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Federal Grand Jury Indicts Trump Adviser Steve Bannon For Contempt Of Congress; House Select Committee Investigating January 6th Insurrection Considering Holding Former Trump Chief Of Staff Mark Meadows In Contempt Of Congress; Supreme Court May Hear Case Concerning Former President Trump's Assertion Of Executive Privilege Over Documents Concerning January 6th Insurrection; Prices Continue To Rise Across U.S. Economy; Ten-Year-Old Girl with Autism Commits Suicide in Utah After Experiencing Bullying. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired November 13, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: And NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy tells CNN the allegations are entirely meritless and that the NFL will vigorously defend itself, Fred, against these claims.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Coy Wire, thank you so much for that.

Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin this hour with the indictment of a key Trump ally. Steve Bannon is expected to turn himself in on Monday and appear in face charges of criminal contempt of Congress. Bannon, a former White House adviser, has repeatedly refused to produce documents or appear for a deposition before the House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Bannon's attorney has stated his client would not be cooperating with investigation into what happened that day because of executive privilege.

CNN's Kara Scannell is following these developments for us. So Kara, what happens after Bannon turns himself in?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Fred, on Monday, Bannon will appear in court. He will be seen before the judge on these two charges of contempt of Congress. One of those charges relates to Bannon's refusal to appear for testimony. The other charge relates to his refusal to comply with a subpoena for documents and records. Bannon will face, if he is found guilty, a minimum of 30 days in jail and a maximum of 12 months.

When the attorney general announced these charges yesterday that were handed up on Friday by a federal grand jury, he said, "Since my first day in office I promised Justice Department employees that together we would show the American people by word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law, and pursues equal justice under the law."

So this is the first criminal contempt of Congress charges we have seen in decades. But as for Steve Bannon and his cooperation with the committee, this will not likely move the ball. In fact, it makes it even less likely that he will cooperate while this plays out, which could take months or years, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So Bannon is not the only one that has been ignoring the congressional committee's requests. So is there an expectation that those who have been refusing to appear might suddenly now?

SCANNELL: This indictment certainly sends a message, and it is something that will not be lost on any of them. One of the people that the committee really wants to speak to is Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows. His attorney has said that Meadows will not cooperate with this investigation because of questions around executive privilege.

He says that is something that should be played out in the courts. And as we have been reporting all week, that has been a legal dispute that Trump has, and a federal appeals court is now taking that up and will hear oral arguments on that in November.

But the committee, the House select committee, they still want to hear from Meadows. And they said that his refusal to cooperate will force them to have to consider whether to hold him in contempt as well. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Kara Scannell, thank you so much.

Let's go now to Capitol Hill for reaction on the Bannon indictment and how it may impact other Trump allies subpoenaed in this investigation. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is covering these developments for us. So Suzanne, what are you hearing?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the select committee is feeling emboldened and really empowered by this indictment. They have interviewed more than 150 witnesses who have cooperated, given them key testimony, but they say that those who are not cooperating are key to the investigation, and they feel that it sends a very clear message and a potential showdown, if you will, for witnesses who are not cooperating.

They also expressed a great deal of relief that they are working now with a Justice Department that they feel is following the rule of law. And so, yes, it was very swift, the reaction. I want to read just a little bit from the select committee, this statement to the Bannon indictment, first saying that "Steve Bannon's indictment should send a clear message to anyone who thinks they can ignore the select committee or try to stonewall our investigation. No one is above the law. We will not hesitate to use the tools at our disposal to get the information we need."

And, Fred, of course, one of those people that was mentioned was the former chief of staff, Mark Meadows. It was Friday. He was supposed to give a deposition at 10:00 a.m., also provide some essential documents. He was essentially a no-show here. And the chair of the select committee, Bennie Thompson, preemptively made a move here to actually move forward and potentially those criminal contempt charges for Mark Meadows. So he might face the same fate as Bannon.

The committee putting out a statement, both Bennie Thompson, the chair, and Representative Liz Cheney, the vice chair and Republican on the committee, saying that "Mr. Meadows's actions today choosing to defy the law will force the Select Committee to consider pursuing contempt or other proceedings to enforce the subpoena.

[14:05:00]

It's unfortunate that Mr. Meadows has chosen to join a very small group of witnesses who believe they are above the law and are defying a Select Committee subpoena outright."

And Fred, as you know, while these criminal cases could take years in the case of Bannon, they are hoping at least this is some incentive, some motivation for Mark Meadows to rethink his position. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll see. Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much.

Joining me right now to talk more about all of this, CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali. Good to see you, Tim. So we have seen slow rolling in the Trump administration, we have seen stonewalling. It seemed like it was going that way in terms of those who are being dualled testify for this select committee. But now with this indictment, do you see that those who have been resistant will now testify willingly?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I don't -- I don't know how those who have been resistant will respond. But I want to underscore the importance of this development. The indictment of Steve Bannon is very important. So, too, is the case that is wending its way up to the Supreme Court regarding a former president's right to succeed in asserting executive privilege. These two cases are going to help define the power of the presidency.

Right now, the whole concept of executive privilege is so poorly defined in our constitutional system that presidents can assert it in order to maintain cover-ups. Richard Nixon lost his case as a former president to assert executive privilege in 1977. The court at that time, the Supreme Court, said that a former president -- that the privilege of a president continues after the end of the presidency.

But it also made clear that there is a public interest in defending, first, the republic, that this executive privilege is not to protect the individual president, the person in the office, but to protect the office and the republic.

And so in 1977, the Supreme Court said the current president, Jimmy Carter, and his predecessor, Gerald Ford, do not agree with former President Nixon that this particular case involves executive privilege. And so the court said, we are defending executive privilege only for the republic.

And in this case a former president's assertion is not in the interest of the republic. We could see the same happen again. It is necessary for the court to rule. So I think Trump is asserting a privilege, and his allies are asserting a privilege that will fail constitutionally.

WHITFIELD: You do. Except that right now, at least as it pertains to those documents that you made reference to, the National Archives documents, the president -- former president was exerting executive privilege. Now it's an appellate court.

It could potential go to the Supreme Court if they see it that way, or by November 30th, potential, the appellate court could say no, produce those documents. But it is clear in your view, if I'm understanding your correctly, that Trump is not trying to protect the office of the republic, but he is trying to protect the individual of Donald Trump.

NAFTALI: There is no system under our protection of laws for documents linked to responsibility or assistance to an insurrection. It would be a nonsense in our system if a former president who committed, assisted, or in any way inspired an insurrection would have the right forever to protect the materials that would incriminate him. That wouldn't make any sense in our system.

But let me make one thing clear. I am basing this on the way in which our legal system dealt with the criminal activity and the abuse of power of Richard Nixon. I'm assuming that we still have the same system of laws and the same constitutional mindset today. If we do, Trump will lose this case. And it will be a very healthy thing for the republic that he does.

WHITFIELD: But given the strategy the former president, who has been able to delay, delay, delay, if these continuous delays are also met with, perhaps, a loss of Democratic seats in the House, do you see the effort of this January 6th Committee going away, or all for naught, particularly if Democrats lose more seats?

NAFTALI: The president -- former president Trump has right to assert this privilege. The question now is whether the courts can resolve his justification for this privilege. I suspect the courts --

[14:10:05]

WHITFIELD: But that takes time.

NAFTALI: -- before. I can see the courts, they are going to move very fast through the appeals court. I see the Supreme Court making the same calculation it made in 1974, that this is a matter of national importance and that they should move fast. I suspect there will be a Supreme Court ruling before the midterms.

WHITFIELD: All right, Tim Naftali, thank you so much.

NAFTALI: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, straight ahead, prices haven't been this bad in 30 years, and the Biden administration is now vowing to reverse the rising inflation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right, there has been a shift in tone from the White House this week. The Biden administration is now acknowledging the rise in inflation and that it's probably going to last a little longer than originally expected.

[14:15:00]

It also follows a report that says inflation is the highest it has been since 1990. CNN's Joe Johns is live for us at the White House. So Joe, the president held a strategy session with his cabinet yesterday. And what came from that?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: You know what, Fred, they have been having meeting after meeting about this. The president's words essentially reflecting concern not just here at the White House, but up on Capitol Hill among Democrats about rising prices with no end in sight.

Earlier this year, they were using the term transitory to describe this thing and be done pretty quickly. It turns out not to be the case. More likely it's going to end sometime in the middle of next year, if not the ends of next year, creating a big political problem for the Democrats who have to face Republicans in the midterm.

Republicans, for their part, are blaming Joe Biden's spending priorities. So now what the administration is doing is making the case that the president's priorities, including the big infrastructure bill he's expected to sign on Monday, are essentially going to ease inflation instead of add to it. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we are going to -- we'll see ease, and I say, yes, ease, lower inflationary pressures on our economy. And we will be carrying this out what I call blue collar blueprint in America, one that builds the economy from the bottom up and middle out, and one not from the top down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: There is only so much the White House can do in the short-term to try to ease inflationary pressures. On gas prices, they can release the Strategic Oil Reserve to some extent. There is also something the president has already said he is trying to do, and that is get containers off of ships and get the products into the stream of commerce a lot more quickly.

But the other problem, of course, is in the long term, it's just not clear how long it's going the take for the president's infrastructure bill and his other priorities to have any effect at all on inflation. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Right. So one of those other priorities for this president is his $1.7 trillion social safety net. One has to wonder whether all of this, with rising inflation, will in any way impact the success or failure of it. JOHNS: That's absolutely right. And that question has been raised by

none other than West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who is a critical player up on Capitol Hill, being the moderate who says yea or nay to so many of the president's priorities.

He has expressed concern that a spending bill might have an inflationary effect on the economy. However, the administration has also pushed back on that, saying, no, it too will help decrease inflation.

WHITFIELD: All right, we shall see. Joe Johns at the White House, thank you so much for that.

So, of course, families all over America are feeling the squeeze. The USDA says the monthly cost of groceries for a family of four is $175 more than a year ago. And it doesn't stop there. Filling up the car is the most expensive it has been in seven years, and millions of families could see their heating bills double this winter. All of this is bad news. But CNN's Nadia Romero is here. Hopefully there is some light somewhere?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You heard Joe Johns talking about the president, the White House, putting together a plan. In the meantime, you and I are feeling it when we go the grocery store, when we go to the gas station to fill up.

So let's break down what this means. The Consumer Price Index is up 6.2 percent over the last 12 months, so year to date. The city of Atlanta is leading the nation for its highest inflation rate. And the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta says it's really connected to housing. Because there is a lack of supply for places for people to rent and buy, you have more people moving into the city, that is causing big problems here. And that's leading to the high inflation here in the city of Atlanta.

But we are talking about inflation all across the country. So let's break down where you are seeing it. Gas prices across the country are up 50 percent. Take a look. Used cars, that's something we have been talking about since the COVID-19 pandemic, that's up as well. Beef prices up 20 percent.

So if you want a nice juicy steak for dinner, it's going to cost you more now than it would have last year. Rent is up 3.5 percent. A lot of people can tell you that they are experiencing that. Realtors talk a lot about the crazy housing markets we saw over the summer still happening in a lot of places, still very hard to find a place to live.

OK, so economists say that some of this will go away, that those gas prices that we are seeing that are so sky high could fall as quickly as we saw them climb. California, though, today tying its all-time record, $3.66 a gallon for unleaded gas. That is an all-time record.

[14:20:00]

And we are also seeing those numbers reach back to the recession, Fred. So remember right after the recession, consumer confidence was pretty low. And so we are now seeing new data coming out from the University of Michigan that shows consumer confidence is at a 10-year low. People are uneasy, and now we have the holiday shopping season upon us.

WHITFIELD: And people are going to have to edit their lists, and make some really big, hard choice decisions. And they have got to share that with their kids, too.

ROMERO: They do, because prices are up, and can you get the items that you want because of the supply chain issues?

WHITFIELD: That's right. And then you want to have food on the table.

ROMERO: All of the above.

WHITFIELD: And you have to pay that rent, and everything else. So there is a lot at stake. Nadia Romero, thanks so much. Good to see you.

Medicare premiums are about to take a big jump for millions of Americans as well. The federal government announcing a 14.5 percent increase last night. It's blaming the pandemic for the price hike, but says uncertainty over the cost of a controversial new Alzheimer's drug is also playing a role. For many recipients it's the biggest increase in 30 years.

Still ahead, the families of missing black Americans say they are not getting the help they deserve. CNN follows two families and their search for answers.

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[14:25:41]

WHITFIELD: Following the worldwide attention paid to the case of Gabby Petito, a young white woman who went missing, some black and brown families across America have been quite frustrated with how the cases of their missing loved ones have been handled. CNN's Sara Sidner talked to some who are even taking matters into their own hands.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At the break of dawn, in the middle of the Arizona desert, a crowd of strangers meet for one purpose.

DAVID ROBINSON, FATHER OF DANIEL ROBINSON: You guys coming out here to help me out, I really appreciate that from the bottom of my heart.

SIDNER: To help another stranger, a father, desperately searching for his 24-year-old son, Daniel Robinson.

ROBINSON: Since he was a child, he liked to challenge everything.

SIDNER: He was born with a challenge. ROBINSON: I introduced him to prosthetics because his one hand. We

quickly learned that he let nothing stop him. He decided to be a geologist once he got into freshman year in college. He excelled. He graduated with honors.

SIDNER: Daniel's first job, checking the viability of water wells in the Arizona desert.

ROBINSON: He loves this area, of course, because of the rock formations. If you're a geologist, this is the best place to be.

SIDNER: But the terrain became a hellscape for his dad when Daniel went missing back in June from his job site.

SIDNER: And what number search is this?

ROBINSON: This is search number 14.

SIDNER: Navigating the dangers in the desert, the Army veteran knows firsthand time is of the essence.

ROBINSON: When I called the Buckeye police department, they told me that I had to wait actually three hours because they have a 12 hour report time when you can say a person missing. Then I called them back and put in a missing person report. I got very worried.

That's when I got very worried. I asked the Buckeye police department to go out and search that area. They also told me that were going send a vehicle out there, a helicopter out to search for him. I was relieved. And then he called back an hour later saying no, it was a no-go.

I'm his dad, and he's my son. I lost all sense of reality at that moment. I said, you know what, they are not going to look for my son, I am going go ahead to do it myself.

SIDNER: Before he arrived, police did decide to search on foot and with helicopters.

This is the last place your son was seen.

ROBINSON: The last place.

SIDNER: What do you think happened, David?

ROBINSON: I think a lot happened here. I am very suspicious.

SIDNER: But he doesn't know what. A month in there is a break in the case and police call Robinson.

ROBINSON: I got afraid, actually, that it was going to be some bad news. He said, no, we just found his vehicle.

CHIEF LARRY HALL, BUCKEYE, ARIZONA POLICE DEPARTMENT: Some ranchers found it. And then at that point we conducted our investigation and additional searches. SIDNER: What was the condition of the car? If it had rolled over, it

sounds like it was pretty bad.

HALL: Yes, the car was on its side. The sunroof was kicked out at that point, so he might have exited through the sunroof.

SIDNER: His wrecked car in a ravine, both air bags deployed. Daniel's cellphone, clothes he was wearing that day, and a case of water all found at the crash site, but not Daniel.

People don't just disappear into thin air.

HALL: True.

SIDNER: Does that sort of feel like what's happened here?

HALL: Yes, yes. It is a very, very challenging case.

SIDNER: No matter how much the family asks for this to be a criminal investigation, can you make that happen?

HALL: We can't make up evidence. Absolutely suspicious circumstances related to the case.

SIDNER: Frustrated and heartbroken, Robinson hired a private investigator.

Where are we going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down here is where the vehicle was recovered from.

SIDNER: Is that the glass from the car?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

SIDNER: When you looked at this accident, what are the discrepancies that you noticed right away?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe it was in more than one collision.

SIDNER: What does the data from the black box of the car tell you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That there was 11 additional miles on the vehicle since the airbags came out.

SIDNER: What does that tell you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That tells me it was crashed somewhere else.

SIDNER: Does that sound suspicious? What explains that?

HALL: We had the national expert that came in and provided us his findings. And then they ended up speaking to an expert at Jeep. And the expert says yes, sometimes that happens, and it's not unusual.

SIDNER: But the data also shows someone tried to start the car 46 times after the crash.

HALL: That's something we can't explain.

SIDNER: It begs the question, again, the family is saying it is criminal. It has to be, or he's in danger. Do something.

[14:30:04]

HALL: Right. Right. No, I agree. But we need information. We need evidence.

SIDNER: He has got a lot of theories. His words, I think, were, I don't think they cared. What do you say to that?

HALL: Couldn't be furthest from the truth.

SIDNER: Losing hope, Robinson began pleading for media coverage.

ROBINSON: It literally took three months.

SIDNER: While Robinson searched for his son, the country became riveted by media coverage of another missing person's case, the case of Gabby Petito.

ROBINSON: Do they think we love our children less or something, or they are less important?

SIDNER: In 2020, more than 543,000 missing persons records were filed, more than 480,000 were cleared, and 40 percent the missing are people of color.

DERRICA WILSON, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, BLACK AND MISSING FOUNDATION: There are a lot of Gabby Petitos and Natalee Holloways in the black and brown community.

SIDNER: That's why former police officer Derrica Wilson cofounded Black and Missing, Inc., and says too often their cases go untold. Eventually, local stations did stories and citizens began helping search.

Did you know Daniel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I just wanted to help.

SIDNER: You're just helping out a stranger on a Saturday?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.

SIDNER: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't imagine what that man is going through.

SIDNER: As the search for Daniel goes into its fifth month, another family is in the midst of a terrible mystery for a fifth year, the family of Nikki and Arianna Fitts.

CONTESSA FITTS, AUNT OF ARIANNA FITTS: Arianna is very energetic, very happy.

SIDNER: Two-year-old Arianna went missing under the most suspicious of circumstances in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2016. Her mother, Nikki Fitts, was found in a shallow grave in San Francisco's McLaren Park, but Arianna was gone.

FITTS: It, one, breaks my heart that Arianna is not with her mom, and Arianna is not with her family. But it also breaks my heart even more, is that I know that Nikki wants nothing more than Arianna to be with us, to be home.

SIDNER: Tessa Fitts says she is convinced her niece, Arianna, was taken by people close to Arianna's mother. San Francisco police searched for weeks. They had some leads, but no arrests. A digitally altered photo was made of what she may look like now.

FITTS: She's eight now. I don't want to see this in a picture. I want the see her face in person.

SIDNER: Should Arianna Fitts be a household name like JonBenet Ramsey?

WILSON: Absolutely. Why is her case any different from Caylee Anthony? I can tell you. The color of her skin in the only difference.

SIDNER: For five desperate years the family has continued searching using flyers, social media, and black and missing ink.

Do you think it has anything to do with color?

FITTS: I try not to put myself in the mindset of the race issue with the media coverage. All I want is for there to be the media coverage for her. I think she deserves that.

SIDNER: The Fitts and the Robinsons, want only one thing, hugging their missing children once again.

Do you think that Arianna is still alive?

FITTS: I do believe that Arianna is still alive. And it would mean everything to me to know where she is and to find her. I wait for that day every single day. I believe that day will come.

SIDNER: How long will you search?

ROBINSON: Until I find my son. I have to. He's my responsibility.

SIDNER: Sara Sidner, CNN, Buckeye, Arizona.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: And very separately, the mother of a 14-year-old girl who went missing for almost a month has been charged with two counts of second-degree child endangerment. The charges against the mom also include allegations of physical abuse and neglect.

The girl disappeared last month, and there was a massive search for her and a $20,000 reward. She was found safe in New York City this week, but wasn't returned to her mother. Prosecutors say the girl ran away from home.

All right, still ahead, a school district in Utah is under intense scrutiny again after a 10-year-old girl with autism that was allegedly being bullied by classmates dies of suicide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:39:05]

WHITFIELD: All right, this absolutely heartbreaking story out of Utah. Isabella Tichenor, Izzy to her friends and family, a 10-year-old black and autistic student dyed by suicide after allegedly being bullied by classmates, and her family's complaints went ignored. This comes after a scathing DOJ, Department of Justice report on that school district.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is live for us with more on this. Polo?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, Izzy Tichenor, 10 years old, she was laid to rest today as her parents were demanding answers from their daughter's school district just north of Salt Lake City.

You see, as you mentioned, she took her own life about a week ago after her parents actually turned to the Davis school district with concerned that their daughter was not only being repeatedly bullied but she was being called the "n-word" while at school. And according to their attorney, their concerns were going unheard from school officials and teachers.

[14:40:00]

We did turn to that school district. They said because of privacy reasons they cannot comment specifically, but they did respond with statements that they are committed to keeping this from happening again. A specific part of that statement reading "As part of this commitment, we will be bringing in an independent investigation to look further into this and review our handling of critical issues, such as bullying, to provide a safe and welcome environment for all students."

The thing is the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice actually found that that's exactly what needed to happen at that school, in that district, rather, when they released a scathing report back in September. They found widespread issues at that school district. I'm going to read that report here.

They actually found that the Davis school district failed to address not just student on student, but also staff on student race-based harassment. Specifically, not only black students, but also Asian- American students were the ones who were deeply affected by this over years.

And at the time when that report was issued, Fred, the school district actually admitted that more needed to be done, that changes needed to happen. And that brings us now to this point where, sadly, this little girl who was a student at that school district took her own life after her parents say that she was repeatedly bullied.

The Department of Justice, again, they issued this report, the revisiting this just recently, and they said that they are certainly deeply saddened by it and they are committed to making sure that those changes actually take effect. But for this family, it's too late.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's hard to grapple with. Just 10 years old. Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: An Iraq war veteran turns his trauma into song. The musician is helping other veterans do the same in today's "The Human Factor".

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JASON MOON, FOUNDER, WARRIOR SONGS: When I close my eyes, I hear a voice from deep inside.

I was in Iraq for 11 months. It was when I got home and tried to reintegrate that I started to notice that I wasn't who I was. I couldn't be in crowds. I was always watching every door. I felt weak, ashamed. And I hadn't been able to write songs for almost five years because of all the pain. And I started trying to write songs about it.

The child inside me, long dead and gone --

That's when I start getting emails from other veterans going, dude, this is exactly how I feel. That's when my healing really begins.

Warrior Songs is a non-profit that uses the creative arts to help bring healing to veterans. We take a songwriter and we put them with a veteran. They take the trauma and they transform it into a song. What happens with the veteran is nothing short of a transformation because they've had a trauma that they couldn't express.

MOON: War 76 provides support whatever the risk.

We have worked with 250 veterans in this songwriting and we've given service to about 50,000 veterans through the free CDs we give away. They spoke their truth. It lives on beyond them, and it is actually getting into the darkest places.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:48]

WHITFIELD: A new mandate in Iowa puts businesses in the middle of conflicting federal and state vaccination mandates. The governor who previously criticized unemployment benefits in the pandemic now grants them to fired unvaccinated workers. As CNN Vanessa Yurkevich reports, businesses are growing increasingly weary since they are the ones footing the bill. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: In rural Iowa, Spurgeon Manor is the only he elder care facility in Dallas Center. Its existence and the staff that work here are critical for the town's aging population.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I loved being here. You know that.

YURKEVICH: But now, two new rules, one federal and one state, are making this vital job more complicated.

MAUREEN CAHILL, ADMINISTRATOR, SPURGEON MANOR: We really are caught in the middle.

YURKEVICH: At health care facilities like this one, new federal guidelines require all staff to be fully vaccinated by January 4th, except for those with approved medical or religious exemptions.

CAHILL: We are 83 percent vaccinated. But there is still 18 of my employees that aren't vaccinated, and I cannot afford to lose one.

YURKEVICH: If they don't get vaccinated by the deadline, are they fired?

CAHILL: Unless I can find an acceptable accommodation for them, then they can't work with the residents.

YURKEVICH: And late last month, Governor Kim Reynolds, who supported ending pandemic unemployment benefits early, signed a new law granting benefits to fired employees who choose not to get vaccinated. Normally, fired employees are not eligible.

What is the burden that it places on you?

CAHILL: It's higher fees for insurance. And so that makes our burden harder to provide cares for our residents.

YURKEVICH: Businesses exclusively fund state unemployment through a payroll tax. With this new state law, they will pay even more for fired employees.

DENISE HILL, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EMPLOYMENT LAW, DRAKE UNIVERSITY: And they don't have a choice in the matter. The state has answered a mandate with another mandate that is only putting business owners in between.

YURKEVICH: The family-owned farm manufacturing company, Sukup, has 700 employees.

[14:50:00]

About 50 percent are vaccinated, in line with local county rates, the company said, navigating a federal rule and state law as one more hurdle in a challenging year.

Supply chain issue, labor shortages, and now this. What does that feel like?

CHARLES SUKUP, BOARD CHAIRMAN, SUKUP: Oh, it's just a one, two, three punch on things.

YURKEVICH: Board Chairman Charles Sukup says he wishes vaccine mandates were left to the companies themselves.

SUKUP: Every business is being put between a rock and a hard place, between a mandate that's one size fits all, and then you have state rules and regulations that are trying to protect individual rights, as well, and businesses in general are getting caught in the squeeze.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks so much.

Still ahead, how the Empire State Building is returning to life after taking a hit during the pandemic.

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WHITFIELD: All right, it's an iconic comeback truly fitting for the big apple. The Empire State Building is returning to life after the pandemic. Here's CNN's Richard Quest.

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RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: The highest structure raised by the hand of man. So said "The New York Times" when the Empire State Building opened in 1931. It opened as the depression got underway. The building had the nickname of the "empty state building." It was only a quarter full. That nickname, the empty state building, could have been used again last year when the pandemic hit.

TONY MALKIN, CEO, EMPIRE STATE REALITY TRUST: Well, there was a ban on all nonessential workers from the entrance into office buildings. By the middle of March of 2020 to about 3.5 percent of the turnstile swipes into our buildings that we had in the year earlier period in 2019.

QUEST: Were you surprised that more people didn't just hand back and finish it? Go out of business?

MALKIN: Let's put it this way. there was a lot of surprise in march, April, May of 2020. It was what we like to call the land of pivot and flex. Constant fluidity in the situation.

QUEST: For nine decades, the building has stood in the center of Manhattan, a defining feature of New York's burgeoning skyline.

MALKIN: It's bulletproof.

QUEST: And $165 million renovation had just been completed when COVID arrived, and tourism revenues went to zero. But the owners held their nerve, and in the spirit that this building was first conceived, they planned for the future.

Now to this building itself, magnificent. The tourists are back.

MALKIN: The tourists are coming back, yes.

QUEST: Are you ready for the bonanza that is about to arrive once the U.S. opens up to Europe and those transiting through Europe?

MALKIN: I'll tell you, Richard, we are. And I'll tell you something else. What's really changed a lot is when we shut down, and we did shut down from March through July here at the Empire State Building, we rethought first time ever -- we'd already redeveloped $165 million redevelopment of the observatory attraction, but for the first time ever we went to absolute zero, and we rebuilt our business in a different way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to the world's most famous building.

QUEST: This is 103.

MALKIN: That's right.

QUEST: All right, hold on to your hat. We can see the edge.

MALKIN: Right.

QUEST: We can see the rock. And we can see the summit.

MALKIN: Right.

QUEST: And there on the other side is --

MALKIN: Down that way.

QUEST: One World Trade. You're all sharing a view of each other.

MALKIN: Well, actually, no. We are at the center of it all. We are the center of New York City. There's an international recognition, it lives in the hearts and minds of everyone from five and six-year-olds to 90-year-olds. And how does it happen?

QUEST: The Empire State Building has appeared in many movies and TV shows. And when it comes to the holidays, it's a colorful part of the city's culture.

MALKIN: It speaks to the concepts of hopes and dreams. Everybody has hopes and dreams. And this doesn't belong to one culture. It was built by many cultures, and it caught the fancy and the fantasy moment of the world.

QUEST: It's 50 years since the Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world, but that doesn't matter because today there are bigger, smarter, posher, taller buildings, but none quite like this.

Richard Quest, CNN, at the Empire State Building in New York.

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WHITFIELD: Oh, I concur, still hands down the best views from the Empire State Building.

All right, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Jim Acosta.