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Wisconsin Governor to Eliminate Collective Bargaining for State Workers; Study Says Some Restaurant Workers Come to Work Sick; Auburn's Famous Live Oaks Poisoned by Alabama Football Fan; Deadly Crackdown in Bahrain; Wisconsin Dems Skip Vote

Aired February 17, 2011 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, everyone, it's the top of the hour.

Looking at live pictures now in Wisconsin, right down from the capital. Look at all of those people out there. The crowds have been getting bigger by the day.

Days of protests now by teachers and members of the teachers union. The snow is not the problem there, nor the rain and it's way too soon for spring break. The reason that thousands of students in Wisconsin are spending one more day at home is because their teachers want to teach the governor a lesson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD (chanting): Kill the bill! Kill the bill! Kill the bill!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Kill the bill. They're saying they're fighting what Scott Walker, a Republican barely six weeks in office, is calling his budget repair bill. It would help close to -- close, I should say, $137 million deficit by Spring by stripping most public workers, including teachers, of most of their rights to negotiate contracts with the state.

It would limit collective bargaining to wagers only and sharpen drive up workers -- sharply drive up workers', I should say, contributions to pension funds and health plans. Pension contributions would jump from 0.2 percent to 5.8. Health contributions would more than double to 12.6 percent. The bill has cleared committee and goes today to the full state senate.

And Wisconsin isn't the only state trying to save money by reining in unions. Take a look at these states -- Idaho, Indiana, Tennessee and Ohio. They're also considering ways to give state officials much more power to dictate terms to teachers or public employees in general.

So back in Wisconsin, the teachers and the governor are standing on principle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agonized over it. And you know, I don't think there's a single teacher that can stand down here and say, I loved calling in sick today. However, this bullying needs to be taken care of, and this bully needs to be shown what it is that is important to the citizens of Wisconsin.

GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: There's got to be some fairness and we got to be in balance with where the taxpayers are who foot the bill for all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, we're going to talk with speaker, Jeff Fitzgerald, in one moment here on CNN.

First, we want to update you on some other big stories, though, happening throughout the world. Across the Middle East and North Africa, they have made for some dramatic sights and sounds in the past few days. In Bahrain, demonstrations had almost a carnival like atmosphere for days. But things can change in the blink of an eye, as you'll hear in today's "Sound Effect" from ABC correspondent Miguel Marquez.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, ABC CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE) No, no, no, no! (INAUDIBLE) Journalist! Journalist! Journalist! Journalist! Journalist! Journalist! No, no, no, no! Journalist! Journalist! Journalist! Journalist! (INAUDIBLE) He said no! He said no! (INAUDIBLE)

I just got beat (ph) rather badly by a gang of thugs. I'm now in the marketplace near our hotel, where people are cowering in buildings. I mean, these people are not screwing around!

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: Miguel Marquez was screaming "Journalist, journalist" in order to prevent from being attacked. And in a follow-up tweet he said, despite a few scary moments, both he and his producer are OK.

I want to check some other big stories this hour. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg just outlined his bleak budget plan to officials at City Hall. He proposes laying off nearly 4,700 teachers. Bloomberg says the reductions are necessary to make up for a $2.1 billion loss in state aid. The plans call for getting rid of an additional 1,500 teaching positions through attrition.

It looks like it's game over for a south Florida high school basketball team. A Miami appellate court judge on Wednesday overruled a circuit court's ruling that kept the state's top-ranked team in the playoffs. Now, the team's senior guard, born in the Bahamas, was deemed ineligible to play by the state's High School Athletic Association because proper immigration papers weren't filed. The school, Michael Crop (ph) Senior High, could face fines. The last thing the TSA needs is more bad press but they're getting it, with the arrest of two officers at JFK Airport in New York. The men were arrested on Wednesday after $40,000 went missing from a checked bag in January. Prosecutors say the two men scanned the bag, swiped the cash, met in the bathroom, and then they divvied it up. Police say the pair has confessed to even more thefts at the airport. Stay tuned for that.

And we want to know what you think. If captured, should Osama bin Laden go to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay or be tried in the U.S. courts? Head to Ali's blog at www.cnn.com/ali to join the discussion, and we'll read some of your comments right here on CNN right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: He is the world's most wanted man, but what happens to Osama bin Laden if the U.S. nabs him? We'll go straight to Gitmo -- he'll go straight to Gitmo, according to the CIA chief. Leon Panetta told the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday if bin Laden or his deputies are found, they'd likely be airlifted go Guantanamo Bay. So what about President Obama's campaign promise to close the military prison? Defense Secretary Robert Gates admitted today those prospects are now, quote, "very, very low." The bounty for Osama bin Laden, in case you're wondering, 25 million bucks.

On line, we have been asking you where you think Osama bin Laden should go once he's captured, the military prison at Guantanamo Bay or tried in U.S. courts. The results are pretty split between the two so far on Ali's blog, Facebook and Twitter, as well. Brian posted this on Facebook. He said, "Guantanamo Bay. If they brought him here, I would fear his people would come to free him at all means necessary." Here's what Kevin says. "I'd like to see him tried in lower Manhattan." While most of the votes were for the other category, most people said he shouldn't be captured alive. Most everyone said he should be killed on the spot and not tried for his crimes.

And to join this discussion, make sure you head to Ali's blog, CNN.com/ali, or check out his Facebook or his Twitter pages, @alivelshi.

You know, a lot of us have toughed it out and gone to work when we are sick. Not the best idea, especially if you work at a restaurant. Wait until you hear what a new study turned up on sick servers. It will turn your stomach.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I want to catch you up right now on some of the top stories of the day. A brutal night in Bahrain's capital as riot police crackdown on anti-government protesters. The death toll's at least three, with some reports now saying five people have been killed. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been in touch with Bahraini officials. She urged them to show restraint with the protesters and for police who use excessive force to be held accountable. Angry crowds turn out for a third day in Madison, Wisconsin, furious over the governor's proposed changes for public workers. He wants them to pay significantly more towards health insurance and pensions. He wants to strip their unions of most collective bargaining rights. Now, according to Governor Scott Walker, the changes are pretty much mandatory to deal with Wisconsin's giant budget deficit.

The Department of Transportation just hit Delta Airlines with a $2 million fine. The government says the carrier didn't meet regulations covering passengers with disabilities. Specifically, Delta failed to help passengers needing assistance getting on and off airplanes and often didn't respond to those customers' complaints. Delta Airlines hit with a big fine over that. We'll follow that one.

Our Chad Myers is here now to talk weather. Chad, we have been getting a lot of the snow on one side of the country and sweltering heat on the other. It's a great day here, though, right?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, we had snow in Oklahoma and Texas only a week ago, and today we're going to be in the 80s, melting all of that snow.

LEMON: Wow.

MYERS: Here's the snow now here. The low pressure, the trough where the cold air is, is out in the west. It's Reno, it's Tahoe, it's Sacramento with rain and San Francisco, as well. You get up above about 3,000 or 4,000 feet, Don, and that's, of course, all snow, and that's going to be the case for most of it. We get a little bit farther up to the north into parts of Oregon, seeing the snow, as well. But that's only in the higher elevations.

And we had some rain showers into LA, even a couple of rescues down here in parts of LA because of the heavy rain showers that we had there yesterday. We're going to move you back out and show you where the heat is here. Heat -- Kansas City, Memphis. Look at that! Like you just said, Atlanta 71 degrees today, 74 in New Orleans, 77 in Tampa, and very pleasant in Miami, as well.

Sunny and warm in the East. That's what we're going to see for the next couple of days, a beautiful couple days in the Northeast. But then this cold front starts to push its way on by, and as it does, today and tomorrow will go by the way of the cold front, and colder weather comes in for the weekend.

LEMON: So nice to see those words, "sunny and warm" in the East!

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: Punxsutawney Phil right for at least a week.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: We'll see if it holds.

LEMON: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: We'll see you.

LEMON: It is beautiful here today. Oh! We need it.

OK, let's talk about this. We kind of know what's going on, but we really don't want to know about it, food servers and cooks with stomach bugs still coming to work. Check please! Or maybe no check. Researchers studied food-borne illnesses, talked a lot of restaurant -- about a lot of restaurant staff, and talked to them. What they found really not very appetizing.

And our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is all over this one. So Elizabeth, is this really widespread? Please don't say yes!

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's not horribly widespread, but you really should know about it because it's not exactly rare, either. So take a look at this. What this study found is that 12 percent of restaurant employees in this survey -- survey over nine states -- showed -- I mean, indicated -- they actually said that they have come to work at least twice over the past year vomiting or having diarrhea, so actively ill and they are still coming to work.

Now, 12 percent doesn't sound like much, but you know, jeepers, think about how much we all eat out. You know, the chances that you're going to run into one of those workers is, unfortunately, actually relatively high -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Elizabeth, thank you very much. We appreciate you joining us here today and telling us about this really kind of gross story. Glad it's not widespread.

OK, let's move on now. We told you at the top of the hour about what's happening in Wisconsin. You see the live pictures there. Members of the teachers union out for the third day, protesting the governor's plan to add more money to what they have to pay in order to get their benefits. And they're upset about it. They say it's union busting and they're not going to stand for it. The governor's only been in office for six weeks.

We're going to talk to Scott Fitzgerald. He is the speaker of the Wisconsin house. And we also want to tell you there's developing news when it comes to that. He's going to join us live. But again, getting new information about developing news, how they're getting some of those senators to work who are not there, and they expect a vote on what the governor wants shortly. We'll see if it's under way and we'll talk with Mr. Fitzgerald. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, back now to the story that led this newscast. We've been talking a lot about the uproar in Wisconsin over the governor's attempt to help close a budget deficit by restricting collective bargaining rights for teachers and other public workers. A bill to be voted on soon in the state senate also would sharply increase worker contributions for pensions and health insurance.

And this just in to CNN. Because of the protests that we have been showing, that have been going on there for three days with thousands of people, thousands of teachers in that union, the state guard has been called and the state patrol, Wisconsin state patrol called in to escort senators, who are not at work right now, to work, into the Senate. Again, no vote has happened yet. It's scheduled today. So that's our developing news on this.

And you know what? Governor Scott Walker isn't the only target of public worker outrage. The Fitzgerald brothers are taking a lot of heat, too. Jeff and Scott are the Republican leaders of the Wisconsin Assembly and the Senate, and Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald is on the phone with me now from Madison.

So Mr. Speaker, thank you for joining us. I know it's a bit of a tumultuous time there for you. The governor says, and I quote, "For us, it is simple." Do you agree?

JEFF FITZGERALD (R), SPEAKER, WI STATE ASSEMBLY (via telephone): Yes, I do agree. You know, we're facing a $3.6 billion deficit, and what we're doing is trying to ask, you know, public employees to help pitch in. We're asking for them to contribute 5.5 percent in their pension and 12.5 percent on their health care costs. And if we do this, we can avoid massive layoffs here in the state of Wisconsin and really, you know, try to solve a budget deficit without raising taxes here, you know?

There's a number of protesters that have been around the capitol for the last few days. There's about 300,000 public employees in the state of Wisconsin. And you know, we're averaging probably anywhere from 10,000 to 13,000 a day. But I can tell you that, you know, there are 5.5 million people in the state of Wisconsin, and on November 2nd, you know, they sent a mandate to us that they wanted us to solve a budget deficit without raising taxes and to get people back to work, to get the state moving in the right direction again (INAUDIBLE)

LEMON: So listen, I understand what you're saying, but to get this many teachers out, to get this many people out three days in a row, with the weather there and with this current economic climate -- people are concerned about their jobs and they don't want to make a wrong move. That says a lot about how these people feel about it, whether it's, you know, 5,000, 10,000 or 30,000. Even if there are millions of people in the state, that's a lot of people out there to be protesting. You understand that, don't you?

FITZGERALD: Yes -- actually, it's not, when you look at a percentage. There's 300,000. There's maybe been 30,000 in the last three days. So you know, it's barely 10 percent of all of the public employees throughout the state, and that's 5.5 million people.

LEMON: OK. OK. The head of the teachers union says the budget argument is a smokescreen, Mr. Fitzgerald. He calls the bill an attack on all labor organizations. Is that the true aim?

FITZGERALD: No, it's not. Collective bargaining stays in place in this bill. They are able to collectively bargain their wages. So you know, that -- it's not a smokescreen. It's really asking those folks to do their part. You know, We've had 180,000 people lose their jobs in the state of Wisconsin in the last two years. We've had over 80,000 foreclosures here in the state. So you know, those private sector folks are hurting, as well. So us asking them to pitch in on, you know, some of their benefits and pension -- you know, I don't think real people in Wisconsin think that that's unreasonable.

LEMON: OK, listen, if the bargaining restrictions, Speaker, and higher worker contributions are modest, as the governor says, and will save a lot of money, then why exempt police and why exempt firefighters?

FITZGERALD: The real reason is exactly what's happening now. It's a public safety issue. We have heard that there's possibly going to be walkouts in correctional facilities. And the fact of the matter is, these people are the first responders. And there are not enough people to replace these if there was a walkout with police and fire. So it's really a public safety issue, and that's what the governor thought, and it possibly could happen here (INAUDIBLE)

LEMON: But to the members of that union, what they think, I'm sure, that you're saying to them is that the police and firemen are more important than the teachers, who are part of the future and who are educating their children. That's what the teachers, I'm sure, are thinking when you say, you know, We're going to exempt the firefighters and police because we don't -- you know, they're the first line. Teachers may feel they're the first line, as well.

FITZGERALD: It comes down to a public safety issue. You know, if the, you know, people walk out of a correctional facility and there's nobody to guard the inmates, you know, we're going to have to have people (INAUDIBLE) and do that. And that's what we'll have to do. So it's obviously a public safety issue, and it's something the governor chose not to exempt those folks so that we wouldn't have a walkout from that angle.

LEMON: So Speaker, you're in the capitol now, I would imagine. I'm hearing some noise around you. Are you out among the protesters or you're inside? What's the atmosphere like there?

FITZGERALD: Yes, it's a very charged atmosphere. There's a lot of people protesting. And we're actually in caucus right now, with my caucus, discussing the bill. And we'll be going to the floor later today, hopefully, or we'll see when the Senate convenes again.

LEMON: What time do you think? Do you think it will happen today?

FITZGERALD: I'm not sure because right now, we have a situation where Democrat senators are not coming to the chambers and we think have possibly left the state. So we're waiting to see when the Senate bill would come over. They have to have 20 members present to be able to vote on a bill and send it over to the assembly. So we might take up the bill ourselves (INAUDIBLE) assembly, and you know, we kind of can pass those bills back and forth, depending if the Democrats ever show up (INAUDIBLE)

LEMON: OK, listen -- all right, so is this breaking news? The Democrats are there -- are they not showing up on purpose? And is this going --

FITZGERALD: Yes, absolutely. The rumor is that they left the state, actually, so --

LEMON: So that they -- so that there wouldn't have to be a vote on this bill?

FITZGERALD: No, there will be a vote. But you know, if they don't show up for work here real soon, you know, the issue could be forced. But obviously, there's a call at the house put in place, is what it's called. And then that is put out for law enforcement to go retrieve those senators who have left and bring them back to the chambers to vote.

LEMON: OK. So obviously, listen, we're going to try to get in touch with some of those Democrats to get a response because, as you're saying, they've left the state and they're trying to --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: They're trying to avoid a vote. They're trying to prolong it. Let me get this right. They're trying to prolong it, you believe, but most of all, avoid voting on this?

FITZGERALD: Yes. Absolutely. They -- you know, the rumor is they all got on a bus, or I don't know how they got, and literally left the state. So you know, people elected them to do a job, and obviously, they're not going to show up for work, so --

LEMON: OK. All right. Well, listen, as you said, it's just a rumor. We don't know. We're going to check with the Democrats there and find out --

FITZGERALD: I would check. It's a pretty good rumor.

LEMON: Yes. OK. Jeff Fitzgerald joining us on the phone now. He is one of the leaders of the Wisconsin assembly and senate. As you know, they're having huge protests in Madison, Wisconsin, for three days now. They're upset about the governor, Scott Walker's, proposal to change in some ways their benefits and to try to, as they say, they believe that he is union busting. Again, we'll get the Democratic response, work on that for you in Wisconsin.

In the meantime, the 130-year-old live oaks on Auburn's University campus poisoned. Can they survive? And who would do such a thing? We're going "Off the Radar" next. Chad Myers is going to help.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, we're going to go "Off the Radar" now. There has been an arrest in the poisoning of 130-year-old live oak trees on the campus of Auburn University. So what is the poison? What is it, and what does it mean, Chad Myers?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Alabama -- you got the Crimson Tide and you have the Auburn Tigers. You know, it's a feud that's as big as any in the country.

LEMON: Right.

MYERS: We'll fly you into Auburn and Toomer's (ph) Corner, 130- year-old live oak trees, beautiful live oak trees. And they don't go dormant in the winter. This isn't just like some cottonwood that hasn't been growing for three months. These live oaks continue to have leaves all year long. And this is the problem. An herbicide, a very deadly one, not something you buy at Home Depot to kill the weeds in your lawn but literally a tree killer, a woody brush killer, has been spread on the trees here. Found out from a radio interview --

LEMON: Guy called in, right?

MYERS: -- said, Hey, look what I did. I killed your trees. And they go, Well, when did you do that? And he said, Well, after, you know, Alabama lost to Auburn a couple months ago. And they go, A couple months ago? Now what are we going to do? They went and they dug the dirt out, tried, and took samples --

LEMON: Wait a minute.

MYERS: -- and it's in there.

LEMON: And so where -- you were going to in the beginning of this, it was a rivalry. They believe someone from Alabama, because of the huge rivalry, did this? That's what he said -- during the loss of -- you can assume that.

MYERS: Assume. A 62-year-old unemployed man from Dadeville (ph) (INAUDIBLE) just on the radio one day said, I went down there. I only live 30 miles from Auburn. I went down there and I killed those trees. They may not be dead yet, but they're going to die.

And all the arborists and the people at Auburn, they don't know what to do. There's such a lethal dose of this herbicide in the dirt that there's nothing that they can do right now. They're going to try to take some away. But you can't start just start ripping away dirt from the roots --

LEMON: Right. Right. Right.

FITZGERALD: -- right, because then you kill the tree anyway!

LEMON: Right.

MYERS: But this happened in Austin, Texas --

LEMON: Really?

MYERS: -- years ago, when they killed or tried to kill the Treaty Tree. Now, they say that they put sugar on the roots. They put mist over the trees. What this herbicide does is it stops the photosynthesis in the leaves from making energy for the tree, and then the leaves fall off, and literally, the tree kills itself.

LEMON: Dies --

MYERS: It can't --

LEMON: -- from the inside out. It's kind of weird. It's almost like an immune deficiency disease for a human. It starts to work -- you can't get any nutrients. You start to die. It's the same thing. So it's really nothing they can do.

MYERS: Some of the people that we talked to and were listening to at the press conference were literally in tears --

LEMON: Oh, my gosh.

MYERS: -- when the questions came about, Can you save this tree, because they don't think there's a lot of hope. They're certainly going to try.

LEMON: But they know the guy.

MYERS: He's under arrest.

LEMON: He's under arrest. They have the guy. He's under arrest, 9 years, right?

MYERS: He's supposedly in jail. And that's probably a good place for him at this point in time. That may be his safest place.

LEMON: Yes. Chad Myers, what a shame. All right. Thank you very much.

We're definitely going to follow this one.

Catching you up on some of the big stories that you may have missed this hour:

At least 15 school systems across Wisconsin have canceled classes today as teachers and other public employees continue protesting a bill that would strip them of most of their collective bargaining rights. The measure would also increase what they pay for benefits. Republican Governor Scott Walker says the legislation is needed to help tackle the state's budget crisis. Opponents say it is an attack on unions.

Military vehicles patrol Bahrain's capital today after a deadly overnight crackdown on protestors. Security forces moved in as many demonstrators slept. Witnesses say they fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowds. At least three people were reported killed and more than 200 were hurt.

This is the scene inside one hospital's emergency room following the crackdown. People could be heard chanting inside the hospital. The Labor Department says 410,000 people filed for first time unemployment benefits last week, that's 25,000 more than the previous week. Despite the uptick, the numbers have been trending lower since August and many economists expect that trend to continue.

A disturbing study on teen drinking -- it's not just a phase. It's not just a phase. The new research finds a link between adult alcoholism and teens with drinking problems. The study was based on the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index, which is a self-administered questionnaire designed to measure drinking-related problems. The study showed that 52 percent of teens have drinking problems at age 18. And by age 25, 46 percent of teens surveyed met the criteria for alcohol dependence.

Some of you may remember him as Uncle Leo from "Seinfeld." Actor Len Lesser died on Wednesday in Burbank, California, from cancer- related pneumonia. In addition to his television career as a veteran actor and comedian, Lesser also served in the Army during World War II. Lesser's family told CNN he died in his sleep after breakfast and that his passing was very peaceful. Len Lesser, 88 years old.

The winds of revolt sweeping across the Middle East slam into the Gulf of Bahrain, and the government launches a deadly crackdown. Implications for the region and the Obama administration -- right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone.

The strategic gulf state of Bahrain is the latest Middle East country to hear the cry for democracy. And today, government security forces cracked down striking pro-democracy protesters -- men, women and children -- before dawn.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

LEMON: And here's what officials are saying. They're saying at least three people were killed and more than 200 injured. There are some reports of up to five people killed.

Similar pro-democracy demonstrations are also erupting today in Libya and Yemen.

And joining me with his take on all these developments, CNN International anchor and correspondent, and anchor of "BackStory" is Mr. Michael Holmes.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, on International. Good to see you.

LEMON: What's going on here, sir?

HOLMES: Yes, this was a really brutal crackdown that we saw happen there. Now, what's interesting -- let's talk a bit about the makeup of Bahrain. This is a place that is ruled by a Sunni monarch, has been for a couple of hundreds years. The majority of the citizens are Shia.

Now, so far, these protesters have been really careful to put forward a united nonsectarian front. One of the more worrying things about this, apart from the violence we've already seen, is the potential for the sectarian issues to rear up. The Shias there have long complained of being margin naturalized, discriminated against.

So far, the protesters putting forward that united front. Could that changing? Well, Shia politicians have already quit over this. So, we're going to have to see how that goes.

LEMON: We saw -- it made a big difference who the security forces were in Egypt, right?

HOLMES: Yes.

LEMON: So, tell us about the security forces there.

HOLMES: It's a really important point. And people should notice, unlike in Egypt where the army was seen as of the people, the security forces are dominated by non-Bahrainis.

Now, this is all linked to that sectarian issue. They come from Jordan, Pakistan, Yemen, even reports of former Baathists from Iraq. They're all Sunni imported for the job considered by many in Bahrain as mercenaries. Well, why were they brought in? Well, the king didn't want Shias running or even being in the majority in the security services.

LEMON: This is delicate for the U.S., isn't it?

HOLMES: It is. It is delicate for the United States. Of course, we've talked about the base there, 2,300, nearly 3,000 actually personnel there, most of them in the Navy. That's been there since 1948. It overlooks the world's busiest shipping lanes.

Forty percent of the world's oil goes through that area there, too. So, it's just a perfect little point.

Unlike its Persian Gulf neighbors, too, where Bahrain itself has little oil wealth, it diversified over the years, retail, tourism, banking -- big banking center there, main hub for the Persian Gulf Region actually.

LEMON: So, what about its neighbors? What about the neighbors? What does it mean? Are there any implications?

HOLMES: Yes. Well, there are actually. You know, they're right next door to Saudi Arabia.

LEMON: Yes.

HOLMES: The Saudis we talked before, you and I, about the Saudis being very nervous about these protests. They're actually connected to Bahrain, which is an island by a causeway. And they're worried about all of this spreading to their own Shias there, who are in the minority. There are also extremist elements in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Iran, well, they kind of loving this. They love watching this happen in the region. And they also have territorial claims on Bahrain, have done for many, many years.

LEMON: OK. So, they're supposed to be -- what is it, a big race there. It's a Formula One race set there to begin in March. What's going to happen?

HOLMES: It's not that huge in the U.S., but in the rest of the world, Formula One motor racing --

LEMON: It's big, yes.

HOLMES: -- I mean, for NASCAR, it's huge.

LEMON: Right.

HOLMES: And Bahrain has the first race of the season, meant to start March 13th. Big, big deal. Is that going to be at risk? We're going to see.

LEMON: So, Michael, let's move on because today, we saw more protests, more pro-democracy protests in Libya and in Yemen. And those in Libya calling this a "day of rage," really. Very rare since Libya strongman Muammar Gadhafi, you know, he doesn't tolerate these kinds of protests.

HOLMES: No. It's going to be very interesting to see how that develops in Libya, because we've seen what the Bahrainis have done and whether Colonel Gadhafi cracks down, as well.

The people there, the common sort of thread again -- they're upset about low opportunities, very young population. They're worried about, of course, democracy and they're worried about corruption, as well. So, we've been seeing a lot of concern there.

Yemen, more trouble today. That place is also a flash point.

LEMON: I was going to ask you, this -- it seems like the Arab nations -- Arab nations are learning, I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, are sort of looking at Egypt and saying, hey, if it can happen there, it can happen here. And, you know, everyone -- this is a question: is it going to spread? Are they learning from each other? And if it does, do they really know how to put democracy in place?

HOLMES: Well, that is -- that's a huge question. They are learning or they're being empowered if you like by what they're seeing in other countries.

LEMON: Right.

HOLMES: And they saw what happened in Egypt. And they're like, whoa, gee, if they can do it, then we'll start to do it. The downside is you're going to see more and more of the really authoritarian regimes like the Bahrainis and the Libyans as well, if they crack down in a more brutal way than we've seen already, look out, you know, because that's not going to be good for the region.

And the U.S., of course, having to walk that line we've talked before about the diplomatically.

LEMON: Diplomacy.

HOLMES: Bahrain is a friend of the U.S.

LEMON: Right.

HOLMES: But it's another one of these autocratic, you know, monarchies running things with an iron fist. So, U.S. has got to be careful. They backed the protesters eventually in Egypt. Not here -- not in Bahrain at the moment because it's a pretty important place for the United States.

LEMON: You know, Americans like to think it's all about us, right?

HOLMES: Yes.

LEMON: It's really all about the people there who want democracy.

HOLMES: Yes.

LEMON: But certainly, it's certainly -- it certainly puts the White House, shall we say, in a precarious position.

HOLMES: Very much so, Don. Very much so.

LEMON: Michael Holmes, "BackStory" -- when does it run on International?

HOLMES: Five p.m. Eastern on CNN International. Yes.

LEMON: Yes, I like watching it.

HOLMES: You're going to tape it.

LEMON: Yes. Get to work. Thank you very much.

HOLMES: Good to see you.

LEMON: Good to see you.

We have some developing news stateside here. Moments ago on CNN, you heard Wisconsin Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald say the Democrats aren't showing up to an a vote on a controversial budget. And after the break, we're going to have the response from the Democrats live on the phone right now. Stay with us. Just two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. We have some breaking news that we have been telling you -- that we have been talking about. We told you about the situation. You've seen the pictures in Wisconsin of members of the teachers union marching for three days now, protesting -- as many as 30,000 people, we are told.

We heard from the state assembly leader, the Republican state assembly leader there, just moments ago that he believed that Democrats in the House have left the state so that they wouldn't have to vote on this proposed bill by the Governor Scott Walker. And that they would prolong this in some way.

So, joining me now on the phone is Mike Browne. He's a communications director for the Senate minority leader, Mark Miller.

So, what's going on? Have Democrats, in fact, left the state and are not showing up at work today?

MIKE BROWNE, COMM. DIR., WIS. SENATE MIN. LDR. (via telephone): What I can tell you is that the Senate was convened at 11:00 this morning. A roll call was taken of the 33-member body, 17 members were present at that roll call. No Senate Democrats were present.

LEMON: OK. No Democrats were present. Do you know where the Democrats are? And just -- you know, don't talk around it, Mark. Do you know where the --

BROWNE: I'm sorry. I don't know where they are.

LEMON: But they haven't shown up to work?

BROWNE: They -- I have not seen any senators in the building today. No, I haven't.

LEMON: So, Mike, your boss released a statement today, the Minority Leader Mark Miller saying that the governor and the assembly leaders had to listen to the people and the unions. Tell us about what he meant in that statement.

BROWNE: Well, I think over the last several days, you've seen really tens of thousands of people here at the capitol and at meetings all across the state raising some pretty serious concerns about trying to rush a bill through in six days that basically undid 50 years of worker rights.

Also, of course, there are a number of other very harmful non- fiscal items in this technically what is supposed to be a budget repair bill. And there are serious concerns raised about what kind of policies they're trying to jam through the legislature in just a matter of days under the guise of some sort of budget bill.

Obviously, ones that have received the most significant coverage are those removing collective bargaining rights from workers, but I mean there are also provisions that would allow the administration here to essentially unilaterally without a vote of the either house of the legislature take health care away from folks and remove prescription drug care for seniors.

LEMON: OK, let me ask you this, so again, how many Democrats in the Senate?

BROWNE: There are 14 Democrats in the Senate.

LEMON: Fourteen Democrats in the Senate. None of them there now?

BROWNE: There were no Senate Democrats present at the roll call this morning, that's correct.

LEMON: OK. Is this how the Democrats there believe that they can conduct business? They have to conduct business? Maybe I should ask you why they feel have to do it by abandoning the state and going -- this is what we're told -- that they have left town, they left town on a bus? Do you know if they left town on a bus?

BROWNE: Again, I can't confirm. I have seen that reported that a Republican senator is saying that they all left town on the bus, but again, I can't confirm that for you.

LEMON: Why do Democrats feel they have to resort to this by basically abandoning their -- ?

BROWNE: This is again, as I said, the Republicans are trying to jam a bill through the legislature in a matter of days that undoes 50 years of worker rights. You know, it makes serious changes to programs that provide health insurance for children and prescription drugs for seniors.

And they have thus far been unwilling, the governor has stated proudly that he has not even picked up the phone and talked to workers about trying to find a solution that delivers some cost savings to the state budget. He has instead, and the Republicans appear to be interested in following him, on a massive overreach that instead of actually trying to negotiate or work with folks, you know, instead you take away their rights.

LEMON: OK. Mike, where are you?

BROWNE: I'm in the state capitol right now.

LEMON: You're in the capitol. Have you spoken to your boss in the last two hours? Have you spoken to him recently?

BROWNE: I haven't seen Mark today.

LEMON: Have you spoken to him? I'm not asking if you've seen him?

BROWNE: I haven't been in communication with mark today.

LEMON: No communications? No e-mails, no BlackBerry, no texts, no nothing.

BROWNE: Like I said, haven't been in communication with him today.

LEMON: Did he make you aware, any other Democrats make you aware of a plan to leave the state or to not come to work today?

BROWNE: Like I said, no, I don't have any information on where they might be.

LEMON: OK. Local reports are saying, Mike, that law enforcement officials are looking for at least one Democratic senator to bring in for a quorum required for a fiscal measure, but River Hills Republican, one of the Republicans there claim that on news radio all of the Democrats got on a bus and left town.

Do you know if police are looking or law enforcement looking for any if not all of those Democrats?

BROWNE: I mean, they haven't notified our office. But as I understand it, they have made a procedural move which is called a call of the house which essentially allows them to look for and try and bring members in.

LEMON: So you're at the capitol there. You haven't seen anybody show up. You haven't spoken to your boss. Have you spoken to any Democrats at all today?

BROWNE: I've spoken to other staff members but I haven't spoken to any Democratic legislators, no.

LEMON: Any of the other staff members have an idea where these people are or have had he heard about the plan?

BROWNE: Not that I know of.

LEMON: No one has heard about it. No one knows about it.

So then what's next then, Mike? What do you do? What happens now?

BROWNE: Well, you know, I mean, I think it the hope is that Republicans would start listening to the folks who have rallied here and have flooded our offices with calls and e-mails. And reconsider what they're trying to do.

LEMON: OK, Mike Browne, thank you. There are those demonstrators there.

Mike Browne is a communications director for the Senate minority leader, Mark Miller, in Wisconsin.

There's supposed to be a vote today on the governor's proposal to try to get the budget down. Thousands have been protesting, it is day three there of protests. I'm hearing as many as 30,000 people, union members have been out there.

The governor, Scott Walker, says that the -- this bill that he is proposing would go help to repair a budget that needs to be repaired. It would help close a $137 million deficit by stripping most public workers, including teachers, of most of their rights to negotiate contracts with the state. If we can look at some of those pictures there of the protesters in Wisconsin to show people just how upset and where this story is heading.

It doesn't look like it's going to end soon with all the Democrats supposedly, according to the communications director for the minority leader there, not showing up to work. Not sure if they're out of town.

So it includes teachers, it strips them of most of their rights to negotiate contracts with the state. It would limit collective bargaining, as well, and wages and on and on and on. And the folks are upset and you heard from the communications director.

That's new video in there of the protests.

They feel like they're not being listened to, the Democrats, by the governor or the Republicans. And so the Democrats appear to be MIA. More on this breaking news after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, we have breaking news on CNN.

You're looking at live pictures now of the Wisconsin state capitol. And in front of that capitol, in and around it all day, there have been protesters really for three days now, up to 30,000 people.

This is -- these are new pictures that are in from our affiliate WTMJ. Look at all those people protesting inside the capitol there.

Here's why, they're upset with their new governor, Scott Walker. He's a Republican, barely in office for six weeks. He's calling on some drastic reforms, they believe, a bill to try to close a budget gap there, $137 million deficit. So he wants to sort of strip most public workers, really the teachers, of their rights to negotiate contracts with the state. Bargaining power, all of that. The union members say they're union busting.

Here's the breaking news that's coming out of this story. We were told by the Republican assembly leader that no one, none of the Democrats, all 14 didn't show up for work. He believed that they were on a bus. They got on a bus and left the state to prolong this and to avoid voting for it.

When we spoke with the minority leader's communications director, the Democrat there, he said yep. He's not sure if they left the state, but they certainly didn't show up to work today, all 14 them.

Where do we go from here? Has this ever happened before? We're going to continue to follow this breaking news. Not going to get far from it, but want to bring in some other news, and it's political as well, real quickly as we get more information on what's happening in Wisconsin.

It's time now for your Political Update and our producer Shannon Travis is joining me now from the CNN Political Desk.

And, Shannon, we hear the president has some new friends now.

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: That's right, Don. You might say that President Obama is friending the co-founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. Not actually, but he will be meeting with Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs of Apple, Eric Schmidt of Google and some other tech executives out in San Francisco today. They want to talk about jobs, about helping America stay competitive and a few other things.

Moving on to Donald Trump, you know, the real estate billionaire, "The Apprentice" host. He's thinking about running for president as a Republican, he's been out recently talking about how conservative he is.

But I did some reporting on some of his past statements, measuring them up to his statements about how conservative he is. Take a look at that. You and our viewers might be surprised about what I found. It's on the CNN.com/politics page.

And, Don, you would think that anyone that showed up at the Grammys in an egg and wore a meat dress that everyone would know them, not so much. Our Ed Hornick actually has something up on the Political Ticker also about how Congresswoman Michele Bachmann doesn't quite know who she is.

LEMON: All right, thank you very much, Shannon Travis. We appreciate it.

Your next Political Update coming in hour.