This evening. They will talk about ukraine, just not with each other or in the same room. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. We begin with the world lead. It has been something of a challenge, piecing together the events leading up to the capture of the events leading up to Bowe Bergdahl. But now cnn has uncovered some remarkable new claims from local afghan officials, not just about bergdahls capture but about his actions in the moments beforehand. Our pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr explains. What are these local villagers telling us . Jake, its important what you just said. They are claims. We can not independently verify any of this. But a local Afghan Security official who was on duty in the area when bergdahl was captured is telling cnn bergdahl apparently wandered into a village. The afghan villagers tried to tell him, apparently, it was too dangerous, he shouldnt be there, that he should return to his base but they have language difficulties. Nobody understood each other. There is also report that he was on hall looucinogenic drugs. We cannot verify that. But what happened is the taliban in the area grabbed him and took him into captivity. This is part of the narrative and it is very difficult now to piece together what happened. Barbara, what have you learned about bergdahls actions while being held by the taliban over the previous five years . Actually, a u. S. Official is telling me that they have information that bergdahl may may have tried to escape at least twice during his five years in captivity. The reason this official is caveating this with a may, they have some information and intelligence about this but they really need to talk to Bowe Bergdahl and get from him the direct details of what happened. A lot of this, jake, await talking to Bowe Bergdahl directly. Barbara starr at the pentagon, thank you so much. These new claims are emerging after senators got a closeddoor look at the proof of live video of bergdahl which apparently showed the captive in such a state that the white house decided to cut a deal immediately to swap the sergeant for five mid to highranking officials in the taliban. In the briefing last night, he and his fellow senators were told that u. S. Intelligence indicated that if anything about the swap became public before it went down, bergdahl would have been killed. President obama in belgian today does not make him waiver about whether its the right thing to do. Im never surprised by the kobt verse sees that are whipped up in washington. We do not leave anybody wearing the american uniform behind. We had a prisoner of war whose health had deteriorated and we were deeply concerned about it and we saw an opportunity and we seized it. I have no apologies about it after that. The senators, most of whom i think its fair to say are not medical doctors, came away with widely ranging takes. I dont think from a health standpoint there were any issues. He looked terrible. That did not sell me at all. Proof of life in december, five months ago . At that time he was impaired. That is not the person that was released here. The tape in question is one of two proof of live videos of bergdahl recently, neither of which has been made public yet. Very few americans can relate to the experience of enduring five years of prisoner of war. Senator mccain is a noble exception and is criticizing the deal. And senator john mccain, republican from arizona, and Ranking Member on the Senate Armed Services committee joins me now. Senator, i know you want to talk about this. In february you had some comments to Anderson Cooper about this case. I want to run those and get your response. Would you oppose the idea of some form of negotiations or Prisoner Exchange . I know back in 2012 you called the idea of negotiating with the taliban bizarre and highly questionable. Well, at that time the proposal was that they would release taliban, some of them really hardcore taliban leaders as a confidence building measure. Now this idea is for an exchange of our American Fighting man. I would be inclined to support such a thing depending on a lot of the details. So inclined to support such a thing depending on the details . Yes. And the details are outrageous. They went to qatar, where the taliban has an office, and in a year they are going to be out and the deal is, like any other agreement, as i said, in the details. And so for i mean, its just totally unacceptable. These people would be back in the fight. Our troops will still be there and i its like any i have supported a lot of agreements. I support an agreement with iran on Nuclear Situation but i certainly would want to know the details and right now the details i know are not any good. The details, as i found out here, were unacceptable. So if given this choice, if you were in the white house or if they came to you and gave you the decision and said, were concerned about bergdahl, this is our chance, five taliban for him, you would say no . Absolutely. Look, first of all, before i consider it and who those taliban were, these are people that were selected by the taliban, not by the United States, to start with. Second of all, they are the highestranking people. Third of all, they were judged to be such a risk that they shouldnt be released and, fourth of all, they are released into qatar where they are free to travel and plot and also a year, theres no doubt in my mind they will reenter the fight. Thats why leon panetta said what he said that he opposed it. Senator, presumably this was the best deal that they could get. Thats like saying a nuclear deal with iran is the best deal that they can get. It has to be a deal that preserves american security. So he would still be in pakistan or afghanistan or wherever he was . Im afraid thats the case because our first obligation is not to put the lives of fighting men and women at risk by having these people return to the fight. Theres a clear record of these people having returned to the fight and in leadership positions because its a badge of honor to have been in guantanamo. These are these are also war criminals. A couple of them were accused of killing thousands of shiite muslims. These are the ones that used to take the women into the soccer stadium in kabul and hang them from the goal posts. I would certainly not want to release anyone who is a further risk to the United States of america. They are not going to free members who are members of sergeant peppers lonely hearts band. Its going to be bad guys in exchange for an american. Theres all kinds of people. This is the top leadership selected by the taliban. There is a huge difference, jake. Look, this is just an attack by the obama files. Look, i would never agree to such a thing and i said i would have to know depending a lot on the details, depending on the details and then i went on and said again after asked, i would obviously have to know the details. The details are unacceptable and for anyone to accuse me, therefore, of saying that id support any prisoner swap under any circumstances is lying. Lets move on. You saw the tape last night, the proof of life tape. How did bergdahl look in that tape to you and why do you think so many senators have different opinions on his health . Well, im not that i dont have that kind of expertise. I do know that dr. Coburn well, i shouldnt say it. Why dont you ask dr. Coburn what his view of it is because hes a qualified medical doctor and he observed it, rather than me. I that also, i understand that video was taken back in january. Thats a long time that has elapsed. Well, what was your take on it . Well, i think he looked a little strange to me. It was hard to tell. It was very brief. It was up close. I dont expect anybody whos being held in prison to look like they are in great shape, to tell you the truth, jake. As a former prisoner of war and im not comparing you and Sergeant Bergdahl, very different activities, but as a former prisoner of war, did you see anything in his eyes or in the proof of life that you could understand, just because youre one of the few people who has this kind of unfortunately, you have this kind of expertise. I i recall a couple of times that prisoners who were in hanoi were taken out before the media and they didnt look very good. Its a tough experience. My heart goes out to him. Ive wanted him home. I didnt want to risk the lives and dont want to risk the lives of americans. I would never agree with that. You know, this line about the sailor falling off the ship. Look, the captain of the ships responsibility is to make sure that they win the battle and first take care of everybody and then you take care of those who are left behind. This battle is still going on. The president may be leaving but the taliban arent. Senator john mccain, republican, arizona, Senate Armed Services committee, former vietnam p. O. W. , we thank you for your expertise and thoughts and your service. Thank you, jake. Coming up, as questions continue to be asked about the deal leading to bergdahls release, were just now hearing about his current mental state. New details on why he has not yet spoken with his parents and what hes telling doctors. Coming up next. Plus, you can kick the man out but not keep him out of the spotlight. Why putins sexist comments are stealing the show. Ahead. Olive gardens latest inspiration . You you told us your number one olive garden dishes. 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Buetows claims were backed up by former Sergeant Justin gurley. I was standing there with evan when those communications came across as far as what exactly was said and i dont want to quote it but there was talk that he was running around looking for somebody who spoke english. There is a similar report in the army war logs leaked to wikileaks. Heres part of that. Quote, traffic indicates that an american soldier is talking and looking for someone who speaks english. The war log does not indicate that its someone representing the taliban. It was incomplete, for whatever reason. He and others reported that to higher ups. Does that mean he had necessarily some kind of nefarious intent . Well, no. According to one former Government Official involved in the case who says the account of buetow tracks with other indicators of a sort of messy antic mission on the part of bergdahls part to stop the violence and help an understanding with a local tap ban, just one form of speculation. Bergdahls intent is certainly significant. I want to get some more insight into the mental state of sergeant Bowe Bergdahl with dr. Paul reagan who has helped countless veterans. Doctor, this idea that bergdahl may have been reaching out to make peace, you were involved in a case in 1983 with some parallels to that. Describe it for us. Yeah. There are some interesting parallels. This was a young man not that much younger than Sergeant Bergdahl who left his post in japan. He was a tank officer. He flew with his own money to pakistan, made it to northern pakistan and was heading there in an effort, in a delusion that he had, a grandiose delusion that he was going to help the afghan rebels in their fight against the russians. He, fortunately, did not do that and ended up back in washington, d. C. , and i examined him at the National NavalMedical Center and you talk about the messiah complex and bipolar, which is what this young man suffered from, bipolar disorder with a manic, grandiose delusion, is one of the underpinnings that sometimes can cause this messiah complex. Other things can be schizophrenia, certain personality narcissistic personality traits. Dr. Reagan, would that square at all with what were hearing from this local afghan official, about bergdahl to be in some sort of a hallucinogenic state . Certainly somebody who had a lot of thoughts about joining the army and thought that he maybe was being called to a higher power, for him to leave and look for somebody certainly is someone who may have had a messiah complex. Certainly people who suffer trauma can be very detached and look detached from their environment. Thats a peculiar description. And i dont think we have enough facts to put that in the context yet. Lets turn to bergdahls state three days ago. Bergdahl was having trouble speaking english after being held five years in captivity. Today a Spokesman Says that hes conversing in english. Whats happening to him right now in. Well, i think clearly we dont know what those five years were like. He was really the subject of coercion, he was very isolated. So this is an individual who is in a very fragile state, very regressed. Regressed would suggest assuming a more immature, reverting to a more immature, psychological state. I dont think to the point where he couldnt speech english. People who are very discontrolled, very emotionally fragile, then emotions can flood and they can have impaired cognition. Also, as yourself know, its a very stark environment there and to come back, its going to be going from sensor underload to sensory overload. In a swalituation like this, doctor, when does the army decide to reintroduce someone like this to his family . Well, thats a clinical judgment. 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