Nation & World

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said she meant no disrespect when she pointed a finger at President Obama during an intense discussion on an airport tarmac. But the Republican governor said the Democratic president showed disrespect by abruptly ending their conversation.

Obama, in an interview Thursday with ABC News, said it's "a classic example of things getting blown out of proportion."

Brewer said that during their tarmac talk Wednesday, she invited Obama to visit Arizona to hear about her administration's achievements and to visit the U.S.-Mexico border. Obama then said Brewer's recently published book mischaracterized a 2011 White House meeting between them.

Immediately after the 2001 meeting, Brewer had said it was cordial. But in her book, she said Obama lectured her in the Oval Office and that she felt he was condescending.

"It is what it is. I proceeded to say that to him, and he chose to walk away from me," she said Thursday.

N.C. governor won't seek new term

RALEIGH, N.C. — Facing sagging poll numbers, a campaign-finance investigation and worries from fellow Democrats she would drag down candidates in a key battleground state, North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said Thursday she would not run for re-election this year.

Perdue, 65, a former teacher and the state's first woman governor, rode into office on the coattails of President Obama's surprise victory in the state. Her exit creates a wide-open gubernatorial primary in a state that is so key to Obama, Democrats are hosting their national convention in Charlotte in September.

Source of Gingrich income still vague

WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich beat his main GOP presidential rival, Mitt Romney, to the punch by releasing his most recent tax return. But Gingrich still hasn't revealed how he earned most of his $3.1 million.

The 2010 tax return made public last week shows that $2.4 million, more than three-fourths of Gingrich's income, came in payments he regularly received, in addition to his salary, from different businesses he ran before announcing his candidacy for president.

Gingrich, who has demanded more transparency from Romney, doesn't identify where the money came from, including amounts he received from his consulting business.

He also doesn't list some of the salary he reported on his tax return on a financial disclosure filed last year after launching his campaign.

Romney's campaign, meanwhile, said he will amend his financial disclosure to add investment funds he did not previously report, including a Swiss bank account that earned just over $1,700 in interest.

Seattle Times news services