Accused Navy SEAL appears on Fox News

Read all about the plight of the SEAL 3 at the Victory Institute.

This is a rush transcript from “On the Record,” March 4, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: You will not see this anywhere else, three Navy SEALs accused of abusing a terror suspect who was captured in Iraq in 2009. Now, the terror suspect is accused of plotting the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater contractors. Well, today two Republican congressmen held a press conference defending the Navy SEALs and demanding the charges against them be dropped.

One of the accused Navy SEALs is Petty Officer Matthew McCabe. He is accused of punching the suspect. Earlier, Griff Jenkins talked to Petty Officer McCabe and his lawyer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFF JENKINS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I’m with Petty Officer Matthew McCabe and his attorney, Lieutenant Colonel Neal Puckett. Petty Officer McCabe, you maintain you did nothing wrong, you did nothing disgraceful. Do you still maintain your innocence today?

PETTY OFFICER MATTHEW MCCABE, U.S. NAVY: I apologize, I’m not really at liberty at this time to talk about my case.

JENKINS: I understand that,. Let’s talk about how you’re doing personally. What’s going through your mind? How have you been in this whole process?

MCCABE: I’ve been doing pretty good. Definitely, since the show of support early on, it’s been boosting my morale, as well as the other two guys. So we’ve been hanging in there, just waiting for all this to come to an end and so we can move on with our lives.

JENKINS: How old are you? And how old were you when you got into the SEALs?

MCCABE: I’m almost 25 right now. And when I was 20, I’m going through training. So I turned 21 halfway through training.

JENKINS: You turned 21 going through BUD/S school, which I understand is the not the easiest accomplishment.

MCCABE: Yes, turned 21 going through second phase, which is the diving phase. And no, it’s not the easiest thing, but if you just put your mind to it, and you know, you have set goals in life, and you can accomplish whatever you want.

JENKINS: And you chose your accomplishment to be a U.S. Navy SEAL. Why did you want to be a SEAL?

MCCABE: You know, I joined the Navy not really knowing what to do. And within the first couple years, I realized that I wanted to really protect this country the best I could, and I knew the best way to do that was to go to BUD/S and become a Navy SEAL.

JENKINS: You made it. Not many people do. And for that, congratulations. Once you got out and you became part of a SEAL team, as you did when you captured the alleged terrorist, Abed, what — if you could for the American people to understand, what are your missions like? What are you asked to do as a Navy SEAL?

MCCABE: You are asked to go out and get the most dangerous terrorists on the planet. So that’s what we do. We go out and do that. And serve them justice.

JENKINS: If you’re cleared, if the charges were dropped, as Representatives Burton and Rohrabacher have asked the — or if it goes to trial and you are cleared of all wrongdoing, what do you want to do?

MCCABE: Continue to stay in the platoon I’m in now and deploy about a year from now and go from there.

JENKINS: Thank you, petty officer.

Colonel Puckett, where does this case stand, and where do you see this case going?

LT. COL. NEAL PUCKETT, ATTORNEY FOR MATTHEW MCCABE: Right now we are scheduled for trial May 3rd at the naval base in Norfolk, and we are preparing every day, preparing to interview witnesses and cross-examine witnesses and present a good defense case. And we anticipate on that day or during that week he will be acquitted.

JENKINS: You maintain your client as well as the other two seals, that these guys did nothing wrong?

PUCKETT: That’s right. They did nothing wrong. And they are all pleading not guilty. I anticipate when all these trials are over they will be found not guilty by military juries.

JENKINS: Colonel Puckett, thank you. Petty Officer McCabe, thank you, and we look forward to following the trial to see what comes of it. But at the very least I think most Americans would say thank you for choosing to serve our country.

MCCABE: Thank you very much. I really appreciate everything and all the support everyone has shown.

(END VIDEOTAPE)