and with that he was handcuffed and taken away. . the sun has set on what former inmates refer to as the darkest day of their lives. for rod blagojevich that men shortly before noon saying goodbye to his family. fourth on a wave and a long walk to the park and a lot he lost it all for a night behind bars. the great texas gov. landed in denver around 9:00 a.m.. those who felt let down by the politician, he says he was hurt. >> it breaks my heart the people out there might think that i broke their heart but this is ongoing. the decision went against me, that's what the law is and i accepted. but now i have to bear some of the burden. >> he tried to duck the cameras but that did not work. the helicopter was overhead and a can caravan on his tail. he stopped for food and freddie's burgers and japan's with locals who recognized him. he also gave his final interview tried to smile his way through the difficult topics. >> i've got to be strong and get through all of this. i have been down when i started out and i got way of high and now i'm down way low. lower than where i started. but i don't believe this is the end of the story. >> but meanwhile outside the prison the crowd of curious on lookers. >> i took a little bike ride over there check out. i have my can bring out a few shots in a car. >> this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of event. normally they come and go far more privately. >> i am glad he is in there. he did something wrong. too many people who do things wrong are still out here. >> at 11:50 a.m. the black ball will turn the corner into the prison parking lot and into the driveway. rod blagojevich with his head hung low and the company by his to trial attorneys walk through the door and turn himself in. >> this was extremely saddening for me. as an individual i have been close with for three years and now i see him walking into the prison handcuffed and taken away. it breaks my heart. >> what this is just rod blagojevich the beginning when it comes to prison life because by now he is likely already met his roommate. it is likely dressed in his requisite prison unit form and he's covered in strip search. this is his first night as inmate may #40892-424. we are live animals and colorado this is julie unruh. >> the former governor's day started at his ravenswood manor home, then a trip to o-hare finally, the flight to colorado. wgn's tom negovan was along for the ride and gives us a behind the scene look. incredible for anyone. not just to travel with but to speak extensively with the former governor nor on his last day as a free man. the politician of years gone by working the terminal like the consummate pro. but claiming his innocence and optimism exclusively live on the wgn on morning news. life is tough. life is often time unfair. the tougher you are the highest in the forefront things. i am standing strong, not losing faith, not giving up, believing that truth will prevail. spam this is common refrain in the day is just prior to prison. he remained in a buoyant mood aboard his american airline flight. in join in our shoes a conversation with his lawyers and a small group of local media. the topics ranged widely from the cubs, to politics to justice and to family. it seemed a much different man who emerged in denver. he claimed would just enough time to make a short statement to the press. still hopeful, but clearly with a growing awareness of the harsh reality dead lay quite literally just down the road. >> this is a process that is still ongoing. i am hopeful for the future. >> when he was referring to there was that his appeal. he is hopeful about his appeal. his lawyers say they are working on that. they say it is client has reason to be hopeful about the appeal although it will take a while. during that claim plane ride, the governor open up to me about a lot of things about how he's feeling. he was extremely quiet the closer we got to the destination. he was extremely pensive just staring out of the window at the place that is now his new home. >> how did you get a seat near him? >> we have incredible skills. on the plane i simply worked my way to him. he was very open to talking and being engaged in conversation with all of us. he talked about paulist ticks justice, his family, you name it we talked about all kinds of things. he was very wide ranging in his discourse. he became quite as we approached the federal prison. aegis said orange juice to drink at all. >> them now the neighborhood we add to the unaccustomed quiet and calm that the governor left behind. >> it is not quite crow quiet because we are still here. this still a lot of neighbors walk around this neighborhood. the neighbors say they are ready for the media to leave and hopefully not come back. >> most of the neighborhood was sleeping or just waking up. the media circus followed every move from the second he stepped out of his home. ravenswood manor where people enjoy their peace and quiet but when they found their neighbor in the big trouble with the fed's all of the media started showing up regularly. the biggest complaint from neighbors was the news helicopter hovering above to bring the public live pictures about the action. >> i don't mind the bands and the people on grounds of but the helicopters really are noisy and which you of early in the morning. >> we are really happy that they are leaving it will not be hearing the helicopters at 5:00 in the morning. >> the neighbors are ready for the media to leave. it is a great neighborhood. i'm sure i can speak for the media from chicago, the feeling is mutual. >> has continued to say i'm a senior invoking confidence in his appeal. >> one of their positions is to play all of the tapes and put everything in context as you say. they're a good legal constitutional issues here but there is a mighty mountain to climb. if you're going to claim that a judge was prejudiced, that's a tough thing to show because all you really have is the transcripts from the court. >> and terry also says it the pill doesn't involve turning over the sentence it might serve to reduce the sentence. >> we did get a lot of reaction from our public. >> a bunch of haters, is politics what to expect. even if he is guilty, 14 years is ridiculous. >> it is because of been like him that the state is broke and no jobs. it would make more sense for him to go to prison than the guy who kill the kid on of bike. >> please stop wasting their herbal air time on this jerk. >> the unseemly while mild weather, but for some of our view is it is gotten downright chilly. >> this was called pneumonia front. but these numbers around chicago's lakefront. it did three and a hair, 46 in the notion and just a few short hours ago this match was filled with a degree numbers. o'hare made it up to 81 degrees. that crashed through the previous record high for this date. midland airport made it up to 82 degrees. we think in that if the cold air settles south it will stop. coming back at us is a warm front of the northeast bringing the cool air on shore. expected to ignite if you are headed out. >> santorum . republican presidential hopefuls descending on illinois, as the crucial battle in the war over the nomination. the president's campaign isn't waiting for the gop fight to end. the gloves come off today in the first official campaign rally for team obama. and a new look at one of chicago's most popular attractions. well, online dating services can get kind of expensive. so to save money i've found a new way to get my profile out there. check me out. everybody says i've got a friendly disposition and they love my spinach dip. five foot ten... still doing a little exploring. but... my sign is sagittarius, i'm into spanish cheese, my hairline is receding but i'm getting a weave. getting a weave. there's an easier way to save. who wants some ronald tonight!? 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[ female announcer ] with swiffer wetjet cleaning better, doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm going to... drink this... on the porch! ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] mops can be a hassle but swiffer wetjet's spray cleaner and absorbent pads can clean better in half the time so you don't miss a thing. swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. and for dry messes big and small try swiffer sweeper vac. the people of illinois thought they were going to avoid all the political ads on radio and tv. president obama running one. suddenly illinois is filled with ads. >> mitt romney can't seem to put santorum away. 69 delegates are expected at stake next tuesday and the matter. >> the last time illinois mattered in the gop presidential primary it looked like this -1988 - when george h w bush knocked off bob dole along his way to the white house. 14 years later, the republican contest is on and its right here. presidential hopeful newt gingrich appeared at judson university in elgin today in an event billed as a hispanic town hall meeting with newt and callista. the crowd cheered when gingrich referred to president obama's quote attack on the catholic church and other right to life institutions. a chicago tribune wgn poll showed gingrich at just 12 percent support statewide, but instead of attacking his opponents he attacked the man he wants to replace in office. >> i believe the american people have the right to worship god in the way they want to without being dictated to by judges, the news media or the president of united states. >> most thought republicans would have had this settled by now, that it would be all but over by mid march. the fact that it isn't is exciting to state senator matt murphy, who says after ten years of one party democratic control in illinois, the gop has a chance to shine. >> i think if we're going to get to be a state with political balance, reintroduction of republicans to voters like this election will provide, are going to be really important. >> the pressure is on the frontrunner. mitt romney is pouring nearly five million dollars into the primary here - most of it on television time. he'll be in rosemont tomorrow when new jersey governor chris christie will appear on his behalf in elmhurst. >> it is nice to see the presidential candidates are running the ads in a republican primary. >> state representative jim durkin led senator john mccain's 2008. mccain will campaign for his old foe in illinois over the weekend. durkin says it's time for the party faithful to unite. >> i'm supporting governor romney. in the next few weeks i hope the candidates will get an understanding that there's no mathematically they can win the nomination and put this to an end. >> this is the first time i've been a thing for the self up by members. it is a privilege to vote and have our boatmen something in the primary. >> angel garcia is part of the chicago young republicans. he's voting for romney because he says he can better fix the economy the gingrich, ron paul, or rick santorum who may prove popular downstate. he says being conservative in a democratic town isn't too tough in times like this. >> if you look at it like our effort matter statewide, it is easy to get ... those santorum may prove popular downstate, 70 percent of the vote will come north of by 80 in the six chicago area counties. >> vice president biden is standing in for president obama on the campaign trail. he had auto workers in toledo cheering by talking up the revival of the auto industry. >> "the president and i made a bet, a simple bet. we bet on you! we bet on american ingenuity, we bet on you and we mont. >> the vice president went on to attack the republican candidates for president. simply stated he said, "we're about protecting the private sector and they're about protecting the priviledge sector. biden has four campaign stops planned in the coming weeks. early voting is over throughout illinois and the chicago board of elections is out tonight with unofficial results saying about half as many voters took advantage of it compared to four years ago. little more than 35,000 democrats turned out to castthis compares with 76,000 democrats who early voted four president. years ago. and for absentee voting, about 2008 presidential primary. tonight's the family of a suburban woman calls the wrongful death suit against the state. whoa! i'd love a set like this... ...well, i'd like a pony. we used kmart layaway - paid it off over 8 weeks. with kmart layaway shop 1000s of items across dozens of departments, all year long. there's layaway, and there's kmart layaway. 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[ male announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers ♪ ♪ bum, ba-da-bum, bum, bum, bum ♪ we don't win unless we work together. it's how we play our best. it's how we survive on the field. now that same teamwork can save 13 million people... affected by the famine, war, and drought in the horn of africa. go to this site... and forward the facts to everyone you know. the more people who know... the more money we can raise. and the more money we raise... the more people we can help... because saving lives doesn't take a lot... it just takes a lot of us. the family of a woman hit and killed by a truck along the eisenhower expressway files a wrongful death lawsuit against illinois state police and the village of west chester. 25 year old diana paz was struck at the eisenhower and mine heim road less and timber. shirley reported, authorities arrested her for allegedly driving drunk and travelling the wrong way on the bike. after she posted bond, they dropped her off again station. her family says in the lawsuit, she was still drunk at the time and they should not have left her alone. her family also claims the gas station was far from her home and she did not have her purse with her. >> it was a very difficult to lose my daughter. >> the illinois state police is not commenting. the village of west chester is denying any responsibility. >> mayor emanuel looking for more support for his speech counterplan after some alderman called it a money grab. he offered up a scaled-back version of the plan limiting coverage to 20 percent of the schools in parts in the city. can operating hours in school zones would be on weekdays from 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.. >> and incumbent chicago congressman with a famous name in a fierce battle to keep his job. the second district fight between jesse jackson jr. and debbie halverson. more coming up. 6-7-9. 6-3-4-8. pick 4. 7-23-39-16-24. lotto number. in tonight's medical what food and cancer that might be spread to fertilizer. cadmium use it didn't fertilize the. cadmium was found and bread cereal and potatoes as well as those crops and vegetables. the cadmium breast cancer connection held true with women who wear had positive and negative thomas. the smallest babies take a big toll on the mother's heart. when the mother and delivers a full term of low birthweight babies it did increase the search term of developing heart disease. these kind of they call a long time are changes which increases, this is our heart problems. having full term babies is also associated with blood pressure and diabetes. when it comes to health screening, an annual check is no longer necessary for women. they call for screening every three years for cervical cancer. the go further to say there was a woman turns 30, she only needs a pap test every five years. doctors say cervical cancer is relatively slow-growing and it is not likely that woman's cancer will grow in a few years following-screening. >> much cooler outside this evening. jim ramsey said temperatures will bounce back bigtime. more record-breaking whether on the way. 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[ female announcer ] unlike sprays and dust rags swiffer 360 duster's extender gets into hard-to-reach places without the hassle. so you can get unbelievable dust pickup in less time without missing a thing. i love that book. can you believe the twin did it? ♪ ♪ swiffer. great clean in less time. or your money back. more of nature's very on tate. a tornado is ripping through the michigan area. it is a part of a storm system that drew hail and high winds sweeping over southeast michigan. 50 homes were damaged or destroyed. no injuries or deaths reported. officials are still trying to go through the rubble to assess the situation. there has been some 206 weather reports. more than 180 of them have been hailed reports including parts of illinois and indiana. the big story seems to be the temperature. time lapse camera showed it was a beautiful day out there. i temperatures of 81 degrees. that destroyed the previous record of high temperature. tomorrow we probably will not challenge the record. the temperatures before long are expected to shoot back into the '80s. where is the cold air. it is to our north. it will stay up there until probably one week from friday. you have another seven days to go before we get any relief or change in the temperatures. a lot of people are enjoying this weather. tonight at a cold front has passed across lake michigan turning the winds northeast it brought some cool air a short. this represents a 28 degree drop in temperature at o'hare airport. 53 degrees as we speak. the winds are not a factor at this moment. the wind speeds generally between 5-10 mi. per hour. do point temperature mostly in the upper forties or low 50s but as the temperature drops, that makes way for a little fog. we have been noticing it diminishing visibility throughout the evening. the only areas at the moment under a dense fog advisory or north of the wisconsin border. the orange/red area represents the warm air. some fairly powerful storms as we speak. here is our forecast. for tonight the skies are not too bed. early clouds with temperatures 47-61 degrees. the winds are shifting to the north east along the lake shore. friday partly cloudy skies scattered storms continuing cool along the lake. friday night a storm possibly. 54-59 degrees. on saturday, some areas might make it back up to above 80 on saturday. keep in mind that the average high for this date 46 degrees. >> still ahead an ethics investigation and a formidable opponent making re-election more challenging for second district congressman je