we're back now with more on "today." on the plaza, matt lauer. and meredith is out there. >> running for office. i'm matt lauer, along with tamarine hall and al roker. speculations growing perhaps

prince william and kate middleton will get married at westminster abbey. pictures taken from that church closed down and a private meeting there. will they get married there? one thing we do know after they get married, they will be living in a small town in the northern part of wales. that is where natalie morales joins us this morning. good morning to you. >> good morning. they've actually been living here already. this is a quaint and beautiful part of the world in north wales, absolutely stunning, as you can see from the gorgeous landscape behind me. it is rainy and windy. i imagine they will spend a lot of time indoors and being romantic, what newlyweds do, once they get married. a beautiful part of the country and said to be enjoying their time here and do get out and mix

with the locals and have my tour of anglesey next. >> i wasn't sure where natalie was going with that story. you pulled up just in time. >> that hat is very nice. >> very nice. what else is coming up? >> also talking about, speaking of natalie's fashions, talking about kate's fashion sense, known as being sophisticated and classy and many wondering what designers will she put on the map? which designer will she select to put her gown together and we'll look at kate's fashion sense and how it will make a huge splash, not just across the bond but here as well. that time of year and you start hearing coughing going on in the office. what right medicines are good for your symptoms. we'll help you make the right choice for fast relief without overmedicating. then later, we tell you why

your grocery bill is going up later in the next few monthings a -- months and how you can prepare yourself. >> ann curry is next with the headlines. in the news, the fbi arrested two women who worked for ponzi schemer, bernie madoff. federal prosecutors already filed civil complaints against the women seeking to recover at least $5 million. the first guantanamo bay prisoner to face a u.s. civilian trial has been found not guilty on all but 1 of 285 counts in a civilian court. it could put 36-year-old ahmed g ghailani in prison the rest of his life but still a setback for president obama trying terrorists in civilian courts. and lisa murkowski wins after her write-in campaign

against joe miller. she appeared this morning. >> the fact of the matter is the numbers are what they are. they clearly indicate alaskans have not only spoken, they have written it down. >> it will be the first time in more than five decades a senate candidate has won a write-in seat. and senator harry reid says he will call for legislation to allow gays to serve openly in the military but several including john mccain says they will fight to keep the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in place. george bush and investor warren buffet are among the 2010 winners of the presidential medal of freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor president obama will present early next year. wednesday, they awarded the highest honor for science, the brains behind super glue, microchips and digital cameras. northeast overnight, the

storm knocked out power more than 82,000 people and left a lot of damage behind including 2 200 damaged homes in maryland. hong kong confirmed its first case of human bird flu in seven years. a 69-year-old woman is in serious condition after returning from a visit to mainland china. a sports car developed by british engineers has made a pan-american road trip from the arctic circle in alaska to the world's southern most city. the team drove through 14 countries in 70 days, covering more than 16,000 miles without a single blast of carbon dioxide emissions. a california woman may never want to pop the hood of her car again, she found a 10 foot long boa constrictor curled around her engine. it took a half hour to pry the snake from her car, even greasing up the reptile with cooking oil to help free it. experts have no idea how it got there. i'm sure they're all glad to get

it out of there. five minutes past the hour. let's go back outside with a check of the weather with al. >> mr. roker, what's the weather look like? >> we have a mess in then northwest. let's check it out for you. a couple of low pressure systems, a big one offshore, bringing rain and snow to the mountains. ahead of it, high winds and wind advisories and warnings and we will continue to see that over the next 48 hours. you can see the precipitation coming on in and we are looking from snow from bend, oregon, all the way a >> there will be a few clouds thickening up as we head through the day. there is a slight chance we could see brain. 30% chance for a

>> that's your latest weather. ann. thanks. we have new clues about where prince william and his bride to be, kate, may get married, we have natalie morales in anglesey, wales. i hope i said that right. >> reporter: good morning to you. kate middleton was spotted in london leaving westminster abbey and leaving speculation and becoming more evident that will likely be the choice for the royal wedding. meantime, she remains there in london. prince william has made his way back here north of wells to anglesey, where they will spend the first years of their life as a married couple. their engagement may have been a traditional affair but kate and

william are a thoroughly modern couple. for the last eight months, they have been living as man and wife in anglesey, where prince william serves as helicopter pilot serving rescue missions. >> luckily we live in the 21st century and a lot of people live together before they're married. in this particular instance, the queen was delighted the couple were living together. >> reporter: far away from the media glare in this isolated mart of lake whales, hey have been living together a normal life, shopping at the supermarket, picking up an occasional dinner and drink at the pub. >> there were here for an hour. quite pleased to have them in the establishment. >> reporter: it's a long way away from the royal life and glamorous surroundings prince william is used to. kate might struggle to find the latest fashion. >> it's a great place to live. great place to holiday.

because of the fantastic scenery you can see all around. >> reporter: you have to get past the wind and rain. >> we have a bit of wind and rain in wales. >> reporter: where it rains most days and temperatures rarely hit a high, prince william can go on his adventurous streak. >> he has been whizzing around on his ducati motorcycle. >> reporter: and kate can take pictures right on her doorstep. >> when they come here, people will think, wow, prince william and kate middleton live here. >> reporter: they're hoping the couple in their midst will boost tourism. >> good for them and the economy. >> reporter: they're not about to give away she kretsz. >> you're making far too much of an issue of it. >> reporter: that's how kate and william hope to hold on to a little bit of their private life a little longer, before they face the full force of royal duties. >> the royal couple will continue to live her through

2013, when prince william's toure with the raf is over and speculation has begun where they will then settle after that. ann. >> meantime, kate middleton has been praised for her elegant yet modern styles, who may she pick to design her wedding gown? who knows? but we have ideas bus weigh will talk about this with our executive fashion and beauty editor for harper's bazaar and has ideas. and anna, a senior editor with "the knot".com. before we get to anything, we should talk about your having had a wonderful experience being in london when diana was married. >> yes. i was in the crowd. my first job after university. i was in london. the whole run up to the glamor and fabulousness of it all and luckily in my career, i was able to meet princess diana and now we're celebrating a daughter in

law, kind of lovely. >> i was talking to my girlfriends, does feel like a fairytale nature of it. people are really excited and seem to really like kate middleton. >> yes. and we all are dying to know what wedding dress she will choose, what it will look like. she will be 29 when she gets older -- gets married. she has her own sense of style. she is a fashionable girl. i don't think she will be covered in tool or beads like princess diana was. she has a structure to her. she loves wearing v-neck lines that plunge like that and has styles that look great on her and i think the wedding dress will look the part. >> you know how it works. it has to be a situation -- is it fair to saynote is applying in some way? >> you have this willowy gorgeous girl with long auburn

hair, wonderful to dress and you have vivian west woods and stella mccartney and john geliana and all british and all could be in the running to design the dress. >> do they send notes? hopefully they have a relationship her already because she does have beautiful clothes and worn beautiful clothes. how do they put their name out there so she will consider them because they will want to dress her? >> the prs will all be -- >> also, there's also so many wedding dress designers very well-known in britain i imagine will be coming out with amazing styles that look like her. bruce olefield, one of diana's favorite couture designers and someone up and coming, someone british so she can buy local, i think, that also really again, speaks to her personality and style while keeping that royal

look. >> one of the ideas we were talking about before we started speaking on camera and she looks so lovely and v-neck sort of type. >> not too plunging. you have to please the establish. as well as the younger generation. already, she has that broad appeal. she still has to be very stately and very glamorous and sophisticated because the eyes of the world will be on her. we will keep her in the spotlight and i don't think our eyes will be off. >> i think she could very well be such an influence on fashion. i think she is already. people already want to find a beautiful blue dress the color she wore when she announced her engagement, don't you. >> already. she has a very modern style but remember the prerequisite of being a princess, not only look good in a bikini, look good in the countryside, fishing, looks, in a stately ralph lauren kind of way. >> here we go. buckle up. >> it's going to be fun!

>> thank you so much! how to choose the right cold medication for your symptoms coming up after this. have you tried honey bunches of oats with real strawberries? wow. it's seriously strawberry. they're everywhere. it's in the bunches, on the flakes, even real strawberries in the mix. can i have some more? honey bunches of oats with real strawberries. it's delicious. nobody does it quite like us. ♪ talking about nutrition

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this morning on today's health, how to navigate the cold med sign aisle from stuffed up

to runny nose and cold medicines treat particular symptoms. >> a board certified internist and medical director. good to have you here. >> nice to be here. >> is it true there's no cure for the common cold. >> no. >> how is this possible? >> there's so many variations out there they captain nail it down to a vaccine. believe me, we are working on it. >> it seems like there are 100 choices when you walk in the medicine aisle. do these things help? >> you are already sick and there are so many for cold and cough and chest congestion. they work and don't eliminate the symptoms but reduce them. >> let's start with congestion for a stuffy nose. it's important to know the category. when you look at the box, see the words stuffny nose or nasal decongest stand. important you don't get that if you don't have that symptom.

that's the problem. >> why? >> a lot of side effects. this would be the ones that make you jittery, keep you up at night, make you pharmaceutical raese. they're the ones you're not supposed to take if you have uncontrolled high blood pressure, heart problem or pregnancy. this has the most problems. >> a lot of side effects. you get the multi-one that has everything, you will get this ingredient and you may not need it. >> what about expect tore rant for cold medication? >> this is the one no one can remember. the green mu cuss you want to get out, take this. the reason point it out, it doesn't tend to be in cold medications, look for this when you have a cold, you get all stuffy, sinuses get clogged, nothing is flowing, this will help things cold and get the

mucous out so you can feel better. >> cough it out. speaking of coughing, cough suppress sants withants, has a . if you're blocking the urge to cough, you might be keeping everything in which sets you up potentially for another infection. >> if you have the mucous and take the mucous loosener and take a cough suppressant, you're battling what you should be. >> and you should be taking the other one to loosen and get it out. dm is for annoying tickle cough or on a plane, but you shouldn't, taking it blanketly for a cold. >> what about combination pain reliever and fever reducer. >> ibuprofen, plain and simple. if you have a cold and stuffny nose, you grab that multisymptom cold pack, you will get that in it.

later on, you take a headache, take acetaminophen again. >> people overdo it. >> yes. it's important to look at the box. >> what about any multisymptom? what's the problem with those, if you're knnot careful besides this. >> i urge people to look at this, nasal congest stand, expect tore ant, cough, congestion, and look at it. it could keep you up at night, and you're not tailoring it to your symptoms. >> what if you don't want to use medication? >> salt, garageles, nasal saline, humidifiers, and chicken soup an hot fluids. >> can't hurt. >> it can't hurt and helps loosen up the mucous. >> good to see you. up next, a head to toe makeover in a special ambush. echo! so we earned a trip to the grand canyon twice as fast.

uhoh. we get double miles every time we use our card. i'll take these. no matter what we're buying. plus the damages. and since double miles add up quick, we can bring the whole gang. it's hard to beat double miles. no, we ride them. [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one and earn double miles on every purchase, every day. go to capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? oh, that's the spot! it's your fault. naturally, blame the mucus. [ mucus ] what you need is new advil congestion relief. it reduces swelling due to nasal inflammation. so i can breathe. [ mucus ] new advil congestion relief. we knew the perfect place to go. i guess i did okay. i knew they'd love him. try our new sacchetti dishes. pasta pouches stuffed with four italian cheeses. served with marinated chicken breasts or sauteed shrimp. at olive garden.

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no calorie sweetener granulated with fiber. sweet! [ female announcer ] tastes like sugar and has 3 grams of fiber per tablespoon. use it almost anywhere you use sugar. even in cooking and baking. sweet! [ female announcer ] splenda® granulated with fiber. welcome back. this is the seventh consecutive year a swar rots ski star will be on the tree behind me. it's made up of 550 pounds and dawn is in a crystal jacket herself actress and star of

gossip girls, blake. good to see you. this jacket is rocking. you are fitted for the occasion. just behind us, a beautiful star. a lot of work went into it. >> it's incredible to be here and in new york, unveiling the star on the rockefeller christmas tree. knowing there's over 725 crystals and l.e.d. lights. >> you studied up on it. >> every year i have been here with my nieces and nephews and never thought i would be unveiling it. >> you say you're a california girl. >> i lived in new york the last four years but raised in california. the thing you always do at christmas time is come to rockefeller plaza. >> pig plans with the holiday family? >> we stay home and cook. >> are you a good cook? >> pretty good cook. >> you don't want to give up any secrets there.

it is a great honor and many people will come by and see it through the holidays. continued success on "gossip girls" and everything's else. still ahead, holiday recipes from famed italian chef lidia. first your local news and weather. aahh, aaahh! you will win this. faster, faster yes! ♪ the target 2 day sale starts friday november 26th at 4am. are you ready? our family-owned company makes daisy... with 100% natural farm-fresh cream. no artificial ingredients. no preservatives. and no added hormones. ♪ daisy, do-do a dollop

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all hands on deck when kathie lee and hoda gone on the cruise ship, the allure of the seas. when he you're talking kathie lee and hoda, there may be a little imbibing involved. it all happens tomorrow.

if you remember speed ii, it will probably be something like that. >> i heard they're the only ones on board. they will have the run of the place. >> check the silverware when they're done. many people think going green will be hard and expensive. we have ideas for you this morning. we heard about shopping bags, what about coffee cups and nonstick pans and shoes, and things you can buy and use to protect the environment and don't cost you a lot of money. >> also ahead, you may have noticed, it's getting more expensive to feed your families with the cost of eggs and other staples getting higher, how to prepare your family finances the next few months. you may be needing to set aside a lot more money. >> cereal is six bucks. >> crazy now. >> it will not cost you a lot to make delicious holiday cookies.

folks love getting those. famed italian chef, lidia bastianich, sharing her recipes and being helped out with her granddaughter. >> we will go cook with her. first, let's check out the weather near you. >> we have beautiful weather in the eastern half of the country for saturday. rain and snow out west and sunday sunday, we are looking at more snow around the great lakes, rain around the central great lakes, snow in the rockies, wasatch mountain >> there will be a few clouds thickening up as we head through the day. there is a slight chance we could see brain. 30% chance for a

that's your latest weather. >> thank you very much. it is easy being green if you make simple everyday changes right after these messages. all day and night. [ man ] symbicort improves my lung function, starting within 15 minutes. symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. it is a combination of two medicines and should not be taken more often than prescribed. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems, and children and adolescents may have an increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma problems. symbicort is not for people whose asthma is well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine like inhaled corticosteroids. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop symbicort without loss of control, and prescribe a long-term asthma control medicine.

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as part of our ongoing environmental initiative, "green is universal," we're celebrating green week. this morning, practical tips to green your routine everyday. we have the founder and editor, rachel, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> you have stunning bits of information. people would be surprised how many paper cups or throw away cups they would reuse every week. >> 50 in a week. this represents basically what the average person throws in the trash can and hopefully recycles every week. >> a lot of paper, plastic and styrofoam, not good. >> this is what i'm trying to do. this is what this is about, trying to show people that this is perhaps not the best thing to do but there are easier options. >> you say these are little cups you can take and carry around with you. >> you do not want to carry a big reusable cup in your bag, it

doesn't fit, you can't wash it out. this pops into a cup, hot or cold, done, squeeze it back together, put it in your purse. >> you can wash it later if it leaks -- >> does not leak. >> if you're on the go, those are great. >> we go for sheets, we go for cotton. you say that's great except we don't realize what. >> cotton, fabric of our lives but one of the most heavily sprayed crops of our world and five are carcinogens according to the environmental protection agency. this is a great example. this represents a pound. >> i will put this -- >> of pesticide. right? it's sugar. i'm trying to show in your basic t-shirt and jeans outfit we all wear everyday, a pound of pesticides goes into the cotton. >> you're saying buy organic when you're concerned about pesticides. >> you can get them anywhere,

k-mart, wal-mart. >> lipstick. a lot of people don't realize how much we ingest of lipstick that we should be concerned about. >> women eat nine pounds of lipstick over their lifetime which is what this represents. 60% contain lead, a neurotoxin, not something you want to put in your body. >> that's bizarre. you want to find lipsticks that say what exactly? >> you can find that on e ecostiletto. you can test it and make it easy on yourself and look for this seal, certified organic. >> we can show it here. the one with the circle. >> it's safe and safe to eat, not that you want to eat it but you could. >> we've long learned we don't want to use this kind of pan because it comes up. >> even if you don't scrape it, it's getting into your food when this heats up.

>> we don't want to eat that if we worry about this issue. we want more of ceramic bottom? >> these are cast iron, the traditional pots and pans our grandmothers used to use. pfra is considered cancer causing by not an alarmist organization. >> and we've known this for some time. cast iron, copper, stainless steel. >> i just love these pots and i think they're so cute. >> i see, i see. >> plastic bags, it shocks me how much we throw away in plastic bags and how easily we get them. i saw somebody at the airport, got something in a plastic bag and walked two or three yards down and threw it away. and we don't have space for them. these are very small. >> i want to make it easy. these, you can put in your purse or pocket or car and put them anywhere. basically, they open up, like

this. 85% of the dirt and toxins can be lost inside your home just by taking off your shoes and i learned this from the organization dedicated to your children's and your health. if you're going to, mr. rogers, change your shoes when you come in, look for sustainable options. these are recycled tire and sustainable and recycled material. >> thank you very much for the good information. coming up next, why your next trip to the grocery store is getting more expensive and what you can do about it, right after this. ♪ i was young and i was stupid ♪ i had just turned 17 ♪ a harmonica and a box guitar ♪ ♪ in a canvas-covered wagon stuffed... ♪ [ male announcer ] while the world's been waiting on the electric car, maybe the whole time,

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now click on the robitussin relief finder. click on your symptoms. get the right relief. makes the cold aisle easy. the robitussin relief finder. it's that simple. we knew the perfect place to go. i guess i did okay. i knew they'd love him. try our new sacchetti dishes. pasta pouches stuffed with four italian cheeses. served with marinated chicken breasts or sauteed shrimp. at olive garden. have you tried honey bunches of oats with real strawberries? wow. it's seriously strawberry. they're everywhere. it's in the bunches, on the flakes, even real strawberries in the mix. can i have some more? honey bunches of oats with real strawberries. it's delicious. nobody does it quite like us. yeah. we're buying gifts. i gotta decorate the yard. people are coming over. i want to make sure i get something for my spending. some credit cards... they have all these rules and... restrictions with their rewards. they make us jump through hoops. i have the bankamericard cash rewards™ credit card. -1% cash back... -with every purchase. there's no limit to the amount of cash back i can earn.

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expensive. same product, same goods or services, essentially, the same product, you're paying more out of your pocket for that product. >> is it too simplistic to say inflation is good or bad? >> that's the biggest issue. some inflation is necessary. you have to have some price increases in order for the economy to grow. but too much inflation, those who remember the 1970s for example, is terrible. you have to have a fine line between some inflation, 1 to 1.5, 2%, when it gets above that, it starts to hurt the economy. >> where are we now? >> the reported figures today is

we have no inflation. that's one of the reasons why it's so frustrating to individuals. the government will tell us we have basically zero inflation because a lot of their statistics is x food and energy. it's somewhat ironic, depends how you want to define it. any viewer i know knows it depends on how they want to spend their money on? >> why is it reflected in escape products, eggs, coffee, stable products in everybody's home? >> because the manufacturers of these products are passing these incremental costs on at the wholesale level and the retail level has to pass it through the consumers to protect their own profit margins. >> deflation, the opposite of inflation is that something that we will see here soon. will that help us? >> that's the biggest fear of the federal reserve and government. the biggest fear, deflation, japan was in a deflationary environment the last 20 years. when you have deflation, paying

less for the same level of servic services and goods and products, it's great for the consumer but businesses don't hire and the economy doesn't grow and the biggest problem is the unemployment rate and how to improve that. >> all of that has to do with the fed. a lot of people, glaze out of this, but you know what you're paying out-of-pocket? >> absolutely. even if you don't invest in the stock market, not interested what's happening on wall street, what the federal reserve bank is doing to system late economic growth and full employment is going to affect the 90% of people who have jobs and who are working and the idea of creating higher prices to stimulate economic growth. snow i w sn >> i was stunned, you were asked what should people do to set aside for higher cost of food and you said set aside 20% more of your budget because things will continue to tick up. >> when i was actively managing

money, and i had a tendency to be too conservative, and that was a great strategy to follow, given the game plan, strategy of the federal reserve bank today, plan your 2010 budget, expect these staple items will go up 20%. if it doesn't happen, you have more money to save the end of the year. the last lesson of the decade is plan for the worst and you'll be better prepared. no way policies today you will see retail prices come down. >> so your estimation, we're in it for the long haul. >> not just individuals, state level. >> local governments cut back and we have to do the same. >> we are paying the price now for 10, 20-year period where debt was encouraged, taking on -- spending more money and that is now -- we are deflating that bubble. >> gary, thank you so much. great information there. you can catch gary on cnbc's strategy session every weekday

at noon eastern time. up next, best of cookies on for the holidays.

this morning in "today"'s kitchen an italian today's christmas tradition with lidia bastianich, who spent many holidays in italy and now sharing her love and a new children's book called "nonna tell me a story." lidia is here with her granddaughter, julia. good morning. >> bonjorno. >> or as lidia calls you, nonna. >> when we go to bed at night, what do we do? all together, we pile up. the question is, nonna, tell me

a story. yes. and the story, in this case, i told her many stories, in this case, it's about christmas, the christmas tree i made out of edible things, cookies and candies and apples and oranges and so on. we begin making the simple dough for this delicious cookie called a crostoli. tell nonna. >> crostoli. >> your question for your grandmother, nonna, is what are we making today? all right. >> out of the 14 recipes in the book, this is one, crostoli. we have butter and sugar and flour, very simple. for family, mother, grandmother, siblings with children, in the processor, eggs, lemon juice, lemon rinds, orange juice, orange rinds, and put milk and will get that all into a dough.

>> now, did you grow up making this as a child? did your mother or grandmother teach you this as well? let me help you with that. >> help me out. >> i'm sure you grandmother stirred it all up and didn't do this. you know what? we will pretend this happened. this became this. >> this becomes the dough. >> the magic. >> the magic of christmas. so it comes out like that and julia helps me roll it. >> how did you learn to do this? >> nonna taught me. >> what did she tell you to do? >> push down and roll. >> you're using flour so it doesn't stick, right? what is nonna doing now? >> tying the cookies into a knot. >> i would show ann how you cut them. why don't you cut some more? right here, you can do this one. ann can help us how to tie it if you show it to her. >> a little serrated edge there. does it have to be just perfect like that or can you be a little

erratic how wide you make it? >> it can be straight. anything goes. in the kitchen with children. the beauty is everyone is different. every single cookie is different. snow thank y . >> thank you. >> ann, how about you getting into the action? then we fry them, just like that. >> then you go under. >> wonderful! listen, we have only a few seconds left. right now, i will pick you

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rainshowers. only a 30% chance. high temperatures in the low 50s. we will see plenty of sunshine, but it will be chilly. high temperatures on the upper 40's to around 50. 40's to around 50.