and mike moses, the now president of the company, formerly vice-president, saw this as an opportunity to tell the story of the people, the men and women out there turning the wrenches drawing the designs and flying the ship. he was surprisingly receptive to the idea. i'll tell you, the other piece that really sort of helped me get in the door is the public affairs woman at the time, friday night lights, i told her i wanted to write friday night lights. >> getting some royalties on this. >> totally. it's true. [laughter] >> that helped get me across the finish line. there was also one piece to that, one of the pilots, the pilot corps was five people. awn with had been an f-18 pilot that flew with my dad and i knew 30 years ago, i hadn't seen him in 25 years and when i found out he worked at virgin galactic, i met with him and gave my spiel how i worked and how i would do this. and how the new yorker's fact checking apparatus worked and i explained to him. look, there's been a lot of stuff written about it and so much was falls. and he went to mike moses, i don't know, personal had i, i

so he went to mike moses and said i don't own it personally. but if we let someone in, at least it comes from decent stock. >> your father was the original maverick? [laughter] he was a kick ass pilot for the marines. >> he was. he was. at the time was a three-star marine general in charge of all aviation for the marine corps. interestingly the three stars was that at his age still in his early sixties at that point and was still flying single speed fighter jets. so yes. he was a legend in the marine corps got one of the very few distinguished flying crosses permission the goal for for this incredibly ball the mission in bosnia 1994 so he is a legend in the marine corps. >> by the way there are so many components to this book but one of the things i like about it is it is fascinating and i have no engineering background but how they put this machine together what works and what doesn't but another component is a very complex relationship which is ironic to your dad and for those out there who have not read the book and i hope you buy it, but th

and mike moses, the now president of the company, formerly vice-president. this as an opportunity to tell the story of the people, the men and women that were out there turning the wrenches, drawing the designs, flying the ship. so he was surprisingly receptive to the idea. >> right. >> i'll tell you, the other piece that really sort of helped me get in the door is that the public affairs woman at the time was a huge fan of "friday night lights" and i told her i wanted to write "fright night lights". >> need royalties. >>. [laughter] . >> guest: and that helped me over the finish line. at that point the pilot core was five people and one pilot i knew an f-18 pilot that flew with my dad, but i had known 30 years ago and i hadn't seen him in 25 years, but when i found out that he worked now at virgin galactic, i went out there and met with him and gave mimm my spiel how i worked and how i would do this and i the new yorker's fact checking apparatus worked and all that and explained to him and he said, look, we've had a lot of stuff written about us and so much

so this piece comes out august 18 and mike moses said to me on a monday and the thursday i called and said i have a book deal i'm ready to get back in and moses said give me a week i need to work out some diplomatic things some people thought the magazine piece made it sound dangerous. i saved you have three engineers with a 2007 accident and your test pilot was killed i don't make it sound dangerous. [laughter] so then he became for a fight for the soul of the company where i am in one year to say i will tell the story. i knew that richard like the magazine he e-mailed me and said to me he was reluctant to do this he didn't want to see this the appreciate the time and the effort and we saw there was an opportunity for me to keep doing what i wanted to do again in december of 18 he reiterated that but they kept just dragging their feet and talking about deals or other books they were just making up these things to prevent me from being in. the real critical moment i had this one-on-one relationship with branson. without telling when else at the company invited me down to the british v

i also want to point out mike moses, the gentleman i spoke to about safety i was just speaking of, his wife beth moses is also on this flight. she is one of the mission specialists. so talk about the pressure being on. not only is the world watching, but the man who is the president of safety for this company has both his boss and his wife on board, so it certainly shows a lot of confidence in the system that virgin galactic has created. fareed? >> rachel, totally fascinating. thank you so much. >>> we're going to take a quick break while we're waiting for the astronauts to go to the lunch v launch vehicles. we'll be back in a moment. >>> and we are back awaiting the liftoff of mother ship eve which will take richard branson to space. eve will carry unity, a space plane which will take branson into space. we're back with neil degrasse tyson in new york, richel crane and kristin fisher. neil, what is this plane compared to the kind of rockets we think of when we think of space travel, meaning going to the moon or something? >> let's go back to alex shepard in 1961. he was on a mercury r

so the magazine piece comes out in august 2018 and mike moses says to me on a monday and i remember on thursday i called moses and i said i've got this book deal. i'm ready to get back in and moses said okay, give me a week or so. i need to work out the diplomatic things. there are some people thought the magazine.ee he's made what we were doing sounds dangerous and of course i like guys, you've got three engineers killed in a 2007 accident. i'm not the one making it sound dangerous. >> that's ridiculous. so they you know, then it became this fight for the soul of the company in some ways where i'm in one year trying to say i'm going to tell the story and i knew that that richard liked the magazine piece. he said three weeks after the peace came out he said he was reluctant to do this and he didn't want to be seenas stomping on journalists independence and he appreciated all the time and effort . and we saw there was an opportunity for me to continue doing what i wanted to do and i met him again in december 2018 and he reiterated that but they kept dragging their feet. they kept talkin

this place we'll be taking some of those extra steps, extra oxygen and parachutes. >> reporter: mike moses is the husband of beth moses, who is a mission specialist on this flight. branson, his boss, is also on this flight. the pressure is on, the world is watching this flight. space enthusiasts around the globe are excited to tune into this incredible event. >> that's quite a power couple. thanks, raichel. >>> coming up in the cnn newsroom, i'll talk to as are congressman who is also a medical doctor. can he convince the skeptics in his party to take the covid vaccine? >>> confederate statues come down in charlottesville. i'll talk to the young woman who led the efforts for several years. >>> long lines outside the u.s. embassy in haiti, families hoping to evacuate after the assassination of their president. >>> president biden says russia will face consequences for the rise in rain nsomware attacks. what should they be? i'll ask richard painter, up next. with care and respect. to us, the little things are the big things. which is why we do everything in our power to make buying a car an

>> mike moses, yeah. >> was that the response to the new yorker piece? were they nervous about something or trying to hide something? i mean,, you had been there for four years. what happened? >> the idea was always that i would stick with them until they flew the fifth power flight. i wanted to stick with them until they flew the first rocket flight after the spaceship. i knew there was something -- i knew there was something that was different and that was going to affect the relationship. they there were a couple critical junctures. on that flight in april of 2018, i at that point hadn't been denied access. been told that i couldn't come into a single meeting. i was asked, they said sure. there was one occasion they were talking about a human resource thing where they said look you really can't record. you can listen for context with this is the only meeting you can't record. so that's what happened. and april, 2018 the flight i was walking in and i was barred entry. the person that barred my entry was steve attenborough. >> who was he at the company?

he went to mike moses and said look i don't know nick personally. i think all were little mistrusted with journalists. we are going to let someone in this guy seems to come from decent stock. >> your father was the original maverick wasn't it. [laughter] [laughter] isn't that what issav called? your father was a really kick pilot for the marines was heas not? >> he was, he was. so my dad at that time was a three-star marine general who is in charge of all aviation for the marine corps. but interestingly, these three stars were less important to him than the fact that he was still, at his age, that would have been, he still has early 60s at that point. he was still flying single speed fighter jets. so yes pretty was a legend in the marinee corps. he got one of very few established line crosses fordi the mission he flew the first side of the gulf war. flew this incredible involves the mission in bosnia in 1994. so yes he is a legend in the marine corps. >> there are so many components to this s book. it is a lot like tracy kidder's machine. one of the

. >> i'm mike moses. i can take that. everything looked perfect in realtime.e have done our quick engineering walk around. the quick around in the ramp is perfect. the ship looks pristine. no issues. we obviously had some trouble with the transmission. we wanted to get the interior cameras into the ground and they kept cutting in and out. that's the only real issue that we're tracking now on the ship. as richard said, we'll take our time and do the detailed inspections and figure out when we're ready to go again but the ship looked perfect. >> the nice thing about everything was filmed on board. that we'll be able to put out later today. it wasn't as if we lost anything. people want to see more, i'm sure our team will be offering it. i definitely want to see the tapes. it's so strange. you're suddenly, i said my words back to kids down here, unbuckled and the next moment i see three people floating below me. look out of the window and just, it's -- i'm sorry never going to be able to do it justice. it's indescribably beautiful. yeah. any way. >> thanks, richar

i'm mike moses. i can take that one. everything looked perfect in real time. we've looked at the data, done our quick engineering walkaround. normally we take it in the hang zbar. a quick walkaround, it's perfect. the ship looks pristine. we obviously had trouble with the transmission. we wanted to get the interior cameras live to the ground. they kept cutting out. we think we have antenna blockage that we can work on. as richard said, we'll take our time, do the detailed inspections and figure out when we're ready to go again. it looked perfect. >> everything was filmed on board, and that we'll be able to put out later today. it wasn't as if we lost anything. if people want to see more, i'm sure our team will be offering it. i definitely want to see the ta tapes. it's so strange. i said my words to kids down here unbuckled and the next minute i see three people floating below me. just look out of the window -- i'm never going to be able to do it justice. it's indescribably beautiful. yeah. anyway. >> thanks, richard. i think we have a question at the back her

all about and i explained to him andg he said so much of it has been false about us he wentso to mike moses and said i don't know nick personally, all of them worth mistrusting with journalist but if we are going to let a guy come in, he seems to come from a decent place. >> your father was the original matter, wasn't he? [laughter] he really kicked -- pilot for the marine, wask he not? >> he was so my dad at that time was a three-star marine general in charge of all aviation for marine corps but interestingly, three stars were less important to him, the fact that he was still, at his age, that would have been still in his early 60st and still fly single fighter jets so he was a legend in the marine corps, one of the few distinguished, he flew the first thing of the gulf war flew this incredibly multimission in 1994 so yes, he is a legend in the marine corps. >> by the way, there are so many components in this book, is a lot like a machine, i don't know if you've read this but one of the things i liked, it's fascinating and i have no engineering background but what they look for and how the

. >> mike moses. >> all right, you are done from was that in response to the new yorker piece, for they about something, for they trying to hide something? what happened? >> the idea was always that i would take with them until they knew the fight, i wanted to stick with them with this first flight after the spaceship. i knew there was something that was different going to affect the relationship from one is on the morning of flight, april 2018, up until then, i have not been denied access, i have not been told that i can come into a single meeting, i would ask if they would take sure, there was one occasion they were talking about a man or human resources for theyhe sent you can listen r context but this is the only meeting you can record so that's whatut happened in april 2018 flight, i was barking treatment the personn who did what n stephen -- >> who was he in the company? >> he is i think employee number one, a commercial -- >> number one, what does that mean? >> when they came up with this idea in 2014, stephen was the guy who would sell for ticket from the guy to market the compa

i had the opportunity to speak with mike moses, the president of safety for virgin galactic.n to what he had to say. >> so on this flight, everybody will be wearing a parachute. it's there for a case that is pretty unrealistic and very low probability. we test on the ground. we verify that doesn't happen. it is also not zero, right, so we want to give that extra level of control. we haven't determined exactly how long the safety measure will stay in place, but for this flight, we're taking extra steps. extra oxygen. >> reporter: today, the crew in mission control are on the ground, going through rehearsals before the take-off that the world is eager to watch tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. local. boris, christi? >> it will be a spectacle for sure. rachel crane from truth or consequences, new mexico, thank you so much. >>> so if all goes according to plan, branson will become the first founder of a space company to get there in a vehicle he helped fund. the livestreamed event is being hosted by comedian stevenphen col colbert, and singer khaled will debut a new song a

. >> reporter: virgin galactic's president of space missions and safety, mike moses has a vested interestbe spaceship kevin lead and i'll be test director. >> reporter: his wife beth moses is one of the crew members flying with branson. >> every single test flight we've done the last 22 have had people on board, and no one person is any real different than the other when it comes to safety. >> reporter: the flight is expected to last about 90 minutes, the spaceship unity attached to the mothership eve as it takes off like a plane. at 45,000 feet, unity drops, that rocket ignites and takes edge.on and five others to the - >> fire, fire. >> reporter: they will experience weightlessness for a few minutes before returning to the surface, but safety questions will take center stage. it's not clear when the flight was planned, but it was announced just a week ago after bezos announced he would launch on july 20th. and we should tell you, though, that virgin galactic already has faa approval to fly customers to space. blue origin does not. at least not yet and, remember, that launch is just ten