Obama Learned of SEALs' Success Before SOTU

If President Obama was smiling last night, it's partly because just hours before the State of the Union he'd taken a phone call telling him that the Navy SEALs rescue of Jessica Buchanan and a companion had been a success, Politico reports. Some 15 minutes after the speech—without having left the Capitol—Obama called Buchanan's dad to tell him she'd been rescued and "was on her way home." Having monitored Buchanan's situation for months, Obama had ordered the raid Monday night, amid reports that Buchanan's health was deteriorating.

"They said it was the time, the opportunity," Joe Biden told ABC News this morning. "Jessica’s health was, was in a word, ‘failing,’ and they concluded they should go at this time and the president gave a go." SEAL Team 6 reportedly parachuted onto the scene, the AP notes. "As commander-in-chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts," Obama said today. (More President Obama stories.)