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Pennsylvania Town Terrorized by Arson; Masked Gunman Still on the Loose in Miami; Obama's Economic Stimulus Package a Tough Sell; Ill. Gov. Blagojevich Defiant; Two Slain in Chicago, One with Ties to NBA Star; Rohingya Refugees Dumped at Sea off Thailand; Will.I.Am's "New Day"
Aired January 25, 2009 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Imagine this -- how do you protect your family and your home from someone coming to set them on fire in the middle of the night? People in an entire city are living it right now. We will talk to them.
I'm Don Lemon. Hello, everyone.
Also tonight, the ever-ready governor. Governor Rod Blagojevich just keeps going and going and going, defying police, politicians and the public. Brace yourself for his biggest media blitz yet. We got it right here.
Rush to judgment. It's not just the Limbaughs on the right, there is hate on the left as well, and we talk live with the controversial host accused.
Plus, this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations, Mr. President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A music star's inaugural tribute in song -- a CNN exclusive.
Cast away. Tourists uncover people being sent out to sea to die. You'll be thinking about this story for quite a while, and we have it only here tonight on CNN.
LEMON: And we begin tonight in Pennsylvania, where people are choosing safety over sleep. Staying awake to guard their homes and their families from a killer who's using fire as his weapon. People in the small town of Coatesville outside Philadelphia have been hit by arson nearly 30 times in the past year. One person has died, and residents fear the arsonist will strike again.
Last night, 11 families were burned out of their row homes in a seven-alarm fire. Today, those homes are in ruins. It was the 14th suspicious blaze in the city since the beginning of the year, and city officials are overwhelmed and begging for state and federal help.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): Coatesville, Pennsylvania is burning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my daughter's house that's on fire.
LEMON: Arsonists have already taken an elderly woman's life. Now, they burned out 11 families.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, I'm just glad my grandkids weren't in there. Yes, she's just coming home from work. Got a call coming home from work that her house was on fire.
LEMON: The fires have cost the financially struggling Philadelphia suburb some $3 million in property damage. City leaders are desperate.
HARRY WALKER, COATESVILLE CITY MANAGER: I, the city manager within the powers of my office established in Chapter 19 of the City Code, have requested that the vice president of city council declare a state of emergency.
LEMON: People are waking up to nothing but charred remains, and publicly, police have little to go on.
CHIEF WILLIAM MATTHEWS, COATESVILLE POLICE: We are actively trying to find the guilty parties. And the tips that have been given to us by our citizens, we're following up. And we're using every law enforcement tactic and technique that is available to us.
LEMON: Only 11,000 people live in Coatesville. The fire department has only a few full-time firefighters and relies on volunteers. Neighbors will now have to look out for themselves and each other.
WALKER: We're considering every option and we're not considering any of these things lightly, because they all have enormous implications that affect the lives of the citizens. And if we don't think it's going to be helpful in either apprehending these terrorists, which is what I view them, or -- you know, suppressing further arson activities, then they don't make a lot of sense.
LEMON: The city is a perfect fire trap, filled with row homes all connected. So on Saturday night when one home was torched, more than a dozen others went up in flames. 14 fires so far this year. Last year there were 15. Neighbors are weary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just came home from picking up my sister and my aunt from work. And we came home just getting ready to settle down, I go to my room, and everybody tells me, oh, we got to get out of the house.
LEMON: Police say they're not counting anything out, even reports of gang involvement. All leaders can do now is warn people to stay alert.
MATTHEWS: It costs 76 cents a week to keep your porch light on. LEMON: A city losing sleep, losing homes and quickly losing patience.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: In just a few minutes we'll talk to a reporter who's been following the story from the very beginning and is on the scene tonight.
Meantime, 265 miles to the west in Pittsburgh, a four-alarm fire destroyed a church tonight. Two meetings of the congregation have been scheduled for 6:00 p.m., but were canceled due to winter weather. The fire broke out just a short time later. And first responders say it appears to have been deliberately set.
We're also following word of a prison fight tonight at a federal lockup in central Florida. The brawl happened in a recreation yard at Coleman Federal Prison outside Orlando. Eight inmates were taken to the hospital with various injuries. At least one inmate suffered a gunshot wound. A prison spokeswoman says no staff members were injured in that fight.
Also in Florida, an update on Friday night's assault rifle attack on a group of teenagers in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood. A masked gunman with an AK-47 is still on the loose. He killed two and wounded seven before escaping into the night. And, tonight, you'll hear from the mothers of some of the young victims.
Here's Vanessa Ruiz of CNN affiliate WSVN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VANESSA RUIZ, WSVN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two mothers brought together in their grief, both of them enduring the pain no parent should -- losing a young son.
LASONYA MILLS, VICTIM'S MOTHER: Brandon, Brandon was my last baby, my last one, and it's just tough.
RUIZ: For Lasonya Mills, the death of her 16-year-old son, Brandon, is like a nightmare she simply can't wake up from.
MILLS: This one is real hard. This one -- I don't want to hurt, but this one is like a steel wall for me.
RUIZ: Beside her, Tangela Graham is living her own nightmare. Her son, 18-year-old Derrick Gloster, was the other fatal victim of Friday's Liberty City shooting.
TANGELA GRAHAM, VICTIM'S MOTHER: He was my only son and my oldest.
RUIZ: Both mothers coming together on Sunday as police continue their hunt for the triggerman, calling it one of the largest mass shootings in Miami history with nine people wounded and so far two teens dead. MILLS: I will accept his death, but I can't take the cause of how he died. That's the -- that's what hurts me the most.
GRAHAM: Call me, mom, how you doing? You need anything? As he hang up, Mom, I love you.
RUIZ: Now, these two mothers attempt the impossible and try to make sense of their unimaginable loss. They hold on to the memory of their two young sons.
GRAHAM: He was not a bad child. He did what a teenager would do. He's a boy.
MILLS: Just praying that they do have a heart and turn themselves in, you know, because Brandon didn't deserve that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, let's go to Washington now. And President Obama's huge economic stimulus plan is already running into resistance from Republicans on Capitol Hill. But the president plans to change their minds. Our Elaine Quijano is standing by with the very latest on that.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Don, President Obama is expected to head to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to try to pull some Republicans on board with his economic recovery plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): When President Obama continues his pitch for his massive economic recovery plan...
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And experts agree that if nothing is done, the unemployment rate could reach double digits.
QUIJANO: He'll face deeply skeptical Republicans wary of the $825 billion price tag.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: It has an awful lot of wasteful spending and slow-moving spending that won't create jobs and won't help preserve jobs in America.
QUIJANO: Some of that spending they question includes billions for College Pell Grants, Head Start and millions for the National Endowment for the Arts, leading "The Washington Post" editorial page to ask, "All of those ideas may have merit, but why do they belong in an emergency measure aimed to kick-start the economy?"
LAWRENCE SUMMERS, DIR., NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: I would disagree with the "Washington Post." I think spending to respond to the extra burdens on financial aid, putting money into the economy for financial aid for college students is a good investment.
QUIJANO: Ahead of the president's Capitol Hill visit, his team fanned out on the Sunday talk shows to the stress the urgency of the economic situation.
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But it's going to get worse before it gets better.
QUIJANO: And to argue government spending under President Obama will be transparent.
DAVID PLOUFFE, FMR. OBAMA CAMPAIGN MANAGER: When this act passes, the American people are going to be able to track every dollar that's spent. And I think that's very important in rebuilding trust.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: Republicans, meanwhile, have a plan of their own. They want to see deeper tax cuts for both businesses and individuals.
Don?
LEMON: All right, Elaine, thank you very much for that.
Meantime, there is news concerning the man who filled the president's vacated Senate seat. The impeachment trial of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich gets under way tomorrow. But the governor won't be there. Instead, he's planning a full day of media interviews including CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN tomorrow.
But, Blagojevich, as you know, is also facing criminal charges for allegedly trying to sell President Obama's vacated Senate seat. On Monday's "Today" show on NBC, Blagojevich talked about the December day when he was arrested.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you since then prepared yourself for the possibility of prison?
GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH, ILLINOIS: No, I haven't. But that was an unbelievable day, and it's still very surreal to me. 6:00 in the morning, the alarm clock at 7:00, it rang, I had my running clothes out. And when the alarm went off, I told my wife, five more minutes, and then before the five minutes, the telephone rang and it was a changing kind of telephone call. I thought, at first, somebody was playing a practical joke on me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: "Chicago Sun-Times" Washington bureau chief Lynn Sweet, it was no joke, was it?
LYNN SWEET, "CHICAGO SUN-TIMES": No, it wasn't. It's an entertaining Hail Mary pass that's very high stakes, but could be very entertaining that the governor hopes will change the course that he's on right now, which is -- which is a big criminal trial.
LEMON: All right. Thanks, Lynn. Make sure you stick around. We'll talk much, much more about this and also the president's plan to jump-start the economy with Lynn Sweet. Coming up just moments away.
Also, we want to know what's on your mind tonight. Make sure you log on to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com. Tell us what you're thinking. Become part of our community.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLAGOJEVICH: When they hang me under these rules that prevent due process, they're hanging the 12 million people of Illinois who twice have elected a governor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It is a political soap opera in Illinois and really across the country now. Governor Rod Blagojevich is in danger of being thrown out of office and thrown into jail. And he insists he's a victim in all of this. Let's talk about it with Lynn Sweet, Washington bureau chief of the "Chicago Sun-Times."
Of course, he has not been found guilty yet, still innocent until proven guilty. But boy, why hire a P.R. person? Why this big P.R. offensive, Lynn?
SWEET: He's doing two things. He's trying to influence the potential jury pool in the Chicago area that will hear his criminal trial, which will be on -- you know, in the months ahead. And also, this might be a wild thing, Don. I think he'll need a job soon because he probably will be impeached. And I think he would love to get the exposure just to see if he can get a show or some gig -- you know, on a show.
LEMON: And Illinois and Chicago, really no stranger to corrupt politicians, but usually they have an opinion rating of the public a little bit better than Governor Rod Blagojevich. So if he does get impeached, if he is thrown out of office, chances are he will never be a politician in Illinois again.
SWEET: Well, he'll lose his ability to really make money. That's why, I think -- it might sound a little nutty to everyone, but I think part of this is -- his scheme maybe a super weird audition. His main problem is that he's going to be indicted in the coming weeks, if not months. His impeachment trial before the Illinois State Senate is going to start tomorrow. He won't be there. He'll be in New York. And I don't think the state senators, you know, that doesn't win him any points from the state senators...
LEMON: Well, I'm told -- I'm told, Lynn, he doesn't even talk to them. But just in the interviews that he's done -- I want to move on from this -- but he's comparing himself to Nelson Mandela, Dr. King and Gandhi because he's being persecuted.
SWEET: Well, they're great human rights heroes. I don't know if necessarily the comparison in this case is apt. LEMON: OK. Let's talk about the stimulus package. Much was made of it at the end of last week. The president got a little bit of pushback -- maybe a lot of pushback from conservatives. What should we expect to see at this meeting on Tuesday when they roll this out?
SWEET: Well, I think, you'll see a campaign-style rollout. A big tactical decision on the part of the Obama team will be, to you pass this without Republican votes? If you do, which they might be able to do, you don't get the Republicans on board. Then what do you do to your claims of one in a bipartisan administration? And if you make a lot compromises just to get the Republicans on board, what do you do with these affected Democrats? So, they have some strategic decisions ahead.
LEMON: I don't know if you have any -- if you have any insight on this because you were there in Washington on whether or not -- you remember, you know, we got the checks, the rebates with the Bush administration. Are there any plans like this or the Obama administration is just ruling that out altogether?
SWEET: Well, I don't think it's in the bill that I looked at because there is a thought that the rebate checks just didn't do much for the economy and they won't do it fast enough. The Obama administration is more focused on job creation and rebate checks don't create jobs in the way that these jobs, the building programs, the (INAUDIBLE) project programs do.
LEMON: All right. Lynn Sweet on the economy and also Governor Rod Blagojevich who, by the way, Lynn, part of his P.R. offensive is to be on "LARRY KING LIVE" tomorrow night. Make sure you stay tuned.
SWEET: I'll be watching.
LEMON: Thank you very much.
And that's not all the people are talking about tonight. Rush Limbaugh speaks his mind about his hopes for the Obama administration. And radio talk show hosts Warren Ballentine and Martha Zoller are in the house, and you know they are getting an earful.
And Warren, you're drawing controversy. We're going to talk about that tonight. Some are saying, it is hate speech on the left. We'll talk about it.
Make sure you keep your comments coming. Make sure you log on to Twitter, to Facebook, to MySpace or iReport.com. Tell us what you're thinking. Become part of our community.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's doing great. Right now, he's paying attention to everything that he said he would. He's getting on the economic plan, I think, today. He ended Guantanamo Bay yesterday. So, he's getting on it quick. You can't ask for anything more than that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's been doing fabulous. He's reaching out around the world. He's diverse. He's open. He's the man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. Well, it hasn't even been a full week since President Barack Obama was sworn into office. He has been busy and so has one of his detractors. Rush Limbaugh's recent comments have even some -- you know, his most staunch supporters saying, that's not cool. And then there's dust up over access denied. Some inauguration ticket holders were literally left out in the cold.
Certainly, conservative and liberal talk radio is buzzing over all the above. So, let's bring them in. Let's jump into this conversation now.
On the left, Warren Ballentine in the studio. He's the host of the nationally syndicated "Warren Ballentine Show." And on the right, host of the "Martha Zoller Show," Martha Zoller.
OK. Real quick. Let's get this -- people being left out of the way. I know it's -- you know, it was a big deal. Sorry they were left out. I couldn't even get in. But everyone -- are people talking to you about that, Martha?
MARTHA ZOLLER, HOST, "THE MARTHA ZOLLER SHOW": Actually, we had one of the folks from Georgia call in the next day that couldn't get it and he said, look, I was disappointed but, hey, it's going to happen. You've got that many people. It's a relatively small amount of people versus who got in.
LEMON: OK. Warren?
WARREN BALLENTINE, HOST, "THE WARREN BALLENTINE SHOW": I had somebody who called in as well and they were not upset at all. They said, look, you know, we got there a little later. A lot of people came out. You know, I was up for 38 hours that week, and where I was broadcasting from we had to get there at 4:00 in the morning. When we got there, it was already a line of people waiting to get in.
LEMON: So, by this point, controversy over. Let's stop talking about...
ZOLLER: Controversy over.
LEMON: OK. Let's -- real quick before we move on to controversial comments. The oath being retaken and the media's supposedly upset because, you know, at least the visual medium, broadcast medium, they didn't get a camera inside.
BALLENTINE: What's the big deal? What's the big deal?
LEMON: It's no big deal for you because you're on the radio.
(CROSSTALK) BALLENTINE: I don't think it's a big deal for the television media. And I'm going to tell you why. Honestly, I don't think it's a big deal because, honestly, he gave the oath. Everybody saw the oath. It was mistakenly done and he just redid it to make sure the conspirators wouldn't have an issue. That's why he did it...
LEMON: Let Martha get on on this.
ZOLLER: Here's the issue the conspirators have. He didn't use a Bible in the second oath. And that is what people were talking about this week. It was just him standing there.
LEMON: All I'm saying is that, the broadcast medium, the White House could have gotten a White House...
ZOLLER: They should have. They should have.
LEMON: ... videographer in. They could have controlled it...
ZOLLER: Well, they control everything else.
LEMON:... and release everything that they wanted to release.
ZOLLER: They should have done it.
LEMON: The American people should know. They elected him.
OK. Let's talk about hate on the right and hate on the left. Let's start with Rush Limbaugh. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: If I wanted Obama to succeed, I'd be happy the Republicans have laid down. And I would be encouraging Republicans to lay down and support him. I don't want -- look, what he's talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the U.S. government as possible -- from the banking business to the mortgage industry, the automobile business to the health care. I do not want the government in charge of all these things. I don't want this to work. So I'm thinking of replying to the guy, OK, I'll send you a response, but I don't need 400 words. I need four. I hope he fails.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Martha, if you're not for us, you're against us. You're un-American if you don't support the president.
ZOLLER: Well, I think that you can support the president in a lot of different ways. Look, Rush Limbaugh...
LEMON: Stop hypocrisy.
ZOLLER: No. What Rush Limbaugh is saying is, I don't want his policies to succeed. What my listeners have said by and large -- and we're very conservative area. My listeners, by and large, have said, you know, we accept him as our president, but we don't want his policies to succeed because we don't believe in higher taxes and bigger government, and that's what he's bringing on board.
LEMON: Warren, you know, all last week, I listened to your show as I was getting ready in Washington to go broadcast and you were all over this. I want to get -- I got to talk to you about something, but go on and make your point with this.
BALLENTINE: What was funny to me about this is that when -- I think it was the Dixie Chicks who came out and said something about President Bush, and all of a sudden, they were un-American and were blackballed. And honestly, you know, I can understand having your opinion because everybody has a right to have their opinion. I believe in the First Amendment, you know, because I'm a lawyer. But at the same time, I think, all Americans should want the administration to succeed because it helps all Americans. We're all in this together.
LEMON: OK.
ZOLLER: Well, but those were not personal attacks against Barack Obama. That he was saying he didn't want his policy to succeed...
LEMON: All right, hang on.
BALLENTINE: But if his policies failed, then America may fail.
LEMON: We get your point. Now, Warren, you are -- you were very critical of some -- you've been very critical of some radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh. You were last week.
BALLENTINE: Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck.
LEMON: But you made some controversial remarks concerning Senator Byrd saying that he may have gotten sick at the inaugural luncheon because --
BALLENTINE: What I said was this. I believe that he got sick because, honestly, he's a former KKK member. And I think that a reality set in for him saying that I support my president, but, wow, we have a black president and I think it may have thrown him for a loop. And that's not saying that he necessarily had something against a black president.
LEMON: But I also heard you say that he may have lynched someone back in the day. Did you not say that?
BALLENTINE: What I said was this, Don. I said, who knows what he did in his past as a former KKK member, and a possibility of a lynching is a possibility. This man is a former KKK member.
ZOLLER: He's 90 years old. That's why he got sick. I mean, that's why he got sick. He's 90 years old.
(CROSSTALK)
BALLENTINE: He's 90 years old. Who knows what he did back in the day when the laws were so much different.
ZOLLER: I don't know what he did. But I think that a word like lynching is, even if you qualify it, it is something that is very charged. I mean, that's a very racially charged word. You don't talk about that when you're talking about white folks that they might get lynched.
BALLENTINE: Well, Martha, the reason I can make that statement is because he is 90 years old. He grew up in a time where my people were getting lynched and your people were getting off because they were white.
ZOLLER: Well, I mean, he never denied what he did. He never...
(CROSSTALK)
BALLENTINE: And that's why I can make that statement like that. Just like even with what happened with the Don Imus situation. You know, one of the things that I said about the Don Imus situation was, look, you have freedom of speech, but what bothered me was that he grew up in the civil rights era, so he saw what happened. So he should have been more sensitive to it.
Now, what I said about Senator Byrd was based on the fact of his age. If he would have been a younger man, if he would have in his 50s, then I can't make a claim like that because that's a different time...
LEMON: So, Warren, no regrets with that statement because it was a little -- I cringed a little when I heard it?
BALLENTINE: There's no regrets because I said, look, I don't know what he has done in his past. It's a possibility that he could be a part of a lynching. I didn't say that he did one. I said it's a possibility.
LEMON: OK. I really have 10 seconds. Tell me about -- Martha, you said to me that you believe the new president is a little touchy when it comes to the media?
ZOLLER: He's touchy when it comes to the media. A president of the United States shouldn't mention the name of a media person. And then why did he give the only interview to ABC News who paid $2 million for an inaugural ball?
LEMON: And also we have when he went into the press room last week to say hello, someone asked him a tough question, he was not happy about it.
ZOLLER: He did not like it. And this is not the first time. Every press conference, if he doesn't like the question, he comes back. He's a little thin-skinned, a little Nixonesque.
BALLENTINE: You know, that's funny to me. But I just want to say this, Don. Honestly, I think President Obama can singlehandedly stimulate the economy. He did it in D.C. If he did a 50-state tour with him and Sarah Palin, you --
(CROSSTALK)
ZOLLER: Hey, that was my idea.
LEMON: OK.
BALLENTINE: He could stimulate the economy.
LEMON: You know, Oprah is after the show. We should have like in the break because we were going to talk about this. We got to move on. Thank you both for joining us tonight.
ZOLLER: Thank you.
BALLENTINE: Thank you, Don.
LEMON: A small Pennsylvania city declaring a state of emergency. The locals have seen 14 suspicious fires this month alone. What's going on in Coatesville? We're digging much deeper into that story.
Also, a story you will only see here on CNN and you want to stick around for this. People searching for freedom, detained on a popular Thai beach and then towed out to sea left for dead. It is a story you have to see to believe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. More now on our top story. A wave of arsons have hit -- the city officials have hit the city of Coatesville, and officials there are declaring a state of emergency. Eleven families were burned out last night in what appears to be the latest arson attack on that city. One firefighter was hurt.
This community has been terrorized by arsonists nearly 30 times in the past year -- 30 times, and it's a small city. One person has been killed, an elderly woman, and almost half of those attacks happened since the beginning of the year.
Jennifer Miller is a reporter with the Daily Local News in Coatesville. She has been on top of this story since it happened. Also, you attended a community meeting tonight and people were not happy.
VOICE OF JENNIFER MILLER, "DAILY LOCAL NEWS": I did. It was not a scheduled community meeting. Residents just showed up thinking one was going to occur and when no city officials were there, chaos, confusion and anger just broke out among roughly 100 people, prompting a city council woman to call in the police chief and the city manager. And they did come. At that point, more than 100 residents started posing questions to the city officials about what they're doing to take care of the city.
LEMON: What were the questions? Tell me about the questions.
MILLER: Well, there are two major issues. One, residents don't seem to think that city officials are doing enough to tackle this massive problem. I mean, the arsons date back to late 2007, and residents are just not convinced that city officials are doing enough to tackle this. And so, many of the residents were screaming and shouting and insisting that city officials, you know, call for the National Guard to come in to the city and kind of restore order -- something that some city officials are reluctant to push for. And, as you know, the governor actually has to approve something like that.
LEMON: And Jennifer, you can understand why, because people don't know if someone is going to come, you know, to their home in the middle of the night and try to set them, their families and their homes on fire. So you can understand why they were so upset. What are these reports we're hearing about, these possibly being gang- related?
MILLER: Well, there's a lot of speculation among community members. But law enforcement continues to say that there's no evidence to really support that kind of motive. However, they're not ruling it out by any means. At this point it really seems that they have no idea who's doing this and why they're doing it.
LEMON: And people there are not getting much sleep, are they?
MILLER: Not at all. I mean, the comments from the community today was, you know, people sleeping maybe an hour a night because they're so afraid that their house will be next.
LEMON: Jennifer Miller, reporter with the Daily Local News in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. Man, what a sad story. Thank you, Jennifer.
Also tonight we're tracking news of a tragic shooting in Chicago and one of the victims has ties to a big-time NBA player. Police say the bodies of 24-year-old Nova Henry and her 9-month-old daughter were found last night. Nova Henry is a former girlfriend of Eddy Curry. Now, she also -- she's also the mother of his 3-year-old son. The little boy was there. And Jae Miller of CLTV has this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAE MILLER, CLTV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're fully young who lives a few doors down from the crime scene said she knew there was a problem when her friend called to express concern over her cousin 24-year-old Nova Henry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's supposed to be at a funeral and the family came looking for her.
MILLER: It was her grandmother's funeral to be exact. When the mother of two didn't show up, her mother came looking for her and found her and her 9-month-old daughter shot to death inside their South Loop apartment.
MONIQUE BOND, CHICAGO POLICE SPOKESWOMAN: The situation appears to have been a known acquaintance involved in the incident. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm shocked. I really don't know much in the way of details about what happened, but, you know, this is a very, generally safe residential neighborhood and something like this happening just down the street is truly shocking.
MILLER: Chicago police arrived at Burnham Station apartments near 15th and Clark just after 6:00 last night. Family and friends gathered on this CTA bus nearby as authorities looked for clues. The victim's uncle says his niece was having problems with a boyfriend and had a restraining order against him.
ROB BRYANT, VICTIM'S UNCLE: She had a stalker boyfriend that's an attorney, and he had a restraining order against him, and she was trying to avoid all of this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's sad. But it's not random. There's not a serial murderer out there.
MILLER: The victim is the mother of ex-Bull's player Eddy Curry's 3-year-old son. He was in the apartment at the time, but was unharmed. Sources say he may have witnessed the entire thing. Curry who now plays for the New York Knicks is no stranger to violence.
In 2007, he and his family were robbed at gunpoint at their Burr Ridge home. And though Curry doesn't seem to have any involvement in the murders, some neighbors say trouble always seems to follow him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, Eddy Curry had some rumors about him last week in New York, and I think there's a lot going on with Eddy Curry that we don't quite know about right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, sad story coming out of Chicago.
Tourists in Thailand, meantime, make a horrific discovery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They look like logs, but these are people. Dozens of Burmese refugees detained on a Thai beach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It's a story you will only see on CNN, and you have to see this to believe it. You may not believe it even then. Dan Rivers with our exclusive report, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: CNN has learned of a humanitarian tragedy allegedly committed by the military of Thailand. Now the Thai government apparently has a zero tolerance policy toward refugees from Myanmar who flee to Thailand seeking sanctuary and a better life. But what allegedly happens when the refugees are caught is a crime against humanity. CNN's Dan Rivers has our exclusive report. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN BANGKOK CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They look like logs, but these are people. Dozens of Burmese refugees detained on a Thai beach. These photos were provided to CNN last week as three different tourists voiced concern about the way the Thai authorities were treating these migrants.
ANDREW CATTON, TOURIST: Whenever someone raised their head or sat up, they'd strike them with a whip.
RIVERS: So we traveled to a remote stretch of the Thai coast four hours drive north of the Holiday island of Phuket, came to investigate local reports that Thai military had been secretly detaining Burmese, Rohingya refugees here before towing them back, far out to sea and leaving them to drift.
Koh Sae Daeng is uninhabited, part of a national park, but there was plenty of evidence that large numbers of people had been detained here. This man helped the army guard the refugees for one night on the island. "We treated them well," he says. "We gave them food and whatever they asked for."
(on camera): There seems a lot of evidence that a large number of Rohingya refugees were, indeed, camped out here at Koh Sae Daeng. All around there were discarded shoes and clothes as several camp fires that looked fairly fresh here as well as food wrapping, as well. But the big question is, how did the Rohingya leave? Did they leave voluntarily or were they towed out to sea by the military?
(voice-over): On a nearby island, we find one of the distinctive Rohingya boats abandoned on the shore. The Rohingya are a persecuted Muslim minority, who had been fleeing Myanmar in rickety boats like this for years looking for a better life. This proves how they arrived, but not how they left.
We traveled to another island where villagers told us about some Rohingya refugees who'd escaped and were living in the jungle. We were keying to talk to the refugees to hear their story. We didn't have to wait long. At night, a local army, trained village defense force took us on patrol. We hurried to a hamlet, after reports they caught one of the migrants. This is what we found. Villagers had captured a Rohingya man who they think had been living in the jungle for days.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And that's only part of the story. The refugee you saw there, he says he and hundreds of others were towed out to sea and left to die. You will hear from him and we'll talk live with our Dan Rivers when his exclusive report continues in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, CNN has learned that hundreds of Muslim refugees may have been towed far out to sea by the time military and then set adrift. We continue now with part two of our Dan Rivers's exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIVERS (voice-over): He was clearly distressed. But the next three hours we tried to piece together his story. He was taken back to the ports where he continued to try and communicate with us. Through a combination of broken English, sign language and drawings he told us his name (INAUDIBLE), and he was on one of six refugee boats which arrived in December. He said they were towed back out to sea in January, but five of the six boats sank. His, he said, made it back to shore. But this is the final piece of evidence. Photos were given to CNN by someone involved in what he said was an ongoing Thai operation to tow refugees out to sea.
They show refugees being processed Koh Sae Daeng, the same camp that we visited. And incredibly this shows the Thai army towing a boat load of someone 190 refugees far out to sea. The source who gave us these photos says they provided them with food and water. Another source in the military confirmed they have been towing refugees out to sea, again, stressing they gave them supplies. Neither would appear on camera for fear of repercussions.
We asked the Thai government about our findings and it says it is investigating. A sign of how embarrassing these photos may be considered, it says the prime minister will receive a full report this week. These are the last images of the refugee boat as it disappears over the horizon. Neither this boat nor the refugees aboard it have been seen since.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Our Dan Rivers joins us now tonight in Bangkok.
Dan, it was a haunting story. Can you tell me, please, what the Thai army's reaction is to the story?
RIVERS: Well, at the moment, the Thai army are refusing to comment. Off the record in the past week they have been changing their story, really. Starting off denying that they were involved with towing refugees out to sea. Then we've spoken to other sources who locally have confirmed that in fact that was, indeed, the case. That our story is correct.
We're now waiting to hear from the general-in-charge of the Thai army. We put in a request to talk to him. We've also put in a request to talk to the Thai prime minister. We're being told by the foreign ministry that they are looking into this. That the prime minister will be briefed on this, that a report is being drawn up and he should get that report this week. So they're taking it very seriously.
LEMON: Dan, what about the international community? What about the United Nations or any NGOs. Has anyone weighed in on this matter?
RIVERS: They have. The U.N. HCR, which is the U.N. agency that deals with refugees has told us they're very concerned about the situation. They are aware of our new evidence. They are urgently seeking clarification as to whether any more refugees are currently in detention in Thailand. They're specifically concerned for 126 refugees, who they believe arrived here in the last couple of weeks. They're not sure what happened to those refugees. They want to find out, are they in custody here or have they also been towed out to sea and abandoned in the ocean.
LEMON: CNN's Dan Rivers. Dan, that's amazing reporting and we certainly want you to come back when you follow up on this and get more information. Thank you, Dan.
And you can see distinctive reporting like what Dan just did without being moved by it. We want to know what's on your mind. What do you think about that story or any of the stories we are reporting on tonight. Especially that one, it's heart wrenching. logon to Twitter, to Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com. Tell us what you're thinking, and become part of our community here.
And you might look twice the next time you notice trash on the side of the road.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First thing I said was, holy fill in the blank, and like I said, we just kind of stared at it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: What was it? You won't believe what they found on the side of the road.
Also, many of you out there better be on the lookout for ice tomorrow. That's according to our Jacqui Jeras. And she is keeping an eye on your forecast. We'll have the very latest in moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: In Indiana, three state workers looking for trash ended up finding money and lots of it. They were picking up debris, Friday, when they found more than $100,000 inside an old tire that was just lying around in a ditch. Well, the workers called state police who suspect it was drug money. A criminal investigation is now under way and workers say, well, when they saw the cash, they couldn't believe their eyes, of course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First thing I said was holy fill in the blank, and like I said, we just kind of stared at it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one of those things that you see on movies and you think that only happens in the movie, but when it happens in real life, it's shocking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way the economy is and chances are if I would have taken it and lose my job, it wouldn't be worth it. (END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, it doesn't look like the workers will get to keep the cash, but they're getting lots of praise for their honesty.
I think they should get some of that money, Jacqui Jeras.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: (INAUDIBLE) just a pat on the back, you know, "good job."
LEMON: Well, he's right, especially with the economy, they could give them a little bit of that money, right? When they might depending --
JERAS: Well, it comes back to bite you if you're not honest, though, so it's good that they did that right.
LEMON: Depending on where they are, they might need it to buy an extra blanket, huh.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: Thank you, Jacqui Jeras.
JERAS: You're welcome.
LEMON: Much appreciate it.
Will.i.am on the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL.I.AM., SINGER: Congratulations, Mr. President.
I was there. The whole world was there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A music star's inaugural tribute in song. It's a CNN exclusive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Well, your comments are coming in. We asked for them, and you provided them.
Cityguy2675 -- you're on every night, man. Thanks for watching. "The actions of Thai military are appalling," he says. "The U.N. needs to investigate and hold the Thai government accountable for murder."
ClarenceAlb says, "Why the cruel treatment of the refugee and why the documentation of the action by the offenders? Tragic."
Mike_Miley, "Blago does know how to perform for a camera, of course, so do most clowns." MissShellBelle says, "Don, I think Blago is a scary guy, but obviously he's just running scared. His time is up. He knows his days are numbered."
Make sure you logon to Twitter, to Facebook, to MySpace or iReport.com. Tell us what you're thinking. We'll get it on the air. And remember Governor Rod Blagojevich talks with CNN's Larry King and takes your calls. He's taking calls. Haven't seen him do that before. Tomorrow night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.
Well, Will.i.am was there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL.I.AM: Congratulations, Mr. President.
I was there. The whole world was there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A music star's inaugural tribute to President Obama. It is a CNN exclusive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Tonight, we're going to present a single, very personal viewpoint. It is called "A New Day." It's a short film completed only yesterday by Will.i.am., musician, actor and committed supporter of President Obama. These are his opinions, his emotions, what he saw, and what he felt as a new president was sworn into office. This is the film exclusively on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL.I.AM.: I was there. The whole world was there. To see Barack Obama become the 44th president of the United States of America. We came from miles to witness history. Poor people, rich people, famous people, we the people. We were there. Connected like never before, united like never before. America graduated and now we celebrate because we woke up. We celebrate because we stood up and we pushed for change and it changed.
After the dawn of the new day.
And now here we are. Wow. A king stood on these steps, and now his dream is a reality. The people's voices are now heard and the glass ceiling is now lifted. And we will fly into the new era knowing all this happened. No obstacle will stand in our way. We are connected, we are one. Yes, we are. Just look at what we've done. We made Obama our president. We know what else needs to be changed. So let's keep pushing for proper education. Let's keep pushing, let's help fix the nation. It's going to take us all together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: It's called "A New Day" by Will.i.am. We've been asking you your thoughts. Some of you maybe weighing in on this. This is what Lalliexperience says or Lalliexperience, "If you find a tire worth $100,000, shouldn't you be able to keep it if it's not reported missing? I would sue the state to get it."
TexasKoz says "Mr. Blagojevich is delusional. He may believe that if a lie is repeated long enough and loud enough, it becomes the truth."
Dcbeans says "I'm actually starting to root for Blago. Forget politics. He should promote fights."
Here's Cityguy -- again. There he is again -- 2675. "Blago is a little bit crazy and probably delusional. I'll look forward to watching "LARRY KING" tomorrow. Should be entertaining."
Of course it's going to be entertaining, it's Larry King. He always is. He's the best. Logon to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, iReport.com, we'll get it on the air. Thank you so much for joining us tonight, everyone. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. "D.L. HUGHLEY BREAKS THE NEWS" starts right now.
