Viewing guide for Jeff Bezos launch; CNN's streaming plans; Kristof's leave; Greene's temporary suspension; Prince Harry's memoir; inside 'The Cult of We'

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Brian Stelter here at 10:51pm ET on Monday, July 19 with the latest on Shari Redstone, Nick Kristof, Britt McHenry, Mat Honan, "The Cult of We," Lady Gaga, and much more...

Liftoff...

Jeff Bezos, a/k/a the "richest human being in the universe," is about to leave Earth for a few spectacular minutes.

It's going to be one heck of a television and streaming show.

On Tuesday, 52 years to the day of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Blue Origin will launch its first crewed flight of the New Shepard. The company's live stream is expected to begin at 7:30am ET, with liftoff at 9am, and a landing back on Earth 11 minutes later. All the major networks and websites will carry the launch live. Jackie Wattles, who covers space for CNN Business, has a how-to-watch guide here, including a minute-by-minute breakdown of the important moments.

It's "a big step for future space tourism," CNN's Anderson Cooper said, and "a remarkable step in a mission that began more than two decades ago when Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin." Cooper anchored "AC360" from the launch location on Monday:

Bezos is no longer media-shy

I asked CNN innovation and space correspondent Rachel Crane about the media scene in Van Horn, Texas. Here's what she told me:

"Blue Origin has been resistant to media since the start and has always been very controlled with its public image. So to have any kind of access with Blue is significant, let alone several days' worth of media opportunities after years of no major access. On Sunday, CNN and others had a chance to go out to the launch pad where New Shepard will lift off. We then ventured inside the New Shepard simulator and spoke with Ariane Cornell, the head of Astronaut Sales. On Monday, Bezos and crew did a round robin of network morning shows and TV correspondents were invited again behind the gates at Launch Site One TV to do live hits a few miles away from the launch pad. Jeff Bezos and brother Mark even delivered dinner to the media on site."

Here is Crane's video of the chicken drop-off -- you can hear her asking, "Is that your last meal?," which led Bezos to joke around with the press corps...

Bezos says critics are 'largely right'

Earlier in the day, during an interview that aired on "New Day," Crane asked Bezos, "There have been a chorus of critics saying that these flights to space are, you know, just joyrides for the wealthy, and that you should be spending your time and your money and energy trying to solve problems here on Earth. So what do you say to those critics?"

Bezos didn't tap dance around the question: He said, "Well, I say they're largely right. We have to do both. You know, we have lots of problems here and now on Earth and we need to work on those, and we always need to look to the future. We've always done that as a species, as a civilization. We have to do both." He said this mission is about "building a road to space for the next generations to do amazing things there, and those amazing things will solve problems here on Earth."

The Bezos-owned newspaper's coverage

The Washington Post, owned by Bezos, happens to employ one of the best space reporters in the US, Christian Davenport. He had a little fun and tweeted out a selfie from outside an astronaut dressing room on Monday night.

The Post has some special coverage planned for the launch: In partnership with Discovery, it will air a live show, "Space Launch LIVE: Blue Origin & Jeff Bezos Go To Space," on its website and on the Discovery and Science Channels starting at 8am ET Tuesday. Libby Casey and Chris Jacobs will anchor from the Post's studio in DC, with contributions from Davenport and others. It will re-air in primetime on TV. The outlets previously produced joint coverage of SpaceX's first crewed mission, so this is not a first due to Bezos...

TUESDAY PLANNER

President Biden welcomes Super Bowl champs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the WH in the morning and holds a cabinet meeting in the afternoon...

New nonfiction releases include "Perversion of Justice," "I Alone Can Fix It," and "The Cult of We..."

Netflix reports earnings after the bell...

MLB's Game of the Week Live on YouTube will be called by an all-women crew, a first for the league. Kate Bolduan's comment on CNN: "So cool, but what took so long?"

Game Six of the NBA Finals starts at 9pm ET...

Lifting the curtain on CNN+

CNN+ has been an open secret inside CNN and in media circles for a while. On Monday, it was officially announced: The company is hiring hundreds of people and developing dozens of programs for a subscription streaming service that will launch in the first quarter of 2022. The five main takeaways:

-- CNN+ is additive rather than cannibalistic. It will exist side by side with CNN's existing TV networks and will feature eight to twelve hours of live programming a day, plus library series and an interactive component.

-- CNN prez Jeff Zucker: While CNN TV "remains at the core of what we do today," CNN+ will grow "the reach and scope of the CNN brand in a way that no one else is doing. Nothing like this exists."

-- Chief digital officer Andrew Morse: "This is the most important launch for CNN since Ted Turner launched the network in June of 1980."

-- Morse said the shows will be led by "some of CNN's most prominent talent, as well as several new faces."

-- It's US first, global later. The price tag will be announced closer to launch, as will specific programs and the live schedule.

Here's my full story. To go deeper, listen to Andrew Wallenstein's Variety podcast convo with Morse, who said "There isn't another news organization on the planet that could pull off what we're trying to pull off...

What are Redstone and Roberts working on?

Ben Mullin and Lillian Rizzo's Monday night scoop for the WSJ: Comcast CEO Brian Roberts recently met with ViacomCBS chair Shari Redstone "to discuss a potential streaming partnership for international markets, according to people familiar with the matter, a sign the media giants see opportunities to join forces..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- Just in: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Twitter account has been restricted for 12 hours for sharing misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines," Donie O'Sullivan reports. Repeated violations of this policy leads to a permanent ban... (Twitter)

-- "A new, highly anticipated report from the leading association of pollsters confirms just how wrong the 2020 election polls were," Steven Shepard reports. But "the people asking why are still looking for answers..." (Politico)

-- "Outrage As A Business Model:" NPR looks at "how Ben Shapiro is using Facebook to build an empire..." (NPR)

Governor Kristof? He's on leave from the NYT

Last month, the renowned columnist Nick Kristof "decided to take a leave from The Times to consider the possibility of a political campaign," the NYT's Lisa Lerer reported Monday, on the heels of The Willamette Week's report that he is eyeing a run for governor of Oregon. "Any bid for governor would most likely be difficult for an outsider, even one with local roots and a national media platform," Lerer wrote.

>> His leave is "in accordance with Times standards," the Times says...

>> WaPo's Felicia Sonmez noted that if Kristof does run, he would "become one of the most well-known media figures in recent memory to make a run for political office..."

Britt McHenry leaves Fox News

Kerry Flynn writes: "Britt McHenry's sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News and one of the network's on-air personalities, George 'Tyrus' Murdoch, has been voluntarily dismissed by the parties involved." Murdoch's attorney said he "will not be making any financial payments," but what about Fox? The Daily Beast, which broke the news, said McHenry will "likely" receive an "undisclosed cash settlement." She will be leaving Fox News, but will "maintain her position" at Fox5 in DC, the Beast said...

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- NewsNation, which launched an 8pm show with Leland Vittert on Monday, also announced Monday that it is giving the coveted time slot to Dan Abrams in September. Vittert will be moved...

-- Also starting in September, former ABCer Adrienne Bankert "will host NewsNation's 'Morning in America' weekdays from 6am to 9am." The bottom line hasn't changed: "NewsNation is still struggling to find an audience..." (Tribune)

-- LA Times White House editor Jackie Calmes is joining Op-Ed as a Washington columnist... (LAT)

-- Rising Covid case rates in the US and pre-Olympic concerns in Japan were the lead stories on all the nightly newscasts...

-- The Reuters newswire's Monday night lead story says resurgence fears "sent shockwaves through stock markets..." (Reuters)

"Facebook isn't killing people," Biden now says

Oliver Darcy emails: "Just days after declaring that Facebook is 'killing people' with vaccine misinfo, Biden walked back his claim on Monday. 'Facebook isn't killing people,' Biden said Monday in response to a Q from CNN's Kaitlan Collins — a remarkable change in posture toward the social media company that came after strong pushback from its exec ranks. Biden insisted that he meant 'precisely' what he said Friday, but this time he pointed to the 'disinformation dozen,' saying that the info they are peddling is 'killing people.' Some of the folks cited in that March report are no longer posting on the platform. Others have gone relatively quiet. And one of the 'dozen,' Joseph Mercola, wrote on FB that he's a victim because 'the president needs scapegoats to blame' for failing to hit his vaccination targets..."

>> New from NYT's Sheera Frenkel: "White House Dispute Exposes Facebook Blind Spot on Misinformation..."

Growing calls for more mandates

Brian Lowry writes: "There seems to be growing sentiment that conforms with the headline on this Max Boot column: 'Stop pleading with anti-vaxxers and start mandating vaccinations.' While there's unavoidable logic to that -- if you want to go to a concert, sporting event or board an airplane, roll up your sleeve -- given the hysterical reaction to what's already been proposed, one shudders at the rhetoric that would unleash..."

Fox quietly implements vaccine passports

Oliver Darcy writes: "Tucker Carlson has called the idea of vaccine passports the medical equivalent of 'Jim Crow' laws. And other Fox News personalities have spent months assailing the concept of showing proof of vaccination status. But Fox Corp has quietly implemented its own version of a vaccine passport as workers slowly return to the company's offices. Fox employees have been asked to voluntarily report their vaccination status. Those who do so are allowed to skip the required daily health screening. Here's my full story..."

>> Darcy adds: "Fox, amid significant scrutiny, made a noticeable shift on Monday re: vaccines. Some hosts, including Steve Doocy and Sean Hannity, were more vocal than usual about the value of getting vaccinated. The Q is: Will this rhetoric stick, or was this just a one-day bandaid to help Fox with its PR problems? It's also worth noting that Tucker Carlson, Fox's #1, host, continued with his normal anti-vaccine rhetoric..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- One of Monday's many followups to the Pegasus Project launch: Craig Timberg, Reed Albergotti and Elodie Guéguen reported on "the vulnerability of smartphones" used by "journalists, diplomats, human rights activists and businesspeople around the world..." (WaPo)

-- Fallout: Amazon Web Services has "disabled cloud accounts linked to NSO Group," Brian Fung reported... (CNN)

-- Joanna Slater and Niha Masih described how the NSO Group spyware hacks "represent a tiny fraction of what may be a vast surveillance net..." (WaPo)

-- In other news, "Univision has unveiled a massive overhaul of its corporate ranks as well as the leadership of its entertainment, news and sports divisions." Leopoldo Gomez is the new head of news. And anchorman Jorge Ramos will be a "special editorial advisor to the CEO..." (Variety)

DOJ adopts new restrictions on obtaining journalists' records

Oliver Darcy writes: "The Department of Justice on Monday formally adopted policies sharply restricting the instances in which prosecutors can seek records or testimony from reporters. 'This new prohibition applies to compulsory legal process issued to reporters directly, to their publishers or employers, and to third-party service providers of any of the foregoing,' AG Merrick Garland said in a memo announcing the policies. The policy shift was praised by the ACLU, CNN, WaPo's Fred Ryan, and NYT's A.G. Sulzberger. Elie Honig described the policy shift to me as a 'sea change' for the agency. Here's my full story..."

Prince Harry is publishing a memoir

Frank Pallotta writes: "Prince Harry, one of the most talked-about figures in the world, is publishing a memoir next year that he calls 'wholly truthful.' The Duke of Sussex will release the book via Penguin Random House globally in late 2022." The publisher says "Harry will be donating proceeds from the book to charity..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

By Kerry Flynn:

-- Mat Honan has been appointed EIC of MIT Technology Review. He is the latest in a series of departures from BuzzFeed News... (TR)

-- Paul Cheung has been named CEO of the Center for Public Integrity. He is the first Asian American to lead the center... (Poynter)

-- Andrea González-Ramírez is joining The Cut as a senior writer covering systems of power. She was most recently at Medium's GEN... (NYMag)

-- Tim Peterson checks in on NBC News' four-year-old Snapchat show "Stay Tuned," which has 10.5 million subscribers and averages about 1 million unique viewers per episode... (Digiday)

-- "Advice columns are having a moment. Chalk it up to their enduring value to readers and, increasingly, to news organizations' bottom lines," Elizabeth Djinis writes... (Poynter)

Inside "The Cult of We"

Sara O'Brien writes: "Wall Street Journal reporters Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell are coming out with 'The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion' on Tuesday. It is packed to the brim with the juicy details that led to the company's eye-popping $47 billion valuation – and how it all came crashing down. It examines the problematic relationships and systems that ultimately fed Neumann's hubris. (His wife, who led WeWork's foray into education, is quoted as telling an employee -- 'Isn't he amazing? Some people think he's the Messiah.') Neumann and Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank and WeWork's largest investor, are called a 'combustible combination,' with Son once telling Neumann that being crazy is how to win."

O'Brien adds: "Neumann's dizzying ambitions, chronicled throughout the book, range from ridiculous (he once tasked his team with getting an 8-foot-wide piece of art from New York to Tokyo in two days as a 'thank you' to Son for his $4.4 billion investment) to perplexing (possible acquisition targets thrown around by Neumann and other WeWork execs included Lyft, Sweetgreen and MoviePass) to jaw dropping (he aspired to help broker peace in the Middle East, saying a treaty would be signed one day in a WeWork). For a taste, check out the WSJ's excerpt of the book..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

By Amelia Burns:

-- Hunt Allcott, Matthew Gentzkow and Lena Song study why "social media and smartphone use" are in the ranked activities "where people feel that they have self-control problems..." (WaPo)

-- TikTok is introducing users "to the world of disability influencers" as creators "illuminate the everyday lives of people with disabilities..." (The Atlantic)

-- Taylor Lorenz writes: "Tidy one-page résumés are increasingly going the way of the fax machine" as the "TikTok resume" is born... (NYT)

-- Ashton Kutcher argues "a dislike button" would change the incentive on social media for people "motivated to comment negatively," Roger Cheng reports... (CNET)

-- Idris Elba is "calling for more stringent ID verification measures on social media platforms in an attempt to combat racism online," Ellie Bate reports... (BuzzFeed)

Correction

Last night I touted an example of "concise and clear-eyed writing by a team at the LA Times." But the story was by a team at The Associated Press! I feel like a total fool for overlooking the bylines and The AP credit when I read the story on the LA Times website. The reporters were Calvin Woodward, Colleen Long, and David Klepper, and they minced zero words while describing Trumpworld's "straight-up delusion" about January 6, fueled by "a cocktail of propaganda, conspiracy theory and disinfo..."

NBA Finals ratings forecast

Brian Lowry writes: "With Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night, here's a sentence I never expected to write: If there's a Game 7, will it draw a bigger audience than the Oscars? With 10.4 million viewers (the revised final figure) as the bar to clear, it's certainly possible, although everything is a little screwy this year, including the fact that a seventh game would be followed the next day by the Olympic opening ceremony."

>> ICYMI: "Maria Taylor's ESPN contract ends Tuesday," but she is expected to finish the finals with the network, per Andrew Marchand...

FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX

-- Michael Phelps is joining "the NBC Olympics broadcasting team as a primetime correspondent in Tokyo..." (THR)

-- "ESPN is finally getting Peyton Manning behind the mic. The former NFL quarterback and his younger brother Eli (who also played a little football) will headline an alternate telecast option for 'Monday Night Football' that will be available on ESPN2..." (TheWrap)

-- Meg Thee Stallion, Naomi Osaka and Leyna Bloom are the cover stars for Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit issue... (SI)

-- Bloom is "the magazine's first transgender cover model and the first transgender person of color to appear in its pages," Chrissy Callahan reports... (NBC)

-- "This moment heals a lot of pain in the world," Bloom tweeted Monday. "We deserve this moment; we have waited millions of years to show up as survivors and be seen as full humans filled with wonder..." (Twitter)

-- Meg James' latest: "ViacomCBS and the production company co-founded by TV doctor Phil McGraw are facing allegations of racism" on "The Doctors..." (LAT)

Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett reuniting 'one last time'

"Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett will share the stage at New York's Radio City Music Hall for two nights next month in what's being billed as their final performances together," Megan Thomas reports. The dates are August 3 and 5. The artists also have "a new joint album releasing later this year..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART SEVEN

-- The headline on Chelsea Handler superfan Marianne Garvey's interview with her: "Chelsea Handler is vaccinated, horny and probably a little high..."

-- Halsey and her boyfriend, Alev Aydin, have welcomed their first child together, Chloe Melas reports...

-- Jason Momoa is gearing up for "Aquaman" filming with a "heroic dye job," Sandra Gonzalez writes...

-- One more from Sandra: "Why the celebrity couples ruling summer have been just the escape we needed..."

Three 💯 reads from Lisa

Lisa Respers France writes:

-- If you packed on some pounds during this pandemic this story will either inspire you or irritate you: These celebs focused on fitness and lost weight during quarantine...

-- Relatable? Matt Damon's teen daughter is one of his biggest critics, and that helps to keep him grounded...

-- We finally know what Mary's dress does. Bruce Springsteen's manager has ended the "Thunder Road" lyric debate...

LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

Pet of the day!

USA Today's Jill Lawrence emails: "This is Gracie, my grand-cat in Utah, in one of her 'You can't seriously be saying that' moments. She is so loud and opinionated that she really should have her own Zoom square during our cross-country family debates about the politics, media and Hollywood news reported in the Reliable Sources newsletter..."