Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley said he was not able to confirm President Donald Trump's detailed account of how ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was "whimpering and crying and screaming" before he died, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.
"I know the president had planned to talk down to unit and unit members, but I don't know what the source of that was," Milley said at the Pentagon, adding that he himself had not yet spoken to unit members who took part in the raid.
Trump viewed the operation to kill Baghdadi via drone footage, and not by a body-worn camera, so he could not see the moment that Baghdadi died, according to military and intelligence officials.
Surveillance footage on several video screens of the operation was relayed via drone to the Situation Room at the White House.
However, military sources said Trump would not have been able to see what was happening inside the compound or the moment Baghdadi fled to a tunnel with three of his children, The New York Times reported.
The Times also noted that there was no live audio of the raid, so he also could not hear what Baghdadi said before he died.
Milley's remarks came a day after Defense Secretary Mark Esper was asked the same question and answered it in a similar fashion.
"I don't have those details," Esper said. "The president probably had the opportunity to talk to the commanders on the ground."
Although the commandos were wearing body cameras, they did not broadcast in real time due to the nature of the operation.
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