captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: texas governor rick perry dropped out of the republican presidential race this morning and immediately endorsed former house speaker newt gingrich. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. >> warner: and i'm margaret warner. on the "newshour" tonight, we have the latest from south carolina with just two days to plus, gwen ifill sits down with former speaker gingrich. i'm here where a spoke with newt gingrich about what perry decision means as the

candidates prepare for their final debate here tonight. >> woodruff: then, ray suarez looks at the impact the sluggish economy is having on budget strapped cities with mayors antonio villaraigosa of los angeles and danny jones of charleston, west virginia. >> warner: we talk with king abdullah of jordan, who conferred with president obama this week on what to do about the deteriorating situation in syria. >> i don't see this ending up as a good story. i mean it's great to turn out badly no matter what. when is anybody's guess. >> woodruff: and hari sreenivasan sorts through the chapter eleven bankruptcy filing of photography icon eastman kodak. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and...

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the man trailing the republican presidential field called it quits today, as a key weekend contest loomed. instead, rick perry threw his support to newt gingrich, even as gingrich confronted revelations from his past. with polls showing him in single digits, texas governor perry decided not to wait for the official results of the south carolina primary this saturday. >> i have come to the conclusion that there is no viable path forward for me, in this 2012 campaign, therefore today, i am suspending my campaign and endorsing newt gingrich for president of the united states.

>> woodruff: perry's endorsement of gingrich came as the former house speaker has narrowed the gap with front-runner mitt romney in the latest south carolina polls. an nbc news-marist survey found romney at 34%, followed by gingrich at 24%. but, the margin between the two was only five points among those polled after monday night's debate. campaigning in beaufort, south carolina this afternoon, gingrich touted his chances. >> if we look at today's polls i am the only person who can beat romney. ( applause ) i think it's very important that we not nominate a moderate because how are you going to take romneycare and obamacare and have a debate? >> woodruff: but gingrich also faced new allegations from his second wife, marianne, whom he divorced in 2000. she spoke to brian ross of abc news about learning gingrich was having an affair with a congressional staffer he later

married, callista bisek. >> i said to him, "we've been married a long time" and he said, "yes, but you want me all to yourself. callista doesn't care what i do." >> what was he saying do you think? >> oh, he was asking to have an open marriage and i refused. >> he wanted an open marriage? >> yeah, that i accept the fact that he has somebody else in his life. >> woodruff: the full, exclusive interview was scheduled to air tonight on abc's "nightline." gingrich played down the issue in his appearances today. and governor perry alluded to gingrich's past personal troubles, as he issued his endorsement. >> newt is not perfect, but who among us is. the fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek god. and i believe in the power of redemption, for it is a central tenet of my christian faith.

>> woodruff: in the meantime, the frontrunner in the race mitt romney had new troubles of his own, as he met voters and made phone calls in charleston. abc news and others reported he has up to $8 million invested in at least a dozen funds in the cayman islands-- a well-known, offshore tax shelter. romney has also taken flak from his rivals for paying just 15% of his income in taxes last year and refusing to release his returns before april. moreover, his apparent victory in the iowa caucuses turned out to be short-lived. a final tally released today showed rick santorum leading romney by 34 votes. romney had been declared the winner two weeks ago when the initial count gave him an eight- vote margin. today, the iowa republican party declared santorum the winner of the votes they could certify, but added that the results from eight of the state's nearly

1,800 precincts are inexplicably missing. santorum claimed his delayed victory at an afternoon rally in mount pleasant, south carolina. >> it says we can win elections, we can organize, we can put together an effort to pull the resources together to be able to be successful in being the person that can defeat mitt romney. because guess what? we defeated mitt romney in iowa. ( applause ) >> woodruff: texas congressman ron paul returned to campaigning today. he held a morning rally at the college of charleston, and struck some familiar notes. the four remaining republican contenders will meet tonight in charleston for a debate on cnn, the final meeting before saturday's primary. >> warner: gingrich told our gwen ifill today in south carolina that perry's endorsement will help him keep up the momentum. gwen talked with him aboard his campaign bus.

mr. speaker, welcome. so today you got rick perry's endorsement, is that the consolidation of the conservative vote thauf's been talking about? >> yeah, it's just another step. i think, frankly, when michele bachmann stepped out, when herman cain stepped out and even tim pawlenty, at each stage you began to see conservative was would not go to romney because he was just too liberal for their background. and so i think that governor perry actually endorsing me today was very helpful. and i think will make a very big difference both around the country and an enormous difference in texas. >> does that mean rick santorum should now do the same thing? >> well, rick santorum has to do what he wants toment people after all said back in june and july that i was dead and i didn't stop. so rick has every right to keep rung. he just, after all, was declared the win never eye watch. but i think for rick's voters i am going to make a very direct appeal, if you look at the polling numbers, i'm the only candidate who could potentially stop mitt romney. and so voters who don't want a massachusetts moderate or

by the standard of most republicans, a liberal, i'm the only practical vote in order to stop him. >> does it make a difference that rick santorum has won in iowa? >> no, i think it actually takes a little momentum away from romney. because he now can't claim to have set history which he was doing in for a couple days and reminded people this san wide open race. >> you said you were left for dead last sumner iowa, what changed? what -- >> first of all, i was never as week as the washington pundits kept saying. and second, talking about big ideas, big solutions, developing a 21st century contract with america, all those things came together in a way that was very, very effective. >> just a few minutes ago mitt romney's campaign put out a statement from peter king without called you erratic, self-serving and guilty of narcissism. everybody on the air in south carolina seems to be targeting you. how do you respond to that? >> they're for mitt romney. i mean, you know, mitt romney's guys are going to say what mitt romney's guys

want to say. the fact is as speaker of the house i helped create the first 345 jority in 40 years, the-- the first ma jort? 40ies-- years we con three straight elections under my leadership. we balanced the budget for four years. the only times that's happened in your lifetime. we reformed welfare in two out of three people went to work or went to school. we cut taxes and the largest capital gains tax cut in history and the result was we got unemployment down to 4.2%. i don't see any of my critics who have balanced the budget since i left. i don't see any of my critics who reformed an entitlement since i left. so in terms of, am i hard driving, do i get things done, do i sometimes hurt people's feelings by forcing them to get things done, you betcha. >> you think this is about hurt feels? >> in some cases, sure it is. >> how about your ex-wive s that about hurt feelings. there have been so many questions today about maryann gingrich raising questions about you s that hurt feelings. >> my only position, i'm if

the going to say anything neglect to maryann. pie daughters have both written a letter to abc news saying it is was totally inappropriate. they are prepared to talk oned record and anybody that wants record can talk to cathie and jackie. >> we just asked about it in the raleigh n a circular ray someone asked about what they should do about their feelings about your baggage, your background, your mistakes as you future. >> i gave them the same answer i give everyone which is i have made mistakes in my life. i have had to seek forgiveness and reconciliation with god. i am a 68-year-old grandfather. i have a great marriage with calista. i am very close to my daughters and my son-in-laws. we are very close to our grandchildren. people have to look and decide. >> until today so much of the discussion in this race has been about taxes and about income. you said yesterday you were going to release your income tax, will we see those. >> later on today. >> do you think that this is something which resonates with voters? >> i think that it is very difficult for romney to ask people to vote for him

without revealing his taxes, just because there are so many questions being raised. but you know, it did turn out i paid probably twice a big a percentage of taxes than he is did based on the initial look at the two of them. >> there have been a lot of questions about your calling the president the food stamp president, there are 839,000 people in south car lanea on food stamps. what does that message say to them? >> it says to them i would like to help them get a job so they can get a paycheck. i want to be able to get their income high enough that they don't need food stamps. the president has not been able to get the economy working. and the president has actually put more americans on food stamps through his policies than any president in american history. that is just a fact. so i would like to run as the candidate of opportunity much like reagan in 1980 where they program to create jobs, stimulate the economy to have economic growth. the president's doing just the opposite. look what he just did with the keystone pipeline where he killed 20 to 50,000 jobs.

i think they have no sense in the obama white house about how to create jobs. >> when you talk about food stamps and working and jobs, how about the working poor. people who actually have jobs and just aren't earning enough s that also president obama's problem. >> my goal is to get those folk to have better jobs. part of the reason i'm proposing a dramatic change in our employment compensation, tying it to a training program. is so that somebody who can't find a job, during the period we're giving them money, they should be pending their time learning so they can get a better job. >> tonight su have a big debate. saturday big election hear in south car a. what has to happen in the next 24 to 48 hours for you to come out of south carolina still smiling? >> we just have to keep the momentum up. i mean the clearer it gets that romney was a pro-gun control, pro-tax increase, pro-abortion governor of massachusetts, that the gap between his commercials and his actual record is amazing, that he was 47 ntsb job

creation, fourth from the bottom, if we can keep that distinction between my record and his record between a conservative and somebody who is pretty liberal by republican standard, i think we'll have a great saturday. so through the debate tonight and through tomorrow and saturday we'll campaign all day saturday, we'll just keep saying the same things. >> and if mitt romney wins on saturday dow stand by your statement that if he wins in south carolina the republicans will nominate a moderate who will lose to barack obama in the fall. >> i think gets a little harder to stop him although as karl rove pointed out, he is to the doing well enough to be very convince. if you add the conservative vote twoingting to between san tore all-- santorum and me will be to meet romney 60-40, so if rick says in the raise will be to get his voters so we beat romney. >> thank you so much. >> good to see you. >> good to see you too. >> so gwen iss with us now. you are a traveling woman.

are you now in columbia, the capitol of south carolina. tell us how the people around gingrich feel about his boost in the polls. do they think this is real. what are they saying? >> ifill: i think you can say, judy, you and i have covered a lot of these things that this was the single craziest day in the 2012 campaign so far with candidates in and out. and newt gingrich who he admits he was left for roadkill in iowa not long ago, all of a sudden riding this wave. and they're giddy. they're giddy about it. but they're also cautious about it you heard him saying he is planning to after rick santorum's voters. he is going to tell everybody that mitt romney is a liberal. but as we were leaving his bus today they were also conferring among themselves about what they were going to do about these latest allegations involving his ex-wife. in fact, during that entire interview calista gingrich was standing just behind the camera listening very closely to every conversation, especially to the part about maryann

gingrich. so they know that they could be in a slippery slope here just as fast as you rise in these kinds of campaigns. sometimes you can slip. >> woodruff: so in other words, there may be some concern on their part that they may have to answer, they may have to say more about the former mrs. gingrich's comment. >> oh there is definitely concern. i think one of the things 're tching for in this debate tonight is whether any of the other candidates directly bring it up. whether they want to raise questions about his moral capability. we saw rick perry and his withdrawal today attempt to inoculate newt gingrich on this point, and repeated so things that gingrich himself has said about being forgiven by god for his past behavior. so it will be interesting to see whether any of them have the gumption to throw it directly in his face or whether this becomes the debate tonight about other things. >> woodruff: gwen, you mentioned-- mentioned that somebody in the crowd with gingrich had raised his baggage, i think that was the term you used in the the interview. what are people saying to him as they listen to him.

what are they responding to? >> ifill: i find it interesting, in a very friendly crowd of a couple hundred people in beaufort at an otherwise very well-received event that someone had the nerve, only the first or second question from the crowd, to ask him, i like a lot about you but i'm worried about the past. as i worked the crowd and talked to people and asked what they thought about newt gingrich, a lot were curious for the first time. they were people who were paying attention, without didn't know what they thought about mitt romney. who at least told me they hadn't yet decided what they were going to do on saturday. but they were saying yeah, but we want to know that this guy shares our values is the term people most likely used. that could be his achilles heel in a state as conservative as south carolina and where so many of the voters who come out to saturday's primary will be motivated not only by economic conservatism but also by social conservatism. and want to make sure this guy is who he says he is. >> and gwen, you asked speaker gingrich, former

speaker gingrich about this, this notion that to nominate mitt romney is picking a moderate who would have a very hard time going up against president obama. is that an argument that south carolina voters seem to be accepting, buying into? >> well, i will tell you this, judy. it's an argument that every single candidate in this race is making. if you turn on the television here in south carolina, i don't think you don't see furniture ads or news or weather any more in the morning. what you see are campaign ads. and a lot of these campaign ads are targeting romney. when they do it's saying he's like obama, that they worry about that. but that a lot more of these ads are targeting newt gingrich. you hear people like ron paul going after newt gingrich, rick santorum going after newt gingrich as a washington insider. rick perry who dropped out just a week ago was talking about all the insiders in the race and today he endorsed one of the insiders. so you know, the good news for newt gingrich as he is rising in the polls and he's within barking distance of mitt romney, the bad news is

that means that everybody is training scrutiny on him and i don't think you have seen the end of that. >> woodruff: so all the pore reason to watch tonight's debate, gwen, they're down to four. and i know you will be right there, you will be reporting for us tomorrow night. thanks very much. >> ifill: and then there were four, thanks, judy. >> warner: still to come on the "newshour": two mayors assess the economic health of their cities; jordan's king abdullah talks about his neighbors and eastman kodak files for bankruptcy. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: with his republican rivals focused on south carolina, president obama made a day trip to another key state today-- florida. he used walt disney world as a backdrop, and announced efforts to let more foreign tourists into the u.s., especially florida. the state has been hard hit by unemployment and home foreclosures. tonight, the president is in new york city for a series of fundraisers. the u.s. government shut down one of the world's largest file- sharing sites today. a federal indictment charged that megaupload.com pirated films and other content worth

more than half a billion dollars. the founder and several executives of the site were also charged. general motors is once again the world's top-selling auto maker. it sold more than nine million cars and trucks last year. that's a million more than toyota which held the title since 2008. volkswagen and renault-nissan came in second and third, while toyota slipped to fourth. g.m. was bailed out by the u.s. government in 2009, but is now profitable again. wall street had another day of quiet gains. the dow jones industrial average gained 45 points to close just short of 12,624. the nasdaq rose 18 points to close at 2,788. freezing rain caused new problems in the pacific northwest today, one day after a massive snow storm. the ice on top of wednesday's snow turned roads into a driver's nightmare in washington state. governor christine gregoire declared a state of emergency. the snow could soon give way to another threat, flooding, as rain and temperatures in the 40s

are expected tomorrow. the earth was warmer than normal last year for the 35th year in a row. the national oceanic and atmosphere administration reported today the average global temperature was 57.9 degrees. that's nearly a full degree above the average for the 20th century. even so, 2011 was actually a bit milder than the last decade, due to a cooling pattern in the pacific ocean known as la nina. the seas calmed off northern italy today, and search teams picked up where they left off. they're looking for 21 people missing after last week's cruise ship disaster. we have a report from martin geissler of "independent television news." >> reporter: the rescue teams resumed work today. but they're losing their race against time. soon they'll have to make way for salvage experts who will try to drain the concordia then move her. more draumic pictures emerged today of the moments after the concordia ran aground. passengers scrambling along

a listing deck. frantically hang on, disor yen tatsed and desperate. just watch and listen. and imagine what it must have been like for the 4,000 people caught up in this chaos. as the day goes by, reluctant heroes are beginning to he verge like mario pellergrini the deputy mayor of this tiny island who jumped into a boat in the dark and headed out to the ship wreck pulling passengers from the water and coordinating the rescue. >> i realized there was a complete lack of coordination. no one was giving orders. the realtor rohr and panic started when the ship lurged on to its side. >> reporter: contrast that with the ship's captain who fled to shore early and claimed he couldn't get back on board. francesco schettino still

hasn't been charged with any crime but in a transcript released today, he tells prosecutors how he crashed. >> i was navigating by sight, he said, because i knew the depths well. hi done this maneuver three or four times. but this time i ordered the turn too late and i ended up in water that was too shallow. i don't know why it happened. >> reporter: the local bishop came to giglio today to pray with the rescue teams and lift their spirits. this evening the search for survivors continues. pray certificate about all they have left. >> sreenivasan: 11 people are confirmed dead in the wreck. two americans are still among the missing. in pakistan, prime minister yusuf raza gilani appeared before the country's supreme court after being threatened with a contempt citation. the court has demanded that his government reopen a ten-year-old corruption case against pakistani president asif ali zardari. so far, gilani has refused. today, he told the court that he believes zardari is immune from prosecution. the court agreed to hear additional arguments in two weeks. rupert murdoch's media conglomerate has reached

settlements with 37 people whose phones were hacked by two of his british tabloids. the cash payments, announced today, will go to actor jude law and former deputy prime minister john prescott, among others. they're among 60 people who've sued murdoch's newspapers. a billionaire history buff will donate $7.5 million to help fix earthquake damage on the washington monument. the national park service announced david rubenstein's gift today. the earthquake that hit last august shook the 555-foot obelisk so hard that it caused severe cracking. repair work begins later this year, and is expected to take up to a year. rubenstein said he wants to help fund repairs so the monument can reopen as soon as possible. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to judy. >> woodruff: hundreds of mayors gathered in washington this week for meetings at the white house and capitol hill. their message: don't let cities fall through the cracks. and to ray suarez. >> suarez: president obama won't submit his new budget blueprint to congress until next month.

but local officials across the country are already bracing for bad news. as part of the deal to raise the debt ceiling, spending must be capped at $1 trillion. and with the money from the federal stimulus drying up, local governments are worried they won't get the help they need. for a closer look at the challenges being faced in two different cities, we are joined by antonio villaraigosa, the democratic mayor of los angeles, and danny jones, the republican mayor of charleston, west virginia. >> welcome to you both. mayor villaraigosa what role does the federal government play in helping you pay your city's bill. >> well, they should be a partier-- partner, and i think what most mayors across the country believe, and believe stronglyly, is that the number one issue facing our cities in the nation is the issue of jobs. and the economy. our metro economies 2012 reports came out today, or

yesterday. and it was very clear. 90% of the gdp of the nation are generated in our city. about 85% of the jobs. so we need the congress and the white house to focus on job creation. i said that the congress's failure to address the jobs crisis is akin to the captain of the concordia jumping off the ship while the economic ship is sinking. we want to get that ship back on course and the way to do that is with a partnership. >> mayor jones, same question. does the federal government, various kinds of transfer programs support from various federal departments help you run the programs that you run in your city. >> it's always nice when you can get that money but it's not a long term answer to our problems. when senator bird was alived of course west virginia and west virginia cities were able to take advantage of capital projects that he was

able to to help us get money for. but as far as paying the every day bills, the problems that cities face across america are bigger and bigger cities. obviously, mayor villaraigosa would have bigger problems than we do. but the big cities around the country have big problems every well. the federal government is broke. and the 40% of the money they get they have to borrow. the money they spend. and that has to be dealt with too. i speaking only for myself, i think that the if the federal government is going to share money with cities and different political subdivisions around the country, we ought to go back to the way it was done in the 70s through revenue sharing and do it equally according to population all throughout the country and do a bay with all the specific winner and loser projects, you get this, you get that. >> suarez: starting in 2013 the congress is going to be on to some fairly tight restrictions as a consequence of the

supercommittees failure to act. what are the kinds of things that will be harder to finance because money won't be flowing back to cities, counties and other kinds of jurisdictions, mayor? >> well, first of all, i actually agree with the basic notion that we have to address the issue of spending. we have to cut this deficit debt. mayors across the country have been cutting and trimming their own budgets. i have cut about a fourth of the l.a. city workforce. i have had to get our city employees to go from 6% to 11% in terms of contributing to the pensions. we've had pension reform in los angeles. what we would like to see the federal government do is not just cut, however. they've got to invest as well. so they've got to invest in making sure that our roads, our bridges, our ports, our airports are competing with roads, bridge, airports and

ports around the world. they have to make the investments that the federal government has always made. you know, every president since eisenhower, democratic and republican both have supported investing in a highway system. in our infrastructure system. so those are the kinds of investments that they can make. well, they are also having to make the cuts that they're going to have to do at a time of high deficits and debt. >> have you had to make cuts, have there been layoffs to municipal workers? >> we were put into a pension system by the state. we couldn't possibly pay for. and if left to our own devices we do very well and actually the state of west virginia is doing well. we have a secretary of center that needs repairs. so on we're not nearly on the scale of mayor villaraigosa. but we have a civic centre that needs repair. if senator bird was still alive and it was fair years ago we might have been able to get the money from the federal government, that is not going to happen now. we have to find a way to

raise the money, the 40 million dollar problem. we think we can come up with 10. there is some very stuff sledding in for this country and for the cities and the bigger they are, unfortunately, i'm afraid the harder they are going to fall. >> suarez: half the ci finance officers surveyed across the country said that 11 was worse than ten. what does 2012 look like for you? do you see the improvements that people are talking about in the economy? >> the indicators are, it's a slow rise. but it's better, i watch financial channels every day and it looks better. in the northern part of west virginia we're having snarl gas-- natural gas which is starting to really do well. unfortunately, since the obama administration has come in, coal mines that have permits in southern west virginia have been arbitrarily shut down putting hundreds and thousands of coal minors out

of work. these are very high paid jobs and this is part of the green movement in our country which has not been good for southern west virginia. >> suarez: mayor villaraigosa? >> well, look, the economy is improving but at a very low rate. i think the job growth last year in our 2012 report was about 1.3% increase. we know that the economy could be improving to the tune of about 2%. that's nothing to brag home to mamma in west virginia or in l.a. so that's why we're here. we want to partner with the federal government. there's no question that they're going to have to be cut and there are going to be a lot of them. there also has to be investment. you know the republican mayor of mesa arizona, our second vice president said yesterday they're smart cuts and there are dumb cuts. when you cut infrastructure spending that can create millions of jobs.

if we don't pass the surface transportation bill as an example, we're cutting our nose to spite our face. if you cut our schools and our workforce development programs that can retrain our workers for the jobs in the new economy, those are dumb cuts. so we believe that the federal government has to be smart about the cuts that they make. and smart about the investments that we need to make to make america competitive around the world. that's what it is about. you go to china, japan, korea, you go to western europe, you go to the developing world and they're making those investments in their ports, in their airports, in their bridges, in their roads. we have to continue to do the same thing if we want to compete around the world. >> what impact has the trouble in your state had. i mean states across the country are reporting difficult times. >> there's countries you mentioned have taken all our jobs. that's the reason why they have the money to do all the

work that-- but california is in worse shape than west virginia. >> well, i think though, in the case of both west virginia and california and virtually every state in the united states, we always say that the difference between a state, the city and the federal government is the federal government can print money. that's why we are in an unlimited fashion, and that is why we are in the problem that we are in. state governments balance their backs-- balance their budget on the backs of cities, counties and school districts. we're the only ones that can't pass the buck. we actually have to make those really tough choices. we want congress to make an easy choice and that's invest in job creation. invest in america's workers again. >> suarez: mayor villaraigosa, mayor jones, gentlemen, thank you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> warner: next tonight, jordan's king abdullah talks about his neighbor in turmoil--

syria. the arab league's peace monitoring mission in syria officially came to an end today. as it did, syrian opposition activists charged security forces had killed at least 16 more people. in fact, the killing has continued unabated, over the period the monitors were assessing whether president bashar assad's regime had stopped firing on civilians, as promised. the united nations estimates the death toll at close to 5,500. one algerian monitor quit the team, telling al-jazeera that the mission was a farce and was simply letting the syrian regime buy time. and on "60 minutes" last sunday, the emir of qatar-- sheikh hamad-- said arab troops need to be deployed to end the bloodshed. >> for such a situation to stop the killing some troops should go to stop the killing. >> warner: the unrest also poses a risks for syria's small

neighbor, jordan, and its ruler, king abdullah. he was the first arab leader to urge president assad to step down. on a visit to washington this week, he and president obama wrestled with what to do. >> we will continue to consult very closely with jordan to create the kind of international pressure and environment that encourages the current syrian regime to step aside so that a more democratic process of transition can take place inside of syria. >> warner: the jordanian monarch himself has faced demands for change since the onset of the arab spring last year. these protesters in amman last spring were demanding political reform and more economic growth. king abdullah met the demands by increasing government subsidies, firing his cabinet and amending the constitution in some respects.

at the same time, the king has been trying to deal with the middle east's other major challenge-- the israeli- palestinian conflict. he updated president obama on a series of talks he hosted this month between negotiators for the two sides. >> although this is still in the very early stages, we have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that we can bring the israelis and palestinians out of the impasse that we're facing. >> warner: the king has a keen interest in ending that impasse. half of jordan's population of 6.5 million people is palestinian and the country is one of only two arab nations to sign a peace treaty with israel. for now, though, the violence in syria is perhaps the most urgent topic on jordan's agenda. the arab league meets sunday to decide whether to extend the monitors' mission for another month, or take stronger action. i spoke with king abdullah about all this today at his hotel in washington.

your majesty, thank you for joining us. the arab league is about to wind up its mission, in fact, today in syria. what do you think has been accomplished if anything? >> well, i think it's given our countries better insight of what is going on inside of syria. it's been an interesting mission and i think we've had some gains and some losses on that. and i think what it will do is help develop them, a pan-arab strategy on how to deal with syria. obviously we've been in discussions withhe syrians for many, many months on what going on internally. i think all our countries are very concerned of what is happening. and i will have to see what the next stage, what the outcome will be from arab league decisions. obviously we in jordan will abide by the arab league and work together with them, whatever the advice is going to be. >> warner: now president assad last week, though, gave a very, very tough speech in which he said he was going to continue to go after the terrorists with an

iron fist. he was quite insulting about the arab league and the mission. do you think it's had any effect in moderating even the killing? >> well, this has been-- the exchanges between the arab league and syria have been going on for a while. and we've will some very heated discussions in cairo. we've had delegations go to syria. i do wish that the syrian regime would take the arab league more seriously. because at the end, a unified arab position is something that they have to consider very seriously. the next couple of weeks are going to be very critical. how does the arab league deal with syria and president a sass-- assad. >> the he mir of qatar said the killing was so horrific that arab troops should be sent in to stop the killing. would you ever support something like that? >> well, again, i'll fall back to say that we are with arab consensus. and we'll have to see what the arab league comes up with. i'm just very weary that once you stop operations in any country, it's very

difficult to predict what the outcome is we're hoping that dialogue can continue to put pressure on syria, will have an effect. understanding from my point of view that unfortunately what you are seeing in syria you will see pretty of the same thing for a while to come. when-- . >> warner: you mean you think the killing really is going to continue at this pace? >> i don't know at this paces, but i think the disturbance and loss of life will continue, unfortunately. the problem with syria, and we've been here in washington for a few days talking to our colleagues here. i've been in interaction with my colleagues around the world and the middle east, nob has an answer for syria, that is the thing, we don't really fro what to do. it is different than iraq t is din than libya. there are so many different subsocieties inside of sirria. but once things are taken to the exnext level so to speak as you are eluding to, it could be anybody's guess what is going to happen. i think that is what concerns everybody. >> warner: you have known bashar assad for a long time. the two of are you almost the same age. you came to power almost at

the same time, both the sons of powerful rulers in your respective countries. i'm also told that you actually told the obama administration you thought he was a reform-minded young lead their they could work with. what happened? what went wrong? what did he do wrong? >> you know, i do know president bashar very with. i also know his wife and his children and my family knows them very well. and i believe that inis blood he does have reform, he does have the vision. and what i keep trying to explain to people is that i think that the system doesn't allow for that in syria. so whether the intentions are there, the way the political system is, the party, the sect, i don't think allows for reform to happen. because once they start to open that door, then i think everything falls apart. so i think he is hijacked by his position i, by the system that he is in charge of. >> warner: are you suggesting that he would like to compromise, to open the door to share pog we are

but somehow has been precluded from it? >> no, i think-- i'm going back on my spernlss with bashar. he's always tried to im plement reform. i think the system just didn't allow for it and in than atmosphere of the arab spring where there has been conflict between the regime and the people and now that there is, as you see, the bloodshed that is ongoing, i think he's hostage to the regime so, even if he wanted to, i don't think that he could change the way that he does business. and people say well, you know, if bashar is replaced, my feeling from looking at syria, even if he is replasd, the person that comes in his place, would he have the ability to reach out as we did in jordan and other countries. i don't think the system allows for that. so it's not so of the issue. individual as i'm trying to point out, it's the system that won't allow for what's happening in syria to change in the near time. >> and what do you mean by the system. >> well, it's a political party based on the sect,

unlike, you could say, in iraq where it was the ba'ath party t was a political party, this is based on an ethnic group, if you say, or a sect of people. and if they start to relinquish power, then i don't think there's a middle ground. everything will go. so i have the sense that sometimes when they talk to each other it's sort of a do-or-die attitude, they don't have much choice. i think if you look at syria from that point of view will you understand the way that they are taking on the opposition in that country. and you know from my point of view, i don't see thening up as a good story. i mean it's going to turn out padly no matter what. when is anybody's guess. >> do you think that the u.n. security council should impose sanctions or a sanctions regime. they seem to be waiting to hear a recommendation from the arab league. what would your inclination be in that regard, whether to encourage the u.n. security council toil use some sanctions. >> i think that is where the

dialogue is going. again if you looked at what is happening in libya it was bold action taken by the arab league that a awe lad u.n., nato and others to firm up their position. and so if i could predict what will be happening over the near future, again the relationship between the arab league and the u.n. on how though take it to the next step. understanding from our experience last year that when the arab league comes together as a bloc to make decision it's much more easier for the international community to then move to the fix phase. >> warner: now you are, of course, in a region that's seen a lot of unrest as we just referred to. and you've had protests and demonstrations in your country for almost a year. for a year. how secure dowfeel? >> i think very secure. i mean i think you have to be confident in what you are trying to achieve. we have he's as you said demonstrations just over a year. and i think we're the only country definitely in the region and when you look across the world, we're the only country in 2011 with all the demonstrations that we've had that there was no single loss of life.

and that i think talks about the attitude of how we are moving with the reform process, the tremendous prides i have with the security services that really took a lot of hard hits to make sure citizens are protected. and today we have a road map. we will have elections, municipal and national this year. there was a lot of requests by those in opposition to change the way that jordan does business. they wanted to change the constitution and actually a third of the institution has been ratified. the most two important things are constitutional accord and for the election process and i think the democratic process of political parties, and independent commission for elections that then allows the government to step way back and have nothing to do with elections. >> warner: now the activists, some of your opponents say, though, that your security forces have continued and have used brutal tactics against protestors, demonstrators, opposition parties. >> well, i think certain

opposition members in any country will continue to take that line no matter what you do. but the proof in the pudding is that in a year of dem sfration-- demonstrations, not one loss of life. and in actual fact if you want to look at how many people have been in hospital there are a far greater proportion of policeman that vended up being injured, some brutally stabbed with qorsd and knives over a couple of very nasty conflict with the crowd. and they've taken those hits to make sure that the civilians have been protected. so actually, i'm amazed at what the police have been able to do. and i think a complete opposite to the impression that some people are trying to give about jordan. >> now finally you have embarked on this attempt to get the israelis and palestinians to at least talk about talking with one another. how does that fit in the context of the arab spring. >> what offense and-- must understand is that whatever is happening in the arab spring, whatever the country is going through, the core issue in the minds of all arabs is that of the palestinians.

and so it is very dangerous to maneuver in the arab spring without paying any attention to the israeli-palestinian process. the israelis and palestinians have not been talking to each other for quite some time. it would be tremendously damaging to both of them if we went into 2012 without any negotiations. as a result, we have been successful in getting israelis and palestinians together in jordan, in what i call baby steps. we've been doing this for over 60 years. let's not think through naive tee that we are going to solve it right away. >> should i read from your tone though that you don't think a chance of a break through is very likely in 2012. >> the simple fact that i think both leaders, prime minister netanyahu and president abbas i believe want to wait out the impasse and come to jordan to have their lieutenant, so to speak, try to set up the process so that we can get both the leaders together, i think should be given a lot of credit to both sides. we know there are obstacles.

we know that there is a hard road to battle forward but at least they're talk teaching other. what we will see over the next couple of weeks will determine if there is enough there for the israeli and palestinian leaders to sit around the table. if we can achieve that, then 2012 will be a safer year for both israelis and the palestinians with all the instability that is going on in the region. >> warner: your majesty, thank you so much. >> not at all. thank you. >> woodruff: and finally tonight, a once powerful american brand struggles to stay relevant and in business. hari sreenivasan has the story. >> sreenivasan: for decades, eastman kodak dominated the world of film photography, with its iconic yellow boxes of film. but that was then, this is now: the photography pioneer filed today for chapter 11-- federal bankruptcy protection-- after 132 years in business. c.e.o. antonio perez: >> we're taking this step at this point in our transformation

in order to build the strongest possible foundation for the kodak of the future. >> sreenivasan: at its peak, kodak employed more than 60,000 people at its headquarters in rochester, new york. but trouble began in the 1980s, in the form of global competition from tokyo-based fuji. compounding the problems, kodak was slow to shift from film in the 1990s, as digital technology emerged. in 2006, this video-- played at a business conference-- promised an aggressive comeback effort. >> kodak is back. they're taking this digital thing to a level undreamed of. pioneering technology that will redefine the digital revolution. >> sreenivasan: but the troubles have continued. kodak has been in the black only once since 2004. its rochester workforce has fallen to just over 7,000. and earlier this month, kodak stock closed at an all-time low of 37 cents a share. in a final blow, the company was unable to sell some 1,100

patents in a bid to raise cash. even so, a message today on the corporate homepage declared it's still business as usual, while kodak tries to reorganize. for more we turn to julie philipp, news director of wxxi public televisioin rochester, new york, where kodak is headquartered. thanks for being us. >> you're welcome, good see you. >> so first question is why now, was there a particular event that forced kodak to declare chapter 11. >> well, i think the idea was to declare chapter 11 before running out of money completely. the company already owes so much to creditors and many of the creditors were demanding character on deliveriy, meaning kodak would have to cough up cash to get supplies stay in business. and that cash was running low. they wanted to have enough to play around with during bankruptcy. so they declared it in the middle of the night last night. >> so am lists that are covering the company are also wondering what took you so long, that this has been a very long and slow and

painful decline, right? >> it sure has. as you mentioned in your report, in 1982 in rochester, kodak employed 62,000 people. i think that number is actually below 7,000 now. the company is not confirming that. so over 25 years they have shed an awful lot of employees and a lot of businesses. >> now on the one hand, the company was excellent at marketing in the sense that it's a household name. and when we think of kodak we think of photographs. >> uh-huh. >> what did they crushly miss. >> there are a lot of armchair quarterback these days pointing at what they could have done differently. obviously their slowness to adapt digital is a big one. they actually invented the digital -- digital camera but stashed it away. reports are they were afraid that other was see it and they were still making so much money on film that they decided to hold off on the invention and keep the cash rolling in it was just too hard to turn a 100-year-old company around quickly enough.

>> let's talk a little bit about the relationship that kodak has with rochester. in some ways it was a company town. and kodak was the company. >> it was the quint essential-- quintessential company town, they call it ma kodak or pa kodak. people really thought this company was going to take care of them. and it did for a very, very, very long time. their benefits are unmatched in today's workforce. and people really depended on it for their livelihood. it's very difficult to find anyone in rochester unless they just moved here, who does not have some connection, either a family member or a business connection to kodak. everybody has some connection to the company. >> because the decline has taken such a long time there are probably a lot of ripple effects. it's not that the doors close in one day and everybody is out of a job. what are some of the other impacts, how has rochester changed over time as kodak has gotten smaller? >> actually, there have been some really positive impacts. because kodak is really behind so many of the major educational, cull-- cultural

philanthropic institutions that are still going fairly strong. they're much smaller these days, perhaps, but they were started by kodak or the kodak employees. so it's had a really positive impact. and on top of that, many of those employees who left the company took information, ideas, learning with them and they're starting new high-tech start ups. so we have a the lo of high-tech start-ups that are connected to kodak ideas an kodak people so they left a positive impact though a much leaner, meaner, smaller impact than its big kodak days. >> so if the company ends up having to close its doors, 6,000 people out of work would still have a significant, would put a strain on rochester. >> it is still one of rochester's larger employee employers, by no means the largest any more. so yes, there will be-- we anticipate there will be some layoffs as part of this bankruptcy proceeding. and that will put a strain on some of the services in the community, yes. >> and what about the folks

who are receiving retirement pensions. did they get any information today? >> they're nervous. they were not mentioned in the statement released by kodak. the general expectation is pensions are fairly safe that kodak has enough money to pay for those and that money can't really be touched during bankruptcy proceedings. there is some concern that pensions could be frozen for a little while and there could maybe not be able to withdraw from them. but overall the pensions are fairly safe. other benefits such as health-care benefits might be at risk. they could pull those for retirees who weren't old enough to qualify for medicare that could be a big hit to their wallet. if they have to go out and buy tir own health insurance for a few years. >> let's just clarify for folks. chapter 11 is not the same for chapter 7, we are not talking about liquidation. how did the company clarify that distinction today? >> they are talking about a reorganization. they're talking about getting smaller, getting more efficient, really tightening up the ship a bit.

and they insist they're going to be in business throughout bankruptcy and come out better on the other side. >> so what was the mood around rochester today as you walked around, as you talked to people who all have these kodak connections. >> it's really funny. everybody saw this coming but no one saw it coming. everybody expressed some sort of mild shock at least. a lot of sadness, some anger, some bitterness, particularly directed to some of the c.e.o.s who came and went during the transformation took away their gilded parachutes and didn't make things better for adac. so a lot of sadness, i guess, would be the biggest he mention that we've been hearing. >> julie philip, news director at wxxi in rochester, thank soches for joining us. >> you're welcome >> warner: again, the other major developments of the day: texas governor rick perry quit the republican presidential race, and endorsed newt gingrich.

in an interview with abc's "nightline", gingrich's ex-wife marianne claimed he wanted an open marriage, after she found out he was having an affair in the 1990s. the former house speaker told the "newshour" that he would not discuss it, but he did say: "i've made mistakes in my life..." and the u.s. government shut down megaupload.com-- one of the online, we have reaction to president obama's denial of a permit for the keystone xl pipeline. find it on our politics page. on our health page, we have a report from our partners at kaiser health news about growing worries that tests for sleep apnea might be driving up the cost of health care. and for science thursday, we take a look at a collection of fossils found by charles darwin and colleagues that were recently rediscovered. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. margaret?

>> warner: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm margaret warner. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks, among others. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy productive life. and by the alfred p. sloan and with the ongoing support of these institutions and

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