justice at new york university law school. what the secret powers are, is suspension of the constitution, basically. and that's what is worrying particularly on the eve of the national election. these are essentially presidential orders that are drafted in anticipation of a range of hypothetical worse cases scenarios. >> the brendan research that was referred to has been spear headed by elizabeth g oimptoiti. several times, during his administration president trump has made elusions to secret powers that he has that we don't knab is he makinghaup >> not exactly. and what's alarming about that is that no one really knows what the limits of those claimed

authorities might be. because they are often developed and kept in secret. >> goitin said what little we do know about it, comes from references to them in other do you wants. some of which are now declassified. >>. they originated in the eisenhower administration, as an effort to plan for a potential soviet nuclear attack. since then they have expanded to address other types of emergencies as well. no presidential emergency action document has ever been released or even leaked. not even congress has access to them. which is really pretty extraordinary when you consider had that even the most highly classified covert military and intelligence operations have to be reported to at least eight members of the gang of >> you are they ulting witress wha is in these documents and from

public be sources, we know that at least in the past, these documents have pro ported to do things that are not permitted by the constitution. things like, martial law andthe suspension of habiuos corp us and the round up of people that have not been convicted of a crime. >> people in power did not want to frighten the american people or demonstrate what might happen to their constitutional rights and liberties. and keep going. and you are saying what, therefore? >> well, these, every administration, including democratic administrations, has revised and updated the powers. and i started contacting friends of mine, of both parties who have been in senior positions and i got two responses or one response which is, i never heard

of these powers. and theses are people in senior cabinet positions. or i got no response at all. and it was the no response at all from people i knew that began to worry me. because there's not only secretsy around the powers, there's a mystery around the secretcy. >> tell me what you know about the peads? >> i know as much as any other american citizen, which is almost nothing at all. >> david cole is national legal director of the american civil liberties union and he is concerned about the vast array of presidential emergency powers that we know about, under the national emergencies act of 1976 alone, the president can declare a national emergency just by signing a proclamation. >> we have got a president who, in his first week in office essentially declared an emergency to ban muslims from

coming in to the country and more recently declared a fake emergency to build a border wall when congress said they would not give him the funds to create a border wall and most recently has declared that he may need to delay the election. which would be an emergency authority that does not even exist. i think you have to be very concerned. >> which brings us back to the mysterious presidential emergency action documents. tell me about those peads, you are the only person i have net so far who will even admit to knowing what the hell they are and having seen them. >> really? >> yes, really. john is a law professor at the university of california berkley. while serving at the justice department after 9/11, he drafted the memo that authorized

the enhanced interrogation -- >> you have seen the peads? >> i'm not allowed to say i have or not. >> you were at the justices department, presumably the justice department would have had to deally with the peads if a president wanted to implement one. >> that's a fair statement.the office i worked in would review the legality of the peads because they would straw on presidential powers and congressional powers delegated to them. >> a couple of weeks ago, the professor was at the white house discussing executive power with president trump. >> because you never know what the emergency will be. so, this peads and simila planning documents when we look back historically at them sometimes they seem comic. >> the notion that they are executive powers, based on something that is never been vetted by congress. giving the president almost limitless powers to do what he needs to do in the event of a crisis, that's not funny to me.

that's scary. >> well, forgive me, i don't mean the whole question is comic. you are right, ted, there's dangers to that. and we have seen in history where presidents have gone too far. there's a balance and the founders they balanced in favor of giving the president that kind of ability to faces emergencies. even understanding that a badly intentioned president might abuse the powers. >> these peads undergo periodic revision and we know that the department of justice is in the middle of one of the periodic reviews and revisions. so, we have to imagine what the trump administration might be doing with these documents and what authorities this administration might be trying to give itself. >> that's why the framers created the presidency, it could act quickly. i would want president obama or president biden to have the power to respond quickly to a had hurricane or a terrorist attack as i would want president trump to. >> that's fairly benign, john. but what if, what the president

was planning to do was the suspension of habeous corpus? how would you feel about it then? >> in emergencies, the executive branch can make mistakes. that's sometimes the conquestions of swift action. >> having said that, professor, you would be comfortable giving a few select members of congress classified access to the secret peads? gary hart doesn't think that goes far enough. >> i want them public. because they affect the freedom and liberty and rights of every american citizen. i can't say it any better. this is a blue print for dictator ship. i think the more attention it gets the less likely those in power are going to use them. >> we have so much publicity

senator hart, we've so many different voices being raised in anger, in outrage, in fury. i'm not sure what a few more voice s raising an issue like that, will have. >> this goes to the core of our country and our founding. and if there's what amounts to the capabilitity to suspend our constitution, that'ses not just another issue. that is serious. >> to i'm officially declaring a national emergency. >> keep in mind, two very big words. >> the current incumbent president has declared seven national emergencies and he has stat stated repeatedly that he has more power than people know about. about. the cbs tide power pods one up the cleaning power of liquid. can it one up whatever they're doing?

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when your underarmso your are cared for? ♪ it shows! our new dove advanced care formula is effective... and kind to skin, leaving underarms cared for and you... more confident and carefree. . the new school year has gun -- has begun in many parts of the nation. of the 100 larger school districts in the nation, 73 are planning for remote learning only. but one study found 16 million public school students lack either computers or reliable internet access.

we report from california, outside los angeles. >> school is back in session. but the more than 500 students who attend this elementary school are now learning from home. fifth grader, riley franco is one of ten million kids taking classes online this fall. while her school provided things like computers and wifi hotspot, it's proving to be a challenging time for people. like her grandmother. who is other legal guardian. >> i'm not tech savvy at all. >> what do you miss of school? >> being with my friends? >> what is hard for grandma? >> waking me up and making sure i'm never late. >> reporter: how is she with the computer? >> it goes on and off. >> how do you feel it will work out? >> it's our only options that we have right now. so, i think this year will be a lot better. going in to the second phase.

i see riley eager to learn. and to listen to her teacher. >> there's still no timetable as to when

the coronavirus pandemic has changes every part of our lives, in some cases that means renting a library book. a high flying solution has been found in one community. >> this 8-year-old is in a hurry, racing to the backyard to check out a library book. >> i'm like, oh, i have to get ready to grab the book. we have a lot of birds in this area and i sometimes feel like the birds will just swoop down and take it. >> take it from a drone. you were thinking if i can get my advil and doritos delivered by drone, why not library books? >> it's a way to bring kids and

the summer reading together. >> kelly was one of the first to sign up last fall. >> we need to continue to find ways to bring reading to our students. >> you took it literally. >> i found a new way to do it. >> when covid closed schools and libraries, wing flew in to help the students. >> this is a way that we can kind of help bridge the gap. >> 600 kids live in wing's delivery area. they can send in a book request electronically, and working on her own time, she finds the book, packages it and drops it off at wing where the book is weighed, becauses the drones can only carry three pounds and put it in the air and race to kids like lilly. about a 5 minute flight away. >> it gets her reading again. she had stopped reading for a while. >> a touchless delivery from above, of 50 books and counting since mid june. and kids don't have to return

then until inperson classes can resume. >> we think it's the only way you can get library books delivered by drone. i have students that are regular readers that are requesting books. if i can get a book to a student because they were excited to get a drone delivery that is also a success now. they have onemore book than they had before. >> it's cool, but the only thing, you cannot thank the librarian forgetting you the books. >> you want to say thank you now. >> yes. >> thank you, librarian! >> thank yous have come in pictures like these of excited students. but the real reward is knowing kids like lilly are getost in the pages of a new story, however it's delivered. chris vancleeve, christianburgs, virginia. that's the overnight news for monday. join us for the continuing coverage of the democratic national convention right here, or watch it online at cbs news.com. reporting from washington.

♪ ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs >> o'donnell: tonight america decides 2020 as the democratic national convention kicks off virtually. a historic first. the democrats make their case with just 78 days to go. the latest cbs news battleground tracker. joe biden has a substantial lead. but does president trump have the enthusiasm? and the message from michelle obama on why biden should win in november. >> i know joe. he is a profoundly decent man guided by faith. >> o'donnell: mail-in fire storm, congressional democrats call on the f.b.i. to investigate whether the head of the u.s. postal service is deliberately slowing down the mail ahead of an election. covid on campus, the packed