The Morning Scoop - Could Anthony Weiner Be New York's Next Mayor?

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JUNE 3, 2011

Could Anthony Weiner Be New York's Next Mayor? An exclusive survey by The Daily Beast has found that New Yorkers are largely unfazed by Weinergate: 71 percent of respondents said they would back Rep. Anthony Weiner for mayor in 2013 despite the mysterious Twitter photo that is keeping him on the front page of the tabloids. Read it at The Daily Beast Mladic Appears Before Hague Former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic made his first appearance before the Hague war crimes tribunal, while relatives of victims of the Bosnian war gathered outside the courtroom. Initially he asked the judge not to read the charges out loud, but when the judge did so, Mladic called the charges "monstrous" and said he would need more than a month to respond, and at least two months to read the three binders of documents that they had given him. If he doesn't enter a plea within 30 days, the judges will enter pleas of not guilty on his behalf. He also told the court that he was "gravely ill" and that he had been "defending my people and my country." The tribunal is charging him with genocide, persecution, extermination, inhumane acts, and terror, among other crimes. Read it at BBC Mississippi Flooding to Create Gulf Dead Zone The Gulf of Mexico can't catch a break. Last summer there was the BP spill, and now a toxic brew of farm chemicals and waste swept up by the flooded Mississippi is threatening to create the largest dead zone ever. Dead zones happen when nitrogen and phosphorous from crop fertilizers and manure settle in the gulf and fertilizes algae that astarves other organizisms of oxygen. Dead zones have occurred in the gulf since the 1970s. Since 1998 the EPA has been encouraging farm states along the Mississippi to set limits on chemical runoff, but to the frustration of downstream states, few have done so. Read it at The New York Times Blagojevich Spars With Prosecutor The first cross examination of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich got off to a good start, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar asking, "You are a convicted liar, correct?" Blagojevich answered yes, but proceeded to dance around every other question in the hour-long grilling. After a hung jury convicted Blagojevich last year on just one count-lying to the FBI-the government decided to drop the racketeering charges and the charges agaisnt the former governor's brother. They're now focussing on Blagojevich's plan to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat. In his testimony this week, Blagojevich said he wanted to appoint Attorney General Lisa Madigan to the seat in exchange for the approval of her father, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, for a public-works bill and health-care legislation. Read it at The Wall Street Journal Gmail Hack Targeted White House Those hackers meant business. A U.S. official says a China-based cyberattack on Gmail, Google's email client, targeted senior White House employees. The hackers were probably hoping that officials were conducting administration business over their private emails, which recent history suggests that they sometimes do—even though that's prohibited. The Obama administration insists that no official messages were compromised. The White House also said it will not bring up the matter with the Chinese government, which has denied any role in the security breach, until all facts become clearer. Read it at The Wall Street Journal Six Dead in AZ Shooting Appears rooted in contentious divorce. U.S. Unloads Chrysler Stake Taxpayers lose $1.3 billion in deal. HIV Infections Dropped 25 Percent But gains unevenly distributed. Spelling Bee Names 14-Year-Old Champ Sukanya Roy spelled "cymotrichous." Bidders Spend $190K at Unabomber Auction Bought hoodie, manifesto, typewriter. Sign up for The Yes List email, our weekly cultural recommendations. For more of The Daily Beast, become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Mitt Romney: The GOP's Field's Rodney Dangerfield by McKay Coppins The Republican frontrunner made his 2012 bid official—just as the press corps left to chase Sarah Palin's bus tour. McKay Coppins reports from New Hampshire. Jill Abramson: The NYT's New Executive Editor by Howard Kurtz Today's shake-up makes the blunt-spoken Jill Abramson the Gray Lady's first female top editor. Howard Kurtz talks to her about the paper's liberal reputation and how to stop the brain drain. Christopher Plummer's Depths by Lorenza Muñoz At 82, Christopher Plummer works more than ever. He talks to Lorenza Munoz about playing gay for the first time in Beginners and why The Sound of Music was "prison."

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