Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Autopsy: Mary Kennedy Hanged Herself'; U.N. Report: Iran Arming Syria; Donna Summer Dies

Aired May 17, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Kyra.

We're just getting confirmation. This just in: Mary Kennedy died of asphyxiation. She hanged herself. That is according to the medical examiner's office. The 52-year-old estranged wife of Robert Kennedy, Jr., the mother of his four children was found dead yesterday at her home in suburban New York.

Jurors in the John Edwards' corruption trial are listening to closing arguments right now. They're expected to begin deliberations about Edwards' fate tomorrow. The former presidential candidate is accused of using almost $1 million in donations to keep an explosive secret from going public. His affair with Rielle Hunter and the baby they had together.

Another tragedy after the famed -- the famed Kennedy family, the death of Mary Kennedy, as we had mentioned before. The 52-year-old estranged wife of Robert Kennedy, Jr., found dead in her suburban New York home. This was yesterday. Now, autopsy results have been released.

I want to go to Alina Cho. She's in New York. She's been following.

And, Alina, I understand that we did just get news, confirmation, that she actually did commit suicide in this tragic death.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We did, Suzanne. Not a surprise, but we did just hear from the Westchester County medical examiner's office. Just getting confirmation that the cause of death is asphyxiation due to hanging. Again, not a surprise. The official release will come out later today.

As for the details, "The New York Times" is citing two unnamed sources saying that Mary Kennedy's body was found hanging in a barn in the back of the main house. That she left a suicide note and that authorities, when they arrived tried to cut her down and revive her but ultimately failed to do so.

MALVEAUX: Alina, do we know if any of her children were there? Do we know if she was alone?

CHO: We believe that she was, from what I have read, Suzanne. Two of the children, the elder children, were in boarding school, and the other two were with the father, Robert Kennedy, Jr. And you'll recall that Robert Kennedy, Jr., filed for divorce in 2010. And that is when Mary Kennedy's life, by all accounts, started to unravel.

MALVEAUX: We know that she at some point struggled with substance abuse. She was also a very accomplished woman.

What can you tell us about her?

CHO: That's the part obviously that the family wants us to remember. Mary Kennedy surprisingly was quite an accomplished architect. She championed green design. At one point, her firm worked on the vice president's residence.

She was also quite a force in the community, Suzanne. She founded a charity called the Food Allergy Initiative which was quite a prominent presence right here in New York.

MALVEAUX: And, Alina, this is just -- I mean, it's another tragedy for this family, a long history of tragedies in this family. How are they reacting? Have they talked about it at all, what has taken place?

CHO: Talking so far, no, Suzanne, but there have been two statements. Mary Kennedy's family released a statement through their attorney saying, quote, "We deeply regret the death of our beloved sister, Mary, whose radiant and creative spirit will be sorely missed by those who love her. Our heart goes out to her children who she loved without reservation."

Now, remember, Mary and Robert Kennedy as I mentioned had four children together, all of then under the age of 18, and that is a big reason why the nation's heart is breaking when they hear this story.

Meanwhile, Robert Kennedy, Jr., issued his own statement saying in part that "Mary inspired our family with her kindness, her love, her gentle soul and generous spirit."

But there, of course, were demons, as you pointed out, struggles with prescription drugs and alcohol arrests, two of them, involving driving under the influence. All of that coming in 2010, not long after Robert Kennedy, Jr., filed for divorce.

It actually was around this same time two years ago just after Mother's Day, but interestingly enough, this is something that we know to be true and think often, but it isn't often said, one Kennedy biographer actually spoke to our Erin Burnett and said it's very hard being a Kennedy -- the overwhelming celebrity, the attention, the obligations, the expectations that you're supposed to do something with your life. It's all very, very hard -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Hard, indeed. Alina Cho, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

CHO: You bet.

MALVEAUX: Now to the changing face of race in America. It's a historic milestone. Whites now account for less than half of the births in the country. That's according to the Census Bureau. The majority of children younger than 1, 50.4 percent, are now minorities.

Now, sociologists say it's beginning a much more diverse America than ever before.

So, what does it mean for the future of our schools, our communities, our policies?

I want to bring in Tom Foreman, joining us to talk about the numbers and the stories, of course, behind them. So, Tom, first of all, break down these numbers for us.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was a trend that demographers saw for a long, long time. And finally, they showed up today.

This is where we stood in 2010 -- 49.5 percent of the population, this is the minority number, the collective minorities, all of the folks out there who are Asian and Hispanic and black and mixed race. That was the total number. Now it's at 50.4 percent.

Another way of looking at it is a 1 percent change, and right now the white population in terms of the country, in terms of those less than 1 year old, is about 49.6 percent.

It's important to note that we are talking about births in the country. This is not the overall population right now where the whites still hold a bigger majority, but the bigger majority they hold is also an older majority.

So let's look at why this has happened. First of all, for the past 30 years, as everyone knows, there's been a massive immigration from Mexico, for 30 years now, some of it legal, some of it illegal. But a lot of people coming over the border. That notably according to the research by the Pew Hispanic Center, has basically stopped now because of the economy and because a very dramatic change in the birth rate in Mexico. We're going to get to that in a moment.

But the other reason it's happened is there's been a higher per family birth rate among the minority families in this country than among the white families. That's why we've seen this tipping in the number of people below 1-year-old in this country, although I will note that below 5-year-old still very, very close in terms of the number of minorities versus the number of white folks in this country.

Now, the one thing that I think people have to consider even as they look at this momentous news is whether or not it's predictive, because there's some wild cards out there. Does this really tell us what's going to happen in the future, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years down the line. Is this a steady march of minority groups and the white groups getting bigger and bigger? We don't just know. It might be. Partially because the stall in Mexican immigration has really changed things. Last year all indications are that the greatest number of Latino population growth, the greatest driver of Latino growth in this country was birth within the country, not immigration.

MALVEAUX: Right.

FOREMAN: That's a big change from before. Plus, this plunging birth rate in Mexico, it's really dropped down there. You would wonder if there might be an echoing of that here as families become more established and simply changing habits. We can't count on people doing next year next year next year or doing 10 years or 15 years from now, what they're doing now. So it oculd be completely up for grabs in 20 years -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Tom, what do we think of the implications of this? You have a whole younger generation being born in which minorities are the majority. So, what does this mean? Does it have an economic impact? I imagine. The politics could change? The very identity of our country?

FOREMAN: Well, I think in some ways it means everything and it means nothing. The reason I say it means everything is because yes, it does change the identity of our country. We have to look at all these different ways that people may look at the world, they may live, what they associate with, what they think.

But remember these minority groups are still minority groups, not one of them is dominant enough to dictate except in certain areas. If you go to an area of the country that has a huge Latino population -- absolutely, they're going to have an impact on politics, on the economy, on society. But if you go to a part of the country that doesn't have so much, you're not going to see that so much.

So I think what you will see is more of a localized effect.

But on education right now, that's going to be one of the areas where you will really see a lot of talk about this because all those young kids coming into the system who are from minority groups are going to bring perhaps some different expectations, maybe some different needs because some minority groups have been in economically struggling areas and the nation is going to have to be ready to deal with that because we are talking about a wave of kids coming along as all the baby boomers get older and have stopped having kids by and large.

That's going to be the big wildcard. What do we do in the future as we move toward that picture and how does it change the overall sense of ourselves. Nonetheless, it's a milestone today. It's a very interesting change.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. Yes, and so many things to follow. Thank you, Tom appreciate it

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEUX: Here is what we're working on for this hour.

Iran stirring up more trouble, accused this time of running guns to the Syrian government. So who is going to stop them?

MALVEAUX: And what's on every stock brokers' mind right no win Facebook. Want to buy in? Then you better know what you're doing. We'll cut through the hype. Then who needs an excuse for a second cup.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Syrian troops may be getting weapons from Iran. Iran is not allowed to sell weapons to anybody, and Syria is under tough U.N. sanctions as well. Well, Syria is now fighting the longest and deadliest conflict of the Arab spring.

Michael Holmes from CNN International joining us here to talk a little bit about this.

First of all, it's not a surprise, but there is a report now that makes this official, that we now know that this is the situation on the ground. Neither one of them are allowed to be participating in this. So what do we make of U.N. sanctions? It seems like an utter failure.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Well, yes, it has so far. Yes, nobody was listening, were they? This has been rumored for a long time, that Iran was helping out with everything from crowd control, tear gas and stuff like that, to weapons. This is the first time we've had an official -- this is a committee of sanctions monitoring experts reporting to the U.N. saying in particular two specific shipments that were intercepted and had weapons bound for Syria.

So in terms of what can they do about it? Well, the U.N. already has sanctions on Iran and obviously on Syria as well. The E.U. does as well on Iran. You know, there's not a lot more they can do other than more sanctions and what they're going to do is black- list the individuals and the companies they can link to these shipments as well. Not a lot else they can do.

MALVEAUX: You and I both covered some world leaders who seem to have at some point lost their sense of reality, whether it's Moammar Gadhafi or President Mubarak. Now we have President Assad who goes before Russian television and seems to describe a scenario that is almost just too difficult to believe. He doesn't even believe that he is fighting his own people.

I want you to listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SYRIA (through translator: It's not an army, first of all, and it's not free because they get their arms from different foreign countries. That's why they are not free at all. They are a bunch of criminals who have been violating the law for years.

The problem of terrorism is now very acute for Syria. It seems to some people that if we conducted the reforms earlier, the situation would have been better now. It's not right for one reason, terrorists spit on reforms. They are not fighting for reforms. They are fighting to bring terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So has he lost his sense of reality? How does he describe --

HOLMES: You think about it, with all of the Arab spring countries, pretty much all the leaders said the same thing when the revolt started -- oh, it's not the people, the people love me from Gadhafi to Mubarak. It's foreign intervention, it's foreign hands at play.

So, you know, it's really a familiar tale for somebody that's coming up. And as you said, it's a sham that's meant to show that it's not a homegrown genuine the people revolting. It's those nasty foreigners and terrorists who are trying to stir up trouble.

And as I say, it's very interesting that most of other Arab spring countries we heard the same thing from the leaders about to go.

MALVEAUX: It didn't work for then. What makes us think that Assad believes it's going to work for him?

HOLMES: Well, the thing with Assad, he thinks he can wait this out. He says the sanctions are hurting, but he's just going to defy it. He's going to just keep going.

What is his choice? If he steps down he's either in exile or he's dead. So, he's going to hang on to the bitter end.

And there's not a lot that the outside world is doing about it. He also claims that weapons are coming into the opposition from Lebanon and Turkey, which they are. But apart from that, not much outside involvement.

MALVEAUX: And the Obama administration is clearly being pressured to do more when it comes to Syria. That is not happening.

HOLMES: No.

MALVEAUX: There does not seem to be a move towards that happening. Is there any pressure in the Middle East for someone to take stronger actions to help the Syrians on the ground who are being slaughtered?

HOLMES: This is what allows Bashar al Assad to continue doing what he's doing. He knows that the west and others don't want to get involved in the way that they got involved in Libya.

Syria isn't Libya. Libya was not the regional pivotal power play they're Syria is. No one -- it didn't matter when Gadhafi went in a regional sense. Syria is stuck right in a very volatile and dangerous neighborhood -- Lebanon, which is always on the verge of being instable itself.

We've already seen in the last few days sectarian clashes in the port city of Tripoli. This is Tripoli, Lebanon, not Tripoli in Libya. Sectarian clashes going on there among Alawites and Sunnis.

Now, if West got involved, you can drag Iran in. Iraq could get involved, and certainly Lebanon could go to hell. Now, if that happened, you're looking at a potential regional conflagration and that sidelines.

MALVEAUX: And you're looking a the an election season, too. They don't want to take to many chances.

HOLMES: Some people think you can do it in an aerial sense the way it was done in Bosnia or whatever, but it's such an urban conflict type of situation that it's not like what happened in Libya where you're bombing tanks out in the open. This is happening in towns and cities populated as well.

Very hard to see where this is going, but it's not going anywhere good.

MALVEAUX: All right. Michael Holmes, thank you. Thanks for breaking it down for us.

Hype overwhelming on Wall Street, so how do you get in on the action we're going to tell you about how to buy Facebook but look before you leap.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right. The long wait to buy stock of Facebook almost over. By the end of the day the initial stock price will be set probably between $34 and $38 a share. Facebook's underwriters like banker Morgan Stanley and Mutual Funds, they will get the first crack at the stock. People like us will have to wait a little longer. If you want to buy, Ali Velshi tells you how.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Don't worry about the IPO. For your purposes, Facebook shares start trading on the NASDAQ on day one.

MATT MCCALL, PENN FINANCIAL GROUP: It's probably going to be a frenzy of many individual investors buying five shares, 20 shares, 100 shares with their online account paying $9 to do that. So, yes, the first day, everybody watching can sit in front of the computer and be an owner of Facebook.

VELSHI: Still interested?

First thing you need is a brokerage account.

(on camera): Once you decide you want to buy the stock, it's easy as long as you live in a country that allows you to trade U.S. stocks. You just go to the site of an online broker. I happen to use TD Ameritrade. But they all work the same way.

You click on trade, stocks and ETFS. Buy, let's say, 50 shares of Facebook. FB is the ticker.

I want it to be a market order, which means it doesn't matter what the price is, I want 50 shares.

I review my order. If it all looks right, I click on this. Place the order. Then I'm an owner of Facebook stock.

(voice-over): Now the only good reason for you to buy Facebook stock or any stock, for that matter, is that one day, you'll sell it for more than you paid for it.

ROBERT PECK, PRESIDENT, CORISE: You're getting a very strong return when you compare that to any other returns you have out there.

VELSHI: Robert Peck specializes in Internet and tech stocks. He says don't worry so much about day one, week one or month one. He believes Facebook could double in three years time based on the fundamentals of its growth prospects.

PECK: That's one of the reasons, when you're holding a stock for the longer term, either the near-term gyrations settle in, let the supply and demand curve settle out. If you get the opportunity to buy, with the idea of holding for a longer term, you can get a good compound return on your annual money.

VELSHI: I know you. All you just heard Peck say is that it could double and you probably ignored the part about gyrations. Groupon and Zynga are examples of recent IPOs where the stock surged initially before settling below the IPO price.

The stock could be volatile, and if you're a newbie, consider placing a limit order for the stock, meaning you'll pay up to a certain amount for it and no more. Like an option bid. With a limit order, maybe you'll get the stock, maybe you won't.

Either way, you might already be investing in Facebook without knowing it. Many retirement accounts which invest in broad-based growth or technology stocks may already be early buyers of Facebook. And unlike you, the managers of those funds will get in at the IPO price.

PECK: We think that's a great thing because we think they'll get exposure to stock at a lower price than where they could get it on the first ticker when it starts trading. We'll give them exposure to it, wherever the price settles out.

VELSHI (on camera): If you're not into all that risk but you like Facebook and it's a momentous occasion, you want to be part. You know what you can do?

We can buy certainly to be a part of it, you can buy it, you frame, you'll put it on your wall, there putting one certificate of the stock. You can buy it online. You don't have to open a trading account, you don't have to take any risk. You buy it, you frame it, you put it on the wall. There is something in this for everyone.

Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And super PACs on the attacks as independent groups outside of the campaigns, they're digging in and getting dirty for the fight for the White House.

And don't forget you can watch CNN live while you're at wok at work. Head to CNN.com/TV.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Ballistic tests show the recent highway shooting deaths in Mississippi are connected. That is according to a source who has been briefed on this investigation. A 74-year-old man was found dead in his car in the median of an interstate last week, while a few days later a 48-year-old woman was found dead outside her car in the shoulder of that state highway.

Authorities say the victims did not know each other. Investigators think the shooter may have posed as a police officer.

Fighting a battle against flesh-eating bacteria. That's right. It's the terrifying reality facing two women in the Southeast. Now, the latest case, a 36-year-old paramedic in South Carolina. She was diagnosed with the bacterial infection just days after giving birth to twins. She's hospitalized. She's in critical but stable condition.

And then you have a graduate student, a Georgia graduate student fighting for her life almost two weeks after getting infected. Her leg had to be amputated, part of her abdomen removed. Here family calls her improvement this week phenomenal.

Well, here you go. Flame on the move. Live pictures here from Athens, Greece, the time-honored ceremony bringing the lit Olympic flame into the Olympic Stadium for the official handover.

President of Greece will pass the Britain's Ann? She'll personally escort the flame to London tomorrow. The opening ceremony, July 27th.

Game on and gloves off. If you think the presidential race is intense now, just wait. "The New York Times" says a Republican super PAC will revive a whole Jeremiah Wright controversy, as part of a hard-line campaign against President Obama.

And you remember Jeremiah Wright, he was President Obama's former spiritual adviser who's racially sermons became a big issue in the 2008 election.

Joining us to talk about, Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons and Republican strategist Anna Navarro.

"The New Time: says the proposal was commissioned by Joe Rickets, he's the founder of TD Ameritade, actually. And this ad is called "The Defeat for Barack Obama, the Ricketts for good. The paper even said it's got a plan to counter the charges of race-baiting and I'm quoting here saying, "The group suggested hiring an extremely literate conservative African American who can argue that Mr. Obama misled by the nation by president as, quote, "metro sexual black Abe Lincoln."

Jamal, I don't know where to begin with this.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: You know, we cover the Obama campaign.

JAMAL SIMMONS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Beginning with me.

MALVEAUX: I am. This did not -- this was really something that they feared back in 2008 that Reverend Wright would bring down the campaign. It was turning point out for the Obama campaign, Obama denouncing Reverend Wright, giving that space about race.

Do you think resurrecting this is going to play well with the other side?

SIMMONS: No, I don't actually. I think, you know, as much as we like t fight amongst ourselves -- most Republican and moderate independent, you know, moderate Republican voters, really don't want to see issues of faith ad personal background could drive like us.

MALVEAUX: I got to interrupt you here. We have some breaking news that I want to bring our A.J. Hammer in on. This is news coming now.

We have confirmed that Donna Summer, the queen of disco, has died this morning after fighting a battle with cancer. And A.J., I want to just bring you in if you can give us any of details around what happened, how old she is, the circumstances around her death.

A.J. HAMMER, HOST, HLN'S "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Yes, the very sketchy right now, but CNN, Suzanne, has just confirmed that Donna Summer had died at the age of 63. She was in Florida. She was born on New Year's Eve back in 1948 and rose to prominence as a singer and songwriter, of course, during the '70s disco era.

She was born in Boston La Donna Adrianne Ganes. When she was a teenager she was cast in the international tour of hair. She met an actor named Helmuth Sommer in Austria. They got married. When the marriage ended, she held on to the last name, tweaked it a bit and became officially Donna Summer as we knew her.

She had huge hits throughout her career that we all came to really know. The real red hot arc of her career happened between about 1977 and 1984. All songs you know, all songs, anybody who loves to dance loved her hard driving hit "I Feel Love" was and remains an iconic song of the early disco era.

In 1978, a huge year for Donna Summer, she released a song that is still I think closing down parties all around the world to this day, "Last Dance." Her first number one came in 1978 that's when she covered the classic "McArthur Park."

In 1979 that really cemented Donna Summer's place as the queen of disco, iconic number one songs that you absolutely know, "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls." Now Suzanne, you may remember one of her very first hits.

It was all the way back in 1975. It was called "Love to Love You Baby," and when that was released, it was very controversial. Actually a couple versions came out. One was 17 minutes long and it really was at the very beginning of the disco era.

There were a lot of moans and groans in that song, as you may remember. A lot of radio stations refused to play it because of that, and she actually distanced herself from that song.

Here we're listening to it right now. She distanced herself from it when she became much more spiritual and religious, but embraced it later in her career.

MALVEAUX: Let's listen in, if we can, just a little bit.

HAMMER: That would be great.

MALVEAUX: We want to welcome our viewers around the world from CNN International who are joining us. We are announcing the death of Donna Summer, the queen of disco, and A.J. Hammer and I were just talking about some of her hits there.

A.J., she was really -- she started off in the church, the gospel tradition. She went on as a teenager. Performing with her group, a rock band called "Crow." She went to Europe and Germany for a while and really found her voice there.

Was recognized as a superstar in Europe first before coming back to the United States, and A.J., I have to tell you, I remember that "Love to Love You Baby" song. I was very small and my siblings were very small as well.

And we had no idea what she was saying. We thought it was lot ya lot ya, but when we started the moans and groans, my mother was so upset and said you cannot sing that song. That was one of the songs she was known for and pushing the envelope a little bit, too.

She was very much embraced in the '70s and '80s very much by the gay community. A lot of people who would love to dress up as Donna Summer for parties and things like that, and really very welcoming, very warm to just a very eclectic group of people who used to follow her. HAMMER: I'll tell you, I have a very funny story of my own about a Donna Summer song "Hot Stuff," you remember that big hit, number one in 1979. I was young at the time. I remember I was on my way to school. My dad was driving. It came on the AM radio and it was around the time of Passover that year.

And I was sure and I remember this to this day and I tell this story a lot, I was sure she was saying I want some matzo baby this evening, I want some matzo baby tonight for the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Obviously it was hot stuff and, boy, was it ever for her. I should point out, Suzanne, even though she didn't have a lot of chart hits that we heard quite often on the road over the past few years, she was working throughout all of the time since her major success really sort of waned at the end of the '80s.

She had a couple hits after releasing an album in the late '80s. But she had a hit that was chart topping at the dance charts just two years ago. She was reportedly just back in the studio working on an album. She reportedly has died of cancer and really kept it under wraps. We were not made aware of the fact that she was sick.

And it really comes as a shock and a surprise to all of us today. It's one of those stories that when it crossed, we had no idea that it was even possible Donna Summer just 63 years old.

MALVEAUX: Do we have any idea, A.J., whether or not she was surrounded by family or friends or if she had reached out to people in her final days and final weeks?

HAMMER: We're still awaiting confirmation on all of that. What we have learned is that she was in Florida. I have seen reports where there were people with her as recently as a couple of weeks ago saying that she seemed OK and was eager to get back to work on whatever she was reportedly working on back in the studio.

So the details are still trickling in, the circumstances around her death, but again a real shocking loss not having even known that she was dealing with an illness pit.

MALVEAUX: She also teamed up with Barbara Streisand and Quincy Jones, a lot of the music legends, the greats, that she had duets and also productions that were behind the scenes. And she really did kind of reach across a lot of different communities when you think about it because it was not just disco.

It was gospel. It was rock. It was a little bit of everything that she kind of tossed it in, and she had that kind of attitude and that long hair that really said, you know, I'm here, I'm a presence here. And really took that whole era by storm, really pushing it, pushing the envelope a little bit I would say in the '70s and '80s.

HAMMER: For sure and she really defined diva well before a lot of people knew what the word "diva" meant and we know her as the queen of disco because of the success she had. But in the early '80s she was eager to branch out and move away from the sound she had go then most closely associated with. She had worked from the very beginning with a producer and her record label had actually asked her to leave him and start working with Quincy Jones.

She actually sort of developed a new wave sound in the early '80s. Its influence can be seen in groups like Duran Duran and others. Her album "The Wander" really reflected that sound, and, of course, she even brought a little reggae sound.

You might remember a song she did with "Musical Youth" that was a big hit, moderate hit for her, not a number one hit, but she did envelope her sound with some reggae influence at that time.

Her song, I believe it was 1983 "She Works Hard For The Money," a not only huge hit, but really an anthem, a song that still to this day you see a segment about women being empowered or segment about that, that song is the one that still gets played even here in 2012.

MALVEAUX: And if you want to bring a crowd to a frenzy, just play "Last Dance" and have everybody really from heartbreak to success to overcoming triumph and tragedy, that's one you play the album and everybody goes kind of crazy.

But she did a lot of collaborations with folks, very well-known people who have been in the news recently, Aretha Franklin being one of them, the Bee Gees, Barbra Streisand, even Bette Midler, all of them contributing to her body of work, and she really was a force to be reckoned with.

Her voice, the way she was able to really move people, to get them to get up, to dance, to celebrate, to cry a little bit, to reflect, to think about their own lives, and the fact this she was able to bring so many different kinds of people at that time.

You might recall back in the day when music was more segregated and more defined, and she really kind of broke out of those boxes, broke out of those definitions and went for it and worked with people across many different musical genres.

HAMMER: It was very unifying. We just have some more information that's just coming into us, Suzanne. Donna Summer's publicist, Brian Edwards, confirms that the singer did die this morning.

The family did release a statement. It's just being put in front of me this morning. Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer, a woman of many gifts. The greatest being her faith. While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy.

Words truly cannot express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time. She was born in 1948 on New Year's Eve, 63 years old, losing just an icon in music quite unexpectedly, five-time Grammy winner Donna Summer. MALVEAUX: I wonder if we can listen in to some of her songs that we are playing.

Donna Summer, queen of disco, multitalented, five-time Grammy winner has died today. And we are paying tribute to her this afternoon. We're going to have more after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We are following this breaking news story. Donna Summer, queen of disco, 63 years old, five-time Grammy winner has died. We have a statement from her publicist saying this, early this morning we lost Donna Summer, a woman of many gifts. The greatest being her faith. While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy. Words truly can't express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time.

Want to bring in Gil Robertson, urban music editor at "Cash Box" magazine. I understand, Gil that you spent many years covering Donna Summer, talking to her, interviewing her, getting to know her and particularly at the height of her career. What can you tell us about her?

GIL ROBERTSON, FORMER URBAN MUSIC EDITOR, CASHBOX MAGAZINE (via telephone): You know, she was a remarkable talent. She had great energy. She was always fun, exciting to be around.

MALVEAUX: And what do you remember about her that stands out in your mind?

ROBERTSON: You know, probably her generous spirit. She was always -- any time she would come into the L.A. Area, she would usually have sellout shows at the Greek Theater, at the Universal Amphitheater, at the Hollywood Bowl. I would go out to interview her and she was always very respectful, she was always very friendly, she was always very generous with her time.

MALVEAUX: Tell us a little bit about her struggle, if you will, if she did struggle with her faith, her religion, and pushing the envelope a little bit in the age of disco with some of the lyrics, some of the, you know, the sexuality that was a part of her music.

ROBERTSON: You know, I'm not really sure if that was a factor with the music. I mean, I think certainly from what -- in my dealings with her, she was able to separate the two. You know, her artistry stemmed about her being a performer of dance music, and so that's simply what she did. I think perhaps, maybe as she got older, religion began to play a greater role in how she saw herself and how she wanted to be seen by others.

MALVEUX: How did she see herself?

ROBERTSON: But certainly when she - I'm sorry?

MALVEAUX: How did she see herself? ROBINSON: To me she seemed as if she was a very -- she was a dedicated professional. I can recall sitting through a sound check at the Universal Amphitheater, and she ran through the numbers. She knew where everyone on that stage was supposed to be at, and she was just the consummate pro. As far as how she interacted with her family, I do recall meeting her and her daughter, I believe it was one of the children who had become an actress, and she seemed to be a very loving mother as well.

MLAVEAUX: Did she have more than one child?

ROBINSON: She had three. She had three daughters. She had -- her oldest child, Nene (ph) was from a relationship prior to her marriage to Bruce Sudano, her husband at the time of her death.

MALVEAUX: Were her daughters -- are her daughters like her?

ROBINSON: The one child that I met who was an actress seemed to definitely be interested in following in her mother's footsteps. She was an actress. I believe she did some work on an ABC sitcom for a while. So she definitely had entertainment aspirations.

MALVEAUX: Gil, when was the last time you saw her? What did she look like? How was her demeanor? Did you know she was sick?

ROBINSON: The last time I saw her was at the Universal Amphitheater probably four or five years ago, and at that time I don't think -- she gave an amazing show that just -- the audience just did not want to let her off stage. It was truly one of those rare moments where you're seeing just a consummate pro, someone who has really put a stamp on pop culture at their finest. So the last time I saw her, she was doing quite well.

MALVEAUX: And when she was performing, what was she feeling? What was she going through? Did she even realize how much she gave to people, how excited and invigorated they were by her music and her passion?

ROBISNON: Certainly from the audience that night, she couldn't have not known that she was respected, and held in high regard. I mean, you know, Donna Summer's music is the backdrop of our times, and I think that she certainly recognized that she made a lasting impact on pop culture.

MALVEAUX: I want to welcome our viewers around the world, CNN International joiningg us now. We're talking to Gil Robertson, who has done numerous interviews with Donna Summer, and, Gil, what was your sense of later in life, what she really wanted to be proud of, what she wanted to accomplish?

ROBINSON: You know, I think that her move away from Los Angeles to Nashville in the late '90s was, you know, symbolic of her wanting to probably spend more time with her family and also get back centered on her craft as a songwriter. A lot of us forget that Donna Summer wrote a lot of the songs that were top ten and number one hits. She was a very, very, you know, gifted and talented songwriter, and I think part of the reason why she moved away from L.A. to Nashville was to focus on that.

MALVEAUX: And who did she collaborate with? Who were some of her favorites she worked with at the height of her career?

ROBINSON: Well, of course, she collaborated with Barbara Streisand on the number one hit "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" which, you know, was just on top of the charts for weeks and weeks and weeks. She worked with, you know, a number of leading producers throughout the years. She worked with, you know, Giorgio Moroder, the popular disco producer, who produced a lot of her earlier hits. She worked with a lot of people across, you know, the pop music landscape. You know, she performed with orchestras throughout Europe, she performed at the Hollywood Bowl. So she definitely was not - was an artist who went beyond one single label. You know, Donna Summer could really do it all. She, you know, did country, she did R and B, she did classical. She really touched a lot of bases with her music.

MALVEAUX: Gil Robertson, I want to thank you, at Cashbox Magazine, for your insights. Truly, I'm a huge fan. Donna Summer, just an extraordinary entertainer, an inspiration to many for many, many decades. We're going to take a quick break and get back to the story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Following a breaking news story. Donna Summer, the queen of disco who really made a name for herself, really an icon in the music business, has died. She was 63 years old. We understand that she had cancer. And just a lot of love, a lot of support coming in, a lot of people tweeting about it. I want to play one of her songs, one of her songs that was quite a hit and made a difference in a lot of people's lives.

(MUSIC PLAYS)

MALVEAUX: Want to bring in entertainment correspondent A.J. Hammer. A.J., I mean, there are just so many songs that are huge hits that you love and it brings you back to your childhood, it makes you feel good. It brings back all the emotion. "Love to Love You Baby," when we were just kids, but "Last Dance." I mean, she really spoke to a lot of people and just so many different groups of folks who came together in the '70s and '80s in the disco era.

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: And you listen to the song you were just playing, "I Feel Love," which really was her first major thumping disco hit, you can feel the thump in a club. Even if you were never in a club that played that song. It just has that sound about it, and it would go on and on and on. That was a song that went on to be sampled by many artists in their music later in Donna's life, but -- artists like Madonna and Moby have sampled that song, "I Feel Love."

And yes, you think about all the hits, you think about "McArthur Park." You know, it was a song that was a hit decades before, but she took it to number one, her very first number hit. "Someone left the cake out in the rain," she turned that into a fantastic disco song. And that was also and interesting one -- for me as somebody who played these songs on the radio, we always have a special relationship with these songs we would play over and over and "McArthur Park" was one. Depending on which version you played, you played either the edited short version or the one that went on for seven minutes. "Last Dance," still played around the world to close out parties and clubs at the end of the night. And that's a song going back, how many years now, 30-some odd years, at this point.

MALVEAUX: And "Bad Girls." I mean, "Bad Girls," allowed everybody to feel a little bit naughty and free at the time. You know, just being there on the dance floor with the lights going and all of that. It really kind of -- really perpetuated a sense of celebration, a sense of freedom, a lot of people who -- at the time, you know, people laugh when they look at the outfits and the music, but it was really -- it was a lot of fun, and I think she allowed people to be themselves, to express themselves.

I think I mentioned before, you had a lot people in the gay community, men who were dressing up as Donna Summer, wanting to be Donna Summer, emulate Donna Summer in a way, and were there and felt free.

I want to - I actually want to read some of the tweets coming in. These are celebrities, and there are a lot of them that are pouring in right now. Mary J. Blige, for instande, "RIP Donna Summer. You were truly a game-changer," is what she calls her. Holly Robinson Peete, talking about the "Last Dance," "Donna Summer, the voice. Well done diva," and then she has long tears. Roseanne Barr, "RIP, Donna Summer dead at 63. "She Works Hard for the Money" was my favorite song."

We're going to have a little bit more of these tweets, the music, the memories of Donna Summer after we take a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)