People deserve the chance to live a healthy, productive life. 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 president obama will lay out his strategy tomorrow for stopping deadly attacks involving guns. That word came today, amid reports that hes considering 19 administrative policy changes, as well as congressional action. Its been just over a month since 20 children and six adults died in the School Shooting in newtown connecticut. And now the president is ready to announce proposals on gun violence. That could include executive action, ordering steps such as stricter penalties for lying on a gun background check or tougher penalties for gun trafficking. But spokesman jay carney said today that its up to congress to take more sweeping steps. There are specific legislative actions that he will continue to call on congress to take. Including the assault weapons ban, including a measure to ban high capacity magazine clips including an effort to close the very big loopholes in the background check system in our country. Woodruff the president will draw on recommendations from Vice President biden who has met with everyone from victims groups to the National Rifle association. In the meantime, some states are forging ahead on their own. The New York Legislature moved today to adopt the nations toughest gun control bill. The measure broadens the definition of assault weapons under an existing ban and limits ammunition magazines to seven rounds. It also creates a registry for all private gun sales, and it requires that Mental Health professionals report patients who make Credible Threats to commit a gun crime. I am proud to be a new yorker today. I am proud to be part of this government. Not just because new york has the first bill but because new york has the best bill. This is a complex multifaceted problem. This is a comprehensive bill that addresses the full panorama and spectrum of issues that come up. Woodruff other leaders, including new york city mayor Michael Bloomberg, have joined the call for action this week at a summit on gun violence in baltimore. The rate of firearms homicide in america is 20 times higher than it is in other economically advanced nations. We have got to change that. And it has to start this week. With real leadership from the white house. Woodruff maryland and delaware are also weighing new laws, as two new polls Show National support for more gun control. The Pew Research Center found a majority favors banning assault weapons and tracking gun sales. And a Washington Post abc news survey out today found more than half of americans support a ban on assault weapons while nearly twothirds would ban high capacity magazines. 55 say they are for placing armed guards in schools, a measure favored by the National Rifle association. Violent video games have also been mentioned by both the n. R. A. And the white house as a concern. But today there was new controversy over the n. R. A. s new Practice Range app for ipads and iphones, recommended for ages 4 and up. All of this has gun and ammunition sales and attendance at gun shows have grown dramatically in the month since newtown. President obama addressed that phenomenon at his News Conference yesterday. Those who oppose any common sense gun control or gun Safety Measures have a pretty effective way of ginning up fear on the part of gun owners that somehow the federal government is about to take all your guns away. Theres probably an economic element to that. It obviously is good for business. Woodruff the president unveils his proposals tomorrow morning. He will be join by children who wrote him letters after the newtown attack. Brown well have two views of the gun brown well have two views of the gun debate coming up, from delaware governor jack markell and n. R. A. President david keene; plus, no more red ink in californias budget; and a Record Number of military suicides. But first, the other news of the day. Heres hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan former cycling great Lance Armstrong was back at the center of a media storm today. It was widely reported that he has now publicly admitted to doping. Armstrongs statements came in an interview with Oprah Winfrey taped monday. She did not release direct quotations or sound. Instead on cbs this morning she said armstrong had been forth coming. I felt that he was thoughtful. I thought that he was serious. I thought that he certainly had prepared himself for this moment. I would say that he met the moment. At the end of it, twoandahalf. Literally twoandahalf hours, we both were pretty exhausted. I would say i was satisfied. Sreenivasan at the same time winfrey said armstrong did not come clean in the matter that i expected. The interview came several months after the u. S. Antidoping Agency Issued a damning 1,000page report that accused armstrong of master minding, quote, the most sophisticated professionalized and successful doping program that sports has ever seen. While he led the u. S. Service team. Since then armstrong has been banned from professional cycling for life, stripped of his seven Tour De France titles and lost most of his endorsements. The 41yearold athlete and cancer survivor was also forced to leave the live strong charity he founded. He apologized to its staff yesterday in austin, texas, before the interview. Some of his fans there voiced disappointment today. We watched him win seven times. We all just stood in amazement. Now to find out that it was based on lies, you know, it hurts all of us. Sreenivasan there was outrage from some in the world racing community. There are so many riders that have stayed true to their morals, have written clean and never had the opportunity to stand on the top of the podium or in some cases never even got on to breaking into the professional scene. Now Lance Armstrong and his people similar to him have taken away whole careers from people. Sreenivasan the World Antidoping Agency said today that armstrong must confess in full under oath if he wants a reduction in his lifetime ban. The oprah interview airs in two parts on our Television Network thursday and friday nights. Sreenivasan democratic senator Chuck Schumer will back president obamas choice of chuck hagel for defense secretary. Schumer said today the former republican senator has now addressed claims that hes anti israel, among other things. California democrat Barbara Boxer also issued a statement of support. The backing of two prominent jewish senators is expected to help hagel ease concerns among other, proisrael lawmakers. A major Debt Rating Agency warned today the u. S. Could lose its top credit status if theres a delay in raising the debt ceiling. The federal government is expected to exceed its Borrowing Limit by march, unless congress acts. If fitch does downgrade u. S. Debt, it would join standard and poors, which took that action in 2011 during the last debt ceiling debate. The u. S. House moved to pass a Hurricane Sandy relief bill this evening. 17 billion would go for immediate recovery in the affected northeastern states. Another 33 billion is for long term spending. Some republicans argued that much of the money isnt for emergency relief at all. Californias Tom Mcclintock called for stripping that funding out. According to the congressional budget office, more than 90 of this money wont even be spent this year. Thats not emergency relief. 16 billion is to quintuple the size of the Community Development block grant program. Thats the slush fund that pays for such dubious projects as doggie Day Care Centers and doesnt even have to be spent in the hurricane area. Sreenivasan other republican sreenivasan other republicans joined with most democrats to reject offsetting spending cuts. Instead, lawmakers from the northeast urged the house to pass the storm aid now. New york democrat Hakeen Jeffries said its already taken too long. Its unacceptable given the nature of the disaster that people at home have experienced. We have defaulted on our obligation to provide assistance to americans in need. Were a day late and a dollar short. In fact, were 78 days late and 51 billion short. Sreenivasan the Senate Approved a 60 billion aid bill at the end of the last congress. But House Speaker john boehner delayed action at the time, sparking an outcry from congressmen of both parties. More than 80 people were killed and dozens wounded in syria today. Opposition activists said they died when twin explosions ripped through a university in aleppo. The first day of exams turned into a scene of chaos as people ran from the carnage. Cars went up in flames, and the schools grounds were littered with debris. It was unclear what caused the explosions, but activists blamed government forces, who in turned pointed at rebels. Political turmoil in pakistan deepened today, as the countrys highest court called for the Prime Minister to be jailed. The decision came amid mass protests demanding that the entire government be dissolved. We have a report from Jonathan Rugman of independent television news. Reporter this afternoon thousands in islamabad celebrated their Prime Ministers downfall. After Pakistans Supreme Court ordered his arrest on charges of corruption. Prime minister roger ashraf, no longer whiter than white and now facing arrest for allegedly taking millions from contract kickbacks. And this was the preacher breaking the news. Dr. Mohammed l. Cadry a moderate sufi claire i can in a pin striped suit. His message of change is to dangerous to him that it comes from inside a bulletproof metal box. This is peaceful revolution. This is democratic revolution. In order to. Reporter earlier armed police fired tear gas and light ammunition into the air to keep protestors back from the center of power. Afterwards dr. Cadry showed the spent cartridges from behind his bulletproof glass. Hes clearly relishing the fight. This claire i can said he never parliament to save pakistan from collapse but its a mark of how weak this government is that a crowd of thousands of people inaudible from office. But the Prime Minister spokesman claims the scales of justice have been rigged, that the court is in cahoots the army in a plot to topple pakistans government. And we dont know if these hundreds of soldiers still defending that government tonight will support the protest against it. And once again sees power. Sreenivasan in mali today, france stepped up military moves to stop an advance by islamic fighters tied to alqaeda. The French DefenseMinistry Said its tripling the number of Ground Troops to be deployed to 2,500. That followed an allnight air raid against the central town of diabaly. It was seized by the rebels yesterday, despite the french bombing campaign. Meanwhile, u. S. Defense secretary leon panetta said the u. S. Is looking for ways to help the french. He spoke in portugal. No consideration of putting american boots on the ground at this time. We have commended the french for this effort. The United Nations has supported what the french are doing. And our hope is that we can work with the french to provide whatever assistance we can sreenivasan france had originally said it would mainly provide support for a military intervention by malis african neighbors. Those countries have pledged thousands of troops to the campaign. 2012 was the earths tenth warmest year on record and marked the hottest year for the contiguous United States ever. Thats according to scientists at the National Oceanic and atmospheric administration, which has recorded Global Temperatures for more than 13 decades. The u. S. Had its hottest year ever but cooler weather elsewhere kept the global average from being even higher. Walmart rolled out a plan today to hire 100,000 military veterans over the next five years. The retailing giant said it will offer a job to any honorably discharged vet in the first year after active duty. Walmart also announced plans to buy an extra 50 billion in u. S. Made goods over the next decade. Wall street labored today to make some gains, helped by upbeat retail Sales Numbers for december. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 27 points to close near 13,535. The nasdaq fell six points to close at 3110, as apple stock again slipped lower. Those are some of the days major stories. Now, back to jeff. Brown there are two voices in on ongoing debate about gun control. Several states are moving ahead with bills targeting gun sales. On monday delaware officials outlined a series of proposals including requiring background checks for private firearms sales, banning the sale, manufacture, delivery and Unlawful Possession of militarystyle assault weapons and large capacity magazines and outlawing the possession of a firearm within a thousand feet of a school. Delawares governor, democrat jack markell joins us now. He also serves as the current chair of the National Governors association. Governor, welcome. Two years ago you tried and failed to pass a law requiring new background checks on private sales at gun shows. Do you think that newtown changed the politics of gun control so dramatically that you can now pass even greater restrictions . Well, i think it may have. Thats exactly what were trying to do. Two years ago i was probably only governor the country to add vaps any gun safety legislation. I introduced four bills three of them got passed. One of them about reporting to to those with Mental Illnesses to the National Database. Thats made a big impact. As you mentioned the one that failed was the gun show loophole. But heres the bottom line. You know, if you go to a licensed dealer, you have to have a background check. 40 of sales people dont go through a licensed dealer. When you have 40 of sales not requiring that background check, the system is broken. We need to fix it. Brown do you support the idea of a statewide database . I note that in maryland, for example, governor omalley is proposing a licensing provision for gun ownership that requires fingerprinting or in a Police Database and gun training courses. Would you go that far . That kind of database is not something we really focused on here. Certainly we do encourage people to take the hunters safety courses and the like. Theyre very well done. I think theyre really important. But the package that we introduced the other day including the background check, including the banning of the high capacity magazines, those kinds of things we think are the right way for us to go here. Brown opponents, including the n. R. A. , have already spoken out against many such things. The assault weapon ban. As an attack on the Second Amendment. How do you respond to that . And how do you explain that to citizens . This is really not about the. This is not any kind of attack on the Second Amendment. I support the Second Amendment. Thats not what this is about. We can have a debate about these proposals. This is not a debate about the Second Amendment. As much as the opponents may want to make it so. Thats what they tend to do. They try to, you know, get everything confused in saying that this is an attack on the Second Amendment thats not what this is. And the bottom line again, i mean, you know, it seems to me that if we require this kind of background check from a licensed dealer, that makes good policy. We ought to have the same kind of good policy if somebody wants to get a background check elsewhere. Right now somebody can try to get a gun from a licensed dealer, be turned down because of their background check, walk out and go to some somebody down the street, some private sale and not have to have the same kind of background check. That doesnt make any sense. These highcapacity magazines, not used. They also dont make sense. What weve proposed is the ban on the sale, the transfer, the delivery and also you cant have a one of these highcapacity magazines in proximity to a gun thats capable of accepting them if youre out in public. This is not about Second Amendment. This is about common safety legislation to help make people safer. By the way, its not just about guns. Ill be doing my state of the state speech in a couple days. Well be talking about an increased focus on Mental Health. Last year we started a package to go toward the issue