Arizona. Plus democrats Martin Omalley of maryland, and colorados John Hickenlooper. And well also continue our conversation on gun control after want newtown shooting. What is the impact of violent video games on kids . And what kind of Mental Health laws do we need to help keep things like this from ever happening again . Its all ahead on face the nation. Captioning sponsored by cbs from cbs news in washington, face the nation with Bob Schieffer. Substituting for Bob Schieffer cbs news chief white house correspondent, Major Garrett. Garrett good morning again. Bob is off today. Friday 85 billion in acrosstheboard spending cuts are scheduled to take effect. Nearly half the cuts will be to defense, the pentagon saying that 800,000 civilian employees could face furloughs, and everyone in the federal government from f. B. I. Agents to meat inspectors to Emergency Responders could face furloughs. Education funding and head start could also be especially hard hit, and we start off this morning with education secretary arne duncan. Mr. Secretary, thank you for joining us this morning. Good morning major. Thanks for having me. Garrett i know you will get to some of the implications of the acrosstheboard cuts, but in the Recovery Academy the Education Department received 98 billion. Isnt there room in your budget, mr. Secretary, to absorb some of these spending cuts and not have some of the negative effects that have been tellsed so far . Our money all goes out to School Districts. As you know, the vast majorpt of federal money goes to help vulnerable children, whether children with special needs poor children whether whether adults in college doing work study, whether our babies in head start. We dont have any ability with dumb cuts like this to figure out what the right thing to do is. It means children will not get the services and opportunities they need and as many as 40,000 teaches could lose their job. Garrett how soon could that happen . I heard immediately early in the fall. Is there a the sky is falling . Some will happen immediately and some in the fall. There are teachers now getting ping slips notices they that he want come back this fall. We need to invest in education educate our way to a better economy. Any time we have fewer children in head start fewer poor children, fewer children with special needs getting the services they need is not good for families and not good for want country. Garrett and there is nothing you can do in the budget to shield, or buffer these programs you deem essential from the cut cuts . It gives us no ability. Its acrosstheboards dumb cuts. Were willing to make tough calls garrett such as. We cut out 68 billion going to subsidize bankers with our student alone program. We put about 28 to reduce the deficit, 40 billion to increase pell grant. Weve gone from six million pel recipients recipients to 19million. Thats us showing creativity. Garrett you mentioned pink slips a moment ago. Who is sending them out states, because theyre hearing from you . This is local School Districts trying to manage i was a superintendent and c. E. O. For seven and a half years. This is the spring. Youre trying to plan your package for the fall. And with this much instability this much chaos coming from washington again fact that this is so easily avoidable is why im so angry. If information would just Work Together compromise, find a middle ground, we wouldnt put districtand families and children through this much trauma. Garrett the white house did concede earlier this week and i know oops a debate the white house doesnt like to get into but want idea for the kroos want board spending cuts did originate with the white house. Do you think the administration regrets the idea in the first place. I think the sequester was set up to be so painful for everybody, recognition want desfunction of congress to be so painful it would force people to come want to table and the in fact people in congress are so tone deaf to what is is going on in the district and what will happen is to me unimaginable. We tonight have to be in this situation. This is not rocket science. We could solve this tomorrow if folks had the will to compromise, come to the table and do the right thing for children and try to keep growing the middle class. Thats what i think we all want to do displag there is a countdown phenomena building up around the story but do you think theres any possibility that there was some discussion of this in the morn papers come march 2 if the sequester the acrosstheboard spending cuts happen, nothing terrible will occur and voters will say wait a minute. This seems all exaggerated. Its not just what happens on march 2 its april may june, going back to school this fall. If we have 70,000 less children in head start if we have tens of thousands of poor children and children with disabilities not getting want services they need children of military families gettingproportionate impacted, so families where the parents parents are serving in iraq and afghanistan all of a sudden those children get a worse education. Thats not right major. Thats not fair. It doesnt make sense. Garrett were also going to have another conversation later in the show on gun control. You came from an urban school district. Chicago has been tragically, horribly in the headlines of late. Whats your take on the arc of the gun control debate right now, and how does it affect you personally . Thursday, the Vice President and i spent a couple of hours in connecticut with want families of children who were killed in the sandy hook massacre. We spent times with families from the Bridgeport Community and thats where i think we should be spending our time, talking about how to reduce gun violence. We spend time talking about stupid issues like this in congress doesnt make sense. We have toviate a climate in which our children can grow up free of fear. We need a lot fewer children being killed and a lot fewer children worrying every day am i going to be safe . Whether its the south side of chicago or sandy hook or arizona or colorado, our children deserve something better. Garrett mr. Secretary its been great to see you this morning. Thanks for coming in. I appreciate it very much. We will turn to kelly ayotte, in khan e, manchester, and tim kaine. Last friday the white house said it hopes the senate meaning led by the democratic leadership will begin debates and votes on alternatives to acrosstheboard spending cuts. What is your message to the democratic leadership . How soon do you want that debate to begin and why is it taking so long for it to begin in the first place . Well, we laid a plan on the table about 10 days ago and we will be voting on it this week, major. And i completely agree i think this needs to start in the senate. If we can find a balanced package independent senate that gets bipartisan support we can avoid the and wester cuts. I just did a trip around virginia to Armed Services installations in the last week in virginia, 90,000 dodd employees getting purlod, including nurses at army hospitals, and wounded warriors, who are scheduled to transition back to civilian life who in many instances instances have as reservists and they would go back into working in National Security positionst federal level, and theyre facing hiring freezes and furloughs that make them wonder whether they can resper civilian life. There is no reason this has to happen. We need to find a balanced approach, and thats the approach we will be voting on this week. Garrett but senator kaine to my original question, why is it attacking so long . You know in the commonwealth of virginia the cuts have been in the pipeline, there have been warnings about it for a good long time, and Many Americans look at the situation and say why does it always have to wait until the last minute . Major youre right. Im new here. Ive been in the senate about six weeks. Theres no reason we should be playing this kind of brinksmanship. And we have brinksmanship around sequester and later brinksmanship around continuing resolution. What we need to do and you mentioned senator ayotte and i are on the budgeting committee. Were writing a budget in the senate this year for the First Time Since 2009. The right way to make decisions about spending brevenues and even about deficit reduction is parent of a normal, ordinary budget process. Lets get rid of the gimmickes sequester, continuing resolutioning, get back to ordinary budgeting just like what happens in every State Capitol every year. Were moving back to that, and thats going to be the solution to these exphdges doing it in a balanced way. Garrett senator ayotte, i want to bring you into the conversation. The Democratic Alternative will call fair mix of spending cuts, but also tax increases. Are you prepared to support any tax increases . Will republicans develop an alternative vathat have any loophole closings or do you think it should be done with alternative spending cuts. Major let me say that i agree with what tim said. I serve on the Budget Committee and have out raged we havent had a budget for three years because the Senate Democrats havent wanted to do it. We wouldnt be in the sequestertype situations if we prioritize spending. In terms of the democrats plan, it seems like the first thing they come up with is were going to raise taxes after having increased revenue as you recall, in january 600 billion over want next 10 years without any spending cuts. I think republicans should have an alternative inment senate. Im working on one to introduce one that will show that were looking at a little over 2 in a 3. 5 trillion pot of federal spending in 2013. So thats what we need to do. Ill capitol hill up with an alternative spending cut proposal with other colleagues in the senate. And i want to add this. I think also the notion of giving the president the discretion to make the spending cuts, i think thats a copout so i will be urging my colleagues to have an alternative. Garrett senator ayotte you proposed legislation that would allow some of these cut to be carried oaf or dealt with through attrition at the federal employee level meaning if there are people who leave the federal workforce theyre not replaced. One would be replaced for every three vacancies. Are you going to press that before the senate. I have offered that proposal along with buck makeen in the house. Its taken from the president o own fiscal commission. Im working on an alternative with other spending cuts to bring forward working with other senators that i believe we will bring forward and i think thats the right thing to do. I mean, stepping back for a minute think about you had the secretary of education on previously. If you look at between 2008 and 2010, if you add in the stimulus, the education spending increased 41 . What were looking at is how can we come up with more sensible spending reductions. I agree with tim that we dont want to undermine our National Security. I in fact traveled around the country with senators mccain and graham and actually went to virginia. Weve been talking about this for a year and asking the president for a year to come forward. In the campaign he said this wasnt going to happen. Its time for him to lead this effort as the commander in chief of this country. Garrett senator kaine and ayotte i want to ask you the largest threshold question. The Fourth Quarter g. D. P. Numbers showed negative growth and there are indications that some of that might have been caused or oridge in any evented with concern in the defense sector. Both of you represent states that have large defense either operation or contractors. Is this the wrong time to be cutting any spend in addition washington . Do we risk any sort of cracks in the economy if we go through with these no matter how theyre composed . I think it is a rich and thats why i think we need a balanced approach. The senate and house working together have already reduced spending by about 1. 4 trillion and there was a 600 billion increase in revenue. The right way to fix it Going Forward is a balanced approach that doesnt cut too deeply. Just use the virginia example. Yesterday, governor mcdonnell my governor, youll have him on in a minute, worked on a legislature of democrat schedules republicans for a compromised transportation package that reduced spending in some line items and increased revenues. It was a balanced approach. He had to buck Grover Norquist to do it. It wasnt perfect because compromises arent perfect but its that kind of balanced approach that will preserve Armed Services and defense and enable our economy to grow instead of choking off as aware whatwere seeing as a strong stock market and other indications we can have success if we approach it this way. Garrett do we have an austerity risk or do the cuts need to happen . I think we can do this in a more sensible way. What we need is leadership from the commander in chief. Rather than hes been out campaign ago even though this idea came from the white house apparently from jack liu,s had treasury nominee. Hes been out trying to blame republicans. I think the American People are tierld of the blame game to come up with responsible spending reductions. We can do that without hurting our economy. Also dealing with our tax code to make us more competitive instead of just the first answer being further increasing taxes. Thats what away can do to help Economic Growth and move forward. Garrett senator ayotte, thank you very much, senator kaine, we have to go. Thank you both very much and see you on capitol hill very soon. Well be back in one minute to hear from four of the nations governors. Nizing an industry can be a tough act to follow, but at xerox weve embraced a new role. Working behind the scenes to provide companies with services. Like helping hr departments manage benefits and pensions for over 11 million employees. Reducing document costs by up to 30 . And processing 421 billion dollars in accounts payables each year. Helping thousands of companies simplify how work gets done. Hows that for an encore . With xerox youre ready for real business. More than two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. And every day since, weve worked hard to keep it. Today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy. Weve shared what weve learned so we can all produce energy more safely. Bps also committed to america. We support nearly twohundredfifty thousand jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. Were working to fuel america for generations to come. Our commitment has never been stronger. Garrett the nations governors are in town for their annual meeting and were joined by Martin Omalley, bob mcdonnell, plus jan brewer and John Hickenlooper from colorado. Governors, its great to have you with us. I want to start with you governor omalley and mcdonald. I understand you had a conversation yesterday, and you two, despite representing different parties are trying to figure out some way to resolve the sequester acrosstheboard spending issue. What do you have to tell us . Governor macdonald and i talk fairly often actually, about issues that we share and on both sides of the potomac we sit in the middle of a corridor of science and security and this sequester stands to wipe out a lot of hardfought job gains in virginia and in maryland, so for whatever our differences might be we understand that this is an economic threat. This is going to hurt a lot of moms and dads in our region can of who go to work every day working in places like n. I. H. , n. S. A. , and also the people that work in the private sectors that support our federal government in these important mi sions. So both of us Hope Congress will come together and find a way to avoid the sequester. Garrett whats your message to republicans in the senate and house governor mcdonnell . We have to get the job done. Sequester was put in place to be a hammer not a policy, and now here we are just a week away from getting it done. Our major concern that governor omalley and i have because were such defense states 19 installations, 25,000 defense contractors in virginia is you have to cut because were in bad shape. 17 trillion almost in debt now. But dont put 50 of the cuts on defense. Our men and women in uniform while were still fighting a war in afghanistan. Thats not right way to balance the cuts that are necessary. Find another way to do it and get it done now. Garrett what are you two going to do in a unified way the next coming week. Theres going to be a debate in the senate and if thats not resolved these cuts begin on friday. Were both going to be pushing our congressional delegations garrett youll be trying to reach out to the president . Well, sure. Were going to be meeting with the president tonight and well be meeting with him tomorrow and no doubt the threat to our jobs recovery is in doubt. Weve made the tough cuts and made the tough congratulations of choices and i congratulate governor mcdonnell. He just came through a tough legislative session where they applied a balanced approach and thats what Congress Needs us to do, a balanced approach naallows us to create jobs and expand opportunities glaring governor mcdonnell, while youre here, the package you put through the legislature has tax increases. Is anything youre saying in republicans to congress who are adamantly opposed at this stage after having raised taxes on the fiscal cliff deal, lighten up on that, put taxes on the table or loophole tolz get this result. Before we approach this transportation bill this session, we had major spending cuts. Weve had other tax decreases. Weve done a lot of things to get us to be a very competitive state for job creation, economic development. But we had a different approach when it came to infrastructure. What i would say and governor omalley and i agree and were Work Together to make sure we dont have the Defense Industry hurt this badly and 200,000 jobs from my state over 10 years. I would say you cant solve the budget crisis if you dont take on medicaid and medicare and get serious about things like simpsonbowles and actually cutting spending. I would say thats where theyve got to go first. Theyve had 18 months. Garrett so no tax increases . The solution is up to congress. Im saying dont put all the burdens on the states and the military. You guys figure out how to get it done glaring some of the things the administration has said would be fewer Border Patrol agents. Do you worry about that in arizona and i have an immigration question but first i want to tackle that . There has been so much uncertainty in what the impacts will be so we have been looking diligently into our agencies about where and how we can cut. Its about a 140 million budget cut if it goes according to what we have been presented and what we know today. But certainly, the security of our border is very, very important. And it is cutting Border Patrol agents. Garrett is your message to republicans give in on taxes resolve this protect your state from these budget cuts . You know, you know, i think they need to resolve it. I think that garrett should they resolve it with tax increases. They need to do and it has to start with leadership from the top. This is unacceptable to the public. The uncertainty the unknowing of whats taking place. We know that given the cuts is going to hurt us, people we have to deliver those kinds of services. But more than that it can really hurt our economy because arizona, too is you know, weve got raytheon there which we dont know exactly what thats going to do, but its going to cut a lot of jobs. And we as a republican governor that inherited the largest budget deficit in the country we resolved that. And now here weve got the federal government over there in my opinion not doing their job. And then its left to the states to solve it. Garrett is it a greater danger for you to deal with these cuts or would it be a greater danger to the economy for republicans to give in on raising taxes . Which do you want to see . laughs you dont give me very good choices. laughter you know. Garrett when the president talks about balanced thats who hes trying to present and it seems to be the cutting edge where the debate ultimately will get to. As a governor it is difficult for me to be honest and say okay i know all the answers because i dont have all the insight baseball games and for me posit here and say i know every detail of what theyre dealing with there. We dont like taxes. We dont like increase in taxes. But we know we have to be pragmatic. We know there has to be some kind of compromise, but dang it, they need to get the job done. They dont need to leave the public out their hanging. Garrett John Hickenlooper, there is involvement in colorado walz. What does this look like to you . Who whatare you most concerned about and what is your message while here in washington . Its the same as all the governors. We need a balanced approach all the western governors had breakfast with the secretary of the agriculture and the interior and they laid out in detail how many food inspectors would be cut not just colorado but across the United States in making sure our food is safe. They looked at cuts in public safety. If they kupt the f. B. I. , but say were not going to cut the f. B. I. , youll kupt the u. S. Attorneys office, the bureau of prison Border Patrols. What has to happen and congress can do this. If us governors can Work Together so well, i think congress can do it, and just figure out the right balance. Garrett a simple yes or no question to all four of you. Well start with you governor, and go around this way. There is some suggestion maybe the administration is overplaying overdramatizing whats going to happen if these spending cuts do take effect. Is there any could tout in any of your governors minds that what the administration is saying is real, will be felt by your constituents in relatively short order. Governor brewer . I think its unpredictable. I do believe that were going to see if they dont get their act together were going to see some cuts. I dont know if theyre going to be all that dramatic in the period of time. Theyve got to deliver a budget to us, too in a few short weeks. They just need to get in there and do what theyre elected food get it done so we can deal with it. It. I think the effects will be significance, and people will feel them. Garrett you do . Absolutely. You look at things like education, its going to cut title i funds. These schools are going to have a very short period of time to figure out are you going to cut i. D. E. A. , which supports our kids with celtic disabilities. These are possible choices. Garrett governor mcdonnell, theres no exaggeration . I think the president is overplaying his hand to force people to try to raise taxes. But hes right that particularly with defense and thats where governor omalley and i agree on this because were such heavy defenseoriented states 50 of the cuts to the defense sector, which is is only about 12 of the discretionary domestic spending while we have kids in afghanistan. Thats what is wrong about it and why he and think they have to find a different formula. Defense has to be cut but dont put it on the kids in uniform. These are jobkilling cuts and we have to find a way to avoid these. We cannot cut our way to prosperity. We need a balanced approach. Glaring well be back in a moment. E going shoeless and metalfree in seconds. And you. Rent from national. Because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. And go. You can even take a fullsize or above and still pay the midsize price. Now this. Will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. Just like you. Go national. Go like a pro. Ive always had to keep my eye on her. But, i didnt always watch out for myself. With so much noise about health care. I tuned it all out. With unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters. My individual health profile. Not random statistics. They even reward me for addressing my health risks. So im doing fine. But shes still going to give me a heart attack. Were more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. [ lorenzo ] im lorenzo. I work for 47 different companies. Well, technically i work for one. That company, the United States postal service® works for thousands of home businesses. Because at usps. Com® you can pay, print and have your packages picked up for free. I can even drop off free boxes. I wear a lot of hats. Well, technically i wear one. The u. S. Postal service® no business too small. Glak still ahead on face the nation page two. More from the governors and well be talking about the impact of violent video games on children. Plus what kind of changes should be made to gun laws with respect to Mental Health in light of the newtown shootings. S why right here in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. Enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. Whats it going to do to the planet . Natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. Weve got to be smart about this. Its a smart way to go. When i say xerox, i know what youre thinking. Transit fares as in the 37 billion transit fares we help collect each year. No . Oh, right. Youre thinking of the 1. 6 million daily Customer Care interactions xerox handles. Or the 900 Million Health insurance claims we process. So, its no surprise to you that companies depend on todays xerox for services that simplify how work gets done. Which is. Pretty much what weve always stood for. With xerox youre ready for real business. Garrett some of our stations are has gone us now but for most of you well be back with a lot more of face the nation. Dont go away. Garrett welcome back to face the nation. Im Major Garrett filling in for sheaf. Governor brewer i promised you an immigration question. Do you support marco rubios efforts to draft and put before the senate a comprehensive imigration reform . I think its wonderful that everybody is coming together and cooperation to finds a solution. And im very, very appreciative of senator rubio in stating and encouraging that before anything is done, that we have Border Security established. And then i think we can move forward. Glaring thats one answer to the question i want to put before you two democratic governors. The framework put together in a bipartisan way calls for an independent commission to report to congress that the border in fact has been secured before the other processes toward legalization begin. The president s draft legislation does not include that. From your two governors perspective, should this ultimately have a commission that tells the country the border is secure before legalization begins . Governor omalley. I think you have to do both at the same time. I dont believe that you can do one absent the other. I mean, they both go together, and we need to create a path to citizenship. We need to accomplish comprehensive immigration reform. And i think its a real bright spot that we have the opportunity to come together and solve this problem. Garrett what would be the purpose of a commission to verify that if the legalization is already beginning . I dont know. I suppose it might give greater assurance to those who need to go home and say ive been tough on the borders and im all about Law Enforcement. Whatever the mix requires garrett it resident like a political fig leaf . No, i think there is reality. We need to provide better Board Security but we need to accomplish comprehensive immigration reform. It will be a lot easier to secure the borders and provide the correct level of enforcement if we allow hardworking people who have lived their whole lives in the United States to pay their taxes and live in the full light of society and be citizens. It focuses the effort of our immigration services. Garrett governor hickenlooper are these all joined or should one be dealt with before the other . I agree with governor omalley, but dont have as much of a problem doing the Border Security first. They do have to be done together. But in the end youve got to really focus on the whole problem at the same time. You have to look at employment identification and making sure that 20 years down the road were not going to get back in the same position. That requires not just a secure border but employment verification system thats regerous, and a willingness to stand up and say, all right everybody plays bay the same rules, and everyone hires people that are supposed to be hireable. Garrett governor brewer, how does all this sound to you i see you shaking your head . Weve been down this path previously in trying garrett what path are you referring to . About whether we can do this together. Comprehensive immigration reform, and the security of the border. We need to secure our border first and then move forward. I feel very, very strongly about that. I think the people of certainly of arizona agree with that. And i think thats going to be a stumbling block trying to get something done. You know, a president whom i admired promised the Border Security to us, and when they moved forward last time and it didnt happen, and we are still faced with a very insecure unsecure border. I was just down at the border garrett mention inside a recent interview you believe drug cartels are essentially waiting along the border to cross major i dont i know. I mean i saw them. We see them all the time. You can talk i visually saw them. Theyre staging and theyre team coveraging during the day and they come across at night. Our fences arent complete. The Border Patrol is too far north. They need to be closer to the line. And we certainly need a more National Guard on the ground. We have National Guard in the air, but we need more National Guard on the ground. And people are 11th down there in fear of their lives. And fear of the safety of their families. And we are want recepts of all the crime that is taking place extortion, the human trafficking, the prostitution, the cost in jails. It is its a bad problem. And then to sit in arizona and listen to people 3,000 miles away making decisions affecting our lives on a daily basis people that have lived on those ranches for hundreds of years seeing whats taken place to their livelihood is wrong. Its wrong in america. Its wrong for arizona. We need Border Security. Garrett i want to shift the conversation to gun control legislation. Governor omalley youre working through should go in your legislature that parallels what virginia did after the Virginia Tech shooting. Why did it take maryland long tore put those in Mental Health categories unable to. Firearms and how successful are you going to be getting that through want legislature . We have a comprehensive bill that involves reinstating the assault weapon bans, requiring licenses for the purchases of handguns improves School Security and tight owned up the Mental Health intervention, and crisis intervention. There is always a balanced to be achieved when it comes to this Mental Health issue. We dont want anyone who shouldnt number possession of a gun to have one that is troubled with Mental Health issues that could landlord to the death of other individuals. You also dont want to discourage people from going to seek treatment. I believe that we are getting to a point in this bill where ours will very much mirror what virginia has done, and i suppose it was the tragedy of Virginia Tech that propelled virginia to move forward on that more quickly than perhaps we had. Garrett governor hickenlooper, before washington and the congress now the president s three dominant ideas assault weapons ban stronger than one that expired in 2004. A ban on socalled highcapacity ammunition magazines. And background checks, universal or as close to that that can be achieved. Do you think all three are a musthave or could you live with one or two of those ideas . Certainly our highest priority has been Mental Health issues and addressing that. Garrett outside of gun control entirely . Just to make sure you dont put guns in the wrong dismandz that we beef up we have five 24 7 emergency centers. We have the opportunity to make sure that people who would do harm to themselves or others dont get guns. I think universal background checks are the highest of those three remaining just in the sense that we did 320,000 background checks just through gun dealers and gun shows in colorado last year. And of those we found i mean, people say well, you know, criminals arent stupid. Theyre not going to go through a background check. Hey, what a surprise. They are stupid. So we intercepted, you know, over 1,000 felons with criminal records, most of them violent. 600 burg600 burglars, people accused of homicide, we issued arrest warrants for over 100 individuals based on the background check. We want to expand that. And it is an inconvenience for people but we only cover about 60 of the trfers now. We want to get to 40 im sorry. Garrett governor omalley before i let you go you picked a fight with governor crist nenew jersey saying he overplays his performance credentials on pensions pensions and that he attacks too much credit for that than he deserves. His people say hes bipartisan and he deserves all the credit he gets. Whats your beef with governor christie . I believe in doing things that work and making government work and effectively expanding opportunity, creating jobs, reducing violent crime. I think i was asked what i think about governor christies innovations in government pand my response was what innovations . The Unemployment Rate is higher now in new jersey, one of the highest in the country. He has his actions have led to the downgrade of their bond rating and a lot of the municipalities. And i just dont see where theres comeback happening in new jersey, if anything, theyve fallen back. And thats not effective governance. Garrett sounds look a conversation we might begin to hear in 2015 and 2016. Governor omalley, governor hickenlooper, governor brewer, thank you very much. And well be back in just a moment. Are open for everyone to enjoy. Weve shared what weve learned so we can all produce energy more safely. Bps also committed to america. We support nearly twohundredfifty thousand jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. Were working to fuel america for generations to come. Our commitment has never been stronger. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. Omnipotent of opportunity. You know how to mix business. With business. And you. Rent from national. Because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. And go. You can even take a fullsize or above. And still pay the midsize price. I could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. Yes, you could. Go national. Go like a pro. Garrett cbs news correspondent bob orr reported last week that Law Enforcement sources say newtown connecticut, shooter adam lanza was motivated at least in part by violent video games and a desire to kill more people than mass murderer Anders Breivik the norwegian man responsible for killing 77 people in 2011. We have assembled a panel of experts to talk about Mental Health, and the potential impact of violent video games on children in light of bob orrs reporting. Tim winter is the head of the Parents Television council and i will he joins truss los angeles. Chris ferguson is a professor of psychology at texas a M International who studies the impact of video games on children. He joins us from san antonio. And here with me in the studio were joined by pennsylvania congressman tim murphy, who practiced psychology for 30 years. We have former faulk profiler ellen otoole. And rounding out our panel is the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, michael fitzpatrick. We have a big panel lots of folks. I want to begin the conversation here, and i want to get everyone sort of around of table assessment of this, and well start with tim in los angeles. I dont want this conversation to start off with a false chos that video games absolutely cause violence because i think the Research Tells Us thats not the only factor. All of these things are nuanced and have many contributing factors. Tim, i want to start with you. What should you tell the country, what should the country know about the correlative relationship between video games, violence, and our culture . Well, what you said is right major. This isnt an allornothing. Its not 0 . Its not 100 . But it is a of the problem and we have to address it. The parents and grandparents watching this show today monday their hearts already that this stuff is harmful to children and its even more harmful now that you have 24 7 Digital Media hitting children through multiple pel platforms. But its not just a parents obligation. I think want industry has to have a responsibility. When you have a video game ahowls a player to shoot a Police Officer urine antihim, douse him with request gasoline and set him on fire and listen to him green as he burns to death, what kind of sticker do you put on a box to warn a parent about that. Garrett is that something culturally or criminal psychology point of view we should be worried about . Sure, i mean, they actually do already have the esrb rating stickers on the box. I think its important to point out coming at this from the perspective of a researcher i think the Supreme Court in 2011 was absolutely right in pointing out that the research that we have has been inconsistent and in many cases methodologically flawed. So its very difficult to take the research we have on video game convenience and apply that to whether it causes societal aggression or societal violence. And particularly when if you look at the societal data during the past few decade wheres video games have both become more popular and more graphic youth violenca has declined to its lowest level in 40 years and other nations that consume as much media video games as we do have much lower convenience rates. So were just not seeing this kind of correlation between media culture and soaptal violence across nationally. And i think we have to put the discussion to some extent, in Historical Perspective and that we know when new media come out they tend throog three a period of what we call moral panic in which they are blamed for all manner of societal ills and probably best example of this was the 1950 when we had congress and psychiatrists who were claiming that comic books were responsible for not only juvenile dlenchguency but homosexual. We have this kind of repetitive pattern, and we can see in the past some of these incidents look kind of ridiculous. But we have trouble learning from them in the present. My concern here to some extent where were in the bit of a mode of worrying about or panicking about this type of media we my may do some putting the cart before the horse and need to see examples of people, starting with the conclusion and trying to assemble data in a very selective way to try to support that conclusion. Garrett mary ellen youve done a lot of research on this and seen case studies real life example wheres not the sole factor but a part of a larger exposure or reinformat of convenience, video games fall into that. Explain to us what youve learned what, is factual, and you who to understand the context of how maybe in large crime situations, video games are at least parent of a larger matrix, if you will. Sure. Its my experience that video games do not cause violence. However, it is one of the risks variables when we do a threat assessment for the risk to act out violently. And my experience has been, again, individuals who are already contemplating acting out in a convenient way. If they are also immersed 24 7 in videos to the exclusion of other activities and theyre isolated and actually using these videos as planning or collateral evidence in terms of how to do it for the what equipment to buy how to select the victimes, how to approach the crime scene. If theyre used as educational materials for the offender to do the crime better, thats what we take into consideration. But, again its important that i point out as a threat assessment and f. B. I. Former faulk profiler, we dont see these as the cause of convenience. We see them as sources of fueling ideation thats already there. Garrett when you say fueling ideation its sort of like an accelerant or something. Theres a spark theres a flame and something around to cause it to spread in a psychological way. Is that a fair way to describe it . Of course. We have seen this in other creams throughout the years. LawLaw Enforcement is not a stranger to this concept that well serve and put in the affidavit for a search warrant look for regular materials textbookes journalarchs media articles, media reports that this offender has used in order to help him carry out the crime for effectively. Were not stranger to this whole concept of how this material can actually be misused. Garrett congressman youre no stranger to the actual application of intervention with a family, intervention with a youngster who is troubled. What is your perspective on this general topic and do you think there are Things Congress ought to consider, laws that can be drafted and passed that can put us in a better position . Ive stated this for years and wrote a book angry child we laid out for years theres a dynamic between parent and child and violate issues. Video games dont cause it. Were chasing the wrong rabbit down the wrong hole. The military does use it. The issue is we need to be addressing Mental Illness and were not. Look at the way weve handled this historically. Garrett when you say we you Mean Congress . The nation, the world. We have a lot of people in prison exorcise them as posezzed did all these things, dumped them out in the street, emptied hospitals somehow in the name of compassion and now theyre out in the streets or in jails. This is the wrong approach. What congress has done what the federal governments had done is oftentimes funded wrong thing. The National Institute of healths budget is small. Were looking at tremendous waste. For example Substance Abuse and Mental Health agency, they funded painting this picture for two of 22,000. Our tax dollars going to that. I have no idea how this is going to help anybody get any better. It is filled with all sorts of waste like this, where there are funding programs telling people how to get off their medication. We need to be finding ways to get people help and not going down wrong things and making sure federal dollars are spentalize to help families this this. Garrett is there a misapplication of federal resources, forward intentiones and are we missing the boat on the idea that maybe video games play a role in the entire saga. 60 of people in this country have a diagnoseable mental ill offense a given day receive no treatment. We need to rethink the Mental Health system in america and focus on early intervention, early engage am, diagnosis and treatment. Too much time is really spent major on the back end of the system. We need to get help to families. Families are on the front line. They understand whats going on with their children. Its hippa laws garrett hippa meaning . Federal laws that talk about confidentiality and what schools and other entities can share with families. Too often we see families as being isolated. Families and friends can see whats happening way loved one or someone they care deeply about and they should be part of the larger conversation. Garrett when you talk about 60 way diagnoseable Mental Illness not receiving treatment, from your research responding, whats the cause of that . Is it stigma . Is it a sense of being afraid . A sense of a lack of resources . What are the underlying factors . Its number of things, major. Last four fiscal years billions have been cut from the public Mental Health system. Thats problem. Stigma is enormous in this country. We dont grow up going to a psychiatrist. So for a family to move forward respond what theyre seeing is a difficult proposition. Education needs to take place in communities with pam these have them understand what theyre seeing and to attack the initial steps. We need to educate school staff Law Enforcement we need to educate families, we need to have them communicating with each other to be able to identify Mental Illness and take those first stops get people into treatment. Garrett i want to ask everyone a video game is described as shooting a Police Officer, urinating on him burning him and watching him scream. Would you watch that . Would you have your children watch that . What is it the value from that . And is there anything culturally from a commonsense perspective saying we could probably live without that. Its disgusting. Theres no role for that sort of thing and parents need to be watching these things vigorously and not using video games as pass fires. Most people can handle these situations but it does go back to the situation of early prevention, early identification, giving people the tools for that. What has happened in our society is it isnt just weve made cuts. We are spending more money because were putting people in jail now and its left to police to deal with it and have video gentlemans attacking police are not helpful at all. There is no value in my opinion looking at these videotapes, absolutely none. And in fact the concern generally speaking is that watching this kind of visual stimuli can erode at Interest Rates like empathy and compassion and altruism. But getting back to mass shootings, there are many var thables we have variables we have to be concerned about. Within the context of video games, are we also looking at someone who is going out and acquiring weapons or camouflage material based on the video game . Are they actually taking on the identity . Are there other indicators for risk that are occurring as a result of the video game and in addition to the video game. So this whole concept really has to go beyond just the video gentleman. Garrett Chris Ferguson in san antonio, i want to bring you back in here, i respond appreciate and looked at all the data you talked about read the Supreme Court persons that there is no causal link. I accept that. From your Vantage Point do you think there is a cultural value or should that even be a conversation for some of the video games and images and anything noted with maybe more caution than were currently noting about the possible implication of longterm exposure. I think the first thing to point out is were singling out video games and this kind of material can be found in all types of media books Movie Television and such. We actually do, do some research in our lab looking at issues like empathy and you know exposing players to video games of all sorts and television of all sorts. And actually in our results we do not find any evidence that exposure to this material reduces empathy. There seems to be something in our brains that is able to distinguish between events that go on in the fictional universe and those that go on in the well universe. That having been said, i think the key answer here is for bharntz theyre considering a particular video game for their child to be very informed, to be aware of the esrb rating sto read game reviews which oftentimes talk about some of the content of these games and make a decision, informed decision about what is right for their family. I mean, in some of the research we do, we found that kids who play violent video games with their parents actually have some of the best outcomes in terms of volunteering, helping others and such. Its probably not the video games that are doing that, but motor parental involvement. Garrett right. And i think thats really the important key thats being missed here. Garrett tim, i want to give you the last word on this because it is central to you and youve heard a lot of commentary on it. Whats your final parting thought . Should they be taxed more, banned . Most importantly we need to start using the word and instead of or. Its Mental Health and access to guns for people who shouldnt have them and pay saturated meadeica culture of violence. And, sadly just as the Tobacco Industry was able to find researchers to support their notion that their products werent harmful so, too has the Entertainment Industry found people who represent the extreme outlying garrett tim, i have to go. I appreciate it very much. Well be back after a short break. Gleag thats it for us today. Bob will be back next week. Im Major Garrett. Thank you for watching face the nation. Man the environment is my passion. Thats why i enlisted in the coast guard. Now i serve to protect the environment and defend my country. Were you born ready for a greater challenge . Find out at gocoastguard. Com