Bergdahl in Outpatient in Texas
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Here's a question only Bowe Bergdahl can answer. But let's face it, a lot of people are asking it. After five years as the Taliban captive, weeks in the hospital, he is now an outpatient, yet he still has not seen his parents. As far as we know, he has not even spoken to them yet, and it's got to get you wondering why. Did all his time in captivity change him that much, or is the same young man everyone knew just waiting to come out again? Ed Lavandera is covering the process of reintegrating Bergdahl back into normal life. And he joins us live in Dallas, and then in Chicago is psychologist Joseph Troiani who's also a former Navy commander and teaches a course on survival, evasion, resistance, escape psychology, better known as SERE. Ed, first to you, this notion that Sergeant Bergdahl is an outpatient, can you categorize that a little for me? Because I don't think that means he's jumping on the bus and heading off base.</s>ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. No, if you remember, for the last nine days or so -- 10 days or so, Bergdahl had been inpatient. Basically he had a hospital room there at Brook Army Medical Center where he was going through the reintegration process. He's still in Houston, part of Fort Sam Houston where the Brook Army Medical Center is there, but things are starting to slowly change for him. He's moved to another part of the complex there. Army officials won't say much about what his current living conditions are like, but that he's slowly being introduced to more and more people as part of this reintegration process. He is still in Houston and still being treated.</s>BANFIELD: So, Joseph Troiani, maybe you can help me figure this out, because as far as I know, Sam Houston's got quarters for families with, you know, service members who are being treated. There's also a community center there, plenty of space. It's not a logistics issue for his family to be there. Is there something to the notion that some POWs are different than other POWs in the way that they are held?</s>JOSEPH TROIANI, FOUNDER, ADLER SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGY: Definitely, after being confined for five years, the reentry process is pretty difficult, and for some, it takes a little longer period of time when they feel they're ready. They want to be ready for when they meet their loved ones or families. But I think the stage is being set, as you've mentioned, at Fort Sam Houston. They have the Fisher Houses there for families. They have a great community center where families and soldiers are able to socialize and have some time on their own. So we might be getting closer to the point where he's going to meet mom and dad.</s>BANFIELD: Well, I get it. I'm think I'm just trying to get my head around -- look, I've never been held captive, I don't know, but I can only go on the experiences others before him. And we've never seen this before. We've just never seen somebody going into the fourth week of finally being able to come home and not coming home, really home. Is that -- is there a difference between being a POW where you have other mates who are captive with you to, say, somebody who's in sensory deprivation perhaps, because we've heard accounts that might be afoot here, and does that make sense, that he be this detached at this point from his own family?</s>TROIANI: More than likely, he is feeling detached. Remember, he was absent from his lifestyle and culture. Now he's coming back and being reintegrated. The good news is they feel that he's physically and psychologically stable enough where he's able to transition to what we would remember to as traditional outpatient. But I would also consider that at this point in time, because he has a history of walking away from his post or being absent, that he would be under military police escort or possibly even the Army's CID, which is the Army's version of NCIS with the Navy.</s>BANFIELD: I just need a quick answer on this one, sir, and I don't know if you know the answer, and I don't know if this is even a question that I should be asking, but it crosses my mind. Is it possible at all that the military is holding that reunion over him until he cedes the kind of information they're looking for about what led to all of this, five years ago? Is that possible?</s>TROIANI: That could always be a possibility, but they keep emphasizing that they're letting him move at his own pace. And it could be their recommendation or what have you.</s>BANFIELD: It's good to have you. Thank you so much, Joseph Troiani, and Ed Lavandera, for your reporting on this. By the way, five years, Ed has been on this story, and he's been terrific at every detail. Thank you both. Appreciate it. Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez facing first-degree murder charges, and we've just learned he actually spent part of the weekend out of the jail. He was at a hospital, and if you want to know what it was that took him there, we'll have it for you after the break.