[♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. hello, everyone. thank you for joining us. i'm don lemon. you are in the cnn newsroom. in a few hours, amanda knox could be a free woman. on monday, she could learn if her 2009 murder conviction is overturned. for nearly two years a 24-year-old american has been imprisoned in italy. the stakes could not be higher. knox was sentenced to 26 years when she was found guilty of the 2007 murder of her roommate meredith kercher. our senior international

correspondent matthew chance is live from purge way, italy. will we see a ruling tomorrow, matthew? >> i think we probably will. first of all, we're going to see amanda knox take the stand as it were, turn to the jury and the judges at the courthouse and make a heart felt appeal for her to be released for her murder conviction, to be quashed by the court. she got a sentence of 26 years and she's been serving in a jail just outside of this city. we understand from her parents she has been thinking what she will say for the past several months obviously she will be pleading for her innocence and we understand because she learned to speak italian so fluently in jalt she will make the address in the local language which could endear her to the jury. the verdict or the ruling and decision of the court will come, we expect at this time tomorrow night.

>> i have to ask, we know her family is there. they have been there. any sign of them today? >> it is sunday today of course so the court hasn't been in session. they have been keeping to themselves. they are normally there giving statements and interviews to the huge amounts of international media gathered here in peru. they didn't pay a visit to amanda knox in her prison today. i was at the prison. there was no sign of them. obviously, they are leaving amanda one final day to prepare what she's going to say in court tomorrow. that's going to be essentially doeb. it will be the speech of her life. it could all turn whether she can convince the audience, the judge and jury to have sympathy for her. >> thank you very much. we look forward to your reporting. here in the united states, the occupied wall street pro- tests are quiet wither compared to the scene on saturday.

hundreds of people were arrested and then ticketed for blocking part of the brooklyn bridge. they say they are protesting the social inequities of america's financial system. susan candiotti in the financial district that has become the center of the protest. susan, it's now entering the third week. there's been -- this is a criticism by some -- there's been no coherent message r. they getting any better organized now? >> reporter: it doesn't seem to be the case, but they have a pretty good size crowd here in this public park that's been taken over by protesters for, going on three weeks now, as you said. if you look over that you can see a lot of people but it has been quiet. there have been no marchs. coming in this direction, you can see it has been set up. there are, in fact, mattresses.

people are taking rests here. if you look at this direction, people with signs protesting. all kinds of things a high price of gas, lack of health insurance, education cuts, they want more union participation out here but no one seems to mind there isn't anyone in charge here. they actually like it that way. if you spin over this way you will often hear a drum beat during the day, guitars and saxaphones playing, leading to an interesting atmosphere here, don. >> after saturday, what we saw on this brooklyn bridge, is there any suggestion that this protest is gaining momentum? >> you know, it's hard to say. they certainly hope that that's happening. they told me the reason they went to the brooklyn bridge yesterday was because it's a symbol of new york city. they hoped it would get a lot of media attention and therefore bring more people to their movement. but we'll have to wait and see

what happens in the days and weeks to come as they plan to stay here as long as it takes. >> how does the size of this demonstration compare to others in the city? >> i would say compared to, for example, the united nations protest that we saw a couple of weeks ago, those were actually many of them bigger than this. because this is going day after day and is receiving a lot more coverage than those kinds of protests do, it is garnered more attention than the others. >> susan candiotti on wall street. occupy wall street demonstrations there. thank you. six supreme court justices were among the dignitaries at the red mass today in washington. the service is held every year before the opening of the supreme court's term. it is called the red mass because of the color of the robes worn by clergy, leon panetta, william daly and

hundreds of other dig nir tears were at the service. the attendance of washington power brokers some say is inappropriate. they call it a mix of politics, the law and religion chblg a former vice president who says he supports the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. stay tuned the man behind the statement may surprise you. and the name of a hunting camp used by rick perry drawing anger and could spell a long week for his campaign. we'll break it down.  

all right. a vote of confidence for the obama administration's repeal of don't ask, don't tell and it's coming from someone who rarely has a kind word for the current

white house, former vice president dick cheney appeared on with candy crawley. he defended candidates who were silent who crowd members booed a gay soldier in a recent debate. >> the decision has been made with respect to allowing gays to serve openly in the military is a good one. it's the right thing to do. >> cheney did accuse the president of trying to have it both ways by not supporting same-sex marriage while carrying through on the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. okay. so listen, it is difficult to imagine a more poisonous word in the english language than nig ger. which is why many are taken aback to learn the word once adorned a hunting camp used by rick perry and his family. it was painted on a rock at the entrance. his family leased the camp and said he hasn't been there since 2006. the camp name has been changed

and the rock painted over but when it happened is a matter of dispute between perry's people and the "washington post" who published a link on it today. in eras past it was often used for land formations like hills and rocks according to the post. herman cain doesn't care for the connotation in any form. >> any reaction is that's just very insensitive. that's this a more vile, negative word than the "n" word and for him to leave it there as long as he did before i hear they finally painted over it is just plain insensitive to a lot of black people in the country. >> i want to talk about this with will cane and lz granderson. i don't want to get in to when the word was painted over or when the rock was moved, or what have you. we are saying the word for a reason. i think if you don't say it you

sanitize it. so, lz, how big of an issue is this for perry? >> i think it is huge. i don't see how you can stand on the stage across from president obama, the first african-american president with nigger hanging over your head which is what this story will be for him. this is the reason why this is -- this is among other reasons why kris humphries tee is trying to be wooed because perry has skeletons in his closet and the gop knows once he gets in front of barack obama these stories will come out and derail his campaign. >> we have said it was used for rock formation and it is part of our nation's history and there were other names that word was used in. i'm wondering how does a candidate recover, can a candidate recover once they have been associated with a

controversy over the word nigger. >> it is so powerful this word. this word is so powerful, such an atomic bomb on a campaign we need to be careful, very responsible about how we treat the story. you know that "washington post" was full of anonymous sources, full of speculation and i don't know that i want to be a pundit that goes on tv and speculates about this any further. i think these are questions for rick perry to answer at this point. >> that's a good point of view to have. the question was, just being associated in a controversy, whether it is true or not, that's tough to recover from. >> it is so tough to recover it may not be able to be recoverable. that's why we need to be careful

associating wit. we need to be careful. >> mitt romney, many pundits think that he is the man to beat. the other so-called flavor of the week can at this times are winning straw polls and getting more press. here's my question. you see how herman cain, first michele bachmann and rick perry. what's the problem? who problem is the gop have with mitt romney? >> you want me to take that? >> yes, it is you, will. >> let me see, don. let me make my list. >> i think that's a huge problem a lot of people have. >> lz, you said you think it is because a mormon. a lot of people want talk about this, though, lz. >> think of it. how many times that you see gop candidates tout their christianingty and yet mitt romney, barely, if ever, brings up his religion on his own

admission. it is a question presented to him and he responds succinctly and shortly. i think he is dodging being a mormon and people are reminded when they see him he is not like them and because of that they have a distance with them. >> is that the issue behind this, will? >> no. in fact, lz, it's absurd. we can make a list of why the gop voters have a potential problem with romney. we can sum it up saying they are worried about his philosophy for creating government. he flirted with the carbon taxes, pro choice before pro life. there are many substantive reasons. i have a good exposure to that electorate and nod not once have i heard somebody say i have a problem with him being a mormon. >> that's because it is taboo to say that part outloud. of course you are not going to hear the taboo part of it.

that's what we say behind closed doors to ourselves. that there's something not right about it. i agre with you. the policies, sure on paper there's a lot not to like but such a dislike for president obama you would think the party would get behind the guy that is most electable and they are hesitant and i think it is because half what is not being said opposed to what is being said. >> to count out that one part -- i think people to be honest that is probably one thing. it may not be the only thing but not to mention it i think would be disingenious to not to consider it. so, listen, let's move on. do you want to respond? go ahead. >> no. go ahead, don. sorry. >> in florida is forcing everything to move up by changing its primary to january. what's the rush here, will? >> influence. plain and simple influence. is there any reason that iowa should be such a great predicator of who should be the

president of the united states? or influential in determining who the gop candidate is for the united states? no, there is not. iowa is not representative of the conservative electorate across the country and if you want to know why we have ethanol subsidies it is because iowa is first on the list and florida wants to get up on the list and exert their own influence. >> i will ask you this, the current crop of gop candidates are they that dissatisfied with their current crop -- why force a trs decision so soon because they are talking about palin and christie why talk about it if you are not sat fwied the current crop and asking people to get in to the race? >> i think if i had to take a stab at it i think social security would be the main issue. what is it one in six of the voters down there rely on social security. i think they want to make sure whatever candidate they end up

with is on their side on their particular topic. they don't want to wait until march 6th before they get inside the primary. by then there might be momentum for one person who may not have the ideals of social security they would like. they want to get in early on the conversation and dictate opposed to follow. >> don't think i don't see the detroit lions t-shirt you have on there. >> oh, no. >> therefore -- >> i'm from dallas, texas. that was a jab at me. >> beat the cowboys. >> he's getting subliminally. he's trying to do it. thank you. both of you. >> restore the war, baby. >> i didn't see it. there it is. >> 31 points in the second half, dude. how do you even do that? >> next time. thank you. >> i'm out of here. >> see you later. we're moving on. cut the mikes, everybody. hijack suspect is in custody but it could be years before he is back in a u.s. courtroom. my conversation with two

passengers that were on the delta flight. e energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy.

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in portugal an extradition hearing two weeks from now will begin the process of trying to return george wright to the u.s. wright had been on the run for more than 40 year after allegedly helping to hijack a delta airliner back in 1972. he was picked up on monday. susan candiotti has the details of when and where he was found.

>> reporter: this rural seaside town is the idyllic backdrop for a fugitive living a secret looking nothing like when he was a teenager, george wright, was arrested after breakfast at this bakery in portugal about eight officers in plain clothes surrounded him, this man says. they did it quietly, and he didn't put up a fight. reviving the case in 2002, u.s. marshals and the fbi tracked wright to portugal through travel patterns they were examining. a law enforcement source tells cnn. authorities say they, in turn, matched a fingerprint from a portuguese national i.d. database for one they had on wright in prison. and set up about operation to make sure they had the man who had eluded them for so long. wright was convicted of killing a decorated world war ii vet

during a gas station robbery. serving time in new jersey, he escaped in 1970s hiding in detroit where he joined the black liberation army. in 1972, wright hijacked a delta flight from detroit to miami and put a gun in a cut out bible and posed as a priest to take over the flight with four others. >> as i came out of the lavatory, the steward december was in the buffet with one of the hijackers which i didn't know at this time. i asked her for a coffee. and he turned around and pointed a gun and said they want you in the cockpit. >> at miami international airport, fbi agents forced to wear bathing suits to prove they were unarmed, delivered a million dollar ransom. at that time a record amount. passengers were let go, but the flight crew was ordered to fly to boston to pick up a navigator before going to algiers. algeria returned the ransom money to the u.s. but wright and

his buddies were allowed to stay in algeria. wright eventually settled in this town in portugal and used the name who say desantos. townspeople say he owned restaurants and held several jobs. he was married and had children. he blenldsed in, even as a foreigner. he was pln pleasant this woman says and when he spoke to his wife and children he used english, not porch gez geez. his capture is a relief for the daughter of patterson who was killed by wright at the gas station 40 years ago. >> there was no dad there at graduation or to walk us down the island. grandchildren didn't have a grandfather. it's a big void a big empty spot. >> reporter: saying he's a portuguese citizen, wright is fighting to stay put but the u.s. wants him back to finish a murder sentence and face other charges including the hijacking decades ago. the legal process could take

weeks, months or even longer. susan candiotti, cnn, new york. >> thank you. the judge and his pregnant wife and little girl on the hijacked flight. they were on their way to miami for a lawyers convention. i spoke to them about the experience and mrs. robberson said she immediately noticed something odd about the passenger who turned out to be george wright. >> i only thought that after we had gotten on the plane and he stood up and i thought that is strange. he didn't look like a priest and i don't know what a priest always looked like but there was something strange. he was surveying the passengers on the plane, and i said to my husband, that doesn't look right. so he made some comment. >> what did you say, judge? >> well, when she said it to me he didn't really look like a priest. i said oh, you are just pregnant. don't worry about it.

we'll be okay. >> right. >> and then she said to me, there he goes with her up to the cockpit. >> and i said, well, they'll let anybody go to the cockpit. back then they would let children come to the cockpit when they gave them the little wing when they flew and i thought he was inquiring about the plane and she said now he's going in to the cockpit with her and at that point -- i started joining her in feeling something was wrong. when the plane landed, we didn't go to the terminal. we stayed on the tarmac. eventually the pilot came on and told us he had two young men who wanted to go to algeria and that he was going to take them to algeria with, but the problem was they wanted a million dollars in 20 dollar bills. >> we were all looking around puzzled and terrified to tell you the truth. >> did you think you were going to survive it? >> we weren't sure. i wasn't sure.

i was trying to keep my daughter calm and trying to entertain her and have her not know how frightened we all were. >> we must have stay on the tarmac for two hours, at least. and then we saw come to the plane, who i presume to be fbi agents come to the plane in bikini bathing suits and they were bringing the million dollars out to the plane. they hoisted the money on to a rope in the plane and then they let us off, out on the tarmac and back then they gave us a sign and the plane took off. >> the robbersons told me after 40 years they had basically forgotten about the hijacking until news broke that wright had been found living in portugal. lost, a man missing and trapped nearly a week after his car plunged down in a ravine.

he is found and alive to tell about it.

the next story is a story of determination, survival and luck and it thrust a california family in to the national sbielt spotlight. the dad was missing in the los angeles national forest. his four grown children found him, can you believe it? plus they may have helped another family in distress.

we have the remarkable details. >> reporter: two cars, mangled at the bottom of a ravine. that was the site of a family reunion unlike any other. one that has likely solved a missing person's case and saved a father's life as the video shows them worry began when the man being airlifted did not call his kids. >> my dad would never not call his kids. there's four of us. by the fourth, fifth and sixth day we knew something was wrong. >> reporter: so the children of david lavu started to search on their own pinpointing an area in the los angeles national forest. then the brother and sisters with other family and friends began to drive. >> we stopped at every ravine and looked over every hill. >> all of a sudden, i thought i heard a cat or dog, enough where i said hello and it echoed down. >> reporter: sean lavu found his father 200 feet down a ravine on thursday. he had been missing for six days. >> hugged him and we both cried

and i said, how did you make it? and he said i drank the water in the river and i ate leaves and bugs. >> he was heading this direction. another car was heading toward him. had bright lights on. so he flashed the lights at the kamplt i believe at that point probably swerved and went off the road. >> reporter: he ended up near another wrecked car with a decomposing body inside. as his children worried about him, he worried about how his kids would find him. he wrote on his car's dirty trunk, i love my kids. dead man was not my fault. love dad. the dead man is likely to be the 80-year-old melvin -- who has been missing since august 14th. she is grateful for answers. >> we tried to prepare for the worst but hope for the best. >> they are yet to confirm the identity what is certain is david lavu raised determined kids. tina kim, cnn.

>> unbelievable. it has been six weeks since the washington monument closed after a earthquake damaged it and now another bump in the road for tourists who hope to visit it. work to fix it has been suspended. a member of an engineering team was hanging by a rope at the top of the 550 foot monument when a gust of wind blew him 30 feet away from the west face to the south face. he is fine but the national parks service says it will be at the earliest monday before crews can resume their job as they wait for the high winds to die down. >> yeah. that's pretty dangerous. >> scary. >> gusty winds like, that the ones in washington may not be the rule. but the exception here. that's very dangerous. >> absolutely. repelling is kind of scary any way. but the weather has been so lousy in d.c. it's been a whole week that you have been dealing with this, since last weekend we were

talking about that upper low. we were hoping the front would come through and sweep it out. unfortunately it is still sitting here. it has to do a little bit with the hurricane in the atlantic, too. kind of blocking the pattern and keeping things in place. look for more dreary weather with. probably wednesday before it clears out. thursday before it is out of new england. it's been causing a lot of travel delays. we have delays nearly two hours in philadelphia. boston a half hour, jfk and montreal around 30 minutes. call ahead if you have those flights. things will be changing from the east coast to the west coast. this is really the first big cold course storm we will be dealing with of the season and we have a series of them in the pacific. look at that comma curve on this thing. this will be arriving tomorrow and bringing in cooler temperatures and wet weather. it is going to bring in rain in to parts of california that haven't seen it in weeks. we're talking about potential for three to six inches in to

the foothills and we could even see significant snow in to the mountains. how much snow are we talking about? maybe over a foot when we look at the high country. winter storm watches have been put in to effect for the sierra. this is for the second storm on tuesday night in to wednesday. there you can see the big picture for tomorrow. the northwest and the northeast both dealing with the wet weather. the good place to be in the middle where you have warm weather and a lot of sunshine. >> right in the middle of the country. good old heart land. >> yeah. >> appreciate it. coming up after the break, the michael jackson autopsy report. unless you are a medical doctor you probably never heard of the drugs found in his body. a doctor explains what they are and how dangerous they can be. that's next. don't go away. the nascar nati,

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the trial of dr. conrad murray gets underway on monday. murray's been charged with involuntary manslaughter the death of michael jackson. jackson died of an overdose of the anesthesia propofol and other drugs. to find out what affects these drugs had i spoke to a doctor

who saw the autopsy report. he is the head of the anesthesiology department at the university of california irvine. you saw the toxicology report? >> i saw the toxicology and autopsy report. >> you did? >> i did. >> what was in michael jackson's system? >> several drugs. lorazepam , propofol, lidocaine. >> that's a lot. >> that's a lot of drugs. >> certainly enough to make sure that he stopped breathing, yes. >> what did the autopsy report show? >> well, overall, michael jackson was actually in good health. there was no real problems in his internal organs. it did show at some point in the past he did use drugs but overall he was in excellent health. >> what kind of drugs. >> you can't really say that. all we can do is go based on we found in his blood. >> it didn't show one drug which the defense is saying he was

addicted to, demerol. >> absolute sli true. there was no demerol found there which means he did not really take demerol for 40 days before this. >> how many days would it have been in order for it to leave. >> several days. it has a long life. so it stays in the system quite a while. >> were you surprised by anything in the report? >> i would say i was surprised by what good shape he was. based on what i heard previously i expected to see more signs of chronic illness in his organs, more signs of an addict. they are not really there. he was basically healthy. >> yeah. yeah. and to have those drugs, you said lorazepam all, diazepam, does someone usually take all of those drugs together? >> you take them if you want to induce sedation or medically

induced coma. which brings me to the use of propofol should not be used in home settings. it could be used in a hospital, you have to monitor somebody's blood pressure, heart rate, how well they are breathing. you have to monitor their oxygen level. that's the bomb line. >> so, listen, this is going to be the issue now with medicine. how much can you get from doctors, depending on how much you pay, your celebrity status. what you do for a living. is that at issue here? >> absolutely. remember they found four gallons, four gallons are enough to put to sleep 500 people. or it is enough to keep somebody asleep for eight hours for almost two months. now, that may be a bit misleading because he may have built resistance in his body already. we have to remember, when somebody does take propofol on a regular basis they will build up resistance. i know some reports say it is a two months supply.

it depends how much resistance was in his body. it may only be one week supply. we don't know. >> is thering in something we should be concerned about. i heard it is usual ly a doctor/patient relationship and maybe this was an employee lsh employer relationship. is that a concern in society overall in this case and in society of this culture where you see drugs on television and what have you? >> to my opinion, there is a fundamental difference in the western society versus other societies in the relations between dr./patient. i think we need to go back to the basics and say doctors are here to take care of patients. it's not a question of you paying me for something. we are not the same as lawyers to my opinion. we are doctors. our first sworn duty is to take care of you. money is secondary. we need to take care your well being, regardless of how much you will pay for me. >> thank you, doctor. >> my thanks to him at the university of california irvine. stay with cnn. there's more ahead next hour on

dr. murray's trial. legal analyst holly hughs will join me to explain what we can expect when testimony resumes on monday. coming up, the return of skulls to the place they belong gives a morbid history lesson. the first time in the 20th century one nation tried to erase the existence of a people.

usually high water means you get out, but check this out. look at that. the streets of t of the philipp swamped. but first a morbid first for the 21st century. i understand a delegation from namibia, accepted the skulls from germany. what's going on. >> you have to follow me back 100 years. this is when germany had an emperor, and namibia was the colonial drown jewel known as germany southwest. they are in germany to accept

the skulls. what does skulls have to do with this is what people are probably asking. the indigenous group were met with brutal force when they met their german oppressors. the skulls were sent back to germany to do racial analysis. scientists would take the skulls and look at them to prove white supremacy. the skulls that we're seeing in the picture, now they are being given back by the german government has a gesture of reconciliation for the genocide that took place 100 years ago. can i give you -- tell you an interesting note, the hospital where the skulls are currently at, they didn't even know they had them until a german journalist stumbled on them in the hospital museum and was like, wait a second there could be something here. >> that's a really cool story. we have a couple to get through here. can we go to the flooding video in the philippines.

where is the water coming from? and how has it impacted the nation. >> two type of typhoons hit the philippines in a week. the water keeps adding on and adding on. people are walking in waist-high waters. many without food 0 and water. 3 million people have been estimated to be affected by. this this is according to world vision, a nonprofit organization. and now the typhoon has been downgraded to a tropical storm and it's heading to the coast of china. >> they are still left with the water and another david and goliath situation. $11 billion project to build a dam. >> the dam has been in the works for a while now and protesters continue from the indigenous population. they are saying if the dam goes through, if the project is actually accepted it could be the world's largest producer of hydro electric energy but environmentalists are saying, wait a second. this could mean tens of thousands of indigenous people

leaving the amazon, flooding of the amazon, deforestization but brazil slyke we have an energy crisis and one way to do it is to avert the flow of the river and by doing that they can produce all of this nrnl but the down side of that is -- >> you see the pictures. good pictures. thank you very much. >> i'm sorry for my international. -- did the running back nicknamed sweetness have a dark side? we will talk about it with a senior writer from sports illustrated.

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the baseball playoffs just getting underway, but one of the big stories this week was two teams that didn't make it. joining us now to talk about it is john with "sports illustrate illustrated". this is focusing on the soon to be released biography of hall of fame running back walter payton. and we're going to be getting back to the stunning revelations in that book, but let's get back to baseball. what happened to the red sox and the atlanta braves? >> these twin collapses, on september 1st, they're both sitting pretty. in one case, the hitting gave out, the other case, the

pitching. but it was almost voyeuristic to watch these teams lose and lose and lose. they played passively and tentatively. the last game of the season, they both lose, the tampa rays and cardinals both sneak in. >> and we're seeing some fallout now in boston and atlanta? >> yeah, the red sox and terry fran cohn, their manager, parted ways. stunning collapses and they're both on the outside looking in now. >> let's go to the nba, the lockout. talks this weekend that include star players like lebron james and twadwyane wade. are those stars getting involved? is that a good sign? >> it helps to have players of that stature. it raises the ego quotient. not a lot got done yesterday. we'll see what happens on monday. you know, these players are fielding offers to play overseas. that's not the case with the

nfl. in the nba, though, you've got these ore markets that will pay a competitive wage. that's a really interesting component. these players can go elsewhere if there's no reason. >> there's a report that the commissioner, that david stern that had he had threatened players with cancellation of the entire season if no progress was made. and the league denied that. but are we that close, john, to losing an entire season? >> yeah, you know, 12 years ago, we had a labor situation, they played a 50-game season. that meant losing more than a third to have the games. so we've got some time left. the commissioner was very adamant to say, no, i did not make that threat. clearly, some progress has got to be made, but i think the urgency might be exaggerated a little bit. >> john, now i want to go to this biography i am just starting to read. it's by jeff pearlman called "sweetness: the enigmatic life of walter payton." si is running an excerpt this week. what's in there that's going to surprise your readers?

>> well, there's some allegations of an extramarital affair, which probably doesn't surprise many people, seeing we're dealing with athletes. but walter payton, the figure of decency, sweetness was his nickname, there may have been some mental health issues, some drug abuse issues, and truly at odds this public portrait and i think that's what's causing some of the controversy. >> i'm glad you mentioned some of that, because the book describes the former chicago bears star as being a womanizer of sorts, abusing pain medication. was any of this known in sports circles when he was playing? >> well, i think talking to jeff pearlman, the author, was how little this was reported. i think a big difference as to what happens when he was playing, and what we see, even the most decorated hall of famer, walter payton, great image, even he has trouble with this transition from being a fire and retiring and being a quote/unquote civilian. that's what a lot of this book is about.

even these nfl players in particular have these great careers. even they can really struggle with this transition. and i think a lot of book is about that. how hard it is to go from being a star to your average citizen. >> it's tough when for so long people had put him up on a pedestal and everyone in the end is just human. he died of cancer in 1999, 45 years old. that's really young. but it sounds like, and correct me if i'm wrong, that his life just kind of fell apart after he retired? >> yeah, i think that's really the revelation of the book. and that's something that hadn't been particularly reported. and i think really the takeaway here is, you know, it's professional athletes, it's great when the going's good, but boy, in the grand scheme of things, it can be a pretty brutal career, and that transition from playing to not playing, even someone of walter payton's stature can really suffer. >> thank you, much appreciated. make sure you join us next hour

when i talk with jeff pearlman, the author of the new biography, "sweetness: the enigmatic life of walter payton," that's at 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. former vice president dick cheney praises a weekend move by president obama. that story, just ahead. whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it is to do this right.

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all right. we're excited to welcome erin burnett to cnn next week. her show "out front," debuts monday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. on "reliable sources," howard kurtz asked her about her new gig and from reporting exclusively on business to a new show. >> by doing a new general show here on cnn, are you giving up your business brand? you worked at goldman sachs. it's taken you a lot of years to gain that credibility. is that a difficult transition for you? >> well, i think the first answer to that is it's still important for me, in the sense that the election, the economy is the most important issue in the election. and i believe in general that money and where money is going and who is getting money is central to every story. >> you're not walking away from that? >> no. and i think that's an important angle we can bring to all stories. but a lot of the things that i love in terms of the foreign reporting and some of the issues that i really care about that have a fan