>>> I’M LIKE A REALLY SMART PERSON.
PERSON. >> TONIGHT’S EPISODE OF TRUMP
TALK, NUKING HURRICANES.
IN TRUMP TALK WE EXAMINE THINGS
DONALD TRUMP HAS SAID THAT WE
HAVE NEVER HEARD FROM A ANOTHER
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
AND WE BRING IN SOMEONE WHO EVEN
TRUMP VOTERS WILL AGREE KNOWS
MORE ABOUT THAT SUBJECT THAN
DONALD TRUMP TO OBJECTIVELY
EVALUATE TRUMP TALK.
AXIOS REPORTS PRESIDENT TRUMP
REPEATEDLY ASKED EXPERTS ABOUT
USING NUCLEAR BOMBS TO STOP
HURRICANES.
HURRICANES. AXIOS REPORTS DURING ONE
HURRICANE BRIEFING AT THE WHITE
HOUSE, TRUMP SAID, I GOT IT, WHY
DON’T WE NUKE THEM?
ACCORDING TO ONE SOURCE WHO WAS
THERE.
THERE. THEY START FORMING OFF THE COAST
OF AFRICA AS THEY’RE MOVING
ACROSS THE "ATLANTIC."ATLANTIC.
WHY CAN’T WE DO THAT?
JOINING US WITH THE ANSWER IS
MICHAELMAN AUTOMANN, DIRECTORS
OF THE EARTH SYSTEMS SCIENCE
CENTER AT PENN STATE UNIVERSITY.
PROFESSOR MANN, THANK YOU VERY
MUCH FOR JOINING US TONIGHT.
TO DONALD TRUMP’S QUESTION, WHY
CAN’T WE DO THAT?
WHAT IS THE ANSWER?
>> THANKS, LAWRENCE.
IT’S GOOD TO BE WITH YOU.
FIRST OF ALL, WHY SHOULDN’T WE
DO IT?
DO IT? OBVIOUSLY, IT WOULD DO A LOT OF
DAMAGE TO OCEAN LIFE, THERE
WOULD BE RESIDUAL RADIATION IF
WE WERE TO REGULARLY DROP
NUCLEAR BOMBS INTO THE ATLANTIC
OCEAN.
OCEAN. BUT IT WOULDN’T WORK ANYWAYS
BECAUSE THE POWERFULNESS OF A
HURRICANE, OF A FULLY-FORMED
HURRICANE, IS MEASURED IN
HUNDREDS OF TRILLIONS OF WATTS
OF POWER.
OF POWER. THAT’S THE EQUIVALENT OF A TEN
MEGATON NUCLEAR BOMB DROPPED
INTO THE OCEAN EVERY 20 MINUTES.
SO IT WOULDN’T MAKE ANY
DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER.
DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER. >> AND OTHER THINGS THAT COULD
OCCUR BY DROPPING A BOMB IN THE
OCEAN, A LOT OF THESE -- THE
PREVAILING WINDS IN THAT AREA
ACTUALLY TRACK TOWARD THE UNITED
STATES.
STATES. SO THE RADIATION FALLOUT WOULD
BE IN THE WIND SYSTEM TRACKING
TOWARD THE UNITED STATES,
WOULDN’T IT.
WOULDN’T IT. >> YEAH.
>> YEAH. IN FACT, TOWARDS MAR-A-LAGO
POTENTIALLY.
POTENTIALLY. >> YES.
>> YES. >> IT WOULD NOT BE A WISE
DECISION FOR US TO BE PRODUCING
THAT AMOUNT OF RADIATION WHEN
THE PREVAILING WINDS ARE INDEED
TAKING IT RIGHT TOWARDS THE U.S.
EAST COAST.
EAST COAST. >> WHICH IS NOT TO NEGLECT THE
FACT THAT TO GET TO THE UNITED
STATES IT WOULD PASS OVER
INHABITED ISLANDS ALL ALONG THE
WAY, THERE BY KILLING ALL SORTS
OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ON THAT
ROUTE.
ROUTE. >> STARTING TO SOUND LIKE A BAD
IDEA, ISN’T IT?
I’LL TELL YOU WHAT.
IF DONALD TRUMP WAS SERIOUS
ABOUT DEALING WITH THESE
INTENSIFYING HURRICANES, THE
FACT THAT WE HAVE SEEN THE MOST
INTENSE ATLANTIC HURRICANES ON
RECORD IN RECENT YEARS BECAUSE
OF THE WARMING OF THE OCEANS
ASSOCIATED WITH HUMAN-CAUSED
CLIMATE CHANGE, IF HE REALLY
WANTED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT,
HE WOULD ACCOUNT A ON CLIMATE.
HE WOULDN’T TRY TO SCUTTLE
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES LIKE THE
PARIS TREATY TO DO SOMETHING
ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE.
HE WOULDN’T BE APPOINTING A
VERITABLE DREAM TEAM OF FOSSIL
FUSIL LOBBYIST AND CLIMATE
CHANGE DENIERS TO RUN HIS ENERGY
AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
WITHIN THE WHITE HOUSE.
AND SO, IN FACT, WHAT HE IS
DOING BY NOT ACTING ON CLIMATE
IS ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTING TO THE
WORSENING EFFECTS OF THESE
STORMS, STRONGER STORMS WITH
MORE FLOODING, MORE DAMAGE, MORE
DEVASTATION.
DEVASTATION. >> YOU KNOW, IN YOUR FIRST TWO
MINUTES OF RESPONSE HERE, YOU
MANAGED TO GIVE PLENTY OF
REASONS NOT TO DO THIS.
THE AXIOS REPORTING IS THAT THE
PRESIDENT HAS BROUGHT THIS UP
REPEATEDLY, WHICH MEANS THAT A
TWO-MINUTE EXPLANATION HAS NOT
BEEN ENOUGH FOR HIM, AND THAT
THE PEOPLE IN YOUR ADVISORY
POSITION, FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE
WHITE HOUSE WITH THE PRESIDENT
IN THESE DISCUSSIONS HAVE HAD TO
REPEATEDLY MAKE THESE POINTS.
HOW WOULD YOU GRADE ONE OF YOUR
STUDENTS WHO YOU HAD TO EXPLAIN
THIS TO TWICE?
>> WELL, LET’S JUST SAY THAT
THAT STUDENT WOULD PROBABLY BE
TRANSFERRING ELSEWHERE.
TRANSFERRING ELSEWHERE. NO, YOU KNOW, AND THE PRESIDENT
HAS DEMONSTRATED A COMPLETE
ANTI-PATHY TO SCIENCE.
>> WHAT ABOUT THE PART THAT THE
PRESIDENT -- WE KNOW THE
PRESIDENT WOULDN’T LISTEN TO
ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY HERE
ABOUT THE PLANET’S TEMPERATURES
EFFECT ON THIS.
COULD YOU EXPLAIN WHY THE
TEMPERATURE OF THE WATER IS
RELEVANT?
RELEVANT? >> YES.
>> YES. WATERMELON WATER
WATERMELON WATER IT MEANS MORE EVAPORATION WHICH
PROVIDES MORE ENERGY TO
STRENGTHEN THESE STORMS.
IN FACT, IT’S A VERY SIMPLE
RELATIONSHIP.
RELATIONSHIP. THE WARMER YOU MAKE THE OCEAN
SURFACE TEMPERATURES, THE MORE
HEAT YOU’RE PUTTING INTO THE