i'm really overwhelmed right now. i was looking down from the airplane, and it seemed like everything wasn't real. what's important for me to say is just thank you to everyone who's believed in me, who's defended me, who has supported my family. i just want -- my family's the most important thing to me right now. and i just want to go and be with them. so thank you for being there for me. >> emotional scene. so amanda knox just a few moments ago. she arrived back in america. joining us now in seattle live is cnn's drew griffin. a pretty relieved and obviously very emotional knox family. where do they go from here? what are the next few days going to hold for them? >> well, i think, piers, they're going to try to literally hide, to find some home where the media won't be staking out and watch every move that amanda knox makes. in that statement she gave, she's still extremely emotional. remember, she's had no contact with the media or the press while she was in that italian prison. the italians wouldn't allow it. so this, although we've been watching this case for four years, is all new to her, to face this kind of media pressure. the family's quite concerned about that. >> i'm also fascinated to hear her speak in english. we've heard her in italian, obviously in the courtroom, but it was a moment where she had to almost be reminded to speak in her mother language. as you say, very emotional. whatever your view of how this has all unraveled, it would take a pretty hard heart not to understand that this girl is still very young, has been through one hell of an ordeal. >> yes. she was just a young college girl. she was barely in italy. she spoke no -- really, no discernible italian when this whole thing went down. then she was whisked off to prison and for the past four years her life has been in this kind of a frozen status. so like i said, the family -- i talked to them. they're very concerned about her emotions. they were hoping, piers, that there would be some kind of a six-week or so grace period where she could go dark. i would be amazed if the media in general stayed away from her for that long. >> well, i agree. incredible media scenes down there. drew griffin. now out to thomas wright, a close friend of the knox family, plans to celebrate with them this evening. let me say for you and all close friends and family of amanda, an incredibly emotional and exciting day, i would imagine. >> yes, piers, a very moving thing to see. what strikes me more than anything is the bond that she mentioned with her family was really the thing that carried her through here. they made a commitment at the very beginning of this ordeal when they saw it was going to get very complicated and difficult to make sure there was a family member in perugia at all times for her so that the two days a week when they were allowed one hour to visit her, there would always be a family member who would come into the prison, who would hold her hand, would talk to her about how she was feeling. the other thing they did that was quite remarkable, they negotiated a weekly phone call. this will really help her transition to the re-entry process because every saturday morning, a phone call would come to the kitchen, edda mellas, her mother's kitchen and it would come from amanda. amanda would share how she was feeling. at the beginning of that process, the officials said it could only be the parents or the immediate family, but as the time wore on, one year, two year, three year, more and more people began to show up in the kitchen, and they began to pass the phone around. even though the calls weren't more than ten minute, on some days she was able to hear the voices of so many that cared about her. she shared her own emotions. some days it was difficult and she was sharing unpleasant things. some days joyous thing, stories that happened, things that happened inside the prison. the measure of experience inside the prison was that when she came back with the verdict, with the acquittal to the prison, cheers erupted from all of her fellow prisoners. that's an example of the type of person that she was and how she was seen by her fellow prisoners. >> one of the more emotional moments of that press conference was when one of her lawyers mentioned meredith kercher's name and you can see amanda knox wincing even at the mention of her friend, reminded that it was a great friend of hers. she's lost a friend as well. it's easy to think that. what do you think she'll be thinking tonight about the kercher family? because they've been very dignified since this result came through. yet back in britain where i am at the moment, there's a lot of disquiet about what happened. they feel that amanda knox is being celebrated perhaps a little too enthusiastically given that this family is still grieving for their lost daughter. what are your views of the family friend of amanda? >> i think that while i know that amanda liked meredith and they were good friends. that's why they became roommates. that's why they decided to live together. amanda felt great emotion about what happened to meredith. she kept a diary in the first 30 days that she was in prison. you can see it all through the diary. this is awful what's happened to meredith. i wish she were here. all of those mentions of meredith just showed that even today, you can see, she cared very much about her friend and continues to care about her friend. >> well, you can judge somebody by their friends and family, then amanda's chosen pretty well, i'd say. because you've all been extraordinarily stoic towards her. i hope you have a good evening this evening. >> thank you, piers. now that amanda knox is home, you might think that's the end of the story. but the prosecution said they will appeal the reversal of her conviction. the reveral is reversed, that will raise lots of legal issues. joining us from los angeles to explore the possibility is noted defense attorney gloria allred. a gripping case with many twists and turns here. are you from a purely legal point of view satisfied that justice has been done now? >> 100% i believe that justice has been done. i'm glad that she never gave up hope, because if hope dies, then that's the end for someone in prison. i think the italian system obviously is a very difficult one, it's a very challenging one. it's one with which i have some experience having had a case in italy years ago involving the death of an american woman in italy. but in any event she's now going to -- there will be an appeal by the prosecution, but it's going to be on very narrow grounds. it will be on legal issues. i think her chances of not having this lower court decision reversed are very, very good. and i just hope that she can lead -- she'll lead a different life, a different life than she would ever have led, obviously, if this had never happened to her. it couldn't have happened, obviously, without the support of her friends and her family and all those many supporters and the experts who became part of her legal case. >> gloria, thank you very much. >> mickey ward's a contributing editor for "vanity fair." the british press have been pretty scathing about amanda knox and this verdict. why do you think it is? is it a question of meredith kercher is british and amanda knox is american and there's a kind of geographic thing here where the british feel a greater affinity perhaps to the kercher family and their case? >> no, i don't, piers. i think it's simply a case, although justice may have been done, we don't know what the real story is and the kerchers don't know what the real story is. they don't know what happened to their daughter. and that's the problem. >> yeah, i mean, this has been my slight disquiet i think about the manner of all these celebrations for amanda knox coming home is that everyone seems to be forgetting that she has been convicted and sentenced of defaming somebody who she accused of this crime, and if you remember what she initially said, she said she was there in the building when the crime happened, then changed her story. do you think she emerges with a clean character or with a stain on her character? >> i think she emerges with many questions, frankly. i don't think anybody knows exactly what happened that night in perugia. and that is a problem. i think the worse thing she could possibly do now is to capitalize on it and make a lot of money. if she does that, then the british press will be all over her, yes, piers. >> well, i think that's right. the british press are being criticized by american media for having paid for interviews in connection with this case before. i don't really share their unease over that. that's a pretty familiar practice for the british press over the last years that i've known it. >> yes, they do do it all the time. >> they are driven by a deep sense of injustice on the part of the kercher family who still don't know who killed their daughter or who's telling the truth here. >> well, i think that's a slightly more gray area because i think that -- i read a blog about this for the huffington post today. i think that one of the problems with the legal system is that often, you know, justice gets done but the truth never gets told. and that is just the way the law works. >> gloria allred, let me bring you back in just finally here. again on the legal point, when she was found guilty and convicted and sentenced to a three-year sentence, not a small period of time by any means for this defamation, how seriously should we be taking that from a legal point of view? >> well, she's served -- it's time served. and i think that was the least of her problems. so i think the homicide, the issue there was the most important part. i might add that i differ with your prior guest. i wouldn't be surprised if she did a book and she did a movie and god bless her if she does. we all want to know what really happened. most of all her family has incurred enormous legal fees and costs throughout this ordeal, her grandmother's mortgaged her home. they need to be able to have funds to basically get out of this hole that they're in because of what has happened. and i don't have any problem if she has a book or does a movie, and i think we want to know what happened. >> but does she know? >> does she know? she knows where she was. >> she knows where she was, but that's the problem with this story. is that everybody wants to know -- >> i would love to argue about this all night and we may get you back to argue about it but for now we'll leave it there. >> thanks, piers. up next my in depth interview and extraordinary conversation with victoria and joel osteen. fascinating encounter. america's most famous preacher and his wife. [ female announcer ] in the grip of arthritis, back, or back joint pain? aspercreme breaks the grip, with maximum-strength medicine and no embarrassing odor. break the grip of pain with aspercreme. victoria and joel, welcome back. >> thanks, piers. >> only yesterday you were gracing me with your presence. now you've got this great new book "every day's a friday," how to be happier seven days a week. i'm thinking to myself you are the two happiest people i've ever met anyway. how could you possibly get any happier? >> i think we all can if we learn to, you know, what to ignore and certain battles not to fight. you know, i think we can all be improving and growing and happier. >> why fridays? because when i came to new york in particular, i was horrified that on fridays my staff all came in dressed like people on the street because it was apparently dress-down friday. and i was like, what does that mean? it apparently means you dress badly and wear jeans and old t-shirts and things. to me i associate friday with this unkempt sort of misery. why have you selected friday as a great day of joy and happiness? >> studies show that people are happier on fridays. >> why? >> i think because people are looking for the weekends, looking forward to it, getting to relax, done with work. i also read where there's more heart attacks on monday than any other day. >> the stress of going back to work. >> yes. >> because most people don't enjoy their jobs? what about you? i look forward to mondays. i don't really like fridays because everything sort of winds down. you know, everything slows down. you're not really working as hard. i don't really like it. >> yeah, i'm the same way. because, of course, we work weekends. i enjoy what we do. but not everybody's like that. the thought is in general, you've heard that, thank god it's friday. if we had the right perspective, we don't have to dread going to work even if it's not the perfect job. when you have the right perspective, hey, i'm alive, healthy, i got a lot right in my life, i can enjoy each day. maybe not jumping up and down but you can enjoy it. >> the book is about that you make your own decisions about your life and your life will be happier. is it as simple as that? lots of people through circumstance are not really in the position to do much about their lot in lie, are they? that's an easy thing to say and the critics will say, all right for you, joel, you're worth a hundred million dollars, what about the poor guy trapped in a factory job or something or maybe has no job who just through lack of opportunity and bad circumstance is unhappy because he can't get out of that? >> to me faith is about learning to be happy where you are. it doesn't take any faith when the economy is great and you get good breaks. there are many people who it seems like they're stuck. but if you put your trust in god, you can be at peace and happy right where you are. if you don't get happy where you are, you probably won't get to where you want to be because these are tests you have to pass, as far as i'm concerned. you have to pass those tests and say god, i'm in a job and i don't like it, or i have medical problems. i'm going to be good to somebody, put a smile on my face anyway. to me you're releasing your faith and allows god to change things. >> do you believe fundamentally that money can make people happier. you're shaking your head. why? >> it helps. i've seen people who are very wealthy and they're unhappy. they don't have good relationships. they may even have bad health. >> i've met more unhappy rich people than poor people. and the reason i say that, i went to south africa. i went to the soweto townships. millions living in complete poverty. some of the happiest people i've ever met. their spirits were just alive with happiness. i couldn't really understand it. i still don't really understand it. but it was a fact. i saw it with my own eyes. why is that? you must have been in many places like that over the years. why can poverty stricken people sometimes find joys in their lives? >> i think there's not so many distractions. they have their priorities where they love their family, they're with their family, they don't have a million things that are getting them off course. and they take every day for what it is, just the simple things in life, getting up and enjoying family time and not fighting a lot of the battles that we allow to steal our joy. >> does he ever get angry? >> angry? >> or is he always this content, happy chap. >> angry, no. is he content? yes. i think he chooses it. there's things that i'm sure are stressful -- >> what really flips him out? what gets his goat? >> i don't really think he flips out. but he likes things to be right, you know. and i've watched him when things aren't right. and he chooses to see the best in a situation. he's always really great about finding what is right. because a lot of people have -- >> when's the last time you heard him shout? you've never heard him shout. >> no, if you live with me and you don't shout, you're pretty good. >> you're quite a live wire. i remember from our last interview. i imagine you can be quite lively, right? >> well, you know. i like to keep things hopping. >> do you have a temper? >> do i have a temper? i've grown out of my temper living with him. i don't have a temper. >> he really is this kind of bastion of calm, serenity. do you not shout at anybody? >> no, no, that's not my personalty. a lot is your personality. i've been like this my whole life. >> you've never shouted in your life? >> well, i probably have. you know. >> when was the last time? >> i can't remember. >> he doesn't shout. he doesn't really shout. but he does have a look. >> what's the look? >> it's like -- >> that's when you know. >> that's when it's like, okay, everybody, kids, let's go. >> what frustrates and annoys you? what can ruin your friday? >> you know, i don't know if it would ruin my friday, but i like things to be right. i like organization. you know. you know, i like to -- i expect excellence, but not in the wrong sense, but i believe we're supposed to be excellent. if we put things into place and people aren't doing their job, there's some times you thing come on, guys, let's get going. i choose to believe to use that energy to make things right and not just to yell at people. >> what about a fistfight? >> never. >> never had. >> no. >> even as a kid. >> probably my brother. >> you would wrestle with your brother but never a fistfight. >> have you ever been punched in the face? >> no. >> never? >> never have. >> incredible life you've had. >> i've been blessed. >> you have been punched in the face? >> yes. >> you have? >> yes, many times. yeah. part of life's rich tapestry. i've missed out here. i could have lived a life of total serenity. >> we all have challenges. the scripture calls it fighting the good fight of faith. that's when you know god's in control. i used to get frustrated when things weren't happening the way i wanted it to. i had everything worked out and my plans didn't go the way i wanted it to. now i've learned to say god, here's my plans for today. if it doesn't work out, i believe that you're in control and you're opening the right doors. what we don't hear a lot is sometimes god closes a door on purpose. i used to think, oh, god, that was a good opportunity, why didn't that work out? god knows what's right for each one of us. >> we had the tenth anniversary of 9/11 recently. it was extraordinary being in america. i was in new york after it happened and came back here. it is very hard to tell god fearing people who have prayed all their lives, it's very hard to tell them that they've lost relatives in that kind of thing that there is a merciful god. they just -- i've seen them be interviewed particularly devout christians or muslims or all the denominations who perished on that day. what do you say to them? how do you explain that a just god can allow these kind of atrocities to happen, ruining so many lives? >> it's difficult, piers, but the world we live in is not a perfect world. we're living in a fallen world. and you know, to simplify it, god's given us all our free choice. we can do what we want to do. unfortunately, some people choose to do evil. god didn't make us as robots. it's hard to explain because god is good, obviously god could have stopped it, but he didn't. but there's much about faith that i don't understand. >> does your faith ever get dented? it sounds very unequivocal. i watch you on sunday mornings. you're an incredibly inspiring speaker. i've had relatives who renounced their catholic belief and their faith in god after the holocaust, who lived through the war and just couldn't understand how any god could allow 5 million jews to be -- to have their lives taken in such a ghastly manner. it's hard to argue. i find it difficult. what do you say to people who come to you and say, i can't continue having this faith because some appalling thing has happened? >> you know what? that happens from time to time, but again i go back to the fact that having faith means you're going to have unanswered questions. that