. >> warner: and i'm margaret warner. on the newshour tonight, we have the latest on the rescue operations and emergency evacuations. >> brown: then, we update the violent crackdown against anti- government protesters in syria and talk with a human rights activist in damascus. >> warner: we have a newsmaker interview with british defense secretary liam fox about the >> we have a mandate to protect the civilian population. as long as the regime is killing its own population the international community will protect them. >> brown: ray suarez talks to marcia coyle about today's supreme court argument: are prescription drug records confidential medical data, or can drug companies use them to market their products? >> warner: tom bearden reports on attitudes toward b.p. and the government a year after the blowout of the "deepwater horizon" well. >> there are an awful lot of people who live along the gulf coast who are extra extraordinarily unhappy about the the way the whole b.p. oil spill was handled. >> brown: hari sreenivas

warner.on the newshour tonight: we examine the leaked files with two reporters who've gone through them-- tom gjelten of n.p.r. and charlie savage of the "new york times." >> brown: then, we have the latest on deadly clashes in yemen, as government troops fired on protesters demanding the ouster of president ali abdullah saleh. >> warner: spencer michels looks at the debate over reinstating r.o.t.c. programs at a california university. >> reporter: it's been 40 years since stanford banned military training at the height of the vietnam war, but as many students told us, times have changed.ç >> brown: and robert macneil wraps up his "autism now" serieç with a roundtable discussion about policy and other challenges going forward. >> it's an emergency. ten years from now the country will be crushed by the needs of these people, and nobody is looking down the road. >> brown: that's all ahead, on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i mean, where would we

i'm margaret warner. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i mean, where would we be without small businesses? >> we need small businesses. >> they're the ones that help drive growth. >> like electricians, mechanics, carpenters. >> they strengthen our communities. >> every year, chevron spends billions with small businesses. that goes right to the heart of local communities, providing jobs, keeping people at work. they depend on us. >> the economy depends on them. >> and we depend on them. >> and by bnsf railway. pacific life. and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. 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. captioning

margaret warner has the story. >> warner: greg mortenson's "three cups of tea," out in 2006, became an international sensation, riding "the new york times" bestseller list for four years, and selling more than four million copies worldwide. in it, mortenson tells of his ill-fated 1993 attempt to climb k2, the world's second highest mountain; of stumbling into the pakistani village of korphe, and being nursed back to health; and of promising villagers he'd return to build a school for girls. >> salam alekum. >> warner: in 1996, mortenson founded the non-profit central asia institute, and through it, raised millions of dollars to build what its web site says have been more than 140 schools in pakistan and afghanistan. >> the real enemy is ignorance and hatred, so we should all put all of our strength, our prayers and resources into the education of our children. that is the most important thing. >> warner: after the book hit big, mortenson began pulling down hefty speaking fees, and advising top u.s. commanders in afghanistan. but on sunday night, a report on cbs' "60 minutes" challenged

margaret warner has the story. >> warner: los angeles times reporters rubin vives and jeff got leave celebrated their pulitzer win monday for uncovering a massive local government corruption scandal. their first article on malfeasance in the los angeles area town of bell, california, appeared last july under the eye-catching headline: is is a city manager worth $800,000? subsequent coverage revealed what local prosecutors called corruption on steroids. in a working-class town of just 38,000 people, eight current and former city officials, including members of the city council, were arrested in september. the district attorney charged they engineered themselves huge salaries, outsized benefits and illegal loans totaling $5.5 million. >> they used the tax dollars collected from the hard-working citizens of bell as their own piggy bank which they then looted at will. >> warner: the alleged master mind was then city manager robert rizzo who earned a combined $1.5 million a year in salary and benefits. he's accused of pulling other employees and some city council members into his scheme.

margaret warner has that story. >> warner: the date was march 19 when france was first to send warplaneso action over libya, enforcing a no-fly zone with air strikes. president nicolas sarkozy announced the action that day at a paris summit of world leaders and diplomats. >> ( translated ): we do this to protect civilians from the murderous mandate of a regime that, by murdering its own people, has lost all legitimacy. in addition to its arab, european and north american partners, france is committed to playing its role, its role before history. >> warner: france also showed its military muscle this week in its former african colony, ivory coast, sending helicopter gunships to beef up u.n. peacekeeping forces trying to oust president laurent gbagbo. he's refused to step down after losing last fall's election. early today, french soldiers rappelled from a helicopter to rescue japan's ambassador to ivory coast and seven of his colleagues. >> ( translated ): mercenaries took over my residence, but in the end i was saved by french troops, licorne, with their professional work. >> warner: fra

margaret warner reports. . >> warner: there has not been this many protestors in tahrir square in weeks but on friday tens of thousands showed up to vent their impatience into the ruling military council. the crowd with a few soldiers joining in also demanded the military move more quickly to prosecute former president hosni mubarak and his family for corruption. after night fall in the early hours saturday, troops stormed the protestor's camp killing two and injurying dozens more. the army denied using live ammunition but it was the worst violence since the uprising that drove mubarak from power two months ago. yet on sunday hundreds of protestors continued to defy army orders to clear the square. they repeated demands to speed up a probe into the mubarak family's wealth. shortly afterwards in an audio statement on the al arabbia news channel, mubarak defended his honor and denied he or his wife have hidden money abroad. >> i have spent my whole life serving the nation with honesty and integrity. i cannot remain silent in the face of continual campaigns of defamation and false accusati

margaret warner has that story. >> warner: to some in pakistan, he's a popular as a rock star. rose petals as he arrived at court, yet cadre is an admitted killer, a body guard who in november shot and kiltd governor he was supposed to protect. tasir, the forever of pakistan's pun japrovince, was a moderate politician who called for ending the lawmaking blasphemy a capitol offense. another figure shabaz bhatti, met a similar fate, gunned down as he left his mother's home. both men had been inspired to try to change the law by the case of a christian woman sentenced to death after neighbors accused her of insulting the prophet mohammed during a dispute. she is still alive in prison. also under threat for proposing to reform the law, parliament aryan sherry rehman. she's been burned in effigy at islamic rallies and denounced by conservative imams. the u.s.-educated rehman, a former journalist and magazine editor, briefly served as information minister under former president pervez musharraf. she was close to former prime minister benazir bhutto, who encouraged her to get into pol

. >> warner: and i'm margaret warner. on the newshour tonight, ray suarez gets the latest from the mayor of tuscaloosa, one of the hardest hit cities in the region. and he talks to the national weather service director about what may turn out to be the most active tornado month on record. >> brown: john burns of "the new york times" looks behind the pomp and pageantry following our extended report at this morning's royal wedding in london's westminster abbey. >> i william take thee catherine to be my wedded wife. >> for better or for worse. >> for better or for worse. >> to love and to cherish. >> and thereto i give thee my troth. >> and thereto i give thee my troth. >> warner: and mark shields and david brooks analyze the week's news. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> i mean, where would we be without small businesses? >> we need small businesses. >> they're the ones that he

margaret warner has our report. >> warner: fighters trying to install the democratically- elected ouattara began besieging the main city of abidjan today, the last major stronghold of his rival. in a televised speech today from his hideout, alessane outtara said his forces were fighting to restore democracy and ensure the people's vote is respected. the struggle between ouattara and incumbent president laurent gbagbo has been raging for four months, ever since voters in the former french colony known as cote d'ivoire decisively voted for outtara in the november 28 election. his election was recognized by the u.n., the united states and the european and african unions, but gbagbo refused to leave. outtara's been staying in a u.n. protected hotel in abidjan, while incumbent gbagbo held his own inauguration ceremony in december and remains in the presidential palace. as negotiations flagged, the struggle turned violent with pro-gbagbo forces attacking pro- outtara civilian neighborhoods and even attacking u.n. peacekeepers. nearly 500 people have died so far and the united nations says as man

margaret warner has the story. . >> warner: 12 years ago a landmark studied found up to 98,000 americans may be dying each year from hospital-induced mistakes. today, the obama administration announced yet another program to address that. the new initiative aims to reduce medical errors and accidents and save more than 60,000 lives and $35 billion in health care costs over three years. today's move comes on the heels of a study published last week in the journal "health affairs," suggesting the problem is even worse than previously thought. it found that one-third of all people admitted to a hospital fall victim to a preventable medical error or accident. here to tell us more about all this is susan dentzer. she's the editor-in-chief of "health affairs," and a health analyst for the newshour. welcome back, as always. >> great to be back, margaret. >> warner: pretty stunning finding. one third of all people who check into the hospital develop something in the hospital? >> very shocking indeed. our study looked at a new way of going back over hospital records and looking for signs of somet

margaret warner reports. >> warner: the demonstrations that erupted in tunisia last december sparking a wider revolt throughout the arab world were touched off by a young fruit seller who set himself on fire after being harassed by police. his story and a photo of his charred body in a hospital bed spread on the internet. protests erupted and in less than a month on january 14, tunisia's strong man president had resigned. since then with an assist from social media, arabs elsewhere have taken to the streets demanding more dignity, less corruption and democratic and economic reforms. in egypt in late january, activists masked by the tens of thousands in cairo's to rear square. after 18 days of protests and a push from his only army long- time egyptian president hosni mubarak stepped down. demonstrations also broke out in yemen, libya, bahrain, and syria. and more modestly jordan and saudi arabia. the obama administration has responded by calling on autocratic arab leaders to make reforms and avoid violence. but in lab i can't last month, the u.s. and a coalition under a u.n. resolution