Bergdahl recovering at U.S. Hospital in Germany
HARLOW: Bowe Bergdahl has been a free man for more than a work now, and as for his physical condition, today we're getting nothing directly from the military hospital that is treating him in Germany. They haven't released a Bergdahl update in several days. The "New York Times" did get information from a source they call, quote, "a senior Defense Department official". CNN's Karl Penhaul is in Germany with that.</s>KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even getting the medical details here on the ground has become very tricky because of the political firestorm around this case. The medics here at Landstuhl haven't issued any update about Bergdahl's health status since before the weekend and they're citing a patient privacy for this. And then this morning, when they saw the details coming out in the "New York Times" their first reaction, maybe the senior Pentagon official that talked to the " New York Times" may be he's violated patient privacy laws giving out these details. So as far as the medics in Landstuhl are concerned Bergdahl remains stable. His condition is improving and he is taking a greater interest in the health care program that's being set out for him. But what we know from the "New York Times," is that really Bergdahl is showing no signs of any serious physical problems. He has a gum problem and he has a skin problem. That poor nutrition and then the extreme conditions -- the weather conditions he was exposed to. The "New York Times" also says he weighs 160 pounds. That, for a guy who's 5'9" is a pretty good weight. No sign that he's emaciated there.</s>HARLOW: So how likely is it in terms of how is the process likely going to look in terms of recovery, both physically, emotionally, mental recovery? I want to bring in Terry Lyles for that. He's a combat stress coach. He's also a psychologist. Thanks for joining us about this. I appreciate it.</s>TERRY LYLES, PSYCHOLOGIST: You're welcome.</s>HARLOW: You know, when you look at this, you were saying something earlier this week that really stood out to me. You said, even though he will come home not missing a limb you have to look at it and look beyond that not being gone because so much of him has been taken -- the emotional trauma, the mental trauma. Talk to us about that. Because I think for so many people, they may see him and it may look like the Bowe Bergdahl they knew.</s>LYLES: Well, and that's the classic way I try to describe post traumatic stress issues is that most of it is psychological if it's not physical, you can't see it. And many times over the years from any war deployment, when people come back with emotional scars you don't see those scars and you have to read through that. So he's been through five years of trauma, regardless of what happened, how it went down.</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>LYLES: But he's going to have a new awaken and a different kind of trauma even getting back to his family, because it's such a different scenario than he's been used to and there's an acclamation time, a debriefing time, and that process just takes a period of time. And everyone is different on how they matriculate through that process.</s>HARLOW: I did want to talk to you a lot about that acclamation. Because, you know, in terms of that reuniting with their family, that's not the first step at all. This, I think, is what officials call the third step in this long process.</s>LYLES: Correct.</s>HARLOW: But a lot of times when someone who has been in a terrifying scenario like this, they can only really reunite with their family at first for a moment of minutes. It is that overwhelming.</s>LYLES: Well, you have to look at it like exposure overload, you know? I mean he's going through a step down process to make sure medically that he's ok, nutritionally as a part of that he's ok, psychologically that he's ok. But there's nothing like seeing a family member or something familiar to him from five years past or eight years past, whatever it really was total. That will bring on a whole set of emotions, a different set of reaction. And you've got take that in baby steps because that itself can be very, very overwhelming and could actually put him back into a bad situation that he doesn't want to go to and medical people don't want him to go to either.</s>HARLOW: And you know, we've been told by a senior U.S. Official, that indeed, he is in well enough health that he could talk to his family on the phone from the hospital there in Germany. They could actually go there to meet with him in person, as far as we know that hasn't happened yet. He hasn't talked to them on the phone, hasn't seen them there. Does that surprise you, or is this going to be a matter of weeks before he's potentially ready to be reunited with family, maybe not until he's back here in the United States?</s>LYLES: Well, first of all, it doesn't surprise me because everyone -- as everyone grieves differently, everyone transitions differently, and it's not uncommon. I do a lot of this. I hear a lot of stories and help these individuals acclimate back to society. You've really got to meet them where they are. And you know, if he's not willing to reach out yet or has been advised -- we don't know that --</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>LYLES: he may have been advised not to reach out yet. So regard of the situation, you've got to really take it slowly. And whether it's a phone conversation or a brief, you know, in person meeting with his family, everyone's going to have to weigh in on that and make sure it's the safest thing for him and his recovery process that's going to take him the rest of his life.</s>HARLOW: Yes. We appreciate the expertise. Of course, no one knows. Really he's the only one that has these answers but you've been around people in this situation before and have seen what it's like for them to go through it. Appreciate it. Thanks for coming in for us, Terry.</s>LYLES: You're welcome. Thank you.</s>HARLOW: California Chrome, that horse's image may now be tarnished, not because of disappointing fourth place finish yesterday but because of his owner's critical words after the race about other horses in the race. You're going to hear what he said. We'll talk about that, next.