Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jul 14, 2011

I'm a Poll Man:

MN GOP Congresswoman MICHELE BACHMANN continues to rack-up solid poll numbers in her native state of Iowa. A new Magellan Strategies poll gives Bachmann a 29-to-16-percent lead over MITT ROMNEY among like GOP Caucus voters. However, that poll did not include JON HUNTSMAN, SARAH PALIN, RUDY GIULIANI or RICK PERRY.
But 24-percent remain undecided, and more women and seniors remain undecided, rather than support Bachmann. (Pacelli)

Remember when PRESIDENT OBAMA was supposed to mend fences with the Arab world? Well, a new Zogby poll shows that President Obama's present popularity in the Arab world is now lower than PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH's was before he left office in 2008.
President Obama's approval rating has dropped from 26-percent to 12-percent in Morocco, 9-percent to 5-percent in Egypt, 16-percent to 10-percent in Jordan and 22-percent to 12-percent in the United Arab Emirates. His numbers improved in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. (Pacelli)

Sucking the life out of the wire services:

DENIS LEARY was amazed the folks over at the Smithsonian Museum asked for the helmet and bunker jacket he wore on "Rescue Me." The outspoken actor tells AbsoluteNow.com the uniform will be featured in the National Museum of American History and he's heading to the nation's capital today to present the items. Although he's flattered by the honor, Denis admits the higher-ups may be under the impression they're getting WILLEM DAFOE's memorbilia. (Lee)

Gossip Central: tabloids:

Stars motivation for losing weight from Us Weekly magazine:
--JENNIFER HUDSON shed 80 pounds to set an example for her son DAVID
--JASON SEGEL lost 30 pounds after his assistant took a pic of him asleep under Taco Bell wrappers (Myers)

Broadcast, cable and video news:

Definitive word from "Glee" creator and producer RYAN MURPHY yesterday on who'll be "graduating" at the end of the upcoming season and therefore leaving the series.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Ryan said LEA MICHELE, CORY MONTEITH and CHRIS COLFER will be gone at the end of the season and that planning for the future beyond high school will be a heavy theme during this coming season as well.
Ryan says when he making the decision, he included Chris and Lea and (quote) "they thought that was a good idea. They both trust the writing and trust me and felt that it would be great to have an open and closed experience for them to go out while they were on top.”

Stars and their movies:

Looks like MILA KUNIS will not be going to the Marine Corps Ball with Sgt SCOTT MOORE after all --"Access Hollywood" is reporting that she had to break the date with the marine because of her shooting schedule --she has two movies shooting in November.
Meanwhile, Corporal KELSEY DE SANTIS, a female Marine based at the Martial Arts Center for Excellence at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, VA, yesterday posted a video asking Mila's "Friends with Benefits" co-star, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, to go with HER to the Marine Corps Ball.
In her video, she says, "Now, Justin, you wouldn't let a girl down now would you? Go bring sexy back with her or else she's going to cry you a river. Plus, those menacing Marine's in the background will probably have a few words for you if you say no."
No word on whether J-T will break down and go himself.

Running with the Bulls:

This morning's final run of 2011 was another fast jaunt through the streets of Pamplona. And there were no gorings, and just three runners who were slightly bruised, since the bulls hardly made any attempt to charge the runners. Here's today's final Running of the Bulls "GoreBoard" (trademark pending):
Thu, Jul 07: 3 people injured, 0 gored; 4 min, 20 sec.
Fri, Jul 08: 5 people injured, 2 gored; 3 min, 10 sec.
Sat, Jul 09: 2 person injured, 1 gored; 2 min, 56 sec.
Sun, Jul 10: 10 people injured, 0 gored; 2 min, 29 sec.
Mon, Jul 11: 1 person injured, 0 gored; 2 min, 33 sec.
Tue, Jul 12: 4 people injured, 2 gored; 2 min, 16 sec.
Wed, Jul 13: 7 people injured, 0 gored, 2 min, 11 sec.
Thu, Jul 14: 3 people injured, 0 gored, 2 min, 20 sec.
"GoreBoard" Total: 35 injured, 5 gored.
FYI: For today's story, check HERE. Thanks to WOGL-FM News Director Bill Zimpfer for the use of the term, "Goreboard" (trademark pending).