in washington, secretary of state hillary clinton called on bahrain's government to show restraint, but as terry mccarthy reports, the situation there is complicated by deep divisions between islam's two major sects. >> reporter: in bahrain, a crackdown with a vengeance. thousands of mostly shiite protesters camped out overnight overnight in central manama, inspired by the occupation of tahrir square in cairo. but before drawn, the sunni-dominated government ordered the security forces to attack. they fired tear gas, buc shot, and rubber bullets at the protesters, many of them still in their tentss. cbs radio news reporter toula vlahou is in bahrain. >> reporter: a reporter for abc

news was in the square, and suddenly found himself under attack by the police as his tape recorder rolled. >> journalist! >> reporter: by dawn the square was cleared, and the hospitals were full of wounded. >> reporter: violence also broke out again in yemen. pro and anti-government forces clashed in saleh, and in the southern city of hayden, officials say police opened fire killing at least three protesters. no matter what the price, says this man, we will stand until saleh goes. and in libya, anti-government

protests spread through several cities as crowds threw rocks at police vehicles and ran riots in the street. the security forces responded with live ammunition, and there were unconfirmed reports of a dozen or more people killed. governments are increasing the amount of force they're using against protesters, but nonetheless, tomorrow is expected to be another huge day of demonstration across the middle east. terry mccarthy, cbs news, cairo. >> couric: bahrain is one of a number of nations in the middle east that are critical to america's security interests. more on that now from national security correspondent david martin. >> reporter: the free flow of oil, the containment of iran, and the defeat of al qaeda-- those are the stakes in the persian gulf and why the u.s. navy has about 30 warships assigned to it's fifth fleet headquarters in bahrain. >> this whole area depends upon the ability to maintain naval and air forces in the region. >> reporter: and it's not just

bahrain. it's kuwait, which is the staging area for operations in iraq. it's qatar, where the headquarters for u.s. military operations throughout the middle east is located. along with an airbase used by bombers flying strikes in afghanistan. all part of a deal that's been in effect for 60 years. the u.s. provides the shield behind which the gulf states pump oil. >> the one thing that the u.s. and its allies cannot tolerate in this part of the world would be interruption of oil shipments from the region. >> reporter: that means preventing iran ever making good on its threat to close the strait of hormuz, through which a third of the world's oil shipments move, and it means keeping al qaeda from ever realizing their dream of taking back the holy sites of saudi arabia. >> destabilization is their game plan. it weakens the ability of the united states to maintain itself in the area and prosecute efforts against al qaeda. >> reporter: katie, almost

nothing could do more damage to american interests than chaos in the persian gulf. >> couric: david martin at the pentagon tonight. thank you. richard haas is the president of the council on foreign relations a nonpartisan think tank. richard how great a threat are these latest protests to the united states. >> they are, particularly the one in bahrain which for really half a century has been the center of the u.s. naval presence in a critical part of the world because of the energy resources. plus, again, it contributes to the sense that what we assume to be the case yesterday is no longer the case today, much less tomorrow. >> couric: how are these protests different from what we witnessed unfold in egypt? >> what's different is the small size of the population. the entire population of bahrain could fit in tahrir square in cairo. but also the violence. the police forces of the regime here use force, killed several people, and there's an alienation going on in bahrain

that we never quite saw in egypt. >> couric: what is the main challenge for the obama administration as it responds to all these uprisings? >> it's extraordinarily difficult. not only are the stakes great but it's tough. on one hand, you want to be supportive of a more open society. you don't want to alienate the bulk of these populations. on the other hand, we have traditional friends in this part of the world and we don't want to be seen as pulling out the rug from a number of regimes that, by and large, have supported real u.s. interests in terms of access to energy, opposition to terrorism, some limited willingness to live with israel. for this administration, this is about as important but also as difficult as it gets. >> couric: this used to be your area of expertise, of course, when you were at the white house. what country are you most concerned about right now? >> in the long run, the country i'm most concerned about is saudi arabia. that's where the bulk of the energy of the region is. and if saudi arabia ever begins to unravel, that's where the stakes are greatest for the united states. the other country i'm still most

concerned about is egypt. it's a quarter of the arab world, and as goes cairo, that will set an awful lot of patterns and precedents for the rest of this part of the world. >> couric: richard haas, president of the council on foreign relations, thank you, richard. >> thanks, katie. >> couric: now to other news closer to home, a key element of health care reform is cracking down on fraud. today the government executed the biggest medicare fraud bust ever, rounding up suspects in nine u.s. cities from l.a. to new york. more than 100 doctors, nurses, health care executives and others charged with filing a quarter billion dollars in phony claims. one podiatrist in detroit, for instance, allegedly charged medicare $700,000 for toenail treatments that were never performed. meanwhile, state governments all over america are facing huge budget problems. wisconsin is more than $3.5 billion in the red, and the

states republican governor wants give-backs from government employees. thousands responded by protesting at the state capital today. hundreds of teachers called in sick, and democratic lawmakers refused to show up fair vote on the issue, so the police were ordered to find them. cynthia bowers is in madison. >> hey, hey, ho-ho, union's busting got to go. >> reporter: in the wisconsin capital, the fight over the state budget is now up close and personal. for the last several days, the state house has felt more like a madhouse with thousands of angry protesters jamming the halls, some diehards even camping out. they are protesting proposed budget cuts that could impact 300,000 public workers, and today, 14 democratic senators fled the state to delay a vote. >> we decided to slow the process down, and the only way to do that was for us to leave the state. the republicans can't move forward with this legislation unless we're there. >> reporter: under the plan, backed by the republican majority, public employees will be forced to contribute significantly more to their

pensions, and their health insurance costs would double to 12.6%. the proposal would cost the average state workers an estimated $2,900 a year, and unions would lose the right to negotiate contracts on behalf of large groups of public workers. >> i think he's got to get our message, and it's not just... i'm not a teacher, either, but my daughter is in one of the school districts and they're tearing our teachers apart there. >> reporter: but the newly elected scott walker said his plan could save $330 million over the next two years and prevent 5,500 layoffs. >> these are unions that historically for years have never had anyone challenge them. they've never had anyone challenge the status quo. again, we're broke, we can't operate the way we operated before. >> reporter: similar measures are being considered in ohio, tennessee, and nevada, but it appears wisconsin, which was the first state to allow collective bargaining for public employees, will become the first state to abolish it.

katie. >> couric: cynthia bowers in madison tonight. cynthia, thank you. from wisconsin to the nation, the government said consumer prices rose .4% last month with food and energy leading the way. in the past six months, bread prices have shot up more than 3%. electricity, .6%. inflation has been tamed for quite awhile, but anthony mason reports, the fear is it could come roaring back. >> reporter: at joe, a new york coffee shop, owner jonathan rubinstein feels inflation brewing. >> coffee prices have gone through the roof. >> reporter: consumer prices took a bigger-than-expected jump in january. >> well, there was a little whiff of inflation, but it mostly smelled like gasoline. >> reporter: gas prices have spiked 22% in just the past six months. during the recession, the inflation rate fell to its lowest levels in decades. >> core inflation remains quite low, but it is beginning to rise. >> reporter: with the winter

frost damaging crops, food prices had their biggest spike in january in more than two years. >> ever single one of our costs has gone up at least 2%. some as high as 12%. that's a ridiculously high increase. >> reporter: at katz's deli in new york, manager jake dell said it's cutting into profits. are you going to have to pass those costs on? >> unfortunately, we may. >> reporter: in the wake of the recession, many businesses have been afraid any price increase would scare off customers, but at joe's jonathan rubinstein, can't wait any longer. >> next week for the first time in two years we are raising our prices. >> reporter: a cup of drip cove will go up ten cents, or 5%. nationally smuckers, owner of foldger's coffee, dunkin' donuts, said it will hike coffee products 10%. if inflation worsens, it could hold back the economy. >> if we don't see any job growths over the next six months or nine months, as gasoline and other prices rise, that would be a double whammy.

>> reporter: many economists believe the job market and wages will pick up soon. >> couric: and coming up next here on the "cbs evening news," getting the jump on alzheimer's disease. experimental treatments aimed at preventing it. ok, allie's spelling bee is monday... sounds like a mini-wheats day to me! and becka's science fair is on the 8th. she's presenting the solar system. hey, i've got just the wholegrain fiber to keep her full so she can stay focused. um, you rock. she'll be ready to rock. [ female announcer ] make your kids big days, mini-wheats days. packed with 100% whole grain fiber, kellogg's frosted mini-wheats cereal has what it takes to help keep your kids full so they can stay focused on the days that matter most. keeps 'em full. keeps 'em focused.

i know what works differently than many other allergy medications. omnaris. omnaris. to the nose! did you know nasal symptoms like congestion can be caused by allergic inflammation? omnaris relieves your symptoms by fighting inflammation. side effects may include headache, nosebleed and sore throat. [ inhales deeply ] i nipped my allergy symptoms in the bud. omnaris. ask your doctor. battling nasal allergy symptoms? omnaris combats the cause. get omnaris for only $11 at omnaris.com. >> couric: in health news tonight, there's a new strategy

in the battle against alzheimer's disease. more than five million americans are living with it and every 70 seconds, a new case is diagnosed. now with no cure in sight, researchers are trying a preemptive strike against alzheimer's. cnn's dr. sanjay gupta, a cbs news contributor, has more. >> reporter: barbara and jim grdina have a half century of memories together. they're both 75. they've been married for 53 years. together through high school, a honeymoon, five children, but now... >> what do i forget, jim? >> a number of little things. >> reporter: truth is it's big things. >> you want to try to make it look just like this. >> reporter: barbara has alzheimer's, and jim, too, has memory loss. her mother and his mother died of the disease. daughter kris, she worries about their future and her own with her 9-year-old son, andrew. how much are you consumed by

that, watching what your mom has gone through, watching what your grandparents have gone through? >> it's very hard. it's very hard having known that and to look and see that that could be me course as well. >> reporter: knowing she's at high risk, kris signed up for a clinical trial in phoenix that will test a whole new approach to fighting alzheimer's. in the united states, researchers are looking for 50,000 people to participate. >> we need to intervene before the onset of memory and thinking problems and see if we could not only reduce the risk of alzheimer's disease but maybe, just maybe completely prevent it. >> while there are no guarantees... >> reporter: dr. eric reiman is launching a second trial, 3,000 miles away, in medellin, colombia. why here? well, it's home to one of the world's largest concentration of families with a rare gene defect causing alzheimer's. people develop it early, in their 40s. like ricardo.

he was diagnosed at 49. it's hard to believe, but this once-loving father now verbally abusive and humiliates his sons. "he does that because of the disease. i love my daughter so much, and wouldn't want to treat her like that. without knowing, i'm treating her like that, like my father." and so his son, gabriel, and others at high risk, will be taking experimental drugs and vaccines to avoid the same fate. how do i know if it's working if i didn't have symptoms in the first place? >> so we would be comparing people with and without the active treatment to see if the fade of the brain has been affected by the therapy. >> reporter: doctors will rely on tests like brain scans to see if a signature of the disease, amyloid plaque, is building up years before memories are lost. kris, her dilemma now? whether to try unproven therapies that could cause something as serious as brain swelling.

>> they come back and say, "kris you're at risk. you're fine now, but you should take this medication anyway." would you take? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: even if it potentially had side effects? >> yes. it's very sad to watch someone that you love be in that position, and i wouldn't want my son, andrew, to have to do that. alzheimer's is a very sad disease. >> reporter: i'll tell you, katie, as things stand now, researchers are developing new drugs to test in people who are in high risk of developing alzheimer's. >> couric: such a heartbreaking story, sanjay. i know doctors have tested so many drugs, and not one has been able to reverse symptoms. so what really is different this time? >> reporter: well, it's really all about timing. i mean, they're looking for a clue, katie, in perfectly healthy people that they will develop alzheimer's later on in life. and then they want to start these new medications early. they're only going to test these drugs as well, katie, for about two years. if they don't work, they move on move on quickly. >> couric: all right, dr. sanjay

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>> couric: in alabama, the football rivalry between aub expurn bama fans has gotten out of hand. someone poisoned two of auburn's 130-year-old oak twreez students gather to celebrate big wins. experts say the trees are likely to die. today the police charged a 62-year-old man, apparently an alabama fan, with criminal mischief. in iowa, wrestling is like a religion. for the first time ever two girls competed in the state high school championship tournament against the boys. one lost in her first match but the other girl won by default. her opponent refused to wrestle saying he felt it wasn't appropriate to compete with a girl in what he called a combat sport. in "jeopardy's!" contest of man versus machine, the winner was clear. >> bram stoker was what we're looking for, and we find who is stoker. i for one welcome our new computer overlord. >> couric: ken jennings and brad rutter had lost to watson-- the i.b.m. super computer-- as the winner, watson gets $1 million

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♪ >> reporter: they were bold, black and beautiful. women of all sizes and shades, men, too, who turned heads on runways in haute couture. it was called the ebony fashion fair, a breakthrough event dating back to the 1950s. emerging stars like aretha franklin and richard roundtree were front and center, but the woman behind the scenes was the real star of this show. she was eunice johnson, wife of publisher john johnson of "ebony" and "jet" magazine. >> mrs. johnson broke all the barriers. what a brave, brave woman. >> reporter: johnson's fashion fairs were raising money for charity at a time when african americans were fighting for civil rights. >> we were chased by the ku klux klan. they threw rocks at us. >> reporter: eunice johnson traveled to europe's top designers to get her fashions, but many did not want african americans borrowing their

clothes. >> i used to write checks for $50,000. >> reporter: that caught their attention and respect. daughter linda johnson rice says her mom made designer like imileo pucci start thinking. >> i would like to have black models in my show. you can find me some? and my mother said, "are you kidding me?" >> reporter: designer oscar de la renta says johnson was the first to introduce music on runways. putting the show in fashion. >> for the first time, unbelievable, extraordinary, beautiful girls moving to music. >> reporter: can i try that on? >> oh heavens, yes. >> reporter: in 50 years, johnson collected more than 8,000 looks. her show traveled to more than 170 cities nationwide, and raised $55 million for scholarships. >> it would make any woman feel beautiful. >> reporter: johnson died last

year, and her fashion fairs have ended, but now as part of black history month, her collection is traveling to macy's department stores in ten cities. a celebration of the legacy of a woman who saw style as power and power in style. michelle miller, cbs news, chicago. >> couric: and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. i'm katie couric in new york. thank you for watching. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org president is here, and now - for the hotly rumored all star and some facebook. no weather delay for this flight. the president is here. now for the all-star dinner and some facebook. >> how was your ride into work today? a little bumpy? what's on deck as the storms keep rolling in. >> now that a narcotics officer

has been arrested, now the real story unfolds. i'm alan martin. >> and i'm dana king. just moments ago, the president's plane touched down. he was greated by san francisco mayor ed lee. there's here to pick the brains brains of silicon valley celebrities. apple ceo and mark zuckerberg and larry ellison. so where is the dinner? the white house isn't talking, but simon perez managed to figure it out. >> well, the dinner is actually at a house down in woodside, but before that, the president is coming to redwood see to the college. we understand he's going to land on one of the athletic fields on the hill. if you take a close look and

zoom in, the crowd is waiting for him to show up. he's left air force one. he's getting in the helicopter and should be here soon. down at the bottom of the hill, you see lots of police cars and secret service. we even had some military officials up on the top of the hill. now, he's going to head to woodside to a venture capitalist in silicon valley. he's going to talk to some of the biggest names in silicon valley about how to get the economy jump started. some big star names, head people of yahoo, twitter, google, facebook. it's really the most powerful players in silicon valley. now, the white house didn't want to say where the president wain