good evening, everyone. "outfront" tonight, questions and sorrow over the death of whitney houston. this is what we know right now, family and close friends will say farewell to the poplar pop star saturday in newark, new jersey. governor chris christie has ordered the flags to half-staff in honor of whitney houston. sources tell us that her body was found by her assistant mary jones who she often called aunt mary. her ex-husband bobby brown released a statement about bobbi kristina saying this, obviously the death of her mother is affecting her. however, we will get through the tragedy as a family. bobbi kristina, as you are aware had been taken to cedar sinai hospital following the death of her mother. while the official cause of her death may not be known for weeks, police requested a security hold on the coroner's report which is a common practice in high profile cases. don lemon talked with the medical examiner today, and what did you find out today, don? >> a lot of interesting things. and the first thing, erin, he said that there are so many rumors out there that he wishes he could get on television to tamp them down but he can't because he has to work on this investigation. it is interesting, he said he's getting phone calls from all over the world saying the d.a. will join the investigation because prescription medications are killing hollywood, and he said that is not true, and he went out to stop the speculation about what happens and he gave me a time line for the actual report, and while he said it takes six to eight weeks he said sometimes it is earlier and maybe within a couple of days like if something spikes, like a certain medication or drug or something, and they will take a look at that, why that drug spiked, and they have to retest it, so that six to eight-week period is to give them enough time to make sure of what it is. this is what he said to me. he said, don, we don't like to say oh, well, maybe, we want to say definitively, definitely, this is is what we found at this level for this medical condition, the decedent according to us, the pathologist and the consultant and professional, this what we believe killed this person. that is what he is telling me, so they may get some early indications of some drug or amphetamine or if she had tylenol or anything like that in the body, and get that early, and retest it as well. to make sure that it is absolutely correct. >> well, that is interesting breaking news that we could find out something potentially if something spiked in the next few days as opposed to the six to eight-week period. but don, are you getting any sense of whether the prescription drugs were involved or what direction they are leaning? because as you are well aware many people are speculating that, but talking to the family pastor today, i got the other side of the story saying, look, she tried to turn things around and that may not be accurate. >> well, here is the thing, and kelly price, and we saw her on cnn yesterday, the person who was having the party at the nightclub and the last pictures of whitney houston and we know she was drinking from her friend and the party. the prescription drugs we know from the coroner were in the room, and he is downplaying the amounts and saying for an overdose, there is not much and there is more this the typical household, and even his, and that what we are hearing. but only whitney houston knows at this point what she took for sure, and now the coroner is going to try to figure it out. and if i could say something about the burial and the memorial for whitney houston and if you checked your social media and twitter and facebook, there are many of the fans who are upset because they want to be able to honor her and pay their respects, and they are upset that it is just private. they want a public ceremony to go out to honor whitney houston. >> that is interesting, don. we will say that we were speaking to reverend joe carter who we will speak to in a moment, but he said that the rumors of the big service and ceremony at the prudential center for 18,000 to 20,000 were never true, and he said to the best of his knowledge, but while many people can't fit in the church, they'll put a jumbo tron outside of the church in newark, which as you know is a little tiny street, so that members of the public could come, which obviously is not what most people want, but they will have that for people to participate. so we will see if they add a larger platform as well. don, thank you. >> i think what they wanted was some sort of ceremony like the staple center for michael jackson, but apparently at this point, erin, it is not going to happen. >> absolutely. thank you, don lemon, for the reporting, and you have very latest on when we might know how whitney houston really died. let's talk about how her death will be commemorated and celebrated. obviously, loved and admired from millions around the word world and you heard from don how many are frustrated that they won't be able to participate, and yet her family will be at the new hope bastiptist church new jersey, and it is where many people went to hear a young whitney houston sing, and i went to talk to reverend joe carter about his thoughts on the pop star, and the service on saturday. >> i pray that we can honor her. the way she deserves it on saturday. >> and you were saying that it is something that african-americans get right. you know how to griv. >> yes, i believe we know how to mourn and grieve and to get it out. and in a way of hope, in a way of joy. the christian faith teaches that death is not the end, and so we know how to look forward to the next life, and celebrate here on what is coming up ahead. >> so, what you are putting together the service now. >> yes. >> what are you putting together? and what is going to happen and who is going to sing? >> i would love to answer who is going to sing, but i would say everybody who has a great, great voice. we are hearing a lot of entertainers who are going to be here, and we are excited. the family really has put together a program that is going to be musical, be happy, be joyful, and really give the kind of feel to congregation and those there that i think that whitney would want to be remembered by. >> and you have known whitney now for a long time? >> about since '93, yes. >> do you remember the first time you met her? >> yes, yes. and you have to remember i was a teenager when she came out. >> yes. >> so i was a big fan. >> star struck? >> yes, as a preacher it is hard not to be star struck, but it was an amazing moment, and i actually met her in church on an easter sunday morning, singing in the sanctuary. and that was -- i will never forget it. i thought that she could sing before i heard her in person, and the conviction and strength of her voice was just phenomenal. i will never forget it. >> and she came every year to church? usually around the holiday times? >> one time, it was around the high sundays, but she never, never forgot her church. he always made sure that she let us know that she loved us and remembered us. >> what did she sing? >> well, she sang a song "he would not come down from the cross" and it is a song that when whitney came, you would expect to hear. >> she sang the same song? >> yes, it is most of the time the same song and most of the members in the church remember her in the past of singing that particular song here. >> and you say she had not been recently to the church? >> no, i haven't seen her in a little while. it has been a couple of years. >> all of the talk out there about what happened to her, and what state she was in, did you ever see any of the times that you saw her, any sign of that? >> no, not me personally. every time i saw her, she was just happy, joking around, and just, you know, upbeat. >> you spent some time i know with the family getting the program together, the service together, and how is her mother? >> well, she's hurting. she is grieving, of course, but cissy houston is a woman of strong faith, and she was actually testifying about how god had been so good to her to this point, and she said, he is not going to leave her now, and i was there to lift her spirit, and she ended uplifting mine. it is an amazing testimony of the grace of god. >> well, reverend carter also told me when we were there we went into the sanctuary which what they call the part of the church for the service, and saying that 1,500 people would be sitting there, and they were counting the seats. i can say that reverend martin winan will deliver the eulogy at the request of cissy houston. he will be delivering the eulogy on saturday, reverend carter told me today. rumors that whitney houston was out of money, that she died, are spreading and it is pretty amazing when there are reports she had a $100 million contract. and we will get to the bottom of that. and the man expected to be the next leader of china is here meeting with the president and visiting the pentagon. yes, i'm sure that lot was blocked off. and why did the republicans cave on the tax cut? 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[ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? so, as don lemon has been reporting when he was talking to the assistant coroner in los angeles just tonight, we don't know yet what caused whitney houston's death, but we know that the singer was battling drug addiction for years. obviously, a question as to how much a role it played in recent times and the personal problems and for many years made more headlines than the music. one of the problems that houston may have been struggling with at the time of the death was running out of cash. and to give us insight into her lifestyle, janelle has been following her for seven years from vh1, and paul, and jim as well. janelle, can i ask you first, there are reports that she had a $100 million contract and a lot of that recently signed for a album she had not yet produced, but can you tell us about her lifestyle, and how did she spend money, and how did she live? >> well, whitney houston was a private person surprisingly, and we know about the troubles thanks to the interviews she has done, but if you think about it, not many, and the blockbuster ones like diane sawyer and oprah winfrey, but for the most part, whitney houston was pretty private. there were reports that she signed a $100 million deal in 2001 and released the last album in 2009. and since her death, the sales have been soaring on itunes and raised the price from 99 cents to $1.29 and a point of reference, michael jackson's estate has earned $279 million since he died in 2009, so if she was suffering from any financial trouble, her estate will be, because we realize that artists make more money when they are dead unfortunately. >> we know that elvis presley, and zach, you know that many of the songs were written by other people so a lot of the money unlike michael jackson would go to someone like dolly parton or somebody else? >> yes, we had michael jackson's estate at $2.5 billion, so whitney houston will have a hard time catching up to that, because she didn't write her own songs or share in the publishing for when it is used on tv or movies, et cetera. >> and what is your sense on how much money she was making? and janell has been reporting on the $100 million, and what do you know? >> i heard the same thing as janell, and $100 million for a deal in 2001 and paid out per album sounds like a lot, but when you think of the last album in 2009 and the last tour was 2010, and it means that she was not really seeing that kind of steady stream of income in recent years, so it is not too hard to believe that she could have died in financial trouble. >> and paul, what is your sense of that? and i mean, i know a lot of people were shocked when it came out that michael jackson had, but a lot of times people with great talent don't have a lot of talent in managing the money or managing the people who handle the money. >> that is the case. we have many times entertainers who die destitute. but in the end with respect to the estate we know she had property in new jersey, georgia and florida. so the states are going to be, one of the states is going to be handling the estate, so we have to see which state it will be and whether she left a will or trusts, and that is going to be a very, very big question as to her. >> she is young. she had daughter, so you would think that she did, but she's -- can i ask you about this issue of where the royalties go? how does this work? how unusual in this case, because janell is reporting that the cost of the songs have gone up, but it is not going to her estate. >> no, but there were contractual agreements in place, and whatever she had the right to as she lives most of it will go to the estate or the trust if she has been smart enough to set herself up that way. >> right. >> and it depends upon the sophistication of the tax planning and whether when she was in the money to hire good financial assistants to direct this. >> janell, any evidence from what you heard of spending time not only with her, but at certain events and people with her, that she may have been struggling financially or no? >> well, reports weeks before her death that she had to ask friends for $100, and her publicity team said that is absolutely not true, and she made the movie "sparkle," and she did not work for free. that was their defense. after the "moment of truth" tour, she was listed by forbes as the highest earning black woman and highest earning entertainer only after eddie measuurph murphy. so it seems that so much money flowing through her hands, but we are uncertain as to what she is left with. >> it is interesting, because was she is private it is hard to say what she spent it on, but zach, it appears that a lot of it went away. >> that is right, but if you look at the sales of michael jackson's album after he died, and $8 million, and 20 or $30 million worldwide, we can see at least half of that flowing through her estate to the end of the year. >> and thank you all. the next leader of china is in the united states. we told you a little bit about him yesterday. and we thought the coolest part was his wife being a famous singer in china, and we know something about her that we will tell you later, but we will find out why he is going to iowa tomorrow and you'll find out next. and fashion director diane von furstenberg comes out front and responds to republicans. look, every day we're using more and more energy. the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? 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"i'm with scottrade." ♪ [music] right now the man widely expected to be china's next president is about to sit down to dinner with vice president joe biden at his home in washington, and at the end of a busy day he went to meet with president obama, and had lunch at the pentagon and visited the state department and the visit comes when there are questions surrounding china's rise and whether it is an ally or enemy of the united states. we got a taste of the discussion when a senate armed services committee commenced and listen to senator lindsey graham when asked when chinese hacking into our defense would be consider a hostile act. >> there are other things that could rise to the level of a hostile act. >> and that would be? >> yes, hacking into the infrastructure. >> and allowing us to respond in kind? >> well, in my view, yes. >> so i'm having lunch with the vice president of china in 20 minutes, so what do you want me to tell him? >> happy valentine's day. >> okay. all right. okay. i will do that. >> this is just the beginning of his five-day trip to the united states, and tomorrow, he is headed to iowa. that is right, it is a town he visited in 1985. cnn's ted rowlands is with us in des moines tonight. ted, good to see you, and i know musketine is a little bit out of the way, about three hours from the capital. why is he going there? >> well, it is a great story, erin. when he came to musketine, iowa, he was not vice president of china, but part of a small delegation that came to tour a couple of iowa farms. when they were there, there were five people and they stayed with residents of musketine, and now fast-forward 26 years, he says if i'm coming to iowa, i want to go back and visit with the same people. this was his first trip to the u.s. so he is going to detour from his trip here in des moines and head over there and meet with the same people in one of those same homes there, apparently they're going to have a little champagne and some tea. but we talked to a couple of folks there, and they are absolutely thrilled. one of them ran upstairs when she found out that he was coming and dug out an old photo, and there he is, the going to be the new leader of china standing in her kitchen just great story. >> it is a great story. i know you talked to them. and here is a quick clip of how they feel about him. here it is. >> you are looking at the logistics and the cost of him coming to this little town that is 35 miles removed from an airplane that will accommodate him and the entourage, and there is motivation for a little time to spend an hour or hour and a half in a room with as he says his old friends. >> that's significant. >> it is nice and i know that iowa's exports to china 1,200 percent higher than a decade ago, and $600 million, and did that visit drive that jump? >> well, it is unclear if it drove the jump much at all, but here is what is interesting is that terry brant said, the governor of iowa, said that he met him in 1985, and they also met in beijing in fall of this year, so here is what is clear is that the relationship that they have with the vice president soon to be president here in iowa, they are hoping it is going to extend the exports out of iowa, and china, as you mentioned are consumers of soybeans and farm machinery and a lot of things, and hoping that the special relationship with the vice president, soon to be president will help the united states. >> thank you, ted rowlands reporting from iowa where the next chinese president will be tomorrow. we go inside of syria tonight. dozens were killed today, and what will it take to end the violence? what does an american intervention nuts and bolts mean? and could amanda knox be sent back to an italian prison? 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