Angry, Awesome John McCain Is Back!In an interview with ‘Time,’ the Republican candidate reveals the rage seething beneath his new, carefully scripted exterior.
Chace Crawford Is Awesome at Being SinglePlus, a Puerto Rican party for Carlos Beltran’s birthday and who the gayest man in the world is in our daily gossip roundup.
George Soros: You Ain’t Seen Nothing YetPublishing musical chairs, bad news on the economy front, and gripes about law-school rankings — all in our daily roundup.
In the End, Shouldn’t Palazzo Chupi’s Units Go to People Who Really Appreciate Them?Schnabel raises the price on his pink palace, a New York ‘Times’ journalist is jailed in ZImbabwe, and a Starbucks worker fights for her rights. And regrets? Citigroup has a few in today’s roundup of news from the fields of real estate, media, law, and finance.
early and often
Media Panel Stretches Blog Metaphors, Blows Kisses at ObamaAt a NYU Media Talk last night focusing on “Publishing and the Election,” Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter called Thomas Payne “the original blogger.” We bet he didn’t have to deal with unending pajama jokes!
loose threads
‘America’s Next Top Model’ Renewed!• Wipe that sweat off your brow. Even thought the CW’s ratings are floundering, America’s Next Top Model has been renewed for its eleventh and twelfth cycles because it’s the channel’s most-watched program. Obvi. [WP]
gossipmonger
America’s Real-Estate Conflicts, As Enacted by the Hearst GalsVeronica Hearst is using her Fifth Avenue apartment and a property in upstate New York as collateral in case the auction for her 52-room mansion in Palm Beach doesn’t hit $40 million. Meanwhile, her step-granddaughter Lydia Hearst just bought a $1.49 million apartment in the Sheffield 57 on West 57th. Damon Dash got freaked out by the lunar eclipse. CNBC’s Money Honey, Maria Bartiromo, has joined the board at her alma mater, NYU. Cindy Adams thinks Ellen Page is, uh, “a young, white, female Obama.”
company town
Just in Time for ‘Times’ McCain Scuffle, ‘Time’ Editor Says Papers Shouldn’t Endorse CandidatesMEDIA
• What is the New York Police Department’s policy for awarding press credentials? Journalists wonder the same thing. [NYT]
• Time managing editor Rick Stengel ponders why newspapers endorse political candidates at a time when news consumers doubt the objectivity of the media. [Time]
• Details of the deal that Newsweek struck with George W. Bush’s former brain have emerged: It’s a two-year, sixteen-column contract. [NYO]
intel
John King Wary of ‘Superdelegates,’ Anderson Cooper’s GunsEarlier this afternoon we cornered CNN anchor John King, who’d just finished with a CNN/Time live-panel discussion in the Time Warner Center, and discussed the irony of the Democratic-nomination system, in which delegates in each state primary and caucus are awarded proportionally, instead of a winner-take-all system. “Look, it’s a political party; they have the right to write their own rules,” said King, who used to sit in on DNC meetings as an AP reporter back in the day. “But one of the interesting things about it, if it keeps going on like it is, you could have a group of roughly 800 people — superdelegates — who decide who the nominee is, which you could argue is going [back] to the old smoke-filled back rooms, which is the least democratic way to do it.” This idea confused and saddened us, so we changed the subject to Anderson Cooper’s ostentatious biceps. “I give Anderson an enormous amount of credit, knowing what this business does to you, especially in a crazy year like this,” King said, possibly relieved someone had given him the chance to speak on the subject. “I’m giving myself a C-plus, at best, in getting to the gym and being more healthy, and the fact that Anderson can get an A throughout all this is a tribute to dedication and time-schedule discipline,” he said — quickly adding, “and I curse him for it.” —Dan Amira
company town
Morgy Says, ‘I’m Too Old to Retire!’LAW
• Robert Morgenthau called a press conference in response to a “Page Six” item about him stepping down after 33 years: “I’m too old to retire.” The man is 88! [NYT]
• Big-time Mayer Brown partner Joseph Collins, who maintains offices in both New York and Chicago, has been indicted for fraud in the Refco case. [Above the Law]
• Which court is the worst “judicial hellhole” in the country? [Law Blog/WSJ]
company town
Who’s the Real Heir to Sandy Weill?FINANCE
• Citigroup’s Chuck Prince and Chase’s Jamie Dimon are battling it out to see who’s the real heir to Sandy Weill. With Citi crashing and Chase eking out a gain despite the credit crunch, it looks like Dimon, long prodigal, may be the true son. [Deal Journal/WSJ]
• Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson warned that we may see as many as one million home foreclosures before the end of the year. [NYT]
• Want to be a hedger and a do-gooder, work a trading floor and enjoy the peace of mind of a nonprofit? Join the World Bank like former Goldman exec Robert Zoellick, and you can manage $55 billion in assets. [NYT]
‘Time’: Billy Graham Thinks Hillary Is Hot and HolyBilly Graham thinks Hillary Clinton is “spiritual” and “warm,” according to a new book by two Time reporters excerpted in the new issue. Warm? We know Graham is famous for his faith — but that’s a leap we’re not sure we’re ready to make. In “The Preacher and the Presidents,” Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy quote Graham as saying, “I think a lot of Hillary She is different from the Hillary you see in the media.” Clinton, in turn, says that she came to Graham when she was struggling with forgiving her husband after the Monica Lewinksy affair. The support of a man who’s counseled every president since Truman is an interesting development for our hometown senator, who needs some religious-voter cred. But we couldn’t help notice (well, at least after FishbowlNY pointed it out to us), that Time managed to put horns on the good reverend’s head. Silly magazine, he isn’t Jewish!
The Pastor In Chief [Time]
‘Warm’ Clinton’s Got a Friend in Billy [NYDN]
Time Gives Billy Graham Devil’s Horns [FishbowlNY/Mediabistro]
the morning line
Thrice-Married Catholic Not Considered So Religious
• Only 13 percent of responders think Rudy Giuliani is “of strong religious faith,” according to a Time poll — and that’s lower than Hillary’s number (15 percent). But he once wanted to close down an art exhibit for blasphemy! [NYP]
• “The very character of the Northeast is at stake” if greenhouse gases aren’t reduced, a new study warns. Poised to vanish: Long Island lobsters and New York apples. What will thrive: smog, pollen, and floods. And, clearly, Claritin sales. [NYT]
• An L.A.-to-London flight was diverted to JFK this morning because of a “suspicious passenger.” Michael Chertoff’s gut told him it was a harmless misunderstanding. [WNBC]
• Shelly Silver still won’t agree to bring the Assembly to the table for congestion-pricing talks — even as the desperate Mayor Bloomberg says he’ll fly to Albany tomorrow. By now, we’re just looking forward to Monday, when this mess will be over. [NYDN]
• And, starting today, the MTA adds a “Mets express” to its 7 line: a one-stop service from midtown to Shea. It’s just for an hour on game days, but funny thing: If they did it year-round, Willets Point might actually be habitable. [amNY]
in other news
‘Time’ Mag: Murdoch Promises to Break His Promises
So it’s been, what, two or three weeks now of tense negotiations over the future of Dow Jones. Of hand-wringing over what News Corp. might do to the company. Of Bancroftian efforts to retain some control of their company, even if they sell it. Of concerns that any promises Murdoch makes about editorial independence will be totally abrogated. Of Murdoch’s assurances that really, honestly, genuinely he’ll be respectful of the paper, just like he’s been of the Times in London. And then the new Time magazine comes out, with ol’ Rupe on the cover and this opening paragraph:
“They’re taking five billion dollars out of me and want to keep control,” Rupert Murdoch was saying into the phone, “in an industry in crisis! They can’t sell their company and still control it — that’s not how it works. I’m sorry!”
You have to respect the old Aussie, really. How many people have the balls to admit they’ll break their promises before the promise is even agreed to?
Exclusive: Rupert Murdoch Speaks [Time]