CNN Demos 'Cheap,' 'Easy' Pressure Cooker Bomb

CNN commissioned an explosives expert in New Mexico to build and detonate a homemade bomb built from a pressure cooker, filming the blast in slow motion to study the damage it can cause.

The demonstration, which premiered on April 22 during Erin Burnett’s Out Front evening program, was helmed by field reporter David Mattingly and featured “the same weapon” used “during the marathon bombings.”

Calling his report “Cheap & Deadly Pressure Cooker Bombs,” Mattingly told viewers how deadly the bomb was, emphasizing how cheap it was to make and how easy it was to learn how to do it.

“Less than $100 worth of material and access to the Internet, and you can build one of these bombs,” he told anchor Burnett.

Mattingly and his explosives expert noted that the shrapnel inside such a bomb reaches victims sooner than the blast and shock wave does. “By the time you hear the boom, you could already be hit,” Mattingly said.