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American Morning

Protests Turn Deadly in Bahrain; Getting Serious About Painful Budget Cuts; Walkout in Wisconsin; Senator Scott Brown Reveals Sexual Abuse as a Child; Computer "Watson" Crowned Jeopardy King; Gas Average 3.14 and What's in Store for Your Money; Interview with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

Aired February 17, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

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T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Good morning. It is the latest clash point. Riot police swarming in and confronting demonstrators with tear gas, a peaceful protest turning deadly overnight. We are live from Bahrain on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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HOLMES (on-camera): And good morning to you all on this Thursday, February 17th. I'm T.J. Holmes.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We begin the hour with a major crackdown on anti-government protesters in the Arab world, this time, with deadly results. It's happening in Manama, Bahrain, where thousands were gathered for peaceful demonstrations, and then, this happened.

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CHETRY (voice-over): Witnesses say that soldiers and riot police suddenly moved in overnight, firing tear gas and rubber bullets in an effort to drive protesters from their encampment. Some of the protesters were women and children. Some were sleeping at the time of the attack. At least, three people are dead this morning.

HOLMES (voice-over): Also, journalists have been trying to cover the unrest there as well, including ABC News correspondent, Miguel Marquez. He was in the middle of this and was beaten. It was all caught on audio tape because he was filing a report over the phone.

Take a listen at this terrifying scene.

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MIGUEL MARQUEZ, ABC NEWS REPORTS: Go, go, go! It was a canister that looked like -- we told -- no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. Look out. Journalist, journalist, journalist! Journalist! No, no, he said no. He said no. He said no. He said no! No, no, no, no.

I just got beat 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 VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We can report this morning that Marquez was not seriously injured, though, that was a terrifying scene to listen to. He's also tweeting this morning says, quote, "Sunrise over Manama. Some traffic returning as a new and uncertain city and country wakes up."

CHETRY: Our CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson was also in that protest camp when that happened and he joins us from Manama this morning. So we got a taste for how it must be for protesters and journalist as like. What was it like being there last night, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, hundreds if not more 1,000 police were armed with rockets and tear gas launchers came on to the crowd of protesters at 3:00 in the morning. They were sleeping. This is a very large number of police, a very organized operation and riot police. They had perhaps well over 100 police vehicles in the area and cordoned off the pearl roundabout which has become the Tahrir Square, as we saw in Cairo, had become the central gathering point for protesters here.

We went to the emergency room and I witnessed many people with all sorts of injuries, injuries to leg, chest, arms, even head injuries as well. We know that three people have been killed and the hospital workers told us that several hundreds were wounded.

The interior ministry here in Bahrain has now announced that two people were killed and 92 wounded. The Interior Ministry also says that a number of Interior Ministry personnel, the police, were injured as well. They say about 50 police were injured. They say they found guns, knives, and Hezbollah flags at the protester's camp.

We just saw the flags at Bahrain. This is what the Interior Ministry is saying, and there was also a statement from the army this morning, telling people not to go out on the street, not to congregate because it's not good for the country and it could be dangerous.

We are seeing this morning as well more than 50 army armored personnel carriers with heavy machine guns drive down the deserted main highways here and take up position in the center of the city around the area of that roundabout area.

CHETRY: So certainly a tense situation in Bahrain, certainly, a lot of fear out there these supporters attempt to try to continue. We're going to continue to follow this story. Nic Robertson for us, thank you so much.

This crackdown on anti-government protests spreads to Yemen as well where police opened fire on demonstrators in the capital city of Sana'a. CNN is looking to confirm reports that one person was killed as well. It would be the first known fatality after a week of demonstrations in the Yemen city. Police are chaining the gates to keep students from pouring on to the streets. And in Libya this morning pro-democracy activists are calling for a day of anger, demonstrators clashing violently with police. The first real challenge to Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi who has been in power since 1969. He calls from the demonstrators -- he's calling them actually puppets of the USA and Zionism and vows they will fall.

HOLMES: Back to the U.S. A big domestic story, protests in one state capital many fear could be culling to your capital as well. At least 15 school systems in Wisconsin have canceled class for today. Teachers and other public employees are walking off the job. We're expecting to see more of this today.

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Now, thousands of teachers called out sick yesterday, 10,000 protesters at the state capital. You see some of the anger playing out here. State workers are challenging the new Republican governor, Scott Walker. He wants to take away a lot of the collective bargaining rights of the teachers' union and other public employees. He wants them all to pay for more benefits.

He's trying to balance a budget a budget that's going to see $3.5 billion in deficits over the next couple of years. He also wants to keep from laying people off. Those are he's two options, do this or lay people off. The president is calling this as an assault on unions. Our Jason Carroll is here with this story for us today. It was really remarkable to see that scene.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Looks there's a lot of tension on both side, but the reality is, some tough decisions can have been made. This is a bill by Wisconsin's Republican governor Scott Walker. It proposes to fix the state's budget problems some say by weakening organized labor.

At least 10,000 angry union workers, including teachers and protesters, supporters, protested the Bill at the state's capital yesterday. School has been cancelled in Madison, Wisconsin, because so many teachers called out sick.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agonized over it. I don't think there's a single teacher that can stand down here saying 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 citizens of Wisconsin.

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CARROLL: Well, just some of the things that the bill proposes. Union workers would have to contribute more to their pensions and health care benefits. The bill limits the union's ability to bargain for wages and bans them from making members pay dues. It also forces them to organize annually. Some of the protesters believe the governor is using the bill to try and break the union.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to kill this bill. If this bill passes it is the end of collective bargaining for all public employees. And then it will really be the end of collective bargaining for all employees because the governor won't just stop there.

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CARROLL: Well, again, the governor is basically saying this is the only way to try and avoid layoffs. He also argues there's no money to bargain with. The state is looking with a $137 million budget shortfall and a $3.6 billion deficit over the next two years. He says this proposal will help bring the public sector benefits in line with the private sector.

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

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CARROLL: Well, the governor says the legislation will save the state about $30 million between now and the end of June and an estimated $300 million during the next two years. The bill is expected to be voted on today in Wisconsin's Republican-controlled state Senate.

But once again, you're looking at a situation where obviously cuts need to be made. Other states, take New York State, for example, they're looking at laying off teachers. This is what the governor in Wisconsin is trying to avoid.

HOLMES: We're going to have this conversation with the education secretary Arne Duncan who is going to be joining in about 30 minutes here. So this is one of the things we'll ask him about. Jason, we appreciate that this morning.

That story Jason was talking nab New York City, one out of the every 12 New York City teachers may be losing their jobs. Mayor Bloomberg set to release his new budget today, saying he is forced to make some serious cuts, calling for some 4,666 teachers to be laid off. Another 1,500 teaching positions would be eliminated by attrition.

CHETRY: The FBI is heading up a joint task force to investigate the shooting death of a U.S. immigration agent in Mexico. This attack happened Tuesday. A large group of gunmen forced two ICE agents off a well-traveled road about 20 miles north of Mexico City. Both officers were then shot. One of them survived and has been released from the hospital after being treated for gunshot wounds to the leg.

Special Agency Jamie Zapata of Brownsville, Mexico, though, was killed. He was shot five times in the abdomen. It's the first time ICE agents have been attacked like this in Mexico.

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MICHAEL J. FISHER, U.S. BORDER PATROL CHIEF: We have been constantly vigilant in our surrounds and how we deploy and make sure the border patrol agents who are working in remote areas and sometimes alone that they're trained best which I think they are and are equipped the best which we continue to do to respond accordingly, because quite frankly that's our mission and the American people deserve no less.

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CHETRY: The FBI will be working with investigators from the Justice Department and homeland security now to track down the gunmen.

HOLMES: Well, would TSA officers have been arrested at JFK international airport in New York. Why? They were caught stealing some $40,000 from a bag last month. That's according to authorities. Prosecutors say the two men scanned the bag. It went through an x-ray machine. They saw there was money in it. Then they tagged it and went and found the bag later and took the cash.

Now, another twist to the story. It was $40,000 in cash in this bag, but there was a lot more cash in there. Police are now saying this may have been dirty money in the first place. The bag they stole from may have been linked to drugs.

Meanwhile, this comes just a few days after a TSA supervisor admitted taking kickbacks from a colleague who stole thousands of dollars at Newark International Airport.

CHETRY: Half a million baby bassinettes are now being recalled. The consumer product safety commission is warning that the bassinettes made by Burlington Basket Company could collapse if they are not properly assembled. The affected models have folding legs attached to the basket with white plastic pins you can go to the website Burlingtonbasket.com.

We're also going to be talking more about this with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He joins us at 7:50 to talk about what the dangers are and the injuries associated with playpens and how to make sure to keep your little ones safe.

HOLMES: It's 11 minutes past the hour now.

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CHETRY: Next on "American Morning," they're saying thanks but no thanks. Three different governors, but the most recent is Florida's governor saying no to a high-speed rail line in his state, turning that down as well $2 billion in the process. We'll explain why.

HOLMES: Also, a stunning revelation from U.S. senator Scott Brown, a secret he said he never even told his mother. It's 12 minutes past the hour on this "American Morning."

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HOLMES: A quarter past the hour here on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Senator Scott Brown is revealing that he was sexually abused as a child. He's saying he's speaking up now, hoping it will help other victims. Our Jim Acosta joining us with this story live from Washington.

Jim, good morning to you. I guess, why now is the first question?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's got a book coming out and he's running for re-election next year, so he is opening up a bit more about his life. And, you it's interesting, T.J., since he won that huge Senate race in Massachusetts just about a year ago and it was just about a year ago, Scott Brown has kept a bit of a low national profile. He doesn't do many interviews. He's following what's referred to as the workhorse, rather than show horse model for freshman senators. But all that is changing in a big way with an interview that airs on "60 Minutes" on Sunday. Sitting down with Lesley Stahl, Senator Brown talks about the physical and sexual abuse he suffered as a child. According to a clip of the interview released by "60 Minutes," Brown says he was sexually assaulted when he was just a child by a camp counselor who threatened to kill him if he ever told anyone.

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LESLEY STAHL, "60 MINUTES": You tell us that you were actually sexually abused. More than once.

SEN. SCOTT BROWN (R), MASSACHUSETTS: Yes. Fortunately, nothing was ever fully consummated, so to speak, but it was certainly, back then, very traumatic. He said, if you tell anybody, you know, I'll kill you. You know, I will make sure that no one believes you and that's the biggest thing. When people find people like me at that young vulnerable age who are basically lost, the thing that they have over you, is they make you believe that no one will believe you. You know, you can't --

STAHL: So you never reported it?

BROWN: No. My mom will read about it for the first time. My wife has read about it. No, no, I haven't told anybody. That's what happens when you're a victim. You're embarrassed. You're hurt.

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ACOSTA: Brown also told Stahl he was physically abused by one of his stepfathers. He says he'd like to buy the house where that abuse occurred so he can burn it down. These dark moments in Brown's past are included in a new book from the senator. "Against All Odds" is the title. "My Life of Hardship, Fast Breaks, and Second Chances." And the book comes out next week. He goes on a tour. All of this setting up his re-election campaign. He's expected to run for re- election next year, T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Jim Acosta. Stunning development out of Washington, D.C. today. Thanks so much.

CHETRY: Florida Governor Rick Scott rejects plans for a high-speed rail line to run between Tampa and Orlando. He turned down $2 billion in federal stimulus money in the process. The governor says he's worried about the project running over budget and saying Florida taxpayers can't afford that. He becomes the third Republican governor to reject the White House initiative, joining Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker and Ohio's Governor John Kasich, dealing a significant blow to President Obama's hopes for a national high-speed rail network.

HOLMES: And you have probably noticed that gas prices are going up and we're getting not even close to that driving season, spring, summertime, so just how high are we talking about? Christine Romans "Minding Your Business."

CHETRY: And teachers walking out in protests in Wisconsin while thousands face job cuts in New York. Ahead, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is going to talk to talk to T.J. about where all of this is headed.

Eighteen minutes past the hour.

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CHETRY: Twenty-one minutes past the hour. And it's a victory for artificial intelligence. The IBM supercomputer known as "Watson" beat two former jeopardy champs in a historic match of man versus machine. The three-day battle was a bit one-sided. Watson earned a total of more than 77,000 bucks. Ken Jennings, the runner-up, won just $24,000. Fresh off of his win, "Watson" then headed over to Conan, where he tried to charm his way into replacing Andy Richter.

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CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": Watson, congratulations on your big "Jeopardy" victory last night.

WATSON, COMPUTER: Thank you, Conan. You of all people must know how it feels to be at the top of your game.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Well, thank you. Thank you very much, Watson. I salute you, sir.

WATSON: Conan, if you have time, I'd love to hear another one of your funny monologue jokes.

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HOLMES: That's good. I hadn't seen that yet.

CHETRY: And he's a supercomputer on his own.

HOLMES: Yes. Well, also here, we want to follow up now on the miracle on ice that took place in Indianapolis just over the weekend. This $50,000 hockey shot. Have you seen these yet? We always see these events they do at halftime or intermissions of these games where somebody comes down and makes a shot and you win money. Well, this guy made that shot from the length of the hockey rink. Supposed to win $50,000. Supposed to win $50,000.

Well, the 73-year-old man, Dick Marsh, said he was going to give that money to charity. The insurance company refused to pay out the $50,000. Why? They say he was over the line from where he was supposed to shoot. So we're talking about literally two feet that made the difference.

Well, now the hockey team, the hockey owners of the minor league team, they've stepped in and said they would donate money to the hospital, to the charity he wanted to donate to but we don't know how much money. But the insurance company that did not pay still has not come forward. Hasn't been revealed just yet. We're looking for you.

CHETRY: That's a little outrageous.

Well, will Congress make the tough choices to stop deficit spending? I'm going to be joined by Jeff Flake. He's going to talk to us about whether Republicans are willing to touch programs like Medicare and social security. The congressman joining me in just a few moments.

HOLMES: Also, things took a turn in Bahrain. After days of peaceful protests, they have now turned deadly. It's 23 minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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HOLMES: It's now 25 minutes past the hour now. You have probably noticed that prices are going up at the gas station. AAA says the price for a gallon of regular is up overnight to more than $3.14. Some analysts say it could go a whole lot higher than that.

CHETRY: Yes. $3 a gallon -- over $3 gallon gas at this time of year. What does it mean for the summer, Christine?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I know. It looks like gas prices are going to keep going up. And the reason really is Egypt and some of just in case is what one analyst, Tom Kloza said, said, just in case there's going to be supply disruption, you've got prices moving higher here.

Last year, 2010, you had a gallon of gas going for $2.60. Now, it's $3.14. Tom Kloza at the Oil Price Information Service is saying maybe $3.50 to $3.75 by the spring. That's his prediction. But he says you're probably going to see the highest prices earlier in the year and then things are going to come back down a little bit later.

But look, from November to now, you've seen these gas prices moving up to 28-month highs now. So gas prices have just been crawling higher here. And this takes money right out of your pocket. This is why this is so important. You feel this. This is the first thing in your kitchen table economics, your family budget that you feel. So just so you know, gas prices like a lot of other commodities moving higher.

Now I want to talk about stocks because stocks have been moving higher too. Stocks are at a two-year high just like gas prices are at a two- year high. Yesterday, I sat down with Nouriel Roubini. You guys know him. He's "Dr. Doom," they call him, because he was one of the very few voices who predicted some calamity in the economy and the financial system, and he was right. I asked him if stock can keep going higher.

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NOURIEL ROUBINI, ECONOMIST: They can go up for the time being because the economy is recovering, and that's positive for the market. We've got many risks in the U.S. economy. We have high-unemployment rate. We have the housing market already double-dipping. We have the problems of state and local government. We have the federal budget problem. And we're not doing anything about these issues. So for the short term, yes, the market can go higher.

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ROMANS: So stocks can go higher but there are a lot of those risks and you heard him say we're already in a double dip in housing. He later told me housing is a disaster. So there you go. He was sitting with Ian Bremmer from Eurasia Group. They're talking to me about their new -- a new piece they wrote for "Foreign Affairs" magazine called G-0 (ph). There's nobody -- there's no grownup in the world. No G-20, no G-7, G-0. So we'll talk a little bit more about that later.

Anyway, morning market check right now. Two-year high for stocks. As I told you yesterday, 12,288, up 61 points. The Nasdaq at 2,826. S&P 500 at 1,336.

Folks watching the futures this morning a little unsure. Looks like they could step back a little bit here. You've got the Fed chairman, the treasury secretary testifying. We've got some data on manufacturing. We also have some data on inflation today. So a lot of things out there. Just like Nouriel Roubini said, yes, stocks can go higher but there are a lot of risks in the economy.

HOLMES: All right. And when do we usually -- well, nobody likes to give a number. We heard someone, I think, a few years ago, talking about $5 a gallon gasoline.

ROMANS: Yes.

HOLMES: They're talking about that.

ROMANS: There are people, and the former president of Shell says if we keep going on the path we're on right now, you're going to see $4, $5 a gallon gas within the next couple of years simply because there's so much demand in the world for gasoline and basically the same amount of supply. So right now, we have kind of weak demand in the U.S. as recovery continues. A lot of folks thinking you could see gas prices moving higher. Tom Kloza, who I quoted earlier, he says that highest prices will come earlier in the year. So you'll hit them and then it will go back down.

HOLMES: They've been wrong before. All right.

ROMANS: I know. I know you're right.

HOLMES: Christine Romans, we appreciate you as always.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

HOLMES: Thanks so much.

A quick look now at some of the stories making headlines.

Bahrain, things took a turn in this Persian Gulf country. Overnight, police and military moved in to crack down on protesters who had been gathered there in the main square. They fired rubber bullets and tear gas. Three people at least killed. Hundreds more reportedly hospitalized.

CHETRY: Well, two TSA officers arrested for allegedly stealing from passengers at JFK airport in New York. They were arrested after 40 grand turned up missing from a bag last month. Prosecutors say the two men scanned the bag with an x-ray machine, then swiped the cash. Met in the bathroom, divided it up. Hid it in their clothing and moved on, but then police say that the men confessed to other thefts as well that could total as much as $160,000.

HOLMES: And take a look at these pictures. Can you make out what those little specks are?

CHETRY: Sharks.

HOLMES: If you were trying to -- they're not quite jaws, right? But still, a shark is a shark. Right?

CHETRY: Yes.

HOLMES: Thousands of them about 50 yards off the Florida coast. They were off the shores there, West Palm Beach, within 100 feet off the Boca Raton inlet. That is a spot divers like to dive. Sharks this time of the year looking for warmer waters and getting them closer and closer to Florida shores.

CHETRY: Wow. All right.

Well, President Obama, he says that it's time to get serious about making the biggest most painful cuts in spending. Even though his budget proposal failed to touch the big ticket items like Medicare, Medicaid and social security. Here's what the president said when he talked to a reporter in Cincinnati.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When are you and Congress going to get started on the solution?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're starting now. I mean, the conversations have already begun.

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CHETRY: So joining me now is Republican Congressman Jeff Flake from Arizona. He's on the House appropriations committee. And you think the president's budget is not getting serious when he proposes cutting $1 trillion over a decade when we run a deficit of $1.5 trillion per year. Are Republicans willing to get serious?

REP. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: Yes, we are. Paul Ryan is the chairman of the budget committee, and he's going to be presenting a budget that does touch the entitlement programs. We got to do it. As you mentioned, we're doing over $100 billion right now in discretionary spending. It's a heavy lift on discretionary spending. But we know that's not where the money is. You've got go after entitlements.

CHETRY: You've mentioned Congressman Paul Ryan and you actually signed on to Paul Ryan's Road Map for America's Future, as it's called. It does take on entitlements but in some controversial ways that you talked about partially privatizing social security, which is, of course has been a huge lightning rod before.

Turning Medicare into a voucher system and lowering benefits for some people. Can you go back to the constituents in Arizona and sell that and still get elected, re-elected?

FLAKE: I wouldn't describe the road map exactly like that. But I can tell you, if we move now, we can ensure that those who are in their retirement years right now, or entering them soon, will not be changed at all. They can stay in the current program. But if we wait, we're going to have to spread it across everyone.

So the faster we move, the more we can protect those who are currently in the retirement years. I can tell you in my district, and just about every other, grandparents and those who are retiring want the best for their kids and grandkids. And they don't want to leave a system that simply isn't solvent. The one we have will not be solvent for very much longer.

CHETRY: What did I describe in the road map that you don't think is correct?

FLAKE: Well, the word "privatize" I don't think is quite accurate. What it says is if you're under 55, you'll be able to take a portion of what you're currently paying into social security and you'll be allowed to control that. Or at least have better options than we have right now, and that will be a property right for you that you can give on to your heirs.

But the word "privatization" sometimes assumes that we're simply taking it out. It's no longer a government program. It's no longer a core savings. So it sometimes is used to strike fear into the hearts of people, when it shouldn't. CHETRY: Right, and I did say partially privatizing, but in a way that is the same thing, not meant to strike fear, of course. I want to ask you about this interesting article in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning about a plan that's being mulled over by a small group of senators but this larger proposal could come to a larger group of senators, both sides of the aisle.

What it would to is trigger automatic new taxes and automatic new spending cuts if Congress fails to meet certain targets that are aimed right now at trying to bring down the deficit. Would you support that?

FLAKE: I would certainly support that. When we raise the debt ceiling, we've got to tie that to spending cuts and also spending caps. We used to call them the Graham-Redman-Hullings kind of rescissions where if we don't hit certain targets, automatic decisions happen. I'm not in favor of applying that to raising taxes. I don't think we have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem, but certainly to put a cap on spending I would.

CHETRY: I want to ask you about a different topic right now because it's gotten attention out of a new poll that says the majority of Republican primary voters are now birthers. And this is according to the new public policy survey, only 28 percent of people who say they are going to be voting in the primary that were asked in this poll, believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States. 51 percent don't. And 21 percent say they're not sure. You basically have a combined 70 percent of people who don't strongly believe that the president was born in the United States. What is your reaction?

FLAKE: Well, I have a hard time believing that poll. I think that most people understand and accept the reality. The reality is that, yes, he was born in the United States. And so I hope that's not an issue going forward.

CHETRY: The alarming part, I guess, I mean, you can say you don't believe this poll, but they've asked people this ever since this "birther movement" started getting more attention. And it's actually grown. The number of people who don't believe that the president was born in the United States among a certain segment of the population has grown.

Why do you think or do you think there's not enough, I guess pushback, from elected members and from our politicians to say that this simply isn't true? Do you think that for some people fanning the flames of this is actually politically helpful?

FLAKE: It's not. If you want pushback, I'll give it right now. Barack Obama is a citizen of the country. We ought to get off this kick. And there are plenty of differences we have with the president between Republicans and Democrats than to spend time on something like this.

CHETRY: Well, great to talk to you this morning. I thank you for your time, Congressman Jeff Flake from Arizona, member of the Appropriations Committee. I know you guys have a lot of work ahead of you as well. Thanks so much for joining us.

FLAKE: Thank you much.

HOLMES: Also coming now, if you've seen those massive protests in Wisconsin, also thousands facing layoffs in New York, the Education secretary, Arne Duncan, will join us next to talk about what we have been seeing across the country.

Also, some stunning results of a new study of the number of infants who suffer crib injuries every year. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be along with those details.

It's 35 minutes past the hour.

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HOLMES: There won't be school today in many parts of Wisconsin. Thousands of teachers have walked out. They called in sick and they have been protesting at the state capitol, upset with the governor. Scott Walker and his plan to try to take away collective bargaining rights for the teachers' union and other public employees.

He says he's trying to balance the budget and avoid layoffs. But Wisconsin not the only place where we're seeing these kind of scenes play out you as the president trying to get the country back on track when it comes to education.

HOLMES: Let me bring in the president's point man when it comes to education -- Secretary Arne Duncan, the Secretary of education.

Sir, good to see you, as always. We appreciate you being here.

All the talk is what's happening in Wisconsin right now. You were at a meeting in Denver this week where you talked to labor and also management about labor and everyone has to make a sacrifice. But still, you said you would stick up for those teachers' unions where governors are trying to do what they're doing in Wisconsin. The president called it an assault on unions.

So you plan to talk to the governor of Wisconsin today. How will you stick up for the teachers' union?

ARNE DUNCAN, SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: Well, we are talking later today. But I just think that teachers who are teaching our children across the country are doing probably the most important work in society.

And we have great, great public school teachers in every state around the country, including Wisconsin. I've visited many schools in Wisconsin. We have to work together to educate our way to a better economy.

So I'm hoping the situation in Wisconsin could come to a good, positive resolution. But where we're fighting each other, where we're divisive, where we're demonizing or vilifying any ground, including unions, I don't think that helps us gets us where we need to go as a country. We have to support the extraordinary hard work, the extraordinarily important work that teachers are doing around the country every single day, often in very challenging circumstances.

HOLMES: And I think would everyone would absolutely agree with you there, the work that teachers do. At the same time, you said we don't need to demonize teachers' unions.

Do you think that's what the governor of Wisconsin is doing, by trying to do to get together to bring down a $3.6 billion deficit. He has to cut somewhere?

DUNCAN: Absolutely. These are tough times at the local level, at the state level, at the federal level. As you know, President Obama called for a two-year freeze in federal worker's salaries. So these are very, very tough times. The question is not how difficult they are, the question is how do we work together to do the right thing for our children and the right thing for our country?

Our children have one chance to get a better education. The fact of the matter is many countries are out-educating us. And the president said repeatedly that the countries that out-educate us today, are going to outcompete us tomorrow. So we have to work together to get to the right outcome.

Go ahead, I'm sorry.

HOLMES: No, no. Secretary Duncan, is it demonizing a teachers' union by asking them to make concessions when the president says everybody has to sacrifice and everybody has to give. But when a teachers' union is asked to do so -- you use the word, it's demonizing?

DUNCAN: No, I think, we all -- again, we all have to move. And we just came off a very successful two-day labor management conference in Denver, where we had 150 school districts from around the country. School superintendents, school board presidents and union presidents all coming together to say, how do we provide the best education for our country? That kind of collaborative work, that building of trusts, that building of relationships, I think is so critically important to helping every single school in this country become a great, great school.

HOLMES: Well, let's turn to what's happening here in New York City now, where Mayor Bloomberg presenting a budget a little later where he's anticipating asking for some 6,100 teachers' jobs to be cut. The president talked about out-innovating and out-educating and making investments in education.

But when cities and states have to cut jobs like this, where can they possibly make investments right now?

DUNCAN: Yes, well, these are very, very tough budget times, again at every level, the federal level, the state level, the local level. But this is a test of creativity, this is test of ingenuity. In tough budget times, how we invest scare resources says a lot about our priorities. So we have to continue to invest in early childhood education. We have to get our babies, our three-year-olds, our four-year-olds off to a great start. We have to continue to invest in K-12 reform, not in the status quo, but this new vision of where education can be. And we have to continue to make college more accessible and affordable.

And so the kind of priorities we're trying to put in place at the federal level, we'd love to see states and local districts give every single child a chance to fulfill their academic and social potential.

HOLMES: Last two things here to you, sir. And back to Wisconsin, but other states are doing it as well, Tennessee, Idaho had these proposals to take away the collective bargains rights of teachers' unions, other public employees. Wisconsin said it would save them some $300 million.

Should that absolutely off the table in the administration's opinion, the collective bargaining rights should not be taken away even if it saves a lot of money in the budget?

DUNCAN: Well, I thinks again, collective bargaining can be a part of the solution. It was really interesting, T.J., we had 12 districts from around the country present what they're doing to dramatically improve student achievement. And every single one of them had used the collective bargaining vehicle to help them be more successful.

So again, when folks build trust, when everyone moves outside of their comfort zones, collective bargaining itself can be a change for positive change, rather than a change for the status quo. That's the kind of forward thinking we need.

HOLMES: All right. And one last thing to you, sir. And I'm going to give you an opportunity here to be the recruiter in chief, if you will.

There's so much talk in this country about our best and brightest don't go into teaching for a number of reasons, including it's not that lucrative down the road. So many people when they do get into teaching, they do it because they get a sense of service. They know they're not going to make a lot of money.

But what I'd like you to do right now, appeal to the best and brightest in this country, why they should get into teaching, this day and age, aside from that sense of service. But, given all the cuts we're seeing in education and the debates and divisiveness we're seeing, why it's worthwhile to do it today?

DUNCAN: Well, the media loves to play whether it's the (INAUDIBLE) and divisiveness, it's actually extraordinarily important rewarding, fantastic work going on classrooms every single day. Teaching is probably the most rewarding profession you can have. If you want to make a difference in student's lives and children's lives. If you want to help build a stronger country, there's nothing more important you can do.

Over the next four to six years, we're going to need to hire a million new teachers. We have a baby boomer generation that's moving towards retirement. So even in tough economic times, this is an extraordinary opportunity to come to the profession, to help children learn and grow, to help strengthen our country and we have to have the next generation of talent come in.

We actually have some very, very innovative new teacher contracts around the country where fantastic young teacher, 28, 29, 30-years olds can make $100,000 a year. So you shouldn't have to take a vow of poverty to become a teacher. We have to continue to invest in our teachers. And you're seeing those opportunities more and more become the norm.

HOLMES: Well, Secretary Duncan, it is a just a gargantuan challenge that everyone has here to improve education in this country. And you are at the forefront of it.

We appreciate you taking time.

And I want our viewers to know, as well, that something else that you're doing to try to get people to innovate. The president is going to -- you can compete to have the president come give the commencement address at your high school. I want our viewers to know you can go to whitehouse.gov/commencement. And I'm going to tweet and Facebook that out, as well, Secretary Duncan, so people know about that program, as well.

But, we appreciate you taking some time out for us this morning.

DUNCAN: All right. Thanks so much. Have a great morning.

HOLMES: All right.

CHETRY: Generation Y. We're facing hurdles in the recession, of course, but things may actually be looking up for young adults just heading into the work force. That's some good news finally. We're going to have more details about that.

HOLMES: Also, there has been a change that means you don't necessarily have to be obese to qualify for lap-band surgery. We'll explain this. It's 10 until the top of the hour.

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HOLMES: Just about eight minutes to the top the hour now. Alarming new numbers of babies being injured crib-related accidents. This comes to us from a new study that says 26 a day, on average.

CHETRY: And the study was published in the Journal of Pediatrics. And our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Atlanta with details.

You know, we hear about the cribs, the drop side cribs. Now they're talking about bassinets as well.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

CHETRY: What is causing all of these injuries?

GUPTA: And I should point out as well over the last day 500,000 more bassinets voluntarily recalled. These seem to be some pretty alarming numbers. It has everything to do with the construction of the crib to what's inside the crib, to whether the crib is, in fact, tall enough to accommodate the child.

And everyone says that the crib is the safest place for a child to sleep. That's still true, but the numbers that we're quoting from this electronic injury surveillance system says up to 10,000 children go to the emergency room from crib-related injuries. That doesn't even account for children who are injured but don't actually go to the emergency room.

What appears to be happening is kids more than anything else, either they're becoming entangled in the crib, trapped in the crib, or most commonly, actually falling out of the crib. Now, children are top- heavy. I mean, their heads are bigger than their bodies, especially at that age. So when the crib railing's not tall enough or the mattress is too high, the kid seems to be more likely to fall out.

So, this is this particular organization, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is paying attention to because these are very preventable injuries, obviously, in a very vulnerable population.

CHETRY: What do parents do then to prevent these injuries?

GUPTA: Well, you know, some of it's going to be pretty common sense. You don't want to sort of, you know, make up exactly how you're putting this crib together. Know, there are exact instructions. So poor construction a real concern.

But also making sure the crib is as bare as possible. The things inside the crib can be a real problem. Making sure it's not close to windows or blinds because children becoming entangled in just some awful injuries coming as a result of that.

The mattress height, as a general rule you want the mattress 26 inches below the top rail of the crib. But, you know, obviously if the kid is taller, again, keeping in mind how top-heavy they might be, you got to take that into account, as well.

And there are recall lists, as well. I mean, there's been more than 11 million either cribs, playpens, or bassinet recalled over the last several years. So, you know, you got to keep an eye on those lists as well.

I have three kids. You know, we keep an eye on those lists and it is one of those terrible things to think about, that this is a place where you put your kid to sleep. But you have to make sure it's as safe as possible.

I think keeping it bare inside, Kiran, this may be something you thought about this, as well. People put stuffed animals in there or even the little bumpers around the side or lots of blankets. That's something you don't want to do because of the types of injuries we're talking about.

CHETRY: Yes. They can use them to climb -- stack them up and try to get out of the crib, which can happen, as well.

HOLMES: All right. One other thing before we let you go.

I know you've been following the story of Gabrielle Giffords, the Congresswoman.

GUPTA: Yes.

HOLMES: She is now in rehab. You continue to follow her progress.

GUPTA: We were just there. We just got back from Houston. I got some really interesting insight and some views and exactly what the doctors down there are doing to try and restore her function. We know what happened in Arizona. We were there, talked about how they saved her life. Now it's a question as they call it return her to her new normal.

I got a chance to meet with the doctors, the therapists and see the exact equipment and the techniques they're using to do just that. We're going to have that for you tomorrow, as well.

CHETRY: All right. Sounds good.

Sanjay Gupta, great to see you, as always. Thanks.

GUPTA: You, too. You got it.

CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. Your top stories in two minutes.

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