about. when they look at exactly what may have caused whitney houston's death, the autopsy is complete. the results are on hold. they're waiting for toxicology reports which they say could take up to eight weeks or longer. whitney houston was found in a bathtub at the beverly hilton hotel on saturday late afternoon. there were some reports that maybe she drowned an there are some sources who said it could have been a combination of drugs and alcohol. radar online is saying that police found prescription drugs in the room. lorazepam, a generic version of valium, xanax, valium. the coroner though is not commenting and says he will not comment until the toxicology results in in in roughly eight weeks. last night though the music industry honored whitney at the grammys. it opened with a prayer from the host, ll cool j. >> and although she is gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit and to have her lasting legacy of music to cherish and share forever. amen. >> beautiful way to start. and later jennifer hudson paid tribute to her idol singing "i will always love you." listen. ♪ and i will always love you >> that was so sad. joining our panel this morning is darlene love. she's whitney houston's godmother and hall of famer as well. joining us also from the left is congressman marsha blackburn from tennessee. joe levy is contributing editor of "rolling st ining stone" and huffington post media group. darlene, we are so grateful for your time because we know this must be a horrific, horrific time for people who really knew whitney houston and loved her. our condolences go out to you. what are they telling the family at this point? >> i was so close to sissy because of our relationship. i met when she was 8 years old. so i have fond memories of her as a child. i've been trying to reach out to cissy, but she's -- which i understand. i have not been able to get in touch with her yet. i'm trying. i know where she is but i don't want to go over there unannounced. i want her to call me and reach out. and we're just waiting, you know. memories of her as a little girl are just unbelievable because i lived with cissy for a couple of years when we were all working for deion. she said, let's just make you a cousin. so i became her cousin and because i actually -- nippy let me have her bed when i lived -- stayed there -- >> they ousted whitney and you got the bed. >> so she took care of me when i was pregnant. she used to run and get me things and run to the store. what do you want now? i'll go and get it for you. you know? she always had this wonderful, wonderful spirit. there's a song by kirk franklin called "smile." and after all this happened that song came on the radio. it was just like one knock after another for me. >> how did you hear she had died? >> i sang last saturday night in new jersey and a bunch of our friends, we all went out after we got through the show. and we were talking about my christmas show that i do every year. and i have special guests that's always on my show. cissy has actually done my show three or four times. i said, you know what, you guy, it would be great. i just need to find nippy and let her find my christmas show. not know that she was already dead. we were talking about her doing my show and, well, do you think she can do it? you know, we heard, you know, she can't really sing anymore and i was saying, you always standing up for her. and i was like, you don't know whether she can sing or not. and the people at the next people was also talking about her. so we said, oh, you guys are getting in our conversation. now you're really getting out of control. and they said no, no, no. we just saw on television that she died. and i said, what? and it was like somebody like stabbed me in my stomach. and i had to leave the table because the people at the table didn't know who i was and i didn't want to be overcome, you know, even at the table, you know, with all my friends. so my husband took me back to the hotel and i think that night i might have gotten an hour's sleep. >> her voice was deteriorating. you could hear it in the last song she did with kelly price. there's a videotape. very raspy. she lost her voice. did she know that all the toil from the drugs and really just the years of not taking care of that voice that she was losing her gift? >> i think she did. but also with me and cissy, we always prayed for one another's children. and the body is an amazing mechanism. it will reheal itself. so if you take care of it, you know, you can abuse it, but if you do what you're supposed to do, you know, like people have rehealed their voices, rehealed their bodies. >> "rolling stone" did a pretty remarkable interview with whitney houston and oprah did one and diane sawyer back in 2002. you really see sort of the turning point in her life was the marriage to bobby brown. so in love with her and then also just kind of what it seems in interviews -- the marriage to bobby brown came in 1992. and the troubles or at least the public view of the troubles came about eight years later, in 2000. there was a moment she was fired off the academy awards by burt bacharach who was a friend. her publicist denied she was fired. as situation progressed people began to walk away from her. professional associates, the publicists, people who worked with her could no longer cover for her. so there were problems. i'm not sure if we should blame them on the marriage to bobby brown. we weren't in that marriage. we're not those two people. >> in her interviews she said, listen, i love this man and i would follow him down the path to hell, basically, is the take away from some of those interviews. >> that's true. but, you know, addiction is a very, very difficult thing. you know, she also said quite publicly her worst demon was herself. and that's my point. once you are struggling with addiction it doesn't care how talented you are, how rich you are, how special you are, how elegant you, are it wants your life. >> so tell me about bobby kristina because there were reports she was hospitalized from stress. obviously she was apparently in that same suite at the beverly hills hilton. >> from what i can understand, bobby left the tour that he was on. >> he's come back. >> and he's come back. and now he's in california with her and that's all i know. i know she's not in the hospital anymore. >> you know, jamie lee curtis wrote something yesterday precisely about the point you are making about addiction and how you cannot blame any particular thing, a marriage, fame, whatever it is that we try to pin it on. and how maybe this can be a teachable moment about how much more of an epidemic it is. not just among the rich and famous, among college kids. i have two daughters in college. and you constantly read about or see somebody who has overdosed and often they're accidental overdoses. i mean, we don't yet know the final result of her death. but it appears as it could have been an accident of mixing alcohol and drugs and then getting in the bathtub. who knows. the point is, acknowledging the epidemic of addiction is something which we need to do as a culture. >> we'll talk more about it this morning, although and i agree with that, i do think though that there are some things that can exacerbate it. i think she talked a lot about it in her interviews, that sort of, you know, you're in love with someone. you will do what you think is the right thing to do and not worry -- she said all i wanted to do is be with him. that was it. she said that in ore oprah interview. you know, it will be interesting to see what the toxicology results are. i know you're going to take around with us for a little bit this morning. we've got other stories making headlines. christine has those. she's in atlanta. other look at the headlines. good morning. >> good morning. chaos in greece. riots rage as the country's parliament approves huge austerity cuts. 65 people hurt as police turned tear gus and stun grenades n. on demonstrators. the austerity play will pave the way for a bailout deal in greece. arab league coming up with a new plan to stop the slaughter in syria. they're calling on the u.n. security council to create a peacekeeping force and they're irking all arab nations to cut ties with president bashar al-assad's regime. syria's ambassador to the arab league rejecting the plan. he accused saudi arabia and quat tar of, quote, living in a state of hysteria. president xwm ready to release his 2013 spending plan today. he's asking congress to approve a budget that calls for $4 trillion in deficit redekz over the next ten years by cutting spending and raising taxes on the rich. in ten minutes we'll talk about the plan's chabs chances of thes survival with emanuel cleaver of missouri. santorum focusing on the primary states to derail romney's bid for the gop nomination. still trying to position himself as the only viable conservative choice in the race. >> we're going to compete obviously heavily in michigan. we're going compete in arizona. we think this is a two-person race right now and we're focused on making sure that folks know we're the best alternative to barack obama and we have the best chance of beating him. the next two races for the gop february 28th when arizona and michigan voter goes to the polls. minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures for the dow, nasdaq, and s&p 500 all pointing to a higher open this morning. dow futures up about 75 points right now. investors feeling confident greece will avoid default now that the parliament passed that austerity package. all right. soulful singer adele going six for six in the gramlies last night winning everything she was dominated for. her performance got a standing ovation. she says her hits were inspired by heartbreak. >> this record is inspired by something that is really normal and everyone's been through it. just rubbish relationship. and it's gone on to do things they can't tell you how feel about it. it's been the most life-changing year. >> wow. what a voice. just 23 years old, inspired by a rubbish relationship and, of course, pretty i credible talent, huh? >> and what great revenge on a bad boyfriend, honestly, writing it down. holding it and saying she should have named him and said nah-na-na-nah. the entire music industry of course and at the grammys show mourning the loss of whitney houston including tony bennett who on the day that she died took the stage at clyde davis' pre-grammy party. he offered his condolences but then said this. listen. >> first there was michael jackson, then there was amy winehou winehouse, and now the magnificent whitney houston. i'd like to have every gentleman and lady in this room commit themselves to get our government to legal ize drugs so they have to get it through a doctor, not gangsters that just sell it under the table. >> he sort of had me fine up to the point where he said legalize drugs. i just didn't think that's what he was going. i was surprised by that. >> i was a little bit surprised to hear that. and tony bennett should know that's not the answer to the problem. going to the root cause, working with individuals, making certain that there is education so that, as we were talking during the break, the group around whomever is the individual, in this case a celebrity, is there to not be the yes man but to instill some accountability and some helpfulness. >> talking about -- >> the problem for these people wasn't that they were going to gangsters to get their drugs. that's not the problem. >> you get them from your mother's cabinet. >> that's also true. >> prescription drugs, right. >> and taking them now. >> these illegal pharmacies that are on the internet. >> tony bennett may not be well spoken but he has a point to make sheer and that it should be about education, not incarceration. we need to look at our policies. we need to look at how we as a society deal with this problem. >> what he said was legalize drugs that people aren't buying them on the street. >> now we know he's not an op-ed writer and doesn't write for the huffington post. just said. >> i gotcha. >> the point, i think, is fair, that the war on drugs has fade and we're not acknowledging it. we're spending over $50 billion a year fighting a war that's become a war in our own people, especially among african-americans and minorities in general. all the distinctions between crack cocaine and powder cocaine and we are seeing, you know, nonviolent -- >> so tony bennett so did not say that on the stage but i hear you and that's a conversation for another day. still ahead this morning, president obama is sending his budget to congress today. we're going to be talking to the congressional black caucus chairman who slammeded the president last time the budget came. we'll see what he thinks of this budget. and clashing over contraception. critics blasting the president's compromise saying it is not a compromise at all. and then "get real," the real arianna huffington reacts to the fake. we'll talk about that. you're watching "starting point." whoa. whoa. how do you top great vacations? whoa. getting twice the points on great vacations. whoa! use chase sapphire preferred and now get two times the points on travel, and two times the points on dining and no foreign transaction fees. whoa! chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color. apply now at chasesapphire.com/preferred today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. ♪ that's so sad. welcome back, everybody. the this morning president obama is going to submit his 2013 budget proposal to congress. the plan includes a tax hikes on wealthiest americans and targeted investments, including this. $476 billion for infrastructure upgrades over six years. $350 billion for job creation. $30 billion to hire teachers and police and firefighters. $30 billion to modernize schools. $2.2 billion in r&d for advanced manufacturing. also, it forecasts the deficit of $1.3 trillion by the end of the fiscal year. of course that is receiving lots of criticism already. joining our panel this morning is a chairman of the congressional black caucus, democratic congressman. nice to see you. "national journal" editor ron brownstein has joined our panel as well. let's begin with this, if you will, congressman. what do you think of this? originally you had said for the last budget proposal that you are wildly disappointed. what do you think this time around? >> well, i think the president is attempting to put forth a document that is realistic and addresses the needs we have at the same time. it's not going to be a pretty budget. it's going to probably have some difficulties over in the senate. and it's probably dead on arrival over at the house. but that's because of congress' dysfunctional and we are not going to sit down and try to work around the edges of the budget. i mean, the budget -- presented by the president, he understands that if it is ever going to be approved, his budget must budge. but the danger here is that we're going to struggle around without addressing the major problems. let me just say the president is getting a lot of criticism. i don't think it's difficult served that, you know, he has create all these problems. we do have a serious ailment as a nation and certainly as congress, we suffer from spendicitis but president obama is not the one who spread this disease. it was there when he was inaugurated. >> interesting disease metaphor. bracelets get to congresswoman marsha blackburn. i can throw the this to you. is congress dysfunctional? >> spending has been out of control over the last 50 years. and it's amazing to look at the grap graphs and see what has happened over that period of time. what we have to do is begin to ratchet that spending back down and do it aggressively. >> what do you think of this budget? >> i think the budget spends too much money. and it puts programs we don't want. i would go in and do across the board spending cuts. >> education. >> every year i've been in congress i have voted -- bliss, firefighters, cut, cut, cut. >> across the board. you do it across the board. our states do it across the board. our cities do it across the board. >> you were annoyed when pair they were going to cut military, right? >> front page of "usa today" has a thing about states and cities spending less. and, soledad, there are ways in the dod and pentagon budget to achieve some savings. >> where would you cut? >> they should be done. what you do is across the board and engage everybody to find those cuts. that's the way it has worked successfully in the states. everybody. 2% cut is the way to go about it. >> how do you do that in education? >> yes, you, can because there's a lot of bureaucracy and a lot of ways to get it cut. >> ask you a question? >> congressman, i want to ask you a question. we have had a decade where there was a prescription drug plan, wars in iraq in afghanistan, stimulus spending in which we have spent without providing offset revenue. spending has gone up 14% of gdp, federal revenue, the lowest since 1950. the president says we can close this gap without raising taxes on anybody below $250,000 a year. does the congressional black caucus believe, agree, that everyone below $250,000 a year should be exempt from any taxation to close the gap? >> not from my tags xags. i think the president is right and it's not just the congressional black caucus. i think the majority of americans understand that when you have a problem, an economic problem in your house or whether it's in the nation, there are things you do, cut spending and look for new sources of revenue. people who earn under $250,000 are not rich. and they can still continue to function with the tax code as it is. people who are above, there should be some kind of sure tax. this is the home of h&r block. henry and richard block started this company. henry block, republican all his life, said to me that he doesn't understand what's going on when people are saying they need to protect him from having to pay more taxes. he knows a little bit about taxes, i think. so i think we've got to be able to cut spending at the same time raising revenues, even ben bernanke has said that you got to be careful about making major cuts because the economy is still fragile. >> did you want to make a point? >> yes, just wanted to ask you, congressman, do you acknowledge that this budget is really dead an arrival, we're discussing it's not going to go anywhere. are you concerned about the fact that the president now is putting forward a budget that is going attorney crease spending and tim late the economy but, in fact, in the past with his other two budgets he's focusing on austerity measures and belt tightening. clear, this is a political document. and in the meantime your own community is decimated with unemployment over 13%. how do you feel about that? >> well, i try to speak to that earlier. look, this budget is a nervous breakdown on paper. it's not just president obama. i mean, i think he's put together a document that addressed education. we need to do it, community colleges need to be upgraded. we got to have training for real jobs. we've got a lot of jobs that are going unfilled because we don't have the technology in the heads of graduating college students to deal with them. but look, we are still in a recession. we're still struggling. unemployment is still too high in every major city in the country. people are struggling. so for the federal governme