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"Furious" Actor Remembered For Good Deeds; Tyrese Gibson Weeps At Co-Star's Memorial; Passengers Say They Were Told Man On Their Flight Had Active Tuberculosis; Man Throws Money To Mall Shoppers; "Ron Burgundy" Co-Anchors Evening Newscast

Aired December 02, 2013 - 14:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You know, on screen, Paul Walker was all about high impact action, but off, actually kept a low profile about all the good acts he was behind. And I have to tell you about this one. It involved this young military veteran. Did you know that Walker paid for the engagement ring for the man's fiance, and the couple didn't even recognize Walker for what he did? For those who did know the 40-year-old father, Walker was just a good guy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALENTINO MORALES, ASSOCIATE PRODUCER, "FAST & FURIOUS 7": Down to earth, very down to earth. He was just a regular guy, wearing ripped up shoes and shorts and stuff on set, always joking around and playing around. Lights up the whole set every time he comes to work, great smile. Beautiful person, you know, likes to keep in shape, work out, loves his daughter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Tyrese Gibson, Walker's co-star in several "Fast & Furious" films actually went and visited the crash site just yesterday, adding a flower to Walker's growing memorial. But before he did, as you'll see Gibson just broke down.

While thousands are mourning his death, the investigation into how this crash happened now involves an allegation of drag racing. And earlier today, CNN's Michaela Pereira talked to a witness who was at the charity event Walker attended just before the crash, and the man is certain Walker and his friend, the driver of this Porsche, Roger Rodas, were not racing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM TORP, WITNESS (voice-over): He was excited. It was the first drive not only for the victims in the Philippines, but for the victims of the tornado in Indiana that happened a couple of weeks ago, and it was the annual drive that he was doing. So, I mean, the outcome of cars that were there was fantastic. There were so many beautiful cars there. He was walking around, looking at the cars, joking around with everybody. Taking pictures with everybody. He finally relaxed and everybody to be himself. They were not drag racing. MICHAELA PEREIRA, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY": Why do you say that?

TORP: Well, they brought two Porsches and they were taking them for a drive before they parked them into the warehouse, and there were no other cars with them. They drove by us. There were no cars by them, within a split second of the car hitting the trees and the lamp post.

PEREIRA: What do you make of the sheriff's department saying they received a tip that drag racing was involved?

TORP: Well, you know, I like to see the tip because we were there, and there was no drag racing involved with this. My son was one of the first ones on the scene. When I heard the crash, I told him, I said, get up there. I think Paul and Roger were in the car accident. He said, why, how do you know? I said, didn't you hear the big bang? He said, yes, I said, I think they hit something. He said, why?

There's smoke, get up there. He saw that, he took off because he had a fire extinguisher in his car. I was trying to get Paul Walker's stunt man and Paul Walker's friend, Newt, his best friend, they came out. They had no clue what was going on. I was saying, look, I think he was in a fire. You know, he was in a car accident because there's a fire. They said, well, there's a special effects building behind us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Much more on this at the top of the hour.

Poet, singer, Medal of Freedom winner, Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan is reportedly being sued in France by this group called "The Council of Crotes" for comparing Crotes to the KKK and the Nazis, explaining race relations in the USA. Dylan told the French "Rolling Stone" that American blacks can sense racist ancestry in white people. Jews he said can sense Nazi ancestry and serves consents what Dylan called Crote blodd. No reaction from Dylan to the lawsuit.

And passengers on board this U.S. Airways flight from Austin to Los Angeles were told one of the people on board the plane had an active case of tuberculosis. A man was removed from this flight during a layover in Phoenix. A CDC spokeswoman said the passenger has not been confirmed to have any infectious disease, and today Arizona health officials said there was no need for passengers to contact their doctors. Medical experts say the risk in this case was very, very small.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT MEDICAL CENTER: We don't have to worry about the in-adamant environment, those blankets and the seat rest and the like. It's how the air is transmitted and handled in the plane. That's why the people two rows ahead and two rows behind are at the increases risk. Having a TB skin test done by your local health department that will tell you what the story is. And even if it converts, we have good treatment that can take care of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The number of TB cases in the United States has been declining for more than 20 years.

A recently divorced man, he's sick and tired of being down on his luck. He gives away hundreds of dollars to total strangers and now this Good Samaritan could actually face legal problems. What? We're on that case.

Also, imagine turning on your evening news, surprise, and seeing this, actor, Will Ferrell as "Anchorman" Ron Burgundy. Yes, this happened in North Dakota. So what the heck did his new co-anchor think of him? How much of a surprise was this to her? Did he stay in character? She will join me live in just a couple minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Do you think you had a rough year? This guy said he had a really rough year. Got divorced, lost his job. So a Minnesota man decided bringing a little holiday cheer to others would make him happy as well, but not so fast, because he ended up with a citation from police. Here is Kate Raddatz of our affiliate WCCO.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SERGE VOROBYOV, THREW $1,000 TO MALL OF AMERICA CROWD: I didn't realize it would be so big.

KATE RADDATZ, WCCO REPORTER (voice-over): When Serge Vorobyov came up with the idea to throw money, a lot of money, to shoppers at the Mall of America, he didn't anticipate the response.

VOROBYOV: I thought I got to do something funny. You know, at least have some fun with it, and turned out a lot of people enjoyed it.

RADDATZ: After a rough year, losing his business and going through a divorce, he wanted to do something to make others' holidays a little brighter.

VOROBYOV: I saw that commercial on TV where the guy with the money glues to him riding a motorcycle, and the money flying off him. And I thought --

RADDATZ (on camera): That's where you got the idea?

VOROBYOV: That's where I got the idea.

RADDATZ (voice-over): Serge decided to give away $1,000, the little money he had left, hoping good karma would come back around.

VOROBYOV: My last effort of pay it forward and I thought, you know, I can't keep up with my bills. I'm losing everything. I might as well have my last little thrill.

RADDATZ: He decided to throw the bills as the choir was singing, appropriately "Let It Snow." VOROBYOV: There was a guy in front of me on the escalator yelling fake, fake money. I would reach in my next pocket, show it to him, say no, it's real money, and throw it.

RADDATZ: Surge said he knew he would get in trouble. He was cited for disorderly conduct. He'll have a court date and face a fine. He says it was worth it.

VOROBYOV: Everyone can laugh about. Everyone is having fun. I think that's what this is all about. I think life is about having fun and just following your heart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: A Mall of America spokesman tells CNN that while Vorobyov was attempting to do this good deed, the giveaway could have led to a major disturbance.

Coming up next, looking forward to this one, actor, Will Ferrell joins a local newscast in North Dakota as Ron Burgundy himself. He co- anchors the whole thing. We'll talk live with this news anchor who shared the desk with him. I have lots of questions about what happened behind the scenes, et cetera. Don't miss this.

Plus, are stunts like this one, the new way of promoting movies? We're going to talk about that coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In North Dakota, boy, did viewers get quite the surprise when they turned their TVs on Saturday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"RON BURGUNDY": I'm Ron Burgundy. Thanks for joining us tonight. Last time I saw you, you were a lot heavier, like you lost 50 pounds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I lost a little bit.

BURGUNDY: Good for you. Amber, you look lovely tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Ron, you, too.

BURGUNDY: Are you married?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

BURGUNDY: Well, I am, so don't give me ideas. It's a sure sign that the holiday season is here. Santa Clause gets spotted coming to town.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So Will Ferrell, a.k.a., Ron Burgundy, co-anchored this entire 30-minute newscast complete with his signature rust colored suit. There were plenty of awkward pauses, questionable comments, but this wasn't the first stunt ahead of the big premiere of "Anchorman 2, The Legend Continues." The film stars actually reprised their rendition of "Afternoon Delight" for this huge crowd in Sydney, Australia.

This is all part of a widespread marketing campaign for the sequel of "Anchorman" that includes Dodge Durango commercials, a new Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor, and an "Anchorman" exhibit at the Newseum in Washington.

So I get to talk to now Amber Schatz, the weekend anchor who shared a desk with Will Ferrell at KXMB in Bismarck, North Dakota. Amber, amber, amber, so here's what I know. You got this four-day lead time. You thought it was a prank. Then you find out, you know, Ron Burgundy is going to sit next to you. Did he stay in character the whole time?

AMBER SCHATZ, WEEKEND ACHOR, KXMB: When he first came in, he looked like Ron Burgundy, but he was talking as Will, and he was, you know, shaking hands and just like, guys, how's it going? It was really natural and stuff. So I hadn't heard the Ron Burgundy voice until we did our first run-through. That's when I pretty much broke down laughing because I couldn't get over hearing that in person and this was actually happening.

BALDWIN: So you did a run-through, so this tells me this was not a cold thing. Did he actually read scripts? Did he select which reads he would have? Take me behind the scenes.

SCHATZ: Well, I produce the show just like I normally would. There was no direction or anything like that. Luckily, it's just kind of a lighter, softer news time of year right now. It's the holidays and there was nothing breaking or hard news, thank goodness because that would have been extra difficult to deal with. So you know, we had a lot of features and soft news, and I produced the show. You know, just a little bit lighter than maybe I would normally have.

But actually not even and then I produced it and you know, I'm used to anchoring by myself, so actually, anchoring for two people was new all in itself, and then yes, I went with it. Stuff was funny that I didn't think would be funny because he's hilarious.

BALDWIN: He is absolutely hilarious and good for you. I remember the days of producing my own shows and rolling that teleprompter with your foot. Good for you. Let me bring Peter Shankman in because marketing, you know, branding, strategists, this, the fact that they thought, this particular group that you have been in contact with, we know they knew this would go viral. They knew we would be talking about this. It's brilliant.

PETER SHANKMAN, BRANDING AND SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT: There's viral and then there's viral. The group is an advertising agency out of Connecticut and Bogota, Columbia. They said, what can we do that's different? When "Anchorman 1" came out, Facebook had just launched. There was no level of virality. A virus was something you got.

BALDWIN: It was a bad thing.

SHANKMAN: Exactly, now they're saying "Anchorman" took on a life of its own. The reason they produced a sequel was because of the fan reaction.

BALDWIN: Do you think that this is the way things are changing instead of making the rounds, the Leno, the Letterman, the Piers Morgan, now --

SHANKMAN: You can't do that with everything. There are a lot of movies that would not lend itself well to. But they said, he's an "Anchorman." What can we do that's different because they knew, the second someone sitting in North Dakota watches, what did I see? They're going to grab it. They are going to post it, and it's going to take on a life of its own. They're talking millions upon millions of millions of publicity.

BALDWIN: Amber, bravo promoting this movie. We're all helping do our part, but tell me something that Will Ferrell, Ron Burgundy shared with you when the cameras weren't rolling. How did he leave things with you, his new co-anchor?

SCHATZ: Well, he exceeded my expectations and I had very high expectations because I'm a huge fan of Ron Burgundy and Will Ferrell. I was in college when "Anchorman" came out, and I know all the quotes, I watched the movie dozens of times. So I had really high expectations. He was so great, so kind and so nice to everyone.

And it was funny because, you know, during a commercial break, he would talk as going to. And at one point, he was like, have you been running a teleprompter this whole time. I was like, yes, this is small market news. I run the teleprompter, too. He said, I'm really impressed by that.

BALDWIN: Will Ferrell impressed by you. Amber Schatz, congratulations. You're the envy of many anchors around the world. You did a phenomenal job. I don't know how you held it all together as you did. Amber, thank you so much. We appreciate it. And Peter Shankman, thank you very much.

Coming up here, police say the violent death of actor, Paul Walker, could involve racing. I will speak live with a drag racer about what he says. He says there's a huge, huge difference between what he does and what he calls street racing.

Plus, it has everyone talking. Amazon says drones could soon be delivering packages to your doorstep. Find out how this works and the big concerns surrounding that. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The CNN Film "An Unreal Dream" is a true story of Michael Morton. He spent 25 years in a Texas prison convicted of the brutal murder of his own wife and insisted on his innocence the entire time. His calm demeanor in the courtroom worked against him as at least one juror felt it proved his guilt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOU BRYAN, JUROR: I guess I kept looking at Michael and just noticing that he didn't seem to have a lot of feeling about him. I guess I kept looking for some emotion that would let me know something about what was going on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael had an amazing capacity to compartmentalize things so he didn't bring his grief into the office. I don't know what he did with it.

MICHAEL MORTON, CONVICTED OF BRUTAL MURDER OF WIFE: I didn't think I was going to get convicted. It was going to be a long-ish trial, but then it would be revealed that there can be no there, there. There's nothing to convict. There's nothing hard, nothing that says look, this guy did it. Nothing beyond a reasonable doubt and I couldn't imagine what could possibly be manufactured to make 12 people think I had killed my wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Find out how a jury convicted this husband of murder and how he was eventually exonerated when CNN premieres "An Unreal Dream," December 5th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

And here we go, hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin live in New York. Thank you for being with me as we begin this week with this absolutely tragic story. This eyewitness is denying drag racing played a part in the death of "Fast & Furious" franchise star, Paul Walker.

Los Angeles County investigators said today they are pursuing the possibility the car walker was in was racing. And you see this photograph? This shows the actor standing by the very Porsche he ultimately died in. This is a rare 2005 Carrera GT. And as we are learning more about this fatal crash, more details coming out, so are the tributes to the 40-year-old movie star whose looks turned heads while his good deeds won over fans.

In fact, Walker was wrapping up a charity event for typhoon and tornado victims when that Porsche crashed and erupted into flames Saturday. You see this video? The smoke, the flames, this is the aftermath. An eyewitness describes how his son ran in to help.