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CNN Sunday Morning
Celebrities Remember Houston; Internet Remembrances Posted
Aired February 12, 2012 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Many of you are just waking up to the news that celebrated singer Whitney Houston is dead. She was just 48 years old. Here is what we know right now. Houston's body was found in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Police say there were no signs of, quote, "obvious criminal intent." The body was moved from the hotel to the morgue just a couple of hours ago. That's where they'll try to determine the cause of death. A music industry executive staying in the room just above Houston's says she heard two loud booms and a man's voice around 20 minutes before Houston was pronounced dead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITNEY HOUSTON, MUSICIAN (singing): I get so emotional, baby, every time I think of you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: It is hard to know where to begin or how to describe the life of Whitney Houston as both an entertainer and person. She's being described as larger than life. Born in 1963 to gospel singer Cissy Houston. Her voice was discovered when she was a young girl singing at her church in Newark, New Jersey. Her debut album titled, of course, "Whitney Houston," sold 12 million copies in the U.S. alone. She recorded a string of billboard number one hits in the '80s and the 1990s, including "Saving All My Love For You" and "How Will I Know."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOUSTON (singing): And I will always love you. I will always.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Houston went on to star with Kevin Costner in the hit "The Bodyguard." The soundtrack to her movie was one of the top 10 biggest selling albums of all time. It included a remake of Dolly Pardon's "I Will Always Love You." Her bright career later stalled in subsequent years as she battled drug problems. Becoming better known for her high profile and tumultuous 15-year marriage to R&B star Bobby Brown of New Edition. They had one child together, Bobbi Kristina, who I believe is 19 years old.
Just before her death, Houston had just finished film a remake of the 1970s movie "Sparkle." It is scheduled to be released nationwide in August, according to Sony Pictures. Tonight was supposed to be the music industry's big night, the Grammys, but now there is, of course, a dark cloud hanging over the event. So what are people saying about Whitney Houston? Our entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter has more from Los Angeles.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ted, many in the recording industry are still reeling from the shocking news that Whitney Houston has died. The singer was found dead in a hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Saturday afternoon in Beverly Hills. Paramedics were called to the scene, but were unable to resuscitate her. Now, police have not been able to determine the cause of death. Houston was just 48 years old. She was scheduled to attend the annual Clive Davis pre-Grammy party in the evening. Now the Clive Davis party is one of the premier parties before the Grammys. Music's biggest night. Davis, the mega producer who helped launch Houston's very successful career, he asked for a moment of silence at the party and said he is personally devastated by the loss of someone so dear, so close to him for so many years.
As you can imagine, Ted, reaction from many in the music business has been pouring in. Many expressing deep sorrow about the loss. For example, Tony Bennett. He said, Houston was the greatest singer he's ever heard. Christina Aguilera said Houston's notes soared to places most singers dreamed of reaching. She will be missed. And Eddie Levert, remember him, he's from The O'Jays. He was a close friend to Houston. He said the loss has left a hole in our souls.
Finally, the recording academy plans to pay tribute Houston at the Grammy's with Jennifer Hudson taking part in the ceremony.
Ted.
ROWLANDS: Well, fans, celebrities, just about everybody I know is reacting to the sudden loss of a great singer. In fact, Twitter lit up in the hours following Houston's death, reaching as many as 1,000 tweets per second according to topsy.com. Last night, celebrities at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy party spoke to our camera crews about the loss of a legend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRITNEY SPEARS, SINGER: She sent so much love out into the world, and she was an inspiration for so many people, and, you know, we're there with her.
GLADYS KNIGHT, SINGER: I've known her for a little girl up, you know, and her family, of course, and I'm venturing out to say this and may get some flack, but there will never be another voice like that.
TONY BENNETT, SINGER: When I first heard Whitney Houston, I called up Clive Davis because I'm on the same label, you know, at Sony Columbia, and I said, Clive, you've got the right artist. I said, that's one of the greatest singers I ever heard.
DAVID FOSTER, MUSICIAN: Well, I just remember when we were doing "The Bodyguard" that she would work all day filming, tired from that. She'd come into the studio and just rip her coat off and go up to the mike, like I said, like a race horse. And she -- she's the definitive girl. You know, I love great voices, and hers was the greatest of all.
MATTHEW MORRISON, ACTOR: You know that voice anywhere. I mean that -- I grew up listening to "The Bodyguard" soundtrack. That was like my jam.
INDIA ARIE, SINGER: It was amazing to see someone like that have all the star qualities and be able to sing like that, because all people who had that star quality are not necessarily excellent. You know, we see it. She was excellent and a star.
NE-YO, MUSICIAN: The memories that I have of her is sitting with her in Atlanta talking about the music that she wanted to do. You know, talking about the songs that she wanted me to write for her. And she said, I just need people to know that I'm happy. You know, I'm not bitter. I'm not depressed. I'm happy. I got my kids, my music, and my God. I'm happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: All throughout the day we'll be bringing you tributes to Whitney Houston from coast-to-coast. In our next half hour, we'll be live outside the Newark, New Jersey, church where the pop icon got her start as a child singing in the church choir.
Then at 11:00 Eastern, Reverend Al Sharpton will call for a national prayer for Houston's family during a service at the Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles. And beginning at 3:00 Eastern, we'll be live from the red carpet at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. We'll get reaction to Houston's death from some of the music industry's biggest stars.
And millions of fans, of course, are flooding online sites to express their grief and shock about Houston's sudden death. We'll tell you what they're saying coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROWLANDS: Whitney Houston's impact wasn't limited to Americans. People all over the world have been reacting to her sudden death. Our Josh Levs is monitoring all of that for us.
Good morning, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. And good morning, everyone.
And if you are waking up to this news, this sad news the report, about Whitney Houston, people -- it's absolutely amazing the kinds of responses that have come in overnight on every platform known to man. Everything that there is.
What's behind me right now is Whitney Houston's official website. And you can see right here, the simple image of her and says there, "in loving memory." And it links you over to an official FaceBook, which is getting tens of thousands of posts. And they keep increasing.
Just before the break we were mentioning that Twitter had an incredible number of tweets come through. People weighing in on Whitney Houston here. And you can see more and more stories and images and memories of her at her official website.
Now, what we've been doing throughout the night is hearing from you and i-Report and on FaceBook as well. We have some quotes I want to share with you. Let's start with a couple from FaceBook, because this helps show the global impact of her life. Take a look at this one.
"She was truly inspirational, not just in America but all over the world, particularly here in Africa. She broke the glass ceiling for many black female entertainers. Sure hope she finds the peace she lacked here on earth." That's from Busula Idau (ph). It came in on FaceBook.
Let's take another one. "Now you are in the hands of angels. Whitney Houston, I will always love you and remember you." That's from Oyuma (ph), also on FaceBook.
Now here's something that came into us on CNN i-Report. "I had the honor of attending a Whitney Houston concert about 18 years ago. She had the most beautiful voice. I am saddened that this voice is silenced."
And, folks, let me tell you, the reason I'm showing you this one, so many people are remembering the specific concerts they went to decades ago and weighing in with the emotions they felt at the time. This is the power of music. It's one of the biggest reasons it sticks with you so incredibly long. People weighing in on concerts they went to in the '80s and the early '90s.
All right, let's keep going here. I've got another one for you from Christy (ph) also on i-Report who writes this simple message. Who says, "her voice touched my life and my family's lives forever."
And, that's OK, I'll just mention one more here. This is a woman who wrote us overnight saying, she made it through some of the toughest times of her entire life. There you go. "I made it through some of the roughest times of my life with Whitney Houston songs. Times when my faith and strength as a woman were tested. I prevailed bellowing lyrically through her voice." The power of music there.
All right, let's come back to my screen for a second. I want you all to see a little bit of what you can do now. I showed you the official website and how you can weigh in there. I also want you to see this. We at cnn.com are partners with "Time" magazine, with time.com. So often in the wake of the death of an icon, what "Time" does is pulls together some of the most powerful, most iconic images of that person. We've seen them do this before. I remember after Michael Jackson's tragic death.
Now, here are some classic images of Whitney Houston. I just want to show you a few. There's one right there. This is one early on of her marriage to Bobby Brown. And the third one I'm going to end on for you here is particularly significant given today. This, folks, is a shot from 1988, Whitney Houston accepting a Grammy for best pop vocal, also in Los Angeles at the Grammys that year. And, as we know, she was in Los Angeles for the Grammys this time around.
We have some video of her as well. I will just let you know, we look forward to hearing from you. I'll be here throughout the morning and throughout the day, where we're going to be hearing from you on every platform. On i-Report, on Twitter, on FaceBook. You can always reach me at joshlevs.cnn.
And while we take a look at this, and while I bring this back to Ted, I got a post on FaceBook this morning that I find so interesting, Ted. This is from an old friend of mine who is now a very successful opera singer named Chari Grouper (ph). Listen to this. "At her best, Whitney Houston innately possessed what so many of us singers work a lifetime to achieve, joy and freedom in one's sound. She was an inspiration to me, to my fellow opera singers."
So this is the breadth of Whitney Houston's power, her musical power, and the success of her career. We've got opera singers weighing in. We've got people in Africa saying she broke the glass ceiling. And, of course, Ted, as you know, millions of people in this country who are mourning her loss today.
ROWLANDS: Yes, absolutely, Josh. Everybody today remembering songs and just remembering her unbelievable voice.
LEVS: Incredible.
ROWLANDS: All right, thanks, Josh.
LEVS: I'll see you next hour.
ROWLANDS: All right.
Whitney Houston died on the eve of the Grammy awards. As Josh was just saying, music's biggest awards show will, of course, go on tonight, but it does plan a special tribute to Houston. Find out who will sung in her honor. We'll have details on that ahead.
Plus, we're also monitoring some other stories, including this icy pile-up on a busy interstate. We're back in a moment. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROWLANDS: We'll have more on Whitney Houston in just a moment. But first, here are some stories that we're watching this morning.
In Syria, we are now hearing that the military is actually putting civilians on their tanks to act as human shields. One opposition activist says it's happening in the city of Homs, which has been the epicenter of the uprising. Syria's military has been bombing opposition forces and civilians in Homs, killing over 100 people in just the last 48 hours.
The Greek parliament votes today on a bailout deal that could save the country, at least economically, and much of Europe from a financial disaster. But there is a lot of pushback from the Greek people who launched protests over pay cuts that would come out of the bailout. Greek's failure could impact American banks because many of those banks bet big on the country's recovery.
And as many as 65 cars piled up in accidents on Ohio highways. Snow is being blamed for several chain reaction crashes on I-76 in Portage County where there were two wrecks a mile apart. Each wreck involved more than 10 cars. There was also a major accident on the Ohio Turnpike. There were a few injuries, but nobody seriously hurt.
Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is in our weather center.
And, Reynolds, this is the second day we've seen that. Michigan yesterday. Ohio today. Treacherous out there.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.
You know what's really interesting, and I bet you know this, Ted, as a guy who's from Wisconsin. It seems like a lot of these pile-ups always begin during the early snowfalls. It seems that people are trying to just learn how to drive once again in the snow and the ice. But then later in the season -- I know we're already into February, but it's been a strange winter -- it seems as we get a little bit closer to spring and we have some of those late snowfalls, people handle it a lot better. So it was just kind of a little bit of a learning curve that people have to deal with.
Right now the learning curve we're getting is that we've got plenty of sunshine for the northern plains. But on both other sides of the continent, we're dealing with entirely different weather conditions. Snow in parts of the northeast. Let's examine that first very quickly.
As we zoom in, you're going to notice, we still have some watches, some warnings, some advisories, especially for parts of the Appalachians. And as we zoom in a bit more, you'll notice for parts of the Great Lakes. With the prevailing wind coming in from the northwest, it's going to affect places like Lake Ontario and even over towards Lake Erie. And as the wind moves across the lakes, the water in a constant state of evaporation, it's going to mix in with that cold air aloft, and the result will be lake-effect snowfall.
Some spots in Syracuse out by M Street (ph), be ready. You may have up to a foot of snowfall before the weekend is out. Even in Binghamton, right along parts of 85, it could be rough for you. Even on 86 -- Ted just showed you that video moments ago -- well, again, you might have some backups and some issues like that. So keep that in mind.
Something else we're going to see as we take a gander out towards the west and into the central plains, a lot of purple out there. Well, the reason why we're seeing that, winter weather not warnings or watches, but mostly advisories. Sure, we have some watches out there and we have a few warnings, but the big thing you're going to notice are the advisories. The advisory to warn you about what's coming in the coming days. This area of low pressure, which has been bringing some scattered showers to parts of the San Gabriels in southern California and even into places like Big Bear, you've had a little bit of snowfall. That low is not going to remain locked in place. It's going to drift in a little bit, then surge its way back up towards parts of the southern plains. And then the central plains, tapping into the overwhelming moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. And the result is going to be scattered showers, possible thunderstorms in south Texas. But notice on the other side of that frontal boundary, you've got the cold air and, again, the overrunning moisture. And as we wrap it up, the result will be the chance of some snowfall.
Very quickly, let's wrap it up. Thirty-six the high in Kansas City. Let me enlarge this a bit so you can see it a bit better. Forty-six in Dallas, 31 in Chicago, 43 in Atlanta. Back over to Denver and into Salt Lake City, 30s and 40s. Fifty-eight in San Francisco and 65 in Los Angeles.
That's your forecast. Ted, your turn.
ROWLANDS: All right, thanks, Reynolds.
Well, the music world is mourning the sudden death of Whitney Houston. Up next, singer Jennifer Holliday joins me to talk about Houston's life, legacy, and her unforgettable voice and the friendships that they share.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROWLANDS: That's just one of Whitney Houston's many number one hits, "I Want To Dance With Somebody," which earned the singer a Grammy Award for best female pop vocal performance.
We've been reporting the singer and actress died yesterday. She was 48 years old. Her bodyguard found her unconscious at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The cause -- the cause of death at this point has not been determined.
There will be a special tribute to Houston, of course, at tonight's Grammy Awards. CNN's Paul Vercammen tells us more about that from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here outside Staples Center, the executive producer of the show, Ken Ehrlich, told us that the show will go on and that Jennifer Hudson will perform some sort of special tribute to Whitney Houston.
KENNETH EHRLICH, EXEC. PRODUCER, GRAMMY AWARDS SHOW: I've asked Jennifer Hudson to come and we're really, at this moment, you know, talking about what she's going to do. But it will be something respectful. It's not going to be a full blown tribute. To me, that feels like it's too early. It's too fresh at this moment. So we're working on something that will be really respectful and appropriate to Whitney's memory. VERCAMMEN: While Ehrlich says this won't be an all-out tribute to Whitney Houston, he was the same person who produced the Michael Jackson memorial here at Staples Center about two and a half years ago.
Paul Vercammen, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: Well, to her fans, Whitney Houston was a larger than life superstar. But to those who knew her personally, her friendship was one that will always be treasured. We haven't heard a lot of that since the singer's death, but we have one of those people on the phone right now. Tony Award winning actress Jennifer Holliday joins us now by phone from San Diego, where she performed last night, where it's also about 3:30 in the morning.
Thanks very much for staying up to share with us. First of all, Jennifer, your reaction to the death of Whitney Houston.
JENNIFER HOLLIDAY, ACTRESS (via telephone): Well, Ted, I can -- first of all, thank you for allowing me to share my grief with so many of us. This has been just devastating for so many of us. And our hearts are just bleeding now.
And I was watching CNN around 5:15 to get ready for my performance here in San Diego with the San Diego Symphony and I just almost just dropped. And I, of course, you know, of us being in show business, thinking about my audience and my needing to sing for them that night, I had to, you know, pull myself together. But through the whole performance and through my time of getting ready, I just could -- kept thinking about her. And as I walked into the symphony hall, the hall was empty, and I could see a piano with a light there. And I could swear that I could see her singing, "I Will Always Love You" because of that scene that was there. And I just stopped for a minute and I just shed a few tears and I said, OK, Jennifer, you've got to pull it together. You have an audience waiting on you as well.
ROWLANDS: We heard about that Jennifer Hudson may be -- is going to be doing a special tribute at the Grammys tonight. She actually played you -- your part in "Dream Girls," of course. Tonight there will be a lot of celebrity reaction at the Grammys. A lot of people talking about what Whitney Houston meant to them.
But for you specifically, you had a special relationship with her. Give us an indication of what type of person Whitney Houston was. Not -- we all know that she had a wonderful voice and was a wonderful performer. What type of a person was she?
HOLLIDAY: Whitney was one of the most down -- just so down home and just nice and kind-hearted. And I had met her early on because I knew so many of the same people that she knew -- Michael Jackson -- all these people that I knew, of course, through "Dream Girls" and then Aretha Franklin and singers and staff. So I got to know her just as a nice person. And she was always very kind-hearted. And when I had fallen upon hard times and had lost my home and trying to get my career back together, she kind of stepped in to try to figure out, OK, so how are you going to get work, and how you going to do -- and she would offer me jobs.
And one time she offered -- she had a birthday party and she said, well, I can book you to sing for that. And she and I were label mates briefly. I was with Arista Records. I did one album for them. And I also sang for the Clive Davis party, which she was always at. And she personally took me around to people, introduced me and personally sought after. She was always just trying to show that she cared about people.
She was also that same way with her musicians early on. And that -- I learned from her how to treat musicians. You know, just many terms of that she -- her piano player, who was a musical director. She loved him. And his death was one of her first tragic deaths of the loss of the piano player and how she cared for them and the family.
So she's always been a very caring person. And I think that it got all mixed up because she didn't have a lot to say about a lot of things. Meaning like I'm very deep and analytical about a lot of stuff. She -- you didn't feel darkness from her. And, you know, you can get that from some people, some artists. They feel dark. They feel secretive and whatever. You didn't feel that. You always felt a light from her. She was always uplifting ask trying to help people, you know, by connecting them. Let me introduce you to this one. Let me call this one for you and that sort of thing.
ROWLANDS: You know, you mentioned darkness. There was some darkness in her life, clearly. But you describe her as someone who was helping you and helping others. Were there enough people around -- I know her family did everything they could to help her during her struggle. Do you think that she did have that group around her that she need?
HOLLIDAY: Oh, she definitely had -- she definitely had the group of people who loved her. Her mother, oh, my God, I didn't have a show business mother, but if I had one, I would have wanted Cissy Houston. So loving. So always there. Always adding in the (INAUDIBLE). So she had -- she had a lot of it.
And as you're beginning to learn with entertainers and stuff, when we shut you out, we shut you out. And when you have money and you have power and things, you shut out even more. So I know a lot of people want to go quick to say that it's family's fault or nobody was there. The media, they want to blame everybody except the person. And I understand that. We've all been there. I even wanted to tell her -- I felt that I could restore her voice. So she had a lot of things that she could do with her instrument and me having an instrument as well and doing eight shows a weak on Broadway, there were things that we learned.
But mentally, in her mind, she felt that if she couldn't sound the exact same way, that people wouldn't love her. But I wanted to show her that it could work in this other range. But she couldn't believe it in her mind. So she kind of doused that disappointment with herself with the other things. You know, with the drugs and the alcohol. It just became a pain for her as well. So in trying to always help her and I had moved to Atlanta, so I got a chance to talk with and see her.
But by that time, just the disillusionment in her mind of her former self -- and I was thinking about that tonight, that one reason that maybe she wanted to get back to Clive Davis was that sometimes we want to go back to where a glory, to where we knew some love, to where we knew something.
And I think that her dying close to him was almost close to heaven because it allowed her to be somewhere where she remembered love and she remembered someone taking care of her and fighting for her and being there for her.
TED ROWLANDS, HOST, CNN SUNDAY MORNING: All right. Jennifer Holliday, we really appreciate you staying up with us and sharing your insights of the tragic death of your friend, Whitney Houston.
HOLLIDAY: I thank you.
ROWLANDS: All right. Jennifer Holliday joining us from San Diego. We've got much more ahead coming up on Whitney Houston. We'll take you to Los Angeles for the latest of the investigation into her death. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROWLANDS: Hey, welcome back everybody. I'm Ted Rowlands. It is half past the hour. Many people are just waking up to the news that celebrated singer Whitney Houston is dead. She was just 48 years old.
Here is what we know right now. Houston's body was found in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Police say there were no signs of, quote, "obvious criminal intent." Her body was removed from the hotel to the morgue just a couple hours ago. That's where they will try to determine the cause of death.
Music industry executives staying in the room just above Houston says she heard two loud booms and a man's voice around 20 minutes before Houston was pronounced dead.
Entertainment journalist Kelley Carter saw Whitney Houston just this past Thursday. Kelli Carter is in our Los Angeles bureau. Kelley , first of all, tell us where you saw her and how did she seem to be doing to you?
KELLEY CARTER, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: You know, I was actually at the Beverly Hilton. Randy and Monica (ph), two singers who obviously were influenced and mentored by Whitney Houston, were rehearsing for the Clive Davis party, which happened just a few hours ago.
And she had been hanging out with Monica most of the day and her daughter, Bobbi Kristina, was there. I saw her, threw my hand up at her, said hi. She didn't look as good as the last time I saw her, and she didn't talk, but she sat in on my interview with Brandy, Monica (ph), and Clive Davis, which was, you know, kind of interesting.
And right before I kind of walked into that interview room, someone -- I think it was a publicist -- tapped me and said, just so you know, Whitney Houston is going to just kind of hang out and sit in on the interview. And I said OK. You know, I had seen her earlier that day a couple of times. And that was pretty much the context that I had seen her on Thursday.
ROWLANDS: You say that she didn't look as good as you had seen her before. Was she thin, or what do you mean by that?
CARTER: Well, you know, I think you're -- you know, I've been covering celebrities for a long time, and, you know, at a place like the Beverly Hilton, where celebrities stay and they know that media people are there, you would be hard pressed to catch someone, you know, not put entirely together because, of course, the worst thing -- one of the worst things that can happen for someone famous is to kind of see you not looking your best.
And so it was a little -- I was a little taken aback that, you know, she wasn't as made up as you might expect to see someone, with members of the press kind of crawling around, you know, waiting to interview someone like Clive Davis, who obviously was her mentor and someone that discovered her all those years ago.
And so that kind of threw me off a little bit, but other than that, you know, nothing alarming or nothing like what we have seen, you know, from her in years past when things really weren't, you know, as good for her.
ROWLANDS: What are you expecting tonight at the Grammys?
CARTER: You know, obviously we know -- I talked with L.L. Cool J actually last night, who had just come from the final Grammys rehearsal. And he said he couldn't give away all the details, but they obviously were reworking the show to pay, you know, respectable tribute to Whitney Houston.
And we know now that Jennifer Hudson, of course, is going to be a part of that. But what I -- what I definitely expect is that probably everyone who gets up on that stage is going to pay tribute to Whitney Houston in some way, shape or form. People are going to shout her out, people are going to talk about her influence.
We're going to hear her name trickled throughout the entire Grammy service, and I believe that, at some point, you know, the music -- the recording music industry will come back and do something on a larger scale because, again, this really just happened hours ago, certainly not enough time to give tribute to a singer as influential as Whitney Houston as they would like to.
ROWLANDS: All right, Kelley Carter from Los Angeles, thank you very much for your insight. Appreciate it.
CARTER: Thanks for having me.
ROWLANDS: Well, before she became a global superstar, Whitney Houston sang in the youth choir at a church in Newark, New Jersey. This morning that church is paying tribute to her as well. We'll tell you how coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROWLANDS: Whitney Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey. That is where we find our Deborah Feyerick, who is at the New Hope Baptist Church where the singer began her path to stardom as a member of the New Hope junior choir. Deb, the church, I know, is planning some special remembrances today. What can you tell us?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN REPORTER: They are. Really what they're going to be doing, they're going to be doing a special prayer.
A number of parishioners coming in this morning, they are commenting about the Houston family, the mother, Cissy Houston, still a member, an active member of the New Hope Church, and this is the place, Ted, where Whitney Houston said that she found her voice, quote, "singing for God," and this was as a young teenager. She was part of the junior choir. Her mom was the director there.
We spoke yesterday to the pastor. He had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE CARTER, PASTOR, NEW HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH: This church, the church that Whitney grew up in, is calling for prayer for daughter, Bobbi Kristina; her mother, Dr. Emily "Cissy" Houston; and the entire Houston family and Whitney's fans. At this time we're definitely asking for respect for the privacy of the family and the church during this time of grief and sorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: And Newark, New Jersey, Ted, was a very important place for Whitney Houston. She grew up here. She identified very strongly with the community, and stayed in Jersey up until 2009, when she was putting her house on the market. She was spending a lot more time in Atlanta and a lot more time in Los Angeles.
The folks here are just so impressed by the voice that she brought, and the fact that this is where she was just at so much peace and experienced so much joy singing as part of that junior choir. Ted, they're planning a service, a small one. Somebody came, put a flower -- some flowers out and some notes. They're affected as deeply as everyone around the world.
And you know, when you think about the tributes that are pouring forth, from just such a range of artists, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey. Obviously Aretha Franklin was her godmother, but these young singers, saying that it was her voice that they aspired to, that they listened to, that they modeled themselves after. So we're hearing a lot of that this morning, Ted.
ROWLANDS: All right, Deborah Feyerick, live for us in New Jersey this morning. And as Deb said, the outpouring over the death of Whitney Houston is coming in from around the world, and it will be coming in tonight at the Grammy awards. Her death came, of course, on the eve of the Grammy awards, and the show's producers are planning to honor her tonight with some of today's top talent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KENNETH EHRLICH, EXEC. PRODUCER, GRAMMY AWARDS SHOW: Our plan at this point is we do -- I've asked Jennifer Hudson to come, and we're really, at this moment, you know, talking about what she's going to do, but it will be something respectful. It's not going to be a full- blown tribute. To me that feels like it's too early, it's too fresh at this moment. So we're working on something that will be really respectful and appropriate to Whitney's memory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: And, of course, it's not just the Grammys who are remembering Whitney Houston. Coming up, we'll have reaction from throughout the music industry. Plus, stay with us. Sarah Palin rallies the conservatives yesterday, and she has a message for the eventual Republican nominee. We'll hear that.
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SARAH PALIN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (Inaudible) Obama. They have forgotten the Bill of Rights.
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ROWLANDS: The death of Whitney Houston is our top story this morning. She was found dead last night in her hotel room. She was 48. The cause of her death is not known yet.
Here are some other stories making news for us this morning. Mitt Romney has another notch in his belt with last night's win in the Maine caucus. You can see the numbers there. Romney barely beat out Ron Paul. Paul had spent a lot of time campaigning for the good finish in Maine. The win ends a three-contest winning streak that Rick Santorum had.
But Maine voters weren't the only ones who gave Romney a victory yesterday. He also won the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference. CPAC, of course, is the annual gathering of conservative activists.
Here are the numbers. Santorum finished a close second in the poll. Romney, Santorum, and Newt Gingrich will address the conference -- all address the conference on Friday.
And Sarah Palin closed out the CPAC convention with a rousing speech for Republicans. She took some shots, as expected, at President Obama, the Washington establishment and, of course, the media. Palin did not endorse anybody, but she did have this to say about how the eventual nominee should act.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: Our candidate must be someone who can instinctively turn right to constitutional conservative principles. It's too late in the game to teach it or to spin it at this point. It's either there or it isn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: So Mitt Romney gets two wins, and kind of a warning there from Sarah Palin. Joining us now is Patricia Murphy, founder of "CitizenJane Politics" and a contributor for "The Daily Beast."
And let's start off here, Patricia, with the question, two wins yesterday for Romney, which was bigger, Maine or CPAC?
PATRICIA MURPHY, "CITIZENJANE POLITICS": I really think CPAC was bigger, to tell you the truth. First of all, there were only 2,000 fewer voters at CPAC than there were in Maine. So technically it was not that big of a deal.
ROWLANDS: But no delegates.
MURPHY: No delegates in either one, although winning CPAC was so important for Mitt Romney, because he needs to start to tamp down this raging storyline that says it is Mitt Romney against the conservative base of the party. It is Mitt Romney against everybody else. Everybody hates Mitt Romney, but is he going to win anyway.
You know, these are -- this is the storyline that's been going forward. So to get a win at CPAC -- it was not a huge win. He did not get a gigantic ovation at CPAC, but he did well enough to win, and that's exactly what he needed to do.
ROWLANDS: And Rick Santorum took a close second --
MURPHY: Yes.
ROWLANDS: -- at CPAC, not so much in Maine, but to that end that you were just talking about, he seems to have -- now have been the -- anointed the anti-Romney candidate. When does this end? When do or do conservatives just rally behind one of the top three, I would assume?
MURPHY: Yes, well, who knows, right? I mean, that's --
ROWLANDS: May go all the way to the --
MURPHY: Yes, it could easily go all the way to the convention. What Rick Santorum wants is to become the alternative to Mitt Romney, and if you dig into the CPAC results, non-Mitt Romney really clobbered Mitt Romney. So if you added Gingrich and Santorum's support together, that person would have beaten Mitt Romney pretty handily.
That's the number that Mitt Romney's people do not want to focus on. So Rick Santorum, in the course of the last week, has really changed his storyline from being the nice guy who can't win, to the nice guy, the conservative guy, who is winning.
And the biggest storyline to me this week was Newt Gingrich just fell off the map. Where was he? Third place at CPAC, where he was supposed to really have a great showing. Fourth place in Maine. You can't do that and hope to continue any kind of momentum they might have built up in South Carolina.
ROWLANDS: So where does it go for Gingrich, do you think? I mean, the pressure is on?
MURPHY: The pressure is absolutely on. The biggest day for Newt Gingrich's political career at this point is going to be Super Tuesday. That is where he is saying he is going to have his big showing. He has got his home state of Georgia voting, Tennessee is voting.
But there are a lot of other states. You're going to have to have a lot of money, a lot of organization to do very well, and you need to have at least some organic movement. If you don't have the money, you're going to have to at least have the people power out there. Santorum seems to be the one who has that right now.
ROWLANDS: Sarah Palin brought them to her feet, as she obviously still has a lot of power. How does she play in?
(CROSSTALK)
MURPHY: Well, you know, this is what she is so good at, and this is where they picked her as vice president. This is why she just makes such a huge splash on the national stage. She connects with people, she rallies people. She is a true conservative. There is no better audience, no bigger audience for her than that CPAC crowd.
But she really is ceremonial at this point. She's not raising the money the way she used to. She has not chosen to endorse anybody yet. So her influence has waned, but not at CPAC. I mean, she's their girl.
ROWLANDS: Let's take a listen to her at CPAC.
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PALIN: Competition will lead us to victory in 2012. We must stay true to our principles. I believe that the competition has got to keep going, but let's make sure this competition brings out the best in our party.
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PALIN: We know -- we know that the Far Left and their media allies can't beat us on the issues, so instead they'll distort our records. They'll smear our reputations. They'll even attack our families. Let's not do the job for them, OK, Republicans? OK, independents?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: A warning, huh? And she's going to be a part of this down the stretch, I would assume.
MURPHY: Absolutely. Sarah Palin, we know, is never going away.
ROWLANDS: All right, Patricia Murphy, thank you very much. Big day in politics yesterday in Maine and, of course, in Washington at CPAC.
When we come back, more reaction this morning to the death of Whitney Houston. Stay with us.
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ROWLANDS: The condolences continue to pour in this morning for Whitney Houston. Diana Ross, Gladys Knight and Smokey Robinson are also remembering Whitney Houston this morning. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIANA ROSS, SINGER AND ACTRESS: She just had such an incredible voice, and, you know, she just is a beautiful, beautiful face. I remember the first time I saw her first on records, you know, just beautiful girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: And we're also hearing from you, the fans, across the country, offering your memories of Whitney Houston. Take a listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A very tragic loss, and a loss to not only the R&B community, but I think everyone around.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her voice was absolutely amazing. When you heard her voice, you knew exactly who it was.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will always remember her performance of the National Anthem the year after 9/11.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I remember growing up and listening and dreaming that I was going to marry that woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: A lot of people have that same dream, or a lot of people wanted to be Whitney Houston. When we come back, we'll go to Los Angeles for the latest on the investigation into her death. Stay with us. You're watching CNN special coverage of the death of Whitney Houston.
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