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D.L. Hughley Breaks The News
Comedian D.L. Hughley Reviews the Week's News
Aired February 01, 2009 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
D.L. HUGHLEY, CNN HOST: Oh, man, thank you! Thank you. All right. Thank you.
This is an energetic, disobedient audience. Thank you all for coming out. Give yourselves another round of applause. That was nice.
Well, I'm very excited. I'm very excited. I get to do something I love. In addition to that, I'm one of the only people still working, as bad as jobs are these days. But Obama is 10 days in office, I guess it will be 12 by the time this show airs. He's doing pretty good, right? Right to work, right, he went right to work.
I don't know nobody that go right to work. Sit around, have some coffee, wait until the supervisor comes, go, oh, I better -- Now, Joe Biden's wife, Jill, she took a job. She is a teacher at a junior college, which kind of spruces junior colleges up. Because less face it, junior college ain't college at all, that's 13th grade. You can walk into the college from your mama's house, you're not in college.
You don't even graduate from college, they just text you. Stop coming, we don't have nothing else to teach you.
But I'm excited because we're going to talk football, religion and politics and, speaking of back to politics, now, Rush Limbaugh, this guy here, man, here, first he did the song, "Obama, the Magic Negro," and then, last week he said that he hoped Obama fails. So, I wrote my own song called, "Rush Limbaugh, the Bitter Drug Addict." I don't have the words yet, but the title's nice.
And then, you know, this is something else that -- did you see every year, there are all these great Super Bowl ads, some make it and some don't? Well, this is an ad by PETA and it didn't make it.
I have never wanted asparagus so bad in my life. I don't even know, what are they selling, white woman, what is that commercial for? I don't even know what that commercial's for, but I guess they're saying vegetarians have better sex. And I honestly don't understand the fascination with vegetarian, because I'm not one. Me, at a certain level of hungry, something's got to die.
I need something that used to have a face and a mother, that's what I need. I've got to eat. What do you come home, ooh, I want some rice. That's just not going to get it done. I'm really excited because I had an exclusive interview with the embattled governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. I don't know why people say exclusive when I'm the 15th person to talk to him. What I mean by exclusive is I was the only one in the room talking to him at the time. So I've always dug the governor and I think that to me he's being railroaded. I think that all politicians have a level of corruption and you kind of expect that. We should judge them by their effectiveness. And I feel like he's being very effective.
But just to remind you guys, I'm not just jumping on the band wagon, I really dug this cat a long time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUGHLEY: I love this man, because he fights back. He don't take any bull. Even right now, he's getting ready to be impeached, Blagojevich actually said, you can't possibly defend yourself when they say you did something and they don't let you call witnesses to say you didn't do it. They won't let this man have witnesses. He's a black man and he's being persecuted and I'm going down to help him. Rod, hang on. I'm coming. Moses is coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUGHLEY: Well, I kept my promised and went to the promised land, Chicago. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUGHLEY (voice-over): Illinois has given this country so much. Abraham Lincoln, the Bulls, Barack Obama and my all-time hero, Governor Rod Blagojevich, but the guy's in trouble. So I thought I'd hit some cool Chicago hot spots to see what I could do to help.
(on camera): I told you I was coming to help. Moses is here. Moses is here.
(voice-over): Everyone had an opinion about the governor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a crook.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's cuckoo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's delusional. The man jogs, you know? He wears tight pants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kind of reminded me of an eight-year-old child. Nothing is his fault.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's not my governor.
HUGHLEY: But I see Blagojevich as no different than anyone else.
(on camera): Isn't every politician a crook? Aren't they all?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now that you mention it, yeah, yeah, pretty much all are.
HUGHLEY: You guys have had four governors in the last 40 years that have been indicted. Three have been convicted. Isn't that kind of the way things happen here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the Chicago way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did he do so wrong?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He sold the seat and it doesn't make it right. He got caught.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He tried to.
HUGHLEY: No, he didn't try, well, he did.
(voice-over): The truth is, we're all guilty.
(on camera): If you had a Senate seat and you were the sitting governor, and they wanted to have that Senate seat, wouldn't they have to give you something?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
HUGHLEY: You would want something, right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. To be honest, yeah.
HUGHLEY: You take a woman out to dinner, you expect something, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, yeah.
HUHGLEY: The only honest man in here. And he's drinking a martini.
Men take women out, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
HUGHLEY: Because we want what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A relationship.
HUGHLEY: Right. Shut up, no!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I make it known before we go out, he ain't not getting none.
HUGHLEY: Goodbye.
ROD BLAGOJEVICH, FORMER ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: Then I thought about Mandela, Dr. King, Gandhi and try to put some perspective in all of this.
HUGHLEY: He said he was like Mandela and Martin Luther King and Gandhi. How in your estimation is he like any of those people?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to be jailed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No way he's like ...
HUGHLEY: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's human and that's what they have in common.
HUGHLEY: He's like Mandela, kind of.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mandela? You really think so?
HUGHLEY: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think comparing him to O.J. Simpson.
HUGHLEY (voice-over): What was the real reason people didn't like this guy?
(on camera): You think he's being persecuted because of his hair?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that's likely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does have good-looking hair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He should cut that thing.
HUGHLEY: As someone with hair who has been persecuted before, I can related to that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That might help him if he got a little taken off the sides, off the top.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A helmet like that get you in trouble every time.
HUGHLEY (voice-over): To change his image, Blagojevich could try something like this or this and my personal favorite. I got the people all worked up.
(on camera): Isn't that like being black? Ain't that how ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is so true, oh, my God. It's so true.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a kangaroo court. It's a damn kangaroo court.
HUGHLEY: They're doing him wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're doing the man wrong and the Bible said -- not that I'm that holy, the Bible says, those who cast the first stone better watch out.
HUGHLEY: That's it.
Where is he, Guantanamo Bay?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. He's not in Gitmo.
HUGHLEY (voice-over): I think I made my case to the people and it's time to take action.
CROWD: Free Blagojevich now! Free Blagojevich now!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Free Blagojevich and let my people go.
HUGHLEY: You better let go. Wait a minute.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love Blagojevich.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love Rod Blagojevich.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love Rod Blagojevich.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love Rob Gavoyevich (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Free Rod Blah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Free Rod Blagojevich.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Free Rod Blagoy (ph) ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Free Rod Bla - Free the dude.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Free the dude, yeah!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Free Robert -- what's his name?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Free Blagojevich.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate Rod Blagojevich.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUGHLEY: All right, stick around and see what happens when Rod Blagojevich sat down with the one real interviewer in this town, me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUGHLEY: Well, welcome back. I sat down to talk with Governor Rod Blagojevich earlier this week. Now, I don't know if any of you saw "Frost/Nixon" but her it comes. Hughley-Blago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUGHLEY: How the hell do I say your name?
BLAGOJEVICH: It is not that easy. But I got to admit I miss the days when nobody could say it. It's Bluh-Goya-Vich.
HUGHLEY: Right. Now that is?
BLAGOJEVICH: It's Yugoslavian/Serbian.
HUGHLEY: It is Serbian. And it is difficult for a lot of people. We were out in the streets in Chicago and it was very difficult. We were actually there in your defense. People that like you really like you, they really do. They think you did a lot of good things.
BLAGOJEVICH: I got to tell you something, it's extremely gratifying to hear that. I feel that when I'm out among real people, too.
HUGHLEY: Of course your impeachment proceedings were happening, you were in New York and you've done a lot of the shows. Wouldn't you have been better served going to the impeachment hearings and reminding them of things you've done and how well you served Illinois?
If they were real ordinary people who were going to give me a fair hearing, I'd love to stand on my record and talk about the things we got done for people. Every senior citizen takes the bus and public transportation, subways, trains for free. No state does that. I did that around the legislature. That's among one of the things they like to say I did that I shouldn't have done. They're trying to impeach me for some of these things.
Here's the problem with the process. It's just a flat-out violation of basic constitutional rights.
HUGHLEY: When did Illinois turn into Guantanamo Bay? When did that happen?
BLAGOJEVICH: About a week or two ago when we had the rules put out and we've tried real hard to get them to change them. We've asked just give me a chance to bring my witnesses in and have every one of those taped conversations on the telephone, every one, let's have them all heard right down there.
HUGHLEY: With some of them it's difficult to explain the context. I listened to them and I've got to be absolutely honest with you, I really dig your fighting spirit and this is probably no great endorsement, but none of them sounded criminal to me.
BLAGOJEVICH: Right.
HUGHLEY: They sounded political. There's a process that is involved in politics where it gets a little dirty. A lot of times, people want a steak, nobody wants to see the cow get butchered and they got to see how it got butchered and I think there's perhaps a little bit of that.
If you want a good steak, then the cow has to get butchered because otherwise, you couldn't get the steak. That's how the political process works and unfortunately how the government works through a legislative process. But we're not telling people stuff that most people don't probably understand anyway. The question is, are you trying to do these things to help people or are you trying to have personal benefit and personal gain and when ...
HUGHLEY: But some of the tapes do sound like, there is a benefit of -- a definite advantage in it for you personally. It does sound that way.
BLAGOJEVICH: When you take one little conversation out of context, you know, you don't hear the full story, anybody can make anything look a certain way, that's why I want the whole story told and I'd like every one of those tapes get considered. You throw out ideas, sometimes they're good and sometimes they're stupid and sometimes you can't do them. That's why you have lawyers and other people to tell them, you can't do that. Where has it happened in America that you can't have conversations like that with your staff and throw out ideas and test things that you ultimately realize you don't do and can't do and ...
HUGHLEY: Were you aware that you were being taped? Were you aware at all?
BLAGOJEVICH: No.
HUGHLEY: So in retrospect, if you were aware that you were being taped, would you have had some of those same conversations?
BLAGOJEVICH: Obviously, based on what I know now, if I'd had known I was going to be taped, right after the election, I'd have gone away for a couple of months.
HUGHLEY: You didn't want one thing for yourself?
BLAGOJEVICH: It's something, too - and this might sound rid - you know ...
HUGHLEY: You're among friends so you can be ridiculous.
BLAGOJEVICH: No, I understand. And I really appreciate your support. Doing the best job you could for -- as governor for people and getting those results for people is very gratifying. When you talk to those moms who, their kids get health care because of me, that means something to me and if I could do more of that, that's meaningful to me. There's a selfish motive in that. I like the fact that I can get, feel gratification for doing things like that.
In addition to that, if this was just about being selfish, you know, I could have made me a senator. I could have -- on Tuesday, Barack Obama's president ...
HUGHLEY: But you -- You actually said that on the tape. You actually mentioned that.
BLAGOJEVICH: I can't go into detail on those conversations. A lot of people came to me before the election and said, you should make yourself a senator. A lot of people said, you should do that for yourself. So this impeachment thing is nothing new, it's political. And they got their excuse when I got my deal on the 9th of December.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUGHLEY: We'll take a break and then the governor and I will discuss more important issues like our hair and his love for Nixon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUGHLEY: Well, last week, the governor's lawyer resigned from the case. Take a look at this clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never require a client to do what I say, but I do require them to at least listen to what I say. I believe in this case it would be better off and I intend to withdraw as counsel in this case. I wish the governor good luck and godspeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUGHLEY: Now, is it just me, or did he sound -- is that the lowest energy defense attorney, "I told him -- are you still here?" Damn, he didn't do it, your honor. Did he take a yellow bus down there? What is that?
Well, anyway, I asked the governor, how you hell you get fired by your own lawyer? Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLAGOJEVICH: He's a great lawyer. He's the F. Lee Bailey of our time. He's a legendary figure, Mr. Jensen, and I appreciate his position. I also have other lawyers on the legal team. I'm not your typical criminal guy who has those criminal allegations. I've been elected by the people of Illinois and when someone says you've done things wrong and when I got arrested and able to have my court appearance and leave, I was sitting in the back, stunned by this whole thing and completely unexpected and shocking to me, and still is, there's this guy on the street and he's holding up his two little fingers at me. That was very painful to me, not because I can't take it, but man, I hear all kinds of bad stuff about me and have for years but that's just what a strong leader gets.
But I felt like, man that feels like I like him down. And I know my lawyer didn't want me to say anything, but I want you to know, I didn't let you down.
HUGHLEY: Even at your own detriment. This is kind of ...
BLAGOJEVICH: I don't believe it is because I believe the truth is what it is and I'm telling the truth. And I don't know how I can get in trouble for telling the truth.
HUGHLEY: Let me tell you, you can get in trouble for telling the truth.
BLAGOJEVICH: Maybe you're right.
HUGHLEY: The thing that's amazing to me, is I knew I liked you right off but then when I read I was reading an account of yours by somebody who went to college with you, Northwestern, wasn't it?
BLAGOJEVICH: What was it? I don't read a lot of this stuff ...
HUGHLEY: No, it's not, here's where I'm going. He said that you always had this attitude where you were determined to show people, to prove yourselves to people. And you can see that now, like even now, the reason, I knew I liked you right off because I know what it's like to be backed into a corner. BLAGOJEVICH: I know that.
HUGHLEY: And I know what it's like to have to come out swinging but I also know what it's like to be human. You were a tough kid who grew up in a tough neighborhood. You fought your whole life for this opportunity and so, to lose it all without, without cause is unrealistic. I think that there has to be some level of culpability on your part. Wouldn't you say there was something you did wrong? Not one thing?
BLAGOJEVICH: There certain judgments that I made, not criminal behavior but certain judgments that I've made.
HUGHLEY: You know what people will do? And this is kind of human nature from my perspective. Everybody will hear the word impeached and everybody will hear the word corruption and everybody will assign it to another political figure that went the wrong way.
Now, you could be there making this defense just as well in front of them, I think, and there would be cameras there and you'd get to some extent fight your accusers.
BLAGOJEVICH: Yeah, except that the rules they've got are fixed and they'll let me say all that and it won't change anything. And what that then means in, if I participate in something like that, then they'll pretend they did something that was fair and didn't essentially undermine the 13 million people of Illinois, many of whom voted for me and elected me governor twice. I accept that. That's the way life is. It's part of that constant struggle, that guys like you and me because we have chips on our shoulder because we want to have something to prove ...
HUGHLEY: And great hair.
BLAGOJEVICH: And great hair and you, too. Not everybody agrees with that, either.
HUGHLEY: No, no. I know what it's like to be persecuted because of hair, Rod, I promise. You seem to be the kind of cat that would go out on his feet rather than his knees.
BLAGOJEVICH: I'm going on my feet and telling as many people as many people as I can to let them know what these phony politicians in Springfield are trying to do.
HUGHLEY: They're not going -- but your state, I think you've acquitted yourself fairly well on the shows but your state, the 13 million constituents are the ones you would have greater effect if you were talking directly to them.
BLAGOJEVICH: You know what, more of them watch your show in Illinois than would watch that impeachment trial on some public television station.
HUHGLEY: Will you be thrown out of office? Are you going to win this fight? Is this a fight you think you have a good chance at winning? BLAGOJEVICH: I think this is one battle in a larger war and if the rules are as they are, this is a fixed deal, and I'll be looking for work in the not-too-distant future and it could be sometime this week, I don't know. They've said already it's going to be this week before they've even heard the evidence. Just gives you an example how phony it is.
They're claiming they have got these impeachment rules based on the Clinton impeachment and that's not true because I was there. I was a congressman who voted against impeaching President Clinton.
And when they went to the Senate, he was allowed witnesses. He had Vernon Jordan, for example, testify.
They're not giving me the opportunity to bring witnesses like that to say these things they said that I did wrong didn't happen.
HUGHLEY: That's a legislative decision for the State of Illinois, right?
BLAGOJEVICH: Correct.
HUGHLEY: They've made that decision.
BLAGOJEVICH: That's correct.
HUGHLEY: You -- this is something I found really interested. You are a big fan of Nixon's.
BLAGOJEVICH: What's fascinating about Nixon is Nixon was a guy from small town America who had to scratch and claw and struggle and work his way and deal with setbacks and disappointments and keep picking himself up and keep coming back and always trying to prove himself and always try to prove to people they got him wrong and didn't get him right.
And ultimately I think what was his downfall was unfortunately there was a little bit too much of that and maybe too much of the paranoiac sense and, you know, there's lessons to be learned by that. I don't see me the same way.
HUGHLEY: That's what, you know, it was interesting because it seemed ironic that that would be a historical figure that you were fascinated by and to find yourself in a similar situation.
BLAGOJEVICH: But here's one fundamental difference and here's where I'm the anti-Nixon.
HUGHLEY: I never heard that phrase - The anti ...
BLAGOJEVICH: I've been using it for the last couple hours, I'm the anti-Nixon in that with Watergate, so much of what he was trying to do was to keep the tapes from being heard. Finally, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled he had to release those tapes, that's when he resigned because they had him. I want every one of those taped phone conversations heard. I'm just the opposite of Nixon because I believe when the whole story is told, not a snippet here or snippet there but the whole story, then everything's put in its proper context, then you'll see a lot of conversations, a lot of ideas, some good, some stupid, some things you couldn't do ...
HUGHLEY: Now, you decided on Roland Burris. Did you think, was it political or did you think, I'm going to make a great pick regardless of circumstances.
BLAGOJEVICH: They were pressing me to resign and quit on something I didn't do wrong and they kept saying, don't make the pick. If I don't make the pick, them Illinois loses, then impeach me because I didn't do my duty. The constitution requires me to pick a senator if they're not going to change the law and let the people make the choice. And so all these politicians are making all that noise.
I appreciate their opinion but I got to do what I think is right and what the law requires and then, because of the circumstances that you had historical election of an African American president, but then you lost the only African American in the Senate which was a significant factor in all my considerations but not the only one, in the light of all that happened and because Roland Burris was in his own right historic, first African American elected to statewide office in Illinois. And then serving off Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. And I thought - and a man of impeccable integrity. He's the perfect pick in view of all this mess that has been created because of all the allegations against me and who would criticize him?
HUGHLEY: I got to tell you, I dug you before and I was proudly displaying my "I love Blagojevich" button but that was one of the most ballsy things I've seen. And I don't know why I respond to that, but what are you going to be if you're not a politician and not fighting for people's rights? What do you do?
BLAGOJEVICH: Mm-hmm. Well, I'm not going to hold elected office, if this happens, which I think is going to happen soon. But does it mean I'm going to give up fighting for causes and stuff that I care about? I'm not going to give up on my feature if I'm no longer governor. Life's a marathon.
I got to clear my name and if the truth is told, I will. And I'm going to keep fighting for the issues I believe in and I'm not giving up on me as being a real voice for the same people I fought for as governor and I'm not giving up on me having a bigger and brighter future to be able to do those things.
HUGHLEY: Well, I tell you what. We're not giving up on you, either. And if it don't work out there, I promise if it doesn't work out, you can come and work for me as my correspondent.
BLAGOJEVICH: Appreciate that. I'll do it for free, man, you're a special guy.
HUGHLEY: Thank you, we appreciate that. Thank you very much.
BLAGOJEVICH: Appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUGHLEY: The governor took my advice and actually spoke at his impeachment hearing. Stay tuned and we'll discuss another Chicago politician who knows all about how it went.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWS BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
D.L. HUGHLEY, CNN HOST: Well, my next guest may know what Governor Blagojevich is going through lately. He was a Chicago politician who is now the host of Cliff Kelley radio show. Please welcome Cliff Kelley from Chicago. Please give him a big round of applause. How you doing?
(APPLAUSE)
CLIFF KELLEY, "THE CLIFF KELLEY SHOW": Thank you, thank you.
HUGHLEY: Cliff, we did this interview earlier, and we know today he went before the -- his accusers in Springfield, and I thought he acquitted himself fairly well. I thought he argued his point well. I don't know that that will do any good, but he actually did go and fight his case in front of the Senate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. He did what would be called a closing statement. He probably did, D.L., what his lawyer would have done had he been represented by counsel. But he is a lawyer, and I think did he a great job.
HUGHLEY: I listened to those tapes, and I'm not going to hide my affinity for this guy. I never met him before. But to me, we have become such a trivial place that we will impeach a man for having sex or lying about having sex with a woman.
In California, we will impeach a guy because he raises taxes on license plates and because energy gets out of control. We'll impeach a guy for saying some things on tape. But a man can take us to war and lie, and we won't do you a damn thing about that. That makes me so mad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An excellent point.
(APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: And I'll tell you what else, I'll tell you what else, I think that it takes courage to kind of say you're wrong. I think once people get kind of a lynch mentality, where they presented all this evidence and they go, "Wow, now we have to impeach this guy."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, D.L., you are totally correct. And the problem here is that people have this belief that if the government goes out and arrests someone, that there's got to be something wrong. That isn't necessarily true. And particularly, those of us who are subject to COINTELPRO, and you what the FBI did to Dr. King and said he should kill himself, and all that sort of thing.
If it was such a rush, and you're going to file these documents of criminality, and you're supposed to by rule indict the governor within 30 days, why did the U.S. attorney say I need another 90 days? He still hasn't been indicted.
HUGHLEY: Which brings me to my other question--now, if he isn't indicted, doesn't he have some kind of recourse if he's impeached?
KELLEY: You remember--you saw the tapes of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the president's preacher?
HUGHLEY: Yes, I know. I got it.
KELLEY: Remember that?
HUGHLEY: Right. I very much --
KELLEY: But if you saw the entire tape, the entire sermon, it's a totally different meaning. So this can be the same thing. When the U.S. attorney --
HUGHLEY: If I have Mr. Jeremiah Wright on my show, I'm sure I'm in trouble. No, I'm just kidding. I do think things can be taken out of context.
KELLEY: Absolutely. When the U.S. attorney only gives you a certain part, obviously he's only going to give you something what he feels is something that is going to go against the governor.
So there's one of two things, they could extend it--what they really should have done, in my opinion, to be fair to everyone, is to allow the indictment and the trial to come up first.
HUGHLEY: Let me ask you something specifically. You had a problem with the law. You did nine months.
KELLEY: Sure, a lot of people.
HUGHLEY: --six months in jail, and you bounced back, and you're very successful. Your voice is still being heard. Is there possible redemption if --
KELLEY: Oh, sure. The problem with me is I would do exactly the same thing again. I did nothing wrong. That has nothing to do -- we have what's called "selective prosecution." You mentioned the fact that Governor Blagojevich has all kinds of talent and so forth, and he's a personable individual, and I think he will come out of this OK.
He may not be in office, but I think he's going to do fine.
HUGHLEY: If he listens to you, he'll be all right. It is a pleasure to talk to you. KELLEY: Keep up the great work.
HUGHLEY: Thank you. Likewise.
(APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: Well, one of the things I really love about my job is I get to see a lot of news footage of a lot of people, and I wonder what the hell were they thinking? You ever see something like that?
This is in Portland mayor, mayor of Portland, admitting that he had a gay affair.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR SAM ADAMS, (D) PORTLAND, OREGON: In the past, I characterized my relationship with Beau Breedlove as one of being purely nonsexual, and that's not true. Beau Breedlove and I had a sexual relationship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUGHLEY: Wait, wait, wait, wait, OK. The man's name is Breedlove. Of course you had to have sex with him. Are you kidding? The name Breedlove make me horny. Are you crazy?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAMS: --encouraged me to honest--
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUGHLEY: Let's stop this right here. Stop, stop.
Beau is 18 years old. Beau encouraged him to tell the truth.
OK, you have sex with an 18-year-old. You don't listen to them. What is wrong with you? What's the purpose of having sex with somebody young if you're talking to him? What's the problem? If I wanted to talk, I'd go home!
All right, this is the Russia's president's weekly video blog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN RUSSIAN)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUGHLEY: Wait a minute, I don't speak Russian, but I'm pretty sure he's saying, "I, too, had sex with Beau Breedlove."
And this, of course, is former president George Bush Sr., and he tells a joke at a convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE H. W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: One time we thought we'd outsmarted the crowd. We sent a decoy limousine off in one direction while I snuck out in the back entrance.
As we rounded the corner--I'll never forget it--I saw one of the ugliest and angriest women I have ever seen in my entire life.
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HUGHLEY: And I said, "Barbara, what are you doing here?" Oh, don't give me that. You all know that woman. Come on now. What are you saying? Don't give me that look. That woman looks like the model for the nickel. Are you crazy? Enough is enough.
Coming up next, I'll tell you who illegally bet on the Super Bowl. We'll be right back. Thank you.
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(APPLAUSE)
HUGHLEY: Well, it is one of my favorite times of year, Super Bowl Sunday coming up. I think that's like an unofficial holiday. But I have to work this weekend, so I'll be sitting along in my hotel with some pizza watching Super Bowl XLIII.
But here was some scoop on the game, are New York Giants Derek Ward, give him a big round of applause,
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--sports insider Pam Oliver, give her a big round of applause -
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--and my cousin, who I'm so proud of, ESPN's Mike Hill. How you doing, baby?
OK. I'm proud of you, brother.
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HUGHLEY: Well, I'm very happy. Derek, I'm obviously taping the show in New York. There are a lot of Giants fans who feel like you guys should be on the field right now. They feel like you should be playing the Super Bowl.
DEREK WARD: Yes. I mean, you know, we came up a little short versus Philly, but we have to take our hats off to them. They got after us, and we could do nothing else but sit back and watch this Super Bowl now.
HUGHLEY: Derek, can I say what you're really thinking? God damn that Plaxico Burris. Say it! Say it!
WARD: I love Plaxico, man. That's my brother right there, man, I love him.
HUGHLEY: If he hadn't shot himself, you'd have shot him, damn it, that's what would have happened. I'm just kidding.
Pam, I've been a fan of yours for a very long time. You're beautiful, you're knowledgeable. And Arizona's never been to the Super Bowl before, so how are they doing?
PAM OLIVER, FOX NEWS: It's really shocking what they have been able to do. They have been so bad for so long. Their owners are very cheap. Their facilities are terrible. The list goes on and on-
HUGHLEY: (INAUDIBLE)
(LAUGHTER)
OLIVER: So, for them to eventually end up in this place, it's nothing short of a miracle. Nobody anticipated this. They have no business actually being where they are, but you can never underestimate the power of just will.
HUGHLEY: Yes, amazing.
Mikey, listen, Warner and Roethlisberger have both won Super Bowls before. Warner is 37 years old. Ben is the youngest quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl. How do they stack up? What do you think?
MICHAEL HILL, ESPN: It is he amazing. Everybody's talking about Kurt Warner right now and if he's hall of fame worthy. And I think he is, because if you look at all the quarterbacks that have taken their teams to at least three Super Bowls, they're all in the hall of fame, and only one is out, and that's Tom Brady, and he'll be in the hall of fame.
Ben Roethlisberger, if you look at when he went to the Super Bowl in his second year, he really didn't perform that well. He had only nine completions in that game with two interceptions. So he's got some making up to do in this game.
HUGHLEY: What do you think, Derek? If you were on the field, which we know you're not because of that damn Plaxico Burris, but I'll stop. Who would you want as your quarterback? Is it Ben or is it Kurt?
WARD: I played with Kurt my rookie year, so I'll have to go with him. This is his third Super Bowl. He's looking great. And he had those two big guys out there playing wide receiver. So I have to go with Kurt, man. He's got the experience.
HUGHLEY: Now, Pam, is this going to be an exciting Super Bowl? What can we look for? What do we expect the Steelers to do? What do you expect from the Cardinals?
OLIVER: First of all, I'm sorry you're going to have to be off somewhere alone in a hotel with a pizza. You can come into my crib in Atlanta if you want. Hang out with us a little bit.
HUGHLEY: Don't you threaten me with a good time, now.
OLIVER: Don't turn your television dial for any purpose whatsoever. This is going to be a terrific Super Bowl.
The way it's matched up with kind of this David versus Goliath thing, and the way the Cardinals have come from nowhere, the Steelers have been there and done that.
But you got to really look out for the Arizona Cardinals right now. They have upset so many people to get to this point. I don't think they're, you know, they're ability to come into the Super Bowl, you know, not all wide-eyed and just kind of looking around and, well, what's all this?
They know that they've earned it. They're a really good team, and they're very well coached.
HUGHLEY: But, but, now, that's -- you talked about David and Goliath. Mike, who's David and who's Goliath because I can't figure -- I know Pittsburgh --
HILL: The Cardinals right now are the classic underdog. Nobody expected them to be here right now. They got past the Atlanta Falcons at home, they got past the Carolina Panthers.
They were zero and five on the east coast during the regular season. I'm talking about getting beat down, skull drug across the nation.
And then they go to Carolina with a team that's eight and zero at home during the regular season, and they beat them. Jake Delhomme is still needing counseling for the all interceptions he threw in that game.
And then last week, nobody thought they would beat the Philadelphia Eagles, and now they're in the Super Bowl. I'm pinching themselves.
And you know why they're in the Super Bowl? Because they got this beast--and I'm not talking about Patrick Swayze-Larry Fitzgerald. If you never heard of this kid, you've got to recognize right now--419 receives yards. He's doing his thing.
Keep up giving daddy the big piece of chicken, because he's is doing the thing right now.
HUGHLEY: You have to say that Larry Fitzgerald is probably the best receiver in the game right now, obviously right now, and he didn't shoot himself. I love it.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Derek, you know, now, Derek, who are you taking? Who and why? Who do you think will win it, what will be the score, and why?
WARD: You know what, Arizona reminds me so much of us last year, all the things that they had to get through to get to this point. And I'm going to stick with Arizona. I mean, they got a great can quarterback. They got, like you said, Larry Fitzgerald and Ankwaquan Boldin, and they're defense is playing lights out right now.
And so I think I'm going to roll with them.
And I'm going to tell you the score right now--27-24, Arizona.
HUGHLEY: OK, 27-24.
And, Mikey, what about you?
HILL: I got it. The Pittsburgh Steelers defense is the top in the league. I know Arizona has a great prolific offense, but they say defense wins championships. And I'm going with the Pittsburgh defense, because they have the experience of being there. So I'm going with them.
It's not going to be as big of a blowout as a lot of people think. I'm going 27-17. I think Arizona will be able to score some points, but a couple of turnovers Arizona will commit will be the difference in this game.
HUGHLEY: You always save the best for last. OK, beautiful, what is it?
OLIVER: I think I'm going to with the Cardinals as well. Just the momentum that they're going into this game with, the confidence that they're going into this game with.
But if you just want to talk scheme, the Steelers may have the number one pass defense in the league. But they haven't seen the likes of what's happening with the Arizona cardinals. They've got three 1,000- yard receivers. That's a whole lot to deal with.
You can talk about their front seven, but how's it looking when you get in that secondary, and I think that's what's going to make the difference. I think 21-14, Arizona.
HILL: And, D.L. the Giants beat both of them this season. Maybe they should be in the Super Bowl.
HUGHLEY: You know why? They did it before Plaxico shot himself.
Give it up for Pam Oliver, Mike Hill, and Derek Ward. Thanks to all of you for being with me, and enjoy the game you guys. Thank you very much.
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When we come back, I'm going to talk to my rabbi.
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HUGHLEY: So what might religion look like in the Obama administration? We might have had a glimpse during the inauguration. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REV. RICK WARREN: Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. The kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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HUGHLEY: Here with us today to give us insight on faith and politics in the White House is Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.
Rabbi, I grew up and was raised a Christian. And that was a prayer that we learned very early on. And although it moved me, I realized at some point there was a pretty large segment of the population that if you weren't Christian, that had a problem or may have not been able to feel the same sense of connection to it that I did.
I think that that was something that really bumped up against my idea of church and state.
RABBI SHMULEY BOTEACH, HOST, "THE RABBI SHMULEY SHOW": I didn't feel excluded because I had a blue ticket, which was the inaugural committee's version of the middle finger.
So I'm sitting there, freezing to death, being crushed to death, and I'm praying to any deity who will hear me, D.L. So the god of Israel abandoned me. If Jesus is going to pluck me up and put me on the dais with important people, I'm going to take him, too.
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But when he said that prayer, I was amazed, because we really were just fighting to get in, and I saw everyone bow their head. And I saw this moment of real solemnity. And I thought this was such a spiritual experience, until I saw the people were just frozen solid.
Everyone felt that moment of transcendence. I don't think anyone really felt excluded. He also said the "Oh, Israel, the lord is our god, the lord is one," a very important Jewish prayer.
Joseph Lowery said we are waiting for the day when the black man won't have to go back, man, the red man will get ahead, man. What about the Jew man joining the crew, man? That didn't happen.
(LAUGHTER)
You guys get -- actually that is real humility on the part of the black community. When you think about the deprivations and the persecutions suffered by blacks in this country, and suddenly they have the first black president, it could have been a moment of arrogance, especially given the popularity of Obama.
But you didn't see any of that. You just saw this inclusiveness.
When I was on the mall, I felt the transcendence specifically because America chose the best man for the job, looking past the skin color.
HUGHLEY: That's what I thought.
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But yet when I watched when we got back, and there were a lot of people who did have a problem with the lord's prayer, and did feel like if there is -- that there has to be a place where religion isn't in politics.
I no more believe that god picked Barack Obama than I believe that he picked Bush. I believe we make those decisions, and we have to live with them.
We have had 44 presidents. We don't know what this one is going to be like, but we know that two or three were great. If god was picking our president, he has a pretty bad batting average.
BOTEACH: Right. People have freedom of choice, and we emphasize that choice to choose our leadership.
But let's remember, the civil rights movement, the reason why I think the inauguration was so spiritual-the civil rights was a spiritual movement. Martin Luther King never had any title except Reverend.
And his organization, which Joseph Lowery headed, was SCLC-the Southern Christian Leadership Organization-Conference, I'm sorry. So I didn't see it as a violation of church and state.
I do think when Obama suddenly said that faithless as well, that America has Jews, Christians, Hindus, and people who have no faith, that was very important, because religion has really turned people off by being so exclusive the past few years.
HUGHLEY: We actually have that. I want to take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: For we know our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers.
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HUGHLEY: I have never heard a president talk about nonbelievers, because I've never heard that happen. I did that was inclusive, because whether you believe or not, I believe you are going to pay taxes-
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--and you are going to have to be represented by a government.
BOTEACH: I think America has a sense of divine purpose. Remember, our country was started by puritans who were escaping religious persecution, they wanted to worship god in their own way.
But as I said about Martin Luther King, if he didn't have that spiritual mission, if he didn't have that spiritual calling, the question is would the civil rights movement really have succeeded given that his whole argument was that we are all equally god's children?
If you take away that argument we are all equally god's children, all we have, D.L. are differences.
One of the reasons people were so moved on the mall and they crowded in the freezing conditions was because they know only in America, as Rick Warrant said, can the son of an African immigrant with the name Barack Hussein Obama become the leader of all the people, and just leader of all the people, but so immensely popular.
I don't see that happening in Britain or Australia anytime soon, and one of the reasons is that America does emphasize human dignity and majesty. That was always undermined by the twin sins, the abominations of segregation and slavery.
HUGHLEY: I agree. And I agree that only in America.
But we forget, and we have a short memory. We can't just write history for our own convenience. If we are going to be part of the world, we have to look at the world in its totality, and see that everybody else is as much of a treasure as we are.
And we just can't for the sake of convenience go, this, I'm great because of this. If we are going to be back a part of the world, it starts with the belief that god is everybody's god.
BOTEACH: It's the religious principles that give us our values that inspire the rest of the world. And I think Obama really was inspired by those values, and I think that's why he had these preachers who articulated it for him.
And that's why I think still in this age of science, and he said science should be restored to its rightful place, there should not be any great conflict between religion and science.
At the end of the day, still, religion is so important in emphasizing that even though we look different, it doesn't really matter. I hate the word "race." Where does the word "race" appear in the bible?
HUGHLEY: No. That is on a police car.
Thank you very much rabbi. It's always good to see you.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUGHLEY: Before I go, here is one more thing. The moment from my time with the governor--check him out.
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ROD BLAGOJEVICH, (D) FORMER ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: I bet that's going to get me in trouble.
HUGHLEY: Man, you already in trouble. BLAGOJEVICH: I (bleeped) it up.
HUGHLEY: I'm a bad influence.
BLAGOJEVICH: They are going to throw me out, anyway. Who cares?
HUGHLEY: I'm a bad influence. This is my best day ever at this job. THE (bleep) governor.
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Hey, you all take care. Goodnight. Thank you all for being here. I appreciate it. See you next week.
