With his lawyer and newly-hired publicist never more than a few feet away, Rod Blagojevich tried to stay on message.
"If they want to throw me out of office, at least give me the right to bring in witnesses to prove I've done nothing wrong," said Blagojevich.
But the very first interviewer kept the governor on defense as she relentlessly pursued the alleged plot to sell a U.S. Senate seat.
"Help me explain this. I have this thing that's bleeping golden, I'll not give it up for bleeping nothing," said Diane Sawyer.
"Again, I can't go into the details of that case. I wish they would allow me in the impeachment trial to bring the evidence to show exactly what those conversations were," said Blagojevich.
And one national co-hostess couldn't resist the legendary Blagojevich hairdo while comparing him to Richard Nixon.
"Say, 'I am not a crook,'" said Joy Behar of "The View."
So went the day and night in the nation's media capital where the New York Times reported it appeared that the Illinois Governor upstaged the beginning of his own impeachment trial.
"It is a fundamentally unfair process. They're suggesting I did some things they can't prove of and I can't disprove because I can't bring in witnesses," Blagojevich said.
Between interviews, Blagojevich told ABC7 he still expects to be unemployed in a few days.
"I'm going to go down with the ship on principle but I will not quit and allow these people to run me out," said Blagojevich.
The media tour was planned by publicist Glenn Selig who also does media for Drew Peterson, the former Bolingbrook cop suspected in his wife's disappearance.
The mission, according to insiders on team Blagojevich, is to humanize the governor.
The governor was accompanied by two members of his state police security detail. No other members of his official staff made the trip to New York City.
