Billing it as an exclusive, CNN’s Anderson Cooper interviewed freelance journalist Alex Quade on his show last night and played excerpts of audio interviews Quade conducted over the last year with Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill, who claims he fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden. O’Neill — then called “The Shooter” — was he subject of an Esquire article last year, and next week will be featured in a two-night, two-hour special on Fox News Channel.
Cooper didn’t mention Fox News by name, but rather that O’Neill tells his story “in a TV documentary.”
O’Neill is the second SEAL to speak out about the raid. The first was Matt Bissonette, who “60 Minutes” called Mark Owen in two interviews — including a follow-up last month. Cooper talked with former Navy SEAL Jonathan Gilliam, who says O’Neill could, and should be charged by the military for speaking out. “It’s time to start setting an example. The guy’s my SEAL brother, but he’s gone far beyond where I can support my brother.”