Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

BP Oil Spill -- Day 57:

New government oil flow estimates are about 200 percent higher than the original.
   A government task forces says the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf could be as high as 2.5 million gallons a day --144 million gallons since day one. Earliest estimate of the leak from BP and the Coast Guard: 40-thousand gallons. (Maiman)
   For context, 144 million gallons is enough to fill:
   --Half the Empire State Building
   --15 White Houses
   --218 Olympic-sized swimming pools
   --11-thousand school buses

Sucking the life out of the wire services:

CHARLIE SHEEN has some seriously bad car karma. Just four months ago the "Two and a half Men" star had one of his vehicles stolen and ditched at the bottom of a cliff and the exact same scenario played out early yesterday morning. TMZ.com reports the Los Angeles Police Department discovered Chuck's 2010 silver Mercedes off the side of Mulholland Drive in Beverly Hills around 3 am and quickly headed over to his house to fill out another stolen vehicle report. (Lee)

The other shoe just dropped in the AL /TIPPER GORE divorce.
   After weeks of speculation about another woman --or another man-- Star magazine is reporting that the former VP has been having an affair with LARRY DAVID's ex-wife, LAURIE DAVID.
   How did they meet? Turns out that after Larry and Laurie split in 2007, Laurie was a producer on Al's Oscar-winning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth."
   Since Star magazine does not name a source for the rumor, there is some question about the truth to the rumor. And, in fact, Laurie David's rep has already issued a statement to US Weekly magazine stating flatly that Al and Laurie are not having an affair: "This is completely and totally untrue," it says.
   Editor's note: Apparently, someone couldn't curb their enthusiasm. (Boy if that isn't as obvious, you're as wooden as ol' Mr. Petrified Forest himself.)
   --Well that's certainly an inconvenient truth. (Maintaining our programming goal of more subtle humor!)
   --I guess Bill Clinton's a bad influence after all.
   --It's bad enough your wife cheats on you, but how bad is it when she cheats on you with a guy more wooden than the carved Indian outside the cigar store.
   --Then again, how pleasant could it possibly be to live with a nebbish like Larry David? Silence must've been a blessing. (Maiman)

Broadcast, cable and video news:

DAVID HASSELHOFF learned a lot after heading back to his old stomping grounds. "The Hoff" used to star on a little show called "The Young and The Restless" and returned for a stint as "Dr. William Snapper Young" yesterday afternoon. The old-school actor admitted to AbsoluteNow.com that things are tough on the set --they no longer supply cue cards and the director gives one take to get it right!
   David will be appearing all week long and you can look for his real-life daughter, TAYLOR ANN, to pop up playing a nurse on today's episode. (Lee)

Politically correct, dep't:

New York City officials have had to change the subway signs at the 14 Street /Sixth Ave station. The NY Post reports city officials "suddenly" became aware that the signs, which read "FML" (meaning subway lines "F," "M" and "L" all converged at that station), were also used on a popular website, FML.com. [Editor's note: The website uses the combination to mean "F*** My Life."]
   Transit officials say they'll revise the signs so that the "L" will be below the "F" and "M" on the signs.