>> he's a dad. you know, his world has changed a lot because of this. >> my younger daughter was 14 at the time when she heard i was going to become deputy. she asked me a very important question. she said, dad, does this mean you'll get your picture in the paper. and i said, no. >> reporter: but he keeps his own counsel even with his friends. >> with rod you scratch the surface and you get more surface. but that's him. he is inscrutable publicly. he's effective, methodical, thorough. >> reporter: a former u.s. attorney from maryland for a dozen years, a republican appointed by george w. bush. >> he's been presiding over a small district that was bringing every case you could imagine from material support of terrorism to public corruption to ms-13 to corrupt jails where