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January 6th Committee to Move to Hold Bannon in Contempt This Week; One-on-One with Key Impeachment Witness Alexander Vindman; Former President Bill Clinton Released from the Hospital; 16 Americans, 1 Canadian Kidnapped During Missionary Trip to Haiti; Benefit Concert Held for Gabby Petito. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired October 17, 2021 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:10]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

And we're following several top stories, including Congress ready to hold Steve Bannon in contempt. The former Trump adviser defied his subpoena from the committee investigating January 6th. The question now, will that decision send him to jail? There is a key vote this week.

Plus, former president Bill Clinton on the mend and out of the hospital. Details of his very -- his nearly week-long battle against an infection. And an urgent situation in Haiti. 16 Americans and one Canadian kidnapped by gang members during a missionary trip. We'll go live to the State Department.

I want to begin with the subpoena showdown for testimony and documents to the January 6th committee. It's a pivotal week in the investigation as the committee will meet Tuesday to move forward in holding Steve Bannon in contempt for defying their subpoena.

With me now is CNN legal analyst Elie Honig. I want to point out this is not Steve Bannon -- he's not likely to go to jail this week. This is not something we're really checking. But it's possible. I mean this is something that potentially could surface as this plays out. But what do you think happens next at this point?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Jim, so there's a three- step process. On Tuesday the committee is going to vote to hold Steve Bannon in contempt. Then it has to go to the full House, which will vote to hold him in contempt. But then the tricky part, it goes to DOJ. They decide whether to prosecute. And even at that point it's still complicated because first of all this specific charge, criminal contempt of Congress, has not been brought since 1983. And that was unsuccessful.

DOJ since then has passed on prosecuting this several times. Now we're in unprecedented territory here for sure. And the question is, will Merrick Garland recognize that? Will he break from past precedent and charge this crime? I don't see how he can't sitting there as the attorney general. There is a flagrant violation of law, but it's not going to be quick and it's not going to be easy.

ACOSTA: And the Trump playbook has always been to drag out all of this. The committee has already extended the deadline for Mark Meadows, Kash Patel, Dan Scavino, so they can continue negotiations. They're supposed to be engaging with the committee whatever that means.

HONIG: Yes.

ACOSTA: How limited are the powers of the Department of Justice and Congress that this type of situation, in this type of situation, and where could we be if we're just waiting months and months. I mean, the --

HONIG: Yes.

ACOSTA: They could essentially torpedo the committee to some extent by just not complying with this.

HONIG: Yes. Let's be clear. Donald Trump and the people around him are playing the delay game here. And if we learned collectively any lesson from the last time this happened, from Congress' attempts to exercise oversight over Donald Trump when he was in office. Congress just has to play tougher here. Congress has been slow, they've been timid, they've been indecisive. Meanwhile you have Trump and his people who are willing to break all the rules.

You know, Trump has lost virtually every one of these cases. He's never had a final decision in his favor on one of these disputes in court. That said, he has won even while he's losing simply by dragging things out. So Congress has to be ready to act quickly. They seem like they are. The courts have to do better. The courts, our judges can't let these cases sit for years, months, whatever it's going to be. They can get these things done in a matter of a month or two.

And DOJ, again, Merrick Garland, there's a lot of pressure on Merrick Garland, we saw members of the committee, Joe Biden has said he thinks this case should be charged. So all three of those actors need to stiffen up and show some spine here.

ACOSTA: Well, and we saw the Justice Department say that they'll be making the decision, not the president.

HONIG: Yes.

ACOSTA: But in the meantime the chair of the January 6th committee, Congressman Bennie Thompson, told CNN earlier this week that the committee has not ruled out subpoenaing the former president Donald Trump in that, quote, "Nobody is off limits." Adam Kinzinger, congressman from Illinois, was asked about this earlier this morning. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): If we subpoena all of a sudden the former president, we know that's going to become kind of a circus. So that's not necessarily something we want to do upfront. But if he has pieces of information we need, we certainly will.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Some hesitancy there to bring him in here and create a spectacle, which is what would happen.

HONIG: Yes. I'm spectacle they will subpoena the former president. I mean, as Representative Kinzinger just said, it would be a circus. I don't think that's a good reason not to do it. But let's be clear here, the focus of all of this, the central focus here is Donald Trump. The biggest question is what did he know and what did he do. Now if you look at the subpoenas that they've already served, it's like these planets orbiting the sun, right, Bannon, Patel, Meadows.

But what they have in common is they're all the people closest to Donald Trump. If the subpoena, if the committee wanted to hear from Donald Trump and was determined to have that fight, they would have subpoenaed him already. So I'm highly doubtful that they will do it in the days and weeks ahead.

ACOSTA: And this issue of executive privilege, what does the law say about Trump invoking it to prevent his own administration's documents from being provided or to prevent people from testifying? He is the former president now.

HONIG: Yes.

ACOSTA: Which -- I mean, you don't have - do you have executive privilege until you die as an ex-president? I mean, that would not make any sense.

HONIG: Interestingly, former presidents can have some interest in exerting executive privilege after they have left office.

[16:05:04]

Barack Obama actually even recognized that in an executive order. However, the law and that same executive order make clear that if you disagree with the current guy, the current guy prevails because in the end executive privilege is meant to protect the institution, the presidency, not any one individual. So he's got a very -- Donald Trump has a major uphill battle. I don't see any way he prevails if Joe Biden wants to waive the privilege.

ACOSTA: All right, Elie Honig, thanks so much as always.

HONIG: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: And thanks always being with us every week here on CNN NEWSROOM.

HONIG: Happy to be with you.

ACOSTA: Appreciate it so much.

My next guest was a key witness in Donald Trump's first impeachment trial, testifying about Trump's pressure campaign to get Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman joins me now. He's the author of the book here, "Right Matters: An American Story."

Great book. Very successful book, Lieutenant Colonel Vindman. Thanks so much for being with us. The very thing that you said during Trump's first impeachment, he did again after his 2020 loss. Instead of pressuring Ukraine, he was pressuring the Department of Justice. He was pressuring election officials in places like Georgia. Both times he faced no legal or political consequences.

And as we were just talking about with Elie a few moments ago, there is all this hesitancy and trepidation, I suppose, to haul him in front of the January 6th committee. It seems like this works out for him every time. At some point, Colonel Vindman, doesn't somebody just have to stand up to him? You know all about that.

LT. COL. ALEXANDER VINDMAN (RET), FORMER NSC OFFICIAL UNDER TRUMP: Absolutely. And I think individual actors have and maybe have suffered some of the consequences, but they've served the U.S. -- the general public good. I think what ends up happening is if Trump and his cronies are not held accountable, this becomes a rehearsal for a future insurrection.

We need accountability to deal with the crimes, the criminal activity from the previous administration to be able to expose the big lie of stolen elections, to expose the president's wrongdoing, to expose the corruption of his proxies. And if we do that, we can start chipping away at the big lie. We can start bringing this country back together, and with that, move ahead. Without accountability, we can't do that.

ACOSTA: Yes. And I think people at home see how Trump's allies are trying to stonewall these proceedings. They see Steve Bannon doing it right now. They wonder what is the point of this process if it's so easy to get around it? What's the point of issuing subpoenas? Why did these congressional subpoenas exist if you can just toss them by the wayside and ignore them?

Do you think our institutions are built to withstand these types of tactics?

VINDMAN: I don't think so. And I think, in part, what we've experienced over the past four years and maybe even longer is that the legislative branch has ceded some of its authority. It ceded its role as a check on executive power. And I think that this is an opportunity for the legislative branch to assert its role in the constitutional process, hold the former president and other officials accountable that both through the subpoenas and through an exposure of what happened, bring the facts out into the light about January 6th.

The other thing is in reality this is also a political endeavor. And it exposes that this former president, President Trump, was a corrupt actor, that continues to try to steal the election that he lost, which is pretty amazing. Now the next -- now it's also in the hands of the American public. We have an election in less than a few weeks. And what I think we need to do is we need to take a look at those people that the president supports, those Trump acolytes, those other actors that have proven themselves to be compromised.

Actually, they've marked themselves with the scarlet letter of President Trump's approval, and we need to make sure that those folks do not make it into office. And that's why one of the reasons I've supported Terry McAuliffe against Glenn Youngkin, Glenn Youngkin is a Trump acolyte. He supports the former president's policies with regards to denying the severity of COVID, denying January 6th insurrection, denying -- or propagating this idea of a stolen election. And we can't have that.

He's actually -- in the state of Virginia he's a nonviable candidate. It's just a matter of the population showing up and making their voices heard.

ACOSTA: I do want to ask you a little bit about that in just a moment. But just to button this up on January 6th, if you were advising the January 6th committee, would you advise the committee to issue a subpoena for Donald Trump to testify, cooperate with that investigation?

VINDMAN: Absolutely. Absolutely. Now I get -- I have the privilege of doing that because I'm not an attorney, don't have to understand all the difficulties there. But on the same note, the president should be brought to justice. He's not above the law. I felt that was the case when I reported a presidential wrongdoing and presidential abuse of power. And if he lies in front of the commission, then he should suffer the consequences.

[16:10:05]

The problem is that he has not suffered the consequences. He did not suffer the consequences of an abuse of power in the first impeachment that led to him to believe that he could act with impunity, mismanaged COVID, attempt to steal an election into the future. And also in the second -- and after the insurrection, he was held accountable. What discourages him from continuing to behave as a future authoritarian leader, attempting to entice Republican state governments from introducing legislation that allows them to overturn the will of the people that vote in one direction? We need accountability. It's an open wound. Without accountability you can't move forward.

ACOSTA: And I know you're a Terry McAuliffe supporter. So let me ask you about this Virginia race which is becoming a national race. There's just no question about it. I want to go to an event that happened last week. You probably noticed this. It was a rally for Glenn Youngkin, the Republican candidate who's challenging Terry McAuliffe. And at that event they pledged allegiance to an American flag that they claimed was used or carried during the January 6th insurrection. What was your response when you saw that?

VINDMAN: He's disqualified. He's an extremist. He has no place leading the Commonwealth of Virginia. In fact, he's probably not -- he's certainly not the best suited to lead the Commonwealth of Virginia. We have a former governor that's running for another term. He's ready to govern on day one. He's ready to advance the interest of the population of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He's ready to make sure that we continue to move in the right direction with regards to law enforcement, like he did under his first tenure, with regards to economic prosperity. The only people that Youngkin have served so far are himself.

ACOSTA: Why do you think the race is so close right now? Why does Terry McAuliffe need Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mrs. Biden? Why does he need all of these high-flying surrogates, folks like yourself, out there campaigning on his behalf if it's such an open and shut case, as you're saying?

VINDMAN: I think what he's -- he's preying on fears. And we know that fears are a much, much bigger motivator than the hopes and beliefs in prosperity. His slogans about, you know, critical race theory, which is there is no substance to it. Critical race theory is not being taught in school. It's about mask mandates and that undermining the validity of the impact of COVID on the Commonwealth of Virginia.

On law enforcement where he, again, he has no executive experience and is not prepared to govern the way Terry McAuliffe is. But he's still preying on -- the typical slogans that we heard out of President Trump, out of other acolytes, and that's what he's preying on.

ACOSTA: And do you think that if Youngkin wins this race that this starts to pave the way, starts to clear the path for Donald Trump to run for another term in office? What worries you about that?

VINDMAN: Absolutely. I think this is a bellwether. I think just the way we considered the recall in California, a bellwether if Larry Elder had won that one, then we would be talking about probably a different set of circumstances and a different environment. But this is another critical moment. If Youngkin -- if a Trump acolyte wins in Virginia, a purple state that's moving in the direction of progressive, moving in the direction of frankly progress, not progressive, just in terms of progress, being more inclusive, more representative.

And there's a reversal there, I think that sets the template. I think we need to defeat Glenn Youngkin because he is a Trump supporter, he represents Trump's policies, he's not prepared to govern. Terry McAuliffe is. That's who I encourage people to vote for.

ACOSTA: All right, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, thanks so much. We appreciate it. Thanks for stopping by, and please do that again some time.

VINDMAN: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Thanks so much.

Former president Bill Clinton is out of a California hospital after spending five nights there because of an infection that spread to his bloodstream, aka, sepsis.

CNN national correspondent Natasha Chen joins me now from outside the hospital. Natasha, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was by his side as

he walked out this morning. How did he look? We're glad that he's out of the hospital, but what did you think?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, that's right. She was by his side arm in arm. She gave us a wave first across the street. They were coming out from the sliding doors just over there behind us. You know, he was able to walk out of the hospital, but he did walk slowly, gingerly. He took a few steps, and then met with the medical team there to say farewell, and they thanked the team, shook hands with doctors, and then one of the reporters here shouted, how do you feel?

[16:15:05]

And he gave a thumbs up before continuing on, giving some hugs and then getting into his vehicle. So he was able to do that on his own, perhaps just being a bit careful after of course spending five nights here at UC Irvine Medical Center.

The staff here at the hospital, they released a statement through the executive director, and I want to read part of that. It says, "His fever and white blood cell count are normalized and he will return home to New York to finish his course of antibiotics. On behalf of everyone at UC Irvine Medical Center we were honored to have treated him and we'll continue to monitor his progress."

Of course they were in communication with his team of doctors in New York as well this entire time. And he and the secretary are back on their way to New York at this time. And to keep in mind, this UC Irvine Medical Center is the level one trauma center for the region. It was designated as the hospital that would be able to provide the level and type of service that Secret Service required.

So that's why they came here on Tuesday when the former president first started feeling unwell. And the reason he stayed this long is partly because of that IV antibiotics treatment that had to be done through IV that we're told typically could take three to five days. So, at least during that time, he was able to, you know, get up, walk around. He was slowly improving in the last few days, had conversations by phone even with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President George W. Bush along with his own vice president Al Gore, according to our colleague Jamie Gangel -- Jim.

ACOSTA: OK, Natasha Chen, thank you very much. We're glad the former president is doing much better.

And we're following a developing story now out of Haiti where the State Department is monitoring reports that a group of missionaries, 16 Americans and one Canadian, have been kidnapped by gang members.

CNN's Kylie Atwood is at the State Department.

Kylie, this is a very disturbing situation. I understand you have some new information? KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. What I'm being

told by a senior U.S. government official is that the U.S. does not know the current location of these 16 Americans who were kidnapped by a gang in Haiti. Now, what we are being told from the organization that they were there in Haiti, a part of Christian aid ministries which is based in Ohio, is that there are 16 Americans, five of those are children, Jim. And they were abducted when they were headed from an orphanage to another location just north of Port-au-Prince.

Now what is important to notice here is that kidnappings in Haiti have been on the rise for the last few years, and particularly in the last few months -- excuse me. A 300 percent increase in kidnappings since just July alone. That's according to an organization doing some research based in Haiti. And that of course doesn't even include this recent situation where there are 16 Americans and one Canadian who have been kidnapped.

Now, the State Department officially is saying that they are aware of these reports but not publicly saying much. I am told that State Department officials and the FBI are tracking this now around the clock trying to figure out what to do about these kidnapped Americans. And of course we should note the State Department travel advisory tells Americans do not travel to Haiti, it has been that way for over a year now.

They cite the kidnappings that have been happening in the country. Of course this is a devastating situation, however, because these Americans were there doing missionary work, five children part of this group. And the U.S. government is working now around the clock to figure out how they can secure their release -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Kylie Atwood, we know you'll stay on top of it. Thank you very much for that report.

Coming up, why the widow of Kobe Bryant may be forced to take a psychiatric exam as part of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over leaked photos of Kobe's crash. And as the search for Brian Laundrie continues, the memory of Gabby Petito is honored through music. The benefit concert now underway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:23:19]

ACOSTA: A legal battle is brewing nearly two years after Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash. Los Angeles County wants Bryant's widow Vanessa and others involved in a lawsuit over leaked photos of the crash to take psychiatric exams before the case goes to trial. L.A. County argues the exams are necessary to determine whether the emotional distress suffered by Bryant's wife and others were caused by the leak of the photos or the helicopter crash itself.

Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter and seven others were all killed when their helicopter crashed during foggy conditions back in January of 2020. And now to the latest in the Gabby Petito case. Right now a benefit

concert is being held in support of the foundation started in her honor just days after a coroner revealed the 22-year-old died of strangulation. In the meantime, there is still no sign of the only person of interest in the case, her fiance Brian Laundrie.

CNN's Jean Casarez is at the benefit concert in Long Island, New York.

Jean, no one has been arrested in Petito's death yet. This has to be incredibly frustrating for her family members, her friends, people who knew and loved her. What are folks telling you right now?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So emotionally draining I'm sure on everyone, even the people here. You know, this is the first benefit for the Gabby Petito Foundation. And they really want to help missing people, they want to give scholarships, they want to help people that are in relationships that are not the healthiest of relationships. And so many people have come out. And this is her community. This area, this is where she lived, where she's from, where her parents live. They've been in Wyoming all week. But the turnout has really been great.

[16:25:01]

There are people that know the family. There was one young man I spoke with that knew Gabby. He was friends with her and he said that she was just a wonderful person, that she was kind and she was loving and that she always looked for the best in someone. But there are people of all ages here, and they have a passion for this case, they have a passion for justice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REGINA ANNUNZIATA, ATTENDING BENEFIT CONCERT: I didn't know Gabby personally, but she was a young, beautiful girl, she had her whole life ahead of her. And I just wanted to come and support her family, the foundation, and, you know, hope that something positive can come from this.

MAUREEN FONTANETTA, ATTENDING BENEFIT CONCERT: You think of your own children and what happened to Gabby was such a terrible thing. And I think with the parents, and the step parents also, what they're doing with this foundation to help other people, you know, that lost their children or the children are missing or any family member. It's important.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now, as I told you, Gabby's family, her parents have been in Wyoming this week, and her father actually tweeted out, Friday night a tweet. Want to show everybody, it says, "I now know why you came here, #gabbypetito has a beautiful view from now on. Love you and miss you." And that's from the Grand Tetons Jenny Lake.

And as this is going on and as her parents come back from Wyoming, the investigation continues. As you said, no one has been charged in this. There are so many questions and so few answers. And ironically it is four weeks ago, one month ago today that Brian Laundrie's parents went to law enforcement saying our son is missing, and can you please help us find him -- Jim.

ACOSTA: It is such a sad, sad case. And it's good to see that folks are trying to make something good come out of it. It's a worthy cause.

Jean Casarez, thanks for that live report. We appreciate it.

Coming up, a closer look at Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House chief strategist who stoked the flames of an insurrection and is now at the center of a subpoena fight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:31:34]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: As we mentioned at the top of the program, the January 6 committee will move forward to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt for refusing to comply with the subpoena. Bannon was fired as Trump's chief strategist way back in 2017, but he didn't exactly move on.

CNN's Tom Foreman explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He is not ready to speak to Congress about the violence of January 6, but Steve Bannon is talking plenty on his daily podcast whipping his followers into a frenzy.

STEVE BANNON, THE WAR ROOM PODCAST HOST: Elections have consequences. Stolen elections have catastrophic consequences and that's what we're seeing in this country right now. And we need your blood to boil. We need to be in a situation you're not going to back down, OK?

FOREMAN (voice-over): He's done it all along. He appeared to confirm reports the just days before the insurrection he was on the phone with Donald Trump discussing how to "kill the Biden presidency in the crib."

BANNON: Yes, because of his legitimacy. Forty-two percent of the American people, 42 percent of the American people think that Biden did not win the presidency legitimately.

We told you from the very beginning, just expose it, just expose it, never back down, never give up, and this thing will implode.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Promoting the big lie of election fraud fits Bannon's long standing affection for radical right wing theories and his apparent appetite for conflict.

BANNON: If you think they're going to give you your country back without a fight, you're sadly mistaken. FOREMAN (voice-over): Take his fascination with the book "The Fourth Turning," which argues every 80 years or so, cataclysmic upheavals are necessary to political and social realignment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turnings are like the seasons, every turning is necessary.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Bannon was so taken with the idea he made a movie about it savaging liberals, blasting traditional governments, and as one film critic put it, pushing a clear message.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bring on the apocalypse. There's an almost fetishistic desire to see everything blow up. It's almost like he's inviting a cleansing fire to just raise the edifice, raise the institutions. I think it's that dramatic.

BILL MAHER, "REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER" HOST: Steve Bannon is over here. Steve Bannon.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Bannon's turns in the spotlight have not always thrilled his most famous boss, who is reportedly annoyed when Bannon showed up on the cover of Time, which Trump clearly craves. He was pushed out of Trump's immediate orbit, but never far away.

MAHER: I would love to know what advice you would give to Donald Trump if he didn't leave even after he lost, because I saw Hillary Clinton --

BANNON: You're obsessed with this.

MAHER: I am obsessed with this.

BANNON: You're obsessed with it.

MAHER: Wait a second.

BANNON: Why do you think he's not going leave?

MAHER: Wait a second.

BANNON: Just because -- I know he's out time --

MAHER: -- because he's an insane narcissist?

FOREMAN (voice-over): And since the uprising, Bannon has been firmly in the losing candidates corner trotting out guests who insist the riot was the work of Antifa and undercover federal agents.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: Two hundred and twenty-six Antifa members were tasked with making that, what, should have been a peaceful protest a riot.

FOREMAN (voice-over): And insisting prosecutors are dead wrong to say these are Trump's and his people.

BANNON: Either they're totally incompetent or they're lying to you, right? Either totally incompetent or they're lying to you. Either totally competent or they're lying to you, pick them (ph).

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FOREMAN: There are no facts to back that up. But listen to Brandon's podcast, watch his interviews and you will see he has very little use for facts, unless they support this notion that America as we know it must end, so America as he would have it can begin.

[16:35:11]

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

ACOSTA: And he made history with this trip to space, and now William Shatner is firing a rhetorical rocket at British royalty. Why he's at odds with another famous William.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:00]

ACOSTA: It's Captain Kirk versus the future King of England. Actor William Shatner, who just this week became the oldest person to go to space is firing back at Prince William for saying trips to the edge of space shouldn't take priority over fixing the planet.

Shatner telling Entertainment Tonight, "The prince is missing the point. I would tell the prince, and I hope the prince gets the message, this is a baby step into the idea of getting industry up there so that all those polluting industries, especially for example, the industries that make electricity off of Earth." Interesting quote there from William Shatner.

CNN's Kristin Fisher has more on that. And the new age of civilian spaceflight blasting off before our eyes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two small explorers, monkeys April and Baker share the nose cone of a Jupiter rocket that carried them 300 miles an hour from the Earth's surface. They landed safe and sound. Tiny --

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That was 1959. The space frontier has gotten a little bit busier since then. And it's no longer just monkeys heading into a galaxy far, far away, now, almost anyone can snag a seat on a spacecraft. And the richer you are, the better.

Billionaires and celebrities from around the world are claiming their chance to make it to space. So far this year, there have been more than 20 civilians who've taken the journey on six spaceflight missions.

Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic made two flights to the edge of space in a matter of months. In May with two pilots and in July, Branson tagged along on the trip that included three other passengers and two pilots. RICHARD BRANSON, VIRGIN GROUP FOUNDER: If we can do this, just imagine what you can do.

FISHER (voice-over): Less than two weeks after that, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos reached the edge of space, along with three others on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket. And last week, 90-year-old Star Trek actor William Shatner took an 11 minute trip into space on a Blue Origin flight.

Elon Musk SpaceX made history in September when it launched the first all civilian flight into orbit, where four amateur astronauts stayed for three days inside the Dragon spacecraft.

And how about shooting a movie in space? A Russian crew recently did just that. A cosmonaut actress and director are the first to ever film a movie on the International Space Station.

YULIA PERESILD, RUSSIAN ACTRESS (through translator): Everything was new test today. Every 30 seconds brought something entirely new.

FISHER (voice-over): This hot new trend of space tourism may be taking off, but it comes with a hefty price tag. Suborbital trips by one estimate cost between 250 and $500,000 on Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo or Blue Origin's New Shepard, and that's for a 10 to 15 minute ride. But not everyone thinks space tourism is a good idea.

PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: We need some of the world's greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet's, not trying to find the next place to go and live.

FISHER (voice-over): It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for those who fit the bill. But the more popular it gets, the harder it will be to go where no man or woman has gone before.

Kristin Fisher, CNN.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ACOSTA: Legendary crooner, Tony Bennett, has just set a world record, a Guinness World Record for being the oldest person to release an album of new material.

(MUSIC)

ACOSTA: At 95 years young, Bennett has released Love for Sale, his latest collaboration with Lady Gaga.

Bennett has been battling Alzheimer's. And while his family says on any given day he may forget a lot about his past life, the minute the music comes on, he transforms. And it's so great to see him still at it.

Coming up, the country's obsession with conspiracy theories, Lisa Ling on why 50 percent of the country follows at least one. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:48:26]

ACOSTA: Conspiracy theories have always been around. But now thanks to social media, they go viral, and no one is immune.

On a brand new episode of "This is Life," Lisa Ling explores how algorithms designed to make money control the information you receive. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

LISA LING, CNN HOST, "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING" (voice-over): When Tim Kendall was hired by Facebook in 2006 to be the head of monetization, it was his job to determine how the platform could make profits.

(on camera): How do social media companies make money?

TIM KENDALL, FORMER FACEBOOK MONETIZATION DIRECTOR: They sell ads. The way they grow is to extract more attention tomorrow than they did today.

You know, Lisa signs up for the service, and it takes in all these inputs about her and your behavior.

LING (on camera): It's collecting my data.

KENDALL: Collecting your data.

We have this content, and then we have this notion of who influences you. And then we have this all knowing algorithm that knows sort of what your weaknesses are, what your inclinations are, and then the algorithm is given a really clear piece of instruction. Get Lisa to spend more time tomorrow, and then a little bit more tomorrow.

LING (on camera): So Tim, if you and I have different habits and we consume different kinds of news and information, would you receive different information than I would receive based on --

KENDALL: Absolutely.

LING (on camera): -- the data that's been collected?

KENDALL: Yes.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ACOSTA: Lisa Ling joins me now.

Lisa, that looks fascinating. It made it sounds like the whole ballgame, I mean, what he just laid out for you.

The big question is, can these algorithms be built to work differently? And can they be built to stop spreading misinformation? And do these social media companies even want that?

[16:50:08]

LING: Well, Jim, thanks for having me on.

I asked Tim Kendall that very question. If these algorithms can be built to spread misinformation, can it -- can they also be programmed, right, to do the right thing and to prevent it? And he said, absolutely, but there's no financial incentive for social media companies to do that. They make money when people stay on their platforms longer.

And look, as we said in -- as you said in the intro, conspiracy theories have always been around. In our episode, we trace them back to medieval times. The difference though, is that now they spread like wildfire and social media companies, they benefit from that.

And so, because over the last four years or more, mainstream media was completely disavowed by the former president and those who followed him, naturally, people will seek out information elsewhere. So they'll go to sources like YouTube or other social media outlets, they'll plug in some information and their feeds will instantly populate with like information. And so they will just continue to go down that rabbit hole of misinformation, because that's what their feed is populating, is being populated with.

ACOSTA: Right. And as part of this episode, you spoke to one QAnon conspiracy theory believer, I mean, that is -- that has got to be such a fascinating discussion. Take us inside his thinking how does his view about what's happening in our country right now affect things do you think?

LING: Well, we were in touch with him just today. And he said that he believes that people are still as fervent in believing in these conspiracy theories. And let's keep in mind that, look, we've just -- we are still going through a global pandemic, you know, a time of great unpredictability, there's still a lot of confusion, the erosion of trust in government has become quite pervasive in the last few years.

And they actually believe that because so many who they believe speak candidly about things are being deep platformed and now being forced to comply with vaccine orders and mask orders, that this is all part of the big plan. That -- he says that they are sort of laying low at the minute, and they've gone underground. But they still, according to him, still very much believe that these conspiracy theories are in fact the truth.

ACOSTA: And what is the end game, do you think, with spreading all these lies and misinformation throughout society? Who is benefiting from all of this? I have my suspicions as to who that might be, but what have you uncovered?

LING: Well, the people who are ultimately benefiting from all this are the social media companies. I mean, they are -- they made record profits in the last few years, and they are financially benefiting from all this confusion. And again, because mainstream media has been disavowed, people have been pushed to seek out information elsewhere. And we know how quickly things go viral.

So when you ask who is actually benefiting, I don't know those who -- that those who espouse conspiracy theories really take that into consideration, that the people who are ultimately financially benefiting are the social media companies.

ACOSTA: Yes. And the rest of us, we're certainly not benefiting at all as a society.

Lisa Ling, such an important topic to tackle. Thank you so much for your time.

And be sure to tune in, everybody, in all new episode of "This is Life with Lisa Ling," airs tonight at 10:00 only on CNN. Don't miss it.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the island of Bali, tourism, which is the driving economic force there, practically came to a halt. Thousands of people were left out of work and going hungry.

This week, a CNN Hero found a way to help his community by implementing a simple plan, empower people to trade in collected plastic waste for rice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I keep going with this mission because people empowered, because people get excited, because of the community that respond into this initiative.

I see the smile in their face. I see the cleaner environments. And also I see they can provide for their family.

This initiative is so simple, and we can do this in every community. We clean the environments, we feed the people and they're proud doing this.

My goal is to really spread this movement. I want to inspire people, that everything is possible. There is no small dream. If you believe and you do it with a community and you will succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:55:09]

ACOSTA: And for the full story, go to cnnheroes.com

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)