report alleging sexual harassment. is the flit cat fallout over? plus, after years of attempts the senate has passed a bipartisan bill. the question is when will it actually get to president biden s desk? and amid covid concerns, the academy is taking the event outdoors and the people to that. the question is who makes the cut? it s way too early for this. good morning, and welcome to way too early. the show that thinks that all the nominees are winners. i m elisa menendez. we ll start with the news. new york governor andrew cuomo is stepping down are the three-term governor is stepping down and will leave his office in two weeks. it comes as the assembly prepares to leave the month-long impeachment probe from several sexual harassment allegations. now, you know me. i m a new yorker, born and bred. i am a fighter. and my instinct is to fight through this controversy. because i truly believe it is politically motivated. i believe it is unfair. and it is untruthful.
variant gets an even firmer foothold in the united states. more than half of all new american cases are linked to that variant, the delta variant. this all comes, at a time of confusion over boosters. earlier this week, pfizer said we may need them. but within hours, strong pushback from, both, the cdc and the fda. saying, we don t need to worry about boosters, right now. now, adding to all these questions, some say it s time to talk making vaccines mandatory. but some major unions are saying, no, including america s largest healthcare union, service employees international, along with the new york state nurse s association and the powerful communications workers of america. this is, also, a huge question for many school systems across the country, as they are poised to start the new-school year, within weeks, in some areas of the country. the cdc is out with new guidance, saying last year s empty classrooms won t do. in-person schooling must be a priority, this fall, regardl
states, canada, and around the world. i m kim brunhuber. this is cnn newsroom. we are just a few hours away from what could be the next step in the future of space tourism. richard branson, the billionaire founder of virgin galactic hopes to make history. he and five other crew members are getting ready to take a short suborbital flight. he ll be the first billionaire to travel into space on a vehicle, he helped fund. even his fellow billionaire, jeff bezos, is wishing branson and his team well, as the amazon founder prepares for his own, cosmic date with destiny on his own rocket, later this month. now, be sure to tune into cnn s live coverage of the flight, which is scheduled to take off at 9:00 a.m., eastern time. branson s flight will be a first for tycoons who want to open up space travel to paying customers. rachel crane has more on that. reporter: the countdown is on. and in just hours, entrepreneur richard branson hopes to become the first person to ride a self-
i m kim brunhuber. this is cnn newsroom. we begin with a short flight to space but a big leap for tycoons who want to turn the great beyond into a tourist destination. in less than four hours, billionaire richard branson is set to take off in a space plane built by his company virgin galactic. well, if he succeeds, he will be the first businessman to do so in a spacecraft, whose development he funded. a short time ago, he tweeted this mission statement for his upcoming flight. my mission statement is to turn the dream of space travel into a reality. for my grandchildren, for your grandchildren, for everyone. so, how does branson feel before potentially making history? well, he opened up to cnn s rachel crane. reporter: the countdown is on, and in just hours, entrepreneur richard branson hopes to become the first person to ride a self-funded rocket into suborbital space. astronaut 001, richard branson. reporter: a launch nearly-two decades in the making. tell me,
welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the biden administration has unveiled plans to share millions of unused covid vaccines with the rest of the world. they ll distribute 25 million doses immediately, with a goal of handing out 80 million by the end ofjune. of that initial batch, 19 million will be allocated to covax, the global facility designed to distribute vaccines fairly. the remaining six million doses will go directly to countries experiencing surges and to us neighbours. they include mexico, canada, south korea and ukraine. president biden s national security adviserjake sullivan outlined the criteria for vaccine distribution. we ve received requests from all over the world, and a number of important factors went into our decision about how to allocate these first 25 million vaccines. these factors included achieving global coverage, responding to surges and other specific urgent situations and public health needs, and helping as many countri