>> announcer: this is "nightline". tonight, the silent killer. a children's birthday party at a hotel pool turning deadly after a carbon monoxide leak. >> all i remember is me just passing out. >> several kids hospitalized. one killed. >> they were just pulling bodies and they were laying them side by side. >> why preventable accidents like these are still happening. how you can keep your family safe. plus, a new factor. >> hi, i'm bill o'reilly. >> fox news star bill o'reilly under fire after reportedly settling multiple claims of sexual harassment for more than $10 million. we're with one former contributor who says rejecting his advances put her out of a job. >> i simply said i'm sorry, i can't do that. he got very hostile very quickly. >> why the outspoken anchor denies it and says he's a target.

and college champs. hoop dreams come true for north carolina. winning the men's ncaa finals just minutes ago. a look at the game's most exciting moments. but first, the "nightline" 5. . number 1 in just 60 seconds. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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good evening. thank you for joining us. questions and outrage in michigan tonight after a carbon monoxide leak at a hotel pool party took the life of a 13-year-old boy. the deadly gas is odorless, tasteless, and invisible but easily identified by low-cost detection devices. so how did this happen? here's abc's matt gutman. >> all i remember is me just passing out and hitting my head. >> reporter: it was a birthday party gone tragically wrong. >> there are a reported 6 children in the pool area all passed out. >> reporter: saturday morning kids playing at the hotel pool at a michigan quality inn and suites suddenly start feeling nauseated and light-headed. then around 10:00 a.m. a hotel employee walks past and sees a horrific scene. a group of 12 to 14-year-olds on the pool deck, all of them unconscious. >> they were putting masks on them and they were just pulling bodies and they were laying them side by side. >> reporter: the culprit is carbon monoxide, or c.o. poisoning. it's a silent killer.

the odorless, colorless, tasteless gas is a by-product of burning fuel and when not properly vented it can go unnoticed until it's too late. at the quality inn and suites pool area this past weekend the levels were dangerously high. 800 parts per million. 16 times higher than the federal safety level of 50 parts per million. >> the younger they are the more they're going to be impacted by the levels of -- higher levels of c.o. >> reporter: first responders, some of whom were also treated for c.o. poisoning, raced the children to area hospitals. one of them, 13-year-old brian douglas watts, died on the way. >> he was a goofy person. he was a good person. these are our last memories of him. >> it doesn't make sense. and i just pray that it never happens again. >> reporter: police say the source of the carbon monoxide leak, a broken pool heater. it's a story painfully similar to one we foin 2013. jeannie williams and her

11-year-old son jeffrey checked into room 225 at the best western in boon, north carolina. >> he liked to travel, and that was a neat thing to do for some reason. >> reporter: but that particular room had a deadly secret. a carbon monoxide leak from a faulty pool heater just below. >> my last vision i have of him is just sitting on the edge of the bed and him holding the ipad and playing a game. >> reporter: sometime in the night jeannie wakes up. feeling sick, she crawls to the bathroom and realizes she should call 911. but her phone is in the other room. >> and i'm thinking i've just got to get to my phone. and i remember trying to get to the door and i couldn't. and then that's the last thing i remember. >> reporter: the next morning a hotel employee comes to the room and discovers jeannie and jeffrey. >> i've got two bodies and i need some help now. >> are they breathing? are they awake? >> no. no. they're not.

>> next i remember is waking up in the hospital room. i couldn't talk. i guess that was from being in a coma. >> reporter: her husband delivers the devastating news. their son jeffrey has died. >> and then he just kept telling me be strong, i need you. i need you. >> reporter: but unbelievably, jeffrey isn't the first victim of room 225 at that best western. >> i look at my partner and i said, if i'm not mistaken that's the same room we had the last call in. >> what's your reaction? >> then we walk in and we found two more bodies. same room. >> reporter: emt mike edmondston was the first responder to jeannie and jeffrey just as he had been seven weeks earlier. >> i just got in the room. there's two people. neither one of them are breathing. >> neither are breathing? >> no, ma'am. >> reporter: darryl and shirley jenkins, a retired couple from washington state, also died from carbon monoxide poisoning in the same hotel room.

the faulty pool heater created yet another near tragedy just days after the jenkins death. the solinski family checked into the room just above 225 to celebrate their daughter's birthday with a pool party and sleepover. >> all girls were very sick. puking in bathroom sinks, toilets, while i'm calling their parents. they were falling off like flies. it was pretty scary. >> reporter: solinski says she complained to the front desk. >> my name was written on a yellow sticky note and i was told the general manager would be told. >> reporter: but damon malattere, whose company managed the hotel, which is not owned by best western directly, swears the clerk never told him. >> so you were not informed by your employees that people had gotten sick in the room right above 225? >> i was not. >> reporter: it was that third incident in the hotel that led first responders to finally discover the toxic source. the heater's exhaust pipe was supposed to conduct the carbon

monoxide safely outside. but hidden under a drop ceiling right under room 225, state investigators find the pipe is busted, full of holes, propped up with a vhs cassette tape and a hotel ice bucket, spewing poison gas into the room above. malattere says authorities never mentioned carbon monoxide. last year the hotel management company pled guilty to three counts of involuntary manslaughter in exchange for which charges were dropped against company president damon mallatere. >> how often do you think about this? >> every day. >> that boy, that elderly couple. >> every day. >> reporter: the boone, north carolina best western is now under new ownership. in a statement to abc news tonight about the michigan hotel poisoning, jeannie williams said in part, "i was both infuriated and heartbroken. i simply do not know how many more tragedies must occur before

actions are taken to ensure this never happens again." it's all the more disturbing because many carbon monoxide detectors sell for under $30. dr. linda weaver has been warning about the dangers of carbon monoxide in hotels for years. >> the reason a hotel is particularly dangerous is really because of the sheer number of people who could be there. >> reporter: incredibly, only 15 states have laws or regulations requiring carbon monoxide detectors in hotels. there is no federal law. and michigan is one of those states. but it only requires them for hotels built after december 2009. records show that the niles quality inn and suites was built in 2000. >> this is a portable alarm, self-contained. take the alarm with you. because i'm not sure the hotel industry is going to do this across the board. >> reporter: tonight the hotel remains closed while law enforcement continues its

investigation. the hotel chain telling abc news, "our thoughts are with the families who were affected," adding as their investigation continues "the highest priority is always the safety and well-being of our guests." yesterday in brian watts' honor balloons were released into the fresh air that could have saved his life. for "nightline" i'm matt gutman. next -- more trouble at fox news. first chairman roger ailes and now bill o'reilly facing allegations of sexual harassment. the accusations and his response. ds and the bees" by dean martin ♪ let me tell you 'bout... ♪ ♪ the birds the bees and the flowers and the trees ♪ ♪ and the moon up above and a thing called love. ♪ ♪ let me tell you 'bout the stars in the sk♪, a girl and a guy and the way they could kiss ♪

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for more than 20 years fox news host bill o'reilly has been one of the biggest names in cable news. famous for his no spin zone and fiery rants taking political figures to task. but now it's his behavior towards women that has become subject to scrutiny. as accusations of sexual harassment are piling up against him. here's abc's nick watt. >> and so he caught up with me and said no, no, come back to my suite. >> reporter: this morning in los angeles dr. wendy walsh, a former fox news guest -- >> good or bad, dr. walsh? >> reporter: going very public with sexual harassment allegations against bill o'reilly. >> he got very hostile very quickly. >> reporter: her story coming hot on the heels of multiple allegations against the anchor and against the conservative news network facing down a barrage of sexual harassment claims from employees. involving the former chairman, roger ailes. o'reilly has been the fox network's biggest star for nearly 20 years.

>> you are about to enter the no spin zone. >> reporter: the host of the most watched news show on cable. >> bill o'reilly is by many definitions fox news. he's their single most important personality. >> i'm not litigious. i don't want any money. i'm not -- there's no lawsuit. >> reporter: walsh and her lawyer, lisa bloom, sat down with us to tell their story. >> i've been doing sexual harassment cases for 30 years. what's going on at fox news is the worst of any company that i have ever been made aware of. >> reporter: we are beginning a new segment called "are we crazy?" >> reporter: in 2013 walsh began a thursday night slot called "are we crazy?" on o'reilly's show. it was a triad. soon she says she got a dinner invite from o'reilly's assistant. >> and i thought wow, the big boss. wow. and he brought it up first, as soon as we sat down to dinner, saying we'd like to make you a contributor. >> reporter: then after dinner she says -- >> and as we walked past the hostess stand at the restaurant he turned right toward the bedrooms. i turned left toward the bar.

and he caught up with me and said no, no, come back to my suite. and i said i'm sorry, i can't do that. and then he became hostile. all his charmingness went away. and he said the words "you can forget all the business advice i gave you. you're on your own." >> reporter: walsh appeared on "the o'reilly factor" only a few more times. >> then he soon had the executive producer call me and say we're not going to use you anymore. >> what makes her statement so powerful is that she's not looking for a payout. and so the argument that o'reilly and his supporters have been making, which is everyone's looking for a buck, well, apparently that's not what she's looking for. >> reporter: walsh's claims come along with a "new york times" investigation published over the weekend which says that five women who accused o'reilly of harassment were given settlements totaling roughly $13 million on condition they would never talk. abc news has not independently verified these claims. >> bill o'reilly's reported $18 million contract was just

renewed. >> reporter: o'reilly issued a statement on his website, "just like other prominent and controversial people, i'm vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity." >> i think people who want to believe bill o'reilly will believe bill o'reilly. i think people who are predisposed to not believing bill o'reilly will probably choose not to. >> welcome to the clap back with julia roginsky. >> reporter: also this morning in new york's supreme court julia roginsky, a former fox news contributor, filed suit against fox news claiming then chairman roger ailes sexually harassed her and she was demoted after rebuffing his advances. today abc news obtained an internal fox news memo reiterating their policies in light of the news. it reads in part, "if any employee has any concerns about behavior in our workplace, i urge you to raise those concerns." today's double whammy comes less

than nine months after ailes, the once omnipotent fox news chairman, was ousted over a sexual harassment scandal. former "fox & friends" anchor gretchen carlson received a $20 million settlement and an apology. she had claimed ailes sabotaged her career because she refused his sexual advances. >> boy, i hope i've helped other women to win. >> reporter: ailes denied the claims in his resignation letter saying "i will not allow my presence to become a distraction." >> roger ailes got a $40 million payout when he left. >> reporter: at the time o'reilly and others leapt to his defense. >> i've worked for roger ailes for 20 years. all right? best boss i've ever had. >> reporter: but parent company 21st century fox listened and launched an internal investigation which turned up at least a dozen women, some of whom have strikingly similar stories. among them star anchor megyn kelly. >> it culminated in a physical attempt to be with me, which i rejected in his office and then

i contacted a lawyer -- >> he touched you? >> he tried to kiss me three times. so i rejected that. and when i rejected that he asked me when my contract was up. >> i think it is a culture of sexual harassment that started at the top with roger ailes and his departure has not done much to remedy the problem. >> i mean, if we were talking about discrimination of any other minority, this would be -- conversation wouldn't be happening. >> reporter: last year laurie luhn who worked for ailes nearly 20 years opened up on "20/20" to elizabeth vargas. >> i went through such hell for so many years. >> reporter: luhn says ailes would ask her to strip to her underwear and dance for him. >> he would have me get down on my knees and tell me you know what you are, laurie, you're my whore. you're my sex slave. you're going to do whatever i tell you to do at any time. do you understand that? >> reporter: luhn says ailes then instructed her to perform oral sex. >> i didn't question it. and that was his big thing, just

don't ever question anything i ever ask you to do, laurie. >> did you try to refuse? >> it's too late. the minute it happened i knew that i'd been blackmailed because he did take photographs of me and he would say this is just my little insurance policy. >> reporter: ailes no longer runs the network. o'reilly is still the star. >> welcome to "happy hour." i'm rebecca diamond. >> reporter: "the new york times" is now reporting that back in 2011 bill o'reilly personally settled with former fox business channel host rebecca gomez diamond for $1 million. the "times" also now claiming o'reilly personally paid a producer, andrea mackris, about $9 million, with both parties agreeing in the settlement that no wrongdoing whatsoever had occurred. in his recent statement o'reilly writes, "in my more than 20 years at fox news channel no one has ever filed a complaint about me with the human resources department, even on the anonymous hotline," adding, "i'm a father who cares deeply for my children and so i have put to rest any controversies to spare

my children." and fox news's parent company coming to his defense stating "21st century fox takes matters of workplace behavior very seriously. while he denies the merits of these claims, mr. o'reilly has resolved those he regarded as his personal responsibility." would you like bill o'reilly to lose his job? >> if mr. o'reilly is in fact guilty of sexual harassment of multiple women, of course he should be fired. he would be fired in any other company. for some reason fox news keeps him. what we have called for today is for there to be an independent investigation into fox news. >> reporter: tonight mercedes-benz reportedly pulled its advertising from "the o'reilly factor." >> fox is going to keep bill o'reilly on the air, and bill o'reilly if he's guilty of bad behavior is going to have to adjust. >> i am bill o'reilly. please always remember that the spin stops here. >> reporter: i'm nick watt for "nightline" in los angeles. and next, the north carolina tar heels are ncaa champions. the most mind-blowing moments from the game.

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and finally tonight, thanks to a key block in the final minute of the ncaa finals, the north carolina tar heels are champions again. >> chili with a little chili effort here! >> it was north carolina, college basketball blue bloods versus the west coast version of blue collar, gonzaga. the tar heels seeking their sixth national title. the bulldogs their very first. >> comes in. meeks. up ahead to jackson. he dunks it down for the five-point lead! >> reporter: only one could end this night with the prize 300 schools dreamed of when the season started. >> off the mark. and this year the confetti is going to fall for north carolina! they're not going to be denied this time. >> when it was over, cinderella sent home in tears. potential outgunned by pedigree. >> we're here with the national champions, the north carolina tar heels.

[ cheers and applause ] >> congratulations to the tar heels, who avenged their loss in the championship game from last year. it was douglas macarthur who put it quite simply. "there is no substitute for victory." thank you for watching abc news. and as always, we're online at abcnews.com and our "nightline" facebook page. thanks for the company, america. good night. >> announcer: one, two, three. you're watching "nigh