event. lech kaczynski and senior military leaders died in a plane crash in western russia. terrorism does not appear to be a factor but weather does. authorities say the plane took off from warsaw and crashed while approaching the airport in schm smolensk, russia and the polish ambassador, the one in washington said lech kaczynski embodied the spirit of the his country members. >> he represented the generation of freedom, the freedom connected permanently with the legacy of sole date movement which in 1989 brought about freedom, democracy and prosperity to poland. so the greatest legacy of late have sin ski is the one of freedom and of creating foundations for enormous political, economic success and pross either. >> news of the crash stunned the nation of poland. frederick is in the middle of an impromptu vigil in warsaw. ♪ >> reporter: crying out their grief in songs, lighting candles, laying flowers, publicly displaying their sore re, up to 100,000 people gathered in central warsaw to mourn their president, his wife and much of the country's political leadership killed in the crash. >> shock. "i can't tell you what i'm feeling. just shock." >> i think this is the place that all poles should be today, not just for the president but his wife and many other important people who have died. "i don't think there will be a better president than mr mr. kaczynski." >> reporter: it was saturday morning when poles learned their president was killed when his plane crashed near smolensk. many other leaders were on their way to a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the cotton massacre. many were waiting in katyn but instead of commemorating the soldiers killed in world war ii, they prayed for their president. poland's prime minister tusk visited the crash site with his counterpart vladimir putin taken aback by the scene. "for many of us they were friends and acquaintances, the biggest tragedy is for the families of the people who were killed. i wanted to say in the name of all the polish people to pass the words of condolences to the family of the polish president, to his daughter, to his mother, to his brother and to all the families of all the victims. >> reporter: political leaders from around the world offered their condolences. >> i think at a time like this, we also remember a family in mourning, large numbers of people who have died and a whole country that will be shocked and saddened by what happened. i met with president kaczynski and talked with him on a few occasions and i think every leader around the world will send their sympathies. >> reporter: the speaker will take on the duties of the president until elections are held in about two months. he has already ordered a week of mourning. in times of such hardship this nation comes together and sets aside the political differences that otherwise so divide the society. warsaw, poland. >> in washington, d.c., president obama issued this statement "president have sin ski was a distinguished statesman who played a key role and he was widely admired in the united states as a lied ever he had indicated to advancing freedom. people showed up at the polish embassy to pay their respects. that's where sandra endois. >> reporter: in front of the polish embassy we've seen a stream of people all day long to pay their respects leaving candles, notes, flowers all in memory of their late president and the tragedy of this fatal crash and the embassy opened its doors to the public and all through the week so people can express their sympathiesympathi >> i came out because my family is from poland and my grandfather fought in world war ii. i've been to poland studying there and i came out to pay respect. a tragedy what happened. >> reporter: inside the embassy a very somber mood. people are waiting in line to express their grief and sorrow by writing messages this a condolence book. this is the first day in an official week of mourning. don? >> just a few hours ago we got a first hint who the republicans may like for president in 2012. not scientific, just a straw pole from the southern republic leadership conference. mitt rom mi got 439 votes. ron paul was second with 438. sarah palin, newt gingrich tied for third and knowing there's nothing scientific about it and no guarantee that these folks will even run for president just a little gauge of how republicans are thinking. the gop chairman spoke to the conference today and this comes after a recent scandal over donor money spent at a nightclub in hollywood. michael steele took responsibility and admitted he has made mistakes. >> please, everyone. but you can certainly all make them mad at you at the same time. >> some republicans are standing by him while others called for his resignation. you can bet a plot lot of prayers will be said for miners and their families. searchers found the four missing miners overnight. a total of 29 were killed at the upper big branch mine making it the worst disaster in 40 years of the bishop of the diocese of wheeling and charleston will devote the homily to life as it relateds to the mining industry. president obama sent condolences and promises a thorough investigation. federal investigators will be in the area monday. standardized test scores a little too high at some schools in georgia. >> it's sort of like having a blizzard in ft. lauderdale in the middle of of july. in theory it could happen but it's so incredibly unlikely you need a substantial ex-la face. >> there are allegations of cheating, not by students but by school officials. and are they honoring their southern heritage or just rep y replaying one of the ugliest times in american history. reactors joining us to talk about the uproar over c confederate history month. plus no more games at texas stadium. soon it will be a pile of rubble. the young man pushing the button. he want you to be part of the conversation and logon to the social media site and we'll read some on the air. that's peace of mind for every size family. chevy... may the best car win. ♪ what if one little pop ♪ could open a world of wonder ? ♪ ♪ so sensory ♪ so satisfying ♪ the discovery ♪ never seems to stop ♪ ♪ it's the magic friskies ♪ ♪ makes happen ♪ every day ♪ in so many ways ♪ friskies ♪ feed the senses ♪ friskies home of one of the coldest, longest nights on the planet. and asked frequent heartburn sufferers to take prilosec otc for two weeks. the results? prilosec otc's 24 hour heartburn protection gave a whole lot of people their days and nights back. ♪ [ cheering ] [ man ] prilosec otc has let me live the life that i love. 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[ female announcer ] make the retirement cornerstone annuity from axa equitable part of your retirement plan. consider the charges, risks, expenses and investment objectives before purchasing a variable annuity. contact a financial professional for a prospectus containing this information. read it carefully. whoo hoo! it's another thing to back it up. the chevy 5-year/100,000 mile transferable powertrain warranty. with roadside assistance and courtesy transportation, it's the best coverage in america. today, teachers unions protested in the nation's capital. they're not fans of the obama administration's race to the top program in which schools compete for funding. >> i'm here because i have a major problem. i mean, to defend public education so that it's accessible to young people of the future. the problem that we have in washington, d.c. is reflective of what's going on an the country, to get away from education. >> cnn is stepping into the classroom fora at the cuss on education. one of the major criticisms we'll talk about, too much focus on standardized tests. students in georgia are taking those over the next few weeks, under a lot of scrutiny after allegations that some schools fudged the numbers in the past. michael harden is worried. were you the only parent concerned about this? >> no, by all means. >> someone may have changed the answers on the standardized test at his daughter's school. you have concerns. >> of course, i have concerns like other parents, i have concerns. i hope that there's no cheating -- if it is cheating, there need to be a punishment for it. >> he's not alone. the state of georgia is investigating 10% of its elementary and middle schools, 191 of them. because of moderate changes in the test results much the computer standers could tell when the bubbles were erased and the answers changed. kathleen mathers heads the state audit. >> not just that someone had changed a bunch of answers, it was when they changed answers they got the answer right as a result of that change. >> classes with an unusually high number of these changes were flagged. >> it's sort of like having a blizzard in ft. lauderdale in the middle of july. in theory it could happy but so incredibly likely you need a substantial explanation. >> reporter: usually when we talk about cheating, the focus is on kids. in georgia, the finger is being pointed at teachers and administrators. cnn obtained affidavits in the case of two administrators at an elementary school in dekalb county accused of tampering with tests in 2008. former principal james barry admitted they went into an office and began to erase answer sheets. dorethea, the principal said she read them to berry. to make ayp is adequately yearly progress set by the no child left behind ago. schools that repeatedly failed to meet them faced sanctions. he was charged with public records fraud. paid a fine and is on probation. alexander was transferred and completed community service. >> we have done some work with our monitors. >> reporter: today she is working with the state school board to keep from happening again. >> i would say we're better than that. >> reporter: georgia students are now taking the 2010 crct tests under new guidelines. watching over the whole test monsters aimed at making sure these can be trusted. standardized testing is just one of the topics sure to come up next weekend in our special "nixing america's schools" a town hall meeting with students and teachers across america and arne duncan. if you have questions, make sure you tweet them or send them to facebook and it's don lemon@cnn and look for fixing america's schools 7:00 p.m. and next sunday at 6:00 p.m. eastern, as well. you don't see this every day. an african-american defending the confederacy. >> it is a great thing that the governor of virginia did when he declared it because now we have the opportunity to tell the southern side which is never told. >> you will hear why he stands behind the controversial confederate history month. terrifying moments at a shopping mall in oklahoma. gunfire erupts inside and shoppers have to run for cover. [ male announcer ] when we built our first hybrid, youtube didn't exist. and facebook was still run out of a dorm room. when we built our first hybrid, more people had landlines than cell phones, and gas was $1.75 a gallon. and now, while other luxury carmakers are building their first hybrids, lexus hybrids have traveled 5.5 billion miles. and that's quite a head start. ♪ when we turn lobster into irresistible creations. like new wood-grilled lobster and parmesan scampi... our signature lobster lover's dream... and eleven more choices. endg soon at red lobster. accused controversy arising out of virginia after a war that ended 145 years ago. governor bob mcdonnell declared april federal confederate history month. civil rights groups blasted him and president obama called it an unacceptable omission and really fired up cnn's political analyst roland martin. it is what matters tonight. >> these were american terrorists. these were individuals who were committing a sin against humanity who wanted to keep the system of oppression, degradation and denial of opportunities for african-americans. we're celebrating people and had they won, don, you and i would not be sitting here right now. you and i would be in the fees right now as property as opposed to being free individuals. and so that's like somebody saying, oh, we're going to celebrate the nazi soldiers by saying, well, they were only doing their job. >> all right. that was cnn's roland martin so confederate history month is going on. we a whole panel of johnny rebs joining us right now. tim and lisa knight are here with me in atlanta and h.k. edgarton in north carolina. good to see all of you. don't be nervous. we're just talking. people want to lear from all of you so thank you very much. what do you guys think about the controversy that's going on with the governor and with the proclamation. >> as far as from the state of georgia is concerned the proclamation is to celebrate confederate heritage month representing everybody who was a part of it both, you know, whites, african-americans, hispanics, indians, it's not just to represent one particular culture. i don't understand as far as virginia's portion of it about leaving out slavery but as far as the state of georgia it represents everybody who participated during that event. >> do you feel the same way? >> i understand it's a very hot button topic and strikes a nerve with many people, but it's not something that should be demonized or that should be excluded as part of our history because it is very much a part of our history and only time where we thought internally and had strive at that time. if we're not careful and don't honor that and shuffle it under the rug we're neglecting part of our heritage. >> as a southerner, i get southern pride but do you understand what the civil war means to he specially african-americans who were slaves during that time and for them and for the people in the north and i guess in the south that's what the war was about to end slavery and the south didn't want to end that. do you get that? >> i understand that part but there's a lot of things that our history books leave out. it's not just strictly over the issue of just slavery. 93,000 african-americans participated on the side of the confederacy. they don't bring that up. >> they participated but were not necessarily willing participants and by the time african-americans could join the confederacy, it was too late, it was 1865 so they weren't considered enough of a person to even join the army to be allowed to join the army and fight in the war. >> well, it's in between 10,000 to 15,000 carried arms. >> let's bring in h.k. edgarton. again, he is in charlotte, hillary clinton income. h.k., you would know about this because this is what you do. what do you say about african-americans especially the slavery part. a lot don't like this celebration because to them it means slavery. they feel they would be slaves had the south won. >> let's back up. first of all i'd like to talk about some of the things mr. martin talked about. he called the people in the south some of the most honorable people in this country and said if the south had won the war we would be in the feels now. that's poppycock. it is a great thing that the governor of virginia did when he declared it federal history or confederate history month and i'm surprised about in virginia because in virginia, up until the days of the war, those men and the legislatures of virginia were working hard to try to figure out a way to -- white folks knew that a man was not free unless he had anable to take care of himself, unless he had land, a home for shelter and some money and possibly some slaves of his own. you know, i resent the fact that this man like -- i don't know whether mr. martin is from the north but it's the same virtuosity that they give to the north that it doesn't belong in the north. >> i believe roland is from the south. i don't want you to take it too literally. what he went was had the south won african-americans would not be in the same position that they are now, at least when it comes to -- hang on. let me finish. i let you talk. at least when it comes to civil rights, because that's what the civil war was about. the south, let's just be honest, did not want slavery to end and that was their main focus for the civil war. and that's what secession came about. they wanted to succeed to succeed from the union if slavery was abolished. that's what it was about. >> no, sir, i disagree with you. >> let me ask you this question -- i let you talk for a long time, mr. edgarton. am i to believe the history book that what i've read about with the history book says and what every other historian says, my own eyes and ears or believe what you said. >> let's just talk about that and talk about the establishment of the public school system in 1865 and how the northern school teachers came here to demonize and separate black and white folks in the south. let's talk about abraham lincoln. if the southern men wanted to institute it they would have went along with lincoln. what lincoln said if they would agree to the tax increases that the north would propose congress would never have the ability to end the economic institution of slavery. >> hang on one second. i'm not cutting you off because i want to get a point in. i need to take a break then we'll come back and discuss more. we're back in a moment. 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( tires squealing ) to have bad tires. come to meinekand save $20 on two or more tires. at meineke, you're always the driver. welcomeback, everyone. virginia's governor opened up old wounds by leaving slavery out of the equation. we have been talking with a panel of three civil war reknackers, tim and lisa knight here in atlanta and h.k. edgarton joins us by satellite. i'm sorry. you were saying? >> are you talking to me? >> yes. >> here the thing about it, h e having confederate history month and leaving out slavery, when you have that and talk about the kind of things that took place, you can't leave out slavery. you have to talk about the honor and dignity that africans -- earned under the christian cross of st. andrews. hollywood don't tell this story. other folks don't tell it. it's one of the reasons why you need to have confederate history month. why are these afraid to have the southern side told. they don't want to tell you about these things. we talk about black history month. i don't know how you can separate the