tonight on "nightline," the heat is on. summer is officially upon us, with extreme heat warnings in 13 states and temperatures pushing 100 degrees across the country. we'll tell you how long it will last. after a convicted killer boasts of his cushy life behind bars, there is new scrutiny. while some convict s live lives of mystery, others wonder if they are serves in luxury. plus, guitar hero. he is the country star known for his halt and two dozen hits. kenny chesney talks about music, love and the song inspired by. >> announcer: from the global

resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," june 20th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm bill weir. and ladies and gentlemen, start your air conditioners. man, you didn't need a calendar to tell you today marks the first official day of summer. and if today is any indication, it's going to be a scorcher. the heat index soared past 100 degrees in cities across the northeast. stepping out the front door felt more like stepping into an on oven. and it's not over yet. here's abc's ginger zee with the latest. >> reporter: the relentless wild fires in colorado fueled by low humidity, high winds, and this week, record-breaking heat. that heat shifted east today and picked up a whole lot of humidity along the way. the sudden sizzle brought near record-breaking temperatures up

and down the east coast, just in time for the official start of summer. here's how it all goes down. stick with me here. a little science. a ridge of high pressure ahead of a cold front brings more sunshine, compresses the air and on the back side of the clockwise rotating high, you get a strong southwesterly flow. that pulls heat and humidity from the south straight up to the northeast. in washington, d.c., we used time lapse and a big thermometer to catch the temperature increase as the city was hit with its first hot blast of the summer. >> the heat is insane. >> reporter: the nation's capital approaching record temperatures. we found tourists relying on the usual tools to stay cool. makeshift fans and bottled water. but it was this messy technique at one of the capital's biggest attractions that really got our attention. you have a bloody hand there. >> i do. we make blood-sicles for the cats. we get frozen blood here at the zoo and make them like you would make a popsicle. the cats love them.

>> reporter: at the foggy bottom farmer's market, the heat has been welcome. the mild winter and warm spring means good business for quaker valley farms. >> peaches are really early this year, sour cherries usually come out near july and they're here already. >> reporter: today's solstice comes right after the warmest spring on record ever in the united states. with 15,000 record high temperatures broken in march alone. the climate prediction center says it's not going to get cooler. what does summer look like from here on out? >> we are forecasting above normal temperatures especially into the central states, where there's been expanding drought and in the southwest which has been suffering through a very rough wild fire season. >> reporter: chicago knows all about record roasting. today, the thermometer topped 90 degrees for the 13th time this year. a record this early in the season. >> to spring together this many 90 degree days so early in the season is unusual.

>> reporter: the heat has already buckled roads and, as the windy city continues to swelter, there's also the lack of rain to contend with. >> growers in illinois and indiana and really throughout the midwest have suffered, there have been pockets where by pick up some rain here and there but overall, it's been very dry and crops are struggling as a result. >> reporter: in new york, the hottest place to be may have been a tin shed on the roof of abc, where our they are mom terps maxed out at 120 degrees. >> i think it's bad in this heat. >> reporter: new york city's public schools were no picnic either. for the 1.1 million students, they still have one more week of classes. >> it would be cooler if they had air conditioning. >> reporter: only 64% of classrooms in the city's public schools have air conditioning, which has parents temperatures rising. >> they go out and play in the yard and they come back in and it would be nice to have a cool room so they can focus and

concentrate on what the teacher is saying. >> we're trying to do as much as we can. there's a limited budget. not every school is air conditioned. >> reporter: mail your bloomberg delivered a speech on heat from one of the city's cooling centers, which seemed to be doing the trick. >> it's too cold. >> reporter: outside was a different story, with new yorkers. and tourists, like cameron from atlanta, taking to the mofounta to cool off. >> i hate being hot. i don't even have a pool here. >> reporter: some prefer the old head douse with others seeking out the shade. but not everyone wanted to avoid that glowing orb. some chose to slather on the lotion and worship it in all its glory. most of the mid-atlantic and northeast can expect even hotter temperatures tomorrow before getting a bit of relief by the weekend. for "nightline," i'm ginger zee in washington. >> thanks to ginger zee. coming up next, if they get arts and crafts and band practice, are america's

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with bill weir. >> it started with a taunting letter from death row. in it, a north carolina inmate convicted of killing a 17-year-old boasts about his alleged life of leisure behind bars. and it is rekindled a heated debate about prison conditions. focusing on convict activities from softball teams, tv time and whether doing hard time is really hard enough. here's "20/20" co-anchor chris cuomo for our series, "crime and punishment."

>> reporter: many of us imagine prison life for convicted killers as a harsh, brutal, isolated place, as portrayed in "the shawshank redemption." so, when daniel hembree, a convicted killer, wrote a letter to the gaston, north carolina, gazette, gloating about his comfortable life on death row, it got plenty of attention. "is the public aware that i'm a gentleman of leisure, watching color tv in the ac, reading, taking naps and will, eating three well-balanced, hot meals a day." often, this is the reality of prison life for convicted killers. in this oklahoma state penitentiary, killers on death row still get to play dom knows and shoot hoops. at this maximum security prison in illinois, convicted killers can shop for soft drinks and snacks -- >> mountain dew, can i get that? >> reporter: at a well-provisioned commissary. at this prison in nashville, convicted killers can play softball. >> they're playing softball on

lined base paths with baseball uniforms while other guys are hanging out, getting a sun tan. >> reporter: for a quarter of a century, robert blecker has been documented his provocative and controversial view. >> no mission state in any department of corrections in the united states mentions the word punishment. >> reporter: that life for convicted murderers can be surprisingly comfortable. we think when someone's on death row, or they have a life sentence, life is miserable for them. the reality? >> it's completely different. those who committed the worst crimes who deserve to suffer the most generally suffer the least. >> reporter: blecker, who shot the footage you see here inside prison says most americans are unaware of this part of prison life. blecker says life can be so good here, convicts claim to have killed just to get put away, like robert pitts, who beat a grandmother to death with a lead pipe. >> i can play pool or basketball, run, you can go out

and jog, lift weights, play cards. >> the worst of the worst of the worst, the quality of life that they experience day-to-day should be a direct reflection on the heinousness and seriousness of the crime. wrr what do you want to see in the rack? cat o nine tails? >> no. i want to see their meals be neutral loaf. neutral loaf is a tasteless but nutriti nutritionally complete patty that you eat. you get no pleasure of out of it. >> reporter: how killers are treated in prison can come as a shock to victim's families, like nicholas and stella, the parents of the 17-year-old girl murdered by daniel hembree, who wrote that letter. hembree strangled their daughter, heather, then dumped her body in this ravine in south carolina. >> she was a very scacaring per. >> reporter: a jury convicted hembree and condemned him to die. the family thought that would be the last they'd ever hear from him.

until hitz letts letter appeare boasting about his death row perks. >> we can't take care of our own poor people but we can take care of him, sitting on death row? >> reporter: they treat the prisoners they do because they believe there's a minimum sta standard of what people need to have. so, you don't treat them like animals, you treat them like people. >> read a few books but to watch color tv and watch your favorite "jerry springer show?" when you start giving more rights to the criminals than you do the victims, there's something wrong with that. with america. >> reporter: prison officials item us those kind of privileges are routine and help create a safer environment. and inmate rights advocates say being deprived of freedom is harsh punishment. >> these prisons are just absolutely horrific places to be. there's tremendous violence throughout them. there's absolute overcrowding. we are fooling ourselves.

if we allow ourselves to believe that one picture of a dominos game suggests that this is something other than just a horrific life to live. >> reporter: but blecker believes at tumds about crime and punishment might change if the public saw more scenes like this. prisoners on tennessee's death row, enjoying the arts and crafts room. ♪ this hard rocking jailhouse band is called concrete death puppy. three of its four members are convicted killers. if blecker had his way, he would shut down the music for good. blecker insists he isn't advocating prisoners be deprived their rights, just that they can't enjoy a life of leisure behind bars. that the punishment should fit the crime. for "nightline," i'm chris cuomo in new york. >> thanks to chris for that. coming up, just ahead, he's the country megastar who is packing concert venues across the nation.

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glad you found us. start by test-driving nearly every make and model, all in one place. carmax. start here. from the days when hank williams sang about a tear in his beer, country music fans have adored lovelorn cowboys, and kenny chesney has taken that love to a chart-topping level with ten platinum albums to his credit. hem is packing venues across the

country. and tonight, my co-anchor cynthia mcfadden takes him out on the town. ♪ do you smoke ♪ do you drink >> reporter: oh, that hat. the trademark of the man beneath the brim. kenny chesney is one of country music's superstars. with 23 number one singles -- ♪ feel like a rock star >> reporter: his new album out this week -- >> i do believe it takes a listener on an emotional roller coaster ride. good, bad, however you want to take it. >> reporter: he's hitting the road this summer with the latest, "come over." ♪ come over ♪ come over >> reporter: the tour will cover 20,000 miles and 22 cities. we got to watch as he and the band got ready for the road. ♪ whatever makes you feel like a rock star ♪ >> reporter: but it's offstage where it all begins. this is actually the basement of my house. this is pretty good, like, i

would be like 30 minutes -- >> reporter: 30 minutes? truth be told, he's an odd mixture of qualities. total totally self-confident in areas -- >> i have to run and sing. >> reporter: do you sing on this thing? >> it's a good idea. >> reporter: i want you to lift something heavy. not me. and just a little bit shy in others. >> i can do some pull-ups or something. >> reporter: i like that. i want to see bulges muscles. come on, kenny. >> do this. right? >> reporter: yeah. >> and just -- like -- whoa, okay. >> reporter: wow. i'm trying as hard also i can. >> i don't believe you. that's part what we do to get ready. >> reporter: the fact he made it as a country singer is pretty amazing. the product of a little town in tennessee, chesney had dreams of playing professional football. but his light stature, he's only 5'7", worked against him.

the guitar didn't care how tall he was. he first picked one up in college, and has been writing songs ever since. many of them deeply personal. one of my favorite songs of yours is "i'm alive." ♪ i'm alive >> i wrote "i'm alive" on my boat in the virgin islands. and going through, looking back, not one of the best times of my life. >> reporter: you just broke up with renee. >> yeah. we had just split. you can focus on all the negative things in your life so much that you almost become it. >> reporter: the annulment of his famously short imagine to renee zellweger after just four months was a painful period. so, the beauty of seven years and 20/20 hindsight, what did you learn from that whole experience? >> i like to think i've gotten better. >> reporter: can you talk now or is it still too hard? >> there's really no reason, no.

we can if we want, but -- >> reporter: how about romance? girls want to know. are you dating somebody? >> um -- i was. yeah. now i have poncho. >> reporter: the dog. never lets you down. >> it is interesting to date when you already have a mistress. and my mistress is music. >> reporter: is it easier in some way to have that relationship with the 70,000 people than with one? >> believe it or not, there's a very intimate thing about being up there with thousands of people in front of you and singing a song. there's something in having them accept it and give back because, you know what? you give all yourself for two and a half hours and they give you everything for two and a half hours. but that's all either party expects. ♪ whatever makes you feel like a rock star ♪ >> reporter: and so he's on the road this summer with his old buddy tim mcgraw. feeling like a rock star. and, yet, there is the uneasy

sense that even with all the fame, the money and his famously laid back image, there is still something he's looking for. what do you want that you don't have? >> hmm. i don't know. i -- i'm never content, i don't think. >> reporter: an unquiet soul. >> you know how a shark always moves. i feel that way. >> reporter: that's going to shock a lot of people. >> maybe. there is a part of me that starts to wonder what i'm missing out on. ♪ >> reporter: perhaps it's that sense of longing, of dreams not yet totally fulfilled that makes him so appealing to so many. somewhere with you. ♪ somewhere with you >> reporter: for "nightline," sit cynthia mcfadden in nashville. >> kenny's new album "welcome to the fish bowl" is the in stores