you know, this is a white and asian world here. it just is. >> people are minting money in silicon valley right now. i want a piece of it. >> hi! >> it's a capitalist endeavor. you know, we're all serious adults, entrepreneurs. >> i'm determined. >> i'm tired of playing games. >> i believe in my product. i believe in my ideas. >> we're building great

companies, every single one of us. >> i'm chasing success. >> and so we want to stand out because we're just so damn good that they have to notice us. >> each founder is going to have two minutes to pitch their idea. >> i'm nervous. i haven't been nervous all night and i'm nervous. >> the way we're going to make money -- um. >> um. >> um. >> you didn't tell me a thing about what your business plan is or what you intend to do for revenue. >> okay. >> when i did raise venture capital, my buddies here advised me was, get a white guy to be your front man. i hired a 6-foot-tall polished white guy and let him do all the talking. >> it's very sad. in 2011, we got a black president. and he's not putting no money in my rocket right now directly, so what do we got to do? play the game until we are successful. >> if ten years down the road there are no more black entrepreneurs than there are today, what's at risk? >> a -- a permanent underclass.

in this unassuming three-bedroom home in mountain view, california, angela benton and wayne sutton hope to make history. >> here? see what this thing look like. >> one of them is supposed to be a sofa bed. >> the friends connected online, two black internet entrepreneurs trying to succeed in an overwhelmingly white industry. >> for whatever reason, african-americans tend to be consumers of technology and not really creators of technology. >> name me one black web tech founder or start-up ceo. where's the example of a black mark zuckerberg? >> last year only 1% of internet start-ups that received funding were founded by african-americans. so angela and wayne created the new media accelerator, newme for short, a groundbreaking program

designed to speak up the development and success of minority led start-ups in silicon valley. >> if you're going to be an actor, you go to l.a. if you're going to be in fashion, you go to new york. and if you're going to be in technology, then you come to silicon valley. >> modeled after similar programs, newme offers its dotcom founders immediate access to deep-pocketed investors, well-connected mentors and opens doors to some of the most successful internet companies in the world. >> welcome to facebook. >> the down side? >> everyone will be living together. >> eight people. nine weeks. one house. one goal. changing the face of silicon valley. >> for it to be successful to me, founders have to get investment. >> thanks for your enthusiasm for coming to google. >> the high-stakes program,

backed by sponsors, culminates in demo day when each entrepreneur will have just six minutes to pitch their company to a room full of investors. 75 people applied. six were chosen by angela and wayne based on their start-up ideas. >> people are leaving their loved ones for the summer. >> ready, kenny? >> they're leaving their spouses. they're leaving their kids. some of them are quitting their jobs. so people are making major life changes to take a risk and be involved in this program, and that's a little bit of pressure. >> hi. nice to meet you. >> they include a former mit student body president. >> pius is really smart. pius is really strong. >> a master programmer. >> tiffani is super sweet. she's a girl and she's also a programmer. so that's an oddity. >> a former hedge fund project manager. >> crisson is really focused.

>> a video game blogger. >> anthony, i like to call him cool. he's just laid back. he's not trying to be something he's not. >> an engineer from detroit. >> hajj has swagger. he's a sales guy. >> a former dotcom millionaire. >> hank, he's experienced. he's raised money before. >> newme co-founder and self-described country boy, wayne sutton. >> it takes courage and guts to come out here and leave my son, my wife a while and come out here and pursue your dreams. >> this isn't a charity. it's not a summer camp. we're capitalists. we're all trying to build great businesses. and we're trying to secure the funding needed to build those businesses. >> why is this so important? >> how can you have a huge and growing part of the economy with no participation from a significant demographic? >> the odds of success are slim. 80% of all start-ups founded by first-time entrepreneurs fail. but angela is confident her

accelerator will help the housemates beat the odds. something she says she's done her entire life. >> i was 15, and i was in ninth grade and i was pregnant. but it was a hard time. i mean, when you're around people in society and you're also around your own family and people think they know how your life is going to end up. >> driven to prove people wrong, angela earned a masters degree in graphic design and founded a trailblazing website for african-americans interested in technology. today angela is 30, a single mother of three. in addition to running the newme accelerator with wayne, angela's working on her own start-up. get cued. a mobile app that makes shopping and restaurant recommendations based on past experiences. >> people often have a lot of excuses. i hate that because i could have had every reason to have a lot of excuses, and i didn't. i mean, just how bad do you want

something? >> six people got to share one bathroom? >> the eight entrepreneurs arrive in mountain view with billion-dollar dreams. but for the next nine weeks, they'll sleep on $80 air mattresses. >> it's not what i would call five-star accommodations. i'd call it scrappy. >> but their first event is first class. a welcome reception sponsored by google. >> how are you doing? >> good. how are you doing? >> the first inkling that something may be a little different than we'd expected was when there was an announcement about a dragon's den and that the judges for the dragon's den should please come up to the stage, please. >> dragons don't sound good. >> i'm at google and i'm pitching. cued is basicay -- and i don't even kw what i'm supposed to say next. [ male announcer ] southwest airlines is committed

to our relationships in the african-american community. and we're showcasing the work our employees do. like karen. [ karen ] what's so special about our relationship is they're passionate. through southwest airlines, the learning continues outside of the classroom. educating young people for black history month is so important. it's not just a month. it's all year 'round. [ male announcer ] when it comes to giving back to the african-american community, we are proud to say, we do. find out more at southwest.com/blackhistory. we are proud to say, we do. in addition to the two hundred plus facilities that the university of phoenix has we have a very progressive online learning environment. we have something called phoenix connect that allows students to have a social network. you can post discussion questions. we have more than twenty thousand faculty members, chances are one of them is online when you need some assistance. i'm ron gdovic, i'm committed to providing my students with a twenty-first-century education and i am a phoenix.

by the end of the first day, the newme entrepreneurs find themselves inside the

headquarters of google, an internet start-up founded in 1998 today worth close to $200 billion. >> how are you doing? >> people respond positively and negatively. >> thanks. >> this place is amazing. >> hello. welcome to google. >> but quickly their excitement is replaced by concern. >> if anyone who's involved in judging the dragon's den, please come up to the front. >> we're kind of all wondering what is the dragon's den? it's essentially slang for a panel of judges where they, you know, throw you and your company in and, you know, they essentially rip you to shreds after you pitch. and it's really the antithesis of an unstressful environment. >> the founders felt kind of ambushed in a way. >> the first founder to come up is tiffani bell for the company pencil you in. >> so, yes.

i'm tiffani. >> tiffani graduated from howard university with a degree in computer science. she quit her job as a web developer in fayetteville, north carolina, to join the accelerator. how many black female programmers do you know? this is cnn breaking news. >> you know every once in a while you have to report something that you thought would be the worst thing that could happen and it was going to happen and now it has. singer whitney houston, one of the greatest voices of our generation, cnn has gotten conformation from a representative has died. grammy winning entertainer, 48 years old. you know, whitney was a young entertainer back in the 80s. she came of age with pop hits and then went on to fame with a movie, with "the bodyguard" and did a remake of dolly parton's song "i will always love you," it rose to the top of the

charts. we are just getting conformatirn confirmation. it is sad news. we will continue with the news. 48 years old. it is one of the greatest voices of all time pup see her there with recording extraordinaire clive davis, who handled her career so deftly for a long time, who tried to bring her back and tried to guide her. but whitney, as we know, had a battle with drugs, to her own admission, alcohol to her own admission and we know that famous quote from the abc diane sawyer interview "crack is whack." she said she made too much money to do crack cocaine and had an issue with cocaine. whitney houston 48 years old has died. we learned from kristen foster, we had been seeing reports coming in from the internet and cnn wanted to get it confirm

because when you report something like this, you want to be absolutely sure. whitney houston, again, had a string of hits. he hit the bill board 100s "saving all my love for you," remember that, the young whitney houston, "howley know," "the greatest love of all," "i want to dance with somebody who loves me," "didn't we almost have it all," "i get so emotional," "where do broken hearts go" and you can go on and on with whitney houston song, how many times she hit the number one, how many times she hit the bill board top five. it's a really sad evening and we all, everybody i think, because whitney was so talented, we had hoped that she could pull it together at some point. we don't know the cause of death yet. it has not been confirmed. but we had hoped that whitney would pull it together.

i'm just getting diguidance fro our producer here. we're going to talk to larry king, who interviewed whitney before, in a minute here. we had hoped she would bounce back from those addiction issues she had and that she would become the great artist she was. it never did happen, no matter how many times we hoped. we weren't sure if we were looking from a far, if they were trying too hard, she would come out with the hoarse voice. she never did pull it together. she was married to bobby brown and they had that reality show for a while, which was really just a strange television. and we saw whitney at her worst in that moment. but we have seen her a lot at her best and she's looking great in the video that we have no up of her and clive davis here. larry, you have interviewed whitney houston. you know what i'm saying is

true. i'm not lying about it. we were hope she go would get it back. we don't know the cause of death. what a sad night. >> and tonight is clive davis''s huge grammy party which she has every year on the eve of the grammys and i'm going with my wife shawne. clive was so close to her, discovered her, literally helped make her a star. last year whitney was his surprise guest and she sang at this event tonight. it's going to be a strange occasion. i liked her a lot. i liked her as a person. i thought she was a gamer, i thought she was an incredible talent. i don't like to presume what she died of but i'm sure everybody's guessing that. >> and, you know, larry, i remember when she did that and she came back and she had had latest album that came out. i guess it's just over a year

ago. she went to australia and did the european tour and then went to australia as well on the last tour and she was singing so much and she had gotten hoarse and she really could not pull it off. and that video, you know, went viral like what is going on with whitney houston. but many people said, hey, i kind of expected this to happen. we didn't want it to happen. but can you talk about some of the trials and tribulations that she went through? >> there's a lot of voices coming in at the same time. do you hear me clear. >> i can hear you clearly. >> you know what it reminds me of, don? of judy garland, who also i believe was 48 years old, who had this up-and-down career and who fell victim to, you know, she fell victim to drugs and lost her life in london after a comeback, a down side and a comeback. i compare her to judy garland.

i also compare her as an artist to judy garland. >> judy garland had one of the greatest voices ever. >> so did whitney houston. >> that's a good comparison because you could hear in their voices really what they had experienced in their lives whenever they sang a note, you know. >> it's a very good observation. i remember seeing judy garland when she came back at the palace theater in new york and whenever she would sing "somewhere over the rainbow" or any of those ball ball add, all of her life was in her voice. whitney the same way. she didn't just sing a song, she felt a song. she -- >> whitney houston, her "ever the rainbow" was "i will always

love you." >> yes. no one could cover that song. >> even though it was dolly's song, even dolly said i wrote that song and it was a hit but when whitney did it, she made it her own. >> i asked dolly once did you like performing as much as writing? she said with she loves performing but when you can write a song like that and have whitney houston sing it, you love writing. >> larry, it's odd, i have to tell us because just last night -- and i'm not kidding you -- i was online and i was thinking about whitney houston and dealing with a cold, had taken some cold medicine, i couldn't sleep. i was thinking about whitney houston and i just started looking up online whitney houston -- whatever that is, can we please mute that in the control room? larry, i think it may be your phone line. >> i don't know what it is but

there's a lot of interference. i'm on a land line so i don't know how that's happening. >> that's not larry's line, guys. >> that sounds better now. >> it was because of adele and the throat surgery. adele had this throat surgery that many artists have had. i looked up whitney houston's voice and they gave the reasons of why she may be losing her voice, it may have had to do with how she sang, using cigarettes and training and all this. it's interesting i was looking at this last night online and all of a sudden this. and they were talking about how whitney could get her career back if she really wanted to but she'd have to take vocal lessons, she'd have to sing in a different register. and all those people you were mentioning, mentioning judy garland, they were saying the same sort of references. isn't it sad, larry, to look at that picture on the screen now it says whitney houston

1963-2012? i never thought i'd be reporting this. >> people should not die young. it should not be a thing where you brought -- helped bring about it yourself through -- you know, i never understood -- well, you know, i was a smoker till i had a heart attack. so i know what it's like to be -- i was an addicted smoker. that's a slow killer. so i know what it's like to be irresistibly impulsed in a way to something. but when you hear this kind of thing, it's a jolt. i will try if you want, don, i'll try to describe what happens at that party. i'm sure cnn will be there at that party tonight. because this is clive's annual event and that was -- i mean, whitney -- i think of all the artists, whitney was his favorite. >> is it fair to say that clive

was her svengali? >> yes. he was a promoter and he was a recording genius. he find as sound, he had a great ear. i spent two hours up in his office. he has a great office at sony in new york, having lunch and listening to harry connick's last haalbum which clive produc and we talked about whitney and all the artists he brought forward. whitney was his personal favorite. i don't know what that's going to be like tonight. i'm sure that he's crushed. >> it will go on, right? it will end up i'm sure being a tribute in some way -- >> it will wind up a memorial dinner. there's a lot of surprise musical guests tonight. i think glen campbell is going to be -- glen's got alzheimer's, but he's performing at the grammys tomorrow night and i'm sure he'll sing tonight.

oh, i'll let you know tomorrow what it was like. >> larry, we'd like to have you when you go to that dinner and let me know when you have to go but can you stick around and talk with me a little bit about whitney? about her career? do you remember in -- tell me if you have to run. in the beginning she came out and she was fresh and had this amazing voice in the 80s and no one had seen anything like her with "saving all my love for you" and they were like who is this fresh-faced young girl? and not only talented but she was beautiful. she could have been a model. >> oh, i interviewed her first on my radio show when i had my national radio show, when she walked in the studio, i went, whoo, forget it. she combined a lot of things, talent and beauty and she had grace. she was a great performer and

she loved the business and i don't know how to keep repeating anything except just sad, sad, sad. >> hey, larry, one more thing i want to say. do you remember -- i don't know if it was the grammys, it may have been the grammys but it was a few years back and there was a big musical event happening in hollywood and whitney showed up and she was so gaunt and so thin, when she came on stage people gasped at how thin she had gotten. she said she had just been working really hard. do you remember that? >> don, it was this party and i was at the next table and she -- she was -- i didn't recognize her. >> hmm. larry, stand by. we're going to go to -- >> i got to run. i'll talk to you tomorrow. i'll tell you about the party. >> thank you, i appreciate it.

>> are you there? >> yeah, hey, don, how are you? >> we're hearing from whitney houston's representative that she has passed away at the age of 48. >> she has confirmed at the age of 48 that whitney houston has died. i'm here in beverly hills having lunch with a group of people that were with whitney two nights ago at an event here in hollywood, a pre-grammy event that kelly price was hosting. they were telling me whitney seemed to be in good spirits. she got on stage and sang. she sang with kelly, she sang by herself. they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. after the party there were pictures that popped up on the internet of whitney that seemed to be in disarray. nobody really knew what was going on. again, there was confirmation

today from her publicist that she has died at the age of 48. also one of our staff members was interviewing clive davis on thursday about his party tonight, his pre-grammy party and whitney was there and he saw whitney. he said she seemed to be okay, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. so this is all, as you can imagine, don, a complete shock to everyone right now. and i'm in, like i said, a restaurant where the word has spread here in beverly hills and everyone is just kind of sitting open mouthed and shocked about this. >> she had a movie coming out, correct? >> yes, she was doing the remake of "sparkle" with jordan sparks. >> with jordan sparks. and "sparkle" was the 1970s movie and they did the -- >> in the early 70s with irene cara and phillip michael thomas ash bit of a cult classic movie.

she was doing a remake, playing the mother of three girls that formed a singing group. again, throughout this movie everyone seemed to say whitney was doing really well. she sang in the movie. some the feedback we had heard from the set was that she came, she was prepared, she was get being back on her game. so we don't still know exactly what happened here. we don't know where she was found dead, where she died or what are the incidents surrounding this. all we do have right now is confirmation from her representative kristen foster that whitney houston has died at the age of 48. >> nischelle, "sparkle," the cult classic, an aretha franklin classic and it was irene cara and i forget the other young lady who played the lead in that movie but i've seen it a million times, a million, a million times. it was bound to be a hit.

but all of the press, all of the video we have seen from the making of that movie, she looked to be in good health, as she sat there with jordan sparks. >> yeah, she did. and, you know, again when a number of people saw her on thursday night, all of the information that i've been getting today is that whitney seemed to be in very good spirits, that she looked a bit disheveled but not anything out of the ordinary, that she had a good time at the event that she was at on thursday and that she seemed to be doing okay. so no one really knows what's been going on. i mean, it's been well documented her struggle with substance abuse. she seemed to have come back, trying to make that comeback. i think it will be very interesting what happens at clive davis's party tonight because clive was her mentor. he's the man who introduced her

to america. so it's going to be very interesting what happens at that event tonight. and tomorrow on the grammys, what they will do. i will be on the grammy red carpet tomorrow and i know i'm sure it will be a very solemn event there. there were tributes planned for clarence clemons, an etta james tribute that was planned and there was talk if there would be a don cornelius tribute but you have to figure with this news the whole show will be shaken up and that something will have to be done there tomorrow night. >> so listen, i got the word, i just finished the show, i got the word as i was going downstairs and i ran up because i don't have my glasses and i didn't even have time to log on to the computer. i'm going to read off my blackberry some of the tweets that are coming in. soldia boy is saying rest in peace whitney.

russell simmons, deeply saddened by the death of whit any house on. may she rest in peace. mark zuckerberg rest in peace, thank you for the amazing music you brought to the world. ludicrous is saying some of the most peaceful music. duran duran saying very sad to hear about whitney houston, rest in peace. carrie hillson, please say this news about whitney houston all over my timeline is not true. a very sick joke? she's hoping i can't take it, please. goldie hawn is saying i'm very sad to hear about whitney passing. she was one of the great artists. may she rest in peace. much like michael jackson, whitney jackson had the sound

track of my youth, at least my college years. we have so many these days. here's the thing, we have so many people who need autotune and who need computers and backup singers and dancers and whatever to make it in the music industry and to even sound halfway decent and whitney houston could get up there and open her mouth and music would come out. she didn't need a piano, she didn't need a band, she didn't need anything. she could just open her mouth and if there was any testament to that, she sang the star spangled banner and turned it into a number one hit. the girl had pipes. she was talent personified. >> she was the voice in the sound track of so many of our lives. >> yeah. it's so sad when people like her and amy winehouse. larry king mentioned a very similar incident with judy

garland. many times we find and you guys know i'm not lying, the most talented ones are sometimes the most troubled. i think that genius sometimes because people have such talent and are such geniuses that they are tortured many times and i think that may have been the case with whitney houston. she was so brilliant in her singing. and if you watched her, if you just watched her and you were a fan of talent, people could actually sing, she would mesmerize you. and here's the interesting thing, and i will say this to -- i didn't always agree with the musical choices because sometimes it was too poppy, a lot of people said it was too poppy. i would always say why? this is what made her rich, though, singing those pop songs. that's what garnered her all the money and the acclaim. but sometimes i wanted her and the criticism about whitney is that people wanted her to do songs and music that had more

depth, that was richer and that was more deserving of her voice, right. and that was it. if that was a criticism, then that's a compliment turned around. because her voice was so amazing people said, hey, listen, i want her to sing a song that's deserving to come out to have that voice singing. >> well, you hear now, i mean, every female pop and r & b singer that is out today is compared to whitney houston. because like i was saying before, she is the voice. her roots were rooted in gospel music, her mother sissy houston a gospel singer, her aunt dionne warwick a singer. she always said her favorite music was gospel. you saw that time and time again on award shows.

there was always a gospel singer singing tribute to her. her voice was so strong. when she came out in the 80s, i don't think anyone had ever seen -- you and larry were speaking to this too -- an african-american woman with a voice like that who was so beautiful and so strong -- >> and a mouthful of white, beautiful teeth, the bone structure. i hate to wax poetic about whitney houston but she was a beautiful woman who was extremely talented. >> yes, absolutely. and again, i just -- you know, we're talking about this and i can kind of hear it in your voice. i'm still pretty stunned and it's hard to digest those words that whitney houston has died. but once again cnn has confirmed it through her representative, that whitney houston at the age of 48 has passed away. the last time i think that publicly a lot of people saw her was thursday night at the event

she was at for kelly price and then i think she was at another event after that. and, again, our staffer saw her on thursday evening at -- with clive davis doing interviews for his pre -- >> nischelle, are you still there? i think i lost her for a little bit. let me just reset for our viewers here, and you're watching -- i'm not sure if we're broadcasting around the world but you're watching cnn domestic. i want to welcome our international viewers from around the world. i'm don lemon from cnn headquarters in atlanta. the breaking news is that singer, grammy award winning singer whitney houston has died at the age of 48. her representative, kristen foster, has confirmed that to cnn. we're looking at pictures of whitney there at her best. and whitney one of the all-time

most selling artists of all time. and as a matter of fact, i think whitney was in the guinness book the world records at one point for her lest aaward, six grammy awards, 32 bill board music awards, 22 music award, and that was as of 2010. her career started as we know -- it started in the church with her mom, sissy houston, a gospel singer. she came from a musical family because her aunt, dionne warwick, come on, everybody knows who dionne warwick is. she came from a musical family. the number one hit "saving all my love for you" in the 80s. then it was "how will i know" then "the greatest love of all," "i want to dance with somebody," "didn't we almost have it all,"

"where do broken hearts go" and on and on and on and then "the greatest love of all" and then the song that became her hit, the dolly parton classic that she remade and made her own. then she did movies, she did "waiting to exhale," she did "the preacher's wife." she was in the middle of a movie now. do we know if the "sparkle" remake she was doing, they had finished shooting, right? >> yes. the movie has finished shooting. i'm not sure if there was a release date yet, but the movie had finished shooting. i remember hearing jordan sparks talk about her experience shooting this movie with whitney houston and she said whitney was like a mother to her on the set of this movie, that whitney surrounded her with love, encouraged her, supported her and that she was very nervous because she was shooting a movie

with the whitney houston, the voice, but that it was a great experience for her. and whitney also talked about how good of an experience doing this movie was. this was her first movie since i think "waiting to exhale" and she talked about how wonderful it was to be back on a movie set and to be doing another movie and singing in this movie. >> i think it was "the preacher's wife." >> you're right. >> dionne warwick was her cousin. not her aunt but her cousin. go on. that's a small little thing. go on, nischelle. >> as i'm getting information now from my producers, i'm hearing entertainment producer alan duke is on the line. alan, you have more details about whitney's death? what can you tell us? >> well, i just spoke with a

close associate of rayjay, who has been seen on a number of occasions with whitney in recent weeks along los angeles. this is coming from a close friend of rayjay, a los angeles hip hop artist who goes by the name of i original young buck, he told me just a few minutes ago that rayjay was with her and is the one who found her dead at the beverly hills hotel. and we don't know any other details from that. i'm hoping to speak with rayjay norwood. but that is what we're being told by rayjay norwood. he just spoke with him, he has been with him. we have no other details. >> okay. you're saying at the beverly hilton hotel, which used to be the old merv griffin hotel,

right? >> it's where the clive grammy party was set and she was there in order to attend that party. >> the beverly hilton old school hollywood, the sag awards were just held there a couple weeks ago, many of the big events are held there and a lot of people stay there. it's one of those hotels that can you go to and it's quiet, you don't have to be bothered if you want to go to hollywood and still see starts and paparazzi doesn't really show up. so she was there presumably preparing for the clive davis party? >> yes, the clive davis party a huge event on the eve of the grammys. it's a who's who in the music industry and they were gathered there and it's my -- i'm being told that she was staying there as a guest last night in order to be there for the party. >> okay. nischelle, you had some other information you wanted to give

me? are you there? >> yes, i'm here. i'm actually headed to the beverly hilton as we speak. and i know that the information that alan just had was that she was at the beverly hilton. i should be there in a matter of minutes. as soon as i get there and get any information, don, i will come back on the air and share this with you. but i am headed to the beverly hilton at this point. >> alan, you're still with me, right? >> i'm here. >> nischelle, we can hear the background from your phone. as you're on your way, can you just hang up and we'll call you back? when your phone is up, i can't hear as well. so alan, again, according to the person that you have been speaking to, rayjay is the one who found her at the beverly hilton? >> the person that i talked to i know is a close associate of rayjay. i've seen them together. i know them to be close friends.

and he told me that rayjay is distraught and, quote, tripping right now about what has happened. he didn't give me any details other than what i told you, that they were together, you know. if you watch the tabloids on line, you've seen pictures of whitney around hollywood with rayjay in recent days and that they have been together the last several nights. now of course rayjay has had a reality show, he's the sister of bra brandy norwood the singer -- or the brother of brandy norwood the singer. and he is of course a singer. now, we're not getting any other details about it but that is what i'm being told by this person who i know to be a very close associate of rayjay. i'm hoping to speak to rayjay soon but have i not spoken to him directly. >> i saw tmz the other day and they had something on about whitney and rayjay and, you

know, it was actually very tongue and cheek. i think he was helping whitney houston get out of a car and they were being very playful at whatever event they were going to. they sort of insinuated a may-december romance but they weren't sure if they were friends or what was going on. but according to your sources they were actually dating? >> well, they've been together the last four nights. they were together last night and this morning at the hotel. what the nature of the relationship is i don't know, other than the fact that they were together. >> okay. >> but, you know, rayjay norwood of course is infamilious for several things, including the relationship with kim kardashian. >> we know we have lost a major,

major star, a major talent, whitney houston dead at the age of 48. alan duke, our entertainment producer has said that she had been staying at the beverly hilton for the last several nights in beverly hills preparing for clive davis' party tonight ant that entertainer rayjay apparently found her dead. that's according to alan duke. let's go now to dr. drew from hln. dr. drew, it's amazing to have to report this. so young, just 48 years old and we have seen -- and we know over the course of the last at least ten years what whitney houston had been dealing with. but that said we've lost a great talent. >> yeah. as with every time i have to get on television and have this conversation, it's a reminder that people that are in the public eye are human beings and some of them have very serious

conditions and they can be the brunt of jokes at times but the fact is these things are potentially deadly. now obviously i'm taking great liberty in assuming or even suggesting that her substantice history has something to do with what happened here. but if i'm a betting man, that's how it goes. a reminder that these are deadly conditions and celebrities are no different than anybody else, septemb except it's all done very publicly. poor demi is sick but in treatment and now whitney is not with us. >> dr. drew, don't go anywhere. let's listen to whitney perform. do we want to hear "greatest love of all"?

♪ every time i think of you, baby think of you baby ♪ say it again, i get so emotional baby ♪ yes, i do, think of you, think of you ♪ >> that's whitney houston singing "so emotional." dr. drew, as you say, they're public people and the trials and tribulatio tribulations. we don't know the cause of death but we do know what she's been

dealing with from her. she said she had been dealing with an addiction problem. the last time she checked herself into rehab i believe was may of 2011. >> and these things do progress. it gets worse as time goes along. as we get ordinary, or bodies are less able to handle the effects and ravages. it's a chronic condition and they are in harms way. as far as people in the public eye, celebrities don't have the same consequences the rest of us do. they may not have a employer that may pull us aside or a family that feels sufficiently empowered to pull them aside. people are too enamored with having them in theirless, making money for them, employing them. that's the special liability they have that pulls them out of the focus on their human

condition and back to their work, which they of course love and we love and we just have to remember these things are very, very dangerous. again, you and i, don, are talking out of school by jumping ahead. i keep saying that. i have other calls. but, again, when there are problems that have been there for a long time and they're potentially dangerous, that's usually what it is. >> dr. drew, stand by. i want to get your perspective a little built later on. alan duke is back. what do you know? >> okay, i just talked with the publicist for rayjay, who was telling me that rayjay was nowhere near there when whitney died. soap we're sorting this out. wh while a close associate of r rayjay tells me he was, his publicist says he was nowhere

near there. he refuses to give me any further information. we're going to backtrack on that. the publicist who is rayjay's publicist is saying that is inaccurate. >> let's back off of all of this and not get ahead of ourselves. when things like this happen we know the information comes fast and fewio and furious and not all of this is accurate. we'll catch our collective breath here and we will hold off a little bit. because what we do know and what's important according to her representative is that whitney houston has died, a 48-year-old singer extraordinaire, multiple award winning artist, numerous awards, has died at the age of 48 years old, someone who covers hollywood all the time, that's her beat, has covered whitney houston, has met whitney houston

is corine wynter. what a sad story to report. >> especially the night before the grammys. don, you'll see me looking down at my iphone periodically. i'm keeping my eyes on this. we've reached out to so many people such as denzel washington and kevin costner to get reaction. i've spoken to a couple people with whitney a couple nights ago at the four seasons hotel. apparently kelly price, you know her, don, the r & b singer, she's nominated for four grammys. she was performing at an event, called kelly price and friends, a jam section. i'm told by music executives there-the-saw whitney, she was on the red carpet smiling. in their words she looked fabulous. they said it wasn't the same

whitney that we'd all grown up with and have loved, she hasn't been the same since her therapy and rehab but they said she was there and looked strong and she was really excited and looking forward to tonight, the big clive davis gala. they're trying to piece together and figure out how this could have happened. my iphone is blowing up with people calling in and wanting to express their condolences. as my colleague alan duke just pointed out, there seems to be a lot of discrepancy of who found whitney houston. the publicist claims she got to the hotel before rayjay. we're trying to figure that out and we're checking in with the l.a. coroner's office to see if we have any more information at this hour. >> kareen stand by. continue to check with your sources. before we play this, whitney

houston dead at the age of 48. "greatest love of all." let's listen for a little bit. ♪ i found the greatest love of all inside of me ♪ the greatest love of all is easy to achieve ♪ learning to love yourself it it is the greatest love of all ♪ i believe the children are our future ♪ teach them well and let them lead the way ♪ show them all the beauty they possess inside ♪ give them a sense of pride to

make it easier ♪ let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be ♪ i decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow ♪ if i fail, if i succeed, at least i live as i believe ♪ no matter what they take from me, they can't take away my dignity ♪ because the greatest love of all ♪ is happening to me, i found the greatest love of all inside of me

♪ the greatest love of all is easy to achieve ♪ learning to love yourself it is the greatest love of all ♪ and if by chance that special place that you've been dreaming of ♪ leads you to a lonely place, find your strength in love ♪

>> singer whitney houston at her finest singing "the greatest love of all" there and of course you see her mom's in the video, too, sissy houston. whitney houston dead at the age of 48. not exactly sure of the cause of death but we're working on that. we understand that we're going to get a briefing sometime this evening. could be shortly. and that's the information that cnn is getting. i want to go to cnn entertainment correspondent nischelle turner who has new information now. >> first of all, let me apologize to you for all of the noise on my call before. i'm traveling to the beverly hilton, trying to get there and get more information. i just spoke with johnny gill, a member of new edition with bobby brown and a very close friend of his and he told me that bobby is with him and the entire group right now.

they're supposed to have a show in memphis tonight, that's where they are. he said that bobby is struggling but he's hanging in there. he's got all of his brothers around him is what he said, all of the members of new edition, that's he's devastated, as they all are. they didn't have a lot of details for me. i asked where bobby christina was. johnny said they believe she's here in los angeles. bobby apparently had spoken with her. she's not doing well he said. those were his words. and he said everyone is just in complete shock. i asked johnny who knows whitney very well as well how he's doing and he said he's just devastated. he didn't even know how to put into words how he felt. i did ask him, you know, are you guys sure that bobby's okay? what he said to me is we're going to take care of him. we're not going to let him out of our sight, we're going to take care of him and we're going

to be here with him. he said they were trying to decide ride now what to do about their concert tonight, what they were going to do, how they would approach it, if they would even perform. they performed last night in louisville, kentucky and everything seemed to be fine at that point, johnny said. bum he did s-- but he did say understandably that bobby brown is struggling now. >> i can't only imagine. bobby christina, the product of that marriage. that was a tumultuous period as well. we know they lived in a near suburb of atlanta. he people knew them at town, people would see them at town and you would see it here and we would hear about it because being bobby brown was the name of that reality show. when they were going to do that reality show, whitney said she was wasn't going to have anything to do with it, it was

just going to be bobby and all of a sudden whitney turned up in the reality show and you got to see them up close and personal and to many some things that should not have been revealed. stand by, please, if you will. i want to go to howard bragman. are you there? >> yes. >> howard bragman is a publicist to the stars out in hollywood. howard, thank you so much. you have had to deal with stars who are very famous and powerful and also having tumultuous personal lives as well much like whitney houston. >> absolutely. absolutely. i spend a lot of time doing that. it's just a really sad night, don. there's -- you know, we're all kind of shocked but nobody's really surprised. >> i said, howard, that i never thought that i would be doing this but in the back of everyone's mind we always

thought that there would be possibly a bad end or something tragic that would come out of this because -- and we don't know the cause of death. as dr. drew said, we're just sort of speculating here, but to die at 48, one wonders what the circumstances were behind it, correct? >> no, absolutely. i mean, i don't think there's a lot of real questions. but, i mean, i think a couple issues tonight is give our condolences to the family. she's got a large musical family you know, to -- >> i need to get to a press conference now, howard. stand by. let's listen in. >> at approximately 3:43 p.m. this afternoon the beverly hills police department received an emergency call from the beverly hilton hotel. it was a medical aid call. officers arrived on scene in approximately two minutes. the fire department was already on scene, due to the fact they