Joint Chiefs chairman has no idea if Trump’s claim that Baghdadi was ‘whimpering and crying’ is true or not

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was unable to confirm President Donald Trump's account of the death of Islamic State leader Abū Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The president has repeatedly claimed that Baghdadi died "whimpering and crying," and Gen. Mark Milley said he had not verified that description.

"The secretary was asked the same question yesterday," Milley told reporters. "I know the president had planned to talk down to the unit and unit members, but I don’t know what the source of that was. I assume it was talking directly to unit and unit members.

Milley acknowledged that he had not spoken to any unit members who described Baghdadi's death in those terms.

"I have not talked to unit members, that’s correct," Milley said. "I’ve talked to the commanders and CENTCOM, but not down to the members."