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Huge Ice Storm Slams Several States; North Korea Frees Elderly U.S. War Veteran; High Speed Chase And Shootout; Secretary Hagel Visits Afghanistan; Mandela's Complicated Legacy; Unemployment Hits Five-Year Low; Man Charged With Stealing Electricity; CNN Goes In Depth On "Furious" Actor's Death; U.S. Students Falling Behind Global Peers

Aired December 07, 2013 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: From Texas to Tennessee, a massive storm bringing ice, sleet and snow, grounding flights, cutting power to thousands. We're going live to the heart of the storm next.

And dragged off a plane and locked up in North Korea for six weeks, now an elderly U.S. war veteran is free, but why was he released? We're going live to California for his arrival.

Labeled a terrorist by the U.S., on the watch list until 2008, Nelson Mandela's life in prison changed him and how the world saw him. Coming up, a look back on the darker side of Mandela's life with someone who knew him.

A major storm is moving across the central parts of the country. It has already hit several states in the form of ice. The Dallas Fort Worth area is among the hardest-hit. The weather knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of people. Much of the state has been plunged into bone chilling cold. The nasty weather also forced the cancellation of almost 700 flights at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport.

As the storm swept into Arkansas, trees and power lines were down. The governor has declared a statewide emergency and police spent the night helping drivers stuck on ice and snow covered roads. The weather is now moving into the Ohio Valley. Roads are already icy. Snow has already starting to fall there, triggering a winter storm warning for Central Ohio.

We have full team coverage for you. Ed Lavandera is in hard hit Dallas. Our Indra Petersons is covering the storm in Memphis and Jennifer Grey is in the CNN Severe Weather Center for the storm forecast. So first let's find out what's going on in Dallas with you, Ed Lavandera. It is not snow like I thought instead it is ice behind you.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sorry. I wish it were snow, too. It is more exciting and fun to be out here in these rough conditions, but it's become a very dangerous situation, even more so. This is what has happened here, in many places the roadways were slushy throughout most of yesterday. But the hard freeze we experienced last night, temperatures around 20 degrees, and probably already hit close to the high that we're going to see for today. That means that all of that slush has really hardened up on the roadways. So it's a lot more in the areas where there are still water and ice on the roadways. That is hard quite a bit so you have to be very careful. We saw the dangers of that already this morning where a truck slipped off the Interstate 35, about 30 miles north of downtown Dallas in the town of Lewisville, Texas.

Truck slid off the highway and plunged into Lake Lewisville. Firefighters had to dive in to try to rescue the driver of that truck, but they were unable to do so. That driver died at the scene there. Those are the kinds of conditions that you have to be very careful with as these conditions really will remain like this for the course of the next couple days until these temperatures go up, which we're not expecting to see until perhaps late Sunday.

It will take some time for all of this ice to melt away. In the airports, airports in the area are trying to catch up, about 50 percent of the flights outbound of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport had been cancelled for the day. Some 4,000 people had to sleep in the terminals there last night -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Boy, that's pretty uncomfortable. Ed Lavandera, thanks so much there in a very chilly, icy Dallas. So that city is not the only one dealing with the storm. CNN's Indra Petersons is joining us live from Memphis where a state of emergency has already been declared. Indra, what are the conditions like?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It looks like they dodged a bullet for downtown Memphis. Right around noon yesterday when they declared a state of emergency, we saw heavier bands of cold arctic air and freezing rain move in the area. Just west of us at the Memphis Airport, they got a half inch of ice on the power lines. That's a concern.

Continually mention that half inch of ice, that makes it critical, makes the power lines weigh 500 pounds. That's the reason you get so many power outages every time an ice storm moves through. Downtown Memphis, seeing icing on the trees, but generally the bulk is not here, it never made it to the region, but there was a marathon that was scheduled for us to morning, 20,000 were expected to be here. They did cancel that marathon due to conditions.

Arctic air, temperatures that feel like single digits, feels like 9 degrees here right now. Their concern about the volunteers in the frigid cold all day and concerned about people commuting in Friday evening during the height of the ice storm and leaving today after the marathon, if it had gone on, during the second wave of this ice storm. Keep in mind there's another ice storm headed this way, which could potentially bring even more power outages to the region.

WHITFIELD: Boy, all right, thanks so much, Indra. Appreciate that. Let's go to Jennifer Grey in the CNN Severe Weather Center to find out where else the storm might be heading.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, just as Indra said, wave one has passed, now we're waiting on wave two. This is in the next couple hours. You can see this system that brought all of the ice to portions of the south is really pushing offshore. As we go into the next 24 hours, and this is a look Sunday at noon, you can see all of the ice and snow starting to develop in portions of Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, even pushing into Washington, D.C.

We could see accumulations of a half inch or more of ice and so we could see more power outages, more rough roads out there. This is going to push northeast as we get into Sunday night into Monday, leaving a rainy southeast as well. What we're going to be dealing with over the next 24 to 48 hours, more ice accumulation.

It looks like it is going to be a little further to the east. Most of the areas that saw ice during the past 24 to 48 hours looks like they're going to be in the clear. It could touch some of those places in Western Tennessee and Kentucky. Some of those same areas could see some ice. The majority of it is going to be more to the east. That's what we will be looking for.

It could be from mess from Washington, D.C. all the way up to Boston as we go through the next day or so. Temperatures are still very, very cold across the south. Look at Dallas, 30 degrees your high temperature today. That's colder than your average low temperature. You should be at 59 degrees. That's roughly 30 degrees below normal. Temperatures will finally start to warm up a little bit as we get into the beginning part of next week.

WHITFIELD: All right, bundle up, everyone. Jennifer Gray, thanks so much.

All right, after six weeks locked up in North Korea, overnight a sudden release. Now U.S. war vet Merrill Newman is free. The 85- year-old has arrived home to California, and after what North Korea is calling a quote, "deportation," North Korean state media say it is because of this video where Newman appeared to apologize for his alleged crimes during the Korean War.

Joining me now, CNN correspondent, Dan Simon is in front of Merrill Newman's Palo Alto residence. So Dan, he is back on U.S. soil but not quite at home yet, right?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. We understand that his plane just touched down. As you said, we are in front of his retirement complex where he lives with his wife. Presumably he is headed here. You can see behind me, perhaps see some yellow ribbons at the entry. This is an 85-year-old that has a heart condition. He had been held in Korea since the end of October.

Obviously this is a day people had been praying for. No one knew what was going to happen until he was suddenly released last night. This is what Mr. Newman had to say just before boarding his plane to the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRILL NEWMAN, RELEASED BY NORTH KOREA: I am very glad to be on my way home. I appreciate the tolerance the DPRK government has given to me to be on my way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you feel now?

NEWMAN: Feel good. Feel good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want to do, first thing?

NEWMAN: Go home, see my wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Well, Newman was a world traveller, scuba diver. Apparently, it didn't surprise people who knew him that he would want to go back to North Korea given his advanced age. Fredricka, this is somebody that was an intelligence officer during the Korean War. Obviously he said the wrong thing to someone when he was over there, and that's why he was arrested. Then you saw that apology, which is apparently what led to his release -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Well, Dan, this 85-year-old seemed to be in great physical condition and I understand his family was very concerned about his heart condition, saying he only had a ten-day supply of his heart medication. They were worried about him. Here he stayed overseas, being locked up essentially for six weeks. Do we know anything about his health condition as he makes his way home?

SIMON: Apparently, they were able to get some medication to him, so that was a huge relief to his friends and his family. When you look at him on that video when he gives the apology and also at the airport, he seems to be in good physical health, so obviously we'll want to ask some questions about how he is doing and obviously we want to hear about his treatment when he was captured by the government. It will be fascinating to hear it from his own words -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: It will indeed. All right, Dan Simon, thanks so much. We look forward to that.

Meantime, the world is mourning the death of Nelson Mandela. Just ahead, from prison to president, a look at the complicated legacy of the former South African leader.

Plus wild police dash cam video, dangerous high speed case, shootout, and manhunt, in South Carolina.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: That is a dramatic chase and shootout. CNN affiliate WBTW reports police in South Carolina have released dash cam video of what happened after an SUV refused to stop for a simple traffic violation. The video shows a person shooting from the SUV and a state trooper's car, the car sped off, then eventually crashed.

Police say the driver and passenger got out, began shooting at the trooper, who then fired back. Authorities took the driver into custody and the passenger fled. Police tracked him down just a few hours later. Amazingly no one was injured in that shootout. It's still unclear why it happened in the first place.

While you were sleeping, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was on a military transport, headed for unannounced trip to Afghanistan. He landed in Kabul early this morning. Hagel is there to thank U.S. troops for their service and training Afghan national security forces. He'll also meet with his Afghan counterpart to see if Afghan troops are able to defend their own country.

Former presidents, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will join President Obama at a memorial for Nelson Mandela next week as South Africa mourns its former president, hundreds of people of all ages and colors are leaving candles, flowers, stuffed animals, balloons at the home of the civil rights icon. Nelson Mandela died Thursday. He was 95 years old.

Mandela's legacy is definitely a complicated one. While in prison he was labelled a terrorist by the Reagan administration. Mandela even had to get a special waiver to visit the U.S. in the 1990s. He wasn't removed from that terrorist list until 2008.

CNN editorial producer, Nadia Bilchik, with us now. This is a part of history that very few people know as well as they know the history of his days in prison and then what happened afterwards. Why was he labelled a terrorist?

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Let's go back to 1961. Nelson Mandela together with his comrade, a military wing of the ANC, why do they start a military wing because they are saying that peaceful measures are no longer working against the oppressive apartheid regime. One of the reasons, one of the catalysts was something known as the Sharpeville massacre.

Here you have very peaceful protesters and they are open fire armed from police. They are protesting pass laws. They don't want to be arrested for not having identification on them. I remember as a little girl watching black people asked for their passes and if they didn't have them shoved into vans. It was terror not to have a pass. So you are looking at the terrors of apartheid. This is what it was set up to try and some way to combat.

WHITFIELD: So he was trying to help end that.

BILCHIK: With a peaceful means.

WHITFIELD: The apartheid government then labelled him a terrorist. That's why he was pursued. That's why at some point he was captured and in large part why he was --

BILCHIK: In 1962 he gets arrested, in '64, a sentence of a lifetime prison sentence. In the '80s, it reaches its height in the '80s, there's a bombing outside the South African air force military headquarters, and it is during that time that it is seen as militant. We have to remember the Nelson Mandela in his mid-40s who was arrested is not the Mandela that emerges out of prison and becomes president in '73. It is a very different person. One of the things you and I spoke about earlier was the terror of white South Africans. What happens when this man becomes the president or has power. Then he preaches something called togetherness. We are humans through the humanity of others. In the very famous "Invictus" movie, where he is embracing a white rugby player during the World Cup rugby in 1995, what is rugby?

It is the game of racist white South Africans. And Mandela embraces the game, wears a white rugby shirt, and says to all South Africans, white, black, every other color, that you are part of this rainbow nation.

WHITFIELD: Being a former boxer himself. Quickly, how is it and why is it that it would take so long before the U.S. would take him off the so-called terrorist list?

BILCHIK: That's interesting. He was anti-war in Iraq. He supported Saddam Hussein. It is very complex in so many ways. A complex man, a wonderful man, an extraordinary story.

WHITFIELD: Incredible, extraordinary portion of the story you bring to us. Nadia Bilchik, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

It has been a big week for the U.S. economy, unemployment a record low, thousands of new jobs and business booming. Who do you think should get the credit for all of that? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A big week for the U.S. economy and all the indicators show it is hotter than expected. Latest numbers from the federal government show unemployment at 7 percent, the lowest it has been since 2008. U.S. economy has created more than 2 million jobs so far this year. The 2013 is on track to best the best year for hiring since 2005. The Commerce Department says Gross Domestic Product, GDP, grew 3.6 percent in the third quarter.

And the stock market is posting an all-time high. The Dow ended this week closing above 16,000 Friday. So who or what gets the credit for the turn around? Republican strategist, Rich Galen is joining us from Washington. Good to see you, Rich. And L.Z. Granderson is a CNN commentator and senior writer at ESPN. He is joining us from New York. Rich, what's your view? How did we get here?

RICH GALEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think the first group that gets credit are the workers who have stayed in there and pinched, looked for jobs all through this process. These aren't the best jobs in the history of the world, but they are jobs, not the highest paying jobs, but it is better than no job, I think the American workers themselves get the lion's share of the credit for continuing to search for jobs and taking them when they're presented.

WHITFIELD: L.Z., you concur?

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. I mean, when you look at the numbers, especially the last 45 months, we had 45 months of consecutive private sector job growth. That tells us not just the government hiring people, but private sector supporting other Americans. So I agree 100 percent. We also shouldn't downplay the impact that the stimulus that was enacted, what that also did in terms of helping the economy and stabilize the economy as well.

WHITFIELD: OK, so the stimulus being one potential catalyst, pushing for extension of unemployment benefits, perhaps another review?

GALEN: That would be the opposite.

WHITFIELD: What do you mean?

GALEN: I'm not suggesting to make people starve and beg on the streets by any stretch, the alternative to stretching out unemployment benefits makes it less likely for someone to go to work, especially younger people who now may be able to stay as Robert Reich said earlier, stay off the payrolls because they're doing pretty well with unemployment.

By the way, something that the former secretary said in an earlier segment this morning, one of the best at this that I've ever heard, he did point out the fact that the growth in the economy is good, but it is a far cry from what we want before we could stand up on our soap box and cheer for a booming economy.

WHITFIELD: In large part talking about economic disparity, the rate of inflation not keeping up with the fact that wages are either stagnant or lowering. LZ, it is difficult to comprehend that philosophy with the fact that unemployment is now 7 percent, lowest in five years, and it would seem those are great indicators that a lot of the right things are being done.

GRANDERSON: Yes. And this actually is a good lead way to what needs to happen, which is a larger conversation about what has happened to the American worker. For more than 30 decades, more than three decades, wages have been stagnant. They trailed. Inflation rates stayed, and trailed health care provisions. We aren't able to provide for ourselves because we can't earn enough.

This making it seem as if poor people are somehow lazy, that's the reason they need aid has been an unfair conversation and politicized conversation and hasn't helped us address the true issue which is corporate greed and how that impacted the American economy. There's a reason why you're seeing so many people in top positions and executives celebrating big numbers and growth because they're reaping the benefits. They feel the American economy has improved.

GALEN: Hold it, hold it, hold it.

WHITFIELD: Quick. Go ahead, quick.

GALEN: That's fine, but who is the president of the United States? It is not Herbert Hoover, it is Barack Obama.

GRANDERSON: It is a 30-year trend. It is a 30-year trend. GALEN: If they want to change this, they have a way to change it. They could do this. There are on a bunch of other things. Don't say it is corporate greed. It is inability of political leadership to get anything done.

GRANDERSON: It's a 30-year trend. You can't say government is going to make companies pay people more. That's a dictatorship.

WHITFIELD: All right.

GALEN: They make rich companies pay people more.

WHITFIELD: Not because the conversation ended, but because I am being yelled at. We have a commercial break to get in. We have to pick this up another time, another place. LZ, Rich, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

GRANDERSON: Have a good weekend.

WHITFIELD: You, too.

All right, millions are being impacted by winter like weather among them, country singer, Janie Fricke. Coming up, we'll talk to her about conditions in one of the hardest-hit areas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Country singer, Janie Fricke is caught up in that frigid weather in Dallas. One of her hits was a song called, "Let's Stop Talking About It." Well, in this case, she and millions of others can't stop talking about the bitterly cold weather. Ms. Fricke joins us on the phone. What are conditions like where you are?

JANIE FRICKE, DALLAS COUNTRY SINGER (via telephone): It is treacherous, Fredricka. I've never seen weather this severe, and it is so serious, you watch the news and see the cars colliding on the interstate. They closed down many highways. They're asking people to not go out, it is so bad. Do not get on the roads and just stay put, which we are doing.

WHITFIELD: And those are meaningful warnings. We have seen some pretty nasty accidents and pileups. Looking at videotape now of what appears to be a lengthy pileup there. Now what about food? You know, are you prepared to stay in for a while?

FRICKE: You know, I didn't really expect this, and of course, I keep my pantry full anyway because I am a cook and kitchen person, a foodie you would call it, I always have freezer stuff on hand. We're OK with that. We worry about some of our neighbors and some of these ladies, the widows that cannot get out and I'm worried about them, I wish we could take them some food. And of course, I deliver meals on wheels, I delivered before this hit.

WHITFIELD: That was good.

FRICKE: You worry about people that are needing things at home now that cannot get out, so --

WHITFIELD: Hopefully the meals you did deliver are a great assistance and help now. But certainly you're being discouraged to get on the road now for any other deliveries or anything that's nonemergency. Janie Fricke, stay warm and safe, keep us posted.

FRICKE: Thank you, Fredricka. Appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All right.

Now people all over the world are mourning the death of Nelson Mandela. Outside the civil rights icon's home, not only are there memorials, but people are actually celebrating his life through song, dance.

CNN's Robyn Curnow joining us live right in Johannesburg where people have really been celebrating his life as people mourn around the clock since the announcement of his death.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. You can probably hear behind me, I am surrounded by South Africans on a street outside the house where he passed away. They are singing and dancing, but don't be mistaken, this isn't a party. This is the way South Africans say goodbye and welcome people.

South Africans basically show their feelings in song and dance. So you hear a lot of that song, Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela, there's no one else like you. It keeps getting chanted over and over again. It is a lament, a prayer, but a thank you as well.

WHITFIELD: Incredible. Tell me, Robyn, what kinds of preparations are being made now, a week out of this funeral where world leaders are expected to attend?

CURNOW: What you're seeing around me now and what we've seen the past few days is essentially South Africa coming together to say goodbye. But by Tuesday we're going to see an influx of leaders, heads of state, royalty from around the world coming here for a memorial service at a big football stadium just outside Johannesburg.

You're going to see the real power of Nelson Mandela, a man that didn't just unite his nation, but found commonality with people around the world. I spoke to Michelle Obama, the first lady, when she visited here. This is her thoughts after she met Nelson Mandela.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: I told him, you know, I wanted to make sure he understood how important his leadership and sacrifice has been to who I've become, to who my husband has become, and in short I just said thank you. It's really hard to know what to say to such an icon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Just a little earlier his family made a statement saying that Mandela made time for everyone, for kings and queens, poor and rich, and great and small.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Nicely put. Thanks so much, Robyn Curnow. Appreciate that from Johannesburg. We will check back with you.

Back in this country, a Georgia man arrested for stealing electricity from a school to charge his electric car. Did police go too far? We ask the legal guys next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, you've seen the electric car chargers in some parking lots, right? Well, there wasn't one at an Atlanta school where a dad needed to charge his car, so while waiting for his son to finish a tennis game at the school, the dad decided to plug his car into the school outlet, big mistake. He got arrested. Doug Richards from WXIA has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG RICHARD, WXIA REPORTER (voice-over): One Saturday in November, Kaveh Kamooneh, drove his Nissan Leaf to the middle school where his 11-year-old son was playing tennis. He had taken the liberty of charging the electric car with an exterior outlet at the school. Within minutes of plugging in the car, a police officer appeared.

KAVEH KAMOONEH, OWNER OF ELECTRIC CAR: He said that he was going to charge me with theft by taking because I was taking power, electricity from the school.

RICHARD: Kamooneh said he had charged his car for 20 minutes, drawing about a nickel's worth of juice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Sorry about this. We're going to interrupt that programming right now because we want to take you to San Francisco airport. We told you that U.S. Korean War vet, Merrill Newman, who was held against his going to in North Korea while on a trip there and upon departure from his trip, and now he has gotten through customs at the San Francisco airport. You're seeing the camera zoom in on him. Let's listen to what he has to say.

NEWMAN: I want to thank the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang and American Embassy in Beijing for their help. It has been a great homecoming, and I am tired, but can be with my family now. Thank you all for the support we got and very much appreciate it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you talk about your time in prison, how they treated you?

NEWMAN: All right, we will not comment right now.

WHITFIELD: He won't be answering questions, Mr. Newman won't. He got through customs. Still it's unclear why North Korea decided to suddenly deport him after he was held for six weeks there. He had a ten-day tourist trip there in North Korea, then suddenly while he was on the plane about to return back to the states, authorities got on the plane, took him off, then he was detained six weeks in all.

His family was very worried about him with a heart condition there. They did eventually get medicine to him, but he had to read an apology, an apology for his involvement in the Korean War just a few days ago, then mysteriously he was now released.

North Korean government is saying that he was deported, but still unclear what took place to grant his freedom. There he is now, San Francisco Airport. He is now going to be heading to Palo Alto to resume his life hopefully with his wife there.

All right, now let's get back to the other story we were following, and that involved a Georgia man who plugged in his vehicle to an Atlanta, Georgia school outlet because his electric vehicle needed a boost, but then he was arrested. Let's check in with our legal guys, Avery Freedman and Richard Herman on this story.

Boy, what a transition, gentlemen. Here this man was trying to be environmentally conscious, then his vehicle needs a little boost, but it means he gets arrested. So Richard, did the authorities take it a little too far or is this following the letter of the law?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Fred, I know you got a charge out of this one, but let me just say I find it shocking and revolting, and I'll tell you why. There is discretion. Police officers have discretion. This is an absolute absurd behavior by a police force to bring this guy in on these charges.

By the way, it took them 11 days to draw up paperwork and go to his house and arrest him in handcuffs and then put him in a prison for 15 hours before released on $150 bail. It is absurd, abuse of process, abuse of discretion. Case is going to be thrown out. It is outrageous.

WHITFIELD: Avery, do you agree or disagree, abusive, the word Richard is using?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yes, I mean, I think even can get carried away with something like that. The truth is that's exactly right. He plugged in his vehicle. You need for a theft to have consent, taking without consent. But taking without consent, Fredricka, doesn't mean it is a crime, doesn't mean it is a theft. Where we agree, there is an exercise of discretion.

But at the end of the day the behavior by the police was so excessive that frankly the Chamblee Police Department and Sergeant Ford may be looking at a federal civil rights case for what they did here, way out of line, exactly right, excessive force, inappropriate. All they had to do is say don't do it again, that's the end of it. But no, they had to throw the guy in jail for 15 hours. That's way, way out of line.

WHITFIELD: OK. We have another case we want to talk to you gentlemen about coming up. No, I am told no, never mind, we're out of time. We have so much going on today. Glad to have the time for these brief moments, Avery and Richard, thank you so much. Have a good one. HERMAN: Thank you, Fred. See you soon. Byebye.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, a farewell to "Fast and Furious" star, Paul Walker. Thousands of fans will celebrate his life at a memorial tomorrow. But next, we'll show you how far Walker went to help others in need.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A huge crowd is expected for tomorrow's memorial for "Fast and Furious" star, Paul Walker. The actor died a week ago in a fiery car crash. Fans are still mourning and celebrating his life. CNN went in depth on Walker's death investigation and his commitment to humanitarian relief. Here is a clip from Paul Walker, a life in the fast lane.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside the Hollywood game, Walker was deeply involved in the world of fast cars and even raced with a Hollywood club.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up, Paul Walker. Red light on.

TURNER (on camera): It wasn't just fast and furious where he found his love of cars.

GRADY SMITH, WRITER, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": In 2010, Paul Walker started dabbling in semi-professional racing, he was a total auto head. He owned, always evolving performance shop that appealed to the car junkie that Paul Walker was.

TURNER (voice-over): But Paul was much more than a car junkie. He was also deeply committed to humanitarian relief. In 2010, Walker took a team to Haiti, helping in the aftermath of the major earthquake that devastated the small nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Asked a bunch of people what they thought we should bring.

JB DORFMAN, OPERATIONS MANAGER, REACH OUT WORLDWIDE: He knew that he had to do something. No one knew what to expect, but all he knew is he was bringing medical equipment, water filtration and he was going to do what he could. When they got there, they did so much for their first time, they were able to set up a hospital in an orphanage and the experience that he came home with after that was I have the opportunity to do something very special.

TURNER: And Walker wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty.

(on camera): You talked about the fact that he went to Alabama to help with victims of the tornadoes. Lots of people talk about things they care about. He actually did something.

SMITH: Paul Walker didn't just talk the talk, he walked the walk. He cared about other people and he went and helped them. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, an incredible program you don't want to miss.

Now you have to see the new numbers about how American students stack up against others around the world and hear solutions from two top educator reformers next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Parents and educators listen to this. Every three years 15-year-old students in more than 65 countries take tests to see how they're doing in math, science, and reading. A look at the most recent results in math. Students in Shanghai, China topped the list, tested way above average. U.S. students came in 26th, below average. In reading, Shanghai tops again, U.S. finishing 17th, and in science, guess who, Shanghai. U.S. students came in at number 21.

I talked to two education experts to find out why U.S. students are falling behind and what we can do to fix that. Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of D.C. Public Schools and Steve Perry, principal of Capital Prep Magnet School in Connecticut. I asked Steve what he thinks the biggest problem is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE PERRY, PRINCIPAL, CAPITAL PREP MAGNET SCHOOL: We know what it's not, it's not the kids. Kids are manufactured the same way they've always been. Even in America we find that the states that have the highest performance have the highest standards and highest expectations, not just the states but the schools themselves.

We have this middle class malaise where students are expected not to have homework, not to be pushed because that makes them feel uncomfortable. Where in other countries, comfort is not what we're talking about, it is about performance.

WHITFIELD: Michelle, how do you see it? If there is an explanation or host of explanations as to this kind of disparity, how do you interpret it?

MICHELLE RHEE, FORMER CHANCELLOR, DC PUBLIC SCHOOLS: It is interesting. If you look at the actual scores on the tests, America hasn't changed. That's part of the problems, we stagnated. The issue is not that we as a nation have become worse, it is that other countries are leapfrogging ahead of us. So we are nestled between Slovak republic and Lithuania, not where America wants to be.

You've got countries like Ireland, Poland, Estonia who are ahead of where we are. The bottom line is we as a country have to stop being complacent, have to stop settling for doing the same old thing over and over again because in this global economy it is going to mean that our kids won't be able to compete.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought something resonated, couple of teenage kids, there is this sort of expectation that they shouldn't have to work too hard, that after school should be home time. You look at Asian countries, South Korea, some come home from school, have dinner, go to school again for four hours to another school. It is an industry. What does America need to do, Steve?

PERRY: What America needs to do is understand these other countries are as many as three years ahead of us. One student is three years ahead of an American student in other countries and that's not small. We're not talking about where the real issues lie. The real issues lie in the fact we know how to run successful schools, but keep running schools that we're most comfortable with, because to run the most successful schools, there need to be fundamental changes, other options, that we don't want to have the conversation around, it could mean, God forbid, some people lose their jobs.

WHITFIELD: Michelle, how do you see it, what is America's homework assignment?

RHEE: Look, if you look at American culture today, we are so busy spending time making our children feel good about themselves that we've lost sight of taking time that is necessary to make them good at things. In America, every kid gets a trophy for soccer, whether or not they played, whether or not they scored, just merely for participating and that's a problem in our society because we are not teaching our kids about competition, we are not teaching our kids you need to work hard and do the right thing.

WHITFIELD: I don't remember that when I was little, you know. You weren't just on a team, you were acknowledged if you made a good play, get a good score. Now it is trophies for everything.

RHEE: It is because --

PERRY: We make kids --

WHITFIELD: Go ahead.

RHEE: As we have evolved as society, one thing that we have sort of taken on is this thing that we don't want to make kids feel bad about themselves, so in order to bolster their self-esteem, we want to give every kid a medal, but in fact research shows that kids know the difference between real praise and false praise. So when they're not getting real praise because of real accomplishments, we're creating a society where kids just are satisfied with mediocrity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's something as a parent bugged me, you show up, get a trophy without doing anything. Steve, we can't be too unfair here. If you take Massachusetts in this study and turn Massachusetts into its own country, they would have finished sixth. Not everything is created equal. What are they doing other places aren't?

PERRY: Their expectations are higher. It is very clear and they have been higher for years. In fact, if you look at Massachusetts, Massachusetts has many poor communities. Massachusetts has minorities, immigrants, people that are special ed, special needs, and yet and still they're among top performers in the world. We have to understand that the adults created this system. This is not about kids that get the trophies.

This is about adults that are uncomfortable going home with a child that doesn't have a trophy, this is about the adult that doesn't want to sit home and help his or her child do a homework assignment that might take up too much of their night. We have to own that we the adults have to put our children first and create situations in which we push not just the children, but the educators that surround them.

Too many of us are comfortable with mediocrity. As Michelle said, the rest of the world is moving forward. We haven't dropped. We're just losing in a race because we're not moving forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, frank talk from Steve Perry and Michelle Rhee on this very important issue.