ads-up display. [ engine revving ] the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. ♪ give me one moment in time good morning. once in a generation, a voice comes along with a richness, power and beauty that reaches deep into our souls, and grabs our emotions. ♪ learning to love yourself it is the greatest love of all ♪ >> whitney houston. born with a talent that could only come from god. a voice that could soar to the highest notes. ♪ and i will always love you

>> but a life that descended into a poub lick battle with addiction. this morning at 48, that voice is silenced, and fans and the entertainment world are remembering whitney "today," entertainment world are remembering whitney "today," sunday, february 12th, 2012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a sunday morning. i'm lester holt. >> and i'm jenna wolfe. and it's safe to say the music industry lost a titanic voice last night. >> i was just hit with an overwhelming sense of sadness when i heard the news. i loved her music and i think we all felt the horrible struggle she went through in the last few

years of her life. >> it was hard for us as fans t for us as fans to watch her go through it. she called herself her own worst enemy and you sort of felt her pain as well. >> we've been reminded how many hits she produced over her career as well and dominated the pop charts for nearly two decade s from 1984 to 1999. she had 11 number one hits and an additional 11 top ten hits. she had been seen with her m mentor and her husband, bobbi and her daughter, kristina. >> later that night she attended grammy parties and in these photos she seems to be needing help walking, leaving those clubs, far from the glamorous whitney houston. >> last night she was found in her hotel room in the beverly hilton hotel. the cause of her death is not known and remains under

investigation. >> she died the eve of the grammys where she won six awards over the course of her career. >> jennifer hudson and chaka khan will pay tribute. we'll talk with chaka khan and how she plans to remember her friend. >> she is being regarded as the best singer of her time. >> at her peak, she was known as the golden girl, but she struggled with drug addiction as her career went sideways. she was found saturday at that hotel in beverly hills. kristen dahlgren begins with our coverage there. >> reporter: whitney houston was suppose supposed to be here for clyde davis' pregrammy party but instead this is where she died and where some of the biggest names gathered last night to mourn. stars arrived at the beverly

hilton just hours before her death. >> we'll miss her. we'll miss the sound and her presence. >> we're very sad. >> as they comforted each other, police continued their investigation. >> approximately 3:43 pm this afternoon, a 911 call was placed at the beverly hills police department by hotel security. it was a medical emergency call. >> rushed to houston's room on the fourth floor and tried to resuscitate the 48-year-old but minutes later she was pronounced dead. around the world, her death brought shock but in recent years her singing was often overshadowed by drug use and bad behavior. just thursday she was caught looking disheveled from a hollywood grammy party. it wasn't always that way. she was born into music royalty, the daughter of gospel singer, cissy houston, dionne warwick was her cousin and aretha

franklin her godmother. with a platinum voice and cover-model looks, houston was destined to be a star. famed record producer clyde davis became her mentor and whitney shot to the top of the charts ♪ yes i'm saving all my love for you ♪ >> reporter: she was the most awarded female artist of all time. >> let's get this over with, okay? give me a kiss. >> reporter: starring in films like "the bodyguard". ♪ and i will always love you >> reporter: houston sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos. for a time, she was america's sweetheart. ♪ o say does that star spangled banner yet wave ♪ >> reporter: but one year after that dazzling 1991 super bowl

performance, she married singer bobbi brown, had a daughter, bobbi kristina, then her world spiraled downward, admitting to drug use and struggling with her voice. brown and houston divorce d and in 2010 said she was drug free. >> excited about all the things coming into her life right now. it's jst a shock. >> reporter: her death leaves questions. >> any sign of drug use or overdose? >> no obvious signs of anything at this time. >> reporter: after a life of extreme highs and lows, a voice silenced too soon. ♪ home of the brave >> reporter: so, again, the investigation continues. an autopsy is part of that. meantime, there will be a

tribute to hughouston at the grammys tonight. her ex-husband, bobbi brown, took the stage and said i love you, whitney, but appeared to break down and had to leave the stage. lester? >> known whitney houston and her family for 30 years and chaka khan, thank you both for coming on. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> reverend, you've known whitney and her family for years. have you spoken to her mother or dionne warwick, her aunt? >> no. we've reached out to them. i spent a lot of time last night talking to people who knew her well, was working with her, including the one who directed the movie she just finished "sparkles," that's coming out. everyone is numb and in shock because she seemingly had recaptured her whole grip on life. they say that we will be amazed

at how well she will come off in this movie. she even sang. i know i saw her a couple of times last year and she kept saying to me, reverend, thank you for praying for me. we all knew and stood by her mother, cissy houston, who showed an incomparable strength to stand by her daughter, because whitney was our star. she was the one that was the diva that brought our music and culture to a whole other level. for this to happen is beyond words how we can respond. >> chaka, let me bring you into this. i know whitney sang backup with you when she was just 15 years old. tell me about your relationship with her and what she meant to you personally. >> i'm still in shock. she was like a little sister to me. she's like my little sister. her mother used to sing background with me on a lot of my albums, cds with her,

whatever they were in the '80s. and she told me she had a daughter. she told me she had a daughter that was in her teens that was a great singer. i said, well, bring her down to the studio. and she brought her daughter down, and i met her. she was a beautiful, sweet teenager. she was about 16. 14 or 16. i can't really recall, but she was a teenager and we hit it off really well. and we sang some songs together. she sang background on two or three -- >> i know one of the songs she sang background on was "i'm every woman" which, of course, she recorded your song in 1992. what went through your mind when you heard her sing that song? >> that's not true. she didn't sing background with

me on "i'm every woman." that's an obvious misconception. >> i stand corrected. >> right. she decided to do the song written by valerie simpson and nick ashford, whom we lost as well not long ago. and she sang it and she sang it as a tribute, sort of, to me and asked if i would be in the video with her. while she was pregnant with bobbi kris dtina. i was more than happy to do anything with her. we were very, very close. >> reverend al, let me bring you back into this. at one point she told you that the spotlight can illuminate you but can also burn you. how concerned have you been about her over the years with her recovery and her ability to move forward? >> all of us were concerned. i remember that cissy houston had a prayer meeting for the

community, not only for whitney, but all children recovering in harlem. i came to speak. we all prayed for whitney and we all were so happy when we started seeing her making steps to come back. in 2009 she did an album, a cd called "i look to you" sort of a gospel pop song where she really said in the song "i look to you, god. after all i've been through, i look to you." that's all i thought of about all night, that the last hit she left us with, she went back to her roots and said i look to you. i hope people around the country have a day of prayer and reflection. this great, probably the greatest voice of our generation that had gone through trials and tribulations. i hope we don't remember her just for the trials but remember that voice and the last we heard it was talking about look iing

something bigger than her, to give her the strength that we all need to get through our trial and tribulations. >> reverend al sharpton and chaka khan, you're both helping us remember her beautiful voice and talent. thank you for coming. >> thank you. >> thank huge music industry party thrown by her mentor clive davis. to many people's surprise the party was not canceled even after the news of houston's death. access hollywood's shaun robinson joins us from beverly hills with more. good morning. >> good morning, jenna. i actually was invited to that party and every celebrity that i talked to was in a state of shock when they arrived because we had actually been looking forward to whitney taking the stage. we had heard that that was going to happen. and a lot of people were wondering if the party would have been or should have been canceled. however, clive davis said that whitney would have wanted this party to go on, everybody was mingling when clive took to the stage. usually it's a crowd that takes a little while to calm down, but as soon as clive took the stage you could hear a pin drop.

everyone wanted to hear what he was going to say. and here's how he started his remarks. >> i do have a very heavy heart, and i am personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me for so many years. whitney was so full of life. >> clive went on to say all the wonderful things that he knew about whitney when she was growing up. he ended it with a moment of silence. and after that moment of silence was over, he said, now let's hear some music. and that sort of, jenna, gave everyone a license to have a good time. we had artists like alicia keys taking to the stage, celebrating the life of whitney houston saying that she was so glad that she had met her because clive davis had given her and whitney houston their start. and also, a tribute to diana

ross. everyone mentioned whitney houston during their performance. jenna? >> to say she will be missed will indeed be an understatement. shaun robinson, thank you very much. whitney houston is the only woman to have more than one album spend more than ten weeks on top of the billboard charts. in the late '80s and early '90s she ruled the airwaves with hits like "the greatest love of all," and of course "i will always love you." joining us with more reaction from the music world is the editorial director of billboard, bill, thanks for joining us this morning. good morning. >> good morning. >> you were at clive davis' party last night. clive discovered her, clive turned her into a superstar. tell me a little bit more about the mood from the party. >> well, it was very, very strange to be honest with you. i mean there were a lot of people weren't clear whether the party was going to be canceled or not at first. i think it actually may have been a little less attended than normal because of that. once you got inside, you know, everyone was kind of obviously talking about whitny.

and i think people were kind of just unsure of whether it was okay to party. >> i understand some of the scheduled performers decided not to perform out of respect to whitney houston. clive said he wanted the party to go on, it was something whitney would have wanted. was there some uneasiness in that room because it wasn't canceled? >> well, i think at first, there certainly was. i mean a lot of the industry executives that i spoke with were sort of unsure exactly what to expect. but i think that ultimately everyone believed that if the party, if the performances, if the way clive set it up, if the mood was right, if they hit the right notes, that it would be okay. that it would be sort of cathartic. and hopefully that is exactly what happened. >> it's ironic she died the day before the grammys. she won six awards over the span of her musical career. can you put into words what kind of mood and what kind of atmosphere we're going to see at the -- at the awards ceremony tonight? >> well, it's going to be very strange.

you know, the grammys were shaping up, i mean they've seen their ratings grow and the buzz grow the last few years and this year was going to be a really spectacular mix of a lot of different things. people were looking for adele to maybe have this incredible night and win a lot of awards. bruce springsteen was going to perform for the first time on a big stage. and now i think that the whole thing has sort of been cast in an obviously in a different light. so, you know, i think it's going to be similar to the clive party that people are going to be showing up and be a little, you know, a little tentative. a little unsure. >> look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts tonight. bill, thank you for getting up and joining us today. >> my pleasure. thank you. we want to turn gears now and get a check of the other top stories of the day. let's head to the news desk where nbc's janet shamlian is standing by. good morning. >> good morning, and good morning, everyone. we start in maine where republican presidential hopeful mitt romney returned to the win column following saturday's caucuses. nbc's ron allen is in portland. ron, good morning to you. is this an indication that

romney's campaign is somewhat back on track? >> he sure hopes so, janet. romney is actually on the opposite coast out in california, taking a day off. he escaped here from maine with a very narrow victory. he beat ron paul by about 3 percentage points, about 200 votes. it was so close that ron paul called it a tie. romney will take the win because' voids losing his fourth consecutive contest. he also had a big day down in washington, d.c., at the annual gathering of conservative activists. there he beat rick santorum by about seven points. that's significant because there had been so many doubts about whether romney can rally the party's conservative base. janet? >> ron allen in portland for us this morning. thank you. more than 1,000 people said good-bye saturday to two little boys, victims of a family tragedy. 7-year-old charlie and 5-year-old braden powell died in a gas-fueled house fire set by their father when they went to visit him last sunday. josh powell was also killed. he was a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife susan two years ago. finally, someone has it.

there was one winning ticket in last night's record $325 million powerball game. lottery officials say the winning ticket was sold in rhode island. so far no one has come forward to claim that prize. the winning numbers, in case you have a ticket and you live in rhode island, 1, 10, 37, 52, 57, and the powerball was 11. at 8:18 that is the news. now back to lester, jenna and janet. >> what are the odds of being in rhode island? >> what are the odds i had those numbers and i'm not in rhode island. janice huff is here with a check of the weather. >> good morning. winter weather is moving in across the southern plains, in parts of texas. icy conditions, cold temperatures. today an icy mix of snow and sleet for west texas. up to two inches of accumulation. that spreads north and eastward tomorrow, into oklahoma and the northern plains. and good sunday morning to you. temperatures around the bay area, mostly in the 40s. as we take you off to the north

bay, 41 in santo rosa and visibility less than half a mile. dense fog advisory for the north bay valleys. for the afternoon, there will be increasing clouds, eventually leading to a chance of seeing some rain as we wrap up the weekend. hour by hour, quickly by noon, mainly 50s today. kind of a cool day. rain coming in later on into monday morning, and look at the highs. low to mid-50s to start the workweek. >> now here's jenna. >> janice, thank you. up next on "today," your reaction to the death of whitney houston. what her fans are writing on facebook and twitter. that's right after this. my dad and grandfather spent their whole careers here. [ charlie ] we're the heartbeat of this place, the people on the line. we take pride in what we do. when that refrigerator ships out the door, it's us that work out here. [ michael ] we're on the forefront of revitalizing manufacturing. we're proving that it can be done here, and it can be done well. [ ilona ] i come to ge after the plant i was working at closed after 33 years.

ge's giving me the chance to start back over. [ cindy ] there's construction workers everywhere. so what does that mean? it means work. it means work for more people. [ brian ] there's a bright future here, and there's a chance to get on the ground floor of something big, something that will bring us back. not only this company, but this country. ♪ from the moment of news of whitney houston's death became public many went to social media to express their shock and sadness. >> celebrities took to twitter like smokey robin who said, i've known whitney since she was a little girl and i've always loved her. celine dion wrote, she will never be forgotten as one of the greatest voices to ever grace the earth. >> whitney had almost 2 million fans on facebook and some of them shared their thoughts. one said whitney sang to our souls and gave us hope. and now she is an angel. another thanked whitney for her beautiful music saying you had the voice of an angel and now you will be singing with the angels. there's more to come here on

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good morning to you. looking live at the golden gate bridge. a lot drier than yesterday but maybe not for long. thanks for joining us this morning. i'm kris sanchez along with rob mehta. >> golden gate bridge will see rain coming through. going to run into quite a bit of fog. 40s and in the north bay visibility less than half a mile. in santa rosa, a reason why there's fog advisories up. increasing clouds and rain showing up later.

hour by hour, notice what happens as we head towards 1:00, 2:00. north bay coast starting to see light rain coming in, and by 6:00 it should be spreading across the bay area, so by noon today, temperatures not really warming up a whole lot. you really can't warm up when you get clouds spilling in on top. it blocks out the sunlight. today mostly upper 50s. tomorrow morning we'll see some lingering showers and cool temperatures. tomorrow highs in the low to mid-50s. snow level still expected to be as low at 4,000 feet. good news for the sierras and maybe a dusting of snow in the hamiltons. >> be careful driving. >> absolutely. >> more human remains were found at two northern california sites where a convicted serial killer may have dumped his victims. a skull fragment a a bone brag finance were found in linden. wesly shermantine has duped a dozen bodies near the well.

in calaveras county is where investigators found the remains of a second person on friday as well as another skull on thursday. the department of justice is analyzing the bones. shermantine and his partner louis hertzog are connected to as many as 20 killings. hertzog committed suicide in january. with valentine's day just around the corner, it's not just flowers and chocolate that are popular this time of year. several bay area pet shelters are offering up sweet deals on guys like these if you're looking for the love connection. san francisco control is holding a valentine adoption fair today. they say the fair will be the best place to find true love this valentine's day. all adoption fees will be 50% off, plus there's a game for kids, photo booth and a bake

sale. just across the street the san francisco spca is holding a valentine's day adopt-a-thon. their goal is to find homes for 120 animals at the spca. adoption there costs just-12. coming up at 7:00 on "today in the bay," the latest on whitney houston's death and reaction from her fellow artists. that story and all the day's top news coming up for you right here at 7:00.

♪ o say does that star spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ >> we certainly heard the anthem many times, but not many times like that. one of the most famous and memorable renditions of the star

spangled banner sung by whitney houston. that was the 1991 super bowl game in tampa. her version of our national anthem came at a patriotic time just after the onset of the persian gulf war. it's been over 20 years since that night and i don't know about you, but it still gives me chills to hear her. >> that was one of the only national anthem renditions that was actually better than the game itself. where you just remember that from that year, no matter what. >> welcome back to "today" on a sunday morning. i'm lester holt alongside jenna wolfe. >> we've been reporting all morning that whitney houston has died at the age of 48. the young age of 48. the cause of her death is uncertain and still under investigation. but reaction has been pouring in from all around the world. >> whitney houston dominated pop music in the '80s and '90s with her powerful voice. but she also had a very public struggle with drugs, and a very rocky marriage to singer bobby brown. >> and coming up, we're going to hear houston talk about that relationship, along with her personal struggles and problems with the media. it's from a "dateline" interview from several years ago when she

was trying to stage a comeback. >> first let's get another check of the weather. janice huff is here. >> all my favorite whitney houston songs, my favorite is when she sang the star spangled banner.ou >> watching it i was getting chills. >> it's incredible. we are tracking a storm moving across the central portion of the country today, and the bitter cold that's taken the nation by storm. n least for the north plains, across the northeast, even into the southern states. jacksonville, 26 degrees right now. most of this region has not experienced winter. but you got it today. with temperatures in the single digits across maine for your afternoon high. your windchills will be below zero. the cold weather, though, will move out, we'll start to see temperatures warm up over the next several days and icy weather for the centra >> and good morning. once again we're seeing temperatures in the low 40s to upper 40s around the bay area this morning. the short-term concern is that dense fog in the north bay. can you see advivisibility down less than half a mile.

clouds will spill in the afternoon keeping temperatures down. mostly in the upper 50s today and by 6:00 tonight we should start to see the rain come on in. for tomorrow, some rain to start and some showers for the afternoon, and highs much cooler, in the low to mid-50s. >> now here's lester. >> janice, thanks. watching whitney houston's fall from grace was difficult for all of her fans. her public deterioration played out in the media for the last several years. these are recent photos of her taken just a couple of days ago in los angeles. houston, some might say, looks unhealthy here, not the vibrant singer that won over the world in the mid 1980s. nbc's janet shamlian joins us with more on houston's struggles. janet, good morning. >> lester, good morning. that commercial success continued through the '90s, but by the end of that decade, signs of trouble were definitely starting to emerge. there were addiction and marital issues, and it was the beginning of a slow and downward spiral. ♪ oh, i want to dance with somebody ♪ >> reporter: it was a life of peaks and valleys for whitney

houston. among the awards and accolades by the late 1990s her behavior had changed. late for interviews, canceled concert performances. it usually happened at the last minute. in 2000, airport security in hawaii found marijuana in her and husband bobby brown's luggage. neither was ever charged. months later, she was scheduled to perform at friend clive davis' induction into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. but she never showed. that same year, she was invited to sing at the academy awards. and then uninvited. she continued to lose weight. fueling rumors of drug use. finally admitting it in a 2002 interview with diane sawyer. >> if you had to name the devil for you, the biggest devil among them? >> that would be me. >> reporter: after years of what was described as a turbulent relationship, houston divorced bobby brown in 2007. and was granted custody of their

daughter, bobbi kristina. a few years later she would speak out in a rare, and candid conversation, with oprah winfrey. >> what was your drug of choice? >> cococaine. >> cococaine. >> yeah. marijuana. that was it. >> reporter: three years ago whitney houston released her first studio album in almost a decade. while it was well received it failed to produce any blockbuster hits or grammy nominations. she followed it up with an overseas tour that had many of her fans demanding refunds. >> thank you. >> reporter: while she appeared dishevelled at a pre-grammy party thursday, houston's last performance on saturday night, on servers say, was remarkably well. this could have been a good comeback for whitney houston. she starred in a new film called "sparkle" and it's scheduled to be released in august. lester? >> janet, thank you. with us now are addiction specialist brad lamb and jody bartlemeo for "people" magazine.

joey, i think back to michael jackson, amy winehouse. we talked about their struggles, their trials, their challenges, but in the end it's the music that we remember. will it be the same with whitney houston? >> absolutely. i mean, she was one of the biggest music stars, one of the biggest pop stars, so beloved. you know, all of this, with her addiction and everything, it will be an asterisk. everyone knows this happened, but her music is unforgettable. and it makes us all the sadder when we know about her addictions and struggles, and always makes us wonder at these times does living with these addictions, coming out publicly and being a celebrity make it more difficult to overcome? >> it does. when i intervene on folks who are high-profile celebrities who don't have a lot of know people around them and also who when they go to twelve-step meetings or support groups to help them stay clean and sober, they don't have the anonymity that other folks have. i think there is another level added to it.

but the other thing, too, is when she talked about her cocaine addiction openly and pot addiction openly, it sometimes will talk ourselves back in to another drug, which is alcohol. to be part of our lives. and so, i think that's a common problem that people who struggle with addiction have, they talk themselves back into addiction and then those around them support the very thing that's killing them. >> and as fans all we want is -- maybe sometimes we're selfish, because get over it. we want you back onstage. we want to hear your music, hear you hit those incredibly high notes again. that's got to add its own level of pressure. >> absolutely. you know, when i heard the news last night, i was taking a nap, i woke up and i really cried. i couldn't believe it, that this thing that felt inevitable at times had happened. because she seemed like she was doing better, in spite of some recent media reports. >> and joey, where was her career at this point? i mean, this movie that she had shot, but musically, where was she? >> you know, she had that album come out in 2009, she hadn't really been doing much. she did sing at a party the other night, on thursday night out in l.a. as far as recording more music,

that hadn't really been discussed. but the movie was going to be her big comeback. everyone was very excited to see her back on film. she was excited about it. i think this could have been a really big moment for her. >> it's funny, we talked a lot about her music, but she had a great acting career, too. >> she did. >> "the preacher's wife," and "the bodyguard." >> exactly. and this "sparkle" movie was going to be a very big deal for her. >> and i always wonder what the take away in these things is. so many people struggle with the same thing in a public way. what's the take away? >> we heard her say the problem is me. but really with addiction the problem is that people need help. treatment works, intervention works. if you can step in and help somebody, not just expect them to do it on their own. that's the best thing you can do to help somebody who's addicted. >> and we should remind folks, we dent know what the cause of death was here. we know she had these struggles in life. her career was hopefully in a comeback.

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>> you also took some hits. either too sweet, too sultry, to white, too black, to demure, too demanding, too this, too that. how do you deal with that? >> my mother told me, she said nobody has a right to put any expectation over your head. if you give in to it, you will disappoint yourself mostly. and that hurts worse. she said above all to thine own self be true. >> in the four years since their wedding whitney has been unabled to squash the rumors she and bobby did not marry for love. according to the gossip, it's a marriage of convenience, designed to boost their careers, or hide something. you've called the media demons. >> blood-sucking demons, yes. >> out to eat my flesh. >> out to eat my flesh. >> yikes. >> yeah. yeah. they probably thought, oh, she just wanted to have a baby! she just wanted a man and to have a baby, and this is all a joke. that ain't me.

that is not me. maybe somebody else. but that's not me. >> he's got a reputation for being a bad boy. >> uh-huh. >> naughty. >> uh-huh. and he can be. >> is he behaving himself? >> he's behaving himself. he's actually always behaved himself. listen, if they caught him with somebody, i haven't. you know. and if i wanted to know, i would definitely find out cause i'm that kind of girl. >> how would you find out? >> oh, baby. there are ways. there are ways and i know them. i'm from newark. love that song. >> do you think you might want to be a singer when you grow up? no? >> you always tell me you do. >> what would you like to be when you grow up? apparently bobbi kristina feels the same way her mom does about pesky reporters. and she's inherited a few things from her dad, too. >> she did a mean little gyration, baby, like her father. she scares me. ♪ >> lots of pelvic thrusts? >> lots of thrusting.

we try to control it around here. my mother goes she's moving a little too much. there's no music. >> if she came up to you when she was about 11 or 12 and says mommy, i want to be a singer. >> i would jump out my skin like my mother did. i would, because i know the ins and out of this business, and it's not very nice. >> although she can still belt it out with unbridled joy, whitney houston is now older, wiser, and in some ways, a little sadder. and leaning a little harder on the people she loves the most. ♪ sing joy joy to the world ♪ >> i know i'm news today, not news tomorrow. you know. i can deal with it. but it's mom and dad that stay constant, and my brothers and my husband and my children. that's what matters to me. >> coming up tonight, i'll be hosting a special "dateline" with more of that interview with whitney houston and a look at

her last days in los angeles tonight at 7:00 p.m., 6:00 central on nbc. >> and just ahead, whitney houston's legacy. a look at her lasting impact on music.hese ig aerhese t messages. by balsa wood airplanes since i was a kid. [ mike ] i always wondered how did an airplane get in the air. at ge aviation, we build jet engines. we lift people up off the ground to 35 thousand feet. these engines are built by hand with very precise assembly techniques. [ mike ] it's gonna fly people around the world. safely and better than it's ever done before. it would be a real treat to hear this monster fire up. [ jaronda ] i think a lot of people, when they look at a jet engine, they see a big hunk of metal. but when i look at it, i see seth, mark, tom, and people like that who work on engines every day. [ tom ] i would love to see this thing fly. [ kareem ] it's a dream, honestly. there it is. oh, wow. that's so cool! yeah, that was awesome!

[ cheering ] [ tom ] i wanna see that again. ♪ yeah.

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>> whitney houston reigned as one of pop music's superstars. >> she influenced an entire generation of young singers, everyone from mariah carey to adele, who owe a huge, huge gratitude to whitney houston. >> reporter: all who are now mourning her loss. in a statement mariah carey said she's heartbroken and in tears over the shocking death of my friend, the incomparable miss whitney houston. christina aguilera said we have lost another legend, love and prayers to whitney's family. she will be missed. jessica simpson, i found my voice singing whitney houston's music. today i lost my idol. ♪ and i will always love you >> reporter: even dolly parton, who wrote the song made famous by houston in "the bodyguard" said, i can truly say from the bottom of my heart, whitney, i will always love you. you will be missed. houston was said to be making a comeback. something she tried before, after battling troubles in her life. she had a new movie project, and a new lease on life.

>> i think that people were 100% rooting for whitney houston. everybody wanted to see a comeback. >> reporter: last night her mentor, clive davis, held a moment of silence to honor houston at a pre-grammy party, saying, quote, simply put, whitney would have wanted the music to go on, and her family asked that we carry on. musical talent experts say will be remembered, but not easily duplicated. >> that voice, there will never be another whitney houston. >> reporter: for "today," michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. >> joe levy is a contributing editor for "rolling stone" magazine. and toure is an msnbc contributor. thank you both for joining us. joe, let me start with you. whitney houston's musical gift sort of speaks for itself. 170 million albums sold. that's an astounding number. can you pinpoint what some of her standout moments were over the course of her career? >> two moments people are mentioning so much right now

are "i will always love you" and "the star spangled banner." i'm surprised how many people are talking about "the star spangled banner." but those two moments mean so much for american and african-american pop music. these songs "i will always love you" is a country song and the other is the national anthem. these are moments when she claimed them for black pop tradition. and they were transformed in moments that speak to the dream of pop music in america itself. >> toure let me turn to you with that same question. "i will always love you" the biggest selling u.s. single of all time. how defining a moment was that when she sang that song in that movie, in -- in musical history? >> i mean, i get chills still listening to it. i remember the first time i heard it, and the opening moments, when it's just her singing acapella, it's as beautiful as a bride on her wedding day. and there's so few people who could do it that long without background music, and make it so

compelling and so stirring, and just so beautiful. it's amazing and it's a testament to the quality of her voice. this is the voice. the greatest voice of her generation. and i think it's important to note, this is aretha franklin's goddaughter and that sort of resonates figuratively in that she takes what aretha franklin did, and updates it into the pop milieu. they both come from gospel. and then, of course, whitney houston is sort of the mother of the modern pop diva, beyonce, adele, mariah, mary j. blige, on and on and on. they owe so much to her. >> joe, we've seen her troubles play out through the years and a lot of it in public, unfortunately, with that show, and through various interviews that she's given. but it seemed like her colleagues, her fans, kept rooting for her. you don't always get that with a lot of performers. it seemed like the public really wanted her to make it. >> her peers absolutely supported her. i think the public did, as well. what is so disappointing was that two years ago she had a record, she tried to mount a tour. it didn't work. it was another public meltdown.

i saw her sing three years ago at clive davis' grammy party. the top range of her voice wasn't there. but i've never seen an industry event more electrified by someone just walking onstage. the fact that her, in public, with a microphone, she was about to sing, people were already screaming. >> toure, we hear names like celine dion and mariah carey who are superstars themselves, and they were inspired and influenced by someone like whitney houston, it's a loaded question, but what will her legacy be? >> well, i mean for one thing, this is somebody who could just stand there and sing. she didn't need the dancers, and the electronics, and the studio tricks and all that entertainery stuff. so you'll just remember this awesome voice. this incredible instrument that would just leap out of her throat. you know, brought gospel into a pop milieu, could do ballads, could do dance pop, could update modern soul music. you know, incredible. >> toure and joe levy, we thank you both so much for joining us and sharing your thoughts. we're going to take a break. we're back after these messages.

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time for a check of what's coming up on "meet the press." david gregory joins us now from washington. david, good morning. >> hey, lester. good morning coming up this morning, we'll to you. hear from the president's chief of staff, jack lew. then live from the campaign trail, former pennsylvania senator rick santorum joins me to discuss what's next for his campaign and our political roundtable. all coming up this morning on "meet the press." >> we'll see you shortly, david. thanks. and a programming note. he was convicted of murder on thin evidence, and ten years ago he gave us an unusual challenge, to try to prove him guilty. did we? find out tonight on "dateline" following our special dateline

on the life of whitney houston at 7:00. >> it's been a sad morning as we have reflected on the life and talents of whitney houston. >> we'll leave you now with some highlights of her career and we'll see you next weekend here on "today." ♪ everybody's searching for a hero people need someone to look up to i never found anyone who fullfilled my needs ♪ ♪ a lonely place to be and so i learned to depend on me i decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow if i fail if i succeed at least i'll live as i believe ♪ ♪ no matter what they take from me they can't take away my dignity because the greatest love of all

is happening to me ♪ ♪ i found the greatest love of all inside of me ♪