Al Qaeda Releases Video of U.S. Hostages; Austerity Backlash
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. And look who's back.</s>ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: Finally with a voice, at least semblance of a voice here. I'm Zoraida Sambolin. We are bringing you the news from A to Z. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East. So, let's get started.</s>BANFIELD: We begin with breaking news. A desperate plea to President Obama from an American citizen kidnapped last year by al Qaeda. The new video, the first evidence that 70-year-old Warren Weinstein is still alive.</s>SAMBOLIN: A murder mystery at Churchill Downs. A track worker's body found in a barn on the backside of the famous racetrack, just hours after the Kentucky Derby. This morning, the search for his killer.</s>JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, I am vice president of the United States of America. The president sets the policy. I am absolutely --</s>BANFIELD: Vice President Joe Biden giving us a couple of hints that the White House view of same-sex marriage could be evolving just as a key vote on the matter comes up in the battleground state.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>SAMBOLIN: Up first we begin with breaking news. A chilling video just released by al Qaeda. On it, U.S. hostage Warren Weinstein, begs President Obama to agree to his kidnappers' demands or else he will be killed. Weinstein was abducted last August in Pakistan. The 70-year-old Maryland executive has a bunch of health issues, including heart problems. Here's part of the video militants posted online.</s>WARREN WEINSTEIN, HOSTAGE: I'd like to talk to President Obama and ask and beg him that he please accept and respond to the demands of the mujahidin. If you accept the demands, I live. If you don't accept the demands, then I die. It's important you accept the demands and act quickly and don't delay. There will be no benefit in delay. It will just make things more difficult for me. But it is very important that you act quickly and I'm now waiting for your response.</s>SAMBOLIN: CNN foreign affairs reporter Elise Labott joins us live now from Washington. Elise, is this the first concrete evidence that Weinstine is alive -- or Weinstein, excuse me?</s>ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: That's right, Zoraida. Well, it's the first, as you say, proof of life. And Mr. Weinstein was kidnapped in August. In December, al Qaeda, and Ayman Al Zawahiri, the number two at the time, the head of al Qaeda, said basically if the U.S. meets the demands for Mr. Weinstein, such as releasing all al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners, stopping air strikes in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, then he would be released. But this is the first actual proof of life as they say of Mr. Weinstein.</s>SAMBOLIN: And how do we know how current this video is?</s>LABOTT: Well, we really don't. We know it was taken sometime between December and now, because some of the demands that he refers to. But we really don't know. And a lot of times with these al Qaeda videos, we really don know when they were taken. Presumably if the U.S. -- if the al Qaeda wants to get some demands from the United States, then we would assume that he's still alive. But the State Department, U.S. government is working with the Pakistanis. The Pakistanis have the lead on the investigation. But so far, no other information about where he's being held, presumably somewhere in the tribal areas of Pakistan.</s>SAMBOLIN: And, Elise, is there any chance that the U.S. will meet any of the demands?</s>LABOTT: I don't think so, Zoraida. I mean, basically, the U.S. has a no negotiation policy with any kidnappers per se, and certainly not going to negotiate with terrorists. I mean, as we said, the Pakistanis have the lead in the investigation and they would be trying to use their contacts in the tribal areas to try and see if they could get him released maybe for some kind of nominal fee. We've seen in other cases, for instance, other kidnappings that money has been paid, ransom has been paid. But certainly the U.S. thinks that air strikes is a national security imperative and so of these prisoners that are in jail, certainly a threat to the United States. I don't see the U.S. really conceding to those demands.</s>SAMBOLIN: All right. Elise Labott live in Washington for us -- thank you very much.</s>BANFIELD: Four minutes now past 5:00. And this morning, authorities are still trying to solve a Kentucky derby murder mystery. Police in Louisville, Kentucky, say the worker was found dead in a barn on the backside of Churchill Downs and was murdered. The body was discovered just hours after the derby ended. An autopsy set to be done later today on 48-year-old Adan Fabian Perez, described as a Guatemalan immigrant who works so a groomer. He was identified by his son, a 19-year-old who was also a track worker.</s>SAMBOLIN: Investigators remain tight lipped about the discovery of two bodies in Mississippi. They were found at the home of the man suspected of kidnapping a Tennessee woman and her three daughters. Jo Ann Bain and the three girls ages 8, 12 and 14 were last seen April 27th. An AMBER Alert has been issued for the missing girls. The FBI says 35-year-old Adam Mayes is armed and dangerous. Investigators believe he is -- cut his hair and may have also changed the appearance of the mother and the daughters.</s>BANFIELD: And coming up later this morning on EARLY START, we're going to talk with the FBI agents in charge of the investigation into the appearance. We'll speak with special agent Aaron T. Ford with the bureau's Memphis division.</s>SAMBOLIN: And political upheaval in France and Greece will likely move the U.S. markets this morning. France has a new president, socialist Francois Hollande defeating Nicolas Sarkozy in a runoff election. His victory, a rejection of tough austerity measures that could signal a change in the way France deals with the eurozone debt crisis. Voters in Greece also weary of austerity and steep cuts. No party coming close to a majority in Sunday's election. Right now, it looks like a new coalition government will have to be formed in Greece once again. The uncertainty has investors heading for the sidelines overseas, markets in France and Germany down sharply overnight. It looks like U.S. markets are following suit here. The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P; 500 futures all pointing lower this morning, suggesting a sell-off at the opening bell.</s>BANFIELD: So, from Wall Street to your street, Main Street, everybody seems to be buzzing about Facebook finally going public next Friday. This morning, the company will kick off the old road show. That's when Facebook's top management sets to meet with potential big buyers out there. The price range for the social media company right now is sort of wavering between $28 and $35 a share. That gives Facebook a value -- are you sitting down? Up to $98 billion. Here's just a portion of founder Mark Zuckerberg's message to the investors.</s>MARK ZUCKERBERG, FACEBOOK CEO: I grew up with the Internet. And I had -- when I was in middle school I was using search engines like Google and Yahoo! I just thought they were the most amazing thing. It was this complete symbol of the age in which we live where now you have access to all of this information. The thing that seemed like was missing was always just people. Even from very early on when we were building this thing for one school, there was a concept of what it could turn into. We just weren't sure then we'd be the ones who did it.</s>BANFIELD: Well, they really were. Boy, were they? Because Facebook now have 901 million users in just about every single country on the planet. The big question would be: is it the next Apple? Is it the next Google? Or is it something more than that? The person with the answers, Christine Romans, who's joining us now. You were talking about this for the last couple of weeks, sort of the outlook on this one.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is the next Facebook. Facebook is Facebook. It's a unique tech giant. That's what people who want to get into this IPO are buying into, this hype about a very unique and game-changing tech company, Facebook. But, you know, as unique and game changing as it is, this weekend at its annual confab in Omaha, the oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, probably the most famous investor out there, who said to our Poppy Harlow, no, I'm not going to buy Facebook and here's why.</s>WARREN BUFFETT, CEO, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY: We never buy a new offering. I can't recall in my life buying a new offering. The idea that something coming out on a Monday that's being offered with significant commissions, all kinds of publicity, the seller electing the time to sell is going to be the best single investment I can make in the world among thousands of choices, that's mathematically impossible. So, we are not a buyer.</s>ROMANS: His co-pilot -- his investment co-pilot Charlie Munger, he said not only would he buy it, he's not on it. And they're not going to get on it. He has a problem with 15-year-olds putting their whole life online. You know, he's not saying they're going to short it or move against it but they don't really get it and they don't want it. And so, this is my advice to you. If these guys aren't going to buy the hype, you shouldn't buy the hype either. Here's a thing, it might be a good long term investment, we don't know. But a lot of you are e-mailing me or tweeting me and asking how do I set up a brokerage account so I can buy this on open? If it's the only stock you've ever bought you need to do more home work before you put all your eggs in one basket. The other point here is we talk about the road show. So, this company is going around and talking to big investors and hedge funds and trying to get them to buy in at the IPO price. You're never going to get the IPO price at $28 to $35. You'll be buying it with the hype and the hoopla. You're going to be buying it higher than the big, rich and smart investors.</s>BANFIELD: How much higher? That's the big question.</s>ROMANS: We don't know. We don't know.</s>BANFIELD: Anywhere up it $150 a share or, you know, maybe $10, $20, $30 more?</s>ROMANS: It's irrelevant. It's relevant, because the smart people, the people who are in and have the ins, the investment banks and people who have relationships with Facebook, they're going to get that IPO price. Regular people are going to get whatever it trades for afterwards. Remember, LinkedIn is up big since it's IPO, Groupon is down big since it's IPO. You know, my advice to regular investors is just wait for a second. And like Warren Buffett says, buying the IPO can be treacherous. The big investors, the big money play the</s>IPO. BANFIELD: Next time around, I'm going to ask you if the Oracle said anything about not buying into Apple.</s>ROMANS: He doesn't buy things he doesn't understand. I'll find out where he stands on that one.</s>BANFIELD: And that is brilliant. And that is why he's the oracle. Christine Romans, thanks so much. Ten minutes now past 5:00 on the East Coast. Vice President Biden coming out in favor of same-sex marriage. Up next, why that has the White House scrambling this morning.</s>SAMBOLIN: A star football recruit Alex Anzalone causing a firestorm after he announced he was pulling out of Ohio State because of a sex offender. He's reportedly now reconsidering that decision. Are the Buckeyes back in the picture? The latest in this morning's "Early Reads." You are watching EARLY START.