ABC's Woodruff 'Up And About'

Anchor, Injured In Iraq, Transferred To New York Rehab Facility

(CBS/AP)  ABC News says Bob Woodruff is out of a naval facility in Maryland and will continue his recovery at a private New York facility.

The "World News Tonight" co-anchor suffered severe head injuries in a roadside bombing in Iraq in January.

ABC News president David Westin says Woodruff is "up and about," while talking and joking with his wife and kids. But he says Woodruff will need months of recuperation.

Westin also called for ABC staff and others to "leave them alone" and allow them "the chance to be a family again."

There was no update on cameraman Doug Vogt, who was also injured in the blast. He had returned home to France for more rehab.

Woodruff and Vogt were standing in the hatch of an Iraqi mechanized vehicle, reporting on the war from the Iraqi troops' perspective, when the roadside bomb exploded Jan. 29. Both were wearing body armor, which doctors say likely saved their lives.

The men underwent surgery in Germany before being flown to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

At five weeks after being seriously injured, Woodruff was able to say a few words and started to walk, his brother said.

"In the last couple of days, he's taken a lot of great leaps forward," David Woodruff said in early March. "He's definitely doing so much better."

Woodruff, 44, is still on heavy pain medication as his body recovers from the serious head injuries and other wounds. But he recognizes people, he can tell his daughter he loves her, and the multilingual journalist has even said a few words in Chinese and German.

Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer have been substituting for Woodruff, who started as co-anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight" with Elizabeth Vargas earlier this year.