Lee could help restore confidence with the American public, at least the older American public. But he will not be asked to run Apple. I doubt he was even in Cupertino yesterday. The story mentioned the facility tours he took along with a board meeting. It would not have been posible in one day. Nothing on it was reported in the other media.
If you think about it, it does sound like a good prank to pull on us dreamers, searching for a thread of evidence that our investment will (eventually) pay off.