i'm contessa brewer, covering the big news coast to coast and the big story we're following today, it's all about the benjamins, from family to american companies and the big federal government. it's all about improving the bottom line. >> the senate will come to order. >> on capitol hill, lawmakers focus on tax cuts and earmarks. >> cuts the spernding, cut the debt, republican leader mitch mcconnell leads a vote to say no to pet pork barrel projects. on wall street, a car

company's incredible comeback. >> general motors is now primed to begin the process of not being government motors. >> a year after filing for bankruptcy, the automaker's on the road to pay off its $50 billion federal loan with what could be the biggest initial public offering in u.s. history. >> we are proposing a very drastic tax reform. >> on main street, tough choices. to get the country out of debt. >> the american people and america faces a quiet killer. a quiet killer that is eating away at the foundations of america. >> a new crew has a new federal debt reduction plan. it's tougher than the proposal from a presidential panel last week. >> this is a total plan. it does the job. >> it includes a 6.5% national sales tax. it does away with popular deducks for mortgage interest

and charitable giving, replacing them with tax credits. and it slows the ballooning growth of medicare and medicaid, by limiting or reducing benefits and making medicare recipients pay more out of pocket. higher earners would have to pay more while getting less from social security. but unlike last week's proposal, the retirement age stays the same. >> the choices they made were not easy. and the choices that the president, the congress and the american people will have to make will not be easy either. nbc senior investigative correspondent lisa myers joins us from washington, d.c. take us if you will through the latest proposals and how it compares to what the presidential panel pro-pozed last week. >> well, contessa, the biggest difference, really overall is the mix. this plan relies a lot more on tax increases than the proposal last week. this one includes only slightly more spending cuts over the years than tax increases whereas

the co-chairman of the president's commission last week had about $2 in spending cuts for every dollar of tax increases. what that means is that today's proposal is probably going to be more acceptable to the left than last week's proposal but may be a nonstarter in the republican caucus. but actually, the two plans have more in common than they differ. and that is, they're both designed to be shock therapy. and they're full of proposals that they know the american people will hate. the challenge, they're trying to accomplish, is to try to educate the public and elected officials to get them to act before it's too late. and to help them understand the magnitude of the problem. so that everyone understands, we all have to give up something. if we don't, we're going to have another economic kris zblis you bring up this interesting point. if there's something in it for everybody to hate, which was true of the plan last week, too, if you're looking here, lower spending, freezing domestic and

defense spending for four to five years, reducing social security, cost of living ajustments that medicare recipients as i mentioned before are going to pay more, how likely is it that any of this passes? >> well, it will take a collective political act of courage beyond anything we have seen in at least two decades. right now, there is no evidence that either party has the trust that they'd be willing to join hands and jump off this cliff. as you know from the mood in congress, they're more likely to shove each other off the cliff than to join hands and jump together. >> yes. >> but it's a process. one of the problems is, is that the american people say we want you to cut spending. we're really concerned about the debt. but then when you ask them if they're willing to support their elected officials, if they raise their taxes, if they reduce social security benefits, if they do a host of other things, they say no a million times no. so it's a real contradiction in the american public. >> lisa, thank you so much for following it for us and putting

it into some perspective. we're watching capitol hill. a lot of what happens may depend on who the leadership is in the minority party in the house. and that decision is happening as we speak. house democrats are voting on who will be their leaders for the next congress. we are expecting the leadership to stay the same, that nancy pelosi will remain the leader of the democrats. again, watching for this and they're expected to speak with the media after the vote. now, to general motors and the carmaker's remarkable comeback. melissa francis joins me from cnbc headquarters with more on this initial public offering. why is this on track to become the biggest in history. >> it is shaping up to be that. just this morning, they announced they'll offer 31% more shares than they originally planned. at the same time they're offering even more shares, it looks like the price is going to be even higher. the way this works is that after the close of the market today, at the end of the day, they decide what the price of each share is going to be.

and they issue the shares and tomorrow morning we see them trade for the first time. it had thought these shares were going to be in the high 20s. now it looks like the price range will be $32 to $33. more shares and they're going to be more expensive. this means this ipo is a lot more successful than originally thought. the downside to it being more expensive is that rather than seeing, you know, a bigger run up right at the beginning where the shares go out, this limits that a little bit more. it also means that people may sell them more quickly. you may get an initial share and then sell it right away as it goes up. fewer long-term investors. the controversy, as you know, has been little few, small-time retail investors will be able to get in on that. is it fair that this is a company that was bailed out by taxpayers. >> it looks like the dow jones up 10.3. it has been a roller coaster ride watching the stock market the last week or so. is this going to do anything for other companies?

and people's willingness to invest in other companies? >> probably. there's probably a chance that the rest of the market gets a bounce from the excitement around this. the reason we had a really tough day yesterday is because of fears of what was going on in ireland and other potential crisis there. just like we saw in greece. those fears have abated today. there was a fear that might spread over to spain. what's the chicken and what's the egg? they want to release the shares into a good market on a good day and watch the run up. the market has been on a run for the last little bit here and some even think we've seen a high for the year. you know, and gm could come in just at the tail of that. we'll see what happens tomorrow. >> interesting to watch, an entire world view changing in just a matter of 24 hours. thank you. >> yes. >> we're watching the world of retail, heading into the all-important holiday shopping season. i am being inundated with coupons and special sales and friends and family discounts. my big question today, why so many discounts, so early in the

season? i'm going to put that question to the ceo of the department store chain lord and taylor. he's joining me just ahead this hour. you can share your thoughts with me on why we're seeing so many big discounts. i want to hear from you on twitter, facebook or contessa@msn contessa@msnbc.com. it's being dubbed the wedding of the century. prince william, second in line to the british throne, marrying his on again/off again girlfriend kate middleton. will gave kate the engagement ring that belong to his mother, the late princess diana. >> i've been carrying it around with me for about three weeks before that. i would not let it go. >> i just hope i look after it. it's very, very special. >> our british broadcasting partner, itn is at buckingham

palace now. what's the reaction now about him giving the engagement ring? it's got to bring back so many bittersweet moments for prince william. >> yes, indeed. i think some people may think why couldn't he get kate her own engagement ring? but a ring is symbolism. the fact is he knew the issue of his mother would come up the moment his engagement was announced, people would be discussing what her reaction would be, indeed, whether she would have wanted to be at the wedding, this sort of thing. the fact that he chose to give kate his mother's engagement ring was a clear sign he wanted to end that speculation. he wanted to say and did he say himself, that it was a way of keeping his mother close to the whole proceedings, that she would indeed have approved of his choice of bride and she would very much wanted to be there.

>> and libby, are there any new developments on the wedding plans? >> reporter: no. i gather the couple have been discussing those in detail for much of today. but they haven't released any further details yet. people are expecting that it will be in the spring or summer of next year. tom bradby who carried out that interview for us, for itn, he believes it could well be in march. but at the moment we don't have a date and we don't have any further details about where the couple plan to tie the knot. >> libby, thank you for the report. appreciate that. no more blackout in a can. that's the word coming down from the federal government. at 1:00 p.m. eastern time, the fda is expected to ban caffeinated drinks that contain alcohol. news of this ban comes as energy drinks like four loko and juice planned to remove caffeine from

their products. gale force gusts flipped several small planes and ripped the roof off a runway hangar. fortunately nobody got hurt. a movie publicist found dead in beverly hills, gunned down in her luxury car. this is a real mystery. plus, a fighter jet disappears out of thin air. we'll be right back. out of the very best america had to offer. ingenuity. integrity. optimism. and a belief that the finest things are the most thoughtfully made -- not the most expensive. today, the american character is no less strong. and chevrolet continues as an expression of the best of it. bringing more technology to more people than ever in our history. inventing new ways to get around our planet while helping to preserve it at the same time. exploring new horizons of design and power. and making our vehicles amongst the safest on earth. this isn't just any car company.

this is chevrolet. and the strength of our character can be found in every car and truck we make. it's why, today, tomorrow, and on into a bright future, we can proudly say... ...chevy runs deep. ♪ until the combination of three good probiotics in phillips' colon health defended against the bad gas, diarrhea and constipation. ...and? it helped balance her colon. oh, now that's the best part. i love your work. [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. ♪ yes! ♪ look, they fit!

oh my gosh, are those the jeans from last year? how'd you do it? eating right...whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who eat more whole grain tend to have healthier body weights. multigrain cheerios has five whole grains and 110 lightly sweetened calories. more grains. less you! multigrain cheerios.

a couple of weeks ago voters went to the polls. they threw a bunch of democrats out. they told exit pollsters we want jobs and smaller government. question is are they willing to make tough choices to make that happen? i'm joined by michigan democrat debbie stabenow, she's a member of the budget and finance committee. also this week, appointed vice

chair of the democratic policy meeting. when we're looking at the proposals to deal with the national debt, one of the newest ones out today, a 6.5% federal sales tax. is that ever going to fly? >> well, i think the concern would be once again that falls on average consumers. so we have to look at this in the whole context of what's going on. the reality is, it's the middle class, working families that have been squeezed on all sides. people at the very, very top who have done well, haven't had the same kinds of pressures, haven't lost their jobs. so when we look at all of us, we look at extending the top-end tax cuts for people who have already received ten years worth of tax cuts, already doing phenomenally well in an economy where everybody else is hurting. let's talk about the whole thing. i don't want to see the full republican plan of extending the top-end tax cut which is doubles

the national debt. let's start there. before we start talking about things that go right to the pocketbook of middle class families. >> there's a new quinnipiac poll that shows 45% of the people said they want spending. if it stimulates jobs. >> right. >> 32% want to reduce the budget deficit, 17% want to cut taxes. it's clear that jobs are priority number one. can you address the national debt in a way that preserves our intent to save and create jobs? >> well, that's a really important question. and i start from the premise that we will never get out of debt with over 15 million people out of work. 15 million people who can't purchase items, who can't -- don't have income, aren't contributing to paying for services through taxes. so we have to start with jobs. i think that's what the public is saying. get people back to work. make wise decisions, make wise

investments, partner with businesses like we've done with the auto industry, with clean energy technology. getting people back to work in manufacturing where there are good-paying jobs and then we will see the debt begin to come down and at the same time, we've got to make some tough choices around whether or not wealthiest americans get another tax cut on top of everybody else that doubles the national debt or whether we focus on small business and job creation. >> we're actually talking about a company later on this hour that is -- has taken an old ford motor plant and turned it into a place to manufacture batteries and solar panels and things like that, green energy. it is what the president has intended to do. he's put forward stimulus dollars to do it. is this going to be what makes a difference for states like michigan which now has the second highest unemployment rate in the nation? >> there is no question about it. i am so appreciative of this administration. they get it, that we're not going to have a middle-class in

this country unless we're focused on manufacturing. that means partnering with business. and the kind of example that you're talking about goes to a couple policy decisions we've made. an advanced manufacturing tax credit for clean energy that senator bingham and i were able to get into the recovery act. it's made a world of difference. we have at least 12 companies in michigan doing similar kinds of things that you're talking about. retooling loans that have taken plants and allowed retooling loans to retool them to some other clean energy purpose. ford, for example, is bringing new car production from mexico for the ford focus back from mexico to wayne, michigan, because of a partnership with the federal government to retool a plant. so those are the kinds of things we're doing. we need to do that much more aggressively. we need to stay focused on manufacturing and the related items of research and development and so on.

but that's how we grow the economy. >> one last question for you. your colleagues over on the house side, as we speak, are voting on their leadership in the house. do you think that they should retain the same leaders that they had before this election? >> i think that the house needs to make their own decisions on leadership, whoever it is, i just want to make sure we're staying focused on jobs, let's get people back to work. we can bring down the deficit and then middle-class families will have a sense of confidence and hope they can provide for their families. >> senator debby st booe ssenat. lisa murkowski is in the lead, topping joe miller by more than 10,000 wins. if she wins she would be the first u.s. senate candidate to win with write-in votes since 1954. miller is demanding, you ready for this -- he's demanding the entire vote be recount by hand.

not just the write-in ballots, every vote. police say a man angry took his rage out on the roads of connecticut. tops our stories far and wide. a 30-year-old delivery chuck driver deliberately rammed his rig into more than a dozen cars, signs and parking meters before crashing into a school bus. at least 22 people were hurt, including several students. the truck driver's in critical condition. a former producer from "survivor" is dealing with a new reality. he's in federal custody charged with the murder of his wife. investigators consider bruce redman a prime suspect in monica redman's death. her body was found inside a sewage tank at a cancun vacation resort in april. "people" magazine reports mexican investigators told the u.s. courts the tv producer and his wife had been having a big argument over his admission he'd been having an affair right before she was killed. u.s. military officials are searching to are a fighter jet that disappeared in the skies over alaska last night.

the f-22 raptor took off on a training mission tuesday before losing contact with air traffic control. at 7:40 p.m. local time. a spokeswoman for joint base elmandorf air force base in anchorage says the pilot was the only one on board. this year, don't set your alarm for the crack of dawn. the good deals are happening as we speak. first, a look at what's hot on the web. a hollywood publicist shot to death in beverly hills. one of the top stories on msnbc.com. roney chiasson was gunned down yesterday after attending a movie premiere, shot in the chest several times. police don't know of any suspects. they don't have a motive. we'll stay on top of that story. accident suicide pact, a twin shooting baffles police.

twin sisters from australia were both shot in the head at a shooting range. police still need to figure out which sister died and which survived but is critically injured. and florida eyes a pardon for jim morrison. the long-time rocker, now, of course, deceased, was convicted of exposing himself at a concert in miami in 1969. he was appealing the conviction when he died two years later. entrepreneur of the week. they worked in the financial industry until both were pink sliched. jenny loved making pickles from her grandmother's recipe. they went to pickle school. and with the help of friends

started miss jenny's pickle which is just went national. to stay fit, you might also want to try lifting one of these. a unique sea salt added to over 40 campbell's condensed soups. helps us reduce sodium, but not flavor. so do a few lifts. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ guarantee me the best deal on my refinance loan, or pay me $1,000? that would be nice, not getting swindled. um...where are we? don't just think about it. put lendingtree to the test. get the best deal, or $1,000. having an insurance agent costs you more money. the truth: an allstate agent can save you a bundle, by helping you get all the discounts you deserve. discounts for safe driving, antilock brakes, owning a new car, paying electronically, having more than one policy -- and more. all told, the good hands offer more than 30 different

car and home insurance discounts. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. ♪

you open your local paper and the coupons start falling out. 20% off, friends and family sales, 40% off any one item on wednesdays. the big sales have already kicked off. it's not even black friday. with so many retailers already

announcing doorbuster deals for the day after thanksgiving, some stores opening up on turkey day. i mean, is black friday a thing of the past? brendan hoffman is the president and ceo of lord and taylor, the nation's oldest department store. what a thing to claim. >> yes. >> when we're looking at going into the retail season, it has been a tough couple years. how well positioned is lord and taylor at this point going in? >> i think we feel like we're well positioned. we've had a nice 12-month run here. we feel like we're taking back market share. the promotions are thought out well in advance, they're not reactionary, something we prepared for six months ago. >> it's across the board. it seems like high-end retailers, the bargain basement discounts are doing it. why are coupons and special one-day only sales the way to get people in the door? >> that's the important thing, to get them in the door. once they're in the door, we have a whole storeful of merchandise to sell them, some of which is on sale, others which is still regular price.

we have to hook them to get them in. >> every year on black friday we talk about the importance of this particular shopping day and/weekend, it is a pivotal one going into christmas. does that remain so or does it start in october and last well beyond january? >> yeah, i mean, still hugely important day, no question about it. one of our biggest days of the year. i don't think it's quite as important as it was probably 15, 20 years ago. i think it is spread out more earlier and more importantly, later, customers are waiting later. the web has changed the dynamics of when you shop. we certainly use next friday as a big bellwether but it won't make or break the season. >> your flagship store in new york has undergone a major renovation, really investing in bricks and mortar stores. at a time when so many shoppers are doing most of their shoppers online, there's real competition from online vendors. how do you balance that out,

your physical store versus online sales you're making? >> it's exactly right. we have to balance it out. the lord & taylor shops in multichannels, whether it be catalog, stores or online. redoing the fifth avenue store was trying to bring ourselves into the 21 cst century. >> what's your advice to shoppers, should they buy now or wait for deeper discounts before christmas? >> i think they should do both, buy now and later. and you know, the coupons are falling out of the paper. but now you can go online and get them through your mobile device. >> brendan, thank you. appreciate you came in. >> thanks for having me. sexiest man alive. were you in the running? plus, is she or isn't she? how close is sarah palin to making a decision about running for president in 2012? and a way to prevent your child from become a criminal. details ahead. ♪ smokin' in the boys room

[ male announcer ] humana and walmart are teaming up

to bring you a low-price medicare prescription drug plan called the humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. it's a new plan that covers both brand and generic prescriptions and has the lowest-priced national premium in the country of only $14.80 per month and in-store copays as low as $2. when you could save over $450 a year, you can focus on the things that really matter. ♪ go to walmart.com for details.

republican leaders say they're too busy to meet with the president today. he asked republicans to come to the white house. they want to reschedule for november 30th. senators on capitol hill are asking the top tsa administrator about the new way airport screeners are frisking passengers. there's been some major outreach this week over so-called groping at security. the pentagon inducted staff sergeant sal vatore giunta. he received the medal of honor this week. women who smoke when they're pregnant are more likely to have criminal kids. the more a woman smokes, the higher the arrest rate for her children. democrats lost their majority in the house but likely will keep all the same party leaders at the helm.

that's not without controversy. a few outspoken representatives would like to see nancy pelosi step aside. democrats are voting on the leadership as we speak. we're looking at at stakeout cameras, the microphones outside the room. when we see the leaders come out, we'll show you that live. we're expecting them to talk to reporters like nbc's luke russert who's on capitol hill now. luke, tell me about nancy pelosi's opposition. >> reporter: well, contessa, the opposition is up in arms right now. there will be a significant delay. we were supposed to hear from democratic leaders, the newly electioned leadership at about 1:00. we've heard that will be postponed possibly several hours because there's now a vote, brought up by some representatives that wanted to delay the election of the leadership until december, becausas one told me, we want to figure out where exactly the heck we are as a caucus. they are now debating whether or not to postpone the democratic leadership elections to

december. now they're debating whether or not that decision, that vote should be on a secret ballot. they are saying should it be a secret ballot and should we delay the meeting? there's a possibility it could be delayed until december. then, nancy pelosi and the democratic leaders would not know who is uncomfortable putting them in the leadership right away. if it's an open ballot, they expect the leadership to be announced later on. the only contested race is that of heath schuler, the blue dog democrat from north carolina is going to contest pelosi. he has no real shot, contessa. he'll be the first to admit it. an interesting new cnn poll showed us 47% of democrats would prefer that nancy pelosi would leave as house minority leader. though she has the support of caucus as a whole -- >> wait. they're asking democratic voters other people who say they're democrats, the people who really matter in this case are not regular voters.

it's the members of the house of representatives. >> that is correct. and nancy pelosi, because of the fact that she is of the california delegation as well as that she has very good relations with the liberals and progre progressives as well as the congressional black caucus and the fact that she's a female and has garnered a lot of female support within the democratic caucus. what you'll see is an attempt to slow her down, perhaps talk about the future. remember, contessa, this is a leadership team that lost over 60 seats. there's a lot of rank and file members that say something has to change. >> i have somebody on twitter who's pointing out that the gop kept the same leadership as well. it's a little different when you've won an election versus losing i an election. >> reporter: correct. >> thank you, luke. an upcoming profile in "the new york times" magazine may leave some with an impression that she's seriously considering

a 2012 run for president. reporter robert draper talks to pail been her life, her family and her record. on the question of whether she'll throw her hat in the ring for 2012, palin says, i'm engaged in the internal deliberations candidly and having that discussion with my family because my family, she says, is the most important consideration here. but palin acknowledges if she does decide to run it won't be easy given her past. "i know that a hurdle i would have to cross and some other potential candidates wouldn't have to cross right out of the chute is proving my record." that's the most frustrating thing for me. the warped and perverted description of my record and what i've accomplished over the last two decades. draper interviewed palin earlier this month. some folks do take their reality tv shows seriously. authorities say an 87-year-old man blasted his television with a shotgun after watching bristol palin score big yet again on

"dancing with the stars." wonder where he got that idea? >> blazing. your best dance. fabulous. >> 9. >> she's back. >> the wisconsin man turned the gun on his wife but she escaped. it led to a standoff with the s.w.a.t. team. he says the only reason bristol is still on the show is because of her famous mother. who got the boot? >> brandy and max. which means kyle and lacy and jennifer and derrick will face off against bristol and mark. >> brandy hears the controversy. brandy had a perfect score on one of her dances. the tea party is keeping bristol in the running, some are speculating. i tried to vote for brandy and

the vote was busy the whole time. the tea party people are blocking the phones. that's what they're saying. hey, baby, you can't drive my car, not like this anyway. dash cam rolling, cops in lagoon that beach, california, stopped at guy at a gas station. forgets the car is in reverse and wham, he hits the police cruiser. sorry. he puts the car into drive instead of park and hits the pump at the station. real smooth. he's been arrested on suggestion possession of dui. nothing like a family driving to a walmart in kansas saw hair blowing out the back window of a passing car. it was a mane event. a horse in the back seat. turns out the horse's name is rascal. this video is now the talk of the internet town. you know what would be really impressive? if rascal was driving the car.

prince william and kate are busy making plans for their wedding. they need to pick a date, figure out the guest list, dresses, flowers, on a bigger scare than say my widing. talking with celebrity wedding planning colin cowey. and "people" magazine's sexiest man alive. here it is. drum roll, please. there it is, actor ryan reynolds. not only because of chiselled abs and, i'm quoting from "people" magazine but also he's funny. reynolds says he's figuring out how to work this new title into conversations with random strangers. he probably won't need to. although want to see his competition at home? his wife scarlett johansson was named "gq's" babe of the year. what a power couple there. take that, william and kate. gecko: good news sir, i just got an email from the office

and word is people really love our claims service. gecko: 'specially the auto repair xpress.

repairs are fast and they're guaranteed for as long as you own your car. boss: hey, that's great! is this your phone? gecko: yeah, 'course. boss: but...where do you put...i mean how do you...carry... waitress: here you go. boss: thanks! gecko: no, no i got it, sir. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

the mormon church now says same-sex attraction is normal. and that is a major about-face from its previous doctrine. the church has formally removed same-sex attraction from the church's list of sins. it also for the first time does not require those who feel such attraction to seek professional counseling. the human rights camp pain pressured the church of latter day saints on this issue. there's problems there but the church still calls homosexuality a violation of god's commandment. >> unfortunately, the mormon church continues to put homosexuality in the same category as murder, forcible rape and sexual assault. there's more the mormon church has to do in order to correct the wrongs. specifically to gay and lesbian people, the message they send

are that they're lesser than. we certainly applaud them for removing repairatory therapy from their handbook. they still have an awful long way to go in order to be in keeping with the mainstream of american society and what should be responsible church teachings. >> basically what they're saying is that the feelings not a problem but acting on those feelings is. how is the mormon church now advising gays and lesbians to act? >> therein lies the conundrum, contessa. the message that they're sending to people is that they should never love or be loved. >> yes. >> that they can never and should never go ahead and act on what the american psychological and american psychiatric associations have found to be completely natural behavior that are a normal part of being human. and so that, to us, is simply not acceptable. it's not in keeping with the

spiritual beliefs and understandings and experiences of the wide amount of american people. we believe they have a much farther way to go. >> fred, thank you so much for joining us today. we appreciate that. we hope to see more progress from the church of latter day saints in the future. >> thank you. a heightened terror alert in german. german officials are stepping up security at train stations. a series of mail bombs were siene from the yemen to the united states last month. china's reviewing its natural safety measures after a high-rise fire killed at least 53. the total number of missing, well, we still don't know. will and kate have not yet set a date. there's plenty of speculation about who she'll wear, where they'll get married and who's going to manage the guest list. as for the parents of the soon to be royal couple, they're just

delighted. >> obviously thrilled. thank you very much. they've been practicing for long enough. >> they make a lovely couple. they're great fun to be with. we wish them every happiness for the future. >> just so happy for both of them. they are so happy. it's wicked. >> prince charles just thrilled. you can tell by the giant smile on his face. >> absolutely. >> his enthusiasm boils over. cowlen cowie is a celebrity wedding planner. i asked you about have you ever done weddings on this scale. you have in fact done royal weddings. tell me what into the planning of the royal wedding. >> at the end of the day. in this particular instance, this is about -- this is the state wedding of the country. this has been anticipated for the longest time. this is no big surprise. for eight years we had an idea this wedding was coming down the line. the protocol is set. there will be several different events, the civil wedding, the private wedding, the religious

wedding, the time they get to make themselves available to seat public for the first time as husband and wife. >> they'll have different ceremonies for each of those civil, religious and public? >> i'm sure, absolutely. i think basically she really gets to show up as the bride. i would imagine that her decisionmaking process is probably what she wears, the flowers and the guest list. there's strict protocols that have been set in place because we've been anticipating this wedding for a long time. >> will there be things like bridesmaids? >> i'm sure there will be bridesmaids and bridal attendants. i don't think we'll see the garter or him feeding her a slice of cake. >> something has said that harry would be in charge of the stag party because it will be fun that way. are leaders of foreign countries

going to show up at her wedding? >> i imagine every foreign leader will be invited. >> will they hire somebody like yourself who really knows weddings and is accomplished in big lavish affairs or will this all be done inside the palace with the palace event planners? >> i think this is done inside the palace. absolutely. i think someone like myself would probably be involved in a smaller aspect of the private part of it, something that would not be shown to the rest of the world. i think as far as what the world gets to see, it's pretty much dictated by the palace. >> can you help me get an invitation. >> maybe we'll go together, contessa. >> that is an offer i might not be able to turn down, colin. i appreciate you coming on with me. >> first a look at what's happening this afternoon before we go to break. reality tv producer suspected of killing his wife in mexico. he's due in a los angeles courtroom in about an hour. he was arrested last night. he's fighting extradition to mexico. ohio police will update the

search for a missing mother, son and her friend later this afternoon. they've been missing for a week. we'll be right back. ♪ when you're responsible for this much of the team, you need a car you can count on.

♪ [ upbeat instrumental ] [ rattling ] [ gasps ] [ rattling ] [ laughing ] [ announcer ] close enough just isn't good enough. - if your car is in an accident, - [ laughing continues ] make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. take the scary out of life with travelers. call or click now for an agent or quote. [ male announcer ] don't let aches anslow you down. morning introducing bayer am. its dual-action formula delivers extra strength pain relief, plus it fights fatigue. so get up and get going with new bayer am, the morning pain reliever.

president obama says the only way america can compete with india and china is to go green. he devoted 09 billion federal stimulus dollars to make that happen. in michigan they're taking him up on the offer. a ford plan the that's been idle for three years is about to be reborn as a renewable energy center. with that life comes about 4,000 new jobs. david hardy is the ceo of clairvoyant energy. i want to point out here, that 4,000 jobs is 1,000 more than ford had when it was active there until 2007. how do you go about transforming

what was a dead manufacturing center? >> yes. the ford facility was open in the late '50s. in the next 50 years ford manufactured 6.5 million gas-guzzling lincoln continentals there. they shut it four years ago, laid off all these workers. we approached ford about turning this facility into the world's largest renewable energy pass zblilt you're making these utility-size solar plants, extreme power is building the large-scale systems for restoring renewable power. that's one of the obstacles there's been for solar energy. you can collect it but you have to have a way to store it. do you think this is something that can be replicated on a big scale nationwide? >> we certainly anticipate that. we're desiring to build solar panel manufacturing so we can get significant scales that we can compete with fossil fuels without any government subsidies. we think we can do that in five years. the other major component,

extreme power, is the ability to store power, typically windmills blow in the middle of the night when you don't need electricity. if you can store it then and use it in the daytime when you need it for peak, for air conditioning, that cuts down tremendously on greenhouse gases and the necessity of fossil fuels. >> one last question for you, david, when you're talking about the incentives to do this, i know there's a michigan tax credit for you. that you're going to seek some of the federal stimulus dollars that go for green jobs. would you be doing this anyway, even if there were no government help? >> we could do it quicker, faster, better and employ more people and compete directly with the chinese and the indians a lot quicker with the stimulus dollars, with the financial incentives the state of michigan has provided us. >> well, i wish you the best of luck. i know the people of michigan, i just talked to senator stabenow.

>> she's been very helpful. it's all about green jobs for michigan. >> appreciate that. >> thank you. thanksgiving a little more than a week away. we've been looking at black friday already. those day after thanksgiving sales are already in full force. my big today, why so many discounts so early in the seasen? we heard from the head of lord & taylor. he says that's the name of the game now. semuh breeze says, it's smart business sense to offer discounts. craig grilley writes this -- and pbafkas writes, please pass around some of those coupons. i'm contessa brewer. thanks so much for watching

today. i'll see you back here, tomorrow, noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. out west. up next, an degree ma mitchell reports. she has results from a brand new poll. and she talks about her recent trip to afghanistan. ...and? it helped balance her colon. oh, now that's the best part. i love your work. [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. but the financial landscape is still full of uncertainty. in times like these, you need an experienced partner to look out for you. heads up! and after 300 years we have gotten pretty good at that. with beauty...

♪ ...and brains. ♪ a phone that gets you to the stuff you love faster. only from at&t. rethink possible. my kids say i speak a different language. but i love math and math and science develop new ideas. we've used hydrogen in our plants for decades. the old hydrogen units were very large. recently, we've been able to reduce that. then our scientists said "what if we could make it small enough

to produce and use hydrogen right on board a car, as part of a hydrogen system." this could significantly reduce emissions and increase fuel economy by as much as 80%.

right now on "andrea mitchell reports," fighting for arms krolt against republican blocks, secretary of state hillary clinton arrives