the longtime host of "american bandstand" and one of the founding icons of rock 'n' roll. also, a cnn exclusive. wolf interviews the secretary of state and defense. hillary clinton sends a tough new message directly at north korea's young leader and we'll very hear blunt talk on syria, iran and afghanistan. wolf blitzer is on assignment. i'm candy crowley and you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we are following the breaking news this hour, the death of the longtime television personality dick clark. for decades he was the host of the iconic music show he created "american bandstand" and later he became to be a fixture on new years eve broadcasts. we'll go to cnn entertainment correspondent kareen wynter in hollywood. what are you hearing there? >> reporter: candy, not a lot of details we're getting in at this hour. we're trying to find out what happened with dick clark. there are reports that clark suffered a heart attack. we are still trying to confirm that, but it is no secret that he had medical issues over the years that impacted him and impacted his health and impacted his career in 2004. he suffered a massive stroke. dick clark was an entertainer we you will grew up with and each watching him now, while he's taken a step back from the spotlight because of his medical issues, he was still a part of the very popular annual new year's show, new year's rockin' eve. i remember watching him and it was an abbreviated appearance and it was now taken over by ryan seacrest. he wasn't communicating as a result of the stroke, but his nickname, interestingly enough, candy, was america's oldest living teenager. some interesting things about dick clark. he was a six-time daytime emmy award-winning television producer, so many projects behind his name. so many different people he's worked with over the decades. it wasn't just "new year's rockin' eve" that he was attached to, but also the golden globe awards and the $25,000 pyramid. remember the popular game show. i think it was back in the 1980s that we watched and "american bandstand." quite beloved and you see him there with ryan seacrest whom he had worked closely with over the years and such a tremendous loss not just for america and the entertainment community. people have grown up with dick clark and really appreciated his true talents over the years. dick clark dead at 82, candy. we're standing by if it was indeed a heart attack that he suffered. >> i'll let you get back to your reporting on this because we want to go to cnn's sandra endo. she has more on dick clark, 82 years old, and his remarkable career. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: he was known as the world's oldest teenager, dick clark began his career on the weekly dance party that would later be known as "american bandstand" in philadelphia in 1956. the show became a national and later an international sensation, after it was picked up by abc one year later. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: in spite of racial attitudes at the time, clark was a pioneer in promoting african-american artists like percy sledge, the silhouette, the supremes and gladys night and the pips. an appearance on "american bandstand" launched many a musical career and from jerry lee lewis to janet jackson, they all wanted dick clark to give their record a spin. >> if you look at the history of "american bandstand" it covers everything from popular music to the big band days when we started in 1952, perry como and eddie fisher and the four aces, through the rock 'n' roll period, country music, rhythm and blues, rap music, heavy metal. it is everything. >> reporter: music wasn't his only beat, clark proved to be a prolific businessman and television icon hosting the game show "the $25,000 pyramid," "tv's bloopers and practical jokes" and the annual rockin' eve" broadcast. he turned it into a multimillion dollar media empire. >> there will be surprises along the way. >>. >> reporter: he had a hand in life aid and farm aid. he was inducted into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame in 1993. >> that's a nice beat. see? you said the magic words. >> from the early days of rock to the present, dick clark had a way of bringing us the tunes that had a good beat and memories of saturday afternoon sock hops. i'm sandra endo reporting. >> let's bring back in kareen wynter out in california for us. kareen, i know you're looking to see what actually was the cause of death, but, in fact, those of us who watched dick clark over the past several years, since, i think, 2004, had noticed obviously that he had a pretty severe stroke. >> absolutely. that's what i was alluding to earlier, watching him in january. it seemed like his appearances on these annual shows "new year's rockin' eve" which ryan seacrest took over, you saw those a while ago, they were heavily produced and he tried to speak and tried to wish out to fans to wish them, of course, a happy new year and it's a picture we've grown up with, we connected with and people would ring in the new year, year after year with dick clark, and you can tell it was something he wanted to do, but it was always very difficult and understanding him as a result of that stroke. he was never quite truly the same, and he wanted to still be in the spotlight. this is a man who loved the business and loved what he did and wanted to still deliver to fans and there was a noticeable change after the stroke that he was never able to fully recover, candy. >> an incredible trooper. it did seem like he was america's oldest living teenager until that stroke and then you saw him begin to age. it just never seemed to change from the time he started on tv and then we began to see him sort of in the turn of the century and then the stroke. >> candy, you talk about the -- you talk about an entertainer who was so relatable and in that wonderful piece that was just produced, there were so many different genres of music, whether it was rap or pop, he knew the industry and connected with so many different artists. he wasn't just the face of entertainment and that's why people loved him and that's why people of all ages even tuned in to the annual new year's eve show, even though they knew dick clark, it wasn't the guy with the chip anymore and it's because he was someone who was comfortable and who people could relate to and quite frankly, loved. for that reason, i believe, heel be sorely missed. >> and someone that we've come to expect on new year's eve. >> we want to bring in cnn's anderson cooper. >> anderson, i know you were beginning to expect to see him -- but i know you have thoughts on dick clark. >> just a couple of things. one of the things i found remarkable about him is that as a child we all knew him as a tv host and a tv personality, but as i kind of grew up in the tv business and started looking more at the business, just him as a businessman, there are very few people i think who came of age in the time that he did in television who also owned and produced television content. you know, his production company, and i think his model of being a tv host and businessman is something like somebody like ryan seacrest has followed and even taken to a whole new level, but i think dick clark broke the mold in that sense of producing content, owning content and not just being a hired gun, somebody who would host a game show. he also had ownership stake in the game show, obviously, made a tremendous amount of money over the years and certainly key to that was just owning real estate in the world of television, and his, you know, being on new year's eve every year became a tradition for so many people and a tradition that has continued, even though as you pointed out, candy, just in the last couple of years he suffered a stroke and was not at the level that he had once been at, and i think it's very telling that he brought in ryan sea crest into the new year's eve franchise because ryan has taken up the mantle or at least the model of dick clark as an on-air person as well as someone who owns content and produces content. >> he was one of the tv moguls in one way. can you stand by for a second? i understand kareen wynter has new information. i'll be right back with you. if you're with me, what have you got? >> i'll just read this to you. this now coming in from the family saying that entertainment icon dick clark passed away this morning at the age of 82 following a massive heart attack. it was announced by his family. clark, 82, had entered st. john's hospital in santa monica last night. it was for an outpatient procedure, candy, and it also says here attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful. he's survived by his wife carrie and three children, richard, dwayne and cindy. we are able to confirm dick clark passing away suffering a massive heart attack. >> a life well lived as you were pointing out, anderson. i wonder -- anderson, did you ever meet him? did you have occasion to get to know him? >> i think i met him once or twice, but i did not know him well in any way. i think we had sort of briefly met in some public event. i can't honestly remember when they were, but the interesting thing about dick clark si think everybody sort of feels like they knew him in one realm or another and there was something about the fact that he never seemed to change. i mean, it's -- there's a number of people who kind of have looked the same through the years, but dick clark looked the same decade after decade after decade. it was often the butt of jokes that he took part in, as well, but you look at those images of him from the '60s and '70s, everybody can identify dick clark. he's probably one of the most recognizable people that all of us of all ages have grown up and known from one realm or another, whether it was hosting a game show, hosting a music program or hosting new year's eve. there's something iconic of about new year's eve that we all take part in and having dick clark be a part of that evening. even as you said, in later years, when his health had been failing and he wasn't, you know, in full charge of that program anymore and he turned over the reins to ryan seacrest and others. he still had his hand in it and people still want to check in with dick clark on new year's eve because he was part of of that american tradition. >> he became a tradition in so many ways. it strikes me, anderson, that i think the people who last in entertainment and who last in television seem to be the ones that we think are the most like us. he has spanned almost three and a half generations of television watchers. my parents, me, my kids. >> right. >> and the generation coming up, and i think he really just did seem like somebody you might just run into in the coffee shop or next door. that was his particular talent. >> interestingly, too, for all his recognition and all his recognizableness, i don't think most people know very much about dick clark, and i think that was part of his appeal, in a way. that almost, he could be any man, anybody and you could kind of project on to him whatever you wanted and whatever you thought he might be. he never interjected himself one way or another to tell who it was and it wasn't about knowing every detail about dick clark's personal life. i don't think most people would like to know that he has three children or what kind of a job he lived. >> to be as recognized as he was and he was not a controversial figure in any way and he warrant taking stands on anything that was controversial. it wasn't his job and it wasn't how he saw his role. he was there to entertain and on the business side of it. >> sure. he wasn't one of those people who said, well, yea, he sang and we heard him on occasion old lang seine. and his talent was hosting. he was an entertainer who said look at these folks, i've got this great new song i want you to hear. ? he also made it seem very easy. it is very easy to say, the people you can make the joke all of the time about people who are well known on television, what do they actually do? they're not a reporter. they're not a singer, they're just a host and what is that? it's a hard skill set to put your finger on, but it is a skill set and it is something dif can ult and he would make it seem like he was just a guy with the microphone talking to you and interviewing people and moving things along and it always seemed to move slowly with dick clark. that takes a lot of rehearsal and it is a skill set and there were few people like him that were able to -- not only do that as a presence on tv like he could, but also to know that behind the scenes he had his hands involved in everything and in fact, in some cases own the program that he was on. most people would see him as just the guy with the microphone directing things and he owned it and was making an awful lot of money from it and did that decade after decade after decade. >> dick clark is the one my father recognized and my son recognized which is remarkable. you're absolutely right. he did the toughest job in television for more than 40 years which is to let people, you know, turn on the tv and let them into your living room and say, and it was never really about dick clark. it was about these contestants on the pyramid. >> absolutely. >> or this new year's eve celebration. >> which is why so many people liked him. who was dick clark? he was the guy -- he seemed like a friendly guy and seemed like a nice guy, you recognized him and you have a history with him and you don't know much about him. he's just one of those guys that you know and you like and you welcome him into your home? >> where do you think he stands with tv's early age, golden age, et cetera, et cetera, he basic le remains an icon, does he not? >> the term broadcaster comes behind. regis fill, still is going strong, but who has a good skill set and a likable presence. there were -- in the so-called golden age of television, there were a number of people who were accomplished broadcasters and it's a smaller and smaller number. people are known as your reality tv star or journalist or reporter. there are few people that span the spectrum of skills that somebody like dick clark had he could be comfortable in a music setting. he could be comfortable in a game show setting or in a newsy setting when he was on the air about it and an entertainment setting and there's very few people like that who kind of span that skill set. >> anderson, stand by a second. we want to bring in jack cafferty because, jack, i am told that you had met dick clark and might have some thoughts. >> i'm probably the only guy at cnn who's close to his age, but i did a newscast here in new york called "live at 5" and he was not a frequent guest, but he was on several times and i got to know him a little bit. he was the quint essential television performer in the sense he was non-threatening. he was very cool, extremely smooth. in all of the years watching "american bandstand." you never saw him flustered. you never saw him nervous. you never saw him ducking a curveball, but more importantly and one of the points that needs to be made about him is that show "american bandstand" changed the landscape of music and to a lesser degree even race relations. you have to remember in the mid-50s, this was a very racially divided country, and the racism was a lot more obvious and more pronounced than it is now. black artists like little richard and chuck barry and fats domino couldn't get their music played on white radio stations. they called it race music and they wouldn't play it unless, of course, you slipped them a couple of bucks under the table. so it was very hard for a lot of these performers to get exposure to the white audience and the white kids were the ones that could afford to go out and buy the records. when people like chuck barry appeared on "american bandstand." you remember the old tag line, it was a good beat and easy to dance to. it was all about the music and it didn't matter what color or gender or what social position. it was about the music. and these were breakthrough performances in terms of exposure to the white audience for people that otherwise might have struggled to a great degree in obscurity in the music business. so a lot of the white rock 'n' roll artists, elvis, jerry lee lewis took their music from black artists and black performers. you listen to some of the early records that were recorded by presley and jerry lee lewis, too, in particular, it was all music that was written by chuck barry and produced by little richard and who recorded hound dog, but it was all of the white people took this music and made money with it and got it played on the radio station. dick clark gave exposure, white exposure to these black artists and in that way he affected a very profound change to the music landscape and the opportunities are available to black recording artists. >> jack, i have one more question for you and anderson, but i want to reset for my audience. dick clark, american bandstand, host of the pyramid game show, "new year's rockin' eve" has died today of what we are told was a massive stroke after some sort of outpatient procedure yesterday. he was 82 years old. jack, this is a man who has been in television since late '50s. what do you think the key thing that accounts for his staying power? >> well, he was good at what he did. anderson talked a little about that. he had a set of skills like johnny carson had. he was just -- he was beyond cool. he was very smooth, and he looked young and tv is -- what was the book? "the camera never blinks." he was television worthy for a whole lot longer than most of of us ever are, and he was never threatening and likable. you couldn't say, i don't like him or he's snotty and sarcastic. he was vanilla ice cream and a lo loaf of white bread. plus he was smart. he was a smart businessman. he knew how to market himself. he knew how to market his programs and how to merchandise the content that he owned. he was the whole package and revolutionary. he was the first ones to come along that had all of that going for him. he got a lot of attention and he knew how to stay in the spotlight and make it a career that lasted a very long time. he was a nice guy. i remember when he would come on "live at 5." he was a nice guy. he never came on with attitude and never had an entourage. he was just dick clark and the same guy you saw on "american bandstand" in 1954. >> anderson, the same question to you with this twist. is the tank right now broken. you mentioned ryan seacrest a couple of times, and do you think is there ever going to be another dick clark? >> i don't think that's true. i think he has actually -- i think he raised the bar in television and kind of gave a lot of people who followed him an example of what was possible. i think he opened a lot of doors and made it possible to own content, you know to be more than just a hired gun working on a game show or working on a music program. it's a difficult thing to do in the television business to break through and own content and have a stake in what you're doing, but he really kind of made that possible, and i think a lot of people have followed in his mold, and i think ryan seacrest is the best example of that and has really taken it to an extraordinary level, and i think ryan has, you know, the work ethic that dick clark had. dick clark was a very tireless worker and ryan seacrest is one of the hardest working guys in the television business, and has his fingers in a lot of different aspects of the business, and i think that's possible now in a way almost that it wasn't possible before. you can now work for, you know, have programs on different networks. you can branch out in a way that i think was more difficult than when dick clark was doing it because back then it was more you had a relationship with one network and it was very hard to try to have multiple relationships whic