the great plains right here in the states all the way to great britain trying to get a handle, better handle really, on what makes private manning tick. private bradley manning s small town life ended at the age of 13. his parents separated and his mom moved them out of oklahoma, overseas to wales. there in the uk, cnn tracked down old friends who told us manning didn t back down from school bullies. he would stick up for himself and for others. even if he knew he couldn t particularly win the battle. reporter: and how he loved computers. he was in high coding, the most complicated stuff from the age of 14, 15. reporter: eventually manning s skill with computers would get him in trouble. he d end up here at quantico locked up in solitary confinement. but there were other steps along the way. we know manning moved back to the states five years ago. when night he came to this gay
stuff from the ages of 14, 15. really talented guy. reporter: eventually manning s skill with computers would get him in trouble. he d end up here at quantico locked up in solitary confinement. but there were other steps along the way. we know manning moved back to the states five years ago. one night he came to this gay bar here in d.c., met another young man who had been in the army but this man had a very positive experience about being gay in the military and he talked to manning about the discipline and everything else he had learned. i would say it started out as a physical relationship that turned into a friendship. reporter: we ll call him tim to protect his privacy. what did he tell you about his background? he was very hurt as a person. he felt verbally, emotionally abused because of his sexuality. and so i thought maybe the army could do for him what it had done to me. reporter: it didn t.