we are pleased to have had york's democratic senator, kirsten gillibrand. thanks for your time. >> thank you. tavis: next, r & b superstar ne- yo . e're pleased to welcome ne-yo back to this program. you can catch him in "battle from los angeles". here is video for "one in a million". you're the best i ever had ♪ you're one in a million ♪ had ♪re the best i ever ♪ oh ♪ tavis: use of this project was a tribute to michael jackson. your fans know your admiration for michael jackson. the question i want to ask is, what is the relationship like when you have an idol who was living? how does that change, how did that impact your, your work, you're dancing when that icon is no longer on the world stage, when they have transitioned as michael did? his passing was difficult for me. he was a huge inspiration. one of the reasons i have been doing this. i am happy that i got to meet him one time before he passed. i was -- it was one of those things that was in the back of my head. it never fade away. now that he is not here, i feel like it was kind of an overwhelming f

tavis: senator kirsten gillibrand is serving her first term in the u.s. senate from new york. holding the seat held by hillary clinton. she is a member of the senate armed forces committee. an important committee these days. she joins us from washington. an honor to have you on this program. >> it is my privilege. thank you for including me. tavis: i believe budgets are moral documents. jay-z puts it this way. you can see will use a but you are what you are. we find out what you believe when you put these budgets to work. budgets are moral documents. if i am right, what does this budget say about president obama's priorities? >> president obama has tried to do the hard work of making tough choices to balance the budget and reduce the deficit. on some of the priorities he has made, i agree with. making sure we do not invest in military programs that are not being used currently. some of the choices i disagree with. i was concerned about the cut to home heating assistance on the east coast. we need that in the cold winter. people get an energy investment subsidy. leaving our sen

there was another one -- kirsten gillibrand, when she was appointed to the senate, plenty of things going on. there was one for the secretary of the army. he hits on an interesting point. the nominees are not chosen by primary voters. they are selected by county chairs that go behind closed doors and make the decision. it is not necessarily to the party folks in washington might want. you can see funny things going on in this upstate new york special elections. host: on the grisly story, its shows how quickly the story unfolded. we heard about it mid-afternoon, he announced his resignation at 5:00 that same day. guest: that speed did not shock people but i was sitting in the senate press gallery watching it. had that play out that quickly, there are other members of congress who have been through not exactly the same thing but similar situations who are still sitting in congress. for him to have gone in that short period of time was interesting. why did he go so quickly? i do not know. one person has told me that a theory, that says that he maybe had more of a natural sense of and harassm

there was another one -- kirsten gillibrand, when she was appointed to the senate, plenty of things goingn. there was one for the secretary of the army. he hits on an interesting point. the nominees are not chosen by primary voters. they are selected by county chairs that go behind closed doors and make the decision. it is not necessarily to the party folks in washington might want. you can see funny things going on in this upstate new york special elections. host: on the grisly story, its shows how quickly the story unfolded. we heard about it mid-afternoon, he announced his resignation at 5:00 that same day. guest: that speed did not shock people but i was sitting in the senate press gallery watching it. had that play out that quickly, there are other members of congress who have been through not exactly the same thing but similar situations who are still sitting in congress. for him to have gone in that short period of time was interesting. why did he go so quickly? i do not know. one person has told me that a theory, that says that he maybe had more of a natural sense of and harassmen

of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable kirsten gillibrand, a senator from the state of new york, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: later today, as i noted yesterday, the senate will have a rare opportunity -- later today as i noted yesterday, the senate will have a rare opportunity for those who supported the health spending bill in the past, it's an opportunity to revisit your first vote. to listen to those who have desperately trying to get your attention to say yes, maybe my vote for this bill was a mistake, maybe we can do better. to listen to the small business owners who have been contacting our offices every single day and telling us that this bill keeps them from creating the jobs that we need. to show that you've

there was another one -- kirsten gillibrand, when she was appointed to the senate, plenty of things going on. there was one for the secretary of the army. he hits on an interesting point. the nominees are not chosen by primary voters. they are selected by county chairs that go behind closed doors and make the decision. it is not necessarily to the party folks in washington might want. you can see funny things going on in this upstate new york special elections. host: on the grisly story, its shows how quickly the story unfolded. we heard about it mid-afternoon, he announced his resignation at 5:00 that same day. guest: that speed did not shock people but i was sitting in the senate press gallery watching it. had that play out that quickly, there are other members of congress who have been through not exactly the same thing but similar situations who are still sitting in congress. for him to have gone in that short period of time was interesting. why did he go so quickly? i do not know. one person has told me that a theory, that says that he maybe had more of a natural sense of and harassm

of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable kirsten e. gillibrand, a senator from the state of new york, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. reid: following any leader remarks there will be a period of morning business until 11:00 a.m. with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each during that time. that time will be equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees. at 11:00 this morning the senate will resume consideration of the f.a.a. authorization bill. as a result of cloture being filed yesterday, any germane first-degree amendments must be filed at the desk prior to 1:00 p.m. thaod in order -- today in order for the amendments to be in order postcloture. we have the opportunity to complete this legislation opportunity. there will be two cloture votes in the morning. we hope to be able to have some votes today, and senators will be notified when roll call votes are scheduled. mr. mcconnell: ma