"He came to this whole new place and had to start over," Blagojevich told his defense lawyer Aaron Goldstein. "For better or worse, I think I picked up my dad's propensity to dream."

It seems like Blagojevich is trying to draw a parallel between himself and his father, who fought the Nazis in World War II. He said his dad didn't take other people's advice.

"Listening to the advice of someone is a mixed blessing, as I certainly have learned," Blagojevich said, perhaps implying that as governor, his advisers led him astray. It's a defense alluded to several times during cross-examination of government witnesses.

Blagojevich appears to choke up when he tells Goldstein his parents have both passed away.

"I've always felt, always felt that my parents ... helped me from heaven, just sort of helped guide me," he said, pointing up.