't be me. she's well educated, smart, has her own thoughts and opinions. >> beautiful. >> attractive. politics are very important to him. it's essential in his life and i think he likes having someone that he can talk to about things like this. like you said, tucker, we both know him personally. he's incredibly nice guy, warm, charming and he didn't get married again until now because he was not ready. >> the last few seconds, it's you, buddy. >> good for him. >> do you think that we should open invite george clooney to sit in? >> yeah. hashtag one lucky guy. would you trade seats? >> i'll gladly vacate it. >> tucker survived. "happening now" starts now. >> just the last hour, the nba will make an

george pennacchio with more. >>> do i take callahan? >> he's a winner. >> he is. i mean, that's the word, right? he's won everywhere he's been. >> they said the same thing about ryanber-two pick in '98. >> reporter: in "draft day," jennifer garner plays an executive with the cleveland browns who lives and breathes football. >> her job is born of her passion for the cleveland browns. she started out as an intern and works her way up in the organization. they sent her to law school, and she is now running the salary cap. which is a big, big job in the front office of a franchise, and not one that used to be, you know, you didn't used to see the front office populated by women. and we're creeping in bit by bit. if i do my job and we haven't spent more than $125 million on players by the time the season starts, i get excited. >> reporter: these days, jennifer is very excited about the work she's doing as a philanthropist for save the children. >> and specifically for the u.s. programs for kids growing up with poverty in the united states. and i see the difference that you can make in a life if you start early enough, and if you start smart enough. and i see the differ

george bush didn't drive that brand into the ground, it it might be plausible. so we should keep our eye on him, but i'm not that worried about jeb bush or paul ryan, even those they are the mainstream people. the people are huckabee and rand paul. even though they are on the extremes, the way they present themselves is with a populous brand, fighting for a little guy. if we have a presidential candidate giving $200,000 speeches to goldman sachs while somehow the right is perceived as sticking up for the little guy, it would be ridiculous. but that would be their one fighting chance of winning this election. hopefully that does not happen. >> the panel has spoken, thank you. >>> still ahead, corporate activism or intimidation? carl rove says corporations fear retribution but i thought corporations wanted to be people too? we need it right away! we cannot let the fans down. don't worry! the united states postal service will get it there on time with priority mail flat rate shipping. ♪ whoo-hoo! ♪ [ male announcer ] our priority has always been saving the day. because our priority... amazing! [ male announcer ] ...is you! the amazing spider-man 2 delivered by the u

george is the -- >> how does that not smack of colonialism? i don't know. >> where is it going? noticed inwhich i the sports section of the guardian today, moving away from ryan'sues, thehy do some answer is liverpool. everton are finished. to become fourth in race to champions league places, you might actually have to read manchester city, thereby handing the title to liverpool, his few are an everton fan, you hate the most. would you rather everton come forth and liverpool winning the title, or everton coming fifth out of the champions league and keep them from winning the title? question. big in of cheek from you both. we will see what is ailing the world's largest smartphone maker. stay with us. ♪ >> the u.s. says russia is the master mind behind the latest unrest in eastern ukraine as pro-separatists seized buildings in donestk and -- luhansk. the bank of japan avoids extra stimulus. welcome to "countdown." bloomberg reporters are standing by across the world, ready to deliver the stories that will drive your day. ryan chilcote has details about rising unrest in ukraine. john dawson is in hong kong today with more on the bank of japan's decision after last

george w. bush he's also the founder of dickens' capital group and the democratic activist page you are what did you make of this ryan ryan debate. well listen ryan is trying to cut spending and i'm a guy who believes that the only way to save america is to cut spending and i love when democrats say when a democrat like ryan says spending is a divestment you know what spending is spending larry and where that is too much depends on what you want to cut you want to cut food stamps you want to cut medicare you what you want to i want to cut everything i think what america needs across the board cuts in spending everything that we may be more careful more precise in defense spending we don't leave american make its aggression but i think we need to cut everything and that's how you beat the charge of republicans being hypocrites we want to cut everything will then you can say we want to protect our sacred cows but unfortunately hard to get a republican to agree to brant you and then read ok well i feel that we the defense cut spending correct we don't want to cut that because we don't want to be making but i've been tod

george. >>> we're going to turn to the houston woman convicted of stabbing her boyfriend to death with her stiletto heel. she is pleading for a lenient sentence. and she sat down with abc's ryan for an exclusive interview. >> reporter: ana trujillo, convicted of murder of stefan anner -- anderson, using her own defense lawyer to reenact how she killed her boyfriend last june. stabbing him with her 5 1/2-inch stiletto shoe. trujillo claims she was a victim of abuse. saying, quote, he was suffoca suffocating me. desperately, i reached over and grabbed my left shoe. before her conviction, she spoke exclusively to "20/20." >> he grabbed me by my hands. he banged me against the wall. he kept saying that i was going to leave him, i wasn't coming back. >> reporter: trujillo, claiming she feared for her life. when police arrived, they said they found andersson dead and barely recognizable. prosecutors say trujillo had no visible cuts or bruises. did she kill andersson in cold blood? or was it self-defense? the prosecutors say he had ten puncture wounds on his head. 15 to 20 around his face and neck and arms. that is excessive for a lot of people. >> excessive? he was enraged. he was