MICHAEL KNOWLES (HOST): Did he say it? Maybe. I'm not convinced he didn't say it. Does he really want to nuke hurricanes? I don't think so. He benefits from pretending that he's crazy, and for people thinking that he's crazy. I don't think we have any evidence that the president would use a nuclear weapon to stop a storm or ever use a nuclear weapon. But I think he may have said it. Why?
I think he may have said it to identify leaks. Because what would it benefit Trump to say this, especially if he's not going to do it? It would benefit him to say it because depending on who's in the room he could make that statement and then assume that it's so outrageous it would leak to the press. And then you can tell because the source is being quoted here. So it's not just that it's on background, they're actually using the direct quote - from that it could help to identify leaks. The White House has been incredibly leaky and the White House has also gotten better and better about governing itself - there was so much chaos early on, there has been more order brought to the White House since those early days. I wouldn't be surprised if this nuking the hurricane story is actually has nothing to do with weather, nothing to do with nuclear weapons, it's all about identifying the leaks in the White House. Which is very important, as more and more people from Trump's orbit turn on the president.