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Whitney Houston Death a Mystery; Middle East Watches Syria; President Obama's new Budget; No Homicide Investigation In Houston Death; Adele's Triumphant Return

Aired February 13, 2012 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin, as always.

Top of the hour. Let's go. Let's get you caught up on everything making news right now, "Rapid Fire." Let's begin.

First up, I want to begin with the investigation into Whitney Houston's death. Here's what we know so far.

Her body will be flown back to her native New Jersey. A funeral, we're told, could be held there either Friday or Saturday. The autopsy is complete, but it's still too early to tell definitively what killed Whitney Houston. The Los Angeles Coroner's Office warns not to jump to any conclusions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED WINTER, ASSISTANT CHIEF, L.A. COUNTY CORONER'S OFFICE: You can look at a body and not know what the cause of death is. You might have a suspicion, but the person could have suffered a heart attack or an embolism or something, and no matter what medications they're taking, until we run a tox and see the level, and what's in the system, we're not going to speculate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So that's the latest from the coroner's office. We're going to pop a little box up for you. Here we are, live pictures, as we are waiting for a press conference from the Beverly Hills Police Department. They could be speaking at any moment.

Obviously, we're keeping an eye on that, and as soon as we see someone step behind that podium with all those mike flags, obviously we'll bring that to you as soon as it happens.

Meantime, I want to move along to the violence, the ongoing violence in Syria. The country's ambassador to the United Nations admits that Syria has problems, but says they're for Syria to solve internally. In fact, he says, "Is there one among you whose country does not have shortcomings or problems? Would any of you be the first to cast the first stone?"

According to the U.N., at least 6,000 people have died in Syria in the last year. And today President Obama released his $3.8 trillion federal budget. Take a look at the highlights with me: raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year; limit deductions for the wealthy; make an expanded college tax credit permanent; households making $1 million or more pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- income tax breaks. You need them. You're the ones who see your wages stall. You're the one whose cost of everything from college to groceries has gone up. You're the ones who deserve a break.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We hit the highlights for you a second ago, but you can get a complete breakdown of the budget released today. Just go to CNNMoney.com.

And students at a Columbus, Ohio, high school had to be evacuated today after a chemical spill. Four teachers, nine students all taken to the hospital. We're told they're being treated for overexposure to sodium hydroxide, commonly known as lye. Police say maintenance workers had an issue with a cleaning agent while they were cleaning the high school boilers.

And a Pennsylvania judge rules Jerry Sandusky can see eight of his grandchildren and leave his home to meet with lawyers. The former Penn State football coach is under house arrest. He is accused of victimizing 10 boys. Three grandkids Sandusky cannot see are also part of that custody dispute.

Also, a development here about Tim Curley. You'll remember he was Penn State's athletic director, now ex-athletic director. His attorneys have filed a motion to drop a perjury charge. They say Joe Paterno's death means prosecutors no longer have required a second witness to prove Curley lied to a grand jury about Sandusky's case.

And lawyers for reputed gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, they're back in court today. The 82-year-old is accused of murdering 19 people between the years 1973, all the way through 1985. Prosecutors accuse Bulger of trying to delay the court process. Attorneys for Bulger deny that and say they are indeed preparing for his trial.

And in New Jersey, the state senate has just passed a bill in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage. The bill now heads to the state assembly for a vote there this coming Wednesday. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says he will veto the bill if it in fact reaches his desk.

It's just the opposite though in Washington State. In fact, in just a couple of minutes, the governor there, Christine Gregoire, is scheduled to sign a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. Lawmakers passed that bill on Wednesday.

And we will show you that moment live as it happens for us during this hour.

The winner of the $336 million Powerball jackpot bought the ticket in Rhode Island, so check your tickets. Apparently, the winning ticket was bought at a Stop & Shop in Newport, and so far, no one has come forward to say, "Yes, I won." The lucky person has up to one year to show up.

And back now to the investigation into the death of Whitney Houston. Again, here's what we know briefly.

The autopsy is now complete. It's still too early to tell what exactly killed her.

Don Lemon was working the story for us all weekend. He's now standing for me live outside the L.A. County Coroner's Office.

We know the cause of death won't be released pending those toxicology reports, which, correct me if I'm wrong, that won't be out for another couple of weeks. You know, you've talked to the assistant county coroner. What has he said so far today, Don?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another couple weeks.

Listen, I have some breaking information, new information. The viewers are the first to hear it, you're the first to hear it on this show.

Our producer, Vivian Kuo, just spoke to Ed Winter, the assistant coroner here, the assistant chief here of L.A. County. He says that he believes Whitney Houston's body has now gone from the coroner's office. You're hearing it first here on CNN, right on your show, Brooke. He says the body is gone.

He believes that within the next couple hours, he says he believes the body is scheduled on a flight to go back to New Jersey, to her hometown of Newark. That's what her mother and her family had requested, Brooke. So you're hearing that.

Also, I spoke with the assistant coroner, the assistant chief, just a short time ago, and we talked about the circumstances surrounding Whitney Houston's death on Saturday. He said she was seen in her room, Brooke, one hour -- about one hour before her death. And then everyone went away, she stayed in the room.

And then when the person came into the room, discovered Whitney Houston's body, called for help. They removed her body from the bathtub, tried to give her CPR, revive her. And, of course, that didn't happen. And he also says prescription drugs were found in the room -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: He wasn't specific, and I heard him speaking with you. I know you pressed him, that he said, look, if they're taken normally, it's not at all bad for you. But certainly they could be abused.

I also want to ask you about her ex-husband, Bobby Brown. He's back on tour with his old group, New Edition. Right? So he went ahead and performed Saturday night. He was in Mississippi, clearly emotional.

Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBY BROWN, SINGER: I want you all to do me a favor tonight. Just say a prayer for my daughter. Just say a prayer for my mother. And if you can find the time, please say a prayer for me, because I'm going to need it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So he had a tough time getting through Saturday.

Where is he now, Don Lemon? Where is Bobby Brown? And also, give us an update on the daughter, who was in and out of that L.A. hospital, Bobbi Kristina. How is she?

LEMON: I'll do both for you.

He was in Mississippi and then went to Tennessee, was supposed to perform in Tennessee. And instead of doing that the second night, after you saw that performance, he flew here to Los Angeles to be with his daughter, to come pick his daughter up, Bobbi Kristina, because on the night that Whitney Houston was pronounced dead in that hotel room, Bobbi Kristina went to the hotel room to see her mom's body. Police wouldn't let her in.

She became hysterical. They had to take her to the hospital.

The next day, Brooke, she became hysterical again. They had to take her back to the hospital because she was so upset.

She is out of the hospital now. Her dad is believed to be here in Los Angeles, picking her up. They could be on their way back now, not exactly sure, but he came here to Los Angeles taking his daughter back to the East Coast.

BALDWIN: OK. Don Lemon, thank you.

As Don broke the news a moment ago, we now know the body of Whitney Houston no longer there at the L.A. County Coroner's Office. This confirms what CNN sources have told us, that her body will be en route to New Jersey, where her family will be holding a funeral either Friday or Saturday. That's what sources tell CNN.

Meantime, in a couple of minutes here, we're going to talk to my colleague Nancy Grace about what she has learned. She's in Los Angeles as well -- what she has learned in those hours and days leading up to Whitney Houston's death Saturday afternoon.

Also, got live pictures up there as we're waiting for a press conference out of Beverly Hills police. We'll take you there as soon as that happens. Meantime, got a lot more to cover for you in the next two hours, including this --

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: A friend who partied with Whitney Houston before her death says the singer didn't look erratic or disheveled, but we may be finding out what happened inside that hotel room sooner than we thought.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): One activist risked his life just to show the massacre inside Syria. CNN takes you inside Danny's escape and shows you the moment his family waited for word.

Behind bars, a serial killer draws a mask, and where it leads sheriff's deputies may solve several cold cases.

And it's got everyone talking, a commercial during the Grammys featuring Willie Nelson's voice. But get this -- the very moment it aired, I was talking to the man himself.

(on camera): Were you not afraid of getting caught?

WILLIE NELSON, MUSICIAN: I should have been.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. A quick reminder here as we were keeping a close eye on a live picture -- here we go -- a live picture and a lot of reporters covering this one -- into the investigation into the death of Whitney Houston.

These are live pictures right in front of the Beverly Hills Police Department. Any minute now we could be hearing from an investigator, so certainly stay tuned for that.

I want to bring in my colleague who is also in Los Angeles following this investigation, right along with all those other journalists, Nancy Grace.

In fact, Nancy, I know you're doing a show live there tonight. And whether -- and it's too early to say, I know, but whether this will be ruled an accidental death or not, we heard from coroners today it's too soon to tell. But my question is, will others be held accountable as well here moving forward?

NANCY GRACE, HOST, HLN'S "NANCY GRACE": Well, all the answers are going to lie in two places in my mind. One, that bathroom and bedroom of the Beverly Hilton hotel right behind me, the death scene, and also in her blood, in the vials that now hold the blood of American songbird Whitney Houston, because that's where we're going to find the real cause of death. We're going to find out what was in her system. And I'd like to find out who, if anyone, put it in her system or gave it to her.

Now, will charges stem from this? Let's take a look at Anna Nicole Smith and the allegations that came down against all the people surrounding her, including her fiance, Howard Stern. Take a look at Michael Jackson, Conrad Murray.

And not only that. If you recall, Archie Bunker, Carroll O'Connor, brought the dope dealer into court that gave his son Hugh O'Connor his final hit of drugs that caused his death.

So I would like to know who was around her, who, if anyone, gave her a drug, following alcohol and drugs, and who let her slip or pushed her underneath that water. Apparently, no signs of force or trauma to the body. Who let Whitney Houston go under her water?

BALDWIN: Might it have been one person, might it have been multiple people? All excellent questions.

Again, we don't know the cause of her death. We have confirmed -- we heard from Ed Winter, assistant chief of the Coroner's Office there in L.A. County, saying, yes, there were prescription drug bottles found in her hotel suite. We also know from friends, Nancy, she was imbibing at least one alcoholic beverage on Thursday.

So I want to play some sound. This is her friend, fellow singer Kelly Price, whose Grammy party Whitney Houston was attending that night.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY PRICE, SINGER: The champagne was flowing. It was a party. And I've heard so many things about people saying she was erratic, she was this, she was that. She was none of those things.

And I have to go hard on making sure that people understand, it was a good party. There was nothing negative about it. It was positive.

We had great music. Her daughter was there, my children were there. They're all around the same age. It was that kind of environment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So she's saying nothing negative, nothing wrong about the party.

Nancy, I know you get in on the nitty-gritty details. What have you learned in your time in L.A. about those final hours leading up to her death?

GRACE: Well, right around the time of her death, at the time of her death, as a matter of fact, there were apparently three different prescription drug containers for benzodiazepam from three different doctors. They were medicating her out the ying-yang, number one. In the days leading up to her death, she went to a party completely glammed out, beautiful, calm, cool, collected. When she left that party, there was blood coming down her leg, her hair was soaking wet, she was sweaty and disheveled.

Something went wrong at that party. There is an alleged acrimonious argument with a reputed male lover.

I know that at the time of her death, her daughter, Bobbi Kristine, was in the lobby, and has now had to go to the hospital twice, once for suicide watch, following the death of her mother. But there are a lot of unanswered questions.

BALDWIN: Remind me again quickly -- benzodiazepam, what is that -- what should that be used for? And you mentioned the three drug containers. Again, where were those found?

GRACE: Allegedly, three different bottles of benzodiazepam were found in her room, each from a different doctor. There are a lot of different street names for the drug, but very often people that drink -- and I'm not saying this about Houston, because I don't know it yet -- that over-drink will take that to avoid a hangover effect.

BALDWIN: To avoid a hangover effect. And I'm sitting here listening to you. This is the first I've heard of it, especially the fact that you're saying, allegedly, prescriptions from three separate doctors.

What does that tell you if that, in fact, is the case?

GRACE: Well, another thing, the Mickey Fine pharmacy in L.A. has reared up again. Remember, that came to the forefront during the Michael Jackson case.

Where is she getting all these drugs? Who are all these doctors giving her these drugs just like with Jackson, just like with Elvis Presley, just like with Anna Nicole Smith? And will someone be held accountable?

I'm not ruling that out right now. I mean, America loves Whitney Houston. She is our beloved songbird. I mean, did you hear her sing at Super Bowl XXVI the National Anthem?

I want answers.

BALDWIN: Where are you getting that, Nancy Grace? Where are you getting the news about the prescription bottles and the three doctors?

GRACE: From reporters that have been there at the scene and have found out. This is what they are reporting and telling me.

BALDWIN: OK.

Nancy Grace, if you get any more information, because that certainly is news to us here, let us know. Pop back in front of that camera and we'll put you on.

Nancy Grace, thank you so much.

A quick reminder again. Nancy is going to be in L.A. for her show there tonight following this investigation here into the death of Whitney Houston.

Meantime, I want to move along and talk Syria here. New attacks in Syria today. One activist tells us that Syrian troops are going door to door to door taking people away. Even this video of explosions, folks, this is a cemetery. Look at the smoke.

This comes as the United Nations prepares to vote on a resolution strongly condemning the slaughter in Syria.

Coming up next, we have live team coverage for you from all around the world. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The story that's shaking the Middle East is moving forward today in Syria. Syrian army forces resume shelling rebellious neighborhoods in the city of Homs. Their primary target, the Baba Amr district southwest of the city center.

And CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is keeping track of all of this for us from Syria's neighbor, Lebanon.

And so, Nick, obviously no letup here in the Assad government crackdown.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.

The ninth morning in a row, residents of Homs, we're told, woken at 5:00 a.m. by the sound again of intense shelling. I understand from one activist in a city called Omar, that they are concerned that on the district to the north, known as Insha-at (ph), there have been Syrian troops moving in over the past five days, arrests taking place there. And the concern now is they be massing to move south into Baba Amr, which has been the focus of shelling over these past nine days. Four hundred people losing their lives across Homs in this massive onslaught, which today claimed 23 lives across the country, six of them inside Homs -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Over just this past weekend we heard from al Qaeda's new leader, essentially speaking out in support of the rebels.

Is there, Nick -- is there a worry that al Qaeda, other militants will try to seize advantage of the chaos within the country?

WALSH: Well, (INAUDIBLE) really a broad one in support of what he called the "lions of greater Syria." And I should point out, really, that al Qaeda have been in irrelevancy in the Syrian unrest, in this uprising, and in much of the Arab Spring we've seen over the last year.

What people are concerned about, though, is the capacity perhaps for them as this conflict drags out to find some kind of space to involve themselves. Zawahiri didn't offer practical help from al Qaeda in this, but we have seen, in December in Damascus, and more recently, on Friday, in Aleppo, significant blasts targeting government strongholds, tactics which many U.S. analysts and officials in the media have said are (INAUDIBLE) perhaps of al Qaeda in the past, al Qaeda in Iraq, even.

And I think there was a concern that as this conflict widens, it drags on. There could perhaps be a window for these extremists, these radicals to bring these kinds of tactics in and try and involve themselves. But I should point out, this Syria uprising is not something which you've seen any al Qaeda relevancy or motivation at all at this point -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: But, also, as the conflict widens and drags on, what about fears of slaughter spilling over in other parts of the region? You have neighboring Turkey and also Lebanon, where you are.

Are they concerned?

WALSH: There are concerns, and Lebanon has tried to stay as mutual as possible throughout this unrest, and they've done a pretty successful job so far. In the north, on Friday, there was a small sporadic outbreak of unrest between a Sunni part of a town and an Alawite Shia part of town. The Alawites being the predominant sect in control of Syria at this particular point, those who run the government.

Now, this bit of tension does occur periodically, but it appears to have been exacerbated by what's happening across the border. Troops were deployed. At this point, there is no real concern of the violence across the border, at contagion at all inside Lebanon, although many are concerned that you might see -- if this refugee problem escalates, that could change the delicate balance inside Lebanon -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Horrendous.

Nick Paton Walsh in neighboring Lebanon.

Thank you.

Let's talk money. $3.8 trillion, that's the federal budget plan unveiled today by President Obama. Coming up next, we're going to tell you what that budget includes and if there's support there on Capitol Hill to pass it.

Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Forget accommodation in the president's new budget. Today, the White House released its spending and tax plan for the year 2013, the fiscal year, and it's $1 trillion challenge to both House and Senate Republicans.

New taxes on the well-to-do totaling $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. And that includes new taxes on millionaires, expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts, plus tens of billions of dollars in new taxes on financial institutions.

And according to White House projections, ,the deficit would dip below $1 trillion in 2013, but would remain sky high through 2018. And that is due in part to the president's new spending proposals, including transportation projects, upgraded schools, and more money for hiring teachers and emergency workers.

So, that said, let's go to Brianna Keilar, shall we? Live for me at the White House.

And so, from a White House perspective here, what is the goal of the 2013 budget?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, the goal obviously is to sell a vision here. The president is trying to sell his vision, and that is invest to create some jobs, tighten the belt, cut spending a little bit, but not too much so that the economic recovery, which does have some positive signs lately, isn't hurt. That is the plan here from the White House.

The president outlining his priorities. And which priorities is he outlining? Ones that are pretty popular.

Spending (ph) that's popular, despite the fact that government spending still remains a concern for many voters. The teachers, firefighters, police officers, hiring them and keeping them on the job, these are things that poll very well.

And then the way to pay for it, with taxes on wealthier Americans, also does pretty well. Listen to what President Obama said on that point earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, or do we want to keep investing in everything else -- education, a clean energy, a strong military, care for our veterans? We can't do both. We can't afford it.

And some people go around and they say, well, the president is engaging in class warfare. That's not class warfare, that's common sense. That's common sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now the goal here, Brooke, is not to get this pass Congress because there's no way the thought goes that President Obama would be able to do that or that they would sort of take his proposal and really incorporate into their budget proposal --

BALDWIN: Brianna, Brianna, forgive me my friend to do this to you. We have to go straight to L.A. to Beverly Hills police. The press is on their way right now on the investigation in the death of Whitney Houston. Listen.

(BEGIN LIVE SPEECH) LT. MARK ROSEN, BEVERLY HILLS POLICE: We would do this in the case of any unintended or unexpected death of somebody of her age. As of right now, it's not a criminal investigation.

We have concluded our portion of the investigation at the hotel. We have a team of investigators that are specifically assigned to this case, but as of right now in this state, it is a coroner's case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lieutenant, can you squash the rumor? Somebody, somewhere said that a family member was informed and that the information came from a police department, Beverly Hills to be exact that prescription drugs were involved. Can you at least say yes or no?

ROSEN: Let me finish. I'm at the tail end of my prepared statement and then I'll answer any questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry.

ROSEN: At this time, we are not going to comment on any specifics about Miss Houston, the condition of her body, the condition of the room or anything that we may or may not have found in the course of our investigation.

As I stated, right now it's a coroner's case. There will not be any more information coming from the Beverly Hills Police Department until the coroner has completed their investigation and the toxicology results have been completed.

At that time, we, like you, are waiting for the determination from the coroner's office as to the cause of her death. And right now we're not going to speculate on what the cause of that death might have been or what may have contributed to her untimely passing. With that I will answer your questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Getting back to my point, I don't mean to hammer the point, but I mean, could you at least say yes or no that Xanax or any other prescription medication, that information came from someone in the department to the family, or can you even talk about that?

ROSEN: I have no information on where that came from at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know if it's true or not?

ROSEN: I have no information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about the 911 tapes. Will that be released any time soon?

ROSEN: Right now, our entire investigation is sealed. That's standard of protocol for the Beverly Hills Police Department following the conclusion of investigation and depending on where that investigation leads us.

The specifics of the case will be released and the 911 tapes, I expect, will be eventually released to the media. And so right now our investigation is sealed because it is pending and we need to preserve the integrity of our investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we understand the body of Whitney Houston has been released from the coroner's office?

ROSEN: That I don't know. You have to ask the coroner's office about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lieutenant, I have a question. It's been reported that some of your officers found prescription drugs dispensed by the Nicky Kline Pharmacy, which was reported land for investigation for giving drugs to celebrities specifically Michael Jackson. Can you confirm that?

ROSEN: I don't have any specific information about what was found in the hotel room, and I don't know where that information is coming from, so no, I can't confirm that and I can't deny it.

No. We don't know the cause of death. We would not relay that information to anybody. We're waiting for the coroner's office to tell us what the cause of death was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Per the investigation, do the detectives expect to serve warrants at any pharmacies or question any physicians who have prescribed medications?

ROSEN: I don't know what the detective intends to do at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has any warrant served at this point to a person in the hotel room?

ROSEN: I don't have any specifics about the investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can absolutely say with certainty is this is not a homicide investigation at all.

ROSEN: We are not conducting a homicide investigation at this time, we're conducting (inaudible) investigation and we need to be very clear about that. We do not know the cause of death. We don't know the circumstances leading up to her death and as of right now, it's a -- I don't want to use the word routine investigation.

It's a normal investigation for somebody of her age that would have died in this manner and we'll have more information after the coroner gets back to us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And again, you're not in liberty to talk it all about whether or not there's the possibility that prescription medication or some other drugs may have created some factor in her death. It just got what?

ROSEN: It got quiet. Integrity investigation requires us to keep confidential about anything that we're investigation and I can't comment. Honestly, I don't know. I don't have the specifics on the investigation. It's standard protocol by the Beverly Hills Police Department for any death investigation. We'll follow the evidence where that evidence leads us, and at that time we'll make a determination.

I don't know whether or not she was able to see her mother at all. I don't have information.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lieutenant, can you just clarify, you mentioned that a member of her personnel found the body. That the coroner will get to the fact that maybe it's family member perhaps the cousin was in the room? Can you just clear that up so there's no confusion?

ROSEN: I don't have the specifics. The body was found. Ms. Houston was found by somebody on her personal staff. I don't have the specifics on who that was and I know, once her staff was notified, they contacted hotel security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was the condition of her body when she was found?

ROSEN: I don't that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lieutenant, have you been in touch with Bobby Brown or any member of his staff today?

ROSEN: I have not personally been in touch with anybody on her staff or family. That I don't know.

You would have to check with the coroner's office on that. We are not anticipating they'll be in any time soon, about two or three weeks, but the coroner can give you a better answer on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, is your investigation done, almost done or there's still a lot of work to do?

ROSEN: They've concluded a preliminary investigation. We've cleared out of the hotel, but obviously on a case such as this, there's always more work to be done, and it won't be concluded until the coroner comes up with their findings.

I don't have any information on that. It was all relayed to us second hand by whoever found her. No, my understanding is that she was pulled out by somebody or persons on her staff prior to any paramedics or hotel security (inaudible). I have no idea what her condition was at that time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was she breathing --

ROSEN: She was unconscious and unresponsive by the time that she was found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't have to turn out.

ROSEN: Well, that's right. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you draw the distinction between homicide and death investigation, does that mean you have ruled this out as a homicide?

ROSEN: We have not ruled anything out. All everything is on the table. We're conducting an investigation and as soon as we have more information. We'll give it to you. But we're anticipating won't have anything more until the coroner has completed their investigation.

I'm going to stop now. That's really all I have. I've got nothing more to tell you. As something comes up, I promise I'll contact the media and you guys will be the first to know.

(END LIVE SPEECH)

BALDWIN: Members of the media, I'm sure locally in L.A. also nationwide, I'm sure worldwide at this point as well given to the status of Whitney Houston peppering this police lieutenant there sitting in front of the Beverly Hills Police Department with all kinds of questions and as you heard, he's not answering a lot of them.

The big reason because that investigation is still very much so sealed. A couple nuggets I noticed looking down here at my notes, saying, it's not a criminal investigation. Also learning as far who was in the room Saturday.

The lieutenant was saying her body was found by someone on a personal staff, and members actually pulled her out of the tub. She was not responsive. She was not conscious and then ultimately someone within the Beverly Hills Hilton was notified.

I want to bring in Don Lemon. He's been working this story for the last couple days. Don, I actually want to begin with something that one of the reporters mentioned. They asked about -- you're out on L.A. covering the Michael Jackson death. So you're the perfect person to ask this.

Mickey Fine Pharmacy, there are reports and you heard from the assistant chief coroner, right, saying, yes, there were prescription bottles found in her room. Talk to me about the Mickey Fine Pharmacy and the history it has with regard to celebrities in that town.

LEMON: Let's, real quickly, Brooke, let's all take a deep breath. I'm sure, as you have been reporting, and you would say the same thing. I know the type of reporter you are.

Let's take a deep breath because there's so much going around, so much information. People saying one thing and then turning out to be another so Mickey Fine, that pharmacy.

I know of it because the Michael Jackson investigation, as you've said, supplying prescription drugs to a lot of celebrities. They have been mentioned a lot and there have been mentioned in this case and it has been said that there were several prescriptions found in Whitney Houston's hotel room from this pharmacy. Let me just say this. That is not CNN's reporting. We do not know that to be true. We don't if prescription drugs from Mickey Fine from that pharmacy if they were found in Whitney's -- in Whitney Houston's hotel room.

No one knows that. When I spoke to the coroner not long ago, he spoke on camera, and afterwards I spoke to him. What he said to me was this and this is a paraphrase, but pretty close to what he said. He said, there weren't that many prescription drugs found. It wasn't really that out of the ordinary.

He said I have more prescription drugs at my house than were found in that room. So let's take a big step back about all of this. So that's where Mickey Fine is. That's where the prescription drugs are. I think it's important to clear up here, is that everyone's asking, was she underwater? Did she drown?

We don't know that. You heard Mark Rosen, the lieutenant there and he was the lieutenant that came out initially live on CNN on Saturday night and who confirmed that Whitney Houston was dead.

He is basically saying the same thing now that he said then. He said that Whitney Houston's body was found in the room. Now we know she was found in the tub. She was initially found in the tub by a member of her personal staff.

We believe -- we believe here that it was someone, possibly her sister-in-law who found her. She had been seen in that same room an hour before she was fine, she was alive. So they come in, they find her. Someone pulls her out of the tub, tries to revive her. They cannot revive her.

By the time the EMT, the paramedics, the fire department gets there, Whitney is out of the tub, they cannot revive here. It's around 3:30 when they got the call. At 3:55, she is pronounced dead.

So we don't know. And the interesting thing and I don't know if we have the pictures. We have been talking about people saying, Whitney was disheveled when she was at the club on Thursday night and what have you.

OK, so people are saying that. If you'd ever been to a club, Brooke, you and I have gone and we've had a cocktail or whatever we hang out. Sometimes it's hot. It's sweaty. If you go to a club, you're dancing all night even if you're not drinking or what you have you.

BALDWIN: Here are the pictures and we heard from Kelly Rice. You know, she was with her. She said, you know, yes, they were partying. Yes, there was champagne flowing, but she said it was a good partying.

You know, you're absolutely right. I think we cannot read too much into these images here of Whitney Houston walking out of this party. I think there was point, though, in this whole discussion and certainly I'm not going to speculate and neither are you, Don Lemon.

But the issue is, we will not know what happened to her until we see those toxicology reports and that will still be what, a couple of weeks.

LEMON: Yes, it's going to be a couple weeks. You're right. Listen, as we said, if you go in someplace and there's a bunch of people and you're celebrating. You're going to look sweaty and people can take pictures of you and you're in these weird positions or whatever. Who knows.

I don't know what Whitney's frame of mind was. I don't know how she was -- listen, she could have been disheveled or what have you. We don't know. So we'll wait for all that to come out. Toxicology result they said should come in six to eight weeks, but they could be back as soon as four weeks.

We don't know for sure, but I will tell you this. Someone who has been doing this for a while at the coroner's office, they have initial indications of what happened. They just want those toxicology results so they can be 100 percent sure.

Because they don't want -- in a case this high profile, they do not want to be caught off guard saying the wrong thing and coming to the wrong conclusions here. So that's why they're being so safe with this.

As you know, the body is being flown back now. We learned it first on this show that her body is gone. Within a couple hours, they believe it's going to go to the airport on a private plane back to New Jersey, Brooke, as her family wanted and the services will be sometime this weekend. Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: Friday or Saturday. Don Lemon, I appreciate it. I appreciate you there in Los Angeles covering the story for us. Now before if you're with me a couple of minutes ago, before the Whitney Houston news conference, we heard from Lieutenant Mark Rosen.

We were talking money. We were talking about that $3.8 trillion federal budget. Does the president, here's the question, does the president have the support on Capitol Hill to get this thing passed?

Kate Bolduan is standing by for us live on Capitol Hill. We'll get a check-in with her after this quick break.

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BALDWIN: A couple minutes ago, we zipped on through the president's budget that he unveiled today and we heard the rationale from the White House for higher taxes and no domestic spending, no huge surprise.

House and Senate Republicans say the president's budget is DOA, as in dead on arrival. Kate Bolduan has the reaction for us from Capitol Hill. Kate, dare I ask? What exactly are they saying? KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it will be a surprise to any of our viewers how the Republicans, congressional Republicans are reacting to the president's budget. I mean, the comments range from it's purely a political document, dead on arrival, Brooke, as you mentioned, irresponsible mockery, disappointing, deceptive.

The criticism goes on and on. I mean, where congressional Republicans are really focusing their criticism of the president's budget request is on two fronts, really on the area of taxes as well as on the area of deficit and debt.

Republicans no surprise, as we know they've been fighting about this for a very long time now up here in Congress are very much opposed to tax increases and very much opposed to the $1.5 trillion in new revenue that include taxes increases on many wealthy Americans in different forms as well as eliminating corporate tax loopholes.

So they are very much critical of that, and coming up already today even before this budget request even came out this morning blasting that element of it. And they're also critical of the president's budget request, Brooke, saying that it's not doing well.

The president says it will reduce the budget by $4 trillion some unfortunately in over 10 years. Republicans up here, they say it is not doing anything to seriously tackle the country's long-term debt problem, which we know has been an ongoing fight up here.

So the criticism is kind of across the board. And bottom line, probably additionally, no surprise to you, it's very unlikely this document, this budget, is going anywhere up here on Capitol Hill as the House is controlled by Republicans and House Republicans are already planning on putting forth their own budget late next month -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Key word again today, request, you know, congress can reject, modify, accept, all of the above. We'll see if anything happens. Kate Bolduan, thank you very much.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And did you watch? Grammy performances getting a lot of budge today, but so are some of the commercials during the Grammys, one featuring this legendary Grammy winner, Willie Nelson.

In fact, I hung out with him last night. Yes, right on his tour bus in Atlanta right before his show. We got part of that interview for you coming up after this quick break. Stay right here.

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BALDWIN: Did you watch? Did you watch? Trending today, the Grammy Awards and want to begin with the triumphant return of Adele.

Whoo, can you imagine that voice coming out of you? When it comes to winning awards, Adele was queen last night. Listening to this, her powerful performance, hard to believe she had vocal cord surgery, folks, three months ago.

The British singer won all six Grammy she was nominated for including major honor, that's album, that's record and best song of the year and not only was she scooping up awards left and right, her music was featured in a buzz worthy Grammy commercial.

That is the New York PS 22 choir. They were featured in last year's Oscars and now they're in a Target's new commercial. Speaking of ads, one featuring a Coldplay song sung by Willie Nelson is getting million clicks online. Here's part of it.

You have to watch this whole thing. Jump online. That is Nelson covering Coldplay's "The Scientist." The 2-1/2 minute ad encourages people to download the song to benefit Chipotle Foundation supports sustainable farming, something he's very passionate about.

Willie puts on those farm aid concerts for years. So one of you tweeted last night, Willie Nelson makes everything better including Coldplay songs. In fact, while that ad was playing last night on television, guess who I was hanging out with?

Yes, Willie Nelson himself on board his bus before his show last night in Atlanta and we talked about a lot. But the Grammy winner talked to me specifically about his earliest music education.

I asked him about growing up in a tiny town out of Texas picking cotton and singing. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIE NELSON, SINGER: I heard -- it was like an opera out there in the cotton fields. One guy would sing a line over here and another one answering over here. I learned a lot about music and communicating.

BALDWIN: From working the fields?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We had an amazing chat. That's coming up on "Music Monday." And speaking of "Music Monday," back to last night's Grammy Awards, if you watched this show, you know that this guy is one of my absolute favorites.

That's Justin Vernon, you probably don't know his name, but you know, Bon Iver, huge win last night, best new artist. I sat down with him before his show last summer for a "Music Monday."

In fact, here's part of the interview he actually didn't see, when I asked him who in the end, who would you dream to collaborate with, here's what Justin told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN VERNON, SINGER, BON IVER: I would like to work with Bonnie Raitt. I actually have friends that I dream of making music with and putting together kind of odd bands and just different people you meet on tour and talking about music everybody. But I think you just take it as it comes. I don't really think about it these days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And last night in his acceptance speech, Justin Vernon had academy letters for the quote/unquote, the "sweet hookup."

Sometimes though there are no words. Rather than try to fight for the right ones, I'm going to avoid the litany of cliches and just let the music speak for itself. The Whitney Houston performance that ignited America, next.

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BALDWIN: Whitney Houston's rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl in 1991. Who could forget the spine-tingling performance? It still kind of gives us chills, you know, when you stop and you listen to it, so I thought it would be a fitting tribute on this "Music Monday" to hear when her voice really moved a nation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)