capitol. bannon's attorney at a timed his client would not be cooperating with investigation into what happened that day because of executive privilege. cnn is following the developments. what happens after bannon turns himself in? >> 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. now, when the attorney general announced these charges yesterday that were handed up on friday by a federal grand jury he said, seasons 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 fact of the law and pursues equal justice under the law. this is the first criminal contempt of congress charges we have seen in decades. for steve bannon's cooperation with the committee, this makes him even less likely to cooperate while this plays out, and this could take months or years. >> bannon is not the only one who has been ignoring the select committee's requests. is there a hope that those who have been refusing to appear might suddenly now? >> this indictment sends a message. it is not going to be lost on any of them. one of the people that the committee wants to speak to is trump's former chief of staff, mark meadows. his attorney said 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. 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. they will hear oral arguments on that in november. the house select committee still want to hear if meadows. and they said that his refusal to cooperate will force them to have to consider whether to hold him in contempt as well. >> 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 is covering these developments. what are you hearing? >> the select committee is feeling emboldened and really empowered by this diamond. 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. so, yes, it was very swift, the reaction. i want to read just a little bit of it, from the select committee, the 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 stonewall or 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, in potentially those criminal contempt charges for mark meadows. he might face the same fate as bannon. the committee putting out a statement, both bennie thompson, the chair, and represent liz cheney the vice chair and republican on the committee saying mr. meadows' actions today choosing to defy the law will force the committee to consider pursuing contempts or other proceedings to enforce the subpoena. it is unfortunate that mr. meadows has chose tony join a very small group of witnesses who believe they are above the law and are defying a select committee subpoena outright. 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. >> all right. we'll see. thank you so much. joining me right now to talk more about all of this, cnn presidential historian, tim neftali. 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 were 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? >> 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. 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. >> 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 is an appellate court. by november 30th the appellate court could say produce those documents. or it could be carried all the way up to the supreme court. but it is clear, as you say, trump is not trying to protect the office of the republic, but he is trying to protect the individual, donald trump. >> there is no system under our protection of laws for documents linked to irresponsibility or linked to an insurrection. it would be a detriment to our system if a former president who assisted or in any way inspired an insurrection would have the right forever to protect the criminals that would incriminate him. that wouldn't make any sense in our system. 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. >> but given the strategy the former president, who has been able to delay, delay, delay, if -- 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, you know, going away, or all for naught? particularly if democrats lose more seats? >> 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. >> that takes time. >> i suspect -- 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 it will be a supreme court ruling before the mid terms. >> hmm. all right. tim neftali, thank you so much. >> thank you. 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. ges. ♪ your dell technologies advisor can help you find the right tech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. kevin! kevin? kevin. oh nice. kevin, where are you? kevin?!?!? hey, what's going on? i'm right here! i was busy cashbacking for the holidays with chase freedom unlimited. i'm gonna cashback on a gingerbread house! oooh, it's got little people inside! and a snowglobe. oh, i wished i lived in there. you know i can't believe you lost another kevin. it's a holiday tradition! that it is! earn big time with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours. with clean, fresh ingredients, panera's new chicken sausage and pepperoni flatbread is a mouthwatering explosion of yes. craft? yes! heartiness? yes! living life to the flavor-fullest? heck yes. panera. live your yes. now $1 delivery. pain hits fast. so get relief fast. only tylenol rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast for fast pain relief. and now get relief without a pill with tylenol dissolve packs. relief without the water. ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ 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 is probably going to last a little longer than originally expected. it also follows a report that says inflation is the highest it has been since 1990. joe johns is live for us at the white house. joe, the president held a strategy session with his cabinet yesterday. what came from that? >> you know, 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 saying it would be done pretty quickly. turns out it is not the case. it is going to last at least through the ends of next year, if not the ends of next year. it could be a problem for democrats who have to face republicans in the midterm. republicans are blaming joe biden's spending priorities. now, the administration 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. >> and we are going to -- we'll see ease -- 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. >> 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 preserve to some extent. there is also something else the president has said he has already tried to do, get the containers off of ships and get the products into the stream of commerce more quickly. but it is not clear how long it is going the take for his notice of bill and other priorities to have any effect at all on inflation. >> one of the 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. >> absolutely right. the question has been raised by none other than west virginia senator joe manchin, who is a critical player on capitol hill, being the moderate who says yea or nay to so many of the president's priorities. he express concerned the spending bill might have an inflationary effect on the economy. however, the biden administration pushed back on that saying, no, it too will help decrease inflation. >> joe johns at the white house. thank you so much for that. 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. 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 noddia romero is here. hopefully there is some light somewhere? >> 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. let's break down what this means. the consumer price index is up 6.2% over the last 12 months, 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 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. let's break down where you are seeing it. gas prices across the country are up 50%. take a look. used cars -- something we have been talking about since the covid-19 pandemic. that's up as well. beef prices up 20%. so if you want a nice juicy steak for dinner, it is going to cost you more now than it would have last year. rent is up 3.5%. a lot of people can tell you 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. economists say some of this will go away, that the gas prices we are seeing could fall as quickly as we saw them climb. california, though, today dying its all-time record, $3.66 a gallon for unleaded gas. s that an all-time record. and we are also seeing those numbers reach back to the recession, fred. 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 ten-year low. people are uneasy and now we have the holiday shopping season upon us. >> people are going to have to edit their lists. make some really big, hard choice decisions. they have got to share that with their kids too. >> they do, prices are up, and can you get the items that you want, because of the supply chain issues? >> that's right. and you want to have food on the table and you have got to pay that rent and everything else. there is a lot at stake. thanks so much. good to see you. medicare premiums are about to take a jump for millions of americans as well. the federal government announcing a 14.5% 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 is 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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>> number 14. >> reporter: the army veteran knows time is of the essence. >> the buckeye plenty told me i had to wait three hours because they have a 12 hour report time before you can report a person missing. i got worried. i asked the police department to go out and search the area. the officer told me they were going send a vehicle out there a helicopter out to search for him. i was relieved. and then he called back a hour later saying 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, they are not going to look for my son, i am going to do it myself. >> reporter: before he arrived police decided to search on foot and with helicopters. this is the last place your son was seen. the last place. >> what do you think happened? >> i think a lot happened here. i am suspicious. >> reporter: but he doesn't know what. a month in there is a break in the case and police called robinson. >> i was afraid it was going to be bad news. he said, no, we just found his vehicle. >> some ranchers found it. then at that point we conducted our investigation, and additional searches. >> reporter: what was the condition of the car? if it rolled over it sounds like it was bad. >> yeah, the car was on its side. the sun roof was kicked out, he might have exited through the sun roof. >> reporter: his wrecked car in a ravine, both air bags decloudy. daniel's cell phone, 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. >> true. >> reporter: does that feel like what happened here? >> yes, yeah. it is a very challenging case. >> reporter: no matter how much the family asks for this to be a criminal investigation, can you make that happen. >> we can't make up evidence. absolutely suspicious circumstances related to the case. >> reporter: frustrated and heart broken, robinson hired a private investigator. where are we going. >> down here is where the vehicle was recovered from. >> reporter: is that the glass from the car? >> yes. >> reporter: when you looked at this accident, what are the discrepancies that you noticed right away? >> i believe it was in more than one collision. >> reporter: what does the black box on the cartel you? >> 11 additional miles were driven an the original crash. >> reporter: what does that tell you. >> they ended up speaking to an expert at jeep. the expert says sometimes it happens and it is not unusual. >> reporter: but the data also shows someone tried to start the car 46 times after the crash. >> that's something we can't explain. >> reporter: it begs the question -- again, the family is saying it is criminal. it has to be, or he's in danger. do something. >> right. no. i agree. but we need information. we need evidence. >> reporter: he has a lot of theories. his words, i think, were, i don't think they cared. what do you say to that? >> couldn't be furthest from the truth. >> reporter: losing hope, robinson began pleading for media coverage. >> it literally took three months. >> reporter: while robinson searched for his son, the country became riveted by media coverage of another missing person's case, the case of gabby petito. >> do they think we love our children less or something or they are less important? >> reporter: in 2020, more than 543,000 missing persons records were filed. more than 480,000 were cleared. and 40% the missing are people of color. in there are a lot of gabby petitos and natalie holloway's in the black and brown community. >> reporter: that's why this police officer cofounded black and missing, inc., and says too often their cases go untold. eventually, local stations did stories and citizens began help search. did you know daniel? >> no, i just wanted to help. >> reporter: helping out a stranger? >> yeah. >> reporter: on a saturday? >> yeah. >> why? >> you know, i can't imagine what that paine salesman going through. >> reporter: as the seven for daniel goes into his fifth month another family is in the midst of a terrible mystery for a fifth year. the family of nikki and ariana fitz. >> very energetic and happy. >> reporter: the 2-year-old went missing under suspicious circumstances in the san francisco bay area in 2016. her mother, nikki fitz, was found in a shallow grave in san francisco's mclaren park but ariana was gone. >> it, one, breaks my heart that ariana is not with her mom and ariana is not with her family. but it also breaks my heart even more, is that i know that nikki wants nothing more than ariana to be with us, to be home. >> reporter: tessa fitz says she is convinced her niece, ariana, was taken by people close to ariana'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. >> she's 8 now. i don't want to see this in a picture. i want the see her fis in person. >> reporter: shoulde hers be a household name? absolutely. why is she any different than casey anthony? i can tell you, the color of her skin in the missing. >> reporter: she formed black and missing, inc.. do you think it has anything to do with color? >> i try not to put myself in the mindset of the race issue with the media coverage. all i want is for there could be media coverage for her. i think she deserves that. >> reporter: the fitzs and the robinsons, want only one thinking, want hugging their missing children once again. do you believe ariana is still alive? >> i do believe she is still alive. it would mean everything to me to know where she is and to finds her. i wait for that day every day. i believe that day will come. >> reporter: how long will you search. >> until i find my son. i have to, i mean, he's my responsibility. >> reporter: sara sidner, cnn, buckeye, arizona. >> 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. 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. 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>> unless i can find an acceptable accommodation for them, then they want work with the residents. >> reporter: 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? >> it is higher fees for insurance. and so that makes our burden harder to provide cares for our residents. >> reporter: businesses exclusively fund state unemployment through a payroll tax. with this new state law, they will pay even more for fired employees. >> 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. >> reporter: the family-owned farm manufacturing company, sukup has 700 employees. about 50% are vaccinated, in line with local county rates, the company said, navigating a federal rule and state law as labor shortages and now this. what does that feel like? >> oh, it's just a one, two, three punch on things. >> reporter: board chairman charles sukoup says he wishes vaccine mandates were left to the companies themselves. >> 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. >> vanessa, thanks so much. still ahead, how the empire state building is returning to life after taking a hit during the pandemic. you're an owner with access to financial advice, tools and a personalized plan that helps you build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. imagine having someone else do your books for you. as your quickbooks live bookkeeper, i'll categorize expenses, reconcile accounts, and close your books. cool. - yep. know where your business stands. intuit quickbooks live bookkeeping. to make progress, we must keep taking steps forward. we believe the future of energy is lower carbon. and to get there, the world needs to reduce global emissions. at chevron, we're taking action. tying our executives' pay to lowering the carbon emissions intensity of our operations. it's tempting to see how far we've come. but it's only human... to know how far we have to go. every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just $30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities. it's an iconic comeback fitting for the big apple. the empire state building is returning to life after the pandemic. here's richard quest. >> reporter: 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 under way. 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. >> 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% of the turnstile swipes into our buildings that we had in the year earlier period in 2019. >> reporter: were you surprised that more people didn't just hand back and finish it? go out of business? >> 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. >> reporter: for nine decades, the building has stood in the center of manhattan, a defining feature of new york's burgeoning skyline. >> it's bulletproof. >> reporter: $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. >> the tourists are coming back, yes. >> reporter: are you ready for the bonanza that is about to arrive once the u.s. opens up to europe and those transiting through europe? >> i'll tell you, richard, we are. and i'll tell you something else -- what's 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 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. >> welcome to the world's most famous building -- >> reporter: this is 103. >> that's right. >> reporter: all right. hold on to your hat. we can see the edge -- >> right. >> reporter: we can see the rock. and we can see the summit. >> right. >> reporter: and we're -- the other side is -- you're all sharing a view of each other. >> 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 5 and 6-year-olds to 90-year-olds. and how does it happen? >> reporter: 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. >> 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. >> reporter: it's 50 years since the empire state 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. >> 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. you are live in the "cnn newsroom." i'm jim acosta in washington. we begin with major breaking news as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. world leaders at the u.n. climate summit have just reached an agreement. this comes after a marathon of intense negotiations lasting after the summit ended. i want to go straight to cnn's phil black in scotland to bring us up to speed on just about what we know right now about this agreement. phil, this sounds like a major development. what can you tell us? >> reporter: jim, it was a hard-fought fiercely