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September 16, 2013 | | WHODUNIT On Sunday night, Larry Summers—brilliant economist, former Harvard president, and former Treasury Secretary—withdrew his name from consideration for the post that would top off one of the Western world's great résumés: chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. The Daily Beast's Daniel Gross narrows down the list of suspects, from Elizabeth Warren and Wall Street to the brilliant economist himself. Peter Beinart argues it was the rising power of the new left in the Democratic party that destroyed his chances. SALVAGE The Costa Concordia may finally be upright again. The operation to salvage the wrecked cruise ship off the coast of Italy began Monday morning after a three-hour delay due to storms. When detached from the reef, there were no signs of the two missing bodies. The massive ship crashed into some rocks in January 2012, killing 32 and stranding 4,200 on board. The operation to right the ship will cost $80 million and has never been done before with such a large ship. To salvage the ship, portions will be sunk deeper underwater, and then the ship will be pulled up and rotated onto a giant platform about 100 feet above sea level.
TRAGIC The number of people unaccounted for in Colorado's deadly flooding shot up to 1,200 as more rain is forecast for the region on Monday. "It's a bit drier, but we're definitely not out of the woods yet," said Todd Dankers, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. Up to four inches of rain fell Sunday, and emergency management officials said 17,494 homes had been damaged, 1,502 homes destroyed, and 11,700 people evacuated due to the flooding. An 80-year-old woman went missing and is presumed dead, she is expected to become the sixth fatality since flooding began on Wednesday. SPIN The Syrian government said Sunday that the deal to hand over chemical weapons is a "victory," while President Obama insisted the threat on armed intervention still loomed. "These agreements … are a victory for Syria, achieved thanks to our Russian friends," Syrian Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar told Moscow's RIA news agency. Although the U.S. State Department insisted last week that Assad "has no legitimacy as the ruler of Syria," the weapons deal buys Assad more time as president. Meanwhile, Assad's forces struck rebel suburbs on Sunday in an offensive that reportedly began last week. The United Nations investigators released their report on the August 21 chemical-weapons attack, although the report is unlikely to pinpoint who was responsible. HERE SHE COMES Miss New York, Nina Davuluri, was crowned Miss America Sunday night, becoming the first woman of Indian descent to receive the honor. Davuluri is a doctor-to-be who overcame a battle with weight to win, but still faced a firestorm of racism on Twitter following her groundbreaking moment, writes The Daily Beast's Marlow Stern. | | 
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