Rod Blagojevich's first press conference after prison release — Transcript

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1. 0:19It's been a long long journey.
2. 0:20That's right.
3. 0:21I'm bruised and I'm battered and I'm
4. 0:22bloody.
5. 0:24Uh, it's been a long time since I've
6. 0:25shaved with a
7. 0:27normal razor and uh
8. 0:29it takes a little practice. I'm sorry
9. 0:30about that. I got to keep dabbing the
10. 0:32blood.
11. 0:33Um
12. 0:35So, I just apologized for his tardiness.
13. 0:37He couldn't find where I put his socks
14. 0:38this morning.
15. 0:41Lots changed in the nearly 8 years that
16. 0:42I I've been here.
17. 0:44Uh, let me just say a couple of things.
18. 0:45First of all, the obvious I want to say
19. 0:48and that I know I speak for Patty and
20. 0:49Amy and Annie and obviously for me.
21. 0:52We uh want to express our most profound
22. 0:54and everlasting gratitude to President
23. 0:56Trump.
24. 0:57How do you properly thank someone who's
25. 0:59given you back the freedom that was
26. 1:00stolen from you?
27. 1:01Uh, he didn't have to do this.
28. 1:04He's a Republican president. I was a
29. 1:06Democratic governor.
30. 1:07Republican.
31. 1:07And doing this does nothing to help his
32. 1:09politics.
33. 1:10Uh, President Trump is a man who is
34. 1:12tough and outspoken,
35. 1:14but he also has a kind heart. And uh,
36. 1:17this is an act of kindness and I also
37. 1:19believe it's the beginning of the
38. 1:20process to
39. 1:22to uh actually turn an injustice into a
40. 1:24justice.
41. 1:26Um
42. 1:29Sorry about this blood.
43. 1:31All these years away, I
44. 1:33never stopped reminding myself of
45. 1:36the words from a poem.
46. 1:38It's called uh the gate of the year.
47. 1:40Go out into the darkness and put your
48. 1:42hand into the hand of God.
49. 1:45That shall be to you
50. 1:47better than light
51. 1:49and safer than a known way.
52. 1:51It's been a long time since I've been
53. 1:52home, nearly 8 years, nearly 3,000 days.
54. 1:56I suppose a better way to
55. 1:59measure how long it's been is through
56. 2:01our daughters Amy and Annie.
57. 2:03When I left home
58. 2:05so long ago, Amy, our older daughter,
59. 2:08was a sophomore in high school.
60. 2:10And it'll be 2 years this
61. 2:13spring since she's graduated from
62. 2:15college and now just recently
63. 2:17Amy earned a master's degree.
64. 2:19And we're very proud of you, sweetheart.
65. 2:21And Annie, our younger daughter, was 8
66. 2:23years old when I left. She was about
67. 2:24this high.
68. 2:26Now she's 16 and now she has her
69. 2:27driver's license.
70. 2:29And she's doing good in school.
71. 2:31And she plays the piano.
72. 2:33And we're very proud of her, too.
73. 2:35Look at you, sweetheart.
74. 2:37Look at you.
75. 2:39My baby's growing up so fast.
76. 2:42Uh again, on behalf of
77. 2:44my family, we want to express our
78. 2:46profoundest gratitude to President
79. 2:47Trump. It's been a long, unhappy
80. 2:50journey. These have been hard years for
81. 2:51our children.
82. 2:52They've been hard years for Patty and
83. 2:54for me.
84. 2:55I spent my first 32 months in prison,
85. 2:58nearly 3 years behind
86. 3:00what the inmates call the razor wire,
87. 3:03the barbed wire fence.
88. 3:04You can't go near that fence. If you do,
89. 3:07there are prison guards there armed with
90. 3:08machine guns who have the discretion to
91. 3:11shoot you.
92. 3:12I didn't go near that fence.
93. 3:16The buildings behind that fence where
94. 3:17the inmates live and sleep are squalid
95. 3:20places. They're cold and dark like
96. 3:22tombs. There were about 900 inmates
97. 3:25there.
98. 3:26Drug dealers, cartel members,
99. 3:29gangbangers, bank robbers. There were
100. 3:31men there who committed murder, con
101. 3:33artists, a lot of sex offenders.
102. 3:35About 2% of the population were in the
103. 3:37so-called white-collar category.
104. 3:40For most of my time there, my home
105. 3:43was a 6-ft by 12-ft a 6-ft by 8-ft
106. 3:47prison cell
107. 3:48with four cement walls, a big heavy iron
108. 3:51door that can shut you in,
109. 3:53a small window with bars on it, and a
110. 3:55bunk bed.
111. 3:56I slept on the top bunk.
112. 3:59Often late at night I would look through
113. 4:00that window and past those bars
114. 4:03out into the night sky
115. 4:05and I'd think of home.
116. 4:07I'd think of my children.
117. 4:09I'd think of Patty.
118. 4:10Sometimes
119. 4:13sometimes I could almost feel her near
120. 4:14me.
121. 4:18I was
122. 4:20Just ignore.
123. 4:21I would say to myself, "One day, one day
124. 4:23I'll make it back to you
125. 4:26and hold your hand, sweetheart."
126. 4:28Woman of substance.
127. 4:29And I would remember
128. 4:31what a gracious thing it's been to walk
129. 4:32through life with you.
130. 4:34Thank you for waiting.
131. 4:35He's so good.
132. 4:35You're bleeding again.
133. 4:36She's something else.
134. 4:38What's that?
135. 4:38That's your soldier there.
136. 4:39She sure is something, isn't she?
137. 4:40That's right.
138. 4:41Yep.
139. 4:42Anyway, um
140. 4:45So again, on behalf of Patty and Amy and
141. 4:47Annie and me, we want to again express
142. 4:48our our deepest gratitude
143. 4:50to President Trump.
144. 4:52Like I said, as a Republican president
145. 4:54and a Democratic governor, he didn't
146. 4:55have to do this.
147. 4:56But President Trump is not a typical
148. 4:58politician.
149. 4:59That's right.
150. 4:59He's tough. He's outspoken. He gets
151. 5:02things done. He's a problem-solver in a
152. 5:03business where
153. 5:05too many politicians don't want to solve
154. 5:07problems. All they want to do is play
155. 5:08politics and get nothing done for the
156. 5:11people.
157. 5:12He's
158. 5:13He's He's got a I'm a Trumpocrat.
159. 5:15A Trumpocrat, that's right.
160. 5:18If I had the ability to vote, I'm going
161. 5:19to vote for him.
162. 5:21Well, I don't know that they'd allow me
163. 5:22to vote, but but I'll get into that in a
164. 5:23minute. But let me just say that
165. 5:26that
166. 5:28that
167. 5:29our president is uh
168. 5:31He's tough and outspoken and he has the
169. 5:32courage to challenge the old way.
170. 5:35That's right.
171. 5:36He's the one who's actually fighting to
172. 5:37bring real change. That's why he gets so
173. 5:39much pushback. But notwithstanding being
174. 5:41tough, he's also a man with a kind
175. 5:43heart.
176. 5:44He sees wrong and he tries to right it,
177. 5:46just like he did in the case of Alice
178. 5:47Marie Johnson.
179. 5:49You know who she is, the grandmother
180. 5:50from Alabama who served 21 years in
181. 5:52prison on a life sentence as a
182. 5:54first-time
183. 5:55non-violent drug offender.
184. 5:57A life sentence as a first-time
185. 6:00non-violent drug offender.
186. 6:01First Step Act of 2018.
187. 6:03Alice Marie Johnson's case is probably
188. 6:05one of the better illustrations that
189. 6:07shows
190. 6:08how the federal criminal justice system
191. 6:10disproportionately discriminates against
192. 6:12African Americans
193. 6:13That's right.
194. 6:13and people of color. And how the 1994
195. 6:16crime bill has led to the
196. 6:17over-sentencing
197. 6:19and to the creation of what the author
198. 6:20Michelle Alexander has called the new
199. 6:22Jim Crow in America.
200. 6:24That's right.
201. 6:25You know what I'm talking about.
202. 6:26Dump the Clintons.
203. 6:281994 crime bill passed by my fellow
204. 6:30Democrats before I got to Congress.
205. 6:33Fortunately, as soon as President Trump
206. 6:35learned of the injustice against Alice
207. 6:37Marie, he immediately put a stop to it
208. 6:39and he sent her home to her family. And
209. 6:41fortunately, because this is a president
210. 6:43who gets things done
211. 6:44through his leadership and with the help
212. 6:46of organizations like Cut 50,
213. 6:48President Trump was able to build the
214. 6:50necessary bipartisan support to pass the
215. 6:52historic First Step Act, a new law
216. 6:55that begins the process of reforming a
217. 6:57broken criminal justice system
218. 7:00and putting an end to the racist
219. 7:01injustice caused by that racist 1994
220. 7:05crime bill.
221. 7:06Thank you.
222. 7:06Now, as for me, obviously, I've got
223. 7:0910,000 reasons to be thankful to
224. 7:11President Trump. I'm obviously thankful
225. 7:12to be home, to have my freedom back,
226. 7:15to uh just be able to hold my wife's
227. 7:17hand.
228. 7:18But most of all, I'm thankful to you,
229. 7:19Mr. President,
230. 7:21for giving my daughters their father
231. 7:22back.
232. 7:24My daughters are growing up
233. 7:26and the day is not too far off when they
234. 7:27will go out into the world on their own.
235. 7:30Now, I wish I could slow down time.
236. 7:33But no matter where their life's journey
237. 7:34may lead, they will always take with
238. 7:37them the realization that the kindest
239. 7:39gift they've ever received in their
240. 7:41lives came from you.
241. 7:43Thank you, Mr. President, for what
242. 7:44you've done for me, but better
243. 7:46far, far better, thank you
244. 7:48for what you've done for them.
245. 7:50I'd like to thank a few people real
246. 7:51quick. I'd like to thank uh
247. 7:53my old friend the Reverend Jesse Jackson
248. 7:55uh for his voice and for his help and
249. 7:57for his support.
250. 7:58I want to thank um my uh
251. 8:01friend and former colleague in the
252. 8:02Congress, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.
253. 8:04for his friendship and his support. I
254. 8:06want to thank Patti's dad for Alderman
255. 8:08Mell, Richard Mell, for his love and
256. 8:10support to
257. 8:11our daughters and to his daughter Patti.
258. 8:14I want to thank this mystery man, a
259. 8:16young man who brought all this about. I
260. 8:18just met him yesterday and this is Mark
261. 8:20Vargas.
262. 8:21He's uh
263. 8:22quite a guy and he's uh
264. 8:24he
265. 8:25he's the kind of guy who can get you out
266. 8:27of prison if you find yourself stuck
267. 8:28there.
268. 8:29And I'm really grateful to his efforts
269. 8:31and what he's done on my behalf.
270. 8:35Huh?
271. 8:36Oh, sorry.
272. 8:37I just hit you like this after I had to
273. 8:39do it.
274. 8:40Sorry about it.
275. 8:41Problem is
276. 8:42Just
277. 8:42hang on a second, my friend.
278. 8:44Uh the scriptures teach us and history
279. 8:46shows that in the long run right
280. 8:48defeated will in the end overcome.
281. 8:52Uh history
282. 8:54the scriptures teach us and history
283. 8:56shows that in the long run right
284. 8:57defeated
285. 8:58will in the end overcome wrong
286. 9:00triumphant. And as Dr. Martin Luther
287. 9:02King used to say, truth crushed to earth
288. 9:04will one day rise again because no lie
289. 9:07can live forever.
290. 9:08I'm returning home today from a long
291. 9:10exile a freed political prisoner.
292. 9:14I want to say again to the people of
293. 9:15Illinois who twice elected me governor,
294. 9:18I didn't let you down. I would have let
295. 9:20you down if I gave in to this.
296. 9:23But resistance to tyrants is
297. 9:25is obedience to God.
298. 9:27Not long ago United States Supreme Court
299. 9:29Justice Stephen Breyer warned about
300. 9:31this. He warned about federal
301. 9:32prosecutors bringing criminal charges
302. 9:34against government officials for what he
303. 9:37described as routine practices.
304. 9:40Justice Breyer went on to point out, and
305. 9:41I'm quoting him,
306. 9:42"To give that kind of power to a
307. 9:44criminal prosecutor who is virtually
308. 9:46uncontrollable is dangerous to our
309. 9:49separation of powers." End quote.
310. 9:51I've learned the hard way just how
311. 9:53dangerous that is. From beginning to
312. 9:55end, this was
313. 9:56persecution masquerading as prosecution.
314. 10:00I got into politics to help people.
315. 10:03I didn't get into politics to make
316. 10:05money. I didn't get into politics to
317. 10:06enrich my family or my friends. I got
318. 10:08into politics because I was fortunate to
319. 10:10live in the greatest country that's ever
320. 10:12existed.
321. 10:13My immigrant father fought the Nazis. He
322. 10:15spent 4 years in a prisoner of war camp.
323. 10:17After that war, he spent 3 years in a
324. 10:19refugee camp waiting for the day that
325. 10:21one day the Congress, that one day his
326. 10:23youngest son would become a member of,
327. 10:25would pass a law called the Displaced
328. 10:27Persons Act to allow him and millions of
329. 10:28others like him, immigrants from all
330. 10:30around the world with long and hard to
331. 10:32pronounce last names,
332. 10:34to be able to come to America to pursue
333. 10:36freedom and opportunity. My dad
334. 10:38basically did about 7 years in prison.
335. 10:42I got him beat. I've done almost eight.
336. 10:44But my dad believed in America. He took
337. 10:46the gift of freedom not for granted
338. 10:47because he knew what it was like to live
339. 10:49under oppression. He didn't go back to
340. 10:51his country Yugoslavia because it was a
341. 10:53communist country where freedom wasn't
342. 10:54allowed. So, he came here, and he got a
343. 10:57job working in a factory. And for most
344. 10:59of his life, all of his life in the
345. 11:01United States, my dad was a working man,
346. 11:03a factory worker. And my mother was a
347. 11:05working mother who worked for the
348. 11:06Chicago Transit Authority passing out
349. 11:09the transfers at the subway stations.
350. 11:10They never had a chance to
351. 11:12live the American dream and own own a
352. 11:14home of their own, but they worked hard
353. 11:16and sacrificed so that their kids can
354. 11:17have opportunities they didn't have.
355. 11:19This is the American story.
356. 11:22And my mother and father lived that.
357. 11:25And so,
358. 11:27I like to think that as governor,
359. 11:30what I did was to try to draw on my own
360. 11:32life experience and try to take those
361. 11:34experiences and turn them into something
362. 11:36real to help people. That's why we
363. 11:38provided health care to all the kids in
364. 11:39Illinois through the All Kids program
365. 11:41because I saw as a young child
366. 11:44a cousin who passed away from leukemia
367. 11:46at the age of 12 and didn't have
368. 11:48insurance and his mother and father lost
369. 11:50what little they had. We provided free
370. 11:52transportation to every one of our
371. 11:54senior citizens or to the disabled
372. 11:56because I remember my father as a senior
373. 11:58citizen being proud of a senior citizen
374. 12:00discount card he had where he could take
375. 12:01the bus for half the price
376. 12:03and we were able to take that and apply
377. 12:05that to everybody in the state of
378. 12:06Illinois. I wouldn't allow
379. 12:08that swamp in Springfield and my fellow
380. 12:10Democrats down there who just wanted to
381. 12:11raise taxes on the working people to
382. 12:14raise their taxes and so it was always a
383. 12:16struggle, a constant battle to try to
384. 12:19remember who I was supposed to fight
385. 12:21for. And so I hope now looking to the
386. 12:24future that I can draw from my life
387. 12:26experience, particularly those over the
388. 12:28last 8 years in prison and 11 years
389. 12:31since this all came to us
390. 12:34and do something to try to fight to help
391. 12:36people who've been wrongfully
392. 12:37incarcerated or those, and this is
393. 12:39probably the rule and not the exception,
394. 12:42those who've been over sentenced,
395. 12:43non-violent offenders who've made a
396. 12:45mistake, did wrong, but have been
397. 12:47sentenced to years in prison that not
398. 12:49only destroy their lives and steal from
399. 12:51them their futures but they hurt their
400. 12:53children and their family. I saw what
401. 12:55they do to families because I saw it
402. 12:57happen to my own and every time I'd go
403. 12:59into the visiting room to visit with my
404. 13:00family, I'd look around that room and
405. 13:02I'd see mothers with their children and
406. 13:04you can tell it was a mother because you
407. 13:06can see it in the sadness of her face. I
408. 13:09would see fathers with their young
409. 13:10children and you can see the
410. 13:14the discomfort that the family feels.
411. 13:18So I hope that as I move forward I can
412. 13:20take some of that experience that I've
413. 13:21had and try to do what I can to try to
414. 13:24improve what is a broken and I believe
415. 13:27in many cases a corrupt criminal justice
416. 13:29system.
417. 13:30When it comes to crime and punishment in
418. 13:31America, the United States incarcerates
419. 13:34six to 10 times more people than any
420. 13:36other industrialized nation in the
421. 13:37world. We put more people in jail than
422. 13:40China and Russia. Federal prosecutors
423. 13:43like to boast about their 97% conviction
424. 13:45rate. But doesn't that boast show just
425. 13:48how rigged the system is? Unless you're
426. 13:50the undefeated boxing champion Floyd
427. 13:52"Money" Mayweather,
428. 13:54who else ever wins 97% of the time at
429. 13:56anything?
430. 13:57He's not even undefeated anymore.
431. 13:58What time to knock him out though?
432. 14:00No, he hasn't lost. He's
433. 14:01Oh, no, Floyd.
434. 14:02No, Floyd "Money" Mayweather has not
435. 14:04been defeated. Don't say that, Patty.
436. 14:06You'll probably get a phone call from
437. 14:09Um everyday people everyday people who
438. 14:12who find themselves caught up in the
439. 14:13system have no chance and they many of
440. 14:16them recognize the utility in fighting
441. 14:18for their rights, so they just give in.
442. 14:20And under duress, because they're being
443. 14:21threatened with long sentences, they
444. 14:23agree to plead guilty to things they
445. 14:24didn't do.
446. 14:25Unfair.
447. 14:27Unfair and cruel over sentencing is the
448. 14:29rule. It's not the exception. Equal
449. 14:30protection under the law doesn't exist.
450. 14:33Wildly unfair disparities in sentencing
451. 14:35for the same or similar offenses are not
452. 14:37uncommon and defy common sense and in
453. 14:40way too many cases way too many
454. 14:42non-violent offenders are given way
455. 14:45longer prison sentences
456. 14:47than violent offenders and sex offenders
457. 14:49who've actually caused great physical
458. 14:51and emotional harm to their victims. It
459. 14:54is a broken criminal justice system and
460. 14:56it has been for a long time. And it's a
461. 14:59racist criminal justice system. But
462. 15:01there's hope. And one of the great
463. 15:03ironies of history is that so far up
464. 15:05till now in the history of our country,
465. 15:07no one has done more or is currently
466. 15:09working to do more to fix this broken
467. 15:11and racist criminal justice system than
468. 15:13President Trump and Jared Kushner.
469. 15:17One last thing.
470. 15:19I'm going to dab this there again. Am I
471. 15:20good? Am I am I doing
472. 15:22all right?
473. 15:23I just feel them on me.
474. 15:25Yeah.
475. 15:26I'd like to say one thing about I'd like
476. 15:27to say something about adversity. And
477. 15:29and I'd like to direct my remarks to
478. 15:31all of my fellow underdogs out there who
479. 15:33find themselves up against powerful
480. 15:35forces and long odds. To anyone
481. 15:39facing hard circumstances,
482. 15:41who've suffered loss,
483. 15:43are hurting,
484. 15:44or who like me have hit rock bottom.
485. 15:47You may be down.
486. 15:49All your hope may seem to have
487. 15:50disappeared.
488. 15:51The road you have to travel is a long
489. 15:53one and home,
490. 15:54that's where you want to be,
491. 15:56is so far away, you can't even see the
492. 15:59flicker of a light at the end of the
493. 16:01tunnel.
494. 16:02But don't give up.
495. 16:04Don't give up.
496. 16:06Think of the people you love.
497. 16:13I'll get it out. Hang on.
498. 16:15Think of the people you love. That's
499. 16:16where you'll find your purpose. My love
500. 16:19for my family
501. 16:20and my faith in God is what sustained me
502. 16:23during this long and seemingly
503. 16:24never-ending trial. It gave me purpose
504. 16:27to stay strong and along with Patty
505. 16:30to try to set the right example for our
506. 16:31daughters.
507. 16:32To show them that when adversity enters
508. 16:35your life,
509. 16:36even when your calamity comes on like a
510. 16:38whirlwind,
511. 16:39and just about everything
512. 16:41just about everything
513. 16:43has been taken
514. 16:44away from you
515. 16:46and your heart's broken,
516. 16:48don't quit. Fight.
517. 16:50Fight. Keep fighting and persevere
518. 16:54in storms and through the dark passages
519. 16:56and when you find yourself alone,
520. 16:58all alone
521. 17:00in the lonely wilderness,
522. 17:01because it is there in that lonely
523. 17:03wilderness where we are tried and
524. 17:05tested, that we must rise to our
525. 17:07circumstances,
526. 17:09we must rise above our circumstances and
527. 17:11dare to dream.
528. 17:12It is not an ending, but a beginning
529. 17:15where out of weakness we are strong.
530. 17:18Every mile I ran, every push-up I did,
531. 17:21every book I read, every word I wrote
532. 17:22was my way of fighting back, my way of
533. 17:25using the time in the wilderness to
534. 17:26prepare for a better day.
535. 17:28Waiting in the shadows,
536. 17:30waiting for justice,
537. 17:32waiting
538. 17:33and hoping.
539. 17:34That's right.
540. 17:35So, live in faith, hope, and love. Vivir
541. 17:36con fe y esperanza y amor. And if you
542. 17:39have to, take a stand.
543. 17:41And don't be afraid.
544. 17:43You're not alone.
545. 17:44You never go alone.
546. 17:45Ooh, that's right.
547. 17:46It is so often the case that in the
548. 17:48sadness of life,
549. 17:50we look for God.
550. 17:52My faith in him
551. 17:56turned despair into hope
552. 17:58and made me strong, trusted that one day
553. 18:01through the grace of God, he
554. 18:03will turn darkness into light
555. 18:05Come on, Luke.
556. 18:06and lead me home.
557. 18:08Thank you.
558. 18:38Oh, I'm trying to I'm trying to get out
559. 18:41of the way, but
560. 18:42Which way you trying to go? You trying
561. 18:43to go that way?