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ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Exes Testify in Jason Young Murder Trial

Aired February 16, 2012 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, coming to you live from New York City.

A man accused of murdering his pregnant wife faces a parade of his mistresses: lovers in court. You`re going to hear electrifying testimony from Jason Young`s ex-fiancee about how you snapped and flew into a violent rage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, a parade of sultry mistresses takes the stand in the trial of a man accused of murdering his beautiful pregnant wife. Will the steamy details from the secret affairs come back to haunt Jason Young? Plus, will his ex-fiancee`s story of a violent brawl convince a jury he`s capable of murder?

Also, as the stars line up to pay tribute at Whitney Houston`s funeral, what`s ahead for her daughter, Bobbi Kristina? I`ll talk live to the daughter of late music legend James Brown.

Plus, part two of my Dumpster diving adventure. Believe me, you don`t want to miss it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His final comment was "All of this would just, you know, go away if you`d let me have a girl on the side."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you actually engaged in an affair with the defendant?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He asked if he could see my ring. He pretended to swallow it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We ended up having an intimate relationship while he was there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told me to go look in the mirror, and he had drawn like a face on my face with marker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then the next night when you said that you had intercourse with him on the couch...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He physically came after me, and we ended up having sex.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He threw me down onto the bed but with such force that it just -- it stunned me. Something inside him snapped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, we`re un-peeling the onion of an accused murderer`s scandalous double life as appalling secrets are revealed in court. Jason Young`s bevy of mistresses and ex-lovers took the stand at his murder trial today. One sobbed, one smirked, another recalled a terrifying flash of violence. She testified about Jason`s violent outbursts that led her to end their engagement. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENEVIEVE CARGOL, JASON YOUNG`S FORMER FIANCEE: Something inside of him snapped like I`ve never seen before. And he physically came after me to get the ring off of me, off of my finger. He grabbed me by the arms and threw me down on to the bed but with such force that it just -- it stunned me. And he grabbed my arms so tightly that it ended up leaving bruises in the shapes of his fingers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Capable of violence, capable of cheating, leading a double life. But does it prove that Jason Young is capable of murder?

And we`re not just talking about any murder. Prosecutors call this bludgeoning of his pregnant wife a calculated and meticulously planned killing that occurred while their innocent toddler was at home, and ended up walking around in the blood.

Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297. I want to hear from you. We`ve got to learn from these horror stories what are the sick, underlying dynamics.

Straight out to "In Session" correspondent, Beth Karas.

Beth, you were in court today for today`s parade of lovers. What were some of the startling things they said?

BETH KARAS, TRUTV`S "IN SESSION": Well, actually, what you just played, the details, which were more drawn out than the few seconds you had, to have that assault described, was really very telling.

This assault went on for about 20 minutes as he was trying to wrench a tight engagement ring off the finger of his ex-fiancee and finally did get it off her. He made light of it the next day. He had a lot to drink that day.

She didn`t describe any other incidents of violence, but it was enough for her to say, "Unh-unh, I don`t want a lifetime of this, which could possibly escalate."

Whether or not he`s ever done something like this with other people, whether or not he`s ever done something like this with Michelle Young, the jury doesn`t know. But they certainly now know that he is capable of being violent to a woman he`s involved with.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, yes. Very violent, if you listen to that witness`s testimony.

Now, the most emotional witness by far, Jason`s other mistress, Carol Anne Sowerby. She started sobbing the minute she took the stand. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma`am, would you state your name, please?

CAROL ANNE SOWERBY, JASON YOUNG`S FRIEND: Carol Anne Sowerby.

Put Cassidy to bed, had some drinks, and we ended up having sex.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And was that downstairs on the sofa, or do you recall?

SOWERBY: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She seems tortured on the stand. What`s behind her emotion? Is that guilt we`re seeing? She had an affair with a married man and, Jon Lieberman, as I understand it, didn`t she actually have sex in the marital bed? Tell us about that.

JON LIEBERMAN, JOURNALIST: yes. She actually testified that they actually had sex in the family home on the sofa during a brief visit, and you know, it was incredibly compelling testimony.

The way the defense is trying to get around it is, they`re saying, look, Jason is never going to win husband of the year. I mean, they came out and said, the defense, he`s obnoxious. He`s juvenile, OK. He`s cheated on his wife, but it doesn`t make him a killer. That`s what the defense is trying to set.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, but he`s a cheater who also, with his ex- fiancee, violently attacked her to get his engagement ring back.

LIEBERMAN: And that`s the key. What prosecutors are trying to show is -- and put his ex-fiancee on the stand to show that he does have a history of physical abuse. However, the defense and the prosecutors -- nobody has ever claimed that he was abusive in this relationship.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: In the marriage?

LIEBERMAN: In the marriage where he`s accused of killing his wife. There were never any allegations publicly of physical abuse.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know -- yes, physical abuse but emotional abuse, having affairs.

Now, it actually is hard to keep this married man`s tangled love life straight. I had to be -- I literally needed a scorecard. OK? Especially because his wife and one of his mistresses, they`re both named Michelle.

So let`s recap and review. You`ve got the blond, Genevieve Cargol. That`s Jason`s former fiancee, the one who says he attacked her to get the ring back. Carol Anne Sowerby, she`s the one who`s crying, the dark-haired one, the mistress whose engagement ring Jason swallowed in a wild act of immaturity.

And then there`s Michelle Money, the victim, the dead woman`s dear friend and her sorority sister, who was having an affair with Jason at the time that her good friend from college was murdered.

Jason called Michelle shortly before and after the other Michelle, his wife Michelle`s, murder. And people were struck by Michelle Money`s cavalier demeanor on the stand. You check it out and be the judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you ever tell Michelle Young that you were having an affair with her husband?

MICHELLE MONEY, JASON YOUNG`S MISTRESS: No, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And to your knowledge, did Jason Young tell her that he was having an affair with you?

MONEY: No, ma`am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable.

Stacy Kaiser, psychotherapist, OK, you`ve got the one there in the middle who seems to be smiling and smirking. You`ve got the other one with the dark hair who`s sobbing hysterically.

Either way -- I don`t know who`s more humiliated. But if we learn one thing from this tragic case, if you want to sleep with a guy, don`t sleep with a married man and don`t sleep with a married man in the married man`s husband`s home on the couch that he shares with his wife.

STACY KAISER, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: You know, I really very much see the guilt that you`re describing. It also looks like shame. I mean, here she is talking about a man that she was with who is on trial for murder. That`s a very, very heavy burden for somebody.

And then we`re talking about his, I guess, current mistress, or the woman that he was with when his wife was killed, and I think she`s very cavalier, because she`s detached. You have to be detached emotionally in order to have an affair with a friend of yours` husband.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I want to go to the phone lines. But I first want to say is, it`s my personal opinion that, once you start lying to your lover about anything, your intimacy is gone. Because intimacy is about revealing how you really feel.

And so if you`re hiding the fact that you`re sleeping with somebody else, right away that is, I think, the death knell for a marriage or a relationship.

So if he`s upset about his relationship, he should be upset with himself, because he`s the one who soured it by cheating.

Mary, Arkansas, your question or thought, Mary?

CALLER: I`d like to know if Jason Young wore a haz-mat suit when he allegedly killed his wife and who has custody of the little girl, Cassidy, if you know. Thank you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Very quickly. I couldn`t understand the question.

LIEBERMAN: I think she was asking if Jason wore a haz-mat suit during the murder, probably to -- you know, the caller was intimating to cover up the murder.

The reality is this: there`s not a lot of physical evidence. There`s virtually zero, which is why you saw the parade of mistresses and former fiancees, because this guy got off once and he may well get off again.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And by the way, to answer the question, the victim`s sister has custody of the little toddler who was in the house, who may have been drugged with some kind of Tylenol medicine at the time of the killing.

Joey Jackson, criminal defense attorney, he`s a jerk. He`s a cheater. He`s a liar. He`s a buffoon. He`s one of the most grotesque individuals that I`ve seen come down the pike. It doesn`t make him a murderer.

And the fact is, they have no blood of Michelle, the wife`s, in the car that he was supposedly driving. There is no -- that`s why the caller asked, was he wearing a haz-mat suit, because they can`t find any blood or cuts on him.

JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Sure. Exactly. See, what`s happening here, Jane, is that this is where the prosecution wants to live. They want to muddy the character. They want to show a cheater. They want to show someone who has a propensity for violence. I`m surprised it was even admitted.

However, in the event that it was admitted -- we see it was -- they want to show that this is just a bad individual who had a lot of affairs, can`t be trusted, a terrible moral character.

Now here, the defendant in this case, you`re going to come back and say the reason that they wanted you to focus on that was for exactly the reason you said, Jane: because there was no physical evidence. There is no blood. There is no scrapes. There are no bruises. There`s no transferring of evidence to show that he did it. Nothing in the van. Nothing anywhere. And so that`s going to be the battle throughout.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But this is fascinating, because trials are one of the only venues where we get to find out what`s happening behind closed doors. We get to pull open the curtains and study secrets that many don`t even tell their psychiatrists. So we`re finding out a lot about marriage dynamics and dysfunction.

And we`re taking your calls: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Later, the stars ling up for Whitney Houston`s funeral but what`s in store for her daughter, Bobbi Kristina? I`m going to talk to someone who grew up in the spotlight: the daughter of the late, great James Brown, who had to deal with his estate.

But, first, more steamy secrets from Jason Young`s affairs. More details and your calls coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARGOL: He became so enraged that he punched out my windshield.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That night there was an eerie feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think my sister`s dead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know what happened to mommy? Did she fall?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s got boo boos everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These wounds could have been received while using her hands to defend herself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I found her face to be horrific.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said, "My lawyer told me I can`t talk to anyone, not even you," which -- "what do you mean, a lawyer?"

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a trail of blood drops from the bed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The other statement was, "I`m going to take a hit on the house." And I`m -- that was another -- like what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Several lacerations, split teeth, missing teeth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are no cuts on his hands, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are no scratches?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No bruises?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No bruises.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, boy. We`re talking about this murder case, and we had three ex-lovers of the defendant on the stand.

Jason Young`s most recent mistress, Michelle Money, was a close friend of his wife, the victim. They were sorority sisters, in fact. Now, here`s the mistress and the victim at the Youngs` wedding. Unbelievable. When Jason began his affair with Michelle Money, she was also married to someone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONEY: We just spent a lot of time talking and hanging out at the house. We ended up having an intimate relationship while he was there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And so at that point were you actually engaged in an affair with the defendant?

MONEY: Yes, ma`am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I have to repeat an old cliche: with friends like this, who needs enemies? I mean, really. This woman testified with a smirk on her face. She didn`t seem to have any shame. She also complained about how the media had treated her.

I want to go out to the phone lines.

Kathy, Florida, your question or thought, Kathy.

CALLER: Hi.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.

CALLER: I understand there were approximately 980 cell phone and text messages between Jason and Michelle Money the months preceding the murder, and I`m wondering if there were any allegations set forth that this seems to be very smug and callous woman had potentially plotted this murder with Jason. Has there -- anybody looked into that?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I want to go out to Beth Karas, who`s a correspondent who`s been all over this case from the beginning. We`re going to put up, actually, a list of Jason`s phone records around the time of this murder. And tell us what we know about Jason`s conversations with Michelle Money -- Beth.

KARAS: Well, Jane, I -- my recollection from today`s testimony was that it was over 400 communications, e-mail and telephone. Telephone meaning calls and text messages in that month period. That is the weekend when they first had sexual relations, which was early October 2006, until the murder of Michelle Young. So approximately one-month period. Not sure it`s the 980 that the caller just mentioned.

Well, it did come out on the stand, as well, that the police said to her, "You know what? If you don`t stop having contact with Jason Young" -- this is obviously after the murder -- "you`re going to get implicated in this," because she continued to have contact with him. And they were beginning, I suppose, to wonder whether or not she was complicit in some way. But I don`t believe that it was every taken seriously. She did cut off contact eventually.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She`s just somebody who has a smirk on her face. And it`s inappropriate, in my opinion, but doesn`t mean anything more than just water finds its own level. He`s immature and maybe she is, as well.

Jason`s friends and exes have testified that Jason`s behavior when he was drinking could become violent and downright humiliating.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARGOL: I hate to use the word "always" but it always ended badly for me when he was drinking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you mean when you say "it always ended badly"?

CARGOL: His behavior just would just change so drastically, and he typically got real angry with me, usually over just nothing.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Stacy Kaiser, psychotherapist, could he be an alcoholic?

KAISER: That was my immediately reaction when I heard that testimony. It`s very common with alcoholic behavior that you literally have a personality change and become another person, and that`s what she`s describing.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, and he did all sorts of immature things, like swallowing rings, urinating in front of people in somebody`s living room. More on the other side.

But first, we`ve got your viral video coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: More Jason Young trial in a minute, but first, your "Viral Video of the Day."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know that bacon that`s like maple? Maple flavored?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The maple kind? Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, so...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I took that out, and I thought...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know who would like that. Me. So I ate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was historically crying, and she said to me, "You have to promise to keep a secret for the rest of your life. I have to tell you something. I`m pregnant. And Jason wants me to abort the baby, or he said he will resent me and the baby for the rest of our lives."

SOWERBY: He asked if he could see my ring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you show it to her?

SOWERBY: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hand it to her?

SOWERBY: I don`t recall. I don`t know if I just held out my hand or if I had handed it to him. I probably handed it to him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. But in any event, was he -- did he have possession of your ring at some time?

SOWERBY: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did he do with it?

SOWERBY: He pretended to swallow it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And in fact he did swallow some rings and had to pass them. Ew, yuck. I mean, this guy, the immaturity level.

That same woman who testified, she said she fell asleep after having sex with him and woke up, and he had drawn on her face with Magic Marker.

Jason`s friends and exes testified that his behavior and his drinking could be violent and downright humiliating. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARGOL: I hate to use the word "always," but it always ended badly when he was drinking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you mean when you say "always ended badly"?

CARGOL: His behavior just would change so drastically, and he typically got real angry with me usually over just nothing. And...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, yes. OK, so he swallowed rings, drew on sleeping women`s faces, urinated in a friend`s home. And I have to wonder if this guy is just a sociopath on top of being an alcoholic.

Is he going to testify? Because this is the second trial. He testified in the last trial. What did he say, and do you think he`s going to testify this time?

LIEBERMAN: Yes, well, that`s a great question. He testified the first time, and he came off as very likable, just how he did -- that`s how he got all these women, is the woman described him as likeable, a good personality. So even though he`s a drunken buffoon and pretty much everybody can agree to that, if he takes the stand again, it worked the first time, because he got a mistrial.

And he basically testified, "Look, I was having problems in my marriage, but we were working on it." There`s no real evidence that he was working on it. But he said, "Look, we were working on it and I didn`t kill my wife."

And that resonated with the jury the first time.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s unbelievable. And just the lack of boundaries in this group, it seems like people are sleeping with each other, and they`re all married. And I mean, it`s -- there`s something going on in this particular circle that is highly dysfunctional.

And I leave Genevieve out of it, because she was engaged to him. She didn`t know, and she broke it off. She wasn`t cheating.

But let`s go out to the phone lines again.

Bobby, Alabama, your question or thought, Bobby? Oh, Bobby`s a little bit -- we can`t hear her.

CALLER: Yes, I`m here.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: There you are, Bobby. What`s your question or thought, Bobby?

CALLER: Bobby from Alabama?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

CALLER: Yes. Yes, here I am.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK.

CALLER: Let me put it on mute.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. I don`t know what`s happening with Bobby.

But Beth Karas, what can we expect tomorrow? I mean, these were, for lack of a better word, bombshell witnesses. Has this trial peaked in terms of creating interest or is there even more to come?

KARAS: Well, there`s more to come, but I`m not sure how much we`re going to hear about the marriage and the relationship of Jason Young. We may have heard most of that by now.

But there`s going to be some more forensic testimony. And we still have to hear about how Jason Young did buy a pair of Hush Puppies the year before the murder, consistent with one of the bloody shoeprints, and the police never did find those shoes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Got to leave it right there. Whitney Houston, the very latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember being so proud. You know, just so proud of both her singing and her acting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Extensive planning is going on to give Whitney the funeral and the good-bye that she deserves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tears caught in my eyes just thinking about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tragic. Such a talented human being; she set the standard for a bunch of singers right now and she`s gone. It`s sad.

WHITNEY HOUSTON, SINGER: I loved the lyric. It`s sad. I knew how I could interpret it. And I knew that if I sang it, it would come from my heart.

GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: What a tragedy. What a terrible, terrible tragedy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you, I love you, and I love you and rest in peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: Tonight, as Whitney Houston`s family puts the final touches on the superstar`s funeral, investigators are hoping hotel surveillance cameras might help them find out what Whitney was doing in the days and hours before she died.

Hotel workers confirm to CNN`s Don Lemon that Houston was quote, "partying the night before her death in a bar. Houston was found dead in the bathtub of her suite at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday and police are now trying to trace her movements to figure out what killed her.

Tonight, we`re also going to look at what kind of pressure the 48- year-old music icon was feeling. RadarOnline reports Houston tried to get a facelift two weeks before her death but was turned down because she failed a medical exam.

The circumstances of Whitney Houston`s death might be uncomfortable to talk about. But a 48-year-old woman doesn`t just die for no reason. It`s our obligation to look into it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If she had prescription medication. We know that she had Xanax -- that is confirmed -- in her room, and that she was taking Xanax, according to her family. If she`s doing that and drinking, for a known addict, that is a problem. As much as some people don`t want to hear it, that`s the reality. We cannot turn away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: CNN`s Don Lemon also reporting Whitney ordered alcohol before 10:00 a.m. A couple of days before her death and her behavior was erratic, jumping in and out of the pool. People were pointing this out.

It`s no doubt difficult for Whitney`s family to hear, difficult because they are getting ready for her private viewing tomorrow and her funeral Saturday. Tonight we`re learning Whitney`s "Bodyguard", co-star, Kevin Costner, will speak at her funeral. They made an incredible on-screen couple. Watch this from Warner Brothers Pictures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CLIP FROM "THE BODYGUARD")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Her charisma, her moves, her talent. And there she is -- a picture of her when she was young, before she became world-famous.

Whitney`s funeral will be star-studded -- performances from Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin. 1500 coveted invitation only seats. No doubt everyone heavy in heart and wondering how this angel`s song could have fallen so hard.

And I want to hear your thoughts. Call me. 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877- 586-7297.

Straight out to "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" correspondent Nischelle Turner who is live in front of the New Hope Baptist Church where Whitney`s funeral will be held on Saturday. Nischelle, you`ve been all over the story coast to coast. In fact, you and I were there together at the Beverly Hilton just a couple of hours after -- yes. Into the night after we heard that Whitney had passed while her body was still in the hotel while Clive Davis` party was happening. We could hear the music.

So now you`re in Newark, New Jersey. Tell us and show us what is happening there, Nischelle.

NISCHELLE TURNER, HLN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jane, I can still hear the music here in Newark, New Jersey. And that`s because I`m in front of the New Hope Baptist Church right now. And inside -- I don`t know if you can hear, if you can pick up.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

TURNER: But there is either a choir rehearsal going on right now but we did hear earlier that the Mississippi mass choir was going to be performing at Whitney`s funeral on Saturday. So I don`t know if it`s bible study, choir rehearsal but there is this joyous gospel music coming out from New Hope Baptist Church right now.

And if you look behind me, the makeshift memorial to Whitney Houston has been growing by leaps and bounds and once again there are fans coming out right over my shoulder there coming out, taking pictures, leaving notes, messages, flowers, cards, candles anything they could to let Whitney know how they felt about her and her music.

So that`s kind of what is going on here tonight in front of New Hope Baptist Church. You know, and also the onslaught of media that will be here to cover her funeral. We`re all here too.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I will be there Saturday. HLN covering the whole thing, you`re going to there.

TURNER: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to ask you just step aside for a second, ask maybe the camera person to push it a little bit. I know it`s dark but maybe we can get a sense of what is going on there because it really is fascinating to see and there it is. You can see all of the balloons and all the flowers and essentially just this very respectful scene. This is the church where the funeral is going to occur.

But actually the authorities are saying, don`t go to that funeral home because they are going to rope off -- I`ve heard up to six blocks in every direction and so they are saying, watch it at home. Very similar to what happened with the Michael Jackson memorial service where they urged people, "Don`t go to the memorial service. Watch it from home."

So you can watch it right here on HLN. Kevin Costner will be speaking at Saturday`s funeral. There will also be the big name performances, Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, both scheduled to eulogize Whitney in song. Aretha already played tribute to her goddaughter at a concert.

Watch this from GMA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARETHA FRANKLIN, SINGER: Share this moment with me in acknowledging one of the greatest singers that has ever stood before a microphone. Miss Whitney Elizabeth Houston.

I`ll always love you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Also on hand, Chaka Khan, Jesse Jackson, and yes, Whitney`s ex-husband Bobby Brown scheduled to be there, Dionne Warwick, Brandy, her brother Ray J who was romantically linked to Whitney. Jawn Murray, pop culture journalist and expert, some claim there was controversy surrounding whether or not Bobby Brown should attend given some people are blaming him for her problems even though they pre-date her relationship with him.

JAWN MURRAY, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Yes, Jane. You know, I`ve been a stickler for the fact that we cannot blame Bobby Brown for what has happened to Whitney Houston because it is documented; history has proven that Whitney Houston had an issue prior to meeting Bobby Brown and as both you and Dr. Drew have both said on this network, oftentimes addicts seek each other out.

You know, when Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown recorded their duet together, "We Have Something in Common", I believe they were telling us the truth. So yes, together they had a lot of tumultuous times in their relationship. We know there was some legal issues and there was a lot of combined drug use but Whitney Houston absolutely had an issue well before she met Bobby Brown.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And Whitney`s ex, Bobby Brown, of course he has long been a major pop star. Check this out from way back when YouTube and (INAUDIBLE) records specifically recorded this hit.

(MUSIC)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Bobby Brown is not only going to go to the funeral but he`s also scheduled to perform with New Edition in Connecticut this weekend. Some claim Bobby is now trying to ingratiate himself with his daughter Bobbi Kristina. Let`s face it, she stands to inherit a huge estate. It could be worth hundreds of millions down the road.

TMZ estimating to night Whitney`s estate currently worth $20 million, but it could easily skyrocket from there to the hundreds and millions. Digital sales of Whitney`s albums jumped over 17,000 percent since her death; individual songs sales up over 5,000 percent.

I`m joined exclusively by the daughter of the late great godfather of soul, James Brown, Dr. Yamma Brown. Dr. Brown, thank you so much for joining us. And you can shed light like no other on this situation. What can Bobbi Kristina do as an 18-year-old girl who is grieving -- our hearts go out to her. But still she has to think of the future to protect the estate. When people are liable to come in and try to befriend her because of how wealthy she`s going to be.

DR. YAMMA BROWN, DAUGHTER OF JAMES BROWN: Absolutely. She`s got so much ahead of her. You know right now, my first thing is to say, you know, our hearts go out to this family. I mean, to Bobbi Kristina, to Cissy.

And I mean it`s just -- it`s a tough time and just looking at the footage that you guys have right now just brings back so many memories of when we had to go through the same thing, three funerals.

And right now just -- you know, for Bobbi Kristina, she`s got to mourn the death of her mom, first of all. You know, a lot of people forget that it is Whitney Houston. She`s a pop icon here. But this is Bobbi Kristina`s mother. Above all of this, she needs to mourn her mom and kind of stay out of the media and --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But how can she protect herself financially from those who will move in? I know you have to give approval before your father`s songs are used.

BROWN: Yes. And, you know, she`s got to make sure she has people around her that she trusts. You know, she`s got to make sure that her grandmother`s around her, that Dionne is around her; that the people that her mom kept close to her, she does the same thing.

Because like you said, the first thing people are going to do, new people are going to come in. She has to remember, yes, you`re going to mourn your mom but you`ve got a legacy to keep going and you`ve got a legacy that --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And let me say this, people are already trying to take advantage of the New Jersey home that Whitney shared with Bobby Brown, back on the market for $1.75 million. The real estate listing reads -- can you believe this -- "Now is the time to step up and buy this great house. If you own this house, you would always have these incredible stories?" Are you -- how tacky is that? Has the cashing in on Whitney already begun?

As we go to break, we`re going to show you another live shot of the church. We`re all over it.

And on the other side, we`re going to talk to Gordon Chambers, a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, who worked with Whitney, about the pressures that she was under. And we`re taking your calls. Stay right there -- more on the other side.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Live pictures of the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey where people have converged and they`re leaving balloons and balloons. And there is a rehearsal service going on for the funeral service that we here will be covering live on Saturday. Our coverage begins at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. I`m going to be out there live on the streets of Newark, New Jersey talking to fans as we bid this incredible artist a farewell.

And it breaks our heart to have to talk about this. But we have to. We have to uncover the why, the deeper why. Whitney was on the verge of divorce when she and her husband singer Bobby Brown appeared on the reality show "Being Bobby Brown". Check this out from Bravo and YouTube.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOUSTON: We`ve got to live with flies. We`ve got to live with (EXPLETIVE DELETED) with the anthrax.

BOBBY BROWN, SINGER: You just watch too much TV. I`m a true American. I`ve been to jail before. That`s American.

HOUSTON: Kiss my ass.

BOBBY BROWN: All right. That`s what I`ll do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Certainly that reality show was ill advised, in my opinion. Whitney Houston was a great artist. She was a fantastic artist. She was a star. And I think that diminished her star a little bit.

I want to go to Gordon Chambers, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter who worked with Whitney Houston and just get a sense of what kind of pressures a pop icon is under when they hit 48 years old because it is sort of a young person`s business.

GORDON CHAMBERS, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Well, you know, Whitney, I don`t think, was in competition with trying to fit into trends. I think that Whitney Houston knew that she was one of the greatest singers in the world and was at a point in her world where she wanted to sing music that meant the world to her. And if you listen to her last album, "I Live to You", a lot of the songs on there are spiritual and very spiritually uplifting and we`ve looked at a lot -- we can`t ignore that the very last live performance was her singing "Jesus Loves Me". So I think that she was looking for music that spoke to her. I don`t think she was in competition with the young ones. I really don`t believe -- get that sense at all.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think you`re right. She was seeking spiritually and there are reports that she was talking a lot about spirituality in the days leading up to her death. And, of course, she was a spectacular star who very deservedly made many millions of dollars. Whitney Houston made $36 million off the sound track for her movie, "The Bodyguard" with Kevin Costner, who`s going to speak at the funeral on Saturday.

Here`s one of the biggest hits "I`m Every Woman" from Arista Records.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(I`M EVERY WOMAN BY WHITNEY HOUSTON)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Gordon Chambers, you produced some of her songs. You knew her for years. You have a new album out yourself called "Sincere" and I`m going to check that out. But when I watch Whitney Houston, I think she`s one of the greats that will go down in history. Great like Judy Garland, great like Frank Sinatra; she is one of a kind. How do you think she`s going to go down in history and be remembered?

CHAMBERS: Exactly that. She`s, by far, I think the greatest female voice of the 20th century. I mean I think even Barbara Streisand and Mariah Carey, you know, tweeted this week just extolling the virtues of her voice.

This woman -- she set the standards. She was the home run. She hits the ball way out of the park. And people are going to remember the good times more than the tabloid times. They are going to remember the great fabulous music that she made and how it made them feel.

You know, I have gotten hundreds of phone calls and hundreds of e- mails from people just saying how much they are missing and mourning and grieving this woman. They lost because her music meant so much to them. It meant so much to me.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Yamma Brown, James Brown`s daughter, do you agree that all of this discussion about cause of death is going to give way just in appreciation of her music down the road?

YAMMA BROWN: Absolutely. I mean, you know, her music sales I mean -- they`re going to go through the roof as they already have; and like we were talking about before all of this is going to be great for her estate in the long run. That, of course, is what Bobbi Kristina has to be concerned about and, you know, be looking about in the future.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And as I look at these images of Whitney, I do think -- oh, my gosh -- her stardom. Let`s not forget her genius and her talent as we discuss --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m going dumpster diving in a minute, but first, you deserve a laugh break, and so do I.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BABY PLAYING AT DOG)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Last week I showed you how I went dumpster diving with a group of food rescuers who call themselves freegans to show that perfectly good food is being thrown out on a massive scale.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Come on check it out. This is really good. I`m not joking around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight the adventure continues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She got an onion. Are you giving this to me or are you taking it? I`m going to put this in my stir fry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gluten free corn bread.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s fantastic. One, two, three, four, five, six - - that`s about almost a dozen containers of food that look perfectly good to eat. How do you know that`s ok?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What it`s not it bloats.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh. When it`s not it bloats. So you think that`s ok. Green olives stuffed with natural red peppers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wonderful.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yum. Look at that, completely new -- completely new.

More bread. And there`s a feeling of like, it`s a prize when you find something. And this is good. This is the kind of bread I eat, sprouts. Look at that. That smells fresh. Smells totally fresh to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In an urban area, in New York City this is the easiest way to feed yourself and it`s there for the taking.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Have you ever gotten sick from eating this way?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, absolutely not. You do have to be careful. But our food system isn`t clean anyways.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cases of pizza that are being thrown out.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is starting to really bother me. This is starting to really bother me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it could be that the power went out on their freezer or something like that. These are things that you have to be careful with. If it was the middle of summer and it was 90 degrees out, you probably wouldn`t take this home and eat it. But It`s essentially the temperature of a refrigerator out here, and we`re getting maybe an hour after they put it out. This is perfectly fine.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Think about the waste here. The waste of the paper, the waste of the food, this is shocking to me. It`s upsetting and shocking to me. Do you have that moment when you`re doing this where you go, oh, my God, people are starving around the world and we`re throwing boxes of what looks like perfectly good food out on the street?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is shocking. And you get immune to it because it`s not an unusual thing. It`s every day at every store that we`re finding this kind of waste.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: If we could tell you that there`s all this pepperoni pizza. All this pizza, all this food that`s been thrown out looks fine. What would you say?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would tell you, anybody that`s home, you should be most grateful because times are hard. You know, I was a construction worker. I`ve been out of work for over a year.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re taking some of these pizzas that we found right here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, and I`m going to eat them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are people choosing between paying for their food and paying for their rent and paying for their medical bills and paying for their other needs.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know what I say, even if you don`t want to eat it, even if you`re concerned about eating it for whatever reason, I think it would be good for all of us to go on these little excursions and see what`s out there so we can -- don`t take our word for it. Go into your community, go into the garbage and see what`s there.

In my next installment, I`m going to take my freegan booty and I`m going to whip up a fabulous freegan dinner. And I`m going to show you that it`s perfectly edible. Come to my dinner party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thanks for coming along on my dumpster diving adventure. I learned so freegan much -- that`s what they call themselves, freegans - about rescuing food discarded by restaurants and stores. I frankly was horrified by the massive amounts of perfectly edible food I found in the trash. And I was happy to eat the food that I found. But if you have reservations about that, that`s ok. There are other ways you can help rescue food that is being thrown away unnecessarily. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New York City is a city where 1.5 million New Yorkers don`t know where their next meal is coming from and City Harvest works to get them the food that they need for themselves and their family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. City Harvest rescue 33 million pounds of excess food from restaurants. You can go to CityHarvest.org and learn more about it.

Next week, I`m going to take the food that I found in the trash, and I`m going to whip up a fabulous meal and I`m going to eat it. That`s right, the food I got right out of the garbage. Next week.

"NANCY GRACE" next.

END