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Showbiz Tonight
Was Whitney Binge Drinking?; BeBe Winans on Whitney Houston; Donald Trump on the Dark Side of Whitney Houston; Whitney`s Pure, Golden Voice
Aired February 16, 2012 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, SHOWBIZ HOST: Big news breaking tonight on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT - - Whitney binge drinking? Shocking new revelations today that Whitney Houston may have been drinking heavily in the days before her sudden death. The disturbing new pictures revealed today. What does this mean for the investigation into her death?
Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT one-on-one with the Donald about Whitney`s surprising dark side and her tragic struggle with addiction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, BUSINESS TYCOON: She had demons just like everyone has demons, but the drugs obviously were a problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Tonight, Trump`s stunning revelations in a headline-making SHOWBIZ newsmaker interview.
A SHOWBIZ TONIGHT exclusive. Tonight, family friend, gospel legend, BeBe Winans, takes us inside the painful aftermath of Whitney`s death. How is her family dealing with the horrific loss? And what will his brother say when he delivers the eulogy at Whitney`s funeral?
Tonight, BeBe Winans in another headline-making SHOWBIZ newsmaker interview.
TV`s most provocative entertainment news show breaks news right now.
(MUSIC)
Hello. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. Thanks for watching. We`ve got big news breaking tonight.
We`ve got a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT exclusive with a legendary singer and an insider to the Whitney Houston family on the personal pain that they`re going through following her death and exactly what we can expect at Whitney`s funeral on Saturday.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you that Grammy Award-winning gospel singer, Marvin Winans, will be leading the eulogy at the funeral, asked to do so by Whitney`s mother, Cissy Houston.
Whitney was very close with the Winans family, including the great BeBe Winans. She performed with BeBe many times including joining him on stage at the Soul Train Music Awards back in 1989 singing "Hold Up The Light," BeBe`s huge hit song with his sister.
BeBe is with me in New York tonight for the SHOWBIZ newsmaker exclusive.
I`m really happy you`re here. As a friend, you know I think the world of you. And I know it`s been an impossible week for you.
And I really give you a lot of credit for coming out to speak because I think people want to be connected right now. So I think this is important.
BEBE WINANS, SINGER AND FAMILY FRIEND OF WHITNEY HOUSTON: I agree. It`s just we -- when I say we, I speak of my family -- you know, shocked like many others. And you just -- you had to find a place where we just find -- we found silence was the best thing for us at the moment.
But she was, you know, to us, a family member. It`s raw. It`s real. And if we could change the situation, we would, but we`re dealing with it. And I`m glad to be here with you.
HAMMER: Well, you know, you have all of my support and the support of all of your fans and Whitney`s fans. You and Whitney`s sister, CeCe, had that huge hit with "Hold Up The Light" and you performed that with Whitney many times.
I want to take a look at a performance when you guys were all doing that together at the Soul Train Music Awards. Let`s roll that, Charles.
(MUSIC)
HAMMER: I know it`s tough to watch, but at the same time, I`m feeling a warm smile coming from you, a little chuckle in remembrance of that night.
WINANS: She was nervous. She was nervous. With all of that talent, she was nervous because one of the things that we walked with her was the hatred and the jealousy that came with her huge success.
And so that was a night where, you know, she was -- at that moment, it was being said she wasn`t black enough. Her music wasn`t black enough. So the black community was kind of -- and so that night, she was proving her blackness, if I could put it that way.
HAMMER: Well, and she was leaning on you. And look, she`s been like a member of the Winan`s family.
WINANS: Yes.
HAMMER: We know that your brother, the pastor, Marvin Winans, who, of course, performed her wedding ceremony to Bobby --
WINANS: Right.
HAMMER: He`s been asked to do the eulogy on Saturday, which he is doing.
WINANS: Right.
HAMMER: Give us a sense because, obviously, I`ve been speaking with your brother all week. Give us a sense of what kind of message he`ll be conveying in that eulogy.
WINANS: Well, you know, one of the things that my brother will be saying is things from the heart. As you stated, Whitney became a family member, you know. And it`s easy to talk about a family member.
You don`t have to go and study and prepare because it will be coming from the heart, you know. When my brother passed, Whitney was right there, you know. And through the ups and downs, we`ve been there, you know.
Everything that people are assuming, we know. And so when you have that kind of situation, it`s hard, you know. Marvin didn`t want to do it, you know. Just like when we lost our brother, Marvin didn`t want to eulogize him because he was too close. And so it`s that way where he didn`t want to do it.
But you know, Cissy is our mom. And so when your mom asks you to do something, you know, we were taught to say "Yes, ma`am." And so, you know, reluctantly, he will speak from the heart.
HAMMER: Did you have to give him a little nudge as well?
WINANS: Well, you know, I`ve been asked to sing. And I was in the same situation. You know, CeCe is going to sing and we`re both looking at each other saying we don`t know how we`re going to get through, you know.
But we`ll stand there and we`ll do our best because of our love for Whitney. I absolutely loved her, you know. Everyone adored her talent and I recognized her talent. But I loved her.
And so, it`s -- you find yourself in a place where I`m going to do everything because I know her. She would be saying, "All right, my brother. Stand there and do it right, you know. Like we did at each other`s concert, you know, at each other`s, you know, performance."
And so, we`re going to do our best to represent what she meant to us from our heart. It will be hard.
HAMMER: Well, listen, you know better than anybody that music is healing. Whitney obviously knew that as well. We learned today that Stevie Wonder will be singing. We learned that Aretha will be singing.
And now, it`s great to hear from you that CeCe, you and, I imagine, other members of your family will be singing as well. Any sense of what you will sing, what healing songs you`ll be choosing to perform?
WINANS: Well, I`m going to -- there was a song I wrote -- this is hard. But there`s a song I wrote called "Don`t Cry for Me." And it`s a song that CeCe sang, and Whitney performed it many times in various countries.
And she would call and say, "I`m singing `Don`t Cry for Me.`" And CeCe is going to sing that. She`s going to do her best to sing it. And in that lyric, it says -- you know, it talks about life.
And there`s a -- there`s a lyric that says, "My death was meant to be, so don`t carry guilt and shame. The reason why I came, soon you`ll see. Don`t cry for me."
And it is so -- it is so right. It`s something that Whitney would say. So she`s going to sing that. I`m going to sing a song that I actually wrote for my brother that simply says "I`ll miss you. I`ll miss your smile. I`ll miss your wit, your charm," you know.
"And most of all, most importantly, I`ll miss that time that we shared together when there was nothing else to do and there was nowhere else to go."
HAMMER: Wow. Any sense of what other performances are going to be taking place at this point?
WINANS: Well, I know I can do -- the Mississippi Mass Choir will be there. And I believe Alicia Keys is going to sing something. You know what they decided to do, and I really applaud Cissy because she was Whitney Houston.
She also was nippy, you know. And so instead of being the big superstar send-off, it`s going to be that baby-girl send-off. 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 of those things because that`s who she was.
HAMMER: And there will be some strong sounds coming out of that church, for sure.
WINANS: Yes, sir.
HAMMER: Obviously, BeBe, everybody`s mind is on Bobbi Kristina, Whitney`s daughter, right now. It`s been a tough time. She was hospitalized twice. Understandably, this is just an impossible situation.
Fortunately, we know she has good strong people around her. Can you give us any sense of how she`s doing right now?
WINANS: Well, you know, Whitney and our family, as you stated, was really tight together. Whitney was my daughter`s godmother, you know. And my daughter is having a hard time. CeCe is Bobbi Kristina`s godmother.
HAMMER: Right.
WINANS: And Bobbi Kristina, through this whole time, she`s walked with CeCe and we`re there for her. And she knows we`re there for her. Is it difficult? I`m sure. I don`t know all what she`s dealing with because I haven`t lost my mother.
But she knows that she`s loved and she has the support. But at this point, she`s mourning. She`s lost the most important person to her. But we`re there to hold her. And she`s doing -- she`s doing better. She`ll make it through.
HAMMER: That`s good to hear. BeBe, stick around. I have a few more things that I want to talk to you about. We`re going to play some more music up in here. What do you think about that?
WINANS: That will work.
HAMMER: We`ll be right back with you. And now we`ve got to talk about this. Was Whitney drinking? The stunning new revelations that Whitney Houston may have been drinking heavily in the days before her sudden death. Also, Donald Trump`s Whitney confessions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Something was missing and she needed something. She needed help. She was crying out for help and I guess she wasn`t getting it, and the end result is what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Tonight, we`ve got a SHOWBIZ newsmaker interview with Donald Trump about Whitney`s tragic struggle with addiction.
Plus, Whitney`s voice, stripped down and raw.
(SINGING)
HAMMER: The SHOWBIZ viral video of Whitney Houston unplugged. You have got to hear this thing and we`re going to play it for you. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on HLN news and views.
Time now for the "SHOWBIZ News Ticker" -- these are more stories from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom making news tonight.
TEXT: J. Lo and Marc Anthony`s reality music show "Q` Viva! The Chosen" to premiere on Fox. "Jersey Shore`s" Pauly D tells Kelly Ripa what his new spin-off will be about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL "PAULY D" DEL VECCHIO, REALITY TV STAR: It`s kind of like me outside of "Jersey Shore." So it`s kind of focused on my life. You get to see my home life back home in Rhode Island.
You get to see my family life and you get to see my crazy life on the road deejaying with some friends back home. There might be some guest appearances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. I`m back tonight with gospel great, BeBe Winans, a personal friend of Whitney Houston.
BeBe and his family will be at Whitney`s funeral on Saturday and will be performing, we just learned, which is great to hear.
WINANS: Yes.
HAMMER: We`re talking about Bobbi Kristina just a moment ago. What words of comfort would you offer her right now?
WINANS: Well, I`m going to see her, probably, tonight, and I`m going to hug her. I had a situation when I went through the loss of my brother. I saw a grief counselor and it was the best thing I ever did.
And one of the things she said to me was this -- she lived in West Africa for some years. And when someone lost a loved one in the community, the community came together and all they did, A.J., was sit together.
They wouldn`t say anything. When the member cried, they cried. When they laughed, they laughed. For some reason, we think in the west that we have to say something and it`s not saying anything. It`s just being there.
So when it comes to Bobbi Kristina and everyone else in the Houston family, I`m just going to be there. And when she cries, I`m going to cry with her. When she laughs, I`m going to laugh with her. I`m just going to be there.
HAMMER: I think she`s very lucky to have you right there with her. And I know it`s not surprising to you that there are a lot of reports flying around out there about many things, among which whether or not Bobby Brown should be there at the funeral on Saturday, whether or not the family actually wants him there. What do you know about that?
WINANS: I don`t know anything at this point. But you know, I think they will do the right thing, you know. The reality is people are mourning.
And one of the things that I`ve said to my family and my family has conversed about, is that, at this point, if the media would allow this family to mourn, there`s other answers to questions down the road I think would be appropriate.
But at the end of the day, I think right now, we should allow this family to mourn. You know, Bobby Brown is mourning, you know. Bobby Kristina is mourning. And, at the end of the day, those things will work out itself.
HAMMER: Shall we revisit some good Whitney memories right now?
WINANS: Hey, hey.
HAMMER: Let`s -- can we put up the pictures, Charles, that we have from back in the day? Look at you guys. Is that you? There we go.
WINANS: Oh, I was a little bit chunkier.
HAMMER: Look at you guys.
WINANS: I was a little bit chunkier.
HAMMER: What do you want? I mean, look at that smile. Look at the glow. And Whitney`s, too.
WINANS: You know -- look at that one.
HAMMER: What do you want people to remember about her most? Because, obviously, we go to the voice instantly. That`s what we knew as fans. But coming from somebody who was family to this woman?
WINANS: She was funny. She was funny. And you know what, more than anything, she was real. She was real. Even though the Whitney -- the superstar Whitney was this, nippy was this. And so she was real. She loved people.
She loved what she, you know, did and loved to sing. But what I`ll miss the most is the phone would ring, either if I was calling her or she was calling me, and I would say "Hello," I would hear, "How are you doing?"
You know, we sung to each other. That is what I`ll miss, those moments on the phone when we would sing whatever we wanted to say to each other.
HAMMER: It was her favorite way to communicate, wasn`t it?
WINANS: Oh, yes. It was her favorite way. It was a part of who she was.
HAMMER: And of course, you produced for her on "The Bodyguard" soundtrack, "Yes, Jesus Loves Me." I don`t want to take it full, Charles, but if we can just take into the background of Whitney singing that song, she performed it on Thursday night. She was with Kelly Price at a club in Los Angeles. Obviously, it has to be a very special song for her.
WINANS: It was a special song for her. She believed more than anything that Jesus loved her, and that love was unconditional. That love covered all her faults and failures and the frailties and those things that human, mankind have.
And so when you know you`re loved, even by your parents or anything, you feel like you can do anything. You can accomplish anything. She felt like she could accomplish anything because she was loved by her creator.
And so it was a pleasure to walk with her through the pain, through all the ups and the downs, but reassure her of that love, even in the moments where she felt maybe unloved. We all have felt that one time or another. But she knew that Jesus loved her.
HAMMER: Well, like I said, you know how I feel about you and I think she was very lucky to have you on her side. And thank you for coming in. I know it`s a tough time.
You`re grieving, but it means the world to, not just me, but her fans that you`re here talking about it. BeBe, great to see you.
WINANS: I appreciate you. Thank you for having me.
HAMMER: And there`s still so many questions tonight. A lot of people wondering, did alcohol bring Whitney down? Tonight, the disturbing new revelations that she went on a 48-hour bender just before her sudden death. SHOWBIZ dares to ask, what does this brand-new evidence actually mean for the investigation into Whitney`s death?
Plus, SHOWBIZ trending tonight -- you`ve got to hear Whitney at her most raw.
(SINGING)
No backup band. No heavy production. It`s just Whitney`s golden voice. The track that`s going seriously viral tonight. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on HLN news and views.
Now, the "SHOWBIZ News Ticker" -- more stories from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom making news tonight.
TEXT: The Beach Boys announce 37-city tour of U.S.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Tonight, getting ready for the final farewell to Whitney Houston at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey.
Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is right there at the church that Whitney attended as a child, the very church where her funeral will take place this Saturday. HLN will cover the funeral. We have our live coverage starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. That`s this Saturday.
Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. And even before the final farewell to Whitney, there`s a huge controversy tonight over how her home state of New Jersey plans to honor her.
Now, New Jersey`s governor is getting slammed big time tonight for deciding to honor Whitney by lowering flags in the state to half staff.
Of course, we know that distinction is typically reserved for members of the military or people who have spent a lifetime in public service. So is it wrong to honor a music legend like Whitney Houston the same way?
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Nischelle Turner is with us tonight at the Newark church where Whitney`s funeral will take place on Saturday. I`ll be right there alongside Nischelle on Saturday for HLN`s live coverage. Nischelle, what is this flag flap all about?
NISCHELLE TURNER, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT CORRESPONDENT: Well, A.J., here`s the deal. A lot of people are arguing saying that putting flags at half staff for Whitney is wrong because of her battles with drug addiction.
There are critics on Twitter and in the blogs that say this is a new message that drugs is OK and that you can even be honored for your bad behavior. And I have to tell you, there`s a lot of people on our Facebook page that actually agree with this.
Tonya M is saying, "No celebrity should get that honor, only the ones who died for our country."
And Bernice S writes, "Legends and icons shouldn`t be honored for setting examples to people that drug use gets you a half-staff flag when you die."
But you know, the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie -- he says this is all ridiculous, that Whitney was a true legend, that she brought a lot of good to people. So it looks like he`s not backing down and he`s standing by his decision, A.J.
HAMMER: It`s really interesting, so many people on both sides of this issue. It will be interesting to see if anything changes.
All right, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Nischelle Turner, thanks so much. And once again, Nischelle and I will be right there on location, Saturday in Newark for a farewell to Whitney. Live HLN coverage of Whitney`s funeral starts at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Now, the SHOWBIZ lineup -- here`s what`s coming up at the bottom of the hour on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Something was missing, and she needed something. She needed help. She was crying out for help. And I guess she wasn`t getting it, and then the end result was what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Tonight, Donald Trump`s shocking Whitney revelation. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is one-on-one with Donald Trump in a must-see SHOWBIZ newsmaker interview.
Plus, the emotionally raw track from Whitney that is going totally viral tonight.
(SINGING)
It`s Whitney`s performance that is grabbing the whole world`s attention. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on HLN news and views.
And this is the "SHOWBIZ News Ticker" -- more stories from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom making news tonight.
TEXT: Nicki Minaj, Ne-Yo and Mary J. Blige to perform at NBA all-star game. Jason Bateman and his wife welcome their baby girl, Maple Sylvie, into the world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Big news breaking on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT -- Whitney binge-drinking? Disturbing new details today about Whitney drinking heavily in the days and hours before she died. Could this be a game changer in the Whitney death investigation?
And Donald trump`s shocking Whitney revelations to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Something was missing. And she needed something. She needed help. She was crying out for help and I guess she wasn`t getting it. And the end result is what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT goes one-on-one with Donald trump about his friend, Whitney Houston, and what he knows about her painful struggle with substance abuse.
SHOWBIZ trending tonight, Whitney Houston`s voice unplugged.
(SINGING)
HAMMER: No music, just Whitney. The powerful new audio of Whitney Houston`s bare and brilliant voice revealed.
ANNOUNCER: TV`s most provocative entertainment news show continues right now.
(MUSIC)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It is 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York with big breaking news today -- was Whitney drinking?
As everyone looks into the death of Whitney Houston, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has uncovered some bombshell details about her final days. Reports of excessive drinking, erratic behavior, a haggard appearance.
The exact cause of death hasn`t officially been determined yet. But reports of Whitney`s drinking are so explosive they`ve actually attracted the attention of investigators.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over) It`s a sad and disturbing question. Could a dangerous alcohol pill combination have killed Whitney Houston? Today, new information is starting to shed some light on that key question.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Investigators are looking into Whitney`s behavior on the days before she died.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Today, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT learned that investigators are taking a hard look at reports that Whitney Houston, a recovering addict, was drinking, acting erratically and looking disheveled in the days and hours before she was found dead in her room her at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday.
LEMON: According to a source close to the death investigation, guests and hotel staff were very concerned about Whitney`s erratic behavior.
HAMMER: According to a source, hotel guests say they saw Whitney drinking at bars near the pool and lobby, sometimes as early as 10:00 in the morning.
LEMON: They said on Wednesday and Thursday, she consumed a large amount of alcohol and that she was overheard by guests complaining that her drinks were being watered down and that the bartenders and staff were putting too much ice in her drinks.
HAMMER: In this photo, we see Whitney sitting poolside at the Beverly Hilton last Wednesday. We see a drink near her. Of course, there`s no way of telling if it has alcohol in it or if it`s even hers. But it is consistent with what SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has learned about Whitney`s final days.
LEMON: She was seen jumping in and out of the Beverly Hilton swimming pool. She was also seen doing somersaults in the swimming pool area.
HAMMER: CNN`s Don Lemon tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT Whitney`s behavior attracted a lot of attention at the hotel.
LEMON: To see a star of that caliber and a 48-year-old doing somersaults, most people would find it unusual unless everyone around them is involved in some sort of play of that nature. That did not appear to be the case.
HAMMER: The night before Whitney died, she was photographed looking disheveled as she left a nightclub that she was partying and singing with Kelly Price.
But Kelly Price told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Nischelle Turner Whitney was not drunk that night.
KELLY PRICE, SINGER: I`ve heard so many things about people saying that, you know, she was erratic. She was this. She was that. She was none of those things.
HAMMER: So why is the question of Whitney Houston`s drinking so important to the death investigation? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT confirmed today that Whitney was, indeed, taking the anti-anxiety pill, Xanax, and it was found in her hotel room.
LEMON: If she did take Xanax and she was consuming large amounts of alcohol, that is obviously problematic.
HAMMER: That`s because experts have long warned that Xanax taken with alcohol is a potentially deadly combination.
DR. DREW PINSKY, HOST, "DR. DREW": Not only is she in danger just because she`s drinking, because she`s a chronic drug addict. You give that person some benzodiazepines, they`re going to stop breathing.
HAMMER: HLN`s Dr. Drew Pinsky says a recovering addict like Whitney shouldn`t have been drinking at all. Even though Houston`s just released death certificate defers a ruling on a cause of death, Dr. Drew says the facts, as they add up now, paint a grim picture.
PINSKY: The fact is that -- here, I`m an addictionologist, OK. And if one of my patients had died with pills in the room, seen drinking with a deferred autopsy result, there would be no doubt in my mind what the results are going to be. It`s going to be a drug-related death.
HAMMER: Of course, we won`t know for sure until toxicology tests on Whitney Houston are completed. But for now, all the information is adding up to a disturbing picture of Whitney Houston`s final days.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
So what exactly do these new reports of Whitney Houston`s possible drinking mean to the investigation into what killed her?
With me in New York, criminal defense attorney, Midwin Charles and TV and radio host, Michael Billy.
So we have these new reports of Whitney Houston drinking considerably in the days before she died. We just heard HLN`s Drew Pinsky who certainly knows what he`s talking about in this area say the cause of death right now certainly appears to point only in one direction. Michael, do you see it any other way?
MICHAEL BILLY, TV AND RADIO HOST: No, I`m not surprised. I mean, as somebody -- I`ve been in rehab when I was using alcohol, at least five times in and out. The problem is, with Whitney, it was a constant struggle of sobriety.
And if it wasn`t alcohol, it was pills. If it wasn`t pills, when somebody quits drug and drug addiction she had a problem with, she went to booze.
And with the booze, when you`re drunk or if it`s in your system, you can forget. You think everything is going fine. You add pills, prescription medication to it, you`re done, unfortunately.
HAMMER: It`s so sad. And the thing I`m trying to get a handle on now, and Midwin, this is why I brought you along -- SHOWBIZ TONIGHT did hear that investigators are very interested in Whitney`s behavior and her physical state leading up to her death.
What do investigators hope to learn from all of this talk that they wouldn`t find out from a toxicology report? And we know those results are still pending.
MIDWIN CHARLES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I think what they`re trying to do is determine whether or not she had anything to do with her death directly, whether she did it by accident or what have you, or whether perhaps any physicians, any trained, licensed medical professionals had perhaps over-prescribed her drugs.
And I think we`re now off the heel of a conviction for Dr. Conrad Murray. And so now, I think that investigators are looking towards that road.
HAMMER: And here`s the thing. We have sources saying Whitney Houston was drinking heavily. We do have other sources say she was only drinking a little and that, you know, all of these reports are being blown out of proportion.
Maybe she was a little tipsy, one person said, who was close with her the night that she performed at the nightclub.
But Michael, as a recovering alcoholic, as somebody who has been very candid about your own treatment, is there any way for a recovering addict like Whitney Houston to have just a little bit of champagne, just have a little bit to drink and it not be a big deal?
BILLY: It`s two separate questions. Yes, it is possible for a recovering drug addict to continue occasionally drinking alcohol. Everyone is different. Addiction is a very individualistic thing.
However, with Whitney, you can presume that yes, if she seems sober, that doesn`t mean that alcohol wasn`t in her system. You can drink all night, appear sober in the afternoon.
That doesn`t mean that there`s an incredible amount of alcohol in your system because you`ve been drinking heavily for a week, not to mention the impact it has on your body, as an addict, after drinking month after month, blackout after blackout.
It`s taking a toll. I wouldn`t be surprised if it was a heart attack induced by a mixture of pills and alcohol.
HAMMER: OK. But obviously, we can`t speculate as to that now. But I guess the finer point being -- I always hear, and I hear this -- you know, Jane Velez Mitchell has said on this very show, you can`t have a drop of anything. You just can`t do it and you can`t be out in a club.
(CROSS TALK)
BILLY: See, because I can go to a bar and alcohol is completely out of my mind. I don`t drink it. That`s my personal path. That`s my thing. I`ve gone out and I can deal with that.
There are addicts -- I`ve worked with addicts and people and addiction for many, many years, and it seems a very individualistic thing. To put them in one group is to not understand what that person is going through, personally.
CHARLES: Well, no. I`m just going to say that is the point. I think that, you know, everyone is different in the manner in which they deal with illicit drugs or even prescribed drugs.
HAMMER: Right.
CHARLES: I mean, we`re assuming that she was taking Xanax as prescribed. In other words, if the doctor said take one every eight hours, who`s to say she wasn`t taking 10 every eight hours?
BILLY: Right.
CHARLES: And then you throw the alcohol in with that, it just makes it a deadly combination.
HAMMER: And I think that`s the truth. My understanding is you take one Xanax and you have it with alcohol, you could potentially be setting yourself up for exactly what happened here.
BILLY: Absolutely. Absolutely. And what`s the root cause? Because if the root cause is something that can be answered with prescription medication, then alcohol wasn`t the problem to begin with. You were medicating yourself.
HAMMER: Right. We did learn that investigators are looking into Whitney`s prescription drugs. They`ve subpoenaed her medical records. They`ve contacted pharmacies.
But now, nobody`s really saying this is a case of illegal doctor-shopping. They`re not saying that she was looking to get drugs somehow illegally. That`s not the talk right now, Midwin.
So what are the chances in your mind this could actually lead to a criminal case?
CHARLES: Right now, based on the facts that we have before us, I think it`s a small chance. I really do. You do not have the circumstances that you had with Anna Nicole Smith or with Michael Jackson where you had a doctor who literally was found practically swimming in propofol. That was so much he was found around. You don`t have those circumstances here.
HAMMER: Right.
CHARLES: I think it`s a little bit too much for us to rush to that conclusion.
HAMMER: No question about it. I want people to be very cautious about doing that. But regardless, same as Michael Jackson, regardless of the circumstances --
BILLY: Absolutely.
HAMMER: This is just so, so sad it seemed to be avoidable.
CHARLES: It is.
HAMMER: All right, Midwin, Michael Billy, thank you both so much. Well, tonight, Donald Trump reveals to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT his startling connection to Whitney Houston and what he knew about her demons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Something is missing and she needed something. She needed help. She was crying out for help and I guess she wasn`t getting it. And the end result is what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Tonight, Whitney Houston`s famous friend, Donald Trump, reveals to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT just what he witnessed in her lifelong struggle with substance abuse.
And SHOWBIZ trending tonight. Wait until you hear this, Whitney`s voice stripped and spectacular.
(SINGING)
I mean, come on, what do you say? No music, just Whitney. We`ve got the jaw-dropping audio that`s absolutely gone viral today and proves once again why Whitney was called the voice. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on HLN news and views.
And this is the "SHOWBIZ News Ticker" -- more stories from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom making news tonight.
TEXT: Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts to co-star as mother-daughter in "August: Osage County." SHOWBIZ first look: Taylor Swift`s "The Hunger Games" single, "Safe and Sound."
(MUSIC)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Something was missing and she needed something. She needed help. She was crying out for help and I guess she wasn`t getting it. And the end result was what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Tonight, Donald Trump in his own words on the death of his dear friend, Whitney Houston. Trump, who was a guest at Whitney Houston`s wedding to Bobby Brown reveals to us his close friendship with Whitney in a SHOWBIZ newsmaker interview, next.
Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. And tonight, Trump`s take on Whitney and what he calls her demons.
Of course, we now know Whitney`s funeral is set at noon this Saturday. It`s going to take place at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. HLN will be covering it live.
I`m going to be right there along with SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Nischelle Turner when our live coverage begins at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. Nischelle`s at the church right now. Nischelle just spoke with Donald about his memories of Whitney, who he called his friend. Nischelle?
TURNER: Yes, A.J. I spoke with Donald about the Whitney that he says he knew. And he says, like everyone, she had her own demons. He also spoke to me about her wedding to back in 1992 to Bobby Brown, which he actually attended.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, I went to her wedding and she was a friend and she was a great woman. She came down to Mar-A-Lago on numerous occasions in Florida.
And Whitney Houston was a really terrific woman. And when her voice was good, which was a while ago -- she probably damaged her voice. But there was nothing like it. She was amazing.
TURNER (on camera): There were so many people that said, you know, Whitney talked about her demons, that she had demons. Did you ever reach out to her? Did you see, you know, kind of her transformation?
TRUMP: Well, she had demons, I guess, like everyone has demons. But the drugs, obviously, were a problem. And she smoked, you know. She smoked a lot. And I think a lot of people say the smoking actually hurt her voice.
So who knows what it was? But I`ll tell you what -- Whitney, in her prime, there was nobody with a voice like that.
TURNER: There are people that say Bobby Brown led to her downfall. What do you think?
TRUMP: Well, again, I was at the wedding and he`s a very talented guy. But it was not a marriage that worked great. Let`s face it. It was certainly very stressful for her, probably for him.
And I don`t know what led to her downfall, but something did. And you know, I`d like not to say it was the marriage, but who knows?
TURNER: Now, there are questions coming up of the prescription drugs involved. There were some apparently found in her room. And also, that leads to the people that are around her.
Were they really taking care of her? You always have a lot of people around you, working for you. Is it a situation to where there`s just too many "yes men" and nobody standing up?
TRUMP: Well, something was missing and she needed something. She needed help. She was crying out for help and I guess she wasn`t getting it. And the end result was what happened the other day in L.A. And it`s very, very sad.
But I knew her well. She was a great person, a great woman and a great talent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Obviously, a huge talent, one of the biggest the world has ever known, Nischelle. I mean, really, such a powerful look into Whitney`s life through Donald Trump`s eyes. But you talked to him for a while. What stood out to you the most?
TURNER: Yes. Really, what he just said there, A.J., that he feels like Whitney was crying out for help and that simply she wasn`t getting the help that she needed. And that`s what he believes is kind of the catalyst for all of this and what happened the other day in L.A. with her passing.
HAMMER: And of course, you had to speak with Donald Trump about the upcoming new season of "Celebrity Apprentice." What did he tell you? What can we expect?
TURNER: Yes. Oh, you know, Donald actually revealed some good stuff to me about this season of the "Celebrity Apprentice." It premieres Sunday night, February 19th, 9:00 on NBC.
And what he tells me is that this is the biggest cast ever for "The Apprentice" -- 18 celebrities, people like Clay Aiken, Arsenio Hall, Victoria Gotti -- all of those people in this season.
Here`s what Donald said, "If you remember last season and that fight between Star and NeNe Leakes -- Star Jones and NeNe Leakes, he says get ready because this season, there`s even more drama than that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(on camera) Yes. I hear maybe the two ladies, the two Italian ladies, Teresa and Victoria Gotti?
TRUMP: Well, they are wild and they are really not very friendly with each other. They don`t like each other much and they fight. But whether it`s Clay Aiken and actually Arsenio, they will all go at it.
TURNER: Is there anybody that you said, "Oh, my gosh. I didn`t know this person really had this in them"?
HAMMER: Well, Clay Aiken is one of them. I mean, Clay is a very tough guy and I never saw that before. I never heard about that. And he is, you know, just much different than I thought.
I heard he was a great singer. I knew he was a great singer from "American Idol," but he`s a tough guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TURNER: OK, shocker -- Clay Aiken, a tough guy. A.J., I thought he was a sweet singer with a songbird voice. Who would have thought that Clay Aiken would have put a smack down on somebody?
HAMMER: Oh, no. I`ll tell you what. Clay was here with Lisa Lampanelli. By the way, two people -- comedian Lisa Lampanelli and Clay Aiken. Can you imagine them even having anything in common? And they turned out to be actually pretty terrific friends as a result.
But she even told me -- she said people needed to watch out for Clay. He had a lot more in him than people actually expected. And obviously, Donald confirming that for us tonight. All right. Great job. Nischelle Turner, thank you so much.
Well, you`ve certainly heard Whitney Houston`s voice as we know it on record. But I bet you`ve never heard it like this.
(SINGING)
HAMMER: Wow. SHOWBIZ trending tonight -- it`s Whitney`s voice stripped down and just spectacular. Wait until you hear the audio of Whitney Houston. It`s going to leave you speechless. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on HLN news and views.
It is time now for the "SHOWBIZ News Ticker" -- more stories from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom making news tonight.
TEXT: Oprah Winfrey to headline Jimmy Kimmel`s Oscar special after awards show. Prince William and Duchess Kate to be turned into Barbie dolls for one year anniversary.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SINGING)
HAMMER: I always loved that song -- Whitney Houston`s "How Will I Know." And there is brand-new evidence today that song and all of Whitney`s greatest hits have been furiously downloaded since Whitney`s death.
Today, Nielsen Sound Scan told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT since Whitney died last Saturday, sales of her albums have increased nearly 6,000 percent. Her iconic single, "I Will Always Love You," up nearly 7,000 percent. That is unbelievable.
There`s no question in my mind or anybody`s mind how talented Whitney Houston was. But tonight, you know, we`re getting a whole new perspective of exactly why she was called the voice.
There`s this unbelievable stripped down piece of audio that was just posted online of Whitney`s hit song, "How Will I Know," and it is trending big time tonight.
This thing is going to blow your mind, I`m here to tell you. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Nischelle Turner back with me from just outside Whitney`s hometown church. Of course, that`s where the funeral is going to be held on Saturday.
Nischelle, you heard about this raw version of Whitney`s voice from none other than Maroon 5, I understand.
TURNER: Absolutely, A.J. You know, it was on the Grammys red carpet on Sunday, and I was talking to bassist Mickey Madden and Adam Levine. And they told me about this stripped down Whitney Houston track of "How Will I Know" that was bare and brilliant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(on camera) Do you have a favorite Whitney Houston song?
ADAM LEVINE, SINGER, MAROON 5: I`ll tell you what --
MICKEY MADDEN, BASSIST, MAROON 5: I think my favorite Whitney Houston song, "How Will I Know" because, you know, yesterday on the Internet, there was her tracks from "How Will I Know" just naked, just her vocal tracks. You can find them online. It`s amazing to hear her voice. It`s just unadorned. It`s incredible.
LEVINE: It`s one of the best that`s ever existed in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TURNER: Mr. Levine, you are correct, one of the best in the world. A.J., this track, just bananas. She was so incredibly talented.
HAMMER: So talented and I`m thinking so many people heard that and did a search on YouTube, because everybody is talking about this clip today. When I heard it myself, I was blown on to the floor, literally. Let`s listen to it. It`s breathtaking.
(SINGING)
HAMMER: That is just incredible, just another example of why Whitney`s voice was one in a million. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Nischelle Turner, thank you so much.
And that is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Thank you for watching. I`m A.J. Hammer. You can always catch SHOWBIZ TONIGHT exclusively, weeknights at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. And of course, that`s right here on HLN.
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