CNN's Cuomo on SEAL Bin Laden Killing: 'I Don't Like the Idea of Anybody Having to Lose Their Life'

On CNN’s “New Day” on Monday, co-hosts Chris Cuomo, Michaela Pereira and Alisyn Camerota debated the merits of former Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill’s decision to step forward and reveal details of the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, which resulted in bin Laden’s death.

Cuomo, however, was unsure as to whether or not the raid was worthy of being publicized, nor was bin Laden’s death was something that should be celebrated.

Partial transcript as follows (Emphasis added):

CUOMO: Does he have the right to do it? Yes. Is it right to do it? Probably not. Here’s why. First of all the information you say is important is important. And we hear it from the chain of command. Whether or not this is classified or not, that gets to his right to do it. Butwe honor them, celebrate them, we lionize them and maybe even exaggerate their significance because they’re different, they’re better. What he did here is not better. And as we heard from many members of the military, it’s that he is tarnishing his reputation with the people who should matter most to him and what should matter most to him – colleagues. They have a code about what they do and how they do it. It makes them better.

CAMEROTA: I respect that, but I don’t think we lionize them enough. I don’t think my children, for instance, know about the SEALs.

PEREIRA: Can we lionize without knowing the details because there’s the question are they compromising nation security. Are they compromising the mission? Are they compromising the code?

CUOMO: Just getting involved in something where they don’t need to be — the propagandizing about what they do.

CAMEROTA: I worship them for that.

PEREIRA: At the end of the day, he is gone. Osama bin Laden is gone. A lot of people can sleep at night.

CAMEROTA: I find it satisfying to hear about his last seconds, I’ve got to say.  

CUOMO: I do too. But – actually, I don’t know that I do. I don’t like the idea of anybody having to lose their life but that gets into a different conversation. We love the SEALs for the right reasons. We just want to see them handle their business in the right way.

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