margaret warner reports from brussels. >> warner: it's their 17th meeting in two years.rying to tame an economic crisis that threatens toen snare you're europe in another recession. leaders of the 27 e.u. member states arrived in a belgian capital nearly paralyzed by a general strike. the union-led protests targeted austerity measures in belgium and elsewhere in europe. like raising taxes and retirement ages and slashing government spending to reduce deficits and crushing debt. but now with unemployment rates rising and growth rates declining in many countries, e.u. leaders are reaching beyond the idea that austerity alone is the answer. today's summit credo instead was jobs and growth. british prime minister david cameron instituted a cuts-only agenda at home, but the british economy has been reeling. >> we need to get really serious about the growth agenda in europe. that means signing trade deals with the fastest-growing parts of the world. it means a serious effort at deregulation particularly for small businesses so they can create the jobs and the growth that we ne

. >> warner: and i'm margaret warner. on the "newshour" tonight: deputy secretary of defense ashton carter walks us through the plan to reshape the military while trimming costs. >> brown: then, we turn to florida, where judy woodruff has an update on the g.o.p. presidential primary contest. >> warner: kwame holman reports on a key component of president obama's re-election strategy highlighting the political gridlock in washington. >> president obama says this 112th congress-- as divided and partisan as it is-- should work with him on behalf of the american people. >> brown: ray suarez looks at today's jobs problem and the future role of manufacturing. >> warner: and, we have a conversation with veteran reporter tom edsall about the political landscape in a time of scarce resources. >> the fight now is a much more serious and brutal fight over basically sxhix and how do you cut up a smaller and smaller part? >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: milit

security council tonight. >> suarez: margaret warner takes it from there. >> warner: for more on the spiraling situation in syria, we go to ania in beirut. thank you for joining us. the head of the arab league mission in syria said today that there has been a very high escalation of violence in the last few days. is that what you're hearing from your sources? >> reporter: certainly. you know, the figures that are coming out are quite ghastly. we're hearing 50, 60, 77, as many as perhaps 96 people killed today. un, yesterday was also a figure in the high double digits. this has become the pattern over several months, these daily double-digit death tolls. however, in the past week or so we have seen what appears to be a dramatic escalation. we've also seen the military go back into this-- go back into hama. they haven't staged a major offense 95 that city since i was last there in august, early september. so, you know, the assad security forces are certainly seeming to want to crush this rebellion that has now entered its tenth month. they sort counting. they saidheir last count was ov

. >> warner: and i'm margaret warner. on the "newshour" tonight, juliet eilperin of the "washington post" explains the reasons for the decision and what happens next. >> woodruff: we discuss the pressure on g.o.p. front-runner mitt romney to release his tax information in advance of the south carolina primary. >> warner: we debate the risk of sliding into war with iran, as the west tightens sanctions against its nuclear program. >> woodruff: spencer michels reports on how fog and tourism are threatening to destroy the historic murals in a san francisco landmark. >> the quality of art is amazing here. it's really indicative of the time period of the early '30s and for the public art, public mural movement of that time period. >> warner: and we debate the impact private equity firms have on jobs and the economy. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chan

. >> 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

margaret warner has the story. >> warner: it's one of the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought is a web site based in hong kong that's been used to share large files, including movies, videos, television shows, e-books, games and music. it's called "mega upload," the heavily visited site is said to have 150 million registered users and 50 million visits a day. now, it stands charged with storing and distributing pirated material, and thus robbing copyright holders of more than half a billion dollars. yesterday, the justice department shut it down and released indictments against seven executives. four were arrested at the new zealand mansion of its founder, who goes by the name, "kim dotcom." within hours, the hacker collective called "anonymous" retaliated, shutting down the web sites of the justice department and major media groups, including universal music and the motion picture association of america. the government's crackdown came one day after this week's online protests against anti-piracy bills in congress. for more on all of this, we turn to cecilia kang, who's cover

margaret warner has more. >> warner: the president invited business owners to the white house to hear his proposal. >> today, i am calling on congress to reinstate the authority that past presidents have had to streamline and reform the executive branch. >> warner: that fast-track authority expired in 1984, when ronald reagan was president. if congress restores it, president obama could propose cost-cutting consolidations and be guaranteed an up-or-down vote within 90 days. >> these changes would help small business owners like you. it would also help medium and large businesses. and as a consequence they would help create more jobs, sell more products overseas, grow our economy faster, improve our quality of life. >> reporter: mr. obama said his first consolidation proposal would merge six agencies: the business and trade functions of the commerce department, the small business administration, the office of the u.s. trade representative, the export import bank, the overseas private investment corporation and the trade and development agency. the president initially raised the need fo

margaret warner has the story. >> warner: last night, after days of controversy, a mississippi judge moved to block some last-minute pardons made by outgoing governor haley barbour. vacating the governor's office this past week, the two-term republican issued pardons to more than 200 felons, 14 of them convicted killers and many others imprisoned for violent crimes. after a furor erupted, barbour's office yesterday issued a statement saying that 189 of them-- roughly 90%-- had already completed their sentences. the judge's ruling temporarily blocks the release of 21 of those who were still in jail. to help sort this out is daniel cherry of mississippi public broadcasting. daniel, welcome, thanks. how did this story just explode? flesh it out for us a little bit. >> well, whenever he, governor barbour had first pardoned five inmates. and that was drawing enough attention. and then came this additional 200 plus. and it really did just create a serious public outcry around here. >> warner: and so some became public right away but then just this week you heard about the nearly 200 others

margaret warner has our report. >> warner: amid cries of "death to america" today the iranian supreme leader was defiant at a tehran rally. he proclaimed his nation would not give up its nuclear program, despite the economic damage done by international sanctions. >> the strong decision of the sacred islamic republic is based on not being diverted from the path it has adopted, not sur surrendering and resisting against bullying and extreme demands of super powers. >> warner: his declaration came as the international atomic agency in an email to right irz says iran has begun enriching uranium at a second underground site. it had announced its intention to do so on saturday. the existence of the facility near the iranian holy city was publicly revealed by washington and its allies in late 2009. it is very deep underground, unle a similar plant. the iranian government insists that its nuclear activities are for peaceful energy purposes only, an assertion disputed by the u.s. and its allies. on cbs yesterday, secretary of defense leon panetta repeated international demands that iran stop

margaret warner has our story. >> warner: the case involved a teacher with part-time religious dutiesa lutheran church-run school who claimed employment discrimination after she was fired. today, the justices in a unanimous ruling said her church employer is protected from such law suits. it was the first time the high court has upheld the so-called ministerial exception to anti- discrimination laws. marcia coyle of the "national law journal" joins us now, as always, to walk us through today's decision. marcia, welcome back. what's the story behind this case? >> well, cheryl parrish was teaching at a lutheran church school in michigan. she taught secular subject but she also took religious training in order to get the designation a called teacher. this.... >> couric: called teacher or minuter? >> called teacher. but as part of her duties she would lead the students in prayer. she also might take them to the church for services but many of the lay teachers at the school also did the same thing. she needed a leave of absence in order to get treatment for narco leprosy and when she... an

margaret warner has the story. >> warner: it was one of the worst attacks on civilians by u.s. troops of the entire iraq war. blood-soaked rooms, scattered bullet casings, and piles of bodies littered the scene in haditha 140 miles northwest of baghdad in november, 2005. survivors accused u.s. marines of carrying out a massacre. >> the americans knocked at the door. my father went to open it. they shot him dead from behind the door and then they shot him again after they opened the door. then comes one american soldier and shot at us all. i pretended to be dead. >> warner: it had begun with a roadside bomb that killed marine lance corporal miguel. his death was noted on the newshour's honor roll. military investigators concluded his squad went on a rampage of revenge, killing 24 iraqi civilians including three women and seven children. four enlisted marines were charged with manslaughter and other crimes. four officers were charged with a cover-up. defense lawyers argued the marines believed they were in hostile territory and acted properly. ultimately charges were dropped agai

margaret warner has the story. >> warner: hundreds of thousands of egyptians flocked to tahrir squaremark the onset of the 18-day revolution that drove president hosni mubarak from office last year. people waved flags and chanted, but unlike a year ago there were no army troops or police present. for many, this was a celebration. >> ( translated ): i came to celebrate what has been fulfilled from the goals of the revolution, i came to celebrate the downfall of mubarak and his corrupted people around him, i came to celebrate freedom. >> warner: but others, from the secular forces who sparked the revolution, protested against continued rule by the interim military government. >> ( translated ): this is not the anniversary of the revolution, it hasn't ended yet. >> warner: in fact, the political divisions were plainly evident-- liberal, secular egyptians massing on one side of the square protesting, islamists on the other side, celebrating. for now, it's the islamists who've won political power. in egypt's newly elected lower house of parliament, the long- banned muslim brotherhood now h