Washington (CNN) -- Keeping track of the rapidly changing situation in Egypt over the last few days proved remarkably difficult for American officials who seemed to learn of Hosni Mubarak's resignation Friday as the rest of the world did, because communications with Egyptian counterparts were few and far between, officials told CNN.
President Barack Obama learned of the resignation when he was passed a note with the news during a regularly scheduled meeting in the Oval Office, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. He then watched TV coverage of the scene in Cairo for several minutes in the outer Oval Office, National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
Gibbs was coy about whether that was the first indication for Obama that the announcement was coming.
"I don't want to get into what other -- what other information he might have gotten," Gibbs told reporters when asked at the Friday White House briefing.
But Gibbs said that since Mubarak's Thursday speech there were signals things were not settled.
" I think that throughout the morning we had gotten -- and into (Thursday) night -- gotten indications that the last speeches may not have been given, and the last changes, particularly (Friday) morning ... with everybody reporting that there would be a statement from the office of the president," Gibbs said.
Obama did not talk to Mubarak or Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman prior to the announcement, Gibbs said.
Diplomatic channels between the United States and Egypt over the past 24 hours have been somewhat blocked. As of Friday morning, reaching members of the Egyptian government was impossible, presumably because the government was preoccupied with its internal deliberations, a U.S. official said. U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey did have some contact with the Egyptian foreign ministry.
Diplomacy between the countries has been effectively cut off, said a Republican congressman familiar with the administration's efforts. The congressman briefed reporters Friday afternoon on the condition they not use his name.
"It's been very difficult to get information through normal diplomatic channels given the rapid changes. And you can imagine, they don't want to sit down with an American right now when they've got their whole world kind of collapsing on them as we speak," the congressman said.
The White House spokesman admitted officials were led to believe Mubarak would have something different to say on Thursday.
"I think it is safe to say that the very same contacts that we have in Egypt are some of the very same contacts that many of you all had that seemed to tell everyone that a different speech might be what we would hear," Gibbs said to reporters about Mubarak's speech on Thursday night.
Despite strong relations between the U.S. and Egyptian militaries, by all accounts Pentagon officials were not given advanced warning about the announcement that included the military taking over the government, officials said Friday. U.S. military officers are close to many in the Egyptian military, which has sent many officers to train at U.S. military academies.
After Mubarak announced Thursday he was staying in office but handing over powers to his vice president, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates spoke with his Egyptian counterpart, Defense Minister Mohammed Tantawi, Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said Friday. It was the fifth conversation the two had since the start of the crisis.
Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke by phone Thursday night to the Egyptian military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Sami Hafez Enan, according to Mullen spokesman Capt John Kirby. It was the first time Mullen and Enan had talked since the weekend.
While neither spokesman would divulge details of the conversations, sources told CNN that it appears neither Gates or Mullen were given a heads-up in those evening phone calls.
Mubarak's decision not to step down Thursday seemed to take the administration by surprise, with many officials in the administration, and the Egyptian government, suggesting he would step down from power that night.
Perhaps heightening the twists of the final 24-hours were indications that both US intelligence and Egyptian officials had in the hours before the Egyptian president came out and spoke that Mubarak was indeed planning on stepping down and handing over power.
A senior Egyptian government official had told CNN that Mubarak would be transferring power to the military when he spoke Thursday night.
"This is not a coup in the traditional sense," the official said on Thursday morning. "But this is a transfer of the system of government from the civilian to military. The military is stepping up, recognizing its responsibility to the Egyptian people."
Sitting at an intelligence hearing Thursday morning, CIA Director Leon Panetta created instant headlines and breaking news when he told the House intelligence committee that "there is a strong likelihood that Mubarak may step down" Thursday evening. Less noticed was his effort to retract that certainty 45 minutes later.
"Let me say, just to make very clear here, I received reports that possibly Mubarak might do that, we are continuing to monitor the situation, we have not gotten specific word that he would do that."
A US intelligence official insisted soon after that Panetta was referring to press reports about the anticipation that Mubarak was stepping down.
But Friday, another US official said that there was intelligence behind what Panetta was saying. As the CIA director was speaking to congress, the agency had intelligence that a similar scenario was about to play out when Mubarak spoke on Thursday, a US official told CNN.
The CIA was "tracking two main scenarios" based on "current intelligence" - Mubarak's departure and a "power transfer arrangement."
"No one, of course, could have predicted what Mubarak would do," the official said. "Like a quarterback, he called an audible on Thursday night."
"There were many indications, including CNN, that he would exit the scene, a US official said. "It's entirely impossible to get into the head of one man who seems to be making all the decisions," the official said. "People like Mubarak are capable of changing their minds."
CNN's Barbara Starr, Pam Benson, Elise Labott, Larry Shaughnessy, Kate Bolduan, and Bonney Kapp contributed to this report.
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_allpolitics/~3/OgvO_xfmAlA/index.html
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