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Romney On Defensive And On The Attack; Romney Strikes Back; Anatomy Of A Leaked Video; More Security For French Locations; Fragment: Jesus Refers To "My Wife"; Existing Home Sales Surge 7.8 Percent; Obama To Meet With Myanmar's Suu Kyi; Romney's New Strategy; O's In First Place Tie After Marathon; Endeavour's Final Voyage; "Fast and Furious" Report Due Today; Lindsay Lohan Arrested in New York; French Magazine Lampoons Mohammed; East Coast Recovers from Storms; Toxic Tuna

Aired September 19, 2012 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: -- Muhammad. Now growing security concerns have several French buildings worldwide closing their doors.

And was Jesus married? We will tell you what was found to suggest that he may have had a wife and could this change the view of his followers? Actually Christians around the world. NEWSROOM starts right now.

Turning a gaffe into a gift, that is exactly what Mitt Romney is trying to do this morning spinning the comments he made at a fundraiser into new campaign talking points.

He is pivoting his comments to President Obama saying that the president wants to redistribute the wealth as heard in this recording from 1998.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: As we try to resuscitate this notion that we are all in this thing together, leave nobody behind. We do have to be innovative in thinking what are the delivery systems that are actually effective and meet people where they live.

The trick is figuring out how to structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistributions, because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level to make sure that everybody's got a shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But the Obama campaign accuses Romney of using a quote "failed playbook" of Sarah Palin and "Joe The Plumber," that's according to thehill.com. It did not work in 2008 so why would it work now?

Mitt Romney for his part seems to be using that playbook. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said that the wording might have been inelegant, but others said that you kissed half of the electorate goodbye this election year, that you all but called them moochers. Did you?

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I'm talking about a perspective of individuals who I'm not likely to get to support me. I recognize that those people who are not paying income tax are going to say, gosh, this -- this provision of -- that Mitt keeps talking about lowering income taxes.

That is not going to be real attractive to them and those who are dependent upon the government and those who think that government's job is to redistribute them, I won't get them. I know there is a divide in the country about that view.

I know some believe that the government should take from some to give to the others. I think the president makes it clear in the tape that was released today that is what he believes, but it is an entirely foreign concept.

I believe America was built on the principle of government caring for those in need, but getting out of the way and allowing free people to pursue their dreams, free people pursuing free enterprises is the only way to create a strong and growing middle-class and the only way to help people out of poverty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joining me now is CNN contributor, Ron Brownstein. Good morning, Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: First of all, can you kind of parse President Obama's statements from 1998, and what did he mean, do you think?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I mean, he was talking about basically using the progressive income tax system to raise money from the affluent and use it to spend on public investment and things like education. I mean, that is basically a Democratic view.

You know these two tapes actually capture I think kind of the dueling populist archetypes that are increasingly driving the message here. I mean, you have a Democratic campaign that has relentlessly tried to portray Mitt Romney as favoring the rich over the middle-class.

And what we have seen over the summer and especially in Romney embrace of his remarks in the video is that the Republican response has emerged. It's to argue that President Obama favors the poor over the middle class.

And in that, I think Romney and the Republicans are move back to very 1980-style constructs that worked very well for the Republicans in the '70s and '80s, but largely receded since the presidency of Bill Clinton. COSTELLO: But didn't John McCain use that very argument?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I don't think as clearly. Look, what Mitt Romney said in that video was a more harshly stated version of an argument that has been increasingly popular among conservatives for many years and I would argue more directly has been implicit in a lot of the Romney argumentation over the summer.

You know, Paul Ryan for years has said explicitly that he believes the country is reaching some sort of tipping point where you have a majority of the country that is either receiving government benefits or not paying income taxes.

And Romney kind of conflated those two very different concepts. You will an exorable majority for more government because we all have more takers than makers and that argument, Carol, runs through a lot of what Romney has put on the air this summer.

The Medicare ad I think makes that case that Obama is taking money away from the seniors to give to new entitlement that's quote, "not for you," the welfare ad, a lot of the arguments of the Republican presidential convention.

I think part of why Romney is embracing this, is this is a construct that the Republicans want to drive and in effect the argument the Democrats are taking from the productive class to giving it to people who don't deserve it.

That is their attempt to kind of respond to the argument that Romney favors the rich.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, I just talked to Shawn Spicer from the RNC, the Republican National Committee, and I asked him about that. You know, if it was the same as John McCain talking about the redistribution of wealth. He said that everything bad in the economy is because we have seen that. Is that true?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, no. I mean, look, the fact is that we have had enormous difficulty in the economy for over a decade. Ten years to the day after the Bush tax cuts were passed. There were fewer people working than on the day they were passed, which is something true only previously from 1929 to 1939.

The median income was lower. The number of people in poverty was higher. I mean, we have gone through a very difficult decade, which by the way, I think has changed the economic landscape here. It's one reason why that question, are you better off than you were four years ago is less resonant that it was in the '80s.

Because fewer people can remember when they were getting ahead, which was, you know, now for many Americans was more than a decade ago. So I think a lot of voters are skeptical that either party really has an answer to the longer term economic distress that we have.

But one thing that is striking in the swing state polling out today and the national polling is that President Obama has erased Mitt Romney's lead on who would be better for the economy overall.

And President Obama consistently leads when people are asked who would cares more about people like you. And in this argument about this Romney favor the rich or Obama favor the poor, right now the polling says Obama is winning that argument.

COSTELLO: Ron Brownstein, thanks so much for being with us today. We appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: So how does a video like this of Mitt Romney at a private fundraiser get leaked to the media? Well, Brian Todd knows. He takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How did a videotape made four months ago become something so potentially damaging to Romney's campaign now?

(on camera): Parts of the video were posted in Drips and Drabs at first mainly as blurry video and audio files on YouTube. In mid- August, the Mother Jones reporter David Corn was put in touch with the source.

The person who Corn says videotaped Romney and posted it online. Corn won't reveal who that source is. Last week, Corn was able to verify that the videotape was legitimate. Then he posted it this week on Mother Jones.

(voice-over): This account was given to us by David Corn himself who couldn't speak on camera because he is a contributor to another network.

The middle man who got Corn together with the source, James Carter IV, grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, seen here on Facebook with Corn.

Corn says Carter had done research for him in the past. On his Twitter account, Carter describes himself as an opposition researcher and political junkie currently looking for work.

Carter spoke with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

JAMES CARTER IV, DEMOCRATIC ACTIVIST: I have been doing this pretty much full time, and, yes, I do it for work and also for fun, so if someone will pay me for it that would be great.

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, CNN'S "RELIABLE SOURCES": He obviously has his own agenda, and trying to damage the Romney campaign and without James Carter IV this clearly would not have happened.

TODD: David corn says the person who videotaped Romney told him they weren't affiliated with any campaign and didn't go in with the intent to infiltrate the Romney camp. The fundraiser who hosted the event is Mark Leader, who the Sunlight Foundation says has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to candidates from both major parties.

BILL ALLISON, SUNLIGHT FOUNDATION: He is with private equity with a company called Sun Capital. I think they manage about $8 billion worth of investments. So he comes from the same industry. Actually that's how he got into private equity from meeting Mitt Romney.

TODD: We've called and e-mailed Mark Leader repeatedly to ask who the person was who videotaped Romney at his home to ask who else was there. Leader's representative would only issue a statement acknowledging he hosted a fundraiser for a friend in May.

We have also tried repeatedly to get the Romney campaign to tell us who they think videotaped him that night. We have gotten no response. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Security being stepped up at French locations worldwide now that a satirical weekly magazine has published new cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

That of course, as you know, is forbidden by the Islamic law. French officials today say they will shutdown diplomatic offices and schools to 20 countries around the world.

The United States is taking a wait and see approach. More from Zain Verjee.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, a French magazine is risking provoking the anger Muslims by publishing cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad. Now the magazine is called (inaudible). Some of the images reportedly show the Prophet Muhammad naked.

So as you can imagine, many Muslims are outraged. French leaders have condemned it too. One saying, is it really sensible to pour fuel on the fire right now? The security at the magazine's offices has also been increased.

Now this is really bad timing after protests that we've been seeing around the world over a video that made many people in the Islamic world really furious.

The magazine editors are saying that this is about freedom of speech and they can publish whatever they want. Many Muslims are saying, how dare you show the Prophet Muhammad like this? There are some Muslim groups, Carol, that have a lot stricter interpretation of the Koran and would find this extremely offensive and would react badly to this.

There are many others who would also want to take advantage to target the west and destabilize their own governments as well as just create more havoc in the situation. Those are the extremists, but the majority of the Muslims are peaceful. Many may not like this, but they do believe in freedom of speech and they do not approve of any kind of a violent response that the cartoons may pose.

That is the real question today. Will these cartoons trigger more violence around the world that may target the west and the U.S. interests? -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Zain Verjee reporting. In Islam, depicting of the prophet is forbidden. This is not the first time that French magazine has taunted Muslims. In November, the magazine's offices were firebomb after named Muhammad as the guest editor.

OK, here's an intriguing question, a loaded question I should say, did Jesus have a wife? A newly found papyrus fragment is making a big buzz in religious circles.

Eric Marrapodi, co-editor of CNN'S Belief Blog joins me now. This is fascinating.

ERIC MARRAPODI, CNN BELIEF BLOG CO-EDITOR: It absolutely is fascinating, Carol. What do you think, was Jesus married?

COSTELLO: I'm intrigued. I am intrigued. Tell us about what this little, tiny bit of papyrus says?

MARRAPODI: I want to hold something up for you, Carol.

COSTELLO: OK.

MARRAPODI: One and a half inches by three inches, that's the size of my Metro card, that's the size of the fragment we're talking about here. It is a tiny piece of parchment written in Coptic, which was a language used by Egyptian-Christians.

And one phrase contained within that parchment says, "Jesus says to them, my wife" dot, dot, dot. That's all we have. We don't have the rest. So here's the big question that's kicking around with scholars.

Karen King from Harvard Divinity presented this piece of parchment in her findings at a conference in Rome yesterday and brought this up. Does this mean that Jesus was married?

And what she says is this is not definitive historical evidence that Jesus was married. What it is, is further evidence that there was a debate among early Christians about whether or not Jesus had a wife.

COSTELLO: OK, so we know that not all early Christian writings made it into the bible. So do we know where this particular bit of Christian writing came from?

MARRAPODI: We don't. And part of the reason we don't is because it is so small, we don't know what is around it. Now, Karen King, that professor from Harvard and her colleagues have guessed it is part of a bigger gospel. And when she is using the word gospel there, she is using it thematically and not necessarily canonically. All right, when we say canonically what actually made it into the bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were gospels that made it in.

As you know, there were a number that did not make it in, early Christians fought over what -- what counted, what was divinely inspired for them. And there were a number that did not make it in.

She's guessing this fragment comes from another gospel that did not make it in and right now they are calling it for academic reasons the gospel according to Jesus' wife, again, they point out that is just for academic reference.

COSTELLO: I know, but -- OK, let's just say that this proves that Jesus was married.

MARRAPODI: Take the bait.

COSTELLO: We'll take the bait. What implications could this have on religions around the world?

MARRAPODI: There are big implications for it. There's a huge debate of early Christians over the importance of marriage. There were some apostles who followed Jesus, those disciples who were closest to him who were married including Peter.

In one of the gospels it talks about how a miracle where Jesus goes to Peter's mother-in-law, which of course, means that Peter was married. You also have the apostle Paul who is one of the key writers of the New Testament, he was single.

And so that debate goes on and on. And as you know, Catholic priests, single and (inaudible) not married and part of the reason they are not married is because they say Jesus was not married.

So if you're a priest watching this, I would say, don't go on christianmingle.com and put up a profile just yet. This is not going to change church teachings because as one scholar told me last night. This is a tiny scrap on a huge heap of documents that talk about who the historical Jesus was.

And this is probably not going to have enormous changes, but what it will do, Carol, and what it should do is draw people into this search for how the bible was formed and created. It shows that there again was this great debate.

It was perhaps not as static and perhaps not as clean as many people think it was in telling the story of who Jesus was and when he was here on earth as a historical figure.

COSTELLO: It's fascinating. It is just so fascinating. I can't get enough information about it. Eric Marrapodi from our Belief Blog, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

You can find out more about this story on the belief blog. Log on to cnn.com/belief.

New hope today for the real estate market. More homes went from for sale to sold last month. We have the latest numbers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A bit of breaking news into the NEWSROOM, another sign that the real estate market could be improving. Existing home sales are on the rise.

Alison Kosik is live at the New York Stock Exchange. So, spill it!

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK, so you know with the jobs market may look like stuck in the mud, but the housing sector is certainly showing signs of life especially with this report that came out just a few minutes ago.

Existing home sales we learned jumped 7.8 percent in August. This number coming in well above expectations because economists had been expecting just a 2 percent gain. Another good thing about this report when you look at it is that the sales are not happening in the pockets of the United States.

You are seeing a rise in these sales in every region of the United States. In fact, sales moved at fastest pace in over two years. Now this is a key number. One that everybody really watches, existing sales, because they account for about 90 percent of all housing activity.

And Wall Street watches this number very closely as well. And here's the thing also, it is not just sales, prices also went up a bit, too. The median sales price rose to about $187,000 and rising prices are a good sign because it means that we have now found a bottom that you are now seeing a recovery mostly likely happening in the housing sector.

Prices are rising, the National Association of Realtors says because we are seeing more normal transactions. There are these fewer distressed sales meaning short sales and foreclosures.

In fact, it says that today's reading speaks to all the pent up demand out there. People are buying despite difficult credit conditions and those lower mortgage rates certainly are helping that as well.

COSTELLO: OK, so are the markets being affected just yet?

KOSIK: Yes, they are. In fact, you saw stocks much -- pretty much flat before this report came out and they went much higher. The Dow is up about 44 points right now. Investors are also pretty pleased by a move by the Bank of Japan to stimulate the weak economic growth there.

That of course comes after similar news from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank so that is kind of rounding out the good news of the day -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Alison Kosik, thanks so much, live from the New York Stock Exchange.

It's 20 minutes after the hour, checking our top stories now. Just minutes ago, we learned that President Obama will meet with Aung Suu Kyi today. The Myanmar democracy activist will also receive the Congressional gold medal.

She was released from detention in Myanmar in November 2010. Earlier this year, she was finally able to pick up the Nobel Peace Prize. She was awarded back in 1991.

Mitt Romney is trying to go on the offense after playing defense all week. He is using the comments he made to a private fundraiser as talking points for a new campaign strategy. He has written an op-ed in the "USA Today" where he doesn't back down from those comments but clarifies them.

Baltimore Orioles back in a first place tie in the American League East, but boy, do they have to work overtime to get there. The Birds beat Seattle in an 18-inning game. Taylor Teagarden had the game- winning pinch-hit single and the O's tacked on another run to make the final 4-2.

Space shuttle "Endeavour" is making its final trip piggybacked onto a modified 747. The shuttle left Kennedy Space Center this morning on a cross country flight. "Endeavour" will fly over three space centers and routes to Los Angeles where it will be installed in a museum.

Traveling was not easy for people in Virginia yesterday. Take a look at these pictures. High winds and heavy rains in Arlington. Are there more on the way today?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back about one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, what if Jesus were married?

It is a heated debate that has been around since "The Da Vinci Code," a blockbuster movie that explored whether Jesus was married to Mary Magdalen.

Totally completely fiction, maybe not. Professor Karen King of Harvard Divinity School has discovered a century's old papyrus fragment suggesting that some early Christians believed Jesus was married.

The fragment written in Coptic, a language used by Egyptian-Christians said in part, "Jesus said to them, 'my wife.'"

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN KING, HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL: Scholars have consistently and I must say, myself included, in the past argued that that language is all spiritual, and spiritualizing and using it metaphorically.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: But today, maybe there is a real clue that Jesus did have a wife. Already the news has gone viral and so have the inevitable jokes.

Film critic, Roger Ebert tweeted, "Now at work, 100 novelists on the inevitable forthcoming bestseller "I was Mrs. Jesus." My money is on Philip Roth. Seriously though, other scholars are now studying the scroll to check its legitimacy and try to put their discomfort aside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING: It is very difficult when you have spent your whole life and spent in fact, Christianity has spent 1,500 years or more talking about and understanding Jesus not being married to actually know it when we see it so to speak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, in the spirit of debate, we'll bite. Talk back question for you this morning, what if Jesus were married? Facebook.com/carolcnn. Your comments later this hour.

After more than a year and a half, we are about to get new information about "Fast and Furious," a U.S. border control agent was killed in connection with that controversial weapons trafficking program, now the Justice Department will weigh in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Just about 30 minutes past the hour. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for joining us this morning. Checking our top stories, a former Navy SEAL is laid to rest in Massachusetts.

Glen Doherty was killed September 11th in Libya on that attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. Doherty was providing security at the time. The U.S. ambassador to Libya was also killed in the attack.

For the first time in a week and a half, 350,000 Chicago public school students are back in the classroom. Tuesday, the teachers union voted to suspend the strike that kept them out of school. The negotiations for the new contract agreement lasted for several days and the deal must be ratified now by union members.

Bank of America still has not explained the reason behind a problem with its web site, a big problem. The site was slow or not available to many users yesterday. A bank spokesperson says the company is working to ensure full availability.

Today, we could finally learn more about "Fast and Furious," the controversial gun trafficking investigation which is connected to the death of a U.S. border patrol agent. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms program was supposed to track guns purchased in the United States by low level drug dealers after it ended up in the hands of drug cartels in Mexico.

Hundreds of firearms then disappeared and the guns were used to commit crimes in Mexico and the United States. Two of the weapons were found back in 2010 at the site of a gun fight in Arizona where Brian Terry, that U.S. Border Patrol Agent was killed.

CNN's crime and justice correspondent Joe Johns, joins us now. Joe, what do we expect from this report?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are expecting it to come out sometime this afternoon, Carol. The Inspector General Michael Horowitz is relatively new to the job. This is really his first major report so everybody is waiting to see if he has some answers to some of the key questions surrounding the case. Whose idea was "Fast and Furious" in the first place? Who knew about it? For how long, how high up did it go? Why didn't somebody stop it?

We're watching closely to see if this report has any definitive answers. Now you know this is a story that's badly in need of an honest impartial broker right now, because "Fast and Furious" really reached its peak in the political atmosphere during this political year. And of course, the Inspector General's report is supposed to be all about accountability and ferreting out waste, fraud and abuse.

And there may be some information we haven't heard before at least hopefully. It is our understanding based on sources Carol the IG may have had access to documents and information not provided to some of the other entities that investigated this situation.

COSTELLO: Oh, you mean like Congress?

JOHNS: Yes, especially Congress, absolutely.

COSTELLO: Ok. So could more people be punished because of this program?

JOHNS: Well, I think that you have to say that a few of the key players involved in "Fast and Furious" from ATF have already resigned or been reassigned -- a lot of people reassigned. I spoke to one of the ATF whistle-blowers yesterday his name is Larry Alt. He said the agency actually has made some strides since the death of Brian Terry, though there are still more work to be done.

The question of course again and again that's been asked so many times how high up this went in the Justice Department. And if it did go very high up, what's going to happen to those people involved presumably, you know you have to ask questions about the attorney general, whether the President knew anything, executive privilege has been asserted in this case.

You also have to make clear at this point the Inspector General just doesn't have the authority to hire anybody, fire anybody just basically makes recommendations, so don't expect any real punishment out of this report -- Carol.

COSTELLO: But hopefully we'll have a definitive answer on who knew what when. JOHNS: Yes, well hopefully so. You know, that's the million-dollar question. And during an election year, if it doesn't get answered, Republicans certainly are going to keep asking that question.

COSTELLO: Joe Johns, reporting live from Washington.

Lindsay Lohan found herself in handcuffs again this morning. This time, she is accused of hit-and-run.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Ok. We need to laugh now. So Mitt Romney admits his comments about the 47 percent of America were not elegantly stated. So how could Mitt Romney have said it better?

Comedian Steven Colbert has an idea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: I will now deliver Mitt's core message for this time with a little bit more panache.

These people are just greedy parasites sucking on the withered teat of Lady Liberty and oh how thy hunger knows no bounds.

Winslow, bring me the shrimps and the mindless masses. Come on. Come in. Yes, there we go. Thank you, Winslow. Thank you, now, hold still, hold still. Ok. There you go. There you go. See how they love it. See.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ok. We have to talk about Lindsay Lohan, we do, and she found herself in handcuffs again. She is now accused of hitting a man with her Porsche while driving through a crowded area between a hotel and a restaurant in New York. And of course, everybody is saying, "Oh, come on, Lindsay, what's up with you?"

Nischelle Turner from "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" is in Los Angeles and I'm not sure you can answer that question, but tell us a little bit more about what happened?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we went from just laughing to not -- right, Carol.

COSTELLO: No.

TURNER: And we've got to talk about this now. Here is what we do know, though. An NYPD spokesperson tells CNN that Lindsay Lohan was entering the parking area of a hotel in New York's Chelsea neighborhood a little bit after midnight in her Porsche.

Now she hit a pedestrian as she was entering the driveway, she went on, she parked her car and she went into the hotel, the pedestrian was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries to his knee, I think it was. Police arrested Lohan though around 2:30 in the morning when she was leaving the hotel. They took her to a precinct where she was processed, she was released on her own recognizance.

Now she is accused of leaving the scene of an accident. Police say drugs and alcohol, not suspected in this case. We are reaching out though to Lindsay's camp for comment. Now this of course is just the latest in the long list of brushes with the law for Lindsay Lohan who has been trying to put her legal troubles behind her and resume her acting career.

But she's been on probation for a 2007 conviction for driving under the influence. She was also convicted of shoplifting and had been on probation for that offense as well. She was sent to jail several times for violating the terms of her probation but in March an L.A. judge actually praised her for completing her community service and therapy work and she ended her probation in a DUI case and reduced the shoplifting probation to unsupervised status.

But you know with this latest thing, it's really too soon to tell whether the arrest in New York could affect her legal issues here in California. So we'll have to see.

COSTELLO: Ok. Well, let's pivot and talk about Barbara Streisand. I can't believe how much --

(CROSSTALK)

TURNER: Yes, let's talk about Babs.

COSTELLO: Yes, incredible.

TURNER: It is. You know she is officially now the highest priced touring act of all time. This is according to the "Huffington Post," fans who want to see her perform live in Brooklyn, New York on October 11th and 13th -- mark those dates -- but get ready to take the money out of your wallet, $1,500 plus a service fee of $75 for one ticket.

COSTELLO: What?

TURNER: That's not even like a table of ten, one ticket. Tickets from resellers and scalpers are going for as much as $12,000 online -- $12,000.

Now for Streisand's last tour in 1994, ticket prices topped out at $100. So you talk about inflation, right? You may be asking, what the heck happened here? Well, Barbara Streisand isn't an artist that goes on the road all the time. There's been an 18 year wait between live tours. So in fact seeing her perform live is really a rare thing. And we should also note even though the tickets are expensive that the proceeds from this tour will go to charities that are supported by her foundation.

COSTELLO: $1,500 -- is it a small venue?

TURNER: I know. I mean, listen, it better be her in my living room for $1,500.

COSTELLO: I'm with you. Nischelle Turner thanks so much. TURNER: Sure. Sure.

COSTELLO: Wow.

A fire tornado explodes in Australia, it sounded just like a fighter jet. We'll show you more pictures of this rare thing when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Forty-four minutes past the hour, checking our "Top Stories" now.

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan on the attack. He's in Danville, Virginia this morning where he took on the President after the targeting of a 1998 video in which Mr. Obama says he wanted to redistribute the wealth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You know, President Obama said that he believes in redistribution. Mitt Romney and I are not running to redistribute the wealth. Mitt Romney and I are running to help Americans create wealth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: This attack comes as Democrats attack Romney for his comments at a private fundraiser back in May where he claimed 47 percent of Americans will vote for the President because they depend on government handouts.

Police in France are outside the offices of a satirical weekly magazine which is publishing cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed. That is the most strictly forbidden by Muslim law. The magazine, "Charlie Hebdo", is publishing the images today. It is not the first time the magazine has mocked Muslims. In November, the magazines offices were burned in an attack after editors named Mohammed as the guest editor.

A Danish magazine plans to print topless photos of Prince William's wife, Kate. The magazine's editor says the photos will be the same pictures that were French and the Italian magazines last week. French magazine "Closer" has been fined for publishing the pictures and ordered to hand over the originals to the royal family.

Check out this pictures from a fired tornado in Australia. This rare event is caused when a warm, rotating, and rising column of air picks up a bush fire. The filmmaker who took these pictures says the twister stayed around for about 40 minutes and sounded like a fighter jet.

Residents of the eastern U.S. are cleaning up today after being pounded by heavy storms. As much as eight inches of rain came down with flash flooding in some streets and neighborhoods. High winds also a problem, knocking down trees and cutting power to 30,000 people.

Rob Marciano is in the weather center. Is it over?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is for the most part. You mentioned that fire tornado. We thought that we would see tornado yesterday. There were tornado watches up and down the East Coast. Not one reported tornado so that was the good news.

But there was plenty of wind, Carol, and as you mentioned some of that wind did some damage at Reagan National. They had 61 mile-an-hour wind gusts; just outside of JFK, 55 mile-an-hour wind gust.

And here is what it looked like in places like Maryland. So around the Delmarva, they really got hammered with these winds, at one point over 30,000 people without power throughout Virginia and Maryland and the D.C. area.

Up across Connecticut, they had problems with not only flooding from the rainfall, but also some coastal flooding, because of strong winds out ahead of the main system. That slowdown looks like the MTA there.

As far as the rainfall is concerned, that was the other issue with this, and this was a big rainmaker from the Tennessee Valley all the way up across the Appalachians and through parts of upstate New York. And again, we didn't see much in the way of severe thunderstorms that had gusty winds. A lot of those winds were out ahead of the system, and that created some of the problems.

But now the system is offshore because the front itself is down across parts of Florida but that is it. We are getting into some colder air behind this system, that's for sure. Temperatures dropping in some cases, 20 degrees cooler than where they were yesterday, and that means potentially a frosty night on tap. But actually not so bad a day today.

We do have colder air coming in behind the next system that may -- may even have a few flakes of snow fly across parts of the Western Great Lakes as we go over the weekend. But some frost on the pumpkins upstate New York and across northern New England as we get towards that tomorrow morning. But all the dangerous weather from yesterday is gone -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: You got it.

COSTELLO: There are new safety concerns over the tuna in your kids' lunches. So, what should you do? Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen will tell you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time for today's "Daily Dose". We are all guilty of skipping a meal and grabbing an energy bar when we're busy, but there are certain ingredients to look for and avoid in energy bars.

Cooking Channel show host and registered dietitian Ellie Krieger has our "Daily Dose".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLIE KRIEGER, REGISTERED DIETITIAN: Energy bars can be great for eating on the go, but some are more like glorified candy bars, loaded with calories and added sugar. So how do you choose.

First, check the ingredient list. It should be full of ingredients that you recognize as food. Thinks like oats, nuts, dried fruit -- that's what you want to look for. If the ingredients sound really processed, you might want to choose a different one.

Second, check the amount of sugar, it should really not have more than 8 grams of sugar per 100 calories.

Lastly, check the calories. Some have upwards of 300 calories per bar. Look for one that has 100 to 200 calories.

Or better yet, make your own. Take whole grains, dried fruit and nuts and spices and you put them in your food processor, bake them and stash in the freezer so you're ready to go whenever you want one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. Let's talk about tuna now. Tuna fish sandwiches may be a lunchtime staple for your kids, but a new study from a consumer advocacy group says that the mercury levels in tuna fish are surprisingly and dangerous. CNN Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now.

That is a little freaky.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is a little freaky. I think people think well, tuna what could be healthier and better for kids. And kids love it. I know some kids who will eat nothing but tuna, right.

COSTELLO: And you rejoice at that.

COHEN: Exactly. Because it is better than some other thing they could be eating. But we have known for a while, Carol, that tuna has a lot of mercury and especially albacore tuna. That there are relatively high levels compared to some other fish.

What this group did was this group -- The Mercury Policy Project -- went out and bought a bunch of tuna. And what they found was that it had even more mercury in it than what the government has found when they have gone and done their sampling. So they say more mercury in tuna than what we thought.

COSTELLO: So how does mercury get into tuna?

COHEN: I know, it does sound crazy, doesn't it? I mean I hope they are not eating thermometers or anything like that. But really what it is that there is mercury in the pollution that's in our air. That air goes over the water, falls into the water, the fish live there. So that is what happens.

And then the tuna are predators so they eat other fish and so they have their own mercury plus the mercury that those fish have.

COSTELLO: Ok. So how harmful is it for kids to eat then? I mean how worried should parents be?

COSTELLO: Right. It's impossible to say this is an absolute safe level and you will be fine if your kid only eats this, but we'll tell you what the government regulations are. And I think a lot of people don't know this, that the government actually has recommendations for how much tuna your kids should be eating or if you are pregnant.

So when you're looking at albacore canned tuna, the government recommends no more than six ounces a week. And that's not a whole lot. I mean if your kid is eating a lot of tuna fish sandwiches that has to be above six ounces a week.

For light canned tuna, it is 12 ounces a week. So you can see here, albacore seems to be the more problematic one. Now it's interesting, groups like Consumer Reports and this group, they recommend eating even less tuna. What I just showed you was the government regulation. These folks recommend even less.

COSTELLO: All right. I am just scared to eat anything these days. It is just kind of sad.

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much.

COHEN: I agree.

COSTELLO: Thanks.

Our "Talk Back" question today, what if Jesus were married? Your responses next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We wanted to show you these beautiful pictures. That's the space shuttle Endeavour atop a 747. It's now flying over Houston, these pictures courtesy of our Houston affiliate there. It is on its way to Los Angeles, and it will soon land, and it will then become part of an exhibit at a museum, and you can go see it in Los Angeles.

But we just wanted to show you the beautiful picture, because it is always incredible to see this thing.

Now to our "Talk Back" question of the day, the question for you this morning what if Jesus were married?.

This from Sandy. "If God created Adam and then Eve, why wouldn't he want a wife for his only son?

This from Jason. "If he was married, that would not change my belief in him as the son of God." This from Raymond, "If Jesus came to teach us to never get married or never fall in love, then he in essence came to teach us to drive mankind to extinction."

This from Robbie, "It doesn't change my belief in him or his message. I love Jesus, married or not."

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. Thank you so much for your comments this morning. Keep them coming.

I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for joining me today.

"CNN NEWSROOM" continues right now with Ashleigh Banfield. ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you Carol Costello. Hi everybody. Nice to have you with us.

It is 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 on the West Coast.

And here's where we begin. An alarming new development this morning over Muslim outrage all over the world against that anti-Islam file and just when it appeared that maybe those violent protests might be receding, a French satirical magazine has come out with cartoons today -- cartoons that mock the Prophet Mohammed.

We have the magazine here. We can't show the images. But I'll tell you what, look at the offices. It's the same place where these offices were damaged in a fire bomb last year over an issue that appeared to make fun of Islamic law.

At this point today, we are not aware of any major violence that has broken out, but the French government while at the same time protecting free speech is condemning the magazine's decision to publish the cartoons. And it's also taking steps to protect French citizens and its Embassies.

Our Jim Bitterman is live with us now in Paris. Jim, give us a bit of a feel because you are later in the day than we are here on the East Coast of the United States. Has this gone over quieter than expected? Are we expecting protests? Where do things stand?

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it is quiet up until now. Obviously, the French government is worried about things, and are particularly worried about the idea that something might happen on Friday because they have closed down the French embassies and French schools in 20 different countries where they think there could be a problem --