the robust nick charles had never been sick in his life. but something was changing in his body. >> i would ask people my age, do you get up at night to urinate? yeah, i get up but i wouldn't ask how many times. i was getting up six, eight times. i said, gee, something's wrong. >> reporter: it took six months to finding the culprit. >> she said here's the deal, you have met static stage four bladder cancer. it's serious. the five-year survival rate is 2%. the average life span is 20 months. >> reporter: but after a lifetime of covering fights, the fight was coming to him. you're going in to win? >> to win, absolutely. >> reporter: to knock out cancer. >> absolutely. let's go at it. >> this is morphine, which is slow release. >> reporter: let's go at it. with nick's cancer, here's what that means. >> morphine drops. >> reporter: four combinations of seven different drugs. hair falling out, throwing up, seering pain through every muss until your body. hives so bad it makes you want to tear off your skin. >> first time the nurses came in, they

nick charles has been seeing a therapist.ted us to see what it is like for each of them. >> i feel like i'm grieving, but there's nothing physically to grieve about right now. >> that's what i'm hearing, too, is that you're really anticipating, but it's not only anticipating a future, but you already have a sense of a more glorious past that you just loved and a time when nick could be more the fullness of who he really is. >> i just refuse to grieve. looking in these daily increments again, not beyond that. >> right. >> saying we're going to find some real goodness here and laughter and going to make our lives a little better for each other. you know, that extra hug is coming because i really love you. extra kiss. giovanna is going to sleep in bed with us because she wants to. i wake up, see her a little more, touch her skin, know her daddy is there. >> you are so treasuring every moment that you can, aren't you? >> absolutely. >> love you, mike. >> coming up, a visit from an old friend, mike tyson. ♪ hello sunshine, sweet a

i mean, i don't know, i've always been a big sports fan and it was nick charles and fred hickman with were the longest sports anchor duo in history, 17 years they were on the air together. hick and nick is what they were referred to, there, colloquially, and just iconic images of nick in all these places all over the world. you know, doing what he did best. he loved all kinds of sports. boxing, t.j., you may know, was his real passion. he covered a lot of fights and ended up calling fights as well. so he did a lot for cnn and a lot for the sports world. >> sanjay gupta for us. sanj sanjay, we appreciate you hopping on the line. sad day. it was one he knew was coming, a lot of people knew was coming, but when you hear it, it's a shock. appreciate you, sanjay. >> thank you. >> here now the reaction from charles death from jim walton, president of cnn worldwide, saying, "as a journalist and sports personality, nick charles helped put cnn on the map in its early days. he brought intelligence, style, and heart to his work, qualities that translated to our company and inspired those of us w

nick charles had been searching. >> 45 years old, meeting corey, i had been happy immediately. >> reporterhe revels in every moment with his girls. giovanna and his wife corey. the one thing nick doesn't have is time. even his daughter knows it. >> you don't get to go to heaven yet. >> i'm not going to heaven yet. i'm still hanging around to play candy land and win. >> i'll going to win. >> reporter: in early 2009 nick was the happiest he's ever been. but a shadow was creeping in. the robust nick charles had never been sick in his life. but something was changing in his body. >> i would ask people, my age, do you get up at night to urinate? yes, i get up. i was getting up, gee, six and eight times. i said something's wrong. >> reporter: it took six months to find the culprit. >> i went to houston. she said here's the deal. you have metastatic stage four bladder cancer. the average life span is 20 months. >> reporter: after a lifetime of covering fights, the fight was coming to him. >> you're going in to win? >> oh, to win, absolutely. >> reporter: to knock out cancer. >> absolutely. let's

nick charles has died. nick was a cnn staple for years on sports tonight.his battle with bladder cancer. you may remember his name, certainly from the time he was here at cnn. but most recently our sanjay gupta did a profile that got overwhelming reaction, a profile of nick and how he was preparing to go. he was preparing himself and his family for the last days of his life and important the time when he would not be here. nick charles has died at the age of 64. we'll have much more on this man and his life and, again, what he knew inevitable. >>> i do have to tell you i had the pleasure of knowing nick charles and what a superb human being. >> he did. we got overwhelming reaction. it might have been last weekend or the week before that sanjay profiled nick. just unsolicited reaction from our viewers. they were touched by what he was doing and preparing -- >> a beautiful man and a beautiful life. >> again, we'll have much more on that if you're not familiar with the story. >>> turning to our morning passport. we turn to dubai where there are tourists in jai

i'm nick charles with bob kurtz. nt. >> reporter: before the advent of 24 hour sports news channels, charles was the network's nightly authority when it came to chronicling the winners and losers of the games people played. he was paired with fred hickman for a nearly two decade run on cnn's sports tonight program. >> fancy meeting you here. >> yes, indeed, after all this time. >> this is a milestone show for fred and me, 3,000 together. >> seems like only yesterday and it wasn't. >> i've always looked up to nick and always kind of aspired to do what he did. he was a great inspiration to me, taught me to be a better storyteller and better reporter and better journalist, better person. >> reporter: charles reported on all of the major sporting events, from the olympics to the super bowl. >> i'm nick charles of cnn sports. hello again from pontiac, michigan. in city, australia. it is not just another day on streets of london. we're here at the rose bowl and the scoreboard tells the story. this is nick charles on the str

nick charles' fight against bladder cancer was well documented. nick in his own words talking about how his faith helped him come to terms with his mortality and how it helped him prepare his family for the journey without him. >> i have terminal metastatic bladder cancer, which will eventually take my life, barring a miracle from the lord which i'm still holding out for. i was -- i grew up catholic and fell away. and for a lot of reasons. but my wife brought me back to the lord. i went to first baptist church in atlanta one day and i saw this man in the balcony, and this guy coming up who looked like he was living on the street. and i just got it. i just broke down and went in that balcony. i saw the look in this man's eyes and contentment. and how you could just come to god. and there's no back track. there's no guilt involved. there's no keeping score. and i said, this is where i should have been before. but this is where i am now. and i'm moving forward with it. the i remember my mother used to say in her older age, jesus, just talk with me, w

nick charles was cnn's very first sports anchor. he shared hosting duties on "sports tonight" with fred hickman for two decades. charles died this morning from bladder cancer. he was 64 years old. he will be missed. >>> 30 days from now, gay couples will be allowed to legally marry. late last night, new york became the latest and the largest state to legalize same-mention marriage. -- same-sex marriage. hi, lisa so six states and the district of columbia now recognize the right of same-sex couples to marry. how important is this that new york has crossed that line? >> it's a wonderful opportunity for same-sex couples to be possibly marching to the alter in the next 30 days. it's something that governor cuomo ran on his platform and he did it within four months. >> it's interesting because he was barely in office for five minutes. the question is a lot of people are saying they're going to fight to appeal this, they're going to fight to overturn it. what's the legal ramifications and what's the possibility of that? >> they can challe

don't know what kind of reaction you got, so much unsolicited feedback to the special we did about nick charlesf it was people seeing themselves in nick's life to some extent. people asking the same question nick was forced to ask himself. he was told in 2009 that he essentially had about two years to live. and what would you do with that information? what would you change about your life, dream bigger, get into compartments? he did both, short-term goals and his dreams got even grander it seemed. he has a 5-year-old daughter pep wanted to plan for her life. just a very inspiring guy. >> you talked about him building his dream home. he's told he is going to live two years and he decides i'm going to build my dream house. >> yes. >> i think it's because even though he was very much forced to live in the present, he took it upon himself to say that is in no way going to impede me from continuing to dream and imagine the future and also dreaming and imagining what the lives of his daughter and his wife were going to be like when he was gone. he took me into the closet where his daughter's clothes

nick charles died yesterday at the age of 64.been battling bladder cancer for the last couple of years. last hour i spoke with sanjay gupta who had a chance to sit down earlier this month. >> he was told in 2009 he had two years to live. what would you do with that information? what would you change about your life? would you dream bigger, or get into little compartments? he did both. his dreams got grander. he has a 5-year-old daughter, so he wanted to plan for her life. a very inspiring guy. >> our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. nick charles, dead at the age of 64. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia. [ lane ] here's the trouble with most anti-wrinkle creams. the cream disappears but your wrinkles don't. ♪ introducing neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it has the fastest

, what we are all learning from nick charles.urday and sunday at 7:30 eastern for a special sanjay gupta m.d. nick charles, less lessons from the fight. >>> men are like peacocks. one conclusion we are told from a new study about guys who spend some serious money to strut their stuff. but alison kosik, as you learn from check out this study, that it doesn't always pay off! apparently, you know, women may be attracted to the man with a porsche but it doesn't mean long-term commitment! >> reporter: exactly. you said it. here a little tip for men. you don't necessarily have to spend big bucks to get the ladies. so, yeah, the basis of this study, believe it or not, is peacocks and porsches and it found men find porsches and other flashy items the other way peacocks show their feathers to get girls! it works! women found the flashy guys to be more desirable but a catch in awful this, of course. the porsche guys are more intriguing for a date but they were not considered marriage material so that is the difference. and when it came to

call today. >> for those of us here at cnn, the name nick charles means a lot. of the network's first sportscaster. he has been battling bladder cancer for nearly two years. dr. sanjay gupta recently spent some time with nick at his home in santa fe, new mexico. it is a heart-breaking story but an inspirational story. sanjay, tell us a little bit about what's going on. >> there is no question, wolf. first of all, it is hard to do stories like this, especially when we know nick. everybody knows nick so well. two years ago after being healthy his whole life, he was having troubles and went to the doctor and was diagnosed with stage four bladder cancer. he was told at that time two years ago that he had about two years to live. it hits you like you might think it would hit anybody. he started asking questions like the one he asked me which is what would you do if you suddenly heard that sort of news? how would you change your life? he has changed his life in ways big and small, big changes. also, specific ones. he keeps a journal every day, notes to his family that

>>> well, over the last 40 years, nick charles covered just about every major sporting event, from the name t. but now the former cnn sports anchor is sharing his personal fight with cancer, and he has a message about hope and bravery for his family. our chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, spent some time with nick at his home in new mexico. >> well, i'll tell you that in some ways there's nothing harder than covering a story like this about someone that you know. we all know him here at cnn. he was the original cnn sports anchor. about two years ago, nick charles, who was previously healthy, was diagnosed with stage 4 bladder cancer. he was told he had two years to live. the thing about it is, he asked the question a lot of people asked themselves, what would you do if you were suddenly confronted in this situation. how would you tell your family. he has a 5-year-old daughter. how would you divvy up your day and the remaining time that you have left. some of the things he said are big, general things. some, smaller, very specific. for example, he keeps a journal, writes not

nick charles has died.s first sports anchor, and he along with his co-anchor, fred hickman, were fixtures on "sports tonight" for nearly two decades. charles died of bladder cancer this morning at the age of 64. the president of cnn worldwide, jim walton, put out this statement saying, "as a journalist and sports personality, nick charles helped put cnn on the map in its early days. he brought intelligence, style, and heart to his work, qualities that translated to our company and inspired those of us who were fortunate to work alongside him. his passing is a loss to cnn, the sports world, and to the fans and friends everywhere who were with him to the end of his extraordinary life. like them, our thoughts today are of nick and with his family." ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] thanks to advanced natural gas turbine technology from ge, the power that will help make our nation more energy independent is right here in america. [ crickets chirping ] ♪ [ cheers and applause ] advanced gas turbine technology from ge. ♪

>>> next week jend for father's day, we'll bring the story of my frnd nick charles, the father of a young girl, now suddenly confronted with his mortality. what would you do? he's looking to make the most of the rest of his life. we're calling it "nick charles lessons from the fight" next weekend right here on "sgmd." >>> that does it for today's program. thanks for being with us this morning. time to get you back inside the "cnn newsroom" for a check your top stories making news right now. >>> hello there, everybody. from the cnn center in atlanta, georgia, this is your cnn sunday morning for this uni12th. i'm t.j. holmes, thank you for being here. >>> just in this morning -- what a sight to see -- the first photo of congresswoman gabrielle giffords' face since she was shot by a gunman at the beginning of this year. we will share this photo and the details, again, photos just coming out this morning and we'll be sharing them with you. >>> also, we have really stirred the pot on this one, folks. a lot of you all chiming in on facebook and twitter about stories in the bible, things you thi

nick charles. the face of sports for nearly two decades. he lost his battle with bladder cancer. >>> by the time i'm done reading this paragraph another student will have dropped out of high school. it happens every 26 seconds. good morning, everyone i'm christine romans. coming up we'll talk about the tough job of keeping teens in the classroom. should kids be in school year round. if your child needs inspiration, michael phelps drops by with his story. for some kids it's a dream come true no homework. a new wave in education, school districts and parents embracing an anti-homework movement because their kids are trapped in a meaningful cycle of busy work or too much pressure or learning for the sake of standards testing. high school english teacher is the 2010 teacher the year. the school board in new jersey will eliminate homework to ten minutes and ban assignments on weekend, vacations. the next minute our kids are over stressed. which is it? >> a little bit of both. i think the real crux of this conversation is what are we asking stude

nick charles, lessons from the fight, next week on "sgmd." thanks for being with us. time to get you back inside the cnn newsroom for a check of your top stories making news right now. >>> good morning. congressman anthony weiner's sexting investigation dominated headlines this week. guess what we're hearing now this morning, that a teenage girl got messages from him as well. also this morning, alabama just passed one of the toughest immigration laws in this country. we will take you to alabama live to see how police are supposed to enforce these new rules. >>> also, social media taking it one step further. now, all facebook needs is a picture of you and it will do the rest. from the cnn center this is your "cnn saturday morning" on june 11th. hello to you all. i'm t.j. holmes. thank you for spending your morning here with us. >>> messages to a teenage girl from congressman anthony weiner. reports say she's just 17 years old. weiner, of course, has admitted to sending salacious pictures to a number of women on-line but his people say the teenage girl did not get any o

that does it for nick charles, "lessons from the fight." i'm dr. sanjay gupta. thanks for watching. >>> from cnn's world headquarters bringing you news and analysis from across the nation and around the globe. live, from studio 7, this is "cnn sunday morning" with t. j. holmes. >>> good morning. wildfires across arizona, and john mccain blaming illegal immigrants for starting them. >>> if you ever bought a ticket to see springsteen, you have seen this man, too. we say good-bye. this is "cnn sunday morning." >>> we start this morning talking about explosions in need yoe. a government spokesman called the spokesman, quote, murder. i asked him what happened. >> weep have had a lot of propaganda from accusations from the gadhafi regime for the last few weeks. we are looking at the matter carefully, and nato was operating in tripoli last night. we identified a missile being used and we had to take that out because it was putting a huge risk on the civilians in the area. let's be clear. you can reduce risks in every day possible, but never make them zero in a campaign

nick charles, he was cnn's first sports anchor and he, along with his co-anchor fred hickman were fixturesports tonight" for two decades. charles died of bladder cancer this morning. he was 64. >>> and today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of an angel. farrah fawcet died of cancer two years ago. she became an icon with 12 million of her pin up poster were snapped up in 1976. you know exactly the one i'm talking about, the one with fawcet in the red swimsuit. >>> syria has banned reporters since march. they are being allowed in, but they're being closely watched by government minders. >> so this young man here, he just came out of the mosque and he said he doesn't want any trouble. but you're seeing a small group of pro government demonstrate fors there expressing their support for the regime. this young man is saying people are paying money, from outside in order to foment this unrest. [ chanting ] >> that was where a group of supporters of gadhafi in syria. according to a human rights group, more than 1600 people have died in seyrisyria, mostly assaad -- syrian troops and police

nick charles was cnn's very first sports anchor.ickman for two decades. charles died from bladder cancer this morning. he was 64 years old. those are your headlines this hour. now back to our special report "michael jackson: the final days" after a break. >>> as investigators began to unravel michael jackson's final hours, a timeline emerged. a timeline detailed in a search warrant affidavit. this is what investigators believe happened based on evidence and eyewitness accounts, including those of jackson's personal physician, dr. conrad murray. on the last night of his life, jackson made his way from l.a. toward beverly hills. as he did, few really knew the dark secrets the pop legend carried with him to 100 north carolwood drive. michael jackson spent his final hours here at this rented mansion in l.a. according to the search warrant affidavit, his personal physician dr. conrad murray told police it was a restless and ultimately a drug-filled night with jackson battling his chronic insomnia allegedly pleading with murray to give hi

. >>> first i want to take you to nick charles, a guy who helped put cnn on map in the early years, ahe cable news sports cast. he'll be missed. >>> time for the "media monitor." "atlantic monthly" story on how many in the medical establishment are starting to accept alternative medicine from acupuncture to chiropractic treatment, despite a lack of hard scientific evidence. a thought-provoking look at what makes some patients feel better, including extra attention many busy doctors can't provide. >>> ed henry is moving to fox news as chief white house correspondent, a coup for fox. that prompted media matters to take a few swipes at henry. six years ago he described a democratic proposal to withdraw from iraq this way -- "some have referred to this as the cut-and-run provision." was that a republican talking point? he made clear it was one faction's description. plus as a member of the white house correspondents association he defended fox's right to inherit a front-row briefing room seat. come on. just by taking a job at fox he didn't become an unfair and unbalanced guy. remember whe

nick charles was this network's first sports anchor. he died of cancer at the age of 64. on day one and he stayed for more than two decades covering everything from the olympics to the super bowl. but boxing was his blood. he loved it. it was in his blood. earlier i spoke to sugar ray leonard, one of the greatest boxers ever. >> it came as a shock to me. nick was such a proud guy and he was such a fighter himself. and he didn't relate all that he was ill. i didn't know the severity of his illness until recently. but nick was a class act. without question. >> and exactly two years ago on this day, the world lost michael jackson. the king of pop died on june 25th, 2009, before he could mount a comeback tour. the official cause was a prescription drug overdose. jackson's doctor, dr. conrad murray, will be tried for manslaughter in september. i got a chance to speak today to jackson's father joe jackson. he defended himself against rumors that he was too rough on michael and his brothers and sisters. >> everybody back in those days abused -- they didn't abuse the kids, they wh

nick charles was cnn's very first sports anchor and shared hosting duties for two decades.r. he was 64 years old. >>> this sports note to tell you about. only 16 left at wimbledon and serena and venus williams among them. this is serena easily defeating kirilenko. big sister venus won friday. both making a return after being absent much of the year due to health problems. i'm don lemon. keeping you informed, cnn, the most crusted name in news. trusted name in news. [ man ] i got this new citi thankyou card and started earning loads of points. you got a weather balloon with points? yes i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything. ♪ ♪ there it is. [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. ♪ [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. >>> as investigators began to unravel michael jackson's final hours, a timeline emerged. a timeline detailed in a search warrant affidavit. this is what investigators believe happened based on evidence and eyewitness accounts, i

. >> i'm nick charles of cnn sports, hello, again, from pontiac michigan. ♪, michigan. ♪ >> the listmember all of those who died in war this week. the pentagon released the names of 14 soldiers and marines, killed in afghanistan. >> we'll be right back. on a top secret project. it was a challenge that nobody had undertaken before. and we didn't know whether we could do it. when kennedy announced we're going to go to the moon, that was a thrilling proposition. they said, if you could start a computer over from scratch, what would you do? i thought, wow, this could really change things. if you have time for a story, i'll tell you why. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. united

nick charles means a lot to us here at cnn. >> now he is battling bladder cancer but he hasn't lost hiss learned about family, love, and faith. cnn's chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta is in atlanta. he spent some time with nick and his family and this is a story, what is beautiful about this story, this is a story about living, isn't it, sanjay? >> very much so. no question about it. sometimes, really, reprioritizing your life when smacked in your face with your mortality as nick puts it. it's tough to do a story like this, especially when it's someone we all know. nick has been the original sports anchor at cnn and diagnosed with stage 4 bladder cancer two years ago and told at that time he had two years to live. he talks about these things that are called lessons from the fight. he was a big boxing guy and now these lessons from the fight are about his own fight and some of the things he wanted to tell me when i went to go visit him. but also to share with friends and family around the world. there's some, you know, more general things and some specific things. one of the t

that does it for nick charles, "lessons from the fight." i'm dr. sanjay gupta. thanks for watching. >>> from cnn's world headquarters bringing you news and analysis from across the nation and around the globe. live, from studio 7, this is "cnn saturday morning" with t.j. holmes. >>> and good morning to you all. the computer glitch that left plenty of united airlines passengers stranded overnight has been fixed, we've been told, the delays for travelers, however, remain. >>> also, look at this -- you see this? this was outside the casey anthony trial. she's in there fighting for her life inside the courtroom, but this is also grabbing headlines outside the courtroom. >>> plus, the road to the white house leading to new orleans for the republican presidential hopefuls this weekend. >>> hole ello to you all from t cnn center. i'm t.j. holmes, thank you for being here. >>> we need to start with developing news out of afghanistan this morning regarding reported peace negotiations. afghan television reporting that president hamid karzai told a youth group that washing

. >> for those of us here at cnn, the name nick charles means a lot. four wlad bladder cancer for three years. sanjay gupta spent time with him in santa fe, new mexico. a heart breaking, but also an inspirational story tell us about what's going on. >> it is hard to do stories like this when we know nick so well. the original face of cnn sports. two years ago after being healthy his whole life, he was having troubles and diagnosed with stage four bladder cancer. he was told at that time he had about two years to live. it hits like it might hit anybody he started asking questions like what would you do if you suddenly heard that news? how would you change your? he changed his live n ways big and small he keeps a journal every day and notes to his family and thoughts about his life. he wanted to read some of it for me as well. take a listen. >> i know it's going to take all of god's grace which is never in short supply to make me live longer. i want to be a family here in santa fe. sorry about this. if god takes me home, it will be forever, but i'm not g