Bloodshed in Bahrain; Wisconsin Workers Walk Out
HOLMES: Good morning. Chaos in Bahrain. Protesters and police in a violent clash and at least one American journalist caught in the middle.</s>CHETRY: Outrage in Wisconsin. Thousands of teachers walking off the job today over what they call a union-busting state budget.</s>HOLMES: And a bombshell from Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, revealing a dark and deeply painful part of his past. It's on this</s>AMERICAN MORNING.  CHETRY: Good morning to you. Thanks so much for being with you. We're following all the latest developments this morning that are changing by the moment, as protests continue throughout the Mideast on this Thursday, February 17th. I'm Kiran Chetry.</s>HOLMES: And good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. We're about to let you hear audio that really describes in a way that it's hard to put into words just how terrifying things are in Bahrain right now. We'll get to that in just a moment. But the bloodshed is taking place there now, after days of what were largely peaceful protests in the capital. Police then late last night moved in to crack down on protesters who were gathered in the main square. They were firing rubber bullets and tear gas. You can see and hear the chaos there. At least three people have been killed, hundreds hospitalized. And one ABC News correspondent, Miguel Marquez, was beaten. He was on the phone at the time, trying to do some reporting, and the whole scene was caught on audiotape. Take a listen.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, no. Journalist, journalist. Journalist, journalist, journalist, journalist. No, no, no, no. Journalist, journalist, journalist. Journalist. No, no.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said, no. He said no. He said no.</s>MIGUEL MARQUEZ, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I just got beat rather badly by a gang of thugs. I'm now at a marketplace near the hotel where people are cowering in buildings. I mean, these people are not screwing around.</s>HOLMES: "These people are not screwing around." We can report that he was not seriously injured, though you hear him say that he was beaten pretty badly. Much of the capital in Bahrain now on lockdown.</s>CHETRY: And the crackdown on anti-government protests is now spreading to Yemen where police opened fire on demonstrators in the capital city of Sana'a after nearly a week of demonstrations in major cities. Police chained the gates of Sana'a University keeping thousands of students from pouring on to the streets. Also, pro-democracy activists are calling for a day of anger in Libya where demonstrations have reportedly turned -- demonstrations have reportedly turned violent in clashes with police. It is the first real challenge to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (ph). He's been in power since 1969. He calls the demonstrators puppets of the USA and Zionism (ph) and vows they will fall. Our Zain Verjee is tracking the unrest in Libya. She will be joining us at 6:40 with the latest developments there.</s>HOLMES: Well, all of the unrest that's spreading in the Middle East, North Africa as well, it seems that the Obama administration had at least some sense that the potential for this was there. According to "The New York Times," a secret report was ordered by President Obama last summer of the potential for unrest in the Arab world. It was called "the presidential study directive." The report identified a number of countries, specifically, Egypt that could see revolts of sweeping democratic reforms were not adopted. The classified report sought proposals for how to push countries toward reform.</s>CHETRY: Schools across the state of Wisconsin will be closed today as thousands of teachers and other public employees prepare to walk off the job and protest again at the state capital. Forty percent of the state teachers called out sick yesterday. A lot of kids actually boycotted classes in a show of sympathy as 10,000 protesters demonstrated in front of the capital in Madison. State employees say they've got big problems with their new Republican Governor Scott Walker. Walker wants to take away their right to collective bargaining, while forcing them to pay a lot more for benefits. President Obama has called it an assault on unions. It's something teachers say they have to nip in the bud.</s>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 bullying needs to be shown what it is that is important to the citizens of Wisconsin.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.</s>CHETRY: So again, the governor's position on this is that they simply can't afford it and they can't continue to raise taxes so something has to be done. Wisconsin lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the governor's spending bill today.</s>HOLMES: Of course, you know it's not just Wisconsin. Tons of cities and states across this country struggling with their budgets right now. For example, let's take Illinois. Dealing with a $13 billion shortfall there. How to deal with it? The new budget calls for a lot of new loans. They hope to borrow $8.7 billion to try to pay the state's bills. Turn to Connecticut, $3.2 billion in deficits there. They have a new budget plan that would seek $1.5 billion in a tax hike. The increases there on the taxes include everything from personal incomes to pedicures. Now turn to New York City, where right now, up to 5,000 teachers may lose their jobs. The mayor, Mayor Bloomberg, is unveiling a new spending plan today that includes the potential for those cuts.</s>CHETRY: Well, he says he is coming forward to help other victims overcome the trauma. A stunning revelation for Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown. He spoke to "60 Minutes" saying that he was sexually abused in summer camp by a counselor when he was only 10 years old. Brown said he was told he'd be killed if he told anyone. Jim Acosta will join us in a few moments with a clip from that emotional interview.</s>HOLMES: This is not something any traveler wants to hear who has to check bags. Two TSA officers have been arrested for allegedly stealing from unsuspecting passengers at JFK airport in New York. They were arrested after $40,000 went missing from a checked bag last month. The prosecutors say the two men scanned the bag with an x-ray machine. They saw the cash in there, then they set up a plan to tag the bag and make sure they can go retrieve it later. Police say the men then later confess to other thefts that could total as much as $160,000.</s>CHETRY: The FBI is heading up a joint task force to investigate the shooting death of an immigrations officer in Mexico earlier this week. Special agent Jaime (ph) Zapata was killed Tuesday and another ICE officer was wounded when gunmen ran them off the road and opened fire north of Mexico City. The FBI will be working with investigators from the Justice Department and Homeland Security to track down those gunmen.</s>HOLMES: Well, they wrote it. Now, they've got to sell it. On Capitol Hill today, members of the Obama administration will try to sell the proposed budget to some skeptical lawmakers. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, and also the Defense Secretary Robert Gates all will be before different committees today in Washington.</s>CHETRY: The snow is piling up on the Sierra Nevada mountain range. This was the scene yesterday after nearly three feet of snow fell in the higher elevations. The storms made getting around pretty tough. They're celebrating though at the ski resorts, of course. The winter watches though are in effect until Friday. Rob Marciano is in the extreme weather center. It's always funny. I mean, you've got to put the chains on to get to the ski areas, right?</s>ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.</s>CHETRY: To get up to Lake Tahoe, but once you're there, you'll love it.</s>MARCIANO: You do. They had to deal with some wind as well. Powerful systems, guys, are rolling in the West Coast. For California, obviously the ski resorts are loving it but the entire state was in need of a little punch of moisture. They've had a dry few weeks here as far as the winter is concerned. But two to five feet of snow with the higher elevations, they'll take care of that in a hurry. One to two feet total expected in the Wasatch of Utah. Similar numbers probably in Colorado where in southern Colorado there are still blizzard warnings that are posted. Winds gust at over 100 miles an hour in parts of northern California, and over 60 miles an hour in Salt Lake City proper. So very powerful winds moving across the great basin and the intermountain west right now. A bit of a break precip wise today. But then will ramp it up again as we go through Friday and Saturday. Meanwhile, record highs continue to pile up across parts of the midsection. We'll talk about that and how warm it's going to get in the Big Apple later on today. T.J. and Kiran, back up to you.</s>HOLMES: All right, Rob, we appreciate you. We'll talk to you plenty throughout the morning. Thanks so much. Also coming up, he says he doesn't want to be president, but Governor Chris Christie, he just made a trip to Washington. And, whew, he had plenty to say, and he touched, yes, the third rail.</s>CHETRY: Well, Auburn Tiger fans, a campus site where students celebrate big wins desecrated. Nine minutes past the hour.