seen some kind of caretaker government or some kind of transitional government, some notion of that. so that perhaps mr. elbaradei could help out with the transition. he s a known figure to barack obama. the state department has reached out to him. but you heard his response from anderson cooper saying that this was a deception so that s not going to work. what i was told by an administration source is, and i think this jives with what david is saying, is that, look, they do not want to get too far out in front of the events on the ground. and there is some sense that this could still continue to unravel, and you may well end up with some sort of transition or caretaker government, but we ll have to wait to see what barack obama says in a few minutes. when he speaks it s going to be fascinating.
thousands of flights already canceled. we have the latest. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. let s begin with the breaking news this hour. egyptians erupting after hearing president mubarak announce he will not be a candidate in the next election. his broadcast statement follows intense pressure from his people to simply step down in what they called a march of millions, countless took to the streets demanding change. but mubarak also felt the heat from the obama administration. sources tell us the white house made clear at the highest levels it wanted mubarak to publicly say he wouldn t one for re-election. let s go to anderson cooper. he s joining us now from cairo with the latest. anderson, a lot of folks thought
want the idea that he will be leaving down the road is enough for them. it will satisfy their desire for change, even if it s eight months from now. so it remains to be seen if this will weaken the momentum they have and have been building over the last eight days. we ll be looking for that tomorrow. we ll stay in close touch with you. anderson will have more at 10:00 p.m. eastern on anderson cooper 360 live from cairo. it s an extraordinary shift in policy for the white house. can the u.s. pressure on president mubarak help ease tensions in egypt? in a taped statement broadcast just a little while ago, president mubarak said he ll finish out his term, working for the reforms that the protesters are demanding. translator: i have spent enough time in serving egypt, and i am now careful to conclude my work for egypt by presenting
it carries 2.5 million barrels a day from the oil producing countries to europe, and analysts say the pipeline and its pumping stations are another vulnerable target, wolf. lisa, thanks very much. good explanation. cnn s anderson cooper is standing by. he s live in egypt covering all the breaking news for us. we re going to check in with anderson when we come back.
nobel peace prize, former director of the international atomic energy agency. did he indicate to you, anderson, that he would like to serve or lead the caretaker government that would be in power until they can organize some elections? reporter: you know, he says he wants to do anything that will help egypt become a modern state in line with the rest of the world, and certainly, you know, i asked him about whether he would run for president if and when, you know, transition to democracy becomes real. he says that that s something that certainly would be considered, but it s not a prime focus of his right now, that right now his focus is not only to get hosni mubarak to step down but to help egypt in whatever way he can. take us a little bit behind the scenes, anderson. were you out on the streets all day. you spoke to a lot of egyptians. give us your impressions of what you saw on this day. reporter: well, you know, i spent most of the day in liberation square, and, you know, a l