I should clarify this morning's post about NewsNight: The "most likely scenario" is just one option, and the primetime schedule could change in a number of ways.

"No decision is known by anyone, including Aaron, on what hour, if any, he will be anchoring, if and when he returns," an insider says.

TV newsers inside and outside CNN have wondered for months whether Brown is on the way out, and I wouldn't be surprised if he left the network by the end of the year.

Also, another tipster clarifies what Brown said to the staff after NewsNight on Friday: "He said he did not know what he would be doing when he got back" from vacation, "but he was somewhat sure that he would not be in the NewsNight chair at 10 p.m."