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Stars to Sing at Houston's Funeral; Security Tightened for Funeral; Syria Pounds Homs For 14th Day; New York Times Reporter Dies in Syria; Libyan Militias Accused of Torture; GOP Battle for Michigan; Google Tracked iPhones; Fashion Week 2012; Santorum Supporter Apologizes

Aired February 17, 2012 - 10:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Kyra Phillips who's on assignment. More details this morning on who will be performing at Whitney Houston's Funeral: Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys -- all will be performing at the church and the list of mourners preparing to pay respects includes Denzel Washington, Mel Gibson, Jamie Foxx and Janet Jackson, just to name a few.

We're also getting a look at new photographs never seen before of Whitney as a young woman, at least a lot of folks have never seen them before. We also know now that her former co-star, Kevin Costner, who I guess folks have not heard from this week, well, he will be among those speaking at the services.

And the former husband, the ex-husband of Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown, he also has officially been invited. Susan Candiotti is in Newark this morning.

So Susan, authorities are making some real changes there around the block. So, this is a last chance many people will have, as you say to place flowers or mementos at the church.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred, good morning. You can see one of the biggest changes is how much farther back we are from Whitney Houston's childhood church, where we have seep those pictures of her singing as a little girl.

The police started barricading some streets off, blocking them off last night and setting up a perimeter that's why we are across a parking lot where it is believed that some of the guests will be leaving their cars before they go into the services tomorrow.

But up close, we can show you how people continue to come and leave behind mementos and flowers, personal messages, posing for photographs, all in hopes of getting as close as they can to where Whitney Houston's body will be brought for this funeral tomorrow.

And 1,500 guests will be there in attendance. Now the police are telling everyone to stay home because they are going to keep them back at least two blocks away from the church. Setting up that big perimeter that we mentioned. And also, the family continues to ask for privacy. That's why they are asking everyone to simply watch from home, watch on CNN and cnn.com. And this is what Reverend Joe Carter had to say about the privacy issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REVEREND JOE CARTER, PASTOR, NEW HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH: This is a church and we are going to have some church in this celebration and once again, thank you for respecting the privacy of the family and respecting the sanctity of our church campus. And we are asking that you continue to pray and thank all the fans through all of their support, continue to pray for the family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: And over at the funeral home, we are also seeing that they put a large photograph of Whitney Houston in the front window on that home. They have set up privacy drapes around some entrances to the funeral home as well as police security tape.

You know, Reverend Carter, one of the other things also he told us was that this will be a celebration. It will be filled with laughter and with tears and that's what all of us will be doing tomorrow, remembering Whitney Houston in our own special way. Back to you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Susan Candiotti, thanks so much, outside New Hope Baptist Church there in Newark, New Jersey.

Meanwhile, west coast investigators are tightening their focus on the singer's prescription drug use and her behavior in her final days. They are examining her final television appearances.

One source close to the investigation tells CNN that they are also trying to speed up toxicology testing. The singer was seen drinking on the morning she died and the anti-anxiety drug, Xanax, was among the prescription bottles found in her hotel room.

CNN has full coverage of Whitney Houston's funeral tomorrow morning beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. Join Piers Morgan, Soledad O'Brien and Don Lemon as the music legend is remembered. Whitney Houston, her life, her music, live on CNN and cnn.com this Saturday morning beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern.

The Syrian city of Homs is enduring its 14th straight day of pounding. Government tanks and snipers have targeted certain neighborhoods in the city. Activists based in London say nine bodies have been found in Homs today.

CNN found many residents have either fled the city or are too afraid to leave their homes. Thousands of people are gathering across Syria to protest President Assad's regime. All this comes one day after the U.N. General Assembly condemned the crackdown.

The relentless shelling of Homs is creating a humanitarian crisis. Relief groups say they can't get food, water and medicine to people who need it most. CNN's Barbara Starr is following that story and now we know that supplies are needed. Why isn't it, I guess, getting to them?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's -- it's a terrible situation there right now, Fredricka, with the regime forces continuing their shelling, continuing their pounding of civilian areas, relief organizations, of course, simply can't get in.

So, what you're beginning to see is this conversation amongst countries, is there something they can do? Can they establish corridors of safety where perhaps supplies can be brought in and refugees can come out? A lot of discussion about this.

A lot of this led by the Turkish government, of course, Turkey on Syria's northern border. But until the shelling stops, until the fighting stops, there's a sense that this disaster will simply grow.

Because if you establish those corridors inside Syria, you either have to use a lot of military force to defend them or those corridors itself, it is believed, would become a target to for further violence by the regime -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: U.S. position here is there any consideration or discussion about how the U.S. would assist, intervene, participate in any way?

STARR: Right, absolutely. You know, this is now one of the options. When you talk to administration officials, what are you considering? They will tell you that they are still looking at the diplomatic option, that pressure on the Assad regime.

But it is very clear behind the scenes, they are looking at other avenues, are there things they can do? They still come up against this problem, until the violence stops, until there is some sort of political settlement in Syria. It is very hard to do anything.

Relief organizations, private organizations, the U.N., all waiting to see if they can get in there, but it would take a political settlement, the U.S. believes.

And right now, they don't see that coming. Without it you are stepping right into the middle of a war -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Barbara Starr, thanks so much at the Pentagon.

A "New York Times" reporter has died in Syria. Anthony Shadid apparently had a fatal asthma attack. A photographer for the paper carried his body into Turkey. Shadid covered the Middle East for nearly 20 years. He won two Pulitzer Prizes for his work in Iraq and was kidnapped last year covering Libya. Shadid was 43.

It has been one year since Libya's Arab spring began with a day of rage. The uprising was the beginning of the end of the Gadhafi regime. Now, there are claims that militias are committing human rights abuses and threatening Libya's future. Max Foster joining us now from London with more on that -- Max.

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's certainly celebrations about the fall of Gadhafi on this day, but the problem, the background to this is that many of the militias who actually ousted him from power have refused to give up their arms and concern they had may get organizers, somehow the country will break down looking forward.

They need to give up those arms for a peaceful future ahead. A lot of the newspapers around the world really looking at this on this poignant day. The "Irish Times" saying songs and uncertainty one year on in Libya.

Some Libyans talk of growing disenchantment with the slow pace of change. Others cling to determined optimism, looking to elections planned for June and arguing anything would be better than chafing under Gadhafi.

The "National Rights," many challenges ahead on Libya's revolution day. Exactly a year after taking up arms against Gadhafi, getting the militias to lay down their weapons is proving as difficult as defeating the old regime.

The "Times and Motor," future still uncertain, Libya's new leaders face an enormous challenge to build a country based on the rule of law after 42 years of one family rule, whilst preventing revenge attacks.

So still a very delegate situation, Fredricka and certainly al Qaeda is trying to capitalize, get some support in that country, no great success so far.

WHITFIELD: Max Foster, thanks so much from London.

All right, politics now in this country, the general election battleground state in Michigan is now the site of a turf war between Republicans and a new poll shows Rick Santorum on top, leading Mitt Romney by 6 percentage points.

Our Joe Johns is in Detroit. So, Joe, Romney, he is trying to make up some ground and score some points with the auto industry there and it's really going hurt if he doesn't do well in the state in which he was born.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's for sure, Fredricka. It will be very tough for him. This is a state where he was born, also where his father was governor that was about 40 years ago.

Some question as to how many people actually remember the Romneys. A lot of Republicans suggesting that they do. However a lot of the talk, at least over the last 24 hours or so, has been about bailouts whether they were a good idea.

Obviously because the auto industry got such a big bailout. Now GM reporting record profits, but interesting how the candidates talk about them. Rick Santorum, for example, on the campaign trail here in this state saying yesterday that as far as he is concerned, bailouts are not a good idea, period. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a president who is disarming America economically, robbing us of our freedom, controlling more and more power in Washington, D.C. We need to have somebody who can go out and say, Mr. President, give us our freedom back. Allow Americans the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Now, Mitt Romney has taken a lot of heat also because he said he wasn't for the auto industry bailout. He would have liked to have seen more of a structured bankruptcy, which he says is pretty much what happened.

So the big question, of course, Fredricka, is whether all of this really matters to Republican voters and some of our polling suggests Republican voters really aren't focused so much on the bailouts.

It's the Democrats who want to make the case and whichever of these candidates if it's Romney or Santorum ends up being the nominee for the Republican Party, that's the time when Michigan will really have a debate perhaps over the bailout. We will see -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Joe Johns, thanks so much.

Coming up next, the man who worked with Whitney Houston on "The Bodyguard" shares his memories. Darryl Simmons has worked with a lot of talented people, but he doesn't think he will ever see a talent like hers again.

Two F-16s intercept this private plane after it strays into President Obama's restricted airspace. Wait until you hear what was found on board. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The world is getting ready to say goodbye to Whitney Houston and many of them are fans, some of them are colleagues who were lucky enough to work with her.

Grammy-winning songwriter and record producer Darryl Simmons worked with Houston at her peak on "The Bodyguard" soundtrack and good to see you.

DARRYL SIMMONS, RECORD PRODUCER, SONGWRITER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: I know this is really bittersweet because it gives you an opportunity to really talk about how enamored you as a friend and a colleague were of her, but at the same time, tough talk about her in the past tense.

SIMMONS: Yes, never think of having to do that, you know, when you're working or you're hanging out, doing what you're doing. You just never think that day will come. We don't think that way. We are in the moment.

WHITFIELD: When you worked with her during "The Bodyguard," you were co-writing with her, you had kind of been approached by "The Bodyguard" to say we need to you write this song and here's the title. That was kind of a backwards way of approaching a song for you as an artist. How did you do that?

SIMMONS: My partners and I, L.A. Reid and Babyface, we are a song writing team and so the project was pitched. Normally, we just kind of write from music and let the music move us. This music sounds like we should laugh.

This music sounds like I should cry, where here the producers came in and said we need a song called "Queen of the Night" and we were like, well, we don't write like that.

You know, we come up with it and we tell you this is what it s and so it was really challenging, but it was great to have Whitney there because I can honestly say if she hadn't been a part of it and hadn't written it with us, it probably wouldn't have made the album.

WHITFIELD: What did they bring to that moment? What do you recall? Her emotion, her words?

SIMMONS: She never gave up on it. When we were kind of frustrated with it because we felt like we were pigeon holed into writing something someone told us to write. And to me, actually, at the end of the day, she was far greater than the song was.

WHITFIELD: What do you mean by that?

SIMMONS: Well, I felt like musically, I felt like we didn't really bring it home the way we wanted to because we were so pigeon holed into being told what to do. In other words, her performance was far greater than the song was.

WHITFIELD: So something about her range.

SIMMONS: Her range, her energy, her spirit, her voice.

WHITFIELD: How excited was she to be part of this process?

SIMMONS: She was excited, but it was really hard because you have to remember she was filming during the day. And you know, I'm not an actor, but those days start pretty early and us as musicians, producers, we'd like to work at night.

We may start at 6:00, 7:00, and go to 3, 4 a.m. So here she was getting up at maybe 3 or 4 a.m. to be on the movie set all day, have to leave there and come to the studio to work on the music.

So, one of the things that I thought about when I was at the studio and I look at one of the plaques, wow, there was a lot of work that went into it, everybody sees the end result.

They hear the end result of the song for four minutes, but they don't know the process of what she went through, the work, the long days that it took to get the final little product.

WHITFIELD: Something, Michael Walden, composer, songwriter spoke of her, and his memories of her, and he talked about how she brought this incredible talent of being able to bring so many different riffs, different levels of her singing voice and it may happen in the span of three or four hours.

Just as you say, the rest of the team is working overnight and the next morning, kind of marrying it all together and how she would come in and hear it and she could identify, that's hit. That was nailed in that moment.

SIMMONS: And she had that thing that we call magic where you come in, I think David Foster said it the other night, he was on, you give her something to sing, Whitney goes like this. She bring it is back to you, you go, wow.

WHITFIELD: Kind of exceeded expectations?

SIMMONS: Way over. Something you never would have thought of that she turn it had into Whitney and you just say, OK. And you can't take credit for it.

WHITFIELD: So even you were sometimes just awe-struck by her ability?

SIMMONS: That was the hard thing. I remember one session and she went in and she was the first singer that I worked with that could sing from beginning to end without stopping, give you all the verses, all the adlibs.

And I remember she came out of the booth, she always had this sweat at the top of her lip and said, "Got some that time, baby." L.A. looked back and said we got a problem. She said what's that? You gave us too much good stuff. We don't know what to pick.

WHITFIELD: What in the world can we leave on the floor? What can we edit out?

SIMMONS: Yes, because it was all good. It was too good.

WHITFIELD: She really was a one-take wonder.

SIMMONS: One-take wonder. Very rare in our field because we are use to going in, guiding, giving direction, I may even sit there myself and try to make it up, OK, give me five minutes, I will tell you what to sing.

Here she was, she would go do it and at the end of the day, you really didn't feel like you did anything. It is like, well, I can't take credit for this. This is all of her.

WHITFIELD: You just revealed a lot about her that most people democratic didn't know. I asked Deborah Cox earlier, what is that thing that quality about her that perhaps you know the general public doesn't know about her that you are hoping people will remember her for? SIMMONS: That she sang -- she sang because she loved to sing. When she came to work, it was about work. It wasn't about do you have my special bottled water at room temperature? Do you have my blue M & M's? Do you have my -- it was when she got there about ready to sing?

You guys ready to go? Let's go, baby. Let's go. That is what it was about. It was always about work. You know, the love of singing. I never felt like it was about I'm a star. I've got these problems. I got to do this.

It was about truly for the love of I just love to sing. She always sang with a smile on her face. Her friend, Robin, said whether she had a cold, whether she was sick, whether she could hit the note or not, she sang it with a smile on her face.

WHITFIELD: So nice.

SIMMONS: And she made you feel that she was giving you everything, even though that particular night, yes, she may not have hit that high note, you know what I felt that she really tried to. And I believe it and I felt it.

WHITFIELD: Well, Darryl, thanks so much for helping us to remember Whitney Houston. I know it is going to be a tough day for you.

SIMMONS: Let's celebrate the music. You know, I hear about all the -- I have blinders on. All I think about, the great songs. Let's think about the great songs, the great performances. Let's not focus on all the negatives because there's a lot of good that she brought to the world.

WHITFIELD: And helping us to see that. Thanks so much.

SIMMONS: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: Darryl Simmons, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

And of course, CNN has full coverage of Whitney Houston's funeral tomorrow morning beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So how much of what you do online is being tracked? Well, it turns out more than you think. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with details of the latest privacy uproar involving Google -- Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, what Google is apparently doing is tracking where some people browse on the web and these are people who thought they put their privacy settings into place to prevent that very thing from happening.

This involves millions of people who have iPhones, who have Mac computers and "The Wall Street Journal" is pretty much saying that it caught Google with its hand in the cookie jar. Now "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that a tracking code, which is actually embedded in Google ads on some web sites wound up stalling itself onto the Apple devices.

So let's say you went ahead and visited fandango.com, match.com, AOL, TMZ, Urban Dictionary, what happened was it tracked people who went to these web sites using Apple safari browser.

Now Safari blocks tracking by default. But guess what, leave it to Google to find a loophole. Now "The Wall Street Journal" called Google out and Google then disabled the tracking -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So did Apple or any of the web sites know about this?

KOSIK: Well, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that there is no indication that the sites knew anything about the tracking, meaning that Apple knew anything about the tracking.

Apple is saying that it is actually working to put out a fix to its program. Now, Google is claiming that the "Wall Street Journal" mischaracterized what happened that it made it seem more nefarious than it really was.

Google is also saying that no personal information was collected. But you know, when you step back from this issue, privacy is really a big deal lately. You know, some are calling for a privacy bill of rights because some companies are really pushing the envelope.

But if you are an advertiser, think about it, knowledge it is really the holy grail for advertisers because if they know what people are looking at online, they can tailor ads right to them over and over and over again. You know, pop-up ads, too, annoying pop-up ads -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: They are kind of annoying. All right, thanks so much, Alison.

Politics straight ahead, Rick Santorum is trying to distance himself from some off color comments made by one of his biggest supporters. Our "Political Buzz" panel is next and we will ask them if this really is a glimpse inside Rick Santorum's world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Check the top stories right now, final funeral plans are set for Whitney Houston. A long list of stars will honor Houston tomorrow at her childhood church in Newark, New Jersey. Ex-husband Bobby Brown is also expected to attend.

And today, Congress could approve the deal extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. President Obama will sign the deal when it hits his desk.

In Louisiana, a 5-mile stretch of the Mississippi River is closed in one part because two vessels collided this morning. One of the vessels was a barge that leaked oil into the river. The vessel has been pushed up into a bank and is no longer leaking. No word yet on how much oil did spill, however.

All right, "Political Buzz" is your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. Playing today, CNN contributor, Maria Cardona, Chris Moody is a political reporter for Yahoo! News and Boris Epstein, he is a contributor for the "Daily Caller" and a Republican strategist.

All right, it's good to see all of you. All right so first question, two female Democratic council members walked out of a committee hearing, the contraception rule, because there were no women on the panel of witnesses so what is at stake here? Maria?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: What's at stake I think is the downfall of the Republican Party because frankly they're stepping it big time and they should take a playbook out of Rick Perry and wear boots. Except boots wouldn't be -- wouldn't be big enough. They need to wear rubber suits. Because they are not just stepping in it they are rolling in it.

Look, Independent women of critical demographic and the majority of women in this country have taken contraception and they demand, we demand equal access to preventive services. Imagine that that's outrageous that we would demand equal access to life-saving services. The Republicans are wrong on this. They've already -- already alienated Latino voters and they're going down the wrong path on this.

WHITFIELD: All right. Boris?

BORIS EPSTEIN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: This could be handled better from the Republican perspective no question about this. This could be framed as a constitutional debate. Does the President and the federal government have the right to mandate that these -- this contraception is paid for either by religious institutions or their insurers.

Sometimes the same institutions or the employers are also the insurers. That's how the debate should be framed. Both sides are trivializing it by saying at one side the Republicans don't want women to have contraception and Republicans are saying that the Democrats or President Obama, don't or want to trample on religion that's not happening with either one. Let's be smart about the debate.

WHITFIELD: All right, Chris?

CHRIS MOODY, REPORTER, YAHOO NEWS: Look I think the optics at yesterday's hearing could have been a lot better. Surely there was a Republican aide looking at the names of people that were going to speak at the hearing and said, you know, maybe they'll criticize us for not having any women. I'm actually surprise that they didn't think about that.

And of course, they were criticized for it. I mean, but that is a trivial matter I think people are saying that his is Republicans the cultural wars of the 1990s but it wasn't Republicans that started this mandate on -- that could violate certain people's religious moral convictions.

So the question I think is who swung -- who swung first? And I think in this case it was the Democrats.

WHITFIELD: All right, Santorum supporter Foster Friess makes a joke about women using aspirin as a contraceptive back in his days. Santorum is putting distance between him and his comments but is this giving us a glimpse into Santorum's world?

Boris you first?

EPSTEIN: It's bad. To go on "Andrea Mitchell" and to say that, it was awful. Is that a glimpse into Santorum's world? Maybe yes, maybe no but what we do know about Rick Santorum, is that he's someone who has spoken against women in military forces, women in the workforce, he's spoken out against gay rights, he's someone who concentrates on social issues, he's someone who is not for a big Republican tent.

And that as Republicans that's what we need, we need to concentrate on small government, low taxes, national security, that's how we can beat President Obama and win the Senate while keeping the House. If Rick Santorum is at the top of the ticket we're going to have a problem in all the races.

WHITFIELD: Maria?

CARDONA: I think it's not only a glimpse into Rick Santorum's world, I think it's a glimpse into this new extreme Republican Party who doesn't respect women and who doesn't understand that women are a key demographic. And it's as going back to your first question it's a long the same lines. And look if they keep down this path the only election that Republicans are going to win any time soon are elections on Newt Gingrich's moon colony. It's ridiculous what they're doing in terms of alienating critically important demographics.

WHITFIELD: And Chris?

MOODY: Well I think obviously Rick Santorum and his campaign, were a little bit embarrassed by Foster Friess comments. You know I've heard Rick Santorum on the trail discuss this quite a bit. In his personal life he opposes using artificial contraceptives but every time I've heard him he's been extremely clear to say that he separates his personal views from policy views.

If you look at his record throughout the 1990s, he doesn't necessarily vote against contraceptives and I think that's something that is overlooked quite a bit, that he separates those two things.

WHITFIELD: Ok, your "Buzzer Beater", 20 seconds each, Romney is now in a dogfight in his home state of Michigan. Even with an endorsement from the Governor, so why is this such a tough battle for him, Maria?

CARDONA: Because in addition to the fact that this is not somebody that conservatives trust or conservatives like because he's flip- flopped on so many issues, the key argument for his candidacy, which is that he is a businessman who knows how to turn around ailing industries has completely tanked because of the fact that he came out against the Detroit bankruptcy plan or bailout plan that has in fact, saved Detroit and saved the key industry in Michigan. WHITFIELD: All right. Boris?

EPSTEIN: Saved the key industry, by still costing taxpayers billions and billions of dollars. The bailout comments are a problem for Mitt Romney. Long-term, he is going to overcome these issues and he is going to be Republican nominee because, again, he doesn't concentrate on social issues like Santorum does and focus on what people care become the economy and national security.

Michigan is going to be a dogfight. Long-term, Romney is the nominee no question about it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Chris?

MOODY: When it comes to his lack of support for the bailout it's kind of a damned if you do damned if you don't scenario for Mitt Romney if he had said I support the bailout, they would have said well, you're just -- you're pandering to Michigan or you're abandoning your free market or Republican conservative principles.

People are saying that Michigan could be a Waterloo for Mitt Romney. I don't know if it's that extreme but it will tell us if we're going to have a much longer primary -- primary season here going forward.

WHITFIELD: All right next time, we need more -- more time on the clock for you guys next time. We're very fiery.

EPSTEIN: That would be great.

CARDONA: It does seem very short today, Frederica.

WHITFIELD: All right, Maria, Chris and Boris, thanks so much.

EPSTEIN: Have a good weekend.

CARDONA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Have a great weekend.

All right, just days before the Arizona primary election, the GOP contenders debate the issues again. The Arizona Republican presidential debate on CNN Wednesday night, 8:00 Eastern Time.

And more stars are being added to the guest list for Whitney Houston's funeral. Details straight ahead in "Showbiz" headlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, a man definitely making his mark, this week New York Knicks rookie point guard, Jeremy Lin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two words, Jeremy Lin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now the biggest star in New York is Jeremy Lin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: MVP.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Linexplicable.

WHOOPI GOLGBERG, ACTRESS: Linsanity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Linsanity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Linsanity does it again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All he does is win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit back let the greatness of Jeremy Lin just wash over you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you believe this is happening to you?

JEREMY LIN, NEW YORK KNICKS: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Lin taking the NBA by storm and helping the Knicks to a seven-game winning streak, he had a double-double in his last game Wednesday night, 13 assists in just 26 minutes. In earlier games, he had numbers like 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers one week ago.

And then 27th Tuesday night in Toronto, including the game winner, with just by tenths of a second left. He won't be counted on to score as much, however, with the injured superstar Carmelo Anthony coming back, maybe as tonight's game, maybe more assists.

Piers Morgan is talking to Jeremy Lin's agent to find out what life is really like now for the young star. Watch that interview on "Piers Morgan Tonight", at CNN, 9 p.m. Eastern Time.

Whitney Houston's funeral is tomorrow and we are just finding out more big stars are being added to that guest list. showbiz tonight host A.J. Hammer joins us live with more details on this from New York -- A.J.

A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST: Fred, the list of people confirmed to be attending continues to grow at this hour. We do know that Aretha Franklin, Kevin Costner, Tyler Perry, Clive Davis, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Dionne Warwick And Jesse Jackson are all among those who will be there. And Fred, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" has just confirmed more names. He hear that Beyonce, Jay-Z, Elton John and R. Kelly will also be saying good-bye to Whitney tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: And among those who are actually performing?

HAMMER: Well, we know that Aretha, Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder are expected to sing at the funeral 12 noon tomorrow. And Winans family is very involved, the Houstons and the Winans are practically family. Marvin Winans is giving the eulogy as we know. And last night on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" his brother Bebe told me that he and his sister Cissy will be singing at the funeral with some other members of their family and last night -- and I think this is very important. He said "The service will be about Whitney Houston that they all knew and not Whitney Houston the superstar, necessarily, that we all knew.

Watch what he told me about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEBE WINANS SINGER: And she's going to be surrounded by people who absolutely loved and adored her for who she was. And for the heart that she shared. And so it will be those people so, we'll cry, we'll laugh. We'll do all those things because that's who she was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: And according to Bebe, she was a very funny person. This is something Fred, we've been hearing from a lot of her friends this week. Very funny and despite her superstar status, also we've been hearing that she's just very, very real

WHITFIELD: Yes, really down to earth. I spoke with one of the co- writers from "The Bodyguard" earlier, Darrell Simmons and he says, that's something that's so wonderful about her that she was just really very casual and at ease and lots of fun.

So apparently her ex-husband, Bobby Brown. There were some rumblings that he wasn't invited but that the family came out and said, "No, he's very much welcome." What more do you know about that.

HAMMER: Yes. Bobby Brown is expected to be there tomorrow, Fred, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has confirmed that he was officially invited. Although he is still continuing with his current tour. He was on stage last night with this group New Edition. They've been touring for a while. They'll be back in concert tonight he'll be up on stage with them. And again, tomorrow night, he's planning and performing after the funeral .

We have been told that he finds the shows to be sort of a therapy in helping him get through his grief. Because, look, despite his history he's mourning as well and of course, he is the father of his child with Whitney Houston, Bobbi Kristina who obviously is having an impossible time right now.

WHITFIELD: Yes, all right. Thanks so much. A.J. Hammer in New York. Appreciate that. And of course, CNN has full coverage of Whitney Houston's funeral tomorrow morning beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Join Piers Morgan, Soledad O'Brien and Don Lemon as the music legend is remembered. Whitney Houston, her life, her music, live on cnn and cnn.com this Saturday morning beginning at 11 a.m.

And for information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, watch A.J. this evening on showbiz tonight, 11 p.m. On HLN. Coming up after the break, a behind-the-scenes look at fashion week 2012. Alina Cho taking us beyond the cat walk, talking to an icon and supermodel.

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WHITFIELD: From DKNY to uniforms for Mickey D's, Alina Cho has your inside look to fashion week and a look ahead to her special that airs next weekend.

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ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For 27 years, Donna Karan has been an icon in the fashion world, but even though the 63-year-old loves designing, her latest passion is Haiti. Karan helps Haitian artisans in the earthquake zone by buying their products and selling them in her urban Zen stores.

DONNA KARAN, DESIGNER: 100 percent of the profit all goes back to the Haitian artisans. So not only are we buying products from Haiti but we are also foundationally giving all the money back to Haiti.

CHO: What do you get out of it then?

KARAN: My heart.

CHO: We also talked to the designer behind red carpet sensation, Marchesa. Georgina Chapman takes me behind-the-scenes for a look at the gowns worn by Halle Berry, Jessica Alba and Jennifer Lopez. She also answers the question of whether her husband, Hollywood heavyweight producer Harvey Weinstein, encourages A-list actresses to wear Marchesa gowns.

It doesn't hurt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't hurt. No of course it doesn't hurt. I think his relationship with actresses is a very different relationship. I don't think anybody is going to let Harvey tell them how to get dressed.

CHO: A growing trend is designers who are not just creating looks for the runway but for FedEx, too. Prabal Gurung is doing it for Zephora. Sofie (INAUDIBLE) has remade the uniforms for the cocktail waitresses at a New York hotel.

Stan Herman has been designing uniforms for more than forty years.

STAN HERMAN, DESIGNER: I was Office hot designer on 7th avenue and somebody approached me and said would you like to do uniforms? And I said what is that? And I discovered I loved doing it because it was like brand new, branding a corporation.

Reporter: and what's fashion week without supermodels? This season, it's all about Joan. Joan Smalls, seemingly overnight, she went from catalog model to catwalk stunner. Global face of Estee Lauder and a new face of Chanel. JOAN SMALLS, MODEL: It's kind of like go-getter heart like I'm coming. You know, I'm coming to get it. I'm coming to be great.

CHO: All of that, plus a look at how the editors at People's Style Watch take the runway and make it real way. And president Obama is out with a spring collection, of sorts. We will explain. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Alina. For more of Alina's inside look at the fashion industry, you can "FASHION BACKSTAGE PASS" airing Saturday, February 25th, 2:30 eastern time.

And take a look at this amazing images of the sun captured by NASA. Our Rob Marciano is going to explain what scientists think is going on here.

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WHITFIELD: Ok. We have never seen pictures like this before from NASA, amazing video of what looks like tornadoes on the sun. Meteorologist Rob Marciano is here to explain what are we looking at?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is from that satellite we launched two years ago, Frederica. We have been getting really cool pictures similar to this for the past two years, these just came in a couple of days ago. So it's amazing stuff here when you look at the size of what these tornadoes can be.

Now, granted, there's no weather on the sun and this isn't a solid surface so, this is plasma that's just being stretched in all different directions here by magnetic fields, you get that swirl right there. Now, when you think about this, exactly how large these things are, you know, the size of the earth, that is probably about the size of the earth. So one of those puppies would pretty much engulf the earth.

Now, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, the SDO, as we like to call it, is a satellite they put up and this is one of the things they are studying, the magnetic field, what drive it is and what exactly does do? $860 million project, a good thing we are getting cool pictures from this thing. This is not associated with a source of solar flare but cool pictures nonetheless.

They are gorgeous, nonetheless.

Thanks so much, Rob.

MARCIANO: You bet.

WHITFIELD: All right. Today's daily dose now. New neuro-imaging research shows the wiring in the brains of children with autism differs from other children, even by six months of age. Researchers say the brain net works of autistic children don't develop properly and that is evidence even before symptoms of autism appear. Scientists hope the finding could lead to early interventions and help. Coming up in the next hour of the NEWSROOM, Suzanne Malveaux will be along to talk live with Grammy Award-Winning Artist, Ashanti. Whitney Houston appeared in one of Ashanti's music videos and she refers to Houston as an inspiration. Ashanti live, in the next hour of the NEWSROOM.

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WHITFIELD: A deep-pocketed supporter of Rick Santorum is now apologizing for this comment he made on birth control.

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FOSTER FREISS, RICK SANTORUM DONOR: In this contraceptive thing, my gosh, it is such inexpensive. Back in my days they used Bayer Aspirin for contraception, the gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly.

WHITFIELD: CNN political director Mark Preston joining us now. So, Foster Friess' comments upset a whole lot of people and now he has something new to say?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: He does He has a new statement out, Fred, where he apologizes for actually making the comment. Let me just read this to you quickly. After listening to the segment tonight, I can understand how I confused people with the way I worded the joke and their taking offense is very understandable. To all those who took my joke as a modern-day approach, I deeply apologize and seek your forgiveness."

You know, Foster Friess also went on to say in this statement that his wife, while she understood the joke, didn't like it either, Fred. So perhaps this controversy will be water under the bridge. I would suspect though that it will continue the conversation around contraception and Senator Santorum's views on it.

WHITFIELD: Yes, ok. meantime let's talk about Newt Gingrich. Very folks have been talking about him or seeing him very much. But apparently there's new life in that campaign. How and why.

PRESTON: Well, there's new financial. Well, there's new financial life it appears this news nugget that was dug out just this morning by our own Kevin Bond. Sheldon Adelson, who is the casino mogul in Las Vegas and has properties around the world. He has given $11 million to a super PAC that has helped Newt Gingrich motor on in the past two months or so.

Well Kevin has now -- has now reported that, in fact, Sheldon Adelson is going to donate another $10 million to this political action committee this is really significant because Newt Gingrich really hasn't been part of conversation. That's due in part because of the rise of Rick Santorum and we are told that the reason why Sheldon Adelson is actually putting the money in is because he doesn't want Rick Santorum to and he thinks that by helping Newt Gingrich along, certainly with this $10 million, make sure that Mitt Romney then becomes the nominee. Fred? WHITFIELD: All right. Very interesting stuff. Thanks so much Mark Preston for bringing us that. And we'll have the next political update in one hour. And a reminder for all of the latest political news, you know exactly where to go our Web site, cnnpolitics.com. You blow to, to say for more news straight ahead here in the NEWSROOM with Suzanne Malveaux.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to see you. Have a great weekend, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Thank you, you too.