“Outnumbered” and in the Hotseat
O’Neill is Surrounded by Friendly Fire and Truly ‘One Lucky Guy.’
During his recent appearance on FOX News “Outnumbered,” Rob O’Neill faced a firing squad of questions from a panel of four very well-informed women, including FOX News/FOX Business News anchors Andrea Tantaros, Harris Faulkner, Melissa Francis and Elizabeth MacDonald, who came prepared with some tough questions for the former Navy SEAL.
Tantaros kicks off her segment with the fact that just this week, Defense Secretary Ash Carter made a rather startling announcement: The military is considering easing some of its enlistment standards to attract recruits it sorely lacks.
Among the considerations on the table: 1) raising the age requirements, and 2) appealing to those who’ve accumulated a lot of student debt. It’s clear the military is having a harder time filling its ranks, but should the answer to the problem be lower standards?
If so… How low should they go? Tantaros presses O’Neill for answers…
Watch First Clip:
Harris Faulkner opens her segment juxtaposing the war on terror just a few years ago with the war on terror now. She asks O'Neill to take us back to May 2, 2011. O’Neill not only vividly recalls the infamous May 2 raid — and coming face to face with Osama bin Laden — but also how he and his fellow SEAL Team Six brothers never forget what they were fighting for that night.
“It was for the single mom who went to work on a Tuesday morning and an hour later jumped to her death because it was better than burning alive. We thought of her. We talked about her, and other people who jumped to their death…the brave NYFD, NYPD, Port Authority police…those who ran in when others were running out.”
Remembering that, O’Neill and his fellow SEALs agreed that risking ‘certain death’ would be “worth it for the entire nation.”
Watch Second Clip:
Since Rob’s deployment in the Middle East, some things haven’t changed. They’ve been the same for a 1,000 years…the sectarian violence…the Sunni versus Shia divide... Then again, the landscape on the battlefield is quite different from what he remembers, with even more blurred enemy-ally lines and a less clear strategy of how to move forward.
The ladies certainly don’t shy away from the complex subject matter with O’Neill. But it’s not all serious.
They get Rob to talk about other aspects of his life, such as his passion for motivational speaking that includes sending the message: “It doesn’t matter where you start, it’s more important where you’ve been.” He even gives up his secret (and surprisingly frugal) ingredient for homemade pizza crust. This from the guy who delivered taco pizzas in Butte, MT well before he ever thought he could be a Navy SEAL.