tv Geraldo at Large FOX News February 13, 2012 5:00am-6:00am EST
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>> i am geraldo rivera. we are continuing our probe of whitney houston who's 18-year-old daughter bobbi kristina brown has been released from mount sinai hospital after being rushed there by paramedics after collapsing at the beverly hills hilton hotel the same hotel where her mom died saturday afternoon reportedly in a bathtub. the coroner is confirming that. she was found by an assistant and hotel security they were concerned when whitney houston did not return to repeated calls knocking on the door saying it was time to get ready for the party thrown last night by her
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mentor and friend clive davis. tonight as music celebrities commemorate her career at the staples center that melon col lee event is happening at the same time he has completed the autopsy to determine exactly why whitney died. it is pending the toxicology reports he said legal and perhaps illegal drugs. so we will wait on the toxicology report. ladies and gentlemen it is impossible in my opinion drugs were not involved in whitney houston's death. just before the hour and the end of the second hour i asked russell simmons the music mogul the political activist who joins me in our studio whether the wealth generated by whitney houston prevented people who loved her from intervening and
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getting her well. russell knew whitney houston very well. crystal why don't you tell us what your relationship was like? >> we were friendly i spoke to my family and to my charities. i don't know. you must have known she is a very free woman. i didn't want to comment on this as i told you. i started to speak on the last show the perception that the money will make you happy or that will release some kind of suffering is one we all know will not make you happy. sometimes you get these things you put faith in it it may make you better sometimes they cause more suffering. the idea why would someone with her talent and success be unhappy? it causes unhappiness. being a star like this you have seen time and time again a tremendous amount of pressure i
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lot of times it causes a very difficult time. my prayers are with the family. i manage many artists i have watched them enjoy their craft and not their stardom. >> tell me if you agree or disagree with me. >> the money enabled her. >> i don't think the money enabled her. i think her husband bobby brown is in a very direct way responsible in leading her down the primrose path. >> i would say each person is responsible for their own destiny. as much as we all can help them that's our responsibility. i wouldn't say anybody caused it. i would say it was very unfortunate circumstance. that's about all i would say. i certainly wouldn't blame any one i wouldn't say because she was success of the. because she was successful everybody had an interest in keeping her healthy and alive.
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her family didn't love her or do enough to prevent her. they are suffering and drugs feel they are leaving the suffering they will do them. >> what about once a junky always a junky? >> it is hard for me to talk about in context. wonderful person great for my charity and other charities. always stood up for a lot of people. she was a mentor to many singers. she was a great inspiration today. they loved her. hard to talk in any way but a loving way. we are all going to miss her. >> russell simmons thank you. >> i know you didn't want to talk about this i feel like i entrapped you in a way. i appreciate you taking it graciously. >> thank you. >> again the autopsy report, the results not finalized until the toxicologies are in.
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i think it is almost written in stone that drugs caused this at the age of 48 years old. can you image? 48 years old. drugs like valium and xanax. they rendered her unconscious or she was vulnerable to a drowning we don't know for sure. christina gonzalez outside of the beverly hills hilton hotel. christina joins me now. thanks for being with us. can you describe the mood there? oo it is so sad. let me tell you something first let me show you. this has been nonstop. people just stopping by. and i am talking hundreds of people when you start adding it up. they are from all over los angeles. visitors from kentucky and so forth wanting to pay their respects this being one of three memorials around the hotel. >> you were talking about the
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toxicology report. you know it does take a while for that. i have a source in the hotel who tells me there was no illegal drugs found in the room. tmz reported they found xanax and stuff like that. as far as illegal drugs not in the room. we have to see what toxicology says. it is very likely you mix xanax with alcohol things do happen. nothing official on that. but nothing illegal in the room. >> and what christina is again the describvibe. i understand the more ronners are coming to express their regret over this horrible act. is there still some shock involved? >> yeah. yeah. i have to say there's shock involved. because remember it was a weekend. there were some people who were just beginning to find out. they are just showing up saying
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is it true? is it true. i can tell you it being grammy night a lot of the limos and cars of people who are going to the parties nearby coming in for the grammys have been actually slowing down to take a look at all of this. they are still shocked. i was talking to bill white he is friend of mine and clive davis. he still can't believe it. he was at the party last night. shock is an under statement. >> christina gonzalez thank you very much. >> craig is outside of the staples center where the grammys started an hour ago. participants were almost embarrassed looked so happy to be there. we know her daughter has been released. they say it was stress related. is that right? >> we have more information-coming out.
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they were taken to the hospital a couple of times once by ambulance. the gossip web site has been reported to family members the 18-year-old may be suicidal. they are afraid she may need some help. bobby brown skipped the grammys. she was not just a close family member she took care of mom as she struggled with her addiction. she idolized her mom. she was planning on becoming a reporting recording artist. a young girl doesn't know how they are breaking out>> bobby and christina brown relea-- bob christina brown released. phil neville met whitney houston.
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you know ourselves family famous neville family very big in the music industry. another pal of mine has toured, actually toured with whitney houston the pop icon. thank you for being with us. what is going through your mind your heart right now? >> it is so shocking, so sad. when i woke up this morning i really broke down last night. i cried like i am sure so many other people have done. when i woke up this morning and shook my head like it is still here. i am in new orleans visiting with my mom. all i could do is think about ms. houston. if my heart is heavy like this
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morning after i cannot image what her mother is feeling and to hear reports of bobby christina i met when she was a young girl in the my love is your love tour chth that's how i got to know her as a person. she is lovely, lovely. the thing i want people to remember is that regardless. whatever happens, it happened. you have a young girl without her mother who she loved dearly. brittany was just -- my husband was new in his career when he was with whitney houston. whitney was somebody who embraced an artist, if you were a singer a unioniyoung musician the person who came and made you feel comfortable. she let you know yes i am here i have paved these trails you,
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too, can follow. >> is it out of line for me to ask whether she was reliable, whitney houston or is it not a fact that her physical condition knott not only ravaged her voice but made her one of those pop performers who don't show up, show up late, can't be counted upon? >> i was around and my husband toured with whitney during her tour. whitney was there. whitney was strong. whitney was awesome. i distinctly remember we were in austria one night standing on the side of the stage. i had seen her perform many times. i remember breaking down. i lost it. after the show i saw her. i was like stop me. you got me tonight. she is truly has a voice of an angel. whitney was there.
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she was there. i don't want everybody to just remember the recent years when you had -- when she had some troubles. i think russell touched on something. here is a young soul a young woman who was world famous in her 20s. that is something no one can understand the pressures that go with that. we just don't know. >> thank you. we love you ronny. -- honey. >> i love you, geraldo. >> i want to bring in our medical aid team and we will hear from celebrity journalists who have some what of an inside track to this story. we will continue with the whitney houston
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dealing with the politics of birth control. that has been an incendiary issue on my radio program the lines have lit up because of the miss steps by the obama administration and the reaction to the miss steps from the catholic church and others. we will talk about that at the bottom of the hour. continuing with the fox news team from chicago web tv.com kill lee. the -- kelly. hi, kelly. >> hello. >> united been listening to the coroner can you tell us what your lead is going forward, kelly? >> they were telling us they weren't going to reveal anything about the awe copy su -- autops such as in the michael jackson's case. they want to keep everything sealed and 10 minutes later there have been reports there was water found in whitney's lungs.
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th let's put the pieces of the puzzle together. the other point is there were no drugs found in the room. until we get the toxicology back we won't know if there were drugs in the system. her assistants and body guards found her. if i was in the room with a friend there was stuff that wasn't supposed to be there, wouldn't you take it? i am not saying anything but i am thinking we have to put that out there. >> so there is an indication it may have been drowning, there is water in the lungs, but you are saying not enough to say conclusively that she drowned, is that what you are saying, kelly? >> exactly. the drowning could have been in addition to prescription drugs, a combination illegal drugs that we won't fwhoe for probably 4-6 weeks but things are slipping out and we will find out more. i believe it was wine prescription drugs fell asleep
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but who knows. >> dr. michael baden dr. mark seigel. >> i think what kelly said and you said earlier about if it were drowning whether drugs were involved will take time to do the toxicology. but in the bathtub if there's water in her lugs and if there were drippings of the bathtub down below would indicate she was in the tub and indeed it may be drowning but if it is drowning there has to be a reason for the drowning, did she have a brain hemorrhage, a heart attack or did she have dugs. >> doesn't necessarily have to do with the amount of water in the lungs. the lungs can react on a small amount of water and you can drown on that basis. i am suspicious about the number of sedatives around here. you don't really need all of these. valium, ativan xanax. there's a lot of enabling that
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>> we are live at the grammys tonight as people came in on the red carpet. they showed the dresses they are talking about who the designers were and other things happened that you probably have not seen because they happened mostly off camera. tony bennett the 85-year-old crooner who kicked his own cocaine habit 30 years ago he made a pitch for the legalization of drugs saying
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that when they legalize drugs it calms everybody down he pointed to amsterdam and the netherlands as an example. that's a topic for another show. he won an award, he won a grammy for best pop performance by a duo he performed with amy wine how is she had her own drug problem and died of acute alcohol poisoning. that is what took amy winehouse from us. >> michael baden on your right. kelli zink on the right-hand side. kelli from celeb tv.com. they find her in the tub and she is under water with her feet up. the tub is overflowing. so it sounds like slipped until the feet come down you find
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equilibrium. is it as obvious as it seems or could there be another scenario that you have seen before dr. baden first. >> i think in overdose cases -- >> drug overdose cases? >> drug overdose cases where lost of consciousness is a focal or remedy you put a person in a bathtub filled with cold water it will revive the person. i am sure that's one of the things police are looking into. they are getting statements from everybody who was there the body guards, the hotel personnel, and they want to make sure she was conscious and walked into the tub by herself and somebody didn't put her in there. >> the combination of drugs is key here. if you and i fell asleep in the tub we would wake up. but if you take those kinds of sedatives you are deeper into sleep. unconscious number one, number two, your respiration is
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suppressed by the drugs by the sedatives. >> kelli, any word on bobby brown? i am very harsh on my feelings about him. i think that he through her off a cliff when they got together. that reality show they had indicated how desperately dysfunctional they were. what do you know about his whereabouts and his intentions? >> he was supposed to perform with new edition. he has been on the tour last night. he said i love you whitney. he left tennessee got on the plane immediately. he is back to be with bobbie christina. these reports that say family worries she is suicidal. wouldn't you be the same way you are an 18-year-old girl your mother passes away you can't even grieve. there's paparazzi hounding her every where. this poor girl. bobby brown if he is the one to watch her she needs something
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now. >> she doesn't need her dad at least not unsupervised. he will probably give her something so she feels better and doesn't grieve awfully. i hate to be mean. i don't think much of him at all bobby brown her husband was a member of the new edition. hasn't been anything since but live off of whitney houston's millions. kelli zink thank you. doctor baden thank you. i will talk to you on the radio tomorrow. president owe combam ma is a pretty sliit -- president obamas
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>> everyone should be in control of the decisions of their own health period. some religious institutions those affiliated with the catholic church have a religious objection to directly providing insurance that covers contraceptive services for their employees. today we have reached a decision on how to move forward. if a woman's employer is a charity or a hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraception as part of the health plan the insurance company not the hospital not the charity to offer women contraception free of charge without co-pays and hassles.
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i understand some folks in washington may want to treat this as another political wedge issue. it shouldn't be. i certainly never saw it that way. >> the thing about contraception is the whole problem. isn't about freedom of religion. it is there in the first amendment you can't miss it right there in the first amendment to our constitution. the government doesn't get to decide for religious people what their religious beliefs are. they get to decide that. >> this is an attempt by president obama to put sand over the message made. i am going to make sure we get religious liberty. >> it is about religious liberty now. as you know i really stand by my characterization of this he did something extraordinarily clumsy they issued the edict requiring even religious institutions that run hospitals and universities to offer free health insurance
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coverage to women about birth control even though that would violate the religious belief of some of these organizations. it was a dumb move he quickly backed down. friday he issued his xroe miedz telling us it would be the insurance companies not the religious organizations who paid for the contraception and the other birth control coverage. that as you heard from the senate majority leader unlikely to stop the raging debate. you heard mitt romney this raging debate over what many feel is a graphic example of government over reaching. we have a tremendous panel to discuss and debate this proposal. the compromise the whole half hour they are from washington, d.c. the season year council for the religious liberty. the president of the family research council familiar fags tony perkins joins us from baton rouge tonight. congressman bob walker chairman of the board of the gingrich campaign. he is in harrisburg pa.
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our friend the florida attorney general. counterpart from texas greg abbott joins us from austin. and new jersey congressman chris smith republican from the state. college of mount saint vincent. sally cone is here the author of the new book patriot act judge katherine cryer stark. is it good enough for you the obama compromise? >> it is as slbsolutely good en. you have to go back to the very good catholic justice scalia in 1990 when he ruled in the case that as long as a law is neutral and valid and a broad application even if it requires certain behavior or prevents certain behavior by religious groups it is okay.
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this goes back to 1879 and the case law is absolutely clear. the president didn't need to make the compromises he did because the law according to the catholic justice pam bondi your rebuttal to judge cry ar's decision he had the conts tugs on his side from the get go and his political move is certainly covered baz the initial edict was covered. >> i think the world of katherine cryer and she knows that. let me tell you, by him meddling in matters of our religious state the president has taken this from the new level. he has gone from unconstitutional to unconscionable. this is our religious freedom. one thing people don't take into
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account what if these religious organizations are self assured geraldo, they are still bound by this. >> if they are self insured they are. i don't know any that are. are they self insured generally? >> many are. >> what if they are self insured? >> they are crying religious freedom to try to make this a political football. the majority of catholic voters already support contraception. i think the president intentionally or unintentionally. i think he played this brilliantly. the leaders of the church who are out of touch with the mainstream of america as well as the republican party the president said the insurance coverage republicans and extremists are going to continue to make this an issue where all they can do in order to do this
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is go after contraception. it would continue to alienate the voters. 2-1 margin catholic women, latino catholics are going to be central to the next election. they support the accommodation. president obama wins the more they open their mouth on this they lose. >> tony perkins i don't know if she met you when she mentioned christian extremists but would you have the rebuttal please? >> first off we are not just talking about birth control pills we are talking about emergency contraception. this is not the issue. the issue is religious freedom. it is a scene where we hear no evil speak no evil compromise. what the president is essentially saying you won't see it on your list of benefits that you provide your employees. you won't hear about it. we are not going to tell you how it will be paid for. therefore don't speak anything evil about it. the truth of the matter is blue cross says it cost 2.8 billion a year. it will simply be shifted to the
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administrative costs and the organizations are going to continue to have to pay for the cost of this. >> wait there. i don't mean to interrupt you. is it not a fact, you can back me on this i am telling the truth if not you can bust me on it. isn't it a fact prevention liof things like pregnancy they are in a better position if they prevented unwanted pregnancy. >> if that were true why weren't insurance companies doing it already? nothing is prohibited from doing it in the past. if it was such a good business model they would have been doing it for years. >> they have to. >> they have been giving it free? >> listen. they have been giving it free? >> the issue is the insurance companies -- >> wait a minute. wait. a oo insurance companies are providing this for free? >> the issue is look insurance
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company costs are covered by employers this is whether employers are obligated to do so. providing preventative birth control for many reasons not just unwanted pregnancies save 15-17 percent over other medical costs. >> congressman don't they give you a break if you don't smoke? >> let me say something clear. obama is using coercive power of the state to tell people who have a conscientious objection or religious based objection that they must provide. employers say it be notre dame. notre dame does not follow this edict, they will be fined some $10 million if they get out of the healthcare system. that is unconscionable. look at catholic charities. when hair the argument somehow we are going to save money because of ella in plan b. they destroy a newly created
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human life that probably has not yet implanted. ella may destroy the life after the implantation occurs. a life has been destroyed we are being told as people of faith that we must subsidize it. to make the argument you might say 50 percent or more by not providing prenatal care, maternal healthcare or the birthing the actual money associated with birthing is unconscionable. children do cost money. we should not make the case on the cost benefit animalysis by preventing or destroying an unborn child we will then save money. >> look -- representative i am not questioning about -- >> years ago that was made for medicaid payments for abortions in the 1970s. it is cheaper to destroy an individual than it is to -- >> teenaged pregnancy is way down since 1988.
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>> again we are talking about forcing employers to subsidize the costs. this has never been done in private health insurance. >> first of all, sir, i believe you have a right to freedom. i hope you also respect the right -- >> pause. we are going to get everybody else involved in our discussion. we are going all of the way to the show. this is a hot issue. it is lighting up the phones. we will be back in a flash. my name is robin.
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>> you have affordable birth control and healthcare. that's what the president extended. >> i don't think insurance companies will be giving those services for free. i would suspect that what will end up happening is the rates ofings will go up. so we will be paying for the service one way or the another and providing something that is against our conscience. >> i want to go to our attorneys general pam bond de on the left greg abbott on the right. pam you followed greg on this one. i think general abbott that this controversy is really just a surrogate for the attack by you two and your colleagues on the obama healthcare plan generally. is that not a fact? >> geraldo it is a close relative for the lawsuit we
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filed against obama and the administration in the over all obama care plan. our main attack is because of the individual mandates telling individuals to go out and purchase healthcare insurance. just like in obama care lawsuits the issue is not healthcare or health insurance it's the individual mandate. it is the same reason why myself and pam bond decent that letter to security sebelius from last week because we made sure the issue doesn't have anything to do with contraception or abortion or anything like that. the first amendment violation of free speech because of the compelling mandate on the religious organizations to participate in this process. there are ways around this. obama granted exceptions to labor unions to organizations across the country with those kinds of exceptions it creates the rule that organizations like religious based organizations should be accepted here also. >> pam? >> yes, geraldo.
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you know, this letter was generated because general bruney running for u.s. senate called all of us and talked to us. we agreed and expressed such strong opposition to this. as general abbott said, this is about our first amendment rights. our freedom of religion. that is what is being trampled on here. >> you have the first amendment. you had the tenth amendment to declare the law now you are going to the grand daddy. doctor at the college of mount saint svincent is this compromie good enough for you? >> i don't know much about it. i have been trying to read up on it. i still have problems with it not from a political point of view. >> from a religious point of view? >> from a religious point of view. i hear there are a majority of catholics who disagree with the contraception.
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but there are also women not just the bishops who oppose especially the possibilities. i also have questions about the slippery slope. there are others in a slippery slope, too. >> the gingrich campaign among your own tasks, will newt gingrich make this a big issue going forward? >> has mahasn't made an -- has made an issue already. this goes to the question of obama care. he has called for the total repeal of obama care. this tells you why. the way in which we have expanded the government through obama care has given the president the ability to begin to look at a broad base of individual rights that can be
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changed as a result of the powers of obama care. so i think that it is clear that we need to look at healthcare reform in a way much different than what we did with obama care where we expanded the scope of the federal government and now infringing on individual rights including religious rights. >> we have to take a break judge cryer and sally comb more after t
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ruling this would take effect. the largest catholic university in the country started providing this coverage in their healthcare policies. we know 28 states -- >> in the year 2000? >> december of 2000 the ruling occurred. no complaints. in georgia the catholic church has to provide as in 8 other states. obama hasn't done anything that hasn't been going on for a very long time. this is a political issue but legally the precipice supports everything he said. >> let me mare from mark. >> efrl issues i would like to address. taking them in order. won the decision he sited has been held to not have the force of law. that's why everybody ignored it. secondly -- >> i agree with you. sally makes a point some
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catholics are okay with birth control. but it's not a popularity contest. the second was over ruled the religious freedom restoration act. the supreme court said it applies to all actions by the federal government. third the president's compromise, the alleged compromise is not neutral at all. it says there will be some preferred religious groups churches some slightly less preferred church groups less affiliations and it leaves americans without religious freedom rights. that's why americans have been signing the competition at second fund.org. and filed three lawsuits. either this president will have to walk back on assault from religious liberty or have to do it in court. >> i want to talk about a compromise. this has its roots in. the pcompromise of the united states of america. we have balance of religious freedom it starts to be a conservative individual choice and liberty until they don't
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like the choice we are making. >> i didn't interrupt you. >> 96 percent of catholic woman of reproductive age have used contraception. i do not think it would impinge on their rights. we do not allow churches and religious institutions to discriminate on the sex or race. it balances out religious freedoms. it is about being forced to pay for this. fist off let's go off to the compromise. you shouldn't have a hall pass to walk out your faith as an american. that is what the president is putting forth here. the free exercise clause does not pertain to religious organizations. it pertains to american. what about those religious business owners that will be
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forced to pay for this? they are left out in the cold on this issue. there is a remedy. >> they shouldn't have to pay for something that violates their moral conviction. >> there you go. >> if you have a moral objection to anything -- >> would you mind if i spoke? >> go ahead, finish. >> there is a legislative remedy 200 members of congress signed on for conscious rights act. roy blunt in the senate. this issue is going to be addressed. the american people -- >> hold it. time-out. i think what you are really saying is it's not about obama care it's about abortion. >> and contraception. >> no i am not. i am not saying that at all. it's about religious freedom. violates your moral conviction. >> again, there is a huge penalty for any religiously based organization catholic charities does unbelievably good
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work. you will be penalized if you don't conform to this order this coercive order that has been dictated president obama. 2,000 dollars for every employee. they will bankrupt big base organization. i have been in congress 32 years never seen anything like it. the study sited before where did it come from? a group that was founded by planned parenthood. it is 330 -- >> 96 percent of catholic woman use a contraception? >> has a huge bias and i wouldn't trust frankly anything they do. >> i intended to talk about this the whole hour i wo
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>> good morning, everyone. it is monday, february 13, 2012. hope you had a great weekend. now it's off to the rest of the week. i'm gretchen carlson. the voice of a generation lost but certainly not forgotten. >> ♪ and i ♪ will always love you >> the latest on whitney houston's death and why her daughter was rushed to the hospital now. >> and from the echos of whitney houston, a new star has risen. >> ♪ we could have had it all ♪ rocking in the deep
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