infrared cameras monitoring from the sky. that has now been determined as either a propane gas tank exploding or vapors from the vehicle gas tank exploding. and just quickly, jake, i think it s really important to mention that there were three children in the compound. that was established after the strike had been made, the shot had been taken. they could see these three children in the compound. it is being told to us now that further analysis goes to show that the father actually got out of the car, that his children got into the car, and that is when the drone struck. and one wonders how much the pentagon would be admitting this if it weren t for your reporting and the new york times and other media outlets. thank you so much. joining us now cnn s senior national security correspondent alex marquardt. alex, how remarkable is it for the pentagon to go public with the mistake of this magnitude?
wrong. the investigation has spanned the past two weeks. we have spoken to a total of 30 people, including five colleagues who were with ahmadi on this day. we ve spoken to two bomb experts who dispute the military s claim there was a significant secondary explosion after the drone strike, which is code for explosive material, which the u.s. suspected. one of them told me that if there was a secondary blast, it most likely was the vehicle gas tank exploding. we ve also analyzed the cctv footage which you are looking at from that day of ahmadi in the office. what is critical to note is that a u.s. official with knowledge of the operation who spoke to us said the u.s. military never knew who was driving the car. they began following the toyota corolla that ahmadi was driving based on chatter they d been mondaying from an isis safe house. they saw the car leave possibly from the same safe house and then followed it for the next eight hours before launching the
children. two bomb experts we spoke to who both viewed the same footage cnn filmed from the scene say there is no evidence of a significant secondary explosion stating there would have been major structural damage to the surrounding buildings and vegetation and that the nearby suv would have overturned. one of them noted if a secondary blast was seen from u.s. surveillance it most likely was the vehicle gas tank exploding. this over the horizon, having incomplete information but conducting the air strike anyway, this is the modis operandi for the u.s. military now and there are just so many risks and harm to civilians that comes with that. reporter: a u.s. military investigation into the drone strike is under way. at least one of those people that were killed was an isis facilitator. were there others killed? yes. who they are, we don t know. but at this point we think the procedures were correctly
children. two bomb experts we spoke to who both viewed the same footage cnn filmed from the scene say there is no evidence of a significant secondary explosion, stating there would have been major structural damage to the surrounding buildings and vegetation and that the nearby suv would have overturned. one of them noted if a secondary blast was seen from u.s. surveillance it most likely was the vehicle gas tank exploding. this over the horizon having incomplete information but conducting the air strike anyway, this is the modus operandi for the u.s. military now and there s just so many risks and harm to civilians that comes with that. virgil: a u.s. military investigation into the drone strike is under way. at least one of those people that were killed was an isis facilitator. so were there others killed? yes. there are others killed. who they are we don t know. but at this point we think that the procedures were correctly followed and it was a righteous
actually seven. a u.s. official tells cnn there was a significant secondary explosion, possibly caused by a suicide vest or explosives in the car that may have killed the children. two bomb experts we spoke to who viewed the same footage say there is no evidence of a significant secondary explosion, stating there would have been major structural damage to the surrounding buildings and vegetation, and that the nearby suv would have overturned. one of them noted, if a secondary blast was seen from u.s. surveillance, it most likely was the vehicle gas tank exploding. this over-the-horizon having incomplete information but conducting the airstrike anyway, this is the modus operandi for the u.s. military now. there are just so many risks and harm to civilians that comes with that. an investigation is underway. and at least one of those