history of the world. prince william is s engaged to someone. the questioncan we convince you to care about a guy who wears a cape and lives in a castle paid for by british taxpayers? we're going to try. it's way too early for this. [ alarm ] good morning, i'm willie geist. this is "way too early," the show regarded in this country as the pre-eminent royal watcher. i'm glad you're up watching, shoot me an e-mail at waytooearly@msnbc.com. let me know why you're awake or text awake to 622639. we'll read the best responses later in the show. if you don't know who wady katie, it i'm proud of you. the next 30 minutes will be a cram session for wednesday, november 17, a lot going on including the walls closing around rnc chairman michael steele despite the fact his party just beat the tar out of

democrats a couple weeks ago. plus --. a kansas family traveling down a highway when it passes a car carry something suspicious in the back seat. by suspicious i mean horsey. we'll explain. first, let's get to the news live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. president obama's post-election summit with congressional leaders that was scheduled for tomorrow has now been postponed until after thanksgiving on november 30. in a statement, the white house said republican senate minority leader mcconnell and his house counterpart john boehner requested the delay because of "scheduling conflicts." that means they had something bigger on their schedule than meeting with the president of the united states. however, republican aides tell politico that a distrust of president obama's invitations led to the sitdown being pushed back until after thanksgiving. the standoff reportedly dates back to a meeting in january where the president offered harsh criticism of house republicans. that dynamic along with republican wins in the midterms

apparently have emboldened republican leaders to insist the president reschedule the summit to accommodate their schedule and not his. wow. stay tuned to that one. meanwhile, republican opposition is dimming president obama's hopes of ratifying a new arms treaty with russia by the end of this year. senator john kyl, the republicans' point man on nuclear arms issues, says he will not support a quick senate vote on the so-called new start treaty. the arizona senator said, "when majority leader harry reid asked me if i thought the treaty could be considered in the lame duck session i replied i did not think so given the combination of the parties and you do to the complex and unresolved issues related to modernization. the obama administration is calling for russia and the united states to pare back their nuclear arsenals. vice president biden is responding to senator kyl saying "failure to pass the new treaty

this year would endanger our national security. the treaty is a fundamental part of our rip w russia, critical to our ability to supply troops in afghanistan and impose and enforce strong sanctions on the iranian government." and senate foreign affairs chairman john kerry, who's been pushing the issue in the senate, is expressing hope that there's still an opening to act in the lame duck session. however, winning approval of the treaty will only become harder for the white house next year when democrats will have six fewer seats in the senate. the white house did a lot of work courting senator kyl for his vote, and they are not going to get it at least for now. for the first time since leaving office, former president george w. bush and dick cheney shared a stage together in dallas yesterday. the pair reunited for the groundbreaking of the $300 million bush presidential library on the campus of southern methodist university. there bush said that a new public policy institute, a tax to the library, would not be used to second-guess president

obama. >> and i believe that the ultimate responsibility of a leader is to not do what is easy or popular but to do what is necessary and right. the decisions of governing are on another president the's desk. and he deserves to make them without criticism from me. [ applause ] staying out of current affairs and politics does not mean staying out of policy. i strongly believe that the principles that guided our public in service office are the right principles to lead our country into the future. >> whatever tension there may have been between bush and cheney over the years was wiped out at least for yesterday as president bush praised his vice president. >> you know, i've been doing these interviews trying to pedal

my book. i'm asked about dick cheney. here's what i say, dick cheney was the right pick in the year 2000, and as i stand here, there is no doubt in my mind he was the right pick then, he was a great vice president of the united states, and i'm proud to call him friend. [ applause ] >> dick cheney said, aw, shucks, you. he returned the compliment while taking a dig -- he couldn't help himself -- at the obama administration. >> two years after your tour at the white house ended, judgments are a little more measured than they were. when times have been tough, critics have been loud, you've always said you had faith in history's judgment. and history is beginning to come around. [ applause ] of course the george w. bush presidential center isn't much to look at just yet. the workers are ready, construction will move fast after today's groundbreaking. this may be the only

shovel-ready project in america. [ laughter ] >> this was a rare public appearance for cheney since his hospitalization earlier this year for heart trouble. he appeared much thinner, as you saw, in the sound bite and more frail, using a cane to get off the stage. until this week, cheney and bush had seen each other just once in private since president obama's inauguration. the headline out of there was "president bush kept you safe for seven years after the attacks of september 11." that is the narrative they were going drag into the history books. meanwhile, the republican national committee's political director has resigned with a scathing indictment of chairman michael steele. after working with him for two years, gentry collins wrote in a five-page letter that steele spent too much, raised too little, and failed to capitalize on republican opportunities in the midterm elections. the letter addressed to the chairman and executive committee reads, "in the previous two

non-presidential cycles, the rnc carried over 4.8 million and 3.1 million respectively in cash reserves into the presidential cycles. we enter the 2012 cycle with 100% of the rnc's $15 million in lines of credit tapped out and unpaid bills lied to add millions to the debt." steele, who's not decided now whether or not to run for a second term, didn't respond directly to the letter. in a statement from the rnc defending practices saying the committee contributed to "the most successful elections for the republican party in modern times." michael steele just can't win, coming off big wins in the midterm elections. the house ethics committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow to consider punishment now for new york congressman charlie rangel, who was found guilty yesterday of 11 of the 13 counts against him. an eight-member subcommittee agreed the democrat broke house rules when he among other things raised money for an academic center named for him. filed erroneous financial

statements, and used a rents-controlled apartment as a campaign office. rangle reacted to the verdict, reiterating his defense that the violations resulted from sloper recordkeeping and -- sloppy recordkeeping and were not criminal or corrupt. >> the fact that they found my criminal evidence, i really thought that when my opponent, at the newspapers and television pundits were talking about crime and scandal and corruption, that the ethics committee might come forward and say there's a lot of stuff here, but there's no crime and corruption. >> sloppy recordkeeping. potential punishments for rangle include a formal reprimand or censure. most house insiders say there's just about 0% chance that he'll be thrown out of the house. one day after president obama draped the nation's highest medal of valor around his neck. army staff sergeant salvatore giunta will be inducted into the hall of heroes at the pentagon. yesterday the 25 from iwo became the first living recipient of the medal of honor since the

vietnam war. salvatore giunta ran enemy fire in afghanistan to rescue his fellow soldiers. at the white house awards ceremony, president obama heaped praise. >> it is my privilege to present our nation's highest military declaration, the medal of honor, to a soldier as humble as he is heroic, staff sergeant salvatore a. giunta. now i'm going to go off script here for a second and just say i really like this guy. >> mr. giunta, front-page news in a lot of papers. here he is getting the medal. he says he doesn't deserve it, but you most of the heroes don't. if you haven't read his story, read into it. it's an incredible one. let's turn for an early look to the markets as we get all up in your business this morning. cnbc's jeff cutwhere live in london.

good morning, jeff. >> reporter: good morning to you. two big stories to keep an eye on. one is the market itself. we have that biggest single day drop in three months yesterday. the dow has now taken back all the gains we've seen over the last month. so that's something to focus on. one of the other stories that will feed into that, of course, is the g.m. ipo will price today. they're hoping to raise about $18.5 billion. remember this company took nearly $50 billion from the u.s. government to stay afloat. they used some of that money raised to pay down the government's holding. so that's going to be big news later on through the session today. back to you. >> all right. we'll be watching that one, jeff. thank you very much. still ahead on "way too early," front-page news. i tell you, espn was about the only safe hiding place yesterday from prince william and his fiance. why is everyone so obsessed with british royalty, or are they actually? andrea mitchell will try to help us understand. plus, manufactured scandal on "dancing with the stars."

did bristol palin really survive another week? i've got an idea, let's blame the tea party. that's floating out there. that story and weather. >> i welcome this kind of examination because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. well i'm not a crook. i burned everything i've got.

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york. new york's going to be okay. now it's really new england gel gteing all the nasty -- getting all nasty storms. severe weather in trenton, new jersey. the airport had a receive ripped off, planes were flipped over. pretty serious storms in the last two or three hours. now the storms are racing through areas of the berkshires in massachusetts and extreme areas of western connecticut near danbury. boston is getting drenched this morning. it's windy, too. we've seen wind gusts in pittsburgh at 31 miles per hour. it's raining in new england. and if it's not raining, it's going to be windy today. one of those days. it's warm at least. temperatures are very mild. in the 60s in some cases. you don't even need the heater on in the car. the bottom line is if you live north of new york city, bring the umbrella. south of new york city, you're okay, you'll be dry. but you will be on the windy side. southeast is cool but fine. a little rain in kansas city. dallas looks just fine. chicago on the cool side, too. but the worst weather by far, providence up to about boston. >> all right. check the schedule for the airport up there. >> yeah. >> thank you very much.

turn to sports now. you throw a no hitter and perfect game in the same season, probably a good chance you're in the cy young hunt. yesterday roy halladay was named in the 2010 national cy young award winner in a unanimous decision winning all 32 first place votes from the baseball writers. hall day led the league with 21 wins and a 2.44 era, nine complete games. the list goes on and on. he became the only pitcher ever to throw a perfect game and a no hitter in the same season. the second cy young for halladay. the first came in the american league in 2003 with the blue jays. women's college basketball. uconn kept its incredible winning streak alive. but just barely. baylor had this shot to beat uconn at the buzzer. wow. the lady huskies overcome an eight-point deficit to win

65-64. their unbeaten streak stands at 80 games. they've won 80 consecutive basketball games. they're winning eight games now of ucla's streak of 88 set by the men's basketball team under john wooden, of course, in the 1970s. one more item, to china. quarterfinal match in the asian games. uzbekistan keeper whiffs on the pass setting up the easy goal. what? he misses -- >> no way! >> okay. how did this -- really? really? come on, man. hits the post. he can't believe it. losing, hurts a little extra because the final score was 1-0. now you know about that big uzbekistan-qatar soccer match yesterday. here it is. if you were watching tv yesterday, you couldn't avoid it. after dating for about nine years, this lovely pair right here, prince william, kate middleton, his long-time girlfriend, finally announcing their engagement. one of the first questions they

were asked -- what took you so long? >> i don't remember how many years it's been. forgetful memory. i also didn't realize it was a race, otherwise i probably would have been a lot quicker. also the timing is right now. we're both very, very happy. and i'm very glad that i have done it. >> you saw all the coverage yesterday. the question is, do people really care about these rich guys? they're paid for by the british taxpayers, the crowns and the gems and the staffs and everything. andrea mitchell walks us through our fascination with the royals. >> reporter: even before the age of celebrity, it would be mesmerizing. a modern day cinderella marrying into britain's royal family. their romance reminds us of childhood fairy tales and princess fantasies. and the tragedy of love's labor lost. >> i know that she's been brave enough to take me on. >> and i suppose in love? >> of course. >> whatever love means. >> yes. >> reporter: we've always been

fascinatesed by all things royal. >> they're not in the usual reality show, pedestrian celebrity round. they are still above it. they are still about history, about pedigree, about great palatial homes, about all of these things that excite the public as a romantic idea. in these grim times, it's kind of escapist. >> reporter: the romance, the weddings. >> here is the moment the guards have been waiting for. >> reporter: the hats. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the bridegroom. >> reporter: no royal wedding was assen chantsed as charles and diana. broadcast to people around the world. less than a year later diana produced an heir. for a while she was everyone's fairy princess, taking the colonies by storm as britain's royalty met hollywood royalty. through all the sadness and scandal that followed, no one ever questioned the magical connection she shared with her boys. in tragedy, she became immortal.

a the world grieved for her loss. prince william with matt lauer ten years after his mother's death. >> there's not a day goes by i don't think -- that i don't think about her once in the day. and so for us, it is a slow -- it has been a long time. >> reporter: giving diana's ring to kate, prince william completed the circle with his mother. >> this is my way of keeping her so close to it all. >> reporter: she bringing the public closer to the royal family. msnbc anchor martin brashear conducted a famous interview with princess diana. >> i think that means that many ordinary folk feel they have a part in this because they can see mirrored in their own lives the life of kate middleton. >> reporter: as a kingdom greets its future princess with memories of a princess past. andrea mitchell, nbc news, new york. >> andrea mitchell, thank you very much. you got the royals. we got the car dash gains. i -- kardashians.

a u.k. newspaper reports more than 120 of its newspaper pages today devoted to the royal engagement. good for you. coming up on "morning joe," a couple of weeks after the midterm elections and president obama invited republicans to the white house. a little last-minute cancelation by the gop. they say they have a scheduling conflict. some more important business to attend to, really? what's going on here? and when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler to watch perhaps the most bizarre public service announcement in the history of the genre. bristol palin and the situation talking abstinence. uh, i'm in a timeout because apparently

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[ alarm ] in just over a week, many of us are going to hit the roads, hit the airports, it's thanksgiving time. a new study shows that this year more americans will be making the trip. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends that travel for the thanksgiving holiday will rise by 11.4% from a year ago thanks to a somewhat improved economy. that's a big jump. that according to the folks at the aaa who said that an increase in personal income and a decrease in consumer debt are behind the jump. bottom line -- your travel is going to be much more miserable this year than ever. for the real news, let's huddle around the water cooler to talk about the utterly

meaningless news that occupies most of the space on the internet. this morning that space is occupied by bristol palin and "dancing with the stars." yes, bristol, could she have survived another round? despite again having the lowest scores. what's going on here? controversy, conspiracy, there are a lot of theories floating around there. brandi, she got all the good scores. it came down to brandi and bristol. let's see that. >> brandi and max. ♪ >> which means, kyle and lacy and jennifer and derek will face off against bristol and mark for the trophy. >> hear that? heavy booing in the ballroom. i watch a lot of "dancing with the stars," i have not before heard booing. bristol makes it to the finals with jennifer grey of "dirty dancing" and cale macy.

a lot of -- kyle macy. a lot of people blaming it on the tea party. when you think abstinence, i know what you think -- situation. bristol palin and her friend from "dancing with the stars," the situation, doing an about safe sex. >> i know how are you with your abs. >> you orioles? you're not going to hook up before you're married, for real? >> for real. >> for real, real? >> for real, for real, for real. >> i f you get in a situation with your situation, you may end one a situation, and you may not like this situation. >> trust me, i'm not getting myself into another situation. >> let's go to the next story. there's a horse in the back of a car. it's better than this. this family -- got the camera out, driving down the road in kansas, going to the store. they see something weird in the back of a car. like a dog or something -- what the? there's a horse in the back of

that car for crying out loud. guy traveling with a horse in the back of his vehicle. still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake? your fiery texts and emails next. bankers are known to be a little bit in love with themselves. are we going up? we can get the next one. i'd like to get your advice on hedging - risk... exposure. what makes us different? for 300 years we've chosen to focus on our clients. what a novel idea. ♪ ♪ ♪

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