Power to Launch Nuclear War Inside Briefcase
HARLOW: It is an ordinary looking briefcase with the power to launch nuclear war. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump each questioning whether the other should have access to the so-called nuclear Football, if you will. Our Brian Todd looks at what is inside the briefcase and the sobering task of carrying the Football.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just a few feet from the president, no matter where the commander-in-chief happens to be, a military aide carries a briefcase. It is nicknamed the Football. The power this satchel can unleash is legendary.</s>KINGSTON REIF, ARMS CONTROL ASSOCIATION: Immense unprecedented power. The United States currently right now deploys 900 nuclear warheads that are on the order of 10 to 20 times more powerful than the weapons that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.</s>TODD: Five military aides, one from each of the armed forces, work in a rotation carrying the Football. For three years, as a young Marine major, Pete Metzger carried the nuclear Football for President Ronald Reagan. The responsibility can be nerve wracking.</s>PETE METZGER, FORMER MARINE MAJOR WHO CARRIED NUCLEAR FOOTBALL: I wouldn't say I was on edge, but I was very focused on what I was going to do. The time is so short between alert and execution, you have to be ready any time for any moment. That's why one of us was always in very close proximity to the president.</s>TODD: Metzger says there is a separate Football for the vice- president if the commander-in-chief becomes incapacitated. (on camera): How does it compare to this, bigger, heavier?</s>METZGER: It is somewhat longer, somewhat wider and somewhat heavier.</s>TODD (voice-over): Inside the case, he says, there is communication equipment. Metzger won't discuss the other contents. But Bill Gully, a former director of the White House Military Office, described in his book four crucial components inside. A so-called black book, listing strike options for retaliation if the U.S. is attacked with nuclear weapons, a book listing bunker locations where the president can be taken in an emergency, a manila folder listing procedures for the emergency broadcast systems, and a small card with authentication codes to verify it is the president ordering a nuclear launch.</s>REIF: That's known as the Biscuit. Another interesting name.</s>TODD: Hillary Clinton says Donald Trump doesn't have the right temperament to be trusted with the nuclear launch codes.</s>HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Anyone who can be provoked by a tweet should not be anywhere near nuclear weapons.</s>TODD: Trump has vehemently refuted that. Metzger said to carry the Football, he had to have rigorous background checks by the military, Secret Service and FBI. It included extensive psychiatric screening.</s>METZGER: The result of the decision the president would make is so grotesquely horrible, it would change the face of the earth. It would change humanity. It would change mankind. And I guess when you're on duty, you try not to think of the import of that, but you're fully prepared to do so if you have to.</s>TODD (on camera): If the president decides to use the Football and actually launch a strike, is there anyone in the chain of command who can stop that order? The White House won't comment on that. But Pete Metzger and other experts tell us that unless there is a full-on mutiny, no one can stop that order. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.</s>HARLOW: Brian, thank you very much. President Obama has had that so-called Football, that suitcase, no farther than a few feet away from him for eight years. Our Barbara Starr, this week at the press conference, asked the president how he feels about Donald Trump potentially being in charge of it.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: What is your assessment today as you stand here about whether Donald Trump can be trusted with America's nuclear weapons?</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Just listen to what Mr. Trump has to say and make your own judgment with respect to how confident you feel about his ability to manage things like our nuclear Triad.</s>HARLOW: All right, Ron Brownstein is with me, A CNN political analyst, and also senior editor at "The Atlantic." A fascinating article this week. We'll get to what you're working on, the latest, in just a moment. But let's just put this in context for people. When have we ever seen a sitting U.S. president so openly oppose a candidate in that way?</s>RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't think we have. I mean, I think this is an extension of kind of the ways in which this is a unique election. The closest thing I can remember is in 1988, Ronald Reagan at one point made a seeming joke that was a reference to the rumor that Michael Dukakis had undergone treatment for depression, which would have been a bigger deal back then obviously.</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>BROWNSTEIN: He said, "I won't pick on an invalid." By the end of the day, Reagan had apologized because it was just such an uproar. So the idea of a president being this directly on the battlefield. No, it is true, Poppy, whether he chooses to engages or not, his approving rating is a big factor in this race. Over 80 percent of the people approve for him will vote for Hillary Clinton. But directly kind of in the ring this way, this is pretty unusual.</s>HARLOW: He has got 54 percent right now, the highest of his second term. Let me ask you this. If you look at the past few weeks, three of the past four CIA directors have blasted Donald Trump. Most recently, former acting CIA Director Mike Morell, he said, in the past, I've been silent about my preferences for president, but he felt so compelled to speak out now, following the other two former directors. The significance of that in your mind?</s>BROWNSTEIN: It is very significant. Michael Hayden, a former CIA director under President Bush, is featured in a known pro Clinton Priorities USA ad, basically raising similar concerns. Donald Trump -- the biggest single problem Donald Trump faces is that, consistently, somewhere around 60 percent of the public have said he is not qualified to be president. That number has not budged. For example, in ABC post polling, who is better, who has the right temperament, that's where Clinton leads the most. Trump's advantage is on change. In terms of preparation for the job, she has a big lead. All of these voices from Republican-leaning sources, are an important source of reaffirmation, center right, who might vote Republican, might feel more comfortable with Republican economics, to say this is a time when you don't have to follow the usual partisan. I think it's a big problem for Donald Trump.</s>HARLOW: Ahead next hour -- you're with me next hour -- we're going to talk about what you're working on now, and that's looking at history, looking '64, '72, the elections of Goldwater and McGovern and how much of the defection of some within the party hurt them and what it means this time around. Stay with us for that. Ron Brownstein, thank you so much.</s>BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.</s>HARLOW: Coming up, we're going to take you to Chicago. Chicago police are promising a full investigation today, after this.</s>HARLOW: That shooting in broad daylight, it is disturbing footage, right before an unarmed teenager in Chicago was shot and killed. Also, the big question right now is why the key piece of video in this shooting is missing, next.