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Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl Released by Taliban

Aired May 31, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's breaking news.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to viewers in the United States and around the world, America's only known current prisoner of war is now in U.S. custody.

Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was taken into 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. Now, Bergdahl is now in a forwarding operating base in Afghanistan. His family just hours ago learned that he was free. The local Qatari government brokered the deal.

Now, the Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has been all over the story. We are going to get to her in a little bit. But first we want to go to somebody who actually knows Bowe Bergdahl very, very well. Her name is Sherry Horton of Idaho.

Sherry, I want to thank you for joining us. This is obviously an incredible day, our viewers should know you know him incredibly well because you were his roommate three years.

SHERRY HORTON, BOWE BERGDAHL'S ROOMMATE (via phone): I was. And it's a very exciting day here in Idaho. Everyone is celebrating. And all restaurants are putting signs. It's very exciting.

BASH: Tell us about the efforts that have been under way with you and, my understanding, you and his parents working sort of hand in glove with the rest of his friends to try to make sure that the idea of his captivity is not forgotten?

HORTON: Well, his parents have been in the forefront the whole time, even if they are very private people and not necessarily the ones giving the interviews, they've been very, very active in making sure there are rallies and they're in Washington making sure that everyone is still aware that Bowe has still been in captivity this long and making sure he wasn't forgotten.

And the account itself, we actual will had the girl scouts and boy scouts in the community just redid all the yellow ribbons. We have been doing it about three time as year, and they just got redone this past week. So kind of nice timing. BASH: Yes, certainly is. And you spoke to his parents, to Bowe Bergdahl's parents this morning, after they learned their son is finally, after nearly five years, going to be released. What did they tell you?

HORTON: They -- not a lot, as you can imagine, they were over the top. His mother was crying when she answered the phone. And just very excited, and they are just waiting to hear, and they're just -- they just can't wait, big hugs and arms around him.

BASH: You know, we obviously, what we know about him is based on the fact that he's been a prisoner of war. You know him in a different way. You were his roommate. He was your student in ballet class. Tell us a little bit about who Bowe Bergdahl is.

HORTON: He is a very interesting individual. He has so many different interests that go from martial arts to poetry, to foreign languages. I mean, every day he was learning something new and trying to expand his mind and just always looking to push himself physically, mentally, everything. And he's just always that intellectual person just trying to reach one more leg up the ladder.

BASH: Well, congratulations on this. It certainly is remarkable. I'm sure that this is surreal for you and for everybody who has been working so hard and praying for so many years.

HORTON: We are. Actually, we have a restaurant full of people opening up champagne bottles and in celebration. We all just kind of found a meeting spot and we are very excited that we finally get to do this. We've a been waiting to do this for five years.

BASH: Good for you. I can't even imagine. Again, I said it before. But, you know, you can't listen to stories like yours and people who knew him so well without getting the chills knowing that he's finally on his way back home.

HORTON: Yes. We're all still kind of walking around on clouds, and all just waiting to get eyes on him. That's going to be the topper.

BASH: I bet it is. Well, thank you so much for joining us. And drink one on us. OK?

HORTON: I will. Thank you very much.

BASH: OK. Thank you.

Now, we want to go back to just how this happened, and the work that has been going on behind the scenes to secure Bowe Bergdahl's release.

I want to go to our Elise Labott, our global affairs correspondent who has been working her sources. Elise, what are you learning?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER (via phone): Well, Dana, senior administration officials telling me these indirect talks with the Taliban started about a week ago. They were intense negotiations. But you know, these officials that were involved in the discussions, when they went, they didn't know if these talks would actually produce the release of Bowe Bergdahl. They've been going in fits and starts for years and say, you know listen, you don't know every single opportunity that you get, if this is going to lead to that release. But they've been very intense live involved.

Secretary of state John Kerry issued a statement, a short time ago. I'll read a bit of it saying, the responsibility to make sure all of our men and women in uniform are return from battle, especially those taken prisoner and held during year is as personal to me as someone who has worn the uniform of my country and someone who is deeply involved in those efforts for the respect of the unfinished business of the war's in which I fought. The nation has a solemn duty to ensure every single American who signs up to our country comes home. The cost of years of captivity to Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl and it his family is immeasurable. We are heartened sergeant Bergdahl will soon be reunited with friends and family, for whom he's been apart from for too lo long.

And you know, Secretary Kerry, a veteran himself and also stood in Vietnam, took this very personally. He went on, Dana, to speak about those efforts by (INAUDIBLE) since that office of the Taliban had opened in Qatar and Taliban officials had been there, it had ban very useful tool, the Qatari involvement in helping mediate these talks, Dana.

BASH: And you know, and on that, you know, we've been talking to our colleague Nic Robertson and Barbara Starr and others about the fact that, you know, those who are really following this closely and involved knew this was a possibility. The idea of doing this prisoner swap is not new. But the thought was maybe it wasn't going to happen, and then suddenly it did. And you've been covering the story as well. Talk a little more about that. The fact it's been going on for a while, these ideas?

LABOTT: And these five names, I mean, we've written about these five individuals in the past. These Taliban prisoners that have been up for consideration, either five individuals of the Taliban really wanted relief. They are very controversial figures that had a lot of hand in terrorist activity, the U.S. believes and work against U.S. forces.

And so. every opportunity to make these discussions and sometimes the discussions you think they're going very well and they don't. So, again, when they sat down with the Taliban during these talks they didn't know if it would lead anywhere, but officials say we have to seize every opportunity as if we would be able to get them released, and they just kept having the faith that eventually had will lead to this.

Certainly over the years these talks started in 2010 with the Taliban. They'd broken down several times for several different reasons. Whether it's trust between the Taliban and the United States. Whether it's the Afghan government in itself feeling that it kind of was left out of those talks. The U.S. always trying to make it known that these were a compliment to the, really, Afghan-led negotiations on reconciliation and in his statement, secretary Kerry says the U.S. will continue to help this Afghan-led reconciliation. This is really a complement to those talks.

BASH: And Elise, I just want to ask you one last question. If you would tell me, because you have been covering these issues to are so long, you have such tremendous sources. What do you make of the timing of this? The fact the president was in Afghanistan and the surprise visit last week? He made the sort of final announcement about everybody, except for essential personnel, officially leaving Afghanistan, and now this?

LABOTT: Well, certainly the administration knew that this was going on, and certainly when the president went to Afghanistan he knew that this was, could be almost at hand, and with the announcement of all the troops this week, withdrawing all the troops by the end of this term, I think all the pieces came together. I can't say that those talks and the president's visit -- I don't know. I think that's the president's visit timed to Memorial Day. But certainly, you know, it makes it all the more real for the president to say, I'm bringing Bowe Bergdahl home. I'm bringing all of our troops home, I am, as I promised when I ran for president, ending the war in Afghanistan. And for the president, this is a very powerful moment for the U.S. military and a powerful moment that when it is bringing its troops home over the next two years, Bowe Bergdahl will be among those troops and the U.S. hopefully, and with this remaining time going on, will not be leaving anybody behind, Dana.

BASH: That's right. And that is the motto and it is nice to be reporting good news when reporting breaking news. Isn't it, Elise?

Thank you so much for your reporting.

LABOTT: Absolutely.

BASH: And we are going to have more on the breaking news, right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's breaking news.

BASH: Welcome back. And we are following the breaking news on the release of sergeant, army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan. He is now in U.S. custody and receiving medical care.

And I'm joined by phone by CNN military analyst major general James "Spider" Marks.

And thank you so much for joining me. The first question I want to ask you is about, you know, what happens now to him? Not so much with regard to the obvious his humanitarian aspect and making sure he's physically OK, but put your intelligence hat on and tell us what it's like to get a prisoner of war and try to get information from him. ?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RETIRED), CNN MILITARY ANALYST (via phone): Dana, a great question.

This good news, great young soldier has been with the enemy the last almost five years. He's eaten their food, he has slept on think mats, he has probably been roughed up a bit. He's had an opportunity to get to know some of the personalities. Most likely he has moved around, and so all of that very valuable information will start to be material through a series of debriefs.

In essence, you know, he'll kind of be interrogated, but he will be interrogated by our folks in a very comfortable setting and in a way that will allow him to reminisce and recall, so that we can start to fill in the gaps that we always had in terms of better understanding our enemies. He is a very, very valuable source.

BASH: And how delicate is that? You talked about, you know, use the word interrogate. And obviously, you mean, you know, gently so, to get information?

MARKS: Sure.

BASH: Sure -- interview. That's right. That's probably a better word. But the idea is that he does need presumably some time to get his bearings. You know? The fact that the dramatic story that Barbara Starr has been reporting on that he, on a paper plate, scribbled S.F., just to make sure what he was really experiencing was happening. That special forces were res rescuing. What's the process of getting from recovery mentally and physically to getting information before he forget this?

MARKS: Yes, very true. This is a medical process. There will be intelligence as well as medical folks involved to make sure these not traumatized.

Look. He's been with some very bad people for the last five years. And in many cases it's fair to assume that he's come to like some of his captors. And so, this will be a difficult process for him to go through and recall his five years of captivity, which he will have to do, and we will support that effort, but he's a very valuable piece of information for the United States, and we have to make sure that we exploit that fully. To be quite frank and very blunt about it, he is a great source and we can't let this atrophy.

BASH: No question about it. And the fact that you talked about the fact he might actually have liked some of his captors. And you know, some people might blanch at that, but you know, people are human. So, that's another thing to keep in mind.

Let's talk about the exchange of prisoners, what led to this. The fact five prisoners were released. They left by plane, we now understand, at 2:00 p.m. eastern from Guantanamo Bay. And the concern about the fact that, yes, the Qatari government is promising that they won't be returned to the battlefield, but how can you be sure?

MARKS: Well, the United States and Qatari government have a close relationship. We've dealt with each other clearly, of course, with the last decade while we have been at war in the region and their back yard. We have very strong relationships with them. We do intelligence exchanges. We share information quite readily. We know them, and they know us. So anything that happens with these release Taliban fighters in Qatar, we will be apprised what's going on. Now clearly, we have to have the invitation of the Qatari government to do that. We do up front and I'm sure this was one of the conditions for us to agreed in this released from Guantanamo.

BASH: And former prisoner of war himself, John McCain, is raising questions about that, raising questions about the idea of, you know in layman's term, negotiating with terrorist and more specifically allowing five people to leave Guantanamo Bay, raising questions about making sure that they are not going to return, as he says, to the fight against the United States. Does he raise some legitimate questions?

MARKS: Absolutely, Dana. These are absolutely the spot on questions. And to hear them -- from John McCain, a man's credibility. I mean, he understands the emotional human trauma, to this young man's been trough. And nobody understands this but senator McCain.

So, when his voice is brought forward, and he says look, I'm honoring Sergeant Bergdahl and thank him for his service. Now, United States of America, let's not boil this thing. Let's make sure we have eyes on and we know what these five bad guys are doing in Qatar. They're not out on the street slipping away and disappear so they can re- appear. So, he's absolutely correct. And I guarantee you, our intelligence community and our state department, our intelligence community is working hand and hand to make sure this does not become something that disappears on us.

BASH: And just so our viewers know, because we're talking about John McCain. I want to actually read the statement that was released from his office just a short while ago. He said, these particular individuals are hardened terrorists who have the blood of Americans and countless Afghans on their hands. I'm eager to learn what the precise steps are being taken to ensure that these vicious and violent Taliban extremists never return to the fight against the United States and are partners or engage in activities that can talent the prospects for peace and security in Afghanistan, the American people and Afghan partiers deserve nothing less.

And it is, as you said, a very, very powerful thing, General Marks, from somebody who was a prisoner of war himself for about five years in Vietnam. He knows what he speaks of, for sure. And I should also say that we've reached out to see if we can speak to senator McCain, but he's traveling. Hopefully we'll hear from him in a short while.

General Marks, thank you so much for joining us and giving us valuable insight. And we are going to be back with our news, right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's breaking news.

BASH: Welcome back. And we're following a breaking news. The release of sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan. He is now in U.S. custody and receiving medical care. We're getting reaction from his parents, Bob and Jani Bergdahl. They released this statement.

They said quote "we were so joyful and relieved when President Obama called to give us the news Bowe is finally coming home. We cannot wait to wrap our arms around our only son. We want to thank Bowe's many supporters in Idaho, around the nation and around the world. We thank the Amir of Qatar for his efforts. And of course, we want to take this opportunity to thank all those in the many U.S. government agencies who never gave up. Today, we are ecstatic."

Now, Bergdahl has spent much of the past five years out of the public eye and struggled to get their son back. In 2011, Bowe's father said he could remain silent no longer when he uploaded a You Tube video asking his son's captors to release Bowe. Robert Bergdahl thanked them for keeping him alive. Here's a portion of that video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT BERGDAHL, FATHER OF CAPTURED SOLDIER: No family in the United States understands the detainee issue like ours. Our son's safe return will only heighten public awareness of this. That said, our son is being exploited. It's past time for Bowe and the others to come home. I pray this video may be shown to our only son.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

God bless you. We love you. We've been quiet in public, but we haven't been quiet behind the scenes. Continue to be patient, and kind to those around you.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

You're not forgotten. You are not forgotten.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Absolutely chilling. I want to bring in our Ed Lavandera who has been following the story for years, especially this story of the family trying to keep the idea of the captivity of Bowe Bergdahl alive.

And Ed, I mean, you saw there, our viewers saw there, the beard that his father grew, the fact that he learned at least some words in a language that his captors could understand to try to connect with them. I mean, what lengths that father went to try to get his son home.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): It really does speak to the love and the bond of a father and a son, parents and their child, I mean. There's nothing more raw, more personal, and as he mentioned in that video, Dana, very quiet publicly, but doing so much behind the scenes. And, you know, the story that may or may not be told here in the months and years ahead about what went on during these last five years will be, you know, incredibly fascinating to hear about.

But today, Dana, I'm struck. I remember a story Bob Bergdahl told of Bowe giving him a letter in the days before he was deployed to Afghanistan, and he had told his father that he had had this premonition and belief he wasn't going to come back alive from Afghanistan, and this deployment, he thought he was going to be killed. And it's a story that, you know, when Bob Bergdahl, his father talks about it, it's incredibly chilling. And it's something that for the longest time he kept from Bowe's mother, and then he would kind of start sharing that. But, you know, after nearly five years, Bowe's parents know that he has made it through this incredibly painful ordeal. And it's, you know, hard to think about, but a young man in this 20s, who's been nearly five years in captivity, spent most of his 20s in captivity living a life that not every average 20- something in this country will ever know or understand.

BASH: That's for sure. That's absolutely impossible to understand.

And you, Ed, you spent a lot of time with them. And Just really quickly, Barbara Starr was talking earlier about the fact she saw the Bergdahls walking through the halls of the Pentagon. they did have such a quiet campaign and to press the Pentagon, to press U.S. government agencies officials to make sure they tried as hard as they could to bring their son home.

LAVANDERA: You know, it's a deliberate choice they made. They have always been very nervous that any misstep publicly, any, saying the wrong thing publicly would cost their son his life. And they made a decision, at times it was very difficult, as the years and years drug on, you know, being quiet.

They only gave a handful of on-the-record interviews with a couple of organizations, but by and large, they sat quiet, put their faith and trust in the people that they were talking to, behind the scenes, and I know at times, you know, that patience and that patient, when it was tempted many times, but clearly it's finally paid off today.

BASH: No question. And I know, Ed, you spent a considerable amount of time in Hailey, Idaho, as people sat vigil waiting for this day. I assume you might head back soon under different circumstances?

LAVANDERA: I'm at the airport. You know, there are several people that are close to the Bergdahl family, funny, as you cover a story, it has been very rarely to you cover a story this length of time and, you know, you have gotten to know various people in that community rather well. And you know, privately, I would tell them I couldn't wait to come back to cover a homecoming parade. You know, it is finally -- it's powerful to think I'm on my way there.

BASH: Sure is. Listen, this is something, you know, we all try to be objective. This is something that is objectively true. Which is, that you can have an opinion on this. It is an amazing thing, to be able especially for someone like you, Ed, to cover this for so long and to be able to go back and cover such a good news story.

Have a safe flight and thank you so much, Ed, for everything. And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's breaking news.

BASH: I'm Dana Bash. Welcome to viewers in the U.S. and around the world. We are following breaking news.

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. 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 Qatari government brokered the deal.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is now joining us from the Pentagon.

And Barbara, you have been all over this, giving us all the details as the day has gone on and you have new information now.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Dana, we are beginning to learn some of the, what to call them, exquisite security details that were in place by the U.S. military when this risky transfer took place on the Afghanistan border earlier today. It all did go smoothly. It was peaceful, not a shot fired, but there were plenty of security measures in place behind the scenes.

What we know now, U.S. officials confirming they had aircraft, they had assets in the air, watching the transfer point just to make sure. They're not telling us whether they were fixed wing aircraft or drones flying overhead. But suffice it to say there were eyeballs, plenty of them, on the transfer point as it was happening in case any kind of trouble was to break out.

The Taliban, we are further told, set the transfer point several days ago making it clear to the U.S. where they should come to pick up Bowe Bergdahl. That is the point at where the U.S. commandos on helicopters flew to.

We are told that sergeant Bergdahl was able to walk to the helicopter. That is a good sign because his health was frail by all accounts of the photos and the videos that we've seen. He was able to walk to the helicopter. Whether he had somebody with their arm around him or helping him, we don't know at this point.

Further on the security measures. This is very tricky business to discuss. But it would be standard military procedure for everyone at that site, the Taliban, but especially Bergdahl, before he got on the helicopter, standard procedure. They would have checked to make sure he wasn't wired up with explosives against his will, that he didn't have any weapons with him. That nothing had been strapped to him. The Military has been caught short on past on situations where they think they're dealing with friendly forces and they are not. So standard procedure would have been to search him.

We're told additionally that a number of procedures had been worked out ahead of time. That the Taliban through the Qataris, the people getting those five detainees back, had worked out with the U.S. how everybody would signal each other so all the terms would be met. So that when Bergdahl was turned over to the U.S., the Taliban felt certain their detainees were also going to be released.

There were secret procedures worked out. We don't know what those were, but we are told there were signals and procedures. So both sides felt comfortable that the terms would be lived up to. And now looking at the clock, those five detainees have been in the air from Guantanamo Bay for about an hour and a half. It will be several hours before they land back in Qatar -- Dana.

BASH: Barbara, absolutely fascinating. I mean, the obvious question is, how does this work? And you just gave so many details about it, about, you know -- you read about these things in novels, you watch it in movies and TV shows, but this is real life. And just the idea of making this kind of recovery, rescue, and then doing it as part of a swap and having faith that the people you're dealing with are doing so in good faith. The way you describe it, it's absolutely fascinating.

I want to go back to what you said about the Taliban, or the people who have been at Guantanamo, being in the air since you said 2:00 p.m. eastern. Can you shed a little more light on that leap of faith? Maybe that the Taliban took? Because it's clear that -- that the army sergeant was released before those at Guantanamo were.

STARR: Yes. Maybe only a little bit, Dana. What we know is that these five detainees were turned over to -- or we are told these five detainees were turned over to Qatari custody on the ground at Guantanamo Bay. So the Qataris had custody of them, legal custody if you will, physical custody of them, at Guantanamo Bay, at the detention facility. At some point prior to them being loaded on to a U.S. c-17 aircraft for that flight to the Middle East.

Who knows. Maybe once the Qataris had them in hand they somehow had a way of communicating to the Taliban, OK, we've got them. You know, at the end of the day, these situations are, to some extent, in the last moments before it all happened, a leap of faith that it's all going to go well. I think it is very safe to say that the U.S. military, that small group of commandos on the ground knew if it did not go well, they had plenty of backup, not too far away, that was going to come and help them out.

BASH: And another leap of faith is that the U.S. military is trusting that these five prisoners, now released from Guantanamo Bay, being flown out of that prison camp, are not going to return to the battlefield and the vernacular we've heard from John McCain and others.

You know, your expertise, your experience in this kind of situation, what do you make of the questions that John McCain, for example, himself, a former prisoner of war, is raising, about the idea that these five prisoners are being returned to the Qataris? STARR: Well, look, I mean, over the years, I think well over 200, perhaps, detainees have been released from Guantanamo Bay. Sent back to their home country, sent to third countries, and it's had a mixed rate of success. There are a good number of them that indeed have returned to the so-called battlefields of Afghanistan, or in their home countries.

We have seen that in Yemen. That is why the U.S. has not agreed to send some Yemeni detainees back to Yemen. They don't feel the government there is ready to be able to control them. The Qatari certainly have made the promises. Is it going to be a perpetuity? Probably not. You know, again, these things only per faith.

This is home the White House as the moment. This is an administration decision. The president making it clear himself to undertake this in order to get an American soldier back home, back to his family.

We've talked about it. You and me, earlier today, and with Peter Bergen. The Israelis have engaged in these kinds of prisoner transfers for years with the Palestinians. It does become a leap of faith. It become as risk. It has to be a risk you're willing to take.

Clearly, the president of the United States wanted to do everything to get this American soldier home, just as U.S. troops are winding down the war in Afghanistan, there wouldn't be anybody left to go get him.

BASH: Exactly. And that was going to be my next question to you Barbara, is that, obviously, this military credo, American credo, that you don't leave anybody behind, and the timing of this is such that, you know, the president has, was in Afghanistan last week. He made clear, reiterated or formalize d the policy that troops like the sergeant would not be there anymore. The timing definitely has to be part of that calculation, right?

STARR: I think there is absolutely no question about it. This has been in the backs of the minds of military commanders, of the secretary of defense, of Chuck Hagel, who served himself in Vietnam. This has been in the back of their mind for the last several months. Everybody knows very clear the war is winding down. U.S. troops are coming home. This soldier Bowe Bergdahl had been held in Pakistan most of the time. We in fact don't know when he was brought back across the border into Afghanistan. It may have been just to facilitate this transfer.

U.S. troops couldn't go into Pakistan to get him. I can say that they had a fair idea of where he was at times, but they also knew he was constantly being moved around. He was under heavy guard. He was in remote areas. It was going to be very difficult to ever get back in there and rescue this soldier especially once U.S. troops had gone.

And what happens to him now? I know it there's a lot of questions about that. They are going to talk to him. They're going to get his details about what led him to leave the base that night when he was taken, if, in fact, that story is accurate. If, in fact, that is what happened to him. We are going to have to find out for the first time in five years, in Bowe Bergdahl's own words, what happened to this young soldier and then they will be for everyone to discuss it. It will be for the Pentagon to decide, the president to decide what the next course of action is. I think it's very safe to say they want to get him all the medical attention they can and get him back to his parents.

BASH: Absolutely.

Barbara Starr, thank you for keeping us so well informed on this absolutely dramatic and chilling rescue and drama that went on all long today.

Thank you so much for your reporting, Barbara.

And we'll be right back with more on the breaking news after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's breaking news.

BASH: Following the breaking news, the release of sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan. He's now in U.S. custody and receiving medical care.

And I'm joined by phone with former war correspondent CNN reporter and now documentary filmmaker Mike Boettcher.

Mike was embedded with U.S. special forces during the Iraq war and reported extensively from there and made a film called "the Hornet's Nest, about the war in Afghanistan."

Mike, thanks for calling in. What's your reaction to this?

MIKE BOETTCHER, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER (via phone): Well, it is really great news. During the course of his disappearance, I was embedded along with my son Carlos in that area several times, and it is a tough, tough area. You know, I can remember one small common outpost which was in the general vicinity where Bowe Bergdahl was taken. It was combat outpost Spear and it was a small outpost right on the Pakistan border that which was attacked constantly, and it's a mountainous region. It is the area where he was taken that was a main smuggling route of men and supplies and weapons for the Taliban into Afghanistan. A very, very tough region.

BASH: Now, I want to get back to your experience there in a second, but I also want to get to your personal experience. You were kidnapped and threatened with execution in the '80s in El Salvador. So, you know what it's like to be captive. Talk about how he might be feeling right now?

BOETTCHER: He's going to have many mixed emotions. He's going to be confused, frankly. I know I was when I was taken in El Salvador. And, you know, immediately, as a matter of survival, you start to calculate very quickly that if you're going to survive, you've got to try to make friends. And then, as it goes on, it's called the Stockholm syndrome, you start to identify with your captors. And you know, this is just part of the survival instinct that humans have.

After I was released, it was confusing, and I was so close to death, I actually had a weapon held to my head, and thought that was it, and this was way back in 1985. When they didn't pull that trigger, they asked me to get on my knees and I wouldn't get on my knees, and I think that actually saved me. But they didn't ask me. They ordered me to and I wouldn't do it, but after I was released, those things, those episodes, are so seared in your mind. How close you came and how dependent you were on another human being to survive. That it takes a lot of time and it takes -- frankly, it takes therapy. It takes talking to people who are experts in bringing you back from that other side, that dark side.

BASH: I know obviously every situation is quite different, but the one thing we've been talking about as we've been reporting on this breaking news, and it's been developing is, what kind of information U.S. intelligence officials can get from him about his captors, based on your experience, again, understanding every situation is quite different. Do you think there is information to be mined there from him about the Taliban captors?

BOETTCHER: I think so. Especially where he was suspected of being hidden, which was in Haqqani (ph) network territory in north Waziristan. You know, that area was no go zone for the Pakistani. I mean, they never went in there. And there were many training bases -- if you go back and let's say go to a Web site like Long for eternal that tracks all of this and you look at the drone campaign in Pakistan that the U.S. launched, most of those were in north Waziristan and in Haqqani network that was in the area. And this was the area where Bergdahl was suspected of being kept. And it is -- it was also suspected that Al Qaeda took refuge there, and some top Al Qaeda leadership did.

So he had his eyes open. He probably saw a lot of things. The drone campaign actually forced the Haqqani network to kind of dismantle these training bases they had in there in Waziristan, north Waziristan specifically and go into groups no larger than four or five. They try to escape this drone campaign that was killing a lot of their leadership.

So he was probably able to see the effectiveness of that to some extent. Now, we don't know where he was kept, how he was kept, but I would imagine he was moved quite a bit and would have a lot of knowledge about this area that is still a no-go zone.

BASH: Fascinating. Well, thank you so much for your insight, Mike Boettcher, a former colleague here at CNN, extraordinary war reporter and now documentary filmmaker of "the Hornet's Nest." Thank you so much for joining us. And we will be right back.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's breaking news.

BASH: We are following the breaking news, the release of army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, Afghanistan. He is now in U.S. custody and receiving medical care.

And our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us live from London.

Nic, as we sort of, you know, continue to digest this information, incredible drama about we believe now he was recovered, the swap with prisoners, what's your take on what we know right now?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the questions in my mind right now is what does this mean going forward? I think we have told -- Barbara talked about this element of trust, the timing of when Bow Bergdahl was picked up, put on a helicopter. He was in safe hands when the five Taliban figures were released from Guantanamo Bay.

Has this now built a tiny, tiny element of trust. Can that be built into other parts of the battlefield theater where the Taliban are a clear and present danger all the time for U.S. forces? Can that be exploited equally for the Afghan government?

BASH: And you know the region. You know the people that we're talking about, at least know of them in the way that most people don't. What do you think the answer is?

ROBERTSON: I think this is going to be a specific case. I think it is going to be very hard to roll it forward into something else. Mike Boettcher was talking about the drone campaign, forcing the Haqqani network and other Taliban inside Pakistan north Waziristan on to the (INAUDIBLE).

We had a local journalist who went into one of those camps last year. They're tiny, they are small walled compounds and it's likely one of those small compounds is where Bowe Bergdahl would have been held. Taliban camps had Al Qaeda operatives passing through. He might have useful information. It's very hard to say. But moving forward can this be read into something bigger? I would be very cautious about that right now -- Dana.

BASH: Nic, thank you so much. We appreciate your insight into that region again, that few of us have. Thank you very much.

And that's all for me. I'm Dana Bash. NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with Randi Kaye in New York.

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