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Taliban Video Shows Bergdahl's Release; Korder: Bergdahl Deserted The Army; Did The Taliban Win The Deal?; Mississippi GOP Primary: Too Close To Call; Clinton To People: "I Have A Decision To Make"

Aired June 04, 2014 - 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: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, moment of release -- breaking overnight, first video of the actual Bowe Bergdahl swap.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon is reviewing it. They don't doubt its authenticity.

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COSTELLO: Moment by moment, frame by frame. The former POW looking pale and weak.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The intensity that's on those base you don't know what he's thinking.

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COSTELLO: This morning new questions abound.

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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Who were the men that came to get him on that helicopter?

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COSTELLO: Where the video was shot and what the terrorists are chanting throughout the tape. As Obama watches from Poland, critics coalesce.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know how stupid this administration thinks the American people are.

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COSTELLO: Let's talk live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin with those riveting new images of former prisoner of war, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. The Taliban releasing this video on their website and it is extraordinary, 17 minutes long. It shows the exchange between the Taliban and American Special Forces. You can see Bergdahl in that truck.

His skin looks pale. He appears to blink frequently under the intense Afghan sun. You can hear Taliban members chanting. They are chanting long live the leader of the Taliban. The Taliban indulges in some propaganda asserting the Americans were so flustered they offered the wrong hand during a handshake.

The Taliban narrator saying, quote, "We told them that once they arrived in the area, we would be having a white flag. When they landed, they were too afraid and worried that they shook hands only with two people and gave a left hand to a third one."

About Bergdahl, the narrator says, quote, "When he first saw the helicopters, he became very happy, but the Americans left very quickly and we didn't get them to convey them our messages." Bergdahl's hand over appeared orderly and calm, but the Taliban say they came prepared to fight if necessary.

The narrator saying, quote, "We were given assurance by our leaders that nothing would take place, but we took our armed friends there only for the safety of ourselves because you can never trust your enemy."

Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon with more in-depth look at this video. Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Never trust. You can bet the special operations troops felt exactly the same way. In fact, we do know from senior U.S. officials the U.S. guys had plenty of backup firepower ready to go just out of sight if they need it. But this video controversy aside is an extraordinary look at one American soldier's walk to freedom and the men who came to get him.

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STARR (voice-over): Breaking overnight, the first images of the actual Bowe Bergdahl swap emerging on the Taliban's web site. Chanting praise for their leader, 18 armed Taliban militants seen standing in the wait perched on grassy hills in the valley, guns and rocket launchers at the ready. The narration says this meeting took place at four in the afternoon in Host Province, Eastern Afghanistan.

At the center of the action, a silver pickup truck, Bowe Bergdahl seen inside sitting in the back seat. Bergdahl dressed all in white. He appears to be nervous, blinking, and shaky. Bergdahl seen talking with one of his alleged captors. At one point, the army sergeant even cracks what looks to be a smile while talking and then wipes his eyes.

Seen flying overhead, a twin-engine plane approaching the meeting point. And then suddenly like a scene out of the movies the Special Forces Blackhawk helicopter descends. Two Taliban militants immediately escort Bergdahl towards the chopper, waving a white flag.

Three U.S. Special Operations commandos approach, shaking hands with the Taliban militants. They pat down Bergdahl's back and immediately begin escorting him to the helicopter. In Bergdahl's left hand, a plastic bag. The contents, not yet known.

The commandos wave back to the militants as they run towards the chopper. They pat Bergdahl down again, this time in a deliberate and thorough fashion, presumably a swipe for explosives right before loading him in.

This face-to-face exchange lasting less than 10 seconds before they were off. A message later emerging, don't come back to Afghanistan. Another portion of the edited video shows the homecoming of the Taliban prisoners in a separate location. A caravan of SUVs pulls over alongside a busy stretch of road.

The five Guantanamo Bay detainees exit, hugging their supporters. This video now detailing what is considered a highly controversial exchange. The Obama administration facing steep criticism for what some say is a negotiation with terrorists in exchange for a U.S. soldier who some say is a possible deserter.

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STARR: Now, when you look at the tape, it's worth remembering again Bergdahl had been in isolation for nearly five years. He may not have understood or believed until the very last minute when he saw those Americans that he was being set free. As for the U.S. commandos on the ground, an extraordinary look, a very rare look at how they operate. Look at them.

They have beards, caps, sunglasses, scarves over their faces, keeping their faces very well hidden. They do not turn their back to the Taliban. They are very cautious. They are very careful. But they move very, very quickly to get Bergdahl on the helicopter and get out of there.

One of the last shots that you see on that helicopter is a couple of the commandos, the last two guys back on the chopper. They sit sideways with their feet dangling out looking out the entire time ready until the very last second if trouble were to break out -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Nerves of steel. Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon this morning.

Let's talk more about this video of Bowe Bergdahl with one of his fellow soldiers former Army Sergeant Josh Korder, served in Afghanistan at the same time as Bergdahl. Welcome, Sergeant.

SERGEANT JOSH KORDER, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED): I'm sorry, Carol. I didn't hear what you just asked.

COSTELLO: I didn't ask anything yet. I'm just welcoming you to the show and thank you for being with me.

KORDER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Well, first off, I want to get your general impression of this video. What went through your mind as you watched it?

KORDER: The video was exactly the kind of exchange that we were expected before deployments. We get out and have to do special training just in case something like this does happen and it happened exactly the way that they tell us in training that it would take place if you ever were captured. It was very much by the book.

COSTELLO: Before we get into Bowe Bergdahl, I want to ask you about the American Special Forces. What did it take for those guys to do this?

KORDER: I mean, those guys have those kind of resources. I think every American soldier has been in a situation at one point or another where they are facing that kind of danger. You know, you just have to wait to see if your enemy is going to try to strike. Once the enemy decides to strike, that's when you have to take action. Until then, you're just basically waiting.

COSTELLO: You are just so matter of fact about it. I would be scared out of my mind.

KORDER: It's a situation like I said as an infantry soldier, we had situations all the time. You go on patrol and you see a local with a weapon. You can't think of those people as threats until they're trying to threaten your life. That's just the way we work in the military. We have escalation of force. You can't just go willy-nilly and start hurting people because they have weapons.

COSTELLO: They were amazing those Special Forces. Let's talk about Bowe Bergdahl now. When you first glimpse at him on the video, what did you think?

KORDER: I mean, it was very much what I expected. A lot of reports had said he was in failing health. He seemed to be walking well. I came back from deployment from Afghanistan and so many other soldiers did too and you know that any one of us will be malnourished and fatigued. You know, that flight home for anyone is always, you know, kind of surreal. So I can only imagine what was going through his mind as that was going on. But you know, at the same time, it's good that this took place.

COSTELLO: Well, I want to put up a picture of what Sergeant Bergdahl looked like in 2009 and what he looks like today. He certainly appears to be rather unhealthy. There's some controversy that the president said he had to rescue Bowe Bergdahl right now because of health concerns. Do you believe that?

KORDER: You know, I wasn't there to see any of the reports about what happened. It certainly doesn't seem like somebody who is walking to a helicopter from a pretty good distance is in failing health. If he was being carried and those Special Forces guys needed to support him on the way to the helicopter, I think that would have been a much more dire need. I think he was probably in about the same amount of health and malnourishment as any soldier is when they're over there.

COSTELLO: You have called Bowe Bergdahl a deserter. Can you go through again what you think happened the night he disappeared?

KORDER: Well, by all accounts every single person from my unit tells the story the exact same way. Bergdahl took off his gear. Put his body armor down. Left his weapon behind and walked away from us.

COSTELLO: And in your mind, I know there should be some sort of hearing. I just want to clear this up so everyone knows. You weren't for leaving him with the Taliban, right?

KORDER: Absolutely not. I've said many times that in combat you have a bond of brotherhood and the understanding is we're all in this together. With Bergdahl leaving and wandering away, he did violate that which is why I feel that he should have an investigation. However, that is no reason to say that I wanted him to stay away forever. His family needs to have him back. It's good to have him back here too.

COSTELLO: All right, Sergeant Korder, thank you so much for sharing your insight this morning. I appreciate it.

Bergdahl's homecoming was secured by the release of these five men, formerly high ranking members of the Taliban who had been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. They are now in Qatar. CNN's Becky Anderson caught up with Attorney General Jeh Johnson in Abu Dhabi after he met with officials in Qatar about these men.

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What have you been told by Qatar to assure the U.S. that their citizens are safe from those men delivered to Qatar?

JEH JOHNSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: I was in Qatar to speak at the conference of the airline industry. I also met with local officials in Qatar. I would say we have a very important relationship with Qatar right now on a number of fronts. They've been very good partners with us in national security on a number of fronts.

ANDERSON: People want to know how these men are living. It's reported they are living the high life. What do you know about their living conditions?

JOHNSON: I would have to refer you to other agencies.

ANDERSON: Has Qatar not told the U.S. how they are living because there's much speculation that I would love to put to bed?

JOHNSON: That's not a conversation I'm involved in right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: All right, Jeh Johnson is Homeland Security secretary. I apologize for that error. Chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto joins us now. Good morning.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Always good to be on.

COSTELLO: Always good to have you here. Let's talk about these terrorists first in Qatar. Do we know where they're living and how close an eye the Qatar government is keeping on them?

SCIUTTO: Well, we know they'll be under a travel restriction for a year. We know that the Qataris say they won't live in a country club and they'll live in normal accommodation, whatever that means there. Certainly better than Guantanamo. There is precedent for this. For instance, when Saudis have taken back prisoners from Guantanamo, they have this re-education, reintegration program.

And as part of that program they have incentives and financial support. I have interviewed former Guantanamo detainees there who are given some financing for a house, to get married, even a car. This kind of thing, which with these governments when they take them back, they'll say this is a necessary part of the process to keep them from returning to terrorism.

In addition to some of that financial support, they also put them through re-education program to instruct them in the error in their ways. I think you can expect some of that in Qatar although this is a shorter term deal. It's only for a year with the Saudis. This is something they do over several years.

Listen, it's a difficult process. It's not going to look good, right, to have folks like this who are involved in attacks on American soldiers and Americans to be getting this kind of treatment, but it has happened before when detainees are released from Guantanamo.

COSTELLO: Jim Sciutto, thanks so much. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the polls are closed in Mississippi's Republican Senate primary, but voters will likely have to wait a few weeks before the winner is announced. It's too close to call. We'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: Another high profile battle between the Tea Party and establishment in Mississippi where six-term incumbent Senator Thad Cochran is fighting for his political life against challenger, Chris McDaniel, and this morning the race is too close to call.

CNN chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, is in Jackson, Mississippi, this morning. Good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. It's too close to call, but both parties or both sides I should say in the same party are preparing for a runoff because that is the law if we find out once all of the absentee ballots are counted and so forth that 50 percent threshold is not reached, there's an automatic runoff. That would be June 24th.

So all of the outside forces that have been really so focused on this race particularly when you talk about the Tea Party groups, who is who of Tea Party groups really from all across the country have been pouring millions here. They are vowing to double that with money and boots on the ground and so forth.

When it comes to energy, which is really the name of the game here particularly for Chris McDaniel, the Republican challenger forces, they have to keep that up and increase it in a big way. Here's what Chris McDaniel said to his supporters last night.

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CHRIS MCDANIEL (R), MISSISSIPPI SENATE CANDIDATE: This is an historic moment in this state's history. Because of your hard work and dedication, we sit here tonight leading a 42-year incumbent, but our fight is not over. Remember it is about the people.

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BASH: Now, you might wonder what did Thad Cochran say to his supporters last night? Well, Carol, he actually didn't come out. We were there for hours at what we hoped would be his victory party and they were waiting crunching the numbers as you can imagine. A lot of nail biting and gnawing about what was going on. He didn't end up coming out at all.

The congressman from here, Gregg Harper, did come out and say that it looked like it would be a runoff and everybody has to get going. I think that really does speak to the challenge that Cochran advisers and supporters will quietly admit they have, which is that they need the energy of Cochran, long time Cochran supporters, to get out there and not be as complacent as they had been leading up to this primary.

That is going to be the hard part. Finding those people and getting them back to the polls and getting people who didn't vote before to get out in three weeks and whether or not that is doable, that's a big question mark particularly because Cochran advisers admit this is the whole structure of the Tea Party movement. The whole goal is to get rid of at least one incumbent and Thad Cochran is just about all that's left.

COSTELLO: Dana Bash reporting live from Mississippi. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it's the question everybody wants to know. Well, if they're a Democrat. Will Hillary Clinton make another bid for the White House? A sit-down with "People" magazine, Clinton talks about that and more. Brianna Keilar is following that story. Good morning.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. Hillary Clinton says that she has a decision to make. She also talked about the type of grandmother she wants to be. She said she wants to baby sit every chance she gets and she even talked about Monica Lewinsky and a whole lot more. I'll have more on that after the break.

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COSTELLO: The countdown to Hillary Clinton's new book, "Hard Choices" is on and Hillary is in campaign style to promote her book. High profile appearances and video discussing the book and now a cover story in "People" magazine. Will Clinton dish on whether or not she's made a decision to run for president.

No one could answer that question right now. Joining me from Washington, CNN senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar. I would guess she wants to keep people guessing.

KEILAR: No. She definitely does. That does add to intrigue of this carefully calculated book rollout, Carol. You're certainly right about this, but you know, this "People" magazine interview is interesting. It deals with a lot of light topics as well as very serious ones. She talks about her plans for 2016 and the kind of grandmother she wants to be. She says she wants to be emotionally supportive, but she also wants to set expectations and she wants to baby sit a lot.

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KEILAR (voice-over): Hillary Clinton sitting down for an exclusive interview with "People" magazine at her Washington home as her newest book "Hard Choices" hits shelves next week. On her presidential aspirations, Clinton tells "People," I know I have a decision to make. She says we need to break down that highest hardest glass ceiling in American politics.

To have a woman president is something I would love to see happen, but I'll just have to make my own decision about what I think is right for me. Her book rollout is certainly starting to look like a campaign. A busy schedule of appearances.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Let me shake a few more hands.

KEILAR: Interviews and calculated releases of parts of her memoir about her time at the State Department. Just Monday she dropped this hint at a speech in Denver talking about the grueling nature of a presidential race. She assured the crowd she has --

CLINTON: A lot of resilience and stamina.

KEILAR: She also talks about her husband's health saying he's had that tremor for years. It's nothing serious just some sort of nerve pinch. People say that he's too thin. He doesn't think so and he has an enormous amount of energy and Monica Lewinsky to resurfaced with an essay in "Vanity Fair."

Clinton tells "People" she hasn't read it saying, I've moved on. I think everybody need to look to the future. Clinton also reveals her indulgences since taking time off. "Dancing With The Stars."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all about location, location, location. KEILAR: And "House of Cards," which she and Bill, quote, "binged watched." She was asked if she has a hair strategy for 2016. I'm at an age I can pretty do what I want. Here I am whether you like my hair or not.

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KEILAR: So there she is, Carol, joking about her hair, but didn't joke about her head. She addressed the question head-on if there are lingering effects from the concussion that she sustained and the blood clot as well in 2012. She says, no, there aren't. This was an interesting point in this interview. She points out that Paul Ryan has had three concussions, one of which was serious.

COSTELLO: Playing that game.

KEILAR: Exactly.

COSTELLO: Brianna Keilar, thanks so much. Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state will no doubt be under scrutiny in a presidential bid especially in light of the controversy surrounding Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. We're now learning Clinton was skeptical of the idea of swap of Taliban prisoners for Bergdahl's release.

CNN foreign affairs reporter, Elise Labott, joins me now to tell us more about that. Good morning.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Good morning, Carol. Well, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's State Department really started those negotiations with the Taliban in 2010 about a possible swap for Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for some of these prisoners, but Secretary Clinton wanted that deal to be part of a larger peace process with the Taliban and she wasn't really sure that any kind of trade would lead to those wider reconciliations with Afghanistan.

She didn't trust the Haqqani network believed to be holding Bowe Bergdahl in Pakistan and she also had some pretty serious reservations about the conditions about where these five detainees from Guantanamo would be held. She wanted much tougher restrictions on these detainees that seems to be in the deal that President Obama struck with the Qataris leading to Bowe Bergdahl's release this week.

She wanted those prisoners released in phases. She wanted much tougher conditions on their detention in Qatar, some kind of quasi house arrest and it does seem though that the president went another way. Secretary Clinton gave a very measured defense of that deal, Carol, in Denver on Monday saying this is one of the hard choices, title of her book, you have to make in government, but that she feels that it's important that they brought Bowe Bergdahl home.

COSTELLO: All right, Elise Labott, reporting live for us. Thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a creepy ghoulish internet figure and the focus of a horrific stabbing in Wisconsin. We'll talk about the blurring line between fantasy and reality when it comes to your kids. That's next.

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