Worker Found Dead Hours after Derby
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. And good morning to all of you. I'm Carol Costello. Happening right now in the NEWSROOM. My life in your hands. A 70-year-old American kidnapped by al Qaeda now pleading for help from President Obama saying if you accept the demands, I live. If you don't accept the demands, I die. The new video straight ahead. Plus off-script and outspoken. Joe Biden reportedly sending the White House scrambling after his comments on same-sex marriage. This morning, the meeting as team Obama tries to get on message. Death at the derby. A track worker found dead in a barn at the world famous track. New clues and new questions as we are expecting to hear from police this morning. And middle class talkback. Today we kick off a series built around you. Your concerns. Your issues. Your questions to the candidates. Today, we connect you to them and get answers. NEWSROOM starts right now. And this morning, we begin with a man's desperate plea for President Obama to save his life. On a videotaped just released by al Qaeda we hear from 70-year-old Warren Weinstein, the American who was snatched from his home in Pakistan back in August. He begs President Obama, make a deal with the terrorists or they will kill me. CNN's Reza Sayah is in Pakistan's Capitol. He joins us from Islamabad by phone. Reza, bring us up to date. What's the latest?</s>REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, for eight months, Carol, we weren't sure about Warren Weinstein's condition but when you look at this video, it looks like he is in relatively good condition. He speaks clearly and coherently. He doesn't seem to have any visible injuries. Now we should note that we don't know when this video was shot, where it was shot, so it's impossible for us to verify that he is OK today. But, you know, based on the video, he seems OK and U.S. investigators and Pakistani investigators have something to work with in this investigation.</s>COSTELLO: Hey now, as far as al Qaeda go, kidnapping a 70-year- old man? Come on.</s>SAYAH: Well, look, it's the world of Islamist militants, Carol. It's very murky and shadowy. It's very difficult to glean much from this video. And it's even impossible to verify who has Weinstein. The video was spotted on an al Qaeda Web site but it's impossible to independently verify if, indeed, this is al Qaeda or if this is some other militant group who is looking to make quick cash off ransom and using al Qaeda's name. And we of course heard Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al Qaeda's leader today, mentioning Warren Weinstein. It's not clear if he's using this kidnapping to hype al Qaeda's name in a time when they're desperate and weaker than ever. But what's clear is he's kidnapped and must be a terrible time for his family.</s>COSTELLO: Definitely so. That videotape released of that man pleading for his, we're going to have that for you in the next hour of NEWSROOM. We're having some technical difficulties. Reza Sayah, from Islamabad, thank you so much. We're also following the mysterious death of an Army captain in Afghanistan. Bruce Kevin Clark died on a Skype video link as his wife watched helplessly 75,000 miles away. But that's only part of this bizarre story. How he died is stirring all sorts of intrigue. The military says there are no wounds on his body but his wife says that when he was suddenly knocked forward she saw a bullet hole in a closet behind him. Today, his family is trying to make sense of it all.</s>MARIANA BARRY, CLARK'S SISTER-IN-LAW: He loved being in the military. And he loved serving his country. He was absolutely willing to make any sacrifice and it's just horrible that this is the sacrifice he ended up making.</s>COSTELLO: Clark's wife says it took two hours of frantic phone calls for a military personnel to finally reach her husband's side. One official tells us Clark's death is ruled as a -- as noncombat related but says the official cause of death is pending an autopsy and toxicology results. And we hope to learn more in the next hour about a possible murder mystery at the Kentucky Derby. A worker found dead in a barn at Churchill Downs just hours after the big race. Police are investigating the death as a homicide. This morning, they are awaiting autopsy results. Deborah Feyerick is following the story for us. Deborah, any leads at all?</s>DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what they're looking into right now. The victim is being identified as a 48-year- old stable worker originally from Guatemala. He was working at Churchill Downs with his 19-year-old son who identified the body. That's according to the chief deputy coroner. Now the victim, Adan Fabian Perez, was found dead by a security guard making rounds just before dawn Sunday. That is hours after the famed Kentucky Derby. Perez is believed to be a groom for trainer Cecil Borel. He was not found -- he was down in the barn not far from where the winning horse "I'll Have Another" was being kept. It does appear the stable worker got into a big fight. The question is with who and why. And police are now questioning some of the 400 people, Carol, who live and work behind the track. That area is called the backside and it's described by police as really a mini- city. A 24-hour city. It's got 48 barns, multiple stables, dormitories and trainer apartments. And this is not the first time the derby has been overshadowed a bit. Last year's race was also clouded by the accidental overdose of jockey Michael Baze. He was found dead in a vehicle near the stables just a week after the Kentucky Derby. But right now a bill murder mystery at Churchill Downs -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: Yes, and you have to wonder, do police believe the alleged -- do police believe this death is somehow connected to the race?</s>FEYERICK: Well, yes, that's what's so interesting. The death is being investigated as a homicide. Yesterday, police were saying it didn't appear connected to the racetrack. When I called this morning and really pressed for clarification on that the spokesman said that while the derby was over. So technically it wasn't connected to the race itself. But, still, you have this occurring, you know, within a 12-hour period. So everybody who was there at the time that this murder may have taken place is in the process of being interviewed by police. So we'll see, we'll see exactly what the connection really is.</s>COSTELLO: Deborah Feyerick reporting live for us this morning. Mitt Romney is in Cleveland this afternoon. He is going to talk about jobs and the economy. His speech comes with the release of a new Web video attacking President Obama over the latest jobs report.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight, new evidence that economic recovery is slowing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The unemployment rate 8.1 percent.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over and over again, they will tell you that America is down and out.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The unemployment rate did drop --</s>COSTELLO: The Romney video called "Silence" includes a graphic with the words "Millions of Americans are suffering in silence." Mitt Romney is in a dead heat with the president. In a new poll from "Politico" and George Washington University the poll questioned 1,000 likely voters from across the nation. Romney has a 10-point lead over the president among independents. Bill Clinton is calling on North Carolina voters this morning to reject a ballot initiative on a same-sex marriage ban. If the initiative passes tomorrow the policy defining marriage as the union of a man and woman would become state law. In a robocall, Clinton warns the passage would harm the state's economy and its families.</s>FMR. PRES. BILL CLINTON, UNITED STATES: Its passage would also take away health insurance from children and could even take away domestic violence protections from women. So the real effect of the law is not to keep the traditional definition of marriage. They've already done that. The real effect of the law would be to hurt families and drive away jobs.</s>COSTELLO: Clinton's physician puts him at odds with evangelist Billy Graham who endorsed the initiative last week. Vice President Joe Biden has political at Twitter today, debating whether the vice president endorsed same-sex marriage. It sure sounded that way. Especially when Mr. Biden asserted the TV show "Will & Grace" has prepared Americans to accept same-sex marriages.</s>JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT: I take a look at when things really begin to change was the social culture changes. I think "Will & Grace" probably did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody has ever done so far.</s>COSTELLO: Seriously? We're going to show you a clip from "Will & Grace." Do we have that clip or we're still having technicality problems. We do have it. OK, so seriously, I say again?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know this guy. I think he might be a gay. But I don't know for sure.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A gay? What makes you think he might be a gay, Officer?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he wears shorts. He's always working out. He's got really defined biceps, tight abs, rock hard thighs.</s>COSTELLO: It would have worked better if we didn't have that technical difficulty. But any who, seriously, Mr. Biden has put President Obama in a tough spot since the president's views are -- the president's views on the issue were still evolving. Much to the chagrin of gay rights groups. We'll talk more about that in 20 minutes. This is not something you want to see when driving in your car unless, of course, you're a storm chaser. Meteorologist Rob Marciano will be along to tell us if this twister left behind any major damage.