. >> reporter: cynthia kooker loves her computr and her animals. but she is spending more time with her husband than working. >> you start to widen your search. i'll look in this field, i'll look in this field. >> reporter: after two years of looking, this computer programmer thought she finally had a job nibble when a seemingly legit company reached out to her after seeing her resume online. the offer came from someone who claimed to work for ovex technology international based in pakistan. we reached out to the company and in a phone call from pakistan the ceo tells us they don't do this kind of work and they don't hire american workers. in a follow-up e-mail, he works out that the website referenced in the offer to cynthia is not the company's real website which you see here. >> i thought it was a legitimate job offer. >> reporter: the so-called offer would allow her to work from home. all she had to do was past some test. >> you saw the financial statements and you had to answer questions. they were really checking the answers. which i thought,

cynthia tucker is a columnist. i want to start with you, cynthia. watching it all, as i've just described it. everything going on. the voter suppression. the lingo, sympathizing with the bad guys. i've never heard such a coherent comprehensive effort to describe a guy as not really an american. as being in league with the enemy, at least. your thoughts. >> chris, this is a southern strategy at large. this is all about appealing to racially resentful whites. and i have to tell you, i have been very disappointed and surprised by mitt romney running his campaign this wayful i met him back in 2007 when i was still editorial page editor at the atlanta constitution. he seemed smart, savvy, moderate, rbl reasonable and honorable. but i have to tell you, once he started running those outrageous ads on welfare, i knew that he had put his conscious -- if he has one, in a blind trust for the rest of this campaign. not only are they a clear effort to run again the southern strategy. -- this is about telling racially resentful rights that obama wants to change t

what do you think, cynthia?st, the poll numbers, which is staggering, an eight-point lead, bouncing out of the convention but not showing yet in this particular poll the effects of that terrible recording we got of mitt romney behind the door. >> indeed. that's what's so remarkable about it. you know, i'm not sure i believe that the president has an eight-point lead nationwide. but what this poll does is track other polls that show obama has been building a lead over mitt romney since the conventions and even a little bit before. you know, the fall is when the campaign gets real. and this was the time that mitt romney fully expected elden gauge, he would use all that money to run all those nasty ads and this would be the moment when he would -- the race would certainly show him in a more favorable position. instead he's had one disastrous gaffe after another. his convention wasn't that great to start with. the democrats had a much better convention. and i think the poll numbers are showing all of that. >> yeah,

cynthia? >> this, chris, is another opportunity for romney to show that he is a leader and he's failed. he could stand up and say this is nonsense, this is outrageous. i want the kansas republican party, secretary of state in kansas, to know that barack obama belongs on the ballot in kansas. he has not done that. this is another test of leadership that he has failed. you know, john mccain in 2008 called out the fringe elements. he said no, no, we're not going to sit here and say that the president wasn't born in this country. mitt romney seems unable to do that. ron, your father, when jimmy carter was unable to get the hostages out of iran, your father said this is a time for all americans to stand together. he didn't take that opportunity to bash carter, but mitt romney is unable to show that kind of leadership. he has failed his 3:00 a.m. test. >> i just saw the clip of president reagan doing what cynthia described so well, in the midst of the desert those guys were killed and incredibly dif

cynthia? >> this, chris, is another opportunity for romney to show that he is a leader and he's failed. he could stand up and say this is nonsense, this is outrageous. i want the kansas republican party, secretary of state in kansas, to know that barack obama belongs on the ballot in kansas. he has not done that. this is another test of leadership that he has failed. you know, john mccain in 2008 called out the fringe elements. he said no, no, we're not going to sit here and say that the president wasn't born in this country. mitt romney seems unable to do that. ron, your father, when jimmy carter was unable to get the hostages out of iran, your father said this is a time for all americans to stand together. he didn't take that opportunity to bash carter, but mitt romney is unable to show that kind of leadership. he has failed his 3:00 a.m. test. >> i just saw the clip of president reagan doing what cynthia described so well, in the midst of the desert those guys were killed and incredibly dif

cynthia would agree with me. we love to see the curtains pulled back.t's a product the modern age. every phone is video camera. this is supposedly off the record. this is as close to a real romney we'll get, although have i to say, i question -- you can even question sincerity there. but if he isn't being who he is among people who are like him at what he thought was a closed, private event, then what else can we think is the real romney? and i think people can -- in this viral age, this was a viral video all across the web and social media. people can look for themselves. they can decide for themselves. they can look at this thing and look at mitt romney in the raw, so to speak, politically. what they saw, whatever the commentator said is more powerful, what the people themselves have seen. what they see, i'm guessing they don't like. >> cynthia, take a look at this new ad democrats have out there. they're using that 47% line from romney against him. in a new priorities usa ad set to run in swing states, watch it and tell me what you think of it. >> be

cynthia, why do you think -- take a minute here -- despite this ugly campaign i've just pointed out in its pattern, its thread, what they are doing to try to delegitimize this president, why is he doing well in the toughest states? >> we've talked about what campaign has done wrong. we haven't spent as much time talking about the things obama has done right. obama has done a lot of things right. for one thing, he's just a stronger candidate. he relates to people better. he's more approachable. his favorability rates are higher, while romney has high unfavorability ratings. but obama actually has a set of principles he believes in. so, he has a message that he carries out on the campaign trail over and over again. mitt romney doesn't appear to have anything he believes in so he has spent a lot of the campaign flip-flopping. obama makes early moves that are -- >> i understand you -- >> -- that are doing well for him. >> i believe you understand they made a smart, strategic move to go after the 1% and go after fairness and the whole populous campaign that was pushed and denied and questio

beginning, as cynthia noted, as a value. he's out there making money. i'm thinking of wider ames and goals. >> a new bloomberg goal that has present obama leading mitt romney by six points nationally. for one big reason, half of the polls say they have an unfavorable view of mitt romney. bloomberg reports, this is a september high for a presidential challenger in the last three decades. bloombg quotes a 40-year-old lfcr libertarian on virginia, why she's going to vote for obama. now, this isn't cheerleading for obama by any means but explains romney's problem. if i have to choose between the two, i prefer barack obama over mitt. i think mitt romney is so out of touch. it mostly a protest against him d reblican blen it's not that i think obama has done such a great job. here's an independent speaking. romney's high unfavorable numbers can be linked to awkward and cringe-inducing moments in debates and on the campaign trail. let's listen to some. >> rk, i'll te youha 10 b? $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> we could raise taxes on people.

ron reagan and cynthia cutler. i want to start with this, sin thee n cynthia. i have never heard such a coherent, comprehensive effort to describe a guy as not really an american, as being one of the enemy or in league with the enemy at least. your thoughts? >> the southern strategy at-large. this is all about appealing to racially resentful whites. i have to tell you. i have been very disappointed and surprised by mitt romney's running his campaign this way. i met him back in 2007 when i was still editorial page editor at "the atlanta konconstitution" he seemed smart, savvy, moderate, reasonable and honorable. i have to tell you, once he started running those outrageous ads on welfare, i knew that he had put his conscience, if he has one in a blind trust. not only are they a clear effort to run the southern strategy at-large. this is about telling racially resentful whites that obama wants to change the work requirements so that black people don't even have to work to get government benefits. that's what the ads outrageous . >> ron, go ahead. talk about the wh

cynthia mcfadden, abc news, edinburgh. see more of cynthia's interview tonight on "nightline." and tomorrow on "gma." rowling will read from her new book. >>> coming up, an amazing journey. one little girl's message in a bottle. what they found 10,000 mile as way. my doctor told me calcium is efficiently absorbed in small continuous amounts. citracal slow release continuously releases calcium plus d with efficient absorption in one daily dose. citracal slow release. with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncont

. >> and then later on "nightline" -- >> i'm cynthia mcfaden, coming up next on "nightline," in the rebellion against the new healthy school lunch guidelines. and from harry potter to a new

i'm cynthia mcfadden. tonight, pregnant at 61.hen her young daughter needed a surrogate, one woman stepped up, giving birth and becoming a grandmother at the same time. and she is not alone. in fact, an illinois woman gave birth to her granddaughter just last week. but to quote president lyndon johnson, our problem is not making miracles. it's managing them. just because a woman can do this, doesn't mean that she should. here's abc's amy robach with one family's story. >> reporter: little finn and his 61-year-old grandmother christine casey share a very rare bond. not only is she his grandmother, but she's also his surrogate mother. >> how could that possibly happen? no offense, but who would do that? and what doctor would let them do that? >> we kept thinking, we were going to be stopped anywhere along the way. at every turn, they kept saying, well, you're really in amazing shape. >> reporter: chris gave birth to her grandson as the surrogate for our daughter sarah and son-in-law bill's fertilized egg. >> what we really thought w

the attacker was cynthia apkaw. >> apkaw is extremely violent.erely assaulted that inmate to the point she needed facial reconstructive surgery. so that's why we do what we do now for the precautions of these people. >> she disrespected me so i beat the crap out of her. i went out there and i beat her ass in the cell and i pulled her out. dragged her in the middle of the hall and started beating the [ bleep ] out of her. i stomped on her face and beat her head in the floor. >> i don't think you can ever prepare yourself for everything. for something that brutal, we've had fights before, but that one probably is real close to the top. it was very violent. and the young lady in question that was injured looked to be passed out with the last few kicks and she could not defend herself. so it was very bad. >> we're going to check the lock, apkaw. >> because apkak got to her victim with blocking her lock with magazine pages, detention officers follow a strict protocol before entering her cell. first they cuff her up, then instruct her to lie down on he

it was so perfect, cynthia, we had launched on our brothers. we stayed there for the next 3 hours, and closed the cafe. sara said this brother sister thing is huge and no one writes about it, no one talks about it, the affect our brothers and sisters has on us. this is your next book, this is what you need to write. are you kidding me, i could never write anything so personal, never. that is how it started. when you >> when you were working on this, friends, you would talk about my relationship with my difficult older brother, what happened? what doors opened up, what did you learn about what people carry around about their siblings? >> it is huge. so many share this. it is like the asian flu. the first year of trying to work on this, i couldn't do it, so i approached it like a reporter. i was dancing around what it was really about, which is the red hot emotions between the 2 of us and where it had come from. i spent a year reporting, interviewing every expert, i flew the london, and the importance of relationships and psychoanalysis. >> did y

robert reich and cynthia tucker, thanks for your time tonight.od weekend to both of you. >> thanks, john. you too. >> governor romney became the punch line for comedians this week, but the result may not leave him hurting. that's next. i'm done! "are you a cool mom?" i'm gonna find out. [ female announcer ] swiffer wetjet's pads are better than ever. now they have the scrubbing power of mr. clean magic eraser so you don't have to get down on your hands and knees to scrub away tough, dried-on stains. hey, do you guys think i'm "momtacular" or "momtrocious"? ♪ [ female announcer ] swiffer. now with the scrubbing power of mr. clean magic eraser. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? >>> early voting in two states, and that means the gop effort to s

and "nightline's" cynthia mcfadden got an early look. >> reporter: books. you're a wizard, harry. >> i'm a what? >> reporter: merchandise. a theme park. the harry potter universe, j.k. rowling's creation, has spell bound millions. now, rowling has left her wizarding world behind for an adult novel called "the casual vacancy." you've gone from the ultimate fantasy to the ultimate reality. >> i've gone from dragons and unicorns and all the fun that's involved in writing that, to a book that intensely personal. that expresses a lot of my reality. >> reporter: rowling insists the book is not a memoir. but she did draw on the darker times of her life to craft her characters. >> we have an adult character in the book who has obsessive compulsive disorder. these are things i know from the inside. yeah. >> reporter: the ocd part of it, as well? >> when i was in my teens i had issues with ocd. >> reporter: how did it manifest? >> compulsions. checking things. very common. double-checking. triple-checking. >> reporter: some might wonder why rowling, an almost billion

[laughter] in the spirit of his remarks -- cynthia was carried over the bridge with her father. was a baby at the time. in that spirit, as we commemorate the 75th anniversary, it is pretty exciting for us in the theme of, from sea to shining sea, national park service, national conservancy, golden gate, recreation area -- i would like to knowledge the role that president obama had in passing the recovery act, which provided some of the funds for us to be able to do the presidio parkway. the beat goes on in terms of enhancing what this means to us and what it does for us. in that spirit, i also want to acknowledge some one -- when the superintendent was speaking, he referenced this golden gate recreation area is celebrating its 40th anniversary. none of that would have been possible without the leadership in congress -- of congressman phillip burton, my predecessor there. [applause] and dr. it occur we burn, amy meyer, who were inspired. anyways, it took a lot of people with their thinking, their ideas, the termination, to get the job done. today, i am honored to join our great m

we thank you. >> thank you. >> i'm cynthia jo. i want to speak before the planning commission on this conditional use. i am a member of presbyterian khur frp at 925 china town. we are not pink. we are beige. we are in support of the conditional use for this subway station. the presbyterian khur inch china town has always supported causes beneficial to our community. in fact, we sponsored the presbyterian church as sponsor, sacramento and stockton streets, just two blocks from the church. after 30 years, this coming sunday, september 16th, i invite you to attend our 30th anniversary of the housing project, which is a low-income senior multifamily and commercial use for nonprofit use. so we will be honoring 35 of the original residents. we even have a resident that is 101 years old. we hope we will be able to bless the subway station before we reach 100 years old. we ask that you support the approval of this conditional use. thank you. oh, yes, ten years ago i was on the planning commission so i had to make it short. >> president fo

cynthia mcfadden, abc news, edinbo edinboro.

we thank you. >> thank you. >> i'm cynthia jo. i want to speak before the planning commission on this conditional use. i am a member of presbyterian khur frp at 925 china town. we are not pink. we are beige. we are in support of the conditional use for this subway station. the presbyterian khur inch china town has always supported causes beneficial to our community. in fact, we sponsored the presbyterian church as sponsor, sacramento and stockton streets, just two blocks from the church. after 30 years, this coming sunday, september 16th, i invite you to attend our 30th anniversary of t

cynthia is right. chris, real subject constanty political leaders in america, or you could say ronald reagan in the 80s, tend to remake their parties in their own images, around their own core believes. mitt romney does aren't appear to really have a core that you can build anything around. and so, as a result, the party remakes him in it's image. and the republican party right now is dominated by this, you call them a fringe, but it's a larger chunk than that. part of their thing is they demand feelty. you have to adopt their delulgsal world view. which includes things like obama really hates america and he's all about destroying the country. you have to blow the dog whistle constantly to reassure those people that you buy into that and that is what romney is dug and we've seen what horrible trouble it's gotten him into with egypt and libya now. >> the thing to watch is the way a lot of moderate white people republicans and democrats say they don't hear the whistle. i noticed after this week. the lang

. >> cynthia was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. her situation unique is that prior to killing her husband, she worked as a prison correction officer. >> a lot of people will look at a woman in prison. they want to find an excuse. they want to say there's got to have been some provocation, some reason why she did such a terrible thing. in my case, that is not the case. my husband did not abuse me. he did not deserve what i did to him. we had been married 22 1/2 years and he was a good man. but my husband was clinically depressed. he was not an easy man to live with at that time. he was hard to please. >> when cynthia became involved with another man, she shot her husband and made it look like suicide. >> i wish i could go back. there's no way you can say sorry for something like that, no matter how sorry you are, you can't say i'm sorry because it's just so insufficient. there's nothing that can ever fix it or make it right again. >> despite the fact that cynthia will probably never leave this prison, at 46, she's found a new purpos

any legal advice this evening, we also joined by our legal assistant, he's at the controls and i'm cynthia, we have representatives throughout the departments who have cases before the board, joseph duf fi, senior building inspector is here representing the building inspection department, we're also joined by carla short, urban forester representing the department of public works. if you would at this time go over the board's meeting guidelines and conduct the swring-in process. >> the board requests that you turn off all phones and pagers so they will not disturb the proceedings, please carry on conversations in the hallway, appellants, permit holdings and department representatives have 7 minutes to present their case and is three minutes for rebuttals, people affiliated with these parties must include their comments within the 7 or 3 minute periods, members of the public who are not affiliated with the parties have up to 3 minutes each to address the board but no rebuttals. so assist the board in minutes, members of the public who wish to speak on an item are asked but not required to s

cynthia mcfadden went to scotland to talk to j.k.r's office. this isn't the real book. there's a michael corder book u. they wouldn't let me leave the building without it. rowling may be known for her harry potters series. but her newest book could be no different. this new book is about a grim reality, in part drawn from rowling's own painful past. ♪ under my umbrella >> reporter: you may be wonder what rihanna's song "umbrella," could have to do with j.k. rowling. it's not that we're about to need one on this day. the song features prominently in rowling's new book. went into a couple of bookstores in town. and there's posters everywhere. >> i can't go in book shops at the moment. >> reporter: the new novel is called "the casual vacancy." it might as well be called great expectations, as millions of fans around the world have been anticipating this book for year ps it's about the secrets and conflicts revealed behind closed doors in a seemingly idyllic british town. it's been five years since harry. did you take five years to write