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Obama, Romney Battle For Votes In Virginia; A Softer Side Of Romney; Hunting For Hoffa; Sources: No FBI Agents In Benghazi; Rival Middle East Views At U.N.; Sprayed Protesters Offered $30K; Early Voting Begins; Ruling Due In Pennsylvania Voter ID Law; "L.A. Times:" Banks Coordinating After Attacks; Possible Younger Mona Lisa; NFL Refs Return Tonight; Drilling for Natural Gas on Farms; Hoffa's Hollywood Connection; J.K. Rowling's New Book on Sale; Romney: Don't Expect Big Tax Cuts

Aired September 27, 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: Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have just 40 more days to convince you they should be president. And for the third day in a row, the two men are campaigning in the same state.

Tonight, those familiar men in the striped shirts will be back on the field. The NFL reaching a deal with its locked out refs and it only took a blown call. It was a big one, to get the job done.

Everyone has a theory about where Jimmy Hoffa's body is buried. Now nearly 40 years after he vanished, we could soon find out as investigators check out a new tip about the missing teamster's leader.

And she was driving force behind "Harry Potter." Now J.K. Rowling is back and this time she's writing a book for the grown up audience. NEWSROOM starts now.

Forty days from now, Americans will have made their choice for president. Until that day, every interview, every campaign stop, every chat with a voter is critical.

Today both President Obama and Mitt Romney are campaigning in Virginia. They are holding rallies at the same time. Obama in Virginia Beach, Romney in Springfield, both campaigns talking jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: You're going to look at what I've done and you can look at what he's done and you'll have a sense of who's going to be fighting for American workers.

And you're going to look at his plan and you can look at my plan because he wants to keep open these tax loopholes that encourage jobs overseas. I want to make sure that we're providing tax breaks for companies right here in America.

I want to help big factories and small businesses double their exports. I want more goods stamped with made in America. I want to create one million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We know the result of the last four years so we don't have to wonder what would happen if he were re- elected. We see it. We see the high unemployment. We see the 23 million people out of work.

We see kids coming out of school that can't find jobs. We see manufacturing. Manufacturing jobs in the last four years have dropped by 582,000 people. This is not the path we want for America. There's a different path. And the path I represent is one which will add 12 million new jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Jeff Schapiro is a reporter and columnist for the "Richmond Times Dispatch." He's covered campaigns in the commonwealth for 30 years and he joins us from Richmond this morning. Welcome, Jeff.

JEFF SCHAPIRO, "RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH": Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: We're glad you're here. So we know what the polls say, but what are voters saying in Virginia?

SCHAPIRO: Well, this is a state with the unemployment rate below the national average at about 5.9 percent. But there's still a lot of economic uncertainty and a good deal of it is tied it that nasty word sequestration.

Virginia has the highest spending federal spending per capita in the country. It's second in defense spending. So there's a lot of money flowing through this economy courtesy of Uncle Sam. People are jittery about that.

COSTELLO: OK, so that should mean it that Mitt Romney's doing quite well in the state, yet president Obama is up by 7 percentage points. Why do you think that is?

SCHAPIRO: Well, there's a very different electorate focusing on this presidential campaign. There are more people paying attention to it. This is a Virginia that is distinguished by a multi-hughed electorate, no longer simply black and white.

There have been significant increases in the number of Asians and Latinos, now about 33 percent ethnic in Virginia now. These folks are not registered in quite the same numbers, they are engaged politically and they tend to default Democrat.

COSTELLO: OK, so Dick Morris on his web site said that minority, minority voters aren't enthusiastic enough about President Obama to go to the polls. He thinks voters are much more revved up about Mitt Romney. What do you think?

SCHAPIRO: Well, certainly in Virginia where there's a significant African-American population, it remains very much engaged. And one of the things that the Obama campaign has been doing this year as it did in '08 is trying to be as visible as possible in areas where there are large numbers of African-Americans though there is still a strong Republican tendency. And the point of that exercise is to run as closely to Romney in areas of the state where he should do exceptionally well as possible.

COSTELLO: Jeff Schapiro from the "Richmond Times Dispatch," thank you so much for being with us this morning.

SCHAPIRO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: There is a reason why Virginia is a battle ground state. It's close race, but the President is inching forward. This is the average of recent polls. As of last week, more likely voters in Virginia would choose President Obama 50 percent to 44 percent.

A new softer Mitt Romney is emerging on the campaign trail because of these numbers in part. Maybe compassionate conservatism is back. Although Democrats would say it's too little too late.

This ad shows Romney in a more intimate, more personal way, the side his campaign says was overshadowed by Romney's comments slamming those Americans who don't pay income tax.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: President Obama and I both care about poor middle class families. The difference is my policies will make things better for them. We shouldn't measure compassion by how many people are on welfare. We should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: When asked by NBC to give them an example of Romney's compassion, Governor Romney said, quote, "I think throughout this campaign as well we talked about my record in Massachusetts. Don't forget I got everybody in my state ensured.

One hundred percent of the kids in our state had health insurance. I don't think there's anything that shows more empathy and care about the people of this country than that kind of record. Romney then added he would still repeal Obamacare on day one.

Our political director Mark Preston is here to talk politics. So what do you make of this softer Romney?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, you know, Carol, we're in the closing days right now of the election and I think the Romney campaign is making a calculated move. They're trying to throw what they can up against the wall and see what sticks.

We've seen that the past week or so with their criticism of the Obama administration regarding foreign policy decisions specifically what happened over in Libya and with the ambassador being killed over there.

We're seeing here now that they realize it doesn't pay to be outwardly partisan. In that ad we just saw, you heard Mr. Romney say that President Obama cares for the middle class and poor people as I do.

Well, of course, he does and of course, Mitt Romney does. I mean, I think anyone that thinks otherwise, you know, would be rather jaded.

But the fact of the matter is what Mitt Romney is trying to convey is, that his policies will be better. You might like President Obama as a person, Carol, but his policies haven't worked for the past four years.

COSTELLO: Well, some Republicans think that's not such a good strategy. They think that Mitt Romney should be just as hard on President Obama as he has been in the past and the softening of issues only confuses Republican voters especially core voters.

PRESTON: Yes, it's not his job for Mitt Romney to go out there and to be outwardly partisan and to be the attack dog. He's supposed to be the statesman. He's the one supposed to be talking about ideas.

Allow the "Super PACs" to be do that, allow these outside groups who were spending hundreds of millions of dollars on television ads, let them be the ones who go out and attack Barack Obama, not Mitt Romney.

So in many ways I think there's a level of frustration with the Romney campaign, Carol, that from conservatives that it has not been as effective. The unemployment rate is over 8 percent. Republicans think they should be winning and right now it's neck and neck if not a bit of a lead right now for Barack Obama.

COSTELLO: Mark Preston, our political director reporting live from Washington this morning.

Of course, the presidential debates will be critical for each candidate and the first debate is Wednesday night. You can watch it right here, 7:00 Eastern on CNN and cnn.com.

It's one of the most enduring mysteries in American history. Where is Jimmy Hoffa? The teamster's leader has been missing since 1975 and presumed dead. But police have a new lead and they're literally digging for clues in suburban Detroit.

Reporter Kim Russell from affiliate WXYZ in Detroit joins us by phone. When will they start digging up this driveway, Kim?

KIM RUSSELL, WXYZ REPORTER (via telephone): We are told that they're going to take foot samples from underneath the concrete as early as tomorrow, but they have already got some evidence. They took a radar and scanned the driveway and they found an anomaly something about the size of a body underneath the concrete.

So they believe there is something there, but they don't know what it is. So they're going to be testing that soil to see if there's any evidence of human remains.

COSTELLO: Police say that this is a credible tip. Why do they think it's credible? RUSSELL: Police say that a tipster on his death bed told them that he saw something suspicious, someone burying something that looked like a body under this driveway on the day that Hoffa disappeared.

They are not telling us a lot of information about this tipster. We don't know his name, only that he was elderly and lived out of state.

He did tell police he was interested in getting the $300,000 reward that was offered sometime ago, but that reward is no longer available for tips that help find Hoffa. So they're still investigating whether this tipster is a credible source.

COSTELLO: Is he connected to Jimmy Hoffa in any way?

RUSSELL: We are not being given his name. So we don't have a lot of information. All we know is that he's elderly, lives out of state, and is fighting a life threatening illness. So it's really hard for us to say how he fits into the whole story of Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance.

COSTELLO: Well, we'll check back in when any start digging. Kim Russell from WXYZ, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

It's been more than two weeks since the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. And FBI agents have not even stepped foot on to the crime scene or even in the city of Benghazi.

That's rather surprising information coming from top law enforcement officials. What's more, the crime scene has not been secured. Here is CNN national security analyst, Fran Townsend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: What we found out today from senior law enforcement officials is that while the FBI has finally made to Tripoli, they've never made to Benghazi.

In fact it was it taking so long to get permission to get into Tripoli. The FBI deployed their personnel to a location in the region so they would be closer. They have conducted interviews of the State Department and U.S. government personnel who were in Libya at the time of the attack.

But they've not been able to -- they've gotten as far as Tripoli now, but they've never gotten to Benghazi. They made a request that the crime scene be secured.

As we know from Arwa Damon's reporting and other public reporting, the State Department -- we don't know whether or not the State Department put that request to the Libyans and whether it was denied or what happened to it.

What we know for sure is the crime scene was never secured and in fact, the senior law enforcement official I spoke to said if we get there now, it's not clear that it will be of any use to us. And the third and really critical point to me is that they -- that they made was, look, one of the things we have to do is question the individuals that the Libyans have in custody to get to the bottom of this, to understand what they are learning.

And in fact, they made that request through the State Department. That was denied by Libya. So the FBI has to pass any questions they have through the State Department to the Libyan government.

They put the questions. Then you wait for sort of like a child's game of telephone that information to come back before you can follow-up, not at all the ideal way to run an investigation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died in the Benghazi attack. The attack was first linked to the anti- Islamic film protests, but now the White House is calling it a terrorist attack.

Sources say investigators knew though it was a terrorist attack all along and Republicans are outraged at conflicting information coming from the administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR MIKE TURNER (R), OHIO: I think the fact that they're trying to blame it on a non-terrorist attack comes right to the heart of the fact that this is a president that took NATO and the United States into an offensive action in Libya without a clear stated policy.

REPRESENTATIVE MAC THORNBERRY (R), HOUSE ARMED SERVICES AND INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: We were told something that's consistent with what the administration was saying publicly, and that is this was a spontaneous mob, it got out of hand and there were unfortunate consequences.

Of course, that doesn't make much sense if you just look at common sense, the fact that it was 9/11, the fact that it was a very highly organized and sophisticated sort of attack and so that's before you get into the evidence, it just didn't really add up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN did obtain Ambassador Stevens' journal and found that the ambassador was worried about a possible security threat and a rise in Islamic extremism.

Today at the United Nations, the Middle East takes center stage and the diplomats will hear two very different views of the world. This is the President of Guyana speaking now. But the headliner today will likely be Israel's prime minister.

Benjamin Netanyahu will again issue dire warnings on Iran's nuclear program and the threat he says opposes to the world. Diplomats will also hear from the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas one year after his historic are and failed plea for statehood. He'll seek a more modest goal, a kind of non-state membership to the United Nations.

And remember this viral video of a campus police officer dousing peaceful protesters with pepper spray? Well, months after that cop left his job, his victims are about to get a humongous pay day.

The University of California is offering $30,000 to each of the 21 plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit. The federal court has yet to approve that settlement.

J.K. Rowling's new book written specifically for adults is already a bestseller, more than a million copies sold. It's called "Casual Vacancies."

Of course, Rowling is best known for writing the "Harry Potter" series. This new book is also fiction, but Rowling says it's deeply personal.

It deals with adult issues like obsessive compulsive disorder and class inequality in an English village. We'll talk a bookstore owner to find out what readers are saying about the book.

Could fans in Baltimore give the refs a standing o tonight? The replacement refs are gone. The officials we know are back. We'll talk about the deal that ended the lockout.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's 17 minutes past the hour. Checking our top stories now. The election may not be until November, but early and absentee voting has already started in Iowa, North Dakota and Wyoming.

Early voting begins next Tuesday in the key states of Florida and Ohio. And voting in Pennsylvania could be affected by the outcome of that new voter I.D. law controversy.

A hearing on the matter is expected to conclude today and the court could issue a ruling as soon as tomorrow. The law's backers argue it strengthens voting procedures and protect against fraud. But opponents say it disenfranchises certain voters including the poor and elderly.

Is your money vulnerable to a cyber attack? According to the "L.A. Times," banks like JPMorgan Chase are coordinating with the Homeland Security Department after a string of cyber attacks hit American financial institutions over the past two weeks.

An attack is expected today on PNC Financial Services. The group claiming responsibility says it's in retaliation for that anti-Islam movie trailer.

And the "Mona Lisa" might have a sister painting. The Mona Lisa Foundation claims it can prove the Mona Lisa painting was created by Leonardo Da Vinci. It's larger than the famous version. The sister version is on the right. It's believed to be ten years older, but there are some who doubt it was actually Da Vinci's work. We'll keep you posted. NFL fans have something big to cheer about this morning. You know what it is. Those refs are coming back in case you missed it. The league and referee's union agreed on a new contract late last night.

So starting with tonight's Browns-Ravens game, the replacements have been replaced. Jason Carroll is outside the NFL offices in New York. Our national nightmare is over, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Everyone can breathe a collective sigh of relief. And isn't it incredible how one bogus call can inspire both sides to get back at the table and reach some sort of an agreement, but that's absolutely what happened.

Tuesday, you remember both sides were at it for 17 hours. They were negotiating until about midnight last night when word started coming down that both sides had reached an agreement. The refs got a little bit of what they wanted.

They worked out the differences they have between their pension and 401(k). They'll also be getting a pay raise over the next several years. Obviously, after that bogus call on Monday, 70,000 fans called into the NFL complaining about it.

This definitely inspired both sides to get back at it. Late last night, the NFL commissioner saying, quote, "This agreement supports long term reforms that will make officiating better. The teams, players and fans want and deserve both consistency and quality in officiating."

The Referee Association President Scott Green also coming forward saying, we're glad to be getting back on the field for this week's game. And obviously, we wanted to hear from the fans themselves. They weighed in this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just glad the refs are back. I'm a big football fan and didn't like what because happening with the game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The refs are no good. They had rejects from the lingerie league. That's all I saw. So there should be enough money to pay the refs. Get some good refs. It can't be that expensive. Give them what they want and play football, I suppose.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Refs looked challenged and overwhelmed and it's great to see that we'll have the real refs back on the field. I'm excited.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it means that there's a little bit of integrity back in the game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And again, the Referees Association is expected to ratify this agreement on Friday into Saturday, but the commissioner lifted the ban so they could get back on the field tonight -- Carol. COSTELLO: Jason Carroll reporting live from in front of the NFL offices in New York City.

Hollywood's obsession with Jimmy Hoffa, how a new tip about his disappearance could get scriptwriters back to the table.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the stories of the day. The question for you this morning, should Michelle Obama's school lunch program continue?

Food fight, you knew it was coming. I mean, what kid likes to eat his fruits and vegetables? In Kansas City, kids are dumping apples and pears and yearning for more of that yummy square cafeteria pizza.

School lunches are now healthier thanks to new guidelines spearheaded by Michelle Obama and passed by Congress. That mandate calorie counts in school lunches. For high schoolers, that means between 750 and 850 calories per meal.

Students say you're starving us and they're using their hunger pains to create a parody.

The agriculture secretary came back and said, kids, you hungry? Pack a snack. Still when it comes down to it, what do you do? Should we bring back pizza, potato chips and sugary sodas in schools or stick with this?

A study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine says by that by the year 2030, 42 percent of American adults will be obese. Not just fat, obese. That will cost us an additional half a trillion dollars in health care costs.

So maybe kids ought to be trained to eat right, if not at home, then in school. Talk back question for you today. Should Michelle Obama's school lunch program continue? Facebook.com/carolcnn. Your responses later this hour.

In Ohio, drilling for natural gas can be a big source of income for many people across the state. And that's why it could play a very important role in the presidential election. We'll talk to a farmer who is renting out his land to an energy company next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is just about 30 minutes past the hour. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

Checking our top stories now. The spotlight is on the key battleground state of Virginia today. Both President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney holding campaign rallies at the same time later this morning.

Romney will be in Northern Virginia, the President visits the south. This is the third straight day the two candidates have made stops in the same state.

The FBI has not been able to investigate the crime scene in Libya where the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed And agents haven't even reached Benghazi. That shocking information coming from senior law enforcement officials. They also say the crime scene has not been secured which may hinder the investigation.

And you might find the nation's newest millionaire in Iowa, that's where the ticket was purchased that won last night's $202 million Power Ball drawing. Several tickets sold elsewhere matched the winning numbers, but not the Power Ball.

This election is not just about the economy. It's about energy, too which of course factors into the economy, I know. In areas like Ohio where jobs and manufacturing traditionally rank supreme, people are turning to a different source of income, and that would be natural gas.

Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing, and it's the process where companies drill thousands of feet into the ground and pump gallons of water and chemicals into the underground rock to release all the stored up natural gas.

Republicans like Newt Gingrich think that natural gas and fracking are the key for Mitt Romney to win the election, especially in the critical battleground state of Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Ohio is a state that has an enormous opportunity in energy. We now estimate for example that there may be five billion barrels of oil in the state of Ohio. Virtually the eastern two-thirds of the state has natural gas. There is a -- the Obama administration is trying to use the EPA to cripple the development of this energy. Governor Romney favors Senator Hoeven's plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joining me now from Cleveland, Ohio was Jim Long, he's a farmer who's leased his land for a natural gas well. Good morning, Jim.

JIM LONG, OHIO FARM OWNER: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Your farm is in Carolton, Ohio, right?

LONG: That's correct.

COSTELLO: Ok and that's south of Cleveland. Your family has owned this land for a really long time since the 1800s. What -- what motivated you to do this on your farmland?

LONG: Well, it was a good opportunity obviously for the money. The community was dying. And it was a farming community. And with the economy and everything else, we needed something to bring it back to life. And it seemed because the deposits were there, nobody realized it, but it was a real gift that it was a good time to capitalize on it.

COSTELLO: So there are rules in place about how many wells you can have on your land. Can you fill us in?

LONG: Yes, each pad generally has six wells. And it depends on the size of the unit. It can be anywhere from 120 acres to 1,280 acres. But it is so regulated that the chances for any kind of a problem don't hardly exist.

COSTELLO: So are the regulations good in your mind or troublesome?

LONG: I think they're over-regulated in some respects and understand I'm certainly not an expert. But everything from they consider a wetland is nothing but a little bit of a wet spot on a hill, but they really put the companies through the hoops.

So I guess in the long run it's a good thing because we are protected and it's just almost fail-safe the way they looked after it.

COSTELLO: Ok so I'm going to ask you a personal question because I'm really curious and I'm sure others are too. How much money have you made off this well?

LONG: All we got so far was a signing bonus. We have a small percentage in one of the first wells that they drilled. We just signed to get our own pad here just yesterday. But so far, we haven't gotten a whole lot in royalties yet. Just a signing bonus.

COSTELLO: Are you surprised by that?

LONG: Amazed.

COSTELLO: I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. I have some noise in my ear. Are you surprised by that?

LONG: I was amazed. It was such a gift that we never saw it coming, any of the neighbors, anybody that's gotten it. It's just been a fantastic wind fall for the whole community.

COSTELLO: And -- and I just want to ask you a few political questions. I don't know -- who you're -- who are you supporting in this election? Do you feel comfortable telling us?

LONG: I certainly do. Governor Romney.

COSTELLO: Ok tell us why you support Governor Romney?

LONG: He's a businessman. He's a success. Why would you want somebody that isn't a success to be your president?

COSTELLO: And -- I'm sorry.

LONG: Go ahead. COSTELLO: We just heard what Newt Gingrich said, that Governor Romney should talk more about fracking and more about what's really helping the economy in Ohio. Do you believe that Mr. Romney should talk more about those things?

LONG: Absolutely because people have a misconception about fracking. In our area like we have six wells on our farm, water wells. Everybody worries about their water. Ours range from 135 to 175 feet deep. The deepest one I know in the area is 300. The fracking goes on over a mile down. And I'm not an expert on the oil business, but I can't believe something that's going on a mile down is going to affect us above.

The second thing is all the chemicals that they worry about are generally household products that everybody has in their kitchen. They mix that with sand to hold the shale apart and that's all there is to it. It's -- it's not anything dangerous that I'm aware of.

COSTELLO: All right. Jim Long, thank you so much for joining this morning, we appreciate it.

LONG: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Years after his presumed death, Jimmy Hoffa's legacy lives on in Hollywood. How the latest tip has sparked new interest in his mysterious disappearance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Gangster leader Jimmy Hoffa hasn't been seen since July of 1975. But one place the story has never been hard to find, Hollywood. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" host A.J. Hammer joins me now.

So some new lead in Jimmy Hoffa, the mysteriou8s disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. I just want to know why is Hollywood so obsessed with him? Because there have been what five movies or so about Jimmy Hoffa?

A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": So much material has come out of Hollywood about Hoffa. And I think Carol just because it's such a made for Hollywood mystery. It's so fascinating. And of course he disappeared almost 40 years ago, but we really do know his name now because his disappearance became this cultural touch stone. He's probably been more popular in death than he was when he was alive.

So I would bet if they find his body now under the driveway in Michigan where they're looking for it, well there will be some disappointed writers and producers. And we're not just talking about mob movies and crime shows. We're talking about comedians, even sports writers.

Because I'm thinking for every conference you hear about Hoffa on the show like the "Sopranos" you're likely to have heard a joke on stage or a reference in the sports pages to Hoffa being buried underneath Giants stadium in New Jersey's Meadowland. And Carol that of course probably the most popular theory out there in pop culture even if it wasn't the most likely.

The only comparable story I can come up with might be DB Cooper. DB Cooper disappeared after hijacking a plane.

So if this does turn out to be the body of Jimmy Hoffa, maybe we'll be on to DB next better.

COSTELLO: You'll never know. Now I'm just curious because most young people probably have no idea who Jimmy Hoffa is but comedians in Hollywood still use him in their creative works.

HAMMER: Yes. No, his name comes up all the time as this cultural reference. And I think also his name is kept alive through all of the material that's been out -- out there. And I think there's probably a pretty good chance that some kind of a film might come up again pretty soon. The most famous film about Hoffa is probably the movie "Hoffa." That's the one that starred Jack Nicholson as the missing labor leader.

He was gunned down in a parking lot in that movie, but that was 1992, so that's like 20 years ago. I think the chances that we might see something new sparked by him being back in the news are probably pretty good, Carol but there have been at least four other films as you mentioned based on the story. There has been a collection of TV shows that examine the mystery of his disappearance and listen to this, at least 21 books have been written about Jimmy Hoffa.

So no shortage of material and certainly no shortage of interest to keep those projects alive.

COSTELLO: Wow, A.J. Hammer, thanks so much.

HAMMER: You got it.

COSTELLO: Join A.J. Hammer on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" 11:00 Eastern on HLN.

Famed woman, J.K. Rowling she wrote "Harry Potter", she's now written a book for adults. Wait until you hear how many copies have already been sold. They just went on sale today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: J.K. Rowling's new book is on sale today and it's already a bestseller. It's called "The Casual Vacancy" and her first book written specifically for adults. She told ABC News it's a big departure from "Harry Potter".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.K. Rowling, author: I have gone from dragons and unicorns and all the fun that's involved in writing that to a book that's intensely personal, that expresses a lot of my reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Rowling went on to say she doesn't expect "Casual Vacancy" to be as successful as "Harry Potter".

Joining us now via Skype is Lori Fazio, general manager of R.J. Julia booksellers in Madison, Connecticut. Welcome.

LORI FAZIO, GENERAL MANAGER, R.J. JULIA BOOKSELLER: Hi, welcome. Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thank you for being here. How much interest is there in this book?

FAZIO: We've had interest for months. People can't wait for this to -- well, for today to have it finally hit the bookstore. And we've had a lot of special orders in advance of it. So everybody's ready. They've been waiting.

COSTELLO: They've been waiting. Are most of the fans -- because when the "Harry Potter" books came out, I guess the kids who read them would be young adults now. Are they the people primarily interested in this book?

FAZIO: Actually no. I mean they are interested, of course, but there are plenty of adults who also read the "Harry Potter" books who are finding this to be really exclusive to them, so they're really excited about that, too.

COSTELLO: What if the book's a flop? I mean it's not a flop as far as book sales because she's already sold a million copies. But what if people read it and they go "Oh, this is so bad?"

FAZIO: Well, the way that I look at it is you have to go into it with an open mind because it's an extreme opposite from "Harry Potter" which was fantasy and magical. And this is, you know, kind of reality everyday life that could happen. So I don't think it will be a flop as long as people go in with an open mind.

COSTELLO: Do you have a copy of the book with you?

FAZIO: I sure do, of course.

COSTELLO: I'm just curious, can you read the first couple lines on page one?

FAZIO: Sure. Ok. "It's Sunday. (inaudible) did not want to go out to dinner. He had endured a thumping headache for most of the weekend and was struggling to make a deadline for the local newspaper. However, his wife had been a little stiff and non-communicative over lunch and Barry deduced that his anniversary card had not mitigated the crime of shutting himself away in the study all morning. It did not help that he had been writing about Crystal who Mary disliked although she pretended otherwise." There you go.

COSTELLO: Ok. Well, now we have a little sample. And that's good. J.K. Rowling has been -- she's limited the number of interviews she's giving about this book and the number of appearances, as well. Is that a good idea or is this just J.K. Rowling. You know, she's a private person. She doesn't want to put herself out there that much? FAZIO: I think it was all very strategic and probably a good thing. The anticipation of the book and her to bring out anything has been, you know, has been huge. So doing things, being interviewed very, very sparsely is great. She's going to be October 16th doing an interview with Anne Patchett another beloved author at Lincoln Center, so I think we're actually -- we will be streaming that live to our customers. And some other booksellers will be doing that, as well. So I think the build up to that is great.

So I think keeping herself a little quiet is fantastic and people will be excited to hear what she has to say.

COSTELLO: Ok. Well, I'm going to read the book. I'm fascinated to find out if it's good. Although those first couple of lines didn't really like grab me, but who knows.

FAZIO: Yes. But "Harry Potter" didn't either really. You had to go in a few pages to really get the grasp of what that was, as well. So, you know, give it a few pages.

COSTELLO: I will. I will. Lori Fazio, from R.J. Julia Booksellers in Connecticut, thank you so much.

FAZIO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: A real life Moby Dick, a rare albino humpback whale has been spotted off the eastern coast of Australia -- see him swimming there. He was first spotted in 1991 and named Migaloo by researchers. He's believed to be in his mid-20s and is the world's only documented all-white humpback whale. No word though if Captain Ahab is in pursuit.

Mitt Romney dials back expectations. He says his tax plan won't save you a ton of money. We'll explore that.

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COSTELLO: Mitt Romney is trying to keep you grounded. In fact with just 40 days before the presidential election, he's making a dramatic shift in tone and telling us do not expect a huge wind fall from his tax cuts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Small businesses typically pay taxes the individual tax rate. And so our individual income taxes are ones I want to reform, make them simpler, I want to bring the rates down. By the way, don't be expecting a huge cut in taxes because I'm also going to lower deductions and exemptions.

But by bringing rates down, we'll be able to let small businesses keep more of their money so they can hire more people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Alison Kosik is here to tell us what Mr. Romney means. Good morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, maybe Carol, this is all about managing expectations. What Romney is looking like he's doing at this point is downplaying promises of a big tax cut and that is definitely raising some eyebrows. And what he could be doing at this point is just trying to appeal to independents who are worried about getting a handle on the deficit.

Also President Obama has been hammering away at Romney's tax plan arguing it will add to the deficit. Now Romney has called for cutting all tax rates by 20 percent. He also wants to eliminate taxes on capital gains and dividends for families who make less than $200,000.

Now there was an independent analysis done by the nonpartisan tax policy center and it did find that Romney's plan would drop tax revenues by $5 trillion. But Romney has promised he won't add to the deficit because he'll pay for any tax cuts by limiting deductions for taxpayers especially the wealthy.

So this isn't really a major break from what he said before. He's just kind of shifting the emphasis, playing up a different part of his plan.

COSTELLO: So deductions. What deductions would Mr. Romney limit?

KOSIK: Ah, yes. Now that Carol, is the $5 trillion question, now isn't it? We don't know. Because Romney hasn't said yet. He has hinted he may scale back the mortgage interest deduction for wealthy homeowners. But beyond we really just don't.

You know think about how many tax deductions are out there right now. There's charitable giving, there's state and local taxes. The list goes on and on and that's why the U.S. tax code has 3.8 million words. It's not going to be politically easy just to scrap any of them because let's face it, they're popular. And that's why some budget crunchers are worried that Romney won't be able to limit enough deductions to keep his tax plan from adding to the deficit -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Alison Kosik, reporting live from the New York Stock Exchange.

Our "Talk Back" question today, should Michelle Obama's school lunch program continue? Your comments next.

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COSTELLO: Let's face it, eating healthier can seem like a chore, but in this "Daily Dose", Ellie Krieger, a registered dietitian and author of "Comfort Food Fix" shows us how to cut back on calories but not taste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLIE KRIEGER, REGISTERED DIETITIAN: You absolutely do not have to give up your favorite foods when you're trying to eat healthy. You can have a sandwich without overdoing the carbs. First of all, make your bread whole grain and secondly, scoop out the center. You wind up saving about 25 percent of the calories and you make more room for delicious and healthy vegetables. And you can have a nice Bolognaise meat sauce but still keep portions of meat modest and keep calories low.

And my trick for that is to mix mushrooms in with your meat. And really this works not just for a pasta sauce, but for things like meatloaf or meatballs, as well. You just chop the mushrooms fine, saute them and they wind up looking just like the meat and they really have that great meaty flavor, too. You save lots of calories and get a lot of good health factors.

So you can have your favorite foods. You can just have them a little healthier.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But not at school. Let's turn to our "Talk Back" question today. The question, should Michelle Obama's school lunch program continue?

This from Rick. "Kids tend to lean towards bad things."

I'm sorry, Rick. "Kids tend to lean towards things that are bad for them. Continue the program. They will thank us in the long run."

This from Amy, "My 13-year-old has to make 800 calories last seven hours. His food is his fuel to be an effective and better athlete. No thanks orange slices. We pack a calorie packed high protein meal every day."

And this from Michelle. "The government needs to stop intruding in our lives. Let the parents make decisions about their kids' lives."

Thanks for commenting. I appreciate it. If you want to continue the conversation, facebook.com/carolCNN.

I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining us today.

"CNN NEWSROOM" continues right now with Ashleigh Banfield.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Carol Costello, thank you so much. Hi everybody. Nice to have you with us.