on the broadcast tonight -- grim discovery. workers charged with reselling gravesites at an historic cemetery near chicago as distraught families wonder where their loved ones have gone. flu threat -- federal officials are preparing for a fall surge in swine flu. does it mean vaccines for everybody? back in the streets. protestors battle with police in tehran despite warnings that demonstrations will be smashed. and cash for clunkers sounds like a late-night tv come on. it's real. the federal government wants you to trade in your gas guzzler for a new car. is there a catch? plus, about the crazy weather so far this summer over so much of the country. is it el nino again? so much of the country. is it el nino again? "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. we're going to begin here tonight with a disturbing story out of a chicago suburb and it has to do with a cemetery, not just any cemetery. and the violation of the final wishes of many families concerning their loved ones. investigators say as many as 300 bodies might have been tampered with and moved in order to resell those same gravesites. in the historically black burr oak cemetery, the final resting place for some iconic figures in music and the civil rights struggle. it would make a bit better sense to think this was an isolated case, but there has been evidence through the years it is sadly not. and now what can anyone say to these families affected? our own kevin tibbles is at the scene to start us off tonight. kevin, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, brian. the cook county sheriff confirms this evening as many as 300

graves have been disturbed here in what is apparently a macabre act to resell cemetery plots. a pile of bones from more than 100 bodies discovered above ground in an older and overgrown section of the burr oaks cemetery outside chicago. >> this was not replacing graves, it was not moving graves. >> reporter: the cook county sheriff says as many as 300 graves may have been desecrated here over the past four years for profit. so that gravesites could be double sold. >> this was not done in a very, very delicate way, folks. >> reporter: the cemetery is 25 miles southwest of the city and is where many iconic figures from chicago's african-american community are buried including civil rights symbol emit till whose grave has not been disturbed. blues legend dinah washington is buried here and blues man willie

dixon. police have charged four employees with dismembering a human body, alleging gravesites either had the bodies removed so the plots could be resold or the original graves were pounded down to make room for other caskets. >> this should be really -- a special place in hell for these graveyard thieves who have done so much to hurt these families. >> reporter: today hundreds of family members converged on the cemetery, desperately trying to locate the gravesites of their loved ones. difficult for many, because of the time of burial, they could not afford a head stone. >> my father's grave was wide open, wasn't nothing in there but a big old hole. >> when i looked at my brother's grave and grandfather's it's been disturbed, dug up and they laid fresh soil and grass seed tried to replace what they dug up. >> reporter: the cemetery is owned by an arizona-based company which police say is cooperating with the investigation. a team of fbi forensics experts with experience, examining mass

graves in serbia, is also being brought in to assist in identification. and, brian, the investigators tonight say the conspirators may have made as much as $300,000, reselling these plots, and as the sheriff said earlier this morning, leaving families here, having to grieve their lost ones all over again. brian. >> kevin tibbles, what a disturbing story. to start us off tonight. thanks. in washington today, white house officials held a summit that included cabinet members, governors, health officials, all to spread an important message not only is the danger from swine flu not over, it could come back this fall with a vengeance. our chief science correspondent, robert bazell with us here in new york with details. bob, it is almost hard to believe that here we are again. but could this be the boomerang effect they were warning about? >> it is indeed, brian. good evening. the government's message today was very strong. we don't know how bad the

pandemic flu will be in the fall. but we need to prepare extensively for a potentially dangerous widespread outbreak. >> this critical mission. >> reporter: federal officials urged state and local governments to formulate plans now forbidding large gatherings, closing schools and businesses and preventing hospitals from becoming overwhelmed in case there are big outbreaks in the fall. >> the summit is not about raising alarms or stoking fears, it is about being prepared. this is a serious virus capable of causing serious disease and even death. >> reporter: the new virus continues to spread in the united states. unusual for summer. and at least 50 summer camps have been shut. most cases are moderate or mild. but it has killed 170 americans. 2/3 with some underlying health condition that put them at risk. it is also striking other northern hemisphere countries. in england, infecting one of the

stars of the next harry potter movie. >> quite scary when they told me i had swine flu. it has been in the press and stuff. it's kind of like, i am honestly fine. >> reporter: big outbreaks in chile, argentina and australia, where regular flu season is just beginning. wor worry u.s. officials. production of a vaccine is proceeding at full speed. tests if it is safe and effective will begin in early august. if it works the first doses for the public should be available mid october. but officials warn that vaccination will be a massive effort and at first supplies will be limited. given initially to school-aged children, pregnant women, and those with conditions including asthma, heart disease, diabetes and obesity that put them at risk for complications. scientists are close lly monitoring the virus as it spreads around the world looking for mutations that may increase or decrease the risk.

so far they have found none. the only certain thing about the flu virus is it does mutate over time. brian. >> bob bazell in new york tonight. thanks. violence returned to the streets of iran today after a lull as demonstrators turned out in force for the first time in more than a week and again were quickly met with force by police. our chief foreign correspondent, richard engel, here with us in new york with that. a lot of people of course thought this was over? >> absolutely, brian. because of the government crackdown, the opposition had gone underground. and the streets of tehran were mostly calm. until today. several thousand mostly students defied a government threat to smash demonstrators if they took to the streets. in amateur videos and photographs posted today the government seemed to keep its word. firing shots in the air. tear gas, and clubbing protestors who flashed "v" for victory and shouted death to the dictator. the demonstrations were

organized on internet, networking sites like twitter despite government attempts at censorship. stay in big groups if you see police said one message. we won today despite the beatings said another. today' were the first significant demonstrations in 11 days in tehran after the government crushed a larger movement of hundreds of thousands who claimed last month's election of mahmoud ahmadinejad was a sham. the rallies marked the 10th anniversary of a 1999, iranian student revolt which the government brutally put down. was today the start of a new wave of opposition? nbc's tehran bureau chief, ali arouzi is monitoring the situation from london. >> the genie is out of the bottle now. discontent in iran runs deep and wide. it will be difficult to suppress the situation. >> reporter: iran denies its election was rigged and calls protestors, foreign-led agitators. iranian state television downplayed today's clashes.

the demonstrations only lasted a few hours. analysts expect there will be more demonstrations but they will be spore acheadic. as they try the hit-and-run style tactic. richard engel here in new york. more violence in iraq today as well. the worst there since u.s. forces pulled out of iraqi cities and towns ten days ago now. the deadliest attack came in northern iraq where a suicide bomber targeted security officials outside a court where terrorism cases are tried. the crowd gathered after the blast. then a second bomber struck. in all, at least 34 people killed. 64 wounded. things were no better in afghanistan today where a truck loaded with timber and concealed explosives blew up on a highway into kabul, 25 people killed. more than half of them children walking to school. in italy today, day two of the g-8 summit, the yearly gathering of the world's largest economic powers, despite the fact that this is a meeting

about global economy, president obama is taking heat over economic concerns here at home. our chief white house correspondent chuck todd traveling with him, with us tonight from rome. hey, chuck, good evening. >> good evening, you have heard the saying while rome is burning. for president obama it is his domestic agenda and his political poll numbers. while not burning up, seem to be wilting a little bit in the summer heat. overseas trips can generate picture-perfect moments for presidents like this one of mr. obama receiving a soccer jersey from the president of brazil. >> beautiful. >> reporter: these trips can carry risk and this one comes at a time when mr. obama's health care and economic policies are under increasing fire at hope. republicans are attacking his vice president for saying the administration had misread the severity of the recession. >> now this is the greatest fabrication i have seen since i have been in congress. >> reporter: mr. obama on important business in moscow had to stop and deal with himself in

an interview with nbc. >> i would actually rather than say misread, we had incomplete information. >> reporter: biden today tried to calm the walters. >> remember, we are only 140 days into this deal. this is supposed to take 18 months. >> reporter: but the republican national committee continued to fan the flames with a new web video. and reporters in italy noticing the tough headlines on health care in the states questioned whether the president is distracted. >> he has talked fairly regularly with staff back at the white house. we have talked with staff back at the white house. >> reporter: has this overseas trip been a disruption? >> it's too early to say this trip per se is a major set back for health care reform. we certainly know as soon as the president gets back in washington, he is going to be confronting a couple of weeks that are especially critical. >> reporter: what may add to the white house frustration is that this g-8 meeting has struggled for focus. with some questioning if the organization is a relic of the 20th century. >> the global economic

complexities, geopolitical complexities demand a new forum, a new conversation. the problem is we just haven't figured out what that new institution is. >> reporter: these meetings do tend to yield interesting moments. from the controversial -- that's mr. obama shaking hands with mow mthe libyan president. he was late for a meeting today. when he showed up, the others applauded. unclear whether it was relief or sarcasm. all right, brian, while the white house will say the hand wringing over the president's focus and the domestic agenda is just more of this summer overspeculating from the peanut gallery. we shall see. tomorrow, by the way, the entire first family gets an audience with the pope. chuck todd in rome for us tonight. thanks. we'll look for you tomorrow evening. one more note on politics, illinois senator rolland burres appointed to the senator obama's

vacant seat by rod blagojevich will announce tomorrow he will not run for a full term in 2010. burres has reportedly raised very little money to mount an election effort and fund-raising reports will be released next week. when our broadcast continues along the way on a thursday night, so much crazy weather and so many places this summer. does el nino perhaps have something to do with it all? later, the government's offer to pay you to trade in your old car for a new one. how much mileage will they really get out of this? triglycerides are still out of line? then you may not be seeing the whole picture. ask your doctor about trilipix. statin to lower bad cholesterol, along with diet, adding trilipix can lower fatty triglycerides and raise good cholesterol to help improve all three cholesterol numbers. trilipix has not been shown to prevent heart attacks or stroke more than a statin alone. trilipix is not for everyone, including people with liver, gallbladder, or severe kidney disease,

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summer. we have got trees dying in houston, texas, because of dryness. while new york had 24 days of rainfall in june. while we learned today that the weather phenomenon called el nino is back -- is it enough to blame for the strange weather? we thought we would ask our chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson with us. we just need some answers here. >> i wish i had them for you. i asked people who know a lot more than i did, the scientists down at the climate prediction center in maryland, and they tell me that no, el nino is just forming, it is not to blame for the fact that we haven't had much of a summer here in new york and they're baking in texas. what el nino is going to do, brian, it is going to impact our weather in the late fall and the winter. for those who may not remember what el nino is, warming of tropical walters in the pacific, that influences the jet stream. so instead of taking the big arc which brings arctic air down to our area in the winter it

flattens the jet stream and so our weather gets milder. so here's what they think is going to happen across the united states. in the late fall/winter. you see we are going to have wetter weather, down from texas all the way to the carolinas. in the north, pacific northwest, minnesota, and up to alaska, it is going to be milder. the big question is? what is going to happen in california and the southwest where the southwest has been in a ten-year drought. they expect it is going to, they will see more precipitation there, but they don't think it is going to be enough to break that drought. >> all right, anne thompson. with a look at the weather. tonight and months into the future. we will see. we'll be watching it that's for sure. very big news for general motors. a federal judge cleared the way for the company to sell good assets to a kind of new gm, which will be largely owned by all of us the taxpayers. this means the deal could be closed, gm could emerge from bankruptcy as we know it, as

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when this next story first broke it reminded a lot of people of an era that a lot of americans thought, had hoped was long gone and a part of our past. the story involves children of color, blacks and hispanics, and a swimming pool in philadelphia with a membership that is heavily white. nbc's ron allen has our report from philadelphia. >> reporter: the kids at creative steps day camp don't have a swimming pool of their own. so the staff arranges for weekly outings at local clubs. while the campers were at the valley club in suburban philadelphia last month, 14-year-old, says he heard some members talking. >> she was complaining to an employee, why there are so many black kids here. and that she was afraid that we might try to do something to her children. >> reporter: the day camp staff complained to the camp's president. days later the $1,950 money the campers paid to swim was refunded. the club president issued a

statement saying the there was concern the kids would change the atmosphere of the club. the day camp director. >> i am outraged. i am embarrassed that the children that are coming up now have to be exposed to this. >> reporter: today the valley club was closed tight. and pennsylvania senator arlen specter called for an investigation. >> i think the swim club would be wise if they invited the people back. >> reporter: from the valley club president today an updated statement said the valley club is deeply troubled by the recent allegations of racism which are completely untrue. we underestimated the capacity of our facilities. parents like christine pembleton said her son had asked troubling questions about his skin color. >> i hugged him. i kissed him. i said be comfortable in his own skin. i said what happened at that swim club does not define who you are. >> reporter: members insist this was all a big misunderstanding. >> it has nothing to do with race. >> the pool was overcrowded. >> today, creative steps campers

splashed around at the jewish community center's pool. other groups have invited them. but not the valley club. >> would you look to go back there? >> no. >> reporter: why not? >> because -- they shouldn't have did what they did. >> reporter: the staff is demanding an apology to the children. whether this was a misunderstanding or not. ron allen, nbc news, philadelphia. up next, when we continue here tonight, should you be suspicious when the federal government says it wants to see you in a new car? the story coming up. ive. fortunately, there's enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue, and stop joint damage. because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma and nervous system... and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis. also ask your doctor if you live in an area...

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you have heard the stories in the media before including those on this broadcast. we like to say that all fuel efficient cars are better to own because they save you money on gas in the long run and they're kinder to the environment. what no one ever mentions is not having the money to buy a new car. well, the federal government has a program out, sounds like a late-night cable tv come-on, called cash for clunkers. it is real. there are conditions as you will hear. the story tonight from nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: here is the sales pitch from washington --

>> have a seat. >> reporter: buy a new more fuel efficient car and get up to $4,500 from the federal government towards the purchase or lease. >> people are really excited about it. it seems like found money to the consumers. >> reporter: nicknamed cash for clunkers it is intended to cut gas guzzlers on the road. >> how are we doing today, scott? good? >> reporter: and rev up car sales. at fort lauderdale's show room, they're estimating per month. of course there are some down-to-earth requirements. your so-called clunker must have fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less using the epa formula. be in drivable condition with proof you owned it at least one year. to qualify, the new car must be more fuel efficient than the clunker by 4 miles per gal lane for cars, 2 miles per gallon for suvs. and forget trade-in value.

>> we have to send them to the salvage yard. the cars will be scrapped. >> reporter: not everyone thinks this is such a great deal. critics say it is too expensive. estimated $1 billion taxpayer dollars. they argue when it comes to better fuel efficiency the program does not go far enough. environmentalists say it is much more about jump-starting car sales than going green. consumers could choose to buy gas hogs like some suvs and hummer models under this program. >> what began as a reasonable idea to get clunkers off the road and try to move more efficient vehicles in their stead has been hijacked by the auto industry and some of its friends in congress. >> reporter: the government offer runs july to november. while it might be good for the environment, the biggest benefit could go to dealers eager to move cars that have been sitting on their lots. kelly o'donnell, nbc news, washington. that's our broadcast for this thursday night. thank you, as always, for being with i'm brian williams. we hope to see you back here

tomorrow evening. we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com