[Kaye:] Top stories now: the House has passed a Republican spending bill that calls for $60 billion in cuts. The measure now heads to the Senate where it's sure to meet heavy opposition from senate Democrats who call the cuts extreme. If lawmakers fail to agree on a budget and don't pass another temporary spending extension, the federal government faces a possible shutdown next month. Four Americans were on board a yacht hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. The yacht is owned by Jean and Scott Adam, a retired couple from California where they were on a worldwide voyage. It's unclear though whether they were actually on the boat that was taken. Protesters continue to demonstrate outside the state capitol in Wisconsin. Teachers and other state workers are upset about the governor's proposed budget. Among other things, it would cut public workers benefits and most collective bargaining rights in an effort to reduce the state's deficit. The protest isn't just about Wisconsin. The stakes are high for other states facing serious budget problems as well. Senior White House correspondent Ed Henry explains.
[Ed Henry, Senior White House Correspondent:] Randi, House Speaker John Boehner raised the stakes on Friday by charging President Obama and his allies are whipping up, what he called, Greece-style protests. And the Republican leader said this is undermining bipartisan efforts to solve these budget crises, not just in Wisconsin but all around the country.
[Henry:] Think this is just a narrow budget fight in one state? Think again.
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Some of what I've heard coming out of Wisconsin, where you're just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally, seems like more of an assault on unions.
[Henry:] The president knows Wisconsin is just round one in the national battle for control of the budget message. So he sent his outside political team Organizing for America to help build even larger crowds. And union officials are vowing to keep up the fight in key 2012 political battlegrounds. [on camera]: And this is beyond Wisconsin, it seems?
[Unidentified Female:] Absolutely. It is beyond Wisconsin. It is, quite frankly, throughout the country, whether it's in Ohio, New Jersey, New Hampshire. You see these attacks on workers.
[Henry:] Labor officials charge teachers in Wisconsin are being unfairly targeted for deep cuts. They get smaller raises, pay more out of pocket for pensions and health care and lose collective bargaining rights for both. Wisconsin's Republican governor Scott Walker staring at a $3.6 billion state deficit says he needs to cut somewhere. And he's getting air cover from House speaker John Boehner, who, like the president, knows Wisconsin is really just a proxy for their own showdown coming March 4 when funding for the federal government runs out and a possible shutdown is looming.
[Rep. John Boehner , House Speaker:] He was elected to lead not to sit on the sidelines.
[Henry:] Boehner aides privately tell CNN they believe Democrats are trying to stop Walker because they're worried he and other governors will be able to, quote, "pull a Chris Christie" as in the Republican in New Jersey who faced down unions.
[Gov. Chris Christie , New Jersey:] We have two choices, to either stand up and do the right thing, to speak the truth and speak it bluntly and directly, or to join the long parade of leaders who have come before us and failed.
[Henry:] White House aides note that in his interview with the Wisconsin station, the president did say leaders at all levels will have to make tough choices.
[Obama:] Everybody has got to make some adjustments to new fiscal realities. We had to impose, for example, a freeze on pay increases for federal workers.
[Henry:] The Republicans say the president started this week at a White House news conference saying he wanted, a, quote, "adult conversation" with Republicans to figure out how to pay for all these government programs. And now he's ending the week trying to expand the protests that may make it harder for both sides to come together Randi.
[Kaye:] A little different story for teachers in Syracuse, New York. Teachers, teaching assistants and even school administrators in West Genesee School District say they will accept a wage freeze for the 20112012 school year. That will save the district about $900,000. The teachers union says the pay cuts were necessary to help stem layoffs and keep smaller class sizes. Dramatic scenes all across North Africa and the Middle East as protesters take to the streets to demand a bigger voice in their lives. Let's take a look now at the breakdown. The countries where the unrest is taking place and how it affects you.
[Miguel Marquez, Abc News Correspondent:] I only said thugs because when four or five or six guys are beating you with sticks, it feels a heck of a lot like thugs within three to four minutes of them pulling up, they unleashed everything they had.
[Kaye:] At the heart of the anger, discrimination, unemployment and corruption. Protesters are calling for the removal of the royal family which has led Bahrain since the 18th century. Bahrain is an important U.S. ally. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's 5th fleet.
[John Woosley, Former Cia Director:] You could see region-wide war come about as a result of a miscalculation between, say, the Israeli navy and the Iranian navy or something like that.
[Kaye:] In Iran, trouble has been brewing since the 2009 election when people filled the streets to denounce the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as fraudulent. Despite the military crackdown, thousands marched against the government this week. In response, members of Iran's parliament chanted for the execution of key opposition leaders. The battle lines have also been drawn in Libya. In Benghazi, Libya, Friday tens of thousands of protestors marched carrying the bodies of those killed earlier in the protests. The issues, poor housing conditions and high unemployment Human Rights Watch says demonstrators were killed in clashes with security forces. Meanwhile, state television showed these images of men chanting pro-Muammar Gaddafi slogans and singing around the Libyan leader who has been in power more than 40 years.
[Prof. Fouad Ajami, John Hopkins University:] We gave him a reprieve several years ago because supposedly he turned over his weapons of mass destruction. He hasn't changed. This is a monster. And the Libyan people are suffering from this.
[Kaye:] In Yemen, sticks and rocks were the weapons of choice as anti-government demonstrators clashed with pro-government gangs in the capital city of Sanaa. Protesters want long-time president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. They blame him for lack of jobs and political freedom. [on camera]: While all of these countries may sound very far away from your home, that doesn't mean the unrest won't hit close to home. Some experts suggests this unrest could result in oil hitting $147 a barrel again, like it did two years ago. If the revolution continues in Bahrain and throughout the region, you could feel it at the gas pump. [voice-over]: In Egypt, even with Hosni Mubarak out of the picture, the situation is still tense. Victory celebrations in Tahrir Square Friday sent a message to the military. Protestors are still watching and waiting for reform. Easing tension in the Arab world may require reform instead of repression. But if the rest of the region is hoping to accomplish what those in Egypt did, they better gear up for what is already a bloody battle. Be sure to stay with CNN for up-to-the-minute coverage of all the unrest. An extreme sport on the slopes. Our Reynolds Wolf tries his hand at snow biking. Yes. You've got to see this. Let's just say one word here, wipeout. We'll be right back.