that does it for us. we will be back here bright and early tomorrow morning. christine romans in the hot seat. very nice to see you. >> there's a lot of business news today. >> there is. a lot going on in general. it's nice to be in the seat tomorrow. i'm christine romans, let's get you up to speed. there was a time she could hold

a note forever. ♪ and i ♪ will always love you wow. but it was her life that would flame out too soon. two days after whitney houston's body was found in a hollywood hotel room, there's more questions than answers in her death. coroner's finished her autopsy but it could be weeks before they release toxicology reports and a cause of death. now a witness at the hotel says houston was seen within the hour before she was found dead. the music industry in mourning and paying respects. ♪ love you ♪ i will always love you >> you'll be hearing that song a lot over the next few days. artists and fans made their sorrow known last night at the

grammy awards. kyra phillips caught up with houston's close friend, the singer kim burrell who said she exchanged voice messages in the days before her death. >> she said she needed to see you. what do you think she was saying? >> that was just her. whenever she knew i was in the air, that we needed to see each other. and express our love. express our love for each other. and it's just very hard today to see all of this. it's very surreal. but i'm trying very hard to be strong for her. president obama rolls out his 2013 budget plan today and it's already under fire from republicans. it calls for raising taxes on the wealthy and education spend ing increases.

we will hear from the president live about that any minute now. syrian forces are again on the attack in the city of homs. once again the arab league is trying to find a way to stop the bloodshed there. the league is calling for a joint peacekeeping mission with the u.n. for the first time russia say it is ready to propose an agreement between the gulf countries and the u.n. security council. many syrians are afraid to speak out even after they flee the country. >> translator: i went downtown and saw someone dragging an injured man. i took them on my motorcycle. a man left behind was shot dead. i was beaten up by the security forces. they broke bones here and here. my kneecap and my skull. the injured man was also beaten u up. >> and another day of chaos in greece. protests rage outside parliament

as lawmakers there approve yet another round of budget cuts needed for a $172 billion bailout by europe's leaders. dozens have been arrested and injured in the clashes. but a very different reaction in the u.s. stocks are up following greece's decision. a rebound from friday's losses when wall street feared austerity measures would not pass. now the dow jones up about 47 points this morning. greece was a problem last week, at least today investors are encouraged by the progress they're seeing there. two legal wins today for former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky who was awaiting trial on child sex abuse charges. a judge just ruled that sandusky can see his grandchildren with the exception of three of those grandchildren involved in a custody fight. the judge also denied a prosecution request to select a jury outside the county where sandusky is being prosecuted.

she sold more than 170 million records worldwide, but whitney houston will be remembered as much for her personal demons as her success and that voice. don lemon is live for us in los angeles with the latest details on the death of the pop sensation. don, there are so many questions. you just spoke to the l.a. coroner. we're getting a clearer picture of the last hour even of her life. >> you know, it was good that ed winter, the assistant chief came out of the l.a. county coroner's office to explain things to reporters. because he said there's been a lot of misinformation out there. he's been paying attention to the news reports. he came out moments ago. originally he said he wouldn't have an update for a couple of days, maybe on wednesday. he said within an hour, within the room someone saw her within the room. and then apparently they were gone away for an hour, she was left in the room by herself, came back after an hour, found

whitney houston, then they brought in reenforcements, security guards, emergency workers from the hotel room. that's when she found whitney houston's body in the bathtub. those reports about, you know, did she drowned? was there enough water in her lungs? he said at this point they don't know until they get the results back. i said, i asked him, you do autopsies all the time. usually you have some idea, some idea by just looking at the body and doing the initial autopsy. he said yes and no. here's my question, here's his answer and then we'll talk about it. >> the toxicology report is just a confirmation. but you have some idea usually just from the initial look at scene and looking at her body as to what the cause of death might be. i know you don't want to speculate. >> no. that's not true. you can look at a body and not know what the cause of death is. you might have a suspicion. but the person could have suffered a heart attack or an embolism or something. and no matter what medications

they're taking, until we run a tox and see the level and what's in the system, we're not going to speculate. >> so, where they may have -- he says they may have a suspicion because she was found in a bathtub, you would assume she drowned, and maybe drowned because she was unconscious and went under the water. that may be the suspicion, but he said there's no sign of trauma, nothing looks out of the ordinary. prescription bottles, he does say they were found. that's according to the police as well. but here's what he said, he said, listen, we did find prescription medication in her room. but i have more prescription medication in my possession at my home than was found in the room. i thought that was interesting for him to say that. there were the pictures of her coming out of this nightclub in los angeles, just not long before she died. you saw she had some scratches on her leg, what looked to be red stains, could be blood or wine. he said there were no obvious

signs of trauma. nothing out of the ordinary. her body, if they want to take her body, her family, they can right now. the body has not been placed on hold but the information has been placed on hold. >> don, did he say who found her? who was the person who saw her in the room? was it a hotel staffer? a family member? they didn't go that far? >> family member. they don't believe it was a hotel staff member. because she was seen in the room. only certain people had access to the room. family members or people within the entourage or security guards. he believes, he says it's not su sure, it may have been a sister-in-law. they had seen her in the room about an hour away. they went away to do other things. when that person came back, she discovered whitney and called for reinforcement and that's what happened. also by the time the coroner said they got there, the body had been removed from the tub. so reports about whether there was enough water in the tub for her to drowned, he doesn't know at this point.

whether there was enough water in her lungs, they don't know. they are awaiting on the toxicology. as we know, they were never able to revive her. >> all right. don lemon in l.a., thanks. now we want to hear from you on this story that everyone is talking about today. whitney houston was both a pop icon and a woman haunted by her personal demons. our talk back question, how will you remember whitney houston? you can post your thoughts on susan malveaux's facebook page. here's a rundown of some of the things we're covering this morning. i'll talk live to singer and songwriter brian mcknight about the last time he saw whitney houston. and the president sends congress a budget. he wants the wealthy to pay more in taxes. hear what he has to say about it. then -- ♪ syria's neighbors again try to stop the killing. [ beep ] [ mom ] scooter?

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...we inspected his brakes for free. free is good. free is very good. my money. my choice. my meineke. welcome back. we want to get straight to the president in virginia talking about his new budget for 2013. let's listen. >> it is great to be back here at nova. i've been here so many times i'm about three credits short of graduation. but, you know, there are a couple of reasons that i keep on coming back. first of all, i think that dr. templin and the whole administration here are doing a

great job. i want to give them a big round of applause. the other reason is because joe biden keeps talking up how great you are. and just as i do what michelle tells me to do, i also do what joe biden tells me to do. in addition, by the way, i want to acknowledge we also have our secretary of labor here, hilda solice who is doing an outstanding job. but the main reason i keep coming back, i think this institution is an example of what's best about america. as some of you may have your eye on a four-year college, some of you may be trying to learn new skills that can lead to a new job like mike or a job that pays

more, gives you more opportunity, but all of you are here because you believe in yourselves, you believe in your ability, you believe in the future of this country. and that's something that inspires me. and you guys should take great pride in it. now, the truth is the skills and training you get here will be the best tools you have to achieve the american promise. the promise that if you work hard, you can do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college and put a little away for retirement. and the defining issue of our time is how to keep this promise alive today for everybody. because we have a choice. we can settle for a country where a few people do really, really well and everybody else struggles to get by.

or we can restore an economy where everybody gets a fair shot, everybody does their fair share, everybody plays by the same set of rules from washington to wall street to main street. that's the america you believe in. now we're still recovering from one of the worst economic crises in three generations. we have a long way to go before everybody who wants a good job can find one. before middle class americans regain that sense of security that's been slipping away for too long. long before the recession hit. but over the last 23 months, we've added 3.7 million new jobs.

american manufacturers are creating jobs for the first type since the 1990s. the economy is growing stronger. the recovery is speeding up. and the last thing we can afford to do right now is go back to the very policies that got us into this mess in the first place. we can't afford it. the last thing we need is for washington to stand in the way of america's comeback. now what does that mean concretely? for starters, congress needs to stop taxes from going up on 160 million americans by the end of this month. and if they don't act, that's exactly what will happen. congress needs to pass an extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance without drama and without delay

and without linking it to some other ideological side issues. we've been through this before, remember? we've seen this movie. we don't need to see it again. the time for self-inflicted wounds to our economy has to be over. now is the time for action. now is the time for all of us to move forward. but preventing a tax hike on the middle class, that's only the beginning. that's just starters. in the state of the union i outlined a blueprint for an economy that is built to last. an economy built on new manufacturing and new sources of energy and new skills and education for the american people. today we're releasing the details of that blueprint in the form of next year's budget. and don't worry, i will not read it to you. it's long, a lot of numbers.

but the main idea in the budget is this -- at a time when our economy is growing and creating jobs at a faster clip, we've got to do everything in our power to keep this recovery on track. part of our job is to bring down our deficit. if congress adopts this budget, then along with the cuts that we've already made, we'll be able to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion by the year 2022. $4 trillion. i'm proposing some difficult cuts that frankly i wouldn't normally make if they weren't absolutely necessary, but they are. and the truth is we're going to have to make some tough choices in order to put this country back on a more sustainable fiscal path. by reducing our deficit in the long-term, what that allows us to do is invest in the things that will help grow our economy

right now. we can't cut back on those things that are important for us to grow. we can't just cut our way into growth. we can cut back on the things that we don't need. but we also have to make sure that everyone is paying their fair share for the things that we do need. we need to restore american manufacturing by ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, giving them to companies that create jobs right here in the state of america. that's something that everybody should agree on. we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by ending the subsidies for oil companies and doubling down on clean energy that generates jobs and strennestre strengthens our security. and to make sure our businesses don't have to move overseas to

find skilled workers, we've got to invest in places like nova, and make sure higher education is affordable for every hard-working american. that's what i want to focus on today, what we need to do in terms of higher education. and community colleges in mr particular. employers today are looking for the most skilled, educated workers. i don't want them to find them in india or china. i want businesses to find those workers right here in the united stat states. the skills and training that employers are looking for begins with the men and women who educate our children. all of us can point to a teacher who made a difference in our lives. i know i can.

i want this congress to give our schools the resources to keep good teachers on the job and reward the betst teachers. in return, they need to give schools the flexibility to stop teaching to the test and help kids who aren't learning. that's something we can do. so making sure we've got the most skilled workers starts early. it starts with k through 12, it starts before k through 12, making sure every child is prepared. and when an american of any age wants to pursue any kind of higher education, whether it's that high school grad who is just trying to get that first, you know, couple of years of college education, or somebody like mike, you know, who's in the process of retraining.

whether it's two years or four years or more, we've got to make sure that education is affordable and available to everybody who wants to go. now this congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling this july. that's pretty important. that's in our budget. we're saying to congress now is not the time to make school more expensive for young people, and they can act right now to make that change. they also need to take the tuition tax credit that my administration put in the budget over these last few years, a tax credit that saves families thousands of dollars on tuition, we need to make that permanent. it shouldn't be temporary, it should be permanent.

so between the increases we've provided in pell grants, the tax credits, keeping interest rates low, all that will help. and millions of students across the country have benefited from that. but students and taxpayers can't just keep on subsidizing skyrocketing tuition. we will run out of money. so, that's why i've asked states and colleges to do their part to keep costs down. we're putting colleges and universities on notice. you can't just keep on raising tuition and expect us to keep on coming up with more and more money. because tuition inflation has actually gone up faster than health care. that's hard to do. so what we're saying to states, colleges, universities, if you can't stop tuition from going up, then funding you get from

taxpayers will go down because higher education cannot be a luxury. it is an economic imperative that every family in america should be able to afford. that's part of the american promise in the 21st century. so that's what we need to do to get more americans ready for the jobs of the future, but what about the jobs open today? i talked about this at the state of the union. there are millions of jobs open right now and there are millions of people who are unemployed. the question is how do we match up those workers to those jobs? what about the companies that are looking to hire right now? i hear from business leaders all the time who want to hire in the united states, but at the moment they cannot always find workers with the right skills.

growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do those jobs. think about that. at a time when millions of americans are looking for work, we shouldn't have any job openings out there. they should all be getting filled up. here in america we've got the best workers and some of the fastest growing companies in the world. there's no reason we can't connect the two. and places like nova are proving we know how to do it. this institution proves we know how to do it. so let's say you are a single parent or a returning veteran, or somebody who just watches a shot at a better paying job. you're a hard worker, a fast learner, you're motivated. you know there are companies looking to hire. you just need to figure out how to acquire some of the specific skills, the specialized skills

that the companies need and you need to figure that out as quickly as possible. hopefully without taking on tons of debt. everybody in america should be able to get those skills at a community college like nova. and companies looking to hire should be able to count on these schools to provided them with a steady stream of workers qualified to fill those specific jobs. that's why mike was sharing his story. as mike mentioned, he worked in the mortgage and real estate industry for ten years. when business declined after 9/11, he decided to start over. so he began selling build materials. then the bottom fell out of the housing market so mike had to start all over again. he has a knack for computers. so he figured he would try a career in cybersecurity, where there is a lot of hiring. that's going to be a growth industry. luckily for mike, nova is home

to a program called cyberwatch. so he signed up. even though he's driving a limo on the side, he's got to pay bills, but he's working two jobs and going to school. and in december he got two certificates -- and by the way finished with a 4.0, so we're proud of that. now he's working towards his associates degree. when he graduates, mike will have access to a network of over 40 companies and government agencies to help him find a job. so we need more stories like mike's. that's why my administration is helping community colleges redesign training programs so students can learn the skills that are most in demand in industries like health care sciences, advanced

manufacturing. and that's why we're making a national commitment to train 2 million americans with skills they need to get a job right now or start their own business right now. we've lined up more companies that want to help. we've already got model partnerships between major businesses like seemans and community colleges in places like charlotte, louisville, orlando. they are already up and running, we know how they work. that's why i asked dr. biden to take a bus tour through several states to highlight businesses and community colleges that are working together to train workers for careers that are in demand right now. we have to make she's examples a model for the entire nation.

and we also need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers, places where folks can learn the skills that local businesses are looking for right now from data management to high-tech manufacturing. this should be an engine of job growth all across the country, these community colleges, that's why we've got to support them. that's why it's such a big priority. so, an economy built to last demands that we keep doing everything we can to help students learn the skills that businesses are looking for. it mean we have to keep strengthening american manufacturing, invest in american energy, double down on the clean energy creating jobs. but it also means we have to

renew the american values of fair play and shared responsibility. you know, the budget that we're releasing today is a reflection of shared responsibility. it says that if we're serious about investing in our future, investing in community colleges, investing in new energy technology, investing in basic research, we've got to pay for it. that means we have to make some choices. right now we're scheduled to spend nearly $1 trillion more on what was intended to be a temporary tax cut for the wealthiest 2% of americans. we already spent about that much. now we're scheduled to spend another trillion. keep in mind a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates

than millions of middle class households. you've heard me say it warren buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. that's not fair. it doesn't make sense at a time when we have to pull together to get the country moving. i don't need a tax break. we don't need to be providing additional tax cuts for folks who are doing really, really, really, really well. do we want to keep these tax cuts for wealthiest americans or keep investing in everything else, education, clean energy, a strong military, care for our veterans? we can't do both. we can't afford it. some people go around and they say the president is engaging in class warfare. that's not class warfare, that's

comm comm commonsen sense. that's common sense. asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as a secretary when it comes to his tax rate, that's just common sense, because warren buffett is doing fine. i'm doing fine, we don't need the tax breaks. you need them. you're the ones who see your wages stall. you're the one who costs for everything from college to groceries has gone up. you're the ones who deserve a break. and we don't begrudge success in america. we aspire to it. i want everybody here to go out there and do great. i want you to make loads of money if you can. that's wonderful. we expect people to earn it. study hard, work hard for it. so we don't envy the wealthy,

but we do expect everybody to do their fair share. so that everybody has opportunity, not just some. and given where our deficit is, it's just a matter of math that folks like me are going to have to do a little bit more because americans understand that if i get a tax break i don't need and the country can't afford, then one or two things will happen. either that means we have to add to the deficit or it means you've got to pay for it. it means the seniors have got to pay for it in terms of suddenly their medicare benefits are costing more. it means a student suddenly sees their interest rates go up higher at a time when they can't afford it. it means the family that's struggling to get by is having to do more because i'm doing less. that's not right. it's not who we are. each of us is here only because

somebody somewhere felt a responsibility to each other and to our country's future. that's why they made investments in places like nova. here in america the story has never been about what we can do just by ourselves, it's about what we can do together. it's about believing in our future and the future of our country. you believe in that future. that's why you're working hard, that's why you're putting in long hours, that's why mike is doing what he's doing. some of you are balancing a job at the same time you're going to school. you're scrimping and scratching to make sure you can pay tuition here. you know that doing big things isn't easy, but you haven't given up. that's the spirit we've got to have right now. we don't give up in this country. we look out for each other, we pull together, we work hard. we reach for new opportunities, we pull each other up. that's who we are.

and if we work together in common purpose we will build an economy that lasts and remind people around the world why america is the greatest country on earth. thank you very much, everybody. god bless you. god bless the united states of america. >> all right. there's the president in virginia talking about his new budget, the 2013 budget. let's get to kate baldwin. no surprise, really, republicans evenleased the budget, and in the minutes thereafter said no go. in any given year a president's budgets are aspirational, but this is an election your so it's almost hypothetical because this is about fighting with the party that wants to take his job. >> that's right. i couldn't say it better than myself. it's an aspirational -- they call it a blueprint in any given year in a political year it's highly unlikely. really not going to go anywhere in a congress, especially with

the house controlled by republicans. reaction was coming out before the president even formally announced his budget. i got a statement from the top republican in the state, mitch mcconne mcconnell summing up what we'll really hear from republicans this is not a budget at all this is a campaign document. you want to hear more? listen here to congressman jeb hensarling, a member of the house republican leadership from earlier this morning. >> i'm bitterly disappointed in two respects. number one, the president told us at the end of his first term ef would c he would cut the deficit in half. instead we have our first, second, third, and fourth trial trillion dollar deficit. the largest debt we have had and a percentage of our economy

since world war ii. >> what are republicans critical of in a lot. two main things they're focusing in on, some of which is included in the budget and some of which is not. christine, i heard you talking about it all day today, the issue about getting new revenue through tax increases, $1.5 trillion in tax increase, letting the bush tax credits expire, the warren buffett rule, the republicans have been against that that's a tax increase on people making more than $1 million and closing and eliminating some corporate tax breaks. that's included in the budget and part of what republicans are blasting. now, what's not included in the budget, republicans say the president in this budget is not tackling in a significant way, a way to deal with our long-term debt problem and that's another thing that republicans are really jumping on. part of the fight we've been hearing for months and months now this just seems to be another chapter of that.

>> everyone agree we have a debt problem but they differ dramatically on how to fix it. we have new details on the memorial service being planned for whitney houston. we'll have a live report from los angeles. !! whwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ahah h heaeadsds u up. whwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! evevererytythihingng y youou l , nonow w momobibilele.. dodownwnloloadad t thehe n nep totodaday.y. and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now.

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heavenly father, we thank you for sharing our sister whitney with us. today our thoughts are with her mother, her daughter and all of her loved ones. >> it was a night to celebrate music and to mourn the passing of a pop giant. nischelle turner joins me from los angeles with news about the funeral plans for whitney houston. what are you hearing at this hour, nischelle? >> first we should tell you whitney houston's body is still at the l.a. coroner's office but it will be released to the family when they want it. there were reports out there that said whitney's body would be flown to atlanta, maybe as early as tomorrow. but a source close to whitney's family tells me her body will actually be taken to new jersey when it's released to the family. that's what her mother wants. she wants her to be buried in new jersey where she was born. that this could happen as early as friday or saturday. this source told me that "the family wants to lay her to rest

where she began." christine? >> wow. these decisions the families are having make now. the music industry reacting. how are they reacting to the death of whitney houston? >> you can imagine. it's a very solemn time in hollywood right now. the grammy red carpet was very odd, eerie, there was a heaviness on it last night. i did speak with two of whitney's closest friends, kelly price and kim burrell on the red carpet last night. kelly had that grammy party on thursday night where whitney got up and sang a duet of "jesus loves me" with her. listen to what they said. >> whitney parties, sang, gave a performance that was unscheduled. i never expected her to take the stage. as i addressed the audience to

acknowledge her to be there, she got up on stage and said give me the microphone. >> it wasn't a popularity thing for me. it was love. she was my sister. as i said on different telecasts, i love her. and she's my sister. and she'll always be my sister. and i love her dearly. >> you know, kim burrell told me as well that bobbi kristina was having a difficult time with this, but she sat down with her and said she will get through this. at first she was saying i can't, i don't know how i will get through this, but later in the conversation she said, yes, i can do this. i will be okay. we know bobbi kristina was taken to the hospital on two occasions since her mother's death. we also know bobby brown has come back to los angeles to be

with his daughter in this time of mourning whitney's death. >> nischelle turner in los angeles, thank you. ♪ t ♪ of the free ♪ and the home of the brave >> her voice was a national treasure. he was her contemporary and her friend. brian mcknight joins me now on the phone to talk about the tragic death of pop sensation whitney houston. you just heard her singing the national anthem. that voice. her voice. what she could do to a note. she didn't just sing a song. she told a story with that voice. tell me -- as a musician, as a songwriter what did that voice mean for you and your craft? >> she was a songwriter's dream.

because you would be able to write a song for her knowing that no matter what you did, she would be able to sing it and deliver that song better than anybody in the world. she was one of greatest voices we've ever had, male, female or otherwise. that's why people are so touched. it's meaning so much to so many people as you watch twitter, facebook, the outpouring of love worldwide for a person. my only wish would have been that we could have loved her more while she was here. >> that voice spanned, i think, five octaves. she found her voice in the church. much like you. what happened? i mean, we all wish we could still be listening to her and she could still be making records, but her star really rose so quickly and it burned so brightly. you know, what happened to that voice and that fame? what did it do to her? >> you know what? i'm not sure what happened. i don't think any of us will

really know what it was. i'm sure we're all very glad that we had the opportunity to be a witness to it while it was here. >> yeah. >> i think that sometimes we -- we worry so much about the whys and don't concentrate enough on the fact that we were able to witness something that only happens once in a lifetime. i'm not sure if we'll ever see or hear anything like this again. >> you're so fortunate -- you just saw her a few days ago. >> i did. >> and your children got to meet her. tell me about talking with her, tell me about meeting her that last time and being there with your children and about that encounter. >> well, you always want the opportunity for your children to be able to meet an icon. so that they can feel that love. there's a presence that you feel when you're around someone like whitney houston. that especially for upcoming singers and songwriters like my children, they need to feel that

more than being around their dad. it's great for them to see her. great for them to see her unlike how she was sometimes painted. she was upbeat. happy. she was smiling. i was glad to see her out and having a good time. and when saturday came and to hear the news, it was -- because my youngest son text me. i was at a sound shoot, i had a show myself. i couldn't believe he was texting me what happened. and i'm just glad they had that opportunity to see her and be around her and meet bobbi kristina as well because she was there that night. i still don't know what to say about that other than i'm glad i had an opportunity to be around her. to be inspired by her. i remember the very first time i heard her sing, i was 12, 13 years old. i knew that what i wanted to do. >> she wanted to see you when you first played at radio city

in new york. she wanted tickets to see you. >> it was so crazy the first time i played there. she was. there i could see her from the stage standing and singing with me. that inspired me more. as artists, we love other artists. this is whitney houston. she could have gone to see anybody that night and she came to see me. that was the beginning of our friendship. i don't know her the way other people know her. i'm the type of person, i don't want to delve into your private life, but when somebody recognizes you, they want to be a part of your life and they tell you they listen to your records, it's a wonderful, wonderful thing. >> brian mcknight, thank you. thank you so much. our thoughts are with everyone who knows whitney houston. thanks. >> thank you. you've been sounding off op our talk back question, pop icon or struggling soul struggling with abuse?

how will you remember whitney houston? paul says lovely, talenteded, and troubled. and elias says every era of music has a voice. she will never be matched. >> kera says i will always remember whitney houston as the pop diva i grew up during my carefree high school days. her songs will always make me happy. more of your responses in the next hour. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers.

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♪ home was an airport lounge and an ipad ♪ ♪ made sure his credit score did not go bad ♪ ♪ with a free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ app that he had ♪ downloaded it in the himalayas ♪ ♪ while meditating like a true playa ♪ ♪ now when he's surfing down in chile'a ♪ ♪ he can see when his score is in danger ♪ ♪ if you're a mobile type on the go ♪ ♪ i suggest you take a tip from my bro ♪ ♪ and download the app that lets you know ♪ ♪ at free-credit-score-dot-com now let's go. ♪ vo: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. valentine's day is tomorrow, but for many of you romance might be right in the office. alison kosik is here with today's tips on making sure your office romance doesn't cause problems with your job. it's where you spend so much of

your time, at work, right? >> yeah, you know what, these hot office romances, they may be more common than you think. there's a new careerbuilder survey that found that 38% of workers said they dated a co-worker at least once over the course of their career. 31% of them say their office romance led to marriage. one in five admit to dating a boss at some point. whether it's the boss or a co-worker, 37% say they kept their relationship a secret because many companies have written or verbal policies regarding office relationships. so the president of jobbound training solutions says know what the rules are, and most of all, don't vile ought your company's office -- violate your company's office dating policy. if you do, be prepared to face the career repercussions which could be a formal reprimand to a transfer out of a department or, in extreme cases, you could be fired. christine? >> you know, i did meet my husband at the office. but we don't work at the same office now. you can see. >> tell, tell. >> there must be ground rules

for folks. know about office relationships. discreet i would think is the number-one word. >> there are. >> yes. and bret karr says the best thing to do is make up your own work policy with your significant bother how you're going to behave around each other while you're at the office. and this is a no-brainer. always keep it professional in the workplace. don't chase each other around the desk for fun. also, if you -- if you do work side by side, make sure to remain objective with all the things that involve work, especially don't play favorites. it doesn't look good for you, your partner, with your boss or fellow co-workers. if for some reason it doesn't work out, karr says don't vent. don't share information about your relationship with your co-workers. stay mature, remain respectful. you don't want to bring your relationship baggage to the workplace. >> yeah. don't bring any baggage to the workplace. we've got too many -- this is not the workplace to be messing around with. thank you very much. >> i hear you. all right. mitt romney wins two matchups over the weekend. conservatives still have questions about whether he

should be their nominee. details in our political update. [ beep ] [ mom ] scooter? the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. it's got tender white meat chicken. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night?

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two big wins for mitt romney, but some conservatives still are not convinced he's their guy. joe johns live from the political desk in washington. hi, joe. you know, those victories over the weekend helped, but he's still got teamwork do with conservatives, doesn't he? even though, didn't he refer to himself as severely conservative? >> christine, there's more than one sign mitt romney hasn't sealed the deal. in fact, a new american research group poll in the state of michigan shows even in michigan, rick santorum is ahead of romney. that's because michigan, you know, the important thing there is that michigan is the state where romney's father was governor back in the day. romney was governor of massachusetts, where he says he was "severely conservative." that language hasn't settled real well with everyone, including sarah palin who says romney is going to have to work harder for the conservative vote. listen -- >> i am not convinced, and i don't think that the majority of gop and independent voters are

convinced. that is why you don't see romney get over that hump. he's still in the 3 % mark when it comes to approval. and primary wins and caucus wins. he still hasn't risen above that yet because we are not convinced. >> we're not convinced. so romney may have gotten back on track over the weekend, but a lot of republicans are saying he may not quite be the guy they want to get behind just yet. >> meantime, rick santorum sounding a lot more confident lately. what's he saying about the race for the gop nomination? >> as you might expect, rick santorum has also taken wish romney's claim that he was severely conservative. the campaign has sent signals suggesting the romney people may have gone just a little too far in pushing their guy at the conservative political action conference here in washington. so perhaps, though, more importantly, santorum is now trying to make the case that it's a two-person race between him and romney.

that of course would suggest newt gingrich is no longer a factor. by the way, that's the same thing newt gingrich was saying a few weeks ago. still a long way to go. no -- none of these candidates i think has gone anywhere near sealing the deal. they can't really make a claim create that they've locked up the nomination. >> joe johns, that means we have an awful lot to keep following. for the latest political news, you know where to go, cnnpolitics.com. top of the hour, i'm christine romans in for suzanne malveaux. we're getting new information on the funeral arrangements for whitney houston this hour. a source close to houston tells cnn she'll be buried friday or saturday in new jersey. her body was found two days ago in the bathtub in a hotel room if hollywood. there are still more questions than answers in the pop superstar's death. coroners have finished houston's autopsy, but they won't release the cause of death for several weeks. now the coroner says a witness at the hotel reported seeing

houston just one hour before she was found dead. the music industry is in mourning and paying its respects. ♪ love you i will always love you ♪ >> you'll be hearing that song a lot over the next few days. fellow artists and fans made their sorrow known at last night's grammy awards, honoring the singer and remembering her triumphs. this morning our kyra phillips caught up with houston's close friend, the singer kim barrell. she said she exchanged voice mails with houston in the days before her death. >> she said she needed to see you. what do you think she was saying? >> that was just her -- whenever she knew i was near, that we needed to see each other. and express our love -- express our love for each other.

it's just very hard today to see all of this. it's verier is real, but i'm try -- verier is recall, but i'm trying very hard to be strong for her. president obama rolls out his 2013 budget plan. it's already under fire from republicans. the plan calls for raising taxes on the very rich and for increased spending on infrastructure and education. the president made a push for his budget in a speech last hour. and he repeated his call for extending the payroll tax cut. >> congress needs to pass an extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance without drama and without delay and without linking it to some other ideological side issues. we've been through this before, remember? we've seen this movie. we don't need to see it again. the time for self-inflicted wounds to our economy has previously over. [ explosion ]

syrian forces are again on the attack in homs. once again the arab league is trying to find a way to stop the bloodshed in syria. the league is calling for a joint peacekeeping mission with the u.n. for the first time, that now says it is ready to promote a security agreement between both countries and the u.n. security council. many syrians are afraid to speak out, afraid even after they've left the country. >> translator: i went downtown and saw someone dragging an injured man. i took them on my motorcycle. a man left behind was shot dead. i was beaten up by the security forces. they broke bones here and here. my kneecap and my skull. the injured man was also baent up. [ crowd noise ] another day of chaos in greece. protests raged outside parliament as lawmakers approved yet another round of budget cuts needed for a $172 billion

bailout by europe's leaders. dozens have been arrested, and many have been injured, as well, in those clashes. a very different reaction in the zumpt stocks are up following greece's decision. you can see they're up about 61 points now. a rebound from friday's losses when wall street feared that those austerity measures would not pass. two legal wins today for former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky. he's awaiting trial, of course, on child sex abuse charges. a judge has just ruled that sandusky can see his grandchildren with the exception of three greatkids who are involved in a custody fight. the judge also denied a prosecution request to select a jury outside the county where sandusky is being prosecuted. she sold more than 170 million records worldwide, but whitney houston will be remembered as much for her personal demons as her success. don lemon live in los angeles with the latest on the death of

whitney houston. don, still flying to put the pieces together. what everyone's left with is this voice has been silenced. what does the l.a. coroner know now? >> reporter: yeah, this voice has been silenced. you know, i think people keep saying she's going to be remembered for her tribulations as well as her triumphs. i think really more for her talent. that will pass because she was so talented. as you said, how many records did she sell? you're right, i did speak with the l.a. coroner's assistant chief, ed winter, a short time ago. and he cleared up information. everybody's asking, why is it taking so long to find out exactly what happened the last moments of whitney houston's life in that hotel room. and i asked him, listen, just from doing the autopsy, if the autopsy is complete, shouldn't you have some idea, some idea of the cause of death? he said, yes and no. they want to be careful. here's a bit of my conversation

with him. confirmation that you have some idea usually just from the initial look at the scene and looking at her body as to what the cause of death might be. i know you don't want to speculate -- >> no, that's not true. you can look at a body and not know what the cause of death is. you might have a suspicion, but the person could have suffered a heart attack or an embolism or something, and no matter what medications they're taking, until we run a tox and see the level and what's in the system, we're not going speculate. >> so he says they have some suspicion -- they have some idea, they believe, they just don't want to release it to the public now. and he reeled off a number of different stars, a number of people who died. and they thought it was one thing and it turns out it was another or -- who died and they thought it was one thing, it turned out to be that. they have some idea, but they don't want to, you know, say for

sure until they get those test results back. >> you know, it's interesting because we were talking about, well, should be known for her talent or tribulations. i think her talent was unique. her tribulations were not, you know? a lot of other people have really struggled with some of those demons, but not everyone has that voice. tell me about what we know about the prescription bottles, what was found in the room, what she may have been taking and all of that. >> yep. yeah. i talked to him about that afterwards and said, listen, there have been reports about prescription bottles. he said, i haven't really spoken to anyone about prescription bottles. but he did confirm that they were found. he said that was found by the beverly hills police. that's according to etd winter. he said there were prescription bottles found. he said, listen, they were the kind of prescriptions that were found in a number of bottles. i have more in my home. he's saying that whatever bottles, whatever prescription drugs were found, they weren't out of the ordinary. many people might have them in

their homes here in america. there have been reports about the possibility of xanax being found, not an uncommon prescription medication to be found. quite honestly, i have xanax. i have anxiety about flying. the doctor gives me a xanax pripgds. i ta -- pripgds. . if you booze it, there's trouble. he said at least in his estimation now it wasn't out of the ordinary. that's not to say that within those prescription bottles that there may not have been some abuse or there may have been abuse. he doesn't know at this point. and christine, you know, you and i talked about this earlier -- there were the pictures of whitney houston leaving a club the night before she was found dead. you saw her in the black dress, she was coming out of the club. some are saying it it was erratic, others saying it's a bad picture. you see her, she has blood coming down her blood, appears to be blood, a couple of scratches on her leg and arm.

she had been out clearly having a good time. whether that has anything to do with it, we don't know now. again, they're saying when they did find her body, when they did find her body, at least when the coroner got there, she had been removed from that bathtub, he said no obvious signs of trauma that would indicate that something out of the ordinary happened there with something that was nefarious going on when it concerns whitney houston. there you go. he said to pull back a little bit, take our time with this, they're going to take their time before deciding exactly what happened to whitney houston. six to eight weeks for the toxicology reports. could be a little bit earlier. they're hoping it happens a little bit earlier. >> meantime we know that it looks as though she'll be buried back in new jersey sometime late this week. so, you know, plans still being made. all right, don lemon, thank you very much. we'll check in with you again very soon from los angeles. we want to hear from you on the story everyone's talking about. don and i were saying, what will she be known for? the personal demons or that

amazing talent? our talk back question, how will you remember whitney houston? you can post your thoughts on suzanne malveaux's facebook page at facebook.com/suzannecnn. here's a rundown of stories we're covering. first i'll speak with the reverend jesse jackson about the death of his long-time friend, whitney houston. and this -- >> we're not animals. we're human beings. we're asking for help. we're asking for your help. there are rockets. >> you've heard a lot about the killing in syria from danny. now the brave activist has fled the country to save his own life. the president sends a budget to congress that includes $4 trillion in deficit reduction. hear what republicans have to say. [ kyle ] my bad. [ roger ] tell me you have good insurance. yup, i've got... [ dennis ] ...allstate. really? i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. [ kyle ] nope, i've got... [ dennis ] ...the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance -- and you still get an allstate agent.

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♪ and i will always love you still so many questions surrounding the death of pop icon whitney houston. we were told just within the last hour that houston's body will be flown to her native new jersey now that an autopsy is complete. a source close to her says a funeral service will be held either friday or saturday. the reverend jesse jackson visited with whitney houston's mother over the weekend. he joins me by phone from bethlehem, pennsylvania. reverend jackson, how is sissy houston holding up? >> she is stunned and distraught and yes, she is a strong woman of faith. she leans on god at times such as this. and we along with our -- we had a good conversation yesterday. we were waiting for the autopsy.

now they're trying to work out arrangement. >> for all the high-profile problems that whitney houston had over the years, her friends, singer kim burrell said that whitney knewing to to see god. that whitney knew what god had for her and when she was in trouble that's where she went. even one of her last songs was "jesus loves me." >> "jesus loves me" was the last song she sang. i heard the rehearsal. that is a -- i've stood by her through ups and downs. i'm convinced it will be judged by the box scorement you know, that these times -- "i'll always love you," and "the greatest love of all," and "the star spangled banner," and the string of hit that we have. behind the plus and minuses, she comes out a plus, a winner. a legacy lasts a long time. >> don lemon and i were saying

that her talent was so unique. her problems, unfortunately, are not. a lot of people, famous and not famous, struggle with addiction. and it is really an equal opportunity ravager of families and talent and money and fame. none of that can really protect you from it. in the end, it is her atlantale that supersedes all of that, isn't it? >> we have pain, some have conflict worse than others. it doesn't have -- it could happen at age 33. so many bright stars have life burned out quickly. we have to take what god has given us, the mystery of life and mystery of death. and through all t all we have in putting this legacy, a music legacy, one that will have an impact on our times for a long time. >> tell me a little about how

you almost woman. we're showing a picture of you now. i think this is in 1989. she is just in her heyday. you're in a text seed oh, looks like kmyou're coming out of an event. tell me with your relationship with whitney houston. this girl from newark who found her voice in a church. >> well, i heard her at the town singing. she was with her mother and sister, she would sing "the sweet inspiration," sang with contemporaries. she kang with elvis presley. so whitney grew up in an environment of dion warwick, her cousin, and aretha franklin, her godmother. the davis sisters and jacky -- all of these great singers. she had tools that's equivalent to taking it to another level. she grew up in the church. reverend thomas at that time was the pastor. he was on bobby king's board. she grew up between reverend

thomas and -- and aretha franklin and her father. and they came out of the environment. so much of her soul was intensified pie her suffering and commitment to god and her commitment to talent development. we miss her already. >> none of us will ever miss her like i'm sure her daughter and close family will. hopefully people like you and her friends and family are circling around to take care of them this hour. thank you very much. >> thank you. thank you. houston's impact wasn't limited to the u.s. the legend touched people around the country, around the world. her sudden death was in the headlines of international newspapers from england to china, and her impact in south africa won't be forgotten any time soon. a picture here from 2009 of houston with former president nelson mandela. she was actually the first major artist to perform in south africa post apartheid. and following mandela's

election, she did a series of concerts for new south africa, donating all the proceeds to charity. yesterday, his family offered their condolences telling cnn, "she was an extension of the family. we are bereft. our concern is for her daughter, bobbi kristina." the president sets the stage for another badge budget battle with congress. republicans regard terrying into it and tearing -- tearing into it and tearing it up. just one drop instantly soothes and revives tired, overworked eyes. and comforts them for up to ten hours. visine® tired eye relief. try now and save $3. sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation

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checking stories, our affiliates are covering across the country. it's definitely winter in america today. check out the road conditions in amarillo, texas. the state has been hit with two to five inch of snow. in wichita, kansas, snowplows were out early clearing roads for the morning commute. drivers are being warned to take it easy there. in brighton, massachusetts, firefighters had a tough time battling this blaze because of the cold. the water supply wasn't cooperating. a couple of firefighters slipped on the ice. in the end, four businesses had about $4 million in dage. we're not animals. we're human beings asking for help. we're asking for your help.

>> you've heard a lot about the killing in syria from danny. now the brave activist has fled to save his own life. [ gunfire ] i'd race down that hill without a helmet.

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together for your future. ♪ let the budget battle begin. president obama sends congress his 2013 spending plan. it calls for raising taxes on wealthier americans and increased spending on infrastructure and education. the president says it will reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over ten years. but republicans say doesn't do enough. >> i'm propose something difficult cuts that frankly i wouldn't normally make if they weren't absolutely necessary. but they are. and the truth is, we're going to have to make some tough choices in order to put this country back on a more sustainable

fiscal path. by reducing our deficit in the long term, what that allows us to do is to invest in the things that will help grow our economy right now. >> i'm bitterly disappointed in two respects. one, the president told us that at the end of his first term he would cut the deficit in half. and instead we have our nation's first, second, third, and fourth trillion-dollar deficit. second of all, there's a debt crisis, and the president's budget doesn't deal with it. and what we have again are the largest debt we've had as a percentage of our economy since world war ii. >> some highlights from the president's budget. calls for $476 billion in infrastructure upgrades over six years. $350 billion for job creation. $30 billion to hire and retain teachers, police officers, firefighters. some $30 billion to modernize schools, and about $2.2 billion for research and development in manufacturing advances.

for more on the new budget proposal, chief business correspondent allie velshi joins me live from toronto. in an election year, any year, a president's budget is as operational. in an election year, it's -- aspirational. in an election year, it's clear that our budget is going to get passed way before their budget gets passed, right? this is very political. >> yeah. i used to say -- i really believed it -- that the budget is really this statement, and the material manifestation of a government's priorities except that we have been so unsuccessful in actually getting budgets passed in the last few years that it's my hope that we just actually get this one done. there's already digging and going to corners, which you indicated. the critics are right, that this budget is not going to achieve the president's goal of cutting the deficit in half by the end of his first term. i am pleased to know that in 2013, this budget does indicate that the deficit would" down. that's a start.

-- would go down. that's a start. we're not going agree on how to get there any time soon. but the blueprint says we don't have to make it go higher and higher every year. the question is how we get there. that becomes a more political discussion than an economic one. >> i made the allusion to our -- the only debt you can get out of is your own at this point. this is a real micro kind of story. and because tomorrow is valentine's day and because you are my tv husband, i thought we could look at. this for wives with no debt, 45% are happy. husbands with no debt, 46% are no happy. get a little debt, wives get nervous. it doesn't depend that much for men. we do know that the best gift you can give your hony this week is trying to sit down and talk about getting out of debt. >> yeah. it's a hard conversation. you and i disagree to when that conversation should first happen. i think you'd like to see it happen substantially earlier in

the relationship. >> yes. >> than i would. i don't think this can be a first, second, even third date conversation. as you often point out, people who are inherently savers get attracted to spenders because who wants to go on a date with a saver? you don't want someone telling you how little lunch cost or how much they saved on roses. you end up married to this person and wonder five years to the relationship why they can't kpro control their spending. i think valentine's day is a day for suckers. have the discussion of spending and debt and where your sfuch going to lie. >> holiday for suckers? what are you talking about? >> my wife is nowhere around so i can say that with impunity. >> in a relationship, where and how do you have the money talk? i think that you use student debt as a trojan horse for the discussion. so many young people have student debt. people in their 30s and 40s still have student debt. i think you start talking about student debt, then you find out

priorities of people. >> it's a great way to explain away why you're in so much debt. you can say, look, i never got out from underneath my student debt. it piled on. we've got to start looking at our future. part of the problem with retirement spending or saving is that for most of us it's too far away to know exactly what it's supposed to look like. we just know you're supposed to save for retirement. retirement could be many, many years. so articulating what you think you're going do and working backwards and saying, are we anywhere near saving enough money to do that? if you're not, you discuss budgeting, you start to discuss saving, and you start to discuss investing very specifically. i really think you do you and your relationship and partner a big favor by saying this is as good a time as any to start the conversation. valentine's day i'll feel it's less for suckers if f people use it to get their financial house in order. >> i think so, too. save the money on the roses, and let's talk about how we're going to be investing money down the

road instead of just paying off bills. you've dot to start playing offense. ali velshi intron to trooronto. >> this conversation you and i are having, a great excuse to see that women and men see things differently. that's okay. go into it knowing that you may have different reasons for spending. >> you help me spend mine a little more and i help you save more. that's synergy. and couples can do it, too. >> perfect. >> thank you very much. talk to you soon. >> see you. [ explosion ] in syria the planned parenthoodletting enters a new -- bloodletting enters a new week. there's been heavy attack by government troops. while syrian forces killed their own people, an activist as danny became the voice of the victims. he restricted his hear to tell the story. we have the report on danny's

escape from the besieged city of homs. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: hopes last year. a protester lies gravely wounded. danny helps drag him it safety. >> you get used to dragging the dead bodies or dragging injured people to hospitals every day, every day. >> reporter: later, danny of also shot. he and his family fled homs and took refuge in london. for danny, the cause mattered much more than his life. >> i can't wait to get back. >> reporter: despite the huge risk, he did go back. in the last few weeks, danny because the voims of homs -- the voice of homs. detailed one atrocity after another. >> here from 8:00 a.m. and everyone --

[ inaudible ] these are the bodies. look at the bodies. these are rockets. these rockets moving for two hours now. we've got more than -- we have hundreds of injuries. look, look. all dead bodies all over the place. we're not animals, we're human beings. we're asking for help. >> reporter: as syrian tanks closed in on his neighborhood, danny had to get out. his family in cairo waits anxiously for news and watches the carnage in their hometown. >> how can the world not listen to the cries? seeing these women crying and kissing their dead children. what's going on? >> the biggest fear is that one day i'm going to look at the video and he's on the table or on the floor. >> reporter: danny's family has become almost a p.r. agency for the uprising.

helping get journalists in to syria and information out. but this day, they have just one focus, their son. >> just get through this day, come on. calm down. >> i've had enough. i can't live like this. >> calm down. >> reporter: there's no news from danny, and rumors swirl. >> he's on election needs soil. and a group of lebonese and hezbollah have got them. >> reporter: hezbollah is a strong ally of assad. >> isn't safe there, i know. he keeps saying, is it safe? >> he's been stopped by lebanese -- >> they'll hand him over. >> reporter: danny's younger siblings, jenna and sammy, wait

anxiously to hear the fate of their 23-year-old brother. then a message -- >> will from the advance says we're not expecting danny to arrive in lebanon until late tonight. >> tell him i'll have 10:00 -- >> he says, i will actively sit with him now. i'm checking with the -- calm down. >> okay. okay. okay. i'm -- >> you're not calm. calm down. >> reporter: the hours tick by. and then another phone call. >> this is the human rights in lebanon. what, what? is it lebanon? is it -- is it beirut? [ inaudible ] >> reporter: danny has made it safely into lebanon. moments later, the phone rings again. hey. yeah --

hello? >> reporter: a bad connection ends their call. now it's helen's turn. >> danny? hi, you all right? it's good to hear your voice. we're so worried about you, danny. kn i know, i know. woe heard stories this morning and got worried. he said he doesn't care, they said he was dead four times already, so that's another story. >> we care. >> well, we care. that's what your dad said. we get worried. woe want you to say it's all okay, as long as she'll say. >> a happy ending, the voice of homes is safe, but the thousands still there still suffer under the withering attacks of the regime. for cnn, ian lee, cairo. she was a wildly tlenlted artist in -- talented artist and a deeply tortured soul.

how will you remember whitney houston? n new all says the music industry should have given her treatment. he said whit these had been calling out for years. could see what i see. that over time, having high cholesterol, plus diabetes or high blood pressure or family history of early heart disease, can put them at increased risk for plaque buildup. and they'd see that it's more important to get their cholesterol where their doctor wants. and why for these patients, when diet and exercise alone aren't enough, i prescribe crestor. adding crestor lowers bad cholesterol by up to 52%. and is also proven to slow plaque buildup. >> announcer: crestor is not right for everyone. like people with liver disease or women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. simple blood tests will check for liver problems. tell your doctor about other medicines you're taking or if you have muscle pain or weakness. that could be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. >> is your cholesterol

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and lea michelle was first, wearing this dress to the premiere of "bridgette jones, the edge of reason." do you remember what it felt like to see her walk down the red carpet? >> it was amazing. i woke and said every name with the name on it -- my gosh. i couldn't believe it. >> reporter: when zellweger wore the dress, marchesa was just starting out. the designers didn't have the budget for ads so they made strategic decision to build it not on advertising but on the backs of celebrities instead. >> it celebrities wear it as if it is the advertising campaign. the more women coming down there wearing marchesa and the more beautiful they look, the more desirable the brand becomes. >> sandra! >> reporter: what does it tyke get a sandra bull nasdaq marchesa for the oscars? >> hi. come in. >> reporter: during awards season, marchesa takes out a

hotel suite in beverly hills. >> we have like, you know, racks of dresses. we have beautiful shoes. >> reporter: then the real work begins. take this gown vanessa hudgens wore to the oscars in 2009. >> i took the whole dress apart and started again. >> reporter: wow. five days. >> we were working through the night. we actually got miners' lights. i want to add pieces here -- >> reporter: then there's this. what about what they call the harvey factor? >> the harvey factor. my goodness. >> reporter: chap madison married to harvey weinstein. hollywood producer of "the artist" and "the iron lady." does having a hollywood heavyweight behind your label help? >> it doesn't hurt. >> no, of course it didn't hurt. his rip w actressio -- his relah actresses is a very different relationship. >> reporter: when it comes to the red carpet, actresses make game-time decisions. >> i usually have three or four

choices. so i give myself some leeway to have a feeling on the day. >> reporter: because those pictures can last a lifetime. and that's good business for marchesa. >> i think red carpet dressing really has made marchesa what it is today. i'm not sure marchesa would be here today if it wasn't for red carpet dressing. >> reporter: cnn, new york. >> all right. watch the fashion week special backstage pass saturday at 2:30 p.m. eastern. one of the republican presidential candidates says a plan by president obama would raise gas prices by 25 cents a gallon. find out who said it and whether it passes the fact check test. have 46 grams of whole grains... mmmm. ...and a touch of sweetness. you'll be delighted to discover how good they taste. get your free sample of quaker oatmeal squares on facebook. ♪

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ask your doctor about levemir flexpen. covered by 90% of insurance plans, including medicare. find your co-pay at myflexpen.com. we hear a lot of statements being tossed around by politicians. some can be outrageous. we want to separate political fact from campaign fiction. to help us, we have angie holland, reporter and researcher for politifact.com and the "tampa bay times." she looks at recent claims and how they measure up. good afternoon. >> hi, thanks for having me. >> i want to start with this one from the president talking about health care. i've heard this from him and from the administration, too. he says, "preventive care saves money for families, for businesses, for government, for everyone." is that true or not? >> we rated this one false. now we certainly don't want to discourage anyone from getting

preventive care. but the truth of the matter is there have been several rigorous studies that say you need to budget for preventive care. it's not always a cost saver. it depends on the disease, it depends on the treatment. so it's not always paying for itself. we rated it false. >> all right. this one is from newt gingrich. he says president obama "has an environmental protection agency proposal that would raise the price of gasoline by 25 cents a gallon." sounds scary. is it true? >> we rated this one false, too. there's no 25-cent fee. what it is is there's a proposal to make the pollution limits stricter. now there was one study that put the cost at 25 cents a gallon, but that study was done by the oil industry. and there are other studies that show that it would be much lower. we found one that said less than a penny a gallon. so with that broad range, we had to rate the statement false. >> finally, this one from mitt romney. he says, "three years ago a

newly elected president obama told america that if congress approved his plan to borrow nearly $1 trillion, he would hold unemployment below 8%." he's obviously talking about the stimulus. republicans have long said the president made promises about keeping the unemployment rate below 8%. if you pass that big stimulus. how does that statement measure up? >> we rated this one mostly false. i should say we fact checked this one several times. and when you drill down to the evidence, it's not something the president said in a speech. it's a chart from a government document that his economic team put together. they projected that unemployment would be at a certain level. and that if the stimulus passed, it would be lower than that. and the sticking point is that their projection for what it would be without the stimulus was too optimistic. the numbers that ended up being the reality were worse than what they thought it was. so we rated it mostly false. >> but that 8% unemployment rate and the size of the stimulus

lives on in campaign circles and certainly will continue. angie, thank you very much. nice to see you today. >> thanks for having me. a unique talent with very common demon. you've been sounding off on our "talk back" question. how will you remember whitney houston? newall says the music industry should have asked her to get treatment. heck, they were giving her shoutouts at the grammys. whitney had been calling out for years. çtoooowl

♪ i will always love you the music industry is in mourning and paying its respects to whitney houston. >> i knew whitney a long time. i remember sitting in those seats and just being amazed at how many records she sold. just -- yeah, it's tough. >> everybody was like, wow, right on top of it. you know, like what's happening? just got the word, it was unexpected that happened to the great whitney houston. you know, the greatest singer i ever heard. >> there is no other whitney houston.

her tone, just her tone by itself was so unique and -- no other singer could ever match that. it was so wonderful. she just had that spirit, that smile from here to here. she was just whitney. >> and as i've grown older and we've gone into an era where i feel like most popular singers can't really sing, whitney houston could really, really sing. and she was beautiful, and she had great songs up, she had the whole thing. so we lost somebody amazing. and you've been sounding off on our "talk back" question, pop icon or troubled soul struggling with abuse. how will you remember whitney houston? randy says, "the best voice control i have ever heard. i was always amazed how she could hold a note for so long. her breathing technique was amazing. singing for her was a language, her native tongue and hers cannot be taught. god given." j.j. says, "whitney was not

alone. her battles were public. i will remember whitney for what she was, a vulnerable, haunted, and incredibly talented and beautiful woman." marge says, "whitney houston will be remembered as the voice. her demons will not overshadow her contributions to the music world or love she received from fans worldwide."

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as she says herself, there's always going to be people who don't like you. how michelle obama's look has changed. >> reporter: first lady michelle obama sells her name, face, and behind-the-scenes influence sells the cover of books and magazines. >> the administration is doing everything they can to keep her out in the public eye and keep reminding americans why they liked this family in the first place. >> reporter: even mrs. obama admits the image isn't always positive. as she recently pointed out on cbs. >> there will always be people who won't like me. that's been an image that people have tried to paint of me since the day barak announced that i'm some angry black woman. >> reporter: former presidential adviser paul begala says first ladies are always rich targets. >> no matter what any first lady does, they're going to attack her. some liberals attacked nancy reagan unfairly. a lot of conservatives attacked

hillary clinton when i worked for her husband in the white house. >> reporter: not long after then-senator obama announced his candidacy for president, mrs. obama beamed with pride, then paid the price for comments that caused some to question her patriotism. >> for the first time in my adult lifetime, i'm really proud of my country. >> reporter: she endured an unflattering portrayal on the cover of "the new yorker," sporting an afro, machine gun, and military combat boots by 1960s activist angela davis. since then the first lady has carved out a public role as a strong advocate for military families and promoter of a healthy lifestyle. she does jumping jacks and pushups, pressures big-time entertainers to eat their veggies -- >> it's a veggie pizza. and i -- you know, this is a good way for people of your ilk who don't like vegetables -- >> ilk? >> to incorporate them. see? ooh. yeah. mm. >> then the fish said -- >> reporter: beyond promoting her initiatives, mrs. obama has

use the public spotlights to pull the curtain back on her softer side. whether it's talking about her role as mom or trying her hand at acting like this cameo appearance on the hit nickelodeon comedy "icarly." >> you don't call her your excellency. >> no, i kind of like it. >> reporter: the first lady sort of holds a unique role in the american society that we don't expect them to have the gravitas of the president, and so you can have a little bit more fun, you can be in photo opportunities and doing things that the president can't do because of the gravity of his office. >> the president of the united states, barack obama. >> reporter: the first lady is also seen as an asset to the president's re-election campaign. >> political hacks like me would like to use her all the time. she's real, she's authentic. >> reporter: mrs. obama's roadtrips often take her to key battleground states where her message reinforces the president's policies and her presence raises cash for his campaign. >> do you have his snack a