whitney's body and maybe a timeline when it may arrive in newark, new jersey. >> yeah, good afternoon, tamron. here's what we do know. the autopsy on whitney houston's body is now complete. the coroner's office says that means it can be released to the family, and tmz is reporting that a van has picked up whitney houston's body from the l.a. county coroner's office. that van will go to a funeral home here in los angeles, and then to the airport where it's expected to be flown as early as this afternoon by to newark, new jersey. a funeral is planned later on this weeks. there's a hold on the autopsy results, a security hold. so it's difficult to get more information. that's common in high-profile cases. here's what we are able to confirm. the police department will have a news conference at any moment, but they did release a statement to us, saying that whitney houston was discovered in her bathtub by a member of her personal staff at about 3:30 this afternoon. she was under water and apparently unconscious. they say she was pulled from the tub by members of her staff and hotel security was notified. firefighters and paramedics in the hotel tried to revive her. they found her unconscious and unresponsive. they initiated cpr, but were unable to save her. at approximately 3:55 she was pronounced dead at the scene. they say at this point that's all the specifics they can get into. as far as the autopsy goes the coroner spoke this morning, saying they were waiting for toxicology reports, those expected to take another six to eight weeks. he was asked about the cause of death and said, quote, you might have a suspicion, but the person may have suffered a heart attack or embolism no matter what medications they're taking. until we run a tox, we're not going to speculation. >> thank you. joining us you are two people, marvette britto, and your relationship worked with after you left the white house, you worked for the first george push, what did you do for her and how did you meet her? >> i met her as a uncf dinner while stiff on the staff and we invited her to meet the president. on the day when she came, she, her mom and her brothers came to the white house, and i spent a few hours meeting with them, and it was just great. i got to know them in a way i wouldn't have if they just breezed in and out. >> and how did you go to working with whitney houston? >> we continued to stay in due to the fact. they invited me to a birthday party for her father, and i provided some advice for an hbo special they were doing called "welcome home heroes." then i left the white house shortly thereafter to work with whitney houston and her family. it was an honor. >> i'll bet it was. we're showing this video of whitney when she started in the church choir. according to the reports she's coming back home. there was speculation she would be laid to rest in atlanta. some people even thought los angeles, but she's coming home, and that makes sense to you? >> absolutely. her mom was so active in the church, and i was a baptist minister, still am. so we hit it off there. so fitting she should be coming back home to her mom's church, her church. >> and margaret, your sister another famous singer, spent time, a very close friend of whitney houston. she was on even "being bobbi brown" side by side on that reality show. you're devastated, she's devastated, and we're hearing that over and over. does it make sense she's being brought home? >> absolutely. whitney had strong ties to newark, even though she lived in atlanta, traveled abroad. >> that's where you spent are spent your time, atlanta. >> absolutely. that's where my sister is now, working with the family, helping the family through this. for all of us it's a shock, but very befitting she would come home to new jersey where her family is, where she has such expansive routes. >> she's a "jersey shore" girl. >> and church girl more importantly. >> berm talking about bobbi kristina. she tried to the night that her mother was found dead, she tried to get in, security would not let her see her mother's body. you are close, what are the concerns? she just turned 18. this child has seen a lot from both of her parents in years. >> this was a child who was best friends with her mother and spent a significant amount of time with her mother. so i think it will be different and we have to be very sensitive with how everything is handled, it can. >> who does bobbi kristina -- >> really her grandfared, but more importantly her father. i think it's important in the legacy of whitney we preserve the relationship and really remember not only was she a coveted singer, but someone's daughter. >> this is bobbi brown performing at l.a.x. he performed the night whitney passed away, but has returned to be at his daughter's side. we all know the story of their relationship and how it ended, everything that happened in the middle there, but he really has to step up right now? >> absolutely. of course, all of us who know and love them are prays for cissy, her brothers, and bobby brown, too. this is a chance for him to show what kind of man and father he is. >> we were referring to the last interview she does, promoting "sparkle" one of my favorite movies of all time. it was a labor of love, she was the executive producer. i got a statement from the creator of the hit show "the gang" and so many other successes, a coproducer and one of the writers on "sparkle." she says, quote, whitney houston was an extraordinary talent, beautiful person, and i will miss her. they were in the middle of performing what was going to be the role of a lifetime. they spoke about "sparkle" originally allia whitney plays the mother of a beautiful talent who dies as a result of drug abuse. this is what she had to say to shawan robinson. let's play it. >> when we went to her, she was so enthusiastic about it, she wanted to do it so badly. she was our sparkle. >> wow. >> yes. unfortunately it just didn't go that way. >> i want my sparkle has gone to a better place, and we just left it alone. >> but they're not going to leave the movie alone. this will honor her. how does it feel to listen to her talking about it. >> i'm still devastated, as are the members of her family. i'm just praying for them. this is a hard, hard time. for anyone who knew her personally it's a very heart time. >> it's hard for fans, so to know her personally it's indescribable. it is constitutional untimely. it may not necessarily be a shock, depending on the results, but she was only 48. >> and so full the life. every time we saw her emerge, we are are we were rooting for her. >> so it definitely is a surprise and is a shock and will be something i don't know that we'll recover from anytime soon. >> thank you very much for sharing your personal thoughts. the latest development is that whitney houston's body will be leaving los angeles perhaps sometime today to arrive home in newark, new jersey for a funeral. thank you both. we're following more developing news. president obama is fending off republican attacks against the 2013 budget. both sides are gearing up for a fight yet against over the bush era tax cuts. here are some of the facts in the budget. take a look. letting the bush cuts expire for those making more than $250,000 a year. gas and coal companies, the plan also imposes a $61 billion tax over ten years on big banks to recoup costs from the bailout. >> warren buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. that's not fair. it doesn't make sense at a time when we've got to pull together to get the country moving. i'm proposing some difficult cuts that frankly i wouldn't normally make if they weren't absolutely necessary. but they are. the truth is we're going to have to make some tough choices in order to put this country back on a more sustainable path. so republicans are already calling it class warfare. minutes ago -- >> this budget reduces our deficit by $4 trillion. that is absolutely untrue. >> i believe the president has abandoned his role as leader of this nation by not being honest with the american people about the significant of the national debt. >> joining me right now luke russert. let's break down the numbers. these figures here, what is then the truth? >> that depends on if you ask. one they claimed that a lot of we refer to -- already been factored in. believing that in fact they'll never be -- quote, our families, seniors and grandchildren deserve better, as chairman of the house budget committee, i will continue to work with both parties to advance both solutions that lift and ensure -- tamron, this budget is nothing else than setting up a parameter for president obama to argue with during the election year. there's not a lot of cuts to entitlesments in this budget. there's a tax increase. republicans will have their own budget in march. they will cut entitlements, but will not make any efforts to raise taxes on the wealthy. so basically it sets up a choice in november that people say should we go in the direction where where he cut benefits or raise taxes. it's basically just kicking the can down the road more in washington, d.c. with a nice fancy 100-page booklet. >> that's one way to look at it. >> you'll see the republican version of it in march. competing books. >> a nice fancy booklet. so let's bring in michael smerconish. msnbc contributor. so, michael, here you have it, cutting benefits, raising taxes, we've seen this debate over and over. they say they'd like to tackle entitlements, but now is not the time. what do you make here? here we are, first of all, back at it again, let's put that out there, but what do you make of this budget and the complaints already? >> i think there's a sharp contrast that will be presented to the american people. maybe it already existed, but it's crystallized by this budget and by the response you'll hear from republicans as well as from the republican candidates. i would zero in on june wu aspect, dividend income, and whether the taxes all to continue to be 20% as they've been under the bush proposals or whether that should go up to as high as 39.6% and be treated as ordinary income. there in a nutshell i think will be the sort of debate that there play out where republicans will say keep it at 20%. after all, that's the second time around those earnings are being taxed, and you'll hear the president say the warren buffett line these folks are ones who need to give back to the system. >> michael, i guess my question is, are there any facts at this point regarding this debate that would change a person's mind? let's say a voter at home, they've been armed now with the facts. so you have the simple numbers in front of you have. it is ideological to me in my opinion anyway at this point. what can you say that would change a single mind of those members of the republican party who were already objecting to this debate? we've had this debate. i do believe you're exactly right, it does boil down to november and what direction voters would like to see this country go in. whatever your opinion of right or wrong here, it's clear the line is there, there's no fuzzy math. it is what it is at this point. >> well, i think to answer your question, which is a great one, this is complicated stuff. so i think that many americans who are evaluating these two distinctly different narratives will be looking at what's going on with regard to the economy. if the economy continues to come out of the recession and if unemployment gets down to below 8%, which seems doable, i think the credibility of the president will be enhanced. that critical swath in the middle will say, this guy seems like he's on the right path. if it doesn't go that way, more credibility will be given to the republican narrative. >> and speaking of credibility or lack thereof, it was just friday we noted congress had a 10% approval down from 13 in this argue, i would imagine you factor that in, especially when you listened to the president earlier today. he has for days and weeks now been clearly setting up the congress as the add remember vary. >> i think it's going to be him saying this is what i've tried to do rely to the infrastructure and a whole host of other issues. i've been stopped at every turn by an intransigent gop house, so he'll be arguing it needs to change's well. coming up, the implication that mitt romney rigged the straw poll, as he also plans to upset romney in michigan, where romney was born and his father was the governor. look at these surreal images out of greece, where the country's new deep spending accounts have set off mower outrage. let's look at how what's happening in greece could be affecting the markets here. and developing news regarding jerry sandusky. a judge has agreed to allow him to see his grandchildren despite the charges he's facing. join the conversation. my twitter pace, ie claire as one of the 25 beauty products that will change your life because it whitens by removing up to 80% of surface stains. see how it can change your life. crest 3d white. life opens up when you do. ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! 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ask your doctor if spiriva can help. washington, if you're keeping count, is now the seventh state in the nation to make same-sex marriage legal. the bill won final approval last week. the new law goes into effect in june, but opponents say they plan to repeal it in november. just moments ago, new jersey state senate voted in favor of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in that state. its assembly votes on the issue on thursday. the senate defeated a similar measure you might recall only two years ago. governor chris christie says he'll veto any bill that legalized same-sex marriage. if he vetoes it, the legislature has until next january to override it. developing news, we are waiting, comments now from democrats on the president's budget unveiled only a few hours ago. john boehner called the budget, quote, a gloomy reflection of the president's failed policies. that's what he had to say. plus -- ♪ and i will ♪ will always love you remember whitney houston, jennifer hudson delivered a moving tribute to the star at the grammys. and days after whitney's death, sony has hiked the price of some of her greatest hits. sweet, nutty crunchy nut. 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