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Navy SEAL Who Killed Bin Laden Talks With Glenn: 'We Knew It Was a One-Way Mission'

Robert O'Neill --- American hero, former Navy SEAL and author of the new book The Operator: Firing The Shots That Killed Osama Bin Laden And My Years As A SEAL Team Warrior --- joined Glenn in studio to talk about the incredible mission that ended the life of Osama bin Laden. The honor and heroism displayed by the SEAL team that took out bin Laden becomes even more amazing knowing each team member believed --- and accepted --- it would end their lives.

Here's what O'Neill had to say about their reasons for going:

I knew it was a one-way mission, and most of the guys there did too. But we accepted it because we had the conversation, we're doing this for the single mom who dropped her kids off at school on a Tuesday morning and then 45 minutes later jumped to her death out of the Windows On The World because that was a better alternative than 2,500 degrees fahrenheit inside, holding her skirt down as her last gesture of human decency so no one could see her underwear as she killed herself. You know, she wasn't supposed to do that. The people on Flight 93 that took over the cockpit to crash it in Pennsylvania to save people in Washington. You know, they didn't need to fight. The people in the Pentagon. We went for them because that wasn't their fight. The Port Authority, the police department, NYPD, FDNY. You know, that day, we were asked to take out the guy that funded that, that laughed about it, that thought it was part of his time on earth. We went for that, so we accepted the one-way mission.

The sentiments expressed by O'Neill did not go unnoticed.

"The reason why we cry when our military goes by --- at least, you know, some of the country does -- is because of the honor behind it," Glenn said. "At least me, I get teary-eyed because of the honor behind it. The idea that we can be better than we are today."

In addition to serving his country with honor and distinction, Robert O'Neill launched Your Grateful Nation, a nonprofit dedicated to matching the unique skills of Special Operations veterans with corporate careers, transitioning them from military service to civilian life.

The Operator: Firing The Shots That Killed Osama Bin Laden And My Years As A SEAL Team Warrior is available in bookstores everywhere.

GLENN: Hello, America. And welcome to the program. Glad you're here. We've got a lot to talk about. We've spent the last hour talking about James Comey and Donald Trump. This is turning into a very big nightmare. Apparently, this decision was not made because of the emails from the Justice Department. Those emails, Donald Trump asked them to write. This has been a decision that had been a long time coming, and it looks like for personal reasons, the president has a severe problem with leakage in the -- in the West Wing. The Washington Post has 30 sources on the story that are not saying good things. This is -- this is really not good.

The reason why I bring up the long-time coming -- and it wasn't a snap decision. I think the easiest decision to make in -- in my lifetime, that I've seen a president struggle over, was President Obama struggling over the decision to kill Osama bin Laden. What did it take him, six months or something like that? And finally they were like, "Mr. President, yes or no?" The guy who was there and fired the shot, the operator, Robert O'Neill, is here. Firing the shots that killed Osama bin Laden. And his years as a SEAL team warrior. He has been involved in some of the -- the biggest stories of the last ten or 15 years. And a lot of people don't know all the things that he has done. The guy who has helped the shape the world we live in today. O'Neill joins us right now.

(music)

GLENN: Robert O'Neill. How are you, sir?

ROBERT: I'm well. Thanks for having me here, Glenn.

GLENN: The Operator is the book. Firing the Shots That Killed Osama bin Laden.

I want to -- first, let's just talk a little bit about the country as you see it today. And we don't need to get into politics. We just need to -- I just want to get your sense of, as a guy who has seen countries -- and I know -- you know, I know Special Forces think about and train for -- for countries coming apart at the seams. Are we a country getting more healthy, or less healthy?

ROBERT: I think we're getting healthier now, as far as foreign policy. I worked under President Obama -- I'm sorry, Clinton, Bush, and Obama. And what I've seen -- what I did see over the past few years is the weakening of American leadership overseas. And that's not just -- that affects the entire country, because if our allies see we're not strong, they're going to back down too. And you have instances with China building the islands, you have the Crimea thing with Russia. You've got North Koreans. Everyone is kind of moving ahead because there wasn't a threat of deterrence. I'm not saying we need to go to war, but we definitely need the deterrent, to be able to say, we will do this, if you keep doing this. We lost it for a while.

GLENN: Yeah, I think the most impressive thing this president has done foreign policy-wise is Syria. I think that woke the president up, "Oh, wait. Wait. Wait. This guy means it. He's not just going to sit around." And we've restored a little bit of -- I mean, I think the president of the United States always needs to be a best friend to everybody, unless you are on the wrong side.

ROBERT: Well, yeah. And I think he's doing it the right way too. I mean, he's going to do something up front, and then possibly negotiate in the back. Like the strikes in Syria weren't because we're going to invade you now. It's like, look, we got your attention. Now maybe we're going to do something about it.

GLENN: What should we do in North Korea?

ROBERT: North Korea is -- I think needs to be something done from within, more of an agency thing. As a special operator, I had trouble in Afghanistan blending in, in Afghanistan.

GLENN: No. Long hair, blue eyes?

ROBERT: If we had been in Scotland, I might have been okay. But in North Korea and just with the logistics needed to get in, you're going to have a difficult time. So we're going to need something with an infiltration, hopefully a military coup. Because as the world gets smaller with social media and the internet, the North Korean people are starting to realize, wait a minute. We've been lied to for generations with Kim Il-sung. Kim Jong-il. And then this guy, Kim Jong-un, believing they're gods and having the people believe they're gods. That's what they're doing right now.

GLENN: How bizarre is it going to be to those people?

ROBERT: Well, they don't know any better. You only know what you're taught. I mean, I've been in places in Afghanistan where I might as well have been in the tenth century in some of these valleys. Not only do they not know how old they are, they don't know what time is. And that's -- that's in valleys. North Korea, I don't even imagine. The starvation, the slave labor, all the stuff that's normal to them, because they're taught propaganda.

GLENN: What's the most concerning -- geopolitically concerning thing to you right now?

ROBERT: It's got to be North Korea with the nukes, if they get intercontinental ballistic missiles. That's a problem.

GLENN: If we go to war with them -- if it comes down to, we have to go in and try to take them out, what does Seoul look like, day two?

ROBERT: I think Seoul is going to be a hit, but hopefully with some of the new air defenses we have might work. But it's the whole thing. What if they shoot a missile at you? We'll shoot it down. Okay. What if they shoot 10,000 missiles at you? Something is going to get through. That's a tough one too. And, again, hopefully it doesn't come to a war in Korea. We've seen what happens before. I mean, thankfully, our military is designed to fight big armies, and they'll do it really, really well. But with, now something needs to be with the sanctions imposed by China because they're their biggest trade partner. But it needs to go further because China won't enforce them. If we put sanctions on North Korea and someone is trading with them, then you need to put sanctions on those people that are not enforcing the sanctions. So hopefully it won't come to a war, but Kim Jong-un is a nut.

GLENN: You know, Russia said summer before last that we're already in World War III. He said this to a group of European reporters. And he said, you guys have to convince your leadership -- I've been begging to stay out of war. We're already in World War III. And it's happening digitally.

ROBERT: Putin is saying that?

GLENN: Putin is saying that.

ROBERT: Yeah, he's still mad about the Cold War. Because he's KGB. He been out of it the whole time. He wants that back. So he kind of wants to be at war because there hasn't been a reason for him not to be.

GLENN: But we are -- we are in a cyber war.

ROBERT: Cyber war, no doubt. We're having everything stolen from us.

GLENN: How concerned are you that -- that that's -- I mean, that's -- that is a weapon of mass destruction in the wrong hands.

ROBERT: Sure it is. Uh-huh.

GLENN: How concerned are you that we're not really -- the world is not really paying attention to any of the rules on cyber warfare?

ROBERT: They're not paying any attention. But I'm just hopeful eventually that when we need to take the gloves off, we have people smart enough to do it. We've proven it before with technology. But now we kind of back off because we want this big global society and make sure everyone is equal.

I mean, once -- I mean, when we get into electronic, eventually magnetic warfare, whatever is out there. Hypersonic aircraft. I don't know what's going to happen. You know, I just -- I've been to war a bunch of times. I hope it doesn't come to it. It's not pretty. It's very fast and permanent.

GLENN: Yesterday, I had a guy on who he wrote the book Homo Deus. And it is about how man is becoming god and is going to merge with machines and everything else. And he said, we are -- we're seeing this already. The military is leading the way to where it doesn't take necessarily a massive army. You can do it --

ROBERT: Oh, yeah.

GLENN: You can do it through the air. You can do it through drones. You can do it through robots and everything else. And he said, "You know, 20 years from now, Army will not be the same. You don't need all those bodies."

ROBERT: No. You probably won't. I was reading an article on the way here today that side the biggest problem with unmanned cars -- driverless cars is human drivers.

GLENN: Right.

ROBERT: If there were no human drivers, it would be fine. It wouldn't be a problem.

GLENN: Correct. Seriously, the problem with humanity is humans.

ROBERT: Yeah, it is. That's a good point.

GLENN: Right.

ROBERT: Well, I've been to four-way stop signs here in Dallas too. I can see what they're saying.

GLENN: Yeah.

ROBERT: That can be an evolution --

GLENN: Yeah, I know. So what does -- what does that do to the mentality, when there is no life to a country like ours? We can just pay for everything and just keep going. There's no life being expended. Does that bother you at all?

ROBERT: That's a lot to grasp. I think it does bother me once you lose the human element. And we're seeing it now with everyone's -- their faces in their phones. Humanity is kind of going -- I don't know. I haven't thought about it that deeply. But if we got wars with machines, eventually they're going to turn on us, we'll have a Terminator type thing going on. Spooky.

JEFFY: You've seen it in action with your military training, has gotten far superior with help from drones --

ROBERT: Oh, yeah. Drones. Lasers. Night vision. Part of the reason we were so successful in combat wasn't necessarily that we wanted it more. Because we're fighting people that know that if they die at our hands, they go to heaven. There's no doubt about it. We just happened to have the lights off, night vision, and lasers. And we're quieter --

JEFFY: Right.

GLENN: And the lasers -- that technology is -- you can paint people, and nobody sees it.

ROBERT: Nobody sees it. Not only that, you can line up an entire room with a floodlight that has a dot in the middle. I've come around corners lit up and have bad guys trying to ambush. And you're like, "Are you kidding me right now?" It's like playing paint ball with my sister. She's not great at paint ball. I was a SEAL for a while.

GLENN: Right.

STU: That's not a game you want to enter into.

ROBERT: No, that's not.

GLENN: I don't think I'm playing paint ball as a guy with SEALs.

ROBERT: We've had them before. Speaking with kids, some of this technology, especially the games they play. I've had kids come up to me and start talking about guns. And because of the games they play, they know more about the guns that I used in combat, to the point they're asking me about, how was the trigger shaved? And I'm like, I don't know, kid. It makes this sound when you shoot someone. Would you leave me alone?

(laughter)

That's pretty funny.

GLENN: Do you think the next generation will be better at killing? I mean, you've read -- I'm sure you've read On Killing?

ROBERT: Yeah. I have. I think probably because a lot of the internet stuff, they're not as sensitive to it. I mean, even with the horrible videos ISIS puts out -- I remember the first beheading video, even before Zarqawi did it. There was -- and I remember seeing it, thinking, that's the most horrific thing I've ever seen.

Now there's so much of it. It's like, oh, another beheading video. Oh, I mean, oh, another suicide bomber. Think about that. Suicide bomber. They're getting desensitized.

And I think a lot of it is the internet. And they might not be as good at it when it's up close, but it seems like it doesn't mean as much.

GLENN: My charity, Mercury One, moved 6,000 people out of Syria and Iraq. Christians and Yazidis. We moved them. 6,000. And we've started a program over there, to where we are going back in and using operators on the ground, not Americans, but people like you, to go in and rescue these moms and children that have been taken. And I just got a report last week that said, the things they were doing to these moms and children, it's a new generation now.

It's just like you said. It was one of the most horrific things they had ever seen. Now, it's the next generation. And I was told, it's beyond your imagination, on how evil.

ROBERT: It's evil. And it's so bad that people won't want to hear it. They won't want to know about it. They pretend it's not there. Even now, it's worth going in, just getting back on ISIS, it's worth going in and wiping them out because of when our kids -- our grandkids will have to fight. I always bring up, if you haven't seen the videos of they call it the cubs of the caliphate. They're these 5-year-old kids that are executing people in horrific ways.

If we don't stop that, what do you think those kids are going to be like in 13 years? Will they be normal?

They're executioners at five. And we'll just kick the can down the road. I hate that analogy. But okay, grandkids, have fun fighting the jihad. You know, it's a real thing.

GLENN: You were part of the rescue attempt to get Marcus Luttrell.

ROBERT: Yes. I was part of the coalition. A lot of us in different places. But we run the airfield when the rescue helicopters went to get him and were shot down. And I actually saw them come back. They were survivors of the second. A turbine 34, I believe, that survived. And then they had us walk in. So we spent about two and a half days awake walking -- we knew -- we knew the trail was missing. We thought Axelson (phonetic) was missing, and we didn't know if there were survivors. So we were walking -- it's like 120 degrees, walking through the mountains of Kunar Province. And that was my first deployment with the lead SEAL team.

GLENN: So when you go in there -- tell me the difference between trying to save that SEAL team and what you think it might have been like to save -- what his name that deserted --

ROBERT: Bowe Bergdahl. I attempted to rescue him too. I was on the base when he walked off too.

GLENN: So tell me the difference between those two.

ROBERT: Well, the difference was Marcus and his crew were in there on a noble mission, trying to kill -- trying to capture/kill Ahmad Shah, a Taliban leader in the neighborhood. They got into a fight, they could handle themselves. They were in there because they wanted to be there. It was noble. And then the rescue attempt was to get in the fight. Really good guys getting in the fight. It got shot down with whatever they say shot them down. And it's something that we want to do with Bergdahl. We know he walked off the day he walked off. The way that we used to work, we'd wake up when the sun was going down. Grab your coffee. Go listen to the brief. And then you start -- you work overnight and then go to bed, you know, during the day.

When we got up that one day, they said, hey, we had this private walk off base, and he got rolled up by the Taliban. And we had to stop the entire war effort and stopped trying to hit high-value individuals and go after this guy, trying to just get intelligence on the fly, always moving.

We were so close to the point to where I actually had the ransom in my hands, that the Taliban paid, to fail me to get rid of Bergdahl, to buy him. But the difference there was that we knew that we're going after this loon -- just misguided deserter. And Luttrell was a hero.

GLENN: So, yeah, you knew he was a deserter.

ROBERT: The second it happened.

GLENN: The second it happened?

ROBERT: Oh, yeah. I mention it in my book. There's stuff that was said, that we were intercepting traffic about how the Taliban really wanted him because they just wanted to abuse him. And that we found this guy on the side of the road. He walked off. We knew he walked off. We spent days -- I think 19 attempts, my team had. We lost one of our dogs on it. He got shot and killed in a gunfight, but I know some soldiers were killed in other attempts to rescue Bergdahl.

GLENN: So how did you -- how do you deal with that?

ROBERT: With?

GLENN: How do you deal with, you know -- how do you deal not -- be frank with you. Not beating the snot out of Bergdahl?

ROBERT: Well, we didn't get him. If we did, we would have wanted to. But it would be important to --

GLENN: To not.

ROBERT: To get him back. Well, you can't. I mean, he's an American. He's an idiot. That's -- being an idiot is not a crime. But deserting is.

GLENN: Yeah.

ROBERT: So we'd want to bring him back and have him properly punished.

GLENN: Because he wasn't treated like he was a criminal.

ROBERT: No. He -- well, he got his punishment with the Taliban. He had -- you know, he got his punishment in their custody. Yeah, but when they came back, they made it political. They wanted to -- you know, he's a hero. He's a distinguished --

GLENN: How did that make you feel?

ROBERT: It was terrible. I mean, the name Bergdahl, when we -- we knew who he was, we know what he was, a misguided deserter. But when they -- they even tried to change it over the course of the years to, well, he didn't desert. He fell back on a patrol, and they grabbed him. Which was not the case at all. He walked -- he mailed the stuff home. He walked off. No question. But they spun it politically like you can imagine politicians will do.

GLENN: Back in just a second. The name of the book is The Operator. O'Neill: Firing the Shots that Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior. Back with him in just a second.

First, our sponsor this half-hour is Goldline. South Korea's policy on North Korea, about to get a major overhaul. First day in office, the new South Korean president is talking about going to North Korea to meet with Kim Jong-un. I guess that's a little harder than he expected. New satellite images have discovered artificial islands northwest of the North Korean capital now. We believe that they may be missile launch sites. God only knows what's going to happen in North Korea. Hopefully nothing. But if we do go to war, it is not going to be a war like -- let me ask you, Robert, is this another Afghanistan or Iraq?

ROBERT: No. I don't think Korea would be.

STU: Say it again.

ROBERT: I don't think it would be like Iraq. It's going to be something way different. A bigger army, initially. And hopefully, the -- when -- if it was liberated -- if and when it's liberated, the population would realize, okay. This is a good thing, and you're going to get democracy. But you never know with the way they were raised. I mean, we thought it with the Shia. We kind of ditched in the first Gulf War. And the second one, they didn't rise up. And it's a tough one to read the future. I wonder where they're getting that island technology though. It's almost like they have Chinese neighbors.

GLENN: Yeah, that's what I'm concerned about is Russia, China, Iraq. A global meltdown on this one.

[break]

GLENN: Tomorrow, on this program, at this time, this hour, the top of the hour, at five minutes after the hour, tomorrow, we will be joined by Bill O'Reilly in his first interview since leaving Fox. We have a lot to talk to him about. That is tomorrow. Bill O'Reilly in his first interview, leaving Fox.

The operator is with us today. He is O'Neill. Firing the shots that killed Osama bin Laden. We were just talking about Bowe Bergdahl. And you said that you had the ransom in your hands. Was that --

ROBERT: We were near the base. He was on a base that we were on. And he walked off to one of the nearby satellite bases. The small operating post. And when they told us he was gone, we just started launching from there. Our strike team from our SEAL team. And we just started going after -- gathering Intel. And based on what we found on certain targets, we'd go after the next and the next, for a matter of days.

And we got to a point where we got into a house. Big pile of cash. Obviously, some shady characters in there. And the whole, well, my son works construction in Dubai, so he sent these millions and millions of rupees or whatever they were up there. So we had that. We were convinced that was it. We knew we were close, and then they eventually got him across the border to Pakistan.

GLENN: So that ransom was paid by --

ROBERT: The Taliban. To the locals. To take --

GLENN: Isn't that --

ROBERT: I think a lot of it is illegal.

STU: You just saw -- so you saw the payment actually? That's incredible.

ROBERT: We secured an area. Separated the people like we do. And then we went through the stuff. And there's a pile of cash. And part of the trail where Bergdahl was going and had been. It's pretty obvious what the money is doing there. They don't need that money there.

JEFFY: Right.

STU: It could have been bitcoin investment.

GLENN: Which is paying off right now.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: Paying off really well.

Okay. Back to talk a little bit -- more on his book on killing Osama bin Laden. What that was like. How it was -- what it felt like to be told, hey, by the way, you guys are on your own. Something happens.

And a little bit about what he's doing now to -- to continue to pay in to America. The Operator is the name of the book. O'Neill. Back in a minute.

[break]

GLENN: O'Neill was raised in Montana. Joined the Navy at 19 in 1996. Deployed as a Navy SEAL more than a dozen times. Four hundred combat missions. Four different theaters of war. He was decorated more than 52 times. He's received two silver stars. Four bronze stars with valor. Holy cow. Joint service accomodation medal with valor. Three presidential unit citations. And a Navy Marine Corps accommodation metal with valor. Kind of a big deal.

Lone survivor. He was part of that mission to save Marcus Luttrell. "Captain Phillips" and the Somali pirates, which we're not going to get into today, but it's in his new book called The Operator. I'd love to hear about that. That is one of the most remarkable shooting I've ever seen.

ROBERT: Just getting there from a kiss on my daughter's forehead in her preschool for an Easter Tea Party, to the Indian Ocean in less than 16 hours. Because they let us know then. Then they called us out. And then we're out. Then we're over there. Then we rescued them on Easter.

GLENN: And then -- probably the -- if somebody would have actually gone in and killed Adolf Hitler, those guys would have been known as, you know -- known forever, that story would have been told.

The killing of Osama bin Laden is probably that big. And our president had a hard time deciding whether to do it or not. When you guys went in, it's my understanding, he said, don't call the State Department. You're on your own. If things go wrong, you're on your own. Is that true?

ROBERT: I'm not sure how it went down with that. I know that -- we had talks among the group, what would happen if we ran out of fuel and had to negotiate our ways out. Who were they going to send over to Islamabad to talk with Zardari (phonetic)? Who's going to do what? There's a lot of stuff that we compartmentalized, as far as, we know this, and we know that. We don't need to get involved with the politics.

GLENN: So -- but you went over there, fully expecting to die.

ROBERT: We knew -- I knew it was a one-way mission, and most of the guys there did too. But we accepted it because of -- we had the conversation. You know, we're doing this for the single mom who dropped her kids off at school on a Tuesday morning, and then 45 minutes later jumped to her death out of the windows on the World because that was a better alternative than 2500 degrees Fahrenheit inside, you know, holding her skirt down as her last gesture of human decency, so no one could see her underwear as she killed herself. You know, she wasn't supposed to do that.

The -- the people on Flight 93 that took over the cockpit, to crash it in Pennsylvania to save people in Washington. You know, they didn't need to fight people the people in the Pentagon. We went for them because that wasn't their fight. The Port Authority Police Department. The NYPD. FDNY. You know, that day, we were asked to take out the guy that funded that, that laughed at it. That thought it was part of his time on earth. We went for that. So we accepted the one-way mission.

STU: Because this is your life at stake here?

ROBERT: Yes.

STU: Is it offensive when you hear, say, Joe Biden say this is the most difficult decision in 500 years? I mean, this is -- this is -- if you had only a 1 percent chance of success and you knew there was a 99 percent chance that you were going to do to die, would you have still wanted to go on --

ROBERT: Dying didn't mean we didn't succeed. We knew that if -- I even moved myself from the perimeter to that rooftop team that was going to land there. And we called ourselves the martyr's brigade. Tongue in cheek, because once we get on the rooftop, the whole building is going up. But we're going to --

GLENN: You thought they would blow it up?

ROBERT: He would blow it up. If anyone is going to kill himself in a house-borne improvise explosive device, it's Osama bin Laden. But we accepted that because we got him. I mean, it's better -- it's -- we're going to die eventually. And we might as well get this guy for everybody else.

STU: Jeez.

GLENN: Okay. So you climbed up a stairwell. And you come to the third floor. And you say you come around the corner. And there standing in front of you is a guy who is skinnier.

ROBERT: Skinnier than I thought and taller. But how I got there was incredible. Because we didn't land where we were supposed to -- I was sort of in the back, and I watched my team work. And watching other guys knowing this is their last day on earth, watching them still do their jobs, methodically, slow and smooth. Smooth as (sic) fast. Get through this door. Get through that door. Went up the stairs. Cleared some more rooms. And then when we finally got to the top, I was right in the front with one guy in front of me. And he went up the stairs, knowing there were suicide bombers. He opened up a curtain and jumped on what he thought was suicide bombers. So I watched a guy jump on the grenade. It didn't go off. And that's historically heroic. He did that. And I turned the corner, just based on -- it's not like I came through the skylight and saved the day. I just did what every other special operator would have done. And there was Bin Laden. And he's taller, 6-3, skinnier, short beard, gray nose. That's his nose. He's a threat. He's not surrendering.

GLENN: And he's standing behind his wife.

ROBERT: Behind his wife. And he's sort of pushing her towards me. And he's a matter of feet away.

GLENN: How far?

ROBERT: Three or 4 feet. Just standing right there, and basically in the doorway. And just based on his movement -- he's not surrendering. He is a suicide bomber. And I need to treat him like a suicide bomber. That's why I shot him in the head. And I've dealt with suicide bombers before. There's stories in the book. It's so big and loud, and it's over fast. That if you don't shoot them in the head, you're going to die with them. And it was over before it started. I shot him.

GLENN: Did he have a vest?

ROBERT: No, he didn't. But I thought he did. He wasn't surrendering.

GLENN: All right. So you shoot him in the head. It's not like in the movies. They don't go flying back on the bed.

ROBERT: He fell straight down. His head went -- as I was looking at the bed, right to the bottom left-hand part of the bed -- his wife was there. And we just -- I grabbed her to move her aside. Gave her a brief search. Sat her on the bed. And I remember looking over, and his son was standing there. Like a 3-year-old. And I remember as a father just thinking, this poor guy has got nothing to do with this. And I picked him up and then moved him. And at that point, other SEALs are coming in the room. And that's when it kind of hit me. And a buddy came up to me and laughed. And he goes, are you all right? And I was like, yeah. What do we do now? And he smiled. And said, well, now we find the computers. You've done this hundreds of times. I'm like, yeah, you're right. I'm back. And he goes, yeah, bro. You just killed Bin Laden, so your life just changed. And we did the rest of our clearance. Found what we could electronically.

GLENN: What happened to his body?

ROBERT: We put it in a body bag. We carried him out on a helicopter. Brought him back and showed him to the admiral. Some of the analysts. Brought him to another spot. The FBI did a lot of DNA tests on him and photos. We handed him off to some rangers. They flew him out to the Persian Gulf and then disposed of him. That was it. It was a good call too. People ask about that too. And I get all the wild conspiracy theories about he was this and he was that. And you didn't kill him.

GLENN: I'm telling you, he's in the freezer next to Walt Disney, and the Jungle Book crew is right there. That's what's happening.

You've started a -- you've started a 501(c)(3).

ROBERT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: You've started a mission. It's -- your charity is YourGratefulNation.org. What is it?

ROBERT: Yes. I got out of the Navy at about 17 years, which is three years shy of a pension. And I realized how difficult you think it is to find a job. Because all you know is what you're doing. But you have skills especially as a veteran but especially as a special operator that employers want, which is stress management, team building, show up on time, loyalty, things like that. And they'll hire. And I talk to a lot of guys that want to get out, but they -- they'd rather go to combat than fill out a resume. Because at least combat makes sense. So what we do with Your Grateful Nation is we find out what line of work they want. It's individualized. Find out what they want. Where they want to live. We'll find that company. Get them a mentor. Put them through a nine-month program. And then they get placed in their second career. And it's -- the best email I get every other day -- you know, we placed Staff Sergeant Jones with this job with Fox Sports. Or we did this, and this guy is working at Merrill Lynch. And having the families -- the wives at some of the events we have, they'll just say, we couldn't have done this -- our family could not have done this without Your Grateful Nation. It's the best feeling. It's my passion --

GLENN: I'll tell you, the servicemen that I know -- and everybody has -- well, not a Bowe Bergdahl. But every -- you know, every profession has dirtbags in it. But there is a higher percentage of honor and integrity, I think, in the armed forces than any other --

ROBERT: Oh, no doubt about it. And the one thing you can't teach in college, that they said the military guys have is loyalty. They're so loyal. And, honestly, Your Grateful Nation started as, let's help the vets get jobs. Now it's, do you want to make your company better? We'll give you someone to --

GLENN: Are we still -- is the Navy that you went into, in '96, is it still the Navy that it -- I mean, a lot of parents that listen to this program are very concerned, especially over the last eight years. But they wonder what the rot has been. We've -- you know, we've taken out just war theory. I mean, we've changed fundamentally.

ROBERT: They -- a lot of the social experimentations affected it quite a bit. A lot of the verbiage -- like they said -- my favorite word, and I even use it in the book is shipmate. I love the word shipmate. They took it out of boot camp because it's derogatory. You can't call people shipmate. I love that term.

GLENN: Why is it derogatory?

ROBERT: They changed it to sea warrior.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh. Sea warrior.

ROBERT: I mean, that's just -- that's again hiding from the big elephant dungarees in the room. Come on.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

ROBERT: I mean, as far as the other stuff, there are places you don't need the military to test social experiments. I mean, should there be women in combat? Well, we've had women in combat. Should there be gays in the military? We have had gays in the military. Nobody cared. But the media wanted to make a big thing out of it. A big political thing. Said, yeah, they're here. They're doing fine. Why do we need to -- morale is so big in the military. In units in combat, you need to have morale high to succeed. And when you start putting nonsensical baggage on, it wears on the morale. There's no reason for it.

GLENN: Who is it we had in the last couple of weeks that was talking about the -- you know, all of the restrictions put on our military that, you know, it's --

ROBERT: Rules of engagement.

GLENN: Rules of engagement are just insane.

ROBERT: Yeah, that's a tough one. People shouldn't be wondering if they're going to go to jail for taking a shot when it's -- I had a -- a thought though, since we're experimenting. The person who is in an office typing up the rules of engagement, you should have someone shooting at them while they're typing.

(laughter)

How are you going to defend yourself? You sit there and type --

GLENN: The operator is the name of the book. Firing the shots that killed Osama bin Laden and my years as a SEAL team warrior.

Robert O'Neill writes it in a way that you are standing there behind and seeing everything and feeling everything that he felt. The Operator is the name of the book. And his charity, if you want to get involved, is YourGratefulNation.org. YourGratefulNation.org.

Thank you so much.

ROBERT: Thank you for having me.

GLENN: Appreciate it. You bet.

Why Conservatives Need 'Indoctrination Centers' | Liz Wheeler | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 196
THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Why Conservatives Need 'Indoctrination Centers' | Liz Wheeler | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 196

Liz Wheeler, host of “The Liz Wheeler Show,” wants everyone to know that our children are being attacked by “forces of Marxism.” It’s NOT an exaggeration, and her new book, “Hide Your Children: Exposing the Marxists Behind the Attack on America’s Kids,” shows exactly how the far Left has the nation’s youngest citizens in its crosshairs — especially within America’s public schools. In this episode of “The Glenn Beck Podcast,” Wheeler joins Glenn to outline exactly where these attacks are taking place. Plus, they discuss why Planned Parenthood recently has become a major force in the trans rights movement, the woke villainization of white, Christian men, and the biggest misconceptions regarding AI (artificial intelligence).

The DUMBEST Takes on the Border Crisis Glenn Has Ever Heard | Glenn TV | Ep 308
TV

The DUMBEST Takes on the Border Crisis Glenn Has Ever Heard | Glenn TV | Ep 308

Multiple Democratic officials are speaking out after their policies have destroyed their cities. Is sanity finally coming back to America? On today’s Friday Exclusive, Glenn reacts to the sudden shift in Democrats' view on illegal immigration, even though some mainstream politicians are still holding firm. Also, Glenn responds to a Texas House member who claimed that Biden’s only crime is ‘loving his son.’ Next, Glenn explains how sinking the lifeboat will cause more tragedy than safety. Lastly, Glenn reacts to a shocking clip of a British official coming out against multiculturalism and a Polish official defending his anti-illegal immigration stance.

GOP & Fox News Are DEAD: Glenn Beck Reacts to 'WORST' Presidential Debate | Glenn TV | Ep 307
TV

GOP & Fox News Are DEAD: Glenn Beck Reacts to 'WORST' Presidential Debate | Glenn TV | Ep 307

Were there ANY winners at the second GOP presidential debate hosted by Fox Business and Univision? Glenn calls it “the worst debate of my lifetime” and reveals who was the REAL loser. BlazeTV hosts Stu Burguiere, Steve Deace, and Pay Gray join with their raw reactions to candidates North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and former Vice President Mike Pence. All hosts agree the candidates failed to provide the conservative base with a real conversation, especially since many of the questions could have been asked by MSNBC. They also address the bizarre appearance of Fox moderator Dana Perino introducing Hillary Clinton at a recent Clinton Global Initiative Event. And what about the elephant NOT in the room? Was Donald Trump, who chose striking UAW workers over debating candidates, the only winner? With the leading GOP candidate facing 91 felony indictments, Steve Deace says, “This is how we do assassination in America today" and that it’s vital we choose a strong second-place nominee … FAST.

THESE are the parts of the government Glenn would LOVE to SHUT DOWN
RADIO

THESE are the parts of the government Glenn would LOVE to SHUT DOWN

The United States is once again on the verge of a government shutdown, but should Congress cave and pass a continuing resolution to spend a lot more money and save us all ... or do we not need saving? Glenn reviews what would actually happen under a government shutdown and which agencies we should probably shut down anyways. Maybe we need "15 Days to Slow the Spending."

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: All right. So here's what we have to do this weekend, beginning tonight at midnight, if we don't sign the CR, and continuing resolution, which will give just a buttload of money. Just keep spending, exactly like you were spending last year, and no real accountability for any of it.

And we have to add some more for a war.

If we don't sign that by tonight, we have to shut the government down. Pat Gray is joining us.

What will you do as of 12:01, tonight.

PAT: Well, Stu gave me a suggestion. Because I was confused what I would do when I came in. What am I going to do? What was your suggestion that I should do? Now, this is in the eventuality, of a government shutdown.

GLENN: Okay. Are you well read enough, to give a recommendation?

STU: I mean, I would be concerned if I was going to be held to some legal standard.

GLENN: Right. Because you're not not an expert.

STU: I'm not an expert. But I was thinking you could continue living your life exactly the same way.

GLENN: Okay.

PAT: Oh. Well, that's weird. What about the catastrophe that is -- what about that?

STU: Yeah. You would -- in this particular scenario. It's a fictional scenario, at some level.

GLENN: Okay. You're not a doctor. I think this is dangerous.

STU: What were the things you were going to do?

PAT: Do those things.

STU: The things you weren't going to do, don't do those.

PAT: It's crazy talk.

GLENN: All right. Hang on a second. Here's what's going to happen. Here's what's going to happen, okay? This is from the O and B. The Office of Management & Budget.

And they have now released the contingency plan.

So here's what's going to happen.

Now, please don't panic.

But economic indicators like the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the jobs report could -- could be delayed. This month.

PAT: Don't say that.

GLENN: Yes.

The federal mediation and conciliation service, which is charged with promoting labor management cooperation.

PAT: They'll still have that, right?

GLENN: Well, yes. Yes.

PAT: Good.

GLENN: However, they would have to cut back in its -- they won't close. But they'll have to cut back in some of the things they do.

And this all amid the strike with the auto workers.

PAT: Oh, my gosh.

GLENN: What are the unions and the -- and the -- you know, the plants going to do? Without federal officials. They'll never be able to do anything.

PAT: No, they won't.

STU: And the thing is, we're so a used to high efficiency from the government. That when you lose that -- society --

PAT: It all goes sideways.

GLENN: Time to throw everyone a bone here, so you don't panic. The Federal Reserve activity will be unaffected. So they can still raise the interest rates on November 1st, no matter what happens.

PAT: Good.

STU: Great.

GLENN: The Federal Trade Commission, however, would stop the vast bulk of its competition and consumer protection investigation.

PAT: You can't be serious.

GLENN: I am serious.

They have -- the vast bulk of them, would just stop.

STU: So some of them would continue?

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

STU: But the vast bulk of them -- what percentage does that translate to?

GLENN: Don't know. Vast bulk.

This is from the O&B.

The Security and Exchange Commission, will not review or improve registrations from investment advisers, broker dealers, transfer agents, rating organizations. Investment companies. And municipal advisers.

They're not going to be able to -- if you try to register --

PAT: At the SECC.

GLENN: You won't -- you won't be able to do it.

STU: What is that? For a new fund? Or something? New rating. A two-week process probably?

PAT: What about the FDIC? Do you have information on the FDIC?

GLENN: No, they still do not have all of the -- they're scrambling for this information.

STU: They didn't see this coming.

GLENN: Now, again, to give you some good news.

The IRS has not released this plan for the potential shutdown. However, previous plans have said that the IRS would use funds from Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

STU: Oh, good.

GLENN: To keep employees paid and working.

PAT: Thank heaven.

GLENN: And the union representing the IRS workers are saying, new plans are being discussed, that would involve some furloughs. However, businesses and individuals, who requested that six-month extension for your tax return in April. You will still be required to file by April 16.

PAT: Well, of course, you would.

STU: Yeah. By what date? October 16th. I was going to say, I thought I had more time.

GLENN: Yeah. Emergency relief is going to be a problem. A shutdown would create increased risk, that FEMA, their relief funds, could be depleted.

So there's a risk, that their funds could be depleted. If large additional catastrophic disasters occur. During the shutdown.

STU: Now, of course, they would very easily pass funding for that almost immediately. But still, we should deny that that would happen.

We will deny that any of these people will get their money afterward.

We all know they will retroactively pay off all of this stuff anyway. It will be a vacation for many people.

PAT: They've already done that. For many people. So, yeah. Sure.

GLENN: For those of you concerned about, hey. What about my energy?

What about the environment?

This is what this Draconian shutdown is going to do.

PAT: Thank you, Republicans.

GLENN: The interior department, which does all of the designing for the Capitol building, and the interiors, and pick out the drapes.

Oh, no. Apparently, it doesn't do that. The department of interior, will retain limited discretion to use permits for energy projects on federal lands and waters, when user fees are attached.

So they'll -- they'll retain just limited discretion, to issue those permits. You know, for drilling, and things like that.


PAT: They don't have full discretion.

GLENN: No. Not during a shutdown.

PAT: During a shutdown. Oh, no.

GLENN: A funding lapse would paralyze -- to develop would require environmental analysis for all energy projects. Highways. And other infrastructure.

The EPA, may be able to continue some IRA-funded activities.

As well as other attempted works such as settlement-funded cleanup at some Superfund sites.

PAT: Let's hope that is the case.

GLENN: Now. The White House is warning, most EPA led inspections at hazardous waste sites, as well as drinking water at chemical facilities, it's got to stop.

PAT: Oh, wow.

GLENN: So your drinking water. Could go completely -- it will stop.

PAT: It will turn to mud this weekend.

GLENN: Well, by Sunday. Maybe Monday.

The Energy Information Administration, which publishes snapshots of the US oil inventory.

It will continue to collect and publish data on schedule. But they say, at least initially.

At least initially. Our nuke sites are going to be maintained. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, however, will stop all licensing of new nuclear facilities.

PAT: Oh, there's so many of those going up too.

Because, I mean, we did the last one in 1978. And bang.

GLENN: This is going to stop.

PAT: Well, there's no new ones.

GLENN: But it will stop.

STU: This was the week. This was the week it would happen.

PAT: And now, thanks to you, MAGA Republicans.

GLENN: Right. Now transportation and travel.

Travelers could face delays as air traffic controllers and transportation security administration officers.

PAT: That will continue.

GLENN: Will be working without pay.

PAT: But without pay.

GLENN: Yeah. So people will --

PAT: I mean, they really are not. They will be paid. Just maybe not time.

GLENN: Right. Which is a hassle.

PAT: It is a hassle. I won't deny that.

GLENN: It is a hassle. However, Amtrak, they will keep transporting those 12 passengers. They will just keep going.

PAT: Is Ange going to continue to tell stories, about how many miles Joe Biden has traveled on the train.

Will he be there? Even in death, as he was when he told the story to Joe Biden?

GLENN: I don't know.

Now, passport and Visas will still be issued.

PAT: I thought those would be delayed. But they're not going to?

GLENN: Efforts to defend the nation and conduct ongoing military operations, will continue.

PAT: Right.

STU: That's good.

GLENN: Burials and tours, at Arlington National Cemetery would continue.

STU: Did anybody doubt, they would stop burying the bodies.

They'll just pile up, until we open up the government.

GLENN: COVID-19, response research including vaccine and therapeutic development by the US government will continue.

PAT: Will continue.

GLENN: The National Institute of Health, might have to postpone clinical trials for diseases like cancer or Alzheimer's, according to the White House. So this may throw him from solving cancer.

We were so close to him coming through with his promise of curing cancer, but it's the damn Republicans.

STU: We can actually check that at any point. If you go to, HasJoeBidenCuredCancer.com.

GLENN: Can you check that real quick? We're really close.

STU: Has Joe Biden cured cancer?

No. Cancer still exists as of today.

GLENN: Food stamps for low income people. The disabled, and others could be delayed.

There's no excuse for that. There's no excuse for that.

That is just to trot out the downtrodden.

The people that just say, look at what's happening. If the IRS can stay open, food stamps can stay open. Social Security checks will be delivered. Applications for benefits processed. However, people will not be able to verify benefits or replace cards.

Most national parks will be closed. The Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art may close.

PAT: Don't say that.

GLENN: Cemeteries. Monuments. Visitor centers. Worldwide housed under the American Battle Monuments submission, will close.

STU: So are they -- and you said the national parks will close.

That means that many of these open field areas, will -- will not be opened?

GLENN: Yeah. They will -- they will build some fences around those things.

STU: Are they -- we don't seem capable of building fences.

GLENN: They're closed.

But I will tell you, you know they're big on the blue.

They will just be -- I make sure you're out there.

And you enforce that law.

You have somebody coming into the national park.

We don't have bathrooms that are open.

No. What are they going to do, poop in the woods, what kind of animals do you think we are?

PAT: Well, we're animals that poop.

STU: Sometimes -- sometimes that works. At least for many, many centuries.

The Capitol Police will not get paid under this.

PAT: What!

STU: They will -- they will --

PAT: They're under assault again. Just as they were during the insurrection.

STU: By the same people. The extreme MAGA Republicans.

PAT: You're exactly right.

By the same people.

STU: Now they'll get their number later. But for now, they won't get paid.

Except, for them. Unlike thousands and thousands of other federal workers, they actually will still have to do a job.

Most of the federal workers that will get all their money and then not have to do their job for however long this takes.

Which is a terrible, terrible --

GLENN: Just -- I -- I am in. I am in.

I mean, I think we should take a vote, who wants to open it back up?

I think 15 days, to slow the curve of spending. Fifteen days. Let's just do that.

Let's meet again in 15 days. And see if we can open the government up.

STU: We probably --

GLENN: Well, we might. We might.

Fifteen days, to slow the curve of spending.

PAT: And then after that, 30 days are up. After 15, then the 30. We might need another 18 bucks after that.

GLENN: Well, I don't know -- I don't know if the government will survive that.

You know, it may not survive that. Of course, the American people did it for a year.

STU: Yeah, and they don't care about them surviving.

GLENN: No. Nobody really cared about them surviving.

STU: Can I also say too, we talk about these big government cuts that we should do. We think there are things to do, to make the government smaller, and more like it was supposed to be. You know, a limited government.

GLENN: Yeah. We're not talking about any of those, I want you to know.

STU: But maybe we are. You know, haven't they unintentionally identified all the cuts here. Haven't they just said, hey, whatever we're going to just stop doing, the unnecessary parts of the government that can just shut down.

GLENN: You mean those nonessential?

STU: Yeah. The nonessential stuff, we stop doing. And the essential stuff, we stop doing. And we'll go from there. We'll talk about, maybe we need to add this back in. Maybe we can get rid of this other thing.

But isn't that a good starting point? Whatever you say is nonessential, I promise you we should not be doing it.

GLENN: I'm not sure of that. I mean, you know, we're talking about --

STU: Really?

GLENN: Yeah.

We're talking about things like the interior department.

Just having limited discretion to issue permits.

STU: So there will be still issuing permits. But they will have limited vegetation.

Maybe we shouldn't be doing so much permitting. Maybe people should be able to do a lot of the things they want to do.

But if there are certain needs for certain permits. Then the limited permitting might just cover that.

GLENN: Well, you go ahead. While we're all drinking poison by next Wednesday.

Just from our tap, from our homes. While sludge, nuclear waste.

Syringes are pouring out from our kitchen sink.

PAT: So syringes might pour out of our taps?

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

STU: How do they get around the curves?

GLENN: Are you an expert?

STU: No.

GLENN: Are you a doctor?

STU: I'm not a doctor.

GLENN: I am. Let's move on. Very dangerous.

Keep going, Republicans. Keep going.

Do not buckle.