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Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl Released by Taliban in Prisoner Exchange

Aired May 31, 2014 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Dana Bash in for Fredricka Whitfield. We're following breaking news in the CNN Newsroom.

America's only known current prisoner of war is now in U.S. custody. Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was taken in Afghanistan in 2009, and now we've learned this -- Special Forces picked up Bergdahl at 10:30 a.m. eastern from his captors in Afghanistan and in exchange for his release the U.S. handed over five detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Bergdahl is now in a forwarding operating base in Afghanistan and his family just hours ago learned he was free. The local Qatar government brokered the deal.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr who has been all over this and giving us the information as it happens and as she's getting it is continuing to do that. Barbara, give us the latest about what you're learning about this absolutely fascinating and dramatic rescue.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Very traumatic, Dana. Bowe Bergdahl now having made that helicopter ride to freedom with American commandos who through to eastern Afghanistan to pick him up. All indications we're getting it was very peaceful. There were about 18 Taliban standing there. Bowe Bergdahl, the commandos landed, and took him back, back into American hands.

Perhaps the most dramatic moment we are learning is on the helicopter it was so noisy, they couldn't talk. Bergdahl wrote on a paper plate, "S.F.?" Meaning "Special Forces." The guys on the helicopter said, "Yes. And we've been looking for you." At that point, Bergdahl broke down.

He now is at that forward operating base, expected, we are told, as soon as doctors clear him to travel on a little bit, he will go to Bagram air base, which is the major U.S. base in Afghanistan. President Obama just there a few days ago. Then will be making his way, we are told, to a medical center in Germany, where they have a great deal of expertise over the years in helping hostages make that initial reintegration back into society, and then back to the United States.

His parents, not clear whether they will meet up with him in Germany or await his return to the U.S., not clear how soon he'll be making the rest of that journey. They're going to be wanting to check him out medically, top to bottom. Make sure he is OK to travel after five years of being in Taliban custody. Some of the recent videos did not show him to be in the best physical condition, had become frail, deteriorating a bit. So they're going to want to do everything they can to give him whatever medical attention he needs.

The other side of the equation, these five detainees being released from Guantanamo Bay. We're getting a lot of reaction from congress. Perhaps John McCain, Republican of Arizona, once, of course a POW himself for so many years in north Vietnam, saying he was very happy that Bergdahl was out, but he wants to hear what the security conditions will be in that nation of Qatar where those five detainees are going back to. What promises, what guarantees have the Qataris made to keep an eye on them? Dana?

BASH: So many questions, and, against, just we get to the questions I want to underscore, every time you say it and report it, Barbara, it gives you the chills. The idea of him having to write "S.F.?" for Special Forces, on a paper plate, just to make sure that what he thought was actually happening to him after nearly five years in captivity was happening. That he was in the hands of --

STARR: Dana, if I could interrupt, actually, as you say. The information keeps coming in. A U.S. and -- you know, I'm reading it to everyone off my blackberry as CNN gets it. A U.S. military official is now telling us that a U.S. military C-17, went wheels up, if you will, from Guantanamo Bay just before 2:00. And there is -- let me rephrase that. I'm so sorry. A U.S. Air Force C-17 went wheels up from Guantanamo Bay just before 2:00, and we now believe those Guantanamo Bay detainees have been transferred and they are making their way back. We have the names. We will get those all to you.

Bergdahl at this moment is in a military clinic. We are told now, being attended by one of those reintegration teams. One of those very specialized military teams that helps people who have been in captivity get reintegrated back into society. So that's the latest we're getting, Dana.

BASH: And on the whole concept how this happened, the prisoner swap, and as you just reported, this new breaking information about the fact that five detainees at Guantanamo were wheels up at 2:00 p.m. as part of the deal to release Bowe Bergdahl, you mentioned some members of congress, namely the one who knows what it's like to be Bowe Bergdahl, John McCain, who was a prisoner of war himself for more than five years in Vietnam, released a statement saying that he is eager to learn about just why and how these five detainees at Guantanamo were actually released. Not explicitly critical, but asking sort of rhetorical questions how this could have happened. I know that you're --

STARR: There's been a lot of controversial in Congress. This is not new to them. This proposed deal of an exchange of five detainees for Bowe Bergdahl had been discussed very much for the last several months. They couldn't make it happen for a variety of reasons. They believe it was only in the last several days that it really got rolling, that the Taliban were really ready to give Bergdahl back.

But Congress has made it very clear, both Democrats and Republicans, they had a lot of concern about it. It's a very touchy situation. They're concerned about letting, understandably, detainees out of Guantanamo Bay. But, of course, everybody wants to see the last American soldier held captive in this war back home with his family. So, you know, it's one of those very tough questions about where you come down on this.

BASH: Absolutely. As we were talking about earlier, it's one thing to say in theory that you don't want to negotiate with terrorists, that you don't want to do this kind of thing, but it's a whole different issue when you're talking about the realities of war. The realities of having a member of the U.S. military in captivity and trying to figure out how to get him back.

Barbara Starr, thank you so much for your excellent reporting. We'll be back to you because I know you're continuing to get information minute by minute.

A little background on Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. He was born in Idaho. He enlisted in 2008. In May, 2009, Bergdahl was deployed to Afghanistan. In June of that year he was captured. In July a video of Bergdahl was posted on the Internet. Two years later, in June of 2011, the army promoted him to sergeant. In May of 2012, the U.S. government began talks with the Taliban about releasing him, and last June his family said they received a letter from their son. In February of this year, diplomats starts negotiations for his release working with intermediaries overseas.

And now bringing you up to speed on all that, I want to bring in CNN's Erin Mcpike who is at the White House. Erin, it was the president himself who announced this formally to the world in a written statement by the White House.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dana, that's absolutely right, but we did just get this statement from John McCain. I want to read part of it to you because first, as you mentioned, McCain himself was, of course, a prisoner of war, so we were interested to get this statement. And as I've been reaching out to Republicans on Capitol Hill, they've been discussing how they want to respond today. We've been seeing some Twitter traffic that, of course, everyone is very pleased that sergeant Bowe Bergdahl has now been returned and is safely with U.S. military forces, but there is this concern about the exchange with these five Taliban detainees.

Now, this is what John McCain addresses in that statement and here's what I'll read to you. "These particular individuals are hardened terrorists who have the blood of Americans and countless Afghans on their hands. I am eager to learn what precise steps are being taken to ensure that these vicious and violent Taliban extremists never return to the fight against the United States and our partners or engage in any activities that can threaten the prospects for peace and security in Afghanistan. The American people and our Afghan partners deserve nothing less."

And the White House addressed that minimally. In a statement, a background statement from a White House official today, they said, "We will not transfer any detainee from Guantanamo, unless the threat the detainees may pose to the U.S. can be sufficiently mitigated and only when consistent with our humane treatment policy." Obviously we're sure that Senator McCain would like to hear more, but the White House is aware of addressing that.

BASH: Fascinating to see how this is playing out. Erin McPike, thank you very much.

And on the phone we have the anchor of "THE LEAD," CNN'S "THE LEAD," Jake Tapper, who is in spare time has written a bestselling book called "The Outpost" and is an expert on Afghanistan. Jake, you've also been covering the Bowe Bergdahl story and captivity for years. Tell me what you make of this.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's a great thing, obviously, for his family, Bowe Bergdahl finally being released by the Pakistani Taliban after five years in captivity. It is a complicated case, and just to help viewers understand why this isn't being treated with the ticker tape one might expect would happen, or why maybe they hadn't heard of Bowe Bergdahl, the case starts in June, 2009 in Paktika province in Afghanistan. Bergdahl apparently left the base on his own accord, and it's not clear why he did so. Bergdahl was later reported in June, 2012, by the late Michael Hastings, had written a number of e-mails to his parents expressing serious misgivings about what the U.S. was doing in Afghanistan. So there have always been questions among troops and officers about why Bergdahl exactly left. Was he leaving -- well, what the reason was behind his leaving the base.

Obviously, he was captured by Taliban. Obviously, he became a prisoner. We -- in varying different ways throughout the years it's been relayed to those of us in the media who have been paying attention to his case it might not be a good idea to report on his case because efforts were being made to get him out. And sometimes those trying to free him, those in the U.S. government, either with the State Department or the military, were making efforts, and they thought that the more attention the case got, especially during sensitive times, the worse and the more difficult it could be for those trying to free him.

Finally it looks as though those efforts born fruit. It was earlier in this year, I believe in January, when there was a tape that CNN's Jim Sciutto and others reported on that had been made showing Bergdahl from Pakistani Taliban, and the question is, why was this tape made? It was reported in February, approve of life video, that those in the U.S. government who wanted him freed and were willing to negotiate with the Taliban, an apparent prisoner in exchange, were -- needed proof that Sergeant Bergdahl was still alive, and that's why that videotape was made. That was reported in February.

Then things went quiet, after efforts were continuing to be made, but it took some time, and finally, of course, the good news today that apparently the trade has been made. The exchange has been made. The U.S. Special Forces, which would be army either Delta Force or Green Berets, picked him up and he'll be returned to his family in Idaho. But I suspect there will be lots of questions for Bergdahl, not just intelligence gathering, in terms of what he saw while he was in enemy hands, but why exactly had he left the base.

BASH: That's one question I was exactly going to ask you, Jake, and that is -- Barbara Starr and I were talking earlier about that, the questions about how this captivity even happened, about the fact he wandered off on his own and now the excellent news is that he's free, now what happens to him? Is he going to you know, go through the obvious recovery and process and then kind of move on, or is the army going to drill down on the circumstances that led to him wandering off?

TAPPER: That's a question better asked of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. I suspect his five years in captivity will speak for itself. Then again, you never know what motivated him leaving that base in Paktika province that evening.

Look, having covered the war in Afghanistan, there were tremendous efforts made to find then private now sergeant Bergdahl in the summer of 2009, in Afghanistan. And in some cases, those efforts hindered the ability of the United States military to do other things because they had so much reconnaissance and other efforts and assets devoted to finding him. So if those who use social media and are on Facebook or Twitter or in the military or part of the military, part of that world, that they hear grumblings from troops, know that that's the reason why. There are questions about why he left the base. And the tremendous efforts made to find him, none of which takes away from the fact that he was a prisoner of war.

BASH: Exactly.

TAPPER: And that everybody is rejoicing that he is safe, and he will get to go back to his loving parents in Idaho. But it is a complicated case.

BASH: Yes.

TAPPER: And it will remain so, and I suspect there are many in the military who after Bergdahl has gotten his bearings will want to know exactly what happened.

BASH: No question about it. It is certainly excellent news. There's no disputing that, but there are a lot of questions. This is not a black and white case. Jake, thank you so much for your insight. We really appreciate it.

And we're going to continue with this breaking news. More information on how this rescue happened, the prisoner swap with five prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, and the follow-up from that. Stay with us.

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BASH: We want to welcome back our viewers in the United States and around the world. If you're just tuning in, this dramatic, dramatic information, and that is, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who was the only prisoner of war in the U.S., has been recovered from, we believe, Afghanistan. And there's so many plots and subplots to how this went down, but one of the things we can't forget is that this is a man who was a boy, who grew up in a town where everybody knew him, and that town was Hailey, Idaho. And we want to go by phone to Hailey, Idaho, to the police chief there, Jeff Gunter. And, chief, you know Sergeant Bergdahl's parents pretty well. You have been around this town the last five years as the town has galvanized to try to make sure that his captivity is not forgotten. What's the reaction there?

JEFF GUNTER, POLICE CHIEF, HAILEY, IDAHO: Everybody is excited. I've talked to numerous people, many of them crying. Many of them -- two female whose haven't been able to put on their makeup yet this morning because there's a lot of tears of joy. Everybody is extremely happy.

BASH: Have you had a chance to talk to his parents?

GUNTER: Not yet. We've been giving them personal time, because I know over the five years it's been an emotional rollercoaster, and for them to actually know they're going to be able to put their arms around their son again, I can't imagine what they're feeling right now.

BASH: Talk about the lengths that his parents went to, to keep the idea, the knowledge of their son being in captivity alive and the lengths that they went to try to reach out to his captors by social media, by the Internet?

GUNTER: You know, I know they did a lot. I don't know personally exactly what they did. I know this whole town, there's a couple people who have done a lot of stuff in town to bring this, to keep this to the forefront of America, and to bring the knowledge that we did have a prisoner of war, and to keep it in the forefront of America. To the lengths Bob and Jane went to, I know they did some stuff, but I can't tell you exactly what.

BASH: I know that this is obviously news coming, amazing news coming in for everybody, particularly in your town of Hailey, Idaho. How are the plans shaping up, if they are yet, to greet this army sergeant when he does, in fact, come home?

GUNTER: Well, we had a couple friends, Stephanie and Debbie O'Neil, working on an event to bring Bowe back, now it's going to be Bowe is back 214 event, and it is going to be held in Hailey, Idaho, on June 28th. That event is still going on. Bob and Jane will be talking. They whole team is going to be singing at the event, and this is going to be an incredible day. The emotions of the town are just, you know, a very emotional day when everybody learned Bowe was captured back in 2009. The emotions are completely opposite reverse, and it's just an incredible feeling.

I've been watching my Facebook page, and the people on Facebook are just, the posts are just phenomenal. Everybody is changing their profile pictures to Bowe and boasting stories about Bowe. It's exploding. There's no personal things about the personal life. Everything that they have I'm reading on Facebook is about Bowe being released.

BASH: Amazing. Listen, it's impossible not do get chills listening to the way you describe it and listening to how it feels in your small town where he grew and where he will be greeted and where his parents have sat vigil and more for the past five years. Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it and will get back to you as we get more information. Thank you, and congratulations. We want to now go to CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, who joins us live from London. Nic we were talking earlier about your knowledge of the region, your knowledge of Afghanistan, and just how dangerous the area must have been where he was held captive.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is an area that's absolutely hostile for the most part to U.S. forces. Where the people that picked him up believed to be the Haqqani Network hold sway in a lot of the villages. People certainly in those villages, if they sort of caught an idea Bowe Bergdahl was passing through, they would be unlikely to go to authorities. It's very hard to get information out about where he would be being held, very unlikely for anyone close to that compound to even know, and if they did, to give away information.

And an area that is hostile to Afghan authorities as well. It's not like the Afghan officials could have got word where he was being held and then they could have gone in. That just wouldn't happen. So whichever -- if it came down to going in to get him through force, it was always going to be tough, number one, to know where he was, number two, to know what you were going in against in terms of Taliban forces.

But beyond that, very, very tough terrain. Some of the terrain around there is very mountainous. Some of it, some of the pictures we've seen where Bowe Bergdahl is standing in woods. Some is heavily wooded, would make it hard to bring in helicopters and airborne troops into that kind of environment. So a very, very tough terrain to operate militarily and tough to get information where he was being held, Dana.

BASH: You and I talked earlier how this happened, and that is with a prisoner swap. Barbara Starr reported about 2:00 p.m. eastern five prisoners were flown out of Guantanamo Bay as part of the deal to get Bowe Bergdahl back home. And we've gotten a statement from John McCain, who not only is a United States senator, a war veteran, but also a former prisoner of war himself, who is raising concerns and questions about doing that, saying he's eager to learn what's steps are being taken to ensure what he calls vicious and violent Taliban extremists never return to the fight against the United States.

ROBERTSON: Sure. The talk here has been an sending them back to Qatar, a deal health brokered by the emirate of Qatar. This has been in the works for a number of years and it's fallen down as various times. We're talking, the prisoners we're talking about are a former interior minister, a former deputy defense minister, a former deputy head of intelligence, a former senior Taliban figure who was governor of two different provinces in Afghanistan, and another senior Taliban figure. So these it are significant figures. These are people that the Taliban themselves have said that they want back.

The essence of agreements and the few details that have come to light about agreements in the past is that these people would operate now at a political level and would be out of the fight. What are the guarantees in that? We have no idea. What is operating any other a political level for the Taliban mean? Does it mean getting financing to help finance the fight? We don't know what they're intention is, but this has been a major sticking point for a long time.

BASH: Absolutely, and those are excellent questions, and I think that is what John McCain is frying to point out. We don't know what it means to have assurances that they won't get back into the fight. We're obviously going to digging in on that, as I know you will with your excellent reporting. Nic Robertson, thank you so much.

And we're going to continue our breaking news about the only prisoner of war, now not a prisoner of war, on his way home. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is coming home. That's up next.

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