. >>> judi dench reveals he's going blind. her daughter reads her lines from the script and hope for millions fighting the same disease. >>> good evening saturday night. that same home town church that was once so moved by that teenager with a god-given voice was moved today with whitney's closest family and friends. this time saying good-bye a week after her death. outside of new hope baptist church her fans paying tribute as the hearse arrived. inside the church, houston was remembered by so many. including dionne warwick, her mentor, clive davis and for the first time. kevin costner, who revealed a singer or star who worried would she be good enough. linsey davis is in new york tonight. linsey. >> reporter: fans came afrom across the country to be here for whitney houston's celebration. but today that was reserved for people, including stevie wonder. >> reporter: those expecting a funeral for whitney it houston got a celebration instead. >> everybody sing -- ♪ jesus loves me >> reporter: in music and with words it was a tri

. >>> judy dench reveals he's going blind. her daughter reads her lines from the script and hope for millions fighting the same disease. >>> good evening saturday night. great to have you with us. that home town search so moved by the teenager with the god-given voice was p moved today. this time saying good-bye a week after her death. outside of new hope baptist church her fans paying tribute as the hearse arrived. so many paying tribute. . and for the first time. kevin costner, who revealed a singer or star who worried would she be good enough. linsey davis is in new york tonight. >> reporter: those expecting a funeral for whitney it houston got a celebration instead. >> everybody sing -- ♪ jesus loves me >> reporter: in music and with words it was a tribute to whitney houston, the church girl. >> whitney houston loveed lord. >> reporter: the iconic singer. >> was there anything she could not do musically? is there any performance of the "star spangled banner" that remotely compared to hers? >> reporter: the friend. >> we ta

also we're going to tell you about some health problems for dame judi dench. why the oscar winning actress is struggling to read film scripts but she has no plans to retire. we'll find out more about what she's revealing coming up. we want to begin with whitney houston. the superstar will be laid to rest today. she'll be buried in new jersey next to her father. on saturday friends, family and fellow entertainers said good-bye in a heartwarming four-hour service. rehema ellis has details. ♪ >> reporter: the high spirited service lasted nearly four hours. it was an invitation-only affair. stars of music, movies, politics, and religion, all together in the modest baptist church in newark, new jersey, where a young whitney houston once sang in the choir. whitney's cousin, diane warwick, led the ceremony. and a stunning array of musical artists paid tribute. stevie wonder. ♪ with a sound so incredibly whitney's voice ♪ >> reporter: alicia keys. ♪ >> reporter: r. kelly. ♪ and do i hear a song >> reporter: whitney houston's ex-husband bobby brown entered the church,

. >>> we learned today that academy award winning actress dame judi dench is battling to save her sights been diagnosed with macular degeneration which can cause blindness. the 77-year-old says her vision is so poor she can no longer read scripts. she has family and friends read her lines to her. >>> when we come back, a woman who proves that age is just a number and forever young at heart. ♪ ♪ if you are among the very young at heart ♪ >>> finally tonight, we wanted to introduce you to a remarkable woman who can teach us something about staying young at heart. she was born more than a century ago when teddy roosevelt was in the white house. but you might not believe it from the way she zips around. faster than a lot of folks half her age. here's nbc's kerry sanders. >> reporter: if you think work is a four-letter word, then you haven't met dorie norak. >> that's it. going rolling again. >> reporter: she has been sorting and delivering the mail as a volunteer at memorial regional hospital in hollywood, florida, for the past 38 years. a job she started when she was 67 years old. math a l

. >>> judy dench is suffering an eye disease but is not going blind.ow has to have scripts read to her. >>> and fresh from the news of her snl appearance, lindsay low plan has been cast to play elizabeth taylor in a made for tv movie. could we be turning a corner? >> we have to go build her back up again before we can tear her back down. >> right, that's how it works. i can get on board with that. i'm lynn berry and this is "first look." way too early ostarts right now. >>> with polls showing hit romney and rick santorum neck and neck in michigan and arizona, a week ahead of the voting there, romney's campaign suddenly down plays the importance of winning the candidate's home state. if santorum snatches those two states, do we still call romney the frontrunner? >>> just this morning, greece gets another bailout from europe, this time $172 billion in aid. the question is, what will that country look like after the dramatic belt tightening attached as a condition of the loan? >>> and it's news these days when jeremy lin just steps on to a basketball cour

. >>> we learned today that academy award winning actress dame judi dench is battling to save her sight diagnosed with macular degeneration which can cause blindness. the 77-year-old says her vision is so poor she can no longer read scripts. she has family and friends read her lines to her. >>> when we come back, a woman who proves that age is just a number and forever young at heart. ♪ ♪ if you are among the very young at heart ♪ you? that'll be... $973.42. you know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans? [ spokesman ] when you refinance your mortgage with quicken loans, you'll find that our rates and fees are extremely competitive. because the last thing you want is to spend too much on your mortgage. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. [ sighs ] i can't wait till morning. wait! it's morning in china! ♪ [ male announcer ] it's sweet, it's nutty... it's absolutely delicious. kellogg's crunchy nut. it's morning somewhere. but does bringing a floor back to life really make us heroes? [ chuckles ] yes. yes, it does. ♪ call 1-80

. >> actress judy dench is battling to save her sight.n eye condition -- she has an eye condition. was relying on friends and families to keep up to speed with her lines. she said yes and no plans to retire. >> he played an anchor man. last by will ferrell was king for a day. he threw lots of gifts for adoring fans. this is one celebrations leading up to mardi gras. loving it. lindsay lohan plans to make a career comeback on wbal. she is set to service the guest house for next week's "saturday night live." she is known for tabloid exploits and a battle with substance abuse. >> 34 degrees on tv hill. coming up, we'll look at one of your answers to our water cooler question of the day. >> we have some cloud cover this morning but no precipitation. here's a look outside. 35 at the airport. stay tuned. the weather is next. it feels totally different from regular toothpaste. pronamel iso-active is a toothpaste in a can. it starts off as a gel... transforms into a foam and actually surrounds your teeth. it gets into all those nooks and crannies

we will talk about our forecast >>> brad pitt and judi dench walked the red carpet in london.y film award are seen as a precursor of the oscars so let's look won. won. the black and white silent film "the artist" took best picture. meryl streep took home best actress for her performance as prime minister margaret thatcher in "the iron lady." >>> and we are two weeks away from hollywood's big night with the oscars air on abc7 of the you can get in on all of the action right now on oscar.com. predict the winner, watch exclusive video from the red carpet, and go back stage during the academy award show on february 26th. you can also download the exclusive oscar app for i phones and ipads. it of oners live video back stage on oscar sunday. >>> the highly-anticipated thriller "the river" premiered and focused on the rescue crew working for a lost adventurer in the amazon. >> he stopped by and spoke with brian copeland about what it is like to be a part of the hot new show. >> you ever seen anything like that? any idea what it could be? >> before he fired me your father started to s

. >>> judi dench is suffering from macular degeneration and said she struggles to see faces in fronther. she said friends have to read her scripts so he can learn lines. >>> elizabeth smart is on her honeymoon after getting married this weekend at a mormon temple in hawaii. she became engaged last month to 22-year-old matthew gilmore. they moved the marriage up to this saturday to avoid months of media scrutiny. smart was kidnapped ten years ago from her home in utah when she was only 14 years old. she was held captive for nine months. >>> the race for the top spot at the weekend box office was almost too close to call "safe house" in first place with $24 million. "the vow" in a close second with $23.6 million and "ghost rider" came in third. for one kentucky bride, age is nothing but a number. earlier this month dana jackson tied the knot on her 100th birthday. the blushing bride married 87-year-old bill south in a ceremony at the bowling green nursing home where they live. congratulations. six minutes past the hour. let's go back to carl and savannah. that's the cutest story of the

. >>> oscar-winning actress judi dench is losing her site.he's been diagnosed with retina degeneration. the retina is damaged which can lead to blindness. she says she can't see faces in front of her but wears glasses and brighter lights help her. she's getting treatment and has no intention of retiring. >>> right now, it looks like "safe house" starring denzel washington and ryan reynolds was number one at the box office. "the vow" very close in ticket sales. the winner won't be known certain until tomorrow. . >>> finish counting all of those ticket sales. >>> 7:54. let's check in with sal, see what's happening on the roads. what's going on in 88 and oakland. as a matter of fact, today being a holiday, we don't really have a lot going on. this a look at 880 where normally we would start to see some slow close traffic. but right new it looks pretty good. also a look at the bay bridge toll plaza, westbound, the traffic is moving well. in case you are just joining you, the bay bridge is open now. they opened it last night around 8:00, a full 24

veteran across stress judi dench revealing a shocking new health scare.he is dealing with that's raising questions about the future of her career. iran holding military drills as we get reports of a possible attack from israel. all of this is casting a shadow over the 2012 presidential race. what happens if israel attacks. what happens if it does not? we'll talk about the political and other implications.  as you can see, i'm in a tricky situation here. i'm bidding on a 1979 dukes of hazzard lunchbox. my auction ends in 15 seconds ! even worse, my buddy's bidding on the same lunchbox ! it's airbrushed ! but i've got verizon 4g lte. it's so fast, i can outbid him at the last second. i got it ! yes ! woo hoo ! it's got a thermos ! rely on verizon, america's largest 4g lte network. because only the fastest survive. megyn: sheer terror for a dozen expert skiers in washington state after an avalanche send them plunging 3,000 feet. three skiers died, one survived thanks to an emergency airbag. >> at one point after the avalanche they are all buried in snow. n

oscar-winning actress, dame judi dench says she is losing her eyesight. 77-year-old is diagnosed withegeneration and hoping that further treatment keeps the disease at bay. bill: 36 minutes before the hour. some call it "taxageddon". bush-era tax cuts set to expire on the 31st of december. if they are not extended. the marriage pan knelt will make a comeback. joint filers see a spike in that irrates. value of child tax credit will be slashed from 1,000 to $500. the rate that everyone pays on first $8700 of wages, will jump to 15%. and the social security payroll tax will jump back to 6.2%, a rise of more than 2%. stephen moore, senior economic writer for "the wall street journal" with me now. stephen, good morning. >> hi, bill. bill: "taxageddon", biggest tax increase in history. >> i don't know if biggest tax increase in history. but certainly biggest tax increase in 50 years. people call it taxmageddon. i call it tax doomsday. that will happen january 1st, 2013. you mentioned a few of the taxes. you mentioned child credit and some of the others. remember, amt, alternative minimum ta