How Gillibrand got the chance to see Giffords

How did Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) end up flying on Air Force One with President Barack Obama to Tucson, Ariz., last week? Astronaut Mark Kelly asked the White House to bring along the two good friends of his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Friday.

Gillibrand says she talked with Kelly last Monday, but her aide said the White House invitation came unexpectedly on Wednesday morning as CBS anchor Katie Couric interviewed Gillibrand and Wasserman Schultz about the rampage. "In the middle of the conversation, the White House reached out to the senator's chief of staff and invited her to join the president on the trip," the aide said.

- Tom Brune