jessica lynch, great soldier, not a rambo. she never lied.e had the moral courage and fortitude, though, rachel, to come forward and let people know that they are lying about her record. and i give her credit for that. >> patrick, let me ask you one last question, it is a political question. as you say, there isn't a reason to conflate the actions of sergeant bergdahl and the wisdom and the ethics of whether or not he should have been brought home as an american soldier in captivity. on the former question, though, the military says it's going to open a new round of investigation, a new investigation into the circumstances under which he was taken. is that the sort of thing at this point, which is now necessarily going to be infected with the sort of politics, that have attended this decision to free him from afghanistan or do you have any concerns that that can be fairly adjudicated given the way this has turned into a huge firestorm on the right now? >> the fact that they're bringing such a big deal that we're bringing an american g.i. home

maddow, pentagon made up story of jessica lynch's heroism. t, some people who saw the reporting questioned her assertion that the pentagon made up lynch's heroism. this is a pretty simple thing from the fact-checking perspective. did the military provide false information that led to the narrative that jessica lynch went down fighting when she was captured? let's do some googling. here's a "military times" article published after jessica lynch was rescued. it featured a named member of the military, a public affairs official, providing false information about jessica lynch's capture. navy captain frank thorp said lynch waged quite a battle prior to her capture. we do have very strong indications that lynch was not captured very easily, he said. reports are that she fired her m-16 until she had no more ammunition. that information straight from a military public affairs official was not true. it was made up. but it landed in press reports anyway. "the new york times" also printed a story after jessica lynch's rescue that contained made up infor

here's a military times article published after jessica lynch was rescued.ation. it said lynch waged quite a battle prior to her capture. we have strong indications that lynch was not captured easily. reports are she fired her m-16 until she had no more ammunition. that information straight from a military public affairs official was not true. it was made up but landed in press reports any way. "new york times" printed a story after jessica lynch's story that had information on her supposed heroism and information provided by a u.s. army official. if you have google, which i understand politfact does not have. if they did they could see the evidence of the pentagon pushing this false story about jessica lynch fighting while she was hurt, being a hero, right? their google is broken. luckily for them we played this reporting from nbc news on the show the night they say they were watching. >> lynch and 14 other members of the ordinance maintenance company disappeared after ambushed. military officials say she fought even while hurt until she ran out of ammuniti

how long did jessica lynch wait before she was returned to the united states? you are trying to tell me that he's being held in germany because of his medical condition? >> congressman, i hope you're not implying anything other than that. >> i'm just asking the question. >> i'm going to give you an answer. i don't like the implication. >> answer it. >> he's being held there because our medical professionals don't believe he is ready until they believe he is ready to take the next step. >> you have ever seen a traumatically injured service member brought to the united states immediately upon being stabilized? we do it all the time. >> i'm not sure in 13 years of covering the war i have ever heard such an exchange between congress and any secretary of defense about whether the military is holding an injured service member at a hospital. of course, the answer to this is that bowe bergdahl is under going a repatriation process, a medical and psychological series of events that will take some time. u.s. officials say for him to recover for this is a very set procedu

how long did jessica lynch wait before she was returned to the united states? you're trying to tell me that he's being held in germany because of his medical condition? >> congressman, i hope you're not implying anything other than that. the fact -- >> i'm just asking the question. >> i'll give you an answer. i don't like the implication of the question. he's being held there because our medical professionals don't believe he's ready until they believe he's ready to take the next step to rehabilitation. >> have you ever seen a injured service member brought to the united states immediately upon being stabilized? we do it all the time. >> this isn't just about a physical situation, congressman. this guy was held for almost five years in god knows what kind of conditions. we do know some of the conditions from our intelligence community. not by the way from bergdahl. this is not just about can he get on his feet and walk and get to a plane. >> he cannot be questioned because of his condition? >> i'm telling you that the medical professions that rely on their judg

we did it with jessica lynch in iraq when the special operations forces conducted the raid of the hospitalre she was being held as a prisoner of war. and jeffrey toobin is right. the process needs to run its course. now, when you recover an individual who's been held in enemy custody, there has to be an extensive debriefing process. and it is actually in the interest of that process that we don't suspect him of a crime at this point because the minute they really start to suspect him of having committed an offense, then he has a right to a warning under what's called article 31 of the uniformed code of military justice, which is a miranda warning. right now, there interest is to find out what happened and to gather as much intelligence as they can in relation to this incident. and i think until they have all that information, they won't even know the exact details of what happened. >> of course the issue of him just speaking, being able to speak. his parents alluded to the notion he may not be able to physically speak or remember how to speak, we're not sure which, but there's something af

reporter: that commitment has led to amazing moments such as the special forces rescue of private jessica lynchured in iraq. >> and he told me we're american soldiers, and we're here to take you home. and i looked at him and i said yes, i'm an american soldier too. >> reporter: the goal of rescues the fallen can undeniably be complicated by circumstances and costs. in the blackhawk down case, the battle to save troops cost 18 american lives and hundreds of somalis died too. so while bergdahl's fellow soldiers roundly agree he deserved rescue -- >> of course, he needs to be saved. he is an american soldier. we never leave anybody behind. >> reporter: they also want accountability, saying it appears he was not abducted but simply walked off. and according to fellow soldiers, at least a half dozen of their comrades were killed trying to find him. the pentagon is not officially linked those deaths to the missing soldier, nor has he been charged with any crime. however -- >> the army will conduct a comprehensive review of all the circumstances regarding sergeant bergdahl's disappearance. and i think

soldiers returned to the united states almost immediately after they were stabilize and how long did jessica lynch wait before she was returned to the united states, and you are trying to tell me that he is being held at landstu landstuhl, germany, because of his medical condition. >> congressman, i hope that you are not implying anything other than that? >> i am just asking the question, mr. secretary. >> well, i don't like the implication of the question. >> i want an answer. >> he is being held there until the medical professionals believe that he is ready to take the next step of rehabilitation. >> have you ever seen a tramatically injured service member brought to the united states immediately upon being stabilize at landstuhl? we do it all of the time. >> in is not just about a physical situation, congressman. this guy was held for almost five years in god knows what kind of conditions, and we do know some of the conditions from our intelligence community, and not from by the way, bergdahl, but this is not just about can he get on the feet and walk and get to a plane. >> and so you are telli

how long did jessica lynch wait before she was returned to the united states? you're trying to tell me that he is being held at landstuhl, germany because of his medical condition? >> congressman, i hope you're not implying anything other than that. >> i'm just asking the question, mr. secretary. you won't answer. >> i will give an answer. >> answer night i don't like the implication of question. >> answer it. answer it. >> he is being held there because our medical professionals don't believe he is ready. until they belief he is ready to take the next step of rehabilitation -- >> have you ever seen a traumatically injured service member brought to the united states immediately upon being stablized at landstuhl? we do it all the time. >> this isn't just about a physical situation, congressman. this guy was held for almost five years in god knows what kind of conditions. we do know some of the conditions from our intelligence community. not from, by the way bergdahl. this is not just about can he get on his feet and walk and get to a plane. >> so you're telling

. >> jessica lynch was brought home. >> that is crazy.e with the jessica lynch situation, completely. she was held for days. she was with a unit. she was ambushed. she lost a number of her partners and her fellow soldiers. then she was rescued by a very aggressive ranger, delta force operation that took place. that was days. this is five years. there's a significant difference. in that comparison is -- that's ridiculous. it should not have been made. it doesn't dignify a response. i think the secretary could have said i'm not going to respond to that until you get your act together. >> you don't see this as fact finding, you see this as playing politics with the situation. >> that question was a really politically generated question. >> so now we go to what's going on with bowe. we get these journals. and some understanding of his past. the first thing that checks up is procedural. he was in the post guard. he was discharged from the coast guard. they don't assign any reason for it. it's not honorable or dishonorable. on the digging side

how long did jessica lynch wait before she was returned to the united states? you're trying to tell me that he's being held at landstuhl, germany, because of his medical condition? >> congressman, i hope you're not implying anything other than that. >> i'm just asking the question, mr. secretary. that you won't -- >> i'm going to answer. i don't like the implication. >> answer it. >> he's being held there because our medical professionals don't believe he's ready. until they believe he is ready to take the next step to rehabilitation. >> have you ever seen a traumatically injured service member brought to the united states immediately upon being stabilized at landstuhl? we do it all the time. >> this isn't just about a physical situation, congressman. this guy was held for almost five years in god knows what kind of conditions. we do know some of the conditions from our intelligence community. not from, by the way, bergdahl. this is not just about can he get on his feet and walk and get to a plane. >> so you're telling me he cannot be questioned because of his

how long did jessica lynch wait. before she was returned to the united states? you're trying to tell me that he's being held in landstuhl, germany, because of his medical condition. >> congressman, i hope you'reno not implying anything other tha that. >> i'm just asking yout a question, mr. secretary. >> i'm going toy. give you an answer. i don't like theo implication t the question. >> answer it. answer it. r. >> he's being held there because our medical professionals don'te believe he's ready.t until they believe he is ready to take the next step to rehabilitation. >> have you ever seen a traumatically injured service member brought to the united me states immediately upon being stabilized at landstuhl? we do it all the time. >> t >> this isn't just about a physical situation, congressmanm this guy was held for almost five years in god knows what wt kind of conditions. we do know some of the conditions from our intelligence community, not from, by the way, bergdahl. this is not just about can he o get on his feet and walk and get >> i'm telling you that the me

how long did jessica lynch wait before she was returned to the united states? you're trying to tell me that he's being held at landstuhl, germany, because of his medical condition? >> congressman, i hope you're not implying anything other than that. >> i'm just asking the question, mr. secretary. that you won't -- >> i'm going to answer. i don't like the implication. >> answer it. >> he's being held there because our medical professionals don't believe he's ready. until they believe he is ready to take the next step to rehabilitation. >> have you ever seen a traumatically injured service member brought to the united states immediately upon being stabilized at landstuhl? we do it all the time. >> this isn't just about a physical situation, congressman. this guy was held for almost five years in god knows what kind of conditions. we do know some of the conditions from our intelligence community. not from, by the way, bergdahl. this is not just about can he get on his feet and walk and get to a plane. >> so you're telling me he cannot be questioned because of his