Shamefully, the Pentagon allowed such leaks - and the false impression they were designed to promote - to go uncontested for days, until last Fridayafternoon (the news equivalent of a black-hole) when the press spokesman issued a statement denouncing them.
Not only was that conference held and what seemed to be the beginnings of a coordinated effort patched but the storm didn't really deviate from its path beginning from about Fridayafternoonuntil it hit on Monday morning.