jennifer hudson did an amazing job, but we expected more.nted mariah carey, we wanted beyonce, christina aguilera. we wanted these great voices to come out and do what they do best, to pay tribute to the voice, and it just didn't happen. >> tommy, would you agree with that? >> yes, totally. i thought the entire show would have found a way to tie whitney in. for the actual tribute, we wanted some more whitney. >> we felt robbed. >> do you think it's because we don't know why she died or how she died, and there's all these questions, or do you think they just didn't have time to change the show around? >> that's the thing. there's a lot of speculation. she has had a sordid past. tonight was about celebrating the voice and legacy, but it is kind of shrouded with what actually happened. >> you wanted more. >> i wanted more. i needed to see more. we can't just have one person pay tribute to such a great legend and icon. >> new information tonight about the death of whitt anyway houston. police in l.a. have now confirmed that houston was found in

the recording academy plans to pay tribute with jennifer hudson taking part in the ceremony.ell, fans, about everybody i know, is reacting to the sudden loss of a great singer. twitter lit up in the hours following houston's death reaching as many as 1,000 tweets per second according to top storiy.com. celebrities at the clive davis pre-grammy party spoke to our camera crews about the loss of a legend. >> she sent so much love out into the world, and she was an inspiration for so many people, and we're there with her. >> i have known her for a little girl up, you know, and her family, of course, and i'm venturing out to say this and may get some flack, but there will never be another voice like that. >> when i first heard whitney houston, i call up clive davis at sony columbia, and i said clive, that's one of the greatest singers i ever heard. >> i just remember when we were doing "the bodyguard" that she would work all day filming, tired from that and come into the studio, and just rip her coat off and go up to the mike, like i said, like a race horse, and she is the definit

with jennifer hudson and he compared and he was touched by the comparison. she used to mimic doing duets at 7 or 8. whitney was her heroin. it was the pregrammy party and i can imagine the party being sad and shocked. the l.a. chapter president of the grammys, thank you very much for joining me. >> thank you. >> obviously a desperately sad evening. i can only imagine how everyone is feeling. the grammys tomorrow, this is a horrible coincidence of one of the great grammy winners. it would have been at the party with a mental clive davis. how is everyone reacting to the horrible news? >> it is not good. it's not good. it's shocking at this point. i talked with several people at this point. kelly price as well as missy elliott who both worked with whitney and were very good friends and we just all are going to miss her so much and my heart goes out to her daughter and her family and her mom. countless people whose lives are deeply affected by this. i hope that we are able to recover. i'm speechless. . >> obviously whitney went through a lot of problems in her l

balfour was the estranged husband of jennifer hudson's a sister julia the case is still before the judge this hour and we will have a complete wrap on our news at 5:00 p.m. >>hundreds of thousands of people ride the chicago's el trains each day ... now a new twitter poll may have solved the age-old question of how you spell what we call that system ... the grid of chicago b log asked is chicagos trend system the letter l 4 typical way we spell it among the responses was one from the official cta twitter count it said that the letter l is correct use it dates back more than 120 years in chicago the alternative spelling was the generic abbreviation for elevated l applies to the entire system and now i guess we could say it's settled in the medical watch cardiac stem cells can reverse heart attack damage researchers at cedars-sinai heart institute report they used cardiac stem cells to regenerate heart muscle and patience to suffered are attacks and a small preliminary studies 17 patients received infusions of their own stem cells while eight others received standard care scars left behind

apparent to whitney houston it is jennifer hudson.ailed it last night. it was a proving tribute. >> she got choked up, too. >> she felt it. >> i think all of us had chills when she sang that song. >> of course we'll have a lot more whitney houston coming up in that half hour as well. we'll turn now to some other news on this morning beginning overseas in greece where lawmakers have approved a package of some pretty deep economic cuts but as that vote neared more than 100,000 angry protesters marched on parliament, some clashing with police, some looting, even some setting buildings on fire there. more than 100 people were injured in all this. the budget cuts are aiming to keep greece from going bankrupt and taking the global economy right down with it. >>> and markets in asia opened just hours after that vote. so far investors there seem to be responding pretty positively. but they are also looking ahead to the next hurdle in all the of this. european finance ministers meet wednesday to discuss the next outlay of cash to prop up the g

. >> don't be surprised if chaka khan doesn't break down on stage, even jennifer hudson, she'll be partthe special tribute. and it is going to be really a big night for jennifer, you know. even before the devastating news happened yesterday, fred, she shared how whitney houston was an idol to her, even as an 11-year-old girl, she would imagine sitting in a room that whitney was across from her and they would be doing duets together. and what a lot of people may not remember is whitney presented jennifer with her very first grammy on stage in 2008. that was for best r&b album, jennifer hudson, back then. so it will be an emotional night for her. she said at that time, fred, this was so touching, that meeting whitney houston back in 2008, it almost overshadowed the whole grammy experience. so this is how much this woman meant to her, probably still means to her. and so she's going to give it her all when she hits that stage tonight. i also want to share with you some of the statements that cnn has confirmed from a person who used to be married to whitney houston, bobby brown, of course, s

here's jennifer hudson. ♪ and i...l always love ♪ you ♪ >> reporter: frank, as you can see, she did perform that beautifully. you know, there was a last- minute scramble as how they would pay tribute to whitney houston. executive producer going to jennifer hudson and asking her to do that rendition of "i will always love you." of course, the song written by dolly parton, first sung by dolly parton and made famous by whitney houston in the movie "the bodyguard." she did a fabulous job. everyone was moved by it. there were reports that jennifer hudson during rehearsal on sunday and saturday was sobbing during rehearsals and she did look emotional when she walked off stage but she did a fabulous job and you know, people saying today that perhaps whitney houston -- she would have made whitney houston proud because she did such a fabulo job. >> she said whitney houston was her hero and to put that together in less than 24 hours, amazing. >> elizabeth, what do we know about whitney's last public appearance? >> reporter: on t

jennifer hudson paying attribute at times needing to buy back tears as she sang the song will forever be tied to whitney houston, i will always love you. >> the grammys proved they will always love whitney houston. >> jennifer hudson took the stage to remember the six-time grammy winner. the 48 -year-old music legend was found in the bathtub of her beverly hills hotel room on saturday. host ll cool jay kicked off the show with prayer. >> avonlea father, thank you for sharing our sister whitney with us. >> the shocking death of one of the world's greatest voices couldn't help but impact the mood on music's biggest night. >> two have something help them like that is tragic. that's the only word i could use this tragedy. that's just wrong. >> her soaring vocals made her queen of pop charts until drugs i want her career. the coroner's office is determining the cause of death could take weeks but foul play is suspected. >> i know there's reports that she maybe drowned or opera does that, we can't make up final determination until all the tests are in. >> used instead of taking the toll on

and for jennifer hudson, her tribute to whitney houston tonight will be especially emotional. ple years ago, whitney houston herself gave hudson her grammy award. >> memorable moment for her and for the audience as well. you say that houston's death obviously has affected the grammy's. that was to be expected. is it to the extent that it's overshadowed the event? >> reporter: certainly there's a huge focus here and it's sort of a mixed bag. it's a celebration, also somber, and sort of celebrating her life and everything she brought to the music industry. you're talking about a woman who sold over 55 million records in the u.s. alone, and then sadly her daughter today, taken to the hospital, taken away in an ambulance, just a couple of hours after her mother was found dead in that same hotel. so certainly somewhat of a dark cloudy think you can say, but i think they are trying to make today more of a celebration of her life and not focusing on this tragic loss that i think the entire music industry, fans around the world are mourning today. >> bigad shaban in beverly hills, than

. >> a couple hours later, on that forecast, jennifer hudson, the one-time "american idol" contestant, now, a big star in her own right, had the awesome duty of honoring whitney houston's voice. ♪ and i will always love you ♪ ♪ i will always love you ♪ ♪ i will always love you ♪ ♪ you ♪ whitney we love, we love you ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jennifer hudson paying tribute last night at the grammys to whitney houston. as for the business of giving out the grammys, the night was owned by pop sensation, adele. she mounted a comeback from vocal chord performance for "rolling in the deep." she had the record, song and album of the year. the other big winners were the foo fighters, kanye west with four. >>> turning to other news overseas. greek lawmakers voted to approve tough, new austerity measures, a plan that triggered the worst rioting in years. it would call for harsh pension cuts and elimination of 15,000 jobs. this paves the way for greece to receive about $170 billion of loan from foreign lenders to keep the country from default on its debt. ahead of the vote, violence erupted in

with jennifer hudson and he compared and he was touched by the comparison.was young she used to mimic doing duets at 7 or 8. whitney was her heroin. it was the pregrammy party and i can imagine the party being sad and shocked. the l.a. chapter president of the grammys, thank you very much for joining me. >> thank you. >> obviously a desperately sad evening. i can only imagine how everyone is feeling. the grammys tomorrow, this is a horrible coincidence of one of the great grammy winners. it would have been at the party with a mental clive davis. how is everyone reacting to the horrible news? >> it is not good. it's not good. it's shocking at this point. i talked with several people at this point. kelly price as well as missy elliott who both worked with whitney and were very good friends and we just all are going to miss her so much and my heart goes out to her daughter and her family and her mom. countless people whose lives are deeply affected by this. i hope that we are able to recover. i'm speechless. . >> obviously whitney went through a lot of problems

. ♪ and i -- >> jennifer hudson sang one of her most well-known songs.ays love you" and the night began with a star studded audience bowing their heads in prayer. >> we've been truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit. >> houston died in the bathtub of her fourth floor hotel room at the beverly hilton on the eve of the grammy awards. nominees and fellow ar cysts on the red carpet say she was an inspiration. >> you fantasized about being like her someday. >> she was such a great voice. we lost her way too early. >> many of music's biggest stars say it cast a shadow over the awards show. it could be weeks before investigators can answer questions about what caused the singer's death. >> there was no visible signs of trauma and froul play is not suspected. >> her autopsy was completed sunday but officials are waiting for the toxicology test results. >> the grammy award winner's career started to fade after reports of drug use. investigators haven't said if they found any illegal drugs inside houston's hotel room saturday houston made her l

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the people you saw and he is here with one of the biggest stars oscar and grammy award winner jennifer hudsonto have the man in my studio. jennifer, you are a fantastic story and you know why i love your story? because simon cowell didn't spot your talent, and i remind him of this every time i see him. and if you come on "america's got talent" i would have made sure you won. >> wow. thank you for that. [ laughter ] >> how do you feel, clive, about because you swooped on this amazing talent after i think that after you saw the real "dream girls." did you see her on "american idol" and did you pick up on jennifer then? >> i did. but i saw her talent and i saw the rough talent and the rough screen test when she sang, and you know, sang the great songs and saw her acting ability and that sold me. so, we got together after that. i reached out to her and signed her. >> and you are living, walking proof that these shows which often get derided by critics really can produce world class stars. can't they? >> i think so. i think that, like, reality shows are a good platform. one for you to display your

jennifer hudson, gwyneth paltrow. it was a great year. >> it was.s point because meryl just won the baftas last night. >> that's right. >> and viola's won other stuff. it's going to be fascinating to see. >> mila, who are you wearing? >> i'm wearing ruleen reitz. >> i was thinking of wearing him for the oscars. >> oh! >> i'm just keeping my options open. what kind of trends do you think we're going to be seeing? >> we're going to be seeing a lot of colors and a lot of shine. >> oh. >> yep, a lot of shine, a lot of colors so far. for fall, burgundy is the new black. who knows. >> now, i have to rethink what i'm going to wear. >> you can set the trend, robin. >> i will. >> you're going to set the table for us, because you're going to be right there at the arrivals. >> pressure, big pressure. >> i'm sure you've watched the oscars over the years, to be a part of it. >> it was just amazing. i watched that recently. i've been prepping on my screeners, watching the movies. i'm actually having a dress made from scratch. really exciting. >> oh, my. that is e

jennifer hudson probably doing a special tribute to whitney houston. don?ery much. reporting outside the staples center in los angeles. piers morgan is in los angeles tonight. piers, it's amazing how quickly things move, we're hearing thousand they're going to rejigger the grammys tomorrow night with a tribute to whitney houston. it feels like a minute ago, although we've been on the air almost four hours, we still don't know the cause of death. >> no, we don't know the cause of death. in fact, the early indications are, the police are not suspecting foul play. who knows what may have caused this? i think probably the reality is this is not as shocking to many people as it may have been if whitney hadn't been through so many difficult issues in her life. it's desperately sad. i think the music industry is really reaming tonight from this news. she was one of the greatest figures in the music business. possibly one of the greatest singers of all time. the fact that it's happened on the eve of the grammys -- i imagine the grammys tomorrow night will be all ab

jennifer hudson sang one of the signature songs.el room on saturday. the medical examiner has not announced the cause of death. she was 48. if the trial of george huguely entering its second week. prosecutors are winding down their case against the man accused of killing his ex- girlfriend yeardley love in charlottesville in may of 2010. president obama will unveil its 2013 budget proposal during a stop at northern virginia community college in annandale. the plan would reduce the 765 $4 trillion through spending cuts and tax increases on the wealthy -- would reduce the $4 trillion deficit. >> joshua weissman died after falling off a bridge on 395. visitation will be held wednesday night in alexandria. his funeral will be thursday in alexandria. a conservative group opposing the occupy dc protests have a counter protest scheduled at freedom plaza today. the movement is called occupy occupy dc. the national center for public policy research will be there every day between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.. >> ousted libyan leader moammar gadd

jennifer hudson was awarded her first grammy by whitney houston.d so, it really was a moving moment. a lot of people in the audience with tears there, thomas. >> nbc's kristen dahlgren in los angeles. kristen, nice to see you this morning. thank you. well, whitney houston did her last one-on-one interview back in november. she sat down it talk about her upcoming remake of the movie "sparkle." houston stars as the mom of jordin sparks, who was not originally part of that project. originally it was supposed to be sing yeer aliah, whose own deat brought a halt to the movie. >> unfortunately, it just didn't go that way. i put it down. i said my sparkle is going to a better place, and we just left it alone. >> sony studios still plans to release "sparkle," houston's final movie, coming out in august. joining me now from california is shaun robinson from "access hollywo hollywood," who did the last solo interview with whitney houston back in november to talk about her upcoming feature film "sparkle" and "los angeles times" reporter derek kennedy, who saw

jennifer hudson sang one of her signature songs. "i will always love you." was found on saturday in hotel room, the medical trying tostill determine a cause of death. president obama unveiled his annandalevirginia and today. the plan would reduce the by $4 trillion over 10 spending anding taxes on the wealthy. today's the last day to register virginia oppose the primary on march 5. register at public libraries, registrars' offices, and at the .mv mitt romney and ron paul were the only ones to qualify to be on the super tuesday ballot. >> sentencing today for the former suburban hospital worker killed his boss. keith little was convicted of supervisor 70 times new year's day 2011. in roosevelt brockington was found dead in a hospital. little killed him after a schedule change and poor .erformance review and during the second week of trial. murder lacrosse player george the 2010rust with of fellow student of and the ex-girlfriend yeardley love. after days of rioting testimony, observers are wondering next.s shackled is how he will start of his ownweek murder t

and now we know a tribute by jennifer hudson and chaka khan. you imagine what that will be like. outside the gathering at the beverly hilton is our correspondent casey stegall who has been keeping us apprised of the breaking news out there at the scene. bring us up to speed there, casey. >> first of all, i just want to say that as a journalist when we cover these events we get so entrenched in gathering all of the facts and passing everything along but there are moments where you sort of have to step back when you are off the air and have to kind of self-reflect and sort of pinch yourself when you are covering the moments in history. as i was saying earlier it doesn't matter how hold you are, it doesn't matter the color of your skin, everyone loved whitney houston. and her music can just give you chills at times. you know, music is so powerful it can take you back to very specific moments in your life. i can remember sitting in my room and listening to whitney houston and to now be standing outside of the beverly hilton hotel here in beverly hi

and so the ability to sort of sit back today and listen all that great music and to listen to jennifer hudsonhan tonight and pay tribute to her will be magical and so well deserved. >> yeah, magical sounds like the right word. so, you know, while it is very heart breaking, you know, that's kind of the understatement, you know, that i'm making, that how heart breaking it is, the loss of whitney houston, but at the same time, you know, do you feel like it -- it feels that much more painful for people because they were hoping this comeback was really one in which to believe in, that she -- her career was potentially going to make the kind of return that suffered such an absence in recent years? >> you know, i just don't know. i mean, life is fragile and addiction is a very terrible thing. and even if drugs were not involved, clearly she's been weakened over the years by her own admitted use of drugs. so i think, you know, hopefully we'll know more in coming days about what actually caused this. but really i think that careers in the music business are fragile as well. and when you combine the tw

and jennifer hudson in particular was a great rendition.o sing. >>> budget battle, election preview. the president is unveiling his final spending plan before the 2012 election expected today. they are saying it is proof the president failed. >>> also, mitt romney fresh off the cpac straw poll win. and along comes sarah and says we are not so convinced. what is the problem and will we he get over it? >>> did whitney houston drowned? they are looking into possible drowning and to that scenario as the cause of her death. officials completed the autopsy but waiting for the toxicology report for that to be complete. and that could actually take months. >>> in the meantime, a couple of websites have different varied reports. tmz say that water was found in her lungs although the coroner is not commenting on that. radar online says the prescription medications were found in her hotel room. the definitive reason will come from the kor noner. david mattingly is live in los angeles with the latest. david, it is not unusual after a death for toxicolo

and now we know a tribute by jennifer hudson and chaka khan. you imagine what that will be like. outside the gathering at the beverly hilton is our correspondent casey stegall who has been keeping us apprised of the breaking news out there at the scene. bring us up to speed there, casey. >> first of all, i just want to say that as a journalist when we cover these events we get so entrenched in gathering all of the facts and passing everything along but there are moments where you sort of have to step back when you are off the air and have to kind of self-reflect and sort of pinch yourself when you are covering the moments in history. as i was saying earlier it doesn't matter how hold you are, it doesn't matter the color of your skin, everyone loved whitney houston. and her music can just give you chills at times. you know, music is so powerful it can take you back to very specific moments in your life. i can remember sitting in my room and listening to whitney houston and to now be standing outside of the beverly hilton hotel here in beverly hi

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a lot of people saying they're looking forward to hearing jennifer hudson's tribute to whitney houstono you earlier. she will be singing "i will always love you" and there were reports that we -- we had heard that seaha that she was having a hard time in rehearsals and getting through that, so that will be a moment. we spoke with the band perry who is going to be on stage with glen campbell tonight as part of his tritribute. they were talking about the moment that they heard whitney houston passed, they were doing a concert yesterday in washington and they said, we just stopped. it was, like, we were heart broken because everyone has that memory here, fred, of the first whitney houston song they heard, the first time they heard her sing live, the first album that they -- that a lot of people bought was a whitney houston album. and right now we're also seeing her music sales spike. i know on itunes her greatest hits is number one right now. so a lot of tributes pouring out to her here on the red carpet tonight. >> it will be a powerful evening. just in this past year there have been som

. >> during the broadcast jennifer hudson, a voice fraught with emotion, sang a moving rendition of theg that became whitney houston's trademark. ♪ i will always love you >> reporter: funeral services will be held for whitney houston later this week in her hometown of newark, new jersey, a place that first witnessed the rise of a true superstar. in beverly hills, california sarah edwards, nbc news. >> whitney houston had 11 number one hits on billboard's hot 100 making her one of the most successful artists ever. we asked you to vote for your favorites on our nbc washington facebook page. first up is houston's one moment in time which many remember for her performance on the grammys. ♪ i will be free >> next up is the national anthem at the super bowl back in 1991. her version became a top 20 hit and is still widely considered one of the best performances of the star spangled banner ever ♪ and the rockets' red glare >> and up next, "the greatest love of all" the 1986 hit was houston's third best selling sile. ♪ because the greatest love of all is happening to me ♪ >> your favorite was h

. >> reporter: the grammys acted quickly to include a tribute by singer jennifer hudson. >> i was too nervous to speak to her, but i literally wanted to rub my shoulder against hers just to say i rubbed shoulders with whitney houston. >> reporter: even as the singer's memory was honored an autopsy was completed but the l.a. core nr's office says the official cause of death is weeks away pending a toxicology report. >> we won't make a final determination until all the tests are in. >> reporter: earlier in the day, houston's 18-year-old daughter bobbi kristina was breesly hospitalized and treated for stress. the teen's father bobby brown let his emotion show during a performance saturday night near memphis. in the past week, reports of erratic behavior on houston's part reappeared. a close friend of the singer recounted their final contact, an exchange of voice mails saturday morning. >> just that normal sound of kim, where are you, i'm in chicago, call me back, call me back, i want to speak with you. that was it. i'll always remember that ♪ i look to you >> reporter: just as whitney's

and jennifer hudson's tribute singing one of whitney's greatest hits at the grammys.a heartfelt and emotional moment. i love it, she didn't try and duplicate it. >> it was a humble performance. >> yes. simple and beautiful. we're going to talk to some of the people who knew whitney best this morning. including smoky robinson and celine dion. >>> and huge night for adele. six grammys. record and album of the year. she was up on the stage since that vocal surgery. >> it was great to see her on stage. >> and glen campbell. a moment, too. >>> we're get doing the brand-new details in the death of whitney houston. lara spencer is there. the superstar was discovered in her bathtub. jim avila is outside with more. good morning, jim. >> reporter: good morning, robin. as you know, whitney houston was a major talent. her life evolved into a three-octave drama. members of whitney houston's entourage are being questioned about her behavior immediately before her death. sources tell us there were no signs of trauma, foul play or illegal drugs in the suite where she was found in a b

kim, jennifer hudson did a beautiful job. i've known her for a hundred years, it seems like.on? >> it was pitch perfect. she had 24 hours to hold back her emotion. it looked like she was trying to hold back tears, about you she did such a perfect job. i think it was exactly what people needed. ll cool j. opening the show, addressing the audience, talking about it, leading everyone in prayer for whitney. i think it was important to put it out there initially, play that clip of whitney actually singing at the grammys, and then a lot of the performers referencing wlit any i think it was a perfect convey of doing it. not do too much, not overdo it. everybody had just happened. they just had the press conference from the coroner's office. i think it was a perfect mixture of paying respect to whitney. >> and from the beginning with alisha keys, bonnie raitt, one after another appropriately in many ways honoring a great singer of our time and generation. >>> from the greatness of what you can bring to the music industry to a shaky moment for nicki minaj. i have to say i'm a big fan.

so they within the to jennifer hudson and obviously -- so they went to jennifer hudson and obviouslyreat job. people are saying that whitney houston herself would have been proud of jennifer hudson's performance. >> thank you. >>> besides the whitney houston tribute, it was a huge night for adele at the grammys. the biggest moment from surprises to the top winners all coming up. and you can of course find a full recap at our website, cbssf.com. just click on the front page. >>> it is no 5:34. ross mirkarimi's domestic violence case is getting more dramatic. his wife eliana lopez is planning on testifying at the trial. gil diaz with what the d.a. needs to do before the sheriff's wife can take the stand. >> reporter: good morning. there's no doubt that eliana lopez's testimony will be a powerful one since she is the alleged victim here but her attorney says that she is only going to take the stand if certain conditions are met. she wants to make sure that nothing that eliana lopez says on the stand will be used against her at a future time, for example, eliana and mirkarimi fought in f