Whitney Houston's longtime friend on addiction: 'she had made up her mind...she was going to rise above this'
Sheryl Lee Ralph remembers meeting a 19-year-old Whitney Houston and knowing instantly she was looking at a future superstar. "It was an amazing time...we got word there was this kid we just had to go see." In an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett, Ralph describes Houston back then as "a fresh young talent...obviously on the rise."
The two singers stayed friends for decades, and Ralph says in recent weeks Houston was aware of her own struggles, and working to overcome them. "Everyone has issues. The last time I saw her, she looked like a woman who had made up her mind that she was going to rise above this."
Fiery fight over contraception: 'let's just knock off Grandma if we're trying to save money'
President Obama's decision Friday to make insurance companies, not Catholic institutions, pay for no-cost contraception coverage–a revision of an earlier policy–did little to dampen the debate over the government's role in issue. On Erin Burnett OutFront, CNN political analyst James Carville noted more than 90 percent of practicing Catholics tell pollsters they have used contraception, but predicted the issue will not go away–fueled in part by the candidates in the Republican presidential contest. "We're going to have a big contraception brew-haha here."
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The Obama budget: OutFront runs the numbers
President Obama unveiled a $3.8 trillion budget request Monday that hikes taxes on the rich, spends new money on infrastructure and education, but does little to reform the entitlement programs that pose the biggest long-term threat to the federal budget.
"We built this budget around the idea that our country has always done best when everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules," Obama said in his budget message.
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Read In: Mrs. Moneypenny's career advice for women
CNN's Erin Burnett talks to author and financial expert Mrs. Moneypenny about career advice for women.
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