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Five Guantanamo Detainees Released Today; Family's Fate Shrouded in Mystery; Toddler Seriously Burned After SWAT Raid; Taliban Frees Captive U.S. Soldier; Marine Says He Was Beaten in Mexican Jail

Aired May 31, 2014 - 17:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Randi Kaye in for Don Lemon. We'd like to welcome viewers around the world watching right now on CNN International.

We begin with breaking news. President Obama today phoned the parents of the captured United States soldier and told them their son is free and coming home. Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was the only U.S. service member still held captive from the conflicts in Iran and Afghanistan. Except for the occasional proof of life or picture or video as we call it, Bergdahl was out of sight and in the Taliban hands for nearly five years. We're told now that he is safe and its freedom comes after a long negotiation and some pretty tricky military statistics.

Joining me now with the Pentagon, Barbara Starr also Erin McPike at the White House and our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson will join us as well. Barbara to you first, very few people knew just a few hours ago that Bowe Bergdahl's long captivity would end today. Who went in and got him?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, what we're learning over the last several days, all of the pieces were put into place, and it was early this morning, U.S. time, when special operations forces got into their helicopters and flew east to a point near the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, landing on the Afghanistan side. This was a prearranged pickup point. The Taliban told the special operations forces where to come to pick up Bergdahl. Very key word here, Randi. Special operations forces. These are some of the most elite troops on the level. SEAL Team Six, Delta Force, Task Force 160.

We don't know exactly who flew but we know it was those extremely elite forces. They met the Taliban, 18 of them armed, plus Bergdahl, near this border location. There were U.S. forces out of sight in backup positions keeping watch to see if trouble broke out. There was a secret command center from where the operation was run. Further back in Afghanistan. But in the end it all went peacefully. Bergdahl was transferred very quickly to the U.S. team. He walked on his own, we're told.

The standard procedure would have been to search for weapons and explosives. They got in the helicopter and brought him to a base in Eastern Afghanistan. Now at this hour he is back at Bagram Air Base just north of the capital of Kabul, the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan undergoing medical tests. People are talking to him. As soon he gets cleared for air in the coming hours, he is expected to be back in another airplane and on his way to lunch to a regional medical center in Germany for further medical care and then as soon as possible on his way home -- Randi.

KAYE: And, Barbara, is it clear at all? I mean, did he understand that this was a rescue and that these are the good guys?

STARR: Apparently he did. And you know, after five years in captivity in extraordinary circumstances, every indication we are getting from senior defense officials is that Bergdahl knew exactly what was happening. He apparently wrote down in some fashion the letters S.F. with a question mark, Special Forces, and the commandos on the helicopter said, yes, we are, and we have been looking for you for a long time. We are told by a senior defense official that at that point Bergdahl broke down.

He may not be aware of the other half of this equation, the five detainees from Guantanamo Bay that were released to the Qataris in that Middle Eastern nation. Those five Gitmo detainees at this hour on their way back to Qatar, the Taliban informed of that, and that apparently being inform that they were going to get those people released is what really clinched the deal for the Taliban. We're told that once it all fell into place, the U.S. wanted to move as quickly as possible, get it done one official said to me before anybody in involved changed their minds.

KAYE: Yes, I bet. Barbara Starr, great reporting, thank you so much. Erin McPike at the White House for us today. Erin, what is the White House saying about Bergdahl's release and we're already hearing some criticism in fact from a House republican about how this all went down.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Randi, that's right. We are hearing some criticism from the republican ranks and we've just received the strongest statement yet in terms of criticism from Mike Rogers. He's a republican congressman and he's an important voice on this because he chairs the House Intelligence Committee. And he writes, I'm extremely troubled that the United States negotiated with terrorists and agreed to swap five senior Taliban leaders who are responsible for the deaths of many Americans. This fundamental shift in U.S. policy signals to terrorists around the world a greater incentive to take U.S. hostages.

So I posed that very question to a senior administration official at the White House. What of this question that you are somehow negotiating with terrorists and that official responded to me, Sergeant Bergdahl is a member of the military who was detained during the course of an armed conflict. The transfer of these individuals is not a concession. It's fully in line with the President's goal of closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. The Five detainees are being transferred to the custody and under the control of Qatar and they'll be subject to restrictions on the movement and activities that transfer should also be viewed in the context of the security transition in Afghanistan as we approach the end of combat operations.

Obviously that's something that President Obama has talked about frequently in the last week. He just visited Afghanistan last Sunday. But I'm sure we will hear more from the President, he will certainly be asked about this and this idea and will have to respond to this question of, did you negotiate with terrorists -- Randi.

KAYE: Erin McPike, thank you very much. And Nic Robertson as we mentioned, he's in London. And Nic, we just got confirmation to CNN that over the years Bergdahl was moved back and forth apparently between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Our correspondents are certainly working their sources in those countries, but Nic, is that in keeping with what officials have believed all along? I mean, is that how this particular Taliban group operates?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they've been pretty sure of it. The Haqqani Network is all along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan particularly the sort of North Waziristan, Pakistan side of the border. They've taken high value detainees if you will. High value hostages, kidnapped people, taken them over the border into Pakistan because they know that's beyond the reach of U.S. troops, so this has been standard off rating procedure for the Haqqani Network, standard operating procedure for the Taliban to demand the release of their own prisoners in exchange for high value prisoners of their own like Bowe Bergdahl. They've done this by capturing senior Pakistani politicians to get Taliban released on that side of the border. They've done it in Afghanistan as well. It's tactic that works for them and certainly it does seem to have worked for them in this case with Bowe Bergdahl as well.

KAYE: And about the negotiation that actually freed Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. congressman, we just heard saying that it signals is change in the American policy. Does the way it happened keep that no negotiation policy intact, do you think?

ROBERTSON: It's a matter of nuance and semantics. I'm sure when it comes down to the detail, this has been going on for at least a year and a half. It's broken down a number of times in the past. The Taliban who are in Guantanamo Bay are well known. One of them was a former deputy defense minister, one was a former interior minister, one was a former deputy chief of intelligence, one was a governor in two particular provinces. So these are senior Taliban figures that now say they're going to go and work in the Taliban's or be base on the Taliban's political office in Qatar.

That has been the deal that's been in the background in the works in the past. What does that mean? Are they out of the fight? Are they really not going to raise funds for the Taliban to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan? If they're closely watched, that will make that much harder. There have been senior Taliban figures, the former foreign minister and former ambassador to Pakistan and original Taliban member. Both in Guantanamo Bay, both released by U.S. authorities into the custody of the Afghan. Both I've interviewed inside Afghanistan. As far as we know, both have stayed out of the fight and both say they don't want to end up in Guantanamo Bay again. But it's far from clear what these new five released Taliban prisoners might do.

KAYE: And certainly so many people thrilled that Bowe Bergdahl is free, but a lot of questions about this deal. Nic Robertson, thank you very much.

Around the world, several other Americans are being held prisoner in questionable circumstances either by terrorist groups or by nations hostile to the U.S. Former FBI agent Bob Levinson disappeared during a CIA mission in Iran more than seven years ago. U.S. officials believe the Iranian government knows his whereabouts, but they deny holding him.

Kenneth Bay was detained in North Korea in November, 2012 in North Korean court sentence him to 15 years hard labor for allegedly committing hostile acts against the state. U.S. government subcontractor Alan Gross has been in Cuban custody since December 2009, Cuban authorities say, gross tried to set-up illegal internet connections. And American Pastor Saeed Abedini is being held in Iran. Abedini was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of attempting to undermine the Iranian government.

A U.S. marine says, he's been beaten and starved not by an enemy but by Mexican prison officials after he crossed the border with guns inside his car. We talk to him from behind bars ahead this hour.

But first, a murder mystery. An entire family disappears from their home. Years later, their bodies found bury in the desert. We're talking about the case, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is a mystery that's haunted the San Diego area for years. A family of four disappears from their home, leaving no signs of struggle, no apparent plan to leave on their own. Nearly four years later the bodies of the McStay family are found in the Mohave Desert buried in shallow graves. So, the question remains, who killed them?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: There's the house.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: This is the house.

KAYE (voice-over): November 2009 just months before they vanished, the McStay moved into a new house.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: There's the entrance.

KAYE: It was a new beginning.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Light colors. Hi, do you like all this big room in here?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: For them the baby to run and play outside, it was perfect.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: I'll show you how this works.

KAYE: But by February 15th, 2010, that once perfect house was now shrouded in mystery. The McStay family was still missing and so was their truck.

(on camera): Detectives send out a be on the lookout, bolo. What did they discover?

STEPH WATTS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Instantly, Randi, they get a hit on the truck. It's been impounded from a shopping mall near the Mexican border.

KAYE (voice-over): Detectives say that four days after the McStay's disappeared, their white Isuzu trooper was part and subsequently towed from the parking lot steps way from the Mexican border.

WATTS: There was nothing in that car to indicate that anything bad had happened.

KAYE: No apparent foul play. Investigators and loved ones had to consider the possibility. Did the McStays park their car at the border and then vanish into Mexico?

MICHAEL MCSTAY, BROTHER OF JOSEPH MCSTAY: In my mind we started shifting gears. Okay. They're in Cabo or they're in Mexico?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I just thought, well, maybe they took off.

KAYE: It still isn't adding up.

PATRICK MCSTAY, FATHER OF JOSEPH MCSTAY: Summer was afraid of Mexico. Would Summer take her two children in there? Heck, no.

KAYE: But the truck wasn't the only evidence leading investigators south of the border. Soon after they found the Isuzu, detectives uncovered another clue. A search on the McStays' home computer from a week before they disappeared.

WATTS: Somebody at the McStay home had searched for getting passports to Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: It is such a chilling case. Let me bring in Criminal Defense Attorney Holly Hughes and clinical and forensic psychologist Jeff Gardere. Holly, let's start with you. Why do you think the police aren't any closer to solving this mystery?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Because at the beginning they didn't know they had a mystery. They were looking at the possibility that this was a voluntary disappearance. They didn't tape off that house as a crime scene, Randi. They didn't treat it as a crime scene and they should have. Just because there isn't a kicked in front door doesn't mean something bad didn't happened. There were eggs left out on the counter as if maybe Summer were in there cooking something.

There was a bowl of microwave popcorn still fitting on the table in the living room where, you know, it looked like the kids had been sitting there eating that popcorn, watching the movie. So, all signs point to, they didn't just voluntarily get up and walk out but something terrible happened. And when you don't preserve the crime scene right away, you don't have the forensics, you don't have possible touch DNA and fiber and hairs. Everybody and their uncle was allowed to walk through the scene and that compromised any physical evidence they would have had at that time.

KAYE: Yes. In fact, he told us that they told him it wasn't a crime scene so he could go in there. But, Jeff, let me turn to you. I mean, what clues can police gain from the family's behavior and the days leading up to their disappearance. I mean, it all seemed so ordinary. Joseph the husband, he had a business lunch meeting. Summer, the wife, she was working on some remodeling at home, planning a birthday party for one of their boys. I mean, what do they need to know to figure this out?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, exactly part of what you've said. What was their routine before this happened. What were they planning? Did they have things that was scheduled for the future? Who were the last people that they had spoken to, and, of course, what we've learned, the credit cards were not used after the disappearance. Bank accounts not used. So, again, you have a very, very cold trail. If you want to look at what the behavior was before and therefore what we would expect in the future and what we got was nothing, zero. And so, that makes it more of a mystery.

KAYE: Holly, one of the things that came up is this piece of evidence, some, which is why you said, you know, they weren't looking for them, they were treating it as a missing person's case is because you sort of touched on this as this video of a family of four that turned out not to be them heading into Mexico. It was a security camera from the Mexican border. Did it sound to you like investigators sort of made their mind that that was them and case closed?

HUGHES: Well, I think you have to look at the totality of the circumstances. So, the fact that there wasn't a forced entry at the home in addition to the vehicles that's being left there with no signs of foul play in the vehicle, no blood, nothing that looks likes a struggle, add in the video of these four people who by all accounts physically resembled the family and one of the family members, the McStay family members also said, well, that white coat looks familiar that one of the family was wearing in the video.

So when you take all of those things together, you know, it's very easy for us to say, well, the police should have, but they're in mind, they are Monday morning quarterbacking and at the time they were looking at it, even the family members that were left behind were saying, could be them. Could possibly be them on that video. So, take all that together and they're looking at possibly looking to Google that you've talked about in your earlier report. Google search for passports to Mexico, this could be interpreted as a family that wanted to just get up and walk away and that's what they did.

KAYE: So, Jeff, investigators, I'm told, they're planning to re- interview pretty much everyone now that the San Bernardino County sheriff has taken over the case from San Diego. Is there something that they should look for? I mean, some signs or behaviors or maybe even actions in the people that they're talking to?

GARDERE: Well, certainly they should find out whether there were any conflicts between the people they're interviewing now and the McStay family. If they knew anything about the McStay family and any issues they may have had, any drug use, any illegal behaviors going on because one of the theories being thrown out there, of course, is perhaps they were put under by some sort of a drug cartel or Mexican cartel, so now it is all about looking for not just for possible financial physical evidence but also doing as much as they can as far as the interviews.

KAYE: I mean, you look at these pictures of these beautiful children and we talked to family members. They were really special kids. I guess, Holly, the question a lot of people have is, you know, if you had some business that maybe went bad with the parents, why kill the children. Does that say something to you that maybe they knew who did this and they had to?

HUGHES: Actually what it says to me is maybe they didn't know who did this, Randi, because this is so cold and calculating that this is like a business deal gone bad, you know. Dr. Jeff was just talking that there has been speculation that this was a drug cartel hit. And in that case, you wouldn't care. I mean, you're literally going in there and you're going to take care of the problem and the problem is four living beings. If this, in fact, was a family dispute, there were other ways to take out the adults and leave the children unharmed. They could have been taken, you know, in the middle of the night.

It could have been an execution when the children were still asleep in their bed. So the execution of the children tells me it's probably not somebody who was close to this family because, again, everybody talks about how special these little boys were and how advance they were and how much fun and how they were talking in verbal. If you knew those children, how hard would it be to murder them and put them in their own separate grave next to their parents? This smacks to me of some type of business, whether legal or illegal, that went terribly wrong and the kids were just collateral damage to the dependence.

KAYE: Well, for much more on this mysterious case, don't miss my special one-hour documentary, "Buried Secrets: Who Murdered the McStay Family." That airs Tuesday night this week, 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN. A full hour on this case. Holly and Jeff are coming right back to talk about this story. A toddler severely burned by a flash bang grenade during raid on his house. A horrible accident. Or police negligence. We'll get their thoughts and we'll show the sad images of this burned child after a very quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Was it a terrible accident or police taking things too far? I want to warn you, the images you're about to see are very graphic. A Georgia toddler is fighting for his life after a flash bomb grenade thrown by a police SWAT Team members landed in his playpen. Critically burning his face and his chest, the SWAT Team made up of six or seven officers in the Habersham County Sheriff's Department and local police showed up at the residence early Wednesday expecting to find a suspected drug dealer. They had a no-knock warrant and were told by an informant the men inside could be armed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERRIFF JOEY TERRELL, HABERSHAM COUNTY, GEORGIA: There was no clothes, there was no toys, there's nothing to indicate that there was children present in the home. If there had a been, then we would have done something different. You're trying to minimize anything that could go wrong and in this case, the greatest thing went wrong. Is it going make us be more careful in the next one? Yes, ma'am, it is. It's going make us double question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The incident is being reviewed by the department. Let me bring back in criminal defense Attorney Holly Hughes and clinical and forensic psychologist Jeff Gardere. Holly, so, is this just a horrible accident or could this Police Department be held responsible?

HUGHES: I think what you're going to see is there won't be a criminal responsibility finding but they are going to be going after them civilly. I can almost guarantee you that. Because what they're going to say is you didn't exercise that due diligence and that reasonable care. If you knew this was a suspected felon's house and you know you were getting a warrant, you know, why was there no surveillance on the outside? They had been there -- that family had been there not just with that little baby but three other children too.

So to say that they didn't -- the informant when they went to buy drugs didn't see all of this baby stuff and a playpen, I don't think that's going hold water in a civil court. I think you're going to see somebody filing a lawsuits, somebody happened to this children. And I think civilly, you probably going to see a very quiet settlement, Randi. Because this family, they were displaced. There were house firing in Wisconsin, that's the only reason they were hearing Georgia staying at this particular home which was friend of theirs. They don't have insurance for any of this and those medical bills are going to be outrageous. So, yes, I don't think the Police Department are criminally going to be held responsible but civilly, we're going to see some lawsuits coming down the playpen.

KAYE: And Jeff, what about the officers? I mean, they've been called baby killers, they're receiving death threats. I mean, how does one cope with that?

GARDERE: Well, certainly we know that this was not something that was done on purpose. It was an accident. They followed the procedure from what we know, however, what they did was bad. A baby ended up dying, his face was severely burned. Look. I know that psychologically these officers feel very bad about this and one of the things they're talking about is that they're going to review their procedures and make sure that they take much more caution. But psychologically, this is going to weigh heavily on the officers involved because this child if the child survives and is in critical condition may be damaged not just physically, emotionally brain damaged for the rest of his life. KAYE: Holly, we have to talk about this other story out of Oakland, California. This is the case of a high school security guard seen on surveillance video hitting a student in a wheelchair allegedly because the student was either refusing or was slow to go to class. The school is responding saying, a member of our staff acted in an appalling manner toward one of our students subjecting that student of physical violence, the staff member was arrested and has been charged with a felony. Holly, your thoughts. Do you think the security guard will face additional charges from the family in this case as well?

HUGHES: Well, I think the felony charges that have already been pressed will probably be successful in getting a guilty plea. That videotape evidence is pretty damning Randi, and, yes, I think the family might go after him civilly. But when you go after someone civilly, you have to be able to prove damages. And like we just talked about in the last case, provable damages are, you know, all those medical bills that are piling up.

So what we need to find out here is how much damage was physically done to the young man in the wheel chair and like Dr. Jeff pointed out, are there psychological damages? Is this attack that we see on the videotape, is this something that's going to require further counseling for.

I think who they're going go after, Randi, is the school district for hiring and retaining this security guard who would engage in this type of behavior.

KAYE: What's amazing is you see these other students walking down the hallway, they see it happening but they're just nonchalantly walking down the hallway. But that's a whole another story. Jeff, some students now are defending, though, the security guard, saying that the student is a troublemaker who provoked the guard. What do you make of that?

GARDERE: The student is in a wheelchair. The student has polio. I mean, let's be real about this. They said this student was very disruptive, spit on the security officer.

It doesn't matter. The purpose of the security officer is to keep security, is to make sure that the child does not hurt himself, that the security guard is not hurt. This security guard went after this kid. Even if hi wasn't in a while chair, even if he didn't have this disability, this illness, he should not have handled it that way. This security officer had some serious anger issues and Holly is right. The school district is going to have to deal with hiring someone who seems to have such a hot head doing this kind of work with children. It's just plain wrong.

KAYE: Jeff Gardere, Holly Hughes, nice to see you both as always. Thank you.

HUGHES: Thanks, Randi.

GARDERE: Pleasure. Thanks, Randi. KAYE: A marine said he was beaten, shackled, and deprived food and water in a Mexican jail cell and it could all be because he took a wrong turn out of a private parking lot. CNN speaks to Sergeant Andrea Tahmooressi from jail, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is the hour's top story here on CNN. A U.S. soldier captured by the Taliban nearly five years ago is coming home. Bowe Bergdahl, sergeant of United States Army, the Taliban snatched him while on deployment to eastern Afghanistan back in 2009.

Today, he is free. He is safe at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan. Bergdahl's family got the news directly from President Obama.

This is what they said, "We were so joyful and relieved when President Obama called us today to give us the news that Bowe is finally coming home. We cannot wait to wrap our arms around our only son."

Our sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan confirmed to us today that Bowe Bergdahl was moved back and forth across the border, between these highlighted provinces over the years. The group who held him is linked to both the Taliban and al Qaeda.

A U.S. marine says that he's been slapped, punched, shackled, and deprived of food and water in a Mexican jail, but his treatment seems to be improving after CNN highlighted his story. CNN spoke with Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi from jail.

Nick Valencia reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was Andrew Tahmooressi days before his arrest, living at a friend's house in San Diego, looking for emotional support after two combat tours in Afghanistan.

SAM VRANCAR, SERVED WITH JAILED MARINE IN AFGHANISTAN: We noticed the problems face-to-face where he was just acting distant and we could tell a clear sign of PTSD.

VALENCIA: But over the course of the month his friends told CNN things started to look up, until the night of March 31st. He parked his car on the U.S. side and walked into Mexico to patronize an establishment popular with marines, according to his mother. He eventually returned to the U.S. on foot, got in his car, and then made a fateful turn into Mexico.

Tahmooressi's mom said the marine parked in this lot. He made a left right out of here, completely missing that sign that says "Mexico only, no USA return," straight on to that onramp right into Mexico.

SGT. ANDREW TAHMOORESSI: I crossed the border by accident and I have three guns in my truck, and they're trying to possess, they're trying to take my guns from me. VALENCIA: Tahmooressi would have driven through here. Not every car that goes into Mexico gets checked. The director of the Tijuana checkpoint told Mexican media Tahmooressi was pulled over because he didn't have a front license plate. Never once did he say he was a U.S. marine, Mexican officials said, or that he got lost. He's been imprisoned in Mexico ever since. We spoke to him on the phone from the Mexican prison where he's being held.

What have things been like for you there in Mexico, Andrew?

TAHMOORESSI: Not very good in the beginning. For like the first month things were not that good at all.

VALENCIA (on camera): Tahmooressi is being held here at (INAUDIBLE) prison in Tecate, Mexico. When I spoke to him by phone earlier he said he is being abused, mistreated by prison officials, not given enough food or water. We weren't able to get inside the prisons to see for ourselves, but when I talked to the head of the police at the jail, he denied those allegations and said that the marine is being treated well.

(voice-over): But the drama surrounding his case has caused court delays. After firing his attorney before the first proceedings, Tahmooressi may have to wait weeks to get another hearing. He's willing to wait, he says, optimistic that he will be released soon.

(on camera): What gives you that confidence, Andrew?

TAHMOORESSI: I'm not guilty. And I'm confident that the judge is going to realize that I'm not a guilty man.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Nick Valencia, CNN, Tecate, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Let's get to Erin McPike. She's at the White House with some news on today's rescue of U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.

Erin, what can you tell us?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Randi, that's right. President Obama is back at the White House. He will deliver a statement from the Rose Garden tonight, around 6:15, also in the last few minutes, we've seen White House chief of staff Denis McDonough enter the White House as have the parents of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.

Now, the other thing we can tell you, of course, is that Bowe Bergdahl himself is still in Afghanistan. He is -- U.S. military forces are holding him there. He's obviously undergoing some medical treatment for recovery, but we do expect his parents will be reunited with him at some point here in the United States at a San Antonio medical facility.

But, of course, we will be hearing more from President Obama at 6:15 from the Rose Garden, Randy.

KAYE: All right. We will, of course, carry that here. Erin, thank you very much for that update.

Golfer Phil Mickelson is best known for his accomplishments inside the ropes. Now, the government is trying to find out if he was out of bounds when he made a stock purchase three years ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Phil Mickelson usually makes headlines for his golf shots. Now, the legendary PGA star is making headlines for his stock purchases. The FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether investor Carl Icahn told a well-known sports bettor about a 2011 takeover bid for Clorox and according to "The New York Times", whether that information was passed to Mickelson.

Now, before the bid, there was suspicious trading that coincided with Mickelson's purchase of shares in the company. At the moment, there's no allegation of wrongdoing.

Mickelson has released this statement, "I've done absolutely nothing wrong, you've cooperated with the government in this investigation and will continue do so. I wish I could fully discuss this matter but under the current circumstances, it's just not possible."

Well, it was the decade that changed the world and the world played out on television. Next, we're talking about the biggest moments of the 1960s from those in black and white to those in color.

But, first, when heart disease strikes a loved one, it can mean long hours, days, even months in the hospital at their bedside. That can wreak havoc on jobs, finances, and stress levels. This week's CNN Hero found a way to help those who are helping their sick loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been sick for my whole life. I can't do what most people can do. I can't go on sleepovers. I can't play football.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, Brandon. You'll be all right, OK?

Brandon was five weeks old when he got his heart transplant. I've been dealing with Brandon heart disease since he is born.

MICHELLE JAVIAN, CNN HERO: Heart disease is the number one killer in America. It can happen in a second and it uproots your life entirely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lily!

JAVIAN: A lot of families travel to New York City for top cardiac care. However, New York City is also one of the most expensive places to live and stay.

My father passed away after battling heart disease for nearly two years. While we were at the hospital, we met countless families that didn't have a place to stay. They were emotionally drained and financially not in the best situation.

How are you guys doing and feeling?

So, I cofounded Harboring Hearts. Our organization helps families with emotional and financial support and any other types of emergency needs.

Did you get the gift cards and everything?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

JAVIAN: OK. Good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brandon needs to have biopsy every few months. Without foundation, we don't be able to be close to the hospital because my economical situation.

I want to really thank you, helping us exactly in the time we really need it.

JAVIAN: After my father passed away, I wanted to do something positive and bring happiness and relief and support to the families who need it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Do you know someone like Michelle who deserves recognition? Well, go to CNNHeroes.com right now, and let us know all about them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We are expecting President Obama to talk about today's release of Bowe Bergdahl by the Taliban. He's going to be speaking very shortly, from the Rose Garden. We're told Mr. Obama will speak at 6:15 Eastern Time, there at the Rose Garden at the White House. And we should also mention that Bowe Bergdahl parents are in Washington as well and will be joining the president there during that press conference that he'll be holding.

CNN, of course, will bring that to you live.

You're going to want to be with us tomorrow morning for "STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY". National security adviser Susan Rice returns to the show.

Back in 2012 when she was U.S. ambassador to the U.N. She was heavily criticized for saying the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was due to an anti-Muslim video. Susan Rice on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. and noon Eastern Time.

CNN's new 10-part series "The Sixties" guides viewers to the tumultuous decade that saw so many historic moments. The civil rights movement, the space race, the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam and so many more. The first episode airs tonight at 8:00 Eastern and sets the stage with the focus on TV called "Television Comes of Age."

So let's talk about it with TV critic David Bianculli, a founder of the Web site "TV Worth Watching." David, welcome to you.

So, so much happened during that decade. What are some of your top TV moments would you say of the '60s?

DAVID BIANCULLI, TV CRITIC: Well, in terms of the news it has got to be everybody who was alive at the time which is JFK assassination on the one end and the moon landing on the other. But entertainment, because I was a teenager then, it's the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, it's for puberty, you know, "The Avengers". For entertainment, it's "The Carol Burnett Show." "Rowan & Martin Laugh-In," the Smothers Brothers. For drama, it's "The Defenders".

There was a lot of good stuff that finally showed up in the '60s.

KAYE: And how would you say -- I mean, in terms of television, I mean, 1960s TV changed the way Americans viewed the country, right?

BIANCULLI: Yes. It was a very split personality kind of medium in the '60s. In terms of news, it kept getting more and more serious as the decade got more serious and it was showing people in their living rooms, stuff about the country and about the world that they just hadn't seen before. But in terms of the entertainment, it was more and more escapist until, finally, the two sides collided in the late '60s and then even entertainment grew up and got topical.

KAYE: Yet, it was considered and called by some this vast wasteland, right? Meanwhile, look at it now.

BIANCULLI: Right. You know, it's an amazing medium and it has grown up and matured to where I think that it's doing some of the best story telling that's available in any medium. And the birth of that was in the late '50s and early '60s.

So, you know, it's taken 60 years, but gotten pretty good.

KAYE: Yes. So you teach college students about TV history. How do you explain to young people who grew up with the Internet and all of these hundreds of cable channels, what a big deal television actually was when there was, what, like three TV channels?

BIANCULLI: Yes. It's a great question. What I finally -- I finally cracked teaching the '60s to kids by showing them a lot of history before I showed them any television. So, you know, it's one thing to show the JFK assassination or Bobby Kennedy assassination coverage of the Martin Luther king assassination.

But it's so much more potent to them if you show speeches first and show news clips so that they are alive and they're human and what they counted for matters. And then you kill them. Then they have got a sense of how awful the '60s were, how unsettling in terms of that and then you show the entertainment. Their jaws dropped when they see "My Mother the Car."

KAYE: I have to ask, though, just very quickly, what is your favorite '60s show? Do you have one? BIANCULLI: Favorite '60s show is the "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour." It formed me more and taught me more things about entertainment and politics than any other show.

KAYE: Certainly a lot of people's favorite, I'm sure. Thank you so much. It was a fun conversation and it's a great series that we have going here.

I appreciate your time tonight.

BIANCULLI: It is, indeed. I would say that, too.

KAYE: Thank you.

And a reminder you can catch the first episode of CNN's original series "The Sixties: Television Comes of Age". That's tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time, and we should mention you can see a whole brand-new episode "The World on the Brink", Thursday night. That's at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Our top story today, the release of the only American held captive in Afghanistan in exchange for five Gitmo detainees, we'll tell you what we know about how it all happened and what happens next, and we will hear from President Obama when he speaks live in the Rose Garden. All of that is next after a very quick break.

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