>> schieffer: today only on "face the nation," startling me details about the bengazhi attack from the number two american official in libya. and the impact of gay athletes on american sports and american life. it's been almost eight months since the attacks on the u.s. consulate in benghazi that killed u.s. ambassador christopher stevens and three other americans. we'll get new details today and more insight into the stunning contradictions between the president of libya and ambassador to the u.n. susan rice when they appeared after the attack on faims the nation. >> this was preplanned, predetermined. >> we do not have information at present that leads us to conclude that this was premeditated or preplanned. >> schieffer: we'll tell you some of what career diplomat

greg hixes, who was in libya during the attack, told investigators for house oversight committee chairman darrell issa. we'll hear from issa and the chairman of the house intelligence committee mike rogers, and the committee's ranking democrat dutch ruppersberger. on page two, we'll talk about the emergence of gay athletes in professional sports with an all-star panel, including tennis legends billie jean king and martina navratilova. two nfl stars pushing for gay rights will, former baltimore ravens linebacker brendon ayanbadejo and esera tuaolo. plus ted leonsis, owner of three washington sports teams, the wizards, capitals, and mystics. the president of the nfl players' association, canne can domonique foxworth, william

rhoden, of the "new york times" and chris stone of "sports illustrated." captioning sponsored by cbs from cbs news in washington, "face the nation" with bob schieffer. >> schieffer: good morning, again. we start with a story that just won't go away. on september 11 of last year, the american compound in benghazi was attacked. the u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stephens, and three other americans were killed. exactly what happened that night has been investigated by various agencies and congressional committees but remains a source of controversy. and today, there is new it information raising questions about whether there was a cover-up by the state department to deflect criticism that it had ignored requests for more security for its people in libya. republican congressman darrell issa heads the house oversight and government reform committee,

one of the committees that's been investigating this week. they will hear testimony from greg hicks, a 22-year foreign service diplomat who was the number two u.s. official in libya who was talking to washington during and after the attack. chairman issa is here today to reveal some of the startling excerpts from greg hick's interview with his investigators. surprisingly, this will be the first time anyone has heard publicly from hicks, and as you will see, his story is totally at variance with what some american officials were saying in public on this broadcast five days after the attack the administration claimed the attack grew out of a spontaneous demonstration provoked by protests in egypt. greg hicks told investigators that was simply not true. part of what he said, hicks, "i thought it was a terrorist attack from the get-go. y i think everybody in the

mission thought it was a terrorist attack from the beginning. ch." question: "did you ever have any indication that there was a protest, a popular protest, outside the mission in benghazi?" >> greg hicks: no. >> question:if there was such a protest would that have been reported? >> "absolute for there to have been a demonstration on chris steven's front door and him not to have reported if is unbelievable." so missa mmr. issa, why wouldlet administration put out a story so different? >> bob, that's the great question. we can't find a classified reason for it. we can't find a diplomatic reason for it. understand gregory hicks who became the acting ambassador, witnessed our relationship with libya on this show go the wrong way because on this show, susan rice says it was a protest.

the president, the elected president saying no it was a terrorist attack. you can't insult a foreign leader in a greater way than happened literally here just those few daze later. >> schieffer: but do you think they were trying to cover up the fact that the state departments had turned down requests for more security that had been coming in from the diplomats on the the ground there? is that what this is about? >> well, perhaps in part, but it does seem like it's bigger than that. there was this normalization, sompt a mentality where you had to pretend like things were safe, the war on terror was over. and that may have gone in a great way to getting people to say well, we can't call this a terrorist attack because then the war on terror is back alive. well, bob, the war on terror is very much alive, whether it's chechen nationals come here, opener what's going on in syria, it's al qaeda around the world. and that's the reality that, hopefully, state department

people will feel at least they are being properly protected after this attack. >> schieffer: the weekly standard reported that the first reports that went out from the c.i.a., including the assertion from the u.s. government, that they knew there were islamic extremists with ties to al qaeda participating in this attack. but after seeing the first version of the talking points, the weekly standard says a ranking official at the state department who they have identified as victoria newland, who is the spokesman for the department, sent a message they were worried that members of congress would use the talking point to criticize the state department for not paying attention to agency warnings about needing more security. and it was after that, that these different versions of the talking points came out. can you confirm that? >> well, i think your next witness can talk to many of the things that have been kept away from us, these talking points and how they changed. but we know one thing. the talking points were right,

and then the talking points were wrong. the c.i.a. knew it was a terrorist attack. the deputy chief of mission, gregory hicks, knew it was a terrorist attack. the ambassador before he died, one of the last words he ever said is, "we're under attack." >> schieffer: well, let me go back to these questions that you asked of greg hicks. five days after the attack, the u.n. ambassador susan rice appeared on all five sunday talk shows, including this one, but on this broadcast, her interview was preceded by our interview with the new president of libya. i'm going to run a clip of what he told expuls what she said in response, which totally contradicted him. was this a long-planned attack as far as you know? or what do you know about that? >> the way these perpetrators acted and moved, i think we--

they're choosing specific date for this so-called demonstrati demonstration, i think we have no-- this leaves us with no doubt that this was preplanned, determined, predetermined. >> what our assessment is as of the present is in fact what-- it began spontaneously in benghazi, as a reaction to what had transpired some hours earlier in cairo. >> schieffer: you do not agree with him that this is something that had been plotted out several months ago? >> we do not have information at present that leads us to conclude that this was premeditated or preplanned. >> schieffer: here is what mr. hicks said about secretary rice's answer that morning:

mr. hicks went on to tell your investigators that no one from the state department contacted him before ambassador rice's appearance. he said: again, what was going on here?

>> well, clearly, there was a political decision to say something different than what was reasonable to say. and i think, bob, one of the tragedies of this is it took three weeks to get our f.b.i. in. well, when you tell the president of lib yoo-- who, by the way, went to benghazi at personal risk, did that broadcast from benghazi as a courageous act-- if you tell him he's wrong, that it's not terrorism, what a surprise that you have a hard time getting f.b.i. to the crime scene. if anything, we may have compromised our ability to know what really happened there as far as catching the culprits because bauz more weeks went by with no f.b.i. on the ground. >> schieffer: well, let me just read something more from the interview which as you now know and we stress that was mr. hick's opinions, in response to questions by investigators of the impact of secretary rice's statements he said:

which is basically what you're saying. >> ambassadors know that the one thing you don't do is contradict your host, especially at a time when you need their cooperation. this was a fatal error to our relationship, at least fair period of time. and we can't find the purpose. secretary clinton should have been among-- above all else, the person who was on the same sheet of music with the libyan government, and she wasn't. >> schieffer: well, mr. hicks also testified that he had called beth jones, the acting assistant secretary for near eastern afairlz at the state department the morning ampt sunday shows, and he asked her so mr. hicks is saying that a key state department official said she didn't know why the ambassador had indicatedly the attacks were spontaneous?

>> not only that, he indicated in his testimony that these were unwelcome, that he felt very much like beth jones didn't want to hear from him. and in the days and weeks to come, that continued. one of the amazing things is here you have the person on the ground who probably, of anyone in tripoli, knows more about what was going on. he's never seen the classified a.r.b. report. they have not let him see it. so when he says that that is a flawed report, he says so with the same information we have publicly -- >> this is the state department's investigation. >> the state department's questionable investigation. it clearly meets a statutory requirement to do an investigation, but it doesn't answer any real questions or place blame on people who were involved in this failure. q. it does see>> schieffer: it f some very low-level people in the administration but as the "weekly standard "reported, apparently the state department

spokesman, if their version is request, she was worried this was going to reflect badly on people above her. >> no question at all. and certainly patrick kennedy, a senate confirmed career professional, is, at a minimum, very much at the center of knowing everything either speaking to or not speak tock secretary clinton, but in testimony on october 10, he basically pushed back on everything, and even implied that somehow it was a lack of funding or other issues when in fact clearly he was at the table during what we believe at this point is a misinformation campaign at best, and a cover-up at worst. >> schieffer: so, mr. hicks will be your probably main witness when you open these hearings on wednesday. who else will be there? >> mark thompson is another career professional, former marine, counter-terrorism expert, who will testify more than anything else that shortly after this began, he got locked out of the room, even though he

was the individual who was supposed to react to these kinds of things. again, part of some process of denial that it could be terrorism. and then eric nordstrom, who was the person who was the canary in the coal mine, if you will, that was pushing for more security, saying that this was a problem, leading up to and shortly before the attack. and we believe this gets us back to where we were on october 10, it takes us forward to the next step of the unanswered questions, even after we gave the state department plenty of time to give those answers. >> schieffer: well, as we understand it now, the state department is reviewing its investigation now. thaition comes at your request. >> it does. but this is one of those things where we gave plenty of time. we stayed out of the politics of it. we let the process go through. it left us with more questions than answers. and certainly it doesn't give the most key answer that i think we all want. if we knew it was terrorism, if

the president said, the at least in his debates, that in the rose garden he called it an act of terrorism, then why is it they denied terrorism-- essentially rebuking the president of libya, on your show awe few days later? >> schieffer: the story still remains why were the talking points changed? mr. chairman, thank you so much for being with us this morning. we will look forward to those hearings. we'll be back in just a moment.

i've always had to keep my eye on her... but, i didn't 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 i'm doing fine... but she's still going to give me a heart attack. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. for some reaction to these developments we've been talking about with two key members of congress who are just back from the middle east. so we want to talk about syria as well. house intelligence committee chairman mike rogers and the top democrat on the committee dutch ruppersberger. gentlemen, i just first have to ask you, congressman, what-- what-- what's your reaction to

this what we're hearing here? >> on the benghazi investigation? >> yes. >> well, each committee has taken up the charge within their lane. so our committee is doing the intelligence piece of this. and we issued an interim report, meaning the investigation's not over, and we're findin finding t there are more individuals who are willing to come forward as the investigation unfolds. so there are some areas, obviously, that are concerning. i will tell that you it's very clear to me that there was some catastrophic decisions made by folks in the state department that crnted to the death-- meaning they didn't take the appropriate security -- >> is that what it seems to you has happened here? they tried to change this story so they could avoid criticism that they had disregarded requests for more security out there? >> well, the investigation is still ongoing. i can tell you just from the interim place, somebody made some very bad decisions on the security posture in libya. it was deteriorating. the intelligence community did

provide accurate information that the situation was deteriorating. it looked bad. it certainly didn't seem at this point in the investigation that the state department even acknowledged that. and went a different direction. that i think contributed to this. >> schieffer: congressman, you're the ranking democrat on intelligence, what's your take? >> first thing, it was a very serious situation when we lose american lives. we're in the investigative stage right now. it's extremely important. i think we have to wait until the facts come through. i applaud the fact that there's an open hearing. you want to hear from both sides. what the important issue is, is that we look at why it happened. how it happened. and to make sure it doesn't happen again so we can protect our men and women in other parts of the world and who are in danger even now. the most important issue, though, too, and i think the limb report mike was talking about, from an intelligence perspective, which mike and i oversee the intelligence community, there was not an intelligence failure, that we didn't have information ahead of time as it related to this incident. >> schieffer: in order, what you're saying is we knew the

security situation was pretty serious out there, and did-- did the state department, from what you can tell now, just ignore those calls for more help? >> i'm not saying that at all, that we knew. i'm saying we've got to get the factes. we have a large part of the world where we have people throughout the world who are attemptings to work with other countries to protect american interests and that's very relevant and important. this was a very volatile area. things changed as we went through. just in the beginning, talk, "there was an issue remember the talking point changed? did we change the situation? it was an attack. it was a volatile situation. a lot of same information that we receive is the-- initially, had to change. and the information and tack point that went to ambassador rice. she used talking point that we all got in the very beginning the first couple of days. i believe general petraeus -- >> it appears those talking points were dead wrong. >> at the time, as it turns out, it is. and that's what an investigation is about. let's get the facts.

this should not be a partisan issue at all, get the facts, an open issue, and when you hear allegations that people are told not to talk i would hope those issues come out and if that's the case we should be held accountable. >> schieffer: you're just back from the middle east. new reports this morning overnight, the israelis bombed again in syria. how-- how is the situation there, mr. chairman? >> i think it's deteriorating by the day. so you have hezbollah is now moving troops-- hezbollah troops finance bide iran, across syria. they're engaged in the fight to protect the assad regime. you have the alniews raflont, an al qaeda front organization, in the thousands showing up. and they're arguing now fthis continues you could have in excess of 10,000 foreign fighters pouring into the country across the course of the year. you have hamas elements there. everybody wants to get their hands on chemical and more sophisticated conventional weapons. refugees destabilizing the

entire region. this is as wad a situation i have seen in a long time-- q. have the'lly strikesescalate? did the israelis do what they should have done? what do you think? >> first thing, i can't discuss anything about the israeli strikes, but i will say this-- israel has the right to defend themselves at all times and theor in a very volatile area. i agree with mike rogers, it is a serious situation, a serious situation in syria. they're in a position now where if assad-- that regime, the assad regime guilty down eventually. but what happens after that. as mike said, you have the al qaeda group. then you have the hezbollah group, which is back bide iran. when that situation-- when he leaves, where are we going to be then. >> schieffer: what do we do? what does the united states do at this point? >> i do think we have some good options. we're going to have to play for the best worst option at this point. that's the bad news. we've waited such a long time. our arab league partners are already in syria and trying to

provide help to the opposition. i argue, with u.s. leadership-- and again, this is not boots on the ground-- u.s. leadership through intelligence and training other and things, in coordination in their activities, which they're asking for, could be hugely helpful to bringing the regime down quicker, number one, and try to at least have a stabilizing force exist after this happens, and that's our biggest concern is -- >> president obama said at one point if they found out that the syrians were using nerve gas or chemical weapons on their own people, that would be a game changer, that would be a red line. congressman, do you think he's backed away from that now? >> no, i don't think he's backed away. i think he understands if we're going to be involved we have to make sure we have all the factss and information. but we can't be the sheriff for the whole world. we have our own oocials right now-- iraq, afghanistan, sequestration, those type of issues. so when we move and make the move to go in we have to do it with a coalition, the arab coalition and other countries in the area. we have resources no other

country has and we have to make sure to use them. some of the resources we have are the training of people fighting and the intelligence. and, also, this issue about weapons. there are plenty of weapons in syria right now on both side, and it's a matter of according those weapons and making sure they're used in right way. chemical weapons, we have to deal with it. we will deal with it, and we do have information that there are chemical weapons will that have been used. >> and we've been saying for some time now, we believe over the course of two years, small amounts of chemical weapons have been used. i think that's beyond a shadow of a doubt at this point. and we really don't want to be the sheriff but we do want to be the coach. why this is important-- 8% of the trade goes through the suez canal. if this spills out of control-- that's worldwide trade-- imagine what impact that has on prices here at home, on economic development here at home. it's spilling over in the region right now. what's led by -- >> would either of you consider setting up eye a no-fly zone ug

u.s. planes. you said no boots on the ground, but what about planes in the sky. >> you can do a no-fly zone through better technology. you need knock out jet fighters. we have ways to do that without exposing our planes. that's the kind of no-fly zone we can do and operate and we do this through our part nerkz the arab league dispp that keeps boots from being on the ground, and i'll tell you, when-- it's a game changer, when airplanes and helicopters start falling out of sky. >> schieffer: gentlemen, i wish we category on. thank you so much. we'll be back in a moment in i'll have some personal thoughts.

a mechanical engineer. and i lmart. truth is, over sixty percent of america shops at walmart every month. i find what i need, at a great price. and the money i save goes to important things. braces for my daughter.

a little something for my son's college fund. when people look at me, i hope they see someone building a better life. vo: living better: that's the real walmart. of george jones to syria and the story we've just talked about, there was more news than we could process last week. but no story told us more about who we are than the story we'll talk about on page two, the coming out of basketball star jason collins, who is gay. whatever else we are, however toxic and broken our political system may be, we are still an ever-evolving inclusive people who admire honesty. of course, there are as many opinions about this as there are people, but the news about this story is it doesn't cause all that much news-- at least not all that much controversy. most americans accepted it and went on about their business.

my grandchildren wouldn't even know why it made the news. 20 years ago, or even 10, that would not have been the case. back in the 1960s, as a young police reporter in fort worth, i remember the vice squad spent most of its time raiding gay bars. what a long way we are from that. of course, those were also the days when jason would have had a hard time getting his picture in the paper, not because he was gay but because he was black. we seldom put pictures or stories about black people on the froant page unless they committed a crime. we've got a ways to go, but we're an ever-changing country, and that has always been our strength. jason collins reminded us of that the world needs more energy. ♪ that'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.

what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪ it's a smart way to go. >> we'll be back with billie jean king, martina navratilova, and many are big names in the world of professional sports. stay with us.

"face the nation." we are happy to be joined by two of the world's greatest tennis players. martina navratilova is in miami this morning, billie jean king joins us there omaha, nebraska, this morning. billie jean, let me just start with you, why was jason collins' announcement such-- get so much attention? >> well, i'm thrilled that jason had the courage to do this, bob, but it's because gay rights, right now, are the civil rights issue of the 21st century. and finally, i think people are ready to hear him. remember glenn burke, back in the 70s, and how people ostracized him. he was on the oakland, and also

the dodgers, he was with them. and the dodger management offered him $75,000 to get married to a woman, to cover up his homosexuality. and it was just horrendous, the life that glenn burke had to put up with because he was so honest and forthright, and he was the jackie robinson of our rights, of the gay issues. and no one listened to him. and he died very, very young air, broken person. so i don't-- i don't think people realize back in the-- before really now, in the last few years, and martina can talk about it as well-- is that people really made it difficult. it was so shame based. we have to get rid of the fact that it's shame based. and jason collins coming out is helping with that. i talked to him on friday and he said it was so surreal the way he's been treated and how wonderful it's been for him. and i'm just so happy for him. he sounded so happy. in fact, friday night he said he

was going out on his first date where he felt like a free man. so i just-- i just-- jason was so brave. >> schieffer: let me talk to martina a little bit, too. you called this a game changer. how difficult was this for you when you made your orientation public? >> well, you know, after coming out to america from a communist country and asking for political asylum, leaving my family behind, never knowing when i was going see them again, being gay was not such a big deal. to me it wasn't a big deal, but it was a big deal to everybody else. as a tennis player i could still play. i didn't have to worry about the front office or being benched. it cost me a lot of money in endorsements and all that. also, you have to remember these endorsement-based deals have a moral clause in it, that back then being gay was immoral. therefore, you would lose your

endorsement, and professional athletes would not be able to be signed. they would get fired. so i had it easy in that way in that i could still play ball, no matter what, and i was able to be myself and not really pay the price that way. i paid the price in different ways with the fans and the media and a lot of sensationalism that wasn't pretty. but, still, i could play tins no matter what. >> schieffer: do you all think it is more difficult for a male athlete to come out than for a woman, billie jean? >> it seems to be the case since there have been many more women that have come out. i'm not sure exactly why the guys are hiding that much, particularly again in sports like golf and tennis. we know they're there, but they're so far in the closet i don't even know who they are, even in the world of tennis. >> schieffer: billie jean, did you lose sponsors when you came out? >> yes, yes. i was just getting ready to retire, and i was outed. i had an affair with a woman, and she outed me.

and i-- my lawyer, my publicist, and everyone told me not to say i was gay or bisexual or anything. i said have to tell the truth. i stayed up 48 hours wawrg my lawyer, my & my publicist. i have to have a press conference. i have to tell the truth expect they said, "no, no, you can't do that." i said, "i have to do it. i have to be truthful." i told the truth. i lost my endorsements in 24 hours. the letters i got, the or the sponsors what they said to me that was really hurtful. and i remember talking to martina the same year-- this is 1981, so it's, what, 32 years ago. in fact i had my press conference may 11, 1981, to tell people the truth. and i had to fight with everybody to do that. and it was really difficult. and i remember martina talking to me about that she was going to get outed by this reporter with the "new york daily news" and she also was just getting

her citizenship at that time. so it was very tumultuous times i think for both of us. it was difficult. but, you know, the truth does set you free, bob. the truth sets you free. and i think the big difference now compared to those days is that people are ready to hear it, to listen. no one cares-- i'm excited about the supreme court in june voting on doma and prop 8. the l.g.b.t. community is so excited that people are finally accepting us. we can really be out there and be free. and it's amazing in my lifetime to see the difference. >> schieffer: martina, do you think there will ever come a time when it doesn't matter? i mean, i was a little bit surprised, i must say happily surprised, that this didn't cause more of a commotion than it did. i mean, there were a lot of stories about it, but not a great deal of controversy, at least in the first stories.

did that surprise you a little bit? >> not really. the times have changed. i think when president obama came in favor of gay rights-- gay marriage, that really changed the the tide. but we have to remember this has been a long time coming. we still don't have equal rights. i have been getting on twitter, why does this matter? i don't care? which is kind of code for i really don't want to know. but it does matter because in 29 states in this country you can still get fired for not just being gay but if your employer thinks you are gay you can still get fired. we don't have equal rights. it does matter. but the positive reaction i think is going to help with the supreme court. i really do think that's going to make a difference and finally one of these days we will have equal rights and i think that day is not fafar away. >> schieffer: i want to thank you both. go ahead. >> i'm sorry, president obama has made the difference. during his inauguration, absolutely saying it like it is.

he has set the tone for all of us, i and i really thank him as our leader. >> schieffer: all right, billie jean king, and martina navratilova, two of the greats. we'll be back to talk to a couple of the guys in just a minute. >> thanks, bob 3 now by two top voices in the gay rights miewssments for the nfl. super bowl champion baltimore

raveep, free agent nfl linebacker, brendon ayanbadejo. brendon, i'm going to let you say your name for us because i've said it about six ways today and i apologize for that. he is a leader in a movement for gay rights and equality in sports sports. tulle was a lineman before he retired and announced he was gay. his book is called, "my life in the trenches." esera, let me start with you. you came out after your career was over. did you ever consider making the announcement while you were in the nfl? >> absolutely not. i did not-- i didn't feel-- i didn't feel safe. back then-- a decade okay, it was definitely a different time. playing in such a masculine environment, going to work every single day, i didn't feel safe being true to myself. we definitely living in-- go

ahead. >> schieffer: do you feel being gay kept you from playing up to your full potential? >> um, most definitely, but what kept me from playing to my full potential is what people need to realize, when you're in the closet and you're living with this crippling secret, you're living with depression. you're living with suicide tendencies. you're living with blackouts. you're living with stress. and it's one of those things where that's what i played with, and it was very difficult to play to the best of my ability, to the fullest of my potential when you're carrying all of that with you. what jason-- wow, what jason did was absolutely amazing. and one thing-- i can-- i can relate with him when he said-- when he caiment out he felt complete, or he felt whole. because when i said those words for the first time, me, esera tuaolo, was gay, it felt absolutely incredible because most of-- all of my life i never felt whole.

there was as you something missing, and when we-- when we, the g.l.b.t. tell the truth about ourselves, it is such an amazing feeling to feel complete. >> schieffer: brendon, you said recently you think more than one current nfl player is going to come out. do you think that will happen soon? >> i'm not sure when it will happen, but as an ally, all i can do is my part. and i'm so honored to be with esera and help people so they don't have to be in the shoes that he was in to live with depression and have suicidal tendencies. so as an ally we're going to do everything we can to make a safe, inclusive environment so people don't have to live with that tiech pain and that type of burden. >> schieffer: esera, what can you do? do you think it's a good idea for people not to come out? how many people do you think there are in the nfl who are gay? do you have any idea?

>> i don't eye mean, i know a few, but i don't-- definitely, it's always a good thing to live in your truth and come out. what jason collins is-- i'm hoping that it will open doors for athletes that are in the clos tote come out in any of the four major sports. so, yeah, it's always-- from what-- the education that i have now and from the support and learning about so many organizations out there that youth can play, it's one of those things what i know now, if i had the opportunity to go back into time and come out, i definitely would. with all the support. go ahead. >> schieffer: brendon, do you think the nfl locker room is really ready for this? >> um, yeah, i think it's ready, but then again, it's our jobs, even if they're not ready, it's our jobs to do what's right and to do what's best. we're fighting for so many things. we want athletes to be themselveses and to realize

their full potential. but also it trickles down to kids and it affects kids with their self-esteem, and it can will cut down suicide rates in kids if nfl players support the l.g.b.t. movement, and also legislatively, we don't have-- the l.g.b.t. community does not have the rights of heterosexual people, and that's discrimination in itself. so there are so many moving parts to this movement and so many ways we can make a difference in acceptance, just in sports alone cchange the whole demographic and can change things in our whole country and make us so much under of a positive nation just by supporting-- just by nfl players or n.b.a. players, nhl, mlb players coming out. that's why it's so meroa heroict jason collins did. >> schieffer: do you think this is the last frontier for gay acceptance and equality. i'd like to hear from both of

you. brendon, you go first. >> no, i think we have a way to go. the religious community-- we respect religion and want people to have their religion, and also not change religion, but we want people to be accepting of everybody. so i think the religious community and the sports community, between the two, i think those are two of the last closetclosets in america, two oe last place where's people are accepted. so once we get people to realize that you're born gay and that gay people are disenfranchised and they don't have all the same rights and benefits as everybody else, and, yet, they're no different than anybody else, we can get past this unfortunate incident going on in our country every day. >> schieffer: esera? >> brendon, i mean, basically said it all, and that's--un, we definitely have-- we've taken some baby steps forward, and we still have a lot of work to do. the war started back in stonewall, and we're still in the middle of the battle. but we are definitely living in different times.

and, you know, where soots on the table for us to discuss and, you know, for me it's very encouraging to see-- to see what's happening today with the l.g.b.t. nation. people like martina navratilova and billie jean king, who have definitely paved the way for us has definitely been an inspiration for myself. we have a lot to work, like brendon said. un, with religion and sports, the nfl, the four major sports. i think those are the two last closets that we need to tackle. >> schieffer: well, i want to thank both of you for joining us this morning. and we'll be back in a moment with more voices on the role of gay athletes in professional sports. stay with us. ,,,,,,,,,,

female narrator: it's posturepedic versus beautyrest it's posturepedic versus beautyrest with up to $400 off. serta icomfort and tempur-pedic go head-to-head with three years' interest-free financing. mattress price wars are on now at sleep train. ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ with former baltimore raven cornerback, domonique foxworth. he is now the president of the nfl players association. every sports fan in washington knows our next guest. ted leonsis who owns the capitals, the wizards, and the mystics. what do you do on your day off?

"sports illustrated's" managing editor is chris stone with us this morning. and our friend bill rhoden of the "new york times." gentlemen, you just heard these four athletes talk about all this, and we're all on a first name basis here. ted, as the owner of these teams, is this going to be easy? i mean the news came out. it didn't cause people-- people didn't start marching in the streets or anything. there was a lot of attention but not really a lot of controversy. will there be controversy and what will this be like now? >> jason played for the washington wizards and he called me a couple of minutes before the story went live. and i told him i was very proud of him. when you own a team, you have a big social responsibility to your community, and what he did individually was very courageous, but it also activated this level of discussion. and to believe the first male active player to come out was a big deal. >> schieffer: well, how will this be accepted in the locker

room? >> so far, i think it's generational. it's kind of been a big shrug. i think the best comment was by a player on our team who, "terrific. you're my brother. you still can't hit a jump shot." ( laughter ) and i think at the end of the day, it will be-- decisions will be made on basketball-related matters around jason. and so it has nothing to do with what his sexual preference is. in fact, written right into the c.b.a. is a nondiscriminatory clause. we can't discriminate. and so i think that this is just a natural part of the ps and the way it develops. and what i was surprised at-- i mean, internet businesses, i'm in other media and entertainment businesses -- whether you're gay or not has nothing to do with whether you can do your job. and this really was the first time that this discussion really has spilled over into professional sports.

and jason's a really, really good player. i'm sure his career will continue. >> schieffer: domonique, you head up the playerss' association. is this kind of like when jackie robinson came into baseball? >> i think it's slightly different because, obviously, there have been gay players in the nfl and gay players in all professional sports. there are likely gay players in the hall of fame. but the courage jason has shown is similar to genetic robinson and i think our professional athletes are uniquely qualified. they go through their entire life of jute me. they're uniquely qualified to take on this type of pressure. we've seen it with bill russell, jim brown. i think it is this is the latest iteration of athletes taking on public issues and helping to push our society forward. >> schieffer: chris, why did you put him on the cover? there have been a number of gay women who came out, and you didn't put them on the cover. >> well, he's the first in the four major american team sports. and male cultural attitudes in the locker room about sexuality

are different than they were with women. and professional team sports have existed for more than 140 years now. he's the first to come out as an active player. and that's history. and i think everything that everybody preceding me here today has said just speaks to that poignantly. >> schieffer. >> bill, sum it up for me. >> i'm a little uneasy with the jackie robinson. it's cropped up a lot. >> schieffer: well, talk about that. >> well, what i'm saying, the history of the african american human struggle has been since the 17th century, and it's been a great model for other movements to follow. there are a lot of differences. but i think this whole idea of human sexuality in pro sports is a thing unto itself, and i think

that's what we should deal with. we're talking about heroanism jason collins. i think the heroism is going to be with people in other locker rooms. it's going to be the kids on the playground who refuse to allow the wrong things to happen because of people's orientation. it's going to be heroism in the locker room, when we hear the day slurs. we have all been in low, rooms and we can't legislator feelings. when we hear people say the "f" word for people to say, there are no cameras here but that's not what we do. i think the heroism will shift from the people like jason to the people in the community around him. >> i think that's a great point, and i think that's happening. i see it happening. and i see it happening with people like kobe bryant and lebron james making those statements. so not only is jason going to be a great role model federal young athletes who are gay. these overall role models, the epitome of masculinity in our

soept are our athletes. and people trump up their masculinity because they're so strong and so fast and so tough. but that physical strength is nothing in comparison to the level of strength when they stand up for an oppressed minority, and they make a stand when someone says something that is offensive. i think they're setting that example, and i've been so proud to be a part of this segment of the athletic history because we are taking this on and redefining masculinity and i'm so proud to be a part of it. >> schieffer: go ahead. >> the leagues have taken a lead role there. we understand that the role modeling and being able to set an example and how it trickles all the way down through society with young adults in america, and the nhl's very, very active, and you can play. i think that's an important program. the n.b.a. for a long, long time is doing p.s.a.ss with some of the star players and the league to so the a platform in a

cultural environment that we really want to embrace everyone and that sports is really based on talent. it's based on are you a good teammate. hard work and discipline. and so setting that example is great. and wnba-- i own the wcial mystics in town-- we had one of the first players come out, sheryl swoops, a superstar player, the first pick in the draft, this year has announced that she's gay. >> schieffer: let me just ask you this-- i mean, professional sports is a business. you make money. or you want to. these players play for money. what has been the reaction you're getting for the fans? has anybody called up and canceled their tickets? what-- what are people saying when they call? >> well, these teams are double bottom-line businesss. we do want to do well, but we want to do good and embracing diversity is certainly an important driver for everyone who owns a team. and i don't look at it from a business standpoint.

i don't think it's something you market and celebrate. i think it's just trying to do the right things the right way in serving your community. >> schieffer: what are you hearing from your fans? >> that's what been so surprising. i think it's been a-- yawn. i think it's been a-- i think politically in the media has talked about it a lot, but from a straight sports standpoint, jason is a unrestricted free agent, and i think our fans know we would re-sign him in fwe need another big man who could play two or three minutes and play good defense and had more fouls than points. >> i think that's an important point that ted makes. i think this is the way jason prefers it, frankly. jason's not looking to carry a flag here. he's not looking to go to the front of line on this issue even. he's just looking to get in line with others. the people who have paved the way for him, and the people who will fall in behind him, and are going to make this more palatable to more people in

america. >> schieffer: what kind of reaction are you getting for your readers? >> it's early, because we generally don't go through our letters until the end of the week, but, you know, on monday, it was the most traffic the da y in the history of our web site, easily. so, obviously, i understand what ted is saying when he says it's received with a yawn. but it actually has resonated with a lot of people out there. and i think the reason it resonated with so many people is because it wasn't a story that was dark or too heavy. yes, he spoke about the difficulties of keeping the secret for 33 years of his life. but at the same time, there was levity to it. there was humor. there was directness. there was honesty. he really humanized the issue and i think that's why the story resonated as much. >> schieffer: let me ask bill, we have about 30 seconds here. how long does this story go on? >> i mean, i think it's going to go on as long as human sexuality

is the mystery it is in terms of sports. people yawn but there are some very deep feeling on the other side too,. i think it's really important if we're going to have a dialogue, let's have an open dialogue and not just shut it down either way. >> schieffer: here is where we have to shut this one down. ,,,,,

for us today. and we hope you'll join us next week when we'll be talking with former defense secretary robert gates. we'll see you then captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org ,,

>> announcer: the following is a paid presentation for the nutribullet, brought to you by nutribullet, llc. [♪...] >> ...my muscle aches, my backaches really started to decrease significantly in one week. >> the first night that i actually used the nutribullet, i actually slept really well. that was exciting. that was phenomenal. >> the bad cholesterol, which was 290, went down to 190. >> the changes that i saw in myself and my family were just amazing. >> announcer: join these people and thousands just like them and discover a machine that finally has the power to take years off the way you look and feel. learn from nutrition expert and bestselling author david wolfe, who speaks to sold-out audiences around the world, why he calls this the most significant discovery of his lifetime. introducing the nutribullet, the superfood nutrition extractor.