the first photo from the first spacecraft ever to orbit mercury. it's part of the planet nobody has ever seen. nasa releases a bunch more later today. but we begin this hour in syria. the latest arab nation to have protests and violence. the government has resigned and new concerns hang over a country that the united states has long accused of terrorism. this morning syria's president said his country is being targeted by foreign enemies. >> translator: we always wanted to protect ourselves such as to protect ourself from people coming from outside and you know that we are now -- conspiracy worldwide conspiracy and this is events on what is happening in the arab world. >> sounds just like hosni mubarak, doesn't he? zain verjee is live in london. he mentioned reform and when he threw in the worldwide conspiracy thing, that was disturbing. is this what the united states was hoping he'd say? >> reporter: no. it's not what the u.s. was hoping he'd say. it's not what the syrian people were hoping he'd say, or the rest of the middle east that was looking toward the speech as really a significant benchmark to which direction syria would go. carol, this was a defiance speech. no major concessions and the message here was loud and clear. this is about survival of the regime of bashar al assad and clear, too, he wanted to stay and fight the emergency law that everyone fought. maybe he is actually going to lift it. did not happen. so that means the regime is able to use a very serious and dangerous tool where they can just detain people at their own whims and keep people in check that way. i spoke to one analyst who said if you're anyone in damascus today and you heard that speech you would probably think twice before getting out on the streets to demonstrate because the security services have a brutal history of cracking down really hard. the syrians know the reality on the ground. and it can be dire consequences. >> it sounds so much like what happened in egypt. it's eerie. how worried should the united states be about syria, though? >> reporter: you know, for the u.s., this is really important. syria is in the middle of the middle east so that means anything that happens in syria is going to have a significant and important impact on the rest of the region. the u.s. cares about that because it has very crucial security interests, as well as energy, oil interests. syria a big buddy of iran and if the syrian regime were to go down, it would affect their best friend iran. so the u.s. would probably be okay with that. the other important thing to note is that syria sponsors hezbollah and the united states has designated hezbollah a terrorist group and syria is a state sponsor of terrorism. these are really important developments happening right now and what happens in syria is really going to affect things. bashar al assad in this speech we were watching made it pretty clear without saying it that he is no hosni mubarak of egypt. he is going to stay and fight. many analysts say that syria isn't even libya. it's even tougher and harder to crack. >> fascinating and scary. of course, you'll be keeping a close eye on it for us. zain verjee, many thanks. nine patients dead and others infected with bacteria at several alabama hospitals. several officials think the i.v.s might be to blame. elizabeth cohen is here to tell us what happened. this is frightening this could happen in a hospital what happened was is that they checked these bags after people died. they said what is going on here and they all were given i.v.s with bags from the same company and they found that there was a bacteria inside called seratiamarsesessions. you know in your bathroom where the grout gets grimy? that is the bacteria. >> how does that happen? >> that is the million dollar question. it was supposed to be sterile. they don't know. was a worker not washing his hands. was the raw ingredient contaminated. nobody knows and what they need to find out. >> this contaminated liquid pumped into the veins of nine patients or more. >> 19. >> 19 patients. >> right. >> at what point did hospital officials realize that something was wrong, that these patients were failing? >> well, they usually see, we're told by the state of alabama, like, let's say, maybe one case of this happening with this particular bacteria. when they started to see more than one, they said, wait a minute. something is going on. it took them a while but they figured it out. it's not going to happen any more. they figured out what is causing it and put a stop to it but nine people are already dead. >> some are in critical condition. >> those ten are not doing terribly well, we're told. >> just awful. i guess i should ask this. like, i mean, no way you can prevent such a thing from happening. >> you and i talk about all the time the ways you can be an empowered patient. i'm here to say you can't in this situation. if someone puts an i.v. into your arm and bacteria is coarsing through your veins, there is nothing you can do. >> elizabeth cohen, thank you. >> thanks. turning to the crisis in libya and what could be the hint of a dramatic shift in strategy. for the first time white house is saying it could provide weapons to the rebel fighters. here is what president obama had to say. >> i'm not ruling it out but i'm also not ruling it in. we're still making an assessment, partly about what gadhafi's forces are going to be doing. >> talk of arming the rebels comes as gadhafi troops are are pushing back the opposition and wrestling towns from their control. cnn's nic robertson is in tripoli with the latest. nic i want to get into arming the rebels thing. what weapons do they have now and what weapons would they want? >> reporter: well, we have seen them with rockets which are long-range weapon that can fire multiple rockets, perhaps 15 miles or so which will explode and bring down the wall of a house, that sort of thing. that is perhaps the heaviest weapon. we have seen them with tanks as well which will do a similar job but perhaps be slightly more destructive. what the rebels seem to lack, their principal sort of military asset that is missioning beyond the numbers and beyond not having enough of these sort of heavier weapons is their ability to use them while in the field in numbers. numbers of rebels who they can sort of put into the fight in a coordinated way. what they would need is more heavier weapons and more advanced weapons technology so they could essentially see where they are firing, perhaps they could get that information from coalition forces to know what they were targeting 15 miles further up the road where they were firing these weapon systems. but in real-time. but the analysis that most people seem to accept on the ground here is that even if you arm the rebels, it's going to take a long time to train them into an efficient fighting force. you're talking about several years to be on a level playing field with gadhafi forces. we know from the coalition meeting in london yesterday that the desire to remove gadhafi from power is probably on a much shorter time frame than several years. the military steps to help the rebels can only be a part of the solution it could seem here. carol? >> in essence is wouldn't matter if the coalition armed the rebels or not? >> reporter: it would matter in the long term and this begs perhaps more deeper and more significant questions. are you -- is the international community prepared to accept and see a divided libya over an extended period of time with the problems that that may bring. wider conflict throughout the country. perhaps a space for al qaeda elements to grow and get stronger or be it much smaller at the moment but they would take advantage of that kind of situation. there are no guarantees when you get into -- when you get into war on the ground. who is going to win, who is going to lose, what are some of the outfolds, the repercussion you don't know. people call it the fog of war. so if you arm the rebels you might be able to hold that front line at the moment for a while before they would be ready to push gadhafi forces back which would take -- but what happens in that intervening period and these are the questions that are very likely going through the minds of president obama and other leading politicians around the world. what are you setting the stage for? because even if you arm the rebels it's not going to give you the immediate victory you're looking for. >> plus the fact we don't know who the rebels are. nic robertson reporting live from tripoli, thank you very much. we are keeping a close eye on capitol hill. top administration officials will give lawmakers a briefing on the issues in libya. libya is providing the backdrop for president m obama and a speech he is due to give later this morning and that speech will focus on america's energy security and it comes amid two major stories that could shape energy policy. the first, the instability in the arab world and the concerns that are pushing up oil and gas prices. the other, the deepening crisis in japan and renewed concerns about nuclear power as an alternative energy source. we will have live coverage of president obama's speech at georgetown university, scheduled in a couple of hours at 11:20 eastern and 8:20 pacific. next hour, we bring on bill nye, the science guy and ask him what the president needs to tell the nation and talk about how the white house has a cursed hand when it comes to energy policy from aftershore nuclear power and greenhouse gases. coming up, concerns on how they are sleeping in the japanese nuclear plant and what they are eating. a traffic stop years ago comes back to haunt ohio's embattled governor who is locked in the grips of a tough budget battle. >> police officers are used to being called names. i don't think they are used to being called names by the governor of the state. >> this idiot pulled me over. >> yeah, he called him an idiot. ohio labor unions are using this video to push back on deep budget cuts. that's just ahead, too. fiber one chewy bar. how'd you do that? 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[ male announcer ] fiber one chewy bars. workers struggle to prevent a shutdown, the company's president is out of the picture now. here is what is new on the crisis this morning. the president of the tokyo electric power company is in the hospital. an official says the president is being treated for fatigue and stress and he is expected to stay in the hospital for several more days. new concerns about the spread of radiation. greenpeace says it has detected high radiation in a town 25 miles from the fukushima plant. a town official says radiation levels are decreasing but green pace says the evacuation zone needs to be expanded. iodine in ocean water near is plant is 3,000 times the normal level. that is a new high. workers are, of course, trying to keep radioactive water that is in a tunnel from leaking into the ocean so we want to bring in meteorologist rob marciano to talk about these tunnels. where exactly are they? >> well, they are not tunnels that are supposed to carry water. that's the main thing. they are pretty much tunnels that you have as infrastructure or substructure like tunnels that, you know, under new york stock exchange new york city that have piping and electric wiring and that kind of thing. these are the tunnels we are speak about. these are filled with water. they have been dumping water in to cool out the reactor core and then you have the radioactive water already in there. some of that water, you know, if they can't transport is out of there, they have a hard time doing that. some of that assumingly has been drifting and pooling in these tunnels. like all substructure type of tunnels they need some sort of draining in the event water gets in there and some of those drainch tube you would assume gets out into the ocean and no confirmation of that. when you're talking about 3,000 times now the radioactive iodine that is in the air -- it's 131 has half life of eight days but seemingly keeps replenishing it. low doses it can cause cancer and in high doses it can kill cells so something not to be messing with and we have to assume it's getting into the seafood directly around that plant. >> we also assume it's difficult to plug a leak in a tunnel full of radioactive water. >> for sure. >> rob marciano, thanks. >> you bet. in time for fatigue or the stress for hundreds of workers inside the fukushima plant. they are sleeping on lead mats in corridors and in stairwells and getting two rationed meals a day. crackers and juice for breakfast and canned foods for dinner and no showers. moisten wipes are used for bathing. the japan cabinet secretary says they are working on the conditions which he calls regrettable but an american scientist says they are inexcusable. >> we are almost three weeks into this now. in my view, there is no excuse. people need to realize these workers are the life blood of this recovery effort and it's a global issue, not just an issue for the japanese people. in my estimation, the global community needs to stand up and support these guys. >> can you see where he is coming from. listen to these e-mails from two of the workers. one writes, my parents were washed away by the tsunami and i still don't know where they are. and from another plant employee, crying is useless. if we're in hell now, all we can do is crawl up towards heaven. from rust belt to bust belt. ohio's governor feeling a war with union workers there. what he called a police officer years ago and what is being made of it today. that's coming up just ahead. plus newly released video of a man on a lawn mower trying to outrun the police. come on! we got to show you! we'll tell you how this wild chase ended after the break. but what we'd rather be making are tee times. tee times are the official start of what we love to do. the time for shots we'd rather forget, and the ones we'll talk about forever. in michigan long days, relaxing weather and more than 800 pristine courses make for the perfect tee time. because being able to play all day is pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. stories making news across the country. in florida from st. petersburg, albert witted airport. a aircraft is short of the runway. it crashes into the water. both pilot and passenger are a-ok and mechanical trouble is suspected. two weeks after the tsunami that hit the u.s. west coast, the cleanup job in cress sent ci crescent city, california. piles of debris. police released this dash cam video of a man who led them on a short chase while on a lawnmower. police opened fire on him after he made aggressive move on them with the weapon. turns out the man on the lawnmower had a pelt gun. a review board cleared both officer' acttions. a nickel sized hole that turned up on this boeing 737. it appears now to be a bullet hole. officials believe it was a random event. a new poll showing the tea party is slipping away maybe because of couple of tea party backed governors are trying to balance their budgets and the kind of language they are using. like ohio's john casic who infamously called a cop an idiot. >> reporter: three years ago, before he became governor, john casic was stopped by a columbus police officer for a routine traffic violation. >> i have this idiot pull me over on 315. >> reporter: flash forward to 2011 just days after sworn in, he told a group of state employees the officer was an example of how not to deal with taxpayers. >> he's an idiot! >> reporter: even though he later apologized it was a rocky start for a bold agenda. balance an 8 billion dollar deficit and a controversial bill to limit the collective bargaining rights for the state's bub workers. do you regret referring to that police officer as an idiot? >> i've already said that i do, yeah. . it was just -- it was a mistake, period. >> this is exactly what i'm seeing out the hood of my cruiser. >> reporter: the officer who pulled over kasich has the video to prove he was just doing his job. wh >> what bothers me about this he was treated professionally. >> reporter: but they wonder whether the governor respects public workers. >> police officers are used to being called names. i don't think they are used to being called names by the governor of the state within they work. >> reporter: it's gotten personal. >> but not with me. not with me. because first of all, i understand people who are concerned and upset and i respect them. >> reporter: a recent poll shows only 30% of ohioans proof of the job he is doing but this lifelong physical hawk takes comfort in knowing he's in the company of other new midwestern gop governors who are risking their own political skin to balance their budgets. >> i'm aware of the polls but my job is to lift ohio. >> reporter: kasich is arguing for bargaining limits. >> these are people that don't want any change. i mean, they have a good situation and they don't want it to change. >> reporter: the unions accuse the governors of turning the rust belt into the bust belt. >> a lot of lifelong public and police officers who said they will never vote for republican again. >> fascinating. jim acosta joins us now. i know ohio's collective bargaining bill will pass. i sort of want to get into the poll and what it means. >> sure. >> take a look at the poll. 47% of all americans have unfavorable view of the tea party movement and don't much like republicans or democrats either. as far as the tea party is concerned, why do you think its unfavorable numbers are rising? >> reporter: it's an important question, carol. you know, it is interesting to note here that the tea party, as you mentioned earlier, did back governor kasich in ohio and backed scott walker in wisconsin. you have to wonder whether or not there a little bit of a tea party hangover going on here. independents thought that perhaps president obama overreached with health care reform in the early months and years of his administration and now there may be some feelings among independent voters that perhaps these republican governors in the midwest are overreaching in the name of budget balancing, they are going after collective bargaining rights and it's not sitting well with voters. >> just to put this more into perspective. what might this slippage mean for the tea party movement and the republican party, frankly? what might it mean for the federal budget battle that's going to really heat up next week and, of course, 2012 presidential campaign? >> reporter: carol, i think it depends on what happens in all of these different battles. in ohio, as you mentioned, it looks like this thing is going to pass. so governor kasich is going to get a victory and if he can show he can get results in that state, then the voters may change their minds about him. as for what is happening in washington, it is almost impossible to predict what is going to happen. basically, we have a situation where totally gridlock is in effect right now. there is almost no chance that the budget cuts that the republicans are talking about right now, with the tea party at their back saying you got to do this, there is almost no chance of any of that getting past president obama's desk. so we're on the dark side of the moon at this point, when it comes to all of this stuff. how these battles play out, i think, will affect the public mood toward the tea party as we head into the presidential race next year and they are a crucial voting block torms what happens to president obama. >> i think our politicians have forgotten what the word compromise means but you're right, i think we're on the dark side of the mean and interesting to see what heats up in congress next week. jim acosta, many t